Hotline #735

A transportation appropriations conference is expected shortly after Congress returns September 9. Hill staff are expected to work on the two Amtrak reauthorization bills before then. An energy bill conference is expected in September; both bills contain the employer transit subsidy language that we like. A bill authorizing FRA safety programs has gone to the White House. All NARP members should be quizzing their Congressional candidates on rail, especially on H.R.4414, the Amtrak trust fund bill.

As if Amtrak didn't have enough problems this summer, now there is a new discount airline called Skybus offering no-frills, $99 shuttle service between Newark and Fort Lauderdale, beginning September 2. This is similar to the old Peoples Express that did harm to Amtrak's lucrative Florida routes before folding in the mid-1980's.

The last remaining rail labor contract dispute, involving Amtrak and the Dispatchers, was decided August 19 in Amtrak's favor. Now everyone has a current contract.

In his acceptance speech last night, President Bush said he would veto any spending bills passed by Congress that exceed his original request. That would seem to include the DOT appropriations bills. Both the House version, at $23.5 billion, and the Senate version, at $23.9 billion, are more than the President's request for $23.4 billion. That may not seem like much of a difference, but we must remember that the House amount for Amtrak is insufficient to begin with. Any conference attempt to avoid a Bush veto on the back of Amtrak must be averted. It is also possible that Congress will call the President's bluff, because vetoing a transportation bill that would keep people working would be a risky move for him.

Representative DeFazio (D.-Ore.), is the latest co-sponsor of H.R.4414, the Ampenny bill.

Word from Transport 2000 is that Canadian Pacific may be getting rid of the Montreal-St. John route used by VIA Rail's Atlantic. This is the route across northern Maine. NARP members in Maine are encouraged to ask the state to prevent the shutdown of the line.

Union Pacific and Chicago & North Western have filed a notice of intent to file an application for common control with the ICC, according to the Journal of Commerce. The two Class I railroads already have a very close operating relationship and the UP already has a 24% non-voting share interest in the North Western. The North Western has not been pro-passenger and has not had any intercity service since it signed off on the original Amtrak agreement of 1971. But its mainline across Iowa is being considered for 403(b) service and it is challenging the Wisconsin Central's takeover of the most likely passenger route between Milwaukee and Green Bay.