The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger May 1994 Vol. XII, No. 5 ISSN 1073-6859 Published by the Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers in the interest of continued, improved, and expanded rail service for the present and potential railroad and rail transit passengers of southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and nearby areas. For more information about DVARP and good rail service, please contact us: P.O. Box 7505, Philadelphia, PA 19101 215-222-3373 or <73243.1224@compuserve.com> The electronic edition is produced as a public service to the network community. It is archived on the CUNYVM Listserver in the RAILNEWS directory. An index of back issues is available by sending INDEX RAILNEWS to LISTSERV@CUNYVM. Thanks to Geert K. Marien (GKMQC@CUNYVM) for maintaining this archive! If you have comments or questions, please contact us, not Geert! The DVRP is also archived on these FTP servers wuarchive.wustl.edu, directory graphics/trains/text or graphics/trains/incoming hipp.etsu.edu, directory pub/railroad/dvarp (Thanks to Bob Weir) Volumes X (1992) and XI (1993) are on floppy disk for $4.00 each from DVARP. We hope you consider joining DVARP; your financial support makes possible this newsletter and our many other activities on behalf of rail and transit passengers. Annual dues are $15.00. see the coupon below. Contents copyright (C) 1994 DVARP, except photos (C) 1994 credited photographers Opinions expressed in The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger are not necessarily those of DVARP or its members. We welcome your comments: call 215-222-3373 DVARP President: Chuck Bode Newsletter Editor: Matthew Mitchell Production Manager: Tom Borawski for other officers and committee chairs, see page 15 **Schedule change alert: NJ Transit rail schedules change May 23. New SEPTA commuter rail and Amtrak train schedules in effect this month. contents: use the search function of your word processor to find articles ##A Where We Stand: How to Run a Good Commuter Rail Service ##B Editorial: Renewing Cities, Renewing Transit ##C DVARP Endorses SEPTA Budget ##D Capital Budget Hearing This Month ##E DVARP Leads Petition Drive ##F PennDOT to Lease Harrisburg Trains ##G On the Railroad Lines... SEPTA Commuter Rail Schedule Change Highlights Wednesday Night Promotion Back Single Car Problem Solved by MBTA? ##R1 Date Set for U. City Station ##R3 Rebuilding Update ##R5 Zoo-Overbrook Speedup Reduced Service to Continue Parkside Seeks 52nd St. Reopening ##R6 Stony Creek Ribbon of Fire ##R8 New Mid-Day Schedule MontCo OKs Station Projects ##PATCO Man Electrocuted at 8th St. ##BSS The Phils Need Your Help ##LRD Route 10 Tracks In the Drink ##STD End of an Era More Work on 100 Info Booths Return ##CTD Trackless "Commitment" ##H Important Meetings on Northeast Transit ##I Crime Blotter Dept. ##J Tourist Line in Trouble ##K ETR Survives Again ##L DVRP Mail Woes ##M Computer Corner: IndARP, World-Wide-Web On Line ##N FTA Report Unflattering to SEPTA by John Pawson ##O Railroading and the Law: What is FELA? by James S. Morgan ##P Amtrak News Amtrak Ups Fares 2.5% Sunset Follow-Up Metroliner Perks Long-Distance Commuting a Bit Easier ##Q Auto-Entitlement Starts at the Top ##R The Hidden Subsidies: The Subsidy Season ##S News about DVARP and other Organizations Sept. DVARP Meeting May Shift See us in Mount Airy DVARP Gets Incorporation Assistance IEEE to Tour CETC NJ-ARP to Meet in Princeton, Lind'wold Congratulations NJ-ARP Newsletter Report! ##T Up and Down the Corridor Post-Post Office Moves? Feds Intervene in LIRR Dispute Should've Known Better? Collision on Shore Line Metrocard Teething Problems More NJT Expansion Possibilities ##U Dates of Interest ##V DVARP Phone & Voice-mail Directory ##W Upcoming DVARP Meetings: ##X Agenda for the May meeting: ##Y Committee Meetings: DVARP Membership Coupon Yes, I want to support improved passenger train service in our region! Here are my DVARP membership dues for 1994! 5/94 Name Membership Number Address City, State, Zip Please choose a membership category below, enclose check and mail to: DVARP, PO Box 7505, Philadelphia, PA 19101 ( ) Regular: $15.00 ( ) Family: $20.00 ( ) Supporting: $25.00 ( ) Sustaining: $50.00 ( ) Patron: $75.00 ( ) Benefactor: $100.00 ( ) under 21 or over 65: $7.50 ##A Where We Stand: How to Run a Good Commuter Rail Service A letter from DVARP to NARP Executive Director Ross Capon, responding to his request for suggestions to be presented to the APTA Commuter Rail conference, last month in Chicago. Dear Mr. Capon; Thank you for requesting suggestions about what makes for successful commuter rail operations. DVARP submits the following suggestions. 1. The focus has to be on the passenger-not on the consultants, construction companies, politicians, and agency administrative staff. 2. Service has to be fast (time-competitive with the automobile) and reliable. 3. Station and on-board personnel have to be courteous and considerate. 4. Negative experiences have to be eliminated. Vagrants in stations, surly employees, insensitive managers, and vandalism of parked cars drive away passengers. 5. Both traditional and reverse commuter markets need to be served. 6. Recognition that new technology and changed conditions allow for simplification or elimination of traditional procedures, regulations and institutions which presently serve mainly to increase costs and thus fares. 7. Intermodal connections at stations should include suitable facilities for transferring passengers to wait for their second vehicle. Also at stations, a significant segment of the population, the elderly, is presently excluded from commuter rail systems by elements such as the high step to board. 8. APTA could provide a useful service by researching factors that affect ridership so that the operating agencies could concentrate efforts on the most productive factors for their service objective. (maximum passengers, maximum passenger miles, maximum revenue, or maximum farebox to subsidy ratio) [list of factors omitted] 9. APTA could also encourage minimum service standards and provide a quality certification to systems that passed an annual evaluation of operations including a peer review. [signed] Charles Bode President In a nutshell, public transit operators need to recognize the realities of the marketplace, and win customers by providing an attractive service, instead of expecting the customers to come to them. Unsuccessful commuter railroads exhibit lax attitudes in everything from scheduling the trains to taking the tickets. The winners know they need to deliver good service every day in order to keep their customers, and get new customers to give up their autos-MDM ##B From the Editor's Seat: Renewing Cities, Renewing Transit In Washington last month, Mayor Rendell gave a compelling address on the state of our nation's cities. The Mayor received praise for pointing out the root causes of the loss of jobs and taxpayers to suburbs and rural areas and acknowledging that more and more subsidies won't solve the problem. In a lot of ways, the state of cities and the state of public transit are alike. We have perversely made it cheaper for developers to build on 'green fields' farther and farther away from the hubs of commerce, dependent on subsidized roads for everything. (see "No Free Ride:" this column, Dec. 1993) Then we've had to pour billions of dollars into urban renewal programs to try to create jobs in the cities. Because we subsidize the suburbs, we have to subsidize the cities. Mayor Rendell correctly stated that the cities have to fix the things under their control first; and he's doing so in Philadelphia, getting the cost of government under control and establishing a new covenant with the citizens. Transit operators must do the same. They must eschew patronage and pork, and get the greatest economic return on each dollar of public investment. But at the same time, state and Federal authorities must acknowledge that the economic playing field has been tilted for decades: towards suburbs and roads, away from cities and rails. That imbalance has to be redressed if we really are to have a free market for transportation in our country. Public transit and cities depend on each other for survival. Cities put the mass into mass transit, while transit makes the city's economic synergy possible. The decline of mass transit ridership is in part due to the decline of downtown areas as destinations. We who want to see America freed from its bondage to the single-occupant automobile need to also work for the survival and renewal of American cities. Where should we start making both cities and transit the place to be in the '90s? With restoring civility and order in downtown areas. Fear of crime is what keeps many shoppers and visitors away, and while the real crime statistics may be down, the perception won't go down if city streets and train stations appear dirty and chaotic. It's going to take some real effort to reverse the perception; and it ought to start with vigorous enforcement of rules designed to keep city streets and train stations orderly places. I'm not talking Singapore here, but when people know that little violations of the social order will be punished, they have less fear of the big violations. New Series Besides "The Hidden Subsidies," which I talked about last month, the DVRP is pleased to publish the first of another series of articles this month: "Railroading and the Law." The goal of this series is to explain some of the laws specific to railroads which have a significant impact on the operation and finances of our passenger rail systems. While parts of the articles may be rather technical, I think that lawyers and non- lawyers alike will learn a lot from them.-MDM ##C DVARP Endorses SEPTA Budget In the hearing last month, DVARP entered a statement supporting SEPTA's proposed operating budget for fiscal 1995. (see April DVRP) The prime reason for DVARP's support was the new focus on winning back ridership at SEPTA, as evidenced by the reversal of service cuts and the establishment of fare revenue targets for each division. The budget is expected to be approved by the SEPTA Board as presented at the hearing. But DVARP again reported on missed opportunities at SEPTA. Millions of dollars could have been saved if SEPTA had implemented DVARP suggestions included in past operating budget statements. Other suggestions would improve SEPTA's accountability by providing better detail in the budget document, and build ridership by improving service quality. Some changes detailed in the new budget include: *Continued reduction of claims costs by aggressive measures against fraudulent claims. *Increased light rail service and infrastructure repairs. *Additional SEPTA Police officers and other security personnel. *Additional personnel for bus maintenance. *New fareboxes for surface vehicles *Move of SEPTA offices to 1234 Market in spring 1995. *Create a new set of service standards for the City Transit Division. ##D Capital Budget Hearing This Month SEPTA's proposed FY 1995 Capital Budget and 12-year Capital Program was released to the public last week. It will be the subject of a public hearing to be held in the SEPTA Board Room Friday, May 20 at 10:00 am. DVARP is at this moment analyzing the budget and developing a statement for the hearing. A first look at the document revels few big changes from past proposals. The sum total of capital needs identified by SEPTA over the 12-year period is $4.5 billion; this year's Capital Budget proposal totals $244 million, a realistic figure in light of projected funding from Federal and state agencies. An additional $92 million is identified as state capital budget items, including vehicle & infrastructure repairs and environmental cleanups SEPTA expects to purchase 200 new buses this year, and begin the process of obtaining 70 trolleys for North Philadelphia. With RailWorks over(R), less than two percent of the budget is designated for commuter rail projects, though RRD will benefit from some of the multi-modal elements of the budget. This should quiet the SEPTA critics who claim that the agency shortchanges Philadelphia residents in favor of suburbanites. The money goes where the needs are, and at this time, the biggest needs are at both ends of the Market-Frankford el. ##E DVARP Leads Petition Drive DVARP volunteers are going to downtown train stations bearing petitions asking the Governor to "fully fund SEPTA and the other public transportation agencies in Pennsylvania." We hope you've seen one of them and signed the petition. Continuing subsidies to autos make it hard for mass transit to compete effectively, and past imbalances in transportation policy and funding have left a costly legacy of deferred maintenance, like Frankford El reconstruction. Increased investment in public transportation has a ripple effect through the economy, starting with the creation of good jobs for Pennsylvanians. Investment in transit instead of highways means cleaner air, safer streets, and an improved quality of life for everyone, especially senior citizens and others who can't drive or are unable to afford a car. You probably share those goals too; and it's easy to play a part in realizing them. Just call DVARP at 222-3373, message box 4, and ask us to send you some petitions. Then take the time you spend waiting for your train, and ask your fellow passengers to sign. That really is easy! ##F PennDOT to Lease Harrisburg Trains An amendment to the regional Transportation Improvement Plan is being sought by PennDOT to increase funding for the Harrisburg Line Improvements Project. Federal formula grants (and 20% state matching funds) assigned to this project are to be increased from a total of $12 million to $16 million, to allow the leasing of two trainsets. ##G On the Railroad Lines... Schedule Changes-Minor New schedules took effect the first of the month on all SEPTA RRD lines. Though few major changes in service were made, all riders are advised to pick up the latest timetable and double-check their trains. *SEPTA is nibbling away at service to some lightly-used stations like Fishers (R7), Shawmont (R6), and Eddystone (R2); mostly early and late in the day. Could this be a prelude to another SEPTA attempt to abandon these stations? Last fall, SEPTA's plan to eliminate weekend service to them was hastily withdrawn when SEPTA was reminded that their doing so without a public hearing would be illegal. *Late night service on weekends to Norristown and Warminster was restored, but the curtailed weekend service remains on both sides of the R3; those 1992 cuts were sharply criticized by DVARP. *A few PM peak schedules to Wilmington and West Trenton have been slowed down markedly: as much as six minutes. Wednesday Night Promotion Back SEPTA and the City of Philadelphia have again joined forces to encourage people to shop, dine, and be entertained in Center City. They're offering a $2.00 round trip on SEPTA Regional Rail Wednesday nights. The promotional fare will only be valid on trains arriving or leaving Center City after 5:00 pm. You must make a round-trip to qualify. People coming into town before 5:00 cannot use the $2.00 ticket for out- bound travel, but it will be good for inbound travel between intermediate stops. Special tickets will only be sold at a few suburban ticket offices and not in Center City; riders will be also be able to purchase the special round trip on board without penalty. Single Car Problem Solved by MBTA? Rollsign reports that the MBTA appears to have found the answer to "a mysterious problem that had been occurring on its commuter rail lines, causing difficulties with the signal systems." The T suspects that composite brake shoes-used throughout the railroad industry-are applying a thin film on rail surfaces. The film decreases the ability of the steel wheels to make electrical contact with the rails and shunt the circuit. ##R1 Date Set for U. City Station New timetables forecast a November 1994 opening date for the new station at the Philadelphia Civic Center. R1, R2, and R3 trains will serve the station, which is convenient to the big employers in University City like the various hospitals. *Airport line operations were cut back to Terminal A for a short period April 14th, when a bomb-sniffing dog got excited about a box in an airport concourse. The box contained cooked crayfish, not TNT. *R1, R2, and R3 trains were all delayed during the morning rush hour April 18 as the result of power problems. Some Media line trains were annulled. As is often the case when something happens to threaten the reliability of the train service, shuttle buses were used to protect the Airport Line. ##R2 Another Trespasser Killed Two Amtrak trains struck and killed a man crossing the Northeast Corri- dor at Glenolden April 26. ##R3 Rebuilding Update *Work is underway to repair the SEPTA station in historic Lansdowne, which was badly damaged by fire last year. *A SEPTA employee reports that a new catenary structure was installed just south of Glen Riddle station. The track is being kept in service for the General Crushed Stone quarry. Glen Mills and Westtown Stations are occupied and in good condition. *On Sun., April 24th crews were laying track at Morton-drilling for tie plates and laying rail. Service was single-tracked from Secane. Wawa Wants the Train DVARP interviewed the property owner who lives next to the closed Wawa station on the West Chester line. The owner said that the station was causing him problems with teenagers using it as a party ground and contractors using it as a dumping ground, but that tapered off when SEPTA installed a barrier at the station entrance. He would welcome the return of train service despite the increase in traffic to the dead-end road which he shares with the station. The station is now a collection of scattered bricks. The pedestrian underpass appears to be severely deteriorated. It would probably be a good idea to seal it shut. ##R5 Zoo-Overbrook Speedup The three to four minute slowdown of outbound Paoli Line trains is over, now that work on the new ground-level track past the R6 connection (Valley) is complete. Reduced Service to Continue Three months after a fire gutted the signal tower at Bryn Mawr, work to repair it is proceeding as planned. The interlocking will not be back to regular service until mid-July, so the reduced number of rush-hour R5 trains will continue until then too. Watch Out! One consequence of the removal from service of one of the Main Line's four tracks and of the Bryn Mawr tower fire is that more Amtrak trains (and SEPTA expresses too) are running on the outside tracks. These trains do not always blow a warning whistle when nearing stations. Riders waiting for Paoli Line trains, and any other train too, should always stand back from the tracks until their train arrives and comes to a complete stop. Parkside Seeks 52nd St. Reopening The Parkside Association has proposed the restoration of the commuter rail station at 52nd Street as part of the economic revitalization of the area, which has been designated as a state enterprise zone, accor- ding to the Inquirer. The elevated station just north of Lancaster Ave. saw its last train over a decade ago, and is in very deteriorated condition. No response from SEPTA to this proposal has been reported. North Wales Safety Program Underway SEPTA began its promised program to teach North Wales youngsters how to be safe around railroad tracks. (see January DVRP) According to the Reporter, SEPTA Safety Officer Robert Allman previewed the program with parents at North Wales Elementary. Trespasser Killed on Doylestown Line A 21-year-old college football star was struck and killed by a SEPTA train April 10th while walking along an isolated section of track near Delaware Valley College after midnight, according to the Inquirer. The man was walking with a friend on the right-of-way when the train approached. The friend managed to get away and was treated for shock at Doylestown Hospital. ##R6 Stony Creek Ribbon of Fire The recently reactivated Norristown-Lansdale freight line became a wall of fire due to a overheated wheel bearing on a Conrail locomotive igniting dry brush along the tracks, according to the Reporter. About 100 firefighters from 11 companies were involved in bringing the ten mile blaze under control. The fire wreaked havoc on traffic as major arteries like Route 202 were clogged with traffic from blocked roads nearby. ##R8 New Mid-Day Schedule A new daytime R8 schedule is in effect to accomodate track replacement on the Chestnut Hill West Line. The half-hour frequency of service is being maintained despite the heavy work being done. MontCo OKs Station Projects Six busy commuter stations in Montgomery County will be renovated in a $2.5 million project recently approved by the county. The County and SEPTA will split the cost 50/50. First on the list for work beginning this year are DeKalb St. Station (the R6 section of the Norristown Transportation Center) and the R3 Philmont station. Merion and Oreland will be worked on in 1995, and Elkins Park and Wynnewood in 1996. ##PATCO Man Electrocuted at 8th St. A New Jersey man who had wandered off the platform and onto the tracks was killed at the 8th Street PATCO station when he touched the third rail, which is electrified at 600 volts. A PATCO worker discovered the body during routine maintenance. ##BSS The Phils Need Your Help The Phillie Phanatic handed out "excuse notes" to Suburban Station passengers the morning of April 19, so those people could get away from work and catch the subway to the afternoon ballgame. SEPTA operates express trains to and from Pattison Ave. for every Phillies game. With high parking prices and heavy traffic, it makes sense to park at a SEPTA station and take the train. ##LRD Route 10 Tracks In the Drink A water main break near Girard Ave. (between 51st and 53rd) affected Route 10 track which was already heavily deteriorated. DVARP will be monitoring repairs made in the area for its "Eye on the Infrastructure" series. ##STD End of an Era Microchips have finally replaced the chewing gum and baling wire long used by the artisans of the 72nd Street 'Bullet Shop.' Barring unforeseen problems with the N-5 fleet, the CTA and Market-Frankford trains have seen their last days on the Norristown High-Speed Line. The Chicago cars, purchased for the scrap value of $250 each, were expected to only be needed for a few months. Instead they ran for five years. The work done by STD maintenance, operating, and management personnel to keep rail service going on the one-of-a-kind line deserves high praise. Now the rest of SEPTA and its customers can benefit from this experience. The new cars are filled with high-tech electronic equipment, which will require different maintenance people with different skills. The 'Bullet' crew could apply their mechanical talents to the Market- Frankford El cars in the two to three years left before the new cars arrive. After that, they can extend the lives of RRD's Silverliners. Or maybe we could turn them loose on the remaining SEPTA PCC trolleys. I'll bet they could make it cost-effective to keep the PCCs rolling. More Work on 100 The first section of the new NHSL cab signal system has been cut into service. The system transmits maximum speed information via track circuits to an automatic speed control system in the N-5 cars. The rest of the system should be switched on soon. Information will be transmitted to riders, too, but not through the rails. Station PA speakers will be installed starting this fall. Meanwhile track and signal work is requiring off-peak single-track operation at various times. Mid-day and weekend riders should be ready for minor delays. Info Booths Return SEPTA has reopened its customer service offices at 69th Street Terminal and Norristown Transportation Center, both of which had been closed well over a year for budgetary reasons. The hours at 69th St. are Monday through Friday, 6:00 am to 6:00 pm and at Norristown 7:00 to 3:00 Services provided there include processing of Senior Citizen Transit ID cards, lost & found, and route and service information. Red Arrow Notes: The John A. Robbins Co. should enjoy increased business at the West Goshen Shopping Center it manages. They have invited SEPTA's Route 117 bus to stop there. A welcome change from short-sighted businesspeople who are saying no to public transit. ##CTD Trackless "Commitment" In response to a DVARP question in Operating Budget meetings, SEPTA has supplied a document discussing the timing of the contract for replacing wires over Frankford Ave. Restoration of trackless trolley service on routes 59 and 75 is going to have to wait until that section of the Frankford El is redecked, which won't be until mid to late 1995. However, the contract for the wire work has already been let, a strategic move to take advantage of current low construction costs, and also to give the contractor extra time to work out any problems. The end of the memo contains some good news for Northeast neighbors: "Our commitment is to get these trolley wires installed, and hence reinstate service on routes 59 and 75 as soon as possible." A commitment like this, backed up with signed contracts, is an important tool for rebuilding SEPTA's credibility with the public. City Transit Notes: A Federal grant for the $24.2 million conversion of the former Midvale-Heppenstall steel plant to a bus garage was recently announced. The plant is in lower Germantown. *SEPTA has proposed a minor rerouting of Route J in Germantown, to get the buses off a very narrow street. ##H Important Meetings on Northeast Transit The Philadelphia City Planning Commission is holding a pair of informa- tional workshops to get an idea of the transportation preferences of the residents of Northeast Philadelphia. The meetings will take place Wednesday, May 11 at the Klein Branch-JCC at Red Lion Rd and Jamison Ave. and Thursday, May 12 at St. Martin of Tours, 5450 Roosevelt Blvd. at Oxford Circle. Both will be from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. Coalition to hear Gambaccini, Borski The Area Coalition for Transportation is meeting on May 2 to be briefed on SEPTA's budget and the state of Federal funding for mass transit. Joining SEPTA GM Lou Gambaccini in the presentation will be U.S. Rep. Bob Borski (D-Phila.). Annette Gambaccini, R.I.P. DVARP expressed its condolences to SEPTA General Manager Louis Gambaccini on the loss of his wife Annette last month. Mrs. Gambaccini was extensively involved in community affairs, as well as in the affairs of the Gambaccini's six children. ##I Crime Blotter Dept. A South Philadelphia shopkeeper was nabbed in a sting operation by SEPTA Police, who caught her illegally buying and selling school tokens. While the Inquirer offered a sympathetic portrayal of the woman, we must note that what she is accused of doing is stealing, just as if she picked pockets or intentionally short-changed a customer. According to police, who acted on a tip, Betty Rizzo took school tokens from local kids for 75 cents each as payment for candy and snacks, then resold the tokens to grown-ups at a 15 cent profit. The School District of Philadelphia subsidizes the cost of the tokens, so every time one of them was used by an adult who was not entitled to do so, the schoolchildren and taxpayers lost money. Not exactly a victimless crime. *A SEPTA employee was assaulted at 69th Street when he spotted a vandal doing his dirty work after closing time. The employee managed to defend himself with a mop; the culprit was arrested. *Former Congressman Peter Kostmayer was robbed by two Delaware County teens while waiting for the train at Devon the night of April 2. Swiftly responding to the call, Radnor police caught the suspects. ##J Tourist Line in Trouble The Chadds Ford and Brandywine tourist railroad was shut down by the Federal Railroad Administration after it was learned that CF&B had shifted its passenger-hauling operations to tracks of the SEPTA-owned Octoraro Line. The Octo is classified as "excepted track" by the FRA, which means that passenger trains must not operate on it. To be approved and put into one of the six FRA classes, tracks must be inspected and meet specific standards for materials and alignment. ##K ETR Survives Again Opponents of employer trip reduction mandates failed again in having the state regulations thrown out. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dismissed a Penjerdel Council challenge of the air pollution readings tripping the Clean Air Act requirements, saying that the Penjerdel readings were taken using a faulty method. ##L DVRP Mail Woes Many readers have recently been receiving their Delaware Valley Rail Passenger later than they have been accustomed to. While some of the fault its ours, we have learned that the present size of the newsletter makes it unable to be handled by automated equipment at the Post Office. The mail requiring manual sorting gets delayed, so we will try to rework the format into something which can be handled as efficiently as possible. In the meantime, please bear with us and the P.O., and if you have suggestions or comments about our format, please drop us a line. -MDM, TB News compiled by Matthew Mitchell and correspondents: Chuck Bode, Howard Bender, Tom Borawski, Betsey Clarke, Lucia Esther, John Hay, Regina Litman, Bob Machler,Mike McEnaney, James Morgan, Don Nigro, John Pawson, William Ritzler. Additional news from BITNET, Boston Street Railway Association, Conrail Newswire, KYW Newsradio, Lansdale Reporter, New York Times, Passenger Transport, Philadelphia Inquirer, USENET, Washington Post. Special thanks to J. Thomas Collins and Frank Gormley of SEPTA The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger is a charter member of the Rail Online Newswire. ##M Computer Corner: IndARP, World-Wide-Web On Line DVARP welcomes Indiana ARP to the world of networked passenger organizations. Paul Arden, IndARP Secretary/Treasurer, can be reached at . Arden is also an Amtrak employee. Two new servers use the 'World-Wide-Web' to tie together rail-related information from all over the world. The Web is an enhanced universal menu-driven interface based on the 'hypertext' concept of clicking a cursor on a word to go to information relating to it. The documents can connect you to gophers with train schedules (including SEPTA), FTP sites with pictures of trains and back DVARP newsletters, and other interesting things. To get to these pages, point your browser program to: http://gpu.srv.ualberta.ca/~ybeaudoi/Virtual_Railroad/home.htm ##N FTA Report Unflattering to SEPTA by John Pawson Annually. the Federal Transit Administration provides a volume which compares the various public transportation systems of the country. Both systemwide and modal statistics are given. The reason for the latter is that there are inherent cost differences among transportation modes. The widespread modes are motor bus, rapid transit (e.g. the subway- elevated lines), commuter rail, and light rail transit (City Transit's five present lines and Red Arrow's three. A DVARP member has furnished us with the latest (fiscal year 1992) figures in the most important parameter, total operating and maintenance cost per passenger mile. Operating & Maintenance Motor Rapid Commuter Light Rail Cost per Passenger-Mile Bus Transit Rail Transit SEPTA 58c 32c 44c 60c 30 largest operators 49c 33c U.S. average 25c 25c Several observations can be made. Beginning with the U.S. averages, it is interesting that rapid transit is not the most 'efficient' U.S. publication mode in terms of unit cost, contrary to the belief of many. Nationwide, both the commuter rail and light rail transit modes exhibit a per-passenger-mile cost that is one-quarter lower than the average of U.S. rapid transit systems. However, rapid transit is the only mode operated by SEPTA of the four which compares favorably with the U.S average. A likely major cause is SEPTA's relatively compact rapid transit network, which unlike some sys- tems is confined to areas of high population density. SEPTA's bus systems cost about 18% more to run than the average large U.S. system. The commuter rail system costs 76% more than the average. The LRT lines cost 140% more. Relative standards of passenger comfort aside, these comparisons alone should give pause to those who would re- place our commuter trains with buses or trolleys. Another major economic parameter is 'cost recovery,' the percentage of operating, maintenance, and depreciation costs that fares are able to cover. RRD's 1995 budget calls for a 38% cost recovery. By contrast Metra [Chicago's commuter rail operator] is required to operate at a 55% recovery. Reflecting RRD's unfortunately high costs and low cost recovery are several important non-economic parameters. For instance, average train speed here (a measure of service attractiveness) is only about 23 mph, compared to a national commuter rail average of about 32 mph. The average on-time performance (another measure of attractiveness) here is in the low-90% range, while other operators (who schedule more tightly) consistently do better. The average length of journey here has been about 14 miles for years. National average is now 22 miles and growing. There are economies of scale in carrying passengers longer rather than shorter distances. The average number of passengers aboard RRD trains is about 76, while most other commuter rail systems average well above 100 passenger-miles per train-mile. Many RRD trains carry fewer than a dozen passengers, a diseconomy of scale. Behind the scenes, the RRD has taken much criticism over the years be- cause of all these low efficiency figures. However, converting an RRD line to trolleys or rapid transit would only make those figures worse. Much as some would like to see rail vehicles stopping at every grade crossing every ten to thirty minutes, such operation outside the densely- populated, non-car-owning urban core would be unrealistic. At peak times, it would even overtax rail line capacity. Perhaps new short- distance passengers would be attracted (diverted from transit), but long-distance, car-owning passengers would see worsening service. We already have transit to serve short-haul travel needs of those who would accept relatively low speeds. The commuter rail mode should operate more in an express mode in order to make it more competitive with the automobile. Indicated are numerous changes to raise train speeds, improve on-time performance, etc. It should be recognized that RRD service exists principally for peak hours (6-9 am and 3-8 pm week- days) and that other operations are a secondary, "by-product" service. Tailor off-peak schedules to recognized demand rather than with arbitrary, rigid headways. Properly combining such steps will greatly improve RRD's economic bottom line. Doing this will make the Railroad Division less vulnerable to the "anti-railroad" criticism of those who don't like or don't understand the commuter rail mode and its position in the transportation marketplace. ##O Railroading and the Law: What is FELA? by James S. Morgan It is appropriate that I begin with an analysis of FELA, because it was a dispute about the merits of the measure in a law journal which inspired me to volunteer to write this series. Nonetheless, understanding the dispute of whether FELA or Worker's Compensation would be better for the railroads presupposes an understanding of the nature of FELA, which this article covers. Legal Citation: 45 U.S.C.A. sec. sec. 51 et seq. [read as Title 45 United States Code Annotated Chapters 51 and subsequent] The voluminous U.S.C.A. is available in law libraries and many public libraries. Expansion: Federal Employer's Liability Act. Constitutional Basis: FELA is based upon U.S. Const. Art. I Sect. 8 Cl. 3 [read as United States Constitution Article I Section 8 Clause 3]-the Commerce Clause, granting Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, etc. The first Federal Employer's Liability Act of 1906 was held to be unconstitutional. The current FELA is the second Federal Employer's Liability Act of April 22, 1908. The current act has withstood numerous constitutional challenges beginning in 1912. Characterization: FELA is a comparative negligence statute which abolished the defenses of contributory negligence, assumption of the risk and the fellow servant rule for railroad workers injured within the scope of their employment due to the negligence of officers and agents of the railroads. To understand what this characterization means, it is necessary to examine the nature and historical impact of the concept of negligence in law, and then to develop the interrelated concepts of contributory negligence, assumption of risk and the fellow servant rule on the basis of examples. Negligence-The Elements A plaintiff wishing to establish defendant's liability based upon negligence must establish four things, duty-breach of duty-causation- damages. To give an example, let the speed limit be the duty, or standard of care. If defendant exceeds the speed limit, there is breach of duty, if he injures plaintiff and wrecks his/her car (damages) because he collided with plaintiff's car when he was unable to stop in time (causation), the remaining elements are established. Duties, or standards of care, may be established by statute, as in the case of speed limits, as also in the case of statutes regulating railroad safety, such as boiler inspection laws, laws requiring brakes operated by the engineer, and the hog out laws, restricting the number of consecutive hours train crews can work. Other sources of duty are the ordinary reasonable person standard, and relationship, such as the duty a common carrier owes its passengers, or the duties of property maintenance landowners owe paying customers in business establishments as opposed to social guests in contrast to trespassers. Negligence-Its Historical Significance At one time those who inflicted injuries based upon what was called direct causality were held to a standard of strict liability. In the 19th century, courts began requiring that plaintiffs prove that the injuries were the result of either intentional acts or of negligence on the part of defendants in order to recover damages. There is a controverted historical hypothesis according to which the captains of industry used negligence to restrict recovery. In fact, according to this view, industry would never have developed without the imposition of the negligence standard, as businesses could never have functioned profitably if they had had to pay damages for all the injuries they directly caused. Whether this hypothesis is true or not, injured railway employees suing for damages faced formidable defenses in the interrelated concepts of contributory negligence, assumption of the risk and the fellow servant rule. Contributory Negligence Contributory negligence bars recovery from defendant if negligence on the part of plaintiff is in any way responsible for the damages. The concept first appeared in an 1809 British case in which plaintiff's own negligence to a great measure caused his own injuries. Nonetheless, in the course of the 19th century, the scope of contributory negligence was extended to the point that the slightest negligence on the part of plaintiff acted as a complete bar to recovery. Assumption of the risk should be familiar to any railfan who has ever signed a release to gain admission to railroad property. The release generally states that the signer will not hold the railroad liable for injuries to the signer caused by the railroad's negligence, a provision that courts will generally not uphold. Assumption of risk can be difficult to distinguish from contributory negligence. In a famous case, an individual with a pin in his leg decided to take skydiving lessons, suffering severe injuries in his first jump. Had the parachuting school insisted on a medical examination, the pupil would have been rejected. Instead, entry to class was gained by signing a release, which the court invalidated. The fellow servant rule is a form of assumed risk. It simply means that if a worker is injured through the negligence of another worker, he cannot sue the railroad. In the famous 1841 South Carolina case, Murray v. South Carolina Railroad, 11 S.C.L. 166 (1. McMul.) (S.C. 1841) the fireman was injured when the locomotive struck a cow after being negligently operated by the engineer. He was unable to sue because he was said to have assumed the risk that other employees might be negligent when he went to work for the railroad. FELA and Comparative Negligence While 45 U.S.C.A. sec.51 gives a good overall summary of the measures introduced by FELA, 45 U.S.C.A. sec.53 specifically addresses the issue of contributory negligence, while 45 U.S.C.A. sec.54 abolishes assumption of risk with special reference to the famous fellow servant rule. Comparative negligence displaced contributory negligence, meaning that, if the employee's own negligence were in any way responsible for his injuries, his award would be correspondingly diminished. In other words, if damages came to $10,000, and the jury found that the injured employee's own negligence contributed 20% to the occurrence of the accident, his or her award would be reduced to $8,000. Only if the employee's negligence were wholly at fault for the injuries would recovery be barred. FELA provided that an employee could recover full damage if his injuries were the result of a railroad official's or agent's, or another employee's negligence, and not his own. FELA thus abolished assumption of risk as a defense. The Impact of FELA It was first in the Fifties that many states adopted comparative negligence standards, some states requiring plaintiff prove that defen- dant's negligence comes to 51% or higher to recover anything, others allowing plaintiff to recover something even if his own negligence exceeds 50%. FELA was a statute far ahead of its time-for injuries not occurring in the scope of employment. Specifically, its introduction of comparative negligence, and abolition of contributory negligence, assumption of risk, and the infamous fellow servant rule are humane and progressive. The fact that claims made under the statute require litigation is not. New York passed the first comprehensive Worker's Compensation statute in 1910, and the first to pass constitutionality tests in 1913, introducing largely lawyerless processing of workplace injury claims. Workers' Compensation Explained By 1920, all but eight states had adopted Worker's Compensation in some form, Hawaii being the last state to do so in 1963. Worker's Compensation was introduced in Germany in 1883 after Bismarck became alarmed at the popularity of Marxists in elections. Those interested in the history of Worker's Compensation should see Arthur Larson's The Law of Workers' Compensation (New York: Matthew Bender, 1993). I will now proceed to sketch the typical provisions of Worker's Compensation based upon Larson's summary in Chapter I sec.1.10. Basically, employees are entitled to compensation for injuries "arising out of and in the course of employment,' or for occupational disease. The award is not affected by the employee's contributory negligence. Only if the injury is intentionally self-inflicted is the employee barred from compensation. On the other hand, the employer's liability is limited in two respects. First, compensation is established according to a fixed schedule. An employee whose injury costs him the use of one hand will be paid a num- ber of weeks' salary. An employee who is permanently and totally disabled will receive periodic payments amounting to a certain portion of his salary. Second, workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy of the injured employee. An employee injured in the course of work may only sue if the injury results from an intentional act by the employer, or if the injury is due to a defective product manufactured by someone other than the employer. Should the employee obtain judgment against the manufacturer, workers' compensation benefits will have to be repaid from the award. Workers' compensation offers employees the advantages of immediate periodic payments without having to establish the employer's negligence, or wait for litigation. It offers to employers the benefits of fixed pay- ments according to a schedule and of freedom from litigation. Although there has been litigation over the scope of the terms "arising out of employment" and "in the course of employment," as well as over types of work covered, basically workers' compensation claims are handled administratively, and do not require attorney intervention. The Isolation of the Railroads Federal employees are not subject to state workers' compensation, but instead have their own form of it in the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) 5 U.S.C.A. sec.8101 et seq. Dock workers have their own form of workers' compensation in the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C.A. sec.901 et seq. Readers interested in seeing compensation schedules for themselves are referred to 5 U.S.C.A. sec.8108. On the other hand, the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C.A. sec.688, which covers the merchant marine, states that FELA shall apply to seamen injured in the course of employment. Hence, although the isolation of the railroads is not total, the exception proves the rule. Even the Jones Act explicitly refers to FELA. The vast majority of federal and state employees are subject to some form of workers' compensation, and their employers are generally free from liability to lawsuits. The Costs of Litigation The disadvantage of having to compensate workers injured wholly as a result of their own negligence is outweighed by the expenses employers would incur even in litigation which turned down the employee's claim. In the United States, the winning party in a lawsuit generally cannot recover attorney's fees, as opposed to the Civil Law countries of Europe, where the awarding legal fees to the prevailing party is viewed as a measure for deterring frivolous suits. Hence, even if the railroad prevails, defense attorneys' fees must be paid. Should the railroad lose, it still must pay defense counsel's fees, plus compensation to the employee for medical expenses and lost wages, plus compensation for pain and suffering, from which the injured employee pays his or her attorney. No matter who loses, the lawyers always win in a FELA case. Under Workers' Compensation, a railroad would be liable only for an amount covering medical care and lost wages. Why the Isolation of the Railroads? The answer seems to be fairly straightforward at first. Railroad workers are not federal employees, but the railways are regulated by federal legislation. FELA provides that it shall be the exclusive remedy of railroad workers, preempting state workers' compensation. If a federal clean water statute establishes a certain standard of purity, this does not prevent a state from imposing stricter standards, but in the case of FELA, the preemption is absolute. Since railway workers are not federal employees, they do not benefit from FECA. Nonetheless, the various railroad acts are like much early factory legislation, applying only to specific branches of industry. For example, New Jersey's Factory Act of 1904 prohibited the employment of children under 14 in factories. Soon the child labor provisions were amended to apply to children working in houses of merchandising, and then to those working in agriculture. Only in 1932 did New Jersey pass a general child labor statute. Nonetheless, the Federal-state problem did not prevent longshoremen from jumping on the workers' compensation bandwagon. Perhaps there are other factors at play in the isolation of the railroads. FELA as a Punitive Statute The reader interested in railroad law would be well advised to read journals such as Transportation Law Journal, Traffic World and Transportation Practitioner's Journal, available in many law libraries. Recently, Babcock and Oldfather published "The Role of the Federal Employers' Liability Act in Railroad Safety," Trans L J 19:381 (1991), which was followed by Saphire, "FELA and Rail Safety: A Response to Babcock and Oldfather 'The Role of the Federal Employers' Liability Act in Railroad Safety'," Trans L J 19:401 (1991). Basically, Babcock and Oldfather argue that the railroad employee safety record is poor, and that FELA, by making injuries more expensive to the railroads, will improve railroad safety. Babcock and Oldfather cite an overpowering array of statistics in urging the 101st Congress to reject the railroads' contention that FELA should be replaced by state workers' compensation. Saphire attacks the statistics Babcock and Oldfather cite. He says they compare employee safety for the rails not with comparable heavy industries, but with office workers. He urges furthermore that Babcock and Oldfather include non-employee injuries in assessing Amtrak's employee safety record. Most important, he argues that FELA is not a good measure for improving rail safety. Lawsuits simply put employer and employee in a contest to shift the blame to each other instead of seeking to determine the real cause of an accident. Look for future installments of "Railroading and the Law" in coming issues of the Delaware Valley Rail Passenger ##P Amtrak News Amtrak Ups Fares 2.5% May 1st brought a fare increase to many Amtrak passengers. The average increase is 2.5 percent, but actual increases vary by route. Though the hike was announced in advance, ticket agents were unable to inform passengers how much specific tickets would be increased by. As a quasi-private company, Amtrak is not regulated like public transit agencies, and is not required to hold public hearings before increasing fares. Sunset Follow-Up Tugboat pilot Willie Odom gave up his Coast Guard license rather than face a hearing on his conduct in the Bayou Canot disaster which claimed 48 lives. A string of barges Odom was pushing struck a railroad bridge when they were pushed into the wrong channel, causing Amtrak's Sunset Limited to derail and go off the bridge. The National Transportation Safety Board is still working on an official report of the cause of the accident. Transportation Secretary Frederico Pena has said already that measures to improve waterway safety are necessary, starting with a Federal regulation that river tugs carry basic navigational tools like maps and compasses. This from an agency that doesn't seem to have waited so long in imposing and enforcing mandates on railroads. The NTSB did issue its report on the collision of an Amtrak train and a gasoline tanker March 1993 in Fort Lauderdale. Driver error and inadequate traffic control caused the tanker to stop on the tracks instead of before them. Six people died in the resulting fireball. Metroliner Perks Amtrak has started a new frequent traveler program called "Executive Privileges." By signing up for the program, Metroliner riders can use the Metropolitan Lounges at Corridor stations and receive special travel offers. If you ride Metroliner Service, stop at the Passenger Services Office at the station for an application. Long-Distance Commuting a Bit Easier Amtrak has followed the lead of the commuter railroads and of