Proposed FRA Rule Would Strengthen
Rail Car Construction

WASHINGTON, DC --- The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed new rail car safety standards that it says will better protect Rail passengers and train crew under standards “that significantly enhance the strength of key structural components of passenger rail cars to make them more crashworthy,” announced Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman.

“Mitigating the potentially damaging forces involved in train accidents is critical to preventing injury to passengers and crew,” Boardman said, noting that crashworthiness can be significantly enhanced when the structure of a passenger rail car is engineered to absorb more energy and crush in a controlled manner.

Boardman explained that the proposed rule is designed to preserve more space in which both passengers and train crew members can safely survive a collision with another train, a vehicle at a highway-rail grade crossing, or other object by strengthening the car’s forward structure. Specifically, existing federal standards would be upgraded for cab cars and multiple-unit (MU) locomotives which are used in the predominant method of operation by commuter and intercity passenger railroads across the country, he said. These types of equipment provide both passenger seating and an area for crews to operate the train in the same car.

NEW YORK --- The House has approved $415 in Federal funds for two of New York City’s major transit projects. The bill now goes to the Senate.

The East Side Access Project to give Long Island Railroad trains access to Manhattan’s East Side received $215 million, and Grand Central terminal, and the Second Avenue Subway project will receive $200 million, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has announced. She represents parts of Queens and Manhattan.

LaGuardia Airport will also receive $9 million for improved air traffic control, in the same bill.

The funding is part of the FY 2008 Transportation and Urban Development Appropriations Bill passed by the House last week, which now goes to the Senate.

According to a report by Reporter John Toscano in the Queens Gazette, Maloney hailed the continued financing for the Second Avenue subway project as “the largest infusion of federal funding for the subway line on Manhattan’s East Side.”

She promised, “There’s more to come when the MTA and the federal government sign a full-funding grant agreement for the project.”

The Congresswoman added: “This is great news for all New York City straphangers, but especially those who ride the Lexington Avenue line, the most overcrowded subway in the nation.”

Looking to the future, the Gazette reported, Maloney said, “On day one, the Second Avenue subway will carry nearly 200,000 riders, reducing crowding on the Lexington Avenue line by 13 percent.”

Construction on the long-awaited new subway line is already underway.

Maloney was joined in announcing the new funding by Congressman Peter King (R-NY) of Long Island, a sponsor of the bipartisan effort,” The Gazette reported.

Springfield Lobby Day, Tuesday Aug 7

It has been hard to follow the news out of Springfield, IL. One minute everyone is convinced a budget deal is almost complete, the next minute everyone is sure the negotiations will drag on into September.

In all of this turmoil, there is an opportunity for us to get funding for key projects (such as the three-hour Lincoln Express and new service to Rockford & Galena and the Quad Cities).

It is critical that we remind legislators that small investments in Amtrak service can yield huge benefits for downstate communities.

Join us in Springfield this Tuesday to help spread the word. A group of us will be taking train # 301, which leaves Chicago at 7:00 am and is scheduled to arrive in Springfield at 10:15 am. For those not taking the train, meet us at the Springfield station when the train arrives.

PORTLAND, OR, AUGUST 3 -- Some Amtrak passengers arrived at Portland’s Union Station last Friday only to discover that the Cascades trains had been canceled for the entire day.

The Cascades line runs between Eugene, Ore. and Vancouver, BC.

Amtrak had discovered cracks in the suspension of some of its train cars during a recent safety inspection. Service was canceled so inspectors could look at the entire fleet of cars that may have been affected.

While Amtrak said it would contact passengers to alert them of delays, there were still a number of people who arrived at Union Station early Friday morning not knowing their travel plans were affected.

An Amtrak spokesperson said there would not be charter buses for the Cascades passengers, but the company dispatched substitute railcars to the area. Amtrak said they would provide full refunds for unused tickets.

Limited train operation of the Cascades service was expected to resume on Monday, August 6 between Eugene, Oregon and Seattle.

“Amtrak is sending additional train equipment from throughout the railroad’s network in order to resume limited train service next week,” said Kurt Laird, Amtrak’s District Superintendent. “We are working closely with Talgo and the states of Washington and Oregon in order to accommodate our passengers during this temporary service disruption.”

“Traveler safety is Washington State’s number one concern and we are taking extra precautions to make sure the trains are safe,” said Interim Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond. “We appreciate Amtrak’s efforts to substitute equipment so we may serve our customers during this busy travel season.”

“Talgo has a long history of safety in the preventive maintenance practices and manufacturing of its equipment,” said Antonio Perez, CEO & President Talgo, Inc. “Through a routine maintenance inspection, we found certain cracks in the suspension support system. We are acting very conservatively by removing the equipment from service. The safety of passengers has not and will not be compromised. Talgo is following all regulatory requirements and working diligently with its customers, Washington State and Amtrak, to address this issue so that this equipment can be back in service as soon as possible.”

Amtrak Cascades consists of four daily round-trips between Portland and Seattle, with service between Bellingham, Wash., and Portland, via Seattle; between Eugene and Seattle, via Portland; and between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.

One exception to the Amtrak Cascades suspension on the route was that Amtrak would continue to operate trains 510 and 517 during the weekend between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. utilizing Superliner train equipment.

Operation of the Seattle-Los Angeles Coast Starlight (Trains 11 & 14) and the Chicago-Portland/Seattle Empire Builder (Trains 7/27 & 8/28) continued on their normal schedules.

Amtrak Cascades is operated by Amtrak under contracts with the Washington and Oregon Departments of Transportation. Under contract, Talgo has responsibility for the maintenance of Talgo rolling stock, and these maintenance operations are performed in Seattle.

Dream of “Stuttgart 21” To Become True:

Central Train Station in Germany’s Sixth Largest City
Will Be Relocated Underground

STUTTGART – The German federal government, the state government of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Stuttgart (the state capitol) signed a final agreement to build “Stuttgart 21” project, which is an ambitious plan to relocate the city’s central train station (Hauptbahnhof) underground along with a connecting new high speed rail line to the city of Ulm. Present at the signing ceremony on the 19^th of July were senior officials from the federal and state governments, including federal transportation minister Wolfgang Tiefensee as well as Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) chairman Hartmut Mehdorn. Construction will start in 2010 after two years of detail design work, contract tenders and construction planning. The entire project including a 57 km (35 mile) long high speed rail corridor to Ulm is expected to cost EUR 4.8 billion (US $ 6.4 billion), of which EUR 3.5 billion is for the new underground station, connecting tunnels and demolition / removal of the existing surface level station and switching yard. Construction may take between 8 and 10 years to finish, thus placing this project on a similar scale as the recently completed Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

Photos and Graphics: Deutsche Bahn AG Ariel view of present Stuttgart rail station (looking north) with proposed new underground station and rail lines depicted in red dashed lines. Real estate in areas A1, A2 and B will be converted into housing, office and retail space and park land.

Schematic of present rail terminal and surface rail lines in Stuttgart center city. Not shown is the existing underground 2-track S-Bahn commuter rail line, which runs underneath the rail terminal and under the city center to the southwest.

Schematic of future rail station and main rail lines in Stuttgart center city after project completion. Again not shown is the existing underground 2-track S-Bahn commuter rail line, which will remain in-place.

Artist conception of underground station after project completion. The original terminal building will remain in operation with a food court, bars and cafes, hotel, shopping center and office space.

The current surface level central terminal station will be demolished (except for the front station building which contains shops, restaurants, a post office, and other facilities) and replaced with an underground through station. The land currently occupied by the southwest facing rail terminal and multi-track switching yard stretching northeastwards from the station for nearly 2 km will be cleared and redeveloped into a city park along with new apartment and condo buildings and low level office buildings. The new underground station will be positioned roughly under the location of the current terminal building with the tracks running in a northwest – southeast direction. New tunnels will be built to connect the new station with the existing rail lines just outside the city center. The new underground rail line heading southeast out of the new station will transition into the new high-speed rail line to Ulm beyond the city limits. The new rail line will supplement the existing classic rail line to Ulm and further east to Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. It will consist of 16 tunnels and 18 bridges in order to provide a relatively straight and low gradient route through the rugged “Schwabian Alps.” The “Stuttgart 21” project is yet another in a series of multi-billion dollar rail infrastructure projects launched so far this decade in Europe including the new Vienna (Wien) Hauptbahnhof, which just began construction last month, the recently opened LGV Est high speed line in northeastern France, and the newly agreed road / rail bridge from Germany to Denmark. The “Stuttgart 21” project has been on the drawing board since the mid 1990s. German Parliament Approves Railway Privatization Plan: Massive Opposition From State Governments And Labor Unions Source: Hannover Allegemeine Zeitung And Ndr Info Radio BERLIN – After nearly eight years of plans, proposals and draft legislation, the lower house of the German parliament (Bundestag) agreed to a bill for the government to divest 25% of its stake in Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways), worth an estimated EUR 3 billion (US $4.1 billion) by the end of 2008. In order to become law, the bill must be approved by the upper house of parliament (Bundesrat), where it faces an uncertain outcome. Members of the Bundesrat are appointed by Germany’s 16 state governments, many of which are fiercely opposed to plans to further privatize Germany’s rail network. One of the states opposed to the legislation is Lower Saxony, where reductions in annual federal funds provided to the state for local and regional transit resulted in major commuter and local train service reductions late last year in several rural regions such as the western Harz mountain area. State officials fear that a privatized Deutsche Bahn will place short term financial goals and the interest of large investors in front of transportation needs of the general public. Rail labor unions including GDL, the locomotive drivers union still presently engaged in a tense battle with Deutsche Bahn for increased wages, also fear that a privatized Deutsche Bahn will be ever ready to sacrifice employee job security for short term financial issues. However, the European central government has made it clear that it expects member countries such as Germany to divest themselves of state owned industries including railroads. Deutsche Bahn’s executive management under the leadership of Hartmut Mehdorn has also been pressing hard for privatization and entry onto the stock market, in order to gain access to more financial resources for expanding its lucrative logistics business and international freight operations, as well as its premium level ICE high speed intercity passenger train business.

It’s The Infrastructure, Stupid

Last week’s tragedy in Minneapolis, as terrible as it was and is for those directly involved, should come as a surprise to no one. Readers will remember past editorials here and elsewhere about the sorry condition of America’s infrastructure – roads, airline systems, and, especially, the decrepit freight and passenger rail system --- and even the very same, somewhat offensive headline, cribbed from that 1992-election-campaign’s related, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

When I-35’s westbound span hit the waters of the Mississippi last Wednesday afternoon, ending the lives of many and ending as well any illusions that we can continue to ignore the maintenance of our infrastructure.

The problem is, of course, we’ve built more highways than we can maintain, and we continue to build them even though it is clear that highway congestion can not be cured by more ribbons of concrete: there are more miles of cars than there are miles of highways, and pretty soon after they are built/widened/lengthened/ or “improved,” highways fill up again. One recent example: in Boston we just spent $16 billion on the so-called Big Dig traffic improvement program, which buried the old Central Artery and all its exit ramps and entrances under the city. The result: within two years of the opening of the road, starting at 2 p.m. every day, the Southeast Expressway begins to back up, and stays backed up for about six hours. Your tax dollars at work!

In Minneapolis, five people (at least) died because a bridge that had for decades been officially labeled “deficient” was never properly repaired, or even maintained. And it is not alone. You can be sure that, in a neighborhood near you, a similarly neglected span sits similarly awaiting the day when the “deficient” rating makes it into the local headlines, along with a few fresh obituaries. It doesn’t have to happen. But it will. To change that fate, which others will share, requires several steps, which we (once again) call for here today:

• Raise the gas tax by at least 50 cents a gallon and create a true infrastructure (not “highway” trust fund). That tax will produce an extra $100 billion a year, less than we are spending in Iraq but still, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Won’t that tax hurt people? Well, we have $3-$4/gallon gasoline right now, up from $.99 a few years ago; and all of it is going to a part of the world perpetually in flames. The law of supply and demand, like the law of gravity, still works. With a serious Infrastructure Tax, consumption will drop over time, along with oil’s base price. Then, the extra money will stay in America and build its future infrastructure – and rebuild our ability to compete in the world --- rather than go overseas to further enrich Sheik Yamani Or-Ya-life.

• Then, spend some of that money --- not all! --- to fix the roads and bridges that already exist, and the rest to build modern high speed freight and passenger lines across the country, not for long distance luxury trains – although some markets will see that --- but for goods and people. The existing freight railroads own that track right now, except for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, and have largely exclusive access to it. They will lose their exclusivity of access --- and their ability to gouge captive shippers --- but gain capacity at no expense to themselves. If they really do know how to run a railroad, not just extract money from hapless “captives,” they and their shareholders can profit hugely from this, as will states and the U.S Treasury from taxes paid on those profits. Some will oppose this idea, because they would rather have captive shippers than operate in a competitive environment. Too bad!

• Reform the Congressional committee structure, so that the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Senate Commerce Committee, are organized around geographic regions rather than different modes of transportation. We don’t need separate plans for roads, tracks, and ports. We need a transportation system. Some fear this would lead to geographical divisions and fights. Well, it would, to some degree. But despite years of mismanaged government mixed with mendacity, Americans still have a basic sense of fair play and some very talented political leaders in Congress such as Jim Oberstar, Gerry Nadler, and Bob LaTourette in the House and Frank Lautenberg and Trent Lott in the Senate. That kind of leadership can make this work. You’ll notice we don’t mention their political parties, because transportation has long been a bipartisan concern.

It is only in the last 20 years, when the idiotic Reason Foundation and other kook-libertarian organizations, with their “the marketplace solves everything” ideology, began to dominate the Republican Party, that have we had any real division over this issue: that’s where the constant sniping to kill Amtrak comes from, for example. That era is ending, although not soon enough for the normal, Main Street Republicans who are going to get their heads handed to them in 2008, as their ship goes down along with the booting of the ideologues that is already taking place (see “2006, Elections”).

There is a point in the life of any great civilization when large changes take place, but are not broadly noticed at the time. We are in such an era now, and it can be frightening as it begins to become evident that the present way of doing things must be altered. But that is the case, and our democracy can still take it. In a few years the People, in whom Jefferson and Adams, and Lincoln, and Truman, truly believed, are going to right the ship and steady the course.

If you believe in democracy, you have to believe in that, so hang on, roll up your sleeves, and pitch in. We have built a great highway system, and it is a marvelous thing, but it can not continue to be the only thing. It is past the time to change the way we build infrastructure, as Minneapolis showed last week. Fine. Let’s make the most of it.