Passenger Trains > Ron Batory confirmed as FRA Administrator

The embarrassment over the morass of leadership at the Federal
Railroad Administration must have gotten to be too much for
Sen. Chuck "Loudmouth" Schumer (D.-NY), Senate minority leader.

On Tuesday evening he lifted his hold on a confirmation vote for
FRA Administrator, which he had held hostage in an attempt to
force the USDOT to release funds for the Gateway tunnel project
under the Hudson River.

The Senate by voice vote early Tuesday evening, Feb. 13, confirmed Ron
Batory as Federal Railroad Administrator, the leader of the nation’s
rail safety agency.

Batory had been General Manager, Central Region of Southern
Pacific; President of the Belt Railway of Chicago and
Vice president-operations and then President and Chief Operating
Officer of Conrail. He was appointed as FRA Administrator by
President Donald Trump in July 2017 but has been awaiting
Senate confirmation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/18 23:20 by GenePoon.

It's about time.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Finally we have someone actually qualified for the position.
And a good person too!

Good news for rail safety and good news for the rail industry. I can't imagine a better choice for FRA Administrator.

Gordon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/18 07:05 by gbmott.

I've read he's on the board of the Transportation Institute for Denver University, in addition to being involved with other
organizations, so Mr. Batory not a typical political hack/activist.

This is GREAT news! Now we have a real railroader on the job. Sara Feinberg knew nothing about the industry and seemingly didn't even try to learn anything about it.

Couldn't have chosen a more qualified person, he is a "true' railroad man, and a great guy as well.

Speaking of the Gateway tunnel(s), did the big congressional budget deal make any provision for it?

I don't know, but read an article yesterday that FTA gave both the Portal Bridge and Gateway tunnel a "Medium-Loi" rating, which is 2nd notch from bottom - not good.

So called economist and blowhard Steven Moore was on TV this morning. He was boasting of toll highways in Virginia, then bitched about $60B HSR in California that no one will ride.

So in their view, let the highways do it all. They live in the 1960's.

NKP779 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Speaking of the Gateway tunnel(s), did the big
> congressional budget deal make any provision for
> it?

No. They're sinking it. As mentioned by another poster, Federal Transportation Administration announced yesterday that both Gateway and the new bridge across the Hackensack River at Portal have been downgraded to Medium-Low. As explained in this article https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2018/02/13/trump-administration-deals-another-blow-to-gateway-tunnel-project-251797 anything below Medium has no chance of being funded federally.

knotch8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NKP779 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Speaking of the Gateway tunnel(s), did the big
> > congressional budget deal make any provision
> for
> > it?
>
> No. They're sinking it.

Great. Let's see what happens when the clock ticks down on the PRR tubes and one or both of them fails. There's a good possibility that they'd both flood if one was breached; I think the air shaft at Weehawken connects the tubes.

Perhaps Mr. Batory can bring some sense to the FRA and its "ratings."

I would hope he can sit hard on the railroads (CN, NS, CSX) for their hostile operation of Amtrak trains. CN gives the finger to Amtrak everyday on for the former IC lines. NS on the ATL-NOL segment of #19-20.

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I would hope he can sit hard on the railroads (CN,
> NS, CSX) for their hostile operation of Amtrak
> trains. CN gives the finger to Amtrak everyday on
> for the former IC lines. NS on the ATL-NOL
> segment of #19-20.

I think that is the jurisdiction of the STB, not the FRA.

knotch8 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No. They're sinking it. As mentioned by another
> poster, Federal Transportation Administration
> announced yesterday that both Gateway and the new
> bridge across the Hackensack River at Portal have
> been downgraded to Medium-Low. As explained in
> this article
> https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall
> /story/2018/02/13/trump-administration-deals-anoth
> er-blow-to-gateway-tunnel-project-251797 anything
> below Medium has no chance of being funded
> federally.

Here is the New Starts program webpage:

https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs/capital-investments/about-program

If they funded the Federal share with it for Gateway and Portal, I would say that other projects would get crowded out.

Gateway, Portal, and the NEC probably need a political compromise and explicit funding of the Federal share. I am afraid that it is CYA mode until something bad happens, and then it really will be CYA.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/18 10:47 by ts1457.

Time to reinstate earmarks, which might actually happen since of late an seemingly bipartisan movement to restore earmarks has been gaining steam in Congress.

Jishnu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Time to reinstate earmarks, which might actually
> happen since of late an seemingly bipartisan
> movement to restore earmarks has been gaining
> steam in Congress.

The earmarks (agreements to fund specific projects in return for a member's vote on other issues) seem to be coming back into fashion.

Batory is a great choice for the job. I’m glad we got someone on the job that knows what railroads do.

gbmott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Good news for rail safety and good news for the
> rail industry. I can't imagine a better choice
> for FRA Administrator.
>
> Gordon

I agree. Ron Batory being confirmed. Good choice. About the only thing trump has done right.

SantaFeRuss

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> knotch8 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > No. They're sinking it. As mentioned by
> another
> > poster, Federal Transportation Administration
> > announced yesterday that both Gateway and the
> new
> > bridge across the Hackensack River at Portal
> have
> > been downgraded to Medium-Low. As explained in
> > this article
> >
> https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall
>
> >
> /story/2018/02/13/trump-administration-deals-anoth
>
> > er-blow-to-gateway-tunnel-project-251797
> anything
> > below Medium has no chance of being funded
> > federally.
>
> Here is the New Starts program webpage:
>
> https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs
> /capital-investments/about-program
>
> If they funded the Federal share with it for
> Gateway and Portal, I would say that other
> projects would get crowded out.
>
> Gateway, Portal, and the NEC probably need a
> political compromise and explicit funding of the
> Federal share. I am afraid that it is CYA mode
> until something bad happens, and then it really
> will be CYA.

Pay me now, or pay me later at a very much higher cost.

Here in the oil patch an abandoned brine-extraction well Carlsbad, NM is going to collapse. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the well injects water into a formation with soluble salt and extracts the brine for use in drilling, leaving a watery void subject to collapse. The state legislature has been going back and forth on who will pay to fill and stabilize it before collapse. The estimated cost is $40 million dollars and the operator is now bankrupt and gone, and other environmental and oil well abatement/remediation funds were emptied during last years budget crunch. If it collapses its location in a populated and heavily traveled area will impact US highways 62/180 and US 285, the BNSF railroad, an irrigation canal, a mobile home park and farmland causing up to $750 million dollars in damages. The "something bad" at this location is the beginning of subsidence with surface fractures appearing. That galvanized them and both houses of the legislature unanimously approved paying for the fix using money from automobile registration fees. Wells at two other locations have already collapsed but they are in rural areas.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So called economist and blowhard Steven Moore was
> on TV this morning. He was boasting of toll
> highways in Virginia, then bitched about $60B HSR
> in California that no one will ride.
>
> So in their view, let the highways do it all. They
> live in the 1960's.

We had a discussion recently about the State of the Union speech in 1965, which promoted faster trains... and we got the Metroliner.

Maybe the 1960s wasn't so bad.

Our highways don't do it all, actually. I'm sure the highway proponents don't want to be reminded that the Autobahn is superior to our costly highway system, toll or no. Furthermore, Germans got a rail network (including the high speed ICE) to go along with the faster highways.

Anyway, best wishes to Mr. Batory.