Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the NARP Blog.
April 17, 1992
Amtrak's Chicago Reservations and Sales Office was shut down April 13 when their power was shut off during the flooding in the Loop area. Using emergency generators, they were able to operate a little bit on April 14 and permanently on April 15. However, the other centers didn't have the capacity to handle all the Chicago calls, causing Amtrak to lose lots of sales on a holiday week. Also on April...
April 10, 1992
Wisconsin voters passed an important constitutional amendment on April 7, on a 58-42% margin. For the first time, the state may spend capital money on passenger and freight service. Because of this vote, and because of Governor Thompson's pro-rail outlook, it is expected that improvements will be made in the next few years, including improved Chicago-Milwaukee service and service to Green Bay and...
April 3, 1992
President Bush appointed a Presidential Emergency Board on March 31 to prevent an Amtrak strike tonight. The board has 30 days to recommend settlement terms and then management and labor have 30 more days to accept or reject the terms, meaning no strike can happen legally before June 3. If there is a strike, Congress may step in and legislate a settlement, as they did last year with the freight st...
April 1, 1992
President Bush appointed a Presidential Emergency Board yesterday to prevent an Amtrak strike this weekend. The National Mediation Board had announced it could not settle outstanding contract disputes in early March, which started a 30-day clock ticking through April 3. The board has 30 days to recommend settlement terms and then management and labor have 30 more days to accept or reject the terms...
March 27, 1992
The Supreme Court announced its verdict in the Montrealer case on March 25. On a 6-3 vote, the high court found for Amtrak, thereby overturning a lower court's ruling that Amtrak and the ICC had acted improperly by condemning a piece of Guilford trackage in Vermont used by the Montrealer. Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court and was joined by Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia, and...