Railroad Won’t Have To Pay For Crossings Federal Panel Clears Way To Operate Rail Line Over Stampede Pass

A federal ruling approving a plan to reopen a rail line across the Cascades does not require Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. to pay for new rail crossings sought by communities on the route.

The ruling announced Friday by the Surface Transportation Board clears the way for Burlington Northern Santa Fe to buy the Yakima-based Washington Central Railroad, which owns the rail link between Stampede Pass and freight yards in the Tri-Cities.

The $40 million purchase will give Burlington Northern Santa Fe its third direct rail line from Puget Sound ports to Eastern Washington. Two existing lines, along the Columbia River and on Stevens Pass, have been operating at or near capacity.

The board’s ruling requires the Fort Worth, Texas-based rail giant to consult with state and local officials to establish a priority list for crossing upgrades. But the railroad does not have to pay for upgrades beyond those installed prior to 1983, when the line shifted from cross-state traffic to regional service.

Several cities concerned about the effects of increased rail traffic on their communities contend BNSF should be made to pay for the upgrades because traffic and populations have grown significantly in the last decade.

The Seattle-Tacoma suburbs of Auburn and Kent sought help from the federal board on the issue because federal law exempts BNSF from most local regulations. The two cities asked that the railroad be required to help pay costs of local governments resulting from additional rail traffic.

Officials from those cities and Yakima and Ellensburg also sought to have the board more closely study traffic congestion and other environmental effects of reopening the line.

Anticipating Friday’s decision, Auburn Mayor Charles Booth earlier in the week called the federal board’s ruling “an insult and travesty.”

State Secretary of Transportation Sid Morrison said Friday that the decision, while not unexpected, gives local jurisdictions little bargaining power.

“They are reminding us in a very clear way that the railroad was here first,” he said of transportation board members. “Fundamentally, it’s always been a local and state cost and that’s been reaffirmed rather forcefully.”

A statewide comprehensive review of crossings has yet to be completed. But it could cost state or local governments millions of dollars even if only a few bridges are built, Morrison said.

BNSF plans to run eight to 10 freight trains over the route daily by next year, with the first trains rolling through in December, said Gus Melonas, a Seattle-based spokesman for the railroad.

While the purchase negotiations have not been concluded, BNSF has already begun grading and replacing old tracks on the route.