Hotline #978 - April 18, 1997

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on April 23 on Amtrak's long-term viability and the creation of a dedicated funding source for Amtrak.  The chairman is William Roth (R.-Del.). The witness list includes the General Accounting Office, Amtrak President Tom Downs, NARP Executive Director Ross Capon, Bill Lochte of the American Passenger Rail Coalition and of Bombardier America, and Anthony Padilla of the Transportation Communications Union. Downs also is expected to testify May 7 before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation.

The Texas House of Representatives now expects to vote next week on the loan to Amtrak to save the Texas Eagle. Because of a procedural error, the legislation had to return to the appropriations committee, which again voted for it yesterday.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.) gave a rousing pro-passenger-train speech this week at APTA's Commuter Rail Conference in Dallas. The Dallas News on April 12 published an editorial urging the Texas House to approve the Eagle loan, and the next day, the News published an op ed column by Hutchison under the headline, "Texas needs passenger rail service."

NARP will honor Senator Hutchison next week by presenting her with our George Falcon Golden Spike Award. Also, the Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award will be presented to Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene Molitoris.

Some levees were closed to protect Harwood, N.Dak., from the Sheyenne River, on April 9. That blocks the Empire Builder route between Fargo and Grand Forks, forcing a reroute on the Surrey line, bypassing Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Rugby, which are being served by motor coach. Amtrak hopes to restore normal operations April 21.

Amtrak announced an order for 21 locomotives from General Motors on April 15. They will be of the F59 type used in California, and will be used on Amtrak corridor services in California and the Pacific Northwest, including the Talgo trains. The cost is $46 million, and delivery should be spring 1998.

Amtrak and the developers of Union Station in Kansas City have a preliminary agreement to move Amtrak back into that historic building. Amtrak left in 1985, and moved into a pre-fab building under the adjacent Main Street viaduct. Now a plan to make Union Station into a science museum could include an Amtrak facility in the former drugstore and soda fountain area. Amtrak officials are considering the logistics, as this would put Amtrak's waiting room much further from the tracks than the current station. Amtrak President Tom Downs, who grew up in Kansas City, has been trying to get Amtrak back into the old terminal for a couple of years.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday that Amtrak would like to develop the air rights over a four-acre area of trackage just north of 30th Street Station. Amtrak thinks that with high-speed service in the near future, a hotel would do well at the site, and provide Amtrak with needed revenue.

The Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers reports on a plan by the New Jersey DOT that would reduce train capacity at the passenger train terminal in Atlantic City. That terminal opened only eight years ago, further from downtown than its predecessor, which was torn down this winter. The DOT wants to build a six-lane highway behind the terminal to connect to a controversial highway tunnel and casino development. Not only would that create a major new grade crossing behind the terminal, but it would require shortening the platforms significantly. Such a short-sighted move could make it harder to bring Amtrak trains back to Atlantic City some day.