Making the Most of MRSI

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Making the Most of MRSI

• 2006 Midwest Regional Shortline Railroad Annual
  Conference
• July 17, 2006

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Our perspective Anacostia has five short line
railroad affiliates operating in six states

• Chicago S. Shore
• Louisville Indiana
• New York Atlantic
• Northern Lines Ry
• Pacific Harbor Line

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Anacostia Railroads2005 Aggregate Operational
Metrics

• Route miles 530
• Carload equivalents 700,000
• Average crew starts each day 50
• Employees 320
• Locomotives 60

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Chicago South Shore South Bend Railroad (CSS)
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CSS
6
Louisville Indiana Railroad (LIRC)
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LIRC
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New York Atlantic Railway (NYA)
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NYA
10
Northern Lines Railway, LLC (NLR)
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NLR
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Pacific Harbor Line, Inc. (PHL)
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PHL
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Anacostia 2006 Capital Projects

• Acquisition of 16 new EPA Tier 2 locomotives
  22 million (PHL)
• Acquisition of 100 new freight cars for coil
  steel loading 8. 5 million (CSS)
• Acquire locomotive speed control devices 400k
  (NYA)
• Track upgrade programs 8 million plus (various)
  

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Use of public assistance programs

• PHL tier 2 locomotives cost sharing with
  POLA,POLB, AQMD
• NYA track upgrades one time grant from Port
  Authority of NYNJ to improve state-owned track
• LIRC track periodic 200k grants from INDOT

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Effective State Rail Assistance Programs?

• Anacostia affiliates operate in 5 states
• California no program
• Illinois rail freight loan program funded by
  repayment-program underfunded in recent years
• Indiana small grant program-1.2 million per
  year
• Minnesota MRSI
• New York Class based using state dedicated
  funds. Shortlines received 15M in fiscal 05-06

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No Funding for Rail Assistance Programs

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Idaho

• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Missouri
• Nevada
• South Carolina
• Wyoming

Draft Report of State Rail Agencies Throughout
the United States - October 2005 Virginia Dept.
of Rail and Public Transportation
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Neighboring State Programs

• North Dakota
• State Freight Rail Improvement Program
• Low Interest Loans approximately 6M available
  to Class II and others in revolving loan account

• South Dakota
• Rehabilitation
• any projects that are proposed must be paid for
  by the railroad company operating on the line.
  The state does not have funding itself to
  participate in costs of rehabilitation
• SDDOT website
• Industrial Track Expansion
• State of South Dakota has participated in
  helping some elevators with track expansion
  through small loans from the Railroad Trust
  Fund.
• SDDOT website

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Other State Program Highlights

• Michigan
• Michigan Rail Loan Assistance Program (MiRLAP)
• Non-interest bearing loans with repayment up to
  10 years.
• Revolving fund with anticipated 1.8M available
  for 2006.
• Freight Preservation . Economic Development
• Grants / loans for business development or
  expansion and preservation of State owned rail
  (700 miles)
• 3M in 2006

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Connect Oregon

• New program in Oregon replacing the Shortline
  Infrastructure Program (2M biennial) and
  Industrial Rail Spur Fund (8M one time) designed
  to connect industry to rail
• First major funding initiative targeted at
  multi-modal or non-highway transportation
• 100M available to non-highway transportation
  only - air, rail, marine or transit
• Grant / loan program grant recipients must
  provide at least 20 matching funds, loan
  repayments treated on a case-by-case basis
• Funded by Lottery backed bonds

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Connect Oregon cont.

• State divided into 5 regions geographic
  grouping of counties
• 15 of funds must be allocated to each of the
  regions
• 75 of funds will be distributed regionally
• Projects eligible for highway funds are not
  eligible for Connect Oregon

• Eligibility
• Reduces transportation costs
• Benefits or connects two or more modes
• Critical link to statewide or regional system
• How much cost can be born by applicant
• Whether it creates permanent jobs
• Ready for construction

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Connect Oregon cont.

• Project Awards for Connect Oregon will be
  announced Wednesday July 19th here is a
  preview
• Central Oregon Pacific - new yard, Coos Bay
  Drawbridge repair, Portland Western - new yard
  and Hillsboro Subdivision 286 upgrade, Willamette
  Valley - 286 upgrade, Port of Portland - Ramsey
  Yard upgrade, City of Prineville Railroad -
  reload center, Union Pacific - Hinkle Yard
  upgrade, Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad -
  upgrade 20 miles
• Total of 39.2M directly allocated to rail, with
  additional money for marine/rail projects
• Partial source TEA-LU!!!

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Range of program fund uses

• Acquisition
• Basic maintenance
• Catastrophic response (eg flood)
• Upgrade (eg 286, track class change)
• New customer links
• Safety, environmental, community mitigation
• Capacity enhancement
• Customer relocation

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Public benefits of rail investment

• Job creation/retention
• Economic development
• Passenger corridor preservation
• Reduction of truck congestion
• Reduction of transportation costs
• Avoidance of other public transportation
  expenditures
• Safety, environmental, community impact
  mitigation

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Ranking criteria

• Cost per job created/saved
• Private funds match
• Local government unit funds match
• Loan vs. grant
• Terms of loan
• In MPO plan or regional growth corridor
• Ownership of recipient

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Key issues

• Transparency
• Multi-year planning
• Tie to future land use
• Future capacity vs. ad hoc response
• Need vs. value

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Observations

• Assistance programs strongly tilt toward public
  applicants
• Objectives of programs vary substantially (e.g.
  prop up failing rr attract new customers air
  quality/passenger benefits support 286 cars,
  etc)
• Mid to long term capacity, congestion land use
  and industrial development issues largely
  unaddressed

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What can we do to Make the Most of the Minnesota
Rail Service Improvement Program?