National Association of Railroad Passengers: www.narprail.org

Hotline #445

The House and Senate are on Easter recess and members will return to Washington on April 24.  Since legislators are in their home districts, many will be holding town hall meetings over the next several weeks.  Keep an eye on your local media outlets and attend these important events!  Visit the NARP Action Alert Center and urge your Members of Congress to support Amtrak’s full appropriation request of $1.596 billion plus $275 million of Strategic Investment Options.

NARP submitted a written statement for the record to the House Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, The Judiciary, District of Columbia and Independent Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives.  It can be viewed here on our website.

A bridge 10 miles north of Selma, NC was deemed structurally unsafe upon inspection by CSX Transportation on Wednesday.  All freight and passenger train operations along the Richmond-Florence mainline were suspended until repairs could be made, with service reopening early this morning.  Amtrak trains that were enroute were turned and returned to their points of origin, while the Carolinian and Palmetto operated as far as Rocky Mount, then bussed to Charlotte and Savannah.  Today’s departures of the Silver Star and Meteor are operating with extra sleepers and as many as seven coaches to help accommodate displaced passengers.

Amtrak food service employees held and informational protest and picket on Thursday at Chicago Union Station.  They are rallying against changes to dining car staffing levels which have resulted in about 100 layoffs.  Amtrak really has no choice but to make the so-called “simplified dining service” work.  While some transition pains were to be expected, we have had many positive comments about the new service.

The Virginia Railway Express is one step closer to ordering badly-needed new equipment for its Washington, DC suburban operations.  The deadline to exercise options on 50 additional bi-level railcars (on top of 11 cab cars already on order) is at the end of April and this week the City of Manassas was the final of eight jurisdictions to approve the deal.  $20 million of funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia has already been approved.  The April date is critical as the order must be placed to keep the current production line open and running, saving costs.

The Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago now features free wireless internet access.  Passengers who are in the lounge can point their wi-fi software to the SSID of Amtrak_Met.

Amtrak schedules will change on April 24.  New timetables have been printed and should be in stations soon.  There are no significant changes to train operations.  Schedules have been lengthened on the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, Empire Builder and Lake Shore Limited for summer trackwork.  Selected trips of the Zephyr this summer will detour between Denver and Salt Lake City via. Wyoming for work in and near Moffat Tunnel.  In addition a new overnight train-bus frequency has been initiated between Los Angeles and Emeryville by way of Santa Barbara.