‘Nothing is without risk.’ Feds say safety concerns in railroad merger are unfounded

The news came as no shock, but was disappointing nonetheless to residents in Camanche, Iowa, who for months have vigorously fought a proposed merger of two of the nation’s largest railroads.

The Surface Transportation Board announced on Wednesday that it had approved the acquisition of Kansas City Southern by Canadian Pacific after an exhaustive two-year review of the plan. The news disappointed cities and small towns stretching from Houston to Chicago who worried about the ways a merger would affect daily life.

The combined railroad, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, plans to increase train traffic along its network, which will now stretch from Canada through the heart of the United States and into Mexico.

In announcing the decision, Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman acknowledged the growing concerns about rail safety and freight rail operations across the country. In December, he shared his concerns with The Star about the rising influence Wall Street wields over the nation’s seven major railroads.

But at a Wednesday press conference, Oberman reminded reporters that the merger decision was just that — and not a referendum on the state of American railroads. He largely downplayed concerns from residents in Camanche and other affected communities, saying the merger granted the STB more oversight over the company than typical.

“People have said to us, ‘hold off on the merger, study the data further,’” Oberman said. “I’m confident in saying this data cannot be studied any further. It has been studied until your eyeballs are falling out.”

Oberman noted that the board’s duty was to consider the best interest of the nation at large.

“There is no factual basis to conclude that the merger will worsen safety,” he said. “The factual data shows that it will improve safety for every community and for Americans as a whole.”

But in eastern Iowa, locals remained skeptical.

“It means they don’t care about the city of Camanche,” said Andrew Kida, city administrator for the town of about 4,300 people.

Camanche expects to see the number of trains rumbling through town each day triple. Instead of five to 10 trains per day, the merger is expected to bring an average of 21 or more. Each train creates a rolling wall that cuts the town in two, blocking all seven of Camanche’s street crossings from the north side of town to the south. That cuts off a quarter of the city’s population — 1,400 residents — from emergency responders and hospitals.

To quell concerns about the merger, Canadian Pacific entered into deals with 10 towns and cities along the route, offering money for communities to put up gates, create quiet zones and generally compensate communities for the problems caused by more, heavier and longer freights that could block crossings.

Just north of Kansas City, the city of Liberty, Missouri agreed to a $250,000 settlement. Not far from Camanche, Davenport, Iowa, agreed to a $10 million payment from the railroad; Bettendorf and Muscatine accepted $3 million each; Clinton accepted $1 million.

Camanche was initially offered $200,000, which city officials deemed insulting.

The city has since passed an ordinance they hope will require the railroad to build an emergency overpass from one side of the tracks to the other for emergency access.

Local concerns were amplified in February when 38 cars on a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The disaster caused a spill of hazardous material and a controlled burn sent a black plume into the skies.

“That could have been us on any given day,” Kida said. “The other part of that is the proximity and amount of housing we have along the tracks. A derailment like that in Camanche would have killed people.”

Oberman acknowledged growing safety concerns about freight rail. But he noted that rail is still considered among the safest modes of transporting hazardous materials.

“Nothing is without risk,” Oberman said. “When we walk out the door every morning and cross the street, there’s some risk. But we don’t stop walking across the street.”

Among the seven major North American railroads, Canadian Pacific has the top safety record, he said, followed by Kansas City Southern.

“CP was not running the train in East Palestine,” Oberman said.

Oberman attempted to reassure the communities concerned that the merger would mean larger and more frequent trains.

While Canadian Pacific Kansas City anticipates more frequent train travel, data provided to the STB from the companies showed that most trains would actually be shorter after the merger by about 1,825 feet. In places where the trains would get longer, they’re anticipated to grow by 349 feet — about 10 train cars.

Using oversight powers that come from approving the merger for the next seven years, the STB said trains won’t be allowed to block intersections for more than 10 minutes.

While Oberman touted the agreement’s data reporting requirements, he would not say how the STB might enforce the measures, ruling the question hypothetical because there may be any number of reasons the 10 minute rule is broken.

“All I can tell you is that if a pattern occurs that is harming a community and it is brought to us, we will get the facts,” Oberman said. “And if it can be remedied, we have broad powers to fashion remedies.”

Oberman acknowledged growing concerns about blocked crossings across the country. The Star’s December series exposed the deadly consequences of trains that block crossings, leaving entire neighborhoods and communities cut off from life-saving first responders.

Much of the blame rests on congressional inaction and a series of court rulings over the past 20 years that have stripped authority from local and state governments to limit how long trains could block crossings. Only Congress can restrict a train’s movement, the courts have ruled in state after state.

“It’s a vacuum that Congress needs to fill,” Oberman said. “Because every community has concerns about blocked crossings. There will be blocked crossings unless the government decides to spend trillions of dollars in building overpasses, and they’re not cheap.”

In Camanche, officials are preparing for a future that includes more trains.

The city is working on disaster preparedness, though it’s not working with Canadian Pacific, but with Union Pacific, which has rail nearby, to increase training to deal with potential spills of hazardous materials.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Camanche Fire Chief Dave Schutte said of the merger. “We knew this was an uphill battle when we started out. But our stance hasn’t changed. We still feel like it’s going to endanger the community.”