Freight Lines Studied For Commuter Rail

[ricco67]

Aug. 31, 2004, 12:11AM

Freight lines studied for commuter rail

By LUCAS WALL

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN - State transportation officials are beginning a study of freight rail lines in the Houston area, including examining their possible use in future commuter rail operations.

Harris County recently completed a preliminary study, but the Texas Department of Transportation says it wants to take a more regional look.

The county identified nine railroad crossings it considers top priorities for grade separations, which increase safety and improve traffic flow.

Last year, the county's consultant finished a preliminary look at running commuter trains in the U.S. 290 and Texas 249 corridors. Commissioners Court earlier this year tabled a $420,000 contract to expand the commuter rail study to six other corridors. Harris County Judge Robert Eckels has said he wants the study broadened to include the seven surrounding counties.

"It became quite evident soon on that the study needs to be expanded to a regional basis," Gary Trietsch, TxDOT's Houston District engineer, told the Texas Transportation Commission last week. "TxDOT will take on that role to look at multiple counties, looking at all rail elements including how they will tie into Metro's light rail plan, and to see if we can get agreements by all parties on where we ought to be with rail."

Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said Gov. Rick Perry is interested in seeing the state help metropolitan areas relocate freight trains outside city neighborhoods and convert the old tracks into commuter lines. The governor expects to push the Legislature to address this issue in next year's session, Williamson said Thursday.

713-362-6832

traffic@chron.com

[GovernorAggie]

Sounds good to me

[Talbot]

wow that's pretty cool, hopefully one passes Katy.

[saxman66]

Yup, hopefully Houston's commuter rail will look like Chicago's while i'm still alive.

[pineda]

Make that 18-wheeler traffic ride the rails

By WENDELL COX, Houston Chronicle

Things are not getting any better for commuters in Houston. It's not only in Houston. In every major city in America, commuters are spending more and more time in their cars fighting traffic.

Each year as a consultant for the freight rail industry, I study the impact of increased freight traffic in our most congested urban areas and report on how redirecting some of this freight from trucks on the highway to freight trains could impact affect a typical commuter.

The situation is already alarming. The Texas Transportation Institute recently reported that the average commuter spends an extra 46 hours -- more than a full workweek -- each year caught in traffic.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, freight volume is expected to increase by two-thirds over the freight volume is expected to increase by two-thirds over the next 20 years. One large truck takes up the same amount of highway space as almost four cars, and the average truck is becoming longer with the increased use of double- and triple-trailers. With little chance of increasing urban road capacity sufficiently, an increase in truck volume would continue to add to our commuting problems.

One proposed solution -- building new roads -- is expensive and politically contentious. However, there is another way to stem the tide: greater use of freight rail.

One freight train can carry the equivalent cargo of 500 trucks, and one intermodal train can carry nearly 300 truck trailers. Trucking companies and railroads are already forming intermodal partnerships that combine the best abilities of both.

In an urban area like Houston, by 2025, shifting 25 percent of freight from trucks to freight trains would decrease drivers' commutes by 44.1 hours. In addition, such a shift would save $614 per household in annual congestion costs.

Shifting freight from road to rail also has a positive environmental impact. Freight rail is more fuel-efficient per ton-mile than trucks and reduces fuel consumption of other motorists by decreasing the time drivers spend idling in traffic. For example, by 2025, commuters in Houston could save 244 gallons of fuel with a 25 percent shift of freight from truck to rail.

Air pollution levels also would improve. For instance, by 2025, shifting 25 percent of freight to rail would decrease air pollutant emissions in Houston by as much as 29,500 tons.

To implement these changes, the freight rail industry will need more capacity. Rail capacity depends on investment returns. Since railroads are not meeting their cost of capital, government policy-makers may want to consider investment incentives to help meet the growing demand for freight rail. This will enable freight railroads to continue to provide convenient, on-time, quality service to shippers and boost their share of freight transport, while reducing traffic, pollution and congestion costs.

It is hard to imagine a less costly or more effective strategy for reducing future traffic congestion.

Cox has studied traffic and gridlock issues for more than 25 years. He is currently president and chief executive officer of Demographia, a market research and urban policy consultancy in Bellville, Ill.

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Viewpoints, Outlook

This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/e...outlook/2827299

[GovernorAggie]

I am just waiting on people's responses to Cox's editorial. So-called "open-minded" urbanists have been rubbed the wrong way by Cox for so long that they may think that Union-Pacific paid him to write this article. In my opinion, Cox has not been an opponent of transit, just rail transit, and I don't think he's a proponent of 40-lane freeways either.

Either way, i was glad to see him write this.

[pineda]

I think the Teamsters would throw a big, fat monkey wrench in this plan if it ever started sending out even a 'whiff' of possibility of happening.

[UrbaNerd]

A good bet for a commuter line would be on 90, towards Richmond, like they stated before. The Richmond area will be well developed in the near future.

[dbigtex56]

Mr. Cox does not address the issue of how longer, more frequent freight trains will affect traffic at grade-level crossings.

[pineda]

(as seen on the Houston Chronicle editorial page today)

Why we should keep on truckin'

Regarding the Oct. 3 Outlook article "Houston gridlock / Make that 18-wheeler traffic ride the rails": The article is very misleading for the public.

First, Wendell Cox identifies himself as a consultant for the rail industry, so the object of the article was not to help Houston traffic congestion (because it wouldn't) but to create an outcry to bolster business for his clients (the rail industry). He says that by switching freight from 18-wheelers to rail, it would solve commuters' problems and eliminate 44.1 hours of traffic time in Houston. My question to Cox would be: How would your suggestion accomplish this task?

Since he is targeting traffic problems in Houston, how does he propose to get that freight from the railyard to the customer? How does he propose getting the freight from the shippers to the railyard? Obviously, by truck.

So the only truck traffic he has affected is the long-haul traffic that could be moved by rail, which is a very small percentage of the overall traffic congestion problem.

Actually, Cox better hope that his plan doesn't pan out, because if these big bad trucks didn't service the Houston community, he would not have freight to ship on his trains.

The truth is, Cox's plan does not address all the other local trucks that would never have a reason to ship anything by rail. His plan would not remove one of those trucks off the highway.

Are trucks a problem for Houston traffic? No more than commuters that do not carpool. And surely no more than construction. What people need to understand is the importance of trucking to their everyday lives. Everything they eat, wear or touch was on a freight truck at some point.

So are they necessary? Absolutely.

VANCE FELLERS

[GovernorAggie]

Mr. Cox does not address the issue of how longer, more frequent freight trains will affect traffic at grade-level crossings.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is true, but you and I both know that when the talk of traffic congestion arises, nearly everyone is mainly talking about freeways, not arterials and surface streets (which make up much much more of our surface transportation systems).

[citykid09]

Nearly 4 years later and no sign of progress?

[musicman]

Nearly 4 years later and no sign of progress?

union pacific stated last yr that their tracks are too busy for commuter rail. with the rising gas prices it just makes rail even more popular.

Edited April 18, 2008 by musicman

[citykid09]

union pacific stated last yr that their tracks are too busy for commuter rail. with the rising gas prices it just makes rail even popular.

So whats the plan now? Are there no plans in place for commuter rail? Was commuter rail all just talk? If not when and where will it start?

[musicman]

So whats the plan now? Are there no plans in place for commuter rail? Was commuter rail all just talk? If not when and where will it start?

the powers that be need to meet with UP and hash out a possible plan. METRO had proposed commuter rail but they hadn't spoken with UP to verify whether their tracks were available. when will it start? we can all guess.

[musicman]

When Bob Billingsley hired on with Norfolk Southern railway 31 years ago, he was a rookie on work crews that were closing unused lines as the nation's economy turned its back on the railroads.

Now he's in charge of raising the roof of a Norfolk Southern tunnel in southwestern Virginia to clear headroom for the double-stacked container cars that have become the symbol of the industry's sudden surge thanks to a confluence of powerful global factors.

"For years, we were looking for ways to cut costs to increase profits," said Billingsley, as a train rumbled by. "Now, we're building business to increase profits."

The freight railway industry is enjoying its biggest building boom in nearly a century, a turnaround as abrupt as it is ambitious. It is largely fueled by growing global trade and rising fuel costs for 18-wheelers. In 2002, the major railroads laid off 4,700 workers; in 2006, they hired more than 5,000. Profit has doubled industrywide since 2003, and stock prices have soared.

The value of the largest railroad, the Union Pacific, has tripled since 2001.

This year alone, the railroads will spend nearly $10 billion to add track, build switchyards and terminals, and open tunnels to handle the coming flood of traffic. Freight rail tonnage will rise nearly 90 percent by 2035, according to the Transportation Department.

full article

[ricco67]

When Bob Billingsley hired on with Norfolk Southern railway 31 years ago, he was a rookie on work crews that were closing unused lines as the nation's economy turned its back on the railroads.

Now he's in charge of raising the roof of a Norfolk Southern tunnel in southwestern Virginia to clear headroom for the double-stacked container cars that have become the symbol of the industry's sudden surge thanks to a confluence of powerful global factors.

"For years, we were looking for ways to cut costs to increase profits," said Billingsley, as a train rumbled by. "Now, we're building business to increase profits."

The freight railway industry is enjoying its biggest building boom in nearly a century, a turnaround as abrupt as it is ambitious. It is largely fueled by growing global trade and rising fuel costs for 18-wheelers. In 2002, the major railroads laid off 4,700 workers; in 2006, they hired more than 5,000. Profit has doubled industrywide since 2003, and stock prices have soared.

The value of the largest railroad, the Union Pacific, has tripled since 2001.

This year alone, the railroads will spend nearly $10 billion to add track, build switchyards and terminals, and open tunnels to handle the coming flood of traffic. Freight rail tonnage will rise nearly 90 percent by 2035, according to the Transportation Department.

full article

I've been wondering about when this would be covered. It has been rather obvious on this system (By complaints and observations at various rail lines near neighborhoods) that there has been an increase in traffic.

I just wish I knew someone IN the RR business so I can get some inside info on their infrastructure increases (Read: Me geek).