Hotline #120 - January 7, 2000

The Y2K "moment of truth" has come and gone, with minimal disruptions to passenger rail, transit, and the world at large. Amtrak and many rail transit agencies stopped trains briefly right before midnight on December 31, and started them again after midnight as soon as they had confirmation that electricity, signals, etc., were in working order. The only Amtrak problem reported so far was by ABC News, which said Amtrak's train-status reporting system had to have train numbers and the date reset manually for the 53 trains that were supposed to be running around midnight.

The Wisconsin Blue Ribbon Task Force on Passenger Rail, which was created by Gov. Tommy Thompson, recommended on December 20 that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation use $50 million in existing bonding authority toward getting 110-mph passenger-train service between Madison and Milwaukee. The bonds were authorized by the legislature in 1993 (though never issued by the DOT), for the purpose of making lower-speed track upgrades for passenger service to both Madison and Green Bay. The current proposal for 110-mph service to Madison would be an initial leg of the network proposed by the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.

Governor Thompson, who is also Amtrak's chairman, said he supported the Task Force recommendation. The entire Madison project would cost $119 million and could be ready by the end of 2003, with six daily round trips that could later be increased to ten. Thompson recognized that the line between Watertown and Madison would have to be rebuilt "almost completely," and pointed out that the state is in the process of setting up an equipment consortium with Illinois and Michigan.

Passenger rail projects such as Wisconsin's point out the need for a credible federal match on a par enjoyed by highway and aviation projects. As much as Amtrak critics harp about past money spent on Amtrak, much of that money was never intended for the sort of long-term right-of-way improvements contemplated for places like the Midwest. [Indeed, even much of what was spent on the Northeast Corridor was to get a run-down facility back to a state of good repair.] We need S.1144 (state TEA-21 flexibility), S.1900 (tax-free bonding for corridor and other development) and -- most immediately -- President Clinton to include Amtrak's fully authorized $989 million in his fiscal 2001 budget, so that projects like the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative can get some federal help and really move forward. President Clinton still has time to do the right thing and propose this amount.

The Monday-Saturday Toronto-Chicago International will run 80 minutes earlier from Toronto (6:30 am), starting January 17, so our January newsletter is correct and the previous hotline message (#119) is wrong. A widely misinterpreted statement by Transport Minister David Collenette turns out to mean simply that VIA will continue to make some small-station stops that it had planned to drop. NARP is discussing the International schedule with VIA, but with only a week to go, chances of a reversal don't look good.

The eastbound Empire Builder partially derailed at Essex, Mont., January 6, but no one was injured. A locomotive and three cars derailed, none carrying passengers. Passengers were delayed while the derailed cars were set out so the rest of the train could proceed.

A strike on BC Rail began December 27, shutting down freight and passenger operations on the British Columbia carrier. A tentative settlement agreement was reached in the early hours of January 5.

California Gov. Gray Davis (D.) will present next year's budget proposal to the legislature next week. However, there is a shortfall in the state mass transit account of about $158 million, according to the January 5 Sacramento Bee. The legislature's non-partisan policy analyst on January 4 identified plans to expand Amtrak San Joaquin and Capitol Corridor services as a possible place to cut to make up for the shortfall. Naturally, we hope Governor Davis will look elsewhere.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority, meeting in Fresno on December 15, decided not to go to voters this fall and ask for $25 billion to build a 700-mile system. This would connect Sacramento and the Bay Area through the San Joaquin Valley to Los Angeles and San Diego. Rail travel time between San Francisco and Los Angeles would be 2:30 hours, with a top speed of over 200 mph. Instead, the Authority decided to seek $25 million for two years of preliminary engineering and environmental studies, followed by four more years of pre-construction activity. The system would take another ten years to build (i.e., open in 2016).

The $25 million must get legislative and gubernatorial approval. About three years from now, the Authority (if it is extended beyond its current June 2001 expiration date) would seek the rest of the $25 billion either through a quarter-cent sales tax, or approach voters for a bonding measure. The Authority has previously noted that over 60% of Californians favor building the system even if it requires a higher sales tax.