Hotline #181 - March 9, 2001

The High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA), S.250, has 52 sponsors now, with the addition this week of Jack Reed (D.-R.I.). On the House side, Bob Clement (D.-Tenn.), Amo Houghton, and Jack Quinn (both R.-N.Y.), and James Oberstar (D.-Minn.) need to hear support for introducing a HSRIA similar to what the House passed as part of its tax package last year and the S.1900 as rewritten by the Senate Finance Committee. Today, a bipartisan group of House members and their families took a special Amtrak train to the Greenbrier Hotel at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., to continue the annual retreat tradition inaugurated by Newt Gingrich.

Amtrak released a final, 20-year improvement plan for California on March 7. The draft version was released last May and described in our December newsletter. The plan calls for $10 billion in investment -- $2.7 billion in the next three years -- to be used to improve all three of today's corridors, plus development of a new "Coast" corridor. That would involve a new Coast Daylight train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, plus other train service from San Francisco to Salinas and Monterey. As with any improvement plans involving state partnerships, this ambitious plan would benefit immensely through passage of the HSRIA.

Flooding and other problems caused by heavy rains disrupted Amtrak service in California this week, particularly between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo. One problem is that weather-related commercial electricity supply disruptions have caused signal batteries to wear down. Another potential problem is renewed ground instability at the location of a landslide last July 30 west of Santa Barbara.

The March 5 snowstorm in the Northeast had little impact on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. While thousands were stranded in airports, Amtrak reported only cancellation of a pair of midday Metroliners, and other minor delays. The inaugural northbound non-stop Acela Express from Washington to New York was delayed 10 minutes.

North Carolina DOT this week released its "Western North Carolina Passenger Rail Study," updating a 1997 report. The plan calls for starting by beginning Salisbury-Asheville Thruway bus service in 2002, or possibly running it further to Knoxville, Tenn. Other activities like property acquisition, negotiation with Amtrak and Norfolk Southern, track work, and equipment acquisition would take place up to a potential start-up of Salisbury-Asheville rail service in 2005. The last service to run there ended in 1975.

The Portland Press Herald today reports that the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority and Guilford are discussing starting Boston-Portland service in June at 59 mph top speed (2:40), while the Authority and Amtrak seek clarification of the Surface Transportation Board's original order allowing 79 mph (2:28).

St. Louis Mayor Clarence Harmon announced March 2 that the city and Amtrak had agreed on a 20-year lease that will allow the proposed intermodal terminal to go forward. The $29-million St. Louis Gateway Transportation Center will be funded by the Federal Transit Administration, Missouri DOT, the Bi-State Development Agency, and the city. The first work will be on a maintenance building starting in the next few weeks. Work on the new station -- roughly on the present site -- will begin within a year.

Oklahoma House Bill 1173, which would move about $60 million in motor vehicle registration fees from the general fund to transportation programs, was approved by the House of Representatives this week, 98-0, and sent to the Senate. If approved, HB 1173 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. Senate Joint Resolution 4 would allow voters to consider a 10-year, one-cent gas tax to finance passenger rail projects. It has been approved in committee and awaits a floor vote. Its wording allows for other funding sources as well (like that in HB 1173).

The Amtrak Reform Council will release its annual report March 20. It may contain all or part of recommendations from an ARC staff paper on taking Northeast Corridor infrastructure away from Amtrak. Click here for a critique of this idea.

Responding to media reports from last weekend, Amtrak has denied that it will cut train and/or food service on the Empire Corridor. However, it remains true that Amtrak's budget for the current year is exceptionally tight.

As part of a meeting this week of the National Conference of Black Mayors, Amtrak ran a special train from Atlanta to Macon on March 6, and then to Savannah on March 7. The route is part of the federally designated Southeast High Speed Corridor. Among the mayors on board were those from Denver, New Orleans, Birmingham, and Meridian, Miss.

The Ohio State University Center for Survey Research released a poll on March 8 in Columbus showing strong support for passenger rail. The poll results show that 80% of Ohioans want the state to develop passenger rail service. More than half (53%) said the best way to relieve road traffic congestion is to "improve all forms of transportation including mass transit and high-speed rail." More information on the poll is available at the Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers web site.

The Great American Station Foundation is taking applications for this year's grants for station revitalization projects. Grants are intended to help jump-start community efforts to restore stations as active intermodal facilities and to ensure such stations contribute to local economic development. Applications are due April 13; for more see their web site.