Hotline #175 - January 26, 2001

Forty-eight senators so far have agreed to be original co-sponsors of the High Speed Rail Investment Act, which likely will be introduced next week. The new bill number is not known yet. Key senators who are not yet co-sponsors are: Allen (R.-Va.), Bayh (D.-Ind.), Dorgan (D.-N.Dak.) and Lott (R-Miss.). Allen was one of several senators who spoke positively about passenger rail at a Senate Commerce hearing (see below).

Senators who may not be so close to signing but who should hear from rail passenger supporters include Akaka (D.-Hawaii), Cochran (R.-Miss.), Ensign (R.-Nev.), Fitzgerald (R.-Ill.), Lugar (R.-Ind.), Murkowski (R.-Alaska), Nelson (D.-Fla.), Nickles (R.-Okla.), Smith (R.-Ore.), Stevens (R.-Alaska), Voinovich (R.-Ohio). Click here for information on how to contact Senators.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta was confirmed by the Senate by a voice vote on January 24 -- even as his nomination hearing still progressed in the Commerce Committee. The same day, Wisconsin Governor and Amtrak Board Chairman Tommy Thompson was confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary.

Mineta said a lot about increasing aviation capacity in his opening statement, but did not address passenger rail until the question period. When asked what he thought about Amtrak's prospects, he said, "I am looking towards the work of the Amtrak Reform Council. They have the charge on operating self-sufficiency.  We need to wait for their report and see what progress has been made. There is a question of limited financial resources and seeing where to make them work. The issue of operating subsidies is what's being looked at by the ARC. Capital, I think, is one that has to be looked at. The capital starvation of Amtrak means that it is not operationally successful. With my limited knowledge, I have to explore what's needed to make it work."

Chairman John McCain (R.-Ariz.) renewed his earlier call for a "national debate" on the role of passenger rail, adding that "any objective observer will tell you we will have the Northeast Corridor and California, but rail service nowhere else will be viable." He attacked those that would provide more funding for passenger rail -- conceivably benefiting areas in addition to the Northeast Corridor and California -- without going first through his committee. He attacked Amtrak ridership as "essentially flat through its history," without acknowledging the powerful role that government largesse to other modes has played during that period (and for decades earlier).

However, Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.) said, "I believe all modes have taxpayer capital subsidies. I don't mean operating subsidies ... We can't starve Amtrak on capital and expect operational self-sufficiency ... When we see overcrowded highways and airports there is no question that we need to keep rail as an option."

Amtrak released a schedule for restoring train services in Michigan and Wisconsin that were suspended in late December due to an inability to keep up with freeze problems on some rolling stock. The Lake Cities (trains 350/355) was restored January 26 (today) between Chicago and Detroit (but not Pontiac). The Lake Country Limited (Chicago-Janesville) resumes westbound today and eastbound January 27. The Twilight Limited (trains 352/353) will resume service westbound February 1 and eastbound February 2. Detroit-line trains will run with Superliner cars (not Horizon as usual) at least through the end of February, though with no Business class service. All trains in Michigan will offer a two-for-one fare available for purchase and use February 1-March 10. No explanation for not running the Lake Cities to Pontiac has been offered, which is disappointing after the effort it took in 2000 to get all three trains restored on that segment.

A temporary reroute began for the westbound Texas Eagle this week between Texarkana and Dallas. The reroute is being forced by a Union Pacific track project, and involves running train 21 south from Texarkana to Jefferson on its traditional UP route, then west on the Kansas City Southern to Dallas. This is one of the possible routes for the proposed Texas section of the Crescent. Eastbound train 22 is unaffected. Train 21's missed stop at Gilmer will be covered by a temporary stop at Jefferson. The detour periods are January 21-27, February 1-11, February 16-24, and March 1-11.

The Montana House of Representatives voted 80-20 January 20 in favor of House Joint Resolution 3. This puts the House on record in favor of a Spokane-Denver passenger train route proposed by the Montana/Wyoming Association of Railroad Passengers, though it provides no funding or other mechanism to move the idea along.

For those interested in rail history, PBS will broadcast "Streamliners: America's Lost Trains" as part of its "American Experience" series, Monday, February 5 at 8:00 pm Eastern (but check local listings). The one-hour documentary "follows the rise and fall of an American transportation system born of desperation and the genesis of a design movement on the rails and in popular culture."