EAST METRO RAIL CAPACITY STUDY OCTOBER 2012 PREPARED FOR: IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: PREPARED BY: East Metro Rail Capacity Study Prepared for Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority in partnership with Red Rock Corridor Commission By the Study Team of: TranSystems Corporation Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Rani Engineering The 106 Group Ltd. American Engineering Testing, Inc. LTK Engineering Services David Simpson Consultants HAD-Rail Consulting Services David Evans and Associates, Inc. Table of Contents Definitions Abbreviations EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. ES-1 1.0 Study Background and Purpose .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Study Area .................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Project Partners ............................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 Scope of Study .............................................................................................................................. 6 2.0 Study Process ................................................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Project Development Process ....................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Study Partner Roles ...................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Study Partner Involvement Process ............................................................................................. 9 Project Management Team Meetings and Stakeholder Workshops/Meetings ........................... 9 Freight Railroads ......................................................................................................................... 10 Public Open Houses and Neighborhood Meetings ..................................................................... 11 3.0 Other Studies and Projects Relevant to the Study Area ............................................................. 12 3.1 Past Studies ................................................................................................................................. 12 3.2 Current Projects .......................................................................................................................... 16 4.0 Project Understanding ................................................................................................................ 20 4.1 Study Outcomes ......................................................................................................................... 20 Maintain On-Time Performance and Hold Freights Whole ........................................................ 21 Allow for Freight and Passenger Rail Growth ............................................................................. 21 Conceptual Engineering Completed on Agreed-To Capacity Improvements ............................. 22 4.2 Project-Specific Agreements ...................................................................................................... 22 4.3 General Rail Operations .............................................................................................................. 24 Facilities and Track Ownership ................................................................................................... 24 i Through Movements .................................................................................................................. 27 Yard Operations and Interchange ............................................................................................... 28 Train Volumes ............................................................................................................................. 32 4.4 Physical Constraints .................................................................................................................... 37 Drainage/Stormwater ................................................................................................................. 37 Cultural Resources ...................................................................................................................... 41 Geotechnical ............................................................................................................................... 44 Environmental ............................................................................................................................ 47 Right-of-Way ............................................................................................................................... 49 5.0 Study Requirements and Assumptions ....................................................................................... 50 5.1 Study Requirements ................................................................................................................... 50 Accommodate Freight and Passenger Trains ............................................................................. 50 Mitigate Excessive Mainline Occupancy ..................................................................................... 50 Provide Multiple Rerouting Opportunities ................................................................................. 50 5.2 Study Assumptions ..................................................................................................................... 50 General Operating Assumptions................................................................................................. 50 General Routing Assumptions .................................................................................................... 51 Signaling Assumptions ................................................................................................................ 51 Freight Traffic Volumes Existing and Growth Over Time ........................................................... 52 Passenger Volumes - Existing and Growth over Time ................................................................ 53 6.0 Concept Development ................................................................................................................ 53 6.1 Infrastructure Options/Potential Improvements ....................................................................... 53 Scheduling/Dispatching .............................................................................................................. 53 Train Routing .............................................................................................................................. 54 Lower Cost Capital Improvements ............................................................................................. 55 Higher Cost Capital Improvements ............................................................................................. 55 6.2 Options Considered for Further Study ....................................................................................... 55 OPTION 1.5: Northern Upgrades ................................................................................................ 55 ii OPTION 2.0 River Route along BNSF Mainline / OPTION 3.0 Highway 61 Route along CP Mainline ...................................................................................................................................... 64 OPTION 4.0/OPTION 5.0 St Croix – Hastings Improvements ...................................................... 72 6.3 Operations Analysis .................................................................................................................... 79 Model Input ................................................................................................................................ 79 Model Layout and Analysis Scenarios ........................................................................................ 81 Network Configurations and Performance Measures ................................................................ 84 Analysis Results and Stakeholder Input ...................................................................................... 85 Follow-Up Analyses..................................................................................................................... 88 Results Summary ........................................................................................................................ 89 Growth Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 95 6.4 Role of Stakeholders in Concept Development .......................................................................... 99 7.0 Concept Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 99 7.1 Conceptual Engineering .............................................................................................................. 99 7.2 Cost Estimates .......................................................................................................................... 103 7.3 Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 105 7.4 Ranking of Improvements .......................................................................................................