After a stalled train blocked the major crossing in Phil Campbell for four days last week, town officials are looking at ways to prevent such lengthy delays in the future.
A Norfolk-Southern train blocked several crossings in Phil Campbell from Thursday, June 15th through Monday, June 19th due to what Norfolk-Southern officials described as a “dead motor.”
Phil Campbell's major railroad crossing comes as you enter town on Highway 13 and it provides access to County Road 81 and on to Highway 243, a popular truck access route to town.
With the intersection blocked for four days, traffic was forced to reroute to the Weeks Road crossing south of town. That intersection, according to Phil Campbell Mayor Steve Bell, is downhill and makes for difficult navigation for trucks.
Phil Campbell does not have a city ordinance relating to obstruction of streets by trains, although many Alabama cities do. In Jefferson County, a local law was passed through the Alabama legislature that states railroad companies are subject to a $1,000 civil penalty if they violate the following code section:
“Section 45-37A-56.70: It shall be unlawful for any railroad train to obstruct any public street, road or highway crossing at-grade within a Class 1 municipality in the county for more than five minutes.”
Similar ordinances in Trussville and Anniston provide a maximum of five minutes for train blockage. Bell said he's not sure that such ordinances are enforceable, though.
“I'm not sure local ordinances aren't superseded by national railroad rules. I can't state that for certain, but that's what I've been told,” Bell said. “We will certainly look at it. It's got a lot of attention between media and from the railroad itself.
“As far as an ordinance, it will take a lot of investigation to see if we can pass something that can stick. It's likely something we'll put the city attorney on to see if we could do it,” Bell added.
Bell was contacted Wednesday by Norfolk-Southern's government liaison who provided him contact information to reach her directly if a similar situation arises.
“I don't think it will happen that way again in Phil Campbell. If it does, we've got the correct people to call to break that crossing,” Bell said.
Although Norfolk-Southern representatives said crews were on the way to the stalled train Friday and Saturday, it remained there through the weekend before the company finally cleared the crossing Monday afternoon.
“The lady I spoke with said all she could tell me was every time they said they had a crew on the way, something would happen that would take priority over our train,” Bell said. “But if they would have known it was a major intersection, they would have brought another train to break at the crossing.”
According to a report from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are approximately 228,000 public and private highway-rail grade crossings across the United States. The growing number of blocked crossings results from, at least in part, more trains being consolidated on fewer main lines, according to the FRA fact sheet on trains blocking crossings.
“The increased frequency of blocked grade crossings...may adversely affect the quality of life especially if a high number of freight and passenger trains use the line during peak highway travel times. In addition, a grade crossing blocked by a stopped or slow moving train may impede the movement of emergency response vehicles, negatively impact the flow of commerce, and be an inducement for motorists to violate traffic safety laws or pedestrians to trespass.”
The FRA encourages railroads to be good corporate citizens and neighbors and to maintain good relations with communities.
“FRA recommends that railroads work cooperatively with state and local officials to eliminate or minimize the impact of blocked crossings wherever possible. For example, a railroad might make operational changes such as the time of day it services its customers or where it stops its trains to make crew changes.”
According to a source familiar with Norfolk-Southern, the lengthy crossing blockage in Phil Campbell resulted from the train crew 'timing out' of their maximum 12-hour shift, although the Norfolk-Southern representative who spoke with the Franklin Free Press Monday attributed the delay to mechanical problems only.
The FRA sets forth several solutions to the problem of blocked crossings, including:
--holding a train outside the congested area until it can move through the grade crossing without stopping.
--improving management of rail yard traffic to accommodate train movements more efficiently.
--working with customers to schedule pick-up and delivery times that limit impact on highway traffic.
--reducing the length of trains.
--breaking a long train (i.e. de-coupling two rail cars) to allow the resumption of highway traffic when it is anticipated that a grade crossing will be blocked for an extended period.
Earlier this year, Norfolk-Southern announced it would do away with its hump yard operations at its DeButts yard in Chattanooga, Tenn. That decision meant the loss of 74 of the 495 jobs at the facility and more traffic for the company's Sheffield and Birmingham yards.
Regardless of the cause, Bell said lengthy blockage of crossings is unacceptable.
“We'll approach things different next time. We'll call the higher ups instead of depending on dispatch information,” Bell said.
