Following is a summary of recent developments regarding train and railroad-related aggravations in Richmond. The arrogance of railroads to make people miserable, backed by almost total federal government preemption of local powers to control noise and street blockages is an unfortunate result of the power that railroads have wielded since the days of the 19th Century robber barons.

If our legislators wanted to do something about it, they could impose an almost imperceptible fee on every ton of freight hauled to create a fund to pay for grade crossing improvements required for Quiet Zones. They could also change the Train Horn Rule to something more rational than what it is now. In this day and age of technology, the use of a 95 decibel train horn for simple signals that can be heard a mile away at night in an urban residential area is an anachronism beyond belief.

Our legislators could also demand that the CPUC and the FRA live up to their mission statements:

The FRA Mission Statement looks like they really care about you and me:

“Serve the United States by ensuring a safe transportation system that furthers our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people.”
FRA Mission Statement
Similarly, the CPUC Mission Statement and Vision Statement include lofty goals that would lead you to believe they actually care about us:

“We lead with integrity, take initiative, and inspire a shared vision in the pursuit of the public interest.”
CPUC Mission Statement

“The California Public Utilities Commission betters the lives of all Californians through our recognized leadership in innovative communications, energy, transportation, and water policies and regulation.” 

 

4th and Cutting

The 60-day comment period ended January 14, 2012. After the comments are received, FRA then performs its analysis and provides a response back to the city. This process usually takes 30 days, however FRA staff responsible for this analysis will do their best to expedite the handling of Richmond’s application. FRA anticipates the response to be sent to the city by mid-

S.34th Street

Creating a quiet zone that includes S. 34th Street will be challenging.  The geometry of the crossing (a two lane street that crosses the tracks at a 90 degree angle) makes visibility from S. 34th Street to Regatta Blvd an issue; without adequate traffic aids (such as mirrors) approaching vehicles appear to need to pull into the crossing to look for oncoming train traffic.  Because of this, the FRA let us know that they may object to our including the S.34th Street crossing in the proposed quiet zone even though we appear to qualify under the FRA calculator.  Please note, however, that we qualify using the current FRA crossing inventory which is dated. New traffic counts are being taken to confirm qualification under the calculator. 

Given the PUC and FRA’s concerns, we agreed to look at the possibility of installing wayside horns as one-for-one replacements for the train horns.  RPR expressed a willingness to help us pay for the installation.  The City of Richmond will be procuring estimates shortly. 

In light of the industrial character of the neighborhood, S. 34th Street seems like a good candidate for wayside horns. 

Regatta Blvd

As a component of the Marina Bay Parkway underpass (grade separation) project, the City will be constructing a by-pass from Regatta Blvd to Meade Street and closing the Regatta Blvd crossing.  Once closed, there will be no train horns at that crossing.  A pre-bid meeting for the by-pass project is scheduled for next week and the construction schedule is anticipated to be 120 days.  The start will depend on rain forecasts.

Meade Street

No physical improvements are necessary. Signage and markings are all that will be required to establish a quiet zone. 

Further Actions

Once the City has estimates for the cost and schedule to install wayside horns at the S. 34th Street crossing, it will be in a better position to determine whether to attempt to include S. 34th Street in a quiet zone with Meade Street or proceed with wayside horns instead.  The City will let you know what we learn as information becomes available.

Canal Blvd

The Port and Engineering Department are actively drafting plans that would allow the City to create a quiet zone under federal regulations.  This includes creating a public street at the existing private crossing just outside of the AWC facility.  The plans are almost ready for review by the PUC, impacted industries and railroad.  Once all stakeholders approve the plans, The City can submit them to BNSF for estimates. 

Horn honking on Canal Boulevard has been moderated over the last couple of months by reducing the length of the honks to just blips. This has been a significant improvement, but periodically engineers slip back into their old patterns, and the use of the horns for yard signaling continues to be a problem.

All Aboard Storage

Apparently there has been no progress on the All Aboard Storage grade crossing. This is a private driveway that crosses a single track at All Aboard Storage on Meeker Avenue. Unfortunately, the property is bifurcated by the track. The office is on one side and the storage units are on the other side of the track. My understanding is that the security gate does not even allow access to the storage units at night. There are no gates, flashing lights or bells at this crossing, and none are required. I don’t know why the City of Richmond and the CPUC ever approved this project, but that’s water under the bridge. The CPUC’s interpretation and enforcement of their Section 7604 requires trains to sound their horns four times at his crossing. This is the full-on locomotive horn that is incredibly loud and upsetting to Marina Bay residents at night. The rest of the Marina bay crossings are in an FRA Quiet Zone, but this one is not because it is under CPUC jurisdiction. It would cost the City of Richmond $324,000 to upgrade this crossing sufficiently for the CPUC to let it go quiet. We have proposed a wayside horn in lieu of the locomotive horn, but the CPUC will not allow it.

Blocked Grade Crossings

When the Honda port of Entry Project was approved, Port Director Jim Matzorkis told the City Council, “The project shall not undertake switching operations that block traffic on Canal, West Cutting, and Garrard Boulevards. Project operations shall occur primarily between 7:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m.” (City Council Minutes, November 18, 2008). As residents of Point Richmond, Brickyard and Seacliff know, this has not been the case. Grade crossings at these streets are blocked regularly, day and night. Matzorkis went on to say, “The city shall be responsible for installing an automated monitoring system that automatically records grade crossing blockages on Canal, West Cutting, and Garrard Boulevards and that information shall be made available to the public on a monthly basis.” This has not been done either.

Pile Driving on the Union Pacific Line

The Union Pacific Railroad has been driving piles for a bridge replacement near the Richmond Annex for several weeks. The work is all done at night and has been the subject of many complaints from nearby residents. I tried to have the City’s noise ordinance enforced, but apparently the City lacks jurisdiction due to federal preemption. The short explanation is that the construction directly involves both railroad safety and train operations. Federal law controls and regulates such activities and preempts local or state laws attempting to regulate in those areas.

• Background:

 

Union Pacific is repairing and replacing a railroad bridge that has become unsafe for the loads it carries. The bridge is subject to very heavy traffic on a daily basis by multiple Amtrak Capital Corridor passenger trains and interstate and local freight trains.  There are three (3) parallel tracks at the bridge repair site that are all used by both Amtrak and freight trains during the heavy use commuter hours.  Due to strict federal safety regulations, UP is required to divert all trains onto one track before work crews are allowed on the construction site.  In order to avoid significant disruption to Amtrak’s passenger trains (which have priority over all other train traffic), their related bus services, and freight trains in this heavily traveled rail corridor, the trains are not diverted onto a single track until after the main commuter hours.

The work taking place involves the use of pile-drivers to erect the bridge support structure.  It takes approximately 3-hours to drive a single support “beam”.  The crews are not permitted on the site until all trains are diverted onto the single track, at approximately 7:00 pm.  At that time, the crew attends a mandatory safety meeting and resets the construction equipment to begin driving the support beams.

When the City received the first complaints of noise from the pile-drivers, UP had been working as late as 3:30 a.m. and 5-nights a week.  We contacted Union Pacific and a meeting was held with high level management from Union Pacific to discuss the noise issue.  Subsequent telephone conferences with UP management and their attorney were also conducted.  The federal preemption issue, as well as the practicalities of the repair construction and the noise effects on the neighborhood was also discussed with the City Manager and City Attorney and UP.

Following the discussions, UP voluntarily agreed to limit their use of pile-drivers by stopping at midnight and also reducing the work schedule to 4 nights a week, Monday through Thursday.  While the agreement eliminated noise after midnight, the result of the reduced work hours resulted in the repair project taking longer to complete and extended the total number of nights the pile-driver noise would continue. 

• Legal Basis for Preemption of City Noise Ordinance:

 

It is well established that federal statutes regulate the construction and operation of railroad property and railroad safety and preempt state and local regulations. Preemption occurs under one or more statutes, including the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, 49 U.S.C. (“ICCTA”), the Federal Railroad Safety Act, 40 USC. Sec. 20101, et seq., and/or the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Const. art 1, sec. 8, cl. 3 (“Commerce Clause”). 

In order for UP to comply with the City’s Noise Ordinance, they would be required to alter their operations and reschedule and divert all train traffic onto a single track during daytime peak train traffic periods (pursuant to FRSA safety requirements) since they would only be permitted to conduct the necessary repair work during the daytime hours specified in the Noise Ordinance. That requirement would impermissibly interfere with both passenger and freight railroad transportation. It would require Amtrak to either suspend or limit the scheduling of the Capital Corridor commuter trains, with the added result of UP suffering a significant economic loss under the terms of their agreement with Amtrak and other railroads that use UP tracks.

The City’s noise regulation would clearly intrude into the areas of operation, commerce and safety that are explicitly preempted by federal regulations and would be inconsistent with controlling case law.  Moreover, federal and state courts have consistently held that ICCTA expressly preempts state and local laws that have the effect of managing or governing rail transportation, especially with regard to state or local laws that impact a railroad’s economic decisions such as those pertaining to scheduling. [Citations omitted].

In this instance, the City’s noise ordinance would have a significant impact on railroad operating procedures (less frequent trains or elimination of traffic on the corridor) and economics because of schedule impacts and loss of revenue. It would impermissibly regulate areas of railroad operations, safety and economics reserved exclusively to the STB, FRSA and ICCTA, therefore it is preempted by federal statutes.