Hotline #908

Editor's note: due to technical difficulties, the Hotline was not published on Friday, April 24. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Volunteers representing some 28,000 members nationwide of the National Association of Railroad Passengers visited more 200 congressional offices April 21 during NARP’s annual Day on the Hill, pressing Congress to support and improve the multi-year rail authorization legislation currently taking shape in the Senate.

These members paid their own way to Washington to attend the Spring Council Meeting and to sit down with their legislators to advocate for what NARP calls “A Connected America.” A Connected America invests in links between intercity trains and airports, intercity buses, local transit, cycling and walking, and car rental and sharing service to create a seamless 21st century multi-modal transportation network, coast-to-coast – connecting “flyover country” to the nation’s larger economy and prospects.

Paul Nissenbaum, associate administrator for railroad policy and development for the Federal Rail Administration, outlined details in the administration’s Grow America Act, a $478 billion, six-year transportation reauthorization proposal that provides increased and stable funding for highways, bridges, transit and rail systems. “Rail hasn’t had a reliable stream of funding. With Amtrak not knowing what its funding is until a few months into the budget year, that’s no way to run a major transportation company,” he said. “The key message is that it needs steady, reliable funding.”

As the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act bill goes to the Senate, this is a critical point on the legislative timeline, said Joe McHugh, Amtrak’s senior vice president for government affairs and corporate communications. “The House of Representatives passed a bill back in March, and that bill reinforced the national system of Amtrak,” he said. “Ridership numbers have risen steadily between 1972 and 2014, and federal subsidies are down to the lowest numbers they’ve ever been. These continued gains help build support.”

Karen Torrent of the Environmental Law Policy Center applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to vacate a lower court ruling that reinstated metrics and standards for Amtrak service designed to protect the rights of rail passengers, but warned that the battle was not over. “The parties could go back and fight the issues again. But Congress can fix all of the issues under the PRIA bill” under consideration, she said.

NARP presented its Golden Spike Award to Joseph Szabo, the former Federal Railroad Administration administrator from May 2009 to November 2014. During his term at FRA, he focused on improving the safety of freight and passenger railroads by implementing rules designed to improve fatigue management and training requirements for workers, change rail inspection procedures and heighten awareness around trains. He also championed the agency’s High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program, attending a groundbreaking ceremony to start construction of California’s high-speed rail just days before leaving FRA. He is currently a senior adviser on transportation policy at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

Finally, NARP presented its Youth Passenger Citizenship Award to representatives from Sam Houston State University and University of North Texas for their support of the Texas Central Railway, a proposed high-speed rail project that will run between Dallas and Houston. The award is given on occasion to students and young people who demonstrate exceptional leadership, initiative, or passion in making meaningful improvements in the train travel experience or in citizen advocacy for an expanded and improved passenger train network.

The National Journal released its highly anticipated story that attempted to answer the question “Why Can’t America Have Great Trains?” The article features interviews with Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman, NARP founder Anthony Haswell, NARP VP Sean Jeans-Gail and most importantly, NARP member Dr. Paul Nelson. The main question in the story was: Is Amtrak a waste of money because there isn't sufficient demand for trains? Or is there insufficient demand for trains because we haven't spent the money to create a great rail system?

In another story, the Journal took a closer look at the woes facing Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, including badly needed repairs on one working bridge and two new tunnels. Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman discussed the urgency of repairs needed to fix the 104-year-old Portal Bridge, which crosses the Hackensack River in New Jersey on the way to New York City's Penn Station and is a point with frequent delays. Under current plans, said the story, that bridge would be replaced with a taller two-track bridge, but that's a $900 million project for which Amtrak and state partners don't have the money to fund it.

Speaking of the Northeast Corridor, a five-year plan for the sector that runs from Washington, D.C., to Boston has been approved by a group including Amtrak, the the U.S. Department of Transportation and eight commuter-rail agencies, reports Progressive Railroading. It will take an estimated $21.1 billion to fund repairs from old ties to major rehab efforts on bridges and tunnels. But replacing the Portal Bridge North, is one of the plan's currently unfunded projects.

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee used a speech at a future University of Washington light rail station to emphasize that he needs $15 billion to expand the region’s light-rail network, reports the Seattle Times. But the state Senate, controlled by Republicans approved a gas tax increase to fund highways, but only approved a separate $11 billion tax measure for light rail that will go to voters in 2016. Meanwhile, the Belleview City Council voted unanimously to approve a revised agreement with Sound Transit, which operates the light rail system in the region, that will allow construction of the East Link light rail project to start in early 2016, reports KIRO-TV.

Virginia Railway Express’s new $3.4 million terminal in Spotsylvania County will open this summer, reports the Washington Post. It will be the first major expansion for VRE in its 23-year history, and marks an effort by the system to meet the region’s long-term transit needs. The new service will go south of Fredericksburg to capture riders in an area that is ripe for growth and development. The eventual goal is to double VRE’s ridership by 2040.

The Winter Park ski resort celebrated its 75th anniversary by bringing back the Ski Train that closed in 2009, reports the Denver Channel. Nearly 1,000 passengers rode on the train during the weekend. The demand has raised hopes that Amtrak and Winter Park officials may bring back the Ski Train for three months next winter. The train originally ran from 1940 to 2009, but was closed due to rising costs. when then-owner Philip Anschutz shut the service down because of rising costs.