Taking on the trains
Consider Norfolk Southern’s impact on 14 communities
Norfolk Southern Railroad is accelerating its plan to raise bridges in order to drive much longer and heavier double-stacked trains along a 20-mile route through the North Side and Manchester city neighborhoods, plus Swissvale, Braddock and North Braddock. The work will begin immediately, to be completed by 2020. The railroad has openly admitted that highly hazardous and toxic materials will be transported along these lines.
This means human waste sludge from New York and New Jersey, radioactive fracking sand and many more railcars filled with gas and oil. The extra weight and vibration present a heightened safety concern given the condition of aging underlying sewage/water pipes and infrastructure.
Beyond that, the noise (increased exponentially by greater train weight on the wheels) and the additional black carbon diesel air pollution from the increased train traffic will reduce the quality of life of the residents of these dense urban neighborhoods and negatively impact protected historic parks, landmarks and properties.
Before work commences, the deleterious effects along the new route must be balanced against the railroad’s profits and the needs of interstate commerce. In fact, the law requires it. Residents of the affected communities should attend a public meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Children’s Museum on the North Side.
In order to accommodate the taller trains, infrastructure, bridges, and roads must be modified. Norfolk Southern already has its own line adjacent to the Monongahela River that skirts the city and has no overhead clearance issues. Norfolk Southern has two arguments against continuing to use this alternative route: landslides and efficiency generated by a claimed three-hour saving in transit time.
While it’s true that landslides have occurred in the past, the topography above the track was secured in 2014 and no landslide has occurred since.
With respect to the transit time saving, railroad officials have refused to disclose the basis for the calculation or the monetary value of the saved time. But with a three-hour savings, we can expect the dispatch computers to funnel trains nonstop over the modified route.
Norfolk Southern is pledging $8 million toward the project, with the remainder coming from PennDOT (via our tax dollars). The North Side’s West North Avenue bridge is scheduled o be raised 3 feet in height. The cost for that bridge alone will consume over $5 million of those funds. A citywide-supported fight by affected residents at this bridge— which presents the best legal test case — could forestall the railroad’s plans.
Because raising that bridge will result in a road safety hazard (it is a primary route for emergency vehicles), multiple community groups have asked Norfolk Southern to instead lower the tracks. Norfolk Southern maintains that option is not possible because of the existence of underlying water/sewer lines. It turns out that the reason being given for raising the bridges is the very reason why the tracks must be lowered.
Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority executive director Robert Weimar stated publicly that Norfolk Southern did not first consult with PWSA about the issue, and that the 6-foot-diameter lines under the track running through Allegheny Commons were between 100 and 150 years old and at the end, or near the end, of their useful life.
Mr. Weimar told me that both the extra weight and vibration caused by longer, heavier trains is a real concern that could require either replacement or reinforcement because these lines are made entirely of brick.
Spending many millions to raise the bridges, plus millions more in mitigation for the impact on properties and Allegheny Commons, and thereafter dealing with a derailment because of a collapsed sewer line, is imprudent. The track should be lowered while the sewer lines are replaced/reinforced at the outset.
Logic aside, because the city gets new bridges early without any “nick in its budget,” it seems to care more about the railroad’s $8 million contribution than it does about the well-being of residents, the direct impact on their property or quality of life, or the use and enjoyment of its own park land. But in the city’s defense, it has asked Norfolk Southern to hold one public meeting.
If you attend Tuesday’s public meeting, you can hopefully have all your questions answered in person. (If your questions are not publicly and openly answered or you do not agree with the response, contact Chief of Staff Dan Gilman at Daniel.gilman@pittsburghpa.
Other cities facing these same issues have negotiated agreements by railroads to electrify the rail line, or utilize hybrid engines or black carbon scrubbers. Other jurisdictions have instituted zoning regulations against “poop trains” and passed ordinances to protect the population from silicosis resulting from the transportation of fracking sand.
Of course there is always recourse to the federal courts under the National Historic Preservation Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.
Much more information — including how PennDOT sold us down the proverbial river, and how Pittsburgh’s foundation community might help — can be found in an expanded article published on the website of the Allegheny City Central Association (alleghenycitycentral.org) or directly here: bit.ly/2toCxx7.