Hotline #792 - September 24, 1993

Action is likely in the middle of next week on transportation funding by the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee and full committee. The House yesterday approved H.R.2750, the 1994 DOT appropriations bill, on a 312-89 vote. All Amtrak figures remained as reported in our August newsletter. Joel Hefley (R.-Colo.) introduced two anti-Amtrak amendments. The first, to delete the entire operating grant, was defeated 84-337. The second, to cut operating funding 10%, was defeated 153-271. Members taking the floor against Hefley were Carr (Mich.), Wolf (Va.), Traficant (Ohio), Castle (Del.), Lowey (N.Y.). Only Cox (Cal.) rose in Hefley's favor.

Representative Visclosky (Ind.) expressed disappointment that Public Works Chairman Mineta (Cal.) stripped out money to widen a South Shore Railroad bridge in Gary, Ind., where seven were killed in a gory collision in January.

Send NARP a self-addressed, stamped envelope and $1.00 each for the Hefley amendment votes and for our response to today's terrible Washington Post business section article on privatizing Amtrak.

Investigators say all clues point to a wayward barge as the cause of the September 22 wreck of Amtrak's Sunset Limited. They believe a barge struck a CSX bridge about 10 miles east of Mobile, knocking it out of line, just moments before the train arrived. The captain of the tugboat pushing the barge, which is owned by the Warrior and Gulf Navigation Company, said he became lost in the dark fog.

This was by far Amtrak's worst accident, killing at least 44 passengers and crew. The Sunset Limited hit the misaligned bridge at 70 mph and flew off of it, falling seven feet into water and mud that was up to 25 feet deep. Most of the fatalities took place in a Superliner coach that was completely submerged. The rear half of the train remained on the bridge.

Buses are being substituted for the Gulf Breeze south of Birmingham and the Sunset between New Orleans and Pensacola for at least two weeks. The hardship refund policy will apply to those changing plans because of the busing. Bereavement fares are offered for immediate family members to attend victims' funerals through October 15. Delta and United Airlines have similar fares.

The Amtrak board met September 22 and it was revealed that the Boston electrification environmental impact statement release will be delayed to February. No announcements were made concerning service cuts or the Amtrak presidency.

Rail labor is stepping up its opposition to proposals to overhaul the Railroad Retirement System, as outlined in Vice President Gore's recent "reinventing government" report. The proposal would make railroad retirement part of Social Security.

Ohio DOT said it wants conventional Amtrak service before high-speed rail, as a logical step forward, according to the Journal of Commerce. It said extending the Pennsylvanian to Cleveland was a good place to start. This is welcome news indeed, from a state that traditionally has pursued mostly high-speed projects to the exclusion of modest, conventional rail proposals.

We encourage NARP members to urge their Senators to press the Senate Commerce Committee to move ahead with a high-speed rail bill.

The ICE and a brand-new Superliner sleeper will be on display this weekend, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm both days, at Washington Union Station, as part of that station's fifth anniversary of re-opening. The last day of X2000 revenue service is September 29.