Hotline #291 - April 18, 2003

The war supplemental appropriations bill (H.R.1559) includes $3.321 billion in various types of assistance to airlines, including $2.396 billion in cash. The cash is designed to reimburse airlines for security-related expenses they incurred since September 2001. Some in Congress have pushed for similar funding for Amtrak since then, but specific, security-reimbursement funding for Amtrak has not come through.

Much of the non-cash, $925-million remainder includes a rollback of the security-related tax imposed on airlines after September 2001, which was meant for public-funded, security and safety improvements to the aviation system. President Bush signed H.R.1559 into law on April 16.

House and Senate conferees on the fiscal 2004 budget resolution finished their work last week. The Senate-passed version specifically envisioned $1.812 billion for Amtrak, the amount Amtrak is requesting for 2004. The Amtrak level resulted from a March 21 vote on an amendment offered by Sen. Robert Byrd (D.-W.Va.), increasing the funding from the $900 million originally in the Senate resolution. That $900 million matched the Bush Administration's request, which is less than the current-year level of $1.05 billion and which would cripple the Amtrak system.

The House-passed version, as is true of most budget resolutions in both the House and Senate in most years, was less specific and was silent on Amtrak. The final version, as far as Amtrak goes, reflected the House version and did not specifically address Amtrak funding. As always, however, appropriators will have a tough time producing the full Amtrak amount, in light of the priority given to firewall-protected transportation programs like highways and aviation.

The Senate Commerce Committee plans an Amtrak hearing on April 29, where Amtrak and DOT are expected to testify on Amtrak's soon-to-be-completed five-year plan. There may also be witnesses from two major consulting firms that Amtrak has used under previous management. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will have an Amtrak hearing on April 30.

March passenger-miles were up 12% on Amtrak's national network (long-distance) trains (including Pennsylvanian) and down 2% on short-distance trains (including Maple Leaf). But travel was up on all trains on Union Pacific tracks. Increases include the Texas Eagle at 30%, Sunset Limited at 9%, Capitol Corridor at 7%, California Zephyr at 6%, and Coast Starlight was up 5%. Ridership increases were similar (e.g., Texas Eagle up 39%).

Against that backdrop, UP chairman Dick Davidson, at today's annual shareholders meeting in Salt Lake City, sang a different tune from the friendly, diplomatic one published in the January Railway Age when that magazine honored him as the Railroader of the Year (see February NARP newsletter). Today, Davidson said Amtrak costs UP $60-70 million because its trains have precedence over UP freights. He said UP's freight customers were "waiting for a money-losing, government-subsidized transportation system that nobody wants to use." He said Amtrak was needed in the Northeast, but there was not enough demand for rail travel in the West. He even criticized Amtrak's express service as competing with UP, though he did acknowledge that Amtrak was exiting that business.

Today is the anniversary of Amtrak's most recent accident with a passenger fatality. There is not yet an official report from the National Transportation Safety Board on the derailment, which involved the Auto Train at Crescent City, Fla. Condition of the CSX track and track maintenance practices were being examined, much as was the case with Amtrak's other major derailment in 2002, the Capitol Limited at Kensington, Md., on July 29. The two accidents caused Amtrak to stretch its already too-small long-distance fleet even further. Repair of that fleet remains a big priority for Amtrak, though how much progress Amtrak can make will depend on how well it is funded in 2004.

The accidents also caused CSX to move from having no policy for heat-related slow-orders for passenger trains to having a very stringent one. Such orders -- 20 mph below normal speeds -- were imposed on Amtrak and commuter trains this week, on April 15 and 16. The orders normally are invoked from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm on days when the temperature exceeds 90, but also happen -- as this week -- when a large temperature swing is forecast. The Washington Post reported last month that CSX would have a new policy for heat-related slow orders "within a few weeks."

A mid-year budget bill is stalled in the Vermont legislature. Among other things, it includes money to run the Vermonter and Ethan Allen trains beyond the expiration of state funding, which was March 31. Amtrak is running the trains in the meantime.

Amtrak is offering a discounted fare on the Federal night train between Washington and Boston, starting April 30. Through June 30, the coach fare (and rail portion of sleeper and business class trips) is 30% off when using promotion code H327. The discounted fare will be used to calculate fares for children accompanying adult ticket-holders. Some blackouts may apply.

NARP Region 8 meets in Shelby, Mont., on April 26; and Region 11 meets in Albuquerque, N.Mex., the same day. The Region 3 meeting that was to have been held April 12 in New Castle, Del., was postponed and relocated to May 31 in Harrisburg, Pa. All the other regions had their meetings during March.