Hotline #179 - February 23, 2001

Sponsor count for S.250, the High Speed Rail Investment Act, remains at 51. Key Senators who ought to be sponsors are Allen (R.-Va.), Bayh (D.-Ind.), Cantwell (D.-Wash.), Lugar (R.-Ind.), and Nelson (D.-Fla.). See our web site for bill information and to see if both your Senators are already co-sponsors -- if not, please urge him or her to co-sponsor. See our web site for ways to contact Senators. Early passage of HSRIA is important to expansion of passenger-train service nationwide.

President Bush is expected to send his proposed budget for fiscal 2002 to Congress in the coming week, perhaps February 28. Very few details have been released so far, but one can reasonably expect funding to be tight overall in light of announced initiatives -- tax cuts and increased military and education spending. Of course, in the transportation sector, aviation, highways, and transit will get their guaranteed ("firewall") funding increases. Amtrak, which has received only about half of its authorized funding for the last few years and which this year got only $521 million -- less than one percent of the total $58 billion in federal budgetary resources provided to transportation -- is sorely undercapitalized. Amtrak will request $955 million for 2002 in order to prevent service deterioration and allow the effort to meet the operational self-sufficiency mandate to go forward.

The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee's annual hearing on Amtrak funding (for fiscal 2002) is tentatively scheduled for March 21.

The Boston-Portland service is delayed again. The Northern New England Passenger Authority shelved a tentative start-up date of May 1, due to failure to reach agreements on construction of platforms, stations, and a Portland layover facility (delayed by Guilford's positions on environmental liability as well as platform maintenance and where trains can lay over). Also, track work will not be done by May 1. The Authority has posted an update at their web site.

Another issue is running speed, even though the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in a 1999 ruling allows Amtrak to run at 79 mph on Guilford's 115-pound rail, provided track meets federal safety standards. Amtrak shortly plans to ask the STB to order Guilford to permit access to its tracks in order to conduct the tests called for in the STB ruling. Operation at 79 mph is needed for the new service to be competitive. Nevertheless, it is possible that service could start later this year with a top speed of 60 mph on the Guilford-owned track while the STB considers whether to order 79-mph running based on results of the tests that will be completed by then.

NBC Nightly News in the next few days may run an "In Depth" segment on Amtrak. There are signs that it will be a balanced piece with comments from critics saying that Amtrak should not keep getting "big government subsidies" and from supporters saying that passenger rail should be part of the transportation gridlock solution and that passenger rail needs (and should get) a long-term federal capital commitment.

We understand that an NBC crew recently did some filming on Amtrak's nearly empty Lake Country Limited, which began running last April between Chicago and Janesville, Wis. NARP did not lobby for this particular train and maintains that it is not typical of Amtrak operations or of public demand for modern passenger trains. Amtrak had planned for the Janesville train mainly to transfer express at Chicago with the proposed Skyline Connection to and from the east, but this connecting train has never entered service.

A possible setback for an Atlanta Multimodal Passenger Terminal occurred February 22 when the Georgia Senate passed a fiscal 2002 supplemental budget that included only $1 million for an "intercity bus terminal," not the $3.9 million requested by Governor Barnes for a terminal that would include commuter and intercity passenger trains.  A conference committee will meet over the weekend. The Chambers of Commerce will work to restore the full funding for the terminal, plus $15 million for the proposed Atlanta-Macon commuter line and $100,000 in match money for studying high-speed rail from Charlotte to Atlanta and Macon.

Oklahoma House Bill 1173, which would move about $60 million in motor vehicle registration fees from the general fund to transportation programs, was approved in committee February 21 and is ready for floor consideration. If approved, HB1173 would provide about $17 million for the state Railroad Revolving Maintenance Fund, some of which would be used for the current Fort Worth-Oklahoma City Heartland Flyer, plus a proposed extension north to Newton, Kans. There was no committee opposition to the bill.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority on February 21 launched its "MBTA Riders' Bill of Rights." Gov. Paul Cellucci and state Transportation Secretary Kevin Sullivan announced the program at South Station. Borrowing ideas from Amtrak and some other industries, the T will give riders vouchers whenever a trip is over 30 minutes late, provide a toll-free assistance telephone line, real-time web updates, and employee incentives for good service. The state has already spent $1.5 million on the effort. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has a 15-minute service guarantee for its rail services only.

The A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum of Chicago will unveil the Historic National Registry for African American railroad employees on February 23. This event, in collaboration with Amtrak, will take place in Chicago Union Station. The Registry began as a project to document as many as possible of the Pullman Porters who were members of the now defunct Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union, but now seeks to include all African Americans who worked for railroads between 1863 and 1963. Also, the Museum's traveling exhibit will appear at Union Station from today through February 23.