Hotline #642

Hotline #642
February 19, 2010

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $1.5 billion in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants this week, and both passenger and freight rail were the big winners. 

Grants benefitting passenger rail (including rail transit) total $574.1 million (about 38% of the total), while those aiding freight rail add up to $408.8 billion (about 27%). Transit improvement ventures (subway, light rail, streetcar and bus) got $699 million (about 47%), with highways getting almost 30%, and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure about 10%.  A complete list of the projects awarded is at DOT.gov.

The TIGER program, a discretionary grant program in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is one of the key transportation initiatives of the Obama Administration.  The program is intended for to help fund large scale projects that are difficult to fund through normal channels.  Additionally, TIGER is intended to foster a more balanced transportation system, rather than focusing exclusively on roads and highways.

The projects that received the largest amount of money are:

1. Crescent Corridor Intermodal Freight Rail Project (TN, AL) — $105,000,000: aids the continued development of Norfolk Southern’s rail intermodal route from the Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic.
2. CREATE Program Projects (IL) — $100,000,000: a package of 78 projects that address freight rail congestion in the Chicago area—a nationally significant freight bottleneck adversely affecting the delivery of goods throughout the country.
3. National Gateway Freight Rail Corridor (OH, PA, WV, MD) — $98,000,000: a package of rail infrastructure and intermodal terminal projects that will enhance transportation service options along three major freight rail corridors owned and operated by CSX through the Midwest and along the Atlantic coast.
4. Moynihan Station, Phase 1 (NY) $83,000,000: provides substantial improvements for Penn Station in New York City, which serves Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road, and New Jersey Transit.
5. Tucson Modern Streetcar (AZ) $63,000,000: to construct a 3.9 mile modern streetcar line in the City of Tucson that connects the city’s major activity centers.

A head-on collision between two commuter trains outside Brussels resulted in the death of at least 18 people, injured more than 100, and shut down international rail traffic into the Belgian capital on February 15.

Belgian officials reported that the crash took place between a 12 car train heading cross-country and a smaller 6 car shuttle service at the juncture between Belgium’s commuter grid and Europe’s high speed network.  Authorities said they would spend two to three days investigating the crash site before allowing traffic to resume at normal levels.

Around 300 people were involved in the crash, and only 150 emerged unhurt.

“It was a nightmare,” Christian Wampach told the Associated Press after he received medical attention to an injury.  “We were thrown about for about 15 seconds. There were a number of people injured in my car, but I think all the dead were in the first car,”

Authorities are saying one of the trains ran a stop signal, but would not confirm which train.  The tracks at the place of the collision had been equipped with a system designed to automatically bring a train to halt when it passes a stop signal (Congress recently mandated that all lines carrying passengers and hazardous materials be equipped with PTC).  Not all of the train engines have been equipped with the corresponding devices necessary to force a halt, however—including the train involved in the crash.  Noting that this was the same problem Amtrak experienced at Chase, Maryland, in 1987—a Conrail freight locomotive that couldn’t talk to sophisticated signals—one observer said European and U.S. railway officials don’t do a very good job of learning from each other’s experiences. 

In response to the collision, the international train operator Eurostar scrambled to set up chartered buses to provide passengers with alternate means of travel, but was forced to cancel its London-to-Brussels service.

“We are advising passengers to find other ways to Brussels or cancel their trips, Eurostar spokeswoman Aude Criqui told the Wall Street Journal, adding that Eurostar is offering refunds or credits for tickets already booked.

Train service is considered a national treasure in the small nation, which in 1835 became the third country in the world to have passenger train service—behind only the U.S. and the U.K.  However, a combination of the low accident occurrence in train travel and the high cost of rail infrastructure have lessened the incentive to replace aging elements of their rail network; the tracks involved in the outside in Brussels were last replaced in the 1970s and 1980s.


President Barack Obama’s commitment to passenger trains continues to stimulate domestic interest in the rail industry, as a joint venture was announced this week which seeks to challenge the foreign monopoly on intercity passenger railcar manufacturing.

The joint venture is partnership between American Railcar Industries Inc.—an-Arkansas based freight rail manufacturer headed by billionaire investor Carl Icahn—and US Railcar, LLC—an Ohio-based company which recently formed around the assets previously owned by now-defunct Colorado Railcar Manufacturer, which specialized in the production of Diesel Multiple Units (DMU).

“These are extraordinary times and growth opportunities for passenger rail in the U.S.,” said Michael Pracht, president and CEO of the joint venture—named US Railcar Company, LLC—told reporters.

The company will look to challenge the dominance enjoyed here by foreign manufacturers, such as Bombardier (Canada), Siemens (Germany), Alstom (France), and Talgo (Spain).

Initially, railcar production will be take place in two factories which American Railcar Industries owns in Arkansas, that are currently involved in freight railcar production.  The joint venture is reportedly looking to build a factory in the Columbus area; sources within the investment group behind US Railcar say they are working with the Ohio Department of Development to establish a Public Private Partnership towards that end.


Metrolink’s weekend service to Orange County, California will be cut in half, beginning this Saturday.

The move was announced by Metrolink’s board of directors last month, in response to a looming FY2009-2010 budget gap.  The cuts are projected to save the agency around $1 million over the next two fiscal years.

Orange County will now be served by only four trains during weekend, down from eight.  Metrolink also cut two weekday, off-peak hour trains serving Orange County to Inland Empire.


In honor of Black History Month, Amtrak has launched MyBlackJourney.com to commemorate the convergence of the African American experience with America’s national train network.

“By creating MyBlackJourney.com, Amtrak is reaching out to past, present and future customers who are looking for a convenient and relaxing transportation alternative to connect with each other and to visit cultural destinations throughout our vast route system,” Darlene Abubakar, Amtrak’s director of national advertising, announced in a statement.

The advertising campaign highlights Amtrak’s service to cities with vibrant black communities, such as Atlanta, Birmingham, Philadelphia, Memphis, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago—providing information on cultural attractions, museums, historical landmarks, and heritage festivals.

Visitors can also learn about Amtrak’s Travel Scholars program—a scholarship targeted at students attending historically black colleges and universities, provided in partnership with the United Negro College Fund.


Virginia Railway Expresse (VRE) is expected to move forward on a $2.5 million study of the potential environmental impact of an extension of a commuter train line between Gainesville and Haymarket, Virginia, according to a February 18 report by a local news outlet.

The study will look at how additional passenger (and freight) train traffic will affect endangered species, wetlands, flood plains, air quality, and historic sites along the proposed route.

Some Haymarket officials have come out against VRE’s plan—which calls for at least three new train stations—fearing the increased people, business activity, and car traffic that easier commuting will bring.

But Prince William County—which Haymarket resides in—has been experiencing a population explosion in recent years, and high VRE ridership figures and the success of Amtrak’s recent addition of a Lynchburg-Washington, D.C. service will make it hard for Virginia’s transportation planners to ignore the line’s potential.


Senator Frank Lautenberg’s (D-NJ) office released a statement today, revealing that the long-time passenger train advocate has been diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma.  The treatment prognosis is good, and the Senator is expected to make a “full and complete recovery” after six to eight chemotherapy treatments.

Mr. Lautenberg, the second oldest serving Senator, has been the recipient of NARP’s George Falcon Golden Spike award twice, in 1988 and again in 2000.  We wish him a speedy recovery.