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DEVELOPMENTCOMMISSION
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http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Stu Nicholson
Date:
Panhandle Line
Commissioners Also Agree to Sponsor Study for New
Intermodal Rail Yard & Major Track Improvements
(
Several commissioners
expressed concern that the timing of a sale may not be good at a time when
funding for rail infrastructure at the federal level is unresolved. Commissioner Tom McOwen cited the attention
now being drawn to the nation’s need for better railroads in the wake of the
recent Gulf hurricanes and big increases in oil and gasoline prices. “This has drawn attention to the value of our
rail infrastructure and the fuel efficiency of moving more freight and people
by rail like no other time in our history. We have to be careful how we go
about doing anything that has to do with our rail infrastructure.”
“This subject has
pre-occupied the Commission and its staff for some time”, said Commission
Chairman James Betts, who asked for and received the motion to “postpone
indefinitely” the proposal to sell the rail line. In doing so, Betts said this decision does
not eliminate the future possibility of selling the line and recognized that
staff time in preparing a sale proposal has not been wasted.
“We now know better the value
of what we have in the Panhandle Line should this Commission decide at some
future point to reconsider a sale,” said ORDC Executive Director Jim
Seney.
“The hard work of the ORDC
staff will still be useful if that day comes.”
Seney pointed out that the line has not only shown a good return in
terms of growth of business and freight traffic, but holds significant value
for the future as a right of way as well for fiber-optics and broadband Internet
services. ORDC is also interested in the
line for possible future passenger rail service that could help create a
Pittsburgh-Columbus-Lima-Fort Wayne-Chicago route under its Ohio Hub regional
rail plan.
In other business,
Commissioners approved a motion for ORDC to act as the public sponsor for an
application by the CSX Railroad for a series of major track projects, making
possible a second major rail intermodal yard near
·
Construction of a 3.3-mile bypass around the CSX
Parson Avenue Yard in
·
Track improvements at
ORDC
staff told Commissioners it was necessary for ORDC to step up in support of
these projects, because the Transportation Review and Advisory Council (TRAC) requires a public body to act as a sponsor. In order to do so, the project planning must
also define how the public would benefit from such a project.
CSX has
applied to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s TRAC for partial funding of
a $36 million dollar series of projects, which could result in several public
benefits:
· Allow construction of a new CSX intermodal yard, which could help reduce both highway and rail traffic congestion.
· Allow CSX to vacate service on its North Corridor rail line, which is wanted by the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) as a right-of-way for a proposed light-rail commuter line.
·
Help eliminate some key railroad “bottlenecks”
in
· Enable the growth of economic development and job creation.
“These
are all possible benefits that must be studied and identified in detail,” said
ORDC Executive Director Jim Seney.
Citing a need to bring some balance into how transportation
infrastructure projects are developed and funded, Commissioner Tom McOwen said,
“We as a nation have already been subsidizing highways and aviation projects,
which compete with railroads. This would
be a positive step toward changing that picture.”
(The