Short Line Rail: Its Role in Intermodalism and Distribution

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P&W operates between 20 and 30 trains per day over its system. Its main yard, shops complex, and dispatcher are all located at Albany. Additional crew bases are in St. Helens, Oregon, Tigard, Oregon, McMinnville, Oregon, and Eugene, Oregon. In 2007-2008, the P&W line between Beaverton and Wilsonville, Oregon was purchased by Washington County, Oregon and TriMet. It subsequently upgraded for use by commuter trains to be operated under the Westside Express Service, or WES, operating moniker. Upgrades to the route included a new roadbed, ballast, ties and rail to accommodate passenger train speeds of 60 MPH and freight train speeds of 40 MPH, Centralized Traffic Control signaling, Automatic Train Stop at control points, new sidings, station platforms at the end points along with in Tigard, Oregon and Tualatin, Oregon, as well as a station in the Progress/Washington Square area near the Beaverton/Tigard city line, and a maintenance shop located in Wilsonville (staffed by TriMet employees). P&W is responsible for train operations, including staffing the trains with an Engineer and Conductor, dispatching, and maintenance. TriMet has a Manager to oversee the service and will handle basic maintenance of the fleet. The service had been expected to launch as early as August 2008 but due to delays by the car manufacturer, Colorado Railcar, the actual start of service date was February 2, 2009. Four Colorado Railcar DMUs will be used, three of which are powered vehicles and can move on their own, and a fourth vehicle which is a trailer to be towed behind one of the three powered cars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_and_Western_Railroad). These four metropolitan areas, and the short line and regional railroads operating “within the belt,” are illustrative of the differences between carriers, their customer bases and the environments within which they operate. It should be no surprise that with over 500 short line and regional railroads in the U.S., there would be substantial variation in their profiles. However, with the exception of the FEC, most of the short lines and regional railroads in the U.S., and in the congested metropolitan areas, handle a preponderant amount of manifest, or commodity-based carload traffic. As we look at possible roles that short line and regional railroads might play in reducing truck congestion issues in metropolitan areas, it is clear there will be no “one-size” fits all solution. It will be paramount to consider the “market” within each of the metropolitan areas, i.e., the customer mix that exists, or could exist, “within the belt,” the existing rail and yard infrastructure, as well as the opportunities for expanding or modifying same, Class I interchange agreements and business models, etc. In short, potential roles for the short line and regional railroads operating “within the belt” in terms of addressing truck traffic congestion will vary with the railroad, the metropolitan area, the customers and the potential Class I partners. 39
Chapter 4: Forecast Freight Traffic Growth in the United States The tonnage of freight moved in the United States is forecast to double between 2005 and 2035, from 16 billion tons to 31.4 billion tons. It is projected that 80 percent of that freight by tonnage and 94 percent by value will be moved by truck. Trade with Canada is up. Oil imports and expanding trade with Mexico and Latin America have resulted in major increases in trade through Gulf Coast ports and across the U.S.-Mexico border. International container cargo coming primarily from Asia and Europe grew from 8 million units in 1980 to 40 million units by 2000 and is expected to explode to 110 million units by 2020. This is placing enormous pressure on West Coast and East Coast ports and the highway and rail distribution systems in between (AASHTO, 2007a). In this chapter we briefly describe the historic freight traffic trends in the U.S., followed by a discussion of the current forecast for freight traffic growth out through 2035. We place these discussions in the context of the current economic downturn and suggest caveats for the estimated growth based upon potential global shifts in economic, population, energy, environmental and other factors that may impact freight traffic in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. Historic Freight Traffic Growth in the U.S Our focus here is on what has happened to freight traffic in the U.S., post-World War II. More specifically, what has happened since the birth of the Interstate Highway System, which led to far easier transport of goods and people across the United States. When the Interstate System began construction in the late 1950s, there were 65 million vehicles in the U.S. creating 600 billion vehicle miles of travel (VMT). Vehicle ownership had just begun to increase and long-distance trucking was in its infancy. Fifty years later, there are over 240 million vehicles in the U.S. and 3 trillion VMT on a highway system that has grown only 15 percent in those fifty years (AASHTO, 2007a). There have been major changes in the transportation environment over that period of time. For example, we have moved from basic interstate commerce (farm to market, urban/rural) to national and global commerce connections. This has corresponded with a movement from “old geography” (pre-sunbelt) to a new geography of dispersed regional growth. Likewise, we have moved from a limited truck use for freight to just-intime logistics of large combination vehicles. At the beginning of the interstate system, there was uncongested new capacity. Today there is need for congestion management (discussed more fully in Chapter 7). At the same time, there has been an evolution from use of civil engineering standards for highway design to a search for intelligent transportation systems and solutions (AASHTO, 2007a). In looking at the evolution of freight transportation in the United States in the Post-War years, there are several different measures available for assessing the amount of freight moved/handled by the various transportation modes. The most common measures include value, tons and ton-miles. In addition, estimates for these metrics have been made by different organizations, with differing degrees of comprehensiveness and 40
Page 1 and 2: Short Line Rail: Its Role in Interm
Page 3 and 4: 1. Report No. 2. Government Accessi
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tabl
Page 7 and 8: Table 6.6: Interim Projections: Per
Page 9 and 10: Figure 6.9: Percent of Population L
Page 11 and 12: Summary Freight transportation has
Page 13 and 14: half million. If that growth rate c
Page 15 and 16: Project Purpose Chapter 1: Introduc
Page 17 and 18: Further, meeting America’s surfac
Page 19 and 20: some short lines controlled by gove
Page 21 and 22: through abandonment or sale (For mo
Page 23 and 24: impact on hundreds of communities h
Page 25 and 26: I-20 I-20 @ Fulton Street 1,172,700
Page 27 and 28: I-75 M-39 M-39 I-96 Houston I-610 I
Page 29 and 30: New York- Northeastern NJ SR 100 I-
Page 31 and 32: I-805 I-805 @ I-15 Interchange San
Page 33 and 34: Columbus Columbus & Ohio River Rail
Page 35 and 36: Of the short line and regional carr
Page 37 and 38: Chicago SouthShore & South Bend Rai
Page 39 and 40: The FEC has 133 pound-per-yard (66
Page 41: Portland The Portland, OR-Vancouver
Page 45 and 46: movement of freight in this country
Page 47 and 48: illion tons and generating about 1.
Page 49 and 50: 31 Nonmetallic mineral products 86
Page 51 and 52: SOURCE: FHWA, 2008. U.S. Army Corps
Page 53 and 54: System (NHS) in 2002 and are expect
Page 55 and 56: Table 4.6: Share of Vehicle Miles o
Page 57 and 58: Forecast Freight Traffic Growth in
Page 59 and 60: Figure 4.8: Major Truck Routes on N
Page 61 and 62: Chapter 5: Forecast Freight Rail Tr
Page 63 and 64: After decades of steady decline (se
Page 65 and 66: 7 and paperboard Other prepared foo
Page 67 and 68: containers. Trailers accounted for
Page 69 and 70: SOURCE: U.S. DOT, 2008. Association
Page 71 and 72: Chapter 6: Forecast Population Grow
Page 73 and 74: Figure 6.2: Total Population by Reg
Page 75 and 76: Source: Hobbs and Stoops, 2002 Figu
Page 77 and 78: Figure 6.7: Percent of Total Popula
Page 79 and 80: Increased land area, coupled with p
Page 81 and 82: Figure 6.9: Percent of Population L
Page 83 and 84: increase in population. Texas, Nort
Page 85 and 86: .Nebraska 57,734 33,681 17,569 108,
Page 87 and 88: areas described above will continue
Page 89 and 90: at least 10,000 trucks per day, inc
Page 91 and 92: impose an unacceptably high cost on
Page 93 and 94:
measures of congestion typically fo
Page 95 and 96:
(Note: Improved methodology and mor
Page 97 and 98:
A third factor causing trips to be
Page 99 and 100:
Another way to get more productivit
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these options, see Still Stuck in T
Page 103 and 104:
and expertise to support the above
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commuting and other passenger trave
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focus is on highways, with six exis
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Figure 7.4: Corridors of the Future
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Because freight transportation dema
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increasingly squeezes service from
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will be transported and for what pr
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As previously described, when the F
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If the freight railroads cannot mai
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determines to some great extent the
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- means that, once on the move, the
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declining to become ever more depen
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For example, to reduce emissions an
Page 129 and 130:
Furthermore, with the issue of biod
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climbs to the equivalent of the cur
Page 133 and 134:
from water-cooled reactors. The 4S
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within that time period. While thes
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“franchise” and any perceived t
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Commission states “Federal policy
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Chapter 11: A Role for Large-Scale
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At the international, national and
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eyond the shipper and carrier frame
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planned or forecast scenarios and p
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exogenous inputs into this model fr
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they need better information and to
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knowledge. It is important to know
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Figure 11.2: “Four-Step” Proces
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friction factor. With limited surve
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• Truck Prohibitions - Some freew
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Chapter 12: Freight Villages/Integr
Page 163 and 164:
Freight Villages/Integrated Logisti
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the number of trucks coming into th
Page 167 and 168:
customers within the geographically
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A possible solution for the second
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The options available for the servi
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servicing, or “passing” through
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Shared Rights of Way The option of
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Chapter 14: Metropolitan Area Railr
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Figure 14.1: Regional Collaboration
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include freight in this collaborati
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Transportation Planning Process SOU
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metropolitan area. For the smaller
Page 187 and 188:
areas that had three or more interc
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Class I carriers, there are real is
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Acknowledgements The author wishes
Page 193 and 194:
Daniel Beagan, Michael Fischer and
Page 195 and 196:
Federal Highway Administration. The
Page 197 and 198:
Paul Krugman. The Return of Depress
Page 199 and 200:
Wesley J. Reisser, “A New Tri-Pol
Page 201:
World Almanac Education Group, “W
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Short Line Rail: Its Role in Intermodalism and Distribution

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