Solution to congested rail lines may be years away

State lawmakers are looking at ways to ease a clogged rail system that is slowing down train traffic all across the state.

During a joint Minnesota House and Senate hearing on Tuesday, a long line of business and government officials warned lawmakers that oil shipping from North Dakota is causing plenty of problems for others in Minnesota who rely on railroads.

The complaints came from power companies, farmers, steel industry executives from the Iron Range and Amtrak officials worried about delayed passenger commutes.

"The train is still arriving on time less than 70 percent of the time," said Derrick James, director of government affairs for Amtrak. "This has a substantial negative impact on Amtrak. Our service is less competitive. It reduces our revenue. It leads to missed connections to other trains. It drives away customers and damages our brand."

For more than four and a half hours, lawmakers listened to how increased oil traffic is shutting out other business sectors. When last winter's polar vortex and the summer's heavy storms are factored in, it's clear that rail service has faced even greater delays.

• Related: Farmers, elevators fume at costly grain train delays

Others expressed concerns about the safety of oil trains crossing the state. State Rep. Jim Newberger, R-Benson, said he is shocked at the number of oil cars parked for hours and days in populated areas.

"I drive through Becker, there's a unit train parked there. I drive through Clear Lake, there's a unit train parked there. I drive through St. Cloud, there's two unit trains parked there," said Newberger, a paramedic. "It goes on and on and on. I'm an emergency professional. I've been one for 26 years, and I'm not comfortable that these unit trains are sitting there for hours on end."

Officials representing the rail companies say they're working to alleviate the problem. They say they're hiring more workers, laying down more track and working with various groups to ensure that trains run on time.

Brian Sweeney, assistant vice president of government affairs for BNSF Railway, said oil traffic isn't the only reason for increased congestion on rail lines but acknowledged their system is stretched.

"We recognize that we need to do more and do it better," Sweeney said. "A big part of the solution is that we need to build our way out of the problem, which we are doing with private dollars."

But Sweeney and other rail executives said adding more track to the system could take three years. He urged the public to be patient in the meantime.

Several Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson, say the state needs more pipelines to reduce rail demand.

But Dave Christianson, a senior planner for rail and freight for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, said that might not be a solution. He said the state would have to authorize three more pipelines in addition to the three lines already being proposed.

"The projects we looked at would add another 1 million barrels a day of pipeline capacity, mostly used for Bakken but some for Canadian crude," he said. "We would have to double that to 2 million barrels a day of pipeline capacity to totally offset everything that's going by rail."

Lawmakers say they have few options, as train traffic is regulated by the federal government. State Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, said he's interested in spending taxpayer dollars to ensure that tracks are built faster.

"[That would] help out with some of the double tracking that they talked about and then to also step in as the state of Minnesota to use some economic development tools to try to help them invest and spend money here locally," he said.

But Sparks acknowledged that a debate over spending state money on rail lines will come at the same time lawmakers are also expected to discuss ways to increase spending for roads, bridges and transit projects.