Great interview with Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant from Reuters

One of the reasons why passenger rail is on the upswing is that the freight railroads and Amtrak are coming together as one political alliance. For too long we passenger rail advocates have had a confrontational approach with the host railroads (who, after all, own the tracks that Amtrak uses and control when and how quickly Amtrak trains roll over their property). And the freight railroads have been, for too long, unhappy with the existence of Amtrak and at best, tepidly accepting of their role in the partnership.

I think that's changing.

Here's the fairly substantive interview with Kummant. My favorite part as it relates to the above point:

Let me also make a statement. The freight railroads themselves are beginning to recognize that they are going to need public money to flow into capacity dollars for their network. Otherwise they are never going to be able to really meet demand. And I think they are beginning to realize that they can do that in partnership with passenger rail: that we really should become - or are in the early stages - of really becoming one political alliance.

The freight railroads have done amazing things in the last 10 years in terms of the freight they are moving. They are moving about twice the density of freight they did in 1990 if you look at ton miles moved per mile of class 1 railroad. They are really pushing the capacity. And yet even though they are highly profitable these days they are at the lowest rungs in industry of return on capital. They cannot continue spending 17 percent of revenue on capital and build out the capacity. Therefore there is going to have to be public money that flows into the freight network, and certainly passenger rail is an avenue to do that. Sure we would love to have dedicated rail across the country. I don't think that is going to happen. But I do think it's possible for passenger and freight rail to co-exist if public money is spent in the freight rail infrastructure."

CMAQ funds a smart North Carolina move to get a third frequency

Good news out of North Carolina. Using CMAQ money, the State will add a third frequency to their Raleigh and Charlotte Amtrak service.

I think we should be looking at CMAQ money to fund more frequencies on the Hiawathas (assuming that the region between Milwaukee and Chicago is eligible for CMAQ funding). I know Wisconsin already uses CMAQ money for their excellent marketing work (and we should probably do the same in Illinois, come to think of it), but hey, let's follow North Carolina's lead and get more frequencies.

Tell your federal Representative to co-sponsor HR6003 for better Amtrak service

There is some very positive movement in Washington on a stronger financial footing for intercity passenger rail and now is the time to call D.C. and get your Representative on board the train.

The bill is HR6003, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act. It strengthens the Senate version that passed last year, S.294, particularly by increasing the amount of federal money to match state capital investments. The Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, James Oberstar, is the sponsor of the bill, so that's about as good a sponsor as we could hope for.

This is the right time to get every Representative to co-sponsor the bill to show overwhelming support for this smart investment in Amtrak.

To get the latest from NARP on federal action (and thanks to them for their timely update to call the House), check out their action alert page.

Here is the list of current co-sponsors. If your Representative is not on this list, then you've got your work cut out for you. I just called my Representative, Danny Davis, and left a message for the staffer who handles transportation.

That's my tip for calling Congress, by the way. Ask to speak to the person who handles Amtrak or transportation issues. Tell them that you're a constituent and that you want your Member to co-sponsor HR6003. They'll know what to do with that information. Then get a few more people (friends, family or neighbors) to call.

Rep Altmire, Jason [PA-4]
Rep Arcuri, Michael A. [NY-24]
Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1]
Rep Boswell, Leonard L. [IA-3]
Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1]
Rep Brown, Corrine [FL-3]
Rep Capuano, Michael E. [MA-8]
Rep Carnahan, Russ [MO-3]
Rep Carney, Christopher P. [PA-10]
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9]
Rep Costello, Jerry F. [IL-12]
Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7]
Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4]
Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17]
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51]
Rep Hall, John J. [NY-19]
Rep Higgins, Brian [NY-27]
Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2]
Rep Holden, Tim [PA-17]
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [TX-30]
Rep Kagen, Steve [WI-8]
Rep Larsen, Rick [WA-2]
Rep Lipinski, Daniel [IL-3]
Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2]
Rep Matsui, Doris O. [CA-5]
Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4]
Rep McNerney, Jerry [CA-11]
Rep Mica, John L. [FL-7]
Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2]
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8]
Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-38]
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC]
Rep Rahall, Nick J., II [WV-3]
Rep Rehberg, Dennis R. [MT]
Rep Salazar, John T. [CO-3]
Rep Shuster, Bill [PA-9]
Rep Sires, Albio [NJ-13]
Rep Space, Zachary T. [OH-18]
Rep Tauscher, Ellen O. [CA-10]
Rep Taylor, Gene [MS-4]
Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1]

Good AP story on congested freight rail network and th

We want to dramatically increase the number of passenger trains running every day.

That means we need more tracks built. Because, as this excellent AP story explains, the existing tracks are all jammed up, particularly in Chicago.

With jammed up tracks comes late Amtrak trains.

Amtrak, which shares the rails with freight trains, is also feeling the pinch. Its long-distance trains were on time just 42 percent of the time last year, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general.

The problem on the shared tracks has worsened in recent years as freight traffic has soared. Passenger trains move much faster than most freight trains, and in many areas there is only a single track, forcing trains to pull over onto side tracks and wait while trains coming in the other direction pass.

So while it's easy to blame the host railroads for Amtrak's low on-time performance, the reality is that the host railroads are our partners, not our enemies. We need to figure out how to get more track capacity built.

Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant coming to Springfield this Thursday

Exciting developments for Amtrak Illinois:

The House Rail Committee, led by Chair Elaine Nekritz (D-Des Plaines) and Minority Spokesman Don Moffitt (R-Galesburg) will hold their second annual oversight hearing on Amtrak Illinois this Thursday at 10 am in Room 122B of the Capitol. Last year, then-Board Chair David Laney came to testify. This year, Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant will participate.

There will be a press conference at 1:30 pm as well.

This is how we will continue to expand Amtrak service in the Midwest -- with a strong institutional relationship between the State, Amtrak and the host railroads (who, after all, need to make money delivering trains quickly and on-time to their stations).

Real high speed rail? California can vote for it in November

Perhaps the most exciting news for high speed rail in a decade comes from California as it looks almost certain that California voters will have the opportunity this November to build a high speed rail network in the state.

We intend to do everything we can to help pass this referendum as it is a statewide question of national significance.

Nothing would advance the cause of a modern passenger train network more than building one in California with a yes vote this November.

That means the campaign to pass the referendum has already begun.

Tell everyone you know who lives in California to (a) register to vote and (b) vote yes on the high speed rail bond. Start now, because I believe the hidden factor in this election will be the power of word-of-mouth. There will be more than a dozen questions on the ballot and a lot of excitement about the presidential race. It will be easy for the high speed rail question to get lost in the shuffle.

That's where you come in.

You almost certainly know a few people who live in California.

Call them. Or email them.

And ask them, as a personal favor and because it is the right thing to do, to vote yes on the high speed rail bond on the November ballot.

That is the most powerful political weapons ever invented: one person asking another person to vote.

I suspect the election will be very close, and we will need a national mobilization to win this.

Let's make it happen.

Iowa City - Quad Cities - Chicago study released today

The appetite for Amtrak expansion is growing.

Today the Iowa Department of Transportation and Amtrak released a study detailing potential expansion of service from Chicago to the Quad Cities and on to Iowa City.\

The range of services range from as-is service (toddling around at 45 mph or so) to 79 mph, with corresponding capital costs of $6M (cheap!) to almost $60M (much cheaper than repaving a couple dozen miles of highway).

The annual operating cost for two daily round-trips would run around $6M (very cheap).

There's a good presentation that lays out the options.

What is shocking to me is how cheap it is to get as-is service up and running. Six million dollars to get Amtrak service from Iowa City to the Quad Cities and then up to Chicago (largely because two-thirds of the route is on a great BNSF line that currently runs out to Quincy twice a day) is nothing in the land of state budgets.

Now let's get that six million!

Domestic airline capacity shrinking, international routes increasing

A New York Times article explains that, largely due to oil prices, airlines are cutting back on domestic routes and ramping up international routes.

International routes tend to fill up large planes that are relatively fuel-efficient, while domestic routes tend to be with small planes that are gas guzzlers.

Here's the meat of the article:

Last week, Edward H. Bastian, the president and chief financial officer of Delta Air Lines, gave an informative presentation at the JPMorgan Aviation and Transportation Conference in New York.

Mr. Bastian outlined Delta’s aggressive plan to expand internationally while shrinking domestically. Most other major airlines are doing the same. By the summer, he said, 41 percent of Delta’s available seats will be on international routes.

By the second half of this year, Delta’s domestic capacity will be “down a full 10 percent over where it was just last year,” he said. By this summer, international capacity will be 77 percent higher than it was in the summer of 2005, he added.

“A considerable amount” of Delta’s international growth is coming out of the domestic system, he said.

Delta will further reduce its domestic capacity by 5 percent by August, when the airline will have removed from its fleet (by sale, re-leasing or simply parking in storage) 15 to 20 larger aircraft and 20 to 25 smaller regional jets.

Regional jets, I do not need to remind many of you, provide most of the service at small and even some big airports.

Many airports could be facing sharp cutbacks in service, unless those cities happen to provide what Mr. Bastian called “better asset flights.” Those are flights whose passengers are headed to a hub in the United States to make an international connection.

“Domestic capacity is increasingly being pointed toward feeding international destinations,” he said.

So the future of air travel in the United States is cutbacks for domestic travel.

How are we going to meet the growing demand for domestic travel?

Trains.

Lots and lots of trains.

More daily frequencies to more places at faster speeds.

Or we'll have people drive, buy more oil, make Saudi Arabia even wealthier and spend even more time in congested highways.

I vote for trains.

What do you vote for?