Winter 2019 Vol
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RUN RAIL NEWSLETTER USERS NETWORK WINTER 2019 VOL. 16 ISSUE 1 INDIVIDUAL THE FIGHT TO SAVE THE RAIL SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTS (Reprinted from Passenger Train Journal, 2018-4. Issue 277) By Richard Rudolph, Ph.D., were pleasantly surprised to week. At the April California Rail Election 2018: Chairman, Rail Users’ Network learn that Congress actually Passenger Summit, for example, increased Amtrak’s total President Anderson quoted Title 49 View from This is the fifth in a series of articles appropriations. The passage of the U.S. Code Section 24101 as Cascadia p. 2 that highlights what Rail Users’ Consolidated Appropriation Act of justification for his actions making it Network members and other rail 2018 was certainly good news to the sound like his corridor strategy is RUN's Annual advocates are doing to improve and millions of Americans who depend on mandated by this law. He expand passenger rail and transit Meeting p. 3 public transportation to travel to maintained that the mission of services in North America. work, visit relatives, seek medical Amtrak is to provide efficient and attention, and procure food and other effective intercity passenger rail Things Get Given that the Heritage necessities of life. One might have mobility consisting of high quality Worse for NJ Foundation and other expected that with a larger total service between city pairs. His claim, Rail Riders p. 4 conservative think tanks have budget, Amtrak would be thinking of however, for what he is doing is not become the brain trust behind adding or improving service. true. Nothing forces a focus on 300- President Trump on a variety of Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to 400 mile corridors. Report from the issues, it shouldn’t have come as be the case. Southwest p. 5 a surprise that the Trump Public Law 210-432 Division B administration’s FY 2018 Amtrak Since becoming President and CEO Section 228(b) states: It is the Canada Report budget proposal called for the of Amtrak, Richard Anderson has sense of the Congress that (1) elimination of the 15 long- p. 6 been threatening the very existence long-distance passenger rail is a distance routes. This has been of the national train network without vital and necessary part of our their goal for many years. justification and apparently without national transportation system 2018 New Starts authority to do so. At various forums, and economy and (2) Amtrak p. 10 While members of the Rail Users’ he has indicated a preference for a should maintain a national Network as well as other rail corridor strategy between city pairs passenger rail system, including advocates had braced RailNation 2018 and reducing daily service on some long-distance routes, that themselves for the worst, they of the national routes to three days a Continued on page 7 Conference p. 11 Long-Distance Rail NEWS FROM NEW YORK: MTA CHAIR in the Western U.S., Part 4 p. 13 DEPARTS AND AMAZON ARRIVES By Andrew Albert job at NYU-Langone Medical Center. and will continue to be Riding the Train He took no salary, while putting a instrumental in bringing our to and from As always, the transit scene in tremendous amount of time and system. consisting of NYC Transit RailNation p. 15 New York is bursting with news! effort into the job of MTA Chair, (subways & buses), Long Island even while maintaining his other Rail Road, and Metro-North MTA Chairman job. It’s a miracle he got any sleep, Commuter Railroad, Into the 21st with two very important century. Andy Byford is now Joe Lhota resigns! careers! While his tenure as President of NYC Transit, and Chairman was short by any comes to us by way of Toronto, This is Lhota’ssecond stint as Chair measure—just a little over a year— London, & Sydney. He is an of the largest transit agency in North he is responsible for several extremely knowledgeable leader, America. He resigned shortly after important initiatives that will bring and has enlisted the workforce, as Governor Andrew Cuomo won re- lasting improvement to our well as all New Yorkers, in the election as New York’s Governor. It sprawling transit system. task of getting the necessary should be mentioned that Lhota funding for his Fast Forward agreed to take the job of Chairman, Firstly, he put in place several Plan—which will even though he has an important agency Presidents who have been Continued on page 8 RAIL USERS’ NETWORK NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 OF 16 ELECTION 2018: VIEW FROM CASCADIA By Lloyd H. Flem decisions made by top Amtrak leadership, it is Republican that could speak at their essential that urban and rural work together. annual meeting in Olympia! I did and A glance at the map of the 435 U.S. House In many ways the results of the Nov. 6 supplied a good one for them. But our Districts depicted in Red and Blue following the election in Washington state were a world of intercity passenger rail advocacy results of the 2018 Election shows that microcosm of what occurred nationally. must, by necessity, move out of just the Republicans still strongly dominate the square One congressional seat, Washington -8th, cites and encompass citizens and elected miles in our country, even after a significant flipped from Republican to Democrat, officials of wide and varied locations and political persuasions. pickup of seats and now a majority held by the despite the addition of conservative Democrats. Even in the bright blue West Coast counties east of the Cascades with the post-2010 redistricting. In the Legislature, A long-term goal for all Aboard States, the densely populated western portions of Washington is to see the restoration of WA, OR, and CA were the stronghold for the densely-populated and prosperous intercity passenger trains from Auburn, Democrats, with the physically larger interiors of corridor from Olympia north to the Canadian border became even brighter south of Seattle, east across the Cascades the three states remaining predominately mountains, into the Yakima Valley, joining Republican. Blue, with the last Republican legislators being defeated in the Seattle suburbs. the south leg of the Empire Builder at the Eastern Washington remained almost town of Pasco. This was the original And even though the popular vote for the U.S. entirely Republican, the exception being Northern Pacific route, which had Amtrak Senate had Democrats with a higher national service until 1981. total, the Republicans picked up seats. Some one Spokane District. But both houses of our Legislature plus the Governor Jay people, mostly Democrats, favor doing away Inslee (who loves trains – that go 250 In attempting to see the restoration with that portion of the Constitution that mph!) are now heavily through, area citizens and legislators must grants representational equality to states in the Democratic majority. Our neighbors from do most of the heavy advocacy work. Upper House. I emphatically support efforts to Oregon also increased Democratic control AAWA can serve as a catalyst, and offer limit gerrymandering of House districts, which of legislature and re-elected their ideas, strategies, and encouragement, but does damage to fair populational Democrat governor. eventual success will have to come from representation. But I also support the U.S. the home folks, who mostly vote for and Senate remaining with two Senators for each Just as I believe urban rail advocates nationally are represented by Republicans, of the 50 states, not becoming simply a second should support and not dismiss those Red House with but fewer members. State Senators who want to save THEIR Assuming folks directly served by this restored passenger trains, in my 35 years of working for Old NP route will work for such restoration, As an advocate for intercity passenger trains intercity passenger trains in Washington state, I another job for AAWA is to encourage which are an interconnected national network, have always advocated working both sides of Westside legislators, mostly Democrats, to I see a great advantage in the Senate status the aisle and both sides of our very work with their Eastern Washington quo. It is Senators from often lightly-populated geographically diverse state. But some Eastern colleagues to get legislation and funding. While Red states who will work hardest for a national Washington citizens and legislators have gone we have some partisan polarization in network. Senators from such as Montana, so far as to want to form a 51st state, because Washington state, it has not reached the level North Dakota, Kansas, and the Gulf states will of the feeling of being dominated by “Seattle.” suffered in Washington, DC. As said, AAWA has fight to retain or restore a complete Wiser heads from their dry side of Washington been traditionally bi-partisan and we will concede it is taxes from “Seattle” which help continue working in that direction. interconnected Amtrak system. Former support services in the less-affluent areas away senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) was pro- from the prosperous Olympia to BC border As I will be retiring for the prime responsibility Amtrak, but famously said “National or corridor. of political advocacy at the end of 2018, I’ll Nothing.” Of course, six senators, three Rs and continue in 2019 serving to assist my three Ds, forced the issue with Amtrak, and While “Seattle” is shorthand for the replacement, Mr. Luis Moscoso, formerly a managed to at least temporarily save the political and cultural behavior of that member of the Washington State House from complete train on the Southwest Chief. which Red district people in my state northeast of Seattle. Luis, though a liberal dislike, I concede some citizens of Seattle Democrat, worked cordially and had mutual Most active advocates for intercity passenger and “Seattle” can indeed be both arrogant respect with conservative Republicans on rail and rail transit do reside in now- and provincial.