Hotline #751

Amtrak President Graham Claytor will attend President-elect Clinton's economic summit in Little Rock on December 14-15. Invitations to it were very hard to get.

Association of American Railroads President Edwin Harper has written Clinton transition planners on proposals to stimulate the rail industry. The November 25 letter includes a plea for increased Amtrak capital spending and allowing states to spend federal transportation money on rail projects. Harper said the proposals in his letter would create 14,000 jobs a year both directly and through increased economic activity.

House Budget Chairman Leon Panetta (D.-Cal.) will be the Clinton Office of Management and Budget chief. Panetta has proposed deep cuts in domestic programs -- including Amtrak -- and a higher gas tax to reduce the federal deficit.

Prospects for Senate approval of a gas-tax increase will brighten considerably if, as expected, Senator Moynihan (N.Y.) succeeds Senator Bentsen (Tex.) as Senate Finance Chairman.

Two reports that Clinton advisors helped write and that favor a higher gas tax were released this week -- "Choosing a Sustainable Future" by the National Commission on the Environment and "A Mandate for Change" by the Progressive Policy Institute, which suggests that new gas tax revenues go to the Social Security trust fund and be credited to current workers to reduce their payroll taxes.

Longtime House Appropriations Chairman Jamie Whitten (D.-Miss.) was voted out of that position this week. He is 82 and suffered a stroke last year. The new chairman is William Natcher (D.-Ky.), who is a healthy 83.

As expected, Norman Mineta (D.-Cal.) was made chairman of the House Public Works Committee. Joseph McDade (R.-Pa.) remains ranking Republican on House Energy and Commerce, despite his indictment on a felony charge. A new member of the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee is Thomas Foglietta (D.-Pa.).

Amtrak held a press run aboard the X2000 yesterday between Philadelphia and Lancaster, packed with reporters. The X2000 rounded curves faster than the posted speed, in one place doing 101 mph on a 75-mph curve. Amtrak said that on one non-passenger test near Baltimore, the X2000 hit 151 mph.

The DOT released proposed new rules yesterday for random alcohol testing for all transportation workers, spurred partly by public pressure resulting from a fatal New York subway crash last year. It also plans to expand greatly the current drug-testing program.

The Wisconsin DOT report on 403(b) service to Madison and Green Bay is due next week, but yesterday Gov. Tommy Thompson, who is also a member of the Amtrak board, said he felt neither service was likely before mid-1995. He said there were too many demands on the state treasury and on Amtrak's operating and capital budget.

Construction began on November 20 on four bridges needed for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to extend commuter rail to Boston's southeast suburbs. Service on the former New Haven Old Colony lines ended in 1959 and is set to begin again in 1996.

Two segments of the MARTA rail system in Atlanta open tomorrow. One is an extension of the North Line from Chamblee to Doraville; the other a branch of the West Line from a junction at Ashby to a new station at Bankhead. On December 13, a rail link south of the Loop in Chicago will open between the Howard and Dan Ryan lines.

The subway system in Seoul, Korea, has introduced women-only cars on some routes, in response to problems involving sexual molestation.

We would be remiss to let too much time pass without mentioning that the New York Central's Twentieth Century Limited made its last run 25 years ago, on December 2, 1967.