Article From The Polk Democrat

Subsidy To CSX Is Needed In Other Places March 29, 2008 Florida is looking at one of its worst re=enue shortfalls in years. State universities are raising tuition an= capping enrollments. Judges are threatening to lay off staff a=d curtail services. County commissions are threatening to clo=e libraries. And the Legislature has seen the cost of = taxpayer subsidy for a controversial CSX rail deal jump this wee= from $491 million to $649 million. Do we see a solution here? We think we do. We confess that we do not have the resour=es to investigate all the ins and outs of the CSX freight hub and comm=ter rail proposal. That is partly because most of the arrang=ments were made in private negotiations with government, bad public po=icy when hundreds of millions of dollars of tax money are involved. This much we do know: Polk County would be getting a freight hub because Orlando w=nts to get rid of its rail traffic. The days when Polk has to take w=at Orlando and Tampa don’t want are behind us. CSX insists that the state assume the financial liability fo= any litigation against the railroad. That is a demand so audacio=s we are surprised the state would even consider it, let alone app=ove it. Lakeland civic leaders have opposed the proposal because of =he increase in rail traffic, which brings vehicular traffic to a ha=t on the north side of that city’s business district. Virtually all the public comment we have heard and seen is i= opposition, based not only on the rail traffic that concerns Lakeland but also on the increased truck traffic throughout the county that the rail hub would generate. Bartow’s city commission has take= a cautious approach, suggesting that more study is needed before the state embraces, let alone pays for, a project of this magnitude and impact. Perhaps this project would be the boon th=t Winter Haven government leaders think it would be. Perhaps it would be so good that the taxp=yers of Florida should assume the legal responsibility for all lawsui=s brought against CSX. Perhaps the additional rail traffic would=’t impede highway traffic. Perhaps the additional truck traffic woul= not add to congestion on Polk County’s highways. Perhaps Orlando is doing Polk County a fa=or by trying to give us what it doesn’t want. Perhaps there was no need for public scru=iny until negotiations with state government were completed.<=P> Let’s see; that’s six =E2??perhapses,” one for every $100 million-plus of state tax dollars that would go to support this private endeavor. There’s another “perhaps=E2?? in these times of financial stress: perhaps subsidizing CSX to the tune of a third=of a billion dollars is more important than all those lost position= for students in the state universities; more important than keep=ng the courts fully staffed; more important than keeping libraries open. But we’re not convinced. We think the Legislature needs to devote = lot more study, and let a lot more Florida Sunshine focus on this proposal. As a minimum, we think this is a project =hat the state, in its current financial condition, cannot afford. If it’s a great idea this year, i= will still be a great idea next year. And by then, perhaps its greatness wo=ld pass muster with the taxpayers.

Perks For CSX Bankrupting Resort?

Click title for whole story. Former Greenbrier president sues Fla.-based CSX over departure LEWISBURG, W.Va. — The former president of The Greenbrier, who resigned after less than a year at the famed resort, has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Florida-based railroad giant CSX Corp., claiming he was forced out of his job for trying to end "fringe benefits" enjoyed by CSX executives. Paul Ratchford filed the suit Friday against CSX, The Greenbrier's parent company, claiming that CSX President Michael Ward fired Ratchford after he tried to stop company executives from enjoying free rooms and meals, discounted merchandise and even free medical exams at the resort. Neither Ratchford nor his lawyer, Barry Bruce of Lewisburg, could be immediately reached for comment Saturday. CSX dismissed the lawsuit's allegations as having no merit, spokesman Gary Sease told the Beckley Register-Herald, and plans to defend itself vigorously in court.

No immunity in train accidents

Click title for full story. March 26, 2008 OFFICIALS have not yet determined who was responsible for the accident that injured 150 commuter rail passengers in Canton Tuesday evening. If CSX freight company workers are to blame, the company can and should be held liable, something CSX opposes on another commuter rail line it is negotiating to sell to the state. The company needs to back off its insistence on immunity. CSX workers left four boxcars full of lumber at a siding next to the commuter rail tracks. One car broke free and struck the commuter train. The track is owned by the MBTA, and no special exemptions from liability are in place. So any party responsible for the accident can be sued for personal injury, the kind of litigation that ought to encourage improved safety procedures.

Orlando Commuter Rail Bill Ballons

Click the title for full story and to add a comment! Orlando commuter rail bill balloons The state's cost to bring controversial commuter rail to central Florida will be $650-million, more than the $491-million originally forecast, a Florida transportation department spokesman confirmed today. The hike is mostly due to the cost of five overpasses jumping from $59-million to $204-million, which spokesman Dick Kane attributed to uncertain early estimating. While Orlando lawmakers push the deal, the new cost sparked more distaste from critics who say the 2006 deal never got enough public debate. "It's amazing. We're in the tightest budget year in 10 years, and they just keep finding money," said Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, whose city faces more CSX freight traffic due to the 2006 deal.

No Liability For CSX?

Freight Car Hits Boston Commuter Train CANTON, Mass. (AP) — A train car loaded with lumber hit a stationary commuter train during the Tuesday afternoon rush hour, injuring dozens of people, authorities said. About 50 people reported mostly minor injuries, and 10 passengers and crew members were taken to hospitals, said Scott Farmelant, a spokesman for Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail. He said he did not know the extent of those injuries. The commuter train's locomotive was not moving when it was hit by a CSX freight car that had rolled from a branch onto a main track south of Boston, said Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The commuter train's engineer was among those injured, he said. The engineer saw the approaching freight car and stopped the commuter train before the impact, Farmelant said. It was not immediately known how many people were aboard the train. Passenger, Gary Rozenas, 55, told the Boston Herald that the crash ignited a small brush fire. "All the lights went out and people were flying down the aisles and people were on the floor of the car," he said. "The car began filling up with dust and the scary part was part of the woods was burning up outside the doors." Another passenger, 42-year-old Tony Phillips, told The Boston Globe the train stopped suddenly as it approached a station. "All the sudden, there was a bang. ... People were screaming, 'Oh my God, what happened?'" he said. The flat car, loaded with lumber, had been placed at a customer's location earlier in the day, said CSX spokesman Gary Sease. The company is cooperating with the investigation, he said. "Our first concerns are the safety of the passengers and train crew," Sease said. The commuter train had left Boston's South Station for Stoughton, southeast of Canton. The crash was affecting service on one line, Wilbur said.

Gardner will consider tax abatement for intermodal hub

Click the title for the full story. This seems like the dumbest thing a city could do, especially with developers willing to come to this area, at full tax value. Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - 2:45 PM CDT Gardner will consider tax abatement for intermodal hub Kansas City Business Journal The Gardner City Council will meet Wednesday to discuss granting an extraordinary tax abatement and seeking state help with bond financing to support a BNSF Railway Co. intermodal logistics hub. David Drovetta, the council's president, said the council called a special meeting so the Kansas Legislature could act on the request before its annual session ends. State financing would let the city meet a previously set timetable of annexing property for the hub in April, Drovetta said. The council will consider abating the hub's property taxes by 85 percent for 10 years, Drovetta said. The cut is 35 percentage points above the city's standard abatement and would let the hub compete with other incentive-supported development elsewhere in Johnson County, he said. The council's Wednesday agenda also includes asking the state to back the city's draw from the state's transportation revolving loan fund.

County may sue to block rail yard

County may sue to block rail yard NS has ruled out Salem for the site; a supervisor said Montgomery County doesn't want it. By Tim Thornton 381-1669 Norfolk Southern Corp.'s intermodal rail yard isn't coming to Salem, and Montgomery County may sue if it comes to Elliston. That's what Montgomery County Supervisor Gary Creed said Saturday. He also said that state Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer told him to keep the site selection information under his hat. "I'm not sure it should stay there," Creed said. "It's kind of an important thing." Supervisors discussed the possibility of a lawsuit in a closed session Feb. 25. They have not voted to sue, Creed said, but, "Everybody's in agreement." The Roanoke Region Intermodal Facility, which was announced 22 months ago, is part of the Heartland Corridor plan, which aims to move doubled-stacked freight containers between Columbus, Ohio, and Norfolk faster and more efficiently. An intermodal rail yard transfers trailer-sized containers between trucks and rail cars. There has been no official site announcement and Homer said Saturday that no decision has been made. Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg, said Homer told him he hadn't been "released" to approve the Elliston site, but Homer made it clear to Nutter there are fundamental issues with other sites. The state paid NS more than $200,000 to conduct detailed engineering reviews of three sites -- sites the company had already evaluated before choosing Elliston. "I would feel more comfortable if we had some outside engineering," Nutter said. Homer said Saturday there are "significant cost and operational issues" at potential sites in Salem and Roanoke County. The Elliston site's issues are related to cost, not operations, he said. One of the potential costs at Elliston is improving North Fork Road (Virginia 603) between U.S. 11/460 and Interstate 81. Nutter said that would cost about $15 million. Cove Hollow Road, which runs across the property where NS wants to build, would have to be rerouted to accommodate the facility. A bridge would have to be built across the South Fork of the Roanoke River. "You can't expect Montgomery County to pay for that stuff," Nutter said. The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors has passed three resolutions opposing the Elliston site. They also passed a resolution supporting Nutter's failed attempt to prevent state money from being spent on the facility unless it is built in Salem. Fifteen elected leaders from Franklin County to Covington signed a letter supporting the intermodal rail yard, but only Salem officials have volunteered to host the facility. Salem Mayor Howard Packett said it has been months since the city has heard from Norfolk Southern. "As long as it's somewhere in the Roanoke Valley, we're fine with that," Salem spokeswoman Melinda Payne said about Salem being ruled out as a site for the intermodal rail yard. Roanoke County has made it clear it has no interest in hosting the facility. Residents of Salem and Montgomery County have opposed the proposed sites vigorously. Montgomery County's Citizens for the Preservation of Our Countryside urged supervisors to pass an ordinance making it illegal for corporations to use eminent domain; declaring "natural communities and ecosystems" to be legal "persons" and declaring that corporations are not "persons" in Montgomery County. It would forbid corporations -- along with their agents, directors, officers, owners or managers -- from contributing to political candidates in the county. It would also make it illegal for corporations to sue for "future profits." The board did not adopt the ordinance, saying it would not survive a legal challenge. Now the board seems willing to go to court on the strength of language in a contract between the state and NS that seems to say the project will abide by local law. The intermodal yard would not comply with local zoning, but federal law gives railroads the power to override local land-use regulations. And, like local governments, railroads have the power of eminent domain, which means they can take property even if owners are unwilling to sell. The Heartland Corridor is supposed to take about 200,000 trucks off Virginia's roads. But it's likely to increase truck traffic on Interstate 81 and other roads near the site, according to a recently released state-funded report. The report said the facility could "negatively impact local residents because of increased congestion-related air pollution, scenic alterations, light pollution, or water quality changes." Congress has appropriated almost $100 million for the corridor, with more than $5 million of that to be spent in Virginia. NS is expected to contribute $9.6 million for related projects in the commonwealth. Public funding would be recovered in about five years, according to the report, mostly through reduced accident costs and pavement maintenance costs. The study said the freight yard would create eight to 12 jobs and add $3.5 million to $5.3 million to the regional economy annually. That covers nine counties and five cities, from Lynchburg to Radford, from Franklin County to Monroe County, W.Va. The study also said related development would create 740 to 2,900 jobs; put $140 million to $550 million into the economy each year; and generate $18 million to $71 million annually in taxes. In addition, the facility's construction would add $38.6 million to $57.9 million to the economy. State officials fear the wrangling could cause Virginia to lose the intermodal site and its potential economic benefits to West Virginia or Tennessee. Staff writers Marquita Brown and Michael Sluss contributed to this report.

Driving That Train, High on Industrial Solvents

Driving That Train, High on Industrial Solvents More than 600 railroad workers, from Maryland to Kentucky to Montana, have been diagnosed with brain damage over the last 15 years from handling toxic degreasing solvents, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal after a 10-month investigation. Thousands more may be ill, but not know why. Railroad companies, particularly CSX Transportation, have paid tens of millions of dollars to settle workers' solvent lawsuits, while denying any link between exposure and brain damage. Meanwhile, millions of Americans are exposed regularly to the same solvents and related chemicals at work and at home. straight to the source: Louisville Courier-Journal, James Bruggers and Sara Shipley, 13 May-16 May 2001

ALL ABOARD OHIO APPLAUDS GOVERNOR STRICKLAND AND ORDC

Click title for full story FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact information: Andrew Bremer, Executive Director Andrew@allaboardohio.org w: 614-228-6005 c: 614-657-4184 March 7, 2008 Columbus, Ohio Options for Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati Service Sought (Columbus, OH) All Aboard Ohio is grateful to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland for asking Amtrak to investigate the potential ridership and costs of starting fast, convenient and modern passenger rail service in Ohio’s busiest and most populous travel corridor. Starting passenger train services on existing, high-quality freight railroad tracks linking Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati means that congested freight infrastructure “choke points” will need to be addressed.

Growth of new CSX terminal is on track, increasing each month

By JIM HOOK Senior writer The CSX intermodal terminal at Chambersburg seems more like a truck parking lot than the precursor to a $1 billion boost to the regional economy. The $46 million terminal on Kriner Road opened in September and has been ramping up operations as crews continue to lay rails. The rail-truck yard is operating at less than half speed. "(As an industry) we hit our peak in November and December," Chambersburg Terminal Manager Alison O. Smith said. "We have not experienced the (seasonal) slowdown other areas have. Our business is growing more every month." "At this point from everything I know, it's working as originally designed," said L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp. "Is it getting the attention of other shippers? Yes. It is essentially building consistently." Smith posts aerial photographs of the terminal on the wall of her temporary office as construction progresses. "I didn't want to be a teacher or a nurse, I wanted to drive the train," said Smith, whose parents worked for the railroad, too. "This is a dream come true for me." She oversees an operation that is expected to do 90,000 lifts a year. A "lift" is loading a container on a train or unloading it. Crews currently accomplish about 132 lifts a day. A crane operator pinches a container to within an inch, lifts it off the rail car and sets it onto a truck trailer, again to a tolerance of an inch. A yellow "yard jockey," or Hostler truck, drives off with the trailer and parks it. The crane moves to the next rail car. The rail operation is located away from the trucks coming off the highway to drop off a trailer and pick up another. "For the most part there will be only one train a day," Smith said. "We can't order an extra train." The train can be up to 9,000 feet long and carry about 150 containers. "There's obviously room to grow," CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said. "That will happen as the region grows." Until Country Road is closed and tracks south of the road are joined with tracks in use to the north, trains must back into the terminal, and so block traffic on Orchard Drive. The tracks are to be joined three or four weeks after the road is closed, according to Sullivan. Cul-de-sacs on either side of the road were completed in mid-January. "We think we're going to be able to impact the region," Sullivan said. "This is going to be a driver of economic growth here. We're delighted to be here in Chambersburg. We've been welcomed here. Our goal here is to be not just an economic asset, but a good neighbor and an active neighbor." Rail is making a comeback nationwide. Trains offer economies of scale, but rail also is attractive to shippers because it doesn't have to deal with the issues facing the trucking industry -- lack of drivers, high cost of fuel and traffic congestion. "We have trucking companies that are customers of ours," Sullivan said. Trucking companies more easily can recruit short-haul drivers than truckers expected to be away from home for days on end. Ships deliver to the ports on the West Coast, and trains haul the goods to the East Coast. "We're helping move everyday things you use and get them to the stores so you can use them," Smith said. The demand for shipping is expected to increase 67 percent by 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. A train can pull one ton of freight 423 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel, Sullivan said. More than 30 million square feet of warehousing is within 150 miles of the Chambersburg terminal. The terminal is near Interstate 81 and had a relatively low impact on the public, Sullivan said. CSX supports construction of a proposed I-81 exit nearby, according to Smith. The exit could be located at Guilford Springs Road. CSX, however, does not want to see truck traffic limited at Wayne Road (I-81 Exit 15) where access to Kriner Road is convenient. The terminal's container train is expected to take 300 long-haul trucks off the highway. More than 15,000 trucks a day travel Interstate 81 in the vicinity of Chambersburg. "When you look at I-81 it's not having a noticeable impact, but every little bit helps," Ross said. "I'd rather have those 300 off than on." At night Smith can see the lights of the terminal from I-81. "I'm such an intermodal junkie it takes my breath away," she said. ---------- Jim Hook can be reached at 262-4759 or jhook@publicopinionnews.com. Terminal's staff CSX Intermodal Terminal at Chambersburg has a small staff. Open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., the rail-truck yard at 700 Kriner Road employs two shifts. CSX has eight employees on site. The company's five vendors have a total of 35 employees at the terminal. The vendors each specialize in one area: lifting containers, repairing containers or trailers, repairing rail cars, maintaining lift equipment and switching rail cars to build a train.