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Index to recent news postings Rail Travel News is a twice-monthly print publication, published since
Dec 10, 1970.
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SENATE COMMITTEE TO ACT ON AMTRAK
AUTHORIZATION TODAY
NARP applauds their bill Washington--The National Association of Railroad Passengers applauds the bipartisanship evident in the Passenger Rail Investment & Improvement Act of 2005, which was unveiled this morning (July 27) at a news conference in the U.S. Capitol by Senators Ted Stevens (R-AK), Trent Lott (R-MS) and Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ). They praised Daniel Inouye (D-HI) for his interest and support. Stevens chairs the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; Lott chairs its Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine; Inouye is the ranking member on both; Lautenberg continues his special interest in rail matters. NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “We are particularly pleased to see the bill’s endorsement of Amtrak’s national network, and provision of a robust capital investment program--both for infrastructure and rolling stock--to permit more reliable and frequent service, and more capacity. We are gratified that the bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury to negotiate restructuring of Amtrak’s legacy debt, which currently costs about $276 million a year to service.” The three senators speaking this morning said positive things about Amtrak. Stevens: “Just last weekend, I rode Amtrak to New York City and found a much tighter organization than several years ago.” Lott: “I’ve always felt that we needed a national passenger rail system...Under [President and CEO David L.] Gunn, Amtrak has made improvements. I’m a fan of Gunn.” Lott also said the bill recognized that if Congress expects Amtrak to be innovative, to provide quality service, and to “change culturally,” Congress has got to provide funding because “this is not something that’s going to be a great, big profit maker. It isn’t profitable anywhere in the world and it won’t be here.” Lautenberg said, “We have a wonderful leader, I think, in David Gunn.” The Senator lamented the fact that Gunn must spend so much “time fixing things that are worn out, lots of time on repair and rehabilitation to make up for past neglect...As part of a security matrix, I think it’s essential to have a national passenger rail system...With rail service, we’ll improve the quality of our air, and reduce the amount of oil we need for our cars.” Stevens said of the bill, “There are a great many provisions in this bill that give...options to expand the use of railroads in a creative and innovative way.” Lott said, “Enacting legislation to reform and improve Amtrak is one of my top legislative priorities this session.” He noted that a committee mark-up of the bill was set for tomorrow [scheduled for 10 AM]. The bill also empowers the Surface Transportation Board to address on-time performance problems with the freight railroads, and the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak to develop standards for measuring the performance and service quality of train operations. Ideally, we would like to see a new agency charged with planning an improved rail network. However, we are hopeful that, should this provision become law, FRA will work aggressively to improve and expand the national passenger rail network. Capon concluded, “Finally, we applaud the requirements that the Surface
Transportation Board issue a quarterly on-time service report, make recommendations
to Amtrak and freight railroads on how to fix intractable on-time performance
problems, and take appropriate action to enforce Amtrak’s legal priority
access where the STB finds that a freight railroad has failed to reasonably
address delay problems.”
SENATE COMMITTEE ADDS $50 MILLION TO AMTRAK FUNDING CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR TO BE HIT WITH DETOURS IN LATE SUMMER AND FALL Amtrak trains 5&6, the California Zephyr, will be forced to detour away from their scenic Colorado Rockies route on a number of weeks between August 31 and November 4 because of track work being done by Union Pacific. The work, between Bond and Palisade, Colorado, will occur on alternate weeks. Listed here are the origin dates for trains that will follow the normal route: AUGUST 30 AND BEFORE
The detour will take the trains across Wyoming
on the UP, the route followed before the Colorado route became available
about 20 years ago.
CALIFORNIA TRAINS REACH MORE RIDERSHIP RECORDS SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE OKAYS $1.4 BILLION FOR AMTRAK DOT WANTS TO CUT OUT SLEEPING CAR, DINER, LOUNGE AND CHECKED BAGGAGE SERVICE ON AMTRAK TO SAVE MONEY. NARP RELEASES REBUTTAL TO PROPOSAL: HOUSE VOTE SAVES AMTRAK FUNDING SUMMER SOLSTICE IN BERLIN 1971 HOUSE COMMITTEE FAILS TO INCREASE AMTRAK FUNDS President Gunn Reacts to House Subcommittee's Anti-Amtrak Vote Amtrak President Talks of Acela and Food Service (see complete article) Amtrak computer outage creates problems with trains, reservations, tickets (see complete article) RailPAC endorses Amtrak-Laney funding proposal with reservations (See complete article here) Sources of hostility to Amtrak funding: Analysis AMTRAK VERSUS MINETA IN MONTANA: THE STRANGE BATTLE OVER THE EMPIRE BUILDER
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DOT'S MINETA HARASSING AMTRAK &
AMTRAK'S REPLY TO THE MINETA LETTER
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