UTU News Digest - Tuesday, August 10, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Tuesday, August 10, 1999

GEORGIA: Governor takes charge of state rail lines

ATLANTA -- Georgia's plan for a $2 billion network of commuter and high-speed rail lines could soon have a new chief engineer -- the governor.

Five years ago, the state's rail proposals were part of the charge of the then little-known Georgia Rail Passenger Authority. Then a year ago, the purse-string-holding state Department of Transportation board adopted a policy paper saying it would decide whether, when and how train service would be launched in Georgia.

Now, Gov. Roy Barnes and his ultra-powerful Georgia Regional Transportation Authority likely will have swaying influence.

"The governor wants to be able to have direct input in the future direction that transportation is going to take in the state, rail being a part of that," Barnes' spokeswoman, Jocelyn Butler, said. "He feels it's a very appropriate thing for GRTA to be a part of, with these three groups (GRTA, GRPA and DOT) working in conjunction."

This past week, during a two-day workshop, the DOT board talked of hiring a "program manager", a kind of rail czar, to oversee the entire program.

According to a 44-page report outlining each of those rail line projects and the responsibilities DOT and GRPA would have, the rail czar would be guided by a DOT-created panel made up of representatives from those two groups. The DOT was to vote on the issue next week.

But that has been put on hold because the governor's office wanted input.

Deputy DOT Commissioner Steve Parks said he doesn't have specifics on how the arrangement will work. But Barnes' office is proposing a team of two members from three groups, DOT, GRPA and from GRTA. The governor would appoint the chairman.

"The intent was never to omit GRTA out of anything," Parks said. "The idea of an implementation plan was a second step. We started on this idea before GRTA ever existed. And it's simply a matter now of recognizing where they are."

The 15-member GRTA board--with its array of representatives from environmentalists to developers to planners--most likely will go beyond transportation and make decisions based on issues such as economic development and the image of the region, said Michael Meyer, director of Georgia Tech's Transportation Research and Education Center.

"The politics of it are such that the GRTA board would have broad perspective," he said. "The DOT would consider those things, but would look (more narrowly) at the transportation aspects of it. Believe me, in both environments, the politics are going to be significant"

Plans for a statewide system, which has become increasingly popular in metro Atlanta and Georgia as communities struggle to come into compliance with federal clean-air standards, call for six commuter lines from Atlanta to Athens, Bremen, Canton, Covington, Gainesville and Senoia. It also includes high-speed links to cities in nearby states, as well as studies of suburb-to-suburb links on metro Atlanta's north side. If everything stays on track, lines from Atlanta to Macon and to Athens are likely to be the first ones built, by 2004.

DOT Programming Director Paul Mullins said the agency hopes to hire a consultant by the end of August. Three studies are now unofficially under way, one looking at work on a rail line from Atlanta to Macon, another examining the environmental impact on the line to Athens, and the third looking at the effect rail would have on freight traffic in the Atlanta area.

Here's a quick look at some of the projects:

Commuter rail: Includes suburb-to-city trains on six lines with a total of 39 stations in 22 counties expected to contain more than 70 percent of the entire state population by 2010. Cost is roughly $550 million. A seventh line from Atlanta to Griffin is being considered.

High-speed rail: Includes daily trains at speeds up to 110 mph on seven lines with 15 stations and 790 miles of upgraded railroads. Cost is estimated at $905 million. A "first-priority" network would be from Atlanta to Albany, Savannah and Jacksonville. Later lines will go from Atlanta to Macon, via Griffin; Griffin to Columbus; Greenville, S.C., to Atlanta; and Atlanta to Augusta.

Multimodal passenger terminal: Would be built in the heart of downtown near Five Points and be the major terminal of the high-speed and commuter services. It would provide facilities for Amtrak, connections to MARTA rail and bus service. The cost is about $164 million.

Other rail corridors: A 40-mile Marietta-Lawrenceville line is being studied with $2.4 million in federal money and $600,000 in state money. It is supposed to be complete in 2001. A 100-mile high-speed line from Atlanta to Chattanooga would be studied with $5 million from TEA-21 and $1.25 million from the state. It's supposed to begin in 2001 and end a year later.

The department says it has found the potential for using up to $100 million a year for rail passenger projects from federal money in the so-called TEA-21 law. But it can only be used with matching funds, of about $32 million a year. And the state will have to ask Congress for other money that is needed for rail activities that don't yet fit the TEA-21 rules.

Those holes in funding mean GRTA could play an even more crucial role. The DOT constitutionally is restricted from using the state's gas tax for roads and bridges. But the Legislature gave GRTA immense powers to raise and spend money for virtually any transportation project.

The success of commuter rail, GRTA spokesman Charles Walston says, is going to depend on how well it's integrated with the rest of the transportation system in the region. That means webbing it to park-and-ride lots, MARTA and express buses--all things within GRTA's purview.

"Commuter rail is part of the big picture, it's not a solution standing out on its own," Walston said. "The governor is a big picture guy."

COLORADO: Amtrak Tests New, High-Speed Trains

PUEBLO -- On a remote, brush-covered prairie in southeastern Colorado, what has been billed the fastest train in the country is being put to the test.

A group of engineers watch from a gravel road as the sleek, bullet-nosed train flashes through the landscape of sagebrush and sunflowers. Eventually it will reach 150 mph, with the capability to go even faster.

"We had it up to 167 mph a couple weeks ago," Ernie Chance, Amtrak's assistant chief mechanic officer, said from inside the engineer's quarters. "And it felt like she still had more power in her."

It's one of 20 high-speed electric trains named Acelas that Amtrak is building as part of a $2 billion project.

The Acelas, unveiled in March, will be used along routes connecting Boston, New York and Washington, with the first passenger runs scheduled for November or December.

But for now, one of the electric-powered trains is running in circles -- lots of them.

It is being tested for up to 16 hours a day on a 13-mile track at the Transportation Technology Center, which sprawls across 52 square miles of land about 25 miles northeast of Pueblo. The center is a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, representing North American freight railroads and Amtrak.

"It's remote and we can do a lot of testing with relative secrecy," said Keith Hawthorne, the center's vice president of technology. "Our customers like that. They want to be able to iron out their problems in private."

The Acelas are designed to tilt gently as the trains rush around curves. That doesn't promote speed as much as it prevents centrifugal force from throwing the passengers around.

But even with the tilt mechanism deactivated for a test run at a mere 110 mph, the ride on the special test track is much smoother and freer of vibration than Amtrak's existing Metroliner service in the Northeast Corridor.

There's no need to grab the seats for balance while walking down the train's aisle. Filling in a crossword puzzle is easy -- if you know the answers -- and the quiet ride makes conversation easy.

"The bistro car will have standup tables with pedestal seating like a bar," said Chance. "With this ride, especially with the tilt-system on, it should be as comfortable for people to stand up as it is to sit."

Two cars of the train that is being tested have been transformed into traveling laboratories, filled with computers, printers and miles of cable. A dozen engineers perform tests on the train's propulsion, endurance, acceleration, energy consumption, wheel wear and ride quality.

"Everyday we have a problem that we fix the next day," said Gilles Losier, the supervisor of quality assurance and testing for Bombardier Inc., the train's Montreal-based manufacturer.

The most difficult problem encountered so far occurred when the wheel sets began shaking at speeds over 130 mph. The wheels, a French design, were reshaped to fit more closely with the American-made track.

Initially, old tracks on the Washington-New York line will limit the Acelas to 135 mph, Chance said. That's still 10 mph faster than the Metroliners run now, and will slice 16 minutes off the trip.

After the tracks are reconfigured, the trains will be able to run at 150 mph, cutting an additional 13 minutes off the trip, said John Wolf, an Amtrak spokesman.

The New York-Boston leg will require new overhead electrical wires in addition to track improvements. Wolf says Amtrak hopes to trim that trip from 4 1/2 hours to three hours.

OHIO: Rail merger means delays for Amtrak passengers

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A rail merger has Amtrak passengers traveling through Ohio this summer off-track. They're suffering through long delays.

On-time performance for Amtrak is as low as it's been in years, Thomas M. O'Leary, executive director of the Ohio Rail Development Commission, told The Plain Dealer.

The primary cause is the June 1 takeover of Conrail lines by CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp.

CSX and Norfolk Southern paid $10.3 billion for Conrail's routes, taking control of virtually all rail traffic east of the Mississippi River. But both railroads have struggled to serve customers while folding Conrail's operations into their own.

Problems include trains sitting idle because there are no crews to operate them, crowded lines, congested rail yards and computer breakdowns.

Though Amtrak was not involved in the Conrail takeover, it is suffering because some of its trains run on Norfolk Southern and CSX tracks.

Trains have been running so late this summer that Amtrak agents have regularly sent out for food for people stranded at the Cleveland station, agent Guy Bonet said.

Thursday, the Pennsylvanian, an Amtrak train that operates between Philadelphia and Chicago, pulled into Cleveland six hours later than scheduled.

"The train would go along for 20 miles at 50 to 60 mph, then stop. We'd just wait and a train would pass us by and then we'd go,'' said passenger William McManus, who realized he could have driven from Philadelphia to Cleveland in the time it took the train to get there.

While freight railroads are required to give track priority to Amtrak trains, delays have been common, particularly on the Pennsylvanian and Capitol Limited, which operates between Washington and Chicago. Both trains pass through Pittsburgh, the site of some of Norfolk Southern's worst problems.

"There's no way to run around a train that's in front of you,'' said Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband. "We are moving the Amtrak trains as quickly as we can, even quicker than our own trains.''

So far this month, the Pennsylvanian and Capitol Limited have been on time only 10 percent of the time.

Two other Amtrak routes through Ohio, the Cardinal, which stops in Cincinnati and Hamilton, and the Three Rivers, which stops in Fostoria, Akron and Youngstown, have been on time this month 25 percent and 20 percent of the time, respectively.

Amtrak officials in Chicago have brought flowers to passengers arriving late, and train crews make regular announcements about the delays and even hand out letters to passengers on tardy trains, apologizing and explaining the problems.

Besides asking for patience, Amtrak is taking more concrete steps, issuing discount coupons for future train travel and, in some cases, providing alternate transportation for passengers who have been seriously inconvenienced, said Amtrak spokeswoman Debbie Hare.

WASHINGTON: Reflective-tape plan for 1.3 million cars could cost shippers, carriers millions of dollars

WASHINGTON -- Rail shippers and carriers could face hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs if the Federal Railroad Administration proceeds with a plan to require reflective tape on the 1.3 million railcars used in the United States, the Journal of Commerce reported.

Rail customers, lessors and carriers are watching closely as the FRA considers a measure to require reflective tape to reduce accidents in which drivers hit the side of a train. A total of 27 people died and 247 others were hurt last year in 266 such accidents.

Potential expenses from the potential requirement -- known as reflectorization -- is a pivotal question.

"Cost is a major issue," said John Tichon, a spokesman for Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich. At $400 a car, putting reflectors on the estimated 600,000 cars that shippers lease or own would cost $240 million initially.

"We do not have any plans to put reflectors on freight cars," said Tichon, who emphasized that Dow would not ship any cars that lacked required safety equipment if standards were set.

A Department of Transportation research study pegged initial application at $19 a car. That study was based on cost data from reflective material makers. Annual maintenance is another matter.

"It's more than just putting material on the car and forgetting about it," Tichon said. "You have to make sure it is up to standards and not damaged. It's not just a one-time thing."

The DOT's estimate of maintenance costs is $20 a year per car. Industry sources peg those costs at $100 plus per car.

"The real issue here is not the method of costing," said George Gavalla, the FRA's associate administrator for safety. "The real issue is how effective this will be . . . and what kind of maintenance requirements will they have? We can conclude reflectorization improves visibility of freight cars, but to what extent can they prevent accidents?"

He wouldn't say when the FRA would decide whether to issue a rule.

Many industry officials say privately that they believe the FRA will propose standards. New DOT rules announced in March requires truckers to retrofit older equipment so that all highway trailers have reflective markings.

"Reflectorization could be a big-money item," said Ed Rastatter, director of policy for the National Industrial Transportation League. "It is something that sounds logical because the trucks do it and it seems to work. However, it looks like relatively small numbers of accidents occur at these passive crossings where reflectorization might help to save some lives."

There were nearly 3,000 crossing accidents in 1998. Of the 266 incidents in which vehicles hit the side of trains, just 88 occurred at night at unprotected crossings.

Because the other 178 incidents happened in daylight or at a crossing with warning devices, some have questioned whether the money might not be better spent elsewhere.

"The (DOT) study underestimates cost by a significant amount," said Tom Simpson, vice president of a supplier association called the Railway Progress Institute. "I hope FRA will look at something more simple, like education."

Simpson, a past president of an industry group that aims to cut crossing accidents, said, "This seems to be singling out a small fraction of the accidents and throwing a lot of money at it."

Some railroads already use reflective material.

At least 90% of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway cars have reflectors, as do approximately one-third of all Union Pacific Railroad equipment.

Major lessors that control more than 25% of railcars seem cautious. Aaron Hoffman, a spokesman for GATX Corp., said that company supports "these industry-related initiatives because they improve the safety of the equipment. There are considerations that the number of markings be minimized so they are efficient and do not confuse motorists.

"There also are considerations of the need to perform maintenance on the markings on the same time schedule as normal maintenance," he said.

None of GATX's 117,000 cars in the United States has reflective markings, Hoffman said, because the company does not want to apply them before regulations are set. If the markings were applied beforehand, Hoffman said, GATX could face the additional cost of changing the type of reflector or its placement. Gerald Birmingham, senior vice president of GE Railcar Services, said that while a lot of information still needs to be gathered, he has concerns.

"We want to be good citizens," said Birmingham, whose company has the industry's largest fleet at 182,000 cars. "One of the concerns we have had is that the old labels were somewhat useless because they couldn't be kept clean."

More than 20 years ago, railroads abandoned an effort to improve equipment tracing by putting bar codes on cars. That plan failed because it was too costly to keep equipment clean enough for the bar codes to be read.

"There is considerable disagreement on how to keep the luminescence up to standard," said Jeff Hudson, vice president of business planning for First Union Rail Corp. "A highway trailer sees the truck wash periodically. Railcars only get visited by Mother Nature."

CANADA: Canadian National names executive vice president

MONTREAL -- Canadian National announced that Jeff Ward will become its executive vice-president, strategic planning, and Claude Mongeau its senior vice-president and chief financial officer.

Ward and Mongief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier and assume their new duties on Oct. 1, 1999.The announcement follows Michael Sabia's decision to accept the position of vice-chairman and chief executive officer of Bell Canada International Inc., a subsidiary of BCE Inc. of Montreal, effective Oct. 1, 1999. Sabia, 45, joined CN in 1993 and has been its executive vice-president and chief financial officer since 1995.

Tellier said: "Jeff Ward and Claude Mongeau have strong track records in strategic planning and financial management. Jeff and Claude have worked closely with me at CN, playing key roles in the Company's restructuring, financial turnaround and the development and execution of its North American strategy. Jeff will be at the fore of our planning process, honing and implementing CN's long-term strategic vision. Claude will focus his energy on continuing CN's significant financial progress."

Ward, 41, is a vice-president of A. T. Kearney, Inc., of Chicago, an international management consulting firm. Ward has more than 15 years' experience in the transportation industry and has advised a range of transport companies on marketing and corporate strategy and operations effectiveness. Ward has been involved in a long series of strategic assignments at CN since 1993, including the Company's restructuring, its privatization in 1995 and acquisition and integration of Illinois Central Corporation.

Ward received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in New York and his master of business administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa. Mongeau, 37, joined CN in May 1994. Since 1995 Mongeau has been the vice-president responsible for coordinating CN's overall financial planning process and overseeing CN’s network rationalization and real estate activities. He was deeply involved in CN's privatization and financial turnaround.

KENTUCKY: Railroad killer indicted on murder charges

LEXINGTON -- Suspected railroad killer Angel Maturino Resendiz has been indicted on murder and other felony charges in the death of a University of Kentucky student.

Resendiz, 40 years old, is suspected of nine slayings in Kentucky, Texas and Illinois. The drifter from Mexico already has been charged with multiple counts of murder in Texas and Illinois.

Fayette County prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty for Resendiz, who was indicted Monday by a Fayette County grand jury for the 1997 slaying of Christopher Maier, 21, and the rape and beating of his girlfriend on railroad tracks near the Kentucky campus.

The grand jury charged him with murder, attempted murder, first-degree rape and two counts of first-degree robbery.

ALASKA: Ride the rails to fly the skies for free

ANCHORAGE -- Members of Alaska Airline's Mileage Plus frequent flyer program can earn miles while riding the rails aboard Amtrak. Mileage Plus members can earn a minimum of 150 miles on short trips and up to 2,000 miles for a monthly commuter pass.

Miles can be earned on Amtrak's Pacific Coast routes, which include The Coast Starlight, Cascades, Capitols, San Joaquins and San Diegans trains. All miles earned are eligible for award travel on Alaska Airlines or any Mileage Plus partners. In addition to earning miles, Mileage Plus members can redeem miles for Amtrak travel.

As an added bonus, earn 500 additional miles for every trip on any of Amtrak's Western Route trains. Bonus mile offer is valid September 1 through December 31, 1999.

Contact Alaska Airlines at 800-426-0333 or online at www.alaskaair.com. Contact Amtrak at 800-872-7245 online at www.amtrak.com.