Hotline #922

It was a busy July for transportation in Washington, D.C., and your NARP leadership and staff have been working hard to make sure the voices of America’s passengers are being heard on the Hill.

The U.S. Senate was just able to beat a July 31st deadline to pass a long-term transportation bill on July 30 by a vote of 65 to 34. The Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act includes a four-year passenger rail title, creating a truly intermodal surface transportation bill that constituted a first in Congress.

Senate Republicans were able to work successfully with Democrats to pass a bill that includes six-year framework for roads and mass transit, and a four year framework for intercity passenger trains. The rail title, the Railroad Reform, Enhancement, and Efficiency Act of 2015 (R2E2), has been hailed by NARP as a game changer for America's train passengers.

But leaders in the House of Representatives settled for a three-month extension of current law and then quickly left town for the August recess. With transportation payments to states in jeopardy, the Senate was forced to respond with their own three-month extension before adjourning for recess, sending the short-term patch to the White House for President Obama’s signature. That means passengers will have to wait until Congress resumes in September to see movement on the bigger transportation bill.

In spite of the month-long delay, NARP was praised on the Senate floor by Senate Commerce Committee John Thune for helping lead a coalition in support of the rail title, including winning an extra $199 million for funding implementation of Positive Train Control, a key life-saving safety technology. You can see video, and read a full transcript, here.

In a perfect illustration of why the U.S. needs a long-term rail reauthorization—with sustainable levels of dedicated funding for rail—problems continue to plague the Hudson River tunnels, threatening operations not only for local commuters but the entire Northeast Corridor. The NEC connects a region that accounts for 20 percent of the U.S.’s annual Gross Domestic Product, and experts say if the corridor were to shut down America’s economy would lose $100 million per day. With seven million jobs located within five miles of all NEC stations, and 710,000 commuters and 40,000 Amtrak passengers who ride the corridor each day, it’s daunting to fully grasp the extent of the influence the NEC has on the region.

NARP was quoted in a Bloomberg News article highlighting the need for more investment in passenger trains:

Amtrak owns the infrastructure and leases rails to New Jersey Transit, the state’s mass transit operator. Gateway is its biggest priority in the Northeast Corridor, the Washington-to-Boston-via-Manhattan routes that produce its highest revenue, said Sean Jeans-Gail, vice president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. Yet the U.S. is accustomed to deteriorating infrastructure, and getting lawmakers to focus is difficult.

“We’re kind of like the frog in boiling water,” Jeans-Gail said.

NARP President Jim Mathews also issued a public statement in response to the crisis:

“Our Association is extremely dismayed at the series of incidents that have been troubling train operations along the Northeast Corridorm,” said Mathews. “Not simply because these problems, resulting from aging tunnel and electrical infrastructure, have been disrupting the daily lives of hundreds of thousands commuters and travelers. No, we are just as dismayed by the collective memory loss that seems to be sweeping the U.S. every few months. When it comes to our infrastructure problems, America has started displaying the retentive powers of your average goldfish.”

“You don’t need to know all the history to understand the solution: build the new tunnels already. Amtrak has already begun work on the Gateway Project, which was launched amid the wreckage of ARC—they just need help in funding the project,” Mathews continued. “Congress and the White House have agreed upon a method to pay for it with revenue that would flow out of repatriation and tax reform—they just need to pass a law to make it happen. For as little as $3 billion to $4 billion in dedicated funding per year—a tiny fraction of what we spend on roads—we could begin the work of transforming not just the Northeast Corridor, but the entire U.S. rail network.”

Mathew’s full statement was featured on Railway Age.

Other Hudson River tunnel headlines included:

• New York Times: Transportation Secretary Seeks Meeting with Cuomo, Christie on Hudson River Rail Tunnels
• NorthJersey.com: Sen. Cory Booker trying to smooth disagreements on Hudson rail tunnel
• NJ.com: NJ Transit files complaint and meets with Amtrak about delays
• Capital New York: Port Authority chair: More federal money needed for new tunnels
• The Observer: De Blasio and Cuomo Strike Different Tones on Cross-Hudson Train Tunnels

Amtrak is important to communities across Illinois, especially in Moline, Galesburg and Macomb and Champaign. That was the message during a meeting this week of The Midwest High Speed Rail Association. Members said subsidies for passenger rail service comes from the road fund instead of the general fund, and Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has proposed cutting road fund expenditures from $42 million to $26 million, reports KWQC-TV.

If Rauner’s proposed cuts are implemented, at least half of Illinois-funded trains will be discontinued, starting a dangerous downward spiral. Ridership will decline more quickly than costs, forcing ticket prices higher and driving away even more passengers. NARP urges members to join the Midwest High-Speed Rail Association in telling Gov. Rauner to find the funding to keep all Amtrak trains running.

As the debate continues about whether to extend the deadline for installation of Positive Train Control systems beyond Dec. 31, 2015, Forbes magazine takes a look at century-old Automatic Train Control (ATC), which it says is installed on practically all of today’s locomotives. “For all its age, ATC is surprisingly robust. It lacks PTC’s ability to intelligently track train movement system wide, but it can detect excessive speed and react to it. It would have engaged Train 188’s emergency brake as or before it entered its final, deadly curve,” reports Forbes.

Florida’s Bay County Transportation Planning Organization has thrown its support to the Senate’s DRIVE bill because of a provision that could potentially rebuild the Gulf Coast Amtrak line between New Orleans and Orlando, reports the News Herald. The Senate bill establishes a Gulf Coast Rail Service Working Group, to include relevant states and regional planning agencies, to study restoration of service between New Orleans and Orlando.

NARP has consistently called for the restoration of service between New Orleans and Orlando since 2005, with members making the case for its renewal to their state and local governments. Gulf Coast service, like other rail lines, is an integral part of the nation’s public transit network, connecting smaller communities with larger cities and offering an alternative to car travel that they might not otherwise have.

NARP needs members to take action to ensure that All Aboard Florida isn’t sunk by NIMBY forces that are spending millions in public funds to kill the train. All Aboard Florida, a privately funded high-speed rail project that will connect Miami to Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando, represents Floridians' best chance at having a convenient and reliable alternative to the massively congested Interstate 95.

The Florida Development Finance Corporation (FDFC) Board is meeting on Wednesday, August 5 at 1:00 p.m. to decide whether to approve a measure to issue $1.75 billion in Private Activity Bonds (PABs) for the All Aboard Florida project. The meeting will be held at the Doubletree by Hilton, 60 S. Ivanhoe Boulevard in Orlando. The organizers are recommending arriving by 12:15 p.m. to ensure getting a seat.

Local NARP members are being asked to make a brief statement reaffirming support for the All Aboard Florida project, emphasizing the positive impact and public benefits it will bring through improved transportation options. Those at the meeting wishing to speak will need to fill out a speaker card, available from FDFC representatives sitting at the table in front of the room entrance. Speakers will have a maximum of three minutes to speak.

For members who can’t attend the meeting NARP is urging you to click here and fill out this form and send it via email, fax, or mail to the Florida Development Finance Corporation Board. Please view instructions at the bottom of the support form. The success of this project will play a pivotal role in helping foster similar public-private rail projects in other parts of the nation.