Hotline #240 - April 26, 2002

Two passengers were killed in a collision April 23 between a freight train and a commuter train in southern California. A Metrolink train, bound from Riverside to San Juan Capistrano, a push-pull train, was operating cab-car forward and was approaching a junction (Atwood) where it would leave Burlington Northern Santa Fe's Chicago-Los Angeles main line and continue further south into Orange County. The Metrolink engineer saw another train approaching on the same track and brought the commuter train to a halt.

The other train was an eastbound BNSF freight train, about a mile long. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that train disregarded a yellow signal and a red signal on its approach to Atwood, where it was supposed to stop and let the Metrolink train by. Though later signal tests showed the signals were working, the BNSF train did not appear to slow down until the Metrolink train was in sight and didn't have enough room left to stop completely. By the time of impact, the BNSF train had slowed to about 23 mph. It pushed the Metrolink train backwards some distance, caught up with it, and struck it again, derailing the Metrolink train's first two cars.

The NTSB has used this accident as an opportunity to restate past recommendations that all railroads with passenger trains have automatic train stop technology.

Amtrak's Southwest Chief was forced to detour via Metrolink's San Bernardino route (via El Monte and Claremont) to avoid the accident site.

Investigation in the derailment of Amtrak's Auto Train on April 18 shifted its focus from the train's equipment to the tracks, within a couple days of the accident. The NTSB said that investigators had found "nothing remarkable" about the Amtrak equipment after inspecting it. The train's engineer has said he saw a "misalignment" in the track, on a curve, just as the train was on the spot. The engineer, assistant engineer, and conductor all felt a "violent shaking" and all three reached for the emergency brake.

In an April 20 briefing, the NTSB said that CSX had experienced drainage problems at the accident site. The NTSB is considering the possibility that a soft spot in the track bed had formed, and that the track itself had been shifting under the weight of each passing train. Later, investigators appeared to rule out a drainage problem and to focus instead on rail maintenance questions.

The four people who were killed were passengers, ranging in age from 65 to 75, headed from Florida back to New York State and Ontario. Three of them were found outside of the train, suggesting that some of them may have been passing from car to car at the time of the derailment. The cars themselves maintained their structural integrity, leading an NTSB investigator to comment, "The good story is that the cars stood up like champs."

Track was re-laid at the scene, near Crescent City, Fla., and opened on April 21, subject to a 10-mph slow order. CSX planned further improvements this week to allow the speed to be increased to 25 mph. Auto Train started running again with the departures of April 23.

CSX and the Federal Railroad Administration had just met April 16 to discuss a track safety compliance agreement that had been in effect since 2000, which is set to expire May 1. FRA said CSX had met the terms of the agreement and that there were no plans to extend it.

Amtrak will have to shuffle equipment around to replace what was lost or put out of service on April 18. Both the Cardinal and Kentucky Cardinal will be converted to single-level equipment in order to provide bi-level equipment for the Auto Train. The Kentucky Cardinal conversion will be May 5 southbound (and May 6 northbound), when that train will get a Viewliner sleeper. This already had been planned after the decision to remove the Silver Palm's sleeper and diner -- which still will happen May 1, when that train becomes (again) the Palmetto.

The Cardinal will be converted May 5 westbound (and May 7 eastbound), on what is described as a temporary basis. It will have two Viewliner sleepers, a Heritage diner, and Amfleet II coaches (an Amfleet II lounge may be added later). The Cardinal will get the Viewliner sleeper that had been planned to go to the Silver Meteor. NARP has asked that the Cardinal be run through to New York (as it used to do before it had Superliner equipment). It is likely that unboxed bicycle carriage will end on the Cardinal, where bike racks had been installed in the Superliner smoking coaches in 1997.

Plans for a Downeaster summer stop at Old Orchard Beach, Me., are on hold for this year. The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority announced that it and Guilford, the track owner, had failed to reach a land lease agreement for a passenger platform, in time for service to begin on June 1. Maine Transportation Commissioner John Melrose hopes to start a shuttle bus between Old Orchard Beach and the Amtrak stop in Saco as an alternative for this year, and to keep working toward getting a rail stop in 2003. The Portland Press Herald said that the heart of the problem is that Guilford wants to make the Old Orchard Beach lease contingent on revising platform agreements at six other stations in order to change terms outlining snow removal. Guilford claims that other towns removed snow this past winter in an unsafe manner, which the Authority denies.

The four Senators representing New York and New Jersey have asked the Bush Administration to release $100 million that was provided for safety improvements to the Amtrak Hudson tunnels in the defense appropriations bill in December 2001, according to the New York Post. Charles Schumer (D.-N.Y.) told the Post that federal agencies had, unacceptably, cited "red tape" in explaining why the funds had not been released.

Amtrak's eastbound, on-time Empire Builder struck a Union Pacific hi-rail truck on April 23, injuring no one but disrupting Metra afternoon commuter traffic on the Fox Lake line. Not known is why a Union Pacific truck was parked on Canadian Pacific tracks (at Northbrook, Ill.).

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on April 24 was expected to mark-up a one-year Amtrak bill, H.R.4545, authorizing $1.2 billion in funding in fiscal 2003, but with new strings attached to it. All capital funding would be funneled through the Department of Transportation, and all Amtrak capital projects (large and small) would have to be approved there first. That also might give the Office of Management and Budget effective veto power over such projects, making Amtrak's spending decisions more political in nature. Democrats at the hearing expressed concerns over that, and over the fact that the bill had only been introduced the night before, and so the bill was pulled from consideration, for now.

Also up for consideration at the same meeting on April 24 was a revamped version of H.R.2950 (RIDE-21), the high-speed rail bond and freight rail loan bill introduced last fall by Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young (R.-Alaska). The new bill, totaling $59 billion over ten years, includes a rail loan section (like the old H.R.2950 did), $12 billion in high-speed rail bonds to be issued by states but that are federally tax exempt (like the old H.R.2950, but at a reduced amount), and $12 billion in federal tax-credit bonds (like H.R.2329, the Houghton-Oberstar High-Speed Rail Investment Act). The new H.R.2950, like the Amtrak bill, was pulled from consideration, for now.

The National Association of Railroad Passengers is having its annual board meeting in Washington, D.C. Last night, at Union Station, George Falcon Golden Spike Awards went to House Railroads Subcommittee Chairman Jack Quinn (R.-N.Y.) and to Senate Commerce Chairman Ernest Hollings (D.-S.C.), who was unable to attend, but who will get his award in person on May 8. The Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award for 2001 went to Henry Marcell, of Branford, Conn., for his work as Amtrak's Director of Safety for Northeast Corridor Engineering.

Former Amtrak President George Warrington spoke to the NARP board this morning, as his last official act before boarding a train to begin his job as new Executive Director of New Jersey Transit. A temporary replacement has not yet been named by the Amtrak board.

The Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers meeting on April 13, at Hudson, Wis., was honored by a visit from the new state Transportation Secretary, Tom Carlson. He said that engineering for Midwest Regional Rail Initiative improvements between Madison and Watertown, Wis., is underway and would not take long to complete -- if Congress ever decides to create a federal-state funding partnership for intercity passenger rail projects.