time you read this — Congress and the pres- ident have done their back and forth political dance, and the Keystone pipeline somehow is approved. We’re now hearing that avoid- ing the extra 700,000 barrels of oil by itself won’t clear the tracks for smooth transport of passengers and freight. The high demand for space remains problematic.
2) Federal regulators have been consid- ttx1007companystore_ttx1007companystore.qxd 5/5/2014 1:46 PM Page 1
ering limiting trains that carry crude oil to 40 miles per hour. Not only would that slow down the speed of freight traffic throughout much, or most, or all of North America, but it would slow down passenger traffic as well. Take Rochester, for example: “Passen- gers in the tens of thousands per year travel on trains that stop in Rochester, N.Y., and could potentially be affected by decisions that will soon be made,” reports the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. And that is just one community citing an experience that is repli- cated all over America.
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A shippers group, the National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council, fears that proposals in Washington would cause “se- vere disruption of freight and passenger rail service in the U.S.” The concern runs deep throughout all parts of the railroad world: Ed Hamberger’s Association of American Rail- roads (AAR) believes the 40 m.p.h. require- ment, and a related proposal requiring the freight operations that carry crude oil or etha- nol to have electronically controlled pneumat- ic brakes, “would have a devastating impact on the railroads’ ability to provide their cus- tomers with efficient transportation.” Three considered: Any one of three pos- sible steps are on the table to deal with the oil/ethanol rail transport: 1) the 40 m.p.h.
limit at all times; 2) 40 m.p.h. only in regions of at least 100,000 population; and/or 3) im- pose the limit only in cities defined as high- threat urban areas.
New York Penn: Worse Than We Thought Yeah, yeah: Take a number, get in line, or both. It has been repeatedly noted, most of- ten in this column, the urgency of building new rail tunnels under the Hudson from New Jersey to New York City’s Penn Station on the west side of Manhattan. That also applies to the tunnels on the opposite Manhattan shore- line under the East River to Long Island. There is more to the story, even beyond the already horrific flooding damage inflicted in late 2012 by Super Storm Sandy. A follow-up study in late 2014 reveals that the seawater damage from Sandy was even greater, in fact enough to leave behind elements that will weaken the concrete, iron, and steel that line the tunnels. That is serious, serious long- term damage. Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman says those tunnels might cease to be “func- tional” in as few as seven years.
To anyone familiar with the long, long delays accorded
big-ticket infrastructure
projects, that urgent information comes like a punch in the gut. In recent years, bridges, highways, tunnels (yes, including those that provide the very basis for America’s railroads and the indispensable commerce on which America depends) seemingly are collapsing all around us.
Okay, so you live in Kansas or Indiana;
why should you worry? Here’s why: Cut off a large percentage of passenger train access to Manhattan, and you cut off a lot of commerce that affects places and people way beyond
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