1 The Peninsula Subdivision For The Hampton Roads Partnership Quintin C. Kendall Resident Vice President—State Government Affairs July 17, 2009

2 2 2 Status of Peninsula Passenger Rail Service, Pre-Stimulus  Newport News is currently served by two Amtrak train sets  Phase I of Virginia State Rail Plans contemplated extending three additional Washington-Richmond regional trains to Newport News, for a total of five daily trains, by 2015 and an additional four trains providing hourly services during peak periods by 2020  New service assumed Richmond Terminal improvements, new station at Newport News, operating speeds of 70 mph and on-time performance greater than 85%  $14 million available to fund 30% preliminary engineering and design for needed capacity projects between Fredericksburg and Newport News, but no funding programmed for $ million necessary for construction

3 3 3 Status of Peninsula Passenger Rail Service, Post-Stimulus  An additional $10 million secured for 30% preliminary engineering and design for Richmond area  Virginia’s stimulus proposal accelerates RF&P capacity projects (third/fourth main lines) and Richmond area improvements, which were originally planned to begin in 2012  Stimulus proposal also includes Hampton Roads service, with no specified alignment, pending completion of Tier I Draft EIS this summer  Cost estimates between $330 million and $844 million depending on route and service  Improvements necessary to accommodate higher speed rail will require extensive modeling to ensure proper capacity is added  Higher speed rail requires more capacity, Class 6 track, signal upgrades; appropriate scheduling will critical for introduction of any new service

4 Of the 57 daily Amtrak trains operated on CSXT, the Newport News trains are some of the poorest performers

5 Any given train’s performance is largely driven by three factors  Physical characteristics of the operating territory – Single/double track? – Signal System?  The operating mix of train traffic – How many trains? – What kinds of trains?  The validity of schedules – Can they be reliably maintained? – Do they adjust for known activities?

6 CSXT’s DC to Richmond segment – the RF&P – is one of our busiest multi-use, double track corridors  110 miles of double track with centralized traffic control  48 daily passenger/commuter trains – 18 Amtrak trains – 30 VRE commuter trains – 38 daily MARC trains adjacent to line  daily freight trains

7 In contrast to the DC to Richmond segment, the corridor from Richmond to Newport News is 61% single track  Single and double track with Automatic Block Signals  Amtrak trains – 4 Richmond to Newport News  Freight Trains – 12 – 15 Fulton to Newport News – 16 – 27 Rivanna Jct to Fulton – Predominantly coal trains up to 1.5 miles in length – Moving far slower than Amtrak

8 The differences in actual and minimum run time, and speeds, are much larger on the Peninsula than on the RF&P  Limited infrastructure  Maintenance work affects all operations on single track  Reliability low for both passenger and freight trains, but freight train impacts are extreme

9 Speed Differentials: An Illustration Coal Train 1 50 mph Track A Coal Train 2 50 mph Track B Passenger Train 79 mph 44 miles

10 Passenger Rail Reliability on Peninsula Subdivision revolves around CSX coal volume  The recent surge in export coal was totally unanticipated – Unprecedented year over year growth from 2007 to 2008  Followed decade-old trend of significantly declining loads – In 2006, NPN coal exports dipped to their 3 rd lowest level in 25 years – Accordingly, planners programmed scarce capital maintenance dollars for other, more needy areas (More on this later) 3 rd Lowest in 25 Years 4 th Highest in 25 Years

11 Congestion in Richmond needs to be addressed to ensure reliable service to the Peninsula  Conflicting routes – North-South: Intermodal, merchandise, unit, and passenger trains – West-East-West: Coal moves between Clifton Forge & Newport News; returning empties via BBRR – West-South: Coal moves between Clifton Forge and Wheelwright/Hopewell – West-North: Coal moves between Clifton Forge and RF&P destinations  Grain run-arounds at Fulton Yard  Turning locomotives at AY  Industrial switching  Amtrak moves over SAY

12 Passenger service between Richmond Staples Mill Station and Newport News has significant issues. The key to improving performance and adding more Amtrak service is to reduce the potential conflict locations  Richmond Terminal — Fulton  Newport News Terminal  Peninsula Subdivision — Acca

13  Currently a single track route by Acca  Crosses flow at AY  Single track Bellwood Sub – Rivanna Connection route Acca Yard Passenger movements today have conflict areas  New East Side Acca Bypass  Double Track Bellwood Sub – Rivanna Sub Connection Route

14 Fulton Yard Area passenger movements offer similar challenges  Main on north side of the yard is operated under ABS Rule 251 Egypt to R Cabin  New 3 rd Main to be constructed between R Cabin and Beulah  Parallel movement for: – Newport News and Fulton turn trains – BBRR/Clifton Forge bound trains – Amtrak trains  Tide / Passenger  BBRR / Passenger New 3 rd Main

15 Potential Peninsula Sub conventional rail improvements include new sections of double track and universal crossovers  Double Track connecting Newport News Terminal to Oriana with new universals at Hampton Roads and Oriana– provides 25 miles of continuous DT to Toppings.  A new DT segment at White Oak with center universal crossover.  Universal crossovers added to the Norge – Diana DT segment. New Univ. Crossovers

16 The focus in Newport News is to eliminate the interaction between coal and passenger movements  Today, Amtrak passengers detrain on the south side of the terminal  Equipment must be repositioned to the north side for storage  The proposed configuration redirects all passenger activity to the northern side of the property

17 Guidelines for Partnerships to Expand Co-Mingled Freight and Passenger Rail  Access to host railroad track and property must be negotiated between the parties on a voluntary basis  Designing for safety is paramount and separate tracks will be needed to segregate freight and conventional passenger rail from high speed rail at sustained speeds in excess of 90 mph  Service to rail freight customers must be reliable and protected and cannot be compromised; adequate capacity must be maintained and, in some cases, built to address future freight growth

18 Guidelines for Partnerships to Expand Co-Mingled Freight and Passenger Rail  New infrastructure design must fully protect the host railroad’s ability to serve its existing customers, both passenger and freight, and locate future new freight customers on its lines  Host railroads must be adequately compensated, especially in regard to the significantly higher maintenance cost associated with enhanced track infrastructure that will be required for high speed rail  Host freight railroads need to be fully protected against any and all liability that would not have resulted but for the added presence of high speed passenger rail service