Spokane's City Council unanimously approved a resolution last night requesting further study of the effects of coal train travel through the City of Spokane.
Spokane County is the major rail crossroad in the Inland Northwest and is the entry point for all coal coming into Washington from Montana and Wyoming. Claims are that up to 80 additional trains per day could soon start coming through the area carrying coal. Spokane already has, and always has had, a significant number of trains carrying coal pass through on a daily basis.
So, according to all the statistics we have, it's not very likely we will have 80 additional coal trains traversing our area anytime soon. While some of these reports are from 2007, SRTC staff has been keeping an eye on information out of the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the numbers still align closely. Spokane is identified in five of WSDOT’s Freight Plans as bottlenecks.
WSDOT forecasts an increase in capacity by 2028 but it still wouldn’t be enough to accommodate 80 more trains a day. There's also the factor that UP/BNSF’s clear priority for investment is in the Southwest at this time, not our area.
Until this is all figured out though, City Council is concerned about public safety and the impacts on the quality of life that could be caused by more trains. Specific concerns include increased exposure to diesel particulate emissions, noise pollution, coal dust, delays in vehicular traffic, as well as potential delays in emergency medical transport.
The resolution they passed requests that the potential impacts of the trains to Spokane’s public health, safety, economy, traffic, and air quality be included as a part of the project’s Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and that a hearing be scheduled in Spokane pertaining to any project in the Northwest that may cause significant increases in rail traffic traveling through Spokane. We'll continue to follow this issue and keep you updated.
Spokane County is the major rail crossroad in the Inland Northwest and is the entry point for all coal coming into Washington from Montana and Wyoming. Claims are that up to 80 additional trains per day could soon start coming through the area carrying coal. Spokane already has, and always has had, a significant number of trains carrying coal pass through on a daily basis.
Between 50 and 70 trains pass through our region every day, carrying all kinds of cargo. This issue has been discussed as part of the Inland Pacific Hub (IPH) project and here is what we found out during the course of that study:
- According to this working paper from the IPH, the capacity of the two Class I lines through our area is 78 trains per day, which is at capacity on the UP line and nearing capacity on the BNSF line (page 89). That means the lines couldn't physically carry another 80 trains.
- Coal is by far the largest commodity passing through our region already (page 93) of the report above. A discussion about the volume (tonnage) and value that just passes through our area begins on page 9 of this report. Coal is again mentioned on page 16.
- 52.6% of all freight by volume (tonnage) just passes through our region, meaning Spokane or outlying areas is not it's final destination. 54.1% of the freight by value is through traffic. Rail carries 42.8% of the total freight by volume and 20.3% by value. 81.5% of rail freight is through traffic.
- In reality, about 5 million more tons of coal is through traffic but it is listed as inbound or outbound on the waybills. Therefore, the through traffic on rail is actually much larger, closer to 89% of all freight via the railroads.
So, according to all the statistics we have, it's not very likely we will have 80 additional coal trains traversing our area anytime soon. While some of these reports are from 2007, SRTC staff has been keeping an eye on information out of the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the numbers still align closely. Spokane is identified in five of WSDOT’s Freight Plans as bottlenecks.
WSDOT forecasts an increase in capacity by 2028 but it still wouldn’t be enough to accommodate 80 more trains a day. There's also the factor that UP/BNSF’s clear priority for investment is in the Southwest at this time, not our area.
Until this is all figured out though, City Council is concerned about public safety and the impacts on the quality of life that could be caused by more trains. Specific concerns include increased exposure to diesel particulate emissions, noise pollution, coal dust, delays in vehicular traffic, as well as potential delays in emergency medical transport.
The resolution they passed requests that the potential impacts of the trains to Spokane’s public health, safety, economy, traffic, and air quality be included as a part of the project’s Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and that a hearing be scheduled in Spokane pertaining to any project in the Northwest that may cause significant increases in rail traffic traveling through Spokane. We'll continue to follow this issue and keep you updated.
3 comments:
Curious as to where the 5-7 (11% of total) daily trains that unload their cargo in Spokane are doing it? Where is the facility?
I watched the city council meeting and one person brought up that the tracks are nearly at capacity now, and so there is no possibility if 80 more trains a day unless they finish the double tracks from west of Spokane to Sandpoint. And the tracks west of Spokane are not much better for traffic. The tunnel on the old Great Northern route is at capacity now, and the BNSF tracks along the Columbia are in serious need of repair.
The majority of non-coal cargo is unloaded either at the Yardley intermodal facility or at the Inland Empire Distribution Systems transload facility. There is some that is loaded/unloaded from the class II or shortlines at places like grain elevators, lumber yards or pulp mills.
Coal is about 9.6% of the total inbound commodities to the Central County cluster which includes Spokane County. However, that almost exact same percentage is listed for outbound commodities, so it appears that, once it is unloaded, it is loaded up again in either a truck or train headed a different direction and continues back out of our area.
@Charles, I think I know who it was that brought up that the tracks are nearly at capacity because we had someone contact us yesterday for that information, just wanting to educate herself on the issue.
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