The Surface Transportation Board ordered BNSF and Canadian Pacific Railway to report their plans by April 18 to ensure delivery of fertilizer shipments this spring. Farmers and grain shippers have complained all winter that they could not get rail cars to ship grain, and fertilizer deliveries are also behind schedule.
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Safety concerns spur calls for improved oversight of rail shipments
A series of high profile derailments and explosions involving trains hauling oil have prompted calls for improved rail safety and new guidelines governing the testing and transport of oil. Concerns center on train speeds and track conditions as well as the explosiveness of oil from North Dakota’s Bakken formation oil fields.
House T&I Committee issues freight report
A new report from the Panel on 21st Century Freight Transportation, Improving the Nation’s Freight Transportation System, recommends a series of steps for Congress to take in order to modernize the national freight transportation system to increase transportation efficiency and economic competitiveness.
America’s Rails with Trails: A Resource for Planners, Agencies, and Advocates on Trails Along Active Railroad Corridors (Rails to Trails Conservancy, 2013)
Instead of converting former rail lines to multi-use trails, states and municipalities are also finding that trails can be built alongside active rail lines. This report examines the characteristics of 88 rails-with-trails in 33 states, based on a survey of trail managers and the results of ongoing study over the past 20 years.
High demand creates challenges for rail service in Washington state
Increased coal shipments to Washington State ports could significantly intensify congestion on both roads and rail lines. Two recent reports by Parametrix and the Sightline Institute discuss the impacts of increased shipments of fossil fuels (particularly coal) from Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota to ports in the Pacific Northwest.
Lower VMT of TOD the result of density more than rail
A study published in the Journal of the American Planning Association argues that the rail transit frequently used to define transit-oriented development is not the most important factor in reducing vehicle miles traveled and car ownership. Overall density and the availability of parking were shown to be the most important variables in predicting reduced driving.
Freight rail traffic is growing, but urban conflicts hinder infrastructure expansion
While passenger rail has been on the front page, freight railroads have been thriving. However a new truck-to-rail transfer facility to serve the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has caused a fierce debate on the thorny question of how to weigh the value of regional economic and environmental benefits against local environmental impacts and environmental justice concerns.
Public supports system preservation, why not politicians?
More evidence that the public strongly supports system preservation comes from a survey performed for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. When asked to rank the importance of a variety of potential priorities for WisDOT, preservation came out on top by a wide margin with 47.3 percent of respondents citing it as “extremely important.” A year earlier, a survey for Washington DOT found a similar result in that state.
Senators call for action on freight rail rates and monopolies
Early this month, a bipartisan group of senators, led by Al Franken (D-MN), called on the chairman of the Surface Transportation Board to assure that Berkshire Hathaway’s 2010 purchase of BNSF doesn’t result in unfair rate hikes for farms and businesses in Minnesota and nationally. He also recently called on President Obama to address a lack of freight rail competition that he claims is forcing businesses to pay unfair rates to ship their goods.
Fiscal Cliff legislation restores tax credit for short line rail infrastructure
The legislation signed by President Obama on January 2nd to avert the tax increases scheduled to take effect as a result of the “fiscal cliff” included a two-year extension of the Section 45G tax credit for short line railroads to improve their infrastructure.