Hotline #196 - June 22, 2001

A fiscal 2002 transportation funding bill was approved June 20 by the full House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Bill Young (R.-Fla.). It continues the action on Amtrak funding that was approved by the Transportation Subcommittee June 12 -- $521 million in capital, "scored" at 100%. This is the same as President Bush's request for Amtrak. "Scoring" refers to the spend-out rate, meaning that Amtrak would get the entire amount at once, which is what Amtrak says it needs. The next step in the process would be House approval of the bill (as yet unnumbered). Senate action would wait until after that. While in recent years it has not been unusual for the Senate to start work on their appropriations bills before the House sent their own bills over, incoming Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D.-W.Va.) has said that will not happen this year, in line with his interpretation of the Constitution.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Railroads Subcommittee postponed its Amtrak hearing, but did hold a hearing yesterday on magnetic levitation.

A four-car New Jersey Transit commuter train derailed near Garfield, N.J., during the June 20 afternoon rush, causing minor injuries to 27. The train was traveling from Hoboken to Port Jervis, N.Y. The cause is under investigation. Cars remained upright but tilting about 30 degrees -- not on their sides as some news accounts claimed. The accident was on the Bergen Line; the parallel Main Line was not involved and both were back to normal by mid-morning, June 21.

The Vermonter will be restored all the way to St. Albans northbound June 24 and southbound June 25. Amtrak discontinued the train north of Springfield, Mass., on June 1 due to track deterioration on the New England Central Railroad. The track conditions would have meant adding an unacceptable 2:30 hours of delay to the Springfield-St. Albans trip. A round of inspections this week after recent repairs showed that 45 minutes' delay is still possible due to continuing maintenance work, but not enough to prevent restoration of service.

Amtrak closed a mortgage deal for part of New York Penn Station on June 20. The loan is for $300 million, and is designed to offset revenue losses from, among other things, the expected 2.5-year delay in full deployment of the Acela Express train sets.

A report by the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General repeats earlier such reports, saying Amtrak's financial picture remains troubled, despite growth in riders and revenue. The report had been prepared for a canceled Senate Commerce hearing May 22, but was released June 21. Amtrak said that the report bolsters its argument that more investment in passenger rail is needed.

The Industrial Designers Society of America has announced its 2001 winners of its Industrial Design Excellence Awards. The Amtrak Acela Express was one of six "Gold Winners" in the "Design Explorations" category; there is also a "Transportation" category, among others. The winners were announced in the June 25 issue of Business Week.

The City College of San Francisco and Amtrak have set up a free course on becoming an assistant conductor, according to the June 16 San Francisco Chronicle. More than 90 people attended a June 15 orientation, though only half remained at the end. Another orientation will be July 13; the course runs August 20-September 28. The course is in response to the growing need for assistant conductors on Bay Area passenger trains operated by Amtrak -- including Caltrain, Capitol Corridor, and the San Joaquins. It's the first such program for Amtrak or the college. It carries no credit, and runs 40 hours a week.

A forest fire disrupted Amtrak's California Zephyr June 17 and 18 near Truckee, Cal.

The Thruway shuttle van connecting Hot Springs, Ark., with the Texas Eagle at Malvern is being discontinued; last trip July 17. Amtrak has said it would try to find another service provider.

People by the dozens turned out at crossings and former station sites as Amtrak ran an inspection train along the Florida East Coast Railway on June 18, from Jacksonville to Miami. The ride took 14 hours, much longer than it will take for revenue service. Five-minute stops were made in eight cities along the way.

Two Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line trains collided at low speed near Addison Street station June 17, injuring 18 people slightly. The trains were both headed to O'Hare Airport, having just left a temporary single-track zone (due to track work) southeast of the collision site. Neither train derailed.

A new, 800-foot platform at the Richmond, Cal., intermodal station was dedicated June 19, making it easier for BART passengers to find the Amtrak stop. The work is part of a larger project to develop a transit village around the Richmond BART station.

NARP President Alan M. Yorker has a letter to the editor in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, responding to an op-ed piece by Wendell Cox that attacked plans for commuter rail in the Atlanta region.