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Jan 02, 2009: Hotline #585January 2, 2008 NARP Chairman George Chilson and President Ross Capon wrote President-Elect Barack Obama on Wednesday. They thanked Obama for his public comments stressing the need to change the way America invests in transportation and urged him to include a substantial intercity passenger train component in his economic stimulus package. The full letter and a data appendix can be read on our website. The 111th Congress will be seated on Tuesday, January 6. Please reach out to your House member and two Senators, especially if they are new members of Congress. Tell them that any economic stimulus package must strongly support passenger trains-NARP has recommended $20 billion. Go to our Action Alert center for more information. Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI, 1961-1997) passed away New Years Day at the age of 90. He was best known for the college educational grants that bear his name, but Pell was also a passenger train advocate. His 1966 book, “Megalopolis Unbound: Supercity and the Transportation of Tomorrow” laid the foundation for high speed rail service in the Northeast Corridor. He consistently supported increased funding for passenger trains. NARP presented Pell with our George Falcon Golden Spike award in a special ceremony at the then-newly restored Kingston train station in 1998. Everett Stuart, Chairman of the Rhode Island Association of Railroad Passengers eulogized Pell, “Sen. Pell was an aristocratic, soft spoken, self-effacing, and somewhat eccentric politician beloved by the voters of Rhode Island. In addition to rail issues he had strong interests in education, the arts, and international diplomacy. He will long be remembered for his many accomplishments during 36 years in the Senate and for his unique character.” Amtrak has been struggling with service problems in and around its Chicago hub for the last two weeks. Particularly affected have been trains to Michigan: more than one Blue Water arrived in Port Huron over ten hours late (scheduled arrival is 11:03pm) and one Pere Marquette arrived in Grand Rapids nearly 13 hours late after its crew outlawed three miles after departing the Holland Station. Michigan DOT—who supports operation of the two trains—is demanding answers from Amtrak. The state wants to know why the train was allowed to leave Holland, where passengers could have detrained or other alternate transportation arranged. MDOT spokeswoman Janet Foran told the Grand Rapids Press, “Our No. 1 concern was the lack of communication with passengers. We felt that was unacceptable.” Other trains have experienced problems in Chicago—one Empire Builder left Chicago nearly 24 hours late. The Empire Builders problems were compounded by temperatures across Montana and North Dakota below negative 20 degrees and a major freight train derailment near Essex, MT. The problems out of Amtrak’s control notwithstanding, NARP President Ross Capon wrote to Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman on December 23. Capon’s message centered on the fact that it seems that winter catches Amtrak by surprise each year and that steps must be taken to mitigate this. Boardman responded that he has asked the Amtrak Inspector General’s office to initiate and investigation into what went wrong and make recommendations for changes in the future. NARP will continue to press Amtrak on this critical issue. Phoenix’s light rail system opened last Saturday to large, excited crowds estimated at over 90,000. The 20 mile line connects downtown Phoenix with Tempe and Mesa. At opening ceremonies, Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) said, “Everyone’s talking about how much fun this is and how exciting it is. But we all know that this is not a Disneyland ride…This is the first phase of a light-rail system that will help us reach a shared vision of an economically vibrant urban corridor.” A new report issued by Montgomery County planers has endorsed constructing light rail on the proposed Purple Line in the Washington, DC suburbs. “We have to grow, and we have to do it in a way that is sustainable,” said Tom Autrey, the report’s chief author. “The bottom line is that we have to take care of folks in these near suburbs so that we can experience growth in a reasonable way that is less dependent on the auto.” The western part of the route would follow the ex-B&O Georgetown Branch, which is now a hiking and biking trail. Local residents and a golf course have been actively working to stop the project for over 20 years. Colorado Railcar ceased operations on New Years Eve. The company could not attract additional financing to stay in business. The company had received up to $3 million in funds from Portland’s TriMet in order to complete TriMet’s order of four cars for the WES Commuter Rail service, due to begin in February. The funds were provided when TriMet discovered that Colorado Railcar had run out of cash and stopped paying suppliers, delaying delivery of the four cars. Tri Met has received their four fully-constructed cars and is still on target for a February opening (further delays are a result of the desire to install a positive train control system in the wake of the Chatsworth, CA Metrolink accident). The Maryland Transit Administration has formalized service cuts announced about two months ago. The cuts are necessary to close a $5 million budget gap due to an overall funding shortfall in the state budget. Some modifications were made to the original plan: one of the two late night Penn Line trains will remain and the last train to Martinsburg, WV will remain after West Virginia DOT officials agreed to a fare increase for the three stations in the state. Ten trip tickets will also be eliminated, consistent with MTA’s earlier announcement. The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board has recommended $17 million in funding to provide a second daily frequency between Washington and Lynchburg and an additional train between Washington and Richmond. The project would also include two capacity improvement projects between Manassas and Lynchburg. There will be public hearings over the next couple of weeks: Tuesday, Jan. 6, in Culpeper at 1601 Orange Road starting at 6 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 12, in Richmond at 1221 E. Broad St. at 6 p.m. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). The westbound Sunset Limited will operate on a modified schedule for many departures in January and February due to Union Pacific trackwork. San Antonio-9:40am, El Paso-8:20pm, Tucson- 2:10am, Maricopa-3:35am, Palm Springs-7:25am, and arrive in Los Angeles at 10:10am. Contact Amtrak for specific dates and times at intermediate stations. NARP Communications Director Matthew Melzer’s last day at NARP was Wednesday. He will become the Executive Director of Silver Rails Resort in LaPlata, MO. In his resignation letter, he wrote, in part, “It is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation; the decision came after thorough consideration. My time at NARP has been exciting, rewarding and gratifying, both personally and professionally.” Sean Jeans Gail will take over most of Matt’s responsibilities. Jan 09, 2009: Hotline #586January 9, 2008 The 111th Congress was sworn in on Tuesday. Please reach out to your House member and two Senators, especially if they are new members of Congress. Tell them that any economic stimulus package must strongly support passenger trains-NARP has recommended $20 billion. Go to our Action Alert center for more information. Democrats met on Wednesday to discuss the size and direction that the economic recovery should take. At a hearing held by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Democratic Policy Committee Chairs Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). Appearing before the Committee was a panel of economists and scientists that included former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Dr. Mark Zandi, chief economist and cofounder of Moody’s Economy.com, reported that the US lost 1.9 million jobs in 2008 through November, and he projected that the number would top 2.4 million once the end of the year numbers were tallied. The panel also predicted the loss in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the next two years due to the recession would be around $750-$900 billion, and argued that the size of the stimulus package should match this figure. There was a general call for this package to take the form of a mix of spending and tax cuts. Prioritization was given to stimulus spending, however, and Dr. Zandi estimating that for every dollar the government spent there was boost of $1.59 to the GDP (compared to a 1:1 ratio for every dollar’s worth of tax cuts).
The state DOT’s of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia have release a feasibility study on constructing a high speed rail link between Charlotte and Atlanta. Georgia Transportation Commissioner Gena Evans said, “This effort supports our shared belief that we must seriously consider—and plan for—transportation alternatives in these rapidly developing areas.” This project would be an extension of the proposed Washington-Charlotte high speed rail corridor. The study concluded that high speed rail is feasible and that more detailed analysis should continue. Amtrak has admitted that communication with passengers and their waiting families was poor, and stated an internal review of policies is taking place, they stressed that passengers had access to lighting, heating, waste systems, and food (it is customary procedure to provide stranded passengers with complimentary snacks and water). “I want to assure you that while passengers were inconvenienced, no one was placed at risk,” wrote Pesce. Amtrak President Joseph Boardman earlier told NARP that he had asked the Amtrak Inspector General to investigate; that work is on-going. All passenger train service between Portland and Seattle is suspended until at least Sunday due to mudslides and flooding in the Pacific Northwest. The Empire Builder is also not operating between Seattle and Spokane; the Portland section is operating. Check the Amtrak website for updates throughout the weekend. Amtrak is offering a 20% discount on long distance train railfares for upcoming travel. The fares are available for travel January 23-April 5 and must be purchased by January 21. Additional terms and conditions apply. The Downeaster service will operate on a weekday schedule on Martin Luther King Day (January 19). The printed Amtrak timetable indicates that weekend service will operate, this is not correct. Due to CSX trackwork, the northbound Palmetto will originate in Florence on January 19-22, January 26-29, February 2-5, and February 9-12. No alternate transportation will be offered between Savannah and Florence. All other trains are unaffected, but may be delayed operating through the area due to slow orders. More time will be removed from the California Zephyr schedule, effective January 26. Train 5 (westbound) is unchanged, Chicago-Salt Lake City, then 20 minutes earlier at Elko, 29 minutes earlier Winnemucca through Martinez, and arrive in Emeryville 30 minutes earlier. Train 6 (eastbound) will operate 15 minutes later, Emeryville to Winnemucca, keep its current arrival time at Salt Lake City, depart five minutes earlier, then operate five minutes earlier at all stops to Denver, before resuming its printed schedule. Jan 16, 2009: Hotline #587January 16, 2008 House Democrats released the first draft of a proposed economic stimulus bill on Thursday. The legislation calls for an $850 billion package of spending and tax cuts. Specific to transportation, the bill contains $30 billion for highways and bridges, $8.9 billion for public transportation, $3 billion for airports and $1.1 billion for passenger trains. The latter is divided $800 million for Amtrak and $300 million for the states. Last week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recommended a larger package whose highway figure was the only one that survived. The committee had proposed $12 billion for transit and $5 billion for intercity passenger trains. The highway number T&I recommended was kept intact. There was bi-partisan disappointment at the reduction in transit and train funding. “Frankly the real job creation is going to come under the programs under the jurisdiction of this committee,” Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) told CQ Today. Ranking Member John Mica rallied fellow Republicans to push for more transportation dollars, “We have the potential to get people working immediately…We need your backing on this from both sides of the aisle.” Also today, The Hill newspaper ran a story saying that House chairmen were “fighting mad” that the stimulus bill is largely being written in the Speaker’s office rather than by the usual committees. Senator Daniel Inouye, the past chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said that the Senate’s version of the bill likely will have higher transportation funding. Members of Congress need to hear from passenger train and transit advocates that the dollar amounts for transit and intercity passenger trains in the draft House legislation are too low. Go to our Action Alert center for more information on contacting your legislators. President-Elect Barack Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden will travel by train to Washington, D.C. tomorrow. Obama will board the train tomorrow morning in Philadelphia, and then proceed to Wilmington for a public event and to pick up Biden. The two will then continue on to Baltimore for a 4:00 event at City Hall before arriving in Washington, DC. Public safety officials along the route are urging any spectators to stay at least 150 feet away from the railroad right of way and not to climb utility or catenary poles to get a better view. A confirmation hearing for Secretary of Transportation deginate Ray LaHood was scheduled for Wednesday, then postponed. It has been rescheduled for next Wednesday (January 21) at 2:00pm. The Federal Transit Administration issued a favorable Record of Decision (ROD) on the Access to the Regions Core project on Wednesday. ARC will add two new rail tunnels connection New York City and New Jersey under the Hudson River. NARP strongly favors additional capacity, but opposes the current project. The two new tunnels will have no physical rail connection to the existing Penn Station but will serve only a “deep cavern,” dead-end station 20 stories below 34th Street. NARP issued a statement Tuesday calling on the “Obama Administration to exercise its constitutional obligation to advance interstate commerce” by ensuring that the Access to the Regions Core project in New York City includes a physical rail connection to the existing Penn Station facility. A news release was also issued. The OneRail coalition, which includes NARP and nine other organizations, was announced this week. The launching news release, said the coalition “will encourage public policies recognizing rail as a critical element of the national transportation system and an essential part of the future economic growth and environmental well-being of the nation.” Coalition members believe that “the nation’s passenger train network must be strengthened and expanded” and support “policies and programs that expand public and private investment in rail freight mobility.” The coalition includes passenger and freight heavy hitters plus the Natural Resources Defense Council. The other rail organizations are: Amtrak, Association of American Railroads, American Public Transportation Association, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, Building America’s Future, Railway Supply Institute, States for Passenger Rail Coalition and Surface Transportation Policy Partnership. (Building America’s Future is a bipartisan, non-profit organization that promotes infrastructure investment. It was founded last year by “three nationally-recognized leaders on infrastructure: Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York.”) The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held its first meeting of the new Congress and elected its leadership. Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and John Mica (R-FL) will return as Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) will continue to chair the Railroads Subcommittee; Bill Shuster (R-PA) continues as top Republican on the subcommittee. Demand for oil continues to decline due primarily to the world economic crisis. The American Petroleum Institute showed deliveries falling by 6% last year. Financial Times reported that one of the causes is “the longer term impact to driving habits from the ‘price shock’ of $4 a gallon (gasoline) in the first half of last year.” Given the slowdown, oil companies have cut exploration and expansion expenditures. This is raising concerns that prices will spike even more severely when the economy begins to recover since supply will be further restricted. Also, the gap between the oft-cited U.S. oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), and other reference prices “ballooned to record levels” yesterday. February WTI closed at $35.40 compared with North Sea Brent at $44.69 (March Brent was $47.18). New York-based oil analyst Costanza Jacazio of Barclays Capital said, “WTI has become about as useful as a chocolate ovenglove. It has for the moment lost any claim to be a meaningful indicator of broader market conditions.” The State of Vermont is considering cutting the Ethan Allen train service to help close a large state budget deficit. A public hearing is set for Wednesday, January 21st, 5:00-9:00 pm, at the State Capitol in Room 11. A Candlelight vigil will be at 6:15 pm on the steps of the Capitol. On Monday, January 19th, local rail advocates are planning a rally to generate media attention at 4:00 pm at the Rutland Train Station. For more information, please contact the NARP office. You can also sign an online petition urging Vermont officials to keep the service going. The National Press Photographers Association has asked Amtrak to stop threatening photographers with arrest. This comes in response to several recent incidents of Amtrak Police threatening to arrest photographers and forcing them to delete images on their cameras. NPPA’s general legal counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher wrote to Amtrak police general counsel David Domzalski asking Amtrak to immediately issue a directive to all Amtrak personnel making it clear that the mere act of taking pictures or video is not unlawful, and that doing so provides “no basis for law enforcement or other transit personnel to take action against a photographer.” The letter asks Amtrak to “take immediate steps to remedy the railroad’s unconstitutional treatment of law-abiding photographers.” Amtrak has not yet responded to the letter. The Southwest Chief experienced a minor derailment Wednesday shortly after leaving Chicago. Two trucks derailed and there was one minor injury. The accident snarled the afternoon rush hour for Metra passengers on the BNSF, Heritage Corridor, and Southwest Service. Amtrak Guest Rewards is adding several trains on which a reward ticket can be redeemed for 1,000 points , as opposed to the standard 3,000 point rate. The Lincoln Service, Illini Service, Carl Sandburg, Missouri Service, Kansas City Mule, St. Louis Mule, Illinois Zephyr, Saluki, Hoosier State, Pere Marquette, Piedmont, and Heartland Flyer join these routes that were already at 1,000 points: Cascades, Pacific Surfliner, Capitol Corridor, San Joaquins, Hiawatha, and Downeaster. Due to severe winter weather in the Midwest Amtrak trains continue to experience delays and cancellations. Train 58, the northbound City of New Orleans, departing New Orleans tomorrow is canceled. Train 21, the southbound Texas Eagle is cancelled today south of St. Louis and the northbound Eagle is canceled tomorrow between Dallas and St. Louis. No alternate transportation is provided. Amtrak will need to replace prematurely-deteriorating concrete ties this summer in New England. Nearly 74,000 ties need replacement. A schedule for the work has not been established, but Amtrak has pushed back the planned expansion of Shore Line East commuter rail service to New London until after the work is complete. General Electric’s locomotive division is warning that layoffs may be a possibility if orders don’t pick up soon. “Given the brutal economic environment, there is a high probability of layoffs,” company spokesman Stephan Koller said Monday. Last week, the company furloughed 35 employees, but Koller said that was “part of the normal rhythm of business.” GE currently employs 5,600 at its Erie, PA plant. The Coast Starlight will once again detour over Tehachapi Pass due to trackwork on its usual route south of Santa Barbara. Northbound trains departing Los Angeles on January 25, 26, and 27 and southbound Seattle departures of January 24 and 25 (Sacramento and detour the next day) will miss all stops between Los Angeles and Sacramento. Most Pacific Surfliners that operate north of Los Angeles on January 25 and 27 and all trains on January 26 will terminate at Oxnard, with bus service for points north. Amtrak thruway buses 8552 and 8575 between Newport, OR and Albany and Portland operate 85 minutes earlier than shown in the timetable, effective yesterday. NARP Members now enjoy a 10% discount at the Depot Inn and Suites in LaPlata, Missouri. For full terms and conditions, please visit their website. Jan 23, 2009: Hotline #588January 23, 2008 The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved an economic recovery bill that includes $1.1 billion for intercity passenger rail and $9 billion for transit. These figures are down from $5 billion and $12 billion, respectively, which had been proposed by Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN). The appropriators did not reduce the $30 billion Oberstar had proposed for highways. Evidently, Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) did not believe that enough of the non-highway projects were truly “shovel-ready.” Every announcement of layoffs ratchets higher the pressure to make sure that these funds put people to work quickly. Pressure for lower transportation numbers comes from some Republicans—and thus from President Obama’s desire for strong, bipartisan support for the package—but also from some Democrats. While John Mica (R-FL), top T&I Republican, expressed disappointment in the reduced numbers, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today criticized the overall economic recovery package for having too little “fast-acting tax relief” and too much “slow-moving and wasteful government spending.” Alice Rivlin, Clinton’s budget chief, was quoted in today’s Financial Times saying, “I favor many of the things that are in the package but some of the investments in skills and infrastructure—while all good—do not belong into an anti-recession package.” The Senate yesterday confirmed the nomination of Rep. Ray LaHood to be the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation. This followed an amiable confirmation January 21 hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. This hearing was the first in Senator John Rockefeller’s (D-WV) chairmanship of the committee. He succeeds Daniel Inouye (D-HI) who now chairs the Appropriations Committee.). There was an outpouring of admiration expressed for LaHood, the former Representative from Illinois, based on the fact that he continued the tradition of his predecessor in the Peoria district, long-time House Minority Leader Bob Michel. Michel and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced LaHood. Both praised him effusively. Durbin said he had asked President Obama to consider LaHood. Michel, who called some of the partisanship during his tenure “nauseating,” credited LaHood with continuing to work for civility on Capitol Hill, including bipartisan retreats. LaHood said, “We must acknowledge climate change…sustainability must pervade all we do…I intend to make livable communities a major emphasis…I’ve been a strong supporter of Amtrak. It is vital to many communities.” Senators expressed concern over how effectively the Department of Transportation would be able to balance the need to quickly spend the massive influx of Federal dollars which will be part of the stimulus package, and the ability to fulfill President Obama’s promise to overhaul the way the federal government funds transportation. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) noted the “Katrina effect” when quick, dramatic spending increases drive up costs. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) restated the idea that we need more Americans to take trains, and asked LaHood whether he would fight for the full amount authorized in the recent Passenger Rail Investment Act. “I’m a strong supporter of Amtrak,” replied LaHood, who voted for the bill. “It’s the lifeblood of so many communities. I will do all that I can to find the funding.” Lautenberg also raised a few eyebrows when, in defending the Hudson River rail tunnel project that NARP has criticized, he said, “The ARC Project is not a commuter tunnel. It’s a national priority. The project will provide 6,000 jobs immediately.” Clair McCaskill (D-MO), in particular, pressed LaHood on earmarks—particularly relevant given LaHood’s history of defending earmarks. When McCaskill persisted in questioning whether he will follow through on the President’s pledge to have no earmarks in the stimulus bill, LaHood said, “President Obama has made it very clear that in the stimulus bill there will not be earmarked money. It’s up to the members (of Congress) to decide that there aren’t going to be earmarks. I think the President’s commitment will carry over to the authorization bill. If it doesn’t have one earmark, it’s not going to cause me any heartburn.” President Obama’s decision to kick off his inauguration with a 137 mile trip aboard an Amtrak train was a huge success, with hundreds of thousands of people viewing the historic even, both at rallies and lining the tracks. The President’s ride, which retraced parts of the route taken by Abraham Lincoln on the way to his inauguration in 1861, began Saturday at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station with a small gathering of 200 people who had ties to the Obama campaign. There were events in Wilmington, Delaware, where Vice-President Joe Biden—introduced as “Amtrak’s number one commuter”—joined boarded the train, and in Baltimore, before arrival at Washington, DC’s Union Station. The train itself had four Amtrak cars (including two cafe cars) and two diesel locomotives, plus the Georgia 300, a classically styled railcar from the golden era of train travel. The car has an impressive presidential history, having already carried Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. What was not impressive was Washington Post news reports calling the car a “caboose.” The trip took about seven hours, and went without incidents. However, an Inaugural Ball on Tuesday evening at Union Station’s Main Hall exacerbated the problems associated with the station trying to handle far more people than Amtrak’s current space was designed for—actually, an extreme version of a problem that is seen quite often. As crowds flooded the nation’s capital to take part in the inauguration celebration, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) shattered the old one-day record for ridership, before the day was even done. WMATA announced that as of 7 pm on Inauguration Day, Metrorail had carried 973,285 passengers, beating the previous record of 866,681 set the day before. While the crowds were expected, there was concern about whether the system could handle the unprecedented influx. In a prepared statement, WMATA General Manager John Catoe confessed “our system wasn’t designed to transport this many people in such a short time.” Complications included a woman who fell onto the tracks at Gallery Place station on Tuesday morning, delaying trains until the line was cleared (she was treated and released at a hospital), and a small fire Wednesday afternoon at the Union Station McDonald’s (which also briefly affected Amtrak passengers). Despite the recession and falling gas prices, Amtrak announced a number of its corridors have seen increased ridership from a year ago. California transportation officials reported the Auburn-to-San Jose Capitol Corridor carried 130,261 customers in December 2008, which is up nine percent vs. a year ago, and sets a new record for ridership (ticket revenue rose 8.4% to $1.8 million). The Oakland-Sacramento-Bakersfield San Joaquin line carried 80,920 passengers, up 9.3% from last year (revenue up 8.9% to $2.8 million). Illinois officials said ridership was up 7% across their three state-supported routes. While these numbers are good for train advocates, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari sounded a note of caution for 2009: “The trains just can’t get more full. We knew sustaining that double-digit increases each year would be difficult, even if we added more trains and more capacity, which we didn’t do, and we can’t do.” These numbers—along with GE Transportation’s recent announcement that 230 of their 5,600 Erie, PA workers will be asked to take unpaid leave until the end of March, due to lack of work—should put pressure on Congress and the private sector to do more to expand domestic railcar manufacture. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) has, through a spokesperson, announced his intent to reintroduce a bill to provide funding for foreign rail manufacturers to open plants in the US, and tax breaks to American companies to expand into railcar production. Over 200 people gathered in Rutland, Vermont’s James M. Jeffords Rail Passenger Welcome Center on January 22nd to protest Governor Jim Douglas’ proposal to eliminate Amtrak’s Ethan Allen rail service. The Governor’s office contends that by replacing the Ethan Allen with an Amtrak bus they could cut $1.4 million in the Agency of Transportation’s 2010 fiscal year budget, in a year where states governments across the nation are facing grave shortfalls. The plan has met resistance from state legislators, even from members who would gain service from the proposed bus. The crowd which gathered to protest the Governor’s proposal contested that the service is vital to the community. Carl Fowler, a member of the Vermont Rail Advisory Council in attendance, noted that the Ethan Allen Express saw ridership grow 17.5% in Fiscal Year 2008, which caps 39 months of uninterrupted growth. Fowler argued that an addition of 30 passengers a day would see an increase of $1.4 million in revenue, and that the state should instead be looking to market the service more effectively. In an address to the crowd, state representative Steve Howard proclaimed “This is about jobs today and about jobs tomorrow.” New York lawmakers contend the time is right for the construction of a high-speed rail line connecting the three corners of the state, saying they see the line—which would eventually connect to Boston and Toronto—as a way to revitalize the economy of upstate New York. A bipartisan group of upstate members in the US House of Representatives and a broader coalition of House Democrats, plus state Legislators from both houses, are pushing for the idea as part of an economic stimulus package. Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) called the project nationally significant, saying “this is rebuilding the Erie Canal for the 21st century.” The House upstate caucus met with Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN), who chairs the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and a meeting with state transportation officials is planned. Public support for high speed remains high, especially among upstate residents, who have few travel options. However, with the price tag estimated at the tens of billions, and a project length of 10 to 20 years, it will be a test of political will for lawmakers seeking to bring the idea to fruition. In a boost to these efforts, today, in her acceptance speech to succeed Hillary Clinton as New York’s junior Senator, Rep. Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY) said, “We will pass a wide-ranging stimulus package which will create jobs in New York … making new investments in infrastructure, mass transit, high-speed rail throughout western and upstate New York.” In an attempt to secure a dedicated source of funding, Florida’s Tri-Rail regional rail service is asking state lawmakers to back a $2-a-day fee on car rentals to help pay their $57.3 million annual operating budget. Car rental companies strongly oppose the idea, which has passed the state legislature before only to be vetoed by then-Governor Jeb Bush, who called the fee “taxation without representation” for tourists. Bonnie Arnold, Tri-Rail’s director of marketing, said she is “cautiously optimistic” that the tax will be enacted, saying Rep. Bill Galvano (R) has already agreed to sponsor a bill. In another chapter in Amtrak’s uneasy relationship with photographers, Amtrak legal counsel David Domzalski wrote that the company “denies any allegation that it acted in an unconstitutional manner.” Domzalski’s opinion was released in the form of a letter to the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), who had previously complained to Amtrak over their security’s handling of photographers at stations. The letter states “Amtrak does prohibit photography in areas restricted to the public, such as rights-of-ways and posted no trespassing areas. It is also limited on train platforms to ticketed passengers who may do so briefly prior to boarding or departing from a train.” Domzaliski goes on to say that there are specific guidelines that Amtrak police are trained to follow in regards to photography in public parts of that station, but that the guidelines “state that Amtrak police can investigate activity of photographers that is reported or observed to be suspicious in nature.” He dismissed the specific incident of a photographer being arrested in New York’s Penn Station which NPPA cited as a matter of Amtrak Police responding to a person trespassing, saying it did not pertain to photography. The Connecticut Rail Commuter Council released their annual report for 2008, and it will be sent to Governor M. Jodi Rell and state Department of Transportation official in the hopes of addressing passenger needs. Overcrowding of trains and parking lots was one of the main areas of concern, according to the report, indicating the commuter line is a victim of its own success. Additional areas for improvement were identified as poor ventilation in some commuter railcars, fears about possible fare hikes, upkeep of stations, and progress of the New Haven rail yard maintenance facility. However, the state-appointed group lauded the railroad for improving on its already high on-time-performance, with 98.4% of trains arriving on schedule, an increase of 1% from 2007. Amtrak is standardizing the placement of Quiet Cars on its Northeast Corridor., effective next Wednesday. For all Acela trains, the quiet car will be the car adjacent to the First Class car and on Regional trains, it will be the car adjacent to the Business Class car. All Acela Express trains and most Regionals, including service to and from Virginia, will have Quiet Cars. As before, there will not be Quiet Cars on Keystone Service, New Haven-Springfield Shuttle trains, the Vermonter, Carolinian and long-distance trains. Jan 30, 2009: Hotline #589January 30, 2009 The $825 billion House version of the stimulus bill, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1) passed the House Jan. 28 by a vote of 244-188. It has $800 million for Amtrak and $300 million for competitive grants to state intercity passenger rail programs. No Republicans voted for the bill. The amendment offered by Rep. Corrine Brown to increase funding for Amtrak by $4.2 billion and to include $2 billion for high speed rail was ruled not in order. The Jeff Flake (R-AZ) amendment to strike all funding for Amtrak (H.Amdt 18) was defeated 116-320. Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s (D-NY) amendment to increase transit capital funding by $3 billion (H.Amdt 15) passed on a voice vote. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its counterpart bill (S. 336) on Jan. 27. It contains $850 million for Amtrak, $250 million for state intercity passenger rail programs, and $2 billion for high speed rail. Amtrak cannot spend more than half of its $850 million on the Northeast Corridor. In addition, there is a $5.5 billion “Competitive Grants for Transportation” program for major projects. Finally, the $27 billion in highway funds can be shifted to passenger or freight rail, and 40% of these funds go straight to local governments, which often are more progressive in their transportation thinking than state DOTs. Tell your legislators to push for strong intercity passenger train funding in the stimulus bill and resist and to adopt the Senate bill’s flexibility language. Go to our Action Alert center for more information on contacting your legislators. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials met January 28th for a hearing on “Freight and Passenger Rail: Present and Future Roles, Performance, Benefits, and Needs” to discuss rail’s role in the national transportation infrastructure’s future. There was bipartisan recognition that, despite a steady increase in demand in the last decade, investment in rail capacity was falling. There was a particularly pointed exchange between Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Union Pacific Corporation Chairman/President/CEO Jim Young. When Nadler asked why the freight railroads seemed so unresponsive to federal investment, Young responded that UP has historically been leery of the strings attached to such funds, leading Mr. Nadler to argue that some national priorities required a partnership. Anne Canby, President of the Surface Transportation Policy Project—and founder of the OneRail coalition (to which NARP belongs)—issued a call for drastic change in the way we plan investment, and argued that the current system doesn’t allow for the establishment of clear priorities. In particular, when asked how she would stop earmarks from hijacking the planning process, she argued that if we establish national and regional priorities in this law and seek clear outcomes, we might be able to structure discretionary funding around meeting certain objectives, and include a feedback loop to make sure those objectives are being met. She ruefully admitted history suggests this is unlikely to happen—“hope springs eternal that we might get it right one of these days”. The hearing also marked Joe Boardman’s first appearance before the Committee as Amtrak President & CEO. He was quick to sing his company’s praises, calling Amtrak’s 16,000 employees “the finest group of men and women in passenger railroading.” But he also sounded a cautious note, saying that ridership numbers would almost certainly decline as a result of the slowing economy. Boardman made his case for Amtrak’s worthiness of the projects he would invest in and his ability to quickly obligate the funds should Amtrak receive the $800 million proposed in the House, saying it is a “real opportunity for Amtrak to invest in some much-needed improvements and repairs that have gone wanting for lack of funds.” On a visionary note, he urged a step towards reducing dependence on petroleum products, saying “we could make a major leap forward by extending electrification.” Boardman called for a timeline that would extend electrified territory to Richmond within the next five years, and to Atlanta or beyond in the next ten. Amtrak announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously agreed to name Thomas Carper of Illinois as its new Chairman at a scheduled meeting on January 30th. Chair Donna McLean will be the new Vice Chairman, in turn replacing Hunter Biden (son of the Vice President), who will remain a board member. Carper said, “Everything we have done as a board, we’ve done as a unified body, and this change in our hierarchy is no exception. That this was a unanimous and non-contentious decision is testimony to that fact. I look forward to tackling the exciting challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Amtrak is ready to play a growing role in strengthening our transportation system and our economy.” Former Chairwoman McLean responded to the change by saying, “With the change in administration, its best for the company to have Tom as Chairman. I am pleased to be able to work with Tom and the rest of the board as we face the exciting and challenging years ahead.” In his State of the State address, Ohio’s Governor Ted Strickland called for the re-establishment of passenger rail service between Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland—referred to as the “3-C Corridor.” “We will strengthen Ohio with innovative transportation projects. We will work toward the restoration of passenger rail service between Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. Our goal is to link Ohio’s three largest cities by passenger rail for the first time in 40 years. This will be a first step toward a rail system that links neighborhoods within a city, and cities within our state” (complete text of speech). All Aboard Ohio’s interim Executive Director, Ken Prendergast, viewed this as a historic moment. “This is the first time in my memory that an Ohio governor has specifically included passenger rail development in a State of the State speech. Obviously, All Aboard Ohio is as pleased with the Governor’s statement as we were with his appointment last week of Jolene Molitoris as the new director of the Ohio Department of Transportation.” State law requires that a 3-C Corridor be the first priority in any passenger rail service offered within the state of Ohio. The Ohio Rail Development Commission—which is a part of ODOT—has commissioned Amtrak to do planning work for a passenger rail service, and they are asking Congress to provide $100 million in stimulus funding for the first phase of the project, with another $100 million for the engineering and environmental impact studies. On January 1st, Amtrak began the nine-month planning process which will seek to have rail service running along the 3-C corridor by 2010. NARP Chairman Ross Capon had a Letter to the Editor published by the Asbury Park (NJ) Press regarding poor planning of the Hudson River tail tunnels New Jersey’s Asbury Park Press. At issue is the lack of a link from New York City’s Penn Station to the new tunnel. In the piece, Capon warns “$9 billion is about to be spent on tunnels that would leave New York’s Penn Station—including half of New Jersey Transit’s Manhattan commuter train capacity and all Amtrak service—cut off from New Jersey if the existing Hudson River tunnels are ever closed.” Capon’s letter ran January 28th and responded to a January 21 editorial by the paper favoring the existing project. Capon also was interviewed for 20 minutes about lack of a Penn Station link a day earlier on the Boston-based Jeff Santos Show, which was broadcast on Boston’s 1510 “The Zone” and streamed on the web. A coalition of local transit officials in Oregon are hoping that the Obama Administration will eliminate an edict issued by the former president, and spur the streetcar renaissance which has seen light rail returning to America’s streets. Officials from Portland, Lake Oswego, and Multnomah County transit agencies are hoping that work being done by Oregon Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Peter Defazio to rewrite rules in USDOT programs will direct more federal funding to streetcar projects. The Community Streetcar Development and Revitalization Act was enacted in 2002—and originally drafted by Blumenauer—was effectively negated by an order from the former administration which asked USDOT to establish speed as the primary priority in weighing projects, a move that favors buses over light rail. Oregon’s elected leaders also wrote a letter, dated January 21, to new Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, asking him to rescind this order. It is believed that doing this, in conjunction with the rewrite of the through Small Start and New Start programs being done by Blumenauer and DeFazio, will return the program to its intended purpose of providing grants to streetcar programs, and would establish them as an official administration priority through 2015. Portland’s streetcar line has been held up as a model, worldwide, of the power of light rail to act as engines of economic growth. Also in Portland today, the Westside Express (WES) Commuter Rail service between Beaverton and Hillsdale began service. Demonstration complementary rides were offered today, full fare service begins Monday. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced that it will delay the purchase of 28 locomotives, citing ongoing financial troubles and contractual difficulties between the two companies competing to build the locomotives. The $150 million is widely considered to be essential to addressing the delays which persist throughout the system, and preventing further erosion of the commuter network. MBTA is expected to rebid the locomotives later this year. Paul Regan, executive director for the MBTA Advisory Board, say buying locomotives “is something you can postpone for a little while but not for very long. Beyond six months or a year, it starts to get dicey.” Amtrak has announced it will begin running a free shuttle service between the Sanford, Florida station and downtown Sanford. Amtrak asks their Auto Train passengers to arrive three hours before the train’s departure, and passengers were previously were left with little options to fill the time. The shuttle will operate every 20 minutes from noon to 2:40 PM, and is planned to coincide with the arrival and departure of the Auto Train. The service starts January 31st. MoDOT announced that, after almost online 5,500 votes were cast, the state-supported Amtrak trains that run between St. Louis and Kansas City will be named the “Missouri River Runner.” The service was formerly known under two names, the Ann Rutledge and the Mules. Amtrak and MoDOT sponsored the “Name the Train” contest in honor of 30 years of state-supported passenger train service in Missouri. The idea—which was one of five finalists chosen from over 8,000 submissions—was submitted by Keith Kohler of Glendale, Mo., and it garnered 2,036 votes. Rod Massman, administrator of railroads for MoDOT, said “the Name the Train contest has stirred up excitement for passenger rail service in Missouri. We’re happy that so many people participated in the contest. A new brand name and new track investments along the railroad corridor are a great way to start a new year for Amtrak service in Missouri.” The February 2009 issue of NARP News has been uploaded to the members’ section of our web site. Click on “Login” above, just below “E-mail Signup” to access the newsletter, or click “Register” if you have not yet signed up for members’ access. Be sure to include your membership number when registering. |
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