Hotline #93 - July 2, 1999

Sen. Max Cleland (D.-Ga.) is the newest co-sponsor of Senate bill S.1144, which would let states spend TEA-21 dollars on intercity passenger rail. We need more Senators as co-sponsors!

The Senate, embroiled in various controversies, is unlikely to get to its transportation appropriations bill before July 19. Controversy relating to S.1143 continues over the attempt by Subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby (R.-Ala.) to take some transit money from California and New York and spread it around to the other states. The Senate bill does include the full $571 million Amtrak requested.

The House-passed bill likewise has the $571 million but also the full capital spending flexibility Amtrak sought. The Senate bill is silent on that issue, so the House-Senate conference will have to settle that point.

There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour for invited guests and dignitaries on June 29 for the first Acela train set to enter Washington, D.C. The event, which was attended by NARP staff, was held at the newly completed maintenance building in Ivy City. It was our first close-up look at the new high-speed train. We were able to inspect one Business class coach and one locomotive cab. This train is very sleek and has some wonderful amenities. There was a lot of press coverage, and the New York Times quoted Scott Leonard of NARP saying, "I always felt that if we could get something like Acela up and running in the United States, and it was seen to be attractive and useful, other regions in the country would notice and say to themselves, 'Why can't we have it?'"

The north and southbound Silver Palms partially derailed after colliding yesterday at about 3:00 am, just west of Jacksonville, Fla. Eight people were slightly injured, and four locomotives and seven cars derailed. Apparently, as the northbound train was moving into a siding at 14 mph, the southbound train ran a red signal at 55 mph and struck the side of a locomotive on the northbound train. An investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board told reporters that the southbound engineer radioed this message, "I made a bad mistake. I made a bad judgment." The tracks, also used by the Sunset Limited, were supposed to reopen today.

Amtrak announced yesterday that it agreed to settle a race discrimination lawsuit filed by black management employees and applicants for management positions. The terms still need to be approved in federal court, but Amtrak would create an $8-million fund for the employees who sued, and would make changes in its personnel procedures. At the same time, Amtrak admits no wrongdoing. The suit was filed last August in federal court.

Amtrak announced in late June a program to provide a service guarantee nationwide by the end of the year. Unsatisfied customers would get a voucher good for future travel. As an incentive to provide good service, Amtrak employees are going through re-training and will be eligible for prize incentives if the customer satisfaction rate is better than planned.

Union Pacific has announced another attempt to abandon 18 miles of the line between Boise and Orchard, Ida., that was formerly used by Amtrak's Pioneer. Local officials are opposing the abandonment and are taking their case to the state Public Utilities Commission. They want the right-of-way to be preserved for future use, which could be Amtrak, or rail transit, or a bike trail.

The annual California state budget signed into law this week includes $17.5 million in general funds for Caltrans to exercise Amtrak's option on the new San Diegan car order. Governor Davis had requested $55 million for five train sets, so it is unclear just how many sets the appropriated money will cover. The equipment option expires September 30.