Western New York Railroad Infrastructure Revitalization
Summary Of
Infrastructure costs and potentials for mitigation
Norfolk Southern Train outside of Hamburg New York
Buffalo and Western New York have a high amount of infrastructure costs compared to its relatively modest population as the city only has 250,000 people and a metro area of 950,000 people. Compared with other larger cities in the corridor between New York and Chicago its infrastructure was built to handle a much larger load then its local population. Buffalo in its city limits alone had 600 miles of freight and light rail in the 1920s (Buffalo Historical Society report 1972)
The Buffalo Niagara Region handles large numbers of Trucks per week with 90% of motor freight passing thru the region (Source-BTS http://www.bts.gov/publications/commodity_flow_survey/2002/metropolitan_areas/buffalo_cheektowaga_tonawanda_ny_mesa/ The Peace Bridge is important on a national level because it is considered a short cut to Detroit and Chicago as to cut mileage off a slightly more southerly route on the south shore of Lake Erie and is less congested. Buffalo NY is also # 2 on the list of Tran border Freight crossings Table 6-5a
Top Land Freight Crossing Ports, Canadian-U.S. Border:
1996
(Thousands of truck or train crossings)
Truck
Canadian-U.S. border, total
5,465
5,405
10,870
Detroit, MI/Windsor, Ont.
C
1,332
U
Ambassador/Windsor Bridge
N
Windsor-Detroit Tunnel
137
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY/Fort Erie-Niagara Falls, Ont.
1,028
996
2,024
Buffalo, NY/Fort Erie, Ont.
601
Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls, Ont.
427
Queenston Bridge
419
Rainbow Bridge
Whirlpool Bridge
8
Port Huron, MI/Sarnia, Ont.
547
636
1,183
Blaine, WA/Douglas and Pacific Highway, B.C.
392
402
794
Blaine, WA/Douglas, B.C.
Blaine, WA/Pacific Highway, B.C.
Champlain-Rouses Pt., NY/Lacolle (Routes 15, 221,223), Que.
313
279
592
Champlain, NY/Lacolle Route 15, Que.
305
Rouses Pt., NY/Lacolle Routes 221 and 223, Que.
9
New Peace Bridge will add tons of carbon emissions to Buffalo NY
What is not known is the actual destination of motor freight other than traditional points such as Chicago or New York. The questions that are also being raised is that upgrading 219 to connect with I-80 thru the Southern Tier will have any lasting economic effects for this region. What is known that traditional manufacturing centers on the I-90 main line have been in decline for quite some time and that the true destination for much of raw goods and trailers for reloads are points far south of Buffalo.
Regional Factors-
NAFTA has turned the traditional trans-con trade routes from East to West to a more North-South routing. New York still supplies a large amount of raw matriels such plastics and chimicals that are shipped all over the country. Plastic Pellets are manufactured by the trainload by in Selkirk NY but often use chemicals that are produced in the Niagara Falls region. The plastics are then shipped to molding operations that are often located in rural areas where the cost of labor is low. Wooster OH which is located south of Akron OH was chosen by Rubber Maid as one of these locations. Rubber Maid and (http://www.allbusiness.com/manufacturing/transportation-equipment-mfg-automotive/10624916-1.html) other companies that require low skill but dependable employees are always looking for new locations in which to open there shops.
The chain of logistics or basically what is a huge virtual conveyor belt that starts out with Raw Materials on one end and has a completed product on the other end has changed. Coal that was mined in Pennsylvania and was shipped west and north to steel plants in Buffalo and Cleveland is now being shipped south to steel mills in Texas or being exported to other countries with lower emissions standards. As a matter of fact Urban Areas like Pittsburgh are importing coal from Wyoming and the “High Line” (North Dakota and Minnesota) regions of the US.
New Industrial World Order
Steel itself has gone thru a comeback of sorts. The Book American Steel by Robert Preston chronicles how Nucor Steel rebuilt Steel Mills in Sharon PA to produce high quality specialty steel . The Mini-Mill boom has taken off and with it the closing or downsizing of traditional mills in Cleveland and the complete elimination of steel mills in Buffalo NY and Erie along the “Main Line”. States like Alabama, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah that are about as far away as you can get from the rust belt now(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucor) now are home to steel mills that send steel back into New York to be put into finished products
The Mini-Mill boom has taken off and with it the closing or downsizing of traditional mills in Cleveland and the complete elimination of steel mills in Buffalo NY and Erie along the “Main Line”. Dubois PA has become a location for the Distribution of the Steel that has been produced in these mini mills.
However the Great Lakes still sees more tons of steel imported then exported. Ships from Eastern Europe bypass Buffalos closed steel mills and idle ports in favor of the Port of Cleveland. More the 3,000,000 tons of steel From there the steel is distributed to the railroad network by either CSX or Norfolk Southern with direct connections to both railroad companies main lines. From Cleveland the steel is then sent south via unit trains to auto plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Because of this direct port to rail connection Cleveland saves millions of dollars in local road repair. Cleveland also is able to save money because it also has a modest rail system that carries 25,000 riders a day. The problem here in Buffalo is that local taxpayers have to incur a burden for the rest of the country in local road repairs when 90% of truck and intercity vehicle traffic is just passing thru the area.
Buffalo already has a built in solution to this issue. It already has hundreds of miles of unused and under used freight railroad corridors that if the freight were diverted to rail near there origin and destinations and pass thru the city on to existing or newly renovated corridors it could save taxpayers millions in highway re-construction. The plans to expand the peace bridge are experiencing strong opposition from local residents as new plans to relocate historical properties and there residents on the “West Side” (Actually the north side) and the additional air pollution that would be incurred on the population of Western New York as whole has placed many former supporters of the Peace Bridge Expansion against it (http://artvoice.com/issues/v6n42/trucking_buffalo)
Other border crossing such as the Ambassador bridge and Port Huron also have complementary rail service. CN Port Huron-Sarnia completed a double stack capacity train tunnel UNDER the St Clair River. CN and CP also have expanded train service under the Detroit River has well.
Both cities have taken up efforts in partnership with local railroads. Detroit’s railroads are run under Conrail (not the former Conrail) which is a terminal switching belt line that acts as co-op handling that does customer service and freight handling for both CSX and NS and switches local industry. Canadian National has taken over the EJ&E in Chicago and has been able to coordinate and get customers from Toronto and Montreal on rail and off the already crowded highway system by putting together a complete door to door system which includes rail-truck transfer facilities for every conceivable bulk commodity (http://www.cn.ca/en/shipping-warehousing-distribution.htm). Although CN has a facility here in Buffalo in partnership with south buffalo railroad and NS has a freight transfer facility here both are underutilized and have no direct connection with the interstate system.
CSX has built a new Intermodal Yard in Seneca but only sees a dozen trailers a day and its new location is far away from its some of its biggest customers which is UPS and the US Postal Service. (Source personal observation from Ridge Rd in Lackawanna.) While Buffalo has a intermodal yard Niagara Falls and Fort Erie does not have any intermodal yards and despite the fact that Hamilton ON has many active industries that feed into the American Industrial Complex in order for traffic to be diverted to rail that is heading south it has to backhaul to Toronto on the QUE. The cost and headaches of having to do the back haul are just too much so it goes over the peace bridge.
As of right now there is no intermodal traffic that uses the International Railway Bridge. Assuming that you did have the traffic and the trains they still would have to find their towards the south. As of right now railroad freight traffic travels to Ashtabula OH and goes south from there. The current status of railroad lines such the Buffalo and Pittsburgh and the lack of a switch at the southern tip of the Buffalo Southern in Waterboro does not conduce itself to intentional routing of thru trains to Pittsburgh and points south. The Buffalo and Pittsburgh because of the poor status of its tracks suspended service from Orchard Park to Springville and now send its trains on a circumvents route along the old Pennsy Buffalo-Harrisburg Line that cuts back to there main line in Springville. This routing can take as much as twelve hours to cover between there Yard at Tift Rd to Bradford PA. Driving distance is only 12 hours. Bradford PA and the Olean area is home to Zippo Lighter and Ka-Bar knives and has a bulk loading facility to load and off load salt and sand. Bradford also produces industrial lubricants as the oil that is mined there has special properties for industrial lubrication that cannot be found anywhere else. Prior to CSX take over of Conrail this line was maintained up to Class one standards and was double tracked through most of its route The line also ran Commuter Rail service to Salamanca making Orchard Park in 30 min and Salamanca in Little over an hour. In the 1960s there was Ski Trains to Ellicottville NY Holliday Valley Ski Resorts. Much of the line was elevated and terminated in the Lackawanna Station which is now owned by NFTA.
Future and Potential of Buffalo and Pittsburgh railway
As it stands right now (9/25/09) the Buffalo and Pittsburgh or the Genesee and Wyoming holding company is conducting illegal removal of their tracks possibly in cooperation with Norfolk Southern in order to prevent another railroad like Canadian National from taking its line. The Surface Transportation Board had ruled that they have 3 years from notice of abandonment to pull up the tracks. This would have given Erie and Cattaraugus Counties time to put together a plan to purchase the track at a nominal fee and either run the trains themselves or lease out the track to a railroad operator. It is also well known that CSX and NS also own interests in this line and are unwilling to allow a 3rd railroad to compete. The WNY&P could have direct connections to Buffalo and CN could have direct access to a number of railroads in PA as they have no qualms about using PA coal.
The availability of low cost land in the southern tier means that flexible railroad car based bulk storage facilities like this could be placed in places like Olean or along rural railroad routes like the NY&LE. These facilities can hold plastic pellets and other dry chemicals until they are ready to be used by regional industry. Railroad car based storage allows flexibility to change capacity in a just in time environment.
Southern Tier
The need for a direct rail link between the southern tier of New York as far as Jamestown and Western PA thru Salamanca could save the cost of rebuilding and expanding 219 if freight and passengers were put back on what is still built as a high speed double track main line railroad. Jamestown is still a regional manufacturing hub as is Corry and Sharon PA that is home to Nucor Steel and other manufacturing firms. The railroad in conjunction with a modified 219 could save thousands of square miles of green space that would be lost forever by the expansion of 219 and create light industrial jobs. Canada already has a high cost of labor and due to its high taxation is hard pressed to find inexpensive land to locate industry that they need to feed its growing population which as opposed to the US is composed of new Immigrants that are adding to its growing pains but also at the same time helping its economy grow.
It is then should be clear that the consumer products that Canada needs such as Manufactured Goods and Food Stuffs can be produced much more cheaply in Buffalo and the Southern Tier here in the US then in Canada and that a revitalization of this region should turn away from a New York-Rust Belt-Detroit Economy and instead work on becoming part of the Toronto- Golden Triangle Economy instead. The goal of this corridor would be to feed the 5 million Consumers of Toronto and the 3.5 Million Consumers of Montreal and in reverse work on loosing up the border crossing issues that would allow Americans to attend Canadian Universities and take GO Commuter Trains to obtain work. NAFTA should not only work for big corporations but should also work for the small businessman as well.
The other end of this corridor is Pittsburgh which at my last visit has become a popular destination for Canadians as well. Pittsburgh unlike Buffalo has transformed itself from a heavy industrial region in a medical research powerhouse. The University of Pittsburgh and its Subsidiary UPMC or University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center has taken over old steel mills and converted them into high tech super research labs. Even this requires the use of large scale transportation and the railroads in Pittsburgh now bring in chemical trains and intermodal to supply the labs with the products that they need. People from all over the world come to Pittsburgh to get treated as there health care system is the best in the world . Pittsburgh’s arts community is thriving and is also a destination and place to live and work
Pennsylvania is also Canada Largest State trading partner (Trade Figures Solidify Canada's Role As State's
Top Trade Partner
Recent trade figures show that Canada remained by far the largest customer for Pennsylvania exports in 2007, with more than $9.2 billion worth of goods shipped north of the border during the year.
Exports from Pennsylvania to Canada exceeded shipments to the next seven countries combined – Mexico, China, Japan, Belgium, United Kingdom, Germany and The Netherlands.
Some other recent trade facts:
- 295,250 Pennsylvania jobs are supported by Canada–U.S. trade
- Canada buys more than a third of Pennsylvania’s exports
- Canadians made more than 696,900 visits to the state, spending $118 million
- Pennsylvania residents made more than 597,600 visits to Canada, spending $284 million. Source- Canadian Consulate and http://www.canada-connect.org/
Impact and intrigration of the Southern Tier economy into Western New York
The issue should also be clear that the Southern Tier Counties of New York have been left out of the Economic Development Plans of Western New York for quite some time. Cattaraugus County and Chautauqua Counties account for 210,000 people. A array of light manufacturing around Jamestown and Olean along the Southern Tier provide jobs for this region and they also enjoy a high quality of life that is close to nature and yet has the amenities of a modern city with Community Centers and a number of educational institutions such as St Bonaventure College and Jamestown Community College along with Alfred State in Alfred NY.
The Original Connection to this region was the Erie Railroad Line that connected Jamestown Salamanca (Which was a mill town for the forest industry) and Olean. This railroad along with The Western New York and Pennsylvania which is owned by the state of New York and leased to NS who then leases it to WNY&P. The Original Owner was the Erie-Lackawanna who then sold it to Conrail who oddly enough under US Government control deferred maintaince and starting ripping up the rails to force traffic on the preferred route of the New York Central. The Goal was to make Conrail Suitable for a future sale and since railroads were on the way out the Erie would be too much of a potential competition for a future railroad monopoly. Instead the future created a Duo-poly with CSX and NS controlling all of the Traffic East of Chicago with short lines acting as pawns in a final battle of control. The railroad that wins gets to control prices of bulk grain and coal (so far as truck rates will let them) in the region. As a result of this the S
The Buffalo to Waterboro/Kennedy NY line is in good Shape to Dayton NY but the tracks south of Dayton to Waterboro Kennedy have not seen any use in 20 years. At Dayton there is a branch to Little Valley that after Little Valley there is a rail-trail to Salamanca. Restoring this line to Salamanca would mean that Intermodal and Passenger trains would have access to the RT 86 corridor and just like we are asking that Intermodal Faculties be built in Canada intermodal a Intermodal Facility that is located here could create a inland port for the export of manufactured and food stuffs to Canada and reduce the need for the expansion of 219 and reduce maintance costs.
As it stands right now the most imperative need is to repair the washout on the Buffalo Southern in Gowanda which is critical to access for at least 3 major shippers and their employees in the region. The NY&LE has as its only connection a interchange at Gowanda and until there is a switch put in at Waterboro Kennedy this railroad is one way street. Cattaraugus County owns the tracks and leases them to a private operator who is losing large amounts of money per day to cover employee pay and engine maintaince. If nothing is done Buffalo will lose its only publicly owned connection to the southern tier and possibly 3 or more business may have to switch to trucks losing a competitive edge.
Railroads are ½ to 1/3 cheaper to ship then by truck. In unit trains the cost savings can be as much as 1/10 the cost of shipping over the road. Certain Manufactures depend almost exclusively on railcars like grain producers and plastics manufactures because the railroad cars offer mobile storage capabilities.
The problem here is that both the Buffalo Southern and the New York and Lake Erie have very limited sales staff. My conversation with Mary Jane Franz indicated that “We get customers through word of mouth” I asked if she had promoted any team tracks for bulk loading onto trucks or vice versa and she told me that she had not despite have bulk transfer capabilities at Hamburg. Personal observation showed only 3 loaded cars at Hamburg. She also said that they have not interchanged any cars with the NY&LE but failed to mention that is was due to a washout. It also should be noted that neither CSX or NS has provided any sales support to potential customers along the route as well.
The Buffalo Southern/NYLE can be a vital link to the southern tier. The issue seems to a be a political one as despite the fact that Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties are only 50 miles away they are served by a separate regional planning commission southern tier regional planning commission (http://www.southerntierwest.org/default.htm) with its own agenda that was geared toward rural development not to the eventual planning of a regional metropolitan area. While 50 miles from city center was considered rural back in the 1970s today in most major areas it is considered to be part of the “Metro Plex” One could look across the boarded and see GO Trains Travel outwards of 50-60 mile from the city center. My conversation in the past with Richard Zink indicated that have not have conversation with anyone in Buffalo ECIDA or Buffalo Niagara Regional Planning Commission in years. The Buffalo News has covered the fact that Industrial development Authorities are in competition with each other. The railroad routes of the Buffalo Southern/NY&LE/B&P cover at least 3 regional planning and 4 EDAs that have yet to combine and create a regional plan of any sort other to agree that 219 needs to be completed but have failed to indicate why or what the economic incentive for doing so other then to create temporary highway construction jobs and connect to Bradford PA which in it elf I s only a short stretch of Interstate Highway of about 30 miles. The connection to I-80 is lacking by about 100 miles.
New Jersey Self Propelled Wireless Diesel Powered Light Rail Vehicle
Future of Passenger Rail
New Diesel Electric Light Rail Vehicles and Rail Diesel Cars ( See Illustrations) would make it feasible for NFTA or another authority to extend service to the “Southtowns” with out having to build catenaries. These are already in use in Trenton NJ and Portland OR Currently the B&S track ends at Tift Farm and about 4 miles of new track would have to be put back into service from the Lackawanna Terminal /NFTA Trolley Barn. The New Light Rail Vehicles can also travel on the light rail right of ways and go up the pedestrian mall and Subway.
The other option would be to work out trackage rights agreements with CSX and NS and CN to use traditional equipment. The equipment could be leased by NFTA from Metro- North which is a s State of New York Agency. Basically getting Equipment is not the problem but getting the last 4 mile of trackage rights is the problem. Amtrak Authority could be used to force access to the rights of way and new Surface Transportation Board Rules have a mandated negotiations. Tracks would have to upgraded on both Buffalo & Pittsburgh and Buffalo Southern/NY&LE to at least 60 miles per hour. It also more likely that the public agencies applying for funding could get money for repair and upgrade if the public has passenger access
The market for Passenger Rail and Commuter Rail- Jamestown has already restored to brand new condition its Erie Passenger Station. A study would have to be to be done as to how many people travel a day between Jamestown and Buffalo NY. The problem has been that the wage and benefit scale is much lower in the Southern Tier and that Buffalo-Niagara could offer opportunities for employment that otherwise would not be available. Jamestown Community College trains nurses and Engineering students who need employment but must leave the southern tier in order to find work. In reverse Hospitals in the southern tier can not find enough Doctors and Allied Professionals to locate and work in the Hospitals in the Southern Tier. The Southern Tier also has a number of educational institutions like St. Bonaventure that are being used by Buffalo Residents in reverse commute modes. Real Estate could also be a draw as lower taxes and undeveloped land could be a draw for new residents. Buffalo-Niagara region could benefit by having cleaner air and centralizing its Workforce in Downtown Buffalo as Downtown Buffalo could be the hub of a high speed passenger rail system. Intercity Rail from Buffalo to Pittsburgh/Harrisburg would work only if there were a seamless connection to Toronto and a Unified Train Station. Via Rail Amtrak would have to coordinate service and both states of PA and NY would have to work together to promote not just the Cities as Destinations but Alleghany National Forest and the Historic Towns along the way. The Southern Tier from Jamestown to Binghamton has a number of Education Institutions which include Cornell and it well know that students use Amtrak (xpress.sfsu.edu/archives/arts/013048.html). Special Casino and Ski Trains The issue of cross boarder access could be done via a easy pass system that drivers already have and issue those to Pedestrians as well.
Alltime Railroad Map of Buffalo-Niagara-Toronto-Western Southern Tier
What needs to be done next
*Rail freight transportation study needs to be done to identify potential railroad customers and to survey current railroad customers as to why they don’t use rail and Idify orid=gins and destination of raw commodities that western NY uses.. Tools like Google Earth could be used to Identify industries that are near or on the right of ways. A directory of personnel at each of those industries needs to be gathered as far who is responsible for buying freight services. Costs and Rates of freight need to be analyzed to see where savings could be made by changing modes or carriers. The mkney that is freed uo could be used for expansion of industry and the creation of new jobs.
*Truck transportation study needs to be done to identify origin and destination of moter freight passing thru this region. There has been no accurate reporting of freight vehicles done since 2000. Most Metropolitan areas have done a freight transportation study of some sort execpet buffalo. Without this date we can nor estimate the cost of future infrastructure transportation enhancement since freight causes the most wear and tear on regional roads (One pass of a truck equals 20 cars)
* Emergency Funding needs to be obtained to Fix the Washouts causes by the recent floods on the Buffalo Southern. FEMA has been obtained for the region but getting some of that money to filter down to the Buffalo Southern could also be obtained from funds that were used for road washouts as well.
*A emergency injunction in the Surface Transportation Board against Genesee and Wyoming to prevent the sale of scrapping of rail and to force the replacement of rail that they have taken up ahead of the 3 year deadline.
*Discussions need to begin to with Norfolk Southern and Southern Tier West in order to restore the interchanges at Kennedy and Salamanca with Buffalo Southern and NYLE.
* Identify Abandoned Railroad Corridors in Buffalo for re-use as railroads or Bus and Truck ways. Buffalo has at least 7 unused and grade separated railroad right of ways of which 2 are being held by NFTA for future light rail expansion
Hereby Submitted
Mr. Raymond Tylicki
Contact via raytylicki@yahoo.com
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