by James P. RePass
President & CEO
The National Corridors Initiative
http://www.nationalcorridors.org

Presented to the
Southeast High Speed Rail Conference & Expo
The Siegel Center
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

November 8, 2000

Now, a few of my friends in the rail industry have begun to say, "Jim, there are too many conferences!" and of course I sympathize with them for two reasons: they get asked to help pay for them, and I get asked to speak at them. I have to keep reminding myself that, as you heard if you caught my act last June here in Richmond, that I'm not a rail person at all, just a businessman who got stuck in an airplane one time too many on the way home to see his kid.

That's why I started my organization, not because of any kind of train fanaticism or hobby, but simply because it took me six hours to get home by plane from Newark to Boston one day back in 1989, whereupon I discovered that unless I wanted to drive, I had no real choice, because Boston-New York rail service took almost that long by the schedule --- a poor excuse for a rail system, I felt. So I began investigating the reasons, and wound up spending the last dozen years of my life trying to do something about better rail service, first in the Northeast and then, starting in 1994/1995, in the rest of the country, when my organization became the National Corridors Initiative.

I won't repeat the story here. Many of you know it, and a few others know it so well that I would be hanged if I went on with it, so let me just sum up: in the Northeast, we won.

The good guys won. Next week George Warrington has promised me a ride on the first official Acela Express Train, which then goes into regular service December 11. I'm looking forward to it. My organization has spent almost 12 years, and well over one million dollars, to buy that ticket. The new train knocks almost an hour and a half off the old schedule, and the speed will gradually increase over its break-in period until they get that down to three hours flat, Boston-NYC, and 2 and _ hours, NYC-Washington.

But that is just the start. It took 88 years to finish the electrification of the Northeast Corridor, in the face of wars, the Depression, and the Post WWII highway boom that until very recently has, along with air travel, sucked up almost every available transportation tax dollar. Indeed, until the Staggers Act was passed in 1980 to end freight railroad regulation, it looked like we might lose the freight railroad industry entirely. We already had had to create Amtrak, a decade before, to maintain some semblance of intercity passenger rail service, and Conrail, out of the pieces of the Penn Central and the various New England railroads, so that the highways in the Eastern United States wouldn't move to instant gridlock ­ although we certainly are seeing signs of that gridlock again, today.

But while it took 88 years to finish the electrification of the Northeast Corridor, I am happy to report that the cause you are embarked upon here in Richmond and throughout the Carolinas and Georgia is not, I repeat NOT, an aberration. The creation of a Richmond-Washington High Speed Rail Corridor, the continual and impressive improvements to and investments in rail service in the Carolinas, and the aggressive new regional rail system in Georgia which will link up with South Carolina, will indeed create the foundation for a new Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor not just in name, but in reality.

As you will learn today at this conference and at other meetings and conferences over the next few years, and as you get your funding into place, you are a part of a growing national rail corridors movement which is already transforming America, and which will in my view be the salvation of our transportation system, of our cities, and of our essential national mobility, in the 21st century. The press still doesn't cover the story on a national basis, because as I said in June, unless we kill a busload of nuns at a grade crossing, we don't get network airtime. There are fewer and fewer volunteers for that, so we need to keep aggravating the journalists until they notice that the world beyond the crime-fire-mayhem headlines includes some good news, and you folks in Richmond are definitely part of the good news.

There are a lot of important things to know, and to do, as you go about the business of inventing a successful high speed rail corridor here in the Southeast, and I will try to tell you about some of them today as I update you on the corridor story. There are no real secrets, though. It will just take lots of hard work, and good luck. And oh yes --- bipartisanship. Now there's a word for the day after election day!

I noted above that in 1994 and 1995 I began to look around the United States, outside of the Northeast, to find out if there might be other people trying to achieve in their own regions what we were doing in the Northeast, which was trying to develop support for a regional rail corridors network that could help supplant highway and air travel as an option, and to relieve growing gridlock and winglock. Because we always had assumed that we were alone in this effort, I was amazed by what we found.

In the Pacific Northwest, centered on Seattle, I found a struggling but highly effective "Cascadia Project" which was developed by the Discovery Institute, a conservative pro-business think-tank that was concerned about highway congestion that was threatening to strangle business growth. In the Midwest, a left-leaning law firm, the Environmental Law & Policy Center determined to reduce air and water pollution, was a moving force behind the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative now comprised of nine states centering on Chicago. In North Carolina the impetus came from a very rail-oriented governor and rails department of the state DOT, who saw rail service, especially safer, faster rail service, as the key to surviving rapid economic growth that was overwhelming the transportation infrastructure in the Carolinas. In upper New York State I discovered a persistent citizens movement trying to get the Empire Corridor to emerge from years of neglect, allied with successful efforts by that state's DOT, and that is now seen as a key part of the economic revival of New York's Northern Tier. One of their new rehabbed turbo trainsets is here at this conference. In Mississippi, I heard about a progressive new mayor in Meridian who was making a proposed downtown transportation center and better rail service the core of his region's economic revitalization plans, and who also had the attention of the national leadership of one of the political parties.

As we began to discover these efforts, we realized immediately that we needed to get together as soon as possible and create a national organization in order to communicate with and learn from one another, and so we held our first national conference in 1996. Meeting in Newport, Rhode Island, about 150 representatives of regional corridor initiatives from around the country exchanged war stories, what had worked, and what hadn't, and laid out plans for the future.

While all this was going on pretty much at the citizen and state government level, the Federal government began to notice. ISTEA, authored by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1991, contained provisions authorizing high speed rail corridors which could then receive federal funding, if any money ever became available, to improve track and to improve or remove grade crossings, which permits higher speeds even with conventional equipment. TEA-21, ISTEA's successor in 1997, designated some more corridors as official high speed corridors, and today we are up to 11 authorized and 10 designated.

While there are literally dozens of regional rail corridors trying to happen at this point, the best known are the ten Federally designated High Speed Rail Corridors, which are defined as rail corridors where speeds will exceed 90 mph. Although there has yet to be major Federal funding behind these corridor designations --- and that is something we can address today, because there is legislation pending in Congress right this minute that would provide $10 Billion in bonding authority over 10 years to get this work started --- the fact that a corridor is officially recognized ensures that when funding does come, Federal funding is more likely. And if Federal funding appears likely, state and regional commitments are easier to get.

Last month Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater designated two additional Federal High Speed corridors - one in New England from Vermont through New Hampshire and Massachusetts that will connect Boston to Montreal and to Portland, Maine, and one through Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, to connect Dallas/Fort Worth to Little Rock, Ark., and Tulsa, Okla.

The other Federal corridors are the Empire Corridor connecting upstate New York and Canada to New York City; California, which also has state-funded efforts that exceed Federal commitments to date; Pennsylvania's Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg and now, Pittsburgh too; Florida, which had a super high speed rail project that was canceled by Gov. Jeb Bush, but which is still eligible for Federally-defined High Speed Rail corridor money, and whose voters November 7 approved a ballot initiative ordering the state to support a new super High Speed Rail effort; the Cascadia Project corridor between Oregon, Washington and British Columbia; the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor involving Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida along the Atlantic Coast between Washington, DC, and Florida; on the Gulf Coast between Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama; and in the Midwest, with nine states linked via Chicago, and with a host of city pairs such as St. Louis-Chicago that will vastly improved rail service.

I've been asked to update you on the latest developments in the Corridor movement, and as this is a highly dynamic and complex situation I asked for help from a number of folks, so what you'll here next is due to help from Pat Simmons of North Carolina, Jack Guinan and Tim Truscott of New York State, Gene Skoropowski of California, Bruce Agnew of Seattle, Kevin Brubaker of Chicago, and John Cikota of the FRA. I am relying not only upon government stats but also many conversations and interviews, but still I can only offer a thumbnail sketch today:

Starting from West to East:

1. California
   
2. Cascadia
   
3. Texas
   
4. Midwest
   
5. Gulf Coast
   
6. Florida
   
7. Southeast
   
8. Pennsylvania Keystone
   
9. Empire, and
   
10. Northern New England

1.   California --- California has major new rail service in its new Pacific Surfliner Corridor that replaced the San Diegans linking San Luis Obispo, LA, and San Diego, and the highly successful new Capital Corridor Service connecting Sacramento to both the San Jose and cities East of Sacramento.. The Pacific Surfliner trainsets are new, highly customer-friendly double-decker trains that make regular commuter trains look pretty old fashioned. Unfortunately, there is one fewer trainset as of right now, because earlier this week a truck decided it could beat the Surfliner to a grade crossing --- it lost the bet, but in the process destroyed about $10 million worth of equipment.
New Capitol Corridor service around Sacramento is also booming. The state has a 20-year plan to build rail, and as much as $4 billion already committed from public and private sources. They are also planning for a super high speed LA-SF train on a new corridor, but that will face voter and political hurdles due to cost factors.

2.   Cascadia --- The Cascadia Corridor, also known as the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor, runs for 466 miles from Vancouver, BC through Seattle and Portland to Eugene, Oregon. Almost exactly the same length as Amtrak's Boston-Washington Northeast Corridor, the Cascadia Corridor was developed beginning with discussions concerning rapid growth in the Washington State legislature, turning to action in the 1990's with the purchase of four European-designed TALGO trains for the service. In between - and continuing --- was strong support by Bruce Chapman and other leaders of the Discovery Institute, who viewed the Cascadia Corridor as essential to economic development, and environmental and quality of life issues, to serve a rapidly growing region of 8 million people. The Cascadia Project was developed from the outset as a public-private partnership whose major players are the Discovery Institute, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, Amtrak, and the governments of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, as well as local governments who have been rebuilding so many train stations that when you ride the corridor and see the stations, it's like watching half a century of neglect evaporate. It's quite a sight. By reaching out to create a multi-state, multi-faceted partnership, the Discovery Institute set an early example of just how to do it, and make it work. They have survived some serious setbacks, including one that wiped out a big chunk of the funding for new trains. They restored funding from a different source, but it was tremendous work by Bruce Agnew, the brilliant head of the Cascadia Project, and by WashDOT, certainly one of the most progressive state DOTs in the United States, but there will be other challenges. Here in the Southeast, you will face similar problems, over time. But the Cascadia Project is one I suggest you study in depth, because they have been at this for a decade, and they know many of the pitfalls you will be facing. Certainly, NCI would be glad to help you facilitate this.

3.   Texas --- this is a new Federal corridor designation, but there has been advocacy work for rail going on in Texas for a decade. The Chicago-San Antonio Texas Eagle, for example, was in danger of cancellation because three-day-a-week service was simply not working, there were equipment shortages, and severe congestion on the Union Pacific right-of-way following the UP-SP merger. Under prodding from a group of Texas Mayors and city councilors, and state rail advocates, and with active encouragement of NCI, advocates were able to a) Convince the Texas DOT to advance money to Amtrak for trainset rehabilitation b) not only keep the Eagle running but increase frequency to 7 days a week and 3) get the Texas DOT to petition for High Speed Rail designation for the corridor, which as noted above was largely achieved. The results: a major increase in ridership, a much higher profile in the region as a transportation option, and perhaps most important of all, a new alliance between citizens and the state DOT which before all this was just about 100% highway oriented.

4.   Midwest --- This is the most ambitious of the corridor projects outside of California. This is a nine-state, 3,000 mile, $4.1 Billion project to be accomplished over 10 years. Chicago is at the hub of this fantastic project, and serious money from Illinois and Wisconsin, as well as Amtrak, has already been committed. The State of Illinois has committed $70 million to rail improvements through the Illinois First program (passed in early 2000), some of which will be used on the Chicago-St. Louis segment. Illinois, Wisconsin and Amtrak are proceeding on a train procurement for trainsets to be used on the corridor, to be awarded in 2001. These will be fossil-fueled as opposed to the electric trainsets that will start serving the Northeast Corridor next month, but it is expected that they will be otherwise similar, with top speeds in the 110-125 mph range.

5.   Gulf Coast --- This corridor from Houston through New Orleans to Meridian and Birmingham on one leg, and Mobile on another, is just beginning to organize its work under the auspices of the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission, which has representatives from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi and in the future, in all likelihood Texas as well.

6.   Florida --- this too is still too new to call, ironically, given the funds and time expended on the now-canceled Florida Overland Express super high speed rail project. With cancellation of that 200 mph, multi-billion-dollar project, many felt that improved rail service would never come to Florida. Instead, Governor Jeb Bush has asked his state DOT to come up with a plan to use existing rail rights of way to better serve his state. This process is still in its early stages. Then, on November 7, Florida voters approved a ballot initiative ordering the state to support a new super High Speed Rail effort.

7.   Southeast --- As all of you know of course, North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia are working closely to bring about rapid implementation of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor. The Southeast HSR Corridor is one of the five original high speed corridors found in ISTEA, and is seen as one of the most potentially cost effective. Southeast HSR estimates place the economic benefits at $2.54 for every $1 invested in the project, one of if not the highest benefit-to-cost ratios of all the Federally-designated Corridors. As noted above, North Carolina has been the spark with its special state-supported service and its Sealed Corridor Project, but now everyone seems to be stepping up to the plate to commit funds, and to support a coordinated effort.

8.   Pennsylvania's Keystone Corridor --- The New York-Philadelphia-Harrisburg Keystone Corridor is in the happy position of being something of a Lazarus in these many efforts, as at one point service was deteriorating, track was rough, and Amtrak had considered taking down the catenary already in place on the Philadelphia-Harrisburg segment. Instead, with $70 million in Federal and state money, and $70 million of their own, Amtrak is restoring the line to like-new condition and implementing all-electric service all the way to New York City. With the recent extension to Pittsburgh of official high speed rail corridor designation, the Keystone Corridor now links all of central Pennsylvania to Washington and new York City. A couple of important developments: a new intermodal station is being built right at Harrisburg International Airport, which will be the first Amtrak Station to be built, as the Europeans have done for years, directly at a major airport; and, secondly, the last three at-grade highway crossings are being closed, making the Keystone Corridor the first 100% sealed corridor in the nation.

9.   Empire Corridor --- Another Lazarus. There will be a presentation separately on the Empire Corridor later on so I don't want to steal their thunder, but I'll tell you, this one is a winner. They have committed $654 million statewide, with the bulk of that going into right-of-way improvements and seven rebuilt 125 mph Turbotrains for Empire Corridor at about $10 million each. As noted, one of the Turbotrains is on display at the conference expo.

10.   Northern New England --- The last and perhaps most surprising new Federal rail corridor, this one, which will enable a return of Montreal-Boston service via White River Junction and Concord, New Hampshire, after a lapse of 40 years, has strong backing from Vermont Gov. Howard Dean who has been a driving force behind the restoration of daylight rail service to Vermont. The Boston-Portland connection on this corridor goes into service in a few weeks, and with high speed designation and the completion of a Rail Link between North and South Station in Boston, would become the new Northern end point of the Northeast Corridor, just as Richmond, upon completion of the work now under way supported by Gov. Gilmore, CSX, Amtrak, Richmond's Mayor Tim Kaine, and Dick Beadles, and business leaders, will become an extension South - although I won't call it the endpoint, as of course Richmond will be a key anchor on the new Southeast HSR corridor.

As I noted, these are just thumbnails, and more information is available on our website,
http://www.nationalcorridors.org

I want to add that in discussing each of these new rail corridors around the country, it is important that we remember a signal fact: all of these ambitious projects except for the Washington-Boston Northeast Corridor will run on rights-of-way belonging to the freight railroads.

And it is time --- it is past time, really --- for those of us who are in the business of advocating for better rail service to make sure that the freight railroads are at the center of any plans.

The freights spent many years getting out from under passenger service, and even now, although important people like John Snow are working to ensure that whatever happens actually works, we are laboring under some difficult conditions. We all want passenger service to run efficiently, safely, and on time. This means new capacity. Yet if the freights build new capacity - if they put down new tracks and signals --- the first thing that happens is that their local or state property taxes go up. Now, the last time I looked, Interstate 81 didn't pay taxes as it went through town. In fact, of course, it and the rest of the Interstates receive billions. Yet we want the freight railroads to not only accept more passenger trains, but to build the capacity ­ maybe with some help --- to do so --- and then tax them on it. I propose the following: it is time to eliminate property taxes on freight railroads. And it is also time to extend serious help to capacity building in general. We spent billions on the best highway system in the world, we spent billions more on airports and air traffic control ­ it is time in America to create a balanced transportation system, and invest in rail capacity just as we did in those other modes.

Right now, there is before Congress the High Speed Rail Investment Act, a bill providing $10 Billion in bonding authority over 10 years. While the states are committing hundreds of millions of dollars, we need to make this a national effort, just like the highway system and the air transportation system. It is not a matter of getting even, or even of fairness. While it is true that tax subsidies have gone primarily to highway projects, even highway departments are beginning to acknowledge that while good highways are a wonderful thing, they are not the ONLY thing!

Right now, Congressmen are in their home district recovering from yesterday. But next week they will head back to Washington for a rare lame duck session. The HSRIA is a part of the omnibus tax bill at the center of contention. The HSRIA has the support of more than 50 Senators and 175 House members. There is no reason it should not pass, but remember we're talking about Washington here, and relevance and fairness are not always part of the equation.

If it looks like the portions of the tax bill that are contentious remain so, an effort will be made to pull out non-controversial elements and put them in a new bill. The HSRIA should be a part of that new bill. So, watch Washington, stay in touch with your delegation, and tell them, if it looks like the omnibus tax bill will go down in flames, get the HSRIA out of there and pass it with the other bills that do have broad support. And be sure to tell the President --- whoever that might be - to support the corridor movement in the future. There's a lot riding on it.