UTU News Digest - Monday, November 22, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Monday, November 22, 1999

WASHINGTON: Senate appoints 3 to NMB

WASHINGTON -- On its last day of business before the holiday recess, the U.S. Senate confirmed all three appointments to the National Mediation Board. On November 19, Magdelena Jacobsen, Ernest W. DuBester, and Francis Duggan were named to the Board.

WASHINGTON: Railroads, unions prepare to begin contract talks; UTU to push to end two-tier pay system

WASHINGTON -- Railroads and unions exchanged contract demands this month in the start of bargaining for a national agreement on wages and work rules, the Journal of Commerce reported.

(UTU International President Charles L. Little has said that ending the two-tier pay system for post-'85 employees is the union's top priority.)

The existing agreement, reached in 1996, can be reopened as of Jan. 1. It is extremely unlikely that a new agreement will be reached before then, but the Railway Labor Act prohibits a no strike or lockout until the parties have undergone extensive mediation with the National Mediation Board.

The two sides aren't scheduled to hold their first face-to-face talks until after the Thanksgiving holiday, and neither side has even asked for mediation yet.

But both sides have exchanged a list of demands.

The United Transportation Union, the largest union involved in the talks, did not specify its wage demands but asked for increases every six months during the life of the contract.

The National Railway Labor Conference, which represents the railroads in national bargaining, did not spell out a specific pay proposal, either, but did call for an increase in the definition of a basic day of work for train crews from the current 130 miles to 160 miles.

While many crews exceed that now, the effect would be to reduce overmile payments, a form of overtime.

The carriers also want to be free to change or eliminate most work rules at their discretion, a move the union can be expected to fight vigorously.

The UTU also is requesting that railroads establish an employer-contributing 401(k) plan and that workers have the option of taking either participation in the plan or any general wage increase.

Carriers also want to eliminate operating restrictions between crews that run trains over the road and those that work within yard limits. They also want the right to change yard limits and to combine yards within 30 miles of each other.

The 160-mile day was a recommendation of a presidential emergency board named in 1989 during negotiations that led to a 1991 nationwide railroad strike.

Congress ended that work stoppage after only 17 hours. Prior to that, 100 miles had been considered a full day's work for train crews, and it gradually has been ratcheted up to 130.

The union also wants to negotiate cost-of-living wage adjustments and changes in current language.

Union sources say a key issue will be so-called rest/fatigue provisions. Federal hours-of-service rules require train crews to receive eight hours' rest following a maximum of 12 hours on duty.

Some crews have worked as long as 28 consecutive days without violating the law. The UTU asks carriers to "establish a rule to confirm the right of employees . to mark off for rest opportunities to deal with fatigue-related problems."

Crews that reach their maximum time under the law must stop their trains and wait for arrival of a relief crew and transportation to a terminal. This can take hours, during which the crews draw hourly pay.

SEATTLE: U.S. unions declare war on trade pact

SEATTLE -- Dockworkers from up and down the West Coast plan to attend a large protest rally against the World Trade Organization in Seattle on Nov. 30, but it is unclear how much ports will be disrupted, the Journal of Commerce reported.

A total of 50,000 marchers led by the AFL-CIO are expected to join in a parade to the Washington State Convention Center, where they will present WTO chief Mike Moore with a list of demands.

"We are encouraging all our members to go," said Roger Boespflug, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23 in Tacoma.

"We are protesting forced labor, child labor, the right to organize in countries where it is not allowed, and supporting environmental issues," he said.

While large numbers of longshore workers are expected to attend the Nov. 30 rally, it's not clear yet how ports will be affected.

The ILWU international executive board is encouraging all locals and divisions of the ILWU to participate in the demonstration but has not told members to close the ports.

"Locals are making their own arrangements," said a union spokesman. "I really don't know how ports will be affected at this point."

The WTO meeting, at which the so-called Millennium round of trade negotiations will be launched, lasts from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.

Most dockworkers are likely to take part only in the one-day protest rally, so ports are likely to be affected just on the opening day of the conference.

At Tacoma, Tuesdays are not usually busy so the impact is likely to be minimal.

In Portland, some 200 of the 500 members from ILWU Local 8 are expected to attend, traveling by train, bus and car. Those workers not attending the rally will cover the workload.

Around 50 busloads, or 250 members of the ILWU local in British Columbia are expected to attend. A union spokesperson said the Port of Vancouver would still work that day, as there would be plenty of other members available to work.

Sources said that the ILWU has asked the various ports to consent to the union's moving its monthly stop-work meeting, which allows union members a shift off, to Nov. 30 to enable workers at various ports to participate in the Seattle march. A spokeswoman for the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which negotiates and administers maritime labor agreements with the ILWU on behalf of carriers, stevedore and terminal companies at California, Oregon, and Washington ports, said that the PMA is discussing the situation with its members. PMA companies moved $588 billion worth of cargo through West Coast ports in 1998.

"There are rumors of a work stoppage," said a spokesman for the Port of Tacoma.

The ILWU represents 9,600 longshore workers and a total workforce of 60,000 at ports in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii.

In Washington union leaders Friday launched an all-out attack against a market-opening agreement with China, pledging a lobbying campaign to convince Congress to block it.

John Sweeney, president of the 13-million member AFL-CIO, said the federation will "wage a full and vigorous campaign" against the trade deal, which paves the way for China to join the World Trade Organization. "We'll spend as much money as necessary," Sweeney said.

Stephen Yokich, president of the United Auto Workers union, sent a letter to President Clinton, vowing to "mobilize our members and the general public" against a trade accord that he said was "contrary to the interest of working families."

Union leaders are worried that low-priced Chinese-made goods would flood the U.S. market, costing American workers their jobs, and that U.S. companies would take advantage of low-wage Chinese laborers under the terms of the WTO agreement.

The unions' campaign is slated to begin with massive marches and rallies at WTO meetings in Seattle Nov. 30-Dec. 3, and intensify next year before Congress takes up the trade agreement.

In return for China rolling back its trade barriers, Clinton must persuade the Republican-controlled Congress to grant Beijing favorable access to U.S. markets with 'permanent normal trade relations' (NTR) status.

Permanent NTR would guarantee Chinese goods the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets as products from nearly every other nation. Without it U.S. businesses could not benefit from China's commitment to cut tariffs and other trade barriers.

"We will oppose the admission of any nation to the WTO until it is in compliance with core workers' rights," Sweeney told the National Press Club in Washington. "Supported by the vast majority of Americans, we will build a majority in Congress to sustain our position."

Republicans and Democrats alike are concerned about a growing trade deficit with China, the largest on record with any country.

Commerce Secretary William Daley said the burgeoning deficit could lead to greater calls for protectionism in the United States. "America's record trade deficit is becoming less of an economic concern and more of a political concern," Daley told a business conference in San Antonio.

Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the White House has consulted with U.S. labor groups, and insisted the agreement should lead to improved labor standards and human rights in China over time.

"This agreement, which embodies Western economic principles, ... Not only is good on the commercial side, but has the potential for very important spillover effects beyond that," Barshefsky said.

CALIFORNIA: No technical glitch seen in rail crash

LOS ANGELES -- A federal investigator said Saturday that the collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train that injured 19 people last week does not appear to have been caused by a mechanical or signal failure, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"At this point in the investigation, which is not complete, I do not have anything factual to indicate to me there was a signal failure," said Jim Southworth, the National Transportation Safety Board's lead investigator.

"We have a regional director [who] is doing additional work with inspections of the equipment--looking at the braking system, the cars, the wheels," he said. "I don't anticipate finding any adverse findings."

Southworth did not discount human error but said that the investigation, which will take 6 months to a year to complete, is in its initial stages and that it is too soon to rule out any causes.

Thursday's collision of a Metrolink commuter train and Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train in Fullerton caused about $1.4 million in damage but only minor injuries.

The commuter train hit the tail end of the freight train as it was moving out of the Metrolink train's way and onto another track. The collision caused speculation that the Metrolink engineer, identified as Harvey Wong of Carlsbad, may have had trouble seeing a weak signal light.

The day after the collision, rail union officials said that the stretch of track in Fullerton is known to have weak signal lights, making it difficult for engineers to see warnings about possible traffic ahead.

Along with that problem, the rising sun also may have affected the Metrolink engineer's ability to see the signal, said Richard J. Weigle, an Amtrak engineer and secretary/treasurer of Brotherhood of Electrical Engineers Local 20.

A spokeswoman for BNSF, the company that operates the railway in that area, said the freight train had a green light to switch tracks. BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent on Thursday said that if the signal system had worked as designed, the engineer of the Metrolink train should have received a warning signal three miles before the crossing where the two trains collided.

The wreck, which occurred just north of Commonwealth Avenue and Brookhurst Road, closed that section of the railway for most of Thursday.

CALIFORNIA: OCTA officials backtrack and shorten light-rail plan

ORANGE COUNTY -- Transit authorities confirmed Saturday that they plan to slash Orange County's proposed light-rail system by more than half, dropping a North County leg that would have served Santa Ana, Disneyland and Edison Field, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The move, which will be formally announced Monday, marks a dramatic adjustment from the original 29-mile rail plan unveiled just weeks ago. That proposal would have linked Irvine to Fullerton, encompassing Anaheim's entertainment corridor, Santa Ana's government center, South Coast Plaza and the Irvine Spectrum business complex.

Citing strong opposition in Santa Ana and other communities along the so-called CenterLine route, Orange County Transportation Authority Chief Executive Officer Lisa Mills faxed a memo to board members Friday night saying it is no longer "fruitful, at this point, to continue planning the . . . project north of Costa Mesa."

The new 12-mile route would send trains between the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa and the Irvine Transportation Center, with a two-mile spur to the UC Irvine campus. It would still service John Wayne Airport but would no longer reach Santa Ana, Anaheim, Garden Grove or Fullerton.

Though the revamped plan is only in its infancy, the cost of the project is expected to fall from $1.6 billion to less than $1 billion, said Dave Elbaum, OCTA's director of planning and development. The OCTA Board of Directors is scheduled to vote on the matter Dec. 13.

"I think that financially, it might be the prudent thing to do--to just get started and see what develops," said Supervisor Tom Wilson, who is also chairman of the OCTA. "I look at it as something that offers us an opportunity to get light rail started in the county of Orange."

Wilson and other rail supporters stressed that they still hope to eventually build a countywide rail system, but only if they can assemble political support throughout the area.

Critics, however, doubt the viability of the latest proposal, questioning whether a rail line that covers such a small portion of the county can attract riders.

They labeled the OCTA's move a "trick"--a tactical maneuver that allows officials to begin building a portion of the rail line while sidestepping opposition that they hope will dissolve with time.

"They're just desperate to keep this project moving," said Bill Ward, a director of Drivers for Highway Safety, a community activist group based in Orange.

After a debate that had preoccupied transportation officials for the better part of the decade, officials had hoped, well into this month, to build the more extensive system. That plan included elevated and street-level tracks and 33 stops that would take passengers to popular destinations in North County, such as the Pond at Anaheim.

But last week, Santa Ana officials took an abrupt stance against the project. Because the initial plan would have run the line down more than six miles of two busy streets in the city, local residents and business owners feared the rail system would divert traffic into neighborhoods and tie up parking.

Santa Ana's stance effectively put the entire northern leg of the rail system in jeopardy, officials said. "It kind of put a roadblock--I guess a railroad block--in front of us," Wilson said.

Officials did not discount the possibility that the northern leg--as well as spurs to El Toro and other areas--could eventually be added on. In her memo, Mills wrote that extensions could be added if the Santa Ana City Council changes its mind.

Even under the scaled-back plan, transit authorities won't begin construction on the line until 2004 or 2005, and won't open the line until 2007 or 2008.

"I really believe that once this first leg is built that the residents of Orange County will have become more educated to the advantages of light rail and the other cities in Orange County will look at this," said OCTA Vice Chairwoman Laurann Cook. "I believe a lot of things can change."

Not all board members believe the latest light-rail plan is a move in the right direction. Critics have argued all along that building a light-rail system would be a financial disaster, and pointed out that most of the people who would ride the train would come from northern parts of the county, not from Irvine and Costa Mesa.

"With this recommendation, the CenterLine is no longer a transportation solution," said OCTA board member and county Supervisor Todd Spitzer. "If you cut the guts out of the CenterLine, where you have the highest densities and most destination areas, then the CenterLine is no longer a regional transportation solution. . . . I think OCTA's trying to get out front Monday just to save face, because they were not able to build consensus."

Paula Manning, who lives in the Park Santiago neighborhood in Santa Ana, was thrilled to hear that the rail system--at least for now--is no longer scheduled to cut through her town.

"Thank goodness," said Manning, a founder of a resident group called Citizens Against Railroad Expansion. "It was a huge waste of money and it was going to be detrimental to my neighborhood and others in Santa Ana."

Supporters of the new plan disputed the contention that the Costa Mesa-to-Irvine trains will be empty.

"From all the studies that I have seen, the numbers prove that it would be successful," Cook said. "Most of the ridership would come through the central part of the county, but from the studies that I have looked at, and from what I understand, I think the numbers are good enough to make this a very feasible project. The numbers are still good for the southern portion of the project."

ILLINOIS: Automated monitors set for crossings by 2001

CHICAGO -- An automated system that detects malfunctioning warning lights and gates at rail crossings and calls for repairs will be in place at hundreds of crossings across Illinois by the end of 2001, state officials said Thursday, and could be operating at every signalized crossing in the state within a few years, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Illinois Commerce Commission announced an agreement with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line that will see all 815 of the company's signalized grade crossings in the state outfitted with the monitoring system. State officials said the deal is the first of many the ICC is seeking with railroad companies to place the new technology in the field.

"Obviously, the more reliable safety equipment is the better," said John Blair, senior railroad safety specialist for the ICC. "This technology will reduce the time it takes for railroad maintenance to be informed of a problem. Right now, most of these problems are being reported by the public, and they can go unreported for hours."

Steve Forsberg, director of public affairs for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, said the list of the company's crossings slated for the system includes the Chicago-Aurora line used by Metra commuter trains. The line that runs through the western suburbs has 37 grade crossings, according to Metra.

Forsberg said the system uses cellular technology to alert rail officials when safety lights and gates do not operate perfectly.

"One of the goals is to try and have a real-time response to any failures in equipment," he said. "It should enable us to actively correct any problems at crossings more quickly."

After detecting trouble, Forsberg said, the system will automatically contact the railroad's network operations center in Ft. Worth, which will then dispatch maintenance crews.

If a problem is serious enough, Forsberg said, the same facility can alter rail traffic until the problem is solved.

Blair said the system will be able to tell if a train passes and safety equipment does not respond at all, or if either the lights or gates do not activate. Also covered will be instances where lights go on and barrier gates drop when no train is in the area, something Blair said causes accidents more often than many people realize.

"When signals activate and there's no train, people become complacent," he said. "People become conditioned to that if it occurs too often, and they start driving around the gates."

The ICC said the new equipment can sense power failures, battery problems and all suspicious gate movements.

The system has been used on a smaller scale in other parts of the country, Blair said, but officials believe Illinois is the first to push for statewide implementation.

The cost of the first portion of the project is expected to be $1.78 million, 90 percent of which will be paid for by state funds administered by the ICC. The remainder will be covered by the Illinois Department of Transportation and Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

The railroad company will pay for the installation of the system and its maintenance.

Blair said the eventual expansion of the project to all 5,000 signalized grade crossings in Illinois, no matter the rail operator, could cost between $10 million and $15 million. The ICC hopes to have agreements in place to cover all such crossings in the state within two years.

Officials said work to install the system at Burlington Northern Santa Fe crossings will begin as soon as possible, but no decisions have been made on the order of installation. Blair said work could start in the Chicago area and another part of the state simultaneously.

OHIO: Rail safety group hopes to turn tragedies into change

NORTH CANTON - Kelly Waldron's father listened intently while a Cleveland lawyer rattled off strategies on preparing for a wrongful-death court case, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

Taneeca Klostermeier's mother, wearing a button decorated with her daughter's smiling face, showed people pictures of the permanent memorial for the girl.

Eric Ivie's best friend from high school and Ryan Moore's mother sat at one of the front tables, reminiscing about their dead loved ones.

Until yesterday, these former strangers shared only tragedy: Each had lost a friend or family member in a collision between train and car, usually at road-rail intersections without warning lights or safety gates.

The sad trait they shared brought them, and more than two dozen others like them from Ohio and six other states, together for the first time yesterday. In a small meeting room at the Belden Village Holiday Inn, they gave birth to the National Rail Safety Coalition, a grass-roots group they dedicated to fight for safer railroad crossings nationwide.

Vicky Moore of Stark County and Scott Gauvin of Springfield, Ill., were the catalysts. Moore and her husband, Dennis, have crusaded against unguarded rail crossings since 1995, when they lost their son, Ryan, in a car-train collision that killed two others and seriously injured three, including Ryan's older brother Jason.

"I think it's frustration that brought us all together," Vicky Moore said. "What's driving us is losing our children and our loved ones at these crossings. We know other people don't understand what it's like until you've been there."

The fledgling organization wants to pressure railroads and governments to do away with unguarded rail crossings and demand more accountability from railroads for collisions and other accidents, founders say. They also want to push for more public education on rail-safety issues and serve as a source of support for others who have recently lost loved ones in car-train collisions.

"I hope there's some day where we don't need to be together anymore," said Scott Gauvin, founder of the Springfield, Ill.-based Coalition for Safer Crossings.

Gauvin and the others hope to draw 500 participants to the National Rail Safety Coalition's first national conference in Washington, D.C., next fall.

Several participants in yesterday's planning meeting belong to other rail-safety groups. The Moores created a lobbying and education foundation called Angels on Track with $5.4 million that a jury ordered Conrail to pay after Ryan's death. Gauvin, 23, formed his advocacy group after his best friend Eric Ivie's death three years ago last week.

Vicky Moore and Gauvin hatched the idea to pull the smaller groups into one national umbrella organization during a three-hour telephone conversation in September, when Gauvin tracked down Moore after seeing her interviewed on CNN.

They commiserated about the frustration of dealing with so many levels of bureaucracy and their impatience toward what they say is the snail's pace of change. They vowed that together they would fight to speed it up and to recruit others to their cause.

Among the allies joining them yesterday were Larry Waldron, who drove with his wife from Virginia to attend the planning session; Debbie Klostermeier of Liberty Center, a Toledo suburb; and Sherry Fox, executive director of RailWatch, a nonprofit railroad-safety organization based in Houston.

"We need to push these issues into the national discussion," said Fox, who cited a study that found that 80 percent of the nation's road-rail crossings are unguarded. "The fact that we're getting together is already an accomplishment," Fox said.

Fourteen people in Ohio were killed in train-car collisions in 1998, down from 63 in 1989, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Over that decade, more than 2,000 train-car collisions occurred in the state, according to PUCO.

Despite the decline in deaths, the fact that people still continue to die is cause for concern, Gauvin said. He pointed to last February's collision of an Amtrak train with a truck in Bourbonnais, Ill., which killed 11 people. Rail safety became a public issue, Gauvin said, but "after a few months the issue died."

"Some state and federal legislation, including an Ohio bill to fund railroad-safety education for schoolchildren from kindergarten through grade 12, is pending and gives hope, coalition members said.

But it's too late for Vicky Moore, who on Thursday visited her son's grave. Had fate been kinder, it would have been his 21st birthday.

"He'd sit back and have this grin on his face," Moore said, imagining Ryan's reaction to this weekend's meeting." "There she goes again."

"There's something making me do this besides myself."

CALIFORNIA: Another banner month for Capitol Corridor trains

OAKLAND -- The Capitol Corridor Trains saw another banner month of ridership in October, with a 38 percent increase over October 1998, a press release said.

This past October, Capitol Corridor Trains recorded 50,481 passenger trips, for a jump of 13,898 over October 1998 when 36,583 passengers used the system.

Capitol Corridor Trains, which provide inter-city service between Colfax-Sacramento and San Jose, saw a steady upward trend reaching 21 percent overall for the 12-month period from November 1, 1998 through October 31, 1999.

Since assuming responsibility for management of Capitol Corridor Trains in July 1998, the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority has added two trains to the daily service, bringing the total to six.

Capitol Corridor Trains operate over 185 miles of track between Colfax, northeast of Sacramento and San Jose with stops in Auburn, Rocklin, Roseville, Sacramento, Davis, Suisun City/Fairfield, Martinez, Richmond, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, Hayward, Fremont/Centerville and Santa Clara/Great America. The trains offer food and beverage and are fully accessible for disabled persons. "Rubber-tired extensions of the railroad" (dedicated connecting bus service) is also operated between Sacramento and Grass Valley/Nevada City; Reno, Nevada; South Lake Tahoe; between Emeryville and downtown San Francisco and the San Francisco International Airport; between San Jose and Santa Cruz, Monterey/Carmel and Santa Barbara.

The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority provides this service in partnership with Amtrak, the California Department of Transportation and the Union Pacific Railroad.

WISCONSIN: Wisconsin Central moves four millionth carload

WAUSAU -- Wisconsin Central System on Friday celebrated moving its four millionth carload since the regional railroad began operation 12 years ago, a press release said.

The shipment is a covered hopper car loaded with 100 tons of colored roofing granules from 3M's Industrial Mineral Products Division destined to Ohio. The car contains enough roofing material to shingle about 75 average homes.

It took Wisconsin Central, which began operations in 1987, more than five years to reach its first million. Today's fourfold increase came only six years later. "This is a major milepost for our relatively young company," said Joe Chavarria, WC's marketing director whose account is 3M. "We want to thank 3M and all our other customers for helping us achieve this record of growth."

3M pioneered a process to colorize roofing granules at its Wausau, Wis. plant in 1936. Prior to that, roofing shingles were the natural color of the rock. "You could say 3M added color to America's rooftops," says 3M Plant Manager Steve Paul.

The Wausau facility is one of five operated by 3M and is the largest coloring plant in the world. It processes a granite-type rock that has been crushed to about 1/16th of an inch by adding a ceramic coating that is baked on in various colors, depending on customer needs. Product is shipped to roofing shingle manufacturers throughout mid-America.

The celebration at the 3M plant included decorating the car with a special banner that read: "Wisconsin Central's four millionth shipment -- November 1999." WC also presented the 3M staff with a specially engraved plaque in honor of the occasion.

Participants from 3M included: Steve Paul, plant manager; Pat Gonda, senior rail specialist, St. Paul, Minn.; Mike Retterath, product manager; Gay Baumann, office manager, and Debbie Sporer, customer service representative. Representatives from WC included Joe Chavarria, marketing director; Rosemont, Ill.; Keith Fredericks, manager of equipment, Rosemont; Dave Kruschwitz, Western Division manager, Stevens Point, Wis.; Steve Horton, senior trainmaster, Wausau; and Bonnie Peterson and Tammy Hutchinson from WC's Customer Service Center at Stevens Point.

About two-thirds of Wisconsin Central's 2,900 route miles are in Wisconsin and its operating headquarters are located in Stevens Point.

TEXAS: Coach USA, Inc. commences tender offer

HOUSTON -- Coach USA, Inc. announced in a press release that it has commenced a tender offer for all $149,830,000 aggregate principal amount outstanding of its 9% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2007.

In conjunction with the tender offer, Coach USA is soliciting consents to certain proposed amendments to the indenture under which the Notes were issued, including elimination of substantially all of the restrictive covenants contained in the indenture.

The tender offer expires at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, December 17, 1999, unless extended or earlier terminated. To be entitled to receive the consent payment described above if the tendered Notes are accepted for payment in the tender offer, holders must provide their consents to the proposed amendments by 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Consent Date. The Consent Date is the business day following the Consent Achievement Date.

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. is acting as Dealer Manager for the tender offer and as Solicitation Agent for the consent solicitation (Call toll free: 800-831-2035). Georgeson & Company Inc. is acting as Information Agent (Call toll free: 800-223-2064).

Coach USA is the largest provider of motorcoach charter, tour and sightseeing services and one of the largest non-municipal providers of commuter and transit motorcoach services in the United States. Coach USA also provides airport ground transportation, paratransit, taxi cab and other related passenger ground transportation services. Coach USA conducts operations throughout the United States and Canada, with operating locations in over 120 cities. Coach USA operates approximately 9,500 buses, coaches, taxicabs and other high occupancy vehicles, which transported passengers across more than 250 million miles in 1998.

TENNESSEE: Santa Train makes annual delivery

KINGSPORT -- Thousands of children lined the railroad tracks Saturday to grab a toy and get a glimpse of a bearded man in a red suit as the "Santa Special'' rolled into town, the Associated Press reported.

Volunteers riding the train along a 110-mile route tossed out more than 15 tons of Christmas presents - stuffed animals, dolls, cartoon videotapes, candy, mittens and hats - donated from people across the country.

It was the 57th year for the event that traditionally ushers in the holiday season in central Appalachia. The trip starts in Pikeville, Ky., winds through southwestern Virginia and ends in Kingsport.

"We're here to carry on the tradition,'' said Don Royston of the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce, which co-sponsors the event with CSX Transportation. "There are a lot of emotions along the ride. You'll see a great-grandmother with her great-grandchild, people who've come out to see the train every year.''

The event began in 1943 as a way to thank people of the Appalachian region for doing business in Kingsport, the largest industrial city along the rail line.

Every year since, CSX has donated workers, equipment and track time for the event held the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Charlotte Nickel, 95, has watched the Santa train pass through her hometown of Dungannon, Va., every year. The former first-grade teacher used to walk up to the train to deliver her students' letters to Santa Claus.

This year, Nickel's friends arranged for her to ride the train.

"It was a complete surprise,'' she said. "They just told me before the train came. And it was great.

ENGLAND: Railtrack shares fall to year low on tube concerns

LONDON -- Shares in rail operator Railtrack PLC (U.RTK) are trading lower Monday midday following newspaper reports the government has softened its commitment to selling London Underground's sub-surface lines to Railtrack.

At 1220 GMT, shares in Railtrack are down 2.6%, or 27 pence, to 1,014 pence, a new low for the year.

In an interview with the Observer published Sunday, Prime Minister Tony Blair implied there was uncertainty that the deal would go through.

His comments came even after the government and the rail operator have signed heads of terms in October on the Tube deal, which is to be carried out through a public private partnership.

"We are still in close discussions with all the parties involved. We are not aware that things have changed in any way and are still working to the March 2000 deadline," a spokeswoman for Railtrack told Dow Jones Newswires.

However, sector followers said this meant additional uncertainty for Railtrack shares, already affected by a regulatory review of which the highlights should be made public in December.

Under the agreement between Railtrack and the government, Railtrack is to undertake and finance the upgrade and maintenance of the Tube sub-surface lines, as well as to build links between these lines and the national railway infrastructure. Railtrack has until next March to submit its proposals to the government.

No one was immediately available for comment at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

FRANCE: French transport strikes draw to an end

PARIS -- Strikes that have snarled public transport in two major French cities for the past six days slowly came to an end on Monday but industrial action continued to disrupt public radio and television broadcasts.

Bus, metro and tram traffic in Marseille and Lyon resumed partially and was expected to return to normal by Tuesday after unions and bosses finally settled disputes over pay and security.

"Certain unionists believe management dragged their feet during negotiations so they are dragging their feet going back to work,'' said a Lyon representative for the hardline Force Ouvriere union.

Both disputes revolved around next year's cut in the working week to 35 hours from the current 39 hours.

France's leftist government believes the reduction will boost employment, but it is causing headaches in industry as employers try to maximize work time available and workers demand guarantees of job creation and other conditions.

As the transport disputes drew to a close, a strike continued to dog national state-run broadcast services, with many programs on Radio France stations replaced by music after technicians staged a walkout.

Workers protesting over 35-hour contract plans caused havoc to both television and radio programming last week. Most unions have now urged their members to return to work, but the powerful CGT union is still holding out for a better deal.