Hotline #283 - February 21, 2003

The snowstorm that hit Washington, D.C., on February 15-17 was one of the largest in the city's history. The storm also hit every metropolitan area up the coast to Boston. Amtrak performed very well. Amtrak ran a reduced service on the Northeast Corridor throughout the storm period, when those trains were the only things moving over longer distances. Some news accounts said the trains were quite busy.  The Corridor returned to a normal schedule February 19.

Unfortunately, Washington Metro performance was a disappointment. While subway systems in other Northeastern cities -- where the snow stopped falling well after the storm was over in Washington -- were nearly back to normal on February 19, Metro ran only a 60% schedule that day (and 70% on February 20). Metro thought a normal schedule might not occur until February 24.

During much of the storm period, Metro ran trains at 30- or 60-minute intervals, and then only below ground -- the evening of February 16, they ran every 120 minutes. Some trains ran less often than Metro had said they would, some trains were too full to pick up passengers (meaning many people waited far longer than 30 minutes), and information given to people waiting in stations was mostly poor. Adding insult to injury, Metro charged passengers higher rush-hour fares for service that was far below rush-hour service in terms of quality and quantity.

At midweek, nearly half the Metro cars in the fleet were still frozen in place in outdoor yards. Before the storm, Metro had parked 70 cars in tunnels, less than a third of what can be parked in tunnels. Initially, Metro said (according to the Washington Post) they didn't have enough time. Later, they said they could have parked the cars if they closed early the night of February 16, but they didn't want to strand people who were out for the evening (including at a Disney on Ice show). Still, the storm had been predicted, accurately, a few days in advance. It is possible Metro did not fully understand the ramifications of its decision the night of February 16, but Metro and many thousands riders the rest of the week certainly paid a high price for the accommodation of relatively few people on a Sunday night.

Another factor is equipment design. The older Breda cars have below-body electrical components that easily suck in snow and short out. Metro's 80 newer CAF cars, though troubled with door problems when first delivered, had no breakdowns this week.

The other great disappointment was CSX. While Amtrak and Norfolk Southern managed to keep their own lines running, CSX completely shut down west and south of Washington. On the Washington-Richmond line in particular, CSX said, this was because of downed trees, switch problems, and difficult crew transportation. There also were stranded freight trains blocking that line and the Baltimore-Washington Camden line.

As a result, Amtrak canceled all its service south of Washington, though CSX allowed the Crescent to run on its seven-mile Washington-Alexandria segment on February 17. CSX banned MARC and VRE commuter trains on February 17 and 18. VRE, in particular, was disappointed because it has paid for electric switch heaters on the Washington-Alexandria CSX line to prevent just such service interruptions. A CSX assistant vice president was quoted in the Washington Post saying that banning passenger trains even on that short segment -- nearly all of it within sight of major streets -- was "a wise and prudent decision to do the safe thing for the traveling public" because there was inadequate CSX staff to go to the rescue of passenger trains that might stall there.

Elsewhere on CSX, during the storm period, the Auto Train was annulled (though it was the first passenger train to be restored, on February 18); Silver service trains were annulled north of Jacksonville; the Cardinal was annulled east of Huntington, W.Va., due to downed trees and flooding; and the Kentucky Cardinal could not run into Louisville because of a bridge problem.

The Crescent ran along its entire route February 17 (mostly on Amtrak and Norfolk Southern tracks) but was cancelled February 18 because of the CSX ban. The Capitol Limited was annulled east of Pittsburgh (a CSX route). While western Maryland had the deepest snowfalls in the mid-Atlantic region, it's also true that Norfolk Southern continued running Amtrak's Harrisburg-Pittsburgh trains (in some places less than 30 miles away from the CSX line).

CSX allowed partial VRE and MARC service to return on February 19. Amtrak trains that were restored the same day included the Capitol Limited, Crescent, Silver Star, Twilight Shoreliner, a Richmond train, and the Carolinian (south of Raleigh).

Baltimore got even more snow than Washington, which caused severe damage at the B&O Railroad Museum. The 1884 roundhouse, housing some of the rarest antique railroad equipment in the nation (some dating to the 1830's), had half its roof cave in. Light-rail and subway service in Baltimore also was shut down by the storm.

In the New York area, certain above-ground subway services were halted, and New Jersey Transit Midtown Direct trains were diverted to Hoboken. Hudson-Bergen light-rail service was partially shut down for awhile. Metro North and Long Island Rail Road ran regular schedules on February 19, though the Long Island had problems similar to Washington Metro's -- snow above the third rail and under-body electrical equipment that collected snow. All three commuter systems ran trains earlier in the week, but subject to delay (and with several cancellations). Disruptions in the Philadelphia and Boston areas seemed minor compared to other cities (at least as reported in newspapers).

Penn Station in New York was evacuated the afternoon of February 14 (before the snow storm) due to a smoky track fire in the Long Island Rail Road area of the station. Subway lines serving the station had to pass through without stopping due to the smoke.

Amtrak has formally made its grant request for fiscal 2004 -- $1.812 billion, of which $768 million is for operations (including excess mandatory railroad retirement payments) and $1.044 billion for capital (both Northeast Corridor and network). It does not include money to repay the $100 million DOT loan from 2002 (which was deferred from the current fiscal year by the omnibus appropriations bill signed by President Bush February 20).

Several published reports made much of the fact that the request is 73% more than what Amtrak just got for fiscal 2003 ($1.050 billion). However, the fiscal 2003 level is a "limp along" budget that does not let Amtrak address deferred maintenance. The $1.812 billion request, on the other hand, is a realistic assessment of current needs.

Amtrak President David Gunn made clear that slow orders will begin to strangle the Northeast Corridor if work is delayed beyond 2004 on such vital projects as replacing three key river bridges in Connecticut. Gunn said that annual funding near the $2 billion level for about five years would let Amtrak get all of its equipment, facilities and infrastructure in a state of good repair.

NARP issued a release yesterday in support of Gunn's 2004 request.

Supplemental funding approved by the Missouri House Budget Committee on February 14 was reduced by the full House on February 18. The Committee had approved $1.2 million to let the St. Louis-Kansas City Mules continue to run after February 28. The House approved $800,000. It appears that part of the $400,000 shortfall would be offset by removing ticket agents from Jefferson City and Kirkwood stations. Another idea, to remove food service cars, appears not to be under consideration now. There also has been discussion of a $5 per ticket surcharge. Hopefully, Amtrak will accept the $800,000, and the Missouri legislature will let Amtrak make the business judgments about the best way to live with that level (while running both trains).

Missouri fiscal 2004 funding also will be tough. On February 19, the Missouri House Appropriations - Transportation and Economic Development Committee cut Amtrak funding from $8.9 million to $5 million (which compares with Amtrak's expected revised request of $6.4 million). A motion to delete Amtrak funding entirely was defeated.

In 2000, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring construction of a high-speed rail system free of grade crossings and capable of 120 mph service.The measure got 53% support, winning by a convincing 300,000-vote margin, despite strong opposition from all the state's major newspapers, Gov. Jeb Bush, and the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Now, some Florida lawmakers want to overturn the vote, and are promoting bills that would put the question back on the ballot in 2004, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Four companies entered bids on February 10 to build the first leg of the system, Orlando-Tampa. The two lower bids involved speculative, unproven technology, while the other two (in the $2.2-2.7 billion range) involve "from-scratch" high-speed rail proposals. None of the four bids involve conventional rail technology that could run, in places, at 120 mph (to satisfy the constitutional amendment).

Amtrak has announced a spring discount program. A 25% discount is offered for adult fares sold on the web site only. The discount may be used with parties traveling with children, or with senior and Student Advantage discounts. The discount is sold from today through March 14, for travel February 26 through August 28. Reservations must be made at least five days before travel. See Amtrak's web site for more information. The promotion code now is H304.

Improving the link between the air and rail modes will be the topic of a joint hearing of the Aviation and Railroads Subcommittees (House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee) on February 26.

Guilford has filed a motion asking the Surface Transportation Board to reconsider its decision approving 79 mph operation of Amtrak's Downeaster. It is too soon to predict whether the STB will agree to hear the motion.

A pro-rail rally, sponsored by "Save Our Trains," will happen on March 1 at 11:00 am, on the west steps of the State Capitol in Lansing. Organizers are concerned that service on the International and Pere Marquette could end after March 31, absent a contract renewal agreement between Michigan DOT and Amtrak.

NARP Region 2 will meet on March 1 in Schenectady, N.Y.; Region 9 will meet in Fort Worth, Tex.