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Railroad Newsline for Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Compiled by Larry W. Grant

In Memory of Rob Carlson, 1952 – 2006

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RAIL NEWS

TRUCKERS FEEL PINCH OF NO PEAK SEASON

NEW YORK CITY, NY -- By most accounts, the nation's trucking companies expecting the usual holiday stocking stuffer - fatter profits - instead got a lump of coal.

According to the American Trucking Association, the amount of merchandise truckers shipped in October, the heart of the traditional peak season, dropped 4 percent to its lowest level since February. The decline also represents the largest year-over-year decrease since 2001, the industry group said Nov. 27.

The Federal Reserve of Atlanta, which every two weeks publishes a "Beige Book" detailing national economic activity, said many regions of the country reported disappointing freight demand ahead of the holidays. The government's Bureau of Transportation Statistics also reported weaker freight volumes for October in its monthly release on Dec. 6.

"There was no peak season, as far as we can tell at this point, and that will affect profits," said David Campbell, an analyst with Thompson, Davis & Co.

Shares of trucking stocks reflect the sluggish peak season - those weeks before Thanksgiving when retailers typically scramble to stock their shelves for holiday shoppers and truckers fatten their annual income statements with exorbitant spot rates. Trucking stocks peaked in July, partly on investors rotating in for the busy season, but gradually fell off as the summer wound down and have since remained flat.

Shares of truckload carrier Swift Transportation Co., for instance, shed 16.6 percent since the start of the third quarter. On the less-than-truckload side, shares of Con-way Inc. surrendered 17.3 percent since the halfway mark.

Analysts say a number of factors tripped the industry during its most pivotal weeks. For starters, retailers kept inventories lean over worries that a slowing economy would trim consumers' holiday spending. Retailers also managed their inventories better throughout the year to avoid big shipping bills this fall, while others negotiated for less expensive dedicated space ahead of time.

The automotive and construction industries also slowed significantly, which further loosened capacity and meant less business for the lucrative spot market, the pricey place in which many retailers found themselves last year due to hurricane relief efforts.

David Ross, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co., also points to congestion in 2004 at the Port of Long Beach, which prompted frustrated shippers in 2005 to send more of their freight to East Coast ports, which favor trucks. But with congestion problems solved, shippers this year returned to the more railroad-centric West Coast ports.

Perhaps most disconcerting to truckers is that package services United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. continue to grab market share. Much of that comes from booming online shopping, which is expected to grow to $32 billion this season with a record 114 million users, according to industry analyst Jupiter Research. UPS is primary shipper for 21 of the 25 top e-retailers. FedEx said e-commerce would drive its estimated 98 million deliveries this season.

"FedEx and UPS have already said they're busier than last year," Ross remarked.

But it's also an inventory-management issue. On a recent visit to a FedEx site, Ross said he saw high-definition televisions crammed end-to-end on conveyor belts. He believes that's a sign major retail chains would rather ship items through a ground parcel network from the factory than have pallets of products trucked to a regional site for distribution a second time.

Also shifting retail inventory patterns is the increasing number of consumers moving their holiday shopping from October to late November and December. Last year, the busiest shopping day was Saturday, Dec. 18, but with the Christmas holiday on a Monday this year, shoppers procrastinated even longer.

In addition, gift cards are gaining popularity. A recent survey by American Express said 66 percent of shoppers will purchase a gift card this year.

But that might not be entirely bad news for truckers.

"You could argue that the first quarter of 2007 won't be as weak as the first quarter usually is," Ross noted.

Don Hodges, co-manager of the multi-cap Hodges Fund in Dallas, said earnings drive his investing decisions and likes what he see in the trucking industry.

"In the end, you have to look at the earnings, regardless of what the market says or what interest rate are doing. Don't overanalyze," Hodges said. "I'm willing to take a position and be patient."

Ross agrees. While he admits catalysts for trucking stocks in 2007 are relatively few, he's still bullish on their long-term potential. Trucker balance sheets look the best they have in years, Ross said, and a chronic driver shortage kept carriers from expanding their fleets too much as the economy sped ahead, so unlike past economic cycles, they're not stuck with a glut of trucks to fill during the slowdown.

It's an expensive industry, too, so not many new players will join next year, especially when trucks that cost $60,000 just a few years ago now run more than $100,000. Railroads probably won't add capacity, either, as they're enjoying robust pricing and expansion in that industry is very capital intensive. New emissions regulations and tighter restrictions on the hours drivers can spend behind the wheel could further tighten supply and perhaps even force some smaller players out of the business altogether, or drive industry consolidation.

"The worse it gets near-term, the better it will be long-term," Ross says.

Thompson, Davis' Campbell says 2007 ultimately hinges on the consumer.

"If the consumers keeps spending, they'll have a strong year," he said. - James Amend, The Associated Press, The Houston Chronicle

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DERAILED TANK CARS CREATE ALCOHOL MESS

A photo by Robin O'Shaughnessy of the Amarillo Globe-News is here:

[www.amarillo.com]

Caption reads: BNSF officials can be seen next to the train car derailment Monday, December 25, 2006, just south of 34th St. overpass near Anderson Merchandisers.

AMARILLO, TX -- Four cars on the BNSF Railway went off the tracks about 09:00 Monday.

Two tankers, each holding 30,000 gallons of denatured alcohol, were on their sides leaking fluids just south of the 34th Avenue overpass near Anderson Merchandisers. Five gallons spilled on the ground, according to the Amarillo Fire Department that responded as part of a hazardous material alarm.

Officials for BNSF could not be reached for comment Monday.

AFD Capt. Bob Johnson said the fire department only responds to assess the situation, but does not handle cleanup. Johnson said it is the responsibility of the company.

"As far as cleaning up and stopping the leak, they are the experts. That's why we call them," Johnson said.

He added that no evacuation of the area was needed considering it was railroad tracks on Christmas Day, and that the area was fairly isolated to begin with. - Sean Tomas, The Amarillo Globe- News

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PARK EXTENDS PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR DRAFT EIS ON AVALANCHE ARTILLERY USE

WEST GLACIER, MT -- Glacier National Park has extended the public comment period to Jan. 29 for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on avalanche hazard reduction by the BNSF Railway Company.

The extension was requested by BNSF.

The railroad wants to use artillery shells to trigger avalanches in the national Park to keep snowslides from blocking the tracks.

The park service would prefer the railroad build snow sheds to protect the track. Park officials say blasting would have too much impact on visitors, wildlife and wilderness. - The Helena Independent Record

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JACKSON: RAILROAD SHOULD REHIRE FELONS

CHICAGO, IL -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Thursday called for the rehiring of 31 Chicago area rail workers who said they were fired because their criminal records posed homeland security concerns.

An attorney for the group, all former employees of H & M International Transportation, said most of the workers received termination letters in November, explaining that they could no longer work on railroad property because a background check had turned up at least one felony conviction in the last seven years.

Yet, the fired workers, some of whom had been on the job for longer than seven years, contend that their criminal backgrounds were no secret to H & M at the time of their hiring, attorney Tamara Holder said.

Terrorism link unclear

The wording in one letter suggests that H & M -- which provides workers for railyard terminals operated by Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and other railroad companies -- adopted a new policy toward its ex-con employees because of "additional security procedures" required by its railroad partners, including periodic background checks.

None of the letters provided to the Chicago Sun-Times specify whether the intent of the new security procedures is to prevent terrorism, but some of the workers said that's what they were told when they inquired with H & M about losing their jobs.

All 31 are African-American

H & M President Charles Connors would not discuss the terminations, saying in a statement, "H & M has acted appropriately and fairly towards its employees while following requirements placed upon H & M with respect to background checks."

Jackson said firing workers who had proven themselves to be reliable, hard workers after they paid their debt to society was a violation of their rights. He noted that all of the people fired are African-American men and suggested that racism may have played a role.

"Ex-felons are not terrorists," he said. "To smear them into that category is unjust."

Jackson added, "Unemployment leads to recidivism."

Holder said the vast majority of the men, like 35-year-old Lloyd Grant, were convicted on felony drug and gun-possession charges.

Grant, an H & M employee for six years, said he feels betrayed.

"It's hard to find a good job when you're an ex-felon," Grant said. "For [H & M] to just swipe it out from under me, it's very hard to take. I just bought a house."

The workers plan to file a lawsuit. - Monifa Thomas, The Chicago Sun-Times

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DOCTOR TRADES LAB COAT FOR CONDUCTOR'S SUIT

WISCONSIN DELLS, WI -- When patients see Dr. David Jarvis walking through the facility at Moundview Memorial Hospital and Clinic in Adams Friendship they may not know his hobby, fast resembling a second career, puts him on the railroad tracks.

Jarvis is a volunteer conductor for the non-profit Riverside & Great Northern Railway just north of Wisconsin Dells. On occasion, Jarvis and his 5-year-old son, Will, can be seen taking tickets or checking the brakes of the miniature, 15 inch gauge diesel-powered and steam locomotive trains before they pull away from the depot.

They fit the scene, dressed in suits and caps resembling the attire conductors of the early 1900s wore.

Photo here: [www.wiscnews.com]

Caption reads: Events photo by Anna Krejci. David Jarvis and his 5-year-old son, Will, stand beside a train at the Riverside and Great Northern Railway earlier this month. Jarvis, a doctor, and his son are new volunteers for the non-profit Riverside and Great Northern Railway Preservation Society that operates the miniature passenger trains.

Jarvis, a family doctor who previously spent five years working at the House of Wellness Clinic and St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo and now works in Adams Friendship, and a train lover since his youth, found himself with access to trains, and the ability to indulge in them, at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom and the Riverside and Great Northern Railway in Wisconsin Dells.

Jarvis holds trainmen, conductors and engineers in high regard.

"I never thought I could work in it. Only people who knew everything about everything worked on trains," he said.

Jarvis became a member of the Mid-Continent Railway Museum and R&GN. His involvement in trains grew deeper two years ago when Mid-Continent Railway Museum recruited volunteers interested in being brakemen. Jarvis took a course taught by a retired Union Pacific instructor where he learned hand signals used by conductors and trainmen in the past.

At Mid-Continent Railway Museum Jarvis learned about the train's brake systems: how to check them and adjust hydraulic valves.

"The most important thing on a train is making sure it will stop. So that's why a brakeman is the most important kind of a job in some ways. The brakeman has to approve the train before the train can leave the station," he said.

"The brakeman gives the train to the conductor who's in charge of the train. The conductor then tells the engineer if he can leave the station," Jarvis said.

Jarvis sometimes puts in full, eight-hour days volunteering at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom. He began volunteering there a year and a half ago.

He has been a volunteer at R&GN for about two to three weeks, where he is still learning the ropes.

"I still have to remember the names of the different stops like what they call the bridge and terminal in the other end," he said.

But he enjoys telling the public about the history of the R&GN Railway.

"I like answering questions and telling people the funny stories along the way or about the big wash out of the bridge," he said.

Part of the tracks on top of a dirt fill were washed out by heavy rain in June 2004, only to be replaced with a new bridge that opened in May.

He hopes to volunteer at R&GN a weekend every other month, perhaps more in the summer, he said.
Jarvis is one of many volunteers at the railway. The R&GN Preservation Society is a 250-member organization.

As a conductor at R&GN Jarvis thanks passengers for riding, folds blankets, cleans the train, including washing windows, collects lost and found items and even adds more cars or takes them off the trains, depending on the number of passengers.

Jarvis is motivated to volunteer with trains, something he can enjoy with his son.

"It's great being around these big, fire breathing, almost living machines," he said.

And it provides him with an escape from work.

"Last night I was diagnosing cancer in somebody and telling them about that, starting the treatments to make them feel better," he said. - Anna Krejci, The Wisconsin Dells Events

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NORTH CAROLINA OFFICIALS DIG NEVADA RAILROAD DITCH

FAYETTEVILLE, NC -- Seven Fayetteville City Council members recently went to Reno, Nevada, for the annual National League of Cities conference.

It’s a gathering of elected leaders and government officials. They talk about innovative ways to improve communities.

Mayor Pro Tem Robert Massey and council members Keith Bates, Charles Evans, D.J. Haire, Wesley Meredith, Paul Williams and Curtis Worthy attended.

The trip was paid for by the taxpayers. Each council member gets $2,000 a year to attend conferences. Most use the money to attend the league’s national conference, its lobbying trip to Washington, DC, and some North Carolina League of Municipalities events.

At the Reno conference, members were free to choose what seminars interested them.

Meredith, one of the council’s liaisons to the Public Works Commission, went to seminars on broadband technology. He wants to know whether the city could use the PWC’s fiber optic network, possibly competing with Time Warner Cable.

Bates attended seminars on low-impact development that has the least effect on the land. Storm-water controls are not underground. The use of swales, ponds and other techniques returns storm water to the ground as quickly as possible.

Worthy was most intrigued by a simple, computerized bus pass for seniors.

Massey and Evans went to seminars on affordable housing and code enforcement.

There also were seminars on municipal development along rivers.

But what caught all their attention was a downtown ditch -- an expensive downtown ditch.

Officially, the ditch is ReTRAC -- the Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor.

The city, in cooperation with the federal and state governments -- and the Union Pacific railroad -- spent $265 million to put two miles of rails in a 33-foot deep ditch through downtown.

Trains that once caused Reno streets to back up now pass unnoticed at 60 mph. Cars and trucks pass overhead at strategically placed bridges. There also are spots to display public art.
Council members want to know whether a ditch would work here.

At the turn of the 20th century, Fayetteville’s downtown railroad tracks were a source of much civic pride. Now they are a source of complaints as people wait on trains on the CSX mainline, or those using the downtown switching yard.

Some people say the wait hurts downtown commerce.

The city and the state Department of Transportation are evaluating downtown rail options. There is about $8.8 million in state and federal transportation funds that could be spent in Fayetteville.

Putting the tracks underground is currently not one of the options.

In Fayetteville’s case, it may not be practical.

Southerners are well familiar with shoo-fly pie and apple pandowdy -- molasses pie and apples with biscuits or cookie dough on top.

We are not familiar with the railroaders’ shoo-flys.

A shoo-fly is a temporary bypass track.

Trains on the mainline CSX track through Fayetteville haul just about everything that passes north or south. One of the more colorful railroad waits is when the Tropicana train filled with orange juice passes through.

There may be no place for a shoo-fly to go.

CSX is sometimes a difficult neighbor, but if Union Pacific can make things happen, maybe CSX can too.

At the very least, as Bates observed, the council is looking for some out-of-the box alternatives to the longstanding problems. - Don Worthington, The Fayetteville Observer

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POLYMET TO BUY SMALL RAILROAD

VANCOUVER, BC -- PolyMet Mining Corp. announced Thursday it has closed a deal with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. to acquire a small railroad linking its mine to crushing and grinding equipment that it bought from the same company in 2005.

Included in the transaction are a 120-railcar fleet, fueling and maintenance facilities, water rights, pipelines, administrative offices and about 6,000 acres contiguous to PolyMet’s existing tailing facilities.

PolyMet agreed to pay $15 million in cash and also give Cleveland-Cliffs a 2 million share stake in its company. The deemed value of a PolyMet share is $4 at present.

Cleveland-Cliffs now controls 9.2 million shares -- or 7.7 percent -- of its common stock. - BusinessNorth.com (The business news source for Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin), source: PolyMet Mining Corp.

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ABERDEEN FLOURISHING AFTER FIRST YEAR; COMMUNITY'S BEFEFITS TOUTED BY MINNSEOTA NEWSPAPER

ABERDEEN, SD -- Aberdeen quietly celebrated its first anniversary in 1882. In October of that year, The Aberdeen Republican began carrying stories written by local and regional correspondents who proudly reported the growth of the new town hoping to entice more easterners to "Come West" for a new start.

The Oct. 19 newspaper reprinted a column from the Minnesota Farmer. The headline read "Aberdeen, Garden Spot of the Jim River Valley." The writer proceeded to describe the benefits of establishing a farm in Brown County near its chief city, Aberdeen, this way: "Aberdeen is located twelve miles west of the James River and serves as the center of trade not only for the county, but also the region. Where Aberdeen now stands, fourteen months ago not a house was to be seen. Now it numbers over three hundred homes, among which is the largest and best furnished hotel west of Minneapolis. ... Nearly all the buildings are two stories high, mostly of agreeable design, neatly ornamented and painted. The stores are all roomy, thoroughly fitted up, and the stocks of goods displayed are large, and include everything of every line of trade.
Business is reported good and the bountiful crops give assurance of a heavy trade and plenty of money."

The article continues: "The population of the town at present is estimated at 1,000 men, 400 women and 200 children of school age. ... The people here are ardent friends to the public school system. ... The very first public enterprise in Aberdeen was the erection of a school house, rough and cheap it was, but warm, commodious and well furnished. It was at once opened with a young lady teacher from Wisconsin. ... Contracts have just been closed for an elegant two-story school building 32 by 66 feet and with an L 32 by 26 feet costing $8500. This is to be veneered with brick and will be begun immediately."

The paper's editor proudly listed every Aberdeen business and its annual sales in the Dec. 28, 1882, issue of the Aberdeen Republican. There were stores for general sundries, hardware, drugs, lumber, shoes, furniture, meat and baked goods. Service providers included tailors, barbers, lawyers, doctors, photographers, sign painters and blacksmiths. Three restaurants, a cigar manufacturer, a dairy and four livery barns were also listed. There were 142 homes built during the town's first year at a total cost of $99,400. Sixty-three stores and offices were built at a cost of $94,500, and the cost of the city's two elevators was $6,500. Total cost of all buildings in the community was $260,400.

Local bankers reported receiving $1,750,000 in deposits during the town's first year. The article concluded by stating "Beginning the year with less than thirty buildings, less than $100,000 invested in them and in trade, with less than 200 people, we close it with 208 buildings costing $206,000, over $300,000 in trade, and over 1,500 people."

The same editor forecast a prosperous second year for the new town in his Jan. 4, 1883, issue.

He stated: "The new year opens with flattering prospects for Aberdeen. Thus far her growth has been continuous and very rapid. A year ago, with a population of a few hundred, with two or three stores and a bank, with streets ungraded and without sidewalks, the outlook was gloomy.
But the past year has shown the enterprise of her citizens, developed the surrounding country, increased her railroad facilities, until now she stands at the head of the towns of southern Dakota."

He continues: "Her railroad facilities are now very extensive with two southern and one eastern road, but during the present year she will be connected with the Missouri River by two roads. The advantages of Aberdeen as a railroad point are well known, and with her increased facilities she can not fail to become the distributing point for a large area of country ... Work on the new brick school house will be pushed as soon as the building season commences, while several new stores are projected. The grading of the streets will continue, and in the not distant future a mammoth brick hotel will offer the very best accommodations to the public. With the development of the surrounding country, the great immigration of the spring and the building enterprises of the town, Aberdeen will offer inducements to the capitalist and business man not found in any other town in Dakota."

This newspaperman predicted continued success for the new town when he stated on Jan. 11, 1883, "There can be no doubt Aberdeen has a magnificent future." Indeed it did! - Sue Gates, The Aberdeen American News (With the close of Aberdeen's quasquicentennial year, this is the final "Looking Back" column by Sue Gates, Dacotah Prairie Museum )

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CALIFORNIANS HOPE DEMS STOP YUCCA NUCLEAR DUMP

WASHINGTON, DC -- While supporters vow to plow forward with plans for a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, critics hope Democrats will be able to kill the project - in which highly radioactive material would be transported through Southern California - when they take control of Congress next month.

Led by incoming Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who already has declared the federal nuclear waste repository ''dead,'' congressional Democrats are expected to severely decrease funding for the dump.

That, opponents say, is good news for Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and other communities through which approximately 70,000 tons of radioactive waste would likely be shipped on its way to the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

''All of us in the Inland Empire will be safer if shipments of nuclear waste are not traveling through our communities on local highways or railroad tracks,'' said Democrat Rep. Joe Baca, whose San Bernardino district lies smack in the middle of the proposed shipment route.

''An accident could have deadly consequences,'' Baca said. ''We are fortunate that Harry Reid will be the Senate majority leader and in a better position to block the Yucca Mountain project.''

First proposed in 1982, the Yucca Mountain depository has been strongly supported by President George W. Bush and the nuclear energy industry. Proponents say it is a secure alternative to storing waste at nuclear plants and hundreds of other sites around the country.

Originally targeted to open in 1998, Yucca Mountain has been repeatedly set back by lawsuits, money shortfalls and scientific controversies. The Department of Energy's best-case opening date is now 2017.

Southern Californians are concerned about proposals to ship spent nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain from the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County - a trek that could take it by train through Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley.

There have also been discussions about a rail line through the Antelope Valley and across the High Desert; multiple rail links through the San Gabriel, Pomona and San Bernardino valleys; and a truck route from the San Onofre nuclear power plant along the Santa Ana, San Gabriel and San Bernardino freeway corridors.

The DOE is poised to submit a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in mid-2008 that will allow it to proceed. But activists on both sides of the issue acknowledge that the DOE is quietly preparing for the likelihood of reduced funding and political support for Yucca.

''I'm getting the sense there may be some reluctance to submit a sizeable, needed budget if Mr. Reid is just going to have it reduced,'' said Brian O'Connell, director of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners' nuclear waste program.

He and other supporters of the repository have accused Reid of overstepping his power by refusing to allow Yucca legislation to come for a vote, and they argue that safety concerns have been blown out of proportion and politicized.

''The typical representation of nuclear waste is a 50-ton canister with green goo hanging out the sides,'' O'Connell said. ''It is well-protected. And the reality is that it has been shipped safely for over 30 years.''

Annual federal funding for Yucca Mountain has ranged from $450 million to $550 million in recent years. O'Connell predicted that Reid and other lawmakers will ''drastically reduce'' that amount.

Michelle Boyd, legislative director at Public Citizen, agreed, saying Yucca officials ''are hobbling along, and they're going to be hobbling even more when they have less money. It's certainly on its last legs.''

O'Connell disagreed that the death of Yucca is near.

''I don't think so,'' he said. ''[Reid] will do everything he can to impede it, but he can't kill it outright.''

Argun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research agreed.

Though an opponent of Yucca Mountain who calls it a ''badly botched project,'' Makhijani said he expects plans for the repository to move ahead with shrunken resources.
''I don't think the project can be stopped altogether without setting in motion some larger scheme for the management of spent fuel,'' he said. - Lisa Friedman, The Los Angeles Daily News, The Salt Lake Tribune

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TRAIN MISHAP BLAMED ON WHEEL

GURDON, AR -- A wheel malfunction has been blamed for a train derailment that occurred in Gurdon, Arkansas in on Oct. 22.

Joe Arbona, Arkansas director of regional affairs for Union Pacific Railroad, said this week that he had a report indicating that to be the cause of the derailment.

Arbona said UP Railroad owns only a few of the cars that are pulled behind the UP locomotives, and that the majority of cars are owned by businesses and industries that use the railroad for transportation. He said the report didn't indicate which of the five cars that derailed in Gurdon had the faulty wheel, but said UP would talk to customers regarding the upkeep of equipment.

The derailment happened shortly after 08:00 Sunday, Oct. 22. Five cars left the tracks near the Main Street crossing in Gurdon. The five were tanker cars and at least one had a large gash. When officials arrived, there was a liquid visible in one of the damaged cars, resulting in the decision to evacuate an area around the derailment.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that only the outer layer of the tanker had been breached and that the inside liner was intact. There had been no chemical released during the incident, though it was later determined that the cars immediately behind the five that derailed were carrying flammable liquids.

Railroad crews worked for a full day, clearing the debris from the tracks and restoring the tracks before train travel resumed.

Arbona said his information didn't go into great detail regarding the cause of the Gurdon derailment, but simply stated that the accident was the result of "a wheel malfunction." - Wendy Ledbetter, The Gurdon Times, The Hope (AR) Star

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RAILROAD ASKS FEDERAL JUDGE TO APPROVE SETTLEMENT IN GRANITEVILLE DISASTER

COLUMBIA, SC -- Norfolk Southern asked a federal judge Friday to approve a settlement of personal injury claims associated with the deadly 2005 Graniteville, South Carolina train wreck.

The agreement was reached in October, but the parties recently finalized the specifics.

Details about the settlement, such as how much money victims will receive, were not available Tuesday. It covers people who were injured and who received medical treatment or were hospitalized as a result of the derailment and subsequent release of chlorine in the town about 62 miles southeast of Columbia.

This agreement is separate from a class-action lawsuit settlement approved in 2005 covering property damage; evacuation expenses and losses; and minor personal injuries. - Shalama C. Jackson, The Columbia State

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TRANSIT NEWS

NORTHLAND HAS A BIG STAKE IN LIGHT RAIL

KANSAS CITY, MO -- Amid the talk about Clay Chastain’s light rail victory at the polls last month, one fact has been overlooked: the Northland helped win it for him.

In a mostly suburban area where voters have soundly rejected light rail proposals in the past, 51 percent and 55 percent of the voters in Clay and Platte counties, respectively, approved Chastain’s proposal.

“I told the powers-that-be not to assume this was going to fail just because it’s a Clay Chastain proposal,” said Ed Ford, a former Kansas City councilman who lives in the Northland and currently serves as a commissioner for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. “But I was still surprised that it won.”

The measure calls for a 25-year extension of a 3/8 -cent sales tax, beginning in 2009, to pay for a light-rail line between the Kansas City Zoo and Kansas City International Airport, plus electric shuttle buses and a gondola between Union Station and Liberty Memorial.

Chastain, whose six earlier light rail ballot measures failed, said the 27-mile route will further tie the Northland to the rest of Kansas City, both physically and psychologically.

“It will facilitate their commutes by allowing them to avoid the bottlenecks over the Missouri River bridges,” said Chastain, who lives in Virginia. “It could help revitalize areas of North Oak Trafficway, create more healthy mixed-use developments and reverse urban sprawl.”

But Chastain’s plans for the Northland route face several challenges. Among them:

•It would go through two cities that had no say in the vote — North Kansas City and Gladstone.

•Some of the roads it would travel on are too narrow or in the process of being widened.

•Federal and state grants that Chastain’s plan depends on to help fund the project could be difficult to obtain for the route’s undeveloped areas.

•And airport officials are not sold on the need to have a light-rail connection.

“We want to respect what the citizens voted on,” said ATA general manager Mark Huffer. “But we have a lot of concerns about this proposal’s ballot language.

“The concerns that we have, in general, are amplified in the Northland, where much of the (route) runs on streets where the space is very constrained,” he said. “To that end, you can’t really get the really high speeds that you would want in a light rail system.”

North Kansas City Mayor Gene Bruns has questioned whether the vote was legal.

Rough terrain and busy streets could be a problem, too, said Kansas City Councilman John Fairfield, who represents the Platte County portion of Kansas City.

“Barry Road is pretty tight as it is, especially under the I-29 overpass,” he said. “I don’t see how you put light rail there without it being very disruptive.”

When voters rejected a light-rail plan the city proposed in 2001, many Northlanders criticized it for not extending to KCI.

Chastain’s plan connects KCI to the route. But aviation director Mark VanLoh said a light-rail system would cut into the airport’s parking and rental car revenues.

“I’m not opposed to light rail at all,” VanLoh said. “But this light-rail system would be in direct competition with us. If we don’t get enough parking revenues, then we have to boost airlines’ fees, and then travelers’ ticket prices go up.”

VanLoh said rental car revenues are helping pay for the Sprint Arena under construction downtown.

Chastain countered that his light-rail plan, which is estimated to cost $975 million, is feasible. He recently presented to the city a timeline for his plan. Under it, Kansas City would issue $600 million in bonds by Jan. 1, 2008, to start construction on the first phase and complete it within a year.

The entire system, according to his estimates, would be finished by 2015.

Chastain said he hoped that other Northland communities such as Gladstone and Liberty would pass light rail measures that would allow their systems to connect to the Northland line.

“The skeptics have been overruled by the voters,” he said. “This will be a great benefit to the Northland, and we will build it with professionalism and integrity.”

Northland leaders, many of whom have worked with the ATA on bolstering bus service in the Northland, said they would try to work with Chastain on the proposal. But much will depend on whether experts think the plan is feasible.

“Part of Clay’s Northland route is very similar to what the city proposed in 2001, and it incorporates the light-rail (right-of-way) set-asides that the city has been doing,” said Ford, the former Kansas City councilman.

“My biggest concern is that it will have a devastating impact on our bus system,” he said. “But we have 72,000 citizens who voted for this plan, so no elected official should do anything but ask how it can be implemented.” - Mike Rice, The Kansas City Star

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FUND THE TRANSIT THE TWIN CITIES NEED

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- In June 2004 the Hiawatha light-rail line debuted to rave reviews from riders, applause from community leaders and a volume of passengers that far exceeded official projections. The result? Minnesota won't open its next light-rail line until ... 2014.

That's appalling. It's not just a sign of ossified planning and a lingering love affair with the automobile, it's a warning that state leaders haven't grasped the truth about growing, prosperous cities -- that an adequate transit network relieves road congestion, improves quality of life, conserves energy and triggers lively new forms of metropolitan economic development.

Accelerating the region's transportation timetable -- including light rail, commuter rail, road projects and dedicated bus lanes -- is one of the most urgent tasks facing the 2007 Legislature.
It would help restore Minnesota's reputation for enlightened urban planning while burnishing the high quality of life that has long been a Twin Cities selling point in the national competition for economic talent.

Early next year a coalition of planners and business leaders, with wide support from mayors, will ask the Legislature to create some form of dedicated metro revenue stream, perhaps a half-cent regional sales tax, to get these projects on track. Such a tax would raise more than $200 million annually, cost the average local household less than $75 a year, and let the Twin Cities make a commitment now -- rather than waiting a costly decade.

Here's what they envision: The commuter from Eden Prairie could get to her Minneapolis office without wasting time on clogged freeways. The Vikings fan from Elk River could get to the Dome without downtown traffic jams. The Bach enthusiast from Edina could get to the Ordway without fretting about parking ramps. Suddenly, people would have new choices about where to live and how to get where they're going.

But decent transit delivers more than commuter convenience. The Hiawatha line has spurred millions of dollars in new construction in Bloomington and Minneapolis, demonstrating that good transit can change the course of a city's growth in ways that reduce sprawl, save money on public infrastructure and improve convenience for neighborhoods.

This isn't some planner's fantasy. In Denver, transit has spurred a $1 billion cleanup of an old industrial brownfield; in Portland, it has created a leafy, walkable urban core; in Washington, lively neighborhoods of cinemas, bookstores and condominiums have sprung up around Metro stations. In fact, it's the very concept embodied in the Metropolitan Council's main planning documents. The problem is that Minnesota doesn't have the money to carry out its own plan.

There are plenty of details to negotiate in a regional transportation tax, some involving principle and some involving mechanics. But if lawmakers want to maintain the momentum of this vibrant metro area, they need to say, "All aboard." - Editorial Opinion, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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UTAH'S BACON FROZEN WITH REST OF PORK

WASHINGTON, DC -- Residents of Park City and Centerfield, Utah may suffer from a lack of drinking water. The Utah Transit Authority will have to wait longer for $80 million for commuter rail construction. And some research efforts at Utah State University will be hampered.

Various organizations in Utah will go wanting after Congress punted on passing nearly all of its spending bills. Nine of the 11 bills the GOP-controlled Congress needed to pass to fund the government didn't get approved this past session, leaving thousands of special-interest projects stranded.

Making the situation worse, advocates say, is that Democrats taking control in January plan to hold off on passing the bills until the fiscal 2008 budget comes up for a vote next summer or fall.

For Utah, that means losing out on nearly $300 million the state's federal delegation had inserted into spending bills. The failed earmarks ranged from $100,000 for dental equipment for the Enterprise Valley Medical Clinic to $40 million for the Central Utah Project.

"It ends up hurting us because we have projects we want to move forward on," says Chris Finlinson, a spokesman for CUP, which was set up to bring water from eastern Utah to the populous Wasatch Front. "It does put us in a pinch, but we're going to wait and see what happens."

Boosters of other jilted projects are more blunt about how they'll suffer.

Centerfield, in south-central Utah, has about 1,100 residents and is running out of drinking water. The town's plans to build a new water-treatment plant will have to wait because of the delay in securing $1.5 million from the federal government.

"It's a big concern for me," Mayor Darwin Jensen says. "There's no way the town can come up with that kind of financing."

Others, however, are glad Congress didn't fork over billions for what they consider pork projects. Earmarks, the term Washington pundits gave to line-item funding requests by lawmakers, have come under fire lately as part of the larger theme of Capitol corruption.

The number of earmarks has exploded during the last decade, increasing from slightly more than 1,400 to nearly 14,000, according to Citizens Against Government Waste.

The so-called Bridge to Nowhere, actually a proposal for two bridges in rural Alaska with a combined price tag of $454 million, became the symbol of the problem.

"People are crying for earmark reform and an end to pork barrel spending, and now they're crying because they aren't getting earmarks,"says David Williams, vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste. "They can't have it both ways."

Last year's earmarks totaled about $29 billion, Williams says, of which Utah got about $98 million.

Citizens "should really think about the other projects across America they aren't paying for either," Williams says, citing a teapot museum in North Carolina as an example.

It was the Republican-controlled Congress that failed to pass the nine spending bills this year. But Sen. Bob Bennett, Utah's member on the Appropriations Committee, says the stalled funding now is on Democrats' shoulders.

"Unfortunately, if the Democrats go ahead with their current plan, many of these projects would not receive funding already approved by the committee in this last session," says Bennett spokeswoman Emily Christensen.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the earmark process has been abused and needs to be fixed, but adds that Utah has seen real benefits, too.

"These requests are worthy, important projects," he said.

Hatch will get no argument from officials at Utah State University, which partially relies on earmarks for its research projects.

"Some very urgent priorities and initiatives will be slowed down by as much as a year" because of the spending-bill abandonment, says Brent Miller, the university's vice president for research.

The Utah Transit Authority, which is in the middle of constructing a commuter rail line between Ogden and Salt Lake City, may face higher finance costs because of the delay in getting $80 million from the Department of Transportation.

The funding will eventually come, explained UTA spokesman Justin Jones, because the project already has the approval of the federal department.

"It's something that's commonplace and has happened in the past," he added. "We're comfortable moving ahead with the commuter [line]."

The delay will hurt Park City, though, which is seeking $500,000 to help pipe in more water. City spokesman Myles Rademan says the request wasn't frivolous and the city may have to seek alternative funds.

"I don't think we can really wait," he says. "We're up against it." - Thomas Barr, The Salt Lake Tribune

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BAR BRAWL RAILY NASTY

NEW YORK CITY, NY -- The MTA board member leading the charge to ban the sale of booze on commuter rail platforms and trains works for a law firm that represents several of the restaurants and bars at Penn Station that would stand to benefit from the prohibition.

Long Island Rail Road bartenders, who fear their jobs are on the line, say it was only after Mitchell Pally was hired three months ago to handle "government relations" at the Weber Law Group, a Melville-based firm, that talk of the prohibition began.

"We've all been wondering where this whole thing came from, and when we checked the company's Web site, we thought we may have our answer," said one LIRR bar-cart attendant, who asked not to be identified.

The Weber Law Group lists restaurant-franchise giant Riese Restaurants as one of its clients.

Riese, whose Penn Station restaurants include TGI Friday's and Houlihan's, would likely see a spike in beer and liquor sales if the railroad stopped selling booze to passengers.

"There's no question this would be good for business," CEO Dennis Riese said. "But just a little."

Pally dismissed the rail bartenders' accusation as a "conspiracy theory," noting that he would prefer not only to ban the sale of booze by the railroad, but also the consumption on trains.

Penn Station's bars do brisk sales of beer to go. That business would likely suffer under Pally's proposal, he said.

Pally said he brought the issue to the table because, as public policy, "it did not make sense" for the state to serve as bartender to customers who get in their cars when they arrive at their home station.

"I have been here [at Weber] three months and I don't discuss my MTA activities with anybody," Pally said.

Andrew Albert, a non-voting MTA board member, said he would need more information, but thought Pally's employer could represent a conflict of interest in this matter. "It does not sound good," he said.

Meanwhile, the unions that represent service attendants, along with the commuters who say they have a right to a drink on their train ride home, are stepping up their campaigns against the proposed ban.

MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow is forming a task force to study the issue. - Jeremy Olshan, The New York Post

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