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Re: Can freight trains ever operate on track where Light Rail Operates
Author: FUD
Date: 10-14-2024 - 15:56
Portland has entered the chat Wrote:
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> FUD Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A special case of sharing is where light rail
> > crosses an active freight track at grade. Some
> > kind of interlocking signaling is usually
> needed
> > in those cases, even if the freight track is
> > lightly used. A lot of older systems in the
> > eastern part of the US have one or more of
> those.
> > Even Sacramento had one, for a while, on its
> Green
> > line.
>
> Portland's newest light rail line has an at-grade
> crossing with an active freight railroad line, AND
> shares a ROW with a Union Pacific mainline (and
> yes, that means TriMet has to comply with certain
> FRA regulations as a result.)
>
> I'm not talking the 1986 era original Gresham line
> - this is the NEWEST route, the Orange Line to
> Milwaukie. Brand new. This isn't some kind of
> "grandfathered" thing, it happens right now.
Interesting. But crossings are a fairly well-defined thing. Sharing right of way without connecting the tracks anyplace is also fairly common; the main way that FRA rules come into play is with grade crossing signals and gates - usually they have to be outside all of the tracks, and there have to be some agreements as to who maintains what equipment. In recent years, the freight railroads have gotten a little more picky about distance between light rail and freight rail tracks (they want more), fencing at stations and other places pedestrians are often in the r/w, and apportioning liability for incidents and maintenance. Occasionally, they'll want some kind of positive barrier, like a concrete wall, between the light and freight rail, attempting to keeping derailments or shifting loads on one line from affecting the other. I guess all these agreements and design details (and not a few regulations) have worked: collisions or other incidents involving light and freight rail trains in the US are practically unheard-of in recent decades.
-------------------------------------------------------
> FUD Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A special case of sharing is where light rail
> > crosses an active freight track at grade. Some
> > kind of interlocking signaling is usually
> needed
> > in those cases, even if the freight track is
> > lightly used. A lot of older systems in the
> > eastern part of the US have one or more of
> those.
> > Even Sacramento had one, for a while, on its
> Green
> > line.
>
> Portland's newest light rail line has an at-grade
> crossing with an active freight railroad line, AND
> shares a ROW with a Union Pacific mainline (and
> yes, that means TriMet has to comply with certain
> FRA regulations as a result.)
>
> I'm not talking the 1986 era original Gresham line
> - this is the NEWEST route, the Orange Line to
> Milwaukie. Brand new. This isn't some kind of
> "grandfathered" thing, it happens right now.
Interesting. But crossings are a fairly well-defined thing. Sharing right of way without connecting the tracks anyplace is also fairly common; the main way that FRA rules come into play is with grade crossing signals and gates - usually they have to be outside all of the tracks, and there have to be some agreements as to who maintains what equipment. In recent years, the freight railroads have gotten a little more picky about distance between light rail and freight rail tracks (they want more), fencing at stations and other places pedestrians are often in the r/w, and apportioning liability for incidents and maintenance. Occasionally, they'll want some kind of positive barrier, like a concrete wall, between the light and freight rail, attempting to keeping derailments or shifting loads on one line from affecting the other. I guess all these agreements and design details (and not a few regulations) have worked: collisions or other incidents involving light and freight rail trains in the US are practically unheard-of in recent decades.
