Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook (2018)

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40 This chapter describes how each of the commuter rail agencies approaches service delivery for the primary functions of train operations, dispatch, maintenance of way, and maintenance of equipment. The types of service delivery include agency operated, contracted, or a mixed service approach of agency operated and contracted. Use of Terms Terms for discussion of approaches to the delivery of commuter rail service are defined as follows: • Agency operated. Agency personnel perform the primary functions of train operations, dis- patch, maintenance of equipment, and maintenance of way. The agency may contract for support services to outside vendors, but the primary functions are the responsibility of the agency personnel. • Contracted. The commuter rail agency contracts one or more of the primary functions to a third-party contractor, excluding functions required to be performed by the host railroad as a condition for access to the railroad. The contractor may be a private company, joint venture, special-purpose company formed specifically to provide a service or services, or a P3. A purchase-of-service agreement with the host railroad is also considered a contracted service. • Host railroad. The host railroad may be the freight railroad or another owner of the rail line. In some circumstances, a commuter rail agency may enter into an agreement with the host railroad to perform certain functions (e.g., maintenance of way) as a condition for access to the railroad. A TRA with the host railroad is a type of an agreement that establishes conditions for access to the railroad. Each contracted commuter rail system is then categorized as bundled or unbundled; there are also commuter rail agencies that both operate directly and contract for services, referred to as a mixed service approach: • Bundled. The commuter rail agency combines the primary functions for commuter rail ser- vice into one contract with a prime contractor. Support functions may be included in the bundled contract or contracted separately. The commuter rail agency may have a separate TRA or a similar agreement with the host railroad. • Unbundled. The commuter rail agency has two or more separate contracts, not including required agreements with the host railroad, to provide the primary functions of train opera- tions, dispatch, maintenance of equipment, and maintenance of way. • Mixed. Agency personnel perform one or more of the primary functions and contract other essential services. C H A P T E R 5 Approaches to Providing Commuter Rail

Approaches to Providing Commuter Rail 41 When commuter rail services are unbundled, contracts typically cover three primary functions: 1. Train operations 2. Maintenance of way (rail infrastructure) 3. Maintenance of equipment The following is a brief description of the components of each service function (Wilcock and Stoetzel 2013): • Train operations include train and engine crew to staff trains and may include the dispatch responsibility. • Maintenance of way includes the systematic maintenance of the track, signals, power, catenary (if applicable), bridges, structures, and station platforms. Facilities outside the right-of-way (e.g., parking) are generally not part of this service area. • Maintenance of equipment includes daily servicing/cleaning and a range of maintenance programs (e.g., FRA-required periodic inspections, preventive maintenance, and repair) for the fleet of coaches and locomotives. This may include maintenance of non-revenue equip- ment. Partial and full overhauls are generally not part of this service function and are handled separately. Table 11 identifies the owner of the railroad right-of-way and the responsibility for the pri- mary functions for each commuter rail system. The order is alphabetical by state or province and then alphabetical by commuter rail system. Table 12 lists the approaches to delivery of commuter rail service for each commuter rail sys- tem and the type of entity responsible for each primary functional area. The approaches to service delivery for commuter rail are agency operated, contracted–bundled, contracted–unbundled, and mixed agency operated and contracted. The order is by service delivery approach and then by year that public service opened. Agency Operated Commuter Rail Six legacy commuter rail agencies and two new starts operate and maintain all major functions: • PATH • LIRR • Metro-North • NJ TRANSIT • SEPTA • South Shore Line • FrontRunner • SMART Four agencies reflect the following exceptions for agency-operated functions. • NJ TRANSIT owns eight of nine commuter rail lines on which it operates. The exception is the Northeast Corridor, which Amtrak owns. Amtrak dispatches trains and maintains infra- structure on the corridor. Conrail maintains the track on a section of the Raritan Line. NJ TRANSIT maintains all of the agency-owned fleet for all lines, except the Atlantic City Line. A private contractor maintains equipment for the Atlantic City Line. • SEPTA owns all commuter rail lines with the exception of three owned by Amtrak. Amtrak owns the infrastructure of three SEPTA lines: the Wilmington–Newark and Trenton Lines operate on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, and the Paoli–Thorndale Line operates on Amtrak’s Keystone Corridor. Amtrak dispatches trains, provides power, and maintains the infrastruc- ture on the three lines.

42 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook S ta te o r P ro vi n ce Commuter Rail System Number of Rail Lines Owner of Railroad Right- of-Way Train Operations Dispatch Maintenance of Way Maintenance of Equipment United States CA ACE Single UPRR and PCJPB Contract Host Railroad Host Railroad Contract CA Caltrain Single PCJPB and UPRR Contract Contract and Host Railroad Contract and Host Railroad Contract CA COASTER Single NCTD and MTS Contract Contract Contract Contract CA Metrolink Multiple (7) SCRRA, UPRR, and BNSF Amtrak a Agency and Host Railroad Contract and Host Railroad Contract CA SMART Single SMART District Agency Agency Agency Agency CO RTD Two RTD Contract Contract Contract Contract CT SLE Single Connecticut DOT and Amtrak Amtrak a Amtrak a and Metro-North Amtraka and Metro-North Amtrak a FL SunRail Single Florida DOT Contract Contract Contract Contract and Amtraka FL Tri-Rail Single Florida DOT Contract Contract Contract Contract IL Metra Multiple (11) Metra, UPRR, BNSF, CN, and NS Agency and Host Railroadb Agency and Host Railroadb Agency and Host Railroadb Agency and Host Railroadb IN South Shore Line Single NICTD and Metra Agency Agency and Host Railroad Agency and Host Railroad Agency MA MBTA Multiple (14) MBTA and Amtrak Contract Contract and Amtrak–1 line Contract and Amtrak–1 line Contract MD MARC Three CSX Contract Host Railroad Contract and Host Railroad Contract Amtrak Amtraka Amtraka Amtraka Amtraka MN Northstar Single BNSF Host Railroadb Host Railroadb Host Railroadb Agency NJ NJ TRANSIT Multiple (8) NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak Agency Agency, Amtrak–1 line, Contract–1 line Agency, Amtrak–1 line, Contract–1 line Agency and Contract– 1 line NM Rail Runner Single New Mexico DOT and City of Santa Fe Contract Agency Contract Contract NY LIRR Multiple (11) New York MTA Agency Agency Agency Agency NY Metro-North Multiple (5) New York MTA and Connecticut DOT Agency Agency Agency Agency NY PATH Multiple (4) Port Authority of NY & NJ Agency Agency Agency Agency OR WES Single TriMet and Oregon DOT Host Railroad b Host Railroadb Host Railroadb Agency PA SEPTA Multiple (13) SEPTA and Amtrak Agency Agency and Amtrak–3 lines Agency and Amtrak–3 lines Agency TN Music City Star Single NERR Contract Host Railroad Host Railroad Contract TX A-train Single DART Contract Contract Contract Contract TX MetroRail Single Capital Metro Contract Contract Contract Contract TX TRE Single DART Contract Contract Contract Contract UT FrontRunner Single UTA Agency Agency Agency Agency VA VRE Two CSX, NS, and Amtrak Contract Host Railroad and Amtrak Host Railroad and Amtrak Contract WA Sounder Single Sound Transit and BNSF Host Railroad b Host Railroad Contract and Host Railroad Amtrak a Table 11. Owner of railroad right-of-way and responsibility for primary functions.

S ta te o r P ro vi n ce Commuter Rail System Number of Rail Lines Owner of Railroad Right- of-Way Train Operations Dispatch Maintenance of Way Maintenance of Equipment Canada BC WCE Single CP Contract Host Railroad Host Railroad Contract ON GO Transit Multiple (7) Metrolinx, CP, and CN Contract Host Railroad Agency, Contract and Host Railroad Contract QC RTM Multiple (6) RTM, CP, and CN Contract Contract and Host Railroad Contract and Host Railroad Contract aCommuter rail agency contracts with Amtrak to provide the service. bCommuter rail agency contracts with the host railroad to provide the service. Table 11. (Continued). System Service Area Year Open to Public Service Train Operations Dispatch Maintenance of Way Maintenance of Equipment Agency Operated and Agency Maintained Commuter Rail (8) PATH New York City–New Jersey 1962 LIRR New York City–Long Island, NY 1966 Metro-North New York City–North and East NY 1983 NJ TRANSIT New Jersey–New York City 1983 SEPTA Philadelphia, PA 1983 South Shore Line South Bend, IN– Chicago, IL 1989 FrontRunner Ogden–Salt Lake City–Provo, UT 2008 SMART Sonoma–Marin counties, CA 2017 Contracted Commuter Rail–Bundled (12) MBTA Boston, MA 1964 MARC Brunswick and Camden Lines and Penn Line, Baltimore, MD 1983 SLE New Haven–New London, CT 1990 Caltrain San Francisco–San Jose, CA 1992 COASTER San Diego County, CA 1995 TRE Dallas–Fort Worth,TX 1996 ACE Stockton–San Jose, CA 1998 Rail Runner Albuquerque–Santa 2006 Fe, NM Music City Star Nashville, TN 2006 MetroRail Austin, TX 2010 A-train Denton County, TX 2011 RTD Denver, CO 2016 Table 12. Approaches to service delivery for commuter rail systems as of March 2018. (continued on next page)

44 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook Mixed Agency Operated and Contracted Host Railroad (3) Metra Chicago, IL 1983 Northstar St. Cloud–Minneapolis, MN 2009 WES Wilsonville–Beaverton, OR 2009 Agency Operated Amtrak or VIA Rail Canada Host Railroad Contractor System Service Area Year Open to Public Service Train Operations Dispatch Maintenance of Way Maintenance of Equipment Contracted Commuter Rail–Unbundled (8) GO Transit Toronto–Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 1967 RTM Montreal, Quebec, Canada 1982 Tri-Rail South Florida 1989 Metrolink Los Angeles, CA 1992 VRE Northern VA –Washington, D.C. 1992 WCE Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada 1995 Sounder Tacoma–Seattle–Everett, WA 2000 SunRail Central Florida–Orlando, FL 2014 Table 12. (Continued). • South Shore Line operates over track owned by Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District and over the tracks on the Metra Electric Line. NICTD operates and maintains the district’s own lines with agency resources and has a TRA with Metra to operate over Metra- owned tracks on the ME. • FrontRunner service from Ogden to Pleasant View in Utah operates on track owned by UPRR. Utah Transit Agency made a decision to discontinue the weekday, peak-period service on the 4.8-mile extension in 2018 because of the operating and capital cost required to provide PTC for operation on an active freight railroad. As of the termination of service on the UPRR track, FrontRunner will be operated by UTA. Contracted–Bundled Commuter Rail Eleven commuter rail systems contract commuter rail services in a bundled arrangement, and one new start rail system is a P3: • MBTA • MARC • SLE • Caltrain • COASTER • TRE

Approaches to Providing Commuter Rail 45 • ACE • Rail Runner • Music City Star • MetroRail • A-train • Denver RTD There are some variations in the contracted–bundled categorization in the case of the follow- ing six commuter rail systems: • MBTA has agreements with Amtrak to dispatch trains and provide maintenance of way on the MBTA-owned Northeast Corridor in Massachusetts and the Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor in Rhode Island. • MARC actually has two bundled contracts, each for different lines. The MARC Brunswick and Camden Lines operate under a TRA with the host railroad (CSX), and other functions are bundled in a contract with a private company. The MARC Penn Line operates under a fully bundled contract with Amtrak. • While SLE is a fully bundled agreement with Amtrak east of New Haven, Connecticut, for those SLE trains continuing west of New Haven, Metro-North dispatches trains and maintains the rail infrastructure from the division milepost east of New Haven–State Street Station to Stamford. • Caltrain has a contract with the host railroad (UPRR) to dispatch trains and maintain infra- structure on a portion of the corridor between San Jose and Gilroy. • SJRRC bundles train operations and maintenance of equipment for ACE in a single contract with a private company. SJRRC also enters into TRAs with the host railroads (UPRR and PCJPB) for use of the rail lines. • RTA of Middle Tennessee contracts with a private company to provide bundled operations and maintenance for the Music City Star. The agency has a TRA with NERR, the host railroad. Denver RTD opened the University of Colorado A Line and the B Line to Westminster in 2016. It is expected the G Line will open in late 2018, and the N Line will open in 2019 or later. RTD developed the initial three commuter rail lines in partnership with Denver Transit Partners (DTP), a P3 called Eagle P3. RTD awarded a design–build contract with Regional Rail Partners to complete the N line to the Eastlake and 124th Station. DTP will operate four commuter rail lines and maintain rail vehicles and infrastructure. This P3 is categorized as a contracted–bundled commuter rail in this guidebook. Contracted–Unbundled Commuter Rail Eight commuter rail systems contract for unbundled services. Several are fully unbundled, in which each separate private function is provided by a different entity. Others are partially unbundled for a variety of reasons. All three commuter rail systems in Canada follow this approach for service delivery. The eight commuter rail systems that unbundle contracts for the primary functions are • GO Transit • Tri-Rail • Metrolink • VRE • WCE • RTM • Sounder • SunRail

46 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook Some examples of contracted–unbundled services are the following: • Metrolink’s primary commuter rail functions are outsourced to four contractors. Amtrak is responsible for train operations, and three different private contractors are responsible for maintenance of equipment; maintenance of track and structures; and maintenance of signals, communications, and two train control facilities. SCRRA is responsible for train dispatch on tracks owned by member agencies. BNSF and UPRR handle train dispatch for Metrolink trains on their own lines. • Tri-Rail combined several functions into one contract in 2017. One contractor is responsible for train operations, dispatch, maintenance of equipment, and station maintenance, which were once all separate contracts. Still Tri-Rail is contracted–unbundled because another contractor is responsible for maintenance of way, including inspection and maintenance of tracks, signals, and bridges. Other contractors provide security and fare enforcement, envi- ronmental services, and risk management services. • Sounder has agreements with BNSF to operate train service, with Amtrak to maintain Sounder commuter rail equipment, and with a private company to provide maintenance of way on Sound Transit–owned rail right-of-way between Tacoma and the Thurston County line. BNSF owns and maintains the rail line between Everett and Seattle and between Seattle and Tacoma. Mixed Agency Operated and Contracted Commuter Rail Three commuter rail agencies follow a mixed approach to service delivery, both agency operated and contracted services. • Metra • Northstar • WES Each agency operates some part of the commuter rail service and contracts other functions in unbundled agreements with private companies or service agreements with the host railroad. • Metra owns and/or operates seven of 11 commuter rail lines. Metra performs train opera- tions, maintenance of way, and maintenance of equipment in these corridors. For the remain- ing four of 11 commuter rail lines, Metra has purchase-of-service agreements with the host railroad (UPRR in three corridors and BNSF in one corridor). Under the purchase-of-service agreements, each railroad is responsible for dispatch and operates the train service with railroad employees. Metra provides the rolling stock for the respective corridors, and the railroads maintain the equipment. • Metro Transit (the operations division of the Metropolitan Council in Minneapolis– St. Paul) maintains the rolling stock for Northstar. Under a service agreement, the host railroad (BNSF) provides locomotive engineers and onboard train crews. BNSF is also responsible for train dispatch and infrastructure maintenance. • TriMet owns and maintains the rolling stock for WES using agency staff. TriMet contracts with the short-line railroad, P&W, to operate the trains and maintain the track. Profiles for Commuter Rail Systems Profiles for the 31 commuter rail systems in North America are provided in TCRP Research Report 200: Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles. The profile for each commuter rail system includes the following information: • History of the commuter rail service • Background of the operating environment for context

Approaches to Providing Commuter Rail 47 • Governance (statutory framework and policy authority) • General information about contracted services • Information about oversight and reporting responsibilities • Performance statistics from the National Transit Database for 2012–2016 or available data from Canadian Urban Transit Association (e.g., annual passenger trips, passenger car revenue miles, annual passenger miles, and annual operating cost) • A matrix to illustrate the entity responsible for major service functions (train operations, maintenance of way, maintenance of equipment, and dispatch) and support functions Summary Each commuter rail agency approaches service delivery for the primary functions of train operations, dispatch, maintenance of way, and maintenance of equipment in local context. The types of service delivery include agency operated, contracted, or a mix of agency operated and contracted. Contracted functions may be bundled or unbundled. For many commuter rail systems, the host railroad can influence the approach to service delivery. A commuter rail agency may enter into an agreement with the host railroad to perform certain functions (e.g., maintenance of way) as a condition of access to the railroad.