NARP May 2001 Hotlines

#189 - May 4, 2001
#190 - May 11, 2001
#191 - May 18, 2001
#192 - May 25, 2001

Back to Hotline Archive index page

More co-sponsors for S.250, the High Speed Rail Investment Act, are needed -- particularly Carnahan (D.-Mo.), Lugar (R.-Ind.), Murkowski (R.-Alaska). In light of a commitment by Harkin (D.-Ia.) to con-sponsor, there would remain only three Senate Democrats not already on the bill -- Bingaman (N.Mex.), Baucus (Mont.), Carnahan. Please continue to tell our two senators and your representative of the importance of the High Speed Rail Investment Act and the Bush 2002 appropriation request for Amtrak. See our web site for a complete list of bill sponsors and ways to reach legislators.

Additional service was added on the Capitol Corridor April 29. The San Jose-Oakland segment had four daily Amtrak trains; two more weekend trains have been added. The Oakland-Sacramento segment went from seven to nine daily trains.

Also April 29, Springfield-New Haven service was cut. Previously, Amtrak had seven southbound and eight northbound trips a day, about evenly split between through-trains to/from Washington and shuttles to/from New Haven. Now, there are five a day in each direction, plus a weekday-only train; a greater proportion are through-trains.

Union Pacific has renewed threats to abandon 76 miles of track west of Phoenix, the route of Amtrak's Sunset Limited until 1996. Amtrak vacated the line when former owner Southern Pacific downgraded it. Abandonment would be a big setback to chances of returning meaningful intercity passenger rail service to Arizona's largest city and capital. A May 2 Arizona Republic article outlined a stalemate by which Arizona DOT expects Amtrak to contribute toward the $25 million or so needed to reactivate the line; and Amtrak says it doesn't have the money. The Southwest Rail Corridor Coalition, a joint effort of the Arizona Rail Passenger Association, NARP, and others, is working to convince the state of the urgency of protecting this line. The coalition says state preservation today is a bargain compared to trying to rebuild it years from now when Arizona finally realizes it needs to be connected to California's expanding rail network.

Amtrak has formally announced a "Bikes-on-Board" partnership with the East Coast Greenway Alliance, a non-profit organization working to establish a network of trails from Maine to Florida. A near-term focus for the partnership is coordination of services and marketing related to carriage of unboxed bikes on trains in the Northeast; with a long-term goal of much greater expansion. Three Northeastern trains (Vermonter, Ethan Allen, Adirondack) already had this service; a fourth (Twilight Shoreliner) was added April 29. Click here for a complete list of Amtrak trains with this service. An event to publicize all four Northeastern services will be held at New York Penn Station on May 5, upon arrival of the northbound Vermonter. An advisory committee has been formed that includes the two host organizations, plus the League of American Bicyclists; Adventure Cycling Association, U.S. Department of Transportation, Pennsylvania Center for Travel, Tourism, and Film; and NARP.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta appeared before the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee on April 25, and before the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee on April 26. The chairman of the Senate subcommittee, Richard Shelby (R.-Ala.), generally praised the Bush transportation budget as "honest," but made clear that "Congress is not interested" in yet another proposal of new taxes ($77 million) for rail safety inspections. Shelby called Amtrak "a guaranteed loser, not a viable business." He attacked the idea, advanced by "rail panacea advocates" (his words), that Amtrak is relevant to air congestion. He said airlines in 20 days carry about twice Amtrak's annual ridership. This ignores the fact that rail could make a big difference on the margin (especially on air-competitive rail routes), absorbing a big percentage of new travelers that might otherwise fly.

The rising waters of Devils Lake are threatening Amtrak Empire Builder and Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight service to Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Rugby, N.Dak. BNSF told a task force on April 30 that it would like its rails to be four feet above water level -- yet it is less than that west of the city of Devils Lake. One option is to raise the track bed, which BNSF says it can't afford to do. Another -- controversial with Canada -- is to create an outlet for the lake, which has been rising for several years. BNSF said that absent a solution, the line could close in six months.

The Empire Builder remains out of service between St. Paul and Chicago, due to high water and slow orders along the Mississippi River. Service could resume mid-month; buses are being used until then.

An operating agreement between Florida East Coast Railway and Amtrak was announced May 3. However, before the first passenger service to East Coast communities since 1968 can begin, funding commitments and some infrastructure work need to be done. Amtrak said one section of a Silver train could operate over the line between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach about a year from now, and a second one three or four years from now. The trains would be sections of existing New York-Florida trains, which would split at Jacksonville.

NBC Nightly News, as part of its "Fleecing of America" series, on May 2 ran an almost totally negative hatchet-job on Amtrak. The only passenger interviewed was the sole rider on the Chicago-Janesville train a few months ago. Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain (R.-Ariz.) was shown, calling Amtrak "an endless siphoning of taxpayer dollars to subsidize a relatively few number of Americans." The full text -- and a chance to rate the segment -- is at the NBC web site. We recommend sending brief, positive messages.

Some NARP members read about Amtrak's 25% discount on individual rail fares through June 15, and then were told -- incorrectly -- by Amtrak agents that the discount either doesn't exist or that the customer must provide a discount code number. Should you face the same problem, the discount's official name is "Individual Traveler Spring Discount Offer," and the code number is H134. You must reserve 14 days before traveling and purchase within three days of reserving.

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta told a rail meeting May 10 that he expected Amtrak Chairman Tommy Thompson to step down soon from that post, "after many years of excellent service." Thompson is a former Wisconsin governor and now Secretary of Health and Human Services. Mineta told the National Corridors Initiative's "Making Multimodalism Work" conference in Washington that he expects to join the Amtrak board soon, perhaps within a week. Mineta added that Amtrak finances "do not look good at all ... On the other hand, we can't afford too have Amtrak go down, so it's going to require all of you to work hard." Mineta said he learned from Capitol Hill visits that some Senators took great pride in killing the High Speed Rail Investment Act last year. He said that when Amtrak doesn't get needed capital improvement, it hemorrhages on the operating side.

Mineta's prepared remarks to the NARP Board of Directors, April 27 in Washington, are now available on the DOT Public Affairs office web site.

Florida legislators have sent a bill, HB489, to Gov. Jeb Bush (R.) that for the first time gets the state's high-speed rail efforts past the planning stage. The bill is an attempt to show a good-faith effort at complying with the constitutional amendment approved by voters last fall. That amendment requires the state to begin construction of a high-speed rail system by November 2003 that would ultimately link Florida's five largest urban areas, traveling at least 120 mph. The High Speed Rail Authority Act provides $4.5 million for first-year funding for a high-speed rail authority and preliminary engineering and environmental assessment work. The first segment will be Tampa-Orlando (airport). A report is due January 1, 2002.

Construction would still require legislative approval under the bill, which passed the Senate May 8 (38-1) and the House May 3 (97-14). Under the bill, the authority would have nine members, three (each) appointed by the governor, the House speaker, and Senate president. Three is hope that Doc Dockery, whose personal efforts made the constitutional amendment possible, will be appointed. The Florida Times-Union said the governor was expected to sign the bill, but it had not been received at his office as of May 11.

The Capitol Corridor continues to enjoy record growth in ridership. April's ridership was 95,856, 37% above April 2000; both months had the same service levels. The corridor's 12-month ridership was 988,000. That figure is expected to surpass one million sometime in early June.

The Empire Builder resumed service over its entire route between St. Paul and Chicago today. Some delay is still possible, to the extent there are still lingering slow orders along the river between St. Paul and La Crosse. Amtrak has had to use substitute buses since April 13 due to flooding on the upper Mississippi River.

Due to a major tack work program, Amtrak will temporarily truncate the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans for a period of one week in mid-summer. Three trips in each direction will be affected -- train 2 that leaves Los Angeles June 29, July 1, July 4; train 1 that would have left Orlando July 1, 3, 5. People with reservations are being contacted and the space is blocked in the reservations system. No alternate transportation east of New Orleans will be provided. The track work is on CSX between New Orleans and Pensacola.

Amtrak had been planning to truncate the Sunset Limited at San Antonio for those three trips and not provide service to Houston and New Orleans. NARP urged Amtrak to continue running to New Orleans during that week, which will now be the case.

As is well known, Amtrak's operating-finance situation is very tight for fiscal 2001, which ends September 30 (a little more than five months from now). In order to achieve its ambitious business plan targets -- and stay in operation -- Amtrak has looked for ways to increase revenues and cut costs wherever possible. Many ideas have been proposed within Amtrak, though not all of them will get carried out. Nevertheless, some individual ideas make it into the "rumor mill" and are spread about as fact. One such idea-turned-rumor this week was that Amtrak would ban coach passengers from long-distance-train dining cars as a way to cut down on staff and inventory. This is being considered -- along with perhaps hundreds of other ideas -- but, in fact, nothing has been decided and this particular change is not imminent.

MetroLink opened a 17.4-mile extension in Illinois of its light-rail line from downtown East St. Louis to Belleville Area College, on May 5. Seven new stations were opened. Part of the line is built on abandoned CSX railroad right-of-way (once part of Louisville & Nashville's route from St. Louis to Evansville, Ind.). An extension northeast from Belleville Area College to Shiloh-Scott station is expected to open in spring 2003; with further extension east to MidAmerica Airport proposed.

The Valley Transportation Agency will open an extension of San Jose's Tasman East light-rail line on May 18, from Baypointe (N. 1st St.) to I-880 (1.9 miles).

During Senate Finance Committee consideration of the tax-cut bill this week, Robert Torricelli (D.-N.J.) filed an amendment that was a new version of the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA). Though the committee did not consider this amendment, its existence is helpful because it eases two key concerns of some members. The new bill makes clear that no new Highway Trust Fund money will go to passenger rail as a result of the bill, and eliminates any "federal preemption" of state and local property taxation rights. (Railroads are unlikely to agree to pay increased property taxes due to HSRIA-funded improvements, but that issue now probably will be covered in project-specific agreements negotiated with the railroads.)

Though the "Torricelli substitute" does not yet have a bill number, it already has 22 co-sponsors, including Max Baucus (D.-Mont.), the ranking Finance member, and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D.-S.Dak.). The others are Allen, Boxer, Carper, Chafee, Clinton, Corzine, Dayton, Dodd, Durbin, Kennedy, Kerry, Leahy, Mikulski, Murray, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Schumer, Specter, Torricelli, Warner.

NAPR wrote to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, a member of President Bush's National Energy Policy Development Group, noting that "better train service is not about sacrifice. It conserves energy while giving travelers more choices." Click here for the full text. Similarly, "the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and its 1,400 member organizations [yesterday] called on President Bush and congressional leaders to support public transportation as part of a comprehensive energy policy" (APTA release).

President Bush released his energy policy proposals this week. The main thrust of the report is to increase the amount of energy available to meet a growing national demand, with suppressing that demand to meet supply (whether called "conservation" or "energy efficiency") a secondary concern. However, the report directs its authors (the aforementioned Group, chaired by Vice President Dick Cheney) to "review and make recommendations on using the nation's energy resources more efficiently." It also recommends a tax credit for owners of fuel-efficient automobiles, such as hybrids that sometimes run on gasoline and sometimes on brake-generated electricity.

The report says "transit ridership has increased 21% since 1996," and "conservation can be improved by car pooling, telecommuting, increasing public transit choices, and pricing highway use during periods of peak demands" (both quotes on page 65). However, despite passenger rail's superior energy efficiency compared to other modes (on the basis of energy consumed per passenger mile), the policy makes no recommendations regarding passenger rail. Given proposals for tax credits for use of fuel-efficient vehicles, perhaps users of passenger trains should qualify as well. Click here for the full text.

Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, will hold a long promised "Amtrak oversight" hearing on May 22, 9:30 am. Highly critical of passenger trains in general, and Amtrak in particular, McCain has called for a "national debate" on whether the U.S. needs passenger trains. Witnesses are expected to include Amtrak President George D. Warrington, DOT Inspector General Ken Mead, and representatives of the General Accounting Office and Amtrak Reform Council. Hearing topics will include the General Accounting Office's views on the High Speed Rail Investment Act and recent Amtrak Reform Council recommendations.

Amtrak President George Warrington will appear before the National Press Club at a May 24 luncheon meeting in Washington. His remarks, "Getting America Moving Again -- Solutions for our National Transportation Crisis," will be broadcast live on National Public Radio and filmed for later broadcast on the C-SPAN cable television network.

As we reported last week, Amtrak Chairman Tommy Thompson announced he would resign from the Amtrak board. This is effective May 23. It opens the way for Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to join the board, filling the slot formerly occupied by former Secretary Rodney Slater. It also creates a vacancy (Thompson's). Passenger rail supporters don't come more energetic and well informed than Thompson, and his contributions will be missed.

Amtrak began selling a Florida Rail Pass on May 10. It allows Florida residents to use any Amtrak train in Florida (plus Orlando-Tampa-Fort Myers buses) at any time, without a reservation. (This means standee status on those relatively rare occasions when no seats are available.) It is good for a year and sells for $199 ($249 after August 10). Also, Amtrak has a 30th Anniversary fare (G/PRO/ANV), 30% off regular, full adult fares, May 22-August 31. Purchase by June 15. Several restrictions, black-outs apply. This promotion (like the recent 25% individual fare) is not available on Amtrak's web site.

An additional weekend Pacific Surfliner frequency will begin running May 25. It will run Friday, Saturday, Sunday only between San Diego and Los Angeles, making the 12th round-trip there on those days.

The High Speed Ground Transportation Association had its annual spring conference in Milwaukee this week ("Advocacy for Intercity Passenger Rail"). It got a fair amount of coverage in the local paper, and there was a public tour yesterday of a rebuilt RTL-III turbo train, designed for 125-mph Empire Corridor service. The turbo train was rebuilt by Super Steel Products Corporation (of Schenectady and Milwaukee). Super Steel and its partner Siemens Transportation Systems, is behind one of the two remaining proposals for Midwestern high-speed train sets still being considered -- the other proposal is from Talgo. The pending proposals are for the first 13 sets of an eventual fleet of 52 sets, plus maintenance bases in St. Louis, Pontiac, Mich., and Milwaukee or Madison, Wis. A consortium of officials from Amtrak, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan are expected to choose between the two proposals. Ultimately, all progress in this area depends on passage of the High Speed Rail Investment Act, to provide a federal match for state investment in Midwestern corridors/long-distance routes.

When Sen. James M. Jeffords becomes an Independent, the Senate will have 50 Democrats and 49 Republicans. Democrats will take control. Jeffords said he would change his voter registration after Congress finishes work on the tax-cut bill -- not before June 5. Except for a special agreement making Jeffords himself the chairman of Environment and Public Works, it is likely that the new chairmen will be Democrats who are now ranking committee and subcommittee members. Key for us -- Patty Murray (Wash.) replacing Richard Shelby (Ala.) as Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee chair; Ernest Hollings (S.C.) replacing John McCain (Ariz.) as Commerce chair.

The Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Amtrak scheduled for May 22 was postponed (less than an hour before it was to start), possibly to the week of June 4, because so many floor votes on the tax-cut bill were "stacked up" for that morning. Congress will not be in session next week.

On the Senate floor on May 21, soon-to-be Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus (D.-Mont.) offered and then withdrew Amendment #676, identical to what Senator Torricelli (D.-N.J.) offered in the Finance Committee last week. In other words, the amendment was the High Speed Rail Investment Act with two key changes made to satisfy Baucus and others. Baucus withdrew the amendment because he said it was not germane, but on May 23 on the Senate floor he said he "would like to hold a hearing within a month after the completion of this tax [-cut] package." The amendment makes clear that no new Highway Trust Fund money will go to passenger rail as a result of the bill, and eliminates any "federal preemption" of state and local property taxation rights.

Also May 23, on the Senate floor, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D.-Del.), said, "I am grateful that [Baucus] is not only willing to sign on to this amendment ... but he is committed to helping us move this legislation through the Finance Committee and on to the floor as soon as we can." In a further floor colloquy on May 23, Biden thanked Baucus for his support of the new version of the bill, while Baucus committed having a hearing on it in about a month.

Amtrak President George Warrington gave a luncheon speech at the National Press Club on May 24. He said we need closure on three questions -- What should the national intercity passenger rail system be?; Should it cover costs through cross-subsidies, direct support, or other means?; How much capital are we willing to provide? The Washington Post reported, "Amtrak cannot meet conflicting goals of providing national passenger service and breaking even financially, [Warrington said]. He appealed to political leaders to resolve, at last, whether Amtrak's public or private responsibilities come first. 'You cannot meet a mandate to run a national network and operate in a true, profitable, commercial sense.'" National Public Radio webcasted his talk (some NPR stations broadcast it); see their archive.

The start-up date of the Meridian-Dallas section of the Crescent (or Crescent Star) is delayed until at least early 2002. Eleven employees who were hired to work on the new train have been temporarily laid off. Amtrak Board Member and Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith told the Meridian Star newspaper on May 19 that the delay stems from the need to get a loan approval. Amtrak and host railroad Kansas City Southern have a loan application pending before the Federal Railroad Administration under the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program (RRIF). KCS will allow the new service to begin once loan approval is gotten (i.e., before the improvements to be paid for by the loan money are actually made).

The RRIF program was created by TEA-21 in 1998. FRA's final rules for the program took effect last September, but no loans had been approved as of an April 25 House hearing on the subject. At that time, one loan (to I&M Rail Link) was in "final stages of review." Mayor Smith told the paper that the process had been delayed by pending presidential appointments -- for example, we understand that a confirmation hearing for Federal Railroad Administrator nominee Allan Rutter will be June 6.

The Washington Metro board last week approved testing a car-sharing program for its users. Under a one-year trial starting in the fall, Metro users who pre-register and pay a fee will be able to reserve and rent a car to go places beyond Metro's reach. Other car-sharing programs exist in Boston, Chicago, and Portland, Ore., but Metro's will be the first program set up by a transit system.

The one-week interruption in Sunset Limited service east of New Orleans (reported here earlier, covering roughly the first few days in July) results from a massive track work project. Such projects -- closing down a railroad (or a highway) for several days of intensive work, rather than stretching out the work over several weeks or months "under traffic" -- are becoming more common. CSX will assign 600 people from 7:00 am July 2 to 10:00 am July 6, mostly in a zone from near Bay St. Louis, Miss., to Grand Bay, Ala. (just west of Mobile), working in 12-hour shifts, to install 120,000 ties, rebuild 50 road crossings, lay five miles of new rail (in various places), and work on 25 bridges. Some work will take place as far west as New Orleans and as far east as Montgomery.

The eastbound Empire Builder (not westbound) will detour certain days between St. Paul and La Crosse, missing stops at Red Wing and Winona, Minn., due to track work on the Canadian Pacific. The dates are Monday-Thursday, the weeks of May 21, May 29, June 4. The detour should cause a delay of about an hour each trip.

Capitol Corridor passengers can take advantage of a new "Transit Transfer" program. This allows a passenger to ask an Amtrak conductor for a Transit Transfer, which is a two-part, validated coupon (one part for use on an immediate connection, and one to be used with validation date for a return trip to the train). The transfer is good for a free ride on Sacramento RTD buses and light rail trains, and a free ride on AC Transit (Oakland/East Bay) buses. Also available on board the train (in the Club/Cafe car) are BART tickets sold at a discount (a $5 BART ticket for $4).

The Sacramento City Council approved a compromise plan May 22, proposed by Mayor Heather Fargo, to retain the historic Southern Pacific station as an Amtrak station, but move the track area 500 feet back (north) from the station. Amtrak and Union Pacific support moving the tracks -- Amtrak says it will improve operations and UP wants to develop 37 acres that would be freed up. An enclosed area in the resulting gap between the station and tracks (where the platforms are today) could be used for buses and light rail. There is no schedule for the project.