Carmageddon: What is a common carrier and what changes for RTC if and when it takes on that role for rail line?

The fraught relationship between the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) and Minnesota-based Progressive Rail, which operates the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, could come to an end soon, after the RTC moved to terminate its contract with the out-of-state company.

A railroad common carrier operates a stretch of rail for freight carriers and the general public, is regulated by the federal Surface Transportation Board, and is responsible for providing transportation service for freight and passengers. Progressive has held the contract since 2018.

The RTC is moving to exit the contract to take more control of the rail line and prioritize an easier transition to passenger rail service. RTC Executive Director Sarah Christensen explained that sharing the entire rail line with freight trains can make operating passenger rail logistically challenging: “By [the RTC] being the common carrier, that wouldn’t occur, since we control our line.”

The RTC has issued a notice of termination to Progressive Rail. But voiding the contract will require more approvals from the commissioners and the federal Surface Transportation Board.

The RTC is moving to become the common carrier only north of the Watsonville area, but will need to find another freight operator for South County, where freight trains still run. 

Assuming the RTC fully exits the contract within the next few months as Christensen expects, the local transportation agency probably won’t see much change at the operational level once it assumes the role of common carrier.

Although the move largely stems from the commission’s vote in early December to build three segments of Coastal Rail Trail over the tracks rather than next to them, Christensen said the RTC would need to part ways with Progressive Rail eventually, in order to gain more control over managing the rail line.

“We’ll probably need to look at our insurance and change our policy limits, and maybe adopt some safety protocols to comply with the Federal Railroad Administration,” she said. If all goes as planned, then raising the RTC’s insurance limits is the only added cost to the agency. Christensen said she doesn’t expect it to be “wildly more expensive than what we’re already paying right now.”

Although the RTC is not anticipating any major changes to its day-to-day operations or administrative duties, Christensen said that becoming the common carrier of a rail line is a serious responsibility.

“We’re not intending to operate [freight], so that makes it a little bit more straightforward. But it’s not something that should be taken lightly. It is an obligation, and there is liability associated with it,” she said.

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Check out our Carmageddon road project list here. This week, pay particular attention to:

• Tree work, guardrail repair, and electrical work are shutting down one lane of Highway 9 between Hihn Street and San Lorenzo Valley Elementary School, Brown Gables Road and Western Avenue, Cascade Avenue and Irwin Way, and Spring Creek Road and Wildwood Road from Tuesday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Utility relocation work is shutting down Highway 9 overnight in Felton between Graham Hill Road and the San Lorenzo Valley schools complex from Monday through Friday between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. One-way alternating traffic control will be in effect until Saturday morning.
  
• Emergency sewer work in Soquel Village could occasionally block access to driveways, sidewalks, on-street parking and interrupt sewer service on weekdays until June 30, on Soquel Drive, Porter Street and Main Street. Work on Soquel Drive will be overnight from 8:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Porter and Main streets. Other, shorter-duration potholing on Porter, Main and Center streets and Daubenbiss Avenue will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  
• A full closure of the Murray Street Bridge is scheduled to run until February. It is closed to vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. Vehicle traffic detours are along Soquel Avenue and Capitola Road via Seabright Avenue and 7th Avenue. Bicycles are being detoured across Arana Gulch and along Broadway via Seabright Avenue and 7th Avenue. Pedestrians are being detoured around the north harbor.
  
• The installation of the Newell Creek Pipeline on Graham Hill Road between Summit Avenue and Lockewood Lane is taking place on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and could cause delays of up to five minutes.

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