months ago when the FRA proposed rules that would give higher priority to passenger train operations on freight property. As we reported at the time, attempts by the freight railroads and government officials to resolve their differences in closed door meetings ended in failure. The issue was left to the courts to decide. Bob Stewart, Chairman of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, his spe- cial assistant Larry Scott, and NARP Presi- dent Ross Capon held a discussion with Sur- face Transportation Board Chairman Dan Elliott and two of his top staffers. One of the cases under discussion had been signed July 2 by three judges on the U.S. Court of Ap- peals ruled a section of the law (dealing with freight and passenger relations) as uncon- stitutional because it had granted regulato- ry power to a private company (Amtrak). The Department of Justice has petitioned the court of Appeals to rehear the case, not- ing that the Supreme Court has “sustained he validity of statues that assign important roles to private parties as long as there is sufficient governmental oversight and in- volvement.” As of the last minute at dead- line, that same three-judge panel refused to involve the entire court in the case. Thus un- less an appeal goes to the Supreme Court, (unlikely because of the complex and ar- guably opaque legalities that are not dealt with here due to space limitations) the case seems to be “settled.” Someday it may be re- visited by a future less Amtrak-friendly FRA. Politics of course plays a huge role here. The strongest arrow in Amtrak’s quiver is its support from the public.
A Not Unrelated Matter Readers of this column have noticed the shale drilling boom has markedly expanded the traffic on America’s rails, increasing the pressure on the Class I carriers to increase capacity — yesterday. The freight railroads have urgently pleaded with Washington to become involved in the effort to add more mileage on the freight lines, as a matter of public concern. And since much of that Class I trackage also accommodates Amtrak, mostly its long distance trains, there arises anew the question of when and how does the proverbial push come to shove? The rails are getting the pressure for expansion from rail engineering firms, industry suppliers, and contractors. Marc Canas, VP of the engineering and design firm, tells Railway Age, “You can’t talk about crude by rail as only crude traffic, you have to look at the way the impact the additional traffic is putting on the entire network.”
Right he is. And it isn’t just freight rail that is pushing for more capacity. Passenger train ridership has shot way up in recent years, and over time, there will be an in- crease the push for more passenger trains on the same rights-of-way.
Speaking Of Which Amtrak’s busy Empire Builder and Hi- awatha Lines from Chicago to Milwaukee and St. Paul, Minn,. may soon be operating more frequently. Amtrak, in cooperation with transportation departments in Wiscon- sin, Minnesota and Illinois are studying the prospect of adding more service on those routes where ridership has doubled in the last decade, with standing room only on
some trains. There are plans to operate three express trains on the Hiawatha route, raising the number of daily round trips from seven to ten. Also, there is talk of adding a second daily round-trip on the Empire Builder, an overnight run between Chicago and Seattle, where the passenger count has grown by 16 per cent from 2011 to 2012. One speculates that passenger interests
fear such plans will never come to fruition because of freight space requirements, as freight interests may fear they will in fact become reality, with the result that their freight schedules won’t be able to operate so as to meet customer demand.
Specifics
In the past we have reviewed freight re- quirements for the future, and will continue to do so, as we will continue to report on pas- senger efforts in the years ahead. Herewith, is a list of top items on NARP’s agenda: 1) Change the Highway Trust Fund to
the Transportation Trust Fund, and in- clude therein a “high-performance railroad network account.” 2) Retain the mandate for a national passenger train service, stressing route preservation and efficient expansion. 3) Expand FRA’s responsibility to include a national passenger train sys- tem, including coordination among several states. 4) Encourage use of public-private partnerships to maximize rail investment. 5) Fund implementation of the Perform- ance Improvement Program for the long- distance routes. 6) Require Amtrak to plan expansions that will improve the utility of all national network routes which are in re- ality interstate corridors. 7) Regarding that court decision if upheld (see reference above), support the Justice Department po- sition that Amtrak should be reinstated as a partner in co-regulating “on-time per- formance,” a key issue dividing freight and passenger train operations.
Amtrak Map: Forward or Scaled Back? For multiple reasons, negotiations and con- ferences have dealt with some phases of Am- trak’s future. That means the passenger rail service has been in the position it has occu- pied from Day One — playing defense. Un- daunted, Amtrak and its chief activist sup- porter, the National Association of Railroad Passengers continue to observe the old adage that the best defense is a good offense. As is the case with Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman (whose proposals for the future have been outlined in this column), NARP has its own ideas for expansion. As of our press time, Amtrak has wrapped up its negotiations with 18 out of the 19 states to pony up some resources to share (or “partner”) with Amtrak operations of trains whose trip is 750 miles or less. October 2013 was the deadline. The states were given five years to prepare for this decision. Grassroots passenger train supporters have been ac- tively lobbying their local officials. The one unresolved case was that the Hoosier State, a four-times weekly Indianapolis-Chicago round trip that fills a gap serviced on the other three days by the long-distance overnight Cardinal.
Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm tells this column that “if current service levels are maintained,” the result will save Amtrak ap- proximately $85 million in 2014. That rev- enue is likely assist Amtrak in its quest for an expanded operation, in part driven by es-
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