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Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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Rail News

BNSF ISSUES WEEKLY PRB COAL UPDATE FOR FEBRUARY 06, 2007

PRB Train Loadings Continue to Exceed 2006 Pace

Average BNSF daily train loadings for the Powder River Basin (PRB), including Wyoming and Montana mines, totaled 51.6 trains per day the week ended February 4, 2007, up 2.6 percent from the average of 50.3 trains per day for the week ended February 5, 2006. Planned and unplanned mine outages resulted in an average of 2.6 missed loading opportunities per day for the week ended February 4, 2007.

Year-to-date through February 4, 2007, BNSF has loaded a total daily average of 49.1 trains in the PRB, up 2 percent from the 47.9 trains loaded through the same period in 2006.

Systemwide, BNSF has loaded a total of 27.0 million tons through February 4, 2007, slightly above the 2006 year-to-date total of 26.7 million tons.

Construction Projects Update

Crews have completed 95 percent of the grading for 15 miles of new third main track on the BNSF line between Donkey Creek and Caballo just north of the PRB Joint Line. Track laying is scheduled to begin in March, and the new track is expected to go into service in May, with crossovers to follow later this year. - BNSF Service Advisory

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KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN REPORTS BIG GAIN ON COAL SHIPMENTS, PRICE

KANSAS CITY, MO -- Railroad operator Kansas City Southern said Tuesday that fourth-quarter profits surged on higher prices and larger loads, especially coal.

Investors responded by pushing the stock above its previous 52-week high of $31.23 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares were up 17 cents to $31.39.

The company said it earned $35.7 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with $2.3 million, or 3 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 33 cents per share.

Revenue for the quarter rose 14 percent from $388.1 million last year to $442.4 million, beating analyst predictions of $414 million.

For the year, the company said it earned $89.4 million, or $1.08 per share, compared with $91.4 million, or $1.10 per share, in 2005. Annual revenues increased 23 percent from $1.35 billion to $1.66 billion.

Analysts had expected earnings of $1.01 per share on $1.63 billion in revenue.

The company said revenue from coal increased 28.3 percent during the quarter and 15.3 percent during the year. Chemical and petroleum product revenue also increased significantly, rising 26.5 percent in the fourth quarter and 14 percent for the year.

Automotive shipments, reflecting the sector's down year, decreased 10 percent in the fourth quarter and 16.7 percent for the year.

Overall, the company said it had a 3.5 percent increase in carloads during the quarter but a 1 percent decline in loads for the year. - The Associated Press, The Topeka Capital-Journal

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RAILROAD EQUIPMENT WRECKS, DANGLES OVER COLUMBIA RIVER

KENNEWICK, WA -- Union Pacific workers struggled to secure a piece of motorized track equipment Monday night as it dangled from a bridge over the Columbia River.

The truck-sized rig was being driven from Burbank to Finley across the bridge about 15:00 when the center section of the bridge started to open.

Bob Gear, chief of the Benton Fire District 1, said the fire district wasn't notified of the incident until about 17:00. The driver saved himself from serious injury by leaping from the moving equipment, which trundled across the bridge until it reached the chasm and tipped over. A hydraulic operated arm, or boom, on the rig caught on the bridge, preventing the rig from falling into the river, Gear said.

"It is just hanging there under the bridge and the motor is still running," Gear said.

Gear said he called for Columbia Dive Rescue to put two boats with rescue crews in the water near the bridge just in case any of the railroad workers slipped into the water. The accident occurred near one of the bridge piers about 100 yards north of the Finley end of the bridge.

Workers were concerned that if the rig's running motor stops, then the hydraulics would fail and the mechanical arm would give way, dropping the rig into the water.

About 50 gallons of hydraulic fluid already had leaked out about 18:00, Gear said.

Gear said the rig's driver was taken to the hospital but his condition was not known. - John Trumbo, The Tri-City Herald (Kennewick/Pasco/Richland, WA)

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MIDWESTERN MEMBERS REOPEN FAULT LINES OVER $2.3 BILLION RAIL LOAN

WASHINGTON, DC -- The final skirmish is beginning this week in a long congressional battle that has exposed rifts over fiscal conservatism, geographical bias and ethics reform, as the government nears a decision on whether to approve a $2.3 billion loan to a South Dakota railroad company.

The $2.3 billion would help the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, or DM&E, finance a proposed track expansion to transport coal and ethanol around the biofuel-booming Plains region.
But DM&E's request has pitted Dakotan lawmakers against Minnesota members lining up behind their state's venerable medical facility, the Mayo Clinic, which sees a safety hazard in new trains speeding potentially toxic cargo through its backyard.

The Federal Railroad Administration ruled on environmental standards for the rail expansion late last week, starting a 90-day clock for ultimate approval or rejection of the DM&E bid by the Transportation Department and sparking fresh vows by Minnesota Sens. Norm Coleman (R) and Amy Klobuchar (D) to block the loan at all costs.

"The burden is on us, as the department moves forward, to try to stop something," Coleman told reporters on a Thursday conference call. Coleman added that he has reached out to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, but suggested that the delegation has effective tools for obstruction of the loan if the railroad does not float a mitigation deal to allay Mayo's concerns.

"Individual senators can make it very difficult on a department, very difficult," said Coleman, who is gearing up for a tough reelection fight in 2008. "Nominations can be left unfilled for an extended period of time, budgets can come under review that have no relation to this project."

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who has joined his state's Democratic members, Sen. Tim Johnson and Rep. Stephanie Herseth, to praise DM&E's expansion bid as a boon to the alternative-fuels industry, noted that a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the railroad last month in a challenge to the plan's environmental impact.

"This rail upgrade project enjoys wide support throughout Minnesota, South Dakota and the region because it will increase track safety, create thousands of jobs and strengthen our economies," Thune said through a spokesman. "This project should be judged on its merits rather than politics."

The railroad's plans have prompted Mayo to engage in high-stakes lobbying for the first time in its century-long history, forming a grassroots coalition and signing up the Livingston Group, Manatt Phelps & Phillips and McDermott Will & Emery. But the DM&E government loan, which will be supplemented by private financing, is most infamous for sparking an emotional exchange last spring between Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.), now retired, and Thune, a DM&E lobbyist before his election in 2004.

Dayton attempted to attach limits on lobbyists-turned-lawmakers advocating for their former clients to last year's ethics bill in response to Thune's support for the expansion, arguing that "the Mayo Clinic is worth a hell of a lot more than the whole state of South Dakota."

Dayton later apologized to Thune, who called the comment "unconscionable, offensive and wholly unbecoming."

The gloves have not come off in such fashion during this Congress, and Klobuchar stressed on Thursday that "the best thing we can do is try to work this out." But fiscal-conservative groups allied with the Mayo coalition have inserted a four-letter word into the debate: pork.

FreedomWorks, headed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), wrote to Peters last week asking her to block the loan, which he called a "sweetheart financial deal." Citizens Against Government Waste gave Thune its November "Porker of the Month" award, crediting to the popular freshman a provision in the 2005 transportation bill that set new criteria for the railroad loan financing program and made DM&E's loan application possible.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a frequent foe of new federal projects, also has written to Peters warning of the default risk of the loan to DM&E. The White House budget office, which would craft conditions for financing and analyze the loan if it is approved, has opposed the existence of the railroad-financing program and did not include it in yesterday's budget.

Thune worked on the provision expanding the railroad loan program in question but was not the sole author, communications director Kyle Downey said.

"All railroads have to win approval on their own merits" for financing, Downey said. "DM&E was not singled out; this is not an earmark. A lot of people are overlooking the simple, basic facts of this story because Mayo is spending a lot of money to get their story out."

Supporters of the DM&E bid also point out that Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar (D), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has long backed expansion of the rail-financing program that would fund the DM&E loan, although Oberstar has not supported the DM&E application.

Kevin Schieffer, DM&E's president and CEO and a former congressional aide himself, ascribed Flake's criticism of the expansion to Mayo's presence in Arizona rather than "any conservative or fiscal analysis." Schieffer was skeptical that Mayo would accept any mitigation offer from DM&E, contending that previous negotiations have not succeeded.

"The world doesn't revolve around one community . When it gets down to it, they're not interested in mitigation," Schieffer said. "They just want to kill the whole project. In terms of Minnesota politics, that's very negative and hurtful to Minnesota farmers and energy projects and small towns along the way."

The rail expansion was a central campaign theme for freshman Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), who will drop off stacks of personal comments from residents in his district at the Transportation Department today. Walz and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) have asked House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to examine the circumstances behind the DM&E proposal, and Walz said late last week that Waxman has requested documents from Transportation officials.

Herseth, however, has responded with her own request that Waxman stay out of the issue, calling Walz's and Maloney's criticism of the loan "absurd hyperbole" and suggesting that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, not Government Reform, assume jurisdiction over the DM&E application.

"If my colleagues disagree" with the transportation bill's 2005 changes to the railroad-loan program, Herseth wrote to Waxman on Dec. 20, ". the proper recourse is to seek changes in the law, not to engage in political grandstanding under the guise of legitimate oversight." - Elana Schor, The Hill (The Newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress)

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V&T WILL SPEED THROUGH GOLD HILL, NOT STOP

CARSON CITY, NV -- A $720,000 land-lease deal that would've enabled the Virginia & Truckee Railway to stop in Gold Hill failed Monday, with votes tied between the board reconstructing the historic railroad.

The Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the Virginia & Truckee Railway split on the best use of taxpayers' money: spending it to avert any future problems of getting the tourist train up to Virginia City, or saving money on a long-term lease that may not be needed.

"I don't believe we need it for the operation of the railroad," said Commissioner Ron Allen, who voted against the lease. "My intent is, I don't want to set a precedence of leasing land."

Commissioners John Tyson, Larry McPherson and John Flanagan also voted against the lease.

The issue drew a room full of spectators, contentious debate between the factions, and ultimately failed because of meeting rules that determine a tied vote falls flat.

The commission first proposed the 20-year land lease adjacent to the Gold Hill Depot in case an operating agreement is not worked out with the Gray family, which owns the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. The tourist rail business runs trains between its station in Virginia City and the Gold Hill Depot, off State Route 342. The Gold Hill land is owned by Virginia City businessman Joe Curtis.

The commission is rebuilding about 16 miles of track between the depot and Carson City with public and private funds.

Commissioners in favor of the lease said the land could be used for parking or as a tourist-staging area. Passengers could then be bused down the mountain or up to Virginia City, if needed. The board is also concerned with the cost of fixing up the V&T Railroad for heavy use.

Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira, who sits on the V&T board and voted to approve the land lease, said it would've been in the taxpayers' best interest to sign the lease on a project for which costs keep climbing. Commissioners Bonnie Weber, Bob Hadfield and Janice Ayres voted with Teixeira. Commissioner Doug Johnson was absent.

"We want to go to Virginia City, but just in case, this is a $48 million project," Teixeira said. "If we don't have a fall back, we're doing a disservice to the taxpayers."

The lease would have also secured a needed access road and use of the V&T Railway corporation name, which Curtis believes he owns exclusively.

Tom Gray, co-owner of the V&T Railroad, wants to see the steam locomotive complete the trek to Virginia City.

"We wouldn't support busing in people from Gold Hill," he said. - Becky Bosshart, The Nevada Appeal

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RESTORATION PROJECT CONTINUES AT ABERDEEN RAILROAD DEPOT

Slide show here:

[www.aberdeennews.com]

ABERDEEN, SD -- The smell of sawdust greets the visitors entering the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Depot in downtown Aberdeen, South Dakota.

One by one the five people take a look around, getting a look at the restoration progress.

"You get into any project like this and you're dealing with history," said Vera Lilly, one of the organizers of the Red Cross Canteen, which will have a space at the depot. "Somebody has to keep it alive."

And that's exactly what's being done. Through grants and donations, the restoration of the downtown depot continues. The construction, which is being facilitated by the Tom and Danielle Aman Foundation, is slow, but officials say the important part is that it's still ongoing.

Thanks to a $500,000 Department of Transportation grant, a new elevator has recently be installed, a stairwell leading from the basement all the way up to the second floor is nearly finished and construction on public bathrooms has begun. Jodi Gerdes, director of the Tom and Danielle Aman Foundation, said that phase of the restoration is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month.

"We want to tie in to what this building was originally for," Gerdes said. "Any improvements we're making is with that in mind."

Work on the historic depot began in 2004 after Blackstone Developers acquired the property and then leased the property to the Tom and Danielle Aman Foundation for the purpose of facilitating the restoration of the building. Portions of the west end of the depot were restored and remodeled a few years ago and now house the Aberdeen Convention & Visitor's Bureau and Aberdeen Visitor's Center and the Northern Route to the Black Hills.

Current construction is in preparation for the Red Cross Canteen exhibit, a Native American Cultural Center and Museum, and a trading post on the main floor and the James Valley Model Railroad Association museum in the basement. But before those groups can occupy the space, $550,000 in grants or donations is needed to complete the heating and cooling system for the building. Geothermal wells have been drilled, but the electrical and mechanical components still need to go in.

Excitement builds: Tom Blanchard, secretary of the James Valley Model Railroad Association, said his group is anxious to get into the space, but members are also in no hurry.

"This space is perfect for us," Blanchard said from the basement of the depot. "What's really neat is that you can stand down here and hear the trains go by. We're excited to get in here."

So are the Red Cross Canteen ladies. Lilly, Patsy Weigel, Ruth Casanova, Lila Schwalbe and Merilee Frankenberger have spent the last couple of years preparing for the opening of the Red Cross Canteen exhibit at the depot. The exhibit will represent the canteen, which served pheasant sandwiches, cakes and other goodies to soldiers riding the train through Aberdeen during World War II. Approximately 586,000 troops were served in two and a half years.

"It's part of Aberdeen's history," Weigel said. "There wasn't any other canteens like this. The soldiers didn't pay anything, and they got a great meal."

Lilly said donations - everything from clothing of that era to money - are still being accepted to complete the display the group has planned. Until they're able to get into the depot, planning will continue. The group is even going to be working with a consultant to make sure the exhibit comes together in the best way possible.

"The one thing that's really important is to make sure everything is authentic," Weigel said.

"It's important the public realizes we're still working on it. We haven't quit," Lilly added.\

And neither has the progress at the depot.

"I think it is a wonderful project," Gerdes said. "I am excited about this project and looking forward to its completion." - Emily Arthur, The Aberdeen American News

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LIMITS SOUGHT ON RAIL CARGO

WASHINGTON, DC -- Certain poisonous chemicals, explosives and toxic gases and liquids would be prohibited from traveling by rail inside the city of Memphis, Tennessee without a permit under an ordinance City Council member Carol Chumney plans to introduce today (Tuesday).

The ordinance, in the works since last July, would prohibit chemicals that are explosive or are toxic when inhaled from entering the city except in an emergency. Railroad companies that maintain there are no practical alternative routes to going through Memphis would be required to obtain permits that would restrict the time of day when the hazardous materials could enter the city.

Last July, The Commercial Appeal identified train cars carrying 2-Dimethylaminoethyl acrylate, acetone cyanohydrin, nickel carbonyl, and several other toxic inhalation hazard cargoes over a two-day period in or near residential areas of Memphis. All are listed as potentially lethal if inhaled.

Congressional efforts to re-route hazardous cargoes are expected to move before the House and Senate Homeland Security committees on an expedited basis early this year. Similar efforts were stymied in the last Congress. Municipal efforts to regulate hazardous cargoes have been challenged in federal courts because freight railroad companies conduct interstate commerce, which is generally not subject to local restrictions.

The Transportation Security Administration, with jurisdiction over rail safety, has proposed a rule that would track rail cars carrying hazardous materials. The period for public comment on it ends later this month.

Chumney said she understands the law is in flux and that her ordinance is likely to be challenged.

"I don't know that we can sit back and do nothing if Congress is not going to take effective action," said Chumney, who said she has informed the offices of both Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., of her ordinance.

"We have a responsibility to protect our community, and we need to really push and do what we can do here to either get Congress to do something or, hopefully, the court decision will come out in our favor," Chumney said.

Nationally, municipal attempts to regulate hazardous chemicals on railcars in highly populated areas have met with limited success. The District of Columbia is in federal district court now after the railroads sought to stay enforcement of an ordinance seeking to reroute potentially hazardous trains traveling near cherished national monuments.

Fred Millar, a consultant to the D.C. city council, said knowing where hazardous-chemical cars are doesn't solve the problem. He said he expects to see federal rail security legislation on President Bush's desk by March 11, the third anniversary of the Madrid transit bombing that killed 192 people. Millar said Memphis' ordinance will have the effect of encouraging Congress to see that local constituencies around the country are trying to protect themselves even though "the fairest way to deal with this is to have a national, uniformly fair re-routing regulation."

Individual freight railroad company spokesmen contacted Monday deferred comment to the Association of American Railroads, which didn't return a call seeking comment. BNSF Railway Company's spokesman, Joe Faust, directed the newspaper to the AAR Web site. There, the railroad association takes the position that re-routing is potentially more dangerous because it causes the chemicals to travel longer and farther.

The AAR also notes on its Web site that, since Sept. 11, 2001, the industry has worked with the Department of Homeland Security to develop a security plan and that it is committed to transporting hazardous materials "with maximum attention to safety and security." - Bartholomew Sullivan, The Memphis Commercial Appeal

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TRAIN MAKES DRIVER PAY FOR IMPATIENCE

Photo here: [www.winonadailynews.com]

Caption reads: A train struck a car Monday at the Louisa Street crossing in Winona, Minnesota. The driver received minor injuries and was cited for not obeying the crossing signal. (Photo by James A. Bowey/Winona Daily News)

WINONA, MN -- A Winona, Minnesota man received minor injuries Monday when his car was struck by a train after he attempted to drive around the railroad crossing at Louisa Street.

Lawrence Pepin, 56, was driving south on Louisa Street around 10:40, and when he saw the crossing arms were down and flashing, he moved into the northbound lane in an attempt to drive around them, said Winona Police Sgt. Rick Bittle.

He looked right. The train hit him from the left, police said.

His blue Cadillac Eldorado was struck on the driver's side tire by a westbound Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad train going about 20 mph, which pushed the car about 100 feet into a ditch. IC&E is owned by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad.

Three Winona police officers, the Winona Area Ambulance service and the Winona Fire Department responded. Pepin complained of pain in his arm and was taken to Community Memorial Hospital. Police cited him for disregarding the crossing signal. - Brian Voerding, The Winona Daily News

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TRAIN CARS JUMP TRACKS IN MERIDIAN

Photo here:

[www.meridianstar.com]

MERIDIAN, MS -- Motorists traveling through Meridian, Mississippi in the A and B Street areas and on North and South Frontage Roads near 22nd Avenue over to 17th Avenue, frequently have to pause for slow moving freight trains.

Becoming more common, however, are minor train derailments that cause more extensive delays and detours.

For the second time in three weeks, a derailment near 22nd Avenue and A Street Monday cut off normal avenues of travel for many motorists who had to find alternate routes.

At about 09:00, a Meridian & Bigbee crew, operating a Kansas City Southern Railway train, on the Meridian & Bigbee lead, derailed five cars. Two of the five derailed cars turned over. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

The derailment blocked off B Street and the two frontage roads on either side of Interstate 20. Three of the cars were empty but a fourth spilled non-hazardous plastic pellets, according to Kansas City Southern Railroad Spokesperson Doniele Kane.

"The cause of the derailment is still under investigation," added Kane late Monday.

Heavy equipment had to be brought in to right the train cars. There was no word as to just how long it would take to restore service to that section of track. - Brian Livingston, The Meridian Star

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IOWA NORTHERN MOVES MILLIONS OF BUSHELS OF CORN

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA -- The Iowa Northern Railway is the little engine that knows it can.

In 1994 the Manly to Cedar Rapids line handled 15,000 cars and the average track speed was under 10 miles per hour. In 2006 Iowa Northern handled just under 40,000 cars with an average track speed of 30 miles per hour.

The railroad currently moves 60 million bushels of corn to Cedar Rapids' processors, said Dan Sabin, president and owner of the Iowa Northern Railroad.

Sabin projects the amount of corn moved to Cedar Rapids and to ethanol plants on the line will double within five years. Iowa State University has confirmed for the railroad that there are 650 million bushels of corn produced within 25 miles of any point on the Iowa Northern, he said.

Freight rates on corn are the same today as when Sabin bought the railroad in 1994.

"As our business has grown, we've shared additional operating savings with the elevators so they can have higher bids along our line," Sabin said. "We plan to develop incentives for more elevators not on the railroad to participate in these markets on a through put basis with on line elevators."

Iowa Northern created another opportunity when it took over a line between Waterloo and Oelwein in 2004.

"That line had not shipped a car load of corn for 20 years," Sabin said. "Now we generate 4,500 loads between Dewar, Dunkerton and Oelwein, and we have off line elevators looking at creating truck-to-rail facilities."

As the ethanol industry has grown, the railroad has grown, shipping corn to processors and sending finished products on to be distributed throughout the country on Class One railroads.

The Iowa Northern is a family affair with several generations of Sabin's family working in the business. His family has roots with the Rock Island out of Manly where his father was a locomotive engineer and he and his siblings got their start with the railroad. Sabin's sons, his brother, a brother-in-law and several nephews work for the Iowa Northern today.

At a recent meeting in Northwood, Mark Sabin, Dan's brother, said the family saw the railroad deteriorate and now they're bringing it back.

Iowa Northern owns the Hawkeye Express, the train that shuttles Hawkeye football fans to Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

The train is powered by a passenger locomotive and has six bi-level commuter cars that each hold 180 people.

Sabin intends to use the Hawkeye Express for grain customers and communities along the line for public benefit such as fundraisers or other events.

"We want to be a part of every community in a very positive way," Sabin said. - Jean Caspers-Simmet, AgriNews

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TRANSIT NEWS

RESIDENTS DEBATE FASTRACKS COMMUTER RAIL VS. STREETCARS

DENVER, CO -- Faced with two alternatives different from what Gold Line corridor residents expected from FasTracks, there's no clear consensus on whether to build traditional commuter rail on existing tracks or run streetcars through the neighborhoods.

At the first public meeting since RTD planners recommended eliminating all light-rail alternatives for the 11.2-mile transit line that will serve downtown Denver, Arvada and Wheat Ridge, several hundred people showed up Monday at the Highlands Masonic Center on Federal Boulevard to offer their opinions.

The $463 million Gold Line is one of the six new rapid-transit corridors and extensions to three existing ones approved by voters two years ago.

Originally planned as light rail along the BNSF Railway Company tracks that run through Olde Town Arvada, the plan was turned upside down last year after freight railroads serving Denver decided, for safety reasons, not to allow any more of the lightweight passenger cars in their rights of way.

That means that if FasTracks' $463 million Gold Line project goes in next to the railroad tracks, it would have to be heavier safety-compliant commuter rail.

RTD is proposing electrified commuter rail as one alternative for the Gold Line.

The other alternative is a streetcar system, with small electric trains running in the streets with other vehicles. It would use 38th Avenue, either Sheridan Boulevard or Harlan Street, Ralston Road and Ridge Road out to Ward Road.

Planners are recommending the rejection -- as too expensive and too disruptive -- of two other alternatives that use light rail partly in the streets and partly off-street.

Feelings at Monday's public meeting were mixed.

Annie Zook, who runs the Denver Puppet Theater on 38th Avenue just off Federal with her husband, David, said she thinks streetcars would work, but if they go too slowly, "they probably won't entice people to ride them." \

Ira Kopilow, of north Denver, said he liked the original plan of using the railroad right of way.

"It would negatively affect fewer people," he said. "If you build it on 38th, it'll be a big mess."

"I actually would prefer the streetcar option," said Barry Allen, of northwest Denver. He said it would bring the system closer to more residents than using the existing railroad tracks, which partly go through more remote industrial areas.

RTD's initial analysis favors commuter rail. Compared with streetcars, it would carry substantially more riders, have faster travel times, cost less to operate and be closer to more jobs.

But the streetcar plan would cost slightly less to build, would require fewer property purchases, could be built faster and would be closer to where more people live. - Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News

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SMART GONE, BUT TRACKS STILL COULD BE USED

NOVATO, CA -- SMART (Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit) passenger trains may have been derailed by voters, but freight trains may soon be rolling through Novato, California.

A group of North Bay businessmen, led by developer and Port Sonoma owner H. Skip Berg of Ross and former North Coast Congressman Doug Bosco, has formed the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co. and the group says it is getting ready to launch freight service from Windsor, through Novato to Ignacio and over to the Lombard station in Napa County.

The group hopes to start service in Spring 2008.

Freight service on that stretch was suspended in 2001. But the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co. is ready to revive the service and is awaiting negotiations between SMART and the North Coast Rail Authority over needed repairs and maintenance of the tracks.

Federal legislation, which Bosco helped steer through Congress during the 1980s, requires that access be maintained for freight service.

Although SMART narrowly lost November's vote for a bicounty sales tax to start commuter service, Northwestern says it is ready to roll and has the financial wherewithal to run freight cars that would move lumber, feed, rock and Sonoma's garbage en route to dumps in Utah and Nevada.

SMART Executive Director Lillian Hames said freight has become an attractive means of moving goods and materials because trucks can get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

North Coast Rail recently won federal and state funding to fix the tracks.

Northwestern's report to the California Transportation Commission estimates that the local freight line could carry 1,800 to 2,000 carloads of material a year.

John H. Williams, Northwestern's CEO, said the service will start with freight rolling a couple of times a day three days a week.

"We have to grow the business," he said, stressing that potential customers want to see that the service is going to be a dependable means to move goods.

Already, Mike Arnold, who worked tirelessly to knock SMART off its tracks, is sounding warning signals about freight service. - The Marin Independent Journal

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STUDY: KRM WOULD INVIGORATE ECONOMY

RACINE, WI -- A study of commuter rail's economic impacts, released last month, foretells a far more vibrant Southeastern Wisconsin economy over time if KRM becomes a reality.

The study was performed by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Institute For Survey and Policy Research. It concluded that a Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail link would create jobs, boost tourism, raise property values and more.

For the study, estimated direct and indirect impacts were computed using a modeling system developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis. The resulting report, released Jan. 18, states that KRM's economic impacts would be "substantial."

"The successful implementation of the proposed KRM commuter rail can contribute toward improvement of the business climate of the Southeastern Wisconsin region," the report states. "This region has suffered severely from the recent economic downturn, especially in the manufacturing sector.

"Studies have shown that the region has had difficulties retaining qualified labor and also attracting new businesses," it continues. "A major transit development in this region, such as the KRM commuter rail, can begin to address some of these problems. The proposed transit system will assist in attracting and retaining workers in the region."

The proposed KRM commuter rail system would operate 14 daily round trips in a 33-mile corridor with nine stops and carry an estimated 1.7 million passengers per year.

KRM would use the existing Union Pacific Railroad track until about one mile south of the downtown Milwaukee passenger station. Passengers would connect with Chicago's Metra commuter rail by changing trains at Kenosha or Waukegan, Ill.

The study concludes that in the construction phase, KRM would create about 4,700 jobs, with a $560 million impact on the area economy. KRM's operation and maintenance would create 126 jobs with a $24 million annual impact on economy.

Invigorating tourism

KRM would expand area tourism, the study said, by drawing more visitors from Northeastern Illinois, a significant market for Southeastern Wisconsin tourism. It would make a direct connection to Northeastern Illinois with 12 stations in Lake County and 13 in Cook County. KRM would reach a population of 1.4 million within a three-mile radius.

Assuming just a 1 percent increase in tourism in the three KRM counties, KRM would generate $20 million in expenditures, $12 million in wages, 500 jobs and $3 million state and local government revenue, the study says.

A closer connection between this region and the greater Chicago area is one of the main economic development priorities of the Milwaukee 7, the cooperating group of Southeastern Wisconsin counties.
"Companies such as SC Johnson, one of the largest employers in Southeastern Wisconsin and the state of Wisconsin, and others have already cited the need for this KRM commuter rail link to Northeastern Illinois to retaining and attracting qualified employees, and maintaining and expanding its presence in southeastern Wisconsin," the report states.

The study looked at how KRM would spark development and redevelopment around the nine train stations. Projected within one-half mile of those stations would be

* 23,000 residential units;

* 7.6 million square feet of retail space;

* 4.7 million square feet of office space,

* 71,000 jobs; and

* A $7.9 billion increase in property value.

The authors wrote, "Without KRM commuter rail, 20 to 50 percent of this potential development would not be expected to take place."

Higher property values

The study said KRM would also significantly increase property values. Based on experience across the nation, development along the rail line would be expected to create a 4 to 20 percent, or even higher, premium in property value.

Assuming a 10 percent premium for a one-mile corridor along the KRM rail line, that would represent a $2.1 billion increase in property value in the three KRM counties.

And commuter rail would help reduce vehicle traffic and congestion as well as air pollution.
KRM would also give high-quality access to jobs for the nearly 15 percent of the population of Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee counties who do not own a car, the study says.

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority has recommended a $15 fee on each car rental to fund both KRM's capital and operating costs. Next, the issue moves to the state budget, and this summer to the Federal Transit Authority as a grant request. - Michael Burke, The Racine Journal Times

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UH RAIL ROUTE GAINING STEAM

HONOLULU, HI -- Mayor Mufi Hannemann's recommendation that the city build the first segment of the rail line from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center could be in trouble as another route is being favored by some councilmembers.

The mayor plans to present a proposed "minimal operating segment" during a joint hearing of the Budget and Transportation committees expected to be scheduled for next week. But the meeting itself is becoming a source of consternation with some councilmembers who question whether the joint hearing is a way to ensure that the mayor's version gets out.

Transportation Committee members Charles Djou and Donovan Dela Cruz said the mayor's recommendation might not have made it out of their committee, which also includes Chairman Nestor Garcia, Ann Kobayashi and Gary Okino.

But a joint hearing would add two more members, Budget Chairman Todd Apo and Rod Tam, who are viewed as more favorable to the mayor's proposal.

"I think it's obvious that Ann Kobayashi, Charles and I are independent, and I think (others) were looking for a rubber stamp, and I think by joining the committees, that's what they are trying to do," Dela Cruz said. "This might be an effort to railroad the MOS down the Council's throat."

Not so, Council leaders said, pointing out that having both committees scrutinize the mayor's proposal is appropriate because there are many unanswered questions, including the route and the system's financial details.

"I want to make sure it was given a hearing that involved as many members as possible, and in that case I thought the Budget Committee was the most logical committee," Garcia said.

Djou favors a different rail transit alignment -- from Leeward Community College in Waipahu to the University of Hawaii at Manoa -- than the mayor's plan and believes he could gain support on the Council for it.

Djou said there are several reasons he believes his proposal would make a better starting route instead of the mayor's route.

"If we're trying to do something about traffic, everyone recognizes what traffic is like when UH is in session and when UH is not in session. Not putting the University of Hawaii in the initial segment doesn't make sense to me given the dynamics of traffic here on Oahu," Djou said. "I think it's critical that UH has got to get included in the initial segment."

The mayor's proposed route, Djou said, "starts in a dirt field, goes to another dirt field, goes to another dirt field and then end in Waipahu -- and that's the first, what, six miles?"

The mayor is aiming to break ground by 2009 and have a yet-to-be-determined 7- to 10-mile segment in operation by 2012.

Dela Cruz also has drafted a resolution asking for the administration to look at a spur to Central Oahu, and said all options should be reviewed.

Deciding on a minimal operating segment is part of the requirements to obtain federal funding for the project, and cost-effectiveness is one criterion.

"Members are welcome to come up with any other suggestion that they feel might work, but in the end the numbers have to work so that the dollars are within our grasp," Garcia said.

The mayor's 20-mile initial segment would cost $3.8 billion to build. He has promised to build it with federal funding and money collected from the 0.5 percentage-point general excise tax surcharge that began Jan. 1.

"I hope we're looking at what is the best (initial segment) for the amount of money and for what we can afford," Apo said. - Crystal Kua, The Honolulu Star Bulletin

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