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February 2000 Hotlines |
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February 2000 Hotlines |
#124 - February 4, 2000
#125 - February 11, 2000
#126 - February 18, 2000
#127 - February 25, 2000
#127-A - February 28, 2000
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Note -- Text of this issue is unavailable. For other information on events that occurred that week, please see NARP news release about the start of electric service on Amtrak's New Haven-Boston line.
President Clinton on February 7 unveiled a fiscal 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. Separately, there is another $468 million for a new "Expanded Intercity Rail Passenger Service Fund," to be available for Amtrak and/or states. This fund would draw from 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. [There is more information at our release.]
Unfortunately, there is big opposition to the $468 million in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which control use of gasoline tax revenues. Many legislators think that excess gas-tax revenues -- even at the $3 billion level -- should all go to highway programs, even if passenger rail starves. Please move quickly to tell your U.S. senators and representative, and your governor, that you support this part of the Clinton budget and you want them to work for it. We include governors because 26 of them endorsed $989 million for passenger rail, and it is not clear how the actual number will exceed $521 million if the above committees have their way.
The full Senate, which is not in session next week, may consider S.1144 the week of February 22. S.1144 gives states flexibility to spend federal TEA-21 dollars for passenger rail funding.
The first Congressional hearing on fiscal 2001 funding took place February 10, in the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Frank Wolf (R.-Va.). This "public witness" day included presentations by NARP Assistant Director Scott Leonard and American Passenger Rail Coalition Executive Director Harriet Parcells, both of whom urged funding of the full $989 million amount for passenger rail. They also expressed support for continued funding for the Next Generation High-Speed Rail Program, which would allow the Federal Railroad Administration to continue its efforts to develop corridors across the U.S.
The Surface Transportation Board said February 9 that it would begin a review of the takeover of Conrail by CSX and Norfolk Southern. The STB will seek comments on the implementation of the transaction, which formally took effect June 1, 1999. The STB's approval of the deal included conditions for a five-year oversight period. The STB has the power to take actions it determines necessary to address harmful effects of the transaction. Among the area STB said it would review is the impact on Amtrak passenger operations. Click here for a statement NARP sent STB on this topic in December.
The Great American Station Foundation has a new chairman, John Robert Smith, who is the mayor of Meridian, Miss., and a member of the Amtrak board. He replaces former chairman Tom Downs, who is a former president of Amtrak.
Amtrak and the American Society of Travel Agents announced a discount program February 8. It gives passengers a 10% discount on long-distance (and some short-distance trains) using a coupon redeemable only at travel agencies. These agencies then would get a 10% commission (with no caps) from Amtrak, rather than the normal 8%. This is good in that it strengthens the partnership between Amtrak and travel agents, but NARP remains concerned about the continued labeling of long-distance trains and passengers as "leisure" trains and passengers by Amtrak in its publicity material, for this promotion and others. The long-distance market is much more than "leisure" travel.
A threatened piece of the former Pioneer route has gotten a second, 90-day reprieve from the Surface Transportation Board, until early May, according to the Idaho Statesman (February 1). The City of Boise and Ada County are still trying to put together an offer to buy a line segment from Union Pacific. This segment, if abandoned, would make it impossible for through-trains from the east to serve Boise. The local governments are interested in the segment for local transit purposes.
The proposed maglev line between Berlin and Hamburg, Germany, is officially dead. As we previously reported last week, there was a meeting in Frankfurt on February 5 between government, railway, and industry officials to determine the fate of the project. The meeting determined that there were too many financial questions that could not be answered for the project to proceed. Where to go is the next big question -- the federal government wants to take the $3.1 billion it pledged to the project and use it for various smaller maglev segments. The northern regions of Germany, however, want the money invested in transportation improvements, including possibly railway improvements between Berlin and Hamburg.
S.1144 is expected on the Senate floor next week. This bill lets states spend their federal gas-tax dollars on intercity passenger rail. Meanwhile, continued pressure in support of the Amtrak provisions in the Clinton budget is important, as is support for S.1900, the Lautenberg-Jeffords High Speed Rail Investment Act. A House counterpart, H.R.3700, will be introduced by Reps. Amo Houghton (R.-N.Y.) and James Oberstar (D.-Minn.).
A hearing about the findings of the January 24 Amtrak Reform Council (ARC) report will be held February 23 by the Senate Commerce Committee. It will be chaired by Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.), who chairs the Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee. The following witnesses are expected -- Rep. Chip Pickering (R.-Miss.), Wisconsin Governor and Amtrak Chairman Tommy Thompson, DOT Inspector General Ken Mead, ARC Chairman Gil Carmichael, American Public Transportation Association President Bill Millar, and Georgia Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Katharine Ross.
Chairman Hutchison hopes to resolve ARC's question of whether Amtrak must cover the cost of depreciation and of progressive overhauls in order to meet the "test for self-sufficiency." As a key Commerce Committee staffer for Senator Lott when he chaired the subcommittee, Pickering drafted a provision virtually identical to the relevant language of the 1997 Amtrak reauthorization law. ARC's legal counsel believes that the reference in the law to "generally accepted accounting principles" (GAAP) means Amtrak must cover depreciation and preventive maintenance to meet its test. Chairman Hutchison, NARP, Amtrak, the Clinton Administration, and others believe that this reference simply refers to an evaluation of Amtrak's bookkeeping. GAAP is not mentioned in the later section of the law that deals with operational self-sufficiency. Federal operating grants have never covered depreciation, and Congress has allowed Amtrak to use capital funds for progressive maintenance since the early 1990's.
A Baltimore MTA light rail train hit the safety barrier at BWI Airport on February 13, sending 23 to the hospital, including the driver. The impact caused the lead car and the barrier to wedge upward a few feet and sent passengers, who were already standing to get off at the end of the line, to go flying. Though the speed limit in the area is 13 mph, investigators have determined that the train was going about 10 mph more than that. They said that all signals and brakes were in working order.
The state-of-the-art grade crossing at Mystic, Conn., has been malfunctioning too often, according to local residents quoted in the February 15 New London Day. The quad-gate system was installed in 1998 with sensors that were tied into the train control system and can bring a train to a stop if necessary. The Day said that there have been 27 documented malfunctions; the longest one was five hours in November 1999. Amtrak said it is working on the problem, which appears to be in the computer software. Overall, the crossing has been judged a success and the technology will be replicated elsewhere on the New Haven-Boston line.
A controversial plan to convert the Sacramento station into a retail complex has collapsed, according to the February 11 Sacramento Bee. The developer is blaming the city for lack of interest. Whatever the cause, the collapse removes the threat (at least until a new idea comes along) that the station will be made less passenger-friendly.
Project officials with the downtown Boston Central Artery project (including the Third Harbor Tunnel) -- hours after having their $10.8 billion finance plan approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation -- said that the project would cost an additional $1.4 billion. Federal funds are covering 70% of the project cost. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater then gave the state to March 15 to show how it will fund the Central Artery without threatening other state highway projects. The project already consumes 79% of the state's federal highway funds, so the state is in an uproar.
Meanwhile, House Transportation Appropriations Chairman Frank Wolf (R.-Va.), a longtime Central Artery critic, also plans to grill officials at a March 8 hearing on a $180 million cost overrun on the MBTA's South Station-South Boston Waterfront bus "Transitway." This project -- also supervised by Central Artery officials -- has gone from $413 million to $601 million. NARP continues to press Amtrak and public officials on the need to build the North Station-South Station Rail Link, which has far more transportation value than the Central Artery or Transitway projects.
Greyhound and Amtrak are near agreement on a deal to build a new bus station across the tracks (to the north) of Baltimore Penn Station, to be connected to the station by a pedestrian bridge over the tracks. Amtrak is also planning to get a hotel chain to turn the upper three floors of the station into hotel rooms.
An Amtrak oversight hearing was chaired by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.) of the Senate Commerce Transportation Subcommittee, February 23. She said, "Amtrak can and should be a vital part of our integrated transportation network." John Kerry (D.-Mass.) said, "It is stunning to me that people in this country are still arguing against this form of transportation." Citing high fuel prices and gridlock in other transportation, Kerry asked, "Do we make the rail passenger investment now or do it later at much greater expense?" He also endorsed a nationwide system. Max Cleland (D.-Ga.), noting Atlanta has the worst congestion in the South, said, "I think we're at the start of a rail renaissance."
The hearing was to try to resolve the Amtrak Reform Council's claim that Amtrak must cover depreciation and "progressive" equipment overhaul costs to meet the legal test for operational self-sufficiency. Hutchison, Kerry, and DOT Inspector General Ken Mead said this was against Congressional intent, and that Amtrak could not meet such a test. ARC Chairman Gil Carmichael ultimately agreed Amtrak need not cover depreciation if it is a "government agency." But Amtrak says it's a private corporation. Amtrak Chairman Tommy Thompson quickly responded, "We are not a government agency."
Also at the hearing, Mead noted that Amtrak Intercity's first quarter passenger revenues were down $2 million from a year earlier, and Governor Thompson admitted to Sen. Ron Wyden (D.-Ore.) that it may have been a "mistake" to discontinue the Pioneer.
Amtrak will release part of its Market-Based Network Analysis on February 29. This is expected to be a vision of what the system could look like, not a specific, immediate implementation plan. Service changes require negotiations with the host freight railroads (apparently already in progress).
The Midwest Regional Rail Initiative on February 22 released an updated Executive Report on enhanced corridor services in a nine-state area (the previous report was in August 1998). More detail is given on corridor top speeds and feeder buses. Total capital cost (infrastructure and rolling stock) has risen to $4.052 billion, "largely due to changes in routes, increased in operating speeds, and improvements to accommodate freight rail capacity needs." It is important for every Midwestern rail advocate to become familiar with the information in this 23-page document.
The Georgia House Transportation Committee on February 17 approved a bill to set priorities for proposed passenger rail projects. The bill, HB1348, contains a list of 18 projects and ranks them. The top two are the two closest to development, Athens-Atlanta and Macon-Atlanta, to be completed in 2004. Some in the Georgia DOT expressed concerns about the bill, pointing out that a delay to any given project would permanently stall projects lower down on the bill's list.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Senate Appropriations Committee on February 21 cut the $500,000 in planning money for ten passenger rail projects, and cut from $5.9 million to $2 million the funding for construction of an intermodal terminal in downtown Atlanta. The committee's chairman, George Hooks, said the money could be raised through bonds rather than appropriations.
The Oklahoma Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved Senate Joint Resolution 37 on February 15. This bill would put a question on the November state ballot asking whether to finance expanded passenger rail service in Oklahoma (and continue the Heartland Flyer) with a one-cent gas-tax increase. It is expected to pass in the full Senate. The sponsor is Sen. Dave Herbert, a long-time supporter of passenger rail.
Norfolk Southern is floating an idea to use state funds to expand its line parallel to I-81 in Virginia, according to the February 13 Virginian-Pilot. The state has plans to spend $3.5 billion over the next 20 years to expand that road from Winchester to Bristol. The road is notorious for its heavy truck traffic. However, for $900 million, Norfolk Southern says it could re-engineer and double-track its route and make it more practical for intermodal traffic, like piggy-back truck trailers and containers.
While about 200 independent truckers came to Washington this week to protest increases in diesel fuel prices, it's worth remembering that -- when adjusted for inflation -- gasoline is nowhere near historic heights. The national average this week is about $1.40, where it was about $1.53 in 1990, $1.93 in 1985, $2.55 in 1981, and $2.00 in 1975 (adjusted for inflation). Exacerbating the problem is the fact that gas-guzzling "sport utility vehicles" account for three times the share of the vehicle market now as in 1990.
Amtrak today released the first part of its "Network Growth Strategy," the first results to be released from the Market-Based Network Analysis that Amtrak has been working on for 18 months (and continues to work on). The announcement came a day earlier than expected due to the widespread coverage of the story by wire services over the preceding weekend. Amtrak President George Warrington said the Analysis is Amtrak's first-ever attempt to evaluate passenger demand, mail and express potential, and equipment needs over the entire network (as opposed to just on individual routes).
The Network Growth Strategy is a vision of what the system could look like in 2003, not a detailed implementation plan. Service changes require negotiations with the host freight railroads and others (talks that are already in progress). The plan would expand service in 21 states using existing capital resources. While much of the equipment would come from refurbishing 50-60 newer cars now in storage (such as for light wreck damage), NARP has expressed concern that some other equipment would come from existing trains that are already capacity-constrained. Amtrak does plan later this year to identify its long-term equipment needs, both for corridors and long-distance routes.
Still, service increases on such a skeletal national network are welcome. Also welcome is Amtrak's recognition that -- unlike what we saw in the 1990's with the infamous "Mercer Management" cuts -- Amtrak cannot cut its way to prosperity. Warrington told reporters today that "the historical approach of eliminating individual, weak trains weakens the entire network. The revenues you lose are far in excess of the costs you save."
Some places without service will get it, some will get more service, some will lose all service. San Antonio would lose direct east-west service due to a reroute of the Sunset Limited through a new intercity-train hub at Dallas-Fort Worth (but San Antonio would have daily service to Chicago, a new train to Mexico, and better, indirect access to Atlanta and the east; see below). Lansing, Flint, and Port Huron would lose their service as the International is rerouted to provide a fourth daily Chicago-Dearborn frequency (unless Michigan aggress to resume paying for Lansing service -- Amtrak has not yet given the required six month's notice to drop this service).
Here are the main proposals (more detail to follow in the newsletter, also more at Amtrak's web site):