Tulsa to Oklahoma City: A Public-Private Partnership Final Report to the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force November, 2012

Transcription

1 Tulsa to Oklahoma City: A Public-Private Partnership Final Report to the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force November, 2012 Tulsa Advisory Committee to the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force

2 HISTORY 3 PURPOSE 3 PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.. 3 THE SOONER SUBDIVISION RAIL LINE... 3 Rail Line Alternatives Incremental Development... 4 PROBABLE CONSTRUCTION COSTS... 5 PASSENGER RAIL BENEFITS... 5 General Benefits... 5 Continuing Challenges... 5 OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER... 6 Impacts of Shared Freight Use... 6 Engineering Considerations 6 Need for Leadership Suggestions... 8 ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

3 HISTORY The Tulsa City Council established the Advisory Committee to the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force (also known as the Tulsa Rail Advisory Committee) on August 18, This advisory committee is composed of eighteen members; all nine Tulsa City Councilors and nine volunteer members appointed by the Tulsa City Council. Tulsa s Rail Advisory Committee is charged with offering reports to the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force and offering assistance and information as requested by the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force. The members of this Committee would like to express their sincere appreciation to both the Tulsa City Council and members of the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force for the opportunity to participate in this effort. We especially appreciate the way Oklahoma's two largest cities have been able to fully, enthusiastically, and productively collaborate in this effort. PURPOSE We believe that the purpose of the State Task Force and the Tulsa Rail Advisory Committee is to promote passenger rail service between Tulsa and Oklahoma City as quickly as possible. Once service is established, we believe that its success will generate additional interest and development. We hope that the Governor, the Oklahoma State Legislature and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation will provide the essential leadership and direction to accomplish this purpose. PUBLIC- PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP We also believe that the best way to accomplish this purpose is through a combination of public and private investments. These arrangements could take the form of what are called "Public- Private Partnerships" but could also be achieved through the use of traditional contracting procedures. Tulsa s Rail Advisory Committee favors a project which emphasizes public sector investment in publicly-owned infrastructure and stationary features while looking to private industry to provide rolling stock, equipment and operations at its own risk and expense. Operating subsidies should be minimized or avoided if possible. This is the accepted and successful financial model for all other forms of transportation development in the United States. THE SOONER SUBDIVISION RAIL LINE The State of Oklahoma owns this rail line between Oklahoma City and Sapulpa. Historically, 3

4 the line provided passenger service between Tulsa and Oklahoma City until This line was purchased by the state in 1998 in order to protect future rail interests between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The remainder of the line, between Sapulpa and Tulsa, is owned by the Burlington, Northern, Santa Fe Railway.. The Sooner Subdivision line is currently maintained as an FRA Class 2 line (25-30 mph) and has become a rail-based-pipeline-substitute for oil originating in the North Dakota area. This freight operation is conducted by the Stillwater Central Railroad under contract to the State of Oklahoma. The Stillwater Central Railroad is not opposed to shared use of this track. Their contract with the State of Oklahoma is up for renewal in June RAIL LINE ALTERNATIVES: The Oklahoma State Rail Plan and the working outline for the state's Corridor Investment Plan identify several potential rail alignments for service between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. All of these, except for the Sooner Sub alignment, require land acquisition in varying amounts and all would incur the expense of completely new construction. Each of these new alignments has its own set of advantages and disadvantages but the cost for any of them is very high and would likely amount to over a billion dollars: By way of comparison, the Sooner Sub alignment is already owned by the state and would only require repairs and upgrades to permit efficient passenger service. That cost is likely to be measured at a hundred million dollars or more but is only a small fraction of the new construction cost that would come with any of the other alignments. The view of the Tulsa Rail Advisory Committee is that the logical and more affordable choice is to repair and upgrade the Sooner Subdivision track from Oklahoma City to Sapulpa, build a bypass track from Sapulpa to the Intermodal I 244 bridge in Tulsa and from there to the site of a central station as defined in the Downtown Area Master Plan. We would also favor construction of additional track or sidings as deemed necessary to facilitate shared freight operations on the line. INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT: The Tulsa Rail Advisory Committee believes that developing passenger rail service between our two cities should proceed in a phased and incremental way. We believe that the first phase of this development should provide for a multi-frequency operation each day with average speeds between Tulsa and Oklahoma City of about 50 mph and meeting federal safety standards for Track Class 4. We believe, based on nationwide passenger rail service operations, this is sufficient to establish adequate ridership and sufficient to allow a private sector operator to determine the most successful mix of equipment. speed, and amenities to attract travelers. This 4

5 also has the advantage of limiting immediate state investment and establishing the State of Oklahoma as a worthy and favored recipient of limited federal dollars. We believe that once such a service is established, it will rapidly grow in popularity and that a time will come when it makes sense to further upgrade the line to Class 5 which would permit maximum speeds of 90 mph. Even at this speed (which would produce a travel time of about 1 1/2 hours between the two cities) it is still possible to operate both freight and passenger services along the line. We base our opinions on successful efforts by other states to improve rail service in the same incremental manner. PROBABLE CONSTRUCTION COSTS: The Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force will report in some detail as to potential development costs and the Tulsa Rail Advisory Committee does not have the expertise or resources to develop detailed cost estimates for these alternatives. Based on our review of previous studies, however, and allowing for inflation in construction pricing, we believe that the Phase 1 public investment costs to permit conventional operations on the Sooner Sub are in the range of $90 million. Future upgrades to permit 90 mph maximum speeds could amount to another $130 million. Previous studies commissioned by the State, including for high speed rail, indicate a complete new line will cost 1 to 2 billion dollars, depending on choice of alignment. PASSENGER RAIL BENEFITS There are scores (if not hundreds) of studies that have attempted to quantify benefit-cost ratios for passenger rail service versus other means of transportation. Some of these studies focus primarily on "direct" benefits while others include many ways of evaluating intangible factors. We have attempted to state what we think are significant conclusions. General Benefits Route stops encourage nearby economic-commercial development Intra-interstate visitors bring additional revenues to communities Passenger rail provides improved mobility-impaired travel options Passenger rail is energy efficient and environmentally friendly Business travelers and families experience relaxed travel Safe, cyber-friendly, reliable, and comfortable mode of passenger travel. 5

6 There are some real economic benefits that the Heartland Flyer has brought to the communities along its route. The Texas Transportation Institute reported that Oklahoma and Texas realized an $18 million economic return on a combined investment of $3.95 million in There is no reason to believe that the communities along the Eastern Flyer route would not realize the same economic benefits 1. While passenger rail transportation systems are only one component of an overall transportation infrastructure, it must be understood that transportation systems generally are the lifeblood of economic development and success in every commercial market. It is also true that modern transportation system development requires decades to complete and a failure to make decisions today delays that development for many years to come. Continuing Challenges Freight interests need to be understood and accommodated. Conventional speed operation limits frequency of operation, and ridership. No passenger rail outlet beyond Tulsa is yet proposed for connection to the national system in Kansas City or St Louis in the immediate future. Thorough track and crossing condition assessment is needed for the Sooner Sub alignment. Construction Grade cost estimates are needed for each alternative. (to include Positive Train Control (PTC) costs which is a new federal requirement.) Updated ridership estimates and break-even cost analyses are needed for each alternative. OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER Impacts of Shared Freight Use Accommodating both passenger and freight needs on the same line is more difficult and complex than operating one type of service only. Passenger service generally requires scheduling priority throughout the system and there are limits on compatibility of track. The Federal Railroad Administration considers shared service on the same trackage to be feasible up to what is called Class 5 track. This class of track supports passenger train speeds up to 90 mph maximum and 1 Measuring the Benefits of Intercity Passenger Rail: A Study of the Heartland Flyer, Texas Transportation Institute, March,

7 freight speeds up to 80 mph. Beyond these speeds, shared service is not feasible. Shared service on this line would also require construction of additional sidings, and the installation of Positive Train Control on both passenger and freight locomotives. These issues are discussed in detail in the Carter-Burgess 2001 report. From the point of view of the Tulsa Advisory Committee, State ownership of this line is critical and goes beyond the Eastern Flyer Passenger Rail Development Task Force initiative. Returning route ownership to corporate railroad interests could result in its abandonment in the future. This is why we believe that the line should not be sold. Engineering Considerations The physical and engineering requirements to operate trains at 150 mph and above are unique and very, very expensive. Operations at that speed require track electrification and specially constructed rolling stock along with total grade separation and continuous barriers to completely "seal" the right-of-way from other vehicles, animals, people, etc. and extensive dispatching and speed controls. What the State should consider is "High PERFORMANCE Rail" as opposed to simply highspeed rail or nothing at all. If the Sooner Subdivision alignment discussed in this paper is completely unacceptable to the State, then at least an alternative should be considered for developing the Turnpike Alignment with appropriate horizontal and vertical alignments to accommodate future speed increases but usable in the near future for conventional speed trains or those that are slightly faster but can still operate within the boundaries of currently affordable technology. Need for Leadership From contacts and conversations with other state rail officials it is very apparent that the success of passenger rail initiatives are heavily dependent on state leadership. As a minimum, either the Governor or the State Department of Transportation chief executive (and hopefully, both) must take the lead in passenger rail development within a state. Additionally, the state legislature must be willing to support those leaders in providing a source of revenue to support the plan. Every state faces competing demands for support in just about every state function and taking on a new or additional challenge is very difficult. Nevertheless, the equation remains the same. If there is not a disciplined policy commitment and enthusiastic leadership on this subject from the state's senior leaders, no substantive progress is possible. 7

8 Suggestions 1. Consider Regional High-Speed Rail a 30-year State business objective. 2. Develop a phased plan for incremental Sooner Sub upgrades to maximum 90-mph Emerging High-Speed Rail Corridor service (FRA Class-5 track). 3. Commit to pass legislation that will end the Tulsa corridor communities 12 year wait to be included in the successful passenger rail reintroduction to south central Oklahoma 4. Commit to maintaining ownership of state-owned track. ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS Rick Westcott, Chairman Jeff Kos, Vice Chairman B. Geary Daniel Howard Andrew Lowe Jeanine Rhea David Russell Tom Verdel Councilor Jack Henderson Councilor Jeannie Cue Councilor David Patrick Councilor Blake Ewing Councilor Karen Gilbert Councilor Skip Steele Councilor Thomas Mansur Councilor Phil Lakin Councilor G.T. Bynum City Council Staff: Sarah Hummel SHummel@tulsacouncil.org (918)