Hotline #811 - February 4, 1994

A third San Diegan was extended to Santa Barbara on February 1 -- eight months earlier than recent plans called for. The 10:50 am from San Diego now goes to Santa Barbara. The 4:45 pm from Los Angeles now leaves Santa Barbara at 1:45 pm. For these trains only, connecting bus service extends beyond San Luis Obispo to include Atascadero and Paso Robles. The train that used to leave Santa Barbara in the afternoon no longer runs north of Los Angeles. Instead, the 9:00 pm from Los Angeles now leaves Santa Barbara at 5:45 pm.

On Metrolink, crews are working fast to lay a second track on the Southern Pacific between Lancaster and Palmdale in the Antelope Valley. Union Station this week gained an additional track that had been planned for 1996. Metrolink expects to get 15 GO Transit cars in mid-March. They will allow the March 28 takeover from Amtrak and expansion of the Orange County commuter service go forward while recent service expansions continue. Union Pacific will move the cars free of charge.

Metrolink system ridership on January 31 was down to 22,000, from a peak of 31,000 on January 25. The Santa Clarita line was down to 12,000, from a peak of 22,000.

The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the July 31, 1991, Silver Star derailment at Lugoff, S.C., which killed eight Amtrak passengers. As expected, the conclusion was that an inadequately maintained CSX switch caused the derailment. CSX says it has already improved inspector training and replaced questionable switches. NTSB told Amtrak to improve emergency training for on-board staff.

A CSX freight derailment at Whitakers, N.C., just north of Rocky Mount, tied up Amtrak and freight traffic for two days this week.

The DOT released new rules on random breath testing for alcohol use, affecting millions of rail, aviation, transit, and truck workers nationwide. This has been in the works since a fatal New York subway wreck in 1991, in which train operator use of alcohol was implicated.

The Coast Starlight is now all non-smoking. Seven stops are designated as "smoking stops," with no time added to the schedule.

The Illinois Central has begun an 18-month project to put CTC signaling between Memphis and Jackson on the Yazoo freight line used by almost all IC freight traffic. Improving this line, which could allow trains to exceed 49 mph, could mean the eventual shift of the City of New Orleans off its present route.

Texas Gov. Ann Richards has written to a State Senate opponent of the high-speed rail project, saying she believes that the state High Speed Rail Authority should revoke the Texas TGV Corporation's franchise.

A new railroad station in downtown San Francisco at Market and Beale Streets is feasible and has funding available, according to a Metropolitan Transportation Commission report. The terminal would cost about $500 million, double CalTrain ridership, and also serve BART, Muni, and future high-speed trains.

The Long Island Rail Road has announced plans for an ambitious, long-term capital program. This includes a new station in Sunnyside in Queens and completion of a line into Grand Central Terminal, using a deck designed for this purpose in the 63rd Street subway tunnel under the East River. The Grand Central plan would cost about $4 billion and take about 17 years to complete. Penn Station congestion would be reduced by diverting some Long Island trains to available space on the lower level of Grand Central. This would give the Long Island a new market and provide a direct connection to Metro North. The project also would make a simple extension of Long Island service to Kennedy Airport more attractive.