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Jul 23, 2010: Hotline #664

Hotline #664
Friday, July 23, 2010
Amtrak today revealed the implementation of the first step in its long term fleet renewal plan, announcing the purchase of 130 new single-level railcars for the long distance network.
The order is worth $298.1 million over five years, with the first cars scheduled to be completed in October 2012.  The contract was awarded to CAF USA, an Elmira, New York based manufacturer, and will create 575 manufacturing and final assembly jobs.
“We are replacing and renewing our fleet to improve reliability of our operations, to meet passenger expectations for quality service and to be in a better position to handle the growing demand for more passenger rail service” said Amtrak Chairman Thomas Carper.  “Addressing Amtrak’s equipment need is long overdue.”
Amtrak President & CEO Joseph Boardman revealed that the 130 single-level passenger rail cars will be similar to the popular Viewliner model.  Amtrak will get 25 sleeping cars, 25 diners, 55 baggage cars, and 25 baggage/dormitory cars, primarily for use on long-distance routes.  These new cars will allow Amtrak to begin to remove some of its oldest cars—dating back to the 1940s and 1950s—from service. The new baggage cars will include bicycle racks to accommodate unboxed bicycles, and the new passenger cars will have improved heating and air conditioning systems and will be more easily accessible to those with disabilities.
NARP Chairman Robert Stewart praised the move, which the Association has been strongly advocating for:
“NARP is very excited about the announcement today—this is the first new order of equipment since the Acela was purchased for the Northeast Corridor in the late 1990’s.  This needs to be just the beginning of new cars for Amtrak.  New equipment is needed all across the country, which will allow Amtrak to improve reliability, increase capacity, and look at new opportunities for increased service.  NARP will continue to push for additional funding for more equipment for Amtrak.  We congratulate Amtrak on taking the first step.”


The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has reached an agreement with Union Pacific that will clear the way for construction work to begin on the initial segment of the Chicago to St. Louis high speed rail line.
Governor Pat Quinn announced on July 22 that work will begin in September on a 90 mile segment of track owned by Union Pacific, upgrading it to accommodate high speed trains.  The project—funded by the Recovery Act’s high speed rail grants—will cost $98 million, and will create around 900 jobs.
“Today’s announcement will create hundreds of jobs and is a major step towards making high-speed rail a reality in Illinois,” said Governor Quinn. “When the corridor is completed, travelers will be able to move from Chicago to St. Louis in under four hours, making Illinois the high-speed rail hub of the Midwest.”
The project is the first piece in a larger plan to run high speed trains on the entirety of the Chicago to St. Louis rail corridor.  Illinois was awarded $1.2 billion in Recovery Act high speed rail funds during the first round of applications.  The second round of grants will be announced this fall.


The Senate Appropriations Committee met on July 22 to mark up the Fiscal Year 2011 budget, approving a transportation bill that would give Amtrak breathing room in the face of possible service reductions and furloughs, providing some possibility of near-term flexibility in meeting surging demands in ridership, but would more than halve the funding for the popular high speed rail program.
The committee, headed by Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), approved a “Chairman’s mark” that would provide $1.963 billion for Amtrak, $666 million short of what the passenger railroad requested, but $196.5 million more than House appropriators—who approved their bill at a hearing held yesterday—and roughly $363 million over what the Obama Administration requested.  It is unclear how these numbers would fit into Amtrak’s financial plan, which contains key elements of a critical fleet renewal and reinvestment strategy, necessary to replace their aging fleet of railcars. 

Fleet renewal would enable Amtrak both to accommodate rising public demand for trains (the railroad set a new record for ridership for the first half of this fiscal year), and to revitalize the U.S. passenger railcar production industry, creating much needed domestic manufacturing jobs.  Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO), the Transportation subcommittee’s fiscally conservative ranking member, acknowledged yesterday the necessity of Amtrak’s fleet request, while expressing disapproval of the manner in which it was presented.
The Senate took a big step backward with the high speed rail program, however, providing only $1 billion—$400 million less than what the House Appropriation Committee approved, and less than half the $2.5 billion the program received last year.  States have lined up to apply for high speed rail grants at roughly the rate of $54 requested for every $1 available.  The grant money in this inaugural program has recently started to flow, creating engineering and construction work on high- and higher-speed lines beginning in Florida, Vermont, North Carolina, and Chicago/Missouri.  The lack of infrastructure investment in this transformational program is a missed opportunity, and—with the U.S. construction industry unemployment rate hovering around 20% in June—foregoes a much needed job creation initiative.


The case for increased passenger train investment was strengthened by the Department of Energy’s latest annual Transportation Energy Data Book (released June 30), which shows that Amtrak’s trains are now an even more energy efficiency way to travel, especially compared to cars and planes.
In 2008—measured on a per-passenger-mile basis—Amtrak improved from 2007 both in absolute terms and relative to cars and domestic air service.  Amtrak in 2008 was more energy efficient than cars and airlines, respectively, by 20% and 30% (up from 19% and 28% in 2007).  Amtrak’s 2008 performance was 4.7% improved as the railroad used 2,398 BTUs per passenger-mile, down from 2,516 in 2007.
It is also noteworthy that Amtrak in 2008 was 34% more energy efficient than personal trucks; personal trucks (including pickups and SUVs) account for a significant amount of travel – 1.7 trillion passenger-miles vs. 2.6 trillion for cars.


Amtrak’s Cascades service is seeing double digit growth numbers for the first half of this year, the best ridership figures in over 16 years.
The second quarter of fiscal year 2010 saw the most passengers since 1994, with 214,641 trips, an increase of 12%—or 25,000 trips—over the same period of last year.  This follows a record breaking first quarter for the Cascades service, as well, which saw an increase of nearly 34,000 riders over the first quarter in 2009.
“The growth of Amtrak Cascades this year has been phenomenal and is a strong indicator of the demand for this service” said Scott Witt, State Rail and Marine Director. “Combined with the addition of the second train service to Vancouver, B.C. and a strong summer travel season, Amtrak Cascades is on pace to finish 2010 with the highest ridership ever.”
The line received a boost from the winter Olympics that took place in Vancouver.  But the convenience of additional frequency has led to record breaking April, May, and June figures, as well.


A Federal Transit Administration (FTA) study released on July 21 put the cost of bringing the U.S.’s rail and bus transit systems into a state of good repair at $77.7 billion.  Around 60% of the maintenance backlog is associated with light rail, commuter rail, and streetcars.
The FTA’s National State of Good Repair Assessment Study—based on data from 36 urban and rural transit systems around the nation—goes onto identify the average cost of maintaining the system at $14.4 billion per year——on top of the $77 billion required to deal with the existing maintenance backlog.
“Transit remains one of the safest forms of transportation, but this report shows the clear need to reinvest in our bus, subway and light rail systems,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.  “As a nation, we must lead when it comes to infrastructure development and commit ourselves to rebuilding America.”
The FTA announced a $775 million State of Good Repair competitive grant program in April, but the transit administration saw a response approximately 400 project applications equaling more than $4.2 billion.  And Concerns about the national debt have seen Congressional appropriators unwilling to provide the necessary levels of investment in America’s physical infrastructure.
“Investment in the nation’s transit infrastructure is important to a healthy economy and most importantly, the safety and well-being of our riders,” stated Administrator Peter Rogoff. “For millions of Americans, having a safe and reliable transit system is the difference between seeing their children before bed or not, making it to work on time or arriving late, or getting to a doctor’s appointment or foregoing it.”


A deadly train accident in eastern India killed more than 60 passengers on July 19, and injured more than 165 people, 89 of them seriously.
The accident—which occurred during the Monday morning commute, 160 miles north of Kolkata—involved an express train slamming into a stationary passenger car.
India’s National Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee, told reporters that he would not rule out the possibility that incident was a terrorist attack.  West Bengal’s Civil Defense Minister Srikumar Mukherjee has countered that no evidence sabotage exists.
“It’s not an act of sabotage. The tragic accident took place because of negligence on the part of the railway administration,” Mukherjee told the Agence France-Presse.
There was a deadly crash in May that took the lives of over 150 passengers, which the Indian Railway Ministry blamed on Maoist rebels; a spokesman for the rebel group has denied responsibility.


New York State’s public authority board has given the green light for the first stage of the Moynihan Station construction to go forward, clearing the way for construction to begin in October.
The first stage of the construction—a $267 million renovation of the James A. Farley Post Office, located directly across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station—is scheduled to be completed by 2016, and would ease congestion in Penn Station, which sees over 600,000 passengers a day.  The construction, funded by federal Recovery Act funds, will expand the passage connecting the Farley Post Office and Penn Station, creating 400 jobs a year in the process.  Due to the all-but-certain elimination of a planned link between the new tunnels being built under the Hudson, Moynihan Station will serve mostly Amtrak trains.
The second leg of that renovation—estimated at $1.5 to $2 billion—will create a grand hall with room for retail and restaurant space.


The Federal Railroad Administration has ordered ten states to come up with plans to reduce the number of grade crossing collisions within their borders, or face losing millions of dollars in federal rail grants.
The ten states with the most crossing collisions—California, Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, Louisiana, Ohio, Alabama, Florida, and Iowa—have actually been seeing a reduction in the number of collisions, compared to what was seen last decade.  But the Department of Transportation has vocally set safety as its number one priority across all modes of transportation.
“The numbers are trending in the right way, but we would still like to see the number of incidents reduced substantially,” said FRA spokesman Rob Kulat.  “Zero is the ultimate goal.”
The new rule—which goes into effect in late August—requires states to submit a plan to the FRA within one year to separate or close down problem crossings, and fully implement the plans within five years.

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