Hotline #914

Two anti-train amendments offered by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in June 4 voting on the fiscal year 2016 Transportation, Housing & Urban Development appropriations bill were defeated, thanks in part to the efforts of NARP members who flooded Capitol Hill switchboards with calls supporting passenger trains. The amendments sought to eliminate Amtrak’s operating and capital grants, respectively—a move that would have killed passenger train service in this country as we know it for tens of millions of Americans—as well as threatened commuter service that scores of millions of commuters rely on to get to work every day.

Rep. Brooks' Amtrak capital grant amendment was defeated by a vote of 139 - 286 (Roll Call No. 304). His Amtrak operating grant amendment was defeated by a vote of 143 - 283 (Roll Call No. 303).

“I’d particularly like to thank our members for rallying to support the cause of passenger trains in the U.S. Congress needs to hear from the hundreds of communities across the U.S. for which these trains represent a vital economic and social link,” said President and CEO Jim Mathews. “Unfortunately, with the House set to look at more amendments on June 9, our members' work isn’t done.”

The House adjourned before the voting was complete, and is scheduled to consider more anti-rail amendments on Monday, June 9. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) offered two amendments targeting the Sunset Limited and the National Network trains, respectively. The House will also vote on two amendments submitted by Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) targeted at slowing the progress of All Aboard Florida, a private sector-led project that will develop higher-speed service between Orlando and Miami.

Call your Representative and ask them to oppose Representatives Sessions and Posey's anti-train amendments! Make sure to thank your Representative if they voted against the Brooks amendment (votes included above).

The week started with NARP offering recommendations on the best way to make American train travelers safer as the House Transportation Committee held a hearing June 2 on the derailment of Amtrak Train #188 outside of Philadelphia last month. Congress needs to provide a predictable, dedicated source of funding for passenger trains that is robust enough to meet the needs of an aging infrastructure.

Dedicated funding will help states and passenger rail operators to build a safer and more efficient rail system. It will also extend the planning horizon for transportation providers by improving project management and lowering overall design-build costs. NARP feels that Americans should be able to count on the fact that when they board a train, they are riding the safest passenger rail system in the world.

While the men and women of Amtrak are doing a good job of providing safe a service for their passengers, they have been saddled with 40 years of underinvestment. They need more help from Congress to do even better. When Americans are able to choose to travel by train, they are safer than people who have no alternative to highways.

"All Americans deserve to ride safe trains, wherever they ride them,” said NARP President and CEO Jim Mathews. "Let's not get distracted from the larger safety truth: that wherever Americans can choose between driving and the train, they opt for the train, which is 17 times safer than hitting the highways. This means that simply investing in rail, either intercity or commuter transit, gives travelers and commuters safer choices -- choices denied to the hundreds of thousands of riders who have had their options taken away by service cuts or suspended routes."

Those who testified at the hearing included: NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart; Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman; Acting Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration Sarah Feinberg; and President, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen President Dennis Pierce. Click here to see a video of the hearing, along with links to the submitted testimonies.

NBC News reported that at the hearing, lawmakers pressed Amtrak officials about why the rail service didn't move more quickly to implement Positive Train Control that they say could have potentially helped avoid the fatal train derailment. "We are responsible for the incident and its consequences," said Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman, adding that adding positive train control, a technology which can help prevent excessively speeding trains from derailing, is the "single greatest contribution my generation of railroaders can make."

Also at the hearing, federal regulators told representatives that railroad companies failing to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for installing PTC could face U.S. government penalties, reports Metro New York. That pledge, made by Sarah Feinberg, acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, illustrated the pressure Washington was exerting on train operators to adopt technology that could have prevented the May 12 derailment. "FRA feels strongly that the deadline of December 31, 2015, is an important mandate for the implementation of PTC (Positive Train Control) and our agency intends to enforce it." Amtrak is expected to meet that deadline, but other train operators, such as some commuter and freight lines, may not, she added.

NARP understands that transportation providers across the country are struggling to find enough funds to implement PTC and sufficiently protect grade crossings. This is a safety investment that could have prevented two deadly train accidents in the Northeast within the past 24 months, said President and CEO Jim Mathews.

Meanwhile, a preliminary report released June 2 by the NTSB found no anomalies with the braking system of Train #188 or the signals and track at the site of the accident, reports USA Today. The safety agency had previously noted the train had been traveling at 106 mph before the emergency brake system engaged, while data from the train's event recorder "indicated that the engineer activated the emergency brakes seconds before the derailment," the report said.

Wisconsin Rail Safety Week was launched by Operation Lifesaver on June 1 after the state experienced 10 deadly incidents of trespassing on train tracks in 2014, reports WSAW-TV. Operation Lifesaver, engineers, law enforcement, and other safety organizations kicked off the week with the "Officer on a Train," program, where police stepped up their rail enforcement and some officers ride along in the train to get the engineer's perspective.

The U.S. Department of Transportation received more than 950 pre-applications worth nearly $14.5 billion in the latest round of the TIGER program this year, reports Progressive Railroading. The amount requested is 29 times the funds available, DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx wrote in his Fast Lane blog. Today is the deadline for final applications for $500 million in grants under the TIGER VII program, to fund "transformative and innovative" transportation projects.

TIGER focuses on transportation projects that generate economic development and improve connectivity for urban and rural communities. Historically, the grants have been particularly good for passenger rail—both because they target funds to improve vital intermodal connections, and because rail competes well with roads when evaluated within the framework of the cost-to-benefit ratio.

Residents in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, metro area got to see preliminary designs of a proposed new rail line between Richmond and Washington, D.C., during a public hearing June 2, reports Fredericksburg.com. Although the rail line was touted as high-speed, the proposed service would top out at 90 mph. Attendees were able to check out maps, watch a video on the proposed line and talk to officials from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration.

On the other side of the country, the battle over California’s bullet train continues, with San Fernando protesters -- made up of city officials, including the mayor pro tem -- who demanded that state officials answer questions about the project's impact on their community during an open meeting, reports the Los Angeles Times. In the meeting, held by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, Mayor Pro Tem Sylvia Ballin took exception with the plan, which would bisect San Fernando, arguing that high sound walls could become an eyesore and magnet for graffiti, and result in lost tax revenue. "We are here to tell you we will not accept it quietly, not one bit."

But Ballin's shortsighted analysis drastically undervalue the project's benefits. Auto congestion costs the state of California $18.7 billion a year, and over the next 40 years the state will add the equivalent of the population of New York state to the current 38 million residents. The train -- as well as expanded transit -- will be necessary to keep the Californian economy moving in the 21st century. Additionally, building the Phase 1 segment (Los Angeles - San Francisco) will create 66,000 jobs annually over a 15 year period, in addition to 2,900 permanent jobs once the service is up and running.

On the local level, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has proposed an $8.92 billion city budget for fiscal year 2015-16 and about $8.96 billion for the following fiscal year that includes a 10 percent increase in funding for public transit, reports KTVU-TV. The extra money would allow the San Francisco Municipal Railway to hire 244 new drivers, mechanics and maintenance staff, he added.

But rail supporters in New Hampshire weren’t so lucky after the state senate rejected $4 million in the next capital budget for to fund an engineering and environmental impact analysis for a proposed commuter rail between Boston and New Hampshire, reports the Eagle-Tribune. Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) had included the money in her budget. A New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority study found that operating rail to Nashua and Manchester would create up to 5,600 permanent jobs and 3,600 new housing units by 2030.

The New York Daily News reports that the city’s MTA has rolled out new C-train R160 subway cars to replace some models, built in the 1960s, that can’t take the heat during the summer. Air conditioning units on the current R32 C-line cars can’t handle hot air from trains’ ventilation systems that gets stuck underground. Meanwhile, MTA riders could face crowded rides and long delays if the New York state legislature doesn’t close a $14 billion gap in the MTA’s budget, advocates said in the New York Daily News.

NARP strongly believes that public transit is a crucial transportation link for Americans looking to travel to work and to school. More than 35 million transit trips are made each and every day in the U.S., with economic growth and development naturally occurring around transportation nodes. People want to have access to transportation options; train stations and intermodal transit hubs allow real-estate developers to invest in new residences, confident that there will be a market.

Finally, a pair of newspaper editorials commented on the state of rail travel in the U.S. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted the talk generated about more funding, reorganizing, or privatizing the nation's passenger rail service after the derailment of Amtrak Train #188 on May 12. “But it's likely the talk will produce very little,” it wrote.

The Northeast corridor from Boston to Washington is the centerpiece of the nation’s commuter rail system, wrote New York Times Op-Ed columnist Gail Collins. It carries more people than the airlines, makes a profit, and takes an ungodly number of cars off extremely crowded highways. However, it needs $21 billion of work on its bridges, tunnels, tracks and equipment,” she added.