National Association of Railroad Passengers: www.narprail.org

Hotline #547

The Senate Appropriations Transportation subcommittee, chaired by Patty Murray (D-WA), held a hearing to consider surface transportation on Thursday, with one panel covering highways and transit and the other devoted to Amtrak.  The latter included Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman, Amtrak Chairman Donna McLean and President Alex Kummant, USDOT Assistant Inspector General David Tornquist, and Transportation Communications International Union VP Joel Parker.  Complete audio of the hearing is available online (Real Player format).

Much of the first panel dealt with the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund, and the Amtrak panel considered at length the question of the $114 million which Amtrak says it needs as a special appropriation in order to pay the FY 2009 (second and final) phase of the back pay which the Presidential Emergency Board recommended the unions get, but which Amtrak has not specifically requested even though saying it needs Congress to appropriate it in order for it to be paid.

Tornquist said that Amtrak could pay the unions out of the anticipated end-of-year cash balance of $268.7 million, but Kummant said it was too early to project such an end-of-year balance.  He also cautioned that, last year, Amtrak came within three weeks of running out of cash “by the time we got our first [federal] grant in February.”

Under the new Amtrak/union agreements, Amtrak (at the discretion of its board) has the right to notify the unions next year that funding is not adequate to provide the second tranche of back pay, due 12 months after the agreements were , and the unions could strike 60 days thereafter.

Tornquist, while saying Amtrak “has benefited from the strong leadership” of McLean and Kummant, said Amtrak’s 2009 budget has no new reforms that produce operating savings. Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), the subcommittee’s ranking member, zeroed in on this, calling it “a great big black hole” in Amtrak’s 2009 budget request, which contrasted with $61.3 million in savings in FY 2005, $52.8 million in 2006, and $40.3 million in 2007.  Kummant responded that significant reforms are in the works but they will take longer to produce bottom-line results.  This includes Amtrak’s increased work with the states and efforts to increase state payments; reconfiguring mechanical aspects of Amtrak operations; and the development of e-ticketing.  He reminded senators that “the food reforms continue,” but the Inspector General doesn’t count that as a “new” reform.

Bond also highlighted that the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) supported no work rule reforms, saying he had tried to have a PEB witness and speculated that this was because they did not want to defend their “no work rule change” recommendation.  Parker, however, said “no one could possibly call this a pro-labor Board.” He said the 2.6% a year pay increases, net of employee health contributions, was modest.  Parker also said “for the first time, in a long time, labor peace is possible on Amtrak.”

As on the House side, Boardman was pressed as to how Amtrak could avoid bankruptcy if the Administration’s budget request was adopted, after Tornquist and Amtrak leaders said bankruptcy would be unavoidable (Kummant qualifying his answer, “in the absence of draconian change”). Boardman said the states could pay more, starting with New York, which pays nothing for the legacy Empire Corridor service. He referred also to e-ticketing and mechanical issues earlier cited by Kummant, but Kummant here reminded senators that “we have to spend the money first” before those operating savings could be realized.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) reminded everyone of the congestion and energy issues that make trains so important.  He questioned Tornquist about the on-time performance study done at Lautenberg’s request, completed on March 28 and released on April 1 (see next item).  Tornquist said the assumption of 85% on-time performance on non-Northeast Corridor trains is what produced the $136.6 million bottom-line improvement opportunity.  Lateness factors cited by Tornquist were inadequate track capacity, host railroad operating practices, and factors beyond those railroads’ control.

On April 1, the USDOT Office of the Inspector General released the above-referenced report on the fiscal impact of Amtrak’s timekeeping issues.  “Effects of Amtrak’s Poor On–Time Performance” reflects the above testimony by Assistant IG David Tornquist that improving non-Northeast Corridor on-time performance to 85% could reduce Amtrak’s operating loss by 30 percent.  Sen. Lautenberg, who requested the study, said in a press release, “This report puts in real dollars what these delays are costing Amtrak, taxpayers and rail travelers.  Passengers shouldn’t have to miss their meetings or family engagements because a freight train is blocking the tracks.  With high gas prices, widespread traffic congestion and flight delays the norm, we must ensure passenger rail is a reliable option for travelers.” The release also noted that passenger rail reauthorization bill S.294, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (which passed the Senate by a veto-proof margin and awaits House action), contains provisions to improve on-time performance.

NARP Executive Director Ross Capon testified April 1 in New York City regarding the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel as part of Access to the Region’s Core.  He urged New Jersey Transit to restore the originally planned link between the new Hudson River tunnels and existing New York Pennsylvania Station (NYP).  FTA held the federally-required hearing to review the tunnel project’s Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS).  The so-called “refinements” from last year’s DEIS include elimination of that link, so that the new tunnels would run only to a new 34th Street Station which advocates believe is so deep as to make the long-sought extension to Grand Central Terminal economically prohibitive.

In his testimony, Capon spoke against $7.6 billion to create new tunnels that would add zero redundancy or operational flexibility to New York City’s intercity train services and make prospective cross-NYC regional services like Trenton-Stamford just as vulnerable.  He noted that, even without a temporary or, “heaven forbid,” long-term closure of the existing tunnels, the conflict between growing demand for weekend service and maintenance requirements which must be handled during the weekends cries out for the kind of operational flexibility that would result from linking the new tunnels to NYP.

Therefore, even after spending this $7.6 billion, should the existing tunnels be withdrawn from service, NYP would lose all service to New Jersey—both Amtrak and NJT.  Amtrak, and some NJT trains that now serve Manhattan, would have to terminate at Newark.  Short-term impact: massive diversion of travelers to motor vehicles and airplanes.  Long-term impact: serious threat to New York City’s economic viability.  Result of both short- and long-term impacts: reliance on less energy-efficient modes of transportation.

Yet, at Tuesday’s hearing, environmental organizations applauded the “refinements;” evidently the ability of New York City to function without the two 100-year-old tunnels is less important than avoiding cut-and-cover work through the city’s new Hudson River Park and avoiding the need to cut through a historic Hudson River bulkhead.

The record remains open until April 28 for written testimony, which may be sent to .

Two domestic airlines ceased operations this week amid continuing price competition and crushing fuel costs that especially impacted older aircraft fleets.  Honolulu-based Aloha Airlines, which had flown since 1946, ended passenger service on March 31 (though continues cargo service while it attempts to sell that division), ten days after entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time since 2006.  Aloha cited “unfair competition,” a veiled reference to low-cost inter-island carrier go!, a subsidiary of Mesa Airlines.  Aloha flew fuel-inefficient Boeing 737-200s (a model that lacked modern turbofan engines and was first built in 1965) on its inter-island flights.

Indianapolis-based ATA Airlines, which began service in 1973 as Ambassadair, entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 2, also for the second time since 2006.  ATA abruptly halted all operations in the early morning of April 3.  ATA cited the non-renewal of a longtime FedEx-facilitated military charter contract, the “dramatic and unprecedented increase in the price of jet fuel in recent months,” and the inability to raise further capital to continue operations.  ATA flew several gas-guzzling Boeing 757-200s, and its charter fleet consisted mainly of elderly Lockheed L-1011 Tristars and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.

The one-two punch of Aloha and ATA shutting down left thousands of passengers scrambling to find alternate (and often costly) arrangements, as both airlines had provided significant capacity between Hawaii and the Mainland.  The impact was also acute for customers of Southwest Airlines, which had a stake in ATA during the previous bankruptcy (Southwest continued to codeshare with ATA to provide service to cities not served by Southwest, particularly in Hawaii and Mexico).

This week, Bloomington, MN-based charter airline Champion Air – founded in 1995 – also announced that it would cease all operations on May 31.  Champion noted that “the run-up in fuel prices strongly impacted Champion’s fleet of three-engine Boeing 727s and that both the overall economic slowdown and the tight credit markets had a strong, negative impact on the airline’s business prospects and its efforts to attract investors.”

Last month, Billings-based regional airline Big Sky Airlines – founded in 1978 – ceased operations, ending service on March 8 in the wake of record fuel prices and losing a contract to operate as Delta Connection.  Many towns in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming are currently without Essential Air Service while a new operator – presumably Cheyenne-based Great Lakes Airlines – is chosen.

Northwest Airlines will mimic cost-cutting moves that Delta and United had announced within the past few weeks.  Northwest, which emerged from Chapter 11 last year, will cut its domestic flight schedule by 5 percent in September, continue to increase international fuel surcharges, and freeze the hiring of new pilots and flight attendants.  Northwest President and CEO Doug Steenland noted that “the price of oil has risen dramatically to all-time highs and there is no reasonable basis to conclude that oil prices will materially decline anytime soon.  Against that backdrop, Northwest is also expected to ground up to 20 planes of varying models.  Northwest is the largest remaining operator of McDonnell Douglas DC-9s, some of the oldest and least fuel-efficient planes in the sky.

The US Environmental Protection Agency was served with a lawsuit on Wednesday from 17 states, the District of Columbia, the cities of New York and Baltimore, and 11 environmental groups for failing to regulate CO2 emissions in the wake of an April, 2007 Supreme Court decision.  The ruling from the High Court held that CO2 emitted from the burning of fossil fuels is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, within the EPA’s jurisdiction to regulate.  The lawsuit seeks to compel the EPA to act within 60 days.

Transport for London announced that the city’s urban congestion charge will be transformed in October from a $16 daily surcharge for all vehicles driving into the city center to a $50 daily emissions fee on gas-guzzling vehicles driving in.  Fuel-efficient vehicles will not be subject to any fee.  The plan comes after an announcement from London Mayor Ken Livingstone that trucks entering the city center would have to pay a $400 fee to mitigate their emissions.

Meanwhile, the City Council of New York this week approved its draft congestion fee plan for Midtown and Lower Manhattan.  The proposal must be approved by the State Legislature before it can qualify for federal funding.

Union Pacific announced in a message to customers yesterday that it “expect[s] to be able to begin limited operations… during the second week of April” on the landslide-damaged line through Frazier, OR that has hampered Amtrak’s Coast Starlight since January 19.  “Normal service levels should be restored in late spring,” the message continues.  The Eugene Register-Guard reported on Wednesday that nighttime freight service could begin as early as tomorrow.  There would be a limited window for overnight operations (outside of the window that Amtrak normally operates through the area), with cleanup and repair efforts continuing for the majority of hours during the day.

For today and today only, Amtrak is selling Buy One, Get One Free tickets for use on Saturday, May 10 (National Train Day) only.  Use promotion code H768 and see Amtrak’s web site for more details.

Demonstrators marched from Penn Station to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City on Wednesday to protest the practice of US Customs and Border Protection agents boarding Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses within the US (but near the Canadian and Mexican borders) at random to perform citizenship checks.  Amtrak and Greyhound both maintain that they simply comply with law enforcement requests.  NARP has repeatedly urged Amtrak to work with CBP to minimize passenger delays associated with these checks.

Boston-New York Amtrak service will cease from Saturday, June 14 to Tuesday, June 17, except for a single schedule via Springfield which includes use of the Lake Shore Limited and changing trains at Springfield.  Amtrak is using the window to cut in the new Thames River Bridge in Groton, CT and perform a track maintenance blitz.  NARP has expressed concern to Amtrak over its near-total abandonment of this key market for four days, with no plans for through cars via Springfield or any kind of bus bridge, such as Boston-Hartford or New Haven-Providence.

Amtrak service west of Albany-Rensselaer, NY was disrupted yesterday after a CSX coal train derailed in Palmyra, east of Rochester.  Empire Service west of Rensselaer was cancelled; bus bridges were provided for Lake Shore Limited passengers (between Rensselaer and Buffalo) and Maple Leaf passengers (between Syracuse and Niagara Falls).

NARP’s final regional meeting of the season, Region 12, will take place in Sacramento on April 19.