Hotline #105 - September 24, 1999

The Northeast Corridor was back in operation over its whole length by September 18, after delays caused by Hurricane Floyd. On September 17, there had been three feet of water over the tracks at Trenton, and eight feet over the tracks at Ossining on the Empire Corridor.

Due to extensive track and flooding between Richmond and Raleigh, the Silver Star began operations September 18 with a detour from Alexandria to Charlottesville, Charlotte, and Columbia. The Palm and Meteor did not begin running until September 23, with the Star restored to its normal route. However, the service is subject to significant delays -- perhaps three-to-four hours -- particularly in the area of Rocky Mount, where CSX built a temporary bridge over the Tar River. The Carolinian won't start running south of Richmond again until September 25.

Another problem area had been at Halifax, N.C., just south of the Virginia state line, where there was a 140-foot-long and 30-foot-deep washout on the CSX main line. CSX had to dump 30,000 tons of fill there to reopen the line by September 22, noon.

The eastbound Capitol Limited struck the back of a CSX freight train on September 20, midday, as it was leaving the station at Cumberland, Md., injuring 37 passengers. The impact derailed the Capitol's lead locomotive and two coaches, though all equipment remained upright. Investigators from Amtrak, CSX, and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident. The cause of the accident and the speeds of the trains are not yet known.

A House-Senate conference on the fiscal 2000 transportation funding bills might meet September 28 or 29, but Chairman Shuster has been objecting that various provisions infringe on his committee's jurisdiction. The House and Senate bills have the same amount for Amtrak, $571 million. The end of the fiscal year is less than a week away, so it is becoming likely that transportation will be among the programs to have funding continued beyond October 1 by a last-minute continuing resolution.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is tentatively scheduled to consider S.1144 on September 29. This is the bill that would allow states the choice to spend some of their federal TEA-21 transportation money on intercity passenger rail projects.

Funding for the daily Capitol Corridor round trip to Colfax, Cal., has been extended to December 1 by the state legislature. The service has been in danger of being cut all summer.

The general manager in charge of Amtrak Intercity's Silver Service, Dennis Hale, has been named to lead a new service team responsible for the operation of Midwest Corridor trains. Steve McClarty, who previously held the position of general manager of both the Chicago Terminal and Corridor Services, is now assigned to work solely on issues relating to the Chicago Terminal. The Midwest Corridor service team will include Craig Willett, the assistant general manager of operations at Amtrak Intercity, and Jim Bradley, the assistant general manager of customer service.

The grand opening of Memphis Central Station is September 25, marked by an all-day street part at the station, and an 11:00 am ribbon cutting by U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater. Just ten years ago, the station was easily one of the worst in the country, and was in danger of abandonment due to a proposal by the Illinois Central Railroad to abandon its downtown line and force Amtrak onto a freight beltline. Now a reborn Central Station features a new passenger waiting area and direct connections downtown with a heritage trolley line that opened in 1993.