Hotline #931 - May 24, 1996

Good news! -- The Senate yesterday passed the Roth Amendment as part of the Senate budget resolution. The amendment was the Sense of the Senate Resolution stating that the Senate believes there ought to be a dedicated funding source for Amtrak, as outlined in S.1395. This is a big step forward toward actual passage of the Amtrak half cent. The vote was 57-43. Thanks to every one of you who contacted your Senators -- it really made a difference.

Some Senators who are friends of Amtrak and transit went out on a limb to support this amendment. They were under tremendous pressure from the organized transit community to oppose the half cent, even though it has adequate features in it protecting transit programs. These Senators deserve extra thanks for expressing their support for Amtrak's survival.

The House voted on May 21 to repeal temporarily the 4.3-cent gas tax, through December. Tom Foglietta (D.-Pa.) was blocked from offering an amendment to divert the 4.3 cents to the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund.

The DOT's next ISTEA regional forum is at New York on June 7 on the 43rd floor of One World Trade Center. Regional issues will be discussed in the morning and national Intercity Passenger Needs in the first afternoon panel. Panelists will include Florida DOT Secretary Ben Watts, Ross Capon of NARP, Frank Barry of ESPA, and Amtrak Northeast Chief Executive Officer George Warrington. Another panel will have local commuter rail executives. Audience questions and comments will be at 11:45 am and 4:00 pm. Because of its location, this meeting requires a security clearance -- so if you plan to attend, call 212/264-8162 as soon as possible. The next forum is at Tysons Corner, Va., on June 12 at 1:00 pm, at the Sheraton Premier Hotel, on the topic of Safety.

The May 27 edition of U.S. News and World Report contains a long article on rail safety, written in a way to confuse readers as to the size of the problem and suggesting no solution to the problem. Many gory, color photographs accompanied the piece. Among the many faults in the story is the statement that while only 175 people died in airplane accidents in 1995, over 1,100 people died in "railroad accidents." But U.S. News does a poor job of explaining how many of them were grade-crossing deaths, trespassers, etc. In fact, no railroad passengers died that year. The relative risk of driving cars is never mentioned. Also, in a discussion of grade crossings accidents, the possibility that motorists could be more careful at crossings is never raised. Certainly, rail safety can be improved, but progress will not be made through sensationalist journalism.

A related story on the ABC-TV show PrimeTime Live on May 22 was somewhat better. It started out by explaining that automobiles are a much greater threat to safety than either trains or airplanes, and ended by noting that Amtrak has already made the safety improvements now being recommended for commuter trains.

The schedule over the entire Sunset Limited route changes soon, as trains leaving Los Angeles and Miami on June 2 start by-passing Phoenix.

Construction began May 21 on the renovation of Central Station in Memphis. The project will be complete late next year. The City of New Orleans will continue using it in the meanwhile. This project, in one of Amtrak's worst big-city stations, is as long over due as it is welcome.

Amtrak will add extra Northeast Corridor trains for the June 1 "Stand for Children" rally in Washington.