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Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

BNSF ISSUES DERAILMENT UPDATE FOR HOUCK, ARIZONA

As follow up to previous advisories concerning the derailment of BNSF Railway Company train S LPCLHA1 19 at Houck, AZ, both main tracks were restored to service at 03:30 CT Tuesday, January 23, 2007.

Traffic volumes on the service region remain high, BNSF personnel are striving to monitor train flow in order to maintain fluidity.

Customers may continue to experience delays up to 48 hours on traffic moving through this corridor. - BNSF Service Advisory

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BNSF REPORTS INCREASED EARNINGS

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. of Fort Worth reported all-time earnings for the fourth quarter and full year 2007, led by big increases in its mainstay coal and agricultural shipments.

The railroad, which serves the western United States, earned $519 million, or $1.42 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2006 against earnings of $430 million, or $1.13 per share a year earlier. For the full year 2006, BNSF earned $1.9 billion, or $5.10 per share versus profits of $1.5 billion, or $2.10 per share.

Chairman Matt Rose noted that carloadings increased by 7 percent to 8 percent during the year and said "BNSF continued to have industry-leading growth. Looking forward, we anticipate strong demand for freight rail transportation."

BNSF's coal revenues rose by 21 percent in the fourth quarter and 19 percent for the year, reflecting increased demand from electric utilities switching from higher-priced natural gas to cheaper coal as their fuel. The railroad is a leading shipper of coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

Agricultural product shipments rose by 8 percent, reflecting strong demand for corn both in export markets and shipments for ethanol fuel. The railroad did not break out its ethanol-related volumes. - Dan Piller, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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BNSF ANNOUNCES $2.75 BILLION CAPITAL COMMITMENT PROGRAM

Tuesday, Jan. 23, BNSF announced its planned $2.75 billion capital commitment program for 2007. The BNSF Railway Company anticipates investing more than $750 million in track and facilities to expand capacity – for customers in coal, agricultural products, industrial products and intermodal – to meet unprecedented demand for consistent freight rail service.

Matt Rose, BNSF chairman, president and chief executive officer, pointed out that, "We are able to sustain increases in our capital commitment program to meet both the current demand for freight rail transportation as well as forecasted future volume growth because of continuous improvement in our returns. For 2006, BNSF’s Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) was a record 11.4 percent, a significant improvement from 10.1 percent in 2005 and 7.9 percent in 2004."

Rose added that, "For 2007, BNSF currently expects to spend more than $1.6 billion to keep our infrastructure strong by refreshing track, signal systems and structures; rebuilding rolling stock, and implementing new technologies – an increase of about $50 million over 2006. Total 2007 cash capital commitments are expected to be $2.4 billion. In addition, we plan to lease 200 locomotives with a cost of about $350 million."

Some of the major 2007 capacity expansion programs are:

· Southern Transcon -- Double- or triple-track about 40 miles and continue building a second main line across Abo Canyon in New Mexico;

· Coal Route – Add about 60 miles of third and fourth main track on the Powder River Basin Joint Line and complete about 50 miles of double track in Nebraska and Wyoming;

· Southeast – Multiple sidings between Springfield, MO, and Birmingham, AL;

· Intermodal Facilities – Expansions at Alliance, Texas; Seattle; Los Angeles; Memphis; Chicago; and Stockton, CA; and

· Other Infrastructure – Sidings in South Dakota and Oklahoma; fueling and mechanical facilities in North Dakota, Illinois and Texas.

- BNSF Today

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AMTRAK CHIEF: RAILROAD NEEDS IMAGE BOOST

Amtrak's new president wants to upgrade the passenger railroad's image and the tracks it shares with the nation's increasingly busy freight rail carriers, and he expects the federal government to help.

Four months into the job, Alex Kummant said he found the much-maligned railroad in better shape than he expected. But he said it could still do a better job taking advantage of a growing appetite for rail travel fueled by high gas prices and highway congestion.

"There is a lot of good news to talk about," Kummant told The Associated Press in an interview in his office atop Washington's Union Station. "You have to build the Amtrak brand for people."

Amtrak needs to work with states to expand service over medium distances and improve the long-distance trains that account for most of its losses, Kummant said. Government incentives to stimulate capital investment in the nation's nearly maxed-out rail infrastructure are also key, he said.

The government-owned corporation reported record ticket revenue of $1.37 billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, an 11 percent increase over fiscal 2005, with ridership ticking up 1 percent to 24.3 million passengers. The system, created in 1970 to take over declining passenger rail service, is heavily dependent on government funding; it received $1.3 billion from Congress, including a $485 million operating subsidy, for the 2006 fiscal year.

Kummant, a 46-year-old former freight railroad and manufacturing executive, said expectations that Amtrak could be self-sufficient are misguided. He noted passenger rail is subsidized throughout the world.

There could be room to partner with the private sector, he said, but added: "You need to walk before you can run."

Amtrak supporters are hopeful the new Congress will pass legislation introduced last week by Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Trent Lott, R-Miss., that would establish funding targets for Amtrak for the next six years. It would also create a program of capital matching grants for states that want to invest in "corridor service" -- the term Amtrak uses to describe frequently traveled routes up to about 500 miles, such as the northeast corridor running from Boston to Washington. Currently, 14 states pay Amtrak for service.

Kummant said the shorter routes are Amtrak's real growth opportunity.

"We can offer genuine solutions to public transportation problems with that type of service," he said.

Rail service on such corridors can be competitive at 80 to 100 miles per hour, without trying to provide capital-intensive high-speed service, he said. Amtrak's fastest train, the Acela Express on the northeast corridor, reaches 150 miles per hour, but such speeds require upgraded electrical systems and tracks.

A November report by the Government Accountability Office concluded that long-distance routes -- such as the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to Los Angeles and the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle -- account for 15 percent of riders and 80 percent of Amtrak's losses, and provide little public benefit.

Kummant said he had no intention of abandoning long-distance routes, loosely defined as those longer than 500 miles. But he said he is working with Amtrak's board of directors, made up of appointees of President Bush, to come up with a strategy that might include breaking some long routes into multiple state corridors.

Amtrak is criticized for the losses in the long-distance routes, but if those routes were eliminated, they would be very hard to re-establish, Kummant said. Still, he predicted future growth will likely come from corridor service, while long-distance ridership will remain flat.

One major challenge is that the nation's freight railroads have been hauling record volumes and are starting to bump up against limited capacity, Kummant said. On most routes except the northeast corridor, Amtrak trains run on tracks owned by the freight railroads.

Kummant, who spent four years at Union Pacific Corp., said capacity issues won't be solved unless public money is injected into the freight rail network, through tax credits or other means.

The American Association of Railroads has called for a 25 percent tax credit for any investment in new track or other infrastructure that would increase capacity. It also supports public-private partnerships to accomplish the same thing.

"Railroads are already investing very heavily in trying to increase capacity, but there are limits to what we can raise on Wall Street," AAR spokesman Tom White said.

Kummant expressed skepticism about proposals to split off the northeast corridor, which accounts for more than half of Amtrak's ticket revenue, and put it under separate management.

He said one such proposal made recently by the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University would be difficult to implement. It would require the approval of eight states, the District of Columbia and the federal government, which also would have to assume Amtrak's debt and provide money for rail cars, Kummant said.

At the same time, Amtrak has been performing well on the northeast corridor, Kummant argued. He said the Acela had been beating the airline shuttles in terms of on-time performance and showed a high level of operating skill.

Ultimately, he said, the goal should be expanding the corridor down the entire eastern seaboard.
"We should say, 'How do you have an eastern corridor that operates as well all the way down to Florida as it does between New York and D.C.?" he said.

David Johnson, assistant director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said the group is pleased with Kummant's vision for improving the existing network and expanding it, despite some initial wariness over his lack of passenger rail background.

Kummant, who in 2003 left the freight rail business for stints at several equipment manufacturers, said he was happy to be back in the train world.

"There is nothing in my view quite as complex and, in the end, engrossing as a railroad operation," he said. "I tell my manufacturing friends, take a roof off your plant and spread it over 500 miles, and have two guys at a time managing 5 million in capital unsupervised. It's a real management challenge, and it's a fight against the elements." - Sarah Karush, BusinessWeek

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U.S. HIGH COURT REJECTS MINOT DERAILMENT CASE

Lawsuits stemming from a toxic train wreck near Minot, North Dakota, won't be heard by the nation's highest court -- at least for a while.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari, or request for review, on Monday for one of three groups seeking compensation for injuries suffered in a Jan. 18, 2002, derailment.

Justices accepted three of 139 cases for review. Without comment, the Supreme Court rejected the request by Tom Lundeen and about 50 others who wanted justices to determine whether their claims belong in federal or state court.

The group -- along with more than 1,100 people with claims in other lawsuits -- is suing Canadian Pacific Railway Co. for lung, eye and upper respiratory system injuries caused by exposure to anhydrous ammonia, a common farm chemical.

The Lundeen group's claims against Canadian Pacific will proceed in federal court, where railroad lawyers claim immunity laws protect the company from such lawsuits.

Last year, the railroad admitted liability in select cases heard in Minnesota state court, where jurors awarded millions of dollars in damages.

Plaintiffs' lawyers said they were undeterred by the court's decision Monday.

"We believe justice will ultimately be done here, and those plaintiffs will have a remedy," said Sarah Herman, a Fargo attorney.

The Supreme Court's decision didn't come as a surprise to Tim Thornton, a Minneapolis attorney for Canadian Pacific.

"This may make the situation clearer to plaintiffs," said Thornton, who added that the railroad has settled more than 100 cases and hopes to settle more.

Monday's case could still end up in front of the Supreme Court, along with the two other groups of plaintiffs.

One group includes dozens of lawsuits that were moved to Minnesota state court to Minneapolis' federal court. Lawyers for Minot-area residents argue the cases should be heard to state court.

In the other group, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals plans to hear arguments in a class-action lawsuit dismissed by U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland in Bismarck. - Steven P. Wagner, The Fargo Forum

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DM&E TO INCREASE TRAIN TRAFFIC

WINONA, MN -- An increased number of trains might pass near the Winona State University campus if the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation receives a $2.3 billion loan to expand its operation.

If the loan passes, DM&E plans to start construction in 2007 and start operating in 2010.

The plan, called the Powder River Basin project began in February 1998 to construct a 260-mile track for transporting low-sulfur coal from Wyoming and improve 600 miles of existing 80-year-old tracks.

Since the Surface Transportation Board, a branch of the Department of Transportation, approved the project, the railway has undergone two Environmental Impact Statements by the board and one open comment period.

Winona State student senate announced its opposition to the proposal in early December.

While D.J. Danielson, student senate public relations chair, said he is not against trains traveling through Winona, he is concerned about noise pollution.

Danielson said he had received complaints "off and on" primarily from East Lake residents.

The senate is also concerned about the railway's safety record, Danielson said.

The railway has the most accidents of any company in its revenue class and the eighth most accidents overall, according to a Federal Railroad Administration of Safety Analysis.

According to its Web site, the railway promised to improve safety measures and increase signaling if the loan is approved.

The Surface of Transportation Board's environmental analysis approved the environmental impacts of the project, looking mainly at air quality, horn noise and vibration and noise.

Jason Bauman, a senior class senator, disagrees.
"DM&E has yet to prove their upgrades deter derailments and that the $2.3 billion will in fact improve rail lines," Bauman stated in an e-mail.

Michael Bowler, a former DM&E task member for Winona State, said the project is a student safety issue.

The Canadian Pacific Railway owns the track near campus so the increased DM&E traffic could be diverted from Winona, Bowler said.

Although it's unsure if the increased train traffic will impact Winona, Bauman said it will affect Winona State students.

"Some of our opposition to (the senate's) resolution has come from people saying that the DM&E trains will not affect us," Bauman stated. "What they must understand is that it will affect Winona State, as well as the students that go to the Rochester campus."

DM&E, which runs primarily in Minnesota and South Dakota, and the project has the support of 55 of the 56 communities the increased traffic affects.

The only community opposed to the expansion is Rochester, Minnesota.

The Mayo Clinic is openly against the project saying trains may threaten the safety of their patients, according to local news reports.

Representatives from Mayo Clinic declined to comment.

The city of Winona is unable to speak on the project at this time because it has not come to a unanimous decision, said city council member Deb Salyards.

Currently, 28 trains rumble through Winona every day, loan is approved, many more might shake the ground as far away as Broadway. - Ryan Kieswetter, The Winonan

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'GREATEST DANGER' RIDES THE RAILS

LEXINGTON, KY -- Kentucky got very, very lucky last week: Two train wrecks in two days spewed hazardous materials into the air and water, causing evacuations but few injuries.

Still, experts say, the wrecks should bring more awareness to a potentially dangerous problem that rolls through most communities in Kentucky.

People don't realize it, but 30 rail cars a day carry hazardous materials through the heart of Lexington, said Pat Dugger, head of the Division of Environmental and Emergency Management for the city. Toxic inhalants, which include chlorine and ammonia, make up 15 percent of the cargo going through Lexington, according to figures from two years ago, the last numbers available.

"That's a significant risk we do have here, and it's more than people realize because we're not industrialized like Louisville," Dugger said.

Her counterpart in Louisville, KY, Doug Hamilton, is more blunt:

"The greatest danger every community in America faces is from the catastrophic release of hazardous materials, whether it's the highway or the railroad," he said.

One study found that a ruptured car carrying chlorine could kill thousands of people in a city within minutes.

Louisville got especially lucky. Last Tuesday's derailment in nearby Bullitt County happened in a rural community south of the most heavily populated areas, where only 500 people needed to be evacuated. The chemicals released - cyclohexane, butadiene and others - burned high and hot but dispersed fairly quickly. (Long-term air pollution is not expected because the chemicals burned, experts said.)

Consider instead Graniteville, SC. On Jan. 6, 2005, two trains crashed near a mill, puncturing a rail car of chlorine, considered the most dangerous chemical on the rails. Nine people died immediately from breathing the gas before officials even knew what it was. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 250 people were injured and 5,400 were evacuated, some of them kept out of their homes for more than two weeks.

That's the scenario every disaster coordinator plans for. In Dugger's case, it's a hazmat wreck at the Waller Avenue crossing near three major hospitals, the blood center, a nursing home and plenty of student housing.

"We've tried to work with the health care community to get them prepared to shelter in place, learn to immediately shut off heating and air conditioning," Dugger said.

But, Dugger said, the public needs to know more about what to do in such a situation, such as preparing emergency kits with necessary medication in case of evacuation.

"The more prepared people are, the better off we'll be," Hamilton said.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, trying to find out what chemicals are moving through communities has been more difficult. In fact, shortly after the terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security suggested that railroads erase the symbols that tell emergency personnel what chemical hazmat rail cars are carrying. A national coalition of firefighters and other first responders protested until the idea was dropped.

CSX Corp., Kentucky's major carrier, will, upon request, tell local governments which 25 chemicals go through their communities most frequently every year. CSX officials said last week that they faxed a train manifest listing all the chemicals to the Zoneton Fire Department within 15 minutes of the Bullitt County crash.

But because they don't know which chemicals will go through beforehand, it's difficult for communities to create emergency plans.

"Secrecy makes accidents harder to respond to," said Sean Moulton, director of federal information at OMB-Watch, a Washington, DC-based non-profit that advocates for more transparent government. "If they fax the manifest to the fire department after the accident, and they don't have the proper equipment. ... It's about having the information before the accident happens, that's the only way they'll have proper equipment and training."

Many hazmat experts say that railroads have been neglected in the general furor over airplane and port security. Last Sunday, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review published a lengthy series in which one of its reporters infiltrated 48 chemical plants and the freight lines that serve them across the country, leaving his business cards on rail cars full of chlorine that could easily be accessed by terrorists.

Many say that the rails are still the safest way to transport hazardous materials. The past year was the safest in a decade for hazmat train accidents, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. There were 652 accidents in which 20 hazmat cars released their chemicals.

Across the country, 1,736 people were evacuated from their homes.

Kentucky doesn't produce many chemicals, so only 2 percent of railroad traffic that begins here is chemicals. (Seventy-five percent of that traffic is coal.) However, chemical transport makes up 8 percent of the traffic moving through or ending in Kentucky, according to the Association of American Railroads.

And trains could still pose a tempting target for terrorists bent on causing substantial casualties. The U.S. Naval Laboratory did a study in 2005 that said one ruptured rail car carrying chlorine near downtown Washington, DC, could kill 100,000 people in 30 minutes.

The FRA and several chemical companies recently entered into an initiative to produce safer hazmat cars.

In 2004, the National Transportation Safety Board found that more than half the 60,000 railroad tank cars carrying hazardous materials are not built to industry standards and are more likely to break open after derailing.

That data helped persuade the Washington, DC, council to pass an ordinance forcing railroads and trucks to reroute hazmat loads to avoid the city.

The ordinance is held up in court by CSX Corp., with support from the Bush administration and other railroads. But at least eight other large cities are considering similar rules.

"Can you tell me an easier way for al-Qaida to fulfill its stated goal of killing more people than to let loose a poison gas tank car that we have pre-positioned for their benefit in a major American city?" asked Fred Millar, a consultant with Friends of the Earth who helped get the DC ordinance passed. "I don't know why others aren't already rerouting."

That idea will continue to be opposed by the railroads, though.

"It doesn't remove the risk; it just shifts it to other areas," said Tom White, spokesman for the Association of American Railroads. "When you reroute, you will have to travel longer distances and be subject to more handling, and that increases the risk of an accident."

And while people in Louisville might feel safer if hazmat cars weren't rumbling through downtown, those cars would probably be diverted to Lexington, a less-populous area, but one where people are just as opposed to dangerous chemical spills.

Rerouting also is not practical because the railroad bridge near downtown Louisville is one of the few crossing the Ohio River, Hamilton says.

"I don't think it could be realistically considered," he said.

A more long-term solution is one that railroads and their critics agree on: Stop the demand for shipping such dangerous chemicals.

Rick Hind, legislative director for the Greenpeace toxics campaign, said some cities have found it's simply easier to give up using chlorine in, say, sewage treatment, than to coordinate evacuating huge populations.

Of the four worst chemicals on the rails today - chlorine, anhydrous ammonia, hydrogen fluoride and sulfur dioxide - Hind says, there's good news and bad news.

"We have alternatives to all of them," he said. But many of them are still being used.

Kentucky American Water uses chloramines, a combination of chlorine and ammonia, to purify local water. Its chlorine is transported by truck, said spokeswoman Susan Lancho, and stored on site.

"We have a lot of training and procedures that are followed," she said.

Lexington's sewage treatment plant also uses trucked chlorine, Dugger said. But that doesn't mean chlorine isn't going through Lexington on the rails. The railroads send her percentages of what kinds of chemicals are on the tracks, rather than specifics. Flammable materials are the majority.

As Congress and the Kentucky General Assembly get back to work, lawmakers in both places are looking at rail security.

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., plans to reintroduce a bill that would require rerouting hazmat transports around large cities and beef up security of railroads and rail yards.

And in Kentucky, Rep. Brent Yonts is working on legislation that would require agencies and the railroads themselves to create safety plans in case of terrorist attack.

However, in the wake of this past week, when mayhem occurred without any suggestion that terrorism was involved, Yonts said he would look into requiring similar plans for accidents, too. - Linda B. Blackford, McClatchy Newspapers, The Kansas City Star

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YUKON RAILROAD STUDY READY TO ROLL

The results of a feasibility study into a proposed railroad through the Yukon, connecting Alaska to southern Canada, will be unveiled soon, Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie says.

The $6-million Alaska-Canada Rail Link Feasibility Study was commissioned by Fentie and former Alaska governor Frank Murkowski in 2005.

Fentie has invited Alaska's newly-elected Gov. Sarah Palin, who defeated Murkowski, to Whitehorse for the presentation.

"The governor was very receptive as she said she enjoys visiting the Yukon as she's been a consistent member of the Skagway relay," Fentie told reporters Friday.

"I encouraged her to recognize that the sooner we can have this meeting and this presentation, the sooner we can move on to other issues. I think she agreed with that concept and the invitation's been made and we'll now set a date in the very near future."

The first stage of the feasibility study, which looked at technical, engineering and market analysis of the proposal, was completed in June.

It suggested a route through Carmacks, north of Whitehorse, would be much better than following the Alaska Highway corridor through Whitehorse.

Since then, consultants have been looking at the financial aspects of the proposed railroad. - CBC.ca

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UNION PACIFIC AND NORFOLK SOUTHERN EXPAND INTERMODAL SERVICE

OMAHA, NE AND NORFOLK, VA -- Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway announced Monday that on Feb. 19, they will launch a new intermodal train service that will add train capacity and expand intermodal rail service between Los Angeles and the Southeast.

This new sixth-morning product between Los Angeles and Atlanta will complement existing BlueStreak service, which offers the fastest fifth-morning intermodal delivery in this rapidly growing market. This new product will have the same outstanding service reliability record that NS and UP have demonstrated on the BlueStreak.

In conjunction with this service improvement, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern will increase train capacity and improve service between Union Pacific's Los Angeles terminals and Norfolk Southern-served terminals in Atlanta, Charlotte, NC, Greensboro, NC, Jacksonville, FL, Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, and Miami.

UP and NS also announced a significant reduction in transit time for their BlueStreak intermodal service between Los Angeles and Atlanta. Effective Feb. 19, availability in Atlanta will be fourth-evening instead of fifth-morning, a reduction of almost half a day.

In addition, as part of their commitment to further improvements in capacity, service quality and speed, UP and NS will begin shifting domestic and international traffic to a new, shorter route over the Shreveport, La., gateway as early as third-quarter 2007. This shift will begin with the completion of the first phase of improvements on the Meridian Speedway. NS and UP ran successful test trains in this corridor in December. In establishing this new route, UP and NS will eliminate almost 150 route miles from the current route, and remove freight from the Memphis gateway. UP and NS expect to improve both BlueStreak and standard transit times and service consistency as this shift occurs.

"These new services and product offerings will offer customers higher quality shipping options in this rapidly growing corridor and build on the premier BlueStreak services that UP and NS have been running for more than five years," said Don Seale, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Norfolk Southern.

"These new services leverage the significant investments being made along this route by both UP and NS and, ultimately, will result in the shortest, most efficient rail route between Southern California and the Southeast," said Jack Koraleski, Union Pacific's executive vice president and chief marketing officer.

About Union Pacific

Union Pacific Corporation owns one of America's leading transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, links 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country and serves the fastest-growing U.S. population centers. Union Pacific's diversified business mix includes Agricultural Products, Automotive, Chemicals, Energy, Industrial Products and Intermodal. The railroad offers competitive long-haul routes from all major West Coast and Gulf Coast ports to eastern gateways. Union Pacific connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major gateways to Mexico, making it North America's premier rail franchise.

About Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation's premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 21,000 route miles in 22 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada, serving every major container port in the eastern United States and providing superior connections to western rail carriers. NS operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is North America's largest rail carrier of metals and automotive products. - Mark Davis, UP and Susan Terpay, NS, Joint News Release

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TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT EFFECT OF RESURRECTING RAIL LINE

I just read the article regarding reopening the railroad lines from Sheboygan Falls to Plymouth, Wisconsin. I read where this would allow three companies in Sheboygan Falls to ship and receive material less expensively.

Nothing was said about how many cars a day or week would be needed.

Nothing was mentioned that Bemis, the largest of the three, recently laid off 90 people and sent the work to China. Overlooked was the explanation of why the state is paying for this project when the transportation budget is in the red.

The Sheboygan Press editorial on Jan. 14 noted that the tracks will run adjacent to the Tallgrass condominiums. It should also be noted that the tracks will run next to or through three other neighborhoods, a park for preschool children, two apartment complexes and across the street from Horizon Elementary School.

It will cross at least four major streets that students must cross, plus it will bisect state Highway 57.

Your editorial did say buyers beware. However, when a 20-year defunct railroad, where the tracks have been removed from most areas, including all of the roads and streets, suddenly, and quietly, become a hot topic because of closed door negotiating, how does a buyer compete with that?

How much money can those three companies save when the start up cost for the reopening is a minimum of $9 million? And it doesn't cost them anything. But, it will cost the taxpayers.

Your editorial listened well to the public relations people that are promoting this project.

They stated the facts just as they were presented to them.

However, it is clear they did not check all of the facts involved. Perhaps a more extensive look at the project might provide more insight. - Letter to the Editor, Jim Bordeau, Plymouth, WI, The Sheboygan Press

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IOWA'S BOOMING ETHANOL INDUSTRY BENEFITS LOCAL COMMUNITIES

NORTHWOOD, IA -- Iowa's growing ethanol industry is benefitting local communities and attracting economic development as towns build infrastructure to serve the industry.

A panel at last week's Iowa State University Extension Corn and Soybean Clinic in Northwood and Clear Lake shared the details of that message.

David Sovereign, chairman of the board of Golden Grain Energy in Mason City and a Cresco farmer, said just two years into operation the plant is expanding, and investors are close to getting their money back, which is significantly ahead of the six year-to seven-year payback anticipated during the equity drives.

Golden Grain is paying a cash distribution of 90 cents per unit to the holders of Class A and B units. Net earnings for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31 were $42,153,697.

Sovereign said Golden Grain is proud of its impact on local communities. The plant's commodity manager and plant manager both grew up in Iowa, but left after college. Golden Grain brought them back to Iowa.

"A recent study showed that locally owned plants contribute 56 percent more to the community than plants owned by outside investors," Sovereign said.

Golden Grain wants to work with the grain handling infrastructure already in place in Iowa, Sovereign said. The plant buys its corn from area elevators. Last year it used nearly 19 million bushels of corn.

Mark Sabin, vice president and general manager of Iowa Northern Railway Company, provided an update on Manly Terminal, an ethanol distribution center under constructed north of Manly. The facility, which should be operating by May, is owned by Iowa Northern and LB Transport/MinnIowa Distribution, owned by the Kiewiet family of Buffalo Center.

Both companies were looking for ways to improve the transportation woes faced by the growing ethanol industry, Sabin said. Fate brought them together, and the result is Manly Terminal.

"Manly Terminal will be the largest single ethanol origination point in North America," Sabin said. "The goal is to become the delivery point for ethanol for Chicago Board of Trade futures trading."

Manly Terminal is at the northern end of the 126-mile Iowa Northern Railway, which offers access to several Class I rail carriers.

The facility will open with 5 million gallons of liquid storage but that will grow to 20 million gallons. The facility will handle 400 trucks of ethanol per day, transferring, reloading and shipping the biofuel on 75- to 95-car unit trains.

Sabin said there have been numerous inquiries from biofuel groups interested in building near Manly Terminal.

Manly was selected for its strong railroad heritage and also because it is at the epicenter of ethanol production, Sabin said.

His father was a locomotive engineer on the Rock Island out of Manly, and much of Sabin's family has worked for the railroad.

"Manly means a lot to us," Sabin said. "We've seen the railroad deteriorate, and we're ready to bring it back." - Jean Caspers-Simmet, Argi News

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SHARES OF RAILROADS GAIN MOMENTUM

NEW YORK, NY -- Shares of the nation's largest railroad operators moved higher Tuesday, as initially positive earnings reports took attention away from a lukewarm initiation of the sector by Calyon Securities Inc.

Shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. added $1.95, or 2.5 percent, to $79.08 in midday trading. Share of CSX Corp. rose $1.24, or 3.5 percent, to $36.64, while shares of Union Pacific Corp. gained $1.85 to $97.16. All three stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The activity came after Burlington Northern and CSX posted robust fourth-quarter profits and offered an optimistic picture for 2007.

CSX said on Monday after the markets closed that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 46 percent and predicted a double-digit increase in profits this year. Before the bell on Tuesday, Burlington Northern said its quarterly profit grew 21 percent and added that a rise in freight revenue in 2007 of 7 percent to 8 percent could fuel an increase in earnings per share by a low-teens percentage.

But Salvatore Vitale, an analyst at Calyon Securities, offered a more cautionary outlook. Vitale initiated coverage of the sector's six largest railroads at "Neutral" on Monday and followed up on Tuesday with an industry note warning that their outperformance could be nearing an end.

The analyst said that during the recent economic expansion, events such as rising international trade, strong pricing from tight capacity, robust consumer spending and a surging housing market, combined to help shares of Class I railroads return 136 percent since 2003. Although long-term trends, such as growing coal demand, contract re-pricing opportunities and intermodal growth, offer added optimism, he warned that railroads remain closely tied to the economy.

"We believe near-term caution is in order given the precarious state of the economy," Vitale wrote.

Elsewhere in the sector on the NYSE, shares of Norfolk Southern Corp. advanced 77 cents to $52.88, while Canadian National Railway Co. added 75 cents to $44.60 and shares of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. gained 98 cents to $54.43. - The Associated Press, The Houston Chronicle

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FRA RECOMMENDS RAILROADS STRENGTHEN YARD SAFETY

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Dec. 14 death of a railroad worker near Syracuse, New York, has prompted the government to issue recommendations for improving railroad safety.

The recommendations follow a preliminary investigation into Dec. 14 death of a worker who was killed when his truck was struck by a remote-controlled shoving yard movement.

The news involving new Federal Railroad Administration recommendations was of particular interest to Ed Brookshier, Hermiston, Oregon's city manager.

Union Pacific Railroad has notified the city it wants to operate remote-controlled trains through Hermiston. The city has adopted a resolution banning remote-control operations. The railroad, however, continues to pursue its plan.

Railroad officials have told city officials the remote-control operators would be on the locomotives.

"If it was something other than that, it could be very scary," Brookshier said, acknowledging that some remote-control train movements in yards are conducted by a worker who is on the ground.

"The issue for us is at-grade, ungated crossings," he said.

The FRA's recommendations were included in Safety Advisory 2007-01 published Thursday in the Federal Register.

Warren Flatau, an FRA spokesman in Washington, DC, said the latest recommendations are not limited to remote-control locomotives.

"It is another warning, if you will, to all parties, about the critical importance of abiding by operating rules in yards," he said this morning.

Flatau said the FRA and New York authorities still are investigating the Syracuse accident. Causes and contributing factors have not been established.

Agency officials said the subject of "point protection" for shoving movements was included in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning railroad operating rules and practices under consideration. "Point protection" refers to safety at the front of a moving train.

By issuing the safety advisory, the FRA is asking the industry not to wait until the lengthy rulemaking process is concluded, but to act now to prevent another injury or death. The agency's most significant recommendation is that railroads "review, or amend ... their point protection rules to clarify that the person protecting the point visually determine, for the duration of the shoving or pushing movement, that the track is clear either within the person's range of vision or for the complete distance the equipment is to be shoved or pushed ...."

In making this recommendation, FRA officials acknowledged that "continuous observation cannot be accomplished if the person is also attempting to accomplish other tasks that cause the person to divert attention from providing point protection."

The safety advisory also recommended that railroads:

.Assess their rules addressing safety at yard crossings.

.Review their point protection rules and their importance with all relevant employees.

.Review their rules pertaining to employee behavior on or about tracks with particular emphasis in yards.

.Address the ability of employees to call for assistance in emergency situations.

.Assess the visibility of flat cars and other equipment with low profiles and consider measures available to increase their visibility when they are the lead car in a shoving movement, especially at yard crossings.

John P. Tolman, vice president and national legislative representative of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, applauded the FRA's action.

"The industry is long overdue for a mandatory point protection requirement for shoving movements," he said, "Crews should have the absolute right to refuse to make a blind shove."

Tolman said his union urges the FRA to closely monitor the industry's response to these recommendations, and to take further action, if necessary, to ensure that another tragedy like the New York accident never happens again. - Dean Brickey, The East Oregonian

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VINTON RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT ON DEADLY RAILROAD CROSSING

VINTON, LA -- One Vinton, Louisiana railroad crossing has been a source of controversy now for more than a decade. The Eddy Street crossing in Vinton is the only one of the four Vinton railroad crossings that does not have active warning devices. But, city officials are continuing the fight to have that changed.

It's been five years since the Vinton Town Council allocated $200,000 to pay for cross arms at the Eddy Street crossing, but the tracks remain unprotected. Joe Arbona with Union Pacific says the railroad company is committed to safety. If an active railroad crossing is to be installed, it would be the responsibility of the Department of Transportation and Development to require the railroad company to upgrade the crossing. Arbona says this has not occurred.

The crossing has a very faded white "X" painted on each side of the road, stop signs and track crossing signs, but these warnings have not been enough for drivers. There have been four fatalities in the past two years.

Betsey Tromonte with Operation Lifesaver works to raise awareness about the danger surrounding railroad crossings. Louisiana ranks sixth in the nation for the number of highway-rail crossing collisions. Operation Lifesaver's mission is to decrease these numbers. Tromonte says, "We find that a lot of times when drivers approach the railroad crossing, they've either approached it so many times throughout their life or during the day, that a lot of times they need to be reminded that the railroad crossing is there."

Elizabeth St. Julien lives in Vinton and drives over the Eddy Street crossing frequently. She says although she is very cautious, she has had a close call with a train before. "It's a time that I have crossed there, and stopped and looked both ways and didn't see anything...but sure enough after I crossed the track, the train passed."

Vinton Mayor Kenny Stinson tells 7News that within the next two weeks, the city will hear from DOTD and Union Pacific Railroad Company regarding a potential solution to this deadly crossing.

"I just hope before this gets remedied, that no more people lose their lives there," says St. Julien.

Back in 1997 the Eddy Street crossing was temporarily barricaded by Southern Pacific Railroad (which was later bought by Union Pacific) in an effort to reduce the number of accidents on the tracks. This only lasted for about one year, however, because many residents felt an inconvenience to use other roads to access their neighborhood. - Britney Glaser, KPLC-TV7, Lake Charles, LA

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DEVELOPER MOTIVATED TO MOVE QUICKLY; FOR THOMAS ENTERPRISES, CLEANING UP RAIL SITE IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

Map here:

[www.sacbee.com]

SACRAMENTO, CA -- The railroad operators took 20 years hauling away topsoil they polluted at Sacramento's historic downtown train yard.

Stan Thomas, the new owner of the 240-acre site, believes he can finish the last third of the job in just two years -- all the while proceeding with plans for urban villages, public markets, museums, entertainment complexes and more.

That would surpass by fivefold the pace under Union Pacific Corp. and its predecessor, Southern Pacific Transportation Co.

How can Thomas outrun the kings of rail? Because his motivations are more powerful than a locomotive, according to officials with his development company, Thomas Enterprises Inc. of Atlanta.

Thomas Enterprises is anxious to recoup cleanup expenses and the cost of the property purchase -- figures the company declines to disclose. The faster the cleanup, the sooner Thomas will get city approval for development. The sooner the company sells parcels to developers, the faster it can pay off loans and turn a profit.

"You have a clock ticking on you because you are paying interest, and because you want to be ready to develop when the market is ready," said Paul Petrovich, who is redeveloping the former railyard in Sacramento's Curtis Park neighborhood.

"You will see in the next few weeks a lot of activity, a lot of dirt being moved around," said Suheil Totah, Thomas vice president for development, who keeps a pair of binoculars on his conference table overlooking the railyard.

The insurance giant AIG also has a financial stake in a speedy cleanup of the downtown yard.

Under terms of the Dec. 29 property transfer, Thomas paid AIG upfront the full estimated cost to finish the job in two years, plus an insurance premium ensuring the work will be done in that time. Any environmental remediation needed beyond 2008 will be on AIG's dime, Totah said.

The cleanup engineers and excavators also are under political pressure to move full speed ahead.
Sacramento city officials are counting on the grand redevelopment to revitalize and expand the downtown area. And environmental officials are banking on the project as a showpiece to inspire cities to redevelop polluted properties, known in regulatory parlance as "brownfields."

"This is the poster child brownfield project for the whole state," said Paul Carpenter, who oversees the cleanup for the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Much of the yard is on reclaimed marsh and a lake known as China Slough or Lake Sutter, which the railroad routinely filled with debris through the early 20th century. Records on what was dumped are scarce. Rumors abound of old locomotives buried whole.

When Union Pacific acquired Southern Pacific in 1996, it assumed liability for removing the toxic wastes that had leaked, spilled or been dumped in what was once the largest industrial center west of the Mississippi.

Under an early 1980s state-enforced agreement, Southern Pacific began extracting millions of gallons of groundwater polluted with various solvents, mineral spirits, battery acid, diesel fuel and heavy oil that fueled steam engines. The daily pumping and cleansing of groundwater is expected to go on for decades.

The plume of contamination is contained, does not threatened drinking water wells and does not affect development, state toxics officials said.

Vapors emanating from soil contaminated with such volatile organic compounds, however, can seep through buildings and create a breathing hazard to occupants.

"We are going to assure there is none," said Fernando Amador, who also is supervising the soil remediation for the state toxics department.

Development can proceed during the cleanup so long as the state regulators have declared "no further action required" at the site under construction.

The sequence of the cleanup will follow the development timetable, which spans about 15 years, Totah said.

Construction can proceed during the cleanup on sites regulators have stamped "no further action required." AIG retained the environmental remediation company of ERM-West to finish the soil cleanup that it began under Union Pacific.

The first area targeted is a northwest corner parcel next to Interstate 5 where Thomas Enterprises has landed its first retail tenant -- Bass Pro Shops -- a fishing and outdoors emporium.

Excavators then move to the area planned for the 5th Street Emporium, with ground-level shops and restaurants and topped with residential units.

On track next would be the footprint that will be left after the planned relocation of the freight and passenger rails. The tracks are to move 300 feet north of the depot for a new transportation center.

Crews then will attack the Central Shops, where locomotives were built and rebuilt. Thomas Enterprises plans to transform these cavernous old brick buildings into a public marketplace on the scale of the Ferry Building in San Francisco and Boston's Faneuil Hall.

Totah said the cost of the insurance policy on the cleanup took into account the possibility of excavators' uncovering surprises. – Chris Bowman, The Sacramento Bee

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TRANSIT NEWS

LIGHT RAIL 'FEASIBLE' IN EASTERN IOWA CORRIDOR

CORALVILLE, IA -- The Iowa Association of Railroad Passengers heard the results of a feasibility study Saturday at its meeting in Coralville. The study showed what it would take to bring back something that's long been gone.

The old Crandic passenger rail line that ran between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City stopped running in 1953.

Eliot Keller, an official with the passenger association, says, "So, it's been more than a half-century since we've seen this coming back, but there's been a lot of changes."

Environmental concerns, traffic congestion, and plain old interest might revive the railway for passengers between Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and the Amana Colonies, but it could still be years away.

Keller says, "(It's) longer than some of us would like, but it is a realistic possibility."

Right now, officials say it's only feasible to run the service for special events like Hawkeye football games. That alone could cost just under half a million dollars.

In three to five years, it could replace some bus routes with train rides from North Liberty to Iowa City. That would cost nearly $19 million.

And anywhere from six to 20 years from now, passenger rail could run from the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids down to Iowa City. That could cost more than $35 million.

Keller says, "It's not perceived as a front burner issue, so there are a lot of other things on the plate for folks who do political funding."

Officials hope to offer a free train ride to passengers this spring. They hope it shows lawmakers just how many people are interested and help garner support for this passenger rail project. The rail group hopes communities and counties along the route will help pay for about a fifth of the $70 million. They hope to get the rest from the federal government.

While it would cost $70 million to update the already existing railroad now used for freight lines, the group says it would save a lot of money in the long run. It estimates the cost of adding an additional lane for traffic on I-380 would be $400 million. - Josh Hinkle, KCRG-TV9, Cedar Rapids, IA

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TO BE VIABLE, VOTER-APPROVED LIGHT-RAIL PLAN MUST BE AMENDED

KANSAS CITY, MO -- At the last election, Kansas City voters approved a light-rail ballot initiative loaded with problems.

The best way to make light rail a reality is for local officials to extensively revise the plan and present it to voters as soon as possible.

That conclusion is inescapable after a recent City Council hearing in which experts explained the many impediments to the plan. For example:

. It's probably unconstitutional. Assistant City Attorney Bill Geary said ballot initiatives must include a revenue source to pay for what is being proposed. The plan developed by activist Clay Chastain relies heavily on hopes for federal funding, which cannot be guaranteed.

. The federal government won't approve any plan that uses money on which the local bus system relies. Chastain's initiative does; it would use a 3/8-cent sales tax that produces 40 percent of the Area Transportation Authority's revenue.

. The specified route would present complicated jurisdictional entanglements. The rails are supposed to use streets and roads that belong to North Kansas City and Gladstone; voters in those cities were not even asked for their approval of the idea. And the plan claims use of the Heart of America Bridge, which is controlled by the state.

. Two parts of Chastain's plan would not be eligible for federal funding, according to Jeff Boothe, a transit expert with the Washington lobbying firm of Holland & Knight. They are the gondola system near Liberty Memorial and the requirement that the rail system draw power from an in-ground source rather than overhead wires.

. The federal funding process is highly competitive, and it takes more than seven years before construction money shows up. Boothe said the Federal Transit Administration probably won't approve money for a system that hasn't undergone a rigorous planning process, beginning with an "alternatives analysis" study. Chastain's proposed route has not yet undergone such a study.

Geary pointed to still another problem: The plan mandates that Broadway and all other roads in Penn Valley Park be closed. Yet the city charter requires approval for such a move from the parks board.

"If the (City) Council had passed this, it would have been invalid," Geary said. "If the council can't do it, the voters can't do it by initiative."

Chastain proved that Kansas City voters want light rail and are willing to pay for it.

Eventually, however, city officials will need to amend the ballot issue and give voters a chance to approve a more workable blueprint. - Editorial Opinion, The Kansas City Star

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U OF U STUDENTS PICK TRAX

SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- The seats and aisles of a TRAX car are filled with people as the train rolls into the Rice-Eccles Stadium station.

The doors open and a horde of students carrying newspapers and coffee cups pour out and begin making their way to early morning classes.

For the more than third of the U population that rides the light rail or buses to campus, this is a daily scenario--for the U, it is a sign of a mass transit plan gone right.

Almost five years ago, 6,500 students, staff and faculty members rode public transportation to campus, but after the completion of TRAX in 2003, that number has jumped to more than 13,000, according to the Utah Transit Authority.

"It's exceeded even our expectations," said Dave Huber, Salt Lake regional manager for UTA.

With a hefty portion of the campus using alternative forms of transportation, administrators said the U is beginning to reap the benefits.

Fewer cars, more parking

Since the completion of TRAX, U administrators said traffic to campus has declined and opened much-needed parking spaces.

"There was a very obvious and constant problem at the U to find parking--now there's an excess," Huber said.

The average number of cars using Foothill Boulevard near the U has steadily declined by about 5,000 cars since the late 1990s, according to numbers provided by the Utah Department of Transportation.

"Foothill used to be a mess," said Norm Chambers, associate vice president for auxiliary services. "We're helping a lot to get cars off the road all over the valley."

While there are more students at the U than there were five years ago, there are more open parking spaces, said Alma Allred, director of commuter services.

Allred said there are generally several hundred unoccupied parking spaces on campus at any given time during the day.

Dennis Marshing, a U staff member, said after working at other jobs where he was required to drive everyday, riding TRAX or biking to work was a breath of fresh air.

"It's kind of nice just letting somebody else drive," Marshing said.

Saving space and money

The benefits of TRAX extend beyond open parking lots--administrators said it's saving the U and students money.

The U has been able to avoid building large, expensive parking structures largely because of the popularity of TRAX, Chambers said.

He said parking garages would have cost millions of dollars and caused the prices of parking passes to "skyrocket" because donors wouldn't likely provide funding for a parking garage.

"You're not going to find the Eccles parking garage," Chambers said.

The decreased demand for parking is also helpful to U planners who want to save space for new buildings.

"I don't think anybody wants to have a parking garage anywhere," Allred said. "We don't want to take up green space."

Riding TRAX is saving students money, too.

Josh Rosenthal, a sophomore in business, said that by riding TRAX, he saves about $30 each month in gas money and $120 per year because he does not have to buy a parking permit.

"It's less stress (not) having to park and good exercise," he said.

Now that the U is choosing mass transit by the masses, Huber said he must work with administrators to make way for more riders.

"We're constantly adding (more TRAX) cars," he said. - Dustin Gardiner, The Daily Utah Chronicle (The student newspaper of the University of Utah)

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TWO GROUPS OPPOSE MISSOURI GRANT TO METRO

JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- Two St. Louis citizens' groups told a Senate appropriations committee Monday that they opposed a $20 million state grant to Metro because of lingering concerns over the agency's over-budget light-rail extension completed last year.

Metro has asked the state for the one-time grant to help cover costs during the Highway 40 (Interstate 64) improvement project, which is to start this spring.

All lanes of Highway 40 between Ballas Road and Interstate 170, and the numerous bridges and arterials underneath, will be closed at different times over the next three years. Metro also faces $17 million in service reductions over the next fiscal year.

If no additional money is found, Metro could be forced to reduce MetroLink and bus services, officials say. Metro has said that the first item on the chopping block could be the additional trains that run during sporting events.

But, money or no money, Tom Sullivan, of the Public Transit Accountability Project, said reserve buses could do little to ease congestion during the highway project. "Any buses that Metro could add would ... only get caught in the same traffic jams with everyone else."

Richard Dockett, a spokesman for the St. Louis Area Concerned Taxpayers, said his group also opposes state funding to Metro, largely because of the cost overruns of MetroLink's eight-mile extension to Clayton and Shrewsbury.

Metro chief Larry Salci testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this month and is scheduled to speak to the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday. - Derek Kravitz, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

THE END