FRIENDS OF AMTRAK UPDATE 7/7/2000. Dear Friends of Amtrak: AMTRAK UNVEILS NEW LOGO / OFFERS CUSTOMER GUARANTEES-- As I reported it would, Amtrak, on July 6, unveiled its new logo and introduced a new commitment to customer satisfaction, promising to compensate riders for unsatisfactory experiences. Amtrak passengers who believe they did not receive a safe, comfortable and enjoyable trip will be entitled to a certificate good for future Amtrak travel at equal cost. Amtrak has been training 24,000 employees" to take personal initiative and do what is necessary to solve guest problems." To encourage Amtrak's 24,000 employees, they will get a bonus equal to the average Amtrak ticket price (about $50) every month that 99.9 percent of customers are satisfied. Meanwhile the new logo design depicts three parallel lines winding their way to a horizon and replaces what has been known as the "pointless arrow." A photo of the new Amtrak logo is now on the Friends of Amtrak website...just click on the "News Update" link on the main menu or hit: http://trainweb.com/crocon/amtrak.html#News I'll be on train #130 this morning (Friday 7/7) and #163 tomorrow and hopefully can catch a few photo ops of the new branding. If so I'll be adding that to the website. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (NJ-D) has created a web site to build support for S1900 & S1144. It is: <http://lautenberg.senate.gov/highspeed/> Go to the section labeled "Support" for sample letters. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LEGISLATION UPDATE: H.R.3700, the High Speed Rail Investment Act (HSRIA), is up to 120 sponsors. On the Senate side, Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) became the 48th sponsor of the Senate HSRIA (S.1900). Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) signed on as a cosponsor on 6/13/2000 and Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) on 6/12/2000. It's still important for these non-sponsoring senators -- whose states have much to gain from the bill -- to hear strong support for HSRIA from back home: Abraham (R-MI), Collins (R-ME), Fitzgerald (R-IL), Gorton (R-WA), Lugar (R-IN), Santorum (R-PA), Voinovich (R-OH). IF YOU LIVE IN ANY OF THE SIX STATES ABOVE PLEASE CONTACT THESE SENATORS! For more info see the NARP HOTLINE: http://www.narprail.org/hot145.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- Friends of Amtrak supporter, Pat Fitzhugh, has written an article about the "City of New Orleans" accident in Illinois last year (a sad but true account of what happens when people don't obey crossing signals). The right people saw the article, and Pat ended up winning an "excellence in journalism" award for it. Hopefully, this will get the article in front of more people and educate them about railroad crossing safety. The article is now posted on Themestream, a Web-based publishing company. If you're interested in reading the article, please visit: http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_article.gsp?c_id=62301 --------------------------------------------------------------------- MORE AVIATION SUBSIDIES Kansas City, Mo., voters will be asked Aug. 8 to approve up to $395 million of bonds to finance airport projects over the next five years, according to an airport official. $110 million of the bonds would be used to upgrade a maintenance facility for Trans World Airlines Inc. The rest of the bond proceeds would finance a central car rental facility, new long-term parking and a light-rail system to link parking, car rental and terminal facilities. The last time voters were asked to approve airport bonds was in 1988 when $330 million of bonds were authorized. Hmmmmm.... MEANWHILE, reports in the "Boston Globe" suggest that summer passengers should expect delays of up to two hours at Boston's Logan International Airport. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Funding has been approved by the state of CA for the 6th round trip train on the San Joaquin route. At the opening of the Bakersfield Station on July 4, it was announced that the Fall schedule changes would see the addition of the sixth roundtrip Valley train, with direct service to Sacramento. It was announced that the 6th San Joaquin will provide direct service for Valley riders continuing on to the California Zephyr at Sacramento, eliminating the need for bus transferring at Stockton. Bakersfield, the southern end of Amtrak's San Joaquin line, is the 14th busiest station in Amtrak's network of 500 national stops, with nearly a half-million travelers passing through the station annually, and it is home to the new $15 million Amtrak depot. The city of Bakersfield offered up the land, Amtrak took care of furnishings at the station and state and federal transportation funds paid for the rest of the $15 million project. --------------------------------------------------------------------- In the last update I mentioned that House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bud Shuster is known as "Mr. Highway" in his home state of Pennsylvania. I am told that in the Altoona, PA area, there are the Bud Shuster Highway, the Bud Shuster Byway (seriously!), and perhaps one or two more. The Highway is I-99, which runs about 52 miles from Tyrone, PA to Bedford, PA (through Bud Schuster's hometown, Altoona) connects Altoona with the Pennsylvania turnpike and I-76 and I-70. So I-99/US22 is THE "R. Bud Shuster Highway." ------------------------------------------------------------------ The First two of the eleven sets of Surfliner Sets are in. I rode the new equipment earlier this month on its first regular run from Oceanside to San Luis Obispo. I found the Business Class Cars to be rather interesting, as they have A/V in the seat back in front of the seat in front of you. They also have upper restrooms at one end of each car. I have some photos on my trainweb site with the Surfliner equipment. They are in the file http://www.trainweb.org/westcoastamtraktrain/images/ Also of interesting note is that the baggage car is in the forward end of the cab car and the cafe area is on the lower level of the car. Source: Peter Warner, from an onboard observation. One set of Amfleet cars was released back to the Chicago Hub last week with the first three weeks of operation of the Surfliner Cars. Peter Warner ----------------------------------------------------------------- There is a great new photo of Train #175 crossing the bridge at Nan in Niantic, CT on May 30, 2000 now posted on the Friends of Amtrak website: http://trainweb.com/crocon/amtrak.html Photo, by Leo King, is noteworthy for its unique vantage point. Don't miss it! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Catch the National Corridors Initiative website at: http://www.nationalcorridors.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------ At Beech Grove it was announced on June 23 that Amtrak has just signed an agreement to purchase an additional 30 P-42 locomotives from GE and cut the overhaul and re-installation of 23 stored F-40 locomotives in this fiscal year back to only 18, a reduction of five. -------------------------------------------------------------- INDIANA HIGH SPEED RAIL ASSOCIATION Board of Directors Friends of the Indiana Association AGENDAS ARE BEING SENT TO BOARD MEMBERS to include discussion on - # Amtrak & federal updates (officials are being invited) # Legislative Agenda 2001 # High Speed Rail Safety # September 8 Annual Meeting & Seminar # "The Indiana Corridor" Marketing Initiative You are warmly invited to the Indiana Association's BOARD OF DIRECTORS & MEMBERSHIP MEETING Tuesday, August 1, 2000 12:30 to 2:30 pm INDIANA GOVERNMENT CENTER SOUTH Conference Center 400 West Washington Street Indianapolis, Indiana For further information Call (219) 887-1351 <mailto:wdh.indiana@att.net>wdh.indiana@att.net -------------------------------------------------------------- INDIANA HIGH SPEED RAIL ASSOCIATION Annual Meeting and GOLDEN SPIKE SEMINAR on the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative Friday, September 8, 2000 SEPTEMBER 7 HOTEL RESERVATIONS: $99.00 to August 17, 2000 Courtyard by Marriott I-94 & Kennedy Avenue Hammond, Indiana (219) 845-6350 "Indiana High Speed Rail" The Courtyard is a 45 minute drive from Chicago's Midway and O'Hare Airports -------------------------------------------------------------- Train Delays on the IC Route: (Not from AMTRAK) For those passengers who will be riding in the Chicago- St. Louis corridor, please be aware of possible train delays entering and leaving Chicago along the Illinois Central Railroad route. The Illinois Central Railroad began a rail laying project on Monday June 26. They are laying new rail (welded rail) and replacing the old jointed rail and replacing a small bridge. Both are taking place on their Northbound or #2 track. Work gangs are out there from about 7am until about 6 pm. Because of this project what is a double track railroad will be reduced to a single track railroad in the places that the rail gang is working. This project is to take about 8 weeks to complete. During these times ALL of the Chicago-St.Louis corridor trains, (Trains 300, 303, 304, 305, 21 and 22) might experience some sort of delay. Delay might vary but can be anywhere from 15 minutes to about an hour or possibly more. Most of this delay is attributed to running at reduced rates of speed. Instead of 79 mph it might be as low as 10 mph. Crossing over from one track to another as all the switches must be thrown by hand, and complying with the necessary operating rules while moving through these work locations are other reasons for delay. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Brown has posted eight new images of the Amtrak Cascades Talgos on his website at: http://www.photosbystevenjbrown.com/narp/cascades/talgo.html ------------------------------------------------------------------- OHIO ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS PRESS RELEASE OARP News Contact: Dominic Liberatore Northeast Ohio Director July 6, 2000 (216) 283-0200 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (216) 328-4687 (pager) ADVOCACY GROUP APPLAUDS LORAIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FOR PURCHASING ENDANGERED HISTORIC ELYRIA TRAIN DEPOT County takes important first step to creating transportation center ELYRIA -- The Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers (OARP) is extremely grateful that the Lorain County Commissioners have agreed today to commit funding for the purchase of the historic New York Central depot in the heart of downtown Elyria. The acquisition of the station was due to the hard work of OARP, Lorain County Transit's (LCT) Board of Directors, LCT General Manager Deborah Mohr and the previous owner Bill Kennedy. The purchase was made on behalf of LCT, which plans to restore the vacant facility as a transportation center for its bus operations and offices. Preliminary plans also might restore the depot to its original use as a train station for the growing number of Amtrak passenger services linking Lorain County residents to the East Coast, Chicago and the rest of the nation. "With the 75-year-old depot in the hands of a public transportation agency, it means the depot has a greater chance of being restored to its intended use," said OARP's Northeast Ohio Director Dominic Liberatore. "One of the key factors the federal government looks at before awarding funds to a project like this is whether the property is owned by a public agency. That factor was missing last time." In 1996, a $2.5 million effort to renovate the Elyria depot with offices, restaurant, and a train station was halted when the federal government rejected a $1.9 million historic enhancement grant for the project (the city, Ohio Rail Development Commission and Amtrak were to provide the remaining funds). The depot restoration was the highest-ranking project in Ohio that year not to get a federal historic enhancement grant. At the time, the building was owned by Mr. Kennedy. "OARP will work with LCT, the city of Elyria, Lorain County and others to create a station task force for developing a new funding package," Liberatore said. "That will make the New York Central Depot more than just a functional place to board buses and trains, or for people to make transfers between them. It will be a jewel in downtown Elyria and serve as a catalyst to the revitalization plans for the entire central business district." MORE If the depot is redeveloped as a transportation center, LCT officials said they would like to make it the headquarters of their Lorain County bus operations, which include existing routes to Oberlin, Lorain, North Ridgeville and Hopkins International Airport, as well as future expansions. Those services would allow LCT bus riders to transfer to Elyria's six daily Amtrak passenger trains. Amtrak plans to expand service through Elyria later this year. Greyhound officials also have expressed an interest in relocating to the site. Parking and a taxi stand will be offered. The depot also offers easy pedestrian access to all of downtown Elyria. The New York Central Depot features an ornate rotunda and a windowed cupola at the center of a vaulted ceiling. However, a drop-ceiling keeps this impressive dome from being seen. The station also has an underpass beneath the adjacent Norfolk Southern tracks. The tunnel once led to a pair of track-side platforms where rail travelers once boarded New York Central passenger trains prior to 1968. Elyria regained passenger rail service from Amtrak a decade later, but at a new station a half-mile farther east down the tracks at 410 East River Road, near East Bridge Street. Since 1990, Amtrak has tripled the number of trains serving Elyria each day. Train travel to and from Elyria has grown from 4,586 passengers in 1998 to 5,876 in 1999 -- a 28 percent rise, according to Amtrak's Government & Public Affairs Department in Chicago. The new station, actually a converted trailer-home, is located on the south side of the tracks where passengers can board only one train at a time. While that is not a big problem now, it will become one starting later this summer. That's when Amtrak plans to start a new service between Chicago and Philadelphia called the "Skyline Connection." However, Elyria will not be a stop for this service's daily eastbound and westbound trains. According to Amtrak's Planning Department, switching the "Skyline Connection" trains onto the south track (closest to the current Elyria station) would disrupt the flow of frequent train traffic and cause conflicts with existing Amtrak passenger and Norfolk Southern freight schedules. Since the New York Central Depot has the structural capability of boarding passengers from any one of the railway's three tracks, this increased flexibility should allow Elyria to gain a stop on the "Skyline Connection." If that happens, the service's eastbound train from Chicago to the East Coast would stop in Elyria at about 8:20 p.m., with the westbound train stopping here at about 1:10 p.m. The Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers, a nonprofit organization founded in 1973, advocates more and better passenger rail and transit services to improve transportation choice, mobility, economic growth and environmental quality. END ------------------------------------------------------ Around The Rumor Mill: No rumors today. ----------------------------------------------------------- If you would like to submit a trip report please follow the guidelines at the following site: http://trainweb.com/crocon/tripreports/send.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Amtrak's Mid-Atlantic Division Safety Council has a new web site dedicated to the safety of its employees and guests: http://www.safetycouncil-amtrak.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ohio residents...Don't forget the OARP's 24 hour hotline: OARP's 24-hour hotline: (614) 470-0334 ================================================================> AMTRAK PRESS RELEASE: June 30, 2000 BOMBARDIER/ALSTOM, AMTRAK RESUME TESTING OF ACELA EXPRESS HIGH-SPEED TRAIN ON NORTHEAST CORRIDOR PHILADELPHIA - The Bombardier/ALSTOM manufacturing consortium and Amtrak have resumed testing of the new Acela Express high-speed train on the Northeast Corridor following modifications to the locomotive undercarriages. New, longer bolts were installed in the truck assemblies after some of the original bolts were discovered broken or missing during earlier tests. The use of longer bolts was proposed by the manufacturers, and safety engineers for the Federal Railroad Administration approved the resumption of testing. The train resumed testing between Newark and Washington this week and will make test runs in New England next week. Source: Amtrak ======================================================================= AMTRAK PRESS RELEASE: June 21, 2000 MAYOR THOMAS CARPER OF MACOMB, ILLINOIS APPOINTED CHAIR OF THE AMTRAK MAYORS' ADVISORY COUNCIL WASHINGTON, DC - Mayor Thomas Carper of Macomb, IL was appointed Chair of Amtrak's national Mayors' Advisory Council at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Summer Meeting last week in Seattle. For the past year, Mayor Carper has served as the Council's Vice-Chair. The Council was formed by the Amtrak Board of Directors to bolster local support for intercity passenger rail, raise awareness of its important transportation role, and support Amtrak's Strategic Business Plan through closer partnerships between Amtrak and cities and towns. The 22-member mayoral body is balanced for geography, city/town population, and party affiliation. "I am honored to be chosen as the Chair of the Amtrak Mayors' Advisory Council, and I look forward to strengthening Amtrak's state and local partnerships which will help improve our economy and Amtrak's bottom-line," said Mayor Carper. "As the mayor of a city that depends on Amtrak, I know that these partnerships will enable Amtrak to deliver better intercity passenger rail service to meet the growing transportation needs of our citizens." "There has been a clamoring for more and better rail service throughout the U.S., and the Amtrak Mayors' Advisory Council is now providing a platform for the mayors to collectively raise their voices to support a stronger Amtrak for their communities," said Mayor John Robert Smith, Amtrak Board member and mayor of Meridian, Mississippi. "I know that Mayor Carper's leadership as Chair of the Council will help achieve an economically stronger Macomb and Amtrak." As Vice-Chair, Mayor Carper represented the Council at the High-Speed Ground Transportation Association Annual Conference in Philadelphia and at the Amtrak Customer Advisory Council in Milwaukee. He will be a featured speaker at the National Corridors Initiative later this month in Washington, D.C. Mayor Carper has also been a strong advocate for a long-term, dedicated source of capital funding for intercity passenger rail service with the Illinois Congressional delegation. Source: Amtrak ===============================================================> The Friends of Amtrak e-mail distribution list has now passed the 1,900 mark of total addresses, which includes listserves. Please help by following these guidelines: If you would like to change your e-mail address for this distribution list please fill out the form found at: http://www.connix.com/~crocon/form2.html If you would like to UNSUBSCRIBE from this mailing list go to: http://www.connix.com/~crocon/form3.html THANK YOU! --Craig ------------------------------------------------------------- Regards, ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine.
Thanks Chris for the great report. I know you must have put a lot of work into posting it & just wanted to let you know I read every bit & check out most of the links too. Please keep them coming when you can. Thanks again Reggie ------------------
You're nice to say that. I was wondering if it was overkill, I'm from the Confused Corridor and tend to think in those terms. But I realized that there is a lot more to Amtrak than the NEC. ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine.
