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When Washington D.C.’s National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) first proposed studying ways to reroute a seven-mile CSX Transportation rail line away from the city’s core in 1997, it did so strictly from a planning and transportation standpoint. A decade later, the study has a whole other element to it — security.

“The study got funded because of security issues the rail line poses,” says NCPC Project Manager David Zaidain.

The Alexandria, Va.-to-Hyattsville, Md., line is used to transport freight, including hazardous materials, within four blocks of the U.S. Capitol.

Three proposals to ponder
Last month, the commission released results from the nine-month study, which was funded with a $1 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant. The recommended alternatives are: a new tunnel from Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Va., to the D.C./Maryland border east of the Anacostia River (estimated cost, $5.3 billion); a new corridor east of the city running between Charles County and Jessup, Md. ($4.7 billion); and a new line east of the city running between Dahlgren, Va., and Jessup ($4.3 billion).

The next step: conducting environmental studies, says Zaidain.

Study results should interest D.C. city officials. For the past two years, they’ve been pursuing a haz-mat ban within two miles of the city. After being approved by the District Court in April 2005, the ban was sent to the Court of Appeals, which determined the district couldn’t implement an ordinance prohibiting the movement of materials already being regulated by the federal government. The ban then was sent back to the District Court, where it’s been for about a year, says CSXT Vice President of Public Safety and Environment Skip Elliott.

Rather than attempt to ban or reroute haz-mat trains, cities should try to reduce their use of toxic materials, says Association of American Railroads spokesman Tom White.

“The long-term solution is moving toward safer chemicals,” he says.

For more on big-picture rail security issues, see "Role Searching."