NARP September 2004 Hotlines

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Amtrak announced today that it is exiting the Mail and Express business, citing the lack of profit that the service brought to Amtrak’s bottom line and the delays that the service caused.  Amtrak expects on time performance to improve as a result of the elimination of this service.  About 280 employees will be displaced by the elimination of mail and express; most should be able to find work elsewhere in the company.

Service changes effective with the November 1 timetable have been released by Amtrak:

• The 180 day notification of intent to discontinue service was posted today for the Three Rivers west of Pittsburgh.  Its last trip will be March 1, 2005.   Service ends then at Youngstown, Akron, Fostoria (O.), and Nappanee (Ind.).
• Effective November 1, 2004, Three Rivers loses its sleeper and the Pennsylvanian is discontinued, leaving only one train between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh (Keystone Corridor service will be added to replace the Pennsylvanian, Philadelphia-Harrisburg).
• Effective April 24, 2005, the single New York-Pittsburgh train will run westbound slightly later than the existing Three Rivers, and eastbound roughly on the schedule of the existing weekday Pennsylvanian.  Amtrak has asked Pennsylvanian DOT to consider funding operation of a second Philadelphia-Pittsburgh frequency, as was done in the 1980’s with the original Pennsylvanian.
• Effective November 1, Palmetto is cut back to a New York-Savannah (Ga.) day train (as in the late 70’s and all of the 80’s).  Rail service ends at Waldo, Ocala, Wildwood, and Dade City (Fla.).  Those cities—plus Gainesville (home of University of Florida) will be served by a new Thruway bus, to/from Silver Star at Jacksonville and Lakeland.
• Tampa regains full service train (dining and sleeping cars) and decent train times through a re-route of the Silver Star.  With elimination of Roadrailers, Silver Star will run faster, operating New York - Raleigh - Columbia - Jacksonville - Orlando - Tampa – Miami.  For the southbound Star, that faster running will largely offset the one hour 50 minute time penalty of the run into and back from Tampa.  The northbound Star will have improved running-time Tampa-Washington but, since congestion at New York City prevents an arrival there before 7 PM, the Miami-New York running time will be slowed 107 minutes, almost exactly the time penalty imposed by Tampa.

CSX Transportation is still in the process of gaining approval to lease 200 miles of the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad passenger main line across central Virginia to the Buckingham Branch Railroad.  This week, Amtrak and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees filed separate briefs with the Surface Transportation Board expressing concern about the lease.  According to the Staunton News-Leader, “Amtrak called it a ‘formidable task’ for Buckingham Branch to operate the line well enough to maintain passenger service.” The BMWE’s concerns with the lease mainly stem from the fact that Buckingham Branch is proposing to use non-union labor and halve the number of track workers maintaining the line.

VIA Rail Canada’s on board service, ticket agent, and maintenance employees agreed to a new three year contract, ending the threat of a strike.  The contract, retroactive to January 1, 2004 provides for a wage increase of three percent the first year, four percent the second year and another three percent in the final year, said spokesman Abe Rosner. Workers will get a long-term disability plan, which will cost them nothing. Staffing levels on the trains will increase as well.

Pacific Surfliner and Regional services (in the Northeast Corridor) will be all-reserved for Thanksgiving once again this year.  Amtrak has made this decision a bit earlier than usual, based on the successes of this mode of operation the past few years and the fact that few Thanksgiving tickets are already booked, thus minimizing callbacks to passengers.  Extra train service for these corridors will be announced at a later date.

The Republican National Convention ended yesterday evening and operations at New York Penn Station were reported to be smooth for the duration of the event.  Many people heeded warnings to stay away from the area (taking vacation or simply avoiding Penn Station).  Several people reported an “eerie calmness” at the station, especially at rush hour.  The potential closure of the station during President Bush’s acceptance speech did not materialize; however, security was ramped up even further for this event.

The Texas Eagle will detour between Texarkana and Mineola, Tex . for seven trips in the month of September due to a Union Pacific tie renewal project.  The southbound Texas Eagles that leave Chicago on September 2, 3, 4, 5, 15, 16, and 17 (arriving in Texas one day later) will detour on the Cotton Belt route formerly used for directional operation of the Eagle.  Missed stops at Longview and Marshall will be covered by motorcoaches.  The northbound Eagle is not affected.

2004 is, as predicted, turning out to be one of the worst tropical weather system seasons in history.

Richmond, Va. was hit by some of the worst flooding in over a century on Monday.  The remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston slammed into the area at the height of evening rush hour.  The slow-moving storm dumped nearly 12 inches of rain in less than three hours.  Hardest hit was the Shokoe Bottom area of the city, home to the recently-refurbished Main Street Station.  A flood wall built in the late 1980’s actually served to trap water that was rushing down Broad and Main Streets and created a swath of devastation.

Amtrak service in the area was halted due to the flash flooding and, as best they could, brought to non-flooded areas to unload.  Many Amtrak trains were severely delayed or cancelled and most returned to normal operations by Tuesday.  The exception was service to Newport News which did not resume until Thursday night.  Main Street Station remains closed until further notice due to the State of Emergency in Shokoe Bottom.  While water lapped at the doors of Main Street Station (nearly eight to ten feet above street level), there are no reports of significant damage to the building.

Just when Florida Amtrak service got back to normal after damage from Hurricane Charlie, the approaching super Hurricane Frances has caused Amtrak to begin service curtailments.  The Sunset Limited is terminating in New Orleans; the last train to go all the way through to Miami was the Palmetto that left New York on Wednesday.  Tri-Rail (Miami-West Palm Beach commuter rail service) suspended operations until further notice, effective Thursday morning.

Since the storm may head for Jacksonville, CSX Transportation’s Dufford Transportation Center, responsible for the dispatching of all pre-Conrail merger CSX lines, may close.  CSX stated on Thursday that they are working on a contingency plan to shift dispatching functions to Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Baltimore.  However, if a direct hit occurs in Jacksonville, expect cancellations of Amtrak and commuter rail trains that operate on CSX lines (Cardinal/Hoosier State, Pere Marquette, all service south of Washington, Capitol Limited, Three Rivers, and Virginia Railway Express commuter operations).

For more information and updates on Amtrak’s Florida-related service cancellations, go to Amtrak’s Website and click on “Important Message for Passengers Traveling to and from Florida.” or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (872-7245) before traveling.

The Subcommittee on Transportation and Treasury of the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday approved $1.213 billion for Amtrak in fiscal 2005. This was better than many observers expected, as Amtrak had been pegged at $900 million—the Bush Administration and House committee number—just a day before the subcommittee’s action. However, though nominally a freeze at the fiscal 2004 level (which Amtrak President and CEO David L. Gunn has said would be very difficult), this is actually a cut because the bill does not include deferral of the $100 million loan that Amtrak received from U.S. DOT in 2002. For transit, the bill has $7.758 billion, $509 million more than the House committee’s bill; highways get $34.9 billion.

While the House bill could reach the floor next week, it is unclear when the Senate bill would go to full committee, and there has been talk of combining various unfinished Senate appropriations bills into a single omnibus bill. Nonetheless, final funding levels for FY 2005 may not be decided until after the election or perhaps early in calendar 2005. It is always appropriate to remind legislators of Amtrak’s need for at least $1.5 billion.

Hurricane Frances moved ever so slowly across the state of Florida over the Labor Day weekend, exacerbating the damaged caused by high winds and torrential rain. While the Auto Train remains cancelled, the Palmetto and Silver Meteor began operating as far south as Jacksonville on Wednesday. An unrelated freight train derailment fifteen miles south of Hamlet, N. Car., has caused the Silver Star to be annulled since Thursday. Amtrak has announced that some central and south Florida stations are open for one shift each day to assist passengers. Since they have very little cash and no way to get more, Amtrak has asked that all cash or check refunds please wait until conditions are more favorable. Credit card refunds are not a problem. However, double-check all Southeast travel with Amtrak -- evacuation due to Hurricane Ivan is already underway on the Keys, with eye of the storm expected to hit Florida by Monday.

The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority has presented an agreement to Pennsylvania DOT and Amtrak which will allow construction to begin on the long-proposed rail station at Harrisburg International Airport. Amtrak will be reimbursed for the $2.8 million in station, track, and catenary work needed to construct the station. The agreement is contingent on Amtrak (“or its successor”, as the agreement states) stopping trains at the station.

The September 11 Commission staff report, released to Congressional offices this week, recommends that the problem-plagued FAA “No-fly list” be expanded to include cruise ships and Amtrak. According to the Los Angeles Times, “The no-fly list has been a source of controversy because of mix-ups over similarly spelled names, incomplete or erroneous information and the bureaucracy encountered by those who try to clear their names. Such recognizable figures as Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) have been inconvenienced because a similar name was listed.”

Another quote from the Albany Time Union of August 24 echo’s these concerns, “But it hardly inspires confidence in the way government agencies and individual airlines are either tightening up security in the post-Sept. 11 era or looking out for the civil liberties of airline passengers. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, has had similar troubles boarding flights. Someone with his name is on one of these lists, too. The congressman now prefers to take the train.”

New Jersey Transit opened three new light-rail stations yesterday, extending service north from Hoboken Terminal to Weehawken. The three new stops are at Second and Ninth Streets in Hoboken, and at Lincoln Harbor east of 19th Street in Weehawken. Three more stations will open over the next year: at Port Imperial, in Weehawken; at Bergenline Avenue in Union City; and at Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen.

An unfortunate update to last week’s news about Richmond’s Main Street Station: the building has been condemned and there is no estimate for restoration of service. The devastation in the Shokoe Bottom area, observed first hand by NARP Assistant Director David Johnson on board Amtrak Regional train #83 last Friday night, is truly overwhelming. The last of the damaged signals, at Amtrak Junction, was returned to service Tuesday night, so Newport News service is operating nearly on schedule. NARP understands that Main Street Station will be repaired and reopen.

CSX derailed a freight train east of Utica, N.Y., on September 4. Several trains were cancelled, including the Lake Shore Limited and Maple Leaf. For this upcoming weekend (Sept. 10-13), the following trains have been cancelled to facilitate CSX signal replacement work: September 9, 10, and 13, trains #281 and #284; September 11 and 12, trains #287 and #284; September 14, train #284.

Discontinued Train By Any Name: Two notes on Amtrak’s plans for Chicago-East Coast service as reported in last week’s hotline. First, Amtrak does plan to offer Business Class on the Three Rivers once the sleeping car is removed. Second, since the longer-term plan is to eliminate the Three Rivers and continue one New York-Pittsburgh train called the Pennsylvanian, Amtrak is dropping the Three Rivers name on November 1. The surviving New York-Pittsburgh-Chicago train will be called Pennsylvanian even though it runs on roughly the existing Three Rivers schedule. Again, our press release on this subject can be read in our news release section.

An op ed column September 4 that explodes the myth of highway users paying full costs. The column, “Driving Takes Its Toll,” is by Owen D. Gutfreund, a Barnard College professor and author of “20th-Century Sprawl: Highways and the Reshaping of the American Landscape.” A key paragraph: “There is a mistaken notion that American drivers pay for their roads through gas taxes. Actually, even though states collect gas taxes and a modest federal levy was imposed to pay part of the Interstate expenses, the total of these charges never amounted to more than one-third of highway costs. Such taxes, adjusted for inflation, have actually decreased, and efforts to increase them are politically risky, even though each 1-cent rise in the gas tax costs the average driver less than $8 a year. In practice, our roads and highways have been underwritten by general taxation. With gas taxes and tolls capped by effective lobbying, this annual subsidy has grown, amounting to billions of dollars annually.”

The New York Times on Sept. 6 ran a big report on recent Greyhound cutbacks, dateline Ritzville, Washington, “one of 269 stops in 17 states throughout the West and Midwest that Greyhound dropped over the summer.” Jefferson Bus Lines has picked up 60 stops, “but not all of Greyhound’s old stops will be picked up by smaller companies.” Greyhound boardings peaked at 25.4 million in 2000 and have declined by over 3 million since. “In 2002 and 2003 combined, the company said, it lost nearly $140 million…The elimination of many rural stops is the first phase in what will become a nationwide restructuring of Greyhound routes over the next two to three years, [Greyhound Spokeswoman Kim] Plaskett said.” Greyhound Pres. Stephen E. Gorman said the federal program for rural bus service covers only 50% of net operating costs: “What is needed is either a federal program that fully covers losses or a state match that makes up the difference.”

Amtrak will launch a new version of its website, www.amtrak.com early Sunday morning. The new wesbite's improved features will include an easier booking process, ability to cancel bookings made online, station information currently only available from a reservation or ticket agent, and improved information on accommodations. Due to the update, www.amtrak.com and the ARROW reservation system will not be available on Sunday morning from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. This also means that Julie, Amtrak's automated service on its toll-free number, will not work as well.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved without change the fiscal 2005 transportation funding bill its subcommittee passed on September 9. The bill has $1.22 billion for Amtrak, although no deferral of the requirement to repay the $100 million DOT loan.  There is no timeline for floor action in the Senate, so calls to your Senators asking that the $1.22 billion be increased on the floor of the Senate are still relevant.

On September 15, the House approved a transportation/treasury bill with no funding for highways, transit, Amtrak, the Surface Transportation Board, or the Office of Motor Carrier Safety. In fact, only seven of 46 transportation line items did get funded.

This unusual product resulted from a point of order raised by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R.-Colo.) against any program that is not authorized. Amtrak has run without an authorization for almost two years; highways and transit for almost one year. Subcommittee Chairman Ernest Istook Jr. (R.-Okla.) accepted the point of order without asking for a vote.

Also relevant is long standing tension between authorization and appropriations committees.  Earlier, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Rep. Don Young (R-Alak.) succeeded in striking Oklahoma projects from the bill.  He also deleted bad Amtrak language that would have required Amtrak to submit its budget request through the DOT’s normal budget request process (see our August newsletter lead story).  Unfortunately, Young’s helpfulness is moot at least for now with all Amtrak funding deleted from the bill.

Legislators will return from their long Rosh Hashanah weekend next Tuesday to vote on the bill.  Passage without further change is likely, with transportation funding likely to be restored in a House-Senate conference committee.  Whether this helps or hurts Amtrak is unclear.

Tancredo (R-Colo.) was the lead man on most of the points of order.  Later in the day, he issued a savage anti-Amtrak press release calling Amtrak, among other things, "Scamtrak." NARP countered with its own press release sent today to Colorado media outlets.

A strong, pro-Amtrak AP wire story was released on Tuesday night, warning of the consequences of a $900 million funding level.  To quote the article, “‘At this level, there should be no surprise next spring when Amtrak must curtail services,’ said Rep. John Olver, (D-Mass). The administration, said Rep. James McGovern, another Massachusetts Democrat, was engaged in the ‘the continued conscious and deliberate underfunding of Amtrak.’”

US Airways entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday for the second time since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  The filing has put the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (the body formed by Congress after the attacks to provide stabilization loans to the airlines) in an odd position: they may have to decide whether or not to force a Chapter 7 (liquidation) filing.  US Airways received $900 million (ironically, the size of the Administration’s proposed Amtrak subsidy) from the board in 2003 and now is in default on this amount.

To recoup their monies, the loan board has the right to claim the cash, planes, airport gates and flight routes of US Airways.  A September 15 New York Times article sums it up well, “For the board to be put in such a situation shows the guarantee program was ‘not a good idea,’ said Gerald A. Grinstein, chief executive of Delta Air Lines. "We'd be better off if the government had not gotten into the business."  A side note: Grinstein was president of the Burlington Northern Railroad from 1989 to 1995 and oversaw the merger with Santa Fe Railroad.

NARP continues to work to save the Three Rivers .  Our website now features a Three Rivers “Action Alert” page with downloadable/printable flyer.

The gridlock facing America’s freight railroads (and thus Amtrak trains) was highlighted in a Wednesday article in Financial Times entitled, “US Rail Industry Warns of Long-Term Gridlock.”  According to the article, “The US rail system is under unprecedented strain. While demand for freight services is at record highs, there has been little construction of new rail facilities because the rail companies have concentrated on making existing tracks profitable in recent years...‘Everyone who’s involved needs to be aware that if we continue to grow at the pace we’ve seen, we’ll be in gridlock,’ said Fred Green, executive vice-president of operations and marketing at Canadian Pacific Railway.  ‘The trend is not good,’ said Mike Scherm, director of logistics for BP Solvay, a Houston-based polyethylene business. He said it took longer for his company to shift goods to customers than it did in 1995.”

At the risk of this news hotline getting sponsorship from the National Hurricane Center, yet another storm has wreaked havoc on the rail infrastructure of the southeast.  Hurricane Ivan came ashore late Wednesday night near Mobile, Ala.  The Sunset Limited, which has not run east of New Orleans in about two weeks, was cut further back to San Antonio as a precaution due to projected landfall of Ivan in New Orleans.  Amtrak also evacuated all equipment in the below sea level New Orleans Terminal area.  Instead of running the equipment empty northbound on the City of New Orleans, Amtrak opened the entire 23 car train (City of New Orleans equipment, a set of Crescent equipment, and assorted spare cars) to the public for sale and evacuated nearly 700 people from New Orleans.  This effort by Amtrak, the Orleans Levee District (which delayed closing the last gate in the floodwall system until the City’s departure), and Canadian National Railroad generated good press for Amtrak.

The City of New Orleans has returned to normal operation as of today.  Due to heavy damage in the Mobile area, there is no estimate for restoration of Sunset Limited service east of New Orleans.  The Crescent is also cancelled through Saturday due to damage in Alabama.  A decision on trips operating after Sunday is pending.

As if Ivan, Charlie, and Frances were not enough, Tropical Storm Jeanne is now threatening Florida.  And the National Hurricane Center already is reporting on Tropical Storm Karl, also headed for the southeast!  Expect rail service cancellations or modifications early next week to service to/from Florida.  Check with Amtrak before you travel.

There are some corrections that we are excited to report.  Last week here, we said that Main Street Station in Richmond, Va. had been condemned and that there was no estimate for restoration.  After repairs, the building was approved for occupancy early this week and trains began stopping there once again.  Congratulations to the City of Richmond for getting the station reopened so quickly.

Beginning this week and continuing for about four weeks, Amtrak has begun to load schedule changes that will take effect on November 1 into its computer system.  While this process is being completed, some connections that have been and will continue to be valid may temporarily appear as unavailable.  The programming will proceed in this order: Chicago Hub, long distance trains, Northeast Corridor, western corridor, and finally California Thruway motorcoach service.  NARP has received reassurances from Amtrak that no connections in Chicago that exist currently are being eliminated.  (But the last sleeping cars to head east will be Lake Shore Limited at 7:35 PM, not the much later train via Pittsburgh, which loses its sleeping car.)  Changes to the Florida service will result in some broken connections in New York City and Washington; NARP has expressed its concern to Amtrak about this.

Amtrak and the San Diego Trolley have teamed up to get passengers to San Diego Chargers games this season.  For Chargers home games on September 19; October 3, 10, and 31; November 7; December 5 and 12; and January 2, Amtrak ticket receipts to San Diego Old Town station (trains 564, 566, and 768 only) may be used to make the cross-platform transfer to the San Diego trolley for transportation to Jack Murphy Stadium at no charge.  For the return trip, Amtrak tickets from Old Town to points north of San Diego (trains 785, 587, and 591 only) will be honored on the trolley.  Please note that you must purchase a round trip ticket to get complementary transportation on the San Diego Trolley and that there are no Amtrak ticketing facilities at the Old Town station.