ADDING HIGH-SPEED & COMMUTER RAIL TO A SHORT LINE RR Hamid Qaasim Sound Transit Seattle, WA Vivian Papen Sound Transit Seattle, WA Todd Popelka Sound Transit Seattle, WA Carol Doering Sound Transit Seattle, WA ABSTRACT Many existing freight train alignments have been abandoned or seldom used. As communities grow, these abandoned short line railroads sometimes provide economical solutions to obtaining new right-of-way for expanding commuter rail service. Regional transit authorities have purchased these short line railroads for extending their existing passenger services to more communities along their alignments. Although this strategy provides considerable savings in time and money for development of a rail corridor, there may still be significant challenges involved with upgrading old alignments to current regulations and higher classes of service. A successful line extension requires close cooperation between the regional transit authority, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), local jurisdictions, businesses, and community organizations along the alignment to understand and address concerns of the stakeholders. This paper will discuss how Sound Transit converted abandoned freight lines into an extension of its commuter rail system that will soon bring high-speed rail to Washington. In it we will discuss the aspects of community partnerships, design challenges, safety certification, construction, and service delivery for a commuter rail extension. BACKGROUND As gasoline prices continue to rise, the public becomes more interested in mass transit and transit districts search for ways to economically move more people. Some regional transit districts have found that existing or abandoned freight rail corridors are viable solutions for new commuter rail line extensions. With freeways getting more crowded, an increasing number of drivers are converting to becoming train riders because commuter rail service can provide a reasonable travel time in safety and comfort. Additionally, many rail systems now offer special trains for games and other weekend events, which further promote ridership and customer loyalty. There are many abandoned or underutilized freight rail alignments available in North America, which can be upgraded to meet the needs of today’s commuter. As the ridership demands on public increase, many transit agencies are considering purchasing these freight rail alignments. This paper will discuss the design development, safety, and construction issues that Sound Transit faced as it converted an underutilized freight rail alignment into a busy commuter rail extension that will soon double as of the nation’s high-speed rail corridors. Figure 1 shows the alignment of the Sound Transit Sounder Commuter Rail System which consisted of 73 miles of track running from the city of Everett, 34 miles north of Seattle to Tacoma, 39 miles south of Seattle. The extension added 8 miles of track going south from Tacoma to the city of Lakewood and 11.5 miles of abandoned track going south from Lakewood to Du Pont that will bring high-speed rail online in Washington in 2016.
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ADDING HIGH-SPEED & COMMUTER RAIL TO A SHORT LINE RR
Hamid Qaasim
Sound Transit
Seattle, WA
Vivian Papen
Sound Transit
Seattle, WA
Todd Popelka
Sound Transit
Seattle, WA
Carol Doering
Sound Transit
Seattle, WA
ABSTRACT
Many existing freight train alignments have been
abandoned or seldom used. As communities grow, these
abandoned short line railroads sometimes provide
economical solutions to obtaining new right-of-way for
expanding commuter rail service. Regional transit
authorities have purchased these short line railroads for
extending their existing passenger services to more
communities along their alignments. Although this
strategy provides considerable savings in time and money
for development of a rail corridor, there may still be
significant challenges involved with upgrading old
alignments to current regulations and higher classes of
service. A successful line extension requires close
cooperation between the regional transit authority, the
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), local
jurisdictions, businesses, and community organizations
along the alignment to understand and address concerns
of the stakeholders. This paper will discuss how Sound
Transit converted abandoned freight lines into an
extension of its commuter rail system that will soon bring
high-speed rail to Washington. In it we will discuss the
aspects of community partnerships, design challenges,
safety certification, construction, and service delivery for
a commuter rail extension.
BACKGROUND
As gasoline prices continue to rise, the public
becomes more interested in mass transit and transit
districts search for ways to economically move more
people. Some regional transit districts have found that
existing or abandoned freight rail corridors are viable
solutions for new commuter rail line extensions. With
freeways getting more crowded, an increasing number of
drivers are converting to becoming train riders because
commuter rail service can provide a reasonable travel
time in safety and comfort. Additionally, many rail
systems now offer special trains for games and other
weekend events, which further promote ridership and
customer loyalty.
There are many abandoned or underutilized freight
rail alignments available in North America, which can be
upgraded to meet the needs of today’s commuter. As the
ridership demands on public increase, many transit
agencies are considering purchasing these freight rail
alignments. This paper will discuss the design
development, safety, and construction issues that Sound
Transit faced as it converted an underutilized freight rail
alignment into a busy commuter rail extension that will
soon double as of the nation’s high-speed rail corridors.
Figure 1 shows the alignment of the Sound Transit
Sounder Commuter Rail System which consisted of 73
miles of track running from the city of Everett, 34 miles
north of Seattle to Tacoma, 39 miles south of Seattle. The
extension added 8 miles of track going south from
Tacoma to the city of Lakewood and 11.5 miles of
abandoned track going south from Lakewood to Du Pont
that will bring high-speed rail online in Washington in
2016.
2
Figure 1: Sound Transit Commuter Rail System
Sound Transit acquired 18.25 miles of Class 2 freight
tracks where 15 miles were being used as a local short
line spur with the rest either abandoned or in a state of
disrepair. This track had to be brought into compliance
with FRA requirements1. A capital construction program
was implemented to convert this track to Class 5 for use
as a commuter rail line that will also carry high-speed rail.
Although acquiring railroad right-of-way, permits, and
municipal requirements provided financial and schedule
challenges, the civil alignment issues proved to be just as
daunting. There was one short line spur connected to the
southern end of the existing commuter rail line, but it had
1 U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Railroad Administration
– Office of Safety, April 2009, Code of Federal Regulations – Title 49,
Track Safety Standards – Part 213, Subpart A to F Class of Track 1-5
Includes Defect Codes. Omaha, New England: The Rail Education Bureau
to be connected to another freight line that was a few city
blocks away. This required obtaining right-of-way and
building a connector to link the two different freight lines.
There were city intersections to cross and substantial
grade changes to navigate. As design progressed, it
became apparent that linking these two lines might
require grades of 4 to 5% to make up the elevation
differences. One of the design concepts called for an at-
grade crossing through a busy city intersection
immediately after a 3 to 4% slope while another required
lowering a busy street intersection and construction a
bridge over that intersection. You will find the solutions
to these problems in the design and construction sections
of this paper.
BUSINESS, COMMUNITY, &
GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION
A successful transit system relies on timely reliable
service that builds ridership and customer loyalty.
Developing strong bonds with the community and
businesses fosters the relationships that are so essential
for support of a major transportation capital improvement
program. This collaboration is one of the most important
elements of a successful partnership for a safe,
convenient, and user-friendly transit system. The local
community had endured abandoned sections of track and
under-utilized track for years and they wanted to do
something about this attractive nuisance. It was an
eyesore that also presented a safety and security hazard to
the community. Sound Transit had established a
relationship with the local governments, business, and
community groups, through implementation of regional
bus service, commuter rail, and light rail in this
metropolitan area. We met with government, business,
and community groups to see how we could all work
together to improve the quality of life for all of the
stakeholders.
The short line spur had only a few trains a week that
served local small manufacturers and warehouses and
extending the commuter rail service would have a
substantial impact on traffic and safety. We had to work
very closely with the public and the local businesses to
ensure that we minimized the impacts to freight service
and commuter traffic. We had to be particularly sensitive
to the needs for the local businesses to continue to run
freight on these tracks.
At Sound Transit community is a high value and we
held several meetings with the community, businesses,
and the cities during the planning phase to identify the
most significant concerns and we developed working
2
groups to address those concerns as a community of
stakeholders. We are extremely proud of our outreach
program and we are very focused on the idea that we are
all one community. Tacoma Washington is the largest
city in this particular line extension and it has an
extension campus of the University of Washington in its
downtown area. In addition to the needs of the university
community, we also had to work with several businesses
that ship and receive materials by rail car on a frequent
and regular basis. The university and these businesses are
vital parts of this community and we wanted to ensure
that we worked with these stakeholders on a
transportation plan that was good for all of us. During the
environmental assessment phase we worked very
carefully to identify any impact of significance so that we
could develop meaningful mitigation plans. We studied
traffic patterns, bicycle routes, and pedestrian pathways to
identify street, sidewalk, or right-of-way impacts in our
Environmental Impact Study (EIS).
We evaluated all of the information collected to
produce an EIS and a design criterion that would
incorporate answers to all of the significant concerns and
needs of these stakeholders. Building public support is a
matter of confidence and transparency gained through
honest collaboration between the transit agency, the
community, businesses and the cities. This collaboration
helped us to design a safe, convenient, and customer
based transit system that serves the community.
TRANSIT SYSTEM DESIGN
Commuter and freight railroads are regulated by the
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the transit
authority must comply with a series of FRA regulations to
implement a new commuter rail service or line extension.
Additionally the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
provides funding for commuter rail cars and equipment
which means that a commuter rail agency must comply
with regulations from both
As the new line traverses through the old alignment,
trains will travel at much higher speeds and frequencies
than before. Sound Transit worked with local
jurisdictions to plan grade crossing, signalization, and
community outreach. Intersections were equipped with a
combination of pre-emption, channelization, and other
warning devices for crossing safety. The geometry of the
alignment is one of the most important aspects of the
design as it must provide grades that the locomotive can
reliably navigate while crossing intersecting roadways in
a manner that provides for pedestrian and vehicular
safety.
During design development an alignment was
considered that would have a significant stretch of 5%
grades and a skewed crossing at a major intersection.
Concerns were raised about the grades since most
passenger rail grades generally do not exceed 3% and
there are only a few places in the country where diesel
locomotives are subject to such grades. Sound Transit
conducted live brake tests on a nearby short line freight
spur to evaluate braking characteristics on a 5% grade in a
variety of conditions. A consist of four commuter rail
cars and a locomotive were brought up the slope and
stopped. Brake systems on the cars were verified to be
acceptable for service according to FRA requirements23
.
Tests were conducted that evaluated the ability of the
locomotives to start from a dead stop going uphill on the
5% slope in dry, moist, and wet conditions. Of particular
interest was the ability of the locomotive to start on an
uphill grade with leaves on the track. The tests also
evaluated braking ability of the consist on a 5%
downgrade.
Computer models were also run to forecast
locomotive performance and a hazard analysis was
performed to evaluate stopping ability on the 5%
downgrade from 45 mph. The combination of live dead
start tests, computer modeling, and hazard analysis of
crossing safety at the skewed intersection led to
examining a new alignment that would result in lowering
a busy street and constructing a track bridge. Although
significantly more expensive, this alignment proved to be
safer and it provided more reliable performance. Once
selected, the alignment design included a CTC signaling
and communication system to provide a constant warning
signalization for grade crossings. Signage, pre-emption,
crossing gates, bells, and wayside horns were all
incorporated into the design for crossing safety.
2 U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Railroad Administration
– Office of Safety, June 2002. Code of Federal Regulations – Title 49, Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards – Part 229, Omaha, New
England: The Rail Educational Bureau 3 U.S. Department of Transportation – Federal Railroad Administration
– Office of Safety, April 2002. Code of Federal Regulations – Title 49,
Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger
Trains and Equipment, End of Train Devices – Part 232,Subpart B. Omaha, New England: The Rail Educational Bureau
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CROSSING SAFETY & CERTIFICATION
Sound Transit has a robust safety certification
program456
that provides procedures to implement and
confirm conformance to FRA system safety requirements.
We conducted public meetings along with field surveys of
business along the alignment to gather data on risks and
potential safety hazards to create a baseline for the
Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA). Field surveys
included collecting traffic data, reviewing the literature
for accidents, traffic counts, and observation of pedestrian
travel patterns. These field surveys also included video of
peak hour traffic patterns that were correlated with the
proposed commuter train schedule to assure that all
impacts were adequately considered. The alignment goes
through an area near Joint Base Lewis-McCord where
many military families live. This required additional
safety outreach to address the transient nature of military
families with children moving into the area.
Road geometry at each grade crossing was upgraded
to accommodate traffic and pedestrian pattern. This area
had collector streets that ran parallel to the rail corridor on
both sides. These streets were only about 200 away from
the track right-of-way and presented unique challenges to
design of the signaling system for preemption and
crossing gate timing. They also required close
coordination with the city traffic system to avoid
significant traffic jams in these areas. The previous short-
line usage had an occasional locomotive pick up a few
cars a couple of times a week at 15 to 25 mph. The
commuter rail line runs seven trains a day eastbound and
westbound during the peak period at up to 70 mph.
The significantly increase frequency of train
operation noticeably impacts the area and special grade
crossing analysis7 were performed and presented to the
FRA to certify each crossing. These analyses calculated
the probability of auto-train collisions and confirmed that
the crossings were safe from accidents induced by the
new commuter line. They considered the road geometry,
probability of a driver or pedestrian going around the
grade crossing warning gate arm, and the impact of the
parallel streets that were on either side of the trackway.
4 Department of Defense, Defense standard MIL-STD-882E,
Department of Defense Standard Practice - System Safety, 11 May 2012 5 Sound Transit, Agency System Safety Program Plan for Design and
Construction, September 2010 6 Sound Transit, Agency Safety and Security Certification Plan (Design
and Construction), September 2010 7 Sound Transit, Sounder commuter Rail Tacoma to Lakewood Rail
crossing Summary and Hazard Analysis, September 2012
Raised curb channelization and quad-gate arms were
installed in some areas to reduce the chance of drivers
going around the gate arms. This equipment was
synchronized with local traffic signals to provide either
pre-emption or advanced pre-emption for clearing the
high-way grade crossing intersection before a grade
crossing is activated or a train arrives at an intersection
During commissioning Sound Transit confirmed the
Warning Time (WT), Advance Pre-emption Time (APT),
Gate-Down Time of each grade crossing system and the
interfaces with adjacent traffic systems at varying design
speeds. The safety certification program provided for
verification of all warning times and for confirmation that
the constructed facilities met the design criteria for safety
prior to revenue service.
The safety certification program also included
validating and verifying that the alignment were designed
and built according to FRA regulation and safety-related
design criteria as shown in Figure 2. Hazard analysis and
vulnerability assessments were performed to ensure that
all possible hazards were mitigated by either engineering
design or operation rules and procedures. Due to the
staggered construction programs, safety certification had
to include letters of design conformance from the
engineer-of-record for two stations and trackwork that
was constructed two years before beginning the final
construction project. The designer and contractor for the
last section of the signal and trackwork project completed
both design and specification conformance checklists
during the final construction phase.
Operation, maintenance, and emergency responder
training are included in the safety certification program.
Train engineers, conductors, and maintainers were all
trained according to FRA regulations to ensure that they
were familiar with the new alignment. Sound Transit
worked with Amtrak, Washington State Department of
Transportation (WSDOT), and Burlington Northern Santa
Fe (BNSF) to provide an emergency responder training
which covered all aspects of passenger safety and train
operation. A “Hands-on” walk through was also
organized for the emergency responders to physically
examine all of the emergency equipment on the train and
the egress location for possible passenger evacuation.
During system integration, Radio and
Communication Coverage, ROW /Dynamic Envelope,
Train / Track Ride Quality, Rail isolation, Control Center
Interface, Signal Aspect / Sighting, Wayside Sign/
Marker/ Verification/ Visibility, and Grade /Pedestrian
Crossing / Intersection Interface were tested. All of the
2
equipment was fine-tuned to confirm that all the systems
were working according to the design. All the necessary
data8 for safety certification was transmitted to the FRA
to verify that all safety certification processes were
performed and any potential hazards were mitigated by
design or O&M training and operations procedures. These
items were validated in the Specification Conformance