UTU News Digest - Monday, September 20, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Monday, September 20, 1999

WASHINGTON, D.C.: NTSB to urge stricter bus safety standards

WASHINGTON -- The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to call for tougher safety standards for motor coaches and school buses to better protect passengers in crashes, according to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal.

A draft report expected to be discussed tomorrow by the board examines 46 bus accidents and emphasizes problems with rollover crashes, in which some vehicles' structures can be crushed and passengers have been ejected from their seats, people with knowledge of the matter say.

The report, which could change and will not be final until the board approves it, is expected to argue federal regulators should work toward developing rules that would sharply upgrade passenger protections in such accidents.

The draft stops short of calling for seat belts on school buses, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Instead, if it follows staff recommendations, the board is likely to call on federal regulators to take a broad approach to improving standards meant to protect children with such things as high padded seats and seat backs. That is expected to particularly focus on children's safety when school buses tip over and in side-impact crashes with big vehicles such as tractor-trailers, which are becoming larger.

In a recent speech, NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said the board had found in certain crashes, including severe side impacts and high-speed rollovers, "compartmentalization does little to protect children" and added several recent accidents had convinced him that "we need to do more to protect our children." The NTSB does not have the power to make safety rules, but its recommendations are usually followed by federal agencies.

Safety officials have long argued over the need for seat belts on school buses. Some studies found that in school buses, which are already heavily regulated, certain seat-belt configurations could put too much pressure on children's bodies in a violent collision.

Overall, motor coaches and school buses are among the safest forms of transportation. Typically, motor coaches account for less than 1% of all vehicles involved in fatal accidents. On average, nine school-bus occupants die in crashes annually. But several recent crashes by motor coaches have put a spotlight on the industry.

The most recent, in New Orleans, killed 22 passengers when the coach ran off a road into an embankment.

The NTSB is also expected to express a need for more stringent standards for motor-coach structures, so their roofs don't get crushed in rollover accidents. The report is also expected to push for windows that will hold up better during rollovers, an issue highlighted in the board's recent Congressional testimony.

The board, which has called in the past for seat belts in motor coaches, is likely to endorse generally better safety restraints for passengers.

GEORGIA: State DOT board endorses rail team

ATLANTA -- The Georgia State Transportation Board has adopted a resolution that endorses Governor Roy Barnes' proposal to create a Rail Program Management Team.

The team will be comprised of two members each from the boards of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority and the State Transportation Board. The Governor will appoint the chairman for the Rail Program Management Team.

During the meeting, which was held this month in Duluth, the board approved 38 projects totaling 81.2 miles for the October letting. The board also approved amendments to the Georgia DOT's Construction Work Program for September.

The board formally adopted the Georgia DOT's Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) for fiscal years 2000 through 2002. The STIP consists of projects developed by Georgia's 11 Metropolitan Planning Organizations and the Department.

Georgia DOT District One Engineer Hugh Tyner made a presentation to the board regarding growth trends in this northeast Georgia district from 1988 to 1998. Tyner not only discussed the district's accomplishments, but he also placed particular emphasis on achievements made in Gwinnett County.

Board Member Emory McClinton, who chairs the Intermodal Committee of the State Transportation Board, asked the board to endorse the Department's proposed strategies to help reduce truck accidents and truck volumes during peak rush hours in the metro Atlanta area. The board unanimously endorsed the Georgia DOT's implementation of this proposal.

Vice Chairman Tom Triplett thanked Gwinnett County for its hospitality to the board. "We are delighted to hold our meeting in this great county," Triplett said. "Gwinnett has experienced remarkable economic growth over the last several years."

The board approved two road-naming resolutions and adopted the Georgia DOT's legislative package for the upcoming 2000 General Assembly session.

MICHIGAN: CP Railway chooses Detroit for terminal

DETROIT -- Canadian Pacific Railway said it will build a $7 million intermodal terminal near downtown Detroit, according to a report in today’s Journal of Commerce.

The terminal will be used to handle an expansion of CP Rail's short-haul intermodal service known as "Expressway." The service runs between Montreal and Toronto with specialized equipment that is meant to minimize loading and unloading of trailers.

Earlier this year, CP announced plans to expand that service to Toronto. When new equipment is delivered, CP will increase the frequency of the existing service.

The planned service between Detroit and Toronto will begin after the new Detroit terminal opens early next year.

"We're very excited about future development possibilities of high-technology trailer-on-train service," said Jacques Cote, president of CP's St. Lawrence & Hudson Railway subsidiary.

CP hopes to expand the marketing of the short-haul service to motor carriers as an alternative to all-highway shipments in the corridor that stretches from Montreal through Toronto to Detroit.

CP will fund half the cost of the new terminal. State and local governments in turn will each provide 25% of the funds to acquire and improve the site.

State officials are counting on the new service to boost economic development in Detroit and reduce truck traffic on the Ambassador Bridge that connects the United States at Detroit and Canada at Windsor, Ontario.

The terminal is located next to Amtrak facilities in Detroit.

Meanwhile, the company also said it wants to issue secured equipment notes to pay for long-term financing of 101 locomotives that were acquired earlier this year.

The railroad filed a preliminary prospectus for the notes that would be due in 2024.

CP anticipates that the net proceeds will be used to repay 225 million Canadian dollars (US$153 million) from a line of credit that was used to acquire the locomotives and for unspecified additional corporate purposes.

The new locomotives are General Electric AC4400 models that are designed to offer greater pulling power, better fuel efficiency and improved safety.

The acquisitions were part of the company's capital improvement plan to upgrade equipment, route structure and facilities.

ONTARIO: Canadian National launches RoadRailer service

TORONTO -- Canadian National has launched a state-of-the-art truck/train freight service between Toronto and Montreal with new dual-mode RoadRailer equipment.

The 53-foot RoadRailer trailers -- equally at home pulling up to the loading dock on rubber wheels, or racing down the track behind a locomotive -- have all the latest features: Air ride, 110-inch interior height, more than 4,000 cubic feet of capacity and maximum payload of 70,000 pounds.

"CN is eager to build its freight business in short- and medium-length corridors, and RoadRailer is just the tool we need," said William K. Berry, CN's vice-president, intermodal. "RoadRailer is a proven, cost-effective bimodal technology that enables railroads to compete effectively with over-the-road transport in corridors of 250 miles or longer."

CN spent $13 million to acquire 200 RoadRailer Mark V trailers and 130 RoadRailer railroad bogies for the five-day-a-week, door-to-door service between Toronto and Montreal. Trains of up to 60 RoadRailers depart Toronto and Montreal at 9 p.m., arriving next morning at 5 a.m. Train length will increase as demand warrants. The trailers carry consumer goods, including foods, beverages, paper and building material.

Mark Lerner, director of CN's RoadRailer operations, said: "With RoadRailer, CN is offering shippers the flexibility of truck and efficiency of rail, along with superior CN service. CN's Toronto-Montreal bi-modal service achieved 99% on-time performance between July 1998 and March 1999. We plan to expand RoadRailer service to a number of other CN corridors."

CN's Toronto RoadRailer terminal is at its Malport Terminal, located at 7675 Torbram Road, Mississauga, Ont. In Montreal, the service operates from Taschereau Terminal (East Yard) at 8050 Cavendish Boulevard. The cut-off time for trailer terminal deliveries is 7.30 p.m., with trailers available for over-the-road movement after the their overnight trips by 6 a.m.

RoadRailer trailers can be hauled on and off railroad tracks quickly by truck tractors and do not require overhead cranes.

CN's RoadRailer service is owned and operated by Ecorail, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CN.

RoadRailer technology is produced by Wabash National Corp. of Lafayette, Ind.

Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.

PENNSYLVANIA: Commuter rail center contract awarded

PHILADELPHIA -- Harmon Industries, Inc. said that its subsidiary, SYSECA Inc., has been awarded a $4 million subcontract from ARINC Incorporated to provide an advanced commuter rail center for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) that will be located in Philadelphia.

The facility will improve on-time efficiency and service performance, while reducing operating costs. The command, control and communications center will integrate fiber-optic-based voice and data communications systems, train control software and large screen projection display walls to create one of the world's most advanced centers of its kind.

Under the contract, SYSECA will consolidate six regional rail line control towers into one state-of-the-art control center in downtown Philadelphia. SYSECA will utilize its customized software platform, Advanced Information Management, to provide innovative monitoring and control capabilities. The software will enable train tracking and identification, computer aided automatic routing and dispatching, report generation and online documentation functions.

"The SEPTA contract reflects SYSECA's leadership within the rail control center market," said Bjorn E. Olsson, president and chief executive officer of Harmon Industries, Inc. "With the award of this contract, Harmon is making a significant impact on providing safer and more efficient monitoring and control systems within the transit industry."

Project completion is anticipated in 2001.

Harmon Industries, Inc., is a leading supplier of signal, inspection, train control and communications products and systems to freight and transit railroads throughout the world.

MINNESOTA: Railroad to lay new tracks despite objections to coal traffic

MANKATO -- In this Internet, high-tech age, the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad's (DM&E) idea to lay new train track to carry coal seems utterly anachronistic.

The plan is to spend more than $1 billion on 260 miles of new railroad tracks, mostly across Minnesota and South Dakota. That old-fashioned mode of transportation would be built to carry an even more ancient product: coal.

As antiquated as it sounds, both friends and foes of the DM&E plan say it might just work. Even environmentalist Carl Zichella predicts an increase in demand for coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

"In the short term, I think it's going to be a good economic bet," said Zichella, the Sierra Club's regional director for nine Midwestern states.

The reason: Coal is hot.

Company officials say federal air-pollution standards actually will increase, not reduce, the demand for coal.

And the low-sulfur Wyoming coal that the DM&E is attempting to tap into is increasingly in demand by utilities. Even environmentalists such as Zichella don't dispute the importance of the age-old fuel in meeting America's energy needs.

"Low-sulfur coal has an important role to play," Zichella said. "We have a lot of coal. I do think we'll be burning a lot of coal for a long time to come. It's a necessity; it's our most plentiful resource."

But not everybody is supporting the plan. Many farmers, ranchers and other property owners have objected to the proposed expansion, saying it will damage land values and hurt farming and ranching operations.

A group calling itself the Alliance for Responsible Development plans media campaigns, lobbying trips and newsletters to oppose the plan.

"No coal train" signs have sprouted in a number of communities.

But the DM&E's potential customers are bullish.

"We're supportive because we desperately feel the need for competition in coal transportation," said Chuck Linderman, director of energy supply policy for the Edison Electric Institute.

Edison is an organization representing utilities that provide power to 75 percent of electricity customers nationwide. All power companies serving Minnesota belong to Edison, and the utilities suggested the DM&E expansion in the first place.

"It didn't take very much insight," Linderman said. "A number of the mines are only served by the Burlington Northern (Railroad)."

Others are served by both Burlington Northern and Union Pacific Railroad. But a third competitor could mean lower prices and better service for the power plants that depend on the Wyoming coal.

Inconsistent deliveries have been a problem for the utilities.

"Plants have actually had to shut down or change their maintenance schedule because they didn't have enough coal to continue," Linderman said.

There's no dispute that the Powder River Basin is the nation's fastest-growing coal region. It produced just 10 million tons a year in the mid-1970s and now is approaching 300 million tons annually. The DM&E is counting on the mines to yield another 230 million to 250 million tons a year by 2010.

The business plan estimates that usage by utilities in its core market of the Upper Midwest, the Great Lakes states, the Ohio River Valley and the Illinois River region will increase by 116 million tons, with the DM&E hauling 100 million tons of that total.

Because the Wyoming coal is nearer to the surface than coal in eastern states, it's easier to mine and thus cheaper. But the Powder River Basin coal is even more attractive to utilities today because it burns cleaner than eastern coal, minimizing the amount of expensive pollution-control equipment that power plants need to meet federal pollution standards.

A new batch of even more stringent standards will take effect next year under 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1970. Deregulation of the power industry to increase competition is also a factor.

Facing the prospect of vying for customers, utilities will be struggling to contain costs to keep rates low, and that will provide more incentive to seek the cheapest power source available.

"This thing is driven by the marketplace, including the environmental quality," said Kevin Schieffer, president of the DM&E. "This is the cheapest, cleanest coal in the country. That's why it works."

That market demand probably means that cities across southern Minnesota will see more coal trains rolling through town, regardless of whether the DM&E project is realized.

"To some people across southern Minnesota, this probably seems like doomsday coming," Linderman said. "We have to realize that this is an effort by a railroad to help the electrical industry meet its clean-air demands more cost-effectively."