NARP February 2001 Hotlines

#176 - February 2, 2001
#177 - February 9, 2001
#178 - February 16, 2001
#179 - February 23, 2001

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A proposed, new, Senate version of the High Speed Rail Investment Act was unveiled January 31 at a news conference in the Capitol. It would provide $12 billion in rail capital bonds over ten years -- where last year's S.1900 would have provided $10 billion. The bill is expected to be introduced next week with commitments from 51 Senators to be original co-sponsors -- compared to 22 for S.1900 when it was introduced, and 57 for S.1900 at the end of the last Congress (plus ten more who sponsored a tax bill that S.1900 was folded into in October). For a complete list, see our web site. Commitments to co-sponsor include those of Senate leaders of both parties -- Lott (R.-Miss.) and Daschle (D.-S.Dak.). Of the "target" Senators listed here last week, the following have not yet committed: Akaka (D.-Hawaii), Allen (R.-Va.), Bayh (D.-Ind.), Ensign (R.-Nev.), Fitzgerald (R.-Ill.), Lugar (R.-Ind.), Murkowski (R.-Alaska), Nelson (D.-Fla.), Nickles (R.-Okla.), Smith (R.-Ore.), Stevens (R.-Alaska), and Voinovich (R.-Ohio).

As in previous versions, bond holders would get tax credits in lieu of interest payments. The bill would require a 20% state funding match before Amtrak could sell bonds for a particular project; set a $3 billion cap on the amount any single corridor can get; and set a $1 billion cap on projects that don't involve eligible corridors (Northeast Corridor plus corridors designated under ISTEA and TEA-21). Under HSRIA, corridor designations become much more meaningful than they are now. HSRIA is the best opportunity for the federal government to provide an incentive for state investment (as highways and transit enjoy) and for serious development of intercity passenger rail nationwide.

Sen. Joseph Biden (D.-Del.) opened the news conference by noting, "We owe it to the country ... because our transportation system is already stretched to the breaking point ... High speed rail has to be part of our long-term environmental policy, part of urban planning, part of our nation's future."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.) followed, saying, in part, "We want to make Amtrak a truly national rail system. I think George Warrington is really committed to that, and I think he can do that if we give him the tools ... Some of my colleagues think this is another subsidy for Amtrak. There isn't a transportation system that isn't subsidized ... Rail is the least subsidized to the point of ridiculousness ... Air traffic congestion is at an all-time high ... It will get worse over the next 10 years ... Highway expansion is very expensive and sometimes environmentally untenable. We've got to have an intermodal transportation system that includes rail."

Also this week, Amtrak unveiled a 20-year, long-range capital plan. It is the first such plan in Amtrak's 30-year history, which has featured wide swings in capital funding. The plan covers two investment scenarios:

(1) To bring its current network to a state of good repair (eliminating deferred maintenance and modernizing its assets), Amtrak would need $973 million a year in the first five years, and $750 million a year thereafter. This is more than the current funding level of $521 million, but less than the authorized (but unappropriated level) of $989 million. "Current network" includes providing for service expansion in the phase-one National Growth Strategy announced a year ago.

(2) To accomplish the goals in (1) and to provide the resources needed to expand the network, Amtrak would need a total of about $1.55 billion a year for all 20 years. This would be less a year than the current appropriation of $521 million plus the annual $1.2 billion that could come from HSRIA. A workable scenario would be for Amtrak to continue to get appropriations for modernization of its core system *and* HSRIA money for expansion (which would require state matching funds). This would let Congress show its support for passenger rail playing a more important role in the nation's transportation mix. [Another solution would be to use some of the whopping "excess" in gasoline-tax receipts -- expected to rise from $3 billion this year to $5 billion next year.]

The Texas Eagle's weekly San Antonio-Los Angeles segment will be discontinued effective April 4. Amtrak will continue to run the Eagle daily between Chicago and San Antonio, and the Sunset Limited tri-weekly to Los Angeles. The "fourth" Eagle was added in February 1998 when both the Eagle and Sunset were tri-weekly trains (with the main Eagle route going to daily service in May 2000). That provided the most service (four times a week) west of San Antonio since before Amtrak's creation, when the Southern Pacific reduced the Sunset Limited to tri-weekly status in 1970.

On a more positive note, Amtrak and Union Pacific have agreed to end the "bi-directional" running west of Texarkana that apparently was a quid-pro-quo for daily Eagle service last year. The Eagle will resume serving Longview and Marshall in both directions starting in early March, after a track repair project near Mineola is complete.

Sandy Brown, Amtrak's highly respected Government Affairs vice president, resigned that post effective January 31. She had been vice president since February 1999, and was acting vice president for nearly a year before that. An avid outdoorsman and former stable owner and professional harness-racing driver, she long has wanted to work closer to nature. Joe McHugh, her able assistant, now is acting vice president.

Amtrak is expanding its use of cell-phone-free "quiet cars." As of February 1, Metroliners 106 and 107 each have a designated quiet car -- people wishing to use a cell phone are asked to move to another car. NortheastDirect trains 151 and 170 have had a quiet car for some time.

A collision on the Angel's Flight funicular in downtown Los Angeles killed one person and injured seven on February 1. Normally, the two counterbalanced, wooden cars move up and down Bunker Hill in opposite directions, passing each other on a midway double-track segment. The city fire chief said that the cable for one car apparently broke, sending that car crashing into the other, though the National Transportation Safety Board was still inspecting the cable.

The new version of the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA) was introduced February 6 in the Senate as S.250. This would provide $12 billion in bond revenue for passenger rail capital investment over 10 years. Passage of S.250 is vital to improvement and expansion of passenger rail in the U.S. Please ask your Senators to support this legislation (or thank them if they are already among the 51 co-sponsors). For more information about the bill, the co-sponsors, and how to contact Senators, see our web site.

A route for the proposed Texas section of the Crescent was announced this week by Amtrak. The Crescent will divide at Meridian, Miss., with a section to be called the Crescent Star continuing west on Kansas City Southern tracks to Jackson, Vicksburg, Monroe, and Shreveport. A short section of Illinois Central tracks will be used through the Jackson Amtrak station area. West of Shreveport, the train will continue on the Kansas City Southern through Greenville, Tex., and the northeastern suburbs of Dallas, where it will use smaller trackage segments owned by Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Union Pacific to reach Dallas Union Station. A somewhat shorter Shreveport-Marshall-Dallas route on the Union Pacific (used by the Texas Eagle west of Marshall) will not be used by the new train. The Crescent Star and Texas Eagle routes will cross at Jefferson, Tex., just north of Marshall.

Amtrak did not announce a start-up date, though Amtrak board member and Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith told the Dallas Morning News that an inaugural train could run in May. However, he said he was not sure daily service would start then. Amtrak and the Kansas City Southern are working to get funding for track improvements over parts of the line, and have said service could start when the funding is committed. An Amtrak inspection train will run back and forth on the route February 13-16.

The service was first announced nearly a year ago as part of Amtrak's Network Growth Strategy. Much of the service expansion outlined at that time was related to the express initiative, but the Crescent Star also adds important city-pair combinations to Amtrak's network, most notably Dallas-Atlanta. It will be the first passenger train on the Meridian-Shreveport route since 1968, and the first train on any route serving Shreveport since about 1969.

Investigations continue in a February 5 Amtrak train collision with a CSX freight train and subsequent derailment. According to the Syracuse Herald-Journal, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator said that a preliminary investigation suggested human error. The train was being driven by an engineer with a clean record who has been with Amtrak for 15 years. As eastbound Empire Corridor train 286 left Syracuse station, it appears that the train was routed behind a freight train going 7 mph because a parallel track was undergoing maintenance.

A half-mile from the station, the Amtrak train passed a signal warning of a top speed of 15 mph, though the engineer appears to have misinterpreted that as 30 mph. Finally, it appears the engineer became distracted and forgot momentarily he had both engines running, which allowed the train to reach 58 mph at one point. The engineer saw the freight train ahead and applied the emergency brake, but the Amtrak train was still going 35 mph when it hit the back of the freight train. The Amtrak train partly derailed and 61 people were injured. The engineer is on paid leave pending completion of the investigation.

Amtrak President George Warrington met with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R.) this week in Tallahassee to discuss ways that Amtrak can help the state meet its constitutional obligation to begin construction on a 120-mph, high-speed rail system by November 2003. According to a Sarasota Herald-Tribune report, Bush said he was "open-minded" about a partnership with Amtrak and that he could support use of state funds for an incremental approach to developing high-speed rail.

Nevertheless, there are still two anti-rail legislative proposals pending. One would send the question back to voters (who approved the constitutional amendment last fall). The other would seek private companies to bid on providing the service, presumably with little or no state support, even though that approach has failed in Florida (and elsewhere) in the past. Additionally, state Transportation Secretary Tom Barry said that at $169-million project to add lanes to I-4 between Lakeland and the Disney area planned to use up median space the DOT once thought could hold Tampa-Orlando high-speed rail tracks is being delayed while the state figure out what it wants to do.

A bill supported by the ColoRail passenger group, HB-1329, has been introduced in the Colorado legislature. The "Revenues for Multimodal Capital Transportation Projects" bill would approve a state referendum this November asking voters whether some of the projected state tax surplus revenues should go to rail, bus, bike, and pedestrian projects. If voters approve, $50 million would be available for those purposes in fiscal 2002 and would increase in subsequent years, totaling $1.325 billion through 2011. Without this funding, the Colorado DOT has no plans to invest in non-highway projects for at least 20 years.

The Oklahoma legislature has before it House Bill 1173, which would earmark an additional 10% of motor vehicle tax revenue for transportation. Of that, 3% ($16 million a year) would be set aside for rail, with allowable uses including grade crossing safety, maintenance and improvement to the state's rail lines, industrial spur assistance, and passenger rail expansion.

Amtrak is observing Black History Month with activities at its stations in Washington, Chicago, and Oakland. A full list is at Amtrak's web site.

More co-sponsors for S.250, the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA), are still needed. The current total is still 51 -- good prospects for additions would include these Senators: Allen (R.-Va.), Bayh (D.-Ind.), Cantwell (D.-Wash.), Lugar (R.-Ind.), Nelson (D.-Fla.). Check our web site to see if both your Senators are already co-sponsors -- if not, please urge him or her to co-sponsor. See our web site for ways to contact Senators. Early passage of HSRIA is important to expansion of passenger-train service nationwide.

The Bush Administration this week sent mixed signals that its fiscal 2002 budget proposals will include cuts for most programs -- including transportation -- in part to make room for the Administration's tax cut proposals and defense spending priorities. Earlier in the week, there were reports that aviation would be funded by $568 million less than its authorized amount -- but still an increase over 2001. It now seems that, in response to an outcry from aviation supporters over aviation "cuts," the White House has backed off on its attack on general-fund (non-firewall-protected) aviation funding.

Amtrak is particularly vulnerable because -- unlike highways and aviation -- it relies exclusively on "non-firewalled" funds. At the current level of $521 million, Amtrak is capital-starved and is seeking an increase in funding for 2002 -- i.e., its full, authorized level of $955 million. It remains to be seen what Congress will do about that.

The House of Representatives this week, with remarkable speed, revived and passed a passenger rail bill it passed in 1999 and sent over to the Senate, but which was never considered there. H.R.554, the Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act, requires the National Transportation Safety Board to provide an assistance phone number for family members of passengers involved in railroad accidents. It also requires passenger railroads to submit a plan for addressing the needs of such families, and bars solicitation of family members and injured parties by lawyers for 45 days after an accident. The lead sponsor of the bill is Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young (R.-Alaska). The bill was approved on a 404-4 vote and sent to the Senate Commerce Committee.

Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Democrat Jim Oberstar (Minn.) noted in a statement that the bill "is not in response to any inaction or any inappropriate actions by Amtrak. Indeed, Amtrak has already adopted many of the elements called for in this bill and Amtrak supports this bill that largely codifies its current practices." He added that the last Amtrak reauthorization law in 1997 foresaw the possibility of other intercity passenger railroads and so the new bill would apply to them, too.

Amtrak's Northeast Corridor timetables will change March 5, not February 26 as had been reported earlier. This will include additional weekday Acela Express service. The new information appears on Amtrak's reservations web site (but not yet for downloadable, "pdf"-format timetable grids).

Amtrak's Empire Builder was interrupted by a coal-train derailment near West Glacier, Mont., February 15. Passengers were bussed between Spokane, Wash., and either Essex or Shelby, Mont.

The Capital Area Transportation Authority of Lansing reports that its proposed commuter rail service to Detroit is in jeopardy because on-line communities are failing to provide their share of study money. Dearborn has contributed its $20,000, but Lansing, East Lansing, Howell, Ann Arbor, and Detroit have not. CATA hoped the other communities would fall in soon. The service would follow a zig-zag route using at least three railroads, and would require a major new bridge connecting two of them within Ann Arbor.

A downtown rail station for San Francisco took a step forward February 12 when the city Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to seek funding for the project. The resolution also authorizes creation of an authority to oversee construction of the new Transbay Terminal, which would tie an extended Caltrain commuter rail line into other local transit services such as BART and Muni Metro. The new authority, the Transbay Terminal Improvement Panel, also would involve the Caltrain Joint Powers Board (made up of counties) and Oakland's transit provider, AC Transit, both of which still have to approve the authority's creation. Officials are hopeful that construction can start in 2003 and finish in 2007, if funding is found.

Wisconsin's new governor, Scott McCallum (R.), will have the same transportation secretary as his predecessor, the very pro-rail Tommy Thompson (R.). Terry Mulcahy has been secretary since April 2000 and even before that, as deputy secretary, was very much involved in the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.

Sponsor count for S.250, the High Speed Rail Investment Act, remains at 51. Key Senators who ought to be sponsors are Allen (R.-Va.), Bayh (D.-Ind.), Cantwell (D.-Wash.), Lugar (R.-Ind.), and Nelson (D.-Fla.). See our web site for bill information and to see if both your Senators are already co-sponsors -- if not, please urge him or her to co-sponsor. See our web site for ways to contact Senators. Early passage of HSRIA is important to expansion of passenger-train service nationwide.

President Bush is expected to send his proposed budget for fiscal 2002 to Congress in the coming week, perhaps February 28. Very few details have been released so far, but one can reasonably expect funding to be tight overall in light of announced initiatives -- tax cuts and increased military and education spending. Of course, in the transportation sector, aviation, highways, and transit will get their guaranteed ("firewall") funding increases. Amtrak, which has received only about half of its authorized funding for the last few years and which this year got only $521 million -- less than one percent of the total $58 billion in federal budgetary resources provided to transportation -- is sorely undercapitalized. Amtrak will request $955 million for 2002 in order to prevent service deterioration and allow the effort to meet the operational self-sufficiency mandate to go forward.

The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee's annual hearing on Amtrak funding (for fiscal 2002) is tentatively scheduled for March 21.

The Boston-Portland service is delayed again. The Northern New England Passenger Authority shelved a tentative start-up date of May 1, due to failure to reach agreements on construction of platforms, stations, and a Portland layover facility (delayed by Guilford's positions on environmental liability as well as platform maintenance and where trains can lay over). Also, track work will not be done by May 1. The Authority has posted an update at their web site.

Another issue is running speed, even though the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in a 1999 ruling allows Amtrak to run at 79 mph on Guilford's 115-pound rail, provided track meets federal safety standards. Amtrak shortly plans to ask the STB to order Guilford to permit access to its tracks in order to conduct the tests called for in the STB ruling. Operation at 79 mph is needed for the new service to be competitive. Nevertheless, it is possible that service could start later this year with a top speed of 60 mph on the Guilford-owned track while the STB considers whether to order 79-mph running based on results of the tests that will be completed by then.

NBC Nightly News in the next few days may run an "In Depth" segment on Amtrak. There are signs that it will be a balanced piece with comments from critics saying that Amtrak should not keep getting "big government subsidies" and from supporters saying that passenger rail should be part of the transportation gridlock solution and that passenger rail needs (and should get) a long-term federal capital commitment.

We understand that an NBC crew recently did some filming on Amtrak's nearly empty Lake Country Limited, which began running last April between Chicago and Janesville, Wis. NARP did not lobby for this particular train and maintains that it is not typical of Amtrak operations or of public demand for modern passenger trains. Amtrak had planned for the Janesville train mainly to transfer express at Chicago with the proposed Skyline Connection to and from the east, but this connecting train has never entered service.

A possible setback for an Atlanta Multimodal Passenger Terminal occurred February 22 when the Georgia Senate passed a fiscal 2002 supplemental budget that included only $1 million for an "intercity bus terminal," not the $3.9 million requested by Governor Barnes for a terminal that would include commuter and intercity passenger trains.  A conference committee will meet over the weekend. The Chambers of Commerce will work to restore the full funding for the terminal, plus $15 million for the proposed Atlanta-Macon commuter line and $100,000 in match money for studying high-speed rail from Charlotte to Atlanta and Macon.

Oklahoma House Bill 1173, which would move about $60 million in motor vehicle registration fees from the general fund to transportation programs, was approved in committee February 21 and is ready for floor consideration. If approved, HB1173 would provide about $17 million for the state Railroad Revolving Maintenance Fund, some of which would be used for the current Fort Worth-Oklahoma City Heartland Flyer, plus a proposed extension north to Newton, Kans. There was no committee opposition to the bill.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority on February 21 launched its "MBTA Riders' Bill of Rights." Gov. Paul Cellucci and state Transportation Secretary Kevin Sullivan announced the program at South Station. Borrowing ideas from Amtrak and some other industries, the T will give riders vouchers whenever a trip is over 30 minutes late, provide a toll-free assistance telephone line, real-time web updates, and employee incentives for good service. The state has already spent $1.5 million on the effort. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has a 15-minute service guarantee for its rail services only.

The A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum of Chicago will unveil the Historic National Registry for African American railroad employees on February 23. This event, in collaboration with Amtrak, will take place in Chicago Union Station. The Registry began as a project to document as many as possible of the Pullman Porters who were members of the now defunct Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union, but now seeks to include all African Americans who worked for railroads between 1863 and 1963. Also, the Museum's traveling exhibit will appear at Union Station from today through February 23.