Hotline #15 - January 2, 1998

Amtrak will change its fare structure for long-distance trains, starting February 3. The new set-up will resemble the structure already used on the Northeast Corridor. There will no longer be round-trip excursion fares between two given points, but rather a series of one-way fares at various price levels, which will be subjected to yield management. In other words, instead of booking a round-trip ticket between the two points, a passenger will book two one-way tickets. The tickets may carry two different fares, depending on how much each individual train happens to be sold out at the time of the booking.

Amtrak Intercity is offering free travel for any companion to a ticketed passenger on certain routes, from January 5 through February 28. These routes are Chicago-Detroit, Chicago-Port Huron, Chicago-Carbondale, Chicago-Quincy, Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City, Three Rivers, Pennsylvanian, and Texas Eagle -- including the fourth frequency to Los Angeles starting next month. On the same dates, a companion can pay half-fare on the Lake Shore Limited.

Amtrak West has a similar deal on California corridor trains and their connecting buses -- a companion travels free from January 12 through March 15.

Through the end of January, students at over 20 major northeastern universities get a 10% discount. If they have a Student Advantage card, they can add that to the 15% discount they already get. On the Vermonter, there is an indefinite program allowing a child to travel free with an adult for trips to, from, or within Vermont.

The mammoth filing by the purchasers of Conrail in mid-December held a few items of direct interest to railroad passengers. CSX and Norfolk Southern, according to the Journal of Commerce, continue to negotiate with Amtrak over freight levels on the Northeast Corridor, but urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject Amtrak's proposal for a five-year oversight of that plan. Amtrak made that request because of substandard CSX service.

They also rebutted requests to increase passenger train speeds in New York and Michigan, and claims of substandard service by Virginia Railway Express. The buyers said that requests for better passenger service and more routes from New Jersey and Illinois commuter authorities were without merit, and that they did not wish to sell Conrail's Port Jervis line to Metro North.

The king of Belgium on December 10 opened 44 miles of high-speed line south and west of Brussels. This allows Brussels-Paris times on the Thalys trains to be cut from 3:00 hours to 2:25 hours; and Brussels-London on the Eurostar trains from 3:11 hours to 2:36. London services were increased, and a new Paris-Cologne service started over the new route.

An unmanned Japanese maglev on December 24 achieved a speed of 342 mph, according to the Central Japan Railway Company. The vehicle earlier in December reached 329 mph in runs both with and without passengers. That is faster than the rail record set by a French TGV in 1990, which was 320 mph.

Groundbreaking was scheduled to take place in December on a high-speed rail line linking the northern and southern parts of Taiwan. The consortium selected by the government includes companies such as GEC Alsthom and Siemens, which respectively build the French TGV's and German ICE's.

Another Asian high-speed line, in South Korea, is facing new difficulties and will be reviewed by the new government. Construction on it began in 1992, and it is about one-fifth completed. There have been several delays, with completion now contemplated for 2005.