May 04, 2007: Hotline #499

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger continues his efforts to dismantle the state’s high speed rail program.  Adam Mendelsohn, a spokesman for the governor, told the Los Angeles times that Schwarzenegger is not against the concept of high speed rail, just that it should not be built now, “Right now, the voters are crying for relief from congested freeways. That’s the immediate priority.  On Thursday, May 10, a California Senate Budget Committee is holding a hearing on the state transportation bill.  California residents should call the Committee Chairman, Senator Michael Machado, and urge him to support full funding for item #2665, the California High Speed Rail Authority.  You can leave a message for Senator Machado at 916-651-4005 or send a fax to 916-323-2304.

During their annual convention, The California Democratic Party passed a resolution in favor of high speed rail.  NARP Director-At-Large Dennis Lytton attended the event and reports that the high speed rail resolution was the second most urgent item on the conference agenda.

Further demonstrating the need for balanced transportation, a major highway interchange in Oakland, CA remains closed after a gasoline tanker crashed and exploded on Sunday.  The so-called “Oakland Maze” is the point at which the San Francisco Bay Bridge begins and connects with other interstates.  Amtrak Thruway Bus service between Emeryville and San Francisco was able to continue, but Capitol Corridor passengers were encouraged to detrain at Richmond and take BART into San Francisco due to anticipated traffic tie ups.  Indeed, Capitol Corridor and BART ridership surged this week and Amtrak made additional coaches available to the Capitol Corridor to handle the additional traffic.

Two more individuals were arrested this week in connection with the beating of an Amtrak Capitol Corridor engineer in Sacramento two weeks ago.  A 15 and a 16 year old are in custody and face charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, train robbery and street gang terrorism.  The Amtrak engineer has been released from the hospital.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R.) has proposed a center city toll, similar to programs in London and Copenhagen.  Predictably, a survey conducted found that 51% of drivers were against the proposal.  Bloomberg argues that the tolling is needed to improve air quality, reduce congestion, and fund a bevy of mass transit projects and improvements.  Despite forecasts of economic disaster, the London program has reduced the number of cars entering the center of the city by nearly 40% and the economy and businesses continue to grow.

CSX Transportation has proposed that its Washington – Florida mainline be converted into a “Corridor of the Future”: a quad or triple tracked railroad that would permit passenger trains to operate at 110mph and freight trains at 70mph with no grade crossings.  The program would be phased to first triple track the Washington-Richmond line, then progress south.  The proposal is in response to a US DOT project to “accelerate the development of multi-state transportation Corridors of the Future for one or more transportation modes” along a corridor “in need of investment for the purpose of reducing congestion.”

The eastbound Sunset Limited derailed near the Ontario, CA airport on Wednesday.  The train had left Los Angles on time about one hour earlier.  The low speed derailment resulted in no passenger injuries, but a minor injury to the train’s chef, who was knocked to the floor and hit with falling items in the kitchen.  Passengers were put on buses, taken back to Los Angeles, and departed a second time on a makeup train set after midnight.

Association of American Railroads President Ed Hamberger yesterday issued a statement applauding Reps. Kendrick Meek (D-FL) and Eric Cantor (R-VA) for introducing H.R. 2116, The Freight Rail Infrastructure Act of 2007, companion to S. 1125 introduced in the Senate last month by Trent Lott (R-MS) and Kent Conrad (D-ND).  Hamberger said, in part, “By offering tax credits to encourage the construction of additional rail capacity, this legislation provides numerous public benefits, including reduced fuel consumption (a freight train can move a ton of freight 423 miles on a single gallon of fuel), a better environment and less congestion on the highways.”

Representatives Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and Richard Baker (R-LA) and 10 other House members introduced H.R. 2125, the Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act of 2007, which their release says would “preserve existing rail-to-rail competition in areas of the country where competition is working and reduce impediments to competition that adversely affect rail customers…[and] requires the Surface Transportation Board to promote effective competition among rail carriers at origins and destinations, enforce reasonable rates for rail customers in the absence of competition, and ensure efficient and reliable rail transportation service for rail customers.” 

The NARP Board of Directors met this week in Washington, D.C. In a shift from past practice, the Board met Tuesday-Thursday (as opposed to Thursday-Saturday) to undertake the board’s first “Day on Capitol Hill”; on Wednesday, all attendees met with their legislators.  At 12:30, NARP board members from Illinois joined President George Chilson, Exec. Dir. Ross Capon and Asst. Dir. David Johnson in presenting a George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), in his Assistant Majority Leader’s office in the Capitol.  The day culminated in NARP’s Annual Congressional Reception where the George Falcon Golden Spike Award was presented to Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT).  In addition, the Burch Family presented the Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award to Amtrak employee J. Wes Wilkins.  During board meeting sessions, attendees heard from Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant, Vice President Marketing & Product Management Emmett Fremaux, Vice President Government Affairs & Corporate Communications Joe McHugh, Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Boardman, International Herald Tribune reporter and Trains Magazine Columnist Don Phillips, and North Carolina DOT Federal Legislative Programs Coordinator Caitlin Rayman.

» back to main hotline page

May 11, 2007: Hotline #500

House and Senate Budget leaders are near an agreement on a Budget Resolution for Fiscal 2008.  The Budget Resolution is key to beginning the process of marking up each appropriations bill; that process may begin before the Memorial Day recess.  Tell your House and Senate members to support full funding for Amtrak in the appropriations bills. Our Action Alert Center has more details.

The Department of Transportation’s Office of The Inspector General says that the Federal Railroad Administration needs to improve highway-rail crossing safety oversight.  Necessary improvements would include reviews of railroad crossing collision data, as well as ensuring that civil penalties are properly assessed to ensure compliance with mandatory reporting requirements.  The Office of The Inspector General is also concerned that in most states the FRA cannot ensure that sight obstructions are being addressed at both passive crossings or at those without automated warning devices. The OIG assembled a list of recommendations for the FRA to use to strengthen its oversight capabilities including, “developing and implementing an action plan to conduct periodic reviews of crossing collision records maintained by each railroad and notify railroads when unreported collisions are identified.”

New Jersey will commit an additional $1 billion above the $500 million already contributed to the Access to the Region’s Core project.  This decision was reached yesterday through a unanimous vote by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority’s Project Prioritization Committee, which agreed to fully support Gov. John Corzine’s plan to exchange traditional highway dollars (“flex funding” in the highway/transit authorization bill) to fund the transit project that will double commuter rail capacity.  The ARC project includes two new railroad tunnels between New Jersey and New York, additional Penn Station capacity under 34th Street in Manhattan, as well as signal and track improvements along and adjacent to the Northeast Corridor. Additional funding for the project would begin in 2008 and continue over 10 years, including $50 million in 2008 and 2009, $75 million in 2010 and 2011, $100 million in 2012 and 2013, then $150 million in years 2014 - 2016, and $100 million in 2017. 

Plans are underway to ensure better evacuation from New Orleans in the event of another hurricane.  City officials have developed a plan to pick up the evacuees near their homes by city buses and take them to two central locations where they can be registered and then taken by bus or train to shelters far outside the path of approaching storms.  The two locations, as well as the availability of the trains, have yet to be determined.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency hopes to finish work on a contract with Amtrak by the time hurricane season begins June 1.  There was a deal in place last year for Amtrak to bring evacuees to Jackson, Miss., but it was not renewed.
 
Also in New Orleans, transit employees staged a one-day “sick in” to protest the lack of a new contract.  61 out of 65 Regional Transit Authority bus drivers and streetcar operators failed to show up for work at 9:00 a.m. Friday, stranding thousands of passengers, including tourists as well as residents who use the public transit system in New Orleans to get to work.  By 10:00 a.m. the Regional Transit Authority had enough employees to operate four buses and one street car.  City officials were aware that the employees and their union were unhappy with their wages; however the “sick-in” came as a surprise to management. 

The first railcar for the Austin, TX commuter rail line has been completed. This is the first of 6 light diesel-electric cars for the service.  This is a major milestone as the 32-mile, non-electrified light regional railway is being constructed by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  The first car will arrive in Austin this fall for testing on Capital Metro’s own tracks. Each car will have hold more than 200 passengers, with seating for 108, and will also feature bicycle and luggage racks, high-back seats, and free WiFi internet service. The cars, purchased for a total of about US$34 million, exceed both U.S. and European safety standards. 

Although ridership numbers have been softer than projected, the five Mayoral candidates in Nashville, TN all support the Music City Star commuter rail line.  Each of the candidates agreed that the city must be patient as the commuter rail line grows slower than projected.  However, concerns are have been voiced by one candidate who feels that the project should be reevaluated on its economic and environmental merits.  Former Congressman Bob Clement who helped gain federal support for the Music City Star feels that better marketing is the key to the rail line’s success, but ridership levels must be monitored in order to ensure that this is a viable project.  Ridership on the line between Lebanon and Nashville must triple by September in order to meet initial ridership and budgetary goals.

Dates for the California Zephyr detour through Wyoming have been set. As has been the case for the past several years, the train will detour between Denver and Salt Lake City due to construction at the Moffat Tunnel.  Bus service will be provided to and from Denver only for Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction.  Departures from Emeryville and Chicago (operating across the detour the next day) on June 25-26, June 30-July 3, July 7-10, July 14-17, and July 21-24 will operate on the detour route.

The final NARP regional membership meeting of the year takes place tomorrow when NARP Region 3 meets in Harrisburg, PA.  Amtrak Keystone Corridor manager Rich Esposito, NARP Assistant Director David Johnson, and NARP Secretary Al Papp will speak, in addition to reports from the State ARP’s.

Today marks the 1,500th NARP weekly hotline.  The hotline began on June 20, 1980 and that first edition reported the passage of the fiscal 1981 Amtrak capital grant of $183 million by the House Appropriations Committee ($56 million less than what was requested by the Carter Administration).  The hotline was accessible by recorded phone message until November 19, 1999, when it migrated to our website and was accessible to all on the internet.  Thousands of people view the hotline each Friday and it has become a respected source of passenger rail news and information both here in Washington and nationwide.  Thank you, NARP members, for your support that makes this and all our other efforts possible!

» back to main hotline page

May 18, 2007: Hotline #501

A Budget Resolution for Fiscal 2008 has been passed by the House and Senate. As this document is non-binding, it does not require signature by President Bush.  The first appropriations markup for Fiscal 2008 (Homeland Security) is being held today and other bills will follow suit.  Action on the Transportation Appropriations bill is unlikely before the Memorial Day recess, but will likely come soon thereafter.  Meanwhile, President Bush has issued an official warning to Congressional Appropriators that he will veto any spending bill exceeding his budget request, so the pressure to “tow the line” will be great.  However, Amtrak needs much more than Bush’s $800 million budget request.  Tell your House and Senate members to support full funding for Amtrak in the appropriations bills.  Full details are in our Action Alert Center.

In news on S.294, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) has signed on to the bill, bringing the tally to 38 co-sponsors.

Amtrak’s Fiscal year-to-date ridership is up 5% versus last year. President and CEO Alex Kummant said, “Amtrak has seen record ridership increases for each of the past three years, and these mid-year numbers suggest that they will continue.”

The Vermont legislature approved funding that will let the state acquire the diesel multiple unit cars it believes vital if the state is going to be able to afford to continue passenger rail in the future.  The new cars would require through passengers to change trains at New Haven, Connecticut, but expects to offset this drawback by adding a second frequency at least as far as White River Junction.  Bus interests had been pushing killer restrictions on the funding, but those failed.  NARP and many of its Vermont members worked actively to support the state rail transportation plans and the “clean” legislation needed to implement them.

State officials in Illinois have determined that the best way to restart service to Rockford is to make use of the old Black Hawk route.  The Department of Transportation chose this route from Chicago to Dubuque, Iowa because Amtrak officials feel that it is “the quickest, cheapest and potentially most popular of the four routes studied.”  Nonetheless, officials warned that they still face a tremendous challenge trying to find funding for this project due to the lack of funding for rail improvements in the state’s 2007-2008 budget.  Janet Fisher, co-chair of the Blackhawk Area Railroad Coalition, said her group will circulate a letter supporting the funding this month, in which she will ask residents to sign, and then forward to their state lawmakers.  The latest Amtrak ridership estimates project 77,500 passengers a year, down from original projections of 113,000.  The estimated travel time also increased slightly — just over two hours from Chicago to Rockford and five hours for the whole route.

Five U.S. railroad companies have been accused of conspiring to fix prices on rail fuel surcharges to customers, in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey.  The plaintiff, Dust Pro Inc., claims that the railroads have “moved in uniform lock-step” since mid-2003 in order to fix the fuel surcharge prices.  As a result of the alleged conspiracy, the company believes that it grossly overpaid for rail transport services.  As recently as January 2007, the Surface Transportation Board, which regulates freight rail shipping, announced that railroads must change the way in which fuel surcharges are levied.  The defendants named in the lawsuit include CSX Corporation, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Burlington Northern Southern Corporation, Union Pacific Corporation, and Kansas City Southern Corporation.     

On Thursday, hundreds of Amtrak employees rallied in front of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station to demand a new labor contract.  10,000 Amtrak employees have been working under a contract that became amendable on December 31, 1999, and approximately 5,000 more employees have been working under a contract that became amendable in 2004.  [Under the Railway Labor Act, contracts only expire when they are replaced or when the parties are released by a National Mediation Board and become free to exercise “self-help.”]  The unions say the main points of contention are the issues of back pay and increased wages.  Amtrak has offered raises, but not to make them retroactive for the years of negotiations, and Amtrak wants to address productivity issues.  Without a new contract, workers only get cost-of-living wage increases.  Some union leaders have stated that they are making this their forefront issues as Amtrak makes its annual funding request to Congress.

Virginians for High Speed Rail held its annual meeting at Alexandria Union Station on Tuesday.  There was a large crowd on hand for the meeting, including state transportation officials, as well as Amtrak President and CEO, Alex Kummant.  NARP Region 7 Director Rick Harnish was the featured speaker.  He gave an inspired message on his efforts as President of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association to increase passenger rail service in Illinois and how lessons learned can be applied to Virginia.

The California Zephyr was evacuated on Sunday, 20 miles west of Denver when a passenger threatened crew members with a weapon and claimed he had a bomb.  The suspect was detained and questioned by the FBI, but later released. 

Amtrak Cascades service and the Coast Starlight were disrupted earlier this week by the derailment of a Union Pacific train (operating on BNSF Railway tracks) near Tacoma early Wednesday morning.  Bus service has been provided between Portland and Seattle; train service resumed Thursday afternoon.

Service between Richmond and Newport News has been cancelled today and will likely be cancelled tomorrow due to a CSX rock train derailment between Williamsburg and Newport News.  Trains are terminating at Richmond-Staples Mill Road station with alternate transportation being provided east to Tidewater.

Sleeping car passengers on the Coast Starlight will receive a complimentary digEplayer as part of a pilot program through the summer.  Passengers boarding at Los Angeles, Emeryville, Portland, or Seattle will get their player prior to boarding; those boarding at other stations will get theirs onboard.  The promotion will also test the inclusion of an AC electrical adapter for unlimited use.

An extensive entry on NARP’s Blog about climate change, aviation and passenger rail was written by NARP Executive Director Ross Capon and posted today.

» back to main hotline page

May 25, 2007: Hotline #502

Congress has adjourned for its “Memorial Day District Work Period.”  Many legislators will be in their home districts next week; some may participate in Memorial Day parades on Monday, others may hold town hall meetings during the week.  Keep an eye on your local media outlets, or your legislators’ web sites, for these events.  Speak to your legislators and tell them to fully fund Amtrak and to pass S. 294.  Full details are in our Action Alert Center.

On Tuesday, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007 (H.R. 2095) was amended by the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials to try to address concerns from Republican committee members and the railroad industry.  The bill, sponsored by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN), is intended to address worker fatigue problems and has received union support.  However, the railroad industry and Republicans felt that Oberstar’s provision calling for train crews and signalmen to receive at least 10 consecutive hours of rest per day would create major scheduling problems and have other, unintended negative consequences.  Under the guidance of the subcommittee’s top republican, Bill Shuster (R-PA), a manager’s amendment was adopted that allows for limbo time.  (Limbo time is defined as the on-duty hours in which workers are transported to a location where they officially complete their shifts.  Workers cannot currently count limbo time against hours-of-service limits.)  Originally, Republican members planned to offer 40 amendments to H.R. 2095, but chose to withhold them after Shuster persuaded Oberstar to postpone full committee consideration of the bill from May 23 until June. 

Union Pacific will perform a major tunnel project at Dorris, CA (south of Klamath Falls) that will require closure of the railroad for three days.  Due to the embargo, another major project will be taking place near Oregon City, OR.  The Coast Starlights departing Seattle and Los Angeles June 9, 10, and 11 will not operate between Sacramento and Portland, with no alternate transportation being provided.  Stub trains will operate on each end of the route, but will not have a Parlour Car or Sleepers (and no Dining Car between Seattle and Portland).  Also affected is Cascades service south of Portland: all service is cancelled south of Portland for June 9 and limited service will operate June 8, 10, and 11.  Bus substitution will be provided for cancelled trains.

After resuming full service between Kansas City and St. Louis on Wednesday, Amtrak and the Missouri Department of Transportation pointed the finger at Union Pacific for not adequately clearing its tracks for passenger trains.  After heavy flooding caused damage to Union Pacific’s freight-only route, the company sent heavy freight traffic over the line used for passenger trains, causing massive delays and canceled trains.  According to Missouri DOT Rail Administrator Rod Massman, “Union Pacific has certainly had a challenging month, but rail passengers have been treated like second-class citizens while UP’s freight schedule has used nearly all available track time.” Union Pacific spokesman James Barnes responded saying, “We would hope going forward that any communications during such challenging times can be more conciliatory and reflect greater understanding of the enormity of the obstacles that had to be overcome to restore service.”  Federal law stipulates that passenger trains be given priority over freight trains. 

Amtrak will no longer accept checks in any food service car for purchases, effective June 1. Travelers’ checks will continue to be accepted.  By June 1, all Amtrak food service cars will have an electronic credit card validation device that will accept American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa. 

Railfones will be removed from Amtrak trains that still have them, also effective June 1. The proliferation of personalized cell phones has rendered the service not cost effective.  Phone service on board trains could be found as early as the 1920’s (by physically connecting a cord to the train at longer station stops), but it was the original Pennsylvania Railroad/Penn Central Metroliners of the 1960’s that helped pioneer what we now know as cell phone technology.

A project to stabilize the Del Mar Bluffs between Solana Beach and San Diego will result in the overnight closure of the railroad between June 5 and December 20.  Only Surfliner #596 is affected; it will terminate at Solana Beach with alternate bus transportation to San Diego departing from Oceanside (the road trip is faster).

A CSX trackwork project will result in the westbound Pere Marquette operating one hour earlier, June 4 through June 21.  The train will depart Grand Rapids at 6:35 am and arrive in Chicago at 9:30 am.

An Amtrak study of a proposed line between Springfield and St. Louis shows a number of potential challenges.  Even though the line would connect Missouri’s third largest city to Amtrak’s national system Amtrak feels that the costs would outweigh the benefits.  According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, the proposed line would attract fewer riders than hoped for, in addition to running at speeds slower than the adjacent highway.  The report said the route would generate only 34,000 passengers annually, while taking twice as long as it would to drive paralleling Interstate 44.  The city of Springfield last had passenger trains in 1967, when the Frisco Meteor train ceased service.

The inaugural test run of the Greenbush commuter rail line in Massachusetts took place last Saturday.  Hundreds of residents came out to see the first train roll down the tracks in 47 years.  Bystanders stood on station platforms, overpasses, and gathered at intersections to see the train make its way down the 17.7-mile route from Braintree to Scituate and back.  Even though this was a great photo-op, officials from the MBTA were more concerned with the train meeting all necessary specifications.  There were no major glitches, although the gap between the train and the Greenbush station platform was several inches wider than anticipated.  John Ray, manager of MBTA’s rail operations said that the test went perfectly.  The line traverses urban and residential areas, as well as marsh areas and two golf courses. 

According to the Government Accountability Office, the price of gasoline has drained U.S. consumers of an extra $20 billion, or about $146 for each passenger car in America.  The national price for regular, unleaded gas has increased by $1.05 since February and experts are forecasting more increases as we the reach peak summer driving period.  According to the GAO’s Thomas McCool, “Spending billions more on gasoline constrains consumers’ budgets, leaving less money available for other purchases.”  The GAO has found that current high pump costs are the result of a large amount of oil refining capacity being offline, strong gasoline demand and lower fuel inventories.  Indeed, AP said James Cordier, president of Tampa-based Liberty Trading Group, said gasoline inventories were at low levels not seen in 50 years.  Meanwhile, the price of crude has been driven up by tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.

AAA says the average U.S. retail price of unleaded, regular gasoline yesterday was at an all-time high of $3.227.  The Department of Energy said prices would have to exceed $3.29 to beat the inflation-adjusted peak of March, 1981.

However, many lawmakers blame lack of competition in the oil industry from huge oil company mergers for the dramatic increase in gasoline prices.  Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), has introduced a bill that will grant the Federal Trade Commission more power to punish oil companies who participate in price gauging. 

The American Association of Railroads reported that freight traffic on U.S. railroads declined from last year.  Cumulative volume for the first 19 weeks of 2007 totaled 6,100,454 carloads, down 4.4% from 2006; 4,313,308 trailers or containers, off 1.1%; and total volume of an estimated 620.7 billion ton-miles, down 3.1% from last year.  Officials cite severe weather including massive flooding across parts of the country.  Canadian railroads have also seen a decline.  Combined cumulative volume for the first 19 weeks of 2007 on U.S. and Canadian railroads totaled 7,569,442 carloads, down 3.9% from last year, and 5,167,932 trailers and containers, down 0.6% from last year.  Rail traffic figures are regarded as an important economic indicator. 

» back to main hotline page