Railroad increases train speeds in Bloomington

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - "NO TRESPASSING," the signs say. And "LOOK FOR TRAINS." As of Monday, the Indiana Rail Road trains will be rolling through town and the IU campus at 25 miles per hour, 15 mph faster than before.

After upgrades this summer, overhauling a "jointed" rail system to a "continuously welded" one, the railroad has decided it's time to take its freight through Bloomington at a faster clip.

"Most of the railroad is 40 miles per hour, and we believe the rail in Bloomington is good enough for 40 miles per hour," said Eric Powell, economic development manager for Indiana Rail Road Co., told The Herald-Times . "But if you are in an area as dense as Bloomington and IU, you need to slow down. We believe this is a good balance between safety and efficiency."

Powell said the change is made possible by renovations that have been in the works since 1988 and has entailed a private investment of $150 million. But he admitted there are safety concerns when trains move faster than people are used to. The company has posted about 60 signs, Powell said, advising those who would walk along the rails against trespass.

In other words stay off the tracks.

"It's a common misconception that train tracks are a public walkabout," Powell said, "when they are actually private property."

At the same time, IU spokesman Mark Land said the university has placed signs at four crossing points with the rail, the most important of which is a point off East Law Lane, south of the Student Recreational Sports Center, where pedestrians cross the tracks to reach an adjacent parking lot.

There are also crossing points near the Kelley School of Business, and Union Street north of Eigenmann Hall and North Walnut Grove Street, alongside the power plant. Land said the university was informed weeks in advance of the possibility of a train speed increase and was unopposed to the notion. It is making efforts to notify students of the change through their "Street Smart" social media campaign and will place an advertisement in the Indiana Daily Student.

"It's faster, but 25 miles per hour isn't all that fast," Land said. "We just wanted to have time to give notice and be able to inform the students. It would be a huge difference if it was 60 to 70 miles per hour."

The railroad has touted the speed change by highlighting decreased wait times for traffic stopped at road-rail intersections. With trains hauling as many as 100 cars, Powell said, students running late to class might have to wait only two minutes for the trail to clear at 25 miles per hour, as opposed to about six minutes if it was moving at 10 miles per hour.

Adam Wason, a spokesman for Mayor Mark Kruzan, said the city invited the change, as long as safety improvements were made, including the addition of signs or arms at intersections on Union Street, Pete Ellis Drive and others. In the end, Wason said, the Engineering and Public Works departments believe increased train speeds actually reduce the number of accidents by moving traffic that otherwise backs up waiting for the train to pass.

Also, the continuously welded system has fewer joints than old one with a joint every quarter-mile, opposed to one every 39 feet, Powell said which makes trains quieter as they roll through.