What were you doing during the turbulent decade of the seventies? From 1970 to 1979 the Elgin Joliet & Eastern was still a busy little railroad.
Traffic on the railroad had been gradually declining since 1950. From 1950 to 1959 the EJ&E handled 386 million tons of freight. But in the decade of the sixties total freight tonnage dropped by a quarter, down to 287 million tons.
The 1958 recession had hit the entire railroad industry hard, not just EJ&E. During these same two decades the railroad had lost much of its loose car bridge or overhead traffic, as the larger railroads had arranged for more direct connections rather than using EJ&E. The irony is that this is exactly the kind of traffic that the Canadian National is proposing to return to the railroad.
During the seventies approximately 76% of the EJ&E’s line haul traffic was associated directly with the steel industry. Commodities here included iron and steel articles, inbound raw materials such as coal, coke, scrap and lime, as well as outbound shipments consisting of slag and coke byproducts.
One of the more interesting moves of finished steel during this period consisted of shipments moving from US Steel and Inland Steel mills to the GM Fisher Body Plant, in Willow Springs, IL, interchanged with the Santa Fe Railway at Joliet. This move started when the plant opened in 1953, and lasted until GM finally closed Willow Springs in 1989. The site is now home of the world’s largest parcel sorting facility operated by UPS, Inc.
An additional 14% of EJ&E’s traffic was composed of coal for utility companies, moving primarily in unit train service, with the remaining 10% consisting of miscellaneous products.
Thus, the railroad was heavily dependent on a two-industry market structure for its business fortunes. This simple fact helps to explain much of the postwar history of the EJ&E.
In 1973 domestic steel production reach a peak of 150 million tons for the decade, and the railroad handled an all-time high in iron and steel of tonnage of slight more than 9.5 million tons. (That’s well over half the railroad’s current annual tonnage). Two years later, the railroad experienced one of its worst years for steel traffic with shipments declining to 6.2 million tons.
In 1973 EJ&E moved about 30 million tons of revenue freight, probably its best year of the decade. By 1977 annual volume had dropped slightly to 26.5 million tons. Tonnage volume during the seventies was averaging about twice what it is today.
To compensate for the loss of overhead traffic, and reduce the railroad’s dependence on the steel industry, EJ&E embarked on a very aggressive industrial development program in the late 1960’s. Much of this effort was centered around the town of Plainfield, IL, which back then saw railroads in more positive terms than today.
By 1974 rail-served customers on the west side of Plainfield included Super Valu Stores, Fleischman Distilling Corp., Distillers Ltd., Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corp., Lehigh Portland Cement, Southern Door Company and Wickes Lumber.
Just north of Plainfield, at Walker, the Illinois River branch headed off the mainline towards the towns of Minooka and Morris. This branch was another beehive of industrial development, with large chemical processing facilities constructed by Armak, Airco Industrial Gasses, and Northern Petrochemical (now Quantum).
In February 1975 the EJ&E moved their executive offices from downtown Chicago to a facility adjacent to the East Joliet yard. These offices had been located at 208 South LaSalle Street since May 1, 1914. This was an obvious cost-cutting move that also brought the railroad’s entire local management team together in the same location.
During the seventies the EJ&E remained a busy and noisy railroad with plenty of activity.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
EJ&E History Lesson
During the course of our recent research on the EJ&E Railway, we have come across a 1966 edition of the Railway's official "Milepost" Newsletter, which has a very interesting article entitled, "Outline of the Railroad". This is an 8 page status report on the EJ&E just 40 short years ago. Here are some highlights from it and the railroad's 1966 Annual Report.
In 1966 the EJ&E was still known by the brand slogan, "Chicago Outer Belt". According to the article,
"A unique aspect of the railroads serving the Chicago area is that there is no continuous route for movement of traffic by one carrier through this point. Railroads leading into the area from every direction all terminate at Chicago and cars destined to go through the City must be transferred from one road to another to continue their movements. The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway, appropriately known as The Chicago Outer Belt, provides a fast route for accomplishing these transfers by moving the cars around the congested central area (sound familiar?)."
In 1966 the Railway had 320 miles of mainline track and included a 10-mile branch line that ran between Aurora and Normantown, IL. EJ&E interchanged with 19 railroads and 7 switch lines at 32 separate points. 20 of these interchange points were located in the state of Illinois between Waukegan and Lynwood. About half these interchange points remain in place today, controlled by Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific and BNSF.
The Western Subdivision of the Joliet Division extended from Joliet to Waukegan, IL. The Eastern Subdivision of the Joliet Division extended from Joliet, IL to Griffith, IN.
Approximately 40,000 cars per month were being handled to and from the 22 rail interchange points located on the Joliet Division (Western and Eastern Subs). That's about 480,000 cars per year.
The major yards on the Joliet Division were East Joliet Yard and Waukegan Yard.
An average of 26 trains per day were arriving and departing East Joliet Yard in a 24 hour period. The Yard was handling about 1,950 cars daily, or about 39,000 cars per month.
In 1966 train volume on the Joliet Division was about evenly spread out between the Western and Eastern Subdivisions, while today about 75 per cent of train volume is concentrated on the Western Subdivision between West Chicago and Joliet.
An average of six trains per day were received and dispatched at the Waukegan Yard. This Yard was handling approximately 13,200 cars per month. Today this Yard is all but abandoned.
According to the railroad's 1966 Annual Report, the railroad handled 29.9 million revenue tons that year, or about twice what it handles today.
The Joliet Division had already begun to handle unit coal trains, which ran in addition to the regularly scheduled manifest trains previously described. Destinations in 1966 included the Waukegan station of Commonwealth Edison, the Dean Mitchell station of Northern Indiana Public Service Company, and the Gary Works of U.S. Steel. These trains consisted of 100 to 160 cars of 7,000 to 10,000 tons total capacity. EJ&E was handling about 19 unit trains per week.
The 1966 Annual Report shows a total of 524,451 revenue cars handled, with an average of 57.08 tons per loaded car and an average length of haul of 34 miles. That year the railroad still handled a large amount of steel products, which accounted for over 40% of all tonnage, followed closely by coal. These were the two dominant commodity groups.
The EJ&E of 1966 was a busy, heavily used, and noisy freight railroad. The difference between then and now is that very few people lived in the region to be annoyed by all the heavy rail activity.
In 1966 the EJ&E was still known by the brand slogan, "Chicago Outer Belt". According to the article,
"A unique aspect of the railroads serving the Chicago area is that there is no continuous route for movement of traffic by one carrier through this point. Railroads leading into the area from every direction all terminate at Chicago and cars destined to go through the City must be transferred from one road to another to continue their movements. The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway, appropriately known as The Chicago Outer Belt, provides a fast route for accomplishing these transfers by moving the cars around the congested central area (sound familiar?)."
In 1966 the Railway had 320 miles of mainline track and included a 10-mile branch line that ran between Aurora and Normantown, IL. EJ&E interchanged with 19 railroads and 7 switch lines at 32 separate points. 20 of these interchange points were located in the state of Illinois between Waukegan and Lynwood. About half these interchange points remain in place today, controlled by Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific and BNSF.
The Western Subdivision of the Joliet Division extended from Joliet to Waukegan, IL. The Eastern Subdivision of the Joliet Division extended from Joliet, IL to Griffith, IN.
Approximately 40,000 cars per month were being handled to and from the 22 rail interchange points located on the Joliet Division (Western and Eastern Subs). That's about 480,000 cars per year.
The major yards on the Joliet Division were East Joliet Yard and Waukegan Yard.
An average of 26 trains per day were arriving and departing East Joliet Yard in a 24 hour period. The Yard was handling about 1,950 cars daily, or about 39,000 cars per month.
In 1966 train volume on the Joliet Division was about evenly spread out between the Western and Eastern Subdivisions, while today about 75 per cent of train volume is concentrated on the Western Subdivision between West Chicago and Joliet.
An average of six trains per day were received and dispatched at the Waukegan Yard. This Yard was handling approximately 13,200 cars per month. Today this Yard is all but abandoned.
According to the railroad's 1966 Annual Report, the railroad handled 29.9 million revenue tons that year, or about twice what it handles today.
The Joliet Division had already begun to handle unit coal trains, which ran in addition to the regularly scheduled manifest trains previously described. Destinations in 1966 included the Waukegan station of Commonwealth Edison, the Dean Mitchell station of Northern Indiana Public Service Company, and the Gary Works of U.S. Steel. These trains consisted of 100 to 160 cars of 7,000 to 10,000 tons total capacity. EJ&E was handling about 19 unit trains per week.
The 1966 Annual Report shows a total of 524,451 revenue cars handled, with an average of 57.08 tons per loaded car and an average length of haul of 34 miles. That year the railroad still handled a large amount of steel products, which accounted for over 40% of all tonnage, followed closely by coal. These were the two dominant commodity groups.
The EJ&E of 1966 was a busy, heavily used, and noisy freight railroad. The difference between then and now is that very few people lived in the region to be annoyed by all the heavy rail activity.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Gospel According to Barrington
One of the more entertaining groups opposed to the CN/EJ&E acquisition is a group calling itself "Fight Rail Congestion" dot com. Of course this is a group that has done absolutely nothing to reduce rail congestion, they are just opposed to having it in their back yards as opposed to my back yard.
But for the sake of argument let's examine their version of national transportation policy. In their recent full page ads in the Chicago Tribune, which incidentally were printed on newsprint produced in Canada, this anti-CN group made this remarkable statement of policy,
"If this deal isn't approved, it won't mean that goods won't get to market. It just means that they won't get there a few hours faster."
So according to this bunch,
* Transit time is NOT important.
* Delay time is NOT important.
* The cost of delays is NOT important.
OK, but in all fairness folks why stop with just the EJ&E route, why stop in just Barrington and Lake Zurich? In all fairness let's apply what I will call the "Barrington Formula" to regional transportation policy.
If you sincerely believe in the "Barrington Formula" then here's what our regional transportation policy would look like.
No moderization and expansion of O'Hare International Airport. No planning for the expansion of the Gary-Chicago Airport. No planning for another regional airport in Peotone, IL.
If you believe in the "Barrington Formula", then here are some additional steps that need to be taken immediately.
Stop the widening of I-294, the Tri-State Tollway immediately. Cancel all plans for the widening of I-55 in Will County, between Bolingbrook and Joliet (are you listening Will County Board?). And according to the "Barrington Formula" the southern extension of I-355 should have never been built, since delays are NOT important.
And with all the trucks (and freight) that travel on the rebuilt Kingery Expressway in the southern suburbs, that project was clearly a major mistake according to the "Barrington Formula".
If you believe in the "Barrington Formula" the Joliet Army Arsenal would still be a giant hazardous waste dump waiting to be cleaned up instead of a high-powered engine of regional economic growth.
Remember, according to Fight Rail Congestion dot com, getting something there a few hours (or days or weeks) later does NOT matter, as long as it gets there eventually.
Is this really the economic future we want for the Northeast Illinois region? I certainly hope not.
But for the sake of argument let's examine their version of national transportation policy. In their recent full page ads in the Chicago Tribune, which incidentally were printed on newsprint produced in Canada, this anti-CN group made this remarkable statement of policy,
"If this deal isn't approved, it won't mean that goods won't get to market. It just means that they won't get there a few hours faster."
So according to this bunch,
* Transit time is NOT important.
* Delay time is NOT important.
* The cost of delays is NOT important.
OK, but in all fairness folks why stop with just the EJ&E route, why stop in just Barrington and Lake Zurich? In all fairness let's apply what I will call the "Barrington Formula" to regional transportation policy.
If you sincerely believe in the "Barrington Formula" then here's what our regional transportation policy would look like.
No moderization and expansion of O'Hare International Airport. No planning for the expansion of the Gary-Chicago Airport. No planning for another regional airport in Peotone, IL.
If you believe in the "Barrington Formula", then here are some additional steps that need to be taken immediately.
Stop the widening of I-294, the Tri-State Tollway immediately. Cancel all plans for the widening of I-55 in Will County, between Bolingbrook and Joliet (are you listening Will County Board?). And according to the "Barrington Formula" the southern extension of I-355 should have never been built, since delays are NOT important.
And with all the trucks (and freight) that travel on the rebuilt Kingery Expressway in the southern suburbs, that project was clearly a major mistake according to the "Barrington Formula".
If you believe in the "Barrington Formula" the Joliet Army Arsenal would still be a giant hazardous waste dump waiting to be cleaned up instead of a high-powered engine of regional economic growth.
Remember, according to Fight Rail Congestion dot com, getting something there a few hours (or days or weeks) later does NOT matter, as long as it gets there eventually.
Is this really the economic future we want for the Northeast Illinois region? I certainly hope not.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Real EJ&E Grade Crossing Impact
In the sometimes heated and hysterical debate over the impact of increased CN freight train traffic on communities along the EJ&E, much has been made of the potential for increased grade crossing delays.
According to data submitted by Canadian National to the Surface Transportation Board, most communities along the EJ&E will see between 20 and 45 trains per day, with the overwhelming majority in the 20 to 35 trains per day range. But how bad is the situation along the EJ&E compared with the rest of the region?
In 2002 the Illinois Commerce Commission completed a comprehensive study of rail-highway grade crossing delays in Northeastern Illinois. Here's the ICC's ranking of the top 10 regional rail routes, for grade crossing delay, showing the actual daily train counts (according to the ICC).
BNSF - Aurora to Cicero: 140 trains per day.
UP - Metra Harvard Sub: 62 trains per day.
UP - Metra West Line: 110 trains per day.
CSX Main Line Blue Island to 59th St: 41 trains per day.
Metra - Milwaukee North Line: 94 trains per day.
BRC - Clearing to Craigin: 32 trains per day.
IHB - Calumet Park to Blue Island: 87 trains per day.
Metra - Milwaukee West Line: 69 trains per day.
UP (CWI-CEI) Main Line: 57 trains per day.
CN/IC (GTW) Main Line: 26 trains per day.
In terms of total hours of daily motorist delay, according to the ICC the worst crossings were in densely populated urban areas near large rail classification yards. These areas were located primarily in the southern suburbs of Blue Island, Dixmoor, Riverdale, Chicago Ridge and Evergreen Park.
Another very congested area was in the vicinity of Chicago's Midway Airport, along the mainline of the Belt Railway of Chicago, running parallel to the east side of Cicero Avenue. (This area is visible from CTA Orange Line trains arriving or departing from the Midway Airport station.) We are not aware of any plans by Canadian National to construct a classification yard on the EJ&E in Illinois.
The reality is that Chicago is (and has been) the railroad capital of the world. In 2002, according to ICC figures, 19 freight railroads operated an average of 740 trains of all shapes and sizes each weekday in Northeastern Illinois.
According to rail industry figures, the largest single commodity group for tons originated is coal, which means that many of these trains were either loaded or empty unit coal trains. These unit trains are typically well in excess of a mile in length, and tend to move at relatively slow speeds.
During the same time period Metra was operating an average of 660 daily trains, and Amtrak contributed another 100 daily trains to the mix. Since 2002 these numbers have increased for both freight and passenger.
In 2002 there were 1,732 public at-grade highway-rail crossings located in the six counties of Northeastern Illinois. According to the ICC Report regional grade crossing delays impact half a million motorists daily, and cost the region between $74 and $120 million annually. The reality is that grade crossing delays are a fact of life in this region regardless of what community you reside in.
Illinois has approximately 7,200 miles of railroad track, the second largest rail system of any state in the nation (after Texas). There are over 41 railroad companies that operate their trains in and through Illinois, which is the third highest in the nation. About 500 million tons of freight move on Illinois' rail systems each year which is the most of any state in the nation.
Approximately 20 million tons of chemicals, many of which are hazardous, are transported on Illinois' rail systems. The fastest growing hazmat commodity group is ethanol. Large quantities of ethanol move in railroad tank cars from producers in states like Iowa and South Dakota, through Illinois, to refineries in Indiana and New Jersey.
Two of the largest producers of ethanol, ADM and AE Staley, are headquartered in Decatur, IL. Increasing amounts of chemical fertilizer also move through Illinois to support the increased demand for corn and soybeans created by the ethanol boom.
(It should also be noted that the Federal programs to encourage increased use, production and transport of ethanol, have been supported by virtually the entire Illinois Congressional delegation, led by Senator Dick Durbin.)
Grade crossing delays are clearly a regional problem and require a regional solution. Why do communities like Barrington, Lake Zurich, and Frankfort, deserve a better deal here than all the rest of us?
According to data submitted by Canadian National to the Surface Transportation Board, most communities along the EJ&E will see between 20 and 45 trains per day, with the overwhelming majority in the 20 to 35 trains per day range. But how bad is the situation along the EJ&E compared with the rest of the region?
In 2002 the Illinois Commerce Commission completed a comprehensive study of rail-highway grade crossing delays in Northeastern Illinois. Here's the ICC's ranking of the top 10 regional rail routes, for grade crossing delay, showing the actual daily train counts (according to the ICC).
BNSF - Aurora to Cicero: 140 trains per day.
UP - Metra Harvard Sub: 62 trains per day.
UP - Metra West Line: 110 trains per day.
CSX Main Line Blue Island to 59th St: 41 trains per day.
Metra - Milwaukee North Line: 94 trains per day.
BRC - Clearing to Craigin: 32 trains per day.
IHB - Calumet Park to Blue Island: 87 trains per day.
Metra - Milwaukee West Line: 69 trains per day.
UP (CWI-CEI) Main Line: 57 trains per day.
CN/IC (GTW) Main Line: 26 trains per day.
In terms of total hours of daily motorist delay, according to the ICC the worst crossings were in densely populated urban areas near large rail classification yards. These areas were located primarily in the southern suburbs of Blue Island, Dixmoor, Riverdale, Chicago Ridge and Evergreen Park.
Another very congested area was in the vicinity of Chicago's Midway Airport, along the mainline of the Belt Railway of Chicago, running parallel to the east side of Cicero Avenue. (This area is visible from CTA Orange Line trains arriving or departing from the Midway Airport station.) We are not aware of any plans by Canadian National to construct a classification yard on the EJ&E in Illinois.
The reality is that Chicago is (and has been) the railroad capital of the world. In 2002, according to ICC figures, 19 freight railroads operated an average of 740 trains of all shapes and sizes each weekday in Northeastern Illinois.
According to rail industry figures, the largest single commodity group for tons originated is coal, which means that many of these trains were either loaded or empty unit coal trains. These unit trains are typically well in excess of a mile in length, and tend to move at relatively slow speeds.
During the same time period Metra was operating an average of 660 daily trains, and Amtrak contributed another 100 daily trains to the mix. Since 2002 these numbers have increased for both freight and passenger.
In 2002 there were 1,732 public at-grade highway-rail crossings located in the six counties of Northeastern Illinois. According to the ICC Report regional grade crossing delays impact half a million motorists daily, and cost the region between $74 and $120 million annually. The reality is that grade crossing delays are a fact of life in this region regardless of what community you reside in.
Illinois has approximately 7,200 miles of railroad track, the second largest rail system of any state in the nation (after Texas). There are over 41 railroad companies that operate their trains in and through Illinois, which is the third highest in the nation. About 500 million tons of freight move on Illinois' rail systems each year which is the most of any state in the nation.
Approximately 20 million tons of chemicals, many of which are hazardous, are transported on Illinois' rail systems. The fastest growing hazmat commodity group is ethanol. Large quantities of ethanol move in railroad tank cars from producers in states like Iowa and South Dakota, through Illinois, to refineries in Indiana and New Jersey.
Two of the largest producers of ethanol, ADM and AE Staley, are headquartered in Decatur, IL. Increasing amounts of chemical fertilizer also move through Illinois to support the increased demand for corn and soybeans created by the ethanol boom.
(It should also be noted that the Federal programs to encourage increased use, production and transport of ethanol, have been supported by virtually the entire Illinois Congressional delegation, led by Senator Dick Durbin.)
Grade crossing delays are clearly a regional problem and require a regional solution. Why do communities like Barrington, Lake Zurich, and Frankfort, deserve a better deal here than all the rest of us?
Sunday, April 6, 2008
STAR Line Reality Check
There seems to be a lot of public hand wringing and hysteria over the impact of the CN/EJ&E acquisition on the future of a proposed Metra route known as the STAR Line. Well guess what sports fans? The STAR Line route was in serious trouble long before Canadian National made their offer to purchase EJ&E. And the source of this astounding revelation is none other than Metra’s very own 1999 Outer Circumferential Commuter Rail Feasibility Study.
But first here’s a more relevant question for Metra’s Board of Directors. If the STAR Line is as important as everyone now says it is, why didn’t Metra go ahead and buy the EJ&E itself? Or is Metra trying to get something for nothing?
The STAR Line concept has been kicking around for about 20 years now. Yet to our knowledge Metra never contemplated making a serious offer to purchase the EJ&E. We’re also not aware of any negotiations between Metra and EJ&E for a Purchase of Service of Agreement (PSA). For the past 20 years the STAR Line has been like the weather, everyone talks about it but no one ever does anything.
In 1999 Metra’s outside consulting firm of T-Y-LIN International – Bascor completed a detailed engineering analysis of the entire EJ&E Railway line within Illinois, from Waukegan all the way around to Lynwood. Their final report was released in April 1999 and is a public document available on Metra’s website.
That report included a detailed analysis of current and projected freight operations and volumes on the EJ&E, as well as substantial feedback from EJ&E management on the subject of commuter rail service on their railroad. The report’s findings are mixed at best, but we think they speak for themselves. Relevant excerpts are presented as follows.
The report’s Foreword states:
“Freight railroad operations and traffic volumes are subject to change at any time on any existing freight railroad. Growth of the national economy, improved competitive costs produced by railroads, or future railroad mergers could all have a major influence on the potential cost of implementing commuter service."
The report’s Executive Summary states:
“The EJ&E projects an increase in freight train traffic in the near future, consistent with the fairly recent resurgence of the railroad industry. EJ&E management indicated that specific long-term levels of freight traffic are difficult or impossible to predict at this time, but they will need to retain their existing trackage and other infrastructure to conduct their future business. This situation could require Metra to create its own parallel infrastructure in order to consider implementation of any potential new commuter service.”
The Executive Summary goes on to state,
“In addition, EJ&E management stated that their track capacity would be needed for present and future operations…allowing EJ&E exclusive use of their present physical plant without interference from Metra commuter operations."
Section 2.4, Freight Operations, states:
“It must be recognized that the primary responsibility of the EJ&E or any other freight railroad is their freight traffic.”
Section 3.1 of the Report covers Projected Freight Operations. That sections states:
“The freight railroad industry has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years. As the existing rail capacity through Chicago is becoming limited, there is interest by other railroads to bypass bottlenecks that delay freight movements in some classification yards closer to Chicago’s downtown. The EJ&E has been actively pursuing railroad freight business that would utilize their right-of-way and consequently provide additional revenue from trackage-rights agreements.”
The report goes on to detail ongoing negotiations between EJ&E and both Union Pacific and Canadian National for extensive trackage rights agreements that ultimately covered virtually the entire length of the EJ&E. Several years later EJ&E also entered into a trackage rights agreement with BNSF for operations between Eola and Joliet.
Under Section 4.4, Single Vs. Double Track, the report states:
“EJ&E management stated at the outset of the Study, and reiterated in subsequent discussions, that their existing track capacity would be required for present and future freight operations. This would require Metra to construct a separate and virtually exclusive track for commuter train operations.”
Under Section 5.6, Additional Infrastructure the report states,
“A lot will depend upon the levels of EJ&E freight traffic that are current (and projected) at the time when such a decision might be made.”
From Metra’s very own report, it’s obvious that the lack of capacity on the EJ&E due to rail freight operations was a major issue and concern as early as 1999. And from 1999 until September 2007 the problem only got worse. In the interest of fairness critics of the CN/EJ&E deal might want to keep that fact in mind.
But first here’s a more relevant question for Metra’s Board of Directors. If the STAR Line is as important as everyone now says it is, why didn’t Metra go ahead and buy the EJ&E itself? Or is Metra trying to get something for nothing?
The STAR Line concept has been kicking around for about 20 years now. Yet to our knowledge Metra never contemplated making a serious offer to purchase the EJ&E. We’re also not aware of any negotiations between Metra and EJ&E for a Purchase of Service of Agreement (PSA). For the past 20 years the STAR Line has been like the weather, everyone talks about it but no one ever does anything.
In 1999 Metra’s outside consulting firm of T-Y-LIN International – Bascor completed a detailed engineering analysis of the entire EJ&E Railway line within Illinois, from Waukegan all the way around to Lynwood. Their final report was released in April 1999 and is a public document available on Metra’s website.
That report included a detailed analysis of current and projected freight operations and volumes on the EJ&E, as well as substantial feedback from EJ&E management on the subject of commuter rail service on their railroad. The report’s findings are mixed at best, but we think they speak for themselves. Relevant excerpts are presented as follows.
The report’s Foreword states:
“Freight railroad operations and traffic volumes are subject to change at any time on any existing freight railroad. Growth of the national economy, improved competitive costs produced by railroads, or future railroad mergers could all have a major influence on the potential cost of implementing commuter service."
The report’s Executive Summary states:
“The EJ&E projects an increase in freight train traffic in the near future, consistent with the fairly recent resurgence of the railroad industry. EJ&E management indicated that specific long-term levels of freight traffic are difficult or impossible to predict at this time, but they will need to retain their existing trackage and other infrastructure to conduct their future business. This situation could require Metra to create its own parallel infrastructure in order to consider implementation of any potential new commuter service.”
The Executive Summary goes on to state,
“In addition, EJ&E management stated that their track capacity would be needed for present and future operations…allowing EJ&E exclusive use of their present physical plant without interference from Metra commuter operations."
Section 2.4, Freight Operations, states:
“It must be recognized that the primary responsibility of the EJ&E or any other freight railroad is their freight traffic.”
Section 3.1 of the Report covers Projected Freight Operations. That sections states:
“The freight railroad industry has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years. As the existing rail capacity through Chicago is becoming limited, there is interest by other railroads to bypass bottlenecks that delay freight movements in some classification yards closer to Chicago’s downtown. The EJ&E has been actively pursuing railroad freight business that would utilize their right-of-way and consequently provide additional revenue from trackage-rights agreements.”
The report goes on to detail ongoing negotiations between EJ&E and both Union Pacific and Canadian National for extensive trackage rights agreements that ultimately covered virtually the entire length of the EJ&E. Several years later EJ&E also entered into a trackage rights agreement with BNSF for operations between Eola and Joliet.
Under Section 4.4, Single Vs. Double Track, the report states:
“EJ&E management stated at the outset of the Study, and reiterated in subsequent discussions, that their existing track capacity would be required for present and future freight operations. This would require Metra to construct a separate and virtually exclusive track for commuter train operations.”
Under Section 5.6, Additional Infrastructure the report states,
“A lot will depend upon the levels of EJ&E freight traffic that are current (and projected) at the time when such a decision might be made.”
From Metra’s very own report, it’s obvious that the lack of capacity on the EJ&E due to rail freight operations was a major issue and concern as early as 1999. And from 1999 until September 2007 the problem only got worse. In the interest of fairness critics of the CN/EJ&E deal might want to keep that fact in mind.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Time For Straight Talk on CN/EJ&E
Leaders in the northwest suburban community of Barrington are complaining about a proposal by Canadian National Railway to buy the EJ&E rail line. For Barrington, the plan would put up to 20 trains a day on a line that currently carries only five, but was recently upgraded by the EJ&E Railway itself precisely to accommodate these kinds of increased volumes.
Anyone who lives in places like Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale or Downers Grove knows that wonderful communities can and do exist with well over a hundred freight, Amtrak and Metra trains per day passing through them. The morning and evening rush hours in downtown Barrington actually resemble these other communities thanks to the passage of some 62 daily Metra passenger trains, most of which stop there, creating gridlock in the downtown area while they load or unload passengers. And while Metra is actively planning to increase service (and grade crossing delays) on this route, Barrington’s wrath seems to be reserved solely for freight trains.
The local NIMBY opposition has been joined by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, but to quote the cartoon character Pogo, “we have met the enemy and he is us”. Conspicuously absent in Senator Durbin’s numerous press releases and public pronouncements is any acknowledgment of his own very direct responsibility for the current predicament faced by his constituents.
We already have a solution for the region’s rail congestion problems, an extraordinary public-private partnership called CREATE. In 2005 its supporters were led to believe by Senator Durbin, Congressman William Lipinksi and other elected officials that CREATE would receive a substantial influx of funds under the Federal surface transportation reauthorization bill known as SAFETEA-LU. While rail freight projects in Ohio and California were generously funded, CREATE received what amounted to pocket change, and has languished in limbo ever since. The plain truth is that if CREATE had received anything close to full funding in 2005 we would not be having this debate today.
The real issue is this: People in Barrington don’t want to wait in their cars (anymore than they already do for Metra trains). The flaw in Barrington’s argument is that the delays they face are not anything special or extraordinary compared with the rest of the region.
We recently took grade crossing delays for the six county region documented in a 2002 Illinois Commerce Commission study and compared them with the projected increased delays along the EJ&E. It appears that the increased crossing delays along the EJ&E route will still be considerably less than those being experienced every day by numerous communities in the region, including my hometown of Downers Grove.
Of course, complaining about inconvenience alone is unlikely to carry the day, so Barrington officials such as President Karen Darch have resorted to portraying trains as unusual safety hazards. Among her stated concerns is blocked access to Advocate Good Shepard Hospital in Barrington, a Level 2 Trauma Center.
The question is, what about other communities?
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, for example, is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in all of DuPage County. This facility has been dealing with grade crossing delays caused by Amtrak, Metra and BNSF trains for years. We’ve been waiting almost 10 years for full funding of a grade separation project at Belmont Road to deal with this serious public safety issue.
My question for Senator Durbin (and 13th District Congresswoman Judy Biggert) is what, exactly have you been doing in the last 10 years to secure funds for Downers Grove? Are you suggesting that the public safety concerns of citizens in Barrington are greater than those in communities such as Downers Grove? Why no press conferences to decry grade crossing delays in Blue Island, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, La Grange and other suburbs?
In 2002, as part of a study originally requested by the Illinois Congressional delegation, the Illinois Commerce Commission came to this stunning conclusion.
“Neither IDOT, ICC, the railroads, or the affected communities alone, or in combination, have the financial resources necessary to make a significant improvement in the amount of delay currently being experienced at grade crossings…the grade crossing delay problem is likely to worsen. A new program…is necessary in order to reduce delays at grade crossings in northeastern Illinois.”
Simply making Canadian National the scapegoat here solves absolutely nothing.
The real problem is not the action of CN, or any other railroad, but rather the continuing ineptitude and inaction of our elected officials and public agencies. By following the lead of Senator Durbin, and other elected officials, Chicago’s status as a robust transportation center could be at risk. If we as a region are not careful, we could wind up with the little economic engine that couldn’t.
Anyone who lives in places like Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale or Downers Grove knows that wonderful communities can and do exist with well over a hundred freight, Amtrak and Metra trains per day passing through them. The morning and evening rush hours in downtown Barrington actually resemble these other communities thanks to the passage of some 62 daily Metra passenger trains, most of which stop there, creating gridlock in the downtown area while they load or unload passengers. And while Metra is actively planning to increase service (and grade crossing delays) on this route, Barrington’s wrath seems to be reserved solely for freight trains.
The local NIMBY opposition has been joined by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, but to quote the cartoon character Pogo, “we have met the enemy and he is us”. Conspicuously absent in Senator Durbin’s numerous press releases and public pronouncements is any acknowledgment of his own very direct responsibility for the current predicament faced by his constituents.
We already have a solution for the region’s rail congestion problems, an extraordinary public-private partnership called CREATE. In 2005 its supporters were led to believe by Senator Durbin, Congressman William Lipinksi and other elected officials that CREATE would receive a substantial influx of funds under the Federal surface transportation reauthorization bill known as SAFETEA-LU. While rail freight projects in Ohio and California were generously funded, CREATE received what amounted to pocket change, and has languished in limbo ever since. The plain truth is that if CREATE had received anything close to full funding in 2005 we would not be having this debate today.
The real issue is this: People in Barrington don’t want to wait in their cars (anymore than they already do for Metra trains). The flaw in Barrington’s argument is that the delays they face are not anything special or extraordinary compared with the rest of the region.
We recently took grade crossing delays for the six county region documented in a 2002 Illinois Commerce Commission study and compared them with the projected increased delays along the EJ&E. It appears that the increased crossing delays along the EJ&E route will still be considerably less than those being experienced every day by numerous communities in the region, including my hometown of Downers Grove.
Of course, complaining about inconvenience alone is unlikely to carry the day, so Barrington officials such as President Karen Darch have resorted to portraying trains as unusual safety hazards. Among her stated concerns is blocked access to Advocate Good Shepard Hospital in Barrington, a Level 2 Trauma Center.
The question is, what about other communities?
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, for example, is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in all of DuPage County. This facility has been dealing with grade crossing delays caused by Amtrak, Metra and BNSF trains for years. We’ve been waiting almost 10 years for full funding of a grade separation project at Belmont Road to deal with this serious public safety issue.
My question for Senator Durbin (and 13th District Congresswoman Judy Biggert) is what, exactly have you been doing in the last 10 years to secure funds for Downers Grove? Are you suggesting that the public safety concerns of citizens in Barrington are greater than those in communities such as Downers Grove? Why no press conferences to decry grade crossing delays in Blue Island, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, La Grange and other suburbs?
In 2002, as part of a study originally requested by the Illinois Congressional delegation, the Illinois Commerce Commission came to this stunning conclusion.
“Neither IDOT, ICC, the railroads, or the affected communities alone, or in combination, have the financial resources necessary to make a significant improvement in the amount of delay currently being experienced at grade crossings…the grade crossing delay problem is likely to worsen. A new program…is necessary in order to reduce delays at grade crossings in northeastern Illinois.”
Simply making Canadian National the scapegoat here solves absolutely nothing.
The real problem is not the action of CN, or any other railroad, but rather the continuing ineptitude and inaction of our elected officials and public agencies. By following the lead of Senator Durbin, and other elected officials, Chicago’s status as a robust transportation center could be at risk. If we as a region are not careful, we could wind up with the little economic engine that couldn’t.
CN/EJ&E MYTHS VS. FACTS - The Sequel
In the March 30th edition of the Chicago Tribune, our friends in Barrington paid for a full-page advertisement to once again express their strong opposition to the CN/EJ&E deal. We found the ad amusing and staggering in the amount of false information and half-truths it contained, masquerading as facts.
We thought it might interesting (and useful) to compare Barrington’s “phony facts” with some real facts.
Phony Fact 1: Rail traffic congestion in the Chicago region will not decrease as a result of this deal.
Real Facts 1: Here’s what the truth looks like.
* Freight traffic will decrease substantially on the line between Franklin Park and Leithton, a route with 19 trains per day on it now, but Metra has already staked a claim to this capacity for more passenger trains.
* Freight traffic will decrease on several CN lines in southern Cook County but many communities in that region have already asked for CN’s cooperation in an aggressive regional business development program. Unlike Barrington, some communities think that rail-based economic development’s actually a good thing.
*Ultimately this deal is a lot like the expansion of O’Hare International Airport, the rebuilding of the Dan Ryan Expressway, and the I-355 extension (which the Barrington folks probably thought were all bad ideas too). In the short-term there will be some significant reductions in congestion and delays in many locations. In the longer term, given Chicago’s natural and historic role as a global transportation hub, it’s difficult for anyone to accurately predict exactly what will occur.
Phony Fact 2: CN is trying to create a second major regional freight corridor which the region cannot afford.
Real Facts 2: Here’s what the truth looks like.
* The EJ&E, not CN, is actually the one creating the next major regional freight corridor. In the last 10 years EJ&E has successfully negotiated trackage rights agreements with BNSF, Canadian National and Union Pacific, without any regulatory oversight or environmental impact statements whatsoever.
* As a result traffic volumes have grown consistently on the EJ&E. Volume between West Chicago and Joliet has doubled in the past 10 years and continues to grow. In 2007 WOW Logistics opened a new 350,000 sq. ft. warehouse on the EJ&E in Aurora, one of the largest public warehouses in the region.
*Union Pacific built a new track connection with the EJ&E at West Chicago to handle the increased volume (like 135-car unit coal trains), and in 2005 EJ&E completed construction of a new 9,000-foot siding on its line just west of Barrington.
Phony Fact 3: CN won’t “show us the money” to pay for its fair share of grade-crossing mitigation costs.
Real Facts 3: Here’s what the truth looks like.
* According to Metra’s 1999 STAR Line Feasibility Study there are a total of 130 highway or road grade crossings on the EJ&E in Illinois. 21 percent of those grade crossings are for private roads, described in the study as “gravel” or “dirt”. Do these roads really need grade separations like opponents are demanding?
* According to the Federal Railroad Administration, “grade separations are generally funded by the States’ DOT and local communities. Railroads are not generally required to contribute.” But in this case CN has already volunteered to do so, just like CSXT and NS did in Cleveland, OH in 1999 when they acquired Conrail.
* In 2005, then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert convinced American and Illinois taxpayers that we needed to pay for the mess a railroad was creating. Speaker Hastert included a $7 million earmark in the Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill, SAFETEA-LU, bill for a grade crossing separation project in Elburn, IL. But the railroad(s) involved in creating that “mess” were the Union Pacific and the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad.
Phony Fact 4: This deal won’t benefit the northern Illinois economy one bit. CN intermodal trains will use Chicago “as a pass through.”
Real Facts 4: Here’s what the truth looks like.
* Chicago’s rail hub is the largest in the U.S. and the third largest intermodal container/trailer port in the world, following only Hong Kong and Singapore. Does any rational person actually believe that CN is not going to actively serve a market this size?
* Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer and a huge importer of Asian goods, has a 3.5 million square foot warehouse located just south of Joliet, IL. In fact the EJ&E line runs just north of this facility. Does any rational person actually believe that CN is not going to actively serve a customer of this size in this market?
* Like air traffic at O’Hare International Airport, about one-third of rail traffic moving into the Chicago area today only “changes trains” here and keeps moving through the metropolitan region. This is true of ALL the railroads operating in the Chicago region, not just Canadian National. It’s also a well-known fact that both CN and Canadian Pacific are the only Class One freight railroads with routes that actually run through Chicago rather than terminating here.
* The flow of commuter traffic in the region is already “continuously gridlocked" in dozens of suburban communities. But the railroad causing the most commuter gridlock today is not Canadian National but rather the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation, also known as Metra.
The real danger and threat to the future of economic growth in northern Illinois does not come from the Canadian National, or any railroad for that matter. It comes from communities like Columbus, OH and Memphis, TN, which are making millions of dollars of infrastructure improvements to facilitate “the free flow of commerce”, while we set up artificial barriers to commerce and engage in silly arguments about real vs. “phony” benefits.
We thought it might interesting (and useful) to compare Barrington’s “phony facts” with some real facts.
Phony Fact 1: Rail traffic congestion in the Chicago region will not decrease as a result of this deal.
Real Facts 1: Here’s what the truth looks like.
* Freight traffic will decrease substantially on the line between Franklin Park and Leithton, a route with 19 trains per day on it now, but Metra has already staked a claim to this capacity for more passenger trains.
* Freight traffic will decrease on several CN lines in southern Cook County but many communities in that region have already asked for CN’s cooperation in an aggressive regional business development program. Unlike Barrington, some communities think that rail-based economic development’s actually a good thing.
*Ultimately this deal is a lot like the expansion of O’Hare International Airport, the rebuilding of the Dan Ryan Expressway, and the I-355 extension (which the Barrington folks probably thought were all bad ideas too). In the short-term there will be some significant reductions in congestion and delays in many locations. In the longer term, given Chicago’s natural and historic role as a global transportation hub, it’s difficult for anyone to accurately predict exactly what will occur.
Phony Fact 2: CN is trying to create a second major regional freight corridor which the region cannot afford.
Real Facts 2: Here’s what the truth looks like.
* The EJ&E, not CN, is actually the one creating the next major regional freight corridor. In the last 10 years EJ&E has successfully negotiated trackage rights agreements with BNSF, Canadian National and Union Pacific, without any regulatory oversight or environmental impact statements whatsoever.
* As a result traffic volumes have grown consistently on the EJ&E. Volume between West Chicago and Joliet has doubled in the past 10 years and continues to grow. In 2007 WOW Logistics opened a new 350,000 sq. ft. warehouse on the EJ&E in Aurora, one of the largest public warehouses in the region.
*Union Pacific built a new track connection with the EJ&E at West Chicago to handle the increased volume (like 135-car unit coal trains), and in 2005 EJ&E completed construction of a new 9,000-foot siding on its line just west of Barrington.
Phony Fact 3: CN won’t “show us the money” to pay for its fair share of grade-crossing mitigation costs.
Real Facts 3: Here’s what the truth looks like.
* According to Metra’s 1999 STAR Line Feasibility Study there are a total of 130 highway or road grade crossings on the EJ&E in Illinois. 21 percent of those grade crossings are for private roads, described in the study as “gravel” or “dirt”. Do these roads really need grade separations like opponents are demanding?
* According to the Federal Railroad Administration, “grade separations are generally funded by the States’ DOT and local communities. Railroads are not generally required to contribute.” But in this case CN has already volunteered to do so, just like CSXT and NS did in Cleveland, OH in 1999 when they acquired Conrail.
* In 2005, then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert convinced American and Illinois taxpayers that we needed to pay for the mess a railroad was creating. Speaker Hastert included a $7 million earmark in the Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill, SAFETEA-LU, bill for a grade crossing separation project in Elburn, IL. But the railroad(s) involved in creating that “mess” were the Union Pacific and the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad.
Phony Fact 4: This deal won’t benefit the northern Illinois economy one bit. CN intermodal trains will use Chicago “as a pass through.”
Real Facts 4: Here’s what the truth looks like.
* Chicago’s rail hub is the largest in the U.S. and the third largest intermodal container/trailer port in the world, following only Hong Kong and Singapore. Does any rational person actually believe that CN is not going to actively serve a market this size?
* Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer and a huge importer of Asian goods, has a 3.5 million square foot warehouse located just south of Joliet, IL. In fact the EJ&E line runs just north of this facility. Does any rational person actually believe that CN is not going to actively serve a customer of this size in this market?
* Like air traffic at O’Hare International Airport, about one-third of rail traffic moving into the Chicago area today only “changes trains” here and keeps moving through the metropolitan region. This is true of ALL the railroads operating in the Chicago region, not just Canadian National. It’s also a well-known fact that both CN and Canadian Pacific are the only Class One freight railroads with routes that actually run through Chicago rather than terminating here.
* The flow of commuter traffic in the region is already “continuously gridlocked" in dozens of suburban communities. But the railroad causing the most commuter gridlock today is not Canadian National but rather the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation, also known as Metra.
The real danger and threat to the future of economic growth in northern Illinois does not come from the Canadian National, or any railroad for that matter. It comes from communities like Columbus, OH and Memphis, TN, which are making millions of dollars of infrastructure improvements to facilitate “the free flow of commerce”, while we set up artificial barriers to commerce and engage in silly arguments about real vs. “phony” benefits.
Monday, March 31, 2008
What EJ&E Bailouts???
Several of the more uninformed critics from the Barrington area have claimed that funding any grade separation projects along the EJ&E involving the Canadian National Railway with public money amounts to some kind of “government bailout”. These statements demonstrate an extraordinary and remarkable ignorance of Federal transportation policy.
The truth here is important and deserves to be told.
In 2005, as part of the Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization legislation known as SAFETEA-LU, Congress formally requested that the Federal Railroad Administration undertake a study of the impact of railroad grade crossing delays on emergency response vehicles.
This would seem to indicate that the 535 members of the 109th United States Congress (including Illinois Senator Dick Durbin) believed that grade crossing delays were a national problem, not a Barrington problem, and that a national or Federal solution to this problem was entirely appropriate regardless of the nationality of the railroad(s) involved.
Of course actions (and money) speak louder than words.
SAFETEA-LU continued to provide Federal funding in Section 1401 for the national highway-railway crossing safety program. SAFETEA-LU also included approximately $1 billion in individual earmarks for various grade crossing separation projects around the country.
Section 1301 of that legislation included $15 million for a grade crossing separation project involving railroads serving the Port of Virginia, and another $125 million for a massive grade crossing separation project in southern California, commonly referred to as the Alameda Corridor East Project. That project would benefit BNSF and Union Pacific, two railroads that serve the Chicago area and are based in Ft. Worth, TX and Omaha, NE respectively.
Section 9002 provided $350 million per year in grants for grade separating track that is “interfering with a community’s motor traffic vehicle flow, its quality of life or its economic development” (are CMAP and Senator Durbin listening?). SAFETEA-LU also extended and increased funding levels for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), which the City of Reno, NV used to fund (or bail out?) a major grade crossing separation project in their community.
Sounds like “bailouts” were very popular in 2005.
The award for the biggest “bailout” on a per capita basis goes to our neighbors in the tiny hamlet of Elburn, IL, population 4,800. These intrepid souls convinced then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert to include a $7 million earmark in SAFETEA-LU for a grade crossing separation project in Elburn (on a line used by Union Pacific and Metra) with a total cost of $9.5 million. Now that’s my kind of Congressman!!!
However, these so-called bailouts are nothing new. Back in 1998 our neighbors in Lafayette, IN received a $22.5 million grant under the previous Federal transportation authorization bill, TEA-21, for a project that eliminated 41 grade crossings in Lafayette.
TEA-21 money was also used in Cleveland, OH, in conjunction with contributions from CSX, Norfolk Southern and the State of Ohio, to fund several grade crossing separation projects. These projects were part of a voluntary agreement by all parties under the Surface Transportation Board’s final approval for the Conrail Acquisition.
Closer to home, the Grand Avenue grade separation project in suburban Franklin Park is a good example of how these projects actually get funded. This project cost approximately $44 million with funding coming from a variety of sources including $14,000 from the Illinois Commerce Commission grade crossing protection fund and $11.5 million from a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant. There was also a $4 million grant from SAFETEA-LU secured by Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
After the completion of the project in September 2007, Peter Silvestri, board chairman of the Grand Avenue Railroad Relocation Authority, is reported to have called the underpass project “a truly great example of intergovernmental and railroad cooperation”. At the time Silvestri was also a Cook County Commissioner and Elmwood Park village president. By the way the railroads involved here were the Indiana Harbor Belt (majority owner Canadian Pacific) and that other Canadian railroad whose name escapes me at the moment.
For those readers who might be interested in what law and accepted practice (as opposed to hype and hysteria) actually provide here, this is the description the Federal Railroad Administration provided in its final report to Congress (published in 2006).
“Grade separations are generally funded by the States’ DOT and local communities. Railroads are generally not legally required to contribute. Railroads maintain the crossings and so enjoy a reduction in costs when crossings are eliminated. They also perceive a reduction in liability and risk from crossing accidents. However, these gains are minor in terms of the cost of a grade separation, so railroads are usually only a limited partner in separation projects.
Federal Highway Trust Funds can generally be used to provide partial funding of grade separations. Depending on the status of the road or highway, grade separations can be funded from accounts such as the National Highway System and the Surface Transportation Program.”
Like we said, what bailout???
The truth here is important and deserves to be told.
In 2005, as part of the Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization legislation known as SAFETEA-LU, Congress formally requested that the Federal Railroad Administration undertake a study of the impact of railroad grade crossing delays on emergency response vehicles.
This would seem to indicate that the 535 members of the 109th United States Congress (including Illinois Senator Dick Durbin) believed that grade crossing delays were a national problem, not a Barrington problem, and that a national or Federal solution to this problem was entirely appropriate regardless of the nationality of the railroad(s) involved.
Of course actions (and money) speak louder than words.
SAFETEA-LU continued to provide Federal funding in Section 1401 for the national highway-railway crossing safety program. SAFETEA-LU also included approximately $1 billion in individual earmarks for various grade crossing separation projects around the country.
Section 1301 of that legislation included $15 million for a grade crossing separation project involving railroads serving the Port of Virginia, and another $125 million for a massive grade crossing separation project in southern California, commonly referred to as the Alameda Corridor East Project. That project would benefit BNSF and Union Pacific, two railroads that serve the Chicago area and are based in Ft. Worth, TX and Omaha, NE respectively.
Section 9002 provided $350 million per year in grants for grade separating track that is “interfering with a community’s motor traffic vehicle flow, its quality of life or its economic development” (are CMAP and Senator Durbin listening?). SAFETEA-LU also extended and increased funding levels for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), which the City of Reno, NV used to fund (or bail out?) a major grade crossing separation project in their community.
Sounds like “bailouts” were very popular in 2005.
The award for the biggest “bailout” on a per capita basis goes to our neighbors in the tiny hamlet of Elburn, IL, population 4,800. These intrepid souls convinced then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert to include a $7 million earmark in SAFETEA-LU for a grade crossing separation project in Elburn (on a line used by Union Pacific and Metra) with a total cost of $9.5 million. Now that’s my kind of Congressman!!!
However, these so-called bailouts are nothing new. Back in 1998 our neighbors in Lafayette, IN received a $22.5 million grant under the previous Federal transportation authorization bill, TEA-21, for a project that eliminated 41 grade crossings in Lafayette.
TEA-21 money was also used in Cleveland, OH, in conjunction with contributions from CSX, Norfolk Southern and the State of Ohio, to fund several grade crossing separation projects. These projects were part of a voluntary agreement by all parties under the Surface Transportation Board’s final approval for the Conrail Acquisition.
Closer to home, the Grand Avenue grade separation project in suburban Franklin Park is a good example of how these projects actually get funded. This project cost approximately $44 million with funding coming from a variety of sources including $14,000 from the Illinois Commerce Commission grade crossing protection fund and $11.5 million from a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant. There was also a $4 million grant from SAFETEA-LU secured by Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
After the completion of the project in September 2007, Peter Silvestri, board chairman of the Grand Avenue Railroad Relocation Authority, is reported to have called the underpass project “a truly great example of intergovernmental and railroad cooperation”. At the time Silvestri was also a Cook County Commissioner and Elmwood Park village president. By the way the railroads involved here were the Indiana Harbor Belt (majority owner Canadian Pacific) and that other Canadian railroad whose name escapes me at the moment.
For those readers who might be interested in what law and accepted practice (as opposed to hype and hysteria) actually provide here, this is the description the Federal Railroad Administration provided in its final report to Congress (published in 2006).
“Grade separations are generally funded by the States’ DOT and local communities. Railroads are generally not legally required to contribute. Railroads maintain the crossings and so enjoy a reduction in costs when crossings are eliminated. They also perceive a reduction in liability and risk from crossing accidents. However, these gains are minor in terms of the cost of a grade separation, so railroads are usually only a limited partner in separation projects.
Federal Highway Trust Funds can generally be used to provide partial funding of grade separations. Depending on the status of the road or highway, grade separations can be funded from accounts such as the National Highway System and the Surface Transportation Program.”
Like we said, what bailout???
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Metra Madness
One of the goofiest aspects of the entire CN/EJ&E Acquisition saga has to be the response of Metra. In a filing submitted to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on January 28, 2008, Metra requested,
* Immediate trackage rights between Mileposts 7.5 and 42.5 on the EJ&E West Subdivision (presumably for STAR Line service).
* Consideration of future trackage rights from Joliet to Lynwood, IL and from Hoffman Estates to Waukegan, IL.
* Priority to new Southeast Service over the Chicago Heights, IL interlocking.
* Control of the interlockings at West Chicago and Barrington, IL be transferred from EJ&E to Metra immediately.
It should be noted that Metra and the EJ&E have not even started discussions regarding a Purchase of Service Agreement (PSA) for the proposed STAR Line service. Metra’s 1999 Commuter Rail Feasibility Study says,
“The exact nature of any service agreement would be subject to negotiation and agreement between Metra and the EJ&E.”
Looks like Metra decided to skip the negotiation and agreement “stages” of the process and move directly to taking over the track.
According to Metra’s own 1999 engineering study of the route,
“EJ&E management stated that their track capacity would be needed for present and future operations”.
This statement would seem to indicate that there is virtually no track capacity on the EJ&E today for STAR Line commuter rail service, irrespective of what CN does or does not do. So why is CN the bad guy here?
Metra’s actions of course beg two very obvious questions. First, if this route is as critical as Metra says it is why didn’t Metra buy the EJ&E itself? It’s only $300 million. And second, what was Metra thinking?
As far as we can tell this is the first time in the entire history of Metra (and RTA) that these kinds of extreme and outrageous demands have ever been made from a railroad merger. Think back to the myriad of railroad mergers that have occurred during the last 15 years involving Burlington Northern, Canadian National (twice), C&NW, Illinois Central, Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific (twice) and Wisconsin Central. Metra seemed to survive all those mergers just fine without these kinds of excessive demands.
If you analyze Metra’s demands at face value they just don’t add up. Let’s look at Barrington Tower. Metra is concerned about potential interference from Canadian National freight trains at the Barrington crossing. This crossing is located on Union Pacific’s Harvard Subdivision, used by Metra’s UP-Northwest Service running between Chicago and Harvard, IL.
Canadian National is forecasting 20 freight trains per day across the Barrington interlocking after the acquisition where today EJ&E operates only 5. But further east on the Harvard Subdivision, at Deval Crossing (in Des Plaines), the CN currently operates 19 freight trains per day through the crossing. So, according to my math, today there is already potential interference from a total of 24 CN and EJ&E freight trains crossing Metra’s UP-Northwest Route. Did we miss something here or does Metra need a new calculator?
The other demand, based on equally dubious logic, involves Metra’s proposed Southeast Service Route, between Chicago La Salle Street Station and south suburban Crete, IL. This service would use a busy, congested mainline between Dolton and Crete jointly belonging to CSXT and Union Pacific, that crosses the EJ&E at grade in Chicago Heights, IL.
While the start-up of Southeast Service is still several years away, apparently our friends at Metra have no faith in CN’s ability to operate the Chicago Heights crossing in a safe and efficient manner. But here’s another example where Metra’s math is a little fuzzy.
Canadian National already crosses the Southeast Service Route in south suburban Thornton, operating an average of 23 freight trains per day there now, with about 9 EJ&E freight trains per day crossing the same line further south at Chicago Heights (that’s a total of 32). After the EJ&E acquisition about 6 trains per day would continue to operate via Thornton, and CN estimates an average of 27 trains per day would roll through the Chicago Heights crossing (that would be a total of 33).
So today you have potential interference from an average of 32 freight trains (CN + EJ&E combined) crossing the Southeast Route, and after the acquisition you would have potential interference from an average of 33 freight trains crossing the same exact route. Well, my calculator says that’s a net increase of 1 train per day. Did we miss anything or is this another example of the absurdity of Metra’s demands?
Both the content and tone of Metra’s demands are insulting and demeaning. Canadian National has a well-deserved reputation in the railroad industry as a competent and efficient operator that pioneered the concept of a scheduled freight railroad. On Metra’s North Central Route, between Chicago and Antioch, CN has already demonstrated that they can successfully co-exist with commuter passenger trains.
But the best evaluation of Metra’s demands comes from none other than the Union Pacific Railroad. In a scathing rebuttal to Metra’s filing, submitted to the STB on March 13, 2008, UP concludes, “we believe the conditions are unnecessary, and some of them could be counterproductive. Accordingly UP opposes them and requests they not be imposed.”
* Immediate trackage rights between Mileposts 7.5 and 42.5 on the EJ&E West Subdivision (presumably for STAR Line service).
* Consideration of future trackage rights from Joliet to Lynwood, IL and from Hoffman Estates to Waukegan, IL.
* Priority to new Southeast Service over the Chicago Heights, IL interlocking.
* Control of the interlockings at West Chicago and Barrington, IL be transferred from EJ&E to Metra immediately.
It should be noted that Metra and the EJ&E have not even started discussions regarding a Purchase of Service Agreement (PSA) for the proposed STAR Line service. Metra’s 1999 Commuter Rail Feasibility Study says,
“The exact nature of any service agreement would be subject to negotiation and agreement between Metra and the EJ&E.”
Looks like Metra decided to skip the negotiation and agreement “stages” of the process and move directly to taking over the track.
According to Metra’s own 1999 engineering study of the route,
“EJ&E management stated that their track capacity would be needed for present and future operations”.
This statement would seem to indicate that there is virtually no track capacity on the EJ&E today for STAR Line commuter rail service, irrespective of what CN does or does not do. So why is CN the bad guy here?
Metra’s actions of course beg two very obvious questions. First, if this route is as critical as Metra says it is why didn’t Metra buy the EJ&E itself? It’s only $300 million. And second, what was Metra thinking?
As far as we can tell this is the first time in the entire history of Metra (and RTA) that these kinds of extreme and outrageous demands have ever been made from a railroad merger. Think back to the myriad of railroad mergers that have occurred during the last 15 years involving Burlington Northern, Canadian National (twice), C&NW, Illinois Central, Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific (twice) and Wisconsin Central. Metra seemed to survive all those mergers just fine without these kinds of excessive demands.
If you analyze Metra’s demands at face value they just don’t add up. Let’s look at Barrington Tower. Metra is concerned about potential interference from Canadian National freight trains at the Barrington crossing. This crossing is located on Union Pacific’s Harvard Subdivision, used by Metra’s UP-Northwest Service running between Chicago and Harvard, IL.
Canadian National is forecasting 20 freight trains per day across the Barrington interlocking after the acquisition where today EJ&E operates only 5. But further east on the Harvard Subdivision, at Deval Crossing (in Des Plaines), the CN currently operates 19 freight trains per day through the crossing. So, according to my math, today there is already potential interference from a total of 24 CN and EJ&E freight trains crossing Metra’s UP-Northwest Route. Did we miss something here or does Metra need a new calculator?
The other demand, based on equally dubious logic, involves Metra’s proposed Southeast Service Route, between Chicago La Salle Street Station and south suburban Crete, IL. This service would use a busy, congested mainline between Dolton and Crete jointly belonging to CSXT and Union Pacific, that crosses the EJ&E at grade in Chicago Heights, IL.
While the start-up of Southeast Service is still several years away, apparently our friends at Metra have no faith in CN’s ability to operate the Chicago Heights crossing in a safe and efficient manner. But here’s another example where Metra’s math is a little fuzzy.
Canadian National already crosses the Southeast Service Route in south suburban Thornton, operating an average of 23 freight trains per day there now, with about 9 EJ&E freight trains per day crossing the same line further south at Chicago Heights (that’s a total of 32). After the EJ&E acquisition about 6 trains per day would continue to operate via Thornton, and CN estimates an average of 27 trains per day would roll through the Chicago Heights crossing (that would be a total of 33).
So today you have potential interference from an average of 32 freight trains (CN + EJ&E combined) crossing the Southeast Route, and after the acquisition you would have potential interference from an average of 33 freight trains crossing the same exact route. Well, my calculator says that’s a net increase of 1 train per day. Did we miss anything or is this another example of the absurdity of Metra’s demands?
Both the content and tone of Metra’s demands are insulting and demeaning. Canadian National has a well-deserved reputation in the railroad industry as a competent and efficient operator that pioneered the concept of a scheduled freight railroad. On Metra’s North Central Route, between Chicago and Antioch, CN has already demonstrated that they can successfully co-exist with commuter passenger trains.
But the best evaluation of Metra’s demands comes from none other than the Union Pacific Railroad. In a scathing rebuttal to Metra’s filing, submitted to the STB on March 13, 2008, UP concludes, “we believe the conditions are unnecessary, and some of them could be counterproductive. Accordingly UP opposes them and requests they not be imposed.”
Friday, March 28, 2008
Life By The Tracks
Much has been written lately, most of it negative and much of it uninformed, about the impact of trains and railroads on life in suburban Chicago communities. Let me share with you the truth about life next to the tracks in one such suburban community called Downers Grove.
The Village of Downers Grove is an old community, originally founded by Pierce Downer in 1832. The CB&Q Railroad arrived in 1864 and has been an integral part of the area every since. Today's triple-track mainline of the BNSF Railway splits the Village in half and cuts through the heart of the downtown business district.
This route is one of the busiest in North America thanks to the passage of 8 daily Amtrak trains, 86 daily Metra trains, and an average of 45 BNSF freight trains per day. There's also a large rail-served plant operated by Pepperidge Farms on the east side of the Village.
Many of today's BNSF freight trains are well over a mile in length. The number and length of these freight trains has grown consistently during the past 30 years. During the same period the number of Amtrak trains using this route have doubled and there's been a 26 percent increase in the number of Metra trains rolling through the Village as well.
There are three Metra stations located in Downers Grove, and over half the Metra trains stop at one or more of these stations. Metra makes a real mess of the place during the morning and evening rush hours even though relatively few residents use Metra for their commutes.
Now if you listen to all those nattering nabobs of negativism, from places like Barrington and Lake Zurich, you might think that Downers Grove would easily fit the definition of a "suburban slum". Nothing could be further from the truth.
During the past 5 years over 300 new upscale residential condominium and townhome units have been constructed in downtown Downers Grove. Most of these are literally just a stone's throw from the railroad tracks. Downers Grove is also home to one of the highest rate of teardowns in the Chicago region; smaller residences are being torn down and replaced with much larger newer houses, primarily in the older section of town.
For caffeine fans, right next to the Main Street Metra Station, there's a Caribou Coffee on the south side of the tracks and a Starbuck's on the north side. Both have outside seating in the summer (to watch the trains go by). There's a wave of new restaurants opening up in the downtown area, joining existing establishments ranging from a Subway sandwich shop to Emmett's Ale House & Microbrewery. A recent addition to the Village's dining establishments is The Egg Harbor Cafe (just like the one they have in Barrington).
One of my personal favorites is the 2Toots Steamwhistle Grill located in the commercial area of the Station Crossings Condominium Tower. Located directly north of the tracks, this charming spot is decorated in a train motif. If you sit at the counter, you can watch the multitude of trains go by while your burger and fries are delivered to you on an operating Lionel O-Scale train.
Summers in downtown Downers Grove are really quite remarkable. Every Friday night, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the Village hosts the Friday Night Classic Car Show. From about 6 to 9pm the entire downtown area is flooded with classic cars, most from the fifties, sixties and seventies. All of the curbside parking is reserved for classic cars only, including the parking area around the Metra Main Street Station. If the weather cooperates, one can see a virtual history of the postwar American automobile industry cruising through the streets of the downtown area.
The Metra Station parking lot hosts a Farmer's Market, right next to the tracks, on Saturday mornings from mid-June through mid-October. One can shop for fresh produce while Amtrak's Illinois Zephyr and BNSF unit coal trains role by. For one weekend in mid-August, racing bicycles take over the downtown area as the National Criterium Championship comes to town.
Located about 90 feet north of the tracks is the entrance to the historic and beautifully restored Tivoli Theater (all tickets $4). Some shows are preceded by a short concert played on the theater's Wurlitzer organ. There's also a nifty bowling alley and bar in the basement of the same building. Nearby commuter parking lots are used by theater patrons attending evening and weekend shows.
Public safety has definitely been impacted by the large volume of rail traffic passing through Downers Grove. The Village maintains 4 state-of-the-art fire stations for a population of around 49,000, on about 14 square miles. Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital on the north side of town is home to the only Level 1 Trauma Center in all of DuPage County. Emergency vehicles from various communities in the region transporting to this facility from the south are routinely delayed by both passenger and freight trains.
Downers Grove has 6 at-grade crossings of the BNSF mainline. This is probably not surprising since Illinois has the second highest number of public highway-rail crossings in the nation. According to the Illinois Commerce Commission, Downers Grove is ranked second (behind Des Plaines) for the suburb with the total number of vehicles (over 13,000) delayed at grade crossings on a daily basis.
The Village is fortunate in that it was grandfathered in under the new Federal train horn quiet zone rules. Even so, the Main Street crossing was recently rebuilt at Village expense to conform with the new Federal grade crossing safety rules.
Like many of our suburban neighbors, we are concerned about the increase in hazardous material shipments being transported on the railroads today. It should be noted that the fastest growing hazmat commodity in terms of volume is ethanol. This is due in large part to a national policy, supported by both political parties (including Senators Durbin and Obama), to encourage ethanol usage. We also note that much of the ethanol being transported by rail today ends up in the gas tanks of vehicles driven by residents of Barrington, Lake Zurich and other communities opposed to the CN/EJ&E acquistion.
For almost 10 years now the Village has been attempting to construct a grade-separated viaduct at Belmont Road on the west side of town. Many of the same elected officials (Durbin, Biggert, et al) and planning agency managers (CMAP) who now complain the loudest about the CN/EJ&E acquisition have been conspicuously missing in action when it came to securing funds for this project.
Yes, life might be easier and simpler without all the aggravation created by Amtrak, Metra and BNSF. Yet in spite of this adversity, or maybe because of it, Downers Grove has thrived and prospered for over 175 years now, and its future looks brighter than ever.
The Village of Downers Grove is an old community, originally founded by Pierce Downer in 1832. The CB&Q Railroad arrived in 1864 and has been an integral part of the area every since. Today's triple-track mainline of the BNSF Railway splits the Village in half and cuts through the heart of the downtown business district.
This route is one of the busiest in North America thanks to the passage of 8 daily Amtrak trains, 86 daily Metra trains, and an average of 45 BNSF freight trains per day. There's also a large rail-served plant operated by Pepperidge Farms on the east side of the Village.
Many of today's BNSF freight trains are well over a mile in length. The number and length of these freight trains has grown consistently during the past 30 years. During the same period the number of Amtrak trains using this route have doubled and there's been a 26 percent increase in the number of Metra trains rolling through the Village as well.
There are three Metra stations located in Downers Grove, and over half the Metra trains stop at one or more of these stations. Metra makes a real mess of the place during the morning and evening rush hours even though relatively few residents use Metra for their commutes.
Now if you listen to all those nattering nabobs of negativism, from places like Barrington and Lake Zurich, you might think that Downers Grove would easily fit the definition of a "suburban slum". Nothing could be further from the truth.
During the past 5 years over 300 new upscale residential condominium and townhome units have been constructed in downtown Downers Grove. Most of these are literally just a stone's throw from the railroad tracks. Downers Grove is also home to one of the highest rate of teardowns in the Chicago region; smaller residences are being torn down and replaced with much larger newer houses, primarily in the older section of town.
For caffeine fans, right next to the Main Street Metra Station, there's a Caribou Coffee on the south side of the tracks and a Starbuck's on the north side. Both have outside seating in the summer (to watch the trains go by). There's a wave of new restaurants opening up in the downtown area, joining existing establishments ranging from a Subway sandwich shop to Emmett's Ale House & Microbrewery. A recent addition to the Village's dining establishments is The Egg Harbor Cafe (just like the one they have in Barrington).
One of my personal favorites is the 2Toots Steamwhistle Grill located in the commercial area of the Station Crossings Condominium Tower. Located directly north of the tracks, this charming spot is decorated in a train motif. If you sit at the counter, you can watch the multitude of trains go by while your burger and fries are delivered to you on an operating Lionel O-Scale train.
Summers in downtown Downers Grove are really quite remarkable. Every Friday night, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the Village hosts the Friday Night Classic Car Show. From about 6 to 9pm the entire downtown area is flooded with classic cars, most from the fifties, sixties and seventies. All of the curbside parking is reserved for classic cars only, including the parking area around the Metra Main Street Station. If the weather cooperates, one can see a virtual history of the postwar American automobile industry cruising through the streets of the downtown area.
The Metra Station parking lot hosts a Farmer's Market, right next to the tracks, on Saturday mornings from mid-June through mid-October. One can shop for fresh produce while Amtrak's Illinois Zephyr and BNSF unit coal trains role by. For one weekend in mid-August, racing bicycles take over the downtown area as the National Criterium Championship comes to town.
Located about 90 feet north of the tracks is the entrance to the historic and beautifully restored Tivoli Theater (all tickets $4). Some shows are preceded by a short concert played on the theater's Wurlitzer organ. There's also a nifty bowling alley and bar in the basement of the same building. Nearby commuter parking lots are used by theater patrons attending evening and weekend shows.
Public safety has definitely been impacted by the large volume of rail traffic passing through Downers Grove. The Village maintains 4 state-of-the-art fire stations for a population of around 49,000, on about 14 square miles. Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital on the north side of town is home to the only Level 1 Trauma Center in all of DuPage County. Emergency vehicles from various communities in the region transporting to this facility from the south are routinely delayed by both passenger and freight trains.
Downers Grove has 6 at-grade crossings of the BNSF mainline. This is probably not surprising since Illinois has the second highest number of public highway-rail crossings in the nation. According to the Illinois Commerce Commission, Downers Grove is ranked second (behind Des Plaines) for the suburb with the total number of vehicles (over 13,000) delayed at grade crossings on a daily basis.
The Village is fortunate in that it was grandfathered in under the new Federal train horn quiet zone rules. Even so, the Main Street crossing was recently rebuilt at Village expense to conform with the new Federal grade crossing safety rules.
Like many of our suburban neighbors, we are concerned about the increase in hazardous material shipments being transported on the railroads today. It should be noted that the fastest growing hazmat commodity in terms of volume is ethanol. This is due in large part to a national policy, supported by both political parties (including Senators Durbin and Obama), to encourage ethanol usage. We also note that much of the ethanol being transported by rail today ends up in the gas tanks of vehicles driven by residents of Barrington, Lake Zurich and other communities opposed to the CN/EJ&E acquistion.
For almost 10 years now the Village has been attempting to construct a grade-separated viaduct at Belmont Road on the west side of town. Many of the same elected officials (Durbin, Biggert, et al) and planning agency managers (CMAP) who now complain the loudest about the CN/EJ&E acquisition have been conspicuously missing in action when it came to securing funds for this project.
Yes, life might be easier and simpler without all the aggravation created by Amtrak, Metra and BNSF. Yet in spite of this adversity, or maybe because of it, Downers Grove has thrived and prospered for over 175 years now, and its future looks brighter than ever.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Hello Frankfort
According to recent press accounts the town of Frankfort, IL seems to be the latest community to jump on the anti-CN NIMBY bandwagon. But there's a lot to this story that hasn't been reported.
Did you know that only 30 short years ago the EJ&E line running through Frankfort was a busy, bustling railroad? In fact, there were actually two main tracks where today only one remains. In 1979 the EJ&E had its best financial year ever, reporting a gross income of $20 million, and the railroad was operating about twice as many trains through Frankfort as it does today.
However, starting around 1981, the railroad fell on hard times and business levels declined dramatically. Radical change was taking place in the railroad industry during this period, especially in Will County. The former Michigan Central (MC) and Milwaukee Road branch lines into Joliet from the east were both abandoned. (The MC line is now the Old Plank Road Trail). The former Wabash mainline from Chicago to St. Louis was abandoned south of Manhattan, IL, and the Rock Island Line went out of business for good.
Many folks in the area apparently assumed that the EJ&E would be next, but we all know what they say about the word "assume". The EJ&E actually did tear up large portions of one of its two main tracks between East Joliet and Matteson, IL in 1987. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the EJ&E's demise were greatly exaggerated.
In the late nineties, as rail traffic nationwide was growing in leaps and bounds, prosperity finally returned to the EJ&E. In 1999, in an early phase of the STAR Line Project, Metra completed an extensive engineering analysis of the entire EJ&E line in Illinois. The report's findings on freight train operations make for very interesting reading , some of which are excerpted here with commentary attached.
"The freight railroad industry has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years. The EJ&E has been actively pursuing railroad freight business that would utilize their right-of-way and consequently provide additional revenue from trackage rights agreements (translation: this means a lot more trains).
Recently, the EJ&E and UP negotiated the first phase of a trackage rights agreement from Griffith, Indiana to Chicago Heights. The next segments to be considered for a trackage-rights agreement will be from West Chicago to Waukegan and West Chicago to Joliet. The UP has performed a study of their operation and has identified that numerous trains coming to their terminal have potential to utilize the EJ&E line (translation: this means a lot more trains).
In addition to negotiations with the UP, the EJ&E has given trackage rights to the CN along the segment from Griffith, Indiana (CN connection) to Eola (BNSF). The CN has also expressed interest in access to the IC at Matteson through a trackage-rights agreement (translation: this means a lot more trains)."
Nine years ago Metra's consultants had these prophetic words of warning.
"Freight railroad operations and traffic volumes are subject to change at any time on any existing freight railroad. Growth of the national economy, improved competitive costs produced by the railroads, or future railroad mergers, could all have a major influence on the potential cost of implementing commuter service (and on train volumes through Frankfort)."
Apparently no one in Frankfort was paying attention.
After the opening of Logistics Park Chicago, in Elwood, IL, the EJ&E and BNSF successfully negotiated a trackage rights agreement that allows BNSF trains to operate between Eola and Joliet. The end result of these various deals was that traffic on portions of the EJ&E Railway, both east and west of Frankfort, has grown substantially in recent years.
An extraordinary amount of transport-related economic development has occurred in Will County near Frankfort in the last decade. The redevelopment of the Joliet Arsenal, from an abandoned military base and EPA Superfund Site, into a world class rail-served distribution center has made news around the world. This facility has also been a high-powered economic development engine bringing thousands of new jobs to Will County.
We wonder how many of these new transport-related jobs went to residents of Frankfort?
And while the US45/La Grange Road crossing of the BNSF mainline in downtown La Grange, IL is ranked as one of the absolute worst in the region, in terms of total vehicles delayed, the same US45 passes through Frankfort with virtually no delays since it uses a viaduct to cross under the EJ&E mainline.
Finally, under rules established by the Federal Railroad Administration at the direction of Congress, public authorities (like Frankfort) have the option to establish train horn quiet zones provided certain supplemental or alternative safety measures are in place. While Illinois Senator Dick Durbin helped to pass the enabling legislation for these rules, Congress has never adequately funded the Federal grade crossing program.
Did you know that only 30 short years ago the EJ&E line running through Frankfort was a busy, bustling railroad? In fact, there were actually two main tracks where today only one remains. In 1979 the EJ&E had its best financial year ever, reporting a gross income of $20 million, and the railroad was operating about twice as many trains through Frankfort as it does today.
However, starting around 1981, the railroad fell on hard times and business levels declined dramatically. Radical change was taking place in the railroad industry during this period, especially in Will County. The former Michigan Central (MC) and Milwaukee Road branch lines into Joliet from the east were both abandoned. (The MC line is now the Old Plank Road Trail). The former Wabash mainline from Chicago to St. Louis was abandoned south of Manhattan, IL, and the Rock Island Line went out of business for good.
Many folks in the area apparently assumed that the EJ&E would be next, but we all know what they say about the word "assume". The EJ&E actually did tear up large portions of one of its two main tracks between East Joliet and Matteson, IL in 1987. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the EJ&E's demise were greatly exaggerated.
In the late nineties, as rail traffic nationwide was growing in leaps and bounds, prosperity finally returned to the EJ&E. In 1999, in an early phase of the STAR Line Project, Metra completed an extensive engineering analysis of the entire EJ&E line in Illinois. The report's findings on freight train operations make for very interesting reading , some of which are excerpted here with commentary attached.
"The freight railroad industry has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years. The EJ&E has been actively pursuing railroad freight business that would utilize their right-of-way and consequently provide additional revenue from trackage rights agreements (translation: this means a lot more trains).
Recently, the EJ&E and UP negotiated the first phase of a trackage rights agreement from Griffith, Indiana to Chicago Heights. The next segments to be considered for a trackage-rights agreement will be from West Chicago to Waukegan and West Chicago to Joliet. The UP has performed a study of their operation and has identified that numerous trains coming to their terminal have potential to utilize the EJ&E line (translation: this means a lot more trains).
In addition to negotiations with the UP, the EJ&E has given trackage rights to the CN along the segment from Griffith, Indiana (CN connection) to Eola (BNSF). The CN has also expressed interest in access to the IC at Matteson through a trackage-rights agreement (translation: this means a lot more trains)."
Nine years ago Metra's consultants had these prophetic words of warning.
"Freight railroad operations and traffic volumes are subject to change at any time on any existing freight railroad. Growth of the national economy, improved competitive costs produced by the railroads, or future railroad mergers, could all have a major influence on the potential cost of implementing commuter service (and on train volumes through Frankfort)."
Apparently no one in Frankfort was paying attention.
After the opening of Logistics Park Chicago, in Elwood, IL, the EJ&E and BNSF successfully negotiated a trackage rights agreement that allows BNSF trains to operate between Eola and Joliet. The end result of these various deals was that traffic on portions of the EJ&E Railway, both east and west of Frankfort, has grown substantially in recent years.
An extraordinary amount of transport-related economic development has occurred in Will County near Frankfort in the last decade. The redevelopment of the Joliet Arsenal, from an abandoned military base and EPA Superfund Site, into a world class rail-served distribution center has made news around the world. This facility has also been a high-powered economic development engine bringing thousands of new jobs to Will County.
We wonder how many of these new transport-related jobs went to residents of Frankfort?
And while the US45/La Grange Road crossing of the BNSF mainline in downtown La Grange, IL is ranked as one of the absolute worst in the region, in terms of total vehicles delayed, the same US45 passes through Frankfort with virtually no delays since it uses a viaduct to cross under the EJ&E mainline.
Finally, under rules established by the Federal Railroad Administration at the direction of Congress, public authorities (like Frankfort) have the option to establish train horn quiet zones provided certain supplemental or alternative safety measures are in place. While Illinois Senator Dick Durbin helped to pass the enabling legislation for these rules, Congress has never adequately funded the Federal grade crossing program.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Grade Crossing Math
In a recent public letter to Canadian National President Hunter Harrison (reported on extensively in the media), Congresswoman Melissa Bean provided this interesting view of the grade crossing situation along the EJ&E Railway line.
"CN has said it is willing to fund mitigation efforts at 'three or four' grade crossings. Well, there's nearly 140 crossings along the EJ&E route, so I hope he has some proposals for the other 136 of them."
Congresswoman Bean also suggested that, "Mr. Harrison take the tone and concerns of this letter seriously..."
Well in that same tone of seriousness, we think that the Congresswoman might want to recheck her math, not to mention some of her facts.
Back in 1999, in an early phase of the STAR Line Project, Metra funded an excellent full-scale engineering study of the entire EJ&E mainline in Illinois, all the way from Waukegan around to Lynwood. As part of this study, Metra's engineering firm did a thorough inventory and analysis of the grade crossings along the route. What they found was that out of a total of 130 highway or road crossings (as opposed to pedestrian crossings), some 21 percent were for private roads. The study describes most of these 27 private roads as "gravel" or "dirt".
We certainly hope that Congresswoman Bean is not seriously recommending that Canadian National be required to construct grade separations for gravel roads.
If you take the Congresswoman's recommendations at face value, and start to analyze them, some of them defy logical explanation. Let's look at one of the more interesting examples involving Illinois Route 43. This highway crosses the EJ&E mainline twice, once near Knollwood, IL as Waukegan Road and again east of Frankfort, IL as Harlem Avenue. Congresswoman Bean apparently wants grade separations constructed at both locations.
Yet according to the Illinois Commerce Commission the top ranked grade crossing for total vehicles delayed on a daily basis, in the entire northeastern Illinois region, is the Harlem Avenue (IL 43) crossing of the BNSF mainline on the border between Berwyn and Riverside, IL. If we are actually having a serious discussion about regional grade crossing problems don't you think the poor folks in these western suburbs should be at the top of the list for any grade separation projects?
Based on Metra's study, it appears that most of the grade crossings along the EJ&E are two-lane paved roads, many of which will probably not meet the environmental impact threshold of 5,000 vehicles per day. This threshold was originally established by the Surface Transportation Board in 1998 as part of the Conrail Acquisition EIS. Grade crossings not meeting this threshold will not be included in the Board's environmental analysis.
Metra's study also identified 14 at-grade crossings of state and Federal route highways maintained by the State of Illinois. Why is this important? Well, in 2002 the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) released a comprehensive analysis of grade crossing delays in the Northeast Illinois region. The ICC concluded that,
"approximately 60 percent of the grade crossings that account for the greatest amount of delay are found on the State maintained highway system, as opposed to being on locally maintained streets and roads."
As part of its detailed analysis, the ICC discovered that,
"approximately two-thirds of the thirty grade crossings that experience the greatest amount of grade crossing delay are on the State maintained highway system, even though only about 18 percent of all grade crossings in northeastern Illinois are on the State maintained highway system. These roadways will naturally carry more motor vehicles and are more likely to be congestion points."
The ICC went on to suggest that,
"efforts to reduce grade crossing delay in the future are likely to be focused on grade crossings which carry the largest number of highway vehicles."
And this sounds a lot like the approach that Canadian National is proposing to take, i.e. focus on the crossings with the greatest traffic volumes and potential delays.
The ICC analysis also revealed that most of those grade crossings with the greatest amount of total motorist delay hours were located in very close proximity to major rail classification yards, like those found in the south suburban communities of Blue Island, Dixmoor and Riverdale. Western Avenue is a prime example. We're not aware of any plans by Canadian National to construct a classification yard anywhere along the EJ&E in Illinois.
Ironically, the one rail carrier that is responsible for delaying more total vehicles per day in northeastern Illinois than any other is not a freight railroad but rather the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation, commonly referred to as Metra.
Finally, contrary to the hype and hysteria of some of our elected officials, the ICC Study found that the majority of grade crossings in northeastern Illinois actually experience very little delay. According to the study,
* 69 percent of crossings delay no more than a total of 100 vehicles per day.
* 64 percent of crossings produce less than one hour of total motorist delay per day.
FYI, the Metra STAR Line Engineering Study is a public document that is still available on their website. The ICC report, "Motorist Delay at Public Highway - Rail Grade Crossings in Northeastern Illinois", is also a public document and still available on the Illinois Commerce Commission's website. Both make for interesting reading.
"CN has said it is willing to fund mitigation efforts at 'three or four' grade crossings. Well, there's nearly 140 crossings along the EJ&E route, so I hope he has some proposals for the other 136 of them."
Congresswoman Bean also suggested that, "Mr. Harrison take the tone and concerns of this letter seriously..."
Well in that same tone of seriousness, we think that the Congresswoman might want to recheck her math, not to mention some of her facts.
Back in 1999, in an early phase of the STAR Line Project, Metra funded an excellent full-scale engineering study of the entire EJ&E mainline in Illinois, all the way from Waukegan around to Lynwood. As part of this study, Metra's engineering firm did a thorough inventory and analysis of the grade crossings along the route. What they found was that out of a total of 130 highway or road crossings (as opposed to pedestrian crossings), some 21 percent were for private roads. The study describes most of these 27 private roads as "gravel" or "dirt".
We certainly hope that Congresswoman Bean is not seriously recommending that Canadian National be required to construct grade separations for gravel roads.
If you take the Congresswoman's recommendations at face value, and start to analyze them, some of them defy logical explanation. Let's look at one of the more interesting examples involving Illinois Route 43. This highway crosses the EJ&E mainline twice, once near Knollwood, IL as Waukegan Road and again east of Frankfort, IL as Harlem Avenue. Congresswoman Bean apparently wants grade separations constructed at both locations.
Yet according to the Illinois Commerce Commission the top ranked grade crossing for total vehicles delayed on a daily basis, in the entire northeastern Illinois region, is the Harlem Avenue (IL 43) crossing of the BNSF mainline on the border between Berwyn and Riverside, IL. If we are actually having a serious discussion about regional grade crossing problems don't you think the poor folks in these western suburbs should be at the top of the list for any grade separation projects?
Based on Metra's study, it appears that most of the grade crossings along the EJ&E are two-lane paved roads, many of which will probably not meet the environmental impact threshold of 5,000 vehicles per day. This threshold was originally established by the Surface Transportation Board in 1998 as part of the Conrail Acquisition EIS. Grade crossings not meeting this threshold will not be included in the Board's environmental analysis.
Metra's study also identified 14 at-grade crossings of state and Federal route highways maintained by the State of Illinois. Why is this important? Well, in 2002 the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) released a comprehensive analysis of grade crossing delays in the Northeast Illinois region. The ICC concluded that,
"approximately 60 percent of the grade crossings that account for the greatest amount of delay are found on the State maintained highway system, as opposed to being on locally maintained streets and roads."
As part of its detailed analysis, the ICC discovered that,
"approximately two-thirds of the thirty grade crossings that experience the greatest amount of grade crossing delay are on the State maintained highway system, even though only about 18 percent of all grade crossings in northeastern Illinois are on the State maintained highway system. These roadways will naturally carry more motor vehicles and are more likely to be congestion points."
The ICC went on to suggest that,
"efforts to reduce grade crossing delay in the future are likely to be focused on grade crossings which carry the largest number of highway vehicles."
And this sounds a lot like the approach that Canadian National is proposing to take, i.e. focus on the crossings with the greatest traffic volumes and potential delays.
The ICC analysis also revealed that most of those grade crossings with the greatest amount of total motorist delay hours were located in very close proximity to major rail classification yards, like those found in the south suburban communities of Blue Island, Dixmoor and Riverdale. Western Avenue is a prime example. We're not aware of any plans by Canadian National to construct a classification yard anywhere along the EJ&E in Illinois.
Ironically, the one rail carrier that is responsible for delaying more total vehicles per day in northeastern Illinois than any other is not a freight railroad but rather the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation, commonly referred to as Metra.
Finally, contrary to the hype and hysteria of some of our elected officials, the ICC Study found that the majority of grade crossings in northeastern Illinois actually experience very little delay. According to the study,
* 69 percent of crossings delay no more than a total of 100 vehicles per day.
* 64 percent of crossings produce less than one hour of total motorist delay per day.
FYI, the Metra STAR Line Engineering Study is a public document that is still available on their website. The ICC report, "Motorist Delay at Public Highway - Rail Grade Crossings in Northeastern Illinois", is also a public document and still available on the Illinois Commerce Commission's website. Both make for interesting reading.
Friday, March 21, 2008
The Amtrak Nonsense
One of the more bizarre and disturbing aspects of the CN/EJ&E deal involves the status and future of a portion of track near downtown Chicago known as the St. Charles Air Line.
This trackage runs along the far edge of Chicago's South Loop neighborhood, crossing the south branch of the Chicago River to join BNSF tracks around Halsted Street. Its official name is the St. Charles Air Line Railroad, originally completed in 1856, and now owned 50% by Canadian National, with the remaining 50% split between BNSF and Union Pacific.
A number of CN freight trains operate on this route today, as well as Amtrak's long-haul City of New Orleans, plus a pair of short-haul trains between Chicago and Carbondale, IL subsidized by the Illinois Dept. of Transportation. Once the EJ&E is acquired by CN it's anticipated that CN freight trains will no longer use this route, leaving only the Amtrak passenger trains operating here. It's not known at this time what if any plans co-owners BNSF and Union Pacific might have for this route after the CN/EJ&E deal is consummated.
As far as we can tell the only issue here is money, or rather the lack thereof. Once the freight trains are removed from this route, and Amtrak becomes the sole tenant or customer on the line, Amtrak would probably be expected to cover the full costs of maintaining it. And Amtrak says this would be unfair and the Illinois Dept. of Transportation says this would be unfair, and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin says this would be unfair. And do you know why? Simply because no one has any money to pay for it. So all these folks came up with a brilliant solution; have the shareholders of Canadian National pay for it.
What this really comes down to is a conspiracy by the State of Illinois and Amtrak, aided and abetted by the state's senior United States Senator, to confiscate private property for public use without adequate compensation. (Have I missed anything?)
Now to his credit, Canadian National CEO Hunter Harrison has already publicly promised Amtrak President Alexander Kummant and Senator Durbin that CN will do everything it can to assist Amtrak during this transition. No repeat of Meigs Field here. But CN is a publicly-traded company, and Harrison has a fiduciary responsibility to his shareholders, something Amtrak President Kummant should appreciate since he was once a senior executive with Union Pacific. I've been told that the current contract between CN and Amtrak does not expire until 2010, and CN has every intention of honoring that contract as well they should.
However, once the contract expires Canadian National has the right, like every good private business under our free enterprise system, to re-evaluate market conditions and make whatever modifications it wants to that contract. If CN and Amtrak cannot come to terms on a new price for using the St. Charles Air Line, Amtrak has the right to petition the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to adjudicate the dispute and set a price that is binding on both parties.
If at some point in the future CN, and the other Air Line owners, decided to file to abandon the line, then under existing STB procedures any responsible party would be allowed the opportunity to purchase the line and continue to use it for rail service. Seems like plenty of options to continue rail passenger service on this route, assuming that all parties involved act like responsible adults.
The ultimate long-term solution, that virtually everyone agrees on, is to build a track connection between the Canadian National and Norfolk Southern mainlines at a location on the far south side of Chicago known as Grand Crossing. The Amtrak trains would operate on the NS between Chicago Union Station and Grand Crossing, and connect with the CN mainline using the new connection. The only problem is that this would be a very expensive connection, with a recent price tag of about $70 million.
This project was included in the original CREATE Plan as Project P-4. But we all know what happened with CREATE. The Illinois Congressional delegation, led by the aforementioned Senator Durbin, proved to be totally impotent when it came to getting CREATE funded. Durbin's solution today is to have CN's shareholders provide the $70 million that Dick and the gang couldn't get out of Washington three years ago.
But to paraphrase Alice in Wonderland, this story just gets curiouser and curiouser. There are not one but two potential Federal funding sources available today for the Grand Crossing Connection, both buried in the back of the current Federal surface transportation reauthorization bill, SAFETEA-LU.
Section 9001, High Speed Rail Corridor Development, authorizes $70 million per year for capital projects, and Section 9002, Capital Grants for Rail Line Relocation Projects, authorizes $350 million per year. The Grand Crossing project appears to be eligible for funding under both programs. Seems like we need to ask our elected officials why they can't get the job done (again).
The larger, and really scary, issue this raises is what exactly is the policy of the Federal government when it comes to operating the nation's intercity passenger trains. In 1970 Congress passed the Rail Passenger Act of 1970. One of the specific provisions of that legislation was to relieve freight railroads, like Canadian National, of their financial responsibility (or burden) for operating the nation's intercity passenger trains.
For those of you too young to remember, between 1950 and 1970 the nation's freight railroads were almost totally destroyed by the massive financial burden of being forced to operate money-losing passenger trains. Passenger train deficits were a major contributing factor in the Penn Central bankruptcy.
But now Messrs. Durbin, Kummant, et al have decided to turn back the hands of time and once again start forcing freight railroads to pay for the costs of operating intercity passenger trains, shareholders be damned. Their action would seem to violate the spirit if not the letter of the 1970 Act. It's been said that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. These gentlemen are proposing we start down a slippery slope with no idea of how, when or where to stop the slipping and sliding.
We would like to invite our good friend Rick Harnish, Executive Director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association to weigh in on this one, and as well as Amtrak's ubiquitous and always informative spokesman Marc Magliari.
This trackage runs along the far edge of Chicago's South Loop neighborhood, crossing the south branch of the Chicago River to join BNSF tracks around Halsted Street. Its official name is the St. Charles Air Line Railroad, originally completed in 1856, and now owned 50% by Canadian National, with the remaining 50% split between BNSF and Union Pacific.
A number of CN freight trains operate on this route today, as well as Amtrak's long-haul City of New Orleans, plus a pair of short-haul trains between Chicago and Carbondale, IL subsidized by the Illinois Dept. of Transportation. Once the EJ&E is acquired by CN it's anticipated that CN freight trains will no longer use this route, leaving only the Amtrak passenger trains operating here. It's not known at this time what if any plans co-owners BNSF and Union Pacific might have for this route after the CN/EJ&E deal is consummated.
As far as we can tell the only issue here is money, or rather the lack thereof. Once the freight trains are removed from this route, and Amtrak becomes the sole tenant or customer on the line, Amtrak would probably be expected to cover the full costs of maintaining it. And Amtrak says this would be unfair and the Illinois Dept. of Transportation says this would be unfair, and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin says this would be unfair. And do you know why? Simply because no one has any money to pay for it. So all these folks came up with a brilliant solution; have the shareholders of Canadian National pay for it.
What this really comes down to is a conspiracy by the State of Illinois and Amtrak, aided and abetted by the state's senior United States Senator, to confiscate private property for public use without adequate compensation. (Have I missed anything?)
Now to his credit, Canadian National CEO Hunter Harrison has already publicly promised Amtrak President Alexander Kummant and Senator Durbin that CN will do everything it can to assist Amtrak during this transition. No repeat of Meigs Field here. But CN is a publicly-traded company, and Harrison has a fiduciary responsibility to his shareholders, something Amtrak President Kummant should appreciate since he was once a senior executive with Union Pacific. I've been told that the current contract between CN and Amtrak does not expire until 2010, and CN has every intention of honoring that contract as well they should.
However, once the contract expires Canadian National has the right, like every good private business under our free enterprise system, to re-evaluate market conditions and make whatever modifications it wants to that contract. If CN and Amtrak cannot come to terms on a new price for using the St. Charles Air Line, Amtrak has the right to petition the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to adjudicate the dispute and set a price that is binding on both parties.
If at some point in the future CN, and the other Air Line owners, decided to file to abandon the line, then under existing STB procedures any responsible party would be allowed the opportunity to purchase the line and continue to use it for rail service. Seems like plenty of options to continue rail passenger service on this route, assuming that all parties involved act like responsible adults.
The ultimate long-term solution, that virtually everyone agrees on, is to build a track connection between the Canadian National and Norfolk Southern mainlines at a location on the far south side of Chicago known as Grand Crossing. The Amtrak trains would operate on the NS between Chicago Union Station and Grand Crossing, and connect with the CN mainline using the new connection. The only problem is that this would be a very expensive connection, with a recent price tag of about $70 million.
This project was included in the original CREATE Plan as Project P-4. But we all know what happened with CREATE. The Illinois Congressional delegation, led by the aforementioned Senator Durbin, proved to be totally impotent when it came to getting CREATE funded. Durbin's solution today is to have CN's shareholders provide the $70 million that Dick and the gang couldn't get out of Washington three years ago.
But to paraphrase Alice in Wonderland, this story just gets curiouser and curiouser. There are not one but two potential Federal funding sources available today for the Grand Crossing Connection, both buried in the back of the current Federal surface transportation reauthorization bill, SAFETEA-LU.
Section 9001, High Speed Rail Corridor Development, authorizes $70 million per year for capital projects, and Section 9002, Capital Grants for Rail Line Relocation Projects, authorizes $350 million per year. The Grand Crossing project appears to be eligible for funding under both programs. Seems like we need to ask our elected officials why they can't get the job done (again).
The larger, and really scary, issue this raises is what exactly is the policy of the Federal government when it comes to operating the nation's intercity passenger trains. In 1970 Congress passed the Rail Passenger Act of 1970. One of the specific provisions of that legislation was to relieve freight railroads, like Canadian National, of their financial responsibility (or burden) for operating the nation's intercity passenger trains.
For those of you too young to remember, between 1950 and 1970 the nation's freight railroads were almost totally destroyed by the massive financial burden of being forced to operate money-losing passenger trains. Passenger train deficits were a major contributing factor in the Penn Central bankruptcy.
But now Messrs. Durbin, Kummant, et al have decided to turn back the hands of time and once again start forcing freight railroads to pay for the costs of operating intercity passenger trains, shareholders be damned. Their action would seem to violate the spirit if not the letter of the 1970 Act. It's been said that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. These gentlemen are proposing we start down a slippery slope with no idea of how, when or where to stop the slipping and sliding.
We would like to invite our good friend Rick Harnish, Executive Director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association to weigh in on this one, and as well as Amtrak's ubiquitous and always informative spokesman Marc Magliari.
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