UTU Daily News Digest
Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees
Tuesday, February 29, 2000
WASHINGTON: DOT secretary sends legislation to Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater yesterday forwarded to the Congress proposed legislation that would authorize use of $468 million in federal transportation funds to support expanded passenger rail services, including improvements necessary for high-speed rail service on intercity corridors nationwide.
Secretary Slater noted that President Clinton has reaffirmed his commitment to making improved intercity rail passenger service a key part of the U.S. transportation system in the 21st century. This need was recently recognized in a letter sent to the President signed by 26 governors requesting additional funding for Amtrak.
"High-speed passenger rail is a cost-effective transportation investment that will help provide the mobility necessary to sustain the longest economic expansion in this country's history," said Secretary Slater. "It will also contribute to reducing congestion on our nations highways, serve to protect our environment and make our communities more livable, top priorities of Vice President Gore."
The legislation submitted by the administration would authorize a new program proposed in the President's fiscal 2001 budget. Under this program, the Secretary of Transportation could make grants to states, consortia of states or Amtrak for up to 50 percent of the cost of capital investments improving intercity rail passenger service, including those investments necessary to promote development of high-speed service.
This funding for the high-speed rail program would come from the Revenue Aligned Budget Authority (RABA), which is increased funding that was not anticipated in the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, the legislation which authorized federal surface transportation programs.
Also today, Secretary Slater asked Congress to approve $398 million in contract authority for DOT's new Emergency Relief Reserve Fund. He noted that over the past several years there have been more natural disasters affecting transportation than the current $100 million annual emergency relief fund can fulfill. The new fund, which would be in addition to the current emergency fund, would eliminate the backlog of current emergency needs over the next three years.
The Secretary, in support of President Clinton's budget proposal, also asked Congress for increased funding support for the following programs:
* $221 million in additional contract authority for surface transportation safety, environmental and mobility-enhancement research, including an additional $120 million for Intelligent Transportation Systems deployment.
* $140 million in additional contract authority for the Borders and Corridors programs, which will strengthen corridors of national significance to international or interregional trade.
* $75 million from RABA for roads in Indian reservations.
* $70 million from RABA for research by the department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on heavy trucks, the needs of older drivers, aggressive driving, seat belt use, and highway safety among rural and minority populations.
* $48 million from RABA to improve mobility and access to jobs in the Mississippi Delta region.
* $50 million from RABA for transportation services that provide former welfare recipients access to employment.
* $25 million in additional contract authority for the Transportation & Community & System Preservation Pilot Program, which improves transportation efficiency, reduces the impacts of transportation on the environment, reduces the need for infrastructure investment and encourages private-sector development which meets these purposes.
* $10 million from RABA for a Commercial Driver's License Pilot Program, which will enable states to enhance their driver record information systems.
WASHINGTON: Clinton pledges support for passenger rail
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a meeting yesterday with members of Amtrak’s board of directors, President Clinton pledged his support for passenger rail service, and called on Congress to pass his $989 million FY2001 budget request to help Amtrak achieve self-sufficiency, improve and increase the speed of rail service, laying the foundation for high-speed rail corridors.
The White House also released the following fact sheet:
"THE IMPORTANCE OF PASSENGER RAIL. As our nation continues its unprecedented economic growth, highways and airports are operating at capacity. Traffic congestion is hampering regional economic growth and contributing to environmental pollution. Passenger rail, including high-speed rail, can play a key role in meeting the nation's transportation needs while providing solutions to the effects of economic growth and urban sprawl. Last fall, a bipartisan group of 26 governors highlighted the increasing need for passenger rail and urged full funding for Amtrak -- the only nationwide passenger rail system -- in the President's FY2001 budget.
"SUPPORTING FULL FUNDING FOR AMTRAK. President Clinton's 2001 budget calls for full funding for Amtrak at the authorized level of $989 million to support capital improvements and intercity passenger rail programs. This request contains an additional $418 billion above last year's funding levels -- an increase of 73 per cent -- and provides funds to enhance and expand intercity rail service nationwide through partnerships between Amtrak and state governments. Specifically, the request includes:
"-- $521 million to support Amtrak's capital improvements, equipment and maintenance. This funding will also contribute to advances in the Northeast corridor where high-speed rail service between Boston and New York will begin this year.
"-- $468 million in capital for a new program of railway partnerships to expand and enhance intercity passenger rail service and to ensure a vibrant national passenger rail system over the long-term. This new program will make competitive matching grants available nationwide for intercity rail service through partnerships between Amtrak and state governments. Under the program, the Secretary of Transportation would award 50/50 matching grants based on joint applications by Amtrak and a state or states to improve intercity passenger rail service. The grants must be awarded to projects that demonstrate a positive net contribution to Amtrak's bottom line and positive net benefits for the taxpayer.
"Amtrak's continued success. Amtrak operates a 22,000-mile intercity passenger rail system, serving more than 500 communities in 45 states. The corporation is focusing on developing public and private business partnerships, ensuring quality of service, and introducing high-speed rail to achieve its goal of becoming operationally self-sufficient by 2003. Recent successes include the following:
"-- Amtrak introduced the Acela Regional service on January 31st with fully electrified service from New York to Boston, cutting travel time by 25 minutes. Acela Express service, using high-speed tilt trains, will begin in the Northeast Corridor later this year.
"-- In 1999, Amtrak exceeded its financial goals by $8 million, making it the second consecutive year it has surpassed business plan expectations. Amtrak achieved the highest total revenue in the corporation's history -- $1.84 billion -- an increase of 7 percent from the previous year. The financial markets recognize Amtrak's improvements: Moody's recently raised Amtrak's credit rating, and Standard and Poor's issued a positive report on Amtrak's performance.
"-- For the first time in its history, Amtrak has increased ridership for three consecutive years, up by 10 percent since 1997. Over 21.5 million passengers rode the rails on Amtrak in 1999."
CANADA: CN’s Tellier urges STB review to focus on customer service
MONTREAL -- The clear public benefits of the Canadian National/Burlington Northern Santa Fe combination merit a fair and prompt hearing of the control application the two railroads will file next month, says CN President and Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier.
Tellier, in a statement filed with the United States Surface Transportation Board (STB) today, said: "Our railroad opponents hope that [the STB] will delay a fair hearing on our combination, at least until they feel that they are more ready to respond to it... That is protectionism on its face, and [the STB] ought to reject it as such..."
Tellier underscored the fact the STB "exists to protect competition from what a railroad might do, not to protect railroads from what competition might do."
Tellier, who welcomed the opportunity to address the STB at a hearing March 7, said the fact that "other railroads haven't been providing reliable, cost-effective service to their shippers shouldn't lead [the STB] to penalize those of us who are doing so and want to do even better."
Bluntly, Tellier said: "There is no bad time for a good consolidation, just as there is no good time for a bad consolidation."
Tellier said what matters most is the shipper, and that means the regulatory focus of STB control proceedings should ensure that service to shippers is protected.
Thus, four factors should guide the public interest test for all future railroad control applications, including CN's and BNSF's. The applicants must demonstrate:
* Successful past consolidations;
* The fact that the proposed transaction will be like past consolidations that have generated efficiencies without service disruptions;
* A commitment to service guarantees that will ensure pre-merger service levels are at least maintained;
* Financial strength to overcome readily any service obstacles that may appear unexpectedly after a transaction.
CN and BNSF meet these tests, said Tellier, adding that these standards will "raise the bar for future transactions."
Tellier said the control application will demonstrate the debt-free, predominantly end-to-end and north-south CN/BNSF combination will be good for shippers, competition and the transportation system.
Tellier will make a full presentation to the STB at a hearing in Washington, D.C., March 7. The STB has invited interested parties to address it between March 7 and 10 on the timing of proposed large railroad consolidations; the rail industry's regulatory orientation; the strategic responses of other railroads to consolidations; and the future structure of the North American rail industry.
Tellier said the STB should give the CN/BNSF combination a prompt review.
Tellier said the other railroads want to delay the combination because, on the merits, none of these rail competitors expects to "defeat it. That is why, in all of the rhetoric they have launched since our announcement, they have never even suggested that the BNSF/CN combination will fail the public interest test [for rail consolidations]... These proponents of protectionist delay do not claim that a combined BNSF/CN might be anti-competitive. Instead, they claim that is too competitive..."
Tellier made clear CN and BNSF have listened closely to shippers' concerns about the combination.
In an unprecedented move, CN and BNSF have agreed to guarantee equal or better service over their networks after their railroads are combined. And they have guaranteed that existing gateways will remain open. Moreover, the railroads have promised a service alternative for the very few shippers who would otherwise have one rather than two railroads to use after the combination takes effect.
Tellier stressed the CN/BNSF combination would not compel rail competitors to enter inefficient mergers that would harm shipper service, and that markets and regulators should continue to shape the structure of the rail industry.
And he said "absolutely nothing about our transaction requires the structure of the industry to settle into only two transcontinental North American railroads, or even to change from the current structure of two major western and two major eastern roads in the United States..."
The STB hearing on the structure of the rail industry is separate and apart from the common control proceeding for the proposed CN/BNSF combination, although Tellier said CN and BNSF would take into account the views expressed at the hearing in preparing their control application. The two railroads will file as soon as practicable after March 20 a control application with the STB; they recently proposed a 365-day schedule for the agency's review of the combination.
CN and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation announced their proposed combination through a new company, North American Railways, Inc. on Dec. 20, 1999. The combination will create a rail system stretching 50,000 miles, linking eight Canadian provinces and 33 states in the western and central United States, and employing 67,000 people. The combined system will offer North American rail shippers greatly expanded single-line service options and gateway choices; a coordinated marketing plan; reduced transit times; enhanced reliability; unified customer service information, including easier tracking, tracing and ordering; simplified billing; greater capacity; and improved asset utilization.
CANADA: Wheat board reports rail program above expectations
WINNIPEG -- The Canadian Wheat Board's (CWB) winter rail program is more aggressive than previously expected, and should reach 650,000 tons, according to Dennis Portman, coordinator of eastern logistics with the CWB.
In December, the CWB had forecast a 500,000 ton program. The winter rail program so far has seen about 400,000 tons of board grains moved, Portman said.
The CWB's program sees grain transported from Western Canada and already stored supplies at Thunder Bay, Ontario, to eastern export facilities during a period when the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway are closed for the winter. The St. Lawrence Seaway announced Thursday that the opening of the 2000 navigation season is scheduled for March 27 for the Montreal-Lake Ontario and Welland Canal sections.
Portman explained that the winter rail program is larger than last year, when less than 200,000 tons of wheat and barley were moved. But he pointed out that this won't be a record year, as the CWB has moved as much as 1.2 million tons in a winter rail program. The 650,000 tons program, however, is up from the CWB's previous forecast of 500, 000 tons.
Overall, the CWB remains on target to move 80% of its total 1999- 2000 (Aug-Jul) exports by May, Portman said. The CWB is hoping to export between 18 and 19 million tons of grain this year, and so far, about 54% has been shipped, he added. In 1998-99, the CWB exported about 15.1 million tons of wheat and barley.
Portman said that good demand has been one component of the expanded winter movement, but added that the railways have made increasing shipment levels attractive to the CWB.
"It makes good sense economically for the producers of Western Canada right now."
Portman indicated the CWB has been pleased with the efficiency of the railways, adding that they have been responsive to the CWB's needs.
The CWB and railways, however, have butted heads in previous years. In April 1997, the CWB filed a level of service complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), charging that CN and CP Rail failed to fulfill their respective service obligations for the receipt, carriage and delivery of grain. A year later, the CWB and CN reached a commercial settlement, resulting in the discontinuation of the complaint against CN. A few months later in September, the CTA ruled that CP failed to meet its service obligation. In December 1998, the CWB sued CP Rail for Cdn$45 million over poor railway performance. Both sides reached an out-of-court settlement in March, 1999.
The CWB has stated that since the CTA challenge, rail transportation of grain has been "exemplary."
PENNSYLVANIA: Freight train derails, no injuries reported
VANDERGRIFT -- A Norfolk Southern freight train derailed northeast of Pittsburgh Monday evening, sending at least two cars into the Kiskiminetas River.
Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband said 12 to 19 cars of a 122-car train derailed, including four cars carrying molten sulfur, which is classified as a flammable hazardous material. The sulfur-carrying cars remained upright and intact. Most of the other derailed cars also remained upright, he said.
The two cars that fell into the river were a tanker loaded with antifreeze and a freight car carrying a load of steel, Husband said.
"At this point, it does not appear to be leaking," Husband said.
The cause of the derailment was under investigation. No injuries were reported.
The train originated in Conway and was headed to Roanoke, Va. It derailed near Vandergrift, a town about 25 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
WASHINGTON: RailWatch to hold candlelight vigil
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Those killed at unprotected railroad crossings will be remembered at a candle-lighting ceremony to be held this evening in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ceremony is being coordinated by RailWatch, a non-profit public education organization supported by cities, counties, law enforcement agencies, and families of victims of train accidents, shippers, and other concerned citizens around the country.
Set to take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the sidewalk in front of 1 First Street N.E. in Washington, D.C., the ceremony also draws attention to a case the high court will begin hearing Wednesday morning involving the family of Eddie Shanklin, who died at an unprotected Norfolk Southern rail crossing.
CALIFORNIA: Caltrain, express buses called best transit value
SAN JOSE -- A modernized Caltrain would draw nearly double the new ridership at one-quarter the cost per rider of a BART extension to San Jose, according to a report that compares the cost-effectiveness of proposed Bay Area transit projects.
The "Bay Area Transportation Blueprint for the 21st Century,'' released Wednesday in draft form by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, compared 70 transit projects that make up the wish list of the nine Bay Area counties. The report found that a San Jose light-rail link to BART's Fremont station also would be more cost-effective, but the quickest, cheapest fix to the Bay Area's freeway gridlock is regional express bus service.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Jim Beall, who chairs the MTC, called expanding bus service on the region's 400 miles of freeway carpool lanes "the best bang for the buck.'' He added that an upgrading Caltrain and expanding Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light-rail services are both big "winners'' as affordable people-movers.
San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales has made extending BART to San Jose before he leaves office his top priority. But rail advocates have long argued that Caltrain is more cost-effective and can be upgraded in two to four years, bringing fast relief to gridlock-weary Bay Area motorists, while the 20-mile BART extension could take decades to push through.
Gonzales spokesman David Vossbrink said he hadn't seen the MTC cost comparisons, adding that a BART-VTA study on a San Jose extension will soon "shed a lot more information on the ways the BART connection can be made to work.'' Vossbrink said the mayor knows a variety of transit "connections need to be made throughout the Bay Area to provide transportation alternatives to highways. BART by any stretch is a long-term and expensive proposition. Folks who are stuck in traffic today are looking for solutions now.''
The blueprint lays out which transit and highway projects are most affordable and move the most people. MTC commissioners are eager to use the wish list to lobby for state and federal funding, and Gov. Gray Davis' anticipated release this spring of a statewide transportation package has only fueled their urgency.
Upgrading Caltrain topped MTC's list as the Bay Area transit project that will get the most people out of their cars. A more frequent, electrified Caltrain with a downtown San Francisco extension and overpasses separating it from auto traffic would draw an estimated 20,000 new daily riders, compared with 11,500 riders for a BART extension to San Jose, the study said. Without the San Francisco downtown extension, Caltrain would draw 16,000 new riders.
But express bus service within Santa Clara County could draw 12,000 new riders, while a Valley Transit Authority light rail link between San Jose and BART's Fremont station would attract 8,500 new riders.
Caltrain vs. BART
When annual operating and construction costs are compared, an upgraded Caltrain would be four to five times more cost-effective than the BART extension to San Jose. Modernizing the 78-mile, Gilroy-to-San Francisco Caltrain line would cost about $21 to $26 per new rider compared with the BART extension's $100-per-new-rider price tag.
Express bus service would be most affordable, with costs for expanded service within Santa Clara County at just $3.55 per new rider.
MTC did not rate VTA's plan to run Caltrain service on the existing Union Pacific right-of-way that a BART extension or light rail expansion would use. Caltrain service could be running within three years for a construction cost of $67 million.
BART spokesman Mike Healy said the initial $4 billion total price for the 20-mile extension to San Jose is a rough estimate that may be reduced. "No one really knows what the cost will be,'' he said, adding that Gov. Davis' vow to provide $35 million to purchase the right-of-way will also help.
Expanding bay ferry service had a staggering price tag: A ferry link from San Francisco's Mission Bay waterfront to Redwood City would add just 50 new daily riders at $358 per passenger.
Commuter dissatisfaction
A new MTC survey of 1,850 Bay Area residents, also unveiled Wednesday, underscored how frustrated commuters are. Some 72 percent of those surveyed said they are "very'' dissatisfied with government's handling of traffic congestion, and 76 percent gave increasing public transit a high priority, compared to 36 percent who gave expanding roads a high priority.
MTC is trying to identify projects that can stop the Bay Area from strangling on traffic congestion, as a growing number of commuters from outside the region battle the drive to Silicon Valley. Workers living outside the nine-county Bay Area are projected to grow 43 percent by 2020, but rail and road capacity will only expand 4 percent and 11 percent respectively. That translates into a crippling 160 percent jump in the number of hours people are stuck in traffic. That's why it is so critical to invest in transit projects that will deliver, Beall said.
"If we keep going this way, we're going to drown in our congestion and the economy will be destroyed,'' he warned.
WASHINGTON STATE: Boeing engineers return to picket lines
SEATTLE -- Boeing engineers were back on the picket lines Sunday after contract negotiations between the company and their union broke down and a federal mediator left town.
No further talks were scheduled, and engineers and technical workers promised to keep picketing until a new contract agreement is reached.
At least 17,000 workers remained on strike over the weekend. The workers walked off the job February 9.
The three offers Boeing has made show little movement, union officials said.
Talks between The Boeing Co. and the Society for Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) broke down Saturday, and C. Richard Barnes, the nation's top federal mediator, left town shortly thereafter.
"We kind of figured this might happen," said Geoff Lawrey, a software engineer and 12-year Boeing veteran picketing in front of company headquarters Sunday. "It would've been nice (to have an agreement), but nobody seriously thought it would happen."
Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said Sunday: "We came to the table with what we thought were viable alternatives. We thought SPEEA's counter-proposal was not viable."
SPEEA negotiators had sought more guaranteed pay raises and bonuses similar to those received by the larger Machinists union. Boeing has insisted on mostly selective pay increases, reductions in life insurance benefits and increased health insurance premiums for employees.
While Boeing did not offer guaranteed bonuses, it did offer employee stock options. But the engineers on the picket line -- many of whom know fellow technologists in Seattle's high-tech workforce -- said the options offer was nearly meaningless.
The union said that Boeing's latest offer this weekend was very close to its original offer on Nov. 11, which was near-unanimously voted down. The second offer, which was turned down by a slim margin, was made Jan. 13.
SPEEA contracts cover 22,600 employees in the Seattle area, California and Kansas, though the union has only about 64 percent of those workers as members.
Conte confirmed that Boeing has started to hire short-term contract workers to take over engineering and technical functions until the strike is resolved. He did not know how many contractor replacements have been hired.
Striking workers may soon feel a financial squeeze. SPEEA workers missed their first paychecks of the strike on Thursday, and must start paying for their own health insurance on March 1.
The union had no strike fund when workers walked out, though donations and fund-raising have brought in some $88,000 so far.
But for now, the workers remain determined to remain picketing, waving at beeping cars passing by.
MICHIGAN: Chrysler distributes record profit-sharing checks
DETROIT -- U.S. employees of the Chrysler side of DaimlerChrysler AG will receive profit sharing checks averaging $8,100 this year, an all-time high.
The checks to 82,600 hourly and salaried workers will exceed the previous high of $8,000 in 1994 from the former Chrysler Corp. Checks last year averaged $6,800 to $7,300.
The Chrysler bonuses cap a lucrative year for employees of American auto companies, thanks to a strong U.S. market for new cars and trucks. Ford Motor Co. will send out checks averaging $8,000 to 109,000 employees on Friday. And about 154,000 hourly employees of General Motors Corp. will get profit-sharing checks of about $1,775 in March -- also an all-time high.
An additional 20,100 professional and management employees at Chrysler will also get profit sharing bonuses based on the same formula.
TEXAS: Rail-riding killer’s lawyer plans insanity defense
HOUSTON -- The attorney for a rail-riding drifter accused of killing people across the country plans to use an insanity defense in his capital murder trial, according to a Monday court filing.
Allen Tanner did not return a telephone message seeking further comment on his one-paragraph insanity defense notice.
A defense psychiatrist had been evaluating Angel Maturino Resendiz, 40, for weeks leading to the filing. The prosecutor will now have its doctors examine him.
Jury selection in Maturino Resendiz's first trial is set for March 27.
Maturino Resendiz has been held since his surrender in El Paso on July 13. Police say he has been linked to nine killings nationwide.
February
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