Hotline #838

With the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure expected to reveal a proposal for the rail reauthorization soon, NARP issued a press release urging legislators to embrace a national vision for intercity passenger trains.

During a hearing held this June, T&I Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) said Amtrak’s national network is “something we have to take a hard look at…There are places that it costs us a lot of money and the ridership is not there.” NARP is asking Congress to reject any proposals to shrink the nation’s already-limited passenger train network:

Americans want more trains, and they are voting with their travel dollars. Amtrak carried 31.6 million passengers in FY 2013, setting the tenth ridership record in 11 years; ridership on the long-distance trains was the highest in 20 years. Some 173 million Americans—more than half of our total population—live within 25 miles of an Amtrak station that is served by long distance trains. Moreover, in 23 of the lower 48 states, long-distance trains are the only intercity passenger trains. Eliminating operating support for these interstate routes would end access to train service for scores of millions of passengers. The fact is, these trains are the only form of public transportation for hundreds of communities, and their loss would have a profound impact.

“What happens to the people that are stranded if Congress kills the long distance trains,” asked NARP President Ross Capon. “Because make no mistake: if Congress eliminates operating support for these interstate routes, that is what will happen. For many of these communities, it’s their only connection to cities in other states. Will seniors be forced to drive hundreds of miles to visit their families? Will disabled citizens have to forego trips to hospitals in metropolitan regions? Will students be forced out onto crowded highways to get to university? The House Transportation Committee does not appear to be asking these questions; the answers aren’t good.”

NARP has worked with passenger representatives from all across the U.S. to draft a list of goals and recommendations for the reauthorization that will build a modern, customer-focused national passenger train network that America needs.

During a November 21 forum Bipartisan Policy Center forum in Washington, D.C., a panel of transportation experts talked about Amtrak’s efforts to meet soaring passenger demand, where the government is not meeting its infrastructure obligations, and possible solutions moving forward.

The session, “Improving Passenger Rail Service in the Northeast Corridor,” can be viewed online. It included Devon Barnhart, a staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation; Amtrak President Joseph Boardman; Paul Nissenbaum, Associate Administrator for Railroad Policy and Development at the Federal Railroad Administration; and James Redeker, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

The panel was in agreement that the government has failed to fund a state of good repair for critical infrastructure assets in the U.S. Several of the panelists went further and said the government’s failure was preventing the private sector from providing assistance. A stable funding source would eliminate the sorts of risks keeping the private sector from engaging in infrastructure development, but Congress hasn’t even managed to fund Amtrak stably within the year, much less over multiple years.

Amtrak’s President went one step further, and said this kind of stable, robust investment in passenger rail is required across the entire nation—from the Northeast Corridor to the Long Distance Trains connecting the Midwest.

“It’s that extra investment that needs to occur, and it includes our rural communities across this country,” said Boardman. “It’s absolutely required, in my mind, that we have connectivity, coast to coast and border to border, to make rail really work in this nation. We’re abandoning the center of the nation, and that’s not right.”

All Aboard Florida announced plans to develop its Fort Lauderdale train station in the northern portion of downtown Fort Lauderdale. The transportation hub will spur job creation, encourage real estate development and revitalize a neighborhood that is currently underutilized.

The station will be built on NW 2nd Avenue, between Broward Boulevard and NW 4th Street, on land located next to a rail corridor owned by Florida East Coast Railway—All Aboard Florida’s parent company. The new structure will feature a multi-story lobby to house ticketing and luggage handling. It also will provide easy connections to the Sun Trolley, Broward County Transit system and the future Wave Streetcar.

“All Aboard Florida’s station will be an ideal complement to the forward-thinking transportation initiatives and development we have planned for our city and aligns with our ‘Fast Forward Fort Lauderdale’ vision,” said City of Fort Lauderdale Mayor John P. “Jack” Seiler. “This intercity passenger rail system, station and transit oriented development will continue to solidify our city as a world class destination and a great place to live, work and play.”

Fort Lauderdale is one of four stations All Aboard Florida is building as part of the 235-mile service that will connect Miami to Orlando. The other stations will be part of an intermodal facility at Orlando International Airport; in downtown Miami; and in West Palm Beach.

“The announcement of our Fort Lauderdale station is just the start of All Aboard Florida’s overall program to revitalize the area north of Broward Boulevard,” said Michael Reininger, President and Chief Development Officer of All Aboard Florida. “We have plans to develop additional parcels surrounding our station as a mixed-use, transit- oriented development, encouraging the increasingly popular social, cultural and business environment. We selected this area since it’s strategically located in close proximity to cultural, entertainment and employment centers and connections to other transportation options.”

Total trip time will take around three hours from endpoint to endpoint. According to All Aboard Florida’s ridership projections, the train would initially carry 3.3 million passengers. The railroad is targeting 2015 as the first year of passenger operations.

A legislative panel in Vermont’s State Legislature cleared the Agency of Transportation to begin work on upgrades to the rail corridor between Rutland and Leicester.

The improvements to the 20-mile corridor will be funded by an $8.9 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant; Vermont will provide a $200,000 local funding match for the project. The money will be used to make enhancements to bridges and grade crossings. Workers will also weld rail segments for smoother train operations.

“We have benefited in the process by having work underway as quickly as possible,” State Transportation Secretary Brian Searles told the panel. “We’d like to have that same set of circumstances when we apply in the next round, which could be as early as January 2014.”

WashingtonD.C.’s Mayor Vincent Gray promised that the D.C. Streetcar will begin passenger service in January or February of 2014.

In a televised segment, Mayor Gray revealed that the streetcar will begin test runs in December. In response to a question about whether the streetcar would negatively affect traffic, Mayor Gray responded that the service would actually get people out of their cars. He went on to emphatically state that modern, efficient public transportation is a necessary component of any 21st Century city, and would help the District compete for young people who will help grow the city’s economy.

The streetcars were manufactured by American workers in the Pacific Northwest by Oregon Iron Works. That company has revived the domestic streetcar manufacturer sector, which had died out in the U.S. in the 1960s.

The Minneapolis City Council's committee on transportation gave the go-ahead for two streetcar projects.

The committee gave approval for work to begin on an environmental assessment and pre-project development activities for a 3.4-mile line along Nicollet Avenue, and a second line along West Broadway.

California’s Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced yesterday that Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin services set ridership records for Fiscal Year 2013, carrying almost 3.93 million passengers combined.

The Pacific Surfliner, which runs along the coast between Los Angeles and San Diego, carried more than 2.7 million riders last year. The San Joaquin, which connects the Bay Area to Bakersfield via the Central Valley, carried more than 1.2 million passengers. When taken together, the two individual ridership records represent an increase of more than 110,000 riders over the previous year.

"In California, a rail renaissance is underway," Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty told the L.A. Times. "Train travel is increasingly seen as a smart option."

The London Underground will begin offering 24-hour service beginning in 2015, a first for the 150-year old subway system.

The plan is expected to benefit London’s tourist economy and businesses catering to patrons of culture and nightlife.

“For 150 years, the Tube has been the beating heart of London, its tunnels and tracks providing the arteries that have transported millions of people and helped to drive the development and economic growth of our great city,” Johnson said. “[The proposal] will not just boost jobs and our vibrant nighttime economy; it will further cement London’s reputation as the best big city.”

Part of the plan involves replacing most ticket offices with machines or turnstiles that will accept credit or debit cards, which will save roughly $80 million per year. Most of these savings will come from closure of all ticket offices at the 240 stations on the network, a prospect that has angered London’s transportation union and led to warnings of a labor strike. “In total, 950 station staff will lose their jobs but the move to a 24-hour weekend service will create 200 positions, for a net loss of 750. Tube bosses insist that all stations will remain staffed during operating hours and that there will be more staff to help customers after the ticket office closures. … The ticket office closures also throw open commercial possibilities, such as the idea being discussed with Amazon…to use the vacated spaces as order collection points” (Financial Times, Nov. 22 print edition).

Initially, a minimum of four trains an hour (more in the city center) will run continuously from Friday morning to Sunday night, on London’s five busiest lines. “More lines will be added to the night-time network as they are upgraded, said Transport for London. The eventual aim is to extend the 24-hour service into the week” (Financial Times).

From the NARP Blog

—Fewer flights mean more trains are needed: Much like railroads in the 1950s and 1960s, today’s airlines are consumed by merger mania. Faced with record fuel prices, increasing overhead costs, and declining revenues, America’s big airlines continue to look towards merger as a means of reversing losses. This trend can be seen through the declining number of “legacy carriers”, a term used to define airlines operating before deregulation in 1978. From a high of 14 carriers in 1978, there remain only six today. [Read More]

—On the local level, there’s a solid consensus for greater investment in mobility: An editorial in this past Saturday’s Santa Fe New Mexican lays out all the assets that northern New Mexico would no longer enjoy if Amtrak’s Southwest Chief is unable to continue to operate on its current route between Newton, KS and Albuquerque. This segment of the route has little to no freight traffic, so BNSF is demanding that Amtrak and the affected states pay most of the cost of maintaining the segment to safely accommodate passenger trains at top speeds of 79 mph. [Read More]

—Public-private partnership commits to improving Scottish trains: The government of Scotland yesterday opened up bids on a ten-year contract, starting in 2015, to provide improved passenger service on Scotland's many scenic rail lines. The agency committed to making these services "emblematic of the best of Scotland." [Read More]

—Better than Google Maps?: Getting around just got easier. The gala launch event for RideScout happened last night in DC’s 1776 startup incubator. RideScout, developed in part by some enterprising military veterans who tired of seeing the glaring inefficiency of empty seats in cars, busses, and trains (hence the referential name). Using the magic of mobile technology, as well as an impressive cooperative effort from public transit agencies, bike share companies, and taxi aggregators, they have created something that makes Google Maps transit planning function seem limited. By making more of this information easily accessible than ever before, they’re creating a new kind of transportation market place with this better information, that has the potential of filling a great many of those empty seats. [Read More]

Passenger Advisory

—After more than a year of work, the west entryway to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station reopened this morning—just in time for the busiest travel week of the year.

The work was part of a $30 million renovation to the station to better tie the station into the University City neighborhood. Features include improved pedestrian access, improvements to passenger facilities, and upgraded vehicle access and parking.

—Following robust public feedback, the North County Transit District will postpone making a decision on whether to ban alcohol from San Diego’s Coaster trains.

The train, which connects Oceanside and San Diego, has allowed alcoholic beverages since it began running in 1995. Disorderly conduct by inebriated passengers led transit officials to propose a ban. The transit district will add additional security in the short term, and reconsider the ban in a year.

—A locomotive pulling Amtrak Train No. 97 (Silver Service) derailed in the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel in downtown Baltimore on the evening November 18.

No one was injured, and all passenger cars remained on the tracks. Extensive delays occurred on Amtrak and MARC services.