NARP June 2000 Hotlines

#141 - June 2, 2000
#142 - June 9, 2000
#143 - June 16, 2000
#144 - June 23, 2000
#145 - June 30, 2000

Back to Hotline Archive index page

The Senate version of the fiscal 2001 transportation appropriations bill could begin moving the week of June 5. During May, it was thought that the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee would act on June 6, and the full Appropriations Committee on June 8, so that a floor vote could occur by the end of June. However, some sources say that may be postponed somewhat. The House approved its bill, H.R.4475, May 19, with $521 million for Amtrak, of the $989 million authorized. Senators should still hear messages of support for the full Amtrak amount.

Senator Lautenberg has a new web site in support of his high-speed rail investment bill (S.1900, H.R.3700 in the House) that is well worth a visit. Due to the Memorial Day recess, there are no new bill co-sponsors.

A special inaugural train consisting of the newly delivered Pacific Surfliner train set ran June 1 from San Diego to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, making several stops along the way. The new train set is the first of eight ordered by Amtrak at a cost of $125 million. All eight should be in service by next spring. It is part of Amtrak West's effort to revamp what had been the San Diegan corridor -- a name given the Los Angeles-San Diego segment decades ago by the Santa Fe Railway, but which no longer is as relevant to a corridor that now also serves Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo to the northwest.

A partially correct wire story about Acela Express service circulated in the Northeast over Memorial Day weekend, which led to stories this week in the Boston Herald and Boston Globe. The wire story said that Amtrak had "announced" that -- for the foreseeable future -- it would run Acela Express high-speed trains at no more than the top speed for other trains on the Metro North line between New Rochelle, N.Y., and New Haven, Conn. Amtrak does not own this segment of the Northeast Corridor. For the most part, speeds are limited to 75 mph, though there is a short 90-mph segment in New York State. The stories went on to say that the total running time between New York and Boston would be 3:15 hours, rather than the planned 3:00 hours, when Acela Express service begins later this summer.

However, in fact, there was no such announcement. Amtrak says that planning for the three-hour Acela Express running time already has assumed 75-mph running on Metro North in Connecticut, recognizing that 90 mph might not be attainable in the near term (though Amtrak continues to try to get to 90 mph). Still, it looks like the initial travel time will indeed be 3:15 hours, due to several other, varied issues along the length of the route. Amtrak said the funding was in place to fix those issues within the next year or two and bring the Acela Express travel time back down to three hours.

There is still no specific start-up date announced for the new service, though a general Northeast Corridor timetable change remains a possibility for late July or early August.

Amtrak's northbound Carolinian derailed one truck on one coach June 1 near Cary, N.C. No one was reported injured, but the 286 aboard had to be bussed onward. No cause has been reported.

Amtrak's Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawathas generally will have 15 minutes added to their schedules on a temporary basis, due to a six-week trackwork project on host railroads Metra and Canadian Pacific, beginning June 4. Departure times from either terminal will remain the same. On June 4 only, the 10:40 am train from Milwaukee and the 1:00 pm train from Chicago will not run. Also on June 4 only, the Chicago-Janesville Lake Country Limited will run on a slightly different schedule -- see the Amtrak web site.

An interesting radio show from Seattle will be June 8 at 10:00 am Pacific time, about a new anti-transit ballot initiative in the State of Washington. The Dave Ross Show on station KIRO (710 AM; with live web feed) will feature Tim Eyman, the chief proponent of last fall's Initiative 695, which repealed a vehicle tax that was a primary source of revenue for the state passenger rail program. Eyman is now pushing a new, anti-transit Initiative 745 for this fall's ballot. Other guests will be Lloyd Flem of the Washington Association of Railroad Passengers to discuss the need for balanced transportation, and Aaron Ostrom of the 1000 Friends of Washington to discuss the negative effects of the proposed initiative.

In Colorado, the ColoRail passengers group is endorsing a November ballot initiative called the Transportation Finance Act. It would require Colorado DOT to spend at least 12% of its annual budget on non-highway modes, including rail (up from zero now!). They will be circulating petitions to get the measure on the ballot at the People's Fair in downtown Denver on June 3 and 4; contact John Valerio by e-mail for more information.

The Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Richard Shelby (R.-Ala.), has postponed its work on a fiscal 2001 transportation funding bill until June 13. Full committee action could come within a couple days of that, with a floor vote as soon as an opening for it occurs.

Progress on getting S.1144 (flexibility for states to spend TEA-21 funds on passenger rail) to a Senate floor vote continues to be blocked by a hold on the bill by Senator Bond (R.-Mo.). This has been reported in various Washington lobbying publications. Bond opposes any form of Highway Trust Fund money going to passenger rail (even if states want this flexibility and even if such money already goes to other, non-highway modes) and apparently does not want his colleagues to have the opportunity to vote on it. There is a possibility that some "flexibility" language will be attached to the appropriations bill.

S.1900, the Senate passenger rail bond bill, got its 45th sponsor this week -- Tom Harkin (D.-Ia.). See our web site for a complete list.

Federal agents, working with the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, raided the office of two electrification contractors at Old Saybrook, Conn. The agents are investigating the alleged misappropriation of funds by Balfour Beatty Construction, Inc., and Massachusetts Electric Construction Co. Amtrak hired the firms to electrify the 157-mile New Haven-Boston route after Morrison Knudsen, the original construction firm, ran into financial difficulties. Incidentally, this weekend, the last remaining segment of newly electrified track will be energized (in Massachusetts).

Gov. George Ryan of Illinois signed a bill into law on June 2 that allows better tracking of motorist violation records. This bill, HB2883, came in response to last year's incident in which a truck -- driven by a driver whose violation-rich background was not known by all jurisdictions issuing the violations -- drove in front of Amtrak's City of New Orleans, killing 11 passengers. The new law creates a data base of court-supervision sentences available to all courts and prosecutors in Illinois.

June 14 is a big day at the Oklahoma City Amtrak station. There will be a ceremony at 7:45 am to mark the one-year anniversary of the Heartland Flyer, which runs daily to Fort Worth. According to the most recent figures available (June 14, 1999, to April 30, 2000), nearly 61,000 passengers rode the train. That's far above the original first-year projection of 25,000, which was surpassed about October 1. Later the same day, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, the Postal Service's "Celebrate the Century" postal exhibit train will be on display at the station.

The last phase of double-tracking the Tri-Rail commuter route in South Florida got underway with a ceremony June 5 that included Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez. The FTA had awarded Tri-Rail a $110-million grant, enough to complete the $327-million project by 2005. Of the 72-mile route, about 44 miles are still single track, mostly in the north in Palm Beach County. The double track will allow more trains to run more reliably.

Sound Transit and Burlington Northern Santa Fe have signed an operating agreement for commuter rail service between Tacoma and Seattle. Service should begin in September. An agreement for Seattle-Everett service is still pending.

Washington Metro's chairman, Gladys Mack, on June 5 directed Metro controllers to stop sending trains toward fires or other hazards. This came in the wake of disclosures that a Blue Line train was sent toward a tunnel fire on April 20, even though another train operator had reported the fire to the same controllers five minutes before. Thus a train and 270 passengers were stranded in a smoky tunnel for three hours. The new policy led to three service interruptions in as many days caused by small tunnel fires.

A Eurostar high-speed train partially derailed June 5 at 150 mph outside Arras, in northern France. There were no serious injuries. The train was headed from Paris to London. The train remained upright even at that speed, which observers told BBC was a result of the train's articulated design. Eurostar and Thalys (Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam) high-speed services were interrupted during the clean-up, and other Eurostar trains were being examined mid-week. The apparent cause was a transmission component that broke apart. Passengers reported smelling something like burning rubber for 10-15 minutes before the accident.

The Great American Station Foundation announced on June 5 its grant recipients for 2000. Eleven of the 13 total have Amtrak service today -- Fremont, Cal.; Raton, N.Mex.; Waterbury, Vt.; Hamlet, N.C.; Burlington, Ia.; Hastings, Neb.; Elizabethtown, Pa.; Rome, N.Y.; Sanderson, Tex.; Jesup, Ga.; and Hamilton, O. The 12th, Macon, Ga., will be linked with Atlanta in 2004. The 13th is part of a transit village project centered on the Fruitvale BART stop in Oakland, Cal. Total grants were $250,000; individual amounts ranged from $10,000 to $25,000.

The Senate this week completed its transportation appropriations process -- subcommittee and committee approval (June 13) and floor debate and approval (June 14 and 15). The Senate version of H.R.4475 contains $521 million for Amtrak in fiscal 2001.

On June 15, Sen. George Voinovich (R.-Ohio) offered as an amendment the rail-language part of S.1144 (the TEA-21 state flexibility bill for passenger rail). Sen. Bob Smith (R.-N.H.) moved that the amendment violated Senate Rule 16 ("germaneness") and the Senate voted 52-46 to endorse his view. Unfortunately, this was the first vote since reinstatement of this particular rule, so some (including four S.1144 co-sponsors) voted with Smith. There is some small comfort in the fact that some Senate leaders (focused on the rule and not transportation policy) were disappointed that the vote was so close.

Thank you for your work on this. Before the vote, Senators Voinovich, Cleland (D.-Ga.), Lautenberg (D.-N.J.), Biden (D.-Del.), and Schumer (D.-N.Y.) delivered eloquent speeches in favor of flexibility. If you live in one of their states, you may wish to send a note of thanks and appreciation.

This vote increases the importance of passing S.1900/H.R.3700, the High Speed Rail Investment Act bills. Congress has slammed the door shut on significant new passenger rail capital investment through the appropriations process and now through flexibility. The bond approach may be the only one left.

H.R.3700 now has 109 sponsors (and S.1900 has 47; see our web site for the complete list). It is expected to figure prominently in a June 21 hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, chaired by Rep. Amo Houghton (R.-N.Y.). Amtrak Chairman and Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson will be among those testifying.

Charles Moneypenny of the Transport Workers Union of America was named to the Amtrak Reform Council June 14 by President Clinton. He replaces Clarence Monin.

Flooding has forced the detour of the Empire Builder over the direct "Surrey cut-off" between Fargo and Minot, N.Dak.

Amtrak and Pennsylvania DOT have agreed to begin a ninth Keystone train starting July 9. New train 605 will leave Philadelphia weekdays at 7:25 am; new train 618 will leave Harrisburg 7:45 pm.

Amtrak announced June 14 the opening of a new Detroit joint shipping facility. It was built at the former Michigan Central station site by Amtrak and Canadian Pacific. It will provide space for handling RoadRailers as well as car maintenance.

Amtrak's Chicago-Janesville Lake Country Limited had a stop added to its schedule June 15. While the May 21 timetable indicated the stop would be Walworth, Wis., the new stop instead is at the tiny hamlet of Zenda, Wis., a few miles east of Walworth. While this is a few miles closer to Lake Geneva -- which sits on the far east end of the lake of the same name -- it is less convenient to other lake towns in Walworth County such as Fontana, Williams Bay, and Delavan. We understand that local government was more cooperative at Zenda than at Walworth.

Construction on Los Angeles Metro's newest light-rail segment began July 9, with a groundbreaking ceremony in Los Angeles' Chinatown section. The Blue Line Union Station-Pasadena segment (13.7 miles) is to open in July, 2003.

Kenosha Transit opens its downtown streetcar line June 17. Except for a museum, this is the first electric traction service in Wisconsin since the 1963 closure of the North Shore Line (which served Kenosha's west side). The streetcars will run a loop on two parallel streets from the Metra (ex-North Western) commuter rail station, east to the new Harborpark development, using refurbished PCC cars that once ran in Toronto.

The Sunset Limited was blocked by a Union Pacific freight derailment west of Casa Grande, Ariz., on June 12. Amtrak trains were halted at Yuma and El Paso. The Sunset's former route through Phoenix would have been a viable detour, but UP downgraded it and virtually abandoned it a few years ago.

A radio program on the anti-transit Initiative 745 in Washington State has been rescheduled for Friday, June 30. The Dave Ross Show on Seattle station KIRO-AM (710; with live web feed) will feature Tim Eyman, the chief proponent of last fall's Initiative 695, which repealed a state vehicle tax that was a primary source of revenue for the state passenger rail program. Eyman is pushing the new initiative for this fall's ballot. Other guests will be Lloyd Flem of the Washington Association of Railroad Passengers to discuss the need for balanced transportation, and Aaron Ostrom of the 1000 Friends of Washington to discuss the negative effects of the proposed initiative.

H.R.3700, the High Speed Rail Investment Act, is up to 115 sponsors, with the newest five -- including Weller (R.-Ill.) and Metcalf (R.-Wash.) -- not yet posted on the Thomas web site. A heavy schedule forced postponement -- probably to July -- of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight hearing that was to have occurred June 21. S. 1900 is still at 47 sponsors. Some key Senators whose states have major stake here but who are not sponsors include Fitzgerald (R.-Ill.), Santorum (R.-Pa.), and Abraham (R.-Mich.).

At the Atlantic Coast High Speed Rail Conference in Richmond, Va., June 22, David Carol of Amtrak said, "I doubt high-speed rail can succeed without a presence at airports." He noted the importance of fixing slow-speed segments.  To run one mile, you save two minutes by increasing the speed from 10 mph to 30 mph, but just 16 seconds by increasing from 90 mph to 150 mph. He said Washington-Wilmington ridership (110 miles) is 160,000 a year with a running time of 1:23 hours, while Washington Richmond (109 miles) is 65,000 with a running time of 2:10 hours (and less frequent service). Carol suggested the benefits of electrifying the Washington-Richmond line were not significant.

Earlier, Virginia Railway Express officials said daily ridership rose by 1,000 in 1999 and again this year. Average ridership is nearing 9,000, and on individual days has exceeded that.

Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater on June 21 at Chicago Union Station announced the award of a $34-million contract to a team led by Lockheed Martin Corporation for the development and deployment of a Positive Train Control (PTC) system on a 120-mile segment of the Chicago-St. Louis high-speed rail corridor. Slater also announced a $6.5-million grant to the Illinois Department of Transportation as part of the federal government's contribution toward the program.

A release from the Federal Railroad Administration said, "The contract award is being made through the North American Joint Positive Train Control Program (NAJPTC), a partnership between the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Illinois Department of Transportation and the Association of American Railroads (AAR). The primary objective of NAJPTC is to demonstrate a cost-effective PTC system, which is one of the technologies that will further improve railroad safety and enable the development of high-speed rail in the Midwest and elsewhere in the United States. Approximately half the funding for the project comes from the federal government."

The U.S. General Accounting Office on June 19 released its latest report on Amtrak finances at the request of House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster (R.-Pa.), "Amtrak Will Continue to Have Difficulty Controlling Its Costs and Meeting Capital Needs." GAO says despite Amtrak's having "developed and implemented a series of strategic business plans designed to increase revenues and control costs ... Amtrak's losses have remained high. In 1999, its net loss -- revenues minus expenses -- was about $900 million." The GAO finds increased operating costs mainly in labor, interest on commercial debt, and payments to freight railroads.

GAO says Amtrak will need $9.1 billion in capital support through 2015, which should not be surprising. That's an average $607 million a year -- 16% more than Amtrak is set to get in 2001 (and 6% more than what it got in 2000). Significant capital investment is a "given" if we want to have a national passenger railroad system that is viable and growing.

Amtrak halted tests of Acela Express train sets the weekend of June 17, according to a Washington Post report on June 20, delaying commercial service at least until mid-August. In a June 21 notice to employees, Stan Bagley of Amtrak said, "We found that the vertical bolt that clamps the gear box to the seat in the frame of the truck [wheel assembly] was broken or missing at one point of attachment. In a few other locations on the [new, high horsepower] locomotives and [train set] power cars, the bolts were found to be loose. We think the solution will be to lengthen the bolt to extend it down through the frame, where it can be secured with a washer. But we will take the next couple of days to consider the options."

Several Amtrak fare increases took effect June 20. Lowest-level fares on most Intercity services rose 2%; Coast Starlight sleeper fares rose 4%; Business class on Metroliner, NortheastDirect, and Acela Regional rose $2.00; Auto Train fares rose 2% (except for the highest fare level). Explore America fares were increased to the following -- Florida Zone is $129 peak/$109 off-peak; One Zone $299/$279; Two Zones $399/$359; and Three Zones $499/$429.

The New York-Montreal Adirondack will be the first train in the Northeast to benefit from the joint Amtrak-National Park Service Trains and Rails program of interpretive guides, starting July 1. Guides will ride between Saratoga and Westport, N.Y., focusing on the area's role in the French and Indian War and Revolutionary War. Consideration is being given to the Hudson River route of the train south of Albany, as well.

About 90 were injured when a New York subway train derailed in Brooklyn June 20. The first three cars of a southbound B train derailed late in the evening as it was leaving the DeKalb Avenue station. Three of the injuries were serious, but none life-threatening.

Los Angeles Metro's Red Line extension into the San Fernando Valley opens June 24. The line extends from the current terminus at Hollywood & Vine to new stations at Hollywood & Highland, Universal City, and North Hollywood (the last two in the Valley).

H.R.3700, the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA), is up to 120 sponsors. We understand six more members not yet listed have agreed to co-sponsor, including Crane (R.-Ill.). Among the latest listed sponsors is Danner (D.-Mo.) -- the first time this year a Missouri representative or senator has co-sponsored either HSRIA or flexibility (S.1144).

Sen. Ernest Hollings (D.-S.C.) became the 48th sponsor of the Senate HSRIA (S.1900). It's still important for these non-sponsoring Senators -- whose states have much to gain from the bill -- to hear strong support for HSRIA from back home -- Abraham (R.-Mich.), Collins (R.-Me.), Fitzgerald (R.-Ill.), Gorton (R.-Wash.), Lugar (R.-Ind.), Santorum (R.-Pa.), and Voinovich (R.-Ohio). It may help to emphasize that funds could only be used for capital, so this bill is not a "plot" to sabotage the self-sufficiency requirement. It does, however, represent the best chance to "re-balance" passenger rail spending between the Northeast and the rest of the country.

Amtrak announced on June 21 that Mayor Tom Carper of Macomb, Ill., and New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial have been appointed Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, of the Amtrak Mayors' Advisory Council.

At Washington Union Station's West Hall on July 6, at 10:00 am, according to Amtrak, "Amtrak employees will introduce their new unconditional Satisfaction Guarantee for guests -- a first of its kind among U.S. travel industry providers ... The company will also introduce its new corporate brand identity to employees and the general public for the first time." The event will include Amtrak Chairman Tommy Thompson, President George Warrington, and Executive Vice President Barbara Richardson.

Speaking at the National Corridors Initiative (NCI) conference on June 26, Deputy Transportation Secretary Mortimer Downey noted that DOT requested comments on March 30 on (to quote the Federal Register notice) "conditions under which high speed rail projects should be eligible for congestion mitigation and air quality (CMAQ) funding." The notice indicated that CMAQ funds already have been made available for high-speed rail improvements "within air quality nonattainment and maintenance areas," and solicited comments on whether improvements outside such areas should be allowed. The notice said, "It may be possible to realize emission reductions ... within [such areas] even if the project is located outside" them. (This was reported in our April 7 hotline).

Downey urged people to "make your voice heard on this issue." The formal deadline for comments was May 1, but comments received now may still be considered until a decision is made. Refer to FHWA Docket No. FHWA-2000-6757 and fax your comments to 202/366-3409. Comments already on the record -- including from Amtrak and Empire State Passengers Association (positive) and American Public Transportation Association (negative) -- can be viewed at the web site of DOT's Docket Management System. Click on "Search the DMS Web," and enter 6757 in the docket number field.

Comments submitted range from unabashed support for the broadening proposal, such as from Ohio Rail Development Commission Executive Director James Seney, to outright opposition, such as from Seattle Transportation Director Daryl R. Grigsby, who worried that giving this flexibility to local officials "will create the political pressure to spread this limited source of funding over even more uses."

Another NCI speaker on June 26 was American Public Transportation Association President William Millar. He said that more than 45% of Amtrak passengers use transit to get to New York Penn Station. Comparable figures elsewhere are almost 40% for Boston South Station, "over a third" for Washington Union Station, and about 10% for stand-alone bus stations. By contrast with the latter figure, 40-45% of intercity bus passengers use transit to reach the buses at intermodal terminals.

Millar said federal law allows an 80% federal match for transit projects, but the nationwide average match now is 52% -- vs. 82% for highways. Most highway programs are 80%, but some narrow categories -- like road-building on federally owned land -- gets 100%.

At NCI on June 27, Washington Post reporter Don Phillips asked Amtrak Chairman (and Wisconsin Governor) Tommy Thompson, "Are you fully satisfied with present management?" Thompson replied what he has said before -- "I think George Warrington is the best thing that's ever happened to Amtrak, the best decision the board ever made. He is my friend. He's doing an excellent job ... Anybody that tells you anything different, please have them call me right away." Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.), on hand to receive an award, said, "I think [Warrington] knows this business better than anyone I've worked with." She also said, "I make it clear to every railroad CEO that I meet with that passenger rail is a very high priority for me."

Correcting a citation in the June NARP newsletter, the big Washington Post story on transit ridership growth was April 30, not April 20.