Hotline #854 - December 2, 1994

A report on Amtrak by Don Phillips appeared in the Washington Post, November 27. Deputy Transportation Secretary Mort Downey is quoted as saying Amtrak has "run out of time and the ability to keep things together." Phillips noted that Republican legislators often have supported Amtrak, citing a vote in June by Speaker-designate Newt Gingrich (R.-Ga.) against the Hefley (R.-Colo.) amendment that would have cut Amtrak funding 10%. According to Phillips, incoming House Transportation Appropriations Chairman Frank Wolf (R.-Va.) "said he thinks the time has come to let Downs make businesslike decisions on routes."

NARP Executive Director Ross Capon was quoted as saying he hopes Congress will work with Amtrak "to squeeze more out of the dollars instead of taking away the dollars." The article said on-time performance is improved and customer complaints are down.

House Republicans will ratify committee reorganization plans next week. Rail is likely to be moved from Energy and Commerce to a new rail subcommittee in Public Works, perhaps chaired by Amtrak-friendly Sherwood Boehlert (R.-N.Y.).

The Amtrak board met on November 30. A management request to increase borrowing authority was tabled, with the December 13 board meeting looking more and more critical. The board approved Amtrak's share of increasing clearances in the Capitol Hill tunnel. This will let Superliners enter Washington from the south and let VRE and MARC run bi-level commuter trains.

Amtrak had a solid Thanksgiving with revenues apparently well above a year ago. October revenues, though down from a year earlier, were above budget. Some favorable cost developments have reduced the official budget gap by $30 million; it's now $163 million.

System on-time performance in October was 78%, up from 75% the year before.

Another CSX rail bridge in Alabama was wrecked after a barge struck it on November 30, this time over Chickasaw Creek. This is halfway between Mobile and Bayou Canot, the site of last year's Sunset Limited disaster. Amtrak is bussing Sunset passengers between New Orleans and Pensacola and Gulf Breeze passengers between Mobile and Bay Minette.

Florida state prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for felony and misdemeanor counts in connection with a grade crossing accident on November 30, 1993. That was when the Silver Meteor hit a truck carrying a heavy power turbine and derailed, after the truck had halted on the crossing. The truck, operated by Rountree Transport and Rigging of Jacksonville, did not have that crossing listed on its permit to move the heavy machinery and did not notify CSX or Amtrak of the movement, as required by law. Amtrak is also suing Rountree for damages.

The Sunset Limited will begin stopping at Ontario, Cal., on December 4.

New Jersey Transit got final approval this week for the Montclair Connection. A short connection will be built between the electrified Montclair Branch and the diesel Boonton Line. The Boonton Line will be electrified out to Great Notch. It will be abandoned to passenger traffic between Montclair and Hoboken by rerouting trains over the new connection, thereby avoiding several bridges with severe speed restrictions. The project will cost $30-45 million and be done in 1997.

Pilots for the American Eagle feeder airline in the Midwest have been refusing to fly turbo-prop commuter planes in icy weather. These planes are the same model as the one that crashed in Indiana on October 31, killing all 68 people aboard. They are also the type that most easily could be replaced by good regional train services, such as NARP has proposed to relieve congestion at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. If it becomes apparent that such regional flights cannot be operated in all weather with smaller planes, or economically with larger ones, then our argument is strengthened.