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that would have to come together for that to work.” (AIRNet-21 proposes to break Am- trak into two federally owned corporations. The first would operate all trains and own all rolling stock; it would also contract with states to operate shared trains. The second corporation would own all the infrastruc- ture currently owned by Amtrak, both in the Northeast Corridor and in the Midwest, as well as stations and signalling systems na- tionwide. Revenues would be generated from use of the assets. AIRNet-21 sees this as a way to reduce Amtrak’s operating subsidies, as Amtrak would no longer have to factor capital costs and maintenance into its subsi- dy request; it would have to pay the second corporation for access to the assets, however. With the 45-year-old political tug-of-war between advocates of the NEC, and those NARP members whose focus is primarily in the rest of the country, there is some my- thology involved with the assumption that the Northeast Corridor is getting along just fine, whereas passenger trains elsewhere are stuck with lesser potential . “Today,” right now, “this morning,” our in- terviewee says, “there are still issues on the corridor.” “And there are still infrastructure issues [there] that are ticking like a time bomb.” Time bomb? Absolutely, contends the pas-


senger train advocate. And even beyond the urgency of Gateway, he says, there are billions in long-postponed projects on the corridor. We have referred to the Acela as the closest


thing we have in the U.S. to “true high speed.” True enough. But critics point to an average Acela schedule of 86 m.p.h. as leaving us far behind truly high-speed trains elsewhere in the industrial world. It has been said, “Well, so what? We are different.” Amtrak supporters respond that more than national pride is at stake. Our expanding pop- ulation and more industrial advancement help present a situation where our trains will need to keep up or take a back seat in the face of the worldwide economic competition that faces us. There are issues that transcend those we


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hear and read about in the media. NARP’s Mathews believes we “are not actually build- ing the mechanism needed to pay for that [required] infrastructure. The ideas for reor- ganizing, there is the big question: Where is the money?” Sean Jeans-Gail, a NARP vice president,


adds that the ideas bandied about are all well and good, but that AIRNet-21 and the others are not “money-making” and are not likely “just out of the kindness of their hearts” to make substantive moves “until the revenue exchanges are identified.” If they identify “a solid capital exchange,” he adds, “they’ll find capital, so we’re waiting to see what kind of progress they make in aligning investors.” Mathews notes that “if there’s a $52 billion


backlog on the Northeast Corridor [as report- ed], it’s a lot harder for infrastructure main- tenance to deal with.” Different parts of the plan would have to


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come to fruition, “There’s, a lot of detail that can trip it up” (see our three previous columns). NARP’s bottom line, as this interviewer attempts to sum up its president’s view: Go ahead, come up with any idea you think has potential. We’ll consider it, but we don’t make the final decision. Our role, as a passenger supporter, is first, keep what we’ve got; sec-


ond, consider alternatives and, pending its fate, we’re sticking with that as our primary focus until we have something better than the system we must have here and now. And as for this column, we will keep track


of efforts to reorganize the operations of freight and passenger railroading and will re-visit the issues as warranted.


Crude by Rail


New standards for oil trains, in large part, resulted from a huge accident three years ago in the Canadian town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec that killed 47 people and wiped out a good part of the town. That era was noted for many other (albeit less deadly) oil train ac- cidents, which eventually spurred Congress into action with new proposals just written by the Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safe- ty Administration (PHMSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The proposals have now gone to the White


House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The changes to the law include a new, faster schedule for phasing out the old rail cars used in oil shipping, tougher stan- dards for cars retrofitted to comply with new standards, and a requirement that all cars on certain trains comply with the new rules, not just cars carrying oil.


Speaking of Lac-Megantic Canadian Pacific is no doubt relieved that


it will not face serious legal action from the Quebec town as a result of the summer 2013 oil train disaster. As we were approaching the third anniversary of that deadly “runway train” explosion, the town council made its decision to drop all possible charges against the Class I carrier. One major reason for the action, according to Mayor Jean Guy Clout- ier, was that the cost of hiring legal experts over several years would be rather steep, and there was no guarantee the city would win.


SCOTUS


The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the Department of Interior does not have the authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on federal lands. This is potentially big news for the railroads which have bene- fitted big time by fracking, a practice that was a boon to the Class I crude-by-rail (CBR) business for about ten years, though in more recent months, railroad CBR volumes have declined somewhat.


U.S./Mexico Train The U.S. and Mexico have agreed to recon-


struct the 70-mile stretch of an old rail line that had years ago connected factories in Ti- juana, Mexico, with U.S. rail facilities in the San Diego area. Every year of delay cost an estimated $6 million before issues of financ- ing and security were resolved because of the 40 miles that extended the line into Mexico.


Commodity Boost


With carloads on the freight railroads generally down from last year, it’s always heartening to encounter stats on business arrows that may soon point upward. Rail- roads are “optimistic” lower coal stockpiles and a commodities rally led by grain and oil just may be hints that a cargo slump is on the verge of hitting rock-bottom before an upward turn.


WES VERNON IS A WASHINGTON WRITER and veteran broadcast journalist. You can reach him with questions or comments at capitollines@railfan.com.


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