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Announcements, FYI, News

Amtrak announces 40th anniversary activities, adds Cascades Wi-Fi service

From Progressive Railroading

Amtrak officials are preparing a slate of activities to mark the 40th anniversary of the national intercity passenger railroad.

The anniversary is May 1, but special events already have begun, including the unveiling of the first of four P-42 diesel-electric locomotives with historic paint schemes that entered regular revenue service in Chicago on Jan. 30. All four locomotives will be in service by April 30 and will operate on trains across Amtrak’s national network.

On May 7, a 40th anniversary exhibit train will debut for National Train Day in Washington, D.C. The anniversary exhibit, which will travel across the country for a year, will feature two locomotives with historic paint schemes and renovated baggage cars to display memorabilia such as vintage advertising, past menus, dinnerware, period uniforms and photographs from each of the past four decades. In spring, a website will be launched with historical information, anniversary event schedule, photo archive and videos.

In other Amtrak news, riders on the Cascades service operating between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Eugene, Ore., now will be able to connect to the Internet through a free Wi-Fi service known as AmtrakConnect.

More than 838,000 riders traveled on Amtrak Cascades in 2010, setting a 16-year high for total ridership. Wi-Fi service has been the most requested amenity by Amtrak Cascade passengers, according to Amtrak.

Source: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/prdailynews/news.asp?id=25672

News

Amtrak sues Detroit over collision with fire truck

From The Detroit News

Amtrak sued the city of Detroit in federal court today over a March crash that happened after firefighters parked a fire engine on the railroad tracks.

Amtrak accused city firefighters of placing the fire engine in danger of being struck by a train and “failing to exercise ordinary care,” according to the lawsuit, filed today in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The crash happened near the Lonyo and John Kronk intersection on March 1.

The train was traveling west when it crossed Lonyo. The train engineer saw the fire engine parked on the tracks and applied the emergency brakes but was unable to avoid crashing into the vehicle.

The city is liable for damages because it owned or leased the fire engine, according to the lawsuit.

Amtrak says it has suffered more than $75,000 in losses because of the crash.

At the time of the accident, top fire officials wasted few words in criticizing the firefighter who parked the truck on the tracks.

“I’m very upset,” executive fire commissioner James Mack said at the time. He was removed from his post earlier this month.

“I’m going to make it known that this is not acceptable and we’ll do some training,” he said.

The truck was struck by a commuter train late in the morning on March 2 in southwest Detroit.

One firefighter was injured and taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital and treated for a gash to his head, union officials said at the time. No other firefighters were seriously injured, he said.

No injuries were reported aboard the train initially, but about an hour after the accident, one passenger complained of pain, although the extent was unknown, Mack said.

The crash occurred in the city’s southwest side near John Kronk and Lonyo, where police officers and firefighters were responding to an accident involving a car and a tractor trailer.

“The fire truck was parked right on the tracks,” said Willfrido Gutierrez, 27, whose Monte Carlo was struck by the tractor trailer. “I tried to get my wife and kid away from there and I heard a huge explosion.”

The four firefighters jumped in the rig and tried to get it off the tracks in time, but were unsuccessful. The truck, Ladder 13, was T-boned by the westbound train and dragged a considerable distance before coming to rest on the tracks.

“It was a $600,000 truck,” Mack said at the time. “We’re trained professionals. We should always be thinking. I don’t think the citizens of Detroit are pleased that he parked on the tracks.

“This was a disservice to the citizens. It’s their fire truck — they paid for it.”

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110131/METRO01/101310418/Amtrak-sues-Detroit-over-collision-with-$600K-fire-truck#ixzz1CkqWXVE9

FYI

Amtrak CEO discusses exclusion from committee meeting

Here is a Special Employee Advisory from Amtrak’s president.

special employee advisory

January 28, 2011

Message from Joe Boardman

Dear Co-workers,

During his State of the Union address this week, President Obama made specific reference to the critical role high-speed rail has in our country’s infrastructure and future.

Yesterday there was a congressional field hearing in New York City at Grand Central Station held by the new Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. John Mica. The subject of the hearing was about building “real” or “true” high-speed rail.

Al Engel, our new vice president for High-Speed Rail, and I joined a roundtable discussion of the issues after the official part of the hearing ended — we were not invited to testify before the committee. The addition of a discussion format in connection to a committee hearing was new for me. I guess it was Chairman Mica’s way of trying to get the members of the committee and others engaged in a discussion about high-speed rail.

While it’s not my intent to represent Chairman Mica’s position, his basic argument — as I understand it — comprises three parts: 1. While he appreciates the efforts that have been made to bring high-speed rail to the Northeast, those efforts do not measure up to a world-class standard based on what is available in Europe, Japan and China. 2. The assets of the Northeast Corridor should be privatized with perhaps multiple operators or franchised with the intent of introducing competition as the way to bring this level of service. 3. The distribution of federal high-speed rail funding is too widely dispersed and insufficient to accomplish the intended purpose of successfully constructing a world-class system, and further the only region of the United States that has the density to support that success is the Northeast.

You may have seen some of the stories in the media about the hearing, and we’ll be seeing more as the national debate about the future of passenger rail continues. I want to share with you our position.

In the context of these points of view — and I leave room for understanding them better as they develop — I believe:  1. Amtrak has proven to be a good steward of the Northeast Corridor since we were given that responsibility in 1976 for 363 miles of the 457 miles between Boston and Washington, D.C. Since 1976, we have electrified the entire route, we have nearly doubled the number of passenger trains per day, north-end speeds have gone up from a maximum of 90 mph to 150 mph, south-end speeds are up from 110 mph to 135 mph, travel time is down, ridership is up and continues to grow, Amtrak’s air/rail market share is up and rising, and the number of grade crossings are down nearly 80 percent. Given our challenges, we have made significant strides given the federal investment levels over the years. It is my position that Amtrak should continue as the primary steward of Northeast Corridor assets, in collaboration with states and commuter railroads, and in a collegial way with the Federal Railroad Administration.

2. In listening to other points of view, I think the core of their debate about high-speed rail is ultimately about who owns the property and/or operates it — a public entity like Amtrak or private sector entity. I think that’s at the heart of the debate. Its major focus is not “real high-speed rail,” it’s “real estate.” Amtrak was created by Congress precisely because the privately owned railroads could no longer sustain the vital public service of intercity passenger rail. No other company is prepared to take over the Northeast Corridor. No other entity is equipped to cover the long-term capital and operating costs of the NEC.

3. Places other than the Northeast need trip-time competitive rail service. The demand for it is so great that many states received funding for worthy investments to help meet their regional transportation needs. But more funding is needed to rebuild our passenger rail network, and to improve the ability for the freights to accommodate that growth. It is vitally important for passenger rail and high-speed rail systems to provide the connectivity that is needed to make passenger rail viable in the United States. It is not only about having rail as an option for millions of Americans, there are other reasons of national import — reducing our dependence on foreign oil, sound use of our energy and natural resources, economic recovery and stimulation, and congestion relief are among the others — for advancing passenger rail as a matter of strategic national priority.  Putting Amtrak on a list for zero federal funding is both inconsistent with that need, and ill-advised in the face of the issues we face domestically and globally.

As I told you last week, we are working hard to educate new members of Congress about the importance of Amtrak to our nation, and to our nation’s future. More and more of the public is demonstrating their knowledge of the importance of rail with our increasing ridership.

We always face uncertainty, and we will hear about cuts all around us; there are just some things we cannot control. But we can keep our faith that the right decisions will be made, and we can work hard for our customers.

Thank you for your support and for what you do every day.

Sincerely,

Joe Boardman

President and CEO

Photo Gallery

40th Anniversary Celebration

Amtrak will kick off a year-long celebration honoring its 40th year in operation beginning May 1, 2011. As part of the celebration, the railroad is renovating and repainting locomotives and equipment to honor the event. On, Jan. 30, 2011, Amtrak P42DC locomotive No. 145 debut its new heritage paint scheme to honor the celebration, wearing the paint scheme applied to the passenger railroad's locomotives in the 1980's. Above, Amtrak No. 145 leads train 30, the Capitol Limited, at Elkhart, Ind., Jan. 30. The locomotive would then go on to lead other Amtrak trains across the country to promote the event. Stay tune for more details regarding Amtrak's 40th Anniversary and National Train Day.
News

Amtrak back in Depot Town? Ypsilanti officials to consider request

From AnnArbor.com

The question was posed by an audience member at the Michigan By Rail‘s forum Dec. 9 at Washtenaw Community College: Why doesn’t the Amtrak train stop in Ypsilanti?

After the meeting, Derrick James, Amtrak’s senior director of government affairs for the Midwest, approached Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber and told him the first step was for the city simply to ask.

And so on Tuesday, the Ypsilanti City Council will consider a resolution asking Amtrak to explore adding a stop in Ypsilanti. The effort is separate from the planned Ann Arbor-to-Detroit commuter rail, which was originally scheduled to start running in October, but was delayed because of logistical and funding issues.

The council’s resolution to approach Amtrak Midwest’s government affairs office would start the process to get an Ypsilanti stop, said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman. Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation would have to seek approval from Norfolk-Southern Railroad, the freight train company that owns the rail lines, and make sure the new stop wouldn’t interfere with freight traffic.

Amtrak also would conduct an economic analysis to determine whether an Ypsilanti stop would be beneficial to its service. One of the concerns Magliari noted is the proximity of train stops in Ann Arbor and Dearborn.

Depot Town “is very attractive, but you are also very close to other stations,” he said.

Depot Town currently doesn’t have a place where a train can stop. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and MDOT are funding a 300-foot platform with a kiosk on the west side of the tracks, and the Ypsilanti Freighthouse is inching closer to opening at least part of its historic structure, which includes a bathroom and a cafe.

City Planner Teresa Gillotti said existing plans slated the platform for completion in late spring or early summer, but she said that could change with a new administration in Lansing. Officials are still waiting on approval of the platform’s environmental assessment, and after that the parties must figure out the process for issuing a request for proposals.

City Manager Ed Koryzno said a design for the Freighthouse’s cafe still must be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office, which is funding the project. He said he hopes the cafe will open when the platform does, or just after.

Amtrak trains’ last roundtrip stops in Ypsilanti came in 1982, although the eastbound train stopped in Depot Town until 1984. Magliari said that line, the Michigan Executive, was a remnant of the commuter train that connected Detroit with western suburbs and cities up until 1975. As Amtrak focused more on inter-city connection instead of commuter, or suburb-to-city lines, it phased out the Ypsilanti stop, Magliari said.

The Wolverine train runs three times daily each direction between Chicago and Pontiac. In 2010, the line saw its ridership increase by 8 percent from 444,000 to 476,000 passengers. Ticket revenues on the line also jumped by 12 percent and Amtrak recorded its best annual figures in fiscal year 2010 with 28 million riders.

Magliari said rail grants offered by the federal government since 2008 have resulted in an increased number of local governments seeking a stop in their community. Schreiber said most residents he has spoken with strongly support the idea of trains stopping in Ypsilanti again.

“I think there’s a lot of people who would like to see a train stop in Depot Town,” he said. “It would help Depot Town businesses and help Ypsilanti as a whole, so you’ve got to try for it.”

Source: http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/ypsilanti-officials-to-consider-asking-amtrak-to-stop-trains-in-depot-town/