NARP October 2001 Hotlines

#211 - October 5, 2001
#212 - October 12, 2001
#213 - October 19, 2001
#214 - October 26, 2001

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The Senate debated whether to begin debating an aviation security bill (S.1447) this week, and enhancements to passenger rail security featured prominently. At the request of 16 Senators, Amtrak last month assembled a list of near-term security, safety, and capacity enhancements. Amtrak offered a package that now totals $3.2 billion, which was expected to be the basis for a proposed Biden-Durbin amendment to the bill. However, the Senate did not actually get to the bill. The Senate is expected to return to the bill on October 9.

Several Senators spoke in favor of improving passenger-rail security and said that waiting for "some other time" was not good enough now. Those taking the Senate floor in favor of including rail in S.1447 were Biden (D.-Del.), Torricelli (D.-N.J.), Kerry (D.-Mass.), Durbin (D.-Ill.), Clinton (D.-N.Y.), Carper (D.-Del.), and Corzine (D.-N.J.). Other Senators favored adoption of a clean bill, while suggesting a rail security bill could be done later. Of course, there are not many legislative days left in this year's session.

Please contact your Members of Congress and urge them to act this year on both the near-term passenger-rail security/capacity issues, and on the High Speed Rail Investment Act. Click here for ways to contact them. Because some legislators are upset with Senator Biden's efforts, please begin with a general statement -- equally valid next year -- that our economy is fragile partly because it has relied so heavily on aviation, and has neglected passenger rail. Passenger rail development is an important part of the answer.

The Senate Commerce Committee on October 2 held a hearing on surface transportation security. Part of the discussion was about the Amtrak security/capacity enhancement package (see above). Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.), one of the 16 Senators who requested the package, criticized the amount of the security and capacity package that would go to the Northeast Corridor, which has Amtrak's highest concentration of infrastructure and traffic. Amtrak President George Warrington responded that he is "a very strong supporter of the national system. This entire package was focused around dealing with a critical need [arising from] the tragedy that occurred on September 11. It is not intended to indicate any lack of concern regarding the national system."

Warrington said Amtrak could use 27 more sleeping cars than it has today just to meet demand through Thanksgiving. Partly in response to Hutchison's remarks at the hearing, Amtrak revised its request to include Amtrak's first proposal in recent years to acquire new long-distance equipment (Viewliner and Superliner sleepers; single-level diners). The package still has funds for new train sets for use in corridors outside the Northeast. However, in a floor statement October 4, Hutchison said she still did not support "extraneous" amendments, like Biden-Durbin, to the aviation security bill.

A couple of Senators at the hearing suggested Amtrak should check every bag of every passenger. Warrington said the security and aid package calls for additional police officers and dogs, but that the entire intermodal public transportation network has been designed to be an open system. Citing the passenger volumes at New York Penn Station, he said checking every bag would not be practical. Indeed, except for the English Channel trains, other world railways are open, but have "various degrees of ad hoc and spot checking." Amtrak has been invited to participate in a transit-industry security task force.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Railroads Subcommittee held a hearing the same day, October 2, on H.R.2950, the rail bond/loan bill introduced September 25. Subcommittee Chairman Jack Quinn (R.-N.Y.), James Oberstar (D.-Minn.), and Earl Bluemenauer (D.-Ore.) all spoke favorably about passing both H.R.2950 and H.R.2329, the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA). Oberstar, a lead sponsor of HSRIA, noted that HSRIA's tax credits are more attractive to states and H.R.2950's tax-exempt bonds (which states already have the right to issue, in any event), and said that the tax-exempt-bond approach "shifts all the burden on the states. We need a national program, not a state-by-state approach."

One witness, North Carolina Deputy Transportation Secretary David King, expressed concern about the higher state burden implied by H.R.2950. He added that bill language requiring removal of all grade crossings and running at 125 mph or more also was a problem for states. Another witness, Mayor Scott King of Gary, Ind., offered a specific calculation of how much more tax-exempt bonds (H.R.2950) would cost states than would the tax credits (HSRIA). Based on a $1-billion issue, he estimated annual state debt service at $78 million with tax-exempt bonds, but only $16 million with tax credits.

Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Federal Railroad Administrator Allan Rutter rode an Amtrak Acela Express to Philadelphia on October 1 to attend the annual meeting of the American Public Transportation Association. Mineta told reporters upon arrival at 30th St. Station that "We don't want a cookie-cutter approach to all modes of transportation," when asked if railroad passengers should be subjected to the same sort of security checks as airline passengers. He said that protecting rail infrastructure and control systems "are greater problems than whether or not we should put metal detectors at the trains stations prior to passengers boarding trains." But he also said that metal detectors will be part of the discussion as officials review Amtrak's security funding request.

Amtrak will eliminate on-board ticket sales on the Northeast Corridor effective October 8. All passengers will need to have a ticket before they board any Northeast Corridor train on the "main spine" of the corridor -- Washington to Boston, including those stations and all those in between, even stations that are unstaffed and/or don't have ticket machines. This will not apply to Intercity trains or segments of the Northeast Corridor off the "main spine" (like the Harrisburg, Springfield, Empire, Newport News lines), where passengers may buy tickets on-board if they show the conductor photo identification. NARP strongly argued against making this a requirement nationwide.

Newark International Airport station will open October 21. Tickets showing that destination will include the $5 Port Authority monorail charge; otherwise, there will be a ticket machine at the station for the monorail. Amtrak trains that will stop there are indicated in the Northeast Corridor timetable that took effect September 30 (the original opening date for the new airport station).

Union Pacific track work and freight derailments wreaked havoc with Amtrak's Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle earlier in the week. The two derailments were in Arizona, and coupled with various speed restrictions, caused one eastbound Sunset to be terminated at New Orleans, with some passengers flown to Orlando. Track work resulted in passengers being detoured by bus between Fort Worth and San Antonio, and this will last through October 9.

Canadian Pacific track work will force replacement busing of the Adirondack north of Albany, October 10-12.

Union Pacific bridge work will force replacement busing of Capitol Corridor trains and the Coast Starlight between Oakland and San Jose, October 27-November 9. (UP is allowing Coast Starlight, but not its passengers, to use an alternate route). During that time, Altamont Commuter Express trains will not run between Fremont and San Jose.

Amtrak passengers passing through Niles, Mich., on September 29 got a surprise treat, as the Four Flags Garden Club provided refreshments -- as they have for 27 years -- as part of the town's annual Apple Festival. Apples, cookies, and cider were available in the station; volunteers gave conductors bags of apples to give out on board the train.

A planned Amtrak special train to Augusta, Ga., may not happen after all. Mayor Bob Young has been lobbying Amtrak for train service and Thruway bus service, and had worked with Amtrak on a special trip around November 9 to draw attention to that effort. CSX denied the request, saying that since the September 11 crisis, no passenger specials were allowed on routes without regular passenger service. Young was hopeful Thruway talks could lead to a connection to Columbia, S.C., within a few more weeks.

Senators Joseph Biden (D.-Del.) and John McCain (R.-Ariz.) reached agreement on a $1.8-billion safety/security package for Amtrak, 56% of the package Amtrak developed last month in response to a request from 16 Senators. This includes all of the money for the New York, Baltimore, and Washington tunnel upgrades. A colloquy on this came yesterday during Senate consideration of the aviation security bill. Biden agreed not to press further to get Amtrak money in that bill, which the Senate subsequently passed 100-0. The Senate Commerce Committee agreed to mark up the Amtrak security bill next week, but McCain also agreed he would not object to an appropriation for the $1.8 billion even if the Senate did not pass an authorization.

Two members of the Commerce Committee -- ranking Republican John McCain (Ariz.) and Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee ranking Republican Gordon Smith (R.-Ore.) -- introduced a bill, S.1528, on October 10, to authorize funding for two parts of the Amtrak security funding. The McCain bill would authorize two items in Amtrak's $3.2-billion package -- $998 million for fire- and life-safety work in Amtrak tunnels in New York, Baltimore, and Washington; and $515 million for nationwide security items, for a total of $1.513 billion. The bill would require the Secretary of Transportation to approve plans for specific, authorized purposes before releasing the funding to Amtrak. S.1528 has been referred to the Commerce Committee. Both items in this bill are likely to be part of the $1.8-billion agreement mentioned above.

Another Senate rail bill, S.1530, was introduced October 11 by Commerce Chairman Ernest Hollings (D.-S.C.) and nine others. RAIL-21, the "Railroad Advancement and Infrastructure Law of the 21st Century," would end the operational self-sufficiency mandate imposed on Amtrak by the last authorizing law in 1997 and authorize $1.2 billion in capital and operating funding for fiscal 2003. It authorizes Amtrak's full request of $3.2 billion for near-term security and capacity enhancements -- thus partly overlapping with the McCain bill -- and specifies that at least 25% of any new equipment acquired with that funding be made available to corridors outside the Northeast Corridor. It authorizes $35 billion in loans and loan guarantees to railroads, similar to a section of H.R.2950 in the House, and authorizes $350 million in capital grants for short-line railroads. Finally, it reauthorizes the Swift High Speed Rail Act at $50 million a year for 2002 through 2004, with half for corridor planning and rolling stock acquisition (with preference to already designated corridors) and half to research and development for technology and security. S.1530 also has been referred to the Commerce Committee.

Neither new bill provides for capital investment for new corridors, so it is still important that the High Speed Rail Investment Act (S.250/H.R.2329) be passed in some for so that America will have more passenger rail service beyond the immediate near-term. As Senator Hollings said on October 11, "When we adjourned last year, we had everybody running around -- Republican, Democrat, leader and plebeians like myself -- saying: Oh, the first thing we are going to do next year, the first thing we are going to do is take up Amtrak. It is now October."

One vehicle for that might be an economic stimulus package. Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid (D.-Nev.), Commerce Chairman Hollings, Environment and Public Works Chairman James Jeffords (I.-Vt.), and Banking Chairman Paul Sarbanes (D.-Md.) wrote President Bush on October 9 to say any such package should include the $3.2 billion for Amtrak security/capacity needs and $12 billion for high-speed rail development over ten years (similar to HSRIA), among other things. "These investments will make our economy stronger and more secure for many years to come," they wrote.

New York Gov. George Pataki (R.) this week announced the deployment of "hundreds" of National Guard troops to help security efforts at transportation facilities in New York City, including Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal. The week before, he ordered deployment of 300 troops to the city's two airports, LaGuardia and Kennedy. Governors in many other states also have done this for their airports.

The U.S. Postal Service told state officials in New York this week that it would suspend its activities relating to the project to open an intercity passenger rail terminal in the Farley Post Office in Manhattan. An agreement had been reached in 1999 between the USPS, city, state, federal government, Amtrak, and private developers. But since the attacks of September 11, operations had to be shifted from the damaged Church Street Station in lower Manhattan to Farley, which is across Eighth Ave. from Penn Station (and above part of Penn's platforms). It is not clear how long a delay is involved, but the USPS said it would continue discussions with the other parties.

The next general timetable change for the Northeast Corridor and the rest of the Amtrak system will likely be December 9 -- not with the October 28 change to standard time. However, the schedule of the Texas Eagle is planned to change on October 28.  This is due to a degradation of track conditions in Missouri that require slower travel, and to reflect that the southbound train runs against the flow of freight rains in northeast Texas. For part of 2000 and 2001, that train used an awkward, alternate routing that missed two stops.

As for the changes, the southbound train will add 2:45 hours to its running time, almost all between St. Louis and Fort Worth -- including an additional 58 minutes just between Longview and Dallas. It will still leave Chicago at 3:30 pm, but arrive at San Antonio at 11:45 pm. The northbound train will add 1:10 hours to its overall running time, leaving San Antonio a half-hour later (7:30 am) and arriving Chicago at 2:20 pm -- thus breaking the connection with the Empire Builder in both directions. All of the increase is between Fort Worth and St. Louis, including an additional 45 minutes north of Little Rock.

An Empire Builder detour in North Dakota will result from track work near the Devils Lake area, October 15-20. Burlington Northern Santa Fe will raise the tracks adjacent to the lake, whose waters have been rising and menacing the rail line in recent years. Missed stops at Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Rugby will have a replacement bus.

Some Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawathas will experience some disruption beginning November 6, due to a bridge repair project. Trains 331 and 334 will be annulled on select Tuesdays for a couple of months; consult Amtrak if you are planning to travel on these two trains on a Tuesday.

The National Park Service has released an Environmental Assessment of whether to allow the Union Pacific to proceed with a 22-mile second track in the Mojave Desert in California. That is a precondition for restoration of Amtrak service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, which has been delayed while the Park Service studied the track's impact on the local habitat of desert tortoises. A final decision will come after a 30-day public comment period and a related report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Public comments to the Park Service are due November 9 and may be sent to Superintendent, Mojave National Preserve, 222 E. Main St., Suite 202, Barstow, CA 92311.

Two weeks ago, we reported that the Sunset Limited will begin serving Maricopa, Ariz., with the eastbound train passing there October 28. The plan now is for the trains that originate in Orlando and Los Angeles on October 28 to begin serving Maricopa. We also reported that bus connections to Phoenix would be shifted to Maricopa from Tucson. This is not the case. Even though Maricopa will be staffed, the bus connections will be discontinued, and the staffed Amtrak office at Phoenix will be closed. This represents a further, ultimate degradation in service to Phoenix. Although Maricopa is much closer to Phoenix than Tucson -- 30 vs. 117 miles -- Maricopa's lack of public transportation makes it useless to arriving passengers who are not being met by someone. For such passengers, the longer bus ride from Tucson at least served to get them where they were headed.

The British government has placed that country's privately held railroad infrastructure company, Railtrack, under public control through a court-appointed administrator. Railtrack had asked the government to cover a $3 billion shortfall stemming from the need to upgrade infrastructure after several serious accidents; but the government refused. Railtrack is likely to be restructured into a new, private company that has no stockholders, but that reinvests any proceeds into itself. Directors may be chosen by the regulatory body, the Strategic Rail Authority. Government investment in infrastructure, and payments by private rail operators, will continue. The British experiment of placing rail infrastructure into private hands was unique among European countries that have pursued various levels of privatization (or agency separation) in the last ten years.

The NARP Board of Directors will be meeting in Dallas, October 18-20. Every attempt will be made to post the next hotline (#213) at its usual time, Friday, October 19, at 5:00 pm (Eastern). But a delay may be possible, so we ask our readers to be patient if the hotline is posted a little late.

Maine Gov. Angus King announced that regular Boston-Portland service will begin Saturday, December 15. On December 14, an invitation-only inaugural special will run from Boston to Portland. Amtrak said it will run four round-trips per day, with Boston-Portland fares of $21 one-way and $35 round-trip.

Track owner Guilford Transportation Industries is still arguing with Amtrak over whether the top speed will be 60 or 79 mph. Tests on the rails to determine desirable track speed have been conducted and the results are due this week.

Demand for Amtrak sleeping-car services continues well above seasonal norms, with routine sell-outs on many long-distance trains, including the Capitol Limited and Cardinal. This may be due in part to diversion of business air travel to Amtrak. On the other hand, ridership currently is nearly flat (compared with a year ago) on many short-distance routes outside the Northeast Corridor, apparently reflecting the nationwide downturn in travel.

On October 17, the Senate Commerce Committee approved S.1550, the Rail Security Act of 2001. The bill is sponsored by Chairman Hollings (D.-S.C.) and Ranking Member McCain (R.-Ariz.) and embodies the $1.77 billion deal that Joseph Biden (D.-Del.) and McCain discussed on the Senate floor October 11 (Congressional Record pages S10526-7, available on-line). This bill covers mostly the same ground as S.1528 and some of the ground in S.1530, both discussed here last week.

At the October 17 committee meeting, Hollings and McCain resisted 19 amendments that were offered. There was an angry exchange between McCain and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.), who was upset at McCain's role in cutting from Amtrak's request most of the benefits to services outside the Northeast. As Biden has said on the Senate floor October 11, McCain "is all for safety but not so much for Amtrak."

The bill could come to the floor as early as October 25, but if broad agreement cannot be reached on amendments, the next step might instead be a Commerce Committee hearing on the amendments the week of October 29.

Among the Senators' amendments were -- Dorgan (D.-N.Dak.) and Kerry (D.-Mass.) to repeal the operational self-sufficiency requirement (another Senator proposed postponing it by a year); Hutchison to add $241 million to fix equipment used outside the Northeast Corridor; Boxer (D.-Cal.) to impose a $1.50 tax on each Amtrak ticket to pay for additional security; Cleland (D.-Ga.) to augment security for intercity buses (Atlanta was the destination of the recent Greyhound bus that was "hijacked" with fatal results); Fitzgerald (R.-Ill.) to study railroad freight-train movement of hazardous materials through Chicago.

Senators and Representatives need to hear strong support for the largest package possible, including money for new rolling stock, as well as for enactment this year of the High Speed Rail Investment Act. Click here for ways to contact your legislators.

The NARP Board of Directors is meeting in Dallas. The new Federal Railroad Administrator, Allan Rutter, spoke today. Earlier came Joy Smith, Amtrak's Southwestern Business Group General Manager. She said the Texas Eagle is performing well in terms of ridership and revenue, despite ongoing lateness problems. She also said Amtrak is working on ways to connect Phoenix with the new station in Maricopa, where Sunset Limited service begins October 28.

The National Park Service's Environmental Assessment of the track improvement project aimed at restoring Los Angeles-Las Vegas Amtrak service (mentioned in our last hotline) is available on-line. Passenger rail advocates are encouraged to comment positively on the project by writing to the Park Service before November 9.

Ottawa's Bayview-Greenboro diesel-light-rail service, the O-Train, began service October 15, free until January 1. OC Transpo says, "The pilot project is the first step toward city-wide light rail transit." There are 20-minute headways seven days a week. Click here for schedules and other information.

Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette was scheduled to meet today with U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta "to discuss transportation issues of mutual interest arising from the attacks of September 11."

VIA Rail Canada and GO Transit, the commuter-rail provider in the Toronto region, have agreed to an arrangement to honor each other's tickets between stations that both systems serve. This will begin October 28.

The legislative timetable reported in last week's hotline has slipped. The earliest Amtrak's $1.77 billion safety/security package could be on the Senate floor is Tuesday, October 30.

At John McCain's (R.-Ariz.) insistence, the bill passed by the Senate Commerce Committee (S.1550, Rail Security Act of 2001) had nothing for capacity -- just safety and security. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.) is expected to offer an amendment that would provide money for returning to service outside the Northeast Corridor a number of cars that have been sidelined in recent years, either by redirecting some of the money already in the bill, or by adding funds to the bill.

Meanwhile, on November 1, the Senate Commerce Committee may hold a hearing on Senator Hollings' more expansive "RAIL-21" bill (S.1530, October 12 hotline).

Regarding the immediate floor action, Senators need to hear support for both the overall bill (S.1550, Rail Security Act of 2001) and the Hutchison "capacity" amendment. Tell your U.S. Representative you are following Senate action with interest and expect the House to be supportive when the measure gets to conference.

In addition, urge that more be done for passenger rail before Congress adjourns for the year -- enactment of the High Speed Rail Investment Act (probably as part of the "stimulus" package) -- is the absolute minimum. Enactment of RAIL-21 is what we really need.

Managers of five agencies in California that provide passenger rail service (Caltrans and Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority for intercity corridors; and the three agencies responsible for Coaster, Caltrain, and Metrolink) submitted testimony to the Amtrak Reform Council after cancellation of the ARC's September 20 Los Angeles hearing. Here are some quotations:

"It is the collective position of these passenger rail providers that it is in both the national and regional interest to preserve, improve and expand the national passenger rail system. Each of the above listed entities maintains contracts with Amtrak, and we believe these contractual arrangements are mutually beneficial, both to our respective organizations as well as to the traveling public.

"We must convey our disappointment that the most recent ARC Report failed to recognize growth in passenger rail ridership in the West in general, and in California in particular. Additionally, little, if any mention was made of the potential for continued growth of these present and planned services, nor of the opportunity for interconnectivity between our regional, commuter and state supported passenger rail services with Amtrak's long-distance inter-city services ...

"... Currently, the 3.6 million Amtrak intercity passengers carried in California generate nearly 400,000,000 passenger miles annually. The regional rail and commuter rail services provided by Amtrak under contract to local California authorities represent almost 600,000,000 passenger miles in California, for a total of nearly one billion annual passenger miles ...

"Certainly a state, and/or local commitment of funding (capital and operating) is an element of the California success (and successes elsewhere). However, we believe that the ARC's work needs to include the policy, organizational and managerial elements in existence at these various locations, so that they can be evaluated for possible application elsewhere in conjunction with provision of Amtrak services ...

"California's massive investment in passenger rail has been made with a reliance upon the continued existence and viability of Amtrak. The continuity of this investment in facilities and in Amtrak operations is essential for effective passenger rail transportation management in California."

Navi-Hopi Tours, a bus company that has provided Thruway connections with Amtrak for many years in Arizona, has ceased operations. To reach the Grand Canyon, the remaining option is the Southwest Chief's relatively new stop at Williams Junction and a free shuttle between the Amtrak station and the Grand Canyon Railway's station in Williams.

Amtrak's October 28 timetable shows the Kentucky Cardinal as coach only but in fact the sleeper will resume service on this run.