Feds OK Colorado half of railroad track swap

[mudchicken]

The thirty miles in Colorado is the Union to Sterling section of the UP Julesberg Sub running south and east out of Sterling.

[zardoz]

Friday, June 23, 2006
MATT SANDERS ~ Southeast Missourian

Union Pacific seeks to exchange the Colorado line for track between Rockview and Sikeston.
Half of the proposed track swap between the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads has been approved quietly, without the public outcry that has sprung up over the swap's potential impact on Southeast Missouri.

BNSF filed a petition on April 14 to gain approval from the Surface Transportation Board -- the federal regulatory body that reviews railroad track acquisitions -- to acquire 30 miles of track in northeast Colorado.

Approval was granted June 7.

UP spokesman James Barnes called the approval an "important step forward" in the process of moving ahead with the track swap.

Under an agreement between UP and BNSF, UP seeks to exchange the Colorado track for 23.7 miles of track between Rockview and Sikeston.

While BNSF's acquisition of the Colorado track from UP didn't meet the standards needed for an environmental review process by STB, the Rockview-to-Sikeston track UP seeks from BNSF did. Approval is still needed from the STB for UP's acquisition of that track.

BNSF's acquisition didn't require an environmental review because train traffic won't increase in the area affected, Morgan and Logan counties in Colorado. BNSF currently operates 168 trains per week on the line, a number that is expected to remain the same, according to the STB decision.

However, in its request to acquire the Rockview-to-Sikeston line, UP said in its STB filing that traffic will increase on that line 10 or 11 trains per day, triggering the environmental review process. Railroad officials have said the increase of trains could go higher if market forces dictate.

The review can consist of a study of possible effects on an environmental, social and economic level.

UP hopes to acquire the track between Rockview and Sikeston in order to more efficiently run its north-south traffic over two lines -- one from Rockiew to Sikeston, one from Rockview to Dexter.

The plan has come under fire from municipal governments in Scott County as well as county officials. State and federal legislators representing the area have written letters to UP and the STB urging a careful consideration of the increased traffic's impact on communities but not condemning the proposal outright.

MoDOT has recommended $24 million of needed safety improvement along the route if the swap goes through, with UP agreeing in principle to pay some of the costs. Those costs include a $12 million railroad overpass on U.S. 60 near Morehouse, to which UP has agreed in principle to pay half.

Local leaders have pushed for an alternative "northern option," by which UP could achieve its efficiency goals by double-tracking its existing Rockview to Sikeston line. UP rejects that proposal, saying it isn't as cost-efficient as the swap.

The Rockview to Sikeston line acquisition is still awaiting the environmental review process to begin. STB is now waiting on UP to sign a memorandum of agreement before things can proceed.

Barnes said UP and BNSF were finalizing the language of a property exchange agreement before they would sign the memorandum.

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1157765.html