Hotline #206 - August 31, 2001

The Sierra Club, representing 750,000 members nationwide, last week wrote to Senator Joe Biden (D.-Del.) to thank him for his work on the High Speed Rail Investment Act and to express "strong endorsement" of it. Particular attention was paid to the role rail can have in the area of aviation congestion relief: "In Chicago, the nexus of our nation's air transportation system, forty percent of the flights are of distances less than 300 miles. High-speed rail … would greatly reduce congestion and gridlock in Chicago, which would in turn reduce the number of delayed flights in airports all across our nation," in a manner that "helps to ensure that transportation challenges are met while protecting our environment and public health." It is a major accomplishment to have a NARP issue included on the national agenda of such a large, environmental group.

A story about Amtrak reorganization appeared in a few news sources late this week. In fact, this is a continuation of efforts Amtrak has been carrying out for several months, some of it already reported. For example, Amtrak announced July 27 that Northeast Corridor President Stan Bagley would become Executive Vice President of Operations. He now manages train operations with Amtrak's four business units -- Northeast Corridor, Intercity, West, and Mail and Express.  Complementing this Operations Department is a new Capital Programs Department, which will handle capital planning, equipment acquisition and overhauls, infrastructure development, and high-speed rail corridor development. Amtrak says separating these functions into two departments is consistent with Amtrak Reform Council recommendations and will improve efficiency by consolidating similar functions and eliminating duplication.

The Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor -- a coalition of the state departments of transportation in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia -- is planning a series of hearings in the next two months in Virginia and North Carolina. The hearings will present information on the Draft Tier I Environmental Impact Statement for the Washington-Richmond-Raleigh-Charlotte segment of the corridor, and provide an opportunity for public input. For more information on that, including hearing dates and locations, see the Corridor web site or the NARP events site.

Following up a story from two weeks ago, Burlington Northern Santa Fe will contribute up to $1.3 million to raise tracks west of Devils Lake, N.Dak., which are threatened by rising lake water.  The state will contribute $410,000, and various cities a total of $90,000. This will make it possible for Amtrak service to continue to Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Rugby to continue. The work will begin late in September, will end by late October, and will require closure of the route for a week in that period, forcing the Empire Builder to detour over the BNSF direct Fargo-Minot line.

A bill to expedite development of San Francisco's Transbay Terminal into an intermodal terminal that includes Caltrain commuter service is in danger of not being acted upon in this year's session. AB 1419 has already passed the State Assembly and is pending in the State Senate. It would transfer the state-owned terminal and adjoining parcels to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. The parcels would be rezoned for redevelopment and future tax revenues from the land would produce $385 million for the terminal project. However, AB 1419 has faced opposition from some in southern California, who want to link the terminal project to the project to rebuild the Bay Bridge to Oakland, and who oppose sale of state land for a "local" project. A Senate committee has until September 14 to set a hearing date for the bill, or it will be postponed until next year.

The Capitol Corridor -- in part -- will be interrupted by bridge work for a ten-day period from October 27 to November 5. Buses will replace trains south of Oakland, toward San Jose and intermediate stations. Trains will run on their normal schedules north and east of Oakland toward Sacramento and Auburn.

A new Thruway bus connection began August 21 linking three Oregon towns -- Grants Pass, Ashland, and Medford -- with the Coast Starlight to/from the south at Klamath Falls. However, there is a nearly three-hour layover southbound at Klamath Falls.

Wisconsin Governor Scott McCallum (R.) approved a state budget yesterday for 2001-03. He used his line-item veto power to strike one item that would have restricted the state's ability to invest in passenger rail. The vetoed provision prohibited use of state rail bonds (approved by the legislature in the 1990's) for investment in the Green Bay or Madison routes, or stations anywhere in the state, unless state funding for a given project were limited to 20% and Amtrak or another railroad had agreed to provide service on the routes. The governor wrote that the provision could "adversely influence Wisconsin's ability to fully utilize federal funds for passenger rail development in this state and the Legislature already has oversight of passenger rail expenditures."

McCallum did not veto a provision banning use of state funds (through June 30, 2002) for light rail, but wrote that he expects "that the extension of this sunset will not affect the completion of the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Transit Corridor Alternatives study that is being undertaken by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission." The ban exempts Kenosha and Madison. The ban also requires a county-wide referendum on any Milwaukee light rail proposal -- something not necessary for highway expansion or high-tech buses.

The August 27 Barron's says "airline earnings are in free fall in one of the worst slumps in decades." Andrew Bary's "The Trader" column continued, "Based on weak July revenues, analysts now think the [airline] industry may post a loss in the seasonally strong third quarter for only the fourth time in 30 years. For all of 2001, only [Continental and Southwest] are expected to operate in the black and the industry is expected to lose $2 billion ..."