Hotline #722 - September 2, 2011

Consensus seems to be building in Washington for a short term reauthorization of federal surface transportation law that is currently set to expire on September 30.

“I’m calling on Congress as soon as they come back to pass a clean extension of the surface transportation bill along with a clean extension of the [Federal Aviation Administration] bill,” said President Barack Obama.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-FL), eager to push his proposal for a six-year reauthorization that would drastically cut funding levels and reorder the structure of transportation programs, had been a likely hurdle for any short-term extension.  Mica, however, publically signed onto the idea this week (albeit, somewhat grudgingly).

“I will agree to one additional highway program extension, this being the eighth of the overdue transportation reauthorization,” the Chairman said in a statement, though he refused to commit to an FAA authorization.

Mica will be a key player in overcoming House Republican opposition to extending the gasoline tax which funds the federal highway and public transit program, and is also set to expire at the end of September.

Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is also on board.  She revealed yesterday that her staff is currently working on a four-month surface transportation extension.

“[Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)] has reached out to the Republicans, and he’s absolutely bringing this to the floor as soon as the committee does its work,” Boxer said. “He’s committed to bringing this to the floor if we don’t have unanimous consent, because this is one of the biggest jobs programs that we have.”


U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Texas transportation officials, and railroad industry leaders met this week to announce $50 million for rail in the Lone Star State, creating more than 900 jobs, increasing rail capacity and reducing delays, and improving public safety.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Texas a $15 million high-speed rail grant to begin engineering and environmental work on the Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston high-speed rail corridor.  The U.S. DOT also announced $34 million for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grant directed at the Forth Worth-area Tower 55, one of the busiest—and most congested—rail hubs in the U.S.  More than 100 freight and passenger trains passing through the intersection everyday, and hundreds of thousands of hours of productivity are lost every year due to congestion.

“These projects are part of President Obama’s bold vision for investing in freight and passenger rail projects that will create jobs and grow our economy over the long-term by moving people and goods more quickly and efficiently than ever before,” said Secretary Ray LaHood.  “Through our robust public-private partnership with state, local and industry partners on the Tower 55 project, we’re eliminating a longstanding bottleneck for freight rail, creating capacity to handle future rail demand as our population grows, and strengthening the foundation for economic development across the region.”

The TIGER II grant will be supplemented with funds from the City of Fort Worth, the Texas Department of Transportation, BNSF Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad.  Workers will install new signaling, bridge upgrades, a third track line, and improved street and pedestrian crossings.  These upgrades will increase capacity by 30%, saving more than 100,000 hours in delays and eliminating more than 1.9 million tons of carbon emissions from idling locomotives each and every year.

“Tower 55 is a crossroads of the North American continent,” said Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).  “This project will allow the Tower to go from a legacy chokepoint to the model of a freight and passenger checkpoint, a facility featuring efficiency, safety, and convenience.”

Although Hurricane Irene was mercifully weakened by the time it hit the Atlantic Seaboard, the storm was ferocious enough to claim dozens of lives (with death tolls still uncertain), cause an estimated $7-$13 billion in damages, and shout down transportation throughout the East Coast..

Although Amtrak had originally hoped to continue Northeast Corridor trains north of D.C. throughout the storm, railroad officials made the decision on Saturday, August 27, that they would have to cancel all Sunday service for the safety of passengers.

Transit and commuter systems were faced with a variety of damage.  New York City’s subways managed to avoid catastrophic damage from flooding—a 1999 storm of similar magnitude paralyzed the city’s subways—reopening (with some delays) for the Monday morning commute.  Other commuter systems weren’t so lucky, with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) reporting that 17 of its railcars were damaged by flooding, and is still unable to run trains south of Trenton.  New Jersey Transit had restored full service between Trenton and New York, as of Wednesday.

Amtrak crews have worked all week to clear the rights-of-way of debris and restore full power to the corridor.  By Tuesday Amtrak had managed to restore Acela Express service between New York and Boston, Downeaster Service between Portland and Boston, and Keystone Service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg only.  Northeast Regional trains won’t be restored to full service until Saturday, September 3 when trains once again run between Richmond and Newport News, Virginia.  Full Northeast Corridor service will be restored Sunday, September 4, with the return of Empire Service to and from Niagara Falls.


The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration over a provision of the Passenger Rail Rehabilitation and Improvement Act that they claim gives Amtrak improper “authority to promulgate binding rules governing the conduct of its contractual partners, the freight railroads.”

The issue seems to hinge on a provision which empowers Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration to jointly develop new—or improve existing—“metrics and minimum standards for measuring the performance and service quality of intercity passenger train operations.”

Many of Amtrak’s trains run on freight railroad owned track.  Amtrak plays a key role in helping to determine whether freight railroad dispatchers are giving Amtrak’s passenger trains dispatching preference, as required by federal law.

As of this afternoon, the DOT has declined to issue a public response.

“Amtrak completely supports the policies and priorities for passenger rail service improvement enacted by the Congress in PRIIA, including those of PRIIA Sec. 207” said Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari.  “Amtrak has no comment on the legal issues raised by the AAR lawsuit.”


Amtrak announced August 31 that it is stepping up security for the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.  Amtrak security will increase screenings of passengers and baggage; expand the patrols of K-9 explosive detection teams; and expand police patrols at stations, on trains, and at critical infrastructure points.

“Amtrak is committed to identifying the most likely security threats and we are focusing our efforts on defeating or deterring the most dangerous and likely threats,” said Amtrak Vice President and Chief of Police John O’Connor.

Amtrak—while not directly affected by the terrorist attacks of 9/11—provided a critical intercity transportation alternative in the aftermath of the deadly incident, moving passengers while airplanes were grounded by government order.  Intelligence gathered from U.S. special forces assault on Osama bin Laden’s compound in May of this year, however, revealed that Al Qaeda leadership had considered attacking Amtrak’s rail network.  This disclosure led to a reexamination of Amtrak’s security measures.

Read more about the advancements in Amtrak Security over the last 10 years [PDF].


Amtrak’s California Zephyr was involved in a collision with a construction vehicle that was partially obstructing the track near Benkelman, Nebraska (not far from the border with Kansas and Colorado) on August 26.

Train 6, the eastbound California Zephyr, hit construction crane at a grain elevator that was obstructing the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway-owned tracks.  The train’s two locomotives derailed, along with five passenger cars.  The remainder of the ten-car train remained upright and on track.  No serious harm was reported among the 175 passengers or the train’s 17 crew members, although a number of passengers were transported to a hospital to treat minor injuries.

Daily service between San Francisco Bay Area and Denver is set to resume this weekend, effective with the departure of eastbound Train 6 from Emeryville, California (on September 3), and the westbound Train 5 from Denver (on September 4).

Passengers who bought tickets for canceled trains are eligible for refunds without fee or penalty, or can rebook for future travel.

Direct train service between Denver and Chicago is still suspended between Fort Morgan, Colorado, and Burlington, Iowa, until late-September while BNSF crews make repairs to track damaged by the massive flood damage near Omaha (unrelated to the derailment).

Amtrak announced today that they have worked out an agreement with Greyhound to ferry passengers between Denver and Raton, New Mexico via motor coach, with the Southwest Chief connecting Raton to Chicago (layover required).  Amtrak is temporarily extending what is normally summer-only staffing at Raton during this service disruption.


The Washington Post published a video piece about private rail car ownership, and the rare lifestyle it affords.

You can find the accompanying September 1 article here.


Myanmar officials announced this week that work on an ambitious high-speed rail link between Myanmar and China could begin as soon as this winter.

The rail corridor would run from the Chinese province of Yunnan southeast to the Burmese port town of Kyauk Phyu on the Bay of Bengal, extending 1,210 miles (1,950 kilometers) and roughly shadowing the Sino-Burmese gas pipeline.  Trains would reach top speeds of 125 mph (200 km/h).

“We will start the construction of Muse-Kyauk Phyu railway in the coming December if detailed discussions on the agreement are completed,” Aung Min, Burmese minister for rail transportation, told the Deutscher Press-Agentur service.  “The whole project will take five years and cost about US $20 billion. China will bear the cost and the agreement will be based on BOT (build, operate and transfer) for 50 years.”

While China’s domestic high-speed ambitions have been put on hold following investigations of a deadly high-speed rail accident in July, Chinese officials have been pushing Myanmar to clear the way for construction of the line.  The pipeline carries around $20 million worth of Saudi oil per day, and China is looking to increase its strategic value as a commodities corridor.


Travelers’ Advisory:

Due to Tropical Depression 13, Amtrak will be unable to originate the Sunset Limited from New Orleans on Tuesday, September 6.

Tropical Depression 13—which is currently moving north through the Gulf of Mexico—is predicted to cause high winds that will make the Huey P. Long Bridge impassible to rail traffic.