Hotline #677
July 12, 1991
It now appears that the mark-up of the surface transportation bill by the Surface Transportation Subcommittee of the House Public Works Committee will be July 23. The full committee mark-up will be July 25, though those dates may change. NARP has written to members of the committee supporting inclusion of intercity passenger rail in the bill's definition of flexibility. The letter also supported requiring a rail link in the Boston Central Artery project, inclusion of the Boehlert-Borski truck-weight freeze bill, and inclusion of maximum possible spending on grade-crossing eliminations. Regarding Boston, the letter said requiring the link now "would be cheaper than a separate, future, rail-only tunnel project such as Massachusetts officials are discussing now."
Finally, the letter opposed the Private Property Rights Act, the Symms "takings" amendment that is regarded as one of the worst features of S.1204. The Senate adopted this amendment on a 55-44 vote. It says no regulation promulgated by any federal agency can take effect until the Attorney General certifies that the agency is in compliance with Executive Order 12630 or similar procedures to assess the potential for the taking of private property. This was supported by farm, real estate, outdoor advertising, and landowner groups, but criticized by Sen. John Glenn (Ohio) as a "mechanism to frustrate environmental protection, health and safety and other federal programs." We understand that the highway lobby, appalled at what the Senate did, is working the Senate very hard.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's TV program, "It's Your Business," will feature Harriet Parcells of NARP, Santa Clara County Supervisor Rod Diridon, Rep. Bud Shuster (R.-Pa.), and Chamber President Richard Lesher to discuss the highway/transit authorization and the gas tax increase that the House leadership is pushing. The program will air July 20-21; check your local listings.
The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee passed a 1992 DOT appropriations bill on July 10 with $3.8 billion for mass transit, up from $3.3 billion for this year. For Amtrak capital, there is $175 million and for "FRA mandatory payments" there is $145 million. There is $328.9 million for operations, $9 million above Amtrak's request that Amtrak now thinks was based on a too-optimistic revenue forecast. Subcommittee earmarks will make things even tighter. Of the operating money, $5 million is for additional locomotive overhauls; likewise, marketing and reservations gets and additional $5 million. There is $500,000 for a Chicago-St. Louis high-speed rail study and $700,000 for the prospective second North Carolina 403(b) train. That last figure assumes that the state pays 65% of long-term avoidable costs starting the first year instead of the 100% that Amtrak told the state it must pay.
The bill has $36 million for the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project, far above the $16 million the House committee recommended for this year, and far below the $179 million actually appropriated. There is $10 million for a Philadelphia 30th Street Station parking garage, $2.7 million for a Route 128 station, $500,000 for dealing with a noise problem for Rep. Brian J. Donnelly (D.-Mass.), and some money to help with the Montrealer stop at Willimantic, Conn.
Amtrak's Cardinal will serve Cincinnati Union Terminal starting July 29. The Cardinal will serve points west of Cincinnati 15 minutes later than now eastbound; and 15 minutes earlier than now westbound; other times will not change. You are welcome to have a sneak preview of the new station facilities on July 27, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. But the grand opening ceremony will be on November 2 in conjunction with other activities of the museum that now occupies most of the terminal building.
The Maine Rail Passenger Service Act is now on the governor's desk.
Efforts to put a rail development fund into the Ohio state budget failed, even though Ohio DOT and several conference committee members supposedly supported the idea. With no capital money forthcoming to permit Youngstown-Cleveland service, it looks like Amtrak should move quickly to extend the Pennsylvanian to Cleveland via Alliance (the Capitol Limited route).
The locomotive on Amtrak's eastbound Yankee Clipper caught fire on July 5 in Maryland and sustained about $2 million in damage. It will be out of service indefinitely for lack of funds to repair it. On July 7, the westbound Yankee Clipper skipped its 11:29 am Kingston, R.I., stop, apparently because its engineer had for several years never been assigned to a train that stopped at Kingston. Relatives of some people who were supposed to get off at Kingston were worried because a phone call to Amtrak produced the erroneous information that the train did make its stop. Then, 100 passengers waiting to get on also watched the sold-out New England Express fly through around 12:00 noon; the 80 who had not given up by almost 3:00 pm finally boarded the Patriot, which made a special stop.
A pro-commuter train Miami Herald editorial on June 24 says a recent University of South Florida researcher found that 70% of Tri-Rail commuters would otherwise drive and only 10% would carpool. The editorial supported double-tracking the line, relocating the Miami airport station to the airport itself, and extending service to Joe Robbie Stadium. Finally, the paper urged study of extending service to the Pratt & Whitney plant in northern Palm Beach County.
The June NARP News was mailed on July 9.