For railroad operators, safety is the top of mind when evaluating right-of-way access for anything near or crossing the tracks. Right-of-way access applications require detailed engineering and legal review with each application unique to a location and there are a lot of applications flowing into railroad companies for evaluation.

“We deal with over 3,000 permanent [new] applications a year across 26 states,” said Alex Saar, CSX, Director of Corridor Services – Business Development & Real Estate, CSX Transportation, Inc. “That’s across 20,000 miles of track we have. It’s a high volume with a good cycle time. It’s something we’re proud of every year. We work very hard to provide that level of service.”

CSX is one of six Class I railroad operators in the United States. Defined as railroads with revenue of at least $900 million, Class I railroads account for around 67% of freight mileage and 94% of revenues, according to the Association of American Railroads’ July 2024 fact sheet. In addition to the six Class 1 railroad operators, there is Amtrak and 615 short line Class II and III railroads. There are nearly 140,000 miles of freight rail spanning the continent with railroads large and small operating in 49 states and the District of Columbia.

“Looking at our data, our average application cycle time is 30 [calendar] days or less for a typical utility crossing,” said Saar. “Obviously, for more complex projects and longitudinal occupancies, other criteria can impact reviews, such crossing over a rail, difficult topography, all those different factors. We also offer an expedited option for an additional fee for those crossing permits that do qualify.” 

The company wants to make it easy for applicants to apply for permits on the belief that the less time spent on having to correct and review applications means less resources tied up to deal with a growing volume of applications. To ensure successful first-time right-of-way applications and reduce processing time, CSX has invested “millions of dollars” into its website and back-end technologies, including readily accessible information with engineering specifications, templates and sample drawings, answers to the most frequently asked questions, and an AI chatbot introduced at the beginning of the year to address pertinent questions. 

And the volume of applications has gone up substantially, with a 30% year-over-year increase from 2018 through 2023. “This year, we’re 15% on top of that right now, and permits are continuing to come in,” stated Saar in late May.

Success in railroad permitting applications can depend on the experience with the process by the requesting organization and their third-party assistance. “I will say we do see companies who repeatedly permit correctly and those who do not,” said Saar. “It all depends on the applicants to read and follow all of our instructions posted on the website. Applicant’s engineer’s should ensure the applications comply with our specifications and submit all the correct fees and insurances. There are absolutely fiber companies who often use the same consultant who knows the permitting process. They submit exactly what is needed on the front end and it goes seamlessly through the process. Master agreements, that’s another good way to streamline the process.”

CSX is not standing still on its website. The company has partnered with state rail associations, participating in state permitting conferences, and held numerous meetings with utilities to get feedback on the permitting process and ways to improve it and the web portal. 

“One of the reasons we go to these conferences is to reach out to [applicants],” said Saar. “As you’re designing this, don’t wait until the last minute. The earlier you can partner with us, do it. Don’t wait until the last minute.”

This article and similar stories can be read in the Q3 edition of Fiber Forward Magazine.

UTOPIA is no novice in building networks, with 23 completed city-wide projects, three more under construction, and some fiber operations in 70 cities across the country through operation of middle-mile and long-haul networks. And it’s the train tracks that are the biggest headache. 

“Railways can be an enormous obstacle,” said Roger Timmerman, CEO, UTOPIA Fiber. “You try to design your network to avoid as many obstacles [as possible], you want the path of least resistance. When we’ve got a railroad permit that’s required, there are multiple stages involved. Your first pass, everything has to be engineered to a different standard than any other [build process] and each individual railroad [company] is different. You can’t standardize it. The design specs are a little challenging to deal with and because of that you’re more likely to get rejected and have to go back and forth. You might end up with weeks of time between each pass, back and forth through to get through this process.  

“When you get through that and paid your permit fees, there’s another set of work for the build process, it’s another project of just getting it on the schedule to be able to perform the work. You have to schedule when you can build, you must have an approved vendor for flagging and schedule with the flagging company, so that’s another month or longer.”

Source: Microsoft Designer AI

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) asserts that the broadband and utility crossing permit process may take anywhere from four to eight weeks, but Timmerman says that assumes a clean design with a basic crossing request and getting everything right on the first pass. Multiple passes translate to multiple cycles at four to eight weeks per cycle trying to get things correct. 

“When we’re doing a build, if there’s a railroad to cross, we’re planning on six months to a year to get where we need to go,” stated Timmerman. “All these processes of back and forth are a nightmare to deal with.”

Compounding matters are a variable and somewhat arbitrary fee schedule for permitting and having to conduct the same process on all railway designed land, even those that haven’t seen a train in decades or don’t have tracks on them. “Cost wise we’re facing one [build] in Montana where they want to charge us $130,000 for a permit,” said Timmerman. “It’s a footage-based [fee] structure that makes things difficult. At this point, the money is an actual obstacle. We’re trying to redesign it somewhere else just to go into a more reasonable fee structure.” 

Could federal regulation fix the programs with the current situation? Timmerman is doubtful. “You’re hearing more people talk about this than you ever have before,” he said. “The frustration of the general public with how the need for broadband is not being met, gives the opportunity for legislators to step up. But you have the Association of American Railroads taking a defensive position that, ‘We’re not the problem, we’re great, we’re wonderful.’”