(The following story by John Howell appeared on the Warwick Beacon website on March 26, 2009.)
WARWICK, R.I. — Directors of a national organization that closely follows and promotes rail passenger service have suggested that stimulus funds be used so that the state could benefit from a complete development of the intermodal facility.
Steven Musen, director at-large of the Rhode Island Association of Railroad Passengers and a representative to the national association, believes a Warwick railroad station would handle an additional 100,000 passengers annually if it were designed to accommodate Amtrak trains as well as Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority commuter service.
While the intermodal facility will have a station platform, Amtrak has no intention of stopping in Warwick at this time. One reason is that the siding for the platform will not be electrified. Amtrak trains are powered by electricity and MBTA trains use diesel-powered locomotives.
“We’re trying to get Amtrak to reconsider because we think it (Warwick) is a good potential market,” Musen said Tuesday in a telephone interview.
Musen doubts any of Amtrak’s eight daily high-speed Acela trains would use the stop if electrified, but he speculates Amtrak would open it up to regional service.
If Providence and Kingston stations are indicators, speculation that the Warwick station could experience significant traffic seem justified. Providence, which is ranked as the 17th largest market in the Amtrak system, serviced 608,417 passengers during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2008, an increase of 42,716 from the 2007 fiscal year. Kingston recorded 160,420 passengers in 2008, an increase of more than 10,000 from the prior year.
“One of the big pluses of the facility (the intermodal) is the consolidation of car rental facilities with rail,” says Ross Capon, president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers based in Washington. Typically, he said, car rentals are not in close proximity to railroad stations but rather are based at airports.
The rental car companies play a key role in the intermodal facility. Car storage and turnaround facilities will be based in one of the two buildings now taking shape to the west of Post Road. Those garages, which will also include parking for commuters using MBTA services, will be linked to the airport terminal via a skywalk with a moving sidewalk. Critical to the financing of the $266 million project are the customer facilities charges that people renting cars at the airport started paying several years ago and will continue to pay to offset financing and operational costs going forward.
But electrifying the siding is costly. Also, to become fully functional, the intermodal should have a second siding so that trains traveling north and south could use platforms simultaneously.
That complete build-out was projected at about $50 million when the intermodal was designed more than two years ago.
Stephen Devine of the Department of Transportation said yesterday, funding for further development of the intermodal might be available from $8 billion being set aside for high-speed rail nationwide. Guidelines for use of those funds have not been released. Also, Devine said at this point it appears less than $1 million of stimulus funds from the Federal Transit Administration would be available for the South County rail service, which means they could be spent for the intermodal or Wickford Junction. Devine doesn’t imagine construction of a second siding could be accomplished without extensive planning, land acquisition and possibly an environmental study.
Because of its high projected cost, plans for electrified sidings at the intermodal were never fully developed.
Amtrak was informed of the suggestion made by NARP.
“We are not inclined to comment on the matter at this time, and we do not have an estimate on what such construction would cost. Amtrak and RIDOT agreed several years ago to advance with Phase I Warwick construction, which is currently underway,” Amtrak spokesman Clifford Cole e-mailed in response.
Electrification of the single siding – actually what is known as the “third rail” for freight traffic – would be a first step to accommodating Amtrak trains.
Musen notes if the siding was electrified it would give Amtrak greater flexibility in the event it needed to close a section of its main rails or sideline a train because of traffic. Also, he observes, the intermodal would be prepared in the event MBTA electrifies its trains. An advantage to electric trains is that they reach top speed quicker than diesel locomotives thereby reducing travel times.
“Without Amtrak being able to stop you’re missing a piece of the puzzle,” Musen said of the intermodal facility.
From his reading of the act, Capon said, “the state has the ability to spend some of its stimulus highway funds for passenger and freight rail transportation.” He said that $27.5 billion is earmarked nationally for mass transit projects.
The intermodal is being designed to accommodate Amtrak service, however, since that isn’t envisioned for the foreseeable future build outs of an enclosed waiting room and ticket area are not being done at this time, Musen said. This means that commuters using MBTA services won’t have a waiting room.
That doesn’t concern Musen, who notes that between the covered walkway that will cross the tracks and corridors there should be ample space for commuters to seek shelter from inclement weather.