Hotline #725

The House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee had its mark-up on the 1993 transportation budget yesterday. For Amtrak, they have proposed $331 million for operations, $74 million for capital, $146 million for the mandatory retirement payments, and nothing for NECIP. That puts us about where we want to be for operations and mandatory payments. The drop in capital is a problem, but not a surprise in a year that will be tough for all domestic discretionary programs. As for the Northeast Corridor, the zero, while it sounds bad, is actually typical for the House during the last couple years. The question is what the Senate and Senator Lautenberg (D.-N.J.) will do about that.

Transit figures were hard to come by, though it appeared that new starts and rail modernization came out well. More details on that next week.

The House narrowly defeated the balanced budget amendment yesterday. That is good news for Amtrak and transit, but it's not over yet. Speaker Foley (D.-Wash.) told the House that they would still have to make tough choices without the amendment and referred to the plans released by Budget Committee Chairman Panetta (D.-Cal.) in May. Of the three Panetta alternatives, two eliminated Amtrak funding.

Following a series of inspections since January, Amtrak and the Food and Drug Administration have announced a program to take preventative steps in Amtrak's food handling procedures. These steps include better inspection of refrigeration units, better employee training, increased fumigation, better cleaning of food service areas, and better trash removal procedures. While these changes will come at a cost to Amtrak, they are necessary in the interest of passenger safety.

The ancient Railway Labor Act of 1926 is the real villain in the railroad contract negotiation process, according to the June 10Journal of Commerce. The paper said the act allows the unions and railroads to "pass the buck, and hope that arbitrators and Congress take care of them. Therefore, there is no real spirit of negotiation on either side and talks drag on for years, while pay increases and work rule modernization sit on the back burner. The paper called on Congress to amend the act.

Voters in Maine on June 9 approved state bond money that would serve as the state match for the $30 million provided in the ISTEA legislation for Boston-Portland track work. That money still needs to be appropriated by Congress.

Amtrak this week has begun a six-month trial of a satellite-based communications system, called RailCom. It is being used on the Empire Builder to allow continuous two-way communications between the On-Board Service Chief and Amtrak's national operations center in Philadelphia. It will be helpful in emergencies, reporting train status, reporting food items sold out, and selling sleeping car no-show spaces.

Amtrak has become the first non-airline carrier to be listed in the Official Airlines Guide. Fares and schedules for seven short-haul city-pairs were listed in the April edition.

The European Community has unveiled its ten-year, $450 billion intermodal transport plan. Much of it is improved road access to the poorer, southern countries, but also includes $590 million towards high-speed rail.

The new Spanish high-speed trains, according to news reports, have been running full. The AVE opened April 20. Six round trips a day go between Madrid and Seville.