Voinovich-Chafee Bill Lets States Spend Funds on Passenger Rail - May 28, 1999
Amtrak Conductor J. F. Garrard Wins Burch Safety Award - April 21, 1999
Rail Passengers Honor Wisconsin Governor Thompson - April 21, 1999
NARP Testifies for Full Funding of Amtrak and High Speed Rail in Fiscal Year 2000 - February 10, 1999
NARP Praises Amtrak Number in Clinton Budget; Is Concerned About ‘High Speed’ Funding - February 2, 1999
NARP Favors Stepped-Up Investment in Midwest Intercity Passenger Rail Corridors - January 28, 1999

VOINOVICH-CHAFEE BILL LETS STATES SPEND FUNDS ON PASSENGER RAIL
May 28, 1999

Senators George V. Voinovich (R-OH) and John H. Chafee (R-RI) yesterday introduced a bill that would let states spend their flexible "TEA-21" dollars on intercity passenger rail investments. Chafee chairs the Committee on Environment and Public Works; Voinovich chairs its Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure. TEA-21 is the big highway/transit law enacted last year. The new flexibility in S.1144, dubbed the "Surface Transportation Act of 1999," applies to National Highway System, Surface Transportation Program and - in certain situations - Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds. Under current law, intercity passenger rail is the only major form of surface transportation on which federal law forbids states to spend gasoline-tax-generated funds. (Some state gasoline-tax funds are spent on intercity passenger rail.) The bill also includes sections on the State Infrastructure Bank Program and a handful of other changes to transportation law.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon hailed the bill, saying its enactment "would be an important step towards creating the balanced, intermodal transportation system the traveling public needs and wants, and towards giving states the right to make important choices now denied them. Today, state rail officials are handicapped when pressing for state rail investments because their work is supported by little or no federal matching funds, in sharp contrast with generous federal funding for highways and aviation. We are grateful to Senators Chafee and Voinovich for taking this initiative."

The "Amtrak flexibility" concept embodied in S.1144 was endorsed earlier this year in Congressional testimony by the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Counties, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the League of Cities.

Original co-sponsors of the bill are: John H. Chafee (R-RI, chairman of the full committee), Jim M. Jeffords (R-VT), Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), John W. Warner (R-VA), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Harry Reid (D-NV), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT).

In separate actions, Amtrak's Fiscal Year 2000 appropriations request of $571 million, and the right to spend these funds on maintenance work, was approved by appropriations subcommittees in the Senate (May 25) and House (May 27) and by the full Senate Appropriations Committee (May 27). The outcome of full committee action in the House - which could come as early as June 8 - was less certain.

AMTRAK CONDUCTOR J. F. GARRARD WINS BURCH SAFETY AWARD
April 21, 1999

The National Association of Railroad Passengers tomorrow will present the Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award for 1998 to J. F. "Frank" Garrard, a Jacksonville-based conductor with Amtrak. The annual Award goes to the individual judged to have done the most to enhance rail passenger safety. The award honors the memory of a victim of a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina. The Burch family has sponsored the award since its establishment in 1994. The award will be presented at the Association’s annual Washington reception, at the Columbus Club in Union Station. The reception is 6:00-8:00 pm; presentation likely between 6:30-7:15 pm.

The selection committee noted Garrard’s long interest in safety. He spoke to public groups about safety while employed by Seaboard Coast Line and, after 1986, by Amtrak, all on his own initiative. Garrard received extensive training under Amtrak that enhanced his knowledge of safety and his ability as a presenter. In recent years, he has trained all Amtrak train and engine crews in his area in using fire extinguishers. For emergency response personnel, he developed a training course specific to passenger train accidents. Garrard prepares and copies his own materials; he even carries an actual passenger-car emergency window. In the past four years, he has made presentations in over 40 Florida and Georgia communities to over 3000 emergency response personnel.

RAIL PASSENGERS HONOR WISCONSIN GOVERNOR THOMPSON
April 21, 1999

The National Association of Railroad Passengers tomorrow (Thursday) will present the George Falcon Golden Spike Award to the Governor of Wisconsin and Chairman of the Amtrak Board, Tommy G. Thompson. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, at the Columbus Club in Union Station, at about 6:15 pm.

The Award honors Governor Thompson as a "champion" of "intercity passenger rail improvements nationwide" and for his recognition of the need for a true national system, and notes that he has devoted an "impressive amount of time...to his work as Chairman of Amtrak."

NARP President John R. Martin, who will present the award, said, "we particularly appreciate Governor Thompson's effective, persuasive and tireless efforts in carrying to Congress the message that passenger rail enjoys broad, bipartisan support. The Governor also deserves much of the credit for instituting a state passenger rail program in Wisconsin and for that state’s leadership role in the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.  Equally important, he continues to advance the concept of giving all states the flexibility to spend their federal transportation funds on passenger rail."

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan, independent membership group dedicated to educating the public about the benefits of rail travel.

NARP TESTIFIES FOR FULL FUNDING OF AMTRAK AND HIGH SPEED RAIL IN FISCAL YEAR 2000
February 10, 1999

In testimony today before the House Appropriations Subcommitee on Transportation, Ross B. Capon, Executive Director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, strongly urged Chairman Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) to provide full funding for Amtrak at $571 million and high speed rail at $99.25 million. The latter figure includes a total of $44 million authorized for FY 1998 and FY 1999 but never requested or appropriated.

President Clinton’s budget released last week included the full $571 million called for in Amtrak’s business plan ($38 million below the current level). However, his budget severely shortchanged high-speed rail. He requested just $12 million in regular, "general funds," compared with $24 million today, plus $5.75 million in hazard-elimination (mostly grade-crossing) funding "guaranteed" by the big TEA-21 transportation law. The Clinton budget also gives high-speed rail $35 million in so-called "revenue-aligned budget authority," which NARP supports but Congress may not accept.

Capon thanked Wolf for his role in securing full funding for Amtrak during the current year. Capon said, "not only does rail get the short end of the stick in federal transportation funding, but -- whereas road and aviation programs are structured to encourage maximum contributions at the state and local level -- rail passenger programs are not." He said an important step towards change would be to provide high-speed-rail planning money, which would go to the states. Planning has been authorized at $10 million a year starting in FY 1998 but never funded.

Capon submitted a written statement (available on request) which noted that high speed rail funding will help improve Amtrak’s bottom line, and that travel on Amtrak trains is growing for the third straight year, passenger revenues for the fourth straight year. Passenger revenues rose 3% in FY 1996, 7% in FY 1997, 4% in FY 1998 and 7% in the First Quarter of FY 1999. Travel (measured in passenger-miles) rose 2% in FY 1997, 3% in FY 1998 and 1.5% in the First Quarter of FY 1999.

NARP PRAISES AMTRAK NUMBER IN CLINTON BUDGET; IS CONCERNED ABOUT 'HIGH SPEED' FUNDING
February 2, 1999

The National Association of Railroad Passengers expressed satisfaction that President Clinton’s fiscal 2000 budget, unveiled today, includes the $571 million for Amtrak promised in Administration testimony a year ago. At the same time, the Association expressed concern about the amount and form of high speed rail funding for corridors nationwide.

Excluding $5.25 million a year in "guaranteed" funding for hazard-elimination work in designated high-speed corridors, $89 million should be appropriated for all work in such corridors, including a total of $34 million authorized but never appropriated for fiscal years 1998 and 1999.

Out of this, the Administration proposes proposes only $12 million in "real funds." This is for a much-reduced technology improvements program (the so-called "Next Generation High-Speed Rail program," authorized for $25 million a year and funded this year at $24 million). Nothing is proposed for planning (authorized in the big TEA-21 transportation law at $10 million a year).

For the remaining programs -- hazard elimination work (including highway/railroad grade crossings), and new programs for "positive train control" and "nationwide differential global positioning system" -- a total of $35 million in "soft money" is designated, that is, money the Administration wants to earmark from "excess" gasoline-tax revenues. It is not clear whether Congress will accept these redesignations, as TEA-21 contemplates all of the "excess" going to highways.

Said NARP Executive Ross Capon: "Within the past three months, Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater has given three strong, upbeat speeches on developing rail corridors: in New Orleans on November 18, in Charlotte on December 1 and in Chicago last Thursday. These speeches have raised expectations. They have substantially increased the route mileage eligible for federal high speed funds, and thus the need for these funds. To have President Clinton's request fall so far short of the authorized level is disappointing, to say the least. We believe planning funds are vital. We strongly support the concept of reallocating some 'extra' gasoline-tax revenues to rail, but we do not want adequate funding for passenger rail held hostage to the outcome of this debate."

The Clinton proposal should be seen in the context of continuing big increases in other parts of the transportation department:
 

		($ millions)
	Fiscal 1999 enacted	Fiscal 2000 Clinton request	percent change
Federal Highway	27,367	28,549	+ 4
National Highway Traffic Safety	360	404	+12
Federal Aviation	9,754	10,131	+13
Federal Transit	5,388	6,088	+13
Federal Railroad (includes Amtrak)	778	746	- 4

Congress has the opportunity to increase high speed funding, as it has increased Amtrak funding in many past years. These factors are relevant:

• The Congressional Budget Office on January 29 announced new projections that "non-Social-Security-accounts" would have a budget surplus of nearly $800 million over the next ten years.
• The public strongly supports improvements in intercity passenger rail service.
• Congress allows only Vermont to spend flexible surface transportation funds in TEA-21 on intercity passenger rail (although this money can be spent on most other forms of surface transportation).
• The $42 million in added dollars needed to fully fund existing high-speed rail authorizations equals just 0.15% of proposed FY 2000 federal highway spending.
• A major part of work on high speed corridors improves highway safety as well by eliminating highway/railroad grade crossings or upgrading the equipment that warns motorists or protects against collisions.

NARP FAVORS STEPPED-UP INVESTMENT IN MIDWEST INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL CORRIDORS
January 28, 1999

The National Association of Railroad Passengers strongly supports aggressive investment to improve frequencies, speeds and comfort levels for intercity rail travelers in the Midwest. We applaud the $25 million commitment Amtrak announced today as a vital early step. This includes $5 million for a South Chicago rail connection giving Carbondale/New Orleans trains direct access to Chicago’s Union Station (ending a circuitous back-up move), and a total of $5 million for important station work in St. Louis, Kansas City and Milwaukee. That improvements are so badly needed is largely a reflection of the fact that the federal government provides a generous share of funding -- usually 80% -- for major state highway and aviation projects but does not do this for rail projects.

Indeed, Congress repeatedly has refused to allow states to use flexible surface transportation funds for intercity passenger rail, although these funds can be used for most other types of surface transportation, including bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways. The one "crack in the wall" is that Vermont gained full flexibility to use these funds for intercity passenger rail in the FY 1999 appropriations law.

The "base" of federal funding from which we must build includes winning these key items in the FY 2000 transportation appropriations bill:

• Full funding of Amtrak’s $571 million request;
• Full funding of the federal nationwide high speed rail program at $89 million (including $34 million authorized for Fiscal 1998 and 1999 but never appropriated).

The President will announce his Fiscal 2000 budget request Monday [February 1]. Full funding for both Amtrak and high speed rail would make it more likely that Midwestern rail travelers will see visible improvements in the near future and would encourage states to provide more funds.

The American people repeatedly have indicated their strong support for modern passenger trains. The public will be well served if today’s event leads to concerted action by Amtrak, the federal government and the states to create a system that will command the ridership forecast in the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative’s report.

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High Speed Rail Enactment Urged by Four Organizations - December 6, 2000
Rail Bill Gathers Momentum in Senate - September 18, 2000
Alan M. Yorker, New NARP President - September 13, 2000
Jack Martin, 64, President of NARP for Over 21 Years, is Dead - September 2, 2000
Rail Passengers Honor New Jersey's Senator Lautenberg - April 26, 2000
Rail Passengers Honor Ohio's Senator Voinovich - April 26, 2000
Burch Safety Award Goes To Amtrak Chef Allan Thomas - April 25, 2000
NARP Statement on Amtrak's "Network Growth Strategy" - February 28, 2000
NARP Supports Clinton Rail Request - February 7, 2000
NARP Hails Boston Electric Trains - January 31, 2000
NARP Statement on Amtrak Reform Council Report - January 24, 2000

Washington -- The American Passenger Rail Coalition (APRC), High Speed Ground Transportation Association (HSGTA), Railway Progress Institute (RPI) and National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) renewed their call for enactment this year of the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA), which allows for bond-financed passenger rail investments over ten years.

The HSRIA (which passed the House as part of its tax bill) garnered 167 sponsors as freestanding H.R.3700; the Senate bill, S.1900, has 57 sponsors (not counting Senate Finance Chairman William Roth who strongly supports it). Support has come from across the political spectrum. The impressive list of HSRIA supporters -- public officials, newspapers, and other organizations -- is at
<http://lautenberg.senate.gov/highspeed/letter.html>.

Discussions about just what to enact this month are continuing. The key players are: Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD); House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO); White House Chief of Staff John Podesta; and OMB Director Jacob Lew. These people need to hear from their colleagues about the importance of doing the rail bond bill this month.
 
The HSRIA may be the only practical way to secure a reasonable level of passenger rail capital investment in the next few years. Amtrak's FY 2001 capital budget is so tight that expenditures on heavy overhauls of rolling stock will be dramatically reduced from the FY 2000 level.

Meanwhile, a public disillusioned with overburdened air and road facilities is turning increasingly to trains -- even trains that are slow
by world standards. Amtrak just completed its fourth consecutive year of ridership growth nationwide. On the Pacific Northwest "Cascadia" corridor (top speed: 79 mph), ridership has grown 180% from 226,400 in 1993 to an estimated 633,000 this year.

HSRIA capital investments will produce substantial economic benefits, expanded business opportunities and new jobs in states and regions around the country.

Enacting the HGSRIA is a critical step towards achieving the truly balanced passenger transportation system in the U.S. that Americans eagerly await. The bill will enable planning by the states and Amtrak to move forward now.

The bill would let Amtrak sell $10 billion in bonds over ten years, to be invested in partnership with states. The Department of Transportation must approve projects, and states must provide a 20% match. Bondholders get tax credits in lieu of interest payments; the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the cost to the federal government over 10 years at $3.26 billion.

Washington -- Chairman William Roth (R-DE) of the Senate Finance Committee today indicated that he plans to ask his committee on Wednesday to approve incorporating the High Speed Rail Investment Act as part of H.R. 4923, the Community Renewal and New Markets Act of 2000. The House has already passed its version of H.R. 4923. The rail bill provisions generally track those in S.1900 and H.R. 3700. They allow for bond-financed passenger rail investments over ten years. S.1900, the High Speed Rail Investment Act, has 54 Senate sponsors; a House companion bill, H.R.3700, has 155.

"Railroad passengers appreciate the continuing commitment shown by Chairman Roth to passenger rail," said NARP Executive Director Ross Capon. "It is important that this bill be enacted this year so that planning by the states and Amtrak can move forward now for the stronger, more effective passenger rail network that Americans eagerly await." The bill would let Amtrak sell $10 billion in high-speed rail bonds over ten years, for passenger rail capital investment. Of the funds, 90% would be for lines designated as high-speed rail corridors; the Northeast Corridor could get no more than 30%. The Department of Transportation must approve projects, and states must provide a 20% match. Bondholders get tax credits in lieu of interest payments; the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the cost to the federal government over 10 years at $3.26 billion.

A successful committee "mark-up" Wednesday could set the stage for enactment of the rail provisions this year, possibly as part of a big "omnibus" bill. Another chance to improve the national passenger rail network in a way that provides much needed relief to the beleaguered highway and aviation networks may not come again soon. American travelers can't afford the wait that a failure to act this year likely would cause.

Washington--Alan M. Yorker of Decatur, Ga., is the fourth president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.  The Association's executive committee elected him to serve until April 2002, completing the term of Jack Martin, who died September 1, after 21 years of service as NARP president.

Yorker, 52, has served on the NARP Board since 1986, and on its executive committee since 1996.  The NARP Board elected him to be one of four association vice-presidents in April.  Yorker is president of Georgians for Transportation Alternatives and the Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers.

A retired family therapist, he served 15 years on the board of directors of the Georgia Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.  From 1986 to 1991 and from 1998 until last month, he chaired that association's legislative affairs committee.  From 1991 to 1998, he served on and then chaired the Georgia Composite Licensing Board for Social Workers, Professional Counselors, and Marriage and Family Therapists, a position to which he was appointed by then-Gov., now U.S. Senator Zell Miller. He is also the Past-President of the Columbia University Alumni Club of Atlanta.

He is a passionate believer in the need for more and better passenger trains of all kinds.  He is the father of three children, Ben, 28, Margaret, 21, and Jonathan, 15.  He is a member of the Steamship Historical Society of America, the Ocean Liner Museum in New York City, and the Southeastern Railroad Museum in Duluth, Ga.

Yorker says he is determined to build on the "legacy of strength, integrity, clarity and commitment, not to mention pure brilliance" that Jack Martin left and which he says "will serve as a guiding light to further our journey towards the day when America's passenger rail system is the truly world-class network it deserves and needs to be."

JACK MARTIN, 64, PRESIDENT OF NARP FOR OVER 21 YEARS, IS DEAD
Saturday, September 2, 2000

Washington -- John R. “Jack” Martin, who served as president of NARP since April, 1979, and board member since 1975, died in Atlanta yesterday morning. He had quadruple bypass heart surgery in San Jose on August 8, and returned home on August 29. In his memory, all Amtrak locomotives will sound their horns at 5:00 pm (Eastern) tomorrow, time of the memorial service at H.M. Patterson & Son Funeral Home in Atlanta.

Though a volunteer officer, he devoted countless hours to the passenger-train cause, particularly after his early (voluntary) retirement from The Coca-Cola Company in 1995. He was Senior Counsel there when he retired. His train efforts included both NARP-specific work and work as an informal (again volunteer) consultant to Amtrak. His level of knowledge about trains was matched by the dignity and poise with which he chaired board meetings. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering (from Georgia Tech) and worked two years as a DuPont engineer while getting his law degree from Temple University. He worked as a DuPont lawyer, then joined Coca-Cola in 1966. During his college years, he took summer jobs in operations with three different railroads.

He was also a member and former chairman of the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority, a state agency created to develop passenger rail service in Georgia. He is survived by his wife, Faye; two sons, Mark and Matthew, of Atlanta; and a daughter, Mimi Addy, a Chicago attorney. The family asks that contributions in his memory be made to NARP and/or the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, whose address is P.O. Box 1267, Duluth, GA 30096-0023.

RAIL PASSENGERS HONOR NEW JERSEY'S SENATOR LAUTENBERG
April 26, 2000

Washington--The National Association of Railroad Passengers tomorrow will present the George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ). The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, at the Columbus Club in Union Station, on Thursday, April 27, at about 6:30 pm.

This is the first time that the Golden Spike has gone to the same person twice: Lautenberg also received it in 1988.  The plaque which will be presented to him tomorrow honors "a long, distinguished career of successfully and significantly increasing federal funding for passenger rail." The plaque continues, "He has also been a consistent leader in seeing that both New Jersey and the entire nation received a much stronger passenger rail system than would have been possible without his efforts."

NARP President John R. Martin, who will present the award, said, "The nation is the better for Frank Lautenberg's 18 years of service as a U.S. senator from New Jersey, and in particular for his persistence and his hard work on behalf of passenger rail. As it becomes increasingly obvious that roads and airports cannot by themselves meet our transportation needs, the value of the senator's work on passenger rail likewise will become more obvious to more people. We are pleased to honor a stalwart ally in the fight for better passenger rail."

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

RAIL PASSENGERS HONOR OHIO'S SENATOR VOINOVICH
April 26, 2000

Washington -- The National Association of Railroad Passengers tomorrow will present the George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Senator George Voinovich (R-OH). The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, at the Columbus Club in Union Station, on Thursday, April 27, at about 6:30 pm.

Senator Voinovich will be honored because, quoting the plaque, he "has worked hard to secure for states the right to invest their federal transportation funds on intercity passenger rail projects. We appreciate his persistence in getting S.1144 adopted in committee and in working for passage of the bill."

NARP President John R. Martin, who will present the award, said, "Senator Voinovich deserves praise for his hard work to secure for states a right they should have been granted years ago. Three times in the past nine years, the Senate has voted to give states this right and the House has blocked final enactment. This is an idea whose time has come. We appreciate the persistence of Senator Voinovich and remain hopeful that success in the Senate this year will result in enactment, and thus mark an important step forward in the quest for balanced transportation."

BURCH SAFETY AWARD GOES TO AMTRAK CHEF ALLAN THOMAS
April 25, 2000

Washington -- Allan Thomas, a chef on Amtrak's City of New Orleans, on Thursday will receive the Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award for 1999. The annual Award goes to the individual judged to have done the most to enhance rail passenger safety. The award honors the memory of a victim of a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina. The Burch family has funded and presented the award since its establishment in 1994. Again this year, the award will be presented at the annual Washington reception of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, at the Columbus Club in Union Station. The reception is 6:00-8:00 pm; presentation is likely around 6:30.

The selection committee noted the initiative shown by Thomas in the area of safety. He has been the leader in arranging the last two Amtrak employee safety fairs held in New Orleans, and worked as chef at them. On his own time, Thomas participates in the City of New Orleans product line safety committee. He put together a safety manual used by all of Amtrak's Gulf Coast employees. He and the committee conducted an accident drill with emergency response agencies in Jackson, Miss., and conducted community outreach events in the Memphis, Tenn., and Greenwood, Miss., schools. [The City of New Orleans runs daily between New Orleans, Jackson, Memphis, Fulton, Carbondale and Chicago; more information at <www.amtrak.com>. The Association is a membership organization that has worked since 1967 for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.]

NARP STATEMENT ON AMTRAK'S "NETWORK GROWTH STRATEGY"
February 28, 2000

Washington -- The National Association of Railroad Passengers believes that Amtrak's effort to expand its route structure is long overdue. We welcome that effort. We believe that Amtrak must become a much greater factor in the movement of people throughout the United States, not just in select corridors.

At 22,616 route miles, Amtrak's system is 23% smaller than the 29,433-route-mile total intercity passenger rail network of 1978. There are numerous, significant passenger markets that Amtrak does not serve today.

Without having seen Amtrak's final report, we cannot comment in detail. We understand that Amtrak proposes to add new routes and services. Part of the necessary equipment for this expansion is to come from repair of existing cars which have long been out of service, and we applaud that. Part of the equipment is to come from selective downsizing of existing trains. We can support that only if such downsizing is temporary.

During the past five years, the size of Amtrak's long-distance passenger car fleet declined, as Amtrak retired many old long-distance cars. This, combined with the recognized need to expand the network, constitutes a strong case for ordering new long-distance equipment. We urge Amtrak to place those orders promptly.
 
 

NARP SUPPORTS CLINTON RAIL REQUEST
February 7, 2000

Washington -- President Clinton today unveiled a Fiscal Year 2001 budget that would fund intercity passenger rail programs at the $989 million level authorized for Amtrak. The request divides this amount between two programs.

The President's request for Amtrak is $521 million in general funds. While Amtrak and the Administration have said this so-called "glide-path" figure would be enough to continue Amtrak's efforts to achieve operational self-sufficiency by 2003, we have concerns that it will not be sufficient to achieve that goal, and that such a low figure might even result in service reductions. Furthermore, we are concerned that this level of funding would not permit any meaningful service expansion, which is vital if passenger rail is to become a more important component of the transportation market.

Another $468 million would be provided for a new "Expanded Intercity Rail Passenger Service Fund," to be available to Amtrak and/or states. This fund would draw from a small part of the $3 billion in gas-tax revenues the federal government now projects that it will collect in 2001 in excess of estimates used in TEA-21. Amounts from these excess revenues are called "revenue-aligned budget authority" or "RABA." Under current law, RABA revenues must be spent for highway programs that already got a huge boost from TEA-21. The proposed use of RABA would require amendment of TEA-21.

We believe it would be sound public policy for Congress to make this change in TEA-21. Many states are looking for a federal partner to develop intercity passenger rail services as a means to complement their congested highway and aviation systems. As currently written, TEA-21 provides such a federal-state partnership for every form of surface transportation except intercity passenger rail. By adopting the Administration's request, Congress would alleviate this imbalance and provide resources to expand services in a way that the Administration's general-fund Amtrak request does not.

Americans have called repeatedly for improved passenger rail service, and have shown their willingness to use it when it is offered. Now is the time to provide what state DOT officials call "adult federal money" to accelerate the development of a passenger rail system comparable to the systems already in place in other developed countries. The Administration's budget request would be a step in the right direction, and we call on Congress to support it.
 
 

NARP HAILS BOSTON ELECTRIC TRAINS
January 31, 2000

Today is a historic day in passenger railroading: the introduction of Amtrak’s electric passenger train service to Boston. Four-hour Boston-New York running times are possible with elimination of the diesel/electric locomotive change at New Haven. This marks the start of Amtrak’s role as a major player in another of the nation’s highest-volume air-travel markets, giving harried travelers a much more comfortable travel choice, and providing Amtrak with revenue that will improve its bottom line. The service is another reminder of what rail can do, and strengthens the case for badly-needed rail passenger investments across the nation.

Two "Acela Regional" round trips (one pair daily, one pair Monday-Friday) today replaced two existing NortheastDirect round trips. The trains depart Boston’s South Station at 6:15 am weekdays, 5:00 pm daily; and depart New York eastbound 8:35 am weekdays, 4:55 pm daily. More four-hour schedules will be added as new locomotives are delivered. Later this year, Amtrak plans to add "Acela Express" trains that run Boston-New York in roughly three hours using brand new trains that will hit 150 mph.

The Acela Regional trips just added serve Back Bay, Route 128, Providence, New London, New Haven, New York (Penn Station), Newark, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, BWI Airport, New Carrollton (Capital Beltway) and Washington. Three of the four trips serve Kingston, Metropark (Garden State Parkway) and Trenton.
 
 

NARP STATEMENT ON AMTRAK REFORM COUNCIL REPORT
January 24, 2000

The National Association of Railroad Passengers released the following statement in response to the First Annual Report of the Amtrak Reform Council.

At today's Council meeting, Chairman Gil Carmichael and Vice-Chairman Paul Weyrich repeatedly made clear their desire to see Amtrak succeed and add more routes. The report's tentative recommendation that Amtrak expand its mail and express business seems consistent with that desire. The Council is correct to condition this recommendation on confirmation that this business is -- or soon will be -- profitable. In addition, Amtrak must reduce the time added to schedules for handling this business, and the number and extent of delays this business has caused.

However, we don not believe that the law requires Amtrak -- to meet the "test of operating self-sufficiency" -- to cover depreciation and progressive overhaul costs with commercial (or other non-federal) revenues. It will be a significant challenge to reach operating self-sufficiency without covering these two items. Raising the bar by $567 million (Amtrak's fiscal 2002 estimate for those items), as the report hints may be required, would insure that Amtrak could not meet the test.

We obviously want Amtrak to be successful. We oppose changing the test in a manner that likely rules out success. We appreciate that the report, in the Council's words, "does not reach any conclusions," and that Chairman Carmichael, in discussing depreciation this morning, said that the Council "is not disagreeing with Amtrak." We urge the Council to lay the depreciation issue to rest as soon as possible.

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High Speed Rail Bill Pushed; Amtrak Market Share Grows - December 21, 2001
NARP Hails Downeaster Inaugural - December 14, 2001
Statement by NARP on the ARC's Finding - November 9, 2001
Rail Passengers: Tragedy Underlines Need For Nationwide Rail Passenger Network - September 25, 2001
NARP, States Testify at House Passenger Rail Hearing - July 25, 2001
NARP on GAO Report - July 17, 2001
Capital Commitment to Rail Urged - June 22, 2001
Business, Labor and Local Leaders Urge Passage of Passenger Rail Investment Bill - June 7, 2001
"Shrinking Amtrak" Wrong Answer - June 6, 2001
Rail Passenger Improvements Urged as Part of Energy Plan - May 18, 2001
Burch Safety Award Goes to Amtrak's Damian Garden - April 26, 2001
Passengers Honor Leif Erik Lange - April 26, 2001
Passengers Honor Late President - April 26, 2001
NARP Statement on Amtrak Reform Council Report - March 20, 2001

Four organizations wrote to key senators earlier this week urging inclusion of the High Speed Rail Investment Act in any economic stimulus legislation sent to the White House. The letter was signed by:

• Harriet Parcells, Executive Director, American Passenger Rail Coalition, which represents passenger railroad suppliers;
• Tom Simpson, Vice-President, Railway Progress Institute, the international association of suppliers to freight and passenger railroads and rail transit authorities;
• Mark Dysart, President, High Speed Ground Transportation Association; and
• Ross B. Capon, Executive Director, National Association of Railroad Passengers.

Although Congress adjourned without passing a stimulus bill, prospects for high speed rail legislation next year benefit from a developing consensus on the form of such legislation. One reflection of that: The version included in the stimulus bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee  closely tracks with provisions in H.R.2329 (introduced by Reps. Oberstar, D-MN, and Houghton, R-NY).

Meanwhile, November maintained the pattern of increased market share for Amtrak. Compared with one year ago, airline ridership and average fares fell sharply, while Amtrak nationwide ridership was flat and passenger revenues were up. The economic context includes a record 5.7% unemployment rate, and a 15-17% drop in U.S. hotel room revenues vs. a year ago.

On domestic routes, "enplanements" dropped 19.5%. The average fare (normalized for a 1,000 mile trip) fell 16.3% to $123.68 (figures in this sentence only exclude Southwest Airlines). (Source: Air Transport Association website).

Systemwide, Amtrak ridership dropped 0.5%, while ticket revenues increased 14%. Total Northeast Corridor ridership was "essentially flat," but the higher fare Acela Express and Metroliner products had ridership and revenue increases of 40% and 66%, respectively. Nationwide, sleeping-car ridership and revenues increased 1% and 11%, respectively, with about 60% of all departures sold out in either or both of the standard or deluxe rooms.

Text of the joint letter, which was sent to Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD), with copies to Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) [Finance Committee chairman and ranking member, respectively] and to John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV):

"The undersigned rail industry and passenger associations are writing to express our strong support for the provisions for tax credit bonds for high-speed rail development contained in the economic stimulus bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee. We urge Senate conferees to advocate inclusion of these provisions in the final economic stimulus bill that is agreed to by Senate and House conferees.

"Bonds for investments in high-speed rail would have the type of immediate economic stimulus the country needs and that are the intent of the legislation. States and regions around the country have identified rail projects on designated high-speed rail corridors that are 'ready to go.' States are willing to put state matching dollars toward these high-speed rail projects but states need a federal partner to move forward. Each billion dollars invested in infrastructure projects such as rail generates approximately 42,000 jobs. Moreover, every dollar spent on infrastructure has a multiplier effect of 3-5 times, amplifying the economic benefit of the investments.

"The terrorist attacks of September 11 made clear to citizens and policy makers the wisdom of a transportation system that provides travelers with choices, including the choice of intercity passenger trains. The attacks underscored the vulnerability of an American economy so dependent on a single mode of transportation. Three months after September 11, ridership on our nation's intercity passenger rail system remains strong. In the Northeast, where the new Acela Express high-speed trains and Metroliner services operate between Washington D.C., New York and Boston, ridership is up 40% over the same time last year. Citizens in other regions of the country want, deserve and would benefit from development of high-speed rail.

"Now, more than ever, it makes sense to invest in high-speed rail service in corridors around the country as an efficient, relaxing and safe complement to highway and airline travel. We urge you and Senate conferees on the economic stimulus bill to urge inclusion of the tax credit bonds for  high-speed rail development in the final economic stimulus bill agreed to by conferees.

"Thank you for your leadership and your attention to our concerns."

Ross B. Capon, Executive Director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, delivered the following remarks this morning at North Station:

"Today we celebrate an important step forward in building the balanced transportation system that Americans long have been saying they want. And we thank Gov. King, Commissioner Melrose, Michael Murray, Wayne Davis and the many other people whose work helped make today possible. We are grateful for Wayne's determination and stubbornness!

"The restoration of Boston-Portland passenger train service after almost 37 years -- and Boston-Dover service after more than 34 years -- is a great victory not just because of what it immediately provides, but as the next step towards closing the infamous gap between North and South Stations in Boston.

"This new service will add to pressure for creation of the Rail Link, and for connecting the Northeast Corridor from Portland to Miami into a seamless, modern transportation network.

"We at NARP are proud to join the legions of railroad advocates in this region in celebrating the arrival of the Downeaster, both as advocates of better rail service in general, and as parties to some of the legal efforts that were necessary to make the Downeaster possible. Today's success is also a testament to the to the increasing willingness of New England states to work together in common purpose.

"To Governors Swift, Shaheen and King, we pledge our best effort in helping you build constituency for the Downeaster ... In combination with Amtrak's steadily improving Boston-New York service ... you have a model worth exporting to other regions of the nation. Hopefully, Congress will get the message and soon pass legislation making the federal government a reliable partner with states for getting intercity passenger rail projects done.

"Thank you again to everyone who helped make today possible."

The Amtrak Reform Council met in Washington today and approved a resolution, on a 6-5 vote, to report formally to Congress a finding that the ARC believes Amtrak will continue to require operating grants after December 2, 2002 -- in other words, miss the 1997 legal requirement of operational self-sufficiency.

Significantly, the resolution was opposed by DOT Secretary Mineta's representative (Mark Yachmetz of the Federal Railroad Administration) and by the Council's Republican chairman, Gilbert Carmichael (who served former President Bush as Federal Railroad Administrator). Also, the leading proponent of the resolution, Paul M. Weyrich, a long-time member of this Association, has made clear that he supports a national rail passenger system. Weyrich emphasized that, in spite of today's vote, "no trains are going to stop."

That last quote is important: the trains will keep running. [A similar point needs to be made with respect to the lawsuit filed yesterday against Amtrak by Bombardier -- the Acela Express high-speed train sets will continue to operate, and Bombarider will continue to deliver the five remaining sets in the 20-set order.]

With regard to the Council's action, NARP is concerned, however, that at a time of national crisis -- one directly related to intercity passenger transportation -- Amtrak, whose resources already are stretched to the limit, now must find time to draft a plan within 90 days for its own liquidation. Additional staff time doubtless will be consumed dealing with potentially negative consequences of that task on the its relationships with its lenders, and perhaps even with the willingness of customers to make long-term travel plans with Amtrak.

NARP believes that the ground under the U.S. transportation establishment has shifted fundamentally -- and favorably towards rail -- as a result of September 11.

• In the past two months, we have seen unprecedented editorial support for passenger rail and for Amtrak.
• In October, ridership on Acela Express and Metroliners in the Northeast Corridor was 43% above a year ago and revenue growth was substantially greater. Sleeping-car occupancy rates and revenues on most routes was stronger than a year ago. Amtrak's share of the total travel market likely rose, since airlines in October reported a 65% occupancy rate (down from a year ago) on flight schedules that most carriers had cut 20%.
• Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee approved a tax stimulus package that includes a 3-year, $7 billion version of the High Speed Rail Investment Act, plus $2 billion for a new railroad tunnel under the Hudson River.

The fundamental problem facing passenger rail is inadequate public funding in general, and -- in particular -- the lack of a federal program for partnering with states on improving tracks which would in turn improve the economic performance of trains (including long-distance trains) running on the various federally designated high-speed corridors. We do not see an Amtrak reorganization as likely to solve that problem.

Enactment of the High Speed Rail Investment Act and adquate annual appropriations for Amtrak are critical if the U.S. is to get the balanced transportation system we need to face the challenges of the new century.

In the wake of the terrible tragedy of September 11, it is important -- in the words of Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta -- that "we do not allow the enemy to win this war by restricting our freedom of mobility." The U.S. desperately needs a more balanced transportation system in which rail plays a much bigger role.

Amtrak took on unusual importance right after the tragedy. During September 12-18, ridership was up nationwide and the increase on the long-distance trains was 35%. However, we believe that intercity rail must play a bigger role over the long term -- particularly for discretionary trips of any length, and for shorter-length business trips. [The Washington Post September 24 editorial, "Keep the Trains Running," included an endorsement of the long-distance trains. Today's New York Times editorial is "Trains Need Help, Too."]

It has become more apparent than ever that our transportation system and economy would be far stronger and more resilient if we had a world class passenger rail system.

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorialized September 21, "The horrible events of September 11 should make clear to everyone, especially members of Congress, that the solution to national transportation problems isn't simply safer planes, but better trains."

It is critical that the High Speed Rail Investment Act (S.250, H.R.2329) be enacted this year. Enactment would let states begin to invest in corridors DOT already has identified.

Finally, we support Amtrak's $3 billion short-term request to meet safety, security and capacity needs, like repairing out-of-service equipment so nationwide capacity can be enhanced quickly, and speeding up the much-criticized timetable for completing fire and life safety work on the New York tunnels.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon observed, "This important emergency package is no substitute for a long term commitment to a nationwide system. We note that Amtrak has clarified that -- just as most of the repaired existing cars will run outside the Northeast -- the ten new train sets in this package may also serve markets outside the Northeast."

People want and need meaningful travel choices -- including modern train service. On the last day Congress was in session in 2000, Senators Lott and Daschle promised action this year on the High Speed Rail Investment Act. To this end, NARP strongly urges the Congress and President Bush to act now. The issue has become too important to become the subject of another call to "wait until next year."

"Given halfway decent service, people are riding in impressive numbers. With still better service, they will ride in droves." This was the message that Ross B. Capon, Executive Director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, gave today in testimony before the Subcommittee on Railroads of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The hearing, chaired by Jack Quinn (R-NY), was reviewing the status of Amtrak and High Speed Rail.

His written testimony noted substantial ridership growth in California, New York, North Carolina and the Pacific Northwest. He expressed concern about fares that are pricing family and leisure travel off some corridors and strong support for the long-distance train network.

He supported Amtrak President George Warrington's characterization of that network as "skeletal," noting that a number of important routes such as Chicago-Atlanta-Florida do not even exist. Responding to a question, he expressed concern about the impact of the express initiative on schedules and on-time performance and confidence that Lee Sargrad, Amtrak's new President--Mail & Express, will be able to improve the bottom-line for express.

Capon testified on a panel that also included David King of North Carolina DOT, representing States for Passenger Rail. King emphasized the importance of enacting the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA) soon because "the states are ready to go" in making rail passenger investments when the federal government is ready to partner. Capon urged that the HSRIA not be held hostage to the possibility of major changes in next year's Amtrak reauthorization, noting that if such changes did occur, necessary adjustments in the HSRIA could be made then.

Also on the same panel, Sam A. Williams, president of the Metropolitan Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, testified on behalf of the Southeastern Economic Alliance, which includes 13 cities that support the HSRIA because "business leadership in the Southeast emphatically believes that congestion on our roads and at our airports limits our ability to perform as a cohesive economic region."

Reflecting strong interest in the subject by committee members, the first hour of the hearing was devoted to opening comments by a large number of members. Chairman Quinn and Ranking Member Bob Clement (D-TN) concluded the hearing by noting that it had been one of the most informative they had seen.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers issued the following statement today: The General Accounting Office today released a report on S.250, the Senate version of the High Speed Rail Investment Act. (The House version, H.R. 2329, was introduced June 27.) This bill would provide states with a federal match for their intercity passenger rail investments, and requires a state contribution of at least 20%. The absence of a federal match is a major shortcoming in current transportation policy. The bill would let Amtrak sell $12 billion in bonds over 10 years; bondholders would get federal tax credits.

The GAO report, requested by seven long-time Amtrak critics, notes that direct appropriations would be somewhat cheaper than the approach in S.250. The report, however, fails to explain that the bond bill exists because there is no politically feasible alternative. The highway and aviation trust funds have been "firewalled," that is, made unavailable for passenger rail even in situations where passenger rail would help solve congestion highway and aviation congestion problems. Indeed, one reason those problems are so serious is the federal government's failure to develop passenger rail. The firewalls, combined with caps on total transportation spending, mean that the practical choice today is the bond bill or inaction.

The GAO report also reports an Amtrak "preliminary estimate" which "puts the capital costs for fully developed high-speed rail corridors and its Northeast Corridor at between $50 billion to $70 billion over 20 years."

The GAO fails to note two important points: first, virtually every stage of a rail investment program would have benefits even if no further steps were taken -- this is not an "all or nothing" deal; second, $60 billion over 20 years sounds like a lot of money but is less than twice what the federal government alone expects to spend on highways this year ($31.4 billion). The single-year federal pricetag for aviation spending -- $12.0 billion -- is also impressive; fully 20% of the suggested 20-year total for passenger rail.

GAO's use of multi-decade spending estimates to make proposed rail amounts seem outrageously impractical should not blind policymakers to the benefits of meaningfully developing our passenger rail system-benefits with regard to quality-of-life, safety, service reliability, the environment, energy efficiency and-in many markets-speed of travel.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers issued the following statement today: Release yesterday of the latest report on Amtrak by the DOT Inspector General reinforces the message that serious capital investment is needed if America is to have a passenger rail network worthy of the increased usage today's network enjoys. (Amtrak has proposed investing $1.5 billion a year.) FY 2000 was the fourth straight year in which Amtrak ridership rose, and is up 6.4% in the first seven months of FY 2001 (October-April). Impatience with highway and air congestion is a major factor which will only become more significant in the future.

As for oft-discussed "what ifs" surrounding a possible failure of Amtrak to meet the statutory operational self-sufficiency target, Amtrak management maintains that Amtrak will meet the target. Moreover, a failure to meet the target should not -- as current law requires -- force Amtrak into drafting a "bankruptcy plan" (or the Amtrak Reform Council a "restructuring plan").

While Congress could ignore both plans, mere existence of efforts to draft such plans would chill Amtrak's relationship with its various lenders and efforts to expand the business partnerships that are an important part of Amtrak's ongoing health. Such partnerships include those that produce new express freight business which helps improve the economics of the long-distance trains; that bring new companies to participate in Amtrak's Guest Rewards (frequent traveler) plan; and which result in real estate development projects beneficial both to Amtrak and the affected cities.

Indeed, Amtrak Reform Council Vice Chairman Paul M. Weyrich for over a year has urged postponement of the self-sufficiency target date to one year after Amtrak gets all 20 of the ordered high-speed train sets, since the delay in receipt of those train sets is a major factor in the presumed difficulty of Amtrak's meeting its target.

Separately, NARP questions the appropriateness of the operational self-sufficiency target in the first place. The federal government has every right to expect Amtrak work constantly to improve its efficiency, but it is not clear that operational self-sufficiency is possible even with an efficient operation, nor is it achieved in many countries where rail plays an important role.

Finally, in response to discussions about routes losing over $100 dollars per passenger:

1. The costs quoted are "fully allocated," so -- if the route in question is discontinued -- many  of the costs will not go away but be reallocated to surviving routes.
2. "Loss per passenger" primarily measures average trip length, not economic performance. Better measures are operating ratio (costs divided by revenues) or loss per passenger-mile (a passenger-mile is one passenger traveling one mile). A route with relatively few passengers paying higher fares to travel long distances will show a higher loss "per passenger" -- but could also have a better operating ratio and lower loss per passenger-mile -- than another route of similar length with more people getting on and off at intermediate stops. The passenger-mile, incidentally, is the standard measure for intercity travel, and is routinely cited in airline financial performance reports.

Jointly issued by:

• American Passenger Rail Coalition
• High Speed Ground Transportation Association
• National Association of Railroad Passengers
• Rail Labor Division
• Railway Progress Institute

About 100 leaders from rail-related industries, as well as from labor unions, passenger rail groups and state and local government associations, are meeting with Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Representatives Jack Quinn (R-NY) and Bob Clement (D-TN) before fanning out to meet with other congressional leaders and representatives of their home districts.

All of the companies and groups represented in today's effort believe a revitalized passenger rail system can and should play a major role in meeting America's transportation needs.

Despite Broad Support and Many Benefits, Federal Commitment Lacking

Supporters say greater investment in passenger rail systems would create new jobs and business opportunities, especially in the many communities that have under-developed rail resources. Travelers would get more options and better service, including faster trip times and better amenities. Infrastructure upgrades would improve the speed and reliability of all trains, including freight and commuter trains, that use the upgraded tracks.

Rail expansion plans are not just pipe dreams; they are coming alive across the country. Thirty-eight states are working with Amtrak to develop high-speed rail projects. The U.S. Department of Transportation has designated 11 high-speed rail corridors around the country that are eligible for federal support. To cite two examples of strong ridership growth realized before significant speed improvements:

• annual ridership in the Pacific Northwest corridor has risen from 226,000 in 1993 to about 600,000 now;
• in the Capitol Corridor that links Sacramento and the Bay Area, ridership jumped 53% in one year (from 646,200 in calendar 1999 to 988,900 last year) and is up 57% through the first seven months of FY 2001, that is, October through April.

Groups Outline Their Legislative Program

In their meetings with Senators and Representatives, the groups are urging Congress to enact the High-Speed Rail Investment Act and provide the President's full request for Amtrak appropriations in FY '02.

The High-Speed Rail Investment Act, sponsored by Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), and soon to be introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives James Oberstar (D-MN) and Amory Houghton (R- NY) would authorize intercity rail authorities to issue $12 billion in bonds over ten years to invest in high-speed rail projects. The funds would be invested in upgrading existing rail infrastructure, building new lines, purchasing new equipment, and improving or eliminating grade crossings. States choosing to participate in the program would be required to match at least 20% of a project's costs -- although many states will continue to match at a higher rate. The state matching funds would be set aside in a privately managed account to guarantee repayment of the bond principal -- an innovative, low-cost financing mechanism supported by the bond community.

The High Speed Rail Investment Act (S. 250) currently has 57 cosponsors. A similar bill last year was endorsed by the National Governors Association; the U.S. Conference of Mayors; the National Conference of State Legislatures; more than 40 business, consumer, labor and environmental groups; and more than 30 newspapers across the country.

The groups participating today also support President Bush's request of $521 million for Amtrak appropriations in FY '02 with 100% of the funds provided at the beginning of the fiscal year.

High-Speed Rail Day was organized by the American Passenger Rail Coalition; the High-Speed Ground Transportation Association; the National Association of Railroad Passengers; the Rail Labor Division of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO; and the Railway Progress Institute.

Participating companies and organizations include:

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen
Capital Ideas, Inc.
Carlson Marketing Group
Colling, Swift & Hines
Firemen & Oilers
Gannett Fleming, Inc.
Gate Gourmet
GE Transportation Systems
Georgia Rail Passenger Authority
IBM Global Services
International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers
Janelle Technologies
LTK Engineering Services
Luminator
Maglev Maryland
Metro Atlanta Chamber
Midwest High Speed Rail Coalition
National Conference of Firemen & Oilers, SEIU
National Corridors Initiative
North Carolina Department of Transportation
The Okonite Company
Parsons Brinckerhoff
Parsons Transportation Group
Plasser American Corporation
Raul V. Bravo & Associates, Inc.
Rocla Concrete Tie, Inc.
Safetran Systems Corporation
Sagamore Association (representing Transpo)
Siemens Transportation
Southeast Economic Alliance
SYSTRA
TALGO
Transport Workers Union
Transportation Communications International Union
Transrapid International USA, Inc.
Union Switch & Signal, Inc.
United Transportation Union
Wabtec Corporation
Washington Association of Railroad Passengers
E. James White Company
Wisconsin Department of Transportation

The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) reacted with surprise today at recent assertions by Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta that Amtrak should ameliorate its financial problems with service cuts -- by looking "at selected routes rather than blanket the country with rail service that is not...really viable" (Washington Post, June 6):

• Far from "blanketing the country," Amtrak's system is already skeletal. Current route-miles on the Amtrak system are only 22,679, a reduction of 10.0% just since 1993. It is about half the size of the network operated unprofitably by private railroads in 1970. It already misses major population centers like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Columbus, and Nashville.

• Amtrak itself pointed out in 2000 that, because of network connections, cutting individual long-distance routes cuts revenue at a quicker rate than it cuts costs.

• Investment and growth, not starvation and reduction, are the way to make passenger rail a more meaningful presence in our nation's transportation mix. We urge quick passage of the High Speed Rail Investment Act, and of the fiscal 2002 appropriation included in President Bush's budget proposal.

• The federal government today provides little or nothing in the way of matching funds for state and local intercity passenger rail investments, which is a major reason why there aren't more such investments. It also helps explain why Amtrak ridership -- which in 2000 grew for the fourth straight year -- has not grown more. This must change. The High Speed Rail Investment Act, fundamentally a state rail investment program, will help. Passenger rail alone among major transportation modes suffers from lack of steady capital investment. Polls consistently show strong support for such investment. Most recently, 65% of Ohioans polled supported using a mix of federal and state funds to develop passenger rail (Ohio State University Center for Survey Research, March 8).

• Amtrak's express-freight initiative, primarily based on the long-distance trains, should become a significant positive in the near future. Amtrak began this initiative with a grow-the-revenues-hang-the-costs mentality, which included accepting business not compatible with good passenger service. Amtrak to its credit last year appointed Lee Sargrad, an experienced rail freight executive, as President-Mail & Express. He has focused on the bottom line and on business more compatible with passenger needs.

• Although one contributing factor to Amtrak's FY 2001 budget shortfall is a reduction in Postal Service revenues from the previous year, Amtrak is working to increase these revenues next year and expects to be successful.

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

Below is the text of a letter sent today to Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta from NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon:

Improved intercity passenger rail service should be part of any comprehensive energy plan. There is already ample evidence that even modest service improvements produce impressive ridership growth. As well, Oak Ridge National Laboratory statistics (1998 BTUs per passenger-mile) indicate that Amtrak is 1.6 times more energy efficient than domestic airlines, and 4.5 times better than the rapidly growing general aviation sector. Moreover, as explained below, these system average numbers understate rail's advantage.

(1) Short-distance flights-a substantial portion of all U.S. domestic flights-are less energy efficient than aviation as a whole, while short-distance rail corridor services are more energy efficient than Amtrak as a whole.
(2) Rail passengers are more likely than plane travelers to reach their "line haul" conveyance by public transportation.  Indeed, some rail travelers walk to the station.
(3) Rail stations are more likely to be located in-and thus to enhance the viability of energy-efficient downtowns.  Airports tend to promote energy-intensive, auto-dependent sprawl.  Dulles is a classic example.  Intermodalism -- especially improved rail transit and intercity rail access to airports -- will help the cause of energy efficiency all around.

On the Eugene, Oregon-Vancouver, B.C. "Cascadia" Corridor, ridership has grown from 226,000 in 1993 to about 600,000 this year. Major factors: modest frequency increases, a modest speed-up in Portland-Seattle running times (excluding long-distance trains, average speed rose from 47.5 to 53.1 mph), and a dramatic improvement in the traveling environment as modern, stylish Talgo trains replaced older "Amfleet" cars. California ridership likewise has developed strongly with frequent trains and good bus connections.

We urge the Administration to endorse the High Speed Rail Investment Act, in part because of its prospective contributions to the energy situation (as well as to issues of all-weather reliability, congestion relief, and traveler convenience). Better train service is not about sacrifice. It conserves energy while giving travelers more choices.

The Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award for 2000 will be presented tonight to Damian Garden, of Yalesville, Conn., an Amtrak maintenance-of-way supervisor. The annual Award goes to the individual
judged to have done the most to enhance rail passenger safety. The award honors the memory of a victim of a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina. The Burch family has sponsored the award since its establishment in 1994. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, at the Columbus Club in Union Station. The reception is 6:00-8:00 pm; presentation likely between 6:30-7:15.

Currently, Garden oversees inspections of all track and switches on the New Haven-Springfield and New Haven-Boston lines. He directly contributed to many of the infrastructure improvements that support Amtrak's new high-speed rail service. Garden has worked in the track department for over 25 years. He has been described as the consummate "go-to" guy because of his availability and willingness to help various Departments -- Customer Services, Communications and Signals, and Buildings and Bridges--with operational-related problems.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers today will present its first annual John R. Martin Passenger Rail Advocacy Award to Leif Erik Lange of Elk Grove, Cal. The award, established in honor of the Association's late president, will be given at the Association's annual Washington reception, at the Columbus Club in Union Station, this evening at about 6:30 pm.

Lange is a former board member and vice president of the association. The award recognizes his "over 20 years of dedicated commitment to, and work for, the improvement and expansion of rail passenger service." He also has been a board member of the Train Riders' Association of California, a rail planner at the California Department of Transportation, and a staff member of the California Assembly Transportation Committee.

The plaque continues, "Mr. Lange's professional and personal efforts were critical to the significant growth in California passenger train service-both intercity and commuter rail-that occurred over the past two decades. His work helped lay the foundation for further growth in the years to come." Lange's involvement included writing rail-friendly bills that were passed by the Legislature, and helping the effort to pass ballot issues that provided billions for passenger rail in California.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers today will remember its late president, John R. (Jack) Martin, by presenting the George Falcon Golden Spike Award in his honor to his wife, Faye Mounce Martin, of Atlanta, Ga. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, at the Columbus Club in Union Station, on Thursday, April 26, at about 6:30 pm.

Martin was president of the organization from 1979 until his death on September 1, 2000. NARP President Alan M. Yorker who will present the award, has written of Martin, "He was a uniquely talented man who gave his all to the cause of supporting passenger rail in the United States. He earned the respect of virtually everyone with whom he came in contact. As a longtime friend and mentor to me, he will be sorely missed, but we should all know that his blessing is with us to continue on the path he so brilliantly lighted. Passenger trains in our country have a bright future in no small measure due to Jack Martin."

The plaque to be awarded today additionally recognizes Martin's "vision and work in Georgia helped lay the foundation for a rail passenger network that will prove to be an important legacy for future Georgians."

Note -- This release was written for distribution at the March 20 meeting at which the ARC report was released for the first time, based upon concepts which appeared in a fall 2000 ARC working paper (concepts which NARP understood to also appear in the final paper).

We appreciate the fact that most Amtrak Reform Council members want intercity rail passenger to expand and prosper. We believe they share our view that the U.S. economy, environment and quality of life would not be well served by continuation of a mostly "fly-drive" transportation investment program. Thus, we do not want to reject out of hand a Council report that we have not read. However, based on recent news accounts, we offer the following caution with respect to creation of a new infrastructure agency. (See also our October 6, 2000, comments to the Council.)

The current issue of The Economist (U.K.), [cover date March 17-23, page 55] after reporting that Britain's railways "are still a mess," states flatly: "At the center of the [British] railway industry's problems is the division of track from trains which sets up an adversarial relationship between Railtrack [private track-owning corporation] and the train operating companies…The chairman of the Association of Train Operating Companies, Richard Brown, believes that track and trains should be reunited.  In a study published this week by Transport 2000, called 'The Railways: Where do we go from here?', he points out that National Express, the train operator he heads, already runs three vertically integrated franchises in Australia…Sir Alastair [Morton, chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority] acknowledged that there could be a pilot trial of vertical integration in Scotland."

Similarly, last week's magazine [March 10-16] at page 8 has a letter from Edward Burkhardt, "the first chairman-CEO of Britain's largest rail-freight carrier after privatization." Commenting on the current debate about whether or how to reorganize the London Underground, he asks whether "separation of railway infrastructure and operations can ever be successful. In my opinion it cannot. I served as the first chairman-CEO of Britain's largest rail-freight carrier after privatization." Burkhardt calls Railtrack "a major obstacle" to improving customer service, reducing costs, and managing a large rolling-stock program. "More recently, safety, and economic and investment issues created by vertical separation have caused huge problems on Britain's rail network and there is increasing disenchantment with the industry structure in place."

To the extent that an Amtrak restructuring is seen as a way to reduce public investment needs, it should be noted that British public investment in rail is planned to increase since privatization. The British government's Strategic Rail Authority has announced a program to invest $88 billion dollars (£60 billion) into the UK railway system, over ten years, in order to "...lay the foundation for a 50% increase in passenger numbers and 80% more freight on the country's rail network..."

We doubt that creation of a new infrastructure authority, which apparently would have an even greater Northeast bias than Amtrak does today, would make it easier to get Congress to vote the funds that are widely acknowledged to be needed if passenger rail is to flourish across the U.S.

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Amtrak Outperforms Airlines During Winter Storms - December 17, 2002
NARP presents Golden Spike Award to Doras Briggs - October 18, 2002
NARP statement on rail trust fund - October 11, 2002
House Committee Votes 35-25 Against Amtrak - September 26, 2002
NARP Letter to House Appropriations Committee - September 26, 2002
Statement on Capitol Limited Derailment and New Speed Limits - August 5, 2002
NARP Unveils Report Urging Passenger Rail Development - June 21, 2002
NARP reacts to Bush "Amtrak plan" - June 20, 2002
May rail, air travel; Another Amtrak hearing - June 19, 2002
Rail Passenger Update - June 7, 2002
Diverse, Bipartisan Gathering Urges Congress to Fully Fund Passenger Rail System in 2003 and Beyond - May 8, 2002
Burch Safety Award Goes to Amtrak's Henry Marcell - April 25, 2002
Rail Passengers Honor Jack Quinn of New York - April 25, 2002
Rail Passengers Honor Senator Hollings of South Carolina - April 25, 2002
More Rail Travelers; More Uncertainty on the Hill - March 15, 2002
January Sees Continued Shift to Rail - February 15, 2002
NARP Letter to Secretary Mineta - February 8, 2002
NARP Letter to ARC - February 7, 2002
Time for U.S. Commitment to Rail - February 1, 2002
Passengers Still Moving Towards Rail - January 25, 2002
NARP: Federal Funding Commitment Needed - January 10, 2002

Amtrak’s performance in the Northeast Corridor in two recent storms once again demonstrated the reliability of modern trains in adverse weather conditions.

On December 5, Washington, D.C., and much of the northeast received the first major snowfall of the year. The peak disruption to travel came during the Thursday morning rush hour. Snow-covered highways, which were blamed for several accidents, quickly congealed with traffic, while Dulles, BWI, and Reagan National Airport were forced to delay or cancel many flights. In contrast, Amtrak operated a normal schedule with only minor delays.

The following Wednesday, December 11, Washington was again hit with an ice storm. On December 12, the Washington Post reported, "Two-thirds of the morning flights at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and one-third of the morning flights at Dulles International Airport were delayed or canceled, according to airport officials. Delays at both airports eased throughout the day, but flights never fully caught up. The impact was minimal at Reagan National Airport, where crews treated runways early and temperatures hovered above freezing most of the morning, said Tom Sullivan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority."

In contrast, Amtrak operated a normal schedule, with only minor delays to rail traffic (see tables, below)
 

Note -- Train 84, which departs Washington at 8:35 am, was cancelled due to a broken rail on CSX-owned track north of Richmond. As a result, passengers from Richmond were put on a later train, arriving New York at 6:35 pm. (Train 84 was scheduled to arrive at New York at 11:43 am).

The National Association of Railroad Passengers today honors its long-time board member Doras Briggs for her untiring efforts to expand citizen efforts to support our national rail passenger network, and for her efforts spearheading the creation of the California station host program.

The Association's George Falcon Golden Spike Award will be presented to Ms. Briggs at about 6:20 pm today (Friday) at a reception at the California State Railroad Museum (roundhouse) in Sacramento. The reception is held in conjunction with the association's national board meeting Friday-Saturday in Emeryville.

(A second presentation is planned for about 9:00 Saturday at the Holiday Inn San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge after Emeryville Mayor Ruth Atkins speaks briefly.)

The statement below in support of establishing a rail trust fund was submitted today to the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. A similar statement was filed for inclusion in the record of a joint hearing, "TEA-21: Innovative Financing," held September 25 by the Senate Environment & Public Works and Senate Finance Committees.

Click here to read statement.

This afternoon the House Appropriations Committee voted 35-25 against an amendment to raise Amtrak funding to $1.2 billion (from $762 million), with the 35 "no" votes cast by the 35 Republican members of the committee. The amendment was offered by Rep. Martin Olav Sabo (D.-Minn.), ranking member of the transportation subcommittee.

The committee resumes consideration of the bill -- which covers all forms of transportation--next Tuesday.

The committee dropped a controversial provision to end service on routes with a per-passenger loss over $200, and replaced it with a $150 million cap on total long-distance operating grants. (Since the long-distance network requires at least $350 million, this new provision is crippling systemwide but apparently was seen as less painful because it is not accompanied by a short, specific list of affected routes.)

The fundamental problem is that the House's total funding level -- $762 million--will not support the entire system, and Amtrak cannot slim down to a lower grant level by cutting routes.

As the Senate Appropriations Committee report put it: "Eliminating [the] 18 long-distance trains...would yield effectively zero savings in the first year...Only after 5 years would the elimination of these services yield annual operating savings exceeding $200 million -- an amount that will not even cover Amtrak's anticipated debt service payments for that year. And such savings does not represent even 5% of the identified capital backlog in the Northeast Corridor. This analysis prompts the Committee to reject the notion that Amtrak can shrink its way to financial health."

The Association is deeply disappointed at today's vote, but remains optimistic that the nation's desire for a national rail passenger system will be reflected in what is ultimately enacted.

There are growing indications that a final Fiscal 2003 bill will not be done until early in calendar 2003.

The following letter was sent late yesterday to the chairmen and ranking members of the House Appropriations Committee and its transportation subcommittee. This was in connection with today's full committee "mark-up" of the fiscal 2003 transportation spending bill. The letter elaborates on three points:

• Amtrak needs $1.2 billion;
• The system is already so skeletal that elimination of any major route means total loss of service to entire states and major metropolitan areas;
• The committee's reported threshold, "subsidy per passenger," does not measure relative economic performance of different routes.

To read the letter, click here.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers issues the following statement in the aftermath of the July 29 Capitol Limited derailment and passenger-train "heat orders" imposed by CSX across its system:

"The National Association of Railroad Passengers is deeply concerned about the disruption so many have faced as a result of the July 29 derailment of the Capitol Limited at Kensington, Md., particularly those who were injured, and their loved ones.

"In the wake of that accident, CSX imposed severe 'heat orders' slowing passenger trains to speeds slower than CSX's own intermodal trains. Prior to last week, CSX imposed heat orders systemwide on freight trains between 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm where the temperature has been over 90 degrees (for the second day in a row), or fluctuates more than 40 degrees in a 24-hour period. This means trains must run 10 mph slower than the speed limit that otherwise would apply. After July 29, CSX treated passenger trains like manifest freight trains for heat order purposes. Manifest, or merchandise, freight trains have slower speed limits than intermodal freight trains.

"We are concerned that the impact of such severe restrictions is to reduce the overall safety of the U.S. transportation system by encouraging passengers to switch to automobiles, which are statistically far less safe than trains.

"We are, however, encouraged by the fact that discussions are continuing between CSX and the passenger railroads which use its tracks about appropriate modifications to the current speed limits. We are hopeful that a less sweeping, better-targetted remedy will emerge from these discussions. The routine addition of hours to Amtrak schedules -- and even of shorter times to commuter train schedules -- is unacceptable.

"We trust that all involved, and especially CSX and the National Transportation Safety Board, are closely studying the relationship between very hot weather and the process of removing trackwork-related slow orders. We say this because -- one day after trackwork was performed at this location -- Amtrak's Capitol Limited was authorized for 60 mph [and would have been authorized for 70 mph but for the presence of a particular type of express car in the train]."

The National Association of Railroad Passengers today urged a bold approach to upgrading and expanding the nation's "largely neglected ... rail system to modern 21st Century standards" so rail is a real travel choice for Americans. The Association favors creating a "broad long-range vision for an expanded intercity rail network that connects all regions and metropolitan areas of the country and serves all important transportation routes," and funding that vision partly through creation of a rail trust fund.

The Association's new report, "Modern Passenger Trains:  A National Necessity; Analysis and Recommendations," is available on the Association's web site -- click here to see it.

Regarding Amtrak's cash crisis, the report urges giving Amtrak "an immediate emergency grant" to insure maintenance of "all current routes and services" and "repair and return to service [of] all passenger rolling stock now idled ..."

The report echoes DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead who says the cost of running long-distance trains is "chump change" compared with Northeast Corridor infrastructure investment needs. The Association favors transfer of ownership (but not control) of Amtrak infrastructure to the Department of Transportation, emphasizing that the Secretary would be "responsible for funding the maintenance and development of these assets as publicly owned facilities to support" all forms of rail service.

The report urges mandating "that Amtrak's Board of Directors be appointed to represent all regions" and include "elected officials, business leaders and consumers."

The Association supports improving and expanding all types of intercity passenger rail services: "Even though public use of Amtrak's existing trains is high, lack of adequate capital funding over the three decades of Amtrak's existence has greatly limited its ability to satisfy the nation's growing demand for transportation …"

The report urges debate to "focus on strategies that will allow rail to realize its full potential in serving public needs, not on ones that seek only to reduce further -- or eliminate entirely -- federal support of intercity rail service."

Other key recommendations include:

• "Create a broad long-range vision for an expanded intercity rail network that connects all regions and metropolitan areas of the country and serves all important transportation routes." This vision "would outline policies for allocating public funds by regions and types of service and establish guidelines for balancing volume growth with farebox recovery."
• "Fund the vision…NARP urges the Federal Government to establish a Rail Trust Fund … so that intercity rail is not entirely dependent on the annual appropriation process for its funding. The Federal Government would fund 100% of the national system and 80% of state sponsored regional services ..."
• End the "operating self-sufficiency" mandate, and set realistic performance targets based on growth in usage and "realistic farebox recovery levels."
• "Maintain Amtrak as the agency responsible for managing and dispatching the Northeast Corridor as well as the other lines and stations it currently owns ..."

The following is the preliminary reaction of the National Association of Railroad Passengers to the Bush Administration's "Amtrak plan" as reported in the media:

• Ending operating grants is tantamount to ending all service, because not even the Northeast Corridor breaks even when below-the-rail costs are considered. It is absurd on its face to simultaneously talk of "eliminating federal operating grants" and "putting Amtrak on a sound economic footing."
• The states long have been waiting for the federal government to become a funding partner on capital projects to improve running times on corridors across the country. Had the federal government stepped up to the plate on this issue in a timely fashion, trains today would be running faster and the need for operating grants would be much reduced.
• We strongly oppose any suggestion that states should be solely responsible for funding new high-speed service; such a policy would be a total abdication of federal responsibility. [Note -- initial media reports suggested that the policy would leave high-speed corridor development to states alone; the policy released by DOT later in the day did not contain such language.]
• Existing Amtrak services merit continuation and the present network should be the foundation for improvement and expansion of intercity passenger rail in the U.S. We see no possibility of state support for the long-distance network. Short term, even in corridor services, we are not optimistic, given states' current financial conditions and the fact that operating grants would largely be payments for the failure of federal policies to date.
• We agree that, because of the huge funding needs (particularly those associated with facilities like the Hudson River tunnels where only about 10% of the passengers are on Amtrak trains), ownership of the Northeast Corridor and other Amtrak infrastructure should be transferred. However, the transfer should be to the Federal government,
• not to some unspecified "partnership" among many states, commuter lines and corridor users. Also, Amtrak should continue to be responsible for dispatching trains and for managing capital investment.
• Clearly, elements of competition could help improve service quality, but in a context of quickly disappearing federal support, it would be next to impossible to secure the requisite cooperation of the freight railroads who own most of the tracks Amtrak uses or the unions who perform the work. Private track ownership sets U.S. passenger rail apart from most foreign nations.
• Amtrak's highly regarded, new President & CEO David L. Gunn should have the time and resources to demonstrate the same "turnaround artist" abilities he has shown at various transit agencies.

Here are Amtrak and Domestic airline passenger data (percentage change from the year-earlier month) for May:
 

May ridership:	Amtrak, +1.1%	Air, -10.8%
May passenger-miles:	Amtrak, +0.2%	Air, -7.9%
May passenger revenues:	Amtrak, +13.2%	Air, see note

Note: The Air Transport Association reports average fares later in the month, but Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett, in a June 18 speech, said, "Industry revenues are off a solid 20 percent from where they were a year earlier -- and that revenue shows little sign of soon returning." She also said that, over the past 50 years, "Over the last fifty years, the industry's net profit margin is one-half percent, compared to the average for all industries of approximately six percent."

Within Amtrak, the high end Northeast Corridor services (Acela Express/Metroliner) had 23.1% more riders and a 44.2% growth in revenue from May 2001. Combined results for those services plus the lower-priced NortheastDirect/Acela Regional trains and the Twilight Shoreliner were: ridership up 5.8%, revenues up 25.2%.

On sleeping cars, ridership was up 0.5%, passenger-miles up 2.0%, and revenues up 5.2%. May saw elimination of sleeping car service on the New York-Tampa-Miami Silver Palm and elimination (May 20) of the sleeper on the Boston-Washington-Richmond-Newport News Twilight Shoreliner. The well-used latter service, however, resumes this weekend, with first trips from Boston Friday and from Newport News Saturday.

In the Pacific Northwest, ridership on Amtrak's "Cascades" increased 10%.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, chaired by Sen. Patty Murray (D.-Wash.), has scheduled a hearing on Amtrak's immediate cash situation for tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:30 pm. It appears that a $200 million government loan guarantee is needed for Amtrak to continue operation in the last quarter of fiscal 2002 (July-September).

This week, a pro-Amtrak letter signed by 162 House members went to the chairmen and ranking members of the House Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Transportation. Click here to see a list of members. The letter urges that Amtrak's FY 2003 appropriation include $1.975 billion, the same as in the authorization bill passed by the Subcommittee on Railroads on May 8. This includes Amtrak's "basic" $1.2 billion request plus $400 million for life safety work in the New York, Baltimore and Washington tunnels, and $375 million for security improvements.

Here are Amtrak and domestic airline ridership/enplanements, passenger-miles and revenues for March and April compared with the year-earlier months (a passenger-mile is one passenger traveling one mile; airline fare information excludes Southwest):
 

March ridership:	Amtrak, +0.6%	Air, -10.3%
March passenger-miles:	Amtrak, +2.3%	Air, -7.4%

Amtrak Acela Express + Metroliner passenger-miles, +37.4%
Amtrak sleeping-car passenger-miles, +8.3%

Amtrak passenger revenues, +13.3%
Amtrak sleeping-car revenues, +18.6%

Airline average fare per mile (yield), -13.2%
 

April ridership:	Amtrak, +1.2%	Air, -13.1%
April passenger-miles:	Amtrak, -0.5%	Air, -10.6%

Amtrak Acela Express + Metroliner passenger-miles, +54.2%
Amtrak sleeping-car passenger-miles, +8.2%

Amtrak passenger revenues, +9.5%
Amtrak sleeping-car revenues, +10.2%

Airline average fare per mile (yield), -11.9%

[April was the first month since September in which airline percentage changes were worse than the previous month.]

Some factors influencing the above numbers: Easter was in mid-April in 2001 but March 31, 2002, so some holiday travel shifted from April to March. Also, Amtrak's Auto Train missed several trips in April due to the derailment in Crescent City, Florida. [Airline statistics are available at the Air Transport Association.]

NARP believes that the data continue to show strong marketplace support for a nationwide rail passenger network. We also believe that Amtrak service will continue uninterrupted in July and will solve its well-reported financial problems to insure service well into the next fiscal year.

Notes to reporters: Our hotline is updated at least every Friday afternoon. If you are not receiving our newsletter (available only by regular mail), please send your mailing address.

For good information about the Census data on transit use, and a different perspective from much of this week's media coverage, we recommend the Surface Transportation Policy Project.

Jointly issued by:

• American Passenger Rail Coalition
• National Association of Counties
• National Association of Railroad Passengers
• National Conference of State Legislatures
• Railway Progress Institute
• Sierra Club
• Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
• U.S. Conference of Mayors

Participants in the "Rally for Rail" represent many businesses, labor unions, and state and local governments, as well as millions of consumers and citizens across America. More than 50 groups (see below) have endorsed resolutions calling on Congress to fully fund Amtrak in 2003, and to enact a reauthorization bill that ensures a strong, long-term future for the nation’s passenger rail system.

"Today's event demonstrates that people from all across America and across the political spectrum want a stronger passenger rail system in this country," said Mayor Kenneth Barr, chairman of the Transportation and Communications Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "We are all united in the conviction that it's time to put Amtrak on a more stable foundation for the future, and to have it play a growing role in our country's congested transportation system."

Just this week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the National Conference of State Legislatures and three other national organizations representing local governments sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to appropriate $1.2 billion for Amtrak in FY '03 to prevent the elimination of train services.

"State legislatures believe that developing a stronger passenger rail system provides us with opportunities to reduce traffic congestion and to diversify the nation's transportation system, while contributing to economic growth and an improved environment," said Del. Brent Boggs of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Among those addressing the 9 a.m. pep rally are Senators Joe Biden (D-DE), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX); Reps. Jack Quinn (R-NY), James Oberstar (D-MN), and Bob Clement (D-TN); Mayors Kenneth Barr of Ft. Worth, TX and Patrick Henry Hays of North Little Rock, AR, representing the US Conference of Mayors; Rhea Huddleston, Wapello County Board of Supervisors, Ottumwa, Iowa, representing the National Association of Counties; George Dorshimer of LTK Engineering Services of Ambler, PA, representing the business community through the American Passenger Rail Coalition; Mac Fleming, international president of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees; and Debbie Sease, legislative director of the Sierra Club. The rally is also being enlivened by a performance by the award-winning Hines Junior High School Marching Band of Washington, DC.

Later in the day, Rally participants will fan out on Capitol Hill to meet with more than 45 key members of Congress.

Congress created Amtrak in 1971 to take over unprofitable passenger rail lines from the private sector. But unlike aviation, highways and other modes of transportation, passenger rail has no dedicated source of funding. Instead, it must rely on the unpredictable annual appropriations process, which has provided only about 50% of the authorized funding levels in recent years.

Without adequate funds in 2003, Amtrak has told Congress and state leaders it may have to discontinue much of the national network as early as this autumn.

"Investing in our national Amtrak passenger rail system has never been more important," said George Dorshimer, President of LTK Engineering Services of Ambler, PA and board member of the American Passenger Rail Coalition. "Investments in rail service produce substantial economic, mobility and environmental benefits for the nation and communities across America."

"It's ironic we're in this situation because Amtrak is performing so well in the market," said Alan Yorker of Decatur, Georgia, president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. "The growing demand for Amtrak's services is a reflection of the fact that rail is an attractive option for many business and leisure travelers, it's cost-effective for state and local governments, it's a contributor to job creation and economic development, and it's good for the environment and energy independence."

"The need for the service is there, along with strong support from the traveling public, state and local governments, and all of these groups here today," Sonny Hall, president of the Transport Workers Union of America and president of the Transportation Trades Dept. of the AFL-CIO. "What Amtrak needs most now is a steady, strong partner in the federal government -- a partner it doesn't have today."

[The morning rally was held in the Upper Senate Park, Constitution and Delaware Aves., N.E., Washington.]

Appendix -- Organizations Endorsing Pro-Amtrak Resolutions
* Indicates organizations that endorsed a resolution with wording different from the one released at the May 8 rally.
List will be updated as new endorsements are communicated to us.

• American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners
• American Passenger Rail Coalition
• Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates (AORTA)
• Association of Rail Travel in the U.S.
• Biloxi Bay Chamber of Commerce (Mississippi)
• Carolinas Association for Passenger Trains
• City of Coralville, Iowa
• *City of Fayetteville, North Carolina
• City of Plano, Illinois
• City of Rugby, North Dakota
• Colorado Rail Passenger Association (ColoRail)
• Committee to Advance the TransDominion Express (Virginia)
• Community Transportation Association of America
• Council of State Governments
• Council of State Governments-Eastern Regional Conference
• *Cumberland County (North Carolina)
• Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers
• Delmarva Rail Passenger Association (Delaware)
• Environmental Defense
• Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers, Inc. (Florida)
• Friends of the Earth
• Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers
• Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce (Nebraska)
• Hastings College (Nebraska)
• High Speed Ground Transportation Association
• Indiana High Speed Rail Association
• Iowa Association of Railroad Passengers
• Johnson County Board of Supervisors (Iowa)
• *Lubbock Chamber of Commerce (Texas)
• Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce (Virginia)
• MetroJackson Chamber of Commerce (Mississippi)
• Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers
• Midwest High Speed Rail Coalition
• Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission
• Montana/Wyoming Association of Railroad Passengers
• National Association of Counties
• National Association of Railroad Passengers
• National Association of Regional Councils
• National Conference of State Legislatures
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers
• *Ohio State Senate (on a 30-3 vote)
• ProRail (Madison, Wis.)
• *ProRail Nebraska
• Rail Labor Division of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
• Rail Passenger Association of California (RAILPAC)
• Rail Users' Network
• Railway Progress Institute
• Richmond (Va.) Friends of Rail
• Sierra Club
• Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission
• Surface Transportation Policy Project
• Tennessee Association of Railroad Passengers
• Texas Association of Rail Passengers
• Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization (TEMPO)
• The Senior Network, Inc.
• *Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (Ohio)
• Train Riders' Association of California (TRAC)
• TrainRiders/Northeast (Portland, Me.)
• Transportation Riders United (Detroit, Mich.)
• U.S. Conference of Mayors
• United Transportation Union
• Veterans Advantage
• Virginia Association of Railway Patrons
• Virginia High Speed Rail Development Committee
• Washington Association of Railroad Passengers
• Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers

A Resolution for a Strong Federal Funding Commitment to the National Intercity Passenger Rail System

Whereas, the national Amtrak passenger rail system serves over 500 cities and communities across the country and provides safe, efficient and affordable mobility for millions of Americans each year;

Whereas, ridership on Amtrak trains has increased 19% since 1996 and reached a total of 23.5 million riders in 2001 and demand for rail services continues to be strong on both corridor and long-distance trains;

Whereas, the terrorist attacks of September 11th highlighted the value of the nation's intercity passenger rail system to national security and, whereas, rail ridership in the five months since the attacks has remained strong despite a weak economy, significant reductions in travel and tourism and sharp declines in domestic air travel;

Whereas, rail provides clean, energy-efficient mobility which can help reduce the heavy U.S. dependence on imported oil. Travel by Amtrak uses 38% less energy (btu) per passenger mile than does travel by commercial airline. Travel by high-speed rail offers the potential for significantly greater energy efficiencies;

Whereas, congestion costs the U.S. economy $100 billion annually and rail provides a crucial means to help alleviate growing highway and airport congestion;

Whereas, state and local governments see intercity passenger rail as an essential way to assure future mobility for their regions but need the federal government to partner with them in making the rail investments (as the federal government does for highway, air and transit investments);

Whereas, the U.S. government has significantly undercapitalized the national Amtrak system for decades, failed to provide passenger rail with a dedicated secure source of funding like other modes enjoy and required Amtrak alone to achieve operating self-sufficiency;

Whereas, Amtrak has reached a critical juncture and will be forced to implement extensive service cuts nationwide unless federal funding is substantially increased above current levels. The Department of Transportation Inspector General says Amtrak needs $1 billion annually for capital alone. Amtrak has requested $1.2 billion for FY 2003.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the undersigned organizations (representing rail industry, passenger and labor associations, state and local government associations, environmental organizations and Chambers of Commerce) call on the U.S. government

1. To provide at least $1.2 billion for Amtrak in FY 2003 to sustain our national intercity passenger rail system over the next year;
2. To make a commitment to provide stable and adequate funding for the national Amtrak passenger rail network and infrastructure and development of designated high-speed rail corridors.

The Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award for 2001 will be presented tonight to Henry Marcell, of Branford, Conn., for his work as Amtrak's Director of Safety for Northeast Corridor Engineering (Maintenance of Way). He is now Employee Development Specialist-Engineering  Services. He was nominated by Raymond Cox of the Connecticut Department of Transportation -- and is the first award winner to have been nominated by other than his employer.

The annual Award goes to the individual judged to have done the most to enhance rail passenger safety. The award honors the memory of a victim of a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina. The Burch family has sponsored the award since its establishment in 1994. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, in the Starlight Room in Union Station. The reception is 6:00-8:00 p.m., and this presentation is expected between 6:30 and 7:00 pm.

Marcell has worked for Amtrak since 1975. During his two years as Safety Director, he played a key role in implementing new safety initiatives and educating Amtrak track forces, as well as revamping and updating current safety practices and procedures. He was instrumental in developing and implementing a seven-point accident investigation procedure, which coordinates efforts among several Amtrak departments to identify root causes of accidents and recommendations to prevent recurrence of accidents and injuries.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers will present its George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Rep. Jack Quinn (R.-N.Y.) tonight. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, in the Starlight Room in Union Station. The reception is from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and Representative Quinn is expected to receive the award at about 6:30 pm.

The award is presented "in appreciation for his strong efforts to maintain and improve America's National Intercity Passenger Rail Network." The wording on the plaque continues, "As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Rep. Quinn begins hearings by saying he is a strong Amtrak supporter. He has worked in support of an authorization with adequate funding to continue Amtrak's nationwide network, and played a key role in securing federal funds for a modern station for downtown Buffalo. His characteristic talent for getting people to work together to solve problems is invaluable."

NARP President Alan M. Yorker said, "The Association appreciates Chairman Quinn's strong efforts to maintain and improve a nationwide passenger rail system in the United States. Often reminding listeners, 'you get what you pay for,' he has acknowledged a major impediment -- inadequate funding of passenger rail, compared to competing modes. Chairman Quinn has pledged not to allow passenger rail in this country to disintegrate."

The National Association of Railroad Passengers will present the George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Senator Ernest F. Hollings (D.-S.C.). Debbie Hersman of his staff will accept the invitation on his behalf shortly after 6:00 p.m. this evening at the Association's annual Washington reception in the Starlight Room at Union Station. The reception runs from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

The text on the award calls Senator Hollings "a leading advocate for saving and upgrading our national intercity passenger rail network and for developing high speed rail corridors." The plaque continues, noting that, even after the events of September 11, 2001, obstacles to balanced transportation policy continue, which makes the Senator's "role as advocate extremely important."

NARP President Alan M. Yorker said, "Ernest Hollings' position as Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee makes his support of passenger rail even more important. Chairman Hollings' support goes far beyond mere promises to consider a constituent's position in making voting decisions, but extends to writing and pursuing vital passenger rail legislation, and forcefully making the case for passenger rail on the Senate floor. We are pleased to support the Chairman's pending bill, S.1991, the National Defense Rail Act, because it goes the farthest toward improving and expanding nationwide passenger rail service."

February was the sixth straight month in which Amtrak performed much more strongly than did the airlines in terms of year-to-year percentage change comparisons. It also saw Amtrak's strongest percentage increases of the fiscal year.

Amtrak ridership was 6.4% above the February 2001 level; passenger-miles rose 8.6%. The Air Transport Association reported declines for domestic service of 12.5% and 10.3%, respectively. Amtrak's passenger revenues were up 17.0%.

Strong demand for passenger rail is truly nationwide and is not confined to the Northeast Corridor:

• On sleeping cars, ridership was up 13.1%, passenger-miles 13.5% and ticket revenue 18.0%.
• For the third consecutive month first class ridership on the Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight hit an all-time record, increasing 10.7% compared from a year ago, while ticket revenue was up 12.3%.
• Ridership on the Pacific Surfliners (San Diego-Los Angeles-Santa Barbara) and Cascades (Eugene-Portland-Seattle-Vancouver, B.C.) surged 9.6% and 14.2%, respectively.

At yesterday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Amtrak, Chairman Hollings (D.-S.C.) noted that his bill -- S.1991, an authorization aimed at supporting and improving the entire system -- now has 25 co-sponsors. But John McCain (R.-Ariz.), the committee's ranking member, again questioned the need for passenger trains outside the Northeast Corridor and perhaps the West Coast.

Deputy Transportation Secretary Michael Jackson took criticism from both Hollings and McCain for the lack of a specific Bush Administration plan for passenger rail. Jackson said, "We need to change the behavior and the structure that has produced [Amtrak's fiscal] problems ... We're not prepared to commit to a specific dollar amount...The President needs to review the significant economic costs of this need."

Amtrak ridership was 4.5% above the January 2001 level, and passenger-miles were up 5.0%. The corresponding numbers reported by the Air Transport Association for domestic airline service are declines of 14.7% and 12.8%, respectively. Amtrak's passenger revenues were up 12.4%.

• All three Amtrak business units posted gains in ridership, passenger-miles and passenger revenues.
• Long-distance sleeping cars continue to experience heavy volume and frequent sell outs. Overall, sleeping-car ridership grew 10% and revenues grew 19%.
• While these Amtrak statistics represent a continuation of established post-9/11 trends, they all reflect stronger growth than in December, and are particularly notable given the continuing recession in the travel industry.

At yesterday's House Railroads Subcommittee hearing, the statement was made that long-distance trains are "used by railfans for nostalgic reasons." We urge anyone who believes this to get on a long-distance train and talk to the passengers. They are overwhelmingly using the train for real transportation purposes.

The following letter was sent February 7 to express concern about out-of-context statements in the Bush Administration budget comparing Amtrak's 1979 and 2001 ridership figures. Amtrak Reform Council members made similar statements at this morning's ARC meeting. A second section of the letter expresses concern about the budget's reference to market share.

FULL TEXT OF LETTER:

The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta
Secretary of Transportation
Washington, DC 20590

Dear Mr. Secretary:

First of all, I'm sorry you needed a round with the medical profession, glad to hear the operation was a success, and wish you the speediest possible full recovery.

The big Bush Administration budget book contains some nasty and factually misleading statements about Amtrak, which I hope you will be able to correct.

Amtrak Ridership Trends

I take particular exception to the following statement: "Since 1979, Amtrak has failed to increase significantly the number of passengers it carries."

The increase from 21.4 million in FY 1979 to 23.5 million in FY 2001 is 9.8%. This is nothing to write home about, but also needs some context, as follows:

• This is an apples-and-oranges comparison because the 1979 figure includes a huge number of short-distance daily commuters in the Northeast-commuters who during the 1980s were deliberately shifted onto commuter trains run by regional transit authorities. Conversion of the Washington-Martinsburg, WV, Blue Ridge from Amtrak to MARC probably reduced the Amtrak ridership count by over 200,000 a year, and much larger passenger volumes were transferred to New Jersey Transit. Thus, the ridership comparison in question understates the growth of true intercity travel. This is also reflected in the 1979-to-2001 increase in average trip length for Amtrak passengers (3%, from 229.7 to 236.6), which came in spite of a reduction in the size of the long-distance-train network and recent growth in West Coast corridors with short average trip lengths.
• It is almost as if 1979 was used as a base to make Amtrak look bad. That was when the gasoline availability crisis swelled ridership artificially-it rose 13.2% from 1978 (18.9 million) to 1979 (21.4 million). If, for example, 1978 is used as the base year, the growth to 2001 would be 24.3% rather than 9.8%.
• The federal government's message to Amtrak is schizophrenic: post great ridership increases or we'll attack you, but live within a tight budget. Sharp fare increases in 1995-96 lead to ridership reductions, but Amtrak managers remain convinced that these fare increases also solved the budget problem of the time as intended. In other words, minimizing losses and maximizing ridership may be incompatible goals, as evident from European countries where lower-fare railroads tend to have higher market shares and higher losses.
• During the period in question, federal investment in highways and aviation skyrocketed, while investment in Amtrak stagnated, including some years in the early 1980s when capital investment was close to zero.

The next sentence in the budget reads: "Currently, Amtrak's share of the nation's intercity passenger market amounts to only one-half of one percent of all passenger-miles, compared to more popular means of transportation such as auto (50%), air (48%), and intercity buses (1.5%)."

This sentence seems designed to downplay the significance of passenger rail, and thus the significance of massive reductions in rail service. It ignores the huge importance significance Amtrak has in certain markets, and -- more importantly -- it is a "backward-looking statement" that by definition ignores the key question facing the nation:  what is the best way to address increased transportation capacity needs in the future?

Finally, this statement ignores what you and other Administration officials have acknowledged: September 11 marked a major change in Americans' attitudes towards transportation, and their interest in alternatives to flying.  Amtrak's market share has been rising, as reflected in the following table.
 

Particular strength has been shown not just by Acela Express/Metroliner but also on sleeping cars nationwide, where, for example, December saw revenues rise 13%, passenger-miles 7% and ridership 3% -- a sharp contrast with domestic aviation, where passenger-miles fell 13.2% and ridership (enplanements) fell 14.7%.

Again, best wishes for your speedy recovery.

Sincerely,

Ross B. Capon, Executive Director
cc:  The Honorable Michael Jackson; The Honorable Allan Rutter

Below is the full text of our letter sent February 6 to the Amtrak Reform Council. The key points:

• "We don't think the public favors a reduction in any of the services Amtrak is providing."
• We favor funding Amtrak "at a level compatible with the services we expect from Amtrak, and creating ... a meaningful federal partnership for states so that corridor investment can move forward."
• The ARC's proposal to fragment "an already-small business will create a huge upheaval and eliminate important, existing economies of scale."
• "The freight railroads likely will fight hard, and effectively, against any proposal -- such as the one the ARC tentatively approved January 11 -- which the railroads perceive as distributing Amtrak's right of access to other parties."
• Most states now funding service are struggling just to maintain their existing operating grant commitments for short-distance trains and are unlikely to increase those grants, particularly knowing the need for such increases is a result of a failure of federal policy.
• "We heartily disagree with Council Member Bruce Chapman's statement, reported in The Seattle Times (February 3): 'The corridors are right now subsidizing the big money losers that go across the country.' If those federally (Amtrak) supported  long-distance trains disappear, a lot of facility costs they share with corridor trains would be shifted to the corridors. The corridors also would lose connecting revenues from long-distance trains. For both reasons, corridor net costs are likely to rise, with economically challenged states asked to increase their payments or lose the service -- exactly the opposite of the picture Chapman paints."

The Honorable Gilbert F. Carmichael, Chairman
Amtrak Reform Council

Dear Gil:

First, let me congratulate you and the others responsible for your booklet, "A New Transportation Agenda for America in the Aftermath of 11 September 2001." The paragraphs "Develop a role for high-speed rail" and "Expand conventional rail passenger service," and the emphasis on improved intermodal connections are particularly on target, as is the entire booklet.

I only quibble with the letter -- not the spirit -- of one of your points: "In the majority of [short and medium-haul market] city pairs, [Amtrak] service is limited to one daily train frequency in each direction." Actually, Amtrak already offers two or more daily frequencies in short-distance corridors except for the Grand Rapids, Lansing and Quincy lines. But service effectiveness on all Amtrak short-distance routes in the Midwest -- and on several elsewhere -- obviously requires greater frequency and higher average trip speed than currently offered.

Where we really differ is on the Council's conclusion that Amtrak should be subdivided, or replaced with several different organizations. DOT Inspector General Ken Mead was quoted in the January 28 Wall Street Journal saying, "For what it has been charged to do, it's amazing that Amtrak has gotten this far." Our  view -- reinforced by the DOT Inspector General's January 24 report -- is that Amtrak's fundamental problem is a mismatch between the service levels it is providing and the funding it is getting.

Some have spoken loudly about what services they think Amtrak should drop, but -- particularly in the wake of September 11 -- we don't think the public favors a reduction in any of the services Amtrak is providing. The following figures tell part of the story:
 

Our concept for a solution is remarkably simple -- fund Amtrak at a level compatible with the services we expect from Amtrak, and create a meaningful federal partnership for states so that corridor investment can move forward in many areas, not merely in the handful of states that have either (a) been willing and able to move on their own, or (b) lucky enough to get a federal match from Amtrak at a time when Amtrak had the resources to commit.

We are concerned that fragmenting an already-small business will create a huge upheaval and eliminate important, existing economies of scale. The freight railroads likely will fight hard, and effectively, against any proposal -- such as the one the ARC tentatively approved January 11 -- which the railroads perceive as distributing Amtrak's right of access to other parties.

We don't think the public or the Congress will welcome the political fight the proposed restructuring will entail, particularly when it becomes clear that the fundamental problem -- the need for adequate funding -- would remain unaddressed at the end of the 'restructuring' fight.

Safeguards are needed to assure that Amtrak makes good use of its adequate funding, but we simply don't understand the Council's leap from "Amtrak will not meet the operational self-sufficiency target" to "let's have a major restructuring that continues reliance on federal support."

We don't see states increasing their operating-grant support for corridors. Most states have budget crises and constitutional prohibitions against deficits. Even before facing dramatic federal cuts on many fronts, states have had an average 7-8% in revenue declines during the past year, according to the National Governors Association, and most states expect a 10% shortfall within the year.

States also believe that a timely, meaningful federal partnership for track improvement projects would have meant reduction in operating grants by now, and they do not see the need to compensate for the federal government's continuing failure to develop such a partnership. The ARC hand-out from January 11 says of the Northeast Corridor infrastructure company: "operating shortfalls covered by track use fees." We presume this contemplates a significant increase in payments from commuter rail authorities. That should be stated clearly so everyone understands it. Congress has visited this issue in the past, notably during House hearings in 1995 when the number of Northeast Republicans on the committee helped shoot down efforts to force commuter rail authorities to pay more. The effort did not fall on deaf ears, however, as commuter-rail states negotiated significant capital-investment cost-sharing deals with Amtrak. It may indeed be appropriate for transit authorities to pay more for operations, and this may be more practical than getting states to make "intercity-only" corridor investments. But clarity in the message is important.

We appreciate that many Council members believe the federal government should increase its financial commitment to intercity passenger rail. However, we are concerned that the restructuring the Council seems poised to recommend will make it harder rather than easier to get funding from Congress, by taking apart the delicate coalition which has supported funding to date.

The concept of separating the Northeast Corridor (NEC) infrastructure is attractive, but has this problem: Northeast legislators are the powerhouse behind efforts to get Amtrak funding; if they see that their service depends upon another organization getting the bulk of this funding, their incentive to push for "Amtrak proper" funding is sharply reduced. A Northeast Corridor subsidiary of Amtrak might fill the bill, but there is yet another problem: if NEC states gain more control over the corridor, their officials may find it harder to maintain needed paths for intercity services, that is, harder to avoid succumbing to pressure from daily commuters for scheduling decisions that give preference to commuter trains and decimate the intercity market, especially Acela Express.

Finally, we heartily disagree with Council Member Bruce Chapman's statement, reported in The Seattle Times (February 3): "The corridors are right now subsidizing the big money losers that go across the country." If those federally (Amtrak) supported  long-distance trains disappear, a lot of facility costs they share with corridor trains would be shifted to the corridors. The corridors also would lose connecting revenues from long-distance trains. For both reasons, corridor net costs are likely to rise, with economically challenged states asked to increase their payments or lose the service -- exactly the opposite of the picture Chapman paints.

In conclusion, we appreciate the clarity with which you have repeated a view that we both share: America needs more passenger trains.

Sincerely,

Ross B. Capon, Executive Director

Today, Amtrak President & CEO George D. Warrington announced the layoff of 1,000 employees (700 agreement; 300 non-agreement), reduced staffing hours at 73 stations, and a number of other actions aimed at enabling Amtrak to make it to September 30, the end of the fiscal year.

He said Amtrak needs a $1.2 billion appropriation for FY 2003 in order to avoid "substantial route cuts" on October 1. He told a news conference that a $521 million appropriation would mean only the Northeast Corridor "would have an opportunity to run." He indicated plans to post the legally required six months' advance notice of discontinuance on March 28 for all long-distance trains, to prepare for the possibility that Congress would not provide the needed funds.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers strongly believes that the existing system is "skeletal," (to use Warrington's own words) and should be continued in its entirety. We believe that the general public -- particularly since September 11 -- agrees with the importance of maintaining and improving our national passenger rail network, especially through cooperative federal/state investment in short-distance corridors around the nation. In December, for example, passenger-miles on Amtrak rose 3.8% while domestic aviation fell 13.2%. (On Amtrak's sleeping cars, passenger-miles rose 7% and revenues rose 13%.)

The federal government this year will spend $33 billion on highways, $13 billion on aviation, but only $570 million on intercity passenger rail. Moreover, the federal government offers 80% matches to encourage states to focus their investments on highways and aviation. Federal matches to support state investments for intercity passenger rail are virtually non-existent.

This "anti-rail" funding bias has helped put Amtrak in its present situation. At best, Amtrak's clear statement today may be a step toward ending the anti-rail bias in federal funding policy. It is painful to see valued employees laid off in a business that should be growing, but we understand Amtrak's decision not to seek a supplemental appropriation. Such an effort would be time-consuming, with no assurance of success, and would be a distraction from the central issue before the public: the long-term future of a connected, intercity passenger rail network.

Two things should be clear regarding elimination of the long-distance network:

• It would be a decision "for all time" and virtually impossible to reverse in a later, more enlightened era, and
• The result would increase the cost of operating state-supported short-distance trains, which no longer would share facility costs -- or connecting passenger revenues -- with long-distance trains.

December figures show that travelers are still moving towards trains. For domestic air service, passenger-miles fell 13.2% from a year ago. The passenger-mile -- one passenger traveling one mile -- is the standard measure of intercity passenger travel. Domestic air ridership ("enplanements") fell 14.7%. (Source: Air Transport Association web site.)

On Amtrak, passenger-miles rose 3.8%. Ridership fell 0.8%. (Taking out the New York-Philadelphia Clockers, a handful of peak-hour trains, ridership was up 1.6%.) Nationwide sleeping-car demand remained strong.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers believes a modern, national rail passenger system is essential to the future mobility, quality of life and economic well-being of the American people. We agree with the DOT Inspector General that discussion of Amtrak's future should include "the role Amtrak has played since September 11 in providing an alternative to airline travel."

(For more statistical information on this topic, click here.)

Following is a statement from the Association:

A modern, national rail passenger system is essential to the future mobility, quality of life and economic well-being

» back to main hotline page

Amtrak Board Nominees Support National System, Urge Agreement on Amtrak's Mission - November 6, 2003
NARP Statement on DOT Passenger Rail Bill - July 28, 2003
House Appropriations Mark-Up 10 a.m.; 30 Organizations Protest Subcommittee Bill - July 24, 2003
Amtrak: Myths and Facts - July 16, 2003
"Kill-Amtrak" Bill Gets Nod From House Appropriations Subcommittee - July 11, 2003
Authorizing Committees Act to Fund Amtrak and Rail Infrastructure - June 26, 2003
New Report Supports Strengthening -- Not Replacing -- Amtrak - June 4, 2003
Rail Passengers Praise, Criticize SAFETEA Legislation - May 14, 2003
Burch Safety Award Goes to Gordon Bowe of Union Pacific - May 1, 2003
Rail Passengers Honor Sen. Murray of Washington State - May 1, 2003
Rail Passengers Honor Rep. Young of Florida - May 1, 2003
NARP Testifies Before House Committee - April 30, 2003
Postal Service Targets "Empire Builder" - April 2, 2003
Rail Passengers Support Amtrak's FY 2004 Request - February 20, 2003
Congress Approves $1.05 Billion for Amtrak in FY 2003 - February 15, 2003
NARP Faults Administration's Amtrak Budget Number, Analysis - February 3, 2003
The Day in Passenger Rail: AASHTO Report, Chicago Agreement, Bipartisan Senate Support, Positive Editorial - January 16, 2003

This morning, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation heard testimony from President Bush's three nominees to the Amtrak Board:

• Robert L. Crandall, former Chairman and CEO of AMR Corporation and American Airlines;
• Louis S. Thompson, former Railways Advisor at The World Bank, and Federal Railroad Administration official; and
• Floyd Hall, a leader of turnaround and growth companies, including K-Mart (1995-2001).

Crandall said, "A sound U.S. transportation policy is an important task. Trains and planes are more complementary than competitive. If New York-Washington trains ran consistently at 125 mph or more, the required investment would produce other benefits. You wouldn't have to further develop LaGuardia and Reagan National Airports; you'll save some money on airports and allow planes to be used more efficiently...Unhappily, for whatever reason, our country doesn’t seem to engage in that kind of transportation planning."

Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D.-S.C.), responding to Chairman John McCain's (R.-Ariz.) opening blast at Amtrak's previous management and its long-distance trains, said, "Yes, Amtrak has received $26 billion over 32 years, but just since 9/11 the airlines have received $30 billion. The defense rests."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.) told the nominees approvingly that "every one of you have said you want to make Amtrak work. My motto has been 'national or nothing.' I believe David Gunn is trying to keep our national system intact. My concern is if we don't save it, we will lose it for good." She also expressed concern that Amtrak remained stuck at $900 million in the House-Senate conference committee on fiscal 2004 appropriations.

Thompson said it was "too early to decide what 'reform' might mean—-the answer may depend on" what the "mission" decision is. Asked about "privatization," Thompson said, "I believe that we need to make Amtrak stronger and more effective. I don't think privatizing Amtrak would do that. Could you involve the private sector more effectively? I believe so."

Asked what funding Amtrak needed, Thompson said it was a case of "pay me now or pay me later. Amtrak might be able to scrape by at $1.0 billion but this would defer essential capital investments and just create a bigger problem later." Crandall and Hall said they did not know enough yet to comment on Amtrak's dollar needs.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D.-N.J.) asked if Crandall expected an adversarial relationship with Amtrak labor. Crandall said, "There won't be an adversarial relationship unless [the unions] choose one. I increased employment at American Airlines by 60,000; most of those were union jobs. I think if you ask American's union leaders if I was successful at American, they would say yes."

Sen. Trent Lott (R.-Miss.), noting his dad was a pipefitter, said union concerns should be taken seriously. But "when I hear suggestions that unions may strike to protest Congress not giving Amtrak enough money, that's the kind of irresponsible conduct that ruins their reputation." [Amtrak's request for a temporary injunction blocking such a strike will be heard November 14.]

Most experts on rail passenger service agree that the fundamental problem with Amtrak has little to do with operating losses and everything to do with under-funding capital needs. The DOT Inspector General consistently has told Congress that, until a secure source of capital funding is available, rearranging the organizational boxes of those responsible for rail passenger service will mean nothing.

The administration plan not only avoids addressing the capital needs of rail passenger service but proposes to shift costs -- including costs of the long-distance trains -- to states even though interstate commerce is the responsibility of the federal government.

The last thing Amtrak needs is yet another reorganization. Amtrak CEO and President David L. Gunn has won widespread respect for his work since coming to Amtrak in May, 2002. He deserves the administration's support. It does not make sense to follow up the reorganization he is just completing with another one--particularly one that is so questionable and theoretical. As Gunn noted in a statement released today, "Amtrak wasn't asked to work on developing the plan and hasn't been consulted or briefed on it."

Dividing the company into a carrier and an infrastructure company runs contrary to how every major U.S. and Canadian freight railroad and the biggest commuter railroads (Long Island; Metro North) are organized. Those entities are vertically integrated, that is, tracks and trains are owned by the same company, normally the dominant user. Amtrak is the dominant user of the Northeast Corridor portions it owns, if one puts in proper perspective the extremely short distances over which all Long Island and many other commuter trains run on the Corridor.

In Japan, also, the railroads own infrastructure, rolling stock--and real estate. (In establishing these railroads, the government took over much of the debt of the old national railways, and the new companies received infrastructure and rolling stock in excellent condition.) The new DOT plan also raises concerns about prying away from the rail operation the valuable Amtrak real estate that helps support the operation.

As we noted July 11, "Private freight railroads -- who own most of the tracks Amtrak uses -- would not allow, and are not required to allow, private rail operators access track access on affordable terms."

Operation of Amtrak's long-distance trains is a federal responsibility, which financially beleaguered states are not going to pick up, and which -- if they tried -- would be the subject of endless debates over proper scheduling and cost-sharing.

Amtrak's first Chicago-New York Lake Shore Limited was to be state supported. It lasted less than eight months, and was dropped in 1972 because states did not pay. It was reinstated in 1975 as part of the national network.

As for short-distance corridors, states are having difficulty maintaining the service they have now even at current Amtrak funding levels. While some states are interested in increasing their capital investment, particularly if the federal government begins to provide matching amounts, their interest is focussed on projects that improve running times and rolling stock.

Moreover, if the long-distance trains disappear, the surviving "network" (three isolated operations) at most would serve 21 states, making doubtful the continuation of any federal funding for intercity passenger rail. Even if such funding did continue, the cost of running short-distance trains likely would increase due to loss of shared revenues from connecting, long-distance passengers, and to loss of cost-sharing opportunities for common stations and other facilities.

We agree with Secretary Mineta that the nation needs "an effective network of intercity passenger rail -- one that the country can confidently rely on." But we fear that this DOT plan -- if implemented -- would mean the end of much, if not all, intercity passenger rail.

The full House Appropriations Committee is expected to mark up the FY 2004 transportation/treasury spending bill at 10:00 am this morning (2259 Rayburn).

Reports indicate that an amendment will be accepted that raises Amtrak funding from the $580 million approved by the subcommittee on July 11 to $900 million, which is what the Bush Administration requested but is still a shutdown budget. By contrast, CQToday said the revised bill would leave highway funding $4 billion above the Bush Administration request, and $1.7 billion above the FY03 level.

Amtrak has requested $1.8 billion. In a July 18 letter to House and Senate appropriations leaders, Gunn wrote: "There are too many of our assets that could fail at anytime and cripple our railroad. We have, for very good reasons and well cognizant of the budget environment, asked for a funding level above the current fiscal year...For an additional $460 million in capital expenditure [above the FY03 level], you will buy a railroad more able to meet the daily operational challenges and one closer to a state-of- good repair. Failure to fully fund this request, I fear, will quickly bring on the next crisis. This railroad simply cannot continue to operate without an adequate maintenance budget."

He cited this example of what Amtrak faces (from last week): "A span wire supporting the catenary broke and fell to the ground near the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. The wire in this area was installed before the Great Depression and this piece simply gave up the ghost. The effect of this one small incident totally disrupted service between Boston and New York for 24 hours."

NARP is among 30 organizations (including The U.S. Conference of Mayors and National Urban League) that signed a letter to House appropriations leaders objecting to the Amtrak number and other aspects of the subcommittee's bill relating to mass transit funding and programs, and the Transportation Enhancements program.

See also our detailed responses to Amtrak "myths" (revised and expanded July 16).

Following up our July 11 report on Amtrak-slashing action of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation/Treasury, it appears that the earliest the full committee will consider the bill is Monday, July 21. The Senate Appropriations subcommittee could act as early as Tuesday, July 22.

Below are "myths and facts" compiled by the association.

DEBUNKING COMMON MYTHS ABOUT AMTRAK

1. Myth: Amtrak is unique in operating in the red, at taxpayers' expense.

Fact: All transportation is subsidized by American taxpayers (see #2 regarding highways). Singling out Amtrak assumes taxpayers do not want to invest in passenger rail. Polls consistently show that Americans support federal funding for a national rail passenger system. A Washington Post poll taken July 26-30, 2002 (and reported August 5, 2002), found 71% support for continued or increased federal funding of Amtrak. Conservative Columnist George Will, in a June 4, 2003, column, said the poll indicated that "support for Amtrak is strong among all regions, ages, education levels and income groups." A CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll conducted June 21-23, 2002 -- near the height of Amtrak's funding crisis -- found 70% support for continued federal funding for Amtrak. Votes in Congress have demonstrated time and again that taxpayers' duly elected representatives agree.

2. Myth: Highways pay for themselves through user fees.

Fact: In 2001, 41% of the $133 billion spent on highways came from payments other than the gas tax, tolls, and vehicle taxes and fees, as follows: 15.3% general fund appropriations; 9.5% bond issue proceeds; 5.8% investment income and other receipts; 5.6% other taxes and fees; 4.8% property taxes. While most of this is at the state and local levels, federal policy encourages this by offering states generous funding matches for highway investments but no match for intercity rail investments. These statistics are in "Improving Efficiency and Equity in Transportation Finance," by Martin Wachs [The Brookings Institution Series on Transportation Reform (April 2003)], which states: "Revenues from fuel taxes have for three decades been rising more slowly than program costs as legislators become ever more reluctant to raise them to meet inflation. As a result, the burden of raising the funds for transportation programs is gradually being shifted to local governments and voter-approved initiatives that are, in most instances, not based on user fees."

3. Myth: Amtrak carries only a half-percent of the US travel market, therefore it is insignificant.

Fact: Where there is a strong Amtrak presence, as in the Northeast Corridor and New York-Albany, Amtrak dominates the airlines and offers a significant alternative to automobile travel. (Amtrak handles about 50% of all New York-Washington airline+railroad traffic. This calculation includes Newark/JFK/LaGuardia and Reagan National/Dulles Airports; and these rail stations: Stamford/New Rochelle/New York/Newark/Newark Airport/Metropark; New Carrollton/Washington/Alexandria/Manassas/Woodbridge/Quantico/Fredericksburg.) As travel volumes grow in the future, and construction of new highways and airports becomes less practical, the need for such services also will grow around the nation.  In rural areas, where Amtrak's infrastructure costs are insignificant, Amtrak is often the only transportation alternative to automobiles.

4. Myth: Private Freight Railroad companies subsidize Amtrak.

Fact: The freight railroads urged the federal government to create Amtrak and agreed to provide access to their tracks at an incremental cost basis in 1971. The case can be made for the opposite -- that Amtrak subsidizes the freight railroads. For much of Amtrak's existence, the law prevented Amtrak from contracting out most work while the freight railroads reduced their employment rolls (in some cases by contracting out), thus reducing the amount freight railroads pay into Railroad Retirement. Amtrak workers are "railroad employees." Railroad Retirement obligations-unlike Railroad Unemployment Insurance payments-are calculated on an industry-wide bias, with all companies paying the same rates. Therefore, Amtrak is subsidizing the freight railroads' contribution to Railroad Retirement; Amtrak's "excess Railroad Retirement payments" (about $150 million a year) is what Amtrak contributes to Railroad Retirement for workers that Amtrak never employed. If Amtrak were to go away, Railroad Retirement payments by the freight railroads and their employees would be increased.

Also, capacity enhancements designed for passenger trains benefit freight operations during much of the week. The newest example, with construction just under way, is restoration of double-track on Union Pacific's mainline just west of Sacramento.

5. Myth: Any dollar going to Amtrak is another dollar not going to roads.

Fact: Federal funds for roads come from the Highway Trust Fund, a dedicated long-term source of funding, whereas Amtrak receives federal dollars from the General Fund through the annual appropriations process. However, states and local governments should have the option to spend transportation dollars on the most efficient mode of transportation. Current policy discourages states and local governments from investing in intercity rail.

6. Myth: Shut down Amtrak and the private sector will operate passenger rail.

Fact: Rail passenger service was in private hands from its inception in the 1830s until 1970, when Congress and the Nixon Administration made a policy decision to create Amtrak because the private sector could not make a profit. The private sector operators that have expressed an interest in operating rail passenger service will do so for a fee with the clear expectation that the government will absorb the associated losses. Furthermore, most Amtrak route miles are on tracks whose owners, the private freight railroads, do not want to run their own passenger trains and have a top priority of opposing legislation to give Amtrak's rights (for track access at reasonable cost) to any other entity. The practical result of shutting down Amtrak would be elimination of intercity passenger rail.

7. Myth: Flying is cheaper than taking a long-distance train.

Fact: Anyone with a computer can find a train fare that is less than an airfare, or the opposite. Long-distance trains don't just go from one major market to another like flights, but serve many intermediate markets with poor air service (or no air service, or costly air service). Furthermore, the walk-up fare for an Amtrak trip is often much less than walk-up airfare. There are also people who cannot or do not want to fly.

8. Myth: One particular route (e.g., the Kentucky Cardinal between Chicago and Louisville) shows the entire national system is flawed.

Fact: The Kentucky Cardinal was instituted in 1999 to grow express package business. The profitable business never materialized and Amtrak discontinued the route on July 6, 2003. Despite limited ridership, no community wants its passenger train to disappear. Residents of Louisville recently filed a class action suit against Amtrak and the USDOT to bring back the route.

9. Myth: The overwhelming majority of Americans have chosen the automobile lifestyle.

Fact: To a large extent, this apparent "choice" reflects a necessary response to pro-highway federal policies, which for decades have encouraged state and local decisions that foster reliance on the automobile. States -- naturally influenced in choosing transportation projects by the federal funding available for those projects -- can obtain generous federal matches for investments in highways-often 80% and 90% of a project's total cost-and aviation, but there is no federal match for states to develop intercity rail projects. The public's interest in more travel choices is reflected both in the aforementioned polls and in ridership increases on Amtrak over five straight years (Fiscal 1997-2001) and on mass transit. At a June 27, 2003, conference on traffic congestion, American Public Transportation Association President William Millar stated, "Since 1995, transit ridership has grown by 21 percent, versus 16 percent for driving and 12 percent for domestic airlines. More people are taking public transportation now than in the last 40 years." Also, on April 17, 2001, The Washington Post reported, "Mass-transit ridership grew faster than highway use for the third year in a row last year, according to new national figures."

In their July 2001 report, "Twelve Anti-Transit Myths: A Conservative Critique," Paul M. Weyrich and William S. Lind of the Free Congress Foundation write, "From the advent of the Model T until quite recently, transit was a declining industry. This is not surprising because government offered massive subsidies to cars and highways.  Most transit systems, in contrast, were privately owned and operated and, far from receiving subsidies, had to pay taxes ... Post-World War II building codes, which forced a separation of housing, shopping, and work places also hit transit hard." Of course, the private railroads -- including their passenger facilities -- also were privately controlled and publicly taxed.

10. Myth:  Amtrak labor protection is outrageous.

Fact: Labor protection flowed from the railroad industry and the creation of Amtrak by Congress. Railroad workers historically have had strong labor protection. At the major freight railroads, protection can be triggered by many more events than at Amtrak. This was true even before Amtrak labor protection was scaled back as a result of the 1997 Amtrak reauthorization law.

Labor protection has no impact on day-to-day operating costs. It only comes into play when a route is discontinued or a mechanical facility is closed. In other words, none of the 1,000 employees Amtrak laid off in the past year got labor protection. Even when a facility is closed, Amtrak can avoid labor protection simply by letting employees follow their work, and -- for employees who choose to do that -- paying moving costs.

In the last reauthorization in 1997, rather than repealing labor protection provided by law outright, Congress sunsetted the provision, subject to negotiation of a substitute labor protection agreement by the unions and Amtrak under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act. The result of those negotiations was an arbitration award which reduced the benefits of labor protection for Amtrak employees.

Looking more broadly at Amtrak labor issues, many Amtrak pay rates are less than for comparable work at commuter railroads and some other companies. Commuter railroads and electric utilities benefit from "Amtrak as training ground," using higher pay to attract Amtrak employees.

• Linemen (who work on overhead electrification) get about $20 an hour at Amtrak but $33-$35 at Newark-based Public Service Electric and Gas Company. Pennsylvania Power & Light Inc. recently advertised positions at $30 an hour.
• Commuter rail examples: Locomotive engineers' hourly rate is $27.24 at Amtrak, $29.92 at Long Island RR, $25.73 at New Jersey Transit. The trackman rate is $16.31 at Amtrak, $19.03 at Metra (Illinois), $20.42 at SEPTA (Philadelphia), $23.33 at Long Island.

Unlike many employees in the private sector, Amtrak employees have never benefited from stock options.

Meanwhile, Amtrak management -- which does not get labor protection -- has not had a general salary increase since Fiscal 1997 (lump sum payments FY 1998 and FY 1999).

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies this morning approved a fiscal 2004 funding bill with just $580 million for Amtrak, $320 million below President Bush's request and $1.22 billion below Amtrak's request.

Most other programs fared much better. The committee's release says the bill exceeded President Bush's request by:

• "nearly $4.1 billion" overall;
• $4.8 billion for highways;
• $75 million for the Federal Aviation Administration; and
• $100 million for airport improvement program.

The release says Amtrak's $580 million "provides for continuing Amtrak operations," which Amtrak denies. Chairman Ernest J. Istook Jr. (R.-Okla.) said states should use CMAQ and NHS funds to hire private rail operators to operate services. However, those programs already are oversubscribed. In any event,

• Private freight railroads--who own most of the tracks Amtrak uses--would not allow, and are not required to allow, private rail operators track access on affordable terms, and
• Operation of the national network is a federal responsibility which financially beleaguered states are not going to pick up, and which--if they tried--would be the subject of endless debates over proper cost-sharing.

The full committee mark-up could come as early as July 15.

Detailed responses to Amtrak "myths" (based on this subcommittee's April 10 Amtrak hearing) are available from NARP.

Today and yesterday saw Senate and House approval of $2 billion Amtrak authorization bills, and moves towards creation of rail infrastructure investment programs.

This morning, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved on voice vote an Amtrak authorization of $2 billion per year for six years, as an amendment to the Committee's portion of TEA-21 (highway/transit) reauthorization. Yesterday, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved H.R. 2752, a three-year, $2 billion a year Amtrak authorization.

The positive actions by both committees are welcome but the appropriations process will determine whether Amtrak actually gets the $1.8 billion it has requested for Fiscal 2004.

This morning's Senate amendment also established a "Rail Infrastructure Finance Corporation ... to support rail transportation capital projects through the issuance of rail capital infrastructure bonds."

Yesterday, the House committee also approved H.R. 2751, the Railroad Infrastructure Development and Expansion Act for the 21st Century" (RIDE-21), which provides up to $60 billion for development of new high speed corridors and other rail investment. The bill includes $12 billion each in tax exempt and tax credit bonds, expands the RRIF loan program from $2.5 billion to $35 billion, and reauthorizes and expands the Swift Act which will assist states in purchasing rolling stock for high speed rail (RRIF = Railroad Rehabilitation Improvement Financing).

Today, the need for federal investment in rail infrastructure-both passenger and freight-was discussed at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, chaired by Jack Quinn (R-N.Y.). Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Roger Nober testified, "I believe that freight railroads are unable to make the level of capital investment in their networks that those systems presently need." Nober said since 1992 there have been only three examples of "big four" railroads earning their cost of capital-Norfolk Southern in 1992 and 1995; Union Pacific in 1995-and that no class one railroad of any size had earned its cost of capital in 2000, 2001 or 2002.

Sharon Clark, chairman of the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (created by the law which also established the STB) said the U.S. is "headed toward a crisis that can only be resolved by intelligent investment in transportation resources to improve the flow of freight and reduce bottlenecks in an interdependent freight system...The current lack of flexibility to include rail in our transportation investment programs jeopardizes the long-term viability of our nation's transportation and puts our competitive role in the world economy at risk."

Thomas Gillespie, a witness representing the Railway Supply Institute's Passenger Transportation Committee, advocated creation of a private, federally chartered Rail Finance and Development Corporation that could issue up to $50 billion in tax-credit bonds for capital investment in rail-related infrastructure not generally eligible for transportation trust fund expenditures under TEA-21.

Federal Railroad Administrator Allan Rutter said the Bush Administration opposes tax credit bonds as "a financing mechanism for rail, passenger or freight." He did offer eloquent testimony indicating the higher costs imposed on railroads than on other modes. "If we treated cars like trains for safety inspection purposes, people would have to spend much more time" maintaining their cars. "Motor carriers face no automatic user-fee increase when highway infrastructure improves," whereas railroads must pay for their infrastructure improvements.  He noted the huge volumes of safety regulations-federal and company-that locomotive engineers must carry.

The Committee's web site has releases about yesterday's actions, as well as the written testimony of several witnesses in today's hearing.

A report unveiled today -- "Amtrak Privatization: The Route to Failure" -- says the Bush Administration's approach to Amtrak is based on a search for "the correct answer to the wrong question. Let's instead get an approximate answer to the right question: How is America going to have an overall transportation system that is safe, convenient, time-competitive, minimizes environmental damage and oil dependence, helps make the nation more competitive, and-in light of national security needs-redundant?"

Thus spoke the report's author, Elliott D. Sclar, Professor of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He was joined at the news conference by Vukan Vuchic, Professor of Transportation at the University of Pennsylvania. The report was published by the Economic Policy Institute.

Vuchic said the Amtrak discussion has been poisoned by word, data and policy choices, and that no passenger transportation system is profitable overall. Highway spending invariably is called "investment" and one-year totals are cited, while Amtrak funding is a "subsidy" and 30-year totals often are used. The highway system is viewed as a system, with no serious consideration of dropping 'unprofitable' segments. Also, the highway system is set up to minimize out-of-pocket costs, while pressure on Amtrak keeps fares high.

Sclar noted that other modes of transportation get promoted by federal agencies, whereas the Federal Railroad Administration "is there to slice and dice Amtrak." His report calls Amtrak "a semi-private orphan in the guise of an independent nonprofit corporation."

In response to a question about "$400 per passenger subsidies" on long-distance trains, Sclar said such figures are based on fully allocated costs and thus wildly overstate what costs might be saved if a line actually was dropped. Also, those figures look "in the rear view mirror. Instead, we need to look ahead," anticipating a properly funded system. NARP Executive Director Ross Capon said the very use of subsidy per passenger rather than per passenger-mile -- the standard measure for most intercity travel -- was another example of anti-train bias.

Sclar's report notes that "long-distance routes serve areas that would otherwise lack any rail or air connection to major urban centers. The only trains linking 24 states are Amtrak long-distance trains ... The redundancy interest cited earlier-should the nation's air service be disrupted by terrorism-applies to these longer trips as much as to local travel."

For a release about the new report, go to the Economic Policy Institute web site. The report's executive summary and introduction and a note about the author are also at the web site. The full report is available from Economic Policy Institute, 1660 L Street, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20036, phone (202) 775-8810.

The Bush Administration today released its proposed highway/transit reauthorization bill, the "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003" (SAFETEA). The bill covers the six years, fiscal 2004-2009.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers commends the Administration for maintaining the general framework of TEA-21. We are pleased that Secretary Mineta, in his cover letter to Capitol Hill, cites "intermodal connectivity" as one area where our nation's transportation system "faces significant challenges," and that SAFETEA reserves certain highway funds for highway connections to intermodal freight facilities. Secretary Mineta also rightly emphasized the terrible costs of  motor vehicle crashes -- "nearly 43,000" deaths "every year" and a "total annual economic impact of...$230.6 billion."

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, "As our population ages, and congestion increases, the need for alternatives to driving will grow. A federal policy which gives highways a continuing strong edge in the competition for project dollars will not meet that growing need. Such a policy likewise will not help reduce fatalities, injuries and economic costs associated with highway accidents."

We are disappointed that the bill would not allow states to spend Highway Trust Fund money on intercity passenger rail projects if they so desire, and that even for mass transit the bill falls seriously short on several counts. The bill continues Swift Act high speed rail planning programs, but at a reduced level of $25 million a year. (It is high time for construction.)

The bill sets 50% as the top federal share for new rail starts. This limit sends an unfortunate message: for the indefinite future, state and local officials will get far bigger federal matches when they build more roads than when they invest in new rail transit.

Moreover, mass transit "guaranteed" funding -- that is, trust fund money not dependent on the annual appropriations process -- nominally rises just 3.3% (falling behind inflation), from $36 billion under TEA-21 (fiscal 1998-2003) to $37.2 billion under SAFETEA. [These numbers should not be confused with TOTAL transit funding, which would rise from $36.2 billion to $45.8 billion. But much of that increase may never be realized, as the non-guaranteed part is simply an authorization dependent on the dicey annual general fund appropriations process.]

Also, the trust-funded (guaranteed) portion of the "New Starts" program that is crucial for rail transit, drops from 80% to 18%, even as the definition of New Starts is watered down to include "Bus Rapid Transit" (BRT). [The May 12 Los Angeles Times has three strong letters under the heading, "A Busway Is No Way, Compared With Rail."]

Federal policy, of course, still provides no incentive for states to invest in intercity passenger rail. In April 30 testimony, Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson told the Senate Commerce Committee that the Administration hoped to have a more detailed proposal about intercity passenger rail within two months. While he proposed ultimately providing 50% capital grants to states, he made clear that the Administration favors phasing out federal operating grants, a euphemism for phasing out most existing intercity passenger rail service.

[For more commentary on SAFETEA today and in the future, see the website of the Surface Transportation Policy Project. Today, see especially the statement by President Anne Canby.]

The Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award for 2002 will be presented tonight to Gordon Bowe, of Chicago, Ill., for his work as an Operation Lifesaver volunteer.  He is also a conductor on Union Pacific's Chicago-area (Metra) commuter trains, and was nominated for the award by his employers.

The annual Award goes to the individual judged to have done the most to enhance rail passenger safety. The award honors the memory of a victim of a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina. The Burch family has sponsored the award since its establishment in 1994. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, in the Starlight Room in Union Station. The reception is 6:00-8:00 p.m., and this presentation is expected between 6:30 and 7:00 pm.

Bowe has made over 600 presentations since 1996 to a wide variety of citizen and school audiences about safety on and around railroad property.  That figure includes over 100 "station blitzes," aimed at promoting passenger safety at Metra stations where commuters regularly were observed crossing tracks unsafely.  He is also a safety trainer for new Union Pacific commuter operations employees.  He has worked in railroad jobs for over 25 years.

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.  Operation Lifesaver is a national, non-profit education and awareness program dedicated to ending motorist and pedestrian accidents on railroad crossings and right-of-way.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers will present its George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Sen. Patty Murray (D.-Wash.) tonight.  The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, in the Starlight Room in Union Station.  The reception is from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and Senator Murray is expected to receive the award at about 6:30.

The award is presented in appreciation for Senator Murray's "hard work" last summer as Chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee "to prevent a shutdown of Amtrak or of its individual routes."  The wording on the plaque also notes her work this year, as Ranking Member of the same subcommittee, "to provide a reasonable funding level for the current Fiscal year."

NARP President Alan M. Yorker said, "The Association appreciates Senator Murray's perseverance during the difficult situations of the past year.  Additionally, Senator Murray's strong support for mass transit helps move this country towards a balanced transportation system that gives its citizens, wherever they may live, the travel choices they want and need."

The National Association of Railroad Passengers will present its George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Rep. C. W. Bill Young (R.-Fla.) tonight. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, in the Starlight Room in Union Station. The reception is from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and Representative Young is expected to receive the award at about 6:30.

The award is presented in appreciation for Representative Young's "key role" as House Appropriations Chairman "in preventing an Amtrak shutdown last summer and in providing a reasonable funding level for the current fiscal year." The wording on the plaque continues, "His leadership in a challenging political environment has helped preserve for Americans transportation choices that are more important than ever, and a network that can serve as a foundation for the truly balanced transportation system that so many Americans want."

NARP President Alan M. Yorker said, "The Association appreciates Chairman Young's strong efforts to maintain and improve a nationwide passenger rail system in the United States."

"Do not underestimate the significance of Gunn getting Amtrak to a 'state of good repair'. Amtrak has never been there before, which is why I do not say 'getting Amtrak BACK to' that state."

That was the central message when National Association of Railroad Passengers Executive Director Ross B. Capon testified today before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads chaired by Jack Quinn (R.-N.Y.).

Capon was referring to the five-year plan Amtrak unveiled April 25. He said the combination of achieving 'good repair' and the many capital investments states and Amtrak have made in recent years means that the service Amtrak would provide under the plan would be far greater-and ridership far higher-than anything seen before.

"Just ask Illinois DOT-fresh from major track work on the Chicago-St. Louis line-what ridership would be like if Amtrak reliably dispatched clean trains, on schedules taking full advantage of the state's recent track upgrade work. Or ask Michigan the same question about Chicago-Detroit service, where one-third of the route already has a top speed of 90 mph, with 110 mph in the near future."

Capon urged adoption of RIDE-21 or the variation described in his statement as a way of supplementing the appropriations process, enabling further high speed rail development as well as some of the capital projects in the Amtrak plan.

Capon said travelers want choices both for long-distance and short-distance travel. Many travelers are medically unable to fly; others do not wish to fly. Earlier in the hearing, Rep. Howard Coble (R.-N.C.) commented, "Airports are rapidly becoming my least favorite place to be."

Capon said eliminating all long-distance trains would leave a three-part balkanized "system" serving only 21 states. Chairman Quinn in his opening statement said, "I stand firm in my commitment to a national system. Simply eliminating the unprofitable long-distance trains will NOT fix all." Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D.-Ore.) went further, "I don't think it solves anything."

Capon promised that NARP would review any detailed Administration plan carefully when it arrives. The plan, however, is already described as ending federal operating grants after six years, while providing only a 50% funding ratio for capital investments. Capon said that sounded like a formula for eliminating all long-distance and most short-distance trains.

Several legislators earlier in the hearing noted the dire condition of their states' finances.

There was near-unanimous support among committee members who spoke for federal funding for intercity passenger rail, although John Mica (R.-Fla.) -- who specifically expressed support for nationwide service -- joined the Bush Administration in criticizing the present organizational structure for delivering that service.

[Click here to see the testimony.]

Amtrak has been notified that, effective April 19, no mail will be handled west of the Twin Cities on the Empire Builder.

[The Empire Builder links Chicago with Portland and Seattle. The major intermediate stops are Milwaukee, St. Paul, Fargo, Minot, Havre, Shelby and Whitefish. In Spokane, the Seattle and Portland sections are separated westbound and put together eastbound. The train provides Amtrak's only rail service in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho (where it stops at Sandpoint).]

Amtrak's total mail revenues have dropped significantly -- from about $80 million a year early last summer to possibly less than $40 million later this month.

Although the Empire Builder action would involve a relatively small dollar amount, the move would be significant because it means that a major segment of the Amtrak route structure (the 1,844 miles between St. Paul and Portland) would lose all mail and the Empire Builder would lose revenue. Moreover, the Empire Builder has the best on-time performance among Amtrak's transcontinental routes, so the move raises concerns about what the Postal Service might do next.

Assuming no change in plans, the mail would switch to trucks, making highway travel that much more difficult for motorists, and the roads that much more expensive for states to maintain.

The Postal Service would pay Amtrak an indemnification fee to get out of the contract.

It is not clear that the switch represents the most cost-effective choice available to the Postal Service.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers strongly supports Amtrak President David L. Gunn's request for $1.8 billion in fiscal 2004, which begins October 1, 2003. "We support his goal of getting Amtrak's equipment and facilities back to a state of good repair," said Executive Director Ross B. Capon. "And, because states have identified many improvements that go beyond simply fixing today's Amtrak, we also agree with Gunn that a program to provide federal matching funds to states for passenger rail projects is badly needed."

Amtrak said that, as of last June, "one in 15 passenger cars was either wrecked or damaged and out of service." Gunn said that he expected eight such cars to be returned to service by the end of February, 2003. His hopes to repair 20 such cars per year.

Amtrak's fiscal 2004 budget request includes $45 million for acquisition of new diesel multiple unit trains (and shop improvements for those trains) that Gunn said would let Amtrak dramatically improve efficiency on lines such as Chicago-Milwaukee and New Haven-Springfield.

Amtrak released figures today showing that, thanks primarily to lower costs (including an $11 million cost reduction for the Texas Eagle), almost all of the national network routes posted improved financial results in fiscal 2002. Systemwide, 29 of 44 routes showed financial improvement from 2001 to 2002, despite of a huge drop in intercity travel in the first months after the 2001 terror attacks, and bad publicity for Amtrak from:

• A couple of derailments (which also sidelined cars and reduced capacity);
• The cash crisis that nearly closed Amtrak in early July; and
• Problems with Acela Express starting August 12.

Capon concluded, "We understand that the present fiscal climate forces Amtrak to focus its energies on the existing system, but we continue to believe that expansion of quality service is what the American people want, as reflected in many polls, and we look forward to building on the solid foundation that Gunn is laying."

The fiscal 2003 omnibus spending bill (H.J.Res.2) Congress approved late on February 13, which President Bush has indicated he will sign, includes about $1.05 billion for Amtrak, as well as deferral beyond fiscal 2003 of the need to make principal or interest payments on the $100 million loan which Amtrak got last summer. [Funding for other modes of transportation is discussed at the end of this release. The bill has an across-the-board cut of 0.65% to help offset an increase in education spending of $3.1 billion above the President's request.]

Here is the bill's breakdown of Amtrak's $1.05 billion -- $522 million for operating expenses; $295 million for Northeast Corridor capital expenses; $233 million for general capital improvements.

[As information, Amtrak is expected to request $1.8 billion for fiscal 2004, which begins October 1, 2003. President Bush has requested $900 million. Though inadequate, this is 73% higher than the $521 million in the Administration's FY03 request.]

Amtrak's February 14 statement said, in part, "Amtrak's $1.2 billion request for the fiscal year was predicated upon projected revenue levels and tight controls on spending. The amount appropriated by Congress only reinforces that sustaining Amtrak operations will be an ongoing challenge. Though the budget will be extremely tight, this funding level should be sufficient to operate the national system for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends September 30, 2003...Amtrak and the DOT must now immediately work to expeditiously establish grant procedures so that the funding and operations of the national passenger railroad system continue uninterrupted."

Earlier, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.) said, "This budget will help ensure that Amtrak continues to operate for another year as a national railroad system. We must also continue to pursue long-term reform and better service" (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 14).

The bill has extensive reporting requirements, including the submission of business plans. Amtrak cannot spend any of its appropriations on items that are not in those plans and were not approved by the Secretary of Transportation, except that changes for under $10 million can be made without formal request.

The Secretary of Transportation must "approve funding to cover operating losses" of each long-distance route "only after receiving and reviewing a grant request for each specific train route," provided that the financial analysis in each request justifies funding for that route "to the Secretary's satisfaction." The language can be viewed in a huge "pdf" document on the House Rules Committee's web site, but in a few days should be more easily accessible at the Thomas web site. The "pdf" document shows handwritten, last-minute changes, including the insertion of "reviewing" in place of "approving" (passage quoted in second sentence of this paragraph).

The bill does not include an unworkable provision approved last year by the House Appropriations Committee which limited funding for long-distance trains to $150 million.

The reporting requirements will force Amtrak and the Department of Transportation to work closely together. This should give DOT a greater understanding of where the money goes, how costs are allocated among Amtrak's routes, and which costs would not disappear (but merely get reallocated among surviving routes) in the event that a route were to be discontinued. However, it seems unlikely that the long-distance language -- which the Administration did not request -- will result in route discontinuances. [On February 9, Amtrak discontinued the Pennsylvanian west of Pittsburgh and extended it in the east from Philadelphia to New York City. Amtrak expects to discontinue the Kentucky Cardinal in early July, having sent the required 180-day notices January 6.]

Unfortunately, Amtrak must continue to report per-passenger losses, even though these do not measure economic efficiency. Because of wide variations in trip lengths, the passenger-mile is the standard unit for measuring intercity travel. Per-passenger measures are more useful in local transit where trip length variations are limited.

OTHER MODES

The omnibus bill maintains federal highway obligations at the record $31.8 billion level established in fiscal 2002 and maintained in this year's continuing resolutions. The House figure was $27.7 billion, TEA-21's authorized baseline amount. The Administration's original request was $23.3 billion, based on application of TEA-21's revenue-aligned budget authority (RABA) provision, under which highway spending was to rise and fall with estimated Highway Trust Fund revenues. During TEA-21 years, RABA-based increases (above guaranteed levels that also rose) totaled over $13 billion.

Transit is funded at about $7.2 billion, the guaranteed level in TEA-21. RABA provisions did not apply to transit. Thus, transit was protected from the cuts highways would have experienced this year if Congress had not intervened. By the same token, however, transit was denied the huge increases RABA gave highways in previous years under TEA-21.

The Federal Aviation Administration got $13.6 billion, $87 million above the 2002 enacted level and $17 million above the Administration's request (although the FAA Operations category was slightly below request) (Washington Letter on Transportation, February 17).

The Bush Administration's budget includes $900 million for Amtrak, promising to "expand Amtrak's capital and infrastructure maintenance programs" even though this amount is:

• About $1 billion less than what President and CEO David L. Gunn has said is needed for Fiscal 2004;
• $300 million less than the $1.2 billion Gunn says Amtrak needs for Fiscal 2003; and
• $139 million less than the $1.039 billion annual rate at which Amtrak has been funded so far this year in continuing resolutions.

The bottom line question is whether the Administration is willing to provide adequate resources to enable Gunn to dramatically improve Amtrak's effectiveness, and its ability to serve as a foundation on which to base further expansion of transportation choices that Americans want.

The Budget, at page 231, lists six Amtrak routes together with their 2001 loss per passenger, under the heading "Train or Plane?" The headline and text seem not to reflect an understanding of the high percentage of Amtrak passengers who use intermediate stations rather than travel the entire length of a route. Also, the statement that "routes regularly lose hundreds of dollars each time a passenger steps aboard" is an inaccurate way to complain about the average loss per passenger, which -- obviously -- goes down every time another passenger steps aboard.

Gunn already has dealt with two of the routes, and a third simply does not belong on any list that is based on economic efficiency. Details are below.

In general:

• Eliminating these routes would have a domino effect because so many passengers connect between routes, and some terminal and other overhead costs would be reassigned to surviving routes.
• The Oklahoma City-Fort Worth Heartland Flyer is not on the list but could not survive in isolation if the "Texas Eagle" is dropped.
• The Chicago-Memphis-New Orleans City of New Orleans and the New York-Atlanta-Birmingham-New Orleans Crescent would be particularly at risk as the sole surviving trains at New Orleans if the Sunset Limited is dropped.
• The budget cites a $258 Chicago-San Antonio round-trip fare, but:
• Flying at any price is not an option for people who cannot fly, or who need to travel where there is no air service;
• A high proportion of Amtrak passengers use intermediate points where cheap fares are not available. For example, Expedia.com today shows these ONE-WAY fares for March 3 travel from Texarkana: $378 to Austin, $425 to Springfield (Ill.).
• The air system as a whole loses money, as do most individual airlines.

• On January 6, Gunn sent the required 180-day advance notice for discontinuance of the Kentucky Cardinal, meaning the train will cease early in July. This train was inaugurated as part of Amtrak's ill-fated express cargo initiative. We would have preferred to see it extended to Nashville, but this depends on state funding which seems unlikely.
• Effective February 10, the Pennsylvanian will be converted from a Philadelphia-Chicago train on an express-oriented, passenger-unfriendly schedule to a New York-Pittsburgh train on a faster, passenger-friendly schedule.
• The Southwest Chief (Chicago-Kansas City-Albuquerque-Flagstaff-Los Angeles) ranks fifth out of 19 long-distance trains in terms of operating ratio (costs divided by revenues) based on Fiscal 2001 numbers in the Amtrak Reform Council's final report. The problem evidently is DOT's use of measure that does not track with economic performance -- "subsidy per passenger" -- rather than operating ratio (or subsidy per passenger-mile). Obviously, however, the use of any measure will leave one route in last place and thus a tempting target, whatever the absolute numbers involved.

Today was an eventful day for intercity passenger rail:

• Our Association joined 46 other corporations, unions, citizen advocacy groups, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the 22-member States for Passenger Rail Coalition in announcing that we have signed the American Passenger Rail Agreement. (More below.)
• The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials released a major report, "Intercity Passenger Rail Transportation," the first-ever AASHTO report on this subject. The 151-page document says Amtrak's "long-distance trains serve a basic transportation role in many markets throughout the United States" and "provide an alternative form of travel during periods of severe weather conditions or emergencies that affect other modes of transportation." There is a detailed discussion of corridor development plans. [AASHTO news release apparently not posted at this time; the link below is to description in AASHTO's web site "bookstore".]
• The Senate prepared to vote on a bipartisan amendment to restore Amtrak's fiscal 2003 federal grant to the $1.2 billion level Amtrak President David L. Gunn says is essential for the company's survival. The amendment was introduced--and is the subject of a "Dear Colleague" signed -- by Murray (D.-Wash.), Hutchison (R.-Tex.), Byrd (D.-W.Va.), Snowe (R.-Me.), Hollings (D.-S.C.), Chafee (R-R.I.), Biden (D.-Del.) and Specter (R.-Penn.). [This amendment was accepted on a voice vote later in the evening.]
• The Harrisburg Patriot-Ledger ran a strongly pro-Amtrak editorial critical of the Senate omnibus appropriations bill that has only $762 million for Amtrak, and urging "lawmakers...to  look at what Amtrak could do for the country, not what it hasn't done and couldn't do because it was never given the resources to provide state-of-the-art train service."

"America needs a balanced, integrated transportation system and the American people need diverse transportation choices," states the Agreement's preamble. "Passenger rail is a critical component of a modern, multi-modal transportation system ..." The Agreement calls on the federal government to "establish a dedicated, multi-year federal capital-funding program for intercity passenger rail ..." The Agreement also urges Congress to fully fund Amtrak while a more advanced passenger rail system is being designed, so the national passenger rail operator can keep its nationwide fleet of trains operating and improve service levels.

"It is significant that this broad range of groups has agreed on a common set of principles for setting passenger rail on the 'right track'," said Laura Kliewer, Director of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission. "The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), aviation programs and Amtrak all are up for reauthorization by Congress this year."

"All transportation in the U.S. -- except intercity passenger rail -- relies on long-term programs of federal infrastructure development," said Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. "Is it any wonder that rail is the least-developed mode of travel in this country? If rail is going to become more relevant and grow at a reasonable rate, it has to be brought under the same roof as the nation's other transportation programs and given access to the same long-term federal funding, planning and oversight that made air and highway travel accessible to a wide range of Americans."

"Federal funding is the key," said Rick Harnish, president of the Midwest High Speed Rail Coalition. "All of the nation's transportation programs struggled helplessly for decades until they won federal funding ... Annual congressional appropriations are too unpredictable to fund the civil-engineering improvements we need to make passenger train service fast, frequent and reliable."

"Passenger trains represent the next great leap in American mobility, but they will need billions of dollars of new track, new grade separations, new stations and high-tech signaling to become effective. Only the federal government can provide that kind of oversight and funding," said Joe Szabo of the United Transportation Union.

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All news releases sent nation-wide, unless otherwise noted

Rail Passengers Respond to DOT Inspector General's Report - November 22, 2004
Florida Needs High Speed Rail: Vote "NO" On Amendment 6 - October 27, 2004
NARP Condems Tancredo's Remarks - September 17, 2004
NARP Comments on Amtrak Service Changes - September 3, 2004
Majority of Senate Supports Full Amtrak Funding - August 23, 2004
House Appropriations Affirms Subcommittee's Amtrak Action - July 23, 2004
House Subcommittee Approves $900 million for Amtrak - July 15, 2004
NARP Supports Amtrak's revised five year plan - June 29, 2004
NARP elects officers; George Chilson is president - April 28, 2004
Burch Safety Award Goes to Steven Tomlinson of Amtrak - April 21, 2004
Rail Passengers Honor Sen. Carper - April 21, 2004
Rail Passengers Honor Rep. Boehlert of New York - April 21, 2004
Bush Administration Repeats $900 Million Amtrak Request - February 2, 2004

A new report from the Department of Transportation Inspector General says Amtrak’s prospects for getting the funding it needs are bleak and suggests eliminating “unprofitable” routes.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers disagrees. We agree that preservation and improvement of the Northeast Corridor and other short distance routes are vital. But the money which could be saved by eliminating most or all national network (long-distance) routes would be insignificant when measured against corridor needs.

Moreover, the national network accounts for about half of all Amtrak travel (in terms of passenger-miles). Eliminating that network, while preserving every existing short-distance service, would create a 21-state “system” of four isolated mini-networks, significantly compromising its usefulness to the traveling public while simultaneously weakening Amtrak’s ability to get federal funding. Key Republican Senators have repeatedly made clear that survival of the national network is essential for their continued support of Amtrak, and indeed have criticized Amtrak for spending too much in the Northeast.

Amtrak’s route structure is already so skeletal that further major route cuts would end all service to several major cities and states and bring charges that the cut was politically motivated (a la the National Park Service closing the Washington Monument).

Under Amtrak President and CEO David L. Gunn since May, 2002, Amtrak has contained costs, improved financial reporting, eliminated mail and freight express operations with the goal of improving on-time performance, made selected service reductions, and improved its credibility on Capitol Hill.

Gunn’s efforts have reinforced the increased national awareness after 9/11 of the importance of passenger rail. Those factors, plus record ridership in fiscal 2004, helps explain why Congress just agreed to fund Amtrak at the higher Senate-passed figure of $1.217 billion rather than splitting the difference with the $900 million approved by the House Appropriations Committee and requested by President Bush.

If Amtrak continues to show progress in ridership and cost containment, we are optimistic that funding will be more than the Inspector General anticipates, although we recognize that the impetus for some of that funding could be a catastrophic failure—such as a temporary shutdown of New York-Boston service due to problems with the three elderly river bridges Amtrak has been attempting to draw attention to for years.

The report refers to on time performance problems, but is silent on their diverse causes:

• Acela Express (74.7% on-time performance for October-June, the first nine months of FY 2004)--While some delays relate to infrastructure problems, others stem from improvement work Amtrak is actually undertaking (such as the New York City tunnels, badly needed infrastructure work in and just to the north of Washington Union Station, and track overhauls between Philadelphia and Wilmington). This type of work, applauded by the DOT in other parts of the report, is essential and often delays trains just as highway construction slows traffic. Still other delays result from highly publicized mechanical problems with the new trains that Amtrak is addressing; these delays arguably stem from questionable investment decisions by previous management, rather than federal funding levels.

• National Network trains--Amtrak stopped handling mail partly in an effort to improve on-time performance, but the change just took place in early October, 2004. In addition, the well-publicized capacity crisis facing many of the nation's private freight railroads has heavily impacted Amtrak trains. The DOT IG is silent on one possible remedy: a federal match for railroad infrastructure investment, similar to what highway and aviation projects enjoy. It is well established that, absent public investment, the share of freight carried on the nation's private railroads will decline, creating over time an unacceptable additional burden on our highways.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) supports the November, 2000, decision by Florida voters favoring a constitutional amendment to require construction of a high speed rail system. Unfortunately, due to the efforts of rail opponents including Governor Jeb Bush, the public must voice its support again.

Wording of the new ballot question requires high speed rail supporters to vote "NO." A "YES" vote on Amendment 6 is a vote to repeal the high speed rail constitutional amendment.

As the population of Florida increases and ages, the existing highway network--even with planned expansion--will not be adequate for the state. High speed rail connecting major population and entertainment centers will increase mobility, boost tourism potential, create jobs, and strengthen the economy. It will also produce transportation that is generally safer and more reliable in bad weather than other forms of transportation.

NARP is a non-partisan organization funded by dues and contributions from approximately 16,000 individual members. We have worked since 1967 to support improvement and expansion of passenger rail, particularly intercity passenger rail.

On Tuesday, United States Representative Tom Tancredo (R-Colo. District 6) issued a release in which he called Amtrak, America's Passenger Railroad, "Scamtrak" and said, "When you look at those numbers, it makes almost as much sense for Congress to subsidize Nike sneakers as it does for us to ask taxpayers to subsidize rail service."

National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) Executive Director Ross B. Capon made the following statement today:

"Our Association believes transportation policy must be based on future needs, not those of the past. Amtrak already provides vital transportation capacity in the Northeast and a growing number of other corridors. The longer routes serve communities with limited transportation choices, and people who do not want to or who cannot fly. The need for the rail passenger alternative will grow with time, given highway and aviation capacity limits, rising energy costs, and the fact that the number of Americans age 65 or older--people who have a greater need to seek alternatives to driving--will increase by 80% in the next 20 years.

"Rep. Tancredo's charge that ' the percentage of Americans who ride the train to work each day remains roughly the same as the number who walk - just five percent' is strange. Amtrak is an intercity--not a commuter--carrier. To be sure, Amtrak runs certain local agencies' commuter trains, but on profitable contracts. Also, on a few of Amtrak's own routes, service for daily commuters is a by-product of schedules oriented to longer trips. But taking Americans 'to work each day' is not Amtrak's mission; it is absurd to criticize Amtrak for trends in local rail transit market-share.

"From fiscal year 1996 to fiscal year 2003, annual Amtrak ridership rose 22%--from 19.7 million to 24.0 million--with increases posted each year except for a slight (0.4%) drop in 2002. In 2004, through the first 11 months (October-August), ridership was up 4.7% compared with the same months in 2003.

"Tancredo complains that Amtrak has never been profitable, but the overall aviation system is not 'profitable' either and Amtrak is the rail equivalent of the airlines, airport authorities, and air traffic control system together. This is true both in the Northeast Corridor, where Amtrak owns and controls most infrastructure, and nationwide where Amtrak pays other carriers to use their infrastructure and is the sole carrier with the legal authority to do so."

The National Association of Railroad Passengers is a non-partisan organization funded by dues and contributions from approximately 16,000 individual members. We have worked since 1967 to support improvement and expansion of passenger rail, particularly intercity passenger rail.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers opposes Amtrak’s planned termination of the New York-Pittsburgh Chicago “Three Rivers” and recognizes that changes proposed for Florida have important positives and negatives.

NARP has made the following points to Amtrak regarding the “Three Rivers”:

• The eastbound train lets passengers connecting from late Western trains continue their journeys promptly rather than having to spend an unplanned night in a Chicago hotel (at Amtrak’s expense).
• The westbound train is the only long-distance train which permits a Chicago arrival early enough to attend an all-day meeting.
• The “Three Rivers” is the only daily service between Philadelphia/New Jersey and Chicago.
• State and local funding for station improvements has totaled $287,500 at Youngstown, Akron and Fostoria—stations which are now set to lose their Amtrak service come March 1. Also, Amtrak in 1994 spent $2.6 million on a track connection at New Castle, Pennsylvania, just for the “Three Rivers.”

Regarding changes in the Florida service, we:

• Applaud the restoration of decent times and a full service train to Tampa;
• Acknowledge that an attractively timed dedicated connecting bus that directly serves Gainesville (home of the University of Florida)—as well as Dade City, Ocala and perhaps Waldo—compares favorably with middle-of-the-night trains that skip Gainesville;
• Applaud plans to expand capacity on the “Silver Star” and “Silver Meteor”; but
• Regret the loss of schedule choice south of Savannah as the new schedule will see two round trips there instead of three.

We note with interest Amtrak’s statement that, “in Chicago, Toledo, Philadelphia, Washington, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Jacksonville and other cities, train delays due to mail handling will be eliminated.” If this theory proves accurate, that will be a plus for passengers. Improved reliability of Western trains also could reduce the role of the eastbound “Three Rivers” as a rescue train for late Western “misconnecting” passengers, but we have urged Amtrak at least to keep “Three Rivers” on until it is clear that the promised reliability improvements are real. Mail is not the only Amtrak-controlled obstacle to on-time performance.

We note also Amtrak’s statement that eliminating mail and express cars will “reduce the number of locomotives [Amtrak] needs by shortening trains to and from Chicago.” Again, the operation of more long-distance trains with single locomotives likewise will require a higher level of maintenance to insure reliability.

Finally, we are concerned about service frequency reductions between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, and the “ping-ponging” of the eastbound schedule, with the popular 7:15 AM Pittsburgh departure dropped next month but restored in the spring. Maintaining both frequencies through the spring would better serve public need if there is a real possibility that Pennsylvania might fund a second frequency. Extension of one of the Pittsburgh trains to Cleveland and Toledo also would be desirable.

We recognize that Amtrak, unfortunately, faces hostility on funding issues both from the White House—which still nominally supports a “shutdown,” $900 million grant for FY 2005—and from certain key members of Congress. Nonetheless, we are concerned that this latest announcement may be perceived as retrenchment rather than restructuring.

To the extent that these decisions are driven by equipment shortages, they underline the need for the federal government to fully fund Amtrak’s five-year plan, including its equipment aspects.

Today, the United States Senate voiced strong support for rebuilding America's intercity rail passenger network. In a letter to Senate appropriators, 51 Senators requested a fiscal 2005 appropriation of $1.798 billion for Amtrak capital and operating needs.

The letter, co-authored by Senators Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), is signed by a diverse collection of Senators: Republican and Democrat, rural and urban, those with Amtrak service and those without it. The $1.798 billion level of funding is critical to avoid a shut-down crisis in 2005 and maintain Amtrak President David L. Gunn's efforts to return the railroad to a state-of-good-repair.

"Amtrak needs the money now to improve service and repair its aging infrastructure," Senator Hollings said. "We can't shut down Amtrak. Twenty-four million Americans depend on it for transportation. In these times of highway and aviation congestion and security concerns, investing in Amtrak should be a national priority."

Senator Specter said: "Amtrak plays an integral role in the future of passenger transportation. While Amtrak's fiscal needs are significant, I believe we would be severely disadvantaged without a national passenger rail system."

This letter takes on added importance given the shut-down funding level of $900 million approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 22, 2004. A timeline for Senate action on Amtrak's appropriation will be decided upon at the end of the August recess.

A copy of the text of the letter, as well as a list of Senators who signed the letter, may be viewed at our website.

Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2005 Transportation/Treasury funding bill, making no change in the "kill-Amtrak" funding level approved July 15 by the subcommittee led by Chairman Ernest Istook Jr. (R-OK).

Because the bill requires Amtrak to repay its $100 million DOT loan, the committee is:

• $100 million below the Bush Administration request (which did not require loan repayment),
• $100 million below where the committee was at this stage in last year’s process, and
• $418 million or 34% below the current level.

As Rep. John Olver (D-MA)--ranking member of the subcommittee--said yesterday, Amtrak “can’t end the [2005] fiscal year and still maintain its operations and maintenance needs.”

Amtrak says that $900 million or anything close to that level would force a shutdown by February, and that an appropriation of about $1.5 billion ($1.6 billion including loan repayment) is needed to maintain the momentum now established towards returning the railroad to a state of good repair.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, "The Bush Administration knows $900 million will not work. At a February 2 briefing, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, responding to my question, said '[Amtrak President and CEO David] Gunn is right on the numbers.'"

Istook said yesterday that "reforms" are necessary before the House attitude on funding Amtrak would change. While it is unclear exactly what reform means, it appears to include elimination of Amtrak's national network (long-distance trains), which would leave four isolated mini-networks serving a total of just 21 states.

Capon said, “The national network is a vital part of our transportation system both politically and economically. It is not credible to suggest that a modern passenger train network can be built on the 'ashes' of today's system.”

Further legislative action will not come until after Labor Day, as Congress began its summer recess today. Congress may wind up sending the White House a single bill in September that encompasses continuing resolutions for most federal agencies, and an extension of TEA-21. Last night, Congress extended TEA-21 through September 24 (for highways) and September 30 (for transit and other parts of the bill).

Washington—-The Amtrak funding process for fiscal 2005 (which starts October 1, 2004) got off to a disappointing, if expected, start this morning. The Subcommittee on Transportation and Treasury and Independent Agencies of the House Appropriations Committee approved the $900 million level requested by the Bush Administration.

Looking on the bright side, this is $379 million or 73% more than this subcommittee, chaired by Ernest Istook Jr. (R-OK), approved last year.

Also, the subcommittee has bipartisan support for Amtrak. One subcommittee member, John Sweeney (R-NY), said after this morning’s action: “Today was the first step in an ongoing fight. We are going to continue fighting throughout this process to get Amtrak the funding it needs to support the millions of passengers each year that rely on its services.”

The full committee, chaired by Rep. C. W. Bill Young (R-FL), plans to mark up the bill on Friday, July 23. House floor action-—and possibly all Senate action—-is expected in September.

Amtrak says that $900 million or anything close to that level would force a shutdown by February, and that about $1.6 billion is needed to maintain the momentum now established towards returning the railroad to a state of good repair.

“It is high time that the House responded to public support for a balanced transportation system in which intercity passenger rail plays a major role,” said NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon. “Passing a ‘shutdown’ budget for Amtrak takes the nation in exactly the wrong direction.”

The National Association of Railroad Passengers today announced its support for Amtrak’s revised five year strategic plan, as outlined in a briefing this afternoon. This year’s plan contains appendices highlighting challenges confronting the rail freight industry, and evaluating the “readiness” of corridors for further development.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “Amtrak has done an important service by quantifying ‘unsustainable’ rail freight industry trends —- growth in ton-miles while track capacity is reduced —- and highlighting specific track segments at risk. Also, by identifying eight ‘readiness criteria’ for short-distance passenger corridor development, and ‘Tier I’ and ‘Tier II’ corridors where states have completed all or most of the criteria, Amtrak highlights the need for the federal government to step forward as a funding partner for those states.”

The Association continues to endorse Amtrak’s goals to return its existing system -— both rolling stock and infrastructure —- to a state of good repair.

It is important to note that this plan does not call for the elimination of any Amtrak rail service. Rather, the plan identifies track segments where Amtrak service is threatened due to possible track abandonment or downgrading by owning freight railroads. One major segment is the 703-mile BNSF line between Newton and Dodge City, Kansas; La Junta and Trinidad, Colorado; and Albuquerque. This is a vital part of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief route, but also serves as an important safety valve for the freight network when BNSF’s main route via Amarillo, Texas, is blocked. Amtrak President and CEO David L. Gunn noted, “When you don’t make your cost of capital, you can’t afford to maintain redundancy.”

Amtrak also presented a map showing routes where freight congestion due to track capacity problems causes serious delays.

Gunn noted, “You need an industry that, when it needs a double track, has the money to put it down.”

The Corridor development and rail freight issues are related. Following Gunn’s presentation, state officials from Washington, North Carolina and California made presentations about what they have already accomplished, and future plans that depend on federal funding. Eugene K. Skoropowski, Managing Director of the Capitol Corridor (Sacramento-Bay Area), noted that state investment in track capacity motivated by passenger concerns also has increased track capacity for freight operations. Conversely, he said that freight railroads in California had invested $95 million in infrastructure on their passenger corridors.

Bill Schafer of Norfolk Southern endorsed Gunn’s statements of concern about the rail freight industry, referring to the “proverbial canary in the coal mine” -– that is, Amtrak delays are the most visible sign to people outside the freight railroad’s industry of its serious congestion problems.

NARP calls on interested parties to use this information to garner support and grow interest in expanding corridor opportunities and preserving the existing national network system, and calls on Congress and the Bush Administration to develop a meaningful transportation policy that addresses the railroad crisis.

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

Note: the Amtrak plan may be view on Amtrak's website (click on “FY 2005-2009 Amtrak Strategic Plan,” the second link).

The NARP Board of Directors elected George Chilson of San Diego as President of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. He succeeds Alan M. Yorker of Decatur, Georgia. The president (who is also the association's chairman) is a volunteer position.

The board also elected as vice-presidents Arthur Poole of Coos Bay, Ore., and Robert J. Stewart of Fort Myers, Fla., and re-elected Wayne E. Davis of Yarmouth, Me., and David Randall of Alton, Ill. The new secretary is Albert L. Papp Jr. of Millington, N.J., and the new treasurer is Robert W. Glover of San Francisco, Cal.

Chilson has served on the board since 1998. Since 2000, he has been one of the association's four vice-presidents. He chaired the committee that wrote the association’s report, "Modern Passenger Trains: A National Necessity".

Now retired, his professional career included working for General Mills in Minneapolis as a product manager (1965-69); for MJB Company in San Francisco as Manager, New Products (1969-71); and for Plus Products, Los Angeles, as Vice-President of Sales and Marketing (1971-1979). From 1979-98, through the Chilson-Rose Corporation, he was a business owner in the apartment and hospitality industries.

A native of Kingston, New York, Chilson holds an A.B. in economics from Princeton (1963), and an M.B.A. from Stanford (1965).

The elections took place on Friday, April 23, in Washington, D.C.

The Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award for 2003 will be presented tomorrow evening to Steven Tomlinson of Forksville, Pa., for his work as a safety liaison for Amtrak. He currently serves in that capacity full-time for all Amtrak maintenance-of-way (track) supervisors.

The annual Award goes to the individual judged to have done the most to enhance rail passenger safety. The award honors the memory of a victim of a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina. The Burch family has sponsored the award since its establishment in 1994. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, in the Starlight Room in Union Station. The reception is 6:00-8:00 p.m., and this presentation is likely between 6:15 and 7:00 pm.

Tomlinson works to ensure that Amtrak track maintenance employees and supervisors understand and comply with rules designed both for workplace safety and for safe installation and operation of critical track elements.  He also trains field managers and supervisors in these vital areas. He has worked for Amtrak for over 30 years, starting as a trackman. Amtrak President David L. Gunn wrote, "It is our belief that Mr. Tomlinson has made unique contributions to the safety of railroad passengers."

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers will present its George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D.-Del.) tomorrow evening. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, in the Starlight Room in Union Station. The reception is from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and Senator Carper is expected to receive the award between 6:15 and 7:00.

The award is presented in appreciation for Senator Carper's "tireless" work as representative, governor, Amtrak board member, and senator "to broaden support for America's national rail passenger system."  Continuing from the wording on the plaque: "His never-ending willingness when on the Amtrak board to make the case for Amtrak to legislators, his commitment as governor to Delaware's investment in the Northeast Corridor, and his indefatigable work in 2003-2004 to get a rail title into the next surface transportation authorization deserve special mention."

"As a daily Amtrak passenger and as someone who has always loved trains, it is with sincere gratitude that I accept this award," said Senator Carper. "We stand at a crossroads right now in the history our nation's transportation policy. If we provide for a strong Amtrak and push for a federally backed system to fund rail infrastructure, we could be looking at a new rail renaissance in this country. America needs a strong Amtrak and strong freight railroads if we are to maintain the economic prosperity and mobility that we have come to expect."

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers will present its George Falcon Golden Spike Award to Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert (R.-N.Y.) Thursday evening. The award will be presented at the Association's annual Washington reception, in the Starlight Room in Union Station. The reception is from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and Representative Boehlert is expected to receive the award at about 6:15.

The award is presented in appreciation for Representative Boehlert's "tireless work over many years for high speed rail development and for our national rail passenger system. He is one of the reasons Amtrak is alive, well and improving." The wording on the plaque also notes that "largely due to his efforts," Utica, N.Y., has a fine passenger terminal and notes that Boehlert has sponsored high-speed rail bills, signed pro-rail appropriations letters, and written op-ed columns about Amtrak and passenger rail.
NARP President Alan M. Yorker said, "The Association appreciates Representative Boehlert's strong efforts to maintain a nationwide passenger rail system in the United States and develop new, high-speed corridors."

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

The Bush Administration's Fiscal 2005 budget has $900 million for Amtrak, the same amount requested for Fiscal 2004. This amount is:

• $318 million or 26% below the Fiscal 2004 level
• $900 million or 50% below the $1.8 billion that Amtrak requested for Fiscal 2004

Heavy maintenance literally refers to periodic overhauls on rolling stock needed to maintain their reliability. In this context, however, it also means progress on bringing Amtrak's infrastructure back to a state of good repair, including replacement of three river bridges (two movable) on the Boston-New York line before they become inoperable and force a cessation of service.

The Administration continues to press the case for "reform." Given the strong ridership growth which Amtrak has posted under Gunn the last eight months, and his success in cleaning up both Amtrak's shops and its financial statements, NARP believes that the right course is to support Gunn's efforts to bring Amtrak to a state of good repair.

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The National Association of Railroad Passengers is outraged at Reuters and New York Times reports that President Bush will propose zero funding for Amtrak for fiscal 2006, which starts October 1, 2005. We understand that the $360 million that has been characterized as for Northeast Corridor capital improvements is actually for continuation of commuter rail operations on the Northeast Corridor.

Any zero budget request would end intercity passenger rail for Americans, notwithstanding Administration claims to the contrary. It would also be a tired reminder of similar, failed efforts by past administrations, which proposed Amtrak zeroes for FY 1986 through FY 1991.

The Administration talks a lot about “Amtrak reform.” However, Amtrak under President and CEO David L. Gunn has experienced more reform in the past two-and-a-half years than probably in the previous thirty. Headcount has dropped by 3,900 (not counting the transfer of Boston area commuter rail to another operator). Meanwhile, the number of daily trains has risen from 265 in 2002 to 300 today. Amtrak has taken on no new debt since June 2002, although costs of servicing previously incurred debt continue to be significant.

Americans want and use the travel choice that Amtrak offers. One indication of this is Amtrak’s 4.3% ridership growth in FY 2004, which Gunn said was “across all our services – corridor trains as well as long-distance trains...The ridership increases are noteworthy because they came during efforts to restore the fleet and bring Amtrak facilities back to a state of good repair.” Record ridership in FY 2004--at 25.1 million--was up more than one million from the previous record--24.0 million in FY 2003.

For fiscal 2005, President Bush requested $900 million. Congress, recognizing that this would force a shutdown, wisely increased that to $1.2 billion. Amtrak’s initial request was $1.8 billion, later revised to $1.5 billion.

Amtrak has said that $1.2 billion for FY 2006 would be unworkable. This is due to deferrals in capital investment and maintenance that would result for both rolling stock and infrastructure. The highest profile issues have been three elderly river bridges in Connecticut. There are concerns that the two bridges which are movable might have to be locked either open (for marine traffic) or closed (for trains). Last month, the Thames River Bridge at New London was locked closed for several days.

Even if Congress ultimately trashes this zero proposal as it has previous ones, the proposal would harm employee morale and perhaps decrease ridership because of public concern about the elimination of Amtrak service. The Administration is out of touch with the public on this issue; we believe Congress ultimately should and will enable intercity passenger rail to continue. 

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The Administration's Fiscal 2006 budget proposal eliminates all funding for Amtrak. The National Association of Railroad Passengers condemns this proposal as radical and irresponsible.

It would end virtually all intercity rail passenger service in the nation, including through service on the Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. This places the burden of funding intercity passenger rail entirely on states that do not have the financial resources to assume such an unfunded mandate.

States with limited resources would place first priority on saving the commuter operations within their borders. The $360 million the Administration proposes is to allow freight and local commuter rail operations over the Northeast Corridor to continue. It is not clear that this would be enough to accomplish these purposes, and not even the Administration claims it would allow continuation of any Amtrak trains.

Past experience suggests that the only way to fund services which cross multiple state lines is at the federal level.

The Bush Administration misleads the public by saying that a "restructuring" based on zero federal support "should lead to the development of short-corridor routes between major population centers." On the contrary, the existing system has provided the framework and infrastructure for the significant corridor development we have seen on the West Coast, the Midwest, and in upstate New York.

Eliminating Amtrak would jeopardize many of those improvements, and would preclude the possibility of improvements elsewhere. It completely disregards the nation's growing need for the rail travel alternative. Even if every short-distance corridor survived, the resulting "network" would be four isolated units serving a total of 21 states. Travel options would be dramatically reduced even in those states.

Administration claims that an Amtrak bankruptcy would eliminate "inefficient operations" and lead to the emergence of a "more rational" passenger rail system that served routes where there is "real ridership demand" and "support from local governments--such as the Northeast Corridor" are false.

Clearly they are targeting Amtrak’s long distance services and misrepresenting crucial facts.

• Far from lacking demand, the long distance routes handle 59% more travel than the Northeast Corridor (NEC). In FY 2004, the long-distance routes accounted for 2.7 billion passenger-miles, the Northeast Corridor for 1.7 billion. (A passenger-mile is one passenger traveling one mile.)
• The per-passenger-mile operating grant required for conventional, Northeast Corridor trains is comparable to that of the long-distance network. It is a common misconception that the long distance trains are "money losers" while the NEC trains are "profitable." None is, including the new high speed Acela Express.
• The amount of federal funding needed to run the entire, nationwide network is only about 20% greater than what would be required to run the Northeast Corridor alone.

The low funding in FY 2000-2001 allowed for no capital investment and helped create today's deferred capital problem.

One indication that the Administration is not serious about intercity passenger rail of any kind is the zeroing out of the Federal Railroad Administration's "next generation high speed rail" programs of research, development, planning, and technology demonstration. This modest program was funded at $39 million in FY04 and $31 million in FY05.

NARP is a non-partisan organization funded by dues and contributions from approximately 16,000 individual members. We have worked since 1967 to support improvement and expansion of passenger rail, particularly intercity passenger rail.

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A bipartisan group of 35 senators signed a pro-Amtrak letter sent Monday (February 14) to Senate Budget Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) and the committee’s ranking member, Kent Conrad (D-ND). More senators are expected to sign a follow-up letter.

Organized by Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), the letter was sent Monday because of the need to get on the record quickly. The second letter will give additional senators who support Amtrak the chance to sign.

The letter sent Monday states, in part, “We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the President’s proposed elimination of funding Amtrak in his 2006 Budget proposal...Without [federal funding], Amtrak would quickly enter bankruptcy and shutdown of all Amtrak services [would result], leaving millions of riders and thousands of communities without access to the essential and convenient transportation that Amtrak provides.

“Therefore, we ask that you provide sufficient funding in the Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Resolution to sustain Amtrak’s national network of passenger rail service. Amtrak’s 5-year Strategic Plan, which was approved by Amtrak’s Board of Directors on June 10, 2004, specifies that approximately $1.8 billion will be required for fiscal year 2006 to provide safe and efficient operation of the railroad. In addition, the most recent reauthorization proposal from the Administration would require a funding level of at least $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2006, according to the Department of Transportation Inspector General…

“Amtrak has made real progress reforming itself over the last few years by reducing its operating costs to help fund needed capital improvements. Over the last 30 months, Amtrak CEO and President David Gunn has cut operating costs, reduced the employee headcount...increased the number of trains...and implemetned internal reforms designed to control costs and improve efficiencies. Amtrak’s core operating expenses are now less than they were in 2000.

“There is an enormous amount of work needed on the infrastructure, fleet and equipment Amtrak owns and operates...”

The letter was signed both by senators whose primary concern is short-distance services as well as those primarily concerned about the national network trains. Signers recognize the fallacy in the Administration’s argument that destroying one part of the system will help save another part of it. 

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The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) continues to agree with Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta that the federal government should provide matching funds for state intercity passenger rail corridor development programs.

But we disagree with the secretary about what is happening to Amtrak. If “...the federal...partnership...with Amtrak...has failed,” primary fault lies with the Federal Government, which has not provided essential funding for passenger rail infrastructure and rolling stock, and thereby limited service expansion and inflated operating costs.

The case for intercity passenger rail funding on the order of $1.7 to $2.0 billion is persuasive. Amtrak needs $1.2 billion for the Northeast Corridor alone. Adding a mere $300 million keeps the rest of the system going—other corridor trains and national network (long-distance) trains. Funding above $1.5 billion could support a federal match for a state-controlled corridor development program. In short, the incremental benefits associated with each funding level above $1.2 billion are substantial.

By contrast, the Administration’s zero budget request, if enacted, would mean the end of all intercity passenger rail.

The national network (long-distance) trains are heavily used, accounting for almost half of Amtrak’s total passenger miles. They carry passenger loads comparable to – or higher than – those on most airline flights as well as on short distance passenger trains, including those in the Northeast. They tie rural and urban America together and provide the foundation on which states can build additional regional services. Without them, the number of city pair markets where rail is a travel choice would fall dramatically.

Services which cross multiple state lines are federal responsibilities--including the Northeast Corridor and the national network trains. This reality reflects the willingness and ability of states to pay, and the difficulty of identifying an appropriate method for allocating costs among states. Running trains “closed door” through states that don’t pay is impractical. Except for a few cases where a route crosses a narrow corner of a state, the economic damage that any route would suffer from running “closed door” through any single state would be severe or devastating.

In poll after poll and ballot initiative after ballot initiative, the American people have demonstrated that they want – and will vote to fund ­- improved and expanded passenger train service.

NARP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization primarily funded by dues and contributions from individual members. Since 1967 NARP has represented the interests of millions of passenger rail and transit users by supporting improvement and expansion of passenger rail, particularly intercity passenger rail. 

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Open discussion of an Amtrak “bankruptcy” in the Administration’s budget request clearly indicates where this Administration is heading. Replacement of funds for Amtrak, and vague comments about as-yet-unrequested funds for states do not constitute responsible policy, as is made clear in the detailed February 16 letter from Sen. Patty Murray (WA), the top Democrat on the relevant appropriations subcommittee (Letter available on Murray’s website).

Without the foundation Amtrak provides, “replacement” funding for states--even should it materialize--would be a far less efficient investment than the federal government’s current Amtrak funding.

Fully one half of Amtrak passengers in North Carolina are riding “basic system” trains; the other half ride the state-funded “Carolinian” and “Piedmont.”

The case for intercity passenger rail funding on the order of $1.7 to $2.0 billion is persuasive. Amtrak needs $1.2 billion for the Northeast Corridor alone. Adding a mere $300 million keeps the rest of the system going—other corridor trains and national network (long-distance) trains. Funding above $1.5 billion could support a federal match for a state-controlled corridor development program. In short, the incremental benefits associated with each funding level above $1.2 billion are substantial.

By contrast, the Administration’s zero budget request, if enacted, would mean the end of all intercity passenger rail.

We disagree with the secretary about what is happening to Amtrak. If “...the federal… partnership...with Amtrak...has failed,” primary fault lies with the Federal Government, which has not provided essential funding for passenger rail infrastructure and rolling stock, and thereby limited service expansion and inflated operating costs.

The national network (long-distance) trains are heavily used, accounting for almost half of Amtrak’s total passenger miles. They carry passenger loads comparable to – or higher than – those on most airline flights as well as on short distance passenger trains, including those in the Northeast. They tie rural and urban America together and provide the foundation on which states can build additional regional services. Without them, the number of city pair markets where rail is a travel choice would fall dramatically.

Services which cross multiple state lines are federal responsibilities--including the Northeast Corridor and the national network trains. This reality reflects the willingness and ability of states to pay, and the difficulty of identifying an appropriate method for allocating costs among states. Running trains “closed door” through states that don’t pay is impractical. Except for a few cases where a route crosses a narrow corner of a state, the economic damage that any route would suffer from running “closed door” through any single state would be severe or devastating.

In poll after poll and ballot initiative after ballot initiative, the American people have demonstrated that they want – and will vote to fund ­- improved and expanded passenger train service.

NARP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization primarily funded by dues and contributions from individual members. Since 1967 NARP has represented the interests of millions of passenger rail and transit users by supporting improvement and expansion of passenger rail, particularly intercity passenger rail. 

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Distributed by hand at Press Conference and to Missouri and Illinois media

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta visits the St. Louis Amtrak station today, to defend Administration policy. That policy is to remove the federal operating support which currently is provided in varying degrees—through Amtrak—to all trains Amtrak operates.

The federal grant to Amtrak covers overhead costs for all trains. Missouri now pays about $6 million a year for the St. Louis-Kansas City trains, but the federal government covers $3 million in overhead costs, and the Administration wants to eliminate that support. The federal government pays even more for Chicago-St. Louis: overhead costs plus two-thirds of direct operating losses.

A federal/state “partnership” on capital investment is badly needed in addition to—not as a replacement for —federal operating support. Moreover, the Administration proposes to establish this partnership only after Amtrak has been “reformed” in impractical ways. This includes allowing other contractors to compete with Amtrak to run trains, even though the freight railroads that own that tracks strongly oppose this.

The Secretary also criticizes Amtrak for a variety of alleged sins of omission and commission. He denounces continued operation of long distance trains that he claims are little-used, including the Chicago- St. Louis-Texas-California Texas Eagle. Yet, in fiscal 2004, each long-distance train run, on average, carried 364 people (ridership), and had 171 on board at any given time. These trains as a group accounted for 48% of travel on Amtrak measured in passenger-miles (passenger-miles-per-train mile; one passenger traveling one mile).

NARP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization primarily funded by dues and contributions from individual members. Since 1967, NARP has represented the interests of millions of passenger rail and transit users by supporting improvement and expansion of passenger rail, particularly intercity passenger rail.

More information is available through our ”Amtrak Fact Check” and “Amtrak Facts and Myths” documents at our website. 

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The House of Representatives today passed its Fiscal 2006 budget resolution. Transportation funding is “the President’s recommended level, as re-estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, with the following adjustment: the starting level was increased to accommodate for continued funding of passenger rail services.” The resolution assumes $1.2 billion for Amtrak, the same as this year’s funding level.

House leaders added room for Amtrak in the budget resolution after 21 Republican members wrote March 2 to Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (IA), urging him to “provide sufficient funding…to sustain Amtrak’s national network of passenger rail service. The company is moving in the right direction.” The lead signers were Railroads Subcommittee Chairman Steve LaTourette (OH), Mike Castle (DE), Sherwood Boehlert (NY) and Rob Simmons (CT).

During House Budget Committee consideration of the resolution, Rep. Allison Schwartz (D-PA), also a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, engaged Nussle in a colloquy regarding in which Nussle acknowledged and was hopeful that a portion of the additional funding above the president’s request would be used for Amtrak but left it in the hands of the appropriators. Budget resolutions are advisory and are not enacted into law; appropriations laws set exact funding levels for each program.

Yesterday, the Senate defeated 46-52 an amendment to the Senate’s budget resolution which would have increased Amtrak funding to $1.4 billion, from the zero President Bush requested. Four Republicans voted for Amtrak. Some other Republicans emphasized that their vote against the amendment was based on concern that the amendment was a closet tax increase. Eight Republicans signed a February 10 letter pro-Amtrak letter to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Ranking Member Kent Conrad (D-ND).

Just before yesterday’s vote, Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) said, “While I support the intent of [Sen. Byrd] and I support Amtrak and I am determined to get this job done, we shouldn’t do it in this way at this point.” Noting he is again chairman of the authorizing subcommittee, Lott said, “I am committed to find a way to get a reauthorization and get a reliable stream of funds for Amtrak so its future can be certain and so this does not have to depend on annual appropriations.”

Amtrak is unique in transportation in being responsible for multi-year capital projects but not having any multi-year funding. 

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Washington—The Bush Administration continues work which would kill intercity passenger rail,
while touting impractical “reforms” said to do the opposite. Transportation Secretary Norman Y.
Mineta heads to the Detroit Amtrak station Thursday to further promote this plan. Despite Administration claims that “Amtrak is dying,” ridership on the three Michigan routes was up in fiscal ‘04.

Mineta on March 18 told a House subcommittee, “In the last four years alone, federal subsidies
have more than doubled yet infrastructure is deteriorating…” But fiscal 2000-01 funding levels
were low (far below authorized levels), and funding restoration has supported the very capital
program Mineta wants but whose existence he seems to deny.

FEDERAL FUNDING FOR AMTRAK
(Years are fiscal years; dollars in billions)
1998: $1.67
1999: $1.70
2000: $0.57
2001: $0.52
2002: $0.83
2003: $1.04
2004: $1.22
2005: $1.21

Bush Administration policy would eliminate federal operating support now provided in varying
degrees—through Amtrak—to all Amtrak trains. This includes overhead costs for all Amtrak
trains, including the Chicago-Grand Rapids Pere Marquette and Chicago-Port Huron Blue Water.
For the Chicago-Detroit-Pontiac line, the federal grant also covers direct operating losses.

Ridership growth was strong on all three Michigan routes in fiscal 2004—up 20%, 17% and 12%, respectively. As Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY) told Mineta at a March 18 House subcommittee hearing, “What it looks like back home [regarding Amtrak] is the federal government is doing a dump.” The federal/state “partnership” on capital investment which Mineta is pushing is badly needed, but in addition to—not as a replacement for—federal operating support.

NARP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization primarily funded by dues and contributions from individual members. More information is in our “Fact Check” and “Amtrak Facts and Myths” documents.

# # #

In Fiscal Year 2004, Amtrak:

• Transported 604,721 passengers to and from stations in Michigan
(Ridership at the five Metro Detroit stations was 165,727)

• Employed 133 Michigan residents earning wages totaling over $6.4 million.

• Expended $2.8 million dollars for goods and services in Michigan
Other facts about Amtrak in Michigan:

The Chicago-Niles-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek-Jackson-Ann Arbor-Dearborn-Detroit-Pontiac corridor receives no state operating support and both operational and overhead costs are covered 100% by Amtrak (through its federal grant).

Amtrak paid for and constructed the facilities it uses in Dearborn, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and the loading platform at Greenfield Village. Amtrak also owns the historical railway depots in Jackson and Niles. Niles has seen extensive renovations in recent years and Jackson—one of the first stations to be renovated (in 1974) after Amtrak took over passenger service—is in the planning process for another renovation.

Amtrak, working closely with the Michigan Department of Transportation, responded to market demand, severe on-time-performance problems, and requests from passengers by rescheduling its Chicago - Port Huron service. The train no longer continues on to Toronto, Canada, rather, it terminates at the border. A more Michigan-friendly schedule is now in place (westbound in the morning, eastbound in the evening). When one compares ridership between January 2004 and January 2005, ridership increased 26%.

NATIONAL AMTRAK RIDERSHIP
(Years are fiscal years; ridership in millions)
1998: 21.09
1999: 21.51
2000: 22.51
2001: 23.49
2002: 23.40
2003: 24.03
2004: 25.05

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Washington—Secretary Mineta’s comments this morning in Detroit largely reiterated what he has said before. He again downplayed the killer impact of eliminating federal operating grants that now support all Amtrak trains. By taking aim at the Empire Builder, one of Amtrak’s strongest longdistance routes, he appeared to underline a commitment to end long-distance services (and thus service in every “red” state).

Asked to back up his previous comment that Amtrak runs routes that “nobody” wants to ride, he said, “the problem is if the Empire Builder is going from Seattle to Chicago and it’s going through lets say Montana, but there are only 53 people a day using that train service, can I really justify pouring that kind of subsidy into the Empire Builder for a segment of that service?”

Fact: In fiscal 2004, the Empire Builder handled 437,200 passengers, an average 1,195 per day (597 per trip, since there is one eastbound and one westbound train per day). This was 5% above the fiscal 2003 level, and 19% above that of fiscal 2002. In fiscal 2004, boardings and alightings within the state of Montana totaled 129,044 or an average of 353 per day. At the same time, about 100,000 passengers (average 275 per day) traveled all the way across Montana en route between Idaho-west and North Dakota-east points.

Mineta also repeated his attack on the concept of having the same organization (Amtrak) own both track and trains, calling Amtrak “one of the last monopolies.”

Fact: “vertical integration” (common ownership of tracks and trains) is standard in the U.S. bothfor freight and many commuter railroads. Separating Amtrak into various ownership and operating entities would create duplicative bureaucracy, and new legal “turf wars”. One example: operating railroads want to maximize track availability; track-owning companies want to give work crews maximum time to maintain the track. Thus, when a single CEO cannot mediate such disagreements—because the responsibility is split between two companies—wasteful litigation can result.

Repeating previously-stated concerns about Amtrak on-time performance, Mineta said that delays to Detroit-Chicago Wolverine service trains were due to “Amtrak continu[ing] to delay desperately needed maintenance of the infrastructure that it already owns.”

Fact: Michigan trains were delayed a total of 218,537 minutes during fiscal 2004. Delays due to
Amtrak infrastructure conditions accounted for 8,369 minutes or 3.8% of these delays. The lion’s share of delays to these services come from freight train interference encountered on tracks owned and operated by Norfolk Southern and Canadian National Railroads.

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PRESS CONFERENCE: NARP and TRAC will be holding a joint press conference at
10:30am, Thursday March 30th, on the north end of the west steps of the Capitol building,
30 minutes before Mr. Mineta’s appearance.

Sacramento—The Bush Administration continues work that would kill intercity passenger rail,
while touting impractical “reforms” said to do the opposite. Transportation Secretary Norman Y.
Mineta heads to the California State Capitol Building in Sacramento Thursday to further promote this plan.

Despite Administration claims that “Amtrak is dying,” ridership on all California routes was up
in fiscal 2004. Mineta on March 18 told a House subcommittee, “In the last four years alone,
federal subsidies have more than doubled yet infrastructure is deteriorating…” But fiscal 2000-
01 funding levels were low (far below authorized levels), and funding restoration has supported
the very capital program Mineta wants but whose existence he seems to deny.

Bush Administration policy would eliminate federal operating support now provided in varying
degrees—through Amtrak—to all Amtrak trains. This includes overhead costs for all Amtrak
trains, including the three California Corridor operations (Capitol Corridor, San Joaquins, and
Pacific Surfliners). For the Surfliners, the Los Angeles-San Diego portion of this route has been
part of Amtrak since the beginning. Therefore, the federal government, again through Amtrak,
covers 30% of the direct operation loses on this service. The administration does not explain how states will pick up these increased costs which exist in every state Amtrak serves.

Last year, over 4.2 million passengers rode Amtrak’s California Corridor services. California depends upon Amtrak’s long distance trains to share costs of major facilities such as
the Oakland Maintenance Base and stations in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Emeryville, and
Oakland (among others). Without long-distance trains and sharing of costs, California would have to cut service or increase subsidies.

California would also lose rail service to the rest of the United States and to dozens of California towns which lie outside of the state corridors. As Representative John Sweeney (R-NY) told Mineta at a March 18 House subcommittee hearing, “What it looks like back home [regarding Amtrak] is the federal government is doing a dump.” The federal/state “partnership” on capital investment which Mineta is pushing is badly needed, but in addition to—not as a replacement for—federal operating support.

NARP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization primarily funded by dues and contributions
from individual members. More information is in our “Fact Check” and “Amtrak Facts and
Myths”.

TRAC, active since 1984, is a non-profit consumer lobby advocating improved passenger train
service in California. Please visit our website.

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The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) has reached out to the Bush Administration in an effort to ensure the survival of America’s only national railroad passenger system. A letter from NARP President George L. Chilson was delivered to Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta on Monday.

The letter addresses critical questions that NARP has about the Administration’s true motives in touting Amtrak “reform” and, more specifically, advocating bankruptcy as the best way to improve the railroad.

Chilson said, “NARP’s first priority is preservation of existing Amtrak services. While we want to work with, not against, the Administration to improve our nation’s railroad passenger system, statements made thus far by Secretary Mineta and other Administration officials make cooperation difficult.”

NARP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization primarily funded by dues and contributions from individual members. More information is available through our”Amtrak Fact Check” and “Amtrak Facts and Myths” documents at our website. 

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At this morning’s Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, senators emphasized the difficulty of funding Amtrak in the current environment without support from the Bush Administration, and while dealing with severe budget cuts the Administration proposed in other popular programs. Chairman Christopher Bond (R-MO) said, “even if I was to agree that $1.8 billion [which Amtrak requested] was justified, I don’t see how we could provide it.”

But DOT Inspector General Ken Mead and Amtrak officials insisted that with $1.2 billion [what Congress provided for this year], Amtrak would not make it through FY06.

Amtrak Chairman David Laney emphasized that all of the increase Amtrak requested is for capital improvements; operating grant needs are basically flat. Mead said Amtrak is spending at a rate of $1.4 billion because Amtrak ended fiscal 2004 with about $200 million in cash. In contrast, President David Gunn said Amtrak might “limp into fiscal 2006 with $20 million” or roughly one week’s cash requirements.

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) zeroed in on whether “reform” would in fact produce an Administration budget request for Amtrak. She noted that on April 21 OMB Director Josh Bolten testified that the zero budget request already on the table is the only Amtrak request the Administration will submit.

Murray then quoted an NPR interview [aired March 4 on Morning Edition] in which Secretary Mineta seemed to suggest otherwise: “If we get the reform that we are looking for, then we will be asking for the funds to fund a national intercity passenger rail system.” Asked “what is the real figure that the Administration is willing to spend on Amtrak?” Mineta said, “Probably in the area of about $1.5 billion to $2 billion.”

In responding to Murray this morning, DOT General Counsel Jeffrey Rosen said he believed that Mineta in March was talking about Northeast Corridor funding needs, possibly over a multi-year period.

Testimony from DOT Inspector General Ken Mead emphasized that “eliminating long-distance service will not solve the problem,” but would only save about $300 million and those savings “would not be immediate. In fact, in the first year, it may cost Amtrak more to eliminate the service than to operate it because of its labor severance payments (commonly called C-2).”

At this morning’s hearing, Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) reported that the California Zephyr handles fewer than 100 passengers a day in Utah, suggesting this means “we do not have a market for transcontinental train riders.”

The California Zephyr overall is well used. The comparable average on+off figure for Colorado is 550 passengers a day, and the Zephyr overall averaged 460 passengers per one-way trip. [These are all Fiscal 2004 statistics.] Thus we disagree with Sen. Bennett’s conclusion.

The transcontinental trains, of course, serve riders getting on and off all along the routes; actual “transcontinental passengers” represent a fairly small proportion of the business, although their revenue contributions are significant.

Salt Lake City is one of the few major metropolitan areas where the only service Amtrak provides is in the middle of the night. This is perhaps a necessary side-effect of scheduling a single frequency at optimum times for the biggest markets (Chicago, Denver, Bay Area), and explains the Utah passenger count that Sen. Bennett noted.

NARP is a non-partisan, non-profit organization primarily funded by dues and contributions from individual members. More information is available through our ”Amtrak Fact Check”and “Amtrak Facts and Myths” documents at our website. 

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Distributed by hand at Mobile Press Conference and to Southeast media

Viewable in PDF format

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Washington--The National Association of Railroad Passengers today sharply criticized Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta for exacerbating Amtrak’s financial problems by twisting language intended to minimize a crisis into justification for creating a crisis. 

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon stated, “If Mineta really agrees with most Americans that ‘intercity passenger rail is too important to just stand by and watch it die,’ as he has written, he should not make public statements that drive up Amtrak’s costs. He should not make demands which assume that cutting still more operating expenses can significantly improve Amtrak’s bottom line over the next four months.

“Instead, he should work constructively to help Amtrak manage around the cash problems created by the temporary withdrawal of Acela Express trains.  He should get better acquainted with the facts.” [Many of the items on our Amtrak Fact Check” are responses to his misstatements.]

Late May 25, Mineta wrote to Amtrak President & CEO David L. Gunn, threatening to withhold $60 million in federal money already appropriated to Amtrak for FY ’06. Mineta said “it is irresponsible to project a positive cash balance based on an assumption about reserve funds, when without those dollars, Amtrak’s cash position before September 30th could be as much as $40 million in the red.”

Amtrak’s budget, approved by a board of directors composed entirely of Bush Administration appointees, assumes availability of the $60 million that Mineta calls “reserve funds.” Moreover, the appropriations law requires Mineta to give Amtrak that $60 million “during the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005” except to the extent that, “as of the date of transfer,” funds are “needed by the Surface Transportation Board to pay for any directed service order issued through Sept. 30, 2005.” A directed service order [to maintain commuter rail service on Amtrak facilities] would only be necessary if Amtrak shuts down.

Costs of an actual Amtrak bankruptcy would be horrendous. Gunn, speaking Wednesday to the Transportation Research Forum in Washington, DC, said Amtrak is America’s “Alamo” of high speed rail. He called the knowledge of Amtrak employees “our most precious asset…if we lose that, you can’t look people up in the Yellow Pages to run the railroad.”

Capon noted, “Sadly, Mineta’s letter reinforces the view that there are people in the Bush Administration who want an Amtrak bankruptcy but who do not understand that it would force a shutdown of the railroad, raise serious questions about the ability to get it re-started, and impose huge costs on both the public and private sector.”

A release yesterday from Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) included this: “In response to a question by Murray, Gunn testified that the Bush Administration’s stated goal to put Amtrak into bankruptcy and the failure of a Senate amendment to restore Amtrak’s funding has had a significant negative impact on Amtrak’s cash position.  Gunn testified that, as a result of those events, Amtrak’s bond rating was downgraded, the railroad’s insurance costs and accounting costs increased, and the financial requirements by Amtrak’s suppliers were tightened.”

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Release #05-16

Contact NARP

[Note: NARP Assistant Director David Johnson is in Montana at the town hall meetings, but is inaccessible by cell phone. He will be at the town hall meeting and media events in Glasgow and Whitefish and at the media events in Havre and Shelby. NARP President George Chilson will participate in the town hall meetings at Havre and Whitefish and the media events at Havre, Shelby and Whitefish. If you are unable to speak with Johnson or Chilson, contact NARP Executive Director Ross Capon at 202/408-8362.]

Glasgow, Montana—Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta yesterday attacked Amtrak for not “providing shorter distance, more frequent corridor services in states like Montana.” This despite the fact the ideal role for passenger rail in Montana is exactly the role served by Amtrak’s popular Empire Builder, whose FY 2004 ridership was 437,200, up 5% from the previous year. Montana’s largest city has fewer people than Trenton, New Jersey. Only one non-stop flight a day (with 19 seats) links Montana’s two largest cities, even though they are 340 miles apart. So it is ridiculous to talk about “frequent corridor” trains here. 

American taxpayers across Montana are rallying today at Glasgow, Havre, Shelby, and Whitefish to support the Empire Builder.

Mineta’s statement about running “frequent corridor services” in Montana, and his overstatement of long distance train losses (2nd bullet, below), appear to be part of a willful pattern of misrepresenting the facts to kill the service. Indeed, he appears willing to say just about anything to make Amtrak look bad even though, as an Amtrak board member, he has a fiduciary responsibility to speak to the facts. His repeated failure to do so creates chaos and confusion over an issue that needs a rational and non-pejorative discussion.

NARP agrees that communities like Billings and Missoula should have trains, but it is absurd to attack Amtrak for a decision that Mineta’s own agency made twice—when Amtrak was first established in 1970 and again in 1979. U.S. DOT’s position was that Montana could have only one route, and the northern route deserved priority because it lacked other transportation options.

It is equally absurd for Mineta to say that “the 12 Montana cities with [Amtrak] stops represent just 3½% of Montana’s population,” even though Montanans from other communities—including Great Falls—drive considerable distances to reach the train.

The Administration’s plan—as well as its zero budget request for Amtrak—would eliminate all Amtrak service, not expand it. 

Our “Amtrak Fact Check” site consists largely of responses to previous erroneous statements by Mineta.  He repeated some of those statements yesterday and added new mistakes.

• Total “ons and offs” at Montana stations in FY 2004 were 129,044.  Mineta, however, highlighted the “fewer than 13,000 Montanans” he says “are able to use the train to travel within the state each year,” even though interstate travel is the train’s main purpose.

• Mineta: “Nation-wide Amtrak lost over $908 million last year on its long distance trains.” Fact: DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead and Amtrak Chairman David Laney (a Bush appointee) testified May 12 that eliminating all long-distance trains would save only $300 million.

• Mineta: The Empire Builder line “was built in the late 1800’s and hasn’t changed much since.” This proves nothing, since the same could be said of many transportation routes, and almost all rail lines.

• Mineta: “The Alaska Railroad runs long distance trains that combine first-class travel cars owned and operated by cruise lines, along with its own cars.” Fact: The Alaska train in question is a daylight-only, 12-hour, 350-mile run, not a long-distance train.  For this reason, and because it traverses some of the planet’s most spectacular scenery, it is of little relevance to Amtrak’s long-distance trains.

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Release #05-17

Contact NARP

Baltimore--“America needs more, not fewer, trains, due to growing congestion in major urban corridors, and growing isolation—including a new round of Greyhound cuts—in rural America,” said Ross B. Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.

Capon continued, “We also need straight talk on the subject, not the comments we saw from the Government Accountability Office at last Thursday’s hearing, or from Secretary Mineta on many previous occasions.”

Capon spoke at a Baltimore town meeting that included Reps. James Oberstar (D-MN), Corinne Brown (D-FL), and other key Amtrak supporters in the House of Representatives, as well as representatives from Friends of the Earth and rail labor.

At Thursday’s Railroads Subcommittee hearing, Rep. Corinne Brown (D-FL) correctly noted, “Congress should not be micromanaging Amtrak’s day-to-day operations.  This has created problems in the past.  We’re now criticizing [Amtrak] for the very inefficiencies we created.”

JayEtta Hecker of the Government Accountability Office unfortunately created more heat than light, taking Amtrak to task for allegedly paying $3.93 a bottle for Heiniken beer.  She said this even though Amtrak had told her beforehand that this figure was “a single data entry error that was corrected within 40 minutes….For over 200,000 bottles, Amtrak actually paid 83 cents a bottle.”

Subcommittee Chairman Steve LaTourette (R-OH) called this an “attention grabber that I don’t think is fair. I can see the headline now: ‘Beer and Steaks Gone Amok’.” LaTourette began the hearing by noting, “I’m impressed by the Gunn administration [referring to Amtrak President & CEO David L. Gunn] and their attempts to make some changes.”

Later in the hearing, Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-LA) took Amtrak to task for not emulating Chef Mario, who he implied runs the food service on the San Joaquin Valley trains at a profit.  It fell to Capon, a subsequent witness, to make clear that Chef Mario is simply a vendor who supplies certain menu items for that route.  NARP later learned that San Joaquin food service is only “profitable” when labor costs are excluded; by this measure many other Amtrak routes also have “profitable” food service.

The “Fact Check” section of our website contains responses to a litany of misstatements about passenger rail by Amtrak’s critics, primarily Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.

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Release #05-19

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Washington—-Amtrak would get only $550 million, far below the minimum needed to continue operation, based on the subcommittee’s action this morning.  Moreover, most of the information contained in the subcommittee’s is just plain wrong.  The subcommittee which marked up (wrote) its fiscal 2006 funding bill is the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, The Judiciary, the District of Columbia. 

Amtrak is hit with a fatal, 54% cut in funding while aviation and highway spending would rise by 6.4% and 5.4%, respectively, because, as the committee’s release notes, these programs get “unique preferential treatment…not afforded to any other discretionary program including Veterans Medical Care, Homeland Security funding or National Defense programs.”

The committee’s release pretends that $550 million is not a shutdown budget and would “fully support rail service for 4 out of 5 riders or 80% of Amtrak’s ridership [including]” the Northeast Corridor and most other short-distance trains.

In fact, there is no way Amtrak could avoid bankruptcy and a complete shutdown at this funding level. Amtrak has requested $1.8 billion. Amtrak President & CEO David L. Gunn has stated that, even at $1.2 billion, Amtrak would be unable to install already-purchased, long-lead-time items for its capital investment program.

The DOT Inspector General has testified that “intercity passenger rail needs Federal funding between $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion, plus [a continuation of] existing state contributions, in order to maintain the status quo” but even this would not be enough “to move the system to a state-of-good-repair.”

The idea that $550 million could do anything other than send Amtrak into bankruptcy is perhaps more easily understood when one considers that-—although Amtrak has incurred no new debt since mid-2002—-debt service payments still are about $275 million a year.

NARP Executive Director Ross Capon said “The subcommittee’s action is particularly unfortunate when Americans are showing increased interest in more transportation choices, especially rail. The transparently misleading statements in the subcommittee’s release can only serve to further lower public respect for Congress.”

The subcommittee attacks an Orlando-Los Angeles train by citing Orlando-Los Angeles air fares, completely ignoring the fact most passengers on this train are riding between intermediate points, many of which lack attractive air service and that many people do not want to fly or are medically unable to fly. More than 100 Amtrak-served communities have no commercial air service; many more have no access to the discount air services that the committee’s release trumpets.

A number of new items based on the committee’s misleading release will be added to the “fact check” section at http://www.narprail.org later today. Suffice it to say that the 90% discount the subcommittee attacks applies in the Northeast Corridor to the 3rd through 6th members of a small group whose first two members have paid full fare. If Amtrak did not undertake targeted fare reductions like this, critics would accuse Amtrak of lacking entrepreneurial initiative.

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Release #05-19

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Washington--The House Appropriations Committee voted yesterday to ratify its transportation/treasury subcommittee’s decision to kill U.S. intercity passenger rail. “This would deprive Americans of an increasingly important travel choice,” said NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon. “Amtrak ridership rose in seven of the last eight years, while Amtrak stabilized operating costs the past three years under President and CEO David L. Gunn. Ridership growth did not come from fare cuts, since Amtrak’s yield—average revenue per passenger-mile—also rose (nine of the last ten years), contrary to recent experience of most airlines.”

Knowledgeable observers agree that $550 million is far below the minimum needed to run any trains. Although Amtrak has taken on no new debt since 2002, an estimated $278 million is needed next year just to service old debt. Gunn has said a Northeast Corridor-only system would require about $1.2 billion. Amtrak Chairman David Laney and DOT Inspector General Ken Mead both testified that dropping all long-distance trains would save only $300 million a year, and that only after several years of severance payments.

Even level funding—$1.2 billion—would leave Amtrak unable to install long-lead-time capital items already purchased. Due to the pressing needs of Amtrak’s capital program, Amtrak—which ended Fiscal 2004 with over $200 million in cash—has been spending at a $1.4 billion rate. The Bush-appointed Amtrak board of directors requested a FY06 federal grant of $1.8 billion to continue movement towards a “state of good repair.” DOT Inspector General Ken Mead testified that $1.4-1.5 billion—plus state funding continuing at present levels—is needed just to maintain the status quo.

Nonetheless, House Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI) claimed that $550 million (55% below current federal funding) would let most short-distance routes continue, saying, “The subcommittee’s Amtrak proposal is an honest one and deserves the committee’s support.”

The committee rejected three Amtrak-related amendments:

• John W. Olver (D-MA), the subcommittee’s top Democrat, proposed to continue $1.2 billion, and increase funding for four unrelated programs, by rolling back tax reductions on Americans reporting income over one million dollars a year.

• Dennis Rehberg (R-MT), saying “Amtrak is not just essential, it is critical” to Montana, proposed language stating that the Empire Builder would continue to run.  (No additional funding was included.)

• Virgil H. Goode (R-VA) proposed to continue $1.2 billion by eliminating earned income tax credits for those in the U.S. on visas.

The same bill that kills intercity passenger rail would:

• Increase federal-aid highway spending to $37 billion—$2.7 billion above the current level and $1.6 billion above President Bush’s request;

• Increase Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to $14.4 billion—$877 million above the current level and $1.7 billion above President Bush’s request.

Olver expressed concern about the impact of funding levels in the highway bill on other programs, like Amtrak. For FAA Operations, general funds would contribute $3.2 billion—more than 30% of the total—as Rep. Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN) noted. That is up from $2.8 billion this year.

The six legacy airlines lost $7.6 billion (not including government support) in 2004, in effect a subsidy from shareholders. Airports and the air traffic control system do not disappear when an airline goes under, but an Amtrak bankruptcy would trigger loss of an entire mode of transportation.

Although the bill would force a systemwide Amtrak shutdown, and would raise costs of providing commuter rail in many markets, the bill identifies 18 routes for which federal funding could not be used: the long-distance trains plus Chicago-Detroit-Pontiac, Chicago-Indianapolis and New York-Charlotte. Report language claims these trains lose over $30 a passenger. 

“Given the skeletal nature of Amtrak’s route network, we believe any route ranking should be used to see what lessons from best performers could guide improvement of weaker ones. But, no matter how many trains Amtrak eliminates (and two significant ones were dropped in the past eight months), critics will call for more cuts. Thus we are hesitant to say anything about route ranking,” said NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon. “But the committee’s $30-dollar-a-passenger ‘sledgehammer’ approach cries out for clarification that an economically sound ranking would reflect

(a) loss per passenger-mile;
(b) percentage of costs covered by commercial revenues;
(c) network impact (that is, the impact on other routes of lost revenue from connecting passengers and lost cost-sharing opportunities regarding joint facilities);
(d) (if relevant) important, route-specific factors not reflected in the above.”

Capon said, “We remain optimistic that this process, which still has a long way to go, yet can save passenger rail, but each new step that doesn’t solve the problem is greater cause for alarm.” The bill may go to the Rules Committee Monday, and the House floor later next week. Amtrak’s survival could depend on a successful floor amendment, which in turn seems to depend on finding “offsets” (spending reductions, revenue increases) elsewhere in the bill. The magnitude of that challenge is reflected in the fact that Olver and David Obey (D-WI), the full committee’s top Democrat, yesterday praised Knollenberg for doing the best job possible with the inadequate resources available under the Republican budget resolution.

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Release #05-20

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Washington—The National Association of Railroad Passengers today praised Reps. Steven
LaTourette (R-OH), James Oberstar (D-MN), Corinne Brown (D-FL), Nick Rahall (D-WV) and
Robert Menendez (D-NJ) for their leadership in efforts to prevent the permanent loss of intercity passenger rail service in the U.S.

The House of Representatives this afternoon on voice vote adopted the LaTourette/Oberstar
amendment to increase Amtrak’s FY06 federal grant to nearly $1.2 billion. Steve LaTourette (R-OH) chairs the Railroads Subcommittee and James Oberstar (D-MN) is the top Democrat on the full House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

The committee-passed level of $550 million would have assured shutdown, bankruptcy and
chaos. As Amtrak President and CEO David L. Gunn wrote to House members yesterday, “faced with a $550 million appropriation, we would have no choice but to begin an orderly shut down of the railroad.”

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “It is unfortunate that Amtrak must continually
operate under the threat of shutdown at the end of the fiscal year. However, we are lucky to have leaders like Reps. LaTourette, Oberstar, Brown, Rahall and Menendez who understand both the importance of keeping Amtrak running and how close we are to losing the entire system.”

The House voted 269-152 for an amendment by Reps. Corinne Brown (D-FL), Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to eliminate a committee-passed prohibition against spending federal funds on most of Amtrak’s route miles—all long-distance routes plus Chicago-Detroit, Chicago-Indianapolis and New York-Richmond-Charlotte. Absent the Brown/Rahall/Menendez amendment, the House would have voted against any service in 23 or 25 states (depending on whether one assumes that the Oklahoma City-Fort Worth train, not identified, could operate in isolation after termination of the Texas Eagle). At least 70 Republicans voted for the amendment.

The language this amendment deleted was mischievous for two reasons. First, it would have
ended all passenger rail service in so many states as to undercut Congress’s ability to provide any funding for intercity passenger rail. Second, the language fostered the false notion that the
committee-passed bill would allow some services to operate when that clearly is not the case.

Finally, the House overwhelmingly rejected (59-362) an amendment by Rep. Mark Kennedy (R-MN) to partially undue the LaTourette/Oberstar amendment by transferring $100 million from Amtrak to programs for the homeless. Brown delivered an impassioned speech against the amendment. LaTourette likewise called the amendment a “wolf in sheep’s clothing amendment” intended to hurt Amtrak.

The counterpart Senate bill may get subcommittee and full committee consideration the week of July 11.

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Release #05-21

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Washington--In yet another attempt to obscure the truth about intercity passenger rail, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta issued a news release (carried on PR Newswire, presumably at government expense) misrepresenting the relevance of the Alaska Railroad to rail passenger service in the lower 48 states. 

The Alaska Railroad, whose primary business is hauling freight, does not run long-distance trains. Its longest passenger run, between Anchorage and Fairbanks, is only 356 miles and 12 hours long, in daytime (8:15 AM to 8:15 PM). For eight months (September 13--May 13), service on this route is one round trip per week. Because “Denali Star Train” (summer) and “Winter Aurora” (rest of the year) traverse some of the world’s most dramatic scenery, the route is “spoon-fed” cruise trip passengers in large numbers. None of this is very relevant to overnight trains in the Lower 48, where runs are much longer and the main business is transportation, not scenic cruises.

Apparently hoping the public will ignore the above, the DOT release says: “Mineta said the Alaskan railroad has demonstrated a willingness to innovate, running long distance trains that combine first-class travel cars owned and operated by cruise lines, while continuing to serve commuters and local residents across the state.”

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon commented, “If the Alaska Railroad is a model in the drive to reform Amtrak, reform may mean shrinking Amtrak’s national network to a single, 350-mile-long route.”

Mineta refers to “an average of $214 to subsidize each Amtrak passenger.” It’s not clear how he got that number. Dividing Amtrak’s Fiscal 2004 federal grant ($1.218 billion) by its record 25,053,564 passengers produces $48.62, much less than one quarter of Mineta’s figure.

Moreover, $48.62 overstates the true subsidy for two reasons. First, much of Amtrak’s federal grant supports capital investment for infrastructure shared with commuter railroads. Also, there is widespread agreement that Amtrak’s grant cross-subsidizes commuter railroads in the Northeast Corridor.

Mineta repeats his “Amtrak is dying” mantra. Resounding victories for passenger rail June 29 on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives suggest that what is “dying” may be Administration understanding of intercity passenger rail, though this still could prove fatal to the business. 

On June 29, the House:

• adopted by voice vote an amendment to raise Amtrak funding from the committee-passed $550 million (a shutdown budget) to $1.176 billion;
• adopted 269-152 (with 73 Republicans voting yes) the Brown (D-FL) amendment to strike language prohibiting the use of federal funds to support 18 Amtrak routes, including the only Amtrak service in 23 states; and
• rejected 352-59 the Kennedy (R-MN) amendment to reduce Amtrak funding by $100 million.

The Senate appropriations subcommittee plans to take up its counterpart bill July 14; the full committee July 19.

Addendum—Suppliment to release #05-21

Here is more information about the Alaska Railroad that is not in the DOT release, but is relevant to Mineta’s claim that the Alaska Railroad is “an example for Amtrak to follow” and NARP’s claim that the analogy is misleading.

(1) The Alaska Railroad received $261.8 million in Fiscal Years 1996-2004 from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

(2) Federal appropriations bills for fiscal years 2001-05 specifically earmarked $112 million for the Alaska Railroad’s passenger program--$20 million each in FY 2001-02, growing to $22 million in FY03, and $25 million each in FY04-05. The funds are “to enable the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to the Alaska Railroad, [dollar amount] shall be for capital rehabilitation improvements benefiting its passengers operations, to remain available until expended.”

(3) The Alaska Railroad’s web site lists its projects and their funding sources.  In particular, click on “System Wide Projects” then “Passenger Locomotives and Car Upgrades.” Note 91% FTA funding for 2004-2005 passenger car upgrades. Also, “$6.6 million budgeted (2003-2005) for the purchase of two new bi-level dome coaches. Outfitted with full kitchens, these cars will provide a new first-class service option as part of the Denali Star train, beginning in 2005. Locomotive upgrades and passenger car/coach refurbishment and purchase projects are funded primarily by the FTA, along with matching funds from the Alaska Railroad.”

(4) The state-owned Alaska Railroad is exempt from four federal laws applicable to Amtrak and to freight railroads in the Lower 48: Federal Employers’ Liability Act; Railway Labor Act; Railroad Retirement Act; and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. [Prior to state ownership, the laws also did not apply because Alaska Railroad employees were federal employees]

(5) It is disingenuous for the secretary to cite $908 million in losses for Amtrak’s long-distance trains when this includes capital costs (i.e., non-cash expenses like depreciation), while claiming that Alaska Railroad receives no passenger “operating subsidies,” but not reporting Alaska’s federal capital grants. Also, the DOT table with the $908 million shows Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor trains losing $300 million even though DOT General Counsel Jeffrey Rosen testified May 12 that these trains might continue if Amtrak went bankrupt because they break even. Clearly, DOT is selecting numbers carefully (and inconsistently) to cast Amtrak’s national network in the worst possible light.

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Washington--The National Association of Railroad Passengers today said DOT Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead’s report on eliminating sleeper, diner, lounge and checked baggage services is seriously flawed. The IG's report was “released” yesterday by Transportation Weekly.

NARP projects that eliminating sleeping, food and checked baggage services would worsen Amtrak’s bottom line by $50 million, not improve it as the IG claims. An increased loss of any size, coupled with dramatically reduced ridership and revenues, could lead to the system’s demise. Even if the IG’s savings were real, they would come at an unacceptable cost: depriving most Americans of the choice to use existing and potential intercity rail services. Moreover, the wide range of the IG’s estimated net savings underlines the uncertainty of his analysis.

The IG assumes that, since average coach trip length is less than the average sleeping-car trip, coach passengers do not need the targeted services. Accordingly, he incorrectly assigns costs of these services 100% to sleeping-car passengers, and incorrectly assumes these services can be removed with no coach revenue loss.

In fact, coach passengers outnumber sleeping-car passengers for all trip lengths. For trips 800 miles or longer, FY 2004 ridership was 819,870 in coach and 318,378 in sleeper. Also, in ignoring connecting passengers using coach and sleeper on different segments of the same trip, the IG ignores coach revenue that would be at risk with loss of sleepers even if other services remained.

Cash sales account for almost half of on-board food and beverage sales. [Cash is mostly from coach passengers. Meals come with the sleeping-car ticket; on AutoTrain, meals come with both coach and sleeping-car tickets.]

Checked baggage need is a function of length of stay at destination, and one's ability to handle luggage. It is not a function of distance traveled, or of whether one travels in coach or sleeper.

In sum, coach passengers make many long trips and generate much revenue, and the IG is wrong to assume that elimination of food and baggage services would not result in significant loss of coach ridership and revenues.

The IG likewise is wrong to assume that food service of any kind can be provided on a break-even basis, regardless of labor cost assumptions. Food service cannot be profitable when the only buyers are passengers on board one train. As Amtrak testified on June 9, the primary purpose of food and beverage service “is to enhance ticket sales and ridership, not serve as a profit center.”

For example, Maine provides a $210,000 annual food subsidy for the Boston-Portland “Downeaster” trains (116 miles one-way). The menu is limited, satisfactory only for short trips, and sold by non-union workers who spend less time away from home than do Amtrak long-distance on-board workers. But, using the rough measure of food subsidy per passenger-mile, extending even this inadequate service and unrealistic cost assumptions to the long-distance trains implies a food loss of about $27 million.

The IG ignores loss per passenger-mile, which could skyrocket if sleeping-car revenues disappear. A passenger-mile is one passenger traveling one mile. It is the standard measure in the intercity travel business, except when the goal is to attack our national passenger rail network. Clearly, however, loss per passenger-mile is more relevant to economic performance than loss per passenger, which ignores the distance a passenger travels.

It is unfortunate that the IG did not consider positive strategies for improving cost efficiency and fare-box recovery:

• There is general agreement that the Amtrak/GateGourmet contract covering commissaries and provision of food will either be terminated or improved when it expires in September 2006, if not sooner, and Amtrak’s bottom line should benefit.
• The IG does not make clear that dorm cars are gradually accommodating more revenue passengers. Also, the need for overnight crew space is declining as where some diner crew members swing on and off during runs.
• Employee job descriptions could be broadened, perhaps similar to what VIA Rail Canada has done. Transportation Weekly incorrectly cites “labor protection agreements” as a reason why “Amtrak’s costs are so high (and so difficult to cut).” Labor protection provisions indeed make it costly to eliminate routes, and thus have been attacked by those seeking to eliminate the systm or big parts of it, but these provisions do not impact ongoing operating costs.
• Amtrak could consider having sleeping-car passengers pay for meals (as coach passengers always have done and sleeper passengers did until about 15 years ago). Alternatively, Amtrak might consider offering coach passengers the option of higher-priced tickets that include meals. [Sleeping-car riders are 44% of all AutoTrain riders, a higher share than on any other train. This is partly because AutoTrain offers more sleeping-car rooms than any other train.]

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Release #05-23

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Washington--A Senate appropriations subcommittee today approved $1.4 billion for Amtrak as part of the $136.6 billion Fiscal 2006 funding bill that covers the subcommittee’s jurisdiction: Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.

Patty Murray (D-WA), the subcommittee’s top Democrat, said DOT Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead has testified that Amtrak needs $1.4 to $1.5 billion to maintain current routes and service. [Amtrak has said that $1.2 billion would severely disrupt Amtrak’s capital program. The railroad’s board of directors, all appointed by President Bush, had requested $1.8 billion. The House has approved only $1.176 billion.]

Chairman Christopher S. Bond (R-MO) said at this afternoon’s mark-up, “I just had a nice call from Secretary Mineta who was pleased to inform me that funding at this level without reform would find him recommending a veto.”

Bond noted that the bill has language enforcing a prohibition on subsidizing food and beverage losses. Murray said “it would be my preference to have reforms considered by the Commerce Committee” [which has authorizing jurisdiction]. She said she understands Commerce will consider an Amtrak bill shortly.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “The subcommittee deserves praise for producing the $1.4 billion figure in the present budgetary environment, even though this amount does not address all of Amtrak’s needs. We share Senator Murray’s hope that legislative language will come from the authorizing committee and will avoid micromanaging Amtrak. We cannot repeat often enough the testimony of Amtrak Senior Vice President William Crosbie that ‘the primary purpose [of food and beverage service] is to enhance ticket sales and ridership, not serve as a profit center.’” [See also our release 05-22, issued last Thursday.]

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Release #05-24

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Washington-—The National Association of Railroad Passengers applauds the efforts of the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide Amtrak with essential funding for fiscal 2006.

The Committee today approved $1.45 billion, an increase of $50 million above what the subcommittee approved Tuesday, and $274 million above the House-passed level. As Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the committee’s top Democrat noted, $1.45 billion is in the middle of the $1.4-1.5 billion range DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead testified Amtrak needed to maintain current services.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “We appreciate the supportive and bipartisan work of the committee, particularly the full committee and subcommittee chairmen and ranking members—-Thad Cochran (R-MS), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Christopher Bond (R-MO) and Patty Murray (D-WA). The House votes on June 29 and Senate committee actions this week show that Congress wants a national passenger rail system.”

Capon expressed concern about language in the Senate bill that threatens Amtrak’s ability to continue providing on-board food service and possibly sleeping cars.

He said, “Reforms and financial improvements are important.  For example, the need for changes to Amtrak’s current food outsourcing contract is widely acknowledged. But Amtrak should be judged on its overall bottom line. Congress should not be dictating Amtrak menus. Amtrak’s experience running ‘bare-bones’ long-distance trains, like the Three Rivers discontinued early this year, has not been good. Creating a network of third-class trains would drive away riders and hurt the bottom line. In any event, matters of this nature should be considered by the authorizing committees.”

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) put it well Tuesday when he said, “Food and beverages, as well as sleeper cars, are essential components of long-distance train travel. I agree that Amtrak needs to be more aggressive in contracting for food and beverage service, but I also believe we need to keep those amenities available.”

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Release #05-25

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Washington--The National Association of Railroad Passengers today strongly criticized the concept of eliminating sleeper, diner, lounge and checked baggage services from Amtrak trains. DOT Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead, in a report released this morning, recommended that Amtrak “implement multiple pilot projects” doing just that on “its worst-performing long-distance routes as well as on others that offer the best potential for savings.”

Because roughly half of long-distance passengers change trains en route, elimination of crucial amenities on “multiple” routes would take revenue away from most others.

It is disheartening that the IG looks at cutting costs only by cutting service, ignoring extensive Capitol Hill testimony this year on ways to cut costs without devastating service and revenues. At a June 9 House Railroads Subcommittee hearing, witnesses agreed that Amtrak could net substantial savings by replacing or renegotiating the contract with GateGourmet, which has supplied on-board food since 1998. At a May 12 hearing of a Senate appropriations subcommittee, Amtrak President & CEO David L. Gunn was asked, “Are labor costs out of line?” He responded that Amtrak had made great progress, and that the “basic problem is work rules; rates of pay are not the problem. I have 700 to 1,000 people on payroll that would not be there if we had control over crew size and crafts.” [At the hearing, Mead added, “I agree wages are not out of line."] It is also unfortunate that the IG’s report does not try to ascertain the needs of Amtrak’s customers.

NARP President George L. Chilson said, “Rather than inform the debate over the future of intercity rail passenger service in this country, its negative tone is more likely to inflame it, increasing the chance of yet more policy errors. We are glad that Congress appears to be taking a broader and more comprehensive view as it contemplates the enormous potential that intercity passenger rail has for addressing some of America’s mobility and transportation problems.”

NARP is also encouraged about Amtrak’s planned August 2005 relaunch of the Chicago-Seattle/Portland Empire Builder, which will allow Amtrak to raise fares by offering enhanced passenger amenities.

The IG’s calculations make the unreasonable assumption that “no coach passengers would abandon Amtrak if they no longer had access to amenities [besides a basic coach seat].” This ignores the fact, noted in our July 14 release, that many coach passengers take very long trips. We said, “For trips 800 miles or longer, FY 2004 ridership was 819,870 in coach and 318,378 in sleeper. Also, in ignoring connecting passengers using coach and sleeper on different segments of the same trip, the IG ignores coach revenue that would be at risk with loss of sleepers even if other services remained.”

Further in this regard, the IG admits, “Our analysis to date has not examined the elasticity of demand for coach service should diner-based food service and other amenities currently offered be eliminated.”

The IG’s analysis does show that eliminating sleeper service would not produce cost savings for the Auto Train, where sleeper passengers account for 44% of ridership. The report also admits that “most of the costs associated with the number of passengers, such as station operations, would be relatively fixed and would not actually decline with a fall in passenger numbers.”

The report acknowledges that Amtrak would have to continue to make payments on its leased equipment if these cars are placed into storage, and that there is “lack of a real secondary market for much of this equipment.” (15) NARP strongly believes that Amtrak should fully utilize available equipment to maximize revenue in the face of fixed costs. If anything, Amtrak’s national network needs a larger equipment pool to meet the traveling public’s demand, given the large number of trains where all sleeping-car rooms are sold out.

The report ignores a fundamental reality, to which Amtrak testified at the June 9 hearing: the primary purpose of food and beverage service “is to enhance ticket sales and ridership, not serve as a profit center.”

In exploring Amtrak food service, the report suggests impractical alternatives like passengers getting meals during station stops.

As Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) said last Tuesday, “Food and beverages, as well as sleeper cars, are essential components of long-distance train travel. I agree that Amtrak needs to be more aggressive in contracting for food and beverage service, but I also believe we need to keep those amenities available.”

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Release #05-26

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Washington--The National Association of Railroad Passengers applauds the bipartisanship evident in the Passenger Rail Investment & Improvement Act of 2005, which was unveiled this morning at a news conference in the U.S. Capitol by Senators Ted Stevens (R-AK), Trent Lott (R-MS) and Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ). They praised Daniel Inouye (D-HI) for his interest and support.

Stevens chairs the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; Lott chairs its Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine; Inouye is the ranking member on both; Lautenberg continues his special interest in rail matters.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “We are particularly pleased to see the bill’s endorsement of Amtrak’s national network, and provision of a robust capital investment program--both for infrastructure and rolling stock--to permit more reliable and frequent service, and more capacity. We are gratified that the bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury to negotiate restructuring of Amtrak’s legacy debt, which currently costs about $276 million a year to service.”

The three senators speaking this morning said positive things about Amtrak. Stevens: “Just last weekend, I rode Amtrak to New York City and found a much tighter organization than several years ago.”

Lott: “I’ve always felt that we needed a national passenger rail system...Under [President and CEO David L.] Gunn, Amtrak has made improvements. I’m a fan of Gunn.” Lott also said the bill recognized that if Congress expects Amtrak to be innovative, to provide quality service, and to “change culturally,” Congress has got to provide funding because “this is not something that’s going to be a great, big profit maker. It isn’t profitable anywhere in the world and it won’t be here.”

Lautenberg said, “We have a wonderful leader, I think, in David Gunn.” The Senator lamented the fact that Gunn must spend so much “time fixing things that are worn out, lots of time on repair and rehabilitation to make up for past neglect...As part of a security matrix, I think it’s essential to have a national passenger rail system...With rail service, we’ll improve the quality of our air, and reduce the amount of oil we need for our cars.”

Stevens said of the bill, “There are a great many provisions in this bill that give...options to expand the use of railroads in a creative and innovative way.” Lott said, “Enacting legislation to reform and improve Amtrak is one of my top legislative priorities this session.” He noted that a committee mark-up of the bill was set for tomorrow [scheduled for 10 AM].

The bill also empowers the Surface Transportation Board to address on-time performance problems with the freight railroads, and the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak to develop standards for measuring the performance and service quality of train operations. Ideally, we would like to see a new agency charged with planning an improved rail network. However, we are hopeful that, should this provision become law, FRA will work aggressively to improve and expand the national passenger rail network. 

Capon concluded, “Finally, we applaud the requirements that the Surface Transportation Board issue a quarterly on-time service report, make recommendations to Amtrak and freight railroads on how to fix intractable on-time performance problems, and take appropriate action to enforce Amtrak’s legal priority access where the STB finds that a freight railroad has failed to reasonably address delay problems.”

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Release #05-27—July 28, 2005

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Washington--This morning, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation voted 17-4 to report favorably S. 1516, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2005. Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) praised the innovative nature of the bill, which Ranking Member Daniel Inouye (D-HI) called “the most comprehensive bill on Amtrak we’ve ever had.”

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said the 18-4 vote for the bipartisan bill “clearly signals that legislators are hearing, and responding positively to, the public’s call for more and better rail passenger service.”

Trent Lott (R-MS), chairman of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine, said Conrad Burns (R-MT) and John Rockefeller (D-WV) had joined as co-sponsors. Other sponsors are Stevens, Lott, Inouye, Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).

Lott said the bill aimed to reform Amtrak but also to “financially support Amtrak so it can do its job.” Referring to a provision that makes the Amtrak president a voting member of the board, Lott said: “I like David Gunn and I think if we give him more power he will be able to get more accomplished.”

Lautenberg, who worked closely with Lott on developing the bill, noted Amtrak’s national security value, which he said was vividly demonstrated after 9/11 when only Amtrak kept running. He called Amtrak “an essential part of our lives,” and reminded critics of federal aid that airlines get.

Barbara Boxer (D-CA), saying Amtrak and the Northeast usually are mentioned in the same breath, emphasized Amtrak’s importance in California, where she said Amtrak’s ridership is the second highest in the nation. “We rely on Amtrak; without it we’d have much worse gridlock.”

Conrad Burns (R-MT) lamented that U.S. DOT has always treated Amtrak like a “step-child,” which he said hurts the morale of Amtrak management and employees alike. He said this bill “and its reforms allows for a lot of discussion; that’s where we have to start.”

The committee defeated 7-15 a McCain amendment to delete “placeholder” language allowing bond funding, which would depend on action by the Senate Finance Committee.

Before that vote, McCain said, “Amtrak has never paid back a single penny of any money that has been loaned to them.” Actually, Amtrak has serviced its debt reliably for many years. Standard & Poor’s had a ‘stable’ rating on that debt until March 29, when the Bush Administration’s zero budget request for Amtrak led to a ‘negative’ rating. Continuing funding uncertainty caused S&P in early May to put Amtrak’s debt ratings on “CreditWatch with negative implications.” Also, Amtrak is repaying its newest loan—-$100 million from U.S. DOT in 2002—-in five equal, annual installments starting this year.

Regarding bonding, Lott said, “I think we’re going to have to go that route eventually not just for passenger but also for freight rail.” Stevens saw the need for bonding also in aviation, “where traffic is going to double.”

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Release #05-28—August 19, 2005

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Washington, D.C.—The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) applauds Amtrak’s official launch of upgraded service aboard the Empire Builder between Chicago, Seattle and Portland and commends America’s passenger railroad for emphasizing customer service as the most effective strategy for improving the financial performance of its routes. 

NARP President George L. Chilson praised Amtrak for reconditioning its Superliner trainsets assigned to the route, retraining on-board service staff, and offering passengers enhanced amenities.  “Customer satisfaction is the lifeblood of any successful enterprise. It generates repeat business and positive word of mouth. Amtrak is addressing long standing service quality issues in a systematic and constructive way. The traveling public will benefit significantly from the new course that Amtrak is charting,” Chilson said.

Last month, the US Department of Transportation Inspector General’s Office recommended that Amtrak take the opposite approach—eliminate all sleeping car, dining, lounge and checked baggage services.  NARP disagreed strongly with this proposal.  The Association noted that previous efforts to cut costs by reducing service quality have failed to deliver the projected improvements in financial performance. Independent analysis showed that the IG greatly underestimated the amount of revenue that Amtrak would lose if it implemented the proposals.

NARP strongly endorses Amtrak’s strategy of using modest investments in equipment maintenance, employee training and supervision to produce the higher volume and greater revenue needed to improve farebox recovery on the new Empire Builder.

Chilson encouraged Amtrak to follow the Empire Builder model of increasing volume and revenue—not cutting service—when it considers ways to improve the financial performance of its other routes.

(Click here to view pictures of Amtrak’s renovated Superliner sleeping cars.)

Reasons Long Distance Trains Make Transportation and Economic Sense:
Quick facts about the Empire Builder

• Provides daily service between Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Grand Forks, Minot, Havre, Whitefish, Spokane, Seattle and Portland (Portland section splits from train at Spokane).
• Serves 45 stations and approximately 1,000 individual city pair markets with a combined population of 19.5 million.
• Top three volume city pairs are Chicago-Minneapolis, Chicago-Seattle, and Chicago-Portland, despite fact that all three have frequent low cost air service.
• Now serves more than 460,000 passengers a year, nearly 1,300 a day!

60% of passengers travel from end point cities to intermediate points

30% of passengers make trips between intermediate points

10% of passengers travel entire route and generate ¼ of total revenue

• Passengers making long trips provide the revenue to make the service economic:

2/3 of passengers make trips shorter than 800 miles but generate only 1/3 of total revenue.

1/3 of passengers make trips longer than 800 miles and provide 2/3 of the total revenue to support the service.

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Release #05-29—September 2, 2005

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The Department of Homeland Security, in a news release today, reported that “Amtrak will be sending a train to New Orleans today to assist in the evacuation of citizens to safe areas.”

Amtrak is moving to restore some service that was curtailed this week due to the hurricane tragedy. Amtrak will extend its City of New Orleans and Crescent trains as explained below.

The City of New Orleans, now running only Chicago-Memphis, will be extended to Jackson starting with the Chicago departure on Labor Day, and the Jackson departure Tuesday, September 6. The following week, service will be extended further south to Hammond, Louisiana, starting with departures from Chicago on Monday, September 12 and from Hammond on Wednesday, September 14.

The Crescent, now running New York-Atlanta only, will be extended to Meridian, MS starting with departures from New York on Monday, September 12, and from Meridian on Wednesday, September 14.

The tri-weekly Sunset Limited continues to run only between San Antonio and Los Angeles (carrying Texas Eagle through cars to and from Chicago, St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and intermediate points). Thus, the only regular Amtrak service at Houston is a Thruway bus connection to the Texas Eagle at Longview (for travel to and from the Midwest).

Amtrak ridership was strong this summer even before the late-July start of major gasoline price increases. In July, most routes had double-digit percentage ridership growth compared with July, 2004, levels. The handful of exceptions were explained by severe on-time performance issues, or reductions in capacity.

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Release #05-30—September 27, 2005

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Washington, D.C.—Two passenger trains enabled over 700 evacuees to avoid gridlocked Interstates before Hurricane Rita. Given the limited availability of passenger rail in Texas, the fact that so many people could take the train gives a tantalizing suggestion about rail evacuation possibilities where intercity passenger and commuter rail systems are well developed, and where rail systems of any size are integrated into evacuation planning.

On Thursday afternoon, September 22, two trains departed Amtrak’s Houston station. Amtrak took 298 evacuees to San Antonio, while Trinity Railway Express (the Dallas-Fort Worth commuter railroad) took 440 to Dallas. Seating capacity for the two trains was 400 and 750, respectively. Both trains loaded quickly and without incident; all luggage was accommodated.

The San Antonio train left Houston at 12:58 PM with intercity cars, including a cafe car fully stocked with bottled water and individually packaged snacks. The train, operating on Union Pacific tracks, reached Amtrak’s San Antonio station at 6:35 PM.

The train to Dallas left Houston at 2:53 PM. It used BNSF (former Rock Island) tracks, and made a food stop at Teague, Texas. Running-time was 12 hours, including food stop and stops to flag highway crossings near Houston, where protective devices had been removed so the hurricane would not damage them. (Some motorists took 20 hours to make the trip that day; others abandoned their evacuation as they ran out of gas or decided it was futile to continue.) Amtrak kept its Dallas station open for the early-Friday-morning arrival; Amtrak, TRE and American Red Cross staff met the train there and assisted the arriving passengers in reaching the Reunion Arena shelter.

Houston Metro handled transportation coordination in Houston, searching transit-dependent neighborhoods for people who needed the train, and bringing evacuees to Amtrak’s Houston station. John Bertini, a physician and NARP member who helped load both trains, said many passengers were confined to wheel chairs; some also had oxygen tanks. He told NARP that “many passengers complimented the cool spacious cars,” adding his own view as a physician that the “roominess, comfort and relative speed the trains afforded these folks makes rail an ideal means to evacuate.”

Bertini is board chairman of Galveston Island Railroad Museum & Terminal. Drawing on that organization’s experience with the Amtrak-run Texas GulfLiner, which was funded by a federal feasibility grant, Bertini assembled a team of volunteers to help load passengers at Houston. These volunteers had experience with evacuation procedures two years ago when the GulfLiner helped evacuate Galveston during a tropical storm. (The GulfLiner ran from Galveston to Houston on several holiday weekends starting in 2002, and was aimed at developing support for regular rail service there. Incidentally, the initial request last week to TRE from Gov. Perry’s Office of Emergency Management was for a train to help evacuate Galveston; the train initially went to Galveston but turned out not to be needed.)

On September 3, Amtrak took 97 Katrina evacuees from New Orleans to Lafayette, LA, where passengers boarded Houston Metro buses to various Texas locations. Amtrak had prepared a New Orleans-Lafayette shuttle service at FEMA’s request, but the effort was called off after one run because Texas was no longer accepting evacuees. Amtrak carried more passengers than usual out of New Orleans before the storm, and offered to carry evacuees on a special train from New Orleans to McComb, MS, that ran Saturday night, August 27, to move Amtrak’s equipment to high ground.

In the aftermath of these hurricanes, public officials need to consider relying more heavily on passenger rail for evacuations. Realizing rail’s potential means developing plans so that railroad and public officials don’t have to ad lib every decision, and so that available equipment can handle as many passengers as possible. It also means improving communications between railroads and public officials, and developing satisfactory liability arrangements. Finally, the U.S. needs a useable, standby fleet of cars. Until about 1970, a large, reserve fleet of older intercity passenger cars was available for use during holiday peak loads, and for emergencies. Such a fleet no longer exists, although the growing commuter rail fleet is a plus.

Regular Amtrak Houston service is three weekly departures west to Los Angeles and three east to New Orleans and Orlando, plus daily Thruway buses connecting at Longview, TX, with Amtrak’s Texas Eagle to and from Chicago-St. Louis. However, since Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak’s Los Angeles-Houston-Orlando train has not operated east of San Antonio. Some of the railroad east of New Orleans was severely damaged; news reports indicate that CSX expects the line to be rebuilt within 90 days.

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Release #05-31—October 7, 2005

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Washington, D.C.—When an early season snowstorm inundated the Northern Plains on Wednesday, October 5, highways and airports closed. In Minot, ND, all roads into and out of town--and the airport--were shut down. But Amtrak’s “Empire Builders” made their regular station stops, as they do every day.

“Wednesday’s experience in Minot epitomized the essential transportation that passenger trains provide for communities large and small across the nation,” said NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon. “The Empire Builder often provides mobility when other modes of transportation are not an option. Moreover, the train is by far the safest way to travel in bad weather.”

On Wednesday, 69 passengers got on or off at Minot. All told, 1,104 passengers rode the two Builders that crossed Montana and North Dakota on Wednesday. These trains originated Tuesday--the westbound train in Chicago and the eastbound one in Seattle and Portland (two sections combine in Spokane). The trains make 11 stops in Montana, and serve seven North Dakota communities, including Fargo.

The Empire Builder carried 437,200 riders in Fiscal 2004, up 16% from Fiscal 2003. Through the first 11 months of FY 2005 (October-August), Empire Builder ridership was 436,300, a 9% increase over the same months in FY 2004. Amtrak did not cut fares to produce these results--the Builder’s yield (average fare paid per mile traveled) rose sharply (10%) in Fiscal 2004, and another 1% in the first 11 months of Fiscal 2005.

Nationwide, Amtrak’s long-distance trains handled four million passengers in Fiscal 2004. Some critics have emphasized the relatively small share of travelers who ride from one end of a route to another. Such comments obscure the fact that about 56% of passengers on these trains ride at least 400 miles, providing 85% of the trains’ revenues. Moreover, one third of all riders on long-distance trains travel 800 miles or more, paying 56% of the trains’ revenues.

The long-distance trains accounted for 45% of the transportation (passenger-miles) Amtrak produced in Fiscal 2004 [47% in Fiscal 2005 through 11 months; a passenger-mile is one passenger traveling one mile]. The train is more comfortable, less stressful and often faster than driving.

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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

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For Immediate Release

It was revealed last night that the Amtrak Board of Directors, at its September 22, 2005, meeting, approved a resolution directing management “to take all appropriate action to create” a wholly-owned Northeast Corridor Subsidiary that would take title to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor infrastructure.

The resolution states, in part, that the action “is undertaken for purposes of facilitating and furthering future capital investment, financing, development, oversight and operation of the NEC Infrastructure with the intent to enhance the performance and capacity of the NEC Infrastructure for the benefit of the Corporation and all current and future users of NEC Infrastructure.”

The board’s action appears to reflect a sharp departure from the position it took in the April 2005 “Strategic Reform Initiatives and FY06 Grant Request,” which included this: 

• “the Board and management have extensively explored a number of recommendations calling for the NEC infrastructure to be moved into a separate entity.  We have also reviewed models for such a structural split adopted and implemented in other countries with varying degrees of success.  This step in the overall reform process remains an option for continued review.  We have decided for now, however, that the costs, complexities and risks of such a split within Amtrak outweigh the benefits.  Consequently, we have concluded that separation of NEC assets from NEC operations is not advisable at this time.
• “Without disrupting the current GAAP-compliant accounting and budgeting, Amtrak…will be organizing its strategic plan and providing financial reports around five business lines…Infrastructure Management (Amtrak-Owned) [includes 96 miles in Michigan and other non-Northeast segments]…Northeast Corridor Operations…State Corridor Operations…National Long Distance Operations…Ancillary Businesses. [NARP Observation: the resolution refers to Northeast Corridor infrastructure, not to infrastructure Amtrak owns elsewhere.]
• “The NEC is among the most complex rail corridors in the world, and presents a unique operational and management challenge. Where other countries have built dedicated infrastructure to support 150+ mph services, the NEC mixes high-speed intercity services with freight rail services operated by seven different railroads and some of the densest commuter operations in North America provided by eight commuter authorities.  Despite the growth in commuter services, Amtrak remains the dominant user of the NEC, representing nearly three-fifths of all train miles, and is the only user operating end-to-end and at high speeds.
• “…Amtrak has begun the process of separating infrastructure management from operations for planning, accounting and financial reporting and analysis purposes.  We believe that this approach will deliver much of the benefit of ownership segregation; moreover, it represents an essential step in ownership separation if such an action were to be undertaken at some subsequent date.  Whether or not ownership of NEC infrastructure and operations is separated in the future, it is our position that control of rail operations and infrastructure management should remain unified for purposes of safety and efficiency.”

The reasons for the Board’s sudden change of position, and the reasons they kept their action secret for so long are unclear. The board currently has only four voting members rather than the seven the law envisions. Only one, Chairman David Laney, has been confirmed by the Senate. A second, Jeffrey Rosen, represents Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta who has made many negative (and frequently inaccurate) statements about Amtrak this year. The other two members, Floyd Hall and Enrique Sosa, are recess appointments whose terms will expire when Congress adjourns for the year.  Some observers have speculated that the White House would reappoint Messrs. Hall and Sosa, but the legality of a “re-recess appointment” is unclear.

[Note: The quotations above are from Amtrak’s 2006-2011 Strategic plan, available on their website. The above quotations are from printed page 13, except that the “without disrupting” paragraph is from page 11. These pages are known electronically as pages 21 and 19, respectively.]

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Release #05-32—October 22, 2005

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Washington, D.C.—The board of directors of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, at its semi-annual meeting today in Minneapolis, approved two resolutions. The full texts of both are at the bottom of this release.

One reports that the NARP board is in unity with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which on October 14 wrote to Capitol Hill leaders expressing the Conference’s “deep concerns” regarding the Amtrak Board’s decision to direct management to do the work needed to create a subsidiary that would take title to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor infrastructure.

The other resolution notes that Amtrak’s board currently has four members, all Republicans, and that two of these board members are recess appointments that expire when Congress adjourns later this year. Under the law, the board is to include seven voting members, appointed by the President after consultation with Capitol Hill leaders of both parties. In making nominations, the President is to consult with the leaders of both parties in both the House and the Senate, but all four board members are Republicans; the term of the last Democratic voting member of the Amtrak Board expired more than a year ago.

RESOLUTION OF CONCERN REGARDING CREATION OF NORTHEAST CORRIDOR INFRASTRUCTURE SUBSIDIARY

Whereas the Amtrak Board of Directors in April approved and publicized a strategic plan which stated in part that the separation of “infrastructure management from operations for planning, accounting and financial reporting and analysis purposes...will deliver much of the benefit of ownership segregation,” and stated, “We have decided for now...that the costs, complexities and risks of such a split within Amtrak outweigh the benefits,”

Whereas the Amtrak Board on September 22, 2005, directed management to “to take all appropriate action” to create a wholly owned “NEC Subsidiary,” subject to the board’s final approval,

Whereas the board’s action was never officially announced but was reported in The New York Times three weeks later, after being revealed by another organization,

Whereas the considerable work required to create such a subsidiary would also be required to undertake the break-up of Amtrak long proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation,

Whereas this work also inevitably would divert management attention from other areas where the need for improvement is much greater than with infrastructure,

Whereas the Association is mistrustful of the U.S. DOT because of its lack of commitment to intercity passenger rail,

Therefore, be it resolved, that the Board of Directors of the National Association of Railroad Passengers joins the U.S. Conference of Mayors in expressing “deep concerns regarding the Amtrak Board of Directors’ decision” directing management to prepare for creation of a subsidiary to own Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor infrastructure, and in urging “Congress to immediately begin hearings on the actions of the Amtrak Board of Directors.”

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Release #05-33—November 3, 2005

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Washington, D.C.—The Senate today voted 93-6 in favor of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act. Originally S. 1516, the passenger rail bill today was “Lott Amendment SA 2360” to S. 1932, the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005. 

The bill was developed jointly by Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), who chairs the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), a subcommittee member and the leading Democrat on passenger rail issues. The bill passed the full committee July 28 with the strong support of both Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Ranking Member Daniel Inouye (D-HI).

“This vote sends a strong message that the time for study on passenger rail is past; the time to legislate is now,” said Ross B. Capon, Executive Director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. We look for similar action in the House, and for a more supportive Bush Administration position. 

Capon continued, “Today’s Senate vote is consistent with strong ridership growth on Amtrak and mass transit, coupled with concerns about gasoline price and availability. The traveling public understands the connection between the need for a strong rail passenger network and the world energy situation.”

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Release #05-34—November 3, 2005 (second news release of the day)

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Washington, D.C.—The National Association of Railroad Passengers today criticized the creation by House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK) of a so-called “Amtrak Working Group.” The Group is to “determine whether there is sufficient information to warrant the establishment of a formal Congressional taskforce to address” new GAO allegations about Amtrak finances.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “We believe that Subcommittee Chairman Steven LaTourette (R-OH) has been a good, diligent and fair chairman. We are distressed at the apparent circumvention of him and his subcommittee. GAO has studied Amtrak endlessly over the past decade. It is not clear why this report warrants creation of a working group. The last thing we need is yet another ‘group’ to study Amtrak.”

The Association agrees with critical statements by Reps. James Oberstar (D-MN) and Corinne Brown (D-FL), ranking members on the full committee and the Railroads Subcommittee, respectively.

Oberstar said, “I don’t understand why we need a special working group to study this report when we already have a Subcommittee on Railroads…
Committee Task Forces are best used in cases that do not easily fit into the jurisdiction of an existing subcommittee or cross subcommittee jurisdictional lines. That clearly is not the case here.”

An Oberstar release said that he appointed three Democrats to the working group “despite these reservations” because he wanted “to make sure that the GAO report [released today] is thoroughly and fairly vetted.” Those three are Elijah E. Cummings, MD; Jerrold Nadler, NY; and Brian Baird, WA.

Brown said, “It is uncalled for to circumvent the Subcommittee and its leadership, and shows just how far some Members are willing to go to bow to the wishes of the White House and derail Amtrak.”

Of the five Republicans on the study group, two including the chairman have no Amtrak service, and one, Mark Kennedy (MN) is one of the House’s most outspoken Amtrak opponents. Moreover, Richard Baker (R-LA), who will chair the working group, made some factually incorrect statements at the subcommittee’s June 9 hearing on Amtrak food and beverage service. In an obvious attempt to compare Amtrak unfavorably with a private company, Baker claimed that “Chef Mario” runs food service profitably on Amtrak’s California trains. In fact, Chef Mario is merely a vendor that supplies hot meals and fresh sandwiches that Amtrak workers sell on Amtrak’s San Joaquins. [The other Republican members are Vernon Ehlers, MI; Sam Graves, MO; and John Boozman, AR. Boozman has no service.]

In response to today’s GAO report, NARP notes that federal funds used for operations have been declining. The increased funding levels Amtrak has sought are for capital, including bringing infrastructure and Amtrak rolling stock to a “state of good repair.” Many of Amtrak’s critics claim to support much of this work.

Perhaps the debate is best summarized in Amtrak President David L. Gunn’s September 2 letter to JayEtta Hecker, GAO’s Director of Physical Infrastructure: “During the last 36 months, we have focused on maintaining liquidity, cleaning up the books, rebuilding plant equipment, and building an organization that can manage the budget and control costs. I think the results speak for themselves...We did all the work with less people and still kept our operating needs flat.”

The GAO’s “projection” that Amtrak’s losses will “grow by 40% within four years” ignore the cost-saving measures that Amtrak has instituted, and continues to build on. In Fiscal 2005, Amtrak used $570 million in federal funds for operations (as opposed to capital). That is projected to decline to $540 million in Fiscal 2006.

Amtrak’s total revenues increased $18 million or 0.9% in Fiscal 2005 vs. the previous year, while total expenses increased $12 million or 0.4%. FY05 revenues were $1.883 billion, expenses $2.962 billion. Expenses include “depreciation net of amortization,” a non-cash expense which exceeded $500 million in both FY03 and FY04.

Amtrak’s employee headcount fell from 24,877 at the end of Fiscal 2001 to 19,177 at the end of Fiscal 2005 (September 30, 2005). That is a decline of 5,700. Even backing out the 1,500 associated with the big MBTA (Boston) commuter rail operation on which Amtrak did not re-bid, there is still a decline of 4,200 or 18% even as Amtrak ridership rose 8%, from 23.5 million in Fiscal 2001 to 25.4 million in Fiscal 2005.

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Release #05-35—November 7, 2005

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Washington, D.C.—The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) strongly disagrees with this morning’s remarks and directives from Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta.  NARP recognizes the need for effective, judicious oversight of Amtrak, but believes that more layers of bureaucracy will not help Amtrak improve and grow.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “It seems ‘Rube Goldbergesque’ for Secretary Mineta, an Amtrak Board member, to direct FRA to secure still more information from Amtrak on top of what is already required and likely to be required by Congress, and ask FRA to write an annual report for Mineta to read.  Secretary Mineta should focus on his most pressing Amtrak responsibility--working for a full, bipartisan slate of seven, voting board members.”

As things now stand, when Congress adjourns, the board will have just two members--Mineta (in practice, his representative Jeffrey Rosen) and Chairman David Laney. The other two current members (both Republicans) are recess appointments which expire with Congress’s adjournment.

Capon noted, “Secretary Mineta has been on the Amtrak Board since June 28, 2001--over four years. If Amtrak is really the mess he claims, you would expect him to show a real hands-on interest and to acknowledge some responsibility. But he has not attended one board meeting over that 52-plus-month period.”

Mineta’s comments about Amtrak are not credible and must be measured against Amtrak’s considerable progress of recent years. Evidence of progress was in our release 05-34 (Nov. 3); more is in bullet form at the end of this release.

Even DOT General Counsel Jeffrey Rosen, a harsh critic, testified September 21, “In 2005, the independent audit was completed in March instead of September and no material weaknesses were found. While Amtrak’s auditors still find significant areas for improvement, they comment favorably on developments over the last three years.”

Amtrak has complied with much-strengthened accounting controls under the terms of the July 2002 emergency $100 million DOT loan, and subsequent appropriations bills.

Now, the Senate’s appropriations bill earmarks $5 million for “development and implementation of a managerial cost accounting system, which includes average and marginal unit cost capability” which should further enhance Amtrak’s ability to control and monitor costs.

The Administration’s “plan” for intercity passenger rail was “dead on arrival” at Capitol Hill. The Senate on November 3 voted 93-6 for a version of reform with no significant ideas from the Administration’s bill.

The Administration’s attack on long-distance trains (the only trains serving 25 states, all but one of which voted for President Bush in 2004) has not resonated on Capitol Hill. The House on a June 29 voice vote rejected Administration and committee efforts to scale back Amtrak funding sharply, and voted 269-152 to drop “kill-long-distance-trains” language.

Regarding evidence of progress, beyond items in our release 05-34, Amtrak:

• Has taken on no new debt since the July, 2002, DOT loan provided shortly after Gunn arrived at Amtrak and discovered its cash crisis. Amtrak is reducing its debt.


• “Reports monthly results more quickly than most companies our size,” and makes detailed monthly performance reports available on-line. [This quotation and the one in the next paragraph are from President/CEO David L. Gunn’s letter of September 2, 2005, to the Government Accountability Office.]
• Has, regarding accounting, from Fiscal 2002 to 2004, “reduced our material weaknesses from 5 to 0 and our reportable conditions from 12 to 1...our net audit adjustments have also decreased from $109 million in FY02 to just $7 million in FY04. According to our independent auditors, KPMG..., there has been a strong emphasis on improving our controls and updating our policies and procedures.”


• Has not “purchased” its ridership growth with low fares. The FY05 yield (average fare per passenger-mile) was 15% above the FY00 level, and yield has risen each year during that period except in FY03.

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Release #05-36—November 9, 2005

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Washington, D.C.—The following statement regarding David Gunn’s departure from Amtrak is by George Chilson, President of the National Association of Railroad Passengers:

“David L. Gunn leaves a lasting legacy. In just over three years, he transformed Amtrak in positive ways that will shape its future long after his departure. He inherited an organization on the verge of collapse. He systematically created order from chaos. Faced with myriad problems, he focused on the most important issues and set priorities. He simplified the management structure, dropping ‘vice-president’ from the titles of many.  He created organization charts that identified all authorized positions. He established performance goals and measures. He installed discipline in finance, planning and budgeting—discipline that was essential for effective management but missing when he arrived. He installed transparent and GAAP compliant accounting. His competence and plain spoken honesty brought credibility to a discredited organization. Without David Gunn, it is quite possible that Amtrak – and U.S. intercity passenger rail – would not exist today. David Gunn’s leadership has put Amtrak on a solid footing where it can be poised for growth.

“The Amtrak board’s decision to replace Mr. Gunn comes at an unfortunate time. Amtrak has overcome significant problems and begun to gain forward momentum. Changing the top leadership jeopardizes that progress. It remains to be seen whether the Board can find a new president who can accelerate Amtrak’s transformation into a growing, relevant and cost efficient national passenger rail system.

“There is obvious concern that removal of Mr. Gunn is the first step in an effort to kill the rail passenger business. However, Amtrak Chairman David Laney, in a message to employees today, cited Amtrak’s April strategic plan and budget request and wrote: ‘The good news in this strategic plan is that we can improve Amtrak, upgrade service in the vital Northeast Corridor, expand rail services in densely populated and increasingly congested corridors across the country, and bring more economic discipline to Amtrak’s long distance services.’

“We endorse those goals so long as ‘economic discipline’ does not mean route cuts, or making the trains unattractive to travelers.

“Attaining Laney’s stated goals will require meeting big challenges: the management transition, the fact that the Amtrak Board is about to drop to just two members, and Bush Administration opposition to adequate passenger rail funding in spite of strong support for it on Capitol Hill.”

[Notes:

• The law calls for a board with seven voting members; there are four today, two of which are recess appointments that expire when Congress adjourns for the year.
• The House Subcommittee on Railroads has scheduled a hearing on Amtrak Governance Issues for Tuesday, November 15, at 10 AM.
• Yesterday, on a non-binding voice vote, the House instructed its conferees to support the higher, Senate-passed Amtrak funding level of $1.45 billion in the House-Senate conference on the Transportation/Treasury Fiscal 2006 appropriations bill.]

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Dear Fellow NARP Member:

I am writing to explain the position NARP has taken in the aftermath of David Gunn’s dismissal as Amtrak’s president. Our mission is to represent the passenger and to advocate for the improvement and expansion of passenger train service throughout the nation. That mission is greater than any single individual or even Amtrak itself.

I believe that David Gunn was the right man at the right time.  He saved Amtrak from certain collapse, implemented significant reforms and reframed the debate about intercity passenger train service. Most importantly, he restored Amtrak’s credibility on Capitol Hill, achieving a string of favorable votes in Congress this year, culminating with the stunning 93-6 vote in the Senate last month to reauthorize Amtrak. The strong and growing Congressional support has upset Administration plans to “reform” Amtrak in ways that would eliminate intercity passenger train service for most or all Americans.

Gunn opposed the Administration’s plan, so it was only natural that his termination raised suspicions. Was his firing part of a larger scheme to break up Amtrak and eliminate the national network? The uncertainty created a firestorm of criticism. NARP did not join this chorus because our research indicated that Amtrak Board Chairman David Laney is setting a direction that is independent of the Administration’s destructive agenda and that Gunn’s dismissal did not result from a conflict over policy. Indications:

• The board asked for $1.8 billion when the Administration proposed zero;
• The board approved a plan to upgrade the Empire Builder even though Secretary Mineta incorrectly characterized all long distance trains as unneeded and unused;
• The board selected David Hughes—a highly regarded former railroad president who was one of Gunn’s early hires at Amtrak—as acting president and CEO. It is unlikely that Hughes would have accepted this assignment if the board expected him to reverse course.
• Chairman Laney stated under oath at the November hearing that the board planned no sale of NEC assets and will not create a separate infrastructure subsidiary if further study makes the idea appear unwise or impractical;
• Laney has also has made a public commitment to expand service.

Your Association will be monitoring board actions closely, particularly:

• The selection of the next president;
• Approval of investments needed to make food and beverage service on the long-distance trains more efficient;
• Outreach efforts to the Congress and the states;
• The continued absence of any 180 day train-off notices.

NARP is recognized as a responsible advocacy organization.  We must maintain a professional demeanor so that we are in a position to work effectively with Chairman Laney, the Amtrak Board and Amtrak’s President.

—George L. Chilson

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Wednesday, February 1, 2006
For Immediate Release

NARP agrees with President Bush that it is a “serious problem” that “America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.” However, addressing this problem requires corrective actions on many fronts.

For example, President Bush’s FY 2006 budget--to be released next Monday--should include funding to make intercity passenger rail a more attractive and widely available choice. Such funding would give credibility to such statements by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta as, “The President and I want to save Amtrak and improve passenger rail service” (St. Louis, March 10, 2005). Amtrak ridership rose in each of the last three years, and in eight of the last nine years. The company is not perfect, but the key problem is inadequate federal funding.

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) said at a January 17 news conference announcing his re-election bid, “Part of my goal, hopefully, is to put a little pressure on the administration, because I don’t think their [passenger rail] proposal has any credibility at all, and on the House to go ahead and address this issue. And then let’s get into conference and see if we can get a bill that would be good.”

In a related move, the House Ways and Means Committee at a 1:45 PM session today, in accordance with its chairman’s mark, is expected to strip tax (funding) provisions from a bill (H.R. 1631) intended to help finance high speed rail infrastructure projects. The same thing happened in 2003. The action reflects the reality that passenger rail needs--but does not currently have--a champion on the House Ways and Means Committee.

[NARP’s analysis of intercity passenger rail and energy efficiency can be found here on our website.  This was written in 1979, but the arguments have changed little in 27 years.]

--Ross B. Capon, Executive Director
National Association of Railroad Passengers

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Release #06-01—February 6, 2006 (updated)

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Washington, D.C.—The Administration’s proposal of $900 million for Amtrak in Fiscal 2007 brings President Bush back to the levels he proposed two years ago and three years ago, except of course that inflation has eroded the value of $900 million. Hopefully, the Administration recognized that Congress soundly rejected last year’s proposed zero, substituting $1.3 billion in its place, and the Administration is now expressing some flexibility to negotiate a more realistic budget.

In any event, Amtrak cannot survive at $900 million. The Administration says it is designating $500 million for “capital needs and maintenance”. The budget request shows zero for operating grants, evidently because the remaining $400 million will instead be called, in the words of DOT Secretary Norman Mineta, “‘Efficiency Incentive Grants’ to encourage reform...”

But to actually support a $500 million federal grant for capital, Amtrak needs $1.3 billion in all. The Administration in effect is saying, “We’re going to cut Amtrak’s total funding by $400 million while cutting zero from capital.” That is unrealistic. Here’s the math:

Fiscal 2006 appropriation :

• $ 490.05 million for operations
• $ 772.2 million for capital and debt service
• $ 31.38 million for efficiency incentive grants
• $1293.63 million total

Fiscal 2007 Administration request :

• $ 500 million for capital
• $400 million for efficiency incentive grants and debt service
• $900 million total

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “It will also be important to see what the Administration means when it says ‘Amtrak will need to better manage all its resources, including Federal and state contributions, ticket revenue, and other sources. To help ensure this occurs, the Budget proposes allowing DOT to target Federal subsidies based on Amtrak’s progress making reforms.’”

Capon noted, “It is generally recognized that Amtrak has been working to ‘better manage all its resources’ at least since the middle of 2002 when David Gunn arrived. Amtrak is under a mandate to achieve a certification from the DOT Inspector General by July 1, 2006, that Amtrak has achieved ‘operational savings.’

“Amtrak is working on a number of fronts to assure that it will get that certification--most conspicuously, reducing personnel requirements on many dining cars. If the Administration is determined to expand the amount of outside micromanaging Amtrak must contend with, that is more of a Trojan horse than an olive branch.

“Ending the interminable debate over intercity passenger rail, and resolving to develop a stronger system, would be consistent with President Bush’s expressed concern over America’s addiction to oil. A key ingredient in any fight to beat that addiction must be development of a more robust rail passenger system.

“Moreover, the budget does not contain any request to fund a federal/state partnership to develop new routes and services – a program that the Administration, Congress and states all have said they support. It is critical that funding for the partnership be in addition to and not in place of funding needed to carry out Amtrak’s strategic plan.”

Mineta said in a statement today, “In last year’s budget, we demanded reform, and over the past year, both Amtrak and the Congress have responded. In recognition of this progress, and with the expectation that we will see much more by the end of the fiscal year, the President requests funds to help Amtrak make the transition to a new and better model of intercity passenger rail.”

Amtrak Acting President and CEO David Hughes issued a statement which avoided criticizing the Administration request. Hughes said, in part, “This is the first step in a nine-month process. Last year, Congress voted and the President signed an appropriation for Amtrak of $1.3 billion for FY06. This year, we again look forward to working with Congress and the Administration as we make the case for federal support.”

Capon said, “We urge the Administration to begin constructive negotiations with the Congress that will ultimately lead to a FY07 appropriation that will provide Amtrak with the resources it needs to maintain and improve its current services and that also provides new resources to fund the federal state partnership program for intercity rail development.”

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Friday, February 10, 2006
For Immediate Release

A Harris poll released February 8 found that, “as personal travel and freight transportation grows in the future, the American public would like to see an increasing proportion of that traffic going by rail…The modes of transportation which the largest number of adults would like to see ‘have an increasing share of passenger transportation’ are: commuter trains (44%), long-distance trains (35%), local bus service (23%), and airlines (23%).” The comparable percentage for “long-distance travel by car” was just 10%, long-distance bus service 6%.

(Note: An internet search on “Harris poll” right now brings up the organization’s homepage with details on this poll, headlined The Harris Poll® #14, February 8, 2006; Americans Would Like to See a Larger Share of Passengers and Freight Going By Rail in Future; Safety and energy efficiency seen as top priorities for future of passenger transportation.)

Freight rail also received strong support in the survey:  “Freight railroads (63%) come far ahead of all other modes that adults would like to see have an increasing share of freight transportation.  They are followed by: Air freight (35%), and Trucks (24%).” 47% of respondents were primarily concerted about safety, while 44% were concerned about energy efficiency and 29% by cost.  Survey participants also want to see federal government involvement to continue, “When it comes to the transportation system ‘in the nation as a whole,’ two-thirds (68%) of adults believe this should be a responsibility of the federal government.”

Our brief summary is also available on our weekly news hotline.

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Thursday, March 16, 2006
For Immediate Release

Amtrak Chairman David Laney presented Amtrak’s Fiscal 2007 budget request which is $1.598 billion. He appeared this morning before the Senate Appropriations “Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.” The subcommittee first heard testimony on transportation overall from Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. This was followed by an Amtrak panel that included Laney, Acting President & CEO David Hughes, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman, and Mark Dayton, a senior economist with the DOT Office of Inspector General. [The subcommittee plans a separate hearing on aviation next month.]

In addition, Amtrak’s grant request lists $275 million in “strategic investment options,” bringing the total implied request to $1.873 billion. Laney said, “For the first time since I’ve been on the board, we have the most constructive relationship with DOT and Federal Railroad Administration that we’ve ever had.” He said the board would receive proposals for reform at its April meeting, but that would not include First Class service. An obvious concern is whether “reform” of sleeping car service beyond what Amtrak has already plans to do with dining cars would mean anything other than eliminating the service and ultimately the trains. Secretary Mineta also was critical of sleeping cars.

Subcommittee Chairman Christopher Bond (R-MO) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) both highlighted the big budget holes the subcommittee faces in the wide variety of programs it covers as a result of the Bush Administration’s budget. This included $400 million for Amtrak (just to get it back to this year’s $1.3 billion) and $1.557 billion for aviation. Bond referred to a “$2 billion rescission of Section 8 funds that I don’t think are available,” and said the Administration budget assumes many “fees and rescissions that Congress will not approved.” But Murray also acknowledged that DOT, with overall spending up almost 5%, fared better than many other departments.

Bond chastised Mineta on Amtrak, saying he had hoped to see a budget request supported by a realistic implementation plan. “That was an empty hope.” He said the Administration must be “prepared to implement a reform plan that is supported by the budget.” He noted that the current budget proposal is unrealistic, partly because it completely ignores Amtrak’s debt service payments—“The debt is there and must be paid even if we don’t like how it was incurred.”

Murray remarked that, “despite the fact that all members of the Amtrak Board were appointed by President Bush, their request is some $700 million more than the Administration requested. Apparently those Bush appointees know something about the national network and Amtrak’s costs that the ideologues don’t.” She also noted that rebuilding of the Northeast Corridor, while necessary, has consumed ”just about every dollar of increased appropriations we have provided in the last few years” to Amtrak. She further noted that ridership growth has been stronger outside the Northeast Corridor, citing these FY 2005 increases—Chicago-St. Louis 14%, Empire Builder 9%, St. Louis-Kansas City 7% and Cascades 4%.

Sen. Bennett (R-UT) again complained that the California Zephyr did not do enough business in Salt Lake City, and joked to Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), “I’ve been trying to give you Utah’s Amtrak subsidy for years.” Bennett said he thought “less than a dozen passengers a day debarked in Salt Lake City, maybe 120 a week.” Amtrak’s on-line state fact sheet suggests the number is 254 a week, but the central point—as we noted a year ago—is that Utah is uniquely served at bad hours of the day (Salt Lake City 3:30 AM eastbound, 11:45 PM westbound); other states along the route do much better.

Durbin said Amtrak was vital to Illinois, both Chicago and downstate. He asked, “Is the administration’s intent before you leave office to let Amtrak wither and die?”

Dayton attacked subsidies that go to Amtrak First Class passengers.

On the positive side, he said Amtrak “has made strides in reforming its food service provision and may have in place a process that will achieve break-even or marginally profitable provision of food service on its trains.”

Referring to all of Amtrak, his written statement said, “For the last four years, annual cash losses have exceeded $600 million, though their persistence at this level primarily is attributable to increased interest expense. Amtrak has made some progress in controlling its cash operating loss, excluding interest.” [As we have previously noted, Amtrak has taken no new debt on since June 2002, and total outstanding debt declined by $300 million from September 2002 to December 2005.]

He said the “Amtrak board and management seems committed to reform, but the heavy lifting has just begun.” He also said Amtrak needs $1.4 billion just to keep the existing system in tact, without any significant improvement in state of good repair, and with little margin for error—insolvency could result from any serious unanticipated problem. He suggested consideration of a separate working capital appropriation of $125 million, which should not be available to Amtrak for ordinary business activities.

But he said first class seeping car service is “still a problem. We find any subsidy for First Class service unacceptable and have yet to see even a pilot program for its elimination.” NARP sees this comment as a stalking horse for outright elimination of the national system, particularly when coupled with the IG’s recommendation that “power to determine [Amtrak] services [devolve] to the states.” States tend to focus on intra-state needs, which is why NARP and Amtrak consistently have said that the national network trains should be a federal responsibility.

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Friday, March 17, 2006
For Immediate Release

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Amtrak Working Group (majority members) just released their report, which is available on their web site. [A Democratic report was released earlier this week.] The majority’s emphasis is unduly negative.

One third of the two-page “executive summary” is devoted to arguing that passenger and freight trains cannot effectively use the same tracks.  This is not true.  Investments at “choke points” would significantly enhance performance of both freight and passenger trains.  See the “Network Reliability” discussion at pages 12-14 of Amtrak’s Grant and Legislative Request, also released this week and available on >Amtrak’s website in which Amtrak recommends $50 million to address such chokepoints.

The executive summary also is incorrect to state that Amtrak “only pays the incremental increase in cost of having passenger rail operating on the freight rail system.” This statement ignores the incentive payments that Amtrak makes where railroads provide reasonable on-time performance.

Finally, consider the statement at page 3 that Amtrak’s funding “is mismanaged to such an extent that public and Congressional confidence is very low.” Amtrak’s federal grant has risen in recent years precisely because Amtrak management restored Hill confidence in the railroad.  The $1.3 billion Amtrak got for the current fiscal year is up 24% from the Fiscal 2003 level of $1.04 billion.

For further comments, Contact NARPcontact NARP.

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Release #06-02—April 26, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—The Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award will be presented tomorrow evening to Lanny F. Wilson, M.D., of Hinsdale, IL for his voluntary service over 12 years as the first chairman of the DuPage Railroad Safety Council.  This organization has worked since 1994 to help the State of Illinois achieve lower fatality rates at railroad crossings, passenger stations and along rights-of-way.  The presentation will be at a 5:30-7:30 reception of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, in the Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building (presentation likely around 6:00).

Dr. Wilson became involved after his son and daughter were involved in a 1994 railroad crossing crash in Hinsdale, in which his daughter died.

He was nominated by Metra, the Chicago-area commuter railroad, for providing “continuous leadership to the [DuPage Railroad Safety] Council. With dedicated, confident, and challenging inspiration, he has moved people and resources, and called attention to safety issues in a way that enhances the life-saving impacts of new laws, public awareness campaigns and engineering changes.”

The council has had statewide impact and is in contact with allied groups and individuals in other states.

The nomination notes that Dr. Wilson “actively supports law enforcement efforts to educate the public, and to use enforcement as a prevention method.  He has communicated with court officials the Council’s concerns about the lack of attention and follow-through on enforcement efforts.  He communicates with railroad officials and federal and state legislators, including support for efforts to strengthen Illinois enforcement laws.”

The Burch Award honors individuals who have significantly enhanced rail passenger safety. It is named after the victim of a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina. The Burch family established the $1,000 award in 1994 and has sponsored it ever since. More information on the award, and past winners, can be found here on our website.

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

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Release #06-03—April 27, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—The National Association of Railroad Passengers this year presented its George Falcon Golden Spike Awards to:

• Senator Trent Lott (R-MS),
• Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV),
• Representative Steve LaTourette (R-OH), and
• Representative Corrine Brown (D-FL).

• understanding of transportation issues,
• vision of what a fully developed rail network could do for America, and
• leadership in promoting rail development.

Lott: Senator Lott has been an outspoken defender of our national rail passenger network.  His tireless work for practical reforms to improve that network’s viability and to expand service has been invaluable.

Byrd: For more than three decades, Senator Byrd has worked to defend and improve our national rail passenger network. His work has been critical to preserving the system in general, and service to West Virginia, northern Kentucky and southern Ohio in particular. We are grateful to him for remaining a steadfast supporter over these many years.

LaTourette: Chairman LaTourette’s work to defend and improve our national rail passenger network has been invaluable. His leadership in helping Congress respond positively to the public’s desire for a national rail passenger system under difficult circumstances is greatly appreciated.

Corrine Brown:When the opponents of our national rail passenger network put forward their strongest challenge, Rep. Brown’s eloquence in defending our national rail passenger network was invaluable. Her role in helping Congress respond in a positive, fact-based manner to the public’s desire for a national rail passenger system is greatly appreciated.

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

[Note: Photographs of each legislator accepting his or her award will be available.]

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Release #06-04—April 29, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—Amtrak’s 35th birthday is Monday, May 1.  In observing this anniversary for a resource whose importance the public increasingly recognizes, reporters are urged to consider the following facts.

• Ridership increased in eight of the last nine years.  The Fiscal 2005 level of 25.4 million is up 29% from 1996.
• Similarly, the yield (average revenue per passenger mile) rose in ten of the last eleven years, with the FY 2005 level up 65% from the 1994 level.  Amtrak is not “buying” ridership with cheap fares.
• Northeast Corridor “endpoint” on-time performance was 90% in March and a similar level in April.  The premium Acela service is largely recovered from last year’s technical problems that sidelined the train-sets from April to September.
• Long distance trains are well-used.  They accounted for 47% of Amtrak’s passenger-miles last year (a passenger-mile is one passenger carried one mile).  The average long distance train carried 356 passengers per trip. 
• Long distance trains are the only intercity passenger trains in 25 states. 
• It is misleading to say “buying everyone a plane ticket is cheaper than running an Amtrak train.” Many Amtrak cities have no air service and many more have no discount air service.  Also, many Americans cannot or chose not to fly.
• Amtrak is controlling food and beverage costs.  On most long-distance trains, Amtrak is revising dining car processes and reducing on-board staff; reductions began before Christmas on two routes and are scheduled to be complete before the end of May.
• Carriers worldwide consider on-board food and beverage service as necessary to attract business, not as profit centers.  They measure food losses as a percentage of ticket revenues.  In a November 2005 speech, Jonathan Metcalf, Chief Operating Officer of Britain’s Great Northeastern Railway, said that food service on his trains, “probably loses [$3.5-$5.4 million US] a year.  If we didn’t do food, we’d lose passengers...it’s a key reason why they travel with us…we probably would have lost [$35-$54 million US] in ticket revenue [without food service].”
• Amtrak is doing more with fewer employees—the headcount was 24,877 at the end of September, 2001, and 18,944 at the end of February, 2006.  On an “apples-to-apples” basis (excluding about 1,630 employees transferred to MBTA in 2003 and Metrolink in 2005), the headcount declined about 4,300 or 18.5%.
• Amtrak has taken on no new debt since June 2002.  From September 2002 to December 2005, Amtrak reduced its outstanding debt by $300 million.
• The recent rise in gasoline prices reinforces Harris Poll released February 8 showing strong public support for more intercity and commuter passenger rail. Harris’s release began: “As personal travel and freight transportation grows in the future, the American public would like to see an increasing proportion of that traffic going by rail. Commuter and long-distance trains top the list of nine modes of transportation that adults would like to see ‘have an increasing share of passenger transportation.’” The poll is available online.

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.

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Release #06-05A—April 29, 2006 (second release of the day)

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Washington, D.C.—For cleaning, refurbishing, and landscaping at the Crawfordsville Amtrak station, and for promoting rail travel in their community via editorials, letters, and public presentations, Dr. Helen Hudson’s English classes at Crawfordsville High School were honored with the second-ever Youth Rail Passenger Citizenship Award.  The Award was presented during the students’ trip to Washington in late April.  They made the South Bend-Washington round-trip on Amtrak’s Capitol Ltd.

Their stay in Washington also included a visit to the White House, and several Capitiol Hill meetings where they discussed the importance of passenger trains with members of Congress, the Department of Transportation (including Secretary Mineta’s office), the Federal Railroad Administration and others.  They made personal contact with about 40 senators and representatives and their staffs during their four-day visit to the Capitol.

The Association contributed $500 toward the students’ Indiana-Washington, DC trip, and hosted the students at an evening reception on Capitol Hill and at two luncheons.

The project was supported by an Indiana Learn-and-Serve Grant and various other grants and donations.  At the invitation of Indiana’s school superintendent, Crawfordsville Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Steele did a presentation on the project in Chicago at a national convention of school superintendents in early April.

The students also benefited from a federal TechKnowBuild grant which provided each student with a laptop computer and also stipulated that students using the laptops be involved in an authentic community problem.  Such school-community endeavors are known as problem-based learning, and so “PBL: Amtrak” found its name.

Students Elizabeth Helling and Ellen Miller gave the group’s imaginative PowerPoint presentation on their project to the Association’s board of directors, noting that Amtrak ridership at Crawfordsville doubled in between 2003 and 2006.  The two students were joined by their nine colleagues to answer questions from the board.  A total of 11 students made the Washington trip along with Dr. Hudson and chaperone Elizabeth Justice. 

NARP Board Member John Mills of Topeka, KS, one of the senior members of the Association’s Board, spoke for many when he told the students that their work and presentation were the most inspiring he had seen in almost 30 years of attending NARP board meetings.  NARP President George Chilson announced that the students have been made members of the association.

The entire project involved 34 students, both this year’s seniors and juniors.  In addition, five freshmen helped with landscaping.

At the April 21 luncheon, Amtrak Acting President and CEO David Hughes—who addressed the NARP board—was on hand and helped the Association honor the students.

More information is here on the NARP website, or contact Dr. Hudson at (765) 362-3603 (home); (765) 362-2340 (school); .

A grand opening for the refurbished station was held Sunday evening, May 7. The mayor was on hand, and the students cut the ribbon on the station to symbolically return the station to the community.

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Release #06-06—May 3, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—The Board of Directors of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, meeting in Washington, DC, approved a resolution urging Amtrak to restore the New Orleans-Orlando segment of the Sunset Limited now that CSX tracks have been restored to a higher standard than existed before Hurricane Katrina.

The Association sees New Orleans-Florida as a vital link for travelers. It is the only east-west link between Florida and Western points that does not require transferring in Washington or Chicago. Moreover, based on FY 2004 data, 41% of Sunset Ltd. revenue came from passengers using the New Orleans-Orlando segment, that is, people whose trips were confined to that segment plus people traveling between points east and west of New Orleans. In other words, a segment that accounts for only 28% of Sunset train-miles generated 41% of the route’s revenues.

The Association also believes that Amtrak’s failure to restore the train is not lawful. Amtrak never served the legally-mandated six months notice on the affected states.

The full text of the board’s resolution follows.

WHEREAS, The Sunset Limited is part of Amtrak’s basic national passenger train network, and is the only route connecting California, the Southwest, Texas and New Orleans with Florida,

WHEREAS, the eight states connected by the Sunset corridor contain one third of the nation’s population and account for one half of its population growth since 1970, and

WHEREAS, the area from New Orleans east to Florida suffered severe damage from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, which caused such extensive track damage that train operation over the route was impossible, and

WHEREAS, CSX fully repaired the damage to its tracks over a month ago, and

WHEREAS, the track is in better condition today than it was prior to the storm, and

WHEREAS, Amtrak has to date elected to not restore the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, citing that other options and routings are being studied, which may take years, if ever, to implement, and

WHEREAS, NARP has always been willing to work with Amtrak on alternate routings of any service that would improve service to the public and economic performance, and

WHEREAS, in other parts of the country, Amtrak promptly restored passenger train service after weeks of interruption as soon as storm damaged track was repaired, and

WHEREAS, Amtrak has in effect ‘discontinued’ this service without following the rules and regulations governing passenger train discontinuance, and

WHEREAS, this service discontinuance jeopardizes continued operation of the Sunset Limited between New Orleans and Los Angeles and of other routes that depend on connecting revenue from the Sunset in Los Angeles, San Antonio, New Orleans and Jacksonville, and

WHEREAS, the people of the Gulf Coast have already suffered extensive quality of life deprivations including a dramatic reduction in their transportation options, and

WHEREAS, economical rail passenger transportation is especially needed now in view of increased fuel costs, and

WHEREAS, Amtrak’s continued refusal to restore this New Orleans-Florida service that Amtrak is obligated to provide is an affront to the people of this region, adding further insult to catastrophic storm related injuries that the people of this region have already borne,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS CALLS UPON AMTRAK AND ITS BOARD TO MEET THEIR MORAL AND LEGAL OBLIGATIONS BY IMMEDIATELY RESTORING THE SUNSET LIMITED ON THE ROUTE SEGMENT EAST OF NEW ORLEANS TO ORLANDO, FLORIDA, SO THAT FULL SERVICE BETWEEN LOS ANGELES, NEW ORLEANS AND ORLANDO IS RESTORED TO WHAT IT WAS PRIOR TO HURRICANE KATRINA, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT:

THIS RESTORED SERVICE BE OPERATED CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL SUCH TIME AS AN ALTERNATE ROUTING IS AGREED UPON AMONG THE STAKEHOLDERS AND IMPLEMENTED TO SERVE THESE MAJOR POPULATION CENTERS, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT:

A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION BE DISTRIBUTED TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND THE MEDIA IN ALL OF THE STATES SERVED BY THE SUNSET CORRIDOR

Approved April 28, 2006.

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Release #06-07—May 26, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—As a House appropriations subcommittee approved $900 million for Amtrak in Fiscal 2007, the subcommittee’s chairman, Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) said, “Obviously, we’re going to have to find an increase in funding down the way.” Rep. John Olver (D-MA), the subcommittee’s top Democrat, called $900 million “a shutdown number.”

National Association of Railroad Passengers Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “It is vital that Chairman Knollenberg’s prediction of increased funding be fulfilled. At a time of high gas prices and growing uncertainty about future energy supplies, it makes no sense to cut passenger train service. The longer Congress and the Administration starve intercity passenger rail, the angrier the American people will be when they discover they don’t have choices that help them adapt to higher energy costs while still preserving their freedom to travel and maintaining their quality of life.”

In approving $900 million, the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, The Judiciary, District of Columbia, came in $390 million below this year’s $1.298 billion Congress, and $698 million below what the Amtrak Board – all Republicans appointed by President Bush – says it needs to continue operating and improving Amtrak next year.

The subcommittee also ignored the Amtrak board’s well documented request for an additional $275 million, $100 million of which would go to the Transportation Secretary for use in providing federal matching grants to states to improve and expand intercity passenger rail services.

A year ago, the same subcommittee approved a “shut down” figure of $550 million, but even that low level was significantly above the Administration’s zero funding request.  This year, the subcommittee merely accepted the Administration figure.

Amtrak says it needs $495 million next year to support operations (Amtrak’s board calls this “a significant stretch goal”) and $295 million for debt service.

A $900 million appropriation would leave only about $100 million for capital projects, most of which would be consumed by “legally mandated” investments--compliance with environmental and other laws. With rolling stock heavy overhauls and work on infrastructure halted, service quality would immediately begin a downward spiral, and chances would grow that the failure of a moveable bridge would end Boston-New York service.

Amtrak has used increased funding in recent years for capital improvements, not operations. Operating grants have remained stable even as ridership has grown.

Americans want passenger rail. A Harris poll released February 8 found that, “as personal travel and freight transportation grows in the future, the American public would like to see an increasing proportion of that traffic going by rail...The modes of transportation which the largest number of adults would like to see ‘have an increasing share of passenger transportation’ are: commuter trains (44%), long-distance trains (35%), local bus service (23%), and airlines (23%).” The comparable percentage for “long-distance travel by car” was just 10%, long-distance bus service 6%.

The legislation next goes to the full House Appropriations Committee, in early June. Passenger rail supporters should raise the Amtrak funding level in full committee, rather than rely on a repeat of last year’s House floor action which “rolled” the leadership and increased funding from the committee-passed $550 million to $1.2 billion.

NARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that works for more and better passenger train service in the U.S.  Our mission is to work towards a modern, customer-focused national passenger train network that provides a travel choice Americans want.

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Release #06-08—May 30, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—In a statement filed today with the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that controls Amtrak, the National Association of Railroad Passengers strongly endorsed Amtrak’s full funding request.  The statement noted, “Viewed in the context of national need and world energy concerns…Amtrak’s request, which totals $1.873 billion, is conservative.”

NARP approvingly quoted a May 28 New York Times editorial:  “Amtrak, which at one point was to have received zero federal funds after 2002, has been offered $900 million by the administration for next year.  That amount is so low it should be an insult…If President Bush really wants transportation alternatives, it is time for a strategic look at how the railroads can serve as an even more important escape valve for the nation’s overloaded transportation system.”

NARP’s statement, like a similar one filed April 14 with the House appropriations subcommittee, listed some areas where Amtrak initiatives already are improving—or should be undertaken to improve—Amtrak’s financial performance: 

· modernizing equipment maintenance practices, which Amtrak’s own inspector general called 20 years out of date compared to practices of the major freight railroads;

· food service; and

· restoring mail carriage “where this would be incrementally profitable,” since “every study of which we are aware indicated mail was profitable for Amtrak”.

NARP noted that Amtrak’s yield (average revenue per passenger-mile) has risen steadily, with

· FY 2005 yield 65% above the FY 1994 level;

· Yield for first seven months of FY 2006 (October-April) 9.8% above the same months in FY 2005.

Capon said, “If anything, Amtrak arguably has been too aggressive in raising fares.” NARP praised California’s policy of underwriting relatively low fares on its three Amtrak corridors, saying, “Lower fares mean higher ridership, and help America and its people deal more effectively with scarce oil.”

NARP urged “Congress to hold Amtrak accountable for the bottom line, but to be as restrained as possible with regard to specific directives as to how to get there.  The history of Amtrak is replete with examples of ‘good legislative intentions’ which sometimes have resulted in higher costs rather than reform—including directives in the 1980s regarding food service.  The more the law contains specific directives about how to manage the company, the greater the danger that management focus would be distracted from doing what is best for the bottom line, and that responsibility for results would shift from management to the sources of the specific directives.”

The full text of the statement (and our earlier House Appropriations statement) is available here on our website.  Our May 26 release, issued after that subcommittee approved just $900 million, is in our News Release section.

Full name of the Senate subcommittee:  Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.

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June 6, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—This evening the House Appropriations Committee approved its Transportation/Treasury/HUD/Judiciary/District of Columbia appropriations bill, rejecting on voice votes two amendments which would have lifted Amtrak funding above President Bush’s requested $900 million level, widely regarded as a shutdown level.

Rep. John Olver (MA), top Democrat on the relevant subcommittee offered an amendment that would have increased Amtrak funding by $400 million. It was part of a $1.7 billion amendment, the balance of which was for housing programs. As Olver put it, these increases would be paid for by increasing taxes on each millionaire by $4,700.

Later, Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY) offered an Amtrak-specific amendment which would have increased Amtrak by $291 million. Sweeney said Congress asked Amtrak to reform “and they have,” citing improved accounting procedures, restructuring of dining car staffing, and improvement of business practices.

He said, “We need to push forward on this discussion,” noting that Amtrak reduces dependence on foreign oil. He cited Oak Ridge National Laboratory statistics indicating Amtrak is 18% more energy efficient per passenger-mile than airlines, 17% than automobiles. He also cited Amtrak’s importance in the wake of 9/11. He said the Northeast would “suffer incredible economic strife if Amtrak shuts down.”

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) also spoke in favor of Amtrak, noting that the bill currently falls $698 million short of what the Amtrak board says it needs. She also rebutted the impression that Amtrak is giving away tickets, saying Amtrak’s yield (revenue per passenger mile) has risen every year save one since 1994, with the 2005 yield 65% higher than that in 1994.

Once again, however, the offsets were unacceptable, both to Olver and Subcommittee Chairman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI). Sweeney said the offsets involved administrative expenses. Olver said he would oppose the amendment, reluctantly. Knollenberg said Sweeney’s offsets “would tear this bill apart,” taking $50 million from the Judiciary, $11 million from Federal Transit Administration and $5 million from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The next step in the funding process will be on the House floor, where at least the bill arrives with more for Amtrak than was the case a year ago—$900 million vs. $550 million.

See our release on the identical outcome from the subcommittee markup and our recent appropriations statements here on our website.

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June 6, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—On a roll call vote of 266-158, with 71 Republicans voting yes, the House just approved the LaTourette-Oberstar Amtrak amendment, which increases Amtrak funding from $900 million to $1.114 billion.  More details to follow tomorrow; the Amtrak funding battle now moves on to the Senate.

Also today, NARP sent the following letter to Secretary Mineta, expressing concern about his failure to mention rail in his recent report on congestion. The letter is available here on our website.

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Release #06-09—June 23, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—Today, the Bush Administration announced Transportation Secretary Mineta’s resignation, effective July 7. Separately, DOT General Counsel Jeffrey Rosen, who has represented Mineta on the Amtrak Board, leaves DOT July 3, to join the Office of Management and Budget. 

NARP President George Chilson wrote to U.S. Transportation Sec. Norman Mineta on June 13, asking why the Department’s recently released white paper on reducing transportation congestion did not cite either freight or passenger rail as possible solutions. The letter, which was sent to reporters on the 13th, is here on our website

In the letter, Chilson wrote, “While you are right to target congestion as a serious and growing national problem, we are dumbfounded that you failed even to mention rail in National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network…Neglect of rail—both by federal policy and the state policies that it encourages—is the primary reason that our nation continues to spend enormous amounts on transportation infrastructure without satisfactory results…”

Chilson’s letter opened an issue that has troubled many transportation experts: the continuing reluctance of the federal government to include railroad infrastructure development in its transportation plans or budgets. Although rail is the most economically efficient form of transportation to operate and build, and the nation’s key rail rights-of-way hold much undeveloped capacity, too few of the nation’s travelers and too little of its freight are using rail because, without federal infrastructure assistance, private capital cannot afford the heavy bill for creation of the needed rail capacity. 

Highways, airports, the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System, and the Inland Waterway System are publicly owned and funded, but the private railroads have been considered off-limits to federal policy except for safety regulation.

Chilson said NARP believes the time has come for that policy to change.  “Private ownership of the nation’s rail infrastructure does not render it less valuable to the American people, place it beyond the purview of federal transportation policy or make in ineligible for public funding,” he wrote to Mineta. 

Chilson cited the successful rail program in Mineta’s home state of California, where state investments in track, signals, bridges, stations and passenger rolling stock have led to a popular and fast-growing network of 60 daily passenger trains that carry more than 4 million passengers a year on a three-route, 800-mile network.  Besides making passenger trains useful and appealing, state funding for double-tracking, signaling and grade-separation projects also has benefited freight operations. 

“California has proven that a dollar spent developing a railroad will buy us four or five times as much freight- and passenger-hauling capacity as a dollar spent on airports or highways,” Chilson said. 

“California also has proven that government can use its funds to develop a railroad’s property without interfering with the shareholder’s rights to use their property for profitable freight hauling,” he said.  “Government development of railroad infrastructure clearly is a win/win/win situation, and there’s no reason why a federal government that claims to be concerned about air and highway congestion should not adopt it.”

Chilson’s letter to Mineta noted a “growing consensus” for rail development.  He cited two reports issued in 2003 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The reports, Intercity Passenger Rail Transportation and Freight-Rail Bottom Line Report, said failure to develop rail capacity would confront even the best-developed highway system with enough excess traffic to throw key segments into permanent gridlock. The freight report cited a $53 billion gap between investment needed to maintain rail’s existing market share and what the railroads are likely to invest without government help.

Chilson also noted that Joseph Boardman, who chaired AASHTO’s Standing Committee on Rail Transportation when the reports were issued, is now Federal Railroad Administrator.

“The availability of so much experience and judgment at USDOT makes it all the more puzzling and disappointing that the Department has failed to acknowledge rail development as a key element in any strategy intended to solve the nation’s congestion problems,” Chilson said.  “At NARP, we are looking forward to answers and seeking a fruitful dialogue.”

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Release #06-10—June 30, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—In a statement submitted today to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine, the National Association of Railroad Passengers reiterated its provisional support for the 25% investment tax credits sought by the freight railroads. 

The June 21 hearing on “Economics, Service, and Capacity in the Freight Railroad Industry” was held by the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, chaired by Trent Lott (R-MS).

The written statement, by NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon, also recognized the important role that public-private partnerships can play in enhancing capacity and efficiency of the nation’s railroad network.

However, Capon cautioned that the combinations of partnerships and tax credits will fall short of filling the huge gap between the billion dollar investments needed to ensure that freight railroads are able to maintain existing market shares in a growing economy, an investment that the railroads are likely to make or finance on their own.

According to estimates released in a January 2003 report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the predicted investment shortcomings will be between $33-53 billion by the year 2020, a fact cited in the prepared testimony of Association of American Railroads President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger.

Capon cautioned, “Some of the legitimate, capacity-enhancing investments that will depend on public support may be not lend themselves so obviously to specific ‘publics’ for the ‘public-private partnership’ to work.  Indeed, there may not be enough ‘CREATEs,’ that is, projects with benefits that draw in public partners, to yield public funding anywhere near $33-53 billion.” [CREATE is a major project to improve railroads and highway/railroad crossings in the Chicago area.]

Developing federal program that identifies and addresses other projects potentially involves objection from freight railroads afraid of both losing competitive edge and re-regulation.

In his statement Capon also said, “The National Association of Railroad Passengers has both a specific and a general interest in a healthy, reliable railroad network where average speeds are increasing, not decreasing...Our specific interest, of course, is to see that railroads do a good job of running Amtrak and commuter trains.  Amtrak’s current and recent experience is not good.”

Potential exists for a greatly-expanded role for passenger rail.  It is widely recognized as maximizing energy and economic efficiency, minimizing environmental damage, and increasing the safety of our overall transportation system.  Capon cited recently issued energy efficiency measures from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s annual “Transportation Energy Data Book” that prove rail’s benefits to the environment and energy conservation.

The full text of NARP’s statement is here on our website.  Prepared statements of witnesses at the hearing are at the subcommittee’s website.

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Release #06-11—July 14, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—In a letter to Surface Transportation Board Chairman W. Douglas Buttrey, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) said its members “are increasingly alarmed at the on-time performance of many Amtrak trains operating on tracks of the freight railroads—especially CSX and Union Pacific. We urge you to take every action you can...to bring about improved performance.”

The letter was from NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon. In June, he wrote, “more than 100,000 passengers rode Amtrak trains that reached their final destinations over four hours late; the overwhelming majority of these passengers were on routes that use CSX or Union Pacific exclusively or primarily.” This year’s performance appears to represent an intensification of several years of negative trends. In April, Amtrak Acting President and CEO David J. Hughes told the Association’s board that the “on-time performance of Amtrak trains on freight railroad tracks dropped 50% from 1999 to 2005.”

Last month, only 15% of runs of the Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight, primarily using UP tracks, reached their final destinations less than four hours late. “By contrast, the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief (BNSF tracks) and Chicago-Seattle/Portland Empire Builder (BNSF and CP) were on time (no worse than 30 minutes late) 63.3% and 80.0%, respectively.”

Short-distance runs in which states have invested heavily also are infected by bad on-time performance. Last week alone [June 30-July 6], Union Pacific accounted for 1800 minutes of delays to Cascades service in the Pacific Northwest. The 124-mile Eugene-Portland segment uses UP tracks, and has just two daily Cascades round-trips. The 1800 minutes do not include extensive Coast Starlight delays.

Federal law requires that Amtrak trains be given “preference over freight transportation...except in an emergency” or where the Secretary of Transportation, in response to a railroad’s application for relief, has “established the rights of the carrier and Amtrak on reasonable terms.”

Capon noted, “Amtrak mechanical and personnel issues also can delay trains, but the root causes of many such delays are relentless, terrible on-time performance. This unreasonably stretches Amtrak crews and equipment, leaving inadequate time for crew rest and equipment maintenance between trips.

“Any investigation and related public hearings should:
(1) Identify specific, detailed causes of the freight train interference issues;
(2) Determine whether and how much freight train interference results from actions which might reasonably have been avoided; and
(3) Most importantly, identify short and long term remedial issues.”

In many cases, both freight and passenger trains are hurt by substandard dispatching and excessive slow orders, the latter caused by deferred track maintenance. Capon wrote, “We understand that the segment between Sacramento and Eugene has over 100 slow orders, many at 10 mph. One southbound run of the Coast Starlight lost 3 hours 33 minutes due to slow orders between Sacramento and Portland plus 4 hours 52 minutes meeting other trains.”

In closing, Capon suggested, “Where short term solutions exist, the very existence of a high-profile STB investigation—or even the knowledge that you care—may stimulate noticeable improvement in Amtrak on-time performance in surprisingly short order.”

Copies of the letter were sent to Acting Secretary of Transportation Mario Cino, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman, and leaders of the House and Senate authorizing committees with jurisdiction over railroads.

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Release #06-12—July 17, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—The National Association of Railroad Passengers issued the following statement in support of the Warwick (RI) Intermodal Station, for which a ceremonial groundbreaking will be held today at 1:00 p.m. in the long-term parking area at nearby T.F. Green Airport serving Providence. The station will be linked to the airport by moving sidewalks.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon, who will attend the groundbreaking, said, “We salute all those who worked hard to make possible the funding of Warwick Intermodal Station. Special credit goes to former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Almond and former U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.

“Europe is far ahead of the U.S. in developing convenient connections between air and intercity passenger rail, but the Warwick Intermodal Station represents a big step forward.

“Air-rail facilities are vital not just for people making air-rail connections, but also for Amtrak passengers renting cars. Car rentals are more important to Amtrak than to European railways because local transit connections are not as ubiquitous here as in Europe.

“Amtrak passengers often go to airports to rent cars because it’s the airport rental agencies that are open when we need them--especially evenings and weekends.

“When the Warwick Intermodal Station is completed in a few years, its consolidated car rental facility actually will be slightly more convenient for train passengers than for air travelers!

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