Tag: Amtrak

RICHMOND, Va. – Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo today called on elected officials and transportation planners in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to develop a shared vision of rail service along the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor (SEHSR) between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Administrator Szabo’s challenge came as he addressed members and supporters of Virginians for High-Speed Rail during their 20th anniversary luncheon in Richmond.

“The metropolitan regions of the South and the Southeast in particular, are growing faster than other metropolitan regions across the country,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “In order to meet the mobility needs of a growing population and to move the products they will need to market, rail must play an enhanced role in the transportation delivery network there.”

Across the country, regions are banding together to forge collective long-term visions for passenger rail. Along the Northeast Corridor (NEC), eight states and the District of Columbia are working on a 40-year plan for rail service between Boston and Washington, D.C. In the Midwest, nine states and 40 cities have already developed the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, a planning guide for long-term rail investments.

“Good planning is the cornerstone of service delivery and a plan reflecting the collective vision for a region helps the region compete effectively for future rail funds as money becomes available,” said Joseph C. Szabo, Federal Railroad Administrator. “In order for the region to achieve optimum growth, it will be necessary for them to work together more closely and plan for their transportation future.”

Administrator Szabo said regional planning between Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia could effectively yield seamless passenger rail travel all along the East Coast from Boston to Atlanta.

During his address, Administrator Szabo also highlighted the importance of the Grow America Act , the Obama Administration’s four-year $302 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill now before Congress. The bill includes $19 billion for rail, and for the first time, would provide railroads with a predictable, dedicated funding source. The Act will invest $600 million in existing state corridors like the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor and provide an additional $6.4 billion for rail service improvements along existing, expanding and new passenger corridors over the next four years.

Passenger ridership has been setting record highs in the Southeast. In Virginia, passenger ridership is up 100 percent since 2009 and in North Carolina Amtrak’s Piedmont service between Charlotte and Raleigh continues to set ridership records carrying about 100,000 more people in 2013 than it did in 2009. Since 2007, passenger ridership in Georgia increased by 15 percent and by 14 percent in South Carolina.

Similarly, freight rail traffic in the Southeast has been increasing since 2009 an average of 10 percent annually. Georgia has seen an increase of nearly 13 percent with a more than 883,000 carloads of freight annually.

The Federal Railroad Administration, along with its 32 state partners and the District of Columbia, is laying the foundation for a higher performance rail network. Sixty-five projects worth $4.1 billion in High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program funding are currently completed, under construction, or will soon start construction in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Today, about $736 million in federal funding supports a dozen projects along the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.

Tags Amtrak, FRA, Georgia, Joe Szabo, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia

Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration, Norfolk Southern, and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) have embarked on constructing the $71.4 million Indiana Gateway project, which will upgrade the right-of-way between Porter, Ind., and the Illinois state line shared by Amtrak and NS trains.

The Indiana Gateway project will improve seven locations on NS’s Chicago Line and one on the Amtrak Michigan Line. NS will install universal crossovers at five locations and construct a third main line track at three locations. Amtrak will build a new passing siding near Porter Interlocking, where NS, Amtrak, and two CSX lines intersect.

Read the complete story at Railway Age.

Tags Amtrak, FRA, Indiana Gateway, Norfolk Southern

Politics seem to be more divisive than ever, and campaigns seem to never end. The one thing that unites Americans across political and ideological lines is the need for good transportation options, and their overwhelming support for our national passenger railroad, Amtrak.

Red, blue or purple, recent polls across America in places like Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois and North Dakota have shown huge support for Amtrak as a necessary transportation link for Americans. In other words, Americans who may disagree on a whole host of issues – from the role of government to the environment and taxes – seem to like their trains and want more of them.

Read the complete column at The Herald-Dispatch.

Tags Amtrak, John Previsich, Wytkind

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Amtrak inaugurated service to Union Depot in St. Paul May 7, effective with the arrival of the Empire Builder from Chicago. Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman was among several transportation leaders who cut the ribbon for the first-ever Amtrak service in Downtown St. Paul.

Officials with Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority (RCRRA), owners of Union Depot, welcomed federal, state and local officials – and the general public – to the station in St. Paul’s Lowertown, with the ticket office at Union Depot’s Kellogg Entry at 240 Kellogg Blvd., E.

SMART Transportation Division Minnesota State Legislative Director Phillip Qualy was also in attendance to greet Boardman and attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“The SMART Transportation Division, formerly the UTU, continues to work as a member of the Minnesota DOT’s passenger rail office in support of Amtrak’s Twin Cities-Chicago additional train frequencies, an Amtrak extension to St. Cloud, the Rochester Zip Line, Duluth NLX and with advocacy for regional services,” Qualy said.

“As a reminder , in 2013, UTU/SMART was chief advocate for legislation passed into law that provided Minnesota’s DOT with authority to contract with Amtrak and assures any new-start passenger or commuter rail service will be operated with train crew’s covered under the Railway Labor Act, FELA, FRSA, and U.S. Railroad Retirement Board rights preserved and in place.”

The Amtrak schedule is slightly different at Union Depot from those at that the former Midway Station between St. Paul and Minneapolis, which no longer has any public functions. The westbound Empire Builder (Train 7/27) arrives at 10:10 p.m. and the eastbound Empire Builder (Train 8/28) arrives at 8:00 a.m.

At Union Depot, Amtrak travelers can connect from more than 500 destinations to intercity buses, Metro Transit and MVTA bus services. Next month, Metro Transit’s Green Line will provide additional capacity to a growing and diverse regional transportation system.

“We know from experience that travel brings business – and that stations bring business to the surrounding community,” Boardman said. “While we’re celebrating the fact that today the people of the Twin Cities will now have more travel choices than ever before, we can also celebrate the fact that they have a station that’s also an engine – an engine of economic development for the surrounding neighborhood and historic district.”

“With Amtrak, the range of transportation options at Union Depot expands opportunities for travel connections throughout the Upper Midwest and beyond. Our beautifully restored building is achieving our vision as a multimodal transit facility and a unique gathering place for people – whether they are travelers passing through, living in St. Paul, stopping in the area for business, or here to attend one of many social or cultural events this region has to offer,” said Ramsey County Commissioner Rafael Ortega, chair, RCRRA.

Funding for the $243 million project was obtained from a diverse mix of federal, state and local agencies. One of the largest grants was $45.3 million allocated under Section 1301 of SAFETEA-LU, the federal transportation bill for fiscal years 2005-2009. These funds were specifically distributed to large-scale projects of national or regional significance. In early 2010, the RCRRA was awarded a $35 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Forty million dollars came through the Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program, while $4 million from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Bus and Bus Facilities Program helped finance the new bus terminal. Other funds used in the project were obtained from state bonds and a tax levy imposed by the RCRRA.

“In addition to improving transportation, this project has created more than 4,000 jobs and has led to a surge in housing and retail development in St. Paul,” said Karen Hedlund, Deputy Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration. “This is what we can achieve — in Minnesota and nationwide — if we continue investing in passenger rail.”

“It’s a great day to welcome passenger rail back to Saint Paul, and no better place to do it than the historic Union Depot—a building that would have met the wrecking ball if not for the leadership of its many champions from the County Board to the White House,” said St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. “The Amtrak opening today and the Green Line opening in just a few weeks is proof that transportation investments are critical to economic growth and regional prosperity.

“We thank the President and Transportation Secretary Foxx for their continuing commitment to improving our roads, bridges and rail systems, and we look forward to helping them pass the next major transportation bill.”

Amtrak will soon deliver a report to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) regarding an additional round-trip on the Empire Builder’s route between St. Paul and Chicago, one of four passenger rail corridors being considered by the state.

“MnDOT is committed to be multimodal and to pursue a multimodal vision,” said state transportation commissioner Charles Zelle. “We will develop a robust intrastate and interstate passenger rail system in Minnesota.”

Amtrak notified previously booked passengers of the change in service locations in St. Paul prior to this morning’s event, which was attended by more than 200 people. The celebration continues through this Saturday, May 10, with Union Depot hosting a National Train Day event.

SMART Transportation Division Minnesota State Legislative Phillip Qualy, right, meets Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman, center, and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman May 7 at the St. Paul’s Union Depot.

Tags Amtrak, Empire Builder, Joseph Boardman, Phillip Qualy, St. Paul Union Depot

DENVER – Gov. John Hickenlooper May 6 announced that he plans to sign H.B. 1161 on May 14 at the Pueblo Union Depot. The bill establishes a commission and fund to preserve the current Amtrak passenger train service in southern Colorado and potentially expand that service to include the city of Pueblo and a possible stop in Walsenburg.

The current Amtrak passenger service in southern Colorado is funded by the federal government under the Rail Passenger Service Act, which gives Amtrak the right to run passenger rail train over freight routes. Due to Amtrak funding cuts by Congress, Amtrak is unable to fully pay for track maintenance on the long distance passenger routes like the Southwest Chief. Without an alternate source of funding for maintenance, this vital passenger service could be discontinued on Jan. 1, 2015.

“H.B. 1161 is not a jobs bill, but a careers bill for southern Colorado. SMART Union members don’t have jobs on the railroad, they have long term careers on the railroad in rural communities of Southern Colorado,” said Carl Smith, SMART Transportation Division Colorado Legislative Director. “We are very proud to have the governor on board with such an important bill.

State Sen. Larry Crowder (R-Alamosa) and state Rep. Leroy Garcia (D-Pueblo) were prime sponsors of the bill.

The estimated cost of maintaining the line is $200 million. There is a proposal of a possibly five-way split between the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Amtrak and BNSF Railway to pay for the upkeep, requiring $4 million a year for 10 years from each party. There are no state funds committed unless all the parties are on board.

Tags Amtrak, Carl Smith, Southwest Chief

WASHINGTON – Amtrak invites America to celebrate the many benefits trains bring to the nation at the seventh annual National Train Day on May 10, 2014. Trains are an integral part of daily American life and connect communities, provide jobs and economic development, support local businesses and attract funds for infrastructure improvement. From big cities to small towns, coast to coast and border to border, trains matter.
In addition to events in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles, Amtrak is supporting events in many local markets across the country served by America’s Railroad. Event offerings will vary to include train equipment displays, family-friendly activities and local dignitaries.
“Trains have long been important to the growth and prosperity of our nation and today Amtrak supports our national economy and connectivity by moving America where it wants to go,” said Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman.
“Amtrak is America’s Railroad. Trains came first, long before the interstate and the airport,” said Mayor Todd Barton of Crawfordsville, Ind. “From a presidential candidate campaigning across the country to a young scholar leaving home for school, trains take us where we need to go. They are important and should be celebrated.”
Boardman added that rail travel is a vital transportation alternative that is cost-efficient, environmentally friendly and in high public demand. In addition, intercity passenger trains matter because they connect rural communities with major metropolitan areas and afford passengers more than 500 destinations – an option that has become increasingly important as airline and bus companies reduce service to significant regions of America.
Details on National Train Day events and information on how to host a National Train Day event are available at NationalTrainDay.com.

Tags Amtrak, National Train Day

In addition to events in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles, Amtrak is supporting events in many local markets across the country served by America’s Railroad. Event offerings will vary to include train equipment displays, family-friendly activities and local dignitaries.

“Trains have long been important to the growth and prosperity of our nation and today Amtrak supports our national economy and connectivity by moving America where it wants to go,” said Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman.

“Amtrak is America’s Railroad. Trains came first, long before the interstate and the airport,” said Mayor Todd Barton of Crawfordsville, Ind. “From a presidential candidate campaigning across the country to a young scholar leaving home for school, trains take us where we need to go. They are important and should be celebrated.”

Boardman added that rail travel is a vital transportation alternative that is cost-efficient, environmentally friendly and in high public demand. In addition, intercity passenger trains matter because they connect rural communities with major metropolitan areas and afford passengers more than 500 destinations – an option that has become increasingly important as airline and bus companies reduce service to significant regions of America.

Details on National Train Day events and information on how to host a National Train Day event are available at NationalTrainDay.com.

Tags Amtrak, National Train Day

A column by SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich and AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Edward Wytkind informing lawmakers about the public’s support for Amtrak was published April 16 by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In response to the column, Missouri State Legislative Director Ken Menges told Previsich and Transportation Division National Legislative Director James Stem, “Your timing was impeccable. Just today (April 16), there was a hearing in the state Senate about a new transportation tax. The proposal has already passed in the House. Also, I am meeting now with a citizens’ passenger rail group about improving passenger rail transportation here in Missouri. Thank you for your leadership.”

The column by Previsich and Wytkind reads:

Stark divisions have defined our national politics for some time. But there are many transportation issues that unite Americans across political lines, and one of those is overwhelming support for passenger rail in this country, and in particular, for Amtrak.

Recent polls in America’s heartland have shown huge support for our national passenger rail system, Amtrak.

Missouri is no exception.

Red, blue or purple, 82 percent of Missourians want to increase or maintain passenger rail service in the state. And seven in 10 want to increase or maintain Amtrak’s current funding levels, according to a survey conducted by DFM Research. The elected leaders who will hold Amtrak’s fate in their hands during this congressional session need to recognize an important fact uncovered by this poll — the support for Amtrak is deep, and it is nonpartisan.

It’s not only in St. Louis and Kansas City that support for Amtrak is high. Even in northern, central and southern Missouri, where ridership is lower – and voters tend to be more conservative – strong majorities say they value passenger rail service and want to fund it.

The polls measure support that has been very real on station platforms for several years. Nationwide, Amtrak ridership is at an all-time high. About 31.6 million passengers rode Amtrak last year, thanks to increased use of routes in all regions, not just in the heavily traveled Northeast Corridor. The railroad’s ridership has set records in 10 of the last 11 years, and is up more than 50 percent since 2000.

Here in Missouri, ridership on all Amtrak lines, including the Missouri River Runner, the Texas Eagle and the Southwest Chief, reached 774,000 last year, up 4.7 percent from 2012.

The Missouri findings mirror those of recent polls in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas and Kentucky. Clearly, Americans understand that a well-financed, well-maintained passenger rail network is essential to an integrated national transportation system.

Investing in Amtrak and the development it attracts is also good business. Since 2010, every federal dollar invested in Amtrak pours $3 back into the economy. That’s why many business leaders understand that long-term economic growth depends on investment in our multi-modal transportation infrastructure – and expanded passenger rail must be part of the picture.

To deliver on what the people of Missouri want will require more federal investment and an end to the political attacks on Amtrak and its employees that seem to spring up annually. Amtrak is operating with infrastructure that was built in the middle of the last century, and yet Americans continue to ride on Amtrak in record numbers – and to tell Congress they want and need more rail service.

But a well-funded and accessible Amtrak system isn’t all that Missourians say they want. They also want the freight trains that traverse annually across Missouri carrying 16 million tons of freight (including more than 24,000 carloads of chemicals) to be as safe as possible. About 8 in 10 Missourians agree that one-person freight train crews should be barred in favor of mandatory two-person crew operations. This is not an academic debate. There are single-member freight train crews out there — in fact, last year’s fiery crash of a freight train in Quebec was run by a one-person crew. Fortunately, legislation is pending before Congress that would make two-person crews mandatory, just the way Missourians would have it.

Political views and ideology aside, the people of Missouri clearly want more Amtrak service, not less. They also want freight trains that are safe and properly crewed. It is time for lawmakers, with the rewrite of federal rail laws now pending, to tone down the partisanship and start listening to what Missourians and the vast majority of Americans are saying.

Tags Amtrak, John Previsich, Missouri, Wytkind

Federal Railroad Administration chief Joseph Szabo testified April 10 before members of the Surface Transportation Board regarding the negative impact service degradation on the nation’s railroad network could have on rail safety and Amtrak on-time performance.

His prepared oral testimony follows:

Chairman Elliott and Vice Chairman Begeman, on behalf of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, thank you for the opportunity to testify today about the negative impact service degradation in our Nation’s rail network can have both on rail safety and on Amtrak’s on-time performance.

Let me first talk about FRA’s top priority – rail safety.

Over the past decade, our-data based oversight and enforcement has helped the industry achieve a 47 percent decrease in both train accidents and derailments, and a 35 percent decrease in highway-rail grade crossing accidents.

By most measures, Fiscal Year 2013 was the safest year on record. But we owe it to the public to always do better.

And that’s why the railroad’s weekly metrics showing railroad performance declines among Class I carriers are a big concern to us.

As railroad performance declines, rail velocities diminish, cars on line increase, terminal dwell time increases – and above all, our experience tells us, safety can suffer, too.

We learned this with the significant service degradation Union Pacific/Southern Pacific faced about 15 years ago – when we testified before the Board – as an example of how quickly operating conditions can change and affect safety.

Experience tells us there can be a safety breakdown, for example, when it comes to the ability of supervisors to perform their jobs, as a consequence of additional work pressures.

Ineffective crew utilization can lead to employee fatigue. And in order to ensure adequate rest, crews need absolute predictability as to when they go to work.

And, as a railroad rushes to gain the upper hand on service issues, it becomes necessary to hire new employees. Without adequate training that instills the proper safety culture, the number of accidents is likely to rise.

As large of a role as the Nation’s freight railroads have in serving our Nation’s businesses and economy, no concern must ever come before safety.

That’s why we have been monitoring this service situation closely and meeting with railroad CEOs to gain assurances that the carriers are operating in the safest manner.

In BNSF’s letter to the Board in response to the Western Coal Traffic League’s request for a proceeding concerning rail service problems, the railroad announced that it will be hiring 5,000 employees in 2014 to relieve these service pressures.

While laudable, it is imperative that the railroad undertake the proper training to ensure that the railroad operates in the safest manner.

We also have noticed a marked increase in delays to Amtrak trains and an associated degradation in on-time performance.

DOT and FRA provide financial assistance to Amtrak to partially fund its operations and capital investments, and work to support Amtrak’s efforts to enhance its passenger rail services. For these reasons, Amtrak’s financial performance is of great interest to us.

And in keeping with our nationwide mandate to improve the safety of passenger and freight railroads, we focus closely on the safety of Amtrak’s facilities, equipment, and transportation operations.

It should be noted that Amtrak has set ridership records in 10 out of the last 11 years – and last year was relied upon by more than 32 million travelers. So, service issues that ultimately delay intercity passenger trains have many negative implications for travelers, Amtrak, and the transportation network as a whole.

Late trains may cause travelers to miss connections or abandon their travel plans entirely. Reduced ridership and additional operating delays cause Amtrak immediate and, potentially, long-term financial harm.

A slower, less efficient passenger rail network reduces travel options for some and may put more strain on other modes of transportation, as well.

DOT and FRA closely monitor the on-time performance of Amtrak services, because even just a few months of poor performance have the potential to cascade into long term problems.

Over the past twelve months, we have witnessed a steady decline in timeliness of Amtrak trains, particularly those that operate over the freight rail network.

Only about 63 percent of Amtrak’s Long Distance trains reached their endpoint on time between March 2013 and February 2014 – 12 percent worse than the previous 12 months.

From December 2013 to February 2014, half of all Long Distance trains were late to their final destination.

On-time arrivals to intermediate stations on Long Distance routes were even less frequent, at 48 percent over the last 12 months and just under 40 percent this past December through February.

Shorter, State Corridor trains did not fare much better, with nearly a quarter, 22 percent, of all such trains arriving late over the past 12 months.

Amtrak’s on time performance has been a long-term interest of this Department and of Congress – and Amtrak tracks and reports all train delays to the FRA.

For February 2014, the month for which data was most recently reported to FRA, delays attributable to the host freight railroad were the highest in over 5 years. The largest category of Amtrak delays in recent months has been host freight train interference.

Such a designation is based on the Amtrak conductor’s immediate observable cause.

The extreme delays to Amtrak and other users of the network are a symptom of a fragile network that is strained and struggling to react.

Thank you for providing DOT the opportunity to comment in the proceeding. I would be happy to answer questions.

Tags Amtrak, rail safety, Surface Transportation Board

A new report, “The Northeast Corridor and the American Economy,” produced by the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Commission (NEC Commission) details how the Northeast Corridor (NEC), carrying 750,000 daily Amtrak and commuter/regional rail passengers, “is a critical national asset, an economic engine for the U.S., and contributes about $50 billion a year to the national economy.”

The report, accessible by clicking here, also calculates that a loss of the NEC for a single day would cost nearly $100 million in transportation-related impacts and productivity losses.

Read the complete story at Railway Age.

Tags Amtrak, Northeast Corridor