National Association of Railroad Passengers: www.narprail.org

Hotline #392

Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta took his “Amtrak Reform Road Show” west of the Rocky Mountains for the first time this week. Mineta came to the Bay Area on Wednesday and Thursday to promote the Bush Administration’s Amtrak reform plan, which he intends to introduce to Congress early next week.

On Wednesday, Mineta rode a special CalTrain “Baby Bullet” train from Milbrae to the CalTrain terminal in San Francisco. Mineta’s appearance was initially reported to promote the federal investment that made the modernization of the San Jose-San Francisco commuter operation possible. However, the event quickly turned to be Amtrak-focused when one reporter told Mineta that Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) had called for Mineta’s resignation at an event held earlier that same day.

“I do wish Norm would consider resigning,” she said. “I don’t understand why someone who has been an advocate for transportation for so many years can do this.” When a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle told Mineta about these comments, he responded, “She should resign, she hasn’t taken up the reform legislation.”

The official statement from DOT for this event stated, in part, “‘If anyone doubts that the President’s and my intercity passenger rail reform plan can work, they should take a closer look at the Baby Bullet service,’ Mineta said after riding the train from Millbrae, CA to San Francisco. ‘Our Amtrak reform plan will give local officials nationwide the ability to follow the Caltrain model to breathe new life into passenger rail travel.’”

Mineta and his staffers moved onto Sacramento on Thursday for another press event. Instead of holding the event at Sacramento’s Amtrak station, the event was held in the press room of the State Capitol building. Members of the public were not permitted in the room. Mineta’s comments followed very closely along the lines of comments made at his other events. Criticism of Amtrak’s on time performance continued, this time targeting Amtrak’s San Joaquin service. The San Joaquins’ on time performance has suffered primarily due to a levee break and washout of the railroad trackbed last June between Stockton and Martinez. On going repairs to this piece of railroad has required extensive single-tracking, two subsequent shutdowns of service which resulted in intense freight train congestion. Such assertions continue Administration patterns of blaming Amtrak for problems that it has no control over.

NARP again thanks all the rail advocates who turned out to spread the truth about Amtrak and passenger rail. Special thanks to NARP board member Jim Salvador and Train Riders Association of California Executive Director Alan Miller for coordinating pro-Amtrak efforts at Thursday’s event, including distribution of a joint NARP-TRAC news release.

A letter from NARP President George L. Chilson to Secretary Mineta was released to the media on Wednesday. The letter focuses on what NARP sees as the shortcomings of the Administration’s proposal. “For these and other reasons, we are gravely concerned that in its zeal to achieve ‘Amtrak reform,’ the Administration has rushed to embrace a plan that is not grounded in reality, ignores critical issues, addresses the wrong problems and proposes “solutions” that, if implemented, would lead not to the improvement but to the demise of all intercity passenger train service in the United States. The letter can be read on our website.

The consequences of a zero-budget request are beginning to affect Amtrak. This week, Standard & Poor’s lowered Amtrak’s debt rating outlook from stable to negative. Reuters reported that, “A negative outlook indicates that S&P is more likely to cut the company’s debt ratings over the next 24 months. Debt ratings cuts can raise a company’s borrowing costs. S&P rates Amtrak’s corporate credit at ‘BBB,’ or two steps above junk status.

The new commuter rail operation between Belen and Bernalillo through Albuquerque, NM will be called the “Rail Runner.” The name and paint scheme, arguable one of the most interesting in North America, were unveiled last week by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. The service is still on target to begin by the end of the year.

One of the largest passenger rail line hubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was announced last Friday by Congressman Kenny Marchant (R-TX) during a news conference in Carrollton, TX. Just under $10 million in federal funding under the proposed TEA-21 renewal (TEA-LU), will go toward the development of what is to be the first suburban transit hub in the region. The center will be a hub for trains to downtown Dallas, Denton to the north, DFW International Airport and Fort Worth to the west and suburbs to the east of the Metroplex. The hub will be an interchange point for light rail, commuter rail and bus services.

Amtrak is a travel option for many Greyhound passengers affected by recent cutbacks. A news released issued on Thursday is similar to one issued after last year’s Greyhound cutbacks. The release is viewable on Amtrak’s website.

A clarification on last week’s news item about the new three day advance purchase requirement for membership discounts: it is actually a three day advance reservation requirement, not purchasing requirement. Reservations must be made 72 hours prior to train departure. Normal hold limit policies and/or ticketing for un-staffed stations still apply, as do refund policies for late trains.

Northeast Corridor Regional service will become all-reserved, seven days a week, effective Monday, April 25. Weekend Regional service has been all-reserved since last November and has been very effective in reducing standee conditions onboard trains. “The positive customer feedback we’ve received from our weekend passengers since November made the decision to implement the all-reserved status seven-days-a-week a natural next step,” said Amtrak Vice President of Marketing, Barbara Richardson. NARP applauds efforts to increase passenger comforts, but has expressed its concern to Amtrak that potential passengers will be turned away and that lines at ticket windows in the Northeast Corridor will be lengthy.