NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/8451

Text File | 1992-11-17 | 6.7 KB | 128 lines

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From: Nigel Allen <[e-mail]>
Subject: high-speed trains
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Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 08:54:16 GMT
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Here is a press release from Joseph Vranich.

 Former Boeing Executive Gives Texas High-Speed Rail Big Boost
 To: City Desk, Transportation Writer
 Contact: Joe Vranich, 512-320-0338
          or 703-354-6309 (after Nov. 22)

   AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 16 -- A Washington-based author and
transportation expert came to Texas today to denounce
the "deceptive and insidious" ways in which the proposed high-speed
rail program has been attacked by Southwest Airlines.
   He also called for action to end inequities in state laws that
discriminate sharply against would-be Texas rail travelers while
handing Southwest Airlines favored treatment at the federal, state
and local levels.
   Joseph Vranich, author of "Supertrains: Solutions to America's
Transportation Gridlock," sharply criticized Southwest Airlines
executives for "cunning deception" in a desperate bid to scuttle the
futuristic, world-class rail system whose fast trains would compete
with Southwest's flights on high-travel routes like Dallas-Houston.
   "Southwest Airlines owes an apology to the people of Texas,
particularly innocent farmers who have been unjustly alarmed, for its
malicious campaign," said Vranich.  "I've been in the aviation
business and I believe Southwest Airlines is the best-run airline in
the United States today.  But its actions regarding high-speed rail
are inexcusable." Now a consultant to the High Speed Rail/Maglev
Association, Vranich previously worked in public affairs for the
Boeing Co., Grumman Corp. and Amtrak.  His book, published
earlier this year by St. Martin's Press, in now in its fourth
printing.  It outlines how lopsided government policies have robbed
American travelers of the mobility, safety and energy independence
offered by highspeed trains.
   Vranich issued a two-pronged defense of high-speed rail.  One part
consists of a lengthy research document, "An Expose of Southwest
Airlines' Cunning Deceptions about High-Speed Rail," which refutes,
point by point, charges that the airline has made.
   The other is a piece of hypothetical legislation, "the Texas
Air-Rail Equity Act." If enacted, the bill would put aviation and
high-speed rail on an equal footing.
   "Everyone would be shocked if Texas passed a law putting Southwest
Airlines under the same laws as high-speed rail," Vranich said.
"Southwest Airlines would be forced to pay franchise fees to operate
in the state, Texas airports could not sell tax-exempt bonds,
airports would be privatized and forced to pay property taxes, and
inducements that lure industry to airports would be eliminated."
   He disagreed with legislators who want to restrict the use of
eminent domain for high-speed rail and to put the fledgling train
operation under the regulation of the Texas Railroad Commission.
"Under my proposed bill, the right to use eminent domain to obtain
land for airports also would disappear and Southwest Airlines would
also come under the regulatory authority of the Texas Railroad
Commission." Vranich added: "Southwest Airlines claims it wants a
level playing field with high-speed rail.  I say, pass this bill that
would create that level playing field and watch them scream as their
favored treatment, special privileges and taxpayer-financed subsidies
disappear."
   Most offensive of all, he said, is Southwest's campaign to incite
Texas citizens to alarm against the high-speed plan by supplying them
with false material.  Texas farmers concerned about their
livelihoods, Vranich noted, haven't been told that farmers elsewhere
in the United States support high-speed rail as an alternative to
land-gobbling airports and interstate-type highways with
300-foot-wide rights-of-way.
   "Exaggerated claims about train noise have needlessly worried
farmers," said Vranich.  "I traveled throughout Europe two months
ago.  On every trip, I watched cattle, horses, sheep, goats and hogs.
What were they doing?  They were eating, standing or sleeping near
the tracks.  Not one time did I observe any animals becoming
'spooked' in any way.  This was true in England, France, Spain,
Italy, Switzerland and Germany where I traveled at speeds up to 187
mph."
   Vranich strongly disputes Southwest Airlines' claim that it is
unsubsidized, pointing out that it enjoys hidden subsidies of many
kinds.  Among them are:
   -- Hundreds of hours worth of Texas Department of Aviation staff
time that helped Southwest secure air carriers certification,
including spending Texas tax dollars in legal action before the U.S.
Supreme Court.
   -- Billions of dollars in costs incurred by the federal government
in providing air-traffic control protection, pilot training, and
other services to aviation, costs that far exceed (and in some cases
double) what Southwest and air passengers pay in taxes.
   Vranich, who on April 12, 1988, briefed Southwest Airlines
Chairman Herb Kelleher on how to lobby for more aviation subsidies,
sharply criticized Southwest for spreading false claims about the
safety record for highspeed rail.
   "In the last 28 years, Japanese, French and German high-speed
trains have carried more than 3 billion passengers without a single
passenger fatality," he said.  "If we made transportation decisions
based on safety alone, Texas would have high-speed rail up and
running."
   He outlined the trend of many leaders in aviation, who have begun
to support high-speed rail as an attractive way to relieve airport
congestion and as an alternative to flying expensive jets in
short-haul markets.  Lufthansa and Alitalia airlines operate trains
in Germany and Italy, and a British airline is considering a similar
program.
   Both USAir and Federal Express top executives have spoken in favor
of high-speed rail, as have airport managers in Orlando, Los Angeles,
Pittsburgh and New York.  In fact, Vranich noted that Southwest
Airlines' former president, Howard Putnam, believes the carrier
should be cooperating with, not opposing, the proposed Texas rail
system.
    ------
   Note: Temporary assistance to Vranich is being provided by the
Texas Supertrain News Bureau.  During the week of Nov. 16, Vranich
can be reached through Lauren Anthony and Terry Young at
512-320-0338.  Effective Nov. 23, call him at his home: 703-354-6309.
 -30-
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