Hotline #153 - August 25, 2000

Amtrak's southbound Silver Meteor derailed the morning of August 21 at Lake City, S.C. The accident occurred just after a street sweeper jumped a curb near a "T"-intersection next to the tracks and bent them, according to the state highway patrol. The train was on the scene almost immediately. Ten of the cars derailed, with up to 20 people taken to hospitals in Lake City and Florence. Altogether, there were 40 individuals among the 218 passengers and 15 crew with injuries. The single-track CSX main line at Lake City was blocked for at least a day, with Amtrak either detouring, annulling, or providing bus bridges for its trains.

As a result of damage to Viewliner sleepers in Lake City, the new Chicago-Philadelphia Skyline Connection, assuming it begins operation in the near future, likely will run without sleeping cars until the third week in October, when reduced consists on other trains will permit assignment of Viewliners to the new train.

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) said August 21 that it had fired the driver involved in the August 15 light-rail accident at BWI Airport that injured 22 -- the second this year at the same spot. The driver had been fired once before, in 1994, after testing positive for cocaine, but returned after union officials intervened, according to the Baltimore Sun. He completed a drug rehabilitation program in 1997. He was disciplined in 1999 for a non-revenue light-rail accident.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari apologized for the incident to a panel of state legislators at an August 23 hearing in Annapolis. Legislators set an October 1 deadline to institute new safety features on the light-rail line and provide a written explanation as to why the two accidents happened, or face safety legislation making relevant changes. MTA promised that a train-stop type of signal system will be in place before service resumes to BWI Airport station in late October. New bumping posts that were on order before the August 15 accident will take four months to arrive. For perhaps 60 days, trains will continue to terminate at the parking-lot stop just outside the air terminal.

"The Georgia Rail Passenger Authority Wednesday approved a state budget request of $44.6 million [for 2002], primarily to ratchet up work on two planned commuter rail lines linking Atlanta with Athens and Macon," reported the Savannah Morning News August 24. Gov. Roy Barnes and the General Assembly must approve the request, which compares with $7 million in state funds for passenger rail in the 2001 budget.

Amtrak's Twilight Limited will resume service on the Detroit-Pontiac segment effective August 31. The Lake Cities -- which was to have been diverted to Toledo -- instead will continue to run to Pontiac for the foreseeable future. Thus, the Pontiac segment will be back to three daily frequencies (although the May 21 timetable only shows one).

Amtrak will lengthen the schedule of the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, effective September 12. This is due to chronic lateness problems on that CSX line. (The train also does poorly on Union Pacific in the West). The westbound Sunset will leave Orlando at 1:00 pm, arrive New Orleans at 9:20 am (increasing running time 1:25 hours and New Orleans dwell time 2:25 hours). The eastbound train will leave New Orleans at 10:30 pm, arrive Orlando 9:00 pm (increasing running time 3:15 hours and dwell time 1:20 hours). The increased dwell time in New Orleans will be used for some equipment maintenance. Since CSX participated with Amtrak in creating the new schedule, Amtrak is expecting good reliability from the new schedule, and to tighten the schedules early next year when major trackwork is complete. NARP understands the impact on customers of trains that are almost ridiculously late, but is concerned about a history of railroads responding poorly when given more running time to Amtrak trains.

New York Gov. George Pataki (R.) on August 23 unveiled the first, newly rebuilt Turbotrain set at Albany. Six more such trains are to be rebuilt and made capable of running at 125 mph for service on Amtrak's Empire Corridor (though currently the top speed is 110 mph, south of Albany). The set unveiled this week will enter revenue service in October, but is now on display at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, through August 27. The Empire State Passengers Association was among the groups asked to volunteer to staff the display train. Pataki congratulated the workers of Super Steel in Schenectady, who rebuilt the train, and said the trains would be a cheaper alternative for travelers in an area with high airfares. The effort is part of a joint Amtrak-state $185-million program that will increase speeds and frequencies (trips from New York to Albany will eventually go from 13 to 18; to Buffalo from four to ten).

Amtrak complaints about its electrification contractors got another round of publicity. The Hartford Courant on August 24 published a story based on material Amtrak filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford. The filing was another step in the process that became public after FBI and Amtrak Inspector General personnel raided contractor offices June 7. Amtrak is concerned about the quality of material and the quality of installation work by Balfour Beatty Construction, Inc., of Atlanta and Massachusetts Electric Construction Co. of Boston. An AP story said, "Amtrak officials said they must review the companies' records to determine if certain bolts and clamps were tested properly, and whether zinc-plated clamps that are used on Connecticut's movable bridges were altered or another type of clamp substituted, according to the documents obtained by the Hartford Courant."