Hotline #37 - June 5, 1998

The meeting of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee to approve -- or mark-up -- a 1999 transportation funding bill is now expected on June 9. Please keep the pressure on your Senators to fully fund Amtrak.

Germany suffered its worst railway accident in over 50 years on June 3, with 96 confirmed dead at this time and hundreds injured, when an ICE high-speed train derailed. The accident did not take place on one of the new high-speed lines, but rather on a conventional rail line 35 miles north of Hanover. The ICE, which travels at 175 mph on high-speed lines, was traveling at 125 mph on its way from Munich to Hamburg.

The latest news has a report that a piece of a wheel was found nearly four miles back from the accident site. The train rolled along until it reached a set of switches under a road bridge. The front part of the train went through and separated from the rest of the train, but the rear several cars derailed and jackknifed, bringing down the road bridge on top of the train. German Railways imposed a temporary 100-mph speed limit on its trains that was lifted at noon today. They withdrew 60 first-generation ICE trains for inspection, but 30 are now back in normal service.

This is the first time passengers were killed on any high-speed train service since the first bullet train began operation in Japan in 1964. There also have been no Metroliner passenger fatalities in 30 years of operation.

Also, standard American trains are designed to a much higher strength standard than European trains. For example, cars in the U.S. can take 800,000 pounds of pressure from the ends -- "buff strength" -- but European trains only take 460,000 pounds. The American Flyers being built for the Northeast Corridor are designed to take 800,000 pounds at the vestibules, but also have an inner shell that can take 1.2 million pounds, and can hold the weight of another car on top. They will also have airline-style, enclosed luggage racks. News accounts in the U.S. have done a good job of emphasizing rail's good safety record, and NARP gave many interviews this week.

The American Passenger Rail Coalition presented an award to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R.-Miss.) last night. In accepting, he said the Senate last year had a choice to make about whether we needed a nationwide passenger rail system. His positive answer to that question was based on conversations with Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith, a lot of experts, and just ordinary people. He also mentioned talking with Sen. Connie Mack (R.-Fla.) just after Mack enjoyed a good trip on the Auto Train.

Thruway bus service is available as of June 1 connecting the Texas Eagle in both directions to Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.

In another provision of the new TEA-21 bill that we haven't touched on yet, conferees agreed to repeal 1.25 cents of the fuel tax paid by railroads, including Amtrak, effective November 1, 1998. However, a House provision to repeal the remaining 4.3 cents was rejected, so railroads will continue indefinitely to be the only mode paying fuel taxes for deficit reduction.

The Great American Station Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation on May 18 announced their choices for the "Top Ten Most Endangered Stations." Six of them are active Amtrak stations -- Camden, S.C.; Jesup, Ga.; Berlin, Conn.; Las Vegas, N.Mex.; Mattoon, Ill.; and Sandpoint, Ida. Two others are Amtrak stops, but with no access to the station building -- Bangor, Mich., and Needles, Cal. Finally, two more have no Amtrak service at all -- Central Terminal in Buffalo, N.Y., and the empty concrete shell that once was Union Station in Gary, Ind.