Feb 02, 2007: Hotline #486

February 2, 2007

Amtrak funding for Fiscal 2007 would be frozen at the Fiscal 2006 level of $1.29 billion under a House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR).  The measure was approved on Wednesday under a “closed rule,” meaning that no amendments could be offered.  It now moves onto the Senate for consideration, which, while it will pass, will be more difficult as there is no “closed rule” in the Senate.  The bill needs to be passed and signed by President Bush before February 15, when the current CR expires.  This appears likely to happen as Congressional leaders want to avoid a government shutdown.

The CR also cuts Federal Railroad Administration Research & Development program, apparently meaning a shutdown of the Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System program.  Railroads would use this to tighten up spacing and increase efficiency if Positive Train Control were deployed across the country. 

The CR gives highways got a 9% funding boost and transit 5%, as guaranteed by SAFETEA-LU.  The White House Office of Management and Budget’s lengthy “Statement of Administration Policy” on the CR attacked Amtrak as follows (mentioning no other transportation issue):  “Providing this excessive level of subsidy for Amtrak, a private corporation, undermines any incentive for the railroad to exercise fiscal discipline.  Providing the Administration’s request of $900 million would make resources available for higher priorities and would force Amtrak to make difficult but necessary business decisions.”

NARP today issued a release on the CR, noting Amtrak’s superior energy efficiency, the irony of freezing Amtrak and boosting highways just when a big new report increases concern about global warming and the U.K. boosted airline taxes (see below). 

While there is little hope of increasing Amtrak funding in the CR, the situation the railroad is in underscores the need for a reauthorization bill to provide the same guaranteed funding that highways and transit enjoy.  Contact your Senators and ask them to support S. 294.  Go to our Action Alert center for full details including a list of co-sponsors.

President Bush’s Fiscal 2008 budget will be released Monday. It will be interesting to see how he handles highway spending, given projections that the Highway Trust Fund is headed for a major deficit in Fiscal 2009.  As for Amtrak, in light of this week’s statement, it is unlikely that Bush will go above the $900 million he recommended for Amtrak last year, a level that would not be sustainable.  It contradicts the President’s goal of reducing oil consumption. 

One component of global warming that is getting more attention is pollution from airplanes.  Effective yesterday (February 1), the U.K. doubled airline departure charges.  The British Treasury told Reuters that, “the duty will save the equivalent of three quarters of a million tonnes of carbon (emissions) every year by 2011…The increase in Air Passenger Duty (tax) will better reflect the environmental costs of air travel.”

Member’s of North Carolina’s Board of Transportation on Wednesday “sharply questioned a Norfolk Southern executive, asking what the railroad is doing to ensure Amtrak trains arrive on time,” according to today’s Charlotte Observer.  From the report:  “The Carolinian is on schedule less than half the time…That’s a problem if North Carolina wants to be serious about promoting the state-sponsored train service, said board member Nancy Dunn.  ‘I don’t think anyone thinks this is anywhere close to a product we can market,’ she said.  Dunn’s transit committee has been talking about the issue for months now, and board member Thomas Betts said he hasn’t seen enough progress.  ‘I don’t see a sense of urgency by any of you all to correct this problem,’ he said to Durwood Laughinghouse, the railroad’s resident vice president for public affairs.  Laughinghouse said the company takes the issue seriously and is studying potential improvements.”

House and Senate leaders are working on rail security bills. Senate Commerce Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) introduced the Transportation Security Improvement Act (S. 184).  The legislation would authorize $1.25 billion in spending and make the Transportation Security Administration the lead agency for rail and public transportation security.  It also mandates that the DOT and TSA work together to clarify each agency’s role in security.  In the House, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) plans to introduce a bill that would, among other things, federalize rail and mass transit security and focus on tunnel safety.  Thompson feels that this is one of the most neglected parts of transportation security.

Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) held a public forum in the Quad Cities (Rock Island and Moline, IL, and Bettendorf and Davenport, IA) area of Illinois this week to drum up support for Amtrak service to Chicago.  All in attendance agreed that the service needs to happen and agreed to press forward with what needs to happen to start the service.  Amtrak has agreed to perform a study that would outline the costs of starting and operating the service and a timeline for how soon the service would begin.

More rail expansion in the Midwest: A series of hearings are being held to consider extension of Metra’s UP-North service from Kenosha to Milwaukee.  Construction would cost about $200 million and annual operating costs $11 million.  Karl Ostby, the chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority board told the Marquette Tribune, “This is pretty spectacular—the economic development and benefit from this is estimated to be as high as $7 million…It is such a positive impact for the region.”

Mixed news, however, comes out of California. On Monday, the California High-Speed Rail Authority board chose three engineering firms for preliminary engineering work on a high speed rail network in the state.  This work will set the stage for construction of a San Diego-Los Angeles-San Francisco line that would have an end-to-end travel time of 3 ½ hours.  However, later in the week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R.) proposed cutting the Authority’s budget from $14 million to $1.2 million, just enough to keep the organization going, but preventing it from doing anything meaningful.  Schwarzenegger also stated that he wants to focus on road building and scrap the proposed 2008 ballot initiative that would approve nearly $10 billion in bonding authority for high speed rail construction.  The budget still has many hurdles to overcome, including the state legislature.

The Federal Railroad Administration has given environmental review approval to a proposal by the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad to construct a new 260 mile railroad to tap into the Powder River Basin coal fields.  The ruling means that within 90 days, the FRA must approve or reject the $2.3 billion loan that DM&E has applied for to build the rail line.  The project has its supporters and opponents, chief amongst which is the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, which claims that the line runs too close to the clinic and a derailment involving hazardous materials would be disastrous to the hospital.  Supporters argue that the economic benefits of the railroad are too great and that safety enhancements can take place in Rochester to alleviate the Clinic’s concerns. 

Florida’s Tri-Rail has hired Amtrak to schedule and dispatch trains for the south Florida commuter railroad, which shares state-owned tracks with CSX freight and Amtrak.  Tri-Rail also hired Veolia Transportation Services, Inc. to operate and maintain its trains. Amtrak takes over late this year; the Veolia contract starts July 1.

Albuquerque-based Rail Runner Commuter Rail service began over a new segment today—Belen-Albuquerque.  Rides are free until April 1.  Today also saw start-up of an additional round-trip on the existing Bernalillo-Albuquerque segment.

William Kenneth McFarling, a NARP Board Member for many years, passed away last week at the age of 92.  McFarling devoted his life to working for policies that, in his words, “conserve energy, material and terrestrial space, and improve the environment by emphasizing reliance upon transportation technology using guidance intrinsically automated by rail and wheel face interaction.”  NARP Western Vice President Art Poole said McFarling “helped to recruit members for both Oregon ARP and NARP. He also edited the OreARP Bulletin for many years. Ken was a mentor to many OreARP leaders, including myself. His professional experience concerning railways added to our credibility as rail advocates when we communicated with politicians and the news media.”  A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm tomorrow (Saturday, February 3, 2007) at Portland Memorial Funeral Home (6705 SE 14th Avenue, Portland).

The Southern Rail Rapid Transit Commission in October passed a resolution aimed at starting a process to restore and improve the reliability of service between New Orleans, Mobile and Orlando.  You can read the resolution here on our website

 

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Feb 09, 2007: Hotline #487

The Senate is considering H. J. Res. 20 that would fund all government programs for the remainder of Fiscal 2007 (through September 30).  Amtrak funding for Fiscal 2007 would be frozen at the Fiscal 2006 level of $1.29 billion.  The bill must be passed and signed by President Bush before February 15, when the current CR expires.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid initiated a procedural move called “filling the tree” to limit or even prevent the offering of amendments to the bill which will speed passage, but has angered Republicans.

H.J. Res. 20 freezes Amtrak at the Fiscal 2006 level, but that is a $200 million improvement over what Amtrak gets in the existing continuing resolution.  To strengthen Amtrak’s hand in the funding process in years to come, contact your Senators and ask them to support S. 294 and tell your House member to urge introduction of companion legislation.  Go to our Action Alert center for full details including a list of co-sponsors.  This bill likely will get a hearing in the Senate committee next month. 

President Bush’s Fiscal 2008 budget would cut Amtrak funding to $800 million, a 39% reduction from this year.  The $100 million reduction from last year’s request was explained this way by NARP Executive Director Ross Capon, quoted in NARP’s news release condemning the request:  “The Administration is trying to take credit for creating the long-awaited federal-state partnership program without providing new money.  They simply reduce an already comically-inadequate $900 million request by $100 million, and assign the latter amount to ‘capital matching grants to States for intercity passenger rail projects.’”

Capon also said, “In a world that must emphasize environmentally benign and energy efficient transportation, cutting Amtrak funding makes no sense either as a stand-alone proposal or in context of this Administration’s proposal to continue increasing highway spending…they still don’t get it.”  NARP’s release can be found here on our website.

The Administration requested $500 million for capital improvements, but ignored nearly $300 million in debt service needs, and proposed a completely unworkable $300 million operating grant (down from $485 million in FY 2006 and probably 2007). 

Objection to the Amtrak number was universal.  New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman (D.) said, ““Passenger rail service is a crucial element in helping to attract businesses and new jobs to our state…The end of Amtrak services in the state could have a negative economic impact on those communities that depend on its services.”  Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV) told the Charleston Gazette, “It’s worse than a broken record. When is this president going to figure out that Amtrak is essential to meeting the transportation needs of our citizens?”

Energy efficiency also figured prominently in yesterday’s Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, where the only graphic—based on the same Oak Ridge National Laboratory figures NARP has been touting—showed Amtrak’s superior energy efficiency compared with airlines and automobiles.  It was presented by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ).  DOT Secretary Mary Peters, accompanied by Assistant Secrtary for Budget and Programs Phyllis Scheinberg, were the sole witnesses.  Observing Lautenberg’s graphic, Peters said “that chart makes a compelling argument for greater use of rail”—a tacit admission that the Bush budget is out of step. 

Lautenberg also grilled her on the $309 million shortfall between the supposed guarantee for transit in SAFETEA-LU and what Bush requested.  She responded, “We were asked to limit non-defense discretionary spending growth to 1%.  We’re not leaving any transit projects ready to receive funding” out in the cold.  The truth, of course, is that the Administration has constricted the pipeline, that is, the whole “New [transit] Starts” process is designed to minimize the number of projects “ready to receive funding.”

Of course, highways got the full SAFETEA-LU guarantee of almost $41 billion.  This is an increase, but some senators, including Kit Bond (MO), the subcommittee’s top Republican,  lamented the absence of $631 million than would have been permitted by SAFETEA-LU’s the RABA (“Revenue-aligned budget authority”) feature, which was continued over from the previous highway/transit authorization.  However, the administration was on solid ground to exclude RABA, because gasoline tax revenues are declining, making the “look-back” mechanism for calculating RABA inaccurate. 

Asked by Murray how DOT would avoid putting the Highway Trust Fund into bankrtupcy, Peters cited the absence of that $631 million.  She also said highway funds would be “flexed” to transit [where states decide to spend the money on transit] “as needed” rather than in a big lump sum.  This could be the first act in a drama where transit is sacrificed to help solve the highway funding problem; if this approach is adopted (unlikely because Congressional Budget Office does not want to set a precedent for other ‘trust funds’), transit could be shortchanged the next time around.

The Department of Transportation has released $25 million of funding for the CREATE project in Chicago.  This is part of a larger, $1.5 billion project to untangle railroad bottlenecks in and around the city.  Five of the six Class I railroads that serve Chicago—CSX, NS, CP, BNSF, and UP—have contributed $100 million, the City of Chicago $30 million, and the State of Illinois $100 million.  Two of the intial projects will benefit Amtrak’s Chicago-St. Louis service and Metra’s “Heritage Corridor” Chicago-Joliet service: Brighton Park will be automated and another crossing just south of Brighton Park will have speeds increase and reverse-direction signaling installed.  Among the other CREATE projects (yet unfunded) is the long-anticipated Grand Crossing connection, which will permit Chicago-Carbondale trains and the City of New Orleans to come directly into Union Station without negotiating the St. Charles Airline and major grade separation projects at Englewood and Gresham, which will segregate Metra trains from freight operations and also permit Metra’s Southwest Service to switch to LaSalle Street Station.

Construction was completed this week on a new commuter rail route in Boston. Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen and other dignitaries drove a ceremonial golden spike at Braintree (the connection with the existing lines to Plymouth and Middleburg) for the Greenbush line.  The long-delayed, controversial project is due to open for revenue service by October.  Some final design work on the stations is left to be done, as well as crew training and familiarization and signal testing.

Efforts are underway to bring commuter rail to Duluth, MN.  Local activist and leaders traveled to St. Paul on Monday to lobby their state elected officials to approve the project.  The initial construction costs would be around $120 million, which would provide for 2 ½ hour service between the two cities.  The project’s chances look better with Duluth’s Congressman, Rep. Jim Oberstar (D.) as the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

A Virginia State Senator is threatening to withhold $20 million in track and signal improvements slated for CSX’s former RF&P mainline between Washington and Richmond.  State Senator Edd Houck (D-Spotsylvania) wants a better explanation from CSX about perennial delays to Virginia Railway Express trains, namely heat restrictions placed on CSX lines in the summer.  CSX is the only railroad in North America that institutes such restrictions, which cause numerous delays to commuter railroads and Amtrak passengers.  “I’m to the point where I’m willing to pull the plug on the funding if CSX is not willing to be a participating player to resolve the delays,” he said.

Vietnam will build a 1000 mile high speed rail network using Japanese technology and financial assistance.  The network would link Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and cut travel times from 30 hours to 10.  Many Asian countries are providing financial assistance to Vietnam to help it upgrade its infrastructure.

Laidlaw International, Inc., primarily a schoolbus operator but also Greyhound’s owner, announced today it had agreed to acquired by FirstGroup, the Scottish operator of UK buses and trains.  Laidlaw said the all-cash transaction was “valued at approximately $3.6 billion, including the assumption of $800 million of debt…The merger is conditioned upon approval by the stockholders of both Laidlaw and FirstGroup and certain regulatory approvals, as well as other customary closing conditions.” 

Today’s Financial Times reported that Laidlaw’s annual revenues are $3.13 billion of which Greyhound represented $1.24 billion.  FT said, “A deal would transform the Scottish company (FirstGroup), whose main business is running buses and trains in the UK, into the largest single operator of school buses in the US.  The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents many of the school bus drivers, has vowed to oppose a deal…[Greyhound] provides less than half of profits and is the poorest fit with FirstGroup’s operations in the US. But FirstGroup may consider retaining the business, using its expertise from running long-distance trains in the UK.”

“Why we must get Europe’s trains on track,” by Guillaume Pepy, chief executive of SNCF and chairman of Eurostar (operator of trains using the Channel Tunnel), is an op ed piece that also ran in today’s FT.  Pepy urged greater coordination among European railways for successful high speed rail development.  He wrote that “more than $197 billion is scheduled for investment in the region’s rail infrastructure in the years up to 2020.  By then the pan-European network should have doubled, with more than 4,000-km of high-speed lines…”

There is a minor schedule change to Amtrak train #196 (Monday-Thursday) and #136 (Friday).  Effective Monday (February 12), these trains will depart all stations Washington-Wilmington 5 minutes earlier.  The trains will resume their printed times between Philadelphia and New York (and onto Springfield on Friday).

Amtrak is celebrating Black History Month by sponsoring several events.  “A Portrait of Dignity” celebrates the contributions of African American women to the cultural, educational, and political landscape throughout the years and will be held on February 17 at the Jacksonville Amtrak Station.  Representative Corrine Brown (D-FL) will be in attendance.  New York Penn Station will host a music exposition on every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as well as Feb. 19th and 28th.  Entertainment will be supplied by such groups as the Ebony Hillbillies, the Irving Louis Latin Jazz Ensemble, and the Amtrak bagpipers; there will also displays by African American vendors and artists.

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Feb 16, 2007: Hotline #488

In time to avoid a government shutdown at midnight last night, President Bush signed the omnibus spending bill that funds almost half the federal government for the rest of Fiscal 2007.  This includes Amtrak funding, which has been frozen at the Fiscal 2006 level of $1.29 billion.  The International Herald Tribune quoted NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon, “While we understand that the path of least resistance in quickly disposing of fiscal 2007 issues is to ignore the Amtrak board’s request, that does not make this good policy…It is even more appalling that criticism of the House’s Amtrak number as ‘excessive’ was the only transportation reference in the Bush administration’s lengthy policy statement on the resolution.”  Of course, freezing Amtrak at the FY06 level does give Amtrak about $200 million more than the previous continuing resolutions provided. 

The focus now is fully on 2008. As reported last week, President Bush requested $800 million for Amtrak, a cut of over 32%.  On Thursday, Amtrak submitted their Fiscal 2008 funding request to Congress.  The request, viewable on Amtrak’s website, is similar to last year’s and calls for $1.53 billion in basic funding, and an additional $150 million of “Strategic Investment Needs.”

NARP strongly supports the Amtrak request. Tell your Members of Congress to fully fund Amtrak, as well as support S. 294, the Amtrak reauthorization bill.  Go to our Action Alert center for full details including a list of co-sponsors. 

On Tuesday, February 13, the House Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection held a hearing on rail security.  Chairwoman Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) presided over the hearing.  The hearing, on “Rail and Mass Transit Security: Industry and Labor Perspectives,” featured witnesses from Amtrak, the Association of American Railroads, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Transport Workers Union, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.  The focus was on increased funding for security upgrades, the movement of hazardous materials through densely populated areas, and lack of security at rail yards across the country. 

Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC) said “there is a big hole in homeland security, and it’s called ground transportation.”  Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) was especially dissatisfied with the federal government’s involvement with rail security.  During his opening statement he said, “Rail security from a federal perspective is non-existent. State and local governments have taken the lead, and the federal government needs to step up.  We only spend two cents on every rail passenger for rail security.”  Members of the subcommittee and all witnesses agreed there needed to be more cooperation between the rail industry and the federal government.

Another rail-related hearing in the House this week focused on worker fatigue. The Railroads Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee heard testimony from FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman and representatives of the railroads and rail labor.  The hearing also unveiled proposed legislation that would task the FRA and its Rail Safety Advisory Committee, of which NARP is a member, with reviewing and recommending changes to the Hours Of Service Act, which governs length of time that rail operating employees can be on duty.  Full Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) said, “The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reports that 40% of all train accidents are caused by human factors, and one in four of those accidents is caused by fatigue….I believe that the laws and regulations governing fatigue for railroad workers are outdated.  The Hours of Service Act was enacted 100 years ago, and it has not been substantially amended for 40 years.”

Over in the Senate, the Commerce Committee marked up (approved) S. 184, the Surface Transportation and Rail Security Act of 2007, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI).  The bill next goes to the Senate floor.  The legislation authorizes $1.25 billion and makes the Transportation Security Administration the lead agency for rail and public transportation security.  It also mandates that the DOT and TSA work together to clarify each agency’s role in security.

The trial of 29 people in Spain for their involvement in the March 11, 2004 terrorist attack on Madrid’s commuter rail network began yesterday.  Seven of the 29 face more serious charges of masterminding the attack, however, they are being tried in absentia since they killed themselves prior to capture.  The attacks served to highlight the vulnerability of the worldwide rail network to terror attack, yet little has been done since then to improve security.

“Austria’s chancellor has called for a Europe-wide tax on airline fuels as part of a ‘fundamental shift’ in the continent’s tax structure. Alfred Gusenbauer’s plan would introduce the tax in Europe first before talks with the U.S. when a new president takes office in 2009.”  This is from a February 9 Financial Times report.
Amtrak ridership in Montana is up nearly 40% over the past five years, and 7% between 2005 and 2006.  The Empire Builder, which provides Montana with its rail service, has long been one of Amtrak’s strongest trains, and continues to grown.  The Builder is especially important to those that live in Northern Montana along the “Hi Line” as there is no intercity bus service along U.S. Highway 2 and very limited commercial aviation.  Jim Lynch, director of the Montana Department of Transportation, said “Many of the communities Amtrak serves in Montana don’t have bus service. The train is their connection.”

The Capitol Corridor in California may become a test bed for a radical new way to improve grade crossing safety.  Nomad Digital Limited of the United Kingdom has designed a system that, using a wireless internet signal, beams video images from cameras mounted at grade crossings to locomotive cabs.  This can, for example, provide an engineer warning of a car or truck stalled on a grade crossing, or could be mounted in an area that has had repeated trespasser fatalities.  There are also possible applications for increasing train speeds by integrating this technology with Positive Train Control.  A test took place earlier this week using borrowed CalTrain equipment and was deemed a success.

A short extension of Little Rock, Arkansas’s River Rail streetcar opened February 14.  The new branch of the existing line serves the Heifer International headquarters and the Bill Clinton Presidential Library.  A formal dedication and celebration are scheduled for this weekend.  As an interesting footnote, the Clinton Library is now the only Presidential library directly served by rail mass transit.

Amtrak service in New York State continues to be disrupted from a major winter storm.  Amtrak cancelled many trains west of Albany.  Thursday saw many Albany-New York trains cancelled due to problems with fine snow particles damaging Amtrak’s 700 series dual-mode locomotives.  While NARP understands the prudence of canceling trains in such severe weather conditions, NARP has asked Amtrak what it plans to do to fix the problem with the 700-series locomotives to prevent future problems.  Bruce Becker, President of the Empire State Passengers Association told the Albany Times-Union that the association, “is concerned with the number of recent cancellations…while we recognize there’s been severe weather, we certainly urge Amtrak and CSX to do everything possible to make sure that in future storms, service can continue.”

Pacific Surfliner service will be curtailed this weekend for the second phase of a major trackwork project to increase capacity.  As was the case in January 27 and 28, 500-series trains are cancelled with no substitute bus service.  700-series trains will operate from either San Luis Obispo or Goleta through Los Angeles to Anaheim.  At Anaheim, passengers will board busses to continue to points south to San Diego.  Coast Starlight passengers who are continuing south of Los Angeles will be bussed to their final destination.

The new bridge over Quantico Creek at Quantico, VA will enter service this weekend.  However, to tie the new bridge into CSX’s signal system, a week long signal suspension will be necessary.  Tomorrow and Sunday, only the Silver Star, Silver Meteor, and a combined Palmetto and Carolinian (using the Carolinian’s schedule southbound and Palmetto’s schedule northbound) will operate between Washington and Richmond.  There will be no service to Newport News, Williamsburg or Richmond Main Street Station (NARP has protested the lack of alternate service over a holiday weekend as well as Amtrak’s failure to give the public timely warning about the service cancellations).  Monday through Thursday next week, Trains 66, 67, 84, 85, and 93 will not operate south of Washington, D.C.  Train 95 will operate through to Newport News, but 15 minutes earlier. 

In place of Train 94, which will not operate south of Washington, Train 86 will originate in Newport News.  The schedule will be: Virginia Beach, 5:00am (bus); Norfolk, 5:30am (bus); Newport News, 6:15am; Williamsburg, 6:41am; Richmond Main Street Station 7:32; then it will assume train 86’s printed schedule Richmond Staples Mill Road to Boston.

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Feb 23, 2007: Hotline #489

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is the newest co-sponsor of S.294. Please encourage your Senator to sign on as well!  Full information about S.294 and Amtrak funding is available in our Action Alert Center.

The Federal Highway Administration is preparing to order a rescission of nearly $3.4 billion in unspent highway funds, or “unobligated balances”.  The rescission affects each state proportionately.  The real danger of the rescission is that good highway programs, like Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) and Transportation Enhancements (TE, funding for such programs as bikeways and pedestrian-friendly projects), will be targeted, with little or no effect on actual highway construction.  The Surface Transportation Policy Partnership gave an example from the fiscal 2006 rescission order, “states rescinded $880 million in CMAQ funds and $1.182 billion in Bridge funds. Together, these programs were targeted for about 55 percent of the total rescissions during Fiscal 2006, even though these two programs represent about 20 percent of the apportioned funds to the states in any given year.” 

Get in touch with your state transportation leaders and ask how they plan to satisfy the rescission requirement and tell them that you want the rescission to be taken proportionally from all programs, not just those with the biggest account balances. Tell them as well that CMAQ and TE funds should not bear the brunt of the rescission. This is particularly important if your state has non-attainment areas for air pollution.

The Northeast Corridor-wide power failure last May was caused not by old, obsolete equipment,but by a four-year-old component.  Amtrak Vice President of Operations William Crosbie told the New York Times that the failure of a computer designed to prevent system overloads led to the overload of the system and a domino effect of cutting power to the entire railroad.  Compounding the problem was that some of the electrical apparatus could not be restarted until they received power themselves.  Amtrak has revised its internal procedures to prevent a reoccurrence of such a catastrophic failure.  The Times article ended with this:  “But the failure would have been much less likely to happen before the days of computer controls, Mr. Crosbie said.  ‘In the old days, you had switches and gauges,’ he said, and a glance would show if one was not as it should be.”

The Vermont House has agreed to a proposed state purchase of new, self-propelled diesel rail cars, but included language aimed at confining service to the current one train a day.  The state’s rail officials, and NARP, agree that the second frequency planned for most of the Vermonter route is essential to mitigate introduction of a forced transfer at New Haven.  Efforts will be made to get the Vermont Senate to eliminate the unfortunate House language; Vermonters should contact their state senators.  The state has been pursing the railcar option because it appears that costs would be prohibitive for continuing the existing, locomotive-hauled Washington-St. Albans through service. 

Opponents to the construction of a new railroad by the Dakota Minnesota and Eastern Railroad are preparing to offer legislation to stop the project.  Under legislation sponsored by U.S. Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the Federal Railroad Administration would be barred from making a loan exceeding $1 billion without specific approval from Congress.  In a statement, Coleman said “We believe that transportation loans of this magnitude should be voted on by Congress.”

The New Mexico Department of Transportation has decided that the Rail Runner extension to Santa Fe will run in the median of Interstate 25.  Other alternatives, including an “at grade” routing paralleling I-25 were considered.  State Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught said, “This route will have the least impact on communities while serving a majority of residents in and around Santa Fe area.”  Service may begin as early as 2010.

Rail advocates in Oklahoma and Kansas are working to extend the Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Wichita, Newton, and Kansas City.  A group called The Northern Flyer Alliance has begun a letter writing campaign to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D.) urging her to support the expansion.  A major stumbling block will be a statutory restriction that may prohibit Kansas from spending state money on operating support for passenger rail service.  Wichita last had Amtrak service in 1979, when the Lone Star was discontinued.

Escalating costs and delays have caused the Federal Transit Administration to warn Hampton Roads Transit that funding for a proposed light rail line in Norfolk, VA may be in danger.  The agency downgraded the project to “medium” after finding that “Remaining uncertainties… do not provide FTA with the necessary confidence” it needs to fund the project.  HRT officials are counting on a federal contribution of $128 million to fund the $232 million project.  FTA officials have repeatedly questioned whether the agency can stay within a budget that many view as very aggressive; further cost overruns could put the entire project in jeopardy.

London, England Mayor Ken Livingstone has expanded the size of a downtown zone that assesses a tax of eight pounds ($15.70 US) on cars that enter downtown London.  The zone now includes Harrods department store, the Royal Albert Hall, and several more neighborhoods.  While some are upset with the plan, traffic has been reduced by over 20% since the plan was first implemented last year.

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the State of Oklahoma, Amtrak, Oklahoma DOT, and the Oklahoma Centennial Commission are offering a companion free fare program on the Heartland Flyer through December 13, 2007.  Riders must ask for code H711 when booking and the promotion is blacked out for Easter, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving holiday travel periods.

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