on Freight Presentation by Bryant Thomas Manager, Government - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ohio Conference on Freight Presentation by Bryant Thomas Manager, Government Relations Norfolk Southern

Ohio is a crossroads of U.S. Freight Railroads  Almost 5,000 route miles covering Ohio  Over 7,500 highly skilled and well-paid employees  Four Class I railroads (CSX, NS, CP and CN)  33 Short Line / Regional railroads, representing almost 40% of route miles in Ohio Sources: AAR 2013 Railroad Facts Booklet ASLRRA 2014 Short Line and Regional Railroad Facts and Figures Booklet

Railroad Safety Regulation  Railroad Safety and Operations are regulated under the Federal Railroad Authority - 49 CFR Chapter II  These laws provide the FRA with very broad authority over “every area of railroad safety.”  The FRA has issued a wide range of safety regulations such as:  Track, equipment, locomotives, freight cars, maintenance of active warning devices at highway-rail grade crossings, operating rules and practices, positive train control, and use of train horns at grade crossings.  Common carrier transportation, service, and rates - 49 U.S. Code § 11101 - A rail carrier providing transportation…shall provide the transportation or service on reasonable request

Safety Investment Means Results  Freight railroads spent more than $660 billion of private funds capital expenditures and maintenance expenses since 1980  Derailment rates, which declined 10% in 2016 from 2015, as well as track- caused accident rates, are also both all-time lows.  The 2016 rail safety statistics continue a string of record-setting years, showing this period has been the safest ever for the rail sector.  According to March 2017 FRA data based on per million train miles, since 2000 the:  Train accident rate is down 44%  Equipment-caused accident rate is down 34%  Track-caused accident rate is down 53%  Derailment rate is down 44%

Positive Train Control  PTC is an unprecedented, advanced set of technologies that will automatically stop a train before certain human error incidents occur.  Under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA), passenger railroads and Class I freight railroads must install PTC on main lines used to transport passengers or toxic-by-inhalation (TIH) materials.  Railroads expect to spend more than $10 billion

People and Cars in Ohio (Automobile Accidents) Ohio in 1990 Ohio in 2017  10.86 million residents  11.61 million residents – 6.9% change  10.6 million vehicles  6.7 million vehicles – 58.2% change  Collisions: 5,715  Collisions: 2,105  Fatalities: 698  Fatalities: 274  Injuries: 2,407  Injuries: 807

Safety Investment at Crossings  The installation of warning devices such as flashing lights and roadway gates is one way safety can be improved at rail crossings.  Over the past 15 years, the PUCO has approved 3,300 safety upgrades at crossings throughout the state, with 102 upgrades approved in 2017  Federal and state funding resources are available to local communities to implement safety upgrades and install lights and gates at grade crossings.  Federal Funding - Crossings for these upgrades are chosen based on a priority list that ranks the crossings in order of risk of accident.  State Funding - For crossings not eligible for federal funding, the state-funded Grade Crossing Upgrade Program allows local communities to share the cost of installing safety devices with the state and the local railroad.

Grade Crossing Safety Statistics  The PUCO’s staff of federally certified inspectors conducted 593 FRA railroad inspections in 2017. All 5,800 public grade crossings in Ohio were inspected for safety.  There is still much work to be done to educate motorists on how to safely travel across railroad crossings.  82 percent of the crashes in 2017 occurred at crossings with active warning devices, up from 75 percent in 2016  The number of train-vehicle crashes at Ohio public highway-rail grade crossings has decreased significantly, from 123 in 2001 to 64 in 2016 to 68 in 2017

Blocked Crossings Concerns  Rail Traffic is at all time highs  U.S. rail traffic for all of 2017 rose 3.4 percent carloads and intermodal units compared with traffic in 2016  Total U.S. carload traffic for the first six months of 2018 up 1.3 percent from the same period last year; and intermodal units, up 6.0 percent from last year.  Total combined U.S. traffic saw an increase of 3.7 percent compared to last year  Also seeing record train lengths across the industry

Operational Regulation – Local Concerns  Though most of railroad operations are federally regulated and thus preempt state and local laws – Local concerns still linger  Local Issues:  Train Horn Use/ Quiet Zone - 49 CFR Part 222  Blocked Crossing Regulation  Idling Locomotives  Operational Nuisances – Noise Pollution (Idling/Coupling), Light Pollution  Proposed State Legislation 2017/2018  Two Person Crew Regulation  Railyard Lighting Regulation  Railyard Walkway Regulation  Increase in Truck Size and Weight

INDOT Local Trax – Proactive Approach  INDOT has made available at least $125 million for high-priority railroad safety projects on local roads statewide through the agency’s new “Local Trax ” matching grant program.  The Local TRAX rail overpass program will provide grants to cities, towns and counties bodies for grade separation, crossing closure and other safety enhancement projects at rail-highway intersections on local roads.  Represents a partnership with INDOT, local communities, businesses, industry and railroads  Local Trax requires local governments to provide only 20 percent of funding for land acquisition and construction with the state providing the other 80 percent.  Crossing closure component to awarded grants

Thank You