(The following story by Laura Oleniacz appeared on The Winchester Star website on September 4.)
BERRYVILLE, Va. — Residents questioned Norfolk Southern Corp. representatives Thursday during a meeting to explain the company’s plans for rail expansion in Clarke County.
“More trains going through a town whose crossings are not secured is a safety issue,” said Erika Kelbe, a member of the Boyce Planning Commission and Town Council.
About 55 Boyce, Berryville, and county residents gathered at the John H. Enders Fire and Rescue Company’s social hall to learn about Norfolk Southern’s plans to increase capacity for intermodal freight — items that can be transferred from trucks to trains — on its 2,500-mile Crescent Corridor.
The $2.5 billion plan, announced in 2007, also aims to decrease road truck traffic.
The corridor is a rail network between New Orleans and northern New Jersey, Bill Schafer, director of strategic planning for Norfolk Southern, said in an interview after the meeting.
When the improvements are complete, the Crescent Corridor could take more than one million trucks off the roads, he said, and 30 percent of truck traffic off Interstate 81.
The company is hoping to capture the business of long-haul trucks traveling more than 500 miles from the Southeast to the Northeast, Schafer said. “It’s an underserved market today by railroads.”
The company needs to operate more reliably in order to attract that business, and currently, just 75 percent of the company’s intermodal trains operate on time, he said.
Locally, Norfolk Southern’s plans will involve the installation of double tracks five miles north of Front Royal.
In addition, the company will expand a Berryville passing siding by 5,300 feet next year, bringing the siding to 11,000 feet in length, Schafer said.
A passing siding is a track that allows a train to stop temporarily while another passes.
The increased trains and speeds will also affect Clarke County and its two incorporated towns.
The expansion will increase traffic by 10 to 20 trains on the network daily, Schafer said.
At present, about 15 to 20 trains travel north of Front Royal on the Shenandoah Valley line, he said.
Outside Berryville, the trains could see an increase in speed of 10 mph, up to 60 mph, for intermodal trains.
Gary Pope, president of the Clarke County Fire and Rescue Association, asked if additional safety upgrades — such as gates at railroad crossings — would be made.
“And basically, the answer was no,” he said after the meeting.
Incidents at railroad crossings, such as an ambulance being hit by a crossing arm, prompted the question, Pope said.
County resident V.T. Kruza asked if the increased rail capacity will mean additional commuter transportation. “I think it’s a very important thing, and something we have to think about in the future.”
Schafer said Norfolk Southern is discussing extending the Virginia Railway Express commuter train 11 miles west to Haymarket.
“I’m not aware of any passenger discussions any time or anywhere in the future west of Haymarket,” he added.
Other residents asked about the company’s communications in emergency situations, and others about the likelihood of its use of eminent domain to obtain land needed for the project.
As for Boyce, a town whose origins are tied to railroad expansion — it sprang up when a crossing was established around 1880 at Main Street, according to Frank R. Scheer, curator of the Railway Mail Service Library Inc. — officials voiced concerns about the additional train traffic.
Mayor Franklin Roberts asked if efforts will be made to lessen noise pollution with the increased trains.
Schafer recommended that the town government implement a quiet zone, limiting noise from train whistles at railroad crossings.
Boyce officials have discussed mitigating noise pollution by establishing such a zone, but the hefty cost of the additional safety measures needed is outside the town’s budget.
Schafer said he would relay the residents’ concerns to Department of Rail and Public Transportation officials.