Hotline #72 - February 5, 1999

President Clinton's request for fiscal 2000 is right on target with the $571 million that Amtrak requested and that the Administration promised in Hill testimony a year ago. However, general funds for high-speed rail would be cut sharply -- from $24 million to $12 million. In addition, President Clinton proposed giving high-speed rail $35 million in excess gasoline-tax revenues. We support this, but it will be tough to get because it requires changing TEA-21, under which highways get all such excess gas-tax revenues. Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Chafee (R.-R.I.) publicly opposed any such change on February 1, the day the President's budget came out.

All major non-Amtrak transportation programs would get funding increases under the President's proposal, largely due to the budget firewalls created by TEA-21 for highways and transit. Highways get a 4% increase, transit goes up 13%, and aviation goes up 4%. Vice President Gore released elements of the transit funding proposal last week. It included -- among other things -- money for more double-tracking on the Tri-Rail commuter line in Florida, and money for light-rail projects in places like Orlando, Dallas, Memphis, Newark, San Diego, and Salt Lake City.

Now that the President's budget has been released, Congressional hearings begin. February 10 is for Members of Congress and other witnesses before the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Frank Wolf (R.-Va.). NARP Executive Director Ross Capon will appear then.

The Wolf subcommittee's annual Amtrak hearing will be March 4, with Amtrak President George Warrington, the FRA, and the DOT's Inspector General. DOT Secretary Rodney Slater will testify March 18.

The Amtrak board will meet in Los Angeles next week, and on February 9 they will dedicate a new, $19-million locomotive maintenance building. They will also break ground on a $14-million service inspection facility for passenger cars, which should open in 2001. The locomotive shop replaces a 1930's roundhouse designed to handle steam locomotives.

There will be a dedication ceremony on February 9 at 11:00 am for a renovated facility for Amtrak passengers in Charlottesville, Va. Amtrak has moved out of the crumbling former Union Station and into the adjacent former REA building, which has been fixed up with a new waiting room, ticket office, agent office, baggage room, and crew facilities. After the ceremony, a set of equipment used on the Cardinal will be open for public inspection. The old station is gutted and will be made into a restaurant and offices.

The Baltimore Sun says Amtrak is working with a developer to create a moderately priced hotel in the upper three floors of Baltimore Pennsylvania Station. The hotel would have about 75 rooms, cost $5-6 million, and be done in 12-18 months. By then, high-speed trains would be running on the Northeast Corridor, and a hotel in the train station could become an attractive business destination. The historic commission in Baltimore approved the plans last month. The passenger areas of the building were renovated about 15 years ago, and more work has been going forward. There is a new parking garage and a new light-rail line connecting to downtown and the airport.

The Thruway bus between Fargo, N.Dak., and Winnipeg will be discontinued March 1. The service only began in October as an Amtrak connection, but the operator of that route has decided to drop it completely.

The February 4 St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a story on new Amtrak Reform Council Member Wendell Cox, in which he questions the future of rail passenger service outside the Northeast Corridor and even the St. Louis light-rail line, which most experts regard as highly successful.