Hotline #958 - November 29, 1996

The top action request for passenger-rail advocates is to write to President Clinton in support of fully funding Amtrak's fiscal 1998 budget request, and for earmarking one-half-cent of the federal gas tax for intercity passenger-rail capital investments.

Amtrak's northbound Fast Mail derailed November 23 as it was leaving a swing-span bridge over the Hackensack River in Secaucus, N.J. The train sideswiped the southbound Carolinian on the other track, and partly rolled down an embankment into a marsh knee-deep with muddy water. No one was hurt on the Carolinian and it did not derail. On the Fast Mail, 34 people were injured, none seriously. The locomotives of the Fast Mail, plus a baggage car and a mail car, went down the slope. The first three coaches remained upright and coupled, but jackknifed partway down the slope. The remaining four coaches and other mail cars remained upright but derailed on the track.

The cause of the derailment is unclear, but since it was so near the swing-span bridge, investigators were looking at the last time the bridge was opened and whether the locking mechanism was fully engaged when the bridge was closed. Still, a southbound New Jersey Transit train had crossed the bridge only ten minutes before the accident, which was at 6:33 am. The busy line, which is the jugular of the Northeast Corridor, was closed another 27 hours, when the southbound track reopened at 9:45 am on November 24. Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains were disrupted in the meantime, with passengers advised to switch to PATH trains in Newark.

Standard consists simplified life for Amtrak passengers in the wake of the derailment as, for example, the northbound Silver Meteor turned on November 23 in Philadelphia to become the southbound Silver Star with only two hours' delay.

Officials in Ohio are waiting for word whether $2.4 million in state funds can be used to create a railroad station in Akron. That city is one of four former Broadway Limited stops that the newly extended Three Rivers is skipping. The station also would be used by Greyhound, transit buses, the Cuyahoga Scenic Railway, and future commuter trains to Cleveland. Officials should hear back from the state by December 31. The station used by Amtrak for five years was a modified trailer at Quaker Square and was removed when the Broadway was discontinued.

The Journal of Commerce reports some very bad news indeed in the area of bigger trucks. It says the rail and trucking industries are close to a truce in their years-long battle, and that the railroads would agree to bigger, multiple-trailer trucks. The railroads would also stop contributing to CRASH, which is an anti-big-truck safety group. CRASH was instrumental five years ago in preventing the spread of bigger trucks during the formulation of ISTEA. Any agreement resulting in bigger trucks would be bad news for the environment and for public safety. CRASH, for its part, says its mission is unchanged and will continue its work even without railroad funding.

The president of the Association of American Railroads, Edwin L. Harper, announced he will resign in January. He has served AAR since 1992.

An official of the state-owned North Carolina Railroad has charged that is tenant, Norfolk Southern, has nearly stopped maintenance on the track. The North Carolina Railroad owns the track used by Norfolk Southern, including the Amtrak route from Charlotte to Greensboro, Raleigh, and Selma. The two parties are involved in a lease dispute. Sam Hunt, president of the North Carolina Railroad and former state DOT secretary, said the reduced maintenance may threaten passenger safety, but Norfolk Southern says it is still doing safety-related maintenance.

VIA Rail has resumed service with the borrowed IC3 Flexliners, now running between Ottawa and Toronto. They had been withdrawn temporarily due to problems with track circuits related to signals and grade-crossing gates.