New Orleans to Mobile Corridor Development Plan

Volume I. Summary Report New Orleans to Mobile Corridor Development Plan Prepared for The Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission By BURK-KLEINPETER, INC. In Association with Parsons Transportation Group AECOM Consult CSX Transportation October 2006 Gulf Coast High-Speed Rail Corridor New Orleans to Mobile Corridor Development Plan Volume II. Technical Appendices Prepared for The Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission By BURK-KLEINPETER, INC. Engineers, Architects, Planners and Environmental Engineers 4176 Canal Street New Orleans, LA 70119 Tel: (504) 486-5901 Fax: (504) 483-6228 In Association with Parsons Transportation Group 1133 15th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 AECOM Consult 2751 Prosperity Avenue, Suite 300 Fairfax, Virginia 22031 May 2006 Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission Gulf Coast High-Speed Rail Corridor New Orleans to Mobile Corridor Transportation Plan Executive Summary This corridor transportation plan investigates whether, and how, the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana could upgrade the railroad corridor between New Orleans, LA and Mobile, AL to achieve those states’ passenger train travel time goals, with reliable on-time performance for all freight and passenger operations. The Corridor Today (Chapter 2)1 The rail corridor between Mobile and New Orleans is a critical link in a longer rail route that connects Florida with Texas and the West Coast. The corridor consists of three distinct components, as shown in Figure ES-1, below: • The NO&M Subdivision of the CSXT Corporation between Mobile and New Orleans, • The NS Back Belt between NE Tower/Elysian Fields and East City Junction, and • The New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal (NOUPT) track between East City Junction and NOUPT. Figure ES-1 New Orleans to Mobile High-Speed Rail Corridor Source: Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc., 2006. 1 Chapter references are to Volume I, the Main Report. BURK-KLEINPETER,INC. (10135) May 2006 Page ES.1 Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission Gulf Coast High-Speed Rail Corridor New Orleans to Mobile Corridor Transportation Plan Of the 145 miles between Mobile Station and New Orleans Union Pubic Terminal (NOUPT) approximately 137 miles belong to the CSXT, 3.6 miles to Norfolk Southern, and 2.9 miles to the NOUPT. Table ES-1 presents a summary of current track ownership and operating control. Table ES-1. Track Ownership and Operating Control Route- Owner and Milepost Miles Locations Operator Dispatched From 0.0 – 3.9 3.9 NOUPT – East City Jct Amtrak Chicago 3.9 – 7.5 3.6 East City Jct - NOT Jct NS Birmingham, AL 803.7 – 666.4 137.3 NOT Jct – Mobile Station CSX Jacksonville, FL Total 144.8 Source: Parsons Transportation Group, 2005. At the time this investigation took place, the study team considered all three segments of the corridor to be in a “state of good repair,” that is, that the track was of a quality that met or exceeded the requirements of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA’s) railroad safety regulations for the speeds and traffic types that it supported. It should be noted that most of the analysis of the corridor was conducted and completed prior to August 29, 2005, the day that Hurricane Katrina devastated the central Gulf Coast between Mobile and New Orleans. The CSXT Railroad was particularly hard hit, with all seven of its bridges severely damaged and many miles of track destroyed. CSX’s Gentilly Yard was under several feet of water for two weeks. Despite this catastrophe, CSX made a commitment to rebuild the railroad as quickly as possible. By February of 2006, rail traffic was rolling again between Mobile and New Orleans. Spot inspections in the field by the study team indicate that the railroad has once again been brought to a “state of good repair” and, in fact is probably better than it was before, given the installation of newer, more modern hardware (mitre joints on the bridges, for example). Service Goals for the Corridor (Chapter 3) The service goals of this project are to introduce intercity passenger service to the corridor as soon as possible on a limited basis and to grow that service over the next twenty years, while maintaining the current excess capacity in the corridor to support increased freight traffic. All operators and sponsors⎯intercity passenger and freight⎯intend the services on the New Orleans-Mobile Corridor in the planning year, 2025, to be more reliable than those operating on the Corridor at present. The envisioned mix of services is presented in Table ES-2. BURK-KLEINPETER,INC. (10135) May 2006 Page ES.2 Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission Gulf Coast High-Speed Rail Corridor New Orleans to Mobile Corridor Transportation Plan Table ES-2 Railroad Services Envisioned for 2025 in the New Orleans-Mobile Corridor Number of Daily Train Movements (RoundTrips) Service Route New Orleans to Mobile Amtrak Corridor-type New Orleans to 6 services Mobile Total Corridor-type services 6 Long-distance Sunset Limited 0.43 services Crescent 2 City of New 2 Orleans Total, Long-distance service Total Amtrak Freight 2 CSXT 23 NS n/a NOPB n/a Total,Freight Service Grand Total New Orleans to Mobile Corridor (Amtrak and CSXT inclusive) Source: Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc., 2005. It should be noted that the Sunset Limited long distance service between Orlando and Los Angeles has been suspended by Amtrak east of New Orleans. When, or whether, this service will be reinstated is not known at this time. Methodologies and Operations Analysis (Chapters 4 and 5) The analysis was undertaken by the Operations and Planning Division of CSXT. In an iterative process, the study team combined its knowledge of existing conditions on the lines in question, with conceptual plans for a number of fixed facility improvements that would raise train speeds, improve capacity, and meet safety, operational, and marketing prerequisites. Simulations of train performance in the project planning year of 2025 were conducted over various hypothetical fixed facility configurations, and with various performance specifications assumed. These simulations were of two types: 2 Because of the variability and directional imbalance of freight traffic, the numbers shown here (expressed as daily round trips for comparability with the other services) are rough approximations. BURK-KLEINPETER,INC. (10135) May 2006 Page ES.3 Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission Gulf Coast High-Speed Rail Corridor New Orleans to Mobile Corridor Transportation Plan • Calculations of pure train performance in the absence of interference from other trains, and • Seven-day simulations of the performance of, and interference among, all the freight and intercity passenger train movements envisioned in Table ES-2, above. (Commuter trains are not envisioned in the future.) For this purpose, hypothetical schedules for all these movements were developed; the simulation technique modeled the effects of randomness, for example in the arrival of long-distance trains at entry points to the corridor. The results of these analyses were as follows: • The service objectives, under current conditions, are not achievable. The high-speed trains were only able to operate at 61% on-time reliability in the second iteration of the full service simulation. The primary reason for this is CSXT’s seven drawbridges in the corridor, which are required to open on signal for marine traffic. The study team has provided suggestions to mitigate delays at the drawbridges as a means to increase the reliability of freight train operations, as well as those of the HSR trains. • Train equipment exists that could reliably travel between New Orleans and Mobile in two hours and twenty-two minutes with five intermediate stops, subject to the completion of the improvements contemplated in this study. • The system configuration that would allow the trip time goals to be met would include: - Maximum authorized speeds of 90 mph; - Non-electric trainsets, with one locomotive and one or two cars, or possibly DMUs; - Unbalanced alignment of up to seven inches; - The recommended alignment, as described in Chapters 7 and 8; and - Changes to the “open on demand” requirements of the CSXT bridges. • To the extent that the states were to substitute other system configurations and improvements for those contemplated in this report, the alterations would need to have the same net effect on speed, capacity, safety, and marketability as those described in this report, for the goals to be reliably met. Environmental/Historic Factors (Chapter 6) The central Gulf Coast is one of the oldest inhabited parts of the United States, with a rich history dating back to before the arrival of Europeans. The rail corridor itself was developed in the 1860’s, after the Civil War. The contemplated plant improvements are located within the existing corridor and, consequently, should not impact any significant cultural or BURK-KLEINPETER,INC. (10135) May 2006 Page ES.4 Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission Gulf Coast High-Speed Rail Corridor New Orleans to Mobile Corridor Transportation Plan archaeological resources. On the other hand, coastal Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana are characterized by numerous streams, creeks and bayous, which meander through swamps and marshes. These wetlands support a wide variety of plants and wildlife and are protected by the Clean Water Act and other federal and state regulations. The study team mapped the corridor on USGS quad sheets for the purpose of detecting the likely presence of wetlands subject to regulatory protection. In preparing the conceptual plant improvements, especially new or lengthened sidings, care was taken to avoid areas with obvious wetland issues. The result was the “Dry Land Plan,” which concentrated plant improvements in more upland areas. The Contemplated Improvements (Chapters 7 and 8) This Section describes the improvements identified as part of the Mobile to New Orleans Gulf Coast High-Speed (GCHSR) Rail Corridor Study. The study team classifies corridor improvements according to two main categories: (1) Systemic upgrades of corridor-wide railroad components (i.e., the signaling system), discussed in Chapter 7, and (2) Site-specific projects (i.e., track reconfigurations), which are discussed in Chapter 8.

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