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Senate Committee passes S.294;
Gulf Coast group urges Amtrak to restore Sunset Limited
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee passed S.294 on Wednesday. Anti-Amtrak amendments circulated by Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and John Sununu (R-NH) were withdrawn, respectively, on Tuesday and before the mark-up Wednesday. In a prepared statement, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) said, “After several gloomy years, the future of America’s passenger railroad is bright. Our legislation will provide the necessary resources to bring Amtrak up to speed as a real alternative to taking a plane or driving a car.” Also this week, four additional co-sponsors were added to S.294: Claire McCaskill (D-MO), John Warner (R-VA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Ask your Senator to join the list! Our Action Alert Center has details and a full list of co-sponsors.
In a letter to Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant, the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission expressed concern about any plans to formally discontinue the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans and asked for the railroad’s assistance in restoring service. Executive Director Karen Rae wrote to Kummant, “restoration of the Sunset Limited until permanent corridor service is in place...In the post-Katrina environment, basic services most communities take for granted remain insufficient...The federal government must take responsibility to represent the best interests of the Gulf Coast residents to provide mobility and access as mandated in SAFETEA-LU and to adequately represent the most disenfranchised among its citizens.” The full letter is available here on our website. The Amtrak Board did not take any action this week to discontinue the route, although the route’s future is far from certain.
The impending Highway Trust Fund insolvency crisis came up before a House Appropriations Subcommittee again this week. Federal Highway Administrator Richard Capka said “we do not know the precise method that we would use to throttle back on the expenditures we would need to cover.”
Despite a positive meeting on passenger rail (Hotline #496), the Montana Senate rejected funding for a study of restoring passenger rail service across Southern Montana. State Senator Jim Elliott (D-Trout Creek) told the Associated Press that he “doubted a southern passenger route would be financially feasible…‘I believe that Amtrak is kind of like an ugly dog that comes to your door and you don’t have the heart to turn it away and you don’t have the guts to destroy it, so you feed it.’”
Advocates of a carbon tax continue to make their voices heard. Following up our April 13 quoting of the Carbon Tax Center’s Daniel Rosenblum, who argued on the NewsHour about the superiority of a carbon tax over a cap-and-trade scheme, Sen. Chris Dodd last week released an energy plan that includes imposition of a per-ton fee on businesses for carbon emissions. AP said he estimates the tax revenue at about $50 billion annually and would use it to develop renewable energies and to reduce prices for consumer products. (Rosenblum suggested using it to reduce other taxes.) Also, Financial Times on April 25 editorialized—seemingly in agreement with Rosenblum—that a carbon tax would be superior to carbon trading, saying an FT investigation revealed ‘that carbon markets leave much room for unverifiable manipulation. Taxes are better, partly because they are less vulnerable to such improprieties.” FT today published two letters disagreeing with their position.
The United States Olympic Committee has chosen Chicago to be America’s entry for the 2016 Winter Olympic Games. Talk has already begun about how to upgrade transportation infrastructure: and passenger trains are in the discussion. Events would likely be held in neighboring cities, such as Madison, Milwaukee, Bloomington and Springfield, lines that already have Amtrak service. Experts agree that the currently-missing component is a federal-state funding match for capital investment—a problem which enactment of S.294 would help solve.
Oregon officials have agreed to study extension of the currently-under construction Wilsonville-Beaverton commuter rail line south to Salem. The 15 mile line is due to open in 2008 and will have an interchange with Tri-Met light rail service at the Beaverton Transit Center. Local legislators argue that an extension to Salem is logical and will increase ridership.
Amtrak and Union Pacific have agreed upon a schedule change for the California Zephyr which currently cannot make its schedule due to tie conditions. Effective June 13, the eastbound Zephyr will leave Emeryville two hours earlier at 7:10 a.m. and Salt Lake City-Chicago times will be one hour later than the current timetable shows. Westbound, the train will have its current schedule from Chicago to Salt Lake City, adding three hours west of there, for a 7:50 p.m. arrival at Emeryville (vs. 4:49 p.m. today). The agreement between Amtrak and Union Pacific calls for time to be removed from the schedule as work is completed.
Some Zephyr trips again this year will bypass the Colorado Rockies in favor of Wyoming. Specific dates are not yet available but should be soon.
If you watch C-SPAN coverage of the House of Representatives, you know the “Voice of the House,” Paul Hays. As one of two House Reading Clerks, his rhythmic, baritone voice is familiar to legislators and viewers nationwide. Hays will retire on April 30 after 19 years on the job; he was first hired to work on the Hill in 1966.
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