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<br />002660 <br /> <br />Railroads <br /> <br /> <br />The first transcontinental railroad construction followed the <br /> <br /> <br />Platte River valley across Nebraska. Construction began in Omaha <br /> <br /> <br />in 1865 and was completed in 1869. This east-west orientation of <br /> <br /> <br />rail service in Nebraska continued with the Union Pacific, Burling- <br /> <br /> <br />ton Northern, and the Chicago Northwestern Railroads servicing four <br /> <br /> <br />corridors across the state. <br /> <br /> <br />At present, the railroad industry is in the process of under- <br /> <br /> <br />going a transition from its historic role as a major, and in some <br /> <br /> <br />cases, sole carrier of goods and services. This has resulted from <br /> <br /> <br />intense competition from all types of carriers in the transporta- <br /> <br /> <br />tion industry, principally from pipelines, trucks, and airlines. <br /> <br /> <br />Passenger service has virtually been eliminated except for one <br /> <br /> <br />route of Amtrak. Freight service on some branch lines has declined <br /> <br /> <br />to the point that economical operation has dictated abandonment of <br /> <br /> <br />some of these lines. Track mileage has been reduced from approxi- <br /> <br /> <br />mately 5,800 miles in 1954 to approximately 5,400 miles in 1973. <br /> <br /> <br />Most of the loss of track mileage during this period was branch <br /> <br /> <br />lines in the Elkhorn Subbasin. However, railroads provide generally <br /> <br /> <br />good accessibility to markets for most of the basin's products. <br /> <br />Air Service <br /> <br /> <br />Commercial air service in Nebraska is provided to thirteen <br /> <br /> <br />communities. Within the basin, eight communities (Columbus, Grand <br /> <br /> <br />Island, Kearney, Lincoln, Norfolk, North Platte, Scottsbluff, and <br /> <br /> <br />Sidney) have scheduled air service. The five nonbasin communities <br /> <br /> <br />are Alliance, Chadron, Hastings, McCook, and Omaha. There are also <br /> <br /> <br />many communities within the basin that have airport facilities for <br /> <br /> <br />private aircraft. <br /> <br />2-27 <br /> <br />