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Saturday, August 10, 2002
Resilient Amtrak?
On October 30, 1970, the Rail Passenger Service Act was signed by President Nixon. The legislation authorized the National Railroad Passenger Corporation to manage the basic national rail network and operate trains under contracts with the railroads.
Seven months later, Amtrak was formed because Congress wanted to revive the use of passenger rail services and to relieve private freight railroads that were headed toward bankruptcy from the burden of passenger service.
For years, Amtrak would defer maintenance on equipment until it's cars and locomotives had deteriorated, touchinf off even more breakdowns and late trains. Then Amtrak would buy new equipment, often through long-term loans and occasionally with congressional appropriations.
Today, Amtrak equipment is in reasonably good shape, compared with past years, but the old cycles again have surfaced. As losses and debts grew, Amtrak cut back on maintenance and budgeted nothing to fix wreck-damaged cars. More than 50 badly needed cars, damaged in wrecks, are now sitting in Indianapolis and are slowly being returned to service.
The Debate Over Cutting Routes
There have always been two Amtraks -- the Northeast Corridor and the long-distance trains. No one has disputed that the Boston-Washington corridor is needed; Amtrak carries more New York-Washington passengers than both airline shuttles combined.
Long-distance trains are another matter, however. Proponents describe long-distance trains as necessary transportation for rural America. Opponents call them money pits, land cruises or rolling national parks.
Year after year, Amtrak has threaten to eliminate long-distance routes that happened to go through states served by key House and Senate committee chairmen unless the railroad got more money. Congress complied -- and kept adding more trains. A famous target -- a train from Washington to Parkersburg, W.Va., the home town of then-House Commerce Committee Chairman Harley O. Staggers (D). The train gained the irreverent nickname, "Harley's Hornet."
posted by Charles at Saturday, August 10, 2002
Chiltern on track to ease disruption Aug 8 2002
By Campbell Docherty, Birmingham Post
A Midland train operator is set to take advantage of its rivals' misfortune as vital engineering work begins on the West Coast Main Line.
Chiltern Railways will provide the only direct weekend Birmingham to London services until the end of the year, while Virgin Trains and Silverlink will be forced to transfer passengers on to buses for part of their route to the capital.
Chiltern has announced it will double its trains and provide extra coaches to meet an expected increase in passenger demand for trains from Birmingham Snow Hill to London Marylebone, rather than use the disrupted New Street to London Euston services.
Last month, Railtrack announced the closure of sections of track on the approach to Euston every weekend from this Saturday until December 8.
All the affected parties admitted the closure of the WCML will have a huge effect on passengers normally reliant on the route.
A spokesman for Chiltern said it had worked closely with Virgin and Silverlink to offer an alternative service and keep passenger inconvenience to a minimum.
The spokesman said seven new carriages would be drafted into service and extra staff would be available at both Birmingham New Street and Snow Hill, as well as the two London stations, to assist passengers.
He added Chiltern information leaflets, with maps detailing recommended alternative routes and stations, would be available from New Street and other stations operated by Virgin and Silverlink.
Steve Murphy, general manager of Chiltern Railways, said he wanted to get the message across to passengers affected by the WCML upgrade that there is an alternative.
"This is a fantastic example of the national rail industry working together to ensure that passengers are as well looked after as possible during engineering works," he said.
"Many of the stations on Chiltern Railways' route from Birmingham Snow Hill or Aylesbury to London Marylebone are a short distance from stations normally used by Virgin or Silver-link passengers so they provide a good alternative.
"Our major track and signal upgrade was designed to be completed before the WCML closure, ensuring that we are not only able to improve the service we already provide for our existing passengers, but also offer a regular and reliable service for those affected by the WCML disruption."
posted by Charles at Saturday, August 10, 2002
Electric rail plan axed after U-turn over costs
By Paul Marston, Transport Correspondent
(Filed: 05/08/2002)
A railway upgrade identified as a national "major project" by the Government's Strategic Rail Authority seven months ago has been abandoned because it is thought too expensive.
Electrification of two "missing link" sections of the South Central network in Kent and East Sussex was highlighted in the authority's strategic plan as one of only eight large-scale schemes scheduled for completion by 2006.
Its sudden withdrawal has raised fears that a general rise in infrastructure costs will lead to the loss of further projects from the 10-year plan.
The South Central plan would have permitted a huge rise in through-trains between Uckfield and London, currently restricted to two a day, and opened the possibility of a critical diversionary route between London and Brighton when the main line was disrupted.
Originally mooted by British Rail in the 1980s, the project would have allowed direct services between Ashford International, Brighton and other towns on the South Coast for the first time.
The Ashford-Hastings and Uckfield-Hurst Green lines are the only parts of the South Central region still relying on diesel power.
Because of the importance of removing this obstacle to faster, direct services, the SRA had insisted on a commitment to electrification by Govia, the new South Central operator, before it was chosen to replace Connex last year.
But the SRA has told passenger groups that the £154 million scheme "would not be possible to justify" in terms of value for money.
The decision, endorsed by ministers, is a second blow to hopes for transport improvements along the South Coast after the rejection last year of the A259 Hastings bypass by Stephen Byers, former Transport Secretary.
Wendy Toms, chairman of the Rail Passengers' Committee for Southern England, said local people were bitterly disappointed by the SRA's sudden U-turn. "It is very hard to understand how something listed as a priority in the national strategic plan in January is now seen as poor value for money."
The SRA said a recent reassessment of the scheme had suggested that the value of the passenger benefits would be nine times smaller than the expenditure required. Also the cost of remedying power supply problems across the whole region had to be taken into account.
posted by Charles at Saturday, August 10, 2002
Thursday, August 08, 2002
The derailment of the Amtrak train in Kensington [front page, July 30] was apparently caused by buckled tracks due to the excessively hot day.
It is known that steel has a high coefficient of expansion. For example, every 100 feet of track rails expands 0.39 inches when the temperature of the metal rises to 120 degrees. If an allowance for this expansion is not made, the steel will continue to buckle, and derailments will be a threat.
In my observation of the segments of track being replaced at the accident site, each length of track was bolted tightly to the next without any allowance for expansion. The solution to this hazardous situation should be obvious to the board that is being convened to determine the cause of this accident.
In my practice as a consulting engineer for steam piping, this is a normal procedure in the design of steel pipe for elevated operating steam temperatures.
posted by Charles at Thursday, August 08, 2002
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