Hotline #863 - February 3, 1995

A series of press conferences were held this week to protest Amtrak's elimination of the Palmetto. That successful day train made its last run on January 31. The Philadelphia press conference attracted the largest crowd and featured Mayor Edward Rendell. The Washington press conference featured Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D.-N.J.), who is perhaps Amtrak's best friend. It also featured NARP Executive Director Ross Capon and several labor leaders.

All the other service cuts announced for February 1 have taken place. These are -- cutting the Empire Builder to four times a week (west of St. Paul), cutting the Desert Wind to tri-weekly, and cutting the Crescent and Gulf Breeze to tri-weekly southwest of Atlanta. The date for the next round of cuts has been set for April 2, and these are listed in the January newsletter. That is when the spring timetable takes effect.

Three Amtrak-related hearings are coming up in February, all in the Railroads Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Susan Molinari (R.-N.Y.). On February 7, there will be a hearing that apparently will be about the General Accounting Office's report on Amtrak finances. On February 10, there will be a hearing for Members of Congress upset about Amtrak's service cut plans. On February 13, there will be a hearing for other witnesses. NARP has already requested permission to appear at the third hearing.

The Department of Transportation this week revealed more details about the departmental restructuring announced in December. The ten individual agencies making up the DOT would be reduced to three, which basically are land, sea, and air-related. The land one, the Intermodal Transportation Administration, would have all the current rail, highway, and transit programs. The Federal Aviation Administration would be the second one, except air traffic control operations would be spun off to an independent government corporation. The Coast Guard would be the third administration.

The DOT is releasing its 1996 budget proposals on February 6.

Amtrak laid off 170 maintenance workers on January 27 from the Beech Grove facility. Another 42 are to follow this month. That would bring Beech Grove employment down to around 700.

The Sacramento Transportation Coalition will hold a forum on the future of the Amtrak Capitol Corridor on February 8 at 12:00 noon. Cindy McKim of Caltrans and Michael Bennett Cline of the Train Riders' Association of California will speak.

A 5.0-magnitude earthquake near Seattle on January 28 delayed Amtrak passengers for several hours while tracks were inspected for safety. Airport and ferry operations also were delayed.

Denver International Airport, the $4.2-billion megaboondoggle, may open 16 months late, on February 28. The Rocky Mountain News on December 28 had the nerve to say that "jumbo jets pay their own way." The paper was advocating cutting off Amtrak funding.

It now looks as though a Canadian rail strike set for this month could be pushed off until the next, reportedly because of President Clinton's visit to Ottawa on February 23.

We apologize for problems people may have had reaching the office this week, as we moved to an adjoining office. Our telephone and fax lines were disconnected for the better part of two days. Our phone number, address, and room number remain the same.