Hotline #917 - February 16, 1996

Seattle had no trains for five days last weekend due to flooding and mudslides. The first arrival was the Mount Baker International of February 12. Portland was hard hit, too. Much of that time, the Empire Builder did not run west of Spokane, the Pioneer did not run west of Ogden, and the Coast Starlight did not run north of Eugene. It may be a week before Seattle-Portland trains resume. This line had many wash-outs. At Castle Rock, 500 trees were piled across the tracks.

In the New Jersey Transit crash of February 9, National Transportation Safety Board investigators are focusing on engineer fatigue. A train ran a red light 14.5 hours after its engineer reported for work. He was on a split-shift, which means working more than 12 hours with a break of at least four hours in the middle. He spent his break on the passenger seat of an unused train.

We hear that the union tried and failed to persuade the FRA to require decent layover quarters. Now the FRA may swing to the opposite extreme and completely ban night-time split-shifts. In any event, neither Metro North nor Long Island Rail Road have night-time split-shifts and New Jersey Transit may eliminate the three it has. Workers like split-shifts because the break time is paid-time.

Rail transit got a big boost in a new report on the future of the New York metropolitan region. The report, by the private Regional Plan Association, got top billing in the New York Times on February 14. The plan said 25 miles of new lines laid in bits and pieces around the region would connect transit and commuter lines and give New York a world-class system. However, the report -- which also recommended some road investments -- said current trends would lead to crumbling urban cores, isolated wealthy enclaves, transportation paralysis, bad air and water quality, and a feeble economy, unable to compete with regions like Paris and Singapore.

Amtrak has a $10 fare good for Monday travel to Chicago from points along the Pontiac-Detroit-Chicago corridor. The intention is to fill empty seats on trains that were busy the night before.

Amtrak's long-expected new Northeast Timetable was spotted for the first time yesterday at Washington Union Station.

The third and last public meeting on the Harrisburg line will be at Harrisburg on February 22. PennDOT will hold the meeting at 10:30 am at the Rachel Carson Building, 4th and Market.

An extension of the BART rapid transit system opens February 23 from Daly City to Colma.

NARP's internet web site began running this week -- a single page, for now. The address is www.worldweb.net/~narp. Resources and fact sheets will be posted as time permits. Yesterday we posted information on all 12 NARP regional membership meetings.

The first one is Region 2 on February 24, in downtown Albany at Jack's Oyster House on State Street, at 11:00 am. Speakers include Amtrak Vice President of Government and Public Affairs Tim Gillespie; Empire Service Product Line Director Wes Coates' and Don Baker, New York State DOT Director of High Speed Rail Development.