Northern Lights Filled Our Skies

By Joe Aiello / Director of Community Engagement & Organizing

Good things happen to those who wait (a long time), right? 

Unless you have been under a proverbial rock this week, you have already heard the news from Amtrak that the FKA “TCMC” train is launching on May 21st as the brand new Borealis service.  If you saw our press release earlier this week, you know that the Association has been pushing for the “Baby Builder” for some time.  A shout-out to my former co-worker Abe Zumwalt, who led a research effort with our friends at All Aboard Minnesota on the economic benefits of a second run that helped make the case with lawmakers. 

This is, to quote our current President, a “big f’n deal”.

Not everyone sees it this way, though. I’ve seen a number of online knee-jerk complaints about the name, the equipment, the schedule, etc.  All before we even have the “ribbon cutting”. As I pointed out above, this service has been in the works for a long time - with 3 state DOTs, the FRA, Amtrak, and the Host RR all involved.  The details didn’t just happen overnight, and I do understand as supporters and advocates we tend to have a bit of PTSD from service announcements over the years.  That’s not the case this time.  We have every reason to be celebrating. 

But it’s not just our rail community that should be excited. 

As someone from Chicago and is currently residing in Minneapolis, and who takes the EB about once a month these days, I have friends who live on both ends of the route who saw the story on the news and immediately texted me for details. (A couple even congratulated me.)  I have friends making a soccer trip this summer who already changed their plans to take the new service because the schedule leaving St. Paul is much more convenient.

Speaking of the schedule… have you seen our timetables page update yet? 

If you have read/seen any of my letters, blogs, posts, or videos in the past - you know I’m a big fan of connections and opportunity.  This new service means MORE of that.  MORE opportunity.  MORE access.  MORE flexibility.

I plan on raising a cold Grain Belt on 5/21 to toast the 29th and latest state-supported train in our network, and then continue my work to make sure we see #30 (and beyond).   

UPDATE ON BNSF DERAILMENT IN NEW MEXICO

By Sean Jeans-Gail, VP of Gov’t Affairs + Policy

Rail Passengers has heard from several our members about last Friday’s BNSF derailment, which shut down I-40 and left passengers on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief stranded near the border between New Mexico and Arizona.

The BNSF derailment, which took place on April 26, involved rail cars carrying 180,000 gallons of fuel, causing a large fire. In response, local officials ordered the evacuation of residences within a two-mile radius and shut down parts of Interstate 40, creating massive highway gridlock across the region.

The disruption also impacted passengers on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief service. Local outlet KOAT News interviewed passengers at the station, many of whom reported that—while they had been offered refunds by Amtrak—the railroad hadn’t provided any immediate assistance in the aftermath, such as help finding hotel lodgings.

“I was pretty disappointed. I mean, they didn't tell us [anything],” passenger Ferlin Lee told KOAT News. “I was halfway to my destination and [was] supposed to arrive at midnight… "Which is understandable. You can't drive a train through a fire. Or if the track ain't there.”

“I just could tell right away [officials] were telling everyone something different, and they weren't being honest at all," Lee added. “We all felt ping-ponged.”

Amtrak provided a statement to KOAT News, saying “Due to the unforeseen interruption of their trips, Amtrak provided customers with full refunds and offered to return them to their point of origin via train. Customers are invited to contact 1-800-USA-RAIL to discuss their individual circumstances.”

“This situation wasn’t caused by Amtrak, and we support the railroad’s move to put the safety of passengers and workers first,” said Jim Mathews, President & CEO of Rail Passengers. “However, it is essential that passengers that are put into this kind of situation are provided the information and assistance they need to make the necessary arrangements. You can’t just leave people at the station with the promise of a refund and a fare-thee-well.”

Rail Passengers’ staff is currently in communication with Amtrak to try to get a better understanding of the procedures that exist for these kinds of situation, and whether those procedures were followed.

Critically, there were several compounding factors that made it difficult for Amtrak and local officials to accommodate passengers and arrange alternate travel. In addition to a two-day closure of 70 miles of Interstate 40, the BNSF derailment also coincided with the Gathering of Nations, leaving most hotels in the area booked solid.

“There were no rooms to be found. Everything was sold out again, because of the Gathering of Nations—100,000 people or so in Albuquerque,” Patrick Montoya, chief operations officer for the city of Albuquerque, told KOAT News. “That made it just extremely difficult.”

Rail Passengers Council Providing on the Ground Updates

Rail Passengers’ volunteer leadership have played a vital role in monitoring the issue on the ground, providing real time feedback to Association staff on the latest developments, and how last week’s response compares to prior incidents.

“Last Fall I was riding a westbound Southwest Chief when a BNSF derailment west of Albuquerque halted the train,” said Rail Passengers Association Council Member Lynn Aldrich of New Mexico. “That Amtrak crew handled a tough situation well, and passengers were bussed by Amtrak from Albuquerque to Winslow. Likewise, eastbound passengers from Winslow were bussed to Albuquerque. The trains were turned, and the bus ‘bridge’ allowed passengers to continue on their journey.”

“While I understand a bus bridge may not have been possible in last week’s situation, I do have a problem with how Amtrak left passengers whose travel plans would not allow them to take a train back to their point of origin to their own devices in Albuquerque,” continued Aldrich. “Many coach passengers may not have the financial resources to buy yet another ticket without getting their refund money first. And buying a plane ticket at the last minute is extremely expensive—much more expensive than the train ticket they bought.”

Members of Congress have been in touch with our Council Members about the service disruptions, and we are working to keep them advised as the latest information surfaces.

On a positive note, while Southwest Chief service between Albuquerque and Los Angeles was suspended while BNSF repaired the track, Trains 3 and 4 continued to serve stations between Albuquerque and Chicago. This is a meaningful improvement over previous disruptions on the Chief, which saw the service suspended across the entire corridor.

Rail Passenger Bill of Rights

Rail Passengers has assembled a “Rail Passenger Bill of Rights” that would address many of the problems raised by the April 26 BNSF derailment.

This document draws from prior legislative proposals, existing regulation of the aviation industry, and international models for oversight of intercity passenger rail carriers. It states that, even when the train operator is not at fault for a delay, the operator must give passengers information on the situation in real time, and provide passengers with information on their rights and carrier obligations.

Our Passenger Bill of Rights wouldn’t have magically freed up hotel rooms in Albuquerque, our allowed busses to navigate Interstate 40. But it could help passengers in the future count on receiving a consistent flow of information through well-defined channels, and ensure that there is a clear complaints-handling mechanism in place to provide feedback and receive compensation.

Freight Railroad Safety in the Spotlight

The National Transportation Safety Board will need time to investigate the derailment before the cause of the derailment is known. However, the safety culture of U.S. freight railroads has been in the spotlight after a series of high-profiled incidents.

Many of these accidents have been the result of so-called “Precision Scheduled Railroading,” which is an industry marketing term for “running longer trains with smaller crews.”

Rail Passengers supports the bipartisan push for the Railway Safety Act (S.576/H.R. 1674) to improve freight rail safety by capping train lengths for certain cargo, mandate two-person crews for volatile categories of freight, increase financial penalties for safety violations, and improve oversight and reporting.

AMTRAK BOARD: THAT’S MORE LIKE IT

By Jim Mathews / President & CEO

Well, it took two-and-a-half years, legislation from Congress, and firm holds by both Republican and Democratic Senators to get it done, but this week we got two excellent non-Northeast Corridor nominees to Amtrak’s Board of Directors – Idaho’s Elaine Clegg, currently CEO of Boise’s Valley Regional Transit, and 45-year railroad veteran Ron Batory, most recently the head of the Federal Railroad Administration.

The White House deserves real kudos here, choosing nominees who are knowledgeable, well-qualified, and can represent more broadly the interests of those across the country who rely on Amtrak services. While it’s anyone’s guess whether their nominations can be moved speedily as election season is nearly here, we think both nominees are strong enough and respected enough to win confirmation with broad support.

We have already offered our strongest endorsement for both nominees.

A former Boise city council member, one of the prime movers behind the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, and a transportation expert – go check out the plaque at the Boise airport with her name on it! – Elaine has been a consistent champion for the rights of Americans to access frequent and reliable train service while bringing practicality and management savvy to transportation projects. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the time I’ve spent working with Elaine on efforts to expand and upgrade Amtrak service throughout the Western U.S., and yesterday we celebrated alongside VRT when word of her nomination was made public.

Ron is universally respected as a knowledgeable professional with great experience and understanding of the needs of all railroad stakeholders and enjoyed both industry and labor support in 2017 when he was nominated to lead the FRA. He was finally confirmed in early 2018.

A member of your Association since 1987, Ron has worked in railroads for more than 45 years. He has worked for the Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton Railroad (DT&I), the Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway, and the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. He was also the president of the Belt Railway of Chicago from 1994 to 1998, and president and CEO of the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) from 2004 until 2017.

We congratulate Elaine and Ron on their nominations and extend our appreciation to the Biden-Harris Administration for recognizing their remarkable contributions to the transportation sector. And of course, we look forward to working with the Senate to advance their nominations as quickly as possible
 

REAL PROGRESS FOR NEW TRAINS BETWEEN MOBILE AND NEW ORLEANS
 

By Jim Mathews / President & CEO

Amtrak managers are due to appear before Mobile’s Board of Zoning Adjustment on Monday, where they expect to secure a special exception to build a passenger-train platform with ADA parking in downtown Mobile. It’s one more step in clearing the way for construction to begin this summer in hopes of launching service between New Orleans and Mobile before the end of the year.

“Assuming the Board of Zoning Adjustment approves the application, and no appeals are filed” within a legally required 15-day period following Monday’s hearing, “Amtrak anticipates securing the zoning special exception on May 23, 2024,” the four Gulf Coast service “parties” – Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Port of Alabama – told the Surface Transportation Board this week in a joint status report.

The status reports are the result of a frustrated STB ordering public reporting on progress following a February hearing demanding details on why the restoration of that service seemed to stall.

Amtrak has been sharing with the Federal Railroad Administration iterations of its plans for speeding environmental reviews for the platform project under rules known as categorical exemptions (CEs) throughout this process, and told the Surface Transportation Board this week that it will submit its final categorical exemption worksheet for review once the special exemption is official. “Amtrak expects FRA’s review and approval of the CE Worksheet to be completed by the end of May 2024.”

That means the trickiest part for launching the new New Orleans-Mobile daily train is just ahead: getting the Mobile City Council to vote in favor of the City’s lease agreement for the property where the platform-station will sit, and to re-approve the Federal Restoration and Enhancement Grant matching funding the previous Council approved a couple of years ago.

There are seven voting members on the City Council. The last time this issue came up for a vote, the Council voted 5 to 2 in favor, and the hope is that the upcoming vote will turn out the same way. There’s strong public and civic support for the Gulf Coast service restoration, and a group of local advocates in Mobile – Friends of Amtrak-Mobile – has now grown to some 600 members working to create the political environment to push this project over the finish line. They’re doing a fantastic job, and they deserve your support!

Amtrak, CSX, and the Port of Alabama have been meeting every two weeks since mid-March to try to smooth out any remaining problems, and leaders from all of those parties have made a point of meeting with Mobile’s political leadership to confirm their continued support for moving ahead.

Amtrak and the City of Mobile are due to meet again in-person on Monday and Tuesday.

Amtrak told the Surface Transportation Board it hopes not only that the City Council will schedule a vote to approve both the new lease agreement and the matching-funds affirmation this month, but that “these agreements will be executed by early June 2024.”

It’s a critical timeline, but if it can hold up we may yet see another new service launched in 2024 on the heels of the Amtrak Borealis between Chicago and the Twin Cities – the Mardi Gras on the Gulf Coast!

The Gulf Coast docket at the STB is Docket FD 36496.

SOUTHWESTERN RAIL CONFERENCE TURNS 20

By: Peter J LeCody, President, Texas Rail Advocates & Past Chair, Rail Passengers Association

Nearly 300 attendees at last month's Southwestern Rail Conference in the Dallas area heard presenter after presenter lay out the case for more passenger rail service in the Lone Star state.

From Amtrak's high-speed guru Andy Byford on developing the Dallas-Houston bullet train, to Travis County Judge Andy Brown starting a coalition for regional rail between Austin and San Antonio and Knox Ross, Chairman of the Southern Rail Commission describing multiple passenger rail projects on the drawing board, there is certainly something going on in Texas.

While the conversation on passenger rail is stronger than ever and with federal funding flowing in for multiple Corridor Identification planning grants, the state legislature and the Commissioners who serve on the Texas Transportation Commission still need to be convinced that the state needs more than just roads for the future.

At present, there is no state funding mechanism in place for a 20% Texas march to an 80% share of available federal funds for rail projects in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That means the state DOT has to beg the legislature each session to fund specific conventional rail projects, and that's dependent on a surplus in the state budget.

The Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund, passed by Texas voters in a constitutional amendment over a decade ago, remains unfunded. High-speed rail funding from the state of Texas will be even harder to obtain. The legislature, bending to the whims of short-sighted rural politicians, passed a bill that forbids the state of Texas from investing the first dollar in any high-speed rail project. That means the private sector, along with any federal grants and loans, will have to sew together a funding package.

The Texas State Demographer has said that with nearly two-thirds of the population residing on or east of the I-35 corridor to the Louisiana state line, this is where the future is for economic growth. Because of the business-friendly attitude, Texas has seen a dramatic increase in population that shows no signs of weakening, especially in the "Texas Triangle" of Dallas-Fort Worth/ Austin/San Antonio and Houston.

As Andy Byford said at the rail conference, "the population will be growing exponentially, and we need to take action now in order to expand the rail offering. Quite simply, if we do nothing, the existing roads which are already clogged, and we heard about the accident record, the roads will become intolerably clogged." Byford went on to say, "The only option if you don't expand rail service will be to keep widening roads, and I don't think anyone here would advocate that as a good idea."

Representative Terry Canales, Chairman of the Texas House Transportation Committee, said passenger and freight rail must be considered in the transportation mix. In a video prepared for the Southwestern Rail Conference, Canales said that in the past session, the House tried to secure a $200 million dollar appropriation request from surplus funds in the base budget. However, that rider to the budget failed along with many others when the Senate and House could not reach an agreement. According to the transportation chair, "we have a lot of work to do to convince our friends in the Senate that the Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund is a priority."

Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose, a keynote speaker at the rail conference, urged Texas officials to be ready with plans when the FRA announces new Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFO's). Bose discussed how Amtrak received a Corridor ID grant to scope out high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston; TxDOT received grants for Houston to San Antonio and from Houston via College Station to Dallas; Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission were awarded a scoping grant from Dallas to Meridian, MS (Atlanta) and the North Central Texas Council of Governments on a high-speed link between Fort Worth and Dallas. Bose said that "building that collaborative partnership, if Amtrak is your primary partner or another service operator, early in the planning process to develop your service together is important, and I really encourage that."

In a video presentation, Texas Congressman Troy Nehls, Chairman of the House T&I Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, expressed his support for high-speed rail. "I publicly stated I am in support of high-speed rail in America where it makes sense. As our states grow, so should our infrastructure, and I believe having a variety of transportation options is preferable". Nehls did say that limited government resources should not be wasted on projects that are not financially viable and plagued with delays.

The Director of the Rail Division at the Texas Department of Transportation, Jeff Davis, discussed conventional passenger rail in the Texas Triangle. While TxDOT received two Corridor ID planning grants, a third and important one for the I-35 travel corridor from Dallas-Fort Worth to Austin and San Antonio did not make the cut. "TxDOT had a clerical error in our submission and that made it ineligible for the FRA to review it", according to Davis. "When the next Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) comes out we will reapply for that leg and in the meantime we will look at everything in that corridor through the State Rail Plan. We hope that the FRA will approve the NOFO, and we will not lose pace with the other two legs of the triangle."

Keep in mind that Step 2 and step 3, to move from a service development plan to construction phases, would require a 10 to 20% state share to obtain up to 90% federal funding. That would be dependent on legislators appropriating money for the conventional passenger rail projects (non-high speed rail). The next session of the Texas legislature begins in mid-January 2025 and advocates will have to work together to obtain those state funding dollars.
 

NEW YORK'S REP. WILLIAMS CALLS FOR UPGRADES TO EMPIRE CORRIDOR

Early last month, Congressman Brandon Williams (R-NY-22) issued a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) urging her administration to expedite Syracuse-area upgrades to Amtrak’s Empire Corridor service.

Congressman Williams pointed to already-identified improvements included in the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Service Development Plan (SDP) for the corridor, noting the attendant economic benefits that will come with providing better service to the popular New York State Fairgrounds, and simultaneously enabling more efficient freight shipments to and from a new chip manufacturing being constructed near Syracuse.

“With Micron set to build one of the largest chip manufacturing plants in North America just outside of Syracuse, it is time to begin the design and construction of projects identified in the SDP for the Syracuse area,” said Congressman Williams. “The Syracuse station area has long been a three-track bottleneck for both passenger and freight trains on the Empire Corridor. Additionally, the nearby two-track Park Street rail bridge has inadequate roadway clearance and is regularly the site of truck ‘hits’ which disrupt vehicular and rail traffic.”

The Congressman pointed to the new opportunities presented by the passenger rail programs established through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. This has been a point of emphasis in meetings between Rail Passengers Association Council Members, Empire State Passenger Association leadership, and Congressman Williams’s staff during his tenure in Congress.

“The Empire State Passengers Association is delighted to be working with Congressman Williams and to support his efforts to ensure the State of New York speedily advances the federally approved passenger rail improvement plan for the Empire Corridor,” said Steve Strauss, ESPA's Executive Director and a member of the Rail Passengers’ Council of Representatives from New York State. “We applaud the Congressman for his work to protect the federal funding for these kinds of improvements in last year’s transportation budget and appreciate that he's following through to ensure that the State of New York spends the money efficiently.”

The full letter can be accessed here.