Hotline
Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the RPA Blog.
Hotline #843
January 3, 2014
A massive winter storm slammed into the Midwest and Northeast last night, snarling transportation networks from Chicago to Boston. Airports throughout New England ground to a halt. Amtrak, however, was able to operate a modified snow schedule along the entire Northeast Corridor. The storm, which dumped up to 21 inches of snow in some regions, was severe enough to Governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie to declare states of emergency for New York and New Jersey, respectively. The extreme
Hotline #842
December 20, 2013
The Senate passed the two-year bipartisan budget agreement, clearing the way for House-Senate appropriations committee negotiations about how much funding programs will get. There are challenges to reaching agreement on the Transportation/Housing bill and a continuing resolution is still possible. Congress again failed the “transit pre-tax parity” test. Thus, come January 1, the monthly transit benefit will fall from $245 down to $130. At the same time, the parking benefit—indexed
Hotline #841
December 13, 2013
The House has passed the new, two-year bipartisan budget agreement. Senate passage is considered likely. It appears that appropriations committees will soon be deciding how much Amtrak and other programs will get for the current fiscal year. The best guess is that Amtrak will end up in the vicinity of $1.4 billion. A slight increase over the $1.3 billion from fiscal 2013 is possible, but still far below the real needs, and still we need to remind legislators of that. Failing congressional a
Hotline #840
December 6, 2013
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued an Emergency Order to Metro-North Commuter Railroad to take specific, immediate steps to ensure its trains do not exceed speed limitations, the cause of a deadly crash last Sunday. The FRA is directing Metro-North to modify its signal system to ensure speed limits are obeyed. Until that system is in place, Metro-North will be required to have two qualified railroad employees to operate trains over lines w
Hotline #839
November 29, 2013
Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, NARP will be presenting an abridged version of the Hotline this week. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and safe travels! -The NARP Staff News in Brief —NARP is reconfirming its support for the construction of a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles in the wake of a court ruling handed down by a Sacramento Superior Court Judge. Monday’s ruling by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny said that the California High Spe
Hotline #838
November 22, 2013
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 t
Hotline #837
November 15, 2013
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has announced it will begin construction to rehabilitate the Fall River and New Bedford railroad lines, a critical step in bringing passenger trains to the South Coast rail corridor. The project will deliver commuter rail to Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford, the only Massachusetts cities within 50 miles of Boston that are not served by commuter rail. “South Coast residents deserve the benefits of a reliable and convenient connection to Bost
Hotline #836
November 8, 2013
Construction is moving forward on the Cincinnati streetcar line, despite vows to kill the project by the man who was elected mayor this past Tuesday. Mayor elect John Cranley has been a vocal opponent of the line, saying that the benefits of the line will not be worth the cost. “They should immediately (stop it) and they should not be ordering these cars to be built three weeks before my swearing-in. I mean, seriously, look at who got elected yesterday,” Cranley told WLWT. “I don’t
Hotline #835
November 1, 2013
A Senate committee held a field hearing in Bridgeport, Connecticut, October 28, examining the causes of the recent power outage on Metro-North’s New Haven Line that severely disrupted passenger rail in the Northeast for nearly two weeks. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Surface Transportation hosted the hearing, titled “Power Outage on Metro-North’s New Haven Line: How to Prevent Future Failures Along Passenger Rail’s Busiest Sector.”
Hotline #834
October 25, 2013
NARP Chairman Bob Stewart and President Ross Capon joined a small number of reporters yesterday in touring the CAF USA plant in Elmira, N.Y. Four pilot cars—one of each type: baggage, diner, bag dorm, sleeper—are nearly complete, and will enter testing within the next two months. Testing is at the CAF plant and on the Northeast Corridor; because of the capability of the CAF plant, no testing will be needed at the Pueblo facility. The pilot cars are expected to enter revenue service next