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Oklahoma Department of Transportation Rail Publication 2018 UPDATE RAIL Page Table of Contents Rail Programs Division - ODOT............................................................... Page 3 Rail Moves Through Oklahoma................................................................ Page 7 Passenger Rail Transportation.................................................................. Page 9 History and Current Status of Oklahoma Rail Line Acquisitions......... Page 11 Railroad State Map................................................................................... Page 17 Preface Rail Involvement he Oklahoma Department of Transportation serves In August 2014, ODOT and the Stillwater Central Railroad T in a number of roles related to railroads and railroad completed a $75 million sale of the Sooner Sub rail line related activities. ODOT currently manages leases with between Midwest City and Sapulpa. The sale of this 97.5 mile three different railroad companies operating on state-owned line was the culmination of a 180 day process put into place in track, administers the Federal Highway Administration’s 2013 by the State Legislature. Commitments included in the Grade Crossing Safety Program which provides funding for sale call for the introduction of a pilot program for passenger- safety improvements to Oklahoma’s nearly 3800 at-grade rail service, dubbed the “Eastern Flyer” connecting Midwest public rail/roadway intersections, manages Oklahoma’s City and Sapulpa to be implemented by August 2019. Heartland Flyer passenger rail service which is one of Amtrak’s highest-rated trains for customer satisfaction, With the sale of the Sooner Sub rail line, ODOT announced serves as a liaison between ODOT and rail companies a $100 million initiative to accelerate safety projects at for ODOT projects which involve operations or railroad railroad crossings statewide. State budget reductions in property and reviews federal funding opportunities to grow 2016 have subsequently limited the program to $75 million. and improve Oklahoma’s passenger and freight rail systems. Since kicking off the safety initiative in October of 2015, the Transportation Commission has approved more than 231 Over the years, the Department has developed public-private crossing improvement projects statewide, which will add partnerships with many Class III and Class I railroads to flashing light signals and crossing gate arms to many of these lease the majority of what was once an 882 mile system of crossings. Federal funding, as well as funds provided by state-owned track, in order to continue rail freight service railroad companies and the local entities are also being used for many Oklahoma communities and businesses. Two of in the initiative, which has enabled ODOT to advance nearly the leases were developed as long term lease-to-purchase ten years of improvements in little more than two years. agreements, intended to eventually return those facilities to private ownership. Following the maturation of these 30 Freight traffic continues to be the main source of railroad year agreements, more than 350 miles of the state-owned activity in the state. An estimated 338 million tons of freight rail system was returned to private ownership in 2013, thus is transported by rail in the state each year, with many rail reducing ODOT’s rail ownership to just over 200 miles. lines carrying 50 to 100 trains a day. Rail freight traffic will experience significant growth over the next few decades with the number of trains on some corridors expected to double over the next 20 years. The largest growth in freight traffic per day is expected on the BNSF Railway in the northern part of the state. Page 2 Rail Programs Division of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation stablished in 1989, Rail Programs Division oversees the Estate’s interests in the 3,244 miles of rail that run across Oklahoma. The Division is responsible for administering federal and state funds used to support operation of the Heartland Flyer passenger service, highway construction projects affecting railroad property, railroad crossing safety improvements, and maintenance of the state-owned rail lines. The Division is comprised of five branches - Safety; State-owned Rail Line Management; Construction; Federal Programs; and Passenger Rail. Page 3 338 MILLION TONS of freight is transported by rail in the state each year. Many rail lines carrying 50 to100 TRAINS EACH DAY Page 4 ODOT Rail Safety Program The State-owned Rail Construction The Rail Programs Division Safety Branch works with all and Maintenance Work Plan railroads active in Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, as well as the counties and communities in The State-owned Rail Construction and Maintenance which the railroads operate, to actively pursue initiatives Work Plan is funded through the Railroad Maintenance leading to safer travel for Oklahoma’s citizens. The ODOT Revolving Fund established through the passage of the Rail Safety Program is comprised of three primary areas of Railroad Rehabilitation Act of 1978. Funding comes from focus - single high priority rail crossing locations, statewide both the Oklahoma Freight Car Tax and from the lease- minimum rail safety standard projects and rail corridor safety purchase agreements with state-owned rail operators. improvements. These programs aim to either improve on- Annual contributions to the fund historically have been the-ground safety conditions or close and eliminate highly approximately $1.8 million per year, but due to recent state- active railroad crossings that rise to the top of the annual owned rail line lease maturities and sales, this figure has ranking and inspection reports. Through a combination of dropped significantly. Funded projects are, and will continue annual OK.RAIL crossing database reporting results and to be, identified from applications submitted through the field-based diagnostic team inspections, the ODOT Rail Railroad Rehabilitation Act Loan Program, discussions with Programs Safety Branch identifies the crossings deemed state rail lessees, as well as the State Rail Plan. Projects are most in need of attention. prioritized based on safety considerations and infrastructure deficiencies. The following are considered: • Anticipated % reduction in truck traffic • National freight transportation trends • Annual tonnage transported • Condition of rail structures • Rail highway safety • Track condition Page 5 Rail Programs Division Federal Programs Branch ODOT has employed an objective investment program The Federal Programs Branch identifies and secures federal intended to maximize the benefit from its scarce resources. funding available for rail improvements such as TIGER, The State-owned Rail Construction and Maintenance BUILD and INFRA grants. Its purpose is to ensure that Work Plan continues to focus on the solid investment of ODOT is fully compliant and integrated with all rail funding funds vital to maintaining rail operations and the overall initiatives such as the State Rail Plan and State Freight Plan transportation network, including efforts associated with requirements. The Branch also keeps ODOT staff informed delivering the ODOT 8 Year Construction Work Plan. of national rail policy and priorities by participating in the ODOT updates this plan annually for formal submission AASHTO Standing Committee on Rail and the States for to the Oklahoma Transportation Commission for approval. Passenger Rail Coalition. Oklahoma Rail Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant Awards Great Plains Freight Rail Sayre to Clinton Eric to Sayre Enid to Elk City TIGER II TIGER III TIGER V TIGER IX (co-op with KDOT-ODOT) TOTAL PROJECT COST: TOTAL PROJECT COST: TOTAL PROJECT COST: TOTAL PROJECT COST: $22,500,147.00 $8,456,580.00 $2,621,700.00 $16,502,989 This project improved This project greatly This project has greatly This project will capacity on the South increased freight rail increased freight rail upgrade the Enid to Elk Kansas and Oklahoma capacity for Farmrail capacity between Texas City line to be 286,000 Railroad Company Corporation (FMRC) in and western Oklahoma. lbs. compliant. (SK&O) rail line to the western Oklahoma. Port of Catoosa. Page 6 Rail Freight Moves Through Oklahoma ail freight traffic volumes are the heaviest in the Rcorridor on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) line in the northwestern part of the state and on the north-south BNSF route in the central part of the state, both carrying between 50 and 100 trains per day. The next highest train traffic volumes are shown on the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) lines, one parallel to US-81 north to south through the central part of the state and another in the eastern part of the state roughly paralleling the US-69 corridor. Rail freight traffic is projected to grow significantly over the next few decades. The number of trains on some corridors is expected to double over the next 25 years and the largest growth in freight traffic per day is expected on the BNSF line in the northern part of the state. Rail flows to, from, and within northeastern Oklahoma are expected to see strong growth as well, boosted by gains in exports from the Tulsa area to Arkansas and Missouri. Rail (annual tons) In addition to the BNSF and the UP, the Kansas City Southern Railway Company is the third Class I railroad operating in Oklahoma. Additionally, Oklahoma has 18 < 3 Million Class III carriers. 3-4.99 Million 5-14.99 Million 15-49.99 Million 50-89.99 Million >90 Million Page 7 Page 8 Passenger Rail Transportation in Oklahoma he
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