Hotline #779 -- October 5, 2012

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced on October 1 the release of $120.9 million in federal funding for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) Rail Program, creating 13,000 construction jobs in the region.

“Investing in new mass transportation opportunities will undoubtedly improve congestion on our roadways, create new economic development opportunities and improve our resident’s overall quality of life.  But perhaps most importantly, it will create jobs—roughly 13,000 of them for this project alone,” said Governor Malloy.  “Achieving this milestone means we can complete the design and construction of new track, signal and communication systems, bridge and station infrastructure improvements between New Haven and Hartford and provide an economic boon for the region.”

The project, scheduled to finish up in 2016, will add 11 additional round-trip trains between Hartford and New Haven, bringing the total to 17 trains.  Improvements to the “Knowledge Corridor” will also reduce travel time between St. Albans, Vermont and New Haven, Connecticut by more than an hour. 

“No economy can grow faster than its transportation network allows,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo.  “These investments will bring new jobs, along with commercial and residential development, to Connecticut.”

Workers will install 10 miles of double track, make improvements to the signaling systems along select portions of the corridor, as well as upgrade 28 road crossings to reduce the risk of grade-crossing accidents.  Four Amtrak stations will be equipped with high-level platforms to bring them into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; the stations will also get overhead pedestrian walkways and expanded parking areas. 

A big rig truck collided with an Amtrak San Joaquin train outside of Hanford, California yesterday causing several train cars to derail, and injuring at least 40 people.  None of the injuries are reported as serious.

[Read more about the accident on the NARP blog]

Federal and state officials gathered in Brattleboro, Vermont today to announce the completion of a project to upgrade the rail corridor between St. Albans, VT and Vernon, MA—on-time and on-budget.

The project upgraded and repaired roughly 190 miles of New England Central Railroad track between St. Albans and Vernon on Amtrak’s Vermonter route, increasing the average speed, reducing delays, and improving performance.  The $52.7 million, two-year project was funded by the High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program, a section of the stimulus that targeted the modernization of American passenger trains.

Attendees included Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), U.S. Representative Peter Welch (D-VT), and a number of other state and local officials.  Secretary LaHood devoted an entry on the U.S. DOT blog to the event:

In addition to the new rail ties, upgrades include heavier, continuously-welded rail installation and ballast work. These improvements will enable Amtrak to reduce the scheduled running time for the Vermonter by about a half hour, with track speeds in signaled territory increasing by nearly 60 percent, from 50 to 79 miles per hour. That's a boost in connecting passengers from St. Albans all the way to Boston, New York, and our nation's capital.

Passengers aren't the only ones benefiting from this modernization effort. The upgraded track also increases weight-capacity for freight cars by almost nine percent, from 263,000 pounds to 286,000 pounds. That means better economic competitiveness for shippers and businesses in Vermont and throughout New England.

And to improve safety and reliability for everyone, the project also repaired and strengthened more than 50 bridges and improved warning devices at 52 highway-rail grade crossings. That's a win for everyone on rail and road.

You can read more about the project at the Federal Railroad Administration’s website.

At an October 4 news conference at Washington Union Station, two cabinet secretaries and Amtrak’s president unveiled a new initiative in which all Amtrak employees—most importantly its 8,000 front-line employees—will be trained to identify human trafficking, a modern form of slavery. 

This is a worldwide phenomenon, but Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said it was a major problem in the U.S. 

“We cannot let the American transportation system be an enabler in these criminal acts,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “In addition to today’s partnership with the Department of Homeland Security and Amtrak, we are working with all modes of transportation to help stop the flow of human trafficking. Raising awareness can save lives, and we all have a responsibility to keep an eye out for these activities.”

Secretary LaHood gave one example of a telltale sign that staff and passengers should notice: a child that doesn’t appear to know the people she is with.  

Asked by NARP President Ross Capon to give other examples of what passengers should be alert for, LaHood said just use common sense—if it looks odd, be sure to report it to a staff person.  This would be especially true wherever it appears that an individual is under the control of someone else and not free to walk away from them.

Later, Amtrak President Joseph Boardman followed up, identifying Capon to the audience and noting that a video has been prepared for Amtrak personnel which will help them to implement the initiative.  There will also be on-line training and the issue will be covered in crew briefings.  Asked by a reporter how much this would cost, Boardman said “we do crew briefings already.”

LaHood began his remarks by saying that “Joe [Boardman] has done an outstanding job leading Amtrak in a direction I think all Americans can be proud of.”

You can find a comprehensive list of human trafficking indicators on the Department of Homeland Security’s website.

The Sacramento Superior Court announced a November 16 hearing on the injunction filed against California’s state-wide high speed rail project, set to begin construction next year.

The court will combine lawsuits filed by Madera County and farm bureau organizations in Madera and Merced counties; the city of Chowchilla; and businesses located along the route in Madera and Fresno counties.

The suit alleges that the project will hurt agricultural activities and damage farms.  Robert Cruikshank over at the California High Speed Rail Blog has outlined the response of the project’s proponents:

I strongly support preserving ag land too. But I do not see how HSR threatens it. It certainly won’t urbanize it. The best comparison to the HSR project is Interstate 5, built through the middle of farmland on the west side of the Central Valley. It didn’t lead to urbanization, as you can see by the long, empty, almost desolate drive on I-5 between Tracy and the Grapevine.

And because HSR stations will be in the middle of existing cities, it won’t create pressure for urbanization. Instead it will create pressure to densify existing urban areas, with the most pressure coming in the areas immediately adjacent to the stations. Farmers in Merced or Madera counties whose land won’t see tracks running through it will see no impacts at all. Farmers whose land will have tracks running through it will obviously see impacts, but those are minor and can be mitigated.

The American Planning Association (APA) identified Chicago’s Union Station as one the city’s outstanding community centers—and one of the top 10 public spaces in the entire U.S.

The APA compiles an annual list of public buildings and spaces that serve communities, embody local history, and provide an avenue for future growth. It states:

As one of the downtown's most iconic structures, Chicago Union Station represents both the city's outstanding architectural tradition and its historic role as a national rail hub. Completed in 1925 following construction delays caused by World War I, the station underwent a series of major renovations after Amtrak took full ownership in 1984. There were sustainable retrofits and a 1992 change to the underground space to better accommodate growing passenger volumes and consolidate amenities in a redesigned food court.

The list is a testament to a quality available only to train stations, which can be situated in the heart of a city and house a variety of businesses and activities in grand style.  There are, needless to say, no airports on the APA’s list.

Amtrak announced that it will begin operating 79 mph passenger trains between Petersburg and Norfolk, Virginia on October 5, allowing locomotive engineers and conductors to familiarize themselves with the tracks and territory.

The trains will operate two times per day, Monday through Saturday.  They won’t be carrying passengers, however; the service won’t be available to customers until December 12.

Norfolk Southern also released a statement to provide details on the phased introduction of passenger trains to the corridor:

The speed increase will be effective on Norfolk Southern's tracks between Portlock Yard in Chesapeake and downtown Suffolk, and between downtown Suffolk and Petersburg. Train speeds through downtown Suffolk will increase from 40 mph to 60 mph in the summer of 2013.

Freight trains will continue to operate at the current maximum speed of 60 mph. 

Travelers Advisory

Due to track maintenance being performed by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, Amtrak’s Empire Builder will be running an altered route from October 13 to November 3, affecting service in the North Dakota towns of Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Rugby.

Trains 7/27 and 8/28 will travel along a detour route between Fargo and Minot and will not stop at any intermediate stations. Passengers will be provided alternate transportation to and from Grand Forks, Devils Lake and Rugby.