Hotline #892 - August 25, 1995

NARP members got their August newsletters earlier this week. Please do all you can to contact your Members of Congress about the concerns raised in the newsletter and the accompanying letter from NARP President Jack Martin.

There is one correction already regarding an item in the Travelers' Advisory column. Concerning the change in days of operation of the California Zephyr and Desert wind, Amtrak has moved up the effective date to September 29 -- and not October 29, as is printed in the newsletter. Amtrak has already begun to call passengers with reservations on those trains to warn them of the change and offer alternatives. That is costly, but Amtrak felt that because the change saves an entire set of equipment, it made sense financially.

There is still no official word from Amtrak telling NARP why through-cars cannot be switched from the Broadway to the Capitol at Pittsburgh. It also may be possible to run Superliners to Philadelphia. Amtrak has provided no reasonable answer why that cannot be done, either.

Serious brush fires on outer Long Island have caused suspension of Long Island Rail Road train service between Speonk and Montauk. The passenger station at Westhampton, N.Y., was destroyed by fire yesterday, according to the Associated Press.

An op-ed piece by Ross Capon of NARP in support of passenger trains was circulated yesterday by the Knight-Ridder/Tribune news service. This responded in part to a terrible piece circulated by Knight-Ridder on August 10 in which the Highway Users Federation attacked ISTEA funding flexibility for passenger trains. The NARP piece can be found by computer users in America Online, in the business news category.

NARP has responded to a column in today's Journal of Commerce that supported continuing the fuel tax exemption for airlines. NARP also today sent out letters to 50 newspapers in areas likely to be represented in the House-Senate appropriations conference, pointing out the problem of the low Amtrak funding levels in the appropriations bills.

The August 21 issue of Barron's contains an appalling editorial that asks why money should be spent on commuter trains when automobiles are "so much better."

The Federal Railroad Administration has released a grant of $750,000 from 1995 funds to the State of Washington toward development of a positive train control system for both passenger and freight trains on the Seattle-Portland line.

With the September 10 schedule changes, NARP had been concerned that there would be no eastbound connection from the Cardinal at Washington, other than the Night Owl. Now we understand that two days a week, Friday and Sunday, the Cardinal will have a much earlier connection with the Tidewater. The Cardinal will arrive Washington at 8:10 pm, for a 40-minute connection to the Tidewater at 8:50 pm. On the remaining Cardinal day, Wednesday, there is an 8:35 pm train currently called the New Yorker, but a 25-minute connection may be too close for comfort.

Amtrak's policy for carrying bikes as checked baggage will change on October 1. Currently, if the bike owner does not have his or her own bike box, Amtrak provides one as part of the $5 baggage fee. Now, Amtrak will charge $6 for a box in addition to the $5 fee. Therefore, passengers supplying their own box will still pay the $5 they were paying before.

Also, Amtrak will begin charging $2 for bags to be used for skis while traveling as checked baggage.

The extension of San Diego's East light rail line opens tomorrow.