# Grrrrr $300,000 to CSX for a "flagman"



## Noordam (Sep 21, 2003)

I do not know why a simple gate crossing could not be used.







Railroad Crossing Drives Up Trolley Cost

By ANDY REID [email protected]

Published: Sep 17, 2003

TAMPA - A rainy night and an approaching train threatened to bring Tampa's streetcar line to a screeching halt.

Two months later, the public is paying for a supervisor to ride shotgun over a railroad crossing - and $300,000 for a flagman to sit watch nearby.

The expensive and redundant solution has led to weeks of negotiations among city officials and CSX Transportation. The issue is how to navigate the intersection where the streetcar line crosses railroad tracks just south of Fifth Avenue.

<cut>

* this is the part that pisses me off *

The problems started last year when CSX almost derailed Tampa's plans by requiring a $500 million liability insurance policy before letting the trolleys cross the tracks.

The insurance could have cost more than $1 million a year, almost as much as the streetcar line's yearly budget.

Instead, the city agreed to give CSX about $300,000 a year, of which an unspecified amount pays a flagman to help the streetcars cross safely.

*That help, CSX decided, doesn't include actually looking for trains. *The flagman sits in a nearby trailer and makes sure streetcar operators see a railroad signal light

<cut more at article>

http://www.tampatrib.com/MGA0ZJXTOKD.html


----------

