Hotline #759

Congress is on recess until February 16, perhaps a good time to remind your legislators that you support a gas tax with a penny for Amtrak and that you want Amtrak included in any economic stimulus package. DOT Secretary Federico Pena told the nation's governors on February 2 that he has put Amtrak "on the table," but he won't know if Amtrak is in President Clinton's package until it is unveiled on February 17. The 1994 budget will be unveiled in March.

Senator Lautenberg's transportation supplemental appropriations bill, S.249, was introduced on January 28. It has $320 million in Amtrak capital and $220 million for the Northeast Corridor, beyond what was in the 1993 appropriations law. Ask your Senator to co-sponsor S.249.

House Transportation Appropriations Chairman Bob Carr (D.-Mich.) had his own hearing yesterday on infrastructure investment. Unlike the Senate hearing last week, Carr had no rail witnesses. Instead, they were mostly university economists, who oppose more transportation infrastructure investment of any kind, and the president of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, who favored highway investment.

Amtrak and the Association of American Railroads released on February 3 an upbeat joint policy on high-speed rail. The policy says that freight railroads will cooperate with passenger expansion; that any passenger agency will be responsible for expenses needed for a new service (with such needs subject to negotiation); that freight railroads will be indemnified from all legal liability from passenger operations, even in the case of gross negligence; and that the speed threshold at which separate rights-of-way would be required is 150 mph. The new statement is far more positive than the policy Conrail circulated last October. However, Amtrak and AAR noted that each proposal would be negotiated "route by route and milepost by milepost."

Amtrak passenger-miles were down in 1992, for the first time in years, according to the Amtrak annual report. They were 6.09 billion, down from 6.27 billion in 1991, but higher than in 1990. Ridership was down to 21.3 million, the lowest since 1987.

The State of Michigan announced plans to open a temporary Amtrak station at Detroit's New Center this summer and extend the Wolverine and Twilight Limited to Royal Oak, Birmingham, and Pontiac on the Grand Trunk Western. The Lake Cities would still serve Detroit and Toledo. The state will spend $1.35 million on track and station work. That means the end of the line for the Michigan Central station. The new Detroit station site is along Woodward Avenue.

DOT will hold hearings on drug and alcohol testing in Washington February 25-26; Chicago March 1-2; San Francisco March 4-5.

An editorial-page column by Air Transport Association President James Landry in the Journal of Commerce on February 3 attacked public funding of high-speed rail. The column was filled with misinformation -- some of which was so old and discredited that it would be funny if it weren't so tragic. For NARP's response, send $1.00 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Region 1 meets at Boston tomorrow. Speakers will include David Carol, who is coordinating the Boston-New Haven high-speed project for Amtrak Government Affairs, and NARP Executive Director Ross Capon. New Amtrak board member Leon Lombardi may attend. The next region meetings are February 27, with Region 2 in Albany and Regions 7 and 9 in Bloomington, Ill.

The Canadian National Transportation Agency will begin hearings in Ottawa on May 5 on Voyageur bus company's charges that VIA Rail fares are too low.