I previously wrote about a regulatory boo boo that made it impossible to determine how much cross country flying experience was required to obtain a restricted ATP certificate. The regulation that allowed students to apply for the rating with 30 college credit hours was never included in the nearby paragraph authorizing reduced cross-country time requirements.
To bring some clarity to this issue, I can now point you to this official checklist: FAA ATP Qualifications
Although this checklist is not regulatory, it is published by the FAA and so shows the original intent of the R-ATP regulation to allow anyone with 200 hours of cross-country time to apply for reduced minimums.
Since FAR § 61.160(e) contradicts the above checklist, I still anticipate a future amendment to fix this regulation.
Update: After 8 years, the FAA corrected paragraphs (d) and (e) as follows.
The FAA is also making a clarifying amendment to § 61.160(e) by adding a cross-reference that was inadvertently omitted in the Pilot Certification and Qualification Requirements for Air Carrier Operations final rule. As evident from the preamble to that final rule, § 61.160(e) was intended to “reduce the cross-country flight time required for all applicants for an R-ATP [airline transport pilot certificate with restricted privileges] certificate to 200 hours.” However, the express language of the rule provided relief only to those categories of applicants listed in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c). Because the relief in § 61.160(e) was intended for all eligible applicants, including persons eligible under § 61.160(d), the FAA is amending § 61.160 by adding a cross-reference to paragraph (d).