Hotline #122 - January 21, 2000

The Amtrak Reform Council will announce the release of its first Annual Report on January 24. There will be a business meeting at 9:00 am, then a news conference at 11:00 am, both at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington. In a January 10 news release, Chairman Gil Carmichael said, "The Council's first annual report is not intended to reach conclusions or make recommendations about Amtrak's long-term future, but to provide a picture of the Amtrak organization as it exists today, as well as a perspective on Amtrak's performance to this juncture. Against this backdrop, the report raises questions, concerns, and issues that the Council believes should be addressed in its future efforts, and ultimately, by Congress."

However, a column in the January 21 industry magazine Traffic World, "Amtrak Slam," fueled speculation that the report will be harshly negative. Though author Frank Wilner wrote that he had a "final draft" of the report, what is released January 24 actually will be different from what Wilner had. Nevertheless, four of the Council's 11 members had such strong negative feelings about the actual final draft that they voted against it -- Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, Clarence Monin, S. Lee Kling, and Donald R. Sweitzer. On January 24, the report will be at the Council web site.

President Clinton will make his State of the Union address January 27, followed in early February by the release of his budget proposals for fiscal 2001.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe will shut down its mainline between Fresno and Stockton, Cal., for a reconstruction project. The railroad, after consulting with Amtrak, chose a two-week shutdown period during the winter rather than the six months it would take to do the same work under normal traffic. The shutdown period will be January 24 through February 5. Amtrak will run bus bridges between the two cities, but warns that the bus service won't be as fast as the San Joaquin trains they replace.

Amtrak passengers in the Northeast should be prepared in the event that Amtrak makes a last-minute announcement next week for schedule changes to take effect about January 31.

Guilford this week said it was willing to sell a branch line to the city of Portland, Me., that the state has determined is important to future plans for passenger rail service in and out of that city. Instead of building a new station near the former Union Station site, the state wants to rehabilitate the "Bayside Line" (former Maine Central Union Branch) to a new station site near Franklin Ave. and Marginal Way. From there, future northbound trains would use a new right-of-way and trestle over Back Cove to reach the St. Lawrence and Atlantic East Deering line. An interim station adjacent to the intercity bus station on Congress St. may be used for the first Boston service that should begin by the end of this year.

Amtrak moved back into the train station in Salem, Ore., after the completion of a $1 million renovation of the 1918 structure. Amtrak had been using a temporary facility immediately outside. A formal rededication will take place in the spring, once exterior landscaping work is completed.

The State of Florida will do a two-year, $2.5 million study of moving Amtrak and Greyhound into an intermodal facility in the former Union Station in downtown Jacksonville, according to the Florida Times-Union. Passengers would use part of the historic main part of the building, while the newer Prime Osburn Convention Center in the rear would remain. While the site is more centrally located than Amtrak's current facility and connects to the downtown elevated transit system, it also would require Amtrak trains to back in and out (except for potential future service along the Florida East Coast).

We urge people to read the Federal Railroad Administration's notice of proposed rulemaking on use of locomotive horns before criticizing it and to recognize that changes in the rule are likely before it becomes final. A common question is why an entire community should suffer noise -- or be forced to pay for safety improvements -- because a few drivers are careless. FRA supports increased enforcement, but persuasively argues that death or permanent maiming is an unacceptably harsh punishment for grade-crossing violations. Also, victims can be innocent automobile or train passengers, train crews, and people who live or are driving near an accident scene. Some motorists from "non-whistle-ban" territory, while driving far from home, may assume that train whistles are always blown at crossings. Another common view is that railroads should pay most or all safety improvement costs -- even though the railroad generally was there first and was forced by law to accept at-grade highway crossings.