By VICKI URBANIK

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have underscored the need for an efficient transportation system to keep the country moving even in times of a national disaster, says a supporter of high-speed rail.

The unprecedented shutdown in air travel brought commerce and tourism to a crawl, cost the airlines billions, and left thousands of people who were stranded in airports frantically turning to buses, trains and rental cars to get them home or to their business destinations.

“Ground transportation became quite a salvation for them,” said W. Dennis Hodges of the Indiana High Speed Rail Association.

The association, which has about 225 members, is an advocate of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, a nine-state effort to bring high-speed rail to a 3,000-mile corridor, with trains capable of traveling up to 110 miles per hour.

A trip from Chicago to Cincinnati, which now takes nearly nine hours by train, would take just over four hours, while a trip to Detroit, which now takes 5.75 hours, would take just under 3.75 hours.

Not only would high-speed trains get people to their destinations more quickly, but more trains would be offered. Amtrak now provides three trains a day from Chicago to Cleveland; with high-speed rail, that number would increase to eight.

High speed rail would be a boon to Indiana’s economy, Hodges said. “We feel that the trains can do for Chesterton and Valparaiso what the airports do for Chicago,” he said.

While there’s long been a need for high-speed rail, Hodges said the terrorist attacks have underscored its importance both in terms of the economy and national defense. Commerce and tourism were both hit hard by the shutdown in air traffic, but neither would have been as negatively affected if more efficient train service were available, he said. And while he personally has no fears about flying, Hodges noted that Amtrak ridership continues to be about 35 percent higher than normal, suggesting that many Americans now dread getting on a plane.

Although “everything can be a target for terrorism,” Hodges added, “you don’t run trains into buildings.”

Hodges said America’s transportation system will always depend heavily on planes and highways, but that trains should play a greater role. He said if the president were to invoke his authority to call on the nation’s airlines to transport military supplies and troops in wartime, America’s transportation options would once again be limited.

“People do need to have these options,” he said.

On Thursday and Friday of last week, the Indiana High Speed Rail Association hosted its third annual “Golden Spike Seminar,” with this year’s theme focusing on transportation in national defense terms.

Indiana Link

Speaking at this month’s Northwest Indiana Transportation Commission meeting, Roger Sims of the Indiana High Speed Rail Association said the need is clear for more efficient train service. Highways are too congested, and air travel is no longer cost effective for the short to medium trips. Bus systems, meanwhile, have reduced their services.

As planned, the rail initiative would use existing railroad right of ways. In Indiana, three main routes are planned, all of which have Chicago and Northwest Indiana at their core: one that would travel north into Michigan; one traveling east to Ohio; and one south to Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville.

Sims said about 80 percent of Indiana’s population would live within one hour from the high-speed rail.

Undetermined at this point is the route for the northern Indiana line eastward to Ohio. One alternative calls for the line to go through South Bend, while another calls for the line to be farther south, traveling to Fort Wayne. Hodges said it’s possible that the route could run to both cities.

In Porter County, the high-speed route is planned either on the existing Amtrak line near U.S. 20 or on the Pennsylvania Railroad line that runs near U.S. 30. The Porter County route will depend on how the South Bend-Fort Wayne route is designed. In either case, the Porter County line would travel to and from the Gary airport.

State Senator Earline Rogers, D-Gary, raised a concern at the transportation meeting that the high-speed route wouldn’t extend more into the highly populated Lake County. All Chicago and Northwest Indiana trains would enter and exit the region on a now non-existent track at Ind. 421 in LaPorte County. Sims said the route was selected because it will be important for the train service to stop at the Gary Airport. If the trains went through the central and northern part of Lake County, he said they would have to backtrack to get to the airport and the route could conflict with heavy freight services.

Cost An Issue

The high-speed rail project would be funded 80 percent through the federal government, with Indiana providing the remaining 20 percent.

The cost for the northern Indiana line is estimated at $200 million, with Indiana putting up $40 million. The Ohio line is estimated at $310 million, with the state paying $62 million. The Louisville-Cincinnati line would cost $125 million, with the state paying $25 million.

The total of Indiana’s costs, about $127 million, is “a little more” than what Indiana is now paying just for the Cline Avenue interchange on I-94, Sims said.

Larry Goode, chief of the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Multi Modal Division, said it’s possible that Indiana could reduce its share through cost sharing with other states. He noted that Ohio can’t get to Chicago without Indiana, so it’s possible that Ohio could be asked to pitch in more and Indiana, less.

Goode said the high speed rail crossings would be heavily guarded. The plans call for four gates, two on each side of the train, to block anyone from crossing the tracks. He noted that with trains moving at 110 m.p.h., there would be no time for someone to get out of the way of an oncoming train.

“We’re going to need super good protection at these crossings,” he said.

The Associated Press reported that federal requirements could change the rail initiative’s current plans by requiring trains to travel up to 125 m.p.h. and no at-grade crossings. Railroad bridges would be required wherever there are intersections.

Indiana Behind

Sims said the original hope was that Indiana would begin implementing high-speed rail as early as next year, but conceded, “I think that’s unrealistic at this point.”

However, surrounding states aren’t sitting idly by.

Sims said Michigan is aggressively pursuing its portion of the high speed project, and Amtrak has pledged to Illinois to begin offering high-speed rail in 2002. Both those states are poised to have their local match ready when federal funds become available.

“It’s happening around us. We’re just not as active as these other states,” he said.

A bill pending in Congress would allow Amtrak $12 billion in bonding authority to expand its services, of which $4.1 billion would be designated for the high-speed rail.

Hodges estimates Indiana won’t get high-speed rail until sometime between 2006 and 2008. He said Indiana is a small and underfunded state, and that it’s a “donor state” to the federal government, meaning that it gives more in federal taxes than it gets back. He suggested that it might require an act of Congress to get Indiana the funding it needs for its local match, since state lawmakers have been slow in committing the funding.

“Indiana in particular has been very slow to move on this,” he said.

Posted  9/25/2001