Hotline #234 - March 15, 2002

The Senate Commerce Committee on March 14 held a hearing on S.1991, the National Defense Rail Act, introduced March 6. This comprehensive, pro-national-system and pro-corridor bill now has 25 sponsors (three more since last week with the addition of Inouye, D.-Hawaii, Boxer, D.-Cal., Sarbanes, D.-Md.).

Statements made by Committee members and Senate witnesses underscored divisions between the Senators that will prove challenging to overcome if a good reauthorization law (or any) is to be enacted. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) sees no use for passenger trains away from the Northeast (and "maybe the West"), but thinks that federal investment in such services is permissible -- even if vast parts of the country have no service -- and that restructuring and privatization are vital.

Ron Wyden (D.-Ore.), clearly still bitter over the loss of the Pioneer, sees Amtrak as a conspiracy to shrink passenger service down to the Northeast. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) sees a national system as desirable and wants to avoid dividing support by geography, but thinks some examination should be made to see whether some services deserve support. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex) sees a national system as having paramount importance, and would support some of McCain's reforms, and said -- addressing McCain -- "as long as your purpose is to have a national system and not to kill one."

Of S.1991, Chairman Ernest Hollings (D.-S.C.), the bill's lead sponsor, said it is "an attempt to create what we did for highways in the 1950's." The bill provides the support for corridors sought by many, the support for a national network sought by those such as Hutchison, but not the privatization, restructuring, and retrenchment qualities sought by those such as McCain. It provides more oversight by having passenger rail money go through the DOT (where McCain's bill, S.1958, has a control board mechanism).

Another theme -- one common to other hearings in recent weeks -- is frustration on the part of Members of Congress that the Administration has yet to tell Congress its views on passenger rail reauthorization. Deputy Transportation Secretary Michael Jackson ran through a list of ten questions that the Administration was considering, leading Chairman Hollings to respond that "The Administration asks more questions than we do. We already know how to ask questions. Why is there nothing from the Administration we can act on?" Hollings asked, "Is the Administration ready for a national system?" and Jackson responded, "We're not prepared to see the current, broken, national system continue. We have to work through the funding problems and see what we can afford. We need a national, intercity system. The question is how expensive it should be. It is important to consider the ARC recommendations." Clearly, the Administration has not yet ruled out a proposal that would call for the end of nationwide passenger rail service.

AAR President Ed Hamberger made clear that the freight railroads believe intercity passenger rail should "be provided by one entity -- Amtrak." He said Amtrak's statutory rights to freight tracks "should not be transferred or franchised."

The American Passenger Rail Coalition, which represents suppliers in the passenger rail industry, honored Sen. Joe Biden (D.-Del.) with its Rail Leadership Award on March 13, at Washington Union Station. He was saluted for his commitment to a national system, to the Northeast Corridor, and particularly for his passionate efforts to draw attention to important life-safety needs in Northeastern tunnels.

Indeed, earlier that same day, Biden took the Senate floor to express his frustration with the Senate's failure to bring S.1550 to a vote, due to one or more anonymous holds that have been placed on the bill by other Senators. That bill, the Rail Security Act of 2001, was approved by the Commerce Committee on October 17 with bipartisan support, and authorizes $1.8 billion for Amtrak security and safety measures. Biden said that due to the holds on S.1550, he had placed holds on the nominations of two Department of Transportation appointments, which he would be happy to lift at such time that S.1550 comes to a vote.

Last month, Amtrak ridership was 6.4% above the February 2001 level, and passenger-miles rose 8.6%. The Air Transport Association reported declines for domestic airline service of 12.5% and 10.3%, respectively. Amtrak's passenger revenues were up 17.0%. This was Amtrak's strongest month since the September 11 attacks, and the sixth straight month in which Amtrak percentage changes were far better than those posted by the airlines.

A sixth, daily San Joaquin train will be added March 18 by Amtrak West and Caltrans. The four existing Oakland-Bakersfield trains and one existing Sacramento-Bakersfield train will be joined by a second Sacramento-Bakersfield train. This new train will run on a schedule roughly opposite the existing Sacramento train. New northbound train 701 will leave Bakersfield at 7:15 am, and arrive Sacramento at 12:30 pm. New southbound train 704 will leave Sacramento at 4:25 pm and arrive Bakersfield at 9:43 pm. This change will also mark the beginning of service to Lodi, which is between Sacramento and Stockton, and which will be served by all Sacramento San Joaquins. Some other San Joaquins also will have minor changes -- check before traveling.

The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority decided on March 8 to return to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), for the third time, over the issue of Amtrak Downeaster speeds on 77 miles of Guilford track in New Hampshire and Maine. The trains have been running there since December at a top speed of 60 mph, but Amtrak and the authority want to run at 79 mph, which would cut 15 minutes from the overall Boston-Portland schedule. Amtrak, the authority, and the Federal Railroad Administration have all maintained that 79-mph running is safe for the weight of the rail laid on the segment (115 lb. per yard), but Guilford maintains heavier rail is needed. STB-ordered tests in 2001 showed that a vital track-support measure was twice that required by the STB, according to Amtrak and the authority, but Guilford still does not accept that finding.

California State Sen. Jim Costa (D.-Fresno) has introduced a bill calling for a November 2002 ballot measure, allowing the sale of $6 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail construction in California. Costa has a long history of promoting passenger rail. The bonds would raise about half the cost of building the Los Angeles-Bay Area trunk. Much of the rest could come from the federal government, if it ever decides to help states build passenger rail projects (as it does for virtually every other mode of transportation). The bill allowing the November vote would have to be passed by two-thirds of both legislative houses. Another state senator, Tom McClintock (R.-Simi Valley), called the proposal a "boondoggle" based on "pixie dust," and said the money could be better spent building 400 additional miles of freeway lanes.

The Texas Eagle is being disrupted due to track work in Texas. Southbound trains arriving Fort Worth March 15-19 are being terminated there, with bus substitution the rest of the way to San Antonio. Northbound trains normally originating at San Antonio March 16-20 instead originate at Fort Worth.

Amtrak and Metrolink officials plan to visit Omaha to discuss serious on-time performance problems along the West Coast with top Union Pacific management. Metrolink wrote to Union Pacific on March 8, criticizing the dispatching on the UP line used by Metrolink commuter trains from Los Angeles to Pomona and Riverside. This also was the subject of a March 11 Metrolink release and March 13 Los Angeles Times article. Metrolink paid UP $71 million to upgrade the line as part of their 1991 joint-use agreement, which the letter said "requires UP to schedule and dispatch its own trains in a safe and reliable manner that minimizes disruption to Metrolink passenger service." Instead, the letter cites numerous instances in which UP did not put freight trains into sidings to allow commuter trains to pass, and in which UP trains broke down in front of commuter trains. The result is many commuter trains that are 30 minutes late; some up to two hours late. Metrolink is giving UP 30 days to respond before going to arbitration. A UP spokesman in the article said UP already was taking actions to improve the situation.

The California Transportation Commission has approved more than $4 million for an Amtrak station at the Oakland Coliseum (south of Amtrak's Jack London Square station in downtown Oakland). The new station will be adjacent to BART's Coliseum station and will allow intermodal connections between Amtrak's Capitol Corridor trains, BART, AC Transit buses, and the AirBART shuttle to Oakland International Airport. It could be completed in late 2003.

NARP Region 4 meets tomorrow in Baltimore, and Region 9 meets in Fort Worth. A combined Region 5 and 6 meeting will take place March 22-24 in Louisville, and Region 8 will meet in Portland, Ore.

Theater-minded visitors to New York City may be interested in a rail-themed plan called "End of the Line," running April 23-May 5. A release from the Yankee Rep theater company said the play is "about the myriad people and stories passing through the Albany-Rensselaer train station before its demolition this summer." Amtrak will move into a new terminal in June, making the adjacent 1970's-era station redundant. The play is a collection of ten stories gleaned from dozens that were submitted by an ensemble of writers, and will run at the Raw Space Theatre, Studio L, 529 W. 42nd St., Manhattan. Tickets are $10-15; call 212/462-3064 for details or e-mail.