Hotline #281 - February 7, 2003

President Bush on February 3 requested $900 million for Amtrak in fiscal 2004. While that is significantly higher than the Administration's 2003 request of $521 million, it is also significantly below what Amtrak will request for 2004 (about $1.8 billion), below what the Senate approved for 2003 ($1.2 billion, which conferees should resolve soon), and below $1.039 billion, the basis for calculation of the pro-rated amounts Amtrak has been getting in continuing resolutions for 2003.

The budget statement features a flawed analysis that concludes that Amtrak would be better off without long-distance trains. The statement overstates the financial "benefit" of getting rid of such trains by ignoring labor protection costs (that last long after the year in which a service is cut) and ignoring the many costs and revenues shared among trains.

See our February 3 release for more information.

House-Senate conferees on the fiscal 2003 omnibus appropriations bill (H.J.Res.2) have begun their work. It is vital that they approve the Senate figure of $1.2 billion for Amtrak, in order to prevent an Amtrak shutdown crisis this spring, and to allow Amtrak to work towards stabilization while authorization bills and fiscal 2004 appropriations bills are considered during the rest of this legislative session.

House Democrats on February 3 sent a letter to conferees in support of full funding for Amtrak. It had 130 signatures. A similar, Republican letter had 33 signatures.  Click here to see if your Representative signed.

On February 5, 19 senators sent a letter -- the number deliberately limited so that equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats appeared. Click here to see their names.

In addition, a joint, "pro-$1.2 billion" letter was signed by the executive directors of the Council of State Governments, International City/County Management Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, National League of Cities and U.S. Conference of Mayors. Individual letters came from the Coalition of Northeastern Governors, the American Public In Transportation Association, and Norfolk Southern.

Guilford must allow Amtrak trains to operate at 79 mph, where appropriate, according to a Surface Transportation Board decision issued January 31. The STB had previously approved that speed in a decision in October 1999, provided that track testing in areas that were rehabilitated met standards recommended by the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance Association.

In tests performed in fall 2001, 99.95% of the track tested met the benchmark (the rest, a total of 166 feet in 14 locations, is mostly concentrated near Kennebunkport, where Amtrak trains go 30 mph). However, Guilford refused to accept the test results and Amtrak took the matter back to the STB.  Downeaster service began in December 2001, with a top speed of 60 mph in Guilford territory (Portland-Plaistow, 78 miles).

The STB order does not come with a timeline with which Guilford must comply, so it's not known how soon Downeaster trains can begin running faster. Based on the January 1999 agreement signed by Amtrak, Guilford and Maine, it appears that the selective speed increase will cut about 12 minutes from Portland-Boston times (currently 2:45 hours).

Amtrak began issuing a coupon that facilitates booking trips between the Boston-Portland Downeaster trains and the rest of the system, February 3. The coupon looks like a ticket, but is not good for actual transportation (whether by subway, taxi, etc.). It serves as a "placeholder" for through-itineraries for the gap between Back Bay and North Stations in Boston.

Previously, would-be passengers using Amtrak's reservations web site could not book a single reservation that bridged the gap in Boston. NARP urged Amtrak ever since before Downeaster service began in December 2001 to do something to make it clearer to web users that a New York-Portland trip (for example) was possible. The next step would be to make the coupon good for a subway ride. This awaits approval by MBTA.

A bill cutting railroad state property taxes was signed into law by New York Gov. George Pataki (R.), on January 31.  This removes one important obstacle to passenger-related infrastructure improvements to CSX-owned lines in that state. CSX had objected to paying property taxes on such improvements, which have only a secondary benefit (if any) to CSX's freight traffic. The new law cuts New York’s railroad property taxes -- among the nation's highest -- by 45% and exempts infrastructure improvements from local taxation for 10 years.

When Pataki first proposed the measure two years ago, it was thought that an early beneficiary of the new law would be completion of a second track through the 18-mile Albany-Schenectady bottleneck. But now both Amtrak and New York are unlikely to be able to come up with the $28.7 million needed.

Incoming House Transportation Appropriations Chairman Ernest Istook (R.-Okla.), told the Daily Oklahoman (February 2) that "the problem with Amtrak" is that its fares do not cover its expenses.  He did not acknowledge that is also true for most transportation services (including highways and aviation) around the world. Istook claimed that 90% of a trip on the Heartland Flyer is "subsidized," implying a cost recovery rate of 10%. However, in fact (in 2001), cost recovery (counting state payment) was 112% (or 23% without the state payment). It was not clear if Istook was implying that states should not be able to support individual trains if they choose to do so.

A form of high-speed rail bonding is included in an economic stimulus bill introduced January 28 by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D.-Ore.). The Emergency Anti-Recession Act, H.R.396, includes authority for Amtrak to sell, over 10 years, $15 billion in bonds carrying a federal tax credit.

Amtrak and Hotels.com announced a three-year deal on February 4 that will allow Amtrak reservations agents to connect passengers interested in "discount lodging" to Hotels.com. This would work in a manner similar to the way passengers who want a rental car can be connected to a Hertz representative.

The Champlain Flyer commuter-rail service will be shut down March 1 by Vermont's new governor, James Douglas (R.). The Charlotte-Burlington service was started in 2000 by the administration of the previous governor (Howard Dean, D.) as an alternative to a major reconstruction project on parallel U.S. 7. However, the highway project never started, and is now expected to begin a few months from now -- but after the train is gone. Douglas kept open the possibility of restarting the train service later, but said, "We have to maintain our roads and bridges that are in need of repair, and this is not a priority in light of all our other infrastructure needs."

Carl Blaubach, a former Region 12 NARP director, passed away January 1 at his home in Walnut Creek, Cal., at the age of 79. He served on the NARP board from 1988 to 1992. He was retired from a 35-year career at the California Public Utilities Commission, and was known for his "Timetable Classics" reprints of historic transit and rail timetables, maps, and promotional material.