Virginia s Approach to Intercity Passenger Rail Development

Transcription

1 Virginia s Approach to Intercity Passenger Rail Development Kevin B. Page Chief Operating Officer Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation June 14,

2 High Speed Rail Map 2

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4 What do These Map Segments Represent for Virginia? Richmond to Washington, D.C. $1.8B MAS 90 MPH Richmond to Hampton Roads $.5B MAS 90 MPH Richmond to Raleigh $2.4B cost, $1.3B in VA MAS 110 MPH 4

5 State Rail Agency Challenges Balancing the perception of what should be achieved with the reality of what can be achieved. Wait for the federal program or go it alone. Advancing intercity passenger rail incrementally utilizing limited state resources while continuing project readiness in preparation for a sustainable federal program for high speed intercity passenger rail development Retaining existing regional intercity passenger rail in the advent of PRIIA Section 209 Virginia is one of a small handful of states that appear ready for October 2013 implementation 5

6 System Mileage Virginia Highway and Rail Miles Competition or Part of an Overall Transportation System? 80,000 70,000 69,114 60,000 57,865 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10, ,191 4,395 3,929 3, Rail Miles Highway Miles 6

7 Virginia Gets It Virginia s Passenger and Freight Rail System is perceived as an integral part of the Commonwealth s Transportation System Virginia has some of the most innovative codified rail funding programs in the United States 1987 Rail Industrial Access Fund 2005 Rail Enhancement Fund 2007 Rail Preservation and Development Fund 2011 Intercity Passenger Rail Operating and Capital Fund Virginia initiated intercity passenger rail service starts 2009 Lynchburg 2010 Richmond 2012 Norfolk Within 4 years Roanoke Within 10 years Trains 2 and 3 Norfolk Through the support of the State Legislature and the Administration, DRPT continues to position Virginia to achieve a greater vision on passenger and freight rail development. 7

8 DRPT Legislative Actions HB1828 Codifies the Supreme Court decision that a state s rail system does provide a highway benefit Authorizes the Department of Rail and Public Transportation to acquire and hold title to land for constructing rail infrastructure Currently DRPT may lease, construct and improve rail infrastructure, but is not expressly authorized to own rail infrastructure. This legislation adds the authority for DRPT to hold title to abandoned rail way and to preserve it for future rail development. 8

9 DRPT Legislative Actions HB2152 Requires that the Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board or his designee to be counted for a quorum on Transportation District Commissions Ensures that both the Chairman and the legislative members have a vote on those commissions. Also gives the Chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board or his designee equal voting weight on the Virginia Railway Express. In any year that the Commonwealth contributes as much or more as the largest local contributor, Virginia will receive the same voting weight as that jurisdiction. Effective on July 1,

10 Transportation Funding Bill HB2313 Impact to DRPT $300 million for the Dulles Metrorail Corridor Extension Designated revenue source for Intercity Passenger Rail Operating and Capital Fund (IPROC) Approx. $44.3M in the first year Operating funds for continued and expanded Intercity Passenger Rail Service Extension of passenger train service to Roanoke Addition of trains 2 & 3 for Norfolk-Washington route Capital funds for Intercity Passenger Rail Projects Track Performance Improvements» Newport News-Richmond» Richmond-Washington Increase of transit funding Approximately $66.5M in the first year Funding - 3% statewide sales tax increase and increased MTTF dollars from the TTF 10

11 Virginia Rail System Two passenger rail operators Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express Eleven freight railroads Two national Class I Railroads: Norfolk Southern and CSX Nine local shortline railroads 11

12 Corridor Passenger and Freight Rail Initiatives 12

13 Shortline Initiatives Rail Preservation and Development Program 9 shortlines in VA Provide last mile service Maintain FRA class 2 standards safety, signaling and reliability 13

14 Passenger Rail Service In Virginia Present and Future Amtrak VA Lynchburg, Richmond/Norfolk Amtrak Regional 2 Newport News, 2 Richmond All go into Northeast Corridor All same seat to Boston Amtrak Long Distance Cardinal, Crescent, Carolinian, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star Auto Train 14

15 Virginia Regional Amtrak Passenger Service Projected Population Areas 15

16 State Sponsored Conventional Speed Train Service Lynchburg Service 2009 Richmond Service 2010 Next Stop Roanoke! Norfolk Service

17 Set the Vision and Show How to Get There States Need a Rail Plan and a Resource Allocation Plan Virginia s Rail Plan is accompanied by a Resource Allocation Plan Rail Plans need a vision of greater than the Six Year Improvement Program Constrained Six Year Program longer range vision plan of projects 17

18 Amtrak Virginia Near Future - 1 Lynchburg train extended to Roanoke (approx ) - 2 Richmond trains extended to Norfolk (approx. 2022) Amtrak Virginia Future - 1 new train to Lynchburg - 1 Roanoke train extended to Bristol - 1 Lynchburg train extended to Roanoke - 1 new train Richmond to Lynchburg Richmond to Hampton Roads Passenger Rail 1 new to Newport News + 6 total Norfolk from Richmond SEHSR 4 new trains DC to Raleigh Virginia State Rail Plan Intercity Passenger Rail 18

19 Virginia s Second Path Federal Funding In order to achieve the vision for higher speed passenger rail in Virginia, a strong federal participation is necessary, but comes with requirements: Lengthy federal environmental process can require more than eight years to complete Performance requirements are difficult to achieve without full funding for corridor-wide improvements Opportunities to apply for funding limited and may not coincide with planning/construction phases State-funded projects can advance faster, but not sufficient state funding available to meet all needs 19

20 Federal High Speed Rail Projects 20 20

21 Federal HSR Planning Process- Richmond Area to Washington, D.C. $45.5M in federal FY2010 high speed rail funds to advance environmental study and infrastructure improvements for entire corridor. $44.3M Richmond Area to Washington, D.C. Preliminary Engineering and Tier II EIS Agreement finalized with FRA on October 1, DRPT s GEC GPC consultant process being finalized. Total anticipated project cost of $55.4M CSX and DRPT will provide $11.1M match ~ 96 Month Project. $1.2M Appomattox River Bridge design Funds returned to FRA December 5, CSX and DRPT agree on improvements between Richmond and Petersburg for near/mid term capacity improvements to Norfolk. 21

22 Federal HSR Planning Process- Richmond Area to Potomac River Segment RAPS Tier II EIS 110 mile segment Extends from junction of CSX A-Line and CSX S-Line at Centralia (MP A-11) northward via the S-Line through Richmond's Main Street Station. Rejoins A-Line near Staples Mill Station. Extends northward along the CSX Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Subdivision (RF&P) to Control Point RO in Arlington (MP CFP-110). Also includes the following improvement areas: - CSX Peninsula Subdivision in the Richmond area between AM Junction and Beulah to the east. - Buckingham Branch Railroad from AM Junction to Ruffin. 22

23 Richmond Area Passenger Rail Map Amtrak Station (Staples Mill) CSX Line to Washington, DC CSXT Acca Freight Yard (Rail Chokepoint) Capacity Constrained Dual Single Track Sections Buckingham Branch Railroad Amtrak Station (Main Street) A Line Current Amtrak Route S Line to Centralia to Main St. Station CSX Line to Newport News Current Amtrak Route 23

24 Virginia-North Carolina Interstate High-Speed Rail Compact Established in 1994 in VA by SB and in NC by NC General Statutes - Chapter 136 Article Made up of ten members of the VA and NC legislature To study, develop, and promote a plan for the design, construction, financing, and operation of interstate high-speed rail service through and between points in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of North Carolina and adjacent states To coordinate efforts to establish high-speed rail service at the federal, state, and local governmental levels To advocate for federal funding to support the establishment of highspeed interstate rail service within and through Virginia and North Carolina and to receive federal funds made available for rail development 24

25 Richmond to Raleigh Tier II EIS Current Status - DRPT and NCDOT continue to advance work on the Richmond to Raleigh Tier II EIS Completing Project Update Meetings in areas with revised roadwork designs DRPT has accommodated the third track alignment for high speed rail operations as a part of the Collier Connection alignment for the Norfolk train service extension Early Complete Tier II Final EIS Summer Record of Decision, Conduct Public Hearings Before SEHSR service is to begin, significant track capacity improvements must be made between Raleigh and Washington, D.C. 25

26 Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) Complete Environmental and Design Track improvements on existing segments 1. Richmond, VA to Washington, DC Petersburg, VA to Richmond, VA 2. Petersburg, VA to Norfolk, VA* 3. Petersburg to Raleigh, NC Subject to funding Coordinate with FRA Amtrak Railroads Local Governments Property Owners Next Steps *Advancing under Hampton Roads EIS 26

27 Points of Discussion for Passenger Rail Development What is the policy for passenger rail development in Virginia? Affordability of conventional incremental service development VS high speed rail development State Program Good working relationship with both NS and CSX with Framework Agreements in place Incremental State service can be implemented quickly Track capacity is achieved through agreements, service is operated by Amtrak under Amtrak s access and performance agreements already in place Federal Program 20% capital match to FRA grants, 20 year Maintenance of Project Commitment, 20 year commitment to fund additional service operations, Corridor Service Development Programs VS individual projects (commitment to build entire corridor VS segments) Risk/Payback - Performance payback (on time performance), loss of passenger service payback (all Amtrak service ceases), and failure to provide additional service payback (additional trains committed) 27

28 Points of Discussion for Passenger Rail Development (Continued) Need for a National Rail Plan Guiding principles on defining passenger and freight rail development High speed intercity passenger rail and at what speed is it co-mingled with freight as high capacity corridors or right-of-way of its own? What is the federal role and participation both in planning and function? What is the definition of the SEHSR Corridor? Washington, D.C. to Charlotte with extension to Norfolk Do we stop here? 1994 MOU goes to Florida Sequencing of individual projects and who will pay for the improvements? (assuming Raleigh-Charlotte is fully funded) Washington, D.C. to Richmond Area Richmond Area to Petersburg and Norfolk Petersburg to Raleigh 28

29 Key Points Regarding Funding Virginia is competing nationally for federal funds but has some advantages: Framework agreements in place with railroads Agreement with Amtrak for state sponsored passenger rail service State funding program for rail capital projects Multi-state agreements in place VA High Speed Rail Corridor program links the Northeast Corridor to the south and demonstrates how the ARRA creates both short- and long-term outcomes and benefits Close working relationship with CSX, NS, VRE, Amtrak and FRA to develop key projects Local and Regional Governments will need to work to develop new station facilities though use of local, regional, and federal funding sources 29

30 Thank You! 30