Hotline #907 - December 8, 1995

The Senate's Amtrak reauthorization bill, S.1318, may not reach the Senate floor until next month. The two primary reasons for that seem to be continuing friction between Amtrak and Northeastern electric utilities over language in S.1318 regarding Amtrak's purchase and sale of electricity and a busy Senate floor schedule.

The Amtrak board met this week. They decided to keep the Pioneer running and to continue daily service between Denver and Salt Lake City. Amtrak President Tom Downs and Acting Intercity CEO Bob VanderClute deserve credit for that. VanderClute convinced the board that his marketing plans for the Pioneer deserve a chance to work.

The board also awarded a contract to a consortium of two companies -- Massachusetts Electric Company and Balfour Beatty -- for the electrification construction on the Boston line. Construction should start in the spring. This joint venture replaces Morrison Knudsen, whose financial difficulties caused it to leave the project.

Amtrak has written to ABB Traction to say that further negotiations between Amtrak and ABB on the Northeast high-speed train-set order are unwarranted. The reason given is that ABB's proposal has been ranked by Amtrak below the other two submissions. ABB, which makes the X2000, could come back in later if negotiations with other manufacturers do no work out. The remaining bidders are Siemens, which proposes a modified ICE with tilting capability, and Bombardier, which proposes an as-yet unbuilt train called the American Flyer.

NARP issued a release today on the status of various ideas to improve Amtrak's bottom line. NARP warns that funding reductions are going ahead but "reforms" are being killed or drastically scaled back. NARP opposes the dismantling of the Amtrak board in the House bill and the Senate bill's commission to dismantle Amtrak if financial progress is inadequate. NARP obviously supports the gas-tax half cent for Amtrak included in S.1395. Send NARP a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a copy of the release.

Amtrak has assured us that the Desert Wind really will regain its dining car west of Salt Lake City on December 13. The train lost its diner in September. Crescent passengers will be bussed between Birmingham and New Orleans December 10-18 due to an annual track work project.

Amtrak national timetables began to appear in stations this week. On the internet, the Amtrak home page may have some updates next week.

Windsor, Vt., will become a stop for the Vermonter on December 15. This is near the Mount Ascutney ski area.

BART will open its first extension in 20 years on December 16, from Concord to a new station called North Concord/Martinez, three miles away. A second extension from Daly City, just south of San Francisco, to Colma is nearly complete. Later, BART plans to extend the Colma route all the way to San Francisco International Airport.

The Department of Transportation set up a Grade Crossing Safety Task Force after the school bus wreck in Illinois in October. They plan three public meetings, though there are no exact dates yet. They are in Raleigh the week of December 18, and Chicago and Los Angeles, both the week of January 2. More information is available on the DOT's internet home page.

There were four "no" votes when H.R.1788 was passed in the House on November 30, all from Amtrak supporters. Representative Bereuter (R.-Nebr.) said on the House floor that the bill endangers long-distance train service. Representative Beilenson (D.-Cal.) thinks that the bill goes too far in eroding federal support for Amtrak. Representative Watt (D.-N.C.) objected to the liability language. The other vote was Representative Flake (D.-N.Y.).