ColoRail Passenger

December, 1998 Issue #27

Don't forget! Aspen mil transit project I ColoRail meet in Denver , Wednesday, January 27th

wins urban support L______but loses in county voting Talgo test On November 3, light rail transit (LRT) faced three separated ballot If this initiative is passed, then fi• initiatives regarding its future. The nancing will be in place for the proj• first tv/o ballot initiatives were con• ect. It is anticipated that light rail will gives peek sidered to be "advisory", i.e. not le• be the preferred technology chosen gally binding. They asked Aspen by the project consultants who will city voters and voters living else• be concluding their Environmental at future where in Pitkin County if they ap• Impact and Major Investment Stud• proved the use of LRT into Aspen. ies by next June. Those few but Aspen residents approved this ini• very wealthy individuals who op• tiative whereas Pitkin County voters pose rail outspent rail proponents 4 turned it down. to 1 in the last election.

A second county-wide issue re• Jim Markalunes, an Aspen City quired that a LRT financing plan be Councilman and member of the in place by November of 1999 in Roaring Fork Railroad Holding order for light rail design and con• Authority, addressed ColoRail struction to go forward. If no plan is members on the this subject at the available by that time, rail would no Fall membership meeting in Boul• longer be an option for the Roaring der on September 26. Fork Valley. Jim's excellent presentation cov• This election by no means spells ered the background and reasons defeat for LRT. The crucial battle for the use of LRT technology in will be fought next November when this corridor. A full account of Jim's all of the voters of Pitkin County will comments will appear in the next be deciding on a bond issue to sup• issue of the ColoRail Passenger. port LRT construction.

Inside this issue: On the Portland-Seattle "pool line" Progress on Towner Line {ex-Colorado Eagle route)... and shared by BNSF, UP and , highlights of the Fall, 1998 national rail passengers' meeting. 79 mph straightaways frequently are interrupted by curves, as shown above. New tilt- for this line "A Voice for Colorado's Rail Passengers " are under test at Pueblo, CO. Page 2 Coast progress tops NARP Fall byJon Esty ices to the region's new Sounder com• Weber states that Amtrak Thruway muter rail. TRA funds will be used to The number of Californians who use buses are an integral part of the Califor• purchase new cars for the San Die• rail has nearly doubled to nearly 1 mil• nia transportation system. He said 60% gans. Service frequencies will be lion per day in just ten years, directors of the passengers on the added to the Portland - Seattle route as of the National Railroad Passenger As• come from connecting buses. A bus well as the Seattle - Vancouver line. By sociation were told in late October. The route must maintain at least 2 1/2 riders February of next year, Mallory hopes to meeting held in was ad• per trip or will be dropped. This low initiate daily - Las Vegas dressed by national, state, and local of• level of ridership is justified by the in• service using Talgo trainsets. Prior this ficials who painted a glowing picture of come generated by those passengers date, some demonstration runs using continuing increases in passenger rail on the rail portion of their route. Finally, the Talgo may be scheduled for the activity well into the next century in this Weber stated that Caltrans is spending Phoenix -Tucson corridor. He stated auto dominated state. $5 million annually to promote passen• that the authority of Amtrak West has ger rail services in California. been recently extended to the states of Wan-en Weber, Rail Program Manager, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Idaho. California Department of Transporta• Gil Mallory, President of Amtrak West, tion, stated that Caltrans is spending confidently predicted that Amtrak opera• In the future, Mallory hopes to see San upwards of $750 million to upgrade ex• tions would reach self-sufficiency by Francisco - Monterey service as well as isting track, add double track, and im• 2002. This congressionally mandate regular service San Francisco - Reno in prove grade separation (bridges in• goal will be achieved by developing addition to the He stead of at grade railroad crossings) "market based" analyses as to where also sees potential for Las Angeles - throughout the state in order to improve ridership opportunities exist and then Palm Springs service as well as com• passenger running times. State provide services to these markets. Am• muter rail in the Salt Lake Valley. highway funds are being used to im- trak will also develop "customer service When asked about a restored standards" to remove the inconsisten• to run Seattle - Salt Lake City - Los An• State highway funds cies which intercity rail passengers now geles, Mallory said he would prefer experience. The focus of Amtrak will be building short segments of that route being used to improve tracl< on "growing the business". All of these first then connecting them with the help from the Los Angeles area strategies have been established in the of revenues from mail/express. to San Luis Obispo. Amtrak West service area and will be

extended to the rest of the system. (Continued on page 3) prove track from the Los Angeles area to San Luis Obispo. Some $40 million Mallory mentioned that progress has Press Release: is being spent to improve the Sacra• been already made in reducing the mento - Stockton - Bakersfield line in amount Amtrak borrows because of in• NEW preparation for a fifth San Joaquin train creased system wide ridership. He re• and funds are being used to improve ported that all Amtrak commuter and TRAINS TESTED AT SPEED the San Jose - commercial projects are profitable. Sacramento to allow Taxpayer Relief Funds (TRA) are being PUEBLO, COLO.-Three days of for an additional frequencies on this used to build new locomotive and car performance testing were carried route. Weber hopes to see an Oak• maintenance shops in Los Angeles, out on new Amtrak Cascades pas• land - Sacramento running time of 90 Oakland, and Seattle. The Seattle facil• senger train equipment at the minutes with up to 20 trains per day. ity will also provide maintenance serv- Transportation Technology Center He is also working toward hourly San in Pueblo, Colo. The tests are in Diegans would make the trip between preparation for the launch of Amtrak Contact ColoRail: Los Angeles and San Diego in less Cascades service scheduled for than two hours. Jon Esty. President. 303.756.6910 December in the Pacific Northwest He is exploring new Coast service with < rkrza'wjaol.com > and British Columbia. the possible extension of a northbound Bob Rynerson. Sccretan.. 303.480.5249 San Diegan beyond San Luis Obispo < rw.n. nersoiTwIworldnet.att.net > The European-style custom-built or an addition to Capitol service south ColoRail voice mail. 303.561.3805 trainsets, purchased by Washington nf ??an Inco http:// . Page 3 board meeting in San Diego, CA

Brian Rosenwald, General Manager, table clothes and napkins, expanded train directly rather than park their cars at and San Diegan Prod• menu, fi-esh cut flowers. A supervised a loading terminal as is the pracfice on the uct Lines, described how the Coast children's playroom is located on the East Coast Auto-Train. Cost per auto will Starlight has become Amtrak's premier lower level of a Superliner car and a be $130. long distance train. He reviewed Am• magician / entertainer circulates trak West's philosophy of improving through the train. The first class Pacific Rosenwald hopes this added service will trains to capture riders and add reve• Parlor Cars are probably the biggest hit encourage higher levels of ridership dur• nue rather than the prevailing Amtrak and had been largely responsible for a ing the Wnter and Spring months when tendency to meet budget deficits with 26% increase in sleeping car passen• fewer people tend to travel between these cuts in service and amenities. Realiz• gers since their introduction in 1996. points. The Coast Starlight carries about ing that the Coast Starlight, which aver• The increase in coach ridership, how• 15 mail/express cars per week mostly be• ages an all time Amtrak low speed of ever, has been flat and Rosenwald is tween Los Angeles and Oakland. Rosen• 39.6 mph, was not going to compete looking at ways of building this busi• wald hopes to increase this business but with Southwest Airlines, Rosenwald de• ness. not to the extent it interferes with the train's cided to create an "enhanced travel ex• already slow schedule. perience" by emphasizing careful atten• In April of next year, service tion to passengers' needs. All employ• between Seattle and Los Angeles will In other business, NARP recommends ees are selected on the basis of their be initiated using three newly build auto that Amtrak; social skills and desire to be of service rack cars each trip. Travelers will leave to others. Dining car staffing is high their cars at King St. Station (Seattle) or Convert all transition Superliner cars to first and numerous amenities include linen LAUPT (Los Angeles) and board the class service and use the low/er level area in each car as a first class lounge. They recom• mend rehabilitating the Heritage 10-6 sleep• ers for use as crew dorms. Towner Line' back fronn dead NARP recommends as short line operator takes over improved car utilization and restored Wyoming On October 9, C-DOT officials an• special fund created by the Legislature transcontinental service nounced that they had selected the two years ago to purchase abandoned Colorado and Kansas Railroad as the railroad lines deemed to be of economic Lend unused NE Consider cars to Amtrak In• winning bidder for the Towner line. This value for ftjture fi^eight and/or passenger tercity for use in long distance trains over rail line which consists of 122 miles of service. long holiday periods. Utilize all available roll• track between North Avondale Junction ing stock for revenue service. "If a car is (20 miles east of Pueblo) and Towner The Colorado and Kansas was one of available and there is a market for it, it on the Kansas state line was pur• two bidders whose business plans had should be running," says NARP Board Presi• chased earlier this year by the Stat^of been previously qualified by C-DOT. dent, Jack Martin. Martin says there are too Colorado from the UP. Earlier this summer, a request fi'om a many cars running deadhead on trains that could be producing revenue. third bidder, who had asked to operate UP intended to abandon the line an"c the line on an emergency basis during Consider stopping long distance trains in the use the rail to in their ongoing program the grain harvest, was been turned NE Corridor to improve corridor frequencies to improve their Kansas Pacific route down and fill empty seats. into Denver John Reed, president of the Colorado and Kansas Railroad Prior to legislative action which author• Initiate trains to serve Chicago - Florida; Chi• stated he planned to have the rail line ized the purchase of the line. Governor cago - Kansas City -Oklahoma City - Fort up and running as soon as possible. Roy Romer's Office of Economic Devel• Worth and Chicago - N. Platte - Cheyenne - opment had found no qualified company Ogden - Portland. C-DOT and the Colorado and Kansas to buy the line. Railroad are now negotiating the tenns of a lease/purchase agreement. All The 'Towner Line' is the former Missouri Pacific route linking money earned firom this transaction will Denver, the Royal Gorge, Pueblo, Kansas City and St. Louis. be deposited in the State Rail Bank, a Page 4 ColoRail meeting to discuss commutes

Wednesday, January 27 from Glenn Scott, a Westminster City Pacific Northwest tilts 7;00 to 9;00 PM in the Morey Councilman and member of the Room of the Wynkoop Brewery, toward Talgo technology Denver Regional Council of Gov• Wynkoop and 18th St. across ernments, has agreed to speak fContimied from page 2) from Denver Union Terminal in State and Amtrak, will be tested at at ColoRail's winter general LoDo. speeds up to 115 mph and ob• membership meeting. Glenn served for speed acceleration, ride has had a long time interest in The meeting will also feature the quality and stopping distance. commuter rail and its application presentation of ColoRail's first an• When the trainsets first begin the to corridors which serve the new service, travel speed will not nual Rusty Spike Awards) to indi• North Denver Metro area. exceed 79 mph (125 kph) along the viduals) who have advanced the 466-mile Pacific Northwest Rail Cor- cause of rail during the past year. Councilman Scott has also made ndor (PNWRC) from Vancouver, BC Current topics pertaining to pas• an intense study of available pas• to Eugene, Ore. senger rail and rail relevant legis• senger rail technology and has de• lation will also be presented. Amtrak Cascades feature advanced tilt veloped some creative ap• technology by Talgo, Inc., that allows the proaches in financing passenger equipment to approach curves without Service directly to and from LoDo rail systems. He will be discussing reducing speed. Although the pendular will be available on RTD Rtes AF, his vision for commuter rail in the technology has operated safety in B, 120X, 2, 10, 12, 20, 28, 32, and Europe for decades, these are the first North Denver Metro area as well 44. All other Downtown night tilt-technology trains approved for perma• as along Colorado's Front Range. routes are reached via the 16th nent use in the U.S. The trains are pow• ered by new General Motors Electro- Street Mall shuttle. The meeting is scheduled for Motive Division F59PHI locomotives.

ColoRail Passenger

ColoRail P.O. Box 480452 Terminal Annex Denver, CO 80248 Colorado Rail Passenger Association P.O. Box 480452 Denver, CO 80248

December 14, 1998 Dear Rail Supporter,

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to join ColoRail. We have been in existence for nearly 10 years as advocates for passenger rail and for intermodal solutions to Colorado's growing transportation problems. We have over 100 paid members and want to continue to attract additional members who have an interest in passenger rail so that we can provide a stronger voice with policy makers, the media, and elected officials.

We have had a very busy and encouraging year. ColoRail has become an active participant in the legislative process. ColoRail members successfully lobbied their state representatives and senators to pass, by overwhelming majorities, the Towner Line Acquisition Bill (HB-1395) even in the face of strong opposition from Governor Romer and his DOT. This 122 mile line in southeastern Colorado has been saved and was recently sold by the State to the Colorado and Kansas Railroad.

ColoRail members played a significant role in the recent election of five pro-rail RTD Board directors. Members assisted candidates by donating money, gathering petition signatures, distributing campaign literature, and participating in neighborhood fairs. Because of our efforts and the efforts of other pro-transit groups, we now have a strong majority on the Board that supports a rail alternative in many Metro Denver corridors.

We will be facing even more challenges next year. We are trying to build a strong and effective association to get the word out on the advantages of rail to our elected officials. That is why we ask that you join with us and take a moment to jot down your RTD, state representative, state senatorial, and congressional districts. If you don't know the district numbers or the names of your elected officials, we will be happy to determine them for you from your address. With this information, we hope to construct a data bank of members who can be called upon to contact their elected representatives regarding matters pertaining to passenger rail.

I would like to invite you to attend our Board meetings which take place at Lim's Chinese Restaurant at 5:45PM on the 2nd Monday of every month. Lims is located between 15th and 16th Streets on Blake, just a half a block from RTD's Market Street Station in LoDo. Please come join us for updates on rail activities, good, food, and great company.

Jon Esty, President "A Voice lor Colorado's Rail Passetigers WON'T YOU JOIN US?!!!

ColoRail dues for 1999 are now due. For $10 you will receive the Colorado Passenger, our quarterly newsletter, which will provide you with the latest information on rail passenger issues in the State.of Colorado.

1999 promises to be another exciting year for transportation issues in Colorado. Metro area corridor studies are undenway, construction continues on the Southwest Corridor Light Rail Line, Tennessee Pass may be reopening and more.

Your membership is vital so that ColoRail can continue its efforts to improve and expand rail passenger service within and through the State. Please fill out the form below and return it with a check or money order for $10 (or more) to the address listed below.

Thank you for your support!

Name Address City ST ZIP Phone (with area code) Fax (with area code) E-mail Colorado District Colorado State Senate District US Congressional District RTD District:

Send to: ColoRail P.O. Box 480452 Denver, CO 80248

"A voice for Colorado's Rail Passengers"