21 November 2008
Rochester Survey: 7 in 10 Oppose Faster, More-Frequent Trains
Rochester Minnesota USA - Residents oppose a likely
increase in local freight train traffic, according to a public opinion survey conducted last month, local newspapers report. The
Rochester Coalition, which commissioned the survey, issued a press release and executive summary describing the findings. More
detailed information about the survey questions and results was not immediately available.
The telephone survey, conducted by Washington, D.C.-based KRC Research, had participation from 504 randomly selected
residents ages 18 and older, the press release said. The statistical margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Findings included:
- Seven in 10 residents oppose the likelihood of faster and more frequent trains through Rochester on the Dakota, Minnesota
& Eastern Railroad line. The line is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway;
- Eight in 10 expressed doubts that higher-speed train operations can be safe;
- Three in four said elected officials should resist increases in hazardous-material rail shipments through downtown
Rochester.
At this point, public opposition is arguably a moot point. Federal regulatory approval for the line upgrade and
train-traffic increases was long ago granted to the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, which finalized its sale to
CP less than a month ago.
CP intends - and is required as a condition of the DM&E purchase - to invest $300 million in the next five years to upgrade the
line, parts of which are incapable of safely handling heavy traffic.
Currently, two to three trains pass through Rochester per day, usually at about 10 mph.
DM&E's plans, approved by federal regulators, called for upgrading the tracks to accommodate trains traveling up to 45 mph.
Rochester officials declare that to be a safety hazard, in large part because ethanol has constituted a growing share of the freight
carried down the line. The potential derailment of train cars loaded with ethanol or other hazardous cargo is a serious threat to
medical facilities near the rail line, local officials have said.
CP touts its record as perhaps the safest-operating railroad in the United States. The railroad was tops in safety in
eight of the last 10 years, according to CP spokesmen.
KRC Research has recorded Rochester's public opposition to the rail project before, most recently in a 2006 survey that tapped
respondents across the 1st Congressional District. DM&E responded at that time with its own survey that showed support for the
railroad's plans.
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