Hotline #49 - August 28, 1998

Hurricane Bonnie disrupted Amtrak service even before it hit land August 26. All Silver service between New York and Florida was cancelled, plus the Auto Train, the Carolinian south of Washington, and all trains between Richmond and Newport News. Typically, hurricanes such as Bonnie that hit North Carolina and Tidewater Virginia have a bad impact on CSX signals and grade crossing devices. When those items are damaged or lose power, those trains that do run have to creep along at slow speeds and would be hours late reaching their terminal.

CSX reopened its mail line between Richmond and Florence to limited traffic yesterday, subject to delay. Some Amtrak Silver service was run, but not Auto Train. Other trains were to be restored by today, except for between Richmond and Newport News.

Severe flooding at Del Rio, Tex., caused the Texas Eagle on August 26 to be rerouted directly from El Paso to Fort Worth, by way of Odessa. The trip took 16 hours, counting waiting for crews and pilots, and the train arrived at Fort Worth five hours early. Passengers that missed their stops were bussed to Fort Worth. The Eagle was expected to be back to normal today.

Amtrak will honor tickets from Northwest Airlines in the event of a strike. Amtrak has added two coaches to the Empire Builder between Chicago and St. Paul. Other markets that might be affected are Chicago to Detroit, Memphis, and the Pacific Northwest.

The first of the high-tech grade crossings on the northern Northeast Corridor was dedicated on August 26, on School Street in Mystic, Conn. The crossing had actually been placed into service on July 20. It features gating on all four crossing quadrants and an advance warning system that notifies approaching trains of any problems at the crossing, including obstructions on the crossing. If successful, the technology cold be used elsewhere. The School Street crossing cost $100,000, with the Federal Railroad Administration and Connecticut DOT splitting the cost 80-20.

Amtrak announced this week that it has been carrying time-sensitive express traffic since April for Swift Transportation Company, which is the third-largest publicly held truckload motor carrier in the country. A Swift official called Amtrak a viable alternative to over-the-road transport by providing dependable two-day service at a significant cost savings for traffic that would not otherwise move by rail. More than 400 RoadRailer shipments for Swift have been handled between Chicago, Philadelphia, and Albany. The current weekly average is 40, though that could go to 60 as shippers enter the peak shipping season from now through November. Swift is also considering expanding to other Amtrak routes.

The Canadian Auto Workers and the Canadian National Railway reached an agreement in their contract talks last weekend. If approved, the settlement would forestall any threat of a strike in October that would affect Amtrak services in Ontario and Michigan.

Canadian National is selling a 100-mile segment of its route from Georgetown, Ont., to Guelph, Kitchener, Stratford, and London to short line holding company Rail-Tex. This line is the route of Amtrak's Chicago-Toronto International, and of VIA Rail's Huron. Both trains will continue normal operations.

A citizen protest blocked the tracks at Port-Daniel on the route of VIA Rail's Chaleur on the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec province, on August 22. They were protesting VIA's withdrawal of checked baggage service at five Gaspe stations. After VIA chartered a bus to get around the protest, the protesters blocked the bus, too, at New Carlisle. They said they would be back again until the checked baggage service is restored.

No word yet on when the NBC news segment on Amtrak will be broadcast. It could still possibly be next week.