Hotline #801 - March 8, 2013

NARP Members are now entitled to 10 percent off the best available fare on VIA Rail Canada trains across Canada—including Economy, Business, Sleeper and Sleeper Touring classes!

Tickets must be purchased before December 31, 2013 and travel must take place before March 31, 2014. Click here to learn how to obtain the discount and read terms & conditions (member login required).

 

During a March 5 hearing, “Freight and Passenger Rail in America’s Transportation System,” held by the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, Amtrak President Joseph Boardman announced that Amtrak covered 88 percent of its Fiscal Year 2012 operating costs with ticket sales and other revenue, with the federal government paying just 12 percent of Amtrak’s operating needs.

To support his capital request, he presented a slide which included this: “Today the fleet is the oldest we’ve ever had.” Similarly, “we’re beginning to eat our assets” in the Northeast Corridor—meaning that track conditions have been slowly deteriorating since Recovery Act funding ended.  This does not affect safety but “slow orders” are more frequent and remain in effect longer, reducing the line’s capacity.  This hurts on time performance and reliability as well as ride quality.

Boardman warned that decades of anemic capital funding (even with a few years’ respite provided by the 2009 Recovery Act) has the railroad again falling behind on maintenance of the Northeast Corridor infrastructure.  

Boardman was clear about the difference between “operating profits” and “capital.” He said that, in the Northeast Corridor, if you include consideration of the infrastructure, “there are no profits.”

He went to some lengths to show sensitivity to the points NARP has been making about the long-distance trains, calling them the “backbone” of rural connectivity, particularly in light of “rural communities being abandoned” by the other modes.  To underline how the system would be damaged by elimination of the five routes that lose the most money, he showed the map that would result – which was empty between the Mississippi River and the West Coast except for the Oklahoma City-Fort Worth (a line that probably wouldn’t survive elimination of the Texas Eagle).

United Transportation Union National Legislative Director James Stem was asked about labor’s relationship with Amtrak.  He replied, “Joe Boardman and his staff have brought a new level of credibility and stability to Amtrak.”

John Duncan (R-TN), vice chair of the full committee, reported that, in connection with his 35^th wedding anniversary, he recently took Amtrak to New York and back, going up on a Regional up, and returning on Acela.  He enjoyed both rides.  He also told Association of American Railroads President Ed Hamberger that, “I always say the freight railroads should toot their own horns more.  They are so important to many people who never think of them.”

Two Democrats (Michard, ME; Walz, MN) made clear they want to let states allow heavier trucks.  One of them expressed the “trucks-do-less-damage-when-the-weight-is-spread-across-more-axles” theory, to which Hamberger responded that higher axle counts don’t mitigate the harm done to bridges.

Hamberger noted that the capital investments that his railroads make benefit passenger trains.  One committee member, noting that the railroads are considered a leading economic indicator, asked “how’s business.”  Hamberger said, “we see slow, steady growth of 2%.”

A Hint of Things to Come in the 113^th Congress

“Today’s hearing is a good start to the Subcommittee’s work this year,” said Bill Shuster (R-PA), chair of the full committee.  “The U.S. rail network is intricate, complex, and unique, yet invaluable in its benefits.  Railroads, through their skilled and dedicated employees, move people and goods across this country every day, driving each State’s economic growth and helping ensure the Nation’s global competitiveness.”

Shuster did not, however, shy away from stating his intentions to put Amtrak under a microscope, and cut costs where he deemed it advisable.

“I really want to try to do something to reform Amtrak,” said the T&I Chairman. “It may never make a profit but I want to make it move in that direction.”

Putting passenger rail funding in terms of profitability—something no other mode of transportation is subject to—could be a concern for many train passengers outside the Northeast Corridor, particularly those in rural and smaller communities.

Weathering the Sequester

Boardman stated that Amtrak looks well positioned to weather the near-term budget reductions imposed by the sequester.

“As long as this doesn't go on for a long period of time, we are going to get through without any service cuts,” Boardman told reporters after the hearing.  “Basically, it's taking everything around the company, except running the services on schedule, and slowing them down.”

Of course, continued bare-bones funding for Amtrak will lead to further system erosion, with deferred maintenance sapping the ability of the railroad to run trains on time, and putting capacity expansion out of the realm of possibility.  Boardman also warned that if funding levels for the rest of FY 2013 drop below the 2012 baselines, “we're probably going to be in trouble.”  Because of partisan dysfunction, Congress only budgeted for half of FY 2013, and it is currently in the process of finalizing funding levels for the second half of the year.

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on March 6 that they would release an allocation of nearly $390 million in FY 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act funds to reimburse the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH), for work done in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. 

“These emergency relief funds are rapidly reimbursing the impacted transit systems following the greatest transit disaster in our nation's history,” said Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff.  “At the height of the storm, more than 40 percent of our nation’s transit service was suspended. The sooner we reimburse transit systems for the measures taken to minimize the damage and re-establish service, the sooner they can focus on long-term plans to strengthen transit infrastructure and protect against future disasters.”

The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act authorized a total of $10.9 billion for public transportation and rail networks in the region, $2 billion of which must be released no later than March 30.  However, due to mandatory budget cuts resulting from the March 1 implementation of the sequester, these payments will be reduced by five percent.  Officials lamented these reductions, citing the need for these critical transportation systems to prepare for future storms.

“The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act also included billions of dollars for resiliency and mitigation efforts designed to protect transportation assets and systems in the region from future disasters,” Rogoff wrote to New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “FTA will now be required to reduce these investments by the full $545 million mandated by the sequester. It is unfortunate that we will now be putting less emphasis on the long-term resiliency and protection of these systems.”

Upgrades that increase resiliency against storms and other natural disasters often save money in the long run, by preventing damage that is extremely costly to repair.

You can find a list of some of the repairs covered by these funds on the U.S. DOT website.

 

As Pennsylvania state officials debate over whether to fund the continued existence of the Pennsylvanian, the withdrawal of two major low-cost air carriers are forcing Pittsburgh residents to imagine a life with fewer—and more expensive—travel options.

The recent withdrawal of the air carrier JetBlue has led a Pittsburgh to New York fare to shoot up roughly 400 percent—from a standard round trip fare of around $200 to a fare of $874.  JetBlue’s withdrawal comes on the heels of Southwest Airlines decision to abandon the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia market, which led to an increase in average fares of similar magnitude.

“It's predatory, just like predatory lenders,” Craig Conroy, an aviation researcher, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  “That's the only thing you can say… When a low-cost carrier goes down, the others go into a feeding frenzy.”

A 2007 federal law shifts the operating costs for passenger rail lines under 750 miles to states in an attempt to create a more uniform cost allocation for passenger rail service across the U.S.  Although the methodology has been agreed with states, Amtrak continues to work with the affected state departments of transportation on defining the precise numbers.  However, many states are afflicted by the same budget woes straining purses in Washington, D.C., and there is concern that the new law could threaten existing service.  The Pennyslvanian—which connects New York City; Newark and Trenton, New Jersey; Philadelphia; Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and several intermediate towns, with 18 stops in all—is one of those services.

Western Pennsylvanians for Passenger Rail http://www.wpprrail.org/ is mobilizing citizens across the Commonwealth to urge their elected leaders to appropriate the necessary funds to continue running the Pennsylvanian.  Dozens turned out last week at the Amtrak station in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, for a “Save Our Train” rally to show support for the Pennsylvanian.

With new funding arrangements required to be in place by October 1, there is still much advocacy work to be done.  What’s already clear, however, is how much locals in Western Pennsylvania are depending on this vital connection.

“It's pretty much a mess any way you look at it,” Ellen Wiener, vice president of Pittsburgh’s Atlas Travel, told the Post-Gazette. “It's scary when Megabus is looking to be your best option."

 

A group of regular passengers of the Hiawatha Service has teamed up with Amtrak and state officials to implement a new policy that allows passengers holding current monthly and ten-ride tickets to have Priority Boarding at Chicago Union Station.

“These are some of our best passengers and they usually need the least assistance because they ride so frequently,” said Ray Lang, Chief of State Government Relations for Amtrak, who met with a group of regular passengers to discuss the change. “In giving priority to the monthly and ten-ride passengers, our customer service representatives and conductors can give more assistance to those less-frequent customers who often need more help.”

The Hiawatha Service travels between Chicago and Milwaukee corridor (with intermediate stops in Glenview, Illinois, and in Wisconsin at Sturtevant and the MilwaukeeAirport), and carried roughly 839,000 passengers in FY 2012, putting it among the top 10 Amtrak routes nationwide.  Around a quarter of the trips are made by passengers using multi-ride tickets.

The state of Illinois and Wisconsin jointly fund operation of the Hiawatha Service, and with the route is an important connection for residents from both states—both to downtown Chicago and Milwaukee, as well as to the airport for connections to flights.

“We applaud Amtrak for providing this benefit to the Hiawatha Service’s most loyal customers,” said Joe Shacter, Director of Public and Intermodal Transportation at Illinois DOT. “This important corridor carried 50 percent more passengers last year than it did back in 2006 and we hope steps like this will help continue that pattern of growth.”

Read the full Amtrak statement here.

 

Virginian Congressmen Gerry Connolly (D) and Jim Moran (D) are teaming up to try and improve the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Metrorail system, introducing legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to study extending the line further south and west into Virginia.

The legislation would authorize an analysis and project implementation outline to extend Metrorail’s Orange, Blue, and Yellow Metro lines, expanding the network to serve hundreds of thousands of more passengers.  The bill identifies the areas of interest as the Woodbridge area of eastern PrinceWilliamCounty, the Richmond Highway corridor of southern FairfaxCounty, and the Centreville area in western FairfaxCounty.

“Residents in Prince William and western FairfaxCounty already experience some of the longest commutes in the nation, and these communities will experience continued growth,” Connolly said. “We need to look at solutions that take cars off the roads and provide viable transportation alternatives for our citizens.  Whether or not we determine that Metrorail is the best solution, we must begin the conversation now.”

The duo also hope to encourage transit-oriented real estate development, spurring economic growth and fostering sustainable residential communities that allow people to work and play without being entirely dependent on cars and roads.

“Northern Virginia has the worst traffic in the nation, impacting the quality of life for the hundreds of thousands of commuters who sit in traffic hours each day,” said Moran in a statement. “Public transit is the answer to this unrelenting congestion. It’s better for commuters, our economy and the environment. Every $1 invested in public transit yields $4 in economic benefits. As the population in this region continues to grow, so must our public transportation infrastructure.”

Local officials are also hoping that commercial real estate developers are attracted by the Metrorail stations, attracting new businesses, new office developments, and new jobs for locals.

"Prince William commuters have the longest commutes of anywhere in the Metropolitan area, and virtually the longest of anywhere in the entire country, said Commonwealth Senator George Baker. “And part of that is because we don't have a jobs base down here. Getting Metrorail down here helps with economic development as well as providing benefits to commuters.”

 

One hopes that full consideration will be given to expansion of Virginia Railway Express as an economical way to extend rail service so far from Washington.

 

Travelers Advisory

--Amtrak has introduced Family Adventures for passengers, a group of trips designed with family time in mind featuring some of the most popular destinations throughout the United States and Canada.

Family Adventures provides spectacular sights and fun-filled activities for families of all ages.  Packages include Glacier National Park (with admission to the Space Needle in Seattle), the Grand Canyon, New York City (including trips to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island), Orlando (with access to Disney World resort and theme park), and more.  You can find out all the details about this travel option for families online.