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National Association of Railroad Passengers: www.narprail.org
Hotline #604NARP Hotline #604
Joseph Boardman, who has headed up Amtrak since November, told Illinois lawmakers at a meeting in Chicago on Monday that 200 m.p.h. systems are prohibitively expensive and require relatively few stops to take advantage of their higher speed. He considers the Midwest an unlikely fit for high speed rail due to the distances and low density that characterizes a majority of the region’s cities. “It’s really not about the speed. It’s about reduced travel times and more frequency,” Amtrak’s chief officer told the Illinois House Railroad Industry Committee. “The competitive advantage is with the train” Instead, Boardman envisions building up and expanding the current system to allow for trains to reach 110 m.p.h. and increase capacity. This in itself would require a large investment, because of outmoded signaling devices, poor track condition, and the heavy congestion of freight traffic. However, if these choke points and slow-orders were eliminated, trains would compare favorably to travel by highways, where passengers have to deal with congestion and a 55 m.p.h. national speed limit. “The key to going fast is to not go slow,” added Tom Carper, chairman of Amtrak’s Board. According to the DOT’s press release, the grants are intended for projects that will “have a significant impact on the nation, a region or metropolitan area and can create jobs and benefit economically distressed areas.” The grants will be distributed in parcels of $20 million to $300 million. The DOT’s examination of the economic justifications will become far more rigorous for projects over $100 million. “TIGER discretionary funding will open up the door to many new innovative and cutting-edge transportation projects,” said Secretary LaHood in the statement. “This is exciting news and I believe that these projects will promote greater mobility, a cleaner environment and more livable communities.” All modes will be eligible for the grants. Rail should be particularly competitive, since the DOT targets benefits that passenger and freight trains excel in providing, including: improving the quality of living and working environments by fostering livable communities, improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving the safety of U.S. transportation. The legislation has the difficult task of restoring balance to America’s transportation system, and establishing unified, coherent goals for the national network used to move goods and people. “A national surface transportation policy for our country is long overdue,” Senator Lautenberg said in a prepared statement. “We need a transportation policy that reestablishes our leadership throughout the world when it comes to transportation—and meets our country’s transportation demands for generations to come. This legislation will establish a national policy that improves safety, reduces congestion, creates jobs, and protects our environment.” The bill sets ambitious goals for safety, the environment, and congestion reduction. Train and transit advocates should be especially pleased by the inclusion of: • An increase in the total usage of public transportation, intercity passenger rail services, and non-motorized transportation on an annual basis “The United States’ population is projected to rise to 420 million people by 2050, a 50 percent increase from the year 2000. This growth will only exacerbate the congestion and mobility challenges that plague our national surface transportation system today. We need to establish a blueprint for a 21st century surface transportation system,” said Chairman Rockefeller. “This bill does just that. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues on this blueprint as we move forward on reauthorizing and reforming the surface transportation programs.” NARP has opposed the changes announced in June, 2007, that eliminated a link between the new tunnels and New York City’s Penn Station. “We’ve got to explore all of our options and see if we can move forward. There may be a delay in the service,” Mica told Railway Age. “We’ve invested eight years. We have $100 million in public hearings and planning.” Florida’s Department of Transportation has already signaled their intent to save the deal—Governor Charlie Crist is a vocal supporter of SunRail. Mica, a recent winner of the NARP Golden Spike award, seems to be calling in help from on high, with Secretary Ray LaHood going on record to say “commuter rail for Central Florida is important to the state and the nation.” Time may be running out. CSX’s Director of Federal Affairs, Stephen Flippin, stated that the deal between the company and Florida is set to expire June 30. The guidelines for receipt of the $8 billion in high speed rail funds for the recovery act have not been set by the Federal Railroad Administration—the agency has until June 17 to complete the outline. The stimulus money would be a welcome addition to the project. While California voters approved a bond measure last fall which will provide $10 billion for the line, the final projected costs have risen to $45 billion, with CHSRA citing increasing construction expenses; critics of the plan long charged that the first estimates were too low. Proponents of the high speed line are responding to these critics by pointing to the economic benefits of building the line. CHSRA Chairman Quentin Kopp told Reuters that construction would create 150,000 jobs between now and 2025, roughly 450,000 permanent new jobs when completed, and is projected to provide an annual surplus of over $1 billion. The residents of California seem to believe in the project; after a new high-speed rail transit station was announced, commercial property values around sites rumored to be likely selections went up by almost 40%.
The line would be a marvel of civil engineering, traversing a wide variety of rugged terrain. It would also be expensive—both financially (estimates vary on the cost of the 1,500 mile line—from $10 million per mile, all the way up to $45 million) and politically (with fights over the placement of rights of way). State officials in Oregon would be a necessary part of any coalition that sought federal funds. “It’s very, very preliminary,” said Scott Witt, Director of Washington State Department of Transportation, told the Bellingham Herald. “But it makes a lot of sense.” In the shorter term, Washington State will be seeking $900 million in ARRA funds to upgrade service from Seattle to Portland. Witt said Washington and Oregon have invested $1.1 billion in state funds on the line, and that federal funds would allow for long-due upgrades. Officials hope to double the number of daily roundtrips to eight between the cities in two to three years. The announcement will disappoint commuters currently forced to drive on Routes 42 and 55, highways which have been plagued by gridlock and congestion. The commuter line was widely expected to shadow these highways, and provide passengers an alternative. However, DRPA has cited the cheaper $1.3 billion price tag of the Camden to Glassboro route—$1 billion less than the estimate for the Route 42 alignment. DRPA also believes the ridership potential may be greater (18,000 passenger trips a day), due to the ability to route passengers to Philadelphia, via Camden’s Port Authority Transit Co. commuter rail service. Specifically, T4America seeks to reduce per-capita vehicle miles traveled by 16% in 20 years, triple the percentage of Americans who walk, bike and use transit, cut transportation-generated CO2 emissions by 40%, move 20% of the nation’s freight traffic to rail and intermodal services, and increase by 50% the number of essential destinations accessible to the average American without a car. To pay for it all, T4America seeks to create a Unified Transportation Trust Fund and to double the current federal investment in transportation, as long as the new spending achieves the desired outcomes. NARP welcomes these efforts and will continue to work alongside T4America to see that passenger trains and rail transit get a substantial boost from the next surface transportation bill.
Mayor Ray Nagin attended the event, which featured historic exhibits, music, and food. |