Hotline #110 - October 29, 1999

Sen. John H. Chafee (R.-R.I.), who chaired the Environment and Public Works Committee, died October 24. He championed S.1144, which would let states spend their federal transportation dollars on intercity passenger rail. Congress will adjourn soon, so please ask your Senators to urge their leaders to get floor time for S.1144 in November in honor of Chafee, who enjoyed broad, bipartisan respect. Republican Senators should contact Senator Lott; Democrats should contact Senator Daschle.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D.-N.J.) unveiled a High Speed Rail Investment Act at a Capitol Hill ceremony October 28. This authorizes Amtrak to sell $10 billion in high-speed rail bonds over ten years to develop high-speed corridors across the nation. The Act would let the federal government give tax credits to bondholders in lieu of interest payments. States would provide a match of at least 20%. The bill's initial co-sponsors are Jeffords (R.-Vt.), Moynihan (D.-N.Y.), Cleland (D.-Ga.), Kerry (D.-Mass.), Biden (D.-Del.). Please ask your Senators to co-sponsor the Lautenberg-Jeffords high-speed bill (which has no bill number yet).

Amtrak released some fiscal 1999 results on October 27. Ridership was up 2%, passenger-related revenues up 5.8%. Mail and express revenues together totaled $98 million, up 18%. That evening, the Newshour with Jim Lehrer had an Amtrak segment with snippets from one-on-one interviews made over several weeks. NARP's Ross Capon was on camera saying that air system troubles were increasing public demand for decent passenger rail.

The House Subcommittee on Ground Transportation held an Amtrak oversight hearing October 28. Amtrak Chairman Tommy Thompson, Vice-chairman Michael Dukakis, and President George Warrington all appeared. Warrington talked optimistically about splitting the Crescent in Mississippi and running a Dallas-Fort Worth section over Kansas City Southern tracks. DOT Inspector General Ken Mead said, "We still believe that it is possible for Amtrak to achieve operating self-sufficiency by 2003. However, this will depend on Amtrak filling the $692 million gap in its 1999 Strategic Business Plan." He said Amtrak's fiscal 1999 cash loss was $569 million, $8 million better or $9 million worse than plan, depending on how one defines operating expenses, and $44 million worse than in 1998. He said Intercity ridership fell 1.6% due to fare increases, reservation system glitches, and residual effects from the Bourbonnais accident. Tom Till, Amtrak Reform Council executive director, said that through 11 months, Intercity passenger revenues were 7% under plan.

NARP's Ross Capon said Amtrak has a long way to go to get consistent service quality and Norfolk Southern has a long way to go to get decent on-time performance.

Nick Rahall (D.-W.Va.) noted Capon's on-time performance comments and asked Association of American Railroads President Ed Hamberger about delays to the Cardinal near Chicago. Hamberger said railroads were working to improve reliability in the Chicago area of trains in general and the Cardinal in particular. He said Chicago's Belt Railway was getting more authority to hold freights outside the area so they don't get stuck with crews violating the Hours of Service Law while blocking lots of tracks. He said a local freight had been rerouted to avoid frequent delays to the Cardinal.

Last week we said Jeremiah Hallisey spoke for closing Caltrain north of Millbrae after BART is extended to Millbrae and San Francisco Airport. Hallisey is merely one of nine members of the California Transportation Commission. We incorrectly called him the state's top ranking transportation official.