Freight rail investment could free passenger congestion

2012-03-28 22:19:27

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By Jon Schmitz / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On rail lines, freight trains have preference over passenger service, which frequently causes delays for Amtrak customers.

Freight also appears to have the upper hand when it comes to money for improving service and infrastructure. Recent federal grant awards to Western Pennsylvania have included $35 million for improvements for cargo-hauling trains and just $750,000 for those that move people.

But people stand to benefit from the freight investment because it will mean fewer trucks on congested highways, less pollution and lower road maintenance costs, railroad officials told a state House committee on Wednesday.

At a hearing at Point Park University, members of the Transportation Committee heard about robust investments planned for the region's bustling freight corridors but not much being spent to improve dismal passenger service.

Of the $8 billion in high-speed passenger rail grants announced by the Obama administration in January, $27 million went to Pennsylvania, most of it to the Harrisburg-to-Philadelphia corridor. Only $750,000 was awarded in Western Pennsylvania, for a study into improving the slow, once-a-day passenger service between Pittsburgh and the state capital.

Last month, another $1.5 billion in transportation grants were announced. The third-biggest grant, $98 million, went to the National Gateway freight corridor for improvements in four states, including Pennsylvania.

The money will be used to clear obstacles that prevent heavier and taller "double-stack" freight trains from using the corridor. Those projects including lowering tracks, raising bridges and carving more height clearance into tunnels.

By 2020, highways in the state will be severely over their capacity, while expansion of the Panama Canal, scheduled for completion in 2014, will boost cargo hauling to and from the East Coast, said Randy Cheetham, regional vice president for CSX Corp.

Correction/Clarification: (Published 3/4/10) -- Federal law gives Amtrak trains preference -- not priority, as reported earlier -- over freight trains on rail lines. Amtrak officials have complained that the law has often been disregarded by dispatchers for the freight railroads that own much of the track on which Amtrak operates, contributing to delays in passenger service. Jon Schmitz: jschmitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1868. Visit "The Roundabout," the Post-Gazette's transportation blog, at post-gazette.com.
First Published March 4, 2010 12:00 am
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