ARRA Projects & Funding

The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority has published its list of shovel ready projects. Their request is only $98 million, so I'm beginning to think that "shovel-ready" is being defined differently by the states that have been through the process of rebuilding passenger rail systems already (CA, WA) and states that haven't done as much work (MI). (I would say that NC kind of falls between the two.) The project lists in WA and from the CCJPA are very specific, focused and ready to proceed, while the NC and MI plans are a lot less specific and, I think, a little less shovel-ready.

There's a difference between having well developed plans for a project and having final approval to proceed. It's a big difference.

I dug up that time/distance diagram that I estimated.

From Michigan City to Dearborn, I count 12 sidings. (The most easterly siding doesn't really end.) Here there are with the Amtrak meets that I estimated for each:

Michigan City
Three Oaks - 1 (trains 350/365)
Niles - 1 (350/351)
Dowagiac
Decatur (Glenwood) - 2 (354/355 & 352/353)
Kalamazoo
Battle Creek
Albion
Jackson - 1 (350/353)
Chelsea
Willow Run
Dearborn - 1 (352/355)

(I actually didn't know there was a siding in Dowagiac untill today.)
(In addition, trains 353 and 364 meet somewhere in Indiana or Illinois on the NS line.)

This shows the wisdom in connecting the three sidings (Niles/Dowagiac/Decatur) and lengthening the Three Oaks siding. This area currently accounts for 67% of the Amtrak meets on the line, and everytime a train is a late out of Detroit or Chicago, these meets will make another train late as well. Furthermore, most of the sidings on the west part of the line are very short (2 miles or less). One the rest of the line, the are longer (2.5-10 miles).

I'm sure NS has a tough time with any Amtrak meeting east of Porter, so I would expect that when the work is done, the schedule will be tweaked to shift the 353/364 meeting onto Amtrak territory in addition to optimizing the use of the new track.

RE: Kalamazoo improvements: Judging by the Live Maps' Bird's Eye, there is no cross-over on the double tracked section in Kalamazoo west of the station. The station does have a platform between the tracks (that I had forgotten about), so a train could stop on either, but not simultaneously, and not without walking on the tracks. There is a crossover just to the east of the station.

Vincent wrote:The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority has published its list of shovel ready projects. Their request is only $98 million, so I'm beginning to think that "shovel-ready" is being defined differently by the states that have been through the process of rebuilding passenger rail systems already (CA, WA) and states that haven't done as much work (MI). (I would say that NC kind of falls between the two.) The project lists in WA and from the CCJPA are very specific, focused and ready to proceed, while the NC and MI plans are a lot less specific and, I think, a little less shovel-ready.

There's a difference between having well developed plans for a project and having final approval to proceed. It's a big difference.

While I'm sure that there is some "flexibility" in the way that states are interpreting shovel-ready (witness Louisiana's proposal for rail between Baton Rouge and New Orleans), I don't think that the differences between these states (CA, WA, NC, MI) are that great. In fact, I think North Carolina probably has the most effective state-sponsored rail capital improvement program in the country. They've compeleted or are in the process or completing over $65M in track capacity and speed improvments in the last few years, not to mention having carried out extremely successful grade crossing and station rehab programs. Michigan also has a lot experience working with Amtrak on the ITCS program in the southwest part of the state. The issue in Michigan's case is that the money hasn't been there to move from design to completion. To illustrate, here is what Gov. Doyle of Wisconsin had to say about the proposed projects in North Carolina in his testimony before Congress:

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has $220 million in ready-to-go projects in the federally designated Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor (SEHSR). These projects will be conducted via existing agreements with the CSX Transportation Company, Norfolk Southern Railway, the North Carolina Railroad Company, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

I think part of the problem is that it is just a lot harder, for a variety of reasons, to carry out rail capital improvements on the west coast. Compare the circumstances in Washington and North Carolina:

Washington:
* All trackage is owned by the freight railroads
* In most cases, projects add new capacity where it never existed, often requiring additional right-of-way
* Much of the corridor is adjacent to water, either Puget Sound or the Columbia River and its tributaries, adding to environmental problems
* State law requires consultation with Native American tribal interests, and archaeological investigations may be required
* There seems to be a tendency to gold-plate the projects (ie, the D to M Streeet connector)

North Carolina:
* The state owns the railroad and leases it to a class 1, with provisions in the lease regarding capital investments
* Following on the first point, the state owns a 200 foot right of way along the entire route from Charlotte to Raleigh, so right-of-way rarely poses an obstacle
* Many projects (such as double track from Greenboro to Charlotte) represent reinstalling capacity that used to exist on the current roadbed, minimizing the need for environmental approvals
* etc...

Michigan's application is available:

It looks like Michigan is looking to purchase the Michigan Central from NS:

http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-1 ... --,00.html

...NS Segment (MI Preapp #4) consists of a request to fund Phase 1 infrastructure improvements and ownership arrangement (currently being negotiated with NS) of this rail line segment (MP 7.7 to MP 143.42...

(Look in the NS PDF for the quote.)

This is the railroad that NS tried to sell to a shortline operator and got cut off by the STB for trying to keep to tight of control over it.

jsmyers wrote:Michigan's application is available:

It looks like Michigan is looking to purchase the Michigan Central from NS:

http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-1 ... --,00.html

...NS Segment (MI Preapp #4) consists of a request to fund Phase 1 infrastructure improvements and ownership arrangement (currently being negotiated with NS) of this rail line segment (MP 7.7 to MP 143.42...

(Look in the NS PDF for the quote.)

This is the railroad that NS tried to sell to a shortline operator and got cut off by the STB for trying to keep to tight of control over it.

This is very interesting. It will put the line from Porter, IN to Wayne, MI into public ownership.

There is a long-standing, unfunded plan to develop an all-passenger track from Union Station Chicago to Porter, IN (the "South of the Lake Reroute"), which is possibly the most valuable intercity rail upgrade in the country (but unfortunately is not "shovel-ready"). The versions of it I've seen would all end up with at least one track in public ownership. (I suspect NS is not really interested in discussing it until the most important part, Englewood Flyover, is funded.)

This just leaves the line from Wayne, MI to downtown Detroit, which is all still owned by Conrail (and not terribly heavily used for freight except the final portion in downtown Detroit). The entire route could be in public ownership before too long.

Announcements are now out for Track 1 applications on 14 of the 40 states that submitted preapplications. It appears that Oklahoma and Louisiana will not be submitting Track 1 applications. The 14 states plus OK and LA account for $71.5 billion of the $103.5 billion in the preapplications, so most of the data is already in. These states have applied for $4.47 billion under Track 1 (shovel-ready).

In from biggest request to smallest, here is what I have gathered from the web so far:
California $1,100 million
Michigan $832 million
New York $565 million
Illinois $550 million
Washington $435 million
Maryland $360 million
Florida $270 million
North Carolina $75.9 million
Virginia $75 million
Massachusetts $69 million
Vermont $52 million
New Jersey $38.5 million
Pennsylvania $28.2 million
Delaware $17 million

jstolberg wrote:Announcements are now out for Track 1 applications on 14 of the 40 states that submitted preapplications. It appears that Oklahoma and Louisiana will not be submitting Track 1 applications. The 14 states plus OK and LA account for $71.5 billion of the $103.5 billion in the preapplications, so most of the data is already in. These states have applied for $4.47 billion under Track 1 (shovel-ready).

In from biggest request to smallest, here is what I have gathered from the web so far:
California $1,100 million
Michigan $832 million
New York $565 million
Illinois $550 million
Washington $435 million
Maryland $360 million
Florida $270 million
North Carolina $75.9 million
Virginia $75 million
Massachusetts $69 million
Vermont $52 million
New Jersey $38.5 million
Pennsylvania $28.2 million
Delaware $17 million

source? news article?

You forgot Texas total for $1.757 Billion.
Texas asked for $57.6 Million for ready to go Track 1 projects, and an additional $1.7 Billion under Track 1 for NEPA and PE for high speed rail projects in Texas

Source ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-inf ... l_apps.pdf
Note: Planned Track 2, 3, and 4 projects are listed too.

I'm not so sure the Feds will fund NEPA and PE this year. That still leaves $57.6 Million of construction projects left.

California

Track 1—Up to 100 percent Federal match
1 Positive Train Control—Moorpark to San Diego, except LA to Fullerton $35,200,000
2 Positive Train Control—L.A. to Fullerton—BNSF owned 39,320,000
3 Positive Train Control—Port Chicago (Concord) to Bakersfield (BNSF owned) 61,770,000
4 Air Quality Upgrades—State owned diesel passenger locomotive fleet 13,930,000
5 Construct Third Main Track between Los Angeles and Fullerton 38,300,000
6 Refurbish used “Comet 1b” cars to provide additional capacity 20,690,000
7 Perform Capitalized Maintenance in various locations between Sacramento and San Jose 16,290,000
8 Construct Second Main Track between Stockton and Escalon 78,690,000
9 Railroad Crosstie Replacement in San Diego County 4,700,000
10 Install New Crossovers—Various locations in San Diego County 9,400,000
11 Construct Stub Track at Oceanside Intercity Rail Station 3,700,000
12 Install New Crossover at the West End of the Yolo Causeway 5,000,000
13 Construct “Trainbox” at San Francisco Transbay Terminal 400,000,000
14 Upgrade and Re-space Signal and Wayside Detectors in Orange County 14,100,000
15 San Jose Diridon Station—South Terminal Track Improvements 20,600,000
16 Install New Crossovers and Additional Track in Orange County 11,100,000
17 Upgrade Track and Structures in Various Locations in Ventura County 12,600,000
18 Construct 10 miles of 2nd Main Track in various locations in Contra Costa County 34,000,000
19 Replace Los Penasquitos Lagoon Bridge in San Diego County 26,000,000
20 Relocate Tracks to Improve Rail Flow through Sacramento Intermodal Station—Concurrent Application in Track 4 $6,200,000
21 Track Upgrades in Various Locations in Orange County 67,100,000
22 Replace Crossties in Various Locations in Santa Barbara County 11,100,000
23 Preliminary Engineering and Environmental. to Extend Ortega Siding in Santa Barbara County and Install CTC upgrades (Track 1b) 1,200,000
24 Rehabilitate Narlon, Conception, and Grover Sidings in Santa Barbara County and Install CTC 13,900,000
25 Extend Station Track and Track Upgrade at Cabral Station in Stockton 18,000,000
26 Construct Maintenance of Way Spurs in Orange County 2,100,000
27 Construct Second Main Track Between Merced and LeGrand in Merced County 40,535,000
28 Signal Communications Upgrades in Orange County 10,100,000
29 Upgrade and Re-space Signal and Wayside Detectors in LA County 10,100,000
30 Extend Gregg Siding in Madera County 23,567,000
31 Preliminary Engineering and Environmental for Improvements to Seacliff Siding in Santa Barbara County (Track 1b) 1,700,000
32 Preliminary Engineering and Environmental for BNSF Richmond Rail Connection to Martinez Sub on Capitol Corridor in Contra Costa County (1b) 1,600,000
33 Construct Second Main Track Between Laguna Niguel and San Juan Capistrano in Orange County 48,100,000
34 Improve Bicycle Storage Facilities on California-owned Intercity Passenger Rail Cars 8,230,000
35 Improve Track Alignment between Sorrento and Miramar in San Diego County 2,800,000
36 Station Access and Track Improvements at Chatsworth Station 17,100,000
37 Electronic Ticketing and Communications Upgrades 8,890,000
38 Wireless Network—Phase 1—On-train installation and Passenger Safety Information System 11,610,000
TOTALS, TRACK 1 APPLICATIONS $1,149,322,000
http://www.dot.ca.gov/Recovery/document ... rogram.pdf

WSDOT has applied for nearly $435 million of Track 1a and 1b funds for AmtrakCascades projects in Washington state. The biggest change, if approved, would have passenger trains moving from the Pt. Defiance tracks onto the publicly-owned Lakeview ROW through south Tacoma, saving 6 minutes on the Seattle to Portland schedule. Other projects would upgrade the mainline tracks to Class V standards and build new sidings and bypass tracks for better schedule reliability. All within 2 years!

Illinois projects

Flyover CREATE project to raise the Rock Island Metra tracks over the Norfolk Southern tracks at 63rd Street and Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94) in Chicago, $140 million.
Upgrade existing sidings on Union Pacific line between St. Louis and Dwight to 40 mph, $97.5 million
Nine miles of second main track between Joliet and Dwight and new siding at south end, $88 million
Galesburg congestion relief adding new tracks next to BNSF rail yard and other improvements, $52 million
Midwest regional passenger rail planning, $150 million
http://www.joc.com/node/413083

New York Track 1 Requests

Design and Construction
Adirondack Corridor Service Reliability Initiative $23.51 million
Capacity Improvement ‐ CPC 33‐35 Ballston Spa $3.32 million
Highway‐Rail Grade Crossing Safety Improvements ‐ CSXT Hudson Line, MP 75 through 143 $2.45 million
Hudson Line Reliability Improvements ‐ Hudson Subdivision Small Bridge Replacements $3.45 million
Hudson Subdivision: Signal Reliability Improvements ‐ Train Control System Communications Modernization $24.21 million
Hudson Line Reliability Improvements ‐ Hudson Subdivision Rock Slope Stabilization $8.04 million
Reliability Improvements/ Delay Reductions ‐ New Control Point ‐82, 99, 136, $20.40 million
Stuyvesant Third Track and Interlocking Improvements $12.11 million
Safety Improvement ‐ Green Ave Crossing of CSXT Hudson Line Village of Castleton, $0.50 millioin
South Rensselaer Port Connector $7.57 million
Rensselaer Phase II: Travel Time and Delay Reduction: 4th Station Track Capacity and Reliability Improvement ‐ $38.69 million
Albany ‐ Schenectady Reliability Improvement ‐ Construct 2nd Main Track $91.18 million
Upper Hudson Line ‐ Croton‐Harmon to Poughkeepsie: New High‐Capacity Signal System $46.11 million
Schenectady ‐ Rehabilitate / Replace Passenger Station $9.11 million
Highway ‐ Rail Grade Crossing Improvements ‐ CSXT Chicago Line, MP 164 thru 430 $6.15 million
Amsterdam Station Improvements $0.34 million
Grade Crossing Pedestrian Safety Improvement ‐ Center Street in the Village of Fonda ‐ CSXT Chicago Line $0.47 million
Mohawk Valley: Empire Corridor Congestion Relief $12.43 million
Syracuse: Empire Corridor Congestion Relief $27.36 million
Rochester Station Improvements $1.54 million
Buffalo ‐ Depew Station Improvements $0.77 million
Highway ‐ Rail Grade Crossing Improvements ‐ CSXT Niagara Branch $0.29 million
Niagara Branch Signal System Capacity Improvements. $32.07 million
Niagara Falls International Rail Station / Intermodal Transportation Center Development $22.39 million
Rochester Station Improvement Project $48.60 million
Phase 1 of the Dedicated Separate Passenger Track Initiative MP382‐392 $58.12 million

Total for Final Design/Construction Applications $501.14

Preliminary Engineering and NEPA
Syracuse: Station Track Improvements $1.04 million
Poughkeepsie Yard Poughkeepsie: CP‐72 to CP‐75, $3.44 million
Hudson Station Improvements ‐ Revised Track Configuration $1.80 million
Albany‐Rensselaer Livingston Avenue Bridge $4.00 million
Positive Train Control Initiative $27.67 million
Ripley Grade Crossing Elimination $1.10 million
Phase 1 of the Dedicated Separate Passenger Track Initiative for the Empire Corridor ‐ Schenectady ‐ Amsterdam CP‐160 to CP‐173, Amsterdam/Fonda ‐ CP‐ 175 to CP‐203: 3rd Main Track $16.10 million
Phase 1 of the Dedicated Separate Passenger Track Initiative for the Empire Corridor ‐ Savannah ‐ CP‐323 to CP‐334
3rd Track Initiative Phase 1 $2.12 million
Phase 1 of the Dedicated Separate Passenger Track Initiative for the Empire Corridor ‐ Rochester ‐ CP‐373 to CP‐380
3rd Track Initiative Phase 1 $1.63 million
Niagara Falls Double Track $1.10 million
Niagara Falls Maintenance Yard $2.50 million

TOTAL for Preliminary Engineering/NEPA Applications $62.50 million


Empire Corridor Planning $1.00 million
TOTAL for Planning Application $1.00 million

Grand Total of All Applications $564.63 million
https://www.nysdot.gov/recovery/reposit ... 20pm_0.pdf

How much is it going to cost to replace the LAB? I've seen estimates ranging from $4M to $50 to $232M. When do they expect to start working on it?

Jeremy

Discussion in the Chicago Eastern Gateway thread appears to indicate that there is a substantial balance of ARRA funds yet to be obligated which may be redistributed on very short notice.

Can anyone confirm this and provide some detail?

madness: for a country with $16 trillion in debt- some of which held by the Federal Reserve which cheapens the dollar value and pumps up the cost of everything- why would thinking folk support these foolish expenditures?
people railroads make no economic sense. we should end growth adventures. ken patrick