Mayor balks at plan for faster trains

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - A railroad's plans to double the speed of freight trains going through a central Indiana city to 60 mph is facing opposition from the city's mayor.

CSX announced Monday it would start the faster trains through Muncie on Jan. 1, saying the speedier trains will address longtime complaints about rail crossings delays and improve the efficiency of rail operations, The Star Press reported .

Mayor Dennis Tyler said railroad officials didn't tell him about their decision and that the proposed speed would violate a city ordinance.

"We've got a 40-mile-an-hour ordinance in the city of Muncie," Tyler said. "I intend to have that honored and enforced. That's an unsafe standard speed the railroad wants to implement."

CSX and Norfolk Southern run dozens of trains a day through the 70,000-person city, including a busy east-west line that bisects the city just south of its downtown.

A CSX spokeswoman didn't immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

Tyler said he would have city attorneys contact railroad officials about the local ordinance.