Thanks to Howie Dash of Las Cruces, NM for finding this news release
from NARP:
National Association of Railroad Passengers
For Immediate Release (#10-07)
May 5, 2010
Contacts: Ross Capon, Sean Jeans-Gail
202-408-8362 (Capon cell 301-385-6438)
> At a field hearing in Miami Monday to determine how high speed rail
> will connect with other modes of transportation, the chair of the
> House Railroads Subcommittee unequivocally called for restoration of
> passenger train service between Florida and New Orleans.
>
> Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-FL) led the May 3 hearing, which
> focused on the federal grant Florida received to establish high speed
> trains between Orlando and Tampa.
>
> Brown took the opportunity to express her concern to an Amtrak
> witness about the delay in restoring the New Orleans-Florida link,
> which Amtrak discontinued during Hurricane Katrina and has never
> restored—even though CSX restored its damaged rail line to
> better-than-new condition, reopening the line in March, 2006.
>
> While Amtrak has gone on record to admit that the line is “the
> missing link” in the national passenger rail network—and still
> includes the New Orleans to Jacksonville in their official timetable
> as a “temporarily suspended” route—there has been no real effort to
> restore service to the corridor, outside of a restoration study done
> by the railroad in July 2009, which includes some cost-estimates that
> some industry insiders have questioned.
>
> “I want the Sunset restored to New Orleans - Jacksonville - Orlando.
> This train is vital to transcontinental transportation and an
> important safety backup for evacuation in a disaster,” Brown said at
> the hearing. I am holding a subcommittee hearing in Jacksonville in
> a few weeks at which the Sunset will be a major item of discussion,
> and look forward to Amtrak appearing. We must get the train back,
> one way or another.”
>
> The issue highlights the strict budgetary restraints Amtrak is
> working under. A full Sunset Limited route—Los Angeles to
> Orlando—connects the eight southernmost states, which together
> account for one in every three Americans, and half the nation’s
> population growth since 1970. Although the economic importance of
> this corridor to the nation’s transportation and tourist sectors is
> widely recognized, Amtrak still faces undercapitalization on most of
> its network, and will require strong Congressional leadership to
> acquire the additional funds to restore service (the train company’s
> study puts the capital and mobilization costs at around $33 million).
>
> Brown’s public demand that the train be restored should offer
> transportation advocates hope that they have finally found that
> leader.
>
> “With just $1 billion budgeted for Fiscal Year 2011, we need to find
> a dedicated revenue source so that states, operators, and
> manufacturers aren’t afraid to make investments in infrastructure and
> manpower,” said the Chairwoman. “I feel so passionately about this
> that I spearheaded a letter that over 100 Members [of Congress]
> signed to President Obama, requesting that he include a dedicated
> source of revenue for high-speed rail in the transportation
> reauthorization policy objectives that the Administration is
> developing.”
>
> The date of the hearing in Jacksonville has yet to be determined.
from NARP:
National Association of Railroad Passengers
For Immediate Release (#10-07)
May 5, 2010
Contacts: Ross Capon, Sean Jeans-Gail
202-408-8362 (Capon cell 301-385-6438)
> At a field hearing in Miami Monday to determine how high speed rail
> will connect with other modes of transportation, the chair of the
> House Railroads Subcommittee unequivocally called for restoration of
> passenger train service between Florida and New Orleans.
>
> Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-FL) led the May 3 hearing, which
> focused on the federal grant Florida received to establish high speed
> trains between Orlando and Tampa.
>
> Brown took the opportunity to express her concern to an Amtrak
> witness about the delay in restoring the New Orleans-Florida link,
> which Amtrak discontinued during Hurricane Katrina and has never
> restored—even though CSX restored its damaged rail line to
> better-than-new condition, reopening the line in March, 2006.
>
> While Amtrak has gone on record to admit that the line is “the
> missing link” in the national passenger rail network—and still
> includes the New Orleans to Jacksonville in their official timetable
> as a “temporarily suspended” route—there has been no real effort to
> restore service to the corridor, outside of a restoration study done
> by the railroad in July 2009, which includes some cost-estimates that
> some industry insiders have questioned.
>
> “I want the Sunset restored to New Orleans - Jacksonville - Orlando.
> This train is vital to transcontinental transportation and an
> important safety backup for evacuation in a disaster,” Brown said at
> the hearing. I am holding a subcommittee hearing in Jacksonville in
> a few weeks at which the Sunset will be a major item of discussion,
> and look forward to Amtrak appearing. We must get the train back,
> one way or another.”
>
> The issue highlights the strict budgetary restraints Amtrak is
> working under. A full Sunset Limited route—Los Angeles to
> Orlando—connects the eight southernmost states, which together
> account for one in every three Americans, and half the nation’s
> population growth since 1970. Although the economic importance of
> this corridor to the nation’s transportation and tourist sectors is
> widely recognized, Amtrak still faces undercapitalization on most of
> its network, and will require strong Congressional leadership to
> acquire the additional funds to restore service (the train company’s
> study puts the capital and mobilization costs at around $33 million).
>
> Brown’s public demand that the train be restored should offer
> transportation advocates hope that they have finally found that
> leader.
>
> “With just $1 billion budgeted for Fiscal Year 2011, we need to find
> a dedicated revenue source so that states, operators, and
> manufacturers aren’t afraid to make investments in infrastructure and
> manpower,” said the Chairwoman. “I feel so passionately about this
> that I spearheaded a letter that over 100 Members [of Congress]
> signed to President Obama, requesting that he include a dedicated
> source of revenue for high-speed rail in the transportation
> reauthorization policy objectives that the Administration is
> developing.”
>
> The date of the hearing in Jacksonville has yet to be determined.
