NARP July 2001 Hotlines

#198 - July 6, 2001
#199 - July 13, 2001
#200 - July 20, 2001
#201 - July 27, 2001

Back to Hotline Archive index page

The Surface Transportation Board ruled on Boston-Portland passenger rail service on June 29. Guilford must allow Amtrak to test Guilford's track to determine whether 79-mph operation is safe on the parts of the line owned by Guilford (in New Hampshire and Maine). The STB rejected Guilford's assertion that such testing would be "unreasonably burdensome and disruptive." A Guilford official told Foster's Daily Democrat, "We disagree with [the] decision, but we'll follow the mandate of the STB and the law they laid down." Test equipment located in Colorado will take two weeks to reach Maine. The newspaper reported that the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority hopes the service can start in October, but an earlier start is possible.

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta was appointed to the Amtrak board June 29 by President Bush. He fills a vacancy left by former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater in January. But Mineta could not be appointed while Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson was on the board, since the law forbids more than one federal employee on the Amtrak board. Thompson was also the board's chairman; no chairman has been selected yet and Thompson's board slot remains vacant.

As reported previously, Northeast Direct schedules change July 9 with the addition of Acela Express service -- up to five each weekday each way Boston-New York (three on weekends) and six each weekday Washington-New York (two weekends). All other Boston trains (via Providence) convert to all-electric, Acela Regional operation, except Twilight Shoreliner. In its first five-plus months of service (December 11-June 1), Acela Express earned $15.3 million in ticket revenue from 130,486 passengers. The only northbound trip that ran during that entire period is the 5:00 am departure from Washington, which was meant to allow a single train set to make a Boston round trip in one day and to familiarize crews with the equipment before dealing with heavy loads.

The Capitol Limited schedule also changes, with the removal of stops at Elkhart and Hammond-Whiting, Ind. NARP has expressed concern about this to Amtrak and asked the reason for such an action that, on its face, is not passenger-friendly.

An incident on Amtrak's eastbound Southwest Chief at Lamy, N.Mex., July 2, sent 12 people to the hospital with non-critical injuries. The train was backing out of the station at about 5 mph to allow the westbound Chief to enter, when it braked abruptly. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that a conductor announced that the emergency brakes had engaged. Amtrak and the NTSB are investigating.

There is now an Amtrak California Rail Pass, which allows seven days of travel in any 21-day period.  Also, there are Northern and Southern California pass options allowing five days of travel in any seven-day period.  These passes are accepted on Thruway buses but generally not long-distance trains in California.  The California pass is different from the Florida Rail Pass announced May 10, which allows Florida residents unlimited travel for a year, including unreserved travel on otherwise-all-reserved trains.

A June 20 derailment of a New Jersey Transit commuter train at Garfield, N.J., may have been caused by a garbage truck, according to the June 22 Bergen Record. A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board told the paper that a flatbed truck that was loading a trash bin may have hit the nearby tracks and misaligned them. Another possibility was that of a sun kink in the rails, but NJT said there had not been extreme heat in the days before the accident.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority on June 28 approved development of a 9.1-mile branch of the Blue Line light rail from downtown to Venice and Robertson Blvds. near Culver City, with a commitment to study extension to the ocean in Santa Monica. The line would use mostly old rail right-of-way, with the first segment (to Exposition Park) to open in 2007.

Former NARP Region 8 director William B. (Bill) Weeks, 76, of Seattle, Wash., died at home on June 18. He was a director from 1996 to 2000. He fell ill while on a Trans-Siberian rail tour, which he had to cut short, and died soon after arriving home.

Georgia Governor Barnes has proposed an accelerated transportation plan, with nearly $10 billion, most of it new funding, going to roads and transit over five years. It got general praise from environmental groups, although nearly $6 billion of it will go to highway expansion and HOV lanes. (Some efforts to halt certain highway projects will continue.)  Rail and bus service would get a total of $4 billion. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) would begin four-times-daily commuter bus service from Macon to Atlanta this fall, with other points added later. GRTA also said it would "commence intense communications" with Norfolk Southern for Atlanta-Macon commuter service, which once was to have begun in 2004.  Now the goal is for part of it (Atlanta-Griffin) to start in 2006. An Atlanta-Cobb County light-rail line would get $2.8 billion.

An Amtrak "Monster Mile" special train will run from New York to Dover, Del., on September 23, for the second time this summer (the first was June 3). The round-trip train is available for sale now (trains 935/936). A shuttle bus will be provided from the train to the race track. Connections are available at Wilmington to corridor points southwest of there.

Amtrak Texas Eagle passengers at San Marcos, Tex., began using a new intermodal station July 1. The station, on S. Guadalupe (2 blocks from old site) was opened May 15 by Capital Area Rural Transportation System for Greyhound service. Local transit will begin serving it July 16.

The Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday approved a Senate version of H.R.2299, the fiscal 2002 transportation funding bill. This came a few hours after the Transportation Subcommittee, chaired by Patty Murray (D.-Wash.), approved the bill. Like the bill the House approved June 26, the Senate bill includes $521 million for Amtrak capital, scored at 100% (all available at the start of the year). The Senate bill also restores Penn Station/Farley money cut out by the House bill.

There are now 137 sponsors of the House version of the High Speed Rail Investment Act, H.R.2329, with the addition this week of Eshoo (D.-Cal.), Davis (D.-Cal.), Foley (R.-Fla.), Putnam (R.-Fla.), Barr (R.-Ga.), Manzullo (R.-Ill.), Bonior (D.-Mich.), Walsh (R.-N.Y.). Click here for the full list.

The Senate Democratic caucus on July 10 made committee assignments allowed by a Senate resolution approved June 29, in the wake of the shift of majority status last month. The Democrats generally added one person to each committee. Potential subcommittee assignments have not been made yet. The most important change from this week was the appointment of James Jeffords (I.-Vt.) as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees highway and other TEA-21 issues. Additionally, Nelson (D.-Fla.) was added to Commerce (which authorizes rail programs) and Akaka (D.-Hawaii) was added to Banking (which has transit authorization responsibility). Also, Reed (D.-R.I.) was added to Appropriations, Corzine (D.-N.J.) to Budget, and Jeffords to Finance (tax and bond issues, including the High Speed Rail Investment Act).

The Cardinal has been disrupted by flooding caused by heavy storms in West Virginia on July 8. Most of the damage to the CSX main lie was between Hinton and Montgomery, W.Va. The train is annulled at least through July 14/15, depending on how quickly damage can be repaired. An extra coach and sleeper is running on the Capitol Limited instead, but there is no alternate transportation to intermediate Cardinal points (except the regular Thruway bus west of Cincinnati and Kentucky Cardinal west of Indianapolis). Passengers affected by this can cancel or change tickets without the normal penalties.

During the same period, a CSX derailment at Martinsburg, W.Va., July 10, forced an unusual detour for the Capitol Limited west from Washington -- Manassas-Front Royal-Shepherdstown-Hagerstown-Cherry Run.

Two grade crossing accidents last weekend failed to derail Amtrak trains, but both caused damage and disruption. On July 7, a northbound Pacific Surfliner traveling over 80 mph hit a truck-trailer that got caught on a crossing at Leucadia, Cal., south of Oceanside, causing minor injuries to some passengers and one occupant of a nearby automobile. The busy San Diego line was tied up for over three hours. In Albuquerque on July 8, the westbound Southwest Chief struck an automobile, killing three occupants and delaying the train by about seven hours. A sheriff's investigator said the car appeared to go around the lowered crossing gates, and that beer bottles were found in the wreckage.

An update on the status of Los Angeles-Las Vegas Amtrak service appeared in the July 11 Las Vegas Sun. Currently, the earliest start-up date is September 2002. The delay still involves environmental clearances that track-owner Union Pacific is working to get from the National Park Service in order to build a 20-mile, $28-million double-track segment in the Mojave National Preserve. There is also a biological assessment sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in May, whose review still has about two months to go. The Park Service will release its environmental assessment for public comment within a month. If that leads to issue of a permit, 11 months of construction will be needed.

Washington DOT has released its "East-West Passenger Rail Feasibility Study: A Preliminary Analysis," looking at service between Seattle and Spokane. Because of funding cuts, a study looking at all possible routes was cut down to a "limited feasibility study" for just one -- the Stampede Pass route via Yakima and Pasco, which currently does not have passenger service. The report found that a daylight service was operationally feasible, but that $350 million in infrastructure improvements are needed. That level of funding would also provide benefits to freight service and additional passenger-train frequencies. More study is needed to see if the service is feasible from an operating finances point-of-view.

Delta Air Lines will discontinue its shuttle service between Boston and Washington Reagan/National on September 1. It has operated the route since 1999 with Boeing 737-800's but another carrier, Atlantic Coast, will step in with four flights a day using 32-seat jets. US Airways still runs 15 flights a day on the route and carries more than three times as many passengers as Delta.

The Senate today began work on S.1178, fiscal 2002 transportation appropriations, and plans to finish July 23, in the afternoon. Besides the $521.5 million for Amtrak that we reported last week, S.1178 includes $40 million for high-speed rail development -- much more than the $25.1 million proposed by the Bush Administration and the House (in H.R.2299). Also, there is a new section, "National Rail Development and Rehabilitation," that has $5 million for an Amtrak station at Milwaukee airport.

A July 17 Washington Post story cited an Amtrak plan to cut management ranks by 15% and reconsolidate the operations of the three geographic business units to a single chief operating officer in Washington. This would be an attempt to stay on the course to meeting the Congressional operational self-sufficiency mandate, by cutting costs without reducing train service. It has never been clear that a company Amtrak's size needed four (and now five, with the new Mail and Express unit) different presidents, with attendant administrative duplication. Amtrak has already eliminated some of the duplication with regard to operations and marketing.

However, the article added that union positions, and thus some train service, might be considered for reduction later. Amtrak President George Warrington told the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee on June 28 that "only uncontrollable events which we cannot possibly foresee today" would pose a bankruptcy risk with the appropriation level provided in S.1178. While this does not rule out the possibility that service cuts would be considered, it would be difficult for Warrington to reconcile such cuts with his testimony.

The General Accounting Office on July 17 released a report on S.250, the Senate version of the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA), at the request of seven Senate Republicans, all long-time Amtrak critics -- Allard (Colo.), Bennett (Utah), Bond (Mo.), Gramm (Tex.), McCain (Ariz.), Shelby (Ala.), Smith (N.H.). The report says direct appropriations would be somewhat cheaper than HSRIA's bonding approach, but fails to explain how direct appropriations are not politically feasible. That's because highway and aviation trust funds have been "firewalled", and remaining transportation spending capped to a point where it's hard to fund even Amtrak's "limp-along" level. HSRIA is currently the only option to fund rail growth that can help congestion on other modes.

The GAO report also reports an Amtrak "preliminary estimate" that "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." That spin fails in two important ways. First, every stage of a rail investment program can be designed to benefit passengers, even if an entire program is not completed. Second, $50 billion over 20 years sounds like a lot, but is less than twice what the federal government alone will spend on highways this year ($31.4 billion). The single-year federal price tag for aviation spending ($12.0 billion) is also impressive; fully 20% of the 20-year total hypothesized for passenger rail.

H.R.2329, the House's High Speed Rail Investment Act, picked up nine more sponsors this week for a total of 146 -- Sanders (I.-Vt.), McDermott (D-Wash.), Jefferson (D.-La.), Chambliss (R.-Ga.), McIntyre (D.-N.C.), Weiner (D.-N.Y.), Honda (D.-Cal.), Engel (D.-N.Y.), Meehan (D.-Mass.).

The Senate Commerce Committee on July 17 approved the nomination of Allen Rutter to be Federal Railroad Administrator, and the full Senate voted its approval July 19. The Committee also named John Breaux (D.-La.) the new chairman of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee. The full Senate approved Jenna Dorn as Federal Transit Administrator on July 12.

The Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on July 25 will hold a hearing entitled, "Current Status and Future Prospects of Amtrak and High Speed Rail." See their web site for information on live audio web feed.

The Florida Department of Transportation has denied a funding request for $6.5 million to get the Florida East Coast/Amtrak passenger project started. A target date of fall 2002 is now put off until early 2003, pending getting the funding later on.

A memorial garden dedicated to the late John R. Martin, President of NARP, will be dedicated at the Amtrak station in Atlanta on July 23, at 10:00 am. Among those speaking will be NARP President Alan Yorker, Amtrak Intercity President Ed Walker, and members of the Martin family.

The Cardinal resumed service with trains operating July 17/18. Service had been suspended after severe flooding in West Virginia July 8.

With the July 9 Capitol Limited schedule change, Amtrak has instituted a new connection option for passengers on the eastbound Southwest Chief. If the Chief is under two hours late, the Capitol will hold at Chicago; but if the Chief is between two and five hours late, passengers with sleeping car space on the Capitol (or coach space to places not served by other trains, like Cumberland) will be given the choice of getting off the train at Kansas City and being flown at Amtrak's expense to Chicago to make their connection. Though not ideal, this should reduce costly "misconnects" from the Capitol to the Silver Star.

Today is the opening of the Portland Streetcar, a 2.5-mile route in downtown Portland, Ore. Free rides are offered all weekend. The new line intersects Tri-Met's MAX light rail line and uses new, low-floor streetcars built by Skoda in the Czech Republic. The new MAX branch to the airport opens September 10.

A derailment in CSX's Howard St. tunnel in Baltimore July 18 caused a fire and toxic smoke. That and a water main break paralyzed much of downtown, with police banning pedestrians and vehicles within five blocks. Despite the nearness of Penn Station to the tunnel's north portal, Amtrak train operations were not impacted -- but a fiber optics line failure in the tunnel affected Amtrak service on the Washington-Cumberland CSX line. Also, some internet service was slowed because of cable damage. MARC Camden Line service was cut back to Dorsey, with substitute buses. Metro service (below the CSX tunnel) was interrupted only an hour that day. The light-rail line, which runs on Howard St., was cut between North Ave. and Patapsco, with substitute buses.

A "Rare Mileage" promotion is being offered by the Texas Eagle product line and Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization, to take advantage of a weekday-only reroute for the northbound train this summer in Illinois. The Springfield-Chicago coach fare is $45 (or $45 plus the best fare from an origin station further south to Springfield), which gets you several items, including 1000 Amtrak Guest Rewards bonus points. The tickets must be bought through the Texarkana station agent; see the Texas Eagle web site for details. The term "rare mileage" means travel over a freight line that normally does not have passenger service.

During the quadrennial National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill, Va. (southeast of Fredericksburg), over 3000 Boy Scouts, parents, and adult leaders will enroll in a Railroading Merit Badge. This program had been discontinued two years ago, but is being brought back by a new organization, Rail Awareness for Youth, Inc., of Texas, to instruct youth on today's rail industry and career options. The handbook for this program, last updated nearly 50 years ago, is also being redone. Altogether, 40,000 Scouts will attend the Jamboree, which runs from July 23 through August 1. There is also a Railroad Pavilion being underwritten by Norfolk Southern, CSX, BNSF, and Amtrak, with representatives of several publications and agencies staffing it.

The Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing July 25 on Amtrak's financial situation and the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA), which now has 163 House sponsors (17 more than reported here a week ago; click here for the full list).

Most subcommittee members expressed support for Amtrak and rail. Chairman Jack Quinn (R.-N.Y.) said, "I'm an unabashed supporter of Amtrak. In Congress, we have the responsibility to more completely define the role of rail. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you get what you pay for." There was some opposition -- John Mica (R.-Fla.) said, "It's time to sober up and look at options to dismantle Amtrak." He said that "the private sector can build high-speed rail" -- even though such efforts (including in his home state) have failed -- yet later he said that if high-speed rail "needs $100 billion, then let's stand behind that in Congress."

DOT Inspector General Ken Mead and JayEtta Hecker of the General Accounting Office both agreed that Amtrak is underfunded, and had concerns about its ability to meet the operational self-sufficiency mandate. Mead said, "The Committee should focus not just on the mandate but also on how to fund capital." Hecker claimed that the benefits of rail projects have been overestimated "all too often."  She said high-speed rail would "cost a lot" -- also true for other modes -- but assumed that all proposed corridors would be built within a set period of time. David King of the North Carolina DOT later countered that if the interstate highways were built incrementally over time, so can high-speed rail. King also said many changes could be made to HSRIA, but it was most important to get moving on it, no matter what happens to Amtrak. Gil Carmichael of the Amtrak Reform Council spoke of a rail bond scenario very different from the one in HSRIA, but his written statement acknowledged it would have limited appeal to states.

Amtrak President George Warrington spoke of the conflicted mission of Amtrak -- to act as a commercial enterprise (meeting the operational self-sufficiency mandate), but also as a national, public service (without adequate funding to accomplish that). He said Amtrak does its best under that set-up and is making progress toward meeting the mandate, but that the set-up "will always cause problems. It means internal cross-subsidies and unmet depreciation. We cannot make a profit in the classic sense [under this set-up]." He asked Congress to decide what Amtrak should be and then fund it accordingly, noting his personal opinion that it is important to have a national network.

Among the remaining witnesses was NARP Executive Director Ross Capon, who expressed support for early action on HSRIA, and talked about the importance of all parts of the Amtrak system, including long-distance trains. Click here to see his complete testimony, which noted substantial ridership growth in California, New York, North Carolina and the Pacific Northwest. Statements of other witnesses are on the committee web site.

The Senate debated the fiscal 2002 transportation appropriations bill (S.1178/H.R.2299) all through the week, and might not finish until July 30.

Amtrak announced today some details about efficiency measures it plans to implement October 1. This includes consolidation of management of the business units under a new Executive Vice President of Operations, who will be Stan Bagley, now Northeast Corridor President. Also, all 2,900 management employees will be offered voluntary separation and early retirement packages, which will reduce management ranks by an undetermined number.

A rough coupling of an express car on July 22 sent 17 people on Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited to the hospital. The outbound train was stopped in the yards south of Chicago Union Station at the time, and was delayed three hours.

The Texas Eagle has been delayed from two-to-four hours by about 22 miles of slow orders (some for 10 mph) suddenly imposed on Union Pacific track between St. Louis and Poplar Bluff, Mo., July 13. UP deployed a track gang on July 23 in an effort to get the Eagle back to normal.

Similarly, slow orders -- again, some as low as 10 mph -- were imposed suddenly on UP track, mostly between Sacramento and Martinez, Calif., on July 16, wreaking havoc on the Capitol Corridor. UP quickly dispatched track gangs and the line was back to normal by July 23. Capitol Corridor management will ask the Federal Railroad Administration and the California Public Utilities Commission -- the agencies that imposed the slow orders -- to inspect the line more often so a smaller number of less severe problems can be identified and addressed, avoiding major disruptions like last week's.

The New York-Montreal Adirondack was similarly annulled briefly midweek due to slow orders on Canadian Pacific north of Albany.

The City of New Orleans was detoured from Jackson to Hattiesburg and New Orleans most of the week due to a freight derailment beside Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana.

Amtrak's "30th Anniversary" 30% discount has been extended for sale through September 23 and travel through September 30 (but not Labor Day weekend). Some restrictions apply; ask an Amtrak agent for details.

In preparation for the extension of the Kentucky Cardinal into Louisville this fall, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony August 2, 10:30 am, at Union Station. Speakers include Amtrak Intercity President Ed Walker and Louisville Mayor David L. Armstrong.

Amtrak will tighten some reservations "hold limits," effective July 31. Passengers booking one day before departure must now pay for the ticket (whether by providing a credit card number in advance, or in person at a station) by midnight the day of the booking. That means waiting until arrival at the station the day of departure, is no longer an option. The more liberal, current policy still applies to Metroliner and Acela Express.