Washington state short line rail inventory and needs assessment.

Details

• Creators:
  Sage, Jeremy ; Casavant, Ken ; Eustice, J. Bradley
• Corporate Creators:
  Washington State University. Freight Policy Transportation Institute
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Short line railroads
  • Inventory
  • Needs assessment
  • Case studies
  • Railroad tracks
  • Infrastructure
  • Freight transportation
  • Financing
• Publication/ Report Number:
  WA-RD 842.1
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Washington
• Corporate Publisher:
  Washington (State). Dept. of Transportation. Research Office
• Abstract:
  The recently completed State Rail Plan for the state of Washington identified several key issues facing the state’s ; rail system. Among these key issues are abandonment, port access and competitive needs of the ports and local ; production regions, as well as intermodal connectivity. Nearly 2000 miles of rail line had been abandoned in ; Washington State before the late 1990’s, and another 70 have been abandoned since. Many of these miles included ; were a result of the Class I railroads stepping away from their less profitable lines. These same actions by the Class I ; railroads also generated opportunity for the creation of many of the state’s short-line railroads on branch and light ; density lines. The rail system grew smaller during the 1980s and 1990s, and many of the state short lines were not ; upgraded to meet the standards and conditions required for modern freight rail load limits (286,000 pounds per car). ; Further investment is needed should the state or owner seek new or improved operations. This study found that more ; than 55 percent (740 miles) of all short line miles within Washington are not able to efficiently handle 286,000 pound ; rail cars. Overcoming this deficiency and bringing the state’s short line system to Class II operating status could require ; infrastructure investments of approximately $610 million. This need exceeds the current funding support offered by the ; state, even if considered over a 20 year horizon with private industry and/or local jurisdictions providing significant ; match. Three short line case studies in this report help identify the societal benefits associated with a functioning short ; line system within the state’s dynamic transportation network. These case studies, along with information about the ; attributes that contribute to the success or failure of investments in load centers, illustrate the benefits of state ; investment in the short line railroad system.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  Agreement T1462, Task 04
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29053/dot_29053_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 11.48 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:be301bf236c990f626bb7655a0e1bb927aac14a529c78256f051ec2b2c682169