Railroad Forums 

  • Howard Street Tunnel Baltimore

  • Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.
Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.

Moderator: MBTA F40PH-2C 1050

 #1411123  by mmi16
 
There will have to be further Clearance projects for the route to Philadelphia to be double stack capable. Boone Tunnel near Philadelphia springs immediately to mind. Potentially several bridges may need to be revised. Howard Street answers Port of Baltimore's issues for Westward traffic.
 #1411219  by roberttosh
 
There's a lot more potential for domestic double stacking on the North-South on the I-95 corridor than there is for international traffic moving out of the port of Baltimore. It would seem that the big new intermodal center to be built at Rocky Mount, NC will be the I-95's version of North Baltimore, OH and that combined with both future DS clearance and ongoing double track projects along stretches of the A-line will really allow CSX to improve its' product and grow its business moving between the Southeast and Northeast.
 #1449585  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/int ... oject.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
CSX on Nov. 1 announced that it is cancelling its share of a long-planned P3 (public-private partnership) to rebuild and expand Howard Street Tunnel, a 122-year-old structure under downtown Baltimore originally built by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The project, of which CSX’s share was $145 million, would have cleared the tunnel for double-stack intermodal trains serving the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, which has experienced an increase in container traffic since opening of the expanded Panama Canal in 2016.

. . .

“Essentially, the winners from CSX’s Howard Street Tunnel withdrawal will probably be the truckers, and to some degree Norfolk Southern intermodal. NS has a slightly more circuitous, but double-stack cleared, route between Jacksonville and Northern New Jersey/New York City—a route NS has nurtured for two decades.
Cut, cut, cut...to victory?
 #1449587  by ccutler
 
I would think it's also a risk issue to be relying on a 150 year old tunnel under a major city that was never engineered for it's current environment or usage demands.
 #1449634  by Backshophoss
 
Figure on CSX dropping the Port of Baltimore,if Howard street collapses on it's own,believe the Derailment/fire did more damage then what is
publicly known.
With CSX dropping the project,any grant chances from the FEDs are gone.
 #1454869  by mmi16
 
Backshophoss wrote:Figure on CSX dropping the Port of Baltimore,if Howard street collapses on it's own,believe the Derailment/fire did more damage then what is
publicly known.
With CSX dropping the project,any grant chances from the FEDs are gone.
Report: CSX considering revival of Howard Street Tunnel Project?
American Shipper (Online)
By Elizabeth Landrum
December 21, 2017


Class I railroad company CSX met with members of Maryland’s congressional delegation and Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh on Tuesday to discuss the recently-stalled Howard Street Tunnel Project in Baltimore, according to local media source the Baltimore Sun.

The Howard Street Tunnel Project has been a multi-year investment endeavor by the State of Maryland and the City of Baltimore. Port of Baltimore officials have continually asked the federal government to approve applications for funding under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s FASTLANE grant program to help increase clearances in the Howard Street Tunnel and at several other locations along the CSX railroad in Baltimore in order to accommodate trains with containers stacked two high.

In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded grants totaling $759 million to 18 projects deemed critical freight and highway corridors, but the state of Maryland and CSX Transportation said in October they would reapply for the second round of federal FASTLANE grants to help complete the clearance increase for the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore.

However, last month, CSX notified Baltimore port authorities that the company would not be moving forward with the project, which was only explained to MDOT as the best "business decision." CSX's CEO at the time was Hunter Harrison, who suddenly passed away last week after complications from an illness. CSX’s acting CEO Jim Foote met with Maryland congressional delegates this week in his stead.

The company attributed the decision to back away from the Howard Street Tunnel expansion to an operating plan implemented in May by Harrison, and Foote has vowed to continue his agenda. Senator Ben Cardin, Md-D, said Foote repeated during the closed meeting that CSX does not believe the ability to double-stack containers through the tunnel is necessary, reported the Baltimore Sun. He said that, "the railroad discussed, in broad terms, a number of alternatives that it is considering. We expressed our disappointment — and that’s putting it mildly. The bottom line is [Foote] agreed to have an open mind," said Sen. Cardin to the Baltimore Sun.

“The people of Maryland and the city are feeling whiplashed because of their reversal,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen to the Baltimore Sun. “The upside of the gathering was a willingness to take a fresh look at the facts, keep an open mind toward the possibility of reconsideration.
 #1494106  by STrRedWolf
 
https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/b ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In short, it's back on!
The Howard Street Tunnel expansion appears to be back on, after the railroad CSX Transportation reversed a decision to pull out of the project and committed $91 million toward it, Maryland officials said Thursday.

“We are pleased that CSX has reversed its position on the Howard Street Tunnel project and is once again supportive and willing to participate,” Sen. Ben Cardin said in a statement.
 #1494164  by mmi16
 
While it is good news - I will believe it when dirt starts being moved.
 #1514191  by TheOneKEA
 
The Howard Street Tunnel is all wet again...

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/water-ma ... m/28322018
Crews said they found out when water started pouring into the Howard Tunnel.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/b ... story.html
Still, crews had yet to deal with a second underground leak discovered Thursday two blocks to the north. CSX crews noticed water dripping overnight in a rail tunnel that runs beneath Howard Street, alongside the collapsed road, and found another broken main near Howard and Baltimore streets.
 #1514219  by mmi16
 
The City of Baltimore has SERIOUS water main piping issues - all throughout the town. Virtually every year since the Water Main break-derailment-fire in the Howard Street Tunnel in the Summer of 2001 there have been multiple serious water main breaks at various locations across the city.

There have been other underground utility failures in the same general area as the 2001 water main break as well as the current water main break - last year there was steam line failure and explosion in the same general area. While I have never seen one, a diagram of all the public and transportation utilities that inhabit Howard Street, from Camden Street to North Avenue would be 'mind boggling'. We have water, electric, telephone, steam, railroad, subway, light rail, highway as well as the basements of all the buildings that line both sides of Howard Street.
 #1515237  by QB 52.32
 
Various media outlets reporting that the Feds have committed $125m, short $103m from the $228m ask, for clearing the Howard Street tunnel as well as 22 other overhead bridges between Baltimore and Philadelphia to full domestic stack/autorack clearances. MD has pledged $147m and CSX $91m of the total $466m project. It will be interesting to see if, who, and how that shortfall will be met. Certainly, this project will provide solid benefits to CSX in finally clearing the 3rd leg of their core intermodal triangle and improving their north/south Eastern competitive position, strengthening their competitive position in the NC/SC auto production market, strengthening their position in the local Baltimore domestic and international port market, and, giving them more network flexibility.
 #1515288  by roberttosh
 
CSX runs a lot of single stack intermodal from FL up to the Northeast and getting DS clearance should really improve their economics as they’ll now be able to move twice as many containers with no extra equipment required. CSX is saying all the right things about the port of Baltimore but gotta figure the main driver in this project for them is getting DS clearance on the I-95 corridor.
 #1515305  by QB 52.32
 
I would think the I-95 corridor potential is first and foremost, too, but, the ability to once again be able to co-mingle Philadelphia and Baltimore as well as Chambersburg and Portsmouth intermodal traffic via the ex-B&O is probably another driver of this. Then, too, the ability to run AutoMax autoracks from NC/SC plants into the Northeast and into Twin Oaks from the South or Midwest/West also likely has some part to play in CSX's ability to commit capital to this project.

CSX and its predecessors never tapped into a higher-value east/west intermodal market in Philadelphia or Baltimore (Washington/North VA), not to mention Chambersburg (Harrisburg) up against NS and its predecessors. You have to wonder if moving forward, besides the benefits to their existing network and markets, whether this could unleash an ability to also serve those premium markets as well, at least from the standpoint of having sufficient traffic density to provide the necessary multiple train departures.
 #1515654  by mmi16
 
QB 52.32 wrote: Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:21 am I would think the I-95 corridor potential is first and foremost, too, but, the ability to once again be able to co-mingle Philadelphia and Baltimore as well as Chambersburg and Portsmouth intermodal traffic via the ex-B&O is probably another driver of this. Then, too, the ability to run AutoMax autoracks from NC/SC plants into the Northeast and into Twin Oaks from the South or Midwest/West also likely has some part to play in CSX's ability to commit capital to this project.
Increased clearance for the Howard Street Tunnel WILL NOT benefit Philadelphia and points East thereof on the I-95 corridor. There is a tunnel between Twin Oaks and Philadelphia that will not clear double stacks and that will have to be worked upon also. That tunnel is why autoracks terminate at Twin Oaks.