Hotline #764 -- June 22, 2012

The House Appropriations bill is expected on the floor next week. Please urge your representative to oppose anything that would reduce Amtrak funding.  There are reports of an amendment, possibly by Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ), to eliminate the $500 million bridge and tunnel grant within the Amtrak capital program.  That money is vital both for capital and the potential to switch $80 million of it to Amtrak operations. The bridge and tunnel money could go to tracks owned by Amtrak or states, hence: 

• The Northeast Corridor,
• Amtrak’s part of the Chicago-Detroit line and probably the Norfolk Southern segment that the State of Michigan may soon acquire
• Tracks that Amtrak owns elsewhere, including major terminals like Chicago and New Orleans, and the “Post Road” connection between from Albany east towards Massachusetts
• The Norfolk Southern lines Amtrak uses in North Carolina (Charlotte-Raleigh-Selma)
• It is possible that (county-owned) Pacific Surfliner tracks also are eligible.

The California Legislature is expected to make a decision on whether or not to authorize the sale of $2.7 billion in voter-approved bonds to fund the state’s high-speed rail project within the next two weeks.

Governor Jerry Brown (D) is rallying support in the legislature down the homestretch, and while political commentators believe the votes are there, the project’s success is far from certain.  That’s why NARP, along with dozens of other groups, is participating in the Stand Up For Trains campaign: 

If you live in California, it is critical that you call your representative and senator to urge them to move forward without delay.

If you don't live in California, please ask your California friends to make the call.

High-speed rail remains a top priority for a broad and diverse set of leaders and stakeholders all around California, including business, labor, transportation and livability advocates, who agree that we cannot delay getting started.

Governor Brown has won the support of California’s environmental community by backing away from plans to limit the ability of lawsuits filed under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to delay work on the high-speed rail project.  Heavy hitters like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council had objected to this plan, and applauded the Governor’s decision to back away from it.

“[We] want to make sure that when we get high-speed rail we get the best environmental deal from that project,” said Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California.  “And environmental review will help do that.”

Some proponents of the train fear that CEQA will be used as a Trojan Horse by opponents of the project to delay construction work with frivolous lawsuits, driving up construction costs and undermining public support.

At this critical juncture, business leaders from Los Angeles and the Bay Area spoke up in the San Francisco Chronicle about the necessity of high-speed rail to California’s economic future:

California's $1.9 trillion economy ranks among the 10 largest in the world. However, the state's infrastructure is straining to keep up with increased demands. Nowhere is this clearer than in the area of transportation. According to recent studies, inefficiencies in our roadways cause Californians to waste nearly $19 billion annually in time and fuel.

A population's mobility is a key to promoting thriving businesses and job creation. California's transportation system was once the envy of the world, and we reaped the economic rewards of that system for decades. Today, that same system is hopelessly gridlocked. By 2035, California's population will hit 50 million, straining our current system even further. Development of high-speed rail is desperately needed to meet these demands.

The Oakland Tribune featured a companion piece.

The California High Speed Rail Authority has also ramped up efforts to reach out to the public and make the case for modern passenger trains:

The fourth round of Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants were announced this week, distributing $511 million in transportation grants to 46 recipients in 33 states.

TIGER is a multimodal transportation grant program, targeted at projects that can demonstrably achieve critical national objectives and improve economic competitiveness.

As in the past, rail projects—both passenger and freight—proved competitive in the TIGER application process, securing $279 million out of the $511 million in available funding (54 percent) for 23 rail-related projects.  More specifically, 13 percent of the funding will support high-speed and intercity passenger rail projects.  Rail advocates praised the news of the awards.

“Rail is a vital component of the nation’s surface transportation system, with freight rail hauling 43 percent of the nation’s ton-miles, commuter rail riders taking 472 million trips per year, and intercity passenger rail moving over 30 million passengers annually,” wrote the OneRail coalition in a press release.  OneRail—which NARP is part of—applauded Congress for its continued funding of the program.  “Rail is the smart, sensible way to solve America’s 21st century transportation challenges… [and we anticipate] that rail will continue to compete well for the $500 million of available FY 2012 TIGER grants.”

The U.S. DOT’s website has a full description of the project awards.  NARP is providing a table of the passenger rail specific grants, with links (when possible) to local news coverage of the grants.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad work crews have started work on a 15 mile stretch of rail in North Dakota’s Devil Lake Basin.  This preserves the route both for Empire Builder and BNSF’s growing energy business.

BNSF crews will raise the track an average of five feet this year, and will also raise two bridges along the route.  Engineers believe that by raising the track, they can eliminate the flooding problem that has frequently disrupted service on Amtrak’s Empire Builder by eroding track bed and scattering debris across the right of way.

“Most of the track raise will occur in early September,” BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth told The Grand Forks Herald. 

Work will continue in 2013, when the track will be raised another five feet.  The Herald provides readers with a sense of the scale of the undertaking:

The Devils Lake project involves the placement of more than 12,800 railroad ties and some 15 miles of rail and two new bridges, according to McBeth. It requires about 200,000 cubic yards of fill, 46,000 cubic yards of riprap and about 20,000 cubic yards of ballast.

It’s estimated the project will cost around $100 million.

Amtrak announced it will be expanding its Thruway Service to Eastern North Carolina, providing passengers service between Eastern North Carolina and the Wilson, N.C. Amtrak Station.

At the Wilson station, passengers can connect to the Palmetto (New York – Savannah, Ga.), as well as access the Amtrak national rail network.

Amtrak selected Eastern North Carolina for the density of colleges and universities, major military installations, and a number of cities and communities that have limited intercity public transportation options.  Amtrak says it is currently working with these communities to secure service stops at each location, as well as refine coach schedules.

This Thruways Service expansion is expected to launch later this year.

The board of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority has endorsed a plan this week to develop the first passenger rail service from Orlando International to Miami by 2015.

The $1 billion proposal by the Florida East Coast (FEC) Industries—which currently runs freight along a rail corridor along the state’s east coast—would upgrade tracks to allow for high performance passenger trains, and build a new rail corridor into the city.  The Orlando International Airport lies on the southeastern edge of Orlando’s metropolitan area.

"We view the potential opportunity as positive news because it follows our master and strategic plans. The addition of rail, which has always been viewed as significant, will make Orlando International Airport truly an intermodal gateway," said Phil Brown, executive director of Orlando International Airport. 

FEC’s project has already attracted interest at the national level, with House Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman John’s (R-FL) hearty endorsement.  Chairman Mica wrote a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week endorsing a speedy approval of the FEC’s permit requests.

“With the right-of-way already in place there is no reason to drag this out,” wrote Mica.  “This should not be a bureaucratic process."

FEC estimates that the project will create around 6,000 construction jobs for Florida workers, along with 1,000 permanent, in-state jobs.