Hotline #918 - February 23, 1996

Hopes for a Nashville-Atlanta train during the Olympics are dead. That's the message after a Capitol Hill meeting this morning that included CSX and Norfolk Southern executives, Sen. Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.), and Rep. Bob Clement (D.-Tenn.). Clement spoke to reporters after the meeting.

In California, the fourth Capitol Corridor train will start April 14, when Amtrak makes its general spring timetable change.

After the near-head-on collision on February 16 between a cab-car-first MARC train and Amtrak's Capitol Limited, NARP staff conducted countless interviews. Much of the recent focus has been on the Federal Railroad Administration's emergency order issued February 21. NARP's Ross Capon will testify on February 27 on the impact of that order in Annapolis before the Maryland General Assembly's Joint Committee on Federal Relations. The same day, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a rail safety hearing and the first of two such hearings in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Railroads Subcommittee will be March 5.

The controversial part of the FRA order requires a train leaving a station to run at restricted speed under railroad rules prepared to stop at the next signal, until that signal is visible. It is unclear how this will affect running times, but obviously the big impact will be where signals come just before stations.

Under another new rule, where speeds exceed 30 mph and there are no cab signals or automatic train control, an engineer must call out restrictive signal aspects to another crew member, who must acknowledge what he or she heard, usually by radio. Also, FRA requires passenger carriers to review emergency windows in their fleets, make sure they work, and mark them properly. FRA has ordered passenger carriers using cab-cars, rail diesel cars, or electric multiple units to give FRA an interim safety plan within 45 days.

Passenger carriers -- but not freight railroads -- must report on implementation of automatic train control or experimental positive train control. Freight accidents potentially pose more harm to the public at large. This approach may let freight railroads pass all positive train separation costs to passenger carriers. Anyway, there is a general belief that positive train separation progress awaits the outcome of three pilot projects, none of which are yet operating.

Maryland says it will spend $6 million improving car doors and marking emergency windows better. MARC emergency exits are poorly marked. At Silver Spring, eight people were killed by burns, but only three by impact.

NARP Executive Director Ross Capon testifies before the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee on 1997 Amtrak funding on February 28.

Starting last weekend, the Crescent's fourth New Orleans trip got the diner and first-class sleepers the other three frequencies always have had and, like those trains, gets numbers 19 and 20.

The touring Talgo train tomorrow will be displayed at Emeryville starting at 8:00 am, Stockton at 12:00 noon, and Fresno at 3:30 pm. On February 25, at Bakersfield starting at 8:00 am, Hanford at 11:00 am, and Merced at 1:45 pm. Then revenue service on various San Joaquins between February 26 and March 4. It is planned to run on the Capitol route, to Reno, and on the San Diegan route later in March.

NARP Region 2 meets tomorrow at 11:00 am in Albany, at Jack's Oyster Hose on State St. Region 1 meets March 9 at 11:00 am at Boston's Back Bay Hilton. Region 9 meets March 9, 10:00 am at Bi-State headquarters, St. Louis. Details are in the candidate ballots that NARP members should have by now.