RLBA incorporated railroad configuration, traffic and operating inputs provided by various expert witnesses into a computerized, railroad operations simulation model employed in three separate proceedings on behalf of AEP Texas North Company (AEP), Western Fuels Association/Basin Electric (WFA) and Kansas City Power & Light (KCPL) to support the companies’ requests to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to secure relief from excessive coal transportation rates. RLBA represented in the model the three hypothetical “stand-alone railroads” extending from the Powder River Basin to power plants and rail connections throughout the central U.S. Staff also recommended infrastructure and operational improvements and conducted numerous simulations to evaluate and demonstrate railroad capacity to handle coal unit trains.

RLBA's mission was to demonstrate, using the simulation model, that the proposed stand-alone railroads would meet the needs of shippers and be more cost efficient than the service currently provided by BNSF Railway or Union Pacific Railroad, and assist in justifying lower transportation rates. As part of the effort, RLBA's staff tested the inputs and design of the model, developed alternatives to be considered by other consultants, sponsored testimony before the STB on the validity of the results produced by the model, evaluated and critiqued Reply Testimony and presented Rebuttal evidence.

A major milestone occurred in June 2006, when in its Supplemental Reply filings, BNSF accepted the Stand Alone Railroad infrastructure, operating plan and simulation developed by the applicants’ operations team and simulated by RLBA in the AEP and WFA cases. This is the first time in which those elements have received the complete acceptance of the involved railroad and thus have been removed from contention. Both cases await decision, and opening evidence has not yet been filed in the KCPL case.