INCREASING CAPACITY ON THE SAN JOAQUIN CORRIDOR A PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

Transcription

1 INCREASING CAPACITY ON THE SAN JOAQUIN CORRIDOR A PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP Presented By Ken Galt, Caltrans Division of Rail John Fleming, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway William Brewster, Hanson-Wilson Inc. ABSTRACT Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's (BNSF) San Joaquin Corridor route provides a vital link for freight movements into the Bay Area as well as intercity passenger service in the San Joaquin Valley. This busy main line, which traverses the agricultural regions of Central California, is primarily a single-track route. Through a public/private partnership, key portions of the route will see the addition of a second main track. This paper discusses the planning, design and construction of capacity improvement projects along this route. This project improves main line capacity and Amtrak performance along three segments of the BNSF Stockton and Bakersfield Subdivisions: Calwa to Bowles, Escalon to Stockton, and Guernsey to Shirley. The project's scope included installing crossovers, bridges, upgraded sidings, new main line track, grade separations, culvert extensions and grade crossing improvements for 48 miles of track. This project is funded in part by the State of California and required close coordination and approvals from Caltrans. The project presented significant engineering challenges with regard to drainage design, horizontal alignment constraints, utility relocation and right-of-way acquisition.

2 INTRODUCTION The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's (BNSF s) Stockton and Bakersfield Subdivisions consist of a single-track main line running the entire length of the San Joaquin Valley in Central California. Extending from Bakersfield to Stockton, via Antioch, Port Chicago, and on to Richmond, this 110-year-old railroad route links the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area to the agriculturally rich Central Valley of California. The Corridor is the primary freight infrastructure for the BNSF as well as an important passenger service route for Amtrak. The California Department of Transportation, Division of Rail (Caltrans), in cooperation with Amtrak, is responsible for the San Joaquin passenger service, which serves the valley cities of Bakersfield, Wasco, Corcoran, Hanford, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Denair, Modesto, Stockton, Antioch, Martinez, Richmond, and Oakland. It is often referred to as the San Joaquin Corridor. BNSF and Caltrans Division of Rail have worked together for many years as partners to improve the efficiency of operations in the San Joaquin Corridor for both freight and passenger service. Both share a common vision: 1. To accommodate the existing and future freight demands. 2. To improve reliability and on-time performance of passenger trains. ESTABLISHING PASSENGER & FREIGHT SERVICE ON THE CORRIDOR As far back as the 1980s, BNSF and Amtrak realized the opportunity to use the infrastructure of Class I railroads under the terms of the Amtrak Act in order to provide public transportation by operating passenger service on the San Joaquin Corridor. Thus, in 1987, Caltrans contracted with Amtrak to provide service on the San Joaquin Corridor

3 as a means of developing a transportation alternative. Service is now provided by stateowned rolling stock consisting of 17 locomotives and 88 passenger cars. Between 40 and 50 trains per day run on the San Joaquin Corridor, of which 12 are San Joaquin passenger trains and the balance are BNSF freight trains. They move approcimately 40 million gross tons of freight and about 250,000 passengers each year. The Corridor covers 277 miles on the BNSF, crossing over a minimum of 350 grade crossings. UPGRADES TO MEET DEMAND Over the years, service frequencies increased and as they did it became clear that on-time performance of the San Joaquin service was conflicting more and more with BNSF s freight operations along the Corridor. State laws ere enacted along the way to allow the State to fund the cost of capacity improvement projects on railroads on a forceaccount basis. Early projects mitigated the increase in San Joaquin train frequencies, but after reaching the frequency goal of six round trips a day for passenger service, the Caltrans and BNSF partnership developed additional goals to work toward, including: Reduce overall running times of the six round trip trains from Bakersfield to Oakland by at least one-half hour. Improve on-time performance to 90%. Early planning studies considered improvements to surpass the existing 79-mph train speeds (up to 110 mph) to meet the goals. However, supplemental signal requirements

4 and other issues made this a difficult and very expensive alternative. Operational analyses conducted by the BNSF determined key double track areas that would allowing trains to meet without either of them stopping. Considering that there is an average of three Amtrak train meets per run, the goal of the model used in the analysis was to decrease time by 5 minutes per train per meet, plus an additional 9 minutes in actual running time, or 24-minutes overall. Considerations used in the in the BNSF modeling were: Locations of congestion Locations of train meets Location of existing sidings. Physical environment of the sidings. The analysis identified key locations for double track improvements. From this, conceptual track schematics were developed for evaluation and approval by the BNSF Operating Department. Once approval was secured from the Operating Department, the next step entailed a search for a third member of the Caltrans/BNSF partnership a consultant to provide design, environmental services, and estimates. Consultant selection was conducted by BNSF Engineering with input and review by Caltrans Railroad Technology staff. A non-traditional selection process was used in that it combined the following elements: 1. Invitation was extended to those firms currently holding a BNSF On-Call Engineering contract and with proven knowledge/experience in California.

5 2. Phase 1 entailed a requisite pre-proposal meeting, on-site project walk through, and response by the consultants to a Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP was prepared and administered by an independent consultant, precluded from proposing on the project. The RFP included evaluation criteria based on key personnel, relevant project experience, project management skills, work plan and approach, local knowledge, deliverability, SBE/WBE participation, similar project knowledge, and fee. Special consideration was given to ensure that each element of the detailed fee proposal was appropriate to the associated scope of work. 3. Phase 2 was an interview of three short-listed firms by members from BNSF Engineering, Caltrans Railroad Technology, the independent consultant, and the environmental consultant. A critical factor throughout the conceptual, preliminary, and final design of the projects were the estimates to establish Caltrans funding for all costs including land acquisition, environmental services, civil engineering, structures engineering, and track and signal design and construction. The Project Team for the estimates included: Hanson-Wilson Inc. engineering design, track schematics, right-of-way maps, and CPUC applications. Dodson & Associates environmental clearance and mitigation. Cinnbar Service Company appraisal and land acquisition services. BNSF Track, Signal and Structures Departments performed all work and provided estimates related to systems.

6 Public-Private Relationships: A Key To Successful Project Implementation Caltrans Private BNSF Engineering Department BNSF Track & Signal Private CPUC Local Agencies The Project Segments The operational analysis defined three segments on the BNSF San Joaquin Subdivision for the addition of a second main track. Those locations are: 1. Bowles (M.P ) to Calwa (M.P ) 2. Shirley (M.P ) to Hanford (M.P ) 3. Escalon (M.P ) to Stockton (M.P ) All segments required land acquisition, typically a 15- to 25-foot strip, to attain 25-foot track centers and to provide access to a maintenance roadway. The first segment initiated out of a siding at Bowles proceeding north to tie into the Calwa yard. Significant design challenges included: 1) fitting the second main between existing columns for the Golden State Freeway, 2) a UPRR crossing diamond between the Freeway and the Yard, 3) redesign and relocation for irrigation siphons crossing the right-of-way, and 4) relocation of fiber optic and oil/gas lines. The second segment, Shirley to Hanford, had issues regarding the passenger station at Hanford, redesign of numerous industry spur tracks, grade crossing design, and applications at heavily traveled roadways.

7 The final and longest segment, Escalon to Stockton, had numerous challenges including: 1) site detours at crossings which had parallel roads in close proximity to the main line, 2) a grade crossing application for Escalon, 3)widening of existing grade separations, and 4) equalization and maintenance of drainage patterns so as not to affect local farms in the area. A portion of this segment passes the new BNSF Mariposa Facility. Coordination in design and right-of-way was involved for grade separations at Mariposa and Jack Tone roads. These grade separations were constructed under separate projects. Construction Schedule Hanson-Wilson Inc. prepared construction bid packages for the earthwork, structures, crossings, and utility relocation for each Segment. Commencing in March 2002, BNSF forces constructed track and signals for the Calwa to Bowles segment from M.P to M.P , with civil and grading work performed by Contract. Segment II, Hanford to Shirley, is currently under construction. Segment III, Escalon to Stockton, is awaiting construction funding. SUMMARY Long-established relationships between Caltrans, local agencies, and the California Public Utilities Commission were a key to a successful public-private partnership for upgrading the capacity of the San Joaquin Corridor, as were the relationships between the Class I railroads, BNSF, their on-call consultants and contractors (engineering, environmental, and land acquisitions) to create a streamlined, economical alternative to traditional methods.

8 There are similar projects throughout the State being facilitated by the same type of public-private partnership. These include the National City Car Service Facility, the Los Angeles Triple Track facility, and additional capacity improvement projects in Northern California. Soon, Amtrak and BNSF trains will be running on the San Joaquin Corridor with increased efficiency and on-time performance thanks to the ingenuity provided by these subsequent projects.