gokeefe wrote:F-line,
You're right VTrans really is "putting on a clinic". I'm particularly impressed by the project plan which anticipates the reuse of jointed rail in certain sections. I know it's "not a big deal" operationally but most projects almost always involve CWR. The fact that VTrans was able to recognize good rail where they had it and reuse it does go to show how smart they are about getting federal funding. I'm sure USDOT/FRA was impressed with the value of this project as well.
Plenty of room for future improvement and track work as time goes on.
Actually, VRS is a huge help there. The VRS system is the oldest New England example of a shortline or Class III living its whole existence symbiotically on state-owned track. The state bought the Western Corridor in 1963 the second the Rutland RR went bankrupt, and Vermont Railway was founded and contracted immediately to fill the freight service vacuum the defunct Rutland left behind. State dId the same just a couple years later with the Green Mountain RR mainline, buying then hiring a new carrier (who has since been absorbed into the greater VRS system). The Western Corridor partners just celebrated their 50th anniversary together...an almost unheard-of length of time for such an arrangement. It took until Penn Central's collapse, the 1970's-1980's final transitions of commuter rail into wholly- public agencies, and the shortlines born in the mid/late-70's through territory shed in the Conrail Final System Plan for any of the other New England DOT's to start on that learning curve. VTrans and VRS had a nearly 20-year head-start on them. As well as a nearly 30-year head start on developing codified state-level funding mechanisms for SGR grants on these freight trackage rights lines.
So part of the reason why they're able to move so quietly and efficiently with stepped-out upgrades on the Western Corridor is because VTrans and VRS have been a married couple so much longer than anyone else who has to manage two sides of a trackage rights agreement. And they've already road-tested cooperation on passenger service on that corridor with the
Champaign Flyer in the early-90's. There's well-established trust factor that VRS is going to provide a fully accurate itemization of what has to be fixed today vs. what can wait another 10 years. Whereas they had to buy NECR--with its frequent ownership changes requiring the state to re-learn who they're dealing with-- basically a brand new railroad with cherries on top in order to give the Vermonter its first-ever performance makeover. Throw in everyone else who demands a whole new railroad before new passenger trackage rights get granted, and you can see where VTrans has a far easier starting point negotiating from a 50-year working relationship with the same tenant on the same in-house line ownership.