Hotline #292 - April 25, 2003

The Florida House voted in favor of high-speed rail (on April 22), then reversed itself
the very next day. On the first vote, the House rejected a bill (HJR 309), supported by Gov. Jeb Bush
(R.), to ask voters to repeal the high-speed rail constitutional amendment that was approved by
voters in 2000. The vote was 61-57, a simple majority, but the bill needed 60% support to pass.
Then on April 23, the House voted 75-40 to erase the first vote, after the sponsor of HJR 309 said he
had not intended for his bill to be voted on so quickly.

The Tampa Tribune said, "The House's top supporter of the high-speed rail system, Rep. Dennis
Ross, R-Lakeland, said the only reason for the reconsideration was pressure from Bush. 'I am very
discouraged,' Ross said. 'The governor was twisting arms pretty hard.'  What had been a nonpartisan
debate dissolved into a near party-line vote, with Republicans supporting Bush's plea."

The latest state where Amtrak service in doubt is Oregon. A budget proposal released by
the co-chairmen of the Legislature's Ways and Means Committee on April 17 would cut $9.3 million
from the two-year budget for 2003-05 by eliminating two daily Cascades round-trips between
Portland and Eugene (leaving only the Coast Starlight there). However, the budget proposal
released April 18 by Gov. Ted Kulongski keeps the funding for the trains.  Oregon residents should
tell their legislators to fund the trains.

The outcome of near-term funding support for existing trains in Vermont still in doubt. Thus, the
Oregon situation reinforces the suspicion that implementation of the Bush Administration's policy of
relying even more heavily on states to fund passenger rail amounts to a policy of killing trains.

Two Congressional hearings on passenger rail next week are April 29 in the Senate
Commerce Committee, and April 30 in the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee. NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon will be a witness at the second
one.

Several Amtrak stations that lost daily service hours and checked baggage service a
year ago will regain it on April 28. These include Houston, El Paso (Sunset Limited); Lamy, La
Junta, Raton [summer only], San Bernardino (Southwest Chief); Lincoln, Grand Junction (California
Zephyr); Columbus, La Crosse, Winona, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, Williston, East Glacier Park
[summer only], Pasco (Empire Builder); Salinas (Coast Starlight); Greenville, Meridian (Crescent);
Champaign (City of New Orleans). On the Sunset route, Maricopa gets checked baggage service for
the first time; Tucson had service restored in December. Austin (Texas Eagle), Newton (Southwest
Chief), Hammond (City of New Orleans), Mount Pleasant (California Zephyr), and Ann Arbor are
shown in error in the timetable (various places) as getting checked baggage April 28.  Meridian is a
second restoration -- it had baggage service restored last September and then eliminated again
shortly thereafter.

A notable contraction of checked baggage service is Amtrak's new Federal, which replaces the
Twilight Shoreliner on April 28. That means the end of all such service at New Haven and
Providence, and Boston's only baggage-service train is the Lake Shore Limited to/from Albany. Also,
the Northeast is left with only two routes offering unboxed bicycle carriage (Adirondack and
Downeaster), where just two years ago that service was growing.

The new timetable shows the Federal with unreserved coaches, but reservations actually are
required.

Baggage lockers at Chicago Union Station will be reopened April 30, for the first time in over a
year.  Day-check storage has already been reopened.

An interesting profile of Amtrak President David Gunn appeared in the April 21 Washington
Post. Gunn has held that position for nearly a year.

Starting April 28, Amtrak's top Acela Express fare between Boston and New York/Newark
will be $99 ("shoulder" [see below] $92, off-peak $85). The top fare had been $127 to New York,
$132 to Newark. The fee for upgrading to first class will drop to $50.  Also, fares will be lower for
many intermediate markets, upgrade charges lower for all such markets. For longer trips,
Boston-Metropark fares get a more moderate reduction, while fares are unchanged for
Boston-Trenton and beyond. Also, Amtrak Guest Rewards members will get double points for
Boston-New York/Newark (and intermediate points) Acela Express trips until August 31.

For about a year, all Acela Express (and Metroliner) markets have had three price levels: peak,
shoulder, and off-peak. (Metroliner fares generally are lower than Acela Express fares, except in
certain short-distance markets.) Shoulder fares apply all day Monday-Tuesday; off-peak fares apply
all day Saturday. Shoulder fares apply Wednesday-Friday where a travelers' departure is between
9:00 am and 2:00 pm, and after 6:00 pm. Peak fares apply Wednesday-Friday for departures before
8:59 am and between 2:01 pm and 5:59 pm. On Sunday, off-peak applies before 1:00 pm and after
6:00 pm. Sunday shoulder fares are between 1:01 pm and 5:59 pm. There are some holiday
exceptions.

Shore Line East will reduce some service, with the new April 28 timetable. It is cutting all
service between Old Saybrook and New London, Conn., except for one weekday train (and a Friday
train). However, some Amtrak trains will start carrying passengers with Shore Line East monthly
passes between New London and New Haven. The reduction is related to an agreement several
years ago between Amtrak and the State of Connecticut to cap train frequencies over certain
moveable bridges, in order to minimize disruption to marine traffic that might result from the
electrification project.

The limit is 34 trains a day -- including both Amtrak and Shore Line East. The total hit 37 in January,
a violation of the agreement. Removal of three (of four) weekday New London Shore Line East
round-trips brings the total back down to 31. Lee Carlson, president of the Shore Line East Riders
Association, told the Connecticut Post that federal law gives marine traffic right-of-way over
land-based transit -- "Four guys with fishing poles have the right-of-way over a train with 300
passengers." However, a wire story said only about "two dozen" rode the New London trains daily.
Other Shore Line East services remain in place.

California Zephyr passengers had to be bussed between Emeryville and Sparks for two days
this week due to a Union Pacific freight derailment near Truckee, Cal.

The northbound Coast Starlight early on April 23 struck a Union Pacific crane about 10 miles
south of Dunsmuir, Cal. The train did not derail, but sustained damage to both locomotives and the
first three cars. The train was already nearly three hours late, was held three hours at the accident
site until it could run to Dunsmuir to set out a car, and left Dunsmuir about over nine hours late. It
terminated in Portland, over 17 hours late. According to a wire story, UP admitted the crane was left
in a "bad spot" and that three employees were being investigated for drug use.

Union Pacific will close part of the Coast Starlight route in the Cascade Mountains to carry out a
tunnel repair project during June. Passengers will be put on buses between Klamath Falls and
Eugene, Ore., during two periods -- June 1-10 and June 16-25. There will be no sleeper on the
connecting train from Eugene to Seattle, and so first-class charges have been recalculated
accordingly for those trips. Also, the occasional Coast Starlight detour ending May 7 between
Sacramento and Klamath Falls has actually happened so seldom that Amtrak has lifted it (though a
small chance of a detour for northbound trains through May 7 still exists).

The city manager of Kirkwood, Mo., has organized a group of volunteers to staff the Amtrak
station there, which was de-staffed as part of a recent state funding cut.

Houston Metro released a draft long-term transit development plan on April 25, that
includes 41 miles of light-rail lines tying into the Main Street line (that will open in January), and a
25-mile commuter-rail line from the south end of the Main Street light rail line (Astrodome) to
Rosenberg (mostly on the Sunset Limited route). The light rail lines would open by 2025, and would
give Houston a rail link to one of its airports (Hobby). Bus improvements are also foreseen. The plan
will be the subject of hearings in May and may be put before voters in November.

NARP Region 8 meets in Shelby, Mont., on April 26; and Region 11 meets in Albuquerque,
N.Mex., the same day.