Hotline #690 -- January 21, 2011

House Republicans have fired the opening shots in the budget battles for the upcoming year, and it appears that passenger trains are in the crosshairs.

Republicans are using their newly acquired control of the House to highlight their agenda for cutting government programs.  A proposal issued by the Republican Study Committee would cut fiscal 2011 spending back to 2008 levels—a move the proposal says would save $80 billion.

For Amtrak, this would mean an $88 million reduction in its operations budget (down to $475 million).  A further $166 million would be cut from the railroad’s capital budget (cut to $572 million).

[For a more detailed analysis, NARP members can read January’s NARP News lead article, “Current Year Funding in Doubt,” by going to the Members Only section of this Website and clicking on “NARP News in PDF Format”]

More disturbingly, the Republican Study Committee proposal identified Amtrak’s entire annual federal grant of $1.56 billion as a target for elimination, which would bring an end to all intercity passenger train service.  The proposal also suggested completely doing away with the high-speed rail program.  And it eliminates $2 billion in funding the New Starts transit program, which plays a crucial in developing light-rail and streetcar systems around the country.

Democrats had not responded to the proposal at the time of this publication.  But given their control of the Senate, and White House support of many of the programs that face elimination—Amtrak and high-speed rail included—the proposal looks to be in no danger of being enacted.


High Speed Rail Under Scrutiny On Multiple Fronts

The new head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Rail announced yesterday that he intends to hold hearings on the high-speed rail program to extract information from the Federal Railroad Administration on the criteria they used in selecting projects.

The new subcommittee chair, Representative Bill Shuster (R-PA), has accused the FRA of being unresponsive to requests for information on how the applications for grant money were evaluated, and promised “aggressive” oversight of the program.

“They won’t share with us the scores on how they went about doing it, and that leads me to believe they didn’t really use the criteria they should have,” Shuster told reporters. “We intend to find out how they did it.”

The hearing date has yet to be announced.


The Federal Transit Administration announced several Recovery Act grant agreements for the development of light rail systems in five major American cities across the nation: Detroit, Dallas, New Orleans, Portland, and Tucson.

The grants are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.  U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff were vocal in their praise of the new projects.

“Building this light rail system will create jobs for this great American city, and it will stimulate long-term economic growth by attracting investment to downtown Detroit and the New Center area,” said Secretary LaHood of the $25 million grant for Detroit’s Woodward Avenue light rail project.

The other grants announced: $45 million for New Orleans’ Union Passenger Terminal/Loyola Loop streetcar project (which would connect the Amtrak/Greyhound station to the city’s streetcar network); $23 million for Dallas’ Main Street streetcar that will run through downtown and connect to Union Station; Tucson’s modern streetcar line that will connect downtown to Arizona Health Sciences Center and the University of Arizona; and Portland’s South Waterfront Moody Avenue streetcar line and roadway.

“Not only will this project create much-needed jobs for the workers of New Orleans, but it will also expand the streetcar network to new communities and stimulate development and job creation along Loyola Avenue,” Rogoff said.

You can find a list of the announcements on the FTA’s website.


High-profile supporters spoke out January 18 in favor of the proposed new Amtrak train linking Chicago to the Quad Cities (Rock Island & Moline/East Moline, IL and Davenport & Bettendorf, IA) and Iowa City. New leadership in Des Moines has threatened to cut the state’s share of the train’s funding

“It’s now or never,” said state Sen. Robert Dvorsky, D-Coralville, a passenger train supporter. “I think the stars are in alignment, there is a need, and this will create jobs.”

The Iowa City Chamber of Commerce has been ardently supportive of the train, saying it would provide a transportation choice for travelers and boost the city’s economic development. The Chamber cites the 95% on-time performance of similar service between Chicago, Galesburg and Quincy, IL. Other backers include the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Des Moines Partnership, which hopes to see the line eventually extended to the state capital.

The new service, operating at a top speed of 79 mph, would take five hours to complete the entire route. The tracks could be eventually upgraded to handle top speeds of 110 mph.

An $81.4 million federal grant to Iowa, and a $148.6 million grant to Illinois, from the High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program was given to start the train. But this money would have to be returned if Iowa does not come up with an additional $10 million state share.

If you live in Iowa, please let your state legislators and Governor Barnstad know that you support full state funding for this train.


A Florida U.S. senator came out in support of the Florida East Coast project this week, joining the growing chorus calling for restoration of passenger train service between Jacksonville and Miami along the Interstate 95 corridor.

Senator Bill Nelson (D) sent letters to a number of mayors along the FEC route announcing his support of the project, and that he intends to seek federal funding to match the $118 million the state of Florida has identified for the project.

“Restoring this service will give Floridians a quicker, more fuel-efficient way to travel between our state’s major east coast cities,” Nelson said. “And, it will create good jobs in engineering and construction.”

He joins Representative John Mica (R-FL) in support of the project.  Mica could play a vital role in securing federal funding as the new chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.  The Chairman, however, has alluded to the fact that he would like to minimize public investment in the train.

“Jacksonville to Miami is an important route,” Mica told the Florida Times Union. “But it has to be economically viable.”

Amtrak’s Silver Star and Silver Meteor trains currently run between Jacksonville and Miami on former Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line tracks owned by the freight rail company CSX Corp.  But the Silver Star takes 11 hours (via Tampa), and the Silver Meteor takes nine hours (via Orlando).  The Florida Department of Transportation says the FEC route will cut that trip to six hours, comparable to automotive trip time.


City, state, and federal officials gathered in St. Paul, Minnesota to watch the groundbreaking begin on the renovation of the historic Union Depot, which will be transformed into a regional transportation hub by the time work is finished, creating an estimated 1,200 construction jobs in the process.

The renovations include expanded track capacity, connections to the city’s Central Corridor light rail line currently under construction, and will incorporate access for buses, taxis, and bicycles.  The total cost—including construction and acquisition—is estimated at $243 million, with the grand opening scheduled for late 2012. 


Passengers can travel on Amtrak’s popular Adirondack train at a special discounted fare on weekends between now and April 25.

Amtrak will be offering a special round-trip weekend fare of $89 (valid Thursdays through Mondays) for travel between New York City and Montreal.  The offer is valid through April 25, 2011, for travel through April 28, 2011.  Up to two children can accompany each paying adult for a special price of $44.50.  Passengers just need to use promotion code X870 when booking at Amtrak.com or over the phone to access this limited-time deal.

“This fare gives travelers a special opportunity to experience New York State’s unique destinations and enable them to enjoy the state’s wonderful scenery,” said Amtrak Vice President, Marketing and Product Development, Emmett Fremaux. “We are proud to offer this opportunity together with our partners in the State of New York and grateful for their continued support of Amtrak and passenger rail.

For a full list of details and restrictions visit Amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL.


Amtrak announced January 18 that the Keystone Service will be adding quiet cars beginning January 24.

The Keystones—operated by Amtrak in partnership with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation—run between Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and New York.  The designated quite car will typically be the coach car adjacent to the locomotive. Unreserved seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and reservations will not be accepted. Reservations are required between Philadelphia and New York.


Travelers’ Advisory

• VIA Rail is starting a 50% off system wide sale for travel through the end of May.  These discounts also apply to sleepers. Discounted tickets must be purchased on or before this Tuesday, January 25. Check VIARail.ca for details and restrictions.
• Continued heavy rain the Pacific Northwest forced a 48 hour suspension of service on Amrak’s Cascades and Empire Builder trains. Mudslides closed portions of tracks used by the trains in Washington State on the morning of January 19.  The popular Cascades (Seattle to Vancouver) and Empire Builder (Chicago to Seattle and to Portland) trains were canceled while crews from Burlington Northern Santa Fe—the company that owns the track—worked on the blocked sections of rail. Amtrak arranged chartered busses to transport Cascades passengers.  Passenger trains were reported to be running by Friday morning.
• Amtrak announced this week that, effective January 23, eastbound Sunset Limited train 2 will now depart Los Angeles at 3:00 PM.  This move, made in response to Metrolink schedule changes, will allow connections from San Joaquin Train 702 (via Thruway motorcoach) at Los Angeles. This will, however, break the connection from southbound Coast Starlight train 11 at Los Angeles from now through the end of March, while the Starlight undergoes a temporary schedule change due to Union Pacific trackwork.