Perspective on CREATE

Chicago Business Today provides some perspective on the CREATE program and the funding challenges for completing each of it's 71 projects (formerly 78 projects until CN acquired the EJ&E railway). I am aware that this blog devotes quite a bit of attention to news on CREATE, but the full realization of this program will have an enormous impact on the frequency and punctuality of passenger rail travel in the Midwest and the future of American HSR.

CREATE's $3 billion grand total has thus far acquired funding from:

• Class I railroads ($232 million collectively committed, half has been received)
• State of Illinois ($10 million received and an additional $400 million committed from the capital construction program, which is now in doubt with the state's budget woes)
• Federal Stimulus funds ($100 million TIGER Grant and $133 million for Englewood Flyover)
  
• 2005 Congressional earmark ($100 million)
  

Below, Senator Durbin speaks at the site of the new Englewood flyover and the impact it will have on HSR, while CREATE project manager, Jeffrey Sriver, highlights some of the funding challenges-

Sen. Durbin and refurbished Amtrak car

Thank you Pantagragh.com -- http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/article_352854fe-878d-11de-a429-001cc4c03286.html


Stimulus side note: Amtrak's Ray Lang, said that the car was refurbished by an Indiana company that rehired 108 employees to help rehab the steel, water and electrical units on this and other railroad cars previously sidelined in storage. An Illinois company made the new seats for the two-deck car.

The car is one of 81 that are being put back in service with the help of the stimulus money, Lang said. The Superliner brought to Normal on Wednesday now is part of the Texas Eagle train, which runs from Chicago to San Antonio, Texas.

Railcar features

A 1981 Superliner that was damaged in a 2005 accident has been fixed up and was on display Wednesday in Normal. The $709,464 refurbishment included:

- Replacing the lower-level floor and rebuilding wheel and suspension assemblies

- Updating inside color scheme (from orange and brown to blue and white) and amenities

- Replacing seating, carpet, cushions, batteries, lamps, door motors, toilets, water heaters and windows

- Modernizing the second-story lounge with outlets for laptop computers; the addition of a recycling bin

SOURCE: Amtrak

IL High-speed Rail Predicted To Get $500 M Stimulus - Develop Corridor Within 5 Years

Greg Hinz reports that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, at a Union Station appearance with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Amtrak Chair Tom Carper, said Illinois expects to get at least $500 million of the $8 billion stimulus money for high speed rail. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Senator Durbin said that he and Governor Quinn would work to develop a high speed rail corridor between Chicago and St. Louis within five years. You can listen to Governor Quinn's Q&A here (Update: the beginning and towards the end of the prior link deal with rail. This link of Senator Durbin and Governor Quinn contains *Much More Rail Discussion* - listen to it first).

Sen. Bond Attempting to Block Transit and High Speed Rail

Senator Kit Bond has introduced amendments that would eliminate two important programs from the stimulus package. One is a $5.5 billion program targeted to large infrastructure projects. This program could be used for transit projects, reducing railroad freight congestion or high-speed rail. The other is a $2.2 billion program for high-speed rail corridors around the country.

Please contact your Senators today. Ask them to block Sen. Bond's amendments.

Phone calls are the most helpful, but definitely send an email.

Click Here To Contact Your Senators.

Illinois residents: Sen. Durbin has worked hard to get these programs into the stimulus package. Please thank him for his work. You can be most helpful by forwarding a link to this blog entry to your friends in other states.

Advocates for Intercity Passenger Rail Call on Congress and President Obama to Increase Funding for Rail in Stimulus Plan

Chicago Union Station, Great Hall

Thursday, January 29^th, 12:30 pm

Contacts:

Representative Elaine Nekritz, Chair of the Illinois House Rail Committee

Paris Ervin, Illinois Department of Transportation

Rick Harnish, Midwest High Speed Rail Association

Laura Kliewer, Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission

ADVOCATES FOR INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL CALL ON CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT OBAMA TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR RAIL IN STIMULUS PLAN

Chicago press conference one of several held around the Midwest this week

Participants: Illinois Secretary of Transportation Milt Sees, Representative Elaine Nekritz (D-Des Plaines), Representative Dave Winters (R-Rockford), Representative Al Riley (D-Hazel Crest), Representative Naomi Jakobsson (D-Urbana), Representative Paul Froehlich (D-Schaumburg), County Board Member Michael Richards (D-Champaign), Rick Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, Laura Kliewer of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, John O'Brien, United Transportation Union

The economic stimulus plan currently being considered by Congress provides an incredible opportunity to build a modern regional passenger rail network that makes America more energy-efficient, sustainable and prosperous, and while there are encouraging developments in the Senate led by Dick Durbin, the first drafts of the federal stimulus plan miss the mark.

Last night the U.S. House passed its stimulus plan: the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. The bill allocates only $1.1 billion to rail – $800 million to Amtrak and $300 million to state projects to improve intercity rail outside of Amtrak's capital needs. Investing in state projects is the best way to build up the Midwest's intercity passenger rail network.

Unfortunately, $300 million is not nearly enough to build up intercity rail. A much better proposal came from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which recommended a $5 billion total investment in rail: $3.4 billion for state passenger rail projects, $1.5 billion for Amtrak and $100 million for short line railroads.

The Senate Appropriations Committee plan comes closer to the $5 billion mark with $2 billion allocated to high-speed rail corridors, $850 million for Amtrak and $250 million for state investments in intercity rail. The Senate committee-passed plan also creates a discretionary program for larger projects, for which passenger rail projects are eligible.

There is pent-up demand for new and expanded service for intercity passenger rail throughout the Midwest. Passenger rail ridership – especially on shorter, corridor service that would be implemented by the build-out of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative and Ohio Hub plans – has increased dramatically, but federal funding to help build these systems has not followed. Passenger rail is the most energy-efficient means to move people over medium distances (100–600 miles). Increased funding for our states to plan, design and construct these interconnected passenger rail systems would bring tangible benefits to the Midwest, not only creating short- and long-term jobs, but building a new, efficient passenger rail system across the region.

The way to build a regional network is by improving routes and lines in each state. State projects that can be quickly obligated total far more than $5 billion throughout the nation, not to mention the medium-term planning that is necessary to develop new routes.

Midwestern states have been working together for more than 10 years on two plans to bring faster, more-frequent passenger rail service to the region. On behalf of the Midwestern states, the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) has submitted to congressional leaders a list of more than $815 million in projects that could move forward within 120 days. The preliminary environmental work on the entire Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (MWRRI) and Ohio Hub systems could be completed for about $150 million.

The best way to make sure our transportation investments meet our energy policy goals is to invest in intercity rail: we cannot afford to miss this opportunity to create jobs that lead to long-term prosperity through better intercity rail that connects the Midwest.

The Midwest High Speed Rail Association is a membership-based non-profit advocacy organization with more than 2000 members.

The MIPRC is a 10-state interstate compact commission that promotes, coordinates and supports regional improvements to passenger rail service. Member states are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Senator Dick Durbin demands better on-time performance for Amtrak trains on Chicago-St. Louis route

It's nice to have the #2 man in the U.S. Senate really care about passenger rail.

On Friday, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin released the following letter to the Union Pacific railroad. The Union Pacific (UP, in railroad parlance) owns and operates the tracks between Joliet, Bloomington-Normal, Springfield and St. Louis. This route is probably the nation's best opportunity for high-speed rail in the next few years, since passenger demand is huge and growing with existing Amtrak service and there really isn't much freight traffic to block Amtrak trains.

There is only one track for most of the line, and the UP has let much of the infrastructure deteriorate below a state of good repair. The result is that trains are forced to slow down and often sit and wait in a siding for another one to pass by.

We need to find a way to generate some investment in that route, whether from corporate dollars from the UP's treasury, Amtrak funds or public dollars from the federal or state government. That investment will result in passenger trains that are faster and more reliable than driving (and with a bit of work, flying), which will make everyone better off by lessening the horrible traffic congestion and airport congestion that mucks up our economy, as well as by strengthening our regional economy with increased mobility.

Here's the letter and congratulations to Senator Durbin for his leadership. I look forward to the UP's response as the UP and the other freight railroads are our partners in finding a way to develop modern passenger rail in the United States.

February 8, 2008

James R. Young

Chairman, President, and CEO

Union Pacific Corporation

1400 Douglas Street

19th Floor

Omaha, Nebraska 68179

Dear Mr. Young:

Thank you for meeting with me this week to discuss passenger rail in Illinois. As we discussed, passenger rail operated by Amtrak has broken ridership and revenue records in Illinois. In our meeting we agreed that we must address an important issue standing in the way of the continued success of Amtrak in Illinois: on-time performance.

Sustaining robust ridership numbers depends heavily on Amtrak trains arriving on time and avoiding unnecessary delays. Late trains cost Amtrak millions of dollars in operating costs and untold riders, who turn away from frustration with late arrivals.

The Lincoln Service along the Union Pacific track from Chicago to St. Louis was late 53 percent of the time during fiscal year 2007. Amazingly, during that same time, ridership increased an impressive 56 percent. Clearly, there is strong demand for passenger train service in Illinois. Even strong demand, though, will not withstand perpetual delays. Lackluster on-time performance leads to lackluster passenger demand. That is an experience we cannot afford.

To eliminate these delays, Union Pacific must make the necessary capital investments and management decisions that will serve both the railroad and Amtrak service.

First, UP must improve track conditions along the Lincoln Service route. Rusty track and sidings along this corridor interfere with electric currents that detect the presence of trains and activate road crossings lights and gates.

The poor track conditions create significant delays on this route. Without being able to detect other trains, trains operating in sidings must come to a complete stop at some crossings. When this happens, a conductor must disembark and literally flag the train across a crossing with a red flag.

Flagging is an antiquated response to a problem that could easily be solved with investments, such as Incremental Train Control System technology. Fixing the track and updating the railroad’s technologies would increase on-time performance significantly.

Second, the signal system along the UP track is well beyond its useful life. In many places between Joliet and Manzonia, wiring hangs from poles and touches the ground. This situation has left the railroad vulnerable to theft of copper wiring and adds to delays for Amtrak trains. Bringing this signaling system into a state of good repair is essential to improving Amtrak’s on-time performance.

Third, UP must improve its planning, training and oversight to create clear routes for passenger trains between St. Louis and Chicago. Amtrak’s operating agreement with UP does not permit slow order delays along the route. However, poor dispatching procedures and subsequent slow orders have caused meetings of freight and passenger trains, causing regular delays along the route.

Finally, it is time to determine UP’s role in the future of Amtrak service along the Chicago-St. Louis route. This portion of track is unique in the national system because it does not have heavy amounts of freight traffic like most other Amtrak routes. This situation makes the line ripe for a high speed rail demonstration project that would move passengers to and from Chicago and St. Louis at speeds significantly faster than car travel. Eliminating the delays along this route takes us closer to the day we can make that possibility a reality.

Passenger rail is on the brink of a renaissance that could take cars off the road, relieve congested highways, minimize emissions that are harmful to air quality, and lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Ushering passenger rail into that renaissance requires a serious commitment from the freight railroads that own and maintain the track where Amtrak trains operate.

I look forward to hearing from you about UP’s actions to increase the on-time performance of Amtrak trains in Illinois. Thank you again for meeting with me this week. I stand ready to assist you in ensuring that rail passengers in Illinois are given the most reliable, viable and quickest train service possible.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Durbin

U.S. Senator