Hotline #921 - March 15, 1996

At a crowded press conference at Washington Union Station today, Vice President Al Gore announced that the American Flyer consortium had won the Amtrak contract for high-speed train sets in the Northeast Corridor. There will be 18 train sets made up with power cars on each end, plus six passenger cars each. Also part of the deal were 15 electric locomotives for pulling conventional trains and three maintenance facilities. The $750-million contract is mostly financed by the vendor and revenue service should start in October 1999 upon completion of the Boston electrification project.

The American Flyer will use some TGV technology and will be built by Bombardier. As with Superliners, car shells will be made in Quebec Province, but cars will be assembled both at Barre, Vt., and at Plattsburgh, N.Y. The order will create 6,000 jobs in the U.S., including those created at an estimated 73 suppliers in 23 different states. Amtrak says the new trains will reduce Amtrak's operating loss by $150 million a year.

Missing from the order, at least for now, are the two fossil-fuel sets. But the amenities, tilt mechanisms, and safety features of the new coaches will be applicable to any corridor.

The Senate did not take up the Amtrak authorization bill this week, but still can in the coming week. Please tell your Senator to oppose liability amendments from John Breaux (D.-La.).

The House Railroads Subcommittee, chaired by Susan Molinari (R.-N.Y.), held its second hearing on rail safety oversight on March 12. The general topic was equipment and FRA regulations.

Among the witnesses was NARP Executive Director Ross Capon. He said that recommendations made over time by the National Transportation Safety Board to Amtrak should be made to other carriers as well -- an example of which is the disparity in the quality of emergency window markings between Amtrak and some commuter railroads. This type of disparity should be addressed by the car safety standards the FRA is working on now.

The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee held its hearing on 1997 funding for Amtrak and the FRA on March 13. Chairman Frank Wolf (R.-Va.) was very positive on Amtrak overall, and said he supports the Roth-Biden concept of ISTEA flexibility for passenger rail programs. And he said he supports the proposal to give a half cent of the gas tax to Amtrak.

Three cars of the westbound Sunset Limited derailed early on March 11, 10 miles east of Crestview, Fla., but none of the 150 passengers were injured.

For the third time in as many months, the Ohio Rail Development Commission has changed its priorities for development of passenger trains. It now proposes to the state legislature all three projects once on the table -- extension of the Pennsylvanian to Cleveland and Toledo; twice-daily service between Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati; and Cleveland-Akron-Canton commuter rail -- but with lower capital funding amounts for all three.

The second Talgo train set it still touring California. Tomorrow it is at Los Angeles Union Station from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. On March 17 it is displayed at Fullerton, Irvine, Oceanside, and San Diego. Then it will run in revenue service on certain San Diegan trips March 18-22.

Tomorrow, NARP Region 4 meets in Baltimore, Region 7 in Chicago, and Region 8 in Portland. On March 23, Region 6 meets in Detroit and Region 12 in Oakland. March 29-31, Region 5 meets in Savannah. On March 30, Region 3 meets in Scranton, Region 10 in Lincoln, and Region 11 in Phoenix.