Hotline #943 - August 16, 1996

The announcement last week of proposed Amtrak service cuts and additions have drawn a lot of reaction from the media and from NARP members across the country. Particularly hard-hit are NARP members in places such as eastern Oregon and southern Idaho, where bus service is sparse, air service extremely expensive, and highways treacherous in the winter. Even at three days a week, the Pioneer service is very important to them.

NARP has written to all NARP members in Arkansas and Texas urging them to put pressure on their elected officials to keep the Texas Eagle in some form. It appears that one promising alternative -- that of splitting the City of New Orleans at Memphis and sending a section over to Little Rock and Dallas -- was not studied by Amtrak before the decision was made to get rid of the whole train. If there is any chance of saving the Texas Eagle in any form -- and of keeping the populous Dallas-Fort Worth area on the Amtrak map -- going through Memphis may be it. Or perhaps Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer (R.-Tex.) could extract a save-the-Eagle commitment from Amtrak in return for getting the half cent passed; we understand a majority of the Committee's members support the half cent.

Sen. David Pryor (D.-Ark.) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.) have both spoken out against elimination of the Texas Eagle. There may be a hearing on the topic on September 10. Hutchison is the new chairman of the Surface Transportation Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, replacing Trent Lott (R.-Miss.).

NARP also is continuing to ask Amtrak to look at a coach train between Boston and Albany and to continue Sunset Limited service to Orlando and Kissimmee. NARP has asked Amtrak to make it possible for the southbound City of New Orleans to connect with the westbound Sunset Limited, so that Chicago-Houston trips still will be possible.

Enactment in September of the Senate Amtrak capital numbers in H.R.3675, the 1997 DOT funding bill, is extremely important. There is also a chance of passing the Amtrak reauthorization and gas-tax half cent. All of these would create an Amtrak with a stable enough future to be able to plan how to enter new markets, and re-enter old ones.

The Surface Transportation Board released its formal, written, 290-page approval of the merger between the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific on August 12. The merger is scheduled to be complete legally on September 11. Opponents to the merger had to wait for the written document to appear before entering legal challenges.

The Surface Transportation Board also has cut filing fees in the wake of Congressional criticism. One fee is that charged to Amtrak when it wants the Board to review disputes over payments to freight railroads. That fee has been reduced from $102,000 to $150.

Metra will open its new 53-mile North Central line on August 19, from Chicago to Antioch, Ill. It will have four weekday round-trips. It will come close to O'Hare Airport, but passengers will have to take a shuttle bus from the Metra station to reach the monorail, and then take that to the air terminals.

A refurbished area for Amtrak passengers in Toledo Central Union Station opened on July 23. It is at track level, in the former baggage area. The local port authority board, which owns the building and did the refurbishing work, is making plans for the rest of the building. It would like Greyhound to move in, which would be great, but the lease on the current Greyhound location runs for another 12 years.

The Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers quotes recent reports saying that during the Olympics, Atlanta-area levels of ground-level ozone -- that is, the bad kind -- dropped 30%. The decline was due to heavy use of MARTA rail, telecommuting, and staggered work shifts. The association thinks that strengthens the case for commuter rail and the downtown intermodal center.