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

Ohio Conference

• n 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,

• perating rules and practices, positive train control, and use
• f 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

• 10.86 million residents
• 6.7 million vehicles
• Collisions: 5,715
• Fatalities: 698
• Injuries: 2,407

Ohio in 2017

• 11.61 million residents

– 6.9% change

• 10.6 million vehicles

– 58.2% change

• Collisions: 2,105
• Fatalities: 274
• 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

• ther 80 percent.
• Crossing closure component to awarded grants

Thank You