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J group of Iowa short line ailroads is still trying to ebuild from devastating une floods, and looking for money beyond $4 million in no-interest loans that the state awarded for in-line track work.
“More than 400 miles of rail were damaged as a result of flooding,” Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said recently, “and it is important that we do whatever we can to fully restore rail service as quickly as possible.”
Iowa’s Department of Transportation estimated damages to Iowa’s short lines and regional carriers’ infrastructure inside the state at well above $20 million, and perhaps triple that amount for the big Class I carriers.
But while the Class I’s have large engineering and repair units that can quickly target damaged lines, and pockets deep enough to cover the costs, short lines often have to scramble to pay for heavy damages.
In Iowa, a number of short lines are facing big-ticket costs to replace bridges torn off their piers or twisted out of use by the torrents, besides the cost of shoring up and clearing off their flood-swept mainline tracks.
So IDOT and the Iowa Railway Finance Authority set aside the $4 million to help seven smaller railroads rebuild with no-charge, 15-year loans. That money came from a rail revolving loan pool normally used to build rail spurs for economic development.
IRFA officials retooled their program to provide immediate relief, partly by sending out checks for eligible costs even before the work is completed.
Those loans, though, were targeted specifically for repairs to regular tracks, said Tammy Nicholson, director of IDOT’s Office of Rail Transportation. They did not cover train signaling or any
RAILROAD AMOUNT Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad ....$1.417 million Iowa Interstate Railroad .....................................$772,000 Iowa Northern Railway..........................................$681,000 Keokuk Junction Railway.....................................$554,000 Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway.............$320,000 Iowa River Railroad.................................................$184,000 Burlington Junction Railway ................................ $71,000
Source: IDOT, IRFA
of the numerous rail bridges that were destroyed or structurally damaged.
“At this time we do not have any additional funding source” for those other rail needs, Nicholson said. “We are of course supportive of any funding that would be available.”
IDOT figures at least 17 rail bridges were no longer usable as the flood waters receded, because they were either “totally or partially washed away.”
Rail officials peg the replacement cost of a lost bridge at Waterloo, Iowa, around $6 million, while another at Cedar Rapids
could top $8 million. Carriers say it may be well into 2009 before all the rail sections are back in operation.
Congress was considering some extra funding help in a broad supplemental spending bill, but did not get it done before an August recess and may try again next month. Some members of Congress from Iowa also want to create disaster-response loans from an existing Federal Railroad Administration rail infrastructure finance program. Their plan would put bridge repair applications on a fast track if the damage was from natural disasters, with very low fees and easier repayment terms.
One industry source said the plan was to attach that measure to the same funding bill that awaits action when Congress returns in September.
Meanwhile, railroads tapping the emergency Iowa loans will not have to start repaying that money until 2011, which helps the lines protect their cash flow while they try to restore revenue service in the meantime.
But those that still face bridge outages or other long-term holes in their track systems have to shift some of their traffic onto other railroads.
Norfolk Southern’s big Heartland Corridor intermodal project got a timely boost as Virginia officials said it can start building a new terminal at Elliston, Va., near Roanoke.
That decision clears up the location for the last of three container transfer facilities for the 1,100-mile corridor, which will improve height clearances so double-stack trains can move on a time-saving direct angle from ocean ports near Norfolk to the Midwest freight hub of Columbus, Ohio, and on to Chicago.
In March, NS opened its new Rickenbacker terminal near Columbus. West Virginia plans to develop one at the town of Prichard, and Virginia will help develop the Roanoke Region Intermodal Facility at Elliston.
The carrier has also begun rebuilding 28 train tunnels along the route to fit the higher-clearance stack trains, mostly with federal funds.
An NS spokesman said crews have already modified three tunnels this year in Virginia, and are working on another there and eight more in West Virginia. Later projects will tackle 16 more tunnels, in time for the double-stack trains to be running by early 2010.
Roanoke, a commercial center in southwestern Virginia, sits on Interstate 81 along a major truck route between the Southeast and Northeast. NS is developing a separate Crescent Corridor intermodal route that would also pass through Norfolk, so the planned terminal there might eventually serve north-south freight as well as east-west traffic.
The Heartland Corridor is expected to cut more than a day off the shipping time for intermodal trains moving from Virginia ports to Chicago.
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