Hotline #919 - March 1, 1996

The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on railroad safety on February 27. Much of the discussion revolved around whether the Federal Railroad Administration has been quick -- or slow -- to implement recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB said the FRA has the second-worst record in the DOT over the past 25 years, but also said that things have improved under Administrator Jolene Molitoris.

Another big point was the opposition by Sen. John Breaux (D.-La.) to liability language in the Senate's Amtrak reauthorization bill, S.1318, which may come to a vote on March 6. Breaux opposes liability caps and had an amendment on that fail in committee by one vote. He also does not want to let Amtrak indemnify freight railroads from liability for Amtrak accidents. However, without these changes, the cost of providing Amtrak service may skyrocket. Breaux is expected to offer his amendment on the Senate floor. Recent train accidents have improved his chances.

The House-passed Amtrak bill caps punitive damage awards and includes indemnification. The biggest threat to safe transportation is the possibility that Amtrak could be killed or torn apart by the cost implications of failure to enact liability reform.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D.-N.J.) introduced a rail safety bill on February 27, S.1575. It would replace the Hours of Service Act with regulations the Secretary of Transportation would develop. The bill gives the Secretary one year to study feasibility of requiring satellite-based train control systems by 2001.

More safety hearings, conducted by the House Railroads Subcommittee, start March 5.

The FRA emergency order issued last week has been clarified. It does not take effect until tomorrow. The "delayed-in-block" rule applies only to push-pull and multiple-unit trains where there are no cab signals or automatic train control. This rule applies a 40-mph speed limit between a station-stop -- or any point where a train slows to 10 mph -- and the next signal, if that signal guards a crossover or switch. The rule does not apply to trains hauled only by locomotives.

The State of Florida awarded a high-speed rail franchise on February 27 to Florida Overland Express, if certain conditions are met. This is the group proposing a TGV system for southern and central Florida to begin service in 2004.

Train service between Seattle and Portland, which was suspended February 7 due to wash-outs caused by floods, resumed February 27. Full service resumed February 28, but slow orders still abound.

Amtrak is offering a one-way fare plan from Chicago to points west of $33, $66, and $99, depending on how far west you go. There is also a reverse plan from Los Angeles toward Chicago and New Orleans, with the same rates. One-way travel between Chicago and places as distant as St. Paul, Omaha, Kansas City, and Little Rock is $33. Trips must be booked by March 15 for travel before April 15.

It looks like some hearings could begin in March on the next version of ISTEA, which expires in September 1997. Even more than ideological issues affecting highways and transit, budget issues may affect what the next ISTEA looks like.

But the pro-highway forces are not dormant. The American Highway Users Alliance, which used to be called the Highway Users Federation, will pursue policies that would greatly cut non-highway programs that benefit from highway revenues on the federal level. This is the group that worked so hard to kill ISTEA flexibility for states to invest in Amtrak.

On March 9, Region 1 meets in Boston and Region 9 in St. Louis. On March 16, Region 4 meets in Baltimore, Region 7 in Chicago, and Region 8 in Portland, Ore.