Hotline #274 - December 20, 2002

Amtrak President David Gunn wrote to Congressional appropriators on December 16, restating Amtrak's need for $1.2 billion in the current fiscal year, 2003. That's the amount the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, though the House Appropriations Committee approved only $762 million. The Bush Administration approves only of $521 million. Gunn wrote that "there are no easy options to any of us if the funding level falls below $1.2 billion."

Gunn wrote, "I have rewritten our [2003] budget submitted by my predecessor, and it is focused on repairing equipment needed for revenue service and making investments in our infrastructure just to maintain current speed and operations. In doing so, I had to cut or defer nearly $200 million in activities and projects critical to this railroad just to get to the $1.2 billion level ... The capital budget for [2003] ... tight as it is, will allow us to hold the existing system together and operate through this year without the threat of insolvency. During that period of time, your and your colleagues in Congress, as well as the Administration, will have the opportunity to debate a meaningful reauthorization bill and chart our future without the constant distraction of financial crises."

He continued, "In May, I took over a railroad that had lost focus and engaged in financial games to make it look like the railroad was making progress toward self-sufficiency. As the DOT Inspector General and others have made clear, no progress was made toward self-sufficiency, and now the railroad is left in terrible shape -- financially and physically. The problem can be fixed, but it will take funding and it will take time."

Amtrak last night eliminated its advance-reservation requirements. On many routes -- including long-distance trains and Midwest Corridors -- Amtrak "walk-up" fares were not competitive.  Amtrak had a 1-, 2- or 3-day advance reservation requirement depending on "fare bucket" (that is, the cheapest fare had the 3-day requirement). This change does not apply to cross-border travel on the Chicago-Toronto train.  Nor does it apply to special promotions. Thus, advance reservation requirements may still apply to web-based Rail Sale fares and to other special promotions. Also, in spite of this policy change, there still may be days you cannot buy out of the "D" (cheapest) bucket on a walk-up basis because all the seats in that bucket are sold out.

Effective January 7, Amtrak will reduce three of its four fare buckets "permanently," with the D bucket or cheapest rail fares down 25%, B down 20%, A down 10% and "full fare" unchanged. These reductions apply to routes where Amtrak has "revenue management," i.e., everything but the Northeast and Empire Corridors, Downeaster, Hiawatha, the West Coast corridors and the Rocky Mount-Charlotte segment.

Amtrak also will reduce many sleeping-car accommodation charges on all sleeping-car trains, but only through March 3 -- D bucket down 30%, C bucket 20%, B 7%, and the top two tiers ("A" and "F") are not changed.

Separately, Amtrak is sharply reducing Acela Regional off-peak fares for travel local to the Boston-Providence and the Baltimore-Washington segments. This is particularly welcome at the south end. Cheaper Maryland commuter trains do not run on weekends; Amtrak's new low, short-distance fares will apply all day Saturday, and Sunday through 10:59 am.

The St. Albans-Montreal Thruway connection will not run after January 6. Vermont Transit, which gets a per-passenger payment from Amtrak, has run many empty buses. On October 27, Amtrak shifted the southbound train earlier, causing the bus to depart Montreal at 4:05 am instead of 5:35 am.

A group called Reconnecting America has issued a report called, "Missing Connections:  Finding solutions to the Crisis in Air Travel." The project is a joint effort of the Great American Station Foundation and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and is funded by the Great American Station Foundation and several foundations.

The general thrust of the report is that small and medium airports have had the quantity and quality of their air service sharply cut in recent years. It also says that rail and bus feeder services at airports to long-distance flights are a much better idea than short-distance flights.

A strike on New York City's transit system was averted when contract negotiators reached an agreement on December 16.

Amtrak equipment was involved in a non-revenue derailment at Lyons, N.Y., on December 14. No one aboard was injured. The train had two locomotives and nine cars; all cars (but not the locomotives) derailed and remained upright. The speed was reported as 67 mph. The train included Amtrak mail cars and an FRA test car. The purpose of the run apparently was to test Amtrak mail cars (MHC's), some of which have been speed-restricted by CSX (on whose rails the derailment occurred).

A possible rail failure was being investigated. Nevertheless, Norfolk Southern issued a speed restriction for Amtrak MHC's, in the 1400 and 1500 number-series, on December 19. Trains using Norfolk Southern lines will suffer delays when hauling MHC's.

Amtrak has awarded a $66.2-million contract for demolition and reconstruction of two ventilation shafts located in Long Island City, Queens, N.Y. Also included will be new sets of stairs in the shafts (for emergency exit and emergency access), a hoist system, a reversible ventilation system, and replacement of existing power substations. The shafts serve the four East River tunnels that connect Penn Station in Manhattan with Long Island. Work will begin next month and should end in December 2006. The contractor is Granite Construction, Inc., of Watsonville, Cal. Amtrak got a $100-million appropriation a year ago, in the 2002 defense appropriations bill, earmarked for life/safety improvements in the tunnels on both sides of Manhattan.

Disney World wants the proposed Florida high-speed rail service to serve its theme park southwest of Orlando -- but only if trains run non-stop between Disney World and the Orlando airport (southeast of Orlando), according to a December 15 report in the St. Petersburg Times. However, that would leave out other important attractions in the International Drive area, such as Universal Studios, Sea World, and the convention center. Disney also has rejected other alternatives, such as having every other train run non-stop to the airport, or having a dedicated set of non-stop express equipment. There are 2.2 million travelers a year between Disney World and the airport. Florida's state constitution says rail construction must start by November 2003, with the first segment expected to be Tampa-Orlando.

The new light-rail extension to Plano, Tex., has been so successful that the service is already running at capacity and the endpoint parking lot is already full at peak hours. The DART Red Line extension opened December 9. DART and the City of Plano have told a bus operator from Sherman, 40 miles north of Plano, that commuter buses cannot drop passengers at the Red Line terminus because it is so busy, and that train and parking capacity need to be preserved for local commuters, who pay taxes locally.

The City of Dunsmuir, Cal., has said that volunteers will make renovations to the former Southern Pacific station there. Amtrak's Coast Starlight stops there, but Amtrak had said the service would end if something weren't done with the dilapidated, abandoned building by December 1. A group of 30 volunteers descended on the station on December 14 and began the work of cleaning and painting. The local Rotary Club offered to provide a bank account for any donations of money that may come in. The city will work to get a lease from the owner, Union Pacific.

The planned December 16 opening of the new MARC station at Silver Spring, Md., (mentioned here two weeks ago) has been postponed, probably to mid-January. Electrical work relating to the elevator is not finished.

Virginia's Commonwealth Transportation Board voted unanimously on December 19 to make a Metro rail extension the preferred alternative in the Falls Church-Tysons Corner-Dulles Airport corridor. Local governments already have supported the rail extension. The Federal Transit Administration, as it has been in several other parts of the country, actively promoted enhanced bus service over rail for most of the length of the corridor.

Nevertheless, the director of Virginia's Department of Rail and Public Transportation, Karen J. Rae, said the rail extension offers "the greatest capacity for moving people, the greatest reduction in congestion, and the greatest reduction in air pollution."

Amtrak's 2003 calendar is available, featuring the New York-Montreal Adirondack. Check the Amtrak web site merchandise section for details.

An Amtrak official has been appointed to a high-profile position by the governor-elect of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich (D.). Cheryle Jackson will be the governor's communications director. She has been regional vice president for communications and government affairs since January 2000. Blagojevich gave up a seat in Congress to run for governor.

New Jersey Transit police will take over patrolling duties from Amtrak police at the Trenton, N.J., station, according to today's Trenton Times.  NJT, which owns the station, had become concerned about thinning Amtrak police staffing levels. The change is effective January 11. Amtrak officers displaced by the change will be reassigned to Penn Station in New York.

The British government has agreed to a $93-million bailout of Connex, the private rail company that runs trains between London and southeastern points in Kent and Sussex. Connex had said it would be unable to keep running the services without more support.  In return, Connex's franchise will end in 2006, rather than 2011. A post-2007 franchise will include high-speed services on a new line between London and the Channel Tunnel. More than half of the 25 train companies have gotten such bailouts, according to the BBC. Connex is a French company that also had a south-central franchise, which it lost in October 2000 after criticism of its management and performance.
 
Connex is one of the partners in the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company, whose bid was accepted this month to operate Boston-region commuter trains starting in 2003. The winning bid, $1.07 billion, was half that of Boston and Maine Corporation, the other surviving bidder. News reports indicate Massachusetts Bay expects to negotiate worker pay increases, but also a work force reduction.

Meanwhile, a private operator of trains and streetcars in Victoria State, Australia, announced it would abandon its operations within a week. National Express, a British company, operates more than half of Melbourne's local trains and streetcars, and all V/Line rural train service. The state must now, suddenly, resume control of these services. National Express is three years into contracts that last 10-15 years. The company's announcement came after failed, emergency talks in which the company hoped for an additional subsidy of $51 million.

An earlier bailout this year had the state government giving an additional $59 million to three private operators, of which National Express got $25 million. The other two operators are Connex (see above) and Yarra Trams.

Unaffected are plans for a National Express-Bombardier consortium to build and maintain trains for a $570-million regional fast rail project in Victoria.

Victoria officials later announced they would combine the contracts so that there would be just one streetcar and one train network, with no guarantees that Connex and Yarra Trams would remain as contractors. The plan would feature higher public subsidies.