Railway Track & Structures - September 2007 - (Page 39) More than 350 workers were given roadway worker protection safety training during the project. Working with a shortline One of the primary reasons that the eastern corridor of the Music City Star was the first corridor built is the fact that it was on the Nashville & Eastern Railroad and not CSX Transportation. Starting with the NERR corridor was advantageous for several reasons: The NERR operates the line, but the right-of-way is actually owned by the Nashville & Eastern Railroad Authority, which is a public entity consisting of many of the same governmental entities that form the Regional Transportation Authority, the parent organization for the Music City Star. While the NERR is a successful shortline operation, the line did not have the volume of freight traffic to contend with that a CSXT main line would have. This has allowed the MCS and the NERR operations to maintain temporal separation. Early on in the process, the NERR expressed a desire to see commuter rail become a reality in Nashville. This simplified the negotiation process so that “if” wasn’t the issue, but rather simply “how.” “Because of its desire to have commuter rail, the NERR became flexible in regards to the project,” said Kevin Walker, project manager with NeelSchaffer. “This was exemplified in their willingness to move freight operations Crews installing signal mast for CTC system for Music City Star. from daytime to nighttime, adopt new operating procedures and many other financial and physical considerations that were given. “The cost of this project was significantly less due to the fact it was on a shortline railroad,” Walker said. “For example, 12-hour construction windows were available for most of the project. For bridge replacements, threeand four-day windows were given.” This line was originally built in 1901 and 1902 as part of the Tennessee Central Railroad. The Louisville & Nashville took over the line in 1968. It began operations as the Nashville & Eastern Railroad in 1986. Engineering challenges “Much of the work related to the MCS project was fairly routine in nature,” Walker noted. “The rehabilitation of track, grade-crossing signals and station construction are something that is done on railroads every day. Of course, in the details of the construction lie the daily challenges of any capital project. The MCS was no www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures September 2007 39 http://www.rtands.com
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