Hotline #261 - September 20, 2002

Amtrak President David Gunn has presented to the Amtrak board a fiscal 2003 budget that assumes receipt of $1.2 billion in federal grants. Some aspects were outlined in a Washington Post article yesterday. They include continuing repairs to wreck-damaged equipment; continuation of long-distance trains; elimination of most express service; putting off expansion proposals, such as restoring service along the east coast of Florida; putting off "many worthy projects" including major Northeast Corridor track work; and requiring (within two years) that states cover all operating losses of trains that Amtrak and states jointly fund today.

The express initiative has not produced the revenues Amtrak had hoped for in the 1990's. It's unclear how fast Amtrak could discontinue the service, given existing contracts. Ending express service likely would increase train reliability, and lead to speeding up of some schedules. It also brings into question the survival of services like the Kentucky Cardinal and Pennsylvanian.

Requiring states to pay more is consistent with Bush Administration views, but will be difficult, given current state budget deficits. In 2001, the only route that got some state funding -- but that did not add to Amtrak's operating losses -- was the Heartland Flyer. In many other states, the situation is murky. States like New York, California, Michigan, and Illinois help fund some trains, and not others, but all of them have an operating loss.

There was still no action on transportation funding in 2003 in the House of Representatives. The new fiscal year is ten days away. Amtrak will not shut down on October 1, because programs whose appropriations bills are not yet passed probably will get funded through a "continuing resolution." But continuing resolutions normally peg funding to the previous year's normal appropriations, which in Amtrak's case is $521 million -- not the $1.2 billion minimum it needs. If a favorable adjustment is not made, and the continuing resolution runs past roughly Thanksgiving, Amtrak could face another cash crisis.

Deputy Transportation Secretary Michael Jackson was quoted in yesterday's Post article as saying the Administration did not want Amtrak to go through such a crisis, by finding an "appropriate continuing resolution mechanism." The Post also reported that Administration sources said no "reforms" will be tied to the continuing resolution, but the Administration will ask that the 2003 appropriations bill, when it finally appears, "clear the way for private enterprise to operate some Amtrak routes as an experiment, to determine whether competition would lead to more efficient service. Such service could then be set up in fiscal 2004."

The Administration, however, has not budged from its "non-starter" $521 million request for Amtrak. Also, the House transportation appropriations subcommittee reportedly is working with perhaps $4 billion less than its Senate counterparts (for all transportation), which will make it hard to fulfill Amtrak's needs.

Amtrak has adopted a schedule for the Acela Express service that will stay in effect the rest of the month (through September 29) and possibly longer. On weekdays (beginning September 16), 41 of the 50 normal departures (from Boston, New York, and Washington) are operating. Saturday schedules are normal (17 departures, as indicated in the August 3 timetable) and Sundays have 23 departures (out of 29 normally). Service updates are on Amtrak's web site.

Stan Bagley, Amtrak's Chief Operating Officer, retired after 28 years with Amtrak, according to a September 16 message to employees from Amtrak President David Gunn. People who had reported to Bagley now report to Gunn, until a replacement for Bagley is found.

California Governor Gray Davis (D.) signed on September 19 a law allowing California voters to consider a ballot initiative for passenger-rail bonds in November 2004. The bill, S.B.1856 (the "Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act"), was signed at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento. It got final legislative approval on August 30. If approved by voters, the measure will provide $9 billion for high-speed rail and $950 million for conventional rail and rail transit.

Bombardier will close its assembly plant at Barre, Vt., indefinitely, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail. The plant, near Montpelier, now has 40 employees who will be laid off, though some may be offered jobs at another plant in Plattsburgh, N.Y. The Barre plant, over the years, has built many rapid transit cars, as well as some equipment for Amtrak -- Superliner II's, Horizon cars, Acela Express coach units.

All remaining staffed Amtrak stations in Vermont -- Rutland on the Ethan Allen route and St. Albans, Essex Junction, and White River Junction on the Vermonter route -- are losing their station agents effective September 27. These stations had already lost checked baggage service, carry-on bicycle service, and weekend staffing earlier in the year.

Caltrans has asked Amtrak to end table service in San Joaquin food-service cars, as an economy move. This will happen October 4-6 (depending on the individual train). The lounge service (and menu) will continue. Starting October 27, tray meals will be offered to passengers who want to take them to the tables in the lounge car, or back to their own seats.

The Heartland Flyer will have a "free companion" offer in effect from October 1 to November 14 (for reservations made in the same period). The two-for-one offer is good for Oklahoma City to Fort Worth and all intermediate stations. An adult who travels for free on this fare can bring up to two children (age 2-15) at half the regular fare (just as the adult who paid full fare can).

A new passenger concourse for New Jersey Transit commuters will open September 23 in Penn Station in Manhattan. It is in the southeast area of the station (i.e., Seventh Avenue and 31st Street), on the same level as the Long Island Rail Road concourse (in the northeast area). This should help alleviate crowding in the Amtrak waiting area, particularly at rush hour. There is more information at NJT's on-line release.

NJT also announced a timeline for opening the Secaucus transfer station on the Northeast Corridor. This won't happen until PATH can open a station in Lower Manhattan, probably early in 2004. The return of PATH to Lower Manhattan will free up capacity on NJT trains into Manhattan that will be needed by transferring passengers at Secaucus.

NJT's annual "Try Transit Festival" at Hoboken Terminal on September 29 will coincide with the opening of light-rail service to the terminal.

The government of the District of Columbia is asking Washington Metro to start engineering studies next month for a 7.2-mile light-rail starter line in Washington. The line would run from the Minnesota Avenue Metro station (Orange Line) southwest to the Anacostia Metro station (Green Line), with a segment crossing the river at 11th St., S.E., to the Navy Yard and Waterfront stations (Green Line). Other, crosstown light-rail lines (or, less desirably, "bus rapid transit") are envisioned after that.

The District's light-rail plans fit in with a ten-year plan released by Metro last week in which light-rail and bus enhancements are emphasized over previous calls for new Metro lines. A major exception is the Orange Line branch to Dulles Airport, which is still envisioned as a Metro line in the long-term. The new Metro plan also emphasizes squeezing more capacity out of existing Metro lines.

President Bush on September 18 issued an executive order to "accelerate" environmental reviews of certain transportation projects. Many see this as a move to circumvent the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, which requires environmental reviews and public comment periods. The Natural Resources Defense Council argues that project complexity, not environmental reviews, causes most delay to big transportation projects. The text of the order was not posted on the White House web site as of today.

A Washington Post story today did not make specific reference to rail-related projects, just "high-priority projects, such as highways, bridges, tunnels and airports" of the sort that Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, under the new order, must make a list of for submission to the White House. Mineta lamented in the article that it takes 10 years to complete a new airport and 13 years to complete a highway project. Environmentalists argue that blaming environmental reviews for delays is wrong because projects more often are delayed by lack of funds and inadequate political support. Rail doesn't seem to be any part of the Administration's discussions in this area.

The Utah Transit Authority and Union Pacific Railroad finalized a rail corridor agreement this morning, at a ceremony at the State Capitol. UTA is paying UP $185 million for a series of properties and easements, including space for a commuter-rail track on UP's Salt Lake City-Ogden main line, space for a commuter-rail track on UP's Salt Lake City-Provo-Spanish Fork main line, access to UP's Ogden-Brigham City line, and purchase of abandoned lines to Roy, Orem, Payson, and South Jordan. UTA plans to have Salt Lake-Ogden commuter service running by 2007, and plans to use the South Jordan spur for light-rail expansion.

Transit plans totaling $2.9 billion for the Charlotte region were presented this week by the Charlotte Area Transit System to the Metropolitan Transit Commission, for approval in November. Of the five corridors originally planned to get rail transit, two are now supposed to get busways instead -- east and west (including the airport). That drew protests from neighborhood associations in those areas. CATS claims that busways can "carry far more passengers" at "half" the cost, notwithstanding extensive evidence that rail is far better at attracting riders. Voters approved a half-cent sales tax for rapid transit in 1998, but CATS, with extensive moral support from the Federal Transit Administration, wants to dress up busways as "rapid transit," a term that always has referred to rail. Charlotte's north corridor is still supposed to get commuter rail, and the south and northeast corridors are still supposed to get light rail. CATS also plans a streetcar line for Central Avenue.