Hotline #886 - July 14, 1995

The transportation appropriations bill is expected on the House floor on July 19. We hear that talks are continuing on how to get language in the Amtrak authorization bill, H.R.1788, that can attract more support than the Quinn or Shuster versions.

The vulnerability of unauthorized programs was shown on July 12, when appropriations for federal arts programs were challenged. Thirty-five conservative Republican freshmen defied their leaders, forced the bill back to the Rules Committee at midnight, and won a subsidy phase-out of two years rather than three.

Amtrak may be headed for the same sort of rough treatment, even though the appropriations bill already conditions Amtrak funding on passage of an authorization with labor reforms. Without authorization, any House member can take the floor on July 19 and raise a point of order, striking Amtrak funding.

Clearly, we need a compromise that saves face for everyone. The DOT appropriations bill repeals Section 13(c), which mandates labor protection for transit projects. If there is a floor vote on Section 13(c), how labor fares on that may influence the nature of any possible Amtrak compromise.

Please tell your Representatives that you want to see quick progress on H.R.1788 and that they should say the same to Representatives Shuster and Molinari. This is even more critical if you are represented by these Republicans who voted against Shuster in committee on the issue of contracting-out -- Blute (Mass.), Boehlert (N.Y.), Quinn (N.Y.), Horn (Cal.), LaHood (Ill.), Weller (Ill.), LaTourette (Ohio), Martini (N.J.), Tate (Wash.), Wamp (Tenn.), and Young (Alaska).

The Republican staff of the Senate Commerce Committee just released a draft Amtrak authorization bill. It keeps a Senate-confirmed board of directors, applies last-best-offer arbitration to the contentious labor issue, and orders the National Mediation Board to approve no more than three unions to represent Amtrak workers. It also sets up an Amtrak trust fund with revenues coming from fuel taxes paid by Amtrak and a half-cent of the gas tax that now goes to deficit reduction, which would otherwise go to the mass transit Trust Fund account in October.

Baggage service that had been suspended on the San Diegans last week made a gradual return this week.

A crucial vote at the end of June in the Maine Senate approved setting up the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority. This lets Maine go forward and spend money toward restoring Portland passenger train service. The June 28 Portland Press Herald gave NARP Director Wayne Davis much credit for this recent victory.

Extreme heat can cause welded rail to buckle, so Amtrak faces slow orders in the Midwest, including 45 mph between Port Huron and Battle Creek, and 50 mph between Joliet and Alton. The heat wave is moving east and could affect the Northeast Corridor. Such heat can expand the metal in catenary wires, causing them to sag and catch on train pantographs and tie things up for hours. The catenary proposed for the Boston line is a newer design that minimizes this effect.

Amtrak President Tom Downs has promised Mississippi officials a fourth day of service on the Crescent and to have the New Orleans Restaurant Association take over the dining operation west of Atlanta later this year.

One track in the Capitol Hill tunnel in Washington, D.C., now has Superliner clearances. But, due to groundwater problems, this work consumed the funds intended for both tracks.

Conrail says it will finish clearance work in the Allegany Tunnels, just west of Altoona, next moth, allowing double-stack operations as far east as Harrisburg.