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SMART, freight trains can share tracks?
Author: Sharing and caring
Date: 10-06-2008 - 12:08
SMART, freight trains can share tracks
By Mike Kerns
Article Launched: 10/06/2008 12:05:01 AM PDT
IN THE 10 YEARS I have been a Sonoma County supervisor, I have come to understand the truth to the statement that "Politics makes strange bedfellows."
The alignment of mostly Marin County passenger train opponents with opinions held by a private rail freight company headquartered in Woodside should raise red flags to all voters in Sonoma and Marin counties.
Recent letters and columns, particularly the one signed by Marin Supervisor Judy Arnold, are unfortunate examples of the "smear and fear" campaign tactics we have sadly seen too much of recently. The tactic includes partial quotes from public documents that raise questions without providing the public the full story about a complicated subject.
The truth is that our publicly owned railroad tracks in Sonoma and Marin counties can help take both cars and trucks off congested Highway 101 and help relieve traffic. The truth is that a two-way single-track system, built with freight sidings and passing tracks, can safely accommodate both uses. And, most importantly, the truth is that the restoration of both will reduce greenhouse gases that are the key contributors to global warming.
As a county supervisor and past chairman of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) Board of Directors, I have been a staunch supporter of the restoration of passenger train service on the publicly owned railroad serving Marin and Sonoma counties. SMART, the agency whose job it is to establish passenger train service in Sonoma and
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Marin counties, and North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA), the agency working to revive freight train service in the North Bay, are not on a collision course. And, far from being on different tracks, they will - literally - run on the same track.
That's the law.
SMART's enabling legislation, made law by the California Legislature in 2003, requires SMART to work toward creating a passenger train system that will work in conjunction with freight service. AB2224 turned over to SMART the ownership of most of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad corridor in Marin and Sonoma counties.
With that ownership came an easement that entitles NCRA to run freight trains on the SMART-owned tracks, and that also establishes that easement as subordinate to SMART's passenger service and bicycle/pedestrian pathway that connects the rail stations.
The NCRA must have an operating agreement approved by the SMART board prior to train service beginning. SMART will move forward to implement its proposed project, possibly over the objections of NCRA and its operator, but the SMART project will be implemented.
SMART is committed to working with NCRA to allow the efficient use of the trackway entrusted to it by the state. And that is the key; SMART owns these tracks, not NCRA.
As noted in the full text of our environmental document, sufficient time will be allowed for freight that does not require nighttime service.
With the passage of Measure Q, SMART is the only entity that has influence over NCRA and its operator because we own the tracks, set passenger train schedules and establish trackage fees. Without SMART, freight trains can operate at any time and with any length of train.
Further, freight operation would not have the benefit of SMART-funded "quiet zones" at public crossings (so that train horns are not required) nor would it operate on the quiet new welded rail that SMART is providing, which would eliminate the "clickity clack" noise associated with older railroads.
The real question here is why, so close to the election, are anti-SMART forces heralding quotes from NCRA and its operator. The commonly-held assumption, noted in one opinion piece, "that the impacts of freight rail service on Novato and Sonoma County would be lessened if SMART is approved in November because SMART has the ability to exercise some form of control over freight operations," is commonly understood because it is accurate.
Without SMART, local governments will have little control over freight service.
Please vote "yes" on Measure Q.
Mike Kerns of Petaluma is chairman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and former chairman of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit board.
By Mike Kerns
Article Launched: 10/06/2008 12:05:01 AM PDT
IN THE 10 YEARS I have been a Sonoma County supervisor, I have come to understand the truth to the statement that "Politics makes strange bedfellows."
The alignment of mostly Marin County passenger train opponents with opinions held by a private rail freight company headquartered in Woodside should raise red flags to all voters in Sonoma and Marin counties.
Recent letters and columns, particularly the one signed by Marin Supervisor Judy Arnold, are unfortunate examples of the "smear and fear" campaign tactics we have sadly seen too much of recently. The tactic includes partial quotes from public documents that raise questions without providing the public the full story about a complicated subject.
The truth is that our publicly owned railroad tracks in Sonoma and Marin counties can help take both cars and trucks off congested Highway 101 and help relieve traffic. The truth is that a two-way single-track system, built with freight sidings and passing tracks, can safely accommodate both uses. And, most importantly, the truth is that the restoration of both will reduce greenhouse gases that are the key contributors to global warming.
As a county supervisor and past chairman of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) Board of Directors, I have been a staunch supporter of the restoration of passenger train service on the publicly owned railroad serving Marin and Sonoma counties. SMART, the agency whose job it is to establish passenger train service in Sonoma and
Advertisement
Marin counties, and North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA), the agency working to revive freight train service in the North Bay, are not on a collision course. And, far from being on different tracks, they will - literally - run on the same track.
That's the law.
SMART's enabling legislation, made law by the California Legislature in 2003, requires SMART to work toward creating a passenger train system that will work in conjunction with freight service. AB2224 turned over to SMART the ownership of most of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad corridor in Marin and Sonoma counties.
With that ownership came an easement that entitles NCRA to run freight trains on the SMART-owned tracks, and that also establishes that easement as subordinate to SMART's passenger service and bicycle/pedestrian pathway that connects the rail stations.
The NCRA must have an operating agreement approved by the SMART board prior to train service beginning. SMART will move forward to implement its proposed project, possibly over the objections of NCRA and its operator, but the SMART project will be implemented.
SMART is committed to working with NCRA to allow the efficient use of the trackway entrusted to it by the state. And that is the key; SMART owns these tracks, not NCRA.
As noted in the full text of our environmental document, sufficient time will be allowed for freight that does not require nighttime service.
With the passage of Measure Q, SMART is the only entity that has influence over NCRA and its operator because we own the tracks, set passenger train schedules and establish trackage fees. Without SMART, freight trains can operate at any time and with any length of train.
Further, freight operation would not have the benefit of SMART-funded "quiet zones" at public crossings (so that train horns are not required) nor would it operate on the quiet new welded rail that SMART is providing, which would eliminate the "clickity clack" noise associated with older railroads.
The real question here is why, so close to the election, are anti-SMART forces heralding quotes from NCRA and its operator. The commonly-held assumption, noted in one opinion piece, "that the impacts of freight rail service on Novato and Sonoma County would be lessened if SMART is approved in November because SMART has the ability to exercise some form of control over freight operations," is commonly understood because it is accurate.
Without SMART, local governments will have little control over freight service.
Please vote "yes" on Measure Q.
Mike Kerns of Petaluma is chairman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and former chairman of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit board.
SMART, freight trains can share tracks?