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Home My WebLink AboutPassenger Trains 120303 -..... /"" ..- . ......... ~... Bryan-College Station EagJp -.. -- IIlIIIII \ , --- ~ " Friday, April 7, 1995 . . i Page A7' .' ~ \i,J Locat&Nation I Amtrack rolls back more services, cuningout Bryan-Clllege Station r, 'By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID The Associated Press WASInNGTON - The train they call the City of New Orleans will be cut from seven to five days , a week, the Broadway Limited to Chicago will end at Pittsburgh and Houston residents who want to ride the Texas Eagle north will have to start with a bus trip to Dallas. The cutbacks also mean that there will be no passenger service through College Station, since the l area is currently served by trains \ on the Houston to'Dalla$l"Qute. Amtrak dropped the other shoe Thursday, announc~ <a series of se1"\Tice cuts scheduled to take place in June and September as the passenger railroad tries to eliminate red ink. Without the cutbacks, which will total 24 percent of the rail- road's routes when complete, Amtrak might have been facillg bankruptcy by midsummer, said Thomas M. Downs, president of the railroad. } If the savings from reducing service and staff go as Planned, Amtrak will have a balanced bUdget this year and next, he said. Amtrak was faCing a $240 mil. lion cash shortfall and had been warned to expect no increase in federal subsidies. Amtrak receives nearly $1 billion a year from the F-ederal Rallroad Admin. istntian. . r -.... , - '-./ "This 18 our last anticipated downsizing, we. hope," Downs said. "We're down to ~hat we think is the defensible foundation of rail' passe~r. service in America....' . Downs blamed Amtrak's money problems on years of reduced cap- ital spending on railroads while subsidies were provided to other types of transportation, combined with intense com~tttion from new low-cost airlines. The new--euts are in addition to service red~ctions announced last December . and already' in place. Downs noted that the cuts will allow Amtrak to get rid of most of the elderly equipment it inherited 25 years ago when it was created. Some cars are a half-century old and spare parts have to be hand made, he said. The railroad is eager to meet with state officials who are W'jIling to provide money to. keep sOme services operating, Downs said. Wisconsin, Michigan and Vermont, among others, have already agreed to subsidize opera. tions to maintami'ail service. ' " Service cuts scheduled for June 11: I .Texas Eagle service between Dallas and Houston replaced by bus service. Train would con- tinue . to operate between Dallas and Chicago. .City of New Orleans between New Orleans and Chicago: elimi. nate service on Tuesday and Wednesday; retain other five days. .Hoosier State between Indl- anapc,lis and Chicago: eliminate. servic1 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; retain other three days. -Discontinue Loop and State House service connecting St. Louis, Springfield and Chicago. .CalIfornia Zephyr between Salt Lake City and Oakland, Calif.: eliminate service on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; retain other four days. .Illinois Zephyr between Chicago and Quincy: eliminate service on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; retain other four days. Downs said Amtrak was not targeting Chicago as a focus of the cutbacks, noting that the city happens to be a connecting point for many trains and thus tends to be involved in almost any major changes. Cuts scheduled for Sept 10 are: .Broadway Limited operating from New York to Pittsburgh and Chicago reduced to a New York. Harrisburg-Pittsburg service. Passengers continuing to Chicago could switch to the Capitol Lim- ited in Pittsburgh. .Cardinal between New York, Washington, Cincinnati ~and Chicago reduced to Washington- Cincinnati service on Frida~, ' I' Saturday and Sunday. .- ---- . I I I I I j .. 1 -...:fl'fiT: F."t'Jr..;..miIl'~.L!~J. Section L Lifest Ie D --- ~.-- ~ .tJ ~.. ",. ~""". ,~,. ", ~"".-iN, '". .~",~' ~ ;, . -; ~ ere ' A northbound Amtrak lrain picks up passen- gers on its morning stop in College Station. The Houston-to-Daltas route will end Sept. 10. .-" ~j'f'1:'fff~,f,tf..~~,*~, .,-~)i..I~$hl" Eagle photolShelley Smllflson The traJQ "qoesn't stop here anYITIore ; , , College Station'loses part of its history with the end of passenger service By SHELLEY SMITHSON j .....' '- tures the International Great Northern Railroad's All Student Special arriving in College Station, circa 1910, L ('- '-' around the walls," he says. "We': at the station and walk to our do " .~:,. . J s- Please see TRAIN Eagle photo/Shelley Smithson An Amtrak engineer pulling into College Station snags a bag of kolaches from a special pole set up by volunteer station master Harold "Tex" Owens. Years ago, such pol~s were used to pass instructions to the crew while trains were en route, s' 'l'~X:... tram is ch bus'y' !i:B\tt Nash is one of a dwindling sffi~ents and residents who choog, Aififrak trains, which stop six days a we C~MegeStation. Since 1992, the total num~~r of;passengers loading and unloading at .,' >1. depOt near Texas A&M has dropped fro aboupO,600 to iust over 4.200. i).That's cof"'''''''', trt t6 were e prIm ing~ggies.I.; ~,"1ryt:ost of my classmates came to Collegalii Station by train," he says. "We used to gogm G(;rps trips to Dallas, and we'd load thos~l(;!; triHns up with Aggies." i;~t;'J '...:.'.:,T.h .'. ose cadets who couldn't afford the $3';'.',..:.'.:.:..:. trap ticket could catch a free ride by hi(H~! ~l~{ili~\,J[1 two')wooden train stations that stood 30 (~~t apart across from the Albritton Tower. ~i;t;; \::;In the main office of one of the statiorl~:'; was;a big potbelly stove, and there were ff:;') ltraK, L'1e passenger tram at has VII.. I transportation to A&M students i 19E:il residents since 1988, plans to discoR... ",,:,:..>.-~}'i . w.....,!"'"<;">> q~!~rvice to College StatIOn Sept. 10. 01[;;~1 Zt~ith no passenger trains rolling throUW ti$~!~epot, the College Station train statiq~l~ til;~Yi soon stand as an empty reminder o~ii!1 tra:aition killed by the modern world of'" "''''anes and budget cutbacks. \!.ftE1tt~:a~pe r ~ L L Page 06 Bryan-College Station Eagle Sunday, April 23, 1995 Lit 'Train , From 01 "I don't like to fly because I can't smoke," says Linda White, , an Indiana resident who is vis- iting her daughter. "I've got plenty of time, and I like meeting , people on the train." Harold "Tex" Owens says the train is a more civilized means of transPOrtation. "The seats are larger (than those in an airline coach)," Owens says, "and you have a place to sleep and work in your own compartment." Owens is one of several local residents who plan to fight to ,keep the Amtrak train rolling through College Station. He will attend a public forum set for 3 p.m. Thursday in Union Station, 400 S. Houston St., in Dallas. Others, like Wesley Haba, a conductor on the Texas Eagle route, will also urge Amtrak to continue service to College Sta. tion. t "I think discontinUing the route is a disservice to the stu- dents and people of College Sta- tion," Haba says. "I've worked this route for five years, and when we used to have pickups here on Friday, we would have numerous students." fag Ie photol St.llley Smithson Amtrak train conductor Wesley Haba shakes hands with his old friend Harold "Tex" Owens of Bryan, Owens, a volunteer who tends the COllege Station platform, has met Haba's train with a warm smile and bags of kolaches twice a week for the last five years. to Dallas route is not a done deal. "In the first phase of cutbacks, several states, like California, came up with the necessary , funding. to keep some services," Taubenkibel says. "It's up to the Texas Department of Transporta- tion to decide if they can pitch in .. - - 4.\.....,. ron"""ll"l]l U public hearing April 27, to get input from the public as to the most appropriate role for rail pas- senger service," he says. Unless the state decides to con- tribute funds to keep the Houston to Dallas route alive, Amtrak trains will no longer travel through College Station. Amtrak . - -...... '. ,- - - - - - - " - ..zal'8TUOIUM '1U9ura8tnu.re ..zaMan .::>ara.mo MOU UMOTI~ R.Jl'lM !'l.T"'n .' 83 . .