Eastern Railroad Discussion > QUs about new RR start-ups

THIS ONE IS FOR ALL ACTUAL RAILROAD PLANNERS, as well as any TO.COM members who have ever worked to add rail to their employer's locations for better/less-costly transportation options (and I hope I'm wording this accurately):

I have a practical operations question about new rail line start-ups, specifically when an industrial park is proposed with "new" rail access. If, say, there is at least one "large" businessess who ship/receive freight and several others that "might" seek to use the rail park as well, HOW MANY DAILY CARLOADS would justify constructing an ALL NEW, 8-mile rail line? With construction costs of the average rail line about $1M a mile, how many businesses might need to be added to [said business park] to make it worth the cost of construction, land acqusition, environmental study/studies, and any bridge and RR crossing expenditures? (Is there some sort of minimum carload "threshold" that makes a RR line viable?)

Yes, there IS a proposed 8-mile rail line which will be "discussed" by a local county in my area for possible build-out during 2015, and there are a LOT of potential businesses in the region which may seek to use the line extension. What I am wondering is how many carloads (inbound AND outbound) would make this financiallly feasible (even with state and Federal grants), from a "LONG-RANGE" perspective.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/14 11:12 by rbx551985.

mil a mile was 90s rates for roadbed only not including bridges culverts or other built up structures

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Is the county developing the industrial park, and does it propose to build the new line, too? Will new line connect with only one railroad, or two or more?

ts1457 Wrote:
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> Is the county developing the industrial park, and
> does it propose to build the new line, too? Will
> new line connect with only one railroad, or two or
> more?

One connection: NS. 'Could be a sole NS operation, or leased to another, regional shortline which already leases a NS route in the state. This is all speculation at this point, with a public meeting to be held Nov. 24 to seek input from the public and from businesses which may use the proposed line extension. One LARGE business already located there trucks their product from another RR more than 20 miles away; they get 10 carloads a DAY and ship out a hundred truckloads of finished product a DAY ... needless to say, they want the line put in. Whether or not enough business IN ADDITION to them can use the line is the big question: how many businesses (read: daily carloads) will make such a line viable?

I'd guess that it depends on the stability of the traffic, the commodities involved (which affect rates), the overall rate & share with NS, not to mention the costs. Is it 8 miles of easy building? Lots of crossings? Bridges? Are there state grants to help pay for any of it?

Number of carloads is not a good enough number to base a business plan on... I'd say you need more info.
-Alex

jalang Wrote:
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> I'd guess that it depends on the stability of the
> traffic, the commodities involved (which affect
> rates), the overall rate & share with NS, not to
> mention the costs. Is it 8 miles of easy building?
> Lots of crossings? Bridges? Are there state grants
> to help pay for any of it?
>
> Number of carloads is not a good enough number to
> base a business plan on... I'd say you need more
> info.
> -Alex

Probably so. Justification also depends on who pays for it. If the county is putting up money, what it is looking for are new jobs and expanding the tax bases. If the railroad pays, return on investment.

I don't know if CSX or another railroad is anywhere close to the industrial park, but theoretically speaking, having access to two or more railroads on a neutral basis would greatly increase the desirability of the industrial land.