by Quintin Kendall, Resident Vice President at CSX Transportation

1. The Peninsula Subdivision
For
The Hampton Roads Partnership
Quintin C. Kendall
Resident Vice President—State Government Affairs
July 17, 2009
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2. Status of Peninsula Passenger Rail Service, Pre-Stimulus
 Newport News is currently served by two Amtrak train sets
 Phase I of Virginia State Rail Plans contemplated extending three additional
Washington-Richmond regional trains to Newport News, for a total of five
daily trains, by 2015 and an additional four trains providing hourly services
during peak periods by 2020
 New service assumed Richmond Terminal improvements, new station at
Newport News, operating speeds of 70 mph and on-time performance
greater than 85%
 $14 million available to fund 30% preliminary engineering and design for
needed capacity projects between Fredericksburg and Newport News, but
no funding programmed for $300-400 million necessary for construction
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3. Status of Peninsula Passenger Rail Service, Post-Stimulus
 An additional $10 million secured for 30% preliminary engineering and
design for Richmond area
 Virginia’s stimulus proposal accelerates RF&P capacity projects (third/fourth
main lines) and Richmond area improvements, which were originally
planned to begin in 2012
 Stimulus proposal also includes Hampton Roads service, with no specified
alignment, pending completion of Tier I Draft EIS this summer
 Cost estimates between $330 million and $844 million depending on route
and service
 Improvements necessary to accommodate higher speed rail will require
extensive modeling to ensure proper capacity is added
 Higher speed rail requires more capacity, Class 6 track, signal upgrades;
appropriate scheduling will critical for introduction of any new service
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4. Of the 57 daily Amtrak trains operated on CSXT, the Newport
News trains are some of the poorest performers
2008 CSX On Time Contract Performance
All Amtrak Trains (57) 77.5%
All I-95 Trains (52/53, 79/80, 89/90, 91/92, 97/98) 74.1%
All Peninsula Subdivision Trains 51.9%
Source: CSXT-Amtrak Contract Performance System
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5. Any given train’s performance is largely driven by three
factors
 Physical characteristics of the operating territory
– Single/double track?
– Signal System?
 The operating mix of train traffic
– How many trains?
– What kinds of trains?
 The validity of schedules
– Can they be reliably maintained?
– Do they adjust for known activities?
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6. CSXT’s DC to Richmond segment – the RF&P – is one of
our busiest multi-use, double track corridors
 110 miles of double track with
centralized traffic control
 48 daily passenger/commuter
trains
– 18 Amtrak trains
– 30 VRE commuter trains
– 38 daily MARC trains
adjacent to line
 25 - 30 daily freight trains
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7. In contrast to the DC to Richmond segment, the corridor from
Richmond to Newport News is 61% single track
 Single and double track with
Automatic Block Signals
 Amtrak trains
– 4 Richmond to Newport
News
 Freight Trains
– 12 – 15 Fulton to Newport
News
– 16 – 27 Rivanna Jct to Fulton
– Predominantly coal trains up
to 1.5 miles in length
– Moving far slower than
Amtrak
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8. The differences in actual and minimum run time, and speeds,
are much larger on the Peninsula than on the RF&P
 Limited infrastructure
 Maintenance work affects all operations on single track
 Reliability low for both passenger and freight trains, but
freight train impacts are extreme
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9. Speed Differentials: An Illustration
Coal Train 1 Passenger Train
Track A 50 mph 79 mph
Coal Train 2
50 mph Track B
44 miles
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10. Passenger Rail Reliability on Peninsula Subdivision
revolves around CSX coal volume
 The recent surge in export
coal was totally unanticipated
– Unprecedented year over
year growth from 2007 to
2008
 Followed decade-old trend of
significantly declining loads
– In 2006, NPN coal exports
dipped to their 3rd lowest
level in 25 years
– Accordingly, planners
programmed scarce capital
maintenance dollars for
other, more needy areas
(More on this later)
3rd Lowest 4th Highest
in 25 Years in 25 Years
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11. Congestion in Richmond needs to be addressed to
ensure reliable service to the Peninsula
 Conflicting routes
– North-South:
Intermodal, merchandise, unit,
and passenger trains
– West-East-West:
Coal moves between Clifton
Forge & Newport News;
returning empties via BBRR
– West-South:
Coal moves between Clifton
Forge and Wheelwright/Hopewell
– West-North:
Coal moves between Clifton
Forge and RF&P destinations
 Grain run-arounds at Fulton Yard
 Turning locomotives at AY
 Industrial switching
 Amtrak moves over SAY
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12. Passenger service between Richmond Staples Mill Station and Newport
News has significant issues. The key to improving performance and
adding more Amtrak service is to reduce the potential conflict locations
 Richmond Terminal
— Acca
— Fulton
 Peninsula Subdivision
 Newport News Terminal
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13. Acca Yard Passenger movements today have conflict areas
 Currently a single track route by Acca
 Crosses flow at AY
 Single track Bellwood Sub – Rivanna
Connection route
 New East Side Acca Bypass
 Double Track Bellwood Sub – Rivanna Sub
Connection Route
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14. Fulton Yard Area passenger movements offer similar
challenges
 Main on north side of
the yard is operated
under ABS Rule 251
Egypt to R Cabin
 New 3rd Main to be
constructed between
R Cabin and Beulah
•New 3rd Main
 Parallel movement for:
– Newport News and
Fulton turn trains
– BBRR/Clifton
Forge bound trains
– Amtrak trains
 Tide / Passenger
 BBRR / Passenger
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15. Potential Peninsula Sub conventional rail improvements include
new sections of double track and universal crossovers
New Univ. Crossovers
 Double Track connecting Newport News Terminal to
Oriana with new universals at Hampton Roads and
Oriana– provides 25 miles of continuous DT to Toppings.
 A new DT segment at White Oak with center universal
crossover.
 Universal crossovers added to the Norge – Diana DT
segment.
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16. The focus in Newport News is to eliminate the interaction
between coal and passenger movements
 Today, Amtrak passengers detrain on the south side of the terminal
 Equipment must be repositioned to the north side for storage
 The proposed configuration redirects all passenger activity to the
northern side of the property
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17. Guidelines for Partnerships to Expand Co-Mingled Freight
and Passenger Rail
 Access to host railroad track and property must be negotiated
between the parties on a voluntary basis
 Designing for safety is paramount and separate tracks will be
needed to segregate freight and conventional passenger rail from
high speed rail at sustained speeds in excess of 90 mph
 Service to rail freight customers must be reliable and protected and
cannot be compromised; adequate capacity must be maintained
and, in some cases, built to address future freight growth
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18. Guidelines for Partnerships to Expand Co-Mingled Freight
and Passenger Rail
 New infrastructure design must fully protect the host railroad’s
ability to serve its existing customers, both passenger and freight,
and locate future new freight customers on its lines
 Host railroads must be adequately compensated, especially in
regard to the significantly higher maintenance cost associated with
enhanced track infrastructure that will be required for high speed
rail
 Host freight railroads need to be fully protected against any and all
liability that would not have resulted but for the added presence of
high speed passenger rail service
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