Projects And Transportation > Railways & Waterways

What other states are doing with rail

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KJP:
Something to consider for Ohio?  Post-election coverage of Texas Proposition 1 (to create a state fund for railroad route relocations) took a back seat to the gay-marriage ban in terms of news coverage, but I found this article from October which explains the issue pretty well (see below). By the way, Prop.1 passed....

95.6% of Texas pcts. counted
Proposition 1
Create the Texas rail relocation and improvement fund and authorize grants
of money and issuance of obligations for financing the relocation,
rehabilitation, and expansion of rail facilities

STATEWIDE TOTALS
For - 1,066,415 - 53.9%
Against - 910,408 - 46.1%
_______________________________

Oct. 22, 2005, 9:16PM

Proposition 1 sets up fund for relocation of rail lines
By CLAY ROBISON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

............

teebtong:
I'm glad that all news stories in every state seem to take a backseat to gay-marriage bans; it's one subject that can unite people across racial boundaries, prejudice against gays.  It's good to know that disdain for homosexuals is one of the few things that gets Americans talking :x

KJP:
What Texas has done (see below), in creating a funding mechanism that may ultimately lead to the South Central High Speed Rail Corridor, has lessons for us in Ohio as we seek the Ohio Hub System. The 110-mph passenger train and the 90-mph intermodal freight train are kissing cousins which are looking for the means to create the infrastructure for them. In its absence, that traffic will have no choice but to clog our highways and damage them with more expensive trucks that have proven vulnerable to fuel price spikes, unnecessarily costing shippers. Texas is taking the lead, to make their economy more competitive than Ohio's, yet we have much more intermodal rail freight traffic (see map at bottom). If we want to keep it, grow it and prosper from it, then we need to follow Texas' lead....
________________

12 November 2005

Texas's new rail relocation fund opens possibilities for more rail passenger and rail transit services in state

While the Bush administration has been stepping up its efforts to bludgeon intercity rail passenger service and constrain urban rail transit development, efforts to actually improve and expand these kinds of public transport services have just been given at least a modest boost in the US state of Texas. As we have noted (below) in our article Texas rail relocation measure passes, the approval of Texas's new Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund by voters this past Tuesday (8 November) "opens the possibility for major improvements to rail transport safety and intercity passenger service, and the use of urban railway corridors for public transit projects." In a statement issued in Dallas on 11 November, Texas Rail Advocates (TRA) – one of several statewide organizations promoting rail passenger transportation in Texas – called the vote "an historic step toward future development of faster and more dependable passenger rail service in the state."

"By the passage of State Proposition 1 we now have the means to help the freight railroads relocate and improve their original lines throughout the state and that makes it possible to plan for faster freight and passenger trains” said Paul Mangelsdorf, Executive Director of TRA.

The group's formal statement continued:

Texas Rail Advocates urges TxDOT [Texas Department of Transportation] to lay out a priority list of the most important rail relocation and improvement projects in the state and to engage the three largest freight rail carriers, Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway and Kansas City Southern Railroad in serious talks on the issues.

As the advocate organization's Executive Director Mangelsdorf pointed out, "Texas is mostly a one-track rail system with some passing sidings. We must prepare for rail gridlock in the next decade if the lines are not upgraded."

The group spelled out some of its recommendations for speeding up intercity railroad operations:

TRA believes that one of the key plans should include an engineering and feasibility study of the South Central High Speed Rail Corridor that the U.S. Department of Transportation authorized five years ago. This tri-state rail corridor, using enhanced infrastructure improvements including grade crossings and signaling, would be capable of handling containerized and trailer freight trains up to 90 miles per hour and fast, frequent passenger service up to 110 miles per hour between major Texas cities. It would give travelers an attractive, dependable option to expensive automobile travel.

Mangelsdorf noted that passage of the Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund means that many rail grade crossings can be eliminated or improved in the future, leading to fewer motor vehicle-train accidents. "Importantly, in addition to safety, taking some of the heavy truck traffic off our beaten-down overburdened highways will also help improve air quality" Mangelsdorf said. "Texas Rail Advocates believes that our economic engine in Texas will be riding on the rails as new industries find the state to be more inviting because of a dynamic transportation system" Mangelsdorf added.

Texas Rail Advocates and Paul Mangelsdorf, Executive Director, can be contacted as follows:

Email: paulm@texasrailadvocates.org
Phone: 214.749-3549
Website: http://www.TexasRailAdvocates.org

Robert Pence:
I think a lot of Americans don't realize that those speeds are available without new technology breakthroughs. The biggest needs are minimizing the opportunities for trucks and cars to try to occupy the same space concurrently with trains, and maintaining right-of-way and equipment to the highest standards.

In the post-WWII era, sometimes even with steam locomotives, the major carriers were quite capable of exceeding 100 mph and doing it safely. My aunt tells of riding the Pennsy's Broadway Limited between Fort Wayne and Chicago and rarely missing the two-hour-and-ten-minute schedule. The Detroit Arrow between Detroit and Chicago via Fort Wayne was a joint venture of the Pennsylvania and Wabash. Including a stop in Fort Wayne to change crews and engines, board passengers, and switch between the railroads, the Arrow averaged  75 mph for the trip.

The Nickel Plate's legendary 2-8-4 Berkshires could hustle a freight train past the farm fields of Indiana and Ohio at 70 mph in the 1950's without breaking a sweat.

In 1960 I tried to pace an Erie passenger train heading west out of Decatur, Indiana where the track lay parallel with US 224. I got up to 90 mph and wasn't even close to keeping up. Local people who traveled on the Erie then said the ride was flawlessly smooth at speed.

KJP:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=427201&category=STATE&newsdate=12/7/2005

$100M rail plan focuses on service 
 
By CATHY WOODRUFF, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, December 7, 2005
 
ALBANY -- Short-line railroads will get renewed attention under the state's next five-year rail improvement program.

Many of the state's small rail lines have deteriorated tracks and equipment, and "the idea was to ensure that they can undertake the infrastructure improvements they need to remain competitive," said Peter Graves, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

More at link above:

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