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Apr 06, 2007: Hotline #495Congress is on recess: the Senate until Tuesday, the House until April 16. Both your House and Senators need to hear strong support for a full Amtrak appropriation and passage of S.294. Go to our Action Alert Center for full details Good news for Missouri passengers: The Missouri Senate Budget Committee on April 3 reinstated Amtrak Funding for FY08. The Committee restored Governor Blunt’s recommendation of $7.4 million, which the Missouri House had sharply reduced. Yet another high speed rail record has been broken in France. A test run of the newest generation of TGV trains, the V150, operated 357.2 mph on Tuesday. While this speed is not typical of revenue service, the regular maximum speed on the new Paris-Strasbourg line that the test was conducted on will be approximately 220mph, far faster than existing conventional service. Included in the on-board guests was California State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco); Ma and other proponents of high speed rail are urging Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R.) to reverse his efforts to de-fund the California High Speed Rail Authority and to permit a ballot initiative to go forward that would lay the financial groundwork for construction of a TGV-like system in California. A $1 million study by the National Capital Planning Commission with the D.C. Department of Transportation, using U.S. Department of Homeland Security funding, has proposed three expensive tunnel alternatives to route freight trains away from downtown Washington, D.C., and elicited opposition from Maryland lawmakers. Preliminary study findings were released today. The study responds to concern that the ex-Pennsylvania Railroad mainline passes within blocks of the U.S. Capitol Building and several Cabinet Agency headquarter buildings. The March 11, 2004 train bombings in Madrid, Spain, increased fears that a similar attack using a tank car filled with hazardous materials could happen here. The Washington D.C. city council passed a ban on transporting hazardous materials by rail through the city, but the courts have never allowed the ban to take effect. The alternatives are:
The Washington Post published a map of the proposed routes on Thursday. The Commission’s release quoted Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC): “I was relieved to finally get hazmat protection through the House but the NCPC options are far away the best recommendations for the region.” The DC Examiner quoted Rep. Albert Wynn (D-MD) with an opposing view: “Rerouting freight trains carrying hazardous materials through low-income and minority areas makes this an environmental justice issue.” And House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) “said he opposed any plan that would only shift the risk to other parts of the region or that would come at the expense of the communities along the alternative routes.” Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (D.) announced this week that he will begin study on an extension of MBTA commuter rail to New Bedford and Fall River, fulfilling a campaign promise. The study would also include a much-needed expansion of South Station, to be accomplished by moving the adjacent Post Office to South Boston. Jay Gonzalez, assistant secretary for capital finance and intergovernmental affairs, told the Boston Globe, “If we generate 15,000 new jobs along the corridor, new state revenues from existing taxes . . . would pay that annual cost,” he said. “Is that going to happen? We’re going to try to make it happen.” Of course, the project most needed in the Boston region is the North Station-South Station Rail Link; Massachusetts residents should tell Patrick to move forward on both the commuter rail extension and the North-South Rail Link. Richard Sarles has been named Executive Director of New Jersey Transit, succeeding George Warrington. Sarles was previously NJT’s assistant executive director for capital programs and planning. His appointment comes as the State of New Jersey released a multi-year, $3.3 billion plan to fund transportation investments in the state. Included in the package is funding for the second rail tunnel under the Hudson River; all told $1.29 of the $3.3 billion is for New Jersey Transit. All southbound Northeast Corridor trains (Regional and Acela) will have 5-10 minutes added to their schedule between Wilmington and Baltimore to accommodate trackwork on the Susquehanna River Bridge. In addition, northbound trains may experience delays waiting for southbound trains to clear the single track segment. These schedule changes will be in effect April 14-June 4. Some MARC commuter trains will terminate in Aberdeen and not continue onto Perryville; full details are available on the MARC website. Apr 13, 2007: Hotline #496Both chambers of Congress will be back in session on Monday. Work on Fiscal 2008 appropriations bills are likely to begin soon. Your Representative and both of your Senators need to hear strong support for a full Amtrak appropriation and for passage of S.294. The newest co-sponsors of S.294 are John D. Rockefeller, IV (D-WV), Max Baucus (D-MT), and Barack Obama (D-IL). Our Action Alert Center has details and a full list of co-sponsors. Warren Buffett’s investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., reported late last week that it had purchased a 10.9% share of BNSF Railway (making Berkshire the railroad’s largest shareholder) and spent $700 million on investments in two other unnamed railroads. This sparked general investor interest in the rail sector. Reuters noted that “Buffett made his name through investing in companies with strong management and businesses he has considered to be undervalued.” The State of Nevada became the 29th state to join the States for Passenger Rail Coalition (there are also two affiliate members). S4PR chairman Randall Wade (Wisconsin DOT) said, “We look forward to working with Director Susan Martinovich and her staff as we work with the 110th Congress on passenger rail funding legislation.” The Rockford Area Transportation Study policy board has voted to support whichever Chicago-Rockford route the Illinois Department of Transportation decides would be best for Chicago-Rockford Amtrak service. The line, to continue west to Dubuque, IA, has received strong support and the backing of U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL). Three Chicago-Rockford routes have been studied:
Amtrak and Illinois DOT continue to study which route would be best and have not made a final decision. Rail expansion was also the topic of a meeting in Montana this week. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D.) and Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger (R.) are pushing restoration of service in southern Montana—last served in 1979 by the North Coast Hiawatha. At an April 10 meeting in Helena, all present agreed that a feasibility study should be conducted and that the key to re-starting service is a federal-state capital grant program, like that contained in S.294. Amtrak has pledged its support to the project. Evan Barrett, Schweitzer’s Chief Business Officer, said, ““A southern rail passenger route would provide service to the growing areas of the state, the five metropolitan urban areas of the state.” Barrett and Bohlinger both pledged that efforts to restart service in Southern Montana would not come at the expense of the Empire Builder. Ground was broken this week on the Second Avenue Subway in New York City. Many consider the long proposed project—partially started in the 1970’s—to be the most needed transit project in the United States. The 8.5-mile, 16-station line will be built in four phases, with final completion in 2013. Also in New York City, the state has purchased the Farley Post Office Building from the United States Postal Service. Re-starting the long-stalled Daniel P. Moynihan Pennsylvania Station project was a goal of newly-elected New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (D.). New Jersey Transit will be the anchor tenant, while Amtrak and the Long Island Railway will likely remain in the current Penn Station space. Rep. Wayne Harper, a state Representative in Utah has proposed dissolving the Utah Transit Authority and melding agency functions and money back into the Utah Department of Transportation. Bruce Jones, UTA attorney said that Harper and other anti-UTA advocates are “trying to fix something that isn’t broken and in fact, is working very well.” Harper (R-West Jordan) countered that his proposal would “streamline how transportation projects are built in the state…Right now, roads and transit are dealt with separately, and sometimes decisions are made to build one project, like transit, when a road would have dealt with congestion better.” Some see the measure as a retaliatory move against urban Salt Lake City by the rural remainder of the state for a Salt Lake City Council vote to spend the funds of a ¼ cent sales tax increase on transit. Across town, Benita Dodd of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation told the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce that the proposed “Brain Train” between Atlanta and Athens would do more harm than good. “Remember that every time you use a commuter train on a freight line, some trucks are going to have to be moving onto the road,” insinuating that freight trains would not be able to share tracks with the Brain Train. She continued, “I also believe there is a track record among rail authorities to overestimate their ridership and underestimate their costs,” which is simply not the case. Time after time across the United States, new commuter rail projects beat their ridership and revenue projections. Finally, Dodd claims to have a crystal ball and know exactly how the service will be scheduled and operated, when in reality planning has not reached that stage, “Commuter rail ... involves two trains one way and two trains the other way [a day]…If you go up to [Athens for] a game or you’re going to see your kid for the evening in Athens, you’re going to have to spend the night there.” Pro-rail forces were in the crowd, “Why would they have somebody who doesn’t know what they are talking about speak about transportation…There are people who want to continue tearing down neighborhoods and putting in inefficient roads that make lots of pollution,” said Emory Morsberger, chairman of Georgians for the Brain Train told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. France has officially opened the new TGV-East line. Trip times between Paris and Strasbourg, which used to be nearly four hours, will be two hours and thirty minutes. This is the line that featured the 357.2 mph (574.8 km/h) test run of a TGV set last week; normal revenue speeds will be a still-much-faster 200 mph. The Institute for Public Policy Research, which Reuters called “a leading British think tank,” urged requiring advertisements for flights or vacations that include flying to carry a tobacco-style health warning to remind people of the global warming crisis. IPPR Climate Change Chief Simon Retallack said, “The evidence that aviation damages the atmosphere is just as clear as the evidence that smoking kills” (Reuters, April 5). The NewsHour this week carried a series of interviews on global warming and how to deal with it; transcripts are at the News Hour website. Of particular interest was the clear statement by Daniel Rosenblum (Carbon Tax Center) that “gasoline consumption has not grown as much as the economy.” To reduce carbon emissions, he argued for gradual phase-in of a carbon tax, to be offset by reductions in other taxes. This made it preferable to “cap-and-trade,” which also “puts a price on carbon.” But, he argued, under cap and trade, the “money doesn’t go back to the people who are paying it. It’s going to go to the people in the market. It’s going to go to the lawyers, the consultants, the economists who are all trying to make the market work.” A reminder: all southbound Northeast Corridor trains (Regional and Acela) will have 5-10 minutes added to their schedule between Wilmington and Baltimore to accommodate trackwork on the Susquehanna River Bridge. In addition, northbound trains may experience delays waiting for southbound trains to clear the single track segment. These schedule changes will be in effect April 14-June 4. Some MARC commuter trains will terminate in Aberdeen and not continue to Perryville, and some Amtrak trains will add Perryville stops. MARC’s website has details on their service adjustments. Next weekend, Pacific Surfliner service will be disrupted for a major trackwork project near Santa Ana. On Friday, April 20, buses will substitute for Trains 596 and 597. On Saturday and Sunday (April 21-22), all 500 series trains will be cancelled (with substitute buses only for trains 580, 596, and 591, and only San Diego-Los Angeles). 700 series trains will operate as far south as Anaheim, where passengers will transfer to buses for the remainder of the trip to San Diego. Buses will not serve San Clemente Pier or Old Town San Diego. Apr 20, 2007: Hotline #497NARP on April 16 submitted a statement for the record to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. The statement focused heavily on the long-distance trains and noted that, ranked by loss per seat-mile and properly analyzed (meaning considering Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle as a single route), all of the routes rank fairly closely together. The full statement and our April 17 release based on it are here on our website. Amtrak’s “Consolidated Financial Statements - Fiscal Year 2006” (final audited figures) Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Trent Lott (R-MS) have introduced the Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity Expansion Act (S. 1125). This bill would provide a 25% tax credit for railroads that invest in capital projects. This is similar to legislation Lott introduced last year. On April 16, an Amtrak Capitol Corridor engineer was severely injured when he and the train’s conductor were attacked by a group of thugs near the Sacramento station. The crew had stopped their train (Capitol Corridor #546) about two miles from the Sacramento station because a group of people were blocking the tracks. When the engineer and conductor left the train to attempt to remove the trespassers, they were attacked and beaten. The conductor was treated at hospital and released. Capitol Corridor Managing Director Gene Skoropowski called this “the most horrific incident I have seen in my nearly 40 years in the railroad business,” and pledged in an E-mail to Capitol Corridor passengers that steps were being taken to prevent a reoccurrence. One 17 year old is in police custody and the Yolo County District Attorney said that he will be tried as an adult for attempted murder, vandalism, train robbery, criminal street gang activity, and a host of other offenses. Global climate change is taken seriously by 11 retired U.S. generals who signed a report, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change. They wrote that “climate change can act as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world, and it presents significant national security challenges for the United States.” They urge the U.S. to “commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilize climate change at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability.” An example of such danger: Oil prices could be affected by Nigerian unrest associated with last weekend’s state elections and presidential elections scheduled for tomorrow. BBC reported today that ballots have not yet arrived in Nigeria, and it is unclear how millions of ballots could be distributed quickly. Also unclear is the impact of a Supreme Court ruling Monday that gives an opponent of the current president the right to appear on the ballot. Financial Times on Monday reported that “public disenchantment with the ruling party is high in many areas that are starved of services despite record national revenues from the oil boom.” VIA’s service from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal has been shut down by a long-simmering land dispute near Deseronto, Ont., between Kingston and Belleville. Aboriginal protesters blockaded the main line using a school bus. The First Nations protestors say they will leave peacefully after 48 hours, but will not leave before then without a fight. The Globe and Mail reported that, by early this morning, 14 CN trains and four VIA trains had been affected. Via is running substitute buses but says Montreal-Ottawa trains are running normally. VIA’s statement In addition to the Aboriginal issues, one nation-wide Canadian rail strike is ending, while another may just be beginning. The House of Commons passed legislation that required Canadian National employees represented by the United Transportation Union to return to work, citing harm to the Canadian economy. CN has said that they will release their lockout of the workers after the legislation passed. However, Canadian Pacific is facing an April 25 ending of a cooling-off period with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, Maintenance of Way Employees Division. VIA Rail Canada trains have continued to operate during the CN strike and the effect of a CP strike is unclear, as there is little VIA service on CP-owned lines. Amtrak’s Adirondack, which operates on CP Rail from the Canadian Border into Montreal, could possibly be affected. The strike would not affect CP employees in the United States on the ex-Milwaukee Road route between Chicago and Minneapolis, used by the Empire Builder and Hiawathas. China’s first high speed rail line has entered service. Wednesday saw the inauguration of service between Beijing and Tianjin. On one segment of the journey, between Shanghai and Suzhou, travel time has been cut from over an hour to 39 minutes. Shanghai resident Chen Lijuan told the state-run Xinhua news agency, “It felt like we were traveling on an airplane…In the past it took more than an hour to get here.” China has even more ambitious plans of constructing over 13,000 kilometers (8077 miles) of high speed rail lines by 2020. The Conservative government in the United Kingdom is pledging to increase rail spending. David Cameron, Tory party leader told reporters, “We must put rail at the heart of Britain’s transport system. If we are to meet our international obligations on climate change . . . we need a major increase in rail use. Trains are the most environmentally effective way of getting around.” As with many debates about rail, exactly how to pay for the needed expansions is a major question New Jersey Transit commuter rail and longer distance bus fares will increase nearly 10% and local bus and River Line fares 8% under a plan approved this week. The fare increase is tempered by three changes in policy: the morning peak period now begins at 7:00 a.m. rather than 6:30 a.m., children can now ride the Newark Airport Monorail for free, and any NJ Transit ticket to Hoboken via. Secaucus may be used for travel on the Newark Light Rail system between Penn and Broad Street stations, increasing the number of connection possibilities. “Raising fares is always an option of last resort, but it is fiscally prudent to ensure we have a balanced budget that avoids service cuts at a time when we are experiencing record ridership,” Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri said. Contrary to a New York Sun report today, Amtrak says it is merely considering new Acela Express service. The Sun had written that “Amtrak is planning to roll out new service on its much-maligned and often-delayed Acela route this July, providing nonstop service between New York and Philadelphia for the first time.” Pacific Surfliner service will be disrupted for a major trackwork project near Santa Ana this weekend. Tonight, buses will substitute for Trains 596 and 597. Tomorrow and Sunday (April 21-22), all 500 series trains will be cancelled (with substitute buses only for trains 580, 596, and 591). 700 series trains will operate as far south as Anaheim, where passengers will transfer to buses for the remainder of the trip to San Diego. Buses will not serve San Clemente Pier or Old Town San Diego. The California Station Host Program was featured on San Francisco’s KGO ABC-7 news as part of its “ABC 7 Salutes” series. The program was started by NARP Director Circle member Doras Briggs, who is featured in the video, and the current President of the organization is NARP Director Greig Piere. The video can be viewed on ABC 7’s website. Apr 27, 2007: Hotline #498The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee passed S.294 on Wednesday. Anti-Amtrak amendments circulated by Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and John Sununu (R-NH) were withdrawn, respectively, on Tuesday and before the mark-up Wednesday. In a prepared statement, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) said, “After several gloomy years, the future of America’s passenger railroad is bright. Our legislation will provide the necessary resources to bring Amtrak up to speed as a real alternative to taking a plane or driving a car.” Also this week, four additional co-sponsors were added to S.294: Claire McCaskill (D-MO), John Warner (R-VA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Ask your Senator to join the list! Our Action Alert Center has details and a full list of co-sponsors. In a letter to Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant, the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission expressed concern about any plans to formally discontinue the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans and asked for the railroad’s assistance in restoring service. Executive Director Karen Rae wrote to Kummant, “restoration of the Sunset Limited until permanent corridor service is in place…In the post-Katrina environment, basic services most communities take for granted remain insufficient…The federal government must take responsibility to represent the best interests of the Gulf Coast residents to provide mobility and access as mandated in SAFETEA-LU and to adequately represent the most disenfranchised among its citizens.” The full letter is available here on our website. The Amtrak Board did not take any action this week to discontinue the route, although the route’s future is far from certain. The impending Highway Trust Fund insolvency crisis came up before a House Appropriations Subcommittee again this week. Federal Highway Administrator Richard Capka said “we do not know the precise method that we would use to throttle back on the expenditures we would need to cover.” Despite a positive meeting on passenger rail (Hotline #496), the Montana Senate rejected funding for a study of restoring passenger rail service across Southern Montana. State Senator Jim Elliott (D-Trout Creek) told the Associated Press that he “doubted a southern passenger route would be financially feasible…‘I believe that Amtrak is kind of like an ugly dog that comes to your door and you don’t have the heart to turn it away and you don’t have the guts to destroy it, so you feed it.’” Advocates of a carbon tax continue to make their voices heard. Following up our April 13 quoting of the Carbon Tax Center’s Daniel Rosenblum, who argued on the NewsHour about the superiority of a carbon tax over a cap-and-trade scheme, Sen. Chris Dodd last week released an energy plan that includes imposition of a per-ton fee on businesses for carbon emissions. AP said he estimates the tax revenue at about $50 billion annually and would use it to develop renewable energies and to reduce prices for consumer products. (Rosenblum suggested using it to reduce other taxes.) Also, Financial Times on April 25 editorialized—seemingly in agreement with Rosenblum—that a carbon tax would be superior to carbon trading, saying an FT investigation revealed ‘that carbon markets leave much room for unverifiable manipulation. Taxes are better, partly because they are less vulnerable to such improprieties.” FT today published two letters disagreeing with their position. The United States Olympic Committee has chosen Chicago to be America’s entry for the 2016 Winter Olympic Games. Talk has already begun about how to upgrade transportation infrastructure: and passenger trains are in the discussion. Events would likely be held in neighboring cities, such as Madison, Milwaukee, Bloomington and Springfield, lines that already have Amtrak service. Experts agree that the currently-missing component is a federal-state funding match for capital investment—a problem which enactment of S.294 would help solve. Oregon officials have agreed to study extension of the currently-under construction Wilsonville-Beaverton commuter rail line south to Salem. The 15 mile line is due to open in 2008 and will have an interchange with Tri-Met light rail service at the Beaverton Transit Center. Local legislators argue that an extension to Salem is logical and will increase ridership. Amtrak and Union Pacific have agreed upon a schedule change for the California Zephyr which currently cannot make its schedule due to tie conditions. Effective June 13, the eastbound Zephyr will leave Emeryville two hours earlier at 7:10 a.m. and Salt Lake City-Chicago times will be one hour later than the current timetable shows. Westbound, the train will have its current schedule from Chicago to Salt Lake City, adding three hours west of there, for a 7:50 p.m. arrival at Emeryville (vs. 4:49 p.m. today). The agreement between Amtrak and Union Pacific calls for time to be removed from the schedule as work is completed. Some Zephyr trips again this year will bypass the Colorado Rockies in favor of Wyoming. Specific dates are not yet available but should be soon. If you watch C-SPAN coverage of the House of Representatives, you know the “Voice of the House,” Paul Hays. As one of two House Reading Clerks, his rhythmic, baritone voice is familiar to legislators and viewers nationwide. Hays will retire on April 30 after 19 years on the job; he was first hired to work on the Hill in 1966. |
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