Hotline #254 - August 2, 2002

Amtrak's eastbound Capitol Limited derailed on July 29, 12 miles before Washington, D.C. The train was approaching Kensington, Md., in the Washington suburbs, shortly after leaving Rockville, running at 60 mph. The engineer reported that moments before the accident, he saw that a stretch of track had shifted to one side -- consistent with a heat kink -- and applied the emergency brake. The locomotives made it through that spot, but the bi-level Superliner cars derailed onto an embankment and tipped over onto their sides.

By all accounts, emergency response was excellent. At first, passengers and crew helped with evacuation, followed quickly by local residents and local emergency response personnel, who worked efficiently despite the overwhelming heat and humidity that day. Carol Carmody, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, called the emergency response "remarkable." In the end, 101 people were taken to local hospitals, with eight remaining hospitalized as of August 1. There were 174 people on the train.

On July 25, an automatic track tamper broke down during a maintenance procedure, when the track was lifted 1.5 inches (so that fresh ballast could be inserted below the track). CSX workers using hand-held machines filled in ballast at the spot where the derailment occurred as late as the day before the wreck, but apparently the normal amount of tonnage passed over the line before the 25 mph slow order was removed. This does raise the question of how soon trackwork-related slow orders should be lifted during extraordinarily hot weather. The Amtrak train was authorized for 60 mph and would have been authorized for 70 mph but for the presence of a particular type of express car.

Investigators, of course, also will be looking at what, if anything, this accident has in common with the fatal Auto Train accident on April 18, which also appeared to involve a heat kink at a place where CSX had performed recent track maintenance.

CSX, until July 30, imposed "heat orders" only on freight trains, whose speeds are reduced 10 mph below otherwise applicable speed limits whenever the temperature has been over 90 degrees (for the second day in a row), or fluctuates more than 40 degrees in a 24-hour period. Such restrictions apply between the hours of 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm.

On July 30, CSX announced a new, ultra-conservative policy that would limit passenger trains to merchandise freight-train speeds when heat orders are in effect. Normal intermodal top speed limits are 60-70 mph, so those trains under heat orders run 50-60 mph. Normal merchandise speeds are 50-55 mph, so those trains -- and, now, passenger trains -- now run 40-45 mph. This means passenger trains run slower than CSX's own intermodal trains; it also means that Amtrak on the 110-mph Albany-Poughkeepsie line is limited to 40 mph (when such an order is in effect). However, CSX is meeting regularly with Amtrak and other carriers and it is possible that some passenger "heat-order" speeds will be increased soon.

Virginia Railway Express, in a July 31 message to its passengers, said, "Manassas Line trains will resume regular speed south of Alexandria when they switch over to tracks owned by Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern has not instituted heat restrictions at this time. They have also informed us that they are confident that our trains can safely travel over their tracks at normal speed."

CSX found two more, but smaller, heat kinks on its Washington-Brunswick line at mid-week -- again, in a place where maintenance was being performed. A slow order for 10 mph was applied in this case.

The July 29 accident blocked the CSX main line to Brunswick Line MARC commuter trains, and to the westbound Capitol Limited. That train was pulled backwards toward Baltimore by a MARC locomotive, then proceeded west over the "Old Main Line" to Point-of-Rocks, Md., where it rejoined its normal route. On July 30, MARC traffic was still blocked, and Capitol Limited passengers were bussed between Washington and Pittsburgh. MARC service was restored the afternoon of July 31.

Equipment placement becomes an even bigger problem for Amtrak now, as all cars on the derailed train had some level of damage, and three probably will be scrapped. The westbound departure of the Capitol Limited on July 31 was covered mostly by cars taken from that day's westbound Cardinal, which was annulled. Amtrak said it thought that train would be the only one cancelled. Amtrak President David Gunn directed some repairs on damaged Superliners, some in storage since 1993, to start right away.

Guilford Rail System, which owns part of the line used by Amtrak's Boston-Portland Downeaster service, was quick to draw a connection between the Capitol Limited derailment and Guilford's ongoing efforts to keep the Downeaster from going over 60 mph. Still, it's not exactly clear why heat kinks are a good argument for keeping Downeaster speed at a low level, no matter what the season or weather in Maine.

The Senate transportation appropriations bill for 2003, that was approved by the Appropriations Committee on July 25, is numbered S.2808. In addition to providing Amtrak with $1.2 billion, it would provide $30 million for high-speed rail programs (down from $32.3 million in 2002, but up from the Bush request of $23.2 million).

S.1991, the National Defense Rail Act, got its 39th sponsor this week (Johnson, D.-S.Dak.). This is an Amtrak and high-speed rail authorization bill that goes the farthest towards proposing stabilization and expansion of passenger rail service nationwide.

Amtrak and Caltrans are considering eliminating sit-down meal service on the San Joaquin trains in California, due to low volume of sales. They also are discussing options for what would replace the current set-up. If the volume of meals served went up and revenues increased by the time a decision has to be made, around October, it's possible the current service could be kept. Entrees have been altered, and their prices reduced, but it's possible not enough passengers are aware enough of the meal service to want to use it.

Amtrak has informed the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority that it will not compete in the next round of contract bids for running Boston's commuter-rail network, due to a series of changes in the proposed contract. In particular, MBTA proposes having the operator carry all the liability for passengers and equipment, and having the operator pay utility costs. Amtrak says such a contract would increase its costs and liabilities, putting Amtrak at risk of violating laws that prohibit Amtrak from subsidizing commuter services. Amtrak currently gets $180 million a year and likely is losing money on the contract; MBTA proposes $150 million a year. Three bidders are still in the running for a five-year contract starting July 1, 2003. Amtrak would like to retain dispatching functions on the Attleboro (Northeast Corridor) line, at its own expense.

A commuter-train passenger in the Boston area died on July 30, an hour after being removed from an MBTA train at Back Bay Station. The man began having symptoms of a heart attack three stops before Back Bay, but a conductor allowed the train to continue to Back Bay, in the belief that it would be easier and quicker to transfer the man to an ambulance there. Nevertheless, Amtrak, which operates the MBTA trains, soon revised its emergency procedures to make it clearer that, in such cases, trains in motion should go to the very next station and wait for an ambulance.

CSX will be doing a bridge project east of Springfield, Mass., meaning that Boston-Washington train 145 will run via Providence on August 5-6; train 54 (northbound Vermonter) will not run north of Springfield August 4, and trains 55-56 (Vermonter) will not run north of Springfield August 5-6. Bus transportation will be offered.

New York City Transit officials say that the subway line that has been out of service since the September 11 terror attacks will go back into service this coming September. That's two months earlier than previously planned. Officials say that the process of clearing debris from the 1-9 line went more quickly than expected.

Former Rep. Don Pease (D.-Ohio) died of a heart attack July 28, at the age of 70. He served in the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993, and was a consistent supporter of passenger rail. After he retired, he taught at Oberlin College and was appointed by President Clinton to the Amtrak board of directors to a five-year term (1993-1998).

The Sierra Club, in a new report, looks at 49 transportation projects around the country and gives them a passing or failing grade in terms of whether they encourage sprawl or not. Several of the projects in "Smart Choices, Less Traffic" involve rail and intermodal projects (for example, Kenosha-Milwaukee commuter rail and Main Street Station in Richmond). There are also links to several other reports of interest. The Sierra Club says that "one of the best ways to curb sprawl is through wise transportation planning and investments," and that this can be done "by balancing funding between highways and public transportation."