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Ralph - Here is a repost of the Mobile Register Article. I think it explains a few things. LC CSX rerouting proposal could cost Mobile jobs Freight trains coming from New Orleans would be sent north to Meridian and then to Montgomery, bypassing Mobile Saturday, April 29, 2006 By ANDREA JAMES Business Reporter CSX Transportation Inc. documents obtained Friday by the Press-Register reveal new details about a plan to abandon the railroad's Gulf Coast artery connecting New Orleans and Mobile -- a $765 million project that Mississippi lawmakers are pushing as part of hurricane recovery. Freight trains that now travel due east from New Orleans would instead be routed north to Meridian, Miss., and then hook a right into Montgomery, according to documents that CSX prepared for government officials. Upgrades on existing tracks and new infrastructure would make up more than half of the project's price tag. But the plan, which has become a target of Washington conservatives who want it eliminated from a growing emergency spending bill, could cost Mobile jobs. IPSCO Inc. has sent a letter to Alabama lawmakers expressing concern about the plan, said Greg Maindonald, vice president of operations services for the steelmaker, which has a mini-mill in north Mobile County that employs about 370 people. Losing the rail service would kill Mobile's chance for a pipe plant that could create 200 new jobs, he said. "If that rail line is abandoned, that would take Mobile out of our selection criteria for expansions," he said. "It's going to really hurt us." IPSCO said changes proposed by CSX at the urging of Mississippi's Republican senators, Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, would quadruple the distance trains have to travel to reach New Orleans from Mobile. The company ships up to 30,000 tons per month of heavy plate steel from its Mobile mill to New Orleans, where it is then routed to California or Texas, Maindonald said. Easy rail access to the west was a key reason that Lisle, Ill.-based IPSCO built the mill in Mobile, he said. "We're going to have to have about 100 more cars in our pool just to ship the material," Maindonald said. The current CSX route between New Orleans and Mobile hugs the Mississippi Gulf Coast, pushing trains through tourist towns and past lucrative casinos. Hurricane Katrina's storm surge destroyed about 100 miles of the coastal route on Aug. 29. Five months and $250 million later, CSX reopened the line. But Lott and Cochran have added a $700 million appropriation to an emergency war spending bill that would allow CSX to abandon the rebuilt tracks in favor of shifting freight to existing rail lines further north. Supporters of the project, including Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, say that the new route is needed so the state can improve coastal evacuation routes and expand U.S. 90 to handle more traffic. A CSX spokesman said Friday that inland service would also be more reliable because it would avoid hurricane flood zones. Opposition to the plan continues among fiscal conservatives, who want what has become a $106.5 billion emergency spending measure trimmed back to the $92 billion range initially proposed by the White House. Alabama's two senators appear to be split on the issue. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, backs removing the railroad funding from the war bill, while Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, thus far has supported Cochran and Lott. As of Friday, the railroad provision remained a part of the emergency spending bill pending Senate approval. "Senator Shelby believes at this point it's difficult to assess the overall impact that this may have because we do not know which path will be chosen," spokeswoman Katie Boyd said. "The senator and his office are working to put CSX in touch with all impacted parties." Sessions had concerns about the project's impact on the Port of Mobile, according to a report published in The Hill. When the CSX line was down following last year's hurricane, trains had to travel through Birmingham to reach Mobile. That clogged rail lines and delayed shipments to the state docks. The CSX documents reveal a diversion plan that includes no new rail routes. An existing CSX and smaller line that connects Montgomery to Meridian would get $250 million in upgrades. The Norfolk Southern line from New Orleans to Meridian would get $125 million in upgrades, plus Norfolk would get a $200 million payment for use of the line. Other improvements over the new route include 50 mph speed upgrades, a $25 million Meridian connector, and $90 million worth of improvements in and around Montgomery, the documents reveal. Eighteen freight trains would be added to the alternate route, increasing freight capacity over the line, according to the documents. CSX would not comment Friday on the specifics it generated for lawmakers, but did try to assure that Mobile would not be abandoned. "Our commitment to Mobile and its business growth remains very strong," CSX spokesman Gary Sease said. "We have important clients at the port and other industries that certainly are critical to our growth. It's a good relationship and one that we want to continue." Addressing concerns that CSX employees in Mobile could potentially lose their jobs, Sease said that CSX has been hiring at a rate of as many as 1,500 people per year to operate trains, and demand remains high. A switching terminal in Mobile would remain in place, he said. Routing CSX's east-west traffic away from Mobile might benefit the port, state docks Director Jimmy Lyons said Friday. CSX represents 65 percent of the state docks' rail traffic, but the trains are routed either north or east. Eliminating the through traffic on the line could ease congestion, he said. Lyons also said that trains might be able to travel faster over the inland routes. "A lot of this is hypothetical," Lyons said. "I don't think any modeling has been done."
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