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Shared-Track: Laying the Foundation--Policy and Strategy 19 While the business model for public agencies and the private sector will differ, the fundamental principle prevails. The public sector now may have to contend with more stakeholders and play- ers. Overall, there may be more competing interests in the public domain, and financial consider- ations may not be the primary driver in resolving these rival objectives. A model can facilitate an agency's pursuit of the shared-track concept by laying out the framework for a business case. Business Model Structure The emerging American business model for concurrent shared-track physical asset shares many elements with the current American shared-track state of practice under temporal sepa- ration, but differs in detail to accommodate the needed changes from concurrent operation. The key differences lie in the areas of Command and Control, track access, liability, operating rules, employee training, and emergency recovery. · The transit agency should plan to install a train control system, including train-stop apparatus on-board freight locomotives if deemed necessary. That eliminates the potential for collision between transit and freight trains sharing the same tracks. · For track access, the transit agency must develop a capability for managing potential schedule conflicts, both for planning purposes and in real time. This may entail a schedule that reserves spare freight train slots within its operating schedules. · For liability, the transit agency may assume more liability than in a temporally-separated regime (assignment of fault can be complex in a concurrent operating environment). · The transit agency can expect to adopt operating rules of a railroad heritage, even though transit operators are not FRA certified engineers. The transit agency will be responsible for promul- gation of some freight related rules. · In terms of employee training, some cross-training would be expected to ensure smooth inter- face between freight train crews, their transit counterparts, and the transit agency dispatcher. · The freight railroad and transit operator need a plan for emergency recovery of disabled freight equipment on a timely basis, so that transit service is not disrupted by a freight train malfunc- tion, and vice versa. Presently, the number of cases where conventional railroad rolling stock and light passenger rail cars share tracks is limited; public passenger transportation and private freight operations do share track. The recommended business model borrows heavily from the current practices in concurrent shared-track operations for both light passenger rail cars and conventional commuter rail. While there is no single business model for shared-track operations, some common features and attributes exist for nearly all shared-track operators. 1. The transit authority generally purchases, controls, improves, maintains, and dispatches the infrastructure. Transit agency pays all related costs. 2. The freight railroad selling the low-density line retains "perpetual and exclusive" freight trackage rights for an agreed per-use fee. 3. Transit agency assumes all risks, liabilities, and insurance requirements over-and-above the old status quo, including the risks to freight operations due to presence of passengers. 4. The transit agency uses various financing mechanisms for infrastructure improvements that are unavailable to the freight operator. 5. The transit agency assumes responsibility for accident and incident management, maintain- ing operating rules, and training for transit agency staff. 6. The freight railroad must retrieve inoperative freight rolling stock (should it fail) and train their employees on transit territory. 7. Transit agency works to avoid legal and administrative classification as a railroad for the pur- poses of employment laws, to avoid higher labor expenses and related costs.