Hotline #724 - September 16, 2011

The Senate joined the House in passing an extension of the surface transportation law and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization, defusing a political showdown and preventing the loss of millions of dollars in uncollected user fees.

Earlier in the week it looked as if there was going to be a repeat of an August clash that delayed the extension of the FAA authorization.  House Republicans objected to the inclusion of the Essential Air Services program which subsidizes air travel to small and rural communities, while Senate Democrats insisted they be kept.  The resulting deadlock cost the government $30 million per day, tallying a $400 million bill before Congress was able to come up with a solution.

In case of déjà vu, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) was holding up the larger bills over the Transportation Enhancements provision in the bill, which requires that 10% of federal highway funds be set aside for projects such as bike infrastructure, pedestrian safety, railroad right-of-way preservation, and beautification projects.  Coburn objected, insisting that states shouldn’t be required to spend money on non-bridge and -road transportation projects.

A deal was reached yesterday that preserves the Transportation Enhancements, but inserts more flexibility for state transportation departments in terms of what percentage of funds to spend on them.  The deal will enable the government to keep collecting gas taxes and airline ticket taxes.

“We felt [Coburn] would be pleased with the reforms,” said Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works.  “It gives flexibility, without doing damage to the important programs in there.”

Full service on Amtrak’s California Zephyr was restored between the San Francisco Bay Area and Chicago this week, as Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway work crews finished repairs to damage caused by massive flooding.

Flooding and the subsequent damage to tracks had forced the Zephyr to cancel service between Fort Morgan, Colorado and Burlington, Iowa; Limited service between Emeryville, California and Denver, Colorado; and use a detour that entirely bypassed Omaha, Nebraska.  Amtrak has been offering chartered buses to carry passengers between Denver and Raton, New Mexico, where the Southwest Chief offers service to Chicago.

But thanks to the hard work of BNSF and Amtrak crews, full service has been restored as of yesterday with the departure of the eastbound Train 6 from Emeryville, and today with the westbound Train 5 from Chicago.

Amtrak issued a statement on September 13 apologizing for any hardship the disruption caused passengers:

“Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. Passengers who have paid for travel on canceled trains can contact Amtrak to receive refunds without fee or penalty or can rebook for future travel. If tickets have not yet printed, the refund/rebook can be done on Amtrak.com or the free Amtrak iPhone ‘app.’”


Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) are making steady progress towards implementing the provisions of the 2008 passenger train improvement law, testified FRA’s Administrator and Amtrak’s CEO at a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing yesterday (click to read each man’s written testimony).

Amtrak Inspector General Ted Alves also gave a detailed overview of five areas in which the railroad still has work to do, including implementing daily Sunset Limited and Cardinal service and combining the Pennsylvanian with the Capitol Limited west of Pittsburgh, and running more special trains to maximize revenue.

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), the Chairman of the subcommittee, made excellent opening remarks that NARP could have written. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) also made pro-train remarks and urged FRA to begin studying possible corridor service between El Paso, Albuquerque, Denver and Cheyenne.


U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced this week that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will receive a $32.5 million grant to expand and upgrade Boston’s historic South Station.

“These dollars will allow South Station to expand and meet the needs of the traveling public,” said Secretary LaHood at an event held in South Station on September 13. “Revitalizing and modernizing South Station is not only crucial to accommodating projected population growth, it will create jobs and grow the region’s economy.”

The federal grant will be a boon for passengers who use the station, which currently operates above capacity and is expected to see a 50 percent increase in the amount of high-speed trains it handles as operations increase on the Northeast Corridor in coming years.

Improvements include the construction of a new train storage facility to accommodate layovers; upgrades to existing tracks, platforms, and passenger facilities; demolition and relocation of an existing U.S. Postal Service facility to make room for new tracks and platforms; and connections between existing platforms and tracks and the adjacent South Station Bus Terminal.

“This is not only a great project for Boston’s MBTA commuters, but for all rail travelers in New England,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo.  “Amtrak’s Acela, Northeast Regional, Downeaster and Lake Shore Limited all utilize South Station, handling more than 1.3 million passengers in 2010.” [Note: Downeaster trains utilize Boston’s North Station, as no direct rail link exists between it and South Station. NARP has been urging the construction of such a rail link for decades.]

The project will also improve the streetscape around the station for the use of pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users, reopening Dorchester Avenue for public use.


Starting November 1, Amtrak will require that minors be at least 13 years of age to travel unaccompanied by a guardian on its trains.

Under the new policy, children 12 and under will need to be accompanied by a guardian 18 years of age or older.  Children ages 13-15 can travel unaccompanied “in accordance with specific procedures and conditions” (see Inside Amtrak for full details).  16- and 17-year-olds are exempt from the special conditions and are treated as adults, but cannot act as the accompanying guardian for a traveler under 13.

“This is not a response to any incidents,” said Jeff Snowden, Amtrak Senior Director of Service Delivery. “Rather, as record numbers of passengers are riding Amtrak trains, we are taking this action out of an abundance of concern for the comfort and safety of all our customers.”

Previously, Amtrak allowed children aged 8-14 to travel with restrictions as unaccompanied minors with passengers as young as 15 to travel unrestricted and act as guardian for children of any age.

In addition to Amtrak’s website, Amtrak will post notifications at stations and in the new Fall-Winter timetable.


Norfolk’s new light-rail transit line, “The Tide,” is proving a huge success with daily ridership almost doubling initial predictions with more than 5,600 trips taken daily.

The coastal city in Virginia is a popular tourist attraction, which could explain in part the unexpected ridership numbers.

“I love riding The Tide. I think it’s very convenient as far as transportation and it saves me on gas since I’m a college student,” one of the passengers told WTKR-TV.

The S70 low-floor cars are designed and manufactured in America by Siemens, at a plant in Sacramento, California.  The cars are popular among transit agencies in cities across the U.S.

The Union Pacific Railroad, with financing from the state of Illinois and federal grants from the Recovery Act, has completed the first phase of track upgrades along Amtrak’s Chicago-St. Louis corridor. Amtrak is celebrating the return of all five daily round-trips to the line by offering discounted fares on the route.

Off and on for the past year and a half, Lincoln Service trains have been substituted by motorcoaches and the Chicago-San Antonio Texas Eagle has detoured while crews brought sections of the track up to the standard necessary to support top running speeds of 110 mph. While such speeds will not be realized until 2014, passengers should notice a smoother and more reliable ride over segments between Alton and Joliet, Illinois.

To draw riders back to the restored service, Amtrak is offering discounted travel on Lincoln Service trains for reservations purchased by the end of September, for travel on or before October 3rd.


Ongoing Union Pacific work in Pontiac, Illinois, which will not cause any disruptions to train service, is causing the temporary closure of two road crossings in the city.

The Madison and Washington Street crossings will be closed from now through next Friday, September 23. Motorists are advised to detour using Howard or Reynolds Streets. The Howard Street crossing will then be closed from September 30 to October 8.

The work is to enhance and protect the crossings in anticipation of 110-mph passenger trains operating through Pontiac.

Amtrak announced that its only dome car will be running on the Adirondack service north of Albany on a special five-week run between September 15 through October 23, 2011.

The vintage car was built in 1955 by the Budd Company for the Great Northern Railroad.  Amtrak acquired the car in 1971 and has refurbished it three times, once in 1985, again in 1999, and most recently this summer.  The car’s upper level features a domed glass ceiling in addition to the picture windows on the side, allowing for spectacular views.

“Autumn is always a special time for New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers alike, who take advantage of the beautiful fall foliage that graces our hills and valleys every year,” said NYSDOT Commissioner Joan McDonald. “And once again, Amtrak’s Great Dome car will be rolling past the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain for passengers traveling between New York City and Montreal. Hosting the ‘Great Dome’ car during the autumn months is part of a great and important tradition that both attracts riders and promotes the unparalleled beauty of upstate New York State.”

The Dome car operates northbound from Albany to Montreal on Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays, and returns southbound from Montreal on Fridays, Sundays, and Tuesdays.  After its stint in New York, it will run on the Cardinal between Chicago and Washington, going east from Chicago on October 29 and November 5, and going west from Washington on November 4 and 11. Read more about the Dome Car at Amtrak.com.


New York City-area regional passenger train operator Metro-North Railroad is testing designs for bicycle racks to be installed in its brand-new M-8 electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger railcars, which are beginning to replace 1970s-vintage EMUs on the busy New Haven Line.

Both Metro-North and the Long Island Railroad, which are both part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York State, permit a limited number of bicycles in each car but requires them to display a permit sticker that costs $5.00. Bicycles are only allowed on off-peak Metro-North trains, but cycling advocates say many cyclists stretch those rules. MTA does not plan to loosen this restriction even after the racks are installed.

A test M-8 car containing the new bike rack design was parked yesterday at New Haven’s Union Station, and today at New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Cyclists were encouraged to bring their own bikes to test out the racks. While the racks are slated for installation on all 400 M-8 cars, the existing M-7 third-rail EMUs, which have a similar design and run on electrified portions of Metro-North’s Harlem and Hudson Lines, will not be retrofitted with them

Rail*Trains*Ecology*Cycling (http://www.railtec.org), a New Haven-based advocacy group that formed to push Metro-North to install bike racks, says its next campaign is to push for the installation of bike racks on Amtrak trains. The only bicycles permitted on most Amtrak trains today are boxed bicycles that are handled as checked baggage. Unboxed bikes are only allowed in limited quantities on the Downeaster, Piedmonts, Illinois and California corridor trains, and Cascades. Amtrak is working on a pilot program to allow unboxed bicycles on the Capitol Limited between Washington and Pittsburgh.


SNCF, the French national railroad, has selected Indian manufacturer Tata Steel to supply high-quality rail for Europe’s newest high-speed rail line, one of the world’s largest infrastructure projects launched in the last decade.

The new 188-mile railroad, the South-Europe-Atlantique line, will run between the southern French cities of Bordeaux and Tours, connecting them with high-speed trains to and from Paris, London, Brussels and Amsterdam. It also constitutes the largest public-private partnership contract ever signed in France’s railroad history.

Work on building 19 viaducts and seven tunnels will start in the first half of 2012. At the peak of the project there will be 4,500 construction workers employed. Tata Steel will manufacture the rail in Scunthorpe, England, then ship it across the English Channel to be rolled into rail in Hayange, in northeastern France.


A small group gathered on September 12 to commemorate the third anniversary of the 2008 Metrolink crash that claimed 25 lives.

The solemn group consisted of survivors and family members of those who died, waiting for the passage of the 4:30 p.m. northbound train from Los Angeles Union Station.  Three years earlier, the 4:30 northbound slammed into a stopped freight train when the engineer failed to notice a signal directing him to stop.  Investigators from the Surface Transportation Board believe that the operator was texting in the cab based on an examination of phone records.  Veolia Transport, the operator that was contracting with Metrolink at the time, disputes this account.

Civil litigation is ongoing between the survivors and families and Veolia.