Hotline #932

A CNBC breaking news item on Tuesday reported letter sent by Amtrak to the Senate Commerce Committee warning that they will suspend train service starting January 1 unless Congress extends the deadline for rail companies to install Positive Train Control (PTC) technology. The industry is currently required to have PTC installed by December 31, 2015. “A vast majority of our network would be inoperable without an extension,” Amtrak President Joseph Boardman wrote in a letter to Congress. Amtrak is the latest railroad to warn about the need for Congress to extend the deadline, joining the freight railroad industry and most commuter railroads in calling for an extension.

CNBC’s follow-up story warns that without a PTC extension, the pain of a shutdown will be felt beyond Amtrak. The Association of American Railroads estimates that freight railroads will need an additional $4 billion to finish installing PTC, while the American Public Transportation Association’s estimates say it will take $3.5 billion to fully implement PTC on all consumer [sic] railroads. In Chicago, the busiest rail hub in the country, the Metra system estimates it will cost $350 million to install PTC on its lines.

The Obama Administration says it plans to enforce the December 31, 2015, deadline for rail companies to install PTC despite industry pleas for an extension, reports Bloomberg. “Congress enacted this law, including the December 31, 2015, deadline, and we believe it is important that the Department of Transportation enforce the law that Congress passed,” said Frank Benenati, a White House spokesman. Although House and Senate negotiators are working on an extension measure that will pass both chambers, he declined to comment on whether the president would sign a deadline extension bill, since nothing has advanced in Congress.

But Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) urging a comprehensive approach to any PTC deadline extension. Joining Sen. Booker on the letter were Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.).

The senators called for a three year extension in the PTC implementation deadline, and for swift Senate confirmation of key nominees at the Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Transit Administration. The Senators also called for critical rail safety and infrastructure investments.

NARP was quick to respond in a statement soon after the CNBC report: “The U.S. rail transportation system could be crippled if passenger railroads are forced to suspend train service on December 31.” A recent report by the American Chemistry Council found that a month-long rail service disruption could cost the economy $30 billion and 700,000 jobs. The DRIVE Act (H.R. 22) includes a three-year extension, requires railroads that use the extension to submit an updated implementation plan, and creates a strong Federal Railroad Administration role in reviewing and approving the plans. It also provides almost $200 million in much-needed funding for positive train control implementation.

We need you to continue contacting members of Congress and urge them to act and pass the DRIVE Act so that millions of passengers who rely on the U.S. rail network will have the service they deserve on January 1, 2016.

All those injured in the Vermont train derailment have been released from the hospital, reports Vermont Public Radio. Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman said the National Transportation Safety Board attributed the accident to a section of a ledge that fell onto the tracks. He added that the NTSB will consider whether anything could have been done to prevent it.

In another twist in the Hudson River tunnels saga, documents obtained by the Associated Press reveal legal strategies being considered by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is under an investigation for a decision to divert $1.8 billion from a rail project to state highway repairs. The Manhattan district attorney and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into whether the Port Authority misled bondholders when it used the money on state-owned roads instead of rail projects, since the agency is generally forbidden from spending money on state roads, reports Crain’s New York.

A year ago, Amtrak officials announced they would have to sharply cut back on use of the century-old Hudson River rail tunnels leading to New York City for at least a year to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, causing chaos for millions of commuters in the region, reported the New York Times.

A year later, an Amtrak spokesperson tells CityLab there’s still no timeline for the closure. The hope is to build the Gateway project before closing the old tunnels, but an Amtrak official said the new tunnel’s completion is probably 10 years out “realistically speaking,” even with pledges from Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Chris Christie of New Jersey to get it done.

NorthJersey.com reports that NJ Transit has agreed to lead the environmental review necessary to build the new Hudson River rail tunnel, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. Amtrak will perform preliminary engineering on the project, and the DOT will speed approval of environmental permits, he said.

This move is seen as an important step forward for a project that has remained stalled since 2010, when Governor Christie cancelled a previous effort to dig a tunnel. The new project is expected to eventually double train service between New Jersey and New York, and to cost around $20 billion.

Further south, proposals to replace the 140-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel with a new railroad tunnel network would cost about $4 billion, reports the Baltimore Business Journal. The project is currently in a $60 million study phase that ends in 2017, but planners say there is no money to move forward, adding that the cost is justified to replace the aging tunnel infrastructure element, which is critical to the regional economy and will need to hold up for a century to come.

All Aboard Erie is working to fund a study that would identify routes on a high-speed rail system that would run in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state, reports the Meadville Tribune. The hope is that the rail system would connect Erie to Pittsburgh and possibly Buffalo, New York. The group plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign on October 13 to raise funds for the study.

Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks spoke to locals to ask if a proposed high-speed maglev rail line to Washington, D.C., could be a game changer for the region. “[Maglev] will carry about 770 to 850 passengers to Baltimore from DC in 15 minutes,” said Wayne Rogers, chief executive of Baltimore-based Northeast Maglev. “This is more than twice the size of an [Amtrak] Acela train and more than twice as fast. If we assume that we improved MARC service to the latest Bombardier cars to bring them to the same size as the Maglev -- let’s say 800 passengers per train -- you still have the issue of runtime. The MARC train takes 50 to 65 minutes, DC to Baltimore. This means you can deliver 800 people in an hour roughly. The maglev train can deliver 3200 people in an hour or four times the amount.”

Connecticut urban planning -- or lack thereof -- has long fostered an overdependancy on cars, but planners and others are slowly embracing transit-oriented development (TOD). This shift has led planners to foster a reasonable amount of density in housing and businesses, thereby allowing people to take greater advantage of public transportation and walking, reports WNPR. In his biennial budget address in February, Gov. Dannel Malloy said congestion causes commuters to spend 40 wasted hours stuck in traffic each year, and discussed expanding bus services, fixing roadways, and building bikeways. He also said a renewed commitment to rail service would encourage TOD.

Speaking of TOD, the Federal Transit Administration recently granted $19.5 million to transportation agencies, cities and regional governments around the U.S. to pursue transit-oriented development under a pilot program, reports the Next City blog. The pilot was designed to encourage residential and commercial transit-oriented development in order to maximize investments and bolster ridership for new lines.

San Francisco has made a $1.2 billion investment in its Muni light rail cars, scheduled to roll out in October 2016, reports San Francisco magazine. Will they be worth it? Only time will tell. But they can’t be worse than the current stock. For decades, Muni patrons have been subjected to trams that not only malfunction with alarming frequency but also contribute to the breakdown of San Francisco’s transit infrastructure.

NARP's Director of Special Projects, Bruce Becker, represented the interests of rail passengers at this past week's American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Conference in San Francisco. The four-day event attracted more than 1,200 transit system operators, industry suppliers, consultants and allied groups. NARP recently joined APTA as an affiliate member and Becker was warmly welcomed by the association's leadership and members, all in line with the conference's theme of 'Collaboration'.

Highlights of the conference included presentations by the U.S. DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx; Federal Transit Administration Acting Administrator Therese McMillan and Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author of "MOVE: Putting America's Infrastructure Back in the Lead." Becker participated in a number of sessions that focused on NARP's goals and issues, including: the status of federal transportation reauthorization and appropriation legislation; an overview of current U.S. high-speed rail projects; a look at future trends in mobility; and a forum on emerging technologies aimed at improving service delivery and intermodal integration. NARP will be an active member of APTA's Legislative Committee in the future.

ColoRail held its annual meeting Oct. 3 in conjunction with a visit from Amtrak’s Exhibit Train at Denver Union Station. Featured speakers at the meeting included Mike Lewis, deputy executive director of the state Department of Transportation, and Rob Eaton, Amtrak’s government affairs director for Colorado.

Seat are still available for Amtrak’s third annual Autumn Express, scheduled for October 24 and 25. This year's train will take riders through the scenic valleys of eastern New York, southwestern Vermont and the beautiful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. In addition to the colors of fall, the highlight of this season's excursion will be traveling through the historic, five-mile-long Hoosac Tunnel, completed in 1877, considered one of the nation's civil engineering landmarks. The Autumn Express will be the first publicly-offered passenger train through the Hoosac Tunnel in 30 years. The train will depart from New York’s Albany-Rensselaer Station and Schenectady Station to East Deerfield, Massachusetts, returning via the same route.

The train can handle 560 passengers each day. The cost is $129, and includes a boxed lunch and a commemorative bag. Click here to buy your tickets before it sells out.

We’ll end the week with some housekeeping items. Please check here for the latest news on the upcoming Fall Meeting in Indianapolis, including the agenda and logistics. If you’re not following us on social media, please do so on Facebook and Twitter. Finally, please send along any rail-related news articles, op-eds or letters to the editor to NARP’s communications director here so that we can highlight it in future Hotline issues and on our social media channels.