Port Authority sends railroad $3 million bill

The Port Authority has joined North Side residents, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pittsburgh officials in questioning Norfolk Southern’s controversial plan to expand the railroad’s use of double-stacked rail cars in the region.

In a Jan. 31 letter to the railroad, released Tuesday, the authority said an August derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train onto the authority’s light-rail tracks at Station Square gives the agency “significant concerns

regarding the safe operation of freight trains and proper inspection.” Burton Jennings, the Port Authority’s chief safety officer, called for more frequent track inspections and other safety assurances before the railroad moves ahead with plans to use double-stacked cars on tracks that run parallel to the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway, which has the authority’s busiest bus route and carried 6.8 million riders on all routes last year.

In addition, in a separate letter dated the same day, the authority asked the railroad to reimburse it for nearly $3 million in costs re- lated to damages from the freight train derailment.

Rudy Husband, the railroad’s vice president for government relations in Pennsylvania, said the railroad is reviewing both letters. The railroad already is meeting inspection frequency requirements by the Federal Railroad Administration, he said, and he wasn’t aware of anywhere in the state where the railroad has agreed to do more frequent inspections.

Norfolk Southern has received a $20 million grant from PennDOT to make changes at 14 bridges throughout Allegheny County to help it establish a second, shorter route through Pittsburgh’s North Side for trains carrying double-stacked truck trailers. In addition to raising the level of several North Side bridges near Allegheny Commons park to clear room for the trains, that second route would have double-stacked cars running alongside the East Busway for most of its 9.1 miles from Downtown to Rankin.

The new route would increase the number of trains that pass through the North Side into the eastern suburbs from 20 to 25 a day to 40 to 50 a day. Right now, the railroad’s only route for double-stacked cars in this region is through the city’s South Side, including across from Station Square.

In his letter, Mr. Jennings said the agency’s safety concerns “are heightened” because of the railroad’s rapid resumption of operations four days after the derailment that it later said was caused by a broken track. The Port Authority’s lightrail system in that area, where several freight cars or their contents landed on tracks and electrical wires, was closed for 20 days.

North Side neighbors are concerned that raising the height of several bridges to accommodate doublestacked trains would cause safety problems for motorists who are approaching the bridges. They would prefer that Norfolk Southern sink the tracks to a lower level, but the railroad says that would be too expensive. Residents also worry that double-stacked cars would be more likely to derail, because of their height.

“In light of the Station Square derailment, I would request that [the railroad] advise Port Authority, in writing, what additional safety measures [it] has taken or intends to take to ensure the safe operation of trains — and particularly the operation of doublestacked trains — on both the hillside above Station Square Station and adjacent to the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway,” he wrote.

“… To help mitigate the risk of future occurrences, Port Authority requests that [the railroad] confirm, in writing, that it has or will increase the frequency of track and infrastructure inspections in the subject area as well as search for other means to improve safety.”

The East Busway is the busiest segment of the authority’s system, carrying about 24,000 passengers on an average weekday, spokesman Adam Brandolph said. The P1 route that picks up passengers on the busway carries more people than any other route, about 10,500 on an average weekday.

Mr. Husband wouldn’t say whether the railroad had changed any procedures as a result of the August derailment. He previously said the railroad inspects the tracks twice weekly.

“Track inspections are done regularly and we are in compliance with the [Federal Railroad Administration] on track inspection,” he said.

As far as damages for the August derailment, the authority’s letter from director of claims Todd A. Stoker said the agency is seeking just under $3 million. However, he said that could rise by $60,000 to $80,000 because the agency hasn’t finished installation of tie switches and replacement of an electrical storage cabinet.

Mr. Husband declined to comment on the Port Authority’s $3 million bill.

The derailment caused the authority to replace about 1,600 feet of track, 4,000 feet of electrical lines and the support structure that holds them, fiber-optic service for safety signals, a retaining wall and a sidewalk along a bus lane behind the light-rail station at Station Square.

In the railroad’s report to federal officials, it said the accident caused $80,000 in damage to its track and $773,275 in equipment damage.