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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMT Assn of RR Passengers - JuneMONTANA Association of Railroad Passengers - MARP 21 I0 Wingate Lane Billings, Montana 59102 Dedicated to:: Retaining, Improving, and Increasing Railroad Passenger service in Montana email - iimabifff-~_.imt.nct Web site www.maro.org JUNE 2007 FRIDAY MARCH 16 MISSOULA MEETING The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag. We then welcomed all the attendees and slated that the purpose of the meeting was to have people give their opinions and ideas about how we could accomplish getting rail passenger service to southern Montana. It was stated that the good times of yesterday along with issues regarding global warming and the environment were not really relevant to our mission at this time. We proceeded to tell what we have bean discussing at tl~ legislature and within our organiTation. First is the possibility of Corridor trains ronnlng between Missoula - Darby; Missoula - Poison; Billings -Glendive; Billings ~ Helena via Bozeman; Missoula -Helena; and Billings - Shelby. Second is having a Corridor train run between Spokane and Billings.. Third is having four more cars (dinner, coach, sleeper, and either another coach or sleeper) added to the Builder then having it split in Fargo with th~ southern leg going to Seattle via Spokane and the northern leg go to Portland via Spokane. And last bm far from least of having a commission formed to study these options so it can be done no later than 2009. This commissiOn would have a member from the House from each party, a member from the Senate from each party, a member from the governors sta~ a person from Montana Rail Link, a person from BNSF, a member from our group, and a member from the railroad union. Next we had those sitting around the 'head table' speak to the subject. This started with the representative from the Chamber, then a member of the Missoula City Council, a member from the County Commissioners, a member of the Mountain Line, a person from the Bitterroot project and we had the representatives from the offices of the three congressional members. After those people gave their opinions we went through a list of those that we knew were present including a representative from the Office of Mayor in Drummond, a representative from the Senior Citizens Center, an employea of Rail Link, and another member of the city council. We opened the discussion to anybody who so desired and got responses fi-om a couple who had just moved to Missoula, a recent joiner of our association, a member of NARP but not our group, three or four men who were very interesting and interested in why we called the meeting. The consensus from my concept is that people would like the ability to travel on passenger rail not only in Montana but have the ability tolxaveho the East and West 0f M0nlana, but they do like the concept of some corridor trains especially option two above. One woman asked what could they all do to help? I told her they could take some of the membership applieations and have people join as we need numhem on our side. It is embarrassing to tallr to some politicians when they ask what is your membership and I can only say 20 or 30. We need a couple of hundred members to give some credence to others. I also told her we cannot go around the state with no money and told them that my pockets are not very deep. Mike arose and thanked everyone for coming. We asked everyone m complete a questionnaire of what they thought and what questions they had. They were to mail them to Mike, so I have not seen any of them thus I cannot comment on them. County Commi~sion Chairman Bill Caroy who got us the room provided us with a tape recording of the session and one of the cable stations taped the complete meeting. James Green, President ANNUAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 15, 2007 LEWISTOWN FRIDAY APRIL 13 BILLINGS IVIEETING - The meeting got underway at 1:30 PM in the conference room of the Billings Chamber of Commeme on Friday April 13, 2007. After all of the articles in different papers, radio and TV coverage of the Missoula meeting of sponsored by MARl>, and the Helena political meeting there were questions of what was going on with us and the politicians. As was stated the Governors office was going to have a Senator make an amendment to a bill, asking for an appropriation of $150,000 for the Mt DOT to get a study done by Amtmk. I called the Senator and told him that would not get done, as the wording had to be on the order of creating a committee or commission to work on this project and an amount of up to $150,000 could be used for research bythe committee, if needed. There a~e a lot of studies and such that can be done throngh the Universities a lot cheaper than others. Well he would not Listen and the attempt to create an amendment failed twice. I contacted another Senator who will listen and maybe get it done the right way. Anyway that was a topic of talk at our meeting. We talked about the problem of track usage east of Bjlllngs. The general consensus was that doing some cor6dor Ixains fight now would be the best bet if we cOUld get someone like Rail Link to work with ns. I told the attendees that I had talked with Rail Link and even though they have not said yes to the project, they have not said no. It wes disappointing that the Hospitals and Universities in Billings did not send representative that we know of. We did have representatives of all thee of the Montana congressional delegatiom We explained the need for SB294 and that we needed · people to contact Senators from other states to get on bourd to support it, as our Senators were on board. We explained the corridors we have in mind. The first is from Helena/Billings and Miss0ula/Helena, or BillingsfMissoula~ As suggested a Billings/Shelby would then be able to connect with the Builder and then maybe a Billings to Spokane. A lot of possibilities. On questions of going to Denver we told them we were in contact with a person in Edmonton that would like to have a train run from Edmonton to Shelby. We then could put a Billings/Denver corridor. Coverage of the meeting was done by both KULR-TV and KTVQ-2 of Billings who both conducted interviews of the President and attendees. The meeting was also covered by the Billings Gazette who interviewed the President after the meeting. - REGION 8 NARP - MEETING TACOMA MARCH I7. State Reports - MT ARP - Montana Association of Railroad Passengers - Jim Green, Pres., spoke about the Empire Builder being 4 ½ hours late into Spokane and only 2 hours late into Everett, WA. Jim feels that we need to be more aggressive with pn.~hing our endeavors. Spoke about Congressman Denny Rehberg's response re. the future of Amtrsk and its funding dilemma_ The group is still pursuing attempts to get funding from the Governor's office for some type of RDC service from Billings to Missoula to Spokane or Billings to Great Falls to Shelby. Also h'yin~g to get buy-in from the state to study rail passenger services. Jim told about a meeting in Missoula, held on Fri. March 16, which was a roundtable discussion about rail passenger services in the state. There were approx. 70 people in attendance at this meeting. There was no special guest speaker as this was an open forum for anyone to lnake comments about rail passenger services in the state of Montana. After the meeting, the group collected written comments and feedback on the day's meeting and where do we go from here. Will be going to Bozeman, Billings, and other locations for a slmil~r roundtable event. AORTA - Association of Gre~on Rail & Transit Advocates - Bob Krebs, Pres., spoke about light rail being installed in the transit mall in downtown Portland. Also spoke about the Streetcar expansion and the Portland Ariel Tram, which is only the 2'a Tram in the US that is used for transit services as the remaining Tr~m.~ in this country are tourist operatious.Bob spoke on state bills to help fund A~trak services within the state. The Beaverton to Wilsonville eomrnut~"rall llne is under construction and will operate with Colorado Rallcar DMU's. This is a 14-mile project with prospects for expansion. Will begin with small Ixalus to handle between 150 to 200 passengers. Bob talked about the Columbia River Crossing Project, which is a $6 billion project. The Wallowa Union Railroad in Elgin, OR is the location where the former Lewis & Clark Explorer (Astoria, OR) RDC cars have gone. Bob also commented on the fact that the 2008 NARP Region 8 Meeting Will be held in Portland, OR and the 2008 Fall NARP Board of Directors' Meetings will also be held in Portland. All Aboard Washington - Lloyd Flem, Executive Director/Government & Corporate Affairs, spoke about his recent legislative work on the Eastside Rail line project and the attempts to keep the rail line in tact. Lloyd recently returned from Washington, DC where Go 21 and BNSF had sent Lloyd to DC to visit with the WA Congressional Delegation on the topic of freight issues. At first, Lloyd was scheduled to visit with his two Senators and two Representatives. However, he ended up meeting with all 9 congressional leaders from WA state. He gave a presentation on behalf of rail freight issues and the legislation that freight railroads would like to see passed but also spoke on the topic of rail passenger issues. Discussed S. 294 and H.IL 1300. 130 in attendance with 8 from Montana. The meeting ended at 4:45pm(PT). Barry E. Green J Hutchinson-Amtrak - Comments Mr. Jonathan Hutchison, Director of Government Affairs - Amtmk, ~om Oakland, CA. Jonathan worked at Tri-Met for 8 years in Portland, OR and 2 years at OR DOT. In Feb. 2006, he went to work for Amtrak. He had two handouts for those in attendance, which gave a recap of FY 2006 for the NARP Region 8 states. Amtrak is in its 4~ year of record.system reNcml.e and rid .ex's. h~p, ..There was a 4.5% increase in ridem and an 11.9% increase in revenues on the PNS/q corridor mips. The Long Distance trains saw a slight decrease in ridership due to on time performance problems. For FY 2007, to date, ridership is up 4.3% and revenues are up 10.4%. Amtrak is on track for another record year. Revenues are outpacing ridership. Amtrak is managing available equipment to get the most riders and revenue despite not having any more equipment to work with. For FY 2007, Amtrak received $1.294 billion. $521 million for Operations; $495 million for Capital; and $277 million for Debt Service. For FY 2008, Amtrak has requested $1.53 billion. $485 million for Opemtious; $760 million for Capital; and $285 million for Debt Service. Amtrak needs a multi-year funding strategy so that it can be authorized funds over a 6-year timeframe. Over this time, this would amount to $455 to $600 million for Operations and $813 million to $1.23 billion for Capital. Trend - Amtrak must manage and reduce Operating requirements while increasing capital funding requirements. S. 294 - Requires Amtrak to study the return of"The Pioneer" that was discontinued in 1996. Corridor Trains - State Parmerships. Amtrak Cascades, for example. None . of~ corridor operations have great on time performance. Need three items to enhance corridor train operations: 1.)-Increased Frequenciesi 2.)-Decreased Running Times; 3.)-Increased Reliability. There must be federal monies involved for state corridor trains to increase the overall number of trains. Alexander Kummant~ Pres. & CEO - Amtrak, has said that the Long Distance Trains are a national treasure and that we need to keep them. There may be changes, but we need to keep the national network. The Long Distance trainn aren't the big money losers. They have high operating costs but lower capital costs. Biggest challenge - On time performance over the host railroads. Every minute that a train is running late, the operating costs increase $12/minute for the Long Distance Irains and $6/minute for the Corridor trains. Cascades - Monies paid by WA and OR to provide this service. WA has made multi-year capital expenditures. OR, however, has experienced challenges in the area of providing funding. The OR Legislature has proposed monies for Rail - Transit - Air - Marine. that is known as "Connect Oregon". In the end, thin is not a capital funding savior. Amtrak Cascades - Yancouver, BC - Canada has offered funding for a 2nd train fi'om Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC. This train will be a'thru train from Portland, ORto Vancouver, BC. During 2008, siding extensions on this line will begin. Available cross-platform connections at Portland to this train with the train from Eugene. Empire Builder - A model train. BNSF, CP, and Metra operate this train for the most time, on time, all the time. The train has seen increased ridership and revenues and enjoys strong grassroots support. Coast Starlight, aka "Coast Starlate", experiences major problems south of POrtland due to UP's deferred maintenance of the line. UP has more infrastructure needs than they can fund. The fi.eight traffic isn't much greater now under UP than it was under the former SP. The Coast Starlight is the 2"a worst performing train when it comes to on time performance. Amtrak is proposing to restore the overall level of on board service to this train, similar to what is on the Empire Builder, tentatively beginning in 2008. Question & Answer (Q &A) Session with Amtrak's Jonathan Hutchison - Q. - How about putting a "Parlor Car" on the Empire Builder consist? A. - There are currently 5 Parlor Cars remaining at Amtrak, however, the Empire Builder will not get one. Q. - Has Amtrak considered raising the consciousness of 50/50 funding (federal & state) to increase rail services ? A. - At the end of the day, Amtrak is a political issue. We need to assert the importance o£~ rail transportation in this country. All politics is local. Q. - GE is conducting a consumer-marketing campaign. Is Amltak doing something similar? A: -Amtrak does thi.~ on its web site, but it can't individually promote or take out a single page ad as being the most fuel-efficient mode of public lransportation. Q. - Will new equipment be needed for the additional Vancouver, BC service? A. - No new equipment will be needed. This trip will come from the existing 5 sets of passenger equipment that presently operates in the corridor. Q - There is a need for new or refurbished equipment for.the Willamette Valley service. Is Amtrak working with OR DOT on this issue? A - This is a slate issue and OR must get more involved with this project. Amtrak has told OR what they have and can provide but Amtrak can'i.dietate.or provide other options to the state of OR. Q - When the Pioneer was discontinued, UP removed much of the passenger train infrastructure over this route, if the Pioneer returns, who would pay to put this infrastructure back into place? A - A critical switch at Portland was removed and would have to be replaced probably with public monies. End ofQ & A DAVID JOHNSON-NARP-ASST DIRECTOR Guest speuker-~DavidJohnsorr,,,Asst. Direetot-~- NARP, fiom Washington, DC. David has been the Asst. Director at NARP as of Aug. 2004. '~Fhe Outlook for Amtrak' - A new Congress means new opportunity! Democratic Majority in Congress is a positive, however, funding is very tight. Speaker oftbe House, Nancy Pelosi, has said that she will not allow big funding programs to be passed. There are many new Committee and Sub- Committee Chairs for the various Congressional committees that Oversee Amtrak. David gave an overview of the names of the chairmen. He also said that we did lose some Republican Amtrak supporters during the last election. President Bush's budget is addicted to oil instead 9f focusing on Amtrak as a way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and oil use in general. Senate Bill - S. 294 - There is a very good summary of this bill on the NARP website. Amtrak uses less energy than cars or planes. Jet fuel prices are outpacing domestic airfarcs. Climate Change - Politics Changing? - Gave a quick overview of the "Stem Report" from the U.K., which talks about worldwide climate changes. Intermodal Improvements - There is a possibility of eliminating air service between Chicago_ and Milwaukee and put all these people on trains. Then you wouldn't have to build the third Chicago Airport. David also spoke about the following topics - Midwest Regional Rail Project; Commuter Rail in Albuquerque, NM & Nashville, TN; ADA & Passenger Rail - What constitutes "level boarding of passenger cars". The final solution to this issue is uncertain NARP At Work - - Hill visits - New Web Site - Phone banking System - FY 06 baffle - Countered Mineta tour - Communicate dissatisfaction w/Amtrak services - Diner/Loonge project tested on the Capitol l.imited New Orleans to Florida Service - NARP supports restoration of this service. The Sunset Limited was the target of anti-long distance train forces. Amtrak is looking at other options for this route.NARP, What Can You Do? - Handout. Your Government is being mn by 25 & 26 year olds who are the staffers of our Congressional leaders. What do we ask our legislators? Go to the NARP Web Site for all contact info. Question & Answer (Q &A) Session with NARP - Asst. Dir. David Johnson Q. -Rehabilitation of Amtrak's Chicago Yard arrangements? A. - Work has started and is ongoing. END OF Q & A GOLDEN SPIKE AWARD Each year at the annual meeting of the Board of Dk~etors.o£~theaNational Ass~oeiation of RaiLroad Passenger they award the Golden Spike award to the person in either the Senate or the House who has fought for Amtrak. In the past the award has gone to Lutenburg, Lott, MutE/, and Hu~henson who are in the Senate and have been very supporfive~ - Amtak. This year the award goes to that Montanan who fought to keep the amendment to eleminate the Builder fiom becoming a realality. He has shown during his tendor as the lone representative in the House from Montana as a firm supporter of Aml~ak. Congratulations Dennis Rehberg and I know that your life in D C has been made easier with the support of your wife Jan and charming daughters Katie and Elsie. I also know you get a lot of advice from that guy jack who says he hasn't pushed you but has been there to keep you fi'om falling. WATCH FOR MEETINGS IN YOUR AREA AS WE ARE TRYING TO REACH OUT TO EVERYONE INTERESTED IN OUR GOALS. MEETING SCHEDULED FOR BOZEMAN THE 11TM OF MAY AT 1:30 IN CHAMBER OFF1CE. IN BUTTE JUNE 8TM OR 15ra IN THE RESTORED NP DEPOT, WITH A RIDE FOR THOSE THAT DESIRE ON THE 'COPPER KING EXPRESS'. IN GREAT FALLS THE MIDDLE OF JULY. MONTANA ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS 2110 WINGATE LANE BILLINGS, MONTANA 59102 406-652-1339 email iimabiff@iMT.NET web page www.marp.org Mayor, City of Laurel 115W. l~t St. Laurel, Mt 59044 NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE pAID PERMIT NO. 309 BILLINGS, MONTANA id,hhh,iL.,i, ht ,11 THIS EDITION OF THE OFFICIAL NEWS FOR "MARP" IS WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS. WE ASK YOU TO THANK AND TO SUPPORT THEM. WE NRta MORE LIKE THEM. BF. A DUES PAYING MEMBER OP, BE A SPONSOR OF THE NEWSLEi-iP_I( OR BP.'i rtzR YET, BE BOTH. PLEASE/-m.l.P! ! 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