Hotline #980 - May 2, 1997

There are more co-sponsors to H.R.1437, the House version of the Amtrak half-cent bill, bringing the total as of April 30 to 19. We need more, however, Passage of H.R.1437 is vital to there being any intercity passenger trains in our future. Call your Representative today!

For the record, here are the 19 who are already co-sponsors -- Castle (Del.), Johnson (Conn.), Cardin (Md.), McGovern (Mass.), Neal (Mass.), Olver (Mass.), Kennedy (R.I.), Sanders (Vt.), Boehlert (N.Y.), Serrano (N.Y.), Manton (N.Y.), Slaughter (N.Y.), Borski (Pa.), Lewis (Ga.), Bachus (Ala.), LaHood (Ill.), Rush (Ill.), Bereuter (Neb.), and DeFazio (Ore.).

The bill in the Texas House of Representatives to allow the Texas Eagle loan to go through, S.B.1706, was blocked April 30 by a point of order raised by Representative Grusendorf of Arlington. This means the Appropriations Committee must pass the bill again. The bill is not expected to reach the House floor again before May 6. If the House does approve the bill, it should be acceptable to the Senate, since it is tougher on Amtrak than the version the Senate passed earlier.

Texas residents should call their state legislators right away. The capitol switchboard, 512/463-4630, can be used to reach any office. They should tell their legislators to urge the House Appropriations Committee to send the bill back to the full House quickly, and to vote for it in the full House. Also, tell senators to pass the bill quickly when it reaches the Senate.

Amtrak and the State of Massachusetts announced April 28 that an agreement had been reached to keep the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited running beyond May 10. The state will provide a mail and express facility just east of the Springfield Amtrak station.

There will be Talgo train demonstration runs from Los Angeles to Las Vegas May 5, 6, and 7, using the set normally assigned to the Seattle-Eugene Cascadia. That train is running with Superliners from April 30 to May 10, except that the Portland-Eugene segment will run with the IC-3 Flexliner from May 10 to 18.

It appears that Norfolk Southern will be taking over Conrail's freight rights on the Northeast Corridor, if the pending break-up of Conrail is approved. Norfolk Southern said in a wire story last month that it is talking with Amtrak about running intermodal, truck-competitive freight traffic on the Corridor, with Amtrak getting some of the revenues.

May 11 timetables are starting to appear in stations. A highlight of the Northeast timetable is restoration of food service to NortheastDirect trains that run only between Washington and New York. As an economy measure, food service was eliminated on those trains -- including those running at meal times -- in April 1996.

Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson is talking to Canadian Pacific and Amtrak officials about a commuter service from Milwaukee west to Oconomowoc and Watertown on the Empire Builder route, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (April 30). Thompson also will meet soon with Amtrak President Tom Downs about renewing the contract for existing Hiawatha service. The new service would be operated as an extension of the Hiawathas as an effort to relieve road congestion during a two-year repaving of I-94. Thompson told the paper that the Canadian Pacific was "very reluctant" and "not happy" about the proposal, but he is determined to have it running this year.

The Northeast Corridor was shut down for a while yesterday morning on the east side of Baltimore, after a CSX accident on a nearby track. A tank car in the CSX train carrying hydrochloric acid ruptured, emitting a dangerous gas cloud that shut down the Amtrak line, along with I-895 and US 40.