Today's Headlines Today's HeadlinesWASHINGTON -- Amtrak Wednesday posted record revenue for fiscal 1999, and for the first time recorded increased ridership for three straight years, the Journal of Commerce reported.
The passenger rail corporation took in $1.84 billion for the year ended Sept. 30, up 7% from the previous year. That is the highest revenue total since the carrier was created by the government in 1971 to manage all domestic rail passenger service.
Ridership was 21,508,700, up 2% from last year and nearly 10% since it began rebounding in 1997.
Also in 1999, Amtrak increased the number of trains operating in nine states and introduced service to Oklahoma for the first time in 20 years.
Amtrak said that it is on course to wean itself from government subsidies by 2003. A 1997 law prohibits Amtrak from using any federal funds for operating expenses after fiscal 2002.
"This year's growth in revenue, implementation of initiatives to improve efficiency, and America's demand for passenger rail, demonstrate the increasing fiscal strength of Amtrak and bring the goal of operational self-sufficiency well within our sights," said Gov. Tommy Thompson, Amtrak's chairman of the board.
Ridership records were set on the New York-Washington, D.C., Metroliner, which carried 2,134,671 riders; the Pacific Northwest corridor, which carried 450,000 riders in Washington State and Oregon; the Keystone Service between Harrisburg, Pa., and New York City, which totaled 1 million riders; and the California Capitols route, with 540,000 riders.
Amtrak's system-wide on-time performance remained steady at 78 percent,
the corporation reported.
WASHINGTON -- Norfolk Southern Corp., still reeling from problems with the integration of Conrail Inc., has reported its worst financial results from continuing operations in its 17-year history, according to the Journal of Commerce.
The company posted third-quarter earnings of $19 million, or 5 cents a share, an 88% decline from $158 million, or 42 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. This year's results included $31 million onetime charge for incentive payments to workers to remain on the job during the summer.
The company's previous earnings low was 10 cents a share in 1983. There were several quarters in 1987 and 1991 when NS reported net losses that were due to onetime charges related to labor force reductions.
The industry consensus for NS' third-quarter earnings that was compiled by First Call/Thompson Financial was 13 cents a share.
"We encountered difficulties integrating Norfolk Southern and Conrail operations during the third quarter," Norfolk Southern Chairman David R. Goode said. "We have focused all of our efforts on serving our customers and handling the early fall peak. We remain extremely optimistic about our opportunities, and we are confident that we will rise to the challenge."
Goode said the railroad "made headway in reducing congestion. We worried more about maintaining service than reducing cost."
That stance was reflected in operating results. Revenue rose 43% to $1.50 billion from $1.05 billion, while expenses increased 71% to $1.35 billion from $790 million.
Operating income fell to $146 million from $258 million in the third quarter. The operating ratio (expense to revenue) worsened by almost 15 percentage points to 90.3% from 75.4%.
"We have a solid plan in place to resolve service issues that consists of new and ongoing infrastructure enhancements to increase capacity and improve service on the new integrated network," Goode said.
"I'm confident that you will see improved service and operating results as we work our way through the fourth quarter and into next year," Goode predicted.
The third-quarter earnings included revenue from the 58% of Conrail that NS took control of on June 1. Intermodal revenue more than doubled in the quarter, while metals revenue jumped 86% and automotive revenue rose 48%.
After three quarters of 1999, NS revenue was up $531 million, or 17%, to $3.72 billion from $3.19 billion. Expenses rose 31% to $3.14 billion. Operating income fell 28% to $581 million through nine months. Net income after three quarters was $208 million, or 55 cents a share, down from $574 million, or $1.51 a share.
The year-to-date results in 1998 included a $104 million gain from the
sale of North American Van Lines, a motor carrier.
LOS ANGELES -- The horrific consequences of challenging a moving train at a railroad crossing were demonstrated this morning when a car carrying a crash test dummy collided with a freight train locomotive in a staged crash coordinated by a Hollywood stunt team.
The crash demonstration provides a warning to motorists who risk death, ignore railroad crossing warnings, and are lucky enough to live: The price of this risky "stunt" is going up.
California Assembly Bill 923, recently signed by Gov. Gray Davis, will raise the penalty for motorist violations at railroad crossings from $104 to $271 beginning Jan. 1. A third violation will cost up to $500, depending on the county where the citation is given. Those are the same fines paid by motorists caught violating carpool lane rules or running red street lights.
"Just like red light runners, motorists who race a train through a crossing are risking their lives and the lives of others," said Assembly Member Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), author of AB 923. "Too often, people die. I hope the threat of higher fines encourages motorists to obey the law, yield at railroad crossings, and save lives."
An alarming number of railroad crossing incidents have plagued Southern California rail lines, especially as train traffic has increased this decade. Hundreds of incidents and dozens of fatalities have occurred since 1990, involving either vehicles at rail crossings where trains always have the right-of-way or pedestrians who trespass on tracks. It's a fact -- a motorist is 40 times more likely to die in a collision with a train than in a collision with another motor vehicle.
"On Metrolink tracks, one person has died this year because they were on tracks reserved for trains -- one senseless death too many," said Sarah L. Catz, Metrolink Board Member. "We use signs, horns, fences, bells, crossing arms, citations and cameras to try to keep people and cars off our tracks. Still, people ignore all the warnings. Maybe something that hits the pocketbook, a larger fine, will get their attention and prevent more tragic deaths."
AB 923 fines will help fund driver education about rail safety and the purchase of additional cameras to catch violators in the act and provide evidence needed to cite them. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the MTA Metro Blue Line between Los Angeles and Long Beach, has 10 cameras in use at crossings, and Metrolink, Southern California's six-county commuter rail system, has two cameras snapping photos of motorists ignoring warnings at crossings.
"We've caught thousands of motorists making left turns in front of oncoming trains and driving around lowered railroad gates to beat the train," said David Solow, Metrolink's chief executive officer. "Trying to save a few seconds, some lose their lives. These preventable tragedies must stop." The crash demonstration took place along North Main Street, in north Chinatown.
Metrolink has seen a significant drop in the number of fatality incidents since last year. This year Metrolink has reported one fatality, to date. Last year, 13 tragic fatalities were reported. To put it into perspective, in the last five years, nationwide, there were 3,993 railroad related fatalities. During the same period in California alone, there were 407 fatalities -- Metrolink recorded 51 fatality incidents involving our trains in the last five years.
The Los Angeles based Southern California Regional Rail Authority is
the parent agency which operates Metrolink long-distance commuter rail service.
With more 46 train stations serving a network of 416-miles of track throughout
six-counties, a total of 28,000 average daily commuters have come to rely
on the train service to get them to work and back.
BROOK PARK, Ohio -- A motorist searching for the youth who threw a rock at his car from a railroad overpass was killed by a train yesterday.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the motorist, a middle-aged man, was hit by the train as he walked back to his car that was parked nearby, police Sgt. Martin Prock said. His driver's license identified him as being from Kent, but police were withholding his identity until it could be confirmed.
The rocks were thrown from a railroad bridge on Brookpark Rd. east of Smith Rd. shortly about 5 p.m. yesterday.
The motorist, unable to find the rock-thrower, was walking along one of two sets of railroad tracks as a slow-moving northbound train was passing. The drone of the passing train apparently drowned out the warning horn from an approaching southbound train coming up behind him, Prock said.
Unknown to the motorist, police had caught the rock-thrower, a 12-year-old Brook Park boy. Police had responded to a call about the rock-throwing and had come up to the bridge from an opposite direction.
The boy was released to the custody of his parents pending a review by
a prosecutor, police said.
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