Tower 55: A Successful Partnership beyond Your Typical P3

Abstract

The confluence of five major freight and passenger rail routes brings more than 100 trains through Tower 55 daily, making Fort Worth’s interlocker one of the nation’s busiest. The congestion required staging trains as far as 150 miles away and causing 90-minute delays, resulting in operational, economic and environmental impacts. Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) Railway assembled a public-private partnership to detangle the web with innovative surface improvements. Using advanced modeling and economic analysis, they demonstrated project benefits to help secure TIGER Grant funding. Intricate construction sequencing and efficient design reduced the budget, schedule and risk to the partnership. The project returned $1.1 billion in public benefits, including $30 for every federal dollar invested. Improvements allow 40 percent more rail traffic to traverse Tower 55, avoiding $996 million in additional supply chain costs. Eliminating at-grade crossings improves safety and reduces motorist and pedestrian delays by 100,000 hours annually. Other important benefits include fuel savings and lower greenhouse gas emissions.