(The following story by Xochitl Peña appeared on The Desert Sun website on April 11.)
COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. — A second set of railroad tracks is being laid from Palm Springs to Thermal in response to increased rail transportation across the southern United States.
Work on the Sunset Corridor, which runs 818 miles from the Los Angeles area to El Paso, started in 1997. But construction on the Coachella Valley portion began in January and is expected to last through the end of the year, Union Pacific Railroad officials said.
The railroad could not provide an exact figure on the cost of the project. However, spokeswoman Zoe Richmond said, “The investment is in the billions.”
The southern corridor is Union Pacific’s second-busiest line, with 51 trains traveling the corridor daily, Richmond said. Once the second track opens – as early as 2010 – traffic could increase up to 70 trains within the first year.
The new line will ease the flow of local and international goods across the country, reduce idling rail traffic when one train needs to pass another and provide an extra lifeline if an accident occurs.
But there is local concern that more rail traffic will mean more air pollution and increase the probability of accidents – like last month’s train derailment near Mecca. People nearby were evacuated from their homes and rail traffic screeched to a stop for a few days.
“The potential for disaster is much greater,” Indio City Councilman Mike Wilson said.
The way he sees it, more tracks means more air pollution with no local benefit.
Richmond countered that the second set of tracks will reduce air pollution.
Spurs, or sidings, can be found along the rail line now, usually near intersections. Trains will pull over on those to allow other engines by. But as they idle, they hold up vehicle traffic and worsen air quality, Richmond said.
Having two tracks will eliminate the need for trains to stop at intersections, she said.
“This will definitely allow for some growth without having to have that impact on congestion or traffic,” she said.
Richmond added that each train equals the capacity of 280 semi-trucks. With more companies using rail transportation, she said congestion on highways should ease as well.
Indio and Coachella are the only valley cities divided by the railroad tracks.
For that reason, each city has had to build bridges over the tracks. They also partnered on a $17.6 million bridge over tracks at Dillon Road and Avenue 48.
“You have seen an increase in rail movement in this area,” Coachella Mayor Eduardo Garcia said.
Richmond said local motorists will benefit from the second track with less wait time at crossings.
While the track will allow for more freight trains, passenger rail service is not expected to grow for now.
“It should improve on-time performance to the area. To somehow expand on current operations is not in the plans,” said Vernae Graham, Amtrak spokeswoman.