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U.S. Surface Transportation Board Chairman Charles D. 'Chip' Nottingham Tours Port's Rail Network

Posted on: Monday, 10 September 2007, 21:00 CDT

HOUSTON, Sept. 10, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Today, U.S. Surface Transportation Board Chairman Charles D. "Chip" Nottingham met with Mayor Bill White at the Port of Houston Authority to take a helicopter tour of the region's rail network. Later, Nottingham engaged in a discussion at the PHA's Executive Office Building with Mayor White, Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, Houston City Council Member Carol Alvarado, PHA Chairman James T. Edmonds, PHA Executive Director Tom Kornegay, members of the Gulf Coast Freight Rail District, and community and local transportation industry leaders about freight rail and other mobility issues that impact the Houston metropolitan area. The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has jurisdiction over railroad rate and service issues and rail restructuring transactions and other transportation issues.

In his introduction, Mayor White explained the urgency of the matter and the reason for Nottingham's visit to Houston.

"There are always tragedies when trains are parked across streets," White said. "The city and county don't have the authority to address this issue. We wanted to look to Chairman Nottingham to see what to do to impress the rail transportation system to do its part. Why now? It's an issue of respect to the people in neighborhoods affected by rail. No neighborhood is more important than another."

Nottingham said the challenge was enormous, but the solution lies in teamwork.

"Houston is at the epicenter of global commerce," he said. "Few cities in this nation have the same issues of rail and transportation. On our tour today, for example, we saw a train that had stopped four lanes of traffic, with commuters and a city bus making U-turns around it. That is a thing you hate to see from the fourth largest city in the country. It's a giant challenge for Houston. But any tough problem can be solved by a team approach."

Studies sponsored by Harris County, the City of Houston and the port identified more than 750 public at-grade crossings in Harris County and over 1,200 public at-grade crossings in the eight-county region. The crossings in Harris County are estimated to cause more than 30,000 vehicle hours of delays per day, which significantly affect the region's air quality. In addition, the blocked crossings have generated safety concerns for children climbing onto trains to cross a blocked intersection in order to get to school.

During the 79th session of the Texas Legislature, House Bill 2958 passed allowing Harris County, the City of Houston and other surrounding counties to form a Freight Rail District. The district will have multiple benefits to the region including reduced roadway congestion; reduced idling at crossings and its associated air emissions; reduced vehicle - train interaction, improving safety; reduced instances of children crossing rail lines to get to their destinations; and improved movement of freight trains through the Houston area, creating greater economic development.

The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 7,000 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and 10th largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange. For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com

The Port of Houston Authority logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=720

Members of the public who wish to speak at a Port Commission meeting will be asked to sign in at the 4th floor lobby area. They may speak when the Chair calls on them during the appearances portion of the agenda and their comments will be limited to three minutes. The public comment protocol is available on the PHA Web site, at: http://portofhouston.com/publicrelations/meetings.html

To access the port's web site photo gallery, please visit http://www.portofhouston.com/publicrelations/publicrelations.html and click the link for PHA Photo Gallery.

This news release was distributed by PrimeNewswire, www.primenewswire.com

CONTACT: Mayor Bill White's Office Frank Michel, Communications Director 713-247-2868 Cell: 713-412-8674 frank.michel@cityofhouston.net Port of Houston Authority Lisa Ashley-Whitlock, Communications Manager 713-670-2644 Cell: 832-247-8179 lwhitlock@poha.com

Source: PrimeNewswire

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