The American Public Transportation Association’s chief testified before congress but so did Jim Derwinski, CEO/executive director of Metra; Peter Rogoff, CEO of Sound Transit; and Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of Metrolink.
Derwinski said Metra, and the commuter rail industry, face two broad challenges: a lack of sustainable and consistent federal funding for operations and capital projects, and a “legacy” passenger rail system that must grow its service to meet increased demand but is constrained by several external forces.
“Capital funding to maintain and improve our aging system remains a constant challenge,” Derwinski testified. “However, our needs far exceed the level of funding available.”
Implementation of positive train control is expected to cost Metra more than $400 million, which is equal to the amount of federal formula funding Metra receives every 2½ years, Derwinski said. Furthermore, PTC operation and maintenance costs are expected to be between $15 million to $20 million a year with no current federal financial assistance available.
Derwinski also said that in recent years, “the concept of public convenience and necessity has been focused on the interests of the freight railroads and their customers and less on the interests of publicly funded commuter railroads.”
In addition, under federal law “certain preferences” have been given to Amtrak but those preferences have not been extended to publicly funded commuter railroads even though, in many cases, Amtrak, freight railroads and commuter railroads share the same tracks.
“Our current funding situation is unsustainable and threatens the future viability of the important service Metra, and commuter railroads across the country, provide regionally and nationally,” Derwinski testified. “Additionally, we would support federal efforts to modernize the passenger rail system, improve accountability at Amtrak, and create a more level playing field between all passenger rail operators.”
Rogoff said Sound Transit, the regional transit agency in Washington state’s Puget Sound region, is in the early planning stages to expand this service, both by increasing the capacity of trains and possibly boosting frequency of service during more hours of the day. But Sounder faces a key challenge in that it owns less than 10 percent of the tracks, with the majority owned by BNSF Railway and shared with other operators, such as Amtrak.
Rogoff, former Federal Transit Administrator from 2009 to 2014, called on Congress to enact several reforms as it makes authorization and funding decisions in the upcoming reauthorization cycle.
Wiggins, pointed out that Metrolink, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, was the first commuter rail operator in the nation to bring PTC technology online, and that its systems are now interoperable with PTC on tracks it shares with Union Pacific, BNSF, and Amtrak.
Wiggins said Metrolink has committed $250 million to develop and install PTC, and budgets $8 million to $10 million annually for recurring costs. In addition, the agency anticipates that an additional $50 million is necessary over the next 10 years for the continued evolution of the PTC system, she said.
On behalf of Metrolink, Wiggins outlined several funding recommendations, including providing full eligibility to the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program for commuter rail as a qualified applicant. Despite being regulated by the FRA, there are provisions within the program that limit project eligibility to corridors that provide intercity rail service. With this provision, only half of the Metrolink system qualifies to receive program funding, Wiggins testified.
Metrolink also calls for substantially more funding for critical railroad crossing and right-of-way improvements to deter trespassing and reduce railroad crossing incidents to keep people safe; and dedicated new funding for commuter rail in the surface transportation authorization bill that does not supplant existing funding sources.
U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., is chair of the U.S. House of Representatives committee covering railroads and ran Tuesday’s hearing with rail executives. His congressional district includes much of Metra’s territory, said it was imperative that commuter railroads have strong partnerships with freight railroads and Amtrak in order to provide reliable service.
“Unfortunately, in Chicago and other regions of the country, these partnerships are not always working as well as they should,” Lipinski said. “As the demand for commuter rail grows, there is a need to expand service. But as any member who has been involved in discussions between commuter and freight railroads over service expansion, I can tell you it is an arduous process that can take many years to add even a single additional train.”
