New England Passenger & Freight Rail Vision

Recently, an ad hoc group of rail advocates, Rail New England, wrote the New England Governors to urge them to follow the lead of fellow governors in the Midwest and Southeast and achieve consensus on a comprehensive plan for a 21st century rail network for the region.

Time is of the essence because High Speed Rail (HSR) grant requests are due August 6th to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the quality of the projects currently being requested by the New England states leave much to be desired. The results of the last round of grants – $8 billion was available from the FRA, but New England only received $200 million, a paltry 2.5%.

Similarly, there is a need to support the freight rail system through public-private partnerships (PPP) with freight railroads through TIGER grants. In the last round of these grants, many freight rail projects were submitted and awarded, but none for New England. Applications for 2010 Tiger II grants are due on August 23, 2010.

Despite some gaps in the rail network, there is a key advantage on the passenger rail side. New England already has a high end, high speed rail offering in the Northeast Corridor (NEC), but it requires further investment to reach its full potential. The NEC has Acela trainsets capable of 165 mph, a 230 mile (New York City <-> Boston) electrified right of way (ROW), and portions of that ROW where the trains routinely hit 150 mph. No other region of the country has this advantage. The Boston-New York corridor can be upgraded to true HSR for a fraction of what it will cost to achieve similar result in the approved California and Florida projects. Why cannot New England build on this unique strength with the following visions for passenger & freight rail?

Proposed Regional Passenger Rail Projects:

1. Upgrade the NEC (Northeast Corridor) from New York City (Penn Station) to Boston (South Station) to enable true High Speed Rail service.
a. Acela Express (non-stop): 1 hr 45 min, avg. speed - 130 mph
b. Acela Standard (normal Acela stops) 2 hrs 15 min, avg. speed – 100 mph

2. Build the North/South Rail Link (NSRL) in Boston and extend the NEC northward, from South Station, Boston to Montreal, Canada. Certify for 110 mph speed.
a. Phase 1: South Station, Boston to Manchester, NH
b. Phase 2: Manchester, NH to Montreal, Quebec (via Concord, NH, Montpelier, VT, Burlington, VT), and Woburn, MA to Portland, ME

3. Upgrade the “Knowledge Corridor” (New Haven <-> Hartford <-> Springfield) and “Inland Route” (New York City<->New Haven<->Springfield<->Boston). Certify for 110 mph operation.


Proposed Regional Freight Rail Proposals:

1. Built/Restore Infrastructure to state of good repair on key lines.

2. Upgrade critical North/South and East/West freight rail lines and associated feeder lines that run from Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound seaports to New York state and Canadian border gateways.
a. East/West: New York state line to Boston seaport at Conley (South Boston) and Moran (Charlestown) terminals
b.North/South from Connecticut seaports to the Canadian border.

3. Upgrade NE freight network to national standards for seamless travel throughout region and country:
a. 286,000 lb weight capacity, Class 5 operational status
b.Plate I double stack height (20 ft, 9 in) on main lines. Where electrified locomotives are currently in use, or such use is planned, height should conform to the national electrification standard of 23 feet.

4. Regional collaboration on Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) for states, federal government, and key railroads on rail infrastructure:
a. Ensure infrastructure is adequate to retail, support and grow rail freight activity.
(i.e. rail yards, passing sidings, seaport access, intermodal facilities, inland ports, etc.).
b. Establish land bank of currently unused rail served land/facilities/ROW for the future use.

Investment is sorely needed in our region’s freight rail lines. In the continental 48 states, rail commonly holds a 25% to 40% share of freight traffic. Not so in New England where less than 10% of freight travels by rail. The rest of the goods are expensively transported by truck. New England freight rail lines have not kept up with national standards in terms of height clearance, weight capacities, and speed.

The seaports have inadequate or non-existent rail freight service and adjoining land, needed for related logistics support, is quickly disappearing. The region has been steadily losing its rail freight infrastructure, resulting in marginal operations that do not provide competitive service or adequate return on reinvestment.

Reversing this trend will have many benefits for New England. The Panama Canal is being widened to accommodate a new class of super-tankers. This presents economic opportunities for freight business and job creation throughout the region. Moving freight from trucks to trains will lower the cost of living and doing business in New England, decrease congestion on highways, and lessen wear and tear on roads and bridges.

Among those signing onto the letter are: the Association for Public Transportation, the Eastern Massachusetts Freight Rail Coalition, the Connecticut & Massachusetts Chapters of the Sierra Club, the New Hampshire Railroad Revitalization Association.

North Branch of the Park River Renewal

www.northparkplan.net is a website detailing efforts to improve the quality & public access to the North Branch of the Park River.

The North Branch Park River Watershed Management Plan is currently gathering community ideas and concerns, through July 21st. The planning process will formally conclude on July 30th.

The project team has summarized the North Branch Park River Watershed Management Plan process to citizen and professional stakeholders in Bloomfield, Hartford and West Hartford. Persons interested in planning and development issues that impact the North Branch watershed are encouraged to visit the website to review the Plan Proposal drafts and to post your thoughts/concerns in the comment section of the website to encourage an online exchange of ideas.

The majority of the watershed - over 68% - is within Bloomfield, 14% of the watershed overlaps into northern West Hartford. The northwestern neighborhoods of Hartford, Blue Hills, Asylum Hill and the West End are within 11% of the North Branch Park River watershed. The remaining 3% of the watershed land area is within Windsor, Avon and Simsbury.

Many institutions currently front the aboveground portion of the North Branch Park River in Hartford including the University of Hartford, the UConn Law School, the Village of Family & Children Services and the Watkinson School.

Despite the significant development within the watershed and its impaired water quality, the North Branch Park River is still considered an asset to these institutions due to its landscape function on their campuses. Other groups have also recognized its value in terms of landscape presence and have modified the land adjacent to the river to enhance its visibility and its aesthetic appeal, an example being the recently redeveloped Goodwin Estates residences.

The potential exists for a regional vision to be developed where the upper watershed communities can offer substantial water quality and habitat protection benefits while the urban areas can provide the urban river experience with the river forming a physical and emotional connection to the community.

The planning process will address the unique challenges of managing urban waterways as a valuable natural resource within the context of private and public building development, preservation and property uses. The watershed management plan shall characterize the watershed conditions, identify, investigate, and address current and emerging issues facing the watershed, so as to recommend potential changes that can improve water quality.

The primary objectives of the watershed management plan are to:
• Characterize existing river, riparian corridor and watershed conditions;
• Identify and assess watershed problems and issues;
• Foster regional land and water solutions and protecting the urban riverway and surrounding forest lands;
• Integrate water quality, stream flow, aquatic and riparian habitat, and land use and preservation needs;
• Identify land or land rights acquisition to further protect and allow responsible public access to the river,
• Examine traditional and non-traditional innovative approaches to pollution control and prevention; and
• Provides guidance for local land use decision- makers to address stormwater and non-point sources of pollution with a focus on sustainable development practices.

When complete, the watershed management plan will serve as a comprehensive, scientifically-sound, and practical planning document for the protection and restoration of water resources and habitat in the North Branch Park River watershed. Measurable water quality improvements are an anticipated outcome of the North Branch Park River Watershed Management Plan process.