NARP May 1999 Hotlines

#85 - May 7, 1999
#86 - May 14, 1999
#87 - May 21, 1999
#87-A - May 25, 1999
#88 - May 28, 1999

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The Federal Railroad Administration last week rejected a plan submitted to it by New Jersey Transit to run diesel light-rail cars on a Conrail line between Trenton and Camden. The FRA noted that the plan calls for running light-rail and freight trains on the line at the same time, but that light-rail vehicles are not as crashworthy as mainline commuter and Amtrak cars. The FRA has asked that the state submit a new plan that is safer, such as one that runs light-rail and freight traffic at different times of day, such as is currently done in Baltimore and San Diego. That may be a challenge, since CSX, which will take over the line soon from Conrail, hopes to increase freight traffic.

A refrigerated RoadRailer on the eastbound Three Rivers had a frame failure near Fostoria, O., on April 16, according to Traffic World magazine. It is one of eight such RoadRailers owned by ExpressTrak to carry perishables on Amtrak trains. Officials from the manufacturer and from Amtrak are investigating. Preliminary information suggests the RoadRailer was loaded at less than half its capacity. The other refrigerated trailers have been taken out of service. They have different frames than non-refrigerated RoadRailers.

With Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge cutting the ribbon, Amtrak opened a new Reservation Sales Call Center April 29 in Northeast Philadelphia. Amtrak got some state grant money for locating in that neighborhood. Amtrak plans to add 100 jobs to the existing 475 jobs there.

The State of North Carolina and Norfolk Southern signed an agreement April 29 on use of the state-owned North Carolina Railroad. Amtrak uses this track between Selma, Raleigh, Greensboro, and Charlotte. Rather than negotiating another 100-year lease, as was done with Norfolk Southern's predecessor Southern Railway in the 1890's, Norfolk Southern gets trackage rights instead. This will allow the state to add passenger train service more easily. The agreement was delayed several years by private shareholders who controlled 25% of the stock. They are now being bought out by the state.

Governor Ryan of Illinois has sent to the legislature a state infrastructure bill that includes $150 million for railroad grade crossings and $100 million for preparation work for high-speed rail.

The New York City Planning Commission overwhelmingly authorized the city on May 3 to acquire several properties allowing the controversial elevated light-rail project from Kennedy Airport to Jamaica station to proceed. Many commissioners spoke against the project and urged the Port Authority -- the agency that owns the airports and that will build and control the new rail line -- to reconsider its plans. The New York City Council could vote on it as early as next week. There is growing opinion -- including on the part of the Committee for Better Transit -- that the city would be better off with a one-seat ride on trains using the Long Island Rail Road to reach Penn Station or Grand Central in Manhattan. But it may be too late to stop the Port Authority with its plan for a $5 light-rail ride that requires an inconvenient transfer at Jamaica.

In the wake of the VIA Rail derailment in southwest Ontario that killed two crewmembers April 23, the Canadian Transport Ministry has ordered the Canadian National to do something about unsignaled corridor segments where VIA passenger trains operate. CN then announced it would install Centralized Traffic Control (CTC), on the Windsor-London and Hamilton-Niagara Falls lines to be complete next year. VIA and CN have asked the government to allow current speeds to remain in force while the project is being completed.

The Denver Regional Transportation District and BRW, Inc., are close to agreement on a contract for preliminary engineering and environmental work for a proposed Central Platte Valley Spur light-rail line. The line would split from the existing Central line under the Colfax Ave. viaduct, curve through and area of attractions including Mile High Stadium, the Pepsi Center, and the Six Flags Elitch's amusement park, and terminate on the track side of Denver Union Terminal. It is expected to open in about two years, by which time the Central line will have been extended south to Littleton.

The Federal Railroad Administration released new regulations on May 10 relating to railroad passenger car safety. While the industry has had its own standards for many years, this is the first time there have been such regulations on the federal level. The new standards have the force of law and apply -- for the most part -- to new equipment used by Amtrak and commuter railroads. Many of the rules simply repeat what is already standard practice, but there are major new changes in the area of cab cars on push-pull trains. Cab cars and lead cars in multiple-unit trains must have stronger corner crash posts and thicker steel shells to help reduce crash damage.

The Amtrak board announced the formation of a 21-member Mayors Advisory Council, while meeting this week in Chicago. It is made up of mayors who support a national passenger-train network and Amtrak's strategic business plan. The mayors are from New Orleans, Fort Worth, Newark, Richmond, Tallahassee, Macon, Roanoke, Wilmington, Grand Forks, Yuma, Palm Springs, Elkhart, Ind., Albany, Ore., Macomb, Ill., Salisbury, N.C., Dearborn, Mich., Marshall, Tex., Laurel, Miss., Edmonds, Wash., Rome, N.Y., and Waynesville, O.

California Gov. Gray Davis today announced proposed budget revisions that include expanded passenger train service. Davis proposes adding to a California car order to allow two more San Diegans, two more Capitols, and another Sacramento San Joaquin, plus more service on the Altamont Commuter Express.

The second Acela train set partly derailed while leaving the Bombardier plant in Barre, Vt., on May 9. A New England Central freight crew was trying to move it from the plant down to the main line at Montpelier Junction. One report stated that a rail had failed beneath the rear power car, and it was dragged for almost 100 yards. It's unclear how much damage was caused or when the line can be reopened for other Bombardier deliveries. The train was headed for crew orientation in Philadelphia and remains the responsibility of Bombardier.

Another battle over truck weights is looming in the House, with introduction of a bill to allow 97,000-pound trucks nationwide. The sponsors claim this will enhance safety, saying bigger trucks mean fewer shipments. However, truck traffic tonnage has increased by 45% already since 1990, with no signs of flagging. Railroads can and should carry more of this traffic, instead of having truckers raid public coffers to pay for the road damage their heavy trucks cause.

The board of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has decided to give a contract for equipment maintenance to a consortium of Boise Locomotive and Herzog Transit Services. Amtrak currently has the project, but was underbid by $59 million. The new team plans to cut the work force nearly in half, from 554 to 300, according to the Boston Herald. Amtrak will continue to operate the Boston-area commuter trains.

The Caltrain Joint Powers Board approved on May 6, on a 5-4 vote, to restore a proposal to electrify the commuter line to the agency's long-range plan. Only weeks ago, the proposal seemed dead, when the board was favoring making other needed capital investments first. Funding and a timetable for any of the work are still uncertain.

The transit agency in Columbus, O., has released a long-range plan that includes eight commuter-train routes to be put into place in stages between 2005 and 2020.

NARP and other groups have asked the Senate to support bill S.712, introduced by Senators Lott, Hutchison, Breaux, and Wyden, to promote grade crossing safety programs. The Look, Listen and Live Stamp Act would authorize a special rate postage stamp that would devote revenues to Operation Lifesaver.

The Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up its fiscal 2000 funding bill as early as May 25. The full Appropriations Committee may act May 27. The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee may act on a bill of its own May 27. Now is the time to ask your legislators to push for Amtrak's $571 million and its right to spend that money on both maintenance of way and of equipment.

Appropriations leaders don't think the government can be funded without lifting the severe budget caps placed on federal spending two years ago. Appropriators plan to pass most bills -- including transportation -- early, without big funding cuts. This would leave other, huge, "must-pass" bills to the end of the process. Then -- many believe -- raising the caps would be seen as much more acceptable than cutting other things like Social Security payments.

Today there was a ceremony in Austin, Tex., in which Amtrak paid back the loan it got from the State of Texas in 1997 to rescue the Texas Eagle. The $5.6 million repayment is a few months early.

President Clinton visited the Farley Building in New York on May 19 to take part in a ceremony launching its redevelopment into a new Penn Station, and to ask Congress to appropriate another $60 million for it over the next three years. Also on hand were DOT Secretary Rodney Slater, Gov. George Pataki, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and former Sen. Al D'Amato. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, however, boycotted the event, fearing that the city would have to cover possible cost overruns. The President acknowledged that the new station cannot fully replace the majesty of the old station, which was torn down 35 years ago. But he said the new design would "take the best elements of the past and create a remarkable station for the future." He added, "We can honor one of the first great buildings of the 20th century and create the first great public building of the 21st century."

The Mills Corporation, a big real estate developer, has made a proposal for downtown Sacramento that would involve turning the current station into a restaurant. The railroad would be moved 100 yards north and a new station built.

Amtrak is restoring complimentary newspapers and soft drinks to its Business Class service on NortheastDirect trains a week after these amenities were removed.

To facilitate electrification work, Amtrak's Shore Line trains and certain MBTA commuter trains will use the Dorchester Branch and bypass Boston Back Bay station, through September. Shuttle trains to Back Bay will connect with certain detoured MBTA trains at South Station.

The Tri-Rail commuter line has gotten a small portion of the $110 million that Gov. Jeb Bush (R.) took away from the FOX high-speed project. Tri-Rail will use the $2.8 million it got to expedite a double-tracking project, which will benefit some Amtrak trains. The remaining money has gone to many local, non-rail projects favored by state legislators.

The American Public Transit Association announced on May 19 the release of an updated "Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices for Passenger Rail Equipment." The manual conforms with Federal Railroad Administration regulations released last week, and expands on some of them. APTA said that all commuter railroads in the U.S. and Amtrak have agreed to comply voluntarily with the new standards manual.

Sen. John Chafee (R.-R.I.) has introduced S.1056, a bill to establish a federal weight-distance tax on trucks. This would replace the truck sales and tire taxes, and cut the diesel fuel tax rate to the 18-cent-a-gallon level everyone else pays. Chafee's plan would discourage truckers from pressing for still bigger trucks because the tax would remove the attractiveness of running such trucks.

Track work began in Portland, Me., May 19, with an estimate now for start-up of passenger train service to Boston for summer 2000.

The Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Richard Shelby (R.-Ala.), this afternoon approved Amtrak's full budget request for fiscal 2000. This is $571 million for capital funding plus the full "transit definition" of allowable capital spending -- that is, capital funds could go to both maintenance-of-equipment and maintenance-of-way.

As far as we know, the full Senate Appropriations Committee plans to act May 27. Also, the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee plans to act May 27, though that could slip beyond Memorial Day.

It is still the right time to ask your legislators to push for Amtrak's $571 million and its right to spend that money on both maintenance of way and of equipment.

Appropriations leaders don't think the government can be funded without lifting the severe budget caps placed on federal spending two years ago. Appropriators plan to pass most bills -- including transportation -- early, without big funding cuts. This would leave other, huge "must-pass" bills for the end of the process. Then -- many believe -- raising the caps would be seen as much more acceptable than cutting other things like Social Security payments.

[Continues with text from #87 of May 21]

A long-awaited Senate bill to give states the right to spend their flexible, federal transportation dollars on intercity passenger rail investments was introduced yesterday. The bill is S.1144, the "Surface Transportation Act of 1999." The bill also includes sections on the State Infrastructure Bank Program and a few other technical changes to TEA-21.

The bill was introduced by Sen. George Voinovich (R.-Ohio), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Transportation Subcommittee. Original co-sponsors are Chafee (R.-R.I.), Jeffords (R.-Vt.), Leahy (D.-Vt.), Moynihan (D.-N.Y.), Warner (R.-Va.), Hutchison (R.-Tex.), Reid (D.-Nev.), and Lautenberg (D.-N.J.). Please ask your Senator to co-sponsor S.1144.

Transportation funding bills also moved forward this week. So far, there is good news regarding Amtrak's request for $571 million for fiscal 2000, plus permission to spend these funds on maintenance-of-way and maintenance-of-equipment. That is all in the Senate funding bill that was approved yesterday by the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill could go to the floor in June.

The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee yesterday approved a bill that also gives Amtrak what it wants. The full committee could consider this bill as early as June 8. Urge your Representative to work against any amendment that would cut Amtrak funding, either at the committee level or on the House floor. Amtrak's funding request is already $38 million below the current-year level.

The Illinois legislature on May 21 approved Governor Ryan's "Illinois FIRST" infrastructure bill, including $250 million in rail programs.

A two-year budget bill was signed by the governor of Washington yesterday. It includes continued funding for existing Cascadia service, funding for a second train to Vancouver, B.C., $55 million in other track and safety improvements in the Cascadia corridor, authorization to use federal funding for the Seattle King Street Station renovation, a contribution towards a new equipment maintenance facility in Seattle for Amtrak and commuter trains, and additional Talgo coaches to provide more capacity on the Cascadia service.

Amtrak will start a shuttle service between its station in suburban Richmond, Va., and downtown, on June 1. The shuttle will meet four trains a day in each direction. They will stop at the Marriott and Omni hotels, and at Virginia Commonwealth University. The shuttle will cost $4 and can be booked with the rest of the train ticket. This is good news for passengers, as Virginia train ridership keeps rising, and train service to downtown Richmond at Main Street Station is still in the future.

The transit agency in South Bend, Ind., has received almost $9 million in federal and state funding to move the Amtrak stop back downtown, into an intermodal facility.

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors this week rejected bids for a new Amtrak station, citing cost overruns and sentiment to revive plans for a downtown track consolidation.

A project to put in a stop at Paradise, Pa., on the Keystone Corridor, is moving forward with the arrival of a $2 million grant. The stop would be served by Amtrak, local buses, and the historic Strasburg Railroad, which would have to build a quarter-mile extension to reach the site. Construction should start a year from now.

Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater announced on May 24 that $12 million in maglev study money would be divided up between several cities, including Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. Slater recommended seven projects for further study, of which one is supposed to be selected next year for development and construction. TEA-21 provided a total of $60 million in guaranteed funds for maglev.