Hotline #272 - December 6, 2002

Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) will hold hearings on Amtrak, according to a release on his web site. McCain will be the new chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, next month. The release says the committee "will hold hearings on the future of intercity rail passenger service, including comprehensive reform of Amtrak, the introduction of competition for the intercity rail market, the extent and nature of the passenger network, state involvement, and long-term funding options."

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on December 2 that President Bush "did not budge" when appropriations leaders Sen. Ted Stevens (R.-Alaska) and Rep. Bill Young (R.-Fla.) met to seek support for increased funds when work resumes on stalled fiscal 2003 spending bills next year. That could mean that Amtrak's final 2003 level will be less than the $1.04-billion level in the continuing resolutions, meaning an increased risk that Amtrak would not make it through the fiscal year.

Amtrak announced the appointment of a Senior Vice President for Operations on December 5. William L. Crosbie comes to Amtrak from FibreTech Telecommunications of Kitchener, Ont., where he had been president since January 2001. Before that, he worked at the Toronto Transportation Commission, serving as general superintendent of subway transportation (1998-2001) and general superintendent of signals, electrical, and communications (1996-1998). Earlier, he worked in signals and communications at the Canadian Pacific Rail System.

Chief Operating Officer E. S. (Stan) Bagley left that post on September 16.

With the departure of Amtrak's two newly appointed regional general managers, Amtrak President David L. Gunn told employees, "I've determined that the [seven division] general superintendents ... will now report directly to Operations Vice President Ed Walker." Western Region General Manager Bill Duggan retired last month after nearly 29 years of service at Amtrak, and will work for New Jersey Transit. Eastern Region General Manager Lynn Bowersox will resign this month. She joined Amtrak in 1998 and had various assignments in the Northeast Corridor business unit (including acting president).

This week's snow and ice storms in the Southeast impacted Amtrak services there. Much of the problem involved trees that fell down across tracks and signal wires. The southbound Crescent that was due into Atlanta Thursday morning was so late that it terminated there to become this evening's northbound train. Substitute bus or train service will be offered southwest of Atlanta (depending on the trip involved). Florida and Virginia trains were delayed as well, and the Carolinian was canceled.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit will open an extension of the Red Line on December 9, from the Galatyn Park station in Richardson to the Parker Road station in Plano (3 miles).

The California Transportation Commission held a public forum in Sacramento today to discuss passenger and freight rail service in that state and ways to improve it. Panelists included Gil Mallery, Amtrak's vice president of planning and marketing, Gene Skoropowski, BART's Capitol Corridor managing director, and representatives from Caltrans, freight railroads, and commuter railroads.

California's Public Utilities Commission released a safety review of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority last month. Based on a series of inspections of MTA's rail network in 2001, the PUC found that the MTA doesn't meet safety standards or needs significant improvement in 29 areas. These include vehicle maintenance and employee training. The MTA has until January to show it is complying with the PUC's recommendations. However, the MTA says analysis of such old data is flawed, and that the MTA already has fixed some of the problems and is working on the rest.

State workers began razing a street bridge over Amtrak's Keystone line on December 2. The Fruitville Pike (State Route 72) bridge, just west of the Lancaster station, had been closed since November 12, when inspectors found widening cracks in bridge supports. City officials pleaded for bracing for the bridge, but state engineers said there was no room for that, considering clearances needed for catenary and trains. A temporary crossing will open in May and all work will be done by September.

Workers are racing to try to open a new commuter rail station in Silver Spring, Md., on December 16. Thus, the last service at the old location will be December 13. The old Georgia Ave. location of the old Baltimore and Ohio station has been repaired for another use. The new station, on Bonifant St., is adjacent to the Silver Spring Red Line Metrorail/bus station (at Colesville Rd.). An open house at the new station will be held the first day of service, 3:30 - 8:00 pm.

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's Transit Study Advisory Committee has released a report outlining costs for various options relating to increasing mass transit between Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee, including extension of Metra commuter-rail service. The cheapest option would be a bus service, with $19 million in capital costs and $3.4 million in annual operating costs. A hybrid bus-rail service, with rail south of Racine and bus north of there, would have $146-166 million in capital costs, and $18.2 million in annual operating costs. An all-rail option would have up to $225 million in capital costs, with $18.6 million in annual operating costs for seven weekday trains (each way), and $26.8 million for 15 weekday trains and three weekend trains. The committee next will consider making a recommendation to the full commission.

New Jersey Transit held two public meetings this week on the "MOM" commuter rail line (in Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex counties). Support in Ocean County is strong for the service, though intermediate "NIMBY" resistance remains strong. One citizen told the group, "The highways are crowded and they're only getting worse. More buses are not the answer. The train is the answer" (Asbury Park Press, December 5). A third meeting will be in Freehold Township on December 9. Written comments in support of the proposal can be sent to NJT until January 31.

A new air-rail connection was opened at the airport at Anchorage, Alaska, December 4. However, the airport rail station won't have any service until May, because it will serve only tourist trains that don't run in the winter. This will allow cruise-ship passengers to disembark at Seward and ride a train directly to the airport. The station was built with $28 million in federal funds, apparently with little involvement on the part of state-owned Alaska Railroad.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R.), who will be Appropriations Committee Chairman, and for whom the Anchorage airport is named, spoke at the opening, according to the Anchorage Daily News. He said that the station is "years ahead of its time" and that it would "make Alaska a tourist mecca." Responding to those who label the station a "boondoggle," he said, "It doesn't have to pay for itself. It was a grant from the federal government." The Sierra Club said the intermodal link is a step in the effort to reduce urban sprawl in the long-term.

Boston papers report that the contract to operate Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter-rail service will go to the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company ("MassBay"). That is a consortium made up of French operator Connex, Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, and a transportation consulting firm headed by former MBTA general manager James O'Leary. The contract is for five years, starting in summer 2003. Press reports suggest that MBTA will race the deal to its December 12 board meeting, raising the possibility that the board will ratify this big decision just weeks before a new governor takes office.

MassBay bid $1.07 billion for the contract. The other remaining bidder, Guilford, bid $2.02 billion. Amtrak, which has run the service since 1986, currently gets $180 million a year on what it considers a money-losing contract. MassBay would get an average of $214.4 million a year. The deal includes costs (such as the Greenbush line) which Amtrak did not have to pay. Amtrak decided not to bid this time because of liability and other costs that MBTA is passing on to the contractor, and restrictions on the contractor's ability to change key contract managers.

Today's Boston Globe story includes two seemingly contradictory sentences -- "T officials say the new contract will yield an estimated $50 million in savings over five years ... Other T officials said the increased price probably includes a 15% to 20% pay raise for current commuter rail workers, something rail unions had called for." An October 17 article put contract labor costs at $64 million a year; a 20% increase would mean a $12.8 million increase (to $76.8 million).