Breaking down the cost of Amtrak vs. commuter rail

July 10th, 2009 at 12:22pm Thomas V. Bona

Since several people have asked, and I finally got a clear breakdown of the relative costs of the two rail services, I’ll post it to the blog first. A full story on why the region wants both services is coming this weekend on BusinessRockford.com and in Sunday’s newspaper.

Amtrak: The number we’ve been using of late is $60 million to start up. That’s a combination of federal stimulus money and state commitment for operating subsidies. The exact breakdown is unclear right now, but we’ve been told in the past that $30 million is for capital improvements, so the rest might be several years of operating subsidies.

So $30 million is the number to focus on. Here’s what it doesn’t include:

• Train stations: That’s the main local cost for Amtrak. For a bare-bones “warming shelter”, platforms and parking  lots, it would cost $1 to $2 million each for stations in downtown Rockford, Alipine Road and downtown Belvidere. If more money is available, they could be bigger projects.
• Trains: We don’t know how much it will cost to rehabilitate old trains for use on this route. That’s coming from federal stimulus money directly to Amtrak that’s already been announced.
• Work trains, train yard/layover track, etc.: All part of Amtrak’s existing system - though some kind of layover track may have to be built out in Dubuque.

So Amtrak in northern Illinois would cost approximately $30 million or more in federal stimulus funds, an unknown amount of annual state operating subsidies and at least $3 to $6 million in local expense.

Commuter rail: This number thankfully keeps going down. It used to be close to $250 million  in startup costs. Then it dropped to $200 million upon further refinement. Now, it’s more like $185 million. Here’s what that includes:

•  $65 million in rail improvements: If Amtrak happens on the same line, you can pretty much subtract all its investment from this number. So let’s say there’s another $35 million in rail investment for commuter rail. That includes further upgrading rails to handle the higher frequency of commuter trains. It includes more signal improvements and crossing upgrades because of the higher frequency. It also includes two “passing sidings” not included in the Amtrak plan so trains in opposite directions can get around each other.
• $26 million for facilities: Again, whatever’s spent on Amtrak stations would lower this cost. But this includes bigger stations and parking lots for what’s expected to be more traffic. Full buildout would be $3.7 million for a downtown Rockford station, $4.8 million for an Alpine Road station, $2.9 million for a downtown Belvidere station and $4.3 million each for stations in Huntley and Marengo (which those communities would have to find the money for). It also includes upgrades to the Bensenville station and layover tracks for trains to park between runs.
• $41 million for trains and shuttle buses. That includes four locomotives and 18 bilevel cars (like what Metra has), one work train and eight shuttle buses. The idea is that it’s better to own your own trains and contract with an operator rather than renting trains from an operator who can say “oh I need these, you can’t use them anymore”. The shuttle buses would be used to get people to and from the train stations at either end (including a possible bus connection to Chicago Rockford International Airport). That’s how people will get to work in the burbs.
• $11 million in “professional services” - engineering, station design, planning, etc.
• $43 million in contingencies - that’s a 30 percent buffer in case the project goes over budget. Could be less, knock on wood.

These numbers don’t include an annual operating subsidy of about $10 million.

So, yes, commuter rail would cost more than Amtrak because it involves more and bigger stations, more trains and shuttle buses. But it’s not as stark as $30-$60 million vs. $185 million. The smaller Amtrak amount doesn’t include a lot of expenses that are either already paid for or coming from other sources.

The big difference, of course, is that commuter rail could be mostly paid by local dollars, while as little as $3 to $6 million in local money will go towards Amtrak. Those stations may need some kind of bonding on existing revenue streams - though there’s also the possibility of a new low-interest loan program in the federal stimulus package that can help.

Planners hope to get federal stimulus money, federal transportation funds and maybe some state aid to reduce the local commuter rail cost. They’ll also go to the taxpayers with a referendum for some kind of tax increase to fund bonds and operating costs. That’ll likely be in the next year or two. You’ll get your say before commuter rail happens.

Answers to a few other sundry items:

• Metra is probably not coming to Rockford, because local leaders don’t think the Regional Transportation Authority wants to deal with two more counties right now. They have other fish to fry. The leading candidate is expanding the Rockford Mass Transit District, buying our own trains and hiring someone like Metra or Amtrak or another railroad to operate them.
• There are express tracks between Elgin and Bensenville I believe, so our trains could go express between the two stops.
• I’ll try to answer questions about commuting patterns in another post.

To answer one other question - all that I just wrote is why commuter rail will take another two years than Amtrak. It’s the effort of getting a government body to run it, pass a referendum, buy trains and do the further upgrades to stations and tracks. As I’ll report this weekend, local leaders think it’s worth it.

Keep the questions coming!

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