Hotline #95 - July 16, 1999

The newest co-sponsors to Senate bill S.1144 are Robb (D.-Va.), Durbin (D.-Ill.), and Snowe (R.-Me.). They need to be thanked! A key feature of this bill is to give states the flexibility to spend some of their TEA-21 federal transportation funding on intercity passenger trains. There are now 14 names on the bill, but we need more as quickly as possible to help insure Senate consideration.

While the House appropriations bill has been enacted with what Amtrak wants, there may be a long delay before the Senate bill reaches the floor. Chairman Shelby has a plan to shift some transit dollars away from California and New York, but Senate Democrats are united in opposition. Some think Shelby would be glad if things remained stalled until late September, when tight deadlines could give insiders like him a better chance of winning this fight.

Texas Department of Public Safety officials on July 12 filed a charge against a truck driver who caused last week's derailment of the Sunset Limited near Eagle Lake. The driver is charged with failing to stop for the train, which is punishable by a fine of no more than $200. The driver told officials he did not see a stop sign that is posted at the crossing.

Meanwhile, on July 14, the company that owns the truck, Brooks Well Service of College Station, Tex., filed suit against Amtrak and Union Pacific. Among other things, the company charges that Amtrak failed to maintain a proper lookout for pedestrians and vehicles, failed to maintain a safe speed, and gave either no warning or inadequate warning that the train was approaching. All of this, of course, flies in the face of common sense, and if past precedent is any guide, Brooks Well Service can look forward to a suit from Amtrak to cover damages to the train.

According to a story in the Florida Times-Union on July 15, at the time of the July 1 collision between two Amtrak Silver Palms in Jacksonville, line-side signals were not operating at the passing siding, and trains were being directed through the area by a switch tender. This contrasts with earlier reports that one of the engineers ignored a red signal that should have been visible two miles away.

The paper said that the National Transportation Safety Board will look at the effect of having only one engineer in the cab. Amtrak and union officials agreed on the practice a year ago as a way to cut costs. The paper reported that an Amtrak safety improvement team, which was a committee of employees from several departments, reported a month ago their belief that running one-person engine crews between midnight and 6:00 am is "unsafe." On the other hand, Amtrak says there is evidence that one-person engine crews make fewer serious mistakes than two-person crews. The July 1 accident occurred at 3:10 am, after -- according to officials -- one engineer received four notices in the preceding two hours that he would have to stop for the other train at a specified siding.

Two U.S. Senators -- Ron Wyden (D.-Ore.) and Mike Crapo (R.-Ida.) -- are heading an 18-member task force aimed at getting passenger train service restored between Portland and Boise. The first meeting will be in Ontario, Ore., on July 23. Amtrak West President Gil Mallery said in a statement that he'd be pleased to work with them on a "cost-effective, practical plan."

A wire story this week reports that the German maglev project is in trouble. The Transport Minister, Franz Münterfering, told a radio audience that the odds the Berlin-Hamburg project will be built are "fifty-fifty." He added that while he believed maglev still was a "sensible" answer to increased mobility needs, the government has limited the amount of money it will spend on the increasingly costly project. Also, German papers recently have been quoting a report leaked from the German Federal Railways (Deutsche Bahn) suggesting that ridership estimates have been cut sharply. Instead of carrying 14 million passengers four years after opening in 2006, the maglev would carry only about 6 million. The Transport Minister said the government would make a final decision by the end of the year, and that it was seeking additional private funding.