(The following story appeared on the Chattanooga Times/Free Press website on March 25.)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A $2 billion project aimed at taking freight off tractor-trailers and putting it on rail could mean faster, longer trains barreling through North Georgia and the Tennessee Valley.
Virginia-based railroad company Norfolk Southern has made proposals to several states for a public-private partnership that would improve its rail lines from Newark, N.J., to New Orleans, spokesman Rob Chapman said. The line is called the “Crescent Corridor,” he said.
The improvements include new freight terminals in Maryland and East Tennessee, more passing lanes and stretches of double track along the thousands of miles of rails the company owns, he said.
Company officials estimate the expanded rail capacity would carry the equivalent of 1 million tractor-trailer loads, which could reduce the number of trucks on highways.
In the region, the project would affect rail lines from Knoxville to Chattanooga to Atlanta, and the Chattanooga-to-Birmingham line.
Mr. Chapman said railroad officials have spoken with Tennessee officials. No timeline has been set on contacting Georgia, he said.
“We will be contacting the various states within the next few months,” Mr. Chapman said.
Norfolk Southern officials set a completion date of 2013, he said, but that depends on whether states get on board with the public-private partnership. The company plans to improve the rail lines even if it has to pay for all the improvements, he said.
“It would slow down its completion,” Mr. Chapman said. “It wouldn’t stop it. If the states come up with the funding, it will happen faster.”
STATE PROPOSALS
Georgia Department of Transportation officials said last week they had not received a proposal and did not want to speculate on cost or impact of rail line improvements.
Ed Cole, chief of environment and planning for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, said Norfolk Southern officials met with Tennessee officials, including Gov. Phil Bredesen, last year.
Mr. Cole said a TDOT study last year of Interstates 40 and 81 included the effect on those highways of improving the Crescent Corridor.
He said the study showed partnering with a rail line would be a wise investment of taxpayer dollars. Details will be released next month, Mr. Cole said.
“It’s a very, very favorable cost ratio for investing into freight,” he said.
A study of Interstate 75 that is to begin this summer also will look at the costs and benefits of a public-private partnership, Mr. Cole said.
Tennessee has not committed to the project and Norfolk Southern knows no money has been budgeted for it, he said.
Lydia Lenker, Gov. Bredesen’s spokeswoman, said the meeting between the governor and Norfolk Southern was a courtesy meeting. She referred all questions to TDOT.
SAFETY CONCERNS
Improvements to the Crescent Corridor started in January along I-81 in Virginia, according to Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation records. Virginia agreed to pay $40 million, while Norfolk Southern will spend $17 million, records show.
Georgia state Sen. Jeff Mullis, who is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said the state would be in favor of talking to Norfolk Southern. But the Chickamauga Republican said the project should depend on private money.
“If Georgia is involved, it would need to be more money from the private sector and less from the public sector,” Sen. Mullis said. “That’s the way it works here in Georgia.”
Tennessee House and Senate transportation committee officials could not be reached for comment Monday.
Mr. Cole said safety concerns will be part of negotiations.
“Part of their improvements call for longer trains at faster speeds,” Mr. Cole said. “We’ll be talking about upgrades at crossings. It absolutely has to be part of it.”
Trip Pollard, director of transportation for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said he has questions. He wants to know how safe is the technology being used, how much environmental impact the rail could have and how much public money Norfolk Southern expects.
Roads and rail have their risks, he said.
“There’s the safety crossings for the rail, but there’s the safety of so many trucks on the road,” he said. “It needs to be studied.”