NARP December 2004 Hotlines

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Congress returns next week to try to pass intelligence reform legislation, and to pass the $822 billion “omnibus” funding bill for fiscal 2005 that includes Amtrak.  Much of the government currently is operating under a continuing resolution that expires December 8.

The controversial provision allowing appropriations chairmen access to individual taxpayer returns was on the front page of the Washington Post again today, with a report that Richard Efford took responsibility for inserting that language that has sometimes been called the “Istook provision.”  Efford is a long-time staff-person with the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation (now Transportation/Treasury).  The language has put Subcommittee Chairman Ernest Istook (R-OK) in a sea of controversy.  The Post reported, “But a reconstruction of what happened suggests less a sinister conspiracy than problems arising from the legislative practices of the present Congress, in which sleep-deprived staffers often take on much of the burden of writing major bills under deadline pressure, and legislation drafted in secret is rushed through both chambers before lawmakers, let alone the general public, have a chance for review.”

Tommy Thompson, the former Amtrak Board member and former Governor of Wisconsin, resigned as Secretary of Health and Human Services today.  There has been some speculation that Thompson might succeed Norman Y. Mineta as Secretary of Transportation.  However, the San Francisco Chronicle on November 20 reported that Mineta’s “friends and supporters say he has recovered fully [from health problems] and is ready to continue running” DOT.  The Chronicle also said “Thompson, who had been interested in Mineta's job four years ago, is seen as a possible successor -- an idea backed by an editorial this month in Thompson's hometown paper, the Madison (Wis.) Capital Times.”

Newspaper editorials in the wake of the Department of Transportation Inspector General’s report have been generally pro-Amtrak.  Many have pointed out the “starvation” effect that inadequate funding has had on Amtrak and several also noted the importance of Amtrak’s national network trains to rural areas.  Some papers were a mixed bag: not completely anti-Amtrak but anti-national network trains.  These publications seemed to agree with the report’s statement that, “programming millions of scarce capital dollars for fixing long-distance sleeper cars when bridges that Amtrak owns are beyond their functional and economic lives and must be refurbished or replaced is unacceptable.”

The week has also seen syndicated columns by veteran anti-Amtrak activist Wendell Cox, keyed to a new Amtrak-must-die book by another veteran Amtrak-hater: Joseph Vranich.  The book was the basis for an incredibly lopsided anti-Amtrak forum at the American Enterprise Institute on December 1, carried (and rebroadcast at least twice) by C-Span.

Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) made good on his February 2004 promise to punish any Republican legislator who supported full Amtrak funding (see NARP Hotline #335).   Istook stripped local funding from the 21 Republican legislators who signed the pro-Amtrak letter, sparking outrage from those who lost funding.  Istook’s actions particularly angered the mayor of Norwich, CT, Arthur L. Lathrop.  Norwich is in the district of Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT), a strong Amtrak supporter.  Lathrop wrote a letter directly to Istook, calling his actions an, “arrogant exercise of power to punish my city, our region, a fellow Republican congressman and the Republican Party in Connecticut.”

However, due to this and other elements of pressure, including a reported near-physical confrontation between Istook and one of the slighted Republican legislators, Istook backed off his threat in a letter sent Wednesday to the 21 Republican legislators.  It said, in part, “I will do everything in my power to rectify this as promptly as possible, and to give your other requests every proper consideration.”

Two CSX Transportation freight trains collided and derailed on Monday in Zephryhills, FL, killing one CSX crewman and injuring three others.  The cause of the accident is under investigation, but preliminary reports indicate that heavy fog may have caused one of the CSX crews to run a stop signal.

Rockford, IL could see passenger rail service sooner rather than later, according to a preliminary study released on Monday.  While the plan faces obstacles, namely that Boone and Winnebago counties are not members of the Regional Transportation Authority, the study was important in that it showed that rail service is feasible.

The TGV high-speed rail service in France became non-smoking in its entirety on Wednesday.  While all TGV’s have had non-smoking cars since their inauguration and several routes have been smoke-free in recent years, the move to ban smoking entirely was in response to increasing airline competition and demands of the traveling public.

The New Jersey Turnpike would be expanded from three to five lanes between Exits 8A and Exit 6, if a proposal by Acting Governor Richard Codey is enacted.  The stretch of road, long known as a bottleneck, would see the expansion of the current two truck and three car lane configuration south to Exit 6, where the Pennsylvania Turnpike splits off the road.  The proposal is spurred partially by Pennsylvania’s plan to build a long-proposed direct interchange between Interstate 95 and the Turnpike, thus closing the most obvious missing segment of the interstate highway system: a link between Philadelphia and New York City.  Unfortunately, the proposal does little for the dire need for mass transit in the Jamesburg and Monroe areas and, curiously, would require massive state and federal tax dollars, despite the fact that the Turnpike is supposedly a self-supporting toll road.  This calls into question the Administration’s attempts to shift highway expenses to tolling mechanisms.

Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliners #566, #768, #583, and #785 will begin stopping daily at San Clemente Pier, effective immediately.  This change, at the request of the city of San Clemente is an increase in service from the previous weekend-only stops.  The Surfliners stop at the Metrolink platform used for summer beach trains, not at the regular Metrolink station a mile away.

Volunteers in Kirkwood, Missouri are one of the recipients of the 2004 Amtrak President’s Service and Safety award in the “Champion of the Rails” category.  In 2003, the ticket agent was removed due to budget cuts from the State of Missouri, which subsidizes St. Louis-Kansas City service.  Instead of leaving the building closed, local volunteers took it upon themselves to organize and ensure that someone was present for each trains’ arrival and departure.  The city of Kirkwood owns the depot and is supportive of the efforts.

India and Pakistan are close to re-opening the rail link between their two countries.  The rail link was severed in 1965 as a result of the long-standing feud between the two countries.  Talks to rebuild the railroad stem from recent peace negotiations between the two countries.

Bill Loftus, former Federal Railroad Administration official and past president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, passed away on Wednesday.  He was 74.  Bill had a long career at the FRA.  He was instrumental in the development of the “4 R” Act where, among other things, he got the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project started.  He was also deeply involved during the early years of the section 505 and 511 Loan Guarantee programs and state assistance programs for the freight railroads.  He later was Executive Director of the FRA.  Following his time at FRA, he was the President of the American Short Line Railroad Association during a period of growth and consolidation of the short lines.  The current ASLRA president said Bill, “worked tirelessly to improve our Association as President and continued to be a passionate advocate of our cause right up until the time he became ill.  He always made himself available to me when I took over the Association and I sincerely appreciate his wise counsel and advice.  While he will be sorely missed, Bill's personal friendship and his many contributions will long be remembered.”