Hotline #154 - September 1, 2000

With deep sorrow, we announce the death this morning of John R. Martin, President of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.

Jack devoted an enormous number of hours to the passenger-rail cause, especially after his retirement a few years ago from the Coca-Cola Company, where he served as Senior Counsel. He had been a NARP member since 1968 (the year after NARP was founded), and a NARP board member since the first elected board was created in 1975. He was also a member of the Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers, and of the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority, a state agency created for the purpose of construction, financing, operation, and development of passenger rail service in that state. Jack's train efforts included both NARP-specific work and work as an informal, volunteer consultant to Amtrak. His level of knowledge about trains was matched by the dignity and poise with which he chaired board meetings.

Jack had traveled to San Jose, Cal., to pursue one of his other passions -- buying and selling timetables at shows -- when he was admitted to San Jose Medical Center on August 4. He had quadruple-bypass heart surgery on August 8, which apparently was successful. He was released August 26 and returned home to Atlanta, Ga., August 29.

The NARP Executive Committee will meet shortly to discuss the vacancy. Even so, we realize that Jack cannot be replaced. Still, we must work ever harder to build upon Jack's considerable efforts and achievements.

"Where is Acela Express?" is a question NARP gets frequently, lately. An article in the August 31 Boston Globe reported that a spokesman for the Bombardier-Alstom consortium building the trains said that the first fully tested train set would be turned over late this month. Amtrak officials could not comment on that, "noting they were awaiting official confirmation." The article continued, "But a high-ranking source at Amtrak said passengers in the Washington-New York-Boston corridor can expect to see service begin sometime in October, assuming [emphasis added] the 'late September' delivery comes through.

The Federal Railroad Administration has postponed a deadline for deciding Amtrak's petition for "grandfathering approval" for the five existing Talgo train sets until October 31. Four of these sets are in revenue service on the Pacific Northwest Corridor, and the fifth is planned for the Las Vegas service. The petition is necessary because the trains predate the FRA's new passenger-car safety standards. NARP testified in favor of the petition at a hearing on July 21. Talgo and Amtrak have said that the existing sets should be grandfathered because of additional safety features that are on the train, and because further Talgo sets that may be built in the future will meet the new standards. A sudden ban on these trains would be devastating to the Pacific Northwest corridor, where ridership has grown tremendously because of the Talgo trains, and where an additional Portland-Eugene trip is possible this fall.

A hearing in the Senate on Amtrak oversight that was scheduled for the coming week -- September 7 -- has been postponed. Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R.-Ariz.) had called the hearing, the first on the topic by the full committee since the last Amtrak reauthorization act (in 1997). No replacement date had been announced.

The Amtrak Reform Council also scheduled a meeting in Washington to coincide with the Senate hearing, where Chairman Gil Carmichael was scheduled to testify. This meeting will go forward anyway, at 1:00 pm at the Channel Inn, 650 Water St., S.W. There will be presentations by H. Brent Coles, the mayor of Boise and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors; and by the Florida Department of Transportation. The latter will be about proposals for incremental improvements to passenger train service in Florida, a topic to be covered in the September NARP newsletter.

Amtrak long-distance on-time performance improved gradually as August passed. In an earlier hotline (#151 of August 11) we reported that 67% of long-distance trains the week of August 4 were over 30 minutes late at their final destination, and that the average delay (again, at final destination) was two hours, 15 minutes. For the week since August 25, for 186 trains examined, 60% of long-distance trains failed to make their destination within 30 minutes of schedule, with an average delay of one hour, 41 minutes. The worst performers in the last week were both directions of the Sunset Limited, averaging over five hours late. Three trains have done generally well throughout August -- Crescent, City of New Orleans, Empire Builder.

The Amtrak Customer Advisory Committee will host a public forum in Atlanta, Ga., on Sunday, September 17, to receive suggestions and comments on passenger rail service in the U.S. The forum will be held at the Sheraton Atlanta Hosel, 165 Courtland St., 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm. The forum is scheduled as part of the Committee's quarterly meeting and includes an appearance by Gov. Roy E. Barnes, Elsie Hand of Senator Cleland's office, and Al Edelston of Amtrak. Additional information can be obtained from Kate Warr, ACAC Administrator.

Visitors to Merced, Cal., now have a new Amtrak station to use. A new, Spanish-style colonial-revival station was dedicated August 26. It is on the same site (24th & J) as the old 1917 Santa Fe station, razed in 1999, and includes a terminal for buses to Yosemite National Park. Funding came from Proposition 116 rail bonds approved by state voters in 1990.