Hotline #3 - October 10, 1997

The southbound Silver Star struck a truck at a crossing four miles north of Savannah yesterday morning and derailed, injuring 12. CSX had more than 20 minutes' advance warning that the line was blocked, but failed to warn the Amtrak train. CSX dispatchers in Jacksonville apparently confused the Silver Star's line from Columbia with the nearby line from Charleston. Within hours of the accident, CSX agreed to slow down all trains on its system when a crossing problem is reported, to post an 800 number at all CSX crossings, and to assign an individual code number to each crossing.

The conferees to H.R.2169, the 1998 transportation appropriations bill, have finished their work. Both the House and Senate approved it yesterday, and it awaits the President's signature.

For Amtrak, the operating grant is $202 million, which is $43 million below the Amtrak request, the same as the Administration request, and $1 million more than in the House and Senate bills. The conferees also provided the full $142 million for mandatory retirement payments.

In the area of capital, there is $199 million for general system -- the House bill had $260 million and the Senate zero. For the Northeast Corridor, there is $238 million -- the same as the House bill, and $11 million less than the Senate bill. Another $12 million goes to the Penn-Farley project.

However, there is language specifying that if Amtrak gets the $2.3 billion in capital from the budget agreement, the $199 million for Amtrak general-system capital would be deducted from it. By contrast, this year's budget resolution assumed the $2.3 billion would be in addition to regular appropriations.

We thank all those who worked on the critical appropriations issue for their hard work.

The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that Amtrak could have prevented the derailment of the Fast Mail last November 23 on the Hackensack River Bridge at Secaucus, N.J. Investigators said problems in the design, materials, and operation of the swing bridge made the connecting rail plates susceptible to fatigue cracks. Amtrak knew of the cracks ten months before the derailment, but rather than replace them right away, welded them -- even though the welder warned that would not be adequate. NTSB vice chairman Robert Francis said of Amtrak, "There seems to be something of a pattern of doing things not in the interest of safety, but in the interest of facilitating traffic or reducing expenses." Amtrak admitted the repair problem and said they have taken steps to prevent future such accidents.

The Women's Transportation Seminar of Philadelphia gave its "Employer of the Year" award to Amtrak's Northeast Corridor business unit. The award recognizes the unit's "support and promotion of women in the workforce." Amtrak Northeast said that women hold half of its top positions, including the only female railroad chief engineer anywhere in the world, Alison Conway Smith.

A major hurdle to better access to New York's Kennedy Airport was eliminated last week, when Mayor Giuliani dropped his opposition to an elevated light-rail line that would link the Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica with the airport. It would also connect with three city subway lines. In return, Governor Pataki agreed to pay up to $300 million of the total $1.5 billion cost that the city had refused to pay. Mayor Giuliani was holding out for a long, 22-mile loop that would also go to LaGuardia and Manhattan. The project still needs approval from the Federal Transit Administration.

The centennial of the opening of the Loop in downtown Chicago is October 12. The structure, originally called the Union Elevated Railroad, opened October 12, 1897. To commemorate the event, the Chicago Transit Authority will run vintage equipment around the Loop all day.