Hotline #41 - July 2, 1998

Senators are still on alert for a likely meeting of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee on July 7, to approve a 1999 transportation funding bill. The chairman of the Subcommittee is Richard Shelby (R.-Ala.).

If that meeting takes place, the full Senate Appropriations Committee will take up the new bill on July 9. The House returns to work July 14, so that is the earliest that its Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee can take up its bill.

Despite the funding from the 1997 Taxpayers Relief Act, the consequences for the national passenger network of eliminating or sharply cutting the requested $621 million would be serious. Amtrak Acting President George Warrington said in today's Washington Post that it "could squander the nation's multibillion [dollar] investment in passenger rail service, abandon the promise of a break-even Amtrak when it is finally within reach, and jeopardize the country's railroad system."

Your work with Senators on Amtrak funding is helping. One of the reasons Chairman Shelby has had to postpone the funding bill is that he has been hearing from pro-Amtrak Senators.

There's still time to ask your Senators to tell their leaders that they strongly support the $621 million for requested by Amtrak and the Clinton Administration, and the redefinition of capital to allow maintenance expenses. Republicans should tell that to Senators Lott, Nickles, Stevens, and Shelby. Democrats should tell Senators Daschle, Byrd, and Lautenberg. The Capitol switchboard is 202/224-2121.

The Amtrak Reform Council's second public meeting is July 6, 9:00 am to 12:00 noon in Washington at 400 North Capitol St., N.W., in room 223.

A CSX freight train derailment the evening of June 29, west of the Amtrak station in Alexandria, Va., disrupted Amtrak and VRE service the rest of that day and part of the next morning. Before that situation could stabilize, a water main break in southwest Washington early the morning of June 30 disrupted VRE and Amtrak services again.

A tornado derailed an Illinois Central freight train at Tolono, Ill., on June 29, disrupting Amtrak services. Passengers on the Illini were bussed around the area between Champaign and Mattoon. The City of New Orleans was first detoured from Chicago to Mattoon by way of Watseka, Sidney, and Sullivan; then between Carbondale and Chicago by way of St. Louis and Springfield.

Union Pacific told the Surface Transportation Board that service recovery efforts on its most congested routes slipped last week. Systemwide train speeds slowed 5% to below 14 mph, which is as bad as at the height of UP's service crisis last year. Sunset and Eagle on-time performance is so bad that Bill Pollard, chairman of the Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization, wrote asking Union Pacific Chairman Richard Davidson to intervene personally.

The German Railways resumed a normal schedule June 30, after replacing almost all the wheels on the 59 first-generation ICE train sets. One of those trains was involved in the catastrophic wreck of June 3, in which a broken wheel is suspected as the cause. Since then, German passengers have experienced numerous train cancellations, overcrowded conditions, and delays of up to several hours.

Lobbyist Edward Hamberger will become the new president of the Association of American Railroads on July 15. He is a former Reagan DOT official.