Sounder Commuter Rail (Seattle)

Public Use of Rail Right-of-Way in Urban Areas Final Report PRC 14-12 F Public Use of Rail Right-of-Way in Urban Areas Texas A&M Transportation Institute PRC 14-12 F December 2014 Authors Jolanda Prozzi Rydell Walthall Megan Kenney Jeff Warner Curtis Morgan Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 8 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. 9 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... 10 Sharing Rail Infrastructure ........................................................................................................ 10 Three Scenarios for Sharing Rail Infrastructure ................................................................... 10 Shared-Use Agreement Components .................................................................................... 12 Freight Railroad Company Perspectives ............................................................................... 12 Keys to Negotiating Successful Shared-Use Agreements .................................................... 13 Rail Infrastructure Relocation ................................................................................................... 15 Benefits of Infrastructure Relocation .................................................................................... 15 Challenges to Infrastructure Relocation ................................................................................ 15 Benefits and Impacts of Commuter Rail ................................................................................... 16 Travel Time ........................................................................................................................... 16 Vehicle Operating Costs ....................................................................................................... 16 Safety .................................................................................................................................... 17 Air Pollution .......................................................................................................................... 17 Other Environmental Impacts ............................................................................................... 17 Agency Cost Savings ............................................................................................................ 18 Economic Development Impacts .......................................................................................... 18 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 19 Project Overview ......................................................................................................................... 20 Sharing Rail Infrastructure ....................................................................................................... 22 Three Scenarios for Sharing Rail Infrastructure ....................................................................... 22 Considerations for Sharing Rail Infrastructure ......................................................................... 24 Challenges to Sharing Rail Infrastructure ................................................................................. 25 Rail Infrastructure Relocation................................................................................................... 27 Benefits of Infrastructure Relocation ........................................................................................ 27 Challenges to Infrastructure Relocation ................................................................................... 28 Freight Railroad Company Perspectives .................................................................................. 29 Keys to Negotiating Successful Shared-Use Agreements ........................................................ 32 Find Common Goals and Objectives ........................................................................................ 32 Build a Trusting Relationship ................................................................................................... 32 Cover the Freight Railroads’ Costs ........................................................................................... 33 Secure On-Time Performance .................................................................................................. 35 Preserve Time for Scheduled Track Maintenance .................................................................... 35 Address Service Expansion ...................................................................................................... 35 Address Safety Concerns .......................................................................................................... 35 Address Liability ....................................................................................................................... 36 Benefits and Impacts of Commuter Rail .................................................................................. 37 Benefits ..................................................................................................................................... 37 Travel Time ........................................................................................................................... 37 Vehicle Operating Costs ....................................................................................................... 38 Safety .................................................................................................................................... 38 Environment .......................................................................................................................... 39 4 Other Environmental Impacts ............................................................................................... 39 Agency Cost Savings ............................................................................................................ 40 Economic Development Impacts .............................................................................................. 40 Land-Use Patterns ................................................................................................................. 40 Job Creation .......................................................................................................................... 41 A Texas Case Study .................................................................................................................... 45 Cotton Belt Corridor Overview ................................................................................................ 45 Cotton Belt Corridor Western Segment—TEX Rail ................................................................ 46 Cotton Belt Corridor Eastern Segment ..................................................................................... 47 Benefits of Passenger Rail in the Cotton Belt Corridor ............................................................ 48 Lessons Learned from the Cotton Belt Corridor Project .......................................................... 49 Public Ownership or Control of a ROW May Not Extinguish or Shorten Existing Freight Operating Agreements .................................................................................... 49 Liability Is the Leading Concern for Freight Railroads in Shared Use ................................ 50 Negotiations and Development of Commuter Rail Service Often Take Much Longer than Originally Expected ............................................................................................ 50 Multiple Parties Mean Multiple Issues and Interests ............................................................ 50 Neglected and/or Unconsidered Details in Agreements Can Be Significant Hurdles .......... 50 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix A—Public Use of Rail Right-of-Way Case Studies ................................................ 54 FrontRunner (Salt Lake City, Utah) ......................................................................................... 54 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 54 Stakeholders Involved ........................................................................................................... 54 Nature of Agreement ............................................................................................................. 55 Concerns Raised .................................................................................................................... 56 Realized Benefits .................................................................................................................. 57 Political/Social Context ........................................................................................................ 57 Future Issues ......................................................................................................................... 58 Lessons Learned ...................................................................................................................

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