The Southeast Rail Operations Study (SEROps) study is a follow-on study to the Mid-Atlantic Rail Operations Study (MAROps), which was completed in 2002, and the Northeast Rail Operations Study (NEROps), completed in July 2007.  The MAROps Study examined the transportation system in the Mid-Atlantic states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia) and found a rail network with the potential to carry more freight and passengers, but constricted by major network choke points.  The I-95 Corridor Coalition, the five states, and the railroads worked together to develop a consensus program of 71 rail infrastructure and information-technology improvements to be implemented over 20 years.  The NEROps study brought the Northeast states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) together to lay the groundwork for a regional rail improvement program.  The study described key trends, and identified those chokepoints that hinder rail transportation efficiency in the region.

Project 12-4E (Phase I):
SEROps Phase I completes the rail picture for the Coalition region.  The Phase I Regional Profile and Summary Reports identify current regional demographic and economic trends and significant rail issues that the four SEROps states (Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) must address to secure the region’s future as a key economic generator in the United States.  They identify and describe trends in demographics, logistics, passenger rail, and freight markets with implications for land use and development, air quality accessibility, and quality of life throughout the region.  The project team engaged a diverse group of rail stakeholders to identify several broad factors and trends that are impacting the efficiency of the system today and will affect the ability of the region’s railroads to attract additional freight and passenger traffic in the future.

Project 14-4E (Phase II):
SEROps project is divided in phase IIA and phase IIB. SEROps Phase IIB will develop basic corridor-level information on freight and passenger demand and rail infrastructure to help evaluate the potential benefits of the rail initiatives identified in Phase IIA. Through this phase, the study team will work closely with the states and railroads to develop a short list of mutually beneficial projects to help focus ongoing multi-state planning and funding activities. Phase IIB will also apply lessons learned from successful multi-state rail initiatives—including the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative—to help prioritize and advance pilot projects toward implementation.

Procurement Agency: Maryland State Highway Administration
Project Contact:  Marygrace Parker
Freight, Mobility, Safety & Security Coordinator
I-95 Corridor Coalition
Phone: (518) 852-4083
E-mail: i95mgp@ttlc.net

Project 14-5E (Phase IIB):
The objective of the SEROps Phase IIB work is to assemble basic demand and infrastructure information for each of the rail initiatives and corridors identified in Phase IIA to inform a high-level evaluation of the potential project benefits. The results of this evaluation will help the SEROps stakeholders develop a pilot list of potential projects to
help focus planning and funding efforts for multi-state initiatives.

Project 14-5E (Phase IIA):
The objective of SEROps Phase IIA work is to identify the strategic freight- and passenger-rail corridors in the Southeast region. Provide technical assistance to the Southeast states in advancing a regional rail program.

Project 12-4E (Phase I):
The objective of this SEROps study was to complete the rail picture in the Coalition region by identifying and describing key rail issues, activities, and initiatives as well as the trends and issues affecting freight movements and freight and passenger rail transportation in the Southeastern states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida). This study looked at rail issues affecting the entire region, including those affecting north-south and east-west movements of passengers and goods. This was accomplished through engaging a diverse set of transportation and railroad officials from throughout the region to describe transportation trends and issues, industry/logistics patterns and changes, and socio-economic and environmental issues.

View SOW of 14-5E (Phase II)
View SOW of 14-5E (Phase IIB)

The I 95 Corridor Coalition has completed the first phase of the Southeast Rail Operations (SEROps) study, which investigated the regional rail transportation network in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida). Phase I investigated the regional rail transportation network in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina as a system, and it engaged a diverse group of rail stakeholders to identify several broad factors and trends that are impacting the efficiency of the system today and will affect the ability of the region’s freight and passenger railroads to attract additional traffic in the future. Subsequent phases will entail the identification of specific infrastructure, operational, and institutional chokepoints that are most severely impacting the efficiency of the region’s rail system and the identification of projects, strategies, and initiatives that will allow the Southeastern states and the I-95 Corridor Coalition to address these systemwide issues and chokepoints across jurisdictional, interest, and financial boundaries. By engaging rail stakeholders in the region, describing key trends and issues affecting freight and passenger rail in the Southeast, and identifying the high-level infrastructure, operational, and policy issues hindering effective freight and passenger rail service in the region, the results of this phase of the SEROps study provide a foundation that will facilitate and guide these future efforts. The SEROps Summary Report serves as a companion to the SEROps Regional Profile which describes the study region, its economy, and its transportation system, focusing on freight movements and passenger rail transportation systems. Rail infrastructure and operations in the Southeast are affected by a number of trends and issues which have transportation, domestic and international trade, financial, and demographic components. These trends and issues are dynamic in nature and will have important implications on the ability of the existing rail system to meet future freight and passenger mobility needs in the region. Understanding these key trends and issues – and how they could affect passenger and freight rail efficiency in the Southeast with related impacts on land use and air quality – is a critical first step that provides a groundwork for the identification of major regional rail chokepoints and constraints and the future development of strategies to address them. The SERops Summary Report identifies four key trends affecting the Southeast rail system, listed below, and describes implications for railroads, shippers, and states in the Southeast:

1. Regional population and employment growth;
2. Evolving logistics patterns;
3. Commuter and high-speed rail planning and implementation; and
4. Evolving and new freight rail markets.

Research and interviews with stakeholders also revealed that there are some significant infrastructure and operational issues associated with rail in the Southeast. These include capacity constraints at rail yards, increasingly tight mainline capacity, lack of facilities to handle 286,000-pound railcars, grade crossings, railcar availability, and dispatching. In addition, the region faces a number of institutional challenges related to rail service including: limited funding sources, difficulty incorporating rail needs in the traditional planning and programming process, limited understanding by transportation decision-makers of the importance of rail to the region, and limited coordination among states regarding rail planning. Although there have been a series of recent significant efforts by transportation organizations and railroads in the region, significant challenges remain before the region can operate rail efficiently.

Project 12-5E (Phase I):
The SEROps Phase I Summary Report provides a set of recommendations for the region, that will inform subsequent phases of the SEROps effort:

• Work cooperatively as a region to identify key rail chokepoints;
• Better integrate rail freight and passenger issues throughout the transportation planning and programming processes; o Educate legislators and other transportation decision-makers on the importance of rail to the region; and
• Actively participate in regional and national rail planning and policy efforts.

This project suffered some from a lack of steering committee participation and engagement. Finalizing the Phase I report was successful in the end through combining this effort with the launch of the Phase II effort. Due to this sequence of events, some Phase I funds were used for Phase II preparation, and some Phase II funds are currently being allocated to the finalization and distribution of the Phase II report.

The total budget for the overall SEROps II project is $175,000, funded from Coalition funds. The budget for the tasks outlined for Phase IIA is $35,000.