UTU News Digest - Friday, February 18, 2000

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Friday, February 18, 2000

WASHINGTON: Surface Transportation Board issues schedule for public hearing on major rail consolidations and future structure of North American rail industry

WASHINGTON: In a press release, Surface Transportation Board (Board) Chairman Linda J. Morgan announced today that the Board has issued a decision scheduling a four-day public hearing on major rail consolidations and the present and future structure of the North American rail industry beginning on Tuesday, March 7, and continuing through Friday, March 10, 2000, in the Board's Hearing Room (Suite 760) at 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC.

Given the large number of parties that wish to appear at the hearing and the importance of the subject matter, the Board decided to begin the hearing on Tuesday, March 7, instead of Wednesday, March 8, as originally proposed, and to extend the hearing to four days. The hearing schedule specifying the order of appearance for each day and the time allotted to each participant is attached as an Appendix. Simultaneously with that decision, the Board served a Secretary order providing detailed instructions for participants.

HEARING PARTICIPATION

The Board received approximately 160 requests from parties wishing to participate in the hearing by appearing in person, and a number of additional notices from parties who will not be able to, or choose not to, appear at the hearing but who intend to submit written statements. Each speaker or commenter must file with the Board the text of his/her anticipated written statement, and/or, if speaking, a summary thereof, by February 29, 2000. The Board requests that all participants in the hearing submit the name of their speaker for the hearing by March 3, 2000, to the Office of the Secretary.

The Board's decision instructed speakers to emphasize the key points of their presentation, rather than read from their statements or summaries, as this would allow them more time for dialogue with, and questions from, Members of the Board. Parties who have similar arguments and/or are represented by the same person are allowed and encouraged to combine their arguments and allotted time in order to use that time more efficiently. If a representative of two or more parties intends to combine the time allotted for those parties, he or she should inform Secretary Vernon A. Williams prior to the commencement of the hearing. Due to the large number of participants and full hearing schedule, the Board indicated that it would not otherwise entertain requests to adjust the schedule of appearances and/or the time allotments, but that any person unable to appear on the day and time specified could submit his/her complete statement in writing for Board consideration.

On each day of the hearing, the statements of witnesses scheduled to appear that day will be released to the public and posted on the Board's website (www.dot.stb.gov) at 10:30 a.m. The filings also will be available for public inspection in the Board's Docket Room at that time. Speakers are free to bring extra copies of their statements to the hearing for distribution by Board staff. The Board will not duplicate the speakers' statements.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

An original and 10 copies of all written comments and/or summaries due February 29, 2000, must refer to STB Ex Parte No. 582, and must be sent to: Surface Transportation Board, Office of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, Attn: STB Ex Parte No. 582, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition to submitting an original and 10 copies of all paper documents filed with the Board, parties must also submit, on 3.5-inch IBM-compatible floppy diskettes (in, or convertible by and into, WordPerfect 7.0 format), an electronic copy of each paper document. [FOOTNOTE 1: Any party may seek a waiver from the electronic submission requirement.]

Because the Board desires to make available to the public all participants' comments, due February 29, 2000, by publishing both an image and a text file of them on the Board's website at www.stb.dot.gov under the "Filings" link, participants have been provided the following filing instructions.

SEATING FOR THE HEARING

All persons attending the hearing are instructed to use the building's entrance located on 20th Street between K and L Streets. For security reasons, upon entering the 20th Street entrance, all persons should be prepared to produce photo identification (such as a driver's license), pass through a metal detector, and submit to an inspection of all briefcases, handbags and any other bags. The Board will issue badges to each participant and one associate for admission to the hearing room for the day of presentation. Participant badges may be picked up in advance from the Office of the Secretary, Information Officer, Room 100, beginning March 6, 2000, or may be picked up at the Board's 20th Street entrance each day of the hearing for that day.

Because seating space in the Board's hearing room is limited, the Board will provide an overflow room (the Brick Room) on the first floor of the building with a closed-circuit telecast of the entire hearing. The badges for the balance of the seating in the hearing room and the seating in the Brick Room will be issued to the public each day of the hearing, for that day only, on a "first come, first served" basis. Public admission badges will be available at the Board's 20th Street entrance beginning at 9:00 a.m. on each day of the hearing. The badges will be disbursed one per person. Upon clearing security at the 20th Street entrance, the participants and the members of the public holding badges for the hearing will be escorted to the seventh floor hearing room. Only holders of participant or media badges will be admitted to the seventh floor hearing room. "Line sitters" are permitted, but will not be issued badges. The Board's Hearing Room and Brick Room comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, and persons needing such accommodation should contact the Office of the Secretary by close of business, March 6, 2000.

The hearing will be videotaped by Blackberry Productions, a contractor retained by the Board. The contractor will sell copies of the videotape of the hearing, if there is a public demand. Blackberry Productions will provide order forms at the hearing for those seeking to order videotapes of the hearing. For those unable to attend the hearing, tapes may be ordered by contacting Blackberry Productions at (202) 251-0934.

Printed copies of today's decision and order are available for a fee by contacting: Da-to-Da Office Solutions, Room 210, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006, telephone (202) 289-4357. Today's decision and order are also available for viewing and downloading via the Board's website at www.stb.dot.gov.

For a complete listing of participants in the March 7-10 hearings, go to The STB's home page and click on "decisions and notices." When the next Screen appears, look under "2/17/2000" and click on "ep 582 0 entire board."

NEW JERSEY: Transportation Secretary Slater presents check to New Jersey Transit for the Hudson Bergen Light Rail System

JERSEY CITY -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater today joined U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in presenting a check for $166 million for Phase One construction of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail Transit System, a press release said.

Secretary Slater made the presentation to New Jersey Transit Director Jeff Warsh at ceremonies at the Hudson Bergen's Martin Luther King Drive Station in Jersey City.

"Senator Frank Lautenberg understands that transportation is about more than concrete, asphalt and steel," said Secretary Slater. "In the case of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail System, it is a means by which people in New Jersey get to jobs, schools markets, and to take advantage of all the opportunities this state and region offers."

"This is a down payment on the future of transportation in New Jersey," said Senator Lautenberg. "With the strong financial support of the Clinton-Gore administration to light rail today, we will have less crowded highways tomorrow. And that means cleaner air and more efficient use of everyone's time."

The grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will provide funding for a 9.3-mile, 16 station operating segment connecting Hoboken Terminal to 34th Street in Bayonne and West Side Avenue in Jersey City. The Hudson Bergen Light Rail

Transit Line will enhance the development of the New Jersey waterfront projects and provide more convenient access to Port Authority Trans Hudson for residents of Bayonne and Bergen County.

It will also connect ferries and New Jersey Transit commuter rail lines. An estimated 36,000 riders are expected on the Phase One segment. The Phase One segment is being constructed as part of a $1 billion design, build, operations and maintenance contract.

OHIO: Taft seeks overpasses for busiest railroad lines

NORTHWOOD -- A proposed $200 million project to build new railroad overpasses throughout the state won’t take away money from future highway construction plans, state officials said yesterday, the Associated Press reported.

Gov. Bob Taft outlined plans for the 10-year railroad project, which would be paid for primarily by the state through the Ohio Department of Transportation. The federal government, local governments and the railroads will be expected to pay a share of the costs.

Building new crossings has become a top priority for Taft since CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. acquired Conrail’s lines in June.

Following the takeover, train traffic tripled in some areas, resulting in blocked crossings that frustrated motorists and worried safety officials.

The state plans to spend existing money and anticipates an increase in its share of the federal gasoline tax to pay for part of the railroad project, said ODOT Director Gordon Proctor.

He added that there should be no problem handling both the railroad crossing upgrades and highway projects.

While the new railroad overpasses will be based on need, most would be built in northern Ohio, because that is where the busiest train tracks are, Proctor said.

There are 40 to 60 rail crossings in Ohio that definitely need an overpass or underpass, Proctor said.

The process of choosing the projects will begin in the summer, but it usually takes at least two years to design and construct an overpass.

State officials selecting the sites will consider factors such as the crossing’s proximity to fire and police stations and the volume of train and vehicle traffic.

OHIO: What rail crossings will be replaced? State officials mum

TOLEDO-- State officials won't say yet which railroad crossings will be replaced with bridges as part of a $200 million program Governor Taft announced yesterday. But northwest Ohio officials are confident that benefits soon will flow to their communities.

"It's the seed of good news - the first planting,'' Chuck Curtis, Northwood's city administrator, said after the governor formally announced the 10-year bridge campaign during a news conference, held within sight of Northwood's congested Vickers Crossing rail junction.

"We heard the name Fostoria many times today; so we're very happy,'' Fostoria Mayor John Davoli agreed.

Governor Taft said public safety is his primary objective in promoting bridge construction in places where trains often block streets.

The trains at times delay emergency crews and tempt schoolchildren to crawl under freight cars to avoid being late for school.

Mr. Taft said railroads appear to have made significant progress in clearing up the train congestion that plagued Ohio for months starting last June, "but we still have a long way to go."

Gordon Proctor, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation, said his agency plans "to be very aggressive in delivering these projects."

A subcommittee of the Transportation Review Advisory Council, which ranks major highway improvement projects, will start working on a list for grade-separation projects this summer and should release its first project list in the fall, Mr. Proctor said.

Construction scheduling will depend on the various projects' complexity, he said.

Project planners will try to avoid damaging neighborhoods that are intended to be helped by improving their access across the tracks, Mr. Proctor added.

The governor's plan relies on $150 million in state funds, $20 million from Washington, and $10 million apiece in contributions from local governments and from the two predominant railroads in Ohio: CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern.

Eight state legislators from northern Ohio flanked Mr. Taft as he announced the program, and several said they are confident the legislature will approve a $10 million special appropriation that the governor included in the package.

"There's enough folks in the legislature for whom this is near and dear. I think we'll find a way" to get the money, said state Rep. Jim Mettler (R., Springfield Township). State Rep. Dan Metelsky (D., Lorain) remarked that crossing projects have bipartisan support.

The balance of the state funding comprises $120 million from gas tax revenue and $20 million from the Ohio Rail Development Commission's budget.

Mr. Proctor said the program will not take money away from other transportation projects because Ohio's strong economy has increased the department's revenue.

Gary Wollenhaupt, a CSX spokesman, said the railroad supports the bridge program, but wants to negotiate its contribution on a case-by-case basis.

A Norfolk Southern spokesman made similar remarks on Wednesday.

ILLINOIS: Man killed by Metra train

MT. PROSPECT -- A man was struck and killed by a Metra train Wednesday night in Mt. Prospect, according to village fire officials, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The male pedestrian, whose identity was not released late Wednesday pending family notification, was crossing the Metra's Northwest line tracks between Mt. Prospect Road and the commuter station near Main Street when he was struck by an eastbound train about 6:27 p.m., said Mt. Prospect Fire Capt. Tony Huemann.

"At the place he was crossing there was no marked crossing area," Huemann said. "He was crossing in an area that is not normally crossed. Unfortunately, he was found to have been deceased upon our arrival."

Huemann said the train's conductor told him the incident did not appear to be a suicide.

"The conductor stopped because they knew they had hit a person," he said. "They called our dispatchers. There were no (other) witnesses."

The Mt. Prospect Police Department was still on the scene investigating late Wednesday, Huemann said. Police officials did not return calls late Wednesday.

WASHINGTON STATE: Top pay on the docks

SEATTLE -- Want to make $100,000 a year? The Seattle Post Intelligencer reported today.

Write software.

Be a law partner.

Or get a job as a longshore worker.

In each case you will have to work more than 40 hours a week. But to stack shipping containers, you won't have to go to grad school.

The average West Coast longshore worker, journeyman class, working full time or better, earned $101,500 last year. So says the Pacific Maritime Association, the San Francisco-based association of employers.

Unlike pay for seamen, carpenters or even aerospace machinists, that of longshore workers compares well with salaries for white-collar professionals.

And if you don't count their stock options, it is even above the much-touted pay of computer engineers. The state says computer engineers average $63,550, plus options. Of course, their options can be substantial. The American Electronics Association says Washington software employees, for example, average $158,000 including options.

Longshore workers have been highly paid for years. In the 1960s, Harry Bridges of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union negotiated a deal that allowed shipowners to containerize. In return, he won higher pay. Bridges, a scrappy left-winger who professed little use for bosses, had won his members great contracts.

It wasn't just sharp negotiating. It was bargaining power.

"This is one of the strongest trade unions in the United States," said David Olson, a University of Washington professor of political science who has studied waterfront workers.

"It battled over decades to achieve the status it has, and those battles are seared in the memories of all members of this union. It shows extraordinary solidarity, and extraordinary strategic abilities at its leadership level. And when they sit down at the bargaining table, they are tough as nails."

The longshoremen have the power to shut down the docks. One day's delay can cost shipowners thousands of dollars. "The employer is not willing to take a strike," Olson said.

The ILWU headquarters in San Francisco declined to comment on the $101,000 figure. Steve Perkins, business agent for ILWU Local 19 in Seattle, was skeptical of it.

"In this area, that is absolutely wrong. It certainly doesn't apply in Seattle," he said, adding, "I wish I made that much money. I've been here 33 years. I've never made that."

Craig Johnson, manager here for the owners' organization, agreed that a higher proportion of $100,000-plus workers is in Los Angeles-Long Beach, the ports offering the steadiest work.

Still, said Robert Dockendorff, the maritime association's vice president for research, there are longshoremen pulling down more than $100,000 in Seattle and Tacoma. Some operate gantry cranes, a delicate job in which mistakes can be fatal; others do simpler jobs running lifting vehicles.

As for the derisive laughs the association gets for its survey, he said: "We do the payrolls. That's where we get the figures."

His $101,500 figure is for class "A" longshoremen. It does not include less experienced class "B" workers or casual workers, who earn less -- nor clerks or foremen, who earn more.

The $101,500 includes straight time, overtime, vacation and holidays but not pension contributions, medical and other benefits. These added $32,000 per worker under the old contract, according to the employers' survey. (A new three-year contract was reached last summer.)

The $101,500 average is for those with at least 2,000 hours of paid time. Some 55 percent of the journeymen longshoremen worked that much time. But many stop after 1,300 hours, the minimum to qualify for a year's work under the pension plan.

The average income for all West Coast journeymen longshore workers, including part-timers, was $79,767.

Washington state has different figures. Unlike the employers' averages, the state's are medians (half of examples are above, half below). That lowers them. They are for 1998, not 1999, which also lowers them.

Here's what the state says:

Longshore equipment operator, $71,420.

Stevedore, $67,600.

Though lower, these are in the range reported for pharmacists and chemical engineers and nearly double what a carpenter or able seaman earns.

The state's figures do not include overtime, which is how the longshore worker who gets $100,000 does it. His base rate is $26.68, which works out to $55,000 a year. But in addition to overtime, other rules increase pay. If a longshore worker operates a machine, his rate is $29.35 to $34.68; on overtime, $44.03 to $52.02.

It's standard practice for some workers to book nine or 10 hours a day. Longshore clerk William Wallace, who has worked on the waterfront for 35 years, puts in 10-hour days. Still, he laughed at the employers' wage survey: "Last year was the first I made more than $100,000."

He radioed to the driver of a top picker. "How many hours did you have last year?"

"2,236," the driver replied.

"What was your gross?"

A pause. "Just over 85."

That's $38 an hour.

Wallace explained that a reporter was asking about the $100,000 worker.

"You've got to scramble pretty hard for that," the driver said.

Some do. Sometimes workers volunteer to do two shifts, called a double out. "We have guys here who make 10 shifts a week," Wallace said.

The employers' statistics show that 13 percent of longshoremen clocked at least 2,800 hours last year.

Do they work hard? That's more than four months of overtime.

IDAHO: BNSF depot hearing draws large crowd

COEUR D'ALENE -- About 200 people turned out for Wednesday night's hearing on a proposed locomotive refueling depot near Rathdrum, Idaho, many saying they came just to listen, the Spokane Spokesman-Review reported.

They got an earful.

Ken Lustig, the Panhandle Health District's aquifer expert, urged the three Kootenai County commissioners to reject the depot because it could foul the region's drinking water.

Lustig likened the high-tech environmental protections promised by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway to "allowing your children to play in the street with reflectors on them, flashing red lights on their heads."

The depot is "fatally flawed by its location" over the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie aquifer, he said. "You can do all the technical bells and whistles you want."

The railroad, meanwhile, flew Matt Rose, company president and chief operating officer, to Coeur d'Alene to testify.

Rose pledged that public health and safety are the highest priority for the company and vowed that the depot would never taint ground water.

The railroad wants permission from Kootenai County to build a two-tank, 500,000-gallon diesel fueling station over the aquifer.

If rejected, BNSF could appeal to federal authorities, leaving the county no say in the depot.

"We expect you will approve a conditional-use permit for this facility," Rose told the commissioners. "You have an excellent opportunity to ... control the project and promote safe business expansion for your area."

A three-day public hearing in November resulted in a recommendation against the depot by a county hearing examiner.

This week's hearings were convened by the Kootenai County commissioners at the railroad's request.

Commission Chairman Dick Panabaker -- widely viewed as the swing vote on the decision -- pledged a fair hearing.

"On my part, there are no preconceived notions about how this is going to turn out," Panabaker said.

The commission is expected to discuss the depot when it meets Feb. 25, though it's unclear when a final decision will be made, according to county planning director Cheri Howell.

The depot first surfaced in 1997 as a typical -- albeit major -- local land-use decision.

But over time, the depot issue has grown far beyond a local permit process: this week, a Spokane labor group and a Seattle-based environment coalition came out against it.

"Because it stretched out over such a long period of time, folks have had an opportunity to think about it," said John Leinen of the Spokane Labor Council.

The council's 63-member delegation unanimously voted against the depot recently, speaking for 16,000 members -- including railroad clerks, according to Leinen.

The Washington Environmental Council sent a letter to the Kootenai County commission this week opposing the depot on behalf of 100 member groups.

Along with Spokane area residents who live over the aquifer, the group's several thousand members statewide include coastal salmon fishermen, folks trying to protect Point Roberts herons and the members of the Washington Kayak Club.

Some locals who didn't speak up last year also decided it was time to make some noise.

Coeur d'Alene builder Mike Dodge this week sent a letter to commissioners warning them there's no guarantee the depot's sealed concrete tank pad and underground liners won't leak.

"You can seal concrete, but I've never seen concrete that doesn't crack," Dodge said.

On the other hand, developer and nearby resident Don Jacklin wrote commissioners to say the railroad eased his worries of congestion and noise with concessions such as a highway underpass and sound-muffling trees.

"I also commend the Burlington Northern staff for their quick and positive response to these concerns," Jacklin wrote.

The hearing is expected to continue tonight at 6 p.m. at Lake City High School and possibly Friday if warranted.

ILLINOIS: Cousins track fate of old railroad

CHICAGO -- As youngsters, Peter Weller and his cousin Fred Stark logged countless miles on the now-defunct Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railway, traveling between Stark's home in Elmhurst and Weller's home in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"We always were rail fans," said Weller, who began photographing the trains and collecting railroad memorabilia as a teenager in the 1950s. "To us, the CA&E was a very interesting property."

The cousins both left the Chicago area in the early 1960s, around the time the railway succumbed to financial difficulties and was dismantled. But Weller and Stark, who frequently returned to the Chicago suburbs to visit relatives in Naperville and elsewhere, continued to track the fate of the CA&E. Recently, the cousins published "The Living Legacy of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin" (Forum Press, $54.95), an extensively researched, illustrated history of the railroad and its eventual transformation into the west suburban Illinois Prairie Path.

The book, which includes more than 300 black-and-white photos and maps, is the first to chronicle the CA&E's transition from rails to nature trails in detail, according to David Tate, president of the nonprofit Illinois Prairie Path Corp.

"It's the best-documented, most detailed narrative on the Prairie Path that I have ever seen," said Tate, a Winfield resident and longtime volunteer with the trail preservation group. "We are listing area stores that carry the book on our Web site." The address is www.ipp.org.

The cousins, both of whom now are teachers in Washington, Iowa, began collaborating on the book in the mid-1990s.

"Fred suggested that we had so many photos of the railway, we should do a book," Weller said. "I said yes, but I thought that to set our book apart from all the other railroad books we should tell what happened after the trains quit running.

"It turned out that one of our cousins who lives in Naperville had known Jane Sindt, one of the six women who originally helped to establish the Illinois Prairie Path in the 1960s," Weller added. "From there, the trail led to (Illinois Prairie Path charter members) Paul and Jean Mooring of Glen Ellyn, and they provided us with a wealth of information on how the path got started and developed."

About one-quarter of the 272-page book is devoted to the history of the path, which begins in Maywood and runs through Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties. The innovative rails-to-trails project was first proposed by Naperville resident May Theilgaard Watts, naturalist emeritus of the Morton Arboretum, who outlined her plan in a letter to the Chicago Tribune.

Watts' suggestion that the abandoned CA&E railroad right-of-way be turned into a nature trail was published in the paper's Voice of the People column in 1963 and generated an enthusiastic response, the authors found.

"Unquestionably, the Illinois Prairie Path as it exists today owes its origins to Watts's foresight and persistence . . . but the successful transformation of an abandoned railway right-of-way to a nature trail required considerable amounts of time and energy from hundreds of people," Weller and Stark write in "The Living Legacy."

In October of 1963, according to the authors' research, 80 people participated in a walk on the CA&E right-of-way near Wayne. In February of 1965, the rails-to-trails project received a boost when President Lyndon Johnson called for the development of a trails system and mentioned plans for a "prairie path" in Illinois.

Shortly thereafter, in the spring of 1965, the Illinois Prairie Path was established as a nonprofit corporation. Today, the corporation has about 2,000 members and the trail covers 61 miles, Tate said.

According to Weller, "The Living Legacy" has sold more than 400 copies of its initial press run of 1,000.

ITALY: Train strike strands thousands; news blackout Saturday

ROME -- Rail workers walked off the job Friday to demand higher wages and shorter hours, stranding thousands of passengers at stations across Italy, news services reported.

Italy's Transport Ministry guaranteed trains that left before the eight-hour strike started at 10 a.m. would reach their destination. About half the trains traveling cross-country were also guaranteed to complete their trips, but they were so crowded that some passengers chose to stay behind.

Also Friday, Italian print journalists stayed off the job to protest failed contract talks.

The strike means bare news stands Saturday and only brief TV and radio newscasts due to a strike by broadcast journalists.

Italy's association of publishers accuses the journalists of trying to block urgent reforms aimed at improving efficiency and work conditions.

The strikes come on the wheels of a bus, tram and subway strike as well as a postal worker walkout earlier in the week.

EUROPE: Rail consolidation gains speed

LONDON -- Europe's disjointed rail freight system may be on a faster track to unity than ever before, as a series of high-profile mergers transforms the business and policy reforms are drafted on an accelerated timetable, the Journal of Commerce reported.

Europe's rail operating companies have started an unprecedented wave of mergers, which will help to unify a fragmented system and speed cross-border freight service.

"Certain natural allegiances are emerging," said Bryan Stone, an intermodal transportation consultant based in Ettingen, Switzerland. "All of this activity is moving toward fulfillment of prophecies that within several years between three and five freight railways will remain in Europe."

This year, the cargo divisions of the German and Dutch national rail operators formed a joint company called Railion, which Denmark's national railroad is expected to join shortly.

The Italian state railway, Ferrovie del Stato, formally agreed this year to join its cargo division to that of the Swiss railway, SBB. That deal becomes operational next year.

The Austrian national railroad, Oesterreichische Bundesbahnen (OBB), is talking with its neighbors in Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia about possible mergers.

OBB also has been involved in discussions with others, including the Italian-Swiss combination, about possible link-ups.

At the same time, several operators, including those of France, Britain, Germany and Austria, are interested in Poland's national railroad.

So is Rail World, a U.S.-based finance company founded by former Wisconsin Central Chief Executive Ed Burkhardt. The strong interest in the Polish carrier is due to its dense network, strong cargo markets and links to ports on the Baltic Sea.

The merger activity occurs against a backdrop of a strong push by Europe's top transport leaders for market-opening reforms.

Last Dec. 10, the European Union's transport ministers reached a political agreement to create competitive freight "corridors" across the EU, and set an ambitious timetable for laws to open the market.

For example, they asked for a detailed plan by the end of this year on common technical standards and procedures for cross-border trains. If adopted, the plan would make seamless border crossings a matter of law.

In the current system, trains are often delayed at borders while crews and locomotives are changed. The delay is often several hours but can be as long as a full day if the train misses its allotted track time.

They also asked for draft laws that set out track-access rights for certain rail operators, define the process for booking that access and set guidelines for pricing it. That package is due by the end of this year as well.

"Things are changing with a speed that has been unknown before," said Jaap Huizinga, senior technical consultant in the freight department of the International Union of Railways (known by its French acronym, UIC) in Paris.

However, many predict a long legislative battle, with an eventual result that falls far short of full network integration and unhindered access by competing operators.

The legislative battle may feature opposition from France, Belgium and Luxembourg, which previously have opposed extensive opening of the rail network in part because of strong union influence.

For one thing, the ministers limited the scope of network integration to certain "corridors" rather than extending it to the entire rail network.

They also carefully limited the roster of potential competitors that would be allowed into those corridors. At present, only national rail operators and certain licensed private and independent operators can apply for track-access rights for cross-border service.

Under the proposed reforms, most private companies wishing to offer cross-border train service would still have to apply for track access through a national operating company, rather than directly in their own names.

Moreover, the political agreement was unclear on key points, such as just how broadly track-access would be offered.

The ministers' statement was fuzzy, for example, on whether licensed operators would be able to use a single license along the entire length of freight corridors, or would have to obtain separate approvals from each track-owner along the way.

"It was a political fudge," said Peter Koning, deputy director of European affairs for Railtrack, Britain's private monopoly infrastructure manager.

How such issues are resolved in the draft legislation "comes down to a question of political will," he added.

Shippers, meanwhile, are trying to take advantage of the liberalizing environment, to the limited extent the law allows.

German chemical giant BASF, for example, runs its own train service to move raw materials between its facilities within Germany. Other shippers and private rail operators, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands, provide private train service to connect to trunk lines, where such service cannot be provided economically by the national railroad.

New types of market entrants also may be in the offing. For example, Bryan Stone, the intermodal consultant, is exploring with a business partner the possibility of buying train slots and reselling them to individual users -- in effect, acting as brokers of cross-border train paths.

"The concept is economically tempting," although new legislation would be needed to allow such a brokerage to operate, Stone said. "The idea is very notional, because at the moment we can't buy directly from infrastructure providers."

CANADA: BC Rail to writedown assets an estimated $600 million

NORTH VANCOUVER -- British Columbia Railway Company, a provincial crown corporation, today announced its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 1999, will contain a one-time asset impairment charge relating principally to its investment in the northeast coal line, a news service reported.

This non-cash charge is estimated at $600 million, with the exact amount to be finalized in March, 2000, when the results of a detailed asset impairment review now underway at the railway will be released along with final year-end audited results.

The Railway included news of this writedown in its most recent quarterly financial submission to the provincial government and says a writedown is required to ensure the value of assets carried in its financial statements does not exceed the future net cash flows generated from those assets. Before this one time charge, 1999 consolidated net income of the BCR Group, on a pre-audit basis, will show a significant improvement over last year of some 39%, to an estimated $33 million.

BC Rail plans to continue servicing the two northeast coal mines along its Tumbler Ridge branchline and indicated that this accounting charge will have no negative impact on continuing operations or the financial health of BC Rail and its subsidiary companies.

CALIFORNIA: MTA Seeks to Rename Rail Line to Pasadena

LOS ANGELES -- A key committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority took the first step Wednesday toward renaming a light rail line between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena the Pasadena Rose Line, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But the move to change the name drew immediate opposition from Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Hernandez, chairman of the agency building the project.

Hernandez said he would favor another name, perhaps the Arroyo Seco line, which is more inclusive of the three cities--Los Angeles, South Pasadena and Pasadena--that the line will traverse.

At the behest of MTA board member and county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, the MTA's operations committee unanimously endorsed the name Pasadena Rose Line in an effort to eliminate confusion caused by the rail project's current designation as the Pasadena Blue Line.

The full MTA board will consider the name change next week.

Antonovich said the name is needed "to clean up the confusion with the Blue Line" from Los Angeles and Long Beach. "They are two distinct transit systems serving two distinct areas," he said.

Hernandez said the name change offered by Antonovich came as a surprise. "I'd appreciate it if he'd do it in a spirit of cooperation," he said.

In approving state funds for the 13.7-mile rail line last November, the California Transportation Commission raised the issue of a name change. Commissioner Dana Reed objected to calling the project the Pasadena Blue Line because it will not connect with the existing Blue Line to Long Beach. Instead, passengers will have to travel across downtown Los Angeles on the Metro Rail subway to transfer between the two lines.

CANADA: CN rating outlook raised to positive by CBRS

TORONTO -- Canadian Bond Rating Service said it has reaffirmed its ratings on Canadian National Railway Co. (CNI) following its annual review, Dow Jones reported.

As reported, CBRS placed the ratings under review with positive implications in December after news of the proposed merger of Canadian National Railway with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI). The proposed $6 billion merger, to result in a new entity called North American Railways Inc., is targeted for completion by the middle of 2001.

In a news release, CBRS said it rates Canadian National's commercial paper at A-1 with a stable outlook, and bonds and debentures at B++ (high), notes and puttable reset at B++ (high) and convertible preferred securities at B+ (high), the latter with positive ratings outlooks.

CBRS said the ratings reflect the creditworthiness of Canadian National's railroad operations on a stand-alone basis, as well as the company's "continued success in exceeding revenue and operating performance targets" outlined in its three-year business plan.

TENNESSEE: Evacuated residents return home after workers clear propane hazard

Baxter, Tenn. (AP) - Residents who had been forced from their homes by derailed propane rail tankers returned home yesterday after work crews unloaded the liquid fuel onto tanker trucks.

The cookeville-Putnam County Emergency Management Agency lifted its evacuation order at 8 a.m., clearing the way for most of the town's 1,300 residents to return home.

About 1,400 students at Upperman High School and Baxter Elementary got Wednesday off, and classes were canceled again yesterday at the two schools, which are about a mile from where the train tankers overturned.

Propane is both flammable and explosive. The tankers did not leak and no one was injured when the 12-car freight train derailed Tuesday. A third propane tanker was partially overturned. The three tankers carried a total of 90,000 gallons of propane.

Train crew members told officials the cars left the tracks after the rails apparently gave way.

Craig Wade, general manager for Nashville and Eastern Railroad Corp., said the freight train was traveling from Lebanon to Cookeville with a crew of two. The propane was being delivered to Cumberland L.P. Gas, officials said.

Crews emptied the three tankers Wednesday night and hauled most of the propane away on a pair of tankers brought in from the front and rear of the train. The remainder was driven away in several tanker trucks.

All but a few residents within the mile-radius evacuation area agreed to leave their homes, said Sharon Templeton, assistant director for the Cookeville-Putnam County Emergency Management Agency.

"There were a few that just didn't want to leave," she said. "And they (officials) really can't make them."

About a dozen residents with nowhere else to go spent the night in a Red Cross shelter set up at the Bloomington Springs Church of Christ.

"We had hoped (residents) might be able to come this evening, but that's not going to work out," Templeton said Wednesday.

More than 70 workers and volunteers were on the scene Wednesday righting the tankers and stabilizing the ground underneath.