(The following story by Mike Snyder and Samantha Levine appeared on the Houston Chronicle website on March 19.)
HOUSTON — Hope emerged on two fronts Friday for Houston residents fed up with the noise, inconvenience and danger posed by the freight trains that rumble through their neighborhoods.
In Houston, Gov. Rick Perry announced an agreement with Union Pacific Corp. to move an unspecified number of freight rail lines out of densely populated areas of the state’s major cities.
In Washington, Mayor Bill White said he had “accomplished a lot” in meetings with lawmakers and federal regulators aimed at cracking down on railroads that park long trains across intersections and next to people’s yards.
The developments came as welcome news to Cleola Williams, who lives in the First Ward area northwest of downtown.
“We live between two railroad tracks,” Williams said. “They don’t repair the track, and cars have gotten stuck in there. The better neighborhoods have flat tracks, but in our area we still have the same old raggedy tracks.”
Complaints about bumpy tracks as well as ear-splitting whistles, long waits at crossings and the risks of hazardous material spills are familiar to officials in Houston. Perry said such problems emerged as cities grew around rail lines built more than 100 years ago.
The issue caught White’s attention last year when a Union Pacific train blocked north Houston intersections for more than an hour, forcing pupils at McReynolds Middle School to crawl between rail cars to get to class on time.
This week, White met with several Houston-area members of Congress and federal transportation officials. Afterward, White singled out Union Pacific for blocking traffic with its trains.
“They just run a sloppy operation,” White said.
John Bromley, a Union Pacific spokesman, said the company is trying to address the problem.
“We have been trying very hard to pick out ‘hot zones,’ especially near schools where kids might crawl over or under” rail cars, he said. “Nobody wants that to happen.”
Perry praised Union Pacific for its willingness to work with the state. Perry and Richard Davidson, the chief executive officer of Union Pacific, said the agreement they signed Friday marks the first time any state has partnered with a private rail company for such a project.
“The significance of this agreement and the impact it will have on our communities cannot be overstated,” Perry said. “This is a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership that will save lives.”
Local officials in Houston and other affected cities will work with the railroad to identify areas where relocation is feasible and mutually beneficial, Perry said. Perry and Davidson said the project would be lengthy and costly.
The agreement calls for the state and Union Pacific to share the costs of each project in proportion to the benefits each would receive.
Relocation will help the railroad by enabling it to move its goods to their destinations faster, Perry and Davidson said.
In January, the Texas Department of Transportation said it would seek $100 million from the Legislature this year for rail relocation projects.
Texas has more rail crossings than any other state and consistently leads the nation in vehicle-train collisions. More than 5,500 people have been injured or killed in such accidents since 1984, Perry said.
In addition to reducing accidents, Perry said, relocations could free up rights of way for commuter rail or new roads and highways. Texas Transportation Commissioner Robert Nichols, who appeared with Perry and Davidson, said some tracks could be used for commuter rail during certain hours and carry freight at other times.
Although it’s unclear when any rail relocations might begin, White said the city is taking steps now to ease the effects of trains on neighborhoods.
The city will install 20 cameras at troublesome intersections and link them to the traffic control center at Houston TranStar and police dispatchers, White said.
Within a month, he said, the railroad dispatch center in Spring will get new software that will allow employees to pinpoint a train’s location when residents call in with complaints about blockages.
In his Washington meetings, White also discussed the establishment of “quiet zones” where added safety precautions at railroad crossings would eliminate the need for the trains to sound loud warning blasts.
Houston has more than 700 train crossings, and the dramatic increases in rail shipping over the past decade have made the howl of train horns a near-constant backdrop in some neighborhoods.
The quiet zone rules were supposed to take effect last December, but the effective date has been pushed to early this summer.
“I don’t like it,” White said of the delay. “It should have been done last year. But I am glad they haven’t backed off.”