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Oil, grain trains put squeeze on Amtrak
Oil, grain trains put squeeze on Amtrak
Empire Builder route to Northwest experiences delays
WASHINGTON -- Freight congestion has caused massive delays and even cancellations of a popular Amtrak train in recent months, a situation that could worsen as one of the nation's largest rail companies plans to increase shipments of fossil fuels on much of the route.
The Empire Builder, which runs from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, carries more passengers than any of Amtrak's long-distance trains, 543,000 in 2012.
But it also recorded the worst on-time performance in Amtrak's nationwide network in November, at 44.5 percent. Any number below 80 percent is considered substandard under a law Congress passed in 2008.
Amtrak took the drastic step this month of canceling five Empire Builder trains in one week, three eastbound and two westbound, between St. Paul, Minn., and Spokane. Delays in North Dakota and Montana were causing an imbalance of equipment and personnel at each end of the scenic, 2,000-mile run across the country's northern tier.
"Crews have to go off-shift. Equipment has to be serviced," said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman. "We thought it best to stand down."
Empire Builder route to Northwest experiences delays
WASHINGTON -- Freight congestion has caused massive delays and even cancellations of a popular Amtrak train in recent months, a situation that could worsen as one of the nation's largest rail companies plans to increase shipments of fossil fuels on much of the route.
The Empire Builder, which runs from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, carries more passengers than any of Amtrak's long-distance trains, 543,000 in 2012.
But it also recorded the worst on-time performance in Amtrak's nationwide network in November, at 44.5 percent. Any number below 80 percent is considered substandard under a law Congress passed in 2008.
Amtrak took the drastic step this month of canceling five Empire Builder trains in one week, three eastbound and two westbound, between St. Paul, Minn., and Spokane. Delays in North Dakota and Montana were causing an imbalance of equipment and personnel at each end of the scenic, 2,000-mile run across the country's northern tier.
"Crews have to go off-shift. Equipment has to be serviced," said Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman. "We thought it best to stand down."
Currently there isn't enough track for all the oil and coal trains that the railroads want to transport to the Northwest. It's going to take awhile for them to build enough new track to meet the demand. And that's not taking into consideration the environmental consequences of an oil spill into the Columbia River OR the climate considerations.
Petitions drive oil terminal comments
As state officials begin to review more than 31,000 comments on a proposed oil terminal in Vancouver, the task may not be as daunting as it sounds.
That's because thousands of those comments are identical -- form letters copied word for word, with only the name on the bottom changed. Of the comments released by the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council so far, the vast majority are from outside Vancouver. An avalanche of names came from all over the country, most opposed.
The tactic isn't new. Form letters and online petitions are one way well-organized environmental groups have mobilized their supporters in huge numbers against fossil fuel projects in the Northwest and elsewhere. A planned coal export facility in Longview generated more than 200,000 comments earlier this year.
A major player in both efforts was the Sierra Club, a national advocacy group with offices in Portland. Field organizer Laura Stevens said about 5,400 people from Washington and Oregon used the organization's petition to submit their comments on the oil terminal. But she dismissed the notion that duplicated comments take anything away from their value.
As state officials begin to review more than 31,000 comments on a proposed oil terminal in Vancouver, the task may not be as daunting as it sounds.
That's because thousands of those comments are identical -- form letters copied word for word, with only the name on the bottom changed. Of the comments released by the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council so far, the vast majority are from outside Vancouver. An avalanche of names came from all over the country, most opposed.
The tactic isn't new. Form letters and online petitions are one way well-organized environmental groups have mobilized their supporters in huge numbers against fossil fuel projects in the Northwest and elsewhere. A planned coal export facility in Longview generated more than 200,000 comments earlier this year.
A major player in both efforts was the Sierra Club, a national advocacy group with offices in Portland. Field organizer Laura Stevens said about 5,400 people from Washington and Oregon used the organization's petition to submit their comments on the oil terminal. But she dismissed the notion that duplicated comments take anything away from their value.
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