Hotline
Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the RPA Blog.
Hotline #894
January 16, 2015
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx appointed his chief of staff, Sarah Feinberg, as Acting Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. Feinberg will replace Joseph Szabo, who left the FRA to join the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning as a senior adviser. Before she joined the U.S. DOT in the summer of 2013, Feinberg worked in the White House and as an executive in the tech industry. Following a grass roots advocacy campaign kicked off by state rail groups and members o
Hotline #893
January 9, 2015
Six years after California’s voters passed a bond measure funding a statewide high-speed rail system, state, federal and local officials gathered in Fresno on January 5 to mark the beginning of construction on the train that will run 220 mph between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The completed system will stretch 800 miles along 24 stations. Monday’s event inaugurated construction on the initial operating segment, a 130-mile corridor that runs from Madera to north of Bakersfield in the s
Hotline #871
July 18, 2014
By Jenna Jablonski The Senate appears on track to pass the House’s short-term Highway Trust Fund fix, having fallen short in an attempt to come up with an alternate proposal. While the 10-month fix has been widely criticized for yet again “kicking the can down the road,” it appears to be the most likely way forward in averting a trust fund collapse that would leave 700,000 construction workers out of a job. The House plan—which fails to expand eligibility for passenger train projects�
Hotline #870
July 11, 2014
By Jenna Jablonski CAF USA announced Tuesday that it will be shipping the first three cars of Amtrak’s order for new long-distance equipment. The cars will be delivered to Albany. CAF USA reported that 70 car shells have been built so far out of the 130 baggage, diner, sleep and bag-dorm cars included in its $300-million contract with Amtrak. The Elmira, NY-based company employs over 700 local workers. Representative Tom Reed (R-NY) was present at CAF USA for the announcement of the shipmen
Hotline #869
July 3, 2014
By Sean Jeans-Gail [Due to the 4th of July holiday, NARP will be presenting an abbreviated version of the Hotline this week. You can look forward to regularly scheduled programming next week. Safe travels!] The California High Speed Rail Authority announced it will accelerate planning and construction for the Los Angeles County segment of the statewide bullet train to accelerate the delivery of benefits to Southern Californian residents. The decision to move more quickly on the Burbank
Hotline #868
June 27, 2014
By Sean Jeans-Gail The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced this week that it will work with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Central Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor, a privately proposed corridor that will connect Dallas and Houston. The project is being managed by the Texas Central Railway (TCR), a Texas-based company that has been working with the Central Japan Railway Company since 2009 to bring private-se
Hotline #867
June 20, 2014
By Jenna Jablonski Procedural disagreements between Democrats and Republicans kept the Fiscal Year 2015 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development budget from coming to the floor as scheduled this week. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), however, has introduced an amendment that would increase Amtrak’s funding to $1.62 billion (an increase of roughly $230 million). Call your senators now to ask them to support Senator Coons’ Amtrak amendment! "Amtrak is a fundamental part of America's economic
Hotline #866
June 13, 2014
By Jenna Jablonski It was an eventful week for passenger rail in the House—one that ended on a down note, with several anti-Amtrak amendments attached to the Fiscal Year 2015 transportation funding bill in last-minute votes. On Monday, departing Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) made two attempts to cut funding—first by $340 million, then by $34 million. Both were rebuffed in a bipartisan fashion (one through a voice vote, one through a recorded vote). Late on Tuesday evening, a trio of GOP Represen
Hotline #865
June 6, 2014
By Jenna Jablonski The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a budget that allocated $1.39 billion for Amtrak as part of a $54.4 billion transportation bill for FY2014, pushing back against House attempts to cut $200 million from the program by freezing investment at 2014 levels. Senate appropriators also included $11.1 billion for transit programs, a $309 million increase above the FY2014 levels. TIGER grants—which support intermodal projects, and have historically benefited passenger trai
Hotline #864
May 30, 2014
By Jenna Jablonski A $350 million track-improvement project could mean significant time savings for train passengers passing through the Los Angeles Union Station. The Southern California Regional Interconnector Project will install four new sections of track, reconfiguring the current layout which is hindered by dead-end tracks and only having a single entrance. The interconnector will extend several tracks at the south end of the station, which will then cross over the 101 Freeway and loop b