Hotline #789 - September 3, 1993

Please ask your Senators to tell Senator Lautenberg they strongly support his efforts to increase Amtrak funding over what the House Appropriations Committee has approved and to add good funding for high-speed rail.

Congress returns on September 8. A transportation appropriations continuing resolution may kick in on October 1, particularly if the House is unable to pass its bill next week. Also, in that event, Senate committee action could begin as early as the following week before the House finishes.

Amtrak, perhaps too cautiously, cancelled all service south of Washington on August 31 due to Hurricane Emily.

A hearing is set for September 21 on the dispute between the United Transportation Union and Amtrak that led to a strike threat last week. No strike can take place before that hearing, and is unlikely even after that.

Herzog Contracting Company, which plans to acquire UTDC, won the Miami Tri-Rail operating contract that UTDC now holds, beating out Amtrak and a team of Morrison-Knudsen and Burlington Northern. The new contract starts January 1 and lasts three years, with options for two more years.

St. Louis MetroLink will have a news conference tomorrow heralding their millionth rider after only a month of operation. Daily ridership remains above 20,000, rising to 35,000 with weekend special events.

Amtrak committed $150,000 toward the Fort Worth intermodal terminal in August. This is a $14 million, partly ISTEA-funded project involving the former Texas & Pacific station on the south side of downtown Fort Worth.

Some recommendations from Vice President Al Gore's "Task Force on Reinventing Government" are trickling out. Reportedly, it would recommend that the air traffic control system be separated from the FAA and made into a government-owned corporation, perhaps on the Amtrak model. It would also take the Railroad Retirement Board and turn over its responsibilities to the Social Security Administration, without changing the way benefits are determined. It would restrict the Essential Air Services program, which subsidizes flights to small cities. It calls for the appropriations process to be every two years, instead of annually.

CSX has asked VRE for a sharp increase in its trackage fees, from $600,000 a year to $3.2 million, according to yesterday's Washington Post. Furthermore, CSX wants $5 million if VRE adds three midday frequencies on each of the two lines.

Amtrak will operate the X2000 in revenue service three days beyond what was originally announced, or through September 29. It will not run September 8.

The ICE leaves New Orleans tomorrow at 7:00 am, arrives Pensacola at 12:30 pm and Jacksonville at 9:30 pm. On September 5, it leaves Jacksonville at 12:00 noon and arrives Orlando at 3:00 pm, with a press conference at 4:00 pm. On September 6, it is on public display at Orlando from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. On September 7, it makes a round trip to DeLand from 11:30 am to 1:45 pm, then leaves Orlando again at 3:15 pm and arrives at Jacksonville at 6:15 pm. On September 9, it leaves Jacksonville at 10:00 am, arrives Raleigh at 7:00 pm. On September 10, it is on display at the Raleigh Seaboard station from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, leaves Raleigh at 2:30 pm, arrives Selma at 3:10 pm and Richmond at 6:00 pm. On September 11, it makes a round trip to Petersburg between 8:45 am and 10:00 am, leaves Richmond again at 10:30 am, is on display at the Spotsylvania Industrial Park near Fredericksburg from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm, and arrives at Washington at 6:45 pm.

Not listed in the August newsletter were public displays in Portland, Me., on September 15 and Washington, D.C., September 25-26.