Conrail to put second track at Inman, Tingley Residents: Second track is 'third rail' for safety. Quiet zone proposed BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer SCOTT PILLING Staff A Conrail freight train crosses Inman Avenue in Edison on March 10. Conrail is planning to put a second track along the Lehigh Valley line, on which this train is traveling. EDISON - Tim Tierney, chief engineer for Conrail, the owners and operators of the Lehigh Valley freight train line that bisects north Edison, told residents on March 7 what they already knew - waiting five or more minutes for a train to pass is waiting too long. At a meeting with residents, Conrail laid out plans to reinstall a second track along 10 miles of the Lehigh Valley line in an attempt to minimize the time that it takes for that train to pass, eliminating bottlenecks where two tracks converge into one. That track would include grade crossings at Inman and Tingley avenues in north Edison. "We have to be efficient running on those rails," Tierney said. "We can't detour to the shoulder if there is roadwork." Tierney and Conrail have proposed extending the track that they claim would mitigate bottlenecks where tracks converge, as well as allow trains to maintain a greater rate of speed through the crossings than they are currently allowed to travel. Tierney hopes that will reduce the wait time at a train crossing to under two minutes. SCOTT PILLING staff The traffic backs up along Inman Avenue as cars wait sometimes as long as five minutes for freight trains to pass. "Our goal is to keep trains moving at track speed," Leo McGlynn, a representative from Conrail, told residents. "It is least efficient when trains are stopping or going very slow." The current wait at a train crossing for a train carrying upward of 100 cars and traveling at a low rate of speed or not moving at all because of bottlenecks is sometimes more than five minutes. Tierney said that having the trains move faster could alleviate some of the traffic problems caused by stopped traffic. Many were skeptical. Conrail showed a video of what they were proposing, showing the second-by-second operation of a typical rail crossing stop. In the video, the train, traveling at track speed, around 50 mph, took one minute 30 seconds to alert traffic of approach, pass through the crossing, raise the traffic bars and resume traffic to a normal speed. Many in the audience did not believe that the video was indicative of reality. "I would like to see traffic come to normal in 20 seconds," said Nick McGlasco. "I mean it when I say you'd have to be Mario Andretti." Bill Fidurski, a member of the Inman Railroad Committee, a community organization, echoed this sentiment as a member of a panel that included the township engineer, members of Conrail, an Edison Police representative and three members of the elected governing body. "A 2,200-foot train traveling at 50 miles per hour in 30 seconds is unrealistic," Fidurski said. The second track once existed at Inman and Tingley but was removed by Conrail sometime in the '80s. Tierney said it reflected business decisions at the time. Now, however, with the continued revitalization of the ports at Newark, Elizabeth and Bayonne, Tierney said the need for more rail access is growing and expects it to be essential to the economic growth of New Jersey and the entire Northeast. "This traffic is going to move one way or another," Tierney said. The only other option to building this second rail, Tierney said, is to allow truck traffic to increase on New Jersey's highways. "We've all seen an increase in traffic," Tierney said. "This area supports a global market, not just a regional market." Tierney said that if the trains and ports don't run efficiently, "they are going to come by truck." Choi proposes "quiet zone" Mayor Jun Choi said that due to federal regulations, there are no recourses to Conrail putting in the second track. He asked the residents to be realistic about their options and proposed the creation of a "quiet zone," which would allow trains passing at grade level to refrain from blowing their horns except in an emergency. Trains are required by law to blow their horns when they cross tracks in areas that do not have the added level of protection afforded by quiet-zone technology. According to McGlynn, a quiet zone uses several types of technology that add protection to cars on the crossing and mitigates the need for trains to blow their horns. It is the only federally permitted type of grade crossing that gets around the horn-blowing requirement and was only passed into law by an act of Congress within the past few years. McGlynn said that before the beginning of this project, they had no experience with quiet-zone technology, and they are confident that it will help minimize the train noise that thousands of people residing in the crossing areas deal with. The quiet zones use four quadrant gates that reduce the risk of cars being caught between and disallow anyone from skirting around the protective bars. They also use power outage indicators, constant warning circuitry and advanced highway warning signs, according to McGlynn. The quiet-zone technology will not be provided by Conrail but will have to be purchased by the township. Choi said that the administration has lined up the $1 million in funding required to put the quiet zones in, but would not disclose where that funding was coming from except to say that it would not be from the Edison taxpayer. "All I can say is that it is coming from multiple sources of funding not using Edison capital funds," Choi said. Concerns about safety Residents voiced concern over the expanded rail use of a second track compounding safety concerns already present in the part of Edison affected by train crossing traffic. Some felt that while the time for an individual train delay would go down with a second track, expanded use would mean more frequent train crossings. Several residents said that when a train is crossing Inman and Tingley, it essentially cuts off one section of town from the municipality's emergency response systems. Choi said that in these events, the township could use neighbor agreements with surrounding towns to receive medical, fire and emergency protection from them in the case of an emergency response vehicle being held up at a train crossing. While Conrail anticipates some escalation of use on the Lehigh Valley line in a few years, Tierney said it would happen incrementally and that having a second track does not mean double the amount of train traffic from day one. Choi proposed conducting an emergency response test that would take into account delays caused by train traffic. There were also concerns about a Sunoco gas pipeline that runs underneath the work area where workers would be installing the second track and eventually the quiet-zone technology. Residents voiced concern over the pipeline and raised questions about who would be monitoring that construction. Councilman Anthony Massaro, who sat on the panel that was conducting the meeting, said the township would not allow the residents to be put in danger by the possible breaking of the pipeline. Massaro said that this question has been raised in council chambers more than once and that verbal assurance of monitoring and safety have been given to the council. However, Massaro said the council will not allow the residents to be put at risk. "I can assure you that this will be one of the first things brought up," Massaro said of the next council meeting scheduled for March 12. "That project cannot happen unless we have guarantees that we can see, hear and believe." Massaro said that without these written guarantees the council would "be turning to the township attorney to find out what our recourses are." *** The plan for the laying of the second track is expected to begin in April, and Tierney said it should be completed by year's end. The work would require the closing of Inman and Tingley avenues for six to seven days, and Conrail hopes to have that closing coincide with the township schools' spring break schedule. The work on the quiet zones will not be completed in conjunction with the second track because the funding secured will have to come in increments spanning fiscal years 2007 and 2008. Choi said that there will be a six-month lag between when the second track is finished and when the quiet zone will be completed. "We can't line up the full $1 million funding quick enough," Choi said. "There are so many government entities involved in this process." Council President Charles Tomaro said that in the event that the money cannot come quickly enough, the township is prepared to bond the cost for the quiet zone as long as guarantees exist that the money will come later.