Hotline #12 - December 12, 1997

Amtrak President Tom Downs resigned unexpectedly on December 10. Yesterday's Washington Post reported that he was "apparently pushed out during a two-day meeting of Amtrak's board." The article discussed how sources said that the board was unhappy with Downs' handling of the contract negotiations with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes earlier this fall. At that time, the Clinton Administration asked the board to conduct the negotiations instead of Amtrak management. The deal that resulted angered Congressional Republicans because it required Congress to raise Amtrak funding, or face another strike threat, according to the Post.

NARP President Jack Martin said in the Post, "I'm surprised at the timing. I hate to see the continuity interrupted when some of the building blocks have now been put into place." He was referring to the successful passage of the Amtrak reauthorization and access to new Roth capital funding. Martin told the New York Times that Downs deserved praise for working tirelessly to put Amtrak on a stable footing. Downs' resignation took effect immediately.

It is hard to see what the board has accomplished. Downs, even in private, spoke enthusiastically about the new labor agreement and its productivity features. Because Downs retained credibility with key Hill Republicans, he presumably could have been the agreement's most effective salesman on the Hill, assuming of course President Clinton includes the requisite funding in his budget.

The board named George Warrington, who is the current president of the Northeast Corridor Business Unit, as acting president. Interestingly, the reauthorization contains no drop-dead date for the old board. It simply says failure to have a four-member quorum of the new board by July 1 would undo the bill's funding levels, although it would have no impact on the Roth capital money.

Stan Bagley will be acting president of the Northeast Corridor. Lee Bullock has been named president of the Intercity unit; he had been its acting president. Ron Scolaro will move from Amtrak West to take over as vice president of National Operations, a position formerly held by Bob VanderClute, who is now a vice president with Parsons Brinckerhoff.

A dedication ceremony was held yesterday at the intermodal station in Meridian, Miss. It incorporates parts of the old rail station. Today, the station hosted a ceremony of a different sort. Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith was married there, and the couple left for their honeymoon on the Crescent. Smith has been an extremely active and effective voice for a national passenger rail system for several years. He got awarded NARP's George Falcon Golden Spike Award in 1995.

Amtrak is restoring the Three Rivers stop at Fostoria, O., with the trains that originate in New York and Chicago on December 14.

Amtrak last month added more Colorado Thruway bus service. Buses to and from Pueblo and Colorado Springs meet the California Zephyr at Denver. That's in addition to Zephyr bus service to Cheyenne and Laramie, and Chief bus service via Colorado Springs and Pueblo, which began running earlier this year.

A second route on the Baltimore light rail system opened December 6. In addition to the current Central line, now called the Blue Line, there is a Yellow Line that shares much of the same route. However, the Yellow Line serves new stations on both ends -- Penn Station in the north, connecting with Amtrak and MARC trains; and BWI Airport in the south at the new international terminal, which is physically adjacent to the rest of the terminal. The light rail line does not serve the BWI Northeast Corridor rail station, which is linked with the airport by free shuttle bus.

The Oregon State Police at Portland Union Station recently thought an Amtrak passenger's teddy bear was unusually heavy, according to the Journal of Commerce, and discovered 15 pounds of narcotics inside of it, worth an estimated $600,000. They arrested a 19-year-old man who was traveling on the Coast Starlight from San Jose to Seattle.