Hotline #148 - July 21, 2000

The House Ways and Means Committee's Oversight Subcommittee, chaired by Amo Houghton (R.-N.Y.), will hold a hearing July 25 on "tax law treatment of transportation infrastructure." It will include discussion of the High Speed Rail Investment Act, H.R.3700, which now has 137 sponsors (click here for more information). Houghton is the lead sponsor of the bill.

The Senate approved on July 20, 72-24, an amendment to the agriculture appropriations bill by Senators Specter (R.-Pa.) and Kohl (D.-Wis.) that would allow Amtrak to continue its eligibility to lease vehicles from the General Services Administration (GSA). Without the amendment, Amtrak estimated it would get hit with a $15 million a year increase in costs for leasing vehicles, including road-rail "high-rail" vehicles, police cars and buses for track gangs. The matter still will have to survive a House-Senate conference. There was lengthy, vocal opposition from Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain (R.-Ariz.; see also following paragraph). Click here to see how your Senators voted.

Senator McCain further expressed opposition to the High Speed Rail Investment Act (S.1900) in a July 19 letter to Senate Finance Chairman William Roth, whose committee has jurisdiction over the bill. McCain said, in part, "I am adamantly opposed to any efforts to provide Amtrak $10 billion of additional funding … I find it a breach of the [1997] agreement that Amtrak and others are already seeking substantial increases in funding …" The bill, of course, puts states in control -- investment only happens where a state is willing to help with funding. The bill also aims to bring geographical balance to corridor investments; almost all federal high-speed rail corridor funding to date has gone to the Northeast.

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) made a rare appearance before a Congressional panel July 18 to attack the Federal Railroad Administration's proposed rule on municipal whistle bans. The proposed rule was the subject of a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The FRA, acting under the direction of Congress as expressed in the 1994 Swift Act, released the rule several weeks ago.  NARP has supported it in the interest of public safety -- that of motorists, pedestrians, railroad employees, and passengers. FRA studies have shown that whistle bans contribute to a higher rate of accidents than would otherwise occur. The rule lets communities keep their bans if they make modest improvements to the crossings, but some communities -- including some wealthy ones -- are complaining anyway.

The Federal Railroad Administration's Railroad Safety Board held a hearing today on Amtrak's petition for "grandfathering approval" of the use of five existing Talgo train sets on the Pacific Northwest Corridor and the Los Angeles-Las Vegas and San Diego-San Luis Obispo lines. NARP Executive Director Ross Capon, Ken Uznanski of Washington DOT, and Amtrak and Talgo representatives testified in support.

In the hearing, Amtrak said that Las Vegas service should start nine months after environmental approval is obtained for infrastructure work. Uznanski said most Pacific Northwest passengers would drive if the trains stopped running, and the fatality rate for autos is 23 times higher -- the injury rate 63 times higher -- than for passenger rail. Capon said efforts to save and improve Amtrak nationwide would be jeopardized by the shutdown of such a visibly successful corridor (ridership 226,000 in 1993; 565,200 in 1999). A Bombardier representative said that company still has major concerns about the equipment and would file detailed written comments. FRA promised to consider all comments submitted through August 2. A DOT site allows comments to be made electronically (and view written comments by others); specify Docket 6404.

An Amtrak police officer shot and killed a man July 18 just before 11:00 am in the concourse of Philadelphia 30th Street Station. A wire story said witnesses reported the man threatening others in a station restaurant and using profane language. The man, apparently homeless, was being escorted from the station by police when, reportedly, he picked up a metal chair and swung it at the police, daring them to shoot him.

Amtrak's new Auto Train terminal in Lorton, Va., was formally opened July 18. Construction took two years (completed in June) and included a new, 450-seat station, support facilities, and track improvements. Significantly, it means the CSX mainline should no longer be blocked by Auto Train switching movements. Indeed, the new, 1500-foot platform means the train doesn't have to be broken up. Thus, passengers can  reclaim their cars 20 minutes faster. Funding came from Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express, and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

A tunnel on the ex-Southern Pacific Coast Line will be shut down the first two weeks in October for a major track and drainage project. The tunnel is between the Chatsworth and Simi Valley stations. Amtrak said it likely would run buses between those stations for Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight passengers. Metrolink will do the same for its 1,000 daily passengers who use that segment. When the work is done, track speeds can be raised from 10 to 40 mph, allowing timetables to be tightened by several minutes.