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Similar to 2015-01-22 Sound Transit Presentation: Sounder Commuter Rail New Protocol for Service Cancellation
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2015-01-22 Sound Transit Presentation: Sounder Commuter Rail New Protocol for Service Cancellation
- 1. Sounder Commuter Rail New Protocol for Service Cancellation Board of Directors Meeting, January 22, 2015
- 2. Background • Everett-Seattle corridor – BNSF owns and shares with Sound Transit, WSDOT, and Amtrak passenger trains. • BNSF monitors conditions and slide probability. Landslides trigger 48-hour cancellation of passenger service. • 2012-13 slide season – historic level of slide activity. • 2013 WSDOT Landslide Mitigation Work Group formed. • 2013 slope stability projects begin using $16 million FRA grant through WSDOT to BNSF.
- 3. WSDOT’s Landslide Mitigation • $16 million for slope stability construction: 2 sites completed in 2013 1 in design stage – 2015 completion date 3 are not yet funded • ST participation in marketing/communication to encourage communities to manage run-off on slopes. • ST participation with USGS to install additional instrumentation on slopes.
- 4. This Year • Less rainfall in October and November this season. • 57 trips cancelled in December 2014. • ST engaged with partners to discuss cancelling Sounder service when landslides are likely. • ST implemented a protocol for canceling service.
- 5. New Protocol • Examine data of 3 existing USGS local landslide predictive tools. • Review weather forecast. • Monitor BNSF slope observations. • Confer with BNSF and partners, make recommendation. New protocol tested 2 times recently: December 28 – cancelled Seahawk special event train. January 4 – decision to operate.
- 6. Next Steps • Continue to discuss cancellation protocol with partners. • Continue to work with the USGS for development of a more robust forecasting model.
Editor's Notes
- Good afternoon, I’m Martin Young, Sounder Commuter Rail Operations Manager. I’m here today to present a new protocol for cancelling Sounder service when there is a high probability of landslide activity on the north line. I will provide background on the North line and work being done by BNSF and WSDOT to improve slope stability and service reliability in the corridor. The I will discuss how the new protocol works, challenges and next steps.
- Sound Transit operates passenger service in the BNSF-owned North corridor between downtown Seattle and Everett along with BNSF freight service, as well as WSDOT, Cascades, and Amtrak, Coast Star Light, passenger services. As the owner of the railroad, BNSF monitors the corridor during the landslide season to ensure safe operations using United States Geological Survey data, weather forecasts and specialized slope equipment. BNSF cancels passenger service for 48 hours after a landslide reaches the tracks. A very wet 2012-2013 slide season (October through April) resulted in a high number of landslides. 206 Sounder trips, or 27 ½ days of service, were cancelled during that time. During that season, a slide struck and derailed a BNSF freight and, a few months later, an Amtrak passenger train. In response to the increase in slide activity, the Washington State Department of Transportation formed an interagency Landslide Mitigation Work Group comprised of WSDOT, BNSF, ST, Amtrak and Local jurisdictions and stake holders to develop short and long-term strategies to reduce landslide impacts and improve transportation reliability. In 2013 BNSF began work to improve slope stability along the corridor using a Federal Railroad Administration $16 million grant secured by WSDOT. As you may recall we reported on the grant and WSDOT’s Mitigation Plan last February.
- To recap, the FRA high speed rail grant was for construction and other work at six (6) locations along the Everett-Seattle corridor with the highest probability of slide activity. Two of these projects (one south of Mukilteo and one near Everett) have been completed and a third has construction planned for 2015. While overall slide frequency this season has not declined significantly, there have been fewer slides in the areas where BNSF completed mitigation work. Sound Transit’s work as a member of WSDOT’s Landslide Mitigation Work Group has been to participate in the development of the Landslide Mitigation Action Plan, encourage the development of better forecasting tools and to participate in marketing and communication efforts to encourage residents and communities to better manage water run-off on the slopes. We are also working with the USGS, WSDOT and BNSF to install soil and rainfall monitoring instrumentation on the north corridor slopes and to update the USGS landslide forecasting model. Sound Transit has purchased the additional monitoring equipment for more localized readings and will be working with the USGS to install the equipment this summer, and ultimately improve the current slide forecasting model. This work is ongoing but has been delayed due to USGS staff resource limitations following the Oso, WA and Colorado landslide incidents. In the meantime, this year, we have developed a protocol for working more closely with BNSF and canceling Sounder service when we believe landslides are likely.
- While October and November were dryer months this year, there were 22 canceled trips, or four days of canceled service, in November. A period of heavy rain in December resulted in 57 cancelled trips, or eight ½ days of cancelled service. One slide occurred very close to a Sounder train that resulted in an emergency stop and a 2-hour delay while the tracks were cleared. The December incidents triggered an increased level of engagement by Sound Transit with our partner agencies to discuss cancelling passenger service when heavy rains make a landslide likely. Sound Transit Operations and Safety and Quality Assurance staff members implemented a new protocol where we determined whether or not to cancel service. It was used twice this season, both times with successful results.
- Our new protocol to determine if North Sounder service should be operated following heavy rainfall involves the following actions: Sound Transit staff examines the data published by the USGS on a daily basis that charts the 3 and 15-day cumulative precipitation threshold, rainfall intensity/duration threshold, and a soil saturation index to determine the likelihood of a slide. Staff also reviews weather forecasts to determine if additional rainfall is expected and discusses actual slope conditions reported through BNSF field observations. If the slide probability appears high, Sound Transit managers and senior management staff after conferring with BNSF and other partner agencies, determine whether service should be operated and make a recommendation to Sound Transit executive staff members for a final “go” or “no-go” decision. Since implementation of the ST protocol, staff has acted on the daily monitoring of slide probability data on 2 occasions. The first involved Sounder North trains scheduled to operate special event service to the Seahawk game on Sunday, December 28. Due to a forecast of significant rain and the nature of the service, a decision was made on Friday, December 26 to cancel the service. A Friday decision allowed customers ample time to find alternative transportation. It also allowed our partner bus agencies enough time to add additional weekend service, something that would have been much more difficult to do on short notice, especially on a weekend. In this case, a blocking slide did occur on Sunday morning just prior to what would have been the train departure time. The second occasion occurred on Sunday, January 4. Rain began early Saturday and significant rain was forecast for the area overnight and into Sunday. As it turned out, actual rainfall levels were much lower than forecasted and the USGS slide indicators did not rise to the level anticipated. A decision was made to operate on Monday morning and to reassess mid-day for Tuesday operation. Rainfall levels in the Everett area continued to be lower than anticipated and Sounder North service continued as scheduled for the remainder of the week. A slide fence was tripped during the Monday evening service but it was minor in nature and no other slide activity occurred.
- Clearly, forecasting landslide activity poses a significant challenge. USGS data and forecasting tools are limited, rainfall can vary even in small areas, and soil saturation levels lag behind rain fall totals. We rely on the best information we have to make service decisions. Our next steps are to continue discussing the process with our partners and to continue to work with the USGS to install soil monitoring equipment and ultimately develop a more robust forecasting model. ST’s long-term goal is to transition to a more forecast oriented model based on data from rainfall and monitoring of the soil on the slopes in slide zones. In the long term, we believe the new data collection equipment will improve the ability to forecast events.
- Questions?