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Aug 06, 2010: Hotline #666Hotline #666 Updated: August 9, 2010; 2:00PM EST Maine’s Governor John Baldacci, Federal Railroad Administer Joseph Szabo, and Pan Am Railways President David Fink attended a Brunswick, ME, event on August 2 to celebrate the kick-off construction that will extend Amtrak’s Downeaster to Freeport and Brunswick. The $38 million, 28-month project, funded by rail grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will rehabilitate 28 miles of track between Portland and Brunswick. The work will support 200 jobs paying $27 per hour with 100% health coverage. Maine has committed to funding two daily Boston-Brunswick round trips. Local officials say that the projected ridership increase—expected to be heavily tourist in character—will provided much needed economic stimulus to the area. “[Passenger rail is] coming back in the right moment in time where it will benefit our communities and economies,” U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) told the Portland Press Herald. “It will be a big shot in the arm for Brunswick and everybody along the rail line.” The project represents a huge victory for transportation advocates in the area, which has been without passenger service since 1960. The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) announced July 30 that the Downeaster is seeing record ridership in fiscal year 2010. Patricia Quinn, executive director of NNEPRA, reported that after a slow first five months, ridership finished up 1% higher than last year, setting an all-time high. (The state’s fiscal year ended June 30.) Ticket revenue for FY2010 was $6.7 million, which also sets an all time high for the service. The Downeaster began in December 14, 2001 as the ultimate result of a long-term campaign by TrainRiders/Northeast that included collection by volunteers of almost 90,000 signatures in 1989. The resulting legislation was the first citizen-initiated bill ever accepted by the Maine legislature. The work, a $98 million project funded by the Recovery Act, will be done on a 90-mile stretch of Union Pacific-owned tracks south of Springfield, Illinois. Trains eventually will hit up to 110 mph—making the St. Louis-Chicago trip time-competitive with driving. This $98 million is the first portion of the $1.2 billion high speed rail grant for Illinois that U.S. DOT announced in January. FRA, the state and Union Pacific are still working to come to agreement on terms regarding the balance of the funds. The Raleigh-Charlotte Piedmont served 5,000 in June 2009. The addition of a mid-day train, which began running on June 5, helped boost that number to 15,000 for June of this year. The increase is part of a larger upward trend, with the Piedmont seeing a 26% increase in ridership from October through June compared to the same period in 2009. Boardman joined Amtrak as President in November 2008. He previously served as the federal railroad administrator. “Joe’s focus on a safer, greener and healthier Amtrak will enhance safety, improve the reliability of our services, reduce trip times and increase speeds, yield targeted and effective infrastructure investments, and ensure the delivery of quality customer service,” said Amtrak Chairman Tom Carper in a prepared statement. The solicitation, which is open to all applicants, is for basic and applied technology research, development and demonstration projects for tracks and structures, train control systems, operating practices, and rolling stock. “It is vitally important that we promote and facilitate cutting edge research and advanced technology development,” said FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo. “This effort will increase the rail industry’s scientific knowledge base while permitting us to exploit the potential of existing technologies and help expand our domestic rail equipment manufacturing capabilities.” The Seattle Times is reporting that the deal gives Sound Transit permanent access to the corridor. The agency is looking to extend commuter service to South Tacoma and Lakewood within two years. The $2.25 one-way fare will not change. MTA Chairman Jay Walder characterized the fare increase on unlimited monthly passes as closing an equity gap, saying “the people who are riding and using it 50 or 60 times are in effect subsidizing the people who are using it much more heavily.” Transit advocates expressed disappointment with the move, while acknowledging that the loss of $130 million in state provided funding did not leave the authority with much choice. MTA’s board will vote on the proposal this October, and fare increases would go into effect in January 2011. These stops are in response to a construction-related cancellation of weekend South Shore Line commuter train service between Gary Metro Center and South Bend. The stops will preserve a passenger train option in the Michigan City area on the selected weekends that work is being done. South Shore just announced that it will operate normal service this weekend, but the shutdown will encompass five weekends between August 28 and November 8. Information about Amtrak’s extra stops are at Amtrak.com. “In the middle of the worst economy we’ve seen, we were able to budget for new locomotives,” Paul Milde, chairman of the VRE operations board, told reporters. “I am confident that when these new locomotives are all put into service that VRE will be better positioned to ease congestion, decrease pollution and improve the quality of life for our riders and the region.” A group of 50 state and local officials gathered in Alexandria, Virginia on July 30 to inaugurate the new locomotives, part of a local, state, and federal investment worth around $77 million. The units are being built in Idaho, and VRE officials revealed that they are more energy efficient, will have fewer mechanical breakdowns then their aging counterparts, and are able to haul up to 10 passenger cars as opposed to six—allowing for easy capacity expansion when VRE expands its passenger railcar fleet. The 80 railcars, valued at $226 million, will be in addition to 300 M-8 model railcars already on order. The cars will be integrated into service as they are completed. The contract, awarded to the Minrav Engineering and Construction firm and Moscow Metrostroy (a Russian firm specializing in tunnel excavation) is for the second segment of the high speed rail line. The first segment has already been completed, and construction on the third and fourth is already underway. The second segment, which includes two parallel tunnels running 2.2 miles each, is the most technically difficult section of the line. Construction is scheduled to take 40 months, and the cost of the entire project is estimated at $1.6 billion. While negotiations are still early, reports suggest that China would finance the construction of the physical infrastructure, and Thailand would provide the necessary land for the project. Aug 13, 2010: Hotline #667Hotline #667 Amtrak announced that ridership figures have shot up on the Lincoln Service/Texas Eagle trains, with more than half a million passengers traveling along the Chicago-St. Louis corridor during the first 10 months of the fiscal year, an increase of 11% over the same period last year. That’s 530,648 riders from October 2009 through July 2010. Illinois received $1.2 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants, which will fund improvements to the corridor and increase speeds. The upgrades are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012. The train served 22,039 customers in July, the second highest single month figure ever (the record was set in July 2001). “The significant improvement of the Missouri River Runner’s on-time performance in the last year is making it a more reliable mode of travel,” said Rod Massman, Missouri Department of Transportation rail administrator. “Growing dependability and better efforts to communicate the benefits of riding the train are drawing more customers to the service.” Taking part in the event were U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff, Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-IL), along with Normal’s Mayor Chris Koos, and Amtrak Board Chairman Tom Carper. The project is partially funded by a $22 million Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from ARRA. The other $25 million was provided by Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grants, and bonds issued by Normal. “With the construction of this multi-modal center, funded with more than $10 million in federal earmarks and a grant through the ARRA, Normal is poised to become a showcase community for the potential of high-speed rail in America,” Senator Durbin told the gathered crowds. “Those federal dollars will create hundreds of jobs in the region and generate millions of dollars in economic activity benefiting the local community. In recent years, the small station—originally built on a parking lot adjacent to Normal’s Town Hall—had been overwhelmed by riders. There were 192,000 passengers last year alone. The new, 68,000-square-foot station will meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, and feature retail, a municipal office space, and a community room. “Stations are one of my great interests–and as a former mayor—I know they are engines of economic development,” said Carper, chairman of the Amtrak board of directors. “We look forward to working with Illinois to realize the economic potential of this rail corridor and further support a growing market for Amtrak.” The list of applications released to the public so far include:
With a valid school-issued ID, students will receive a 15% discount off the regular adult fare on Northeast Regional trains, valid for travel to or from Lynchburg, Ashland, Culpeper, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Newport News, Richmond and Williamsburg The limited-time discount is valid for travel between now and December 31, but purchases must be made before October 31. See AmtrakVirginia.com for full details. Train 714 was carrying 219 passengers on its way south to Bakersfield, when it hit a truck that was blocking the tracks at a speed of 79 mph. The injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, and the remaining passengers were bussed the rest of the way to Bakersfield. Shafter police report that the crossing gates were working when the collision happened. The driver of the truck was uninjured. Some of the increase is attributed to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southern Iceland, which spewed massive clouds of ash and extensively disrupted European airspace, sending travelers scrambling to ground transport. During the disruption, Eurostar ran 70 extra trains and carried 100,000 more passengers than had been scheduled to travel. Eurostar, operator of high-speed trains that run through the tunnel under the English Channel, has also pointed to the strengthening market for business and tourist markets. International travelers—specifically American and Australian tourists—have increasingly viewed riding the high speed service as a must on their European vacations, driving international sales revenue 24% higher than the same period last year. “Whilst our core routes continue to be busy more and more people are opting to travel further afield and explore new destinations by train” said Nicolas Petrovic, Chief Executive of Eurostar. “Forward bookings are looking strong and with the increasing appetite for high speed rail travel in Europe, the trend looks set to continue.” Eurostar has responded to these figures by committing to run an extra 20 trains—four trains every weekend—between London and Paris during the month of August.
Aug 20, 2010: Hotline #668Hotline #668 UPDATED August 23, 2010; 11:00 EST: The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has reported aggregate numbers for the next round of high-speed and intercity passenger rail grants (funded by fiscal 2010 appropriations), announcing that it received 77 applications from 25 states, totaling more than $8.5 billion (there is only $2.3 billion available). Application specifics, however, are being released on a state-by-state basis (see Hotline #667 for more state information):
Unlike grants from the Recovery Act’s $8-billion pot, these grants must be matched by state governments (the federal government pays 80% of total project cost and the state pays 20%). Hence, there are fewer applications than there were for Recovery Act funds, but there is still great state interest in rail improvements. “We know it’s a lot of money, but look at the economic development—this is all about jobs,” Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) told gathered reporters after the State Bond Commission approved the project. “Every town with an interest in this is excited about the prospect of economic development along the way.” The was initially developed through bipartisan negotiations, out of a widely shared understanding that the I-91 corridor, which connects Fairfield County and New York City, was too congested, and was hurting economic development in the area. However, massive state deficits caused by the recession have led some Republicans to do an about face, calling Connecticut’s existing debt-levels worrisome. Democrats have responded by highlighting the jobs the commuter service will create—both near-term through construction work, and long term through connecting Connecticut to the world’s second largest regional economy (New York City is second only to Tokyo). “It is critical that we continue to move this project forward,” House Speaker Chris Donovan said. “Frankly, our economic future is riding on it.” The threats have been linked in the press to comments made by U.S. Transportation Ray LaHood on a visit to announce the delivery of $46.5 million in federal money for the Obama Administration’s flagship transportation program (Wisconsin received $810 million in total from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2008). “This is a national program,” LaHood said. “This administration is committed to high-speed intercity rail. We know elections will take place and we know that some people will get elected and others won’t, but this is a national program. We are committed to it, and high-speed intercity rail is coming to America. High-speed rail is coming to Wisconsin. There’s no stopping it.” The two main contenders for the Republican gubernatorial candidate responded vocally. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker promised “[as] governor, I will stop this train dead in its tracks.” Former Congressman Mark Neumann, meanwhile, told reporters that “(t)his is an Obama wasteful spending boondoggle that I will stop immediately in its tracks as governor.” Proponents of the rail line have highlighted the economic benefits that will come with the service, and the good paying jobs that the project’s construction will bring to the state. The state has already accepted money from the federal government, and begun preliminary work on the line. Wisconsin’s DOT has publically stated that there will be financial fallout from abandoning the project. “I’m not saying it can’t be done,” Paul Trombino, division operations director for the WisDOT, told the Milwaukee Small Business Times. “We have the ability to get out, but there could be significant costs to get out of a contract.” U.S. DOT spokesperson Olivia Alair declined to comment, saying the department wouldn’t speculate about hypothetical situations. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) —both instrumental in securing the funding—were in attendance at an event announcing the award. The money, issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation, would be matched by $534,375 in state funds, and be used to provide studies of alternate alignments; previous iterations of the studies, released in 2009, were deemed too expensive to qualify for federal funding. The new TTC will be build on the site of the Transbay Center, which will be demolished in the first phase of the construction. The station is set to be completed in 2017, and will handle around 45 million passengers annually, across nine different transportation systems—in addition to hosting high speed trains, the station will accommodate San Francisco Municipal Railway, AC Transit, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit and Greyhound. The Los Angeles to San Francisco high speed service is scheduled to be completed by 2020. Officials attending the August 11 ceremony included Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “In 25 years, 85 percent of America will be connected by high-speed rail,” he predicted to a packed crowd at Peoria’s Rotary Club North. “That will be less time than it took to build the highway system, and it will cost about $500 billion.” LaHood, who is a native of Peoria, and served as representative for the Central Illinois district in the U.S. House of Representatives, also said he believed Peoria could be part of the Midwest high speed train network. “Amtrak’s importance in Western states should not be ignored,” Tester wrote in a letter to Obama. “Some of Amtrak’s busiest routes and stations are in the West — as are some of its greatest opportunities for growth and expansion.” The President nominates members to the board, who then have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. There is currently one position open on the nine-person board (which includes Amtrak’s President & CEO and the Secretary of Transportation). Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a similar letter in January 2010. The accident took place on August 17, outside of the town of Lambrecht, Germany around 10:15 a.m. local time. The truck had slipped down an embankment after veering off of a dirt road. Luckily for everyone involved, the train was traveling only 55 mph when it hit the truck, due to the mountainous terrain it was traveling through at the time. Injured passengers were transported to local hospitals, while the remaining 300 passengers were transported to a station in Mannheim by bus, where a special train was arranged to take them the rest of the way to Paris. This offer is valid for passengers taking Amtrak’s Maple Leaf and Empire Service trains to and from the New York State Fair Grounds stop west of Syracuse (station code NYF), and is limited to one free child’s rail fare per adult fare. The promotion is valid for tickets purchased between August 7 and September 3, for travel between August 26 and September 6. Passengers interested in taking part in this offer must use discount code V230 when purchasing tickets. There will be a ceremony honoring Mr. Hogue life on August 28 at Texarkana’s Amtrak station; a bronze plaque will be placed in the station he served for so long. The ceremony begins at 11 a.m., and is open to the public. Texarkana’s train station is located at 100 E. Front St. Aug 27, 2010: Hotline #669Hotline #669 Amtrak’s Keystone service has seen a surge in ridership, carrying over 1.28 million people in fiscal year 2010, a record number of passengers for the line. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), ridership increased by 4% in FY 2010 compared to the same period last year. Ridership has steadily increased on Keystones since 2006, when Pennsylvania and Amtrak completed a joint $145 million project to upgrade service on the line to a top speed of 110 mph, which allows for a 90 minute express service between Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Philadelphia. Since the then, ridership on the line has grown by 40%. PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick told the Patriot-News that the higher speeds, along with increased frequencies (158 trips every week) has been a “powerful combination.” Since its debut on August 19, 2009, the additional train has carried 221,000 riders, bumping up the total ridership for the Cascades route by 21% compared to 2009. The train was originally debuted to provide additional transportation options for the Winter Olympics held in Vancouver this past March. However the success of the train led the Washington State Department of Transportation to extend the train’s operation through September as part of a pilot program. WSDOT has said it is interested in continuing to run a second train if the Canadian Border Services Agency is willing to continue to provide customs and immigration inspectors at Vancouver without charging additional security fees. According to Amtrak spokeswoman Karen Romero, a low-voltage problem forced it to suspend train service between New York City and Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The suspension lasted from 7:45 am until around 9:00 am, although the resulting congestion persisted through much of the day. The exact cause of the malfunction hasn’t been released to the public, although it likely originated closer to Washington. NARP Director Ken Briers, in an interview with the Associated Press, examined some of the difficulties Amtrak is facing with its network. “One of the negatives about an electrified railroad is if anything happens, it’s never minor,” Briers told the AP. “I think they’re moving in the right direction with this system to improve the control with the power supply. But I think there’s a learning curve here, and you’ve got no place to practice, except on your own system.” Connex was the contracted operator of the Southern California commuter railroad’s trains at the time, but decided against re-contracting with Metrolink after the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the Connex-employed engineer’s error. The investigation found that he was sending text messages seconds before the collision. “The reason we went in this direction was our desire to try and get money to the families of victims as soon as possible,” said Richard Katz, vice chairman of the Metrolink board of directors. “By filing this motion in federal court along with Connex, we believe this will take years off litigation and allow families to recover faster.” Paul Kiesel, the coordinating counsel for all the victims and families, claims that $200 million will not cover the damages incurred by the accident. Kiesel has also called for an increase in the federal liability cap. NARP’s Board adopted a resolution on August 5 that argued against raising the liability cap, arguing that existing law allows fair compensation to victims, and raising the cap is likely to “significantly increase the cost of running passenger trains, thereby threatening both existing services and the ability to expand service and introduce new services.” The ceremony, held in North Kingstown, was funded in part by $4.4 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Rhode Island Department of Transportation officials are estimated that the rail line—planned as a green alternative to Interstate-95—will carry around 1,700 passengers per day. “When you break ground on a rail link that will connect a community to Rhode Island’s busiest airport and also to New England’s two largest cities, that’s good news” wrote U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on his official blog. “And when you create jobs in the process, that’s good news.” The $10.5 million renovation—funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act passed in 2009—repaired parts of the station that were badly damaged in 2004 by a hurricane; passengers have been forced to make-do with temporary facilities in the intervening six years. The station will also feature an upgraded concession area and gift shop. “We were almost in a depression and we are beginning to turn it and its with the stimulus dollars we are putting people to work and we are doing exactly what we intended the stimulus dollars to do,” said Brown, who serves as Chairwoman on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads. The station is set to open on October 1. “We wanted to find a way to say yes [to the Army’s request], and we did,” VRE Board Chairman Paul Milde said. “Taking these soldiers off the crowded highways makes sense, and we want to help the Army with its mission.” The commuter railroad will sell 10 passenger cars and three locomotives to the Army for $250,000. The equipment will be used to ferry troops between Fort Lee (near Petersburg, VA) and Fort A.P. Hill (near Bowling Green, VA), 800 to 1,100 people at a time. VRE admitted that the price is relatively low, but pointed to the fact that they bought the railcars for $1 each from a Chicago commuter-railroad when the equipment was 40-years old, and disposal of the equipment would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per car. The commuter railroad has a total of 30 passenger cars it has earmarked to replace, but the board limited the offer to 10 to ensure the availability of backup equipment for daily service. The sale would not affect current service, but—if VRE’s current plan for fleet procurement is adhered to—would limit service expansion until 2015. As of the time of reporting, the Army has yet to accept the offer.
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