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January 2005 Hotlines |
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January 2005 Hotlines |
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The 109th Congress has been seated and sworn in. Now is an excellent time to contact your House and Senate members and a) remind returning legislators of the importance of Amtrak and b) introduce freshman legislators to Amtrak issues. Go to our Legislative Contacts page to see how to send a message. U.S. Mail to Capitol Hill addresses is still significantly delayed due to security concerns; send a fax or e-mail to Capitol Hill offices, U.S. Mail to district offices.
Robert D. Jamison was named acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration this week, replacing Betty Monro who has retired. Jamison previously served as deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration and has held other positions at the Red Cross and United Parcel Service.
Maine is considering a ticket surcharge for Downeaster passengers boarding in New Hampshire as one way to raise funds to continue operation of the train. New Hampshire has steadfastly refused to make any contribution towards the Doweaster’s operation and Maine political leaders do not want to subsidize New Hampshire travel. All in all, this is an excellent example of why funding for multi-state Amtrak services, including the National Network trains, cannot be pushed off onto the states: the stakes are too high if one state refuses to participate.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has recommended that the California High Speed Rail Authority be scrapped and its responsibilities shifted to the California Transportation Commission. The move is part of Schwarzenegger’s proposal to streamline the state government and eliminate “duplicate layers” of bureaucracy. Schwarzenegger’s move is seen by some as a veiled way to kill high speed rail in California as the main focus of the California Transportation Commission is highway construction and maintenance.
Indeed, in his State of the State speech on Wednesday night, Schwarzenegger said, “When I first came to California, the roads fascinated me. Californians can't get from place to place on little fairy wings. This is a car-centered state. We need roads. Like Governor Pat Brown before me (sic), I intend to see that the government builds the roads that Californians need.” If you live in California, tell Governor Schwarzenegger that California needs expanded and improved rail service as well! (click on “Contact the Governor” at the left of the page)
Amtrak police officer Rodney Chambers has received another honor. In addition to the National Association of Police Organizations award we highlighted in the December edition of NARP News, Chambers has also been awarded the National Rifle Association’s “Law Enforcement Officer of the Year” award. Officer Chambers wrestled what was believed to be a live grenade from a man at Washington Union Station back in June 2003. Clutching the device, he then moved away from the gathering crowd and held the explosive until the bomb squad could check it.
The New York Times ran another in its series of railroad safety “expose” articles on December 30. This time the subject again focused on safety at rail-highway crossings with the main focus being Amtrak trains and a suspected—but never proven—problem with a (to quote the article) "certain type of Amtrak train" not activating rail-highway crossing devices. Like previous articles, the Times assumes that the burden of the problem rests with Amtrak and, worse yet, fails to specifically detail the “type of Amtrak train” that is suspect in these incidents. The problems detailed in the article have been limited to Canadian National owned and operated lines in the United States (the former Grand Trunk Western in Michigan and the Illinois Central south of Chicago).
The long-planned, long-delayed Washington Metrorail extension to Dulles Airport suffered another setback this week, as the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation acknowledged that the first segment of the project—to extend service to While Avenue in Reston—will not open until 2011 at the earliest. VDRPT attributes the delay to the Federal Transit Administration and their continuing requests for more information and clarifications on the project and the environmental impact study.
However, in Boston, another long-planned, long-delayed project may be moving forward. The Army Corps of Engineers issued an environmental permit which will permit construction to go forward on the Greenbush Commuter Rail project. This will restore commuter rail service between Boston and Greenbush, discontinued in 1959. The project, the last of the three “spokes” of the Old Colony Railroad to be resurrected, has been fought almost since its inception, mostly by wealthy property owners in close proximity to the former railroad right of way. Expensive environmental and noise abatement policies have been established to minimize disruption, making this one of the most expensive commuter rail projects (per mile) in the county.
Demonstrating the growing importance of mass transit, the site for a new 57-story office building in Philadelphia was chosen primarily due to its proximity to SEPTA’s Suburban Station. The Comcast Center will be built adjacent to SEPTA’s Regional Rail hub and will also have access to the subway-surface trolley system and the two subway lines. Dan Fee, a spokesman for Philadelphia Mayor John Street, drew a parallel between SEPTA’s proposed service cuts and economic growth, “Public transportation is an incredibly important part of our efforts to attract businesses. That’s why some of these proposed service reductions and fare hikes will have such a devastating impact. People really rely on it.”
The Las Vegas Monorail reopened on Christmas Eve after a three month shutdown due to reoccurring mechanical and safety problems. The monorail set a one-day ridership record of 45,000 people on Christmas Day which, while excellent, was likely due to the fact that rides were free until December 29. Reports indicate that the trains performed well over the New Years weekend. The next big test for the system will be the Consumer Electronics Show, one of Vegas’s larger conventions, from January 6-9.
The pedestrian overpass at the Kingston Amtrak station should be open for service in the very near future. Since the December 2000 introduction of Acela Express high speed service, crossing the tracks has been forbidden at Kingston and passengers traveling to New Haven, New York, and Washington have been required to ride a shuttle bus to the south/west bound platform. The overpass was delayed in construction due to issues with the ground soil around the site and the need to make the overpass blend in with the station, constructed in 1875.
Amtrak has broken the connection between the eastbound Capitol Limited and the southbound Silver Star at Washington, D.C. due to the “high number of misconnected passengers” between these two trains. NARP has protested the decision to break this connection to Amtrak management, pointing out that the one hour forty one minute connection is well within Amtrak’s connection minimum, that the performance of the eastbound Capitol Limited generally makes the connection, and that breaking the connection eliminates the possibility of Midwest to Raleigh, Columbia, and Tampa rail travel.
Rail and accommodations charges will be increased on many Amtrak routes, effective January 11, 2005. Railfares will increase as follows: long distance 3%, Explore America Zone fares 3%, Regional service in the Northeast Corridor 3%, and Acela Express fares on the north end between 5% and 10%. In addition, two new fare plans will be introduces in North Carolina: a six ride and ten ride ticket valid for 180 days for travel between Rocky Mount and Charlotte on the Piedmont and Carolinian only. First Class charges will be adjusted as well. Acela Express First Class rates will now roughly equal 50% of the peak railfare charge. Sleeping car rates will both increase and decrease: the main goal being to get the five revenue management pricing buckets more evenly spaced apart.
Congressman Robert Matsui (D-CA) passed away on January 1 from pneumonia brought on by a rare bone marrow disease that he was diagnosed with last year. Matsui, who represented the Sacramento area, was first elected to the House in 1978. He has always been a strong champion of rail service, including the Capitol Corridor and Sacramento Light Rail. A special election will be held to determine his replacement and the early front runner is his wife, Doris, an experienced Washington lobbyist and director of public liaison in the Clinton administration.
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) has been named chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, succeeding Rep. Bill Young (R-FL). At one of the hearings of the Istook subcommittee a few years ago, Lewis was the only Republican to say something nice about Amtrak—a positive comment about a train ride to White Sulphur Springs that the House Republican caucus had taken shortly before. Make no mistake, the fiscal 2006 budget fight will be tough, but the appointment of Lewis is probably a plus for the cause of balanced transportation.
A Norfolk Southern Railroad freight train derailed in Graniteville, SC, on January 6, releasing a lethal cloud of chlorine gas that killed nine people and injured hundreds. It could be months before the National Transportation Safety Board makes an official cause determination, but a railroad track switch, which leads trains onto an industrial siding, is at the center of the investigation. A local freight train had entered the siding a short time before the arrival of the chemical train and used the siding to park its train for the night.
The stretch of railroad has no signal system; the position of switches and other track implements, while locked, are not visible to the train dispatcher. The Federal Railroad Administration issued an emergency directive on Monday, urging railroads to develop better procedures for reporting the status of track switches in non-signaled territory. This accident underlines the importance for railroads to take advantage of new technologies, including GPS satellite tracking and Positive Train Control.
Record rain and snow have blanked California and parts of Nevada. The Sierra Nevadas have seen some of the heaviest snow ever recorded, with accumulations exceeding 150” in some locations. The California Zephyr, the Reno Fun Train (a charter train operated by Amtrak), and Sacramento-Reno Thruway Buses have all been experiencing cancellations and severe delays. Torrential rains in southern California have caused severe damage to the route of the Pacific Surfliner both north and south of Los Angeles. To view photographs of the damage in the Santa Barbara area, visit Union Pacific’s media relations website.
As a result, several Amtrak services have been curtailed:
The Coast Starlight will not operate south of Oakland until at least February 1. No alternate transportation is being provided, however, passengers may use existing Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin trains and busses to reach their final destinations.
Pacific Surfliner service north of Los Angeles (Burbank, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo) is suspended until at least February 1 with no alternate transportation being provided (Highway 101 is also closed).
Pacific Surfliner service south of Los Angeles (Anaheim, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego) will resume tomorrow (Saturday, January 15). A major sinkhole developed near San Clemente Pier but has now been repaired. Metrolink service has been affected all week (they are maintaining a limited schedule as far as San Clemente) and it is not clear when they will resume a full schedule. However, Coaster service (Irvine to San Diego) is operating its full, regular schedule.
The California Zephyr apparently will not operate west of Denver until January 21 (next Friday). This is said to be due to record snowfalls in the Sierra Nevadas, and continuing danger from falling rocks in the Rocky Mountains. Indeed, Train #5 struck a boulder near Grand Junction on January 10, derailing the two locomotives, baggage car, dorm car, and one sleeper.
We recommend that you call Amtrak at 1-800-872-7245 prior to any Amtrak travel to or within California due to ever-changing weather concerns.
The newest Air-Rail intermodal facility in the United States will open next week. The Milwaukee International Airport Rail Station will have an open house on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Representatives from the airport as well as Amtrak and Midwest Airlines will attend the event. This is the first of hopefully many air-rail intermodal stations to open in the Midwest. NARP Assistant Director David Johnson will be attending the event representing the Association.
Downeaster riders to or from stations in New Hampshire will pay a $1.00 surcharge, under a proposal approved on Wednesday by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority. The commission voted to keep fares in Maine mostly the same. A public comment period will follow, after which the fare increase can be adopted.
The NARP News letter that will be in your mailboxes soon contains our annual “Wheels of Progress” article. This year we also show “Major Accomplishments in 2004,” reviewing projects that were completed this past calendar year. One minor error is listed in this article: while the new Pittsfield (MA) Intermodal Terminal did open on November 1, 2004, for bus service, Amtrak did not move in until today (January 14, 2005).
Bossier City (LA) will not see an Amtrak “demonstration” train to Fort Worth. A decision has been made by Mayor George Dement that if a permanent service could not be established, they were not interested in a demonstration-only operation. Amtrak Thruway Bus service to/from the Texas Eagle at Longview continues to operate.
The State of New Mexico has purchased the Santa Fe Southern Railway, which connects Lamy with the state capital in Santa Fe. The purchase was necessary to clear the way for the full vision of New Mexico Commuter Rail service linking Albuquerque with Santa Fe. The first stage of this project, service from Belen through Albuquerque to Bernalillo, should be completed by the end of this year. Service to Santa Fe is scheduled to commence in 2007.
Change is afoot in the locomotive construction industry. General Motors has announced that they are selling their Electro-Motive Division, which has been constructing locomotives since the late 1930’s. GM cites a need to shed money-losing divisions of its core business and will receive incentives if the newly-spun of corporation makes more earnings than projected. In related news, General Electric is adding workforce at its Erie, PA, locomotive plant. The plant produced a near-record 826 locomotives in 2004 and added 200 jobs plans to add an additional 200 jobs in fiscal 2005. Locomotive orders are strong for 2005.
Last week’s hotline contained an error: the connection that has been broken is the Eastbound Capitol Limited to the Southbound Silver Star. The fully corrected text is re-printed below:
Amtrak has broken the connection between the eastbound Capitol Limited and the southbound Silver Star at Washington, D.C. due to the “high number of misconnected passengers” between these two trains. NARP has protested the decision to break this connection to Amtrak management, pointing out that the one hour forty one minute connection is well within Amtrak’s connection minimum, that the performance of the eastbound Capitol Limited generally makes the connection, that the Silver Star is often late departing Washington, and that breaking the connection eliminates the possibility of Midwest to Raleigh, Columbia, and Tampa rail travel.
The newest air-rail intermodal station in the United States opened on Tuesday when Amtrak and Wisconsin DOT dedicated the Milwauke Airport Rail Station.
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Wisconsin Senator Herbert Kohl, Amtrak Vice President-Marketing & Sales Barbara Richardson, representatives of Midwest Airlines, and other state, local, and Amtrak dignitaries helped open the station at a dedication ceremony. Richardson noted that this was Amtrak’s fourth air-rail station and that it “provided an opportunity to make a great service (the Hiawathas) even better.” The governor said he hoped that this station was the first step in attracting Chicago-area passengers away from O’Hare and encouraging them to use Milwaukee Airport (see Hotline #361). All speakers expressed their gratitude to Senator Kohl who responsible for securing the $6.5 million needed to construct the station.
A derailment at the entrance to Washington Union Station disrupted rail travel to the Presidential Inauguration events on Thursday. Just after 9:00 a.m., Amtrak Regional train #132 derailed while departing Washington Union Station. Three cars were off the tracks: all upright, but two cars jackknifed, blocking two of five tracks leading out of the station. The investigation into the derailment kept the entire terminal closed to Northeast Corridor arrivals and departures until about 2:00 p.m. The Capitol Limited had been permitted to arrive at 1:15pm since it could operate on the track furthest from the derailment and did not need access to overhead electric power. Acela Express and MARC commuter trains were reversed at New Carrollton and Regional trains terminated in Baltimore.
Nearly all service was restored on Friday, all service will operate this weekend, and full service (Amtrak and commuter trains) will be able to return Monday morning. The preliminary cause of the derailment is a malfunctioning switch in the terminal trackage. The Washington Post reported that passengers could not be bussed due to street closures connected with the inauguration.
Amtrak continues to deal with service annulments to and within California:
Amtrak has been awarded extension of two commuter rail operating contracts. Amtrak will continue to operate the Gilroy-San Jose-San Francisco Caltrain commuter service for another three years. Amtrak has also signed a similar contract to continue operating the Penn Line service (Washington-Baltimore-Perryville) of Maryland’s MARC Commuter Rail. Amtrak provides operations, equipment maintenance, dispatching, and train and engine crew services to both operators.
Several Amtrak trains will have temporary changes over the next several months to provide maintenance windows for trackwork:
A three-way accident between two Metrolink trains and a parked Union Pacific ballast train on Wednesday killed eleven and injured over 200 people. While a formal investigation has yet to be completed, the media, Metrolink, and Amtrak (who currently provides train and engine crews for Metrolink) report this “perfect storm” of tragic events. Juan Manuel Alvarez entered the railroad right of way with his SUV at a grade crossing and began driving down the tracks, with the intent of committing suicide. His vehicle became stuck on the tracks. As southbound Metrolink train #100 approached, Alvarez changed his mind and exited his vehicle. The SUV was struck by train #100. Soon after the impact, the train derailed and slid into a parked Union Pacific ballast train on an adjacent siding. The effect of this second impact jackknifed the first and second cars of train #100 into the side of northbound Metrolink train #901. This third impact caused train #901 to careen into a signal bridge, ripping one of the cars open and collapsing the structure.
Prior to Wednesday’s tragedy, Metrolink had announced plans to resume service on its Ventura County line on Monday. All scheduled trains were to operate between Los Angeles and Montalvo, with ten to fifteen minute delays expected due to on-going slow orders along the route. In the wake of Wednesday’s accident, limited rush hour service is operating, with a bus bridge between Glendale and Burbank. For a complete list of train cancellations and modifications, go to Metrolink’s website (link no longer active).
NARP expresses its heartfelt sympathy to those killed or injured in the Glendale accident, but cautions that a public policy focus on avoiding repetition of a truly freak event could jeopardize work to prevent more predictable tragedies. It could also devastate the economics of commuter railroads and force more people onto the highways, where about 120 people a day are killed.
We can agree with one comment by Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, "Obviously the best solution is an expensive one, to grade separate. That's the most expensive solution, but it's the one that's the safest. If you can't, what are we going to do? Maybe we don't allow every single street to cross the tracks like it used to.” Today’s Los Angeles Daily News reported, “Metrolink has 443 at-grade crossings on its seven routes across Southern California. Making them grade-separated would cost as much as $8 billion -- about $15 million to $20 million for each crossing.”
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported that over the past 10 years, “railroads and transportation agencies nationwide have eliminated 41,000 road-track intersections and added lights, gates and signals to 4,000 others” and that “accidents at crossings have been decreasing steadily. But it costs up to $40 million to build a bridge over a rail line so that cars can’t drive on the tracks, and funds are scarce.”
Where closure or grade separation is not possible, such advances as four-quadrant gates should be implemented. Of course, these projects come at a cost. Federal, state, and local governments must produce the funds to make these life-saving safety improvements to our nation’s highway and rail systems.
Representative Ernest Istook (R-OK) said in an interview on Thursday with the Daily Oklahoman that, “It appears that, as a result of reorganization, I will not be chairing a subcommittee this session.” Possible successors include Rep. Jim Walsh (R-NY) or Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY).
A fire in a New York City, while far less severe than the California accident, has had a crippling effect on several subway lines in Manhattan. On Monday, a fire broke out in a control room at the Chambers Street Station on the A/C/E line service. The fire destroyed signal relays and other control mechanisms used to dispatch and route thousands of trains per day.
While initial repair time estimates were placed at two to three years, NYCTA officials have revised that time frame down to five months, after intense questioning from public advocacy groups and the media (including a query as to why the World Trade Center PATH station was rebuilt in half the time proposed for the control room reconstruction). Very limited operations continue on the A/C/E service by manual block dispatching. The initial cause was blamed on a homeless person setting a fire in the room, but now investigators are not sure if that is what happened.
The Midwest High Speed Rail Initiative could operate at a profit, but would require significant up-front federal and state investment, according to a new study released on Wednesday. At a luncheon sponsored by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, Alexander Metcalf of Transportation Economics & Management Systems Incorporated said, “This is the system that prevents you (from) having to have operating subsidies… It's already been achieved in corridors of similar length elsewhere in the world.” The availability of funds for initial capital investments, to raise maximum operating speeds to at least 90 and as high as 110 mph is critical for this achievement; the latest price tag for these improvements is $7.7 billion over ten years.
The impending demise of Amtrak’s Three Rivers has caught the attention of the city of Youngstown, Ohio. The city’s Public Utilities Committee will hold a public hearing to “discuss the pending elimination of Amtrak rail service to Youngstown.” The hearing will be held on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, which is on the 6th floor of the Youngstown City Hall (26 Phelps Street, at the corner of Boardman Street). All are welcome to attend.
The potential and power of advocacy was evident this week in Ohio. On Monday, Ohio Governor Bob Taft announced intentions to eliminate the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) as a cost-savings move and split its responsibilities amongst three exiting governmental agencies. This move would have no doubt led to the demise of the recently-released Ohio Hub Plan (see Hotline #373) and the substantial progress made recently in that state. The Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers and NARP mobilized their respective membership bases in Ohio and adjoining states that would benefit from the Hub Plan to contact Governor Taft and ask him to reverse this decision. Later in the week, Governor Taft officially announced that he would not purse elimination of the ORDC. Thanks to all who contacted Governor Taft!
Amtrak’s San Joaquin service disruption, discussed in last week’s hotline, has been extended an additional week to February 11. California DOT has placed a temporarily modified schedule on its website reflecting the bus substitution (link no longer active).
Orren Beaty, who led NARP in a crucial transition from 1975 to 1979, died January 19 at a nursing facility for Alzheimer's patients in Las Cruces, NM. His distinguished career included serving as a political aide to Stewart Udall both on Capitol Hill and later at the Interior Department (when Udall was Secretary). He received the Interior Department's Distinguished Service Award. In 1967, President Johnson appointed Beaty federal co-chair of the Four Corners Regional Commission "within the Commerce Department to work with the governors of the four southwestern states to help promote economic development." He was associate editor for Congressional Quarterly and earlier was managing editor of the Sun-News in Las Cruces and a reporter, political writer and columnist for the Arizona Republic. Beaty also worked for Amtrak Government Affairs. Beaty hired NARP Executive Director Ross Capon as Assistant Director in January, 1975.
In an E-mail sent to NARP Board Members earlier this week, Capon said, “Orren Beatty was a wonderful human being, with a great sense of humor, and was highly regarded by just about everyone who knew him.”