Hotline #719: August 12, 2011

A more detailed look at the potential impact of the Budget Control Act, the law Congress passed Aug. 2 to raise the nation’s debt ceiling (see last Hotline), on passenger train funding:

Spending for FY 2012, which starts in less than two months, is to be controlled by the appropriations committees, who get to spend $24 billion more on “domestic discretionary” items than the House budget committee allowed. There is no guarantee, of course, as to how much if any of this $24 billion will go to transportation in general or trains in particular. Moreover, concerns remain that the debacle over Federal Aviation Administration funding was just a curtain-raiser for a similar collision over the gasoline tax, which is set to expire Sept. 30.

Spending for FY 2013 and beyond is the purview of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“super committee”). In that regard:

• Appropriations committees are to submit their recommendations to the super committee by October 14
• The super committee must send its recommendations to Congress by November 23
• Congress must vote up or down (no amendments) by December 23.
• If the super committee fails to submit recommendations, or Congress votes them down, “automatic sequestration,” that is, across the board budget cuts, would be imposed. It appears that every account would fair equally in 2013; not clear about subsequent years. Also, the effect of “partial sequestration” is unclear. In other words, if the super committee approves and Congress passes provisions that achieve some but not all of the mandated deficit reduction, would sequestration then hit every program, or would programs be exempt if they already experienced some cut at the hands of the super committee and Congress?

Grant agreements from the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) program, awarded earlier but announced this week, will let California and four Midwestern states purchase new next-generation passenger equipment, and will let California continue to develop its passenger train network.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Wednesday, August 3, that California, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Missouri will receive $336.2 million to purchase next-generation, American-made trains that will run on rail corridors in those states. Previously awarded rail dollars bring the amount received by these five states and Washington State to $782 million for the purchase of 33 quick-acceleration locomotives and 120 bi-level passenger cars.

The new equipment will be able to travel at speeds up to 110 mph, and will meet standards developed by the Next Generation Corridor Equipment Committee, a body established in the 2008 passenger train law that consists of state department of transportation, Amtrak and FRA representatives. The state partners will now begin a joint procurement process, first issuing a request for information (RFI) and then a request for proposal (RFP) to allow for an open and competitive process.  The RFI is expected to be issued in late summer 2011. The procurement process is subject to strict Buy America requirements stipulating that the manufacturing be done in the United States and that most components be U.S.-made.

“Today’s announcement is all about jobs. Thanks to the leadership of the Obama Administration, these orders will pump more than three quarters of a billion dollars into the domestic manufacturing industry,” said Secretary LaHood in a press release. “And, our Buy America standard will put people to work all over the county.”

On Monday, August 8, Secretary LaHood announced the release of $179 million to California for both high-speed rail and improved conventional intercity passenger trains.

$86.4 million will go towards construction of the first segment of the planned Anaheim-Los Angeles-San Francisco true high-speed rail line in the Central Valley, extending the already-funded 110-mile Fresno-Bakersfield segment an additional 20 miles north to Merced.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will get $24.9 million to install Positive Train Control (an advanced signal system intended to prevent train-to-train collisions between trains) on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner route between San Diego and San Onofre.

“California voters and train passengers have said it loud and clear, they want access to a world-class rail system in California.” said Secretary LaHood.  “These projects ensure passenger rail is built to support a thriving California economy in the 21st century, while creating thousands of new construction and manufacturing jobs today.”


At the same time as the California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) project received additional federal funds, state lawmakers began raising questions about a new report showing higher cost estimates than originally released to build the initial Central Valley segment.

The new report is the Draft Project Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the Merced-Fresno segment. Public comments on this report should be submitted to the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA) by Wednesday, September 28, or can be given at one of six hearings the Authority has scheduled from August 23 to September 20.

CAHSRA defended the variability in cost estimates, saying the original 2009 estimates were made before detailed engineering work was completed and feedback was received from communities along the proposed route.
The project’s cost varies depending on which route is ultimately selected between Merced and Bakersfield – a line paralleling BNSF’s tracks (currently used by Amtrak’s San Joaquins) or one paralleling Union Pacific freight-only tracks that take a more easterly path.  Up to $3.8 billion of the increased cost is associated with elevating the tracks for as much as 42 miles.

Planners anticipated the higher costs as more information about land acquisition and other details related to actual construction became known, said Roelof van Ark, CAHSRA’s chief executive.
“We’ve had cost increases, but I believe the costs are now realistic and fair,” he said.

The project also is defended here.

And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), speaking August 10 on a conference call on clean energy, said, “Our country is so short sighted — our highways are jammed — and we are spending so much wasted money hauling people in airplanes for 300 miles or less, which is terribly inefficient.  I am a big, big fan of high-speed rail, you have to look at things other than the raw numbers of how much it costs. How much does it save?
If you could take a train from Sacramento to L.A. to San Diego, that would be wonderful, instead of the inefficient San Francisco to Los Angeles flights that happen every day.  It would be so short-sighted to walk away from the bonding capacity — you have $10 or $12 billion in bonds —because of costs.”

The Vermont Rail System has completed track work on the Castleton-Rutland, VT portion of Amtrak’s Ethan Allen Express route, making for a faster and smoother ride for passengers.

Vermont Rail System, a regional freight railroad, spent $750,000 of its own money on the repairs, which involved replacing 12,200 ties, resurfacing eight miles of track, and rebuilding nine highway-rail grade crossings (including one in Rutland funded by the State of Vermont).  The state of New York (which jointly sponsors the train with Vermont) provided an additional $2.5 million over a two-year period for similar repairs between Whitehall, NY and the Vermont state line.

Ten minutes already have been shaved from the Ethan Allen’s running time, with 18 minutes to be removed from the schedule by October’s end. Next summer, work in New York State will result in further trip time savings.

Regional leaders, including Rutland town aldermen and Vermont state legislators, were given a special round-trip on private cars between Rutland and Castleton on Wednesday to showcase the results of the work done so far.


Leaders of Chambers of Commerce in southwestern Virginia are organizing a push to get Amtrak to extend service from Lynchburg to Bristol via Roanoke. They are also reaching out to counterparts in eastern Tennessee in hopes of extending the proposed service through Johnson City and Knoxville to Chattanooga, over Norfolk Southern rails.

Bristol (which straddles the Tennessee/Virginia border) Chamber of Commerce President Rex Hammond will meet with Johnston City officials this week to discuss the idea.

If communities along the line sign on, it will take at least two years to get the funding in place to make necessary infrastructure improvements and cover part of the operating costs, but officials are optimistic that service could be in place within five years.


Building America’s Future, an organization co-chaired by former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D), and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), released a sobering look at the state of the country’s infrastructure this week entitled Falling Apart and Falling Behind

The report highlights the 2010 Global Competitiveness Index, which ranked the United States fifteenth among developed countries in terms of the quality of its infrastructure. Among the advances US competitors are making is building high-speed rail, notes the executive summary. It calls for high-speed rail to be an integral part of the six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill Congress is considering.

“Unless we make significant changes in our course and direction, the foreign competition will pass us by, and a real opportunity to restore America’s economic strength will be lost. The American people deserve better,” the group says.


An attempt by Board members of an east-central Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to rescind the body’s support for bringing Amtrak service to the Florida East Coast Railroad was defeated.

Indian River County Commission Chairman Bob Solari, a member of the county’s MPO Board, made a motion at Tuesday’s meeting to rescind the Board’s 2009 resolution of support for the service.  However, the Board did agree to demand better cost figures and other numbers from Amtrak related to bringing service to the FEC.

The plan, which has been in place for 12 years but still awaits sufficient state and/or federal funding, would reroute one of the existing New York-Miami trains to serve the FEC line, which hugs the Atlantic coast, and away from the more inland CSX line through Orlando. Stations would be located at (north to south) St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville, Cocoa, Melbourne, Vero Beach (in Indian River County), Fort Pierce and Stuart.


Amtrak announced that two mayors had been picked to lead the Amtrak Mayors’ Advisory Council, whose purpose is “to raise awareness of the nation’s intercity passenger rail service and to support Amtrak service in their respective communities.”

Amtrak Board of Directors Chairman Thomas Carper (himself the former mayor of McComb, Illinois) announced that Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett (R) was selected Chairman and Salisbury, NC Mayor Susan Kluttz (D) is now Vice Chairman.

“I look forward to leading the Amtrak Mayors’ Advisory Council in our focus on expanded national transportation mobility and travel options,” said Cornett. “Our station serves as an anchor for statewide intercity rail passenger service and an important part of a growing national system.”

“I am truly honored to serve on the Amtrak Mayors Advisory Council,” said Kluttz. “The railroad has been an important part of my City’s history since 1855 and the addition of Amtrak service in 1971 has been a tremendous asset. Salisbury looks forward to a bright future as we prepare to be part of High Speed Rail.”

For a complete list of Mayors’ Advisory Council members, click here and scroll to page 2.


The corporate consortium that manages Washington, DC’s Union Station has started accepting public comments on a plan to make significant changes to the station’s iconic main hall.

The Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) owns the station.  The USRC board chairman and vice-chairman are, respectively, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and the Amtrak President and CEO.  The board’s other three members are the Federal Railroad Administrator, the Federal City Council President, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia.  David S. Ball and Nzinga Baker are president and vice-president of USRC.

USRC proposes to cut into the floor of the main hall to create a glass stairway to improve access to the lower level, where the food court would be expanded to include the area formerly occupied by a movie theatre.

To read a presentation of the proposed changes and comments from the initial public meeting, and to submit your own comments, click here.  The deadline for comments is Wednesday, September 7.

Separately, the USRC is planning a major renovation of the station’s parking deck that would transform it into the city’s intercity bus hub, serving Greyhound, Peter Pan and Bolt Bus.  USRC President Ball unveiled the plan to a Congressional subcommittee July 22, but no details have yet been made public. The project would require new federal funding. A developer has already bought Greyhound’s current Washington terminal (4 blocks north of Union Station) and plans to turn it into an office building.


In response to the continued controversy over the fatal July 23 high-speed train crash on the Huangzhou-Shanghai line, China’s railway ministry announced that all new railway construction projects there have been suspended until further notice

Top speeds have also been reduced from 250 km/h (155 mph) to 200 km/h (125 mph) on newly-opened high-speed lines, and railroad authorities are conducting safety checks over the entire network. China CNR Corporation, a manufacturer of high-speed trains, was told to stop shipments.

Two top railway ministry officials were removed from the inquiry into the causes of the crash as a result of public pressure. The crash also made railroads in other countries wary of purchasing Chinese technology. The railway ministry has also been beset by allegations of corruption.

China has the world’s biggest high-speed rail network. It reached 8,358 kilometres at the end of 2010, and authorities had planned for it to exceed 13,000 kilometres by 2012 and 16,000 kilometres by 2020.


A New Jersey Transit commuter train derailed inside one of the two tunnels under the Hudson River leading into New York City’s Penn Station on Tuesday afternoon, fouling the evening commute for hundreds of NJT and Amtrak riders.

Before the derailment was cleaned, all trains in and out of Penn Station from New Jersey had to share a one-track tunnel, causing lengthy delays. The derailment was cleaned up and train service returned to normal by mid-day Wednesday, but residual delays occurred throughout the day Wednesday. Long Island Rail Road service was unaffected.

The incident highlights the need for more trans-Hudson railroad tunnels as called for in Amtrak’s Gateway plan, which NARP strongly supports.


Amtrak on Thursday made available an iPhone application allowing passengers to purchase tickets, check train schedules, view station information and more on-the-go.

The app is available as a free download through iTunes (on a Mac or PC) or through the App Store (on the iPhone itself). It also works on iPad. Versions for Android, BlackBerry and other smartphone platforms are planned for future releases.

It features most of the same travel planning and booking tools available on Amtrak.com, but is not yet fully integrated with the Amtrak Guest Rewards frequent traveler program. It also features a Passport game, allowing users to earn “stamps” for booking travel on the app, traveling new routes, and visiting each Amtrak station. Users can share their stamp-earning activities with friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Some NARP staff and Council members assisted Amtrak in trial testing of the application, and our input helped make it even more functional for travelers.


Other News in Brief:

• The Connecticut Department of Transportation is proposing fare hikes for Metro-North Commuter Railroad’s New Haven Line, the Shore Line East commuter rail line between New Haven and New London, and for buses across the state. Members of the public may comment on the proposed hikes at any of six public hearings across the state later this month. Click here for more details.
• Amtrak’s Joseph R. Biden Railroad Station in Wilmington, Delaware, was among the recipients of Brunel Awards for railway design from the Association of American Railroads and the International Union of Railways. The United States won five awards, with two going to Amtrak, two to Union Pacific and one to CSX.
• The American Automobile Association (AAA) released the 2011 edition of the “Your Driving Costs” report this week. Among its recommendations: people can save a good deal of money by switching trips from cars to public transportation, and by buying a more fuel-efficient car. Read our take at the NARP Blog.