The railroad doesn't have to do anything

So they won't.

Getting Norfolk Southern to the table, however, may not be easy, judging from a response the company sent to The Lens this week. When asked if they would consider granting a right-of-way for a streetcar to cross Press Street, Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband highlighted the same safety concerns that have historically halted conversations. “We are opposed to an at-grade railroad crossing at Press Street because it would create an unsafe situation for both streetcar and freight rail,” he said.

Like we were saying last week, railroads have a tremendous amount of power and can basically do or not do whatever they feel like. Mostly they feel like running hazardous freight through populated areas without assuming much liability for the risks involved in that.

What they don't do so well in this country are transport projects like inter-city high speed passenger rail or even making minor accommodations for local public transit initiatives like figuring out how get one streetcar line across Press street.