Railway Track & Structures - September 2007 - (Page 40) Transit m/w didn’t start in the fall of 2004, the additional costs (material cost increases, agency overhead) associated with the delays would potentially break the tight fixed budget the project was working within. “To address this situation, a phased construction approach was taken,” he said. “Within the project documents, the work was divided up into two sections, with the Davidson-Wilson county line as the dividing point. The contractor was asked to bid on the whole project with the understanding that the award of Phase I would be made swiftly, but the award of Phase II could come anytime in the next 180 days or not at all. This allowed the RTA to award the track and signal contracts, while not all of the federal funding was in place. To reduce the contractor’s risk of holding prices for 180 days, the RTA purchased the largest and most-volatile material, which was the rail. While an exact savings cannot be pinpointed, the purchasing of the rails themselves likely saved the RTA well over $1 million. The phased construction approach worked and RTA was successful in retaining both the signal and track contractors for Phase II.” Shoestring Budget: “This project is an example to the whole country that commuter rail is feasible without a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars,” Walker pointed out. “The Music City Star operates over 31 miles of track and had a total capital cost of $41 million ($1.3 million/mile). This cost included everything from design fees, property acquisition, locomotives to grade-crossing signals. This is considerably more economical than other systems around the country.” Some comparisons, according to the Web, include: The 40-mile long Northstar Commuter Rail in Minneapolis, Minn., which is scheduled to open in 2009 with a capital cost of $289.1 million ($7.2 million/mile). The first phase of the commuter rail system currently planned in Salt Lake City, Utah, will be 44 miles long with a capital cost of $600 million ($13.6 million/mile). The proposed Atlanta-to-Lovejoy commuter rail line has a budget of $106 million for a length of 26 miles ($4.1 million/mile). The commuter line in Albuquerque, N.M., opened in 2006 with 48 miles and a capital cost of approximately $135 million ($2.8 million/mile). Music City Star train rolls through autumn colors near Nashville. exception to this rule.” Some of the challenges included: Funding: In June of 2004, the design of the track, bridge and signal portions of the project were completed and ready to be bid. The station designs were to be completed by early 2005 as scheduled, allowing the longer duration items of track, bridges and signals to begin construction. However, there was a major wrinkle in the project. At the point the project was ready to be put out to bid, not all of the federal funding for the project had been received. If construction Station work The stations were designed by a joint venture of STV Inc. and GS&P. The Riverfront Station was built by W&O Construction, Inc., of Cookeville, Tenn. The five outlying stations were built by Crockett-Phillips Construction, Inc., of Carthage, Tenn. “Neither contractor had previous rail transit experience, but both did a tremendous job,” Walker said. Today there are three inbound trains during the morning commute and three outbound during the evening commute. This is done using two train sets. The first train to arrive doubles back to Mt. Juliet and provides the third train in each morning rush hour. For the afternoon, the schedule is reversed. MCS is also offering service to Tennessee Titans Home Games this fall. The system currently averages 655 riders per day. 40 Railway Track & Structures September 2007 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com
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