Hotline #134 - April 14, 2000

Amtrak will begin train service between Chicago and Janesville April 15. The Lake Country Limited will be the first new service resulting from the Network Growth Strategy announced by Amtrak on February 28. The train will leave Janesville 6:00 am (6:15 am on weekends), taking nearly three hours to reach Chicago; and leave Chicago at 8:15 pm. For now, the only other stop is Glenview, though Walworth, Wis., is being considered. The Janesville stop's location is pretty far from the center of the city (though not far from the Hwy. 11 exit from I-90). That could change over time, although the city's initial reaction back in February was one of not wanting to use local funds and of having higher city priorities.

H.R.3700, the House version of the intercity passenger rail bond bill, has five new sponsors this week, for a total of 45. For a list of sponsors of this bill and others, see our web site. The Senate counterpart, S.1900, reached 40 sponsors early in April with the addition of both Louisiana Senators and Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.).

Both the House and Senate on April 14 approved a final budget resolution for 2001. House Transportation Appropriations Chairman C. W. Bill Young (R.-Fla.) and other senior committee members are concerned about funding levels in the budget. Young told the Washington Post, "We're working really hard to try to figure out how we can appropriate in a reasonable fashion" with the funding levels dictated by the new budget.

The Senate on April 11 killed the gas-tax "holiday" bill, S.2285, on a 56-43 vote.

Amtrak Intercity has established Eastern and Western vice president positions to "provide support and leadership for all aspects of service delivery in their areas." The Western area covers everything west of the City of New Orleans route plus the Midwestern corridors. The Eastern area covers the City of New Orleans and all Intercity services to the east. The Western vice president is Don Saunders, who had been chief operating officer of Amtrak West, and who has 14 years of Amtrak experience. The Eastern vice president is Al Edelston, who has 25 years of Amtrak customer service and operations experience, and who will be based in Jacksonville.

Another barge has hit a Sunset-route railroad bridge, this time April 14 on the Mobile River in southern Alabama. The bridge was knocked several feet out of alignment. The line will be blocked for two or three days, with Amtrak using buses between Mobile and Pensacola. This is very near another site where a barge hit a bridge just before the arrival of the Sunset Limited in 1993, killing 47.

Amtrak's Chicago-Grand Rapids Pere Marquette got Business class on April 10.

San Antonio light-rail backers, including VIA Metropolitan Transit and the Keep San Antonio Moving campaign are working toward passage of a funding measure that needs to be approved by local voters May 6. The measure would provide a quarter-cent sales tax increase for a $1.5-billion, 54-mile rail system.

A new shuttle service connects the Fort Worth Amtrak station with downtown and other attractions. The Fort Worth Transportation Authority's "Longhorn Trolley" (817/215-8600) runs every 20 minutes, 11:00 am - 11:00 pm.

Federal auditors of the "Big Dig" (Boston Central Artery highway project) have concluded that the project should be considered "bankrupt" and that its managers should be replaced and never work on federally funded programs again, according to the Boston Globe. The auditors were brought in after the managers surprised the federal government with a $1.4-billion cost overrun earlier this year, and federal officials now say the actual cost is $1.4 billion more than that, for a total of $13.6 billion. The original 1984 estimate was $2.3 billion. Yet the North Station-South Station rail link -- which has far more transportation value than the Big Dig -- languishes.

Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette on April 12 said that, over five years, the federal government would invest $275 million in capital funding in VIA Rail Canada, in addition to the annual $116-million operating grant. The new funds are for fleet renewal, signal modernization, and other infrastructure improvements. Up to 80% could go to the Quebec-Windsor corridor.