Hotline #40 - June 26, 1998

The Senate has left for its Independence Day recess, without any progress on a 1999 transportation funding bill. The Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee's mark-up session, which was continually scheduled and postponed throughout June, now cannot happen before July 7. it is still widely believed that Chairman Richard Shelby (R.-Ala.) is planning to zero out or drastically cut Amtrak funding, once again forcing a discussion about whether Amtrak should be kept alive.

Meanwhile, the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Frank Wolf (R.-Va.), may move ahead with a bill of its own the week of July 14. Recess is a good time to remind both your Senators and Representative that Amtrak needs to be fully funded in the transportation funding bills that will start moving in July.

Right before adjourning last night, the Senate confirmed enough new Amtrak board members to make a quorum. These likely will go to President Clinton in China so he can sign them before the June 30 deadline. In that time, without a quorum in the new Amtrak board, the funding provisions in the Amtrak authorization bill would have evaporated. That would have made the appropriations process even tougher. The Senate confirmed Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R.), Meridian (Miss.) Mayor John Robert Smith, and former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis (D.). Additionally, no confirmation is needed for DOT Secretary Rodney Slater.

A Union Pacific spokesman said in a June 22 Journal of Commerce article that the UP has no plans to appeal the Surface Transportation Board decision a month ago to give Amtrak the powers it was seeking to carry express. In fact, the article said, the STB decision has increased interest at railroads such as CSX and Norfolk Southern to cooperate with Amtrak on its express initiative and possibly even get more revenue for themselves.

The Ohio DOT has announced plans for a passenger rail service between Columbus and Cleveland late in 1999 to run in conjunction with a project to expand the number of lanes on I-71. Pending final approval, the state will spend $32 million on facilities and about $3.3 million in annual operating support. The highway, however, will get nearly a half-billion dollars for the ten-year project. The state, Amtrak, railroads, and localities still need to work out details like station location and scheduling. The Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers has argued that the service should be more frequent and extended to Dayton and Cincinnati. Nevertheless, this would be the first passenger train service to Columbus since the National Limited in 1979, and the first between Columbus and Cleveland since 1971.

The Federal Railroad Administration announced yesterday updated track safety regulations. They include new rules for installation and maintenance of welded rail and for more frequent searches for internal rail defects.

There was a breakdown in Empire Corridor service on June 20 that got some press attention. For some reason, Amtrak's 7:45 pm departure from New York to Albany was annulled, and those passengers had to wait for the 8:50 pm departure. However, that train had a crew assigned to it that had less than two hours to go before it would violate the Hours-of-Service rule. When the train got to Hudson, the crew left the train and its 100 passengers behind, telling them to fend for themselves. Only one conductor stayed with the train, and he had to call the local police to keep order on the train.

Amtrak started four new Thruway bus services on June 24. One connects Duluth with the Empire Builder to and from the west at St. Paul. Another connects Green Bay and Manitowoc, Wis., with Chicago. a group of buses connects Wilmington, Wallace, and Goldsboro, N.C., with Silver Service trains at Wilson and Rocky Mount. Another bus connects Eagle, Vail, and Silverthorne, Colo., with the California Zephyr to and from the east at Denver.

Two Thruways were dropped last week. One was between Wenatchee and Ellensburg, Wash.; the other was the service from New York Penn Station to LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. However, that one may be revived if another contractor is found. Finally, a service from Kingston to Newport, R.I., is in the works.