Hotline #797 - October 29, 1993

The new Amtrak timetables take effect October 31, but temporarily will not be widely available due to late changes and low printing runs. Cuts affecting the Pioneer, Texas Eagle, and River Cities are still set for November 4. Harrisburg service schedules will change November 1, with a lost of one weekly Philadelphia round trip and an increase of 11 New York through round trips per week. Amtrak says it will save $1 million a year from the Harrisburg changes. Some of the stations set to lose Amtrak agents did so on October 26; the rest will be resolved as soon as local funding can be arranged or caretakers can be hired.

President Clinton signed H.R.2750, the 1994 DOT appropriations bill, on October 27. It is Public Law 103-122.

The Amtrak board met on October 27. It approved buying 17 rebuilt switch engines for $7.5 million, $70 million in heavy overhauls for older cars and locomotives, and $18 million for the next phase of retention toilet retrofitting. A budget for 1994 was approved provisorily until reconsideration at the December 1 meeting. Dan Collins, the nominee for the labor slot on the Amtrak board, has been confirmed by the Senate.

The final 1993 revenue-to-cost ration was 79.5%, up from 79.1% last year, though 82.2% was budget for this year. The operating loss -- which is the amount after subsidy that Amtrak must "eat" through cash depletion or spending cuts -- was $50 million over budget and $20 million higher than last year. The best on-time long-distance train in September was the Auto Train at 88%; the worst train was the Hoosier State at 10%. Other than the extended Sunset Limited, the biggest August ridership gain was on the Capitol Corridor, at 73% up, and the biggest loss was on the River Cities, down 44%.

A wire service story reported last week that the wife of an Amtrak employee in New Orleans had been charged with 32 counts of forgery. Police say she rifled through baggage stored at the New Orleans station after the Sunset Limited wreck and used credit cards and travelers' checks belonging to two women who died in the wreck. This wretched person then went on a $2,100 shopping spree.

Sunset Limited survivors were still in U.S. District Court in Mobile this week, trying to prevent the Warrior and Gulf Navigation Company from getting a $432,000 liability cap. Warrior and Gulf also had been suing CSX and Amtrak, saying they caused the wreck, but abruptly dropped that petition on October 26.

CSX has raised its requirement of liability insurance for excursion train operators from $10 million to $200 million, according to the Journal of Commerce.

Massachusetts Gov. William Weld unveiled a huge bond issue bill yesterday that includes $60 million toward the Central Artery rail link and $750,000 to study Boston-Springfield high-speed rail.

Transport 2000 Canada tells us that the Canadian election results may be favorable to VIA Rail's future, but that the winning party, the Liberals, have no clear commitment to rail. The Conservatives, who controlled the government but won only two seats this time, might have made a quick end to VIA had they won, so in a sense VIA has received at least a reprieve. The best on rail were the NDP, but they won few seats. The Bloc Quebecois, which won many seats, are good but concentrate a lot on high-speed rail. The Reform Party, strong in the West, likes rail well enough but not with government support. Guy Chartrand, formerly of Transport 2000 Quebec, lost his bid for a seat in Parliament. NDP Member Iain Angus of Thunder Bay, Ont., a great friend to VIA, was unseated. Another great friend, Conservative Elsie Wayne, was elected. She is now the mayor of St. John, N.B.