Hotline #168 - December 8, 2000

The High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA) is still alive, though time is short. It is widely believed that any final budget deals that are struck between Congressional leaders and the White House will occur this weekend. If any tax provisions are included in such a deal -- and that's not clear at this moment -- the HSRIA may still be included.

The more the White House hears in support of including HSRIA in any final deal, the better the chance for HSRIA. If you can call the White House soon -- preferably right away -- that would be helpful. The number is 202/456-1111 (do not press "1"; wait for a live operator). Then say something like this (feel free to substitute your own words):

"Please tell President Clinton to insist on Congress passing the High Speed Rail Investment Act this month. The separate bills are S.1900 and H.R.3700, but the bill passed the House as part of its tax package. Highways and aviation cannot do the job alone." You will be asked what state you are calling from.

Acela Express revenue service begins December 11, with one, weekday-only Washington-Boston round trip. New train 2150 leaves Washington at 5:00 am (just ahead of NortheastDirect train 170 at 5:05 am), arriving Boston at 11:31 am. Train 2175 leaves Boston at 5:12 pm, arriving Washington at 11:43 pm, replacing Acela Regional train 133. (Weekend Acela Regional 167 remains in its current slot, departing Boston at 4:15 pm). Several other Northeastern schedule changes will occur at the same time.

The next new Acela Express weekday trains (Washington-New York non-stop, morning northbound, afternoon southbound; Boston-New York, morning southbound, evening northbound) are expected February 28; further weekday service (with a New England emphasis) is expected in April; and the first weekend service in June. These target dates assume the availability, respectively, of five, nine, and 14 trains. The NARP 10% travel discount will not apply to Acela Express until more weekday non-peak and some weekend trains are introduced.

The southbound Coast Starlight partly derailed early December 7 at Black Butte, in northern California, after clipping a tank car that had derailed from an adjacent track just minutes earlier. Seven passengers and two Amtrak crew members were admitted to a local hospital for their injuries and released by afternoon. Train traffic through the area (which has multiple tracks) has resumed.

Passenger rail development in Georgia was the topic of a Senate Commerce Committee field hearing on December 6. Sen. Max Cleland (D.-Ga.) presided, and witnesses included Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene Molitoris, Amtrak President George Warrington, and representatives from freight railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX.

Cleland said he was "a firm believer in the future of passenger rail," and that he intends to keep working on its behalf in the Commerce Committee. Warrington said that Atlanta is the key to the success of the Southeast high-speed rail corridor. In commenting on a contract Amtrak is preparing to sign with Georgia DOT, Warrington said, "Amtrak will help make the available resources work. Government is currently trying to balance transportation policy on the two legs of roads and aviation. The stool is wobbly and bound to collapse. Federal investment in passenger rail is 'the third leg' of the stool. We need that third leg to make the transportation plan stable ... It's all a matter of money."

Rep. Julian Dixon (D.-Cal.) died today. He was a co-sponsor of the High Speed Rail Investment Act and, in a wire story, was described as a "champion" of Los Angeles Metro Rail by an official of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The effort to build an intermodal terminal in St. Louis may move forward soon, according to the December 1 St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The paper said the city and Amtrak are near agreement on a 20-year lease for Amtrak to occupy part of the proposed building, as well as a sale by Amtrak to the city of one-fifth of an acre to accommodate light-rail tracks. The agreement could come in the next month or two. Construction would begin with a new Amtrak maintenance facility west of Union Station, with construction on the passenger terminal itself starting within 12 months. The current "Amshack" of "temporary" trailers, installed in 1978, would be replaced. Amtrak moved into the trailers after Union Station became unusable due to advanced deterioration -- and Amtrak stayed so long because efforts to incorporate a rail station into the restoration effort at Union Station in the 1980's failed. Also, earlier, NARP helped block an Amtrak plan to move to a less desirable industrial area west of the station.

Green Line light rail service can be extended into Los Angeles International Airport, according to airport chief Lydia H. Kennard, but only if an airport expansion plan -- opposed by neighboring communities -- also moves forward. The light-rail airport branch was part of the original plan for the Green Line. Its construction would enhance the public investment made in the Green Line and intermodal travel in Los Angeles -- whether or not the airport itself is expanded. Kennard made her remarks at a meeting of the California Transportation Commission in Riverside on December 5.