Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 6
6 Guidebook for Implementing Passenger Rail Service on Shared Passenger and Freight Corridors
· Time-separated shared-track freight and diesel light rail services (i.e., using non-FRA-compliant
vehicles), as on New Jersey Transit's River Line between Trenton and Camden.
· Three-way sharing of intercity, commuter, and freight operations on freight railroad
tracks, such as on BNSF Railway Company lines around Seattle and on Chicago commuter
routes.
All the previous examples are of shared corridors that are part of the General Railroad System
of Transportation. This term has a specific meaning, referring to the interconnected network of
railroads in the United States. Urban rail transit lines that are not connected to the general rail-
road network are not included, nor are rail lines within a private facility, such as a manufactur-
ing plant. This definition is significant because it is used in the definition of applicability for most
FRA safety regulations and for various other statutes, regulations, and government programs
applicable to railroads and railroad employees.
This Guidebook addresses passenger and freight services on the General Railroad System
rather than dedicated high-speed corridors. A shared-use railroad corridor, as defined by the
FRA, is a broad term that includes three different sharing arrangements, specifically:
· Shared track, where the trains of two or more rail service providers operate over the same
tracks.
· Shared right-of-way, where two rail services are operated on separate parallel tracks having a
track centerline separation less than 30 feet. Separation of 30 feet or less triggers the applica-
tion of certain FRA safety regulations. Separation also may be referenced in shared-corridor
agreements between railroads, for example, as limiting the kinds of permitted operation or
requiring specific safety precautions.
· Shared corridors, where track centerline separation is between 30 and 200 feet. Two hundred
feet is considered the outer limit of separation where an accident on one line could interfere
with operations on the other.
Although shared-corridor arrangements are considerably diverse, common and very challeng-
ing situations occur when a new or expanded passenger service seeks to operate on the tracks of
a busy corridor owned and operated by a major freight railroad, where the freight railroad will
be the host for the new service. This Guidebook will focus on this scenario without, however,
neglecting other ownership/operation/service mix scenarios.
In almost all cases, state, regional, and local governments establish specialist agencies to man-
age the funding, development and operation of passenger rail services. These agencies go under
a variety of titles, depending on local laws and practices, and in this report are referred to gener-
ically as either passenger rail agencies, which could be responsible for any type of passenger rail
service, or commuter rail agencies, which are only concerned with commuter service. Specific
agencies are referred to by name in this report.
1.3.2 Purpose
The purpose of this Guidebook is to provide comprehensive support and guidance for pas-
senger rail authorities seeking to initiate, expand, and operate passenger rail services on shared
passenger and freight corridors. The primary desired types of guidance identified by the project
team and expressed by passenger rail agencies can be categorized in the following areas:
· Guidance on how to manage negotiations with the freight railroad to reach mutually accept-
able agreement and on how analytical methods play a role in reaching that agreement. This
area includes the planning and preparations needed before in-depth negotiations, an under-
standing of the legal rights and responsibilities of each party (including the difference between
Amtrak intercity service and commuter service), an understanding of the business needs of
