# URPA Newsletter



## MrFSS

Used with the permission of the author.



> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts fromUnited Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 3, Number 34
> 
> Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America.
> 
> Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.
> 
> 1) Whither the Sunset Limited, still? As noted last week, the Sunset Limited is still not operating east of New Orleans, with no announcement in sight as to when it will resume operation. The only solid information available is through a letter sent to an Amtrak union official which said the Sunset is not slated for discontinuance. That's tough to imagine, especially since it has been a full year now since the train operated east of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina.
> 
> A lot of city, town, and state money went into extending the Sunset from New Orleans to Florida in 1993, including $7.5 million from the State of Florida for track upgrades, the addition of track sidings, and 80% assistance to local governments for station rehabilitations or new stations constructed.
> 
> Public money in Mississippi and Alabama also went to similar purposes. No public money has ever been used for operating subsidies.
> 
> Amtrak, as witnessed by Tempe, Arizona; Ocala, Florida; and Tampa, Florida has a bad habit of gratefully receiving new or renovated station and infrastructure facilities from local governments and then either discontinuing, rerouting, or drastically reducing train service. It must be tough to look local officials in the face and say, "if you build it, we will come" when Amtrak has such an abysmal record to cutting and running.
> 
> 2) A rumor was floating around this week that Amtrak had abolished the Lead Service Attendant job in the Pacific Parlour first class lounge car on the Coast Starlight, which has been the subject of so much contention over horribly late trains. The rumor also said that the equipment would be taken
> 
> off the train and sold.
> 
> Turns out part of the rumor was true, but this time, Amtrak did the right thing. The Los Angeles Crew Base is having difficulty finding enough LSAs to staff the car, so the LSA job was abolished, but replaced by a Service Attendant job. The only change passengers will see is that an SA cannot make
> 
> a sale of an alcoholic drink or other item (only LSAs can handle money). But, the Pacific Parlous car will still run, and still be staffed. It's better to keep such an icon and good passenger service car running, even without the revenue from the alcohol sales, than not running at all.
> 
> 3) The Amtrak on-time performance problems with Union Pacific Railroad have become almost legendary. Many reasonable people have wondered why Amtrak has not taken some action to force UP to live up to its contractual commitments. Amtrak has finally done that. Here is a letter that has been released from Amtrak to Union Pacific.
> 
> August 4, 2006
> 
> Mr. Dennis Duffy
> 
> Executive Vice President, Operations
> 
> Union Pacific Railroad Company
> 
> Dear Mr. Duffy:
> 
> I am writing to seek your immediate assistance in correcting the chronic unacceptable performance of Amtrak trains operating on the Union Pacific Railroad, particularly Amtrak's long-distance trains.
> 
> It's sobering to look at how bad long-distance Amtrak train performance on UP has become. In July, 97% of the 211 long-distance trains operated primarily on UP arrived late (see Attachment 1). Even more amazing is the degree of lateness: 84% of long-distance trains arrived more than 2 hours late, 74% more than 3 hours late, and 66% more than 4 hours late.
> 
> To further put this into perspective, over 67,000 Amtrak passengers traveled on UP long-distance trains that were over 4 hours late ... in the month of July alone! The resulting damage to Amtrak's brand, reputation, and repeat business is immense.
> 
> The vast majority of delays are from causes attributable to UP - nearly 90% of all delays incurred by Amtrak trains operating on UP in July. As high as these UP-responsible delays are, they continue to increase (see Attachment
> 
> Amtrak has tried to work with UP to improve this situation. Our cooperation has ranged from adding over three hours of scheduled recovery time and changing the scheduled slot of the Sunset Limited, to repeatedly rerouting the California Zephyr away from the ridership-producing Rocky Mountain scenery for weeks at a time each summer to assist with UP trackwork, to modifying the schedule of the Coast Starlight last month on extremely short notice to support UP trackwork in Oregon.
> 
> In return, overall long distance train performance has continued to worsen. UP's encroachment on Amtrak's contractual and statutory rights reached a point this Spring where Amtrak had to initiate a contract arbitration over our right to operate, in which Amtrak prevailed by a unanimous 3-0 vote of
> 
> the arbitrators.
> 
> A primary root cause of this unacceptable performance is UP's chronic violation of the slow order limits in our UP-Amtrak operating agreement. Each of the four Amtrak long distance routes operating on UP is in violation of these clear contractual obligations.
> 
> UP is making investments in some of these slow order areas, and Amtrak appreciates that step in the right direction. However, these investments cover only a portion of the route-miles where slow orders exceed contractual limits, and have not been enough to bring slow orders into compliance with the operating agreement.
> 
> Clearly, we cannot continue like this. Tom Schmidt has requested a meeting with Joe Santamaria. I trust that Mr. Santamaria will be prepared to discuss with Tom a program for immediate corrective action, to be taken while simultaneously working to correct the chronic slow order contractual
> 
> violations on all Amtrak routes where they exist.
> 
> The responsibility for operating Amtrak trains with minimal delay over UP rail lines is clear in both federal law and in UP's operating agreement with Amtrak. The magnitude of Amtrak's performance problems on UP has begun to attract significant public attention. If our two companies cannot improve
> 
> Amtrak performance on UP, it is an invitation for government to solve our performance problems for us, an outcome neither of us wants to see happen.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> William L. Crosbie
> 
> Sr. Vice President, Operations/Amtrak
> 
> 4) Also noted last week, Amtrak has renamed its weekly employee advisory publication to the clever name "Amtrak This Week." For those of us who write for a living, the improvement in quality to the "other, new kid on the block" This Week is both noticeable and appreciated. The tone has changed for the better, from one of "let me convince you what's right for you" to one of straight news reporting, where readers can decide for themselves what is right and wrong.
> 
> Here is a timely Amtrak This Week report on Amtrak host railroad on-time
> 
> performance.
> 
> August 14, 2006
> 
> Top Story: Update on Host Railroad OTP Discussions
> 
> Two weeks ago, Amtrak reported on its efforts to improve the on-time performance of its trains over CSXT territory between Florida and Washington D.C., just one component of its approach to improving unacceptable OTP over many freight routes.
> 
> Since acting President and CEO David Hughes met with CSXT Chief Operating Officer Tony Ingram in July, preliminary numbers point to small, but potentially encouraging OTP improvements. During the 30-day period before the meeting, none of the trains operated on time; for the period following the
> 
> meeting through yesterday, OTP for the Auto Train was 20%, Silver Meteor 9% and Silver Star 2%. While far from acceptable, the progress is viewed by Amtrak as a step in the right direction.
> 
> The executive-level dialogue with CSXT continued last week, when Hughes advised Ingram that Amtrak would commit resources to do its part to improve the performance of the Florida services. Amtrak is responsible for about 15% of the delays. Amtrak has added a second locomotive to Silver Service trains and is conducting an analysis of how to turn trains faster at the Lorton and Sanford Auto Train facilities, among other short-term considerations.
> 
> In a recent letter to the Union Pacific Railroad [see above], Senior Vice President of Operations William Crosbie sought UP's immediate assistance in improving the California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle on-time performance. In July, 97% of these trains were late, 66% of which were more than four hours late. Ninety percent of the delays Amtrak
> 
> encountered over the UP were caused by the UP. Amtrak has called for immediate corrective action, including reducing sloworder delays to within the contractual limit.
> 
> In the spring, Amtrak prevailed after it took UP to arbitration to enforce Amtrak's right to operate over UP during a period of track work in Missouri.
> 
> The effect poor on-time performance has on repeat business, brand and reputation - not to mention the toll it takes on its employees - is garnering public, congressional and federal attention.
> 
> 5) The Amtrak This Week employee publication for August 21, 2006, has a fascinating discussion about passenger satisfaction.
> 
> August 21, 2006
> 
> Top Story: Customer Satisfaction Driven by OTP, Personal Experience
> 
> Train on-time performance and personal service are the two biggest factors affecting customer satisfaction, according to Amtrak research.
> 
> Earlier this year, Amtrak set six specific and measurable customer satisfaction goals. The first and most comprehensive goal is that 90% of passengers rate the service as "good" and would recommend it to others.
> 
> To measure how we're standing up to this goal, passengers are regularly surveyed using the Customer Service Index (CSI). For the most recent month on record - June - 76 percent of passengers rated Amtrak service as "good" (8-10 on a scale of 10).
> 
> In June, the most satisfied passengers and the percentage ranking their experience as "good" were on the following services: Downeaster (92), Illinois Zephyr (92), Piedmont (88), Empire (87), Hiawatha (86), Pere Marquette (86), Pacific Surfliner (85).
> 
> The common thread through the lowest ranking services was OTP, the subject of last week's Amtrak This Week "Top Story." These services and their "good" experience rankings were: Adirondack (48), Silver Meteor (51), Carolinian (51), Auto Train (55), Coast Starlight (51).
> 
> On-time performance isn't the only factor that leads to a negative experience. Passengers also tell Amtrak time and again that friendly and courteous crews make the difference when delays are encountered. For example, Auto Train lounge and dining car crew service in June was rated "good" by 81% of passengers.
> 
> Among the initiatives underway to improve passenger service is the deployment of customer service managers charged with improving service delivery.
> 
> On-time performance over host railroads continues to be a top issue for acting President and CEO David Hughes and members of senior management. In addition to the pressure being applied by Amtrak, recent federal and media attention has put new light on this problem. Look for more news in the coming weeks on this matter.
> 
> 6) There are times when host railroads and Amtrak work together to achieve better scheduling during maintenance of way periods when track is being upgraded or maintained. Such an example is the route of the Pere Marquette, where an adjusted schedule for the train started in the middle of August and will continue until September 7th.
> 
> It is not uncommon for host railroads to wonder why Amtrak can't - or won't - adjust passenger train schedules to fit the needs of the host railroads. Overall, this is not an unreasonable question when both parties realize the big picture needs of the each other, and work to find some common ground that meets the needs of the host railroad shareholders and Amtrak passengers, too.
> 
> For too many years, Amtrak and its host railroads have been in adversarial positions. Amtrak today, and the lack of private passenger trains run by the host railroads, is the result of the railroads making a deal on their own volition at the end of the 1960s, knowing full well what Amtrak would be. On
> 
> the other hand, Amtrak, for all of its corporate life, has known that even though its existence and right to operate over all railroad tracks in this country has been granted by Congress, it still has much more than an ethical obligation to treat its host railroads with the same respect it hopes to be treated by those same railroads.
> 
> Somebody, somewhere, has to bring both sides to a bargaining table that updates and improves Amtrak's operating contracts with its host railroads where everyone feels they have made similar sacrifices instead of one party beating the other party. A healthy Amtrak paying a fair price under fair
> 
> conditions for use of host railroad tracks, and a healthy Amtrak being part of our domestic transportation network and serving a growing base of willing passengers is a good concept that needs to be implemented immediately.
> 
> 7) The Federal Railroad Administration, State of Florida and the City of Boca Raton have imposed restrictions on Amtrak, CSX, and Tri-Rail commuter trains that run through the city. As of September 20th, no train running on the former Seaboard Air Line/CSX main line (not the nearby Florida East Coast Railway line) will be able to sound its locomotive horn at any time of the night or day. Instead, grade crossings have been improved to prevent any type of vehicles from crossing tracks when an on-coming train approaches.
> 
> Of course, the denizens of Boca Raton, a wealthy South Florida city (which, by the way, Boca Raton translates to House of the Rat), think noisy and unwelcome trains detract from their quality of life.
> 
> The Seaboard Air Line Railroad built those tracks during the Florida land boom in the mid-1920s, and they have seen heavy, continual use since then. Boca Raton is a town which grew up around the nearby FEC Railway, after it was developed by Henry Flagler and the FEC just before the Florida land boom. Folks, the railroad, which made Boca Raton possible and desirable in the first place, was there over eight decades ago, long before any current resident thought about moving to South Florida. If you don't like trains, don't move to a neighborhood around trains.
> 
> The horn restrictions, no matter how carefully a grade crossing is guarded, are just an invitation to accidents between trains and cars and pedestrians. The railroads live by the slogan "safety first." When did that become unimportant?
> 
> 8) Last week was the first week TWA was distributed by a new e-mail server. Overall, things went well. However, there were two kick-backs from recipient e-mail systems that would have happened no matter what e-mail server was being used. Last week, the acronym for the old St. Louis Union Terminal (or, the newer St. Louis Union Trailers in mock celebration of the years-old "temporary" buildings used there by Amtrak) was used (we won't repeat that mistake). Two kick-backs said "message rejected for explicit sexual content." After a brief, baffling moment of scanning the content of TWA for such a problem, the culprit was discovered. From now on, it's just the St. Louis
> 
> Amtrak station.
> 
> If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to [email protected]
> 
> You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.
> 
> All other correspondence should be addressed to [email protected]
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## Guest_Amtrak_flyer_*

No more LSA's in Palour car, does that mean no more wine tastings or just no revenue sales? So I take it the cast of 6 or so palour car attendents are gone? Richard Tulmy and his scenic talks/wine tasting made the trip a blast. He has a love for the rails and amtrak that very few share. That I will miss if its true, but happy the palour will continue to roll.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week's Edition, quoted with permission of the aauthor.



> This Week at Amtrak; August 29, 2006
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 3, Number 35
> 
> Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a
> 
> nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans
> 
> for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,
> 
> California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and
> 
> Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of
> 
> position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from
> 
> any outside sources.
> 
> 1) In a surprise move to Amtrak watchers, Amtrak's Board of Directors
> 
> hired a new president and CEO today, despite the fact there is no
> 
> principal Amtrak shareholder in the form of a permanent United States
> 
> Secretary of Transportation or a fully populated Amtrak board.
> 
> Alexander Kummant, formerly of Union Pacific Railroad is the new chief
> 
> steward of Amtrak. Here is Amtrak's press release:
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> WASHINGTON - The Amtrak Board of Directors today appointed Alexander
> 
> Kummant as President and CEO. The veteran railroad and industrial
> 
> executive will assume duties September 12.
> 
> Kummant previously served as a Regional Vice President of the Union
> 
> Pacific Railroad, overseeing 6,000 transportation, engineering,
> 
> construction, mechanical, and other employees supporting an 8,000-mile
> 
> rail network. He also served as the Union Pacific's Vice President and
> 
> General Manager of Industrial Products, a $2 billion revenue business.
> 
> In leading both units, Kummant was responsible for substantially
> 
> improved customer service, on-time delivery of client products, and
> 
> significant gains in financial and operational performance.
> 
> Additionally at Union Pacific, Kummant held the role of Vice President
> 
> of Premium Operations, overseeing the intermodal and automotive network
> 
> performance.
> 
> Most recently, Kummant served as the Executive Vice President and Chief
> 
> Marketing Officer of Komatsu America Corporation, a division of the
> 
> second largest supplier of construction equipment worldwide. He has a
> 
> continuing record as an adaptable change agent in diverse environments.
> 
> Kummant's first job on the railroad came at age 18 in Lorain, Ohio,
> 
> working on a track crew for the Lake Terminal Railroad at the U.S. Steel
> 
> Lorain Works.
> 
> "Alex Kummant has the outstanding credentials and experience to lead a
> 
> changing Amtrak that is more customer-focused and fiscally
> 
> responsible,"said Amtrak Chairman David M. Laney. "His appointment
> 
> fulfills the board's commitment to select an extraordinarily strong and
> 
> capable leader for Amtrak's future, building on the growing national
> 
> desire for more and improved passenger rail service."
> 
> Kummant fills a position that has been held by David J. Hughes on an
> 
> interim basis since November 2005. Formerly Chief Engineer of Amtrak,
> 
> Hughes will continue to serve with the railroad in a yet to be specified
> 
> capacity. "For the past nine months, David Hughes has stepped in and
> 
> performed exceptionally in leading our strategic reforms and operational
> 
> improvements," said Laney. "On behalf of the Amtrak Board of Directors,
> 
> he has our deepest admiration and respect, and we are delighted that he
> 
> will continue to play an important role in Amtrak's future."
> 
> A native of Ohio, Kummant holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering
> 
> from Case Western Reserve University, a Master's degree in manufacturing
> 
> engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.B.A. from Stanford
> 
> University. He is married to Kathleen Regan Kummant, a former senior
> 
> executive with the Santa Fe and BNSF railroads.
> 
> The Board of Directors of Amtrak was assisted in its search by the
> 
> Washington D.C. office of Heidrick & Struggles, Inc.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Mr. Kummant's selection is interesting in many ways. His primary
> 
> railroad executive experience was with the Union Pacific Railroad, which
> 
> has been described by many as Amtrak's least willing and least friendly
> 
> host railroad. Perhaps his addition to the Amtrak executive suite will
> 
> provide a direct pipeline to UP's executive suite and a better
> 
> understanding between the two companies as to the obligations each have
> 
> on behalf of the passengers of Amtrak.
> 
> When examining the qualifications of Mr. Kummant listed in the press
> 
> release, straight down the line he fills the check list the board of
> 
> directors created for the next president; a list that included the
> 
> ability to work as an adaptable change agent in diverse environments, a
> 
> strong understanding of the financial side of the business, and
> 
> operational experience. Mr. Kummant fits all of those qualifications,
> 
> plus he has an engineering and construction background, which highly
> 
> qualifies him to deal with the infrastructure issues of the Northeast
> 
> Corridor.
> 
> An exciting aspect of Mr. Kummant's qualifications is his most recent
> 
> position of Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of
> 
> Komatsu America Corporation, a division of the second largest supplier
> 
> of construction equipment worldwide. Notice the word "marketing" in
> 
> there, a very important word. Mr. Kummant understands some reasonable
> 
> and practical effort must be made to attract customers/passengers to a
> 
> business. What a relief to have a new president and CEO with this
> 
> background.
> 
> Perhaps the most outstanding point about Mr. Kummant is what is lacking
> 
> ... no background in public transit. Mr. Kummant is most definitely a
> 
> railroader, and not a trolley operator. He will not have preconceived
> 
> notions of the alleged benefits of bare bones coaches with plastic
> 
> seating and harsh lights stopping at unmanned stations. We don't know
> 
> where Mr. Kummant stands on expansion of the national long distance
> 
> system. We have to believe he and the board understand the importance of
> 
> the national system and the future success of the company will come from
> 
> the long distance system, not disjointed and high expense corridors.
> 
> A fascinating aspect is Mrs. Kummant, Kathleen Regan Kummant. Mrs.
> 
> Kummant was a former senior executive with the Santa Fe and BNSF
> 
> Railroads, UP's arch rival. If Mrs. Kummant worked for Santa Fe when
> 
> Mike Haverty was president of the company, we know she was highly
> 
> qualified. One can presume dinner table conversation will be lively.
> 
> What do we bring from this? The Amtrak Board of Directors, under the
> 
> leadership of Chairman David Laney (even in its present reduced state
> 
> because of too many vacancies) has done a good job of selecting the next
> 
> chief steward of Amtrak. We all need to judge Mr. Kummant for his
> 
> accomplishments, and how he will help fulfill the broad vision of the
> 
> Amtrak board and its determination to bring Amtrak to a point where it
> 
> is no longer a financial and political cripple.
> 
> Welcome, Mr. Kummant and Godspeed in your new challenge. Now, please,
> 
> just tell us so we will get it right, exactly how do you pronounce your
> 
> last name?
> 
> 2) It is very important to take a moment and talk about the man who has
> 
> held Amtrak together since the merciful departure of David Gunn. David
> 
> J. Hughes, the former Chief Engineer of Amtrak will continue to serve
> 
> Amtrak in a yet to be defined capacity. Mr. Hughes has been an excellent
> 
> interim leader for Amtrak, picking up many of the broken pieces left by
> 
> Mr. Gunn, and starting to make incremental progress on many of Amtrak's
> 
> problems. Much of what Mr. Hughes has accomplished is not outwardly
> 
> evident to Amtrak's passengers and many employees. However, Mr. Hughes
> 
> made some critical personnel changes at the top of the company, and has
> 
> helped quell the overall bad atmosphere at the company while an orderly
> 
> search for a new, permanent president could be conducted by the board.
> 
> Thank you, Mr. Hughes for all you have accomplished. It has not gone
> 
> unnoticed. We know you will continue to accomplish much for Amtrak in
> 
> your next position with the company.
> 
> 3) So, there is a new kid on the block, and he has a shiny new football.
> 
> What should he do with the football? Here's a list of things for Mr.
> 
> Kummant and the Amtrak Board of Directors to consider:
> 
> A) Continue to work to bring an orderly state to Amtrak's financial
> 
> house through new and better accounting and reporting systems.
> 
> Everything else that may be accomplished will all depend on having
> 
> reliable numbers and hard, unbiased information.
> 
> B ) Look strongly at Amtrak's relationship with its host railroads and
> 
> work hard to improve those relationships so both parties prosper. If
> 
> Amtrak needs to pay more to achieve a fair market price for use of
> 
> private freight rails, that should be a strong consideration. Both sides
> 
> need to feel that operating Amtrak trains is a winning proposition; as
> 
> long as the host railroads feel the federal government (Amtrak) is
> 
> confiscating their property one passenger train at a time, little or no
> 
> progress will be made.
> 
> C) Look inward at employees on all levels. The freight railroads, from
> 
> whence Mr. Kummant arrives, have learned how to trim staffs and operate
> 
> trains more efficiently. Amtrak needs to do the same thing, including
> 
> learning how to work positively with its unions and instigate contracts
> 
> that recognize the value of each employee. Most of Amtrak's senior
> 
> executives need to be replaced, the sooner the better. Everyone there
> 
> has a history, and most of the histories are not good. We see some
> 
> bright spots (see below about Florida service operation this week during
> 
> Tropical Storm Ernesto), but too many of Amtrak's senior and middle
> 
> managers have gotten away with corporate murder for too long. Bring in a
> 
> new cadre of executives who are qualified and compensated equivalent to
> 
> freight railroad executives, and let them make much needed changes.
> 
> Bring in a new marketing team that understands passengers and the needs
> 
> of all of the system, beyond the NEC and Pacific Surfliners. Bring in
> 
> people who understand accountability, that often maligned word "profit"
> 
> (which is a very good word), and passenger service above and beyond all
> 
> else.
> 
> Make an absolute qualification for continuing or new employment at
> 
> Amtrak an understanding and desire for good passenger service. No more
> 
> grumpy onboard employees or station agents. No more employees that never
> 
> should have been hired in the first place. No more employees with
> 
> individual agendas - just employees with the single focused agenda of
> 
> providing the best possible service to the highest number of passengers,
> 
> all in a gracious atmosphere.
> 
> D) Continue to repair relations with Congress and the Bush
> 
> Administration. David Gunn left a tarnished legacy of contempt and
> 
> tartness that accomplished little other than entertainment value. David
> 
> Laney and David Hughes have proven this budget year that professionalism
> 
> when dealing with Washington is far more important than breathless
> 
> headlines and pronouncements of doom and gloom. Pay Mr. Hughes the
> 
> compliment of continuing his good work on Capitol Hill.
> 
> E) Restore the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. No good arguments
> 
> have been made for it not to be running, other than Amtrak doesn't have
> 
> the will to live up to its commitment to the cities and towns along the
> 
> route to provide a connection to the rest of the Amtrak network. Look at
> 
> all of the national system, and decide how to make it more dense, with
> 
> more frequencies, serving more passengers. Stop making poor decisions,
> 
> like the current proposal to drop one of two daily trains in and out of
> 
> Williamsburg, Virginia as 2007 will mark the 400th anniversary of the
> 
> founding of nearby Jamestown, and the beginning of Colonial Virginia.
> 
> Jamestown and Williamsburg are planning for one million visitors in
> 
> 2007, many of them by rail. Cutting one of only two daily trains in and
> 
> out of Williamsburg and the Hampton Roads (Norfolk, Newport News,
> 
> Portsmouth, and Chesapeake) area is not a wise move.
> 
> F) Look at the nearly 700 pieces of passenger rolling stock in storage
> 
> because of wreck damage, out of date inspections, or other reasons, and
> 
> figure out how to get these millions of dollars worth of assets and
> 
> revenue generators back out on the railroad. Time after time it has been
> 
> demonstrated that very few companies cut their way to financial health.
> 
> Amtrak is no exception. While many changes need to be made, at the same
> 
> time "more trains to more places" needs to be Amtrak's unofficial motto.
> 
> G) Realize that passenger rail, as opposed to transit, is a people
> 
> business, which relies on station agents, safety employees on trains,
> 
> and reservations agents among other jobs. Unmanned stations, while
> 
> understandable in some locations, lose more business than the money
> 
> saved by not paying the salaries of station agents. Stations are an
> 
> integral part of every community, where local residents go to make
> 
> travel plans, purchase tickets, check baggage, and safely board trains.
> 
> Unmanned stations provide none of these benefits. While about half of
> 
> Amtrak's ticketing is now done by the Internet, that does not make up
> 
> for the lost potential of manned stations. The Internet is not an
> 
> acceptable substitute of real, live, smiling and informative people.
> 
> H) Make intelligent decisions about the future of sleeping car and food
> 
> service on long distance trains. Look at the results of this summer's
> 
> Empire Builder "experiment" (which really just provides a level of
> 
> service formerly found on Amtrak elsewhere) and see how many passengers
> 
> liked traditional passenger railroad service. Understand that all long
> 
> distance trains deserve the same attention and amenities found on the
> 
> Empire Builder. Understand many Amtrak employees are willing to make
> 
> long distance travel a pleasurable experience with morally admirable
> 
> food if only given the chance by Amtrak management.
> 
> I) Understand Amtrak's heritage and history. Those who don't know
> 
> history are doomed to repeat it. Amtrak has a long history of making
> 
> dumb and costly mistakes with little or no consequence to its managers
> 
> and senior level employees. Look back at what has been done before, and
> 
> embrace what was good, and discard what was bad. Amtrak's heritage is a
> 
> proud one, of passenger service that served our country well before the
> 
> jet airplane and Interstate highway system. There is still a place today
> 
> for long distance passenger service in our domestic transportation
> 
> network, but Amtrak sadly remains our nation's best kept secret. It's
> 
> time for Amtrak to start shouting about itself from the mountain tops,
> 
> and get over its corporate inferiority complex that it can't be an
> 
> important part of our country's transportation system.
> 
> J) Continue to work towards isolating the Northeast Corridor from the
> 
> rest of the Amtrak system so everyone will have a realistic
> 
> understanding of how Amtrak's finances actually work. It's important for
> 
> Amtrak to understand it was originally designed to serve all Americans,
> 
> not just parts of the country on the Right and Left Coasts and clustered
> 
> around the Great Lakes.
> 
> 4) As mentioned above, as of this writing on Tuesday evening, August
> 
> 29th, Tropical Storm Ernesto is making its way into South Florida,
> 
> maintenance and crew base homes of the Silver Meteor and Silver Star.
> 
> Many will remember last hurricane season's shameful cut and run strategy
> 
> by Amtrak, often leaving travelers stranded in hurricane areas by
> 
> shutting down rail service far too early in anticipation of storms.
> 
> Here is Amtrak's internal advisory on Tropical Storm Ernesto. What a
> 
> different a year and some new people at the top makes.
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> System Operations
> 
> Flash Report
> 
> DATE: August 28, 2006
> 
> TO: Distribution
> 
> FROM: Jon Tainow
> 
> SUBJECT: Tropical Storm Ernesto
> 
> Report No: No.1 5:00PM August 28, 2006
> 
> Service Disruption Scenario
> 
> As of 2:00PM Tropical Storm Ernesto is approximately 15 miles
> 
> east-southeast of Holguin, Cuba. It has a poorly defined center and is
> 
> moving toward the northwest at approximately 10 miles per hour. This
> 
> motion is expected to continue over the next 24 hours. Maximum sustained
> 
> winds are 40 miles per hour. Tropical Storm force winds extend outward
> 
> for 70 miles. The storm is expected to strengthen after the center moves
> 
> over the waters to the north of Cuba tonight.
> 
> The storm is expected to make landfall as a possible Category 1
> 
> Hurricane late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, August 30th at the
> 
> southern tip of Florida near Miami Beach and continue moving northeast
> 
> along the coast effecting Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
> 
> CSX Operating Plans
> 
> CSX will remove crossing gates on the Miami Subdivision (Miami to West
> 
> Palm Beach, FL) beginning 12:00PM, Tuesday, August 29th. They will have
> 
> generators, ballast, and personnel ready to mobilize after the storm
> 
> passes.
> 
> Operating Plan for August 28, 2006
> 
> Train 91(28) (Silver Star) will operate New York, NY to Orlando, FL
> 
> only. Alternate transportation will operate for those passengers
> 
> destined for Kissimmee, Lakeland and Tampa. Regular thruway bus service
> 
> will operate normal.
> 
> Train 97(28) (Silver Meteor) will operate New York, NY to Orlando, FL
> 
> only. Alternate transportation will operate for those passengers
> 
> destined for Kissimmee only. Regular thruway bus service will operate
> 
> normal.
> 
> The remaining Florida service will operate normal.
> 
> Operating Plan for August 29, 2006
> 
> Silver Service Trains 98(29) and 92(29) will operate normal from Miami,
> 
> FL. An extra coach will be added to each train based on availability at
> 
> Miami.
> 
> Auto Trains 52(29) and 53(29) will operate normal.
> 
> Silver Service Trains 91(29) and 97(29) will operate New York, NY to
> 
> Orlando, FL only with no alternate transportation south of Orlando.
> 
> All other service operates normal.
> 
> Operating Plan for August 30, 2006
> 
> Silver Service Trains 98(30) and 92(30) will originate at Orlando, FL.
> 
> There are tentative plans, based on bus availability and weather
> 
> conditions, to offer alternate transportation for passengers at Tampa,
> 
> Lakeland and Kissimmee scheduled to board Train 92(30) and passengers at
> 
> Kissimmee scheduled to board Train 98(30). No other alternate
> 
> transportation will be offered.
> 
> No other service adjustments have been made for August 30 at this time,
> 
> however, it is possible that additional adjustments will be necessary
> 
> based on changes on the path and severity of the storm.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Wow. Did you notice some of the details above? Amtrak ADDED an
> 
> additional coach out of Miami if equipment was available. Trains
> 
> continued to run in and out of other stations in Florida (such as
> 
> Orlando, the single, largest vacation destination in the world). Some
> 
> alternative transportation was offered to non-storm threatened areas of
> 
> the state. It's hard to believe this is the same railroad as last year,
> 
> when the order of the day was to ignore the needs of passengers, lock
> 
> the door, and go home. Thank you, David Hughes and Jon Tainow for
> 
> understanding the obligations of your railroad.
> 
> If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can
> 
> receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state
> 
> where you live. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is
> 
> not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This
> 
> Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.
> 
> All other correspondence should be addressed to [email protected]
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This week's edition, quoted with permission from the author.



> This Week at Amtrak; September 6, 2006
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 3, Number 36
> 
> Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a
> 
> nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans
> 
> for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,
> 
> California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and
> 
> Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of
> 
> position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from
> 
> any outside sources.
> 
> 1) By the calendar, it's still summer, but for all practical purposes,
> 
> the summer travel season has ended. However, with less than a month to
> 
> go in Amtrak's fiscal year, the Sunset Limited is still not running east
> 
> of New Orleans. What's taking so long?
> 
> As noted last week in TWA, Amtrak was considering dropping one daily
> 
> roundtrip between the Northeast and Williamsburg, Virginia, which in
> 
> 2007 will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of the
> 
> Virginia colony at nearby Jamestown (Or, as we native Virginians like to
> 
> think, the beginning of Civilization.). Over one million visitors are
> 
> expected for the celebration, and Amtrak was very close to dropping one
> 
> of only two daily trains. This is a vivid demonstration of how Amtrak's
> 
> annihilative planning department operates in more of a vacuum than
> 
> anything else. We see this same phenomenon regarding the Sunset Limited.
> 
> Partial facts are given out about ridership east of New Orleans and
> 
> nocturnal station stops. None of that hardly matters. What matters are
> 
> total revenue passenger miles, the Sunset east of New Orleans as part of
> 
> Amtrak's national route matrix, and overhead or connecting business
> 
> between the Amtrak hubs of New Orleans and Jacksonville and Orlando. As
> 
> long as the Sunset Limited doesn't run east of New Orleans, there is a
> 
> huge gap in Amtrak's national long distance system, one which a lot of
> 
> public money on all levels went into in the early 1990s to plug. We must
> 
> question how good of information is flowing to the ultimate decision
> 
> makers at Amtrak about the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. Is the
> 
> full story being told? Is all of the high volume connecting business at
> 
> Jacksonville and New Orleans being considered? Even if the Sunset
> 
> Limited remains terminated at New Orleans, is a daily replacement train
> 
> between New Orleans and Jacksonville and Orlando being considered, which
> 
> would eliminate all of the nocturnal station stops? There are so many
> 
> options available to Amtrak to continue to live up to its corporate
> 
> name: National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Please, note the word
> 
> "National." It means everybody, including the residents of the Gulf
> 
> Coast and Florida's panhandle, currently without any train service, at all.
> 
> 2) It is difficult to imagine what various and alleged stakeholders in
> 
> the search for a new president and CEO of Amtrak were expecting from the
> 
> Amtrak Board of Directors. Were they expecting another transit official
> 
> who believes in the wrongly perceived glory of power of government over
> 
> private enterprise? Where they expecting a resurrected, retired railroad
> 
> executive who has always wanted to run passenger trains, but couldn't at
> 
> the freight railroads? Were they expecting a long lost child of the late
> 
> Amtrak Chairman and President Graham Claytor who would carry on the
> 
> family tradition?
> 
> It's no telling who was expected, but we know we have former Union
> 
> Pacific Vice President Alexander Kummant. Mr. Kummant, 46, who has also
> 
> worked for a number of other private industries outside of the railroad
> 
> industry, is an enigma to almost all Amtrak watchers. Somehow, in the
> 
> closed minds of some, this disqualifies him from being the next chief
> 
> steward of Amtrak. Here is what one longtime Washington wag had to say:
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> I'm not sure what to make of all this, but [Amtrak Chairman of the
> 
> Board] David Laney strikes me as neither an ideologue nor an idiot, so I
> 
> doubt he'd hire an ideologue or an idiot. That said, the last three
> 
> presidents - career public sector bureaucrats all - were not the "rails"
> 
> that NARP, etc., pretended they were, especially Mr. Gunn. Even with six
> 
> years under his belt at UP, [Mr.] Kummant is more of a "rail" than
> 
> Downs, Warrington and Gunn combined. A "rail" where it counts, in
> 
> knowing and understanding the challenges, corporate psyches and business
> 
> models of the modern-day investor-owned railroads. [Mr.] Gunn didn't
> 
> have a clue, aside from using the railroads as a punching bag when he
> 
> found it convenient. Their property is the only place Amtrak can grow
> 
> and expand. With Mr. Kummant we might finally get away from the "Perils
> 
> of Pauline" saga of the hapless NEC, the part of Amtrak that will always
> 
> manage to survive, one way or another.
> 
> So, Amtrak is trying something new, a president with zero public-sector
> 
> experience. Hoorah!
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> 3) This Week at Amtrak has begun polling Class I Amtrak host railroads
> 
> about their relationship with Amtrak, and passenger rail in general. As
> 
> a coincidence, the Association of American Railroads issued a position
> 
> paper last month regarding the same subject.
> 
> Norfolk Southern responded to TWA's query.
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> This is a brief note to reply to your ... letter ... . [O]ur office
> 
> coordinates passenger policy for the Norfolk Southern system.
> 
> In general, Norfolk Southern understands its long-standing (35 years and
> 
> counting) operating arrangements with Amtrak. We run Amtrak's trains as
> 
> best we can, given that the freight environment of 2006 is much
> 
> different from that of 1971.
> 
> In your letter you asked:
> 
> How do today's current Amtrak operations fit into Norfolk Southern's
> 
> business plan? How can future plans for expansion of Amtrak long
> 
> distance trains fit into Norfolk Southern's operating and capacity
> 
> scenario? What changes would Norfolk Southern like to see in how Amtrak
> 
> conducts business with its host railroads?
> 
> The most concise source of answers to these questions is probably the
> 
> position paper of the Association of American Railroads ("Passenger
> 
> Service on Tracks Owned by Freight Railroads"), found at this link:
> 
> http://www.aar.org/GetFile.asp?File_ID=290 [this document is not
> 
> available for copying, so you must use the link to view the document].
> 
> The best passenger operation is one that blends seamlessly. NS requires
> 
> new or additional passenger service to be "transparent" to freight
> 
> operations. We define transparency as "the provision of sufficient
> 
> infrastructure for passenger trains and freight trains to operate
> 
> without delay to either, and to allow for the growth of both."
> 
> Another document that may help with understanding NS's concerns is a
> 
> letter to planners of passenger service, attached. If the AAR position
> 
> paper appears to contain concepts embodied in our letter, it's not a
> 
> coincidence.
> 
> If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail or
> 
> call me ... .
> 
> Best wishes.
> 
> -- Bill Schafer - Director, Corporate Affairs, Norfolk Southern
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Many misguided souls who believe governmental agencies are the only ones
> 
> qualified to operate passenger trains will be greatly enlightened by the
> 
> pragmatic document produced by the AAR. As the AAR speaks with a unified
> 
> voice for all member railroads, the creation and dissemination of this
> 
> document clearly demonstrates that passenger rail is not only on the
> 
> radar screens of all major railroads in this country, but passenger rail
> 
> has gone so far as to the creation of specific guidelines for planners
> 
> of future passenger rail of all types to follow.
> 
> Major excerpts of the Norfolk Southern planning document are below.
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> June 15, 2005
> 
> To Planners of Passenger Train Projects:
> 
> Norfolk Southern welcomes the opportunity to work with state departments
> 
> of transportation, high-speed rail advocates, and transit and commuter
> 
> authorities to develop new or additional passenger rail services over
> 
> our tracks. We look forward to moving your projects forward as long as
> 
> they remain realistic and include our concerns.
> 
> Because of the popularity of passenger train proposals, we believe that
> 
> you should be aware of some of the principles that will underlie any
> 
> discussions we hold with planners. These principles are intended to
> 
> protect our "factory", which is the track and right-of-way needed to
> 
> produce our product - the present and future transport of freight - and
> 
> to protect the interests of our owners and employees. We foresee major
> 
> segments of our business - particularly the movement of truck trailers
> 
> and containers - growing significantly in the coming years as highways
> 
> become more congested.
> 
> These principles refer only to conventional intercity or commuter
> 
> passenger services and high-speed rail projects. Additional conditions
> 
> will apply to light rail and other public transit ventures. ...
> 
> CONVENTIONAL AND HIGH SPEED PASSENGER
> 
> We consider all passenger studies to be conceptual. Until serious money
> 
> is available to construct infrastructure, we at Norfolk Southern will
> 
> continue to regard passenger studies as hypothetical exercises. Their
> 
> conclusions will be subject to revision if funding for a project's
> 
> implementation becomes available.
> 
> We will coordinate infrastructure assessments. Studies intended to
> 
> estimate how much additional capacity is needed for passenger trains
> 
> (and how much it will cost) will be conducted by consultants approved by
> 
> Norfolk Southern, and will be paid for by the sponsoring public agency.
> 
> All studies and surveys must acknowledge that NS owns its corridors and
> 
> is entitled to fair compensation for their use. We maintain them and we
> 
> pay taxes on them. Please don't assume that the use of our capacity and
> 
> our asset is "free". Instead, please acknowledge in your studies and
> 
> reports that we are entitled to a fair return if the corridor is to be
> 
> used for passenger trains.
> 
> Passenger train operation must be "transparent" to our freight
> 
> operations. We define transparency as the provision of sufficient
> 
> infrastructure for passenger trains and freight trains to operate
> 
> without delay to either, and to allow for the growth of both.
> 
> Delay to freight trains by passenger trains, however minimal, is
> 
> unacceptable. Sufficient infrastructure must be furnished so that each
> 
> type of train can operate without getting in the other's way. The common
> 
> assumption that a proposed passenger train will impose "minimal
> 
> interference with freight operations" is a non-starter.
> 
> We will require new passenger train services to pay higher usage fees
> 
> than Amtrak pays today. Please do not use "Amtrak incremental cost"
> 
> factors in estimating the operating costs of new passenger services.
> 
> Amtrak was entitled to special rights in return for relieving the
> 
> freight railroads of intercity passenger train operation over
> 
> thirty-four years ago. There is no relationship between the rates Amtrak
> 
> pays and a fair, commercial return for use of private assets. We will
> 
> require operators of new passenger train service to negotiate
> 
> market-based operating agreements with us.
> 
> Liability will be a major issue. Based on our experience with commuter
> 
> authorities, the cost to the passenger carrier for indemnifying NS is
> 
> substantial. We will accept no new or expanded passenger operations
> 
> without adequate liability protection.
> 
> Cab signals for freight locomotives will be required if the top speed
> 
> for passenger trains is above 79 mph. Be prepared to equip the NS
> 
> freight locomotive fleet with additional cab signal and other safety
> 
> apparatus, and to pay for and maintain any additional signal
> 
> infrastructure required by speeds in excess of 79 mph.
> 
> Dispatching will remain with NS for all trains operating over NS tracks
> 
> after inauguration of passenger service.
> 
> HIGH SPEED CORRIDORS
> 
> High-speed corridors require careful planning. If the federal government
> 
> designates a corridor as "high speed", NS will automatically assume that
> 
> mainline tracks dedicated solely to high speed trains will someday be
> 
> built in the same corridor as our existing mainline tracks. Provisions
> 
> must be made for separate high-speed tracks throughout the corridor,
> 
> especially in urban areas. Highway or railroad overpasses/underpasses,
> 
> when built with public funds, must allow space for the additional tracks.
> 
> NS will require separate tracks for passenger trains operating in excess
> 
> of 90 mph. No heavy-duty rail freight line has 110-mph passenger trains
> 
> operating over it today. Where freight trains do operate over 110-mph
> 
> track (Northeast and Empire Corridors, for example), the penalties
> 
> imposed on freight trains are substantial. In a heavy-duty freight
> 
> environment (Cleveland-Chicago is one example), high-speed passenger
> 
> trains must operate over tracks dedicated to their use.
> 
> Railroading is expensive. 110 mph railroading is very expensive. As most
> 
> ridership analyses indicate, the greatest growth occurs with increases
> 
> in frequency, not speed. This implies that four round trips a day at a
> 
> top speed of 79 mph are much more cost-effective than four round trips a
> 
> day at 110 mph.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Our thanks to Mr. Schafer and Norfolk Southern for providing that
> 
> document and access to the AAR document.
> 
> There are several things which can be learned from this exercise, such
> 
> as the willingness of host freight railroads to engage in the passenger
> 
> business, as long as it doesn't interfere with the freight railroad's
> 
> main reason for existence: the haulage of freight in a profitable
> 
> environment. While private railroads have been treated and regulated in
> 
> the past as public utilities (as the airlines once were, too), it is
> 
> clear these are private businesses which are willing to share their
> 
> assets, as long as the sharing is done on a fair basis to the railroads.
> 
> This document, by the way, doesn't preclude any internal planning which
> 
> may or may not be done at the railroads regarding their own operation of
> 
> passenger trains.
> 
> 4) A book has been on the market for a year now that is a fascinating
> 
> read for anyone interested in learning how railroads evolved into the
> 
> worldwide industry of today. Frank Richter has written a magnificent
> 
> book, "The Renaissance of the Railroad; A chronicle of the
> 
> transformation of the century" that tells the story of American
> 
> railroads from a technical, freight, passenger, and public perspective.
> 
> This book is a "must read" for anyone who wishes to have a full
> 
> comprehension and understanding of the railroad industry, and how all of
> 
> the pieces fit together.
> 
> Mr. Richter tells this story as only someone can who has been a well
> 
> known and respected reporter, editor, and publisher in the railroad
> 
> industry. Mr. Richter started in this field with his service during
> 
> World War II, and went on to found the publication Modern Railroads, and
> 
> later sell the company and move on to the publishing of Progressive
> 
> Railroading magazine. Mr. Richter has been an intimate with railroaders
> 
> on all levels, from the president's office, down to the folks who
> 
> operate the trains over the road. He has reported on technological
> 
> advances in railroading all over the world, and currently serves as a
> 
> Vice Presidente of Asociacion del Congreso Panamericano de Ferrocarriles
> 
> when he spends six months out of the year in Buenos Aires, Argentina
> 
> during the winter months, and the remainder of the year in the Chicago area.
> 
> Mr. Richter notes on page 68 of his book when in 1969 he was tipped off
> 
> the federal government was being inspired to take over the intercity
> 
> rail passenger service. This is his place in the galaxy of the railroad
> 
> world; if something important is going on, Frank Richter knows about it.
> 
> For whatever reason you may choose to read The Renaissance of the
> 
> Railroad, you won't be disappointed by what you will learn, suddenly
> 
> recall, or finally find that missing piece of the puzzle you have been
> 
> wondering about. This is a book that could only have been written by a
> 
> respected icon of the railroad publishing industry - one who reported
> 
> with great intellectual curiosity for the professionals in the industry,
> 
> not the watered down story telling for enthusiasts.
> 
> "The Renaissance of the Railroad; A chronicle of the transformation of
> 
> the century" by Frank Richter is published by authorhouse, and is
> 
> available in both soft cover and hardback, at www.authorhouse.com or
> 
> purchase the book at your local bookseller. The suggested retail price
> 
> for the soft cover edition is $13.50, and the hardback edition is $23.95.
> 
> If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can
> 
> receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state
> 
> where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet
> 
> connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from
> 
> [email protected]; we are unable to go through any
> 
> individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is
> 
> kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes
> 
> other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA
> 
> materials.
> 
> All other correspondence should be addressed to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## frj1983

While I always find the URPA Newsletter interesting,

I am getting a little sick of the "David Gunn bashing" in each. So if you didn't like him or what he did, I respect Richardson's right to disagree, but to annoint Kummant an immediate "savior" seems to me "putting the passenger cars before the engine"...oh wait it does work that way. But I think you get my drift.


----------



## MrFSS

frj1983 said:


> While I always find the URPA Newsletter interesting,
> I am getting a little sick of the "David Gunn bashing" in each. So if you didn't like him or what he did, I respect Richardson's right to disagree, but to annoint Kummant an immediate "savior" seems to me "putting the passenger cars before the engine"...oh wait it does work that way. But I think you get my drift.


Email Richardson. I did on another matter and he pronptly answered me. I'm sure he would like your opinion, but then, maybe not.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 12, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 37

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Memo To: Alexander Kummant

President and CEO, Amtrak/National Railroad Passenger Corporation

Washington, D.C.

September 12, 2006

Welcome to your first day as the new chief steward of Amtrak, our

national passenger railroad. We look forward to working with you as you

improve the company.

We trust you will have no problem finding your way around headquarters,

and, later, there are several good restaurants in the area we would like

to recommend for lunch.

May we offer the following suggestions as you begin the task of moving

Amtrak forward?

- Please note the name of the company, the National Railroad Passenger

Corporation. The "national" indicates Amtrak's mission and

responsibility to serve as much of the continental United States as

possible. "National" does not indicate disconnected regional corridors

serving only part of the national population. As Amtrak lives by

taxpayer support, each American in each part of the country pays taxes

to support the company, and, therefore each American should be afforded

access to passenger rail. Regional favorites, such as the NEC, should be

primarily supported by regions served (such as is the case with

California's excellent passenger rail program), not at the complete

expense of everyone.

- We very much applaud the statements you made to your hometown

newspaper, The Chronicle-Telegram, in Ohio. Phrases like "The nation

needs a vision for its rail system, one that can safely support freight

and passenger trains," and your "self-described passion for turnaround

work" sound very good. Particularly well received is your statement,

"People talk about losses, but without splitting the capital spending

out from the operational dollars. Infrastructure dollars can hardly be

characterized as losses." Also, "The board has only asked me to run

Amtrak crisply and efficiently; to take a look at the entity as a whole

and drive the operation and the business, as it were. That can mean most

anything, but nobody has told me to dismantle anything." Please continue

to make such positive statements. Amtrak has suffered too long from poor

leadership that has talked more about losses and crisis than about

improving the railroad so it can be a robust, healthy organization in

charge of its own fate.

- As said many times before, Amtrak is the best kept secret in America,

regrettably. Please find new ways to make Amtrak more visible to its

owners, the people of America. In coming weeks we will talk more about

this, including some very successful programs initiated by the former

Gulf Coast Business Group that made sad trains into happy trains with

more passengers and more revenue passenger miles.

- Please, for the sake of the company and those cities and towns served

by the Sunset Limited and Cardinal, find a way to make these two trains

daily. As long as they operate on discreet routes but only on tri-weekly

schedules, costs will continue to be high and revenue passenger miles

low. Tri-weekly is the single most expensive way to operate trains that

have large infrastructure costs like stations. And, please take an

immediate look at what it will take to restore the Sunset Limited to

service east of New Orleans. The infrastructure is back in place, the

only thing missing are useable station buildings in Pascagoula and

Mobile, which can be handled by using portable station buildings which

have been used successfully elsewhere in the Amtrak system for years.

The latest silliness about restoring the Sunset Limited is the Florida

Department of Transportation hasn't asked for the train to be restored.

What? That makes no sense. You have stations, you have a strong railroad

infrastructure, and you have waiting passengers. Why do you need some

state bureaucrats to ask you to restore a train you were happily running

before Hurricane Katrina? Please tell you staff to quit stalling by

saying the dog ate their homework and get the train back.

We will talk more later; we know you're having a busy day. Thanks for

coming to help Amtrak be a better, more reliable, healthy, passenger

railroad.

2) The welcome arrival of a new Amtrak president and chief executive

officer hopefully brings along a large broom which will sweep some of

the executive debris out of Amtrak. There are so many areas which need

new leadership; perhaps, for the future of the company, chief among them

is strategic planning. Amtrak's planning department is where all types

of critical data is refined and organized so senior management and the

board of directors can make intelligent decisions about all aspects of

the company and passenger operations.

The most reasonable question to ask is, how good is the quality of this

information? Is the Amtrak middle management bureaucracy simmering along

in its usual best imitation of the late Stalinist Kremlin in Moscow? Are

too many lower level decision makers too content in their jobs so they

feel invulnerable? Of all of the places in Amtrak, both the planning and

marketing departments need the brightest thinkers and those willing to

think outside the standard Amtrak box.

Also, for a company which has been around since 1971, Amtrak needs

desperately to draw on institutional memory (whether from inside the

company on all levels or outside) to avoid again making the near fatal

mistakes it has in the past.

We know Amtrak is talking about tinkering with the long distance route

structure. Hopefully, most of what we will see will result in just talk,

and not the mistakes of the past such as those made during the Mercer

days of the 1990s, or the disastrous route cuts of 1979. Both the Mercer

and 1979 cuts only hurt the company, not helped it. While some expenses

decreased, there was an alarming decrease in revenue passenger miles and

passengers as well, that far exceeded any expense savings. Will this

happen, again? Will no one in the planning and marketing departments

understand the critical importance of the matrix theory, where one route

always feeds multiple other routes? ... That every route is part of a

system, not a disjointed corridor?

Will the marketing and planning departments understand the future of the

company is outside of the NEC and other corridors, and the tracks of the

freight railroads are the only place Amtrak can grow to prosperity?

Will the marketing and planning departments understand that passenger

counts and revenues are meaningless, and the only real measures for

success are revenue passenger miles and revenues that exceed expenses?

In the September 5th issue of Amtrak This Week (the OTHER This Week

publication) for employees, Amtrak said that 54% of the passenger

revenues originate on the Northeast Corridor. Big deal. More than 54% of

the company's expenses and need for subsidy originate on the NEC, so the

NEC still operates at a loss.

We all remember Disraeli saying "there are lies, damned lies, and

statistics." It's time for Amtrak to start reporting real statistics

instead of those published to make people feel good, but actually do

little to improve the fate of the company.

If the Amtrak Board of Directors and new President and CEO Alexander

Kummant are going to be well served and make good decisions, they need

good data to work from; no one is completely convinced the data coming

from inside the company meets that standard.

3) America lost a great railroader with the passing of Henry Christie in

August. For those of us who were privileged to know him and work with

him, all that can be said is that it was an honor to part of his world.

He was a brilliant man who generously shared his knowledge and wisdom.

Those readers of this space who worked with him know that Mr. Christie

was one of the great railroaders of the 20th Century, starting in the

steam era and ending his storied career deep into the electronic age.

Mr. Christie was a great debater, and loved to talk about his favorite

subjects - the most favorite of which was the railroad universe.

Following is his formal obituary, as supplied by his wife, Ann Christie,

one of the world's most delightful people.

[begin quote]

HENRY C. CHRISTIE, 79, died Monday, August 7, 2006 at St. John's

Hospital, Tulsa, OK after a short illness.

A memorial service will be at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, September 21, at First

United Methodist Church in Michigan City, IN.

He was born October 17, 1926 to Robert & Agnes (O'Brien) Christie in

Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. On December 17, 1976 in Kansas City, MO he

married Ann Mohegan who survives in Owasso, OK.

Henry's career was in the railway industry. He started his railroad

career with the Southern Railway in England and continued it after

immigrating to the United States December 1949. He worked for the New

York Central; Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad; Amtrak;

Pittsburgh & Lake Erie and Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad.

After retiring Henry served as Secretary-Treasurer for The Air Brake

Association for 11 years, retiring again two years ago.

In lieu of flowers, the family request memorial contributions be made to

First United Methodist Church Music Department, 121 E. 7th Street,

Michigan City, IN 46360, The Railway Supply Institute, Inc., Scholarship

Program, 29 W. 140 Butterfield Road, Suite 103-A, Warrenville, IL 60555,

Salvation Army or the organization of donor's choice.

[End quote]

There are many details to Mr. Christie's career. Here is a bio of Mr.

Christie written by this writer in 1993 when Mr. Christie was working on

a consulting basis:

[begin quote]

Eastleigh Enterprises, Railway Consulting

Henry C. Christie

Eastleigh Enterprises is a railroad industry consulting firm,

specializing in equipment and operations issues. The firm offers

consultation for all phases of operations and rolling stock, as well as

analysis of costing, staffing, and budgeting. Eastleigh Enterprises also

offers engineering overviews and quality assurance services.

Henry C. Christie, as principal of the Canadian Premier Rail project,

provided the majority of the operating and maintenance expertise for the

study. Mr. Christie has excelled as a professional railroader since 1943

when he began his career as a Locomotive Cleaner and Fireman for the

Southern Railway in England. Since then, he has steadily moved through

the professional ranks of railroading in England and the United States,

where he has served the New York Central System; the Chicago, Rock

Island & Pacific Railroad Company; Amtrak; the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie

Railroad Company; the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad; and the

Electro-Motive Division, EMD.

Mr. Christie served as Chief Maintenance Officer of Amtrak, reporting to

the Vice President, National Operations, and was responsible for the

overall direction of running maintenance functions of locomotives and

cars for the corporation, excluding the Northeast Corridor. He was

responsible for daily activities, planning, control, direction and

budget monitoring. He was also responsible for initiating action

covering all maintenance programs, directives and instructions to the

field. He assisted the regional vice presidents in the running of

maintenance facilities under their direct control. He was also

responsible for maintenance details of contract negotiations with

various carriers. He had an immediate staff of 37 people; indirect

control of 2,400 people, with an annual budget of $78 million.

Mr. Christie also served Amtrak as the Director - Running Maintenance,

and Manager - Car Planning and Engineering [Mr. Christie was responsible

for drawing up the Amtrak Heritage Fleet A & B Lists; cars on one list

were kept for conversion to HEP power, and the other list of cars were

sold as surplus.].

At the South Shore, Mr. Christie served as General Manager - Motive

Power & Equipment, and also as General Superintendent, Transportation.

Mr. Christie was responsible for 16,500 cars and 105 locomotives as the

Chief Maintenance Office of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Company,

with equipment capital expenditures of $75 million being processed in

certain years.

Mr. Christie's service to the Rock Island included duties as the

Assistant Chief Mechanical Officer - Locomotive and Assistant Chief

Mechanical Officer - Car. The two positions yielded combined

responsibility for 30,000 cars and 605 locomotive units. He also served

as the General Superintendent of the Car Department and Manager of

Engineering and Research Services.

Professional memberships include the American Society, Mechanical

Engineers; American Railway Engineering Society; Car Department

Officers' Association; and Locomotive Maintenance Officers' Association.

He is also a member of MENSA and the Union League Club of Chicago.

Industry related activities include AAR Mechanical Division General

Committee, AAR Special Equipment Committee, AAR Car Construction

Committee, various AAR ad hoc committees, and guest lecturer at the

Illinois Institute of Technology.

Mr. Christie co-authored various papers for the Pittsburgh Air Brake

Club and Central Air Brake Club of Chicago, and his writing has appeared

in Progressive Railroading magazine.

[End quote]

Not mentioned in the bio was his 1994 visit to the White House to

discuss the privatization of Amtrak. Henry Christie was a kind, generous

man who loved his work and his friends and family. He loved to sing

(hearing him sing opera was an inspiring experience), and most

mechanical things in the world fascinated him. Among his friends he was

also a famous cook.

Henry Christie will be missed by all of us who were privileged to know

him, and will be greatly missed by the industry he served and advanced

so well.

4) The New York Sun newspaper last week ran an editorial about it, and

the Boston Globe filed a news report about the financial relationship

between the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) and

Amtrak, and NARP's ability to think and react independently of Amtrak

management. As reported in this space earlier this year, NARP for a

number of years has been receiving annual financial payments in the tens

of thousands of dollars from Amtrak to operate Amtrak's customer

advisory committee. This occurred at the same time NARP, as a third

party, was lobbying Congress and others for higher federal subsidies,

without publicly disclosing the contractual arrangement with Amtrak.

URPA Vice President Bill Lindley writes, "According to The Sun's recent

editorial, 'NARP`s executive director, Ross Capon, says ... the

relationship has never come up in board meetings when members decided

whether or not to criticize Amtrak ...'

"Please be mindful of that carefully placed qualifier; NARP's official

criticisms of Amtrak seem to appear about as frequently as snowfall here

in Phoenix. The issue has certainly arisen before the NARP Board; as an

alternate at their Santa Fe meeting in 1997, during the discussion of

their budget, I questioned the $16,000 annual contract from Amtrak for

the Customer Advisory Council and how it imperiled the impartiality of

NARP. I explained it seemed to be in conflict with the assertion that

NARP has 'no association with Amtrak or the railroads.' (quote from NARP

brochure, 1974.) Mr. Capon was present during the brief but heated

discussion that ensued. The motion to exercise the escape clause in CAC

contract was tabled, and presumably never again revived."

5) President Bush has nominated Mary Peters as the new Secretary of

Transportation. Secretary-Designate Peters is from Arizona, and Mr.

Lindley, as mentioned above, a resident of Arizona, files this report.

"Through the Arizona Rail Passenger Association, I have worked on

numerous occasions with Mary Peters, whom President Bush has nominated

for Secretary of Transportation. I particularly remember her 1998

address to the Arizona Association of Railroad Passengers; she described

her mission as 'taking the department into the next century' through an

emphasis on multi-modalism; she noted that although the Department of

Highways changed its name to the Department of Transportation in 1974,

it had taken too many years for the agency to embrace ideas other than

highways; and she brought rounds of applause by explaining, 'we should

not widen highway corridors to 8, 10, and 12 lanes. We need to look at a

maximum highway configuration of 6 lanes ... Highways [alone] are not

going to meet our transportation needs in the future.'

"In 2000, as president of ARPA, I worked with her to bring a TALGO train

for display at Phoenix and a demonstration round-trip between Phoenix

and Tucson. Photos at http://azrail.org/archive/events/phoenix/2000

include a view of Ms. Peters with the TALGO on the platform at Coolidge.

"Arizona now is seeing the benefits of her leadership then. ADOT

undertook the hard job of implementing her vision; through the new

Public Transit Division, ADOT is supporting light rail in metro Phoenix

as it moves toward completion, and commuter rail as it begins to move

beyond the study phase toward implementation.

"Ms. Peters started as an office secretary at the Arizona Department of

Transportation and moved upward through transportation planning to

become director of that agency 16 years later. As Federal Highway

Administrator for several years starting in 2001, she gained experience

working within the Washington framework; most recently she was with HDR

Engineering as a transportation policy consultant.

"In the White House announcement last week, Ms. Peters said she wants to

tackle roadway congestion by modernizing transportation systems, such as

expanding the use of toll roads - just one example of how the DOT is

likely to change from business-as-usual under her guidance.

"Ms. Peters understands what highways can do, and what they can't; she

has been a supporter of passenger trains and multi-modalism; and she

knows how to set a direction and make things happen. She will make an

excellent Secretary of Transportation."

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

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All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak

Volume 3 Number 38 — September 22, 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006

Telephone 904-636-6760

Email [email protected]

www.unitedrail.org

Founded in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Arkansas. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooperation for a common goal is considered to be a good idea. The common goal of this exercise is for the freight railroads to run Amtrak trains in a timely manner. Chip Jones, the very good transportation reporter for the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch wrote last week that CSX is working with Amtrak to improve on time performance.

The crux of the matter is this: CSX has a contractual obligation, agreed upon when Amtrak began operating in 1971, to operate all passenger trains on a priority basis, with clearances over freight trains. This is the deal the freight railroads made with the devil to be relieved of regulatory requirements to run their own passenger trains and turn over all operations to Amtrak.

Thirty-five years later, the railroad industry is in a much different stance than it was in 1971. Instead of being in a survival/shrinkage mode, America's railroads today are bursting at the seams with business of every type and description, including a refreshing clamoring for new commuter rail projects in and around cities of every size.

The railroads that did everything that could be done to get unused or lightly used trackage off of the tax rolls now suddenly find some of those then-redundant main and secondary main lines would be very profitable and useful in today's railroad world. In the 1960s and 70s, railroads were looking at a bleak future; today, our society has advanced enough to recognize each form of transportation in our domestic transportation matrix as an important part of the mix, and that includes both freight and passenger railroads.

The scenario today is that most Class I railroads, such as CSX, Norfolk Southern, CN, BNSF, CP, and Union Pacific have as much freight business as they can handle with their present infrastructure. And, most economists agree the railroad industry is poised for continued growth.

Therefore, adding passenger trains, or accommodating current passenger trains is a low priority on the railroad totem pole. But, the law says the railroads have to accommodate Amtrak.

Which brings us to what reasonable people usually do ... they sit down and come to a compromise that helps each party. In this instance, CSX is requesting longer transit times for Amtrak trains, such as the Auto Train, and the Florida service trains.

Amtrak apologists may harrumph about such a thing; today's schedules are generally hours longer than historic passenger train schedules over the same or similar routes. And, it is not improper to wonder how railroads in World War II managed to handle all of the wartime freight movements along with the wartime passenger train movements, plus the extra troop trains, all without the benefit of computerized signaling and using paper dispatching.

The best answer to that? That was then, and this is now. Before the wave of mergers began after World War II, there was far more main line track in this country, operated by dozens of railroads, not just seven Class I railroads and a number of smaller, regional railroads. At the beginning of WW II, much more track was double tracked on the main lines, instantly providing much more capacity. Very few cities had one dominant carrier; as an example, goods from the West Coast to Chicago could originate on the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, or Santa Fe, instead of now just UP or BNSF.

Reviewing the long range plans of all of the major railroads clarifies the infrastructure improvement plans of each railroad, some of which are already in progress, and others in final planning stages. The purpose of the freight railroads is to make money for shareholders, and the only way to do that is haul more freight. The only way to haul more freight is to have more capacity. Along with that increased capacity will be opportunities for new passenger rail service for both long distance and regional trains.

As all of this capacity is being built, the short term answer is for Amtrak and its host freight railroads is address the realities of today, and figure out how to run trains in a timely manner, which may include some schedule changes and longer trip times. When passengers know what schedule to expect, they accept the proposed trip time. When passengers are constantly abused by late trains, they become unforgiving and grumpy. Longer schedules for months or a few years is a small price to pay for passenger satisfaction and the ability of Amtrak to advertise itself as reliable domestic transportation.

In mid-August, a comment was made about West Coast socialist rail advocacy groups which support Amtrak. Now that all of the information is in, it is apparent that comment was in error. Tony Trifiletti, the president of All Aboard Washington explains.

When I saw Bruce Richardson's characterization of certain West Coast rail advocacy groups as "socialistic," I bridled a bit. You can call me a lot of things, but I get really angry if you call me a socialist. Them's fightin' words.

While most rail advocacy groups support Amtrak unconditionally, we at All Aboard Washington (formerly the Washington Association of Rail Passengers) support Amtrak but with a jaundiced eye. We understand Amtrak is the only game in town, so there is a certain degree of reflexive support. But many of us understand Amtrak has done a less than stellar job over the past 35 years, and not all of that is connected to a lack of federal funding. Amtrak is a government bureaucracy, and bureaucrats as a rule can't think like entrepreneurs. In fact it's not fair to ask them to, for they lack the training and the mind set to function outside the world of government.

Like most rail advocacy organizations, half our members are nostalgia buffs, members of the Greatest Generation, who tend to be New Dealers. Another large group are railfans, who tend to have strong ties to organized labor. A few of us are transportation professionals - veteran, retired and undiscovered - who try to think outside the box and often pound our heads bloody on the walls of that box.

Our journey to an out-of-the-box solution to America's passenger rail problems began at an annual regional meeting of Pacific Northwest rail advocacy organizations held in Portland in February 2000. Our chairman, Chuck Mott, had spent over a decade with the Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern railroads and had been an incorporator of Burlington Northern Air Freight, now BAX Global. Chuck knew the package business inside and out, and upon viewing Amtrak's presentation on revenue projections for the mail-and-express initiative, he saw immediately the Amtrak people were dreamers and lacking in good sense with no understanding of how difficult it would be to develop the level of business they projected, let alone figure out its profitability or lack thereof.

Then we heard a presentation on Amtrak's "glidepath to solvency," and at that point I attempted to introduce reality into the discussion, an attempt remembered today as "Tony's temper tantrum." I meant no animus toward the people at Amtrak, but it was patently obvious their glidepaths and initiatives were doomed to failure because they couldn't get beyond their bureaucratic mind sets. I made a terrible prediction as to what would happen, and it was with no small amount of horror I watched my prediction unfold over the ensuing years.

In April 2000, a group of us met at the Pizza Bank restaurant in Kirkland, Washington to discuss the possible demise of Amtrak and how we could preserve our Cascades Service trains in the event of its dissolution. We were officers and directors, yet we knew our sentiments were not reflected by a majority of our membership. Present were myself, Chuck Mott, J. Craig Thorpe and Dr. Hal Cooper. Craig Thorpe is America's leading railroad artist, and Hal Cooper, an engineering consultant, is the father of the Trans-Texas Corridors - but in their original configuration as a rail project.

At the Pizza Bank we agreed something needed to be done, and we thought getting all the West Coast rail advocacy organizations in one room would be a good start. We needed to hold a conference.

That conference was set for San Carlos, California on September 12, 2001 - and everyone remembers what happened the day before. Only those of us who came to the Bay Area by Amtrak's Coast Starlight got there. With most of our Oregon counterparts stuck on the ground and our California counterparts at their emergency stations, the conference was postponed. Fortunately, those of us who came by train left by train, and the trains were running despite a national emergency. That incident alone pointed to the criticality of a national rail system.

The conference was finally held in July 2002 in Sacramento. Unfortunately, what I encountered was a sea of denial. Despite the Amtrak Reform Council report, only the few of us from All Aboard Washington grasped the possibility that Amtrak could be in real danger. For most of the attendees from Oregon and California, it was as simple as the Democratic Party riding to the rescue or the backing of the invincible AARP. Some accused me of disloyalty to Amtrak, arguing that the only purpose of the conference should be to redouble our support of the beleaguered railroad. Others accused me of being unnecessarily alarmist. I left that meeting both dismayed and depressed.

In the summer of 2004, Chuck Mott came up with an idea for a pilot project that would hand the Southwest Chief back to the BNSF for a five year experiment. At about this time, Tom Till, who had been Executive Director of the Amtrak Reform Council, was working in Seattle for the Discovery Institute as manager of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant. Tom was holding a series of conferences at the Rayburn House Building in DC to discuss various privatization alternatives to Amtrak, and Tom thought enough of Chuck's concept to permit me to present it at his September 2005 conference. Tom Rader of Colorado Railcar eviscerated the concept with one pithy statement, but it was a valid comment - and it sent me back to the drawing board.

The critical idea I took away from Tom Till's conference was the "virtual" railroad companies of the UK privatization, who lease their trains, outsource their employees and run a railroad out of a small room with a few people, a computer and a bank account. Based on this concept and aiming for a grand design, Chuck, Craig and I wrote "A Privatization Paradigm for Returning Intercity Passenger Trains to the Class I Railroads". We have vetted this document through two passenger rail organizations, and initial reactions have been positive. (For those who would like to read the document and join our discussion, just request a copy via e-mail at [email protected])

All Aboard Washington today is in the process of restructuring its board by bringing in outside directors, and we are searching for grant money to fulfill our mission in Washington state. We will soon be reaching beyond our current 500 members in a massive recruitment drive. We have taken the first steps in a long path, and we're eager to see where it leads.

Tony Trifiletti President, All Aboard Washington

Have you noticed the Sunset Limited is still not operating east of New Orleans? Various reports keep floating into the URPA nerve center here in Jacksonville, but still no sign of a train coming down the track. Presumably, Amtrak is still saying the dog ate Amtrak's homework, so it can't run the train.

Alex Kummant has now officially been in his new office as President and CEO of Amtrak for 11 days. Yet, all of this time, nothing has changed. After all, it has been 11 whole days. What's taking so long?

Here's a little secret: it's going to take a while before anything happens. Some are impatient, saying the "Bush management team" hasn't accomplished much, or has even gone backwards.

Take a chill pill.

Ending literally decades of corporate abuse and hanky-panky takes time, and it can't be accomplished over night. Most business professionals measure changes in corporate culture in terms of months and years, not in days and weeks.

Until the arrival of Mr. Kummant, there has been no "Bush management team" at Amtrak, but merely a board of directors appointed by Mr. Bush which has had to contend with an enormous, entrenched corporate bureaucracy that is unaccustomed to emitting any positive reaction to anything offered by the board of directors. The mercifully departed David Gunn was hired by the board of directors appointed by President Clinton, not President Bush. And, Mr. Gunn surrounded himself (as many high level executives commonly do) with people he felt he could trust from past working relationships. The management team inherited by the Amtrak board and now Mr. Kummant is a team not of their making.

The Amtrak Board of Directors has been doing plenty, considering what they inherited, and the management team they had to contend with under David Gunn. The also now-departed David Hughes, as acting president kept the company going until Mr. Kummant could arrive. So, while there may be some cosmetic changes, and hopefully soon some upper level personnel changes, don't expect anything to happen over night. A thoughtful steward of the company, there for the long haul (and, hopefully, the long haul trains), will first take a corporate temperature, and work with senior planners and numbers crunchers before major overhauls take place. No reasonable person should expect instant results. Those who do are always disappointed.

Former Amtrak spokesman, author, shill for high speed rail, and book huckster Joe Vranich has been browbeating the passenger rail countryside again, seemingly hoping to get enough people to listen to him so his latest book will rise higher in popularity on the Amazon.com ratings list. This gentleman, who has made a career about being visible enough to sell his own books, has been urging Congress to dump Amtrak and start fresh with his interpretation of how passenger rail should be in America. It's always interesting to see how many places Mr. Vranich pops up with the same song, but to a slightly different tune.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

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To qualify for a free subscription to This Week at Amtrak, you must include your name, and the city and state where you live, along with your preferred e-mail address. We are unable to send TWA to addresses that require clearance before initial reception of the first e-mail. Also please verify that any email scanning software will permit messages from our mailing list. If you do not receive your personalized copy of TWA within two weeks, check your outgoing e-mail for viruses and please resend your request. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

6271 St. Augustine Road, Suite 24, PMB 303

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2555

Telephone 904-636-6760

Email brichardson.org

www.unitedrail.org


----------



## George Harris

MrFSS said:


> Former Amtrak spokesman, author, shill for high speed rail, and book huckster Joe Vranich has been browbeating the passenger rail countryside again, seemingly hoping to get enough people to listen to him so his latest book will rise higher in popularity on the Amazon.com ratings list. *This gentleman, who has made a career about being visible enough to sell his own books,* has been urging Congress to dump Amtrak and start fresh with his interpretation of how passenger rail should be in America. It's always interesting to see how many places Mr. Vranich pops up with the same song, but to a slightly different tune.


I love it. "made a career about being visible enough to sell his own books."

Can anyone think of anything this man has produced other than books and papers that find fault with those that are trying to do something?


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## Sam Damon

My $0.02: if you see Vranich popping up somewhere, be sure to write a quick note to the responsible editors, pointing out the limits in his analyses.

Editors don't like looking underinformed. Trust me on this one.


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## frj1983

Mr Vranich

seems to have developed a "book-publishing" cottage industry on slamming Amtrak. Does anyone really listen to him? I keep thinking of the old saying "methinks ye protest too much!"

Maybe we should encourage him to take his patented look at the airline industry and ask the question: when will the airlines begin paying back the hefty loans the government gave them after 9/11? Does "never" sound like the correct answer here?

Go Joe go, write about this or something else, it would be a breathe of fresh air...all sarcasm intended. Sorry, I'll turn my rant off now!


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 29, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 39

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) The end of the federal government’s and Amtrak’s fiscal year is just

hours away. Looks like Amtrak survived another year to live and provide

passenger rail service for another day. Fiscal Year 06 will be

remembered as the year that fortunately for Amtrak, former President and

CEO David Gunn was shown the door, and a new chief steward of Amtrak

appeared on the scene less than a month before the end of the fiscal year.

Most notable for FY 06 was the complete absence of the Sunset Limited

operating east of New Orleans. Amtrak told its unions the train was not

discontinued, but was unable to operate due to a lack of station

infrastructure and right of way. CSX solved the right of way problem by

releasing the track east of New Orleans to Jacksonville on April 1st for

use by Amtrak. The station facilities smokescreen is just that - smoke

and mirrors. If Amtrak has the internal will to operate this train,

which the State of Florida contributed $7.5 million to in 1992/93 to

upgrade infrastructure and build station facilities in Florida’s

panhandle, the train will be running. So far, the public or other

interested parties have not heard any reasonable excuses, beyond the dog

eating Amtrak’s homework, for the train not to be running.

2) New Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant continues to strike a

positive note as he communicates with his employees. Here is what he had

to say in the internal employee newsletter, "Amtrak This Week" on Monday:

[begin quote]

September 25, 2006

Dear Co-workers,

Just wanted to share with you some news on a couple of fronts. We're

closing the fiscal year in a solid financial position — we will have

exceeded our ridership and revenue targets, having carried 24.4 million

passengers and earned over $1.3 billion in ticket revenue.

As for the new fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, the board of directors

approved our budget for FY ’07 last week. Because Congress has not yet

voted on our FY ’07 appropriation, we will likely move forward based on

what they call a Continuing Resolution until an appropriation is

approved by both houses, just as we did last year.

I've already met with some members of Congress and my

relationship-building with Capitol Hill continues on Thursday, when I'll

be testifying before the House Railroads Subcommittee.

I want Congress to know that I am committed to advancing passenger rail

and Amtrak’s future. And I want to share with them what I've learned

about the progress Amtrak has made in the last couple of years toward

rehabilitating our Northeast Corridor infrastructure. I'll make sure

that what I tell them is posted in the Intranet so that you can read it.

On the on-time performance front, thanks to our efforts with CSX, we're

seeing some significant improvements in the OTP of the Auto Train and

Silver Meteor (versus this time last year) and we'll be asking CSX to

direct their attention to doing the same with the Carolinian, the Silver

Star and the Palmetto.

One other note about OTP — I want to congratulate everyone

associatedwith the OTP record Acela Express has had lately. We've

recently hadseveral 100% days, and as of yesterday maintained 91.4% OTP

this month.It’s a great example of what we can accomplish when we all

pull together.

Sincerely,

Alex Kummant

President and CEO

[End quote]

3) One sad but interesting note in the same edition of Amtrak This Week

is the announcement of new upper-level galley and dumb waiters being

installed in the first of the 13 Superliner I dining cars being

converted to new diner/lounge configuration at Amtrak’s Beech Grove

heavy repair and maintenance facility in Indiana.

While initially Amtrak may have found some economic relief from the

Diner Lite program, history teaches us the program is not going to last,

based on previous versions of this program in decades past, and the

still morally admirable food served on the Empire Builder and Auto Train

which have full diner kitchens, wait staffs, and complete menus.

Those of us, such as this writer, who have been paid by Amtrak to

perform dining car studies, know every Amtrak dining car has the

potential to break even, or even make money with the right formulas for

operation, including the 24 hour dining car concept.

Here’s a prediction: Diner Lite will probably last through the busy

summer season of 2007, but by the end of this new fiscal year, better

accounting numbers will demonstrate the re-introduction of full dining

car services which will help Amtrak operate more profitable trains in

the long distance system.

On the bright side, the Superliner I equipment is now older than the

Heritage Fleet equipment inherited from the private railroads when

Amtrak began in 1971. This equipment was due for a good make over.

Having a pool of diner/lounge cars could prove profitable when used in

conjunction with a full dining car on larger consist long distance

trains, offering a quick meal service versus the full sit-down service

of a regular dining car. It will be up to Amtrak’s new management to see

how profitable this concept can be.

4) Here’s a message found today in URPA’s e-mail. It speaks for itself.

[begin quote]

This morning I received an e-mail from the "Class Agent" of my high

school class, and he is trying to organize our 45th reunion for next

June 22nd through 24. I went to high school near Pittsfield, MA, so, out

of curiosity, I got on the Amtrak website to check out fares, round trip

from Galesburg, IL to Pittsfield, MA. for one adult (senior!). Depart

GBB on 6/21/07, return departing PIT 6/24/07.

The coach only fare was $160.65, but I'm not one to sit up all night, so

I priced a Viewliner Roomette on the Lakeshore between CHI and ALB, each

way, with the rest being just coach.

The total fare was $748.65!!!! Eastbound on No. 48, the accommodation

charge was $245. Westbound on No. 49, the accommodation charge was $343.

And this is pricing 9 months in advance. These people are nuts.

If they are selling out sleeping car space at these prices, they ought to

be building more sleepers as fast as possible. If they are NOT selling,

then they are just driving away business because they don't care.

As a reminder, Graham Claytor said at a NARP meeting years ago that the

long distance trains were operating in the black (above the rails) and

that the sleeping cars were covering ALL their costs. I was there, and I

heard him say it.

[End quote]

5) Yesterday (Thursday), as mentioned above, was Alex Kummant’s first

Congressional testimony experience. He had a message for everyone;

anyone who claims he was brought in by an Evil Republican board of

directors to dismantle Amtrak must not be paying attention to what he is

saying in sworn testimony:

[begin quote]

Statement of Alex Kummant, President and Chief Executive Officer,

Amtrak, before the Subcommittee on Railroads of the House Transportation

and Infrastructure Committee

September 28, 2006

Good morning, my name is Alex Kummant, and I have been Amtrak's

President and Chief Executive Officer since September 12. I appreciate

the opportunity to appear before the Subcommittee today.

I intend to keep my statement short to allow you as much time as

possible to ask me questions. But, let me start by telling you a little

bit about myself. I was born in Ohio and was raised both there and in

western Pennsylvania because my father worked as an engineer and later

an engineering manager for U.S. Steel. My Dad's work in the steel mills

wasone of the reasons why I chose engineering as a vocation and why most

of my professional life has been spent in industrial settings or in the

manufacturing of equipment to support heavy industry.

From 1999 to 2003, I worked for the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and at

the time of my departure was Regional Vice President of the Central

Division overseeing 6,000 transportation, engineering, construction

mechanical and other employees supporting an 8,000 mile-rail network. I

was responsible for customer service, on-time delivery, and the overall

financial and operational performance of the region. My time at the UP

left an indelible and abiding interest in the railroad industry. Even

today, I believe that the operations of a railroad represents some of

the most engrossing and challenging opportunities in terms of a

professional career. Therefore, the opportunity to join Amtrak is more

than just another job to me; it is a chance to get back into an industry

that has kept its hold on me and to advance something I believe in,

passenger railroading.

Amtrak is both a business and public enterprise. Amtrak was created by

Congress, it relies on funding from Congress, and in many ways you are

the company's primary shareholders. In my view, there are very few large

and complex operations that are so challenging both from a business

point of view, as well as a public or political point of view.

Also, I believe we are at a pivotal point in the history of rail

passenger service. I am committed to operating a national system of

trains. I believe long-distance trains are an important part of the

nation's transportation network, and I believe it is our challenge to

run them in the most efficient and effective way. That said, I

understand how important these trains are as a form of basic

transportation to many small communities across the nation. My

challenge, and that of our management team, will be to find the most

efficient and effective way to run them.

I also know that the fastest growing service we have is in rail

corridors. Those states that have the vision to develop their state rail

systems are beginning to see the benefits of that service. In the past

few years, the only new services that Amtrak has added are those that

are supported by the states. Developing these corridors, and by that I

mean providing regular and reliable service between city pairs of

300-500 miles, is going to be a major part and the driving force of our

future. I hope that in my time at Amtrak we will continue to see more

corridorgrowth and the realization of a federal and state funding

partnership for these corridors.

I am just beginning to understand how much work Amtrak has done in the

last few years in bringing the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and some of its

branch lines to a much higher level of utility. The NEC still requires a

significant amount of investment including large projects such as bridge

and tunnel replacement, but in terms of basic investment (tracks, ties,

signals) the company has used the capital money you have appropriated to

them wisely and strategically to update the NEC. In the coming years, I

think we will have to do a better job of explaining the importance of

these capital investments to you because this valuable work has

durability and demonstrable benefit. In fact, the work we have done has

allowed us to reduce slightly the Acela service travel time between New

York and Washington by 5 minutes in our new timetables.

To me, having been on the outside, I have always wondered why the Amtrak

debate is so emotional and at times acrimonious. It really needn't be,

especially now. At a time of high oil prices, growing highway and

airport congestion and record rail freight volumes, problems which beset

and constrain our transportation system, we should be embracing rail and

developing it as quickly and as responsibly as we can. We should get

beyond the debate of a few hundred million dollars of operating costs

and begin to realize the potential rail passenger service has to offer

with the right level of investment and a clearly defined federal policy.

I know many of you travel back to your district every weekend because

you feel it is the most effective way to keep in touch with the views of

the people you have been elected to represent. Just like you, I intend

to roam about the system. I will be on the trains, in the shops, on the

platforms and at the stations. I find the best ideas, often times, are

the ones given to you by those that are out there doing their jobs every

day. This is something my Dad learned when he worked large engineering

projects in steel mills and something he instilled in me.

In closing, let me assure you that I believe in rail passenger service,

and believe in Amtrak. I have a lot to learn, but I learn quickly. In

the coming weeks, I intend to shape and hone my immediate and near-term

goals and objectives, as well as get around and meet with many of you

personally, and I encourage you to offer me your counsel and advice. In

that vein, it is my hope that today begins a long and constructive

relationship.

[End quote]

What a refreshing and positive change from the normal "the sky is

falling" style of communication from the Amtrak Executive Suite.

6) For those of us who relish a touch of the bizarre, read this letter

from the United States Department of Transportation’s Inspector

General’s office to the Amtrak Board of Directors:

[begin quote]

Office of the Secretary of Transportation

Office of Inspector General

September 26, 2006

The Honorable David Laney

Chairman

Amtrak Board of Directors

60 Massachusetts Ave, NE

Washington, DC 20002

Dear Mr. Chairman:

On October 25, 2005, House of Representatives Transportation and

Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young asked Congressman Richard

Baker to lead a working group to evaluate information from the

Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Amtrak Inspector General,

and the Department of Transportation Inspector General regarding

Amtrak's management and performance. This request was prompted, in part,

by issues raised in the October 2005 GAO report, Amtrak Management:

Systemic Problems Require Actions to Improve Efficiency, Effectiveness,

and Accountability.

In March 2006, the Majority Members and the Democratic Members of the

Amtrak Working Group issued separate reports summarizing their findings.

The Democratic Members of the Amtrak Working Group included among the

recommendations in its report the following, "Our investigation

indicates that some of the deficiencies cited in the GAO report

represent a failure of Amtrak's Board of Directors. Accordingly, we

intend to request that the DOT IG conduct an investigation of whether

the Board of Directors is adequately carrying out its legal and

fiduciary responsibilities."

On April 25, 2006, the Democratic Members of the Amtrak Working Group

formally requested that our office undertake this investigation. They

cited concerns that Amtrak's Board of Directors has not exercised

sufficient oversight of the corporation or held management accountable

for results and whether the Amtrak Board's expenses are appropriate.

As a result, our office plans to conduct a review of how Amtrak's Board

of Directors carries out its responsibilities. In addition, we plan to

review the Board's expenses from Fiscal Year 2002 to the present as

requested. The objectives of this review are to determine (1) the rules,

procedures and authorities under which the Board operates, (2) whether

the Board has followed established processes and procedures, (3) whether

the Board has set long-term goals and performance objectives for Amtrak,

(4) whether the processes and procedures that the Board follows are

sufficient for ensuring oversight of, and requiring accountability from,

Amtrak management, and (5) whether the Board members' expenses comply

with corporate guidelines and whether those guidelines are sufficient to

ensure prudent use of corporate resources. The results of our review

will aid in identifying whether potential reforms to improve the Board's

performance are needed.

The work will be carried out in Washington, DC. The Program Director for

this review is Mitchell Behm, and Debra Mayer is the Project Manager. If

you have any questions or need additional information, please call me at

...

Sincerely,

David Tornquist

Assistant Inspector General

for Competition and Economic Analysis

[End quote]

Well, we know Amtrak continues to be a political football, but it’s

tough to figure out the motives behind this request by the minority

Democrat members of the Amtrak Working Group in Congress. Are they

trying to harass the current Amtrak board because they had the good

sense to fire David Gunn? Are they mad and jealous someone else is

playing with what they consider their oversized Lionel train set? Are

these the same Democrats who are members of the party which, in the

Senate, torpedoed the nominations of two highly prominent and even more

important, highly qualified Democrats to serve on the Amtrak board?

Interestingly, the majority of the time the Amtrak board will be audited

will be the time when the board was under the control of the departing

members which were nominated by the Democrat Clinton Administration. Can

anyone figure this one out?

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is

kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes

other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA

materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]nitedrail.org

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.orgmailto:[email protected]


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 6, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 40

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for

passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville,

Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California,

Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Another week, this time the first week of the new fiscal year, and

another week when the Sunset Limited is not running east of New Orleans.

Has anybody seen the Sunset Limited?

2) For all of the things Amtrak is doing, it's what Amtrak is not doing

that is making a negative difference.

For too long, Amtrak has considered marketing and related activities

beyond the Northeast Corridor (or, here in bow and arrow country, which

means anywhere west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and south of Washington,

D.C.) as unimportant. At best, Amtrak has paid lip service to marketing

the national system, but the bulk of the marketing and advertising

dollars have gone into trying to bolster the sagging NEC.

Some Amtrak apologists will quickly point out that 54% of fare box

revenues come from the NEC. (Yawn) Big deal. It takes more than 54% of

the expenses to keep running the NEC, so it doesn't matter how much

revenue comes from there as long as it takes even more money to run the

services.

There was once a shining moment in Amtrak marketing in 1999 and 2000 in

the old Gulf Coast Business Group, which at the time controlled the

Sunset Limited, City of New Orleans, and Crescent.

At the same time, the Amtrak marketing department was undergoing some

upheaval and changes, so two independent entities were formed with

outside contractors, the Crescent Promotional Office and the Sunset

Limited and City of New Orleans Promotional Office.

Both of these ventures were successful in zeroing in on specific trains

and routes and drawing local business to those trains.

The budgets were small by marketing standards, because a lot of guerilla

marketing took place that produced results.

As an example, in the Sunset and City office, we (this writer) used a lot

of barter and public relations techniques. We would go to a radio station

in a city such as Daytona Beach, and create a program where a station DJ

would host a trip on the Sunset Limited from Daytona to New Orleans.

We gave the station free trips for the DJ host, the station manager, and

several pairs of tickets to give away as prizes. In exchange, the station

heavily promoted the trip, and listeners were allowed to purchase trips

in the group in order to travel with their favorite DJ and have a group

trip to New Orleans.

The bottom line? Lots of air time advertising Amtrak and the Sunset

Limited, new passengers who paid to travel with the group, and much of

the external cost for the specific project included giving away coach and

sleeping car space on the train which would have run empty anyway, so it

was turned into a valuable commodity for barter.

3) Other similar programs were put together for group travel for what are

known as affinity groups (people traveling together who have something in

common) such as credit union members, church members, and any other type

of organization. Other programs included working with television stations

on the same basis as radio stations (travel with your favorite

weatherman), and also working with local governments to jointly promote

Amtrak and local tourism.

The possibilities were, and are, endless. It takes a fertile mind that is

willing to think outside the standard marketing box, not be afraid to

advance ideas, and be able to do some horse trading.

Amtrak has a longtime policy of using empty seats and sleeping car space

for promotions, and the use of this space is not charged to anyone's

budget. Therefore, a lot can be accomplished without yet another budget

item to fight over at the end of the fiscal year.

4) For too long, Amtrak has been America's best kept secret. For those of

you outside Washington and the NEC reading this space, conduct your own

field test. Talk to 20 of your friends, co-workers, or neighbors who

don't know you have an interest in rail. Ask them if they know Amtrak

serves your town or city. Ask them if they have ever ridden on a

passenger train. Ask them if they have any idea of how to contact Amtrak

if the thought did strike them to want to ride a train. The results

shouldn't be shocking. Anyone who is a road warrior for business knows

every good hotel has a services directory in each room. In almost every

instance, there are telephone numbers for all of the local airlines, but

not a single number for Amtrak. Many hotels provide a shuttle service to

local airports, often miles away. Ask if you can get a shuttle ride to

the local Amtrak station. "Where? What? No, we don't go there." "But,

it's on the way to the airport!" "Sorry, we don't go there."

5) These are the types of problems that are best solved with an

aggressive promotional office program. These are the details that often

get left behind by marketing people who are usually thinking more

globally than on a local level. These are the "in fill" jobs that don't

cost much to do, but over a period of time can make a huge difference in

visibility and on an institutional scale, so that when marketing dollars

are spent in traditional venues, those dollars will have a greater

impact.

6) The art public relations means many different things to many people.

It can be a combination of damage control, warm and fuzzy creations,

factual presentations, and image building. All of it is something Amtrak

has failed to do on any regular basis. Amtrak spends less than $100

million a year on marketing and advertising, a small amount. A good

promotional office and educational program could be had for probably less

than five percent of that figure, a small investment which has proven to

bring big results.

7) One resource that Amtrak often ignores is the excitement and

willingness of its own people to speak and make presentations of the

company's behalf. From conductors to ticket agents to office clerks,

there are thousands of Amtrak employees who are comfortable speaking in

front of groups and like promoting the work of their employer. Another

similar area is an Amtrak speakers bureau. Most large corporations have

corporate spokespersons who are available as professional speakers for

gatherings of all sizes and interests. This is another relatively small

budget area that provides large amounts of goodwill for the company.

8) Amtrak, as it moves forward under the board of directors and new

president and chief executive officer, needs to strongly examine its

options to stop being the best kept secret in America.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.orgmailto:[email protected]


----------



## Sam Damon

MrFSS said:


> 2) For all of the things Amtrak is doing, it's what Amtrak is not doingthat is making a negative difference.
> 
> For too long, Amtrak has considered marketing and related activities
> 
> beyond the Northeast Corridor (or, here in bow and arrow country, which
> 
> means anywhere west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and south of Washington,
> 
> D.C.) as unimportant. At best, Amtrak has paid lip service to marketing
> 
> the national system, but the bulk of the marketing and advertising
> 
> dollars have gone into trying to bolster the sagging NEC.


Wow. Cousin Bruce has apparently read some of my posts concerning Amtrak's marketing (or lack thereof). I'm duly impressed.


----------



## haolerider

No, he's looking for a consulting job. All the mentions he makes of the former Gulf Coast group being so successful, is because they had hired him to do some consulting and he made a ton of money from them. All he did was become the "master of the obvious" and recommend actions that the Gulf Coast had already planned or suggested. I wouldn't read any more into his comments than that.


----------



## Trogdor

haolerider said:


> I wouldn't read any more into his comments than that.


Now, now. That's not all he's after. Prior to Alex Kummant's hiring, many of his posts were somehow written under the delusion that his "Guiding Light" Andrew Selden would become president of Amtrak.


----------



## frj1983

Anyone who is a road warrior for business knows

every good hotel has a services directory in each room. In almost every

instance, there are telephone numbers for all of the local airlines, but

not a single number for Amtrak. Many hotels provide a shuttle service to

local airports, often miles away. Ask if you can get a shuttle ride to

the local Amtrak station. "Where? What? No, we don't go there." "But,

it's on the way to the airport!" "Sorry, we don't go there."

______________________________________________________________

By my own reckoning, I would point out that J. Bruce Richardson is wrong, as the last 3 times I

have checked the Hotel directories(in places where I have stayed), each have had Amtraks 800 number in them and the address of the local train station. And since his opinion is a large part of this newsletter, I tend to take the whole thing "with a grain of salt."


----------



## MrFSS

frj1983 said:


> Anyone who is a road warrior for business knowsevery good hotel has a services directory in each room. In almost every
> 
> instance, there are telephone numbers for all of the local airlines, but
> 
> not a single number for Amtrak. Many hotels provide a shuttle service to
> 
> local airports, often miles away. Ask if you can get a shuttle ride to
> 
> the local Amtrak station. "Where? What? No, we don't go there." "But,
> 
> it's on the way to the airport!" "Sorry, we don't go there."
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> By my own reckoning, I would point out that J. Bruce Richardson is wrong, as the last 3 times I
> 
> have checked the Hotel directories(in places where I have stayed), each have had Amtrak's 800 number in them and the address of the local train station. And since his opinion is a large part of this newsletter, I tend to take the whole thing "with a grain of salt."


When I stayed at the Courtyard in Portland last, they picked me up at the Amtrak station and would have taken me back if I had needed to go. Some hotels provide the service, but you're right, not many!


----------



## GG-1

MrFSS said:


> Some hotels provide the service, but you're right, not many!


Aloha

Your right, and it hasn't changed. Think it was 81 or 82 and the Miami Fountainblue insisted there was NO rail service, would not even call the number on the ticket, which is what I did, Amtrak sent a station van to the hotel to pick me up, No Charge no less.

Wish I could Get a train here in Las Vegas, I can see the tracks from my Hotel room and nary a passenger train on them :angry:


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 12, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 41

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for

passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville,

Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California,

Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) When you think of Amtrak, in what context do you think of Amtrak? To

you, is Amtrak your local commuter carrier in the Northeast or in

California? Is Amtrak your provider of long distance train service when

you go to visit your grandchildren? Is Amtrak your substitute for an

interstate highway for a short business trip?

Amtrak is many things to many people. One common thread is that Amtrak

often does not live up to peoples expectations.

Those of us who are old (and perhaps wise, too) enough to remember

private passenger rail service, depending on the era we remember, recall

trains full of well-dressed travelers, Pullman dining cars with gleaming

silver and china, and full meals freshly prepared.

Those of us who have traveled abroad, know of other state-run passenger

railroads; some, such as VIA Rail Canada, which provide a morally

admirable level of consistent service, and others, such as in Europe that

provide something between routine and exceptional service, but almost

always punctual, with clean and well maintained equipment.

Because private railroads in the United States lost a war for passengers

in the mid 20th Century with Detroit and interstate highways, Amtrak was

euphemistically formed as a replacement. A mindset was erroneously formed

by many that because of this, passenger railroads MUST be a child of

government. These same well-intentioned but ill-informed people point

their collective fingers at Europe and Japan and say "Aha! Their

passenger railroads are government owned, too, so that must be the

correct model to follow."

The United States was the only major industrialized nation in the world

to emerge from World War II with its internal infrastructure unscathed.

Private enterprise was the basis of this countrys wealth and power, and

government assistance wasn't needed to help rebuild war torn railroad

infrastructure as in most of the rest of the world. The reality is, it

was American foreign aid which rebuilt the railroads of the world after

WW II. Here at home, a number of factors were coming into play which made

for a fascinating time to be a railroader.

Physical plants were being rebuilt and upgraded after the rigors of war

time traffic. New equipment was being developed to carry larger and

longer loads. Necessary highways and roads were being built that made

expensive and lightly used railroad branch lines unnecessary. American

railroads after WW II began the long and correct journey from serving

every small town and burg to becoming streamlined trunk railroads which

concentrate on what railroads do best: hauling heavy traffic over long

distances efficiently and cheaply. Since the early days of steam and

wagons placed on steel wheels, nothing has come along that has

accomplished what the railroad can do as efficiently and for less cost.

All of this brings us to the 21st Century. Dozens of American main line

railroads have been consolidated into seven Class I railroads, two of

which are Canadian owned. Corporate fist fights between competing

railroads have evolved into occasional snits which are mostly resolved

either in courts or by regulatory bodies.

For the most part, government has mercifully gotten out of the railroad

regulation business (as compared to the first three quarters of the 20th

Century). Railroad unions, once the titans of the organized labor world,

are shadows of themselves, as are the ranks of unionized employees.

Progress has been made everywhere in the North American railroad world

... except at Amtrak.

Amtrak, in 2006, is still a Washington political football, and a highly

monitored child of government. It can't even fire a misbehaving CEO

without someone calling Congressional hearings.

While all of the private freight railroads, and most of the government

controlled regional commuter railroads continue to grow and prosper,

Amtrak is able to do nothing to add to its route structure and service

levels without a state government coughing up funds to pay for localized

trains.

Even something as mundane and necessary as restoring the Sunset Limited

east of New Orleans can't seem to happen until some politico probably

lights a fire under Amtrak.

Amtrak has a new president and chief executive officer, who, as of today,

has been working for a month and a day. Already, some impatient people on

the Left Coast are wondering why he hasn't said anything new and exciting

and is continuing to spout the company line.

What can a new CEO do in just a month? Has his staff even finished

gathering all of the information he has probably requested so he can

start making decisions? Has he even had a chance to fully evaluate his

staff so he knows who he is going to keep, and who is shown the door?

Amtrak is woefully behind the times in terms of passenger railroads of

the world, and freight railroads in North America. Amtraks under-sized

board of directors (the Senate still has not acted on the new nominees,

lo these many weeks since their nominations) has taken a greater interest

in the well-being of a national system than any other previous board.

There is a chief steward of Amtrak who owes nothing to the Northeast

Corridor, and gratefully knows little about transit and commuter

operations.

Patience is the order of the day. There is a lot to do. Everyone knows

Amtrak cannot continue as it is today, and has been for the past 35

years.

Amtrak has great potential, and is full of assets. Someone has to have

the will to catalog those assets and determine how best to use them,

without constantly relying on someone from Congress or the United States

Department of Transportation telling them how to allegedly run a

successful passenger railroad.

We're all waiting, some of us more patiently than others.

2) Wondering what new Amtrak President Alex Kummant is facing as he

enters his second month of service? Heres a narrative that points out so

very many wrong things about the way Amtrak does business.

[begin quote]

This goes back to last Saturday [October 7th], but it's taken this long

to ferret out some details.

At around 6:00 P.M. on October 7th, Amtrak Wolverine Train 352 (7),

originating in Chicago, with NPCU AMTK 90222 and AMTK 128 [locomotives]

struck a trespasser three miles west of Jackson Michigan. Track speed is

75 mph and the train was operating at 70-75 mph. The trespasser was on

the right-of-way outside of a grade crossing and was dead at the scene.

Train 352 was held at the location 2 hours and 53 minutes for

investigation of the incident.

Train 355, coming in the opposite direction and headed for Chicago, was

held at Jackson, then released and held short of the location for open

track. But its final arrival into Chicago was over six hours late. What

happened?

The Chicago engineer on Train 352 usually works to Battle Creek,

Michigan, then works back home on Train 355. But (1) the coroner was

going to hold Train 352 for the investigation anyway, and (2) the

engineer on Train 352 requested relief [as is often the correct choice

when a fatality occurs]; so there was no engineer to take over 355, and

even if the engineer hadn't requested relief, the delay to both trains

would mean that even had the swap been made right there, he would run out

on Hours of Service before reaching Chicago (the normal run is 10 hours

and this wasn't exactly a "normal" day).

Amtrak's crew caller in far-off Wilmington, Delaware apparently thought

otherwise, estimating that after all was done, Train 355 would just

barely squeak into Chicago before the engineer's time ran out. Then

somebody changed his mind for him, and a frantic call went out for a

relief engineer.

All MIGHT have gone well, but the crew van which is supposed to take the

engineer to the train couldn't be located, and the engineer has to try

and bum a ride from a manager instead. That doesn't work and the van

finally shows up just as Train 355 stops and is held at Porter; its power

had cab signals not in a STATE OF GOOD REPAIR so it wasn't allowed to run

at normal speed. With 355 running so late, its engineer's hours would

have run out prior to reaching Hammond, Indiana, leaving the train

blocking a main track on Norfolk Southern's busy line; so NS did not

allow it onto their property.

Meanwhile the crew van finally gets underway. The van driver claims he

has no money and the van doesn't have EZ-Pass, and thus can't use the

toll road, so he goes by the Dan Ryan Expressway, which on weekend nights

has only one lane open, with the resulting multi-mile traffic jam. It

took 1 hour and 37 minutes for the relief engineer to get to the train.

OOPS! The crew caller forgot: the conductor, who came on at Pontiac,

Michigan, now has 15 minutes less time to go on his Hours of Service than

the trip to Chicago will take, even under the best circumstances. The

train gets underway anyway and reaches Hammond with some further delays

due to heavy freight traffic. When the train reaches Hammond, there is

still no relief conductor.

Train 355's crew contacts Amtrak and advises that the conductor will run

out on Hours before reaching Chicago Union Station ... in fact, before

leaving Norfolk Southern territory. Amtrak tells them to proceed; when

the conductor's time runs out, the engineer is to continue by himself on

the authority of Amtrak management.

What's wrong here? IT'S NOT AMTRAK'S RAILROAD! When Norfolk Southern

hears this, their dispatcher makes no bones about it: "NOT ON MY WATCH,

NOT ON MY RAILROAD!" The signals stay red and Train 355 sits and waits

most of another hour, until a yard conductor was sent out to the train to

take over. Train 355 (7) finally arrived in Chicago at approximately 4:00

A.M. on October 8th. It was due in Chicago at 9:54 P.M.

[End quote]

And, thats what happens when a major railroad, such as Amtrak, tries to

save a few bucks of the budget by not having enough extra board employees

to cover contingency situations.

Does everyone reading this know, or have known, someone who always seems

on the verge of crisis? Someone who the least little incident causes a

major disruption in their lives because they live from paycheck to

paycheck, with never any savings, an old car, and no ability to get

ahead?

That is the situation Amtrak has placed itself because of a host of poor

business decisions through the years, and the disastrous policies

instituted by the Transit Trio of bad chief executive officers of Tom

Downs, George Warrington, and David Gunn.

When Amtrak stopped under the Transit Trios tenure behaving like a

responsible railroad, and started acting like a transit organization that

only focused on short corridors, is when Amtrak got into deep hot water.

Time and again, it has been proven that Amtraks future is in

money-making long distance trains which are cheap to run and have the

highest earning potential versus short corridor trains. (For further

details, see the URPA website at http://www.unitedrail.org.)

When Amtrak realizes what resources are important to invest in (such as

adequate crews), and what is required for good passenger satisfaction,

then horror stories like the one above will stop.

Until then, Amtrak is going to be like the poor soul we all know that

just can't seem to get ahead and every little incident is a crisis.

If you are reading someone elses copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.orgmailto:[email protected]


----------



## AlanB

MrFSS said:


> And, that’s what happens when a major railroad, such as Amtrak, tries tosave a few bucks of the budget by not having enough extra board employees
> 
> to cover contingency situations.
> 
> Does everyone reading this know, or have known, someone who always seems
> 
> on the verge of crisis? Someone who the least little incident causes a
> 
> major disruption in their lives because they live from paycheck to
> 
> paycheck, with never any savings, an old car, and no ability to get
> 
> ahead?
> 
> That is the situation Amtrak has placed itself because of a host of poor
> 
> business decisions through the years, and the disastrous policies
> 
> instituted by the Transit Trio of bad chief executive officers of Tom
> 
> Downs, George Warrington, and David Gunn.
> 
> When Amtrak stopped under the Transit Trio’s tenure behaving like a
> 
> responsible railroad, and started acting like a transit organization that
> 
> only focused on short corridors, is when Amtrak got into deep hot water.
> 
> Time and again, it has been proven that Amtrak’s future is in
> 
> money-making long distance trains which are cheap to run and have the
> 
> highest earning potential versus short corridor trains. (For further
> 
> details, see the URPA website at http://www.unitedrail.org.)
> 
> When Amtrak realizes what resources are important to invest in (such as
> 
> adequate crews), and what is required for good passenger satisfaction,
> 
> then horror stories like the one above will stop.
> 
> Until then, Amtrak is going to be like the poor soul we all know that
> 
> just can't seem to get ahead and every little incident is a crisis.


I read all of URPA's newsletters posted here with interest, as there often are some interesting things to learn even though I don't always agree with all of Bruce's conclusions and opinions. In particular I don't agree with his conclusions about David Gunn, even though I do agree with his assesment of Warrington.

However in this case Bruce really didn't do his homework here. He wrote the above piece criticizing Amtrak for concentrating it's resources under "Transit Trio" on short corridor resources instead of in his words "the profitable long distance trains. According to him, it's because Amtrak has concentrated on short corridor trains that lead to the delays of train #355, yet train #355 is a short corridor train. So if he is correct, that Amtrak has concentrated on short corridor trains, then the delays should not have occured. It would seem that he is claiming that 355 is a long distance train, which is why it met with the fate that it did. But it is not a long distance train, train #355 is a short corridor train

Something just doesn't add up here and it would appear that Bruce didn't think this one out very carefully.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 20, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 42

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for

passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville,

Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California,

Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) As those of us living east of New Orleans are still helplessly peering

down the tracks hoping to see an oncoming Sunset Limited, it seems things

are not well in the Sunset’s onboard crew base in Los Angeles.

Chefs and Lead Service Attendants for dining and lounge cars are

deserting the Amtrak ship at a fast rate. There are dozens of LSA

vacancies just in Los Angeles alone, thanks to Diner Lite, or what is

otherwise known as Amtrak’s Simplified Dining Service. Since the great

majority of crew members for all areas of dining cars - both the kitchen

and service staff - have been laid off allegedly because they are not

needed with the new menu, those remaining are working much harder than

before, and are simply wearing out faster. The bottom line is that for

these onboard employees, the pay and benefits are just not enough to

justify the level of work that is required to keep the dining cars

running without adequate staff.

2) On October 17th, Progressive Railroading magazine reported in a daily

news digest on its web site:

[begin quote]

National intercity passenger railroad registers FY06 ridership, revenue

gains

Amtrak's streak of record-breaking years now stands at four. In FY2006,

the national intercity passenger railroad's ridership and ticket revenue

exceeded FY2005's figures and FY2006 projections, according to the

October issue of employee newsletter "Amtrak Ink."

During the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, Amtrak carried 24.3 million

passengers, up 1.3 percent compared with FY2005's adjusted figure of 24

million and 3 percent compared with the FY2006 projection. Amtrak

adjusted FY2005 ridership from a record 25.4 million to reflect an

October 2005 agreement to transfer operations of its "Clocker" service to

New Jersey Transit.

"We wanted to compare apples to apples," says Amtrak spokesperson Karina

Romero.

Also in FY2006, the railroad posted its highest-ever ticket revenue at

$1.37 billion - $132 million more than FY2005 and $28 million higher than

Amtrak's projection.

Short-corridor and state-supported routes increased ridership 6 percent

and boosted ticket revenue 8 percent compared with budgeted figures.

However, ridership on long-distance routes was 2 percent lower than

projected. The Silver Star, California Zephyr, Coast Starlight and Sunset

Limited posted ridership and revenue losses compared with budgeted

figures, while the Empire Builder and Lake Shore Limited exceeded

projections.

In the Northeast Corridor, ridership and revenue on regional trains rose

3 percent and 9 percent, respectively, compared with projections. The

Acela Express carried 2 percent more passengers than expected, but ticket

revenue dropped 6 percent.

- Angela Cotey/progressiverailroading.com

3) Frederick K. Plous of Chicago, who often provides interesting analysis

of passenger rail issues, added his thoughts about the above story:

[begin quote]

Note that long-distance trains that lost ridership are the ones that

encounter substantial timekeeping problems on CSX or UP.

The popularity of the Lake Shore is one of the great wonders of the age.

When we rode it from Albany to Chicago August 26th and 27th we found it

bulging with passengers, including three sold-out sleeping cars and four

sold-out coaches. I thought this was simply the end-of-summer-vacation

peak, but at the Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads conference Monday

and Tuesday [in Washington], three different speakers mentioned they had

been on the Lake Shore during September or October and it is still

running with three full sleepers. One wonders how many sleepers it would

be carrying if Amtrak had more. Unfortunately, Amtrak does not release

train-by-train or day-by-day figures for numbers of passenger turned away

for lack of space, so we have no idea what level of demand is out there.

The night we traveled we got a beautiful, freshly restored Heritage

dining car in which a really good staff served excellent food. However, I

understand that there are not enough of these diners to go around and

that on many nights an unrestored diner is operated and the competence

and attitude of the service staff is pretty much the luck of the draw.

The Amfleet lounge car was a slime pit - aging plastic surfaces from

which the color had actually faded, unimaginative seating space, weary

plumbing, noisy and generally unappealing either as a place from which to

sightsee or in which to socialize. The Amfleet II coaches were okay, but

no more. They'd seen a lot of hard riding.

One has to wonder how many passengers the Lake Shore would be carrying

if: a) Amtrak had a big enough fleet to meet demand; B ) all rolling stock

was new or rebuilt and were designed for an actual overnight assignment

rather than simply re-assigned, as the lounge car was, from daytime

corridor service; c) the train ran on time; d) all the stations were

attractive, accessible and functional, and the larger ones manned and

able to support checked-baggage service; and, d) Amtrak had a budget for

promotion that could actually draw people to this service.

Item "c," of course, cannot be accomplished unless federal funds are made

available to restore at least one of the two main tracks that were

removed from the 4-track Water Level Route during the 50s and 60s when

the New York Central was eliminating its passenger trains and the New

York, Ohio and Indiana toll roads were stealing its highest-rated freight

traffic. Now that the railroad is full of fast freight trains again, it

needs at least one of those tracks back.

My sense is that if these amenities were in place the Lake Shore not only

would run with 5 or six sleepers and six or seven coaches every night,

but that it actually could be split into two or more separate frequencies

so that cities from Toledo to Buffalo could receive service at a more

convenient hour. If you look at the map now you find that about one third

of the population along the Water Level Route simply has no inducement to

use the Lake Shore, now matter how fast the trains go or how pretty they

are.

[End quote]

4) The comments of Mr. Plous provoked these thoughts from one Heartland

wag:

[begin quote]

Interesting report by Fritz [Mr. Plous].

The overflowing Lake Shore sends the same message that Amtrak has been

ignoring for 30+ years – there is a large, untapped market for long

distance rail passenger service.

Amtrak has chosen to invest the vast majority of its resources in the

NEC; therefore:

a) The long distance trains run with mostly rundown equipment,

B ) And there is not enough equipment to meet demand,

c) Which depresses ridership,

d) Which holds down revenue,

e) Which creates the false impression that long distance trains are huge

money losers,

f) Which justifies pouring more money into the NEC,

g) Which starts the cycle all over again.

[End quote]

5) Further discussion about the Progressive Railroading story ensued,

including much of the usual rhetoric and modal envy about the alleged

unfairness of it all and how some people believe airlines and trucks and

cars have a "free ride."

[begin quote]

NEC costs consist of two parts. First, the cost of maintaining/upgrading

the infrastructure. Second, the cost of running and maintaining the

trains.

... a firm believer that the NEC trains themselves make money. It’s the

infrastructure cost, which for the most part the long distance trains

don't bear, that drive the NEC numbers so far into the red. If Amtrak

were an airline, the Federal, state and local governments would be

providing the entire infrastructure to Amtrak (and commuter rail

agencies) for a fraction of the true cost of maintaining/upgrading it ...

... Some folks claim the NEC trains themselves lose money. However, they

determine this assertion using Amtrak's accounting numbers.

Unfortunately, Amtrak includes as part of the trains' cost, some costs

that others in other modes of transportation would consider

infrastructure or non-operating costs. (For example, the airlines receive

air traffic control for free from the federal government, and nowhere

does the cost of all of the radars, computers, facilities show up on

airline balance sheets. ... The railroad equivalent of air traffic

control is called "dispatching." Amtrak funds its own dispatching and

allocates these costs to train operations.) This is not a ding on Amtrak

since from what I have heard, they use standard railroad accounting

rules. However, I do know that railroad accounting rules differ from

those of other modes of transportation, thus making it impossible to

properly compare the cost of operating a train to that of operating say,

a plane. So if one were to apply airline accounting rules to NEC trains

(eliminating those non-operating costs that Amtrak attributes to train

operation), I strongly believe these trains would be money makers.

... The freight railroads maintain their own track - upon which the long

distance trains make the majority of their trips. The freight railroads

do maintain their tracks (albeit to varying standards) allowing Amtrak to

physically run on them, so other than track access fees, Amtrak has no

need to spend additional money on these routes. However, it is Amtrak

that owns the NEC. If Amtrak does not maintain it, its trains can't run

on it. Since the majority of Amtrak passengers ride the NEC, Amtrak must

maintain it. Seeing losses in the NEC simply shows how expensive

maintaining infrastructure is compared to simply running a train. By

extension, this should be an indicator to the public of how large a

subsidy the government provides to the airlines, maritime and highway

users who shoulder little of the cost of maintaining their

infrastructure.

... The long distance trains supposedly ... lose money. But note that

each long distance route hosts at best one train in each direction per

day. These two daily trains shoulder all of the fixed costs of that

route. Tying in what [Mr. Plous] mentions ... about the popularity of

long distance trains, and applying economies of scale, if Amtrak were to

increase long distance frequencies, carry more passengers and distribute

these overhead costs to more trains, its per train losses would decrease.

[End quote]

6) And, a final word on the Progressive Railroading story and the subject

of finances on the Northeast Corridor from Andrew Selden, URPA Vice

President of Law and Policy:

[begin quote]

The great charade goes on.

The classification of costs by Amtrak as "capital" and "operating" is

arbitrary, inconstant among reporting periods, inconsistent among

divisions, and highly manipulable by management.

The passenger service is the incremental user on 99% of the route system,

and should pay towards leased infrastructure on that basis: 100% of

documented and traced incremental costs, plus a fair share of other

costs, measured by SFGTM formulas for facilities, and documented costs of

people and systems for other functions (What is the documented, traced,

actual "additional" dispatching or signals maintenance cost to the UP or

CSX CAUSED BY Amtrak trains on any given district?).

On 1% of the route system, Amtrak is the base user. The infrastructure

exists solely or predominantly for its use and benefit. Upkeep of the

infrastructure is (1) necessary to produce the revenue stream, (2) solely

associated with and caused by the activities (i.e., train-miles, or

SFGTMs) that generate the revenue stream, and (3) regularly recurring on

a daily or monthly basis. Replacing a bridge is different from regular

maintenance of way in the NEC, but that doesn't mean that the trains'

performance shouldn't be charged with an amortization of the

non-recurring capital item.

I challenge ANYONE to point out one penny of depreciation of any new or

improved bridge or substation that is being charged against Acela

revenues on any external Amtrak report of Acela financial results of

operations. I am dubious that even the routine, recurring maintenance of

way and other "infrastructure" costs are being charged against Acela

revenues on its own income statements, or that if they are they are being

allocated on the basis of SPEED-FACTORED gross ton miles.

If anyone thinks otherwise, produce the Amtrak or NEC or Acela income

statement that shows it, plus a statement from Amtrak’s CPA or its CFO

attesting that depreciation of ALL such assets, and allocations of ALL

such recurring costs based on SFGTM or other appropriate algorithms,

consistently applied, have been reflected. Otherwise, I assert that the

NEC is deep under water ON TRAIN OPERATIONS on a monthly and annual

basis, to the tune of tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars a year,

as well on a fully-allocated basis, to the tune of about three-quarters

of a billion dollars a year.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

mailto:[email protected]


----------



## frj1983

If Number 1 above, is correct, that sounds very disheartening to me and probably to those who work the trains. Does anyone have any way of knowing if this is really happening? Sorry I can't just accept one person's word for it.


----------



## AlanB

frj1983 said:


> If Number 1 above, is correct, that sounds very disheartening to me and probably to those who work the trains. Does anyone have any way of knowing if this is really happening? Sorry I can't just accept one person's word for it.


Well I can't speak to the validity of workers in the LA crew base quiting, but the rest of the paragraph is true. The reduction in staff has definately increased the pressure on the remaining crew members to work harder to serve everyone. Even with the greatly reduced amount of passengers now being served in the diner, it is still much harder to deal with.

This is especially true when you have a meal that is rushed because it's close to a final destination or it's right after departure. For example on the Lake Shore out of Chicago, there is simply no way to use the 15 minute interval seating plan. If everything works perfectly, the sleeping car passengers board the train between 7:00 PM and 7:15 PM. In order to get everyone in the sleepers who wants a meal, and they are entitled to a meal, they have to fill up the dining car to it's capacity right away. That means that 40 people could potentially be seated all at once.

40 people for 1 cook, 2 waiters, and 1 LSA! That easily overwhelms the staff, but especially the cook.

The other area where problems occur, and quite possibly the reason that so many LSA's are quitting (assuming that's true), is that the LSA's are now in effect being asked to be waiters. They are now working harder than before and having to do a job that they were never originally hired to do. On my recent round the country trip, I did meet one LSA who basically refused to be a waiter. He by and large did his original job and left the SA's to deal with the customers.

Now all that said, I'm not suggesting that it's always true that the crew is working hard. There are times when the load is light and of course there are some crews that simply don't wish to put their best foot forward for their customers. I also am a firm believer that they need to get over this craft line issue where one craft can't do the duties of another craft. The Auto Train doesn't have those rules and things tend to run much more smoothly and I find that far more employees there seem to put their best foot forward when dealing with the passengers.


----------



## Guest

it just not LA (where LSAs are quitting) its every where. I work out of Washington and just as bad. In January we are going to be the 1st crew base to go over with new combin diner/lounge and it suppose to be getting rid of another job.

Amtrak wants to this fail . They want to outsource food service jobs so they hired folks who willing to make less 18.76 hour with no benefits.



frj1983 said:


> If Number 1 above, is correct, that sounds very disheartening to me and probably to those who work the trains. Does anyone have any way of knowing if this is really happening? Sorry I can't just accept one person's word for it.


----------



## frj1983

Guest said:


> it just not LA (where LSAs are quitting) its every where. I work out of Washington and just as bad. In January we are going to be the 1st crew base to go over with new combin diner/lounge and it suppose to be getting rid of another job.
> 
> Amtrak wants to this fail . They want to outsource food service jobs so they hired folks who willing to make less 18.76 hour with no benefits.


Guest,

It seems unreasonable for Amtrak to want this to fail, even if the jobs are outsourced, who in their right minds would hire on to work such a job for less money and the many days away from home. It seems to me that your Union needs to collect some stats to show where there might be a need for more workers to cover the job. Wearing out your employees guarantees bad customer service.


----------



## saxman

I'm wondering if SDS is really the answer, and this can go in the SDS forum as well. I'm all for saving money on food service, but the diner is being used it should be staffed to handle it all. My recent trip on the Texas Eagle, Zephyr, Builder and Lake Shore gave me a good perspective, that the dining car is completely full. For all meals and all routes, it was very busy, and I'm wondering how much money they are really saving. I thought the food was good and I'm even for the plastic plates. I really didn't notice much difference between the Builders enhanced service and the other trains' SDS, except for the real chinawear and the extra wait staff. Amtrak should be trying to increase revenue with service and not just cut corners off on their more finer trains.

I wanted to comment on the number of pax on the long distance trains. We have one side that blames Amtrak for putting too much into the NEC and letting the LD trains fall apart (which i agree with). Then you have the Vraniches saying Amtrak has been wasting too much money on the LD trains that carry "no pax" and cost $1000 per passenger where they should be investing in the NEC where it really only matters. Bottom line is, I'm a frequent rider of the LD trains, and those trains are full! Even on a Tuesday in the middle of October I had real problems getting a double seat to myself. And to say one or two people using a stop, is just not relavent in my eyes.


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## AmtrakFan

Remember Amtrak is under pressure by Congress in Washington to cut Food Service so they are under-pressure to do that. I think Amtrak needs to invest more in Intercity Service but there best service is usually on NEC and the Midwest/West Coast Corridor and sadly that has lead to Intercity Service Falling Apart.


----------



## AlanB

AmtrakFan said:


> Remember Amtrak is under pressure by Congress in Washington to cut Food Service so they are under-pressure to do that. I think Amtrak needs to invest more in Intercity Service but there best service is usually on NEC and the Midwest/West Coast Corridor and sadly that has lead to Intercity Service Falling Apart.


While I know what you meant, let's be clear here. Amtrak is not under pressure from Congress to cut food service. Amtrak is under pressure from Congress to cut the monetary losses associated with food service. It was Amtrak management that foolishly decided that the correct and only way to cut the losses on food service was to cut the service. As I've clearly pointed out in my analysis in the SDS topic, cutting staffing and introducing SDS may well have reduced costs, however it also reduced revenue. The only real question that we don't know is, what was the net result of the loss in income vs. the money saved by the cuts.

I'm betting that Amtrak will end up finding out that they didn't cut the losses, since there is less revenue to offset many of the fixed costs that they can't avoid. Even worse however is the fact that the hiring of the new onboard service managers will definately offset any savings from the SDS initiative, if there is any. Those salaries however aren't directly charged to food service, so it only hurts Amtrak's overall bottom line, not the food service bottom line.

But I'm certain that Congress if they were really interested in Amtrak wouldn't appreciate Amtrak's rearranging the deck chairs as it were. The ship is still sinking. Amtrak is still loosing the same amount of money, if not more, thanks to the SDS concept, yet they've now reduced income. :blink:


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## haolerider

As I understand it, the current Customer Service managers are not new headcount, but all came from internal positions, some of which will not be filled.

We shall see what will happen in the final count of costs versus revenue.


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## Amtrak OBS Gone Freight

haolerider said:


> As I understand it, the current Customer Service managers are not new headcount, but all came from internal positions, some of which will not be filled.



This is true, but regarding those "new" jobs which were filled, these folks make a "better" salary! So this is what happens when a company pays out too much payroll costs! Amtrak is a prime example of top heavy payroll! If some of these management positions were cosolidated into less postions, then I personally believe the results would be substantial. I mean we have to have managers to do just that, and that is manage the company. But why so darn many? And not many ride the LD distance trains and interact with the passengers. This is what I see every day!!!! It doesn't seem to change. OBS....


----------



## rmgreenesq

Amtrak OBS Employee said:


> I mean we have to have managers to do just that, and that is manage the company. But why so darn many? And not many ride the LD distance trains and interact with the passengers.


Maybe management should be required to ride a Long Distance train (in coach) now and again. In-n-Out Burger, a sucessful fast food restrauant in Southern California requires all of its non-restrauant personnel to spend a week a year in a restrauant flipping burgers, tapping soft drinks, cooking fires, etc..... From managment, to accounting, to legal, to shipping, they all spend a week in a restrauant a year.

Rick


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## haolerider

Amtrak OBS Employee said:


> haolerider said:
> 
> 
> 
> As I understand it, the current Customer Service managers are not new headcount, but all came from internal positions, some of which will not be filled.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is true, but regarding those "new" jobs which were filled, these folks make a "better" salary! So this is what happens when a company pays out too much payroll costs! Amtrak is a prime example of top heavy payroll! If some of these management positions were cosolidated into less postions, then I personally believe the results would be substantial. I mean we have to have managers to do just that, and that is manage the company. But why so darn many? And not many ride the LD distance trains and interact with the passengers. This is what I see every day!!!! It doesn't seem to change. OBS....
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, how many management staff does Amtrak have? Does anyone know the percentage of management to agreement employees?


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## frj1983

haolerider said:


> Out of curiosity, how many management staff does Amtrak have? Does anyone know the percentage of management to agreement employees?


I would be curious also...as I understand it, David Gunn, chopped out quite a few managers during his tenure. Was that true and is Amtrak suddenly hiring more???


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 27, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 43

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for

passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville,

Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California,

Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) The new Amtrak Fall 2006/Winter 2007 timetables are out. Here is what

one wag had to say:

[begin quote]

Have you seen the new system timetable? This company plainly is beyond

irony: the cover photo shows what appears to be a Philadelphia -

Harrisburg local in the Amish farm country of Pennsylvania, no doubt to

celebrate completion of the INVESTMENT (NOT "subsidy") of $140,000,000 of

your money to turn this 104-mile model corridor into the wave of the

future.

This is hilarious for at least a couple of reasons: the train depicted is

being pulled, under the [catenary] wire, by a Genesis diesel

[locomotive], and the train consists of three 30-year old Amfleet cars,

all coaches, from the look of them. Granted that this may have been a

photo-special, not a revenue train, but it is still perfectly

illustrative of everything that is wrong with Amtrak's business strategy.

At least it is sized correctly, more or less, for the actual volume of

traffic in this market. But no three-car train will ever be economic at

Amtrak's fare and cost levels, even at an unprecedented load factor.

[End quote]

Another note of interest in the new timetable is the lack of the renowned

Pacific Parlor Car for sleeping car passengers on the Coast Starlight

between Los Angeles and Seattle, Washington. This signature service,

which has been operated using magnificently refurbished Santa Fe Hi Level

lounge cars that are more than 50 years old, has been a staple on the

Starlight for over a decade. One of the reasons for losing the service is

the lack of lounge car attendants in the Los Angeles Crew Base which

staffs the cars. Many LSA jobs (the classification for the lounge car

attendants, who handle passenger money) have become vacant recently by

employees either leaving the company or moving to other jobs.

2) Whither the Sunset Limited, yet/still/again? Still no Sunset Limited

operating east of New Orleans in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and

Florida. The new timetable (see above) has this note, as provided by a

This Week at Amtrak reader:

[begin quote]

Page 98 of the new Amtrak timetable dated October 30, 2006 contains the

following footnote:

"The Sunset Limited normally operates three days weekly between Orlando

and Los Angeles. Due to severe infrastructure damage from Hurricane

Katrina, Train 1 and 2 will originate and terminate in New Orleans, LA

until a date to be announced. No alternate transportation is available

between New Orleans and Orlando.

I guess in official Amtrak legalize that means that Amtrak still plans to

restore the train sometime in the 21st century.

[End quote]

Okay, it’s time to get creative about this situation. Perhaps, until

Union Pacific Railroad can get serious about dispatching Amtrak trains,

and until Union Pacific can expand the fabled former Southern Pacific

Sunset Limited Route between Los Angeles and New Orleans via Arizona, New

Mexico, and Texas, then the Sunset Limited may not be the best choice to

use for restored service between New Orleans and Florida. However, other

choices abound, with just a little creative thinking.

Choice One: Institute a daily daytime train between New Orleans and

Jacksonville. Limited hubbing choices would be available at either

terminus, with the Sunset, City of New Orleans, Crescent, Silver Meteor

and Silver Star. If the Palmetto was extended back to Jacksonville where

it belongs (and, has a much better chance of financial success than

terminating in Savannah, Georgia just for the advantage of train and

engine crew turns), that would provide another hubbing opportunity for a

Sunset Limited replacement east of New Orleans.

Choice Two: Extend the City of New Orleans, making it a

Chicago-Memphis-New Orleans-Mobile-Jacksonville-Orlando (or Tampa or

Miami) train. This has been studied several times by URPA over the past

20 years, and this very viable option, operating the train on its present

schedule between Chicago and New Orleans, would provide daylight service

between New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast, while still maintaining a

rail lifeline for Florida’s panhandle between Pensacola, Tallahassee, and

Jacksonville.

In the years before the Sunset Limited was extended east of New Orleans

in 1993, an internal Amtrak study obtained by URPA showed that Amtrak

estimated there were over 75,000 calls a year to its reservation centers

looking for passenger train service between New Orleans and Florida.

While the Sunset Limited, at an undesirable and horribly expensive three

frequencies a week service helped fill that gap, until full daily service

is instituted, the entire route of the Sunset will take financial hits

simply because of lack of daily service while maintaining all of the

station and other infrastructure costs of daily trains. The same

situation holds true for the Cardinal route between Washington and

Chicago. This route of spectacular scenery, a natural magnet for leisure

travelers, will always perform poorly for revenues and expenses simply

because of a lack of daily service.

3) Those who know North American passenger rail history, know that in the

late 1980s, the Canadian federal government of Prime Minister Brian

Mulroney became tired of constantly being "submarined" by VIA Rail

Canada’s management. Too many times VIA’s management cried "wolf" at the

door of the Prime Minister’s government, saying one thing when another

thing was true. As with some former Amtrak chief stewards, VIA’s

management at the time felt that money from the Canadian government was

plentiful and abundant, and it wasn't necessary to "play nice" with VIA’s

government patrons.

The result? VIA’s annual free federal monies were drastically slashed,

and VIA lost about half of its route system, including the original

Canadian Pacific transcontinental routing of the historic Canadian train,

the former CN Super Continental (which was renamed the Canadian), the

Rocky Mountaineer was privatized (and is doing spectacularly and growing

constantly under private ownership and operation), and a number of other

trains that were daily became less than daily operations. In short, VIA

was gutted down to a skeleton of its former self.

Are we seeing a Washington version of this scenario? For years, under

Amtrak’s previous management of former boards of directors and presidents

of the company that have tried every social engineering and transit

concept they could think of instead of running a healthy passenger

railroad, Amtrak always thumbed its corporate nose at Washington

oversight and pretty well "submarined" anyone who tried to change

Amtrak’s wicked ways.

A news release came from Capitol Hill this week, from the U.S. House of

Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure:

[begin quote]

To: National Desk/Transportation Reporter

October 26, 2006

Top Legal Expert Critical Of Amtrak Legal Department’s Relationships With

Outside Law Firms; "Instead Of Being The Aggressive Protector Of Amtrak’s

Interests, Many In The Law Department ... View Themselves As The

Advocates For Outside Counsel" - John W. Toothman, Esq.

Washington, D.C. - An expert forensic legal fee analyst hired by the

federal government to investigate Amtrak’s extensive legal expenses with

private law firms has found numerous questionable management practices

and lax oversight over tens of millions of legal expenses billed to

Amtrak each year.

"Amtrak’s Law Department is not fulfilling its role," John W. Toothman,

Esq., wrote in his 102-page report. "Instead of being the aggressive

protector of Amtrak’s interests, many in the Law Department, including

upper management, seem to view themselves as the advocates for outside

counsel."

Toothman was hired for his expertise in analyzing legal billings to

assist in a federal investigation of Amtrak’s Legal Department by the

National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) Office of the Inspector

General and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Inspector General.

The investigation was requested by U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), a senior

Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and U.S.

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the Chairman of the Transportation and

Infrastructure Committee.

A copy of the redacted Toothman report can be accessed on the

Transportation Committee’s website at: www.house.gov/transportation

On Wednesday, the Transportation Committee released the report by Amtrak

Inspector General and DOT Inspector General which outlined numerous

examples of mismanagement and lack of oversight for more than $100

million in taxpayer-financed legal fees paid by Amtrak during a

three-year period (2002-2005). This report is also on the Transportation

Committee’s website.

Summary Of Toothman’s Findings

Toothman was selected to assist the Amtrak and DOT Inspector General

investigation as one of the top U.S. experts in the field. He is a former

Department of Justice attorney, an experienced litigator, and a Harvard

Law graduate who has published extensively on the subject of legal fees

billing.

He is regularly retained by public entities and large private clients who

feel the performance of their legal counsel is in question. He is

regarded as an expert in managing outside counsel and litigation in

general.

Some of the major findings in his report include:

Questionable Process For Selecting Outside Legal Firms

"Amtrak’s in-house lawyers appear to have been co-opted by their outside

firms, they rarely select new outside firms, they are making no apparent

effort to engage in a thorough law firm selection process, and the firms

they use are among the largest and most expensive in the country."

Questionable Billings & Expenses By Outside Legal Firms Are Rarely

Challenged

Instead of challenging many of the fees and expenses billed by the

outside legal firms, Toothman wrote: "Amtrak’s Law Department acts as

though its job is to defend outside counsel, not manage them. The

attitude exhibited by Amtrak’s Law Department when their handling of

outside lawyers was questioned was to defend the lawyers and provide

excuses for not reviewing them more aggressively.

"This is a bad sign, indicating that the Law Department has lost sight of

its primary job: To protect the interests of Amtrak."

Other Legal Firms Could Provide Less Expensive Service

"Amtrak’s Law Department has not investigated its firms properly and not

considered alternative law firms that would be cheaper and provide

equivalent, if not better, services," Toothman wrote in his report.

"There are thousands of firms with expertise handling most of the work

done for Amtrak - most of Amtrak’s work is routine, both in subject

matter and complexity."

Toothman said using smaller firms outside "expensive metropolitan areas,

would save Amtrak millions a year in legal fees."

Lack Of Oversight & Enforcement Of Legal Bills

Toothman said after examining a sample of bills from six law firms

billing Amtrak the largest amounts, "I noted pervasive, obvious

violations of the Billing Guidelines and general billing standards. There

was almost no indication that anyone from the Law Department is reviewing

the content of the bills, let alone enforcing the guidelines."

For additional information, access the Transportation & Infrastructure

Committee website at: www.house.gov/transportation

[End quote]

It is fascinating to note the period in question, 2002 to 2005, the exact

same period of time the mercifully departed former Amtrak President and

CEO David Gunn held the top job at Amtrak. This is the same David Gunn,

who, when he was invited to hastily leave by the Amtrak Board of

Directors, so many in Congress rallied around to try and save his job.

In an earlier press release this week from the same Congressional

committee, some of the other areas of Amtrak which have been under

investigation showed these troubling results:

[begin quote]

To: National Desk/Transportation Reporter

October 25, 2006

* Media Advisory *

... Summary Of Prior Investigations By The Amtrak Inspector General

1) Massive Financial Losses In Amtrak’s Food & Beverage Operations [This

was the impetus for Diner Lite]

The Amtrak Inspector General audited the performance under the contact

and found that:

Food and beverage operations were losing $83 million per year;

- Amtrak was losing $2 for every $1 it received.

In addition, the GAO found that:

- Amtrak management exercised very little oversight of the Gate Gourmet

contract;

Amtrak did not enforce the contractual requirement that annual reports be

filed.

2) Lack Of Quality Control Management & Financial Oversight at Amtrak’s

Mechanical Department

The Amtrak IG’s Mechanical Report found that:

- Amtrak’s Mechanical Department (AMD) did not maintain adequate

information to allow the company to properly keep track of its

maintenance costs;

- AMD did not prioritize its maintenance expenditures based on ensuring

the greatest reliability of its fleet;

- AMD had virtually no quality control management system;

- Cost data was so inaccurate, misleading, and inefficient that it lead

to waste, fraud and abuse in the course of Amtrak procuring goods and

services.

3) Theft By Amtrak Personnel

More than 200 employees have been removed because of financial

irregularities and theft against Amtrak. In the period from January 1,

2005 to September 2005, the Amtrak IG’s office referred 22 cases for

civil or criminal prosecution.

[End quote]

What does all of this demonstrate? A company that has been out of

control, and off the leash. For those who have been impatient with the

current Board of Directors and new president, imagine being from the

private sector and walking into this mess and having to clean it up while

at the same time keep the trains running. Also imagine that several major

executives in the company who have been responsible for much of this, are

still employed by Amtrak; why, is any rational person’s guess.

David Laney, Amtrak’s Chairman of the Board has said there is much that

needs to be addressed in the corporate cleaning up of Amtrak, and that

much has been accomplished. Many accomplishments, such as weeding out

those who have stolen from the company, have been invisible to the public

and Amtrak’s passengers.

Most likely many other things, beyond Amtrak’s Law Department, are going

to be found that need to be fixed immediately. Fixing Amtrak is not going

to be an overnight process, but it must be an ongoing process with great

transparency and oversight to bring Amtrak into the good graces of

corporate decorum.

4) The other big Amtrak headline of the week is the strange behavior of

Canadian National, owner of the former Illinois Central Railroad, which

hosts several Amtrak daily trains, and will be host to new Illinois state

service allegedly beginning operations on Monday, October 30th.

So the story goes, Amtrak and CN came to a contractual agreement to host

the new Illinois-funded daily trains in and out of Chicago. Inaugural

runs were held to great fanfare, with CN dispatching the trains over its

tracks.

Now, the week before service is scheduled to begin, CN is suddenly saying

it may not allow Amtrak to operate the new daily trains over its tracks.

Huh? What? Inaugural trains were run, there have been literally dozens of

stories in the news media about these new trains, reservations have been

taken, tickets have been sold, train crews have been hired, and cars and

locomotives have been spiffed up for Monday’s start of service.

What’s going on, here? Nobody seems to know. CN, North America’s largest

railroad, is usually pretty good at keeping its corporate word and

honoring contracts. Amtrak, for all of its sins, is not about to

advertising and inaugurate new train service without a valid contract.

What has happened?

Whispers abound, everything from Amtrak jumping the contractual gun, to

CN getting a better offer for use of its infrastructure by another party

to carry freight. Nobody knows for sure, but we have been assured

negotiations between Amtrak and CN are continuing, plus Amtrak has

threatened to go to court to force CN to honor the contract for the new

train service. The Chicago Tribune reported October 25th that a low-level

CN executive, without authorization to sign a new contract with Amtrak,

signed the contract anyway, and when the finished deal reached CN

headquarters in Montreal, higher level executives claimed the contract

was void because the original CN signature on the contract was

unauthorized to consummate the deal with Amtrak.

For whoever has created this mess, this will probably go down in

passenger railroad history as one of the most hair raising beginnings of

new passenger service in modern railroad history.

5) One final note for this week. Our Canadian cousins, operating VIA Rail

Canada’s greatly reduced system, is celebrating an anniversary of

Canadian passenger railroading. Here is a current press release from VIA

Rail Canada:

[begin quote]

Montreal, October 26, 2006 - Tomorrow marks a major milestone in the

history of passenger rail in Canada - the 150th anniversary of what is

now known as VIA Rail's "Quebec City-Windsor Corridor". On October 27,

1856, at 7:00 AM, the first passenger train left Toronto and travelled to

Montreal in 14 hours. That same day, the first train left Montreal at

7:30 AM and travelled to Toronto in the same amount of time. This was the

first stretch of track linking the two largest cities in Canada.

The Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada was formed in 1852 as a

consolidation of several railways, some under construction, others only

projected. It became one large system stretching from Levis, Quebec

(already connected to Montreal) all the way to Sarnia, Ontario (later

extending to Windsor). Just three years after the amalgamation of the

railway, the line from Montreal to Toronto was complete and open for

service. The Kingston Advertiser, on October 28, 1856, wrote that "the

Grand Trunk Railroad will henceforth be the great commercial artery of

Canada". Grand Trunk Railroad was eventually fully merged into Canadian

National, which later spun off passenger rail with the creation of VIA

Rail Canada in 1978.

Today, the 1150-km Quebec City-Windsor Corridor in central Canada is a

spine travelling through the most densely populated and heavily

industrialized area of the country. This region contains over half of

Canada's population - 16 million - and some of its largest cities.

VIA's busiest route

The corridor is VIA's busiest route, running more than 400 of Canada's

intercity passenger trains on tracks throughout the corridor every week,

using CN's former Grand Trunk Railway network. Traffic in the corridor

represents close to 90% of VIA's volume or more than 3.5 million trips,

which means that VIA derives the majority of its revenues from this

route.

Earlier this year, VIA was the first passenger rail operator in North

America to provide wireless access to Internet on board trains travelling

in the corridor. This allows passengers, many of whom are business people

and students who commute frequently, to make more productive use of their

busy time.

"Passenger rail in the corridor is still going strong after 150 years.

The long-lasting popularity of this service illustrates the on-going need

for passenger rail in Canada. Last year alone, VIA carried a record 4

million passengers," said Paul Côté, President and Chief Executive

Officer. "It is clear that more and more people are turning to passenger

rail as a safe and environment-friendly travel alternative, something we

at VIA are very proud of."

How it started

In 1852 the Canadian government officially announced its plan to build a

railway between Montreal and Toronto. The following year it purchased

existing railway companies in Quebec and Ontario, and the Grand Trunk

Railway Company began the construction of the proposed railway.

A major commercial link

On July 22, 1854, the first stone was laid in building the Victoria

Bridge, by far the biggest construction project of the entire Grand Trunk

network. It took 5 years to build the bridge, named in honour of Queen

Victoria. When completed, it was the longest bridge in the world, and

remains a major contributor to Montreal's role as a continental hub in

the North American rail system. The bridge was inaugurated by the Prince

of Wales on August 25, 1860. This was the first visit of a royal prince

to a British colony in Canada.

Some important milestones

1851 - On August 30 an act was passed to build a railway the length of

the province of Quebec

1852 - Plan made public and birth of the Grand Trunk Railway Company of

Canada

1854 - Construction began on the Victoria Bridge, the largest project of

the Grand Trunk network

1854 - Work began on the main line, from Montreal to Toronto

1856 - In September, last gaps were closed and rushed to finish the

project on time

1856 - On October 27, first passenger trains travel between Montreal and

Toronto

1920 - Grand Trunk Railway fully merged into Canadian National Railways

1978 - VIA Rail set up as independent Crown Corporation to operate

passenger rail in Canada, taking over from CN.

About VIA

As Canada's national passenger rail service, VIA Rail Canada's mandate is

to provide efficient, environmentally responsible and cost effective

passenger transport services, both in Canada's business corridor and in

remote and rural regions of the country. Serving more than 450

communities with a network of inter-city, transcontinental and regional

trains, demand for rail services continues to grow as more Canadians turn

to train travel as a safe and convenient travel choice.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

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than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

mailto:[email protected]


----------



## haolerider

Does anyone know if Bruce Richardson has a real job - or does he just pontificate about Amtrak and how it should be run?


----------



## WICT106

Submitted for the board's comments:

This Week at Amtrak; November 8, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 45

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Amtrak, perhaps more so than most entities, is governed by politics. This week, the political winds in Washington brought a sharp change to the landscape, and many will be wondering how Amtrak will be affected. Probably, not much.

For the past several years, Amtrak has become mostly a bipartisan issue, especially when it comes to funding. Amtrak has consistently had most of its budget requests met by Congress (about as well as any other program requesting money from Washington, on a percentage basis), so there is not likely to be much change on that front.

Also in the past, Amtrak, during its more naughty management times, had consistently submarined Congress, which brought about much needed oversight, even to an unnecessary point of micro-managing the company's affairs. The unnecessary micro-managing may change, but not necessarily immediately, at least until Amtrak proves it can be trusted to do the right thing in everyone's mind.

From the standpoint of appointments to Amtrak's board of directors, those will be controlled by the White House. Considering the current Senate's complete lack of enthusiasm for approving any board member's nominations, there may be some improvement in that respect, but one has to always consider Amtrak's board needs are pretty low on anybody's calendar for urgent action.

All in all, those hoping and praying for a change in Congressional leadership that may help Amtrak will probably be disappointed. The Congressional change has occurred, but since Amtrak was mostly a bipartisan issue, and considering the company has been receiving record high amounts of free federal monies, things will probably stay pretty close to the same as they are today.

2) The Wave of the Future by Dennis Larson, Vice President, Minnesota Association of Rail Passengers

Amtrak's new CEO, Alex Kummant, has already jumped on the 30-year-old "corridors are the future" bandwagon in his initial public statements. Not a good start for a supposed reformer. Let's look at two of these bright beacons, one urban, one rural.

In Pennsylvania, Amtrak has just finished putting $140 million of federal money into the Philadelphia - Harrisburg "Keystone Corridor," bragging along the way about the 110 mph service, the federal funding partnership (never once using the word "subsidy"), and the prospects for growth.

There is a lot a room for growth, because something else they never say is what this corridor is actually turning out: The $140 million track upgrade to the Keystone Corridor is nice, but I just could not help but notice that the trains there are carrying only 88 passengers on average, at a 38% load factor. This is the "fast growing" corridor service that never gets mentioned regarding operating loss.

So if this semi-urban short corridor can't compete with the expressway, what about rural service in New England, competing with I-89? The Vermont services are supposed to be the trains of the future, that is replacing the so-called obsolete long distance services. They have what the politicians want, ridership numbers, but unfortunately they also have relatively steep fares as compared to the perceived cost of driving which keeps the masses away.

The Vermonter carries about 106 passengers per mile for an average trip of 178 miles, at a 34% load factor; the Ethan Allen carries 94 on average for an average trip of 147 miles, at a 29% load factor, nearly identical to the so-called successful corridor services elsewhere. These are distances that are also in the comfortable driving range for the private auto/truck/SUV.

The Coast Starlight, a so-called obsolete long distance passenger service and in the process of being downgraded by Amtrak managers, has 211 people on average that fill the Starlight's seats at a 62% load factor for average trips of 576 miles, which is outside the comfortable driving range.

What makes the most sense in Vermont would be extending the Silver Star to Montreal. Ridership on the Connecticut River Line went in the tank when the Montrealer was discontinued several years ago.

It used to be possible to take a train on Friday night from New York City to Waterbury, Vermont, get off Saturday morning and ski in nearby Stowe, and come back Sunday night getting to New York City in time for work on Monday morning. The Vermonter as it stands is pretty useless for anything other than seeing the Connecticut River scenery.

The proposed, efficient Rail Diesel Car concept makes sense in this market as a secondary train. An RDC running from Springfield to White River Junction to Burlington to Rutland to Saratoga Springs to Albany would be a useful service. Hopefully you could find a way to connect to something on both ends. Then, the Silver Star becomes the primary overnight train on the route.

3) DOT Admits Long Hauls Subsidize Corridors by Andrew C. Selden

If we ever needed a final proof from a high federal official that the long distance trains are being used to cross-subsidize the Northeast Corridor, and that the national system is being methodically cannibalized to prop up the failing NEC, here it is, quoted by Amtrak itself, from a new report from the United States Department of Transportation's Inspector General:

"Incremental operating savings over the next five or six years will not be sufficient to fund the significant increases in capital investment required to return the system to a state of good repair and promote corridor development."

Let's ask these questions: in what segments of its operations is Amtrak pursuing incremental operating savings and where is it planning to make significant increases in capital investment?

Well, thanks to the I.G. himself, we know where the operating savings are coming from: The I.G.'s report points to "? sustained reform, ? in the areas of food and beverage service, sleeper car service, route restructuring, state payments, and labor contracts." That spells "long distance" and "national system" because that is where (and only where) Amtrak is slashing route, food service and sleeper service, and on-board staffing.

And as to where the dollars from these avoided costs will be redirected, the I.G. himself points to the only application where significant increases in capital investment can be expected: "? return[ing] the system to a state of good repair and promot[ing] corridor development." The only place we know that is happening is in the dilapidated environs of the NEC.

4) Last week we talked about how URPA receives lots and lots of mail. Well, we also receive mail about the mail we talk about. Here's an insightful e-mail that arrived last week.

[begin quote]

It was interesting reading some of the comments of your readers. I realize this can not be a feature every issue, but it was an informative interlude this time. In regards to the east coast fellow who apparently is a regular user of corridor service ... he spoke well of the concept of long distance service, but fell into the same trap most east coast people do, whether they be for, or against rail passenger service, be it Amtrak or whatever other operator you can name. He, and they, compare "end point to end point" service with air service. Why even get into the silly game of trying to compare on time New York City to Los Angles train service with air? Obviously air is faster. I know you and other insiders at URPA know the biggest value of long-distance trains lies in their intermediate stop service, not their end point to end point service. We here in La Crosse, Wisconsin for the most part "don't care" about the Empire Builder west of the Twin Cities, because most riders to/from La Crosse are bound to Chicago-Twin Cities-Milwaukee, in that order ...With Whitefish, Montana a strong contender also ... oops ... now we are west of the Cities ... but what of those going to Fargo ... or Winona, Minnesota to Spokane. You know the argument ... but even the east coast supporters of long distance trains must be reminded that we here in the "Great Flyover" are real people too, and have real life things we do ... sometime we even travel for non-business purposes We actually have lives in La Crosse and Red Wing we consider every bit as important as those who have lives in New York and Los Angles.

[End quote]

Good thoughts like these were just too much for one of URPA's analysts to pass up.

[begin quote]

The gentleman from Wisconsin makes some good points and here are a few numbers to go with it.

In 2004, 2.7 million passengers, (inbound plus outbound) used air service between all New York airports and all Los Angeles airports out of about 700 million airline trips total. While air trips carry about one-half of their passengers for business reasons, only about 16 percent of all trips on all modes are for business reasons. Personal business accounts for 12 percent and those who travel for leisure purposes account for 56 percent.

In the New York City to Los Angeles travel market, nearly all travel is by air and only a handful of people use the surface transportation modes. But the highways in between these markets are crowded and so are the trains with average loads heavier than the airlines and rail corridor services. The New York City to California trains, the Lakeshore Limited and Southwest Chief, averaged 186 and 179 passengers per mile versus 144 passengers per mile for Amtrak's best service between New York and Washington. The airlines average just over 100 passengers per mile.

While airlines get nearly all the mega-length trips, the average airline trip length is now 1,100 miles, just slightly higher than that of a rail passenger on a long-distance train.

The airlines serve two travel markets, east and westbound only, and the long distance rail

routes serve 2,550 city pairs between NYC and Los Angeles.

In the transcontinental markets, and even in the interregional sub-markets, a long distance train like the Southwest Chief or Sunset Limited acts just like an interstate highway.

The Sunset Limited, trains 1 & 2 = Interstate 10. It's that simple. The California Zephyr, trains 5 and 6 = Interstate 80. The Empire Builder, trains 7 & 8 = Interstate 90, etc. You don't tear up the middle of I-80 in Wyoming (or close it four days a week like the Sunset Limited) just because very few people use I-80 to drive all the way from Boston to Oakland, or just because its heaviest use is around Chicago.

[End quote]

5) For decade after decade, Amtrak apologists and cultists, and their national organization, have desperately wanted to believe Amtrak has been receiving the fuzzy end of the lollipop in terms of free federal monies from Washington. This endless, incorrect drumbeat has been picked up by newspaper writers and editorial writers all over America, constantly chanting, "if Amtrak just had enough money, the world would be fine, and the Republic will be stronger." Keep in mind that in the very beginning, when Amtrak was formed, United States Department of Transportation estimates predicated that with a one-time infusion of $140 million (in 1970 monies), Amtrak could begin operating in the black. Boy, were they wrong. For a number of reasons, from lousy management to completely wrong business strategies to the hurtful emphasis on short rail corridors and boards of directors that had no business experience, Amtrak has now sucked up over $25 billion in free federal monies, and still needs more.

Numbers cruncher Dennis Larson recently took a look at some official federal government documents and came up with these startling results.

[begin quote]

Railfans in general are angry about the short end of the financial stick that Amtrak gets in the form of taxpayer subsidy.

Here are federal government's Bureau of Transportation figures averaged out from 1993 to 2002 regarding the various modes except for the airline figures which end at 2001.

The subsidy is based on amounts received per thousand passenger miles. This may not be fair to the commuter portions of Amtrak and transit systems as they are not really into transportation but more into rides, but nevertheless here are the figures.

Railroad - $186.35

Transit - $118.26

Air - $7.26

Bus- $3.52

Autos, Pickups and Vans- $3.52 PAID BACK (does not include social costs)

Highway - $1.91 PAID BACK (does not include social costs)

General Aviation, the touch and go people you see at small airports, which amount to most general aviation air travel, is expensive at $95.24.

The "all modes" average is just $.45, that is 45 cents.

Amtrak has a high of $407 in 1998 when they collected the taxpayer relief funding, most going to the Northeast Corridor but the entire system diluted the subsidy per 1000 miles considerably.

And the totals listed in their PDF document and their Excel document vary a bit as well. These figures are from the Excel document.

For more interesting reading:

http://www.bts.gov/programs/federal_subsid...n.html#_ftnref5

[End quote]

Now, step back and take a deep breath. For more than three decades, everyone has believed rail gets the smallest subsidy, and those mean, nasty, evil airlines and truck companies get the most. Oops! That's just not true.

What these numbers prove is not that Amtrak receives too little subsidy compared to others, creating false modal envy, but that if Amtrak were managed better, and invested its assets better (such as in long distance trains, and not short corridors), then Amtrak would not only be more viable and robust and a company and passenger system, but it would also need less continual federal and state money.

6) (Sigh) Here we are in Florida, preparing for a rip-roaring holiday season, very happy we're at the end of hurricane season with hardly a storm ripple, and, yet (sigh, again), still no Sunset Limited running between New Orleans and Florida. Every day the Sunset doesn't run east of New Orleans, is another day Amtrak has a huge hole in its route system and loses hundreds of connections in its route matrix. What is Amtrak waiting for?

7) For those in the back of the classroom who continue to nap, it's time again to revisit the true economics of long distance trains and regional trains.

[begin quote]

By Andrew Selden

Some of the data that no one (including Amtrak itself) seems to understand about the Empire Builder, and the interregional trains generally, includes these points:

- The Empire Builder is, by a wide margin, the highest grossing (in ticket revenue) single train that Amtrak operates, despite being ...

- ... the most geographically-isolated train in the country, and traversing the least-populated route in the country.

Isn't that remarkable? How could those two conditions co-exist?

- The Empire Builder also generates, by a VERY wide margin, the highest output of any single train Amtrak operates. Output is measured by revenue passenger miles, not ridership. Ridership (which is a measure only of transaction volume) is almost irrelevant to any meaningful measure of performance of any passenger transportation service (except in cases like urban transit systems where fares are not variable with distance, and headcount is a valid proxy for revenue, but still not output).

- The Empire Builder's remarkable results come about because it has the longest average trip length of any train in the system, over 800 miles. That means that the average passenger is on board for about 18 hours. Some traverse the entire route, and some even travel beyond by connecting to or from other trains at the three end-points. This average trip length is functionally identical to the average trip length in the U.S. commercial aviation industry. Every seat and every berth on this train turns over on average two to three times every trip.

- Calculations made by the Minnesota Association of Rail Passengers, before Amtrak stopped carrying mail and express on this train, the Empire Builder contributed from its revenues about $20,000,000 a year in free cash flow, after paying all of its direct operating expenses, towards Amtrak systemwide overhead and fixed costs.

- The Empire Builder would do even better commercially if Amtrak would add capacity to the train. It runs with one fewer coach and sleeper lately than it used to in the 1990s. That is not because demand is lower - in fact, demand is very high and growing - but because Amtrak does not have, or chooses not to assign, additional cars to this train.

- The Empire Builder, year in and year out, has extremely high utilization. Its load factor (the proportion of available seat miles that are occupied by paying passengers, i.e., available seat miles divided by revenue passenger miles) is in the range of about 60%. A long distance train is functionally sold out at about 65% (because of all of the many on-and-off boardings across its long itinerary), and the Builder is in fact sold out during the summer and holiday peak periods, especially in the sleepers. This compares well to the regional corridors, including the Northeast Corridor, where load factors range from the high 20% range to about 35-40%, which means Amtrak cannot sell, or even give away, well over half of its inventory in the short corridors, where it competes with private automobiles.

- As a group, the long distance trains require (depending on whom one asks) between $100 million and $300 million a year in subsidy (at Amtrak's current and bloated fixed costs; Amtrak refers to the $300 million figure, while a Federal Railroad Administration study a few years ago pegged the losses at under $100 million); the rest of the $1.3 billion annual subsidy goes to subsidizing the Railroad Retirement Fund and debt service (from borrowings used for the Northeast Corridor eight years ago), totaling a little over $200 million, and the rest - about $750 million a year - subsidizes Amtrak's short distance corridor services. Of that $750 million, more than 90% goes to support the Northeast Corridor. The long distance trains collectively produce about half of Amtrak's total output of transportation, on less than a quarter of the annual federal the subsidy, while the short distance corridors produce the other half of system output on about three quarters of the subsidy. The long distance trains are nearly full, while the short distance corridor trains, statistically speaking, are more than half empty. Which of these services is "successful"? Which has the greater growth potential? In which segment does the federal government pay more subsidy in the aggregate, or per passenger mile of output?

- Despite the foregoing, Amtrak has always plowed, and continues to this day to plow, the vast majority (historically, nearly 95% of its available investment capital - its annual free subsidy from the federal government) into the short corridors, and 90% of that has gone into the Northeast Corridor, where over the last two decades, in purely financial terms, Amtrak has achieved a negative rate of return on invested capital - it loses more money there every year than it ever has, and the annual losses are continuing to increase.

- In terms of capital investment, while the Northeast Corridor has received more than $20 billion over the last 25 years (which is equal to nearly $55 billion in today's dollars), the Empire Builder has received NO net capital investment at all. Amtrak has never addressed what performance metrics the Empire Builder - and its sister trains - could achieve if they were to add carrying capacity to match latent public demand for this service, and especially if they were to be networked into reliable interconnections with other existing trains and routes to allow usage by people in still more origin-destination city pairs than can now use these once-a-day (or less) services.

Thus, when we see discussions along the lines of, "What is to be done with this train/these long distance trains? It/they cost(s) so much, yet seem(s) so popular," it's perplexing, because no one ever wants to get into the actual results of operations of the Empire Builder, which by ordinary business standards are very, very good. If Amtrak were being run like a business, instead of a subsidized public transit service for the Northeast, it would be pouring capital into the Empire Builder and the other long distance trains, rather than starving them and then wondering why they aren't doing well, by Amtrak's distorted measures of performance.

[End quote]

8) The State of New York wants train passengers to eat, even if Amtrak doesn't. The Albany Times-Union reports that food service is planned on the new express trains that will be running between New York's Capital Region and New York City. Amtrak stopped serving food on trains originating or terminating in Rensselaer that are part of Amtrak's Empire Service at the end of June 2005, saying it was losing $1 million a year due to the onboard food service.

The new express trains, which are already in the printed Amtrak Fall timetable, but not yet running, are being funded by the State of New York. It's notable that only one other train in New York is funded by the state - the Adirondack - and all other New York service of all types is subsidized by free federal monies.

The Empire Service route, TWA readers may recall, was the testing ground for outsourced food service provided by contract with Subway sandwich shops. That test, which was done using non-union labor, was an immediate, colossal flop, for a number of reasons.

This time, New York is paying Amtrak to provide the food service, using Amtrak union employees, and food from Amtrak's commissary in New York City. The new service will feature food from both a café car and a rolling food service cart.

New York spokespersons say if the food service is successful, there is a desire on the state's part to re-institute food service on the other Empire Service trains, too.

The Times-Union further reported that recent ridership figures show boarding on service between Rensselaer and New York fell 1.1 percent in the fiscal year ending September 30th, even as boardings surged on other Amtrak trains passing through Rensselaer, all of which offer food service. Trip times between New York City and Rensselaer average about two and a half hours.

As usual, the question becomes, because Amtrak didn't use any institutional memory to understand that loss of food service also means loss of passengers, which means loss of revenues, but an increase in a need for subsidies, that yet another Amtrak experiment gone awry is another disgruntled group of Amtrak passengers that not only are no longer spending money with Amtrak, but are making sure their friends and family aren't, too.

9) Here's a bright spot. The Associated Press reported in The Times-Picayune in New Orleans that plans are still afoot to reconnect New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana with passenger rail service for the first time since the inception of Amtrak service, using Kansas City Southern tracks.

Louisiana's state transportation department says the service is a $60 million proposal, which could be funded out of federal monies used to help with Louisiana redevelopment after Hurricane Katrina. Many former New Orleans area residents and workers decamped to Baton Rouge due to the hurricane, and continue to live there until New Orleans is further rebuilt. The addition of daily train service would provide a long distance commuter service for those continuing to live in Baton Rouge while they help rebuild New Orleans.

While it's always difficult to become excited about new, high cost and low revenue commuter runs, this worthwhile project is part of a big picture that has a number of benefits. First, it demonstrates how rail is an important part of any domestic transportation network, even in a lower population state like Louisiana. Second, it makes economic sense from a standpoint of providing a worthwhile service over an existing railroad that provides reasonable, comfortable service for commuters helping with the enormous task of rebuilding New Orleans. And, third, if financially structured correctly, this should be an "off the books" project for Amtrak, where this service is operated as its own cost/expense center and is funded out of a special needs fund from outside of Amtrak.

For the future, if this service proves successful and works for a well run railroad like Kansas City Southern which will be hosting the proposed trains, this could be the beginning of a much needed new route from New Orleans to Baton Rouge to Shreveport, and on to Dallas and Fort Worth. Before Hurricane Katrina, Houston-New Orleans travel was huge, both for leisure and business, despite the lackluster performance of the Sunset Limited due to its tri-weekly service and on time performance problems. New Orleans-Dallas has a huge potential, too. This may be a way of opening a new route at someone else's expense, and turning it into an instant winner.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## rmgreenesq

haolerider said:


> Does anyone know if Bruce Richardson has a real job - or does he just pontificate about Amtrak and how it should be run?



Well, according to his bio, he is a marketing consultant. I guess the answer to your question is no. Mr. Richardson does not have a real job.

Rick


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## saxman

He definetly puts things into perspective. First we have the Vranich's saying Amtrak is run poorly and they run LD trains that cost hundreds per passenger and should be cut and little is put into the NEC or other "profitable" corridors. Then we have Richardson here, saying Amtrak is run poorly and puts no money into LD trains and seems to be very harsh toward corridors and I get the impression he says they should be cut or made into LD trains.

I do say I have to agree with alot he has to say. This guy should be writing oped's and be interviewed on the tv and radio. If NPR is going to interview an "expert" like Vranich they need to interview this guy.

I also like his analogy to interstate highways. This is the exact same idea I come up with when a friend uses anti-Amtrak language that they once heard.

What do ya'll think??


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; November 17, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 46

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

SPECIAL NOTE: Unless breaking news events warrant coverage, there will

be no TWA next week during Thanksgiving Week. TWA will return the week

of November 27th. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and a warm "thank you" to

all Amtrak employees who will be working during the Thanksgiving holiday

so many passengers will be able to be with their family and friends

during this important holiday.

1) The word on the grapevine is Amtrak is tinkering with the onboard

service levels on long distance trains, including trains based on the

Left Coast. The highlights (lowlights, in some instances) allegedly include:

- On the Coast Starlight, which runs between Los Angeles, California and

Seattle, Washington, the much used Parlour Cars for sleeping car

passengers will remain, but unstaffed. Morning pastries and wine will

remain, provided by the dining car crew.

The Starlight will also be returned to its former premier service

status. Two of the newly refurbished diner/lounges may be in the

consist, one offering traditional dining car service as is now available

on the Empire Builder and Auto Train, and the second diner/lounge could

be an upgraded lounge and food service which would offer a broader

choice of meals than now available in lounge cars.

Amtrak is currently assigning new service managers to the Starlight on a

daily basis to improve existing service and monitor the Parlour cars.

- There will be a lower level of service called red, white, and blue

service. This is still in the developmental stage, but it will be very

basic. For those familiar with the old slumber coach service, which

offered a private room for sleeping, but no amenities or food service in

the price of the accommodation, this should be comparable. One of the

things being considered is selling some roomettes in the crew dormitory

cars at a discount with no service, just a sleeping room. Food service

will be take out or cart going through the train.

- "Rightsizing" is the term being used to describe what the consist of

the trains will become soon. There will only be two sleeping cars on all

(perhaps most) trains. No more third sleeper on the Coast Starlight, or

the Florida trains, even during the holidays. The third sleeper

currently running on the Coast Starlight will come off soon and will not

come back.

This shortsighted development, if it holds to be true, is another

glaring example of no institutional memory at Amtrak, and disastrous

history repeating itself. Sleeping cars create and provide lots of cash

flow for long distance trains, particularly for dining cars. Without

adequate sleepers on trains, dining car revenues will decline, and

therefore another "crisis" will come about, because diners will be

losing revenue while not shedding costs.

Superliner and Viewliner sleeping cars have adequate capacity (even the

old Heritage 10 roomette, six bedroom sleepers had adequate capacity) to

generate more revenue than costs to operate the cars. Despite Amtrak's

best transit-oriented managers and planners (who hopefully will be out

of favor as soon as possible), sleeping cars are solid hits

amongpassengers, who have often been willing to pay over-the-top fares

for mediocre service levels in cars that desperately need to be shopped

for heavy maintenance.

One of the unique benefits of long distance train travel is the

availability of sleeping car accommodations and dining car service. It

continues to be incomprehensible why Amtrak's management bureaucracy

cannot grasp this simple, revenue generating concept.

- All of the Horizon coaches are supposed to be retired. It's doubtful

anyone will shed a tear over the loss of these basic cars, which, while

doing yeoman service, have never offered more than a warm seat on a cold

day.

2) A letter to the editor from Gilbert Carmichael, FRA Administrator

during the first Bush presidency, and Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council.

[begin quote]

November 13, 2006

Dear Editor,

I wanted to take the opportunity to respond to Senator Trent Lott's

column published on October 9, Lanes, Trains, Planes and Ports. His

legislation supporting the 25% tax credit for the rail industry to

upgrade the national rail system is right on the money. The nation's

railroad right-of-ways have a huge untapped capacity because back in the

70's and 80's the railroads downsized and single tracked their main

lines. They didn't have the foresight then to see the intermodal

container business coming or $60 a barrel oil coming. They also didn't

realize the truck lines would become one of their biggest customers for

hauling trailers and containers long distances.

Senate Bill 3742, the Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity and Expansion

Act, will stimulate the rapid reconstruction of the double and triple

tracking across this country. This could very easily solve a lot of the

congestion the highways have now. The key to all of this is the fact the

railroad train can move a ton of freight nine times further on a gallon

of fuel than a truck can. The higher fuel efficiency alone makes rail

look to be a more cost effective shipping method doesn't it?

Sincerely,

Gil Carmichael

Senior Chairman

Intermodal Transportation Institute

[End quote]

See item five, below, by noted author Al Runte, for some real-life

examples of why Mr. Carmichael's message is so important.

3) While past and potential riders of the Sunset Limited east of New

Orleans look in vain down an empty track waiting, and hoping, that one

day, the Sunset will return (still no word from anyone what's keeping

Amtrak from running this important part of its national system), one

icon which has returned to the passenger rail universe is Passenger

Train Journal magazine. The inaugural issue of the reborn magazine hit

the news stands the past few days, and it's a winner.

Magnificently editor by Mike Schafer, who was also editor of the

original PTJ, this magazine is mandatory reading for anyone who wishes

to have a full understanding of passenger trains, both past and present.

The original PTJ was a beacon of information about passenger rail in the

pre-Internet days before instant communications. The reincarnation of

Passenger Train Journal promises to pick up where it left off a decade

ago when it was discontinued. Too many pieces of the passenger train

puzzle are brought to light through this publication for it not to be

read and absorbed.

The magazine is available in many book and hobby stores, plus you may

call 660-695-4433 for subscription information.

4) Our Canadian cousins at VIA Rail Canada are taking advantage of their

terrain and weather. Here is VIA's latest press release.

[begin quote]

The best way to enjoy the magic of winter

EDMONTON - VIA Rail Canada in partnership with Marmot Basin and Jasper,

Alberta is proud to announce a new seasonal departure from Edmonton to

Jasper featuring VIA's Panorama (fully-domed) observation cars. For 15

weeks, from January 12th, 2007 to April 22nd, 2007, skiers, snowboarders

and outdoor enthusiasts can ignore the weatherman's stormy predictions;

leave the winter driving up to VIA and travel care-free from Jasper to

Edmonton in comfort and safety.

Travellers can make the best of both worlds combining a trip on VIA's

Snow Train Express with the award-winning Snow Train, (The Canadian)

National Champion 2000 Best Winter Product (Win with Winter in Canada)

as voted by the Canadian Tourism Commission. The schedule is designed

for a weekend getaway to unwind after the bustling tempo of the holiday

season.

"VIA is pleased to partner with Marmot Basin and Jasper to bring our

customers, skiers and snow lovers a travelling experience they'll never

forget," said Joe Volk, VIA's Senior Director, International Sales.

"This new service is the perfect travel companion for enjoying the best

of winter without the stress or worry about driving conditions or

fatigue following a full day of activities in the great outdoors. And

travelling in VIA's Panorama dome cars on the Snow Train Express you're

free to participate in aprPs-ski socializing with family and friends,

while enjoying a winter wonderland outside your window."

One-way, meal-inclusive fares for VIA's Snow Train Express (

http://www.viarail.ca/snowtrain/ ) is $123.00 (CDN) for adults, with

discounts for seniors (60+), students (12-17 or 18+ with ISIC) and

children (2-11), excluding taxes.

"Jasper has so much to offer as a winter destination and now with our

partnership with VIA, it's easier than ever to get here. All indications

are for an excellent ski season, and the staff at Marmot Basin is eager

to share our mountain with its 84 runs and 3,000 vertical feet," said

Dave Gibson, President Marmot Basin.

Don't ski - no worry - the magical winter town of Jasper offers visitors

a multitude of activities to choose from. Stroll down Jasper's quaint

downtown area, sip hot chocolate as you sit nestled in the carriage of a

horse-drawn sleigh, take a winter ice-walk in the Maligne Canyon, enjoy

the view of Mount Edith Cavell as you skate on Lac Beauvert nestled in

the heart of Jasper Park Lodge, or just enjoy the heart of Canada's

Rockies in picturesque Jasper. VIA's Snow Train Express and Snow Train

makes all this and more possible.

Trains from Edmonton to Jasper

No 7 : 16:00 - 22:00 (Friday)

No 1 : 08:55 - 11:48 (Thurs/Sat/Mon)

Trains from Jasper to Edmonton

No 8 : 17:30 - 23:30 (Sunday)

No 2 : 12:20 - 17:30 (Wed/Sat/Mon)

VIA developed this new service in partnership with Marmot Basin and

Jasper to help them build on important winter tourism products in key

markets.

Now there are two ways to get to snowy Jasper!

Customers can visit VIA's secure Web site at http://www.viarail.ca to

book a trip anywhere in the VIA system. Train tickets are also available

at VIA stations across Canada, including self-service ticketing kiosks

located at major stations in central Canada. Passengers can also book

their tickets by calling 1-888-VIA-RAIL (1-888-842-7245) or through

their travel agent.

About VIA Rail Canada

As Canada's national passenger rail service, VIA Rail connects the

entire world to the West's vibrant tourism industry. With more than 700

employees in Western Canada, VIA is dedicated to improving the quality

of passenger service. From Northern Manitoba, across the prairies, to

British Columbia's Pacific Rim, VIA serves more than 100 stations. VIA

continues to develop, market and deliver services to meet the needs of

Western Canadians, in partnership with the people, communities and

businesses served by passenger rail.

[End quote]

5) Author Al Runte provides his usual interesting commentary from

Seattle, originally published in The Seattle Times last week.

[begin quote]

In Washington state, what is it about transportation policy that always

seems to bring out our worst? Name your poison -- the Alaskan Way

Viaduct versus the waterfront tunnel, the failed Seattle monorail or the

crumbling Highway 520 bridge. And now, the so-called deal of the

century: Boeing Field to the Port of Seattle in exchange for replacing

the Eastside rail line with a trail.

When will we get serious and face the facts? Puget Sound is urban, not

rural Vermont. We have fallen terribly behind in public transportation,

always hoping to appease every interest.

For once, the public interest needs to be served. Called the railroad

equivalent of Interstate 405, the Eastside rail line fortuitously

complements our area of fastest growth. Along those 47 miles of track

between Renton and Snohomish, population will double over the next 10 years.

How will all those people get to work? And ship their products back and

forth? Hardly by using a trail. Recreation is not the crying need here;

transportation is.

Pure expedience explains losing this railroad. Led by the Washington

State Department of Transportation, the region has bet everything on

widening I-405.

In Bellevue, the I-405 tunnel under the railroad would need to be

modified to save the tracks. Conveniently, WSDOT plans to save $30

million -- and sever the "competing" railroad -- by not undertaking the

retrofit.

Its owner, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, also considers the line

redundant. More expedience. North to Canada and east over Stevens Pass,

Puget Sound has just one other track.

Normally, when bureaucracies are behaving selfishly, public opinion

reins them in. Why does that rarely happen here?

Because we, just like our leaders, substitute process for acting

decisively. Among all American cities, we are the least committed to

urban rail. We need a czar of transportation; instead, we elect

bickering Cossacks who make deals.

Above all, a czar would remind us we live in earthquake country.

Depending anywhere on a single railroad, we risk losing service for

weeks or months. Even now, the Seattle-to-Everett main line suffers from

winter mudslides that shut down all freight, commuter and passenger trains.

There is also the aging Seattle tunnel between King Street Station and

the waterfront. Should that tunnel collapse in an earthquake, the line

might be down for years.

Such is the Brave New World of railroads -- monopolies that cannot think

past 90 days. Fine, but our public officials are serving us. BNSF's

decision to abandon the Eastside rail line should indeed be challenged here.

As for WSDOT severing the tracks to save its budget $30 million, no

savings is more illusory. Widening I-405 will cost a fortune; currently

$1.6 billion has been authorized. Light rail between downtown Seattle

and Sea-Tac airport is costing as much as $450 million per mile. Imagine

bringing the Eastside rail line back into service.

In 1983, BNSF closed its line over Stampede Pass and, more, wanted to

abandon that line entirely. Fortunately, led by Sen. Irv Newhouse from

Yakima County, rail defenders threw a fit. They were right. With

container trains clogging the line over Stevens Pass, BNSF has spent

hundreds of millions to bring Stampede back.

The point is not to count on monopolies to see the future, including

highway lobbyists in Olympia. Rather, if we lose the Eastside rail line,

we can be sure its equivalent will cost us billions.

As for the future of I-405, the research is definitive: As soon as a

highway is widened, it quickly refills to capacity.

Even Los Angeles, the capital of the automobile, holds its public

officials accountable to these facts. Consequently, L.A.'s railroads are

being rehabilitated -- not abandoned. In a burgeoning urban environment,

every mode of transportation is needed to share the load.

It is no wonder that cities known to copy Europe threaten to leave Puget

Sound in their economic dust. Indeed, why come all the way from Bellevue

into King Street Station? In Europe, the Eastside rail corridor would

already be a main line, too, allowing people there to board a train with

equal ease.

Here, we protest loudly the need for choices while remaining road

warriors to a fault. Likewise, rather than improving the rails we have,

we opt for "new" ones that drive us broke.

Regardless, more road warriors are constantly joining us, making the

problem even worse. If Los Angeles can see the solution -- balance -- it

is time we saw it, too. For once, let us dare hold our elected leaders

accountable. Save the Eastside rail line, and we don't mean please.

[End quote]

Alfred Runte of Seattle is director of special affairs for All Aboard

Washington, a rail-advocacy organization, and the author of "Allies of

the Earth: Railroads and the Soul of Preservation" (Truman State

University Press).

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

6) This Week at Amtrak (not to be confused with the Johnny-Come-Lately

Amtrak This Week published by Amtrak) has subscribers all over the

world. Plus, many subscribers living here in the United States roam all

over the world, too, and send along their comments to TWA.

[begin quote]

I've been reading the comments on long distance train operations with

interest. Last September I spent several weeks in Norway and Sweden.

While exact comparisons with the U.S. would be difficult, for example

the gasoline prices are much, much higher, there are some resemblances.

Population density in most of Sweden is much less than "down on the

Continent." North Sweden and Norway are lightly populated, much like a

lot of the Empire Builder's route. In the North much of it is actually a

lot like interior Alaska in appearance.

I traveled on a train running from Stockholm to Gällivare, an overnight

run of about 800 miles. GDllivare is a relatively small town of 20,000

north of the Arctic Circle. It is a center of the mining industry, and

also attracts many tourists, especially in winter for skiing. My train

left Stockholm at exactly 5 P.M., as scheduled, and arrived the next day

at precisely 9:29. I don't know the speeds at which it ran, but for much

of the evening the countryside was passing by at a noticeably faster

pace than 79 mph.

This train was electric powered as are nearly all the main lines in

Sweden. Most of the cars were sleeping cars of various types including

couchettes, single, double and triple bunk compartment cars of the

European type, a few second class coaches, and a food service car. The

sleeping cars were heavily occupied, only a few people on the coaches.

I'd estimate a total of 10 cars from my glance down the platform while

boarding. A large group of people were awaiting the train in Stockholm,

again I can only estimate, but probably well over a hundred people. Part

of the train went all the way to Narvik, Norway, and another part

separated at Boden station to go to LuleD, a port city on the Gulf of

Bothnia. The parting of the cars was managed quickly and with little

fuss, unlike similar events in the U.S.

Reading the onboard magazine, (in Swedish, so I may have missed some of

the meaning), it seems that these trains are operated by a private

railoperator, Connex under a state subsidy. The tracks are maintained by

a separate company known as Baneverken. Other freight and passenger

operators also use the tracks including SJ, the Swedish State Railways.

Connex has a good web site at www.connex.se .There you can read more

about their trains, and in English, as they let you pick the language

you want to read.

While I can't provide a lot of details on these Nordic train operations,

it does seem evident that there are other ways other than those of

Amtrak to organize a successful passenger train service.

Regards and c., R. van Wormer

[End quote]

7) A lot of the year may be cold in the state of Maine, but Governor

John Ellias Baldacci is hot for more passenger trains.

Here is an Executive Order, issued by Governor Baldacci.

[begin quote]

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

September 1, 2006

AN ORDER TO STRENGTHEN THE COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF AMTRAK'S

DOWNEASTER SERVICE, AND TO ADVANCE PLANS FOR PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE

NORTH OF PORTLAND

WHEREAS, the 115th Maine State Legislature enacted the Passenger Rail

Service Act directing the Maine Department of Transportation to

establish regularly scheduled rail service within and beyond the State

of Maine; and,

WHEREAS, the 122nd Maine State Legislature established the policy that

passenger rail service must be supported by the State, and directed the

Commissioner of Transportation to present implementing legislation to

the 123rd Legislature by and through Public Laws of 2005, Chapter 519,

Part YY, consistent with Executive Order 11, FY06/07; and, WHEREAS, the

Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority was formed in 1995 to

assist the implementation of the Passenger Rail Service Act; and,

WHEREAS, the Sensible Transportation Policy Act of 1991 requires the

State of Maine to incorporate transportation alternatives to highway

construction and meet the diverse transportation needs of rural and

urban populations, the elderly and the disabled; and,

WHEREAS, the Federal Clean Air Act Amendments require state action to

mitigate any increased air emissions from highway projects; and,

WHEREAS, by 2013, it is anticipated that congestion on 1-95 between Exit

44 and Exit 48 and 1-295 between South Portland and Falmouth will reach

unacceptable levels; and,

WHEREAS, rail lines exist in the State of Maine that may be used for

purposes of passenger rail transportation that could connect the

municipalities of Lewiston, Auburn, Brunswick, Portland and other

municipalities to each other and points south; and,

WHEREAS, the passenger rail system benefits freight services, supports

economic development in service center communities and improves access

to Boston and other major markets; and,

WHEREAS, passenger rail services address Maine's changing demographics,

shifting population and coastal development patterns; and,

WHEREAS, the cost of gasoline is currently at unprecedented high prices;

and,

WHEREAS, since 2001 the Downeaster has transported more than 1.2 million

passengers, and has the highest customer satisfaction, on-time

performance and ridership growth in the Amtrak system:

NOW THEREFORE, I, John E. Baldacci, Governor of the State of Maine, in

consideration of all of the above, do hereby order:

1. Economic development. The State Planning Office shall form a working

group to facilitate community and economic development near existing and

planned train stations. Participation in the working group shall include

representatives from the Maine State Housing Authority, the Department

of Economic and Community Development, the Maine Department of

Transportation, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, real

estate development organizations, regional planning organizations, and

host municipalities. The State Planning Office shall facilitate at least

two forums for dialog on best practices, and shall submit to the

Governor a status report on activities, progress, and further

recommendations, by March 1, 2007.

2. Economic Impact. The State Planning Office shall coordinate with the

Maine Department of Transportation, the Northern New England Passenger

Rail Authority, and the Department of Economic and Community Development

to assess the economic significance of existing and planned passenger

rail service to local, state, and regional economies, and assess the

role that passenger rail service plays in supporting economic growth.

3. Planning new corridors and service. The Northern New England

Passenger Rail Authority, in coordination with the Maine Department of

Transportation, shall review matters relating to the development of

passenger rail service north of Portland to Brunswick and Auburn, and

shall report findings to the Governor by December 1, 2006. The review

shall include outreach to interested parties including but not limited

to freight rail advocates, passenger rail advocates, operators of

existing and planned passenger feeder services, and involved

municipalities. The report shall include, but not be limited to, review of:

- Rail alignment options for use in the short term and the long term to

extend passenger rail service north of Portland;

- Types of services - intercity, excursion, commuter, or other - for the

short term and the long term north of Portland;

- Types of equipment - Conventional equipment, Rail Diesel Cars (RDC),

Light Rail or other.

- Reasonably foreseeable capital funding options;

- Compatibility of rail alignment options with existing and planned

alignments for local transit or local light rail services, including

expansions of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad service in Portland;

Effective Date

The effective date of this Executive Order is September 1, 2006.

[End quote]

8) Hyatt Hotels & Resorts has added Amtrak to its list of travel

partners. Members of Amtrak Guest Rewards, the rail company's frequent

traveler program, can now earn up to 500 points for eligible Hyatt stays

around the world.

In a press release from Hyatt, Amy Weyman, vice president of marketing

for Hyatt Corporation said, "We're thrilled to partner with Amtrak, the

nation's hospitality leader in rail travel." Hmm ... perhaps it can be

said that Amtrak is the nation's ONLY hospitality leader in rail travel,

unless you want to ride a transit system. Oh, well, public relations

hyperbole lives on unabated.

This is an excellent partnership for Amtrak, which will help the

railroad to stop being America's best kept secret. The type of

hospitality clientele that is likely to use Hyatt hotel products, which

include Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Vacation

Club, AmeriSuites hotels, Hyatt Place and Summerfield Suites hotels

brands are good candidates for long distance trains featuring high

revenue sleeping cars.

SPECIAL NOTE: Unless breaking news events warrant coverage, there will

be no TWA next week during Thanksgiving Week. TWA will return the week

of November 27th. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and a warm "thank you" to

all Amtrak employees who will be working during the Thanksgiving holiday

so many passengers will be able to be with their family and friends

during this important holiday.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is

kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes

other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA

materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.orgmailto:[email protected]


----------



## frj1983

I'm curious if J. Bruce Richardson sends any of his diatribes to his elected representatives or the Amtrak Board?? Or only to those who have signed up to receive his e-mails?? Some of his points are well taken(e.g. the Sleeping Cars being a big draw and revenue producer for the LD's).

I wonder if just the choir sees it?


----------



## MrFSS

frj1983 said:


> I'm curious if J. Bruce Richardson sends any of his diatribes to his elected representatives or the Amtrak Board?? Or only to those who have signed up to receive his e-mails?? Some of his points are well taken(e.g. the Sleeping Cars being a big draw and revenue producer for the LD's).
> I wonder if just the choir sees it?


Don't know the answer to your question, but I do know he answers email. I've written him and he promptly answered me. Send him one and see what happens.


----------



## AmtrakWPK

He does answer email. I sent him a minor correction once and he did respond quickly.


----------



## Trogdor

So, where does this rumor come from that the Horizon cars (which are currently going through a remanufacturing process) are supposed to be retired?

Funny how no source was quoted for that part. Just the "grapevine."


----------



## WICT106

Again, Fron The United Rail Passenger Alliance:

This Week at Amtrak; November 28, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 47

1) Memo To: Alex Kummant, Amtrak President and CEO

Subject: Please take a ride on your Sunset Limited

Mr. Kummant, we've all heard how pleased you were to ride the Coast

Starlight, and how there is a possibility the Starlight will regain its

rightful place as one of Amtrak's premier long distance trains. The

results of the Starlight come from the hard work of many dedicated Amtrak

employees, both onboard and in management and support positions, who have

worked many years to make sure this train represents everything a long

distance passenger train in America can represent.

There is another train, also based in Los Angeles, that needs your

attention and blessing. The Sunset Limited, which operates from the same

crew base and maintenance base as the Starlight, has long been Amtrak's

best/worst train. Those of us, including this writer, who worked long and

hard to make the Sunset the best train in Amtrak's long distance system

(including conceiving the groundbreaking 24 hour dining car concept and

trial runs, plus the Coast to Coast Adventure plan to address chronic

train delays due to host railroad congestion, and running a Sunset

version of the Pacific Parlour Car on occasion when a tour company paid

for the car and made it available to all sleeping car passengers).

The Sunset and its employees deserve your attention in a number of areas.

Foremost, the Sunset needs to return to its tracks east of New Orleans,

and come home to Florida. The gaping hole in Amtrak's national route

system is costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in

lost revenue not only from the Sunset itself, but connecting train

opportunities, as well.

As America's oldest, continuously operating named long distance train,

the Sunset serves important markets all long its route, including the

fringes of Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, and New

Orleans, plus the Gulf Coast including Mobile and Pensacola, as well as

Florida' capital, Tallahassee. The Sunset is an important part of

Florida's tourism program, feeding passengers into Orlando, the world's

largest family vacation destination.

For too long, the Sunset has been burdened with most of the costs of

daily train operations, but it only provides tri-weekly service. As I am

sure you are personally aware, tri-weekly operation is the most expensive

way of operating a passenger train while providing some of the fewest

benefits for passengers and online cities and towns. When the Sunset runs

its full route between Los Angeles and Orlando, it takes seven train sets

to run daily service since it takes three nights travel time in each

direction and one night for a layover. We know it will require more

equipment, which you already have in storage in Beech Grove. The cost of

making this equipment roadworthy again is far less than the revenue it

will immediately begin to generate, plus with daily service, station,

management and infrastructure costs will decrease per passenger because

of more opportunities for more passenger to ride, and generate new

revenues.

History tells us that prior to the Sunset's extension to Florida in 1993,

Amtrak reservation centers received over 75,000 requests a year for train

service along the now-suspended Sunset route east of New Orleans. One can

only speculate now what those numbers are with the increased interest in

train travel.

Mr. Kummant, please take a ride on the Sunset Limited and see how

marvelous this train is as part of Amtrak's national system. The unique

scenery in the Southwest is mesmerizing, the onboard service is good, and

the route is impressive. An onboard survey done at the end of the 1990s

showed the upscale clientele which rode the Sunset, including on any

given day several passengers with doctorates, and a number of American

Express Gold Card members. These are people who are willing to take the

time to enjoy a pleasant rail journey, and are willing to spend the money

to book sleeping car space. As on many trains, the bedrooms on the Sunset

always sell out before the roomettes. Passengers are willing to pay the

fare for a first class train journey. You need to accommodate them with a

reinvigorated Sunset Limited.

Regarding the chronic tardiness of the Sunset, it's about par with the

Coast Starlight, perhaps a little less. A combination of telling

passenger in advance what to expect (as we did with the Coast to Coast

Adventure program), and providing dedicated good service onboard can turn

a tardy journey into an extended pleasant journey.

Please, sir, take a serious look at your Sunset Limited. You can make the

difference for this most worthy train. Here is a chart of information,

with information provided by the Amtrak Controller's Department on

October 7, 2004 (the last full year the Sunset Limited operated

normally).

Daily trains make 730 terminal departures a year (once a day, each

direction). Tri-weekly trains make 312 departures a year. When comparing

the tri-weekly Sunset Limited and Cardinal with the daily other long

distance fleet trains, on an apples-to-apples comparison, the trains

perform remarkably well financially. If these two trains were converted

to daily operation, providing more departure opportunities for

passengers, the Sunset Limited and Cardinal would perform at least as

well as other trains such as the Empire Builder, Southwest Chief,

California Zephyr, or Coast Starlight.

All figures are for FY 2004

Sunset Limited

Revenue Passenger Miles - 110,842,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 131.1

Ridership - 96,400

Annual Farebox Revenue - $11,108,600

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 10.02 cents

Load Factor - 59.0%

Average Length of Trip - 1,149 miles per passenger

Length of Route - 2,770 miles

Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 309

Extrapolated, if this were a daily train (estimated)

Revenue Passenger Miles - 259,341,850 (estimated)

Ridership - 225,551 (estimated)

Annual Farebox Revenue - $25,989,871 (estimated)

Cardinal

Revenue Passenger Miles - 37,442,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 105.6

Ridership - 88,900

Annual Farebox Revenue - $4,410,900

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 11.78 cents

Load Factor - 51.5%

Average Length of Trip - 421 miles per passenger

Length of Route - 1,147 miles

Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 285

Extrapolated, if this were a daily train (estimated)

Revenue Passenger Miles - 87,604,679 (estimated)

Ridership - 208,003 (estimated)

Annual Farebox Revenue - $10,320,375 (estimated)

Crescent

Revenue Passenger Miles - 145,466,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 145.5

Ridership - 256,600

Annual Farebox Revenue - $22,255,800

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 15.30 cents

Load Factor - 52.6%

Average Length of Trip - 567 miles per passenger

Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 352

Length of Route - 1,377 miles

Empire Builder

Revenue Passenger Miles - 337,836,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 179.5

Ridership - 437,200

Annual Farebox Revenue - $39,130,700

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 11.58 cents

Load Factor - 55.2%

Average Length of Trip - 773 miles per passenger

Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 599

Length of Route - 2,206 miles (Chicago to Seattle); 2,257 miles (Chicago

to Portland)

California Zephyr

Revenue Passenger Miles - 280,552,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 157.5

Ridership - 335,800

Annual Farebox Revenue - $31,387,100

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 11.19 cents

Load Factor - 54.3%

Average Length of Trip - 835 miles per passenger

Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 460

Length of Route - 2,438 miles

Southwest Chief

Revenue Passenger Miles - 312,645,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 189.6

Ridership - 290,000

Annual Farebox Revenue - $31,736,300

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 10.15 cents

Load Factor - 63.2%

Average Length of Trip - 1,078 miles per passenger

Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 397

Length of Route - 2,256 miles

Coast Starlight

Revenue Passenger Miles - 232,749,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 228.8

Ridership - 415,600

Annual Farebox Revenue - $28,903,500

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 12.42 cents

Load Factor - 61.5%

Average Length of Trip - 560 miles per passenger

Average Ridership per One Way Trip - 569

Length of Route - 1,389 miles

Note: Most common carriers consider a 65% load factor to be a full load;

at this point probably no endpoint-to-endpoint seats or accommodations

are available due to sell-out conditions. Seats would be available for

intermediate point travel on a random basis.

For comparison purposes, to determine the best investment of available

capital from the federal government, take the selected long distance

trains above, and compare them with the selected regional and short

distance trains, below. Make your own conclusions, based on how a select

few long distance trains generate revenue passenger miles, ridership per

trip, and average length of trips, versus the combined performance of NEC

and other regional services.

Acela NEC Service (All trains combined)

Revenue Passenger Miles - 458,129,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 149.8

Ridership - 2,568,900

Annual Farebox Revenue - $294,654,400

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 64.32 cents

Load Factor - 49%

Average Length of Trip - 178.3 miles per passenger

Length of Route - 457 miles

Metroliner (All trains combined)

Revenue Passenger Miles - 61,713,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 112.3

Ridership - 397,600

Annual Farebox Revenue - $41,123,900

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 66.64 cents

Load Factor - 36%

Average Length of Trip - 155.2 miles per passenger

Length of Route - 226 miles

NEC Regional (All trains combined)

Revenue Passenger Miles - 995,476,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 180.9

Ridership - 6,405,100

Annual Farebox Revenue - $319,994,300

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 32.14 cents

Load Factor - 44%

Average Length of Trip - 155.4 miles per passenger

Length of Route - 644 miles

Pacific Surfliner (All trains combined)

Revenue Passenger Miles - 194,932,000

Passenger Miles per Train Mile - 129.6

Ridership - 2,334,700

Annual Farebox Revenue - $33,834,100

Passenger Mile Yield (cents per mile) - 17.36 cents

Load Factor - 31%

Average Length of Trip - 83.1 miles per passenger

Length of Route - 351 miles

2) Amtrak makes the point itself about the importance of the Sunset

Limited running its full route from Los Angeles to Orlando. The following

information came from Amtrak's web site, this week.

[begin quote]

Importance of the Long-Distance Trains

The route through the Northern part of the country, the Empire Builder,

which carried over 437,000 passengers last year, is the only public

transportation service in many communities in North Dakota, Montana and

Northeastern Washington. For most of the states along the Empire Builder,

tourism serves as a major economic engine. A recent study identifying the

economic contributions of the Empire Builder demonstrated nearly $14

million in annual economic benefits to the state of Montana alone.

Long-distance trains also provide transportation during periods of severe

weather conditions or emergencies that stall other modes of

transportation. This was demonstrated after the September 11 terrorist

attacks that grounded air travel. Additionally, these trains provide a

strong economic benefit for the states and communities that they serve.

The majority of passengers on the long-distance trains do not travel

between the endpoints, but rather to any combination of city pairs. For

example, the Southwest Chief, which travels from Chicago to Los Angeles

via Kansas City, has 33 stops, creating 528 possible trip combinations.

Measuring Financial Performance of Long-Distance Trains

Most of Amtrak's expenditures are due to the immense capital needs of its

infrastructure, particularly the Northeast Corridor, not the operating

costs of the long-distance trains. These operating cost figures should be

cited with caution. Critics often refer to the "loss per passenger" of

the long-distance trains. However, each long-distance train passenger is

the equivalent of five short distance train passengers because of the

greater distances traveled. More importantly, these "loss per passenger"

figures often include not only the "avoidable" costs of operating

individual long-distance trains (such as the cost of diesel fuel) but all

of the shared costs that Amtrak incurs for the benefit of both

long-distance and corridor trains (such as the cost of mechanical

facilities, Amtrak's computer systems, and stations like Los Angeles

Union Station). Including shared costs produces inflated and misleading

"loss" figures, since these costs will not go away if long-distance

trains are eliminated.

Eliminating all long-distance trains would produce negligible cost

savings in the first few years because Amtrak must pay labor protection

to impacted employees. When these payments end after five years, the

savings would still be minimal - around $300 million annually, or about a

quarter of Amtrak's annual appropriation in 2004 and 2005. Eliminating

individual trains produces even fewer savings - most of the shared costs

of Amtrak's long-distance network, such as the costs of maintenance

facilities that serve multiple long-distance trains, would remain.

Additionally, Amtrak continues to make changes to its long-distance

trains that will improve revenue and finances for the system. Amtrak

exited from the mail and express business in 2004, resulting in shorter

and more convenient schedules, with reduced labor costs. The repair of

wreck-damaged equipment continues and will allow Amtrak to increase

capacity, and therefore revenues, on long-distance trains, which often

sell out. These changes should help further reduce the losses of

long-distance trains.

[End quote]

3) Word arrived at URPA about a good Amtrak travel experience at the

beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday last week.

[begin quote]

I arrived yesterday (Sunday, November 19th) in Jacksonville on No. 97

[The Silver Meteor]. I boarded in Trenton [New Jersey] where sleeping car

attendant "Naim'' pleasantly greeted me and welcomed me on board.

Contrary to the negative comments I've read about "Diner Light," it

turned out to be "Diner Medium-Heavy." The food was surprisingly good,

with a nice, well cooked pork chop, potato and broccoli. Ice cream ,

unfortunately, is now just a memory and bacon is gone from the breakfast

menu. The real disappointment, however, was the cheap imitation plastic

disposable plates and cups, instead of the nice china, a victim of

"Simplified Dining." Another victim was the lone cook, obviously

over-worked, but he did something I never saw before - he came out of the

kitchen, went from table to table asking everyone how the food is, are

you enjoying it and is it cooked just right? We all looked at each other

in amazement! The three waiters provided excellent, friendly service. I

wish I had written down their names.

The CSX trackage is smooth and 97 moved like a rocket on rails. Because

of minimal freight traffic overnight and a heavily padded schedule, we

arrived 15 minutes early!

By the way, the dining car still features nice silverware carefully

wrapped in a cloth napkin, but plastic utensils are probably next, with

paper napkins! My roomette was clean and the bed comfortable, but the

lack of hot water was annoying!

I could have flown and saved about $500, but I hate the airlines and the

dehumanizing, ****-like treatment when you check in - you have to take

off your shoes, pull down your pants and get rid of your toothpaste and

shampoo. On civilized Amtrak, however, my shoes stay on, my pants up and

I keep my shaving razor, toothbrush and nail clippers! Such is the state

of airline travel today in post-"911" America.

... Well, I'll be here in Jacksonville until Nov. 28 and am certain I'll

have a good return trip, but I have plenty of time to return, and am

hoping there's a disabled CSX freight ahead and we detour via Waycross!!!

Thank you for all the fine work you do at URPA and your great newsletter!

[End quote]

4) Here's the reverse of that story, this time involving the California

Zephyr.

[begin quote]

The California Zephyr, departing Chicago on Monday, November 20th, got

stuck in rural Iowa east of Osceola, behind a BNSF coal train derailment

-- for more than 10 hours. The local TV station quoted passengers as

saying that NO Amtrak crew could be found on board to give passengers any

information, all night long, and the 800 number operators were equally

clueless, or prevaricating, all night long, and then, when movement was

authorized past the wreck site, the driver and conductor had expired and

the delay was extended waiting for a relief crew.

No explanation yet why the Zephyr couldn't have advanced to the station

at Osceola for the wait. According to the local television station, at

some point, Amtrak did offer the stranded passengers complimentary food

and beverages.

Two hundred and fifty passengers were on board. Downline, 30 passengers

were bused between Denver and Grand Junction, Colorado, 72 passengers

from Salt Lake City to Sacramento, and 80 more passengers between Reno

and Sacramento.

Those numbers compare well to the pre-Thanksgiving crush load in the NEC

on Wondertrain Acela 2151 (of Wednesday, November 22nd) enroute from

Boston to Washington, DC, doing its 3 billion dollar job relieving the

gridlock on I-95 and at Logan airport by transporting all of 57

passengers, when it broke down at 9:47 A.M. near Kingston, Rhode Island

with a broken pantograph. Those 57 NEC passengers didn't have to sit in

the dark all night with no information or food, however, because they

were soon transferred to 2153, which, miraculously, had open seats to

handle all of them -- on the day before Thanksgiving, in the vital NEC.

[End quote]

5) Here's a dreary piece of news. Amtrak has launched a motion picture

marketing tie-in with the new Warner Brothers Pictures, "Unaccompanied

Minors."

Beyond the good taste factor of America's only passenger railroad doing a

joint promotion with a movie about children traveling alone at Christmas

and being stranded in an airport, it's the prizes that really show a lack

of understanding.

Grand prize for the promotion is four round-trip coach tickets to

anywhere Amtrak serves. Big whoop.

Going back to basics, we know travel awarded as prizes is not charged to

anyone's budget, so the four tickets cost nothing. The winner will simply

occupy otherwise vacant space. Let's presume the prize winner lives, say,

in West Virginia, and wants to go to Los Angeles and return for the

prize. That means boarding a coach in West Virginia, and traveling all

the way to Los Angeles and back (without intermediate stopovers,

according to the rules) ... in a coach. Keep in mind all of the

connection possibilities between West Virginia and Los Angeles offer

sleeping car accommodations (which fall under the same budget cost as

coach seats - nothing). Here Amtrak ha a great opportunity to promote its

best service - it's highest revenue producing service - and it's offering

four coach seats.

Is it possible the Amtrak marketing department, as dismal as it is, is

only thinking someone living on a corridor such as the NEC or the West

Coast corridors are going to win and only want to travel in a short

distance by coach? Does anyone in the Amtrak marketing department fully

think these things through?

By all accounts, this is another gross error and missed opportunity.

6) The Wall Street Journal and other August publications are reporting an

effort by passenger jet manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, as well as the

airlines they supply with planes, to raise customer satisfaction levels

and increase returning passenger levels by (gasp!) coming up with new

first class amenities and comforts, including better in-flight food

service. These people have figured out that while a bus with wings may

serve a part of the travel market, it doesn't work for all of the travel

market, and many passengers are willing to pay for better service and

improved amenities. Amtrak, are you listening? VIA Rail Canada figured

this out nearly 20 years ago.

7) Amtrak equipment check: As of November 23rd, Thanksgiving Day, here is

what Amtrak had available.

Fleet out of service, locomotives - 11.1%

Fleet out of service, passenger cars - 8.7%

System, passenger cars

Active - 1,344

Required - 1,074

Available - 1,227

Comparison, January 22, 2003

System, passenger cars

Active - 1,546

Available - 1,318

For those keeping score, that is 202 less cars in 2006 than in 2003.

Plus, we know there are over 750 passenger cars in storage at Beech Grove

and other locations, out of service. If Amtrak put all of its out of

service passenger equipment back in the fleet, ready for service, either

train lengths (and revenue streams) would be considerably larger, or many

routes that now have minimal once a day service could be increased to

twice daily service, plus, the Sunset Limited and Cardinal could be made

daily and given the opportunity to be financial successes instead of

whipping boys for Amtrak critics.


----------



## MrFSS

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 48

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for

passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville,

Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California,

Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) In years past, Amtrak in Chicago has struggled, often without success,

against the cruelties of harsh winter weather. It has often appeared that

like clockwork, Amtrak in Chicago has been caught totally unaware that

winter was coming, and preparations should have be made for the

convenience of passengers and personnel.

This year, Amtrak Chicago boss Don Saunders and his many employees appear

to have "gotten the drop" on Old Man Winter, as he blew in with a late

fall visit to the Midwest.

Here is a December 1st internal Amtrak report of the preparations made in

Chicago last week in preparation for the coming pre-Winter killer snow

and ice storm.

[begin quote]

Winter Storm Warning, North Central US and Great Lakes Region

The first winter storm of the season is projected to bring heavy snow

from the southern Plains to the Great Lakes region, including Chicago, IL

and the surrounding areas. Forecasts from the National Weather Service

have light snow beginning mid to late afternoon on November 30, with the

heaviest snow moving into this area during the early morning hours of

December 1, 2006. Total accumulation of 10 to 12 inches is forecast for

portions of Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan by

the time the storm moves out of the area on December 1, however moderate

temperatures may limit total accumulation near the Great Lakes.

Terminal Preparation: In Chicago, sleet, freezing rain and heavy snow is

forecast. Preparation for this weather event began on the afternoon of

November 30, 2006. Snow removal equipment was deployed, salt shed fully

stocked, salt applied to platform areas and walkways, switch pots were

lit, and tractors were deployed on platforms. Clean up and storage of

material including cables and air hoses was performed to minimize

tripping hazards and potential damage by plows. Extra forces from all

departments were on duty during the overnight and morning hours, and

rooms were secured at a local hotel for temporary housing for yard and

road crews, On Board Service crews as well as other forces from various

departments as required.

All trains and other rolling stock equipment were put on power and doors

were closed to prevent snow accumulation in vestibules and other weather

related damage. Equipment will be kept in the facility or under sheds to

keep trains out of the weather as much as possible during layover.

In accordance with the winter plan, salt, brooms and extra food stock was

deployed on trains for passenger safety, comfort and convenience in the

event of unexpected delay. Vendors were contacted at outlying facilities

to ensure their preparedness for the approaching storm.

Management personnel from Engineering, Transportation, Mechanical and

Passenger Services are on duty during the overnight hours when this storm

is expected to arrive.

[End quote]

And, a follow-up from the same internal Amtrak reporting source, on

December 2nd.

[begin quote]

Winter Storm Warning, North Central US and Great Lakes Region

The first winter storm of the season in the Midwest is projected to bring

heavy snow from the southern Plains to the Great Lakes region, including

Chicago, IL and the surrounding areas. Heavy snow and ice conditions

occurred throughout the region.

In accordance with the winter plan, salt, brooms and extra food stock was

deployed on trains for passenger safety, comfort and convenience in the

event of unexpected delay. Vendors were contacted at outlying facilities

to ensure their preparedness for the approaching storm.

Train 300(01) was delayed operating between St. Louis and Alton due to

down trees and frozen switches. Train 302(01) coupled to 300(01) at Alton

and operated to Carlinville, where both trains were terminated when the

UPRR found extensive areas of downed trees between Carlinville and

Lincoln. Train 22(30) was operated to Carlinville and coupled to Trains

300(01) and 302(01). At Carlinville, the passengers were provided

alternate transportation to Chicago. A light locomotive was dispatched

from St. Louis, coupled to the three train sets and operated back to St.

Louis. At St. Louis, the equipment from Train 22(30) was turned and

serviced to represent Train 21(01), St. Louis to San Antonio. Trains

304(01) and 306(01) were cancelled, with alternate transportation

provided to Lincoln, where the passengers boarded equipment from Train

305(01).

Trains 301(01), 303(01), and 21(01) were able to operate from Chicago to

Lincoln, were they were terminated, due to the above mentioned

conditions. Alternate transportation from St. Louis was provided to the

passengers traveling between Lincoln and St. Louis. 90 passengers were

taken to the Logan County Emergency Center to await 2 additional buses

for St. Louis. Train 305(01) was also terminated at Lincoln and

passengers provided alternate transportation to St. Louis. Train 305(01)

equipment then coupled to Trains 301(01), 303(01), and 21(01) and

operated back to Chicago. Train 307(01) was operated to

Bloomington–Normal, terminated, and returned to Chicago. There were no

passengers traveling beyond Chicago.

The following service was cancelled on 12/02/06:

Trains 300/301/302/303(CHI-STL)/304(KCY-STL)/380/381/382.

Train 22(01) was canceled STL-CHI, with alternate transportation.

Delay: Bus 8304(30) Cancelled

Bus 8303(01) Cancelled

316(30) 7’00"

300(01) 1’55" STL, Equipment off 300(30)

2’00" WR-Wan

Terminated at CRV

301(01) Terminated at LCN

303(01) Terminated at LCN

304(01) Cancelled

306(01) Cancelled

307(30) 2’10"

Terminated at BNL

302(01) 41" STL, Equipment off 307(1)

2’00" WR-Wann

Terminated at CRV

22(30) Terminated at CRV

21(30) 55" Striking ice laden trees, hanging in ROW

26" PBF, repairing damaged ditch lights

21(01) Cancelled LCN-STL

380(01) 46" No transportation for crew from hotel; BNSF provided

transportation

2’22" Frozen switches, blowing & drifting snow

821(01) 45" Crew-rest off 820(30)/transportation problems from hotel

[End quote]

Plus, the follow-up from the same report for Sunday, December 3rd.

[begin quote]

Winter Storm Warning, North Central US and Great Lakes Region

The first winter storm of the season in the Midwest is projected to bring

heavy snow from the southern Plains to the Great Lakes region, including

Chicago, IL and the surrounding areas. Heavy snow and ice conditions

occurred throughout the region.

The following service was cancelled on 12/02/06:

Trains 300/301/302/303/304/305/306/307/313/314/316/380/381/382 with no

alternate transportation.

Train 22(01) was canceled STL-CHI, with alternate transportation, and

equipment turned at STL to operate for 21(02) STL-SAS.

Train 21(02) was canceled CHI-STL, with alternate transportation to STL

and train service from STL-SAS.

The following service was cancelled on 12/03/06:

300/301/302/305/306/307/313/316/303 SPI-STL/304 STL-SPI with no alternate

transportation.

Train 22(02) was canceled STL-CHI, with alternate transportation, and

equipment turned at STL to operate for 21(02) STL-SAS.

Train 21(03) was canceled CHI-STL, with alternate transportation to STL

and train service from STL-SAS.

Train 21(01) was terminated at Ft. Worth due to late operation.

Passengers were provided alternate transportation between Ft. Worth and

San Antonio. The equipment was turned and serviced to represent Train

22(03) Ft. Worth to Chicago.

Delays: 311(02) 45" Initial terminal Delay

5’11"

21(01) 4’07" STL-PBF

Terminated at FTW

22(01) 4’13" WNR-STL

[End quote]

The storm was so severe, it’s hard to understand just numbers. Here is a

narrative provided by an anonymous Amtrak employee.

[begin quote]

Not one of the Chicago-St. Louis or St. Louis-Chicago trains made it into

their final terminals on Friday, December 1st. Not ONE!

Lincoln Service train no. 301 made it as far as Elkhart, Illinois (just

north of Springfield), where the UP dispatcher told them there was a

"telephone pole across the tracks" ahead, and then apparently could not

be contacted for over 3 hours. Lincoln Service train no. 303 (with a

newly promoted conductor working by himself) pulled up behind them and

eventually coupled up, then dragged the whole thing back to Lincoln,

Illinois. The train crews were told busses were on the way, and had told

their passengers to prepare to board busses, but they had not showed up

yet as of 8:30 P.M. Texas Eagle train no. 21 was advancing to couple up

to the combined train nos. 301-303 train sets; final disposition to be

determined.

Account Kansas City Mule train no. 316 (of November 30th departure)

arrived St. Louis 5:30 A.M. (due in at 10:10 P.M.) and crew would not be

rested to work Kansas City Mule train no. 311 (01), a conductor (train

operated with a conductor only) was pulled off his regular assignment and

train no. 311 barely departed St. Louis on time. The train departed St.

Louis with a dozen UP relief crews, to be dropped off where UP freight

trains had been sitting since their crews' Hours of Service expired.

That lone conductor got off at Jefferson City, Missouri to work Ann

Rutledge train no. 304 back to St. Louis, and ran out on Hours of Service

at Webster Groves, Missouri after following an eastbound coal train to

Kirkwood; picking up stranded UP freight crews along the way; and sitting

for three hours waiting for UP freight trains out of St. Louis that never

showed up. Train 304 finally arrived St. Louis about seven hours late,

but most of the passengers on 304 had given up and got off at Kirkwood,

anyway.

More than an hour of that delay was caused by a frozen compressor on AMTK

34 [locomotive] that had to be thawed out; the rest was due to delays on

the railroad enroute.

On Saturday morning, December 2nd:

Two routes out of Chicago ... St. Louis and Quincy ... were in a major

state of meltdown. Amtrak Central Division Operations set up conference

calls one after another to try and figure a way out of the morass, but

problems kept cropping up. Everything was going wrong: crew shortages in

Chicago, both road and yard; and in St. Louis and Kansas City. A shortage

of operable engines in Chicago. Equipment out of position at Chicago and

St. Louis.

Just on the UP Springfield Sub there were 34 locations without power

Saturday morning, and 45 grade crossings under "stop and protect" orders.

On the ex-Missouri Pacific tracks west of St. Louis, UP freight trains

were tied down all over the place with Amtrak stuck in that mess.

And THEN:

Despite what Amtrak Central Division wanted to do, UP refused to accept

the Texas Eagle, train no. 21 (2). It was bustituted to St. Louis and the

equipment at St. Louis from northbound Texas Eagle train no. 22 was

turned to a new southbound train no. 21. The crew rotation went out the

window; patch crews are being used to run the trains.

There was an extra set of equipment in Chicago that someone suggested be

sent out to see how bad things are, and even a crew to operate it. It

even had an operable cab car, so they could turn around and go home if it

got THAT bad. That plan went on hold until it could be discussed at yet a

fourth late afternoon conference call; and was ultimately abandoned.

Meanwhile the St. Louis-Kansas City service was cancelled, with the MoPac

blocked up solid with UP trains and no more crews, as they needed the

ones they had to dogcatch [substitute for] the ones yesterday, just to

bring them in to terminals.

What else could they do? Punt?

Later Saturday, it looked like a punt:

[From the Amtrak computerized reservations system]

******* NATIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER ADVISORY ***************

ISSUED 02DEC06 WILMINGTON, DE

DUE TO EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS, AMTRAK HAS BEEN FORCED TO TEMPORARILY

SUSPEND SERVICE BETWEEN CHI-STL. THE RECENT STORM THAT PASSED THROUGH THE

AREA HAS LEFT PORTIONS OF THE UPRR MAINLINE WHICH WE OPERATE OVER

CURRENTLY IMPASSIBLE.

And, if that was not enough ...

Illinois Zephyr train no. 383 (1) was terminated at Mendota, Illinois due

to mechanical issues on AMTK 169 [locomotive]. No traction; head end

power remained okay so at least the passengers didn't freeze. BNSF was to

drop a freight unit to rescue, but it turned out they could not do so

because that BNSF engine had mechanical problems, also. No buses

available. Carl Sandburg train no. 382 (1) coupled to train no. 383 and

they operated combined as train no. 382 (1), back to Chicago, arriving 3

hours and 40 minutes late. Passengers off train no. 383 were put up

overnight in hotels.

[End quote]

Do you ever wonder what it costs Amtrak (and/or you, the taxpayer when

the federal government is coughing up free federal monies for Amtrak

subsidies) to pick up the inconvenience tabs for stranded or

mis-connected passengers due to late or stranded trains?

On November 30th, seven passengers arriving Chicago on the Empire Builder

missed their connecting trains. A combination of taxis, commercial bus

service, and a charter van got the passengers to their final

destinations, at a total expense of $572.00 to Amtrak.

That same day, 60 passengers arriving Chicago on the California Zephyr

missed their connecting trains. Fifty-four passengers were housed in 42

hotel rooms for a total of $4,777.50. The cost of meals was $1,639.00. A

combination of taxis, commercial bus service and a charter bus was

$2,165.00, for a total of $8,580.50 for one late train.

On December 2nd in Chicago, 29 Texas Eagle passengers missed their

connections, for a total cost of $3,641.11 for hotels, meals, and other

transportation.

That same day in Chicago, two passengers from the Southwest Chief also

missed connections, for a total cost of $199.17 for hotels, meals, and

other transportation.

It is obvious to see the incentive for any business to operate as

promised, when dealing with passengers. This is what happens when host

railroads run Amtrak trains late, or Amtrak equipment plagued with

mechanical failures due to internal problems causes train delays.

3) If you haven't bought a Christmas card to send to former Amtrak

President and CEO and now New Jersey Transit Executive Director George D.

Warrington, go out and find the largest, most lavish card you can find

and spend whatever postage is necessary for him to receive the card

before Christmas Eve.

Mr. Warrington, possibly one of the worst presidents Amtrak ever suffered

under, is helping to float the idea of a business group supporting a

compact of states and the federal government (not Amtrak) assuming

ownership of the infrastructure of Amtrak Northeast Corridor. Called the

Northeast Corridor Action Plan, Amtrak would still manage the corridor,

but not be responsible for maintenance of way or upgrades to the track

and other infrastructure.

You may recall just a short year ago, when TWA reported this idea as

coming from the Amtrak Board of Directors, there was a storm of media

criticism and unnecessary posturing by NEC politicians how the Republic

would fall if Amtrak did not own the NEC and continue to pour countless

billions of dollars into the rehabilitation of the NEC for the

convenience and comfort of commuters and travelers in the Northeast. Many

were sure this plan was the result of Evil Republicans out to

systematically destroy Amtrak and all that America stands for. Now that

Democrats will control Congress starting next month for the next two

years, a positive, guarded reception to the idea seems to be forthcoming

from everyone, except, of course, Amtrak itself.

Quoted on November 29th on NorthJersey.com (a coalition of Northern New

Jersey newspapers), Cliff Black, one of Amtrak’s most respected

spokesmen, said, "A change in ownership won't change the underlying

funding needs for the corridor or the process to obtain that funding - it

just sidesteps the issue."

Well, yes, Mr. Black, it won't change the funding needs, but it will put

the funding needs in a clear spotlight, in a defined category to be

determined by Congress and supporting states, and it will keep that

argument away from the fundamental issue of Amtrak, which is operating a

viable national system, not the NEC and a subsidiary of the NEC, known as

the Amtrak national system.

Contained in Amtrak’s November 15th progress report to Congress, for the

fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, Amtrak reported total operating

revenue of $2,502,000,000, including $139,400,000 in state support, and

$485,100,000 in federal support. Whoops! If Amtrak only received $485

million in operating support, that means for the federal monies which

flowed into Amtrak, more than another $800 million went into other areas

(that translates to mostly into the NEC infrastructure). Would not it be

better if Amtrak’s annual federal budget begfest was for around half a

billion dollars instead of the usual figure of three times that much? The

incoming Democrat chairman of the House of Representatives railroad

committee which oversees Amtrak says he wants to give more money to

Amtrak so it won't always be struggled to meet payroll and buy paper

towels for restrooms. If Amtrak is receiving around $1.3 billion a year

now, and less than $500 million of that is going to operations for all

trains (including NEC operations), does that mean he wants to give more

money to NEC states for Amtrak infrastructure there? If the NEC was taken

away from Amtrak, the needs of Amtrak on a national basis would be much

clearer. The debate would be friendlier, and more meaningful.

The scenario of NEC states in conjunction with the federal government

taking over the NEC infrastructure is perfect for Amtrak, and is probably

another step in a long process wisely began by the Amtrak Board of

Directors in 2005 to allow Amtrak to be a successful company without the

millstone of the NEC’s infrastructure costs. Many will recall this was

one of the fundamental disagreements between mercifully departed Amtrak

President and CEO David Gunn and the board.

It’s amazing how the "not invented here" disease can be quickly cured

when the same proposal comes from the NEC states instead of the Amtrak

board. Whoever has the final plan for this great idea should take a medal

out of petty cash. Everyone will win with this proposal, especially

Amtrak, so it can rightfully focus on the national system, and not almost

exclusively on the NEC.

3) CLARIFICATION: Last week, TWA reported on Amtrak’s active and inactive

fleet of passenger equipment. Some readers did not understand Amtrak owns

two fleets of equipment. The first fleet, what Amtrak calls its "Active"

fleet, are all of the cars assigned to equipment pools for the operation

of current trains, and as "protect" equipment, to be used when regularly

assigned equipment is either out of service for routine maintenance or

needed because equipment may be isolated away from a terminal and

unavailable for use due to a freight train derailment, adverse weather

conditions, or other unforeseen difficulty.

There is a second pool of equipment, consisting of Amtrak’s current

models of cars, that is not on the "Active" roster. This equipment is

considered surplus by Amtrak, and has either been wrecked and not

repaired, allowed to fall out of required inspection routines, or not

considered necessary for the normal operations of the railroad. This pool

consists of about 750 pieces of equipment (and does not include counts of

any Heritage fleet equipment that was recently disposed of by Amtrak).

The active fleet consists of 1,344 cars of all types including

Superliners, Viewliners, Amfleet, Horizon, Heritage diners and crew cars,

and other equipment.

4) It’s lonely here in Florida, looking in vain westward down the CSX

tracks, hoping, just hoping, a Sunset Limited may be coming along, since

CSX released the track to Amtrak April 1, 2006 for use by the Sunset

Limited east of New Orleans after it was repaired from damage by

Hurricane Katrina.

It’s hard to understand how Amtrak can run bus connections from

hurricane-damaged areas such as Mobile, Alabama, but can't run a train

over a spectacularly rebuilt piece of railroad track. One has to presume

that for a certain element of the population, being in the bus business

may be considered a plus. However, if you're in the train business, like

Amtrak, being in the bus business is a poor second choice for passenger

convenience and comfort.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.orgmailto:[email protected]


----------



## MrFSS

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 49

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for

passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville,

Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California,

Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Last week, here at This Week, we noted for the previous week how

Amtrak Chicago boss Don Saunders and his many employees appeared to have

"gotten the drop" on Old Man Winter, as he blew into the Midwest during a

late fall visit.

We noted that in years past, Amtrak in Chicago has struggled, often

without success, against the cruelties of harsh winter weather. It has

often appeared that like clockwork, Amtrak in Chicago has been caught

totally unaware that winter was coming, and preparations should have be

made for the convenience of passengers and personnel.

It can be said with some surety Mr. Saunders and his Chicago operations

employees did what they were supposed to do to be prepared for the storm.

It's too bad the folks at Amtrak's National Operations Center in

Wilmington, Delaware didn't do as well as Mr. Saunders to keep things

going for the benefit of Amtrak's passengers and crews who were battling

the elements. Mr. Saunders got the trains out of the terminals and on the

road. It's what happened then that things went far awry.

2) With the kind permission of The State Journal-Register newspaper of

Springfield, Illinois, which has been a leader in Illinois covering

Amtrak issues, we reprint two news reports of Friday, December 8, 2006.

[begin quote]

Ordeal on the tracks

When storm hit, hundreds rued choosing Amtrak

By PETE SHERMAN

STAFF WRITER

Published Friday, December 08, 2006

Friday afternoon at Chicago's Union Station, Jason Moulton bought his

train ticket home to Springfield.

He had come a long way - from Milan, Italy. Moulton, 26, had been

working in France the past six months learning the wine trade. He was

looking forward to a relaxing trip home. Amtrak seemed like a good way

to finish the journey.

At the ticket counter, an Amtrak clerk informed Moulton that his train

to Springfield, set to leave at 5 p.m., would make its final stop in

Lincoln. From there, passengers would take buses to their destinations,

ranging from Springfield to St. Louis.

Fine, Moulton thought. He knew the weather was bad and figured there'd

be adjustments.

Roughly 15 minutes before boarding time, however, plans changed again.

An announcement was made that the train would, after all, make its way

to Springfield.

At that point, he had a feeling that "a lot of weird things are going on

with Amtrak today."

What Moulton did not know - along with, apparently, every Amtrak

officialin Chicago - was that the three trains already headed south from

Union Station were struggling. Ice-covered tree limbs and power lines

had fallen over tracks in central Illinois. Electric switches weren't

working. Conductors were stopping the trains so crews could get out and

manually switch tracks and remove debris.

None of those trains made it past Lincoln, where Amtrak failed to

provide enough buses for everyone.

But that was only one incident among many that eventually made a bad

situation an ordeal for hundreds of passengers in the four trains headed

south from Chicago.

For the first half of the trip, Moulton's train kept a modest, steady

pace. But starting at Bloomington, it slowed to a crawl.

Between 8:30 and 9 p.m., Moulton said, the conductor announced a "90

percent" chance the train would stop in Lincoln, as Moulton originally

was told.

Moulton and the other passengers also learned the three trains ahead of

them were stuck near Lincoln.

Brian and Kate Flanagan of Evanston were on the first train, which had

left Chicago at 7 a.m. - more than half a day earlier. With their two

children, Brian, 20 months, and Mary Kate, one month, the Flanagans were

on their way to a wedding in St. Louis.

About the same time Moulton and his fellow passengers were re-informed

they would be stopping in Lincoln, the Flanagan family and fellow

passengers on the first train had been stuck on the other side of town

for hours.

"We had moved from a cornfield south of Lincoln, where we had been for

seven, eight hours," Brian Flanagan said by phone Thursday. "We rolled

back to Lincoln. We sat there for - time blurs - hours."

Out his window, Flanagan could see the buses waiting. He and his wife

also were running out of baby formula for Mary Kate. Many passengers

wanted to get off the train, but Amtrak employees wouldn't let them.

"I had had it by that point," Flanagan said. "We were 14 hours into it.

I lost my patience."

But when Flanagan approached an Amtrak employee, demanding information,

"I was told they weren't on duty anymore," he said.

"Quite frankly, that wasn't the answer I was looking for."

Federal law apparently prohibits Amtrak employees from working longer

than 12-hour shifts unless OK'd by superiors. Having passed that mark,

and with no orders to keep working, several train employees called it

quits.

On Moulton's train, the delayed passengers also were growing more

frustrated.

It didn't help when, at one stopping point, the conductor came into

Moulton's car and began shouting at a woman sitting next to him, accusing

her of dialing 911 to complain, he said.

According to Logan County Emergency Management Agency officials, at

least two passengers traveling in the four trains did call 911. But this

woman wasn't one of them, Moulton said.

"The conductor began screaming at this woman - 'Why did you call 911?'"

Moulton said. "It bothered a lot of us who knew she never made the phone

call. She had a right to call 911, anyway."

Things got worse.

As Moulton's train attempted to pull closer to the Lincoln station, it

stalled. Then the power went out. And, along with it, the heat.

"It was for a good 45 minutes to an hour," Moulton said. "It started

getting cold."

Moulton said the passengers could see it wasn't a long walk to the

station, where buses were waiting.

"Then the conductor made a point of announcing that anyone leaving the

train will be arrested," Moulton said. The conductor even enlisted the

snack car cashier to report passengers going AWOL.

When that employee left her station, "mob mentality set in," Moulton

said.

"The passengers started raiding the snack car. It was getting a little

bit out of hand. We were hungry and thirsty. People took it upon

themselves to go for the bottled water, at least."

About 9 p.m., Flanagan, desperate to get baby formula for Mary Kate,

dialed 911 on his cell phone. Another passenger, calling about someone

needing insulin, also dialed 911.

Both calls made their way to Dan Fulscher, director of the Logan County

EMA.

"People were on the train for 15 hours," Fulscher recalled Wednesday.

"They needed help. I go, 'OK.'"

One of the first things Fulscher did was dial Amtrak's emergency hotline.

"I was put on hold twice, then disconnected. On the third call, in an

elevated voice, I let them know who I am. That I need to talk to who's

in charge. They put me with some guy from Philadelphia. He confirms

three trains are stopped somewhere in central Illinois."

Fulscher also called the Illinois Emergency Management Agency's

operation center in Springfield.

"(Springfield) was astonished they had not been made aware that

passengers in trains were stranded in the storm," he said.

The Amtrak official told Fulscher that, of the three stuck trains, only

one was near Lincoln.

Of course, there were four trains. All at Lincoln.

Approaching 10 p.m., Fulscher and his Logan County crew made their way

to the Lincoln depot to help passengers from the first train, the one

that had left Chicago at 7 a.m.

At roughly the same time, local law enforcement got on Moulton's train

and began arguing with the conductor.

They wanted her name. She wanted theirs. The officers asked the

conductor what authority she had to arrest anyone who wanted to leave.

The conductor said she was following Amtrak policy, that it was illegal.

Then the officers accused the conductor of kidnapping the passengers.

"At that point, the conductor 'wakes up,' " said Moulton, who tried to

record the confrontation with his video camera. "At the same time this

is happening, family members are coming up to our train and screaming

for their relatives. 'That's my daughter! Get her off this train now!'"

"Then people start jumping off the train."

Attempts to reach the conductor through Amtrak were unsuccessful.

Moulton decided to remain on the train. Eventually, the power returned

and the train gradually made it to a crossing near the depot.

Fulscher's Logan County emergency fleet still believed he and his team

were arriving to help passengers from just one train.

"I see people coming off the train, believing this is all there is," he

said. Then he saw others appearing from the darkness behind the first

train, some having walked with their luggage for blocks.

"I look at some Amtrak employees and say, 'I thought your people said

one train,'" Fulscher recalled.

"No, there's four," they told him.

The conductor from Moulton's train met with Fulscher and demanded he

help her establish a head count.

"That's something you should be telling me," Fulscher shot back.

What he said next differs slightly based on various accounts. But all

versions agree in basic form.

"You're in Logan County now," Fulscher said, in more words or less. "And

we're taking charge of these passengers."

The buses that were supposed to be waiting for Moulton and the other

passengers on his train had left by the time they made their way to the

boarding area.

"We're not only stuck there. We had no place to go," Moulton said.

Then, he spotted the emergency management team.

"Maybe 10 vehicles, an ambulance, a pickup, Ford Broncos," Moulton said.

"Lincoln had banded together to transport us in our moment of need."

Fulscher and his crew gathered the remaining dozens of passengers from

Moulton's train and took them to the county's emergency safety complex

in Lincoln. Downstairs, he let them know he'd do his best to get them

home. Moulton video-recorded Fulscher's speech. On Moulton's tape, you

can hear a man off camera calling Fulscher, "Santa Claus."

"Mainly they wanted to hear someone tell them what's going on," Fulscher

said.

About 3 a.m., as his team worked on finding transportation, Fulscher

woke up the owner of a local pizzeria, who quickly baked up a dozen or

so pizzas. Fulscher woke up a local school bus driver and commandeered a

nursing home shuttle bus.

Eventually, he got enough vehicles lined up to get people on the road

again, providing a police escort just in case. When the passengers

arrived in Springfield, the emergency crews helped scrape ice off the

cars the passengers had parked there days before.

Approaching 6 a.m., Moulton finally arrived in Springfield. Another

passenger offered him a ride. It took them 45 minutes to scrape all the

ice off the car. Moulton didn't get to bed until 7:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

in Milan.

"I'm astonished between the difference in European trains and Amtrak,"

Moulton said. "I haven't taken Amtrak in years. This is most likely my

last time."

Flanagan and his family had arrived in Springfield hours earlier, but

they were too late to make the wedding. They stayed overnight in a hotel

and rented a car to drive to St. Louis on Saturday. They at least made a

post-wedding party.

Like Moulton, Flanagan said his regard for Amtrak isn't high.

"To some degree, I have an ax to grind over Amtrak," he said. "If they

look bad, I'm not concerned."

Pete Sherman can be reached at 788-1539 or [email protected]

All Content © The State Journal-Register

[Mr. Sherman's follow-up article, the same day.]

Amtrak responds

By PETE SHERMAN

STAFF WRITER

Published Friday, December 08, 2006

Amtrak officials say they're trying to figure out what caused a massive

breakdown in communication during the snow and ice storm that stranded

four trains with hundreds of passengers for roughly 14 hours near

Lincoln last Friday.

Passengers were uninformed about the delays, and some were told they'd

be arrested if they tried to leave the train once it had stalled. After

12 hours in the train, some staff claimed they were off duty and

couldn't help. At least two passengers dialed 911 from inside their

train cars.

At one point, a set of passengers, noticing their snack car had been

abandoned, began to raid it.

By the time all the passengers had disembarked at Lincoln, dozens were

left stranded because Amtrak provided too few buses to finish the trek.

Eventually, a squad from Logan County's Emergency Management Agency took

away Amtrak's control of passengers.

"We want to make it clear to passengers that we're greatly concerned

about what they experienced that night," said Amtrak spokesman Marc

Magliari. "We're planning a series of debriefings to come up with

lessons learned from this experience."

"We also very much appreciate Logan County emergency services and law

enforcement," he said. "It was not a situation we could have

anticipated."

Amtrak employees are trained to follow specific safety policies,

Magliari said.

"We don't want people getting off of a train when it's not safe to," he

said. "It's a pretty big step from some of these cars to the ground,

especially in a snowstorm. Some of these tracks are near steep

embankments. It's not a safe place to get off."

Still, Magliari acknowledges that Amtrak has much to improve upon.

"We need to improve communication. We do want to know which employees

preformed well and which ones didn't," he said.

Magliari said there also are plans to assess Amtrak's training for

emergencies.

"Later this month, we'll be meeting with the Illinois Emergency

Management Agency and the Illinois Department of Transportation to find

out better what the communication and sheltering resources are, should

something like this occur again," he said.

Anyone with concerns about Amtrak service, in general or on Friday in

particular, can call its public relations office at (800) 872-7245, or

(800) USA-RAIL. The automated operator can be bypassed simply by saying

"agent."

Pete Sherman can be reached at 788-1539 or [email protected]

All Content © The State Journal-Register

[End quote]

3) The above is pretty awful stuff. Three Amtrak presidents ago (It's

hard to keep track of all of them), in the 1990s, Amtrak's long and

short distance trains were broken up into business groups, versus

today's divisions. The change to divisions was "supposed" to make Amtrak

more like a railroad, but that line of reasoning escapes everyone who

knows anything about passenger service or basic customer service.

Under today's system of divisions, managers of each division are

responsible for all Amtrak trains in their territory. They are

responsible for only those trains in their territory. Once the train

enters another division, their responsibility for that train disappears.

CNOC (Amtrak's central national ops center in Wilmington, Delaware) is

supposed to be the central coordinating authority for all trains, crews,

and passenger needs. They are the ones who are supposed to contract for

busses, handle emergency situations, and make sure things go smoothly.

If something happens on the Northeast Corridor where CNOC is located,

the problem is often solved quickly. If something happens in what CNOC

considers bow and arrow country, which is defined as west of Harrisburg,

Pennsylvania, and south of Washington, D.C., Amtrak crews are often left

up to their own devices to solve problems beyond the minimal help

provided by CNOC.

Under the old product line system, there were general managers of each

business group, and individual product line directors (managers) who

were responsible for a single long distance train (or groups of short

distance trains) every minute each train was rolling over the road. The

product line directors had service managers at each terminal, plus at

critical points along the way who kept constant watch on crews and train

progress. When a situation like what above happened, it was up to a

product line director, and when necessary, the help of a general

manager, to make sure all passengers were taken care of, and problems

were resolved.

Clearly, two things are evident. One, the current system doesn't work,

based on the number of reports this year in TWA which have highlighted

so many service failures by CNOC. Second, somebody needs to go back to

"owning" these trains, and be responsible for them all of the time.

Today, no one is held accountable for failures. Product line directors

and general managers were accountable, and it showed. Personal

responsibility is a good thing. Amtrak needs more personal

responsibility among its managers.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

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individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

mailto:[email protected]


----------



## AmtrakWPK

The situation described in those news and eyewitness reports borders on criminal negligence as I see it. The dispatchers on the host railroad undoubtedly knew where those trains were, and that they were basically stranded, with passengers on board, and they were abundantly aware of the prevailing environmental (weather) conditions. When and what was the communication (if any) between those dispatchers and Amtrak NOC? If there WAS communication between those two entities that established the location of those trains and the fact that they were stranded with passengers, where and what (if any) was the communication from NOC to deal with it? If anything, Amtrak should have been the ones in contact with the local emergency agencies. Somebody, or several somebodies, need to be looking for new employment after that fiasco, and NOC and the Board need to send up prayers of gratitude that their incompetence didn't result in anyone's death.

Just out of curiosity, just what exactly does the Hours of Service law say about situations where the safety of life and property is in direct jeopardy but time has run out? The pilot in command of an aircraft, small plane or airliner, in an emergency, has the authority to basically throw out any and all FAA regulations regarding the operation of that aircraft that the pilot determines is necessary under the circumstances, in order to save lives. Is there a corollary to that in the rail Hours of Service law?


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## AmtrakFan

This is very disturbing with how CNOC and Amtrak handled it. The Conductor who wanted to arrest the Passengers for leaving needs to be shown the door. Stories like these make me question my support of Amtrak, I believe it is a good thing that these stories get out to the press for the fact that Amtrak NEEDS to learn from these apperntly they haven't.


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## frj1983

AmtrakFan said:


> This is very disturbing with how CNOC and Amtrak handled it. The Conductor who wanted to arrest the Passengers for leaving needs to be shown the door. Stories like these make me question my support of Amtrak, I believe it is a good thing that these stories get out to the press for the fact that Amtrak NEEDS to learn from these apperntly they haven't.


Disturbing to say the least,

If Amtrak was already having problems with previous trains, why did it send out more??

Why did UP allow more trains out on it's tracks if others were having problems?? I will probably be taken to task for this, but I'm sorry, EVEN trains are not all weather conveyance...they too can be pole-axed by the weather...the story makes my point.

These trains should have been canceled and the passengers had their money refunded....they would have understood at this point. At least they could have remained in Chicago, warm, dry, and fed. I also agree with AmtrakWPK, once the situtation becomes critical, the hours of service law should automatically be suspended. And by the way, who was going to be doing the arresting? the foolish conductor and her crew of "it's not my problem?" Do you think the police would have arrested anyone in this situation?

The sad thing about this, is that each of the people who had a bad experience will tell others and the bad experience will mushroom into lack of passengers and lack of support from the public. I am saddened and angry by this story and I hope that Andrew Kummant will be kicking some butt, preferably starting with this train crew.


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## saxman

Not too much different than what the Freights have done on a daily basis. I remember sitting outside of Little Rock for 6 hours, because of "congestion." We sat 5 miles outside of San Jose for "track repair," for nearly 4 hours.


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## George Harris

After reading this it makes me wonder if frontal lobotomy is a requirement for employment at Amtrak and Union Pacific. I would not even try to discest the overwhelming lack of sense displayed by all involved. - that is except the local people in Logan County.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; December 21, 2006

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 3, Number 50

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for

passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville,

Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California,

Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

SPECIAL NOTE: This is the 50th and final TWA for 2006, unless breaking

news warrants publication between now and the first week in January,

2007. Thank you for reading and contributing to TWA in 2006.

1) For the last two weeks here at This Week at Amtrak, not to be confused

with Amtrak This Week, which is published by Amtrak for its employees

each week, we have been taking a weekly look at how Amtrak in Chicago

handled the early winter storm that blew through the Midwest in recent

weeks.

We have noted how this year, Amtrak Chicago has been well prepared for

the first winter storm from a mechanical standpoint. Unlike years past,

mechanical issues were not the problem when things got below freezing in

the Midwest.

We have also noted the fallacies of Amtrak's centralized national

operations control center in Wilmington, Delaware, and, as is so often

the case, for any stranded trains and passengers in what CNOC considers

"bow and arrow country" (defined as anything west of Harrisburg,

Pennsylvania, and south of Washington, D.C.), the cavalry is pretty slow

to come to the rescue.

The statement about CNOC stands, but it should be noted some Amtrak

managers have pointed out in the particular situation regarding the

Midwest storm, two other factors came into play.

First, Union Pacific Railroad, once upon a time, a long time ago, one of

the premier passenger railroad in the country, and today, often Amtrak's

worst nightmare (in recent years, a company spokesperson for Union

Pacific labeled passenger trains "novelty transportation"), kept telling

Amtrak during the storm the railroad, while temporarily blocked by

falling trees and other problems, would be open soon.

As far as we know, Union Pacific Railroad never told Amtrak not to

dispatch trains from Chicago to various points in the Midwest while the

storm was howling through the countryside.

Second, some of the Amtrak Central Division trains, headquartered in

Chicago, are dispatched by Amtrak personnel in Chicago. While the Chicago

dispatchers knew the trains sent out early in the day were stranded along

the way, they kept sending trains out while they were under the

impression that Union Pacific Railroad was, indeed, going to clear the

railroad and keep things fluid.

So, there is enough sin here to go around for everyone. CNOC didn't keep

tight enough reins on things and make sure employees on the trains had

proper coverage and replacements when necessary, along with enough busses

for stranded passengers. It was up to non-Amtrak local emergency

personnel to yet, again, bail Amtrak passengers out of a dangerous

situation.

Union Pacific Railroad kept an optimistic eye on things, but didn't

perform in clearing tracks, even when they said the tracks would be

cleared. In the face of such a strong storm, that is no surprise, but

someone should have said, "it's doubtful the railroad will be open"

instead of saying the tracks would be cleared under probably impossible

conditions.

Amtrak Chicago dispatchers should have used a few more grains of salt in

their decision making sending out later trains, even though UP said the

railroad would be open. If the early trains were not getting through,

chances are the later trains would not, either.

2) Perhaps some of the changes needed to solve problems like those noted

above are in the works. New Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant has

given the nation an early and worthy Christmas present with a long

overdue housecleaning at the upper levels of Amtrak management.

While it is always sad when someone loses their job, particularly at this

time of year, sometimes for the good of all, it must happen.

Notably gone are former head of marketing Barbara Richardson, and former

head of corporate communications William Schulz. With the exit of these

two executives, Mr. Kummant will be able to put a new, positive face on

Amtrak's message to the public, its passengers, and the news media. Two

executives closely intertwined with the Northeast Corridor are gone, and

replacing them is the hope a new message will be crafted that Amtrak's is

America's passenger railroad, not the Northeast - and then America's -

passenger railroad.

In the past, Amtrak's sales and marketing budget has been about $75

million dollars a year, roughly half of what it should be for the

revenues Amtrak generates before state and federal free monies are

included in revenue figures. The result of this, along with unfathomably

bad marketing strategies, has been that Amtrak is America's best kept

secret. Hopefully, a new head of marketing for Amtrak will be able to

quickly prove that a prudent investment in national marketing will erase

Amtrak's secret status, and the true demand for passenger train travel by

Americans and visitors to America will quickly come to the surface.

From a corporate communications (or public relations, as it also entails)

standpoint, Amtrak regularly misses huge opportunities to be innovative

in the news media from a feature story standpoint, and seems content to

only focus on damage control that has been caused by its previously

annual begfest for public monies. Corporate communications/public

relations is an art that can prove to be not only fruitful in results

when applied correctly, but can often be as, or perhaps more, powerful as

paid marketing campaigns.

Also gone is Amtrak's chief financial officer, with no permanent

replacement named. Again, this is a key position which must be open to

innovation as Amtrak moves to improve its financial reporting system. It

is much more critical to have someone who will not say "but, we've always

done it that way!" versus someone who wants to maintain the status quo.

Replaced is the head of Amtrak's legal department. The departing chief is

staying for 90 days to assist in the transition, and Eleanor Acheson, a

former assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration will be

the new legal boss.

Al Broadbent, the chief risk officer is gone, and replaced by James

McDonnell.

In an interesting move, the vice president of planning, Paul Nissenbaum,

has been replaced by Roy Johansen, a management consultant, and the

former VP is finishing some projects and later moving to another

executive position in Amtrak. This will be the first time in a long time

someone from outside the company - presumably without an agenda or

previous alliance other than that directed by the board of directors and

Mr. Kummant - has been in charge of shaping Amtrak's future.

Also gone is Tom Schmidt, the top transportation officer, who just joined

Amtrak earlier this year from CSX. This is surprising, considering his

short tenure, but comments have been made that since he was brought in by

Amtrak's recently departed acting president, he did not have much of a

constituency at Amtrak.

The chief customer service officer, Emmett Fremaux, will now report

directly to Mr. Kummant, and will now also have marketing and sales

reporting to him. Perhaps a notable change in Amtrak's corporate culture

and presentation to the traveling public would be to get rid of the

annoying phrase and title "customer service," and replace it with

"passenger service." Amtrak doesn't have customers, it has passengers.

The only customers Amtrak has are those who purchase services from Amtrak

(such as the commuter railroads who buy the service of Amtrak's operating

crews) and those who use what is left of Amtrak package express services.

Everyone who rides on a train is a passenger, not a customer. Thinking -

and using - the concept of "passengers" distinguishes Amtrak from all

other businesses, and focuses on its main reason for existence, the safe,

comfortable, reliable, and expedient carriage of passengers.

Everyone who is a close Amtrak watcher knows these first and important

changes should be only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We all wait in

breathless anticipation of the many more needed changes to occur, on

behalf of the American taxpayer and Amtrak passengers.

3) Amtrak This Week, Amtrak's in-house employee publication for December

18, 2006, notes that an agreement has been reached with the TCU (union)

and Amtrak about new call center employees.

Amtrak had been studying the idea of outsourcing call center

(reservations center) work to save money. This new agreement solves that

problem, and keeps all call center activities in-house. Existing call

center employees will continue at their current wage and benefit levels,

and part-time employees may continue their employment at Amtrak in their

current status. However, new call center employees, hired after January

1, 2007, will be hired at a reduced wage rate to align that cost with the

rest of the domestic call center industry.

Amtrak has agreed not to outsource the call center operations for five

years, unless at least six months' notice is provided before or after the

end of the five year period, if the company chooses to outsource.

This agreement is a wonderful example of a company and one of its unions

working together to meet the needs of everyone. Current employees lose no

ground, new employees come in at a more reasonable rate for the company,

and everyone meets their goals. It's a win-win.

4) Amtrak is ending calendar year 2006 with the largest board of

directors it has had in years. There are six members, Chairman David

Laney, and R. Hunter Biden, Floyd Hall, Donna McLean, Mary Peters who is

the new Secretary of Transportation, and Enrique Sosa. Joining the board

ex-officio and non-voting is President and Chief Executive Officer Alex

Kummant.

5) The December edition of Amtrak Ink, the multi-page, monthly Amtrak

employee newsletter, features a front page story that shows why the head

of Amtrak's corporate communications department is mercifully departed.

The story is about a new effort to seek partnerships to rehabilitate many

of Amtrak's passenger stations. Considering the importance of this effort

about Amtrak station rehabilitation from a standpoint of the company

financially, how it will have a very positive impact on passengers

(again, the reason for Amtrak's existence), and how it will help promote

new business, one has to wonder why this has not been picked up by the

news media. But, if Amtrak hasn't told anyone, then it's no surprise this

is an unnecessary secret. Here's the story.

[begin quote]

Web Site to Generate Investment in Station Rehabilitation

Leading the effort to bring together public officials and business

communities across the country to revitalize train stations, Amtrak

launched its Great American Stations Web site this month.

Acting as a central point for a range of station-related information, the

site provides information and resources associated with station

ownership, links to information about the Americans with Disabilities

Act, background about potential funding sources for rehabilitation and

upgrades, and advice on how to get started on renovations.

According to the site's editor, Suzi Andiman, the site is designed to

foster partnerships with local communities to make investments in

stations.

"Many stations are in need of renovations that could greatly benefit not

only the local community and traveling public, but also serve as an

economic development engine in the heart of a city or town," said

Andiman.

In addition to the site serving as a resource in and of itself, Amtrak's

own know-how is being made available to communities who want to learn

more about reinvigorating their stations. To that end, jurisdictions may

direct their station renovation-related questions to Government Affairs

department field directors. While Amtrak actually owns a relatively small

number of stations around the country, its employees have a great deal of

experience and knowledge to offer localities.

While the site was launched featuring the stations along the Empire

Builder route, it will ultimately feature all of the stations Amtrak

serves.

"As we build the site on a route-by-route basis, we have the opportunity

to really tailor it to the needs of its end-users," said Senior Director,

E-Commerce Kathleen Gordon. The site will be continually updated with new

routes; the California Zephyr is next.

The site also has the potential to become a great tool for the company's

departments, as it provides useful station information in one central

location. The site is found at www.greatamericanstations.com

The core members of the team that developed the Great American Stations

Web site reflect the multi-department collaborative effort behind the

endeavor. Accomplished mostly in-house, the project required

contributions from the E-Commerce, Amtrak Technologies, Government

Affairs, Customer Service and Corporate Communications departments.

[End quote]

6) A traveling URPA member who is a hardcore airline road warrior had an

opportunity to take a round-trip ride on Wondertrain Acela earlier in

December. Here is his report.

[begin quote]

I got to use Acela trains on a recent business trip. I arrived at Penn

Station New York at 5:25 for 6:00 P.M. Acela 2119 to Washington. I stood

in the ticket line behind 20+ passengers, with just two agents at peak

Tuesday rush hour. They were in no hurry the line is glacial. I boarded

with five minutes to spare, find the "quiet car," and get settled.

Train leaves on time, moves three car lengths, stops, then lurches

through the track ladder to the Hudson tunnel. The train is 80% full. The

conductors enforce the Quiet Car rule: no cell phones, no loud talking.

Through Secaucus Junction on rough track at 55 MPH. Trucks are very

noisy. Quiet Car rules don't seem to apply to the conductor's radio. Trip

to Newark very ordinary: rough, and not very fast.

Leave Newark down :02 after 90 second stop, and car fills up. Beyond,

track is much smoother and very fast, but still very rough by European

standards and not at all like a Superliner at 75 MPH on welded rail on

BNSF. Way too rough to write on fold-down table. Hard even to read.

Meets with northbound trains produce loud jolts.

Arrive Philadelphia at 19:05, many passengers off, few on, leave on time

at 19:07.

Time for dinner. I walk one car to the snack car. Typical Amfleet-like

environment, but NO LINE. No one on this train is buying food and drink!

The only seating is at awkward bar seats for about seven passengers.

Space is mostly taken, but by laptop brigade, not diners. For $13.25 plus

$2.00 tip, I buy a tasteless turkey hoagie (no lettuce or veggies), chips

and a miniature white wine, all served up in the usual brown paper box.

Design of service area requires lots of wasted back-and-forth motion by

the attendant. The wine is okay. The food would be better at Subway at

$4.00. No space at the sterile bar area, so I bounce back to coach. This

is not the diner on the Congressional Limited! 19:25 arrive Wilmington,

60 second stop. Several off, nobody on. Car now 60% full. Leave on time

at 19:26. Track is back to being too rough to write. Lots more curves

here. Bathroom doors are hard to lock, hard to unlock. Interiors are

weirdly designed (is that Bombardier's doing? Or, Amtrak's?) In the

coach, you can't take trash to the bin without making the automatic car

doors open. At least the overhead bins are big which is a good thing

because the car-end luggage racks are tiny.

20:05 arrive Baltimore. Several more off, nobody on. 20:07, leave

Baltimore two mins early. 20:10 arrive BWI: another half dozen off,

nobody on. 20:20 leave BWI one minute early. Quiet car now 25% full.

20:40 arrive Washington five minutes early. As a corridor train, this was

okay, but no big deal. Speed was not apparent, and below Philadelphia,

train was very lightly loaded. But the "normal" hassles of flying were

missing: Snarly TSA snoops, cramped, dirty, dry airplanes, multiple

lines, cramped center seating, long, expensive taxi ride to/from airport,

airline peanuts and $5.00 beers, abusive airline ticketing policies, air

traffic control delays.

The next day I rode Acela 2166, the 1:00 P.M. train from Washington to

Providence, in first class.

First class has the same seats, but wider spacing. Two attendants work

the car, which is half full; it was never full except New York to New

Haven. Very polite, attentive service, like good airline domestic first

class. Lunch menu offers choice of turkey hoagie or shrimp Caesar salad,

wine included. Like good airline first class in quality. Dinner choice of

meatloaf, chicken gumbo, veggie lasagna, with free wine and cocktails.

Cell phone talkers show why the Business Class Quiet Car is nice idea.

Employee - customer ratio here is much higher than on a Superliner train,

even in the sleepers.

Just as rough as last night. Daylight reveals that parts of the NEC look

better at night.

First class is a real step up, but worth the price?

My impression from observing loads and turnover: passengers view Acela

NOT as "very fast" (who knows? Cars don't have speedometers) but merely

as a limited-stop "express service."

[End quote]

7) Again, this Christmas, we thank and honor all of the Amtrak employees

who will be working and away from their families this busy Christmas

season. While many of Amtrak's host freight railroads will have freight

operations shut down for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Amtrak will

still be running, "having the railroad" to itself without freight train

interference. On those trains will be many employees making sure their

passengers are having a safe and pleasant Christmas journey. In addition,

there will also be operations employees, dispatching, commissary,

ticketing, reservations center, station, and many other areas where, on

December 25th it will "just be another work day." Thank you to each one

of those employees who will be working so the trains will continue

running and taking holiday travelers to their destinations.

8) And, finally, to the 84% of Americans who are Christian, "Merry

Christmas!" To the two percent of Americans who are Jewish, "Happy

Hanukkah!" To the other 14% of Americans who are of other religions, or

no religion, Happy Holidays!"

The will end the year for This Week at Amtrak. See you again the first

week of January, 2007. Thank you for reading and commenting on TWA in

2006.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

mailto:[email protected]


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 9, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 1

Founded three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is a

nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for

passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville,

Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California,

Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and Tennessee. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Welcome to another year of This Week at Amtrak. We hope this will be a

positive and eventful year for all parties concerned.

2) Harrumph. Amtrak finally ... finally ... got a major puff piece out of

the national news media on ABC World News Sunday night (January 7, 2007)

and the people who don't understand Amtrak and the realities of passenger

rail travel are acting like the Republic is about to fall.

In his popular Reporter's Notebook series, ABC correspondent Bill Redeker

actually did some homework and, even more astounding, actually took a

ride on two Amtrak long distance trains to find out what is going on in

the dining cars with simplified dining car service.

Mr. Redeker, unlike most of the national media, actually seems to

understand something about long distance train travel. To add to the

positives, Brian Rosenwald, the man who invented the modern Coast

Starlight, and is currently Amtrak's senior director of customer service

(who, in reality, for all of those of us who know and respect Mr.

Rosenwald and his work, should really be the Vice President of Customer

Service instead of in his present job, and, just to make the point again,

the job should be titled Vice President of Passenger Service, since

Amtrak has passengers, not customers) went along for the ride and did a

good job of explaining things to ABC's Redeker.

Ignorant critics are crying foul, because the story focuses on the

ongoing saga of the disappearing dining car instead of how much free

federal money Amtrak receives every year.

What these ignorant critics don't understand - it's impossible to believe

this learning curve is so hard to comprehend - is the uniqueness of

passenger train travel, and beyond competing in some commuter markets

like Washington, D.C. to New York City, there is NONE, ABSOLUTELY ZERO

competition or cross elasticity between jet airplanes and long distance

passenger trains. The only similarity between the two modes consists of

the fact that both are commercial common carriers, and both have

departure and arrival terminals. Beyond that, you are talking about two

unique forms of transportation with unique markets and unique benefits.

That's it. Any comparison beyond that is invalid and unworthy of

intelligent conversation.

As an example, on the subject of compensation for lounge car attendants,

the critic tried to compare the salaries of lead service attendants in

Amtrak lounge cars with flight attendants, noting that the average LSA

makes about $7,000 a year more than the average flight attendant.

So? What's your point?

Flight attendants have one set of job requirements, and lounge car

attendants have another. Flight attendants spend every night in a hotel

or motel room when on the road working their flight schedules, and LSAs

spend work nights in a crew dorm, and have to make their own beds. By the

way, that $7,000 a year differential works out to a difference of $135 a

week, which isn't much money. As far as the invalid comparisons between

Amtrak dining car employees and typical restaurant workers, that

comparison is even more frivolous. Restaurant workers seldom work all

three meals a day as every Amtrak dining car employees does, and, again,

they go home at night, where dining car employees retire to a small

cubicle only the size of a small bed, with no in-room plumbing.

Yes, Amtrak pays its onboard employees more than supposedly comparable

jobs off the train. But, in most cases, those land-based employees don't

have the level of skill and safety training that Amtrak employees have,

and the chefs and cooks aren't working in a moving, rocking kitchen where

even a minor derailment can mean a scalding death or disfigurement.

Think, too, about the just past holidays. If an Amtrak employee doesn't

have much seniority, they are going to be away from home and family and

children for most holidays, instead of at least waking up in the same

house as their families.

Mr. Redeker's story was noteworthy. Even though it had the usual lines

about Amtrak losing money, at least it didn't make viewers believe Amtrak

was headed for oblivion and wouldn't be running the next time someone

wanted to ride a train. Small steps are important steps.

3) It's notable for the record that last month, during the first heavy

Denver snowstorm, Amtrak's California Zephyr - the only Amtrak train

serving northern Colorado - kept on running while Denver's famed airport

was completely shut down, and highways became impassable for automobiles

and trucks. Yes, the California Zephyr ran 10 hours late, but it kept on

running. The Zephyr operates over BNSF tracks between Chicago and Denver,

and Union Pacific tracks between Denver and Emeryville, California (the

San Francisco Bay area).

4) We are all awaiting the naming of a new Amtrak vice president for

marketing, and a new head of corporate communications. Together, they

will craft Amtrak's public and marketing image, and hopefully, start to

tell the Amtrak story as it should be told, versus the constant-crisis

viewpoint which has been incorrectly presented in the past.

When you have about half of the marketing money to work with that a

normal company the size of Amtrak has, you have to be clever, and use all

available resources to their maximum potential (not to mention the

occasional raiding of someone else's budget for a good cause).

In the past, when promoted properly (that translates to outside efforts

by public relations professionals instead of Amtrak's usually dismal

inhouse efforts), equipment displays have been huge public draws in large

and small Amtrak cities and towns.

Here are the requirements: a house track at an Amtrak station (so as to

not foul the host railroad's main line), a locomotive, and "one each" of

whatever type of rolling stock is to be on display, such as a diner,

lounge, coach, and sleeping car. Add a few onboard crew members acting as

tour guides, and some folks in the diner whipping up some inexpensive

free food, and you produce a crowd of people highly curious about the

state of train travel in America.

A number of years ago, this type of equipment display was done in

Orlando, Florida. The result? A reported 10,000 people walked through the

train. In Memphis, Tennessee in 1999, another 10,000 people walked

through a Superliner trainset on a sunny Saturday. In February 1999, in

small Charlottesville, Virginia, in less than three hours, over 1,000

people toured a Superliner trainset.

What is important to this is that potential passengers actually get to

visit and experience passenger train equipment, and understand the

facilities and amenities. A first hand look often means a sale, and every

time these types of events are held, ticket sales increase.

For an ambitious marketer, every station in the Amtrak system with a

house track is a potential equipment display site. It's cheap marketing

(especially if you can steal some funding from the operations department

to pay for OBS salaries and train miles), and it's highly effective

marketing. It's the type of plan Amtrak needs so it can reintroduce

itself to America.

Here's an idea which will make the bean counters and lawyers cringe. Make

it widely known in the advertising world and movie and television

production worlds that Amtrak is changing its long standing policy of an

automatic "no" to any request to use Amtrak trains and equipment in

movies or television shows or advertisement, and make a trade: use of the

equipment for prominent, realistic. and truthful display of the company

name and logo as part of the movie, television, or advertising

production. Charge a small fee to cover some out of pocket expenses for

Amtrak, but make the hallmark of the deal the use of the equipment, name,

and Amtrak logo. This instantly becomes free advertising for Amtrak,

piggybacking on someone else's corporate advertising budget, or someone

else's movie or television production budget.

More importantly, it keeps Amtrak from remaining America's best kept

secret. Amtrak could double it's marketing and advertising budget (a good

idea, but probably not realistic at the moment), or it can be clever and

find ways to use its current assets for future promotions.

It's time for Amtrak brass to stop thinking about all of the

inconvenience of sharing its goodies with the public, and think about all

of the benefits to be accrued for just following simple public relations

strategies.

5) Back in the halcyon days of the Sunset Limited and City of New Orleans

Promotional Office, when Amtrak corporate communications and marketing

was described as grim and grimmer, we did something very unusual. We

actually contacted local and national publications (and broadcast media)

and pitched story ideas to them. We didn't believe Amtrak should be

America's best kept secret, so we plunged wildly ahead and threw out

story ideas for consumer and professional travel publications, bridal

magazines (take part of your honeymoon on Amtrak; some were interested in

this as a new and novel idea), and regional magazines such as Southern

Living for stories on regional trains like the Crescent, which served

regional food in the dining car.

What most people don't realize is that media editors are always open to

any new and good idea. Those millions of pages don't get filled up by

themselves, someone has to actually plan what is found on those pages.

Amtrak has huge opportunities for self promotion to the national media.

It just has to get over its corporate shyness and bad attitude that the

only stories written about Amtrak are crisis stories.

6) Two last ideas. This idea was used successfully in both Memphis and

San Antonio in 1999. When having a static equipment display, either the

night before or the evening of the display, after the public has gone

home, host an invitation-only reception in the lounge car with a dinner

in the dining car. Invite local city and county officials, along with

convention and visitor bureau officials, local hoteliers and others

prominent in the local tourism industry and - wait for it - local media

food critics to sample and rate Amtrak dining car food the same as they

would a local restaurant (this was successful before Dining Car Lite, but

is still a workable idea if the presentation is good). For a cheap price,

this creates huge amounts of local goodwill (be sure and include the

local Amtrak station agent in the crowd since they remain the local

contact for many), raises visibility, and establishes new Amtrak

credentials in the local tourism market.

Who knows, inviting a few hotel executives may actually lead to (gasp!)

Amtrak being included in hotel guest room directories as an important

local contact for passengers traffic. Can you imagine, checking into a

hotel room outside of the Northeast, picking up your local guest room

directory in your hotel of any size, and, right there along with all of

the local airline information, seeing how to reach Amtrak? Could that

also (dare we dream?) lead to local free transportation between hotels

and the Amtrak station just like between hotels and airports?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.orgmailto:[email protected]


----------



## frj1983

Here's an idea which will make the bean counters and lawyers cringe. Make

it widely known in the advertising world and movie and television

production worlds that Amtrak is changing its long standing policy of an

automatic "no" to any request to use Amtrak trains and equipment in

movies or television shows or advertisement, and make a trade: use of the

equipment for prominent, realistic. and truthful display of the company

name and logo as part of the movie, television, or advertising

production. Charge a small fee to cover some out of pocket expenses for

Amtrak, but make the hallmark of the deal the use of the equipment, name,

and Amtrak logo. This instantly becomes free advertising for Amtrak,

piggybacking on someone else's corporate advertising budget, or someone

else's movie or television production budget.

______________________________________________________________

"Prominent?" "Realistic?" "Truthful" display???????????

Oh come on, when was the last time a TV/Movie writer cared anything about making anything about Amtrak or trains realistic or truthful. It revolves around the story and who cares whether things are truthful or realistic. I think it's more realistic for Amtrak to become involved with the online travel companies like Orbitz, etc. Time to find a way to advertise with them and become prominent on their websites. Partner time?


----------



## haolerider

frj1983 said:


> Here's an idea which will make the bean counters and lawyers cringe. Makeit widely known in the advertising world and movie and television
> 
> production worlds that Amtrak is changing its long standing policy of an
> 
> automatic "no" to any request to use Amtrak trains and equipment in
> 
> movies or television shows or advertisement, and make a trade: use of the
> 
> equipment for prominent, realistic. and truthful display of the company
> 
> name and logo as part of the movie, television, or advertising
> 
> production. Charge a small fee to cover some out of pocket expenses for
> 
> Amtrak, but make the hallmark of the deal the use of the equipment, name,
> 
> and Amtrak logo. This instantly becomes free advertising for Amtrak,
> 
> piggybacking on someone else's corporate advertising budget, or someone
> 
> else's movie or television production budget.
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> "Prominent?" "Realistic?" "Truthful" display???????????
> 
> Oh come on, when was the last time a TV/Movie writer cared anything about making anything about Amtrak or trains realistic or truthful. It revolves around the story and who cares whether things are truthful or realistic. I think it's more realistic for Amtrak to become involved with the online travel companies like Orbitz, etc. Time to find a way to advertise with them and become prominent on their websites. Partner time?


IMHO:

Bruce Richardson's comments and suggestions are a real "statement of the obvious". Of course it would be great to have equipment displays at various locations around the country! It would also be great to have enough equipment to provide regular scheduled service on a consistent basis. It would also be great to have switch engines in remote locations to move that "phantom equipment" to the dedicated track at the stations, but again, the reality is that there is no equipment in most of the Amtrak locations and there aren't enough employees to go around as it is, let alone have them work these displays.

Of course it would be great to have Amtrak equipment featured in movies and television, but the reality is that this is not a market in which you tell the producers that you have equipment when you really don't - or it is the wrong kind of equpiment - not historic or dated to fit the time frame of the movie,etc.

I enjoy reading Bruce's newsletters, if for no other reason than to get a different perspective - which can be a good thing - but there is enough pontificating on the internet without adding more.


----------



## AlanB

haolerider said:


> I enjoy reading Bruce's newsletters, if for no other reason than to get a different perspective - which can be a good thing - but there is enough pontificating on the internet without adding more.


Yes, they're always fun to read. Often filled with flights of fancy, but occasionally there are good ideas or at least thought provoking comments within them. And perspective, stopping to at least take a look from a different point of view is never a bad thing. There's always more than one way to solve a problem, so watching both sides of the story is always a good thing if one really wants to succeed.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 12, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 2

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Last week's This Week at Amtrak brought some interesting comments this

week. One, from a middle-aged wag in California noted how difficult it

often is to find an Amtrak train station in any given city or town. He,

and another gentleman noted that road signs appear for almost any reason

these days along public right-of-way, announcing the smallest and most

insignificant public park, tourist trap, or commercial venture, yet,

rarely do signs appear directing the general population to the nearest

Amtrak station.

This problem was solved a number of years ago here in Jacksonville

because URPA founder Austin Coates made it his mission to badger the

Florida Department of Transportation into erecting signs along Interstate

95 and other feeder roads to the specific Jacksonville Amtrak station. In

North Carolina, a state which has a high interest in passenger rail, many

signs are present along I-95 directing drivers to the various stations in

the state. This is true elsewhere, but not everywhere.

Is this yet another worthy and inexpensive mission Amtrak has failed to

spend the salary of a junior manager on to reap hundreds of thousands of

dollars worth of free publicity by announcing to all drivers directions

to the nearest Amtrak station? Isn't this something that could become a

motivating project for a rising young star in the Amtrak firmament; a

year's worth of effort that would produce incalculable amounts of revenue

for years to come? Can someone start working on this, today?

2) Another area of consideration are official state tourism Internet

sites. Every state has one, but not every state mentions Amtrak as a way

or getting to or getting around the state. This is another case of

"Amtrak blindness," where travel planners and promoters have no idea

Amtrak exists, or, if it does, it goes anywhere someone may want to

travel. The same holds true for state department of transportation

Internet sites. Lots of things about highways and interstate highways,

but, often, not a word about passenger rail. At least, we could hope

Amtrak becomes an afterthought, instead of no thought at all.

3) If you love to go to the movies, you know it has become common

practice to screen commercials before the movies, in addition to

previews. Some of this movie theater commercials, such as the famous

Coca-Cola Christmas bears are great fun and have a huge impact. These

commercials are generally considered institutional advertising, versus a

specific type of advertising which has a call to action.

A dark movie theater with a huge screen provides the most conducive

atmosphere for absorbing visual images accompanied by high quality sound.

Imagine what an impact a wide screen movie theater commercial for Amtrak

could have on people who have never ridden a passenger train, much less

seen a train. A clever marketer could find a way in a short commercial to

introduce the high points of train travel such as accommodations,

scenery, the ability to move around, food service, and much more. All on

a huge movie screen in a slickly produced advertisement.

4) Here in Florida, tourism is big business. In fact, we rely on tourism

so much that everything we do in Florida is geared to the Yankee

tourists. We don't have rain in Florida - we have liquid sunshine, so we

don't scare the tourists away.

As a result of this we've learned a few things about reaching tourists.

One of the best way to reach tourists is through the paid brochure racks

at Florida Welcome Centers and in motel lobbies. These racks feature all

sorts of tourist attractions, discount books, and more. The racks are

found not only in Florida, but almost anywhere there are travelers. The

cost of stocking these racks is cheap, and the cost of printing in huge

bulk quantities is often much cheaper than reaching targeted demographics

in traditional publications.

If Amtrak used these racks, it's doubtful anyone already on a trip would

change their mode of travel. However, we know materials picked up from

these racks are read and absorbed (and can be tracked through coupon

codes and other ways) and acted upon. A brochure read today may not cause

an instant reaction, but a brochure read today may cause a reservation

for the next holiday trip.

5) Let's go through an exercise together as to how Amtrak can greatly

improve its financial fortunes with a relatively small cash investment.

Here are some things we know:

- Amtrak's greatest potential for growth, in terms of both revenue and

profits is in the national system, outside of short distance corridors.

The trains and routes involved, and the FY 06 load factors for each train

are the Coast Starlight, 56%; Empire Builder, 59%; California Zephyr,

50%; Southwest Chief, 63%; Sunset Limited, 44%; Texas Eagle, 49%; City of

New Orleans, 49%; Lake Shore Limited, 63%; Capitol Limited, 61%;

Cardinal, 51%; Auto Train, 53%; Silver Meteor, 57%; Silver Star, 55%;

Palmetto, 44%; and the Crescent 49%. All of these trains, with the

exception of two, are traditional long distance trains with baggage cars,

coaches, sleepers, diners, and lounges. The Palmetto has no sleepers, and

food service is limited to a lounge car. The Auto Train, has no baggage

service, but does handle the carriage of automobiles, vans, and

motorcycles along with all other long distance train amenities.

- All of the above named trains are running with relatively small

consists, with limited sleeping car and coach space.

- The average load factor on these trains for FY 06 was 53%. A long

distance train is considered "sold out" at a load factor of 65% due to

on/offs and seat/berth turnover.

- The total revenue produced by these 15 trains for FY 06 was

$382,200,000, solely from ticket revenue and food and beverage sales.

- Advertising and sales expense for these 15 trains was $18,900,000. In a

normal company, advertising and sales costs would be budgeted at roughly

10% of revenue, or $38,000,000.

- We want to increase revenue/income without dramatically increasing

expenses. Since the 15 trains are running an average load factor of 53%,

and a sold out train runs at a 65% load factor, we should be able to

raise the load factor by 10% without adding any additional equipment or

onboard employees, except in the dining car where 10% larger crowds could

be expected.

- For mathematical equation purposes, let's divide the revenue by the

advertising cost to determine that under present conditions, it costs

$1.00 in advertising and sales costs for every $20.00 in revenue

generated. Expressed another way, every percentage point of load factor

costs $356,603 to generate.

- We know this is simplistic, because like every other costs, advertising

and sales costs are not measured on a dollar-for-dollar basis. However,

for hypothetical purposes, this model is the simplest way to demonstrate

an approximate cost to increase revenue passenger miles and load factor

on Amtrak's 15 long distance trains.

- If we want to increase the long distance train load factor by 10%, by

this formula we must increase the long distance train advertising and

sales budget by $356,603 x 10, to equal an increase of $3,566,030 in

advertising cost to generate an increase of long distance train revenue

by $71,320,600, without adding any additional equipment to existing train

sets, no additional stations or route changes, and only minimal costs for

additional onboard supplies such as sheets and pillowcases, dining and

lounge car food, and additional dining car personnel. This requires no

new concessions by the host freight railroads, no new union agreements,

no experimentation in new programs, and no new management structure.

It's always prudent to be conservative when estimating costs and income.

Let's triple the amount in advertising and sales costs to generate

another 10% load factor. That will make the new figure $10,698,090, or

15% of the anticipated revenue.

So, using the conservative cost figure, this simply requires an increase

of $10,698,090 in Amtrak's long distance train advertising and sales

budget, which is .003 of Amtrak's FY 06 expenses. In other words, it's

pocket change in the overall Amtrak universe of spending, which would

generate an additional $71,320,600 in high profit revenue.

Amtrak long distance train revenue passenger miles for FY 06 were

2,430,166,000. The average revenue passenger mile generated just under 15

cents per mile. To generate $71,320,600 in additional revenue for a long

distance system increase of 10% of the load factor, 475,470,666

additional revenue passenger miles will have to be generated (about 19%

of the revenue passenger miles now generated).

Now that we have demonstrated how much passenger revenue is just waiting

to be harvested, when each of these trains consistently start reaching

about 60% load factors, start adding sleeping cars and coaches to the

consists. Again, the incremental costs of adding these cars to existing

trains with no new train miles, but an increase in seat miles, can make

more of a dramatic difference in income for Amtrak's long distance

national network. All Amtrak passenger trains, be it a single level train

with Viewliner sleeping cars, Heritage diners and Amfleet coaches, or a

Superliner train with every car configuration available, can run up to 18

cars per consist without having an impact on the hotel power head end

electrical supply from the locomotive (In Canada during the heavy summer

travel months, the Canadian, from Toronto to Vancouver, using the same

electrical system as Amtrak, regularly runs 20 and 21 car consists.). It

is rare today to see a typical Amtrak long distance train with more than

nine or 10 cars. When you double that number of cars, you double the

number of revenue opportunities, but don't double the costs because of

static train mile costs, station costs, and headquarters overhead costs.

Let's be blunt. With Amtrak's present anemic long distance system (with

the caveat of having the Sunset Limited and Cardinal run daily), it is

not unreasonable to determine that the long distance system, with better

marketing and longer consists, could generate a much higher return on

investment and positive cash flow for the railroad than any other part of

the company, including the Northeast Corridor and the obviously cooked

books of the Acela service. By doing this, Amtrak would be living up to

its original mandate and mission to operate a viable long distance train

network and provide a service to those Americans and visitors to America

who wish to choose passenger rail as their preferred mode of intercity

travel. All without continuing handouts of free federal money.

6) To augment our brief exercise above, review this article from Andrew

Selden which ran in TWA issue number 3-45 on November 8, 2006.

[begin quote]

By Andrew Selden

Some of the data that no one (including Amtrak itself) seems to

understand about the Empire Builder, and the interregional trains

generally, includes these points:

- The Empire Builder is, by a wide margin, the highest grossing (in

ticket revenue) single train that Amtrak operates, despite being ...

- ... the most geographically-isolated train in the country, and

traversing the least-populated route in the country.

Isn't that remarkable? How could those two conditions co-exist?

- The Empire Builder also generates, by a VERY wide margin, the highest

output of any single train Amtrak operates. Output is measured by revenue

passenger miles, not ridership. Ridership (which is a measure only of

transaction volume) is almost irrelevant to any meaningful measure of

performance of any passenger transportation service (except in cases like

urban transit systems where fares are not variable with distance, and

headcount is a valid proxy for revenue, but still not output).

- The Empire Builder's remarkable results come about because it has the

longest average trip length of any train in the system, over 800 miles.

That means that the average passenger is on board for about 18 hours.

Some traverse the entire route, and some even travel beyond by connecting

to or from other trains at the three end-points. This average trip length

is functionally identical to the average trip length in the U.S.

commercial aviation industry. Every seat and every berth on this train

turns over on average two to three times every trip.

- Calculations made by the Minnesota Association of Rail Passengers,

before Amtrak stopped carrying mail and express on this train, the Empire

Builder contributed from its revenues about $20,000,000 a year in free

cash flow, after paying all of its direct operating expenses, towards

Amtrak systemwide overhead and fixed costs.

- The Empire Builder would do even better commercially if Amtrak would

add capacity to the train. It runs with one fewer coach and sleeper

lately than it used to in the 1990s. That is not because demand is lower

-- in fact, demand is very high and growing --- but because Amtrak does not

have, or chooses not to assign, additional cars to this train.

- The Empire Builder, year in and year out, has extremely high

utilization. Its load factor (the proportion of available seat miles that

are occupied by paying passengers, i.e., available seat miles divided by

revenue passenger miles) is in the range of about 60%. A long distance

train is functionally sold out at about 65% (because of all of the many

on-and-off boardings across its long itinerary), and the Builder is in

fact sold out during the summer and holiday peak periods, especially in

the sleepers. This compares well to the regional corridors, including the

Northeast Corridor, where load factors range from the high 20% range to

about 35-40%, which means Amtrak cannot sell, or even give away, well

over half of its inventory in the short corridors, where it competes with

private automobiles.

- As a group, the long distance trains require (depending on whom one

asks) between $100 million and $300 million a year in subsidy (at

Amtrak's current and bloated fixed costs; Amtrak refers to the $300

million figure, while a Federal Railroad Administration study a few years

ago pegged the losses at under $100 million); the rest of the $1.3

billion annual subsidy goes to subsidizing the Railroad Retirement Fund

and debt service (from borrowings used for the Northeast Corridor eight

years ago), totaling a little over $200 million, and the rest -- about

$750 million a year -- subsidizes Amtrak's short distance corridor

services. Of that $750 million, more than 90% goes to support the

Northeast Corridor. The long distance trains collectively produce about

half of Amtrak's total output of transportation, on less than a quarter

of the annual federal subsidy, while the short distance corridors produce

the other half of system output on about three quarters of the subsidy.

The long distance trains are nearly full, while the short distance

corridor trains, statistically speaking, are more than half empty. Which

of these services is "successful"? Which has the greater growth

potential? In which segment does the federal government pay more subsidy

in the aggregate, or per passenger mile of output?

- Despite the foregoing, Amtrak has always plowed, and continues to this

day to plow, the vast majority (historically, nearly 95% of its available

investment capital -- its annual free subsidy from the federal government)

into the short corridors, and 90% of that has gone into the Northeast

Corridor, where over the last two decades, in purely financial terms,

Amtrak has achieved a negative rate of return on invested capital -- it

loses more money there every year than it ever has, and the annual losses

are continuing to increase.

- In terms of capital investment, while the Northeast Corridor has

received more than $20 billion over the last 25 years (which is equal to

nearly $55 billion in today's dollars), the Empire Builder has received

NO net capital investment at all. Amtrak has never addressed what

performance metrics the Empire Builder -- and its sister trains -- could

achieve if they were to add carrying capacity to match latent public

demand for this service, and especially if they were to be networked into

reliable interconnections with other existing trains and routes to allow

usage by people in still more origin-destination city pairs than can now

use these once-a-day (or less) services.

Thus, when we see discussions along the lines of, "What is to be done

with this train/these long distance trains? It/they cost(s) so much, yet

seem(s) so popular," it's perplexing, because no one ever wants to get

into the actual results of operations of the Empire Builder, which by

ordinary business standards are very, very good. If Amtrak were being run

like a business, instead of a subsidized public transit service for the

Northeast, it would be pouring capital into the Empire Builder and the

other long distance trains, rather than starving them and then wondering

why they aren't doing well, by Amtrak's distorted measures of

performance.

[End quote]

7) Going back to last week's TWA and the ABC News story about the

changing Amtrak dining cars, it's tough not to consider what a 10%

increase in load factor would do for Amtrak's food and beverage business

on long distance trains.

Superliner dining cars were designed for a crew of 11 employees. The cars

were designed to be full service rolling restaurants offering full menus

of freshly prepared food. Amtrak is currently running crews of less than

half of that under the new Dining Car Lite program. Those numbers will be

decreased further by the combination of the dining and lounge cars into

one car.

The only bright spot from a passenger perspective (and, lest we forget,

providing service and transportation to passengers is Amtrak's sole

reason for existence) is the extended hours of the new cars, from early

morning to late at night. In other words, when the car is out on the

road, other than for the few hours of night time rest the crew has, the

car is making money. That is not the case with today's dining cars, which

are only open a very limited number of hours, mostly for the convenience

of the crews instead of the passengers.

Since Amtrak says it loses about $300 million a year on long distance

train operations (but the FRA says that figure is less than $100 million

a year), what would an increase of over $71 million a year in revenue

with only minimal, incremental increases in expenses, do to the Amtrak

long distance system? That extra $71,000,000 may make decision makers sit

up and take notice how important the long distance system is, and how a

minimal amount of investment in the system produces far greater return on

investment than any possible amount of money invested into short distance

corridors.

A huge potential for Amtrak is sitting right under its corporate nose.

Let's hope someone doesn't sneeze and blow it away.

8) As noted late last year in TWA, the cost of making the Sunset Limited

and Cardinal into daily trains is minimal in relation to the high cost of

continuing the trains under tri-weekly service. When you consider the

above scenario about filling existing trains to capacity, it's a natural

progression to think about all of the lost revenue, matrix connections

for passengers, and how poor tri-weekly service is in relation to daily

service on any route. It is a minimal equipment requirement to move the

Cardinal into the daily category, but a full turn of the Sunset Limited

from Los Angeles to Orlando requires one trainset for every departure

from Los Angeles. To take the train daily will require four more train

sets. Looking at Amtrak's current equipment roster, that is possible.

9) The next big question beyond that is putting the Sunset Limited, or a

substitute for the Sunset back into service between New Orleans and

Orlando (or Tampa). This continuing gaping, embarrassing hole in Amtrak's

national system only exists because Amtrak management is unwilling to

make a return of the Sunset a reality. In just another 100 days, it will

be a full year since CSX released the track between New Orleans and

Jacksonville for use by Amtrak. The old canard about stations closed due

to hurricane damage we know is a smokescreen, because so many other

Amtrak stops are a mere "wide spot in the ballast" along a railroad main

line. All of the platforms at the existing Amtrak stops are still in

place, and useable. All of the stations east of Mobile, Alabama are in

full working order. Most of the stations to the west of Mobile, such as

Bay St. Louis and Biloxi, received no damage.

Amtrak played an important role in the rehabilitation of New Orleans

after Hurricane Katrina. While the rest of America supports the Gulf

Coast, why is Amtrak snubbing this important region, and why is it

continuing to hinder a resurgence of tourism (many of the casinos are

back open) by not providing a train, such as the Sunset Limited, or a

replacement train running between New Orleans and Jacksonville or

Orlando?

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All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

mailto:[email protected]


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 18, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 3

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) MEMO TO: Amtrak Corporate Communications Department

SUBJECT: Stop playing defense, and go on the offense

COMMENCEMENT DATE: The sooner, the better

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You've been doing a better job lately telling the Amtrak story, but,

please, make at least one more giant leap forward. Too many reporters who

should know better are misconstruing facts about Amtrak?s long distance

train national network.

With the reintroduction this week of the Lott-Lautenberg senate bill (S.

294, renamed the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007)

reauthorizing Amtrak, and the resultant press coverage, in story after

story we have seen phrases such as "money losing long distance trains,"

or "lightly used long distance trains" from sources such as the

Associated Press and Reuters, both of which should know better.

Why aren't you doing more to stop this nonsense? Your own figures from FY

06 show 2,430,166,000 revenue passenger miles were generated by the long

distance train national network, while the combination of all NEC trains,

including Wondertrain Acela was just 1,482,448,000 revenue passenger

miles, and the short distance trains, which includes state supported

trains, generated only 1,448,903,000 revenue passenger miles.

To put it another way so everyone can understand, 15 daily and tri-weekly

long distance trains in each direction generated 2.4 billion revenue

passenger miles, 40 daily NEC trains in each direction generated 1.5

billion revenue passenger miles, and 102 short distance daily trains

generated 1.4 billion revenue passenger miles.

Not to make too fine of a point, but 2.4 billion revenue passenger miles

from 15 trains (two of which aren't even daily) versus 2.9 billion

revenue passenger miles from 142 NEC and short distance trains hardly

seems like "lightly used long distance trains." [You may wish to point

out another figure, that 3,731,200 passengers rode those "lightly used

long distance trains." Now, please be careful using this number, because

it is only a body count, and has no link to definitions of load factor,

average length of trip, or revenue passenger miles. But, it does say that

1.2% of Americans rode long distance trains last fiscal year. There is a

lot of infrastructure maintained in this country for a lot more money

every year that is used by far less than 1.2% of the population. This is

not an expression of modal envy, but an expression to allow Amtrak?s

first professional board of directors and a new president and chief

executive officer an opportunity to stop the federal money flow into a

black hole known as Amtrak and commit the same amount or less money into

a healthy and robust Amtrak that meets its original mission and function

- to create and maintain a realistic part of the domestic transportation

matrix of providing a passenger rail component that efficiently operates

passenger trains for all purposes, including leisure travel, family

travel, or business travel.]

>From a financial aspect, the 15 trains in the long distance network, on

average each generate $23,868,066 in gross revenue (before any subsidy),

and the 142 trains in the NEC and short distance networks only generate

$7,035,810 each on average in gross revenue. The total operating expense

(according to Amtrak figures) was $1.1 billion for the NEC and short

distance networks, and $841 million for the long distance train networks.

The average load factor on the 15 long distance network trains was 55.1%,

on the 102 short distance trains, 40.7%, and 45.2% on NEC trains.

As to the "money losing" aspect, that Amtrak figure is confusing and

needs to be cleared up. The FY 06 books show a positive cash flow for

Acela, without any subsidy necessary. But, the same books also show a

subsidy requirement for other NEC trains, which use the same stations,

same dispatching personnel, same tracks, and same reservation system as

the Acela trains. Please explain how one set of trains, Acelas, with

2,668,200 riders can "make money," while other NEC trains, with 6,840,200

riders, loses money.

We also know your executives have made statements that the long distance

system loses $300 million a year (and the FRA in the past has put that

figure at $100 million), but your FY 06 books show that figure at $481.6

million. Where are the books being padded? What is being charged against

the long distance system that isn't being charged against the short

distance or NEC trains?

Is the difference in the cost of maintenance of way of the NEC, which you

are charging to capital costs instead of operating costs? Are you even

charging a set track fee to Acela and other NEC trains, or are you

dumping everything into a capital costs account the "pretty up" the

operating books? If the true federal operating subsidy is a total of $584

million, and you received $1.3 billion from the federal government, where

did the rest of the money go, after Railroad Retirement mandatory

payments and debt service?

All of this can be very confusing, so you can see why the corporate

communications department needs to go on the offensive, issuing outright

challenges to reporters who are not communicating the true Amtrak story.

The public and politicians have time and again been fed wrong information

about the long distance system, and haven't bothered to do any digging on

their own. Most reporters have just regurgitated old saws about Amtrak

failures without looking at real facts. It?s the job of the corporate

communications team to clean up that mess, and get the right story out to

the public.

The Amtrak Corporate Communications Department doesn't just work for the

part of Amtrak that runs the NEC; it works for all of Amtrak, including

the part of Amtrak here in bow and arrow country, west of Harrisburg,

Pennsylvania, and south of Washington, D.C.

We all have to remember the concept that Amtrak has "lurched from crisis

to crisis" as Reuters reported this Tuesday, January 16th, was mostly the

making of its two last presidents and CEOs, George Warrington and David

Gunn, who seemed to specialize in "the sky is falling" when it came to

talking with the media and politicians. We know all of that alleged

lurching was Amtrak-made more than anything else. Now, it?s up to the

corporate communications professionals to clean up the lurching mess and

get the facts straight so the public and politicians have a real picture

of Amtrak.

2) For general purposes, beyond Amtrak corporate communications, while

we're on the subject of silly and useless figures, when can we kill and

bury the absolutely wrong and serves-no-purpose image of "losses per

passenger"? What does this mean? Some people like to quote the figure

based on passengers on the Sunset Limited, some people like to quote the

figure as an average of every passenger Amtrak carries, whether it be

someone with an average trip length of 800 miles, or an average trip

length of 27 miles. Either way, it?s meaningless. One also must realize

that when the figure is quoted, it is based on the number of passengers

that very instant; add or subtract just one passenger, or annul one train

for a day, and the entire figure changes.

3) Speaking of public relations disasters, take a look at the story,

reprinted by permission of and copyright 2007 by the Fort Worth

Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas. The story originally was published

Sunday, January 14, 2007.

[begin quote]

Women's offer to help is derailed

By Dave Lieber

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The train trip sounded like a terrific idea. Members of area chapters of

the Red Hat Society planned a weekend trip from Fort Worth to San

Antonio. They bought round-trip tickets on Amtrak and prepared to hit the

rails.

Only the train was four hours late arriving.

But when it finally got to the Fort Worth station that day in October and

the 38 members of the social organization prepared to board, they didn't

know that the worst was yet to come.

"A comedy of errors," trip organizer Debbie Brookshire later told me.

The women who sat on the lower level of the bilevel train were told at

first that they couldn't get any dinner because the train was late. The

women persisted.

"They told us, 'We'll have somebody come down and take your order,'"

Donna Morris said. "We never saw an Amtrak employee."

One of the women called a relative who worked at a restaurant in Waco.

When the train stopped there, the relative brought food on board.

The rest of the Red Hatters sat on the upper level. When they walked to

the dining car, Brookshire said, Amtrak personnel "jumped in our faces."

The staff said that the dining car was about to close and that they had

not known the women were coming.

Brookshire told them they had bought their tickets two months ago. "It's

not my fault the train was late," she told them.

Morris, who sat downstairs, remembers going upstairs to get ice.

"The guy serving the food was on the phone," she said. "It was obviously

a personal call. He said, 'I love you, too.' He wasn't talking to his

boss. He hung up and turned around. We said, 'We need some ice.'"

She said he replied, "I got off the phone for that?"

"Isn't that your job?" Morris asked.

"You don't have a clue what my job is."

She answered, "Well, you're not driving the train, so can I have some

ice?"

You've got to admire the Red Hatters' spunk.

There were other problems. The downstairs passengers complained of being

too hot, while the upstairs passengers said their cars were too cold. And

nobody could fix it.

The train finally arrived in San Antonio around 4 a.m. Of course, the

taxis that had been arranged to take the women to their hotel were long

gone.

The weekend in San Antonio, the women told me, was terrific. But when it

came time to leave, several of them rented cars to get home rather than

ride again on what they had come to call Damntrak.

Red Hat members complained. An Amtrak representative offered the entire

group vouchers equivalent to the value of half of their round-trip

tickets. The women talked it over. At first, they thought they could use

them for a future Red Hat train trip. But many of the women vowed never

to ride the train again.

So they came up with another idea. What if they donated the vouchers to a

nonprofit organization that helps military families?

They had a group in mind: Family & Friends for Freedom Fund, based in New

Jersey, helps military families travel to meet wounded members in all

branches of service as they recuperate in military hospitals. Fund

founder Paula Sturla told me she was excited about the Red Hatters'

generous offer.

So the Red Hatters explained their plan to an Amtrak representative. But

the Amtrak official said it was not possible because it was against

Amtrak's rules. All vouchers must be used by the passengers to whom they

are assigned.

The Red Hatters were miffed. "Here we're trying to do a good deed,"

Brookshire said. "Military people don't make a lot of money. We wanted to

help them. If somebody gets wounded and gets sent back to the States to a

medical hospital and a wife is clear across the country and can't afford

to go to the hospital, they could take the voucher and say: 'Here is your

ticket. Go help your husband.'"

The Red Hatters called the office of U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth,

Morris said. A caseworker tried to persuade Amtrak officials to make an

exception and provide assistance to military families with wounded

relatives.

But Amtrak wouldn't budge.

So the women called The Watchdog.

I had several conversations with Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman in

Chicago. He explained that the policy is strictly enforced because Amtrak

wants to avoid its vouchers being sold on the black market.

"They are not transferable because we don't want them abused, and we want

the people who deserve the compensation to receive it," he told me. But

he said he would see what he could do.

Days later, he called back and said the policy was rigid.

However, he told me the fund could apply for "a standing discount" that

can be used for anyone traveling under the group's auspices. He asked me

to put the group's leaders in touch with him to apply for the discount.

I'm taking care of that.

Still, I wondered whether everyone in the travel industry has a policy

prohibiting the transfer of such vouchers.

Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandy King told me: "Our vouchers are

transferable to anyone. Our policy is that you can't sell or barter them,

but if you'd like to transfer them, you are allowed to."

The Red Hatters, meanwhile, are not happy with Amtrak.

"They are the most rigid organization that I have ever dealt with in my

life," Morris said. Yet the offer of a standing discount for the Friends

for Freedom Fund, she said, is "better than nothing."

The Watchdog column appears Fridays and Sundays. Dave Lieber,

817-685-3830 [email protected]

[End quote]

Apparently, there are, as they say, "still a few bugs in the system."

Some fact checking reveals other passengers have encountered the same

kind of service on the Texas Eagle, a train, when it was under the

direction of a product line manager, that was known for good service. The

Eagle has an OBS staff from the Chicago crew base.

This is not the first time a Chicago crew has been criticized for

rudeness and abruptness. There seems to be a strange phenomenon that some

crew bases habitually have abusive employees when it comes to passengers,

and other crew bases exemplify all of the good things about passenger

service. The only explanation for this is the state of crew base

management. Good crew base managers motivate and demand good work from

their employees, while uncaring or bad crew base managers allow employees

to run amuck with no consequences. These type of stories indicate more

housecleaning is needed at Amtrak to weed out many of the employees and

managers that never should have been hired for passenger service jobs in

the first place. It is neither fair to the employee or passenger when

someone doesn't have the emotional and professional qualifications to be

helpful and pleasant to all passengers. The result is unhappiness on

everyone?s part.

4) (Sigh) Another week, another missing Sunset Limited east of New

Orleans. Where are you, Sunset Limited? We're waiting.

5) Here?s a maddening story from December 20, 2006 in The State, the

excellent daily newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina.

CSX wanted to add a two mile passing siding in the center of a small

South Carolina town called Irmo. Near the proposed siding are 2,500 homes

and three schools.

Keep in mind a piece of the CSX main line track already goes through

Irmo. No Amtrak trains use this part of CSX.

Mayor John Gibbons and Irmo residents believe a new siding in town would

allow multiple trains to use the siding to keep the CSX main track fluid.

Irmo residents say the siding would cause noise and shake their homes.

Irmo was founded as a railroad whistle stop in the late 19th Century.

Right now, up to 20 trains run daily through the community, and Irmo sits

in the middle of a 30 mile segment of single line track without a siding.

In the real world, that?s known as a bottleneck.

Current freight train loads include coal, auto parts and grain, say CSX

officials. Somehow, town leaders have jumped to the conclusion that

because CSX wants to keep its trains moving efficiently, suddenly

chemicals and other dangerous freight cargo will be on those trains.

CSX spokespersons say the new siding, wherever it?s finally located, will

have an electronic warning system, electric switches, and other features

experts call the best safeguards against wrecks.

But, Irmo worrywarts aren't convinced. They want no part of "progress."

These are the moments when you have to wonder if all of those residents

and government officials who enjoy the many benefits of the federal,

state, and local taxes that CSX and other railroads pay would be happy to

get rid of that tax income if those pesky trains disappeared. Perhaps

they would also be happier to have all of those additional huge semi

trucks on the local and state highways, too that would appear to replace

railroads. Maybe they would like the marked increase in the cost of

everything from electricity to groceries on store shelves without the

benefit of freight moving over railroads.

The residents of Irmo and most other places need to get over themselves.

Railroads aren't any more interested in unsafe operating conditions than

trackside dwellers are who choose to have homes near railroad tracks.

This type of "not in my backyard" argument is just plain silly.

6) Oops! Those readers of TWA who are direct subscribers most likely were

puzzled last Friday when a repeat of a December TWA showed up in

e-mailboxes. You guessed it. The computer did it. No, really, it was a

combination of computer and operator error. When several readers were

kind enough to notify us of the problem, we were able to correct the

error, and send out the proper text for January 12, 2007.

Our apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced by our error.

If you are reading someone else?s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

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All other correspondence should be addressed to

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Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.orgmailto:[email protected]


----------



## George Harris

MrFSS said:


> 5) Here?s a maddening story from December 20, 2006 in The State, the excellent daily newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina.
> CSX wanted to add a two mile passing siding in the center of a small South Carolina town called Irmo. Near the proposed siding are 2,500 homes and three schools.
> 
> Keep in mind a piece of the CSX main line track already goes through Irmo. No Amtrak trains use this part of CSX.
> 
> Mayor John Gibbons and Irmo residents believe a new siding in town would allow multiple trains to use the siding to keep the CSX main track fluid. Irmo residents say the siding would cause noise and shake their homes.
> 
> Irmo was founded as a railroad whistle stop in the late 19th Century. Right now, up to 20 trains run daily through the community, and Irmo sits in the middle of a 30 mile segment of single line track without a siding. In the real world, that?s known as a bottleneck.


Why don't people who come up with this sort of nonsense simply get laughed off the stage? The founding of the town in 1890 was because of the railroad. It was originally a fueling stop in the days of wood burners. This particular piece of the CSX was originally the Columbia Newbury and Laurens, and was no more and no less than a line connecting those three places. The large number of trains is proablaby because it it taking a goodly portion of the traffic that comes off the Clinchfield, running Spartanburg, Laurens --> CN&L --> Columbia --> ex-SAL main.

Almost equally silly was a complaint I ran across the other day fram a resident of Frisco, Texas about train noise. Let's see, the town was named for the railroad, should that maybe tell you something about what runs through the center of town?

Duhh?

George


----------



## AmtrakWPK

And the real estate salespeople selling homes probably know the train schedules and do their best to make sure that they show homes when there are no trains scheduled, and tell folks that those tracks are hardly ever used.


----------



## frj1983

AmtrakWPK said:


> And the real estate salespeople selling homes probably know the train schedules and do their best to make sure that they show homes when there are no trains scheduled, and tell folks that those tracks are hardly ever used.


Or more likely, people pay no attention to "those trains" because they're always passing through and who worries about them. Until you move into a house near the tracks. I once lived in a house right next to the tracks. Granted, it was not a main line, but many trains rumbled down the track with loaded coal cars to the power plant. Was it bothersome? for the first few weeks, and then it blended into the background. What bothers me more these days are those who have to drive their cars around with the music turned up so loud that the house rumbles. I guarantee you, those people will be deaf by their mid-thirties! Then they'll be looking for someone to sue.

In the meantime, the trains keep rolling!!


----------



## WICT106

This Week at Amtrak; January 26, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 4

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) So many of us have been wondering where the Sunset Limited is, east of

New Orleans. It's been AWOL since a couple of days before Hurricane

Katrina hit in 2005. Even though CSX, the host railroad for the Sunset

east of New Orleans released its post-hurricane rebuilt track to Amtrak

for the Sunset on April 1, 2006, there's been nary a Sunset in sight.

Amtrak hasn't notified its unions of a discontinuance, and it says the

train is coming back. But, when? And, what has been the delay?

Here's a glimmer of information which may shed some light on the subject.

SunHerald.com, the online web site of The Sun Herald in Southern

Mississippi, datelined a story from Pascagoula (Senator Trent Lott's

hometown) about Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's recent appointment

of a new member to the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission, which is a

governmental body consisting of members from Mississippi, Alabama, and

Louisiana that promotes passenger rail along the Gulf Coast. This is the

same group that originally created the late, but successful Gulf Coast

Limited of the 1990s, that ran daily between New Orleans and Mobile,

Alabama, over the same tracks as the Sunset Limited.

Here's a quote from the story by Sun Herald staff writer Donna Harris:

[begin quote]

Amtrak is in talks with the Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission about

implementing various passenger services, including the Sunset Limited.

The Sunset line once ran from Orlando to Los Angeles, making stops in

Mobile, Gulfport and New Orleans.

The transit commission penned a resolution urging Amtrak to develop a

detailed corridor investment and implementation plan. The commission has

said it will work with Amtrak to pursue federal, state and local funding

for operational and infrastructure costs.

Commissioner Elizabeth Sanders of Mobile told the Associated Press in

November that the commission is asking for just under $22 million in

federal funding to improve the tri-state rail system. The funding must be

matched by the three states.

[End quote]

So, is the real culprit for the delay of putting the missing link of the

Sunset Limited and Amtrak's national system back into place that Amtrak

is just waiting for someone else to pony up the money to do this, even

though the Sunset has always been operated as part of the national

system, and has never had any individual state funding?

Is this the beginning of some sort of plan where all long distance trains

will be carved up into state-sponsored links where Amtrak seeks state

funding instead of using its own marketing muscle to attract riders to

earn revenue to operate trains?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Amtrak seeking state funding for

corridor trains. California has proven the theory of good local marketing

for corridor trains easily replaces high state subsidies demanded by

Amtrak, as long as Amtrak has nothing to do with the local marketing.

But, holding a national system restoration hostage in exchange for all of

the benefits to the national system through matrix opportunities, plus

Amtrak's national mission to operate a healthy rail passenger system is

just wrong.

Jesse James at least had the professionalism and courtesy to use a gun

and a mask when he was robbing someone. If Amtrak is trying to do the

same thing to the Gulf Coast states, then shame on Amtrak.

2) Last week, we discussed much about how the national news media reports

incorrect facts about Amtrak, and how that hurts the company and its

efforts to operate a national long distance system.

One startling, incorrect fact was reported on National Public Radio's

Morning Edition on Tuesday, January 23rd. Reporter Nancy Solomon of NPR,

as if she was reporting gospel, said Amtrak's Northeast Corridor props up

the rest of the long distance trains in the country by generating more

cash, and therefore subsiding the alleged money losing long distance

trains.

Aaarrrggghhhhh!

How can any reporter that is supposed to be enlightened about the subject

they are reporting on, report such nonsense?

The answer is, because Amtrak corporate communications and Amtrak

executives have allowed this to happen for far too long, without

challenge or an attempt to present the true facts.

Even the federal Government Accountability Office gets it wrong, and

things like this make it into print, and people actually believe this

nonsense.

When is all of this going to stop?

Reviewing last week's TWA, for all of those sitting in the back of the

classroom, we discover ...

[begin quote from last week's TWA]

[Amtrak's] own figures from FY 06 show 2,430,166,000 revenue passenger

miles were generated by the long distance train national network, while

the combination of all NEC trains, including Wondertrain Acela was just

1,482,448,000 revenue passenger miles, and the short distance trains,

which includes state supported trains, generated only 1,448,903,000

revenue passenger miles.

To put it another way so everyone can understand, 15 daily and tri-weekly

long distance trains in each direction generated 2.4 billion revenue

passenger miles, 40 daily NEC trains in each direction generated 1.5

billion revenue passenger miles, and 102 short distance daily trains

generated 1.4 billion revenue passenger miles.

Not to make too fine of a point, but 2.4 billion revenue passenger miles

from 15 trains (two of which aren't even daily) versus 2.9 billion

revenue passenger miles from 142 NEC and short distance trains hardly

seems like "lightly used long distance trains." ...

From a financial aspect, the 15 trains in the long distance network, on

average each generate $23,868,066 in gross revenue (before any subsidy),

and the 142 trains in the NEC and short distance networks only generate

$7,035,810 each on average in gross revenue. The total operating expense

(according to Amtrak figures) was $1.1 billion for the NEC and short

distance networks, and $841 million for the long distance train networks.

The average load factor on the 15 long distance network trains was 55.1%,

on the 102 short distance trains, 40.7%, and 45.2% on NEC trains.

As to the "money losing" aspect, that Amtrak figure is confusing and

needs to be cleared up. The FY 06 books show a positive cash flow for

Acela, without any subsidy necessary. But, the same books also show a

subsidy requirement for other NEC trains, which use the same stations,

same dispatching personnel, same tracks, and same reservation system as

the Acela trains. Please explain how one set of trains, Acelas, with

2,668,200 riders can "make money," while other NEC trains, with 6,840,200

riders, loses money.

We also know [Amtrak] executives have made statements that the long

distance system loses $300 million a year (and the FRA in the past has

put that figure at $100 million), but your FY 06 books show that figure

at $481.6 million. Where are the books being padded? What is being

charged against the long distance system that isn't being charged against

the short distance or NEC trains?

Is the difference in the cost of maintenance of way of the NEC, which you

are charging to capital costs instead of operating costs? Are you even

charging a set track fee to Acela and other NEC trains, or are you

dumping everything into a capital costs account the "pretty up" the

operating books? If the true federal operating subsidy is a total of $584

million, and you received $1.3 billion from the federal government, where

did the rest of the money go, after Railroad Retirement mandatory

payments and debt service?

[End quote]

Along this same subject was a Washington story generated last week by the

Associated Press and distributed nationwide. It ran in a number of

newspapers, and even in such places as Business Week magazine. There was

a time when those of us who used to be in the news business knew we could

depend on the AP for accurate reporting. Those days seem to be

disappearing.

The AP story was an interview of Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant,

and covered a wide range of topics. The AP reporter, Sarah Karush, seems

to have done some homework in preparation for the interview, but clearly

not enough homework.

Part of the story states:

[begin quote]

The government-owned corporation reported record ticket revenue of $1.37

billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, an 11 percent increase over

fiscal 2005, with ridership ticking up 1 percent to 24.3 million

passengers. The system, created in 1970 to take over declining passenger

rail service, is heavily dependent on government funding; it received

$1.3 billion from Congress, including a $485 million operating subsidy,

for the 2006 fiscal year.

... A November report by the Government Accountability Office concluded

that long-distance routes -- such as the Sunset Limited from New Orleans

to Los Angeles and the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle -- account

for 15 percent of riders and 80 percent of Amtrak's losses, and provide

little public benefit.

[End quote]

The statement made by the GAO report is actually accurate, but totally

meaningless. Yes, when you look at raw ridership numbers, long distance

trains did account for 15 percent of warm bodies that stepped onto Amtrak

trains.

However, again, this statement means nothing, unless you're writing about

single-zone pricing in transit. Other than Amtrak - and this is a long

standing, self-inflicted wound by Amtrak for decades, now - no other

common carrier, whether it's an airline, bus company, or steamship

company, reports pure ridership numbers as a measure of success. These

numbers mean nothing. Revenue passenger miles are the only true

measurement, and they are the only measurement which is reported in the

national media when writing about airlines and bus lines and steamship

lines' success or failure.

So, why, when writing about Amtrak does the press continue to only write

incorrectly about ridership? How can the press continue to embarrass

itself this way? If they can't get something as simple as this correct,

what else is the press getting wrong?

Just for the sake of covering the same ground again, ridership is only a

measurement of the number of bodies carried. Ridership does not measure

how far each body is carried, nor how much is paid to the common carrier

to carry the body. Revenue passenger miles - a measurement of how much

revenue is generated by carrying each passenger one mile - tells the true

story.

Using FY 06 numbers, an average passenger traveling on the Ethan Allen

service in New England has an average length of trip of 191.1 miles, at

24.76 cents per mile of revenue. That means the average passenger

generates $47.31 per trip.

An average passenger on the Palmetto, which serves the East Coast between

New York and Georgia, has an average length of trip of 446.9 miles, at

16.55 cents per mile of revenue. That means the average passenger

generates $73.96 per trip.

Which passenger would you rather have? One that generates $47.31 per trip

on any given departure of the Ethan Allen on any given day, or one that

generates $73.96 per trip on any given departure of the Palmetto on any

given day?

Both riders count as one passenger when looking at the way the ridership

figures are incorrectly used. Yet, one passenger accounts for only 64% of

the revenue of the other passenger. This is why it is so important to

only talk in terms of revenue passenger miles.

You may wish to say "aha!," obviously what matters is the Ethan Allen

passenger generates more revenue than the Palmetto passenger, and,

therefore, the Ethan Allen is the superior business model.

Well, no, that's not true, either.

The Ethan Allen generated 21,447,884 available seat miles for FY 06, and

the Palmetto generated 147,065,912 available seat miles. At 24.76 cents

of revenue per mile, (21,447,884 total seat miles for sale multiplied by

24.76 cents per mile potential revenue), the Ethan Allen could

theoretically generate $5,310,496 in annual revenue. Using the same

formula for the Palmetto, $24,339,408 in annual revenue could

theoretically be generated. Again, which train is the best business model

to follow?

The Ethan Allen has a route length of 241 miles, and the Palmetto, 829

miles. The Ethan Allen has two exclusive stations to serve the route, and

the rest are shared with other trains. The Palmetto has no exclusive

stations; all are shared with other trains. The Ethan Allen uses the New

York City crew base, and overnights the train crews in Rutland, Vermont

at Amtrak's expense. The Palmetto uses the same crew base, and overnights

the train crews in Savannah, Georgia. Both trains have all reserved coach

seating, business class service, and lounge/café car service. The

Palmetto carries a baggage car, the Ethan Allen does not. The Ethan Allen

is primarily financed through the Vermont State Department of

Transportation, and the Palmetto receives no state financing.

Other than the baggage car, the only real difference between the two

trains is the route length and the number of cars on each train. Even if

the Ethan Allen carried an identical consist as the Palmetto, the shorter

route could still not hope to generate as much revenue as the longer

route.

The only difference in costs are fuel, train and engine crews, and train

mile costs. Most other costs remain very close. It's the great difference

in the revenue opportunities that distinguishes they two trains. This

also explains why it is so dangerous to only measure Amtrak success by

ridership, and not revenue passenger miles.

And, by the way, the Ethan Allen has a load factor of 38%, and the

Palmetto, 44%, which shows the Palmetto outperforming the Ethan Allen in

every category that matters.

In other parts of the AP narrative, the story says,

[begin quote]

Amtrak's new president wants to upgrade the passenger railroad's image

and the tracks it shares with the nation's increasingly busy freight rail

carriers, and he expects the federal government to help.

... Alex Kummant said he found the much-maligned railroad in better shape

than he expected. But he said it could still do a better job taking

advantage of a growing appetite for rail travel fueled by high gas prices

and highway congestion.

"There is a lot of good news to talk about," Kummant told The Associated

Press in an interview in his office atop Washington's Union Station. "You

have to build the Amtrak brand for people."

Amtrak needs to work with states to expand service over medium distances

and improve the long-distance trains that account for most of its losses,

Kummant said. Government incentives to stimulate capital investment in

the nation's nearly maxed-out rail infrastructure are also key, he said.

Kummant, ... said expectations that Amtrak could be self-sufficient are

misguided. He noted passenger rail is subsidized throughout the world.

There could be room to partner with the private sector, he said, but

added: "You need to walk before you can run."

Amtrak supporters are hopeful the new Congress will pass legislation

introduced last week by Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Trent Lott,

R-Miss., that would establish funding targets for Amtrak for the next six

years. It would also create a program of capital matching grants for

states that want to invest in "corridor service" -- the term Amtrak uses

to describe frequently traveled routes up to about 500 miles, such as the

northeast corridor running from Boston to Washington. Currently, 14

states pay Amtrak for service.

Kummant said the shorter routes are Amtrak's real growth opportunity.

"We can offer genuine solutions to public transportation problems with

that type of service," he said.

Rail service on such corridors can be competitive at 80 to 100 miles per

hour, without trying to provide capital-intensive high-speed service, he

said. Amtrak's fastest train, the Acela Express on the northeast

corridor, reaches 150 miles per hour, but such speeds require upgraded

electrical systems and tracks.

[End quote]

Much of this is refreshing to read. It's nice to know the company is in

better shape than expected, and Mr. Kummant wants to improve the sadly

tarnished Amtrak image, plus he is eager to expand the company to meet

the growing demand for passenger rail service. More power to him.

Here is the first glimmer of what may be questionable. Mr. Kummant says

Amtrak needs to work with various states to expand service over medium

distances and improve the long distance trains that account for most of

the losses.

Let's stop right here.

Again, here is the statement that long distance trains account for most

of the losses. Really? Is everyone sure? While Amtrak's books are being

untangled from years of Enron-style booking, are we really, really,

really sure the long distance trains account for most of the losses? How

is this so, if these trains have the highest load factors, generate huge

amounts of revenue passenger miles, and a single daily train route has

more financial muscle than a whole group of NEC or short distance trains?

Until we know for sure (and many of us are pretty sure that statement is

wrong about the long distance trains after a lot of research by some

impressive railroad professionals), can Amtrak and its executives and

spokespersons please stop using such declarative statements? Can we at

least have some modifiers on those statements that say, "we don't know

for sure, but we may suspect blah, blah, blah"?

Mr. Kummant says that 500 mile corridors can prove to be the hottest area

of growth for the company. That's well and good, depending on how those

corridors are put together. One very positive thing he says in the

article is rail service in these corridors can be competitive at 80 to

100 mph, without having the capital intensive costs of the normal

definition of high speed rail.

Somebody please give the gentleman a medal out of petty cash. Yes, yes,

yes. That is so very true. Rail can be very satisfying to the traveling

public at speeds which are easily achievable on most of today's

infrastructure, with few modifications for slightly higher speeds. Beyond

bragging rights, there is little incentive to create what is considered

true high speed rail at enormous capital costs before a mature system of

conventional speed corridors are developed at much lower investments.

Corridors averaging 500 miles in length, or even up to 700 or 800 miles

in length can easily host cheap to operate, but high passenger

satisfaction trains similar to the Palmetto of today. The Palmetto in its

various incarnations, has always been a nearly sold-out at times cash cow

for Amtrak that has been inexpensive to operate. One locomotive, a half

dozen or more cars, including a decent food service car, an upgraded

business class car, and coaches, plus a baggage car on a mostly daylight

schedule is a very attractive business model to follow. Staffing levels

are kept relatively low, there are good RPMs, and often only two train

sets are required for daily operation.

Use the route of the Crescent south of Washington, D.C. as an example of

how this type of operation can mesh well with long distance trains. There

are plenty of NEC trains between Boston and Washington without adding

another frequency. However, the trip from Washington to Atlanta, Georgia,

via Charlotte, North Carolina is about a 12 hour trip. The Crescent

travels over this segment of its route mostly at night. Add a daytime

frequency between Washington and Atlanta, a la the Palmetto. Since you're

already establishing a crew and turn maintenance base in Atlanta, add

another mostly daylight run, of, again, about 12 hours from Atlanta to

New Orleans, but off of the Crescent's current daytime portion of that

run by a few hours to provide the full benefits of a second frequency.

Suddenly, the route now has multiple frequency service with very

inexpensive operating characteristics, and the only new addition is a

small turn maintenance and crew base in Atlanta. Major cities like

Charlotte now have good daylight service on a route which was previously

only served at night.

Look at almost any other Amtrak long distance route, and working in 12 to

15 hour time frames for route lengths, see how many cheap and easy to

operate trains can be added to the Amtrak system. Then, start doing the

math. We know adding a frequency to a route more than doubles ridership

because more people have more travel opportunities at times that are

convenient for the passenger, not the Amtrak operating department.

Station and infrastructure costs go down because expenses which were

formerly the burden of one train are now spread out over two or more

trains.

Further in the AP story, the following was reported:

[begin quote]

Kummant said he had no intention of abandoning long-distance routes,

loosely defined as those longer than 500 miles. But he said he is working

with Amtrak's board of directors, made up of appointees of President

Bush, to come up with a strategy that might include breaking some long

routes into multiple state corridors.

Amtrak is criticized for the losses in the long-distance routes, but if

those routes were eliminated, they would be very hard to re-establish,

Kummant said. Still, he predicted future growth will likely come from

corridor service, while long-distance ridership will remain flat.

[End quote]

If breaking some long distance routes into multiple state corridors means

augmenting the current long distance trains with the type of daylight

operations outlined immediately above, that is good. If this statement,

which desperately needs clarification, means ending seamless long

distance trains in favor of short distance corridor trains that would

require passenger transfers from one train to another, that is totally

unacceptable. If this statement means similar scenarios to the hijacking

of the Sunset Limited restoration for return in exchange for state funds,

that is also unacceptable.

Amtrak's mission is to operate a healthy national trains system, not a

disjointed series of corridors. As said before, that is nothing wrong is

corridors as support for a good long distance system. Corridors in place

of long distance trains goes against everything for which Amtrak was

created, and is painfully, again, transit mentality versus passenger

train mentality.

Mr. Kummant said long distance ridership will remain flat, that growth is

in corridors. Okay, why will long distance ridership remain flat? Because

in the last few years Amtrak has been systematically reducing train

consists, and, therefore having less product to sell to passengers?

Because Amtrak spends less than half on national system sales and

marketing that it spends on NEC marketing, and only slightly more than on

state supported corridor marketing? Is it possible that if Amtrak beefed

the consists back up to their original sizes of only less than a decade

ago, and actually spent a few dollars on long distance train marketing

and stopped keeping Amtrak as America's best kept secret that long

distance train ridership would not remain flat?

If long distance train ridership remain flat, that is only because Amtrak

management chooses to keep that ridership flat. Amtrak has resources to

increase the ridership, but it also must have the corporate will to do

so.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 1, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 5

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) (Sigh) There is Amtrak winter naughtiness again in Chicago. Many of us

had optimistically thought the Winter of '07 was going to be the winter

Amtrak got over its many bad weather operating problems in Chicago. Alas,

that doesn't seem to be the case.

Here's what Amtrak's internal daily report had to say about the Cardinal,

running from Chicago to New York City via Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and

Washington.

[begin quote]

The report for January 31st says:

Train 50 [The Cardinal, complete with sleeping cars, dinette, and

coaches, departing Chicago on Tuesday, January 30th at 5:45 P.M., Central

Time] ... operating with locomotive 205 and 6 cars reported south at Dyer

[indiana, 29 miles out of Chicago and one hour and 12 minutes after the

scheduled Chicago departure] that all toilets were inoperative account

frozen, except for (1) toilet in lounge car. Beech Grove mechanical

advised to meet train in Indianapolis, but advised that if they were able

to thaw toilets that there might be freeze damage and that toilets could

freeze again after departure. Due to health and sanitation issues with

one working toilet and unable to confirm repair of frozen toilets,

decision was made to arrange for busses and terminate train. (2) busses

were secured to meet train at Cincinnati where 46 passengers where

transferred to the busses to destination.

[End quote]

What the report doesn't say: The trainmaster in Chicago ordered the train

out of the initial Chicago terminal in this condition, with toilets

frozen, despite the protests of the train's conductor.

The train was terminated at Cincinnati, 319 miles out of Chicago and at

3:00 A.M. because of the unsanitary conditions.

Contrary to internal Amtrak advisories, operating employees report the

train came from the yard in this condition, and the conductor, upon

reporting the inoperative toilets, was ordered by management to depart

anyway. The crew was unable to do anything to fix the toilets and gave up

near Dyer, where they advised the Operations Center of the problem.

Mechanical personnel from Beech Grove Shops were to meet the train at

Indianapolis but said that even if they could thaw out the frozen

toilets, there could be leaks due to burst pipes, and the toilets could

freeze up again shortly afterwards.

Buses were called to meet the train at Cincinnati, where passengers were

transferred and taken to enroute destinations up to Washington, D.C.

Passengers for Northeast Corridor points north of Washington were handled

by NEC trains.

Food and beverages in the lounge/dinette car were loaded onto the buses

and provided complimentary to passengers; meal stops were made by the

buses on Wednesday.

Equipment was deadheaded from Cincinnati to New York.

Looking at this situation, one Washington wag commented, "Seems to be a

common problem. A terminal manager will push a train out of his area in

order to improve his on-time batting average and if it hits the fan later

on, well, it's someone else's problem.

"The other question is why the yard crews and management in Chicago still

can't find the 480-volt electrical service to keep the equipment warm

during layovers. [installed and intended to avoid problems exactly like

this one.]"

At this early date, we know the Chicago Amtrak boss is a longtime

operations veteran and good railroader and will likely take action, but,

also, what does President and CEO Alex Kummant know about this

personally, and what will he do to rectify such problems?

2) Other folks in Illinois, not riding the Cardinal of January 30th, are

excited about the possibility of expanding Amtrak service in their state.

United States Senator Dick Durbin is among those pushing for expanded

service.

Reporter Thomas Geyer, writing in the Quad-City Times, on Saturday,

January 27th, which covers events in Rock Island, reported on a public

meeting about Amtrak.

[begin quote]

"We've been going to Washington for many years in pursuit of rail service

for the Quad-Cities and we always came away empty," Rock Island City

Manager John Phillips said. "For years, the people there would just stare

at us blankly, not giving us any indication that things would ever be

different."

Now, he said, it seems as though things are different, "and with Amtrak's

success in Illinois and elsewhere, federal lawmakers are taking a fresh

look at things."

[senator] Durbin, along with George Weber, chief of the passenger rail

division of the Illinois Department of Transportation, or DOT, and Ray

Lang, Amtrak's senior director for governmental affairs, gave their ideas

to a crowd of about 200 people during an hour-long meeting at Rock

Island's Abbey Station.

... Amtrak's goal is to double the number of riders nationwide by 2020,

he [Lang] said, adding that Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail

service. The company's future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles.

He said Illinois is one of 14 states that have a rail service contract

with Amtrak.

[End quote]

Oops! What? Did the Quad-City Times reporter correctly quote Mr. Lang, a

long time Amtrak public affairs veteran and experienced spokesman, saying

"Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail service. The company's

future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles."?

Putting two and two together, and hoping it doesn't add up to five, we

have last week's offering from Mr. Kummant in the Associated Press

article which was printed across the land that long distance train

ridership was expected to be flat, and reiterating the belief in state

sponsored corridors of 300 to 500 miles in length.

3) But, wait, there's more. Amtrak This Week, the company's internal

employee communication (and no relation to This Week at Amtrak),

prominently features Mr. Kummant's writings, saying:

[begin quote]

Dear Co-workers,

Let me take a moment to bring you up to date on a couple of important

issues, one of which is the work we're doing to improve our long-distance

on-time performance. Because it's essential that we foster a productive

relationship with our freight partners at all levels, I've met with each

major host railroad CEO at least once, the most recent visits being to

BNSF and NS just this month. In addition to targeting some of our

chronically late trains, we're also identifying new ways to expand

capacity for growth and improved reliability in the future.

While I'm far from satisfied with the current state of long distance OTP,

we've seen some solid improvements on Auto Train and Silver Service

trains since we began targeting those trains with CSXT in August. Auto

Train OTP has improved 27 percentage points, Silver Meteor 38 percentage

points and Silver Star 22 percentage points (comparing Aug. 1 through

Jan. 25 to the same period last year).We still have work to do there, but

I know the crews aboard the trains have noticed the difference.

Poor OTP sets off a downward spiral that affects not only passengers'

confidence in Amtrak, but also taxes our crews and puts our equipment

cycling and servicing way out of whack.

I have another meeting with UP's CEO Jim Young next week, and I will

continue to keep you informed about what we're doing on this front.

[End quote]

Did you notice that one line neatly tucked into the statement: "In

addition to targeting some of our chronically late trains, we're also

identifying new ways to expand capacity for growth and improved

reliability in the future."?

Let's look at some of those words, again: "expand capacity for growth and

improved reliability in the future."

What type of growth are we talking about? Most likely corridor growth,

but, the majority of Mr. Kummant's writing seems to be about the long

distance network. Is it possible that Mr. Lang, who is far down the

corporate food chain from Mr. Kummant, was just continuing to spout the

company line as instructed, where Mr. Kummant may be signaling a change

in thinking about the many possibilities for growth and financial

improvement through the long distance system?

Time, of course, will tell, but this provides a possible glimmer of hope

that "someone gets it" when it comes to the many virtues of Amtrak's long

distance network of trains.

4) Another interesting note from Amtrak This Week; apparently Amtrak is

beginning a campaign to stop being America's Best Kept Secret:

[begin quote]

Marketing and Product Management:

Amtrak Chairman David Laney and Westwood One's Jim Gray will present the

"Amtrak/Westwood One Player of the Year" award during the Amtrak Super

Bowl XLI halftime show on Westwood One Radio.

[End quote]

Well, if you're going to stop being a secret, it's nothing like making a

splash in radio during the Super Bowl. Good work, Amtrak.

5) An Amtrak/passenger rail update from here in Florida reveals that the

State of Florida, which under now retired Governor Jeb Bush in 2001 set

aside $60 million for implementation of Amtrak service over the Florida

East Coast Railroad from Jacksonville to West Palm Beach where the

service would join the existing coast service down to Miami on the old

Seaboard Air Line/CSX main line, still has the money waiting for use for

this project. Sources say Florida DOT and Amtrak are still having

discussions regarding the implementation of this service.

6) Beginning today, Jim Young of Union Pacific Railroad will become the

railroad's chairman of the board, following the retirement of Dick

Davidson, a 47 year UP veteran. Mr. Davidson was chairman of UP for 10

years.

Notable about Mr. Davidson's service to the UP was the indigestion of the

Southern Pacific Railroad takeover by the UP and the resulting and still

recurring problems with the Sunset Limited and Coast Starlight routes for

on time performance issues, plus, the comment by his former chief

spokesman labeling Amtrak passenger trains as "novelty transportation,"

as opposed to being a part of our nation's domestic transportation

network.

We wish Mr. Young, the new chairman of UP, every success in his

leadership of the company.

6) The Mobile, Alabama Press-Register reported Sunday, January 28th on

the death of the lead partner in the redevelopment of the former

L&N/CSX/Amtrak hurricane damaged station and office building on Mobile's

waterfront next to downtown.

The remaining partners in the project, which will demolish the old

building and build the 241-unit Water Street Landing, will still create

Mobile's first waterfront condominium project. The project will include

60,000 square feet of retail space, and will be built on the west side of

the existing CSX main line track. Water Street Landing will be built next

to the Mobile convention center, which is also built atop the CSX track,

creating a tunnel for all trains.

The Mobile station was the station with the worst damage from 2005's

Hurricane Katrina, and became unusable. The platforms still remain.

The lack of use of this station facility is one of the ongoing "the dog

ate my homework" excuses by Amtrak for not restoring the Sunset Limited

east of New Orleans and into Florida.

In reality, this new development should not hamper development of a new

or temporary Amtrak station while the project is being built. It is

merely an inconvenience that can be overcome by any Amtrak management

that may be interested in restoring this vital part of Amtrak's national

rail system.

7) One other notable retirement has occurred as of today, February 1st.

Capitol Hill is noting the departure of Glenn Scammel, as the Staff

Director and Senior Majority Counsel of the Rail Subcommittee of the

House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Scammel was a long Republican Hill staffer, and before that, served

his country in the military in Judge Advocate General's work. Mr. Scammel

is a bona fide fan of trains and planes, and his passion showed in his

always excellent work. He has been highly active in successful efforts to

clean up Enron-style compulsions in Amtrak's daily corporate life, and

help guide the railroad on the road to ultimate success as a vibrant and

healthy company. Many of Mr. Scammel's labors haven't been seen by many

outside of Washington, but have been felt by nearly everyone.

Mr. Scammel was more than a bureaucrat, he was a visionary that demanded

compliance with the law, accountability of the people's money and

resources, and a workable plan for the future. Much of the good

legislation introduced by Republicans regarding railroads and Amtrak was

often the handiwork of Mr. Scammel and his staff.

He says that in the process of retiring from government service, he is

now "privatizing" himself, and plans to work in the private sector in

Washington. We are all fortunate this great public servant who has given

so much to his nation will continue to contribute to the public good

through new avenues of endeavor.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

mailto:[email protected]


----------



## Trogdor

MrFSS said:


> ... Amtrak's goal is to double the number of riders nationwide by 2020,he [Lang] said, adding that Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail
> 
> service. The company's future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles.
> 
> He said Illinois is one of 14 states that have a rail service contract
> 
> with Amtrak.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Oops! What? Did the Quad-City Times reporter correctly quote Mr. Lang, a
> 
> long time Amtrak public affairs veteran and experienced spokesman, saying
> 
> "Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail service. The company's
> 
> future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles."?


Anyone actually reading the article would already question whether the answer to that question is yes. The fact is, the statement (about Amtrak not looking at long-distance trains) is not put in quotes, meaning that the reporter is not directly quoting the Amtrak official, but rather paraphrasing what was said. Without the full quote and context of the statement, there's no way we could really know what he was talking about. He could have been just referencing that particular proposed service (to the Quad Cities), which would likely be run as a corridor rather than a long-distance train.

Then again, it's not like I expect anything from Bruce Richardson.


----------



## haolerider

rmadisonwi said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> ... Amtrak's goal is to double the number of riders nationwide by 2020,
> 
> he [Lang] said, adding that Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail
> 
> service. The company's future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles.
> 
> He said Illinois is one of 14 states that have a rail service contract
> 
> with Amtrak.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Oops! What? Did the Quad-City Times reporter correctly quote Mr. Lang, a
> 
> long time Amtrak public affairs veteran and experienced spokesman, saying
> 
> "Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail service. The company's
> 
> future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles."?
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone actually reading the article would already question whether the answer to that question is yes. The fact is, the statement (about Amtrak not looking at long-distance trains) is not put in quotes, meaning that the reporter is not directly quoting the Amtrak official, but rather paraphrasing what was said. Without the full quote and context of the statement, there's no way we could really know what he was talking about. He could have been just referencing that particular proposed service (to the Quad Cities), which would likely be run as a corridor rather than a long-distance train.
> 
> Then again, it's not like I expect anything from Bruce Richardson.
Click to expand...

Just a quick comment about Bruce Richardson's comments regarding Amtrak and the Super Bowl. Amtrak has been a sponsor of the Mondy Night Games on Westwood One radio network for almost 7 years and have made this presentation every year at the Super Bowl. It is not televised, but is certainly part of the radio broadcast, so this is not something new.

Bruce is like most people. Unless you hear or see something directly, most people assume there is no advertising and/or promotions - while the opposite is true. Amtrak does market and advertise, but not in all markets and not on the TV or radio station each of us may use. Different market segments call for different tactics.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 16, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 6

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Thanks to all those who inquired about the missing editions of TWA

these last two weeks. Due to a pressing need to complete some large

projects, it was not possible to produce TWA and meet other deadlines. We

hope this has not caused any inconvenience.

2) According to the National Association of Railroad Passengers and other

groups and some media, the sky is yet again falling, and the Earth

continues to rush up to meet it.

Yes, it's that time of year when the reigning administration submits an

annual budget to Congress, and, of course, there is never enough money

suggested to please those who think government money grows on trees.

The Bush administration has suggested a small budget for Amtrak for

Fiscal Year 2008 of $900 million. Horrors. Just $100 million shy of a

billion dollars in free federal monies, and the fatalists think all of

the nation's passenger trains will grind to a screeching halt any minute,

now.

When cooler heads look at the budget picture, we know a couple of things

to be true, versus the dogmatic rhetoric that comes from all of the usual

suspects.

While $900 million is less than previously allotted by Congress in the

final budget figures (the only ones that really matter, by the way),

Amtrak usually gets $1.2 billion or more each year, lately. For FY 2006

and FY 2007, Amtrak got $1.3 billion each year.

Keep in mind all national operations and NEC operations together, plus

continuous upgrades to the Northeast Corridor can be accomplished with

this small budget request. So, even if this budget suggestion was

ultimately turned into law, Amtrak would not be shut down, nor would

passenger trains operations be curtailed.

Now, let's look at the crux of the problem of budgeting free federal

monies for Amtrak every year. Here is what the United States Department

of Transportation said regarding the FY 2008 Amtrak budget request.

[begin quote}

Focusing Amtrak's Spending Priorities

The Administration believes that scarce taxpayer dollars must be spent

wisely, including the funds provided to Amtrak. Led by its Board of

Directors, Amtrak made some progress in 2006 to strengthen its finances

by increasing revenues and controlling costs. While Amtrak's recent

performance is encouraging, it continues to under perform overall.

Amtrak's system-wide on-time performance again dropped in 2006 to 68

percent, and it required $490 million in operating subsidies, mostly for

its money-losing long distance trains. When last measured for 2002, the

net Federal subsidy per thousand passenger miles traveled was $199.90 for

rail, $5.87 for commercial aviation, and -$.95 for highway users

according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. While Amtrak

carried 24 million passengers in 2006, domestic air carriers that year

flew 656 million passengers.

Historically, Amtrak has been hampered by a lack of accountability, poor

design, and mismanagement. The latest critical review of Amtrak comes

from the Government Accountability Office, which concluded, among several

findings, that Amtrak's long-distance trains "show limited public

benefits for dollars expended," and that "these routes account for 15

percent of riders but 80 percent of financial losses." To turn the

enterprise around, the Administration has urged basic reforms that would

empower local communities and ultimately customers to determine the most

efficient way to run trains. The Administration expects the Board's

newly-installed management to make significant changes required to enable

the company to succeed without Federal operating subsidies. The

Department plans to administer Amtrak's subsidy with this goal in mind.

The 2008 Budget proposes a subsidy that would require that Amtrak make

hard choices about its services and commit to running the railroad more

like a business. The request is part of a multi-year program to reduce

and then eliminate Amtrak's reliance on Federal operating assistance as

required by the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997 (49 USC

24101). For 2008, the Budget recommends $900 million for intercity

passenger rail, but only $800 million for Amtrak directly. This amount

includes $300 million for operating costs, compared to the $490 million

Amtrak received in 2006, beginning the phasing out of operating

subsidies. The Budget continues to fund Amtrak's infrastructure needs

with a capital request of $500 million, which is equal to the 2006

enacted level. This level should underwrite Amtrak's ongoing efforts to

rehabilitate the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston,

which is by far its most heavily used and important route. In addition,

the President's Budget requests $100 million for capital matching grants

to States for intercity passenger rail projects. This new program would

give local communities resources to direct investment in facilities that

reflect their top rail transportation priorities. The Administration

believes the Federal Government should help States fund capital projects

where there is strong demand for rail service, and help foster managed

competition among rail operators to encourage innovation and cost

control.

[End quote]

Look at some of the same, often useless and incorrect phrases used in the

budget request: "mostly for its money-losing long distance trains. When

last measured for 2002, the net Federal subsidy per thousand passenger

miles traveled was $199.90 for rail, $5.87 for commercial aviation, and

-$.95 for highway users according to the Bureau of Transportation

Statistics ... latest critical review of Amtrak comes from the Government

Accountability Office, which concluded, among several findings, that

Amtrak's long-distance trains "show limited public benefits for dollars

expended,' and that "these routes account for 15 percent of riders but 80

percent of financial losses.' ... should underwrite Amtrak's ongoing

efforts to rehabilitate the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C.

and Boston, which is by far its most heavily used and important route

..."

We know the long distance trains are not money losers, too many studies

have shown that above the rail, the long distance trains at the minimum

break even, and most even throw off extra cash to fund other parts of the

company and operations.

The most incredible statement comes abstractly from the Government

Accountability Office, saying Amtrak's long distance trains show limited

public benefit for dollars spent and that routes account of 15% of

riders, but 80 percent of financial losses. To Amtrak's credit, in the

original GAO report (GAO-07-15) of November 13, 2006, the company

responded by reminding the GAO that actually, the long distance trains

account for 47% of passenger miles generated system-wide.

The last incredible statement is that the NEC is by far Amtrak's most

heavily used and important route. While it may carry the most passenger

bodies, it does not generate the most passenger miles, and the importance

of the NEC would be debatable to anyone living outside of the NEC area

served, particularly if you live in one of the rural areas of America

where Amtrak is the only common carrier available for use.

What this boils down to is that the Bush administration is operating from

flawed data, simply because that is what it has been fed to use. We know

the GAO report is deeply flawed, because it has used bad data supplied by

... Amtrak. We know Amtrak's data is flawed, because its books are still

a financial quagmire that is taking months to just begin to untangle.

Also, in the past, Amtrak has always incorrectly highlighted the

importance of the NEC and its version of high speed rail at the expense

of the rest of the national system. Looking at Amtrak past marketing and

public relations exercises shows a distinct disdain for anything other

than the NEC, and these defective efforts are coming back to haunt Amtrak

as it tries to look at itself seriously as a national common carrier.

Most importantly, Amtrak itself has continuously, mostly for the benefit

of the NEC, used passenger body counts instead of the transportation

industry gold standard of revenue passenger miles to measure success. By

sheer body counts, the long distance trains do carry less passengers,

which is a meaningless statistic. By revenue passenger miles, the long

distance trains generate 47% of the system wide passenger miles, a huge

amount.

In summary, what we are seeing every year from the White House is a

budget decision based on flawed data, that ultimately was generated by

Amtrak. Until Amtrak can convince budget decision makers about the real

numbers and needs, bad budget requests will continue to flow into the

national debate.

The oddest, and funniest news story to come so far from this year's

budget discussions? New Mexico Business Weekly, on Tuesday, February 6,

2007 ran a headline saying, "Proposed Bush budget would banish NM's

Amtrak service." The story went on to say, in a declaratory fashion with

no attribution, "The president's 2008 budget proposal would cut Amtrak's

funding from $1.3 billion to $900 million and eliminate the Southwest

Chief and Sunset Limited passenger lines."

You can't make this stuff up. Where does such nonsense come from, in what

is supposed to be a respected business publication?

2) In good news, Amtrak seems to be putting together a new advertising

push. The bad news is that the advertising seems to be just for Acela

trains on the NEC, and not the whole system.

On February 9th, Adweek, a well-respected industry magazine of the

advertising and marketing biz, reported that Amtrak is making a

multimedia push for the winter and spring travel season. The campaign is

based on research that shows travelers are taking less vacation time and

are therefore more concerned with the comfort and quality of their

leisure-time activities.

Adweek says the campaign seems to mostly be aimed towards NEC Acela

trains. There is no mention of the much more important national system

trains which generate greater amounts of revenue passenger miles and cash

for the system.

Here's the distressing part: Amtrak spent slightly less than $20 million

on ads last year, down 66 percent from the previous year. Why such a

drop? Was this due to the Acela trains being out of commission last year,

so Amtrak didn't think it was important to advertise the rest of the

system?

In terms of advertising spending, $20 million, for a company the size of

Amtrak, is, at best, trivial spending for something like advertising.

Now, here's an interesting twist to the whole advertising scenario.

On February 7th, Amtrak announced it has contracted with a multi-cultural

marketing communications firm to launch a multi-cultural advertising

campaign for both Acela trains and the long distance system. The firm,

based in Atlanta, Georgia, will help Amtrak develop promotions, special

events, and public relations. These are all things Amtrak desperately

needs, and undoubtedly will help Amtrak gain new riders.

A "Welcome On Board" ad will encourage audiences to consider Amtrak long

distance trains when planning trips, especially family vacations. An

Acela campaign will target business travelers.

Hey, this sounds great. Promoting the long distance system, getting some

good public relations going, and special events.

But, the ads will only target multi-cultural audiences via print, online

and radio advertising in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington,

and Miami. Both campaigns will be aired only through African American and

Hispanic media outlets.

What about the rest of us? Is Amtrak saying that no one other than

minorities ride long distance trains? What about the other thousands of

media markets outside of the major centers listed above? Don't people in

the other 40+ states want to ride passenger trains, too? Or, will they

just have to figure out things the best way they can and discover Amtrak

on their own?

These two campaigns are a bare minimum start, but nothing more than that.

3) In the last issue of TWA, we read about a meeting held in Illinois

regarding expansion of Amtrak service in that state. The following quote

appeared:

[begin quote]

Oops! What? Did the Quad-City Times reporter correctly quote Mr. Lang, a

long time Amtrak public affairs veteran and experienced spokesman, saying

"Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail service. The company's

future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles."?

Putting two and two together, and hoping it doesn't add up to five, we

have last week's offering from Mr. Kummant in the Associated Press

article which was printed across the land that long distance train

ridership was expected to be flat, and reiterating the belief in state

sponsored corridors of 300 to 500 miles in length.

[End quote]

This has a happy ending. Ray Lang was apparently misquoted, as often

happens in the press. A sharp-eyed TWA reader, Eliot A. Keller of Iowa

City, Iowa sent the following e-mail to TWA:

"He was misquoted.

"I was there in Rock Island.

"He said the biggest growth in ridership was expected in the future on

trains serving those routes." [Meaning corridors, and not long distance

routes; that the company is still looking at long distance routes.]

That is a great improvement over what was reported in the Quad-City

Times. Thank you, Mr. Keller for helping clarify that issue. That puts a

much more positive spin on things.

4) Two very different weather and train operation reports and statements

were made February 13th and February 14th as harsh winter weather rolled

across North America.

Amtrak issued an internal System Operations Flash Report on February

14th, warning of the coming weather, and made plans to cancel or

terminate early 50 trains in the Midwest and Northeast.

VIA Rail Canada, on the other hand, on February 13th, warming to the

conditions of the same storm, issued this public announcement:

[begin quote]

VIA Rail Canada is preparing for major winter storm

Montreal - In light of the major storm that is expected to hit Central

Canada and the Maritimes over the next couple of days, VIA would like to

remind its passengers that is has taken all the necessary steps to offer

safe and reliable travel to those using its intercity and longer distance

trains in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. While heavy snow and severe

weather can shut down highways and airports, trains are typically not

affected to the same degree.

As weather predictions worsen, VIA normally faces increased demand. VIA

will add cars to accommodate the demand but urges customers to call ahead

to be certain of available space. To book, customers can call 1-888-VIA

Rail, (842-7245), TTY 1-800 268-9503 (hearing impaired). Tickets are also

available at kiosks in major Corridor stations, online at www.viarail.ca,

or through travel agents.

VIA offers a stress-free, safe and comfortable winter travel alternative.

For a complete listing of train departures, station and on-board services

as well as fare plans, visit VIA's Web site at www.viarail.ca (

http://www.viarail.ca/en_index.html )

[End quote]

Our tough Canadian cousins seem to relish winter, not be afraid of it.

Come on Amtrak, get with the plan.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## haolerider

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; February 16, 2007
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 4, Number 6
> 
> Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is
> 
> a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans
> 
> for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,
> 
> California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and
> 
> Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of
> 
> position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from
> 
> any outside sources.
> 
> 1) Thanks to all those who inquired about the missing editions of TWA
> 
> these last two weeks. Due to a pressing need to complete some large
> 
> projects, it was not possible to produce TWA and meet other deadlines. We
> 
> hope this has not caused any inconvenience.
> 
> 2) According to the National Association of Railroad Passengers and other
> 
> groups and some media, the sky is yet again falling, and the Earth
> 
> continues to rush up to meet it.
> 
> Yes, it's that time of year when the reigning administration submits an
> 
> annual budget to Congress, and, of course, there is never enough money
> 
> suggested to please those who think government money grows on trees.
> 
> The Bush administration has suggested a small budget for Amtrak for
> 
> Fiscal Year 2008 of $900 million. Horrors. Just $100 million shy of a
> 
> billion dollars in free federal monies, and the fatalists think all of
> 
> the nation's passenger trains will grind to a screeching halt any minute,
> 
> now.
> 
> When cooler heads look at the budget picture, we know a couple of things
> 
> to be true, versus the dogmatic rhetoric that comes from all of the usual
> 
> suspects.
> 
> While $900 million is less than previously allotted by Congress in the
> 
> final budget figures (the only ones that really matter, by the way),
> 
> Amtrak usually gets $1.2 billion or more each year, lately. For FY 2006
> 
> and FY 2007, Amtrak got $1.3 billion each year.
> 
> Keep in mind all national operations and NEC operations together, plus
> 
> continuous upgrades to the Northeast Corridor can be accomplished with
> 
> this small budget request. So, even if this budget suggestion was
> 
> ultimately turned into law, Amtrak would not be shut down, nor would
> 
> passenger trains operations be curtailed.
> 
> Now, let's look at the crux of the problem of budgeting free federal
> 
> monies for Amtrak every year. Here is what the United States Department
> 
> of Transportation said regarding the FY 2008 Amtrak budget request.
> 
> [begin quote}
> 
> Focusing Amtrak's Spending Priorities
> 
> The Administration believes that scarce taxpayer dollars must be spent
> 
> wisely, including the funds provided to Amtrak. Led by its Board of
> 
> Directors, Amtrak made some progress in 2006 to strengthen its finances
> 
> by increasing revenues and controlling costs. While Amtrak's recent
> 
> performance is encouraging, it continues to under perform overall.
> 
> Amtrak's system-wide on-time performance again dropped in 2006 to 68
> 
> percent, and it required $490 million in operating subsidies, mostly for
> 
> its money-losing long distance trains. When last measured for 2002, the
> 
> net Federal subsidy per thousand passenger miles traveled was $199.90 for
> 
> rail, $5.87 for commercial aviation, and -$.95 for highway users
> 
> according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. While Amtrak
> 
> carried 24 million passengers in 2006, domestic air carriers that year
> 
> flew 656 million passengers.
> 
> Historically, Amtrak has been hampered by a lack of accountability, poor
> 
> design, and mismanagement. The latest critical review of Amtrak comes
> 
> from the Government Accountability Office, which concluded, among several
> 
> findings, that Amtrak's long-distance trains "show limited public
> 
> benefits for dollars expended," and that "these routes account for 15
> 
> percent of riders but 80 percent of financial losses." To turn the
> 
> enterprise around, the Administration has urged basic reforms that would
> 
> empower local communities and ultimately customers to determine the most
> 
> efficient way to run trains. The Administration expects the Board's
> 
> newly-installed management to make significant changes required to enable
> 
> the company to succeed without Federal operating subsidies. The
> 
> Department plans to administer Amtrak's subsidy with this goal in mind.
> 
> The 2008 Budget proposes a subsidy that would require that Amtrak make
> 
> hard choices about its services and commit to running the railroad more
> 
> like a business. The request is part of a multi-year program to reduce
> 
> and then eliminate Amtrak's reliance on Federal operating assistance as
> 
> required by the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997 (49 USC
> 
> 24101). For 2008, the Budget recommends $900 million for intercity
> 
> passenger rail, but only $800 million for Amtrak directly. This amount
> 
> includes $300 million for operating costs, compared to the $490 million
> 
> Amtrak received in 2006, beginning the phasing out of operating
> 
> subsidies. The Budget continues to fund Amtrak's infrastructure needs
> 
> with a capital request of $500 million, which is equal to the 2006
> 
> enacted level. This level should underwrite Amtrak's ongoing efforts to
> 
> rehabilitate the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston,
> 
> which is by far its most heavily used and important route. In addition,
> 
> the President's Budget requests $100 million for capital matching grants
> 
> to States for intercity passenger rail projects. This new program would
> 
> give local communities resources to direct investment in facilities that
> 
> reflect their top rail transportation priorities. The Administration
> 
> believes the Federal Government should help States fund capital projects
> 
> where there is strong demand for rail service, and help foster managed
> 
> competition among rail operators to encourage innovation and cost
> 
> control.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Look at some of the same, often useless and incorrect phrases used in the
> 
> budget request: "mostly for its money-losing long distance trains. When
> 
> last measured for 2002, the net Federal subsidy per thousand passenger
> 
> miles traveled was $199.90 for rail, $5.87 for commercial aviation, and
> 
> -$.95 for highway users according to the Bureau of Transportation
> 
> Statistics ... latest critical review of Amtrak comes from the Government
> 
> Accountability Office, which concluded, among several findings, that
> 
> Amtrak's long-distance trains "show limited public benefits for dollars
> 
> expended,' and that "these routes account for 15 percent of riders but 80
> 
> percent of financial losses.' ... should underwrite Amtrak's ongoing
> 
> efforts to rehabilitate the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C.
> 
> and Boston, which is by far its most heavily used and important route
> 
> ..."
> 
> We know the long distance trains are not money losers, too many studies
> 
> have shown that above the rail, the long distance trains at the minimum
> 
> break even, and most even throw off extra cash to fund other parts of the
> 
> company and operations.
> 
> The most incredible statement comes abstractly from the Government
> 
> Accountability Office, saying Amtrak's long distance trains show limited
> 
> public benefit for dollars spent and that routes account of 15% of
> 
> riders, but 80 percent of financial losses. To Amtrak's credit, in the
> 
> original GAO report (GAO-07-15) of November 13, 2006, the company
> 
> responded by reminding the GAO that actually, the long distance trains
> 
> account for 47% of passenger miles generated system-wide.
> 
> The last incredible statement is that the NEC is by far Amtrak's most
> 
> heavily used and important route. While it may carry the most passenger
> 
> bodies, it does not generate the most passenger miles, and the importance
> 
> of the NEC would be debatable to anyone living outside of the NEC area
> 
> served, particularly if you live in one of the rural areas of America
> 
> where Amtrak is the only common carrier available for use.
> 
> What this boils down to is that the Bush administration is operating from
> 
> flawed data, simply because that is what it has been fed to use. We know
> 
> the GAO report is deeply flawed, because it has used bad data supplied by
> 
> ... Amtrak. We know Amtrak's data is flawed, because its books are still
> 
> a financial quagmire that is taking months to just begin to untangle.
> 
> Also, in the past, Amtrak has always incorrectly highlighted the
> 
> importance of the NEC and its version of high speed rail at the expense
> 
> of the rest of the national system. Looking at Amtrak past marketing and
> 
> public relations exercises shows a distinct disdain for anything other
> 
> than the NEC, and these defective efforts are coming back to haunt Amtrak
> 
> as it tries to look at itself seriously as a national common carrier.
> 
> Most importantly, Amtrak itself has continuously, mostly for the benefit
> 
> of the NEC, used passenger body counts instead of the transportation
> 
> industry gold standard of revenue passenger miles to measure success. By
> 
> sheer body counts, the long distance trains do carry less passengers,
> 
> which is a meaningless statistic. By revenue passenger miles, the long
> 
> distance trains generate 47% of the system wide passenger miles, a huge
> 
> amount.
> 
> In summary, what we are seeing every year from the White House is a
> 
> budget decision based on flawed data, that ultimately was generated by
> 
> Amtrak. Until Amtrak can convince budget decision makers about the real
> 
> numbers and needs, bad budget requests will continue to flow into the
> 
> national debate.
> 
> The oddest, and funniest news story to come so far from this year's
> 
> budget discussions? New Mexico Business Weekly, on Tuesday, February 6,
> 
> 2007 ran a headline saying, "Proposed Bush budget would banish NM's
> 
> Amtrak service." The story went on to say, in a declaratory fashion with
> 
> no attribution, "The president's 2008 budget proposal would cut Amtrak's
> 
> funding from $1.3 billion to $900 million and eliminate the Southwest
> 
> Chief and Sunset Limited passenger lines."
> 
> You can't make this stuff up. Where does such nonsense come from, in what
> 
> is supposed to be a respected business publication?
> 
> 2) In good news, Amtrak seems to be putting together a new advertising
> 
> push. The bad news is that the advertising seems to be just for Acela
> 
> trains on the NEC, and not the whole system.
> 
> On February 9th, Adweek, a well-respected industry magazine of the
> 
> advertising and marketing biz, reported that Amtrak is making a
> 
> multimedia push for the winter and spring travel season. The campaign is
> 
> based on research that shows travelers are taking less vacation time and
> 
> are therefore more concerned with the comfort and quality of their
> 
> leisure-time activities.
> 
> Adweek says the campaign seems to mostly be aimed towards NEC Acela
> 
> trains. There is no mention of the much more important national system
> 
> trains which generate greater amounts of revenue passenger miles and cash
> 
> for the system.
> 
> Here's the distressing part: Amtrak spent slightly less than $20 million
> 
> on ads last year, down 66 percent from the previous year. Why such a
> 
> drop? Was this due to the Acela trains being out of commission last year,
> 
> so Amtrak didn't think it was important to advertise the rest of the
> 
> system?
> 
> In terms of advertising spending, $20 million, for a company the size of
> 
> Amtrak, is, at best, trivial spending for something like advertising.
> 
> Now, here's an interesting twist to the whole advertising scenario.
> 
> On February 7th, Amtrak announced it has contracted with a multi-cultural
> 
> marketing communications firm to launch a multi-cultural advertising
> 
> campaign for both Acela trains and the long distance system. The firm,
> 
> based in Atlanta, Georgia, will help Amtrak develop promotions, special
> 
> events, and public relations. These are all things Amtrak desperately
> 
> needs, and undoubtedly will help Amtrak gain new riders.
> 
> A "Welcome On Board" ad will encourage audiences to consider Amtrak long
> 
> distance trains when planning trips, especially family vacations. An
> 
> Acela campaign will target business travelers.
> 
> Hey, this sounds great. Promoting the long distance system, getting some
> 
> good public relations going, and special events.
> 
> But, the ads will only target multi-cultural audiences via print, online
> 
> and radio advertising in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington,
> 
> and Miami. Both campaigns will be aired only through African American and
> 
> Hispanic media outlets.
> 
> What about the rest of us? Is Amtrak saying that no one other than
> 
> minorities ride long distance trains? What about the other thousands of
> 
> media markets outside of the major centers listed above? Don't people in
> 
> the other 40+ states want to ride passenger trains, too? Or, will they
> 
> just have to figure out things the best way they can and discover Amtrak
> 
> on their own?
> 
> These two campaigns are a bare minimum start, but nothing more than that.
> 
> 3) In the last issue of TWA, we read about a meeting held in Illinois
> 
> regarding expansion of Amtrak service in that state. The following quote
> 
> appeared:
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> Oops! What? Did the Quad-City Times reporter correctly quote Mr. Lang, a
> 
> long time Amtrak public affairs veteran and experienced spokesman, saying
> 
> "Amtrak is not looking at long-distance rail service. The company's
> 
> future is servicing corridors 300 to 500 miles."?
> 
> Putting two and two together, and hoping it doesn't add up to five, we
> 
> have last week's offering from Mr. Kummant in the Associated Press
> 
> article which was printed across the land that long distance train
> 
> ridership was expected to be flat, and reiterating the belief in state
> 
> sponsored corridors of 300 to 500 miles in length.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> This has a happy ending. Ray Lang was apparently misquoted, as often
> 
> happens in the press. A sharp-eyed TWA reader, Eliot A. Keller of Iowa
> 
> City, Iowa sent the following e-mail to TWA:
> 
> "He was misquoted.
> 
> "I was there in Rock Island.
> 
> "He said the biggest growth in ridership was expected in the future on
> 
> trains serving those routes." [Meaning corridors, and not long distance
> 
> routes; that the company is still looking at long distance routes.]
> 
> That is a great improvement over what was reported in the Quad-City
> 
> Times. Thank you, Mr. Keller for helping clarify that issue. That puts a
> 
> much more positive spin on things.
> 
> 4) Two very different weather and train operation reports and statements
> 
> were made February 13th and February 14th as harsh winter weather rolled
> 
> across North America.
> 
> Amtrak issued an internal System Operations Flash Report on February
> 
> 14th, warning of the coming weather, and made plans to cancel or
> 
> terminate early 50 trains in the Midwest and Northeast.
> 
> VIA Rail Canada, on the other hand, on February 13th, warming to the
> 
> conditions of the same storm, issued this public announcement:
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> VIA Rail Canada is preparing for major winter storm
> 
> Montreal - In light of the major storm that is expected to hit Central
> 
> Canada and the Maritimes over the next couple of days, VIA would like to
> 
> remind its passengers that is has taken all the necessary steps to offer
> 
> safe and reliable travel to those using its intercity and longer distance
> 
> trains in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. While heavy snow and severe
> 
> weather can shut down highways and airports, trains are typically not
> 
> affected to the same degree.
> 
> As weather predictions worsen, VIA normally faces increased demand. VIA
> 
> will add cars to accommodate the demand but urges customers to call ahead
> 
> to be certain of available space. To book, customers can call 1-888-VIA
> 
> Rail, (842-7245), TTY 1-800 268-9503 (hearing impaired). Tickets are also
> 
> available at kiosks in major Corridor stations, online at www.viarail.ca,
> 
> or through travel agents.
> 
> VIA offers a stress-free, safe and comfortable winter travel alternative.
> 
> For a complete listing of train departures, station and on-board services
> 
> as well as fare plans, visit VIA's Web site at www.viarail.ca (
> 
> http://www.viarail.ca/en_index.html )
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Our tough Canadian cousins seem to relish winter, not be afraid of it.
> 
> Come on Amtrak, get with the plan.
> 
> If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can
> 
> receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state
> 
> where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet
> 
> connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from
> 
> [email protected]; we are unable to go through any
> 
> individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept
> 
> strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other
> 
> than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.
> 
> All other correspondence should be addressed to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org


Sometimes a little information is a dangerous thing!

Amtrak has a long distance train advertising campaign, as well as an Acela (NEC) campaign for the spring, so there should be no fear that the long distance trains are being forgotten.

As far as the Multicultural/Diversity agency running ads in large market areas, this is no different than what has been done in the past. There has always been a portion of their budget set aside for diverse market segments and those ads are funded from the national budget. Other cities/regions will use the same ads and place them in the smaller market cities.

No fears Bruce - Amtrak will market to everyone - even URPA followers.


----------



## AlanB

haolerider said:


> Sometimes a little information is a dangerous thing!
> Amtrak has a long distance train advertising campaign, as well as an Acela (NEC) campaign for the spring, so there should be no fear that the long distance trains are being forgotten.
> 
> As far as the Multicultural/Diversity agency running ads in large market areas, this is no different than what has been done in the past. There has always been a portion of their budget set aside for diverse market segments and those ads are funded from the national budget. Other cities/regions will use the same ads and place them in the smaller market cities.
> 
> No fears Bruce - Amtrak will market to everyone - even URPA followers.


I can only guess that he used selective reading when browsing Amtrak's press releases. :blink: After all here it is clear as day, a full description of the ads for the long distance service.


----------



## MrFSS

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 7

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) What is your world view of Amtrak? Do you consider it an essential

public/social service? Do you consider it mostly a regional commuter

service? Do you consider it a provider of long distance transportation

as part of our national transportation matrix? Do you consider Amtrak a

fascinating part of your hobby world that you hope the federal

government will continue to fund endlessly for your enjoyment?

People who are interesting in Amtrak make up disparate parts of the

national population. While many are indifferent to the fate of Amtrak,

others are passionate about its existence. Many who are passionate about

Amtrak are also mostly ignorant about the realities of Amtrak, and what

it takes to run a passenger railroad.

From the outside, an easy answer to almost all of Amtrak's problems is

to throw more money at the company. Just give it more money and

everything will be fine. Well, no, that is probably the worst possible

scenario for Amtrak because more money only enables bad corporate

behavior and provide no incentive for improvement.

On the money front, the current Amtrak board of directors and

administration has quickly learned how to play the ongoing Washington

game of requesting free federal monies, and getting most of what they

want. It's the Amtrak apologists and mostly politically naive "Amtrak at

all costs, right or wrong" supporters who don't seem to want to

understand the process.

During the past two federal budget cycles, we have seen Amtrak, with all

due respect accorded to its money managers on Capitol Hill, create a

budget request process that has been done professionally and with

forethought. This year, the Bush administration requested $900 million

for Amtrak through its annual budget process. Keep in mind the term

"process." A Republican administration has made a request of a Democrat

congress. That means at best, the Republican request is a faint

blueprint for what Congress will actually enact in final legislation.

Amtrak has made for FY 2008 a direct request to Congress of $1.53

billion, up from the FY 06 and FY 07 budget of $1.3 billion.

Now, here the comes the part most people don't seem to want to grasp or

understand, and which no one outside of the budget writers at Amtrak

will every know the real answer to: How much of Amtrak's budget request

is "blue sky, best case scenario"? Anyone savvy in the ways of

negotiation - and Amtrak's annual Congressional free federal monies are

always a product of negotiation - knows that you always start high, and

settle for less than you requested. That's simply the way the process works.

Most people would be hard pressed to name any federal agency which

receives 100% of its requested annual budget. Some people in Congress

are always likely to say, "Well, we can do X if we cut 1 or 2 % from

everyone else's budget." That is simply the way things get done in a

civilized society.

Those individuals and organizations like the National Association of

Railroad Passengers who want to hold their collective breaths until they

turn blue because in their view Amtrak isn't getting every red cent it's

requesting simply aren't living in the real world.

An amusing aside to the budget debate this year has been NARP's public

disappointment in the new Democrat controlled congress. Apparently,

there has been too much wishful thinking that once "our people" were in

control, all of Amtrak's problems would be solved because Democrats

would be much more sympathetic to every one of Amtrak's needs. Whoops!

The reality is, those who are in power and show some personal

responsibility, do what is best for the commonweal, not always what is

best for perceived favorites.

For those of us intimately familiar with politics, we know that once in

power, everyone who joined our side to get us into power usually did so

for a specific agenda, and then demand their agenda be followed. That's

just not possible. When you are an elected leader, you do what is right

either from a moral or ethical basis (hopefully, both) and follow the

law. If personal agendas interfere, then you were not the right person

to be elected. While Amtrak supporters and apologists may think they are

right, they are probably not taking a global vision of everything in the

transportation field that must be considered in a budget process. An

Amtrak apologist's "emergency" is not an airline foamer's "emergency."

It's up to the budget writers on Capitol Hill to figure out the real

emergencies and allocate monies accordingly.

2) We continue to hear the same drivel that no passenger railroad system

in the world can exist without public monies. Why is this considered a

basis for Amtrak funding? We note in the latest Amtrak budget request to

Congress the company has announced that despite an increase in operating

expenses, it plans to hold the line on its request for an operating

subsidy at the same as previous years, $485 million for the entire

system. In other words, Amtrak is saying it would rather first help

itself, either through internal savings, an improvement in the way it

does business, or (gasp!) improved ridership and revenue, than simply

ask the federal government for more money.

Finally, we have arrived at Valhalla. Amtrak has said, "No, thank you, I

can help myself." This is a red letter year for Amtrak.

Real businesspeople, looking at passenger rail from a real business

standpoint instead of through the rose colored glasses and soft bigotry

of lower expectations, know that passenger rail in a truly competitive

environment can not only be self-sufficient in many areas, but it can be

profitable, too, in the context of traditional passenger rail, such as

long distance trains.

Looking at Amtrak as it currently is shaped, the company will never be

able to charge enough for tickets on corridor trains as demonstrated on

the Northeast Corridor to fully support the cost of those trains and the

infrastructure required to operate them. But, in a more mature long

distance system, the numbers show those trains throwing off large

amounts of excess cash (called "profits" in the real world, which by the

way is not an obscene term), and those trains can be more than

self-sufficient.

3) How do you strike a balance between these two systems? In pre-Amtrak

days, many of the private railroads, such as the Pennsylvania, Southern

Pacific, Illinois Central, Milwaukee Road, Chicago Northwestern, and

others operated commuter businesses in addition to fleets of long

distance trains. Some digging through musty archives shows that the

commuter operations, which we operated by government direction, the same

as public utilities, rarely made money. It was the long distance fleets

that covered many of the expenses of the commuter trains.

In today's Amworld, those economics have been nearly reversed. More

emphasis has been placed on high cost, low revenue commuter operations

as public utilities, and little interest has been paid to low cost, high

revenue long distance trains. To make matters worse, anyone from those

days of yesteryear that understood the true economics of pre-Amtrak

passenger trains are either 25 years into retirement, living in a

nursing home, or simply dead.

Amtrak has become - as often happens when a private industry passes into

public hands - a social tool rather than a fully functioning passenger

railroad. Politicians and Amtrak apologists have succeeded in turning

Amtrak away from its original mission of providing a robust, national

passenger rail system into a series of competing-for-budget-dollars

disparate corridors loosely linked by scarce long distance trains.

4) We are seeing an emphasis by Amtrak on the development of 100 to 500

mile corridors, hopefully paid for by individual states which have an

interest in these trains. To no one's surprise, in Illinois, which has a

whole host of new corridor trains this year, ridership has soared. We

have no real reported figures on the success of these trains, because we

only know ridership, which is just a count of warm bodies. We don't know

revenue passenger miles, which show real results. But, we do know that

ridership has soared.

Two other areas are looking at expanded service, both which will be

important additions to Amtrak's national system, but will most likely be

supported by state monies. The first is reintroducing the Coast Daylight

in California, between the San Francisco Bay area and Southern

California. This is about a 500 mile run, and it will nicely connect all

of the Southern California corridor services with all of the Northern

California corridor services, creating a huge opportunity destination

matrix for connecting passengers. Best of all, the train will mostly

duplicate the route of the Coast Starlight, which should not only free

up a lot of revenue space on the Starlight for passengers traveling

outside of California on that high revenue train, but it will also

spread out station and other infrastructure costs to two trains, instead

of all costs being heaped on the Starlight.

In other words, this will be a low cost train to implement, an extra

frequency should drive up demand and create greater revenue passenger

miles, and more space will be available on the Coast Starlight for

passengers traveling long distances and connecting to other trains,

which, in turn, will generate even more revenue. There is no downside to

the creation of this train.

The next good opportunity is coming from residents in Oklahoma and

Kansas who want an extension of the state supported Heartland Flyer,

which currently runs between Fort Worth, Texas and Oklahoma City. This

spunky little train, which currently connects with the Texas Eagle in

Forth Worth, has huge potential if it is expanded to its natural

endpoints in Kansas City (or, better yet, Chicago) and San Antonio.

A renewed Heartland Flyer running San Antonio; Fort Worth; Oklahoma

City; Newton, Kansas (picking up the current route of the Southwest

Chief at that junction); Kansas City, or even on to Chicago would be

another powerhouse train that would be cheap to operate, have a route

over the friendly BNSF Railroad versus the difficult Union Pacific

Railroad, and become an important passenger corridor.

Advantages include twice daily service between San Antonio and Fort

Worth in a vibrant part of Texas, and twice daily service on the

Southwest Chief route between Newton, Kansas and Kansas City. Again, you

have the same advantages as found in California, with a sharing of costs

between two trains instead of all costs heaped on one train, and the

connection matrix possibilities go through the roof, providing huge new

opportunities for passenger demand and revenue passenger miles.

5) This demonstrates the tricky shoals which must be navigated between a

policy of only developing relatively short corridors, or looking

globally at what can be accomplished to benefit the entire Amtrak system

by being just slightly more creative in thinking in terms of

connectivity and passengers who may wish to travel further than what one

state may be willing to pay for each budget year.

Think something like this won't work? It already does, in the case of

the Carolinian in North Carolina, which runs between Charlotte, North

Carolina and New York City. The State of North Carolina, one of the

leaders in promoting responsible passenger rail service, shares the cost

of the Carolinian with Amtrak, even though the train travels far beyond

the borders of North Carolina.

This same type of thinking needs to be applied to an expansion of the

Heartland Flyer beyond Texas and Oklahoma. As a stand-alone train, the

Heartland Flyer is mildly successful, but expensive to operate. As an

expanded train between to natural endpoints instead of artificially

created endpoints, it has much greater potential to earn more revenue,

serve more passengers, and, with proper accounting (not necessarily

accounting as we have historically experienced at Amtrak), can cost less

and less in state subsidy to operate because it has more and more

revenue from a greater pool of sources.

How many other examples like this can be found, just waiting to be

exploited?

6) There are more signs of an improved and enlightened Amtrak

management. In the February 20th edition of the employee newsletter

Amtrak This Week, the first item says, "Note: We appreciate the hard

work put in by all of the employees - from the train crews to those who

kept the railroad open and moving - who did their best despite the very

tough winter weather conditions we experienced last week. Thank you for

your dedication and commitment."

And, the next item speaks volumes, and hopefully will have a huge

impact,"Mechanical: Distribution of seatback cards with information

about the new Trip Ratings program (passenger survey) is being completed

on Acela, Regional, Keystone, Vermonter, and all long-distance trains."

Now, let's hope somebody reads these survey cards and reacts

appropriately. This should be a tremendous tool for improvement.

7) During the past year, much has been said and done about Amtrak

onboard food service. Extreme measures have been taken to allegedly save

money, while overall downgrading the level of dining car service and

cutting important employees.

There is one area which has been overlooked. Many of the progressive

chains of fast food restaurants have found new profits and more loyal

customers through longer hours of being open. Many quick service

restaurants, which previously closed at 10 P.M. or earlier, have

extended their hours to 1 A.M. or later, and some have gone to offering

24 hour service.

Amtrak briefly experimented with this on the Sunset Limited in 1999 and

2000 with the 24 hour dining car concept, which was well received by

both passengers and onboard employees.

Best of all "the numbers" worked, and the participating union thought

enough of the idea to allow the successful experiments to take place

while temporarily waiving union rules for when onboard crews are

supposed to have guaranteed hours of when to sleep (This had nothing to

do with the number of hours available for sleep, but rather when those

hours would occur.).

Since Amtrak is already running food service cars, no extra

infrastructure is required; just one or two more employees, the cost of

which are quickly covered by the increased utilization of the dining car.

Amtrak has partially moved to this concept by beginning to offer "all

day dining," from early morning to midnight. This helps tremendously,

but still leaves a large gap during nocturnal hours, which many

passenger are entraining and detraining, and would like some sustenance.

Amtrak already has the completed studies on this (Of which this writer

was paid to do, as well as conducting the onboard test runs), and has

the proof positive that this idea is not only a good idea, but a

financially rewarding idea, as well.

8) The ongoing saga of the missing Sunset Limited east of New Orleans,

now missing for 18 months, is getting some strong goosing from the

Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers under the leadership of its

president, Jackson McQuigg, and several dogged members who have a strong

interest in the return of the train.

Working professionally, the group has begun to put pressure on members

of Florida's congressional delegation, including both Corrine Brown and

Ander Crenshaw of Jacksonville. Congresswoman Brown plays an important

role on the House Transportation committee and is keeping this issue

alive. Pressure is also being brought to the office of Senator Mel

Martinez, Florida's junior senator. The Sunset also serves the district

of Representative John Mica, who has also played important roles on the

transportation committee.

The best wisdom available is that Amtrak is trying to hold out for the

affected states to cough up money to operate this long distance train

that has been a part of the long distance system since 1993 east of New

Orleans. It will be interesting to see how this continues to play out

with new Congressional pressure being brought to bear on Amtrak.

The Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers has been doing important work

for the restoration of the Sunset. In combination with other pressures

being brought to bear on the subject, success can't be far away.

9) The Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada and NARP are

holding a joint membership meeting and conference March 17 in Los

Angeles. The keynote speaker for the event will be Amtrak President and

CEO Alex Kummant. A number of other speakers will be present, notably

URPA Vice President of Law and Policy Andrew Selden. He will participate

in a panel discussion regarding "Amtrak and the Future" along with some

lesser participants. Further details can be found at www.railpac.org.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence should be addressed to

[email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 1, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 8

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Oh, my, it seems that some "amateurs" are trying to do the wrong

thing, according to National Association of Railroad Passengers Executive

Director Ross Capon.

The restoration of the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans has been high

on the passenger rail agenda for many of us here in Florida and along the

Gulf Coast. Gone since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the absent Sunset has

created a large hole in Amtrak's national network of trains. CSX, the

Sunset's host railroad east of New Orleans, released a newly repaired

main line to Amtrak for service April 1, 2006, after damage from Katrina

was fixed. Some station damage has remained, but nothing worse than

Amtrak has routinely dealt with in other locations while still providing

passenger train service.

Most of Amtrak's excuses for not restoring the Sunset have been in the

"the dog ate my homework" category. It appears that Amtrak is holding

out, hoping a coalition of Gulf Coast states will cough up money to pay

for a restored Sunset Limited. This dangerous precedent would make any

long distance route vulnerable to discontinuance until local money was

found to run a train.

URPA has been pushing hard for this restoration, along with the excellent

and independent efforts of the Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers, and

several well-connected individuals in Florida who fully understand the

need for this service. A number of mayors from cities and towns along the

abandoned Sunset route have joined the effort, as well as distinguished

members of Congress who represent districts and states along the forlorn

route.

NARP's Mr. Capon, however, sees things differently. Here is an e-mail Mr.

Capon sent, in effect, telling everyone to cool their jets and let the

"experts" at NARP handle the matter.

[begin quote]

Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 2:25 PM

Friends--

There is no possibility that Amtrak will reinstitute a train that serves

Mobile at bad times, which would be needed to produce a reliable same-day

connection from #2 to a restored New Orleans Florida service.

Making the case for any restoration is tough enough without advocates

burdening the case with specifics that most outsiders would regard as

micromanaging--including politically connected outsiders whose help we

need to press for restoration.

--Ross

[End quote]

Well. The entire future of the Sunset route depends on a small city like

Mobile, Alabama have a marketable time? Hmmmm ... let's look at some

other major cities and their "marketable" times.

Columbia, South Carolina, Silver Star - 1:44 A.M., southbound; 1:12 A.M.,

northbound

Cleveland, Ohio, Capitol Limited - 2:31 A.M., westbound; 2:06 A.M.,

eastbound

Cleveland, Ohio, Lake Shore Limited - 3:27 A.M., westbound; 4:02 A.M.,

eastbound

Cincinnati, Ohio, Cardinal - 1:03 A.M., westbound; 3:02 A.M., eastbound

Carbondale, Illinois, City of New Orleans - 1:21 A.M., southbound; 3:16

A.M., northbound

Fargo, North Dakota, Empire Builder - 3:35 A.M., westbound; 2:13 A.M.,

eastbound

Spokane, Washington, Empire Builder - 1:40 A.M., westbound; 1:15 A.M.,

eastbound

Lincoln, Nebraska, California Zephyr - 12:08 A.M., westbound; 3:56 A.M.,

eastbound

Salt Lake City, Utah, California Zephyr - 11:33 P.M., westbound; 3:15

A.M., eastbound

Topeka, Kansas, Southwest Chief - 1:09 A.M., westbound; 5:20 A.M.,

eastbound

Little Rock, Arkansas, Texas Eagle - 3:10 A.M., westbound; 11:34 P.M.,

eastbound

San Antonio, Texas, Sunset Limited - 3:00 A.M., westbound; 10:25 P.M.,

eastbound

And, there are, of course, other examples. Apparently, "marketable times"

are not a factor for Amtrak service in these cities. One must realize

that any long distance train will serve some markets at good times, and

other markets at bad times. When scheduling a train like the Sunset

Limited that literally is the only train in North America to travel coast

to coast, some markets will not receive the best times.

When dealing with people - like this writer who used to have some

responsibility for the marketing of the Sunset Limited - making decisions

about which markets to emphasize and which to realize will have less than

perfect service, and adding in the needs of the host railroad, and also

adding in the operating characteristics of each train, there has to be

some hard decisions made and some "give and take" as schedules are

tweaked for optimum performance.

The easiest solution is to run at least two schedules on each route, with

a "flip" schedule, and markets served at less than perfect times of one

schedule are then afforded good service on the flip schedule. Also

helpful is to fill in some markets with short "daylight" service on

corridors where corridor and long distance trains complement each other

and share expenses and provide better travel opportunities to generate

higher revenue passenger mile counts.

Mr. Capon also seems to not understand the economics and dynamics of the

Sunset Limited. While as typical of any long distance train, the Sunset

provides lots of "local" service between numeral intermediate station

stops, much of the success of the train is because of its important place

in Amtrak's passenger matrix of delivering passengers from one passenger

junction to another. A good deal of the business of the Sunset east of

New Orleans consisted of passengers who were "bridge" traffic, moving

from points west of New Orleans to either Jacksonville, where the train

connected with Florida service trains, or to the train's ultimate

destination of Orlando, the single largest vacation destination in the

country. While Mobile, Alabama is an important small city on the route,

the operations of the Sunset east of New Orleans were not wholly

dependent on Mobile's business.

We know NARP has had a too-cozy relationship with Amtrak for a long time,

including taking payments from Amtrak for operating a customer advisory

panel. We also know NARP is Amtrak's greatest apologist, and seldom seems

willing to prod Amtrak to do anything different than what Amtrak is

willing to do on its own.

2) For those who may wish to question Mr. Capon specifically on his

choice of words and explain exactly what he meant in the above e-mail, he

will be appearing with URPA Vice President of Law and Policy Andrew

Selden in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 17 at a joint membership meeting

of NARP and the Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada. Mr.

Capon and Mr. Selden will be featured on a panel with the topic of

"Amtrak and the Future," after the keynote speech by Amtrak President and

CEO Alex Kummant.

The meeting should provide an excellent forum for the discussion of the

topic of the Sunset Limited at length, with views from all parties. For

more information on the meeting location and time, visit the RailPac web

site at www.railpac.org

3) Dealing with some old, but fun business: A few Amtrak locomotives,

fresh from the paint shop, were sporting misspellings on their sides.

Someone in Amtrak's shops affixing decals of Amtrak's logo on the

locomotives, had a bad moment and reversed two letters of the Amtrak logo

on the engines. What was supposed to be "AMTRAK" came out "ATMRAK"

instead. The fun part is that these locomotives passed inspection by

several pairs of eyes and made it out into main line service for a period

of time before anyone noticed the problem.

At first, no one believed this, thinking photos of the engines with the

typos were merely hoaxes that had been conceived used the popular Adobe

Photoshop computer program. But, it turns out, the photos - and the typos

- were real, and the decals had to be corrected and re-affixed.

Any of us who regularly deal with words and proofing know it's far too

easy to look at something you see everyday and read the whole word the

way we imagine it to be, instead of reading letter-for-letter. Sadly,

this column is often proof enough of that concept, even though it is

rigorously edited and sent through a thorough spell checking several

times before publication. It's just hard to believe something as large as

an Amtrak locomotive got past so many eyes before the error was

discovered.

4) Chicago and the Midwest have taken the brunt of a lot of winter

weather misery this year, not to mention the failure of the Chicago Bears

to win the Super Bowl. Here's a report of what happened in the Chicago

Amtrak yards the Monday after the Super Bowl.

[begin quote]

The Chicago melt-down on Monday was pathetic. Apparently all the

mechanics and yard crews laid off for the Super Bowl. Train 301(5)

departed 43 minutes late but that was only AFTER its frozen cars were

swapped for the Superliner set that was supposed to be for 303(5); but

even that one had never been serviced after coming in on Sunday night.

Pity the passengers and crew who were on 303(5); even after additional

time to service the all-Horizon consist, it had frozen toilets in every

car and left Chicago over 3 hours late, arriving in

STL just a shade under 5 hours late.

They all KNEW that the Horizon set for 301 had frozen toilets but the

crew was told that Mechanical was working it; in reality there was not a

single mechanic to be found, either inside the train or servicing it

outside. There WAS an oil heater aimed at the toilet tank of one of the

frozen Horizon cars, but it was stone cold; not even turned on!

The mechanical foreman claimed only one pipefitter showed up and he

needed three, so nothing was going to get done.

[End quote]

One has to suppose that football beats passenger service, every time.

5) On a positive note the Amtrak Central Division News, distributed to

all employees in Chicago and elsewhere in the Midwest, featured a front

page story in its December issue with the headline "Save the service,

serve the snacks." The story exhorts onboard personnel to use "emergency"

snacks provided on all trains to appease passengers who may be angry or

distraught because of delayed trains.

[begin quote]

If you've been on a train that is delayed, you know what can happen:

Passengers begin to wonder what's happening and why. Try as you might to

inform, calm and appease them, sometimes it's all for naught. That's when

it may become necessary to introduce service recover meals. Do you know

about these?

These individually wrapped, "emergency" snack packs include bottled

water, cheese and crackers, a cookie and some trail mix. They can work

wonders on delayed long-distance or short-haul trains, according to

Cynthia Winslow, Assistance Superintendent of On-Board Services.

"They've given us an easy and effective option for service recovery,"

Winslow said. "The snacks seem to be well-received and appreciated by our

passengers, because sometimes all they're looking for is that good-faith

effort and attentiveness on our part."

Learn where these service recovery meals are on your train, and find out

from a manager or supervisor under what circumstances you are to use

them."

[End quote]

(Sigh) "Do you know about these?" That's just depressing there would be

anyone working as part of an Amtrak onboard crew that doesn't know about

these simple and good examples of making service recovery efforts. And,

apparently, they are to be used only after OBS personnel have tried to

"inform, calm, and appease" passengers. So, the snacks are only a last

resort? Not to be used except in extreme emergencies? No chance this

simple gesture could be made without OBS employees being painted into a

corner by passengers?

The story also indicates that some crews may not be making a "good-faith

effort" or providing "attentiveness" on the part of Amtrak. Why is the

concept of good passenger service so hard to grasp?

6) Old Amtrak employees may go away for a while, but eventually they seem

to return to their past haunts. Anne Witt, formerly Anne Hoey of the

George Warrington era of Amtrak has returned to the company as vice

president of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development. The newly

formed department focuses on Amtrak's growth strategy and encompasses

state corridor and commuter contracts, freight railroad relationships,

real estate and other business development opportunities.

Ms. Witt rejoins Amtrak from another high profile, customer focused

agency, the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles. Her

previous positions with Amtrak included vice president in a number of

departments, such as Service Standards, Service Operations; Reservations,

Sales and Customer Relations; Customer and Corporate Communications and

Corporate Management.

Outside of Amtrak, Ms. Witt has been busy holding senior-level positions

at other large agencies, including Montgomery County Maryland's

Department of Environmental Protection, the D.C. Department of Public

Works, and the Children's National Medical Center.

One can conclude Amtrak is not through recycling lifetime government

bureaucrats that go endlessly from one government job to the next, and

back again.

7) Here is an interesting essay from Paul Weyrich, former member of the

Amtrak Board of Directors, and currently the Chairman and CEO of the Free

Congress Foundation in Washington.

[begin quote]

Free Congress Foundation Commentary

Why the Next Conservatism Should Bring Back Streetcars

By Paul M. Weyrich

January 31, 2007

Streetcars? What could conservatism have to do with streetcars? Some of

you may be wondering if I have slipped my trolley.

Maybe I have, but wanting to bring electric streetcars back to our cities

is no sign of it. In an earlier essay on the next conservatism, number

ten in this series, I argued that conservatives should want to bring our

cities back. Too many of them have become cold, hard, empty places,

devoid of life and unable to perform the important functions cities have

in any culture. Well, it turns out that if you want to bring cities back,

you also want to bring back streetcars.

A great new book, Street Smart: Streetcars and Cities in the 21st

Century, explains why. Streetcars, it seems, are one of the most powerful

tools for reviving cities. Several American cities have already brought

the streetcars back, with tremendous positive effects on re-development.

Kenosha, Wisconsin, brought streetcars back for just $6.2 million, and

the new streetcar line has already brought $150 million in development,

for a return on investment of 2,319%. Portland, Oregon, put in a downtown

streetcar loop 4.8 miles long for $55 million; it generated over three

billion dollars in new development. A 1.2 mile extension of the original

loop brought in another $1.35 billion in development.

Why do streetcars bring new development? There are several reasons.

First, middle-class people with significant disposable income like riding

streetcars. That is not true of buses. Second, streetcars are "pedestrian

facilitators." People who ride through a city on a streetcar tend to get

off and on, walking for a while, then riding some more. While they are

walking, they go in stores, stop in restaurants for something to eat,

maybe see a movie or get tickets for a show. In other words, they spend

money downtown. Middle-class pedestrians are the life blood of a city,

and streetcars make it easy for them to get around.

Third, from a developer's perspective, a streetcar line is a guarantee of

high-quality public transportation that will be there for decades. That

is not true of buses; a bus line can be here today, gone tomorrow. The

investment in track and overhead wire streetcars require means their

routes don't get up and move. Not surprisingly, bus service does little

or nothing for development.

Beyond their positive effects on re-development, there is another reason

the next conservatism should want to bring back streetcars, and passenger

trains for that matter. Thanks to trains, streetcars, and interurbans

(which were big, fast streetcars that ran from cities far out into the

countryside), travel in America used to be a lot more enjoyable than it

is now.

Today, we don't really travel. Instead, we are just packaged and shipped.

That is true of air travel, which has become an ordeal, and also of much

driving. One interstate highway is much like another and driving in or

around cities often means getting caught in traffic congestion, which

everybody hates.

The next conservatism's theme of Retroculture wants to bring back good

things from the past that we have lost. Pleasure in travel, in the

journey itself, should be one of those good things. Life is too short to

make travel into misery, when it can be fun.

Yes, riding streetcars is fun. Our grandparents used to enjoy riding the

streetcars. They have a feel to them that is completely different from a

bus. You can take my word for it. I have ridden streetcars all over the

world. Better, the next time you are in a city that has streetcars, or

Light Rail, take a ride. You will see the city in a whole different way.

And I think you will enjoy the experience.

A few years ago, I was in Denver with a friend, a United States Senator,

who was a strong opponent of rail transit. Denver has a Light Rail

system. I asked him if he would take a ride on it with me, and he agreed.

About half way through our ride, he turned to me and said, "This is

nice."

Our cities, if they are to be living cities, need streetcars. The next

conservatism should work to bring the streetcars back, as one of many

nice presents the past can offer the future. Resurrecting good things

from the past is what conservatism should be about.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## frj1983

OK my PC froze up as I was responding to a message and seemed to just post incompletely what I was trying to say. For my own edification, is there any way to competely delete a message and start over?


----------



## AlanB

frj1983 said:


> OK my PC froze up as I was responding to a message and seemed to just post incompletely what I was trying to say. For my own edification, is there any way to competely delete a message and start over?


There is no way for you to delete a message, you would have to ask one of the moderators to do that for you. Of course you can edit your post and simply replace whatever did show up with what you really want.


----------



## frj1983

AlanB said:


> frj1983 said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK my PC froze up as I was responding to a message and seemed to just post incompletely what I was trying to say. For my own edification, is there any way to competely delete a message and start over?
> 
> 
> 
> There is no way for you to delete a message, you would have to ask one of the moderators to do that for you. Of course you can edit your post and simply replace whatever did show up with what you really want.
Click to expand...

OK

That's what I thought thanks for letting me know Alan!


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 8, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 9

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Amtrak has started its winter/spring leisure travel advertising

campaign for 2007 by placing ads in 12 top markets. Target marketing, of

course, is very important, and getting the biggest bang for every

marketing buck is critical, too. However, Amtrak does serve over 500

destinations in the continental United States, plus some locations in

Canada. It's kind of tough to expect many results from just advertising

in the top 12 markets ...

2) Here's a fascinating bon mot turned up by one of URPA's numbers

crunchers, derived directly from Amtrak data: Revenue and ridership are

up, but during the last fiscal year (2006), passenger miles dropped once

again to 5,361,517,000. In FY 05 the figure was 5,419,720,000, and a

decade or more ago, it was around 6.5 billion revenue passenger miles per

year.

This means even though the false measurements of increased ridership and

revenues may be climbing, the actual number of revenue passenger miles -

the only true measurement used in the real world of common carriers - has

declined.

The most likely cause of this is an increase in short haul trains (which

are the most expensive to operate and can't cover their costs with true

accounting numbers that include all appropriate allocated expenses) and

small increases or decreases in long distance train travel, most likely

due to the alarmingly short consists of most long haul trains as compared

to a decade ago when much more of Amtrak's long distance fleet was

roadworthy.

3) A regular commuter rider on Amtrak's Empire Service in and out of New

York City provided this fascinating use of an Amtrak diesel locomotive:

[begin quote]

... (I)t was pretty interesting. That was a day last summer when one of

our favorite conductors, Artie, earned his stripes as a true hero of the

people. On our way home after some violent summer squalls had been

through, a big tree ended up right across the tracks a bit south of the

Rhinecliff station.

The southbound train had already beaten us to it and CSX had been

notified. So a couple of hours passed, with the conductors bugging CSX to

come and do something, and CSX basically just making promises without

giving any real information on where they were in the process. So after

going to the grapevine they eventually got wind of the fact that in all

that time, CSX had gotten as far as contacting the members of a road crew

that was on its way to meeting up for deployment - from Syracuse, about

200 miles away. It would have been well past midnight before the crew

even arrived.

So Artie went out and conducted a slow and delicate dance in the waning

daylight. He had his train push north while the southbound train pushed

south, and together they slowly rotated the tree so that it ended up

lying between the northbound and southbound tracks. I wonder what the CSX

ground crew thought when they arrived.

[End quote]

Good going, Conductor Artie. Nothing like taking some personal

responsibility and using some initiative to take care of your passengers

and your train. This guy should get a medal.

4) URPA stalwart Dennis Larson, Vice President of the Minnesota

Association of Railroad Passengers, shares some numbers from the cold,

Upper Midwest.

[begin quote]

March 2 - The second major snowstorm in Minnesota and Wisconsin within

the last week, along the Empire Builder route, is now wrapping up with

over a foot of snow and more, once again.

People were sleeping at the airport due to delayed flights and most

schools and events were closed or cancelled as were some business places.

Highway travel was discouraged and I-35 south of the Twin Cities from

Albert Lea to Ames, Iowa was closed by the highway patrol as was I-90

west of I-35 to the South Dakota border. There are railroad-type cross

arms that block the entrance ramps when these highways are closed.

But Empire Builder arrivals are not doing all that bad though considering

the poor weather conditions. The evening arrivals of the Empire Builder

from Chicago to the St. Paul Midway Station are below-

2007-03-01: Scheduled: 10:31 PM Actual: 12:04 am Delay: 93 minutes

2007-02-28: Scheduled: 10:31 PM Actual: 11:31 PM Delay: 60 minutes

2007-02-27: Scheduled: 10:31 PM Actual: 10:24 PM Delay: 0 minutes

2007-02-26: Scheduled: 10:31 PM Actual: 10:23 PM Delay: 0 minutes

The morning arrivals of the Empire Builder to the St. Paul Midway Station

from the Pacific Northwest are below-

2007-03-02: Scheduled: 7:05 am Actual: 7:01 am Delay: 0 minutes

2007-03-01: Scheduled: 7:05 am Actual: 7:02 am Delay: 0 minutes

2007-02-28: Scheduled: 7:05 am Actual: 6:46 am Delay: 0 minutes

2007-02-27: Scheduled: 7:05 am Actual: 7:15 am Delay: 10 minutes

2007-02-26: Scheduled: 7:05 am Actual: 7:01 am Delay: 0 minutes

2007-02-25: Scheduled: 7:05 am Actual: 7:19 am Delay: 14 minutes

2007-02-24: Scheduled: 7:05 am Actual: 6:29 am Delay: 0 minutes

[End quote]

5) Things haven't been quite so rosy for the Empire Builder's sister

transcontinental train, the California Zephyr, which operates between

Chicago and Emeryville (San Francisco), California.

Mr. Larson made this note from a November Zephyr report:

[begin quote]

Looking over Amtrak's California Zephyr report for November, I see it has

nearly 5 hours of make up time [automatically built into the schedule] so

they have been sitting for 11 hours [due to delays] plus another 5.

Amtrak makes big talk about dining car losses but an Amtrak train person

with overtime collects on average a bit over $27 per hour.

So Amtrak is paying out at least an extra $300 per person in wages plus

all those mis-connect charges, which amounts to thousands.

Their report of November 2006 shows the California Zephyr was standing

for 38,203 minutes, or 26 ½ days! Amtrak-caused delays amounted to over

60 hours for the month. Most of the delays attributed to the host

railroads were slow orders amounting to 10.6 days.

[End quote]

And, then there is this, also from Mr. Larson.

[begin quote]

Regarding references to on time performance of the California Zephyr

[which operates on the BNSF from Chicago to Denver, and the Union Pacific

from Denver to Emeryville, California] ...

In December of 2005 the Zephyr had an on-time record of 5% and the

average delay minutes per trip was 552 minutes. Figure in the recovery

time of 299 minutes and the train arrived on average 4 hours 13 minutes

late. In November of 2006 the train arrived on average 5 hours and 29

minutes late. At this rate of decline, the train will not only be

standing still longer than it is rolling, but every single mode of

transport including horseback and a very slow boat on the river will

operate at higher average speeds than the Zephyr in a very short time.

All this on the all-weather mode that is suppose to save America from

highway and air gridlock.

This information is buried in Amtrak's monthly report on its website.

[End quote]

6) Amtrak shares this with us via the company's employee newsletter,

"Amtrak This Week" of February 12, 2007, about what it is doing to

improve cold weather service.

[begin quote]

Overhauled Horizons Withstand Cold

Last week, some service in the Midwest was cancelled due to freeze damage

to Horizon equipment as a result of bitter cold conditions in Chicago. A

collaborative effort between the Transportation and Mechanical

departments that included redeploying preventive maintenance employees to

help thaw and prep the trains helped get the schedule back on track.

While this work required more time and manpower in the extreme cold, by

Thursday, full service from Chicago had resumed.

As part of the company's drive toward a state of good repair, a Horizon

overhaul program - the first for the 17- year-old cars - was begun in FY

'05. The four-year program includes modifying the equipment for winter

weather conditions, and of the 41 cars overhauled, only three were

affected by the extraordinarily cold temperatures last week. Why the

three were affected by the weather is being investigated, and

modifications will be made accordingly. Of the trains not yet overhauled,

root-cause analysis is currently being performed on the failures to

better target problem areas as part of the overhaul process.

The Horizon fleet is about 50 percent overhauled, with five cars

currently at Beech Grove, 8 scheduled for overhaul this fiscal year and

another 21 next year. The company's aggressive state-of-good-repair goals

over the past several years have contributed significantly to improved

reliability, and there's still more work to be done.

[End quote]

Next question: When is Amtrak's "state of good repair" mantra going to

extend to the long distance Viewliner and Superliner fleets so enough

equipment can get out on the road and start generating some high value

revenue and revenue passenger miles for Amtrak, not to mention fulfilling

Amtrak's original mission of providing America with a true nationwide

network of passenger trains?

7) Here's a reminder of the Saturday, March 17th joint meeting in Los

Angeles of the Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada and the

National Association of Railroad Passengers. Featured speakers will be

Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant, and URPA Vice President of Law and

Policy Andrew Selden, along with others.

Also appearing will be Ross Capon, NARP Executive Director, on a panel

regarding the future of Amtrak.

For decades, RailPac has long been closely associated with URPA, and much

of the senior leadership of RailPac have been contributing members of

URPA. This meeting should prove to be fascinating as Mr. Selden and Mr.

Capon advance ideas on the future of Amtrak, and Mr. Kummant's keynote

address possibly may provide a glimpse of his ideas about the future of

the company he now heads.

Also up for discussion will be institutional views on the future of the

Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, which has not been in operation since

prior to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. URPA has been strongly advocating for

the return of this vital part of Amtrak's national network, and other

organizations outside of Florida and the Gulf Coast states have taken a

less vigorous approach, apparently in fear of losing favor with Amtrak

management.

If you're near Southern California and can attend this meeting, the $35

advance registration fee ($40 at the door) should be a small price to pay

for an informative day. Further information is available at

www.RailPac.org

8) Word has come of a needed second Amtrak frequency between Seattle and

Vancouver, British Columbia. Amtrak's Cascades service has been a popular

cross-border passenger train, and a second trip is being made possible by

expansion of BNSF's line between the two cities.

There is one area of dissension, however. The Vancouver Sun reports the

Surrey United Naturists Association is planning to register the group's

dismay over what it considers the imposition of a second Cascades train

along Surrey's coast line by staging a mass mooning under the banner

"BNSF Butt Out of the Beach."

The nudist group appears to want the beach alongside which the new Amtrak

train will run all to itself, and feels a new Cascades train full of

gawking passengers will interfere with the privacy of the group.

Actually, it's tough to wrap your mind around the fact this group is

worried about privacy.

BNSF officials expect to complete the track improvement by the summer of

2008, in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The project has

been in the works for over six years.

9) A private web design in Peoria, Illinois (You remember the hackneyed

phrase, "Let's see if it will play in Peoria.") has come up with an

interesting service for those who wish to monitor Amtrak's on time

performance levels.

The company has provided a free web site which will provide a three week

accounting of Amtrak on-time history for any given train to any given

destination. The site can be found at

http://web.peoriadesignweb.com/cgi-bin/amtrak/train.cgi to keep track of

your favorite trains.

Faraz Hussain of Peoria Design Web explains how the site was developed:

[begin quote]

My motivation for developing the on-time performance calculator was so I

could schedule my squash matches with my opponents at my destinations.

Squash is similar to racquetball in that it is an indoor court sport. I

live in Peoria where there are not many squash players so I travel to

Chicago and St. Louis often from Bloomington to play better players.

So knowing the statistical delays helps me realistically plan my day when

I arrive at my destination. The program is just a program that retrieves

information from Amtrak site behind the scenes. I based it off a similar

search engine I developed, Medreport.org. Medreport.org lets you create

reports by scanning up to thirty websites and extracting content based on

your search criteria.

The program did not take more than half a night to develop as I was able

to copy/paste a code from Medreport.org . I knew this tool would benefit

many others which is why I invested more time to make it robust and easy

to use. I am now working on a 'Catch a train' script that finds where a

particular train is on its route.

[End quote]

This could easily prove to be a user-friendly tool that will benefit many

Amtrak-watchers.

10) The United Transportation Union has published a six-point plan it

feels will help improve both Amtrak and the life of its union members who

work for Amtrak.

[begin quote]

Highlights of the six-point Amtrak reform plan include:

. Congress must pass a long-term authorization bill that provides at

least $2 billion per year, to be fully funded by appropriators.

. Labor/management relations must be reformed. Amtrak must stop

withholding reasonable wage increases by blaming unpredictable federal

financing for the carrier. Most Amtrak employees are entering their

eighth year with no general wage increase.

. A new Amtrak board of directors should be created with members -

including a voice for employees - who actually believe in maintaining and

strengthening a national Amtrak system. Board members who pursue

self-destructive policies for Amtrak do not serve in the interest of the

company, its workers or the 25 million passengers who depend on Amtrak

service.

. After 30 years of under-funding, Amtrak has taken on substantial debt

that should be paid down with federal assistance.

. The way Amtrak security costs are paid must be reformed. Specific

expenses associated with the defense against terrorism should be borne by

the Department of Homeland Security.

. To ensure independent oversight, the Inspector General of Amtrak should

be separated from the company. It should not work as an extension of

Amtrak management as it does today.

March 7, 2007

[End quote]

11) Here's a nugget of information from an Amtrak daily operations report

that shows someone cares about Amtrak trains and passengers.

[begin quote]

Train 6(04) [Eastbound California Zephyr] Delayed at Omaha, NE by

Mechanical Failure

The outbound crew reported (3) blower bearing adapter bolts on coach

34001 axle #1 were missing. The contractor that waters the train was able

to obtain bolts at a local hardware store and replaced them. The

contractor also reported the plates that hold the bolts in were upside

down.

Delay: 6(04) 41"

[End quote]

Note to the Amtrak Mechanical Department: Sometimes, just a quick trip to

the corner hardware store can solve a host of problems.

12) And, this, from another Amtrak internal operations report about train

no. 91, the southbound Silver Star, preparing to leave New York City for

Florida:

[begin quote]

Train 91(06) Late Departure, New York, NY

Train 91(06) was delayed in Sunnyside Yard account [passenger cars]

C/25091 and C/25097 shopped/cut due to frozen waste lines. C/25014 and

C/25015 were substituted then C/25014 shopped/cut due to frozen waste

line, C/25082 was substituted. Also necessary to thaw frozen lines on

C/25005.

Delay: 91(06) 1'43"

[End quote]

Apparently, Amtrak's winter weather woes are not just limited to Chicago.

13) What's the latest on the restoration of the Sunset Limited east of

New Orleans, into Florida? Nobody seems to know.

A number of concepts seems to be floating around, including putting back

the short-lived late 1990s Gulf Coast Limited daily service between New

Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, and then adding a separate tri-weekly

service between New Orleans and Orlando, which would operate separately

from the Sunset Limited, and originate in New Orleans. No direct

connection from the Sunset would be available eastbound; an overnight New

Orleans stay would be required. Westbound, a same day connection would be

available.

Other reports still circulate regarding extending the City of New Orleans

from New Orleans to Orlando.

One obvious connection which would greatly extend matrix opportunities

would be to re-extend the Palmetto south from Savannah to Jacksonville,

where hubbing opportunities with a Florida Panhandle/New Orleans service

could be restored. The Florida Coalition of Railroad Passengers under the

able leadership of President Jackson McQuigg continues to take a strong

leading public role in the effort.

14) In the "What Were These Guys Thinking?" Department, comes this story

from a TWA reader from Omaha, Nebraska, who was on the California Zephyr

February 19th.

The Associated Press reports that five men forced off the Zephyr for

smoking marijuana were discovered to be carrying a simple cardboard box

holding $700,000 in U.S. savings bonds, allegedly stolen from a Nevada

home.

The men were traveling from Sacramento, California to Chicago to

illegally launder the bonds. The five men, whose ages range from 24 to 42

were smoking pot on the train. When they were asked to leave the train

because of the pot smoking at Helper, Utah, about 100 miles south of Salt

Lake City, they were met by local authorities and a drug-sniffing dog.

The dog reacted strongly to two bags. The Helper police searched the bags

and found the bonds inside the cardboard box.

All five of the men were released on bond.

The moral of this story? When you're running from the law carrying huge

amounts of stolen federal bonds, don't do something stupid like smoke

dope in public places along the way. Then, again, it doesn't take a

rocket scientist to be a bond thief, so these same non-rocket scientists

probably wouldn't think twice about smoking dope, either.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

SPECIAL NOTE:

TWA (for those who are direct subscribers; not recipients through a list)

is now sent through a new system, and has a Sender address of

[email protected]

If you have e-mail filters on your system, you may wish to adjust your

filters inorder to continue to receive This Week at Amtrak. If you do

miss any issues, every issue is archived at www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

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http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## AlanB

MrFSS said:


> Next question: When is Amtrak's "state of good repair" mantra going toextend to the long distance Viewliner and Superliner fleets so enough
> 
> equipment can get out on the road and start generating some high value
> 
> revenue and revenue passenger miles for Amtrak, not to mention fulfilling
> 
> Amtrak's original mission of providing America with a true nationwide
> 
> network of passenger trains?


I guess Bruce didn't comb through those Amtrak reports hard enough to see all the numbers that were there.

In fiscal 2006 Amtrak completed major overhaul work on the following for long distance trains.

21 Amfleet II coaches.

2 Amfleet II lounges.

22 Superliner II sleepers

16 Superliner II lounges

15 Superliner II diners

11 Superliner II dorms

17 Superliner I sleepers remanufactured

27 Superliner I coaches

10 Superliner I lounges

10 Superliner I diners

8 Viewliners

In fiscal 2005 we saw:

25 Amfleet II coaches

10 Superliner II sleepers

5 Superliner II lounges

8 Superliner II coaches

7 Superliner II diners

8 Superliner II dorms

20 Superliner I sleepers remanufactured

23 Superliner I smoker-coaches converted to baggage-coaches



MrFSS said:


> 9) A private web design in Peoria, Illinois (You remember the hackneyedphrase, "Let's see if it will play in Peoria.") has come up with an
> 
> interesting service for those who wish to monitor Amtrak's on time
> 
> performance levels.
> 
> The company has provided a free web site which will provide a three week
> 
> accounting of Amtrak on-time history for any given train to any given
> 
> destination. The site can be found at
> 
> http://web.peoriadesignweb.com/cgi-bin/amtrak/train.cgi to keep track of
> 
> your favorite trains.
> 
> Faraz Hussain of Peoria Design Web explains how the site was developed:
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> My motivation for developing the on-time performance calculator was so I
> 
> could schedule my squash matches with my opponents at my destinations.
> 
> Squash is similar to racquetball in that it is an indoor court sport. I
> 
> live in Peoria where there are not many squash players so I travel to
> 
> Chicago and St. Louis often from Bloomington to play better players.
> 
> So knowing the statistical delays helps me realistically plan my day when
> 
> I arrive at my destination. The program is just a program that retrieves
> 
> information from Amtrak site behind the scenes. I based it off a similar
> 
> search engine I developed, Medreport.org. Medreport.org lets you create
> 
> reports by scanning up to thirty websites and extracting content based on
> 
> your search criteria.
> 
> The program did not take more than half a night to develop as I was able
> 
> to copy/paste a code from Medreport.org . I knew this tool would benefit
> 
> many others which is why I invested more time to make it robust and easy
> 
> to use. I am now working on a 'Catch a train' script that finds where a
> 
> particular train is on its route.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> This could easily prove to be a user-friendly tool that will benefit many
> 
> Amtrak-watchers.



Congratulations to Faraz for making the news.


----------



## AmtrakWPK

Alan, thanks for the data compilation. Actually a pretty impressive list.

The only thing that I wish Richardson had added to the mention of the train-status bot was that it only accesses the Amtrak site when someone makes a request for information about a specific train to a specific station, and that it is *not* an unattended data-miner. One would expect Amtrak to probably complain about an unattended data-miner but that they would be more likely to tolerate something like what Faraz's tool actually is, because it does not contact the Amtrak site unless and until someone specifically asks it to check on a particular train for a particular station.


----------



## MrFSS

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 10

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) URPA analyst Dr. Paul Wilson breaks down the many aspects of today's

American passenger rail network.

[begin quote]

By Paul A. Wilson, Ph.D.

Unique Positive Aspects of Conventional Speed Passenger Rail

1. Passenger trains serve big cities, suburbs and small towns equally

well, without creating untoward disruption and NIMBY backlash. Indeed,

suburbs that are a part of a healthy railroad system, both long distance

and commuter, contain some of the most valuable and desirable real estate

in the country.

2. Trains easily pick people up enroute at multiple stops, offering a

robust matrix of origins and destinations to the traveling public. Even

single route trains offer high levels of connectivity between online

stations and adjoining communities.

3. Outside of cruise ships, no one else in the travel industry offers

moving sleeping accommodations. Rail sleeper accommodations match the

privacy of the private automobile, without the difficulties of providing

the vehicle driver.

4. Onboard amenities are potentially without parallel, at least on land.

No other form of transportation offers full meal service from a broad

menu, space to walk around while in transit, or a full service beverage

lounge open for extended hours. Passenger train travel also is provided

without a necessary level of high security measures, avoiding the

necessity of intrusive luggage and personal searches. There are no banned

materials or legal substances on passenger trains; passengers may travel

with all of their legal needs at all times.

5. Adding new destinations along existing routes can be achieved at low

cost. Stations are relatively inexpensive and the costs of stopping and

starting an enroute train are low.

6. Adding new routes or extensions of existing routes on existing

railroad rights-of-way is relatively low cost, at conventional speeds (79

MPH maximum).

7. For a conventional speed passenger railroad, the rights-of-way already

exist or have been land banked for the most part. No one's property need

be seized or disrupted. This is not true for most High Speed Rail

schemes.

8. Steel-wheel-on-steel-rail technology offers energy efficiency that's

nearly impossible to match. It's hard to argue with the immutable laws of

physics.

9. Passenger railroads operate on an environmentally-friendly basis, with

relatively quiet operation and they do so on narrow rights-of-way, quite

unlike super-highways and airports.

Current Problems with Intercity Passenger Rail in the continental United

States

1. An atrophied, now skeletal national network means high unit costs and

low productivity, due to Amtrak's inability to realize economies of

scale.

2. Privately-owned railroad infrastructure in most cases is subject to ad

valorem taxation by localities.

3. Inefficient labor practices due to a small network, high operating

subsidies, poor management, and a historical legacy of strict craft

separation mean Amtrak has a high-cost, low-productivity work force.

4. Outside of the few Amtrak-owned lines, passenger trains compete with

freight trains for access to routes owned and dispatched by freight

railroads.

5. The current method of non-scheduled operations of freight trains on

freight lines makes timekeeping difficult for time-sensitive passenger

trains.

6. Unreliable and poorly maintained passenger equipment and locomotives

creates Amtrak-caused delays, cancellations and many enroute customer

service shortcomings.

7. Since the inception of Amtrak over 35 years ago, passenger railroading

has been treated as a political football by many parochial interests,

with scant regard for maintaining a true national passenger railroad

service. Furthermore, the host freight railroads view Amtrak as an

interloper on their properties and, in some cases, a general nuisance.

Most host freight railroads do not consider the dispatching and hosting

of Amtrak trains on their systems as a profitable activity, but an

unwanted obligation agreed to by retired and/or dead senior managers who

were anxious to get rid of private passenger service at the end of the

1960s at almost any price when railroads in general were on a downward

spiral.

8. In the fastest-growing regions in the country, burgeoning freight

traffic and decades of scant investment by private freight railroads in

track and facilities has led to growing pains and severe congestion on

some Amtrak routes that Amtrak has had to contend with, while having very

little chance of resolution of a problem not of Amtrak's own making.

Fixes (addressing the above, in order)

1. Expand the network where it makes sense, add second daily "flip"

frequencies (at roughly 10 to 12 hours behind the other daily train) on

some existing routes. At a bare minimum, expand consists to full strength

where they were only a decade ago. Many Amtrak trains that are nine cars

or less today used to run as many as 18 cars on a daily basis.

2. Offer a federal program of partial tax abatement for

passenger-carrying freight lines and full tax abatement for those

passenger-only facilities still in private hands. Better yet, localities

should own and maintain the stations, just like they own the airports.

Amtrak should be a tenant, not a landlord.

3. An expanding Amtrak won't be so obsessed with "headcount" and other

hobgoblins, like "featherbedding." With more trains, low productivity

will be largely a self-correcting problem. Raise productivity with more

work being done because more trains are running, not by constantly

trimming the workforce down to skeletal and unproductive levels.

4. Work with the freight railroads to "fleet" passenger trains with their

existing intermodal freight trains. Fast intermodal trains and passenger

trains run at roughly the same average speeds.

5. Bring back scheduling. The freight customers will love it and it will

allow freight train crews to have a more normal life. This will attract

more workers to the railroads at time they're having problems with

recruitment, retention and crew fatigue. Changes could be made to the

Hours of Service law to encourage the railroads to move in this

direction. Example: the current 12 hours on and 12 off would apply to

scheduled movements, but non-scheduled movements would be subject to 8

on, 16 off.

6. First off, a no-brainer, devote more of Amtrak's budget to maintaining

long-haul rolling stock, the company's primary physical asset outside the

Northeast Corridor. The long-haul rolling stock is arguably Amtrak's most

productive asset. To handle enroute problems, bring back an old, reliable

solution by assigning mechanical forces to stops with longer layovers,

using contractors if necessary in locations that need only part-time

workers. In addition, reform work rules to soften craft lines and refocus

on providing the best experience for the customer, irrespective of one's

specific "job." Example: Assistant conductors or onboard service

employees could be cross-trained to perform simple repairs enroute,

enhancing time-keeping, reliability and passenger comfort.

7a. Stop using Amtrak's budget as a backdoor Railroad Retirement subsidy

for the freight railroads. Eliminate the Railroad Retirement "excess"

payments by Amtrak. Also eliminate RRB participation for Amtrak new hires

and move new hires to Social Security, with a 401(k) defined contribution

plan with hefty company match mandated by law. Allow all passenger rail

operators in on the same deal. (This may lure the freights into the game

by opening passenger-operation subsidiaries. See also Item 7d.)

7b. Relieve Amtrak of infrastructure ownership. The United States

government would assume direct ownership of NEC and all NEC-related debt.

The government would then lease the NEC to a regional authority for $1 a

year, with regional authority operating it and providing maintenance.

(Servicing the debt would be well worth the cost of getting the albatross

off Amtrak's books.) Turn Amtrak-owned lines (in upstate New York and

Michigan) over to the Federal Railroad Administration for use as

semi-high-speed test beds.

7c. Change Amtrak governance to eliminate, or at least balance out, the

political influence on the board. The US Department of Transportation has

been a source of unending frustration, and a font of much nonsense with

regards to Amtrak. That being the case, eliminate the DOT secretary seat

on the Board and replace the current board with an arrangement similar to

the Amtrak Reform Council. Board seats are to be appointed by majority

and minority leaderships in each house of Congress, plus the executive

branch, subject to an up-or-down vote on entire slate by the Senate. The

legislation would prohibit the Senate from "cherry-picking" appointees.

This will ensure buy-in and investment from both parties in the success

of Amtrak. Retain the current Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act

language mandating transportation and business expertise for board

members. Include one dedicated seat each for rail labor and host

railroads (perhaps chosen by the Association of American Railroads) on

the Board.

7d. Maintain Amtrak's current statutory access to freight lines and the

current liability caps, but explicitly prohibit franchising out routes,

with one key exception. The track owners would be eligible to obtain

either exclusive (new routes) or competing franchises (existing routes)

on their own lines. This eliminates the fear of passenger rail being the

"camel's nose" for open access. FRA would establish minimum service

standards for franchisees and develop formulas for operating subsidies

payable to franchisees.

8. Float federal- and state-issued bonds on an 80%/20% federal-state

split for critical new lines and improvements to existing lines,

terminals and other bottlenecks, with states and regional authorities

assuming title to the improved property. Track usage fees (per gross ton,

per train movement, etc.) would service the bond debt and ongoing

maintenance. FRA to develop formulas based on Return On Investment

criteria to make sure the funds flow equitably to all regions and ensure

sufficient revenue flows to service debt. ROI criteria and the need for

sufficient revenues assume they will be mixed-use freight/passenger

shared facilities. And lastly, provide regulatory relief from

environmental reviews for railroad construction on existing rights of

way.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any

individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept

strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other

than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 29, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 12

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by Austin M. Coates, Jr., URPA is

a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans

for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and

Tennessee. For more detailed information, along with a variety of

position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) This Week at Amtrak is always pleased to feature the writings and

thoughts of Gilbert E. Carmichael, one of America's foremost experts on

transportation. Mr. Carmichael, from 1989 to 1993, was the Administrator

of the United States Federal Railroad Administration, and is currently

Senior Chairman of the Intermodal Transportation Institute of the

University of Denver. Mr. Carmichael was also chairman of the Amtrak

Reform Council.

Mr. Carmichael spoke at the National Press Club's Transportation Table

last week in Washington on March 23rd. The following is a transcript of

Mr. Carmichael's speech.

[begin quote]

Intermodalism: A New Science of Transportation

On most occasions when I speak about intermodal transportation, I devote

an extensive portion of my remarks to simply providing a basic

orientation. This audience does not require such coddling. You all grasp

the fundamentals. Many of you are experts.

You understand that freight transportation has undergone a revolution

during the past quarter-century and that intermodal is now the global

standard for moving freight. You also understand how it succeeds -

interconnections . containerization . speed . safety . reliable

scheduling . economic and fuel efficiency . and marshaling the strengths

of each individual mode, while avoiding modal weaknesses. We are looking

at a new science of transportation.

Yes, this intermodal system works. It continues to grow. Its future

success will hinge partly upon our ability to further improve the routes

and terminals that enable it to function in the manner desired. However,

although a revolution in freight transportation has taken place, the

general public is unaware of it. Most public officials and opinion

leaders do not even know the intermodal system exists! It may be

unreasonable to think that the average citizen will get excited about

such matters, but ignorance on the part of our public officials and

opinion leaders has consequences! Ignorance about transportation in

general - and intermodal in particular - has placed government at all

levels "well behind the curve" in thinking and acting on a wide range of

transportation issues. During our intermodal revolution they sat on the

sidelines for 25 years.

By tradition, government agencies concentrate on each mode's

infrastructure. Highway agencies build and maintain roads. Airport

authorities build and maintain airports. Government provides grants to

these and other systems - urban transit and Amtrak, for example - to

offset operating deficits, meet capital needs, and help upgrade the

infrastructure they use. Several things are wrong with this historical

arrangement.

For one thing, it leads to one-dimensional thinking. Federal and state

governments concentrate on infrastructure, but do not pay much attention

to how it is actually used - or where the most promising opportunities

exist. Freight's intermodal network, on the other hand, has succeeded

because it is customer-driven. Our "infrastructure mentality" also causes

government to view the modes in isolation, yet the intermodal system

prospers by efficiently unifying them horizontally.

Among public officials at all levels of government - including many

people in transportation agencies - the ignorance of freight

transportation is almost universal. Some regional planning agencies have

written transportation plans that devote more attention to bicycle paths

than to freight transportation. We must remember that for every passenger

moving on America's transportation system, a ton of freight is moving.

Ignorance about freight leads to bad decisions and missed opportunities.

Nearly all recent progress and innovation in US transportation has come

in the freight area. Nearly all of those gains are attributable to action

and investment by the private sector - not government. I believe that

freight will continue to be the category in which we achieve the most

impressive gains. The ship, train, and truck have found each other!

Unfortunately, government is heavily involved in passenger policy.

Government has resisted reform and modernization. We desperately need an

intermodal systems approach to passenger service. In this regard, we are

20 years behind the freight industry. The plane, train, and intercity bus

must find each other!

Finally, this obsolete focus on individual modes and individual modal

infrastructure, coupled with a lack of knowledge about customers and

markets, causes important issues to fall through the cracks because they

do not have a governmental "home." The most striking example is the

intercity bus industry. We are losing it. Most people do not care. They

should. It frankly amazes me that a mayor will loudly protest the

threatened loss of airline services or a single Amtrak train to his or

her community. Yet, the disappearance of intercity bus service - which

may have generated more local ridership - is allowed to take place

without comment or complaint. Greyhound is almost invisible today.

As commercial air service continues its retreat from urban areas with a

population of less than 100,000, people will still have to get to major

airports, only the terminals will be farther away. The choice is simple -

bus or private car. The bus is flexible. Routes can be adjusted as

markets change. Service frequency can be increased or decreased,

depending upon demand, and at modest cost. Despite these advantages, the

intercity bus industry is in trouble. Government at every level simply

does not care.

Capital Investment Strategies

There are two issues currently up for consideration that relate to the

intermodal theme. One is the proposed 25 percent tax credit for freight

railroad capital investment. Intermodal's biggest challenge is simply

that of capacity expansion. I believe that the freight railroads have

done a good job funding improvements that add capacity and enhance

intermodal service. Capital investments that directly influence these two

priorities currently are running in the $5-8 billion annual range.

Meeting even predictable near-term business growth will require a much

higher commitment.

A tax credit will unleash substantial additional amounts on an ongoing

basis. I urge support for it. The huge North American rail system has

been single-tracked in the last 30 years. This right-of-way is probably

carrying only 25 percent of its capacity. If we go back to

double-or-triple-tracking, grade separation, and GPS, it would equal

three times more capacity - and this right-of-way already is in place and

paid for! If we build this Interstate II, it will be far more significant

than Interstate I was.

Senators Trent Lott (Mississippi) and Frank Lautenberg (New Jersey) are

working on a multi-billion-dollar Amtrak reauthorization proposal, which

includes incentives for states to provide matching funds. I believe that

we will have to involve the states more deeply in issues associated with

intercity rail passenger service. There is overlap with the states' other

transportation functions, and there is an overlap with freight's

intermodal system. How public officials deal with specific passenger

projects can help create a better intermodal system - or damage the

existing one. States might wisely partner with the railroads to add a

third track. This may be the real public-private partnership we keep

talking about.

In considering Amtrak, I am aware of the deferred capital needs of the

Northeast Corridor: $20 billion in 2002 and rolling stock system-wide.

However, I would urge that in considering any new routes or services,

only one priority should be applied. That is to upgrade the most

promising existing city-pair corridors by first increasing train

frequencies and improving schedule times within the framework of

conventional intercity service. In time, I believe we will need to expand

high-speed routes. But in nearly all cases, we will need to develop and

build a customer base with more frequencies before making the leap to a

true high-speed operation. The 13 federally designated corridors are a

good place to start for the city pairs.

State and Federal Government Roles

Perhaps the most important next step in advancing intermodal

transportation, both freight and passenger, is to take a fresh look at

the structure and priorities of government agencies. I have noted that

since 1980 freight intermodal has flourished because the private sector

was in charge. Some would claim that government involvement easily could

have retarded its growth. But, I do believe that government has a role in

freight, if for no reason other than the linkages among the surface modes

and connections at public ports, terminals, and the new evolving

"logistics centers." I do not believe that meaningful progress can be

achieved in passenger intermodalism unless state transportation

departments are the catalyst for it!

Why the states? Who else will do it? Theoretically, the airlines might be

promoters of improved surface connections to deliver passengers to their

gates - but they operate at airports they do not own! Today those airport

managers have shown little interest in anything but "parking lot" and

"car rental" revenues. Nearly all efforts by intercity bus companies to

provide direct service or to be allowed to maintain facilities on airport

terminal grounds have been summarily rebuffed. The bus companies cannot

do it. Name me one major airport with a Greyhound station.

Amtrak is not in a leadership position to be a broker or coordinator, and

its management lacks the skill, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit

required to bring it off. It seems so logical that the airplane should

meet the bus and train - by design. Just as it does at Hong Kong, Charles

de Gaulle, and Narita, Japan.

To prepare public agencies for a belated arrival into the intermodal era,

I propose that the chief executive of each state transportation

department should have two principal deputies - one to oversee policies

and programs associated with freight transportation and the other to

carry out an identical role in passenger transportation. Each could be

meaningful players in coordination and intermodal project design and

approval. They would soon learn that they have to listen to the

customers.

Senior executives of these agencies should have a working knowledge of

the new principles of intermodal transportation, because a majority of

policy decisions and projects need to be carried out with priority given

to intermodal needs - for both freight and passenger improvements. Senior

DOT executives either should have gained this intermodal knowledge

through professional experience in the transportation industry or they

should receive formal academic training. That is what the Intermodal

Transportation Institute at the University of Denver is doing through its

Executive Master's Program, which awards a Master of Science in

Intermodal Transportation Management from the University of Denver.

Dividing the executive functions - policy, planning, programs, and grants

- into the freight and passenger categories makes practical sense. It

also would make a powerful statement that we, in fact, do understand that

the world has changed.

What about the federal government? Congress still operates as if this

were the 1950s. Members talk intermodal but vote for traditional highway

projects. I hold out little hope for leadership from Capitol Hill. What

about the US DOT? Fifteen years ago they created an intermodal office. It

had no authority. It was purely cosmetic. Eventually it was done away

with. A senior official of the department told me several weeks ago that

steps now have been taken to bring a serious intermodal flavor to its

policies and actions, by concentrating on freight. I am not hung up on

that point, because I realize that formal changes affect such things as

congressional committee relationships. Even the chairs of the most

insignificant subcommittees rebel if even half a smidgen of their turf is

threatened. I recognize the difficulty of a formal reorganization of

Congress, but a committee on intermodal freight and one on intermodal

passengers make sense.

But, if my friends at DOT are serious about this, I ask them to show us

tangible evidence. They will not have credibility until they do. A chart

with dotted lines showing coordination arrangements will not convince us.

Even having an intermodal "enforcer" who can mandate coordination will

not suffice. We in the intermodal community will believe you only when we

see solid evidence that your FAA, FRA, Highway, and UMTA leaders are

energetic intermodal advocates - without pressure from above. Further, I

propose that DOT informally gather the best minds of the intermodal

community to examine what they are up to. That could help persuade us. It

also could help DOT avoid going in the wrong direction in the process of

trying to do something right. Congestion is reaching critical mass - the

huge untapped capacity of North American railroad right-of-way may be the

solution! We must change directions.

Intermodalism and Energy

I have reached the closing portion of my remarks without mentioning the

subject of energy. I happen to believe that high fuel prices are with us

for the long term and that they will go even higher! But it does not

matter what I think, when the subject is intermodal. Why? Intermodal made

sense when fuel cost one-half of today's prices. Intermodal makes even

more sense today. If prices drop, the container will still be the

low-cost service. It made Wal-Mart. If energy costs double in the years

ahead, intermodal will simply gain more market share and help keep

inflation under control.

There is a lesson here for politicians who are jumping on the energy

bandwagon. Investment in intermodal is a no-brainer if you want to

conserve fuel and keep the cost of goods and services in line, even if we

radically re-price fuel, as we have. And it has a built-in hedging

mechanism, because intermodal investments will pay off even if prices

decline. If fuel cells work, I expect both truck and rail to adopt the

technology. The intermodal marketplace will not be skewed because energy

costs are only one component of the intermodal advantage.

However, I would observe that railroads do have a trump card. Unlike

their partners in trucking and aviation, if at some point in the future

permanent oil shortages are a serious threat, rail can convert to

electricity generated from an alternate source. The rail mode already

carries its freight and passengers nine times farther per gallon of fuel

than do the highway modes.

Thank you.

[End quote]

Mr. Carmichael may be reached by e-mail at [email protected]

2) News item, from The Ticket, an independent electronic newsletter for

frequent business travelers:

[begin quote]

AIRLINE STATS OF NOTE. This one slipped underneath our radar . but

according the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Delta is no longer

the nation's third largest carrier after #1 American and #2 United. Based

on year end results, Southwest Airlines is now #3, based on total revenue

passenger miles in 2006. The five busiest routes in the U.S.:

New York - Chicago

Ft Lauderdale - New York

Los Angeles - Chicago

Atlanta - New York

Washington, DC - Chicago

[End quote]

Despite the poor use of abbreviations for real words in this article,

what is significant about airline statistics in space usually devoted to

passenger rail? Note that the rankings are based solely on revenue

passenger miles, not meaningless numbers like boardings or passengers

carried. Revenue passenger miles are the gold standard which EVERY OTHER

FORM OF COMMON CARRIER, OTHER THAN AMTRAK, USES.

Until Amtrak adopts this common standard, all of its numbers will be

meaningless in the real world of transportation.

3) Usually, Union Pacific Railroad is considered the bad guy of

railroading to many who are familiar with railroads in the United States.

UP, once a shining beacon of efficiency in the world of railroading, and

a pioneering company which tied North America together by rail, lately

has had a number of corporate problems which have led to meltdowns in

customer service and disgruntled freight shippers. Additionally, UP has,

in recent history, consistently been Amtrak's most frustrating host

railroad, with consistently abysmal on time performance when hosting

Amtrak trains.

Just recently, in Sacramento, California, the UP suffered a huge loss

when a long UP railroad bridge caught on fire and burned. Freight traffic

was detoured at great expense, and Amtrak trains temporarily lost an

important part of a route. However, this week, a medium sized miracle

happened.

[begin quote]

They did it!

After the March 15 fire that destroyed Union Pacific's approach trestle

to the American River Bridge east of Sacramento, the railroad set to work

immediately to build a new, concrete/steel trestle.

Many expressed amazement at how fast UP was working, and at their

projected date for one open track of April 1st. The second track was to

be completed by May 1st.

UP proved that their old slogan "We Can Handle It" can still apply. At

1:30 A.M. on Tuesday, March 27th, Track One on the approach trestle was

completed and opened for traffic. UP now anticipates that Track Two will

be completed and open for traffic on April 3rd.

As a result, the short-turn of Amtrak's California Zephyr was to end

immediately, with Train 5(25) going to Emeryville. The Zephyr arrived in

Sacramento for the first time since the fire. ...

Attached photo: the first train across the new trestle, from UP's

Sacramento Bridge Update page.

http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/2007/sacramento_bridge.shtml

[End quote]

Many will remember the wreckage to the railroad infrastructure in and

around the Gulf Coast during the hurricane season of 2005 when Hurricane

Katrina slammed into Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. In a time frame

measured in days, Norfolk Southern had its main line from Atlanta to New

Orleans up and open, even after a very long bridge over Lake

Pontchartrain fell into the murky lake waters. The CSX main line from

Pensacola, Florida to New Orleans was completely destroyed, yet parts of

it were up and running in just a few weeks, and the line was completely

reopened in less than six months.

Some in the railroad industry lobby for the nationalization of all

railroad infrastructure in this country, so the rail would be considered

the same way highways are considered.

Highway US 90 on the Gulf Coast is still not completely reopened after

Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and it's 2007. Considering the miraculous job

the private railroads do to rebuild their infrastructure when someone

goes wrong, do we really want to lose this capability and turn over these

critical tasks to government?

Important note: While the private railroads are back to operating at full

capacity throughout the Gulf Coast, Amtrak still has not restored the

Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, using a plethora of excuses ranging

from the dog at their homework to unusable station facilities (even

though all of the passenger platforms are in place, and the only truly

questionable location is Mobile, Alabama because the station building has

been sold for redevelopment). All of the private companies got their

collective acts together and rebuilt and rejuvenated. Amtrak, a child of

government, is still stalling.

4) A former Amtrak manager commented on last week's story about URPA Vice

President Andrew Selden's speech in California at the RailPac meeting.

Mr. Selden's speech may be viewed on YouTube at

 
[begin quote]

Andy's numbers demonstrate passenger rail has economic utility with the

bare bones structure that has been in place for the life of Amtrak, and

economic ruin (waste) has been primarily on the soft asset side (people).

You can park cars and engines, and will not cost a plug nickel, but

Amtrak has not been able to park people (employees) that cost money and

add zip to the utility of Amtrak. Andy is no stranger to the word

"growth," and will be treated like a leper because he advocates change.

The highway people are your allies, and the new young generation no

longer thinks passenger trains are old-fashioned or old hat. Many in the

new generation think most people over 30 are pretty stupid for dumping

trains and leaving everyone with slow, crowded and expensive roads, along

with no choice but air intercity transportation that is not an

all-weather route anyone can claim.

The utility of passenger trains does not require brain surgeons by the

masses. As the saying goes, "you always want what you can't have."

[End quote]

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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## WICT106

This Week at Amtrak; April 5, 2007:

1) Last week, TWA was fortunate to share a speech by former Federal

Railroad Administration Administrator and former Chairman of the Amtrak

Reform Council Gilbert E. Carmichael on the new science of intermodalism.

March 23rd, the same day Mr. Carmichael was delivering his speech in

Washington, the current Chairman of Corridor Capital LLC in Chicago and

the former Vice Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, James E. Coston

delivered a fascinating speech in Chicago about the future of passenger

rail and the importance of long distance trains. Mr. Coston’s remarks

follow.

[begin quote]

The Dirty Little Secret The Government Doesn't Want You To Know:

Americans Love Passenger Trains

By James E. Coston, Chairman, Corridor Capital LLC

Delivered at the National Passenger Rail Leadership Summit, Union League

Club, Chicago

[M]y speech is about a Dirty Little Secret. I want to talk to you today

about some things that passenger-train advocates are not supposed to know

— and that members of the media and the general public – and especially

public policy makers and legislators – are not supposed to know about

passenger trains.

I bring this Dirty Little Secret up today – not because I want to

discourage you, or demoralize you – but because I want to arm you with

essential material you will need as you take the fight for a modern

passenger-rail service to the next level. We mustn't let the next 35

years look like the last 35 years.

Before somebody accuses me of opening on an excessively grim note,

however, let me just observe that these are very exciting days that

furnish us with excellent grounds for hope.

We just proved it here in Illinois. As many of you know, last year the

Illinois General Assembly voted to double its spending for

state-supported Amtrak trains, and to get four new daily round trips

added to the timetable on about five months’ notice.

During that extraordinarily short lead time, Amtrak had to negotiate

slots for each train with the railroads, identify and prepare suitable

rolling stock, and hire and train new crew members.

It wasn't easy. There were glitches — both before and after the new

trains were introduced.

But it was all worth it. Just in case you've been on Mars and haven't

seen the actual numbers, here’s what happened.

On October 30, the Illinois Department of Transportation began sponsoring

two new frequencies between Chicago and St. Louis and one additional

frequency each between Chicago and Carbondale and Chicago and Quincy:

In the first full month in which the new trains operated — November 2006

– ridership on state-supported trains between Chicago and St. Louis shot

up 91 per cent.

When calculated across the full slate of Chicago-St. Louis trains — three

state-supported plus two supported wholly by Amtrak — the ridership

increase was 51 per cent over November 2005

On the Chicago-Carbondale route, which got its first morning departure

from each end of the line in nearly 30 years, ridership was up 61 per

cent in the first month. Last month it was up almost 70 per cent.

On the weakest of the three routes — Chicago-Quincy — ridership was up 35

per cent in the first month. Last month it was up 47 per cent.

The holiday peaks of November and December are long gone now, but the

monthly ridership figures just keep growing.

On February 9, after three full months of operation, IDOT reported that

the St. Louis corridor was 50.6 per cent ahead of a year ago, the Quincy

route was now 44.6 per cent ahead, and the Carbondale route, which serves

two huge state universities, was 68.6 per cent ahead of a year earlier.

It now seems very likely that sometime this summer — that is, less than a

year after the new frequencies were introduced – ridership on Amtrak’s

three Illinois corridors will have doubled.

Nowhere in the United States has passenger-train ridership ever increased

at such a pace.

Which is truly amazing when you learn our Dirty Little Secret: This

wonderful new Illinois train service actually isn't very good.

Put it this way: Illinois is not California.

We never passed a bond-issue package like California did in 1990.

We never raised $245 million for intercity passenger-rail infrastructure

and $382 million for passenger rolling stock.

We never bought our own fleet of 17 locomotives and 88 passenger cars.

We have to live with Amtrak’s Horizon cars, which are not true corridor

equipment but adaptations of commuter-train rolling stock. They look

dirty on the outside, and they're smelly on the inside.

We also must live with the infrastructure limitations of our host

railroads. Illinois has not restored any missing double track, as

California recently did on portions of the former Southern Pacific

Railroad.

Between Amtrak’s rolling stock and the railroads’ capacity constraints,

on-time performance of the Illinois trains is terrible, and the Amtrak

and IDOT people in this room will confirm it:

On the Carbondale corridor the CN/IC delivers the trains to their final

destination on time only about 80 per cent of the time.

But on the other corridors BN and UP get the job done only about 50 per

cent of the time. And the rate is dropping as their freight traffic

continues to build.

Did I mention the stations? Our stations are, for the most part,

pathetically inadequate to handle the numbers now seeking to ride.

Only a handful of Illinois stations, led by the new intermodal

transportation center at Champaign and followed by joint Metra-Amtrak

stations at Glenview and Naperville, meet current standards for passenger

accessibility, capacity, convenience and comfort.

Chicago Union Station is beyond obsolete. It has crowd-control and

user-friendliness problems that are on the brink of becoming

public-safety and public-health problems.

And while our state budget for passenger-rail operating support just

doubled from $12 million to $24 million, it still falls far short of

California’s $75 million, which pays for 40 daily round trips compared

with Illinois’ seven.

Yet all of these inadequacies only emphasize how big our victory in

Illinois really is.

Just imagine: If we can double our train ridership in less than a year

with the inferior trains, tracks and stations we've got now, think how

fast our ridership would grow if these assets could be replaced with

adequate ones.

If I can slip in a little infomercial, that’s the task our company,

Corridor Capital, is working on today: We're trying to bring Amtrak,

state DOTs and investors together to make it easier for operators of

passenger trains to get the modern rolling stock, stations, maintenance

shops — and even infrastructure — they need to handle the coming tsunami

of passenger-train demand.

We feel a lot more confident in offering those services today than we did

a year ago, because the numbers we're getting from these seven daily

Illinois frequencies have taught us a lesson that now needs to be shared

with rail advocates — and with elected officials and public policy makers

all across the country.

What is that lesson?

Simply that the United States has crossed a major watershed: There no

longer is any argument about whether the American people want to ride

trains.

Remember back in 2000 when Amtrak President George Warrington told a

congressional committee that it looked like Amtrak was not really on its

"glide path to profitability" — yeah, remember that? — and that maybe it

was time to hold a "national debate" on whether the country should make a

commitment to a serious passenger-rail service?

I'm here to tell you today that debate is over and the verdict is in: The

people are riding trains.

... In fact, in Illinois our ridership was growing by double digits even

for the three years before the four new trains were added.

Now we're going to double our ridership in one year. We're going to fill

up the new trains without cannibalizing any trade from the old ones.

Even California never did that.

And please remember, there’s another way Illinois is not California:

We're not cultural pioneers here. New trends do not start in Illinois.

They reach Illinois—usually from the West Coast and after a lag of

several years. We're Heartland, not La-La Land.

Well, the train trend has reached the Heartland. If Illinois is ready,

the whole country is ready.

In one sense, this success makes our job as advocates easier.

When we ask our elected officials to fund more passenger trains and more

infrastructure improvements, we don't have to speculate about, "If we run

it will they come?"

We ran it, and they came.

We don't have to hire expensive consultants to do computerized ridership

projections.

The public is buying tickets faster than the computers can project the

trends.

All we have to do is run trains, and the riders show up at the depot.

And those riders, my friends, are only a tiny sliver of the potential

ridership in our state and across the rest of the Heartland.

That’s because most of the people who need these trains still don't

realize the trains exist.

Amtrak and IDOT have close to zero money for promotion.

There’s no TV advertising and only a tiny amount of print advertising,

most of it in college media. We still don't understand how all these new

passengers found out about their trains.

So you have to ask yourself not only, "How many people would ride these

trains if they were actually good?" — but also, "How many people would

ride these trains if they knew about them?

And by "know about them" I don't mean just reading a news story

re-written from an IDOT or Amtrak press release.

I mean hearing and seeing first-rate advertising for these trains —

creative, exciting, contemporary messages appearing repeatedly – in the

same forums where people learn about Southwest Airlines and Carnival

Cruises and Hilton Hotels and Harrah’s Casinos and Disney World and

Toyota and all the other travel/hospitality/mobility resources we have to

choose from today.

Have you any idea of the scale of the response that would follow if

trains were promoted as hip and happening?

That’s not a rhetorical question. I can answer that question, because the

answer already is part of the historical record. The Dirty Little Secret

is, we are not entering new territory. We've seen this movie before.

How many of you have read the wonderful book by Rush Loving called The

Men Who Loved Trains?

... The Men Who Loved Trains now in its sixth or seventh printing, and

there’s no mystery why: It’s a very exciting, well written book about

some of the most dramatic episodes and larger-than-life personalities

behind the revival of the Class I railroad industry in the late 20th

century.

Don Phillips raved about it, TRAINS magazine excerpted one of its

chapters, and everybody who’s read it loves it.

But The Men Who Loved Trains doesn't just deal with the freight side of

the railroad industry. Rush Loving devotes three-and-a-half pages to

showing that while the federal government was laboring during the 1970s

to revive much of the nation’s freight railroad industry it had to figure

out what to do with the passenger trains as well.

And if you read those three-and-a-half pages you will probably react with

the same sense of deja vu that I did.

According to Rush, skyrocketing ridership growth on passenger trains is

nothing new in this country. Even the passenger-train advocates may have

forgotten it, but the kind of ridership growth we're seeing today already

happened 35 years ago..

Rush tells this part of the story through the eyes of Jim McClellan who

retired a couple of years ago from Norfolk Southern.

But when Amtrak started up in 1971 Jim McClellan went to work there as a

long-range planner in the marketing department. And McClellan was there

when a very interesting figure named Harold Graham left Pan American

World Airways and joined Amtrak to become vice president of marketing.

I'll tell what happened in Rush’s own words, based on his interviews with

McClellan:

"Amtrak’s marketing vice president was a rotund, highly personable man

with a big white walrus mustache who had come from Pan American World

Airways, and he started promoting trains to the masses like he had pushed

flights to Paris and Puerto Rico. The American public responded and

started sampling the trains again. Ridership was growing at about 15 per

cent a year. McClellan had foreseen this, projecting a growth rate in

this range for Amtrak’s first year or so, a rate the operations

department could easily handle. But he grew concerned that traffic would

surge beyond expectations if such a marketing program continued. Noting

that a similar promotion had doubled business on the Canadian National

Railway and it had not been able to handle the volume, McClellan warned

his superiors in a memo that they were headed for trouble. ‘The results

could be disastrous,’ he warned. ‘It’s hard to get a growth curve and

then turn it off.’ His memo did not endear him to the marketing vice

president or to Roger Lewis, Amtrak’s chairman."

Loving goes on to point out McClellan’s importuning irritated Roger

Lewis, who "shot the messenger" by firing McClellan in 1972.

But, in Loving’s words, "…by 1974 his worst fears had come true. Traffic

surged, and Amtrak was not able to handle it."

I can confirm Jim and Rush’s testimony personally.

At the same time as the events in this account were taking place, I was

earning my college money working for Amtrak as a ticket agent and

station-services representative at Chicago Union Station.

I can confirm to you that every night we were putting out a sold-out

18-car Broadway Limited to Philadelphia and New York, and that every

night I had to tell several dozen travelers who arrived at Union Station

without reservations that we had no space for them.

I can confirm to you that summertime demand for space on the Western

trains was so great that Amtrak ran not only the Southwest Chief but also

temporarily revived the Chief on a "flipped" schedule that allowed a

morning departure from Chicago, an evening arrival in Los Angeles and

convenient daytime departures for intermediate stops that the Southwest

Chief served only in the wee hours.

I can confirm to you that we ran not only the California Zephyr to

Oakland but the Denver Zephyr as well to handle the overflow demand that

didn't need to ride all the way to California.

I can confirm similar market demand existed for what today is called the

Chicago Hub service. On major holidays, and on many weekends, we would

run second sections following the Turbo Trains to St. Louis, Detroit and

Milwaukee.

When I came back to work extra at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I found

Amtrak running 10-car trains to Quincy, even borrowing commuter cars from

the railroads in those pre-Metra days.

We did the same thing on football weekends when there were big games at

Champaign, Carbondale, Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor.

... As Rush Loving points out, this demand had to be contained. The

burgeoning demand for passenger rail service alarmed the railroads. They

were under the impression that ridership would continue to dwindle.

The rail carriers believed that in five or six years the government would

remove the passenger trains from their rails for good and allow them to

downgrade their tracks to the 40-mile-per-hour standards of the coal and

grain trains that were believed to be their sole remaining lines of

business.

Rampant passenger-train demand also had alarmed the auto manufacturers,

the highway builders, the airlines and the petroleum industry.

These industries had been assured that demand for passenger trains did

not exist and that the federal government would invest only in

transportation projects that favored their interests.

The demand also alarmed Congress, which had been assured Amtrak would be

a modest program that would not last long and would not cost a lot of

money.

There simply was no real appetite among policymakers for a passenger-rail

buildup at the time. So the demand had to be squelched.

The U.S. government made a fundamental decision: It would not respond to

the growing demand for passenger trains.

Funding for growth was to be withheld.

Existing rolling stock would be replaced, but only on a one-for-one

basis.

The size and capacity of the fleet would not be expanded.

New routes would not be opened.

Additional frequencies would not be scheduled.

New stations would not be built.

Service levels would not be upgraded to attract more passengers or to

enable Amtrak to enter new markets.

Instead, the government would spend the next 35 years propagating a

series of urban legends suggesting that demand for passenger trains

actually was shrinking rather than growing.

One of these legends claimed that the American people had embraced

highways and airlines as their sole preferences for intercity travel.

This legend continued to be propagated even after USA Today reported in

August of 2001 — a month before 9/11 — that 41 per cent of Americans

contacted in a poll said they will not fly. Whether out of fear, dislike

of the flying experience, or some other factor, nearly half of all

Americans simply shun air travel.

Yet the legend that Americans love to fly persists even today, when no

comedian can open his routine without talking about what happened to him

at the airport or what happened to a planeload of passengers trapped on a

grounded jet for 10 or 12 hours.

It was a masterful and very daring use of the Big Lie technique, and it’s

had a very long run.

Even today, when the demand for passenger-train service has become too

big and too noisy to dismiss, the Big Lie has mutated in order to stay

alive.

In the current version, passenger trains are now O.K. and people seem to

want them, but only if they are of the type known as "corridor trains."

Another species of train known as "a long-distance train" is now being

portrayed as "not O.K.," and travelers are said to be rejecting them.

The only problem is that demand for space on the long-distance trains is

growing too, even though those trains get even less promotion than the

so-called corridor trains.

Why is this new version of the old urban legend succeeding?

One reason is the power of vocabulary. Policy wonks and journalists have

a predisposition to believe that every distinction in language signals a

difference in the real world.

It would not occur to these people that both types of trains are used the

same way: The bulk of the people who ride the so-called long-distance

trains actually them use them as corridor trains: They get on or off at

the intermediate points, not the end points, traveling only for a

fraction of the train’s total itinerary.

I am very grateful to our friend Rick Harnish, who did a study that

pointed out all these facts nearly three years ago. Rick’s study was

written up by Fritz Plous in the August, 2004, issue of the Midwest Rail

Report.

Rick pointed out that only 9 per cent of the Empire Builder’s passenger

traveled the whole distance from Chicago to Seattle or Portland.

The other 91 per cent traveled on 929 other trip permutations averaging

only 845 miles.

That meant that for the price of one long-distance train, Amtrak was

getting the equivalent of five or six corridor trains — a terrific

bargain.

Think how much more it would have cost to base separate crews, rolling

stock, maintenance forces and commissaries at St. Paul, Fargo, Minot and

Spokane. Amtrak avoids all that by running a single daily train from

Chicago to Seattle.

Rick also found out that the Empire Builder was getting two subsidies —

one from Amtrak and one from its own sleeping-car passengers.

The first-class ticket-holders made up only 16 per cent of the

passengers, but they were paying 43 per cent of the train’s costs.

Those first-class fares helped hold down the cost of travel for the coach

passengers. But that big source of revenue wouldn't have been there if

the Builder weren't an overnight long-distance train.

Look behind the curtain and you find the real reason why the federal

government has decided corridor trains are O.K. and long-distance trains

are not O.K.

The word "corridor" is actually a proxy for the term "state-sponsored."

Corridor trains are deemed good because the federal government — and

Amtrak — can get state governments to pay for them.

Long-distance trains are deemed "bad" because it’s impossible to get

states to collaborate on funding trains with a multi-state route

structure.

The corridor trains are an Amtrak commission. The long-distance trains

are not a commission, but a mission — belonging solely to Amtrak and its

tightwad sponsor, the federal government.

Thirty-five years later the campaign to get passenger trains off the

federal budget and into somebody else’s continues.

But this time there’s a difference: The campaign isn't working. Congress

isn't buying it, and the last we heard, the new CEO of Amtrak isn’t

buying it either. At the very least, he’s having doubts about its

utility, if not its appropriateness.

As I said, the debate is over. The American people want to ride trains.

But if the debate is over, the fight isn't. I said I wanted to arm you

with some arguments that would take the debate to the next level.

And the next level is simply this: More trains, on more routes —

expansion of the system.

And not just what we now characterize as "corridor" trains or

"long-distance" trains, but trains that use contemporary business and

trip-generation models to attract and efficiently serve all varieties of

domestic travel.

We've saved our trains enough. Now it’s time to grow them.

And there’s only one way to do that, and that’s to convince the federal

government — not just Congress, but the administration too — that a

passenger-train buildup is a federal responsibility along with highways

and civil aviation — and that it’s needed and wanted.

No more excuses this time.

Especially that feeble and obsolete excuse that "Americans just won't

ride trains."

If you believe that, I've got a state I'd like to show you.

Thank you. ...

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 9, 2007 - Special *Edition Mourning the Loss of*

*Austin M. Coates, Jr.*

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 14

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) The man who was known for telling Capitol Hill politicians "I talk to

God everyday, why can't I talk to you?" passed away yesterday at 4 A.M.

on Easter morning. Austin M. Coates, Jr., the founder and Chairman of

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc., was 74 years old when he died on

Sunday, April 8, 2007 in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

In addition to being a devoted friend to many, and a true southern

gentleman in every sense of the word, he was a hard fighter for what he

believed in and wasn't afraid to challenge or debate anyone about causes

he fought for, including the betterment of passenger rail in the United

States.

Mr. Coates will be laid to rest during a grave side service in his

hometown of Helena, Arkansas on Saturday, April 14, 2007 at 1 P.M. He

will be buried next to his parents and older sister. His casket will be

draped with an American flag which draped his father's casket. Roller

Citizens Funeral Home, 127 South Ninth, West Helena, Arkansas 72390

[(870) 572-6852] will be handling the local arrangements in Helena.

Mr. Coates is survived by two daughters and a son-in-law, two

grandchildren, a sister, two nieces and many friends in an extensive

network throughout the United States. He was a Christian.

2) Long time URPA Vice President Andrew Selden had this to say today

about Mr. Coates.

[begin quote]

When we think of the persistence of the American intercity passenger

train over the last three decades, the overwhelming improbability of

their survival and popularity jumps out. But, like many things that add

to the quality of our culture, they haven't "just happened." The trains

have survived, and in their own way flourished because of the vision and

toil of a handful of individual people. Some are household names in the

community of rail advocates: Graham Claytor and John Riley are among

these.

But, others have labored, alone at the start, later in concert with like

minded folks with whom they shared the vision, but quite out of the

public eye. Among these, all now departed, are Dan Monaghan, Joe

MacDonald, Byron Nordberg and Adrian Herzog. Without these people, we

simply would not have a national train system in the United States today,

or many of the components of that system that contribute to its

persistent success.

Another of these great men was Austin Coates. Austin founded the United

Rail Passenger Alliance as the cover for his "one man band," and with it

he forged a truly unique bond with decision-makers in Washington, D.C.,

ranging from all the senior executives of Amtrak to many of the key

legislators, and their staff, on Capitol Hill.

I was privileged to meet Austin at a RailPAC meeting in Fresno,

California in 1986, convened by Byron Nordberg. From the outset he

impressed me as a man of integrity, vision, commitment, and tireless

energy. It became immediately apparent we needed to meld our forces

together in the cause of promoting economically-sound rail passenger

policy and operations. We all contributed to the effort, but Austin's

contributions were among the most critical, for it was he who could open

doors in Washington, to get an audience for a little band of what one

Massachusetts politician called "Wackos," a sobriquet that Austin

embraced and wore as a badge of pride.

Amtrak as an institution and Amtrak as a service to the American traveler

owes much to Austin Coates. We are all beholden to him.

Somewhere, I'd like to think there is a Superliner III sleeping car named

the "Austin M. Coates" rolling across America, full of paying passengers.

[End quote]

3) Another original URPA Vice President, Russell Jackson of California,

added this tribute to Mr. Coates. Mr. Jackson is the retired editor of

the highly respected Western Rail Passenger Review.

[begin quote]

Austin Coates: A legend

By Russ Jackson

By the time I met Austin Coates, his legend had already been firmly

established. In the early 1980s as I became more active with the Rail

Passenger Association of California's predecessor organization (Citizens

for Rail California) and was associating first with its then-president,

the late Byron Nordberg, and eventually with the late Dr. Adrian Herzog,

they were speaking highly of this southern fellow they had met who was

actively working to improve and make passenger rail financially viable,

and at Amtrak, in particular.

Austin had formed a group of independent realistic advocates to quietly

work with the Congress and first the Carter, then the Reagan

Administration, to these ends. Those were the days, of course, when

President Reagan's budget for Amtrak was zero, the Congress was

overriding him and presenting a budget for Amtrak subsidy which the

president eventually signed.

All this was a new political reality for me, and I was intrigued by the

practicality of what Austin's group, which he was calling the United Rail

Passenger Alliance, stood for, with his contacts within the government,

the people who were rallying around these ideas that Amtrak could stand

on its own without heavy subsidy from the government, and how it could

grow.

Eventually, the writings of Andy Selden and Bill Hamilton were published

in Trains Magazine and the original Passenger Train Journal, and the

battle was on. Through Mr. Coates and Mr. Selden, contact was made with

the late John Riley, who was President Reagan's Administrator of the

Federal Railroad Administration. It was said that Austin could - and

would - call anyone in Washington and talk trains and financial

responsibility.

My first and only personal contact with Austin was at the RailPAC Annual

meeting, held April 26-27, 1986, in Fresno, California. I was impressed,

as he was the epitome of the southern gentleman. That meeting came at a

time when light rail transit was starting to boom across the country. San

Diego's trolley had shown the way, and had just opened its Euclid line,

the first step toward the full eastern service that was to come.

Senator Jim Mills, then President Pro-Tem of the California Senate, was

advocating the expansion of the Los Angeles to San Diego corridor for

Amtrak, and other politicians in other states were starting to get

interested. That Fresno meeting centered around advocacy that RailPAC was

offering in California for what was called the "Golden Empire Route"

combining what we now call the San Joaquin trains through Fresno, with

service across the Tehachapi mountains to San Bernardino and then down to

San Diego. It was to be the first big expression of URPA philosophy using

the Matrix theory to show how three markets could be served by one train.

Dr. Herzog's research was beginning to land on important desks in

Washington, D.C. and other states, and the RailPAC Quarterly Review [now

the Western Rail Passenger Review] was publishing serious commentary and

research, contributed by URPA members and distributed across the country.

By early 1987, contact had been made through FRA Administrator John Riley

to then-Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole, and Mr. Coates wrote

her quoting the Matrix theory to discuss Amtrak's service termination at

Akron, Colorado, a small town in Western Colorado on the route of the

California Zephyr, and the effect it would have, pointing out what was

becoming evident that "Amtrak marketing and planning managers" were not

in touch with the long term look at their company, and how they "refuse

to consider the effects of their one-at-a-time stop reductions, then they

wonder why ridership continues to erode" on affected trains. While Akron,

Colorado was a "small town stop," the loss of the stop still had a large

impact on the rest of Amtrak's matrix of inter-connected trains and

routes. This would be a recurring theme which URPA would expound for many

years.

In October of 1987, Mr Coates wrote an analysis for the Quarterly Review

of Amtrak's bloated management's refusal to "achieve something as simple

as operating the Palmetto train an additional 148 miles because it might

impact the revenue to cost ratio unfavorably." The train eventually was

extended to Jacksonville, Florida from Savannah, Georgia, and URPA was

proven right.

He was advocating the management theory of "lean at the top," using

Transamerica as his example (Mr. Coates had previously worked for

Transamerica), showing that its corporate staff was a "scant 100," and

"not bad for a $17 billion company with 15,000 employees." He said, "The

time has come for a major down-scaling of managers at Amtrak and an

equally major delegation of authority to the field to get work done and

money earned." This was a major topic for URPA's "Program of Work" at

that time, which also included the seeds for the "Southern

Transcontinental Corridor Improvement Project," eventually to become the

extension of Amtrak's Sunset Limited to Jacksonville. The key URPA

proposal that year was "Elimination of operating subsidies through

effective revenue enhancement programs based mostly on train operations."

In June 1988, Mr. Coates and URPA wrote to President Reagan urging that

John Riley be the next Amtrak President, "to assure Amtrak decisive,

effective leadership to sustain its climb toward self-sufficiency." They

advocated that Mr. Riley and then-Chairman/CEO Graham Claytor "divide the

two offices." This was at a time when other organizations were blindly

supporting what Amtrak did and said, and were deathly afraid the Reagan

administration was serious about eliminating Amtrak. The game was being

played in public, but behind the scenes URPA was working to accomplish

positive results.

Through the 90s my contacts with Mr. Coates usually came during telephone

conversations with Dr. Herzog late in the evening. Adrian would say,

"let's see what Austin thinks," and dial us into Austin's Jacksonville

number where it was sometimes quite late. That southern gentleman

responded with his usual grace and positive attitude, giving us his

wisdom.

As late at 2001, Austin Coates was frustrated, but still advocating the

strengthening of Amtrak and passenger rail through financially

responsible means, continuing to work behind the scene with URPA's

advocacy, and voicing opposition to the policies of the then Amtrak

President George Warrington, which were financially ruining the company.

He wrote to Congressmen and Senators asking they "withhold all funding

from Amtrak until the board is changed," which would bring an end to that

management. Responsible advocacy may not be the popular thing to do, but

in Austin Coates' 1987 words, "He who has ears, let him hear."

[End quote]

4) Austin M. Coates founded United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc. in 1976

in Jacksonville, Florida. He became disillusioned with Amtrak, and sought

a way to improve train service in the United States. After a time as a

member of another passenger rail organization, he structured URPA as a

policy institute instead of a member-based organization.

Rail professionals in Florida, Minnesota, Texas, California, Arizona, New

Mexico, New York, and Washington, D.C. are part of the organization he

founded. His strong leadership and sense of corporate style attracted

many rail industry professionals to seek a place in URPA's policy

institute that have included consultants and others who worked for

Amtrak, major freight railroads, regional commuter agencies, and other

parts of the railroad industry.

As a result of his URPA work, Mr. Coates was a frequent visitor to

Washington and other cities related to Amtrak operations. URPA had a

number of achievements during the years under Mr. Coates' stewardship,

including the extension of two trains into Florida, and the retention of

passenger rail service along endangered routes. He was welcomed in the

offices of many high ranking Amtrak officials, including the late Graham

Claytor, Bob Norman, and Robert Vanderclute. On Capitol Hill, he enjoyed

a respected relationship with many Capitol Hill staffers, and also

members of the Washington press corps. Often, Capitol Hill staffers

consulted with Mr. Coates for ideas on passenger rail funding and other

Amtrak related issues that were beyond traditional "Amtrak thinking" and

the automatic echoes of other, less serious passenger rail advocacy

groups. Often, he met individually with members of the Amtrak Board of

Directors, and also attended Amtrak board meetings in Washington.

During the mid 1990s when Amtrak's Texas Eagle was endangered, much

credit went to Mr. Coates for his leadership in helping keep the Texas

Eagle and three other train routes running.

Mr. Coates served as URPA's president until early in 2001, when he chose

to semi-retire from the day to day activities of the organization, moving

from the position of president to chairman of the board of the group and

simultaneously moving from Jacksonville after 42 years to his hometown of

Helena, Arkansas.

Mr. Coates enjoyed a colorful business career in Jacksonville, where he

worked in several industries, including radio and insurance, after a

lengthy and adventurous tenure as a general aviation corporate pilot. One

of the corporate executives Mr. Coates frequently piloted a plane for was

the late Thomas Rice, President of the Atlantic Coast Line, and then

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad..

In Jacksonville, Mr. Coates opened his own automobile mechanic business

in the 1970s, providing exclusive service to many notable names in the

city.

What many members of Congress and the United States Senate did not know,

was that after Mr. Coates, in suit and tie, left their Washington offices

or Washington receptions where they met Mr. Coates on URPA business, he

returned to Jacksonville and personally supervised the servicing of

automobiles. It was not unusual for Mr. Coates to have a wrench in his

back pocket while talking on the telephone with an under secretary of the

United States Department of Transportation or a White House aide.

Along with his corporate life, Mr. Coates was deeply involved in

community affairs in Jacksonville, including nearly three decades of

volunteer community service work. He was highly regarded in Jacksonville

as a problem-solver and crisis resolution counselor to many. He was also

well known in the Jacksonville political community and served on a

government committee working to restore Jacksonville's grand downtown

train terminal to its original purpose. For three years, he appeared

several times a year on a locally produced public affairs television show

on the CBS affiliate in Jacksonville.

Mr. Coates attended the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee in

1950 and 1951.

>From 1953 to 1955, he served in the United States Navy Seabees, and was

stationed in Japan and Midway Island.

After his return from the Navy, he was graduated from the Spartan School

of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1957.

5) As a specific example of the work of Mr. Coates, this narrative was

provided by one URPA member about the beginning of the Sunset Limited in

Florida in 1993.

[begin quote]

... Don't leave out Austin's role in the URPA operation that led directly

to the Sunset extension to Florida.

Briefly, we had put together his observations about both New Orleans and

Jacksonville were major regional transportation hubs anchoring the

southeast and Gulf Coast, much as Atlanta does for air traffic in the

Southeast, with Adrian's [Dr. Herzog's] idea about how "L"-shaped train

routes could make a lot of sense in the right applications, to get full

use out of capital assets, and to link adjacent and overlapping markets

into more effective networks in ways that linear, point-to-point routes

couldn't.

The result was our scheme to convince Amtrak to run The City of New

Orleans from Chicago, or maybe even Detroit (which makes a lot of sense,

demographically), to New Orleans and then on to Jacksonville, where it

would connect to the Atlantic Coast Corridor in both directions.

We did a study and presented the case and the underlying data to John

Riley at FRA, and Austin had just started to shop the idea and study on

Capitol Hill, when Amtrak suddenly announced its intention to extend the

Sunset (originally) to Miami (later pulled back to Orlando, to be near

the Sanford maintenance base of the Auto Train, and assure turnarounds

even after late arrivals).

We did a lot of the prep work, but it was Austin's credibility and

salesmanship on the Hill that spooked Amtrak into preempting us by doing

its own extension across the Gulf coast.

[End quote]

6) And, finally a personal note. I remember the evening in late 1987 or

early 1988 when I was invited to dinner here in Jacksonville by a mutual

friend of mine and Austin Coates's. I was told there was this most

interesting gentleman that worked with issues about Amtrak, and since I

knew a lot about trains, perhaps we should meet.

The dinner with the three of us took place, Mr. Coates handed me a stack

of URPA white papers and other documents, and I was hooked. And, I never

looked back.

Through Mr. Coates, I went on to meet URPA luminaries such as Andy

Selden, Byron Nordberg, Adrian Herzog, Russ Jackson, and many more.

Shortly thereafter, I started work with three other railroad consultants

on the theory of privatizing VIA Rail Canada. Much of our work on the

Canadian project was validated by other members of URPA, and as we went

along we all swapped information and experiences.

Most people don't know about URPA and what goes on with the organization,

and this is by design. In the days before e-mail, much of URPA's business

was handled by telephone calls, faxes, and lots of documents floating

through the United States Postal Service. Somehow, Austin Coates stayed

on top of all of this, in addition to almost everything that was going on

at Amtrak. He had an extensive network of contacts at Amtrak, starting on

the front lines of conductors, engineers, and station agents, and working

all the way up the ranks to the president's office and members of the

Amtrak Board of Directors. He took in everything, filtered it, and

parceled it out to us individually for us to add to our particular

puzzles we were working on at the time. Nothing was too small to escape

his attention, and no one was too important for him to contact and start

asking questions.

Today, URPA is the organization it is because of the vision and tenacity

of Austin Coates. He cared deeply about passenger rail in the United

States, and he wasn't satisfied with the status quo. He knew we as a

nation could do better, and he worked every day, often seven days a week,

to help us all do better.

I shall miss him. He was my friend. This is the end of an era marked by a

rugged individual who wasn't at all satisfied with "but, we've always

done it that way!"

- J. Bruce Richardson

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.orgmailto:[email protected]

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 12, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 15

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Many thanks to all those who wrote and expressed sympathies and shared

stories about our late founder and chairman, Austin Coates. Mr. Coates

had friends all over America, and he made a lasting mark on American

passenger rail. All comments received will be forwarded to his family.

One note about Mr. Coates must be added, however. Interviewing him a few

years ago to write a biography of him when he assumed the chairmanship

was like trying to pull water from a stone. Mr. Coates was a modest man,

and wasn't interested in talking much about himself. A communique came

today from the Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers revealing new

information.

[begin quote]

... Of course, Austin was also a founder of the Florida Coalition of Rail

Passengers and a former Board member; he was also on our Advisory Board

until he passed away. In fact, the day before his death the FCRP

membership re-elected him by a unanimous vote to the Advisory Board, with

full knowledge of his condition. We all thought that much of him.

We have sent flowers to Austin's service and have contacted his daughter

to express our sympathies.

The rail passenger advocacy movement has lost one of its giants. He will

be sorely missed.

Sincerely,

Jackson McQuigg

President

Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers

[End quote]

By the way, the reason Mr. Coates retired from his business here in

Jacksonville and moved to his hometown of Helena, Arkansas in 2001 at the

age of 68 was to take care of his mother, who was in her early 90s and

still living in her home.

2) Much of the other information in TWA this week comes under the general

headings of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First, the good.

Mike Chandler, who has been superintendent of road operations in Los

Angeles for the Amtrak Southwest Division, has been appointed Acting

General Superintendent for the Southwest Division, following Richard

Phelps' selection as Vice President, Transportation.

There could be no better news for Amtrak passengers and employees in Los

Angeles than this appointment, even on a temporary basis (and, hopefully

to be made permanent). Mr. Chandler is a consummate railroader and a

great leader. To work with him is to work with a professional who has

been down in the trenches fighting and risen to higher levels solely

because of great competence and a desire to always do the right thing.

Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Mr. Chandler was the product line

director for the Crescent, and previous to that, was one of the

Crescent's service managers in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Chandler was running

the Crescent while the Mayor of Meridian, Mississippi, John Robert Smith,

was Chairman of the Board of Amtrak. Since the Crescent serves Meridian,

and Mayor Smith first became involved with Amtrak because of the

Crescent, the Mayor/Chairman thought of the Crescent as "his" train. Mr.

Chandler deftly handled things expertly while running the

Mayor/Chairman's train. He will do well running the Southwest Division.

He has a complete understanding of operations, equipment, and most

importantly, passenger service.

3) Now, the bad. This is from one of Amtrak operations reports this week.

[begin quote]

On April 9, 2007, a woman riding on San Joaquin Train 704 removed an

emergency exit window on the lower level of Coach C8205 and jumped out,

23 miles out of Sacramento (California) in Elk Grove. Train stopped upon

crew being notified by other passengers.

Crew of UP freight train behind Train 704 found the passenger lying

alongside the right-of way. She was airlifted to the trauma center at UC

Medical Center.

Passenger had been recognized by the Conductor as a prior fare evader;

upon finding she had no ticket, he asked her for a credit card. However

the credit card authorization was declined and Conductor had arranged for

Lodi Police to meet the train and remove the passenger.

The woman even asked a male passenger to help her remove the window. He

refused to assist, and moved to another car.

Law enforcement officers determined the identity of the train-jumper and

ascertained she had outstanding warrants for her arrest.

Amtrak Road Foreman met the train at Modesto and put back the window; but

until it could be permanently reinstalled, the lower level of the car was

closed off.

Delay: 1 hour, 47 minutes

[End quote]

Anyone who has had any lengthy conversations with Amtrak train and engine

and onboard services crews knows the ongoing craziness which can be found

with Amtrak passengers. The woman jumping from the train must really have

preferred hospital food over jail food, or maybe she has seen one too

many action/adventure movies and thought you could really get away with

such foolishness. Of course, she had no concern for anyone else on the

train and what happens when a window that is never designed to be open

except in case of an extreme emergency is opened while a train is moving

at speed.

4) You've had the good and the bad, now, here's the ugly. This is a trip

report from an Amtrak rider living in California who has traveled almost

every mile of the Amtrak system.

[begin quote]

On March 18th I departed the [san Francisco] Bay Area on the California

Zephyr bound for a Cardinal connection in Chicago to continue travel to

the east coast. The Zephyr trip was okay, despite the bus trip around the

trestle problem. The Cardinal was a horror show, almost beyond belief.

My Zephyr was the first train to not detour via Marysville [due to the

Union Pacific Railroad trestle fire]. We were bussed to Roseville and

departed only a few minutes late. My bedroom E in a rebuilt Superliner I

was in good shape, though five minutes with a wet wash cloth made the

difference between "broom clean" and clean. My only real complaint about

these rooms is the new chair that has replaced the folding chair. The new

chair's support post is welded to the exterior wall and the chair is

mounted such that the back of the seat bottom is higher than the front of

the seat bottom. You can perch on the chair, but you can not sit there. I

suspect a fixed chair is a safety mandate, but there is no excuse doing

the job in a manner that negates the amenity.

The train left Roseville with food supply and refrigeration problems.

Thus, dinner every night was limited to baked chicken, chicken fried

steak or a burger. Pizza was available at lunch. Breakfast had one

choice, the continental. Coach passengers were asked to eat from the

lounge. Even with two sleepers seemingly filled, the diner was never very

crowded. Sadly, low volume didn't lead to more carefully prepared food.

My chicken two nights in a row was cold and dry, but I survived.

We averaged about 90 minutes late throughout the trip, which is pretty

good for the Zephyr. The scenery is terrific and the redone lounges are a

bit more comfortable than before. Certainly the blue decor is cheerier

than the 1970s chocolate brown. The tops of the small tables in the

lounge section were never washed in 3 days -- every last one was sticky

with soda.

We arrived Denver 90 minutes late, but left two hours late. Despite the

hour, [9:30 P.M.] the new conductor made a 10 to 12 minute welcoming

announcement that seemed never-ending. If that had been his only sin, it

would have gone without mention. At 6:00 A.M., prior to arriving in

Omaha, Nebraska, he got on the PA for another ten minutes of "myself

welcomes you to Omaha . . . .". He had the PA on max because there was no

escaping it, despite the fact the system was in the "off" position in my

room.

There is something I love about traveling by train so I thoroughly

enjoyed myself even considering the cold food with limited selection and

harassment by a verbose conductor.

We arrived in Chicago at 5:46 P.M., almost three hours late, and my

connection to the Cardinal was at 5:45. I was quite happy to learn that

the Cardinal's departure had been delayed until 6:00 P.M. [Due to

mechanical difficulties on the Cardinal trainset.] This ride was going to

mean that I have traveled on ALL Amtrak's long distance trains.

The Cardinal, in the vernacular, sucked. It could not have been worse. I

have now experienced the Twilight Zone. The Viewliner sleeper must have

been used in Bagdad recently. The newly rebuilt Amfleet II Diner/Lounge

is an example of what you get when the mechanical department is given

responsibility for design; the food was vile, and the service worse. The

track during the night was like riding on a roller coaster and caused the

suspension to bottom out with a metal on metal "smash, bang, boom," and

the coup de grace was riding from Huntington, West Virginia to

Charlottesville, Virginia [328 miles] on a bus to get around a freight

derailment.

The Viewliner sleeper was in its original livery and five years past the

date it should have gone into the shops. This was my first time in a

Viewliner Bedroom. Though I prefer the Viewliner roomettes over

Superliner roomettes, the bedroom was awful. There is such a large

expanse of unrelieved gray plastic that you feel like you are in a jail

cell. The carpet was a virtual science experiment. The PA did not work.

The curtains were hanging. The walls were filthy. The welded chair in

this bedroom blocked the bathroom door from fully opening such that I (at

175 pounds and a 33 inch waist) had to squeeze into the bathroom. One

more pound and I would have had to walk back to coach. The sleeper was

the first car after the engine, which meant I was within 50 feet of the

horn, which went off every three minutes. Between the suspension

bottoming out and the horn, there was no sleep.

The brand spanking new Amfleet II Diner Lounge is a tragedy. The person

responsible for the rebuilding must suffer from cerebral rectal

insertion. The interior panels are bright white and someone thought

45,000 watts of lighting was appropriate. The sheer glare makes you feel

like you are in a room where the CIA questions Al Quada suspects. Talk

about off-putting! A very large handicapped restroom has been added to

the short, "diner" end. Its wall ends right at the edge of the window's

glass. It is at this point an oversized wheel chair booth has been

created -- the problem is this booth goes to the middle of the next

window's glass. Thus, each successive booth has the wall pillar in the

middle of the table. The row ends with a short space where a table for

two has been created with the benefit of "all glass." It was occupied by

crew. Okay, you must think at least they got the other side of the aisle

right, i.e., tables are lined up with the windows. WRONG. The screwed up

positioning of the restroom side was matched on the other. Both tables

for two were occupied by crew and the wheelchair area at the handicapped

table was piled with luggage. This car day No. 1 out of the shop was the

worst train food service car I have ever seen. Seeing it is wanting to

cry.

Dinner was as bad as the car. Shortly after departure an employee

literally pounded on my room door. When I opened the door he poked me in

the chest with what turned out to be the dinner menu, waited a second and

said at maximum volume, "What you want? What you want? What you want?"

Aside from being poked and the words quoted above, there was no other

communication. Later, he would literally scream at colleagues in the

diner who were 25 feet away and then giggle for a prolonged period. He,

alone, thought his act was funny. It was the Twilight Zone.

The food was flopped on the plate like one would expect at a soup

kitchen. The nut-job server made choices for customers and matched my

beef with rice and carrots. The beef had curled into the shape of a taco

shell, the rice had been mixed with wall paper paste and the carrots were

frozen. Get the picture?

After my miserable night of no sleep, we were thrown off the train in

Huntington, West Virginia about 8:30 A.M. A freight had derailed ahead

and we were to be bussed to Charlottesville, Virginia. The bus was ready

by 11:00 A.M. Every seat was taken; the air-conditioning died and could

not be fixed despite stopping twice to try to fix it; and I sat in front

of a schizophrenic guy who talked to himself some of the time, and yelled

at everyone the rest of the time. All this on no sleep!

It is important to say the Cardinal would have been Hell on earth without

the bus ride. The decrepit condition of the sleeper, the otherworldly,

Twilight Zone quality of the diner and the nut-job waiter were each alone

trip destroyers. Together, they made for the trip from Hell.

The trip on the Cardinal made me think (just for a minute) that the only

thing to do with Amtrak is to take it out to the back of the barn and

shoot it -- put it out of its misery. Underfunding was certainly part of

the problem. Ineptitude was most of it.

[End quote]

(Groan) All of this was going on during low season travel, when things

shouldn't be too crowded and equipment can be rotated for cleaning and

repairs.

Here are some questions which have to be asked about this:

- Will more free federal money fix these problems? Very little of this

had anything to do with budgets; it was mostly related to employee

problems either in the mechanical department or onboard services

department.

- Which Amtrak officers are responsible for the conditions described? We

have seen some very good choices in the past few weeks for new Amtrak

leadership on the operations level. Can we hope those responsible for

this abomination of a travel experience have either left the company or

are on their way out?

- Which Amtrak officers will state on the record whether this experience

does or does not represent an acceptable level of service on an Amtrak

overnight train?

- What would VIA Rail Canada do with a train like this? The departure

times and trip profile match pretty closely VIA's Ocean operating between

Montreal and Halifax. What would Virgin Trains do? Both VIA and Virgin

have good reputations for onboard services. Even though VIA's equipment

is often older than the majority of Amtrak's equipment, it is generally

maintained at a much higher and more dependable level.

- What would Marriott do to a franchised Marriott that delivered this

experience to a guest? Most likely a franchised Marriott would eventually

get the financial death penalty if this type of result was routinely

reported. In the real world, accountability matters.

If this passenger paid full fare for his trip from the west coat to the

east coast, both in full size bedrooms, as described, and was traveling

alone, his total fare was $2,223.00. Does anyone think he received true

value for his money?

5) In the last regular TWA, published April 5, 2007, a speech by former

Amtrak Reform Council Vice Chairman James E. Coston was featured. The

speech stirred a number of thoughts and responses from a variety of TWA

readers. More will be written about this in the next edition of TWA.

However, URPA veteran Bill Lindley offers these brief thoughts about the

subject of Amtrak's early days as reflected in the speech and how Amtrak

responded to rising customer demand.

[begin quote]

By William Lindley

It is curious there has been so little mention in the past twenty years

of Amtrak's early successes. I started reading Model Railroader in grade

school, TRAINS around 1978 in junior high, Passenger Train Journal in the

80s, and the NARP newsletter in the early 1990s. In all that careful

reading, the only mention I ever saw of a ridership jump on Amtrak was

vague comment about "in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab Oil Crisis ..."

I was dumbfounded that Amtrak had a ridership surge BEFORE the '73 gas

crunch. I was amazed that Amtrak operated a western long distance train

route more often than daily -- and in 1972!

For all I ever knew, intercity train service started sliding in the early

1960s and never once took an upturn. Why has contradictory evidence

seemingly been suppressed for decades? Even today, Google can hardly find

mention of it. Jim Coston's remarks hit the nail on the head.

To help clear the record, I collected a small selection of historical

notes:

A brief history of original and current Amtrak routes:

http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/715912/ShowPost.aspx

On Wikipedia, some history and photographs of the Chief, Super Chief, and

Southwest Chief:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_(passenger_train)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Chief

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Chief

"Everything" is another participatory online information project like

Wikipedia; here's what it has to say:

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Amtrak

I hope some of our readers out there will fill in any remaining gaps of

knowledge.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

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distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 23, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 16

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Twice a year, Amtrak comes out with new national timetables, And,

twice a year, it is appropriate to say one of the best working parts of

Amtrak are the folks who publish Amtrak's timetable. This spring, Amtrak

has gone to a new size, a full standard magazine size. Also included in

the upgrade is a better quality of newsprint on which the timetable is

published, plus the benefit of full color printing throughout the book,

which has allowed for a much more colorful timetable, making it look not

only more appealing, but easier to use.

Amtrak prints 1.4 million timetables each year, plus the individual route

timetables, and various short distance wallet card timetables for use on

corridor routes.

Amtrak is missing a huge opportunity with all of these printed materials,

which are often going to a publishing-world prized audience of loyal

readers who refer to the timetable more than once, plus it has an

unbelievable shelf life of six months.

One of two things needs to happen. Either Amtrak needs to get further

into the publishing business, or it needs to find a publishing partner

for the timetables of all sizes and start making some money from the

timetables; make them a revenue center instead of an expense center by

selling advertising.

While Amtrak continues to untangle its business affairs and starts acting

like a real business that (gasp!) thinks about breaking even financially,

or even (horrors!) makes a profit (for those in the group unfamiliar with

this process, it's known as higher revenues than expenses, a common

occurrence in the real world), a publishing venture not only would pay

for itself, but contribute income to Amtrak's bottom line. This bold

concept is not unheard of at Amtrak; along the financial black hole of

the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak leases space along its right-of-way for

underground communications cables, and it leases space in some of its

stations to private businesses that serve passengers.

Amtrak has a publishing deal with McMurry, Inc., which creates the

bimonthly NEC passenger magazine Arrive. The magazine is distributed free

on all NEC trains and in ClubAcela station lounges.

McMurry says Arrive has 1,778,839 adult readers per issue, or 8.89

readers per copy. There are 200,000 copies per issue printed. Those

numbers are audited numbers by BPA, the gold standard of circulation

verification. If you're an advertising agency, these numbers are

impressive, especially since you often have a captive market that doesn't

have other publication choices readily available while riding NEC trains.

Historically, airline magazines have been strong financial performers for

both the airlines and the independent publishing companies for the same

reasons. Arrive's web site lists nearly 50 gold-plated advertisers for

the magazine.

Left over from better days, Amtrak also publishes Empire Builder

Magazine, the official onboard publication of that named train. New York

by Rail Magazine offers a travel guide to destinations from New York City

to Canada. Plus, don't forget Amtrak's ticket jackets, which have always

contained advertising from outside sources and Amtrak promotional

partners.

All of this is a good start. Let's let out imaginations run wild and talk

about a national or regional onboard magazines. But wait, there's more.

Tie in regional magazines with the always popular route guides, which

Amtrak published long ago. These guides, especially on the western

transcontinental trains, went like hot cakes (Speaking from experience,

this writer created the last Sunset Limited route guide, which was not

only well received, kept disappearing every time they were put on the

trains; many passengers kept them as souvenirs.).

Here's the thought: Amtrak could easily contract with publishing

companies which specialize in travel publications, such as state and

local tourism guides, or airline magazines, or existing hotel magazines,

or any other number of scenarios. These companies would be responsible

for not only publishing, but the sale of advertising (see McMurry, above,

as an example). Make the package even more attractive for advertisers

(thus, creating higher revenue), and bundle a magazine with an

accompanying separate route guide (also containing advertising), and

round that out with accompanying advertising in the national timetable

and/or specific route timetables.

It's likely the size of the national timetable could double with income

producing advertising. Think about producing 1.4 million timetables each

year with somebody other than Amtrak footing the bill. In the last fiscal

year, Amtrak welcomed 24.3 million passengers onto its trains. Many of

those passengers brought their own reading materials, electronic

entertainment, or were happy to look out the window at the passing

countryside. But, the reality of the situation is there are always

passengers who are restless, and want something fresh to read. This

concept also provided for a good service recovery vehicle for when trains

are late and passengers need to be distracted from their plight.

>From this point, let your imagination soar for other similar ideas which

would benefit not only Amtrak passengers (the real purpose of Amtrak, in

the first place), but contribute to Amtrak's bottom line.

But wait, you say, won't this require yet another Amtrak bureaucracy that

will cost more to administer than create disposable revenue? Only if some

empire creating bureaucrat is allowed to run the operation. This whole

operation could probably be administered with a staff of three to five

people, with only two in the beginning.

It's time for Amtrak to open its corporate drawers, check the old file

cabinets, and figure out how it can work to become self-sufficient

drawing on the assets it has at hand. Every Amtrak passenger is a captive

audience that is an advertiser's dream. Don't let those dreams die

because someone at Amtrak is not creative enough to figure out how to get

an advertiser to part with his money.

2) Going back to the TWA issue of April 5th (Volume 4, Number 13) and the

speech published by former Amtrak Reform Council Vice Chairman James E.

Coston, much comment was generated by the speech, almost all favorable.

Last week, (Number 15), TWA featured a follow-up article by URPA's

William Lindley of Arizona, on his mystification that Amtrak, in its very

early days, actually ran trains to handle overflow crowds, and the

company was growing naturally as a result of a desirable service being

offered to the traveling public.

One of the comments generated by Mr. Coston's speech came from a former

Amtrak manager who has remained in the transportation industry. This

gentleman noted two important facts not many people have given serious

thought: First, Amtrak's new best friend needs to be people in the

automobile/truck highway industry, and second, most young people under 30

not only have no concept of America without Amtrak, but are highly

annoyed Amtrak does not offer a more viable and robust service for them

to use as part of their personal domestic transportation matrix.

3) First, the highway issue, and it's a clever thought. Most people with

modal envy point to the highway lobby as both powerful and unstoppable.

What the highway lobby wants, the highway lobby gets, which is mostly an

endless supply of free state and federal money.

The problem, in some areas, is the highway lobby is running out of places

to build new, bigger, and more expensive roads. What to do? It seems some

research shows some members of the highway lobby are embracing a

multi-modal concept, where some highway traffic is moved off the roads

onto complementary forms of transportation such as passenger trains. Yes,

that's right. Some highway folks are saying their behemoth roads would

work better if trains were running along side of them carrying

passengers, and taking some capacity constraints off the roads. This is a

fascinating concept which needs much more exploration.

4) The second issue, that of glorious youth, is a rational expression of

marketing looking to the future. Well traveled young adults go around the

world riding trains almost everywhere. They come home, and wonder why,

with all of the railroad tracks cris-crossing America, passenger trains

are so few and far between. Often, these young whippersnappers are aghast

to read history books and discover that at one time, America has the best

passenger rail system in the world, but foolishly discarded it in favor

of the jet airplane and more and more roads. They wonder why someone is

not working to put a balance back into the system, where trains offer

equal travel options along with airlines and automobiles.

Little do they know the answer lies in politics more than anything else,

plus a stubborn refusal by Amtrak to embrace growth (free federal money

has nothing to do with embracing concepts), and figure out how to better

itself and make friends with its host railroads.

5) Along those same subject lines, here are some fascinating observations

by a Chicago writer.

[begin quote]

Observation No. 1: If you boarded an American passenger train 40 or 50

years ago, you saw mostly old people - certainly people above 40, if not

actually elderly. Board an American passenger train today - out here in

the Heartland, not the NEC - and you see mostly twenty-somethings. They

have no problem about riding trains.

Observation No. 2: If you ride one of these trains, as I have ridden the

Hiawatha and the Lincoln Service to St. Louis several times in recent

months, you notice that most of these younger passengers are occupied

with their consumer electronics. Some are talking on a cell phone. Some

are working at a laptop. Some are watching a movie on a laptop. Some are

playing a video game, either on a laptop, a hand-held device or just a

game device. Some alternate devices, putting the laptop movie on hold

while they make a cell-phone call. And just about EVERYbody is listening

to an MP3 player at one point or another.

Observation No. 3: A 60-something old college buddy of mine - not a

railfan, but a sympathizer who eavesdrops on some of my railfan e-mailing

- who lives in Indianola, Iowa, tells me he has two sons, both in their

30s, one in the Chicago suburbs, one in Carbondale. The boys have always

been close, and they visit each other often. They used to drive but now

they take the train. I asked my friend why, so he called one of his sons

and asked him to account for the change. The son said, "Well, for one

thing, we can talk on the cell phone." That was the sum-total of his

"explanation."

Observation No. 4: A 50-something friend of mine who works in the Chicago

suburbs managing some 700 contract truckers who haul his company's

products, shares the night dispatching desk primarily with 20-something

employees. During lulls he spends a lot of time getting to know them and

their habits.

He reports

a) The only newspaper they read is the Red Eye, a sassy tabloid published

by the Chicago Tribune containing lots of entertainment/celebrity news

plus boiled-down, digested versions of serious stories from the

grown-ups' paper. None of these employees reads the big Tribune or its

rival, the tabloid Sun-Times.

B None of them cares much about cars. They all drive, of course, because

you can't get around without a car, but they don't make a big deal out of

car ownership, they do not expect to be judged on what kind of car they

drive, they do not judge or select their friends based on what kind of

car they drive, and they use transit when and where it meets their needs.

They like cars, but cars hold no particular mystique for them, and they

do not use cars for "social signaling" as their parents and grandparents

did.

c) Consumer electronics have replaced cars as social-status indicators

for this group. While they may be indifferent to the type of car they

drive, they would die of embarrassment if caught with anything but the

sexiest new cell phone, and their hand-helds and video games are expected

to be the latest models with all the right bells and whistles. People

indifferent to the latest in consumer electronics are viewed as

"strange."

Summary: Changing tastes among young adults are making intercity train

travel more socially acceptable among young adults than at any time since

World War II. Failure to use a car no longer is stigmatized as evidence

of poverty, incompetence, nostalgia or social awkwardness. It simply

represents a personal choice that carries no over-arching social meaning.

"Social signaling" of one's status now is done with consumer electronics

rather than cars. This does not make train travel positively attractive,

but it makes it relatively so because the "repulsion factor" caused by

the train not being a car is eliminated. The young traveler is now able

to make his choice based on personal convenience unencumbered by negative

social baggage his choice may entail.

On the positive - rather than neutral - side, the train actually makes a

more attractive choice for these people because they can use their

consumer electronics in ways they cannot in a car or airliner. Using a

cell phone while driving a car is difficult and distracting, even if you

have a BlueTooth device on your face. In some places it's illegal. On

airliners it's not permitted at all. Even if you're a passenger in a car,

phoning can be difficult, especially if the discussion is supposed to be

confidential. Working at a laptop, watching a movie or playing a

hand-held game are impossible while driving and not really fun even if

you're a passenger, but an Amtrak coach seat is so huge and roomy that

even in a full coach most passengers can do these things without

disturbing others.

Finally, lets go back to that cryptic remark my friend's son made, "Well,

for one thing, we can talk on the cell phone." Why is this an

explanation?

I think it's because cell phones eliminate a major unexpressed

dissatisfaction with train travel - disconnectedness from the traveler's

normal environment. We railfans like that. The train ride itself is

interesting because we know so much about it's meaning - not only the

operation of the train itself and the infrastructure over which it

travels but the elements in the passing scene as well. Most railfans I

know are engineering buffs, architecture buffs and economic-geography

buffs as well, so they are fascinated by every viaduct and cut the train

passes through, as well as by every grain elevator, factory or mill

served by the tracks. "Civilians" cannot be expected to thrill at this

banausic furniture the way railfans do. For them it only emphasizes that

they're neither at home nor at their destination. They're in an alien

environment, and, unlike the driver of a car, they feel no sense of

control over their ability to influence the situation because they are

passive recipients of whatever service Amtrak and the railroad can

deliver to them. Keeping touch by cell phone solves this problem. It

reduces the sense of "passenger victimhood" by empowering him with the

ability to interact with his normal environment.

It also solves some more practical problems as well. For example, if the

train is late, the traveler can alert the people who are picking him up,

repeatedly, if necessary, to update them on the train's status and

location and on what the conductor is telling the passengers. This is a

real leap forward in convenience. No longer do people waiting for a

family member have to park at an unmanned depot and stare futilely down

the tracks, probably in terrible weather, looking for a headlight. They

can stay home, run errands, do whatever, knowing that when the train

comes they'll know about it. And they can chat with their friend or loved

one at any time.

By removing some of the strangeness and disconnectedness of train travel,

consumer electronics bring it well into the circle of normal daily

activities, including interpersonal communication, information gathering,

amusement, work and play. This is not to be dismissed lightly. Along with

the younger generation's distancing from much of the postwar "car

culture," represents the "normalization" of train travel.

And it's all happened so stealthily. While we rail advocates have torched

the air for decades with debates about the best ways to improve the

passenger's on-board experience and on-board environment, the passengers

have solved the problem themselves by bringing their own environments and

their own experiences on board with them. While we've been talking, the

consumer-electronics industry has been solving our problem. Personal

technology may be the best friend the American passenger train ever had.

There's a message in this to rail advocates, of course: We need to get

out of our own heads more and do a better job of observing the world

around us. If we watch closely enough and reflect appropriately, it will

furnish us with the information we need to do our work. As Sherlock

Holmes famously said, "You see, Watson, but you do not observe."

[End quote]

6) At the top of this column you read about expanding Amtrak's onboard

reading resources and creating income to the company. Just above, you

read about personal electronics solving the problem of onboard

entertainment. Note the item above was mostly referring to

twenty-somethings. Those of us of a, perhaps, more mature age, still

prefer to do things the old fashioned way and read the printed word.

Also, don't forget balance - something for every taste, be it electronic

tastes or printed tastes.

7) From the same Chicago writer comes further lucid thought.

[begin quote]

A lot of the controversy over the truth/falsity of the

corridor/long-distance-train distinction comes from the amazing

willingness of most of the human race to believe in categories and

distinctions, regardless of how ridiculous they are and regardless of

whether they are based on any kind of meaningful differences.

All you have to do is break a phenomenon down into two or three or four

categories, give each one a fancy name and, presto! - each immediately

takes on life and meaning in the vernacular ear.

For 2,000 years almost all serious thinkers believed in Hippocrates'

theory that every human being had a temperament that fell into one of

four basic types - Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic or Phlegmatic, and

that these temperaments were regulated or controlled by the so-called

"Four Humors," i.e., blood, yellow bile, black bile or phlegm. It wasn't

until around the 17th century that philosophers began to question this

"system." It was spurious, improbable, unproven and absurd from Day One,

but it had the virtue of sounding learned, so the learned - and everybody

else - believed it until the Scientific Method evolved to the point where

scientists at least realized it was a bunch of hooey.

But the human itch to believe in categories persists, so the fraud

survives by moving into greener pastures. Passenger trains seem to be a

very fertile field in which to enchant the credulous with new feats of

nomenclature. The only thing about so-called "corridor trains" that makes

them appealing to the policy-makers these days is their eligibility to be

financed with OPM - Other People's Money - in this case, a state's money.

But what happens if you identify a corridor which can't be confined to a

willing state, such as Chicago-Detroit? Just you watch. Somebody at

Amtrak or DOT will twiddle the definition dials again, and say, "Oh, you

mean a 'multi-state' corridor train. That's not a 'real' corridor train.

We've just decided to call them 'mini-long-distance trains.'"

[End quote]

8) Again, URPA's stalwart William Lindley of Arizona offers these new

thoughts.

[begin quote]

- I have a basic distrust for conspiracy theories, not just because

hardly anyone can actually keep a juicy secret, but also because most

things in life turn out to be more like a long-winded soap opera than a

spy thriller. Just for fun, though, let's invent a fictional "They" for a

few minutes.

"They" say Amtrak never wanted to expand. "They" didn't want you to

remember how Amtrak ran trains to meet real demand even before the Arab

oil crisis of 1973. "They" want you to believe that the latent demand for

intercity passenger rail is only a railfan's daydream.

"They" say you can't get Americans, especially in the West, to ride

trains. "They" say people are too much in love with their automobiles.

"They" don't want you to look at Greater Los Angeles, the epicenter of

America's love of things on four wheels, where every day people board a

Metrolink commuter train 42,000 times every weekday.

"They" say you can't get the railroads to let passenger trains run over

their rails. "They" don't want you to know about cities like Nashville,

whose first commuter line opened last year.

"They" say it takes decades to start a new commuter train system. "They"

don't want you to know that from the day New Mexico's Governor Richardson

announced his plan to pursue commuter rail to the Rail Runner's opening

day was under three years.

"They" say it takes billions of dollars and fancy high-speed trains to

get people to ride. "They" don't want you to know how many people have

started taking the train in Illinois, with only a modest budget increase,

in just one year.

... Is there a "they"? I doubt it. But if there is, "They" are just plain

wrong. "They" say America can't run passenger trains. "We" can.

- Those of you who hold common stock will know it's proxy season because

your mailbox is stuffed with annual reports. And if you own railroad

shares, you will find that one of the inner flaps of that glossy booklet

probably contains a route map.

I happen to have Norfolk Southern's map before me. Now, NS in 2004 told

the State of Virginia it was "eager to let passenger train use its

lines," at least under certain conditions (Roanoke Times, 2 September

2004).

What would happen if a national rail passenger company, and a few states,

sat down with NS and did what Illinois has done? It's not too difficult

to connect the dots on the NS map. To the current Amtrak route map let's

imagine adding just three new daily trains:

* Cleveland / Toledo - Columbus - Cincinnati - Lexington, KY -

Chattanooga - Birmingham - Mobile

* Kansas City - St. Louis - Louisville - Chattanooga - Atlanta - Macon -

Savannah

* Richmond - Roanoke - Knoxville - Chattanooga - Memphis

Suddenly, the whole South and Midwest are connected. By creating a matrix

of the existing and these new routes, you can realistically travel

between (for example) Florida and anywhere.

Add one or two more trains from an Atlanta hub, and one or two in the

Carolinas, and everywhere connects with everywhere. You won't have to

change trains in Washington, DC or New Orleans to get from Atlanta to

Chicago.

Now if there really is no "They," then who says it's not possible?

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 30, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 17

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) URPA's "take no prisoners" numbers cruncher, Dennis Larson, has a new

set of numbers for consideration.

[begin quote]

By Dennis Larson

Recent This Week at Amtrak issues have been keeping readers informed

about Amtrak's basic maintenance failures around the country such as

keeping train sets watered, fueling of engines before departure, and

simplistic cleaning. The solution seems simple enough, hire more help.

But looking at the Amtrak manpower report of December 2006, published on

March 14, 2007, there are all ready 3,892 people doing just this.

Compared to other carriers with similar transportation output, Amtrak's

mechanical department is more than adequately staffed as is the entire

organization.

But, for all of Amtrak's shortcomings, there is an area of the mechanical

department that is doing well -- the high-speed maintenance department --

even if the price is steep. Several years ago, the high-speed Acelas were

in the news with a myriad of problems, and the problems were so severe

the entire fleet was taken out of service for months. The root cause of

the Acela problems centered on the suspension and braking components

which were obviously was not up to the task of carrying the added weight

of the heavy steel frame mandated by the Federal Railroad Administration.

In general, the FRA was lauded for this decision, but the Acela-based

equipment design as used abroad without FRA modifications had all ready

turned in a fatality-free record for decades, as have similarly designed

lightweight equipment in the Orient.

The high-speed train sets in their original configuration were very

reliable with uptime in the high 90 percent range. But after the work

over by the FRA, these beasts take constant maintenance to keep rolling

safely. The FY 2006 maintenance bill for Acela train sets was

$47,531,000, up from $33,070,000 in 2005.

So far in 2007, October, November and December, $12,479,000 was spent on

Acela maintenance at the 289 employee high speed maintenance facility.

The Beech Grove facility, that services Superliners and other non-Acela

equipment with 333 employees, had an operating expense for the same

period of $1,844,000. Amtrak's FY 2007 forecast for Acela maintenance is

$52,516,000.

The Acela annual maintenance bill would consume the equivalent of the

entire gross passenger revenue of all the Pacific Surfliners combined,

and then some.

The cost per passenger mile - just for Acela maintenance only - is 10.3

cents. The latest airline yield report just issued by the Air Transport

Association is now at 13.1 cents a passenger mile.

[End quote]

Amtrak still insists the Northeast Corridor's Acela trains are

profitable. Would someone please rationally explain how this is so?

2) Here is a press release issued today by the Union Pacific and Norfolk

Southern railroads.

[begin quote]

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to Offer Fastest Service Between

Southern California and Southeast

OMAHA, Neb. and NORFOLK, Va., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Union

Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway will significantly improve

eastbound domestic transcontinental service from Los Angeles to the

Southeast on May 21. The service improvement in this important

high-volume lane will result from shifting traffic from the Memphis

gateway to the new Shreveport, La., gateway.

This new route, combining Union Pacific's Sunset Route between Los

Angeles and Texas with Norfolk Southern's and Kansas City Southern's

joint venture line between Shreveport and Meridian, Miss., is nearly 150

miles shorter than the current route, making it the shortest, fastest and

most reliable intermodal route between Los Angeles and the Southeast.

This change will result in the following improvements:

-- Standard service to Atlanta will improve by one day ...

-- BlueStreak premium service to Atlanta now will be available ...

providing truck-competitive transit speeds of 600 miles per day. ...

-- There also will be improvements to other Southeast destinations.

Since expanding service and capacity in this lane in February, Union

Pacific and Norfolk Southern BlueStreak has been running 100 percent on

time. Both railroads continue to make major investments to expand

capacity and enhance service performance on this route. Westbound

domestic service is expected to be shifted to the faster Shreveport

gateway during the third quarter of 2007. International shipments will

remain routed via the Memphis gateway, and customers can expect

improvements to this service in the months ahead.

[End quote]

UP, Kansas City Southern, and NS can do this for inanimate freight, and

brag about how fast the service is for freight customers. What reasonable

steps will it take - making a strong business case, not emotional

rhetoric - to make this same trip a reality for passengers, and, at the

same time, make it desirable for the host railroads?

4) There was an expectation by many last week an announcement would be

made of a decision by the Amtrak Board of Directors regarding the fate of

the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. No news has been forthcoming. We

are only a few short months away from a full two years since this service

was discontinued due to track and infrastructure damage wrought by

Hurricane Katrina.

5) Last Thursday evening, this writer had the privilege of being the

guest speaker for the monthly meeting of the North Florida Chapter of the

National Railway Historical Society here in Jacksonville. The group was

friendly, pleasant and asked great questions. Going back to the last

issue of TWA where demographics were discussed and the future of

passenger railroading was placed on a younger generation adapting to

riding trains, the demographics of the NRHS group proved interesting.

There was more gray hair in the group than anything else. Keep in mind

these were fascinating people who asked good, penetrating questions and

who clearly know their subject matter. But, it seems there is a reality

that a younger generation has not completely embraced rail on all levels,

including an appreciation for its history and preservation.

Often, those of us in the business of passenger trains forget about where

the future of our industry is coming from in terms of people. There is a

strong need for the involvement of a new generation in every level of

passenger railroading, from employees to membership groups to riders.

Where are all of the school-based programs teaching a new generation

about passenger railroading? Does the NRHS have a secondary school or

college campus program? We know the freight railroads are heavily

supporting technical school training programs for train and engine

personnel and other operating positions. But, where are the programs for

all of the other areas?

Passenger railroading is on an upswing in North America. New commuter and

transit systems are popping up everywhere, raising the visibility of

steel wheel on steel rail transportation. The railroad industry needs to

follow the cardiac-damaging, cholesterol-filled leadership of McDonald's

and Burger King. Get 'em when they are young, and they will stay with you

forever.

6) One final note. This writer will be taking an inspection trip on

Amtrak this coming weekend, going south from Jacksonville on Saturday on

the Silver Meteor, train number 97, and returning the next day on the

Silver Star, train number 92. The trip will be from Jacksonville to Fort

Lauderdale, and it will be interesting to see how things are in 390 miles

of the last 412 miles of a 1,389 mile trip, and conversely, the beginning

of a new 1,389 mile trip from Miami to New York City. This will be an

all-daylight sleeping car trip, taking advantage of Amtrak's pricing for

day space on long distance trains in Florida. A written report will

appear in the next TWA.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 8, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 18

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Aboard Amtrak train number 92, the northbound Silver Meteor, Sunday,

May 6, 2007 between Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, Florida:

Sitting in Viewliner roomette number seven, you realize you're in a

sleeping car that is only 12 years old, but looks much older. For those

of us too young to have been alive at the end of World War II, you

imagine the condition of this sleeping car must have been what it was

like in a Pullman Company sleeper in 1945, when every piece of

rattle-trap rolling stock was pressed into service to meet the demands of

wartime traffic.

Also at the end of this trip, you realize, too, the horrible implications

of a company that has traditionally been answerable to no one, and, even

worse, of the many opportunities lost.

If you're a first-time rider, you wonder in awe at how so many things in

a Viewliner sleeping car are tucked neatly into such small spaces. If,

like this writer, you're a veteran, lifelong rail traveler, you already

know the design of sleeping cars is calculated in inches and half-inches,

not feet and yards.

The dining car, once a bastion of stylish service and cooked to order

food that emanated from a compact, yet highly functional kitchen reminds

you of a world renowned concert pianist playing an accordion.

Yesterday's southbound trip from Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale on train

number 97, the Silver Meteor, displayed a trainset and crew at the end of

a round trip run between Miami and New York City, totaling over 2,750

miles. The Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale segment is 398 miles of the

last 412 miles of the journey. The Saturday crew had left Miami on

Wednesday morning, journeyed to New York City, and returned to Miami on

Saturday night. The union contract for the sleeping car attendants

allowed them a whopping four hours of downtime/sleep to rest to provide

good passenger services.

Almost everyone in the onboard services crew on train 97 had a smile on

their faces, and were willing to provide a good level of service. Paul,

the sleeping car attendant with 32 years of service to Amtrak in the

Miami crew base, was always moving about his car, making sure everyone

had bottled water and ice, fruit juices, a newspaper, or fresh coffee.

There were several elderly couples traveling in the car, and he provided

meal service for them in their accommodations. Towards the end of the

trip, when the train was running nearly three hours late after 7:30 P.M.,

he brewed a fresh pot of coffee for anyone wishing to have a cup. As

passengers detrained, they were pressing tips into his hand.

On today's trip on the Silver Star, via Tampa, the sleeping car attendant

is a kindly, grandfatherly gentleman with a nice smile and pleasant

demeanor. He seems genuinely interested in his passengers, but it is also

clear he is on the glidepath to retirement, and just waiting out his

time. He provides one bottle of water when boarding the car, no ice, lets

you know breakfast is being served in the dining car (it's 9:30 A.M. in

Fort Lauderdale), and then promptly disappears, seldom to be seen again

during the rest of the trip. No extra bottled water is stocked in the

car's service area, and no other offerings are made. No mention is made

about making lunch or dinner reservations during the day, whereas Paul,

the previous day, was absolutely adamant about everyone knowing the

dining car was open and serving, including an extra dinner service which

was provided because the Silver Meteor was so late into its destination.

2) The trainset on Saturday's Silver Meteor was turned Sunday morning in

Miami for the Silver Star. The dining car was the same, but the Star's

menus were a different cycle from the Meteor's menus. Both provided an

interesting, yet limited variety of offerings, notable for how small the

entree portions were, but how large the portions of cheap, "filler" food

were, such as rice, vegetable, and potato chips. Notable was the amount

of food left untouched on plates when the meal was finished, not just the

filler food, but often the entree item, too.

Depending on who is doing the seating in the dining car (it's tough,

these days, with only two working the seating area of the dining car, to

distinguish between the single wait staff person, and the steward/lead

service attendant, who is also waiting on tables and bussing plastic

plates), the barbaric practice of seating strangers with one another in

the dining car seems to be going away. Three out of four LSAs/waiters

allowed diners to sit anywhere they wished, but one stuck with the older,

outdated dining car tradition of pairing up diners, even if there were

only two diners in the entire 40 seat area.

A high point of marketing in the dining car, even if ignored by the wait

staff, is the availability of before- and after-dinner drinks. The

offerings were all premium brands, and the price was fairly reasonable at

$5.00 per drink. This has the potential of being a huge money-maker for

Amtrak, but the lackluster promotion by the wait staff, beyond the

printed drink menu on the table, means Amtrak is literally leaving money

on the table.

Amtrak has become so determined to streamline the dining car service,

even the setups of Amtrak branded flatware wrapped in cloth napkins are

assembled prior to the dining car staff boarding the train. As a result,

when passengers eat their salad with the salad fork, and the main meal

with the other fork, and dessert comes along, a plastic fork is offered

for the consumption of these rich desserts. A good New York style

cheesecake, drenched in a delightful strawberry sauce somehow loses its

punch when it is served on a plastic dish and eaten with a plastic fork,

especially when you're also using a cloth napkin.

3) Amtrak has let too many equipment maintenance issues fester for too

long. In the dining car, on Saturday, the door which closes off the car

from the next car was broken, and held open. This was at the end of the

car where the patrons were dining, so the entire meal consisted of

listening to road and track noise while eating a meal. What should have

been a pleasant experience punctuated by the sounds of light conversation

instead was a cacophony of brakes squealing and steel wheel flanges

straining against misaligned steel rails.

In the Viewliner sleeping cars, maintenance issues abound. While overall,

the car is clean from a quick surface view, it's obvious these cars for a

very long time haven't received more than a lick and a prayer for any

major cleaning. These are some of the newest cars in Amtrak's fleet, only

12 years old, yet, they look tired and worm, with paint chipped away,

rust evident everywhere inside the rooms, and plenty of grime well worn

into surfaces. Windows are scratched and soiled, and many curtains don't

work properly.

The original small and very useful television screens and audio systems

are gone, too. These small screens originally played movies and reruns of

popular television sitcoms, plus had an outstanding choice of music to

fit everyone's taste.

One puzzling change, as noted in a previous TWA trip report, is the

installation of fixed chairs in the full bedrooms in these cars. The

chairs are small, immovable, and right up against the door of the

lavatory in each bedroom. There is no way anyone other than a small child

could fit through the lavatory door since the opening is impeded by the

placement of the chair. What were these people thinking? A better

solution, if Amtrak doesn't want to have movable chairs, is to just get

rid of the chairs, and let the long couch - that can easily hold three

adults - be the only seating in the room.

Nice surprises in the roomette on the Meteor and Star include a current

timetable and a return of route guides. The route guide contains lots of

interesting and well presented information, but lacks the one things that

could make it a profit center instead of an expense item - advertising.

On the Star today, the timetable provided in the roomette is both used

and soiled.

4) The Silver Meteor and Silver Star were the two showcase trains of the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad, with the Meteor debuting as an all coach

train at the end of the 1930s. After the war, the Seaboard streamlined

all of its major trains, and added the Silver Star as a companion train

to the Meteor, and the Silver Crescent, providing service between New

York City and Birmingham, Alabama.

The Meteor and Star both survived the merger of the Seaboard with the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1967, and migrated to Amtrak in 1971. The

only original Seaboard tracks in use today by the Meteor and Star in

Florida are south of Auburndale, going into Miami. These tracks were

built as part of the Florida land boom in the 1920s. The Star still uses

part of its original route in North Carolina and South Carolina, between

Raleigh and Savannah, Georgia.

The Silver Meteor, in its prime, hosted many celebrities traveling

between New York and Miami. Jackie Gleason, who lived in Fort Lauderdale

while producing and starring in his Saturday night variety television

show in CBS from Miami Beach, did not like to fly, and often was a

passenger on the Meteor. If he wasn't traveling in a private car, he was

ensconced in a Pullman drawing room in an 11-bedroom sleeping car that

ran regularly on the Meteor. You always knew he was on the train, but he

never left his accommodations, having his meals brought to him in his

drawing room.

Today's Amtrak Fort Lauderdale station, now primarily used by the

successful local Tri-Rail commuter operation, is the same station where

Elizabeth Taylor alighted from the Silver Star one day as part of filming

her 1966 movie, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?.

Most of the old Seaboard stations in Florida still exist, but have taken

on new lives as combination Amtrak and Tri-Rail stations from West Palm

Beach south to Miami. There is a stark contrast between the Tri-Rail

parts of the station - bright and spiffy - and the Amtrak parts, often

dull with faded paint and unremarkable features.

5) The extremes of the cuts in payroll throughout Amtrak's national

system under George Warrington and David Gunn are still very much evident

today. An example was the Star's 45 minutes tardy arrival into Tampa

Union Station.

TUS has five station tracks, all workable. However, since there is now

only one train a day in each direction through Tampa, and one Thruway bus

connection in each direction daily, the station staff has been cut to the

bone, and it hurts.

The northbound Star came into Tampa today on time, and pulled far into

the stub-end station's wye to back into the station. Then it sat. And,

sat. And, sat some more, for a total of 45 minutes. The reason? Today's

southbound Star, running late, was already in the station, and the

station staff could not deal with two trains in the station

simultaneously, even though there was plenty of track and platform space

available. The result was, along with a weather-related delay further up

the line north of Sanford, a northbound train which was relatively on

time, ended up in Jacksonville over an hour late, even with the enormous

amount of schedule padding built into the Florida schedules.

The bottom line is a decision was made at some point to delay an entire

train full of passengers, plus run late on CSX's main line, because of

lack of station personnel.

6) The impressions one comes away from an Amtrak trip are many and

confusing. In many instances, you find employees excited about their

jobs, and their enthusiasm shows through with good passenger service.

Other instances demonstrate how employees, with little motivation more

than keeping their jobs in an often untaxing environment, don't worry

about such trivial things as passenger satisfaction, or making money to

keep stockholders happy. Their only vision is one of survival.

Amtrak has many unique assets, such as a congressional mandate which

provides access to every freight railroad track in America. This grossly

under utilized asset is evident through Amtrak's glaringly sparse route

system, which makes pitiful use of other assets such as stations and

yards which must be maintained no matter how busy or quiet.

The size of trains is evident, too, at how much more demand there is for

rail travel. Saturday's southbound Meteor had two busy sleeping cars and

four full coaches between Jacksonville and Orlando, with decent crowds to

destinations south of Orlando, too. Today's Star steadily picked up

passengers all along the line, especially in Tampa and Orlando. By the

time the train reached Jacksonville, things were jumping. Imagine, if

Amtrak actually advertised its service, and put back on the road all of

the equipment it keeps in storage. Deficits would quickly decline, and

the system would become robust and ever more closer to self sufficiency.

Too much money is left on the table onboard the trains. Not much effort

is put into selling things, like the dining car and lounge car. The usual

assortment of barflies can, as usual, be found in the lounge car, their

mere presence chasing away any opportunities for family activities. There

are no onboard destinations for passengers, other than strolling through

the aisles of coaches (which is a huge improvement over planes and

busses, but still, not enough), or visiting the lounge or diner.

Walking through the coaches reveals a sea of faces that have become

frozen into monotony, having been on the train for more than a day, and

just waiting for their station stop to arrive. How easy it would be to

offer these people books, magazine, or newspapers for sale, and even

provide a reader's lounge area in one car. Not many children were

traveling this time of year, but replicating the Coast Starlight's

children's play area has to be a good idea, not as much for the benefit

of the children traveling, but all of the adults traveling near the

children who inevitably become restless and bored.

7) We continually hear the ignorant drumbeat that because no other

passenger rail system in the world breaks even or makes money, that

Amtrak MUST have the same fate. A trip on an Amtrak long distance train

with an open mind, while knowing all of the internal numbers in the back

of your mind, quickly proves otherwise to those with rational thought.

Anyone who wants to keep Amtrak a captive of the federal budget process

merely wants it to fail and remain a political play toy. Anyone with any

sense of vision - knowing all of the limitations of a clogged freight

rail system and the desires of the traveling public - knows Amtrak has a

bright future ahead of itself if only someone will allow it to grow in a

natural way.

8) Want to see what a private rail company in Great Britain does for

marketing? Check out this link (and thanks to Doug Alexander of Georgia

for passing this along).

http://richmedia.virgintrains.co.uk/fallinginlove.mpg

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 10, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 19

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) If you're going to make a mistake, make an embarrassing one, don't

fool around with something trivial. In the last issue of TWA, a comment

was made about the Silver Fleet of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, which

consisted of three daily trains. Two of those were named correctly, but,

the third was named in haste instead of in accuracy. The Seaboard's train

between New York City, Atlanta, and Birmingham was the Silver Comet, not

the name applied in the last TWA. It's tough getting a fact wrong you've

know your entire life because of a simple typo. Thanks to the many

friends who caught the embarrassing error, and apologies to all.

2) We know the Florida trains in pre-Amtrak days were always considered

money-makers. Even up to the end the year before the advent of Amtrak,

Seaboard Coast Line operated the Florida Special, a winter season,

extra-fare train that always had good patronage. During the height of the

Great Depression, this train and others of the Seaboard and Atlantic

Coast Line would often run with extra scheduled sections.

At the end of private passenger service, Seaboard Coast Line was

operating daily into Florida from New York the Silver Meteor, Silver

Star, Champion, Gulf Coast Special, and the Everglades.

Between Jacksonville and New Orleans the Gulf Wind was operated, and

between Chicago and Miami the City of Miami and South Wind alternated

running one train on even days, and one train on odd days.

When Amtrak Day came on May 1, 1971, the surviving trains into Florida

were the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and the Champion. Chicago to Florida

was covered by the South Wind, which later became the Floridian.

This ancient history is important because it shows there has always been

a demand for passenger rail service in and out of Florida. When Amtrak

was being formed, it was highly unusual for any long distance route to

have three surviving trains. Even New York - Chicago originally was only

served by one train, the Broadway Limited. For Florida to retain three

trains was remarkable, and a strong indicator of how much business

existed between the Northeast and Southeast.

Today, Amtrak's Florida service is ghost of what it was even in 1993,

before the arrival of a transit mentality at Amtrak, and the scourge of

the "common consist" where one size train fits all; passenger demand be

scorned and ignored.

3) URPA completed a white paper in 1999 on the effect of the common

consist and the resulting loss of passenger business, all in the name of

saving expenses without regard to passenger revenue.

By 1993, the Sunset Limited had arrived in Florida, and the Silver Meteor

and Silver Star were operating, as well as the Palmetto and Auto Train.

The Palmetto only operated to Jacksonville.

In Fiscal Year 1993, using Amtrak figures, ridership (revenue passenger

mile figures were not available) on all Florida trains combined was

1,262,059 passengers. By FY 1998, just five short fiscal years later, and

by the time Florida trains had been converted to Superliners on the Auto

Train (providing greater passenger capacity), and the Meteor and Star

were carrying Viewliner sleepers, replacing Heritage sleeping cars,

ridership on all Florida trains combined was 976,301 passengers, a drop

of 285,758 passengers per year.

This drop in ridership was not due to changing market conditions. It was

deliberately planned by Amtrak to reduce its fleet of sleeping cars and

close maintenance bases. In 1993, Amtrak had three full maintenance bases

in Florida, and was performing minimal turn maintenance at Jacksonville

for the Palmetto.

By 1998, the Tampa maintenance base was closed, and the Palmetto had been

converted to the Silver Palm, and was operating to Miami via Tampa, as

today's Silver Star does.

As always with the caveat that Amtrak managers are praised for saving

expenses, but not praised for raising revenues, the Tampa maintenance

base, and the two trains which terminated there (The Silver Meteor and

Silver Star operated as one train each into Florida, but were split at

Jacksonville or Auburndale into two additional trains to provide service

to the old Seaboard main line through Ocala, and into Tampa.)

disappeared. No more trains were split in Florida, but three trains,

instead of two, operated from Miami to New York City, with one detouring

through Tampa.

Again, using Amtrak numbers and 1999 expenses and fares, the closing of

the Tampa maintenance base saved about $4 million dollars a year in

expenses, a hefty amount. On the other side of the ledger, Amtrak gave up

$14 million dollars a year in revenue by taking one train a day out of

Tampa, and replacing it with a Thruway bus connection.

The Silver Meteor often ran with a consist of three to five Heritage

sleeping cars depending on seasonal demand, and the Star usually with

three sleepers. By getting rid of the Heritage sleepers and replacing

them with fewer Viewliner sleeping cars, Amtrak automatically cut down on

passenger capacity. The pre-common consist trains also carried nine

Amfleet coaches; these were reduced to four to accommodate the common

consist requirements. Eighteen car trains quickly became 10 car trains.

Somehow, this screwy logic made sense to Amtrak managers and the Amtrak

board of directors.

4) Not satisfied with just about killing its Florida business, Amtrak,

under former President and CEO David Gunn, made more cuts into Florida,

all in the name of "improving service." When the mail and express

business disappeared, so did the Silver Palm. It was shortened to its

inefficient southern terminus of Savannah, Georgia, and turned into an

all-daylight train along the East Coast, to New York City.

When questioned as to why the newly-minted Palmetto, replacing the Silver

Palm, at least didn't return to its more logical terminus of Jacksonville

(which did not require any more crew members, but only 148 additional

train miles in each direction between Savannah and Jacksonville), the

response was "it's an easier turn for the train crew at Savannah than

Jacksonville." To put it more bluntly, the public be hanged, it was

easier for Amtrak's operating department to end the train at Savannah

instead of Jacksonville. Profits don't matter, passenger convenience

doesn't matter, because there is always another annual subsidy of free

federal money to make up the difference in any mistakes in judgement by

Amtrak.

Between 1993 and 1999, the Sunset Limited was also scaled back from Miami

to first Sanford, the home of the Auto Train terminal and a far suburb of

Orlando, and then, more logically, Orlando, about 25 route miles away,

but a much more desirable destination. This cutback did make sense, since

Orlando was the primary destination of Sunset riders in Florida, after

those making connections in Jacksonville to the north, and those using

the service for transportation to cities in Florida's panhandle such as

Tallahassee, and Pensacola.

In another gross misjudgment by Amtrak, when the Sunset was originally

cut back, it went to Sanford, because it shared a common Superliner

maintenance base with Auto Train. The timetables showed unknown Sanford

as the eastern terminus of the train, with a Thruway bus connection to

Winter Park, Orlando, and Kissimmee, the real destinations of passengers.

As a result of such a huge miscalculation by the Sunset's product line

director of now showing Orlando as the final destination of the train,

business dropped dramatically. When it occurred to him to deadhead the

train the 25 or so miles from the maintenance base at Sanford to Orlando

to complete the full route by rail, ridership soared. Passengers simply

want to take a train the entire trip, and aren't interested in the

inconvenience of shifting from a train to a bus in a small town.

5) Today, Amtrak in Florida has changed, even more. The Sunset Limited

hasn't been seen in almost two years, since the onslaught of Hurricane

Katrina along the Gulf Coast. Amtrak has had a myriad of "the dog ate my

homework" excuses for not reinstating this vital link in the national

system, but has never really indicated anything would work short of

states putting up money to reinstall a train which has never been

officially cancelled. Amtrak has made plenty of telltale statements

however, with its Chicago spokesman saying things recently in the

Tallahassee Democrat such as "We don't start running new services in

states without state financial support." The problem, of course, is this

isn't a new service, but a service which has never been officially

advertised as being discontinued (to meet union requirements and other

legal matters), so the Chicago spokesman's statement doesn't hold water.

Amtrak service in the spring of 2007 in Florida consists of two daily

trains from the Northeast, both serving Orlando, but only one serving

Tampa. The old Seaboard line through Ocala, one of the fastest growing

areas of Florida, has no train service, only Thruway bus service. Tampa

and the lower West Coast of Florida have Thruway bus service, too.

Auto Train still serves Sanford.

No service exists west of Jacksonville to New Orleans.

6) Going back to URPA's 1999 white paper, we find the following

statistics:

Annual Ridership in Florida

FY 1993 - 1,262,059

FY 1994 - 1,167,838

FY 1995 - 1,125,571

FY 1996 - 1,002,009

FY 1997 - 928,252

FY 1998 - 976,301

FY 2005 - 841,240

FY 2006 - 764,363

You may discover, by following the numbers above, that Amtrak ridership

in Florida, one of the strongest travel destinations in the United

States, continues to decline at an alarming rate. The difference between

passenger counts in FY 1993 and FY 2006 is a staggering loss of 497,696

passengers annually. To put that in a simpler number, that's a half of a

million passengers a year not coming or going in Florida on Amtrak from

what there was in FY 1993.

Do some math. Presume each passenger generated an average ticket value of

$87, based on revenue passenger miles generated in FY 2006 by the Silver

Meteor and Silver Star and revenue per mile. Multiply 497,696 passengers

by an average of $87 per ticket, and you can calculate Amtrak is happy to

give up $43,299,552 in annual passenger revenue, or roughly, 14% of what

Amtrak says is its annual operating deficit for the entire national

system outside of the Northeast Corridor.

7) A rational person would be quick to point out that coming up with that

extra nearly $43 million in ticket revenue would cost some big bucks,

too. Yes, that is correct. However, as we saw with the closing of the

Tampa maintenance base and the idiotic idea of common consist trains, it

wouldn't be too hard or too expensive to restructure the Florida service

to regain much of that lost $43 million without spending more than Amtrak

would be making.

How can this be done? Simply by putting the Sunset Limited back,

restringing the current Florida schedules, and running the Palmetto back

into Tampa. Some other improvements could be made, too, that would take a

bit more effort, but provide even better results.

8) Most of the long distance trains operating in and out of New York

City's Pennsylvania Station do so at times convenient for the many

regional and commuter trains operating in the region. Long distance

patrons make up a minuscule segment of travel from New York's stations.

The Silver Meteor and Silver Star depart New York Penn at times these

trains have been departing New York since the Seaboard days. The Star

provides a morning departure, the Meteor a mid-afternoon departure. The

Star has the more lengthy route, since it follows the old Seaboard route

through Raleigh, North Carolina and Columbia, South Carolina before

rejoining the current CSX I-95 corridor route at Savannah, Georgia.

Again, in Florida, the Star goes in and out of Tampa, which the Meteor

does not, adding an additional two hours to the schedule. Even though the

Star departs New York more than four hours before the Meteor, both end up

in Miami within an hour of each other.

The Palmetto launches out of New York Penn Station early in the morning

at 6:15 A.M., and arrives at its terminal in Savannah at 8:34 P.M.

Northbound, the Meteor and Star both leave Miami early, at 7:15 A.M. and

8:50 A.M., but again, the Star, taking the longer route, arrives in New

York Penn over five hours later than the Meteor. The Meteor arrives at

10:30 A.M., and the Star at 3:43 P.M., with the Palmetto arriving at

10:56 P.M., after a morning departure from Savannah at 8:00 A.M.

The Auto Train, in both directions, departs its terminal at 4:00 P.M.,

and arrives at the opposite terminal at 9:30 A.M., with no stops between

Sanford, Florida and Lorton, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

9) Let's do the most modest rearranging of the schedule, first.

Considerations have to include the provision for late running trains, and

adequate time to turn trains at endpoint maintenance bases. The trains

sit overnight at both endpoints, so it takes four trainsets to run each

service for the Meteor and Star, but only two trainsets for the Palmetto

because it doesn't travel overnight. The Auto Train uses four trainsets,

too. The Sunset, when it runs its full route, takes seven days for a

return trip coast to coast, so every day it departs, it needs a trainset,

needing seven sets for daily service.

The Meteor and Star schedules, considering that Tampa is served by the

Star, are not bad schedules. Both schedules could easily be tinkered with

by an hour or so, but overall work.

The Palmetto is where the real opportunity is found.

Tampa took the most dramatic hit in ridership when the common consists

arrived in the 90s, and Tampa was then served by just one train. Tampa

ridership went from 149,722 passengers a year, down to 39,936 passengers,

a perilous drop of 109,796 passengers a year. In the past two years, that

ridership has edged back up, with FY 2006 reporting 60,778 passengers

using Tampa Union Station, but that is still significantly less than half

of the passengers in FY 1993.

Tampa needs the Palmetto. Currently, the Palmetto ties up for the night

in Savannah, where routine turn maintenance and cleaning is performed.

This function could easily be moved to Tampa at no additional expense.

Extending the train, keeping the spirit of its present schedule, would

require no new stations, but keeping some stations in Florida open all

night.

Currently, Amtrak has 50 Viewliner sleeping cars in its active fleet,

with a daily requirement of 39. The Silver Palm, when it was today's

Palmetto operating in and out of Miami and Tampa, carried only one

sleeping car. That's okay, because the Palmetto also would only need one

sleeping car on each of three trainsets to operate the service from Tampa

to New York City.

Envision a late night departure from Tampa, at 10:30 P.M. That would put

the train into Orlando at 12:30 A.M., into Jacksonville at 3:30 A.M., and

into Savannah at 6:00 A.M., then resume a similar schedule to today's

Palmetto, but operating about an hour earlier.

Some at Amtrak, and certainly the paid help at the National Association

of Railroad Passengers, will instantly squawk about "marketable times" in

Florida for the proposed train. That is a semi-valid argument, but,

considering this is a service designed for residents of Florida to use

(versus the tourist trade found on today's Meteor and Star), those hours

are not unusual or unreasonable as a second or third frequency. The

business generated from Tampa and Orlando can easily support the train,

with any additional business generated at Jacksonville a bonus.

A southbound Palmetto could leave New York City at 9:00 A.M., arrive in

Savannah at 11:30 P.M., Jacksonville at 2:00 A.M., Orlando at 5:00 A.M.,

and Tampa at 7:00 A.M.

And, if you don't think people will board a train in the middle of the

night, look at some of Amtrak's own numbers. Columbia, South Carolina is

currently served by the Star at 1:44 A.M. and 1:12 A.M., daily. In FY

2006, Columbia generated 34,431 passengers. Cleveland, Ohio is served by

the Capitol Limited at 2:31 A.M. and 2:15 A.M., and the Lake Short

Limited at 3:27 A.M. and 7:00 A.M., and Cleveland generated 29,334

passengers in FY 2006. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota has early morning

and late evening hours for its one daily train, the Empire Builder. FY

2006 ridership there was a whopping 137,227 passengers. Even Newton,

Kansas, the closest stop to Wichita on the Southwest Chief route, which

is served at 3:25 A.M. and 3:01 A.M., had FY 2006 ridership of 12,580

passengers.

Go to any airport early in the morning, and see how many passengers

arrive before 6 A.M. to take the first flight out, or arrive back in the

airport after 11 P.M. on the last flight of the evening.

What would it cost to extend the Palmetto from Savannah to Tampa? One

more train and engine crew than is currently used. One sleeping car

attendant. Three sleeping cars, and probably one or two extra coaches to

handle the increased ridership (this, in the real world, is considered a

plus, not a detriment). Keep this as a downgraded train, without full

dining car service, but the new Diner Lite. Longer hours for the existing

onboard services staff, plus extra train mile costs, and costs of fuel.

Keeping some stations open for a longer period of time. For this 394 mile

extension, the likely annual costs are $8,760,000. The likely annual

revenue is in excess of $25 million.

Does Amtrak really need state funds to extend this train? No. It just

needs the will to look at opportunities to help itself, serve its

passengers better, and fulfill its mandate to create and operate a

national passenger railroad system.

Further simple tweaking to the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Palmetto

can raise a lot of money, quickly. Currently, all of these trains are

discharge/receive only trains on the Northeast Corridor. That means no

local business between New York City and Washington. You can listen to

all of Amtrak's excuses for this, but the only valid excuse is it wants

to drive business onto the NEC trains, at the expense of the long

distance trains.

Every year, during the busy December travel season, Amtrak opens up the

Meteor, Star, and Crescent to local business on the NEC, citing a lack of

space for all of the demand. Suddenly, NEC travelers are exposed to the

more comfortable long distance train coach seats, the availability of

private sleeping car space, and even a full service dining car. Ridership

always goes up every December when this phenomenon takes place. You may

suggest this is only moving money from one pile to another. Certainly,

some of that would occur, but what this really accomplishes is a better

use of long distance train assets and different travel opportunities

which may entice travelers who would otherwise not use a train on the

NEC.

On the subject of the Sunset Limited, the solution is simple. Put it

back, but treat it better, and make it at least four frequencies a week,

instead of the most expensive way of operating a train, which is three

frequencies. Ideally, it should be daily.

10) Let's move to a slightly bolder scenario. What if the Silver Meteor,

based on its present schedule, really fulfilled its destiny, and became a

Montreal - Miami train? The current run of the Adirondack from New York

City to Montreal is about 10 hours. Keeping the Meteor's same general

schedule, it would arrive in Montreal about 9:00 P.M., and depart the

next morning around 7:00 A.M., pushing the southbound schedule back an

hour or so to accommodate the longer run. This would tie the Meteor into

the entire VIA Rail Canada eastern network, and provide same-train

service between eastern Canada, which is a huge source of tourism in

Florida, and all of the major Florida destinations. The worst case

scenario for this is the train could be too successful, and have heavy

capacity demands. This would also greatly benefit the Adirondack, by

offering a second travel choice, and therefore pushing up demand for

existing as well as new trains.

As an adjunct to this, extend the Silver Star and the Crescent both to

Boston. No extra trainsets required, and only one additional train and

engine crew for each train, plus extended onboard staff hours.

11) Obviously, there is much which can be done with Amtrak's Florida

service to benefit the company's bottom line, plus provide better

passenger service. There are many in-state scenarios, too, which include

use of the Florida East Coast tracks from Jacksonville to West Palm

Beach, and the old Seaboard tracks via Ocala, which serve a fast growing

part of the state. A part of Florida which has been overlooked for

decades is the lower West Coast, including Bradenton, Sarasota, Punta

Gorda, Fort Myers, and Naples. These tracks need major assistance for

upgrading for passenger use, and would be an ideal project for the

Florida Department of Transportation to undertake. There is also demand

for cross-Florida service, linking Tampa with South Florida with more

than one train a day, and Tampa and North Florida with more than one

train a day. TWA will have more details on these ideas in a later

edition.

12) Just in case anyone forgets the real reason for running passenger

trains, VIA Rail Canada issued this press release today.

[begin quote]

VIA Rail Sees Customer Focus as Strategic Business Advantage - Scores 98%

Satisfaction Rating -

MONTREAL, May 10 /CNW Telbec/ - VIA Rail Canada's President and Chief

Executive Officer, Paul Côté, today emphasized that the company has

chosen to focus on the total customer experience as its core business

strategy, citing this as a strategic business advantage.

Addressing a group of business people at a Board of Trade meeting in

Montreal earlier today, Mr. Côté indicated that customers gave VIA a 98%

satisfaction rating in the most recent surveys.

"Not only have we achieved exceptionally high levels of customer

satisfaction, 40 per cent of customers say that VIA not only met but

exceeded their expectations," said Mr. Côté. "People choose the train

because it offers something different - a more comfortable, safer and

less stressful way to travel, and it offers the opportunity to use tools

such as WiFi and cell phones, making travel time more productive. We call

it the more 'human' way to travel."

This strategy has produced tangible results. In the 2006 Commerce-Léger

Marketing Survey, respondents ranked VIA as the most admired

transportation company and one of the top 30 most admired companies

overall. Last year, VIA's revenues increased, for the third straight

year, to close to $300 million.

More than four million passengers boarded VIA trains last year; the

Quebec City-Windsor corridor alone carried a record 3.5 million

passengers.

About VIA

Montreal is home to VIA's headquarters, the second busiest station in

Canada, and the company's largest maintenance center. 1,300 VIA employees

live and work in the Greater Montreal area, over 40 per cent of the total

workforce.

As Canada's national passenger rail service, VIA Rail Canada's mandate is

to provide efficient, environmentally responsible and cost effective

passenger transportation services, both in Canada's business corridor and

in remote and rural regions of the country. Serving more than 450

communities with a network of inter-city, transcontinental and regional

trains, demand for rail services continues to grow as more Canadians turn

to train travel as a safe and convenient travel choice.

[End quote]

Keep in mind VIA is also a child of government, just as Amtrak, and has

often been ridiculed as one of Canada's worst managed companies. They

must be doing something right to receive high ratings like these from its

passengers.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to [email protected]

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 14, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 20

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Let's continue our conversation about ways Amtrak can help itself -

using current assets - to generate more revenue than expenses, widen its

route matrix to provide a more appealing transportation product for its

passengers, and lessen its long standing dependence on annual doses of

free federal monies.

The rules of this exercise are simple: Expand travel offerings by

altering existing routes, terminals, and destinations without creating a

need for many new stations (very expensive), or pioneering complete new

routes (while desirable, new routes are an exercise for another time with

another set of criteria and a lot of money), or creating a need for new

equipment. A large part of this exercise consists of putting existing

equipment to better use, or bringing warehoused equipment out of storage

to become a product asset versus a stagnant asset.

Looking at Amtrak's route map, we see a lot of long trunk lines, with

relatively few hub opportunities. Each current Amtrak route seems

designed for travelers going in only one direction, with little thought

that someone may independently want to get there from here, beyond where

Amtrak believes they should travel.

Dallas and Houston, Texas are a prime example. Amtrak serves both cities,

which are the two largest cities in Texas. While Amtrak does offer a

convoluted Thruway bus/train connection between the two cities, the

choice is not only unappealing, but clumsy, and involves a 15 hour

overnight layover in Longview, Texas.

Essentially, to get from Dallas to Houston by train, one must travel 315

miles from Dallas, at 12:20 P.M., to San Antonio on the Texas Eagle,

arriving at San Antonio at 10:35 P.M. On Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday

mornings (since the Sunset Limited is only operated tri-weekly) our

Dallas to Houston traveler boards the Sunset in San Antonio at 1 A.M. and

continues on an additional 210 miles to Houston, arriving at 5:45 A.M.

Our traveler has gone 525 miles during a period of almost 17 and a half

hours. Driving the route, according to the American Automobile

Association, would take a few minutes less than four hours, and be a

distance of 238 miles. Only the most fanatical rail fan would consider a

trip such as this instead of finding an easier and more productive way to

travel.

One of the greatest challenges for reforming Amtrak's corporate thinking

is to eliminate the urge to create new long lines, and, instead start

connecting the existing lines at more places.

The Northeast Corridor is another prime example of this thinking. Here's

a startling statement: the Northeast is actually under-served by Amtrak.

The bulk of Amtrak's northeast service goes only north and south, with

little consideration for east and west (although, granted, it's tough to

go east when you're living in an Atlantic Ocean port city). The same

holds true in the Northeast as it does for much of the rest of the

country for Amtrak: a passenger railroad which boasts over 500

destinations, and you often "can't get there from here" seems to be the

norm.

The Sunset Limited filled a great part of Amtrak's historic gap between

New Orleans and Florida from 1993 until the fateful day in 2005 Hurricane

Katrina roared ashore and devastated everything in its wake. The hardy

souls of the Gulf Coast and immediate surrounding areas have worked hard

in these intervening months rebuilding their homes and businesses. CSX,

Norfolk Southern, and Canadian National railroads raced against the clock

to restore their infrastructures to help in the rebuilding of the region.

An amazing amount of work was completed as railroads played their

historic role as the primary movers of a nation when crisis arose. But,

wait, one railroad, which could play a vital role in helping reshape the

travel market to this region has been absent without leave. Yes, Amtrak

has given the Gulf Coast a cold shoulder and refused to restore the

Sunset Limited to its route east of New Orleans, citing a number of "the

dog ate my homework" reasons for not participating in this process.

Private enterprise and charitable organizations rolled up their sleeves

and made things happen on the Gulf Coast. Amtrak stole quietly away into

the night. Have these people no shame?

Amtrak apologists and cultists are the first to whine about Amtrak's

skeletal national system. They want more. There should be more, but the

skewed traditional thinking that Amtrak "is doing the best it can under

the circumstances" is wrong. Also, even worse, "just give Amtrak more

money and everything will be fine," is such a false mantra the phrase

should be banned from the national lexicon. Amtrak doesn't need more

money, it needs more vision and "can do" spirit to help itself.

Despite uninformed opinion to the contrary, the best steward and leader

Amtrak ever had was the late Graham Claytor in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Under Mr. Claytor, Amtrak operated more trains to more places at more

times than any other period in Amtrak's history. More new equipment came

online and more routes were expanded than ever before, or since then.

Since his retirement, every succeeding Amtrak president (Except the

present one, Alexander Kummant) has found a need to shorten or eliminate

trains, close stations, downgrade services, or need more free federal

monies and state monies.

Amtrak's current leadership seems to be breaking free from the

destructive planning shackles of the past. There is a need for passenger

trains across America, but more than ones going short distances in and

out of major cities.

2) Look first at the original Seaboard Air Line Railroad route through

Florida, that in 2005 then-president David Gunn abandoned north of Winter

Haven in favor of Thruway bus connections to the current route of the

Silver Meteor and Silver Star. This historic route, which goes south from

Jacksonville to Waldo (Gainesville), Ocala, Wildwood, Dade City, Winter

Haven, Sebring, Okeechobee, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and into

Miami, travels through some of the fastest growing areas of Central

Florida. The Ocala/Gainesville and immediate surrounding counties host a

population of over 700,000, plus the tens of thousands of students of the

University of Florida. This is also the rail line the State of Florida is

kicking in money to CSX to upgrade to handle increased freight traffic in

quickly coming years when the old Atlantic Coast Line route through

Orlando is sold and turned into a mostly passenger line to create an

exciting new regional commuter rail system in Central Florida. Travel

time on this Jacksonville - Miami route is less than eight hours.

Ideally, a set of daytime passenger train equipment should run 14 to 15

hours a day to receive full value from its use.

Create a new/restored/different route in Florida from Miami to Ocala to

Jacksonville to Columbia, South Carolina via Savannah, also on the old

Seaboard Air Line route. Why this way, and not straight up the CSX I-95

corridor to Florence, South Carolina, which would also fit the time

criteria (and train and engine crew change point, too)?

The needs of CSX must be taken into account along with the viability of

marketing any route. The CSX I-95 corridor route through Florence is one

of the busiest pieces of railroad in the country. By creating a route

that only uses that railroad for 148 route miles, it creates a much less

demanding scenario on the CSX infrastructure. Just as important,

Columbia, South Carolina, that state's capital city, has been grossly

under served for passenger business since the beginning of Amtrak in

1971. The metro area population of Columbia is 576,000, and project to

grow over 7% annually for the next five years.

Since this train would be a run of only less than 14 hours, the ideal

consist would be one locomotive, one baggage car, one premium coach, one

food service car, and three to five coaches, depending on demand. This

would be an inexpensive train to operate in terms of crew and equipment,

since only two trainsets would be required, both maintained in Miami, the

current Florida maintenance base. Columbia, like today's Savannah which

has a small turn maintenance and cleaning base for today's Palmetto,

would need these minimal services.

In 1993, before the dreaded days of the common consist in Florida and

reduced train capacity, the Central Florida stations did well.

Statistics for passengers entraining and detraining at the stations are:

FY 1993

Dade City - 4,911

Wildwood - 7,679

Ocala - 22,624

Waldo - 15,723

Other stations served by this route and also the routes of the Silver

Meteor and Silver Star included:

FY 1993

Jacksonville - 121,352 (includes passengers from the Sunset Limited)

Winter Haven - 51,435

Sebring - 17,228

Okeechobee - 3,650

West Palm Beach - 56,583

Delray Beach - 11,579

Deerfield Beach - 29,314

Fort Lauderdale - 51,306

Hollywood - 31,431

Miami - 96,843

Today, those same stations, with a combination of only the Silver Meteor

and Silver Star from Winter Haven, south (plus Jacksonville to the North)

have these ridership figures:

FY 2006

Jacksonville - 54,370 (No Sunset Limiteds operated in 2006)

Winter Haven - 17,882

Sebring - 13,939

Okeechobee - 2,858

West Palm Beach - 40,304

Delray Beach - 6,822

Deerfield Beach - 19,997

Fort Lauderdale - 34,413

Hollywood - 26,156

Miami - 61,158

Here are the differences between FY 1993 and FY 2006 for those same

stations:

Jacksonville - (66,982) [includes loss of Sunset Limited passengers; data

not available to break out Sunset counts]

Winter Haven - (33,553)

Sebring - (3,289)

Okeechobee - (792)

West Palm Beach - (16,279)

Delray Beach - (4,757)

Deerfield Beach - (9,317)

Fort Lauderdale - (16,893)

Hollywood - (5,275)

Miami - (35,685)

Total passenger loss measuring FY 1993 versus FY 2006: 192,822 passengers

just from the state of Florida.

These are passengers Amtrak has willingly abandoned and said it is not

interested in their patronage or revenue. The number of passengers lost

only on this route is comparable to today's passenger count for the

entire route of the Capitol Limited between Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

We are contemplating re-establishing a route of 643 miles, of which 452

of those route miles are currently in use for the Silver Meteor and

Silver Star, and the stations on the remaining 191 miles of former

trackage through Ocala are all still in operation for Thruway bus

connections. Therefore, this proposed service would require no new

stations or station personnel because the trains would operate during

daylight hours.

Estimated operating costs for this train (locomotives, cars, maintenance,

crews, etc.) are $11,265,360. Estimated passenger revenue for this train,

based on revenue passenger mile income on a similar train, the Palmetto,

average length of trip, load factors, and backing out possible Sunset

Limited passenger counts in the figures above are $11,585,000, which

would put the train at breakeven or into a small profit. Further benefit

from this train would include the lowering of infrastructure expenses for

the Silver Meteor and Silver Star (sharing of station and maintenance

facility costs), plus the expansion of offerings of more travel times on

the joint portions of the route, and the opening up of South Carolina

stations to daylight travel times. Considering the normal jump in

business when a second or third frequency is offered, and a larger travel

matrix is created, it is not unreasonable to consider another $2 million

in ticket revenues for all of the Florida trains as a result of the

addition of this one route. Therefore, this route would contribute to

lowering Amtrak's annual assigned operating loss on the national system,

provide more travel opportunities at better times for many formerly busy

stations, and use all existing stations and existing surplus equipment.

3) Take the same idea as above, but add another twist to it. It's

important to expand the route matrix, connecting various points on the

overall route map that haven't recently been connected, or connected

before.

Most people consider Florida to be a destination state, but often

overlook the 12 million people who live in Florida, many of which have a

desire to travel to many places up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Most

travel planners look at states such as North Carolina and South Carolina

and incorrectly presume most travelers to and from those states want to

travel to northern destinations from there. The existence of the Palmetto

and Carolinian routes confirm that suspicion. These train connect New

York City and the Northeast with the Carolinas. The needs of any other

traffic are presumable met by the Silver Meteor and Silver Star.

In addition to the suggestion in the last issue of TWA to extend the

Palmetto to Tampa, how about - again, using existing stations and

maintenance bases used for other purposes - creating a new route which

connects the busy area of North Carolina around the metropolitan

Charlotte area with Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Jacksonville, the

vacation hotspot of Orlando, and Tampa? This would be an all daylight run

of about 14 hours.

Charlotte already has a turn maintenance and crew base for the Carolinian

and Piedmont trains, so that problem is solved. CSX has good track that

runs about 75 miles from Charlotte to Hamlet, North Carolina, a station

stop on the route of the Silver Star. Following the logic of above,

continue south down the former Seaboard line from Hamlet to Columbia,

over to Savannah, travel the 148 route miles between Savannah and

Jacksonville on the busy CSX main line, and then take the current route

of the Silver Star from Jacksonville to Tampa, via Orlando. All but 75

miles of the route between Charlotte and Hamlet would be existing route

miles of the Silver Star, and would all be run in daylight, which would

provide a welcome additional frequency between expanding areas of the

Carolinas with the tourism areas of Florida, plus all of Florida's most

densely populated areas outside of South Florida.

This route would consist of 675 miles connecting six major metropolitan

areas. The size and makeup of the train, and marketing and expense and

revenue characteristics would be very similar to the scenario outlined

above for the restored train via Ocala and Columbia. The only difference

would be the need to establish a full maintenance base in Tampa (where,

if the Palmetto is extended to this needed destination, turn maintenance

would already be performed there, so upgrading to full maintenance would

not be significant or expensive).

Again, the same variables come into account: the more frequencies on a

route, the greater the multiplication factor for new passengers kicks in

because of greater travel choices and more destinations.

By opening up the route of the Crescent with a direct connection to

Florida's best destinations via Charlotte and Columbia, a number of

factors automatically come into play which drives higher passenger

counts, creates a better route matrix, and more revenue opportunities at

lower expenses.

4) One last scenario for Florida (for now), that has been needed since

the days of the loss of the Floridian. There has always been strong

demand for a Chicago-Florida train. The best routes available, via

Louisville or Atlanta are either unaccessible today or impractical

because of lost trackage.

A reasonable substitute - which, again, uses all existing stations and

only requires two extra sets of equipment - is extending the Capitol

Limited to Tampa via Raleigh, Columbia, and Orlando.

This extension would require six sets of equipment (versus three for

today's Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington), with no real

alteration in the Capitol Limited schedule. A train would depart Chicago

about 7 P.M. on a Monday night, and arrive in Orlando and Tampa on

Wednesday morning well before noon. This would entail two nights of

running in each direction, totaling about 38 hours for a run, not much

more than the City of Miami or South Wind took via Birmingham or

Louisville. The difference is those trains departed Chicago in the early

morning hours, 12 hours before the Capitol would depart today.

This new route made of two existing routes, which could be run with all

Superliners, includes a host of major markets by combining the Capitol

Limited and Silver Star routes, plus adds additional frequencies to the

Star route, providing even greater opportunities, and requires no new

stations or additional station personnel.

Tampa, again, serves as an ideal turn maintenance terminal. When the

Sunset Limited finally returns to Florida, it could easily be naturally

extended from Orlando to Tampa, joining the Capitol Limited at a Florida

Superliner maintenance turn base.

The economics for this extension are strong. Nine hundred and

ninety-eight additional route miles are added to the Capitol's running in

each direction, but these miles are covered by only three additional

trainsets (two additional sets would not provide sufficient turn time in

Tampa if a train was remarkably late). The new, extended train would cost

an estimated $23,300,000 a year to operate. It would have estimated

revenues of $30,000,000, including the current Capitol and the extended

portion. All of the equipment needed to add the three additional

trainsets is currently in the Amtrak active pool of equipment.

An alternate suggestion is a long-sought URPA concept of extending the

City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Orlando and Tampa. This would

require two additional sets of Superliner equipment. To make the

transformation complete, the City should be extended on the north end

from Chicago to Detroit.

The extension of the Capitol Limited, because of the major metropolitan

markets it serves on its present route, make this train a first choice to

extend to Florida in front of the City of New Orleans, from a strictly

marketing standpoint. In an ideal world, both trains should run into

Florida, serving Orlando and Tampa, without question or hesitation.

5) To summarize the impact of these three improvements in Florida

service, Amtrak, without adding any new stations, or activating any

equipment out of storage, can improve its bottom line by an estimated $10

to $15 million and serve a much higher number of national system

passengers, making Amtrak a stronger company with a more robust route

matrix and less dependent on annual doses of free federal monies. The

three trains would mostly stay away from the busiest routes of CSX.

6) One last proposal to put one of Amtrak's most under-used assets to

work, plus provide better use of Amtrak's most scenic route east of

Chicago.

The Cardinal, operating between Chicago and New York City via

Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Washington is a disgrace in the manner in

which it is run. Operating today only three days a week, it also consumes

three full trainsets of low level equipment, including Viewliner sleeping

cars. It travels to Indianapolis and Cincinnati at nocturnal times.

It's time for a complete revamp of this potential diamond in the rough.

First, make it a daily train, and extend the eastern terminus from New

York City to Boston. On the eastern end on the NEC several things can

quickly be accomplished.

Instead of an eastbound departure from Chicago at 5:45 P.M., move that

departure back to about 9 P.M. This would create a better marketing time

at Cincinnati, run through all of the attractive mountain scenery in West

Virginia and Virginia during daylight hours, and put the train into

Washington, D.C. about 9:15 P.M. Remember, this is a train with Viewliner

sleeping cars. Have the Cardinal replace today's NEC regional train

number 66, which operates from Newport News, Virginia to Boston.

Operate 66 from Newport News to Washington on its present schedule,

arriving in Washington at 8:25 P.M. Attach 66 to the back of the

Cardinal, and have the combined train follow the current schedule of

train 66 to Boston, arriving in Boston at 7:52 A.M. This will recreate an

overnight train with sleeping cars between Washington and Boston,

eliminate duplicate running, crew, and other operating costs between

Washington and New York City of the Cardinal, and extend the reach and

desirability of the Cardinal to Boston without changing any station hours

or adding other expenses. As suggested in the last issue of TWA, if the

Silver Star is logically extended from New York City to Boston, this

would place two trains with Viewliners into the same maintenance base for

shared costs and needs.

The reverse schedule would put the Cardinal out of Boston on train number

67's current schedule at 9:45 P.M., and into Washington at 7 A.M., again

breaking away the Newport News section of the train and sending it on its

way as a separate train. The ongoing Cardinal would again spend the day

going through the scenic mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, into

Cincinnati before midnight, and return to Chicago before 9 A.M.

By taking the Cardinal daily, the Hoosier State, the Cardinal's companion

train which operates between Chicago and Indianapolis on days the

Cardinal does not run, could have a restrung schedule which would put it

out of Chicago earlier in the afternoon, and run all the way to

Cincinnati instead of Indianapolis before midnight. The return train

would be an all daylight train, providing a second frequency schedule

between Chicago and Cincinnati. This will only serve to increase traffic

demand on both trains by providing more travel options through a second

frequency on this part of the route.

The Cardinal carried only 95,100 passengers in FY 2006, based on

tri-weekly service. That amounts to only 305 passengers per departure.

Taking a train daily from tri-weekly does not dilute the present

passenger base, but, instead makes it stronger because of the

availability of more travel options. By making the Cardinal daily, the

annual ridership would probably soar to at least 223,000 passengers (not

counting the enhanced passenger base from the addition of passengers from

train numbers 66 and 67, which is not made available).

Based on FY 2006 revenue of $5,552,700, new revenue projections would go

to an estimated $13,000,000, if not higher. Expenses for the route would

not increase at the same level as revenues because most base costs, such

as station costs, would not increase. The additional train miles of 922

miles for the Washington-Chicago part of the trip for four additional

days of operation, plus the costs of one additional trainset will not

dramatically increase the expenses of the route. The loss of the costs of

operating an entire train between Washington and Boston, train numbers 66

and 67, greatly reduce the expense of extending the Cardinal up the NEC.

Making the Cardinal daily, replacing the current train numbers 66 and 67

with a train with sleeping cars and a diner, and restringing the schedule

to make it more appealing to viewing mountain scenery in the daytime,

plus adding a second frequency between Chicago and Indianapolis and

Cincinnati make this proposal one which can again add to the company's

bottom line by creating more revenue than expenses.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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----------



## Guest

With regards to the Cardinal...

First, I like the idea of extending it to Boston on the Eastern side...but how about terminating at Kansas City instead of Chicago? A daily Kansas City to Boston train via parts of the old National Limited route with connections to The City at Effingham IL. This would give the St. Louis - Kansas City Corridor another train frequency for a total of three. Ask IL what happened to ridership on the Carbondale line when they added a third train to the schedule.

Second, This would of course require the Hoosier State to become a daily train between Indy and CHI. Perhaps in time it could be extended to Cincy.

I'm just starting to get tired of the Amtrak mentality that everything must start and/or end in Chicago


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 18, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 21

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) The dog continues to eat Amtrak's homework. Mayor Robert F. Apgar,

Mayor of the City of DeLand, Florida, has written two letters to Amtrak

in favor of restoring the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. DeLand, a

far suburb of Orlando, and the Amtrak stop closest to Daytona Beach, is

an active Amtrak stop. It is also served by the Silver Meteor and Silver

Star, which operate between New York City and Florida.

The letter was written to Mayor Apgar on May 9, 2007, and is reproduced

here in its entirety.

[begin quote]

Dear Mayor Apgar:

Thank you for your letter to Mr. Kummant of May 1 regarding your concerns

about passenger rail service between New Orleans and Florida. I am

answering on Mr. Kummant's behalf.

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak operated a three-day-a-week Sunset

Limited service between New Orleans and Orlando. Service east of New

Orleans was notoriously unreliable, made stops along the Mississippi and

Alabama Gulf Coast at night (when on time), and was among our slowest

services. Its schedule called for 21 hours to go from New Orleans to

Orlando, compared to 11 hours by highway. Amtrak spent an unacceptably

high $378,000.00 on passenger inconvenience costs for disruptions east of

New Orleans in Fiscal 2005 due to the unreliability of the Sunset

Limited. Not surprisingly, ridership on the Sunset Limited east of New

Orleans was declining in the years leading up to Hurricane Katrina, with

minimal boardings at many of the intermediate stops.

Amtrak is continuing its efforts, in consultation with governmental and

other stakeholders, to identify a viable service that will meet the Gulf

Coast Region's transportation needs and the funding required for

implementation. The numerous options considered include restoration of

the Sunset Limited or modified overnight service along the entire route,

and short-distance services between various endpoints. We have not

established a timetable for a decision. Because several stations on the

route still have storm damage, capital investments will be needed before

any passenger service can be restored.

DeLand continues to be served by two Amtrak trains a day in each

direction, the Silver Meteor and the Silver Star between New York and

Miami. Where ridership on the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans has

declined in the past few years, ridership on the remaining two trains has

increased during the same period.

I hope this information assists you in your appraisal of the situation.

Sincerely,

Joe McHugh

Vice President

Government Affairs and Communications

[End quote]

Where to begin analyzing this fluff and poppycock? First, let's focus on

the positive. Mr. McHugh said "Amtrak is continuing its efforts, in

consultation with governmental and other stakeholders, to identify a

viable service that will meet the Gulf Coast Region's transportation

needs and the funding required for implementation. The numerous options

considered include restoration of the Sunset Limited or modified

overnight service along the entire route, and short-distance services

between various endpoints." Good stuff. That would lead one to assume

that something is on some burner, somewhere, and this issue hasn't been

forgotten.

However, Mr. McHugh also said, "We have not established a timetable for a

decision. Because several stations on the route still have storm damage,

capital investments will be needed before any passenger service can be

restored." Okay, why hasn't a timetable been established? It's been two

years, now. What's the holdup? As far as the "storm damage to stations on

the route" argument, well, that is much less of an issue in reality. The

passenger trackside platforms are in place, which is the critical

component. Amtrak is also notorious for bringing in "Amshack" portable

buildings that serve as stations, sometimes for years, while older

buildings are rehabilitated or done away with. The process of bringing in

portable stations to good platforms takes about 15 minutes. Anything

beyond that is just featherbedding. Plus, most likely, just about any

city government along the route which wants service restored would most

likely share the costs of fixing or improving stations; Amtrak doesn't

have to go it alone for this process.

The comparison between train time and driving time is totally bogus.

There are very rare instances where the train beats the automobile in any

race. That's not the point. Train travel is a viable option for many

reasons. You do not take the train when you are in a hurry. You travel by

train either for the experience, because you are unable to travel in a

car for whatever medical or other reasons there may be, perhaps for the

convenience of intermediate stops as your destination, or because you

choose not to fly or take a bus. Mr. McHugh's comparison of train travel

time to driving time is a losing argument before the thought is even

finished.

Then, the icing on the cake is Mr. McHugh's statement inferring DeLand

should be happy because its north-south service provided by the Silver

Meteor and Silver Star is improving; never mind that passengers just may

want to travel to places other than where the Meteor or Star will take

them.

This letter to Mayor Apgar is a disgrace. Mr. McHugh is well regarded by

many as someone who is a professional in his job. Actually, the disgrace

goes beyond Mr. McHugh to all of the Amtrak senior management who haven't

figured out a way to restore the Sunset Limited or place a viable

substitute in its place. If the issue is Amtrak want's someone else to

pay for the train, well, a very dangerous precedent is being set that

could cause the company to discontinue ANY long distance train for any

reason, and hold up its resumption while waiting for states or others to

pay the piper. At least Jesse James had the courage and dignity to use a

mask and gun when he was robbing someone.

2) The following is a press release issued by the Teamsters Union on

Thursday, May 17, 2007. Keep in mind what a press release really is: It's

not a news story, but an announcement made on behalf of an organization

or company or individual trying to convince media editors to run a story

based on the information in the press release. A press release is neither

required to be fair, or completely accurate; that is the responsibility

of the news organization using the information generated in the press

release in final form in an independent news story.

[begin quote]

Teamsters Rally for Fairness at Amtrak

Workers Surround Amtrak Headquarters To Protest Working Without Contract

For 8 Years

WASHINGTON, May 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hundreds of Amtrak workers

rallied today at Amtrak's headquarters at Union Station, expressing

frustration about working without a union contract for eight years with

no negotiations on the horizon.

"These are the longest and worst negotiations I have ever been through,"

said Tony Gardner, a 30-year member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of

Way Employees Division (BMWED) who works in Philadelphia. "My union

brothers and sisters know that Amtrak has been raking in profits for

years, but we aren't seeing anything."

Workers at the rally chanted, "Shut Amtrak Down," and held signs that

said, "It's the end of the line ... No Amtrak Contract ... No Amtrak

trains."

"We are the backbone of rail labor," said Mark Kenny, chairman of the

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen's (BLET) Amtrak

committee. "The new Democratic majority in Congress recognizes the

importance of rail labor. They've passed landmark legislation, HR 2095,

that will address numerous rail issues such as limbo time and the

elimination of dark territory. We hope they will soon address Amtrak."

In addition to the engineers, trainmen, conductors, signalmen and

dispatchers at the rally, members of the BMWED, the workers who maintain

the tracks, switches and on-site buildings for Amtrak stood along with

members of other unions in solidarity.

"I've not seen such solidarity on the Amtrak issue for many years," said

BMWED President Fred Simpson. "It's terrific to have the members of the

United Transportation Union, the Machinists and others with us today --

all united to fight for fair negotiations at Amtrak. We've got to keep

bringing this issue to the public and members of Congress."

"We have to say to our Republican colleagues, 'Get Your Hands Off

Amtrak,'" said Rep. Elijah Cummings, (D-MD). "You, the workers who keep

this railroad running, have been deprived of what you are rightfully due.

We are doing everything in our power to preserve Amtrak."

In addition to the rally, several unions announced the formation of a

bargaining coalition for Amtrak negotiations. Based on the successful

model used for the freight rail negotiations, the bargaining coalition

has signed on the BLET, BMWED, National Conference of Firemen and Oilers

and the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. The coalition is expected to

grow as other unions face an evolving situation at Amtrak.

"Bargaining as a unified group will put the Amtrak unions on the

offensive," said John Murphy, Director of the Teamsters Rail Conference

and Teamsters Vice President. "The time is ripe for a change in

negotiating tactics. We've seen how the strength of unified bargaining

won us a good agreement with the freight railroads. Now is our

opportunity to get Amtrak to the table."

The BLET and BMWED are both divisions of the Teamsters Rail Conference.

The Teamsters Union was founded in 1903 and represents 1.4 million

hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

[End quote]

Lots of normal rhetoric in the press release as expected from a union.

That's okay, because that's their opinion and the press release expresses

the points they want to get across to the media.

However, one sentence in the press release just can't be ignored: "said

Tony Gardner, a 30-year member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way

Employees Division (BMWED) who works in Philadelphia. 'My union brothers

and sisters know that Amtrak has been raking in profits for years, but we

aren't seeing anything.'"

Let's review those last few words: "Amtrak has been raking in profits for

years, but we aren't seeing anything." Really? Where? On the fabled

Northeast Corridor, where allegedly all of those Acela trains are making

so much money (see item number three, below, for more details)? Are we

seeing another myth generated for years by Amtrak Corporate

Communications coming home to haunt all of us?

URPA studies have shown the long distance trains do throw off a positive

cash flow (that means "profits" for all of you unfamiliar with the term),

but that positive cash flow is quickly scarfed up by corporate overhead

costs and NEC operating and maintenance costs. Amtrak says it needs about

$500 million a year in operating subsidies. URPA believes that figure is

a bit high, but, Amtrak, as it is operated today, is not profitable.

When finishes cleaning up its various corporate communications nightmares

left behind by recent administrations prior to the arrival of Mr. Kummant

as president and chief executive officer, then silly statements like the

one above from people who should know better will go away. Until then,

Amtrak is putting out yet another fire of its own making.

3) A lot of interesting mail comes floating over the electronic transom

here at TWA (some mail even comes the old fashioned way - with a postage

stamp delivered by a mailperson). Most of what we receive is pretty

interesting; TWA readers sharing their thoughts about a recent issue,

sharing their travel experiences, and making suggestions, many of them

innovative and rewarding. Some questions also are sent in, and we try to

answer as many as we can.

One recent set of questions came from a frequent correspondent, an Acela

conductor who is proud of his train, loyal to his company, and obviously

enjoys his job. He doesn't always agree with what we say in TWA, but he

always expresses himself positively and with honesty. Here is the

gentleman's latest missive.

[begin quote]

Dear Sir,

I believe that you manipulate the costs of Acela, vis-a-vis conventional

Amtrak maintenance costs.

You tell us that there are thousands of Amtrak employees nation-wide who

are responsible for maintaining Amtrak's conventional fleet. Then you

compare Acela's costs with only one of the facilities responsible for

overhaul and maintenance of conventional equipment. That does not

compute.

Why do you feel that you must attack the Northeast Corridor?

If it were not for the Corridor and the support that it generated for

Amtrak's survival for the last 35 years, there would be NO intercity

passenger trains at all. That is a fact. It does not matter that the

corridor was saved because so many commuter agencies also depend on it.

Long distance trains would not have survived without the Northeast

Corridor.

Play with numbers all you want; people will not ride trains unless they

offer a competitive advantage.

Acela has begun to capture market share between New York and Boston

because it is a BETTER alternative to flying or driving.

Long distance trains will begin to thrive when they offer competitive

advantages to their alternatives. They must be pleasant to ride and

reliably on time. That's it. Forget about blaming the corridor as if it

hogs precious resources. What it does is ensure a substantial political

bloc that consistently votes to fund a national rail system.

Thank you for listening.

Sincerely,

Amtrak NE Corridor Conductor on very busy and on-time Acela trains

[End quote]

URPA's Dennis Larson handles much of our research and numbers crunching.

Mr. Larson has this reply for our Acela conductor. All numbers are taken

directly from Amtrak reports.

[begin quote]

The Acela story continues to sound wonderful, but there is considerably

more buried in Amtrak's reports that may go unnoticed. Acela maintenance

is staggering. Amtrak's December forecast (issued on March 14, 2007) to

keep Acelas rolling safely for FY 2007 has gone from $52.5 million to

$57.8 million as posted in the February Report published on May 10, 2007.

Here is a notation in the February 2007 Report: "Materials were

unfavorable by $4.1 M primarily due to increased volume of wheelset

program repairs and increased repairs related to High Speed Rail."

A notation issued in the January report also published on May 10, 2007 -

"Materials were unfavorable by $4.6 M primarily due to increased volume

of wheelset program repairs and increased repairs related to High Speed

Rail."

And yet another notation from the December 2006 report issued on March

14, 2007 - "Materials were unfavorable by $2.6 M primarily due to

increased volume of wheelset program repairs and increased repairs

related to High Speed Rail."

Here is a more complete look at maintenance costs as requested by one

person. Amtrak owns three heavy maintenance facilities in Wilmington and

Bear, Delaware; plus the Beech Grove facility, in Indiana. There are

other maintenance facilities in Washington, D.C.; New York City,

Rensselaer and Niagara Falls, New York; Boston; Hialeah, Florida;

Chicago; New Orleans; Los Angeles; Oakland, California; and Seattle.

Amtrak's expense forecast for the Beech Groove (Indiana) facility is

$4,180,000 for FY 2007. This is the premier Superliner heavy repair

facility. Also included is equipment from the Pacific Surfliner trains,

locomotives, baggage, Horizon, and Heritage lounge car overhauls totaling

205 units; 163 of these are cars, the rest are power units.

The Bear, Delaware facility is currently servicing mostly Amfleet

equipment totaling 138 units. Amtrak shows a profit forecast of $10.9

million at Bear, obviously they are doing work that is contracted in from

outside sources. The same could be happening at Beech Groove, but

currently there isn't any information provided on either operation

regarding additional outside work.

Wilmington's heavy repair shops work on primarily AEM-7 locomotives and

diesel locomotive quarterlies and annuals (inspections and "tune-ups" and

overhauls). Amtrak reports 150 units planned for completion in FY 2007.

Forecasted costs for this fiscal year are reported by Amtrak at $27.4

million.

The High Speed facility shows two Acela interior upgrades only, planned

for the year, no mention about wheels, brakes or suspension parts. Total

forecasted costs are as mentioned previously, $57.8 million, which

remains Amtrak's highest maintenance costs of all parts of the company

and all types of equipment for just 20 Acela trainsets totaling six cars

and two power units, each.

The total bill for Amtrak's mechanical department is steep enough

nationwide, which includes Acela maintenance. A total of $322.4 million

will be spent on parts/labor and $99.2 million for non-labor mechanical

department expenses.

[End quote]

4) On the same subject, another missive arrived, unsolicited from a

former employee of Amtrak's planning department. Dharm Guruswamy is a

frequent TWA critic and writes to TWA often expressing his displeasure

with our presentation. This is one of the tamer and less dramatic

messages from Mr. Guruswamy that is suitable for publication in polite

society. When trying to make his case while he was still with Amtrak, Mr.

Guruswamy would often forward internal Amtrak planning documents he

thought would provide a basis for his argument.

[begin quote]

You are such an idiot. Acela revenues are up as is equipment availability

(a 16th train set was made available and the plan is to go to 17 or 18)

and the additional money is well worth it because Acela's are essentially

minting money for the company. In March Acela generated almost 20% of the

company's ticket revenues. To put that in perspective that is more than

all the long distance trains COMBINED. If you exclude the Regional

service it is more than all the other corridors COMBINED.

Congress has less of a problem with allocating capital than it does

operating, so Acela is essentially cross subsidizing your beloved long

distance trains.

[End quote]

Well. It's tough to argue with something that is "essentially minting

money for the company," but URPA's group took a stab at answering Mr.

Guruswamy. Here are the replies, mostly in their original form.

[begin quote]

I guess those rolling money machines must have free use of somebody

else's infrastructure. And, places like 30th Street Station come free,

too.

[And ...]

Alas, this argument never seems to pan out in the real world. Let's

suspend disbelief for a minute and consider this. IF the Acelas are

making money hand-over-fist, why in the name of Beelzebub's bloomers

isn't Amtrak investing all this excess cash into the NEC and getting it

off the federal dole? What could possibly be a better sign of rampant

"success" than covering ALL the costs, not just above the rail. Heck,

even those ... long distance trains do that before they get socked with

system costs. You know IF true, then Amtrak's got all the cash sloshing

around. We know for sure that it's NOT going to keep Beech Grove humming

on three shifts rebuilding Superliners.

Amtrak could slough off this cash to keep the NEC in a state of good

repair and any additional federal capital monies could flow toward

building these "successful" electrified corridors connecting every burg

over one million in population. AND, in the bargain, all those

fuddy-duddy naysaying interlopers like me would have been flat out wrong

about the Acela. What's not to love here, IF what Dharm says is true?

[And ...]

If, as they assert Wondertrain Acela is pulling in cash like a beer bar

on Friday night, then why are they all so desperately afraid to cut it

free of the Golden Trough? Those two points couldn't be more

diametrically inconsistent: Acela is a huge success, and generates X% of

the revenue, but, oh, by the way, it also needs three quarters of a

billion dollars a year of subsidy, without which the whole system

collapses, but those two points aren't related.

Dharm can't have it both ways - if Acela is what he says it is, then we

can legislate as follows, and he will have to agree to support it:

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds

appropriated to any purpose after January 1, 2008 shall be spent directly

or indirectly in support of high speed passenger rail service in the

Northeast Corridor. To the extent that any high speed rail passenger

service benefits directly or indirectly from federal funds expended after

January 1, 2008 in any manner or for any purpose on railroad

infrastructure, including track, structures, signals and communication,

reservations, insurance, stations, security, equipment maintenance, power

generation and cost of capital, or planning or research for any of the

foregoing, the operator of the service shall reimburse the Treasury no

less than often than weekly a portion of the federal expenditure on any

such applications equal to the allocation from such expenditures to the

high speed service determined by the Speed Factored Gross Ton Miles

formula approved by the Secretary of the Treasury with the advice, but

not the consent, of the Secretary of Transportation."

[And ...]

And, IF it's a huge success, why in blazes aren't they doing more of it?

A company with any business aptitude whatsoever that hits on a successful

way of making money doesn't just sit on the idea. Let's say Orville

Redenbacher test-markets green maple-syrup flavored popcorn in Columbus,

Ohio, and it's a runaway success. Do they say, "nah, forget it, let's not

sell this nationwide"? No, they ramp up production.

Amtrak, on the one hand say's the Acela is a stunning "success" and yet,

paradoxically, it shut down all its HSR development projects, during the

reign of David Gunn. In this case, actions speak way louder than words.

Why are we settling for these pokey diesel-powered snail darters in the

Midwest and even slower snail-darters in California? Surely, if 125-135

mph Acela is throwing off boatloads of cash some savvy investors will

give them untold billions to build these things everywhere and rake in

the proceeds? Right? Yet, Amtrak can't even convince a gullible Congress,

which seems to believe just about anything the company puts out, to give

them the money. A puzzlement ...

[End quote]

Here at TWA we always look forward to hearing from our Acela conductor

friend as he asks honest questions in a straight forward manner. We

appreciate his loyalty to his company, and his belief in what he does for

a living. Amtrak needs more employees like him.

5) More mail; John Pawson of the Northeast writes this to TWA.

[begin quote]

As my letter in June, 2007 Trains [magazine] indicates, I think Amtrak

needs to reinvent its long-distance passenger services and network if it

is to survive. The first immediate step would be to look around and see

where the existing services could be reorganized to better effect. Here

is one example involving train service from our region, specifically the

New York-Philadelphia-Atlanta-New Orleans Crescent. Currently, to travel

beyond New Orleans, it is necessary to stay overnight there to connect to

the Sunset Limited on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday at 11:55 A.M.

The Crescent links the nation's first (New York) and fifth (our region)

most populous metro areas with New Orleans but could be extended to the

sixth-largest, Houston, quite readily by displacing the present Sunset

Limited between New Orleans, Houston, and that train's merge point with

the Texas Eagle, at San Antonio.

At present, Amtrak sells a trip from Philadelphia to Houston (less than

1,600 road miles) on a round-about routing with three transfers en route,

at Pittsburgh, Chicago, and (to a bus) at Longview, Texas. This takes

about two full days. A more direct route extending the Crescent to

replace the Sunset in the New Orleans-Houston-San Antonio segment would

require no costly addition of route miles or train miles. It would

require only a suitable redeployment of Amtrak's single-level and

Superliner rolling stock. Such a change would eliminate the need to

change vehicles en route and would save about ten hours travel time.

Surely a low-cost, high-revenue, passenger-pleasing change.

It's puzzling why this and other barriers to continuous travel have

existed in the Amtrak system for so many years. Is anyone interested in

pressing Amtrak to do this kind of restructuring?

[End quote]

Mr. Pawson makes a point that many others do; why does the Crescent

terminate in New Orleans, and not further west? One reason, of course, is

"we've always done it that way," even though some through cars years ago

were handled to the west before Superliners.

Perhaps the most viable reason is the Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF

line between New Orleans and Houston. Invariably, one of the biggest

choke points for the Sunset Limited is between New Orleans and Houston,

specifically along the oil refinery and chemical plant corridor in

western Louisiana and eastern Texas. This is a very congested piece of

railroad; extending the Crescent beyond the usually dependable Norfolk

Southern onto the BNSF and UP to Houston probably would required a three

to five hour layover in New Orleans on the eastward trip to allow for

make-up time to keep the rest of the route east of New Orleans operating

on any type of dependable schedule. That doesn't mean there aren't other

options, if just means at this moment in time this is not the best option

available. The thought, however, is good.

6) And, this from the California, from a regular TWA reader and a regular

Pacific Surfliner rider.

[begin quote]

Thanks as always for your meaningful insight.

Would someone please tell most of the conductors on the Pacific

Surfliners it is okay to be pleasant and respectful to passengers? A few

are; but most act as though those of us who use the service, really are a

great bother. So, get a job on a freight ...

Why can airlines always have employees - especially cabin and cockpit

crew, in clean, well fitting, attractive uniforms - and Amtrak cannot.

Again, maybe a generalization, but what a difference it would make ...

and what about SMILES ...

Frequent trips up and down the coast on the Surfliners are on one hand a

joy - and on the other, brings a great sadness because of what it could

be with GOOD, I won't even say EXCELLENT, customer service. At least

generally there is an attendant in Business Class - however, my question

is - where the heck do they hide most of the trip?

But, it is a joy to whiz past cars on I-5 most days. Oh, and one last

complaint - why can airports around the world keep their restrooms not

just generally clean, but more often than not, spotless - and in the

beautiful Los Angeles Union Station, they stink, they're filthy, and

graffiti ridden ... and of the two, one is closed nearly all the time ...

Thanks for your ear. And, thanks for This Week at Amtrak

[End quote]

And, thanks for reading and thanks for writing to us, too.

7) This came from Christopher Parker of Vermont.

[begin quote]

I liked your re-work of the Florida service in the latest TWA. I hope

somebody is listening.

Anyway I have a couple thoughts of my own to contribute to the scenario:

- For Montreal service, I suggest extending the Palmetto to Montreal

instead, as it could then roughly follow the schedule of the old

Montrealer - but using only one additional trainset. This would give the

Montreal service the benefit of the Vermont ski trade, which is

considerable, business to Burlington and Vermont-Florida business.

Population along the Adirondack route is pretty sparse north of Albany.

At the south end, an overnight Miami section could be added over FEC,

making a nice two nights and one day service from Montreal.

- Looking at the number of trainset required brings up the issue of late

trains. If the trains ran more reliably, the service could be run with

less trainsets (the Silver Meteor could make a same day turn at New York,

the Silver Star split into Miami and Tampa sections could make a same day

turn in Florida, the Silver Palm and Silver Meteor trainsets could make a

same day swap in Florida. The Auto-Train could run with only two

trainsets. But, that's only possible if the trains were mostly on-time).

I believe that it is worth Amtrak's while to increase freight railroad

compensation (Say 3 times the current figure, the same rate that the

Capital Corridor pays UP to keep it's trains successfully running on

time. Track charges are not currently a large expense in the scheme of

things.) if that would bring results (the contract should be structured

so that increased payments would only be made for on-time trains). I

believe that increased payments would be more than made up for by the

increased business from satisfied customers, the lower crew expenses

brought by covering for unpredictable late trains, and especially by the

huge productivity increases of the fleet. Some speeding up of time in the

shop would also be part of this equation.

- Increasing the productivity of the fleet would help, and so would

rebuilding some Amfleet I to augment to long-distance coach fleet, but

really, I think and new car order for eastern trains is needed. Rather

than more Viewliners, I would suggest using the shell of the Bombardier

stainless steel double-deck cars they are now building for NJ

Transit.This has some limitations - because the cars must fit into the

Hudson

tunnel the interior of a double deck coach lacks room for overhead bins.

However, there are plenty of Amfleet II cars around still useable so I'd

suggest ordering the following:

19 Luxury sleeper/first class lounge (bedrooms without bunks don't need

tall ceilings) [enough to equip the Lake Shore, Crescent, Silver Star,

Silver Meteor]

52 Sleeper/Baggage (short baggage area under superliner height sleepers -

and the sleeping car attendant can help unload the baggage, saving an

Assistant Conductor) [enough for the following runs: CHI-DET-NY; Lake

Shore including BOS; Cardinal; Twilight Shoreliner; Palmetto

MON-NY-JACK-MIA; 2 on Crescent (with extensions to Ft. Worth and San

Antonio); 2 on Silver Star/Meteor (1 each for TPA/MIA)

19 Sleeper/Dormitory

19 First Class Restaurant Dinning Cars

52 Grill dining car and lounge

19 Family car with kids play area and lounge - a mix of sleepers,

slumbercoach, couchette space

106 Slumbercoach/couchette - enough to convert 50% of standard class

travel on Lake Shore, Crescent, Silver Star/Meteor, Twilight Shoreliner

Total is 215 cars (give or take). Can that be funded with equipment

trusts and leases?

[End quote]

8) This from a gentleman in the Chicago area.

[begin quote]

... I don't understand how with some slight schedule and route changes,

Amtrak couldn't but help increase revenues and ridership. What are they

thinking?

My improvement suggestions (as you have shown with Florida) concerns the

City of New Orleans. My suggestion is to run the train down the

Chicago-St Louis line, and then from St Louis to Carbondale (actually Du

Quoin - on the IC/CN) on it's way to Memphis and New Orleans. Just think

about the ridership/revenue increase from those in St. Louis. THEN tie

the current Illini/Saluki at Carbondale, and the St. Louis/Kansas City to

the picture and you can't but help increase revenues and ridership.

(Also, a new "corridor" opens between St. Louis and Carbondale with the

state university.)

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out!

[End quote]

9) From a former Amtrak manager, now in the real world working with

another company.

[begin quote]

Like the numbers in this week's digest.

My own abstract contrarian view to east coast Florida service is the cuts

are at the wrong end, vis., cut all the Florida trains at Washington, DC

and let the passengers have a choice.

However, this may be too simple.

[End quote]

10) And, finally, a message from a gentleman in Staunton, Virginia.

[begin quote]

Sharp thoughts on the Cardinal, which rattles through Staunton, Virginia

a couple blocks from my office its dreadful 3 times a week. In response

to a recent bad trip back from NYC a letter to [Mr.] Kummant resulted in

a call from his secretary and a big refund and, who knows?, a little

action: the sleeper has now been restored to the rear of the train where

it belongs. "Diner" still disastrous. I advise friends riding to pack a

lunch.

Alternative to your thoughts: make it daily for sure, but run it

basically the way the way the C&O used to: two feeders from DC and from

Norfolk/Newport News, hook up in Charlottesville and then run the thing

fast and proper to Chicago, in time to connect with all the

transcontinentals. (The old western sections off to Louisville and

Detroit are probably too much for Amtrak to handle.) Norfolk/Newport News

is a huge and growing market with no hub airport and dumpy trains now

only up the "corridor." Once again, the facilities are all there... Could

also put back the hi-level equipment, which is are a huge plus to

deprived eastern passengers, and, well why not, re-christen it the

"George Washington"!

Best regards,

Tim Jacobson

[End quote]

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receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 30, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 22

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) URPA's William Lindley offers these thoughts.

[begin quote]

On the pattern for progress

By William Lindley

What is the path to the future of American passenger rail? A new pattern

must replace what has generally become decades of slow decline. Let's

start by comparing Amtrak to the Detroit automakers.

Chrysler and Ford have recently been newsworthy for, at long last,

realizing their stodgy business-as-usual ways were leading straight to a

vanishing point. Cerberus, which bought 80% of Chrysler, needs to build

trust with its employees, its designers, and its customers, while finding

profitability. Alan Mulally, Ford's new president who recently brought

Boeing back from uncertain skies, found multiple layers of Ford

management and all of them jealously guarding information -- it's no

wonder union members complained management wouldn't tell them anything;

one boss didn't even know what the next boss was doing!

It seems "management" has finally looked in the mirror and quit blaming

every problem on the unions. On the flip side, if you ask for the moon

and you're promised it, what good is a promise from a company that ceases

to exist? These "oldthink" paradigms are fading from view in the face of

a global economy.

Now if any progress is to be made toward bringing passenger rail to more

Americans, Amtrak should learn from what is happening at Ford and

Chrysler. "Oldthink" Amtrak, as we have seen in our recent weekly

columns, leads to dwindling ridership in Florida, and stagnation at best

elsewhere.

Yes, Amtrak's situation today is remarkably similar to that of the

Detroit automakers -- decades of losing market share, top-heavy

management, entrenched relations with unions, and serious resistance to

change. Amtrak's predicament is complicated by having not only twenty-odd

crafts, but the several freight railroads to deal with. Like the

automakers, though, there is a glimmer on the horizon in new leadership.

Amtrak's Mr. Kummant could well turn things around.

Even among passenger rail advocates, though, "oldthink" lingers. For too

long I have heard advocates bemoan "we can't" as an excuse. As in, "we

can't reroute train X because we will lose this route forever." This is

just the sort of nonsense that Ford's Mulally dismisses in a recent

Business Week article. Whether it's automobiles or passenger rail, if

there's a real business reason for something, you can find a way to do

it.

One example is the Sunset route. In last week's column, we read the major

choke point on the Union Pacific Railroad is between New Orleans and

Houston.

Let us ignore the wailings of "you can't cut this route" and consider

what might happen if, in exchange for giving Union Pacific a two-year

pass on Houston - New Orleans trains, Amtrak got UP to agree to daily

Houston - Dallas - Fort Worth and continuing daily San Antonio - Fort

Worth service, in conjunction with operating on the Kansas City Southern

from New Orleans via Baton Rouge, Alexandria, and Shreveport to Dallas;

and then via Trinity Railway Express trackage to Fort Worth, and on the

Union Pacific line via Sweetwater and Midland-Odessa to El Paso?

In combination with extending the Heartland Flyer so it covers San

Antonio - Fort Worth - Oklahoma City - Newton, Kansas, suddenly a whole

matrix is created, with strong ridership potential.

And, as for rerouting away from some cities and towns, some will

complain, we need this route as a placeholder! As a placeholder for what?

Thirty more years of waiting?

Yes, there should be at least one daily passenger train between New

Orleans and Houston. But, that's not the question. There are enough

"should be's" in what Amtrak could do, to fill the Grand Canyon. No, the

question is, what can be done to maximize equipment utilization,

passenger-miles, revenue, and the political power generated by new

ridership. The question for Amtrak is how to best capitalize on each

region's newly formed rail networks, both local (like the TRE) and

state-supported (like the Heartland Flyer). The pattern for passenger

rail progress in the next decades will follow those lines.

Everywhere you look this pattern is starting to emerge. In Florida, we

see metro Miami's Tri-Rail as a feeder for the south of that state, soon

to be augmented in the Orlando area with a local train; one need only add

the local train network serving St. Petersburg - Tampa - Bradenton -

Sarasota and vicinity to complete the picture. In Arizona, Governor

Napolitano is set to release a report which may well call for Phoenix -

Tucson service to complement the soon-to-open Phoenix light rail and the

modern streetcar now being designed in Tucson. Both Dallas and Los

Angeles are also well along in the process.

Connect the dots ... this is the pattern for the future, and it's what

Amtrak needs to embrace. Boeing found the way. Ford and Chrysler are

finding it. Amtrak, are you next?

[End quote]

2) It began innocently enough, with this internal URPA e-mail relating a

friend's travel experience.

[begin quote]

I was in Denver last weekend for a Saturday wedding, and spoke to

passengers who came to the wedding on No. 6, the California Zephyr, from

Oakland.

This was train number 6 of the 24th, due into Denver Friday night at 7:00

P.M. It arrived at 7 A.M. Saturday morning. The passengers were not

happy.

They described what we would consider "normal" delays coming over the

Sierras, but then said when they awoke Friday morning, they were in Elko,

Nevada, and had been stopped for some time, and stayed stopped at Elko

for three more hours. Elko is just 567 miles from the Zephyr's

origination point where they boarded, and still 833 miles from Denver.

They had traveled less than half of the distance to their destination.

They described the railroad crew as having offered basic updates

("freight train traffic and track problems"), but said what saved the day

was the OBS crew who were patient and jocular through the delay, saying

"this is normal for this train."

I asked why they hadn't disembarked at Salt Lake City, the next stop

after Elko, and flown ahead. They said that they don't fly ever, but even

if they had been willing to, by the time the train arrived at Salt Lake,

they thought it was too late in the day to try. They did say the

conductor on board east from Salt Lake City had promised a 14-hour run to

Denver and a 7 A.M. arrival, which the train made. (The Rio Grande Zephyr

always made that trip in 14 hours.)

These folks won't fly, did NOT say "never again," did board the return

California Zephyr of the 27th to go home, but also said that they were

very disillusioned, and would try not to travel on the Zephyr again.

[End quote]

The usual URPA Intranet chic-chat ensued, with a few comments about the

service, including this bit of information which was offered.

[begin quote]

Following is the Amtrak report from 26 MAY 2007; the specifics of the

over three-hour disabled freight train delay are not given:

Train 5/6 Delayed by Temporary Speed Restrictions/Freight Interference

Train 05/06 was delayed operating between MP 603.75/Alazon and MP

561.1/East Elko on the Shafter Subdivision of the UPRR due temporary

speed restrictions in effect. The train was further delayed operating

between Elko and MP474.75/Battle Mountain on the Elko Subdivision by

temporary speed restrictions.

Delays: 06(24)

37" SPR-WNN

1'41" WNN-XSZ

3'15" ELK-Disabled FRT TRN

[End quote]

In the end, all of this was too much for URPA take-no-prisoners numbers

cruncher Dennis Larson. Here is how he summed it all up.

[begin quote]

The figure to watch these days is not the on time performance but the

average delay minutes over the recovery time as it is one thing to be 31

minutes late, another to be 31 hours late.

Another troubling indicator Amtrak publishes is the delays per 10,000

miles. Union Pacific is, of course, number one in delays, but Norfolk

Southern is right behind. UP shows slow orders as the culprit, NS shows

freight train interference - people get to sit and wait for the NS coal

trains go by.

The Lake Shore Limited is now at 339 minutes average delay, five hours

and 39 minutes per trip, and the California Zephyr is now at 356 minutes

average delay, but over a much longer distance. Besides all that, the

Capitol Limited is also in the perfect never-on-time league at 260

minutes average delay, worse than the Coast Starlight.

We know infrastructure is probably the root cause of all this, but

attitude, something the railroads have carried on for generations,

certainly has a hand in all this.

The BNSF continues to lead the pack in delivering passenger trains to the

terminal on time. The Southwest Chief, an all BNSF routed train is now

arriving only seven minutes behind the recovery time - the Builder is at

32 minutes in spite of the Canadian Pacific.

The average delay minutes per 10,000 miles on the BNSF is 971 minutes. UP

is at 2,568; NS at 2,426 minutes; CP at 1,848 and CSX at 1,745. And, the

BNSF is one of the most heavily used rail systems in the U.S. The BNSF

should be the worst - rather than the best - if it was purely an

infrastructure problem.

[End quote]

What does all of this mean? From one standpoint, it means Amtrak is

paying a fortune in millions of dollars of overtime for onboard service

crews, train and engine crews, and station agent staffs, not to mention

what is paid in customer re-accommodation charges, especially when hotel

nights, meals, and airline tickets are involved.

Two things need to happen to solve this solvable problem. First, Amtrak's

mechanical forces need to take responsibility for complete maintenance

and upkeep of all equipment. The Amtrak budgeteers need to make sure the

mechanical forces have all of the necessary parts and equipment to keep

the fleet operating at optimal level. Every piece of equipment that fails

due to deferred maintenance or no maintenance costs money in some form or

another, be it a late train, displaced passengers, a clogged freight

train main line, or any other number of fiascoes.

Second, Amtrak must find a way to have better relations with its host

railroads. A contract is a contract; a signed deal is a signed deal. We

know the host railroads chafe under what they perceive as the unfair yoke

of passenger rail, a deal they made with the devil nearly four decades

ago when everything was much different from today. We know many

executives, managers, and workers in the freight railroad industry hope

those pesky passenger trains would just go away, and travelers would come

to their senses and either drive or fly to their travel destinations.

But, that isn't going to happen. Whoops! Passenger trains have suddenly

become popular again (despite Amtrak's best efforts to remain America's

best kept secret), and it looks like passenger trains are here to stay

(and the system will grow, if enough people listen to solid economic

reason beyond any dream of people who just like to watch trains go by).

So, Amtrak needs to be the instigator of all of this, first cleaning up

its mechanical house, and then finding a way to be a partner - not an

adversary - of its host railroads. Amtrak never has a problem asking for

the maximum free federal monies donations for the Northeast Corridor

upkeep; why be shy about asking for one-time handouts to put the rolling

stock and locomotive fleet in superb order? More dramatic things have

happened in history; this can happen, too.

3) TWA continues to generate a lot of reader mail. It is always a

pleasure to receive the type of essay which follows, from a

self-professed "new generation" of Amtrak riders. Interesting

considerations and critical thinking from someone young and

intellectually involved in the future of passenger rail.

[begin quote]

Greetings. First to introduce myself briefly - I'm one of the younger

generations of Amtrak riders, only 24, but someone who hasn't been on a

commercial airliner for a domestic trip since 1997. All my journeys of

any length save one (driving) have been on Amtrak.

I've ridden the Sunset Limited, Southwest Chief, Coast Starlight,

California Zephyr, Empire Builder (more times than I can count), Capitol

Limited, Crescent, and City of New Orleans, along with Cascades service,

the Adirondack, the Maple Leaf, and the Northeast Corridor. It isn't a

hobby for me; all the trips have had purposes other than traveling for

the sake of traveling. I simply utterly loathe being crammed into an

aluminum tube for any length of time, and of course, these days first

class tickets on an airliner cost substantially more on many flights than

sleeping accommodations on Amtrak do.

Reading through the United Rail website has led me to have some ideas in

the vein of expanding service on largely existing routes, which after

some opportunity for research during a period of convalescence I had, I

decided to put together for your perusal.

I've been reading through your proposals for the revival of Florida

service with intense interest. There is, however, a unique opportunity

that I think you missed out on when considering the possibility of

extending the Silver Meteor to Montreal, one which could allow a complete

revitalization of service on the single-level trains along the East

Coast.

Montreal is the operating base for VIA Rail's Ocean service to Halifax.

Provided six times daily, the Ocean is able to run with three consists.

These use the Renaissance cars purchased from the failed Chunnel service;

there are a total of 139 of these cars, 72 of which were sleepers. But,

the three consists of the Ocean, which is to my knowledge the only

sleeping service on VIA Rail which uses the Renaissance cars, each have

only eight sleepers, and when demand is greater in certain seasons

"Easterly" service with older cars is used instead. The Chaleur, the

Canadian, and the Hudson Bay service also use the older sleepers. So if

only 24 of the new Renaissance cars are being utilized by the Ocean, that

leaves VIA Rail with 48 sleepers doing nothing.

If we're going to be running the Silver Meteor out of Montreal, why not

eliminate Amtrak equipment from the train entirely, and instead rent

Renaissance consists from VIA Rail to operate the train with, or at least

use Renaissance sleepers and business-class cars taken from the NEC

Regional services (which run massively under capacity anyway) for the

long-distance coaches?

The consists could be maintained in Montreal and operate with very

extensive sleeping car service. For example, a typical consist might have

eight sleepers, two dining service cars, and ten coaches for a full

maximal 20 car train. This train could be split at Jacksonville with one

section running through Orlando to Tampa and the other section running

down the FEC to Miami, possibly as a straight shot without any station

stops, which could be gradually added as communities along the route

built the facilities with their own money if they decided they wanted

passenger service.

The result of this would be to free up all the Viewliner sleepers

currently utilized on the Silver Meteor for service elsewhere. There are

several possible applications which have plenty of potential to use these

sleepers, which number a total of twelve. One of these is to add an

additional car to your proposed Palmetto extension. By running the

sleepers on the rear of the Palmetto, the second sleeper could be set-out

in Orlando, allowing passengers bound for that popular tourist

destination to take the Palmetto and sleep comfortably past the 5 A.M.

arrival for several hours. The delay at Orlando to set-out a sleeper

wouldn't be long enough to hamper the operation of the train, and pushing

back the arrival time in Tampa slightly would just make it more

convenient there for the sleeping car passengers, also. That would

require only another three sleepers and have nine available for other

services.

More sleepers would be required for the Cardinal under your proposed

modifications to its route, but I understand this is well within the

current 39/50 ratio of Viewliners in use to those needed. If that's the

case, then we have a chance at using the nine available sleepers to

revive an additional train to service New York and Washington D.C.

Using the Manhattan Limited concept from 2000 or so of running a late

evening departure from New York with daytime service at Cleveland and all

stations west, a reduced service train with a single sleeper and a diner

lite along with three to four coaches could be run out of New York City.

A connecting train with another sleeper, a cafe car, and a couple more

coaches could run out of Washington, D.C. - this might cause maintenance

issues for the sleeper, but it does not seem much of an issue to deadhead

the sleepers as necessary on a Regional train to NYC for maintenance.

This leaves us with three sleepers which could profitably be used to

revive the Lake Shore Limited's extension to Boston, where there would,

after all, now again be maintenance facilities for Viewliners under your

plan.

The Capitol Limited extension to Florida could go through to Miami

instead of Tampa, and replace the Silver Meteor as a second Orlando-Miami

frequency. As an alternative to the restoration of the Sunset Limited on

its original route, daylight service between New Orleans and Miami via

Jacksonville and Tampa could be offered by a schedule change in the City

of New Orleans, extending it to Florida and providing a second

Chicago-Florida service. The main disadvantage would be problematic

connections with the incoming western trains to Chicago if the City of

New Orleans leaves earlier; however, the additional and offsetting

advantage of doing this is that several cars could be dropped from the

City of New Orleans in New Orleans and added to the westbound consist of

the Sunset Limited, which would allow for the restoration of direct

Chicago - Houston service without actually requiring any new stations or

trackage utilization.

A further interesting possibility would be the ultimate restoration of

the Sunset Limited as a transcontinental train, but with its final

destination as Washington, D.C., not Florida, using the Superliner

maintenance facilities there. The train could run on a schedule which

would allow all-daylight service to Atlanta, which would mean that there

would now be two frequencies between Washington D.C. and Atlanta, one

offering overnight service and one offering daylight service, and, again,

now two options between Atlanta and New Orleans, one daylight and one

overnight.

With a 10 P.M. arrival in Atlanta and 10:30 P.M. departure, the ~9:30

A.M. arrival of the Sunset Limited in New Orleans would allow for plenty

of time for the layover required to connect the City of New Orleans cars

for Houston. In fact, it might be possible to get the Sunset Limited out

an hour earlier than the current schedule provides, allowing for a more

comfortable 8:15 P.M. arrival in Houston, and reducing the length of the

layover in San Antonio for the passengers on the Texas Eagle through cars

while still providing for a reasonable scheduled arrival time in Los

Angeles.

On another matter - does the Auto Train really make sense as being

exclusively available for passengers with automobiles? It seems that it

could expand its revenue considerably by offering express service

intoFlorida from Washington D.C. The train could depart from D.C. with

plenty

of time to arrive in Lorton, where the auto racks could be attached to

the train, and then run on its existing schedule to Sanford, where the

auto racks could be detached. The train could then proceed to Miami with

a single stop at Orlando. Sanford and Lorton would remain auto-passenger

stops only, but passengers from Miami and Orlando to D.C. or vice-versa

could now have the option of a non-stop run with enhanced service, and

somewhat increased prices to reflect this.

The departure of the train from D.C. could be timed so that the first

Acela Express of the day from Boston would arrive in time for passengers

to transfer from it to the Auto Train. The cumulative result would be a

massive increase in available space on the collective Florida Service

trains, with a very wide variety of options including times and

accommodations, between the northeast and Florida. All Superliner

operations in Florida would then terminate in Miami.

On the western trains, I can see two similar possibilities which are not

unfeasible for a rational Amtrak to reach for in improving service. There

has been considerable popular demand for the resumption of the "Coast

Daylight" from San Francisco to Los Angeles; however, recalling the

proposal made earlier on your URPA website about concentrating west coast

superliner maintenance in Los Angeles by extending the California Zephyr

to Los Angeles. In this proposal, the California Zephyr would be extended

to San Jose and then run up the existing Caltrain route into downtown San

Francisco. There would be plenty of layover time provided in San

Francisco - where the station already exists for Caltrain service, and

Caltrain could be contracted to provide baggage and ticketing service -

in case the California Zephyr was late-running into San Francisco so that

the run from San Francisco to Los Angeles (on a twelve hour schedule)

could be made on time, with a comfortable early morning arrival of 8:30

A.M. or so. This would concentrate superliner maintenance in Los Angeles

and provide a direct San Francisco - Los Angeles overnight service.

The eastbound schedule would have to be pushed back by several hours to

allow for an 8:00 A.M. arrival in San Francisco, but this would actually

be positive - even a 9:30 P.M. arrival in Denver would not be

unreasonable, with sleeping car passengers from Denver to Chicago

essentially unaffected. Arrival time into Chicago would still not be so

late as to prevent transfers to the Capitol Limited, never mind the Lake

Shore Limited.

The second possibility is a riskier one, but one which could serve a lot

of people if it was done right. This is, of course, restoring service to

Phoenix. Currently, this is impossible with the Sunset Limited; and

certainly we cannot assume Amtrak can arrange for the restoration of the

trackage west of Phoenix necessary to do this. However, the "Peavine",

the BNSF line from Williams Junction to Phoenix, offers a real

possibility at restoring service to Phoenix. A sleeper and two coaches

(one with a cafe) could be detached at Flagstaff from the rear of the

Southwest Chief; baggage service could be provided by a baggage car on

the end of this consist (with the sleeper as the second to the last car

to keep it away from the engine).

This train would run about an hour behind the Southwest Chief to Williams

Junction. After stopping here, the train would proceed down the

"peavine", making one more stop, in Williams itself, where the

privately-run depot for the Grand Canyon Railway could be used, again

with the existing staff contracted to provide ticketing and baggage

service. The train would then proceed on a leisurely overnight schedule

to Phoenix with no further stops; the slow going as the train navigated

the connection between the BNSF Mobest Yard and the Union Pacific

trackage in Phoenix would work to the advantage of the sleeping car

passengers, who would arrive at the still-manned (as I understand it was

left that way to facilitate ticket purchases and bus connections - this

may have changed, however?) Phoenix station with a comfortable

early-morning arrival. Since there are no servicing facilities in

Phoenix, the train could then proceed to Tucson, which is of course a

service stop for the Sunset Limited and could be serviceable for turning

what could be called the Arizona Chief, along with providing direct

connections to the Sunset Limited, if somewhat awkward ones.

The main key to these elaborations on your series of May proposals is of

course the ability to free up 12 Viewliners by relaunching the Silver

Meteor with rented VIA Rail equipment. This doesn't alter any of the

superliner proposals, naturally, though completing all of them (including

running the Sunset Limited daily) would probably require extensive

repairs of all existing damaged equipment, and the pressing of the

transition sleepers into service as regular sleepers (though this doesn't

seem like it would be a problem - couldn't single-level crew dorms be

used directly ahead of the transition sleepers for the crew? Bare-bones

conversions of older single-level equipment could accommodate these need

cheaply, without having to restart superliner production).

But, the chance for also considerably expanding the eastern single-level

service through such an arrangement with VIA Rail is one that should, I

think, be given some serious consideration. I'm not sure if my

availability estimates for the Renaissance cars are correct, but even

with a reduced consist the Silver Meteor could be run with Renaissance

sleepers in some numbers to free up the existing Viewliners if the

necessary arrangement could be worked out with VIA Rail. This possibility

would be a very unique chance to utilize the extension of Silver Meteor

to Montreal to gain access to an additional pool of sleeping cars.

I think these expansions, in connection with those proposals made in the

last few newsletters, bring about the maximum expansion of Amtrak

possible, largely with existing equipment (albeit counting the rebuilds

of wrecked and abandoned units) which does not entail the expense of

restoring stations and station staff on routes which have been closed for

quite some time, and would not demand much expansion of the support

infrastructure, either. It's very true Amtrak can't afford in its current

situation to begin aggressively building new routes, but largely within

the limits of the existing system, some excellent possibilities appear to

exist for generating considerable additional revenue. I'd be interested

to hear some thoughts on this matter (especially the idea of leasing VIA

Rail equipment), and perhaps if I've overlooked any possible expanded

routes which could be done on the cheap like the proposals that you've

made re: Florida and the Cardinal.

Sincerely,

Marina Collette

[End quote]

4) Also floating over the electronic TWA transom this week was this

message from a well-respected former Amtrak manager.

[begin quote]

... Also, I'm wondering if in all the discussion about shorter consists,

missing service cars, etc., we're not losing sight of the fact that

Amtrak is withdrawing cars rather than maintaining them. If there are

cars in "storage" that should be in use, it just might be that they

cannot be used until they are maintained. One "benefit" is that the

company does not have to pay the costs of bringing idled equipment up to

operating standards. Another "benefit" is that on a daily basis it costs

less to keep a smaller fleet running than a fleet that actually has the

potential of generating revenue.

[End quote]

Don't forget Amtrak made a conscious business decision to mothball cars

and shorten consists, taking away huge amounts of available revenue

space. This follows the Amtrak management philosophy of saving as much as

possible on expenses, even when you lose large amounts of revenue, which

most likely cover the expenses you are saving. This government-type of

thinking (we are a monopoly, and, therefore, we know best, plus it's not

our money we're playing with) has had a profound, disastrous effect on

Amtrak.

When a company always knows it's going to get an annual infusion of free

federal money, what is the driving force behind generating more revenue

to depend less on free federal monies? None. Amtrak managers must be held

accountable for every revenue dollar they choose to discard as well as

every dollar they save.

Believe it or not, Amtrak is not all about saving money. It has a

mission, defined by Congress, to provide a nationwide passenger rail

system in this country, well beyond short, expensive, corridors. Part of

its mission is to be as robust as possible, while operating the largest

system possible. Efficiency is important, and desirable. Discarding

higher revenue in lieu of free federal money borders on fraud.

5) And, then, there is this. A former Amtrak employee, and now a freight

railroad manager, had the opportunity to ride the Sunset Limited between

New Orleans and Beaumont, Texas, round trip. Beaumont is a crew change

point for train and engine crews (engineers and conductors) on the

Sunset, and has been a stop on the Sunset's schedule since the Sunset's

Southern Pacific Railroad days. References are made to accompanying

photos, provided from another source, but are none-the-less completely

accurate. Take time to look at the photos. Our thanks to both the writer

and photographer, whose work blended together so well.

When you are through with this, ponder the fact that Amtrak, as it

continues to claim the dog ate its homework, says one of the major

reasons for not restoring the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans is

lingering station building damage from Hurricane Katrina. We all know

from past Amtrak experience, including such major stations as Memphis,

Tennessee and Tampa, Florida, Amtrak doesn't hesitate to throw chain link

fences around dangerous buildings and bring in portable stations for use

as long as an existing trackside platform is in place. Okay, Amtrak,

please tell us why Beaumont can be a stop, but stations to the east of

New Orleans, can't?

[begin quote]

My trip this week on the Sunset Limited ... mirrored that of the New

Orleans based train and engine crew. So, I spent Monday night in

Beaumont.

I had not been to the Amtrak depot at Beaumont since I left Amtrak. At

that time it was a small waiting room in the Union Pacific Yard Office, a

small metal building I considered to be a very poor excuse for a

passenger station. It did at least have a pay phone, Coke machine, and

basic protection from the elements, you know ... a roof.

When I arrived in Beaumont on Monday on Train 1, I was horrified to see

that it was now worse. Appalling, nauseating, horrific, embarrassing,

revolting. These descriptors are all accurate. This, after along the way

on the Sunset I was pleasantly surprised to see the money that had been

spent at Schriever, and that the cities of Lafayette and Lake Charles had

upgraded their depots.

Tuesday morning I would take train 2, the eastbound Sunset Limited, back

to New Orleans. Actually, I would board in the afternoon as delays

between Los Angeles and Beaumont would have the train 5 hours and 30

minutes late on arrival.

The hotel I stayed in was the MCM Elegnate Beaumont Hotel. Not a bad

hotel at all. After having breakfast, I asked the manager at the front

desk if the shuttle would take me to the Amtrak station. She said that it

would not be a problem.

Ten minutes later I returned with my luggage and was ready to go to the

station. The hotel manager looked at me cautiously and said, "Are you

SURE you want to go to the Amtrak station?" I assured her that I knew

what I was in for. She then relayed stories about previous guests who

went ballistic on the van driver once they figured out they were being

dropped off in that dump of a facility.

It was raining pretty good and I knew I would have about a two hour wait,

but I was not about to miss that train. The hotel manager suggested it

would be wise if I were armed, given the part of town where Amtrak stops.

The fact a manager at one of Beaumont's nicer hotels has to warn its

patrons about going to the Amtrak station speaks volumes about the

problems plaguing Amtrak. I would hate to be a responsible party with

Amtrak, the host railroad, or the City of Beaumont when an Amtrak

passenger bleeds to death after being robbed at night at the poorly lit

depot because there was no phone or no one around to call for help.

This shot is of the platform looking timetable west. This bench is the

only seating available. There are no trash cans at this stop. The

collection of trash (and garbage bag) by the bench is just disgusting:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757829

Upon detraining, this abandoned truck loaded with trash is all that

greets passengers. Looking at this I had mixed feelings about the rain

and clouds. If the sun were out baking this trash, the aroma would have

been a bit more ripe than it already was. On the other hand, the clouds

and rain meant I was getting wet. I think I had the best scenario:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757929

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757930

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757926

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757923

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757916

Both the hotel van driver and the Amtrak crews I spoke to told me they

have seen passengers taking refuge from the weather inside this truck.

What, exactly, does an Amtrak passenger trying to avoid getting soaked at

Beaumont have to sit in? Take a look:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757924

Of course, let's not forget the rotten bench that is provided:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757931

At long last, my chariot arrives! Amtrak P 42 DC 171 leads Train 2 into

the station:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757941

Though I had been there for a couple of hours, the outbound crew still

had not arrived by the time the train got there. Amtrak had set back the

crew's on-duty time based on what delays they expected the train to

incur, so they did not have enough time to get their paperwork together

and get to the station before the train did. Here are a few shots of the

inbound crew, on-board service crew, and passengers stretching their legs

during the 30 minute wait for the crew:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757942

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757943

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757945

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757946

I was not impressed with what I saw at Beaumont. Not my railroad, so I

guess not my problem, but I can say that in all of my experiences even on

the freight side of railroading, I have never seen such a hostile

environment for anyone waiting for a train. I am not sure I will ever get

over waiting in the rain for two hours at a public passenger rail

facility in this country.

[End quote]

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 1, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 23

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Continuing our series on how Amtrak can help itself to become close to

self-sufficiency, we're going to look at two other under-utilized routes

and a severely under served major city and how each can be improved.

Remember the rules of this exercise; this is about upgrading existing

routes, using as many existing stations and maintenance facilities as

possible, and using existing motive power and rolling stock out of

Amtrak's current pool of active and stored equipment. Under these rules,

while many new routes or extensions of current routes to areas not served

make sense, they are also expensive and beyond consideration for this

exercise; those considerations will be addressed at another time.

The majority of changes suggested here are targeted to cost about $11

million or less a year to operate, with income higher than expenses; in

other words, each of these trains would make money because much of the

infrastructure and other overhead costs are already in place and charged

to the existing long distance routes. While these suggested trains would

share those costs, the benefit is to both the existing routes and these

changes; shared costs are always less than stand-alone costs, and more

travel opportunities always provide higher ridership and higher revenue

passenger miles. The typical train would consist of a locomotive, baggage

car, premium coach, food service car, and four to five coaches, depending

on demand.

In this issue, we will look at the Crescent route, service in and out of

New Orleans, and service in and out of Detroit, Michigan.

2) The Crescent is another route which fell victim to the transit-era

Amtrak thinking of common consists and reduced number of sleeping cars.

Prior to the introduction of the ruinous common consists in the mid

1990s, the Crescent regularly ran with 20 car trainsets north of Atlanta.

The southbound Crescent would drop three to five cars (many of them

sleepers) in Atlanta as it headed to New Orleans, and that evening's

return northbound run would pick them up. Crowds waiting at Atlanta's

Peachtree station often stretched out of the station, and along a fence

bordering a street before entraining. Today, Atlanta has 96,891

passengers a year using Peachtree Station. That is about 30,000 more

passengers a year than Jacksonville, Florida, which is served by two

daily trains. In FY 2006, an average of 133 passengers either detrained

or boarded every train which passed through the Atlanta station.

The Mercer cuts trimmed the Crescent to less than daily service south of

Atlanta, and pretty well killed much of its business. Slowly, the

Crescent, under the able leadership of the now disbanded Gulf Coast

Business Group based in New Orleans, rebounded with higher ridership

numbers. The current FY 2006 load factor for the Crescent is just 49.1%,

so there is plenty of room for growth on the Crescent which would be

generated by second frequencies and greater travel opportunities for

passengers. Keep in mind the current Crescent load factor is one of a

train which is designed to serve New Orleans, which was devastated by

Hurricane Katrina at the end of Amtrak FY 2005, so the FY 2006 figures

show a train which still came on strong despite serving a region declared

a federal disaster area. In FY 2006, the Crescent carried 252,100

passengers for an average trip length of 537.1 miles, generating

135,393,000 revenue passenger miles at 16.99 cents per mile, the highest

revenue per passenger mile figure in the traditional long distance fleet

(the Auto Train is the only train higher).

There are three major opportunities to improve the Crescent service with

minimal investments using stored equipment.

The Crescent makes a run of 634 route miles in just less than 14 hours

between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta; running both directions during

evening, night, and early morning hours. Many high population areas of

North Carolina and South Carolina, including Charlotte, are visited by

the Crescent during nocturnal hours.

Create a daytime, 14 hour train running between Washington and Atlanta.

This could easily be an 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. run in each direction (or any

variation of that within a couple of hours). A highlight of this would be

improvement of an emerging corridor between Danville, Virginia and

Washington, which also serves Charlottesville, a busy stop on the

Crescent line. Charlottesville is also served half-heartedly by the

Cardinal, three days a week. Current passenger loads for Danville are

4,065 per year, for Lynchburg are 16,847 per year, and for

Charlottesville, 45,708 per year. Danville and Lynchburg are both served

either very late at night or very early in the morning.

On the south end of the route, a second run of 518 route miles and just

about 12 hours is available between New Orleans and Atlanta. The Crescent

currently serves this part of the route northbound by departing New

Orleans at 7:20 A.M. CST and arriving in Atlanta at 7:53 P.M.; southbound

the train departs Atlanta at 8:38 A.M. EST and arrives in New Orleans at

7:23 P.M. CST. While this is an ideal daylight schedule, a second

frequency, which would be a huge boon to ridership because of the

additional travel choice, could depart each end about three to four hours

later and still arrive at each train's destination before midnight.

Birmingham, Alabama is on this segment of the route, as well as fast

growing Meridian, Mississippi. Birmingham has an annual passenger count

of 24,376 patrons, and Meridian serves 10,732 passengers annually.

Thinking creatively and playing off of a previous suggestion in TWA for

extending service from Charlotte, North Carolina to Tampa, Florida,

another suggestion is for a daytime train of approximately 15 hours which

could run on the Crescent route from Washington to Charlotte, and then

splice into the route of the Silver Star to continue south through

Columbia, South Carolina and terminate in Jacksonville, where connections

to the Florida trains would be available. Most likely, this train, which

would provide a single train route to many major cities in the Southeast

such as Columbia, Savannah, and Jacksonville, from other viable

origination points such as Charlottesville, Lynchburg and Danville in

Virginia, and Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury and Charlotte in North

Carolina, would be a major addition to Amtrak's southeast passenger

station matrix.

The Gulf Breeze was once a proud and viable part of the Crescent. Created

less than 20 years ago, the Gulf Breeze operated as part of the Crescent

from New York City to Birmingham, Alabama, and then split from the train

and became its own service to Mobile, Alabama via Alabama's capital of

Montgomery. When the Gulf Breeze became yet another Mercer victim, the

route was replaced by a Thruway bus connection, which ran to Atlanta

instead of Birmingham. Alas, yet another Amtrak victim of Hurricane

Katrina was the Thruway bus connection to Mobile; even that is gone, now,

too.

Even though the old L&N/CSX/Amtrak station in Mobile is mercifully gone

(it possibly could have been listed in the annals of architecture as one

definite way to NEVER build a building again, from an aesthetic

standpoint), another old train station is still standing, and waiting for

a new life. Further inland from the Sunset route on another edge of

downtown Mobile is the old Gulf, Mobile & Ohio station. Before Hurricane

Katrina, this huge old station, which is currently disconnected from any

tracks, but is nearby the CSX yards in Mobile which was part of the route

of the Sunset Limited, has great potential as a new station. The original

GM&O station was a stub-end station.

Instead of the current suggestion of only a short distance train between

New Orleans and Mobile, or just a restoration of service between New

Orleans and Jacksonville, strong consideration should be given to a New

Orleans - Atlanta train via Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Pascagoula, Mobile,

Atmore, Montgomery, and Birmingham. This attractive route connects all of

the tourism areas of the Gulf Coast west of Pensacola with the important

markets of Montgomery, Birmingham, and Atlanta. New Orleans is already a

maintenance and crew base for the Crescent, and the Gulf Breeze stations

of Atmore, Evergreen, Greenville and Montgomery between Mobile and

Birmingham are still in place, so again, this is a new/partial

restoration of a route which opens up a large new matrix for Amtrak

passengers.

3) New Orleans is a passenger train traffic buffet waiting to be

devoured. The city on the rebound has a huge and vibrant passenger

terminal, a good maintenance base that is currently severely underused,

and a good crew base. New Orleans is tragically under served by Amtrak

with only the Crescent from the east, the City of New Orleans from the

north, and the three-time-a-week Sunset Limited from the west.

New Orleans, during the full 11 months in FY 2005 before the unwelcome

arrival of Hurricane Katrina, saw 147,955 passengers using New Orleans

Union Passenger Terminal. That was with a daily Crescent and City of New

Orleans serving the terminal, plus a tri-weekly Sunset Limited serving

the terminal in both directions. That same fiscal year, Minneapolis/St.

Paul, with just one frequency a day of the Empire Builder in each

direction, alone served 132,528 passengers, a difference of only 15,427

passengers, which is a testament to the strength of the Empire Builder.

In FY 2006, even after the devastation of Katrina and the grievous loss

of the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, NOUPT still hosted 103,616

passengers. Both Hammond, Louisiana on the route of the City of New

Orleans, and Slidell, Louisiana, on the route of the Crescent, actually

saw increases in passenger counts in FY 2006 over FY 2005.

Studies have shown much New Orleans tourism business coming from Houston,

Texas. Starting from the west, and following our same 14/15 hour criteria

for an inexpensive daytime train to operate which will generate heavy

traffic loads, but not add any new infrastructure, the first train to be

added should be San Antonio-Houston-New Orleans. Even at the Sunset's

leisurely pace (and, taking into consideration the heavy rail traffic

through the eastern end of this route working through the oil refineries

and chemical plants in East Texas and Western Louisiana), this is still a

15 hour trip. San Antonio already provides a turn facility for the Texas

Eagle, so two trains a day instead of one would be turned there.

Even though any analyst outside of Amtrak will instantly tell you the

Sunset Limited must be made a daily train immediately for it to realize

its true potential, a daily second frequency along this part of the route

will only enhance ridership, and lower the costs of the Sunset and Texas

Eagle as shared facilities come into play.

So much potential exists on the CN/IC route between New Orleans and

Chicago. Since the City of New Orleans can be maintained in New Orleans

(as it was done for years prior to the current reorganization of

maintenance facilities) the first consideration is to extend the City to

Detroit, another of Amtrak's most under served terminals. This would

require one more trainset than is currently being used. The City of New

Orleans enjoys a load factor of 49.5%, within less than half a percentage

point of that of the Crescent. This is remarkable considering that New

Orleans is still rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, and demonstrates

strong ridership demand on this route of 926 miles. The average length of

trip on the City is 463.2 miles, almost exactly half of the length of the

route. Strong intermediate stops such as Carbondale, Memphis, and

Jackson, Mississippi contribute to this train's ongoing success. Memphis

serves 44,502 passengers a year, and Jackson sees 31,736 passengers pass

through its renovated train station.

Historically, and profitably, two great trains served Chicago, Memphis,

and New Orleans. Both the overnight Panama Limited (named after all of

the people who rode the train to New Orleans and then boarded ships bound

for the work on the Panama Canal at the beginning of the 20th Century),

and the daytime City of New Orleans of folk song fame provided the

Illinois Central route with high service levels. It's time to restore

that level of service. Think of the New Orleans-Chicago route as the base

of a "Y." The right part of the top of the "Y" should be reserved for the

City of New Orleans, traveling to Detroit. The left part of the top of

the "Y" should be reserved for a revitalized Panama Limited, serving New

Orleans, Memphis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Minneapolis/St. Paul is a high volume station on the route of the Empire

Builder, serving 137,227 Amtrak passengers in FY 2006 with just one

train. Adding a second frequency between Minneapolis and Chicago, a run

of about eight hours, will dramatically increase ridership as travel

choices expand. A coach which runs between Minneapolis and Chicago is

added and subtracted to today's Empire Builder and serviced overnight in

Minneapolis. A second train would perhaps eliminate the need for this

coach, but, it's possible the increased travel choices would be enough to

increase demand that the short distance coach may need to be retained.

It would take four additional Superliner trainsets to create a new Panama

Limited, which would depart New Orleans in the late morning, arrive

Memphis in the early evening, and arrive in Chicago in the early morning,

thus providing a morning train from Chicago to Minneapolis/St. Paul,

which is an eight hour run. To balance the schedule of two trains, the

City of New Orleans should depart New Orleans about an hour later than it

does now at 1:45 P.M., which would still provide a stop in Memphis before

midnight, a mid-morning stop in Chicago, and on to Detroit. Return

schedules would be set accordingly, for a late morning departure from

Minneapolis/St. Paul, an early evening departure from Chicago, a

nocturnal visit to Memphis, and an early afternoon arrival in New

Orleans. The City of New Orleans would operate about an hour later

southbound than its present schedule to provide a better

arrival/departure time for Memphis.

Before yet, again, the Mercer cuts, a section of the City of New Orleans,

dubbed the River Cities, operated on the City between New Orleans and

Memphis, and then north of Memphis at Carbondale broke off onto its own

service and on to St. Louis and Kansas City. This provided an excellent

matrix for connecting Kansas City and St. Louis with Memphis and New

Orleans.

The River Cities needs to be resurrected as its own day train, with

service between New Orleans, Memphis, and St. Louis (Kansas City is too

far of a stretch to fit our criteria of trains running approximately 14

hour routes). Since New Orleans and St. Louis are both maintenance or

turn bases, no new facilities will be required.

Memphis is an important Mid-America city with a great train station and

very little service. It generates high ridership of 44,502 passengers,

despite its present scant service. By resurrecting the River Cities,

Kansas City through connections to St. Louis, and St. Louis suddenly are

directly connected to Amtrak's eastern network without having to hub in

Chicago. The gives passengers from the Southwest Chief and all of its

matrix of station possibilities a whole new host of destinations

available without the time consuming and often out-of-the-way Chicago

connection.

This brings us to New Orleans-Jacksonville service, in addition to what

is needed by the restoration of the Sunset Limited, or an extension of

the City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Orlando or Tampa.

Amtrak would have us believe not much business exists between New

Orleans, the Gulf Coast resort, casino, and vacation towns, Pensacola,

Tallahassee, and Jacksonville. Keep in mind prior to the extension of the

Sunset Limited to Florida in 1993, Amtrak recorded an annual average of

75,000 requests a year for train service between New Orleans and

Jacksonville. The run between these two points takes 14 hours. New

Orleans is an existing hub for the City of New Orleans, Crescent, and

Sunset Limited. Jacksonville is an existing hub for the Silver Meteor and

Silver Star. A new daylight train between these two points on a daily

basis has a great potential for generating passenger business. There are

no major airports between New Orleans and Jacksonville, just regional

airports, and bus service is light. Interstate 10, which originates in

Jacksonville and goes west all the way to Los Angeles via New Orleans is

a busy highway. While we know not a lot of cross elasticity exists

between the various modes of transportation, we also know the factors of

other modes that are busy also generate interest in passenger rail

travel. Sharing the costs of the existing stations between New Orleans

and Jacksonville with the Sunset Limited would substantially reduce the

overall costs of the Sunset, plus generate new business along the route

because of more travel choices.

Daylight trains operating from San Antonio to Houston to New Orleans and

New Orleans to Mobile to Jacksonville, plus a daily frequency from New

Orleans to Atlanta via Mobile, Montgomery, and Birmingham would create a

new boom in passenger railroad traffic in a highly desirable tourism

area, not to mention major areas with huge population bases that have a

need to move about for the routine business of visiting friends and

relatives. All of the infrastructure is in place to create a strong new

dynamic in New Orleans, reaching out to almost every point of the compass

except south (the Gulf of Mexico is too damp for train operations).

3) Detroit is a passenger rail plum waiting to be picked and

rediscovered. Current Amtrak thinking dictates that passengers from

Detroit, or those traveling to Detroit, only want to travel via Chicago.

What a waste. Under this thinking, only 55,933 passengers a year

originate or terminate in Detroit, one of America's largest metropolitan

areas.

Three new daylight trains, all fitting our 14 hour or so criteria, jump

to mind immediately, with only pioneering one roughly 60 mile segment of

track between Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, which now serves both the Lake

Shore Limited and Capitol Limited. Pontiac, Michigan, a far suburb of

Detroit, currently provides turn maintenance and a crew base for the

Wolverine services.

The first suggested train runs between Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland,

Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia, tying Detroit passengers into the very

middle of the southern section of the Northeast Corridor. Running about

15 hours, this train provides exciting daylight service to major

metropolitan area stations such as Cleveland, which are only accustomed

to the dead of night service. Current ridership at Toledo is 56,228

passengers, Cleveland hosts 29,334 passengers, and Pittsburgh comes in at

118,708 passengers. Adding a daylight train on this route will likely

more than double Cleveland and Toledo ridership, plus have a significant

impact on Pittsburgh, by doubling service between Pittsburgh and

Philadelphia.

The second train follows a similar route of Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland,

Buffalo, Albany, and into New York City's Penn Station, tying all of

these cities with New England service. The same scenario as outlined

immediately above for Toledo and Cleveland remains true here, plus adds a

significant boost for Buffalo, New York, which is primarily served by

trains between Toronto and New York City. Adding an additional daylight

frequency from New York City to the west via Buffalo can only have a

dramatic outcome for increased ridership.

The third train runs Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and into

Washington, D.C. on the Capitol Limited route. This provides a second

frequency over much of the Capitol Limited route, with all daylight

service. The current route of the Capitol Limited between Chicago and

Washington hosts 198,000 passengers a year, with a high load factor of

61.6%, and generates revenues of $14,638,900 annually. Adding another

frequency with intermediate stops at Toledo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh

again exponentially sends ridership potential through the roof,

especially since the average length of trip on the Capitol Limited is 496

miles. This suggested train connects Detroit with all of Amtrak's

southeast and Florida service.

By adding the above mentioned extension of the City of New Orleans from

Chicago to Detroit, suddenly, Detroit is connected to every major Amtrak

hub on the east coast, and every route in the northeast and southeast,

plus having same train service to Memphis and New Orleans.

Two other extensions include making better use of existing Wolverine

trainsets. As currently operated, the Wolverine service runs at a 51%

load factor, but has very low equipment utilization, with trainsets on

the road less than eight hours a day. Two of the Wolverine services could

easily be extended from Chicago to St. Louis, and from Chicago to Kansas

City. This would provide Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis service via the

route of the Texas Eagle, and Detroit, Chicago and Kansas City service

via the route of the Southwest Chief, thus enhancing both of those

existing routes, create better equipment utilization, and substantially

increasing ridership.

Chicago is one of Amtrak's mega-hubs, but that should not be a barrier to

the concept of operating trains through Chicago versus originating and

terminating all trains in Chicago.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 5, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 24

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

Overview

Amtrak says on its web site, "No country in the world operates a

passenger rail system without some form of public support for capital

costs and/or operating expenses."

Amtrak apologists and cultists and those who believe only the government

can reasonably provide some services have taken this statement to heart

and turned it into gospel. As with other gospels, any factual statement

can, through continued angular interpretation and slanted thinking, be

misunderstood and distorted. In some minds, the above sentence becomes,

"No passenger rail system can, or should ever attempt to, operate without

massive public subsidies."

This is patently wrong, even using Amtrak's own reported figures.

Starting with those numbers, let's look at how a healthier Amtrak can

reduce, if not entirely eliminate, the need for annual systemwide

operating subsidies. This can be accomplished by running longer trains,

adding more frequencies to existing routes and adding some new routes, by

better marketing, and by offsetting infrastructure expenses (which also

benefit the host freight railroads) to federal, state, and local levels.

1) First, consider revenues. Amtrak reports FY 2006 revenues of

approximately $2.05 billion, and expenses of approximately $3.0 billion.

That leaves a deficit of almost $950 million, which is most circles is

considered real money.

Let's break things down further. Revenue from all train operations in FY

2006 was $1,357,106,100. The remainder of the revenue came from providing

operating services for commuter agencies, and other ancillary businesses.

All of the trains on the Northeast Corridor, including Acela, the

remaining Metroliners (in FY 2006), and regional trains had an

availability of 3,278,673,030 seat miles for sale. A seat mile is defined

as one "space" or seat or accommodation/berth in one car on one train,

traveling for a distance of one mile. The total is computed by taking all

of the available space for sale on a train, and multiplying that by the

length of the route. If a train has 10 coach seats and 10 sleeping car

berths for sale, and the train travels 100 miles, you would calculate 20

seat miles multiplied by 100 miles, which would generate 2,000 seat miles

available for sale.

To determine revenue, you then calculate what is charged per mile for

each seat or berth, and multiply that by the amount of seat miles

occupied by travelers. This is known as calculating revenue passenger

miles. It does not matter how many warm bodies are on a train; that

figure is not relevant except for body counts for publicity purposes.

Revenue seat miles are the only true indication of prosperity or failure.

Some who are unfamiliar with true transportation economics try to pin on

Amtrak a "loss per seat mile," which is almost as silly as the "loss per

passenger" misinformed politicians and journalists attempt to use to make

some sense of Amtrak losses. Those who use such a stand-alone figure

merely demonstrate their utter lack of knowledge regarding real

accounting and real accountability.

Let's get some facts on record, and then go into some theory. Amtrak

operates three classes of trains:

a) NEC trains, consisting of Acelas, the former Metroliners (used for our

purposes here because we are working with FY 2006 figures when the

dependable and passenger-recognized Metroliners were still running), and

regional, or "local" trains. Also included in the FY 2006 figures are the

special train movements on the NEC.

b ) Short distance trains throughout the country include all corridor

trains and abbreviated intercity trains outside of the NEC. Included are

the Ethan Allen, Vermonter, Albany/Niagara Falls/Toronto, Downeaster, New

Haven/Springfield, Keystone, Empire Service, Chicago/St. Louis,

Hiawathas, Wolverines, Illini, Illinois Zephyr, Heartland Flyer,

Surfliners, Cascades, Capitols, San Joaquins, Adirondack, Blue Water,

Washington/Newport News, Hoosier State, Kansas City/St. Louis,

Pennsylvanian, Pere Marquette, Carolinian, Piedmont, and, just as on the

NEC, some special train movements. Because FY 2006 figures are used, the

new trains operating in Illinois are not included.

c) Long distance trains, the true heroes of Amtrak, include the Silver

Star, Cardinal, Silver Meteor, Empire Builder, Capitol Limited,

California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, City of New Orleans, Texas Eagle,

Sunset Limited, Coast Starlight, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Crescent,

and Auto Train. There were no special long distance train movements.

Looking at seat miles for each of these three classes,

a) In FY 2006, all NEC trains together hauled 3,278,673,030 seat miles.

The load factor on all of those trains averaged 45.2%. The total revenue

passenger mile figure for all trains was 1,482,448,000. The revenue per

passenger mile was 48.95 cents, and the total revenue was $725,653,800.

b ) All short distance trains together hauled 3,556,491,514 seat miles.

The load factor on all of those trains averaged 40.7%. The total revenue

passenger mile figure for all trains was 1,448,903,000. The revenue per

passenger mile was 18.87 cents, and the total revenue was $273,431,300.

c) All long distance trains together hauled 4,410,537,143 seat miles. The

load factor on all of those trains averaged 55.1%. The total revenue

passenger mile figure for all trains was 2,430,166,000. The revenue per

passenger mile was 14.73 cents, and the total revenue was $358,021,000.

Start doing some addition. Total seat miles for sale systemwide were

11,245,701,687. Total seat miles sold were 5,361,517,000.

The available seat miles (if every seat on every train for every mile the

train operated) unsold were 5,884,184,687. The average revenue per

passenger mile, systemwide, was 27.52 cents. If we multiply the unsold

seat miles by the average revenue generated if they had been sold, we

reach an unsold revenue figure of $1,619,327,625.86.

Amtrak received free federal monies in FY 2006 of $1.3 billion. You may

notice that figure is less than what Amtrak would have generated if it

had sold every seat mile available.

Is Amtrak going to sell every seat mile available? No. Never. It's

impossible to do so. The maximum load factor is somewhere in the 65% to

70% range, because some passengers board and detrain at each station.

But, this does show that in theory, even with Amtrak's current skeletal

national system, and with the densely populated corridor systems which

are relatively over-served with frequencies, it theoretically could

support itself without any federal subsidies.

2) So much for theory. Now, back to reality. What would it take to cover

Amtrak's subsidies in the real world?

Again, let's visit some Amtrak figures. Load factors help tell the story

of where problem children are for specific routes. Acela/Metroliner load

factors are 51.2%, but all other NEC regional trains are only 42.9%. This

is despite these services being illogically labeled by the media as

Amtrak's flagship service, and the most marketing money in Amtrak's

budget being poured into these services.

Other corridor services, which are state supported (which the NEC is not,

for some odd reason), also have low load factors. California's Capitols

only have a load factor of 28.5%. The golden state's San Joaquins do

slightly better, at 35% load factor, and at southern end of the state,

the Pacific Surfliners come in at a 33.1% load factor. In New York state,

the Empire Service has a 33% load factor. In Illinois and Wisconsin, the

Hiawathas have a 38.6% load factor. Pennsylvania's Keystone service does

slightly better at a 40.7% load factor.

The reality of commuter service is you need a high amount of trains

operated to provide convenience and incentive for passengers to ride, but

because of all of the trains run under this criteria, many non-peak

trains operate with very low load factors. All of the California trains

operate with state assistance, as do the Hiawathas and Keystone service.

New York's Empire Service is the only one of these corridor services

which operates without state assistance.

Many other trains, such as those in Illinois, in New York, the

Adirondack; in Vermont the Vermonter and Ethan Allen Express; in North

Carolina the Carolinian and Piedmont; and trains in Michigan are all

state supported. The Downeaster in New England receives funds from the

Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority. Missouri and Oklahoma also

provide operating funds for short distance trains.

Most of the state subsidy trains also have low load factors, such as

29.9% on the Vermonter, 32.6% on the Downeaster, 33.3% on Kansas City/St.

Louis trains, and 36.5% on Oklahoma's Heartland Flyer.

In North Carolina, the state funded Carolinian runs a strong 67.5% load

factor, which essentially means this train is sold out, due to entraining

and detraining passengers at intermediate station stops. The Piedmont

also has a load factor of 49.5%.

If states want to take the risk of paying Amtrak money to run local

trains with low load factors, that's fine. California, and later North

Carolina, however, learned if they take passenger rail marketing matters

into their own hands, and control the budget and content, ridership goes

up, and the state contribution goes down because of a stronger ticket

sale recovery.

3) How does all of this calculate to a subsidy-free Amtrak?

First, it is impossible to rely on very short distance trains and

corridors to make money when real accounting is used and the books aren't

cooked, as Amtrak does for the Acela trains. To repeat the facts, Acela

trains, running on the same infrastructure using the same stations and

support personnel and corporate resources as NEC regional trains do,

cannot possibly and honestly show an alleged positive cash flow, or

profit, when the regional trains do not.

However, again, the saving grace for Amtrak is the collection of longer

short distance trains (such as the Carolinian) and the long distance

system.

The NEC can be partially fixed by cutting down on the number of short

distance passenger trains operated on the NEC (There is no realistic

reason to operate trains NEC trains less than hourly other than at

selected peak times; the argument of New Yorkers and others wanting to

know they can go to Penn Station and get on a train anytime is hubris at

the expense of the health of the rest of the Amtrak system.), by

increasing the length of trains (it takes the same number of train and

engine personnel to operate a nine car train as it does a four or six car

train), and opening up national system long distance trains operating on

the NEC to local riders, making reservations available 48 hours or less

before train time.

Another way of "fixing" the NEC comes from a former Amtrak manager, who

made the simple statement, "the NEC should be humming 24 hours a day."

It's the simple things which are the most stunning things. As this

manager said, many Amtrak executives have considered the NEC their

personal football, and haven't wanted to dirty it up by using it for

those annoying freight trains which keep the nation moving.

Opening up the NEC to full freight movements (with the reverse of what is

found on Amtrak's host railroads, where passenger trains wait for freight

trains; on the NEC the freights would have to wait) could be a huge cash

windfall for Amtrak, even with the higher costs of track maintenance.

What is the magic of having very expensive infrastructure, if it isn't

used to its full potential? The builder and original owner of the NEC,

the Pennsylvania Railroad, which until its final two decades was

considered the model on which all other railroads were based, understood

that even its robust Pennsylvania Railroad passenger traffic on the NEC,

plus all of the foreign line trains it carried such as for the Seaboard,

Atlantic Coast Line, Southern, and others, there still needed to be a

balance between passenger and freight trains to fully cover the

infrastructure costs of such an expensive piece of railroad.

Amtrak pays non-fully allocated costs to its host freight railroads for

use of freight tracks. That means the host freight railroads do not

receive enough income from Amtrak to pay for the wear and tear on their

infrastructure from Amtrak trains.

Amtrak, however, does charge the freight trains moving over its NEC

infrastructure fully allocated train mile costs, which means the freight

trains pay a much higher rate for using the NEC than Amtrak pays for

using freight tracks. This inequitable situation needs a major overhaul,

with new agreements which will have benefits for all contractual parties.

Another area of improvement on the NEC which has been gaining some

momentum is forcing the local commuter systems, such as New Jersey

Transit, and others, to pay a fair share of the costs of maintaining the

NEC for its use. Amtrak is the minority user of the NEC; the commuter

train systems all combined are the majority users of the NEC, yet Amtrak

pays for the majority of the upkeep and maintenance of the NEC.

4) Amtrak needs to generate 9,523,809,524 additional revenue passenger

miles at an average of 16.8 cents each in revenue (the average of all

long distance and short distance train revenue per passenger mile) to

generate $1.6 billion, or $300 million more than the FY 2006 federal

subsidy. The extra $300 million could easily go towards Amtrak's

mechanical department to get the rolling slums off of the train routes,

and replace them with refurbished equipment no one needs to issue an

apology for before passengers board trains.

Long distance and short distance trains together already generate

3,879,069,000 revenue passenger miles per year. The long distance and

short distance systems need to generate just under 2.5 times the number

of revenue passenger miles generated today for Amtrak to be free of any

federal subsidy for any reason, beyond extraordinary circumstances like

anti-terrorism protections, or the replacement of large assets like the

tunnels leading from New Jersey into New York City's Penn Station. But,

to generate those defined new revenue passenger miles, we also need to

add some more revenue passenger miles for a balance between expenses and

income.

First, what would it cost to generate 2.5 times the number of revenue

passenger miles generated today by Amtrak? Not as much as you think. In

FY 2006, Amtrak reports it spent $1,381,000,000 to run the short distance

and long distance fleet of trains (this includes all corridors outside of

the NEC).

To operate more trains, there will be little, if any increase in

corporate headquarters costs. If Amtrak theoretically sticks to its

present route system and just increases trains on present routes or only

adds minor modifications from present routes, no new station costs will

appear, and no new maintenance facilities need to be built.

To take things in steps and to keep math simple, first plan on reducing

the national operating subsidy, which totals $485,100,000. Without any

increase in operating costs, and with just better marketing, Amtrak

should be able to raise the average load factor on long distance and

short distance trains by 18%, or sell an additional 18% of currently

available seat miles, adding an additional 1,434,065,158 revenue

passenger miles at 16.8 cents each, for total additional income of

$240,922,946, or 49.6% of the current systemwide operating subsidy.

To eliminate the rest of the systemwide operating subsidy, we need to

double those figures, and sell another $241 million of revenue passenger

miles, or, another 1,434,065,158 revenue passenger miles. This will

require new trains, all operating on current routes, providing additional

frequencies. This will only add incremental costs, such as actual train

operations and marketing, versus any new overhead costs, reservations

system costs, or additional headquarters costs.

The number of revenue passenger miles we need is equal to 59% of the

revenue passenger miles generated in FY 2006 by the long distance system

alone. That will cost approximately $195 million to generate, so, again,

we have to increase revenue passenger miles to cover this additional

cost. By the time the math is completed, at the rate of $195 million in

expenses generating $241 million in revenue, we need to generate 4.25 the

amount of revenue to equal the amount of expenses, or 6,094,776,921

revenue passenger miles at 16.8 cents each. This would equal running 78

new trains equal to the revenue passenger mile potential of the current

Carolinian. Before you panic, that is equivalent to only 5.5 new daylight

frequencies on parts or all of every long distance route in the system,

with the exception of the Auto Train. Many of those frequencies could be

spread out among other routes such as the Adirondack, the Vermonter, and

other opportunities.

Amtrak does not have enough equipment to start this many new frequencies;

a new equipment leasing program would be needed to fully populate this

many routes.

If Amtrak was generating this kind of income, passenger car manufacturers

would be standing in line to accept new car orders under favorable lease

or purchase terms, based on the earning power of the equipment.

5) Keep in mind what we have just accomplished. We have determined that

half of Amtrak's total national operating deficit can be covered by

existing trains, using existing equipment which is on the road, today.

The only missing ingredient is a competent marketing and promotional

program which would end Amtrak being America's best kept secret.

To go further towards eliminating the rest of Amtrak's national operating

deficit, putting the rest of Amtrak's fleet back on the road by either

lengthening existing trains, or adding new daylight frequencies on

existing routes at a low cost can come close to an operating subsidy free

Amtrak, that includes operating subsidies (as defined today) on all parts

of Amtrak, including the NEC.

To finish the job, some new equipment would be needed.

We can realistically see an operating subsidy-free Amtrak with very

little imagination.

6) Here is where the tough part comes in; what about Amtrak becoming

completely free of all subsidies, including capital infrastructure costs?

We saw how it could theoretically be done, but we have to come up with

real figures that includes the costs of systemwide new train operations

to eliminate the very high costs of maintaining the NEC.

This vividly demonstrates why Amtrak so desperately needs to be out of

the infrastructure business, and just in the operating business. It's the

infrastructure costs that suck up all of capital resources, not the

operating costs.

Using our same example of the Carolinian, to make up the additional

$814,900,000 of Amtrak's last federal subsidy that mostly goes to NEC

infrastructure, but some going to corporate debt reduction and federal

railroad retirements costs, we need to instigate another 264 frequencies

that are equivalent to the length and operating characteristics of

today's Carolinian. That, again, equals to approximately an additional 19

new frequencies (in addition to the 5.5 frequencies outlined above to

cover operating expenses only) on part or all of every Amtrak long

distance route except the Auto Train.

How would/could that happen? Lots of new equipment, a new partnership

with host freight railroads, pioneering of new routes, federal assistance

in some form to freight railroads to help upgrade their infrastructure,

and, of course, adequate marketing and promotions. The most important

factor is a management and ownership (the federal government) that

understands the potential, understands the rocky road it will take to

make this happen, and understands the commitment to operating an Amtrak

that is in a positive growth mode versus a "woe is me" defeatist mode

that is happy to exist eternally on someone else's money in the form of

annual subsidies of free federal monies.

Simply putting the ownership of the NEC and the responsibility for upkeep

elsewhere would eliminate the need for 264 more Carolinian frequencies,

give a take a train, or two.

Why should it matter who owns and operates the NEC? As long as Amtrak,

local commuter agencies, and freight railroads all have access to the

rail highway, why is it so critical that Amtrak be the owner? Does a

track gang worker care if his or her paycheck comes from Amtrak or

another federal agency? Does the union representing that worker care if

they are negotiating on the member's behalf with a subsidiary of the

Federal Railway Administration or Amtrak?

Getting the NEC off of Amtrak's books, and allowing Amtrak to become

purely an operating company that owns or leases locomotives, passenger

equipment, yards, and stations demonstrates how realistic it is for

Amtrak to be a healthy, growing company.

7) How does this process begin? First, by recognizing Amtrak doesn't

always have to be a stepchild of government. It has to potential to stand

on its own, but that potential must be exploited.

Second, Amtrak needs to look inside its own house and make better use of

its existing assets. This totally wrong concept Amtrak is using of

shortening train consists to maintain a smaller fleet of passenger

equipment to cut costs is exactly the opposite of what it should be

doing. Amtrak should be lengthening consists as it builds ridership;

longer consists only incur incremental costs, not full costs of new

routes or additional trains.

Third, Amtrak should implement a system of daylight, secondary trains on

its existing routes as has been spelled out in recent issues of TWA (with

more to come in the next few weeks). These inexpensive trains, all of

which are based on creating positive cash flows (that means "profits")

and greater travel opportunities, mean more seat miles sold at lower

operating expenses.

A second phase of full service trains, based on the model of the Empire

Builder, need to be planned for, and equipment orders readied. Every long

distance route needs at least one "mirror" train to the existing service,

on a schedule of eight to 12 hours different from the present schedule.

Some routes could easily support three full service trains. The western

transcontinental trains, the Coast Starlight, and routes in the east such

as the Cardinal and Adirondack, are ripe for year round tourism and high

revenue sleeping car business. Basic workhorse trains such as the City of

New Orleans, Crescent, Texas Eagle, Silver Meteor and Silver Star all

could support higher levels of business with proper marketing and more

route frequencies. New routes, such as New Orleans-Dallas-Salt Lake

City-Seattle have huge potential when planned and executed with a good

business plan. Good marketing and operations planners could easily double

Amtrak's route structure (with minimal pain to host freight railroads),

and still have room for expansion.

Fourth, Amtrak has got to stop being America's best kept secret. Amtrak's

annual sales and marketing budget of $75 million is woefully inadequate

to properly promote America's passenger train system. That figure should

be doubled (which still would not bring it up to private corporate

standards for what is typically spent on advertising by custom), and

continue to be increased as ridership increases.

Fifth, Amtrak needs to actually start a public relations and promotional

effort, beyond what can be accomplished by paid advertising and

marketing.

And, lastly, Amtrak, which it has already begun to do, needs to

completely get away from the "woe is me" attitude of the past, where it

feels it always must go hat in hand to ask for government hand outs. The

raw numbers show Amtrak has the potential to be on its own; it merely has

become such a dependent child of government largess, much like a drug

addict, that it needs to have the corporate confidence to solve its own

problems, without government interference. Amtrak has also suffered from

years from modal envy, where it has held its corporate breath and pounded

the floor saying life is so unfair because other modes of transportation

get subsidies, and Amtrak doesn't. Envy, however, doesn't count. What

counts is only results of what can be done by accomplishment. Why be

forever dependent on someone else's handouts if you can be self

dependent?

In the 1990s, the late Dr. Adrian Herzog developed similar figures and a

likely scenario for ending Amtrak's dependence on federal subsidy. This

was still the era of the ill-fated Warrington administration's "glidepath

to self sufficiency" for Amtrak, which placed the entire future of Amtrak

in jeopardy by betting the farm on the success of the Acela trains in the

NEC. Not only did this discredited theory nearly spell the end of Amtrak

in any form, it also turned all attention away from the real money-makers

at Amtrak, the long distance trains. It will take Amtrak a long time to

disentangle itself from the silliness of the "glidepath to self

sufficiency" and the accompanying idiotic dependence on short corridor

trains for success, and redirect itself to the true saving grace of the

company, long distance trains, which, in the end, will most likely

subsidize the corridor trains.

8) The figures used above are all derived from Amtrak financial reports,

and calculated based on Amtrak data. Many figures are rounded for easier

comprehension, and are not intended to cover every detail, but to

demonstrate theory and reality.

9) Since 2001, Amtrak apologists have created a thriving conspiracy

theory the Bush Administration wants to kill Amtrak, and that the

administration has done everything in its limited power to do so.

Let's talk a bit of reality. Anyone in government, or private industry,

the news media, or policy institutes has all of the above facts and

figures. It's not difficult to come to determinations about Amtrak that

show it is a viable institution, if only it would look towards a positive

future, instead of an invalid future. Why would anyone in government want

to continually hand billions of tax dollars over to Amtrak when it can

eventually become self sufficient, if only it will create a realistic

business plan? Why would anyone in government be excited about endless

subsidies for a railroad which takes tens of millions of dollars of its

best assets in rolling stock and intentionally mothballs those assets so

it can balance an expense budget while forgetting the income budget?

Anyone who thinks critically about Amtrak from an intellectual

standpoint, understands the potential of Amtrak, and is horrified at the

continuing waste and endless string of missed opportunities. No one in

government should ever be criticized for trying to make something

positive out of the Amtrak corporate mess through radical change.

If there would have been a third as many lifeboats on the RMS Titanic as

there are unused pieces of rolling stock in Amtrak's car fleet, everyone

on the ship would have been saved, with boats left over.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

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distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

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----------



## Guest

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; June 5, 2007
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 4, Number 24
> 
> Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,
> 
> URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and
> 
> plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,
> 
> California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For
> 
> more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and
> 
> other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from
> 
> any outside sources.
> 
> Overview
> 
> Amtrak says on its web site, "No country in the world operates a
> 
> passenger rail system without some form of public support for capital
> 
> costs and/or operating expenses."


You have to admire Bruce Richardson's efforts however every time I read one of these, I am exhausted by the time I finish. It is like watching an infomercial, where every problem you have ever had can be cured in no time at all........."just trust me".

I hope he has something else in his life to keep him occupied, because if this is his only outlet he is in big trouble.


----------



## frj1983

I have to agree with Guest,

Reading these posts is like running a marathon, when you reach the end, you don't remember what was said back at the beginning. While his posts are well thought out, I am sometimes "put off" by his constant "Amtrak Management is stupid" and "I know best" diatribes. I notice that his "savior" Alex Kummant is not mentioned much anymore...is that because he is part of "stupid" Amtrak management?


----------



## had8ley

Guest said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> This Week at Amtrak; June 5, 2007
> 
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 4, Number 24
> 
> Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,
> 
> URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and
> 
> plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,
> 
> California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For
> 
> more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and
> 
> other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from
> 
> any outside sources.
> 
> Overview
> 
> Amtrak says on its web site, "No country in the world operates a
> 
> passenger rail system without some form of public support for capital
> 
> costs and/or operating expenses."
> 
> 
> 
> You have to admire Bruce Richardson's efforts however every time I read one of these, I am exhausted by the time I finish. It is like watching an infomercial, where every problem you have ever had can be cured in no time at all........."just trust me".
> 
> I hope he has something else in his life to keep him occupied, because if this is his only outlet he is in big trouble.
Click to expand...

God love the man...he reminds me of Bishop Fulton J. Sheehan of Rochester, New York. My mother would turn on the black and white (what's that) TV and we would watch a very well dressed Catholic bishop hop, skip and dance on a blackboard. He would put a stick of chalk through the wringer before he threw it aside in disqust. BUT I cannot remember one point he ever made because he talked about everything that was wrong on the planet. Bruce just rips up Amtrak. Apparently he thinks it's his mission in life. And that's not to say that he doesn't have a lot of material to work with; just look at his lengthy newsletter that seems to grow with each passing week.


----------



## sportbiker

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; June 5, 2007
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 4, Number 24[/url]



I love reading TWAs, but J. Bruce glosses over some of the major stumbling blocks to higher ridership, the top-3 being OTP, OTP, and OTP. No matter how much people hate airline travel, rail isn't a viable alternative to most people if the timetable bears the same relationship to reality that the Harry Potter books do. We're a nation of clock-watchers!

Next is system speed. Even if OTP woes were solved, requiring (for example) 12 hours to go from LAX to SFO is a joke when one can fly there in one hour (figure three hours with airport lag on both ends) or drive it in six to seven. My brother used to regularly use Metrolink, the LA area's commuter railroad, and had nothing but praise for it, not knowing (or caring) that Metrolink owns the track on that line. When he talked about taking Amtrak to San Francisco he was dumbstruck when I told him it wouldn't take the five hours he had mentally figured but would instead be 12 hours or more. He was struck mute. He doesn't care about Union Pacific or slow orders or anything else: he cares about end-to-end travel time. "Just do it." Count him as one passenger lost.

Third is Amtrak's reputation for less-than-stellar OBS and equipment standards (who was it who said duct tape should be standard-issue with bedroom toiletries?). Airlines are also non-stellar, but one puts up with it for only a few hours. If you give up speed you have to offer something compelling as an alternative.

So, all we have to do is get the host railroads to do a 180 and give Amtrak absolute dispatch priority, immediately repair then double the country's rail infrastructure, finish rehabbing all rolling stock, bring in new equipment to increase fequencies, send all OBS staff to charm school (and restore their ranks), and then maybe we'd get somewhere.

Do that and you won't need better marketing because the system will sell itself.


----------



## George Harris

sportbiker said:


> So, all we have to do is get the host railroads to do a 180 and give Amtrak absolute dispatch priority, immediately repair then double the country's rail infrastructure, finish rehabbing all rolling stock, bring in new equipment to increase fequencies, send all OBS staff to charm school (and restore their ranks), and then maybe we'd get somewhere.


Simple, ain't it. Total change in attitudes, priorities, and a couple hundred billion dollars.


----------



## Sam Damon

George Harris said:


> sportbiker said:
> 
> 
> 
> So, all we have to do is get the host railroads to do a 180 and give Amtrak absolute dispatch priority, immediately repair then double the country's rail infrastructure, finish rehabbing all rolling stock, bring in new equipment to increase fequencies, send all OBS staff to charm school (and restore their ranks), and then maybe we'd get somewhere.
> 
> 
> 
> Simple, ain't it. Total change in attitudes, priorities, and a couple hundred billion dollars.
Click to expand...

Which, if you read Bruce's missives, seems to be the gist of all of them.

That, and the odd Amtrak service meltdown _du jour._ I do give Bruce credit there; I find it amazing these meltdowns seem to occur every six weeks or so, and AFAWK, no one at Amtrak ever gets fired because of them.

I'm not saying people shouldn't get a second chance. I'm saying there is something in Amtrak's corporate culture that seems to believe upsetting passengers and tour groups is an acceptable standard. I'm saying there seems to be a lack of accountability when service melts down. Perhaps it's just that Amtrak is undercapitalized.


----------



## George Harris

Sam Damon said:


> George Harris said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> sportbiker said:
> 
> 
> 
> So, all we have to do is get the host railroads to do a 180 and give Amtrak absolute dispatch priority, immediately repair then double the country's rail infrastructure, finish rehabbing all rolling stock, bring in new equipment to increase fequencies, send all OBS staff to charm school (and restore their ranks), and then maybe we'd get somewhere.
> 
> 
> 
> Simple, ain't it. Total change in attitudes, priorities, and a couple hundred billion dollars.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Which, if you read Bruce's missives, seems to be the gist of all of them.
> 
> That, and the odd Amtrak service meltdown _du jour._ I do give Bruce credit there; I find it amazing these meltdowns seem to occur every six weeks or so, and AFAWK, no one at Amtrak ever gets fired because of them.
> 
> I'm not saying people shouldn't get a second chance. I'm saying there is something in Amtrak's corporate culture that seems to believe upsetting passengers and tour groups is an acceptable standard. I'm saying there seems to be a lack of accountability when service melts down. Perhaps it's just that Amtrak is undercapitalized.
Click to expand...

I have by now decided that bad management is fairly common, mediorcre management is the norm, and good management is rare. It is simply that most companies in normal businesses are able to survive with mediocre management and occasional bad management. However, Amtrak is so marginal and on such a starvation diet that even the normal level of management goofs is dangerous.

They also have a history left over particularly from Warrington of management by deception, and ban and incompetent managers hire incompentence so they won't be shown up by effective subordinates. Good managers on the other hand do try to surround themselves with good people because they do want things to turn out well.

I had the experience of working for a while for an organization, which needs to remain nameless for a few more years, that had some breathtaking incompetence at a fairly high level that ended up with things going fairly well because of some very good lower level management and workers that refused to permit or do shoddy work during their stay. No need to guess who took the credit with the ownership.


----------



## frj1983

Or:

You watch New Management walk into a place and commence new programs with the idea of creating a "more nimble, customer service organization" and after a few feverish months reorganization and departmental shifting nothing has really changed and it's back to business as normal. I think this happens a lot at Amtrak!


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 14, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 25

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) There is ample evidence the dog continues to eat Amtrak's homework.

Russ Jackson of California, master communicator and pretty good

photographer, and one of URPA's earliest denizens, made a personal survey

of Sunset Limited "passenger stations" in the Southwest. Mr. Jackson also

shares his skills with the California RailPAC group and is the retired

editor of the esteemed Western Rail Passenger Review. The commentary

below is in part featured on www.railpac.org with accompanying color

photographs of the "station" sites.

As you read Mr. Jackson's account of his survey, keep in mind one of the

main reasons Amtrak cites for not restoring the long missing Sunset

Limited east of New Orleans is a lack of station facilities because of

damage from Hurricane Katrina, now almost two full years ago, late in the

summer of 2005. Here is Mr. Jackson's account.

[begin quote]

A tale of three Sunset Limited flag stop "stations" and a very late

train!

By Russell Jackson

Benson, Arizona; Lordsburg and Deming, New Mexico

Note: Color photos of the stations described below accompany this report

on www.railpac.org

Sunset Limited on time performance has been 19.1% since Oct. 1, 2006.

Another major problem for that train happened on May 3, 2007 when Amtrak

train No. 2, the eastbound Sunset Limited, was 12 PLUS hours late east of

Tucson, Arizona. This writer was on a road trip this time, and a call to

Amtrak's automated reservation voice, "Julie," found No. 2 would arrive

at Benson, Arizona, at 1:57 P.M. instead of 2:20 A.M. We were on target

to arrive in that town, the location of the very successful Kartchner

Caverns State Park, at about that time, so we parked and waited. And

waited.

Sometimes the view from the ground gives a better account than from the

train. Unknown to us at the time was the reason for the long delay, which

was a derailment of the train on Union Pacific's Guasti siding, 5 miles

east of Ontario, California, the day before, and we were waiting for a

"makeup" train which departed Los Angeles at 1:42 A.M.

This is the scene we found in Benson: A shack with the word "Benson" and

an Amtrak logo sign bent so it was almost unreadable, a car containing

folks who intend to board the train enroute to Michigan, and a lady in

another car expecting arriving passengers from Los Angeles who tells us

that the UP container train we see parked on the track the passenger

train would have to be on had been there since she arrived at 12:30 P.M.

It was still dangerously blocking two signaled crossings in town,

including one just to the left of station where the gates were down and

the bells a-ringing.

Even if the Sunset arrived at 2:00 on the adjoining track how can these

passengers get to the train? While we waited a boy climbed across the

couplers, a very dangerous thing to do. At 2:27 "Julie" informed us the

train won't arrive until 3:15, so we decided not to wait for it, and

headed for Tucson. At least the Amtrak logo is on the shack, but NO

information about how to contact Amtrak or what the shack is. In 2004-05

there were 1,492 passengers to/from here. We learned the train finally

arrived in Benson at 3:55 P.M.

WHAT COULD BE at Benson ... The new Benson Chamber of Commerce Visitors

Center is located just east of the "station." The building is in the

style of the old Southern Pacific train stations, has full facilities,

and is staffed. The lady on duty said, "No, this isn't the station. They

stop at that 'lean-to' over there."

When No. 2 departs Benson its next stop is Lordsburg, New Mexico, about

an hour later. Again, there is only a small railroad shack with the word

Lordsburg on it, but NO Amtrak information. The tracks are quite a hike

across an unpaved yard vehicle area, there is no platform to mark where

the train stops, and yet, 304 passengers used this station in 2004-05.

Another hour later, No. 2 arrives at Deming. To get to this "station"

from town requires a circuitous trip through an underpass, a right turn,

travel a few blocks, turn right again, and re-cross all the tracks

without any signs saying how to get there. When you do get "there" you

find two cheap benches next to a green rail logo sign and NO Amtrak

information in sight. Behind the benches is a westbound one-way I-10

off-ramp. Deming is the center of UP's massive double-track project that

will soon make the line between Tucson and El Paso a "speedway." We

assume the Sunsets load passengers at the road crossing, as there is NO

platform of any kind. In 2004-05 Deming saw 704 rail passengers.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN at Deming? The historic Southern Pacific era train

station building stood at track-side in various configurations since its

original construction in 1881. Now it has been fully restored and moved

across Interstate 10 to a new location where it is a learning center

annex. Attempts to keep it at track-side were unsuccessful.

Okay, Amtrak, you wonder why smaller cities and towns don't provide more

riders. You're lucky that many do take the trains. Yes, it's up to the

towns to provide stations, so above is what you get for that hands-off

policy. Where are your signs? Are these stations ADA compliant? It

doesn't look like it. Just think: Each 100 additional tickets sold among

just these three towns each year could yield $150,000 in additional

revenue at NO incremental cost.

[End quote]

2) Mr. Jackson's commentary brings us back to Beaumont, Texas, featured

two issues ago in This Week at Amtrak for its shameful "station,"

consisting of a bare concrete platform in a high crime area of Beaumont

with no lights, no security, no telephone, no nothing.

Jamie Reid, an enterprising reporter for the Beaumont Enterprise daily

newspaper, wrote a Sunday piece for June 10, 2007 titled The Lost Rail

Station (www.beaumontenterprise.com) which provided many of the same

details TWA reported previously on the "station." One important set of

facts Ms. Reid reported was Amtrak/Sunset Limited ridership for Beaumont,

which is a crew change point for conductors and assistant conductors. In

FY 2006, 903 passengers used the desolate Beaumont station platform, down

from 1,209 passenger in FY 2005.

Ms. Reid also interviewed Amtrak Central Division spokesman Mark Magliari

about Beaumont, and Mr. Magliari allowed that Amtrak is now working on

the new Fall 2007 timetable, which comes out in October, and there is a

chance Beaumont may be discontinued as an Amtrak stop.

Ms. Reid's story goes into further detail about how Amtrak says it isn't

responsible to have a station so it can stop its trains for passengers,

and city officials wonder why they should spend tight public funds to

supply a station for so few visitors and citizens. It's a classic

Catch-22 situation.

Here are some things we know about the Sunset Limited:

- It is incorrectly considered to be one of Amtrak's worst financial

performers in terms of revenue versus expenses. Perhaps, that's because

it operates so infrequently, only three days a week in each direction,

yet has all of the infrastructure costs of daily trains. If the Sunset

was a daily train, it would be a good financial performer in all

respects.

- Amtrak has already suspended the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans de

facto, apparently hoping some state or state consortium will pick up the

tab for restarting the route. Perhaps some of the loss at Beaumont can be

accounted for by the loss of half of the Sunset's route, east of New

Orleans. For every station that is not served by the Sunset, there are

that many fewer city pair opportunities for travelers to go to or from

Beaumont.

- If Amtrak continues to gnaw away at the Sunset by dropping station

stops like Beaumont, there will be little, if any, reason to operate the

train, at all, and Amtrak will suffer a huge loss to its national matrix

system where each trains supports all other trains it intersects with for

cross platforming passengers and other functions.

- It costs less than $100 to stop a train at a station; the only real

cost is the cost of the extra locomotive fuel it takes to get the train

moving again. Dropping Beaumont, or any other station to save a lousy

hundred bucks is not only penny wise and pound foolish, but totally

counterproductive towards building Amtrak revenue passenger miles and

helping the company become a healthy, robust passenger carrying system.

The Amtrak joke for years, when the silliness started a couple of decades

ago about "loss per passenger," a totally false measurement which means

nothing, is that if only Amtrak could stop running those money losing

trains and didn't have to worry about passengers, it would have no

losses! Yes, theoretically that may be true, but how ignorant is the

concept? Shouldn't Amtrak be doing everything it can to reduce losses and

build ridership, and not run away from problems such as the Beaumont

station and stations east of New Orleans?

3) Amtrak is not doing itself, its passengers, the towns and cities it

serves, nor the American taxpayers any service by hoping the issue of the

Sunset Limited east of New Orleans is going to quietly steal away into

the night. Amtrak's unions are wondering what is going on (there has

never been any train-off notification about the Sunset east of New

Orleans, as is required), its employees are wondering what is going on,

local and state governments are wondering what is going on, and people in

Congress are wondering what is going on. Amtrak needs to make a decision

one way or the other, let the public know of the decision, and then real

debate can begin, and whatever action is necessary can be taken by both

sides. In the meantime, Amtrak is just playing a gigantic game of

Chicken, hoping a collision will never occur.

4) Here in the heat of summer, Amtrak seems to be suffering some

mechanical and passenger relations problems in New York along the Empire

Corridor route.

[begin quote]

Last night [Tuesday, June 12, 2007] my train was an hour and forty

minutes late due to mechanic problems. Not mechanical -- the problem was

that the one mechanic on duty was working on another train and couldn't

get to mine for a half hour after the engineer discovered the engine

wouldn't start. You'd think there would be more than one mechanic on duty

during rush hour at New York City's Penn Station, but failing that they

could just ask "is there a mechanic in the house?" over the P.A. system.

It would a welcome respite from those idiotic "if you see something, say

something" announcements.

I called Amtrak, asked for Customer Relations, described the incident,

and they graciously agreed to send to send me a $22.00 voucher which can

be applied to my monthly pass. It's not much, but those vouchers can add

up when Amtrak has one of their periodic bouts of breakdowns and delays.

Besides, Amtrak is a political bureaucracy rather than a business, so it

hurts most when someone complains, and forces them to do extra paperwork.

Call early and often!

[End quote]

URPA does not endorse pestering Amtrak over minor issues, but the above

quote does reflect the frustrations of people who use Amtrak on a daily

basis. Since Empire Corridor trains handle a lot of rush hour patronage,

and the train is serviced in Amtrak's huge Sunnyside yard in New York,

why in the world were there not adequate mechanics to handle what must be

routine work? Is Amtrak incapable of appropriate employee scheduling?

5) And, some thoughts from a young, 20-something banker who is an Amtrak

rider, and has experienced much of Amtrak's national system, as well as

having ridden passenger trains all over the world.

[begin quote]

I am a relatively new TWA subscriber, but long have I been forwarded the

publication from my father. In all the stories and dialogues I have read

over the years I can see one bottom line issue with Amtrak - Customer

Service. In response to the gentleman whom noted in No. 6 in the May 18th

issue, I wholeheartedly concur with your conclusions. I grew up riding

Amtrak due solely to my father, of whom I am very appreciative.

Amtrak is supposed to offer a different kind of travel. Through the

historical progression of passenger trains, there has been a marked

decrease in quality, and an increase in what I can broadly describe as

"system-wide issues". The trains ridden by my father, and his father, and

his father before him were designed to provide luxurious, interstate

cross country travel. Vista domes, providing beautiful views of the

landscape, have become obsolete. Fresh air is a scarce commodity, and a

clean window rarely exists. You used to be able to get top-tier food and

drink, service with a smile. Now, you are lucky to get a fully cooked

piece of chicken.

Yes, I have had excellent experiences with Amtrak. I have encountered the

few friendly conductors and handful of fun ops people, but, for the most

part, the service has been lacking the basic necessities to keep the

customer happy. A smile, which was noted in a previous letter, is

missing. You can tell me to "have a great trip," but when the face of the

person saying it is exhausted from a long shift and full of scorn, how

will the comment be received?

This "experience" I speak of is that of the vacation. Even if it were a

trip for business, the purpose of taking the train rather than flying

would be the pleasure of sightseeing in a friendly and fun environment.

This has disintegrated since I began riding Amtrak. I have experienced

far more negatives than positives when it comes to the basic service

provided by the people running these trains. The long distance trains

display this discourteous nature much more frequently than they should.

This customer service is not solely encapsulated in the people running

the trains. It is up to the service people, the shops, the ops managers,

and everyone to make sure this machine runs well. The oil is not being

applied to the proverbial gears. Trains are late due to basic errors. The

staff are not friendly. The basic service has left the business. They are

losing their fan base.

To which demographic should Amtrak be focusing on? It is people MY age.

At 24 years old, I have undoubtedly put more hours into Amtrak than any

of my peers. I have continued to put faith into the idea that "maybe this

trip will be different". The simple question has become: When do you cut

loose your bad experiences and abandon the industry? If my cell phone

provider dropped 90% of my calls, I would drop them. The argument is

there are no other alternatives to rail travel beyond Amtrak. If someone

asked me what the best way to get from New York to Seattle without

flying, I would tell them to make their way to Toronto and take VIA.

Otherwise? Road trip; gas prices may be high, but the experience of

driving long distances holds a much higher appeal than sitting in a

poorly ventilated passenger coach.

When I mention Amtrak as an option to travel for my friends, the

unanimous response is "absolutely not". Where Amtrak stands currently,

the costs heavily outweigh the benefits. Until I see them make moves on

the corporate, marketing and service fronts, they have lost my patronage.

Where will Amtrak be 20 years from now? Still milking the feds because

they cannot figure out what revenues and costs are? Completely

privatized? Or bankrupt, out of business, and a distant remnant of what

rail travel used to be. If they do not clean their act up by the time

people my age are interested in taking family vacations, they will no

longer exist.

The bottom line: Amtrak needs to stop trying to refurbish, and instead

begin to focus on reinventing themselves.

[End quote]

6) This comment comes from an Amtrak employee, sent unsolicited to TWA,

also referring to the May 18, 2007 TWA.

[begin quote]

I have a background in hospitality and we were trained to say"good

morning," and that a smile cost us nothing, but accomplishes a great deal

...

We were trained that making a guest feel like family, brought that guest

back to our hotels. We were trained to keep the facility clean and in

working order, because there was another hotel down the street that would

welcome our guests. We were trained that theft is theft and that affected

our raises. Lastly, we were trained to understand that our jobs and our

paychecks relied on happy guests.

There are a few wonderful employees on Amtrak, but I would bet my last

dollar they are long-term employees. I saw too many employees hired who

were a cousin, a brother, a sister (etc.), of another employee.

Convenient employees were hired ... not necessarily excellent, or even

good employees.

I watched dining car employees unnecessarily open food before the train

reached it's final destination ... and then I watched the employees (that

includes conductors) haul the food away. So, now you have a problem with

the Mechanical Department, Human Resources, the bottom line, and that my

friends, leaves you little to work with.

I would highly recommend Amtrak hire employees that are good to

excellent, not just because they are someone's relative. I would

recommend Amtrak employees spend more time learning customer service. It

does not matter if the mattress is lumpy, or the train breaks down ...

guests are unhappy, and soon the pennies you save will cost us a

fantastic way to travel, and far too many jobs. Use the Radisson or

Marriott philosophy, and watch how fast things will change ... for the

better.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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----------



## George Harris

frj1983 said:


> You watch New Management walk into a place and commence new programs with the idea of creating a "more nimble, customer service organization"


I have heard this or similar words so many times over my working life it tends to activate my gag reflex. It generally means the new boys have read the latest "how to" management books, understand about 1/3 of it, misunderstand the rest, understand little to nothing of how the business really functions and are going to throw out the parts they don't understand, usually the important parts and then screw over the older employees because they want to look young and energetic. Normally after a year or two, they are out the door and things are worse off than before.

Classic example in a company and place not to be named: New top guy says, "People keep too many personal files and the office is too cluttered." When dispute time came, it was "can you provide me copies of your personal files on such and such a subject, as the central filing system is incomplete, and oh yes, the informal meeting notes you were not supposed to be taking."


----------



## AlanB

MrFSS said:


> URPA does not endorse pestering Amtrak over minor issues, but the abovequote does reflect the frustrations of people who use Amtrak on a daily
> 
> basis. Since Empire Corridor trains handle a lot of rush hour patronage,
> 
> and the train is serviced in Amtrak's huge Sunnyside yard in New York,
> 
> why in the world were there not adequate mechanics to handle what must be
> 
> routine work? Is Amtrak incapable of appropriate employee scheduling?


While I'll allow that it is possible that Amtrak didn't schedule properly, I have to wonder if URPA considered a far more simple and reasonable answer. Could it possibly be that perhaps the second mechanic called in sick? :unsure:

This does happen in all walks of life and in all businesses.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 22, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 26

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Texas!

Continuing our series on how Amtrak can help itself to become closer to

self-sufficiency, we're going to look at under-utilized routes along with

five severely under-served major cities in Texas, and how each can be

improved.

Remember the rules of this exercise; this is about upgrading existing

routes, using as many existing stations and maintenance facilities as

possible, and using existing motive power and rolling stock out of

Amtrak’s current pool of active and stored equipment. Under these rules,

while many new routes or extensions of current routes to areas not served

make sense, they are also expensive and beyond consideration for this

exercise; those considerations will be addressed at another time.

The majority of changes suggested here are targeted to cost about $11

million or less a year to operate, with income higher than expenses; in

other words, each of these trains would make money because much of the

infrastructure and other overhead costs are already in place and charged

to the existing long distance routes. While these suggested trains would

share those costs, the benefit is to both the existing routes and these

changes; shared costs are always less than stand-alone costs, and more

travel opportunities always provide higher ridership and higher revenue

passenger miles. The typical train would consist of a locomotive, baggage

car, premium coach, food service car, and four to five coaches, depending

on demand.

In this issue, we will look at the Texas Eagle, Sunset Limited, Heartland

Flyer and service throughout Texas.

2) Texas, as Texans will tell you, is a big place. It has five major

cities under-served by Amtrak, which are Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San

Antonio, and El Paso. Throw in other cities such as Austin, the state

capital, and Beaumont, and you have a lot of Texans who have a much

better chance of getting somewhere on horse than on Amtrak.

The route of the Texas Eagle, by Amtrak standards, has good service

between Chicago and St. Louis. A bright opportunity exists for a second

frequency following our day train model, running between St. Louis and

Fort Worth, via Little Rock. The 738 route miles are currently covered by

the Texas Eagle in just about 18 hours, traveling an average of 40 miles

an hour, and serves Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, in the dead of

night in both directions. An early morning to late evening day train

would provide a much increased opportunity for passenger convenience.

Since Fort Worth is already a maintenance base for the Heartland Flyer,

and St. Louis is already a maintenance base for trains on the St.

Louis-Chicago route, no new maintenance facilities would be needed.

The populous Fort Worth-San Antonio section of the route, which also

needs a second frequency, could be more cleverly served by a new San

Antonio-Fort Worth-Oklahoma City train, a run of less than 12 hours and

only 490 miles. The current, anemic Heartland Flyer, which is primarily

paid for by the State of Oklahoma suffers from a short, stub end route,

only one connecting train, and relatively high operating costs for the

services provided. It takes just one train set to operate this service

today; adding this route extension would require a total of two trainsets

instead of one.

If the Heartland Flyer ran from San Antonio to Fort Worth to Oklahoma

City, it would have a much better chance of success because of a larger

city pair matrix. It should be noted this proposed train, with the

exception of a 156 mile long piece of track from San Antonio to Temple,

Texas would operate on Amtrak-friendly BNSF tracks.

That scenario is good, because it provides a better matrix for the

Heartland Flyer (which ultimately could lead to lower costs billed to the

State of Oklahoma because of higher revenue passenger miles), but, let’s

take that scenario one bold step further.

It is just less than 200 miles, and about three to four hours (all on the

BNSF) from Oklahoma City to Newton, Kansas, a stop on the Southwest Chief

route. String together a route from San Antonio to Austin to Fort Worth

to Oklahoma City to Newton, Kansas, and you have created a route of less

than 700 miles and less than 16 hours running time, which fits perfectly

into our $11 million model of operating a day train.

Here’s what we have accomplished by doing this:

- The Heartland Flyer would connect with not one, but three Amtrak long

distance routes; the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles, the

Sunset Limited from New Orleans (hopefully, back to Florida) to Los

Angeles, and the Texas Eagle from Fort Worth to Chicago via Little Rock

and St. Louis

- Provide second frequency service between San Antonio and Forth Worth.

- One small, stub end train with currently high operating costs and low

revenue passenger miles and load factor has the potential to become a

profitable, low cost train.

The next consideration, beyond getting the Sunset Limited on a daily

basis versus the horrid tri-weekly schedule it currently operates, is to

rebuild business for Houston.

Here are some startling numbers. In FY 2006, there were only 10,855

passengers in and out of the Houston Amtrak station. Houston is one of

America’s largest metropolitan areas. In contrast, Longview, Texas, to

the northeast of Houston, which is a small East Texas city, had 24,449

passengers pass through its Amtrak station. Houston is served by the

Sunset Limited, and Longview is served by the Texas Eagle.

In another life, Houston was the southern terminus for a section of the

Texas Eagle, and the turn maintenance facility is still in place. Instead

of breaking the Texas Eagle into two sections, how about creating a

sister train for the Heartland Flyer, which would operate Newton, Kansas;

Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Dallas, and down to Houston? It is a six hour

run from Dallas to Houston, and add the proposed Heartland Flyer time

from Newton to Dallas, and you will create a total running time of about

16 hours, and a route of 700 miles, again ideal for our $11 million model

day train, using just two trainsets.

This puts a second frequency between Newton and Dallas, and lower station

and infrastructure costs for each train. Still, though, this leaves only

one train operating in each direction between Dallas and Houston.

To put a second train on the Dallas-Houston piece of track, lets create a

train running in a Texas Triangle. Each morning, a train would depart

from San Antonio and run north to Fort Worth, east to Dallas, south to

Houston, and west back to San Antonio. A reverse train would also depart

San Antonio each morning, in the opposite direction. We will leave it to

others with more experience to figure out how to number these trains;

whether they should carry a timetable designation of travel in a north,

south, east, or west direction.

The Texas Triangle would be about 750 route miles, and take a running

time of approximately 18 hours for the full circuit. Theoretically, this

would require just two trainsets, but the realities of late trains may

require a backup set always ready to go in place of a late arriving train

from the previous day. This ambitious project would most likely cost a

bit more than $11 million a year, but not much more.

Adding a Texas Triangle creates a robust route and passenger matrix that

connects every major Texas city served today by Amtrak with frequent

service, except El Paso. It provides not only good intrastate travel

opportunities, but also strong connections to the long distance passenger

system.

The concept of the two Heartland Flyer extensions, combined with the

Texas Triangle concept, provides direct service to San Antonio, Fort

Worth, Dallas, and Houston all from the route of the Southwest Chief.

Conversely, Sunset Limited route passengers are provided connections to

such places as Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Dallas and Forth Worth on

an easy basis.

Eventually, when new sleeping cars become available, a promising route

would be Chicago-Kansas City-Tulsa-Oklahoma City-Forth Worth-Austin-San

Antonio, or Fort Worth-Dallas-Houston (or both).

What about El Paso? It sits all by itself in the extreme western tip of

Texas. There isn't much between El Paso and San Antonio, a distance of

605 route miles, taking about 12 hours to cover. Of all of the major

Texas cities, El Paso has the smallest passenger count, at 9,195. If the

Sunset Limited was made a daily train, El Paso counts would grow

dramatically. However, considering the dual scenarios of bridge traffic

and increased local service, it’s doubtful an El Paso to San Antonio to

Houston run would generate a huge increase in traffic by itself. There’s

a lot of nowhere in between El Paso and San Antonio.

Two other scenarios would perhaps best serve the needs of travelers in

and out of El Paso. First, eventually the Texas Eagle should be extended

from San Antonio to Phoenix, Arizona. That’s a long run, which would

require two more train sets for the Eagle. But, it would serve to provide

a second service between San Antonio and Tucson, Arizona, and it would

restore much needed train service to Phoenix from the east, where good

tracks are still available. Second, El Paso has more in common with

cities in New Mexico and Arizona than it does with Dallas or Houston, so

expansion of El Paso services should be considered in a context of far

western services instead of Texas services (those services will be

addressed in a later edition of TWA).

In a previous edition of TWA, we have addressed service between San

Antonio and Houston and New Orleans with a day train running San Antonio

to New Orleans; this is still a viable concept in concert with the Texas

Triangle proposal.

Eventually, Dallas needs to be connected directly to New Orleans and the

east via Kansas City Southern routes through Baton Rouge and Meridian,

Mississippi.

The Sunset Limited still remains a shadow of itself without full service

between New Orleans and Florida. Until that gap is filled in the system,

and the Sunset is made daily, it will continue to look like a poor

performing train, although statistically, it does well considering the

level of service it provides.

3) Here’s a typical entry from Amtrak’s daily report; this one is about

the Silver Star, running between New York City and Miami. This southbound

train departed New York City on the morning of Monday, June 18, 2007.

This is generally considered unremarkable by Amtrak and the news media

because it happens so frequently, and somehow, "rail travel is supposed

to have problems like this."

[begin quote]

Train 91(18) Delayed Richmond, VA

18 JUN 07/642 P-ET/Train 91(18) E/142-179 with 10 cars arrived Richmond

[enroute to Miami].

Mechanical made repairs as listed below to equipment and train departed

at 751 P-ET.

C/62033 – arrived with air conditioning and toilet problems. Circuit

boards rebooted and car cooling. Retention tank was full and necessary to

dump it. Car then had ‘valve open light’ with the valve closed.

Mechanical unable to repair and train departed with toilets not working.

Sleeper space closed down for sale. (AC problems also reported on 5/13

and 5/26 enroute and 6/18 at New York).

C/62003 – arrived with air conditioning problems. Mechanical reset faults

and car cooling.

C/8507 – arrived with air conditioning not working to the cook area.

Mechanical found AC control switch bad order. Temporary repairs were made

and cook area cooling. (AC problems also reported in the cook area on

6/11 and 6/12).

C/25008 – arrived with inoperative toilets. Retention tank was full and

necessary to dump. Breakers reset and toilets working on departure.

Delay: 91(18) 59"

[End quote]

The interpretation of all of that is a long distance train, the

southbound Silver Star, departed its terminal in New York City with cars

that had not been properly serviced, including toilets not working

because retention tanks were full, air conditioning not working in the

middle of the summer (especially in the diner where cooking is done and

in high revenue sleeping cars), and other problems. What is particularly

disturbing is the person who wrote this report noted how many times

previously the same problems had been identified on the same equipment,

with no repairs completed, even though the New York City Amtrak coach

yard, Sunnyside, is a complete maintenance facility, as is Hialeah, at

Miami, where the train terminates. What repairs could be made enroute

occurred at Richmond, Virginia, 334 miles and six hours into the trip.

Richmond handles light turn maintenance for some Northeast Corridor

trains which use Richmond as a southern terminus. There was a hint of a

critical tone by the report writer as to why these problems had not been

previously addressed.

Inquiring minds want to know why this train was ever let out of Sunnyside

Yard and spotted in New York’s Penn Station to allow passengers to board.

Here are some thoughts that may help to correct problems such as those

outlined above.

- Both a manager and a union crew chief need to sign off on every

trainset released for service, stating it has been properly serviced and

cleaned, and is roadworthy. There needs to be visible accountability for

this.

- If a car is junk, or an engine hasn't been repaired and checked out

from a previous trip, then it needs to be withheld from service. Amtrak

would be better off annulling carlines or trips than exposing people to

the conditions described in that incident report.

- This is not a fall-back situation on the old chestnut of "Amtrak is

living on a financial starvation diet." There is absolutely no

correlation between budgets and not dumping full toilet tanks. There is,

however, a very strong correlation between management doing its job and

making sure mechanical workers are fully performing their duties as

necessary for the welfare and health of all passengers.

- One part of this that does reflect the budget is budgeting for

priorities. What is more important, serving passenger today with healthy

and reliable equipment, or replacing bridges and interlockings on the

NEC?

Just five days before the Star left New York with full sewage tanks,

Continental Airlines was experiencing some waste water problems of its

own, and these made the front page of many newspapers because it was such

an infrequent experience.

One of Continental’s trans-Atlantic jets took off from Amsterdam, heading

for Newark, New Jersey. The jet carried 168 passengers (much less than

the carrying capacity of the Silver Star), and only got as far west as

Shannon, Ireland because of a problem with the lavatory. The plane, crew,

and passengers all overnighted in Shannon while the broken lavatories

were allegedly fixed. Oops! The problem wasn't fixed, and sewage again

overflowed from one of the toilets, and seeped into the cabin of the

plane.

When the plane finally landed in Newark, a full day late, it was

determined someone had flushed latex gloves down the toilet.

According to the Associated Press, a passenger told Seattle television

station KING that sewage flowed into the aisles, only one restroom was

partially working, and flight attendants kept serving meals, but told

passengers not to each much." Continental made public apologies for the

problem, most likely caused by a passenger.

Gosh, it’s tough to ever hear about Amtrak making apologies for

malfunctioning equipment, especially when most of the problem is caused

by Amtrak, and not by errant passengers. Maybe Continental has the right

idea.

4) It looks like Amtrak and host railroad Union Pacific are working out

their differences to get Amtrak trains moving on a more reliable basis.

Here is a recent Amtrak press release, edited for space.

[begin quote]

June 20, 2007

Amtrak, Union Pacific Reach Agreement for Passenger Train Performance

Plan

California Zephyr Schedule Temporarily Changed to Account for Track

Improvement Program in Utah and Nevada.

WASHINGTON – Amtrak and Union Pacific Railroad have reached an agreement

on a performance plan to reduce passenger train delays attributed to

track conditions. Under the agreement, Union Pacific will limit speed

restrictions that can cause Amtrak trains to fall behind schedule on

Union Pacific's routes.

Union Pacific is the nation's largest railroad and is one of the three

biggest hosts of Amtrak service, including short-distance trains and

parts of four overnight routes in the West, Pacific Northwest and

Midwest.

Imposing temporary speed restrictions is a common railroad practice.

Frequently called "slow orders," these restrictions are put into effect

when track conditions require reduced speeds and are then removed as

normal track conditions are restored. On routes with heavy traffic, it is

often difficult to make track improvements without affecting schedules.

"This agreement defines in detail the maximum number of minutes of 'slow

order' delay allowable on each Amtrak route operated on Union Pacific,

while Union Pacific makes track improvements that will increase service

reliability and satisfaction in the long term," said Paul Vilter, Amtrak

Assistant Vice President, Host Railroads. "On-time performance is the

single largest determinant of passenger satisfaction and these changes

will make a real difference."

"This agreement is instrumental in helping our crews complete the

necessary track maintenance that will further enhance safe and timely

railroad operations in these corridors as well as improved ride quality,"

said Tom Mulligan, director of passenger train operations, Union Pacific

Railroad.

"These track improvements are part of more than $1 billion Union Pacific

is planning to spend in 2007 to maintain its track across the 32,400 mile

system," Mulligan added.

Amtrak corridor routes governed by this agreement with Union Pacific

include the Amtrak Cascades (Oregon & Washington); Capitol Corridor

Service, Pacific Surfliner Service and San Joaquin Service (California);

Lincoln Service (Illinois) and Missouri Mules.

Union Pacific also hosts some or all of the routes of the California

Zephyr (San Francisco Bay-Chicago), Coast Starlight (Los

Angeles-Seattle), Sunset Limited (Los Angeles-New Orleans) and Texas

Eagle (San Antonio-Chicago), which are also covered by this agreement.

California Zephyr Schedule Changes

In return for Union Pacific's commitment to limit slow orders, and to

allow more accurate passenger expectations and planning, Amtrak is making

limited temporary schedule adjustments to the California Zephyr, starting

June 21. The longer schedule will allow improved on-time performance

before slow orders have been removed.

"During Union Pacific's track work on the California Zephyr route, the

time added to the schedule corresponds to the minutes of slow orders to

be removed, and both will decrease as the work progresses, until we

resume our current schedule when the slow orders have been removed,"

Vilter said. "Throughout this time, Union Pacific has committed to use

the extra time to significantly improve on-time performance."

Some shortening of the schedule is possible later this year and

incremental changes are expected through the end of 2009, as Union

Pacific completes track work.

"Our schedule will immediately become more reliable and will continue to

improve as Union Pacific finishes its work, largely between Reno and Salt

Lake City," Vilter added.

Amtrak Background

Seventy percent of the miles traveled by Amtrak trains are on tracks

owned by other railroads. Known as "host railroads," they range from

large publicly traded companies based in the U.S. or Canada, to railroads

owned by state and local government agencies and small businesses. Amtrak

pays these host railroads for use of their track and other resources

required to operate Amtrak trains, with incentives for on-time

performance. The three largest host railroads for Amtrak trains in the

past fiscal year were:

BNSF Railway, 6.5 million train miles

CSX Transportation, 5.5 million train miles

Union Pacific Railroad, 5.4 million train miles

[End quote]

5) Earlier this month, Amtrak issued another press release. Amtrak is

doing god things.

[begin quote]

June 8, 2007

Amtrak/Army Partnership Builds Post-military Careers

Amtrak and U.S. Army Join Forces in "Partnership for Youth Success"

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amtrak and the United States Army are joining forces

to participate in the Partnership for Youth Success (PaYS) program which

provides career opportunities to soldiers upon completion of their active

duty service. The partnership launched today with a ceremonial signing in

Washington Union Station.

Under the PaYS program, the Army will screen and select applicants to

receive transportation related job training during their Army career,

with the guarantee of an interview with Amtrak after completing their

military service. The Army will provide formal skills and on-the-job

training to eligible enlistees and Amtrak will conduct interviews and

make job offers to qualified soldiers.

"These soldiers, who have served so admirably, should be given every

opportunity to make a seamless transition from citizen to soldier to

veteran to valued employee," said William Crosbie, Amtrak chief operating

officer. Amtrak is extremely proud to engaged in a partnership with the

U.S. Army to make this transition as easy and rewarding as possible."

The signing ceremony today was attended by Crosbie, Lorraine A. Green,

vice president of human resources, and Lt. Col. Burl W. Randolph Jr.,

commander of the U.S. Army Baltimore Recruiting Battalion.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 30, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 27

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For

more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and

other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Earlier this week, the local Jacksonville chapter of the National

Railway Historical Society held its monthly meeting, with a local guest

speaker bringing to the group's attention a Jacksonville transportation

project that cries out for common sense and help.

The project is a proposed trolley and/or light rail line on the former

roadbed of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, now CSX. This former steel

highway of commerce and passenger transportation was the main line of the

Seaboard into and out of downtown Jacksonville, leading to Jacksonville

Union Terminal, which is now the local convention center (Amtrak has

hemmed and hawed about coming back into this magnificent facility for the

last 20 years or so, and nothing much ever seems to get done.).

The piece of former Seaboard roadbed in question runs just less of five

miles, and is a full 60 feet wide. It meanders through several

"economically challenged" neighborhoods, industrial areas, and some

up-and-coming residential areas experiencing an inner-city rebirth. What

is important about this route is that it directly touches (we're talking

about measurements in feet, not blocks or miles) many major employers,

shopping areas, and the city hospital. Every ingredient is present that

would make this a viable, and inexpensive project to create a trolley (or

light rail) line that would not only serve a deserving existing

population (which is notoriously under-served by city planners, and is

beginning to squawk about that), but would have the natural benefit of

being a huge boon to redevelopment, which has been proven time and again

in successful projects of this foresight.

A model which proponents of this project are using is Seattle, where a 65

foot right of way was available in a similar area. It is now a

combination jogging area and trolley line with heavy landscaping.

Almost all of the length of the right of way is owned by the City of

Jacksonville; today's CSX turned the land over to it when the track

became redundant after the merger of the Seaboard and the Atlantic Coast

Line back in 1967.

What does the city want to do with this land? Why, of course, turn it

into a jogging trail. There is currently a proposal to do just that

pending in front of the city council.

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority, an independent agency which is

in charge of our area's transportation planning, construction, and

operation, has received suggestions this valuable piece of land be turned

into the proposed trolley line. "No, thanks," the JTA has said with a

straight face. "We're in love with busses."

In fact, the JTA is working on a long range plan to bring a bus rapid

transit system to far-flung Jacksonville, the largest city in land area

in the country. The proposed BRT plan, now in the early planning stages,

is expected to cost around $1 billion in today's dollars, and reach less

than half way to the edges of the city in each direction from downtown.

Oh, and the plan won't finish construction until 2030, too. The piece of

the proposed BRT that will serve some of the same area as the proposed

trolley line (no part of the BRT will cover all of the area) is expected

to come in at cool $100 million, and, again not be ready until 2025. No

one has fully identified where all or parts of this expected $1 billion

total expenditure will come from, since it is beyond the scope of present

city financing.

The proposed trolley line, if approved now, is expected to in place and

running in 36 to 48 months, and cost less than $40 million, money which

the city has in place right now. The trolley line will also intersect

with the city's existing Skyway Express, a pie in the sky monorail

project that is now more than a decade old, and has been nothing short of

a spectacular failure, attracting a total of less than 4,000 riders a

day, at a cost (thanks to you, the federal taxpayer) of hundreds of

millions of dollars. While the trolley connection won't be the savior of

the Skyway Express, it will help boost ridership because of the natural

laws of the matrix theory and hubs and connections.

This is not rocket science to figure out what is the best solution for

Jacksonville. What is important about this saga is the crucial aspect of

selecting the right rail projects for the right conditions. Too many have

always wanted rail as any answer to any problem. Many of those projects

have become expensive failures, which have only served to tarnish the

image of rail in general (whether it's local or intercity), and make the

overall process even more difficult for good projects to move forward.

Supporters of rail, be it those in government, private industry, or the

public, need to have the courage to back away from projects which are

unlikely to succeed. Florida has some exciting projects underway right

now, including the expansion of Tri-Rail in South Florida, and the

creation of an entirely new transit system in Central Florida to serve

the Orlando metropolitan area. Jacksonville has the opportunity to join

that club with a small investment (by government standards) that has

enormous proven benefits, not hopeful benefits. The Jacksonville

Transportation Authority needs to understand the gift it has in front of

itself and get off of the bus bandwagon.

2) URPA's William J. Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona had some similar

thoughts recently.

[begin quote]

By William J. Lindley

Taking three steps back for a view of the big picture:

In a discussion on California's high speed rail, I ran across the

statistic that of about 300 million persons in these United States, only

around 191 million have a driver's license. That's one-third of Americans

who can't drive. That includes our youth and our elderly, and those who

cannot afford, are physically incapable of, or who simply choose not to

drive a car. One-third. Gentle readers of this column will likely find

that among their personal friends and acquaintances, the ratio will be

similar.

Slicing these statistics differently, we find that among the 240 million

aged 15 and over, about 80% are capable of driving. That still means one

in five persons depends on walking, public transit, or getting a ride

with a friend. Some may say this means the "vast majority of Americans

prefer cars" -- and this is precisely the sort of misconception that

makes bad policy.

Around 80% of Americans identify themselves as Christian. Should we base

public policy on the assumption that everyone is Christian? Just over 90%

of Americans are not vegetarian. Should we base public policy on the idea

that everyone should eat meat? If 80% of Americans are capable of driving

a motor vehicle, should we assume that sidewalks and public transit are

useless?

Meanwhile, recently in the United Kingdom, the Daily Mail ran an article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...tml?in_article_

id=462091

about how today's parents don't let their children walk and play outside.

Instead, they are not permitted out of Mommy's eyesight, and must be

driven everywhere -- even from the garage to the school-bus.

We also read that children who are not permitted to play outside never

develop their immune system from touching dirty things. When we sit

inside and do nothing, we become sickly and fat. We grow unprepared to

interact in society. We grow too scared to confront our fear of going out

into the big room with the blue ceiling.

It is not crime, but the fear of crime that is the problem. There is

certainly far less crime in London today than in the 1800s, when

gentlemen carried walking-sticks for defense, not for style.

It is the fear of strangers, of anyone different than you -- also known

as "prejudice" -- that is the problem.

Our purpose here goes beyond having a better balanced transportation

system for its own sake. What we do here can make the world a better

place by improving our society, our economy, and our ecology. Perhaps we

can't change the whole world, but together we continue to make changes in

little parts of it ... more trains to more places for more people.

[End quote]

3) Okay, now, let's get down to some basic heresy, so grab your hats.

Amtrak runs too many trains.

It's alright to open your eyes, now.

In the imperfect world of today's passenger transportation by rail,

Amtrak is trying to be all things to all people. It wants to be a long

distance train operator in some part of the country, it wants to be a

regional train operator in other parts of the country, and it wants to

run commuter trains in a lot of places.

Amtrak needs to redefine itself as just one type of train operator (which

it was originally created to be): a long distance train operator, which

owns no real estate, and has a modern fleet of well-maintained equipment.

Take a serious look at some of the trains Amtrak operates, and ask

yourself why these trains are being run. The Empire Service, which with

the exception of one train to and from Toronto and one train to and from

Montreal, operates all of its trains in New York State. (The Lake Shore

Limited and the Ethan Allen Express also operate over these tracks, but,

like the Adirondack to Montreal, are not considered part of this route

for expense and income purposes.)

Ten daily trains (including the Maple Leaf to Toronto) operate along this

route between New York City and Buffalo, which has a 33% load factor. The

average length of trip is 123.1 miles, and the trains generate 31 cents

per passenger mile, based on 113,027,000 annual revenue passenger miles.

Just 96 passengers are carried per train mile. The Empire Service

generates revenues of $34,683,300 annually, but costs $57,300,000 to

operates, for a loss of $20,200,000 annually.

We know Amtrak has been saying state corridors will be its saving grace

and the future of the company. Okay, why are 10 daily trains being

operated in New York State, but at no cost to the state, even though the

trains run an annual loss of over $20 million? We also know Amtrak

recently raised the commuter fares to ride these trains, which brought a

lot of complaints from riders that don't understand why their rides to

and from work can't be heavily subsidized by federal taxpayers.

What do these trains overall contribute to Amtrak? Not much, since they

operate a such a loss. They do cost Amtrak a lot of money in management

and labor overhead, plus, of course, the cost of maintaining a lot of

rolling stock just for this service, and the cost of stations, not to

mention advertising, etc., etc., etc.

Partially using the California model, would these trains not be better

off (and their passengers more comfortable) if these trains were operated

by the State of New York, and not Amtrak?

We know Amtrak is always the most expensive operator of short distance

trains. Just ask any state legislator or state department of

transportation planner about the charges from Amtrak to run local area or

regional trains, and the answer will always be that Amtrak loads up state

supported trains with all kinds of overhead and other expenses, most at

above-market prices.

What difference would an Empire Service commuter notice if their train

wasn't run by Amtrak? There may be a chance at restored food service, the

equipment may be newer and more comfortable, and the cost may be lower

because the State of New York could independently decide what to charge

commuters (just at neighboring Metro-North does), and not Amtrak.

We see a wildly successful railroad run by Metro-North in New York State

and Connecticut. On time performance is good, and service level remain

high. Equipment is updated or replaced as needed, and the railroad runs

for the convenience of its passengers, not the other way around.

So, again, why is Amtrak operating the Empire Service instead of a state

agency? Because its always been done that way? Because the State of New

York doesn't want to pick up the tab?

4) For every similar service to the Empire Service Amtrak could cascade

off of its books, Amtrak would become a stronger, and more healthy

company. There would be less need for management, less need for labor,

and less overhead expenses. Local services would receive the attention

they deserved, instead of part time attention from distracted officials

in Washington at Amtrak headquarters.

But, wait! you caution, what about so many details, like ticketing and

reservations, and showing the flag? Details. Just details.

Before Amtrak, Americans were quite adept at taking trains offered by

different railroads, just like today travelers can figure out which

airline best serves their needs.

There is nothing wrong with Amtrak serving as a (paid) clearinghouse for

interline tickets and reservations, and coordinator of schedules.

If you travel to California today, and board certain trains that are

shown as part of the Amtrak national system, you will board equipment

that says Amtrak California, and is painted in a different paint scheme

than is found anywhere else in the system, and offering some different

seating choices and amenities.

5) Just like the Empire Service in New York, California has three

services which come under the Amtrak umbrella, but are local services,

including the Pacific Surfliner, Capitol, and San Joaquin services. The

difference in the two states is that California pays a substantial part

of the cost of operating these services, where New York pays none.

Load factors in California aren't much better than in New York; 33.1% for

the Surfliners, 28.5% for the Capitols, and 35% for the San Joaquins.

In other parts of the country, Amtrak operates other trains at the behest

of states. One notable train is the Heartland Flyer, paid for by the

State of Oklahoma. At a 36.5% load factor, this train single daily train

isn't clearing any loads off of highways over its 206 mile route between

Fort Worth, Texas and Oklahoma City.

In Michigan, the Pere Marquette, with a route length of 176 miles, and a

load factor of 60%, brings in a contribution of $1.5 million to Amtrak's

coffers, but only because the train is financed primarily by the Michigan

Department of Transportation.

Other services, such as the Hiawathas, running between Chicago and

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on an 86 mile route, and having a 38.6% load

factor, deducts $1.1 million from Amtrak's coffers, even though both the

Illinois and Wisconsin DOTs heavily fund the service.

Could not Chicago's excellent Metra be a better operator of the

Hiawathas, and, perhaps some other company operate the Pere Marquette?

Your next question will be, but, who can operate these passenger trains,

other than Amtrak? The answer is, almost anyone. Herzog operates Tri-Rail

in South Florida quite successfully. Connex (and its successor company)

took over the Metrolink system in Southern California.

Has anyone considered the freight railroads? After all, they are in the

train business. Does anyone doubt these for-profit companies, if they saw

a long range opportunity to be paid 100% of the expenses to operate

passenger trains on someone else's behalf, they wouldn't be interested?

6) An Amtrak without the overhead burden and distraction of operating

commuter and short distance trains would be a much more dynamic entity

which could focus exclusively on what it should be doing: operating long

distance train where the real growth in passenger rail exists.

The old and worn thought that only Amtrak can operate passenger trains is

not only narrow-minded, but conceptually and factually wrong.

Too many opportunities exist for Amtrak expansion and movement towards a

successful company to let it be hampered by taking expensive, short

distance riders to and from work five days a week.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 5, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 28

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New

York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position

papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) So very many misguided people and organizations constantly repeat just

one refrain about Amtrak: "Give Amtrak enough money and everything will

be fine." Such ignorant drivel.

The fight for Amtrak and the future of passenger rail in America goes far

beyond propping up a company - really, a child of government masquerading

as a quasi-private corporation - that for its entire existence has been

rife with bad management making bad decisions, political compromises that

haven't satisfied anyone, and a demoralized workforce that often not only

doesn't understand customer/passenger service, but seems to work in the

opposite direction. Sure, just give all of this mess more money and every

problem will be solved. Uh, huh.

Amtrak suffers from a nearly non-functioning skeletal national system,

poor equipment maintenance, and a constant attitude that any problem can

hold on long enough for next year's batch of free federal money to come

flowing into Amtrak's coughing coffers.

Amtrak has often operated with no tangible credit facilities in the

national money market, and it has often suffered through long periods

where even locomotive fuel suppliers have gone unpaid, and then cutting

off service. During certain periods, even company cell telephone service

has been cut off for unpaid bills. Much of that financial silliness seems

to be gone now, departing with former regimes that had no clear

understanding of the real world.

2) Who are the people who can fix Amtrak? There are lots of choices of

fixers, but the great majority of them share one common denominator: they

probably haven't spend much, if any, time riding an Amtrak train outside

of the Northeast Corridor, and have no real, clear understanding either

of what Amtrak does, what it is capable of doing, and what can be

accomplished with a little vision and some goal-oriented managers.

One longtime Capitol Hill insider, when posed with the question, "...

taking just a ballpark educated guess, out of a total of 100% of elected

officials on Capitol Hill, plus relevant staff who advise on Amtrak

and/or freight rail matters, and the relevant folks at DOT and FRA, what

percentage of these people have probably ridden an Amtrak train outside

of the NEC?" responded by saying, "I would guess except for the top cadre

at FRA, it approaches zero (unless the person in question is from a

corridor area like Chicago or California). Single digits at best."

What this response indicates, is the ignorant refrain "just give Amtrak

more money and everything will be fine" has no real meaning to Amtrak's

bankers and owners (Congress and the United States Department of

Transportation). Amtrak coming hat in hand every year to ask for more

money just means another request, another political compromise.

Add the constant drumbeat that Wondertrain Acela is Amtrak's flagship

route, and future of the company, and not only does tunnel vision come

into play, but a completely skewed view of Amtrak emerges that has no

relationship to the rest of the country outside of the Northeast.

Keep in mind, since Acela is an "invented here" program for Amtrak, and

previous disastrous stewards of Amtrak literally bet the farm (and came

perilously to losing it; far more than many people understand) on Acela's

success, much of Amtrak management still adheres to the discredited

theory that Acela and its ilk will eventually make the company stronger,

instead of weaker by the day because of the financial drain which is

caused by Acela and the necessary infrastructure to keep Acela running.

Adding to all of this are allegedly important national writers and other

misguided opinion makers hawking their personal dreams of high speed rail

and how it will save the environment and have other miraculous outcomes,

and you have a very confused group in Washington trying to understand

passenger rail and what is good for it and what isn't good for it. The

reality is, until America again has a mature conventional passenger rail

system which is robust and self-sustaining, then no investment in any

type of high speed rail will be attractive to any realist with a

checkbook, even he public's checkbook.

3) How do we cut through all of this noise and misinformation, and help

decision makers come to real conclusions about Amtrak and the future of

passenger rail?

First, we demand accountability. Any project, be it public or private, if

it can't stand the transparency of accountability is just a rathole for

someone else's money.

Second, we take a long, serious look at history, and figure out what

worked, and what didn't, not using the rose colored glasses of nostalgia,

but the real facts of public passenger appeal, needs met, and

practicality. In the process, we come to the realization the era of the

complete future of transportation relying on the jet airplane and

multilane expressways is coming to an end, and a new generation of

Americans, now in their 20s and 30s, who had no idea passenger trains

were every privately operated, want to explore all travel options, beyond

small airplane seats and steel cocoons barreling down highways.

Third, we seriously educate the decision makers, be they Amtrak's

internal planners and board of directors, Capitol Hill staffers and their

bosses, US DOT and Federal Railroad Administration managers and staff,

and various national opinion makers, which all of those groups just

mentioned relay on for valid information. In the process, we also educate

the news media so they will write stories beyond "Amtrak, the beleaguered

national passenger railroad, will chug down the track for another year

because it has received a new federal subsidy." All of these people must

have more than a rudimentary understanding of passenger rail, and how it

works, beyond selling coach seats on the Northeast Corridor.

Fourth, we seriously engage the host freight railroads in a discussion

which will have an outcome that will include: a) meeting the needs of the

freight railroads to service their money making customers, and B) meeting

the needs of Amtrak to run a full schedule of trains ANYWHERE in the

country that can reasonably support passenger rail service and not

disrupt the critical function of delivering freight by rail in this

country.

Fifth, we start to educate state and local government about the potential

and importance of passenger rail as part of our domestic transportation

network. Once state and local highway and transportation planners come to

the realization passenger rail is not only beneficial, but desirable for

the public, then that group will become some of passenger rail's

strongest supporters.

Sixth, the travel and tourism industry must be re-engaged to sell

passenger rail travel as a desirable, money-making concept. Many of

today's travel agents, meeting planners, and other travel and leisure

industry leaders not only don't understand Amtrak, but they have been

rebuffed by Amtrak to be full partners in selling Amtrak seats and

accommodations. Hotels that willingly offer 24 hour a day pickup and drop

off service for guests at airports, won't even consider picking up a

guest at an Amtrak station, simply because they not only don't understand

who Amtrak passenger are, but they probably don't even know Amtrak serves

their city or town.

4) There are, of course, a number of other things to be done, but the

list above serves as a good starting point. Until at least the education

level of people in Washington holding the purse strings improves, Amtrak

will never be regarded as anything beyond yet another federal program

which needs to be funded every year along with thousands of other federal

programs, each which receives about 10 minutes of overall attention

before the next item is considered.

Amtrak, and the United States of America deserve better than what now

exists in the form of passenger rail. One single company, often with a

skewed vision and horrendous management has poorly framed the future of

passenger rail, and worried more about how many employees work in a

dining car than creating any new trains to meet pent up demand. We can -

and, must - do better.

5) Speaking of dining cars, an enterprising URPA associate recently ran

across the web page for the Canadian National Algoma Central passenger

train, and made this report.

[begin quote]

Contrast the following to the "We'll open when it suits us and serve you

as we please" performance of Amtrak food service cars, where available.

This is from the web page for the CN "Algoma Central" Agawa Canyon Tour

Train. Their opening time is one hour before departure of the train.

Meal Service

Full meal service is available and depending on size of train, there will

be one or two dining cars located in middle of train consist.

Continuous service is available from 7:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. and includes

breakfast, hot and cold lunches, picnic box lunches, cold drinks, coffee,

tea as well as beer, wine and mixed drinks (alcoholic beverages are

available after 11:00 a.m. Personal alcohol is prohibited by law).

Breakfast Service: Seating is available at 7:00 a.m. on a first come

basis. Once Tour Train departs depot, and in order to accommodate

breakfast rush, passengers will be called to dining cars randomly by

Coach Number. Please listen for P.A. announcements.

Lunch Service: Service will be available immediately after last breakfast

seating and seating is come as you please.

Cafe Car Service: For your convenience Cafe Cars (dependent on train

size) will be located near both ends of train. Service includes hot and

cold beverages, light lunches and snacks.

[End quote]

6) Last week, we spoke of trolleys and transit in TWA. Distinguished

former Amtrak board member Paul M. Weyrich, now the Chairman of the Free

Congress Foundation, wrote one of his organization's daily columns this

week about the resurgence of trolleys.

[begin quote]

Free Congress Foundation Commentary

Oregon Iron Works - Let the Revival of Streetcars Begin!

By Paul M. Weyrich

July 03, 2007

There was a small victory for America last week. It went unnoticed.

Still, it is important and has a great future. What am I referring to?

The Oregon Iron Works, a company known mainly for defense contracts, won

a contract to build streetcars for the new line in Portland. The line

would travel toward the business district, in the direction of Mount

Hood. It would consist of a few cars but represents the first order of

new streetcars in America since the 1952 order of new PCC cars for San

Francisco, built by the St. Louis Car Company.

President Conference Committee (PCC) is an effort to develop a modern

streetcar. The first streetcar rolled off the assembly for a Brooklyn

line in the mid-1930s. Currently, the PCC operates in four cities, San

Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia and Kenosha. A single car operates in

other cities.

As late as 1970 the United States had three American streetcar builders

for subway, commuter rail and streetcars. All were closed. The era of

electric rail in America was over. Wrong. Whereas there were only seven

cities with streetcars today there are more than twenty. The number of

cities with subway systems has grown from five to twelve. Several systems

have placed orders for new commuter rail cars and several other cities

are considering modern streetcars. Unfortunately, all orders have gone to

Italy, Germany, Japan and other foreign nations.

Congress, following the demise of the United States railcar companies,

passed a "Buy American" Bill. Fifty percent of railcars built by foreign

firms must have half the parts manufactured within the United States.

This has been a thorn for American transit officials because they could

not place their orders with American firms. It is not that rail cars

built within America were a problem - indeed some of the cars built as

early as the 1950s are still operating. It is that the prospects for new

orders have been few and far between.

It could not be known that just a few years later the revival of electric

railways and diesel commuter rail cars was to begin. The revival began in

Edmonton, Alberta but Edmonton had to turn to Germany for its first set

of railcars.

When the rail revival hit America in San Diego in 1981, again German made

railcars whisked passengers from the Santa Fe station in downtown San

Diego to the Mexican Border at San Ysidro. City after city implemented

so-called light rail service: Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento,

Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, St.

Louis, Jersey City, Buffalo and so on. There are modern lines in

Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Washington, D.C. All orders have been

placed in the Czech Republic.

Another dozen cities such as St. Louis and Minneapolis are considering

modern streetcars. These cities use what is often referred as Heritage

streetcar lines. In other words, older streetcars. The first cities to

have such lines, Detroit and Seattle turned to England and Australia for

their fleets. The United States has a manufacturer of replica Heritage

streetcars. Charlotte, Little Rock and Tampa have American built Heritage

cars. Gomaco Trolley Company of Iowa completes such orders.

But Gomaco must turn to Milan, Italy for electrical components. Some

cities such as Memphis, have entire fleets which consist of three lines

of foreign-built cars.

The majority of cities considering streetcars would choose a modern

streetcar. That is the significance of the Oregon Iron Works contract.

These cities will now have an American company which might bid on orders

for new cars. There are light rail systems yet to be built, such as,

Norfolk, Virginia, which might turn to Oregon iron, as a light rail car

is just a souped-up streetcar. We need an American company to build

subway and commuter rail cars.

It is hard to imagine any other business which all but died has come back

as strongly as rail in America. Here is a toast to Oregon Iron Works. May

the Portland contract be just the beginning!

Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.

[End quote]

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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 14, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 29

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New

York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position

papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) It's time for a short, but illustrative history lesson. There once was

a strong company, that lasted over a century, that Americans - and,

citizens of the world - knew and respected for good service, reliability,

and value. It was conversely loved and hated, depending on your class and

viewpoint. To most, it was a haven of fleet footed transportation known

as The Pullman Company.

George M. Pullman, in the middle of the 19th Century, was the principal

inventor of the railroad sleeping car, and refined the railroad dining

car to levels of gastronomic delights. The company at one time

manufactured and then owned, and operated sleeping, lounge, and dining

cars on virtually every train in North America.

At one point in the 20th Century, The Pullman Company was so large, it

boasted that every night it made more beds than any hotel chain in the

country.

It's employees were peerless and dependable, and its maintenance shops

were the best. The Pullman Company fully understood that even though it

had a virtual monopoly on sleeping cars on passenger trains, it still had

an obligation to provide unquestionable good and profitable service. To

its end in 1969, The Pullman Company accepted nothing less than the best.

Along the way, there were a number of labor issues, typical of its day in

the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. The Pullman Company could

be - and was - ruthless in its business practices and in ways it treated

its onboard service employees. You had to be black to be a Pullman car

porter, or Pullman lounge attendant, or Pullman diner waiter or cook or

chef. All of the Pullman conductors were white, as well as the dining car

stewards.

In a day far less understanding of human dignity, every black Pullman

onboard services crew member was addressed by the traveling public as

"George," in honor of George Pullman. It didn't matter what the age or

seniority of the employee was, they were always addressed as "George."

(This rather revolting practice even extended to other black service

personnel outside of The Pullman Company in hotels, restaurants, private

clubs or on steamships in the early 20th Century, the influence of the

company was so strong.)

Dining car waiters and cooks and chefs weren't offered overnight sleeping

accommodations; they were expected to sleep on top of the dining car

tables overnight, and be happy about it.

Still, beyond the many fallacies of The Pullman Company, the firm was a

success, and, after an anti-trust breakup by the federal government, the

sleeping, lounge, and diner operations were co-owned by the many

railroads over which Pullman cars operated.

There were many advantages to one sleeping car company offering service

all over North America. Equipment was pooled, and in the winter, heavy

traffic trains from the northeast to Florida had a full pool of equipment

from the heavy traffic summer trains of the west to draw on. Often, after

The Pullman Company stopped painting everything in Pullman Company olive

green, cars were seasonally repainted to reflect the routes being run. An

armor yellow Union Pacific Railroad sleeper from the west may go

Pennsylvania Railroad Tuscan red for winter traffic in the east.

Service standards were also consistent companywide and nationwide. While

dining car menus reflected regional tastes, there was a multi-page manual

on exactly how services such as a glass of beer was to be prepared and

offered for consumption. There was the way most people made beds at home,

then there was The Pullman Company way of making beds (an art in itself).

At every originating terminal, The Pullman Company maintained a cadre of

inspection employees that gave every car on every train a last look

before it was pulled into a station for passenger boarding. If something

was seriously amiss, the car was pulled from service and a substitute was

quickly added.

The history of The Pullman Company was long and colorful, and anecdotes

could go on for pages. The important aspect is The Pullman Company was as

a responsible vendor of passenger transportation, that, even though it

was a monopoly, it was a private company which took its responsibilities

and pride of corporate name and reputation very seriously. Up until the

very end, there were only a rare handful of Pullman passengers, who,

after a bad trip, said "never again."

2) Fast forward to the fall of 2007. A possible reawakening of The

Pullman Company is on the horizon, with the combination of Amtrak and

GrandLuxe Rail Journeys. Here is the official joint press release from

Amtrak and GrandLuxe.

[begin quote]

June 13, 2007

AMTRAK PARTNERS WITH GRANDLUXE TO OFFER LUXURY RAIL SERVICE

GrandLuxe attaches private train to Amtrak trains on three routes

Washington, D.C. and Evergreen, Colo.- Beginning this fall, passengers

traveling on select Amtrak routes will have the option of lingering over

five-course dinners, sleeping in luxurious suites and enjoying personal

butler service. The premium service is being made possible by a new

partnership between GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, the country's premier,

private rail tour operator, and Amtrak, the national passenger rail

service.

This is the first time in history that luxury accommodations have been

offered on multiple Amtrak routes throughout the country.

Called GrandLuxe Limited, the new service uses a separate, private,

seven-car luxury train attached to several regularly scheduled Amtrak

trains. The GrandLuxe train, which features Dining, Lounge and Sleeping

cars appointed with elegant vintage furnishings, will be occupied

exclusively by GrandLuxe Limited passengers.

With over 90 departures starting in November and continuing through the

holiday season into January 2008, GrandLuxe Limited will be available on

three major Amtrak routes:

. Between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area, three days and two

nights on the Amtrak

California Zephyr;

. Between Los Angeles and Chicago, three days and two nights on the

Amtrak Southwest Chief; and

. Between Washington, D.C. and Miami, two days and one night on the

Amtrak Silver Meteor.

Eight additional two-day, one-night departures will be offered on four

special itineraries: Between Washington, D.C. and Chicago on the Amtrak

Capitol Limited; Denver to the San Francisco Bay Area on the Amtrak

California Zephyr; Denver to Chicago on the Amtrak California Zephyr; and

Chicago to Albuquerque on the Amtrak Southwest Chief.

The unprecedented collaboration between Amtrak and GrandLuxe is an effort

to increase ridership and introduce a new market to luxury train travel.

GrandLuxe Limited offers two- and three-day itineraries at more

affordable prices than traditional GrandLuxe tours, which cover broader

itineraries of seven to 10 days.

"This partnership allows us to write a little history by bringing luxury

train travel back to routes that have not experienced it in decades,"

said GrandLuxe CEO Tom Rader. "It's a winning situation for everyone.

GrandLuxe will be able to introduce its product to a wider market, while

Amtrak gains new marketing visibility. Most important, travelers now have

many more options for the mode and manner in which they travel."

"This is precisely the kind of joint venture with the private sector that

is a good fit for us," said Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant.

"Amtrak provides facilities and operating expertise while GrandLuxe

offers highly specialized train equipment and service, broadening the

marketing appeal of both companies."

The partnership between Amtrak and GrandLuxe is in keeping with Amtrak's

strategic initiative to explore ways to expand its business reach and

find creative ways to increase revenues through innovative partnerships

with the private sector. The arrangement provides revenue for both

companies in the partnership.

Prices for GrandLuxe Limited range from $789 to $2,499 per person. For

information, schedules and reservations aboard the GrandLuxe Limited,

visit www.GrandLuxeRail.com or call 1 (800) 320-4206.

About GrandLuxe Rail Journeys

GrandLuxe Rail Journeys (formerly American Orient Express) specializes in

long-distance trips in which travelers sleep in private cabins aboard the

country's premier, private passenger train. With 13 different two- to

10-day itineraries offered year-round throughout the United States,

including national parks and other popular destinations, a journey aboard

the GrandLuxe Express is much more than a train trip. Passengers

experience the Golden Age of Rail on the elegant 21 car train appointed

with vintage furnishings. Guests dine on delicious, upscale cuisine in

the Dining Car, relax in the inviting Lounge Car, sleep in comfortable

cabins, and enjoy personal service from their porters, butlers, wait

staff and tour guides. Passengers also view some of the country's most

stunning sights as the train winds through some of the nation's rarely

seen countryside.

For more information, full descriptions and costs of itineraries, and

brochures, visit www.GrandLuxeRail.com or call 1 (800) 320-4206.

About Amtrak

Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail services to more than 500

destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules,

fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit

Amtrak.com.

[End quote]

3) Let's take this new partnership apart and look at the pieces. This

partnership has a high chance of success from several perspectives.

The original American Orient Express, which inaugurated service on the

back end of Amtrak's Capitol Limited nearly 20 years ago between

Washington, D.C. and Chicago was not a success. The many reasons for

failure included the short duration of the trip, from late afternoon in

Washington to mid-morning in Chicago. It was essentially an overnight

trip, which did not afford passengers much of an opportunity to

experience the many delights of traveling on the AOE. The concept was

good, but the price was high for a single overnight hotel, even if there

was a baby grand piano in the lounge car.

Amtrak was also offering at the time a much higher level of sleeping car

service than it is offering today, including full service dining cars

which had edible meals prepared to order, and a full staff. None of

today's silly regimentation in the dining car was evident, and an Amtrak

meal had a decent chance of being an enjoyable experience.

AOE service was priced much higher than Amtrak sleeping car service, and

a clientele of business travelers was expected to abandon the friendly

skies for the down-to-earth pleasures of luxury rail travel. That never

happened, plus, there wasn't much of a market for land-based luxury

travel. Even though this was the time of the Concorde travel over the

Atlantic Ocean, luxury on land was relegated to hotels, not trains.

The standard departures in 2007 range from two days and one night to

three days and two nights, plenty of time for GrandLuxe passengers to

fully enjoy their luxury train experience. The value is much higher today

than it was 20 years ago mostly because of the length of trip and the

opportunities to experience the various facets of luxury train travel.

Pricing is an interesting comparison. All sorts of GrandLuxe

accommodations are available, including what used to be the standard

two-person upper and lower berth bedrooms that were prevalent in Pullman

cars, and, indeed, Amtrak today. On the Silver Meteor trips between

Washington, D.C. and Miami, Florida, these bedrooms are selling for $979

for a single sleeper (the equivalent of the old two person bedroom with

the upper berth removed) on GrandLuxe. In the Amtrak portion of the same

train, an equivalent sized bedroom, which can be occupied by one person

(but is available for two) costs $685 for one traveler, a difference of

$294, for the same departure from Washington on November 15, 2007.

On a northbound trip, the difference is $979 for GrandLuxe, but, with

Amtrak's yield management pricing, at this point, the equivalent bedroom

costs $569, a difference of $410.

Who will pay the difference? Plenty of travelers who are not looking for

basic transportation, but are looking for a travel experience.

GrandLuxe has made several very smart choices in its equipment. There are

very few senior citizen unfriendly upper berths on the train. Many

accommodations for two or three have all lower berths, eliminating the

hazardous and uncomfortable upper berths. GrandLuxe is not trying to

squeeze every inch out of every space, it's allowing its passengers to

have some convenience and breathing room - at a cost, which is fine, for

those who choose to pay the extra fare. On Amtrak, if two people

traveling both want a lower berth, two rooms must be purchased. Amtrak

bedrooms and roomettes are often less than clean, less than

well-maintained, and are utilitarian, at best. Too many times the

maintenance level of Amtrak sleepers is the same as an aging Holiday Inn

which is about to lose its franchise because of lack of maintenance.

GrandLuxe won't allow any deterioration of equipment or degradation of

cleaning and maintenance. The wood finishes and other appointments found

in the GrandLuxe cars were never found in this equipment when it was new

a half a century ago and running as part of The Pullman Company. It has

all been refurbished to levels normally found on smaller, exclusive

cruise ships or private railroad cars. Exotic woods abound, along with

plush fabrics and carpets. On Amtrak, the argument is often made that a

bedroom in a sleeping car is the same as a hotel room, so the price must

be high. The problem with this argument is the pricing is that of a

Hyatt, but the accommodation and service is often that of a Motel 6.

Lounge cars on GrandLuxe will not be the usual haven for loud, drunken

coach passengers as found on Amtrak, but a pleasant atmosphere as found

in better hotels and resorts. No culture clashes will exist here, and a

warm ambiance will rule the day.

In the dining car, there will be real cooking going on, with proper

service, good linens and china, and no plastic in sight. The meals will

be multi-course events with no rushing to shoo diners out for the new

wave of passengers. Food will be freshly prepared, often cooked to order,

including meeting the special dietary needs of passengers when requested

in advance. There are no "one size fits all" meals on GrandLuxe.

Onboard employees on GrandLuxe tell the strongest story of difference

found between Amtrak and the luxury train. Anyone who has ever been

around AOE or GrandLuxe knows these employees are crisp and well groomed,

well trained, and enthusiastic about their jobs. These employees have

been selected, not merely hired as part of some sort of social

engineering project as many Amtrak employees were in the past. If you're

wearing a GrandLuxe uniform, you want to be there, and look forward to

going to work, not merely counting the number of days until retirement

and hiding out in the crew car. GrandLuxe is part of the real travel

industry, as opposed to Amtrak, which often has very little focus on

hiring appropriate employees for onboard services. GrandLuxe employees

are the same as found on the better airlines, upscale cruise ships, and

in higher-end hotels and resorts. No compromises in appearance and manner

are allowed.

All of these employees have been extensively trained to graciously meet

the needs of demanding passengers with a smile and a crisp "yes, sir" or

"yes, ma'am." GrandLuxe employees understand the future of their jobs and

their company rests solely on high standards of passenger service, and no

free federal money at the beginning of the next budget year to bail them

out.

Some of the routes for the new GrandLuxe Limited service are notorious

for Amtrak train delays. What difference will that make to GrandLuxe

passengers? Probably not much, since these passengers are traveling for

the experience, not as basic transportation. There won't be any early

shutdowns of dining and lounge cars on late trains, and no running out of

food. The ambiance and entertainment on the GrandLuxe will remain, even

if the train is multi-hours late. Since the train itself is much of the

destination (as with a cruise ship), a late train will merely mean the

experience will only last longer, in a congenial atmosphere. At some

point some passengers will protest about late trains, but it won't be

anywhere near the unpleasant experience found in the Amtrak portion of

the train.

One of the routes, from Washington, D.C. to Miami on the back of the

Silver Meteor, begs the question why the trip doesn't begin in New York

City. The answer is an old one; the GrandLuxe consist includes a dome

car, which won't fit under the catenary of the Northeast Corridor north

of Washington, nor through the tunnels into New York's Pennsylvania

Station, or at Baltimore. So, GrandLuxe promotes use of Acela train

services into Washington, and then transfer to the luxury train for the

remainder of the journey from Washington to the south.

Some questions have also been raised about GrandLuxe having an end-point

mentality, not allowing passenger to board anywhere along the trip as

Amtrak passengers can do. GrandLuxe's travel agent materials inform

potential passengers to query GrandLuxe about intermediate stop boarding,

as this part of the program is still be worked out. That will greatly

open up the marketplace for GrandLuxe when this is accomplished.

Since GrandLuxe is controlled and run by savvy business people who come

from well known successes in the travel industry, such as Tour Alaska,

they understand the high value of partnering with travel agencies.

Already an enthusiastic campaign has been launched, and travel agents,

with high-end clients seeking something different for a domestic travel

experience, will not hesitate to sell GrandLuxe Limited trips. Amtrak has

become notoriously non-travel agent friendly, and has viewed the more

than 20,000 travel agencies in this country as expensive nuisances, not

industry partners. Some Golden Spike travel agencies, those which are

Amtrak's largest revenue producers, have already stopped selling Amtrak

products because of lack of reliability, poor response to customer

complaints on the part of Amtrak, and a general disinterest on Amtrak's

part to mine this crucial area of business versus placing all hope in

Internet booking.

4) The prediction is, this win-win partnership of GrandLuxe and Amtrak

will be a success, from every viewpoint, for all of the reasons outlined

above in the joint press release.

Here are some future ramifications, all very positive.

When this part of the venture becomes successful, it likely will be

expanded. There is no downside to that concept.

While Amtrak does maintain a better sleeping car service on its Auto

Train and Empire Builder, and is planning to do so on the Coast

Starlight, Amtrak still places itself in a corporate straight jacket with

its ongoing emotional complex that as a child of government, it somehow

seems wrong to attempt to provide any type of high end service, even if

it makes money. This aversion to success has been long ingrained at

Amtrak, and the recent downgrading of dining and lounge car services

proves the point. If Amtrak really had wanted to concentrate on

eliminating dining car deficits, they were many ways to do so without

cutting the service and lower onboard service standards.

If GrandLuxe becomes financially strong enough, what about the concept of

completely resurrecting The Pullman Company (less the bad racial and

employee practices), and GrandLuxe or a similar company privatizing all

of Amtrak's sleeping car, dining and lounge car, and first class

services? As The Pullman Company did in its day, almost two separate

trains would be operated in the same consist, with coach passengers

handled by Amtrak, and everyone else, willing to pay a higher fare,

handled by a resurrected Pullman organization? Unprecedented? Not at all.

A smart way to grow passenger business without Amtrak footing the bill?

Absolutely.

To make the concept work and be profitable would require two types of

first class service. First, maintain the high-end luxury service at

high-end prices for those wishing an ultimate experience. Second, take

over Amtrak's sleeping, lounge, dining car, and first class coach

services and merely upgrade them to the levels found at The Pullman

Company in the past (and, often found today in VIA Rail Canada), and

charge a similar, or slightly lower fare as being currently charged by

Amtrak.

This would relieve Amtrak of a large number of employees, administration,

and maintenance costs. Even though people dealing in the reality of

passenger rail know the sleeping car, lounge, dining, and first class

coach are ultimately where the greatest revenue passenger mile and profit

potentials exist, most likely Amtrak would feel much more comfortable

just being a provider of coach services versus full service passenger

train travel. The possibilities of this concept are endless.

For those wishing to raise a ruckus about GrandLuxe being an interloper,

and threatening the stability of rail labor, retirement systems, and all

of the other arguments, it should be noted GrandLuxe employees are part

of the Railroad Retirement system, not Social Security. GrandLuxe already

contributes to the maintenance of the retirement system.

Having a new Pullman Company promoting first class passenger rail travel

would also be a boon to Amtrak in the marketing areas. Any private

company would automatically work harder than Amtrak to market and

advertise its service, and this would, for many markets, be the first

time advertising for passenger rail was ever found. The increased

awareness would not only benefit the first class business, but Amtrak's

coach business, too.

5) Tom Rader, the Chairman of GrandLuxe, is no stranger to Amtrak. He's

also the head man at Colorado Railcar, manufacturer of the DMU prototype

cars in use in South Florida on the Tri-Rail commuter service, and under

consideration to be used in Vermont to bolster that state's passenger

train service on a lower budget. Mr. Rader is a savvy businessman, and

veteran of the travel industry, particularly both creating and operating

luxury train service aimed squarely at the tourism marketplace. Mr.

Rader, in partnership with the current Amtrak executive management and

board of directors, may be the spark that begins a complete

revitalization of first class passenger rail in our country, which has

endless miles and hours of countryside to showcase from coast to coast.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 31, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 30

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New

York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position

papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) It's that time of year, again, when Amtrak's fiscal future for the

next year is debated in Congress. Amtrak, again, is minding its manners,

and keeping a correct, behind-the-scenes approach to the whole thing,

working quietly to demonstrate to its bankers (Congress) why it deserves

it annual dose of free federal monies.

The ONLY person or group using the dreaded "b" (bankruptcy) word as some

sort of threat if Amtrak doesn't get what it thinks is enough free

federal money, is Amtrak's most unproductive best friend, the National

Association of Railroad Passengers. In NARP's ongoing quest to boost its

own membership and attempt to demonstrate relevance, it's keeping to its

usual off-key tune that Amtrak will be forced into bankruptcy if it isn't

given the whole amount NARP thinks Amtrak should receive from the public

treasury.

In its usual habit of ignoring facts, NARP says that $900 million in free

federal money would force Amtrak into bankruptcy. Rubbish. Amtrak's own

internal financial results show the company needs a nationwide operating

subsidy of less than $500 million, which leaves $400 million left over

the Railroad Retirement and other needs. The only real victim of such a

low free federal monies figure would be the ongoing infrastructure

rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor, which, if it had to wait a few

months, well, it would have to wait a few months. It would not bankrupt

the company.

What matters is what the real figure will be for FY 2008, probably in the

$1.4 billion range, close to what the company received for the current

budget cycle.

Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant commented in the last few weeks

before Congress that even if the company received billions and billions

of dollars, it does not have the capability of managing projects that

large; that he was comfortable with projects running in the $200 million

range; a reasonable comment.

2) We are beginning to see a faint glimmer of light in many news reports.

What has been refreshingly different about the past few annual budget

cycles, and this one particularly, is that trade journals and the media

generally have been reporting a broader set of critical views, as opposed

to just a single, often ill-informed perspective from the former Railway

Express building at Washington Union Station that houses NARP and its

hired help. This is despite the many news reports from across the country

which regularly report passenger and train operations horror stories of

biblical proportions.

3) But, as we look at Amtrak's annual need, what are real business people

and serious legislators and Capitol Hill staff members seeing when

looking into Amtrak's corporate soul? A pretty frightening and daunting

picture. Keep in mind ALL of these conditions exist because someone at

Amtrak has made an intentional choice to make these conditions exist, not

a lack of money as has been erroneously reported time and time, again.

- Despite annual infusions of federal and state monies, Amtrak's cash

needs are growing, not shrinking. Annual subsidies seem to be more of an

enabler than a cure, much as giving drugs to a junkie at Christmas.

Financial results are more muddied than clear.

- The overall condition of Amtrak locomotives and rolling stock is not

improving. Equipment breakdowns remain frequent, and even when equipment

is operating properly on the road, much of it is shabby, out of date, and

covered with rust and neglect inside and out.

- Amtrak's route system is stagnant at best, if not in decline. Most

routes are under served and non-passenger friendly. Almost a third of the

passenger equipment Amtrak owns is out of active service, and, for the

remaining equipment on the active equipment list, sometimes as much as

12% to 25% of that equipment is out of service for routine maintenance or

breakdown. The locomotive fleet, on average, fares about the same, with

sometimes nearly 20% of the fleet out of service. Any older equipment

which may have been remotely serviceable for future expansion, either the

lengthening of trains or starting new services, was sold off or scrapped

by the three prior administrations before Mr. Kummant's arrival.

- Initial terminal on-time departures are unacceptable low. Systemwide

average for the year is around 92% of trains departing their initial

terminals on time, but on some days that figure dips below 50%. If Amtrak

can't get it own trains out of its own yards and terminal facilities and

onto host railroad tracks on a timely basis, why should the host

railroads worry about running trains on time? The very great majority of

initial terminal delays are the result of equipment breakdowns,

unavailable employees because of too few extra board employees (or, none

at all), or turning and servicing late arriving trains which become the

next departure. This could be fixed with more equipment taken out of dead

storage and restored to service.

- Amtrak still does not report any relevant information regarding load

factors or revenue passenger miles, but, instead, clings to useless

figures relating to ridership and revenue (without reporting

corresponding expense figures).

- Of the generous amounts of money from the various governmental sources

Amtrak receives, it constantly invests that money in its least productive

services, the NEC and other short distance corridors, even though

Amtrak's own accounting system (flawed as it may be) still shows Amtrak's

best and most efficient revenue and revenue passenger mile generators are

the long distance trains. If you were the CEO of an ongoing enterprise,

and you were given five or 10 or 100 million dollars of free money, which

business would you invest capital improvement money in, infrastructure on

the NEC (often for the benefit of local commuter agencies), or getting

money-making passenger cars on the road which are the primary income

generators of the company?

- The great majority of Amtrak's passenger stations and terminals are

either in undesirable areas of the towns and cities they serve, in poor

condition, or lack basic facilities like shelter, safety, and running

water. Since its inception, Amtrak has used a prior century's station

facilities, with a prior century's amenities and locations. Quaint,

nostalgic locations offer little comfort for passengers seeking a modern

travel experience. Often, many of these same stations also lack adequate,

protected automobile parking, or any type of security measures for

passengers using the facilities during nocturnal hours. Even though

Amtrak has instigated a Great American Stations program to try and fix

this problem, progress is too slow and inadequate, with little

coordination with state and local governments, or private developers.

Even with the Great American Stations program, it's tough to forget

Amtrak history, and how many cities and towns have invested public money

heavily in locally owned stations, to have Amtrak abruptly cancel train

service on that route. Add to that Amtrak's excuses about the lack of

serviceable stations on the Sunset Limited route east of New Orleans as a

reason to keep any train out of that area, and one has to wonder how

serious Amtrak is about stations. If local communities can strive to fix

up stations along the route of the California Zephyr, then, why can't

local communities along the Hurricane Katrina ravaged Gulf Coast do the

same, so desperately needed train service can return to this area?

- On the whole, Amtrak employees and lower level managers, are underpaid

and under motivated, and have been working far too long without a current

union contract. This shameful condition has led to a decline in passenger

services, which has been exacerbated by poor hiring choices and a

willingness to keep too many employees which never should have been hired

at all. Often, the personalities of many front line and passenger

services employees are in direct contradiction with their job

descriptions and responsibilities, resulting in ongoing, unhappy

experiences for both the employees and passengers.

- Many Amtrak managers have survived and thrived because of membership in

the "good old boy" system, which has rewarded ineptness with promotions

or lateral moves to get rid of certain managers by making them "someone

else's problem."

- For almost all of Amtrak's corporate existence, there has been no

identifiable surface transportation policy coming from the executive or

legislative branches of government. As a result, Amtrak has been an

untamed child, sentenced to wander listlessly over the landscape,

existing on handouts from the goodwill of others. No one has ever

comprehensively looked at how Amtrak can completely fit into our nation's

domestic transportation matrix, and what it can realistically contribute

in a positive way. Instead, Amtrak has continued to ignore market

opportunities, focused on the worst type of capital investments, and not

really cared how many travelers do or do not become Amtrak passengers.

- Amtrak's overall relationship with its host railroads often is hostile

instead of friendly or mutually beneficial. The wars have gone on for so

long, it's often difficult to tell where common middle ground may be

found to make Amtrak the best customer of the host freight railroads,

instead of the most disdained customer.

- The overall marketing of Amtrak remains poor. Amtrak, regrettably,

remains America's best kept secret. No one really knows how much pent up

demand there is for passenger train service in America simply because a

great many Americans have no idea Amtrak exists, or if it serves their

town or city.

- Amtrak continues to say the dog ate its homework and not restore the

Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, or offer a similar substitute

service. If Amtrak is allowed to continue this charade, a precedent will

be set that will allow the company to discontinue any portion of any

route with impunity. Amtrak passengers and train-related employees will

find themselves without a train to ride or work on simply because some

Amtrak manager decided a certain route or part of a route was too

difficult to manage.

Now, if you are a banker (or Member of Congress or Capitol Hill staffer

gathering information for you boss to make an informed vote), no matter

what good things you may or may not perceive Amtrak to do, how could you,

in good conscience, continue to throw billions of more dollars at Amtrak

after it has already received nearly $30 billion since it was formed in

1971 and is in its present, reduced circumstances?

Since Amtrak, with the able assistance of NARP and other organizations of

its ilk, has constantly done a poor job of informing the public of the

real benefits of running passenger trains, and presenting the real facts,

either financially or about expansion opportunities, it's tough for

people of any sort to make competent decisions about Amtrak, and its

future potential. Therefore, many are operating on the theories that it's

only government money, and therefore from an unlimited pool, or if

everything humanly possible isn't done to keep a broken company like

Amtrak operating, then passenger trains will go away, forever. Both of

these theories are wrong.

Amtrak has serious problems, but is slowly attempting to fix many of its

problems. Inch by inch, some progress is being made. But, until Amtrak is

able to publicly demonstrate a better commitment to passenger service,

improve its on time performance by beginning with better initial terminal

starts, and willing to grow, either by lengthening too short trains or

outright adding service, then the perception is going to remain of that

of a seriously flawed and broken organization. If Alex Kummant does what

he says he is going to do, Congress can make a better decision in coming

years about the future of Amtrak.

Alex Kummant has already cleaned house of many senior managers and

executives who allowed these problems to fester over entire careers. More

needs to be done, on all levels. The entire corporate culture of Amtrak

must be changed, one employee at the time. It's not wrong to demand more,

as long as the tools and incentives to provide more are in place. It's

not wrong to find productive solutions to problems with host railroads;

every problem has some sort of solution, whether it's a pleasant or

painful resolution.

For those who wish to enable Amtrak simply because it's the only game in

town, that is wrong and unhelpful. Amtrak has the potential for

greatness, but that will never be achieved when mediocrity and the

corporate slovenliness of Amtrak are tolerated.

4) The Union Pacific Railroad is often named the best railroad in the

country. UP always has an all-star board of directors, and controls vast

amounts of freight traffic in the western United States. Too bad it can't

figure out how to live up to simple contracts it makes with Amtrak to run

one train a day in each direction on most routes.

First, on the Sunset Limited route between Los Angeles in Iowa Junction

in western Louisiana, the UP promised to run the Sunset in a more timely

manner of only Amtrak would adjust the trains schedule, and add more pad

time (time to catch up to the published schedule in case the train is

running late). Amtrak agreed, and moved the departure of the Sunset in

Los Angeles back nearly eight hours earlier. Whoops! The Sunset is still

one of Amtrak's worst performing trains for timekeeping.

Earlier this year, Amtrak and UP came to a similar agreement along the

route of the California Zephyr between the San Francisco Bay area and

Denver. Amtrak added more pad time to the schedule, moved up the

departure time to an earlier time, and allowed for UP infrastructure

maintenance and construction along the route. The Zephyr was supposed to

run sometime close to on time, by promise of the UP. Whoops! Some, but no

real improvement. Trains are still running too late.

Apparently, to the Union Pacific, contracts aren't very important, or,

absent that, their dispatchers just don't understand how to keep trains

moving out on the rails. Either way, Amtrak is paying a heavy price in

passenger dissatisfaction, poor equipment utilization, and onboard and

station employee overtime just because UP doesn't understand how to do

business in an honorable way. Keep in mind, this is the railroad which is

constantly named the best railroad in the United States. Perhaps new

criteria needs to be established for that honor.

5) In the last issue of This Week at Amtrak, we discussed the merits of

Amtrak partnering with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, formerly American Orient

Express. Part of the discussion centered around the possibility of this

experiment being successful, and perhaps leading to GrandLuxe, or some

other company, reviving the concept of The Pullman Company for operating

Amtrak's dining, lounge, and sleeping cars, and leaving the coach

business to Amtrak. It was suggested the new service would provide the

same levels of service as today's VIA Rail Canada, or the old Pullman

Company, not the current levels of GrandLuxe service.

Boy, you should have heard the howls of protest. That exercise proves why

it is so difficult to propose anything new or perceived as radical when

it comes to the broken concepts of Amtrak. Every argument imaginable was

made against the service, from the fear of higher costs (which would be

almost impossible due to Amtrak's current sleeping car service costs

versus the passenger benefits provided) to the fear the service might

actually be successful and rock the Amtrak boat.

The reality is, unless Amtrak continues to think in terms of interesting

and innovative strategic partnerships such as with GrandLuxe, it will

never emerge beyond the poor condition it is in today. Everyone should be

hoping for the success of GrandLuxe in its current form, because it is a

successful travel services marketer, and provides high value for the

services offered to its passengers. If this experiment works, then a wide

door for other improvements will be opened, offering hope for the

American passenger train beyond the often rolling slums they are today.

6) URPA stalwart William J. Lindley of Arizona continues our series about

examining Amtrak's current route structure for better equipment

utilization and better passenger service, while increasing revenue

passenger miles.

[begin quote]

By William J. Lindley

Recently we have been looking at how Amtrak can do more with what it has.

As we consider increasing revenue (not merely ridership), the main

concern is on maximizing the use of scarce resources. Engineers and

conductors can be hired fairly quickly. Food, fuel, and other supplies

are readily available. Stations and new routes, take time to ready, but

can be usable within a year or two. What is not readily available now, is

additional railcars. Let's look at how combining two short corridors into

one longer route can maximize equipment usage and revenue.

Amtrak operates four daily round-trips between Chicago and St. Louis, and

two between St. Louis and Kansas City. Since the April schedule change,

the first train to St. Louis from Kansas City arrives an hour too late to

catch the last train to Chicago.

>From Chicago to St. Louis (284 miles) is about five and a half hours;

from St. Louis to Kansas City, 283 miles in about six hours.

Checking the timetable, we find Amtrak needs seven sets of equipment -- a

"set" being locomotive and cars -- to run today's schedule. Each set, on

average, is used only about twelve hours a day. Because terminating a

train, servicing, and turning it takes awhile, and because short-haul

trains need to operate at reasonable hours of the day, there is little

room for improvement in corridors of 300 miles. (The January timetable

could have been operated with six trainsets instead of seven.)

Let's consider, however, using six trainsets with each train operating

the entire length of a joined Chicago - St. Louis - Kansas City corridor.

Each trainset will run five and a half hours from Chicago to St. Louis,

with a half hour there, and six more hours to Kansas City (total twelve

hours), then lay over six hours. That's 18 hours from entering service

until it's ready to again enter service ... or, thirty-six hours from

when it leaves Chicago until it's again ready to leave Chicago.

If we divide that 36 hours in two, as with two trainsets, there would be

a train every 18 hours. With three -- every 36/3 = every 12 hours. With

four trainsets, every 9 hours; and with six sets, every six hours.

The schedule could look something like this:

Chicago southbound:

6 A.M., noon, 6 P.M., and midnight.

St. Louis:

- for Chicago, 6 A.M., noon, 6 P.M., and midnight.

- for Kansas City, 6 A.M., noon, 6 P.M., and midnight.

Kansas City east and northbound:

6 A.M., noon, 6 P.M., and midnight.

These four daily 567-mile round trips would require zero new equipment,

zero new station personnel, and zero new stations compared to today.

Daily train-miles, crew, and operating expenses would increase about 25%

while offering many more daily destination ticket opportunities.

Factor in the "matrix effect" and you'll find new revenue from passengers

riding the Southwest Chief from Albuquerque to Kansas City and then to

Springfield, Illinois. You can't do that, now. Nor can you ride the train

from Jefferson City to Bloomington today, without spending a night in St.

Louis. The whole matrix starts to open up with service like this ...

which can lead to revenue increasing faster than expenses.

Folks are already riding the expanded Illinois service far more than

critics expected. Let's build on that experience.

What are the problems? Money, for one. Missouri would likely be asked to

pay twice what it does now "since you're getting twice the service."

Meanwhile, Illinois probably wouldn't be asked to pay less. Why would

this be wrong?

Let's assume for a moment that capital costs -- depreciation and

maintenance on the locomotives and passenger cars -- account for one half

of the annual expense, and operating costs -- onboard personnel, food,

fuel, and such -- the other half. If capital expenses increase, say, 10%

(with the same amount of equipment used, running six extra hours a day)

and operating increases 25%, that's a total of under 120% of today's.

If Missouri today pays $.50 and Illinois pays $1.00, then a fair

allocation could be each paying $.90 (50% of 120% the current grand total

of $1.50). How exactly that would work is a matter for Amtrak and the

States to decide ... but Illinois' share should certainly decrease.

Money is just one of the points of dispute in rearranging and combining

corridor and commuter rail operations, as we'll see in an upcoming column

about Southern California.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 4, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 31

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New

York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position

papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) If you have an advantage over your close or far competitors, why not

use it? Amtrak has not figured out that concept, and continues to

subscribe to herd mentality instead of the brightness of individuality.

Riding a passenger train, whether it's a commuter train, regional train,

or long distance train comes down to one factor: it is basic

transportation of cars on steel wheels traveling over steel rails. It's

not so different from riding a common carrier bus, such as Greyhound, or

flying on a jet airplane, such as offered by Southwest or Delta Air

Lines.

It's what can be offered to make the trip unique and desirable that makes

the difference.

Passenger airplanes, in the post war days of the turbo prop

Constellations, and the early Boeing 707s, offered an unique experience.

Well prepared hot meals were served, the Constellations had private

sleeping berths similar to the open sections of the Pullman Company

sleeping cars on trains, and those employees providing the service to

passengers were selected for their smarts, personalities, and good

appearance. Through the years most of that has disappeared, and today's

jet airplane travel, including overseas travel, has become a function of

seeing how many seats can be jammed into a long metal tube and shot

through the atmosphere. Oh, first class and business travel still offers

some perks, but they are limited compared to what they used to be and

they are expensive enough only the most well-to-do flyers can take

advantage of the service.

Bus travel has some improvements over the original open windows and what

today we would consider to be a school bus atmosphere. A limited number

of long distance bus carriers offer onboard movies, and a very limited

food and beverage service on certain routes, but this is not a common

practice. All busses have restroom facilities, but those facilities are

as cramped as the seats in the busses. There is nothing glamorous about a

bus terminal, and many are served by inhouse Burger King fast food

restaurants, not exactly most adults' idea of a good meal.

Passenger train travel is where the potential sits lurking, waiting to be

exploited. A passenger train, like a cruise ship, can be a moving city.

Trains and ships are the only two forms of common carriage with this

advantage. VIA Rail Canada figured out a long time ago (actually, they

never forgot) this concept, but Amtrak still often thinks of itself as a

Greyhound bus with steel wheels on steel rails.

Amtrak is in love with coaches, and thinks the need by passengers for

ingestion of nourishment during travel should be an annoying necessary

function, not a profit center. Likewise, the railroad sleeping car has

great potential, as demonstrated by GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, but scorned

by Amtrak. As we've said the past two issues of TWA, Amtrak's sleeping

cars, if only brought up to the level of the old Pullman Company, have

great potential. Instead, as Amtrak operates them, they are austere

shells with often less than ordinary passenger service.

A well planned train can have ordinary coaches (with excellent passenger

service and high levels of coach amenities and comfort), first class

coaches with more spacious seating and similar amenities to sleeping

cars, sleeping cars that offer many of the same levels of service and

comfort as good hotels, dining cars which offer satisfactory meals, and

grill and lounge cars which offer a friendly atmosphere and a variety of

light food, snack, and beverage items. Add to this a car with a gift shop

and entertainment venues such as electronic games and a children's play

area, and you have a full range of passenger services, all designed to

pay for themselves, and make a profit in the end. Plus, don't forget the

never-elegant baggage car, where great amounts of passenger luggage can

be stored and shipped.

If you're an Amtrak apologist, you will immediately say these types of

things can't be done without a lot of money. Or, you may say since Amtrak

is a child of government, then it should only offer the most basic of

services and not cater to upscale passengers. Such piffle. Imaginative

management, coupled with a motivated work force can accomplish many of

these things. A redirection of some resources away from the constant

financial black hole of the Northeast Corridor infrastructure and short

distance trains provides plenty of working capital to make this type of

train a reality. Amtrak, an a quasi-public entity, has a greater duty to

be self-sustaining and draw as little as possible from the public purse;

there is no commandment anywhere, written in stone or any other form of

writing, that says that passenger trains MUST lose money. That is only a

myth that has been perpetuated by Amtrak management and the National

Association of Railroad Passengers and other organizations of that ilk

which believe in the illogical concept that government is good, and

private industry is bad.

As we have discussed before, Amtrak onboard employees and station

employees, as well as those in back office functions like reservations

and accounting are de-motivated and self-demonized by their employment

and work atmosphere. Too many unresolved union contracts for too long,

too much negative discipline instead of positive discipline, and the

allowance of too many people to stay in jobs for too long they are not

suited for have made a complete mess of Amtrak passenger service.

Every passenger boarding an Amtrak train or coming into any type of

contact with Amtrak is always making a craps shoot, seeing if their

experience is going to be a good one because of a dedicated Amtrak

employee, or a bad or terrible one because an Amtrak employee is having a

bad day or a bad life. Airlines, cruise line, hotels, and just about

every other company in the travel industry does a better job than Amtrak

at customer service, because the employees have better motivation, and a

greater fear of losing their jobs. Amtrak tends to attempt to run off the

good employees, and retain employees that never should have been hired in

the first place.

Amtrak has all of the resources it needs to improve its trains, stop

being America's best kept secret, and be a successful company, beyond the

measurement of those ill-bred souls who believe Amtrak must be protected

in every instance because it's the only passenger system we have. Those

enablers would rather ride a bad train in agony than attempt to create a

good system of trains with potential. Those people need to go away and

allow Amtrak to flourish and grow, taking whatever painful steps may be

necessary to in the end have a healthy and robust American passenger rail

system.

2) This week's interstate highway bridge collapse tragedy in Minneapolis

will have many positive ramifications come out of the horror of losing

the bridge and those lives which were lost or forever changed by injury.

Already, there is talk of rebuilding America's aging infrastructure, and

perhaps giving a closer examination to surface transportation policy.

Add to that the current high prices of gasoline during the summer months,

and you would think commuter rail and short distance passenger rail

systems all over the country would be booming. Nope, that's not

happening. Those commuter systems and short distance lines which are good

and well planned, and do well under any circumstances continue to do

well. Those systems which have limited utility to people normally driving

their own cars remain as under performers. The bottom line of this is

that drivers are not going to abandon their automobiles until two things

happen: first, gas prices probably double or triple what they are today,

and second, a well planned commuter and transit infrastructure which

offers both convenience and choices comes into being.

Of course, it's a chicken and egg thing. In Dallas, they built a good

system, and the public flocked to it. Across the state in Houston, they

built a good system, and it has had decent ridership, but political

forces have decided not to expand the rail system, and instead rely on

busses.

In South Florida, the Tri-Rail commuter system continues to flourish, but

at a high public cost and not as high ridership numbers as are desirable.

Since Tri-Rail has added a tremendous number of departures, ridership

should increase, and plans to more than double the system's route miles

are still going forward.

If highway planners, who are most likely looking at a financial windfall

for rebuilding aging and out of date roads and interstates in the next

few years, look beyond the fish bowl and realize good, well-planned rail

systems can augment their highway plans, then the world will be a better

place. Rail will never replace highways, but it can be a vital component

in the domestic transportation matrix. The rail component can include

commuter, short distance, regional, and long distance trains, with as

many operators as there are as many types of rail. Amtrak doesn't have to

be the one-size-fits-all operator, and it won't offer all of the answers.

Thanks to the Minneapolis tragedy, and the success of systems like Dallas

and other cities and regions, surface transportation policy may again

come in vogue. We can only hope policy focuses on a salad bowl of all of

the components, and not just the pouring of concrete.

3) Last week, we briefly discussed the poor results of the Union

Pacific's operations of the California Zephyr and the Sunset Limited on

behalf of Amtrak. URPA's own Russ Jackson of California has been studying

the topic of the California Zephyr's on time performance in depth, and

offers a different perspective on the situation.

[begin quote]

How is the California Zephyr doing since its schedule was lengthened?

By Russ Jackson

We all know that Amtrak trains 5 and 6, the California Zephyr, have been

late regularly. From August, 2006 into June, 2007, the combined on time

performance of both trains at their endpoints, Chicago and Emeryville,

was 0.0%. On June 21, 2007, after arduous negotiations with the Union

Pacific the schedule was lengthened.

The new schedule has train 5 arriving in Emeryville at 7:50 P.M., with

very little extra pad from Martinez, and train 6 is scheduled to arrive

in Chicago at 4:25 P.M., but with almost 90 minutes of extra pad from

Naperville.

Since the 21st of June schedule change trains 5 and 6 endpoint OTP for

the year has "improved" and as of July 22 has reached 3.2%, but with July

1 through 22 showing 37% OT and improving almost daily.

The need for the schedule lengthening was the 129 miles between milepost

Alazon and Battle Mountain, Nevada, on what is nominally a double track

railroad. That stretch encompasses the historic Central Pacific line and

the parallel Western Pacific line that are both now owned by the UP. The

official reason is "temporary speed restrictions" (slow orders). The UP

has plans to repair the tracks in this area over the next two years, and

much has already been done. There was little for Amtrak to do, so it

chose to lengthen the schedule of the Zephyr running through that area,

with No. 5 scheduled to arrive in Sacramento at 5:50 PM instead of 2:15,

and train 6 arrive in Salt Lake City at 4:15 A.M. instead of 3:15 A.M. It

is this segment that is of interest here, so how has it been doing the

past few weeks: (not every date mentioned)

No. 5 Scheduled at Sacramento at 5:50 P.M.

Actual arrival time

July 1 1:54 A.M. (Very late)

July 12 5:09 (Early)

July 14 6:03

July 16 5:21 (Early)

July 18 5:03 (Early)

July 20 5:23 (Early)

July 22 6:16

July 24 5:31 (Early)

July 26 6:26

No. 6 Scheduled at Salt Lake City at 4:15 A.M.

Actual arrival time

July 3 12:09 P.M. (Very late)

July 12 4:00 (Early)

July 14 5:08

July 16 3:57 (Early)

July 18 3:30 (Early)

July 20 3:40 (Early)

July 23 5:34

July 24 3:50 (Early)

July 26 3:48 (Early)

So, what has happened? The planning for the segment between Salt Lake

City and Sacramento appears to have been correct. It is apparent that the

train can run on time, but of course the same old factors of freight

interference, on board incidents, locomotive failures, and other

variables enroute, some UP's fault and some Amtrak's fault, and in many

cases controllable by neither of them, will continue to cause occasional

delays.

Amtrak has said it will restore the shorter running time on the

California Zephyr when the UP repairs to the line are finished. We can

only hope, because it looks doable. Meanwhile, Amtrak invited cities

along the route of No. 5 and 6 to a conference in Denver on July 24 to

discuss station improvements and how to get money to improve them. Based

on the recent on time performance they had good news to report.

[End quote]

4) Here is a blatant, unpaid plug for a commercial product. If you are

interested in having a full understanding of passenger railroading,

including highly useful information from the past which can serve as

building blocks for a vision for the future, you should be subscribing to

the new incarnation of Passenger Train Journal, published quarterly by

White River Productions.

The magazine is available on many news stands which carry other, less

important publications such as Trains magazine, and you can also

subscribe to Passenger Train Journal. Look at the White River Productions

web site at www.whiteriverproductions.com . An important aspect of the

magazine is that it is not an automatic cheerleader for Amtrak or

anything related to passenger rail, and it often takes a realistic look

at the passenger rail products offered today. This refreshing editorial

viewpoint makes the magazine a valuable source of information assembled

by a professional staff.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-6760

b[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## Guest

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; August 4, 2007
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 4, Number 31
> 
> URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> TWA mailing list
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


Has anyone seen a more recent URPA newsletter?


----------



## MrFSS

Guest said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> This Week at Amtrak; August 4, 2007
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760, Electronic Mail [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 4, Number 31
> 
> URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-6760
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> TWA mailing list
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa
> 
> 
> 
> Has anyone seen a more recent URPA newsletter?
Click to expand...

I've not received any updates recently and the website doesn't show any, either. Don't know what has happened to them.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 27, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 32

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New

York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position

papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Thanks to all who have inquired about the missing This Week at Amtraks

lately. Due to the death of an aunt, a trip to her funeral, the lengthy

terminal illness of a dear friend of 40 years who passed away last week

and taking care of his many final needs in the last few weeks, and caring

for my elderly parents, time has been in demand. This issue should be the

resumption of a regular schedule.

2) It's just a couple of weeks beyond a year that Alex Kummant, President

and CEO of Amtrak reported to work last September. Here is what Mr.

Kummant had to say to Amtrak employees in an internal newsletter on

September 18th, six days after the first anniversary of his stewardship

of our nation's passenger rail service.

[begin quote]

President and CEO Kummant: Outlook on Amtrak's Future

Dear Co-workers,

When I joined Amtrak a year ago, everyone told me that time passes

quickly here, and it certainly does. It's hard to believe that this month

marks my one-year anniversary - in some ways I feel like it was just

yesterday that I walked through the doors at Union Station. I've learned

a lot this past year, and while we need to continue to address our

day-to-day problems, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts about our

future together.

First, I want you to know that I am most impressed with the dedication

and expertise of our employees. There's a sense of mission that

collectively drives our employees - whether you're in an office, aboard a

train, in the shops or at a work site - and it's unique to Amtrak.

Despite our challenges, there is a great loyalty to our company.

Second, FY '07 will go down in the books as another strong year for us,

both in ridership and ticket revenue. We have managed - in the face of

rising fuel costs, inflation and other factors - to keep our operating

loss steady. The credit for these accomplishments belongs not only to the

employees who worked hard to deliver quality service this year, but also

to those who rebuilt our infrastructure and fleet over the last few

years.

Third, I've realized that there is a huge reservoir of people out there

who support Amtrak. It's not just the people who simply love trains and

train travel; it's local, state and federal elected officials, community

and business leaders, among others. I find that network very encouraging.

I've met station volunteers, people who memorize our schedules, and

others who know virtually every piece of equipment; they also give me a

lot of free advice.

Fourth, one of most important lessons I've learned over the last 12

months is that we think too much in the moment; we are too worried about

surviving and not enough about thriving. Simply getting through another

month is too low of a bar for a company with as much talent as Amtrak.

Without a doubt, we have to be focused on doing our jobs, operating

safely and being good managers, but we have to break through to the other

side.

There are very few opportunities in business where the path is as

well-lighted as ours. In addition to the growing support for passenger

rail, there are factors that make intercity passenger rail extremely

relevant in today's world. Highway and airway congestion, volatile fuel

prices, increasing environmental awareness, and a need for transportation

links between growing communities, are a few among them. The stage is set

for Amtrak to take on a role not just as a contributor to the nation's

transportation network, but as a leader among transportation modes.

Growth is my strategy for the future and it will take shape along three

integrated fronts: investing in our workforce, investing in our

partnerships with states and freight railroads, and investing in

equipment and infrastructure.

You are the face of our product, and all of us combined are its strength.

Our industry has changed and we have to change with it; we must invest in

our human capital to build a 21st century workforce. Achieving new union

agreements is only a part of the strategy; it also has to reflect the

large number of expected retirees in the next few years. Accordingly, we

need to map out sound hiring strategies to meet the needs of the future.

Nonetheless, I reiterate my willingness to join our unions at the

negotiating table to achieve fair and fiscally responsible agreements

that meet the needs of the company and our deserving agreement-covered

employees, as well as to better attract and retain a highly skilled and

engaged workforce.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the future of our business

is in expanding and developing corridor service. We need to strengthen

our partnerships with states and host railroads to make that happen. We

can take a leadership role in advancing corridor service with bold

infrastructure projects that would break apart some of the key

bottlenecks across the country. By dedicating some capital and working

with our state and freight partners, we could open up segments of routes

that would transform rail service.

Imagine what a dedicated line from Chicago to Porter, Ind., would do for

the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited services, as well as our

Michigan trains. Imagine what an additional line between Richmond and

Washington could do to improve and expand service there, or another route

developed to link Los Angeles and the Bay area. What I'm suggesting is

that we have to be bold.

If we hold out the promise of growth, we have to acquire new equipment.

Much of our fleet is old and we run the wheels off our equipment. It's

high time we invest in new equipment and our state partners - and

prospective partners - are looking to us to take the initiative on this

front.

When I accepted this job, I knew I was joining a cause as much as a

business. Amtrak was created at a time when few saw any chance of

survival of passenger rail. Now we are seen as one of the solutions to

high gas prices, climate change concerns, and congestion. The company has

proven itself and now we have to be more than just survivors, we have to

be builders. That challenge falls to all of us - I'll do my part in

leading and driving the vision, but every single Amtrak employee can play

a real role in taking us to the next level.

Sincerely,

Alex Kummant

President and CEO

[End quote]

2) Let no one doubt Mr. Kummant is a good communicator. Since his arrival

last September, he has moved quickly to establish himself as a credible

and professional voice and image for Amtrak, eschewing the histrionics of

his predecessors.

In his outlook for the future, he hits some important highlights, such as

new union agreements, better partnerships with states and others,

thinking for the future, not just the present, and growth for the

company. Much of this is long-standing URPA doctrine.

There are two sad highlights, however, in his communique.

One, is his citing of increases in ridership and revenue, which, again,

at the risk of sounding like a broken record, are overall meaningless

numbers when not reported alongside of revenue passenger miles and

expenses. Mr. Kummant alludes to keeping costs under control, but he does

not share any goals implied or reached.

>From a ridership standpoint, if ridership on the Sunset Limited tripled

between Los Angeles and Pomona, California tripled, that would be a nice

bump in that figure, but it would be catastrophic for both the route and

the company, because the ridership would be for a very short distance

(only 32 miles), and travelers on that segment only would block out

higher revenue generating passengers who may wish to travel the average

length of the route many passengers do travel, which is hundreds of

miles. Again, ridership numbers are meaningless, and are only valid in

the transit world where a different type of zone fares are used, and

revenue passenger miles and load factor are not counted. Every other

common carrier, be it buses, airplanes, or steamships, count revenue

passenger miles, not ridership as the prime and only important

measurement of success or failure.

Amtrak continues to act like its only alternative to any scenario is to

continue to lose money on its operations. Again, this is unacceptable;

Amtrak does have the ability to make money on many of its trains when

actual, real-world accounting is used (including all types of railroad

accounting rules which are used by the freight railroads) instead of

Amtrak's current recipe for cooking its books.

The most grotesque statement of Mr. Kummant's was regarding growth, in

which he said, "At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the future

of our business is in expanding and developing corridor service." Someone

... anyone, please disclaim this unsavory business strategy which has

already been proven by Amtrak for decades to be doomed to failure.

Realistic and professional people can only hope that statement is a

canard of the worst sort; others cling to it as unholy gospel, hoping to

turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

How many times does it have to be said? The only hope of a financial

future - and, therefore reliable future - for Amtrak is to rely on the

cheap to operate, high revenue generating national long distance route

system, and not the high expense, low revenue generating corridor route

system, which has little, if any, chance of financial success.

It wasn't the long distance trains that pulled down the private,

pre-Amtrak passenger railroads; it was the railroads which operated a

high number of commuter and corridor trains which suffered the greatest

losses. That fact still remains true, today.

3) The Wall Street Journal, in late August ran the ultimate puff piece on

Mr. Kummant, never really asking any difficult questions, and somewhat

slanting the article in favor of Amtrak. Andrew Selden of URPA had this

response to the article, which also correctly outlines many of the faults

of Mr. Kummant's approach to his year at Amtrak.

[begin quote]

By Andrew Selden

The Wall Street Journal Amtrak article of August 23, 2007, extolling the

wonders of Amtrak's recent ridership gains in the Northeast Corridor, and

almost glibly dismissing the rail network elsewhere in the country,

created a terribly misleading mis-impression of Amtrak's results.

By relying on an almost irrelevant metric, "ridership," which measures

only transaction volume, but omitting load factor and, most importantly,

output, measured by passenger miles, one is left with the sense that

short urban corridors such as the NEC are the best or most successful

market for intercity passenger rail. This is exacerbated by referring to

Amtrak's modal split in the northeast against the trunk airlines as a

proxy for market share. This impression is completely backwards and

wrong.

It is still the case that most of Amtrak's output of passenger

transportation occurs in its interregional, longer distance markets. The

long distance trains have by far the highest load factors, often double

the short corridors. Even the vaunted Acelas have no more than 50% load

factors, and that largely on the strength of 90-mile New York

Philadelphia ridership. Outside that tiny segment, Acela load factors

drop into the range of 30% or less. Amtrak's market share for intercity

passenger transportation in the Northeast is less than 2%.

It seems odd the story noted airlines are all too ready to shed their

high-cost short routes in favor of high revenue long distance routes, but

failed to question why Amtrak pursues the opposite strategy.

The most glaring omission was the failure to report that whatever

accomplishments Amtrak has made in the NEC come at an astonishing cost to

the taxpayers of a billion dollars a year in free federal subsidy. The

Acelas and the other NEC trains have the highest subsidy cost per

passenger and per passenger mile of any trains Amtrak operates. The long

distance trains produce (depending on the route) five to seven times the

revenue and output per dollar of federal support than any NEC train,

including the Acela. Their 50 to 70% load factors prove those markets are

underserved relative to demand. Corridor and NEC load factors of 30 to

45% prove that they are already overserved.

This variance also explains Amtrak's chronically dismal, and worsening,

financial results of operations: it consistently pours the vast majority

of its annual federal subsidy into its services with the lowest returns

on invested capital. In fact, measured by GAAP, the $3 billion federal

subsidy that created Acela has produced a negative rate of return on

investment, not even counting the hundreds of millions of dollars of

subsequent annual capital and operating subsidies without which no Acela

could turn a wheel.

[End quote]

4) To sum up Mr. Kummant's first year of stewardship, we have to visit

the following three points:

- Amtrak's financial results of operations are declining, it's dependence

on public sector welfare, such as new monies from state corridors is

increasing, it's relevance to national mobility measured by market share

and by total output are declining, and it has a vision and strategy that

have not changed (unlike everything else in America) since the High Speed

Ground Transportation Act of 1966.

- Mr. Kummant's direction for the company is nothing new. While he

personally has no history of passenger rail to know any better, and is

dependent on the staff brain trust for data and vision, the current "new"

direction of heavy growth on corridor reliance has been tried repeatedly,

and has never succeeded. This is "emerging corridors" redux - 1972 all

over again. Acela is the new TurboTrain.

- Mr. Kummant fortunately moved swiftly to achieve a much needed cleaning

out of Amtrak's upper levels of its management ranks. Gone were some of

Amtrak's worst executives in its history, and they were replaced by some

excellent (but not all excellent) choices.

5) On a positive note, we do have the upcoming experiment with GrandLuxe

Journeys premier sleeping and dining car service coming in the late fall.

If everyone keeps enough of an open mind, this could be a harbinger of

good things to come, based on concepts and revised applications to other

services.

We have also seen increases in corridor train services, but, again, only

at the cost of state treasuries kicking in more money to Amtrak instead

of Amtrak figuring out a way to generate more income from ticket revenues

and making better use of current assets.

6) The greatest sour note of the year remains the lack of service over

the Sunset Limited route between New Orleans and Florida. Amtrak

continues to ask everyone to believe the dog ate its homework instead of

offering any real reasons why this service has not been resumed.

7) Anyone who has had the pleasure of being a VIA Rail Canada passenger

knows our Canadian cousins excel at customer service. The following press

release from VIA explains why.

[begin quote]

VIA Rail Cites Customer Focus as Strategic Business Advantage

WEBWIRE - Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Brockville, Ontario - VIA Rail Canada's President and Chief Executive

Officer, Paul Côté, today emphasized that customer service is the

foundation for the company's success. VIA has chosen to focus on

providing excellent customer service as its core business strategy,

citing this as a strategic business advantage.

Addressing a group of business people at a luncheon organized jointly by

the Brockville Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club, Côté showcased the

VIA experience as one-of-a-kind..

"A recent survey indicated a 98 per cent customer satisfaction rating for

VIA, a score that makes us one of the most trusted and admired

transportation companies in Canada" said Mr. Côté. "In a market that has

seen little growth over the past five years, there is really only one way

to make our business thrive - by increasing the value of that unique

experience for our customers. The reason people choose the train is it

offers something a little different - a more comfortable, convenient and

less stressful way to travel. We call it the more 'human' way to travel"

he added. "And our success as a business depends on delivering a 'human'

experience that consistently matches and surpasses expectations"

This strategy has produced tangible results. In the 2006 Commerce-Léger

Marketing Survey, respondents ranked VIA as the most admired

transportation company and one of the top 30 most admired companies

overall. Last year, VIA's revenues increased, for the third straight

year, to close to $300 million. More than four million passengers boarded

VIA trains last year; the Quebec City-Windsor corridor alone carried a

record 3.5 million passengers.

VIA has an established presence in the City of Brockville - the city that

opened the first railway tunnel in Canada, and marked the completion of a

new rail service from Montreal more than 150 years ago. That service grew

into a network linking Quebec City to Windsor, which now carries some 400

passenger trains per week, and 3.5 million passengers per year. Last

year, 63,000 passengers used the Brockville station, placing it among the

busiest stations in Canada.

[End quote]

8) URPA's always-pondering-the-world-around-him William Lindley of

Arizona has these worthwhile thoughts.

[begin quote]

Lessons From Busways and Trains

By William Lindley

Los Angeles in late August inaugurated a prototype 65-foot long bus. The

Metropolitan Transportation Authority is testing this bus, which fully

loaded, can carry over 130 sitting and standing passengers, to add

capacity to its strained Orange Line busway. The problem is, the Orange

Line has proven so popular that even as buses leave their first stop,

they are already packed. And significantly increasing frequency is not an

option because the busway is already handling nearly as many buses per

hour as it can. The only solution for now is to operate ever-longer buses

- and MTA had to get a waiver because this new bus is technically illegal

because of its excessive length.

Even such longer buses are unlikely to add enough capacity to handle

current, let alone future, demand. The only long term solution is... a

train. A 65-foot bus can carry about as many persons as a single car on

the Red Line subway... except a subway train can have four, six, eight,

or more cars in one train, all controlled by one motorman. One such train

every two minutes, then, carries eight times as many riders as one of

these new buses every two minutes.

So what was the point of building a busway instead of extending the Red

Line from the outset?

One could reasonably hold that Los Angeles could have worked harder to

overcome community opposition to a rail line. Yet, when all you have are

forecasts and predictions about ridership, it's hard to convince

politicians, much less the jaded voting public, that even the most

well-constructed model will reflect reality. Even though constructing the

busway first and then having to replace it with a rail line later will

have cost more, there is now unquestionable proof - in packed buses - the

riders are there. The case for rail here has become far easier to make.

And isn't it better for the public to have had several years of actual

bus service first, instead of bickering for years about rail that might

never happen?

In considering commuter and intercity rail, the same lesson applies.

It is better to build something small NOW and prove the demand, than to

study and argue for years. The high cost of inaction is in jobs not

taken, shopping trips not made, and time wasted sitting behind the wheel

of an automobile. And how do you calculate the cost of Grandma sitting at

home instead of going to a movie or visiting her family?

The more hidden lesson of the Orange Line, though, is in not starting TOO

small. We have lost count of the poorly-conceived and poorly-executed

examples of bus and rail service that litter the American countryside.

No, a line has to be designed to succeed.

Rolling even the most glamorous commuter train down a poorly-maintained

30-mph branch line twice a day, over the objection of the host railroad,

is not a plan for success.

Neither is spending billions on 150-mph speedster trainsets, and then

running them on a 90-mph railroad without addressing outdated tunnels,

crumbling stations, and poor integration with buses and other trains.

Despite what some rail pundits might say, the MTA did the right thing

with the Orange Line busway. Build something that's useful and usable,

and it will be used. That's the best way to build the popular and

political support any publicly-funded project deserves. Plan big, start

small, and serve the public.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 2, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 33

Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,

URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and

plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in

Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,

California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New

York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position

papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) President George Herbert Walker Bush, the father of the current

President Bush, was probably, by resume, the most qualified man to be

President of the United States in the 19th and 20 Centuries. In addition,

he is a true gentlemen's gentleman, and a master of making people in his

company feel at ease.

Like his presidential son, though, Mr. Bush sometimes had a tough time

coining a phrase. One of the phrases Mr. Bush was famous/infamous for was

"the vision thing." He knew what he wanted to say, and his thoughts about

a vision for his country and the world were right, but he just couldn't

express himself off the cuff in the best manner.

If only that was Amtrak's problem. Not only does Amtrak totally not

understand "the vision thing," it seems to go to great pains to prove how

much tunnel vision it has as a corporation.

We know every president Amtrak has had since the late Graham Claytor has

done their best either to run the company into the ground, or has been

cleaning up after their predecessors who nearly succeeded in running the

company into the ground. But, at some point, "the vision thing" has to

kick in for the company to ultimately survive.

To give credit where some credit is due, the two Amtrak presidents

immediately after Mr. Claytor, Tom Downs and George Warrington (the first

two of the Transit Trio), did have a vision for Amtrak, even though it

was completely flawed from inception. Mr. Downs and Mr. Warrington both

envisioned the Acela project in the Northeast Corridor would save the

company and create a pattern for the future of passenger rail in this

country.

Of course, just the opposite occurred, and the deeply flawed Acela and

its needs and the mismanagement of Mr. Warrington pushed Amtrak as far

towards bankruptcy as it has ever been. But, give Mr. Downs and Mr.

Warrington credit for at least having some sort of vision, wrong as it

was in so many ways. And, give David Gunn credit for going into a

desperate situation that still probably no one but him fully appreciated,

and holding things together.

Alex Kummant, Amtrak's current president and chief executive officer,

apparently envisions picking up where Mr. Warrington left off, and making

short distance and regional corridors the hallmark of Amtrak. Mr. Kummant

also is pursuing a strategy where someone, other than Amtrak, pays for

all of this new service.

The vision lacking here is real growth for Amtrak. With Amtrak just

running modified busses on rails on behalf of states, the company is

merely treading water, not growing. Amtrak works on a cost-plus basis for

the states, and these contracts can't really generate any legitimate cash

or real profits for Amtrak; they just cover expenses along with a

nuisance markup.

Everyone had hoped the Amtrak Board of Directors was going to select a

real visionary to run Amtrak this time; someone who knew how to hire the

right people to run the business while spending a lot of time building

for the future of Amtrak. More than one candidate interviewed fit that

description. Instead, they hired a technician with a resume, who has a

history of only keeping jobs for a relatively short time before moving on

to the next and better opportunity. The jury is a long ways from being in

on Mr. Kummant, and, indeed, he has done many things right in his first

year of service for the American people. But, we just haven't seen "the

vision thing" from him beyond what his staff has conjured up from the

ashes of failed past Amtrak strategies.

What resources is Amtrak putting into working with others? Historically,

Amtrak has put precious little human capital into paying attention to its

important partners, such as cities and states. Since these areas are

where Amtrak appears to be looking to build for its future, how much

attention is it paying to these areas? How much is Amtrak out "beating

the bushes" looking for new business opportunities? Does Amtrak care if

any city or town wants a new station? Does it care if a state or city

wants to restaff an unmanned station? Does it care whether or not

important cities, towns, and communities around the country even have

Amtrak service?

Amtrak's long distance system, the core of its being and its only hope

for a future, continues to languish. Mr. Kummant said in his one year

anniversary address to Amtrak employees he's planning for new rolling

stock. But, what kind? Diners, sleeping cars, and lounges? Just coaches?

Baggage cars?

We continuously hear from every quarter about a rail capacity crisis in

our country, and how he freight railroads would be put to great

discomfort if they had to run more passenger trains. Fine, but is anyone

with any type of vision, beyond railroad icons like former Federal

Railroad Administration Administrator Gilbert Carmichael, doing anything

to fix this problem? What is United States Secretary of Transportation

Mary Peters doing to help create a new vision? What is current FRA

Administrator Joseph Boardman doing to help create a new vision? More

importantly, what is Amtrak doing to heal relations with its host

railroads and reach equitable agreements which meet everyone's needs and

allow Amtrak to grow? What is the Association of American Railroads doing

to address the growing demand for passenger rail of all types? Does the

AAR have a collection of research showing how once again, passenger and

freight trains can successfully share tracks and still be profitable?

What about the money and financial people? Will we be mired in the mud of

misinformation another four decades as we have been in the past,

constantly touting the canard no passenger train can ever make money,

under any circumstances? Why do seemingly intelligent people allow

themselves to be unwittingly driven down this primrose path of thorns

that is so blatantly wrong, and no one is questioning this thinking or

bad reasoning?

2) It's desperately past time for Amtrak to stop focusing solely on

failure containment, and start focusing on future growth and expansion.

Just about every concept that could produce failure at Amtrak has been

tried and proven to be correct in its failings. The only concepts that

have not been fully exploited (but, are being partially exploited by the

Auto Train and Empire Builder) are the successful concepts which were

employed by the private railroads prior to Amtrak which operated

successful passenger trains.

The Atlantic Coast Line, and its successor, Seaboard Coast Line, had no

regulatory reason or legal duty to operate the seasonal Florida Special

every winter. Yet, for over 75 years, the train ran, including up to and

into the early days of Amtrak. The train ran, even through the dark days

of the 1960s for railroads, because it made money. If the private

railroaders, with only their own resources and no endless supply of free

federal monies, could figure out how to run successful long distance

passenger trains, why can't Amtrak?

3) We've known for years Amtrak has the least successful marketing

department in the history of modern corporations. Despite this, Amtrak

still seems to sell a lot of revenue passenger miles. Imagine what would

happen if Amtrak ever did have a successful marketing effort. It would

be, as they say, deja vu all over again as it was in the early days of

Amtrak when extra cars were added to trains, occasional special sections

of trains operated, and, heaven forbid, the company seemed to have a

desire to please passengers more than vacuuming up government dollars in

place of passenger revenue.

The question remains the same, where is the vision of the future of

Amtrak, when it comes to marketing? Where are the helpful public

relations and promotional efforts? Where is the news media being used to

Amtrak's advantage with positive stories about train travel in Sunday

newspaper travel sections and magazines? Where are the advertising

dollars being spent to generate high revenue and high revenue passenger

miles sales on long distance trains? Why does Amtrak constantly shuffle

around its marketing people, usually moving or getting rid of them just

as the right kind of business relationships and partnerships are being

formed?

4) Trains Magazine, which often has an amusing approach to passenger rail

(Trains has never really come to terms with the concept of passenger rail

being a real business, as opposed to a nostalgic endeavor for the

amusement of a small portion of the general population), in its October

issue presented "Three plans for passenger rail - but no additional

money." The first plan was Amtrak's strategic plan for 2008 and beyond,

which really is only a plan for failure containment.

The second is a "National 'Grid and Gateway' proposed by NARP." The plan

of the National Association of Railroad Passengers goes into great detail

over a 40 year period for taking just about every streak of rust called

rails in this country and running some type of passenger train on them,

but totally fails to mention who would pay for such a venture, or who

would patronize such a venture. NARP's plan can best be described as an

expensive social program paid for by someone else that will keep its

membership paying annual dues because someone actually came up with a

plan of action, no matter how flawed.

The third is "California High-Speed Rail," or, "How I spent my first $10

billion during my summer vacation." High-speed rail is a great dream, but

until this country has a fully mature conventional railroad system to

feed high-speed rail, it's just another expensive-to-plan pipe dream.

5) URPA has a plan for the future of passenger rail in this country, and,

indeed, North America. Much of the plan has often been chronicled in this

space, plus in such as white papers as The Selden Plan and Successful

Long Distance Passenger Trains of the Future found on our web site at

www.unitedrail.org .

URPA's vision is for Amtrak to roll up its corporate sleeves, apply

generous amounts of elbow grease and foresight, and take what current

assets Amtrak has and put them to use generating revenue and growth for

the company. As that is being done, start immediately working towards the

future, expanding the company and shedding unproductive efforts, such as

the operation of regional services - including the Northeast Corridor -

to other operators which specialize in short distance services.

Amtrak doesn't have to remain a corporate cripple and child of

government. It can begin to stand up on its own and walk, but it must

first have a vision to do so. Simply taking more money from state

governments to operate more marginal trains is not the answer. The answer

is to operate trains as part of a long distance, national system which

are real revenue generators with low operating costs.

Amtrak must stop things like owning train stations, and, instead, become

a tenant in someone else's property, which is cheaper and more

productive. Does Amtrak really need to be worrying about mowing the lawn

at the Jacksonville, Florida station, when, instead, some of the station

employees could be helping passengers?

Amtrak has got to start thinking like a successful company, not like a

government entity always depending on the largess of others for annual

funding. Why would anyone want to be a someone else's mercy when they can

stand on their own?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

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URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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----------



## George Harris

> The third is "California High-Speed Rail," or, "How I spent my first $10billion during my summer vacation." High-speed rail is a great dream, but
> 
> until this country has a fully mature conventional railroad system to
> 
> feed high-speed rail, it's just another expensive-to-plan pipe dream.


I wil have to disagree with him here. If we can ever manage to get ONE truly hgih speed line built anywhere in this country, improved passenger service will sell itself from then on. Hgh speed means a line with the geometric characteristics where it looks easy to do it, not the NEC situation where you have to squeeze hard to do what is being done now, since all we have really done is to spruce up a 100 to 150 year old railroad with all its curves, bridges, urban slow areas, close track centers, etc. still there.


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## AmtrakWPK

Yup. Sometimes I wish he'd get himself a new soapbox.

I have to agree with you that if we could get just one truly high speed route, designed and build that way from the ground up, with performance in the same general area as TGV or the Japanese high-speed, it would probably be a huge boost to passenger rail of both regular and high-speed systems, all over the country. Right now nobody believes (1) anything like that could exist in the U.S. to start with, or (2) that it could actually be a viable and practical alternative transportation. Of course, the other argument is that if we can't even fund enough infrastructure to keep Interstate bridges from falling into the Mississippi, how the heck are we going to (a) build something like that and (2) keep it properly maintained and upgraded if we do build it? (Without even considering the issue of flushing a YEAR of Amtrak funding down the Iraqi toilet EVERY WEEK - quote from msnbc -



> (T)he tab grows by at least $200 million each and every day.


 -http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11880954/) That's $1,400,000,000 PER WEEK.


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## saxman

> The second is a "National 'Grid and Gateway' proposed by NARP." The planof the National Association of Railroad Passengers goes into great detail
> 
> over a 40 year period for taking just about every streak of rust called
> 
> rails in this country and running some type of passenger train on them,
> 
> but totally fails to mention who would pay for such a venture, or who
> 
> would patronize such a venture. NARP's plan can best be described as an
> 
> expensive social program paid for by someone else that will keep its
> 
> membership paying annual dues because someone actually came up with a
> 
> plan of action, no matter how flawed.


While I agree with much of what he has to say about the lack of vision Amtrak has, I certainly disagree with this. In the past I have always wondered why NARP says, lets just fix what we got before we ever think about adding anything new. Well after every single year of "worrying" about Amtrak funding nothing new has happened. Finally NARP comes out with a new "vision" and this guy walks all over it, right after saying that we need "vision" for passenger rail. Thats exactly what it is...a vision. And after saying rail can make money, then asks how NARP's vision will be funded? Seems to be a little contradictory.

Just my take.


----------



## frj1983

saxman66 said:


> The second is a "National 'Grid and Gateway' proposed by NARP." The planof the National Association of Railroad Passengers goes into great detail
> 
> over a 40 year period for taking just about every streak of rust called
> 
> rails in this country and running some type of passenger train on them,
> 
> but totally fails to mention who would pay for such a venture, or who
> 
> would patronize such a venture. NARP's plan can best be described as an
> 
> expensive social program paid for by someone else that will keep its
> 
> membership paying annual dues because someone actually came up with a
> 
> plan of action, no matter how flawed.
> 
> 
> 
> While I agree with much of what he has to say about the lack of vision Amtrak has, I certainly disagree with this. In the past I have always wondered why NARP says, lets just fix what we got before we ever think about adding anything new. Well after every single year of "worrying" about Amtrak funding nothing new has happened. Finally NARP comes out with a new "vision" and this guy walks all over it, right after saying that we need "vision" for passenger rail. Thats exactly what it is...a vision. And after saying rail can make money, then asks how NARP's vision will be funded? Seems to be a little contradictory.
> 
> Just my take.
Click to expand...

Saxman,

Thanks for saying in a better way exactly what I was thinking and recently trying to type out!

It seems that he has now soured on "Savior Kummant," whose hiring he was trumpeting just a year ago!


----------



## haolerider

frj1983 said:


> saxman66 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The second is a "National 'Grid and Gateway' proposed by NARP." The planof the National Association of Railroad Passengers goes into great detail
> 
> over a 40 year period for taking just about every streak of rust called
> 
> rails in this country and running some type of passenger train on them,
> 
> but totally fails to mention who would pay for such a venture, or who
> 
> would patronize such a venture. NARP's plan can best be described as an
> 
> expensive social program paid for by someone else that will keep its
> 
> membership paying annual dues because someone actually came up with a
> 
> plan of action, no matter how flawed.
> 
> 
> 
> While I agree with much of what he has to say about the lack of vision Amtrak has, I certainly disagree with this. In the past I have always wondered why NARP says, lets just fix what we got before we ever think about adding anything new. Well after every single year of "worrying" about Amtrak funding nothing new has happened. Finally NARP comes out with a new "vision" and this guy walks all over it, right after saying that we need "vision" for passenger rail. Thats exactly what it is...a vision. And after saying rail can make money, then asks how NARP's vision will be funded? Seems to be a little contradictory.
> 
> Just my take.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Saxman,
> 
> Thanks for saying in a better way exactly what I was thinking and recently trying to type out!
> 
> It seems that he has now soured on "Savior Kummant," whose hiring he was trumpeting just a year ago!
Click to expand...

It must be very frustrating being Bruce Richardson and/or URPA, since it doesn't seem as though anyone listens to him and he keeps ranting about the same things. I have no idea how he supports himself, but I hope he has a regular job and other interests, since he does not seem to be making much progress. Everything is negative, unless it is what his group is preaching or it is something he did years ago, when Amtrak hired him to do work on some of the Gulf Coast trains - and that was not accepted or agreed upon by Amtrak. I keep hoping to see something that approachs reality, but it has not appeared in the years that I have been following them.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 15, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 35

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Amtrak Chairman of the Board David Laney is an American hero. His term as a member of the Amtrak Board of Directors is nearing and end, and he has signaled he doesn't want a second term. Jonathan Hutchison of Amtrak Governmental Affairs in California made the announcement concerning Mr.Laney at a San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee meeting on October 11th.

Mr. Laney was the right man at the right time at the right place for Amtrak. Appointed by the Bush White House and consented to by the United States Senate, he became Chairman after the chairmanship and term of Meridian, Mississippi Mayor John Robert Smith ended, and Mayor Smith rotated off of the board.

At the time Mr. Laney became Chairman, and other board members of the board were replaced by new members, David Gunn was President and Chief Executive Officer, having been selected by the previous board after an abbreviated search process.

Mr. Gunn, as history shows us, became a lightening rod for controversy (much caused by himself) and outspokenness. Mr. Laney moved quietly in the background, cleaning up after Mr. Gunn's follies. Finally, when Mr. Gunn made his position untenable, Mr. Laney and the rest of the board correctly took action to remove Mr. Gunn and find their own replacement as president and CEO.

The removal process of Mr. Gunn became politically messy (as much with Amtrak seems to do), and it was up to Mr. Laney to face hostile congressional hearings, which he did with great aplomb.

In the course of history, when events are seen with an unemotional eye, much credit will be given to Mr. Laney's work on the Amtrak board. After years of contentious budget hearings on Capitol Hill, Mr. Laney quieted things down and put the process of obtaining free federal monies on a professional - versus emotional - basis. He deftly deals with other government agencies, such as the United States Department of Transportation in the best interests of Amtrak. Mr. Laney is an activist chairman, traveling around the country speaking on behalf of Amtrak and passenger rail in general to important interest groups and the news media.

Mr. Laney has not been afraid to explore new ideas, despite what has often appeared to be very bad advice coming to him from inside the company's executive ranks and planning department. Under his leadership, the board started a worthwhile process of studying the idea of spinning off the black hole of the Northeast Corridor to another government agency. He has helped start the process of making the NEC tenant commuter agencies pay a greater fair share of NEC maintenance and operating costs. And, especially under his stewardship, he helped eliminate the welfare benefits made available to short distance Amtrak NEC riders by raising ticket prices to somewhere closer to realistic market levels.

The long distance system under Mr. Laney has been seriously studied for improvement. While we have witnessed poor decisions such as the downgrading of long distance train dining car service, and we still haven't seen any notable progress about restoring the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans into Florida, we have seen an overall preservation of the long distance system in a skeletal condition.

Internally Mr. Laney has helped accomplish much in terms of not always defending the executive rank status quo at Amtrak. We have witnessed the merciful departure of many top executives, and only a few notable misfires in the naming of replacement executives.

Overall, when a new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Amtrak is named, Mr. Laney's legacy will be strong, and one that will note a benefit for the taxpayers of America and the believers in a balanced transportation system that included passenger rail. Mr. Laney is an American hero.

2) The Amtrak Board of Directors is often populated by political appointees who take seriously their role in politics, but don't take seriously their role as stewards of public monies and public interest. While there have been many worthwhile Amtrak board members in the past, such as Paul Weyrich, Haley Barbour, Charles Luna, Ralph Kerchum, and others, so often the board could best be described as a collection of eccentric political pols basking in the glory of a political appointment.

David Laney and the undersized board he has directed these past few years has been an exception to that rule. Mr. Laney's own background, as a high level corporate transaction attorney, and the combined efforts of luminaries such as Floyd Hall and the now departed Enrique Sosa, both highly professional members of corporate America, have helped move Amtrak towards eventually becoming a healthier and long lasting company.

The politics of the Amtrak board during the Bush presidency have been odd. Mr. Bush made qualified nominations to the board, such as retired World Bank railroad expert Lou Thompson, a Democrat and probably one of the two most qualified men in America (the other being former Federal Railway Administrator Gil Carmichael) to be on the Amtrak board, but the Senate, in a snit because Mr. Thompson wasn't THEIR Democrat, wouldn't bring his nomination up for a vote by the full Senate. The whole mess was a tragic opportunity lost, and a loss for the entire nation.

Mr. Hall and Mr. Sosa, both distinguished businessmen from the highest ranks of American business, had to serve as recess appointees because the Senate, again, wouldn't bring their nominations up for full Senate vote confirmation.

As a result, Amtrak for too long of a period of time operated with an abbreviated population of board members, which caused unnecessary diversion away from the business of making Amtrak a viable institution as debate raged over the viability and legality of the Amtrak board.

Amtrak has been a political football from the day it was first a gleam in the collective eye of John Volpe's Department of Transportation in the Nixon Administration. The shenanigans of putting people on the board during the past few years has confirmed Amtrak's standing as a current political football, and yet another place for partisan bickering. Someday, that's got to come to a screeching halt.

3) So, what, now? There is already one open seat on the Amtrak board which has never been filled, and the departure of Mr. Laney at the end of his final year will open up a second seat. Will politics as usual continue? Will cooler heads prevail?

What would be best for Amtrak? The answer to that is simple.

First, immediately appoint Lou Thompson to the vacant seat. Appoint a Democrat to be confirmed by a Democrat controlled Senate. The Democrat opposition to Mr. Thompson was voted out of office, so there should be no one to be personally offended by Mr. Thompson's nomination. Mr. Thompson would bring such a wealth of knowledge and background insight to Amtrak that everyone would benefit by his presence on the board.

Second, nominate Gil Carmichael to the board. Mr. Carmichael continues to have much respect in Washington and throughout the country. His unique vision and ideas about the future of freight and passenger railroads in our country are startling in their simplicity and brilliant in their imaginativeness. In addition to his service as FRA Administrator in the Bush 41 administration, Mr. Carmichael also served with distinction as the Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council.

Neither Mr. Thompson nor Mr. Carmichael would require any learning curve to serve Amtrak well. Their mere presence would bring a great deal of credibility to Amtrak and help guide the company to safe waters.

4) Amtrak apologists throughout the tenure of the Bush Administration have incorrectly labeled these last seven years as anti-Amtrak years. The old canards about Republicans hating passenger rail have been repeated time and again, and every old saw about the Bush Administration wanted to kill Amtrak has been repeated to distraction.

None of it is true. The Bush Administration, when the record is reviewed seriously, shoveled huge amounts of money into Amtrak. Even though a tragic public relations blunder was made one year by initially zeroing out the Amtrak budget request in the DOT budget to gain attention to the mess Amtrak finances were in (and, mostly still are) at the time, billions of dollars have flowed into Amtrak under a Republican president and a then-Republican led congress.

One thing accomplished by the inept budget zeroing stunt was to get people talking and debating about Amtrak, not just handing it money year after year with no consequences. Much of that debate has contributed to the Senate Bill 294, the Amtrak reauthorization bill which is expected to pass the full Senate before the end of this calendar year. This bill provides some of the most needed - and sweeping - restructuring of Amtrak since the company was formed in 1970.

Former Bush DOT Secretary Norman Mineta became another topic of derision during his stewardship of Amtrak. A former well-respected Democrat congressman, Mr. Mineta was the only Democrat in the Bush cabinet. In addition to having the bad misfortune of being DOT secretary during and after 9/11, he also was badly served by his staff when the staff provided him with speeches and thoughts about Amtrak. Mr. Mineta's background was mostly in the aviation industry, and rail was relatively new to him. Some of the speeches he made during the Amtrak debate and the positions he staked out were almost completely indefensible from a realistic rail industry standpoint. This provided yet another distraction from a serious debate about Amtrak and the future of passenger rail in this country.

All of this added up a near complete loss of faith by Amtrak apologists who instantly go into defense mode should anyone even think about tampering with the Amtrak status quo, even if that status quo is deeply flawed and hurtful to Amtrak's existence.

As a result, any reference to the Amtrak Board of Directors under Mr. Laney has usually been negative and unnecessarily derogatory. Very few have actually attempted to analyze what the board has accomplished, or what the board has put in place for Amtrak's future.

One of Amtrak's constant sour notes is the proclamation that short distance and regional corridors are the future of Amtrak. This goes hand in hand with the Bush DOT position of shifting some of the costs of short distance and corridor trains to from the federal treasury to state treasuries.

While we know this does nothing for the overall health of Amtrak (it simply shifts incoming money from depositing one check from one source to depositing a check for the same amount from another source), it will eventually serve as a fairness mechanism, putting states on a more even basis when it comes to passenger train service.

We know California, Illinois, and North Carolina all pay annually for regional train service, and pay dearly. In New England, the Downeaster between Boston and Maine is completely paid for by regional money.

But, New York State, which is served by dozens of daily trains in and out of New York City and other points in the state, only pays to help support one daily service, the Adirondack, between New York City and Montreal. Everything else, including the commuter services of the Empire Service and the NEC trains all come out of Amtrak budgets, even though the tickets are still radically under priced for the service provided. New Jersey still pays nothing for Amtrak service, as well as Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Pennsylvania gets a free ride for NEC trains between New York and Washington, but pays heavily for the Keystone Service west of Philadelphia.

If the intention of states paying more for local service was to bring the NEC states in line with other states such as California and Illinois, then that intention is good, and Amtrak would end up a healthier company without the constant financial drain of the NEC. If the intention of states paying more for long distance services as part of the national system where overnight trains originate in one state and end up at another end of the country, then that is bad. We still have not seen a clear declaration of that policy.

5) In the end, Amtrak and America have been fortunate to have had the services of Mr. Laney, Mr. Hall, and Mr. Sosa. While not everyone (including this writer) agrees with all they have done or not done, they have accomplished far more in moving Amtrak away from being a financially handicapped company to one that has a chance of survival.

That is why we say "thank you" to these three gentlemen for their service to their country through their stewardship of Amtrak. Their work has helped move Amtrak in the right direction.

6) One important change has occurred at Amtrak. National timetables are now going to be updated and printed four times a year instead of twice a year. This is very good, and seems to be an indication Amtrak is serious about making system changes more frequently, and adjusting to demand as market forces come into play.

Also, we can only hope Amtrak will see this golden opportunity to make money from its timetables. Printing four times a year should be very appealing to advertisers wishing to tap into the passenger rail market. With double the frequency of printing, there should be many more instances where advertising to Amtrak passengers is appealing to many players in the hospitality, entertainment, and other parts of the travel industry. Here's hoping Amtrak realizes what a great opportunity it has to create an entire new area of income and profit.

7) There's always something interesting happening on the Left Coast in California. URPA's senior professional associate, Russ Jackson, regularly reports on rail events in California. Here is his report (abbreviated for interest) from a meeting of the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee on October 11th. Mr. Jackson brings news about an important retirement from the Amtrak executive ranks, an important transfer of another executive, a possibility of a long sought after new route, and news of schedule changes. Much of Mr. Jackson's excellent reporting may be seen regularly on the web site of the Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada at www.railpac.org .

[begin quote]

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RAIL COMMITTEE

Meeting Report, October 11, 2007

Bakersfield, California

Reported by Russ Jackson

RailPAC was well represented at the quarterly meeting of the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee, led by Director Bruce Jenkins, and Associate Directors George Gaekle, Mike Barnbaum, and this writer. What made the meeting important was some news that we heard for the first time.

... A spirited discussion of connectivity for the San Joaquins to Amtrak's long distance trains, particularly the California Zephyr and the Sunset Limited, was sparked by Stanislaus County representative George Gaekle, who again expressed his dissatisfaction with the current schedule that does not permit connection to either train from the San Joaquin Valley. Under the current schedule a bus connection from train 711 to train 6 is at Reno, Nevada! "We know you can do it," Mr. Gaekle said. ...

The good news (almost) came from Caltrans Thruway bus supervisor, Rick Peterson. He stated that starting with the October 29 timetable change train 6 (California Zephyr) will arrive in Sacramento 55 minutes earlier but still not early enough for the 711 connection (an unreliable 14 minutes), so it will remain in Reno. This improved schedule was made possible by the early elimination of some Union Pacific slow orders in Nevada. The UP's Tom Mulligan reported there is great progress in the Nevada work, with Sparks to Winnemuca completed, the next phase from there to Elko is under way, and "if weather permits" this winter work will continue to Salt Lake City and completion in two instead of the anticipated three years.

The westbound train 5 schedule will also be shortened by 25 minutes into Sacramento starting October 29, so the connection to train 718 will continue. Trains 5 and 6 have been operating close to scheduled time almost daily in the past month or so. Further schedule changes will take place as soon as the UP completes track work, so the connection to 711 will be restored as soon as possible. Amtrak is working to have the Sunset Limited departure time from Los Angeles moved ahead to 3:30 if Metrolink will agree, which would restore the connection with the San Joaquins..

However, the fate of some Thruway connecting buses could be in jeopardy. State law requires these routes to "break even after two years." Mr. Peterson told this writer that while most Bakersfield to Los Angeles buses earn 300% of costs, other routes are not doing so well. "Bus operations costs have increased 40% lately due to fuel and some labor costs," rising faster than ridership. While no routes will be canceled October 29th, evaluations in process could produce changes next Spring. Routes such as San Francisco to Stockton, San Jose to Stockton, Merced to Monterey, and Bakersfield to Santa Barbara among others are showing low results and could be a problem to retain.

Another spirited discussion involving the freight railroads and Tehachapi pass for passenger trains ensued, following on reports the BNSF and this line segment owner UPRR are working on double tracking much of the remaining single track segments on this route. The question, again from Mr. Gaekle, was whether there was any involvement for passenger trains in this project. Tom Mulligan, the UP's "Director of Passenger Operations"

was present, taking some kidding when he admitted his railroad "does not operate any passenger trains of its own, only those under contract from Amtrak." When pressed by Mr. Gaekle, Fresno representative Larry Miller and others, Mr. Mulligan and the BNSF's Mitchell agreed that if Amtrak requests to have service on this line "the process will begin." (seeing the UP and the BNSF side-by-side at this meeting was refreshing) Extension of the San Joaquins would have to be initiated by Caltrans and it must go through Amtrak. Retired Supervisor Illa Collin representing Sacramento County asked for a "ballpark figure" of costs for a project like this, but neither railroad could give one. The "news" from this discussion was there was no "flat no" to having passenger trains there, which has been the response in the past. Mr. Mitchell did say, however, that if it was train 718 extended to Los Angeles overnight as the Committee proposes, the 5 hour running time from Bakersfield (compared to 2 hours by bus) was not something he would ride. When Tulare County representative Ty Holscher asked about running service on the UP south of Fresno, Mr. Mulligan replied in the same vein, "go through Amtrak and the

process begins." Again, no total rejection.

Amtrak's Jonathan Hutchison reported on the exciting prospects for Amtrak's budget for the coming year, with both houses of Congress passing significant amounts, and each version containing state capital- matching funds. The latter amount ($100 million), while relatively small, is considered "seed money" for future allocations. The President has threatened to veto the DOT authorization bill containing Amtrak, but this time Amtrak is not the issue. If a "continuing resolution" is the result rather than full passage, Amtrak stands to receive what it had last fiscal year, $1.294 billion.

Mr. Hutchison announced that former Amtrak West President Gil Mallery, who has been President for Strategic Planning and Contract Administration working out of Washington DC, has retired from Amtrak. His replacement is Don Saunders, who has been Superintendent for the Central Division in Chicago after working here on the West Coast for some years. Mr. Saunders' new title will be, "Assistant Vice President, State and Commuter Partnerships-West," and he will be stationed in Oakland. "This does not mean the return of Amtrak West," Mr. Hutchison said, but does mean more localized decision making. The Committee applauded this idea.

In another announcement, Amtrak Board Chairman David Laney has indicated he "does not want another term," which opens another board seat. When replacements will be appointed is unknown. ...

[End quote]

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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

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## yarrow

i get this newsletter in my e-mail and usually glance at it. the letter for 10/15, on a first reading, seems to blame the problems of the bush administration on bad speech writing and poor pr. not so with bush and amtrak or with bush and the rest of his ill advised adventures


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 22, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 36

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Same song, different choir. Let's take a look at some of the issues

facing our Canadian cousins and VIA Rail Canada. How quickly can you spot

the different Canadian verses to the song?

For those of you who slept through social studies and world geography

classes, the total population of Canada is less than the population of

California. Canada shares the same eastern and western borders as the

United States, but the eastern border is further into the Atlantic Ocean,

providing an entire new time zone - Atlantic - that the US doesn't have.

The total Canadian land mass is about equal to the US land mass. Canada's

densest population corridor is between Quebec City and Montreal in the

province of Quebec, extending to the national capital, Ottawa, and

Toronto in the province of Ontario.

As this is written, one Canadian dollar roughly equals one American

dollar.

You may wish to note in one of the press releases below VIA refers to its

flagship transcontinental route of the Canadian as its most important

route, not the business travel route of VIA's equivalent of the Northeast

Corridor between Quebec City and Toronto.

One other note; harsh winter weather, which annually seems to take Amtrak

Chicago by complete surprise, is routine operating conditions for VIA

Rail Canada. Canada's long winters and constant frigid conditions make

railroading an entirely different proposition in Canada than in the

United States.

2) Recent VIA press releases (edited for duplication):

[begin quote]

For immediate distribution - Wednesday, September 19, 2007

VIA offers CEO treatment for $149

Company's Fall Marketing Campaign Targets Business Travellers

VIA Rail Canada has just launched a major 12-week fall marketing campaign

targeting business travellers between Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa and

Toronto, featuring a $149 one way fare in VIA 1. The promotion runs from

September 10th to December 7th inclusively.

VIA's campaign theme centers around the comfort of travelling in VIA I

business class. VIA 1 passengers enjoy WI FI access in all stations and

on board, pre-boarding, full meal and beverage service, larger seating,

ample legroom and access to Panorama lounges at major stations in the

Corridor.

"We are committed to offering business travellers convenience,

reliability and personalized service," said Steve del Bosco, Chief

Customer Officer at VIA Rail.

About VIA Rail

For a complete listing of train departures, fares, or information

customers can visit VIA's website www.viarail.ca, or contact their travel

agent. Passengers can also book their tickets at VIA kiosks located in

major Corridor stations.

As Canada's national passenger rail service, VIA Rail Canada's mandate is

to provide efficient, environmentally responsible and cost effective

passenger transportation services, both in Canada's busiest corridor and

in remote and rural regions of the country. VIA serves more than 450

communities with a network of inter-city, transcontinental and regional

trains. Demand continues to grow as more Canadians turn to train travel

as a safe and convenient travel choice.

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Monday, September 24, 2007

VIA Rail Cites Customer Focus as Strategic Business Advantage

Brockville, ON - VIA Rail Canada's President and Chief Executive Officer,

Paul Côté, today emphasized that customer service is the foundation for

the company's success. VIA has chosen to focus on providing excellent

customer service as its core business strategy, citing this as a

strategic business advantage.

Addressing a group of business people at a luncheon organized jointly by

the Brockville Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club, Côté showcased the

VIA experience as one-of-a-kind..

"A recent survey indicated a 98 per cent customer satisfaction rating for

VIA, a score that makes us one of the most trusted and admired

transportation companies in Canada," said Mr. Côté. "In a market that has

seen little growth over the past five years, there is really only one way

to make our business thrive - by increasing the value of that unique

experience for our customers. The reason people choose the train is it

offers something a little different - a more comfortable, convenient and

less stressful way to travel. We call it the more 'human' way to travel,"

he added. "And our success as a business depends on delivering a 'human'

experience that consistently matches and surpasses expectations."

This strategy has produced tangible results. In the 2006 Commerce-Léger

Marketing Survey, respondents ranked VIA as the most admired

transportation company and one of the top 30 most admired companies

overall. Last year, VIA's revenues increased, for the third straight

year, to close to $300 million. More than four million passengers boarded

VIA trains last year; the Quebec City-Windsor corridor alone carried a

record 3.5 million passengers.

VIA has an established presence in the City of Brockville - the city that

opened the first railway tunnel in Canada, and marked the completion of a

new rail service from Montreal more than 150 years ago. That service grew

into a network linking Quebec City to Windsor, which now carries some 400

passenger trains per week, and 3.5 million passengers per year. Last

year, 63,000 passengers used the Brockville station, placing it among the

busiest stations in Canada. ...

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Friday, September 28, 2007

VIA Rail Canada Unveils its Route to Well-being in Paradise

VIA's Spa Train Travels to Ontario's Ultimate Spa Destinations

MONTREAL - VIA Rail Canada is pleased to announce it has partnered with

Premier Spas of Ontario to introduce the new Spa Train Route. Passengers

can immerse themselves in the relaxing comforts of train travel while

contemplating the peaceful spa treatments that await them at one of the

Premier Spa destinations along the Spa Train Route. So grab your

girlfriends for a special getaway, celebrate your anniversary with

special his-and-her treatments, or leave the world behind and get back in

touch with yourself. Let VIA Rail and Premier Spas show you the "Human

Way to Travel."

VIA Rail's Spa Train Route gives you access to 18 quality-assured Premier

Spa destinations in Ontario that are waiting to indulge you with facials,

massages, body wraps and other luxurious treatments to rejuvenate your

body - and soul. Each of the participating Premier Spas offers packages

that include return train travel and shuttle transportation to and from

the nearest VIA Rail station.

Use VIA Rail's Spa Train Route and take the healthy track to any of the

following Premier Spas:

Au Naturel Spa - Ottawa, ON (nearest station: Fallowfield)

Holtz Spa - Ottawa, ON

Claramount Inn & Spa - Picton, ON (nearest station: Belleville)

The Hillcrest -Valenova Hotel & Spa - Port Hope/Cobourg, ON

HighFields Country Inn & Spa - Zephyr, ON (nearest station: Oshawa)

Ste. Anne's Spa - Grafton, ON (nearest station: Cobourg)

Elizabeth Milan Day Spa - Toronto, ON

Elmwood Spa - Toronto, ON

HealthWinds - Toronto, ON

Rosewater Health and Beauty Spa - Oakville, ON

SilveryBlue Butterfly Spa - Oakville, ON

Magnolia House Spa - Waterdown, ON (nearest station: Aldershot)

Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa - Cambridge, ON

Pillar & Post 100 Fountain Spa - Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (nearest

station: St. Catherines)

The Spa at White Oaks - Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (nearest station: Niagara

Falls)

Fayez Beauty Spa - London, ON

Looking to explore Ontario a bit more? There are also two Premier Spas of

Ontario destinations north of Ontario, along VIA's flagship Canadian

route:

Trillium Resort & Spa - Port Sydney, ON (nearest station: Washago)

Inn at Manitou - McKellar, ON (nearest station: Parry Sound)

For more information on the Spa Train Route and the various spa packages,

go to viarail.ca/spatrain. ...

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

VIA Rail Offers Exciting End-of-Season Discounts on Its Ocean and Chaleur

Trains

Spectacular End of Season Discounts Add Lustre to Fall Foliage

MONTREAL - VIA Rail Canada's Ocean and Chaleur trains are offering

attractive end-of-season discounts in Comfort Sleeper and economy class,

and there's still time to enjoy some fall colours along the way. Until

October 31, 2007, customers can purchase reduced-price tickets for trips

taking place, no later than December 19, 2007.

Travellers can take advantage of discounts as high as 50% on VIA's

Montréal-Halifax (Ocean) or Montréal-Gaspé (Chaleur) trains. Tickets must

be purchased no later than October 31, 2007. Space is subject to

availability and some conditions do apply.

Fall is the perfect time of year to admire Canada's friendly eastern

shores and the wooded coast of New Brunswick aboard the Ocean. And nature

lovers will be captivated by the many grandiose landscapes: the Matapédia

Valley, Chaleur Bay and Gaspé Peninsula as they unfold while travelling

on the Chaleur. ...

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Canada's new government revitalizes inter-city passenger rail services in

Canada

OTTAWA - The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport,

Infrastructure and Communities, along with the Honourable Jim Flaherty,

Minister of Finance, today announced a new funding package for VIA Rail

Canada Inc., a Crown corporation, to revitalize inter-city passenger rail

services in Canada. The funding totals $691.9 million over the next five

years.

"Today, Canada's New Government is acting to provide faster, cleaner,

more frequent and reliable passenger rail service across Canada," said

Minister Cannon. "The corridor between Quebec City and Windsor has the

largest passenger volumes and will benefit from infrastructure

improvements that will make the entire passenger rail system more

efficient and accessible."

"VIA Rail has a proud legacy of serving Canadians, and our government is

taking steps to make this wonderful service even better," added Minister

Flaherty. "We are launching the largest capital program in VIA Rail's

history. It will allow for the renewal of VIA Rail's fleet, the upgrading

of the existing network and it will support a stronger economy, a cleaner

environment and a safer Canada."

"I would like to thank the Government of Canada for this welcome and

timely investment in VIA Rail Canada," said Donald A. Wright, VIA's

chairman. "It is an important recognition of the entire team at VIA,

whose hard work over the past decade has earned VIA solid marks for its

excellent customer service and sound management. This investment is also

recognition of the potential of the current passenger rail service to

meet the growing transportation needs of Canadians in an environmentally

responsible, efficient and cost-effective manner."

This new investment addresses VIA's capital needs, ensuring that its

current network and service levels are sustainable into the future.

Of the total funding package, $516 million in capital funds will be

allocated over five years for infrastructure improvements and equipment

refurbishments, beginning in 2007. This investment will be targeted

towards:

fleet renewal, through refurbishment of the F40 locomotives and Light,

Rapid and Comfortable (LRC) passenger cars;

strategic infrastructure improvements to eliminate bottlenecks in the

Quebec City -Windsor corridor;

and station refurbishments.

The equipment refurbishment will also help improve the company's

environmental performance through increased fuel efficiency and reduced

greenhouse gas emissions per passenger.

The remainder of the funding, a total of $175.9 million over five years,

will be directed towards VIA Rail's operating costs. This additional

funding is needed to sustain VIA's national network until the capital

program is completed. VIA expects to reduce its maintenance costs after

the equipment is rebuilt and to attract more passengers as it moves to

provide faster, more frequent service on its trains in the Quebec City -

Windsor Corridor.

"Once the F40 locomotive rebuilding program is complete, VIA will have

one of the most fuel efficient fleets of diesel locomotives of any

passenger rail operator in North America. The locomotives will also meet

the new emissions standards set by the recent Memorandum of Understanding

between the Government of Canada and the Railway Association of Canada -

which includes Via Rail," concluded Minister Cannon.

Funding improvements to the national transportation system is one of

Canada's New Government's priorities for investments in infrastructure.

Through its unprecedented $33-billion Building Canada infrastructure

plan, the Government of Canada is making partnership investments to

support a stronger economy, a cleaner environment, and a more secure

Canada.

VIA Rail Canada Inc., a Crown corporation, was created in 1977 to operate

Canada's national passenger rail service.

A Backgrounder on the new funding is attached [see below].

NEW FUNDING FOR VIA RAIL CANADA

Canada's New Government recognizes that investments are required to

ensure the long-term viability of passenger rail services and to improve

VIA Rail's financial performance.

This new funding, totalling $691.9 million, will improve the

sustainability and reliability of passenger rail services in Canada and

provide more frequent, faster, cleaner and safer services along the

Quebec City - Windsor Corridor. The proposed equipment and facilities

investments, combined with strategic infrastructure improvements, will

address VIA Rail's capital needs and improve its operational performance.

The funding will allow VIA Rail to rebuild its aging fleet of locomotives

and cars, upgrade stations, and improve strategic infrastructure to

eliminate bottlenecks and enhance capacity for faster, more frequent and

reliable service.

These investments will benefit Canadians across the country. For example:

. The F40 locomotive rebuilding program will improve the reliability of

VIA services, lower maintenance costs and help to improve the company's

environmental performance through increased fuel efficiency and reduced

emissions. The rebuilt locomotives will ensure another 15 to 20 years of

service on the eastern and western transcontinental trains, on the

regional service to Gaspé (Quebec) and on remote services to such points

as Parent (Quebec), Churchill (Manitoba) and Prince Rupert (British

Columbia). They will meet the new emission standards for railway

locomotives set by the recent Memorandum of Understanding between the

Railway Association of Canada, Environment Canada and Transport Canada.

. Light, Rapid and Comfortable (LRC) cars will have their operating

systems and interiors rebuilt. Travellers will enjoy new seats, better

lighting, computer outlets and washrooms, while VIA will lower its

maintenance costs and energy requirements, thereby saving fuel and

reducing emissions.

. Several stations across the country will be refurbished.

. Strategic infrastructure improvements, which will be spread throughout

the Quebec City - Windsor corridor, will:

o increase track capacity and alleviate bottlenecks;

o improve ontime performance;

o reduce trip times through increased speed;

o allow for more trips; and

o improve safety and reliability of service.

With a total investment of $516 million in capital planned over the next

five years, VIA Rail's passenger services will continue to bring modern,

affordable, safe and efficient travel options to Canadians.

The government will also provide VIA with $175.9 million in additional

operating funding over the next five years. While VIA Rail's annual

funding level was frozen in 1998, the effects of inflation over the past

decade have had an impact on the purchasing power of this Crown

corporation and its ability to maintain its aging fleet of locomotives

and cars. Once the capital investment program is completed, VIA will be

able to operate without this additional funding.

[End quote]

3) Here's an activist press release from Canada of the type which hasn't

been seen in the United States for over two decades ago when the owners

of Greyhound Bus Lines constantly protested the free federal monies

flowing into Amtrak. This is from the Canadian Airports Council.

[begin quote]

"Unfair Double Standard," Canada's Airports Decry Continued Subsidization

of Via Rail

Via Rail receives millions in subsidies from the federal government while

the civil aviation sector pays rent, fuel and other taxes

OTTAWA, Oct. 11 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) today

decried the continued subsidization of Via Rail to the tune of nearly

$692 million while Canada's aviation sector suffers from competitiveness

challenges.

"Canada's civil aviation sector already suffers a serious competitive

disadvantage to other modes of travel and airports across the border in

the U.S. due to airport rent and other forms of high taxation," said CAC

President and CEO Jim Facette. "Canada's airports generate some $30

billion in economic output and employ more than 150,000 people while

facilitating international and domestic trade and tourism. To pump

millions of dollars into a competitor is inexplicable."

The statement comes after it was announced today that the federal

government will provide $691.9 million in capital and operating funding

to Via Rail. While shouldering the financial responsibility of more than

$9.5 billion in capital improvements over the past decade, Canada's

airports pay nearly $300 million a year in the form of rent to the

federal government.

In addition to rent, which is passed on to airlines and their passengers,

the government burdens civil aviation with fuel excise taxes, the air

traveller's security charge and other tax and regulatory costs.

"Canada's 100 million air travellers a year will pay nearly $300 million

in rent this year while the government pours nearly $700 million to

benefit Via Rail's 4.1 million passengers, said Mr. Facette. "This is a

double standard that clearly must end."

About the Canadian Airports Council

The Canadian Airports Council (CAC) is the voice for Canada's airports.

Its 47 members encompass more than 150 airports, including all of the

National Airports System (NAS) airports and most significant municipal

airports in every province and territory. Together, CAC members handle

virtually all of the nation's air cargo and international passenger

traffic and 95% of domestic passenger traffic. They create well in excess

of $30 billion in economic activity in the communities they serve. And

more than 150,000 jobs are directly associated with CAC member airports,

generating a payroll of more than $8 billion annually.

[End quote]

4) Here is a report from Canadian Press (a Canadian news service, similar

to the Associated Press.)

[begin quote]

Poor infrastructure blamed for late trains: report

The Canadian Press

Updated: Sat. Oct. 20 2007

OTTAWA - If your Via Rail train rolled into the station late this summer,

you weren't alone.

Internal reports from the Crown corporation show that crumbling

infrastructure has conspired against train schedules across Canada this

year, delivering passengers late in almost one of every four trips.

The situation deteriorated over the late spring and summer, partly

because Via's geriatric F-40 locomotives keep breaking down.

"Via equipment failure caused delay minutes (to) increase by

approximately 60 per cent from 2006 to 2007,'' says the September report,

obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

Nationally, about 23 per cent of Canada's passenger trains ran late in

the May-to-July tourist period, well over Via Rail's target of 10 per

cent.

The late-train problem has gotten worse in every part of the country,

including the heavily travelled corridor between Quebec City and Windsor,

with four of every five Via Rail customers.

For the eastern service between Montreal and Halifax, trains were late

more than 60 per cent of the time in July, largely because of "major

locomotive failures.''

And for the western service between Toronto and Vancouver, on-time

performance was abysmal as well.

"The average West delay severity remains extremely poor,'' says the

report, prepared for a recent meeting of the board of directors.

"Western Services trains arrived in Vancouver and Toronto in May, June

and July 2007 an average of two hours and 42 minutes late, which

represents a sizable increase over the average delay a year ago.''

But the worst service in the country appears to be along the stretch

between Winnipeg and the Hudson Bay port of Churchill, Man.

In July, 10 of the 26 Via trains scheduled along the route never arrived

at all. Those that did make it to their destination were four hours late

on average.

Via Rail, which receives an annual federal subsidy of $170 million for

its 4.1 million passengers, is not always responsible for train delays.

The agency largely operates on track owned by other railways, such as CN

Rail, and its passenger trains must sometimes stand down to let freight

trains pass.

Freight-train derailments, track-improvement work and speed restrictions

along tracks that are prone to buckling in summer heat have all caused

disruptions in the schedule.

The report notes in particular that Via Rail has a "worsening

relationship'' with the Hudson Bay Railway or HBR, a subsidiary of

Denver-based Omnitrax, which owns the track between The Pas and

Churchill. Closures because of defects in the tracks, and derailments of

HBR freight trains, help account for many of the late and non-arrivals.

About 4,700 passengers were also hit by delays last summer caused by

native protesters blocking rail lines in Ontario.

But Via Rail's own F-40 locomotives -- 20-year-old workhorses of the

system -- are responsible for many of the delays. The corporation's 54

F-40s, representing more than 70 per cent of the fleet, are at the end of

their useful life.

"Regular overhauls and scheduled maintenance no longer ensure reliability

nor keep maintenance costs under control,'' says an internal analysis.

A spokesman acknowledged the F-40s have been a continuing headache.

"Despite concerted efforts to control those factors for which Via has

direct responsibility, the reliability of Via's locomotive fleet ... has

increasingly been a significant cause of delays,'' said Malcolm Andrews

from company headquarters in Montreal.

Earlier this month, the federal government announced $516 million in

capital funding over the next five years, much of which will go to

rebuild the F-40s from the ground up, giving them 15 to 20 more years' of

service. Tracks and other infrastructure will also be improved.

Quebec and Manitoba have also announced plans to improve rail

infrastructure in their provinces, which will help improve on-time

performance, Andrews said.

[End quote]

5) What do we take away from all of this about Canada? First, if you have

a government owned passenger railroad, as both VIA Rail Canada and Amtrak

are, you're going to have similar, on-going funding problems, plus the

performance disincentive of a monopoly situation.

The last Conservative government in Canada prior to the current Stephen

Harper government, which has been in office for just a matter of months,

was the government of Kim Campbell in the early 1990s. In between, for a

period of nearly 15 years, the Liberal government of Jean Cretien ruled

Canada. Prime Minister Cretien appropriated additional hundreds of

millions of dollars for VIA Rail Canada beyond its annual infusion of

free federal monies, and then withdrew the funding, leaving VIA holding

the bag. The money from Prime Minister Harper's government replaces much

of that withdrawn funding and allows VIA to move ahead with its capital

programs.

Second, we see VIA's ongoing commitment to customer/passenger service.

While VIA may have its share of operating and maintenance problems, it's

a rare VIA employee who is less than polite and accommodating.

Third, VIA continually "out markets" Amtrak, always coming up with good

domestic and international marketing programs which drive passengers onto

trains. VIA does not make the assumption because a train is there, people

will ride it. VIA works hard for each and every passenger it carries.

While Amtrak dwarfs VIA when it comes to budgets, employees, route miles,

and many other factors, both are creatures of government, operating at

the whim of lawmakers. Until both companies are set free from their

governmental restraints and allowed to operate as for-profit companies

after proper foundations are laid, both companies will be far less than

perfect.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; November 2, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 37

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) National Review Online ran an article by staff reporter David Freddoso

November 1st recounting his exploits as an Amtrak passenger, and all of

the reasons he can think of to discontinue Amtrak's subsidies. While Mr.

Freddoso does get some of his points correct, Dr. Paul Wilson send him a

reply with a better set of facts presented. Here is Dr. Wilson's reply to

Mr. Freddoso.

[begin quote]

Dear Mr. Freddoso,

I read your NRO piece ("Money Train: Another subsidy, no real reforms for

Amtrak" (November 1, 2007) with much interest and I can certainly

sympathize with your experience in South Bend. Chronic tardiness and poor

service are a lamentable hallmark of Amtrak. The reasons vary. Weather

aside, some of the blame lies with the freight carriers, as Amtrak is

only a tenant on most of its routes. The second, and far more significant

reason, is 35 years of failed investment priorities and stifled growth.

On a national basis Amtrak has a smaller market share than motorcycles.

I'm not making that up.

<http://www.unitedrail.org/2005/11/10/amtrak-can-flourish-in-the-post-dav

idgunnera/>

It is not a stingy federal government - as many Amtrak boosters would

have you believe - but Amtrak itself that is largely to blame for these

woes. As you rightly point out, Amtrak has received upwards of $40

billion since its inception in 1971. It has a skeletal (and shrinking)

system to show for it. Not only is it skeletal, but it is poorly

coordinated and grossly inefficient. In the Northeast we have a bloated

jobs and commuter rail program masquerading as an intercity high-speed

railroad. Elsewhere, there are a handful of short corridors (many

operated on a cost-plus basis for the states, i.e., gravy for Amtrak) and

a dozen or so long-distance routes. Given the mare's nest that is

Amtrak's accounting, many have wrongly concluded the handful of

long-distance services are the source of the red ink. For this to be

true, the losses would have to be simply staggering to account for the

hundreds of millions of dollars Amtrak admits it loses on operations. I

submit the operating losses are in fact far higher, given that Amtrak is

very free and easy with how it categorizes its "capital" spending. A

time-honored tradition at Amtrak is re-classifying operating expenses as

dubious long-term capital expenditures. In short, Amtrak eats its own

seed corn year after year funding the high-cost rail (synonymous with

high-speed rail) that typifies the Northeast Corridor.

The bottom line is Amtrak is given more than a billion dollars a year,

largely free and clear. It can either choose to continue its profligate

ways, putting discretionary investment dollars into a failed strategy - a

strategy utterly incapable of earning a positive return on investment -

or it can choose to change. The change, I submit, is to jettison its

ownership position on the Northeast Corridor (NEC). Once freed of the

burden of owning the NEC, Amtrak can build a true national network system

of clean, comfortable trains people want to ride. These trains will run

largely on lines of the freight railroads and they will be market-driven.

Again, the lynchpin of a successful Amtrak is spinning off the Northeast

Corridor and getting Amtrak out of the railroad infrastructure business.

It should be solely an operating company, akin to Virgin Rail and its

competitors in the UK. We might even envision a day when Amtrak's

national monopoly is no more.

So, I would encourage you to dig a little deeper. Amtrak needs to change

its focus, and it's something Amtrak's board can do all by itself,

without further congressional micro-management and certainly without more

handouts. I suggest you check out www.unitedrail.org. URPA is a passenger

rail "think tank" of individuals all around the country who volunteer

their time and expertise toward addressing these issues. In particular I

commend to you the work of Dr. Adrian Herzog and Mr. Andrew Selden. On

the web site you can also sign up for an email newsletter, "This Week at

Amtrak," written by URPA President Bruce Richardson.

Sincerely yours,

Paul Wilson, AIA, PhD

Paul Wilson Architect PLLC

Washington, DC

[End quote]

2) A delightful young lady of Minneapolis is Peggy Herrmann, a world

traveler. Ms. Herrmann took her first long distance train trip last

month, as was kind enough to share her impressions with This Week at

Amtrak. She rode the Empire Builder, one of Amtrak's premier (and high

revenue earning) trains.

[begin quote]

In early October, I took my first train trip, from Minneapolis to

Portland and Seattle. I was somewhat surprised at the number of

passengers who boarded the train at the Minneapolis Midway Station. There

were a number of families, including small children, who were traveling

to the West Coast. According to the car attendant, the train was full.

The car attendant helped me get settled in my roomette, and then it was

time to go to sleep. I had been forewarned that sleep would be elusive

the first night, and it was true. The car attendant was very helpful to a

novice rail passenger, and he was very visible throughout the trip to

Portland.

The next morning, I managed to make my way to the dining car for

breakfast. The menu listed five or six items. The egg dish I ordered

tasted good, although I couldn't quite place the gravy used. Lunch and

dinner menus offered a decent selection of meals and desserts, and I was

quite satisfied after each meal. The wait staff was pleasant and

friendly. On the last morning of the trip, the breakfast offered to

sleeping car passengers was dismal. I ordered a breakfast sandwich, which

was not thoroughly heated.

Sleeping car passengers were invited to attend a wine and cheese tasting

on Friday afternoon, and the event was well attended. Four different

wines were tasted, two whites and two reds, with four different cheeses.

A couple of Amtrak trivia questions were asked, and the winners received

a bottle of wine each. On the return trip, this event was hosted by an

employee whose infectious good mood had everyone laughing throughout the

hour.

The lounge car was usually crowded, and loud. I tried to relax there and

enjoy the view, but after an hour I gave up and went back to my roomette.

>From Portland, I took the Amtrak Cascade service to Seattle. It was a

comfortable train ride, and a fairly current movie was shown. The scenery

was wonderful; I couldn't imagine watching a movie when I could look out

the windows and see the countryside go by.

The return trip from Seattle to St. Paul was as enjoyable as the outbound

trip to Portland. The announcements from the dining car were more

difficult to understand, and the car attendant was much less visible.

As we made our way north out of Seattle, I was fortunate enough to be on

the side of the sleeping car with a view of Puget Sound. Incredible

scenery. I was glad I could see Glacier Park during the earlier daylight

hours. There are no words to adequately describe the views.

The dining car attendant in charge of the wine and cheese tasting event

was very enthusiastic. He got the passengers involved and everyone had a

good time.

Overall, my first train trip was very enjoyable. I will definitely take

another trip on the Empire Builder.

[End quote]

3) If you or someone you know has subscribed to This Week at Amtrak or

changed their e-mail address in the last 10 days and neither the

subscription or change has not taken place, it is due to a computer

malfunction which is expected to be corrected in the next few days. We

apologize for any inconvenience any of our readers may be experiencing.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; November 20, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 38

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Amtrak has a new chairman of the board, and it's a lady for the first

time. Here's the news release from Amtrak.

[begin quote]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATK-07-138

November 15, 2007 Amtrak Board Elects Donna McLean Chairman

WASHINGTON - Donna McLean was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors

of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) at the November

8, 2007 board meeting. McLean, who was appointed to the Board by

President Bush and approved by the Senate in July 2006, had served as

Vice Chairman of the Board. She replaces former Chairman David M. Laney,

who remains a board member until his term expires in late November 2007.

As Chairman of the Board, McLean will lead the board of Amtrak, the

nation's intercity passenger railroad, which operates in 46 states on a

21,000-mile system serving more than 500 stations. A former official at

the U.S. Department of Transportation, she is owner of Donna McLean

Associates, LLC, a Washington, DC-based consulting firm specializing in

transportation policy.

McLean praised the stewardship of former Chairman Laney, saying, "David

was an activist board member and Chairman who was keenly interested in

improving Amtrak's business model, accountability and service. He was

very successful in all those areas, and thanks in large part to his

efforts, Amtrak's relevance in the national transportation mix has never

been stronger, with record ridership and revenues being achieved for the

last several fiscal years."

Prior to forming Donna McLean Associates, McLean was Assistant Secretary

for Budget and Programs and Chief Financial Officer of the U.S.

Department of Transportation (DOT). She had also served at the DOT as the

Assistant Administrator for Financial Services at the Federal Aviation

Administration beginning in 1999. From 1993 to 1999, McLean was a

professional staff member of the Aviation Subcommittee of the House

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the U.S. House of

Representatives.

McLean earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science and holds

a master's degree of public affairs, both from Indiana University.

[End quote]

We welcome Ms. McLean as the newest chairman of the Amtrak Board of

Directors.

2) The White House announced this week its intention to appoint three new

members of the Amtrak Board of Directors. The nominees are Thomas Carper

of Illinois, Nancy A. Naples of New York, and Denver Stutler, Jr. of

Florida. If confirmed by the United States Senate, this will bring the

population of the Amtrak board to full strength.

Mr. Carper is the former mayor of Macomb, Illinois, Ms. Naples was the

New York State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles under former Governor

George Pataki, and Mr. Stutler was the Florida Secretary of

Transportation under former Governor Jeb Bush.

There is a lot to be said about the current state of the Amtrak board

with the lamentable departure of David Laney and Floyd Hall. Sometimes,

an intelligent conversation can say more about a situation than a written

treatise. Let's take a peek at an internal URPA communication about the

new board between two Washington wags on URPA's private Intranet.

[begin quote]

[Washington Wag One]: Carper is the mayor of McComb, Illinois; don't know

whether he's part of the Delaware senator's bloodline. He was both pushed

by [senate Majority Leader and Democrat] Harry Reid and endorsed by UTU,

which should be conclusive evidence he won't be pushing any new

initiatives. I am sure he is representative of the same old

parcel-out-the-sinecures mentality, where expertise and understanding of

the concept of fiduciary duty are irrelevant. I would bet the same can be

said of the others.

Unless these worthies get instant confirmation, Amtrak will remain in the

headless-horseman configuration to which it has now once again reverted,

i.e., not a even a colorable claim to a board quorum (five according to

the articles of incorporation that are amendable only by two-thirds

shareholder vote; four according to the questionable DOT/Amtrak

position).

Thus, since Amtrak's self-handicapping policy statement requiring initial

(pattern) labor agreements to be directly approved by the board is

apparently still in force, a cloud necessarily exists over the fall 2003

TCU agreement and/or the contractual outcome of the likely upcoming

strike. I expect Amtrak to trot out its threadbare claim that an

"executive committee" can act as the alter ego for a board quorum. If

that questionable claim were true, the board of Coca-Cola or Microsoft

could (mostly) go on vacation, and make a rump board of unfortunates on

some exec committee do all the work, notwithstanding little details like

the corporation's articles, etc.

[Washington Wag Two]: As [Washington Wag One] lays out, the Am-Board will

be down to three members (Donna McLean, R. Hunter Biden and US DOT

Secretary Mary Peters) by the end of December, and thus without quorum.

Laney's term expires at the end of this month and Floyd Hall was a recess

appointment. Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant is a non-voting member

and doesn't count for quorum purposes.

The Democrats are using a parliamentary maneuver to keep the Senate

nominally "in session" so there won't be any recess appointments this

year.

Surely, I'm not the only one who's noticed that the only nominees

stone-walled by the Senate were those with just the sorts of real-world

transportation and business experience required under the Amtrak Reform

and Accountability Act (Floyd Hall, Robert Crandall, Enrique Sosa, and

Lou Thompson). The "political" nominees, senatorial offspring, etc., sail

right through with nary a whimper of protest. The latest round of

nominees appears to round out the Board with a full complement of party

insiders. Happy days are here again for the status quo folks.

[WW One]: There was a faint glimmer of hope a few years back the Bush

administration would bring this rogue government corporation to heel via

its board. They, perhaps naively, assumed the board that actually runs

the corporation, not the hired help and the hired help's protectors on

the Hill.

[WW Two]: I do fear that with Laney and Hall's departure, the Board will

lose any skepticism of management. It's not a very deep bench. The last

round of nominees has only been around for a year. Once again, we'll be

back to the status quo of the Board swallowing whatever Kummant and the

lifers lower down the ranks put before them.

[WW One]: The faint glimmer went away quickly when it became apparent the

Bush Administration, like its predecessor (which set out to sabotage the

reform law from day one), was going to treat the Amtrak board as a

parking place for political hacks and low-value trading cards with the

Senate Democrats, to whom they almost always surrender (no matter who is

in nominal control). In short, by being generally invertebrate and

specifically ignorant about Amtrak (such as the statutory requirement for

board member expertise - modeled on the National Transportation Safety

Board statute), the Bush Administration produced results generally

indistinguishable from those produced by the active sabotage under

Clinton.

[WW Two]: Sadly, someone might actually notice if the NTSB were stuffed

with unqualified seat-warmers.

Once in a while, a board member manages to exceed expectations. That's

what we have to hope for, I guess. Having looked at the Amtrak statutes,

the Board has a lot of latitude in how it conducts its affairs. It can do

as much or as little as it wants, subject to how much time its members

are willing to donate to the effort. It could take a much more hands-on

approach and not be content to hold (as it appears now) quarterly

meetings where it rubberstamps management decisions. Laney did show signs

of such activism (tentative steps to set up a NEC subsidiary), but it

withered away after former Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn got the

ax.

[WW One]: Ah, but the federal Amtrak statute is only the tip of the

proverbial iceberg for board members, who are not federal employees

(except for one slot that is allowed - but not required - to be unwisely

filled with the United States Department of Transportation secretary or

another fed). As specified in 49 USC 24301a,b, and f, Amtrak is a

District of Columbia business corporation subject to the DC Business

Corporation Act, except where the latter conflicts with federal

provisions. Among other things, this means Amtrak has non-federal

statutory requirements - almost universally blown off by the ace board

members, management and alleged general counsels - for annual stockholder

meetings etc., as well as being bound by its own articles of

incorporation and bylaws (which at Amtrak naturally contradict each other

on little matters like board quorums).

For the directors individually (who I am sure receive "quality" briefings

from the Administration and Amtrak), this necessarily imposes personal

liability under fiduciary standards for all actions (except for the

federal immunity/indemnification for matters pertaining to

ownership/mortgage of the NEC, 49 USC 24907©). As confirmed in

testimony by the leading expert on the DC Act, the District of Columbia

is probably the worst of 51 jurisdictions in excessively limiting the

scope of what D & O insurance is allowed to cover. (This probably

explains why few businesses other than restaurants and real estate

outfits incorporate in DC.) Thus, given the years of dereliction,

conflict of interest, and all kinds of non-fiduciary behavior,

shareholders could have virtually all the past directors for lunch,

subject only to the DC three year statute of limitations. Because of the

latter, managerial Einsteins like former board members former Virginia

Governor Linwood Holton, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis,

former Amtrak Chairman of the Board John Robert Smith, and former Amtrak

Chairman of the Board and former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson have

escaped their just reward. Oh, yes, the chief administrative enforcement

entity for violations of the DC corporation act (the local SEC if you

will) is Hizzoner, the mayor of DC. Presumably accountability standards

emanating from that source will be just as rigorous as they have been

for, say, the DC public schools. All of this should persuade even fully

qualified non-hack aspirants (IF adequately informed in advance) to keep

at least a 10-foot pole between themselves and any Amtrak board slot.

There wan an attempt to liberate Amtrak to pick a corporate domicile of

its choice - like normal corporations - in the 1997 reform bill, but

District of Columbia Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton and Amtrak's

putative management were having none of that. You might find it

interesting that the DC Business Corporation Act in 1970 - and now -

specifically prohibits incorporating a railroad there. Congress (probably

because of excellent research/staff work in '70) obliviously overrode

that in the original Amtrak statute, and it remains to this day.

Fortunately, for this and other reasons, DC is not a state. If it were,

the federal provision mandating Amtrak's status as a DC business

corporation would be facially unconstitutional on Tenth Amendment grounds

for trashing a state's domestic corporation law.

[WW Two]: Very informative. I've asked this before of several people and

never gotten a straight answer, but I think this comes close. Since DC is

not a state, federal law can override the corporation statutes for

Amtrak's benefit. It could not do that in any other mainland venue. I've

never heard of any other credible reason for having Amtrak domiciled in

DC. As for why Eleanor Holmes Norton should care: as a perpetual

money-losing basketcase, Amtrak would not owe any corporate franchise tax

to DC, aside from a few minor annual fees.

I looked up NRPC in the DC corporate registration database, and sure

enough, there it is, incorporated on March 3, 1971. (One day later would

have been entirely appropriate!) Curiously there's a "revoked" NRPC

incorporated in Delaware and registered as a foreign corporation on

November 16, 1970.

[WW One]: There was an separate Amtrak Commuter Corporation authorized in

the early '80s (when most of the embedded subsidies for NEC commuter ops

were inflicted in the statute), but it was never formed, and the

authorizing provisions were repealed in '97.

As for Norton's motive, besides carrying water for Amtrak and its unions,

she undoubtedly wanted a statutory guarantee that Amtrak would have to

keep its HQ and associated spending in DC. Remember, the federal statute

addresses not only legal corporate domicile, but principal place of

business, which do not have to be - and very frequently aren't in the

real business world - the same thing. The District, of course, had

already driven most of what used to be its retail downtown shopping

district across the river into Virginia (e.g., Pentagon City mall).

Regarding corporate/director accountability, I forgot to mention that

Amtrak is not subject to the SEC. (If it were, it might have supplied

almost as many inmates already as Enron.) Congressman John Mica of

Florida tried several years ago not to place Amtrak under the SEC on a

plenary basis, but just to impose Sarbanes-Oxley oath etc. standards on

its financial reporting. Amtrak got that appropriations rider shot down

on parliamentary grounds. Rather than being subject to the SEC, Amtrak is

considered a closely held private corporation, since its stock is held by

five shareholders (four common, one preferred) and is not publicly listed

or traded. The good news (sort of) is that if the inert shareholders

(three Class I railroads, plus Carl Lindner of Chiquita Banana fame,

through an insurance company he controls for common stock, US DOT for

preferred) ever bestirred themselves or were willing to convey their

holdings to someone who wasn't inert, Amtrak could be at least partially

reformed without Congress putting its mitts on the subject. The bad news

as I indicated is that, absent self-help by shareholders, the only public

entity empowered to address corporate irresponsibility/governance

violations is the DC government. Come to think of it, that would be a

self-sufficient motive for the status quo crowd to want a mandate for a

DC corporate domicile.

Back when UPS still aspired to be entirely under the Railway Labor Act, a

"takeover" scenario was created in which UPS would buy (presumably for

very little) most or all of the Amtrak common stock, then do a corporate

reorganization combining UPS air, UPS ground, and Amtrak. Since Amtrak

and UPS air were already RLA territory, there would be a good chance the

new entity would be ruled all RLA. Even without the RLA factor, if UPS

were to control Amtrak, it would acquire (1) a national rail express

franchise and (2) compulsory access running rights over every railroad in

the country.

Although I haven't checked the latest version, the alleged Amtrak

"reform" bills in the Senate that I have seen have been completely

retrograde on these subjects - letting Amtrak off the hook on board

quorum requirements, reinstituting a politician-studded quota structure

for the board a la the pre-'97 statute, and changing the statutory

standards for the overdue redemption of the common stock from the present

fair market value to screw the shareholders (quite possibly in an

unconstitutional fashion).

[End quote]

3) Let's take this discussion a little further. As long as Amtrak remains

a stepchild of government, it is going to be subject to political

appointees, no matter what is written into law regarding Amtrak. The Bush

Administration started out strong with good board members (perhaps, some

of the best in the company's history), but, in the end, has succumbed to

filling the board with political payoffs with little relationship to

Amtrak.

If Nancy Naples is confirmed by the Senate, does anyone believe she will

move to make New York state more accountable for the dozens of trains

which are operated by Amtrak at federal expense on behalf of New York? In

all of New York, with all of the NEC trains feeding New York City, and

all of the Empire Service trains feeding the Hudson River Valley and New

York City, only the Adirondack between New York and Montreal is state

supported. The rest of the trains, mostly regional trains and commuter

service trains with little or no benefit to the national system, receive

no state funding.

A stark reality is that for a corporation the size of Amtrak (which is

relatively small by Wall Street standards, but, still, a large company),

the board of directors is woefully small. In order to have a board where

decisions are made by challenging discussion and a diverse board

population, the board should at least be doubled. We again have an

intolerable situation where Amtrak will now have a fairly new president

who wasn't hired by the soon-to-be current board. This isn't fair to Mr.

Kummant, and isn't fair to the board. If the board were larger and terms

rotated on a more rational basis, there are least would be a semblance of

continuity between the board and Amtrak's executive suite.

As noted above, the status quo crowd, the folks who want Amtrak saved at

any cost no matter how broken it is, should be pleased with these board

appointments. It is highly unlikely this board will demonstrate any real

entrepreneurship, and dare to dream about an expanded national system for

Amtrak. This proposed board will also remain very comfortable with the

process of receiving free federal monies each year to prop up a system

which has the real possibility of being much more self sufficient on its

own, so will likely not act to reduce the annual federal contribution.

Hopefully, the personalities on this board, working directly with the

professionalism already demonstrated by President and CEO Kummant, will

not return Amtrak to the status of a public financial cripple waging an

annual battle for public handouts from the governmental treasury. If

Amtrak continues the very good example set by David Laney where annual

appropriations discussions are done using an orderly, professional

standard, then some progress which has been made will remain.

4) Here's the bottom line on the new Amtrak Board of Directors: a

reverting back to business as usual as demonstrated throughout the

company's history, little entrepreneurship guaranteed, and major

decisions signed off by people who look at things from a governmental

perspective instead of a business perspective. Don't look for Amtrak to

make any major improvements in the way it does business.

5) It's Thanksgiving week, and, as customary, Amtrak is gearing up for a

crush of riders on the Northeast Corridor. Lots of extra trains and extra

equipment will be put in place (all reserved), and lots of Amtrak

employees of every type will give up their holiday to meet an anticipated

public demand.

Passenger trips will be relatively short, and fares will be low. Riding

the NEC trains during Thanksgiving will be a well orchestrated event for

the thousand of passengers availing themselves of this travel choice.

Amtrak has prepared an extraordinary 33 page business plan just for this

holiday weekend. It goes into exhaustive detail covering almost every

contingency (including "regional leisure trains" feeding into the NEC,

whatever that means). The book itself is a marvel of professional

presentation and easy to use graphics.

Let's sum it up this way, as one URPA analyst put it.

[begin quote]

When can we expect a similar extraganza for the rest of the system,

proportionate to the RPMs it generates vis-a-vis the NEC? Seems to me the

whole exercise is to mimic the Pennsylvania Railroad, circa 1948. All the

local TV stations will be on the Union Station concourse to dutifully

record the "rush."

[End quote]

Also, what will this annual extravaganza cost Amtrak? It's doubtful that

even with trains packed like sardine cans (and, no additional food

service cars added, according to the plan) the whole exercise will be an

expensive one for Amtrak, with all of the costs coming out of the federal

treasury, most likely at the expense of the rest of the Amtrak national

system. If any extra equipment is added to regional trains in California

(one presumes Thanksgiving is celebrated elsewhere in our country, beyond

known civilization west of Pittsburgh, and south of Washington) or

Illinois where states pay for this service, will the extra costs be

gratis to the states, or will Amtrak invoice the states for the extra

services? Is Thanksgiving travel in the NEC just another huge gift all

American taxpayers provide to those living in the Northeast and Middle

Atlantic states, while giving the proverbial lump of coal to the rest of

us in the country?

Inquiring minds want to know.

6) Here's a delightful breath of entrepreneurship from Illinois, which

monthly feels the reach of Amtrak into its state treasury.

[begin quote]

A few days ago, my wife received her driver's license renewal notice from

IDOT, and in the envelope was a nicely done ad flyer promoting Amtrak

trains in the state. It's packed with useful information - schedules,

fares, etc., plus this reminder at the top of the page: $$ SAVE GAS $$

What a great promotion. Every Illinois driver will eventually be reminded

of the rail option - in an envelope they MUST open! If other states

aren't already doing this, they should.

[End quote]

The folks in Illinois have come to the same conclusion the folks in

California came to decades ago. If the state itself is proactive in

promoting train travel for which it pays Amtrak, then higher ridership

and revenue passenger miles should equal lower billed costs from Amtrak

since ticket income is credited against the cost of operating the trains.

Illinois continues to prove the theory that anyone other than Amtrak is

better at marketing passenger trains, especially when marketing efforts

pay off and Amtrak is forced to charge states less for services.

7) A final thought. As noted above, for many Amtrak employees,

Thanksgiving is just another work day. We thank each and every Amtrak

employee who is away from home and family on these major holidays, making

sure our national passenger railroad is a 365 day a year operation.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

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----------



## frj1983

"I do fear that with Laney and Hall's departure, the Board will

lose any skepticism of management. It's not a very deep bench. The last

round of nominees has only been around for a year. Once again, we'll be

back to the status quo of the Board swallowing whatever Kummant and the

lifers lower down the ranks put before them."

_______________________________________________________________

Can you hear the venomous sarcasm dripping from J Bruce's keyboard? It looks like Alexander Kummant has now been lumped with, gasp, the "lifers!"

I just can't resist, do you remember when J Bruce said this:

"What do we bring from this? The Amtrak Board of Directors, under the

leadership of Chairman David Laney (even in its present reduced state

because of too many vacancies) has done a good job of selecting the next

chief steward of Amtrak."

How soon Alex Kummant has fallen out of favor!


----------



## WICT106

This Week at Amtrak; December 18, 2007

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 4, Number 39

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and

probably will themselves not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in

hope ad work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded

will not die." — Daniel Burnham, architect of Washington Union Station,

El Paso (Texas) Union Depot and other notable structures

2) First, background from a notable Washington Wag about the beginnings

of Amtrak and the original intentions of Amtrak’s creators.

[begin quote]

The 1970 statute creating Railpax and then the National Railroad

Passenger Corporation, eventually known as Amtrak, was more complex than

a simple replacement of private passenger trains with Amtrak’s system.

Passenger train carriers were allowed to opt out of the NRPC system of

running existing trains, but did not have to – as evidenced by the trains

the Rio Grande and the Southern continued to operate into the ‘80s. As to

those trains "surrendered" and placed in Amtrak – and only as to those

trains – the previous carrier was relieved of its statutory common

carrier obligation.

However, little noticed until repealed in 1997, the Interstate Commerce

Act provisions on entry, exit, fare, and common carrier obligation for

passenger trains remained on the books; only Amtrak was exempted from

them as of 1970. Thus, any non-Amtrak train not covered by the 1970

conveyance of private trains to Amtrak would be subjected to the same

straitjacket that had helped cause the exodus in the first place. (Of

course, since Amtrak was also given a statutory neo-monopoly in 1970,

with a right of first refusal on all intercity service – not just the

services surrendered to it in 1970 – any new service would only occur by

Amtrak’s permission. The right of first refusal also survived until

1997.)

Without going into the extreme sloppiness that characterized the

corporate structuring of Amtrak, it seems clear the 1970 statute was only

slightly above back-of-the-envelope coherence of policy, and, in any

event, was the product of a policy environment in which Congress still

thought it was 1887 (or perhaps 1930) on the railroads, while the rest of

the transportation world had already changed dramatically.

There have been allegations the Nixon Administration expected a quick

fade-away (which still wouldn’t excuse the quality of the work-product),

but the railroads were literally at death’s door, and Congress was still

in a time-warp that did not include that reality. And, remember, all of

the freight-Amtrak access/compensation provisions of the 1970 act were of

a piece with a still- operative freight rail regulatory regime where

earning a viable return, or being able to alter prices or services, or

abandon lines on less than a decade’s notice, were still virtually

unknown concepts.

In short, the 1970 act was the last gasp of the hidebound regulatory

regime that nearly killed not only passenger trains, but freight service

as well. Some of it still lives on, including the statutory authority for

Amtrak to interpose itself in virtually any Class I main line abandonment

or facility downgrade; this was just invoked a few days ago regarding the

EJ&E transaction and sale of the railroad to Canadian National Railway.

On the freight side, it took Congress – remember it’s "the country’s

principal trailing indicator" – several major railroad bankruptcies and

over two decades to move the freight regulatory regime out of the 19th

century (statutes in 1973, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1986 and 1995). Nothing

comes easily or quickly there. There was no parallel modernization of the

Amtrak regime prior to 1997 – and the Clinton Administration made sure

that reform was sabotaged.

On the contrary, all of the legislative interventions between 1970 and

1997 exacerbated the problems by leaving the increasingly ossified

national route network ("basic system") in place, imposing restrictions

antithetical to network flexibility (such as statutory six-year labor

protection) and outlawing efficiency (non-food contracting prohibited by

law), while adding to Amtrak’s financial burdens the former

PennCentral/Conrail Northeast Corridor infrastructure, compounded with

statutory embedded subsidies to the NEC commuter outfits.

Until 1997, discontinuing an Amtrak route – although not subject to as

absurdly strict a standard as pre-1980 freight rail abandonments – still

required a quasi-abandonment proceeding by law. If the current "reform"

bills being considered are any indication, Congress is about to embark on

some backward time travel.

All of this argues strongly for not compounding or repeating the mistakes

of 1970. In fact, in a better world, if a more creative approach had been

taken in 1970 regarding passenger service (as was eventually done with

freight), and had the funding actually used on Amtrak and the NEC over

the intervening years been provided at the same levels as actually

occurred, we might well have a rail passenger system today more efficient

(not difficult to achieve) and more closely matched with national

demographics than the relic we now have in Amtrak.

Whether you agree with this analysis or not, it is an inarguable

political reality you will not get increased rail passenger

infrastructure by playing a zero-sum game with the freights. Both sides

have to gain, or you’re on a fast train to nowhere.

[End quote]

2) On that note, let’s take a look at Amtrak today, at the close of

calendar year 2007.

Amtrak remains statistically irrelevant as part of America’s

transportation network, and nobody is doing anything to change that fact.

Amtrak remains a financially bankrupt corporation, suffering under a

corps of non-innovative executives whose personal performance and

promotions are based on how much money is saved, rather than how many new

passengers are found, how many revenue passenger miles are generated, or

how much the national system is grown to accommodate passenger demand.

Even worse, at the end of 2007, Amtrak’s greatest supporters are often

ill-informed individuals with no useful understanding of the real

potential of Amtrak as an integral part of our domestic transportation

network, but rather consider Amtrak an environmental toy available for

the amusement of tree-huggers and those with an antipathy for fossil fuel

vehicles.

Hardly anybody inside government or private enterprise has a true

understanding of the most useful functions of Amtrak and the areas of the

company’s greatest potential.

Very few people understand that Amtrak’s value is that is uses proven,

passenger-friendly technology, and the overall infrastructure to grow

Amtrak’s national system and carry more passengers is relatively

inexpensive compared to upgrading or creating new infrastructure in other

modes of transportation. Passenger rail is the single most flexible form

of transportation beyond the automobile, because trains can be lengthened

or shortened to meet market demand. New train frequencies can be added

when financially warranted, and, if necessary, new station stops can be

created with a strip of asphalt for a platform, a small parking lot, some

light poles, and a portable building as a ticket office and shelter.

The only innovation needed in today’s passenger train world in America is

a lesson in history, as to what has worked in the past, and what from the

past can be viable for expansion in the future. Today’s two level

Superliners are just an improved idea on commuter gallery cars first

introduced in the middle of the last century, and refined by the Santa Fe

Railroad at the same time for use on long distance trains.

Passenger trains may be environmentally friendly, but that is the single

worst reason for the promotion of passenger rail. Passenger trains are

efficient in many ways, can provide any combination of Spartan-like

accommodations to grand luxury. Passengers trains, when properly

assembled are rolling cities, with places to eat, be entertained, shop,

sit, and sleep. Except for large ships, no other form of transportation

offers the wide variety of accommodations and amenities as trains.

Too bad Amtrak keeps refusing to understand these simple concepts.

Instead, Amtrak errantly clings to a concept of itself as a public

utility, capable of only providing bare necessities, and willing to do

little for the overall comfort of its passengers. Those who believe

passenger rail should be glorified transit, or believe it should

inherently be a stepchild of government, always reliant on a welfare

program for its existence do nothing to insure a future of passenger rail

in this country.

A quick check of the Constitution, as outlined by our wise forefathers,

does not show any right to, or guarantee of, passenger rail

transportation as a byproduct of government. Those who believe there is

an entitlement to passenger rail at the expense of others unwittingly

want to doom passenger rail in this country to a status of a barely alive

entity always at the mercy of others.

The real and true facts are right in front of everybody, found in

Amtrak’s own financial statements.

Here’s a sneak peek at some Amtrak financial results for Fiscal Year

2007. A broader analysis will appear soon in another edition of This Week

at Amtrak.

The Empire Builder, Amtrak’s long distance route between Chicago and

Seattle/Portland is the single best performer in the Amtrak system. This

one daily train in each direction generated 390,824,000 revenue passenger

miles and $53,177,800 in revenue. It carried 505,000 passengers for an

average length of trip of 774 miles, with 207 passengers riding every

train mile. The revenue per passenger mile was 13.61 cents, and the load

factor was 61%.

Contrast the Empire Builder with one of Amtrak’s best managed short

distance corridors, the Capitols, which is overseen by a professional

railroader of repute working for the State of California. The Capitols

feed passengers in and out of the San Francisco Bay area, east to

Sacramento, with connections to Nevada. The Capitol Corridor runs for 168

route miles. The Capitol Corridor fields 16 trains a day in each

direction, which generated 96,404,000 revenue passenger miles and

$16,723,700 in revenue. The Capitols carried 1,450,100 passengers for an

average length of trip of 66.5 miles (the lowest length of trip in the

Amtrak system), with 81 passengers riding every train mile. The revenue

per passenger mile was 17.35 cents, and the load factor was 26.7%.

To sum up, one long train a day versus 16 corridor trains a day have

these comparative results:

The Empire Builder generated 294,420,000 more revenue passenger miles

than the Capitols.

The Empire Builder made $36,454,100 than the Capitols for the fiscal

year.

The Empire Builder carried 944,600 fewer passengers than the Capitols.

The Empire Builder’s average length of trip was 707.5 miles longer than

the Capitols’.

The Empire Builder carried 126 more passengers per train mile than the

Capitols.

The Empire Builder’s revenue per passenger mile was 3.74 cents less than

the Capitols’.

The Empire Builder’s load factor was 34.3% better than the Capitols’.

This brings us to the always obvious question: Which is a more useful and

productive route, that of the Empire Builder or that of the Capitols?

From a purely economic standpoint the Empire Builder wins this race every

time. From a useful transportation output standpoint, the Empire Builder

also wins this race continuously. If you were an investment banker, or a

public servant charged with spending public money as wisely as possible,

which choice would you make for investment for the future, stability, and

growth?

California and North Carolina are probably the two most progressive

states when it comes to passenger rail. California’s model works well

everywhere, and it should be duplicated as often as possible. But, at

what cost?

Amtrak continues to pledge its future to corridors like the Capitol

Corridor, which has high investment and inarguable low return on

investment. The Capitols will always require large public subsidies for

both operations and capital improvements. It will be an endless money pit

that does not serve even a measurable minority of travelers in California

as compared to other modes of transportation.

The Empire Builder, which supports a full infrastructure over a route

length of 2,206 miles through vast, empty spaces continuously outperforms

corridors from every standpoint. If a second or third daily frequency

were added over this same route, the predictable scenario is a lowering

of infrastructure costs per train departure, an increase in revenue

passenger miles because of a choice of departure times, and an overall

healthier route. What will not change is Amtrak’s market share, which

nationally is about the same as motorcycles. Still, the Empire Builder

has a decent shot at complete viability from a financial standpoint,

while the Capitols will forever be mired in the economics of transit and

commuter services.

Again, which is the best investment? Californians, which pride themselves

on their "green" efforts, are willing to pay for their trains through

state subsidies. That’s fine, because it is their choice to do so.

However, routes like that of the Empire Builder are much closer to not

needing any subsidy at a realistic point in the future. Is Amtrak going

about things backwards by promoting corridors which do nothing to help

Amtrak’s financial picture? Is Amtrak trying to live off of someone

else’s money (the states running corridors), instead of saying, "Gee! I

can make a go of this if only I choose to run the right type of trains!"?

3) So, again, here we are at the end of 2007. Thanks to the United States

Senate, which rarely understands a good candidate for Amtrak’s Board of

Directors even when they are delivered on a silver platter, has confirmed

a new group of political insiders this year who will do their best to

represent all of the failed Amtrak policies of the past. The good

candidates for the board – those who actually understood the passenger

business and were willing to spend their time on behalf of Amtrak to

bring it to heel financially – are gone, thanks to the inaction of the

Senate in not confirming the White House’s Amtrak board nominees.

4) At the end of the year, we are also seeing a departure of one of

Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant’s lieutenants who was a key player

in Amtrak’s corporate planning department. Most likely, the gentleman ran

into the brick wall of Amtrak’s ingrained cadre of executives who are

masterful at stonewalling any idea which was "not invented here."

5) At the end of the year, we are also reading news reports from New

England of the alleged peril the Downeaster service between Boston and

Portland, Maine may soon be in because of a possible lack of funding from

the State of Maine to keep the service subsidized financially. The

estimated annual cost of the service is $13 million, which requires a

subsidy of between $7 and $8 million dollars annually.

The Downeaster’s plight mirrors that of Amtrak continuously; unless

someone else’s money is thrown into the pot, the service will disappear.

The Downeaster did "okay" in comparison to other short distance routes,

but its load factor for last year was only 37%. Again, the question must

be raised. How productive is the Downeaster in the overall scheme of

things versus the cost?

The answer should be, the Downeaster is a relatively new building block

onto which other services can be added, or the Downeaster itself can be

enhanced and end up a better financial performer. From a social

standpoint, with only a 37% load factor spread over eight trains a day in

each direction, carrying 361,600 souls annually who generate 28,809,000

revenue passenger miles for an average length of trip of 80 miles, the

train is not successful. Divided evenly over 365 days, the Downeaster

transports less than 1,000 people per day. By comparison, the Empire

Builder, with just one train a day in each direction, carries 1,383

people per day.

6) What to do? The easy answer is to break Amtrak into three financial

categories, each with it’s own set of financial reports. Take the 15

trains of the long distance system (and add a couple of the

now-classified short distance trains to the long distance category where

they should be, anyway), and run that system separately from a system of

state and federally supported corridors. Issue discrete financial reports

for each part of the system. Let each part of the system stand on its own

merits, with decisions made on that basis, and not a basis of either the

whole system or none at all. Add a third financial report, that of

headquarters and general overhead (such as the reservations system). No

one really knows today how these overhead expenses are allocated to each

route. Amtrak would be in a far better position to defend itself

financially if its arguing points were made on the financial merits of

routes, and not the overall health of the company.

Once a pattern was publicly established which Amtrak’s true revenues and

profit potentials are generated, and then the costs of running the

company are better known, then rational discussion can take place.

Today’s system is broken and nearly beyond repair, and does not allow

anyone to make reasonable financial decisions about Amtrak.

7) Amtrak needs to acquire a better set of friends. Most of the friends

it has today do not act in the best interest of Amtrak or the American

taxpayer, but, rather, make silly arguments about "green" issues, untrue

statements about transportation utility, and perpetually want Amtrak to

be a financial cripple and financial ward of government. Amtrak’s current

friends often lack any ability to look at the true potential of Amtrak or

passenger rail, and, instead, focus on spending someone else’s money on

fantasies which will never be viable under almost any scenario.

8) Amtrak has a monopoly on passenger rail in the United States of

America. The first impulse of most people is that a monopoly "must" be

successful, because it has no competition. The exact opposite is true.

Since Amtrak has no competition, and it is constantly suckling at the

United States Treasury, it has no sense of urgency, or sense of need to

attract and please passengers. Instead, it clings to unreasonable excuses

(most of which amount to "the dog ate my homework"), and always expects

another meal for another day from the government coffers. Is that any way

to run a railroad?


----------



## AmtrakWPK

> A quick check of the Constitution, as outlined by our wise forefathers,does not show any right to, or guarantee of, passenger rail
> 
> transportation as a byproduct of government.


That would make a great argument if such a thing as a passenger train existed when the Constitution was written. In fact, the first fare-paying passenger train on Earth had not yet been invented when the Constitution was written. So if this "Constitutional" argument is valid, then all airlines are also unconstitutional, as is NASA and putting a man on the Moon, because they didn't exist either when it was written. Sometimes his flights of fancy allow his own rhetoric to get the better of him. If he wants to make an argument based on facts, fine. The "Constitutional" argument here is completely specious and invalid.

Amtrak is essentially providing a utility, a public transportation system akin to a metro bus service (and I believe those are universally government-subsidized), but on a national scale, providing sometimes the only such service to a lot of in-the-boonies isolated cities and towns, especially since the major bus systems, Trailways and Greyhound, have greatly reduced or eliminated their service to such places. This seems to be something that he refuses to acknowledge or consider. His continual harping and frothing at the mouth gets a bit tiresome.


----------



## meatpuff

AmtrakWPK said:


> A quick check of the Constitution, as outlined by our wise forefathers,does not show any right to, or guarantee of, passenger rail
> 
> transportation as a byproduct of government.
> 
> 
> 
> That would make a great argument if such a thing as a passenger train existed when the Constitution was written. In fact, the first fare-paying passenger train on Earth had not yet been invented when the Constitution was written. So if this "Constitutional" argument is valid, then all airlines are also unconstitutional, as is NASA and putting a man on the Moon, because they didn't exist either when it was written. Sometimes his flights of fancy allow his own rhetoric to get the better of him. If he wants to make an argument based on facts, fine. The "Constitutional" argument here is completely specious and invalid.
> 
> Amtrak is essentially providing a utility, a public transportation system akin to a metro bus service (and I believe those are universally government-subsidized), but on a national scale, providing sometimes the only such service to a lot of in-the-boonies isolated cities and towns, especially since the major bus systems, Trailways and Greyhound, have greatly reduced or eliminated their service to such places. This seems to be something that he refuses to acknowledge or consider. His continual harping and frothing at the mouth gets a bit tiresome.
Click to expand...

Oh man, this guy gets me so mad all the time. Sorry if people have made similar comments earlier in this thread, it's huge!!

This guy has fundamental misunderstandings about the market for travel in this country and passenger rail in particular. It's nice to have another guy "on our side", but this guy is so off sometimes he does passenger rail advocates a disservice. AmtrakWPK sums up his misunderstanding pretty well, which centers around the idea that there is a great deal of money to be made in overnight LD passenger trains, it's just that no one has done it right before.

I would elaborate/add that he seems to think that all that is missing from Amtrak gulping up airline market share on >1,000 mile routes is to make a train like a cruise ship. Four days round-trip Chicago to Seattle just isn't going to cut it for business travelers or for the rest of us with 10 vacation days per year. It would make NO DIFFERENCE if the train had a swimming pool, raquetball court and duty-free shop onboard! He doesn't understand how passenger rail works either. He says passenger rail is the single "most flexible form of transportation beyond the automobile." :lol: HA! He seems to think that the ability to add or subtract cars from a train is a *miraculous* ability that gives the mode unheard of flexibility. Ask the folks in Phoenix, AZ or Madison, WI how flexible passenger rail is to market demands. I am a big supporter of pass. rail for a raft of carefully considered reasons, but flexibility ain't one of them.

This is getting long, but his comparison of the Empire Builder and Capitols shows how he only looks at the facts that support his weekly diatribe. He chooses the _"single best perform[ing]"_ LD route the Builder, and compares it to the money-losing Capitol Corridor because it is one of Amtrak's _"best managed short distance corridors," "which is overseen by a professional railroader of repute."_ Gee, why use the Capitols, which lost *$13M* last year (reading off the same Sept 2007 YTD figures from Amtrak's website that he's using), instead of one of FIVE short-distance Amtrak corridors that MADE money last year? Then he makes a number of largely irrelevant comparisons based on passenger miles and load factors, and says we should add another Builder. But he never mentions that the Builder lost *$35M* last year, almost 3X as much! The Builder's cool, but if I could add almost three more Capitol Corridor-type routes/frequnecies carrying 1.45M pax for the price of one more Builder carrying 0.5M pax, I know which I'd pick.

I almost laughed when he said _"routes like that of the Empire Builder are much closer to not needing any subsidy at a realistic point in the future"_ compared to ones like the Capitals. :lol: :lol:

He constantly uses phrases like _"Amtrak’s greatest supporters are often ill-informed individuals with no useful understanding of the real potential of Amtrak,"_ and _"Very few people understand [the nature of] Amtrak’s value,"_ and _"Too bad Amtrak keeps refusing to understand these simple concepts."_ This gives it away. This guy must get told again and again about his misconceptions, but he shuts it out. Instead of looking at his own thinking, he concludes that most of the other pass. rail advocates he talks to just "don't get it."

Take this guy with a grain of salt.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 5, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 1

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Great, wonderful, progress! Amtrak has figured out the high value of

its timetables in the world of marketing, and has started soliciting paid

outside ads. The ads now appear in the Fall and Winter 2007-08 national

timetables. Overall, Amtrak prints something close to a million

timetables a year (including all of the individual route timetables and

wallet corridor timetables), and has been doing so almost solely at its

own expense for years.

One bright spot over the last decade has been the constant upgrading of

the timetables, with each new one bringing a fresher look than the one

before. Now, with both the national timetable upgraded (lots more color

and an impressive presentation) and the route timetables pleasantly

redesigned, Amtrak seems to be taking the relatively inexpensive

initiative to sell advertising space in these timetables and let someone

else pay for part of the printing and distribution cost.

Capitalism is abounding, and is wonderful. For every dollar Amtrak earns

in timetable or other collateral material advertising revenue, it is one

dollar less it needs in free federal money. What a concept.

2) Revisit some real, factual history and look at why Amtrak was founded

at the end of the 1960s.

One of the primary reasons Amtrak was created was to clean up the mess

created by the PennCentral merger and bankruptcy earlier in the 1960s,

and the resulting bankruptcies of most of the other railroads providing

freight and commuter/regional passenger service in the Northeast.

Several hard facts must be considered. Railroading in the 1960s wasn't

much different than railroading in the 1930s, except for diesel engines

and radio-equipped locomotives. Harsh and unbending union rules, which

almost exclusively were based on steam railroading and the days when

railroads were printing their own money desperately needed to be updated.

Rules such as steam locomotive firemen still be required in diesel

locomotives just to preserve jobs were costing the railroads hundreds of

millions of dollars a year.

And, too, the railroads were far too heavily regulated and falsely

treated as public utilities because the railroad robber barons of the

19th Century and early 20th Century had been so naughty. The naughtiness

spawned the beginning of the Interstate Commerce Commission, a federal

agency that probably did more to harm railroads and shippers than any

other single government entity in the history of the Republic. The ICC

was a political agency and it had life and death power over the

railroads. Desperate railroads may petition the ICC for relief from some

immediate problem, but the ICC always responded in its own time and way

of doing things, which was never for the convenience of the public or the

private companies it regulated. If not for the Staggers Act that

deregulated railroads at the end of the 20th Century, the ICC would most

likely have presided over the end of the railroad industry in this

country, and then wondered what it did wrong.

It never occurred to anyone in time the advent of the Eisenhower

Interstate Highway System and the Boeing 707 jet airliner drastically

changed the landscape for the railroads in both the freight and passenger

realms, which called for a whole new set of operating, union, management,

and marketing standards.

Everyone was at fault. Railroad senior executives were for the most part

inflexible, and had begun their railroad careers sometime after World War

I, when the rails were king. They never adapted to the changing landscape

of the 1950s and 60s. Wall Street, always accustomed to reaping huge

profits from blue chip railroad stocks before the Interstate Highway

System, still demanded those same profit levels, without taking into

account the changing landscape. Local and state governments regarded the

alleged deep pockets of the railroads as an extraordinary tax base, where

every foot of rail, every station or depot building, every signal tower,

and every spike plunged into a tie were heavily taxed at premium rates.

Railroads shouldered the burden for many local taxpayers, keeping other

taxes for locals low because the alleged mighty railroads with unlimited

revenues could pay the taxes, instead.

The thought processes of unions during the period was best demonstrated

through the New York City newspaper strikes of the day, where most of New

York's daily newspapers were forced to go out of business because they

tried to modernize with new typesetting and printing methods, but the

unions demanded all jobs be retained, even if there was nothing for the

workers to do. The attitude of the unions was they were rather see the

newspapers go out of business than benefit from new work rules which

favored management and owners. The attitude of the railroad unions was

identical. Everyone thought the railroads were untouchable by strife

because they were so necessary. It never occurred to these people the

railroads may actually disappear until the PennCentral crisis.

World War II wore out the railroads. They had already gone through a

tough time during the Great Depression in the 1930s, and the physical

plant was not a good as it could have been. When wartime demands were

placed on the railroads, like every patriotic citizen, the railroads rose

to meet the demand, and performed magnificently. But, by VJ Day, the

railroads were in ragtag shape because of the heavy demands of use, and

no replacement equipment or infrastructure materials had been available

during the war.

After the war, the railroads placed new orders for all types of

equipment, including passenger equipment. The day of the heavyweight

passenger car was gone, and lightweight streamliners were the order of

the day, trailing behind thrifty diesel locomotives.

Many American servicemen had gone to war by riding a troop train, mostly

equipped with older cars that had seen better days. Short-trip day

coaches were pressed into service on transcontinental trains, and, for

many soldiers who envisioned the grand service offered by the passenger

railroads, the nightmares of troop trains stayed with them for a very

long time.

In the first part of the 20th Century, most of the rail based transit

systems in America were privately run. They, too, became victim of the

bus and the automobile, and private systems disappeared as cities and

municipalities suddenly found themselves in the transit business because

the automobile had stolen the heart of the ridership away from the

streetcars and trolleys. Americans, too, suddenly rejuvenated by winning

a world war, were tired of standing on a street corner in all of the

weather elements waiting for what was now ragged and sad-faced public

transportation. Americans had liberated the world, and they wanted the

freedom to move about unimpeded in their own automobiles at will.

Postwar Detroit stopped making drab and boxy sedans, and starting turning

out eye-catching chrome plated automobiles that were the product of

professional stylists, not automobile engineers. Gas was cheap, highways

were being built everywhere, and the suburbs beckoned with new styles of

homes complete with modern kitchens, supermarkets, and shopping centers.

And, then, Boeing and Douglas got into the passenger jet business. The

former glamour of highly civilized rail travel in Pullman Sleepers and

parlor cars was replaced by the fascination of jet travel, with full hot

meals being served at the seat of each passenger by young and attractive

stewardesses, and alcohol flowing like a river. New and shiny airports

replaced dreary and ominous train stations. People became jet setters,

and a new lifestyle was born and glamorized by Hollywood and the media.

Everything but the railroads had changed.

Railroads still had coaches, diners, lounges, and Pullman sleeping cars,

all manned by all-male Black American crews, harking back to the

undesirable era of segregation. It was tough to compare well-trained,

white-jacketed porters and dining car waiters to young, elegantly suited

and perfectly coiffed smiling stewardesses. Train speeds stayed the same,

or, in many cases, slowed down. Stations and terminals started losing

their luster as trains became passee, and maintenance began to slide.

In short, every factor imaginable was against the railroads in the late

1950s and 1960s, and it's only through a miracle the industry survived.

The railroads with the biggest problems were the railroads which handled

short hauls of both freight and passengers, such as the New England

railroads, PennCentral, the Southern Pacific, Chicago and Northwestern,

Milwaukee Road, and others in a similar situation. Railroads which were

in less danger of surviving were ones with little or no commuter business

and little short haul business, such as the Seaboard Coast Line,

Southern, Norfolk & Western, Chesapeake and Ohio, Union Pacific, Great

Northern, Burlington, Santa Fe, and Northern Pacific. While everyone of

these railroads ended up with at least one merger partner, they did so to

maintain positions of strength, not because they were teetering on

bankruptcy. Also, these railroads all operated heavily regulated

passenger trains, but the nature of the long hauls of the passenger

trains made them much more financially feasible than the other railroads

burdened with the high cost and low revenue commuter services.3) At the

end of the 1960s PennCentral was a financial basket case. It

took a long time for PennCentral's management (which was pretty awful to

begin with) to convince official Washington and the public it was in

danger of having to be liquidated. PennCentral was the Enron of its day

on steroids, and nobody knew what was going on until it was too late.

Finally, some action came from the Nixon and Ford Administrations to

tackle the PennCentral mess and create Conrail. One way initially

PennCentral and then Conrail was helped was the creation of Amtrak as a

child of government.

In a nutshell, someone realized there was still viability in passenger

trains, but not fully at the moment with the competition of the

Interstate highways and jet travel and the way passenger trains had

previously been heavily regulated. But, someone realized if Amtrak

relieved PennCentral of its regulated obligations to run passenger

trains, the railroad could concentrate all of its efforts on its freight

business, and not have to worry about the costs of commuter and regional

passenger trains, stations, and other passenger related capital needs and

infrastructure.

Once you do something for one child, you have to do it for every child.

So, Amtrak became a national, optional program, which the private

railroads could join if they chose to do so.

Again, look at the history. By the end of the 1960s, it was time for the

railroad corporate planners to start thinking about ordering new

passenger diesels and cars. Most of the equipment was nearing 20 years

old, and all of the rolling stock mechanical systems were based on pre-

and post-war technology, not anything new.

Few new stations and terminal had been built since the first half of the

century, and almost all of the passenger depots and stations were built

and operated on prewar traffic loads, not current traffic loads. Major

terminals such as Cincinnati, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Richmond,

Atlanta, and elsewhere were giant, expensive-to-maintain monuments to

railroad egos of a time long gone. The stifling regulatory atmosphere of

the day didn't allow for much change in infrastructure or necessary

downsizing.

The computer age was dawning, and the railroads embraced it, on the

freight side of the house. Passenger reservations were still made on

paper manifests, and stations still communicated with each other by

decades-old teletypes. Conductors and engineers were still working under

the 100 mile rule, which was geared towards steam engine travel, not

diesel travel.

Really, when the government came to the railroads and said "do we have a

deal for you," it was tough to turn down joining Amtrak. So many problems

and capital intensive costs simply went away, and trains that used to be

the responsibility of the railroads became the responsibility of the

government. The railroads were paid to run the trains (although a small

sum, not a fair market price), and suddenly a lot of employees and their

pension obligations went away, too, transferring to Amtrak.

Still, though, two railroads held out, the Southern, and the Denver & Rio

Grand Western. Some railroads, like Seaboard Coast Line, which was

proudly operating still in high style its passenger trains, hesitated,

but took the Amtrak plunge, anyway.

Already, the Pullman Company, which was jointly owned by the operating

railroads, had already gone away before 1970, and the individual

railroads took over the operation of the sleeping cars. The demise of the

Pullman Company is a whole other story, but it occurred at a time when

the day of the Pullman Company was simply over, and its functions could

more efficiently be handled by the individual railroads. Most of the

cream of the Pullman Company business, the overnight business traveler,

had already moved to jet airplane travel. The Pullman Company was left

with mostly leisure travelers, who at the time were more interested in

new and novel roadside Holiday Inns and private automobiles than upper

and lower bunks in a Pullman sleeping car.

4) It's May 1, 1971, and Amtrak rolls into existence. About half of the

nation's passenger rail system disappeared overnight. Lots of promises

were made, some which would be kept, and others that would be quickly

broken. Amtrak had many huge flaws, including sloppy legal language which

created it in Congress. Amtrak was not a public national priority in the

Space Age, and it was pretty well left to define itself with lots of

questionable flexibility which would come back to haunt it in coming

years.

Looking at the history of the private railroads, and the beginning of

Amtrak, the company started with extraordinary benefits.

- Amtrak had congressionally mandated operating rights over every stretch

of main line rail and every two streaks of rust in the country.

- Amtrak inherited a national fleet of equipment at no cost, even though

much of it was nearing the end of its useful life. Henry Christie's

famous "A" and "B" lists of equipment would determine which cars would be

converted from steam heat to head end power and live to roll another

million miles down the track.

- Amtrak was exempt from all local and state taxes of every type (except

diesel fuel taxes) and all federal taxes except payroll related taxes.

- Amtrak had no competition in the rail marketplace, and it could carve

out its own useful niche in the transportation world of jet airplanes and

automobile travel.

- Amtrak had no federal or state regulation, and it could manipulate its

route system nearly at will, but with certain union restrictions for job

protection and severance packages.

- Amtrak shed many of the huge and expensive passenger railroad terminals

in major cities in favor of small, efficient stations that required fewer

employees and had lower operating costs.

- When Amtrak needed money, it went to the federal government for

handouts, often with no strings attached. The private railroads had to be

accountable to stockholders, entities buying commercial paper, banks for

loans, and everyone else in the world of commerce. Amtrak simply was

written a check by the government with no mandate to pay back the amount

or scrutiny as to how it was used. Amtrak had an unending source of funds

that was renewed on an annual basis.

- In the early 1970s, Amtrak tried a bold experiment by today's

standards. It advertised itself to the traveling public, offering all of

the myriad of advantages of passenger rail travel. The public responded

in droves, and Amtrak could not handle the public demand. Instead of

finding a way to meet the demand, Amtrak retreated into becoming

America's best kept secret, and a constant financial ward of government.

5) All of this put together should have made Amtrak a resounding success.

Oops! It wasn't, and still isn't. What went wrong?

- In the early days, too many people tried to remake passenger rail

travel into the image of airline travel, or, even worse, bus travel.

Nobody was content to let Amtrak be Amtrak, and play to the strengths of

passenger rail travel, and not try to imitate another form of travel.

- Many of the original officers of Amtrak came from the few failing

private railroads, especially the PennCentral and its predecessor the

Pennsylvania Railroad, which at one time had advertised itself as the

Standard Railroad of the World. The boys from the Pennsylvania and later

PennCentral pretty well started this whole mess with their failures

(along, of course, with way too much government regulation and a host of

other problems) that created the need for Amtrak. The people who failed

previously were brought in to fail again, whether consciously or not by

the federal government and Amtrak's creators.

- When the Ford Administration, groping for a way to make Conrail viable,

shunted off the Northeast Corridor onto Amtrak to keep it off of

Conrail's books, someone should have just turned out the lights at that

point and told everyone to go home. Expensive, high-cost and low revenue

regional rail, especially Mid-Atlantic and New England regional passenger

rail, were huge contributors to the failure of the private railroads. By

passing the infrastructure and operations along to Amtrak without a

better business plan to operate the regional system, the same problems of

50 years ago still exist today, and are continuing to drag Amtrak down.

- The addition of the black hole of the NEC to Amtrak completely changed

the mission of the company and its business plan. Amtrak's original

business plan was based on operating long distance passenger trains as

the primary function of the company, not glorified commuter trains which

were hopeless money losers and more public utilities than a modern

business. The mistake Amtrak made was concentrating too much of its

resources on rescuing the NEC, and not enough of its resources on

building a strong, healthy, national long distance system which the

public wants.

Here's something that can keep people awake at night wondering: If Amtrak

would have stuck to its original business plan (flawed as it was) of

running a long distance passenger system, and the Ford Administration had

found another place to put the NEC instead of Amtrak (such as the FRA or

USRA), it's highly likely Amtrak today, in 2008, would either be

profitable or very close to breaking even. Without the distraction of the

Northeast Corridor, the Capitol Corridor, the Pacific Surfliners, and

other local services, it's highly likely there would be a daily Sunset

Limited over the full route between Los Angeles and Orlando, there would

be a daily Cardinal between Washington and Chicago, the Pioneer and

Desert Wind would still be in operation, there would be a Broadway

Limited, a National Limited, a Floridian, a Champion, and a North Coast

Hiawatha, along with a few other discontinued trains from the early days

of Amtrak. If Amtrak had remained an operating company, as based on the

successful model of the Pullman Company (pre-jet travel), and not an

infrastructure owner and operator, today's national system would most

likely be a healthy railroad taking full advantage of the resurgent

interest in passenger rail travel in America. Instead, the company is

foolishly bogged down in running short distance, high-expense, low

revenue trains which contribute little to the national commonweal.

- The creation of Conrail and the transfer of the NEC to Amtrak also

created financial havoc when Amtrak did not write new contracts with

commuter railroads it hosted on the NEC. As far back as before the

creation of Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road, which was a commuter road

that hauled some local freight as an afterthought, was spun off into a

government agency in New York State. Forty years ago, railroaders knew

hauling commuter trains was a losing proposition. When Amtrak took the

NEC (under protest), it never imposed fair operating contracts on its

commuter systems it hosted. Sweetheart deals which benefitted local

politicians and local government at the expense of Amtrak abounded.

Taxpayers in Arizona were paying dearly for commuters in New Jersey to

have commuter rail access into New York City. Instead of locals paying

for local costs, suddenly federal taxpayers were subsidizing local

commuters. This bore no relationship to the federal highway building

projects, where federal, state, and local governments shared the one time

costs of building new roads. Instead, it turned into an annual gift of

solely precious federal resources that deprived entire cities and towns

of even one train a day for basic long distance travel so NEC commuters

could have an easy ride to and from work.

Despite the false information constantly provided by Amtrak and its many

sycophant rail fan support organizations, closing the NEC to Amtrak

commuter trains would not grind the national to a screeching halt. The

relatively few daily Amtrak riders of the NEC, measured by the total

counts of all North-South travelers in the region, would simply switch to

private automobile, bus, or air travel if there were no more Amtrak short

distance NEC trains. The local commuter agencies would continue without

the largess of Amtrak's annual capital improvement budget for the NEC,

and there would be little difference in life in the Northeast.

A reality no one, especially Amtrak and those same sycophant

organizations and the greens want to admit, is that Amtrak is not - and

never will be - a solution to transportation problems, either in urban

areas or in regions. What Amtrak has the potential to be is a good

alternative, for whatever reasons you may choose, and it does bring

balance to our domestic transportation network. Keep in mind Amtrak's

national share of the transportation marketplace is about the same as

motorcycles. Amtrak can be more relevant by growing its system, but the

relevance must be measured in real transportation output, not commuter

and regional trains which operate with annual load factors of less than

50% or even as disastrously low as 35%. Amtrak has always done very well

serving the many small, intermediate stops in its national system. These

smaller station stops often generate the highest revenue tickets at the

lowest cost. To small town America, Amtrak is an essential service. This

is where Amtrak shines the best, fulfilling its original mission to

provide a viable, national passenger rail system.

- Because it has been a government overseen monopoly, Amtrak has never

acted like a real company focused on passenger service. It has become

lazy and complacent, knowing another year's pot full of free federal

money was just months or weeks away.

- Like the blunders of so many railroads, Amtrak has let itself be

dictated to by the operating department, and brushed aside the needs of

the marketing department. Amtrak has often run trains on schedules which

were convenient for crew changes, meshing with commuter operations, or

the needs of terminals, instead of the desires of passengers. Just as the

freight railroads learned the hard way and finally got rid of the

mentality of "if we run a train, we don't care if you put a box car on it

or not," Amtrak has never learned that lesson, and still lets the

operating department make too many passenger services decisions.

- Amtrak continues to have a complex about offering anything other than

Spartan services. Because it is a child of government, many believe

Amtrak should not offer high-dollar, high-profit services, but, rather,

should be a bus on rails with minimal creature comforts. Not only does

this provide a glaring example of why Amtrak should not be a government

entity, it also avidly demonstrates how thinking in terms of government

provided services versus privately provided services warps concepts and

can hide true potential. Amtrak, as a part of government, has a duty and

obligation to provide the best level of service available that generates

the highest income at the lowest cost. That is being a good steward of

taxpayer subsidies. Instead, Amtrak aims for mediocre service levels at

often inconvenient times that will always require free federal or state

monies because its business plan is not geared toward productivity on any

level.

Often, watching Amtrak crews at terminals or station platforms, one can

draw a conclusion there is never a sense of urgency, or desire to make up

time if a train is running late. There appears to be a complacency among

many of Amtrak's crews that when the train gets there, it will get there,

and there will be no extra compensation for the crews, or any penalty for

the crews for being late. While tardiness is often the cause of host

railroads, and often Amtrak itself causes tardiness by lack of equipment

maintenance or lack of adequate staffing, it is rare to see an Amtrak

train crew pushing to get a train into a terminal or the next station in

any particular hurry. These front line soldiers of Amtrak in most cases

have the personal motivation to get a job done well, but the system they

work in does not provide the exhortation necessary to prompt improvement.

- Amtrak's skeletal national system is expensive to operate and does not

provide its potential return on investment. Even though it is easy to

demonstrate the Empire Builder route performs financial circles around

any corridor route, and throws off a positive cash flow (that reads

profits for all of those unfamiliar with the concept) from operations,

the route has the easy potential to double its contribution to Amtrak's

bottom line. This can rationally be accomplished by expanding the length

of the train (the easiest fix), promoting the train heavier (even though

it has one of the best load factors in the system), or negotiate with

BNSF for a second frequency over the line.

Daily passenger trains require stations and personnel on the ground to

run them, including crew bases and maintenance shops. The least efficient

way to use these assets is to have one train a day (or, even worse,

tri-weekly service) in each direction. That's a lot of infrastructure for

one visit a day by passengers in each direction. When route frequencies

increase, the infrastructure costs remain virtually the same (although,

occasionally, some station hours must be lengthened to accommodate other

frequencies), but the revenue potential more than doubles because more

passengers respond to more travel times choices. This is the same all

over the Amtrak system.

Even though the host freight railroads want to moan about track capacity

restrictions (which is often a very real scenario), somehow, when the

price is right and conditions are favorable, space is always found for

another train. Not every piece of rail in every part of the country is

totally congested. There are many opportunities for Amtrak to expand its

system, but someone has to want to do that first, and that doesn't seem

the case with Amtrak.

6) Where does all of this leave us? In a terrible place, with a crippled

passenger rail system with a grossly flawed business plan, a nationwide

demand for passenger service which is not being met, and a glaring hole

in our domestic transportation network.

- Amtrak needs to take more responsibility for itself, and take a serious

inventory of its assets and potential. It needs to realistically look at

the potential of its system, and expand the system where the most

revenues will be generated by spending the least amount of money.

Passengers in the form of high numbers of warm bodies are not the answer.

Passengers in the form of people who generate the most transportation

output for the lowest cost are the answer. Amtrak is not a public

utility, and should never be considered as a public utility. Amtrak is -

startling so to some - a very real business with an obligation to operate

efficiently and effectively.

If Amtrak became financially stronger on its own accord, the annual

charade over free federal money would simply go away. Why do ill-bred and

ill-informed people want the future of Amtrak to always be dependent on

the largess of irresponsible politicians?

Why do some of these same people - and, others, which are wiser and have

more realistic life experiences - always look with envy of what is

happening in Europe and wonder why we can't have the same type of

transportation system, here? Don't they understand how so many of the

dynamics are completely different, and comparing our national needs to

those of Europe are comparing apples to oranges?

- Amtrak needs to become more creative. President and CEO Alex Kummant is

presiding over some much needed changes at Amtrak (see item one of this

column), and he has in place good executive like Richard Phelps, Mike

Chandler, Brian Rosenwald, Tommy McDonald, and Butch Williams. These wise

and personable professional railroaders understand operating Amtrak is

more than just running trains, but it's also all about passenger service

and proper marketing.

The "experiment" of running the Empire Builder like it was always run

prior to the last few years at Amtrak has proven successful, and is being

expanded to other trains, such as the Coast Starlight (really, the Coast

Starlight is just going back to the way it was when Brian Rosenwald

remade it successfully in the 1990s, with a few new twists relevant to

today). The California Zephyr and other trains can't be far behind.

The City of New Orleans has instigated a "revolutionary" new concept, all

day dining. This isn't very new, since highly successful test runs of a

24 hour dining car on the Sunset Limited, under the partial creation and

supervision of this writer, were done in 1999 and 2000. At the same time,

an analysis was done for the City of New Orleans to also host a 24 hour

dining car.

Lots of things have been tried in the past, but were often victim of the

"not invented here" syndrome at Amtrak. There are so many creative things

which can be done at Amtrak to greatly improve passenger service and

revenues, yet the company mimics a glacier when it comes to moving

forward on these items.

- Amtrak needs to come to better terms with its employees, particularly

the union employees. Fears of a strike at the end of this month loom, and

a presidential emergency board is already in place looking at the overall

labor picture and trying to find a reasonable middle ground between

management and labor. Former Chairman of the Board David Laney deserves

much credit for jump starting labor relations and forging new contracts,

but the job now needs to be finished with realistic Amtrak contracts that

meet the needs of both the company and the employees.

- Amtrak needs a better business plan, instead of one always based on

using other people's money, be it on the federal or state level. If

Amtrak needs some help today getting out of the mess it has gotten itself

in to, well, okay. But, at some point, Amtrak needs to realistically

demonstrate it is serious about running a business, and serious about its

own future through a better business plan. There is no one perfect

answer. But, there are a host of answers, all better than the one Amtrak

is using today.

7) The post-war days of the 1950s and 60s are gone. Americans have

rediscovered passenger trains (as much as Amtrak has let them despite

dismal marketing), and they are looking to passenger trains as reasonable

alternatives to air and private automobile travel.

Just as the passenger jet aircraft killed the cruise ship business, it

killed the rail passenger business. But, in a new day with a new

emphasis, both businesses have rebounded robustly in the eyes of new

generations of passengers. Cruise lines are making more money and profits

today than they ever have in their histories. Amtrak has the same

potential as the cruise lines, if someone will just allow that to happen.

The things that smothered passenger rail, such as heavy government

regulation, and the treatment of passenger trains as God-given public

utilities, are gone. Cost everywhere have been slashed, from property

taxes to staffing huge station facilities. Bi-level and efficient

Superliners have replaced low density single-level coaches, sleepers, and

diners. Modern reservations systems have made access to Amtrak available

to everyone.

There is no rational reason to say passenger trains in America can never

make money. There is no rational reason to say Americans don't want to

ride a train, when demand is so high when properly marketed and

reasonable frequencies are available. There is no rational reason why

Amtrak can't be relevant as an integral part of our domestic

transportation network, with a transportation market share greater than

that of motorcycles. Amtrak only has to have the confidence to meet its

true potential, instead of unhappily being a ward of a government that

doesn't truly understand what it has on its hands.

8) Finally, it is important to note the passing of former Amtrak

President and CEO George Warrington. After leaving Amtrak, he rejoined

his former employer, New Jersey Transit as its head man, and ran the

system until earlier in 2007. He abruptly left NJT, saying he wanted to

spend more time with his family. What most people didn't know was he had

been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and it took his life on Christmas

Eve at age 55.

As one former Amtrak senior manager said, "I didn't always agree with

everything he did, but he was a force to be reckoned with." That is

perhaps the best way to sum up his service to Amtrak. He was a strong

personality, and he believed in his convictions. Right or wrong, he did

try to bring change to Amtrak, even if the end result was bad. Everyone

who tries to make a difference deserves to be admired.

Our sympathies are extended to his family and friends on their loss of

George Warrington, an American who believed in what he did.

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 21, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 2

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) EVERYONE involved in the process should hang their heads in shame.

Some people may be smiling on the surface, but that only covers the

long-lasting damage which has been done.

Of course, we're referring to Amtrak's recent agreement with the 12

unions which represent the majority of its contract workers.

2) The Presidential Emergency Board appointed by the White House should

hang its collective head in shame for going along with the demands of the

unions without any major concessions on work rules.

Any reasonable person recognizes that any living, breathing industry,

such as the railroad industry, is going to be subject to changing

conditions due to technology advances and finding better ways of doing

things. By freezing employee work rules at decades-old levels based on

backwards thinking, no one prospers, because the company remains married

to the past, and unable to advance into the future with bright prospects

of modernization, a better way of doing things, and a better shot at

prosperity based on modern requirements.

3) The collective union leadership should hang it collective head in

shame for allowing these contracts to fester since 1999. Clearly, union

leadership bought into the "woe-is-me" mentality of Amtrak leadership

that conveniently blamed many problems on union workers instead of

themselves, who were really the people responsible for making Amtrak a

viable concept. Too many Amtrak leaders for too long have completely

bought into the emotional and financial crutch that Congress will always

bail Amtrak out with free federal money year after year, and, therefore,

don't have to be fiscally responsible for any facet of their work life.

This mentality has spilled over into dealing with the unions, "Oops!

Congress won't give us the money, so you union workers have to take the

hit," instead of trying to find better ways of doing things and more

paying passengers creating revenue passenger miles.

4) Rank and file union workers should hang their collective head in shame

for allowing their union leaders to bamboozle them into thinking there is

good reason it's taken since 1999 to get a new contract. These union

workers seemed satisfied year after year to work without a raise or

significant change in benefits while their union leadership bought into

Amtrak management's lame excuses. In the real world, where else has it

ever taken eight years without a contract for things to come to a final

conclusion?

5) Amtrak executives and its board of directors should hang their

collective head in shame for allowing their union employees - the very

heart of Amtrak's operations - to work without a contract since 1999.

Unhappy employees translate into unhappy passengers. Unhappy passengers

translate into the "never again" passengers Amtrak has accumulated so

many of these past 36 years. As said above, why couldn't Amtrak senior

management solve this problem before? Obviously, it took the strong

leadership of immediate past board chairman David Laney to get the ball

rolling, and it took the day-to-day leadership of former Union Pacific

Railroad Vice President and now Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant to

bring these contracts to a conclusion. Say what you may about the Union

Pacific Railroad, but it's a pretty good guess that ANYONE working at the

UP which dragged out labor contracts for this long would be history, and

never even invited back to an employee-sponsored picnic. Mr. Kummant's

sense of the real railroad world readily paid off in this instance, and

he will receive credit the contracts were finalized during his

stewardship of Amtrak.

6) The news media should hang their collective heads in shame for

covering the story of an impending strike by Amtrak union employees in

near-hysterical terms, and treating the story as an apocalyptical event.

By beating the impending-strike horse to death in the first two weeks of

the month-long deadline for a contract resolution, the news media managed

to continue to fan the flames of a woebegone Amtrak near extinction. One

has to wonder where this same news media is with the same amount of

concern about Amtrak and rail passengers when other stories are written

about peak travel times or storm-ravaged travel times, and passenger rail

is given nary a mention. Could the news media be collective opportunists?

7) What do the new contracts mean for Amtrak? Better pay for contract

workers (but, still below freight railroads in general for the same work

performed), promised raises, and back pay averaging a little less than

$13,000 per contract employee to cover the years the contracts were not

negotiated. No work rules changes are made. The lack of work rules change

is the most damaging part of the contracts. For the life of these

contracts, Amtrak will be unable to institute time-saving and

money-saving changes, and must cling to what in some cases is an outdated

way of doing things.

While the contract employees are receiving back pay (in two lump sums

over a two year period), they are really receiving only a Band-Aid for

their problems. No work rules change translates into no progress for the

company or movement towards Amtrak being a more self-sufficient

organization. The contracts do nothing to help guarantee Amtrak's future,

or orderly growth.

8) All in all, it turns out that contract negotiations since 1999 have

accomplished nothing that could not have been accomplished at any point

in time for the past eight years. It took three Amtrak presidents, and at

least three different groups on Amtrak's board of directors to get

something done that could have been done at any given moment during the

Clinton administration, an administration that considered Amtrak a labor

issue in the political world, yet did nothing to help labor achieve a

contract with Amtrak before it left office in January of 2001.

9) Has anyone noticed the irony of Union Pacific's long, handsome, and

much photographed business train? The armor yellow trains, spiffed up in

the best traditions of the City of Los Angeles and a number of other

famous Union Pacific transcontinental trains, sports sleepers, lounges,

diners, domes, and all sorts of other equipment, pulled by revved up

F-unit passenger diesels. The train is a sight to behold, and is

constantly photographed. Union Pacific proudly shows off its extensive

rail system by inviting shippers and other executives on these train

trips, and entertains them well.

So, if the UP is so excited about offering such top-notch passenger

service to its senior employees and best customers and potential

customers, isn't it ironic that UP is considered by most to be Amtrak's

most contentious host railroad? Apparently, what is good for the UP goose

is not good for the Amtrak gander.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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----------



## frj1983

"Has anyone noticed the irony of Union Pacific's long, handsome, and

much photographed business train? The armor yellow trains, spiffed up in

the best traditions of the City of Los Angeles and a number of other

famous Union Pacific transcontinental trains, sports sleepers, lounges,

diners, domes, and all sorts of other equipment, pulled by revved up

F-unit passenger diesels. The train is a sight to behold, and is

constantly photographed. Union Pacific proudly shows off its extensive

rail system by inviting shippers and other executives on these train

trips, and entertains them well.

So, if the UP is so excited about offering such top-notch passenger

service to its senior employees and best customers and potential

customers, isn't it ironic that UP is considered by most to be Amtrak's

most contentious host railroad? Apparently, what is good for the UP goose

is not good for the Amtrak gander."

I believe that you can "bet the farm" here and expect that this train will always get priority

over UP freights!


----------



## saxman

Wow....so whose he blaming? The unions for coming out with a good/same contract? Or management for agreeing with it. I think this guy needs to "hang his collective head in shame."


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 28, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 3

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Where to begin? There are so many choices.

- Someone must have successfully been hitting Amtrak with a "stupid

stick," because Amtrak is doing something really stupid and unforgivable.

- Amtrak clearly doesn't take its mission of providing reliable, national

passenger rail service seriously. It obviously has no intention of ever

being a successful organization.

- We've been horrified to see what happened to the east end of the Sunset

Limited since Hurricane Katrina blew ashore, and now, could we be seeing

a repeat performance with the Coast Starlight and the Oregon mudslide?

- Once again, we're seeing the direct result of Amtrak being a child of

government, with a mentality of serving its passengers only when

convenient for the operating department, and not worrying about

maintaining market share, its franchise with the public, or running

trains which are already paid for annually by continuing doses of free

federal monies. Amtrak just can't help proving for itself how irrelevant

it is in the national transportation marketplace.

2) Here's the Amtrak service disruption notice that started this whole,

unholy mess.

[begin quote]

January 23, 2008

4:30 pm PST

Due to massive mudslides over railroad tracks north of Chemult, Oregon on

January 19, Amtrak Coast Starlight service will be disrupted January 24

through January 31, with no alternate transportation provided. The Union

Pacific Railroad has suspended all railroad traffic through the area.

As a result, the following operation plan is in effect:

The northbound Coast Starlight (Train 14) is canceled from Los Angeles to

Seattle from January 24 through January 31*.

The southbound Coast Starlight (Train 11) is canceled from Seattle to Los

Angeles from January 25 through February 1*.

*These dates may be extended.

Although the Coast Starlight is canceled in its entirety between Los

Angeles and Seattle during this period, Amtrak does offer service on

other trains and motorcoaches between Southern California and the Pacific

Northwest. For travel throughout California, passengers may make

motorcoach connections at Los Angeles Union Station to the San Joaquins

train service for travel between Bakersfield and Sacramento/Oakland.

Passengers may also take the Pacific Surfliner trains between Los Angeles

and San Luis Obispo. At San Luis Obispo, they may take a motorcoach

connection to the Capitol Corridor train service in San Jose for travel

to Sacramento/Auburn and points in between. Amtrak offers a motorcoach

connection between Sacramento and Medford, Ore.

For travel throughout the Pacific Northwest, passengers may take the

Amtrak Cascades service from Eugene, Ore. to Vancouver, BC.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the

above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions

warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit

Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.

[End quote]

Looking at the Union Pacific Railroad (owner and operator of the track in

Oregon) shots of this mess from a helicopter, it's amazing no person was

hurt, and one can only hope as much wildlife as possible was spared. This

is rugged, mountain territory; the mudslide took place on the side of a

mountain and slid down onto the Union Pacific tracks which host the daily

Coast Starlight. Cleaning up this mess is taking some serious planning

and logistics, and the workers who get this vital north/south rail line

reopened in winter weather conditions will be nothing short of heroes.

3) Paul Dyson, long time URPA member and currently President of the

Railroad Passenger Association of California and Nevada, wrote the

following letter to Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant upon the

announcement of Amtrak's plans for annulling the Coast Starlight along

its entire 1,377 mile route, traversing nearly the entire Left Coast of

the United States from Seattle to Los Angeles.

[begin quote]

RAIL PASSENGER ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA

22nd January, 2008

Mr. Alex Kummant

President and Chief Executive Officer

NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

60 Massachusetts Avenue NE

Washington DC 20002

SUSPENSION OF COAST STARLIGHT SERVICE

Dear Mr. Kummant:

After our meeting last March in Los Angeles rail advocates on the west

coast felt optimistic that there is a new, more businesslike attitude at

Amtrak, and that we could look forward to a new era of customer service

and a determination to protect the franchise. I am therefore very

distressed to learn that your company proposes to suspend Coast Starlight

service throughout its entire length because of a mudslide in central

Oregon. Although your managers may be telling you that there is an

opportunity to save operating cash during this off peak season, you are

making a very big mistake by suspending service in California.

The California Transportation Commission meets February 14 to decide,

amongst other issues, whether to fund a menu of rail projects approved by

the voters last year with Proposition 1B. Included in this list is $25

million for signal and track improvements on the Coast line, as well as a

number of investments in the state-supported corridors. In view of your

stated objective to build partnerships with the states, the timing of

your demonstration of the unreliability of passenger rail on one of your

most popular routes could not be worse.

I have just spent this past 4 days in San Luis Obispo at a meeting of the

Coast Rail Coordinating Council and at a RailPAC sponsored public

meeting. At the CRCC, representatives from all the counties between L.A.

and the Bay area continue to express support for expanded rail service.

They plan to lobby the CTC meeting in favor of the $25 million for the

Coast. The RailPAC meeting attracted over 50 residents who came to learn

about how passenger rail can provide improved mobility for residents and

attract tourists and their dollars. I was guest on a local talk radio

station Friday evening and the callers were unanimous in their support

for rail, with one caveat; poor reliability. All the goodwill generated

by the efforts of our group and of those public officials who support

passenger rail will be devalued by your opportunistic decision to save a

few operating dollars.

This should be a busy season on the Coast Starlight, at least in

California. The weather is temperate and there are hotel rooms available

especially midweek. You should be promoting midweek packages especially

for overseas tourists, not canceling trains. And don't let your people

tell you that trains 798/799 provide a substitute. These ghastly trains,

with their sad Horizon equipment, third world schedules, leaving L.A. too

early to make a San Diego connection, and bus service north of San Luis

Obispo, are NOT an acceptable substitute for the Coast Starlight.

I strongly recommend that you review this decision. I realize that

reconfiguring schedules in these circumstances takes time and effort.

That's why you have managers. I realize that some passengers will cancel

their trips and you will lose some revenue. But you will lose far more in

goodwill and credibility if you take the easy way out and cancel the

trains. So do some low cost local advertising on the Coast, with coupons,

suspend the reservations only requirement, and use this as an opportunity

to introduce your service to some new customers.

I hope to hear from you soon that you have reversed your decision.

Yours faithfully,

Paul J. Dyson, President

[End quote]

4) Let's get some basic facts into play. The track-blocking, Coast

Starlight-stopping mudslide is located approximately at Chemult, Oregon,

only 432 miles into the southbound run of the Starlight. Regional Amtrak

Cascades daily service extends south from Seattle (it actually begins in

Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada) 310 of the 432 Starlight route

miles to Eugene, Oregon. It's about a 10 ½ hour run from Seattle south to

Chemult.

Coming north, Chemult is a full 945 route miles from the Los Angeles

terminal. That part of the run takes 23 ½ hours, and includes such

heavy-hitter stations in California as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo,

Salinas, San Jose, Oakland, Emeryville (both Oakland and Emeryville

handle passengers transferring to San Francisco across the bay),

Martinez, Davis, Sacramento, Chico, Redding, and Dunsmuir (Mount Shasta).

In Oregon, Klamath Falls is also south of Chemult.

By blanking the entire run of the Coast Starlight, Amtrak is

automatically saying how unimportant these stations are to the

functioning of its national system, and substitute regional service will

have to make do.

Harrumph.

As much as Amtrak would like us to, we can't ignore the financial aspects

of this sophomoric and moronic decision to shut down the Starlight.

For fiscal year 2007, the Starlight generated:

Revenue - $29,171,300

Revenue passenger miles - 205,891,000

Passengers carried - 343,500

Average length of trip - 600 miles

Average of passengers per train mile - 203

Train miles - 1,012,000

Seat miles - 353,293,734

Load factor - 58%

Impressive numbers for two trains each day, one in each direction.

The Cascades, Capitols, San Joaquin, and Surfliner regional services

combined together, which serve as partial substitutes for the Starlight,

generated the following figures for FY 2007:

Combined revenue - $97,296,400

Combined revenue passenger miles - 543,315,000

Combined passengers carried - 5,636,300

Combined average length of trip - 113 miles

Combined average of passengers per train mile - 106

Combined train miles - 5,061,000

Combined seat miles - 1,557,911,085

Combined average load factor - 36%

The Cascades, Capitols, San Joaquins, and Surfliners each day operate a

combined total of 75 trains per day, including each direction.

How does the one long distance service, which includes sleeping cars, a

diner, two lounge cars, coaches, and a baggage car compare with the

combined regional services which offer coaches, cafe/lounges, and a first

class coach service, and baggage service (not all of these services are

available on all trains)?

Coast Starlight percentage comparison of four other combined services

(Two daily departures versus 75 daily departures)

Coast Starlight Revenue - 30% of combined services

Coast Starlight Revenue passenger miles - 38% of combined services

Coast Starlight passengers carried - 6% of combined services

Coast Starlight average length of trip - 530% of combined services

Coast Starlight average of passengers per train mile - 191% of combined

services

Coast Starlight train miles - 20% of combined services

Coast Starlight seat miles - 23% of combined services

Coast Starlight load factor - 161% of combined services

Look at the astounding strength of transportation and financial output of

two daily long distance trains departing opposite terminals each day

versus a total of 75 daily short distance and regional trains departing

opposite terminals each day.

Amtrak is willing to throw away this kind of financial and revenue

passenger mile strength, hoping passengers purchasing sleeping car

accommodations, and passengers purchasing coach accommodations expecting

full lounge and dining car services are somehow going to accept a lower

level of service on a regional train?

It is impossible to make a rational argument for not running the

Starlight north from Los Angeles at least to Sacramento, then provide a

bus-bridge to Cascades service and a stub-end, northern end Starlight

from Eugene to Seattle.

Rational people have to ask, "what is Amtrak thinking?".

5) Here is what one Amtrak wag has said.

[begin quote]

Despite the questionable legality of this erstwhile train-off (which

SMACKS of the Sunset's discontinuance east of NOL, and scares me to

death!), I think it starts us down a much more slippery slope. More than

one Amtraker today said "We already have corridor service over most of

the route; people can just ride the corridor trains." Never mind that

[Train no.] 11 does a very good business SEA-EUG, and [Train No.] 14

could do well as the ONLY afternoon/evening train running EUG-SEA, if

they'd start selling tickets on it again. And I know darn well how robust

the business is in California, in spite of poor timekeeping.

But it seems that Kummant and the Board are intent on transforming this

company into a contract operator for State corridors (on a cost-plus

basis, of course. Who needs financial discipline when you're reimbursed

for all your costs plus a percentage?), and paying lip service to the LD

trains. The only problem is, if all we do is run trains for states, then

what do we bring to the table that's unique among rail operators? Why

couldn't Herzog or some other company run trains for a state for much

less cost (due to about 10 fewer layers of middle management and much

lower overhead), and probably do a much better job than us at mechanical

and customer service issues?

You see, my real fear is that we're going to marginalize ourselves right

out of business. And absolutely stupid decisions like the Starlight

annulment further cement that fear in my mind. We have absolutely no

vision for the future. No plans, no cohesive strategies. We're just going

to take whatever business the states throw at us. In short, we have no

mission any more.

[End quote]

Along those lines, here is what two other wags outside of the company had

to say.

[begin quote]

WAG ONE: [The Starlight annulment] "Puts Kummant right in the camp of the

Downs/Warrington school of management."

WAG TWO: "At least Downs and Warrington had a mission, a 'vision for the

future,' no matter WHAT [anyone] thought of it!

"Kummant looks more and more like one of those 'dull grey men' who get

chosen as a 'safe' selection for CEO, when a company doesn't know where

it's supposed to go. Sometimes this happens when a strong CEO departs

without having groomed a successor, such as at American Airlines after

C.R. Smith retired, and years later after Bob Crandall retired. But at

Amtrak there is no 'strong,' only 'rudderless.'

WAG ONE: "Absolutely. Kummant's career path pre-Amtrak screamed that out,

but the Board had told the search firm (or the search firm had convinced

the Board) they needed to hire a candidate with a rigidly-defined set of

criteria, and that's what the search firm produced: a resume that fit the

criteria, rather than a leader with a vision for success with the

business. This is a classic failure mode. The evidence so far suggests

Kummant is not experienced enough, and not inherently bright enough, to

see past what his staff is feeding him. The fact he got rid of a few of

the worst nitwits in management says nothing about Kummant's vision,

analytical skill, or leadership. He looks more and more to me like a

classic empty suit. The good news is that unless THIS represents his

"level of incompetence" and he sticks around because he can't get hired

anywhere else, his entire career history suggests he will move on to

something new after wandering around the desert for a few short years

with Amtrak."

[End quote]

Here is a union communique from union leadership to union members.

[begin quote]

Date: Jan 22, 2008 10:13 PM

Subject: Calif. Respond to Coast Starlight Suspension

Brothers and Sisters,

For those of you who don't already know, a major slide in the Oregon

Cascades has blocked rail service between Klamath Falls and Eugene. As a

result, Amtrak plans to suspend operation of the Coast Starlight on the

entire route between Los Angeles and Seattle, perhaps until mid-February.

Historically, the Corporation has run stub trains, with or without bus

bridges in similar circumstances, but this time management seems to think

it would not be cost efficient.

The sensible thing to do in the Northwest would be to operate an

abbreviated Seattle to Eugene section running on the Coast Starlight

schedule. We have the crews and the equipment. We also have a marketing

department, right? While service is suspended over the Cascades, have

them push a replacement train, complimenting the already busy Seattle to

Eugene Corridor. Offer two for one tickets, or other incentives to help

fill seats. A similar strategy could be employed in California with their

own section.

I know many of you have contacted your State Representatives and Senators

and voiced your concerns over the temporary elimination of the Coast

Starlight run. If you have not, I ask all of you to help our affected

Brothers and Sisters by doing the same.

Meanwhile, I will continue to coordinate with our General Committee and

Legislative Boards in California, Oregon and Washington, and our National

Legislative Office in DC, in an ongoing effort to pressure the

Corporation to reverse its hasty decision.

I have also copied a link to a letter sent to Amtrak President Kummant by

the California Rail Passenger Association. Their message is clear and

right on point. Washington and Oregon should be no different.

I will keep you advised as the situation changes and sincerely appreciate

all your help.

Fraternally,

Dave Estes

Local Chairman, BLET Division 60

[End quote]

6) Let's take a roll call. Amtrak west coast management made a decision

to annul the Starlight. This was a regional decision that had an impact

on two Amtrak divisions, the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. Amtrak

senior management in Washington apparently went along with the decision.

- Amtrak lower level management employees don't like the decision. They

are paid to run trains, and that's what they want to do.

- Amtrak operating level employees don't like the decision (see

immediately above).

- Amtrak unions don't like the decision (see immediately above).

- Amtrak outside observers don't like the decision.

- Amtrak passengers don't like the decision, because there is no train to

ride.

- Politicians don't like the decision, because

voters/passengers/observers/union members are unhappy, and that makes

politicians unhappy.

This is a tough decision for Amtrak management to defend. This bad

decision loudly demonstrates how little Amtrak itself thinks of the

service it provides; if there is no service, that's okay with Amtrak,

because it is more convenient to not run trains. Perhaps it would be much

more convenient for Amtrak to completely eliminate all trains, then

everyone could just to go work each day, collect a paycheck based on free

federal monies, and then go home without having to make any inconvenient

decisions, or actually create and put into action contingency plans. What

are these people thinking?

7) There is one very important point to remember about the Amtrak

managers who made the decision to annul the Starlight. Amtrak managers

and employees are evaluated and rated based on how much money they save

in expenses for the company. They are not evaluated on how much money

they make for the company. Therefore, from a personal standpoint for

these managers making decisions, any trains they deem to annul for any

reason, is considered a good move. Any train that is kept moving, no

matter how much money it makes, has no impact on their personal

performance ratings (which impact promotions, raises, bonuses, etc.).

Amtrak managers have a personal motivation to cancel trains, not keep

them running.

8) On the other side of the country on the Right Coast, a similar

scenario will be playing itself out along the route of the Crescent,

which runs from New York City to New Orleans, via Atlanta, Georgia.

For four weeks in February and March, Amtrak is annulling the Crescent

between Atlanta and New Orleans four days a week to allow host railroad

Norfolk Southern to perform track maintenance and upgrades. The Crescent

will only run its full 1,377 mile route Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Mondays through Thursdays it will terminate and originate in Atlanta.

That means 518 route miles between Atlanta and New Orleans, which

includes stops in Birmingham, Alabama along with Meridian and Hattiesburg

Mississippi will be without train service and no alternative

transportation, such as a bus-bridge will be offered.

(Sigh) Without going into all of the obvious arguments about this

yet-another bad decision by Amtrak management (see above for a complete

list of the arguments), again, how can Amtrak management be so callous

about its future?

Maintenance blitzes have become common in the railroad industry. The idea

is to minimize track time interference while maximizing maintenance

resources to get the job done as quickly as possible. While this is often

favorable to freight train operations (which can take detour routes, or

the company can simply notify its customers it is not accepting freight

for movement on those dates due to understandable maintenance, or more

trains can be run at night when maintenance crews are not working), this

technique is not favorable to passenger train operations. As of yet, no

one has made a serious attempt to solve this problem.

However, Amtrak could at least make an effort to accommodate its

passengers by providing a bus bridge or operate two stub-end trains

instead of completely annulling service along a portion of a route which

stretches for over 500 miles.

Also, figure into the equation the plight of New Orleans, which is served

by two daily trains, the Crescent and the City of New Orleans, and the

tri-weekly Sunset Limited. Amtrak's abandonment of the Crescent route for

four days a week for four weeks does nothing to assist New Orleans in its

rebuilding efforts. For all Amtrak did in the initial time of crisis and

rebuilding, it now seems to be regularly turning its back on New Orleans.

It has stripped away much of the New Orleans maintenance facility, taken

management positions out of New Orleans, and otherwise downgraded its

operations there. Don't forget, this comes at a time of year which

includes the beginning of the Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, one of

the major tourist draws for the city. As many cities and town across the

nation will attest, Amtrak - at best - can be considered a fair-weather

friend.

9) Between the lack of service between New Orleans and Florida after the

what seems to be permanent end of the Sunset Limited after Hurricane

Katrina, the annulment of the Starlight and Crescent, Amtrak is more and

more making itself automatically irrelevant in the national

transportation picture. It will become increasing difficult for Amtrak to

justify itself to anyone in Congress outside of the Northeast Corridor

when it comes time for annual free federal money hearings. How could

anyone with a straight face address Congress and say Amtrak is meeting

its original mission of providing a nationwide rail passenger system?

The type of thinking which allows Amtrak managers to annul the Starlight

and Crescent harks back to the dark days of the 1990s and the Mercer

report train offs, where it was supposed passengers would continue to

ride trains anytime Amtrak deemed it convenient to run trains. That

disaster took a toll on Amtrak's credibility, and still today cities and

towns have been without Amtrak service because of the audacity of the

report that ignored public demand and political realities.

The type of corporate hubris it takes to make such annulment decisions

speaks volumes about Amtrak's mind set and lack of vision to serve its

passengers, or honor its bankers and owners by making the best use of

free federal monies and state monies. For too long, Amtrak has had a

complete lack of accountability to the American public. The few times a

federal administration has attempted to hold Amtrak accountable, there

have been howls of protest (including from this writer) because the

attempts have been so misdirected and have tried to solve all of the

wrong problems. When is anyone going to "get it right"?

10) Amtrak's settlement with its unions have spawned the expected

conspiracy theories. Most of them have been centered on the Bush

administration and how the conspiracy theorists believe the uncontested

union claims recommended by the Presidential Emergency Board (appointed

by the White House) are designed to bankrupt the company, and, therefore,

put an end to Amtrak once and for all.

Such hogwash. The relatively minor amout of money the unions settlement

is going to cost the company in the overall scheme of things is hardly

enough to even give Amtrak a light shove towards bankruptcy court.

Besides, Amtrak has more than enough annual free federal monies flowing

into the company that it can simply convert some of those funds from the

perpetual upgrades of the black hole of finances on the Northeast

Corridor to pay the costs. For the future, Amtrak can easily plead its

case to states which fund operations that higher labor costs equal higher

state subsidy costs.

While it is a complete wonder to informed observers as to why the PEB

rolled over on so many issues (especially the work rules changes, which

could have been easy fixes), it's difficult for rational people to accept

any type of conspiracy theory on the part of the White House.

11) Here in Florida, everyone in the state is a-twitter over presidential

politics, since Florida Republicans will go to the polls on Tuesday and

help nominate a presidential candidate.

Naturally, in some quarters, presidential and congressional politics

revolve around what each candidate will or will not do to Amtrak, which

is a relatively minor issue to most politicians.

Think about this: If Amtrak would only take the initiative and use its

resources to the best results and make itself as strong as possible,

whoever becomes president every four years would have little or no

bearing on the future of the company. Only as long as Amtrak remains a

crippled child of government will presidential and congressional politics

come into play. Why go through this agony when the real solution is just

to make Amtrak a better, more self-reliant company that doesn't need

large levels of outside financial help?

12) One final note. In the last issue of TWA, a "throw-away" item was at

the end of the column about the Union Pacific business train, and the

locomotives which pull the train. The locomotives were inadvertently

identified as "F" units, when, in reality, they are "E" units. Very

little correspondence was received about the meat of the column about the

union settlement, but a flood of correspondence was received about the

misidentified locomotives. It's imperative to get the really important

facts straight.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]itedrail.org; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

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http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## had8ley

You know Tom, I thought I was the only one who had bad dreams about cutting the Coast Starlight up. Seems the king pins in DC really, really want state supported trains of mediocre length rather than anything over 500 miles.


----------



## frj1983

had8ley said:


> You know Tom, I thought I was the only one who had bad dreams about cutting the Coast Starlight up. Seems the king pins in DC really, really want state supported trains of mediocre length rather than anything over 500 miles.


Much of the discussion on this whole issue rings true to me, but there is one other thing sticking in my craw and no-one has said anything about it! What is UP's position in this whole thing??

I wonder if it's possible that UP may also have played into the decision?? Is it possible that Amtrak may have suggested running the CS up to Redding or Klamath Falls for that matter and then bussing around and up to Eugene to connect with the northbound CS and vice-versa southbound? Is it possible UP simply said "no, we'd rather not worry about that train at all," or something to that effect?? I can't prove it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that UP is somehow involved here as well...but they're not coming off as the bad guy! I'm sure they're more than happy with Amtrak's decision!!


----------



## AlanB

frj1983 said:


> had8ley said:
> 
> 
> 
> You know Tom, I thought I was the only one who had bad dreams about cutting the Coast Starlight up. Seems the king pins in DC really, really want state supported trains of mediocre length rather than anything over 500 miles.
> 
> 
> 
> Much of the discussion on this whole issue rings true to me, but there is one other thing sticking in my craw and no-one has said anything about it! What is UP's position in this whole thing??
> 
> I wonder if it's possible that UP may also have played into the decision?? Is it possible that Amtrak may have suggested running the CS up to Redding or Klamath Falls for that matter and then bussing around and up to Eugene to connect with the northbound CS and vice-versa southbound? Is it possible UP simply said "no, we'd rather not worry about that train at all," or something to that effect?? I can't prove it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that UP is somehow involved here as well...but they're not coming off as the bad guy! I'm sure they're more than happy with Amtrak's decision!!
Click to expand...

I too have both wondered about UP's involvement in things, and have hinted at UP's involvement in a few other posts. While it is nothing concrete, I'll throw out the following two statements. The first is from the original bulletin in Arrow.



> FOLLOWING A MUDSLIDE SOUTH (SIC) OF CMO, AND SUBSEQUENT LINE CLOSURE TRAIN 11 & 14 WILL BE SEVERELY DISRUPTED OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. BELOW IS A SUMMARY OF THE PLAN AGREED BY AMTRAK AND UPRR.


The second is from Amtrak's press release to the public.



> The Union Pacific Railroad has suspended all railroad traffic through the area.


Now that said, and assuming that UP did play a big role in the decision to cancel the trains, I still don't think that should absolve Amtrak of all blame from doing things like it did to Yarrow. I can see blocking out future reservations. But Amtrak should have done something more than just giving out refunds to those already holding reservations, and especially for those who were mid-journey.


----------



## PRR 60

There is no evidence that the Union Pacific was a factor in Amtrak's decision to cancel the Starlight except to the extent that they informed Amtrak of the serious nature of the slide. The "agreement" reached with the UP was the original plan to operate stub trains for a day or two following the slide. The curtailment decision, right or wrong, was based on Amtrak business factors, not the UP.

(from another site)



> Jonathan Hutchison, Amtrak Director of Government Affairs, West, says several factors went into the decision to suspend all Starlight service. These include late January / February being a low ridership time-of-year, the cost of operating a southern-end stub section, the availability of alternate Amtrak California services at all stations from Sacramento south (though some trips include a bus portion), and the uncertainty of the opening date of the line.
> Amtrak is awaiting a solid route-opening date estimate from Union Pacific. Amtrak will evaluate options for its strategy for the Starlight route beyond February 1 as soon as a more precise reopening date for the line is known.


From the standpoint of the UP, the slide has all but curtailed traffic on the I-5 line. They could probably handle the Starlight better than normal. Why would they care if Amtrak was running stub trains or not?

By the way, scuttlebutt now indicates the slide area will remain closed until at least February 17.


----------



## PRR 60

Here is a detailed expaination for the cancellation from Alex Kummant sent to RailPAC:



> January 28, 2008
> 
> Mr. Paul J. Dyson
> 
> President
> 
> Rail Passenger Association of California
> 
> 1008 – 10th Street, Suite 217
> 
> Sacramento, CA 95814
> 
> Dear Mr. Dyson:
> 
> Thank you for your letter of January 22 regarding your concerns with the temporary cessation of the Coast Starlight service. As you are aware, the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) mainline across the Cascade Range has been closed because of a significant landslide at Coyote Mountain, which is between Chemult and Eugene, Oregon.
> 
> The Coast Starlight is one of our premiere services and ranks highly among our long-distance services in terms of ridership and revenue. That said, this time of year, late January and February, is in relative terms the seasonal low point for ridership on this train. When the landslide at Coyote Mountain occurred on January 19, it was difficult to obtain from UPRR a reliable estimate of the extent of the damage and the duration of track closure, for reasons outlined below. In fact, the duration of track closure is still unclear at this time.
> 
> Initial reports from UPRR on January 19 indicated that an area about 0.8 miles in length was covered with 4-10 feet of debris, but that the line might reopen within two or three days. We immediately instituted a bus bridge between Klamath Falls and Portland to accommodate passengers who already were enroute. On January 19, this resulted in a 9 hour delay for northbound passengers and a nearly 6 hour delay for southbound passengers, though delays caused by the bus bridge were reduced over the following days.
> 
> Late in the day on January 20, UPRR provided Amtrak with an updated track repair estimate of two or three weeks. The damage report was more significant that earlier reported, covering parts of a segment 14 miles in length, with areas of track buried in 15 feet of debris, and with continued movement of the soil in the area. The location is in a very remote, steeply sloped area with minimal road access. On January 21, the bus bridge resulted in a 1 hour delay for northbound passengers and a 19 minute delay for southbound passengers. We decided to continue the bus bridge for three more days (January 22, 23 and 24), but then annul the Coast Starlight in its entirety, including the bus bridge, through February 1.
> 
> This decision was made after careful consideration of projected passenger counts and revenues, compared to bus bridge costs and added employee-related expenses, particularly, the relocation of mechanical forces to Klamath Falls to turn and service the train set that would terminate there is service continued to operate during this extended track outage. The bus bridge costs are not insignificant, approximately $12,000-$15,000 a day. We also considered that, as stated above, usage of the Coast Starlight in late January is less than at other times of year, and the challenges presented by running stub trains and bus bridges, especially in winter.
> 
> We carefully evaluated all of these factors and looked at every opportunity available to us, including talking to BNSF Railway, which has a potential detour route via Wishram, Washington, and Bend, Oregon. This detour route proved not to be practical due to its 49-mph top speeds and the many UPRR freights already diverted to it because of the track outage.
> 
> After this evaluation process, we came to the decision of annulling the train through the area for two weeks in order to give the UPRR a chance to give us an informed timetable for reopening the line, which then would allow us to go back and determine what future steps we can take, and when we can take them. In the end, the cost of running stub trains and a bus bridge far outweighed the revenue benefits of running the train during these firs two weeks of the track outage.
> 
> We also considered whether to operate stub trains on the northern and southern extreme of the route. Again, given the season and other factors, we found that running the stub trains made no sense for the period through February 1. In the north, parallel Cascades service has ample space this time of year to carry additional passengers. Also, the northbound Coast Starlight carries no local passengers north of Eugene.
> 
> In the south, we found that ridership on the Coast Starlight that is local to the Los Angeles-Sacramento segment is light during this season and could be diverted temporarily to the State’s network of corridor trains and thruway buses for the period through February 1. For example, there is the Pacific Surfliner service from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo and the Capitol Corridor service from San Jose to Sacramento, also connected by thruway bus service. Also, passengers to and from Los Angeles can use connecting thruway bus and the San Joaquin train service via Bakersfield. During this current two-week period, we will have the chance to talk with Caltrans about other bussing options to bridge parts of this route. You raised a number of arguments in favor of marketing a stub train along the coast route within California. However, keeping in mind that our decision was made on January 21 with a hope of restoring service early in February, a process of prudent planning and analysis of the sort of service that you have suggested would likely have taken as long as the service outage lasted.
> 
> That said, UPRR has not yet given us a firm indication of when the line in Oregon will reopen. February is a relatively weaker period for the Coast Starlight, but ridership historically increases heading into March and April. You can be assured that we want to reinstitute the service as quickly as possible. Given the information available to us, we believe that the decision we made was the correct one. We expect within the next two weeks, the service options available to us will become clearer, and that a more definite path to full recovery will be found. We will keep the public informed as we make any such determinations.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Alex Kummant
> 
> President and Chief Executive Officer


----------



## AlanB

So Alex as much as admits that Amtrak's decision to cancel service was strictly financial and nothing more. The only problem is that his numbers don't justify the decsion as he's outlined it.

Last year in January the CS carried 22,120 passengers, a number that according to Alex is lower than the rest of the year. March however according to him is a good month, but last March shows that the CS carried 24,792, so apparently it only takes about 2,500 more passengers to make it a good month vs a bad month. Please Alex, next time at least make sure that your staff is feeding you good information before you respond.

And in the meantime Amtrak is potentially stranding as many as 10,000 to 15,000 customers, maybe more depending on the length of the outage.


----------



## AlanB

Just as a follow-up to my post above, there was a time in the not to distant past prior to both UP and Amtrak having done things to hurt ridership on the CS, when January was actually busier than March. Ridership in Jan of 2004 31,511 as compared to March of '04 with 30,658 riders.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 1, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 4

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) When we last left our thrilling story, we were all breathlessly

waiting to hear whether or not Amtrak would reverse its stance on the

annulment of the Coast Starlight on its entire 1,377 mile route because

of a winter mudslide in January in a remote part of Oregon.

We have an update.

But, first, a review.

2) Here's the Amtrak service disruption notice telling the world Amtrak

was throwing in the towel temporarily on the Coast Starlight.

[begin quote]

January 23, 2008

4:30 pm PST

Due to massive mudslides over railroad tracks north of Chemult, Oregon on

January 19, Amtrak Coast Starlight service will be disrupted January 24

through January 31, with no alternate transportation provided. The Union

Pacific Railroad has suspended all railroad traffic through the area.

As a result, the following operation plan is in effect:

The northbound Coast Starlight (Train 14) is canceled from Los Angeles to

Seattle from January 24 through January 31*.

The southbound Coast Starlight (Train 11) is canceled from Seattle to Los

Angeles from January 25 through February 1*.

*These dates may be extended.

Although the Coast Starlight is canceled in its entirety between Los

Angeles and Seattle during this period, Amtrak does offer service on

other trains and motorcoaches between Southern California and the Pacific

Northwest. For travel throughout California, passengers may make

motorcoach connections at Los Angeles Union Station to the San Joaquins

train service for travel between Bakersfield and Sacramento/Oakland.

Passengers may also take the Pacific Surfliner trains between Los Angeles

and San Luis Obispo. At San Luis Obispo, they may take a motorcoach

connection to the Capitol Corridor train service in San Jose for travel

to Sacramento/Auburn and points in between. Amtrak offers a motorcoach

connection between Sacramento and Medford, Ore.

For travel throughout the Pacific Northwest, passengers may take the

Amtrak Cascades service from Eugene, Ore. to Vancouver, BC.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the

above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions

warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit

Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.

[End quote]

As of Thursday, January 29th, Union Pacific is still saying it will

reopen the line within a three week period. This is a monumental

undertaking. However, alert readers will recall how fast and efficiently

the UP replaced the burned bridge in California last year. UP has the

will and knowhow to get this done. But, it appears the Starlight will not

run in any capacity until the mudslide is cleared and the track is

repaired in Oregon.

3) As reported in the last issue of TWA, Paul Dyson, long time URPA

member and currently President of the Railroad Passenger Association of

California and Nevada, wrote the following letter to Amtrak President and

CEO Alex Kummant upon the announcement of Amtrak's plans for annulling

the Coast Starlight along its entire 1,377 mile route, traversing nearly

the entire Left Coast of the United States from Seattle to Los Angeles.

[begin quote]

RAIL PASSENGER ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA

22nd January, 2008

Mr. Alex Kummant

President and Chief Executive Officer

NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

60 Massachusetts Avenue NE

Washington DC 20002

SUSPENSION OF COAST STARLIGHT SERVICE

Dear Mr. Kummant:

After our meeting last March in Los Angeles rail advocates on the west

coast felt optimistic that there is a new, more businesslike attitude at

Amtrak, and that we could look forward to a new era of customer service

and a determination to protect the franchise. I am therefore very

distressed to learn that your company proposes to suspend Coast Starlight

service throughout its entire length because of a mudslide in central

Oregon. Although your managers may be telling you that there is an

opportunity to save operating cash during this off peak season, you are

making a very big mistake by suspending service in California.

The California Transportation Commission meets February 14 to decide,

amongst other issues, whether to fund a menu of rail projects approved by

the voters last year with Proposition 1B. Included in this list is $25

million for signal and track improvements on the Coast line, as well as a

number of investments in the state-supported corridors. In view of your

stated objective to build partnerships with the states, the timing of

your demonstration of the unreliability of passenger rail on one of your

most popular routes could not be worse.

I have just spent this past 4 days in San Luis Obispo at a meeting of the

Coast Rail Coordinating Council and at a RailPAC sponsored public

meeting. At the CRCC, representatives from all the counties between L.A.

and the Bay area continue to express support for expanded rail service.

They plan to lobby the CTC meeting in favor of the $25 million for the

Coast. The RailPAC meeting attracted over 50 residents who came to learn

about how passenger rail can provide improved mobility for residents and

attract tourists and their dollars. I was guest on a local talk radio

station Friday evening and the callers were unanimous in their support

for rail, with one caveat; poor reliability. All the goodwill generated

by the efforts of our group and of those public officials who support

passenger rail will be devalued by your opportunistic decision to save a

few operating dollars.

This should be a busy season on the Coast Starlight, at least in

California. The weather is temperate and there are hotel rooms available

especially midweek. You should be promoting midweek packages especially

for overseas tourists, not canceling trains. And don't let your people

tell you that trains 798/799 provide a substitute. These ghastly trains,

with their sad Horizon equipment, third world schedules, leaving L.A. too

early to make a San Diego connection, and bus service north of San Luis

Obispo, are NOT an acceptable substitute for the Coast Starlight.

I strongly recommend that you review this decision. I realize that

reconfiguring schedules in these circumstances takes time and effort.

That's why you have managers. I realize that some passengers will cancel

their trips and you will lose some revenue. But you will lose far more in

goodwill and credibility if you take the easy way out and cancel the

trains. So do some low cost local advertising on the Coast, with coupons,

suspend the reservations only requirement, and use this as an opportunity

to introduce your service to some new customers.

I hope to hear from you soon that you have reversed your decision.

Yours faithfully,

Paul J. Dyson, President

[End quote]

4) Let's further review the facts, as present in the last issue of TWA.

The track-blocking, Coast Starlight-stopping mudslide is located

approximately at Chemult, Oregon, only 432 miles into the southbound run

of the Starlight. Regional Amtrak Cascades daily service extends south

from Seattle (it actually begins in Vancouver, British Columbia in

Canada) 310 of the 432 Starlight route miles to Eugene, Oregon. It's

about a 10 ½ hour run from Seattle south to Chemult.

Coming north, Chemult is a full 945 route miles from the Los Angeles

terminal. That part of the run takes 23 ½ hours, and includes such

heavy-hitter stations in California as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo,

Salinas, San Jose, Oakland, Emeryville (both Oakland and Emeryville

handle passengers transferring to San Francisco across the bay),

Martinez, Davis, Sacramento, Chico, Redding, and Dunsmuir (Mount Shasta).

In Oregon, Klamath Falls is also south of Chemult.

By blanking the entire run of the Coast Starlight, Amtrak is

automatically saying how unimportant these stations are to the

functioning of its national system, and substitute regional service will

have to make do.

5) Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant replied to Mr. Dyson's original

letter on January 28th. Here is Mr. Kummant's reply.

[begin quote]

Mr. Paul J. Dyson

President

Rail Passenger Association of California

1008 10th Street, Suite 217

Sacramento, California 95814

Dear Mr. Dyson,

Thank you for your letter of January 22 regarding your concerns with the

temporary cessation of Coast Starlight service. As you are aware, the

Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) mainline across the Cascade Range has been

closed because of a significant landslide at Coyote Mountain, which is

between Chemult and Eugene, Oregon.

The Coast Starlight is one of our premier services and ranks highly among

our long-distance services in terms of ridership and revenue. That said,

this time of year, late January and February, is in relative terms the

seasonal low point for ridership on this train. When the landslide at

Coyote Mountain occurred on January 19, it was difficult to obtain from

UPRR a reliable estimate of the extent of the damage and the duration of

track closure, for reasons outlined below. In fact, the duration of track

closure is still unclear at this time.

Initial reports from UPRR on January 19 indicated that an area about 0.8

miles in length was covered with 4-10 feet of debris, but that the line

might reopen within two or three days. We immediately instituted a bus

bridge between Klamath Falls and Portland to accommodate passengers who

already were en route. On January 19, this resulted in a 9 hour delay for

northbound passengers and a nearly 6 hour delay for southbound

passengers, though delays caused by the bus bridge were reduced over

following days.

Late in the day on January 20, UPRR provided Amtrak with an updated track

repair estimate of two or three weeks. The damage report was more

significant than earlier reported, covering parts of a segment 14 miles

in length, with areas of track buried in 15 feet of debris, and with

continued movement of soil in the area. The location is in a very remote,

steeply sloped area with minimal road access. On January 21, the bus

bridge resulted in a 1 hour delay for northbound passengers and a 19

minute delay for southbound passengers. We decided to continue the bus

bridge for three more days (January 22, 23, and 24), but then annul the

Coast Starlight in its entirely, including the bus bridge, through

February 1.

This decision was made after careful consideration of projected passenger

counts and revenues, compared to bus bridge costs and added

employee-related expenses, particularly relocation of Mechanical forces

to Klamath Falls to turn and service the train set that would terminate

there if the service continued to operate during this extended track

outage. The bus bridge costs are not insignificant, approximately

$12,000-$15,000 a day. We also considered that, as stated above, usage of

the Coast Starlight in late January is less than at other times of the

year, and the challenges presented by running stub trains and bus

bridges, especially in winter.

We carefully evaluated all of these factors and looked at every

opportunity available to us, including talking to the BNSF Railway, which

has a potential detour route via Wishram, Washington, and Bend, Oregon.

This detour proved not to be practical due to its 49-mph top speeds and

the many UPRR freight trains already diverted to it because of the track

outage.

We also considered whether to operate separate stub trains on the

northern and southern extremes of the route. Again, given the season and

other factors, we found that running the stub trains made no sense for

the period through February 1. In the north, parallel Cascades service

has ample space this time of year to carry additional passengers. Also,

the northbound Coast Starlight carries no local passengers north of

Eugene.

In the south, we found that ridership on the Coast Starlight that is

local to the Los Angeles-Sacramento segment is light during this season

and could be diverted temporarily to the state's network of corridor

trains and Thruway buses fo the period through February 1. For example,

there is Pacific Surfliner service from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo

and Capitol Corridor service from San Jose to Sacramento, connected by

Thruway bus service. Also, passengers to and from Los Angeles can use

connecting Thruway bus and San Joaquin train service via Bakersfield.

During this current two-week period, we will have the chance to talk with

Caltrans about other bussing options to bride parts of this route. You

raised a number of arguments in favor of marketing a stub train along the

coast route within California. However, keeping in mind that our decision

was made on January 21 with a hope of restoring service early in

February, a process of prudent planning and analysis of the sort of

service that you have suggested would likely have taken as long as the

service outage lasted.

That said, UPRR has not yet given us a firm indication of when the line

in Oregon will reopen. February is a relatively weaker period for the

Coast Starlight, but ridership historically increases heading into March

and April. You can be assured that we want to reinstitute the service as

quickly as possible. Given the information available to us, we believe

that the decision we made was the correct one. We expect within the next

two weeks, the service options available to us will become clearer, and

that a more definite path to full recovery will be found. We will keep

the public informed as we make any such determinations.

Sincerely,

Alex Kummant

President and Chief Executive Office

Amtrak

6) As of 2 P.M. PST, Thursday, January 31st, this was Amtrak's service

disruption notice on its web site.

[begin quote]

Service Alert: Coast Starlight Service Disruption Continues - Train

Service Suspended Due to Massive Mudslides Across Railroad Tracks North

of Chemult, Oregon

January 31, 2008

2:00 pm PST

Due to massive mudslides over railroad tracks north of Chemult, Oregon on

January 19, the Amtrak Coast Starlight service continues through February

15, with no alternate transportation provided. The Union Pacific Railroad

has suspended all railroad traffic through the area.

As a result, the following operation plan is in effect:

The northbound Coast Starlight (Train 14) is canceled from Los Angeles to

Seattle through February 14*.

The southbound Coast Starlight (Train 11) is canceled from Seattle to Los

Angeles through February 15*.

*These dates may be extended.

Other Amtrak trains and Thruway Motorcoaches operate between Southern

California and Northern California and in the Pacific Northwest.

For travel throughout California, passengers may take the San Joaquins

service between Los Angeles and Sacramento/Oakland. Passengers may also

take the Pacific Surfliner trains between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo

and the Capitol Corridor train service from San Jose to Sacramento/Auburn

and points in between.

For travel throughout the Pacific Northwest, passengers may take the

Amtrak Cascades service from Eugene, Ore. to Vancouver, BC.

Passengers can contact Amtrak for alternate schedule and travel

information.

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the

above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions

warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit

Amtrak.com for schedule information and train status updates.

[End quote]

7) Mr. Dyson, never one to stray from a spirited discussion, immediately

dashed off another letter to Mr. Kummant. Here is Mr. Dyson's reply to

Mr. Kummant.

[begin quote]

January 29, 2008

Mr. Alex Kummant

President and CEO

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

60 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.

Washington, DC 20002

Via fax

COAST STARLIGHT SUSPENSION

Dear Mr. Kummant:

Thank you for your letter of yesterday replying to my concerns about the

Coast Starlight. While your response is an excellent tour d'horizon of

the circumstances leading to your decision, it contains no real response

to the key issues. What is more important to Amtrak, preserving your

franchise, providing transportation in accordance with or substituting

for your advertised schedules, and preserving thirty years of

painstakingly accumulated political goodwill, OR saving a few thousands

of dollars each day in operating expenses? It is facile to state that

ridership is light, with the inference that therefore providing service

is not very important. One could well argue that such light loads should

be rectified by better marketing and pricing, but in any event that is

beside the point. The point is you have an obligation to provide service,

or at least as much service as you possibly can, and I have no doubt that

your line managers are capable of rising to the occasion.

On the political front your people will no doubt have told you that ALL

expenditure, including the intercity rail budget, is under severe threat

here in California. Whether we agree or not your announced policy is to

develop "corridors" in partnership with the states. California is the

poster child for this process having spent over $1 billion of California

tax dollars on its rail programs. Over the next few weeks lawmakers will

be fighting over the budget, the end result of which may well be cuts in

the state rail corridor services. How can you have been so ill-advised as

to annul the state's premier north-south long distance train at just the

time when rail advocates and pro-rail policy makers are trying to sell

the state rail program as having relevance to our transportation needs?

If you lose California as a corridor partner your entire policy is in

shambles.

Regarding diverting passengers to the state rail and bus network, the

irony is that for 36 hours I-5 was closed north of Los Angeles, meaning

that the Bakersfield/San Joaquin service was not an option. In any event,

rail passengers regard buses as a poor substitute for a one-seat train

ride. I cannot accept that the "prudent planning and analysis" required

for a one train a day service should take more than day or two, nor do I

accept that "the challenges presented by running stub trains and bus

bridges, especially in winter," are so much greater than normal

operations. You sell your people short by saying so. Indeed you give the

lie to that statement by reporting that the bus bridge bedded in quite

well on day two. Probably the bus ride between Eugene and Klamath Falls

is measurably quicker than the train.

Given what is happening with the Sunset, the Crescent and now the Coast

Starlight, RailPAC will inevitably come to the conclusion that there is

once again a concerted attempt to shut down the long distance network by

driving away passengers with these extended annulments. You are either in

business to run these trains and provide the advertised service, or not.

The public deserves an honest answer.

Yours faithfully,

Paul J. Dyson

President

RailPAC

[End quote]

As of press time for this edition of TWA, no response from Mr. Kummant to

Mr. Dyson has been forthcoming. As developments warrant, we will keep you

informed.

8) One important note: If you purchase your Amtrak tickets through a

travel agency (If you can find a travel agency which still sells Amtrak

tickets), be sure to inquire about purchasing an independent trip

insurance package, which covers interruptions of trips and other events

which may affect travel. Amtrak is no longer a sure bet for reliable

travel.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## wayman

AlanB said:


> So Alex as much as admits that Amtrak's decision to cancel service was strictly financial and nothing more. The only problem is that his numbers don't justify the decsion as he's outlined it.
> ...
> 
> And in the meantime Amtrak is potentially stranding as many as 10,000 to 15,000 customers, maybe more depending on the length of the outage.


The money quote--quite literally--is just this sentence: "In the end, the cost of running stub trains and a bus bridge far outweighed the revenue benefits of running the train during these firs two weeks of the track outage." The calculation weighed these two things and nothing else... because Amtrak is not, evidently, interested in helping passengers reach their destinations. Going on to justify this, he talks about how the northern part of the route is just like the Cascades, and the southern part of the route really is just an extension of the California Service. It's as if he _doesn't even realize these two halves of the route are connected and carry some passengers from one end to the other_. I'd go so far as to guess that it carries _most_ of its passengers from one end to the other (at least between points "north of the mudslide" and "south of the mudslide"), _because_ passengers staying within one side presumably do already opt for more local services when they're available.

Up until the mudslide, my impression was that Alex was a good (passenger- and railroad-friendly, less "bottom-line justifies all cutbacks") president. Was that a completely wrong impression--is he now showing his true colors? The more I read, the less I can find any fault with UPRR for Amtrak's moves, and the more I see clear evidence that Amtrak (upper management) doesn't care about its passengers, if it even realizes they exist as anything more than numbers in a spreadsheet.


----------



## yarrow

wayman said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> 
> So Alex as much as admits that Amtrak's decision to cancel service was strictly financial and nothing more. The only problem is that his numbers don't justify the decsion as he's outlined it.
> ...
> 
> And in the meantime Amtrak is potentially stranding as many as 10,000 to 15,000 customers, maybe more depending on the length of the outage.
> 
> 
> 
> The money quote--quite literally--is just this sentence: "In the end, the cost of running stub trains and a bus bridge far outweighed the revenue benefits of running the train during these firs two weeks of the track outage." The calculation weighed these two things and nothing else... because Amtrak is not, evidently, interested in helping passengers reach their destinations. Going on to justify this, he talks about how the northern part of the route is just like the Cascades, and the southern part of the route really is just an extension of the California Service. It's as if he _doesn't even realize these two halves of the route are connected and carry some passengers from one end to the other_. I'd go so far as to guess that it carries _most_ of its passengers from one end to the other (at least between points "north of the mudslide" and "south of the mudslide"), _because_ passengers staying within one side presumably do already opt for more local services when they're available.
> 
> Up until the mudslide, my impression was that Alex was a good (passenger- and railroad-friendly, less "bottom-line justifies all cutbacks") president. Was that a completely wrong impression--is he now showing his true colors? The more I read, the less I can find any fault with UPRR for Amtrak's moves, and the more I see clear evidence that Amtrak (upper management) doesn't care about its passengers, if it even realizes they exist as anything more than numbers in a spreadsheet.
Click to expand...

i know nothing other than what i learn on this forum, what i read elsewhere and my own experiences. it will interest me to see what, if any, reply i get from mr kummant to my letter about the cs situation. it seems that since we encouraged our congresspeople to support amtrak funding and since it was approved that mr kummant has become less friendly to amtrak as a passenger railroad and to those of us who pay his salary


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 4, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 5

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Half of a train is better than no train. Amtrak has reversed its

decision on annulment of the Coast Starlight due to the mudslide blocking

the Union Pacific mainline tracks near Chemult, Oregon.

Here is Amtrak's press release.

[begin quote]

News Release

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

60 Massachusetts Avenue NE

Washington, DC 20002

www.amtrak.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATK-08-008

Contact: Media Relations (510) 238-4360

February 1, 2008 Amtrak Restoring Partial Coast Starlight Service

Service Available Between Los Angeles and Sacramento

OAKLAND - Amtrak is restoring service on a portion of the route of the

Coast Starlight, beginning Wednesday, February 6. Following discussions

with the Union Pacific Railroad, service on the route was suspended

between Los Angeles and Seattle on January 19, due to massive mudslides

over the railroad north of Chemult, Ore. All railroad traffic through

that area has been suspended and is not expected to resume for many

weeks.

The first northbound departure of this version of the Coast Starlight,

Train 14, will leave Los Angeles on February 6 at 10:15 a.m., making all

regularly-scheduled stops and arriving in Sacramento later that night at

11:59 p.m. The first day of service in both directions will be Thursday,

February 7, when the southbound Coast Starlight, Train 11, will depart

Sacramento at 6:35 a.m., making all regularly-scheduled stops and

arriving in Los Angeles at 9:00 p.m.

Cascades trains between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C., via Portland

and Seattle, are operating.

During this partial service restoration, only Coach class will be

offered. No sleeping car accommodations will be available. Food and

beverage service will be available in a lounge car. The more formal

dining service usually offered on the regular Coast Starlight will be

suspended until the resumption of full route between Los Angeles and

Seattle. The Coast Starlight will continue to operate as an all-reserved

train and passengers will be able to check bags at stations that normally

offer that service.

About Amtrak

Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500

destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules,

fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit

Amtrak.com.

[End quote]

2) Now, before everyone gets all warm and fuzzy about this partial

service restoration, let's ask some adult questions.

- The announcement was made on Friday, February 1st, and the service will

not resume until Wednesday, February 6th, from Los Angeles, the

maintenance and crew base for the train. What's taking so long? The

Starlight is a daily train; it takes four days to resume service over a

regularly scheduled route, with regularly scheduled crews, using

regularly scheduled equipment?

- The best money-making features of the Starlight route, the sleeping

cars are not being offered, even for daylight service. The scenery along

that route is pretty spectacular any time of the year, and Amtrak seems

to be ignoring the desires of many passengers who may wish to travel in

more comfort than is offered with only coach service. Couldn't Amtrak run

at least one sleeping car for those willing to pay the extra fare?

- Why is the dining car being eliminated for this shorter run? Don't

people on a nearly 14 hour run still get hungry? Passengers accustomed to

riding this train between Los Angeles and Sacramento and points in

between will want to know why they are being denied basic food service

which has been replaced with lounge food. Amtrak dining cars are already

short staffed with quick preparation food; how much money is Amtrak

generating in false savings by not offering dining car service?

7) Paul Dyson, president of RailPAC in California deserves high praise

for his correspondence with Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant, and

his refusal to "say die" on the ability of Amtrak to provide some type of

Starlight service to keep the route open during the calamity of the

Oregon mudslide and UP's ongoing effort to reopen its rail line.

In the past two issues of TWA we have published the correspondence

between Mr. Dyson and Mr. Kummant, and where we last left the situation,

Mr. Kummant had not replied to Mr. Dyson's second letter. The reply came

Friday in the form of the press release from Amtrak printed above. For

review, here is Mr. Dyson's second letter to Mr. Kummant as a response to

Mr. Kummant's letter listing all of the reasons leading up to the

decision to annul Starlight service over the entire 1,377 mile route of

the Starlight.

[begin quote]

January 29, 2008

Mr. Alex Kummant

President and CEO

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

60 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.

Washington, DC 20002

Via fax

COAST STARLIGHT SUSPENSION

Dear Mr. Kummant:

Thank you for your letter of yesterday replying to my concerns about the

Coast Starlight. While your response is an excellent tour d'horizon of

the circumstances leading to your decision, it contains no real response

to the key issues. What is more important to Amtrak, preserving your

franchise, providing transportation in accordance with or substituting

for your advertised schedules, and preserving thirty years of

painstakingly accumulated political goodwill, OR saving a few thousands

of dollars each day in operating expenses? It is facile to state that

ridership is light, with the inference that therefore providing service

is not very important. One could well argue that such light loads should

be rectified by better marketing and pricing, but in any event that is

beside the point. The point is you have an obligation to provide service,

or at least as much service as you possibly can, and I have no doubt that

your line managers are capable of rising to the occasion.

On the political front your people will no doubt have told you that ALL

expenditure, including the intercity rail budget, is under severe threat

here in California. Whether we agree or not your announced policy is to

develop "corridors" in partnership with the states. California is the

poster child for this process having spent over $1 billion of California

tax dollars on its rail programs. Over the next few weeks lawmakers will

be fighting over the budget, the end result of which may well be cuts in

the state rail corridor services. How can you have been so ill-advised as

to annul the state's premier north-south long distance train at just the

time when rail advocates and pro-rail policy makers are trying to sell

the state rail program as having relevance to our transportation needs?

If you lose California as a corridor partner your entire policy is in

shambles.

Regarding diverting passengers to the state rail and bus network, the

irony is that for 36 hours I-5 was closed north of Los Angeles, meaning

that the Bakersfield/San Joaquin service was not an option. In any event,

rail passengers regard buses as a poor substitute for a one-seat train

ride. I cannot accept that the "prudent planning and analysis" required

for a one train a day service should take more than day or two, nor do I

accept that "the challenges presented by running stub trains and bus

bridges, especially in winter," are so much greater than normal

operations. You sell your people short by saying so. Indeed you give the

lie to that statement by reporting that the bus bridge bedded in quite

well on day two. Probably the bus ride between Eugene and Klamath Falls

is measurably quicker than the train.

Given what is happening with the Sunset, the Crescent and now the Coast

Starlight, RailPAC will inevitably come to the conclusion that there is

once again a concerted attempt to shut down the long distance network by

driving away passengers with these extended annulments. You are either in

business to run these trains and provide the advertised service, or not.

The public deserves an honest answer.

Yours faithfully,

Paul J. Dyson

President

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## meatpuff

wayman said:


> The money quote--quite literally--is just this sentence: "In the end, the cost of running stub trains and a bus bridge far outweighed the revenue benefits of running the train during these firs two weeks of the track outage." The calculation weighed these two things and nothing else... because Amtrak is not, evidently, interested in helping passengers reach their destinations. Going on to justify this, he talks about how the northern part of the route is just like the Cascades, and the southern part of the route really is just an extension of the California Service. It's as if he _doesn't even realize these two halves of the route are connected and carry some passengers from one end to the other_. I'd go so far as to guess that it carries _most_ of its passengers from one end to the other (at least between points "north of the mudslide" and "south of the mudslide"), _because_ passengers staying within one side presumably do already opt for more local services when they're available.
> Up until the mudslide, my impression was that Alex was a good (passenger- and railroad-friendly, less "bottom-line justifies all cutbacks") president. Was that a completely wrong impression--is he now showing his true colors? The more I read, the less I can find any fault with UPRR for Amtrak's moves, and the more I see clear evidence that Amtrak (upper management) doesn't care about its passengers, if it even realizes they exist as anything more than numbers in a spreadsheet.


This gets to the heart of Amtrak's unclear mandate: is their job to provide transportation where it is most needed, or where it makes the most economic sense to do so?

The choice is more clear for a bus company, that must strive for profits over any route. If over the long-term they can't make money going Eugene to San Francisco, they will stop running the bus. But what do you do when you're Amtrak, and you already lose money running the train, and you have to choose whether to suspend service or run it and lose more money than usual? I don't know that there's a real blueprint for how to make a decision like that.

Part of me (probably most of me) agrees that suspending the Starlight is short-sighted on the part of Amtrak, and shows their clumsiness as far as customer focus, which handicaps them on the revenue end that could help their cause. But another part of me has sympathy, knowing that Amtrak must go before Congress every year and explain that the money-losing on-board dining they offer drives revenues overall, and still some Congressmen demand it be canned.

I find the stub trains and bus bridge kind of clumsy, when other options are available, like intercity bus. Would many people book a trip from OR to CA knowing they'd be changing vehicles twice and riding a bus for 4.5 hours? Or would they choose another mode of travel? It sounds like the extra cost per passenger invloved in the bus bridge would be amplified because I can't imagine many people would pay the fare for the Coast Starlight for a trip like that. Would you?

One other thing this episode really demonstrates is how Amtrak is hampered by just not enough rail infrastructure. I read somewhere that a BNSF line can be used to get around the mudslide, but all the UP trains are being diverted there and so it's now hopelessly clogged and impractical for Amtrak. When all the lines nation-wide are running near capacity and something (anything) goes wrong, Amtrak racks up hours of delays. By comparison if a mudslide wiped out a mile of Interstate 5 in southern OR, a Greyhound going Eugene-San Francisco would probably be delayed 5 or 10 minutes taking an alternate route around the disaster.

In conclusion, I don't find their temporary (current, as of today) solution of the LAX-SFO only train that unreasonable. But if they were going to do it they should have gotten it going at least a week ago instead of letting service lapse for I think 17 days. And they will pay in customer opinion for not taking on the extra cost of keeping the entire route running with the bus bridge.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 11, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 6

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) (Yawn) It’s that time of year when all sorts of ill-informed people

run amuck over Amtrak’s free federal money request. (Gasp!) President

Bush, in his final budget request to Congress has requested $900 million

for Amtrak, as opposed to the $1.3 billion Amtrak received during the

current budget year from the national money trough. While various

organizations which support Amtrak for all of the wrong reasons and in

all of the wrong ways cry "the sky is falling and the Earth is rushing up

to meet it" the wrong headline is being used.

The real – and most important headline – is "White House recommends

enough annual subsidy to keep Amtrak’s national system running as is, but

may imperil Northeast Corridor upgrades."

2) There is an incorrect presumption, mostly made by the Northeast news

media, that all monies flowing to Amtrak must first be applied to the

financial black hole of the Northeast Corridor, and then, any leftovers

may be parceled to the several other of these united states which

constitute the rest of the country.

Does anyone have a good reason why this is so? Is it written anywhere the

aggregate population of the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware,

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode

Island and Massachusetts have first dibs on federal money before Florida,

Texas, California, Ohio, Illinois, and all of the rest of the states

which host Amtrak’s national system?

The breakdown of the White House’s budget recommendation is $300 million

for train operations, $500 million for capital projects, and $100 million

for development of new state partnerships.

3) Let’s look at the numbers, straight from Amtrak. If you were a staffer

in the White House Office of Management and Budget, you would be looking

at Amtrak’s financial reports, which are made available to us in the

great unwashed public via Amtrak’s web site. Figures taken from the

September 2007 monthly report to Congress as available on the web site

(Total figures in the September report are cumulative for the fiscal

year, as September is the last month in Amtrak’s fiscal year) show this

information.

Financial Performance of Routes - Strategic Business Line format,

September 2007 YTD Unaudited

Northeast Corridor (Acela/Metroliner, Regional, NEC Special Trains, NEC

Bus Route)

Total Revenue – $885.2 million

Total Attributed Costs – $626.8 million (these in the real world are

expenses)

Contribution/(Loss), Excluding Depreciation and Interest – $258.3 million

(Amtrak doesn’t use the word "profit," but instead uses the word

"contribution.")

So, before depreciation and interest costs, Amtrak says the entire

Northeast Corridor made the company $258.3 million dollars.

State Supported and Other Short Distance Corridor Trains (All other

trains outside of the NEC which are not classified as Long Distance

trains, including Illinois and California corridor trains)

Total Revenue – $491.6 million

Total Attributed Costs – $619.2 million

Contribution/(Loss), Excluding Depreciation and Interest – ($127.6

million)

Before depreciation and interest costs, Amtrak says all of its Short

Distance trains cost the company $127.6 million more to operate than they

take in via revenue and state payments.

Long Distance Trains (All other trains)

Total Revenue – $416.5 million

Total Attributed Costs – $856.9 million

Contribution/(Loss), Excluding Depreciation and Interest – ($440.4

million)

Before depreciation and interest costs, Amtrak says all of its Long

Distance trains cost the company $440.4 million more to operate than they

take in via revenue

Company Totals

Total Revenue – $1,793.3 billion

Total Attributed Costs – $2,103.0 billion

Contribution/(Loss), Excluding Depreciation and Interest – ($309.7

million)

Which brings us to a difference of a mere $9.7 million between what the

White House is recommending for train operations and what Amtrak says it

spent in FY 2007 for train operations. What’s the problem, then? The tiny

sum of $9.7 million is negligible to be arguing over in the global

picture of Amtrak. Why all of the gnashing of teeth and predictions of

doom and the end of the company?

If Amtrak says it takes $309.7 million to run its trains for a year, why

isn’t the National Association of Railroad Passengers and anyone else

believing them? The White House allocated an additional $500 million for

capital improvements, most of which automatically goes to the NEC, so

that keeps any modernization programs on schedule (Amtrak executives have

made statements in the past it would be difficult for the company to

manage more than approximately $500 million in capital projects a year,

so, again, why would it need more?).

4) Last week, on February 8th, respected Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black

told a reporter from Media General News Service Amtrak lost $480 million

last year. One has to presume that is based on a full allocation of

interest and depreciation, plus Amtrak’s annual contribution to the

Railroad Retirement System, which funnels huge amounts of money annually

into the system as a conduit of system funding.

Even with Mr. Black’s statement, the additional $180 million beyond what

Amtrak says it lost in FY 2007 is a relatively small amount which is

likely to instantly be made up by Congressional budget writers.

Again, this is not the crisis those seeking to gain from membership

drives would like everyone to believe. And, again, this is the sort of

annual bad publicity Amtrak receives which tends to draw more people away

from Amtrak instead of to Amtrak because they fear Amtrak won’t survive

and their money will be wasted buying tickets in advance for vacation

travel. While NARP and its minion state organization may gain from this

annual silliness, Amtrak suffers at the expense of NARP’s membership

drives by promoting alleged Amtrak grievous woes.

5) Let’s look at a few realities. Here is what one Florida wag has to say

about Amtrak.

[begin quote]

Here's a truth I've learned along the way:

A. No matter how much money Amtrak gets, it doesn't improve.

B. No matter how much money Amtrak doesn't get, it doesn't go away!

[End quote]

That sage statement has been true all of Amtrak’s corporate life. Amtrak

always survives, and the NEC always receives the lion’s share of Amtrak

funding.

Regular readers of TWA know a $480 million shortfall in operating

expenses is not insurmountable, if Amtrak put to use all of its assets

and resources, including an improved national marketing program. Every

piece of rolling stock which sits in the weeds on some siding instead of

being used on the road is one more poor example of Amtrak squandering its

it resources and ignoring its future. Every marketing program which

ignores the national system where space is available on a daily basis for

sale is one more poor example of Amtrak ignoring its greatest potential

for success in favor of short corridors which cost more money to operate

and produce less revenue for the company than long distance trains.

And, lets look at the greatest reality of them all. The figures above

from Amtrak are wrong, and Amtrak’s cooks its books. As National Review

Online staff reporter David Freddoso wrote on November 1, 2007:

[begin quote]

Amtrak’s routes in the Northeast Corridor, many will argue, make money.

This claim is actually false, the result only of Amtrak’s shady

bookkeeping. The northeast routes have made $272 million this year, but

only if you completely exclude $414 million in depreciation losses, $88

million in debt service, and $211 million in nationwide losses, none of

which Amtrak allocates by route. If the company actually kept honest

books, we would likely see that Amtrak loses some money even in the

Northeast Corridor.

[End quote]

Mr. Freddoso’s quote partially explains the difference in Amtrak’s

figures used at the beginning of this column, and Mr. Black’s figure of

$480 million in losses for the year. Mr. Freddoso also doesn’t make

mention of the hundreds of millions of dollars Amtrak spends annually to

keep the NEC infrastructure in operating shape, which should be charged

against any and all trains operating over the infrastructure, but is not.

All of this is confusing. What are the real numbers? Nobody knows for

sure. What we do know is in the short run, Amtrak does need an annual

infusion of free federal money, which the company, as it has done in the

past few years since the departure of former President and CEO David

Gunn, is quietly and professionally asking Congress for in a separate

budget request.

Everyone seems for forget that no matter who is in the White House, a

White House suggested budget is rarely what comes out as an end product

from Congress, which is the ONLY governmental body which can ultimately

authorize expenditures from the federal treasury. It’s never mattered

what the White House has recommended, be it in the day of David Stockman

during the Reagan Administration, or today’s George Bush Administration,

Congress always makes the last call for Amtrak funding based on its own

findings, not the White House OMB recommendations. Everyone forgets the

OMB budget is just a recommendation, not a mandate.

6) Here’s a less than clairvoyant prediction, but an almost guaranteed

prediction: Amtrak, by the time the final budget is written and signed by

the White House, will have an annual free federal monies amount close to

the $1.3 billion it had for FY 2007. No trains will go away, but no major

changes will be made in the way Amtrak conducts business. The NEC will

continue to reap the lion’s share of money, while the rest of the country

languishes with pent up demand for passenger rail service. NARP and

related organizations will pat themselves on the back for allegedly a job

well done preserving Amtrak funding for another year, and the membership

rolls and incomes of these organizations will have increased slightly as

they "fight" to preserve passenger rail from evil forces which don’t

exist.

7) Going back to National Review’s David Freddoso, in the same article as

mentioned above from National Review Online (Money Train – Another

subsidy, no real reforms for Amtrak), another quote must be featured.

[begin quote]

Another false claim is that Amtrak does not get its "fair share" of

transportation subsidies. Airline passengers pay taxes and fees at every

turn and receive a subsidy less than one-thirtieth of Amtrak’s

per-passenger mile. Motorists receive no subsidy at all, once they have

paid tolls and gasoline taxes.

The fact that Amtrak hemorrhages money is not the only things that makes

it so awful. There’s also the maddening inefficiency of a system that has

no competition and practically no accountability.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 20, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 7

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

COAST STARLIGHT LATE UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times reported at 10 P.M.

EST February 19, 2008 Amtrak officials said they will provide coach

service between Sacramento and Portland, Oregon, starting February 29th.

>From Portland, riders can connect with the Cascades service to Seattle

and Vancouver, British Columbia. Only coach-class service is available,

with no dining service provided.

The story does not make clear if this coach service is train service or

bus service, and at press time, Amtrak has not posted a press release on

its web site. However, some sources have told TWA Amtrak employees have

made mention of a motorcoach connection in the works between Sacramento

and Portland, a lengthy distance of 637 route miles by rail which takes

the Coast Starlight 16 hours to traverse. Google Maps shows the distance

of the trip via Interstate 5 to be 579 miles, taking travel time of 9

hours, considerably shorter and sooner than Amtrak's rail route. Union

Pacific Railroad, owner of the tracks which hosts the Coast Starlight,

now says the mudslide over its tracks in Oregon which originally caused

the annulment of the Coast Starlight earlier this year, will not be

cleared until sometime in April, much later than originally thought. The

next TWA will provide further details.

1) Richmond, our beloved capital, is under siege for the second time in a

scant 143 years by another horde of ill-bred, marauding, bloodthirsty,

Yankees. This time, the Northern riff raff are not using cannons, but

instead are trying to steal the key to the Commonwealth of Virginia's

treasury.

The Commonwealth made inquiries to Amtrak about creating a second

frequency on the Norfolk Southern Crescent route between Washington and

Lynchburg. An inquiry has also been made about adding a second frequency

between Washington and Newport News (Hampton Roads/Norfolk). Amtrak, just

like the Yankees during the Late War, is trying to ransack Richmond, this

time in the form of too high costs to run trains on a state contract.

Amtrak told the Commonwealth it could add one round trip passenger train

daily along the Norfolk Southern route of the Crescent, running from

Washington to Lynchburg via Alexandria, Manassas, Culpepper, and

Charlottesville, with one-way route mileage of 173 miles, adding up to

346 route miles round trip.

Today's Crescent departs northbound from Lynchburg at 6:07 A.M. and

arrives in Washington at 10:10 A.M., and the southbound from Washington

departs Washington at 6:30 P.M. and arrives in Lynchburg at 10:06 P.M.

Virginia Railway Express, the Northern Virginia regional commuter

service, already serves part of this route from Manassas to Washington. A

one-ride trip from Manassas to Washington (or reverse) is $7.20. That

same ride on the Crescent, on the same day, costs $22.00. It's safe to

say unless someone specifically wants to ride the Crescent with its

broader array of amenities, then most riders are going to choose VRE.

To adequately compute ridership and revenue passenger miles for this

train, an average length of trip must be established. Currently, the

Crescent has an average length of trip of 520.1 miles, over a route

length of 1,377 miles, so that measurement can't be used. Considering

known traffic patterns, and the availability of VRE service between

Washington Union Station and Manassas and all points in between, the

likeliest length of trip of the Virginia portion of the train is going to

be 125 miles, just a bit more than the 112 mile distance between

Charlottesville and Washington. Since the train will provide service all

the way from Lynchburg to New York City, the average length of trip for

passengers over the entire route will be much longer. We are calculating

income and expenses here for the Commonwealth of Virginia based on the

North Carolina model, where the state/commonwealth only pays for the

portion of the train which operates in the state.

Charlottesville currently enjoys daily service on the Crescent at

marketable hours, plus tri-weekly service on the Cardinal, which also

serves a parallel route between Charlottesville and Washington (all the

same station stops, even though part of the route between Charlottesville

and Orange, Virginia is different). In addition, two popular daily Amtrak

Thruway Motorcoaches serve Charlottesville.

Boardings and alightings are strong for Lynchburg, Charlottesville,

Culpepper, Manassas, and Alexandria. Washington Union Station alone

serves 3.7 million passengers a year for all services combined.

Here are the individual station numbers, of all passengers boarding and

detraining.

Alexandria - 97,734 (Does not include VRE, but does include trains on CSX

line to the south)

Manassas - 8,178 (Does not include VRE)

Culpepper - 4,151

Charlottesville - 48,190

Lynchburg - 18,744

There are some assumptions which are generally true when additional train

frequencies are added. While the numbers do not automatically double,

it's reasonable to take a high percentage of the original numbers for the

second train because the increase in frequencies opens a wider matrix for

potential passenger travel. While someone may not want to travel from

Charlottesville to Washington on the Crescent and return that same day on

the Crescent, they may want to travel to Washington on a new frequency,

and return on the Crescent. Any number of combinations become possible.

We also cannot use raw numbers from the Crescent stations because many of

the travelers are not traveling exclusively between those stations and

Washington, but are traveling anywhere to and from other stations on the

Crescent's 1,377 mile route.

It is unlikely the Crescent will have any revenue passenger miles losses

to the new train, but, rather, will have an increase of revenue passenger

miles. Because many of the "shorts" (riders traveling a short distance

between Charlottesville and Washington, as an example, traveling only 112

miles of the 1,377 mile route) most likely will migrate to the new train,

this will open up space on the Crescent for travelers traveling a long

trip length - and, therefore generating higher revenue passenger miles -

for new riders on the Crescent from other stations outside of the new

train's route.

The new train, since it is an added frequency, will also gain ridership

based on the travel choices of the Crescent, Cardinal, and the new train.

Every time more choices are added, an entire new dimension of riders is

added, too, because travel times become more flexible.

We do know Amtrak plans to take an existing New York to Washington

Northeast Corridor regional train and extend it to Lynchburg. This will

help the train in many ways, including a larger city pair matrix, plus by

putting NEC equipment to better use by making longer runs.

Here's a summary of what we know about Amtrak and the Commonwealth and a

new train between Washington and Lynchburg.

- The train will begin in New York City and turn in Lynchburg for the

return trip. Each one way trip will be about eight hours. This will

require no extra passenger equipment, but will require on extra diesel

locomotive for the run between Washington and Lynchburg. No extra onboard

services personnel will be required, but an additional set of train and

engine crew (engineers and conductors) will be required between

Washington and Lynchburg.

- All of the stations on the Crescent route south of Washington are

already open during daylight hours, seven days a week, so no additional

station personnel will be required.

- Some type of wye or turn facility will have to be in place in

Lynchburg, unless the train becomes a push-pull operation.

- Other than the possible cost of a turn facility in Lynchburg, and the

addition of a small crew base in Lynchburg, no other infrastructure

capital investment should be required. No additional signaling or sidings

will be necessary along the Norfolk Southern route.

Amtrak says it needs $1.9 million dollars to subsidize this new train

annually.

- Train mile costs to Norfolk Southern will likely be $1,010,320 for the

year.

- Eight additional train and engine crew members will likely cost

$515,000 for the year (actual operations may require fewer crew members).

- Miscellaneous operating costs (cost of the locomotive, fuel,

maintenance on rolling stock, etc.) will likely cost $1,768,000 for the

year.

Total - $3,293,320 for the year, not including any corporate overhead or

reservations expenses, or splitting the cost of stations between the

Crescent, Cardinal, and the new train.

Assumed ridership of 85,000 passengers a year, traveling an average

distance of 125 miles per passenger (using the North Carolina formula

where Virginia would only pay for the Virginia portion of the train, not

the NEC portion, plus all passengers using the train in Virginia would

accrue the largest portion of fares to the cost of the train in Virginia)

at 17.73 cents per passenger mile equals $1,883,812 in revenue for the

Virginia portion of the train only. That leaves a need for subsidy of

$1,409,508, not $1,900,000 as Amtrak suggests, a difference of a half a

million dollars a year.

Keep in mind, too, north of Washington - as does the Carolinean - this

new train becomes just another NEC regional train, with all overhead

already accounted for in the cost of NEC operations, plus revenues of

41.20 cents per passenger mile for those passengers traveling between

Washington and New York City.

We do know in the past, with current contracts like Amtrak's with the

State of North Carolina, Amtrak charges North Carolina approximately

$100,000 a year for one station agent to serve a station part-time along

the route of the Carolinian. Who knows what Amtrak has padded into the

Commonwealth of Virginia's contract?

2) The southward extension of the NEC into Virginia has long been on the

agenda of United Rail Passenger Alliance. On the CSX route to Richmond

and Hampton Roads, this has already occurred, mostly made possible by the

expansion of the old RF&P line between Richmond and Washington to handle

more capacity. That capacity continues to expand, and such lucrative

tourism markets as Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown are on this route

south of Richmond on the Hampton Roads branch.

An expansion of service down the Norfolk Southern line to Lynchburg is

long overdue. There has been unmet demand in Charlottesville for

additional train service for decades. A new frequency on this route is an

almost guaranteed success from a popularity standpoint, and stands a

chance of financial success with some further tweaking, such as bringing

the State of North Carolina into the deal, and extending this train all

the way south to Charlotte, providing a second North

Carolina-Washington-New York frequency over a different route. An

extension of Lynchburg to Charlotte is only another four and a half

hours, making this train a convenient 12 to 14 hour run, depending on

station dwell times. This fits nicely into equipment and maintenance turn

cycles, as well as train and engine crew turns. The larger mathematical

matrix which would be created by making this a longer run, coupled with

the dynamic growth along with the more western route in North Carolina

could easily provide a break-even or profitable train if all expenses and

revenues were correctly and honestly applied to the train instead of

using Amtrak's current accounting system.

3) Here's a challenge for TWA readers. In the midst of an exciting

presidential election year, incredibly many rail fans are planning to

make their choice for voting for president just based on how the final

nominees of both major political parties feel about Amtrak.

So, here's your challenge. Of the four remaining political candidates, do

some objective research on your favorite political candidate. Write a

brief position paper (500 words or less, preferably much less) on why

your favorite candidate will be the best steward of Amtrak. You must use

the Queen's English, and your paper must include rational thought, not

knee-jerk reaction. Anything you say for one candidate or against another

candidate must be able to be verified through studious research.

The best submissions will be published in TWA; there may be more than one

selection for each candidate if the quality of writing and quality of

argument merits. Your name and city and state where you reside will be

published, too, along with you e-mail address so others may congratulate

or castigate you for your opinions. Submissions will only be accepted by

e-mail. You may write in either Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, sending

those files as an e-mail attachment, or using your e-mail program.

Please try to have all submissions to [email protected] sent

prior to March 4, 2008. We look forward to selecting the most rational

submissions for publication.

3) Here's a closing thought, thinking primarily about the Florida service

long distance trains, but this really applies to every long distance

train in Amtrak's national system.

In March of 1999, just eight years ago, URPA published a white paper,

Suggested Rationalization of Amtrak Florida Service (This paper is

available on the URPA web site, www.unitedrail.org).

Here are some important ridership numbers from that paper. Unfortunately,

at that time, revenue passenger mile numbers were not available from

Amtrak as they are today.

At the end of 1998, the same two daily passenger trains which come into

Florida today, the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, both carried 18 car

consists, including a crew dormitory, three sleepers, a diner, buffet

diner, full lounge, nine coaches, and two baggage cars. Auto Train, the

combined passenger and auto carrying train, carried a crew dormitory,

five sleepers, two diners, one buffet diner, two lounges, and seven

coaches, totaling 18 cars, plus the car carriers. The Palmetto and Sunset

Limited also served Florida at that time.

Today, the Meteor and Star are the only two trains serving Florida, with

one train carrying two sleepers and one train carrying three. Since no

crew cars are on these trains as were on the 1990s consists, revenue

sleeping car space is assigned to train crew members, blocking revenue

income. Four, sometimes three coaches are used, along with one dining car

and one lounge car. The Auto Train has been converted to bi-level

Superliners, with slightly higher capacity than when it was a single

level train.

While tourism in Florida is down, Florida remains one of the healthiest

tourism destinations in the nation. New hotels are still being built, and

attendance at major attractions such as Walt Disney World remains strong.

More cruise ships are sailing from Florida ports, and airline service

into Florida has remained overall healthy.

Now, look at the numbers for Amtrak, based on total boardings and

alightings at Florida stations.

1993 - 1,262,059

1994 - 1,167,838

1995 - 1,125,571

1996 - 1,002,009

1997 - 928,252

1998 - 976,301

2006 - 764,363

2007 - 840,095

This begs the question, why has Amtrak artificially constrained capacity

in and out of Florida? While there has been an admirable bump from 2006

to 2007, why isn't Amtrak adding equipment and/or extending the Palmetto

back to Florida from its truncated southern terminus in Savannah (Done

entirely for the convenience of Amtrak's operating department for easy

crew turns.)? Most glaringly, why hasn't Amtrak brought the Sunset

Limited back to Florida, or at least replaced it with similar service?

The difference in numbers between 1993 and 2007 is almost 422,000 annual

riders, all generating high revenue passenger miles and long average

lengths of trips because most trips begin and end outside of Florida.

Why is Amtrak trying to fail in Florida instead of winning in Florida?

Florida's tourism numbers are good. The overall health of the state

economy is good (lots of guaranteed retiree money here keeps things

humming along). Why isn't Amtrak licking its corporate lips and thirsting

for more Florida passengers? Does Amtrak care?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 28, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 8

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) This came floating over the This Week at Amtrak transom from an Amtrak

employee, and it's too important to ignore. This message clearly

demonstrates how very dedicated so many Amtrak workers are to their jobs

and good passenger service, but are unable to perform because their own

company - which demands much from them - will not provide them with the

right tools and environment to do their jobs.

[begin quote]

I was asked to give my thoughts and ideas on the new Cross Country Café

[Operating on the City of New Orleans between New Orleans and Chicago,

train nos. 58 and 59]. So keep in mind these are my personal views on

this, but I'm sure if you talked with some of the other employees, you

will find most have the same concerns as I do. While I think the idea and

menu changes are very good, I believe the actual planning and execution

for the new diner/lounge car was not done properly and still is not to

this day even after being redesigned. I will talk about this more later.

So here are some of my concerns and a few ideas that will hopefully be

considered and looked into are at the very least talked about.

First, the positives of the new Cross Country Cafe.

- Nice menu selection. I feel we have a very good selection of food items

now, with some changes needed.

- Good food item pricing. With the lower pricing more customers are

eating from the coach cars, and that's good. After all, our goal is to

sell more.

- Nice looking new diner/lounge car. The new cars are nice looking, but

they are not practical for what they are design to do. This will be

explained in the negatives.

Now, the negatives of the new Cross Country Cafe.

- New diner/lounge car not big enough. With this diner/lounge car, we do

not have enough room for the customers to come in and enjoy their dinner

or appetizers and snacks, and no room for overflow passengers. Case in

point - we've had customers come in from the coach car and order over $40

worth of food, and did not have room for them to sit in the Cross Country

Cafe. Now, I ask you, who wants to pay that much or more for food and

have to go back to their seat and eat? And, this happens more often then

you might think. Also our overflow passengers used to be able to sit in

the sightseeing lounge car when no other seats were available, but now

there is nowhere for them to go if the Cross Country Cafe is being used.

- Too many items downstairs [in the kitchen] for one person to handle

safely by themselves, when the passenger counts are high. The chef has to

run from the freezers back to the grill and ovens, over 25 feet, almost

constantly in order to get the appetizers and main dishes out. And, then,

in the middle of the meal period while preparing entrees, the chef has to

start running to the freezer to get ice cream for desserts. This takes a

toll on the chef and to me is a safety issue. Sooner or later someone is

going to hurt themselves running back and forth like this. ...

- Not enough help in diner/lounge car. When we are busy, and with just

one lead service attendant (LSA) serving, ... sometimes ... food [is]

setting on the elevator for longer periods of time then it should, and

this causes the food to cool down some. Because the dining car LSA is

busy giving service to other customers, they cannot at times get to the

food fast enough. I myself want to give the customers the best service

and the hottest and freshest food possible, but we can't always do that

with this setup. And, customer service suffers because of having just one

LSA trying to do everything in the diner during these busy meal periods.

- Too hard to get extra help when needed. This should be a no brainier,

even when the passenger counts call for it, it's like pulling hens teeth

to get help on our trains when needed. There is always a shortage on the

extra board, or at least that's what we hear. But, in order for us to do

our part in trying to make this new car work in a safe and efficiency

manner, we sometimes need help. And, it should not be so hard getting it.

And, not just an SA [service attendant/waiter], as this does nothing for

the chef; it needs to be both, waiter (SA) and chef assistant (formerly

food specialist). Help is really needed.

To expand on this extra help point for a second: During the first month

or so when these cars first started running, we had onboard managers

riding with us to see how this would work. During this time every manager

that rode with us had to help out either in the dining car, lounge or

kitchen at some point of the trip. So, it was clear from the very

beginning help was needed with this new car set up. Even the onboard

managers said help was needed and they would state that fact in their

report at the end of the trip. But, nothing happened, no help. What

happened to the reports? Did they really report this? Something does not

add up here. I think this needs to be looked into further.

I know there are slow trips and it's really not a problem at these times.

But, the thing is, the passenger count can change anytime. Like coming

back from Chicago, our passenger counts can go up to where we need help,

but no one is available. Also, since there is only one elevator in the

new diner car now, if it breaks, (and it happens frequently) we have to

carry the trays of food up the steps. Having an extra person to help

would be a blessing when something like this happens. Even if we had a

permanent Memphis turn job put into service, this would help the crews

out tremendously.

At this time I would like to talk about a few things I think should have

been done from the beginning. Not to hurt anyone's feelings, but, to me

the training class we had for this new diner/lounge was nothing short of

a glorified pep rally. I've been in the food service industry for over 24

years, and whenever you make a change as big as this, there should have

been hands on training with everyone actually doing their jobs as to the

new car procedure. This way everyone would have known what - and how - to

do their part.

I get the feeling this was not fully thought out, and the onboard service

crew (OBS) was put out here in order to find a way to make this new car

work. Now, the problem with this is you have all the crews doing

something different, and, because no one in management wants to be

accountable for anything, as I see it. No one seems to have the backbone

to make a decision, document that decision, and then stand by that

decision. We get new rules and procedures all the time, but nothing in

writing. You know it's very easy to say, "Oh, I don't recall telling you

that," but not so easy to do when it's documented.

So we have one crew doing things one way, and another crew doing things

another way. So, later, if it is said we are doing something wrong, we

have no recourse, no one we can hold accountable. We need procedures in

writing. We need to know in writing what each of our jobs consists of

with this new Cross Country Cafe car. And, no blanket statements such as,

"just do the best you can." That's not enough. Because, it seems these

days OBS crews are the only ones being held accountable for anything. We

need accountability from management, too, on what is being said to us

about how to do our jobs. Give it to us in writing!

I always get the gut feeling something underhanded is being pulled on us

(OBS) from talks I sometimes have with upper management. Especially with

something new like this Cross Country Cafe. And, I'm hearing things now,

if it's true, proves this point once again. Such as when this car started

out, it was said there would be no more debits, that Amtrak was going to

run this like a restaurant would run. And this was a big selling point at

the training meeting. But, now I hear the debits or coming back. So, was

this done under handed just to get the new car running and all the while

knowing that the debits was coming back? Is this how Amtrak gains trust

in its employees?

This brings up another case in point about trust, back when the food

specialist job was abolished. It was said we would not be doing items on

the grill; no steaks, and a lot of other things would be cut out because

just one person was in the kitchen, to reduce the work load. Well, guys,

guess what, we now do more items then before, the steaks are back, and we

have a larger menu than before, but still just one person in the kitchen,

no food specialist. Everything slowly worked it's way back, except the

help. Do you think this was an underhanded deal? I feel it was! And it's

things like this, that make the employee's have a natural distrust for

what is said to us. I'm sure you can see why.

Now, in our safety meetings, management talks about the Customer Service

Index (CSI) scores. To be 100% truthful, I do not worry myself with this

number, and I know a lot of others who don't, either. I just do the best

job I can while trying to work as safe as I can. How does Amtrak expect

us (OBS) to raise our CSI scores when the company itself is making it

harder for us (OBS) to give good service to our customers? By having us

do more and more work with less help, which directly affects the level of

service that we can give to our customers? And, the thing is, most of us

(OBS) want - and try - to give excellent service, but [management is]

making it impossible for us to do.

I would like to talk a little here about staffing on our train. Okay,

hypothetically for a moment, let's say we have a derailment or other

accident on the train. And, let's say the sleeping car attended has a

lower level handicap person on board. How is he/she supposed to assist

the passengers off the train if he/she has two sleepers to take care of?

This goes for the coach attendant also, with two - and sometimes three -

coach cars to attend to. There would be no way possible for our

passengers to get the help needed in this hypothetical situation. And,

therein lies a huge safety issue to me. Has anyone even thought of this

situation? And, what would we do? At least with one attendant per car the

passengers would have a better chance of getting help. Not to mention

better service.

For a quick comparison, lets just look at the staffing crew from the time

I was hired to now. Which is just over four years. Then, we had in the

dinning car, an LSA, chef, food specialist, SA No. 1, SA No. 2, and

sometimes a second food specialist to help out when numbers were high.

Now, we have a chef, and two LSA's - and keep in mind one of the LSA's in

the dining car now, use to be in the lounge car. From a five man crew to

three, and the third person is from the other lounge car. And, the only

difference is, we don't use real china anymore. Now, how can we be

expected to give A+ customer service with a staff reduction like that?

Also, we had one coach attendant per coach car, now we have one attendant

per two - sometimes three - coach cars. Same for the sleeper attendant -

we used to have an attendant per sleeper, now we have one sleeper

attendant for two sleepers. As anyone can plainly see, there is no way we

can be expected to be able to give A+ service to our passengers under

these conditions.

Therefore the CSI scores are meaningless to many of the workers. All we

can do as Amtrak employees is give the best service we possibly can in a

safe manner, and hope the customers accept this, and don't put in a bad

report on us at the end of the trip.

I can't tell you how many times the OBS crew have left the station with a

heavy train, and management telling us they know it's hard on us, but

just do what you can, as there is only so much each person can do. That

sounds all fine and good, but we are the ones out on the rail that have

to deal with the passengers; they see US when they don't get the

attention or service they need, they see US when they have no place to

sit in the dinning car or we have to rush them out to make room for the

next seating. We, the onboard service crews, are the face of Amtrak to

them. We don't need blanket statements. We need solutions.

Our customers really miss the observation [lounge] car. On just about

every trip since this new diner/lounge car has be on, we get passengers

telling us they want the observation car back, and ask us why Amtrak took

it off. A lot don't like the layout of the new diner/lounge car. This

sentiment can be confirmed just by asking the workers and conductors of

this train.

I really like my job ... with Amtrak, and my work history and standards

with Amtrak speak for themselves. I want Amtrak to be the best that it

can be, and my hope is everyone that rides with us has a very enjoyable

and memorable experience, and our customers receive the best service

possible while doing so. This is my number one concern. I want the

customer to want to use us (Amtrak) again and again.

Now I know a lot of times people complain, but never have any solutions

or ideas. Well, I would like to suggest a few things here.

1. Evaluate the new menu items to see what's selling and what's not, and

make changes accordingly. Such as the shrimp, a high dollar cost item

that does not sell well.

2. Check dollar savings/cost to see if it would be feasible to put the

Sightseeing observation car back on - no staff - just to have a place for

overflow passengers, and others wishing to use computers, phones, eat

snack foods, etc, as this would take a lot of pressure off the seating

situation in the diner/lounge.

3. Set standard procedures (documented), as to what food items are serve

out of the kitchen and what is served upstairs.

4. Look into setting up regular Memphis turn positions. Chef assistant

and SA. This would enable us to handle high passenger counts and help in

case of equipment failure. Plus, enable us to give far better service to

our customer.

5. Maybe putting help on the trains Thursday, Friday, Saturday and

Sunday.

Well that's my thoughts and ideas, Thank you very much for your time.

[End quote]

2) It is important to note Amtrak has been in the passenger train

business since 1971, and has had diners, lounges, sleepers, and coaches

since Day One. What has Amtrak management learned, and discarded, and

learned again, and discarded again, and tried to learn yet again about

the management and operation of these various types of cars and providing

good passenger service? Why does Amtrak seem to have no institutional

memory, and is always reinventing the wheel, often ending up with a

square wheel?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## WICT106

This Week at Amtrak; March 3, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 9

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Amtrak’s well respected Inspector General, Fred Weiderhold, Jr., needs

to act swiftly and decisively. A mess has been dropped in Mr.

Weiderhold’s lap that isn’t pretty, and it may involve fraud and other

criminal acts. Mr. Weiderhold is the only one who can get to the bottom

of this and clean up what has become an unholy confusion where

reputations are on the line.

We implore Mr. Weiderhold to act impartially and decisively at the

earliest possible moment.

All of this relates to the January annulments of Amtrak’s Coast Starlight

due to snow and mudslides in Oregon along the Union Pacific Railroad

owned route of the Starlight.

Paul Dyson, President of the Rail Passenger Association of California,

wrote two letters to Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant about the

situation, seeking Mr. Kummant’s assistance in restoring as much of the

Coast Starlight route as soon as possible.

Mr. Kummant replied to Mr. Dyson’s letters, and a reply was also received

by RailPAC from who appears to be J.W. Deely, Amtrak’s General

Superintendent in Oakland, California. Amtrak says the letter allegedly

from Mr. Deely is a fake.

Mr. Dyson has made all of his correspondence to an from Mr. Kummant

public information, and has posted everything on RailPAC’s public web

site, www.railpac.org.

Included in the correspondence posted was this letter which appeared to

be from Mr. Deely, which arrived in Mr. Dyson’s hands on Amtrak

letterhead with an Oakland return address, and with a pen ink on paper

signature.

Here is the letter from Mr. Deely to Mr. Dyson which Amtrak says is a

fake.

[begin quote]

January 24, 2008

Mr. Paul J. Dyson

President

Rail Passenger Association of California

1017 L Street – PMB 217

Sacramento, California 95814

Mr. Dyson:

This letter is in response to your e-mail message to Amtrak President

Alex Kummant dated January 22, 2008 wherein you expressed your concern

over Amtrak’s decision to annul Coast Starlight service between Seattle,

Washington and Los Angeles, California indefinitely pending cleanup of a

mudslide which severed the Union Pacific mainline near Frazier, Oregon.

The decision to completely suspend all service was not an "opportunist

decision to save a few operating dollars" or a "seemingly reflexive jump

to no alternative service" as stated by Mr. Ross Capon [Executive

Director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers in

Washington] in his e-mail message of January 22. Rather, it was a sound

business decision based on several factors ranging from economics and

service impacts to passenger inconvenience and political fallout.

However, in considering all factors, it is still in the best interests of

the corporation to move forward with our original plans to suspend

service over the entire route. Furthermore, given the recent award handed

down from the President’s Emergency Board-242 which allows for

retroactive pay to agreement covered employees, Amtrak must consider all

possible avenues with regard to cost savings. Additional service cuts are

also presently being considered to accommodate the award on a system-wide

basis.

With regard to your recommendation for maintaining a truncated service

featuring midweek packages catering to overseas tourists, the logistics

and complexities involved far outweigh any potential revenue or repeat

ridership which may result. I have enclosed a copy of the e-mail

correspondence between my office and Messrs. Kummant, Crosbie and Phelps

regarding the Coast Starlight service disruptions for your review.

Hopefully this information will provide additional insight to this

important matter.

Sincerely,

/s/

J.W. Deely

General Superintendent

cc. R.H. Phelps

[End quote]

The Mr. Crosbie referred to is William Crosbie, Amtrak’s chief operating

officer, and R.H. Phelps works directly for Mr. Crosbie in operations,

and is considered by many to be one of Amtrak’s most able and honorable

executives. Mr. Crosbie reports directly to Mr. Kummant, and Mr. Phelps

reports directly to Mr. Crosbie.

The e-mails enclosed with the letter in question from who Amtrak claims

is not Mr. Deely seem to be genuine, with return Amtrak e-mail addresses.

They are routine internal communications, more or less confirming in

writing whatever oral conversations had taken place.

2) As readers of TWA know, despite what was or wasn’t said by Mr. Deely

and what was originally said in writing by Mr. Kummant, partial daily

service was quickly restored between Sacramento and Los Angeles. The

service offers no sleeping or dining cars, but does maintain the

Starlight’s schedule for coach passengers. By the end of February, Amtrak

had also announced the commencement of an overnight bus bridge between

Sacramento and Portland, Oregon, which passengers could continue up the

Starlight route to Seattle using daily Cascades regional service in place

of the annulled Starlight service north of Sacramento.

Union Pacific Railroad, known for its corporate grit and determination to

fix trestles which have been destroyed and track that has been covered by

mudslides, continues to work diligently to get its railroad line reopened

in Oregon, so its freight trains and the Coast Starlight may again

traverse the Left Coast from Seattle to Los Angeles unimpeded. At this

point, April is the earliest anyone is predicting for the line reopening.

3) On February 20, 2008, the following letter from Amtrak was received by

RailPAC’s webmaster regarding the letter on the RailPAC web site

supposedly written by Mr. Deely, reproduced above.

[begin quote]

Bill Lindley

Webmaster

Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada (RailPAC)

1017 L Street – PMB-217

Sacramento, CA 95814

[email protected]

Mr. Lindley:

I am writing to you regarding posting of a letter on your website,

http://www.railpac.org, allegedly authored by Joe Deely on Amtrak

stationery. Please be informed that the letter is a fake and not created

by Amtrak. Accordingly, please immediately remove it from your website

and provide a retraction. As you are aware, the letter holds Amtrak in

unfavorable light and is defamatory. We anticipate your prompt compliance

with our request so that legal action may be averted. Thank you.

Sincerely,

/s/

William Herrmann

Managing Deputy General Counsel

Litigation

Amtrak

[End quote]

As requested by Amtrak, the alleged letter from Mr. Deely was immediately

removed from the RailPAC web site, and a retraction was posted.

4) Note the phrase used by Mr. Herrmann, "As you are aware, the letter

holds Amtrak in unfavorable light and is defamatory."

What unfavorable light is Mr. Herrmann referring to? What is defamatory?

Is Mr. Herrmann just throwing around legal jargon to intimidate the

officers of RailPAC?

Could Mr. Herrmann be referring to the part of the letter where

supposedly Mr. Deely says, "it was a sound business decision based on

several factors ranging from economics and service impacts to passenger

inconvenience and political fallout. However, in considering all factors,

it is still in the best interests of the corporation to move forward with

our original plans to suspend service over the entire route. Furthermore,

given the recent award handed down from the President’s Emergency

Board-242 which allows for retroactive payt to agreement covered

employees, Amtrak must consider all possible avenues with regard to cost

savings. Additional service cuts are also presently being considered to

accommodate the award on a system-wide basis.

With regard to your recommendation for maintaining a truncated service

featuring midweek packages catering to overseas tourists, the logistics

and complexities involved far outweigh any potential revenue or repeat

ridership which may result."?

5) Inquiring minds want to know, if this letter is found to not be a fake

and actually did originate from Mr. Deely, why was this gentleman writing

a letter in answer to Mr. Dyson that had already been eloquently answered

by his boss, Amtrak President Alex Kummant? Why would internal company

e-mails between high-ranking company officers be included?

Why was a reference made to "political fallout"?

Especially, why, was the reference "recent award handed down from the

President’s Emergency Board-242 which allows for retroactive pay to

agreement covered employees, Amtrak must consider all possible avenues

with regard to cost savings. Additional service cuts are also presently

being considered to accommodate the award on a system-wide basis." ever

made, and is this a harbinger of highly unpleasant things to come

throughout the Amtrak system? Was no one supposed to know Amtrak may or

may not be planning service cuts in retaliation to its employees wanting

a union contact settled that had been in suspense for eight years? Did

this phrase somehow undercut what Amtrak has been telling Congress in

Washington what it needs to pay for the new union contract?

Did Mr. Deely act impulsively and out of school, and then try to cover up

his impulsiveness by saying he did not write this letter? Is there a

special relationship of the "good old boy network" going on between Mr.

Deely and Mr. Herrmann, and one is acting to protect the other? Has Mr.

Herrmann been duped into acting by someone before he made a sound legal

decision based on facts rather than a breathless request for help from

Oakland?

There are so many unanswered questions to this whole mess, and only

someone well respected like Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold can

get to the bottom of this situation.

6) Of course, RailPAC has felt its credibility has been injured in this

whole affair, and has also made a formal request to Mr. Weiderhold. Here

is Mr. Dyson’s letter to Mr. Weiderhold on behalf of RailPAC.

[begin quote]

Rail Passenger Association of California

28 February, 2008

Mr. Fred Weiderhold, Jr

Inspector General

NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

P.O. Box 76654

Washington, DC 20013 6654

Via FAX to 215 XXX-XXXX

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN RAILPAC AND AMTRAK RE-COAST STARLIGHT SUSPENSION -

CLAIM THAT LETTER FROM J. DEELY IS FAKE - REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION

Dear Mr. Weiderhold:

Our organization, Rail Passenger Association of California (RailPAC) is a

non-profit advocacy group staffed entirely by volunteers. We have

recently been in correspondence with Amtrak President Mr. Kummant over

the suspension of "Coast Starlight" service. Here’s a chronology of

events to the best of my knowledge. Please note that RailPAC has a P.O.

Box in Sacramento, I am domiciled in Burbank, and so letters to me may be

delayed depending on when one of our members can pick them up and forward

them to me.

1/22/08: I faxed my first letter to Mr. Kummant urging reinstatement of

the Coast Starlight with a bus bridge.

1/24/08: A letter was sent to me from Amtrak’s Oakland office over the

signature of J. Deely expressing why Amtrak had suspended the service.

The letter included attachments which are reprints of internal e-mail

documents including my letter to Mr. Kummant.

1/28/08 A letter was sent from Washington signed by Alex Kummant

explaining the Coast Starlight decision.

2/11/08:I wrote a second letter to Mr. Kummant objecting to the Amtrak

decision, and also referencing Mr. Deely’s letter.

2/15/08:A reply was sent from Mr. Kummant.

2/15/08:Correspondence was posted on RailPAC website for our members and

supporters.

2/20/08 An e-mail was sent from Mr. William Herrmann, Deputy General

Counsel, alleging that the Deely letter was a fake and requesting us,

under threat of legal action, to remove it from our web site. The letter

was so removed immediately.

We at RailPAC feel that we have been the victim of a fraud. Based on the

representations of Amtrak’s Mr. Herrmann the fraud was perpetrated by a

person or persons unknown. The letter we received over Mr. Deely’s

signature is on Amtrak stationary with the correct Oakland address. It

was written so quickly after my first letter was sent to Mr. Kummant and

before I published the contents and before it was posted on our website

that it must have come from inside Amtrak. No one has denied that the

attached e-mails are genuine. By being forced to withdraw this letter and

publish a retraction we have had our credibility questioned.

Mr. Weiderhold, in the interest of preventing a recurrence of this most

regrettable incident I request that you carry out a full investigation to

discover beyond doubt whether the "Deely" letter is indeed a fake, and if

not, then who is responsible for sending it and the accompanying Amtrak

e-mails. If you need any more information or assistance with this

enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully,

/s/

Paul J. Dyson

President

Rail Passenger Association of California

Cc RailPAC Board

Richard Silver, RailPAC Executive Director

[End quote]

7) Mr. Weiderhold, it’s up to you and your staff. If one of your general

superintendents wrote a letter out of school and later regretted it, then

the honorable thing to do would have been to appeal to RailPAC to remove

the letter and apologize for speaking in an unauthorized manner. If this

is merely someone trying to save their corporate skin at the expense of

others inside of Amtrak, then this is a highly shameful affair which must

be exposed and dealt with appropriately by Amtrak. If this is a

conspiracy by more than one person to force a private group of citizens

to do something which puts them in an adverse light to try and cover up

something done by an Amtrak manager, then we’re on the road to Amtrak’s

own Watergate. If this is the result of someone writing a letter using

Amtrak stationery and forging the signature of an Amtrak manager, then

this is now a case for the United States Postal Service criminal

inspectors and the criminal courts for appropriate prosecution and

punishment.

No matter how this sad episode end, the truth must be made public and

RailPAC must have its reputation restored.


----------



## yarrow

someone please explain to me what the fake letter business is about. thanks


----------



## GG-1

Aloha

I also feel more information is necessary, If I received a hand signed letter why would I consider it to be fake, Something smells here.


----------



## D.P. Roberts

I was just ecstatic to learn that Amtrak has an Inspector General, as well as a Managing Deputy General Counsel! I assume that the Inspector General has a tweed coat, and smokes a pipe (I know that smoking is illegal on Amtrak trains, but I'd give him an exception if he wears a Henschel Deerstalker cap). And a Managing Deputy? Does he get a cool badge too?

Plus, you know that outrageous salaries go hand in hand with outrageous job titles. Is it any wonder that many consider Amtrak salaries to be spiraling out of control?


----------



## Trogdor

D.P. Roberts said:


> I was just ecstatic to learn that Amtrak has an Inspector General, as well as a Managing Deputy General Counsel! I assume that the Inspector General has a tweed coat, and smokes a pipe (I know that smoking is illegal on Amtrak trains, but I'd give him an exception if he wears a Henschel Deerstalker cap). And a Managing Deputy? Does he get a cool badge too?
> Plus, you know that outrageous salaries go hand in hand with outrageous job titles. Is it any wonder that many consider Amtrak salaries to be spiraling out of control?


1) Who are the "many" who consider Amtrak salaries to be spiraling out of control?

2) How does your completely random speculation in paragraph 1 lead to the first sentence in paragraph 2, which you then use as evidence that Amtrak salaries are "spiraling out of control"?

Please, tell me the salaries of the Inspector General and Managing Deputy General Counsel, since you apparently know them so well.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 11, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 10

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) NEWS FLASH! Three cheers for the Union Pacific Railroad; Amtrak's

reservations web site is showing sleeping car space available on the full

route of the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle, effective April

1, 2008.

A visit to the web site confirms all types of accommodations, along with

full dining car service is shown for sale. Checking the same trip for

March 31, 2008, only a combination of coach rail and bus connections are

available.

This can ONLY happen by the hard and diligent work of the Union Pacific

Railroad and its profound determination to reopen its north/south rail

line in Oregon.

As of press time for this space, at 10 P.M. on the East Coast, no

announcement has been forthcoming from Amtrak.

It looks like the Coast Starlight is back in business. It has only been

running a coach service between Los Angeles and Sacramento since the end

of January after the mudslide on Oregon north of Klamath Falls that wiped

out the Union Pacific right of way on the side of a mountain.

2) Here is an important reprint from Innovation NewsBriefs, Volume 19,

Number 8, published March 10, 2008. Further information can be found at

www.innobriefs.com.

[begin quote]

March 10, 2008

A $400 Billion Solution?

"There's upward of 400 billion dollars available in the private sector

right now for infrastructure investment." Secretary of Transportation

Mary Peters addressing the nation's Governors at the White House,

February 25, 2008

Secretary Peters' claim was greeted with skepticism in some quarters, but

after consulting a number of financial sources we have come to the same

conclusion as Mrs. Peters. Dedicated infrastructure funds have indeed

raised impressive sums of money in the recent past. After leveraging the

estimated pool of equity capital through bank loans and the capital

markets, the funds available for infrastructure investments meet or may

even exceed Secretary Peters' estimate. The question that casts a shadow

on this upbeat picture, however, is how much of this capital will end up

in other parts of the globe because ill-advised barriers against foreign

investment will discourage or prevent much of the equity capital raised

abroad from being invested in this nation's transportation assets.

As for the amount of private capital available for investment in

infrastructure, the facts are indisputable. A McKinsey survey estimates

that the world's 20 largest infrastructure funds have raised $100 billion

in 2006 and 2007 alone (Robert N. Palter, Jay Walder and Stian Westlake,

How Investors Can Get More Out of Infrastructure, The McKinsey Quarterly,

March 2008). The Financial Times reports that equity capital available

for investment in infrastructure ranges from $50 billion to $150 billion

(Infrastructure M&A, December 30, 2007, www.ft.com). Michael Wilkins,

managing director of S&P's European Infrastructure Finance Group,

estimates that the amount of equity capital raised globally for

infrastructure investments is in the range of $100 billion to $150

billion. Mark Florian, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and Dana

Levenson, Managing Director and Head of North American Infrastructure

Banking at The Royal Bank of Scotland are both of the opinion that the

amount of available capital for infrastructure investments, after

leveraging, may reach $500 billion or more. That's a pretty solid

consensus.

Probably the most detailed and authoritative study of dedicated

infrastructure funds has been done by Stanford University's Collaboratory

for Research on Global Projects under the direction of Ryan J. Orr (The

Rise of Infra Funds, Project Finance International - Global

Infrastructure Report 2007, June 2007). Orr reports that a "tidal wave"

of 72 new infrastructure funds have been launched in the last two years.

Collectively, these funds, he estimates, have raised in excess of $120

billion. Assuming a leverage in the range of 65-80%, not uncommon in

infrastructure deals these days, the estimated pool of equity capital

could support investments in the range of $340 to $600 billion. (The

Indiana Toll Road lease for $3.8 billion was financed with only 19%

equity capital)

Of the 72 funds in the Stanford University project's data base, 31 funds

have an estimated value each of one billion dollars or more. The two

largest funds, Borealis and the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) have $10B and

$7B, respectively, allocated to infrastructure investing. Other large

dedicated infrastructure funds, each in excess of $3 billion, include

Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners,

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Alinda Capital Partners, Citigroup

Infrastructure Investors , AIG Highstar Capital, Morgan Stanley

Infrastructure, JP Morgan Partners and Babcok & Brown Infrastructure

Fund.

Of course, not all of the equity capital raised for infrastructure is

destined for transportation. Infrastructure funds also target power

plants, water supply and treatment facilities, pipelines, and natural gas

production and distribution networks. However, many funds tend to favor

transportation infrastructure (roads, bridges, airports, seaports,

transit systems and parking facilities) because transportation assets

generate strong demand even in times of slower economic growth and

produce steady and predictable cash flows. Transportation-related

investments appeal especially to long-term investors such as pension

funds and insurance companies, which require stable, long-term

income-oriented investments to match their long term- liabilities and

payout obligations.

Most of the infrastructure funds have a global reach, although many of

the funds focus on mature markets in the developed countries where

political risks and legal and regulatory uncertainties are less severe.

The United States has lately become a favorite investment target because

of the perception that a large percentage of its existing transportation

infrastructure needs rehabilitation, modernization and expansion.

However, Latin America, and more recently India, the Middle East,

Southeast Asia and China, are also considered to offer attractive

investment opportunities. Indeed, a majority of transport-related

projects identified in the McKinsey report and those listed in the Public

Works Financing annual survey of International Major Projects, are

located outside the OECD countries.

The Rise of the Infrastructure Funds

The rapid rise of infrastructure funds can be explained by the confluence

of several factors:

+ Growing population, rising incomes, global economic interdependence and

a desire for more personal mobility are creating pressures to expand the

capacity of infrastructure and, in particular, transportation

infrastructure. The United States alone needs $1.6 trillion worth of new

infrastructure over the next five years according to the American Society

of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Transportation-related infrastructure will

demand an annual infusion of at least $80 billion and as high as $225

billion by some estimates. Global demand for new infrastructure is

expected to run into many trillions of dollars.

+ Much of the infrastructure deficit is expected to be financed with

private capital, as financially-strapped central governments increasingly

embrace public-private partnerships as a means of developing and

operating all manner of infrastructure. For governments, private

infrastructure funds may offer an important new source of capital for

investment in much needed transportation facilities. The United States is

a relative newcomer to this field, but the realties of a growing

infrastructure deficit and funding shortfalls, we think, will inevitably

drive state governments to embrace the use of private capital in

infrastructure development (for a discussion of these trends, see,

Infrastructure 2007, A Global Perspective, Urban Land Institute/Ernst &

Young, 2007; and Closing the Infrastructure Gap, Deloitte, 2007).

+ In an economic environment of high liquidity and low interest rates,

investments in infrastructure have offered attractive yields with

relatively little risk. Most infrastructure deals include rate increases

to keep pace with inflation, thus reducing or eliminating inflationary

risks.

+ Infrastructure assets offer opportunities for structural, management

and operational improvements which can enhance asset performance,

stimulate demand, produce more income and hence increase returns on the

initial investment. This assumes, of course, that the infrastructure fund

managers have the knowledge and expertise to enhance the value of the

acquired assets - or strike a fruitful partnership with experienced

manager-operators as, for example, Macquarie has done with Ferrovial's

Cintra. A McKinsey analysis of 60 private equity deals showed that over

60 percent of the value they created arose from improved performance of

the acquired asset.

Potential Obstacles

Casting a shadow on this rosy scenario are several potential threats.

First, in the face of the spreading credit crisis, banks may be less

willing to lend the high cash multiples that have made past

infrastructure deals profitable. A rise in long-term interest rates could

reduce the attractiveness of infrastructure investments, which rely on

substantial leverage to produce attractive returns. Should interest rates

go up, an increasing share of operating revenue would go to service

outstanding debt, thus reducing yields on invested capital. However, most

analysts we have consulted believe that the current credit crunch will

not be of a long duration and will not fundamentally affect the prospects

for infrastructure investments. A report by Probitas Partners, advisers

to pension fund managers, predicts an increase in private equity

commitments to infrastructure in 2008 (Investing in Infrastructure Funds,

September 2007).

Second, the multiplicity of new entrants into the field of infrastructure

investments has created an intensely competitive environment. New deals

coming to market have not kept up with the growth in the supply of

investment capital, resulting in vigorous bidding for existing assets and

new assets under development. This is driving up their prices, reducing

yields and lowering the attractiveness of investments in infrastructure

as compared to investments in other asset classes.

Finally, there is a potential threat of legal and regulatory barriers -

not only to foreign investments but also to the concept of private toll

concessions. Although a recent GAO report (GAO-09-44) has given the

concept of public-private partnerships a positive verdict, skepticism and

constraints on private sector involvement, ostensibly on the grounds of

"protecting the public interest," can be expected on Capitol Hill from

House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar

(D-MN) and some members of his committee. The upcoming reauthorization of

the surface transportation program may thus become the battleground on

which the idea of private investment in transportation infrastructure

will be fought out. It is a challenge that the financial community should

take with utmost seriousness.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 12, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 11

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE ABOUT THE SUNSET LIMITED. The moment may be

close at hand. Reports from various reliable sources have indicated the

Sunset Limited may be back in Florida, perhaps as early at the first of

June.

A recent meeting in New Orleans involving various state representatives

and an honorable high Amtrak operating official focused on service east

of New Orleans. The Amtrak operating official reportedly indicated he was

in favor of restoration of passenger train service east of New Orleans,

but it would ultimately be up to Amtrak's Board of Directors to make a

final decision.

Keep in mind NOTHING comes before the Amtrak board unless it has gone

through Amtrak's executive bureaucracy. If a project has been blessed by

Amtrak executives, it is usually blessed by the board of directors.

If this proves to be true, it would involve full train service including

sleepers and food service cars.

We will keep you posted of any further developments or other verifiable

information.

2) Here are two more important reprint from Innovation NewsBriefs, Volume

19, Numbers 6 and 7, published earlier in 2008. Further information can

be found at www.innobriefs.com.

[begin quote]

No. 7

January 25, 2008

Financing the Nation's Infrastructure Deficit

"...We have to rebuild America. I am proposing a National Infrastructure

Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over ten years." - Sen.

Barack Obama, February 13, 2008

With this succinct phrase, presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has

injected a new idea into the ongoing debate about infrastructure

financing. Instead of endorsing new taxes or direct user fees to fund the

nation's infrastructure deficit, he has embraced the concept of a federal

capital infrastructure budget. It's an idea that also has been advanced

by Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) in their bill,

the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2007. Obama, by virtue of his

prominence as a presidential candidate, has automatically ensured that

this novel financing concept will figure prominently in the national

dialogue about the future of infrastructure investment. The need for

fresh thinking about infrastructure financing has received a further

boost from an influential coalition launched last month by Governors Ed

Rendell and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Bloomberg (see below).

The National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2007

The Dodd-Hagel bill (S.1926 and HR.3401) would create a new mechanism

through which the federal government would finance infrastructure

projects of substantial regional or national significance. The bill

proposes to create an independent national bank financed with a $60

billion bond issue, the same amount as proposed by Sen. Obama. Long-term

bonds (up to 50 years) issued by the bank would align the financing of

infrastructure investments with the benefits they create. The repayment

of those bonds would allow the Bank to be self-financing. In other words,

the dedicated bond fund would create a de facto national capital

infrastructure budget.

The Bank would give preference to large "capacity-building"

infrastructure projects that are not adequately served by current

financing mechanisms and existing formula grants. Projects "of

substantial regional and national significance," would include roads,

bridges, mass transit systems and wastewater treatment facilities.

Candidate projects would be brought to the Bank's attention by state and

local sponsors. Once a level of investment in a given project has been

determined, the Bank would develop a financing package backed by the full

faith and credit of the Federal Government.

The Rohatyn-Rudman Report

Sen. Obama's proposal and the Dodd-Hagel bill have their conceptual

antecedents in a 2004 report of the Commission on Public Infrastructure

created under the auspices of the Center for Strategic and International

Studies (CSIS).The report, authored by the Commission's co-chairmen,

Felix Rohatyn and Warren Rudman, proposed a National Investment

Corporation (NIC) that, like Obama's proposed Infrastructure Bank, would

have the authority to issue federally guaranteed 50-year bonds to finance

large-scale infrastructure projects. (The authors summarized their

proposal in a December 13, 2005 op-ed in the Washington Post entitled

"It's Time to Rebuild America.")

In 2006, the Commission on Public Infrastructure reinforced its proposal

with a set of "Guiding Principles for Strengthening America's

Infrastructure." In a preamble, the Commission noted that the nation is

both under-investing in infrastructure and investing in the wrong

projects. "New investments are critically needed," the Commission stated,

"but we lack the policy structures to make the correct choices and

investments." The proposed NIC, the authors suggested, would provide the

needed allocation mechanism. Among the statement's signatories were

Senators Dodd and Hagel, and Governors Rick Perry (TX), Arnold

Schwarzenegger (CA), and Tom Vilsack (former governor of Iowa).

Build America Bonds

A dedicated infrastructure program backed by a large public bond issue

has been also behind the "Build America Bonds" Act (S. 2021), introduced

by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) in September 2007. The

senators have proposed raising $50 billion for transportation

infrastructure through a one-time bonding program. In lieu of interest,

bond holders would receive tax credits. The bonds would be available to

corporate and individual investors in different denominations, "providing

all Americans with the opportunity to invest in upgrading America's

transportation infrastructure."

"Building America's Future" Coalition

Reinforcing the call to rebuild the nation's aging infrastructure is a

coalition formed by Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell, California

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and New York City Mayor Michael

Bloomberg. In announcing the coalition, the three political leaders

stressed that this is an issue that crosses party lines. The coalition

will work with both nominated presidential candidates and the Republican

and Democratic parties "to ensure that the next president understands the

enormity of the infrastructure crisis, is committed to increasing federal

funding, and that both party platforms reflect these commitments."

At a press conference on February 24 held in conjunction with the winter

meeting of the National Governors Association, the three coalition

co-chairmen were joined by six other governors: Florida's Charles Christ

®, New York's Eliot Spitzer (D), Maryland's Martin O'Malley (D),

Arizona's Janet Napolitano ®, Massachusetts' Deval Patrick (D) and New

Jersey's John Corzine (D). All of them emphasized the same theme: the

need for national infrastructure investment. In the words of Gov.

Spitzer, "we will do our part but we need a partnership with the federal

government." Or, as Gov. Schwarzenegger put it, "it's time for the

federal government to step up and do its share."

Not everyone is enamored of the idea of a centrally directed program of

infrastructure investment. Reason Foundation's Robert Poole, for example,

thinks there is no need to expand the role of the federal government or

further increase the national debt to substitute for what dozens of

private infrastructure investment funds are willing, able and eager to

do. "Large-scale, strategic investments in highways, bridges, water and

wastewater systems are all precisely the kinds of thing that the capital

markets are well-equipped to fund," he contends. He is not alone.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters likewise has argued in favor of

relying more heavily on market forces to direct private investment into

needed infrastructure. "Unleashing the investment locked in the private

sector by partnering with business is the most efficient path to the

transportation future this country needs and deserves," she said in a

recent speech to the Associated General Contractors. The Rohatyn-Rudman

Commission on Public Infrastructure also recognized the need for the

private sector to play a more central role in infrastructure provision.

"Entrepreneurs should be encouraged to put their capital at risk in order

to create infrastructure that meets the needs of users," the Commission

stated in its Guiding Principles.

And indeed, large portions of the needed new capacity in major travel

corridors could be probably financed with a combination of private equity

capital and bonds backed by toll revenue. As many as 14 states are

currently considering toll revenue financing as a means of expanding road

capacity. But new facilities in sparsely populated states and less

heavily traveled corridors would still need public funding. Should the

source of that funding be higher gasoline taxes, as recommended by the

congressionally-chartered National Transportation Policy and Revenue

Commission? Or should the needed funds be raised through a National

Infrastructure Bank and federally guaranteed bonds?

Although the Coalition has been careful not to endorse the National

Infrastructure Bank or the concept of a federal capital infrastructure

budget, Sen. Obama's embrace of these concepts virtually guarantees that

they will receive serious attention in the presidential campaign as an

alternative to higher fuel taxes.

[End quote]

[begin quote]

No. 6

February 17, 2008

Urban Rail Transit and Freight Railroads: A Study in Contrasts

Investment in Urban Rail Transit Has Peaked

Two years ago we suggested that the era of multi-billion dollar

system-building investments in urban rail transit is coming to an end. We

wrote:

"The 30-year effort to retrofit American cities with rail infrastructure,

begun back in the Nixon Administration, appears to be just about over. To

be sure, federal capital assistance to transit will continue, but its

function will shift to incrementally expanding existing rail networks and

commuter rail services rather than embarking on construction of brand new

rail transit systems. ("The New Starts Program is Changing Its Emphasis,"

March/April 2006)."

The newly released Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal of the U.S.

Department of Transportation confirms the truth of that speculation. Of

the 30 transit capital projects proposed for funding in FY 2009 17 are

rail projects and only two among them are new projects recommended for

full funding grant agreements (FFGA) (the projects in question are light

rail transit extensions in Denver and Seattle). The remaining 13 projects

are modestly funded "Small Starts," of which 11 are Bus Rapid Transit

(BRT) projects. Twelve additional rail projects are in Final Design or

Preliminary Engineering, for a total of 29 rail projects in construction

or the engineering pipeline. By contrast, seven years ago, the FY 2002

budget listed a total of 69 rail projects in construction or engineering

stage (NewsBrief, "The Prospects for Rail Transit," Sept/Oct 2001.) Even

as recently as FY 2007, seven new rail projects were recommended for

FFGAs.

What accounts for this profound transformation in the federal transit

program? The simplest and most obvious explanation is that after 30 years

of sustained federal investment in urban rail systems- an investment

program that resulted in the construction of 22 new light rail systems

and 5 new heavy rail systems- the New Starts program is beginning to run

out of cities that can afford or justify cost-effective rail transit

investment. Norfolk, VA, has been the only new urban area to have joined

the "club" of rail cities in recent years. The only other cities that can

hope to join the rail club in the foreseeable future are Charlotte, NC

and Orlando, FL, (their projects are currently in preliminary

engineering.) The bulk of future investment in rail transit will almost

certainly take the form of incremental additions to existing rail

networks.

Also responsible for the decline in rail projects is the rising

attraction of the more affordable bus rapid transit (BRT) alternative

with its incentive of a simplified FTA evaluation and rating process.

Indeed, a recent GAO report noted that "bus rapid transit has become the

most common transit mode for projects in the New Starts pipeline."

(Future Demand Is Likely for New Starts and Small Starts, July 2007).

While rail projects still represent a major share of the latest New

Starts budget (87.5% of the $1.62 billion capital investment budget in FY

2009 ), the share of capital assistance devoted to rail projects is

expected to decline as existing major rail grant commitments are

fulfilled and the pipeline fills with more affordable "Small Starts"

projects of the BRT variety.

Freight Railroads Are Undergoing a Dramatic Expansion

In the meantime another rail sector - the freight railroads- is

experiencing unprecedented expansion. "For the first time in nearly a

century railroads are making large investments in their networks," wrote

Daniel Machalaba in a well-documented front-page article in the Wall

Street Journal ("New Era for Rail Building," WSJ, February 13, 2008).

"Their campaign is altering the corridors of American commerce, more so

than any other development since interstate highways spread to the

interior," Machalaba noted. Since 2000, freight railroads have spent $10

billion to expand track, build freight yards and buy rolling stock and

they have $12 billion more in upgrades planned. "It's been a century

since railroads embarked on a similar spate of capital investment,"

Machalaba observed.

The catalyst for this burst of investment has been the rapid growth of

international trade and its rising demands to move containers of finished

goods from ports to major cities. Demand for rail service increased

sharply when Asian imports intensified starting in 2003. While long-haul

trucking continues to be the backbone of the nation's land-based freight

system, railroads are stepping in to supplement the goods carrying

capacity in many corridors. Burlington Northern was the first to begin

expanding the physical capacity of its rail network by adding a second

set of tracks to portions of its Chicago-Los Angeles Transcon line, now

nearing completion. Union Pacific followed with an upgrade of its Sunset

Corridor from Los Angeles to El Paso, Texas. Norfolk Southern is

improving access to the ports of New Orleans and Norfolk by expanding the

capacity of its Crescent (New York- New Orleans) and Heartland

(Chicago-Norfolk) rail corridors. CSX is doing the same in its

Chicago-to-Florida Southeast Corridor.

What is remarkable, is that this massive expansion and modernization of

freight rail infrastructure has been accomplished without the help of any

public funds. From 1980, when the Staggers Rail Act partially deregulated

railroads, through 2006, railroads have invested some $400 billion of

private capital in their systems according to the Association of American

Railroads (AAR). Currently, railroad companies are investing 18 percent

of their revenue in new infrastructure, more than any other industry,

says AAR. They are able to do so because dramatic increases in freight

volume due to booming international trade have led to record earnings.

Forecasts are for continued profitability, with railroads prepared to

continue funding internally the vast majority of its planned rail

infrastructure investment.

Could highways become more like freight railroads? Could future highway

infrastructure be financed with user fees and private capital, just like

rail infrastructure? Or is the notion that highways are a public good to

be supported primarily by taxpayers too deeply ingrained to allow for

such a radical change in approach? The debate on this score has just

begun and its eventual outcome is uncertain. Ultimately, the answer may

hinge less on how Congress decides to fund the federal contribution to

the surface transportation program than on how governors, state

legislatures and local governments across the nation decide to approach

the long term challenge of financing new road infrastructure. The signals

from many state capitals suggest that user fees in the form of tolls are

increasingly being considered as the principal means of financing future

highways and bridges. Governors and legislative committees in as many as

14 states are contemplating adding tolls to their arsenal of revenue

measures. This does not mean that the need for fuel taxes will disappear.

The gas tax will continue to be needed to fund the ever-growing

requirements to preserve and modernize the nation's aging road

facilities. However, finding the resources to pay for new capacity will

require a more entrepreneurial approach, with the freight railroads

serving as a possible financing model. User fees in the form of tolls may

turn out to be the most sensible way to ensure the long-term integrity of

the highway system without imposing an unacceptable tax burden on the

American people.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 7, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 12

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) As everyone knows by now, it’s the silly season, when politics are in

the air, and presidential campaigns are in full swing.

Along with the silly season comes the usual avalanche of false or

misleading information about various candidates.

Making the rounds this week is drivel about Senator John McCain and

Amtrak.

2) Before we can go any further talking about the future, let’s revisit

the past and take another look at the present.

The Bush administration, among other things it has been blamed for, has

been unfairly labeled "anti-Amtrak" by many people, some of which are not

fully informed.

Yes, the Bush administration has made some gaffes about Amtrak,

especially coming from former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.

Mr. Mineta, who served the Bush administration during the tumultuous

times of the Gunn stewardship of Amtrak, made a most unfortunate series

of speeches and public statements about passenger rail which proved two

realities: First, Mr. Mineta relied far too much on staff work, and

didn’t do enough of his own research, and second, Mr. Mineta knew far

more about air travel than passenger train travel. Neither of these

things helped Mr. Mineta, nor the Bush administration.

Also, during one unfortunate discussion of an upcoming fiscal year budget

for the federal government, the Bush administration sent a "zero budget"

request for Amtrak to Congress. Much too late, the administration said it

was trying to create a reasonable dialogue about Amtrak by stimulating

debate on a budget number, but fumbled this concept badly.

The resulting debate caused by this nasty incident was greatly helpful,

and resulted in the currently Amtrak reauthorization before the Senate,

and soon before the House of Representatives.

Many people immediately (aided by NARP) jumped to the conclusion the Bush

administration was "anti-Amtrak" because of the bad timing of the zero

request and following explanation which came too late.

On top of this, many in the United States Department of Transportation

demanded Amtrak become more fiscally responsible (gasp!) and take some

extreme measures to reel in certain costs, including food and beverage

service costs. Amtrak, not being the most creative corporate soul on the

planet, took completely the wrong path to solving this problem, and

slashed budgets and food service, much of which it is now trying to

restore (for the third time in history; will these people ever learn?).

Again, instead of looking to Amtrak to become more responsible and

self-sufficient, many people sadly just proclaimed the Bush

administration "anti-Amtrak," and continued on their often hate-filled

way.

Too many people never bothered to look into the reality of the situation,

and too many people were willing to take the word of people and

organizations who were more interested in promoting their own positions

or organizational interests instead of getting to the true heart of the

problem, which is an aching need to fix Amtrak. Once Amtrak is fixed,

then all of these other problems will begin to melt away.

2) All of this brings us to Senator John McCain, putative nominee of the

Republican Party for President of the United States.

Senator McCain, the former Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee,

which oversees Amtrak and other transportation modes, has often been

labeled "anti-Amtrak" because he has reacted to bad numbers fed to him by

Amtrak, and the perceived dismal performance of one of the Amtrak trains

which runs through his state of Arizona, the Sunset Limited.

Amtrak through the years has constantly allowed the Sunset to be

misconstrued and misunderstood. Nobody has taken the time to look at the

Sunset and wonder, if it was a real daily train instead of a tri-weekly

travesty, would it be as healthy as other long distance trains? Yes, of

course it would be. But, Amtrak has consciously chosen to keep the Sunset

in a poor position, either by continued tri-weekly operation, or

unceremoniously lopping off the eastern end of the Sunset’s route after

Hurricane Katrina in 2005, where 46% of the train’s revenue was produced

east of New Orleans and into Florida.

So, as Senator McCain continued to look into Amtrak, and especially

Amtrak in his home state, all he saw were bad numbers and even worse

forecasts. Mr. McCain acted in the same manner any frugal or responsible

businessman would, and said, "We’ve go to do something about this

problem. If it’s been going on for this many decades, and only getting

worse, why are we putting up with this mess?"

And, he was 100% correct, based on the only information he had,

originating from Amtrak, which focuses the vast majority of its resources

on the Northeast Corridor and other cost-sucking routes, instead of a

long distance system which throws off positive cash flow on most every

route.

Here’s something most knee-jerk reaction people haven’t thought of:

Amtrak lives and dies by acts of Congress, not acts of the White House

and Executive Branch of the federal government.

When Senator McCain was Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, he was

in a far greater position to cause harm to Amtrak, since he had a very

big say in Amtrak’s purse strings and operations and approval of board

appointments, than he will as President of the United States, if elected.

A president can only make recommendations to Congress, not enact laws,

nor create money, as Congress does.

Is it likely Mr. McCain will personally change his views on Amtrak and

passenger rail? Probably not, based on the previous information he has

been fed for years, without opposing or corrected information. That

really doesn’t matter. What matters is what a McCain administration

Secretary of Transportation, Federal Railway Administration

Administrator, or high level political appointee bureaucrats in those two

federal department will do. They can be educated and made to understand

the possibilities beyond knee-jerk reactions.

3) But, some say, look at what some columnists have to say about Senator

McCain and Amtrak, and look at what some [allegedly] reputable rail

industry magazines have to say about the bad people in the Bush

Administration and Amtrak.

Let’s take a reality check here, too. There are less than a dozen

journalists in this country fully qualified to write about passenger rail

on a non-biased basis. Rarely, does any journalist do their own digging

into Amtrak facts and figures and come to conclusions not reached by the

hand-outs from Amtrak. With the exception of one trade magazine,

Progressive Railroading, and one major railfan based magazine, Passenger

Train Journal, does anyone "get it right" about passenger rail and

Amtrak? Other than these two publications, all of the others too readily

take what Amtrak hands them and turn it into gospel. There is little, if

any, independent reporting, and far too much opinion and concocted facts

stem from the "if we lose Amtrak, we lose everything forever, so we

better support Amtrak, no matter what" sky-is-falling crowd.

Any publication, whether it’s this space, or anything else from any other

organization or publication should be taken, digested, and used to form

honest, independent opinion, not just to parrot someone else’s agenda.

4) Here is what one Washington wag, a former senior level federal

government staffer, has to say about a John McCain presidency and Amtrak.

[begin quote]

A few sad realities about Washington and Capitol Hill (regardless of

nominal party control of either branch). Amtrak has been "caught" and its

phony numbers deconstructed on numerous occasions. Guess what? It doesn't

matter. There is a sufficient combined number of Pavlovian foamers, NEC

and geographic-entitlement subsidy-seekers, and union automatons – in

both parties – to keep the funds flowing regardless of the facts, albeit

at a life-support/slow-motion-liquidation level. Thus Reality Number 1

is, the facts – and the numbers – don't matter. There will also be no key

players in leadership positions who can (or will try to) mitigate this

pattern as long as the Dems retain Congress. Remember, even when the

Warrington glide-path/Acela revenue miracle fairy tale (and that's a kind

description) fell apart in shreds under the '97 reform law, even a

Republican Congress did virtually nothing about it. (I would still argue

that contract-termination of Acela was the financially rational and

fiduciary thing for the Amtrak directors to do, but that would have taken

away Acela's chief function – being a propaganda vehicle.)

Second, whether he knows it or not, and even if he wins the White House,

McCain will in all probability have no substantive impact on the

dysfunctional Amtrak status quo – at least as to funding. Amtrak funding

(in the hypothetical form of presidential budgets) has been reduced and

even zeroed multiple times since the mid-'80s. Congress ignores it –

reflecting Reality Number 1 above. The only way McCain (or any president)

could "enforce" a reduction or elimination of Amtrak funding would be to

veto the entire DOT appropriation. (I am assuming the presidency will

continue to be handicapped by the absence of a line-item veto.) No

president has had the backbone to do that, and even if one did, the

status quo coalition would bring us back to Reality Number 1, and an

almost certain override. A McCain would be more likely than his

competitors to veto retrograde non-appropriations legislation that is

worse than the status quo. (We'll probably get a chance to see W sign

that kind of product this year.) Do not expect much follow-through from

McCain on Amtrak though. His track record regarding the 1997 law was one,

to use an air combat phrase, of "fire and forget."

[End quote]

5) Here is what we have said before in this space: This presidential

election is about huge, earth-shaping issues and schools of thought.

There is a wonderful, healthy debate going on this election season about

a number of topics. We are a country at war, and we are a country with a

slowing economy, riding a predictable downward wave that’s just a part of

yet another cycle of the economy.

Responsible voters will weigh each and every issue and it’s place in the

political firmament and how our country will help shape the world in the

next four years.

Should your vote be solely based on one very small government program,

known as Amtrak? Congressional power is far more important to the future

of Amtrak than executive power. Vote your conscience for the big picture,

not the dysfunctional picture that always results from viewing Amtrak.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 18, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 13

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Amtrak has of late been wooing various parts of these united states

trying to drum up new business for the corporation. Instead of looking to

expand the most profitable parts of Amtrak's business - the long distance

train network - Amtrak is seeking to have more states and commonwealths

simply hand it money from the various state treasuries to run local and

regional passenger trains.

Florida is one of the states Amtrak seeks to have as a client. URPA has

created a draft plan for a beginning discussion on regional passenger

rail in Florida. Fortunately, Florida is unique because it is so large,

with heavy population centers at almost every beginning and end point in

the state, and with major destinations such as Orlando in the middle.

Population figures and statistics for Florida as a vacation destination

as included in this document.

2) First Draft Concepts for Discussion: A Rational Approach to Regional

Passenger Rail in Florida

March 27, 2008

I. Regional Passenger Rail in Florida Can Be a Reality

Regional, intrastate passenger rail in Florida can be a reality in the

21st Century if proper plans are created and all political and business

constituencies are brought together on common ground.

Florida is an ideal candidate for regional rail because:

A) Florida is a large state with a combination of existing and improving

rail infrastructure.

B) Due to the size of Florida, an average length of trip will be longer

than most regional rail systems, allowing greater revenue passenger

miles.

C) Infrastructure is owned and operated by CSX Transportation, Florida

East Coast Railway/Fortress Investment Group LLC, the State of Florida,

and the Seminole Gulf Railway.

D) Thanks to the State of Florida and a new commuter system in Central

Florida, two of Florida's main trunk lines, both currently operated by

CSX Transportation are undergoing major changes. Sixty one miles of the

former Atlantic Coast Line main line between Jacksonville and Auburndale

is being sold to the State of Florida, primarily for use by Central

Florida's new commuter rail system which will principally operate between

DeLand and Poinciana, via Sanford, Winter Park, Orlando, and Kissimmee.

While some freight service will remain on this line at off-peak times,

this current mail line track will have extra capacity throughout the day.

In this same process, the State of Florida has reached an agreement with

CSX Transportation to shift most of the principal freight from the former

Atlantic Coast Line route through Orlando to the former Seaboard Air Line

Railroad route from Jacksonville to Lakeland via Baldwin, Starke, Waldo,

Ocala, Wildwood, Bushnell, and Dade City. The State of Florida is

spending hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the Ocala line and

related infrastructure so it can handle all principal freight in Florida

not traveling via the Florida East Coast. As a result, this busy,

upgraded-at-public expense line will be fully signaled and have adequate

sidings and passing tracks to handle a few regional passenger trains a

day.

E) Florida's third main trunk line, the FEC from Jacksonville to Miami

along Florida's east coast was previously the target of unsuccessful

Amtrak expansion plans to run a train from Jacksonville to Miami. The

State of Florida had committed $60 million to this effort, and that money

is still unspent. There are no existing stations along this route south

of Jacksonville and north of West Palm Beach. The FEC has been trying to

sell the southern portion of this line, from Jupiter to Miami, to the

State of Florida as a companion route and extension to the successful

Tri-Rail commuter route that currently runs between West Palm Beach and

Miami on the old Seaboard Air Line Railroad main line.

There are active discussions about the State of Florida acquiring this

line, and building a link between the FEC and existing Tri-Rail system at

West Palm Beach, complete with a new "Grand Central" station in downtown

West Palm Beach as it has been dubbed by South Florida news media. The

current plan is to have parallel Tri-Rail routes between West Palm Beach

and Miami, and a single route north from West Palm Beach north to Stuart.

F) South Florida's Tri-Rail system has a full infrastructure of

double-tracked and well-maintained main line track between West Palm

Beach and Miami, with multiple, well-designed and well-constructed

stations between the two terminal points. Amtrak currently shares

stations with Tri-Rail in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Deerfield Beach,

Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Miami. In addition to the stations

Tri-Rail shares with Amtrak, there are another 12 existing stations which

could be used for regional rail.

G) Former Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line railroad stations

served by the Seminole Gulf Railway freight system and dinner train

operation pose the greatest challenge to creating comprehensive regional

rail in Southwest Florida. Long ago the former main line tracks were

downgraded to slow, short line railroad status, and few, if any of the

former passenger depots remain. However, major resort areas, cities, and

towns are along the two Seminole Gulf routes, including Palmetto,

Bradenton (both still currently under CSX operations), Sarasota, and

Nokomis/Venice. Additionally, on the second, more southerly route served

first by CSX via Plant City and Arcadia are Punta Gorda, Cape Coral/Fort

Myers, Bonita Springs, Vanderbilt Beach, and Naples.

Southwest Florida is a vibrant, growing part of the state, heavy with

tourism and retirees. This part of the state is under-served by airports

and is only served by Amtrak via a Thruway bus connection between Tampa

and Naples.

H) Florida's panhandle, along the suspended route of the Sunset Limited,

has a limited Amtrak station infrastructure, with permanent station

buildings in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Pensacola, all of which were

staffed by Amtrak prior to Hurricane Katrina and the suspension of the

Sunset Limited between New Orleans and Orlando.

In 1993, the State of Florida spent $7 million of public money to upgrade

the former Seaboard Air Line/Louisville & Nashville railroads main line

between Jacksonville and Pensacola with additional signaling and sidings.

Today, CSX has meticulously maintained this main artery of its east-west

system, and it is available for passenger use. Additional station

infrastructure remains in Lake City, Madison, Chipley, and Crestview.

These are not enclosed, fully functioning ticket office stations such as

Tallahassee and Pensacola, but lighted platforms and parking lots along

with some shelters offering protection from rain.

II. Eight Political Constituencies

There are eight separate and distinct political constituencies which must

be addressed to make this proposed system a reality.

A) Five of the constituencies consist of the voters of the different part

of Florida, and the remaining three are the corporations which own the

current infrastructure.

Beyond Florida's past schemes of stand-alone regional and/or high speed

rail proposals, this proposal is an equitable proposal which seeks to

serve every part of Florida on an equal basis.

Florida has five political areas with competing interests, but divergent

needs: South Florida, Southwest Florida, Central Florida/I-4 Corridor,

Northeast Florida, and the Panhandle.

B) The already existing and successful Tri-Rail in South Florida

demonstrates how a well-planned system can be of public benefit. The

current excitement over the soon-to-be implemented commuter rail system

in Central Florida demonstrates how more than one county and diverse

political structures can join together to create a unified system under

state guidance.

With these two systems, Florida has begun to embrace the business aspects

of rail versus the "green" or social arguments for regional passenger

rail.

C) FEC has recently been acquired by funds of the Fortress Investment

Group, and is embracing commuter rail on the southern end of its route

system. The FEC hopes to sell its southern infrastructure to the State of

Florida as CSX did for the implementation of Tri-Rail 20 years ago.

The FEC will be interested in regional rail if the right proposal is made

to the company for the partial use of its infrastructure, such as the

proposal to CSX for the Central Florida commuter system.

D) Two driving factors will control all negotiations with host railroads:

An acceptable level of revenue for use of infrastructure, and the ability

to add passenger trains without endangering or slowing freight

operations, the primary business of the host railroads.

Private railroad infrastructure is not a public highway waiting to be

used. Infrastructure is a revenue-producing asset which must generate a

return on investment, either through rental (track and dispatching fees),

or a combination of rental and upgrades and maintenance programs which

will also benefit the primary business of the companies, which is hauling

freight.

E) CSX is the beneficiary of a well-crafted deal between itself and the

State of Florida to move the bulk of its freight traffic off of the

former ACL main line via Orlando to the former SAL main line via Ocala.

As a result, the ACL route will be lightly traveled, and the most

congested areas, through the metropolitan Orlando area, will be upgraded

with higher levels of signaling and passing sidings. Also, the SAL route

through Ocala is also substantially being upgraded to handle a higher

level of freight trains, which should also have enough growth capacity to

add regional passenger trains, too. This deal demonstrates how the

current and future needs of all parties can be met.

The CSX main line from Jacksonville to Pensacola most likely has enough

existing capacity to add regional passenger rail daily frequencies.

F) The two Seminole Gulf Railway lines connecting to CSX south of

Bradenton to Nokomis/Venice and at Arcadia to Fort Myers and Naples will

need the most investment for infrastructure improvement. However, since

these lines are lightly used by Seminole Gulf, and the addition of

regional passenger rail will bring a steady revenue stream into the

company as well as help for infrastructure maintenance, there should be

little, if any, opposition to the addition of regional passenger rail.

III. Proposed Intrastate Routes

All passenger trains flow in and out of Florida via either Jacksonville

or Pensacola. Therefore, the northern terminus/hub of Florida's

intrastate passenger rail system will be Jacksonville.

Route One - FEC Jacksonville to Miami

Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Jacksonville Terminal - South Jacksonville -

St. Augustine - Bunnell - Ormond Beach - Daytona Beach - New Smyrna Beach

- Titusville - Cocoa/Rockledge - Bonaventure - Melbourne - Palm Bay -

Sebastian - Vero Beach - Stuart - Jupiter - West Palm Beach - Lake Worth

- Boynton Beach - Delray Beach - Boca Raton - Deerfield Beach - Pompano

Beach - Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood - Miami

Route Two - ACL Jacksonville to St. Petersburg

Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Jacksonville Terminal - Jacksonville/Naval

Air Station - Orange Park - Green Cove Springs - Palatka - Pierson -

DeLand - Sanford - Winter Park - Orlando - Orlando/South - Kissimmee -

Poinciana - Haines City - Lake Alfred - Auburndale - Lakeland - Plant

City - East Tampa - Tampa Union Station - Tampa/Sulphur Springs -

Tampa/Carrollwood - Tampa/Oldsmar - Clearwater - Largo - St. Petersburg

Route Three - ACL Jacksonville to Miami

Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Jacksonville Terminal - Jacksonville/Naval

Air Station - Orange Park - Green Cove Springs - Palatka - Pierson -

DeLand - Sanford - Winter Park - Orlando - Orlando/South - Kissimmee -

Poinciana - Haines City - Lake Alfred - Auburndale - Winter Haven - Lake

Wales - Avon Park - Sebring - Okeechobee - Indiantown - Riviera Beach -

West Palm Beach - Lake Worth - Boynton Beach - Delray Beach - Boca Raton

- Deerfield Beach - Pompano Beach - Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood - Miami

Route Four - SAL Jacksonville to St. Petersburg

Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Jacksonville Terminal -

Jacksonville/Marietta - Baldwin - Starke - Waldo - Hawthorne - Ocala -

Belleview - Wildwood - Bushnell - Dade City - Zephyrhills - Plant City -

East Tampa - Tampa Union Station - Tampa/Sulphur Springs -

Tampa/Carrollwood - Tampa/Oldsmar - Clearwater - Largo - St. Petersburg

Route Five - SAL Jacksonville to Miami

Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Jacksonville Terminal -

Jacksonville/Marietta - Baldwin - Starke - Waldo - Hawthorne - Ocala -

Belleview - Wildwood - Bushnell - Dade City - Lakeland - Auburndale -

Winter Haven - Lake Wales - Avon Park - Sebring - Okeechobee - Indiantown

- Riviera Beach - West Palm Beach - Lake Worth - Boynton Beach - Delray

Beach - Boca Raton - Deerfield Beach - Pompano Beach - Fort Lauderdale -

Hollywood - Miami

Route Six - Palmetto Extension

Jacksonville Terminal - Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Callahan - via CSX

to Savannah for route of an extended Palmetto

Route Seven - Jacksonville to Pensacola

Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Jacksonville Terminal -

Jacksonville/Marietta - Baldwin - Olustee - Lake City - Live Oak -

Madison - Tallahassee - Quincy - Chipley - De Funiak Springs - Crestview

- Milton - Pace - Pensacola

Route Eight - Cross Florida Service

Tampa Union Station - East Tampa - Plant City - Lakeland - Auburndale -

Winter Haven - Lake Wales - Avon Park - Sebring - Okeechobee - Indiantown

- Riviera Beach - West Palm Beach - Lake Worth - Boynton Beach - Delray

Beach - Boca Raton - Deerfield Beach - Pompano Beach - Fort Lauderdale -

Hollywood - Miami

Route Nine - ACL Jacksonville to Nokomis/Venice

Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Jacksonville Terminal - Jacksonville/Naval

Air Station - Orange Park - Green Cove Springs - Palatka - Pierson -

DeLand - Sanford - Winter Park - Orlando - Orlando/South - Kissimmee -

Poinciana - Haines City - Lake Alfred - Auburndale - Lakeland - Plant

City - East Tampa - Palmetto - Bradenton - Sarasota - Nokomis/Venice

Route Ten - ACL Jacksonville to Naples

Jacksonville/Clifford Lane - Jacksonville Terminal - Jacksonville/Naval

Air Station - Orange Park - Green Cove Springs - Palatka - Pierson -

DeLand - Sanford - Winter Park - Orlando - Orlando/South - Kissimmee -

Poinciana - Haines City - Lake Alfred - Auburndale - Lakeland - Fort

Green Springs - Arcadia - Punta Gorda - North Fort Myers - Fort Myers -

Bonita Springs - Naples

Route Eleven - Tampa to Naples

Tampa Union Station - East Tampa - Plant City - Fort Green Springs -

Arcadia - Punta Gorda - North Fort Myers - Fort Myers - Bonita Springs -

Naples

IV. Frequent Scheduled Service, Acceptable Track Speeds, and Convenient

Stations are Essential

A) A regional passenger rail system can only be successful with more than

one daily frequency per route, as Amtrak provides today.

As an average, on each of the proposed 11 routes in Florida, service

should consist of three terminal departures a day, with the first morning

departure after 6 A.M., and the final terminal arrival of the day before

midnight.

There is a fine balance between convenient and frequent service, and too

much service or the desire of some people to provide enough frequencies

to have "memory" service as is found on the Northeast Corridor and in

some parts of California.

An average of three regional frequencies a day per route in addition to

Amtrak long distance service will provide enough travel choices to

satisfy most business and leisure passengers.

By providing three frequencies per day for each terminal point, there

will be a high amount of regional passenger train traffic traveling on

the ACL route between Auburndale and Jacksonville via Orlando, and over

the SAL route between Auburndale and Miami.

B) Speed of travel is an issue from a passenger standpoint when comparing

modes of travel. Most passengers are willing to spend marginally more

time on a train than driving or taking a bus, but are not prepared to

spend exceptionally more time on a passenger train. Therefore, track

speed is important. Many of Amtrak's previous regional trains have failed

because of slow track speeds and inordinate amounts of travel times. Most

track in Florida is authorized for 79 MPH passenger train operations, and

it will be important for the regional passenger trains to not only

maintain this speed on open track, but also be able to easily navigate

through traditional rail congestion areas.

C) A plentiful intermediate station infrastructure is critical to the

success of regional passenger rail. Under today's Amtrak system,

passengers in large urban areas such as Jacksonville only have one

station location choice, which is inconvenient to most of the

metropolitan area's residents. Passengers will not drive up to an hour to

reach a train station, wait up to another hour for a train arrival, and

then spend less than three hours on a passenger train.

Convenient station infrastructure includes multiple station stops in

major urban areas, and accessible stations in less densely populated

areas. The goal of regional rail is to attract passengers from all other

modes of transportation, therefore, regional passenger rail must be

accessible and convenient to use.

V. Differences Between Amtrak Long Distance Trains and Regional Trains

Amtrak operates its long distance trains very differently from what

successful operations for regional passenger trains require for maximum

passenger utilization.

A) Amtrak prefers station stops to be an average of 50 miles or more

apart, and only allocates one station stop to large cities such as

Jacksonville.

Regional rail is successful when it is accessible to as many potential

passengers as possible. This requires several stops in large metropolitan

areas such as Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay, and South Florida, as

well as frequent small city and town stops along the route. Often,

intermediate stations generate passengers traveling longer average

lengths of trips than terminal or end-point stations.

Not all stations have to be fully staffed stations, but each should have

adequate parking and safety/security measures, and modern platforms with

amenities. Automated ticketing machines can often replace human ticket

agents for short distance trips.

Most stations should be developed in partnership with local

municipalities and county governments, sharing the cost between the state

and local governments.

B) Because some trips will be as long as 350 or more miles, and may take

up to nine to 10 hours, each train should be equipped with full passenger

amenities including standard long distance coaches, short distance

coaches, premium service coaches, a grill car with table service, a

lounge car, a video games/onboard store/children's area car, and a

baggage car. Amenities such as rental DVD players for at-seat

entertainment, electrical outlets for laptop computers, and quiet cars

contribute to the allure of regional passenger rail.

C) Cruise lines and airport operators long ago learned how to separate

travelers and passengers from the money in their wallets. Amtrak has

never accomplished this feat.

There are many ways to sell amenities, accommodations, and food and

beverage service to rail passengers.

The best part of a passenger train is that individual cars can be added

and subtracted at will, instantly changing a consist to meet the needs of

seasonal travel or routes.

Standard coach travel is unappealing to many passengers. These travelers

are willing to pay a price for upgraded seating and lighting, quieter

atmospheres, and/or privacy and private plumbing facilities. The

additional cost offsets the loss of volume in these cars where such

services are available, plus contribute to the train's overall bottom

line.

Onboard entertainment, either through DVD players, video games, the sales

of books and magazines, or providing a dedicated children's play area,

all contribute to the attraction of a passenger train, as well as income

above and beyond ticket revenue. An onboard gift shop, similar to one

found in hotel lobbies, can sell convenience, souvenir, and discretionary

items at a high markup. These revenues can significantly contribute to

the success of a passenger train.

Food and beverage services are an important asset of passenger trains. In

a captive atmosphere, passengers are willing to pay higher than normal

prices for meals, snacks, and beverages. In return, there is an

expectation of higher than normal quality and a uniqueness to the

product.

Regional passenger trains need hot food meal service beyond a fast food

concept, but below that of a full service restaurant. Food service should

be based on "comfort food" levels, where every passenger can be satisfied

with a creative, but not extravagant menu. Table and sit-down counter

service are important elements which contribute to passenger satisfaction

and the ability to charge higher prices.

In a lounge car, the sale of snack items along with hard and soft

beverages in a convivial setting can contribute substantial revenues to a

train.

D) A successful system regional requires constant marketing. Using

California as a model, locally-generated, route/regional specific

advertising significantly raises ridership and revenue passenger miles.

Amtrak cannot be depended upon to generate any local advertising for

regional rail.

VI. Types of Regional Rail Passenger Equipment

A combination of equipment is appropriate for this proposed regional

system. Since most routes are up to 350 miles, traditional single-level

equipment works well, initially deriving the first trainsets from

Amtrak's current inventory of unused equipment for ease of start-up.

However, following the California model, long range planning should

include bi-level equipment, following California's well-tested equipment

specifications, modified for Florida use. California maintains its own

pool of passenger equipment apart from the Amtrak west coast pool of

equipment. North Carolina also maintains its own pool of equipment for

its Piedmont route between Raleigh and Charlotte.

Additionally, on relatively short runs such as Tampa to Naples, and the

Cross Florida Service of Tampa to Miami, it is appropriate to consider

Colorado Railcar's Diesel Multiple Unit equipment (self-propelled

passenger cars) which can be configured to provide the same amenities as

traditional equipment, but with more efficient operation for shorter

routes.

VII. Blending Florida Regional Passenger Rail with Existing Amtrak

Service

Existing Amtrak service provides a number of opportunities to launch a

regional rail system with reduced infrastructure investment.

Amtrak operates 18 stations and terminals in Florida (not including those

along the suspended Sunset Limited route) which can provide a core

infrastructure system for regional rail. As stated above, one of the keys

to a successful regional passenger rail system is frequent stops, and the

operating philosophy of local trains versus express or limited stop

trains.

The current number of Amtrak stations in Florida, along with the existing

Tri-Rail stations in South Florida, and the proposed Central Florida

commuter rail stations will probably have to double to adequately serve

all of Florida with a regional passenger rail system.

Amtrak's internal reservations system is relatively unresponsive to

desires to sell accommodations to passengers beyond basic coach seats,

and expensive to operate. While it would be desirable for regional

passenger rail to use Amtrak's existing reservations systems for

out-of-state calls and pay on a per-reservation basis, it is more

desirable to create and operate a free-standing intrastate reservations

systems apart - but compatible - with Amtrak's reservations system.

Amtrak operates equipment maintenance bases in Hialeah/Miami and Sanford.

A dormant base is available at Tampa Union Station.

As with Amtrak's reservations system, Amtrak's maintenance facilities are

often expensive to maintain and operate. Tri-Rail in South Florida does

not use Amtrak facilities for its equipment, even though much of the

equipment is compatible.

A regional passenger rail system would best be served by either

contracting with an equipment provider for a maintenance program,

partnering with Tri-Rail for South Florida services, or establishing its

own maintenance facilities and only relying on Amtrak for certain

requirements.

Dispatching will have to remain the domain of CSX, FEC and Seminole Gulf

since their tracks will be the primary hosts of regional passenger

trains.

VIII. Is It Necessary for Amtrak to be the Primary Operator of Florida's

Regional Rail System?

No, it is not necessary for Amtrak to be the sole or primary operator of

a regional passenger rail system in Florida. Other qualified operators

(including CSX and/or FEC if they chose to) can provide train and engine

crews, and equipment manufacturers and equipment leasing companies can

provide contracted maintenance services, as well.

Onboard services crews, reservations systems, ticket agents, and a host

of other necessary services can either be provided through a local

Florida operator, or partially provided by Amtrak as desired.

It is desirable to blend with Amtrak operations for stations and

reservations, but it is not a requirement to maintain a successful

regional passenger rail system.

IX. Facts and Figures

A) Current Amtrak service in Florida consists of the Silver Meteor, which

uses the former ACL route from Jacksonville to Auburndale and then the

former SAL route to Miami. This train currently provides the most direct

route between Jacksonville and Miami.

Other current Florida service is provided by the Silver Star, which uses

the former ACL route from Jacksonville to Tampa, then backtracks to

Auburndale, and follows the former SAL route to Miami. This indirect

route starts on Florida's east coast, goes all the way to the west coast,

and returns to the east coast. As a result of this lengthy trip,

intrastate fares are priced lower on the Silver Star than on the Silver

Meteor.

Since the Auto Train is a stand-alone service which has no intermediate

station stops between its terminals in Lorton, Virginia and Sanford,

Florida, that train is not taken into consideration as an intrastate

service provider.

Amtrak's fourth Florida train, the tri-weekly Sunset Limited, has not

operated east of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf

Coast in 2005. Therefore, there are no current statistics to use in

comparison charts of Florida service.

B) Florida Amtrak Service revenue per passenger mile:

Silver Meteor - $0.1487 per passenger mile

Silver Star - $0.1356 per passenger mile

Florida Amtrak Service load factor (over entire route between Miami and

New York City):

Silver Meteor - 59.8%

Silver Star - 56.3%

Florida Amtrak Service passengers per train mile:

Silver Meteor - 182.2

Silver Star - 170.0

C) Comparable regional rail services in other regions/states (All 2007

Amtrak figures):

Amtrak Cascades Service in Washington State and Oregon

- Four roundtrips per day

- Route length of 310 miles

- Revenue per passenger mile: $0.174

- Load factor: 46.8%

- Passengers per train mile: 114.4

- Average length of trip: 153.6 miles

- Annual number of passengers carried: 674,300

- Revenue passenger miles: 103,548,000

- Total revenue: $18,165,400

Amtrak San Joaquins Service in California

- Six roundtrips per day

- Route length of 315 miles

- Revenue per passenger mile: $0.1430

- Load factor: 35.4%

- Passengers per train mile: 90.2

- Average length of trip: 150.2 miles

- Annual number of passenger carried: 804,800

- Revenue passenger miles: 120,916,000

- Total revenue: $17,295,700

Amtrak Pacific Surfliners Service in California

- Twelve roundtrips per day

- Route length of 350 miles

- Revenue per passenger mile: $0.2028

- Load factor: 35.1%

- Passengers per train mile: 136.6

- Average length of trip: 82.2 miles

- Annual number of passengers carried: 2,707,200

- Revenue passenger miles: 222,447,000

- Total revenue: $45,111,600

D) Projected Florida regional rail system at full operation

- Routes: 11

- Number of roundtrip trains per day: 33

- Average route length: 300 miles

- Revenue per passenger mile: $0.21

- Load factor: n/a

- Passengers per train mile: n/a

- Average length of trip: 150 miles

- Annual number of passengers carried: 3,500,000

- Revenue passenger miles: 525,000,000

- Total passenger fare revenue: $110,250,000

- Passengers per train per day (one way): 145.28

- Average fare per one way trip: $31.50

Florida population and tourism data from the United States Census Bureau

and Visit Florida:

Florida population, July 1, 2007 - 18,251,243

Florida population projected, July 1, 2030 - 28,685,769

Current annual number of domestic and international visitors to Florida -

82,000,000

Current number of Amtrak boardings and alightings for all Florida

stations in 2007 - 840,095

Based on population only, percent of population using Amtrak in 2007 -

2.3%

Based on tourists only, percent of visitors using Amtrak in 2007 - 0.5%

X. Regional Rail Versus High Speed Rail

Many advocates for high speed rail will seek to turn this proposal into a

high speed proposal, saying the traveling public will only embrace rail

if it is swift, glitzy, and cheap. This is wrong.

Successful regional passenger rail, using existing train speeds of up to

79 MPH on shared infrastructure with freight trains, already exist in

California, Illinois, North Carolina, and New York.

The unrealistic cost of building high speed rail, along with the fact it

is often disconnected with other rail systems, airports, and roadways,

make it an expensive and risky venture.

Traditional rail, which is able to blend in with existing and expanded

Amtrak service, using existing infrastructure and stations as a starting

point, offers a much greater opportunity for connectivity and ease of

system construction.

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URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 1, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 14

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Mayday! Mayday! Yes, it's May Day, and Amtrak is having its 37th

anniversary of operations, and it still needs all the help it can get.

On May 1, 1971, the corporate infant Amtrak, wrapped in swaddling

clothes, replaced most of America's private passenger train service with

a soon-to-be-profitable national system. The fathers of Amtrak boldly

predicted Amtrak would only need $140 million of free federal monies from

the United States Treasury, and trains would once again be beacons of

transportation in America.

Thirty-seven years and some $30+ billion dollars later, Amtrak is in

worse shape today than it was on May 1, 1971.

Those of us boarding Seaboard Coast Line's Train No. 57 (PennCentral

Train No. 143) Silver Meteor in New York's Penn Station on the afternoon

of April 30, 1971, first for a ride down the PennCentral mainline to

Washington, the RF&P Railroad to Richmond, and SCL tracks to Florida

boarded a train that only showed a noticeable difference from trains a

few days before by the passenger cars sporting a round Amtrak logo decal

next to the vestibule doors, and different timetables stocked on the

train. Otherwise, it was business as usual.

Sometime around midnight, as the Meteor was barreling southward in North

Carolina on the old Seaboard Air Line mainline just north of Raleigh, the

Meteor stopped being an SCL train and became an Amtrak train.

Things have never been the same since, regrettably so.

Flash forward to April 30, 1996, boarding the southbound Silver Meteor in

Washington, Amtrak Train No. 97, heading home to Jacksonville, Florida.

Heritage Fleet sleeping and dining cars are still part of the Meteor's

consist (although the Pullman Standard built SAL/ACL/FEC fleet has long

been sold off, leaving the sturdier Budd built mostly UP/SP fleet which

have been re-equipped with head end power for more reliable hotel power

service to the train).

Pullman Company feather pillows have been replaced by something a bit

less fluffy, but the newer Amtrak mattresses are still fairly comfortable

in the sleeping cars. In the diner, a good breakfast menu is offered, all

freshly prepared. The Meteor consist of an 18 car train, mostly full of

paying passengers.

Today, the Silver Meteor is a mere shadow of its former self: no crew

car, limited sleeping car accommodations, a dining car offering

pre-packaged meals instead of fresh prepared food, and a much smaller

consist. On a good day, the Meteor is a nine car train, including a

baggage car.

The demand for passenger rail hasn't changed since May 1, 1971, but the

corporate philosophy of Amtrak has dramatically changed.

2) In 1971, Amtrak national system consisted of 29 routes listed by

endpoints. Two of the routes included in the timetable, that of the

Southern Crescent and the Denver and Rio Grande Western California

Zephyr, were still privately operated; these two railroad's didn't join

Amtrak in 1971.

1. New York - Boston

2. New York - Hartford - Springfield

3. New York - Washington

4. New York - Philadelphia

5. Philadelphia - Harrisburg

6. New York - Albany - Buffalo

7. New York - Pittsburgh - Chicago

8. New York - St. Louis - Kansas City

9. New York - Atlanta - New Orleans

10. New York - Miami and Tampa/St. Petersburg

11. Washington - Boston

12. Washington - Pittsburgh - Chicago

13. Washington - St. Louis - Kansas City

14. Norfolk/Newport News and Washington - Cincinnati

15. Chicago - Cincinnati

16. Chicago - Carbondale

17. Chicago - Springfield - St. Louis

18. Chicago - Milwaukee

19. Chicago - Detroit

20. Chicago-Tampa/St. Petersburg and Miami

21. Chicago - New Orleans

22. Chicago - Houston

23. Chicago - Los Angeles

24. Chicago - San Francisco/Oakland

25. Chicago - Twin Cities - Seattle

26. New Orleans - Los Angeles

27. Seattle - San Francisco/Oakland - San Diego

28. Seattle - Portland

29. Los Angeles - San Diego

3) For those interested, the same first Amtrak National Timetable also

listed the operating railroads. These are the railroads which "made a

deal with the devil" to divorce themselves from passenger train

operations, but readily agreed to dispatch Amtrak trains over their

tracks at below-market train-mile rates, and with a priority over all

over train operations. Congress also imposed an agreement that allows

Amtrak COMPLETE access to every streak of rust in this country on these

railroads if Amtrak believes it is in the best public interest to operate

trains on those rails. That part of the agreement has long been in

contention, as freight train demands have increased, and the freight

carriers continually claim their bread and butter comes from freight

trains, not Amtrak trains carried on a near non-profit basis.

1. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe

2. Burlington Northern

3. Chesapeake and Ohio

4. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific

5. Denver and Rio Grande Western

6. Gulf, Mobile and Ohio

7. Illinois Central

8. Louisville and Nashville

9. Missouri Pacific

10. PennCentral

11. Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac

12. Seaboard Coast Line

13. Southern Pacific

14. Texas Pacific

15. Union Pacific

Of the 15 names of railroads listed, only the Union Pacific remains

today; all of the others have merged into successor companies, including

some into the Union Pacific.

4) In the Northeast, former PennCentral Metroliners were running, and

some of the named trains included The Bostonian, The Bay State, The

Colonial, Yankee Clipper, The Senator, Turboservice, Merchants Limited,

The Patriot, The New Yorker, and The Murray Hill.

New York - Boston trains carried parlor cars (containing drawing rooms

and day roomettes), coaches, and on some trains, dining cars. Other

trains carried parlor club cars and snack bar coaches.

Outisde of the Northeast, other train still operating had fabled names

like the Broadway Limited, Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Champion, Spirit

of St. Louis, George Washington, James Whitcomb Riley, City of New

Orleans, The Limited, Abraham Lincoln, South Wind, Texas Chief, Super

Chief/El Capitan, Denver Zephyr, California Zephyr, Empire Builder, and

Sunset Limited.

5) In 1971, Amtrak owned no track or mainline infrastructure, and trains

were operated by contract crews of the host railroads. As originally

envisioned, Amtrak was mostly an operating company, on the Pullman

Company model, owning and operating rolling stock and locomotives, and

little else. In the early days, Amtrak also had a penchant for adding

extra sections of trains and additional cars as necessary during peak

travel times.

The early managers of Amtrak actually believed they could make a success

again of long distance passenger trains, and everyone in the company was

focused on the company being self-reliant, not a long term ward of

government that would never be self sufficient.

6) The Amtrak fleet was rationalized in the 1970s as Henry Christie made

his famous "A" and "B" list of cars to keep and upgrade to head end power

(The "A" list was almost exclusively made up of Budd built cars, which

used a different assembly process than the more popular Pullman Standard

built cars, which were deteriorating quickly in the 1970s, and mostly

populating the "B" list, which meant they were to be put up for sale or

scrapped.). New locomotives were on the purchase list, too, as well as a

movement to get out of expensive-to-operate grand terminals in major

cities that were build as sprawling monuments to the egos of railroad

barons and the empires they controlled.

7) In 1971, the most chic way to travel was via jet airliner. Flying was

still something of a novelty for most people beyond business travelers,

and the United States was still thrilled about NASA landing on the moon

in 1969. Trains were considered old and soiled, and not very stylish.

Many people were willing to simply throw trains away, as they had been

throwing away municipal trolley systems for decades, in favor of

automobiles, interstate highways, Holiday Inns, and the famous 28 flavors

of ice cream from roadside Howard Johnson restaurants.

Not surprisingly, Amtrak executives thought if passenger rail could be

remade into the image of airline travel, then passenger rail would itself

become chic, again. The result was a typical 70s color scheme of purple

and orange imposed on formerly stylish rolling stock, to be followed by

lime green, the "brown period," and the "red period."

It didn't work.

Then, came the "bus" period. Why not strip trains down to the bare bones,

and become Greyhounds on steel wheels? Who needs food? Who needs those

high profit sleeping cars? Throw 'em a cheese sandwich wrapped in

cellophane and let them drink warm Cokes.

All of this was documented in the minds of industry watchers, but Amtrak

never developed an institutional memory. The same ideas would be tried

over and over again, with the same dismal results.

8) With the "help" of the Carter and Clinton administrations, Amtrak

managed to shed many of its important long distance trains.

Through the years, trains came and went, including the Pioneer, Desert

Wind, Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, North Coast Hiawatha, National

Limited, Floridian, and more.

Some of the venerables disappeared, too, including the Broadway Limited,

Champion, Denver Zephyr, George Washington, Texas Chief, and others.

The Santa Fe Railroad, ever proud of its passenger service until the very

last moment, made an unique deal with Amtrak. It would allow its Super

Chief/El Capitan name to be used by Amtrak only as long as Amtrak kept

the rigid service standards in place the Santa Fe itself maintained. The

result is today's Southwest Chief after Santa Fe rather quickly revoked

permission to use the Super Chief/El Capitan name after Amtrak failed to

live up to Santa Fe standards.

9) Specifically for this column, URPA associates were polled to determine

the current status of Amtrak. Here are the results.

How many presidents has Amtrak had? Other than Graham Claytor, have they

rarely have lasted more than three years?

- Roger Lewis, Paul Riestrup, Alan Boyd, Graham Claytor, Tom Downs,

George Warrington, David Gunn, and the incumbent, Alex Kummant. Other

than the durable Graham Claytor, three years has been the average tenure

of an Amtrak president.

What, if any, is Amtrak's greatest accomplishment(s)? Invention of the

Superliner?

- I'll buy that [superliners]. Stubbornness in the face of reality can't

really be called an accomplishment.

- Getting Senator Roth to manufacture a "tax refund" of $2 billion for

Amtrak, when it had never paid a dime of federal income tax.

- The thing is still around. Seriously. The fact that it's still around

is an accomplishment in some ways, is a failure in other ways, is

absolutely striking, and is nothing if not consistent!

- Amtrak excels at being a government agency when it wants to (purchasing

thru the GSA and sundry other benefits) and for being a private

corporation when it wants to (ducking FOIA requirements by declaring

certain information "proprietary").

Which are Amtrak's greatest failures and shortcomings?

- Failures: Discontinuing long distance trains that serve important

destinations like Las Vegas, and Phoenix. Sunset Limited still

tri-weekly, etc. Not coming to grips with its accounting system yet!

Overemphasis on the "success" of the Acela/NEC. A lack of really creative

juices looking forward. No new equipment orders. No expansion of the

rebuild program unless states pay for it.

Shortcomings: Marketing. Unable to come up with a marketing "catch

phrase" that is timeless, like "Next Time Take an Amtrak Train" (my

rewrite of SP's great slogan from the 40-50's). Refusal to GROW the long

distance services. PERSISTENCE at getting the states to pay up or else.

Allowing the Texas Eagle Marketing Group to do work that should be done

by Amtrak.

- Biggest failure: collaborating with the Clinton Administration and rail

unions in the active sabotage of the 1997 reform law, thus throwing away

the liberation from prior statutory micro management of route structure,

labor practices, etc., and the opportunity to reinvent and reconfigure

Amtrak as a real transportation company. Virtually all subsequent

mischief and deterioration flowed from that, further enabled by the

appointment in both the Clinton and Bush years of politician board

members who didn't know what "fiduciary" means.

What is the most striking thing about Amtrak?

- It's still here.

- It's still welded to Congress, and they care more about that than

selling tickets.

- A culture of complete non-accountability (even as to legal

requirements).

What can consistently and reasonably be said about Amtrak that is

positive?

- The Northeast Corridor Improvement Project. Superliners. Station/train

level employees who try to do the right thing even though they don't get

much backing. The Amtrak Police force that is quietly, invisibly, doing

its security duties without getting the TSA involved. Amtrak

California/Caltrans Rail program. Capitol Corridor.

- It is not part of the federal government, and therefore the Treasury is

not legally responsible for any of its obligations, as confirmed in

multiple published legal opinions of the Comptroller General.

What are memorable quotes about Amtrak?

- "You guys could screw up a two-car funeral!" - Sen John Warner (R-Va),

upon dramatically exiting a very late moving train at Alexandria,

Virginia - apparently without benefit of a stepbox on the platform. Or

words to that effect. The original utterance may well have been a little

saltier.

- "Amtrak needs the courage to fire the employees it should have never

hired in the first place." - A now removed Amtrak product line manager.

- One I heard on the Hill was: "If Amtrak were under the SEC's

jurisdiction, its management would already be sharing cells with the

Enron crowd."

10) Well, here we are in 2008. Where is Amtrak today? It has no

sustainable business plan, other than to run trains on a contract basis

for states which are willing to pay Amtrak's high prices. The national

system is a shadow of itself from the freight railroads, and a greatly

reduced system from the original mission in 1971.

Everyone talks about fixing Amtrak, but no one seems to do much about it.

A certain uninformed segment of the public constantly clamors for more

money for Amtrak, claiming that will fix all of Amtrak's problems, but

they refuse to acknowledge reality that Amtrak needs to be internally

healed instead of throwing more good money after bad.

On it's 37th birthday, Amtrak slogs along with old equipment and

incompetent management while passenger rail in Great Britain and Germany

are prospering to the point of both expansion and successful

privatization. These two systems across the pond are successful not

because of government mandate or government policy, but because they have

good business plans and they operate trains for the benefit of the

traveling public, not their operating departments.

The United States is seeing a gratifying surge in commuter rail and steel

wheel based transit. Adequate systems that were discarded decades ago as

"too antique and too inconvenient" are being reborn and rebuilt at great

public expense because they have a good business model for success.

The previous edition of TWA of April 18th presented a positive plan for

regional rail here in the sprawling state of Florida. Many comments came

into the TWA mailbox about the plan, including unrealistic ones from

those suggesting all regional rail should serve airports (even where

there is no rail anywhere near airports), and such details as making sure

bicyclists and their bicycles are welcomed on regional passenger trains.

The most striking comments indicated a "pie in the sky" attitude about

regional rail; many readers wanted to load up regional rail like lights

on a Christmas tree, with all sorts of expensive ornaments that would

marginally improve the system, but would otherwise cost more to implement

than generate revenues to benefit the system.

There is a delicate balance between meeting overall demand versus

individual constituency demand. Amtrak is currently striving to meet

individual constituency demand for rail service, while often wholly

ignoring overall demand.

Amtrak strives to create short, expensive to run trains with fare

structures for revenues that can't meet expenses. This is all done

allegedly in the name of public good for whatever tree-hugging reasons

there may be, or in the name of providing expensive service for

relatively few people at the expense of everyone else.

Instead, Amtrak should create a business plan that best serves the

majority of the country, and concentrate later on meeting smaller needs.

11) Saturday, May 10th, the day before Mother's Day, is the first

National Train Day. Amtrak will be holding celebrations at various

stations and terminals around the country, including Tampa, Florida.

Amtrak is coughing up money for some of the events, others are being

funded by local and regional groups.

One has to ask, "what took so long?" It took someone 37 years to come up

with an easy public relations idea such as this which will garner plenty

of free media attention and public interest?

Perhaps, it's a result of Amtrak being more welded to Congress than to

its passengers. That's the thing about government programs, even

quasi-governmental programs like Amtrak. It's always much easier to beg

money from Congress once a year than create and maintain a viable program

that believes in accountability and self-reliance.

12) Happy Birthday, Amtrak.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

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http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## frj1983

Geepers,

Except for "it's still here!" J Richard could not find "one" positive thing to say about Amtrak!

My Mama always used to say that if you're going to criticize somebody/something you should say something nice first!

And there's that "30 billion and what have we gotten" quote again. Now please add up what the airlines and roadways get and ask the same question. They're still there too!


----------



## haolerider

frj1983 said:


> Geepers,
> Except for "it's still here!" J Richard could not find "one" positive thing to say about Amtrak!
> 
> My Mama always used to say that if you're going to criticize somebody/something you should say something nice first!
> 
> And there's that "30 billion and what have we gotten" quote again. Now please add up what the airlines and roadways get and ask the same question. They're still there too!


I think Bruce still can not come to grips with the fact that Amtrak does not use him as a consultant - for obvious reasons. As I have said before, I hope he has a day job.


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## saxman

I thought I was finally going to say something positive about National Train Day. But of course he thinks of something negative to say about it as is everything else.


----------



## jis

frj1983 said:


> And there's that "30 billion and what have we gotten" quote again. Now please add up what the airlines and roadways get and ask the same question. They're still there too!


If one dispassionately looks at where a significant proportion of that $30 billion was spent, it would seem that we have plenty to show for it. But then that is not part of URPA's agenda, so it is not surprising that that aspect is glossed over.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 5, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 15

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) New commuter rail in Central Florida went down on Friday in the

Florida Senate, but it may not be out.

By a narrow margin, senators from the small town of Lakeland, to the

Southwest of the Orlando area where the commuter rail was slated to

begin, raised enough fuss about more trains being routed through their

small downtown to avoid the commuter rail system and congestion - and

liability for accidents - that the legislation okaying the commuter rail

deal was pulled from the voting schedule in the final two days of the

annual state legislative session. By defeating this legislation, the

Florida Senate has put hundreds of millions of dollars of federal

matching funds at high risk.

2) Here is some background.

- Florida has a successful commuter rail system in South Florida, known

as Tri-Rail. The system runs over the former Seaboard Air Line

Railroad/CSX main line between West Palm Beach and Miami. The State of

Florida purchased the mainline track from CSX for nearly $300 million

back in the 1980s before the system was created. CSX pays the State of

Florida to maintain freight trackage rights over the line, with the

majority of trains running at night when commuter trains are not running.

CSX currently dispatches the line, but that will change when Tri-Rail

takes over the dispatching duties soon.

Part of the deal CSX made when the line was sold is CSX is held harmless

for any type of accident which occurs over the line, regardless of

whether or not the accident was a result of faulty CSX equipment,

dispatching, or a CSX employee error.

It's important to note this same deal is in place for all Amtrak trains.

No matter what happens to an Amtrak train when traveling over a host

railroad track, anything that happens to the train or passengers is

solely the responsibility of Amtrak, not the host railroad. The host

railroads are held completely harmless without discussion or debate.

This bargain goes back to the beginning of Amtrak when the original deals

were made for Amtrak to assume all responsibility for passenger

operations. Part of the reasoning for this is Amtrak has below-market

train mile rates for operating trains over private railroad facilities.

For those not familiar with the concept, it's called a negotiated

compromise. Amtrak got below-market dispatching rates, the railroads were

protected from potentially huge and ruinous liabilities.

Going back to times before the Late War of the 1860s, railroad owners and

operators have always been worried about liabilities from passengers

involved in any type of injury while in the care of a passenger train

crew, as well as resulting lawsuits from fatalities.

It's no different today; the elimination of risk is still one of the

highest priorities of railroads everywhere. As much effort goes into

safety instruction and rules and regulations by railroads and railroad

unions as it does in any other area of the railroad business. An unsafe

railroad or an unsafe train and engine crew is a debilitating lawsuit

waiting to happen.

Allegedly, the killer part of the deal between the State of Florida and

CSX over the commuter rail deal in Central Florida is CSX demanded the

IDENTICAL terms for Central Florida commuter rail it has for Tri-Rail in

South Florida.

- Florida has had two near-brushes with high speed passenger rail

silliness in the recent past that have both been mercifully beaten down.

First, there was FOX, the Florida Overland Xpress, a pie-in-the-sky

project which somehow got approved by the state and was slated to begin

construction when former Governor Jeb Bush took office in 1999. The

governor, a hard-nosed businessman, took one look at the system, realized

it didn't connect with ANYTHING to feed it passengers, ran along the edge

of the Florida Everglades, and some other factors, and promptly killed

the deal. It was a close brush with passenger rail horror.

Second, the voters of Florida, in 2000, weren't paying much attention to

one of the many constitutional amendments on the Florida ballot, and

approved an amendment to build high speed rail in Florida, again, which

didn't connect with ANYTHING, and at huge public expense. Anyone

connected with the rail industry in Florida - including this writer -

looked at the amendment and laughed, and foolishly presumed it wouldn't

pass. But, the voters, who never believe it is THEIR money someone else

is spending, surprisingly passed the constitutional amendment, because

everyone thought the system was going to be free of cost. The amendment

never mentioned how many billions of dollars it would cost to build this

white elephant, and what other worthwhile projects funding would have to

be withheld from (like schools and hospitals) to build untested high

speed rail.

In 2002, voters came to their senses and repealed the amendment to the

Florida constitution authorizing high speed rail.

Here's the interesting part: the leader of the amendment to authorize

high speed rail in 2000 was Doc Dockery from Lakeland. He has lots of

money, and it was his pet project and dream. He fought against the

repeal, but it passed, thankfully.

So, who was the leader in the Florida Senate working hardest, strongest,

and loudest against commuter rail in Central Florida? Senator Paula

Dockery, wife of Doc Dockery.

- The peninsula of Florida is blessed with three railroad mainlines.

Going from east to west, the Florida East Coast Railway runs in a nearly

straight line down the coast from Jacksonville to St. Augustine to Miami.

This was the railroad built by Henry Flagler that created such famous

Florida resort towns as Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach, Fort

Pierce, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, and

Miami.

The former Atlantic Coast Line mainline, now part of CSX, runs southwest

from Jacksonville to Orlando and over to Tampa. At Auburndale, just to

the east of Lakeland, and just north of Winter Haven, this mainline

connects with the former SAL mainline south to Miami. It is part of this

mainline, from DeLand north of Orlando, to Poinciana, southwest of

Orlando, the 61-mile long Central Florida commuter rail project was

planned.

The former Seaboard Air Line mainline, now also part of CSX, runs

southwest from Jacksonville to Ocala, and continues down south. Just west

of Lakeland, the line intersects with the former ACL mainline, continues

east to Auburndale, south to Winter Haven, and then on to West Palm Beach

and Miami.

- The plan (a good one), was for CSX to sell 61 miles of its former ACL

mainline between DeLand and Poinciana (through Orlando) to the State of

Florida for commuter rail use. CSX agreed to pay the State of Florida $10

million a year for trackage rights to run freight trains at night over

the line so local customers would still have rail freight service.

CSX has a large intermodal freight facility at Taft, a suburb of Orlando.

The nearest facilities of this size for CSX are in Jacksonville, Ft.

Lauderdale, and Tampa. Jacksonville is about 160 miles to the north of

Taft, and Ft. Lauderdale is over 200 miles to the south. Tampa is on the

far western coast of Central Florida, nearly 100 miles to the southwest

of Taft. The CSX Central Florida intermodal facility serves millions of

people living in Central Florida, bringing in everything from automobiles

to general freight. It's a very busy place.

Part of the commuter rail deal involved CSX changing in a major way how

it does business in Florida. CSX would close the Taft facility, and build

a new intermodal facility at Winter Haven, to the southwest of Orlando.

Winter Haven is still close enough to Orlando and Interstate 4, the

Florida Turnpike, and Interstate 75 to reasonably serve the large

population of the Orlando metropolitan area and far-flung Central and

Southwest Florida, but far enough away from Orlando a land package could

be put together to allow adequate future growth. CSX also agreed to

reroute all freight trains (with the exception of local service freights

at night) from the former ACL mainline to the former SAL mainline, which

travels through Marion County, the home of Ocala and Silver Springs.

To reach the proposed Winter Haven facility, CSX trains would travel

southwest from Jacksonville (the only gateway into Florida peninsula from

any direction) to the west of Lakeland, make a sharp left hand turn at

Lakeland, go through downtown Lakeland, travel northeast to Auburndale,

and then slightly south to Winter Haven. Not a direct route, but one CSX

was willing to take to benefit commuter rail in Central Florida.

- The former SAL mainline through Ocala was built as single track

railroad, and has remained lively its entire time in existence. In

addition to all of SAL's routine freight and passenger trains, it has

always been a busy route for the lucrative phosphate hauling business,

from the mines southeast of Tampa to northern manufacturers. Part of the

$641 million deal with CSX by the State of Florida was to provide money

to upgrade sidings and automobile overpasses on the SAL mainline for

easier traffic flow and greater capacity, plus help with the relocation

costs of the new Winter Haven facility. Any upgrades to the ACL mainline

for commuter use would be funded separately.

- As soon as the deal was announced by departing Governor Jeb Bush and

CSX in 2006, the hues and cries were heard by allegedly injured parties.

The daily Lakeland Ledger newspaper, which is owned by the New York Times

Company, fought tooth and nail against the project, to the point of

becoming a modern day crusader.

The Media General-owned Tampa Tribune, which includes Lakeland and Polk

County (home of Lakeland) in its circulation area, had a high story count

of articles bringing out every possible negative aspect of this project,

from every inconceivable viewpoint.

The Tribune Company-owned Orlando Sentinel, located exactly in the middle

of this proposed commuter rail corridor, wrote articles in favor of the

project, but were constantly overshadowed by the other two newspapers.

There was a great ruckus the deal had been done in "secret" negotiations

between CSX and the state. This silliness completely overlooked the fact

every facet of the deal had to be approved by the Florida legislature and

was open to public scrutiny. Some idealists somehow foolishly believed a

deal of this magnitude could be worked out in public, with every step and

every negotiation and compromise vetted for public comment and criticism

along the way.

The shopkeepers of downtown Lakeland, a quaint, charming area, were more

worried about their provincial interests than the benefit to the rest of

the state of Florida. Lakeland for the past few years has undergone

something of a enchanting redevelopment, and shopkeepers were worried

those mean and nasty freight trains, - an additional two or three dozen

or so a day over the current traffic level - would keep locals from

patronizing their shops instead of seeking suburban mall shopping

satisfaction.

Railroad unions, including the association of retired railroad union

workers, worried and complained the commuter rail system may, like the

Tri-Rail system in South Florida, be a non-union shop, and the

improvements may be constructed using non-union labor (Florida is an

open-shop state). Again, for the benefit of few, before a final decision

was made, this group wanted to protect its members at the expense of

millions of Florida citizens living in Central Florida.

And, as usual in situations such as this, the trial lawyers were opposed

to the deal, because they wanted a big, deep-pockets railroad to sue in

case of accident and injury, instead of a sovereign entity such as the

State of Florida. After all, huge pieces of pie were at stake here; how

could an honest trial attorney make a living if he or she couldn't sue

the pants off someone with deep pockets?

The liability issue - in the end - became the main issue which received

all of the media attention. The rallying cry for opponents of the project

was that a huge, multi-billion dollar private railroad, such as CSX, was

receiving immunity for all responsibility for accidents, and why should

the State of Florida be on the hook for damages when CSX would not be

held liable?

- The liability issue points up a larger problem all railroads, including

Amtrak, have every day. Much of the uneducated public think of private

railroads as public utilities. It is inconceivable to many people

railroads are owned by ordinary stockholders, pay more types of taxes

than the next dozen industries combined, and provide an overwhelming

positive part of the commonweal.

History and reality teach us the reputation of railroads was highly

tarnished during the robber baron years in the 19th Century and early

20th Century. The railroads were naughty enough in so many ways the

Theodore Roosevelt administration gave real teeth to the Interstate

Commerce Commission and put an end to a lot of shenanigans that were part

of everyday railroad life.

The modern press of the time took great glee in constantly crucifying

railroads and railroad barons. A century later, even though the railroads

have immensely cleaned up their collective acts, they are still painted

with the same brush used by the Yellow Journalists of a century ago. It's

fair to say the Interstate Commerce Commission, in its zeal to protect

the public and its ability to move at glacial speeds, nearly killed off

the railroad industry in the mid-20th Century.

While the Florida State Senators, led by Senator Dockery were crying

"foul!" over the liability issue and the alleged inconvenience to

Lakeland downtown shopkeepers, they were mostly saying a private company

should not be receiving what they termed "corporate welfare." In essence,

these type of ill-informed people want their cake and to eat it, too.

They demand good customer service from railroads, cry and moan when they

think shipping rates are too high, and expect railroads to be model

corporate citizens. They want to inhibit safety by silencing train

whistles, inhibit the ability to make good schedules by imposing

unnecessary speed restrictions through certain areas, and don't want

trains messing up their views and vistas by constructing necessary

passing sidings that will enhance instead of inhibit the flow of goods on

trains and keep mainlines fluid.

Everybody wants the huge benefits railroads bring to states and

communities, including high paying jobs, good transportation service, and

companies which pay high tax bills. Everybody just doesn't want all of

the alleged inconvenience of having railroads around, no matter how

beneficial they are to the common good.

The level of silliness the liability question rises to was blatantly made

clear a few weeks ago by a judge in the Northeast. Two adventurous young

men broke the law and trespassed on railroad property, Amtrak's Northeast

Corridor, which is powered by overhead electric wires. Norfolk Southern

Railroad, which has trackage rights over the NEC, had parked two idle

freight cars on a siding, on private railroad property. The ignorant two

young men decided it would be great sport to dangerously trespass on

railroad property, climb on the parked freight cars, and, when reaching

to top, stood up and grabbed the fully energized electrical wires

overhead of the freight cars, resulting in severe burns to the young men.

The two anti-heroes of this story found a willing ambulance-chasing

attorney, and sued both Amtrak and Norfolk Southern because they were not

adequately protected from breaking the law and trespassing, resulting in

serious injury. A judge actually bought into this fairy tale, and slapped

Amtrak and Norfolk Southern with huge damages payments to the two young

law breakers. The judge said Amtrak and NS should have anticipated

someone would break the law, trespass, climb on parked railroad

equipment, and touch live electrical wires. The judge said inadequate

warning signs were posted, or no signs existed at all, warning these

polluters of the human gene pool to stay away from dangerous situations.

This is just one very small instance why all railroads want to stay away

from human beings as much as possible. Greedy and ignorant people and

their even-more-so greedy attorneys think the deep pockets of the

railroads are ripe picking fields for all types of lawsuits. Why would

any railroad voluntarily open itself up to potential lawsuits with

out-of-control judges warming benches if the railroads aren't required to

do so?

If you stop being a casual bystander of railroads, and fully understand

all of the ramifications of any type of human being coming within 100

feet of any railroad facility, you understand why CSX insists on the

no-liability clause in its deal with the State of Florida (and, any other

place, such as Massachusetts, too, where other passenger rail

negotiations are in progress).

Here is what one former senior Capitol Hill attorney in Washington has to

say about railroads and liability and trial lawyers:

[begin quote]

The trail lawyer/liability aspect of passenger rail (intercity and

commuter) is a decades-long saga.

The first federal involvement came in enabling legislation for the

Virginia Railway Express commuter system, included in an early 1990s

Amtrak bill (now at 49 USC 28102).

A liability-cap provision applicable to all forms of passenger rail

(i.e., any accident that includes a passenger train), with a $200 million

per accident cap, was enacted as part of the 1997 Amtrak reform law (now

at 49 USC 28103).

The latter has been almost universally ignored by both passenger rail

operators (present and would-be) and by the freight railroads. I know

from surveying the general counsels and risk management shops at the

Class I railroads a couple of years ago that even when aware of it, they

act as if it weren't there, because they don't trust the courts and/or

they read it so narrowly and contrary to the plain language as to make it

useless.

It is a miracle this was enacted by a trial-lawyer-infested Congress, and

the current law ($200 million per accident, regardless of body count) won

out over the much fairer per-capita cap in the original House bill. Why?

The trial lawyers want the big payout for whoever gets to the trough

first, and could care less about those who aren't as fast to the

courthouse.

[End quote]

3) There you have the high points of the messy background of this fight

over commuter rail in Central Florida. A few shopkeepers in Lakeland, a

state senator bent on revenge for a favorite white elephant project sent

packing, and trial lawyers won the first round.

The original deal with CSX, anticipating such problems, still has another

year to go and another legislative session to go before expiration. There

is also nothing that says the deal can't be extended by mutual consent of

both parties.

On both ends of the former ACL line, in Jacksonville and the Tampa Bay

area, commuter rail is being studied. One of the main arteries in the

Jacksonville deal would be the former ACL line, that if most freight

trains to Central Florida were removed, would be an excellent starter

line for Northeast Florida.

For years, the subject of commuter rail has been discussed in

Hillsborough County, home of Tampa, and Pinellas County, home of

Clearwater and St. Petersburg. CSX controls all of the tracks in both of

those counties, where there is excess capacity. A deal in Central Florida

would likely pave the way for a deal in both Jacksonville and the Tampa

Bay areas. It looks like a group of shopkeepers in downtown Lakeland and

a state senator bent on revenge along with the trial lawyers could have

an impact on those systems, too.

Keep in mind we're talking about a collective population count of over

seven million Floridians in these three areas, plus the tens of millions

of annual visitors to Florida which would find these commuter systems

useful, are all affected by a group of shopkeepers in downtown Lakeland

and a state senator bent on revenge along with the trial lawyers.

The current deal is an extraordinary proposal for Central Florida to get

into the commuter rail business on a relatively inexpensive basis. For

only $641 million, the State of Florida gets a near-pristine railroad

with an excellent alignment for a highly desirable route that can be a

catalyst to other worthwhile systems in Florida. The Central Florida

current alignment also provides for excellent relatively inexpensive

system expansion on the north end in Volusia County (DeLand, and far to

the east on the coast, Daytona Beach, in the far future with a relatively

high cost for that particular segment), and on the south end deep into

Polk County, where Auburndale, Winter Haven, and Lakeland are located.

Also lost in the postponement of the deal was a $2 local surcharge on

rental car fees to be imposed in South Florida in Miami-Dade, Broward

(Ft. Lauderdale), and Palm Beach counties to be used to upgrade Tri-Rail,

making possible some of the useful and exciting plans on the drawing

board for that system.

As pointed out two issues ago in TWA, Central Florida commuter rail will

play a major part in making statewide regional rail in Florida viable.

Florida for years has had a "no new major highways" policy, and statewide

regional rail provides a reasonable alternative to travel by automobile

or air in this huge state.

4) This is perhaps the fun part of it all. CSX has initially indicated it

has a high interest in building a new and efficient intermodal facility

in Winter Haven, with or without the deal with the State of Florida.

There is nothing to stop CSX from routing more trains over the former SAL

line and through downtown Lakeland to the new Winter Haven facility. So,

all of the railroad part of the deal could still happen, but without any

assistance from the state for improved sidings and the removal of

automobile grade crossings or updated signaling. Every alleged fear of

the shopkeepers in Lakeland could occur without any protections, and

people in Lakeland would be powerless to do anything, and CSX would be

completely in its rights to operate its railroad in Florida as it sees

fit, no matter how backed up local roads become.

5) Considering the bill passed the Florida House of Representative, and

it was only the relatively few votes in the Florida Senate to stop the

deal, it's likely the deal will go through in the future. A year is a

long time for lobbyists to make their case to politicians, and the usual

horse-trading to take place that makes laws possible. In the process,

Florida may lose out on millions of dollars of federal monies to help

this project, which probably will have to be replaced with state funds.

That's the cost of doing business when small-minded self-interest groups

throw monkey-wrenches into the works.

The big picture about commuter rail in Central Florida is that it makes

good business sense. Forget all the tiresome arguments by the greens and

tree-huggers. The reality is commuter rail in Central Florida makes the

area more attractive for new industry to move in, and the present route

of the former ACL main line has a near perfect alignment for commuter

rail because of the downtown areas if traverses, and the major industrial

and residential areas it encompasses, too.

Much of Central Florida lives and dies based on traffic on Interstate 4,

the main automobile and truck artery through Central Florida. Commuter

rail will not lessen the traffic on this road, but it will provide a

reasonable alternative for those choosing not to spend major portion of

their lives stuck in rush hour traffic. Commuter rail also will provide

reasonable local transportation from tourist areas of Central Florida to

desirable destinations such as downtown Orlando and downtown Winter Park.

Not only will it be useful for locals, but it will also be useful for

tourists, too.

Too bad the shopkeepers of downtown Lakeland and one senator bent on

revenge along with the trial lawyers aren't able to look at the big

picture, and see how they are stabbing much of the rest of Florida in the

back for their own provincial benefit.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

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[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

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distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

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http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


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## guest

He appears to be off the wall with his comments in some issues of this newslatter, but can't really argue with B Richardson of URPA on this one! h34r:


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## AlanB

Agreed, Florida may have missed the boat on this one. Or perhaps I should say they derailed.

It really would be pretty funny if indeed #4 point was to happen, and CSX did build that new intermodal facility and start running many more trains through Lakeland.


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## jis

AlanB said:


> Agreed, Florida may have missed the boat on this one. Or perhaps I should say they derailed.
> It really would be pretty funny if indeed #4 point was to happen, and CSX did build that new intermodal facility and start running many more trains through Lakeland.


I think Bruce Richardson is spot on in this issue of the URPA Newsletter. From what I have heard the new facility in Winter Haven makes so much business sense for CSX regardless of what State of Florida does, that it is going to happen and as you said ... it will be pretty entertaining to watch the circus unfold in Lakeland at that time.


----------



## Rail Freak

guest said:


> He appears to be off the wall with his comments in some issues of this newslatter, but can't really argue with B Richardson of URPA on this one! h34r:


Being from Tampa Bay area, but new to rail, and only reading what I see in the St. Pete Times, I'll be trying to learn more about rail,both passenger & frieght, since we'll be having another year to debate the issue!

Makes me wonder if the" powers to be "realized that replacing our rails in this area with Bike Trails, we may, in the future have the location to place tracks of future rail travel, in the case we need it?

 Naaah!!!


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 19, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 16

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Here's a followup to the saga of commuter rail in Central Florida, as

reported in the previous This Week at Amtrak.

After-action news reports and analysis brought to light several

interesting aspects indicating the fight for commuter rail is far, far

from over. The contract between CSX Transportation and the State of

Florida to get the deal done is still more than a year away, a lifetime

in politics.

CSX wrote a letter to Florida Governor Charlie Crist indicating it had no

intention of killing the deal, and reassured the governor some of the

plans will continue to fruition, including creating a new intermodal

center in Winter Haven, as originally planned in the commuter rail deal.

This will be a huge economic boom to largely rural Polk County, the home

of Winter Haven, bringing lots of jobs and related money flowing into the

county, and will help boost real estate prices for commercial land.

In the end, whether or not commuter rail does come to Central Florida on

61 miles of the old Atlantic Coast Line mainline through downtown

Orlando, there will be increased rail traffic through another part of

Central Florida which hosts the old Seaboard Air Line mainline through

Ocala. Work is continuing on upgrading both lines for increased traffic.

What won't happen if the commuter rail deal isn't done, is complementary

infrastructure upgrades along both lines, including overpasses at major

roads on the old SAL line to help alleviate automobile and truck traffic

congestion. The railroad will continue to have the right of way, and

traffic will be stopping more often for more freight trains.

Also, the worried shopkeepers of downtown Lakeland, who fear the

increased train traffic from the present 16 trains a day will damage

their image and desirability as a shopping destination, will have no

course of relief for any type of traffic congestion or other

infrastructure improvements. While a study has begun on moving the rail

line from outside of downtown, there will be no funding to do this if the

commuter rail plan dies.

The reality is, CSX will continue to upgrade its rail network for the

benefit of all Floridians to continue to bring goods into the state, and

export other native goods such as through the Tropicana orange juice

train, but the accompanying benefits of commuter rail may not be there to

round out the package.

Republican State Senator Paula Dockery of Lakeland, who led the charge

against Central Florida commuter rail (and, as pointed out in the last

issue of TWA, is also the wife of the former creator of the

thankfully-gone state constitutional amendment to high speed rail in

Florida) gave a major interview to Florida media bragging she was able to

kill the deal through the powerful trial lawyers lobby in Florida. It is

often said in Florida there are three political parties operating in the

state capitol building: the Republicans, the Democrats, and the Trial

Lawyers.

Senator Dockery took great pride in convincing the trial lawyers to throw

their considerable weight against commuter rail because the trial lawyers

felt they had a better chance to win court cases against CSX in case of

an accident than against the State of Florida. What everyone ignored is a

federal law which allows for a total of $200 million in damages against

any defendant in any passenger train accident, whether it's CSX or the

State of Florida, or however many plaintiffs there may be in a case.

2) Railway labor weighed in with TWA, too, on the issue. This letter was

received via e-mail upon publication of the previous TWA.

[begin quote]

Mr. J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006

Dear Mr. Richardson:

We feel compounded to respond to your recent weekly digest "This Week at

Amtrak" in regards to our position on Commuter Rail in Central Florida.

The National Association of Retired & Veteran Railway Employees, Inc

(NARVRE) was first organized on September 6, 1937 upon passage of the

Railroad Retirement Act. It is our sole responsibility to protect all

railroad workers and retirees across the country who are covered under

the Act. Some 38,000 Floridians are either retired or are working on the

states railroads. Your comments indicated our position was to benefit a

few which is farthest from the truth. I won't get into the liability

issue or the taxpayers picking up the tab for a private corporation

although your organization should be supporting current employees who are

professional railroaders and know how to run trains.

Many of our retirees are engineers, trainmen, machinists, clerks,

signalmen, carmen and management as well. Our business is railroading and

we support current employees on all the nation's railroads not just the

CSX. Any organization wants to protect its members and they should. There

are no guarantees that any newly minted commuter operator will want to be

covered under the Railroad Retirement Act. That is our business and we

will fight to maintain the status quo. Yes, Florida is an open-shop state

as you mentioned or as one might call it "a right-to-work" for less

state.

The supporters of Commuter Rail in Central Florida should take a book out

of what we are doing here in Minnesota with the start up next year (2009)

of the Northstar Commuter Rail from Big Lake, Minnesota to Minneapolis,

Minnesota run by employees of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and run

over BNSF tracks. You might pass this on to officials at CSX. Once again,

railroaders doing what railroaders do - operate trains. This is the first

of more projects to come down the road both in light rail and commuter

rail.

Thank you for hearing another viewpoint.

Respectively,

Thomas J. Dwyer

National Legislative Director

National Association of Retired & Veteran Railway Employees, Inc.

(NARVRE)

11304 Norway Street Northwest

Coon Rapids, Minnesota 55448-3269

(763) 757-1501 Fax: (763) 767-5794

Email: [email protected]

cc: A.W. Westphal, National President

G.A. Wisdom, National Vice President

M. David, National Secretary-Treasurer

[End quote]

For the record, CSX has 6,500 active employees in Florida (4,000 alone in

Jacksonville, the CSX corporate headquarters and major dispatching

center), operates 1,650 miles of track in the state, and in 2004, spent

$22 million keeping track and infrastructure in good shape.

Here are comments from two URPA professional associates in Washington on

Mr. Dwyer's letter.

[begin quote]

No surprise. It's a rerun of the Tri-Rail (and a few other) fights when

new entities are organized to avoid coverage by the Railway Labor Act and

Railroad Retirement Act (as well as FELA and railroad unemployment

insurance). When RLA, etc., coverage is achieved, one gets the

LIRR/NJT/SEPTA strike experience as a bonus (although those state

entities are covered because of their ancestral rail carriers). I guess

the passengers and the taxpayers paying the bill are never "the few" (to

be Churchillian) compared to rail employees, huh? Especially

hypocritical, coming from retirees, many of whom worked for long-dead

railroads, and who have kept their benefits due to the efforts and huge

payroll payments of the survivors, whereas non-railroad retirees in the

same pre-ERISA era would have been - and have been - left high and dry.

The fact that some commuter operations are contracted to statutory rail

carriers (e.g., Chicago) has no bearing on the legal status (or

structure) of start-ups.

Light rail, as part of transit systems, is never part of the RLA, etc.,

picture (e.g., the transit part of SEPTA). A statutory "rail carrier" has

to use the interstate rail network - PATH being the exception, again,

because of its ancestral rail carrier.

[End quote]

[begin quote]

The retirees would have cause for complaint if the State of Florida were

creating a full-service freight and passenger carrier out of whole cloth,

but that's not what's happening here. If the State were proposing to

string trolley wire on the former ACL and call it "light rail" we

wouldn't even be having this discussion.

As for the indemnification provisions, it merely puts the commuter

railroad and the highway on approximately the same footing. In the event

of a crash, there would be no "deep pocket" private entity off in the

wings as a target for litigation. In many cases - like the Minneapolis

Interstate 35W bridge collapse - the state's sovereign immunity applies.

Contrast that to the lengthy and costly litigation surrounding the

Norfolk Southern Railroad freight train wreck at Graniteville, South

Carolina. According to an article I pulled up, in the case of I 35W, the

state's exposure was capped at $1 million. Why? Simply because it can, as

a sovereign entity. If Minnesota can limit itself to $1 million, despite

dozens of casualties, capping passenger rail at $200 million per incident

is very generous.

As a practical matter, local freight service allowed under the contract

does not let CSX "off the hook" all that much. There's just not really

that much exposure. The indemnification hubbub appears to this writer to

be a colossal red herring, to obfuscate other, less public-minded agendas

being played out behind the scenes.

[End quote]

It should also be noted many people understand the need for unions in

railroads; railroading is a dangerous business, and union work rules

bring a semblance of continuity and order that often overrides hasty or

unwise decisions by low level managers, among other things.

However, rational people also realize simple ownership of a union card

and the payment of dues every paycheck to a central organization does not

guarantee someone is either a superior employee or the best trained

employee. It's possible to be both of those things without having to pay

dues to someone else.

3) Paul Weyrich, former Amtrak Board of Directors distinguished member

and Chairman and CEO of Washington's Free Congress Foundation had this to

say recently in his daily commentary.

Free Congress Foundation Commentary

Exciting Times Ahead for Transportation

By Paul M. Weyrich

May 14, 2008

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a conference on

rebuilding America's infrastructure. It was held at the Woodrow Wilson

Center in the heart of the Nation's Capital. It is the 200th anniversary

of the Gallatin Plan, initiated by President Thomas Jefferson, which

planned canals and post roads. And it is the 100th anniversary of

President Theodore Roosevelt's conference with all of the Nation's

Governors to discuss infrastructure. That began the National Governors

Conference.

This conference was initiated by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). He

is known as the leading Congressional proponent of light rail and

streetcars. In addition to Blumenauer, Congressmen Tom Petri (R-WI) and

Chris Shays (R-CO) also spoke at the conference. Senator James Inhofe

(R-OK), one of the most principled conservatives in the Congress, is fond

of saying that the only two activities sanctioned by the Constitution are

to provide for the common defense and to build infrastructure.

I served on the panel which dealt with transportation. All of the

panelists agreed that we need a vision to explain to the American people

what needs to be done. The major disagreement among the panelists

occurred as to whether the existing mechanisms we have to fund

transportation projects are adequate or do we need to start over. The

Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, upon which I

have served for the past two years, recommended that we do not merely

re-authorize the highway and transit program which expires next year but

rather that we have a fundamentally different way of authorizing

projects. It is an utter disgrace that it takes more than a decade and a

half between the time that a project is proposed and it is funded. Cost

escalation alone eats up most if not all of the federal contribution.

Finally, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is permitting Salt Lake

City to build two different light-rail branches simultaneously rather

than fully completing one project before the next line is built. Now

Houston would like the same consideration for several light-rail lines

which have been approved by the voters.

Some of the panelists thought that the existing system only needed to be

perfected whereas some of us contend that we just need to start over. One

question arose - to wit, do we need another commission to deal with

infrastructure matters beyond transportation? I have no objection to that

idea but what I really would like to see is a transportation czar who

could implement our recommendations.

I am grateful to Blumenauer for taking this initiative. We had an

excellent audience which asked extraordinarily good questions. One of the

participants was John Norquist, President of the Congress for the New

Urbanism. He likes to tell people that his organization and the Free

Congress Foundation (both of which have Congress in the title) are the

only two organizations which favor both mass transit and school choice.

He and Blumenauer were guests on the Right Hour, my radio show on the

Right Talk Radio Network, Both were optimistic that Congress would face

up to the need to deal with infrastructure. One issue which has proved

very controversial is the sale or lease of highways and bridges to

private investors. Our Commission came out four-squarely against the sale

or lease of our infrastructure to foreign governments and foreign

investors. Some politicians who have supported these public private

partnerships are now in trouble. Americans simply do not want to see

private interests, especially foreign interests, controlling our

infrastructure. Granted money is tight and it is tempting to raise easy

money that way but people who have paid for these roads with tax dollars

do not like the idea of leasing or selling them.

Next year is going to be a critical year for roads and rails. This

conference offers a preview. Exciting times are ahead of us.

[End quote]

4) Other doings in Washington include the introduction of two bills in

the House of Representative for the reauthorization of Amtrak and the

creation of high speed rail.

Billions of dollars are proposed to be spent. We will have more on that

in the next issue of TWA.

In the meantime, Norfolk Southern and Pan Am Railways have issued this

press release.

[begin quote]

May 15, 2008

Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern Create the Patriot Corridor to

Improve Rail Service and Expand Capacity in New York and New England

NORTH BILLERICA, MASS., NORFOLK, VA. - Pan Am Railways (PAR) and Norfolk

Southern Railway Company (NS) have agreed to create an improved rail

route between Albany, N.Y., and the greater Boston, Mass., area called

the "Patriot Corridor." Investments in the Patriot Corridor are expected

to improve track quality and customer service, boost train speed and

reliability, and increase capacity on the route. PAR and NS each will

have a 50 percent interest in the newly formed railroad company, called

"Pan Am Southern."

PAR has agreed to transfer to the joint venture its 155-mile main line

track that runs between Mechanicville (Albany), N.Y., and Ayer, Mass.,

along with 281 miles of secondary and branch lines, including trackage

rights, in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and

Vermont. NS has agreed to transfer cash and other property valued at $140

million to the joint venture, $87.5 million of which is expected to be

invested within a three-year period in capital improvements on the

Patriot Corridor, such as terminal expansions, track and signal upgrades.

The companies also anticipate the construction of new intermodal and

automotive terminals in the Albany area. PAR's Springfield Terminal

Railway subsidiary has agreed to provide all railroad services for the

joint venture.

"We are excited to partner with Norfolk Southern on the Patriot Corridor.

Since the Conrail transaction was implemented in 1999, both Pan Am

Railways and Norfolk Southern have been working to bring additional high

quality rail transportation options to our New England customer base.

This joint venture is the culmination of those efforts," said David Fink,

Pan Am Railways' president. "With energy prices continuing to rise, the

Patriot Corridor will give our customers additional capacity and speed to

get their products to market."

"Norfolk Southern has been working with Pan Am Railways to improve rail

service and increase transportation options between the Norfolk Southern

system and the Boston area," said Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern's chief

executive officer. "The Patriot Corridor creates a new level of rail

competition in upstate New York and New England by improving train speed,

reliability, and capacity, as well as strengthening connections between

the region's short line and regional railroads and Norfolk Southern's

22-state network."

The parties will seek approval for the transaction with the U.S. Surface

Transportation Board. Additional materials describing the transaction

will be posted on Norfolk Southern's Web site, www.nscorp.com, and will

be furnished to the SEC as part of a Current Report on Form 8-K.

Norfolk Southern is currently improving the Heartland Corridor, a

high-capacity rail route linking the Port of Virginia (Norfolk),

Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago, and has announced the Crescent Corridor, an

initiative to divert freight traffic from highways to rail between New

Orleans, Memphis, and the Northeast.

Pan Am Railways is the Northeast's largest regional railroad. It operates

over 2,000 route miles in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont,

Connecticut, New York and Atlantic Canada. Pan Am Railways interchanges

traffic with fifteen railroads throughout its network.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation's premier

transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary

operates approximately 21,000 route miles in 22 states and the District

of Columbia, serving every major container port in the eastern United

States and providing superior connections to western rail carriers.

Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the

East and is North America's largest rail carrier of metals and automotive

products.

Any statements contained in this news release which are not related to

historical facts are forward-looking statements as that term is defined

in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such

forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties (noted

in Norfolk Southern's filings with the SEC) which could cause actual

results to differ.

[End quote]

Gosh, while politicians in Washington are trying to figure out how to

spend billions of dollars on Amtrak - which constantly refuses to help

itself by developing a realistic business plan or working to internally

improve its business - the big boys in the private world are moving ahead

and finding ways to work together and improve their businesses and make

more money.

It really isn't too amazing what can be accomplished in the private

sector when adequate stimulus is available, and executives and managers

aren't hampered by the knowledge someone with the key to the federal

treasury will come along shortly to bail them out as a result of their

bad decisions.

5) Finally, it's that time of year again for Amtrak's annual photo

contest. Here is a commentary from the Empire Commuter Group, which

consists of daily riders between New York City and the Hudson River far

suburban towns.

[begin quote]

All Empire Commuters should participate in this one! Just remember to

avoid "tracks, moving trains, yards, railroad structures (such as

bridges, trestles, towers and wires) and the railroad right-of-way." Not

to mention cars with leaking plumbing in the restrooms, loose sharp-edged

metal fixtures, exposed wiring, leaking air conditioner condensers or

mold in the walls.

WEBWIRE - Wednesday, May 14, 2008"Picture Our Train" Calendar Contest

Begins

WASHINGTON - Calling all shutterbugs! Amtrak's fifth annual "Picture Our

Train" photo contest is underway. Amtrak employees and rail fans are

invited to submit their best photograph of an Amtrak train, with the

winning image to be featured on Amtrak's 2009 wall calendar.

Amtrak encourages passengers and train enthusiasts to enter their best

shot of Amtrak equipment for the chance to receive a $1,000 travel

voucher and a photo credit on the calendar. The four runners-up will

receive travel vouchers ranging from $100 to $500.

The calendar contest runs now through July 11. A panel of judges will

review each entry and select the best original color photograph featuring

a train with the current Amtrak logo and livery visible, or trains

displaying Amtrak Acela, Amtrak Cascades, Amtrak California and Amtrak

Pacific Surfliner paint scheme. Contestants must submit an 8x10 original

photo suitable for enlargement up to 25 inches.

To enter, please mail photograph to: Amtrak Wall Calendar Contest, 60

Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 4E-315, Washington, DC, 20002. Digital

photos will be considered, provided the resolution permits enlargement to

poster size. All entries must be postmarked no later than July 11. For

complete contest rules, visit www.amtrak.com/photocontest.

Safety First

Contestants are reminded to stay away from tracks, moving trains, yards,

railroad structures (such as bridges, trestles, towers and wires) and the

railroad right-of-way. Photographers must not trespass on railroad

property or on private property adjacent to the railroad. Stay in public

access areas such as stations, sidewalks or parking lots. All

participants agree to assume the risk of harm and release Amtrak from all

liability for personal injury and loss of property. Photographers are

reminded that railroad tracks, trestles, yards and equipment are private

property and that trespassers are subject to arrest and fines. Some

stations served by Amtrak trains require advance permission for

photography. Always obey all local rules and laws.

#end

David Solomonoff

[End quote]

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 9, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 17

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) When the telephone rings here at URPA World Headquarters, one never

knows who could be on the other end of the line. These days, it's often a

reporter, looking for a quote about the correlation between high gas

prices and Amtrak ridership. (If you believe all reporters call with an

open mind about a story, and are not looking for a specific quote to back

up what they believe, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you

while the price is still cheap.)

Other telephone calls received here at World Headquarters (that sounds so

much better than just saying "our office in Jacksonville") come from

excited Greens, all agog and smug over how they LOVE to ride the train

because it's so very good for the environment, and don't we think so,

too? (The answer to that is an emphatic "no," because we believe

passenger rail makes more sense from a true business perspective than

from a current environmental fad.)

Other communiques arrive on a myriad of topics, from praising Amtrak to

damning Amtrak, but most hoping for a successful passenger rail system in

our country.

Oops! Amtrak has been caught with its corporate pants down this time. For

whatever reason potential riders are looking at Amtrak, or the media is

finally realizing there is something of a skeletal passenger rail system

in North America (VIA Rail Canada, on a percentage basis, isn't much

better than Amtrak when it comes to serving Canada's population base.),

Amtrak has no prayer in being able to meet demand. There is too much

equipment sitting idle and unloved in coach yards, too much motive power

that's been leased to other railroads, and too few frequencies to make

people truly interested in riding a train for a convenient schedule.

Yes, every star in the passenger travel sky has aligned in Amtrak's

favor, including the implosion of good customer service and convenience

in the airline industry, and Amtrak is still focusing on non-profitable

and expensive to operate short corridors, while its long distance

national system languishes with few frequencies, short train consists, a

complete lack of onboard staff, and a willingness to continue as

America's best kept secret outside of the Northeast Corridor.

Here's a recent communique which recently flew over the URPA e-mail

transom.

[begin quote]

For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone would want to use

AMTRAK. Commuter lines, yes, but national, I can't see it. I live near an

AMTRAK station. I work near an AMTRAK station. I should be a prime

candidate for a user. However, I can't even commute because the fares are

so high, the scheduling is so sparse and inconvenient. So I drive

instead. I live near Detroit. If I want to go anywhere in the country, I

can fly and it's a lot cheaper and faster. What is the rationale? I don't

get it. Even if were to do a short trip i.e. 100 miles or less, I can

drive it for less than half the cost and it's more convenient. The only

people AMTRAK is good for are those who live in central cities and don't

have cars, and are doing short trips that make the hassle of going to the

airport not worthwhile. The only others would be people who live in rural

areas who aren't served by nearby airports, those who for some reason

actually have a preference for train travel despite the higher cost and

inconvenience, or those on vacation. Otherwise, I just don't see it and

I'll actually go out of my way to use public transportation e.g. bus or

rail even if I could drive myself, and more cheaply, as long as it's not

a major inconvenience. It is not worth the federal subsidies. Get rid of

it, once and forever.

Sincerely

David Muscat

Troy, Michigan

[End quote]

Do you think is an unusual attitude? Think, again. This is a result of

Amtrak's corporate lifelong policies resulting from continuing

mismanagement and Amtrak's refusal to make its case to the American

public and owners in Congress and whatever White House administration is

in power at the moment.

Amtrak does have the ability to be useful and beneficial as part of our

domestic transportation network. But, as long as Amtrak primarily

operates trains for the benefit of its operating department and not the

passengers it's supposed to serve, this type of attitude displayed above

will constantly have to be dealt with by anyone supporting Amtrak.

2) Here is how Amtrak can make some "quick fixes" to meet the challenge

of becoming relevant in today's travel climate.

- Understand that equipment running on trains equals revenue. Many pieces

of equipment are sitting on sidings and in yards because of out of date

inspections or the need for minor repairs. Make those fixes now, and put

that equipment to immediate use, which equals generating revenue to cover

the cost of the fixes.

- Stop putting all of Amtrak's advertising budget into the Northeast

Corridor and splash a little money around the rest of the country. It

won't take much to tell a hungry traveling public passenger train service

is available.

- Start using smart and proven public relations techniques to drum up

more business. Instead of putting press releases on its web site and

issuing them to just a few paid business wires, actually send press

releases about train travel to large and small media outlets, generating

interest in stories. Reestablish route promotional offices, which

operated inexpensively, but concentrated on building specific routes

through a variety of public relations techniques and personalized,

regional service for media, groups, and local events.

- Establish a schedule of equipment displays at any station around the

country which has a house track. The weak efforts around the country

outside of the major metropolitan areas on National Train Day last month

demonstrated a desire by the public to view and visit Amtrak equipment to

have a better understanding of riding the train.

- Stop the "woe is me" attitude that so often pervades Amtrak and

everything it touches, and offer a positive image to the traveling

public. Another round of alleged "crisis" stories in the news media about

Amtrak's annual beg-fest on Capitol Hill will continue to drive

passengers away instead of attracting them to the railroad.

- Announce to the world, "we are here, we are ready" to move America's

passengers. Maybe some passengers will actually believe the highly

inadequate Amtrak skeletal system may be beneficial for their travel

plans.

- Train the reservations agents in the national res centers to actually

tell the truth when passengers ask questions Amtrak doesn't want to

answer. TWA has been collecting bogus answers to questions asked res

agents about the missing Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. So far,

answers include "CSX won't let us have the track," to "bridges are still

out from Hurricane Katrina, and we can't run trains there." For the

record, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August of 2005, and

CSX had its mainline between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida

reopened in short order, and was able to release the track to Amtrak for

use by the Sunset Limited on April 1, 2006, over two years and two months

ago. The Sunset Limited is not running solely because of decisions made

by Amtrak, not any other factor.

3) Speaking of the late, lamented Sunset Limited on the east end, between

New Orleans and Jacksonville, two rather interesting events have taken

place, both pretty absurd.

First, the latest issue of Passenger Train Journal, No. 2008:2, Issue

235, hit mailboxes and newsstands in the last few days. This superb

magazine features a long and inquiring interview by journalist Karl

Zimmerman with Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant, which took place in

April. Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Kummant covered a number of interesting

topics, and there are a number of positive aspects of the interview.

However, this exchange took place.

[begin quote]

Karl Zimmerman: Probably the most contentious issue around is the

restoration of the Sunset Limited [After the loss of the service due to

Hurricane Katrina in 2005.]. Is there anything you could say about this?

Alex Kummant: The east (end) can't really come back. We have to finish

the final accounting there, but the resources are gone, the funding is

gone, and it was never very good service, though people have very rosy

memories. It came through three times a week, at night in many cases,

with horrible on-time performance. It's just time for everyone to get

over it.

Karl Zimmerman: Is there any part of the route that might be viable?

Alex Kummant: Yes, we've had a lot of robust discussions with Florida on

corridors, and I think we have to look at Mobile to New Orleans.

[End quote]

(Harrumph) Okay, that's it. Mr. Kummant is either badly misinformed by

his staff of "yes men" minions, or he just chooses not to tell the truth.

Resources gone? What resources? CSX released a fully rehabilitated and

shiny new mainline track to Amtrak on April 1, 2006 for passenger service

use. At this moment, there is no better maintained and serviceable

mainline track in America.

While a few stations west of Pensacola were damaged by Hurricane Katrina,

none of them were owned by Amtrak, and, with the exception of Mobile,

Alabama, every necessary train platform at stations is still in place and

ready for use. The Mobile station was damaged so badly the building was

torn down and owner CSX sold the building for commercial development.

Since Mr. Kummant says there is interest in New Orleans-Mobile service,

one can only surmise there must be some sort of plan for a station

platform and parking in that area. The Pensacola station, also not owned

by Amtrak, was damaged, too, but, again, the platform is still there.

Most of the Sunset Limited train and engine crews are still with the

company, and requalifying them on this route is really nothing more than

a couple of refamiliarization trips and paperwork shuffling. Those who

have left due to retirement or other jobs can be replaced.

Fueling of locomotives on the east end was done by contractors backing up

fuel trucks to thirsty locomotives at small town stops in Florida's

panhandle because the fuel was cheaper there.

The funding is gone? Why? The simple answer is because Amtrak apparently

chose to not include a funding request for the route on its own volition.

That is a problem which can quickly be fixed almost immediately (See

below).

"[A]nd it was never very good service, though people have very rosy

memories. It came through three times a week, at night in many cases,

with horrible on-time performance." That statement by Mr. Kummant is

simply an ignorant lie, and eagerly makes some of us question why he is

attempting to lead Amtrak as its president and CEO.

If you were to ask someone who was intimately involved with marketing

this service and worked on improving onboard service - Wait! That was Me!

This writer was paid by Amtrak to do that on the east end of the Sunset

Limited by operating under contract to Amtrak the Sunset Limited and City

of New Orleans Promotional Office! - the answer would be that the service

was, indeed, good service, and in the years before the train was handed

over from the intensely caring Gulf Coast Business Group in New Orleans

to the hacks at the Southwest Business Group in Texas, everything

possible was done to operate this train in as much of a professional

manner as possible. Yes, the train did often run horribly late due to the

many problems of the Union Pacific's indigestion of the purchase of the

Southern Pacific. However, the lateness on the east end was no worse than

the lateness on the west end. Why mention this? Also, the Sunset operated

on a number of different schedules to accommodate the problems of first

the Southern Pacific Railroad and then its successor Union Pacific

Railroad. When CSX originated the west bound train from Orlando to New

Orleans, with the exception of times when track maintenance was being

done, the service usually ran close to, if not exactly, on time. When CSX

was handed the train from Union Pacific in New Orleans headed eastbound,

it was often so late CSX had difficulty working it into its dispatching

matrix. However, CSX did everything it could to run this train on time.

The onboard service was often better than on any of the other trains in

and out of Florida - again, because of the difference between the

business groups which operated the trains. Once the equipment got out of

the horrors of the Los Angeles equipment maintenance yards and into the

caring hands of the Auto Train folks' maintenance base in Sanford, the

SuperLiners on the Sunset were as good as any in the fleet.

As to the fact this train operated only three times a week, we can't help

but notice the same train on the west end STILL operates three times a

week, and the other train with huge, unrealized potential - the Cardinal

- also only operates three times a week. The obvious answer is to take

these trains daily, like a normal passenger railroad.

>From the marketing perspective, as long as we had some meager resources

(and, in the grand scheme of things, that's being optimistic calling

those resources even meager, they were so very small) to work with,

revenue passenger miles were nearly always increasing on the Sunset

Limited. Only when Amtrak completely slashed - by its own decision - any

type of specific route marketing or promotion, did the revenue passenger

miles remain stagnant.

Since the ill-informed Mr. Kummant wants to talk about finances on the

route, how about the fact the east end generated 46% of the revenue for

the Sunset Limited's overall route? In most cases, that's close to half,

for anyone keeping score. Did Amtrak's Board of Directors under the

departed Chairman David Laney, which did so many things so very good to

stabilize the company, make such an unforgivable, horrible mistake when

it hired Alex Kummant to take Amtrak into the future? Did it hire someone

who is an empty suit, apparently unable to capably think for himself and

make rational decisions? Did the board hire someone who is just putting

another notch on the bedpost of his resume so he can move along to

another company and make continuing bad decisions for more monetary

compensation? If this type of statement and sentiment remains coming from

Mr. Kummant, apparently so.

4) Here's the other shoe dropping about the Sunset Limited. In the last

few weeks, the Democrats in Congress, with the blessing of many minority

Republicans, have introduced an Amtrak reauthorization bill in the House

of Representatives. Instead of taking up the Lautenberg-Lott Senate

version of Amtrak's reauthorization, the House came up with its own

proposals.

Part of the reauthorization package is the commitment by Congress to

Amtrak to provide $1 million for a study to restore the Sunset Limited

between New Orleans and Sanford (Orlando), Florida, it's previous

east-end terminal.

Hoo-boy! A million bucks! Just for Amtrak to delve into its file cabinets

to pull up existing information and put it into a nice format for

Congress to look at and approve more money than is probably necessary to

restore the service Amtrak never should have suspended in the first

place. What will this fabled million bucks pay for? How many pictures

need to be taken of existing platforms next to tracks? How many building

contractors need to be contacted for providing quotes to fix up

buildings? HOW MUCH OF THIS MILLION BUCKS WILL AMTRAK TAKE AND USE FOR

SOMETHING ELSE AND NOT TELL ANYONE?

For all of the absurd things about Amtrak through the years, to commit $1

million dollars to study restoring an existing route is probably about

the most absurd notion ever put forth. If it's the "cost of doing

business," well, it's beginning to look like some of Al Capone's business

practices were pretty reasonable, too.

Here's the Capitol Hill press release telling the story.

[begin quote]

Press Release

Opening comments of Chairman Oberstar and Chairwoman Brown from today's

Markup for the "Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008"

Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, And Hazardous Materials

May 22, 2008

By Mary Kerr (202) 225-6260

Statement of The Honorable James L. Oberstar

Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, And Hazardous Materials

Markup For "Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008"

I am pleased that we are marking up H.R. 6003, the "Passenger Rail

Investment and Improvement Act of 2008". This bill will reauthorize

Amtrak and improve intercity passenger rail.

This legislation is long overdue. Amtrak's last reauthorization, the

Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, expired in 2002. Since

1997, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has held 17

hearings on Amtrak and intercity passenger rail. The Committee has

reported two reauthorization proposals in the 108th and 109th Congresses.

However, the Republican leadership would never allow the Committee to

bring these bills to the House Floor. Following four hearings in the

110th Congress, we are ready to move forward with this legislation. I am

confident that our leadership will be eager to have this legislation

considered on the Floor.

Today, we are in the midst of a national "renaissance" for intercity

passenger rail. Amtrak's FY2007 ridership was at record levels for the

fifth year in a row, exceeding 25.8 million passengers. Ticket revenues

rose 11% to more than $1.5 billion, the third straight year of revenue

growth. This record of achievement is even more impressive considering

that for the past eight years Amtrak has contended with an Administration

committed to its bankruptcy and Congressional action that has been

inconsistent, largely keeping it on life support.

Yet, there is a greater need than ever for intercity passenger rail. The

Department of Transportation states that congestion on our highways and

in the air is "chronic," while the Texas Transportation Institute reports

that each year we waste 3.5 billion hours of extra travel time due to

traffic congestion. The total annual cost of congestion has risen to

nearly $70 billion, a rise of $4.5 billion more than the previous year.

Improving our intercity passenger rail system is an important tool to

address these problems. For example, Amtrak removes almost eight million

cars from the road annually. Amtrak also eases air congestion by

eliminating the need for 50,000 fully loaded airplanes each year.

However, we must provide Amtrak and the States with the opportunity and

ability to grow their passenger rail services if we want to supplant

"vehicle miles traveled" on our highways and give Americans more

affordable, sustainable choices in light of higher fuel prices, growing

transportation congestion and related environmental concerns. That is why

Ranking Member Mica, Chairwoman Brown, Ranking Member Shuster, and I

introduced the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act to

reauthorize Amtrak. This legislation provides a total of $14.4 billion

for Amtrak and for States to develop intercity passenger rail systems and

high speed rail systems. It will go a long way to meet growing demand for

intercity passenger rail and help address concerns due to the growth of

ridership on our rail network.

This bill provides $4.2 billion to Amtrak in capital grants. Inconsistent

Federal support has forced Amtrak to delay many important maintenance and

legacy projects. This bill provides Amtrak with the funding necessary to

end these delays and bring its infrastructure to a state-of-good-repair

in 15 years. It enables Amtrak to replace the catenary on the Northeast

Corridor, complete its replacement of the Thames River Bridge in

Connecticut, and replace wood ties with concrete ties on its track. This

bill also allows Amtrak to begin a much needed equipment procurement

process to replace much of its aging rolling stock. This will mean better

service reliability and on-time performance for Amtrak, reduced trip

times, added capacity and lower maintenance costs, which will allow

Amtrak to better attract and retain ridership.

Further, this bill provides Amtrak with $3 billion in operating grants,

which will help Amtrak pay salaries, health care costs, overtime pay,

fuel costs, facilities, and train maintenance and operations.

In addition, this bill creates a new State Capital Grant program for

intercity passenger rail capital projects to encourage State investment.

States are uniquely qualified to understand their own mobility needs and

connectivity requirements through statewide and metropolitan area

intermodal and multimodal transportation planning. Indeed, over the past

10 years, ridership on intercity passenger rail routes that benefitted

from State support grew by 73 percent. California has invested $1.9

billion since 1991 and has seen its Amtrak ridership increase 128 percent

since that time.

However, over the past ten years, ridership on Amtrak routes without

state support increased only seven percent. The Department of

Transportation reports that the greatest single impediment to encouraging

State support is the lack of a Federal/State partnership - similar to

what exists for highways and transit - for investing in the capital needs

of intercity passenger rail. This bill creates that partnership and

provides $500 million per year through FY 2013 in grants to a state, or a

group of states, to pay for the capital costs of facilities and equipment

necessary to provide new or improved intercity passenger rail at an up to

80 percent Federal match, the same as for highways and for transit.

This legislation also demonstrates Congress' commitment to high-speed

rail in this country. The bill provides $350 million per year in grants

to States and to Amtrak to fund high speed rail projects that will

operate at speeds of at least 110 mph along federally-designated

high-speed rail corridors. In the Midwest, this funding will help finance

the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, a nine-state compact to design,

engineer, and construct a "hub-and-spoke" system of intercity passenger

rail service connecting Chicago, Illinois, and surrounding metropolitan

and regional communities, including St. Paul, Minnesota, Detroit,

Michigan, St. Louis, Missouri, and Cincinnati, Ohio, among other cities.

This system will provide train service at speeds up to 110 mph, utilize

multi-modal connections to improve interconnectivity across the region,

and improve Amtrak's reliability and on-time performance. These States

have already invested more than $100 million to this project, and funding

from the high-speed rail grants of this bill will help jump-start these

efforts. This funding will also help California develop a

Shinkansen-style high-speed rail system running from Sacramento to San

Diego, and the Southeast develop high-speed rail from Washington, D.C.,

to Charlotte, North Carolina.

This bipartisan legislation will address the nation's pent up demand for

intercity passenger rail by providing the capital and resources necessary

to bring our system into the 21st Century. I look forward to working with

my colleagues in the House to move this legislation forward, and I look

forward to conferencing with the Senate to pass the first Amtrak

reauthorization in almost 11 years.

-end-

Statement of The Honorable Corrine Brown

Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

Markup for "Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008"

I am pleased that the Subcommittee is meeting today to mark up H.R. 6003,

the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act. Chairman Oberstar,

Ranking Member Mica, Subcommittee Ranking Member Shuster, and I

introduced this legislation to bring our nation's intercity passenger

rail system into the 21st Century.

H.R. 6003 makes many important contributions to expand intercity

passenger rail's viability in this country. It authorizes a total of

$14.4 billion for Amtrak and for intercity passenger rail. This

legislation will increase capital and operating grants to Amtrak to help

bring its infrastructure and equipment to a state of good repair and

expand its services to meet growing demand. It provides $2.5 billion in

grants to help States develop intercity passenger rail corridors through

an 80-20 federal partnership, which will help States plan intercity

passenger rail to meet their needs. It also provides $1.725 billion to

help States develop high-speed rail corridors, which will help bring the

level of rail service enjoyed by Europe and Asia to this country.

Finally, it requires Amtrak to report on how to restore service to the

Sunset Limited line from New Orleans to Sanford, Florida.

In fiscal year 2007, Amtrak carried more than 25.8 million passengers,

the fifth straight fiscal year of record ridership. Like its ridership

gains, Amtrak's financial performance has improved in recent years as the

railroad improves its service operations. In 2007, the railroad posted

approximately $1.5 billion in ticket revenue, a gain of 10.8 percent over

2006 ticket revenues and the third consecutive year that ticket revenues

increased.

Fifty years ago, President Eisenhower created the National Highway

System, which drastically changed the way we travel in this country.

Today we need to do the same thing with passenger rail, and make the

level of investment necessary for it to become even more successful in

the future. Passage of H.R. 6003 will be the first major step in this

direction and I encourage all my colleagues to support this legislation.

-end-

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Republicans John L. Mica,

Ranking Republican

Committee Approves Historic High Speed Rail Initiative

May 22, 2008

Washington, D.C. - The House Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure today approved a proposal by the Committee's Republican

Leader John L. Mica (R-FL) that will revolutionize passenger rail

transportation in the United States by taking the first real steps

towards bringing true high speed rail to the nation.

The Committee considered and unanimously approved the bipartisan

"Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008" (H.R. 6003). The

bill includes Mica's initiative to require the U.S. Department of

Transportation to solicit proposals for developing high speed rail in the

Northeast Corridor, with a maximum trip time of two hours between

Washington, D.C. to New York City, followed by development of similar

high speed projects across the United States.

"This bill represents the first step towards a new era in

transportation," said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Republican Leader John L. Mica (R-FL).

"With gas prices reaching $4 per gallon, passage of legislation to bring

high speed rail and a viable transportation alternative to this country

is a historic occasion. High speed rail can reduce our growing highway

and aviation congestion and lessen transportation's impact on the

environment. This bill will also provide jobs and guarantee labor

protections.

This proposal will unleash the investment potential of the private

sector, essential to addressing how this nation is going to finance our

tremendous infrastructure needs.

"The Northeast Corridor is a tremendous but underutilized property," Mica

continued. "We've got to stop sitting on our assets, and this legislation

can help us make the most of that corridor. But this proposal isn't just

for the Northeast Corridor, it's for the entire country. If we can get

this working in one or two models, we can replicate it throughout the

nation."

"Traffic on our nation's roads has grown exponentially worse in the past

decade," said U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), Railroads, Pipelines and

Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Ranking Member. "Road congestion is not

only an aggravation to commuters, it is a drag on the entire economy. One

study cited in a recent Washington Post article estimates that traffic

jams in New York City alone cost $13 billion in lost productivity

annually. One way to address road and air congestion is by expanding our

passenger rail system - especially high speed rail."

In addition to approving the "Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement

Act of 2008", the Committee also passed the "Pre-Disaster Mitigation Act

of 2008" (H.R. 6109) and the "Old Post Office Building Redevelopment Act

of 2008" (H.R. 5001).

Next week, Mica will travel throughout the Northeast Corridor to meet

with other federal and local transportation leaders, including New York

City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to discuss the benefits of a world-class

high speed passenger rail system.

[End quotes]

5) Here's the latest silliness here in Florida about the coming commuter

rail in Central Florida. Republican State Senator Paula Dockery of

Lakeland, who led the charge against her neighbors to the Northeast in

Orlando and surrounding communities having commuter rail because she was

annoyed her husband's fantasy about high speed rail in Florida was

thankfully destroyed, now has a group saying - of all the bad choices

that could have been made - that Amtrak should be brought into the

picture to make a proposal to create and operate commuter rail in all of

Central Florida, starting in Tampa on the West Coast, extending northeast

to Lakeland, and continuing northeast to encompass the original plan of

the Orlando area and continuing northeast to Daytona Beach, where no

tracks exist to connect the city with the CSX mainline from Tampa to

Orlando and DeLand.

And, people wonder why so many have no confidence in the ability of

government to get in out of the pouring rain.

- Rational minds will tell you in every other instance in the country,

Amtrak is the most expensive operator of regional service. Amtrak also

has the greatest reputation of any commuter or regional service operators

for providing poor levels of service with badly maintained equipment.

- The thinking of Mrs. Dockery and cronies is that since Amtrak has the

right to operate over all freight tracks in America, that a new regional

service in Florida can be created without doing anything to help

infrastructure owner CSX accommodate any new trains. CSX may have

something else to say about that.

- Also, these alleged geniuses of modern day passenger rail also point

out that since Amtrak can operate over the tracks of freight railroad

without any new liability contracts with the host railroads to cover

accidents, derailments, or other disasters, the State of Florida will

save bundles of money on insurance.

Ignorance is quickly reaching the high tide mark, and may set new records

here in Florida.

Hopefully, this really awful and foolish idea will simply go away and

become a bad memory, and the original, excellent plans to earnestly begin

commuter rail in Central Florida will commence.

Yes, it would be wonderful to have commuter rail in many parts of

Florida. URPA published in this space earlier this year a rational

blueprint for considering regional rail throughout Florida. However,

rational plans to do so do not ignore all of the realities as Mrs.

Dockery chooses to do, and do not try and start something that is doomed

to failure from the outset.

6) The bananas have hit the fan. A lawsuit has been filed in Cincinnati,

Ohio over the value of a class of Amtrak stock still in private hands.

Due to the length of this TWA, this topic will be discussed in a future

issue.

7) There has been a local tragedy here in Jacksonville, which the daily

newspaper, The Florida Times-Union, and local broadcast media have milked

for days in the last few weeks. In a neighboring county to Jacksonville,

a 17 year old high school junior and football star decided to go fishing

with his buddies on a CSX (and Amtrak) mainline trestle one afternoon.

This is a typical trestle over a small river; the trestle is only as wide

as one railroad track, and has no walkways. There are appropriate side

areas with railings for inspectors or maintenance workers to use when a

train approaches; these side areas are only large enough for one man

each.

The three boys were illegally on the trestle fishing, and a CSX freight

train approached. Too late, the boys realized the train, traveling at

speed in a thinly populated area, was almost on top of them. The boys

ran, but the one football player didn't make it, and was killed by the

impact of the train.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the alleged community sense of

loss has been played again and again by the news media. Yes, it was a

tragic loss when a promising young man lost his life.

So, where in the coverage was the reality of the situation? Did anyone

cover the horror the T&E crew on the train felt when their train, solely

under their control, barreled down on this young man and all they could

do was helplessly sit in the locomotive cab and watch the young man die?

Did anyone cover the fact three boys were trespassing (and breaking the

law by doing so) on private property, and not only placing themselves at

risk, but all of the equipment of the railroad and the infrastructure of

the mainline should a train have derailed in an emergency stop while

trying to save these boys?

Has anyone asked why three separate sets of parents were irresponsible

enough not to teach their sons to fish from an active railroad trestle

(the boys had a history of fishing from the trestle)?

The news media loves this type of "human interest" story and all of the

sobbing bystanders which go with it. Someone - anyone - in the news media

needs to stop covering these stories from one perspective, and give full

coverage of EVERYONE which is part of this tragedy.

8) The month of May also brought the usual coverage of Amtrak trains and

motor vehicles colliding at grade crossings with a resulting mess and

injuries.

There was a collision is in Mississippi, with Amtrak's City of New

Orleans colliding with a garbage truck, and seven injuries as a result.

And, just last week, the same train, on the same route, had two grade

crossing accidents in a single run between Chicago and New Orleans on the

same day.

Most of us remember the colossal wreck of the City of New Orleans in

Bourbannais, where the train struck a flatbed truck filled with steel.

When is our society going to do two things: First, hold drivers

accountable for their actions, especially drivers of trucks and busses.

If they caused the accident, they should pay the damages, as well as face

huge fines for putting so much at risk to beat a train and not have to

stop for a few moments. Second, when is our society going to demand we

have better trained drivers of all types of motor vehicles? Applying for

a driver's license is one of the easiest things to do in our society, and

the operation of a motor vehicle can usually cause more damage more

quickly than just about any other routine activity. Most states take a

scant moment to remind drivers that driving is a privilege, not a right

as a member of society. More privileges need to be withheld from more

people before more lives will be saved.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 16, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 18

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Hide the womenfolk and children. Make sure the little animals are

safe. Batten down the hatches and start preparing yourself for something

so scary, so difficult to imagine, so heinous, it can't be mentioned in

polite society.

If you dare, read on ... but be warned.

If things continue in the travel industry the way they appear to be

headed, we could, one day very soon, in a location near and dear to you,

experience Amsky.

Somebody, somewhere in a dark room no one should enter, is probably

already dreaming about such a calamity. Looking at the present condition

of the airline industry, even though the overall reasons are different

from the passenger railroads in the 1960s, the effect is the same.

Hauling passengers in airplanes has become hideously unprofitable due to

rising fuel costs, expensive union costs, and mostly inept management

which never had a "Plan B" for any of the contingencies currently facing

the airline industry.

Amtrak is so ineffective in the marketplace, automobile travel has become

so expensive, and bus travel (Which is considered respectable in most

countries, including Canada.), is so disrespected in the United States,

that someone in either some elected office or some bureaucratic

pigeonhole in some executive branch of government, is going to declare

air travel "essential" to the maintenance of the commonweal, and thus,

demand the federal government take over the passenger air business,

creating "Amsky."

Heaven help us all.

2) The myriad woes of the airline business often dominate discussions

here at United Rail Passenger Alliance because of the necessity of

understanding the full picture of our domestic transportation network.

When one part of the network (such as passenger rail now) is broken, then

the entire network is out of balance. If the airlines become much weaker,

then the network will be more than out of balance; it may well collapse.

Neither Amtrak nor the North American highway system is prepared to

handle that possibility.

3) Here are some of the discussions floating through URPA's Intranet.

First, came this news report from the highly respected Aviation Week

publication.

[begin quote]

Decrying the "sad state" of U.S. commercial aviation, former American

Chairman and CEO Robert Crandall yesterday declared three decades of

deregulation a failure and said that treating airlines like a regulated

utility must be a part of a broad solution to their current financial

crisis.

"We have failed to confront the reality that unfettered competition just

doesn't work very well in certain industries, as aptly demonstrated by

our airline experience and by the adverse outcomes associated with

various state efforts to deregulate electricity rates," Crandall told

aviation and financial industry professionals gathered at the Wings Club

in New York City. "It's time to acknowledge that airlines look and are

more like utilities than ordinary businesses."

While the rapid rise in jet fuel prices has complicated the job of

airline managers, fuel prices are not at the core of the industry's

precarious financial state. Inadequate scale isn't to blame either, he

added.

"The arguments in favor of consolidation are unpersuasive," he said.

"Mergers will not lower fuel prices, and they will not increase economies

of scale for already sizable major airlines. If consolidation were really

the answer, it is conceivable the system could be run by a single

efficient operator."

Instead, Crandall continued, the industry's goal should be to harness

competition and regulation to create a system responsive to both the

imperative of efficiency and the desirability of decent service - now

unacceptable "by any standard."

In addition to reregulation, Crandall called for:

. Overhauling price structures to "recapture" full costs and earn the

profits needed to sustain the huge investments essential to the

industry's future.

. Amending the Railway Labor Act to require binding arbitration to

encourage both labor and management to adopt more moderate positions than

has been true in the past while simultaneously moving all airlines closer

to labor-cost parity.

. Revising U.S. bankruptcy laws to deprive failed carriers of the right

to use lower costs to undercut the fares offered by "their more prudent

rivals."

. Regulating the number of flights scheduled to what runways, terminals

and air traffic control facilities at airports can handle.

. Shrinking schedules proportionately to each airline's current frequency

share as a way to pressure carriers to use the largest feasible aircraft

in each slot.

. Imposing more stringent financial standards that new airlines must meet

to eliminate or discourage "short-term antics" by start-ups that have

destabilized the pricing structure required by a healthy industry.

. A more accommodating stance by Washington towards industry

collaboration to achieve more intensive asset utilization and more

efficient operations.

Crandall also noted, however, that industry regulation will be

insufficient to rescue the commercial air transportation industry. Also

needed is a national transportation plan of U.S. aviation goals,

including a comprehensive redesign of the air traffic control system.

"Unhappily," he added, "such a plan does not exist."

[End quote]

And, then the internal discussion began.

[begin multiple quotes]

Since deregulation, the airlines have a net loss of 13 billion dollars,

good in the short term for the customer. All they have to do is find

investors willing to fund them and suppliers willing to put up with a

bankruptcy every few years. We need cheap airfares like we need cheap

oil. so we can fly and fly and fly and then drive and drive and drive.

- - - - - -

To sound a somewhat contrary-wise note, perhaps what we need are real

bankruptcies in the airline industry, the kind that result in

receivership and/or liquidation. Not fake stiff-the-investors,

stiff-the-lenders without fundamental restructuring style of bankruptcy

we've seen in recent years. Isn't it odd that none of the "majors" in

recent years has been liquidated? One of the functions of bankruptcy - as

a concept - is to take assets out of the hands of the inept, and that

hasn't happened in the airline industry. "Regulated utility" is a synonym

for cartel.

- - - - - -

Chapter 11 was designed to do everything possible to keep businesses

going, to protect workers and patrons, and in the theory there would be a

chance to earn out of difficulties and thus repay more to creditors. The

usual result is the majority of the funds available for distribution are

soaked up by the trustee, the enterprise stays in business a little

longer providing subsidized competition and weakening the survivors, and

the investors and creditors do no better than had liquidation occurred.

Chapter 11 has become a corporate tool. Some companies have been in and

out like the cuckoo in the clock. Time for reform?

- - - - - -

I tend to agree, but it would help if the airlines could import some of

those price-insensitive Amtrak sleeper travelers, and if the public

generally demanded a higher service standard than cattle-car/steerage.

Oh, that's right, air travel has also been ruined anyway by the

nail-clipper-**** morons. Never mind.

- - - - - -

The question for which I've never heard a good answer - why are today's

major legacy carriers sacred cows that should not be allowed to go under,

whereas Braniff, Eastern, TWA, Pan Am, etc. were considered expendable in

their day? Chapter 11 was not intended to be a crutch for executives who

refuse to adapt and a subsidy for inefficient labor practices.

- - - - - -

Glamour.

The airlines are beautiful, the pilots don't wear overalls, the

stewardesses are not fat and ugly, and the cargo is not coal.

- - - - - -

I don't think labor has done well out of this. I hardly come in contact

with an airline employee until I'm on the 'plane these days. I suppose

the leasing companies price in for getting stiffed every few years so

they are happy to keep putting the kites out on lease to even dubious

start-ups, let alone the legacy carriers. It's the passenger that seems

to go on winning since fare increases don't seem to stick for very long.

- - - - - -

Price a last-minute, non-Saturday night ticket today to someplace other

than a multi-carrier hub and you will quickly see some astonishing fares

- Grand Rapids to Rochester, MN for close to $1,000; Minneapolis to

Louisville, on a regional jet, no less, for over $1,300, for example.

Long-lead, Saturday night stay over trips can still be found for

$300-400, even over long distances. But, business travelers are getting

stuck, again.

>From my vantage point (I fly 100,000 miles a year on average), we are

quickly headed back to the future in the form of the mid-1970s: a few

large carriers, this time with overlapping national monopolies built on

fortress hubs where they have 80-90% market share (in the 1970s, the CAB

orchestrated a regional-based national cartel, with United and American

holding the transcons, and carriers like Western Airlines, Delta and

Continental having regional monopolies fed by smaller carriers like North

Central or Southern); and sky high, demand-insensitive pricing and the

"competition" occurring in the areas of frills and fringe issues (in the

old days, champagne on Western, fancier food on Delta, or premium brand

booze on Continental). The non-business traveler flew less frequently and

much more selectively, and leisure pricing was manipulated to fill

marginal seats, but the carriers depended on gouging business flyers, who

were relatively price-insensitive, for their base of operating revenue.

We're coming full circle.

- - - - - -

The conventional wisdom is that most airlines are so leveraged that any

strike of almost any length can be financially fatal. (Not that the

freight railroads are especially combative in this department either.)

Southwest prospered in part by standardizing on one type of aircraft and

cross-utilization of personnel. Wait in a terminal sometime and compare

the turnaround time on a plane between say AA and Southwest. It's

startling. The last figures I saw proved this: Southwest had far higher

aircraft utilization hours than other carriers.

One anecdotal factor that makes me think that leverage is driving the

fear of wholesale revision of labor rules is the fairly common practice

of "informational" picketing against airlines in the last few years. The

rail unions rarely if ever go for less than the jugular. This makes me

think even the airline unions have concluded - like management - that any

insignificant strike that shuts down operations could kill the carrier.

- - - - - -

[From an Amtrak Golden Spike travel agency owner] Having been there, and

in the industry in the beginning, and making the prediction that

deregulation would result in an oligopoly with the end product being

fewer flights to fewer places with fewer services and higher fares, I

feel vindicated.

At the time I was teaching transportation principles at Fullerton

College, I was interviewed and sought out for answers on how this flood

of new carriers (World Airways, People Express, Hawaiian Express ... all

the greats) with low fares could possibly be bad for the consumer. I

predicted an oligopoly within five years. As the flags started to fall it

looked like I was an expert, as the Old Boy Carriers, American, United,

TWA, Pan Am found themselves in this strange thing called the free market

and had no idea how to react. They attempted to continue to deliver high

levels of service and maintenance, with the attendant high union salaries

and work rules (sound familiar anyone?), but did not understand market

pricing.

As a result, when World Airways announced a fare of $99 each way Los

Angeles/Newark and Los Angeles/Honolulu, they dropped the fares ON THE

ENTIRE SYSTEM to $198 round trip, instead of meeting only the immediate

threat. Like the dinosaurs before them, some powerful entities (Pan Am,

TWA, National, Eastern) died, while others adapted and became birds of

prey. While I despise what the man did to the industry, I must give the

devil his due; Robert Crandall, considered a mean SOB by his friends,

played hard and dirty, using the airlines powerful SABRE computer system

to bias information to the public and travel agents, not to mention

timing the billing of interline ticketing of targeted carriers to the

same day that payrolls, airplane payments, and fuel contracts were due,

driving cash poor carriers out of business (good-bye Braniff and your

colorful planes and the Concorde).

Meanwhile, over at United, Robert Fox took a more above board, but, just

as effective tactic of fending off an attack by dropping their fares in

the threatened market to meet the new guy, and flooding the market with

airplanes (wouldn't you really feel safer/better on a REAL airline?) and

generally stomped the new guy to death. Either way, the new guys went

away, or, where convenient, were swallowed whole by the big fish

(good-bye PSA and AirCal), and fares went higher, and cities lost

service.

There were some interesting variations on the theme and some amusing

missteps (America West flies Los Angeles to Colorado Springs for $69,

United matches, but only services Colorado Springs via Denver. The fare

Los Angeles/Denver is $200. It seems that United's flights

Denver/Colorado Springs started showing extraordinarily high no-show

factors, while Denver/Los Angeles flights were running full. It took

United marketing two months to figure out people were buying Los

Angeles/Colorado Springs tickets and simply skipping the unused

Denver/Colorado Springs flight, since Los Angeles/Denver at a good fare

was what they wanted in the first place.

United - FURIOUS at being snookered by travel agents and customers,

threatened to punish both appropriately by pulling accreditation of

travel agents and threatening prosecution of passengers - proceeded to

drop Los Angeles/Denver to $69 and flooded the market with airplanes.

America West, abandoned by people who really only wanted cheap fares to

Denver, withdrew from the market and (And has since been absorbed into

that Penn Central of airlines, US Airways) the prediction of an oligopoly

was coming to pass. The only thing I was off on was the timing, I never

thought it would take 30 years to reach the true oligopoly we have today.

Ah, you say, but what about Southwest? Perpetually profitable, popular

and ever-growing into backyard airports like Chicago Midway, Dallas Love,

BWI, Southwest would seem to show that there is still competition in the

airline business. Hate to tell you this folks, but Southwest (and I mean

this as a compliment) is NOT AN AIRLINE, it is a bus with wings. A very

GOOD bus with wings, but a bus nevertheless. Ten minute turn times at

Phoenix, a one plane (B737 series 300-800), low paid, multi tasked

employees, including the pilots. No frills, although the other airlines

trashed them in the move to accounting nirvana, but good dependable

schedules and consistent, but, minimal on board service (average flight

time 90 minutes or less).

Herb Kelleher knew what he was making, and never, ever forgot what that

was. Though low paid, the employees were treated well and were happy and

loyal, as were the customers. The bus with wings works, but it is NOT an

airline. Every attempt to duplicate them has failed, because they tried

to make an airline act like a bus with wings. But I digress ...

That venerable Man of the People and Nobel Prize Winner, former President

Jimmy Carter, and his minion Alfred Kahn at the CAB, fixed the finest,

safest air travel system in the world ... which was not at the time

broken. This was the same crowd that protected us from that evil

monopoly, American Telephone and Telegraph. The world was made safe from

AT&T's good service and regulated rates to give us ... a deregulated

nightmare of off-brand phone companies, break-up of service providers,

repair and installation, long distance and other formerly unified

services under one evil roof. Today, we are in a Brave New World ... with

no control over prices or services of an oligopoly that has as a leading

member ... AT&T.

(NOTE: To give due credit to the Republicans, deregulation of the air

industry was started under the administration of Richard Nixon, who also

gave us Amtrak and Watergate. He was great at foreign relations, but

never got a hold of this domestic thing.)

The moral of the story ... some things don't lend themselves to a

complete free market. No form of transportation since the birchbark canoe

has ever made a profit in the free market carrying passengers. Some form

of direct subsidy (transit) or indirect protection (regulated and

protected markets) has - and probably always will be - necessary to move

people, who don't act as normal commodities should. Now, we see the

airlines in desperation trying to get passengers to act like freight. Get

delivered, get X-Rayed, sit around for a few hours, don't fall off of the

conveyor belt, don't eat, drink, or leak, and get the Hell off the

property as soon as the container is opened.

Thomas Jefferson had it right when he said the government that governs

best governs least, at least when it is joined with that unknown author

that said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." So what's the answer? Well

Shakespeare had it right when he said "The first thing we do is kill all

the lawyers AND THE BEAN COUNTERS! (caps and new translation by author).

Seriously, though, the current American transportation system is badly

broken, and there is very little hope of intelligent change regardless of

which of the new hacks becomes president. If Congress does not step up to

the plate and show some grit (not likely), things are going to get much

worse before they get better. Perhaps the Supreme Court will find an

appropriate case to allow them to mandate a National Transportation

System designed by People Who Know What They're Doing and Aren't Lawyers.

What are the odds ...

Now you know why I teach instead of write airline tickets now ...

- - - - - -

It's "beyond" my ability to know how best to run a business in a

semi-regulated environment. And, maybe "semi-regulated" is part of the

problem. How much should government regulation and/or subsidy prevent the

"invisible hand" of the market place from doing its job?

I loved to talk to my Grandfather about the railroad business (he was the

court-appointed trustee of the New Haven Railroad during its first

bankruptcy). I clearly remember him talking about how the construction of

the Connecticut Turnpike wiped out the freight business on the NH

Railroad. His comment was something like this: "The State of Connecticut

built the Turnpike right along side our right-of-way. The trucks jumped

on there and beat the Hell out of us [hauling freight]." I'm not saying

the government shouldn't build highways, but the unintended consequences

are significant. The same situation exists with the important barge

traffic on rivers. The government builds locks and dams so barges can

navigate our major river systems - which, of course, takes huge amounts

of business away from the railroads.

I think it's safe to say our over dependance on highways is a direct

result of the government building highways everywhere - duh. I bet $4.00

per gallon gas will start "correcting" this imbalance pretty fast.

- - - - - -

Multiple modes, all made possible by funding from elected public

government, gives users choices. It is incumbent upon users of the modes

to provide a service that consumers are willing to pay for. It's called

"competition."

One of my schoolteachers decades ago taught us: "It is a poor craftsman

who blames his tools."

The rails ran off most of their high value freight; the shipping

companies more or less forced stack trains into the industry.

Rail also has to compete with other modes for public support. Shame on

them if they can't argue their own case effectively.

- - - - - -

For whatever reason the "woe is me" attitude seems to afflict certain

industries. Case in point - mine. I went to a professionals gathering on

Thursday night and started talking to a fellow architect who laid into

the all-too-familiar litany: low fees, impossible clients, inability to

hire decent help, etc., etc. This is not the first time I've run into

this. I don't know if all the real estate agents, accountants, IT people

and attorneys in the room were bellyaching amongst themselves - maybe

they do - but, I doubt it. It's gotten to the point where the AIA

(American Institute of Architects) is unofficially referred to as "Ain't

It Awful." I find socializing with other architects to be a depressing

prospect, and avoid it whenever possible. Sometime back in the 1950s, a

similar crepe-hanging, self-defeating groupthink took over at the

railroads. There are innovators and progressive forces which pop up once

in a while, but they often get beaten down. And the worst of the "woe is

us" faction seemed to end up at Our Favorite Passenger Carrier.

It's the poor craftsmen who blames his tools. Similarly it's an inept

executive who blames irresistible forces at large in the world - or those

idiot clients/customers/passengers - for all his problems.

- - - - - -

"And the worst of the "woe is us" faction seemed to end up at Our

Favorite Passenger Carrier."

Ain't that the truth. I'm reminded of the time I proposed a St. Louis/St.

Paul train (through Galesburg) to an Amtrak marketing guy. His comment:

"You couldn't fill up a bus on that route." Never mind that a Burlington

Northern Railroad boss in Galesburg told me: "You could run that train

tomorrow at 80 mph - all the way." And, never mind that a St. Louis/St.

Paul train would expand the matrix exponentially.

I guess if you figure you will strike out for sure, why even step up to

the plate?

[End multiple quotes]

As you can see, the discussion is far and wide, with all types of views.

This is something which must be taken seriously by everyone interested in

passenger travel, in every mode of transportation.

We know oil exploration in Brazil has found huge new fields of oil, and

the Brazilians are not worrying about tree huggers when drilling for oil.

In less than five years, huge amounts of oil will be flowing freely from

Brazil. In Texas, former oil wells that in their latter days had become

low producers and too expensive to pump, are now back running, because

the high price of crude oil has made them profitable, again. Oil from

sands in Canada is also now profitable because of the higher price of

crude oil.

None of this is relevant to today, or next week, or next year. Refinery

capacity in this country is artificially constrained because radical

environmentalists will not allow oil companies to use their profits to

build new capacity because of some proposed threat of some species of

frogs or something or other. Nuclear power, most favored by the French,

even though they will surrender to anyone about anything at the drop of a

hat, continues to be off of the discussion table because of some remote

possibilities of problems, not the realities of modern safety methods.

The Chinese and Indian economies are booming, sucking up huge supplies of

oil that used to go to Europe and North America.

Efficiency and good business plans are the key words for hope for the

future. There seems to be a dearth of good business plans in the airline

industry and at Amtrak.

Intercity bus travel is making something of a small comeback on the East

Coast, but Greyhound is still considered by most travelers to be beyond

the carrier of last resort; it's unthinkable to most people to consider

traveling by bus.

4) The quickest two solutions to fixing this mess are for two carriers to

stand up, alter their business plans, and take a look at reality.

First, Greyhound and others in the bus business need to radically change

their image. Reach for the middle class and above traveler, and stop

catering almost exclusively to the lower end traveler. Experiment in more

than one class of travel (perhaps one bus on a route with "coach"

service, and another with exclusive "business class" service at a higher

price). Think about additional stops and stations at destinations where

passengers are, such as suburban stops in addition to downtown terminals.

Offer more onboard amenities and more comfortable seats.

Second, Amtrak needs to stop focusing on unprofitable, short corridors

and take a realistic look at its long distance network. With the

exception of Auto Train, there are no Amtrak short distance or long

distance trains operating at maximum length. More cars equals more

capacity equals more revenue passenger miles. The cost of additional

assistant conductors and car attendants is far less than the amount of

revenue generated by additional passengers. The cost of trains miles

doesn't change, and the basic cost of train and engine operating crews

doesn't change (other than as just mentioned, perhaps an additional

assistant conductor). The station costs don't change, and the

reservations costs don't change. Any additional costs for equipment

maintenance and getting cars out of the storage line are minimal compared

to the positive changes in income.

Why is it so hard for Amtrak to understand this basic principle?

On many routes, additional frequencies would present something of a

hardship, but no insurmountable obstacles for host freight railroads.

Yes, mainlines are jammed. But, yes, clever minds should be able to

figure this out without a lot of bloodletting.

Amtrak has a huge opportunity on its hands, handed to them on a silver

platter. Now is the time to act, and now is the time to start becoming

more than an insignificant blip on the radar of our domestic

transportation network.

5) Just briefly, other solutions are viable, too. At one time, the

American maritime industry boasted a large passenger fleet of ships that

operated coastal and river routes. Until the start of World War II,

overnight passenger service by coastal steamer was available between

Northeast Florida and the Middle Atlantic states, on a slower, but rival

schedule to passenger trains. Port cities such as Jacksonville, Savannah,

Charleston, Wilmington, and Norfolk saw regular passenger steamers

calling regularly at city docks.

On large, navigable rivers like the Mississippi, there used to be plenty

of room for barges and paddle-wheeled steamboats in regular passenger

commerce. Once we get over the alleged compelling need for airline speed,

and go back to the restfulness of leisure travel at ground speeds,

perhaps this type of travel may return.

The Alaska Marine Highway today boasts regularly scheduled overnight

ferry and passenger service between the Lower 48 and Alaska, and is

considered quite a good service. On the Right Coast, several daylight

intercity ferry services are offered.

6) Here's a happy note. On Amtrak's web page (www.amtrak.com), a new

feature has been added. "Historical On-time Performance" allows visitors

to the site to check on any train in the Amtrak system, it's on-time

history, and the causes of any late trains. "Track and signals," train

interference (freight trains or other passenger trains), and "passenger"

are the three categories shown, with a percentage of each contributing to

a number of late trains. Amtrak boldly names, names, too, including its

own when an internal problem causes the delays. In addition to Amtrak,

the information shows which host railroads are to blame for dispatching

or infrastructure problems, and which delays are caused by passengers

(such as passengers requiring emergency medical service along the route,

or trains stopped for the detraining of undesirable passengers into

police custody, or any other number of reasons).

This is a pleasant and much-needed step towards accountability both for

Amtrak and its host railroads.

7) In the last TWA we talked about a Jacksonville area teenager who was

unfortunately killed by a CSX freight train as the teen and two of his

friends were illegally fishing from a CSX trestle.

Well, you guessed it. This week, the teen's mother filed a lawsuit

against CSX and the train's engineer, seeking compensation for the boy's

death. Here is the story from a local television station.

[begin quote]

News4Jax.com

Mother Of Boy Killed On Trestle Sues CSX

POSTED: 6:37 pm EDT June 13, 2008

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The mother of a 17-year-old Clay County boy who died

last month when he couldn't get off a CSX train trestle before being

struck by a train is suing the railroad and the engineer who in charge of

the train.

Wesley Whiddon Jr. was killed May 14 when he was fishing from the

railroad bridge over Black Creek. Two other Fleming Island High School

football players on the trestle with Whiddon escaped with minor injuries.

The wrongful-death lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $15,000 from the

railroad and its senior road foreman of engines, Dennis Merrill.

The lawsuit claims the trestle was regularly used by residents of Clay

County for fishing and crossing Black Creek and the railroad failed to

close or fence off the property or post adequate warning signs of the

danger of being on the trestle.

Clay County sheriff's deputies and residents told Channel 4 it is an area

frequented by teenagers despite a total of four trespassing signs posted

at both ends of the trestle.

Among other claims, the suit also alleges the train was traveling faster

than permitted, which caused the 100-car train to strike the boy before

he could get off the trestle.

The train's conductor, David Jones, told investigators that the train was

going between 35 and 40 mph when it rounded the corner and he saw the

boys on the trestle.

Jones said he expected the boys to jump, "Because that is what people

usually do." When they didn't, he threw the emergency brake.

The suit was filed in Clay County Circuit Court on Thursday by the Cook,

Hall and Lampros law firm out of Atlanta. The suit seeks a trial by jury

on all claims.

A CSX spokesman told Channel 4 late Friday afternoon that they had not

yet received the lawsuit and could not comment on it.

[End quote]

How many things are so very wrong about this frivolous and greedy

lawsuit? The mother of the boy didn't bother to teach her son to respect

"no trespassing" signs and to keep off of dangerous railroad trestles and

now wants compensation? Despite the fact four plainly lettered danger

signs and no trespassing signs were posted, the lawsuit still wants to

railroad to do more? Does the lawsuit say no one - other than the mean,

deep pockets railroad - should take any responsibility for their own

actions, especially when illegally trespassing on someone else's private

property? How does the plaintiff know the train was going too fast? What

criteria is being used?

So very many people can't understand why private freight railroads resist

the confiscation of their property for use in passenger service, such as

new commuter services. This is the reason why. Anyone, at anytime, can

file a frivolous lawsuit against a railroad, and the railroad has to pay

to defend itself, plus any type of settlement which may be forthcoming

either through arbitration or order of a court.

Here in Florida, the consummation of a commuter rail deal in Central

Florida was delayed for a year allegedly because CSX demanded it be held

harmless in any type of accident or other scenario involving contact with

human beings. With this type of lawsuit outlined above being a nearly

daily occurrence for railroads, why would railroads want to invite more

of the same with commuter service or other passenger service?

In Massachusetts, where the same discussion is taking place between CSX

and local governments for additional commuter service outside of Boston,

a similar situation happened. A freight car, on a private siding, wasn't

tied down properly, and went wandering on its own out on to mainline

track, where it collided with a commuter train, involving injuries, but

no deaths.

The result was lawsuits filed not only against the commuter carrier, the

lumberyard which owned the siding and was responsible for the wandering

freight car, but CSX only because it owned the tracks. It will cost CSX a

fortune to defend these lawsuits, and probably have to pay for some

damages, too.

Again, this begs the question, why would CSX or any other private

railroad want its property treated as a public utility, and subject to

lawsuits by passengers because something happened beyond the railroad's

control?

If America wants more commuter or regional rail service, and it wants it

on private property with the property owner responsible for each and

every thing which happens, no matter who is at fault, then some type of

reasonable protection must be afforded to the private property owners

before commuter rail will grow.

If you think this is a problem which needs to be fixed, take a trial

lawyer to lunch and explain to them the realities of personal

responsibility.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

____________________________________________________________

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 19, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 19

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) "There's trouble my friend, right here in River City," sang Tony Award

winner Robert Preston first on Broadway in 1957 and on the silver screen

in 1962's The Music Man. Preston was playing Professor Harold Hill, who

had just arrived in fictional River City, Iowa on the Rock Island

Railroad. The setting was pre-World War I, and the trouble was River

City's children were trying out near-beer, known by the brand name of

Bevo, and reading a salacious monthly magazine called "Captain Billy's

Whiz-Bang." The alleged real fear Professor Hill was promoting was the

satanic influence of a new pool table just arrived in town in a pool

hall, which was unfortunately owned by River City's mayor.

If only problems in the Midwest were that simple this week.

The Midwest has been soaked by torrential rains, and equally torrential

flooding has occurred as a result. Mighty rivers are over-running their

banks, and entire communities as being washed away.

The freight railroads of the Midwest and Upper Midwest are dealing with

huge problems of washed out or flooded tracks and infrastructure,

disappearing bridges, rolling stock suddenly sitting amidst inland oceans

of muddy water, and things generally grinding to a screeching halt.

It's a colossal mess, and a firm indication that lest anyone forget,

Mother Nature is ALWAYS in charge.

Open routes for essential freight trains are few and far between. Power

companies are running out of coal to provide electricity to millions of

people. Manufacturers depending on "just in time" freight deliveries are

out of luck. The shaky economy will take a hit because so much business

has halted due to flooding, and food prices will be shooting up because

it's summer, and essential crops that feed the nation are disappearing

under water. Railroads will have huge clean-up bills, but earnings are

also down due to stopped and unmovable trains. This mess could take weeks

to sort out.

But, we have seen what the Union Pacific Railroad can do when Mother

Nature deals it a raw hand. We saw a bridge replaced in Northern

California in a time that was measured in days and hours instead of weeks

and months. We saw the mudslide in Oregon that deposited most of a side

of a mountain on UP's north-south mainline that hosts Amtrak's Coast

Starlight go away with amazing speed, considering what it took to reopen

that line. It took weeks to get the job done, but geniuses of

engineering, coordination, and sheer perseverance overcame the continuing

punches of Mother Nature on the side of that mountain and UP won the day

and reopened the line.

Here in the Southeast, in 2005, we saw what good planning and great

execution did for Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Canadian National after

Hurricane Katrina blew ashore that summer. By April 1, 2006, every piece

of track had been repaired or replaced, and every bridge was back in

place, and full passenger train operations were able to resume - if

Amtrak had chosen to do so with the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans.

2) We know today's railroaders are every bit the heroes their

predecessors were who blazed trails across America in the 19th Century.

We know as soon as the flood waters started rising, the professional

engineers and maintenance of way people at Union Pacific, Burlington

Northern Santa Fe, Kansas City Southern, Canadian Pacific, Canadian

National, Norfolk Southern and CSX were dusting off emergency and

contingency plans to get things back to normal and once again move our

nation's freight with the urgency needed by every American.

Amtrak, through all of this, has either annulled or provided reduced

substitute service in the Midwest and Upper Midwest. It's been very

understandable that passenger trains which carry such a small amount of

domestic travelers in our nation would not receive very high priority.

That's not a happy scenario, but a realistic scenario.

3) The question is, when things get back to normal, what is Amtrak going

to do? It's the middle of the summer travel season; will Amtrak try to

get its trains back running at the earliest possible moment, or will it

do what it did when the Coast Starlight route was blocked: throw it's

corporate hands into the air, surrender more quickly that the French

staring down the barrel of a popgun, and think it will save a few bucks

in operating expenses by just not operating any trains until it is

compelled to do so?

Here on the Right Coast, Amtrak is doing its usual gold-plating of the

Northeast Corridor, and replacing the Thames River Bridge in Connecticut,

on its main route between New York City and Boston.

>From the moment the bridge replacement was announced, Amtrak let everyone

know that for four days, it was virtually abandoning its passengers and

loyal customers, and annulling most service over the NEC north of New

York City, even though a substitute route via Hartford, Connecticut is

available. Amtrak is running some service over that route, but not nearly

anything near what it normally says is a critically-needed service level

it provides over the main NEC route.

Amtrak just "doesn't get it" when it comes to providing service to its

passengers. It claims it's the largest carrier of passengers on the East

Coast, even larger than the airlines operating north of Washington, D.C.,

but it doesn't seem concerned that 80% of a business week (which it says

is its busy time) is going away without much replacement or substitute

service. Are we yet - again - seeing Amtrak operate for the comfort and

convenience of its operating department, and not for the comfort and

convenience of its passengers?

4) Let's review the history. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit, and the

Sunset Limited went away, and has yet to return. Amtrak President and CEO

Alex Kummant told Passenger Train Journal readers in the magazine's

current issue people should "get over it," when it comes to the return of

the Sunset east of New Orleans, even though there is a clamoring for

return of the service.

Early in 2008, when the mudslides hit the Coast Starlight route in

Oregon, Amtrak annulled the entire three-state, 1,377 mile long route of

the Starlight because one stretch of track was out in Oregon. It was only

the protests of California's brave RailPAC organization which forced

Amtrak to return the Starlight to service piece by piece, dragging its

corporate feet like a stubborn child.

Now, in the summer of 2008, we have the devastating Midwest floods, which

will be talked about for years to come. The freight railroads will, with

great aplomb and sweat on their brows, reopen their tracks and serve

their customers. But, will Amtrak be back as soon as possible? Or, will

someone at Amtrak make yet another decision based on some middle level

manger receiving a personal wage bonus for saving the company money by

not running trains, to delay and delay the return of service?

Amtrak, the eyes of America will be watching and waiting and wondering.

Don't disappoint us.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

____________________________________________________________

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 14, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 20

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) We need to have a very serious conversation - right now. Let's plunge

in.

Here at URPA World Headquarters, we monitor all types of newspapers,

magazines, and broadcast media nationwide. Thanks to modern Internet

search engines, we're able to see almost every story and editorial which

pops up regarding Amtrak, VIA Rail Canada, and the major freight

railroads.

There has been a theme of late about a need for a resurgence of passenger

rail travel, but most of the time the message in the stories and

editorials about Amtrak has been wrong.

We in America have the blessing of a free press - which in the 21st

Century - cares little about enterprise reporting. Reporters often begin

their labors with a preconceived notion of how they want their story to

turn out, and set out to seek quotes from interested parties which make

their preconceived notion true, at least for the sake of the story.

If you're one of the very good journalists from both the national and

local press who regularly read this space - and, you know who you are -

this isn't about you. This is about the journalists who don't take the

time to dig into stories, or are more interested in keeping their

assignment editors happy than going back and saying the facts of the

story are just not panning out as anticipated.

More than once the telephone here at TWA has rung, and a reporter has

spent sometimes more than an hour trying to elicit specific quotes -

often asking questions in very specific words attempting to put words in

the mouth of a source to fit a story. That's not good research, and not

good reporting. That's just filling in the blanks for the sake of a

made-up story, instead of soliciting the truth. Anybody close to the news

business knows reporters don't have the final say on what appears in

print or on the air. Most reporters will tell you the only good editor is

a retired editor. However, only so much burden can be put on editors, or

the need to edit for space, after a story is assembled.

2) Depending on who is doing the reporting, some stories about Amtrak

usually are accurate. The Bureau of National Affairs, a private publisher

writing for lobbyists and government officials in Washington is usually

close to 100% correct. The National Journal in the past has done some of

the best writing about Amtrak. The New York Times recently ran a lengthy

story about Amtrak and got most of it right. The Washington Post's

current transportation writers usually do a good job of reporting on

Amtrak. The Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch can usually be depended on

to get an Amtrak story correct. The Hartford Courant is reliable. The

small town newspapers and television stations in Illinois have a high

propensity for good Amtrak reporting. On the Left Coast, most of the

newspapers and television stations in California seem to have a pretty

good grip on things. So many others, don't.

3) A big part of the problem, of course, is Amtrak itself. We're talking

about Amtrak as a corporation, not Amtrak as is reflected in its

corporate spokespersons, such as the always honorable and consistently

excellent Cliff Black. We're talking about corporate policy, as is

generated in the bowels of Amtrak's executive corps, rubber stamped by

whatever board of directors may be in power at the moment, and spread as

gospel by Amtrak and its various wholly owned lapdog organizations, who

would never DARE dream of questioning the Holy Gospel of Amtrak.

Through the 37 wretched years of Amtrak's existence, beyond URPA and some

stalwart senior staffers on Capitol Hill, there have been very few voices

questioning the veracity of Amtrak, what the company is saying, and what

the company is doing. As a result, Amtrak has created for itself a

fascinating niche in our domestic transportation network which is not

only untenable, but perversely unassailable by reasonable thinkers

because so much false group-think has been idiomatically concocted about

Amtrak.

4) Since the advent of $4+ per gallon gasoline this spring and summer,

many stories have appeared in the American media about Amtrak, and how

many Americans are thinking of passenger rail in an entirely new light.

This is good. Americans have for decades wanted passenger rail, but

because of the burp in transportation thinking caused by the introduction

of the Boeing 707 jet airliner in the late 1950s, very few rational

people have given much thought to passenger rail.

Plus, there is still a great deal of junk science to overcome when it

comes to passenger trains.

First, there is the silly belief Americans don't want to ride long

distance passenger trains. On Sunday, July 13, a columnist in the

Knoxville (Tennessee) News Sentinel opined, "who wants to spent three

days on a train to travel to California?". Well, actually, a lot of

people already do, and many more would if there was any inkling Amtrak

was available to all Americans, and there was enough equipment to handle

all of the demand if the secret of Amtrak was every unleashed on the

American public.

Second, there is Amtrak's constant promotion of short, regional, and very

expensive to operate corridors instead of a healthy focus on high-revenue

producing long distance trains.

Let's review the facts, again.

In Fiscal Year 2007, the Empire Builder, a single daily train in each

direction, operating between Chicago and Portland/Seattle on a route of

over 2,200 miles, generated total revenue of $53,177,800, and 390,824,000

revenue passenger miles carrying 505,000 passengers an average length of

trip of 773.9 miles. The load factor for the Builder was 60.7%, with

13.61 cents of revenue per passenger mile. On average, the Builder

carried 206.7 passengers for every mile it traveled.

During that same period of time, Amtrak short corridor Hiawatha service

ran an interstate route of 86 miles between Chicago and Milwaukee,

Wisconsin with seven daily trains in each direction (six on Sundays). The

Hiawathas generated $10,230,000, and 47,619,000 revenue passenger miles

carrying 593,300 passengers an average length of trip of 80 miles. The

load factor for the Hiawathas was 37.7%, with 21.48 cents of revenue per

passenger mile. On average, the Hiawathas carried 110.7 passengers for

every mile one of the Hiawathas traveled.

Here's the bottom line: The single daily train Empire Builder carried

88,300 fewer passengers than the combined seven daily Hiawathas, and

generated $42,947,800 MORE in revenue, and generated 8,536,600 MORE

revenue passenger miles than all of the combined Hiawathas.

This same story is true all over America, no matter what comparisons are

used. The long distance trains, consisting of the Silver Star, Silver

Meteor, Cardinal, Empire Builder, Capitol Limited, California Zephyr,

Southwest Chief, City of New Orleans, Texas Eagle, Sunset Limited, Coast

Starlight, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Crescent, and Auto Train are the

really money makers and passenger haulers of Amtrak.

When you add up the performance of the regional services outside of the

Northeast Corridor, including the Ethan Allen, Vermonter, Albany/Niagara

Falls/Toronto, Downeaster, New Haven/Springfield, Keystone, Empire

Service, Chicago/St. Louis, Hiawatha, Wolverine, Illini, Illinois Zephyr,

Heartland Flyer, Pacific Surfliner, Cascade, Capitol, San Joaquin,

Adirondack, Blue Water, Washington/Newport News, Hoosier State, Kansas

City/St. Louis, Pennsylvanian, Pere Marquette, Carolinian, Piedmont, and

Amtrak Thruway busses, all of these services, many state sponsored,

generate $312,192,500 in revenue, based on 1,550,341,000 revenue

passenger miles, and ridership of 11,993,200 souls. There is an average

load factor of 40.1%, and revenue per passenger mile of 20.14 cents per

mile, with an average of 112.8 passengers carried for each mile all of

the trains travel.

The long distance fleet generates $377,981,000 in revenue, based on

2,495,482,000 revenue passenger miles, and ridership of 3,818,900 souls.

There is an average load factor of 56.8%, and revenue per passenger mile

of 15.15 cents per mile, with an average of 170 passengers carried for

each mile of all of the trains travel.

That means, the long distance fleet generates $6,578,850 MORE in revenue

than the short distance/corridor trains, and generate 945,141,000 MORE

revenue passenger miles, carrying 8,174,300 FEWER passengers than the

short distance/corridor trains.

4) The discussion becomes the same here as it is in war: body counts.

The empirical evidence is the long distance fleet of few trains is much

stronger in actual transportation output than the regional/short

distance/corridor trains. In short, fewer trains, costing less to

operate, and based on a lower income per passenger mile completely

overcomes a much higher number of trains, costing more to operate, with a

higher amount of income per passenger mile.

Why is this concept so difficult for Amtrak to grasp, and for the news

media to ask Amtrak, "why is your business plan so flawed, that it

prefers expensive corridor trains over financially stronger long distance

trains?" when the necessity for passenger rail is so prominent?

Is it more important to carry more people over shorter distances, or

carry fewer people over longer distances?

Here's a better question: Should Amtrak do everything it can to become a

stable, growing company, so it will be able to meet the many demands

placed on its resources, or should it continue to be a crippled child of

government, always waiting for the next financial handout from

government?

Headlines in Illinois the last couple of weeks were rife with speculation

the state government would not continue funding on some of Amtrak's

newest state routes, due to budget concerns. The usual hand-wringing

stories were written, and this story was presented as high drama by the

news media. In the end, a compromise was reached, and the trains will

live to travel another budget year.

This is exactly the sort of problem that is inherent on being a child of

government, such as Amtrak is today. The "success" of the company is

always at the whim of some bureaucrat numbers crunchers, whose only

allegiance is to keeping their government jobs.

5) There was a time, in the glory days of passenger railroading, when

both concepts were achieved. How did this work? Passengers work just like

freight. The long hauls are where the money is made, and the short hauls

are done for customer convenience and as feeders, and paid for by the

profits made by the long hauls.

For every San Diegan (the predecessors to today's Pacific Surfliners)

operated by the Santa Fe between Los Angeles and San Diego, there was

also a Super Chief, San Francisco Chief, The Grand Canyon, El Capitan,

Tulsan, Chicagoan, The Oil Flyer, and Kansas City Chief.

The same was true with the Southern Pacific. For every regional train in

and out of San Francisco, there was a Sunset Limited, Golden State,

Imperial, and Argonaut.

This held true all over America. For every milk run, local train, or mail

train, there were streamliners like the Orange Blossom Special, Silver

Meteor, Florida Special, City of Los Angeles, North Coast Limited,

Twentieth Century Limited, Broadway Limited, and many, many more.

The Eisenhower Interstate System of highways and the sucker punch of the

Boeing 707 jet airliner were too much for the railroads of their day in

the 1950s and 1960s. The railroads were not glamorous, or fast enough for

a society hooked on speed and the race for space and rockets to the moon.

But, now, the tables have turned, and passenger rail is once again

viable. It's just that America's sole provider of passenger rail isn't

viable. It's stuck with a corporate mindset and junk science business

plan that dooms it to financial ruin and the inability to serve Americans

who want passenger train service.

6) Amtrak's business plan, if put together by rational human beings,

should consist of three layers.

The first is a healthy and growing system of long distance trains IN

PARTNERSHIP with the host freight railroads. Everyone acknowledges there

is a rail capacity problem in this country as more and more freight is

leaving expensive highways and jumping on freight trains.

If you believe the Association of American Railroads, of which (even

though you would never know it) Amtrak is a full dues-paying member,

there isn't a single mile of railroad in this country which could

accommodate additional passenger trains. The translation of that is

Amtrak is such a low-paying customer that demands so much attention, it's

difficult for the host freight railroads to accommodate Amtrak trains

(Even though by mutual agreement at the beginning of Amtrak the railroads

agreed to a federal law being created which REQUIRES freight railroads to

give full access to their rails to Amtrak.), so, therefore some type of

better agreement needs to be reached between Amtrak and the host freight

railroads.

The second layer is a robust system of corridor trains, much like today's

arrangements, but with a different set of criteria. No two state

contracts are alike, and Amtrak is getting as much money as possible from

each state, with no standardization of costs and contracts.

Short and regional corridor trains can be healthy feeders into a long

distance system, and they can help share station, reservations, and

infrastructure costs. However, the emphasis must be placed on

connectivity and hubbing with long distance trains, and services must

complement each other for maximum passenger flow and utilization.

The third layer is providing coordination of commuter services with

various local and state operators and competitors. Today, Amtrak still

operates some commuter services (such as the Virginia Railway Express)

under contract, providing train and engine crews, equipment maintenance

in some cases, and other services. Allegedly, these services are provided

at a profit because they are purely services for sale to other entities,

but one can't help but wonder what the real return on investment is when

providing these services. In other words, does capital Amtrak uses to

prop up these services have as high of a rate of return as capital used

elsewhere in the company?

7) Congress has the ultimate answer to Amtrak's many problems, and that

doesn't include throwing more free federal money at Amtrak. The answer is

for Congress to set standards for Amtrak, above and beyond what the

Amtrak Board of Directors is willing to do.

Amtrak has pretty well become a bipartisan issue in Congress, and some of

its strongest defenders for the national system have been prominent

Republicans. Democrats can always be counted upon to support Amtrak as a

labor issue.

Congress must gather its collective wisdom and demand of Amtrak it create

a viable business plan which serves all of America, not just the Left and

Right Coasts, and an area in and out of Chicago.

As air service continues to shrink (and, there is still a lot of

shrinkage to come), and the cost of motor fuel continues to rise,

suddenly, in the minds of many, Amtrak looks pretty good. Oops! Because

of Amtrak's longstanding policy of putting all of its efforts and fiscal

capital and political capital into the Northeast Corridor and ignoring

the rest of the country that's west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and

south of Washington, D.C., there aren't many Amtrak choices for most

Americans.

Small Town America, where most of the country lives, has been left out of

the Amtrak equation for decades. Congressional representatives and

senators from these towns and states have dutifully kept Amtrak alive

year after year, voting more and more free federal monies for Amtrak's

benefit. But, there has been only minuscule return on investment for

those votes. In many instances, Members of Congress and others have time

and again been burned by Amtrak, after working to restore a local train

station, make improvements in some type of infrastructure, or help start

a promising new route, Amtrak has unceremoniously yanked service and left

communities and states high and dry, including all of the Gulf Coast east

of New Orleans.

Amtrak will retort there isn't enough money to go around. Really? URPA

has completed and TWA has published study after study which shows Amtrak,

if it follows a strong business plan, can be a robust and successful

company. It can live up to its mandate to provide America with passenger

rail service. Amtrak just chooses not to, because it is easier to follow

a flawed business plan and junk science that incorrectly claims passenger

rail service can't be profitable, or break even.

In today's news accounts, we're beginning to see more and more stories

airlines aren't, and can't be, profitable hauling passengers. Since when?

Because most airlines weren't as smart of Southwest and didn't purchase

oil futures contracts (Even Amtrak bought oil futures contract wisely.)?

If this bandwagon continues, are we (shudder) about to see Amsky? Will

the Republic Not Stand and come to its knees unless government steps in

and starts running the airline passenger system? What a revolting

thought.

In France, Air France and private passenger train operator Veolia are

talking about a combination plan where train and plane will work in

harmony to haul passengers, depending on the length of trip. What a

concept.

There are many clever answers to today's passenger transportation

challenges, but government operation is definitely not the obvious, nor

complete, answer. The true answer relating to government is for Congress

to mandate Amtrak to come up with a more viable business plan which

serves Americans both fiscally and sanely by providing dependable surface

transportation from nearly anywhere to nearly anywhere in American where

existing railroad tracks are in operation.

Will this require more free federal monies? Probably, in the beginning to

get things moving. More rolling stock will definitely be needed, but

should be able to be financed through traditional equipment leasing

channels instead of government purchase. Local stations and passenger

terminals should pass from Amtrak ownership and maintenance

responsibility to local ownership and responsibility, just as airports

are publicly owned and operated. Many existing freight lines will need

upgrades, but there are either federal programs already in place, or new

ones being considered for that to happen. A public/private partnership

for infrastructure improvement is a reasonable approach to rebuilding

America's passenger rail system.

8) All of this brings us back to where we began, talking about America's

news media. Beyond the claptrap handed out by Amtrak and its wholly owned

lapdog organizations to the news media, the media on all levels need to

dig into the Amtrak story and come up with useful stories and editorials

which reflect what can be and should be, not the continuing woe-is-me

stuff which dominates today's news about Amtrak. Enterprise reporting is

called for, to better help all Americans understand why Amtrak is not

available to entire states of people, plus major cities like Phoenix or

Tulsa, any only minimal service to cities like Houston and Cincinnati.

Some people who call themselves passenger rail advocates are really

nostalgic rail fans hoping for the past to reappear. That's not going to

happen. Instead, such an opportunity has presented itself due to the

current energy crisis where the true golden years of passenger

railroading may be in the very near future. Providing the news media and

the Congress get it right.

9) Respected businessman and private railcar owner Clark Johnson of

Madison, Wisconsin sent this missive to TWA.

[begin quote]

As a long-time reader [of TWA] and good friend of Andy Selden, I think

the recent service disruptions [due to flooding] of rail service in the

Midwest are a stark testimony to railroad mismanagement and lack of

government concern. Had these floods occurred in the 1950s, and there

were some then I remember well, there were numerous alternative routes

that were not afflicted by high water. The sort of total service

disruptions simply did not occur.

The massive downsizing, brought about by a management concerned only with

the expense side of the ledger, caused removal of double track, secondary

lines and connecting branches. Most railroad management (but not all)

could not conceive of significant increases in business; a typical result

of linear thinking of which the industry is especially proficient.

Deregulation brought about a surprising increase in business, which was a

surprise to most rail management who were still stuck in a downsizing

mindset.

While this does not directly read on Amtrak, the current congestion does.

There are few alternate routes. I live in Madison, Wisconsin and watched

a 110 car CP freight creep through town over the Wisconsin and Southern

to bypass the flooding on the CP main at Reeseville. That would be a

rational re-route for the Empire Builder except that it is Class 1 track.

On Amtrak Day the Milwaukee's Chicago-Madison service ceased and the

track began deteriorating to its present rather deplorable condition.

So with no secondary lines, no connecting branches and rail management

concerned with keeping their railroads glued together, what's poor Amtrak

to do?

There is no way to rebuild the rail infrastructure without massive

government support. So how about this deal: the Fed put up a significant

portion of the infrastructure money and the quid pro quo is open access

for passenger trains, and not limited to just Amtrak.

Keep up the good work.

Clark Johnson

[End quote]

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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

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Telephone 904-636-7739

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 21, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 21

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

PLEASE NOTE: URPA is experiencing some cosmic hiccups in our computer

system's subscription and distribution program. Therefore, if you have

recently cancelled your subscription, or recently added a subscription,

you're not being ignored by the humans on this end, but the computer

program is being cranky. We're working as fast as we can to debug this

program. Thanks for your understanding.

1) Thanks to all for an overwhelming positive response to last week's

TWA. Let's continue on that theme, but this time, with an emphasis on

making Congress more aware of Amtrak, and why Congress should take

positive control of Amtrak.

Let's first establish a perspective.

Whoever is the current tenant in the White House at any one time selects

the members of Amtrak's board of directors. The nominees from the White

House (often with the input of powerful members of Congress) are sent to

the United States Senate for hearings and confirmation.

The Senate Commerce Committee holds nominee hearings, and votes whether

or not to send the nominees for a full confirmation vote by the entire

Senate.

Depending on the whims of various members of the Senate - everyone from

Senate leadership down to the most rookie senator - anything can happen

to a nominee.

As has happened during the past eight years, if any senator doesn't like

any nominee for any reason (perhaps the color of the nominee's socks are

not to the senator's liking), any senator can place a "hold" on a

nominee. As long as the "hold" stays in force, nothing happens. The

nominee simply goes into limbo.

In some cases, pleasant and productive hearings are held by the Commerce

Committee, and a nominee is voted out of committee and sent to the Senate

for full confirmation, but someone in the Senate leadership doesn't like

the nominee for whatever reason, and the confirmation is never brought up

for a full vote. Again, the nominee simply goes into limbo.

Let's say the rare thing happens, and a nominee makes it through the

vetting process, the committee hearings process, and is finally confirmed

by the Senate. Oh, boy! We have a new member of the Amtrak Board of

Directors.

However, it's a pretty good chance under current law, while the nominee

does make it onto the board, they are not qualified to hold a position on

the board. You see, there are these pesky legal requirements that all

members of Amtrak's board must meet certain requirements, such as every

member of the Amtrak board is required to have transport or

corporate/financial management expertise [49 U.S.C. 24302(a)(2)©(I)].

The White House, lo these many years, has pretty well ignored this

requirement, and continued - with the cheering on of the Senate -

nominating all sorts of members to the Amtrak board who have more

political connections than professional experience. Since no one legally

challenges these shenanigans, the board members stay on the board.

As a result of this chicanery by both the White House and Senate,

Amtrak's many unqualified board members (Especially after the departure

of David Laney, who will go down in history as Amtrak's best Chairman of

the Board.) have come to rely almost exclusively on Amtrak corporate

staff to tell them which end of the train has the locomotive, and which

end has the coaches. Therefore, these bearers of a big rubber stamp for

all Amtrak business haven't done much research on their own outside of

the company, and don't necessarily have the background to know where to

begin looking for proper research (Although www.unitedrail.org is the

logical place to begin looking, as do hundreds of people every day,

according to web site visits statistics.)

In short, for there to be real and effective change at Amtrak, Congress

needs to take control of the company, and start mandating change. No

change? No funds. It's that simple.

2) "But," you say to yourself, "Smilin' Jack is my Congressman, and the

only way he can find the House Chamber is because it's in that big

building in Washington with the funny round thing on top. How am I

supposed to intelligently talk with him about Amtrak?"

Well, you don't need to talk to Smilin' Jack. That's why all members of

Congress have staffs, and usually there is a staff member who specializes

in transportation issues. There are also excellent staffs for each

committee in both the House and Senate, and these fine folks usually are

the real experts in what's going on, especially in matters relating to

Amtrak. It's the staff members you want to target, not directly the

sitting members of the House and Senate.

3) Keep in mind, too, how many members of Congress and the Senate have

absolutely no interest in Amtrak because it has nothing to do with their

state.

Senators from Alaska, Hawai'i, South Dakota, and Wyoming represent states

without any Amtrak service. On the House side, URPA had determined there

are roughly 100 House districts with no Amtrak service, nor any nearby

Amtrak service. Add to that figure the House districts where Amtrak only

blows through without any station stops, and you can add dozens of more

districts.

Misanthropic Amtrak supporters often boo and hiss at House members who

declare their disdain for Amtrak. Well, these representatives usually

have absolutely no stake in the success or failure of Amtrak, and because

Amtrak represents approximately the same transportation output as

motorcycle riders in the United States, there isn't a huge rush to

embrace Amtrak by these members who often don't even know what an Amtrak

train looks like.

Those members who do have Amtrak service in their districts are often

underwhelmed by the either one daily train in each direction, or

tri-weekly trains in each direction for their cities and towns.

Even though Amtrak correctly issues state fact sheets each year to

demonstrate how many Amtrak employees are in each state, and how much

Amtrak spends in each state, again, it's usually a drop in the bucket

compared to other federal programs. So you say, "But, wait! That's the

problem! There isn't enough money for Amtrak." You're wrong, again. There

is enough money for Amtrak, but Amtrak isn't spending it wisely or

doesn't have a good enough business plan to expand its own services using

its own resources.

4) Let's veer sharply to the right for a moment (If you're a registered

Democrat, feel free to veer sharply to the left.). The common

misconception, as started by Amtrak and picked up by its various wholly

owned lapdog organizations, is it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars

to fix up current static rolling stock to put it back on the road. Nope.

That's zero-based budget thinking.

Let's say there is a SuperLiner sleeping car currently bad-ordered, and

sitting in the weeds somewhere, unloved, and not generating any revenue.

Perhaps's it's something as simple as an out-of-date required FRA

inspection, or maybe a malfunctioning air conditioning system.

Just for the purposes of our discussion, Amtrak says it costs $10,000 to

put that car back in service, but it doesn't have $10,000 in the

maintenance budget. Oh, really? Let's break that analysis down a bit

further.

Presuming we're talking about an FRA inspection, we're talking primarily

about labor costs, plus some replacement parts costs. Okay, is Amtrak

going to hire a mechanical forces worker just to inspect that car? No,

Amtrak will use someone already on the payroll - someone already in a

budget somewhere. The replacement parts? Probably on an Amtrak

maintenance department shelf somewhere, waiting for a chance to be used.

Okay, so we have the labor already, and we have the replacement parts

already. Isn't it simply a matter of mating the waiting car, the labor,

and the parts? Yes, it is.

Now, on someone's books somewhere, all of this is recorded, and costs

assigned, because we would never want to disappoint some bean counter and

cause them to have stress headaches. So, costs are assigned and duly

recorded. There, the car is completed, ready to be reassigned for

service, and ready to create more revenue for the company.

"But," you continue to protest, "where is the cost of the replacement

parts coming from, since there always has to be something on the shelf

for the next broken car." Right you are. Here's a shocking discovery: The

revenue generated by the SuperLiner sleeping car being back in service

will probably pay for the replacement parts before that now-moving

SuperLiner makes it to its first station stop after leaving its departing

terminal.

That, in the real world, is how things work. Maintenance departments are

not given static numbers carved in stone. Funds are made available as a

budget year progresses, as money comes in from earned revenue.

In Amtrak's rather warped world, since it relies hugely on free federal

monies each year, whatever paltry money is assigned to national fleet

maintenance AFTER the needs of the Northeast Corridor are met, and AFTER

the needs of states which are coughing up state monies are met, then the

leftovers go to the national mechanical department budget. In other

words, money earned by a particular set of equipment isn't considered

when maintenance budgets are set for that equipment. Only priority

budgets for the NEC and other corridors are met first, then whatever is

left over goes to the real money-making part of the system, the long

distance routes and fleets.

5) This brings us back to your favorite member of Congress. You must take

the position they know even less than nothing more than Sergeant Shultz

knew on Hogan's Heroes.

Anything they are likely to know, they either learned directly from

Amtrak (Always a scary thought.) or from the great unwashed American news

media, which often doesn't know a good Amtrak story when it hits them in

the keyboard.

Of late, many members of the news media have started consulting

professors at various colleges and universities which offer

transportation programs.

Let's examine that flawed concept for a moment. There are, of course,

many good professors at universities, but are often in the minority.

University professors dealing in transportation issues, beyond such

distinguished programs at the University of Denver's Intermodel

Transportation Institute, and a few other places, generally deal in

transportation theories based on liberal concepts, where the movement of

warm bodies is more important than financial performance. Most professors

think only in terms of local transit - mostly because that's all they

know - and incorrectly attempt to apply local transit concepts to long

distance trains or to Amtrak. Usually, whatever comes from these folks is

hogwash, as has been demonstrated time and again in recent newspaper

articles about the Amtrak "problem" in America, as related to high

gasoline prices.

The other problem with these professors is they usually come from a

culture where airline transportation is considered to be the only viable

form of public intercity transportation beyond the personal automobile.

These professors would NEVER consider the merits of bus transportation

(They have no idea how very successful and comfortable bus transportation

is in Canada.), and any transportation related to small towns - the real

heart of America - is usually too insignificant to be on their radar

screens.

Therefore, Amtrak is mostly a mystery to them, but, since there is no

such thing as a professor who doesn't want to be quoted in the news media

as an expert on some subject, they babble something incomprehensible

about Amtrak, and the news media, which often knows even less about

Amtrak, takes their babbling as gospel.

And, again, another pool of bad information about Amtrak comes into the

public's consciousness.

6) So, here we are. Your congressperson doesn't have good information

available to them about Amtrak. They keep hearing, decade after decade,

"just give us the money we need, and we'll be fine!". They keep reading

newspaper clips with stories that inevitably begin, "Cash starved Amtrak

today ...". They've got hundreds of federal programs staring them in the

face, begging for funding. And, practically everyday, someone like

Senator John Kerry makes a grab for regional money like he did last week,

seeking $1 billion to upgrade the NEC into Boston, while huge cities like

Houston and Phoenix and Tulsa either have tri-weekly Amtrak service, or

no Amtrak service at all.

Here's the bottom line: It's up to you to educate your representatives in

Washington. It's up to you to give them real facts, and demand something

beyond "business as usual" takes place. It's up to you to force Amtrak

into becoming a productive and contributing part of our domestic

transportation network.

Here are some pointers to begin the education of your representatives.

- Remind official Washington of Amtrak's mission: to create a viable

passenger rail transportation system for ALL Americans, not just denizens

of the Right and Left Coasts, and those living near Chicago.

- Jacksonville Representative Corrine Brown, chairwoman of the House

subcommittee for railroads, is trying to make sure Amtrak restores the

ever-missing Sunset Limited between New Orleans and Florida. She's put a

provision in an Amtrak bill providing (way too much) money that Amtrak

must spend to "study" the restoration of the Sunset and then report to

her and others in Congress why the Sunset hasn't returned.

If more representatives took this initiative, it would be difficult for

Amtrak to ignore multiple members of Congress, even though Amtrak has

successfully achieved that in the past.

- Members representing districts with no Amtrak service or only "blow

through" Amtrak service need to demand a plan which will provide service

to their districts. This does NOT indicate every streak of rust

masquerading as a railroad track should have Amtrak service. But, it does

indicate there are many huge gaps in the Amtrak system which need to be

rationally filled.

- Rolling stock maintenance, restoration, and new acquisition is an

on-going process in all forms of common carrier transportation, unless

you're Amtrak. Congress needs to implement a procurement system, perhaps

through the FRA, that determines equipment needs of all sorts, and makes

sure equipment is reasonably in place for ALL of Amtrak's trains, not

just the NEC trains. This system would include the delights and wonders

of bootstrap equipment procurement and leasing, where the economic value

of operating a car takes into account the acquisition and ongoing

maintenance costs, and bases decisions on economic terms, not political

terms, such as Amtrak uses today. Amtrak passengers in Denmark, South

Carolina deserve a train with rolling stock that is as comfortable as an

Acela trainset serving Metropark, New Jersey.

- The model for airports used by airlines since Shirley Temple sang "On

The Good Ship Lollipop" while dancing down the aisle of a twin prop DC-2

needs to be used by passenger trains.

Amtrak owns and operates many trains stations that instead need to be in

local government hands and ownership. Scattered through the country, like

in Kissimmee, Florida and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, are locally owned

stations which are nicer than any other comparable Amtrak-owned stations

in the system.

If local governments (If they even know Amtrak exists.) want Amtrak

service for their city or town, they need to provide the station. Amtrak

could lease the ticket counter and set certain safety and continuity

standards, but local authorities could own and maintain train stations

far better than Amtrak, such as in Tampa, Florida.

- Demand Congress force implementation of a better business plan than is

used today. Today's disastrous plan to fleece participating states of

money for regional corridor routes does nothing to bolster Amtrak

overall, since these programs do not contribute to the overall financial

health of Amtrak, but only pay for the specified service. The real

financial stability is in Amtrak's long distance passenger trains (see

below), as discussed many times in this space.

- Demand Congress pay better attention to the overall infrastructure

needs of Amtrak's host freight railroads throughout the country. There

are rail traffic jams out there to be unsnarled, but there are also a

multitude of solutions to those problems which clever people can figure

out where everyone is a winner, especially the American train passenger.

In essence, Congress needs to override the wishes of Amtrak's Board of

Directors, since the Amtrak board continually fails to steer the company

in the right direction. Think this is unprecedented for Congress to take

control of an entity that is under the direction of the executive branch

of government? Think again.

Amtrak's principal stock is held by the United States Secretary of

Transportation, on behalf of the American people. Congress, however, is

Amtrak's banker.

More than once, for a company in dire financial straits (And, make no

mistake, Amtrak is by definition a financially bankrupt company.), that

company's bankers and lenders have taken control of the company and

nursed it back to financial health. This is why Congress needs to exert

more fiscal control over Amtrak. Amtrak has proven for decades it is

incapable of managing its own finances, nor make prudent business

decisions. Amtrak has been enabled in this wretched enterprise by it

wholly owned lapdog organizations, which have bleated like sheep year

after year Amtrak is a sound organization, and only "needs to be given a

chance to succeed."

That time has come and gone. Billions of dollars have been thrown at

Amtrak with no appreciable results except a corporately handicapped

company that is so dysfunctional it can't even figure out who its best

customers are, and where its true future lies.

7) It's election season, and this year it's likely to be a healthy

turnover in congressional seats, as well as senate seats. That's okay,

new faces in Washington are new opportunities to get to these people and

their staffs before the false indoctrination from Amtrak and its vile

minions begins.

What of a new White House administration, and its stewardship of the

Amtrak board? Well, not many vacancies will come up anytime soon; most

board members are recent appointees and will be around for another three

to four years.

Will a new administration be any better at appointing new board members

who are legally qualified? If Amtrak's complete history of the past 37

years proves accurate, some very good board members like Paul Weyrich,

Haley Barbour, Ralph Kerchum, Charlie Luna, and David Laney will probably

make it onto the board, but, most likely, they will be far outnumbered by

the usual political hacks which typically are appointed to the board by

both political parties.

What about Amtrak's president and chief executive officer? Alex Kummant

has almost completed his second year of stewardship of Amtrak. His own

resume says he's nearing the average length of time he stays in any one

job with one company, plus, other than the late Graham Claytor, Mr.

Kummant is also approaching the average length of time any one individual

stays on as Amtrak's president and chief executive officer.

What most likely won't change at Amtrak any time soon, unless a new

president and CEO makes a clean sweep, is the executive corps that runs

Amtrak on a daily basis. While there are many bright gems to be found,

such as Vice President Richard Phelps, there are still far too many

failures populating departments like strategic planning, which often make

a real difference in prosperous companies.

8) Let's review. It's time to stop depending on Amtrak's Board of

Directors for any worthwhile direction for the company. Internally,

Amtrak is on a completely wrong track and has no realistic business plan.

Congress can - and should - step in and force major changes in the way

Amtrak looks at the future, conducts current business, and serves

American taxpayers. Only Congress has the clout - and financial pressure

- to reform Amtrak and help the company achieve its real potential. Only

Congress can force Amtrak to dump its totally wretched current business

plan and create a new business plan which focuses on all Americans, not

just citizens on the extreme coasts. Only Congress can stand up to Amtrak

and say, "No, that's not the way things are going to be."

You can help make this happen by being correctly informed about Amtrak,

and passing your knowledge along to the news media on all levels, and

members of Congress and their staffs. It's no wonder so many members of

Congress don't like Amtrak; they have no reason to like or support Amtrak

because Amtrak has absolutely no impact on their districts or states.

Turn these members of Congress into productive forces of change by

letting them know Amtrak can become relevant in their districts and to

their voters, but that will never happen if Amtrak is left to its own

sordid devices.

9) Below is some information repeated from last week's TWA which is

relevant background as you seek to intelligently discuss Amtrak. More

information can be found at URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org .

There is still a great deal of junk science to overcome when it comes to

passenger trains.

- First, there is the silly belief Americans don't want to ride long

distance passenger trains. On Sunday, July 13, a columnist in the

Knoxville (Tennessee) News Sentinel opined, "who wants to spent three

days on a train to travel to California?". Well, actually, a lot of

people already do, and many more would if there was any inkling Amtrak

was available to all Americans, and there was enough equipment to handle

all of the demand if the secret of Amtrak was every unleashed on the

American public.

- Second, there is Amtrak's constant promotion of short, regional, and

very expensive to operate corridors instead of a healthy focus on

high-revenue producing long distance trains.

Let's review the facts, again.

- In Fiscal Year 2007, the Empire Builder, a single daily train in each

direction, operating between Chicago and Portland/Seattle on a route of

over 2,200 miles, generated total revenue of $53,177,800, and 390,824,000

revenue passenger miles carrying 505,000 passengers an average length of

trip of 773.9 miles. The load factor for the Builder was 60.7%, with

13.61 cents of revenue per passenger mile. On average, the Builder

carried 206.7 passengers for every mile it traveled.

During that same period of time, Amtrak short corridor Hiawatha service

ran an interstate route of 86 miles between Chicago and Milwaukee,

Wisconsin with seven daily trains in each direction (six on Sundays). The

Hiawathas generated $10,230,000, and 47,619,000 revenue passenger miles

carrying 593,300 passengers an average length of trip of 80 miles. The

load factor for the Hiawathas was 37.7%, with 21.48 cents of revenue per

passenger mile. On average, the Hiawathas carried 110.7 passengers for

every mile one of the Hiawathas traveled.

Here's the bottom line: The single daily train Empire Builder carried

88,300 fewer passengers than the combined seven daily Hiawathas, and

generated $42,947,800 MORE in revenue, and generated 8,536,600 MORE

revenue passenger miles than all of the combined Hiawathas.

- This same story is true all over America, no matter what comparisons

are used. The long distance trains, consisting of the Silver Star, Silver

Meteor, Cardinal, Empire Builder, Capitol Limited, California Zephyr,

Southwest Chief, City of New Orleans, Texas Eagle, Sunset Limited, Coast

Starlight, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Crescent, and Auto Train are the

really money makers and passenger haulers of Amtrak.

- When you add up the performance of the regional services outside of the

Northeast Corridor, including the Ethan Allen, Vermonter, Albany/Niagara

Falls/Toronto, Downeaster, New Haven/Springfield, Keystone, Empire

Service, Chicago/St. Louis, Hiawatha, Wolverine, Illini, Illinois Zephyr,

Heartland Flyer, Pacific Surfliner, Cascade, Capitol, San Joaquin,

Adirondack, Blue Water, Washington/Newport News, Hoosier State, Kansas

City/St. Louis, Pennsylvanian, Pere Marquette, Carolinian, Piedmont, and

Amtrak Thruway busses, all of these services, many state sponsored,

generate $312,192,500 in revenue, based on 1,550,341,000 revenue

passenger miles, and ridership of 11,993,200 souls. There is an average

load factor of 40.1%, and revenue per passenger mile of 20.14 cents per

mile, with an average of 112.8 passengers carried for each mile all of

the trains travel.

The long distance fleet generates $377,981,000 in revenue, based on

2,495,482,000 revenue passenger miles, and ridership of 3,818,900 souls.

There is an average load factor of 56.8%, and revenue per passenger mile

of 15.15 cents per mile, with an average of 170 passengers carried for

each mile of all of the trains travel.

That means, the long distance fleet generates $6,578,850 MORE in revenue

than the short distance/corridor trains, and generate 945,141,000 MORE

revenue passenger miles, carrying 8,174,300 FEWER passengers than the

short distance/corridor trains.

- The discussion becomes the same here as it is in war: body counts.

The empirical evidence is the long distance fleet of few trains is much

stronger in actual transportation output than the regional/short

distance/corridor trains. In short, fewer trains, costing less to

operate, and based on a lower income per passenger mile completely

overcomes a much higher number of trains, costing more to operate, with a

higher amount of income per passenger mile.

Why is this concept so difficult for Amtrak to grasp, and for the news

media to ask Amtrak, "why is your business plan so flawed, that it

prefers expensive corridor trains over financially stronger long distance

trains?" when the necessity for passenger rail is so prominent?

- Is it more important to carry more people over shorter distances, or

carry fewer people over longer distances?

Here's a better question: Should Amtrak do everything it can to become a

stable, growing company, so it will be able to meet the many demands

placed on its resources, or should it continue to be a crippled child of

government, always waiting for the next financial handout from

government?

- Headlines in Illinois the last couple of weeks were rife with

speculation the state government would not continue funding on some of

Amtrak's newest state routes, due to budget concerns. The usual

hand-wringing stories were written, and this story was presented as high

drama by the news media. In the end, a compromise was reached, and the

trains will live to travel another budget year.

This is exactly the sort of problem that is inherent on being a child of

government, such as Amtrak is today. The "success" of the company is

always at the whim of some bureaucrat numbers crunchers, whose only

allegiance is to keeping their government jobs.

There was a time, in the glory days of passenger railroading, when both

concepts were achieved. How did this work? Passengers work just like

freight. The long hauls are where the money is made, and the short hauls

are done for customer convenience and as feeders, and paid for by the

profits made by the long hauls.

For every San Diegan (the predecessors to today's Pacific Surfliners)

operated by the Santa Fe between Los Angeles and San Diego, there was

also a Super Chief, San Francisco Chief, The Grand Canyon, El Capitan,

Tulsan, Chicagoan, The Oil Flyer, and Kansas City Chief.

This held true all over America. For every milk run, local train, or mail

train, there were streamliners like the Orange Blossom Special, Silver

Meteor, Florida Special, City of Los Angeles, North Coast Limited,

Twentieth Century Limited, Broadway Limited, and many, many more.

- The Eisenhower Interstate System of highways and the sucker punch of

the Boeing 707 jet airliner were too much for the railroads of their day

in the 1950s and 1960s. The railroads were not glamorous, or fast enough

for a society hooked on speed and the race for space and rockets to the

moon.

But, now, the tables have turned, and passenger rail is once again

viable. It's just that America's sole provider of passenger rail isn't

viable. It's stuck with a corporate mindset and junk science business

plan that dooms it to financial ruin and the inability to serve Americans

who want passenger train service.

- Amtrak's business plan, if put together by rational human beings,

should consist of three layers.

The first is a healthy and growing system of long distance trains IN

PARTNERSHIP with the host freight railroads. Everyone acknowledges there

is a rail capacity problem in this country as more and more freight is

leaving expensive highways and jumping on freight trains.

If you believe the Association of American Railroads, of which (even

though you would never know it) Amtrak is a full dues-paying member,

there isn't a single mile of railroad in this country which could

accommodate additional passenger trains. The translation of that is

Amtrak is such a low-paying customer that demands so much attention, it's

difficult for the host freight railroads to accommodate Amtrak trains

(Even though by mutual agreement at the beginning of Amtrak the railroads

agreed to a federal law being created which REQUIRES freight railroads to

give full access to their rails to Amtrak.), so, therefore some type of

better agreement needs to be reached between Amtrak and the host freight

railroads.

The second layer is a robust system of corridor trains, much like today's

arrangements, but with a different set of criteria. No two state

contracts are alike, and Amtrak is getting as much money as possible from

each state, with no standardization of costs and contracts.

Short and regional corridor trains can be healthy feeders into a long

distance system, and they can help share station, reservations, and

infrastructure costs. However, the emphasis must be placed on

connectivity and hubbing with long distance trains, and services must

complement each other for maximum passenger flow and utilization.

The third layer is providing coordination of commuter services with

various local and state operators and competitors. Today, Amtrak still

operates some commuter services (such as the Virginia Railway Express)

under contract, providing train and engine crews, equipment maintenance

in some cases, and other services. Allegedly, these services are provided

at a profit because they are purely services for sale to other entities,

but one can't help but wonder what the real return on investment is when

providing these services. In other words, does capital Amtrak uses to

prop up these services have as high of a rate of return as capital used

elsewhere in the company?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 31, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 22

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Ah, summertime! Those lazy, hazy days when America hits the rails and

roads. Here's an enroute firsthand report from a dedicated railfan who

had just a bit too much of Amtrak's hospitality.

[begin quote]

[Onboard the Empire Builder, east of St. Paul, Minnesota] So, the plot so

far ... we are on the eastbound Empire Builder (Train no. 28) which

departed Portland Saturday.

There was no AC in the deluxe bedrooms (in the sleeping car which we were

booked in), so we spent most of our trip in coach. Also, there was no

lounge car, as is normally in the train's consist.

Sunday morning, a PA announcement greeted us with "welcome to our

nightmare." Someone was having a bad day, already.

There are two current bright spots:

- To my knowledge, every toilet still works.

- It appears we will arrive in Chicago yet today, without a bustitution.

In other words, it could have been worse!

So, it wasn't just our car and the lounge car that had issues. Apparently

"every" car had issues. Several of the Seattle sleepers also had issues,

though apparently not as bad as ours. The diner (from Seattle) had no (or

little) refrigeration.

So, the diner stopped serving coach passengers, but served pretty much a

full menu to sleeper passengers. Arrangements were made for free food for

coach passengers. Large boxes of Subway sandwiches were loaded on the

train at one stop, boxes of other things at another, and for dinner they

offered a hot boxed chicken dinner for $9.75 to coach passengers.

Breakfast on Sunday was a nightmare because they were handing out a free

jumbo muffin and juice to coach passengers - from a table at one end of

the diner. Huge line to make it past. They learned their lesson and

passed that stuff out themselves after that.

Today, we sat in St. Paul for a long time. Maybe two hours? I haven't

checked the web site. We have a private car on the train, and they were

inserting a coach between the Portland sleeper and the private car at the

end of the train. The Head End Power was off for almost all of that two

hours, and it got unbearably hot in most of the train. One of the coach

attendants (our sleeper attendant was AWOL) said we were supposed to pick

up an engine that had been dropped off as bad ordered the day before and

take it with us to Chicago, but his suspicion was that the Head End Power

wasn't routing through it correctly, because it looked like they were

taking it back out of the train's consist.

A family of three was in room A next to us. They were really annoyed

about the whole thing. Got on in Portland, no AC, and they claim somebody

promised them a room would open up in Spokane (Everybody I talked to said

MAYBE that would happen.). The man in the family in A asked me if I knew

about getting a refund. I told him to call 800-USA-RAIL, and ask for

customer relations (that's what the Portland attendant had told me to

do). I said he'd probably get a full refund in the form of a voucher.

That really ticked him off more - "What would I ever want to ride Amtrak

again for?" I later learned this was pretty much their first train trip,

though they had been on the Coast Starlight as part of it, and enjoyed

that ... but they were so soured by this experience it became a "never

again" moment. I saw his wife run back to the sleepers from the "sleeper

seats in coach" crying at one point - just overwhelmed, I guess.

They eventually got so fed up with it all that they got off in St. Paul,

and I guess were going to find an alternate way to reach Chicago.

Paul, our sleeper attendant, had started out incredibly friendly and

accommodating Saturday, but turned downright surly by Sunday morning. He

didn't lift a finger to help us with anything, and three times walked

away while I was talking to him. Also, I happened to be downstairs in the

car's vestibule at one stop when the conductor was boarding people down

there, moving the suitcases away, etc. He was incredibly friendly to the

passengers getting on, but said "your attendant has missed the last three

stops. I'm not sure where he is, but I'm sure he'll be around to

introduce himself soon." Read what you will from that.

There were some roomettes that were empty until Minot. Paul didn't offer

them to us, and when I asked him if we could use them, he said, "No,

every room is sold." and stormed off. When I saw him next, I asked where

they were sold from, and he agreed we could sit in them until then.

He treated the other people in the AC-free rooms the same, from what they

told me.

Despite all this, they managed to hold a wine tasting in the diner

yesterday afternoon. There was an announcement that sleeper passengers

that signed up should come over now. Only nobody ever asked us. Paul got

on the PA from the diner and said "the 2830 car people should just come

now." Oops.

In fairness to Paul, I think he was stretched really thin - helping serve

food to people in coach, helping with the wine tasting, etc. But he did

seem to be incredibly helpful to the people with air conditioning. No

idea why he pretty much wrote off those of us without.

Anyhow ... Onwards to Chicago. Amtrak is estimating a 5:35 arrival now.

Strange things happening in the diner, too. No "enhanced menu" of any

sort. And there was usually one and only one call for each meal, and

sometimes you were just magically supposed to know when that call was.

Crew morale was obviously rock bottom. My wife and I overheard lots of

sniping back and forth. Several attendants were mad at one coach

attendant who knowingly took fruit loaded on the train for breakfast and

handed it all out to the passengers in only her coach before anybody else

could get it.

The service in the dining car was above average though.

[End quote]

And, this is the Empire Builder, supposed to be one of Amtrak's BEST

trains?

2) Here's the big question: Has Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant

completely lost his way in running the company? So many Amtrak observers

had high hopes for his on-the-job performance expectations, but those

hopes appear to be dashed on the rocky shores of Amtrak's continuing

business as usual when it comes to passenger service.

In both the real world and the Amtrak world (Only the most misguided,

ardent rail fan and Amtrak apologist would every presume Amtrak is

operated in the real world.), the public head of a company is supposed to

be the guiding light of the company. The reason company CEOs are selected

by boards of directors is to provide a vision for a company and to lead

the company to achieve that vision.

That is not what is happening here.

This wretched description of a trip on the Empire Builder in the height

of the summer travel season says far too much about far too many things

being perpetually wrong at Amtrak. What the above description highlights

is a complete lack of managerial oversight of a train crew on the road,

plus an ignoble laissez faire attitude that is ruinous for both

passengers and employees.

There are so many good Amtrak employees trying hard to serve their

passengers well. Why is this type of completely unacceptable situation

allowed to fester, causing the company both money and future business?

Does anyone care?

You may recall the Empire Builder was to be the grand experiment in

running long distance passenger trains (In actuality, the Empire Builder

"experience" for passengers is merely a shadow of the normal service we

used to provide every trip on the Sunset Limited pre-David Gunn and

pre-Alex Kummant.). The Builder was outfitted with nifty rebuilt

passenger cars, and the employees were allegedly some of the best in the

company. The Empire Builder was the train that was supposed to define

Amtrak's long distance network, and would be the model for all other long

distance trains to follow. Oops! What went wrong?

Has Amtrak simply given up on the concept of acceptable long distance

train service? Or, can Amtrak - which started the Empire Builder grand

experiment with pretty high approval marks - sustain any reasonable

service levels for any length of time?

And, what about the front line mangers of this route? Where are they? Off

on their own vacations, leaving their near-helpless passengers to find

for themselves? Or, maybe hanging out in a back office, hoping no one

will notice them?

Back to the real world: What manager on the Empire Builder route needs to

lose their job over this? Does anyone at Amtrak understand a)

accountability, and B) personal responsibility?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

____________________________________________________________

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----------



## yarrow

i agree with what i take as the point to this issue: that kummant is doing his best imitation of his boss. unfortunately he doesn't realize his boss isn't george "what do you mean something is wrong" bush but the amtrak customer. amtrak travel is more of a crapshoot than ever and kummant seems (like his boss, bush) to be clueless


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 4, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 23

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) You just never know when an issue of TWA goes racing out over the

Internet what's going to come back in return.

Last week, in the last issue, we talked of The Trip From Hell in the past

couple of weeks on the Empire Builder, allegedly Amtrak's premier long

distance train, operating between Portland, Oregon/Seattle, Washington

and Chicago.

Several interesting responses came flying back over the URPA World

Headquarters transom.

This first missive, ironically touched off by the same writing of The

Trip From Hell as later reported in TWA, went to Conde Nast Traveler

regarding what the writer considered as a "puff piece" on Amtrak in the

August issue of that august travel publication.

[begin quote]

Dear Conde Nast Traveler -

I was terribly disappointed to read what can only be described as a "puff

piece" about train travel in general, and Amtrak in particular, in the

August 2008 issue which arrived a few days ago.

Perhaps Jim Robbins lucked out on his trips - spring and fall are often

better seasons than summer or winter to travel on Amtrak's long distance

trains. Perhaps you don't regularly read "This Week at Amtrak," an

independent newsletter about the state of the railroad. Perhaps you did

not do enough research about how Amtrak has been misled, mishandled and

manhandled especially over the last dozen or more years. Regardless, you

did a terrible disservice to your readers in this article and the

accompanying sidebars. This is not the Amtrak that most riders

experience, especially on long distance trains. I attach another story of

a very recent trip on the Empire Builder for your enlightenment [Editor's

note: This is the same story which also appeared as The Trip From Hell in

the last TWA.]. There are dozens more - from the abandoned trains (and

their passengers) in Illinois in a snowstorm last winter to the cessation

of all service on the Coast Starlight for several months because of a

landslide in the mountains of Oregon.

The long distance trains as well as the "corridor" services must be

retained, improved and augmented with a much greater number of connecting

trains. The system should certainly have nearly as many route miles as

the interstate system, NOT the skeletal system that exists today. There

certainly should be several more cars per train in the "high" seasons to

accommodate the demand, but instead Amtrak has dozens if not hundreds of

cars sitting in its yards, languishing due to needed repairs while

hundreds of other cars that should NOT be out on the railroad are in fact

running in trains.

On page 54 there are several egregious errors, showing a lack of editing,

a lack of consulting with rail experts or just plain sloppiness. The

California Zephyr runs, in fact, on the FIRST completed (1869)

transcontinental route, NOT the last. The Canadian on VIA Rail Canada

makes dozens and dozens of stops as it travels across Canada, NOT nine

stops as you state.

There are apologists, train fans, Amtrak employees, and many critics, any

of whom could have given you a much more balanced view of the state of

Amtrak - sadly you chose not to dig deep enough to find them.

Next time you feel moved to write about Amtrak (after your Ombudsman has

handled all the complaints you'll receive on the basis of this article)

please check with some of us who traveled with Amtrak from the beginning,

through thick and thin, and now choose to use their trains seldom if ever

anymore because of the abysmal state of disrepair of the corporation, its

people and its trains.

I'll not be renewing my subscription to Conde Nast Traveler.

Cordially,

Lloyd Adalist

Seattle, Washington

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Bruce -

I just read your distressing column on the Empire Builder trip from hell.

I just want to reassure you that this trip is very much the exception,

not the rule. I ride the train frequently between Chicago and Winona

(Minnesota), always eating in the diner. While things aren't always

perfect, they are generally much better compared to Amtrak travel a few

years ago. I've never seen a whole car missing, the food in the diner is

good, most of the crew members work pretty hard and are reasonably

friendly, the train runs pretty close to schedule (both ways), the AC

works and is well-adjusted, and there is an interpreter in the lounge car

everyday in summer in this segment. Most importantly, there are a lot of

passengers and they seem to be pretty happy. A lot of the people have not

been on the train for a long time.

David Phillips

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Bruce,

It's sometimes hard to believe that a company can be so inconsistent with

regard to employees and equipment. I just completed a Milwaukee - Seattle

round trip (deluxe bedroom both ways) that would rank as near perfect,

and I have been very critical of Amtrak performance over the years,

writing up train operations and employees when they needed it. (Sleeper

attendant Paul needs to be fired, but unfortunately that's hard to do.)

Sleeping car attendants, coach attendants and lounge car people on this

round trip were great. Dining car steward (happened to get the same one

in both directions) was merely average, but waiters compensated.

Westbound was on time, eastbound was a half hour late, due to excess time

removing a private car at Twin Cities. We left Seattle one hour late due

to sleeper toilet maintenance and diner grill needing work, but it was

better to leave late than to leave with non-working equipment. En route,

our attendant recruited a mechanic in Minot to fix a balky call system.

By the way, it is standard practice to load chicken dinners at Havre,

Montana in both directions. Reservations for them are taken by the lounge

car attendant and he handles the dinners. There isn't time to feed

everyone dinner in the diner.

For a while, Amtrak employed train chiefs to monitor all onboard

services. It was a great system when the chief was good, but I saw some

who were all but invisible, did nothing and were useless. Unfortunately,

the onboard crews tended to mirror their chief.

Mark Weitenbeck

Treasurer, WisARP [Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers]

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Accountability and responsibility? In a union shop? Especially in a

Gov'mint Union Shop? Oh, please, Bruce! That's just too funny!

Amtrak, as you and I both know, is full of good people doing good work on

behalf of the customer. But as with every barrel, there are going to be

some bad apples. And those are the ones that get written about. I have

rarely seen such a report when things were good, which they often are,

even with Kummant in charge.

Oh, and I have some news that will no doubt warm your heart. I have it on

good authority that David Gunn would love to come back if he is asked.

[End quote]

[begin quote]

[This writer wanted TWA - in response to the last TWA - to know there are

some good Amtrak trips on other routes.]

Leaving from Baltimore on July 16th, we took the Cardinal to Washington

and then Chicago. All facilities worked fine and the train was nearly on

time at Chicago. We had a roomette which was comfortable and well air

conditioned.

The negative was that the sleeper was the last car on the train and

tended to bounce and sway on well-worn truck springs. At Indianapolis,

additional cars were added and this stabilized the sleeper. We did notice

that the dining car crew was generally grumpy and lacked customer service

skills.

Next we took the California Zephyr westbound to Glenwood Springs,

Colorado. Our sleeping car attendant was very helpful and prompt and the

dining car food was well prepared. At times the dining car crew seemed

surprised that so many people wanted to eat! The AC and toilets worked

fine. However, we arrived in Glenwood Springs approximately three hours

late.

On July 19th, I went to the Glenwood Springs station to take some

photographs and witnessed both the eastbound and westbound California

Zephyr arrive on time! It was the talk of the town.

Dave Highfield

Westminster, Maryland

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Dear Bruce:

And, what about the front line mangers of this route? Where are they? Off

on their own vacations, leaving their near-helpless passengers to fend

for themselves? Yes and No. There's one manager in Portland, Oregon. He

probably can't cover it all.

In Seattle, the biggest concern is to get the trains out on time, and

then the managers look good. None of the foreman ever follow up on the

cleaners and the trains are just filthy inside. The stench is unbearable.

As far as the A/C goes, Amtrak for whatever reason doesn't have any parts

for most of the repairs needed on the Builder in Seattle, Washington, or

Portland for that matter. They won't requisition the parts either,

because for some reason money has to be put out for those parts sitting

on the shelf. So, it's a no win situation. The managers have got to want

Amtrak to fail. Then, to quick turn the train after it has come in off

the road for three days, NEVER even touches the surface of the problems

on this train.

The Chicago crew base has the parts, but employees who don't want to do

the work and no one to make them.

Or, maybe hanging out in a back office, hoping no one will notice them?

Does anyone at Amtrak understand a) accountability, and B) personal

responsibility?

Amtrak Managers are never held accountable. They screw up by the numbers

and nothing is ever done to them.

Not all, but 90% of all Amtrak managers are ... and Hell-bent on

destruction.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

You have a great newsletter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[End quote]

And, finally,

[begin quote]

Mr. Richardson,

I just finished reading the latest TWA, and this story on the Builder is

all too accurate.

As someone who travels continually on the western long-hauls, as in every

couple of weeks for business purposes, I have noticed a dramatic drop

these past several months of the overall management of these trains. I

just sampled the Starlight on July 8th for the first time in months, and

for someone who has traveled this train steadily for the past 25 years, I

have never seen service in such turmoil since maybe 1979.

Filthy cars, no air-conditioning, disastrous understaffed diner service

and the list goes on and on, though the time-keeping has now been

restored, the train is a complete mess.

It makes me sick that this railroad is now receiving more money than ever

just because of the energy situation and is now going to squander all of

that as well in the Northeast as the national system continues to suffer

and shrink.

My question to you is, is there anyway to contact the board or whoever at

the top, to begin effectively unseating Mr. Kummant? He's now proven that

he is completely incapable of running this railroad. I'm tired of his

arrogance and his continued willingness to ignore the financial facts

that could finally make this railroad a successful, viable service once

and for all.

Any contacts that you could provide would be appreciated and handled in a

professional manner.

[End quote]

Well, in answer to that last comment, yes, there is a way of reaching the

Amtrak Board of Directors. Perhaps, if enough people were to

professionally contact the board members, they may begin to take notice

of the company and its many problems, instead of rubber-stamping whatever

is put in from of them by Amtrak staff and management.

The five members of the Amtrak Board of Directors are (There are two

vacant seats on the board):

Mr. R. Hunter Biden

Vice Chairman of the Board

Mr. Thomas C. Carper

Mr. Alexander Kummant

President, & CEO, Amtrak

Ex Officio/Non-Voting

Ms. Donna McLean

Chairman of the Board

Ms. Nancy A. Naples

The Honorable Mary Peters

Secretary of Transportation

United States Department of Transportation

The official mailing address for board members is

60 Massachusetts Avenue, Northeast

Washington, D.C. 20002

HOWEVER, if you fear your message may not reach Amtrak board members

because of any "filtering" which may occur by Amtrak staff members at

Amtrak headquarters, the following public information is available to all

interested parties via a Google search on the Internet.

R. Hunter Biden (son of Delaware Senator Joseph Biden) is a Washington

attorney and government relations professional, working in international

trade and business development at the law firm he helped found, Oldaker

Biden & Belair, LLP

Mr. Biden's contact information is

R. Hunter Biden

Partner

Oldaker, Biden & Belair, LLP

818 Connecticut Avenue, Northwest, Suite 1100

Washington, D.C. 20006

Telephone 202-728-1010

Facsimile 202-728-4044

Thomas C. Carper is the former Mayor of Macomb, Illinois. He is currently

a State of Illinois employee.

Mr. Carper's contact information is

Thomas C. Carper

Regional Director

West Central Region for Opportunity Returns

Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity

State of Illinois

510 North Pearl, Suite 700

Macomb, Illinois 61455

Telephone 309-836-2684

Donna McLean is a former airline industry official at the U.S. Department

of Transportation, and is the owner of Donna McLean Associates, LLC, a

Washington, D.C. based lobbying and consulting firm specializing in

transportation policy. Among her clients she lobbies the United States

Congress for are Boeing Air Traffic Management, Indiana University, the

Miccosukee Tribe, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLC, the international

accounting firm.

Ms. McLean's contact information is

Donna R. McLean

Donna McLean Associates, LLC

300 Independence Avenue, Southeast

Washington, D.C. 20003

Telephone 202-448-9500

Facsimile 202-448-9501

Mr. Kummant and Ms. Peters can be contacted through their respective

offices.

There is no readily available public information on how to contact Ms.

Naples other than through Amtrak offices. Ms. Naples is a former State of

New York highway official in the now-departed Governor George Pataki

administration.

If these member of the Amtrak board choose to be public servants, then

they choose to be accessible to the public. However, don't abuse the

privilege of being able to reach these board members. If you communicate

with them, do so in a professional manner, and clearly state your point

of view or presentation of facts. If you send something abusive to them

you will only serve to cloud an issue, not clarify an issue.

2) Some people may wish to communicate with Amtrak's senior officers on

various issues. Each one of them can be reached at

60 Massachusetts Avenue, Northeast

Washington, D.C. 20002

Amtrak's main corporate headquarters switchboard telephone number is

202-906-3000

Alexander K. Kummant

President and Chief Executive Officer

Eleanor D. Acheson

Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Joseph H. Bress

Vice President, Labor Relations

William H. Campbell

Chief Financial Officer

William L. Crosbie

Chief Operating Officer

Emmett H. Fremaux

Vice President, Marketing and Product Management

Lorraine A. Green

Vice President, Human Resources and Diversity Initiatives

Joseph H. McHugh

Vice President, Government Affairs and Corporate Communications

William Rooney

Vice President, Security Strategy and Special Operations

Ed Trainor

Chief Information Officer

Anne Witt

Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Business Development

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

____________________________________________________________

Save on Cell Phones. Click Now!

http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/f...kzLaNgHMDH88sI/

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 25, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 24

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy

institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems

in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has

professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico,

the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed

information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents,

visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from

any outside sources.

1) Amtrak is smiling approvingly at one its bankers, Senator Dick Durbin

of Illinois, who has filed a bill in the United States Senate to provide

Amtrak with $2.8 billion to overhaul existing equipment and build new

rolling stock.

If this bill becomes law (and, it is only in very early stages), Amtrak

must take this opportunity to properly equip itself for the future – both

financially and to meet passenger demand – with the correct selection of

equipment, not just replacements for existing rolling stock.

URPA has updated its 2005 white paper, Concepts of the Successful Long

Distance Passenger Train of the Future.

The update is attached, and may also be found on URPA’s web site,

www.unitedrail.org .

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can

receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state

where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet

connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from

[email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals

processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly

confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the

distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be

addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

____________________________________________________________

Stop foreclosure. Click here to stay in your home and rebuild credit.

http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/f...wL5iGmBSNYlC4A/

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## Kramerica

That was a short one. Is Bruce sick?


----------



## WICT106

This Week at Amtrak; September 3, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 25

…………………………………

1) Thanks for the overwhelming response to the last issue of TWA’s presentation of the updated Concepts of the Successful Long Distance Passenger Train of the Future. In addition to the basic distribution through TWA, there have been over 600 additional downloads of the white paper from URPA’s web site, and there have been visits to the web site from over 60 countries around the world, including mainland China and Russia. It’s tough to know how that white paper translates into the two languages of China and Russia, but it’s nice to have a diverse readership base.

One sad note since the publication is the loss of GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, operator of the former American Orient Express. Since we last talked, the upscale passenger rail tour company with exquisite equipment and service abruptly ceased operations.

Some have speculated the high cost of the service was the problem, others have blamed the economy in general. Perhaps, on closer examination some good guesses can be made, such as offering a "Ritz Carleton" product to a "Marriott" audience. Also, equipment utilization was poor, with the equipment sitting idle more than running over the road.

Some have placed the blame for the demise at the feet of Amtrak, but that’s a hard case to make, since Amtrak only provided locomotives and train and engine crews.

For whatever the reason for the grievous loss, it’s hard to imagine that superb equipment will sit idle for long; some entrepreneur will figure out a way to put it back on the road under a different umbrella.

Some longtime railroaders didn’t bemoan the loss, saying they were worried too many people were confusing the high-priced luxury service with routine Amtrak service, thinking the high-priced service was the wave of the future instead of the development of robust Amtrak long distance passenger train service on the model of the Empire Builder (Which is the old Sunset Limited and City of New Orleans and Crescent model from the days of Amtrak’s Gulf Coast Business Group in the late 1990s under the superb and caring leadership of Deborah Wetter and Dave White and Mike Chandler and Tommy McDonald with help from luminaries such as Don Norville and Victor Francis and many others – probably one of the finest groups of passenger railroaders ever assembled in modern times.).

Perhaps, if we as a nation are lucky, Peter Armstrong, head of Canada’s Armstrong Group, which operates the Rocky Mountaineer service in Western Canada, will come south of the border and take over the GrandLuxe franchise.

Peter Armstrong was a Gray Line tour bus operator who successfully bid for the Rocky Mountaineer franchise when VIA Rail Canada’s long distance network was chopped into pieces in the early 1990s. Peter took a handful of old Canadian National Blue and Yellow smooth sided coaches, slapped on a coat of new paint on the outside, spiffed up the inside best as he could, and started rolling down the track from Vancouver, British Columbia into modern railroading history. He took a moderately successful route of VIA Rail Canada and applied sound private business principles to the operation, along with a liberal sprinkling of guts and intestinal fortitude. There were some scary moments at the beginning, but Peter made it work.

It worked good enough that on an early Spring morning in 1993, the late Henry Christie, the man who created Amtrak’s "A" and "B" lists which would determine which Heritage cars would live to see another day of service after installation of head end power, and which would be put up for sale, walked the train in Vancouver station with a critical eye towards running gear and general mechanical issues. Henry was not a man to trifle with when it came to railroad equipment, either passenger cars or freight cars or locomotives. Henry was an Englishman who had an Irish mother (He never did celebrate the Fourth of July even after becoming an American citizen; he felt it wasn’t fair to his mother country.), and he could always turn a colorful phrase.

Henry looked at the Rocky Mountaineer closely, pronounced a few wheel set needing attention soon, and then confidently boarded the train for a day’s journey to Kamloops, British Columbia. Driving back to Vancouver that evening with Peter Armstrong at the wheel of a rental car, Peter filled us in on the background of the privatization of the Rocky Mountaineer. It was an extraordinary story of vision, willpower, and knowing the marketplace.

It’s been close to 20 years since the Rocky Mountaineer went private, and it’s a great performer both financially and as a vital part of Western Canada’s tourism industry. The now-defunct GrandLuxe equipment would have a superb future under the ownership of Peter Armstrong.

2) We have just seen the successful evacuation of New Orleans for Hurricane Gustav, and, this time, Amtrak played a role. City of New Orleans, Sunset Limited, and Crescent trainsets, along with other equipment positioned in New Orleans hauled thousands of passengers from New Orleans to safety in Memphis and other points. This all came about because the federal government contracted with Amtrak to provide the service.

Even New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, home to Amtrak and Greyhound, again played a pivotal role in keeping New Orleans safe. Many will recall it became a makeshift jail during the Hurricane Katrina problems three years ago, and, this time, it became a staging area for evacuating residents by bus and train.

The building, built in 1954, resembles a granite fortress. One can imagine that magnificent, sturdy structure just laughing at Mother Nature as she throws everything she has at it, and it all just rolls off the building.

As we are grateful New Orleans and its residents suffered far less this year under Gustav than exactly three years ago under the destruction of Katrina, we can’t help but remember it’s been exactly three years since Amtrak operated the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, even though CSX released the track for use on April 1, 2006. Amtrak has the corporate gall to still note in its timetables the suspension of the service, and that future service will be determined at a date in the future.

Of course, Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant was quoted in an issue of Passenger Train Journal magazine this year saying passengers and advocates for the return of the Sunset Limited should "get over it," that the Sunset is not likely to return east of New Orleans. Amtrak’s hubris on this and many other subjects is astounding to many clear-thinking people, especially since 46% of the revenue of the Sunset Limited when it ran its full route was generated east of New Orleans.

3) Here are some words of wisdom from Andrew Selden, URPA Vice President of Law and Policy and President of the Minnesota Association of Railroad Passengers.

[begin quote]

Gridlock is a term usually applied to traffic locked in a closed system where congestion blocks all movement. But the term also can describe a broken political process, like what we have today with U.S. transportation "policy."

Our federal system, with the U.S. national government acting as an "umbrella" layer over 50 independently sovereign states is a recipe for wild excess on one extreme (various redundant regulatory schemes come to mind), or paralysis on the other. That's what we face in the area of transportation.

Mary Peters, former Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration and currently U.S. Secretary of Transportation, has been advocating as federal "policy" the devolution back to the states of primary authority and responsibility for identifying, prioritizing, and pursuing transportation investment, in all modes, but especially roadways. In most areas of public policy, states would embrace and welcome this. Getting the dead hand of the federal government out of the way and moving government domestic programs down to state and local governments is almost always a very good idea.

But with Peters' transportation initiative, most of the states have balked, demanding (at a National Governor's Conference) instead a larger federal role. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, said, "We are joining together … to force Washington to get serious about building our nation's infrastructure."

How exceedingly odd. Why would states, which would ordinarily leap at a federal effort to shift major programs back into state control, demand that the feds instead increase their role in transportation?

Because, it turns out, Secretary Peters is also trying to shift a major part of the responsibility for funding transportation investment back to the states.

So we have the prospect of states actually telling the feds that they prefer to keep and even enlarge the federal role and the funding that goes with it rather than accept responsibility for having to increase state fuel and motor vehicle taxes to pay for state and local transportation projects. They would rather suffer inequitable and politically-based federal transportation funding paid for by the federal gasoline tax, and prioritized by individual members of Congress slinging pork for their home districts, than raise state taxes (or enter into toll-driven private sector "partnership" deals) to pay for their own priority projects.

So, while our existing, aging, roads and bridges continue to crumble under traffic loads far beyond their capacity, and we suffer a ludicrous and ignorant intercity rail passenger "policy," our elected public officials are engaged in a political "gridlock" of trying to force someone else to pay for public investment of enormous value to the safety and prosperity of this country.

Secretary Peters launched a second round of her initiative in July. In it, she advocated refocusing federal highway spending on rural interstates (!), shifting other federal spending to bloc grants to states and regional planning agencies, allowing local prioritization of projects (but with a foolish federal chokehold – more on this below), and accelerating federal funding approvals.

Many traditional politicians and highway interest groups labeled the plan "dead on arrival." Why? Two reasons: Peters' plan presupposes more local funding and private sector investments, supported by tolls, and it allows states and regional planning agencies to shift more federal funding to transit, including rail.

But even the proposed increase in federal willingness to fund rail programs is not a good thing for intelligent rail development programs, because Peters' plan would make the same blunder on a national scale that bone-headed federal policies forced onto the Northstar Regional Rail project in Minnesota. The federal proposal would "Define success in terms of increased travel time reliability, decreased delays hours [sic] and improved condition of bridges and pavement."

That single criterion – reduced net travel time as compared to roadway alternatives – is what kept Minnesota from extending Northstar to St. Cloud (where huge demand for rail service exists) or adding a close-in stop at the existing Foley Boulevard park-and-ride, where thousands of daily commuters will be forced to continue to use diesel buses to get to Minneapolis, the U of M and St. Paul rather than use the trains (which will roll past the parking lot which backs up on the BNSF right-of-way) because the feds won't allow the trains to stop there.

Contrast what passes for policy development in the U.S. with current studies under way in England. Railway Age reported in June:

BRITISH track authority Network Rail (NR) is to conduct a strategic review into the case for building a series of new railways across the country's network.

Five routes are being considered by NR, all radiating from London: the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow via Birmingham and Manchester; the Chiltern line from London to Birmingham; the Midland Main Line to Nottingham, Derby, and Sheffield; the East Coast route from London to Edinburgh via York and Newcastle; and the Great Western Main Line from London to Bristol and Cardiff.

While NR is not prepared to suggest the routes could be new high-speed lines, there have been growing calls for a network of 250km/h to 350km/h routes to be built to add capacity to Britain's constrained conventional network, which has seen 40% growth in passenger numbers, and 60% growth in freight volumes.

In the U.S., it will take continued public pressure from rail advocates to persuade Congress that rational investment in a network of high-performance (not "high speed") rail services is the best way to alleviate congestion, protect the environment, reduce petroleum dependence, and give travelers a decent choice of alternatives. Only then will we break the current gridlock.

[End quote]

4) Mr. Selden adds further insights on a related topic.

[begin quote]

Amtrak under CEO Alex Kummant is continuing its long slide into irrelevance. Amtrak's market share (including in the NEC) dropped again. Kummant led the Company to an increased annual loss in 2007. On $165 million increase in ticket revenues, and $110 million increase in total revenues, Kummant produced a $53 million increase in the net loss and a whopping $280 million increase in total loss on the year, of $1.338 billion on total revenue of $2.15 billion. $180 million in increased labor costs from forced labor settlements were a major factor in the results, but expenses surged in every major category except casualty claims. The Annual Report, published months late (by SEC standards), called this "… a good year."

The Annual Report, almost devoid of critical and relevant metrics of segment performance such as load factor, return on investment, and output in passenger miles, is a depressing celebration of Amtrak's squandering of hundreds of millions of dollars of free federal subsidies on its absolutely least productive and most grossly over-served markets. Amtrak's total revenues were higher in 1998 than in 2007, although "passenger ticket" revenues did reach a new record last year. Its operating ratio, at 1.48, has not improved in ten years.

What has improved is federal support. Amtrak's subsidies during the Bush administration have averaged about $1.2 billion a year, fully 50% more than during the Clinton years. (Discounted for inflation, the growth in subsidy has not been that great in "real" terms.) But judging from the financial results reported for 2007, that money has not been prudently or effectively invested. Management's entire focus has been on its least productive services, the short distance regional corridors.

[End quote]

5) On a very sad note, retired Amtrak exec Jim Larson passed away yesterday in Northern Virginia. He retired about 10 years ago, and had recently been in poor health. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. Mr. Larson was one of the stalwarts of Amtrak who helped hold the company together and form it into a working entity. Our sympathy to his family and many friends.

6) This communique comes from Gil Carmichael’s Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver. This will be an important gathering.

[begin quote]

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Public-sector Transportation professionals to gain know-how from New Freight training program at University of Denver

- Transportation Experts Gil Carmichael and Andrew Goetz Say Transportation Planners to Study the Synergetic Issues that Affect Both Freight and Public Transportation -

DENVER, CO, September 2, 2008 – The Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at the University of Denver, in a joint venture with the National Center for Intermodal Transportation (NCIT), is sponsoring a 2 ½ day training program called "Intermodal Freight Transportation and the Public Planning Process" that is aimed at educating public-sector transportation agency personnel about the synergies it has with the freight sector. It will be held at the University of Denver, Monday through Wednesday noon, October 13-15.

The instructional program for public-sector transportation agencies is being led by Professor Michael D. Meyer, PhD, Professor of Civil Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a member of the faculty team of ITI at the University of Denver. He developed the program as a means of increasing the awareness of the importance of the movement of goods and the impact that this movement is having on the nation’s overall transportation system and economic welfare.

"This important freight training program will deal with the synergies involved between the public and private sectors, and it is ideal for professionals working at state DOTs, MPOs, transit agencies, port authorities, or other public-sector transportation planning agencies who want to learn more about how the global intermodal freight transportation sector works," said Andrew Goetz, Professor and member of the ITI faculty team. "Given that freight transportation has been growing considerably due to increasing volumes of international trade, our transportation planning agencies at the federal, state, and local levels need to be more knowledgeable about how freight moves and what can be done specifically to accommodate an interconnected intermodal transportation system."

Gil Carmichael, Founding Chairman of the ITI Board of Directors and former Federal Railroad Administrator, emphasized the importance of a public/private sector joint effort if we are to solve the nation’s existing transportation crisis. "Federal and state governments need to work together to create a partnership with the freight railroads to build at least 30,000 new miles of grade-separated, double and triple track, connecting the major cities, ports, and airports," said Carmichael. "Doing so will create an ethical transportation system where each mode does what it does best. This key training program for public-sector transportation will answer questions dealing with topics such as: how public investment in the nation’s transportation system will benefit the movement of freight; what types of strategies are most effective for successful interfaces between public- and private-sector interests; and how to get freight stakeholders interested in the transportation planning process in order to maximize an intermodal freight and passenger transportation network. This program will stress the need to understand the synergies between the mode segments, which will be intermodal in nature, much safer, much more environmentally benign and will produce maximum fuel efficiencies."

"Learning more about the intermodal freight sector is a necessary prerequisite to working with the freight community in developing strategies to address the transportation capacity needs of the future," said Goetz. "This important public-sector training program is exactly what public-sector transportation planners need to help educate them on developing the natural interfaces between the freight and passenger modes. This will help prepare the next generation of public transportation leadership."

Participants will hear from executives from maritime, trucking, railroads, transit, and intercity transportation on their respective transportation modes and on the challenges of creating a truly intermodal transportation system. In addition, the participants will attend a lecture by Alberto Alemán, the CEO of the Panama Canal Authority, on one of the most important transportation infrastructure projects in the world, the Panama Canal Expansion Program. A focus of the program will be on data, analysis, and modeling and using these tools for freight planning. Importantly, the program will also examine the advantages and disadvantages of different funding sources and strategies for developing a strategic freight investment plan and a process for incorporating freight concerns into statewide and metropolitan transportation plans.

The registration fee for the training program is $1,500.00 and covers 2 ½ days of instruction, program materials, meals, and an ITI-University of Denver certificate of participation upon completion. Additional information or registration forms for this significant public transportation training program can be obtained at: www.du.edu/transportation or by calling 303-871-4146 or 303-871-4702. Interested parties are encouraged to register early as participation is limited to 25 attendees.

About ITI

The Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver offers an Executive Masters Program that awards a Master of Science in Intermodal Transportation Management from the University of Denver. This graduate degree program prepares transportation industry managers for the increasingly complex, global business environment where knowledge of finance, quantitative processes, supply chain, law, and public policy issues as well as freight, passenger, and intermodal transportation operational strategies are critical management tools for success. For more information on the ITI Executive Masters Program call: 303-871-4702 or visit: www.du.edu/transportation.

About NCIT

The National Center for Intermodal Transportation (NCIT) is a partnership between the University of Denver and Mississippi State University. NCIT builds upon the activities of the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at the University of Denver and the activities of the centers with transportation focuses at Mississippi State University. NCIT is a part of the USDOT University Transportation Centers Program and was reauthorized under SAFETEA-LU.

[End quote]

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 22, 2008
​



_A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from_
​

_ _

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​

_America's foremost passenger rail policy institute_
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​






Volume 5, Number 26
​





Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

 

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

 

 

 

1) It's been a lousy month for passenger rail. The horror of the Metrolink crash in Southern California with over two dozen deaths and dozens more passengers injured will remain with us for a long, long time.

 

 

 

Too many reports from both the news media and insiders have pointed to the simple cause of this passenger rail holocaust as human error – a locomotive engineer who wasn't paying attention to his job, blowing through a red signal, running a closed switch, and crashing head-on into an oncoming Union Pacific freight train.

 

 

 

2) It didn't take long for several things to happen, including plaintiffs running to the courthouse to file lawsuits, Metrolink senior management dissolving into disarray, a hue and cry from unions and others wanting to implement positive train control, and blame placed on Metrolink's private operating company for being the low bidder and thus demanding too much out of its employees.

 

 

 

Can we be candid with each other? No matter what the cause of this wreck, whether it was sloppy human error on the part of the deceased Metrolink engineer, an instant fatal heart attack for the deceased engineer, or him just closing his eyes long enough to rub an errant cinder from his eye, if there would have been a second pair of eyes in the locomotive, this accident would not have happened.

 

 

 

The oncoming Union Pacific freight train had a second pair of eyes in the locomotive, belonging to the train's conductor. Since the days of the caboose are long gone, conductors have ridden comfortably in the cab of freight train locomotives along with the engineer. Both stay vigilant for signals and oncoming problems.

 

 

 

Metrolink, like Amtrak, on short runs uses one engineer, with only one pair of eyes in the locomotive's cab. Yes, there is a deadman switch which automatically stops the locomotive unless manually set in a short certain period of time, but that doesn't do much for missing signals when the engineer isn't paying attention.

 

 

 

The reason, of course, for a single engineer is for the railroad to save money. In this case, the savings to Metrolink of an assistant engineer's salary on that particular train will instead cost someone $200 million (the federally-mandated cap on accident settlements), plus the cost of new equipment, cleaning up the mess, and lost revenue.

 

 

 

When putting together a business plan, the idea is to factor in ALL costs, and see if a profit can be made. Naturally, business people want costs to be as low as possible, so profits can be realized. That's all okay, because that's the way the system works, and it's a good system. However, when you're talking about safety issues, sometimes the most cost-effective way is not the best way.

 

 

 

3) Some agitate for a system known as positive train control, which is based on a global positioning system. Every locomotive – thus, every train – is outfitted with this system, and every dispatcher knows every moment where every train is located, including if a train is or is not where it's supposed to be at that moment.

 

 

 

This is nothing new; it's been around on some railroads for many years, and, even before the age of global positioning systems, there still was a system of positive train control. People at railroads are no dummies, and they can figure things like this out.

 

 

 

It costs a lot of money to implement and monitor these systems. Since the Metrolink crash, the estimate has been in the billions of dollars for every railroad to install and implement the system nationwide.

 

 

 

Positive train control is a good thing, but ... for the cost, would it still be cheaper, more efficient, and, safer, to put a second pair of eyes in every locomotive cab? Has anyone done a cost/effect study on this? Have the unions taken a position of wanting positive train control, but not more employees?

 

 

 

4) The long term, fascinating part of this Metrolink mess concerns the California courts. Many of us in the real world outside of California know that state's courts to be, shall we say, less than normal when it comes to rendering reasonable decisions. In other words, it's a paradise for attorneys seeking to color outside of the lines.

 

 

 

So, Congress mandated a cap of $200 million for damages in any railroad crash, including crashes by Amtrak and Metrolink, and every other commuter operation. You may recall this was one of the areas of contention which kept Central Florida from having a new commuter rail system this year, because CSX didn't want any liability for crashes of its freight trains with commuter trains on state owned commuter tracks. (Exactly the identical scenario Union Pacific faces in California with the Metrolink crash, where UP was only traveling over the route using trackage rights, not infrastructure ownership.)

 

 

 

California attorneys have already sent smoke signals up via the news media they will try and get around the $200 million cap so their clients have a "fair share" of the financial pie from this crash. Legal observers will be keen to watch these developments for a number of reasons.

 

 

 

Passenger rail observers need to be watching these developments as if their lives depended on it, because the entire future of passenger rail may very well depend on these court cases.

 

 

 

Freight railroads hosting long distance and commuter passenger trains will always first make the case their tracks are unavailable for use by passengers because of capacity constraints. But, really, the greatest fear is liability.

 

 

 

The motto of every tort attorney is "sue anything that moves, or, better yet, anything or anyone who has deep pockets." Since the dawn of the railroads nearly 200 years ago, there has always been a belief by the public that no one or no organization has any deeper pockets than railroads, no matter how close any single railroad may be to bankruptcy.

 

 

 

Tort attorneys inherently believe the public – no matter how ignorant, stupid, or just plain dumb – should be protected from themselves, especially by companies with deep pockets. If tort attorneys had their way, our entire existence would consist of being wrapped in a protective cocoon from the moment we are born until we die, and heaven help the cocoon that wasn't fire proof, earthquake proof, or idiot proof.

 

 

 

Without a doubt, the Metrolink crash, especially since it was a result of human error, will have a cooling effect on any railroad's desire to discuss new passenger service. It's just too much of an exposure to risk.

 

 

 

But, you say, there are insurance companies to cover these losses up to $200 million. No, not really. Even if SOME of the cost is bourne by good risk management and insurance underwriting, there is still millions of dollars of exposure that can't be covered by insurance (Not to mention the mere cost of the insurance premiums.).

 

 

 

Thanks to sky high gasoline prices, commuter rail has become attractive to many people and many local and state governments. What's old has become new, and it looks good. But, one commuter rail engineer, paying more attention to texting on a cell phone than doing his job, may have put a stake through the heart of a resurgence of commuter and passenger rail. A lot of freight railroad presidents and vice presidents are going to have to be persuaded all over again how attractive the income from passenger and commuter rail is before they will happily allow more trains on their tracks.

 

 

 

Or, there will be more deals like the proposed deal here in Central Florida where the state or some regional or local entity will out and out purchase the tracks and infrastructure, and the freights will become tenants with trackage rights, but absent any liability whatsoever for any type of crash, spill, derailment, or hangnail found on a civilian due to freight train operations.

 

 

 

Everybody wants something from the freight railroads, but few realize how much the freight railroads have at risk when even a trespasser steps onto railroad property.

 

 

 

We are reminded again about the brainless trespasser in Boston who, during the night, climbed on top of a parked Amtrak Acela train set at the Boston terminal, touched a hot overhead wire, and just about fried himself to death. Instead of him being prosecuted by Amtrak for trespassing and a number of other misdemeanors, he's suing Amtrak (you can't make this stuff up) because his attorney says Amtrak SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IN ADVANCE a drunk college-aged young man was going to find the top of a parked Acela train set in the middle of the night at a closed passenger station an attractive place to practice his climbing skills and then be stupid enough to touch a live electrical wire. Since these dregs of the human gene pool are everywhere, it's easy to understand why railroads want as little human interaction as possible. When you put people in passenger and commuter trains, you're flying into the statistical face of something going wrong and some passenger and their attorney deciding the deep pockets of the railroad just caused them to hit the legal lottery jackpot.

 

 

 

4) We mourn the death of the Metrolink passengers and the deaths of railroad crews. We praise the rescue teams, who witnessed unspeakable carnage in that Metrolink coach where the locomotive was plowed halfway back into the car by the impact of the wreck. We live in fear of the tort attorneys and what mess they are going to make of commuter and passenger rail.

 

 

 

We live brightly for another day where every train arrives at its terminal intact, on time, and with everyone healthy.

 

 

 

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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

 

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

 

Telephone 904-636-7739 

 

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## Joel N. Weber II

> But, you say, there are insurance companies to cover these losses up to $200 million. No, not really. Even if SOME of the cost is bourne by good risk management and insurance underwriting, there is still millions of dollars of exposure that can't be covered by insurance (Not to mention the mere cost of the insurance premiums.).


Isn't there some insurer that would be quite happy to provide $200 million coverage limits for this sort of policy, provided the client paid appropriate premiums? The 2007 Berkshire Hathaway annual report mentions a policy they sold with a $7.1 billion premium...


----------



## VentureForth

*This Week at Amtrak; September 25, 2008*

 

_A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from_

*United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.*

_America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute_

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org 

 

*Volume 5, Number 27*
​
 

 

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

 

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

 

 

1) ONBOARD AMTRAK TRAIN NUMBER 97, THE SILVER METEOR, Southbound, between Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Thursday, September 25, 2008 – The Silver Meteor is running about a half hour late south of Orlando, but that’s okay. Just before noon, we came to a sudden stop somewhere 20 minutes past the middle of nowhere in the fern growing area of Volusia County (west of Daytona Beach for those unfamiliar with Florida geography). Our locomotive engineer had spotted a stalled truck at a roadway grade crossing, and was able to bring the Meteor to a stop before slamming into the truck. After waiting 25 minutes for a tow truck to arrive and clear the tracks, we were on our way without harm or injury to anyone. It’s a good day for the train and engine crew; an often unavoidable accident scenario failed to materialize.

 

Load factor leaving Jacksonville in the three sleeping cars, dining car, lounge car and three of the four coaches which are occupied is hovering around 50%; not bad for an early fall trip after school is back in session.

 

Downline business is brisk for the Florida part of this journey. More passengers board in Jacksonville than detrain, and every station stop brings new passengers boarding, including sleeping car passengers.

 

This onboard services crew of three sleeping car attendants, one dining car chef, one dining car lead service attendant and one dining car waiter, plus two lounge car attendants and one coach attendant (for four coaches) is on the last nine hours of its weekly run between the Miami crew base and New York City, and return.

 

2) The crew, like the passenger cars, are beginning to show some weariness. Everyone is friendly and has a smile on their face, but as we race closer and closer to Miami, the anxiousness to be home shows.

 

The coach attendant gave up on keeping the coaches anywhere neat and tidy. Some restrooms are nearly inhabitable, others are completely non-habitable.

 

Tony, the young man who is one of the lounge car attendants, has his necktie flying at half-mast, and it’s tough to determine if he’s fashionably sporting a two day growth of beard, or if he just didn’t bother to shave before coming on duty this morning. He’s chugging an energy drink to keep his obviously heavy eyelids open, and, when he’s seated at a table for the moment while no passengers are at his counter, he’s busying himself with games on his cell phone. The other gentleman lounge car attendant doesn’t bother to wear a necktie or uniform vest or name tag.

 

The sleeping car attendant in the first sleeper is napping. Jay, the attendant in this car, however, keeps his car in good order, and is frequently checking with his passengers to see how he may serve them.

 

Safety doesn’t seem to be much of an issue with many on this train and engine crew; car doors have been propped open (many don’t fully work), and there is a propped open door between the forward sleeping car and the baggage car, which has both of its doors open at each end, exposing the trailing locomotive without any foothold between the baggage car and the locomotive. An over-enthusiastic, enquiring rail fan could easily bring harm to themselves on this train.

 

One thing is certain. When Amtrak still had onboard service chiefs, silliness like this didn’t exist if the chief was on the ball. This is a crew with no supervision, and it shows.

 

This also brings up the question: since the demise of the Pullman Company less than five years before the advent of Amtrak, why has the crew quality declined so much? Why do all other areas of the travel and hospitality industry, from air lines to cruise lines to hotels demand and receive so much more from their employees than Amtrak ever has since it formed in 1971? Why is it okay for railroad onboard employees to have sloppy appearances, for ticket agents to often look unkempt? Doesn’t anyone understand the appearance of employees directly impacts performance and customer/passenger acceptance?

 

3) Breakfast was available in the dining car after leaving Jacksonville this morning, and, while the selection was slim, the food was served hot and had a good presentation, even if it was served using disposable plates and cups.

 

Lunch was a nice variety, ranging from burgers (turkey or beef) to meatballs over yellow rice to a chicken salad sandwich. As always, a vegetarian lunch was available, too. Dessert was a special treat, a chocolate and cherry torte, good enough to be found in any restaurant. Today’s beef cheeseburger, a warmed up pre-cooked concoction, could best be described as, well, close to unacceptable. Whatever cow gave it’s life for that cheeseburger, gave its life in vain.

 

4) The state of the passenger car rolling stock on this train which used to be the flagship train of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (the Silver Meteor was the first streamlined train from New York to Florida, dating back to the 1930s), is less than stellar. Most of the problem stems from poor maintenance. It is a sad irony this equipment is principally maintained in Miami at the Hialeah shops. Before controlled by Amtrak, the Hialeah shops were rated as one of the two best in the country, the second being King Street in Seattle.

 

A comparison of this equipment to the real world would be that of an aging Holiday Inn about to lose its franchise because of a lack of maintenance. Rusty metal in the Viewliner sleeping cars, chipped paint, doors that don’t work ... you name it. The large surface areas are mostly clean, but the "details" usually found in the best housekeeping are missing. Anybody’s fussy mother would look at this level of lack of cleanliness and only snort in derision at so much dirt and filth left behind by the cleaning crews. These sleeping cars are only a dozen years old, but they’ve been run hard and never put away for any type of extensive maintenance. Fifty of these cars remain in active service, with a daily use requirement of 39 cars. Twenty-two percent, with a replacement value of over $1 million per car of this Viewliner sleeping car fleet is always out of service. 

 

The exciting video and audio systems which equipped these cars when new are long gone. Door handles and locks have been replaced with hardware store fixtures. Window shades have been replaced with curtains because the shades no long go up and down. The seats, which convert into beds remain comfortable. The annoying chair in the full bedrooms which was welded in place and prevented the lavatory door from opening fully has been replaced by a clever folding chair which allows for extra seating while permitting the door to open fully.

 

The dining car, of Korean War era heritage and a survivor of Henry Christie’s "A" and "B" list for equipment to convert to head end power, has been recently refurbished, and is neat and clean, but has a lunch counter feel to it. The carpets are replaced by linoleum, and spray paint has been liberally applied to every surface, whether or not it was originally intended to be painted.

 

The three decades old lounge car and coaches have all recently been refurbished, too, but hard wear has taken a toll. Missing molding, carpet replaced by linoleum in the lounge, and various signs of hard use are everywhere.

 

This lounge car is one which has been converted for either lounge or lounge/dinette use. There is the usual assortment of lounge rats hanging out, plus some families and assorted passengers using computers, taking advantage of an electrical outlet at every table.

 

There are no longer any crew cars on single-level long distance trains, so revenue sleeping car space must be taken out of service to house crew members.

 

From a distance, the outside of the train looks good; up close, there are missing decals, cracked and peeling paint, and a general lack of upkeep.

 

5) Stations along the route in Florida which were originally built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad have mostly seen better days. While the relatively new (built in the 1970s by Amtrak) station in Jacksonville has seen some much needed improvements, many of the other stations have that look of benign neglect, and hope for a better budget year next year.

 

6) By federal statute, Amtrak has the right of way over all freight trains, and on this day, CSX has given us the railroad. We’ve had one stop other than for the stalled truck in Volusia County, and the quality of the ride has been superb. Once bumpy track has been replaced with smooth-as-glass continuous welded rail, and we know why the this railroad used to be referred to as the Seaboard Air Line.

 

Rail fans and Amtrak apologists will protest this account; after all, the train arrived on time, departed on time, and arrived at my destination station on time. The trip was overall uneventful, and everyone smiled.

 

Anyone who understands the business of travel and hospitality is appalled. Whether or not Amtrak receives mountains of free federal monies every year, it is still a business, but it operates like a poorly-run government agency, with no accountability. If Amtrak is going to succeed, it needs to shed its ambivalence towards most things proper, and start behaving like it has constant adult supervision.

 

7) This is the long distance network of Alex Kummant’s Amtrak, the one so many people are now clamoring to bring new train service to their cities and states.

 

If you were considering one particular phrase to describe today’s Amtrak, you could probably do it with just one word – mediocre.

 

Sleeping car passengers are paying multiple hundreds – and sometime, thousands – of dollars to ride in equipment which would embarrass the sloppiest hotelier. Coach passengers are riding in tin cans with upholstered seats that don’t even measure up to the Spartan standards of some commuter railroads.

 

In his third year of stewardship of Amtrak, President and Chief Executive Officer Alex Kummant’s railroad is generating more buzz in the local and national news media than has been generated for decades. Americans are rediscovering an important part of our domestic transportation network – passenger trains. Congress is moving towards a long-awaited reauthorization of Amtrak, and state governments are plotting and planning expansion of state and regional rail routes.

 

At this moment, about all anyone can do is plan, because Amtrak through the years has squandered its resources, decimated its fleet of rolling stock, and stubbornly stuck to a bad business plan which has resulted in Amtrak remaining technically bankrupt since its founding in 1971.

 

8) Let’s repeat Andrew Selden’s assessment of Amtrak, as published in this space earlier this month.

 

(Begin quote)

 

Amtrak under CEO Alex Kummant is continuing its long slide into irrelevance. Amtrak’s market share (including in the NEC) dropped again. Kummant led the company to an increased annual loss in 2007. On $165 million increase in ticket revenues, and $110 million increase in total revenues, Kummant produced a $53 million increase in the net loss and a whopping $280 million increase in total loss on the year, of $1.l338 billion on total revenue of $2.15 billion. $180 million in increased labor costs from forced labor settlements were a major factor in the results, but expenses surged in every major category except casualty clams. The Annual Report, published months late (by SEC standards), called this "... a good year."

 

The Annual Report, almost devoid of critical and relevant metrics of segment performance such as load factor, return on investment, and output in passenger miles, is a depressing celebration of Amtrak’s squandering of hundreds of millions of dollars of free federal subsidies on its absolutely least productive and most grossly over-served markets. Amtrak’s total revenues were higher in 1998 than in 2007, although "passenger ticket" revenues did reach a new record last year. Its operating ratio, at 1.48, has not improved in ten years.

 

What has improved is federal support. Amtrak’s subsidies during the Bush administration have averaged about $1.2 billion a year, fully 40% more than during the Clinton years. (Discounted for inflation, the growth in subsidy has not been that great in "real" terms). But, judging from the financial results reported for 2007, that money has not been prudently or effectively invested. Management’s entire focus has been on its least productive services, the short distance regional corridors.

 

(End quote)

 

9) At this given moment, Amtrak has a passenger car fleet of 1,345 active cars for nationwide use. Daily requirements call for 1,072 cars, so there is a very small cushion for cars to be taken out of service for maintenance, or if some cars are lost due to wrecks.

 

There are another 200 or so identifiable cars beyond the active car roster, a few of which are being rebuilt and refurbished to be put back into service, and others which Amtrak claims it has no money to rehabilitate so they can again generate income and revenue to the company.

 

If Amtrak was serious today about any small or medium expansion of its network, it could only dream and run trains on paper. There are so few passenger cars left that any type of serious route expansion is in jeopardy.

 

10) The House of Representative this week passed reauthorization legislation for Amtrak which is coupled to a bill requiring the installation and implementation of positive train control systems for all railroads throughout the country (Positive train control is a system which automatically stops a train if it has run a red stop signal or is in the wrong place at the wrong time instead of where the dispatcher has placed the train.).

 

The reauthorization legislation, which has not yet passed the Senate, will authorize (but, not appropriate; that is a separate process) billions of dollars for Amtrak, including the upgrading of some currently derelict passenger cars.

 

What the reauthorization doesn’t do is require Amtrak to be a better run company, nor spend its resources where the most good is accomplished, such as in the national long distance network.

 

The specific uses for the money is mostly up to the Amtrak Board of Directors and Amtrak’s cadre of executives. That’s pretty scary, because most likely most of the money will be spent propping up expensive-to-operate, but low revenue short distance and regional trains.

 

11) Amtrak’s moment is now; the opportunity is at hand to take advantage is a growing interest in a full renewal of passenger rail travel coast to coast. The looming question is whether or not Amtrak’s management understands the gravity and opportunity of the moment, and will do something which will benefit both Amtrak and our nation.

 

 

 

 

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

 

[email protected]

 

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to 

 

[email protected]

 

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

 

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739 

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## Larry H.

Wow,

I was just going to write that very letter! Just returned from a round trip to Washington D.C. and New York from southern Illinois thru Chicago. It was nearly unbelievable the crowds at Union Station. I haven't seen anything like that since the early 60's at christmas.. New York was mobbed. Lines stretched for blocks to board even the short distance trains on a monday evening. That was exciting.

What really bugged me as usual was that so many new customers and so little ability to give them a good impression.. Maybe they don't need one? As mentioned many rail fans will support anything on wheels and tracks.. The ability of amtrak to operate a decent set of employees and equipment slips farther nearly every time I ride. I ride because I want and like rail travel. But I also would like "responsibility" by Amtrak to operate a passenger system to drastically change.

This time the diner crew on the Capitol Limited were forced into the new CCC car. The hated it and said so when you could get their attention. A set of worse people in one place I have never experienced since amtrak was formed.. Dinner was a two hour ordeal from 8pm to 11pm. With many disturbing occurrences. We were seated in what should have been the lounge area of the car since it was obvious that a full train could not handle the load in the diner. The waiter, a man, was rude, irritating and totally ignored the passengers.. When he did respond to a request it was only after going after him and then a curt retort was always coming from him. A number of poor coach passengers were summarily told to return to their coach cars as no seats were available. The coachs were only called after 11pm, and then most weren't interested.. One poor woman tried to pass through the car while he was standing taking our order, he turned and glared and refused to move over a bit even though the passenger had excused her self in order to pass. We had a coach passenger who refused to be turned away at our table and she waited for the two hours before getting her check and then only after we went over to the other section of the car only to find the three waiters sitting at there tables having dinner while letting us sit.. Very aggravating.. No offers for a second set of coffee was responded to. A totally unexceptable performance. At lunch the two people at our table spent a half hour trying to flag anyone down to ask for something and no one would respond.. When they did finally get up and go after the waiter they were told no deserts were served available. In Chicago on return I overheard other passengers that had taken that train that day saying how bad the fellow in the diner was, it was the same set of people. They wouldn't last a day in a regular restaurant!

On the Lake Shore the waiter was "manic" to say the least, he may have been off his medicine. He ran literally down the aisles holding trays of food over passengers heads, tossing things on the tables and throwing his feet into the air with each plate put on the table.. He ran back to the food section and threw the doors open and shut with loud bangs that had everyone rolling their eyes. Oddly at breakfast he was rather calm and quite good.

The Lakeshore dinner had good food, and overall the amfleet car wasn't offensive, except for the end towards the sleepers of which there were three, where the center table had been removed and boxes of supplies just sat on the floor in the middle of the dinners.. How unprofessional can you get?

It was the first time in a Viewliner sleeper and I found the experience somewhat mixed. My roomette was fairly quiet, but my moms bedroom was the worst rattling mess I have ever seen.. This is where the total lack of supervision is obvious. I think if you gave me a day or a few hours I could figure out how to make a secure door or add some kind of rubber strips to make the door fit soundly instead of banging all night long. Yes I noticed the cut out metal on the restrooms where the locks should have been and were replaced by ill fitting hardware.. In the roomette it was impossible to close the curtains since the Velcro was missing or in locations that didn't match the walls or other curtain.. This is common but I have never seen it so bad as these. I told the attendant that someone needed to standardize the heights of the velcro so they matched and be sure they were all there.. How long have these been this way? The reading lights were either burnt out or barely lit. When I tried to adjust one it fell out in my hand..

I had ridden the LS years ago and the same totally inadequate lounge (better described as a bare diner) was running. What would it take to remove tables on one end and install seating for relaxing if you wished? Here again a total disregard for comfort and the public.

It was raining during the trip out of Albany and the vestibules were dripping water and very slippery. I mentioned it to the Conductor and all he said was, what do you expect its raining. I expect someone to fix it...

I too have often wondered why they can't see that the cars are not cleaned correctly, things are broken, ect.. NO Supervision that means anything.

Then the Acela which was a very interesting first for me. The train was nicely designed, but the seats cushions were worn out due to cheap construction no doubt. The crew was excellent.. Our real irritation there came from a miss-understanding as to the acela lounge. We had sleeper tickets from new york for that day, but when we entered the lounge the man behind the counter looked at the tickets which were for business acela seats and summarily told we belonged in line at gate F, your in the wrong place. We stood a bit at the door to the F entry, there were chairs with several passengers inside, but the man wouldn't allow us to enter saying we had to wait outside.. I was so mad I went back and told the fellow in the lounge what I thought.. I told him had he simply ask in a nice way if we were going to be traveling by sleeper that day he could have ascertained in a nice way if we actually were entitled to use the lounge, instead of basically throwing us out.. As I turned to leave a passenger had came in behind me as I told the counter person about it, I was surprised to see it was Joe Liberman! We had almost upgraded to first class, I wish now I had, might have had an conversation about amtrak with him?

Overall many people as I felt as though they were being treated like cattle instead of expensive fare payers. A very sad situation to me. Nearly everyone we ran into had some kind of story about something they experienced on their trip that should have been avoided. One lady mentioned her toilets didn't work on the SWC. Will they ever fix that?

Trains have a chance to really become a major way to once again move people in this country. But unless congress allows for improved service instead of micro managing in a detrimental way, and amtrak is run by some people who really want to get things right, I fear the chance may be lost..


----------



## AlanB

Larry H. said:


> It was raining during the trip out of Albany and the vestibules were dripping water and very slippery. I mentioned it to the Conductor and all he said was, what do you expect its raining. I expect someone to fix it...


The vestibules on all trains, except for Acela which has a sealed connection between cars, get wet when it rains. They collect snow too when it snows. They aren't hermetically sealed and as the cars bump and move around gaps do appear in the diaphragm. They were never designed to keep out the rain, so therefore there is no way to fix them to keep out the rain.


----------



## Larry H.

Thanks Allen, the last time I rode the lakeshore there indeed was snow in the vestibules on leaving buffalo. I guess your correct on the rain, but in all the years I have ridden trains its the first water I have seen dripping from the seal.. In fact it rained into and out of chicago and no rain in between the cars. I still think there is a flaw perhaps in that one. In fact none of the other cars were leaking now that I think about it..


----------



## gswager

The top and sides of the seal do good job, but the weakest part is bottom. That's why the snow which is lighter than water drops can fly into it.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 13, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 28

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) For Amtrak True Believers (to liberally borrow a famous phrase), it's the best of times, and it's the worst of times. True Believers believe it's the best of times because of what's in the official summary, below, from the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Realistic people who believe in the business of passenger rail (as opposed to the welfare state concept of passenger rail as a public right) know it's business as usual.

[begin quote]

H.R. 2095, THE RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008

DIVISION A – THE RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008

H.R. 2095 reauthorizes the Federal Railroad Administration ("FRA") and provides $1.625 billion for our nation's rail safety program over the period encompassing fiscal years 2009 through 2013. The authorization of the rail safety program expired a decade ago, in 1998.

The bill clarifies that the mission of the FRA is to ensure that safety is the highest priority; creates a new position of Chief Safety Officer; requires the Secretary of Transportation to develop a long-term strategy for improving rail safety, which must include an annual plan and schedule for, among other things, reducing the number and rates of accidents, injuries, and fatalities involving railroads; and requires annual reporting from the Secretary on the Department's progress in implementing unmet statutory mandates and open safety recommendations by the Department of Transportation's Inspector General and the National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB").

WORKER AND PUBLIC SAFETY

Mandates Installation of Positive Train Control.

Requires all Class I railroads and intercity passenger and commuter railroads to implement a positive train control system by December 31, 2015, on all main-line track where intercity passenger railroads and commuter railroads operate and where toxic-by-inhalation hazardous materials are transported. In addition, includes a grant program for the deployment of various positive train control technologies, electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, rail integrity inspection and warning systems, switch position indicators, remote control power switch technologies, track integrity circuit technology, and other technologies.

Hours of Service Reform.

Provides signal and train crews with additional rest; prohibits them from working in excess of 12 hours; extends hours-of-service standards to railroad contractors; limits limbo time; requires retrofitting or replacement of camp cars; and requires railroads to develop fatigue management plans through a mandatory risk reduction program.

Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance.

Directs the NTSB to establish a program to assist victims and their families involved in a passenger rail accident, modeled after a similar aviation disaster program.

Locomotive Cab Safety.

Requires the FRA to complete a study on the safety impact of the use of personal electronic devices by safety-related railroad employees during the performance of their duties. The study will also look at other elements of the locomotive cab environment that could harm the employee's health and safety. Based upon the results of the study, the Secretary may establish regulations on the use of personal electronic devices in the locomotive cab.

Training.

Establishes minimum training standards for railroad workers; requires certification of conductors; and a study on certification of other classes and crafts of employees, including carmen and signal employees.

Medical Attention.

Prohibits railroads from denying, delaying, or interfering with the medical or first aid treatment of injured workers, and from disciplining those workers that request treatment. Also requires railroads to arrange for immediate transport of injured workers to the nearest appropriate hospital.

Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus.

Provides emergency breathing apparatus for all crewmembers on freight trains carrying hazardous materials that would pose an inhalation hazard in the event of unintentional release.

TRACK SAFETY

Concrete Crossties.

Directs the FRA to develop and implement regulations for all classes of track for concrete rail ties.

Track Inspection Time.

Requires the FRA to study track inspection procedures, including time intervals between inspection, repair priorities and methods, the speed of track inspection vehicles, and the territories inspectors must cover.

GRADE CROSSING SAFETY

Toll-Free Number to Report Grade Crossing Problems.

Requires the railroads to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number for reporting malfunctions of grade crossing signals, gates, and other devices and disabled vehicles blocking railroad tracks.

Sight Distance. Requires the FRA to develop model legislation to encourage States to adopt and enforce laws regarding overgrown vegetation, standing railroad equipment, and other obstructions at grade crossings, which can obstruct the view of approaching pedestrians and vehicles.

Accident and Incident Reporting. Requires the FRA to conduct periodic audits of railroads to ensure they are reporting all accidents and incidents to the National Accident Database.

National Crossing Inventory. Requires railroads to report information, including information about warning devices and signage, on grade crossings to enable the FRA to maintain an accurate inventory of such crossings.

State Action Plan.

Requires the Secretary to identify on an annual basis the top 10 States that have had the most grade crossing collisions, and to work with them to develop a State grade crossing action plan that identifies specific solutions for improving safety at grade crossings.

Emergency Grade Crossing Improvements.

Establishes a grant program to provide emergency grade crossing safety improvements at locations where there has been a grade crossing collision involving a school bus or multiple injuries or fatalities.

ENFORCEMENT

Penalties for violations.

Increases civil penalties for certain rail safety violations from $10,000 to $25,000. The minimum civil penalty remains $500. For grossly negligent violations or a pattern of repeated violations, the maximum civil penalty is increased from $20,000 under current law to not more than $100,000. Also increases the maximum penalty for failing to file an accident or incident report from $500 to $2,500.

Enforcement Transparency.

Requires the FRA to provide an annual summary to the public of all railroad enforcement actions taken by the Secretary.

Railroad Radio Monitoring.

Authorizes the FRA to monitor certain railroad radio communications for the purpose of correcting safety problems and mitigating the likelihood of accidents or incidents.

Inspector Staffing.

Increases the number of Federal rail safety inspectors and supporting staff by 200.

OTHER SAFETY HIGHLIGHTS

Bridge Safety.

Requires the FRA to issue regulations requiring each track owner to develop and maintain an accurate inventory of its railroad bridges; determine, and update as appropriate, the safe capacity of each bridge; maintain the original design documents of each bridge, if available, and a documentation of all repairs, modifications, and inspections of each bridge; enforce a written procedure that will ensure that its bridges are not loaded beyond their capacities; conduct regular comprehensive inspections of each bridge; and designate qualified bridge inspectors or maintenance personnel to authorize the operation of trains on bridges following repairs, damage, or indication of potential structural problems.

Solid Waste Processing Rail Facilities.

Ensures that State governments are able to protect their citizens against environmental hazards, such as noxious fumes or leaks into groundwater, which could result from operation of a waste processing facility by a railroad.

Tunnel Information.

Requires railroads to maintain certain information related to structural inspections and maintenance activities for tunnels, and requires railroads to provide periodic briefings to the government of the local jurisdictions in which the tunnels are located, including updates whenever a repair or rehabilitation projects alters the methods of ingress and egress into and out of the tunnels.

H.R. 2095, THE RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008

DIVISION B – THE PASSENGER RAIL INVESTMENT AND IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008

H.R. 2095 reauthorizes Amtrak and provides a total of $13.06 billion over five years to help bring the Northeast Corridor to a state-of-good-repair, and encourage the development of new and improved intercity passenger rail service through an 80-20 Federal/State matching grant program. It also provides $1.5 billion for the planning and development of high-speed rail corridors.

Increases Capital and Operating Grants to Amtrak.

H.R. 2095 authorizes $5.315 billion (an average of $1.063 billion per year) to Amtrak for capital grants and $2.949 billion (an average of $589.8 million per year) for operating grants. Past inconsistent Federal support has hampered Amtrak's ability to replace catenaries, passenger cars, bridges, ties, and other equipment necessary for Amtrak to provide service. These capital grants will help bring the Northeast Corridor to a state-of-good-repair, and allow Amtrak to procure new rolling stock, rehabilitate existing bridges, and make additional capital improvements on its entire network. In addition, the operating grants authorized under the bill will help Amtrak pay salaries, health costs, overtime pay, fuel costs, facilities, and train maintenance and operations. These operating grants will also ensure that Amtrak can meet its obligations under its recently negotiated labor contract.

Develops State Passenger Corridors.

In an effort to encourage the development of new and improved intercity passenger rail services, the bill creates a new State Capital Grant program for intercity passenger rail projects. The bill provides $1.9 billion ($380 million per year) for grants to States to pay for the capital costs of facilities and equipment necessary to provide new or improved intercity passenger rail. The Federal share of the grants is up to 80 percent. The Secretary of Transportation would award these grants on a competitive basis for projects based on economic performance, expected ridership, and other factors.

Relieves Congestion.

H.R. 2095 authorizes $325 million (an average of $65 million per year) out of the State Capital Grant program for "congestion grants" to Amtrak and the States for high-priority rail corridors to increase capacity along certain lines in order to reduce congestion and facilitate ridership growth.

Provides Funding for High-Speed Rail Corridors.

The bill authorizes $1.5 billion ($300 million per year) for grants to States and/or Amtrak to finance the construction and equipment for 11 authorized high-speed rail corridors. The Federal share of the grants is up to 80 percent. The Secretary of Transportation would award these grants on a competitive basis for projects based on economic performance, expected ridership, and other factors.

Improves On-Time Performance.

By law, Amtrak is given preference over freight traffic on lines outside the Northeast Corridor. However, many of Amtrak's service routes outside the Northeast Corridor suffer from poor service reliability and on-time performance. This performance prevents Amtrak from retaining and attracting new ridership, and increases Amtrak's operating costs. The Department of Transportation Inspector General recently reported that if Amtrak achieved an 85 percent on-time performance outside the Northeast Corridor in fiscal year 2006, it would have saved Amtrak $136.6 million, or almost one-third of its operating budget. H.R. 2095 empowers the Surface Transportation Board ("STB") to investigate whether and to what extent delays or failures to achieve minimum on-time performance standards is the result of a host rail carrier. If the host rail carrier is found to be at fault, then the STB may award damages that would be used to improve service on the impacted route.

Reduces Amtrak's Debt.

Federal support of Amtrak was cut drastically in fiscal year 2000 and 2001, forcing Amtrak to assume a large amount of debt just to stay afloat. Amtrak has aggressively targeted this debt, paying down $600 million from 2002 through 2007. H.R. 2095 helps Amtrak to take further steps to reduce its debt, authorizing $1.404 billion (an average of $280.8 million each year) for debt service through FY 2013. This funding will allow Amtrak to focus its resources on improving existing services and making additional capital and operational improvements.

Establishes an RFP for High-Speed Rail Service.

H.R. 2095 directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue a request for proposals for projects for the financing, design, construction, and operation of 11 federally-designated high speed rail corridors. Proposals would need to meet certain financial, labor, and planning criteria, as well as a detailed description to account for any impacts on existing passenger, commuter, and freight rail traffic to be considered. If the Secretary receives a qualifying proposal, she would be directed to form a Commission to study any proposals received. The Secretary would issue a report to the Congress on the Commission's findings and her recommendations for each of the corridors. Any further action on a proposal would need legislative approval by Congress.

Resolves Disputes between Commuter and Freight Railroads.

Currently, no Federal guidelines exist to mediate disputes between commuter rail providers and freight railroads over use of freight rail tracks or rights-of-way, nor is there a standard forum for negotiating commuter rail operating agreements. The bill establishes a forum at the STB to help complete stalled commuter rail negotiations, helping our rail network operate as efficiently as possible. This section is identical to a provision of H.R. 2701, the "Transportation Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation Act of 2007", as ordered reported by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on June 20, 2007.

Provides Funding for Washington Metro System.

The bill authorizes $1.5 billion for fiscal years 2009 through 2019 for capital and preventive maintenance grants for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("WMATA"). These funds are not available until WMATA notifies the Secretary of Transportation that certain amendments to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact have taken effect, including an amendment requiring that all payments by local signatory governments for WMATA for matching Federal funds authorized by this section are derived from dedicated funding sources. In addition, these funds may be used only for the maintenance and upkeep of the Washington Metro system and may not be used to increase the mileage of the rail system. The Federal share of the grants shall be for 50 percent of the net project cost of the project.

[End quote]

What you have just waded through is the executive summary of the long-awaited Amtrak reauthorization from the House and Senate, which has received President Bush's seal of approval. This reauthorization goes back several years to when former Senator Trent Lott first teamed with Senator Frank Lautenberg for an overdue reauthorization. The bill hung around the Senate for a couple of years, and finally passed, and went to the House where it passed after it was combined with a safety-related bill for required implementation of positive train control (anti-collision) systems nationwide.

Amtrak True Believers have been overjoyed by this bill, believing Amtrak "finally" has the money and recognition it deserves.

Oops! This bill has come at a time when it is the worst of times.

What most people fail to realize is this bill is an AUTHORIZATION, for $13 billion for Amtrak, not an APPROPRIATION for $13 billion for Amtrak.

It really doesn't matter how much money Congress authorizes for anything; all that matters is how much money it appropriates. When Congress appropriates money, it actually writes a check. An authorization is, in congressional parlance, just a "begging license" an agency or arm of government can use in hopes someone in Congress will make an appropriation based on a previous authorization.

In today's toxic economy, an authorization is worth much less than it was 10 minutes ago.

When you add up the $700 billion Congress appropriated for the credit crisis rescue plan, and the few other hundred billions here and there Congress and other feds have thrown into various pots these past couple of weeks, suddenly, a trillion dollars has gone missing.

Anyone who believes the budget writers in Congress of either party are going to be willing to up the funding on almost any program other than programs to stimulate the economy, cover the military, or fund essentials probably also believes in the Easter Bunny, too.

Senator John McCain during his campaign has already said should he be elected, he will freeze all government programs at the current level of funding, and determine on a case-by-case basis any budget increases his administration will request, based on all of the monies already spent over the past month.

2) So, while this much anticipated reauthorization does a lot of good things, it changes nothing when it comes to providing more money for Amtrak. It does allow Congress to consider giving more money to Amtrak and passenger rail, but it does not appropriate (write a check) for any new money.

Now, more than ever, Amtrak will have to prove to a broke nation how important a part of the domestic transportation network it really is ... keeping in mind, Amtrak's total transportation output remains roughly that of motorcycle riders in the country today.

This is the time Amtrak's numerous misdeeds and gross miscalculations are going to come back to haunt it, as savvy budget writers are going to want to know exactly what they're getting from Amtrak for their money.

Can Amtrak instantly expand its existing service? No, not even by 10% because it has chosen to let its rolling stock fleet deteriorate to such a point hundreds of passenger cars are out of service, or have been sent to the scrap dealers.

Can Amtrak start new state routes, even if the states pony up the money for them? Not easily, for the same reason. Where is the equipment coming from?

Can Amtrak talk about new routes and new services to meet new demands? Not easily, because it has such a poor relationship with most of its host freight railroads; those private carriers are unwilling to put their bread and butter business of freight hauling at risk to accommodate more Amtrak trains, either in terms of increased frequencies or new routes.

3) Here's a little gem tucked into the many hundreds of pages of the Amtrak reauthorization. For some reason no rational person can figure out, the qualifications for the Amtrak Board of Directors has been modified to essentially include anyone who has recently been breathing.

The gutting of the list of qualifications for board members means Amtrak will go back to being subject to the stewardship of a collection of political hacks whose only qualification for serving on the board was support of the people in power in Washington.

Once again, the fox will be watching the hen house, because Amtrak board members will not have enough business knowledge or corporate leadership experience to adequately question the many questionable proposals which surface from Amtrak's executive corps for board approval to become company policy.

We're going back to the days where anything good that happens at Amtrak is most likely the result of some sort of corporate accident.

4) The reauthorization also includes lots of big bucks for Amtrak to "study" all of the reasons why it refuses to reinstate that Sunset Limited east of New Orleans to Jacksonville (and/or Orlando), and look at some other route revivals, such as the Pioneer and the old North Coast Limited transcontinental route via southern Montana. All three of these routes will be welcome additions to anyone who believes in the business of passenger rail, but the downside is these route will – if reinstated – be done by congressional mandate, such as is the Cardinal route, which currently operates via West Virginia at the behest of Senator Robert Byrd.

New routes are good; congressional mandates, while convenient for route restoration, are not as good. One look at the Cardinal, which is operated in such a half-hearted way by Amtrak, proves the point.

The Cardinal (nee, the C&O's George Washington), has some of the most spectacular scenery on any route west of the Rocky Mountains. Under Amtrak's tender mercies, this train is operated only three days a week, mostly with leftover equipment, and no full dining car. A dianoetic person would take one look at this train's metrics, and declare it has been intentionally set up to fail.

Looking at the Cardinal from a business standpoint, along with the Sunset Limited, and it has some of the greatest potential of any train in the Amtrak system for expansion, growth, and greater revenues.

What will follow for the Sunset east of New Orleans, the Pioneer, or the North Coast Limited if they are imposed on Amtrak under the same conditions? Can we expect a begrudging operation of the trains, but no real effort to make them in any sense successful?

5) From the safety standpoint of the reauthorization, if you're a railroad manager having to foot the bill for the mandates, you're not a happy camper. For the rest of us, most of the components of the bill are welcome and will hopefully lead to a safer working environment for all railroaders, railroad passengers, and those doing business with railroads.

6) Various queries have come to This Week at Amtrak about this year's presidential election, and what we have to look forward to if either candidate wins (For some, "none of the above" is not a bad choice, but that's another discussion for another place.).

Based on history and what we know today, here is what to expect. Neither candidate of the two major parties has taken a firm stance specifically on Amtrak.

If Senator Barack Obama is the next president, he likely will follow the traditional Democratic Party treatment of Amtrak and consider it a labor issue. What is good for his organized labor constituents will be good for Amtrak. Senator Obama did vote "yes" on the Amtrak reauthorization bill, without comment.

It is important to note there have only been two times in Amtrak's history where a large part of its route system has been slashed, and both of those times have been under Democrat presidents (Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton).

Amtrak was formed under a Republican president, Richard Nixon.

If Senator John McCain is the next president, he likely will continue to take a stance against Amtrak, but it's important to understand why he takes the stance he consistently does, and is often misrepresented for his stance.

If you study Senator McCain's opposition to Amtrak, it's not against passenger rail, nor against our country having a viable passenger rail system. Senator McCain has consistently been against the corporate shenanigans played by Amtrak management, and the copious amounts of free federal monies which have been given to Amtrak with no performance measurements attached to the monies. Senator McCain considers the way Amtrak operates (and, based on the bad information which has been supplied to Senator McCain by Amtrak itself) to be wasteful and the product of bad business decisions. As so often happens with anyone who has pushed back against Amtrak True Believers, Senator McCain has been instantly and constantly labeled anti-Amtrak, without explanation.

If Senator McCain is elected president, he is likely to do little to improve Amtrak because of his past experience with it, but, because it has become a popular bipartisan program in Congress, can do little to kill it, either. He most likely will demand more accountability out of Amtrak, which is a good thing. Senator McCain voted "no" on the Amtrak reauthorization, and issued a statement saying it was based on cost, not ideology against passenger rail travel.

In short, whichever major party candidate wins, Amtrak is likely to stay pretty much the same way it is now. Only through public pressure will Amtrak reform itself, and that's not likely to happen with the present management and board of directors in place.

Most people don't understand how small Amtrak is in Washington, as compared to other parts of the federal government. Amtrak often receives a fleeting glance in the overall scheme of things, not the type of scrutiny is deserves so it can be improved one way or the other.

The present diminishing oil crisis (at this writing, oil is around $80 a barrel, a bargain in today's world) once again shoves Amtrak away from the public consciousness. We can only hope the public will continue to demand more passenger rail options and governments on every level will embrace the progress which comes with new passenger trains arriving and departing on a daily basis.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

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You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

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http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## haolerider

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; October 13, 2008
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> Volume 5, Number 28
> 
> Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.
> 
> 1) For Amtrak True Believers (to liberally borrow a famous phrase), it's the best of times, and it's the worst of times. True Believers believe it's the best of times because of what's in the official summary, below, from the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Realistic people who believe in the business of passenger rail (as opposed to the welfare state concept of passenger rail as a public right) know it's business as usual.
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> H.R. 2095, THE RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008
> 
> DIVISION A – THE RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008
> 
> H.R. 2095 reauthorizes the Federal Railroad Administration ("FRA") and provides $1.625 billion for our nation's rail safety program over the period encompassing fiscal years 2009 through 2013. The authorization of the rail safety program expired a decade ago, in 1998.
> 
> The bill clarifies that the mission of the FRA is to ensure that safety is the highest priority; creates a new position of Chief Safety Officer; requires the Secretary of Transportation to develop a long-term strategy for improving rail safety, which must include an annual plan and schedule for, among other things, reducing the number and rates of accidents, injuries, and fatalities involving railroads; and requires annual reporting from the Secretary on the Department's progress in implementing unmet statutory mandates and open safety recommendations by the Department of Transportation's Inspector General and the National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB").
> 
> WORKER AND PUBLIC SAFETY
> 
> Mandates Installation of Positive Train Control.
> 
> Requires all Class I railroads and intercity passenger and commuter railroads to implement a positive train control system by December 31, 2015, on all main-line track where intercity passenger railroads and commuter railroads operate and where toxic-by-inhalation hazardous materials are transported. In addition, includes a grant program for the deployment of various positive train control technologies, electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, rail integrity inspection and warning systems, switch position indicators, remote control power switch technologies, track integrity circuit technology, and other technologies.
> 
> Hours of Service Reform.
> 
> Provides signal and train crews with additional rest; prohibits them from working in excess of 12 hours; extends hours-of-service standards to railroad contractors; limits limbo time; requires retrofitting or replacement of camp cars; and requires railroads to develop fatigue management plans through a mandatory risk reduction program.
> 
> Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance.
> 
> Directs the NTSB to establish a program to assist victims and their families involved in a passenger rail accident, modeled after a similar aviation disaster program.
> 
> Locomotive Cab Safety.
> 
> Requires the FRA to complete a study on the safety impact of the use of personal electronic devices by safety-related railroad employees during the performance of their duties. The study will also look at other elements of the locomotive cab environment that could harm the employee's health and safety. Based upon the results of the study, the Secretary may establish regulations on the use of personal electronic devices in the locomotive cab.
> 
> Training.
> 
> Establishes minimum training standards for railroad workers; requires certification of conductors; and a study on certification of other classes and crafts of employees, including carmen and signal employees.
> 
> Medical Attention.
> 
> Prohibits railroads from denying, delaying, or interfering with the medical or first aid treatment of injured workers, and from disciplining those workers that request treatment. Also requires railroads to arrange for immediate transport of injured workers to the nearest appropriate hospital.
> 
> Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus.
> 
> Provides emergency breathing apparatus for all crewmembers on freight trains carrying hazardous materials that would pose an inhalation hazard in the event of unintentional release.
> 
> TRACK SAFETY
> 
> Concrete Crossties.
> 
> Directs the FRA to develop and implement regulations for all classes of track for concrete rail ties.
> 
> Track Inspection Time.
> 
> Requires the FRA to study track inspection procedures, including time intervals between inspection, repair priorities and methods, the speed of track inspection vehicles, and the territories inspectors must cover.
> 
> GRADE CROSSING SAFETY
> 
> Toll-Free Number to Report Grade Crossing Problems.
> 
> Requires the railroads to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number for reporting malfunctions of grade crossing signals, gates, and other devices and disabled vehicles blocking railroad tracks.
> 
> Sight Distance. Requires the FRA to develop model legislation to encourage States to adopt and enforce laws regarding overgrown vegetation, standing railroad equipment, and other obstructions at grade crossings, which can obstruct the view of approaching pedestrians and vehicles.
> 
> Accident and Incident Reporting. Requires the FRA to conduct periodic audits of railroads to ensure they are reporting all accidents and incidents to the National Accident Database.
> 
> National Crossing Inventory. Requires railroads to report information, including information about warning devices and signage, on grade crossings to enable the FRA to maintain an accurate inventory of such crossings.
> 
> State Action Plan.
> 
> Requires the Secretary to identify on an annual basis the top 10 States that have had the most grade crossing collisions, and to work with them to develop a State grade crossing action plan that identifies specific solutions for improving safety at grade crossings.
> 
> Emergency Grade Crossing Improvements.
> 
> Establishes a grant program to provide emergency grade crossing safety improvements at locations where there has been a grade crossing collision involving a school bus or multiple injuries or fatalities.
> 
> ENFORCEMENT
> 
> Penalties for violations.
> 
> Increases civil penalties for certain rail safety violations from $10,000 to $25,000. The minimum civil penalty remains $500. For grossly negligent violations or a pattern of repeated violations, the maximum civil penalty is increased from $20,000 under current law to not more than $100,000. Also increases the maximum penalty for failing to file an accident or incident report from $500 to $2,500.
> 
> Enforcement Transparency.
> 
> Requires the FRA to provide an annual summary to the public of all railroad enforcement actions taken by the Secretary.
> 
> Railroad Radio Monitoring.
> 
> Authorizes the FRA to monitor certain railroad radio communications for the purpose of correcting safety problems and mitigating the likelihood of accidents or incidents.
> 
> Inspector Staffing.
> 
> Increases the number of Federal rail safety inspectors and supporting staff by 200.
> 
> OTHER SAFETY HIGHLIGHTS
> 
> Bridge Safety.
> 
> Requires the FRA to issue regulations requiring each track owner to develop and maintain an accurate inventory of its railroad bridges; determine, and update as appropriate, the safe capacity of each bridge; maintain the original design documents of each bridge, if available, and a documentation of all repairs, modifications, and inspections of each bridge; enforce a written procedure that will ensure that its bridges are not loaded beyond their capacities; conduct regular comprehensive inspections of each bridge; and designate qualified bridge inspectors or maintenance personnel to authorize the operation of trains on bridges following repairs, damage, or indication of potential structural problems.
> 
> Solid Waste Processing Rail Facilities.
> 
> Ensures that State governments are able to protect their citizens against environmental hazards, such as noxious fumes or leaks into groundwater, which could result from operation of a waste processing facility by a railroad.
> 
> Tunnel Information.
> 
> Requires railroads to maintain certain information related to structural inspections and maintenance activities for tunnels, and requires railroads to provide periodic briefings to the government of the local jurisdictions in which the tunnels are located, including updates whenever a repair or rehabilitation projects alters the methods of ingress and egress into and out of the tunnels.
> 
> H.R. 2095, THE RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008
> 
> DIVISION B – THE PASSENGER RAIL INVESTMENT AND IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008
> 
> H.R. 2095 reauthorizes Amtrak and provides a total of $13.06 billion over five years to help bring the Northeast Corridor to a state-of-good-repair, and encourage the development of new and improved intercity passenger rail service through an 80-20 Federal/State matching grant program. It also provides $1.5 billion for the planning and development of high-speed rail corridors.
> 
> Increases Capital and Operating Grants to Amtrak.
> 
> H.R. 2095 authorizes $5.315 billion (an average of $1.063 billion per year) to Amtrak for capital grants and $2.949 billion (an average of $589.8 million per year) for operating grants. Past inconsistent Federal support has hampered Amtrak's ability to replace catenaries, passenger cars, bridges, ties, and other equipment necessary for Amtrak to provide service. These capital grants will help bring the Northeast Corridor to a state-of-good-repair, and allow Amtrak to procure new rolling stock, rehabilitate existing bridges, and make additional capital improvements on its entire network. In addition, the operating grants authorized under the bill will help Amtrak pay salaries, health costs, overtime pay, fuel costs, facilities, and train maintenance and operations. These operating grants will also ensure that Amtrak can meet its obligations under its recently negotiated labor contract.
> 
> Develops State Passenger Corridors.
> 
> In an effort to encourage the development of new and improved intercity passenger rail services, the bill creates a new State Capital Grant program for intercity passenger rail projects. The bill provides $1.9 billion ($380 million per year) for grants to States to pay for the capital costs of facilities and equipment necessary to provide new or improved intercity passenger rail. The Federal share of the grants is up to 80 percent. The Secretary of Transportation would award these grants on a competitive basis for projects based on economic performance, expected ridership, and other factors.
> 
> Relieves Congestion.
> 
> H.R. 2095 authorizes $325 million (an average of $65 million per year) out of the State Capital Grant program for "congestion grants" to Amtrak and the States for high-priority rail corridors to increase capacity along certain lines in order to reduce congestion and facilitate ridership growth.
> 
> Provides Funding for High-Speed Rail Corridors.
> 
> The bill authorizes $1.5 billion ($300 million per year) for grants to States and/or Amtrak to finance the construction and equipment for 11 authorized high-speed rail corridors. The Federal share of the grants is up to 80 percent. The Secretary of Transportation would award these grants on a competitive basis for projects based on economic performance, expected ridership, and other factors.
> 
> Improves On-Time Performance.
> 
> By law, Amtrak is given preference over freight traffic on lines outside the Northeast Corridor. However, many of Amtrak's service routes outside the Northeast Corridor suffer from poor service reliability and on-time performance. This performance prevents Amtrak from retaining and attracting new ridership, and increases Amtrak's operating costs. The Department of Transportation Inspector General recently reported that if Amtrak achieved an 85 percent on-time performance outside the Northeast Corridor in fiscal year 2006, it would have saved Amtrak $136.6 million, or almost one-third of its operating budget. H.R. 2095 empowers the Surface Transportation Board ("STB") to investigate whether and to what extent delays or failures to achieve minimum on-time performance standards is the result of a host rail carrier. If the host rail carrier is found to be at fault, then the STB may award damages that would be used to improve service on the impacted route.
> 
> Reduces Amtrak's Debt.
> 
> Federal support of Amtrak was cut drastically in fiscal year 2000 and 2001, forcing Amtrak to assume a large amount of debt just to stay afloat. Amtrak has aggressively targeted this debt, paying down $600 million from 2002 through 2007. H.R. 2095 helps Amtrak to take further steps to reduce its debt, authorizing $1.404 billion (an average of $280.8 million each year) for debt service through FY 2013. This funding will allow Amtrak to focus its resources on improving existing services and making additional capital and operational improvements.
> 
> Establishes an RFP for High-Speed Rail Service.
> 
> H.R. 2095 directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue a request for proposals for projects for the financing, design, construction, and operation of 11 federally-designated high speed rail corridors. Proposals would need to meet certain financial, labor, and planning criteria, as well as a detailed description to account for any impacts on existing passenger, commuter, and freight rail traffic to be considered. If the Secretary receives a qualifying proposal, she would be directed to form a Commission to study any proposals received. The Secretary would issue a report to the Congress on the Commission's findings and her recommendations for each of the corridors. Any further action on a proposal would need legislative approval by Congress.
> 
> Resolves Disputes between Commuter and Freight Railroads.
> 
> Currently, no Federal guidelines exist to mediate disputes between commuter rail providers and freight railroads over use of freight rail tracks or rights-of-way, nor is there a standard forum for negotiating commuter rail operating agreements. The bill establishes a forum at the STB to help complete stalled commuter rail negotiations, helping our rail network operate as efficiently as possible. This section is identical to a provision of H.R. 2701, the "Transportation Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation Act of 2007", as ordered reported by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on June 20, 2007.
> 
> Provides Funding for Washington Metro System.
> 
> The bill authorizes $1.5 billion for fiscal years 2009 through 2019 for capital and preventive maintenance grants for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("WMATA"). These funds are not available until WMATA notifies the Secretary of Transportation that certain amendments to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact have taken effect, including an amendment requiring that all payments by local signatory governments for WMATA for matching Federal funds authorized by this section are derived from dedicated funding sources. In addition, these funds may be used only for the maintenance and upkeep of the Washington Metro system and may not be used to increase the mileage of the rail system. The Federal share of the grants shall be for 50 percent of the net project cost of the project.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> What you have just waded through is the executive summary of the long-awaited Amtrak reauthorization from the House and Senate, which has received President Bush's seal of approval. This reauthorization goes back several years to when former Senator Trent Lott first teamed with Senator Frank Lautenberg for an overdue reauthorization. The bill hung around the Senate for a couple of years, and finally passed, and went to the House where it passed after it was combined with a safety-related bill for required implementation of positive train control (anti-collision) systems nationwide.
> 
> Amtrak True Believers have been overjoyed by this bill, believing Amtrak "finally" has the money and recognition it deserves.
> 
> Oops! This bill has come at a time when it is the worst of times.
> 
> What most people fail to realize is this bill is an AUTHORIZATION, for $13 billion for Amtrak, not an APPROPRIATION for $13 billion for Amtrak.
> 
> It really doesn't matter how much money Congress authorizes for anything; all that matters is how much money it appropriates. When Congress appropriates money, it actually writes a check. An authorization is, in congressional parlance, just a "begging license" an agency or arm of government can use in hopes someone in Congress will make an appropriation based on a previous authorization.
> 
> In today's toxic economy, an authorization is worth much less than it was 10 minutes ago.
> 
> When you add up the $700 billion Congress appropriated for the credit crisis rescue plan, and the few other hundred billions here and there Congress and other feds have thrown into various pots these past couple of weeks, suddenly, a trillion dollars has gone missing.
> 
> Anyone who believes the budget writers in Congress of either party are going to be willing to up the funding on almost any program other than programs to stimulate the economy, cover the military, or fund essentials probably also believes in the Easter Bunny, too.
> 
> Senator John McCain during his campaign has already said should he be elected, he will freeze all government programs at the current level of funding, and determine on a case-by-case basis any budget increases his administration will request, based on all of the monies already spent over the past month.
> 
> 2) So, while this much anticipated reauthorization does a lot of good things, it changes nothing when it comes to providing more money for Amtrak. It does allow Congress to consider giving more money to Amtrak and passenger rail, but it does not appropriate (write a check) for any new money.
> 
> Now, more than ever, Amtrak will have to prove to a broke nation how important a part of the domestic transportation network it really is ... keeping in mind, Amtrak's total transportation output remains roughly that of motorcycle riders in the country today.
> 
> This is the time Amtrak's numerous misdeeds and gross miscalculations are going to come back to haunt it, as savvy budget writers are going to want to know exactly what they're getting from Amtrak for their money.
> 
> Can Amtrak instantly expand its existing service? No, not even by 10% because it has chosen to let its rolling stock fleet deteriorate to such a point hundreds of passenger cars are out of service, or have been sent to the scrap dealers.
> 
> Can Amtrak start new state routes, even if the states pony up the money for them? Not easily, for the same reason. Where is the equipment coming from?
> 
> Can Amtrak talk about new routes and new services to meet new demands? Not easily, because it has such a poor relationship with most of its host freight railroads; those private carriers are unwilling to put their bread and butter business of freight hauling at risk to accommodate more Amtrak trains, either in terms of increased frequencies or new routes.
> 
> 3) Here's a little gem tucked into the many hundreds of pages of the Amtrak reauthorization. For some reason no rational person can figure out, the qualifications for the Amtrak Board of Directors has been modified to essentially include anyone who has recently been breathing.
> 
> The gutting of the list of qualifications for board members means Amtrak will go back to being subject to the stewardship of a collection of political hacks whose only qualification for serving on the board was support of the people in power in Washington.
> 
> Once again, the fox will be watching the hen house, because Amtrak board members will not have enough business knowledge or corporate leadership experience to adequately question the many questionable proposals which surface from Amtrak's executive corps for board approval to become company policy.
> 
> We're going back to the days where anything good that happens at Amtrak is most likely the result of some sort of corporate accident.
> 
> 4) The reauthorization also includes lots of big bucks for Amtrak to "study" all of the reasons why it refuses to reinstate that Sunset Limited east of New Orleans to Jacksonville (and/or Orlando), and look at some other route revivals, such as the Pioneer and the old North Coast Limited transcontinental route via southern Montana. All three of these routes will be welcome additions to anyone who believes in the business of passenger rail, but the downside is these route will – if reinstated – be done by congressional mandate, such as is the Cardinal route, which currently operates via West Virginia at the behest of Senator Robert Byrd.
> 
> New routes are good; congressional mandates, while convenient for route restoration, are not as good. One look at the Cardinal, which is operated in such a half-hearted way by Amtrak, proves the point.
> 
> The Cardinal (nee, the C&O's George Washington), has some of the most spectacular scenery on any route west of the Rocky Mountains. Under Amtrak's tender mercies, this train is operated only three days a week, mostly with leftover equipment, and no full dining car. A dianoetic person would take one look at this train's metrics, and declare it has been intentionally set up to fail.
> 
> Looking at the Cardinal from a business standpoint, along with the Sunset Limited, and it has some of the greatest potential of any train in the Amtrak system for expansion, growth, and greater revenues.
> 
> What will follow for the Sunset east of New Orleans, the Pioneer, or the North Coast Limited if they are imposed on Amtrak under the same conditions? Can we expect a begrudging operation of the trains, but no real effort to make them in any sense successful?
> 
> 5) From the safety standpoint of the reauthorization, if you're a railroad manager having to foot the bill for the mandates, you're not a happy camper. For the rest of us, most of the components of the bill are welcome and will hopefully lead to a safer working environment for all railroaders, railroad passengers, and those doing business with railroads.
> 
> 6) Various queries have come to This Week at Amtrak about this year's presidential election, and what we have to look forward to if either candidate wins (For some, "none of the above" is not a bad choice, but that's another discussion for another place.).
> 
> Based on history and what we know today, here is what to expect. Neither candidate of the two major parties has taken a firm stance specifically on Amtrak.
> 
> If Senator Barack Obama is the next president, he likely will follow the traditional Democratic Party treatment of Amtrak and consider it a labor issue. What is good for his organized labor constituents will be good for Amtrak. Senator Obama did vote "yes" on the Amtrak reauthorization bill, without comment.
> 
> It is important to note there have only been two times in Amtrak's history where a large part of its route system has been slashed, and both of those times have been under Democrat presidents (Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton).
> 
> Amtrak was formed under a Republican president, Richard Nixon.
> 
> If Senator John McCain is the next president, he likely will continue to take a stance against Amtrak, but it's important to understand why he takes the stance he consistently does, and is often misrepresented for his stance.
> 
> If you study Senator McCain's opposition to Amtrak, it's not against passenger rail, nor against our country having a viable passenger rail system. Senator McCain has consistently been against the corporate shenanigans played by Amtrak management, and the copious amounts of free federal monies which have been given to Amtrak with no performance measurements attached to the monies. Senator McCain considers the way Amtrak operates (and, based on the bad information which has been supplied to Senator McCain by Amtrak itself) to be wasteful and the product of bad business decisions. As so often happens with anyone who has pushed back against Amtrak True Believers, Senator McCain has been instantly and constantly labeled anti-Amtrak, without explanation.
> 
> If Senator McCain is elected president, he is likely to do little to improve Amtrak because of his past experience with it, but, because it has become a popular bipartisan program in Congress, can do little to kill it, either. He most likely will demand more accountability out of Amtrak, which is a good thing. Senator McCain voted "no" on the Amtrak reauthorization, and issued a statement saying it was based on cost, not ideology against passenger rail travel.
> 
> In short, whichever major party candidate wins, Amtrak is likely to stay pretty much the same way it is now. Only through public pressure will Amtrak reform itself, and that's not likely to happen with the present management and board of directors in place.
> 
> Most people don't understand how small Amtrak is in Washington, as compared to other parts of the federal government. Amtrak often receives a fleeting glance in the overall scheme of things, not the type of scrutiny is deserves so it can be improved one way or the other.
> 
> The present diminishing oil crisis (at this writing, oil is around $80 a barrel, a bargain in today's world) once again shoves Amtrak away from the public consciousness. We can only hope the public will continue to demand more passenger rail options and governments on every level will embrace the progress which comes with new passenger trains arriving and departing on a daily basis.
> 
> If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.
> 
> All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-7739
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> _______________________________________________
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What's happened to URPA? It's been almost a month since the last edition of Bruce's running commentary.


----------



## MrFSS

haolerider said:


> What's happened to URPA? It's been almost a month since the last edition of Bruce's running commentary.


Hard to say. It was regular as clock work for a long time and then became very sporadic.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; November 17, 2008
​




A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​

 

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail 

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​

Volume 5, Number 29

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at

http://www.unitedrail.org.​

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) (Sigh) Another day, another departed Amtrak president and chief executive officer. Add Alex Kummant to the roster of Amtrak stewards who have lasted three years, or less.

After two years and less than two months, Mr. Kummant resigned from his Amtrak post on Friday, November 14, 2008, and left the building. Literally. Longtime Chief Operating Officer William Crosbie is the interim Amtrak President and CEO.

There have been no hard facts which have emerged about the departure, but the best information available at the moment points to enough of a disagreement between Mr. Kummant and Chairman of the Board Donna McLean over how to handle certain financial matters to force Mr. Kummant into the unemployment line. Mr. Kummant was hired by the board chaired by the now departed David Laney, and succeeded by Ms. McLean, a professional Washington lobbyist.

As another Amtrak departed steward, David Gunn, discovered, it’s not a good idea to squabble with the real boss and expect to win. Tom Downs, Amtrak chief steward back in the Clinton years, discovered that, too.

The usual obligatory and nice things were said by Ms. McLean about Mr. Kummant in a written statement on Friday. Beyond that, and the general noise emanating from the National Association of Railroad Passengers – which never met an Amtrak president, executive, manager, or employee that it didn’t like, always hoping to curry favor instead of having to take real positions – not much has been said about Mr. Kummant’s departure. He came, he warmed the seat, he glad-handed a lot of folks, had an unworkable business plan for the future of Amtrak, he departed in a huff.

We wish him well in his future endeavors, and thank him for his service.

2) So, where does all of this and the recent change in administrations in Washington leave us?

It’s not a pretty picture.

President-Elect Obama made lots of campaign promises about transportation and Amtrak. They were enunciated in a letter the campaign sent to the October 10th passenger rail summit held in Meridian, Mississippi, and sponsored by the respected Southern High Speed Rail Commission, under the chairmanship of former Amtrak Chairman of the Board John Robert Smith. Here is the relevant content of the letter.

[begin quote]

We appreciate the opportunity to share our thoughts with you about the importance of supporting our nation’s freight and passenger railroad systems. Thank you for gathering here to work on national solutions to this critical infrastructure challenge, and for your ongoing work to formulate a regional rail strategy to spur growth across the South.

I don’t have to tell you that Governor Dukakis and Mayor Smith are highly knowledgeable on rail issues and that they bring decades of experience and leadership in crafting and implementing policy solutions in this area. Their work together, and with all of you, shows that this is not a partisan issue. In the face of economic crisis, we must not forget: our economic future and long-term competitiveness depend on strengthening our critical infrastructure. This is not a Democratic or a Republican challenge, it is an American challenge.

Amtrak, freight rail and commuter rail are absolutely vital to America’s transportation system, and we need to strengthen them now, not starve them. Metro Chicago is a central rail hub for North America and Joe has been riding Amtrak to work throughout his career, so we know how important rail is to our country. That’s why we support substantial investment – investment in infrastructure and investment in the rail workforce.

Rail is a highly efficient way to transport freight and relieve congestion on our highways. And Amtrak is the only reliable form of transportation in many parts of the country. Rail modernization is central to a safer, more reliable, cleaner and more energy-efficient transportation future that helps address traffic problems and climate change. We cannot afford to wait on funding for updated infrastructure and technology to meet increasing passenger and freight demand. That’s why we have both supported rail transportation throughout our careers. As you may know, we both cosponsored the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act in the U.S. Senate, and supported the successful effort to get this important legislation to the President’s desk this year.

And we will continue fighting for rail when we’re elected. Our National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank will be funded with $600 billion over 10 years to expand and enhance, not replace, existing federal transportation investments. We must invest in rail projects for economic and environmental reasons, and this proposal is key to long-term investment.

... (A) strong national transportation infrastructure system is in our national interest – for our economy, national security and quality of life.

Rail infrastructure is important, and it’s just as important to take care of the workers who operate and maintain it. Building, operating and maintaining a modern rail network will create good jobs that can’t be outsourced. That’s why we are proud to stand with the men and women who build and operate our rail systems and their unions. We will fight for the pay and benefits they’ve earned, and the training that they and the next generation of workers will need to stay at the cutting edge of innovation.

We see a future where a modernized rail system plays an increasingly important role in our transportation mix. ...

Sincerely,

[signed] Barack Obama/Joe Biden

[End quote]

Again, lots of good campaign promises were made in the letter above. All of the rhetoric is good, and the promises all sound good. But, what about the cost?

The letter promises a $600 billion National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to be funded over the next 10 years, to pay for federal projects above and beyond existing federal transportation investments. That sounds good. Where’s the money coming from? We’re talking about six-tenths of a trillion dollars in addition to other money already committed.

Which brings us to Amtrak’s piece of the pie in the newly minted reauthorization bill just signed by President Bush. Amtrak has been promised a lot of money in that bill – again, in the billions every year – but, only promised. Amtrak still has to go through the appropriations process, where the checks are written, but there are no guarantees the priority of Amtrak has risen at all in the minds of Congress, who writes the checks.

For those who forgot and didn’t notice, Congress has in the past few weeks written over $1 trillion dollars in rescue monies for various financial institutions and related problems. It also looks like Congress is about to carve about another stimulus package for taxpayers (and, lower end non-taxpayers, too) and maybe ship some money to Detroit for the automakers. We’re talking more hundreds of billions of dollars.

Forget about millions of dollars. These days, projects in the millions are chump change. Today, we talk in billions and trillions in Washington. Scary, huh?

Let’s look at Amtrak’s typical priority in Washington budget-making circle, no matter who is in charge.

There’s national defense and foreign aid. Homeland security. There are all of the entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. Add on the needs of the education folks. Don’t forget the ethanol subsidies and other agriculture subsidies. There’s the cost of government itself. Plus running federal law enforcement and all sorts of aid to states and cities through the pork process. Add on hundreds of other routine federal government expenditures which are favorites of various worthies elected to represent us in the House and Senate. Typically, after all of that, you come to transportation.

In line in front of Amtrak are the highway interests (don’t ever get in the way of the highway interests, or you could become a foundation for a new highway overpass), and the aviation interests, which will tell you they are barely in any better financial shape than the banks. There are the maritime interests, which remind us how important they are to keep the goods we buy from foreign countries flowing so we can continue to run up the foreign trade deficit. Then, the regional and local transit folks get in line, because each one of them has a guardian angel in Congress. What’s left? Amtrak, usually with its hat in hand, hoping for some table scraps from the federal smorgasbord.

3) Why isn’t Amtrak in a stronger position with the federal government? If you have a decade or so, we can get into that in detail. If you don’t, just sum it up in two words: corporate hubris.

Amtrak is the Britney Spears of the federal government. It wants everyone to love it and give it money, but it continues to do impossibly reckless things and ignore any helping hand that is offered to it.

Amtrak’s current Alex Kummant business plan is to emphasize expensive-to-operate, impossible-to-make-money-on, short distance corridors, mostly paid for by state government money. All this does is create cash flow for Amtrak, since it usually operates these services at breakeven or at a very modest profit. These services do little in the big picture to bolster prospects for Amtrak’s future.

Amtrak’s long distance system, where the majority of its congressional support comes from, continues to languish in a mild stupor of neglect. Even though the long distance trains, when honest accounting methods are used, do much better financially than short distance trains, Amtrak ignores them in favor of the Northeast Corridor and short distance routes.

Let’s have just the briefest reviews of the NEC and Acela service. All trains in the Northeast use the NEC infrastructure between Washington and Boston, which is mostly owned by Amtrak. A short part of it between New York City and New Haven, Connecticut is own by the State of New York, and operated by the honorable Metro North commuter system.

Two types of Amtrak trains trundle through the NEC every day; Acela, and the newly named Northeast Regionals. Other trains, such as the Southeast long distance trains, and the Keystone Service trains also operate along the corridor, as also do a huge number of local commuter service trains owned and operated by state and regional authorities.

Keep in mind all of these trains use the identical tracks, identical stations, identical power generating system, identical reservations system, identical personnel, and have identical Amtrak corporate overhead. Since, in the unique situation of the NEC Amtrak owns and operates the track and infrastructure, one supposes every Amtrak train which visits this infrastructure is charged similar usage fees.

But, Amtrak claims the Acela service is profitable, and the Northeast Regional service is not. How can that be? Same track, same maintenance, same infrastructure, same stations, same, same, same, everything. Since an Acela trains operates at higher speeds than a Northeast Regional or long distance train on the NEC, shouldn’t it cost more to host an Acela train than one of the other trains? After all, the cost of track maintenance is based on the need for speed, not the color of the railroad ties. How can a few Acela trains, as opposed to a larger number of Northeast Regional trains and long distance trains, operate at a profit, and the others operate at a loss? Inquiring minds want to know.

This is the type of situation Amtrak constantly placed itself in with official Washington. It places itself in all sort of awkward scenarios, and tries to convince everyone the sky is green when we know it’s blue.

4) So, here we are in November of 2008. A new Congress will convene in January, with both houses of Congress firmly in the hands of the Democrats. We have a Democrat as president, and a decades-long Amtrak NEC daily rider as vice president.

Under the new Amtrak reauthorization, the Amtrak Board of Directors is expanding from seven member to nine members. The new president of Amtrak, no matter who he or she will be, will again, for the first time in several years, be a voting member of Amtrak’s board.

The current members of the Amtrak board, Republicans Ms. McLean, the chairman, and Nancy Naples of New York, will remain on the board until their terms expire. The Democrats, Vice Chairman Hunter Biden (38 year-old son of the new Vice President), and Thomas Carper of Illinois, will also remain until their terms expire. The current fifth member of the board, Mary Peters, the Bush administration Secretary of Transportation, will leave the board in January when the new Obama administration comes to town.

Since, under the new authorization, the Secretary of Transportation is no longer an automatic board member, the board will have four functioning members after January 20, 2009, with five vacant slots for appointment by Mr. Obama.

You ask what are the legal requirements for these new board appointees? According to the new law, only that they were recently breathing on a regular basis. Otherwise, the board is open to any appointee a president chooses to make, and a senate chooses to confirm.

Based on how things work in Washington, don’t look for these five board seats to be filled and confirmed by the Senate as swiftly as an Acela train allegedly operates. There is a good chance a new president and chief executive office of Amtrak will be chosen by the current board’s remaining four members after January.

Simply put, Amtrak can’t afford to go many months virtually headless, as it did between the departed David Gunn and Alex Kummant when David Hughes warmed the president’s seat on an interim basis.

Current Interim President William Crosbie is not a favorite on Capitol Hill for testimony, and even though professional Capitol Hill lobbyist Amtrak Chairman of the Board Donna McLean will be at his side advocating Amtrak’s positions, it’s going to be tough to make a lot of performance promises to congressional committees when no one knows what direction a new, permanent president will take Amtrak.

Expect a holding action, and continuation of business as usual for Amtrak for the time being. Don’t expect any flashy initiatives, investments in new passenger rolling stock or locomotives, or route changes. Expect things to remain the same. And, in that vein, don’t expect any requests for huge amounts of money, beyond Amtrak’s usual annual requests. It’s unlikely Amtrak funding will meet the authorization levels simply because there isn’t much money to be had in Washington.

Within 48 hours of the end of the presidential election, victorious Democrats wisely started immediately lowering expectations on how many campaign promises would be met and how quickly they would be met. Phrases like "in the next two years," "late in the first term," and, even "sometime in the second term" were suddenly popularly in play and applied to every facet of federal spending, including Amtrak.

Fair? Probably, not. Real? Yes. Campaign promises and the reality of budgets and the associated horse-trading often don’t go hand in hand.

5) Now, let’s look at the positive side of things. We simply don’t know what the new board appointments over the next year will bring. We have no idea if another Haley Barbour, Ralph Kerchum, Charlie Luna, or Paul Weyrich is waiting out there. We may be especially fortunate and have former World Bank railroad wiz Lou Thompson, a well-respected Democrat, make it to the board. To balance the board, who knows, maybe even one of America’s best visionary railroaders, former FRA Administrator Gil Carmichael, may be appointed?

At this point, we just don’t know. We also don’t know what criteria will be used by the board to select a new president and chief executive officer. We’ve had the Transit Trio, we’re had a freight railroader, and we’ve had various others, from retired freight railroad execs to Washington insiders. Maybe we’ll be fortunate, and someone like former Amtrak Vice President Bob Vanderclute will enter the contest, or maybe someone from the inside, like Amtrak Vice President Richard Phelps, will step up to the plate.

Hopefully, the board will look at a broad variety of skills needed by a new Amtrak president, the most important being the ability to have a vision beyond the NEC. Hopefully, the next Amtrak president will understand the value and power of the national long distance system, and appreciate the proven fact and long history showing when healthy long distance trains exist, a robust system is created which can then mutually exist and cross-support short distance trains, and the two types of trains feed each other and share infrastructure costs.

Hopefully, the board will begin immediate work on selecting a head hunting firm (better than the last one selected) which understands a resume with lots of entries shouldn’t be the sole criteria for Amtrak’s next president. We tried that, and he just left last Friday.

7) Here’s an interesting idea. We’ve talked about this before, and it’s worth repeating. The current issue of Amtrak’s system timetable is excellent. Every year, they get better and better, with useful information, good presentation, and the addition of outside advertising which helps pay for the cost of the publication.

Since the printed timetables are one of Amtrak’s consistently bright spots, here’s a proposal: Whoever is in daily charge of Amtrak’s timetables should be Amtrak’s new president. Where else in Amtrak do we see constant improvement, from both a customer and financial standpoint? Where else in Amtrak do we see innovation and clarity? Where else in Amtrak do we see consistency and accuracy? Whoever is in charge needs a promotion. All of this good work should be immediately spread to other parts of Amtrak, too.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

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You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to http://mhtml//00000048/!x-usc:mailto:[email protected]

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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

 

____________________________________________________________ 

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## frj1983

> The usual obligatory and nice things were said by Ms. McLean about Mr. Kummant in a written statement on Friday. Beyond that, and the general noise emanating from the National Association of Railroad Passengers – which never met an Amtrak president, executive, manager, or employee that it didn’t like, always hoping to curry favor instead of having to take real positions – not much has been said about Mr. Kummant’s departure. He came, he warmed the seat, he glad-handed a lot of folks, had an unworkable business plan for the future of Amtrak, he departed in a huff.


The underline is mine,

But I think it funny that J Bruce would say this, because when Kummant was hired, J Bruce spouted great praises at the Board for hiring him...it almost sounded like the coming of the messiah. And by the way since J Bruce has the answer for all of Amtrak's woes, why don't we nominate him for the currently open President position?


----------



## Joel N. Weber II

> The letter promises a $600 billion National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to be funded over the next 10 years, to pay for federal projects above and beyond existing federal transportation investments. That sounds good. Where’s the money coming from? We’re talking about six-tenths of a trillion dollars in addition to other money already committed.


Actually, that sounds disappointingly small. I think we ought to be spending $100-$200 billion per year on high speed intercity track alone for at least the next 10 years.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; November 24, 2008
​




A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​

 

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail 

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​



 

Volume 5, Number 30
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Let us be radical. No, let us be practical. Which, in this case, is being radical, because we’re talking about a future direction for Amtrak.

If we dwell too much on Amtrak’s recent past, it just becomes depressing. But, you say, this last year Amtrak has enjoyed record revenues and passenger counts. Yes, we say, but Amtrak is also in a deep and continuing financial free fall, and has the worst economic performance it’s had in its history, even during the dark years of the George Warrington stewardship when he hocked everything in and out of sight to raise cash instead of asking for free federal monies to bolster his failed Acela program. But! you gasp, aren’t you against free federal monies? Yes, of course, but it was a worse decision to not ask for the money than to go to the sources Amtrak went to and made various deals with the devil.

The simple bottom line is Amtrak is in its worst financial condition of its existence because it chooses to be, not because of any perceived slights by various White House administrations, or low funding from Congress.

Travel back in time with us to what today is considered by some to be Amtrak’s Golden Age (Yes, just close your eyes and believe; it’s no worse than believing in the Easter Bunny.).

Amtrak’s Golden Age can be described as the latter half of the Graham Claytor stewardship era at Amtrak. For those new to the class, Graham Claytor was a courtly Southern gentleman, late of the Southern Railway, who became Amtrak’s combined Chairman and President in 1982, and stayed until 1993, the longest term for any Amtrak president.

During the Claytor years the head end program for upgrading passenger cars from antiquated steam heat and air to complete hotel power from the locomotive was completed, the Viewliner sleeping cars were ordered, and the second round of Superliners were ordered. New trains and new routes came into being, and it wasn’t unusual for single level trains to stretch to 18 cars in length, and run nearly full. When he left Amtrak, the company was in fair financial condition, was routinely stable, and required only a modest subsidy in the low hundred of millions of dollars, not billions of dollars.

Graham Claytor was a quintessential railroader who understood both politics and railroading, particularly passenger railroading. While at the end elderliness caught up with him, for the most part he ran an Amtrak that by the standard of today’s Amtrak was a huge success.

One thing he often remarked about was route accounting; he was against public route accounting. He knew (and turned out to be right) as soon as individual figures were released for specific routes, various heretics would take those figures and twist them away from recognition and use them as a weapon against overall funding for Amtrak. He knew the idiotic figures of over $400 per passenger loss for everyone riding the Sunset Limited would become a farce turned into fact, and it would be nearly impossible to kill this junk information.

Think of this: when Mr. Claytor finally retired, the annual Amtrak free federal money faucet drained somewhat less than $400 million from the federal treasury, compared to today’s $1.3 billion plus splurge. And, more equipment was being operated over more routes providing better service throughout the nation. Amtrak may be hauling more warm bodies today, but the revenue passenger mile count and load factors (the only two measurements which count in the real world) are not better than they were in 1993 when Mr. Claytor came home to Florida’s west coast.

Was Graham Claytor’s Amtrak perfect? Not be a long shot; many of the problems of that era spawned the problems of today. However, as far as the overall health of the company, and what the officers of the company at that time had to work with compared to today and the results that were produced with the assets of the day, run circles around Amtrak as we know it today and the French-style thinking of surrender at every instance a problem occurs.

2) Where does the Amtrak Board of Directors find another Graham Claytor? There may not be another one exactly in his mold, but there are certainly people with vision and understanding of the American transportation scene who could lead Amtrak to prosperity instead of financial doom.

In the last issue of TWA, we spoke of stars like former Amtrak Vice President Bob Vanderclute, who makes anyone’s short list of good presidents. Current Amtrak Vice President Richard Phelps would be a viable choice. Reaching back a few years, former Amtrak Gulf Coast Business Group General Manager Deborah Wetter, now a transit system chief executive in Wisconsin could bring a calm, deliberate freshness to Amtrak’s executive suite, along with her love and complete understanding of trains and every facet of passenger railroading, and superb executive skills.

Then, too, perhaps an outside visionary.

3) How would a visionary mold Amtrak into a viable company? What would the goals be for Amtrak? How can Amtrak stop being a step-child of government, and work towards being self-sustaining?

First and foremost, the pursuit of financially prudent objectives. Amtrak’s current failed business plan calls for a reliance on states and regions to pay Amtrak to operate short distance and regional routes at breakeven or at a very modest profit. Every year these routes are at risk due to fluctuations in state budgets or changes in state executive and legislative leadership. While these routes do produce high ridership counts, they also produce low revenue passenger miles rates in relationship to expenses and short length of trips. Both of these combine to be detrimental to passenger rail financial viability instead of helpful to the bottom line. These routes also generally require frequent stops and lots of parking and station facilities (Which can be good under the right circumstances.).

Amtrak also devotes over 75% of scarce capital resources to the upgrading and upkeep of the Northeast Corridor which runs between Washington and Boston. This Amtrak owned and operated piece of infrastructure has often been referred to as a black financial hole for Amtrak, not in the least because of the huge amount of upkeep required to keep the NEC as a host facility for various local and regional commuter operations which do not pay full value for use of the infrastructure, but also because Amtrak virtually bans freight movement on the corridor, which would help pay for the cost of maintenance

As has been said in this space before numerous times, Amtrak skeletal long distance network is the financial savior of Amtrak. The long distance system has the best financial performance of all categories of routes in the Amtrak system, has the greatest potential for passenger growth, has the greatest potential for political growth, and, most importantly, actually fulfills Amtrak’s mandated mission to provide a national passenger railroad (Many people forget Amtrak is just a trade name for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation; which includes serving all of America west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and south of Washington, D.C.).

Once a mature national system is back in place, then a robust long distance system can cross-subsidize a short haul/regional feeder system, and stations and infrastructure and headquarters costs can be shared. The way the current system works, the few long distance trains being operated have little to do with the short distance and regional trains, and neither benefits greatly from the other.

Also, a fully mature and robust long distance system is the only rational prelude to a future high speed passenger rail system in North America. Those who point to Europe as a good example of passenger rail systems (When, really, Europe is a good example for so few things outside of selected gourmet cooking and certain types of cheeses and automobiles.), what they fail to realize is the only reason high speed rail in Europe is successful is solely because Europe has a highly developed and mature steel wheel on steel rail traditional passenger rail system which serves as a feeder to high speed systems. Without these feeder system, European high speed rail would just be another expensive, failed experiment.

Many will remember the infamous "do-nothing" Congress Harry Truman constantly and bitterly complained about in the 1940s. Much the same could be said about Amtrak’s various presidents since the retirement of Graham Claytor in 1993. Every president since then has claimed the majority of his time has been spent holding the company together, begging for money, and/or betting the farm on Acela service on the NEC, a business strategy doomed from the start (See every reason outlined above.).

Not a single Amtrak president has presented a realistic vision for the company, nor how to sustain future viability. Vision conception has been left to company outsiders. Isn’t it time Amtrak had a real planning department – dreamers, all – who have the hard data to back up a dream and make it a reality? Where are the modern day Budds to create the next generation of Zephyrs? Where are the dynamic planners of Pullman-Standard who plotted and planned for passenger rolling stock that would end up serving America for decades beyond the originally intended service life, and do so with dignity? Where are the visionaries who created the Broadway Limited and the 20th Century Limited, and inspired a race measured by elegance, refinement, and good taste, while racking up profits?

Everyone seems to forget Amtrak has, by law, access to every two streaks of rust masquerading as railroad tracks in this country. Now, practically speaking, every two streaks of rust in this country don’t need or deserve passenger rail service. But, along viable routes there is a need – and desire – for practical and rational passenger rail beyond the needs of basic transportation (That translates to sleepers, diners, lounges, and first class coaches.).

But, you whine, there isn’t enough capacity for the host freight railroads to allow more passenger trains on their tracks! Yes, in many instances that may be true. However, since when do true entrepreneurs let problems like that stand in their way? What’s wrong with some high-spirited negotiations, planning, and horse-trading between Amtrak and the host freight railroads to find a solution to that problem? Confiscate the tracks? Nah, that’s socialist and unrealistic. Build entire new right of ways? Nah, that’s just horribly expense and dumb. Figure out how to expand the current infrastructure through clever combinations of public and private investment? Yes, now we’re talking. You say it can’t be done? Why? Has anyone ever tried to do that? Has there ever been a well run railroad which didn’t want to improve its infrastructure and use someone else’s money to do it?

As much as Amtrak’s has been America’s greatest kept secret lo these many years since May 1, 1971, and as much as there are now former passengers numbering into the millions who have sampled Amtrak and vowed "never again," Amtrak does have the power of the federal government behind it, and the ability to properly present itself as America’s passenger railroad, much as VIA Rail Canada has done in our neighbor to the north. A visionary president will stop allocating nickels and dimes to Amtrak’s sales and marketing budget (At the moment, less than 4% of Amtrak’s revenues, which is at a minimum 6% below where it should be of at least at 10% of revenues.) and make a full court press to fill the trains. For FY 2007, Amtrak had a systemwide load factor of 49%, somewhere more than 15% south of where it should be to break even by normal common carrier standards. This leaves plenty of room for a couple of choices, such as reallocating equipment to where it will serve more passengers, or beefing up advertising to put more faces in windows without having to add a lot of new rolling stock in order to start boosting revenues and lower Amtrak’s dismal operating ratio of 1.48 (The lower the number the better, anything above "1" indicates expenses outstrip revenues, or, in other words, it’s bankrupt.).

A visionary will ask why Amtrak has such few equipment choices, and why nothing new is on the drawing boards. Taking the past into the future, what about modern day rail diesel cars (now called DMUs) for short, expensive runs with few passengers? Why run a full train when one or two DMUs with lower crew costs will get the job done more than adequately?

What about a proper array of sleeping cars where every type of traveler can be accommodated according to need and the willingness to pay? Sleeping car prices are currently sky-high, and, if Amtrak is selling out many of its sleepers (which it is) at those prices, why isn’t there a backorder of hundreds of new sleepers to meet demand?

How about a new range of dining options based on passenger service, not commissary convenience or the fewest possible number of food service employees working too hard to provide good passenger service?

How about drastic changes in the way Amtrak operates stations, such as switching to the airline model where local government or local private investors pay for all station facilities and Amtrak is just a tenant, paying only its share of operating costs?

Here is the short summary: Will Amtrak’s board of directors select another Alex Kummant who is only stopping by for a short time while the ink drys on his resume, or will the board make a truly bold selection who understands and demands growth in real transportation output, investment driven by return on investment, not politics or a priori assumptions, and consider more or less the whole country, not just the small area north of Washington, D.C. and east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania? If these three goals are met, the politics will fall in line and disappear, Amtrak will become financially strong and not at the mercy of every budget cycle in Washington and assorted state houses, and passenger rail will rejoin the full domestic transportation matrix where it belongs, instead of being "novelty transportation" the is considered both bizarre and unable to show a profit.

4) Just as the rising price of a barrel of oil has made pumping oil in North America profitable again, so has that same rising price made passenger rail attractive again to many Americans (It was always viable, but no one paid any attention to it.). One last thought; allegedly wise and sage people – generally folks who wish to maintain some sort of fantasy instead of facing real facts – will try and convince you passenger rail is not profitable anywhere in the world, it can’t be profitable in America, and it should be considered a cost of running government, just like the building and maintenance of roads.

When you come across one of these misinformed and misguided lost souls, confidently look them in the eye, and, using current conditions, demand, prices of oil, and a host of other factors, dare them to use real, generally accepted accounting practices, and come up with those loss numbers without fudging the facts.

There was a time in this great country, before the Boeing 707 jet, and before the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, when passenger trains were profitable, with long distance trains cross subsidizing short distance and regional feeder trains.

That profitability disappeared because of the loss of glamour of the train to the jet and automobile, the inability of the railroads to compete for passengers because of oppressive government regulation, and the looming cost of re-equipping America’s passenger train fleet with a second generation of post-war equipment in the late 1960s. Add murderous real estate taxes on station and yard facilities, taxes on infrastructure and rolling stock and locomotives, and taxes on every paper clip used by railroads, and passenger trains were doomed.

Much of that has changed. A new generation of Americans who never rode a sweaty, foul-smelling and crowded troop train to World War II or Korea is ready to embrace passenger rail as something new – and, oddly and ironically enough – glamorous. There is no joy or luster to flying on a jet airplane, only annoyance and discomfort. Interstate highways have lost their allure and are often as crowded as surface streets.

Since the debut in 1976 of the first Love Boat movie on television, followed the next year by the long running television series, the cruise industry, once decimated by the maritime unions, has flourished for more than three decades with larger and more ostentatious new ships launched every year. By today’s average cruise ship standards, the ill-fated Titanic was an oversized rowboat. Once the original Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary and the SS United States were all retired by the 1970s, also victims of the Boeing 707, who would have believed the cruise industry would have come roaring back, with the strength of a hurricane, to recapture one of the crown jewels of the travel industry, and be wildly financially successful, too?

Do you really want to have a debate, taking the position passenger rail in the future will never be break even or profitable?

The Amtrak Board of Directors has two simple choices for the next president and chief executive officer. The board can choose and seat-warmer who will smile at the camera when testifying before Congress and beg for more money, or it can choose a visionary who will look at Amtrak and say, "I can make something of this; I can take this unholy mess and turn it into something America will boast to the world about how good it is, how sustainable it is, how much it contributes to America’s position of strength in the world."

The choice is up to the Amtrak Board of Directors. We can only hope the board will make a wise choice.

5) You may notice the date on this missive; it’s November 24th. Exactly one month from today is Christmas Eve. And, this Thursday is Thanksgiving Day, a day all Americans enjoy for being close to home and hearth. Except those who will be working to keep Amtrak running, maintaining its status as a 365 day a year operation. To all of those Amtrak employees who will be working so hard this week taking so many Americans to their holiday destinations, we say thank you for a job well done, and thank you missing a holiday with your family so we may be with our families.

There is something special about railroaders, and often that something special is wonderful.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

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J. Bruce Richardson

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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

____________________________________________________________ 

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; November 26, 2008
​




A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​

 

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail 

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​



 



 

Volume 5, Number 31
​

 

 

 

 

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Joy! We’re still 24 hours away from the official start of the Christmas season when Santa Claus brings up the rear of New York City’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but the holidays are coming a wee bit early.

Today, the Amtrak Board of Directors chose one of its own as Amtrak’s Interim President and Chief Executive Officer for a term of one year, while the board searches for a permanent replacement for the departed Alex Kummant.

Why the unrestrained happiness? Because the board has acted like a normal, professional corporate board and made a wise decision to elevate one of its own members into a daily executive position to keep the company on an even course (Even though that course may be very wrong if it continues to emphasize short distance corridors.).

Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Joseph Boardman, who will be leaving that position January 20, 2009 when the new administration takes power in Washington, and has served since 2005 as the United States Department Secretary of Transportation’s designee on the board, starts his new job today as Amtrak’s Interim President and CEO. It’s a very common occurrence for a sitting board member to take daily control of a company when its chief executive is removed in a unpleasant way, as was Alex Kummant earlier this month.

Here’s the official press release from Amtrak.

[begin quote]

Amtrak Media Relations

(202) 906-3860

AMTRAK SELECTS TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY VETERAN AS PRESIDENT & CEO

WASHINGTON – The National Railroad Passenger Corporation Board of Directors announced today that it has chosen Joseph Boardman, a nationally recognized transportation industry professional, to become president and chief executive officer of the company, effective November 26.

Boardman offers nearly 34 years of experience in the surface transportation industry at city, county, state, and federal government levels; most recently as the administrator at the Federal Railroad Administration.

"In an attempt to maintain the momentum at Amtrak, while finding a permanent CEO candidate, the board has appointed Mr. Boardman for one year, but will conduct a search in the coming months for a permanent CEO," said Board Chairman Donna McLean. She added that "Amtrak is at a critical juncture and needs a vigorous management vision and ability to take advantage of this unique time. The board has unanimously chosen Mr. Boardman in this capacity because we have complete confidence that his depth of experience and leadership skills will allow Amtrak to maintain growth and implement the requirements of the recently enacted authorization legislation."

"Joe Boardman knows the industry extremely well, but what makes him exceptionally qualified for the position is that he has the unique perspective of having known Amtrak as a customer and state partner, administrator, and has been involved with Amtrak, in one role or another, over the course of many years," said board Vice Chair Hunter Biden. "Joe is the right person to help Amtrak during this important period," he added.

Having served as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration since April 2005, Boardman was the Department of Transportation designee on the Amtrak board of directors. Prior to his tenure at FRA, he served as commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation beginning in July of 1997. There, Boardman led a transformation effort that better enabled the agency to respond to the challenges associated with an expanding global marketplace. In this capacity, Boardman was deeply involved in the operation of the large complement of Amtrak service in the state. In addition, he was chief operating officer of Progressive Transportation Service, Inc., a transportation management company. He was chairman of the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board in 2005 and chair of the American Association of the State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Standing Committee on Rail Transportation from 2000-2005.

"I am humbled that the board selected me to lead the company, on an interim basis, at this very exciting time. Over the past decade – in one capacity or another – I have been an active participant in the affairs of Amtrak. I have come to know the company, the culture, a number of employees, and I am keenly aware of the challenges facing us right now," said Boardman. "In my view, a national intercity, interconnected passenger rail service is critically important for the mobility and energy independence of the United States."

Joe Boardman fills the position following the departure of Alex Kummant earlier this month. Chief Operating Officer William Crosbie served as acting CEO in the interim. "The board is grateful to Bill Crosbie for his dedication to Amtrak and for managing the company during the transition," McLean added.

Boardman is a lifelong resident of New York, and is the second of eight children born and raised on a dairy farm in Oneida County, which two of his siblings currently operate. In 1966, he volunteered for service in the United States Air Force, serving in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. Upon receiving an honorable discharge from the Air Force, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Economics from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and a Master of Science in Management Science from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He presently resides with his wife Joanne in Washington, D.C., and has three grown children.

[End quote]

Many will recall Mr. Boardman’s outrage as commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation when Amtrak took New York’s money to upgrade and rehab the Turboliners, which were owned by the State of New York and promised for service between Albany and New York City, and then mothballed by Amtrak management because it claimed the Turboliners used too much fuel and carried too few passengers. The train sets were stored out of New York State, and Mr. Boardman let Amtrak know of his unhappiness of the whole mess. Now, he’s running the company. How much better can it get than this, that someone former Amtrak management scammed in recent history is now running the company?

It is important to make note of his statement, "In my view, a national intercity, interconnected passenger rail service is critically important for the mobility and energy independence of the United States." If this statement is interpreted correctly, he’s saying "national intercity" as in "all over the country," "interconnected" as in a "seamless system with decent connections and a smooth flow of traffic," and "mobility ... United States," which, again emphasizes the entire country, and not just relatively useless short, disconnected corridors.

The coming actions of Mr. Boardman hopefully will give us a better view of how the Amtrak Board or Directors believes Amtrak should fulfill its mission of providing a truly nationwide passenger rail service to cities and towns both large and small.

2) Some further information has become public, courtesy of Paul Weyrich, Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation in Washington, D.C., and former member of Amtrak’s Board of Directors. The following column appeared Monday, November 24th in newspapers around the country, and was released the next day (yesterday, Tuesday, November 25th) through the Free Congress Foundation’s daily commentary service.

Here is Mr. Weyrich’s information.

[begin quote]

Free Congress Foundation Commentary

The Possibility of a Better Future for Amtrak

By Paul M. Weyrich

November 25, 2008

The 111th Congress recently passed an authorization bill which provides more money for Amtrak than any bill passed in history. President George W. Bush signed the bill. For the first time Amtrak has been granted more money than required to keep the railroad operating. True it is that the appropriators will determine how much money Amtrak actually receives. But for the first time the President-elect has said he supports Amtrak. Moreover, the Vice President-elect rode Amtrak to and from Wilmington, Delaware every day Congress was in session from 1973 through 2008. He said, "I intend to see to it that Amtrak will become a first-class railroad." Amtrak has been carrying a record number of passengers on almost all its trains. Even with gas prices dropping Amtrak has continued to set new records. This is as close to Nirvana as it gets.

So why would Alex Kummant abruptly resign at this moment when an Amtrak President finally can accomplish something? The explanation given by Amtrak itself was inadequate and maybe disingenuous. He has been unavailable to comment. Amtrak officials zipped up like a third-grader’s snowsuit. We don’t know whom the Board has in mind to take Kummant’s place. Amtrak Presidents in the post-Graham Claytor era have not lasted long. With a new more sympathetic Congress, some stability would be appreciated.

After weeks of trying to learn what was going on, I finally determined that there apparently was a personality conflict between Kummant and the Board. It began back in Seattle at an off-site meeting when the Board believed that Kummant talked down to them. Matters continued to deteriorate all summer. It seems that Kummant thought the Board ought to set broad policy and should not be heard from again. Having served on that Board for six years I can tell you that the Board is very active. I was Chairman of the Strategic Marketing Committee. I was continually in touch with management people in my area. In fact, I was the first person on that Board to challenge some of the policies of Graham Claytor. The more the Board continued to intervene in management matters, the more Kummant resented it. Finally the Board made it clear that it regarded Kummant’s tenure as the equivalent of a bad marriage. In fact, Kummant and the Board engaged in a nasty exchange of e-mails. The Board set about trying to come up with a statement which would have given Kummant cover. The decision to let him go was made some time before he actually left. The story got out because Kummant’s packed boxes were seen. Also, a complex California trip which had been designed for Kummant was cancelled. Instead it was an extremely tense time at Amtrak. The Acting President is someone whom David Gunn had brought in. At age 44 he has had a long career in Canadian railroading and transit. He has dual Canadian and America citizenship. His tenure is thought to be short-lived. The Board apparently had been searching for a new CEO even while Kummant was still in charge.

So watch for an announcement, perhaps at the first of the year, of a new CEO who understands that the Board will be active in management issues. Whoever it is will come in at an unprecedented time for Amtrak. The railroad always has had strong support in Congress. This is the first time since President Richard M. Nixon signed the Amtrak Bill against the advice of his aides Haldeman and Ehrlichman that the railroad will have strong support from the Executive Branch. Perhaps this time the Board will come up with a CEO who will cultivate better relationships with Board Members. If there is such a person he or she probably will have a long tenure. If the new person could get along with Board Members life at 60 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, would be much better.

Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.

[End quote]

3) So, what is Mr. Boardman walking into? Let’s go to the blackboard.

Everyone has seen Amtrak’s constant happy talk about rising ridership and revenues. Yes, well, that’s all very nice if you believe in Santa Claus (If you do believe in Santa Claus, please stop reading, now.).

We will start with Amtrak’s annual report for fiscal year 2007. Keep in mind these are Amtrak figures. Waaaaay in the back of the annual report is a page of performance indicators. A table is shown, displaying figures from FY 98 to FY 07, a 10 year period. Take a look at some of the comparisons.

Federal operating grant (free federal monies) – FY 98, $202 million; FY 07, $485 million, an increase of 140%.

General capital funding – FY 98, $134 million; FY 07, $772 million, an increase of 476%

Operating ratio – FY 98, 1.50; FY 07, 1.48 (Operating ratio is total expenses to total revenue; a profit is only shown when the ratio is under 1.)

Current assets – FY 98, $868 million; FY 07, $605 million, a decrease of 30%

Current liabilities – FY 98, $621 million; FY 07, $960 million, an increase of 55%

Working capital ratio – FY 98, 1.40; FY 07, 0.63, a ratio less than 1 indicates negative working capital

Year-end cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments – FY 98, $275 million; FY 07, $234 million, a decrease of 15%

On time performance, systemwide – FY 98, 79%; FY 07, 69%, a decrease of 10 percentage points

Systemwide passenger miles – FY 98, 5,304 million; FY 07, 5,654 million, an increase of 7%

Systemwide seat miles – FY 98, 11,426 million; FY 07, 11,568 million, an increase of 1%

Systemwide load factor – FY 98, 46%; FY 07, 49%, an increase of 3 percentage points

Systemwide route miles – FY 98, 22,000; FY 07, 21,000, a decrease of 5%

Train miles – FY 98, 33 million; FY 07, 37 million, an increase of 12%

Passenger miles per train mile – FY 98, 160.7; FY 07, 151.4, a decrease of 6%

Ticket yield (ticket revenue per train mile) – FY 98, 17.8 cents; FY 07, 26.9 cents, an increase of 51%

Yield (Passenger related revenue per passenger mile) – FY 98, 18.9 cents; FY 07, 27.9 cents, an increase of 48%

Average length of trip, per passenger – FY 98, 251.4 miles; FY 07, 219.1 miles, a decrease of 13%

Total revenue per seat mile – FY 98, 14.9 cents; FY 07, 19.5 cents, an increase of 31%

Total expense per seat mile – FY 98, 23.1 cents; FY 07, 29.2 cents; an increase of 26%

Core revenue per seat mile – FY 98, 11.3 cents; FY 07, 16.4 cents, an increase of 45%

Core expense per seat mile – FY 98, 18.8 cents; FY 07, 26.1 cents, an increase of 39%

Systemwide ridership – FY 98, 21.1 million; FY 07, 25.8 million, an increase of 22%

Stations served by Amtrak – FY 98, 508, FY 07, 497, a decrease of 2%

Let’s summarize.

Increases:

• Federal operating grant – 140%

• General capital funding – 476%

• Operating ratio (declined, which is a positive increase)

• Current liabilities – 55%

• Systemwide passenger miles – 7%

• Systemwide seat miles – 1%

• Systemwide load factor – 3 percentage points

• Train miles – 12%

• Ticket yield – 51%

• Yield – 48%

• Total revenue per seat mile – 31%

• Total expense per seat mile – 26%

• Core revenue per seat mile – 45%

• Core expense per seat mile – 39%

• Systemwide ridership – 22%

Decreases:

• Current assets – 30%

• Working capital ratio from positive to negative

• Year-end cash – 15%

• On-time performance by 10 percentage points

• Systemwide route miles – 5%

• Passenger miles per train mile – 6%

• Average length of trip, per passenger – 13%

• Stations served by Amtrak – 2%

More reporting areas increased than decreased. But, it’s the critical areas which decreased which make such a difference:

– Amtrak has a negative working capital ratio, meaning it’s always starved for ready cash

– Current assets are down, giving the company less to work with for growth potential

– On-time performance went from bad to abysmal, and puts the company in a bad light with its passengers

– Systemwide route miles declined, shrinking the system and providing less opportunities for growth

– Passenger miles per train mile declined, meaning fewer passenger were on a train at any one time a train was moving one mile

– The average length of trip sharply declined, and when combined with fewer passenger miles per train mile means Amtrak’s actual transportation output declined (further rendering the ridership figures even more meaningless)

– The number of stations Amtrak serves declined, meaning Amtrak has the potential to reach fewer and fewer Americans.

Some of the areas which increased bring negative results, too.

– A larger federal operating grant means Amtrak was unable to run its own trains with its own resources by a greater deficit.

– A larger general capital funding grant means more things had to be fixed or upgraded, and the physical plant is deteriorating.

– Current liabilities soared, meaning more money is owed, creating more interest expense.

– Total expense per seat mile almost kept pace with total revenue per seat mile, negating gains.

– Core expense per seat mile almost kept pace with core revenue per seat mile, negating gains.

Overall, this is a dismal picture. Amtrak is standing on the steps of the coliseum playing its fiddle while Rome is burning all around it. Amtrak’s foolish and desperate public relations fog it has created to mask its true performance in the end will only hurt the company and the efforts of any honest president and CEO to turn the company around with real financial performance so when it is time to figure costs and benefits of new equipment, new routes, and new trains, the figures will be so skewed no one can make sense of them.

Hopefully, Mr. Boardman, working in harmony with the Amtrak Board of Directors, will cease all of this public relations silliness and start concentrating on the real work of improving Amtrak financially, so the rest of the company can naturally grow.

Here’s a final example. Amtrak says it had a 49% systemwide load factor for FY 07. That’s about 16% lower than it should be for a common carrier to even begin to break even. Amtrak says for the same period of time it took a federal operating grant of $485 million to run every train in the system beyond the revenues generated by the trains.

Okay, if Amtrak is running a 49% load factor, that means the load factor can be increased to 65% without any additional costs of equipment, personnel, stations, or other most major cost factors. We will be talking about very minor increases in items to take care of a larger group of people, and very small incremental costs of the reservations system. But, no increases in extra cars or locomotives or onboard employees because all of these things are in place to serve the current 49% load factor.

So, we spend an extra $25 million in marketing to attract an additional 16% load factor on current trains on current routes on current schedules. Suddenly, we’re up to a 65% load factor. What revenue did we gain by spending that $25 million? Based on current Amtrak figures, an addition 16 percentage points of load factor generates an additional $277 million dollars, with no increases in operating expenses. That $277 million, less the $25 million for increased marketing, leaves $252 million to reduce the federal operating grant need to $233 million systemwide. Using this same logic by adding additional coaches and sleepers to existing trains and/or adding new frequencies on existing routes which will not add any infrastructure costs such as stations costs, and, suddenly, Amtrak’s need for federal operating grants (free federal monies) quickly and easily disappears. That leaves only capital needs which can be dealt with much easier without operating grants, and silly numbers like the Sunset Limited losing over $400 per passenger. With only capital needs for the NEC and a few other isolated spots, there are no losses per passenger.

No matter how much whining there is from those who falsely believe government has to run a passenger railroad because someone says it has to lose money, it’s tough to argue with cold, hard, facts. From a purely operating standpoint, Amtrak is not that far away from running a company which needs operating grants.

We will leave it to other issues of TWA to delve into Amtrak’s unholy accounting, and how many accounting items are mis-categorized and mis-labeled. It’s entire possible that today the long distance system, consisting of the Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, Coast Starlight, City of New Orleans, Lake Shore Limited, Crescent, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Auto Train already operate without the need for operating subsidies if everything in Amtrak accounting was properly labeled an allocated.

4) We welcome Mr. Boardman as a learned caretaker of Amtrak’s presidency. We welcome the Amtrak Board of Directors making such a decision in the best interests of the company while the political landscape calms down from the presidential election and change of power in Washington. Even though such an interim appointment in the past brought us the late George Warrington and the accompanying disasters (many of which are reflected still today in the numbers above) when he was permanently awarded the top job, we can’t help but hope for a better Amtrak and a better future under a permanent, new president in the next year.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

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You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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## AlanB

MrFSS said:


> Okay, if Amtrak is running a 49% load factor, that means the load factor can be increased to 65% without any additional costs of equipment, personnel, stations, or other most major cost factors. We will be talking about very minor increases in items to take care of a larger group of people, and very small incremental costs of the reservations system. But, no increases in extra cars or locomotives or onboard employees because all of these things are in place to serve the current 49% load factor.
> So, we spend an extra $25 million in marketing to attract an additional 16% load factor on current trains on current routes on current schedules. Suddenly, we’re up to a 65% load factor. What revenue did we gain by spending that $25 million? Based on current Amtrak figures, an addition 16 percentage points of load factor generates an additional $277 million dollars, with no increases in operating expenses. That $277 million, less the $25 million for increased marketing, leaves $252 million to reduce the federal operating grant need to $233 million systemwide. Using this same logic by adding additional coaches and sleepers to existing trains and/or adding new frequencies on existing routes which will not add any infrastructure costs such as stations costs, and, suddenly, Amtrak’s need for federal operating grants (free federal monies) quickly and easily disappears. That leaves only capital needs which can be dealt with much easier without operating grants, and silly numbers like the Sunset Limited losing over $400 per passenger. With only capital needs for the NEC and a few other isolated spots, there are no losses per passenger.


Bruce couldn't be more wrong about this statement. In terms of corridor trains he's probably right, there is no increase in personnel. But when it comes to the LD's, such in increase in ridership I believe would see Amtrak adding personnel to the dining car staff, which would in turn increase operating costs. I'm not suggesting that all the extra monies that he's dreaming about would go away, but the bottom line is that operating expenses will indeed increase and cut into those numbers.


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## VentureForth

There are about 14 long distance trains that operate diners. Of those, let's average four trainsets per route. That's 56 diners that are on the long distance corridors. An additional staff member for each would be around 56*$100,000, or $5.6 per year. That's still a small chunk of the $244 Mil in revenue if any of what Bruce envisions materializes.


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## AlanB

VentureForth said:


> There are about 14 long distance trains that operate diners. Of those, let's average four trainsets per route. That's 56 diners that are on the long distance corridors. An additional staff member for each would be around 56*$100,000, or $5.6 per year. That's still a small chunk of the $244 Mil in revenue if any of what Bruce envisions materializes.


I didn't say that it was a huge expense, just that Bruce was wrong when he said that there is *NO* increase in operating expenses, and *NO* increase in personel.


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## haolerider

AlanB said:


> VentureForth said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are about 14 long distance trains that operate diners. Of those, let's average four trainsets per route. That's 56 diners that are on the long distance corridors. An additional staff member for each would be around 56*$100,000, or $5.6 per year. That's still a small chunk of the $244 Mil in revenue if any of what Bruce envisions materializes.
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't say that it was a huge expense, just that Bruce was wrong when he said that there is *NO* increase in operating expenses, and *NO* increase in personel.
Click to expand...

Alan: You are very correct. Not only would there be a potential additional person in the dining car (and perhaps another in the galley), there would also be an additional coach attendant if there are enough additional coach passengers and there would be the associated costs for additional food, linens, and other supplies that vary with the counts. Bruce tends to simplfy details when it is to his advantage and magnify them when it is not!


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; December 19, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 5, Number 32

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) What would our fathers say? Those of us just slightly beyond middle age remember a pre-Amtrak America, when railroads were run by professional railroaders – even the passenger services. The trains our fathers ran were run with a purpose, to either make money for the railroad, or lose as little money as possible for the railroad which had to run trains as mandated by government regulation.

Towards the end of the private passenger train throughout the 1960s, especially at the end of The Pullman Company days, things became a bit dicey, to say the least. But, the passenger rail industry was still in many instances operated as if passengers mattered. The Santa Fe Super Chief was never anything less than super, even the day before Amtrak Day on May 1, 1971. Seaboard’s Silver Meteor never lost its shine and luster. Union Pacific’s City of Los Angeles kept its dome diner through the end, and even though Arlo Guthrie sang of 15 cars and 15 restless riders on the Illinois Central’s City of New Orleans, the train still provided a good ride.

Even though many railroaders knew (And, some, feverishly hoped.) the end of private passenger service was coming, they refused to lower their standards. After all, those trains still carrying all of those still millions of passengers a year still had the company’s name on the side for all of the world to see.

And, then came Amtrak, the precursor to today’s nationalization of Wall Street, the banking industry, and the automobile manufacturing industry. Yes, those same fine folks who brought you the Post Office Department and then the USPS now brought you passenger rail service in 1971.

In the beginning, it was pretty-much okay, because a lot of the professional railroaders – who thought of themselves as professional railroaders and not employees of a company which depends on annual handouts of free federal monies – kept on doing what they thought they were supposed to do, which is run trains for the benefit of passengers and the company’s bottom line.

Along the way, our fathers retired or passed away, and took with them the last vestiges of professional passenger railroading. Gone now are what used to be necessities, like equipment held in readiness to handle surge demands or replace unexpectedly bad ordered cars and locomotives. Gone are the extra boards for employees, who were always available to man trains anytime an employee assigned to a regular run wasn’t available for work that day. Gone is the pride in the company, and the pride in the company’s name and reputation.

If you were a Seaboarder, you looked with scorn – or at least great skepticism – at a Coast Liner. The Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad were great rivals, fighting for every freight and passenger dollar, but ended up allies when the two companies merged to form what would later become today’s CSX, one of just a series of landscape altering mergers of the 1960s and 70s.

On the Seaboard’s Silver Meteor, every day at 3 P.M. complimentary fresh orange juice was served in the dining car. In addition to a Seaboard conductor and brakeman, the train carried a Pullman conductor, a Passenger Services Agent for coach passengers, and an onboard nurse in a smart blue uniform similar to that of an airline stewardess. (The nurses were allowed during the day to sit alone in Pullman rooms or roomettes instead of staying in the crew car, but were not allowed to close the door.) On the Coast Line’s famous winter train, the Florida Special, you were treated to a swim-suit fashion show in the Pullman lounge car, displaying the scandalous new bikinis being worn on fashionable Miami Beach, the train’s destination.

There were dome cars aplenty, Pullman lounges of many descriptions, coach lounges, café cars, grill cars, dining cars of both the railroad and Pullman variety, and all sorts of different types of sleeping car space, ranging from upper and lower berths to duplex roomettes to compartments, bedrooms, bedroom suites, and drawing rooms.

For non-Pullman passengers, there were a number of different designs of coaches, plus parlour car seats. Long distance coach seats were truly designed for sleeping, a far cry from today’s back-pain inducing Amtrak seats. Even more importantly, there was a coach attendant for every coach.

Most of this is gone, now. Those who falsely believe passenger train transportation should be treated as a government service (With associated levels of competence often thought of when dealing with government entities.) – and only a government service – are at the moment winning the day. Amtrak is about as bare-bones as you can get.

The whiners who believe only government can solve problems (At your expense, and mine, and, they also believe they know better than anyone else. If you don’t believe that, just ask them.) have no faith in capitalism (Except where it comes to their own companies.) and no faith in entrepreneurship. These single-minded people are content to settle for a middling status quo, almost content to eat every meal at Denny’s, except when it can be put on an expense account, then the best steakhouse in town is the order of the day.

These are not the people Amtrak needs today as friends, nor as employees or managers. What Amtrak needs are dreamers and visionaries, firmly grounded in the rigors and problem-solving tenants of capitalism.

Today’s so-called friends of Amtrak look at any train and think it’s wonderful. They don’t discriminate between trains which are financially viable, and trains which are a drain on the company. All they see are trains, and passengers riding the trains.

We need to stop here for a moment and talk about New York’s Staten Island ferry, a wonderful piece of government-owned transit which hauls millions of passengers a year. These marvelous ships ply their course hour in and hour out between lower Manhattan Island and Staten Island. At one time these ferries were privately owned, but eventually became part of government. Those of us of a certain age remember riding the ferries for a nickel, and then being aghast when the fare went all the way up to a quarter. For 25 cents you got the best view of New York City available, a brisk wind at your face, and a great ride.

One day, someone in government had an epiphany. They did some honest accounting (Often a rarity in New York government.), and discovered it was costing more to collect the 25 cent fare to ride the Staten Island ferry than it was producing in revenue.

Wisely, New York government made a decision to make the ferry ride free, eliminating the cost of collecting the fare, and everyone has lived happily ever after.

While this tiny microcosm of government sanity works in one place in a transit situation, it doesn’t mean it will work elsewhere.

We’ve said it before in the space, and we will say it again. Passenger rail has the potential to be nearly, or completely self-supporting with the right business model. It’s a business model which includes revenue-rich long distance trains which the public gladly patronizes, and short distance feeder trains which can be subsidized by successful long distance trains. All of this is beyond Amtrak’s current business model, or business models of those who advocate high-speed trains without a good feeder system.

Look at the recent anguish in the news media in Vermont about the annual funding for Amtrak state service. The usual gnashing of teeth occurred, and the media was full of horror stories and the usual claptrap about how the Republic would fall if the service was defunded. In the end Vermont lawmakers came up with the money, but this proved yet again when you depend on public financing for something that has a potential to be self-supporting, how much unnecessary public anguish occurs. You can take it to the bank those Vermont stories did more to keep riders away from Vermont Amtrak trains for fear or perception they were going away than new riders were attracted by the media attention.

2) Those who truly don’t understand or appreciate capitalism quickly try and shout down those with a vision and who deal in reality instead of government largesse. Non-capitalists worry endlessly capitalism may actually work, and better solutions may be found outside of the moldy corridors of large government. Even worse, non-capitalists are often proved wrong when pesky true facts get in the way of their dreams of government domination in all facets of our society.

For the moment, even though Amtrak recorded record drops in ridership last month, Amtrak has an almost unprecedented opportunity to waddle up to the government trough and take huge slurps of federal monies in the now-hallowed name of economic stimulus.

The question is, during this unique opportunity, is Amtrak ready for success? Does Amtrak have a viable business plan and the ability to spend zillions of dollars of economic stimulus money? Even more basic, does Amtrak understand how this perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for lots of money for new rolling stock, infrastructure enhancements to shorten schedules, new technology systems, and almost anything else anyone can think of can best be used to create a dynamic company which can move closer and closer to self-sufficiency?

3) Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joe Boardman has provided us some glimpses of his vision for Amtrak over the next year. It appears he supports long distance trains, which is excellent, but in the few media interviews available, has demonstrated a tremendous lack of non-focus on Amtrak’s core business. He’s expressed delight at the concept of electrifying rail lines from Maine to Miami, while worrying about carbon footprints. This is not the type of visionary thinking Amtrak needs right now. The visionary thinking Amtrak needs is to take what it has, and make it better, more useful, more passenger friendly, and more financially viable. Things like electrification need to be the purview of the Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration, not Amtrak.

Another major distraction came in the past few days when Amtrak announced it was competing for federal funds to build an entirely new and passenger-only Northeast Corridor at a cost of somewhere between $30 and $40 billion. This is lunacy. Again, Amtrak needs to worry about its present system, and leave this type of infrastructure investment up to someone or something that has proven to be far more adept than Amtrak at managing infrastructure. A look at Amtrak’s stewardship of the current NEC quickly demonstrates Amtrak’s wholly inadequate management of the resource.

4) Everyone can hope the incoming Obama administration will be more adept than the previous post-World War II administrations at framing surface transportation policy. Since the current policy of every preceding administration is to build highways and airports, and then expand those same resources, it will be interesting to see what becomes of rail and water transportation. While an Obama administration is not likely to try and buck any maritime unions (Which will continue to guarantee most ships are manned by foreign crews; heaven help us in time of war.), we can hope for a new day of looking at rail and water transportation as more important parts of our domestic transportation network than they are today.

If, by some sort of minor or medium-sized miracle, anyone should ever take a look at a broad picture, and start coordinating planning and construction of a combination of transit, regional rail and long distance passenger rail systems, taking into account all future uses and inter-connectivity and the needs of freight haulers, then perhaps a sane transportation policy may emerge. In the meantime, if too many states continue to act independently, likely there will be an unmanageable hodgepodge of plans that begin and end nowhere.

At look at the coordination between Amtrak and Tri-Rail in South Florida shows how two systems can mesh successfully. Former Seaboard stations became poorly maintained Amtrak stations, but those stations are now spiffy Tri-Rail stations housing Amtrak facilities. Parking is greatly improved, amenities abound, and a double-tracking of the old Seaboard main line has helped tremendously with dispatching and on time performance. Everybody here is the winner, especially passengers. Once dingy facilities with marginal platforms have become showplaces for modern and efficient facilities and infrastructure. Everything works smoothly because there is coordination and planning, and, even more importantly, local leadership working for the common good of a regional plan.

This concept applied all over the country is a recipe for success.

As of this writing, it appears retiring congressman Ray LaHood of Illinois is slated to be the next federal Secretary of Transportation. Other than his ongoing support for union positions and overall support for Amtrak, not much is known about the man who will oversee what may be the largest transportation infrastructure building program in the history of our country. We do know as a Republican he works well with Democrats (Obviously, since he’s going to serve in a Democratic administration.), but he doesn’t have a lot of personal management experience; he mostly is a creature of government service, even before he was elected to Congress.

We can hope he will listen to various proposals and have an open mind to creating a true surface transportation policy beyond building and rebuilding highways.

5) The one man in America uniquely and unquestionably qualified to determine surface transportation policy is former FRA Administrator Gil Carmichael. He was kind enough to share his recent speech in New York City with us. Read and learn.

[begin quote]

RAILROAD BASED "INTERSTATE II"

Paper Prepared and Delivered By

GILBERT E. CARMICHAEL

Founding Chairman, Intermodal Transportation Institute

University of Denver

www.du.edu/transportation

United States Federal Railroad Administrator, 1989-1993

15th WORLD CONGRESS ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

New York, New York

November 17, 2008

Any realistic discussion of the future of global transportation in this century – and of the role of railroads within that system – requires an understanding of the dramatic changes that have occurred in freight transportation during the past 25 years. A revolution has taken place. The general public is unaware of it. Far too many transportation professionals fail to understand its scope and significance. Since 1980 a global intermodal freight network has evolved. Today "Intermodal" is the world-wide standard for moving freight.

This global movement of freight is sharply focused on speed, safety, reliable scheduling, and economic efficiency. It builds on the strengths of each mode – ship, rail, and truck – who have become partners in offering service. It makes use of the versatility of the cargo container. Cargo ships and airplanes span the oceans. The freight railroad is the high-speed, long distance, lowest cost, transportation artery on land. The truck provides local feeder service at origins and destinations. Cargo airplanes deliver high-value, specialized freight. Overall, the operational and economic efficiency of freight’s intermodal network dramatically conserves fuel, reduces other environmental impacts, and is significantly safer! It represents the most economically, fuel efficient, and environmentally sustainable approach to transportation.

Railroads are essential to this system – and vital to its future growth. Today, a doublestack container train leaving a port in the U.S. West Coast can replace 280 trucks, run at speeds up to 90 miles an hour, and afford as much as nine times the fuel efficiency of container transport by highway. In North America the rail mode offers another important advantage. A majority of existing railroad rights-of-way have excess capacity. Furthermore, the rail network was created with rights-of-way of sufficient width to accommodate additional tracks and much more untapped capacity. It is reasonable to foresee doubling or even tripling the capacity of the existing route structure without having to acquire additional land. These existing routes connect all of our cities and ports.

As we ponder other future opportunities, the question of energy supply and cost cannot be ignored. Petroleum was established as transportation’s fuel of choice for two reasons. Historically, it has been available at relatively low cost. Equally important — or perhaps more so — petroleum provides a portable source of motive power. Today, we worry about both the cost and future availability of petroleum fuels. Somewhere out in this century we know that the supply will start to fall dramatically. Building more highways is definitely not the solution.

What are the options, if any? If fuel-cell technology eventually delivers a reliable power source at reasonable cost, it likely is the most desirable outcome, and could be adopted by both the railroad and highway modes. We know that trains, trucks, buses, and automobiles can run on natural gas. But that too is a finite fuel, and in the United States virtually all of our electric power generation capacity installed within the past 20 years has been gas-fired. A third option, with the most promising future supply, is electricity. In the foreseeable future, the railroad mode is the only candidate for large-scale benefits from electrification among the commercial transportation modes. Electrifying the North American rail system would make sense in a future of oil scarcity. It is not something to be rushed into right away, because the current infrastructure technology to deliver it to the locomotive is expensive to install and to maintain. The major sticking point, in my view, is the source of fuel for the electricity. It would be foolish to install an electrified delivery system for power generated from natural gas, for example, because the gas could be delivered directly to the locomotive. But a rail system run on power from nuclear, solar, windfarms, tides, and the like could in 20 or 30 years time have very strong appeal and possibilities. (There’s no telling what Jet A for airplanes will cost in the last half of this century!)

A final point about intermodal transportation and the energy situation is in order. The intermodal concept was designed at a time when oil prices were near 40 dollars a barrel. Prices dropped sharply in the mid-1980s, but rail intermodal expanded anyway. The recent whipsawing of oil prices has people wondering about capital investment. Intermodal freight movement makes sense irrespective of fuel prices. It is the energy-efficient service provider. If prices drop the container will still represent the lowest-cost option. If energy cost again double, intermodal simply will gain more market share. Intermodal systems have become a whole new transportation science.

Our success in freight intermodal transportation points the way to what I believe is the most promising strategy for North American transportation improvements, for freight and passenger, in the coming years. I call that strategy "Interstate II". In the last century we built 43,000 miles of grade-separated four-lane highways – the U.S. Interstate I. On the other hand, Interstate II is a vision of truly high-speed intercity/port travel that is based upon steel wheel on a steel rail, not pavement. It partners the superior safety and efficiency of rail transportation with the strengths of the intermodal system. Interstate II can be built on rights-of-way that already exist because there is ample room. I believe that we must build or upgrade about 30,000 miles of double and triple track corridors capable of running freight trains at speeds in excess of 90 miles an hour. That network would be augmented by as much as another 10,000 miles of high-quality conventional routings. This network would be the basis of Interstate II, a high-efficiency network of steel stretching from coast to coast and from Mexico City to Montreal. With GPS and the new PTC technology we should be able to very safely include passenger trains at speed up to 125 MPH. Such trains can be competitive in city pairs up to 500 miles.

As we consider the future there are opportunities for the application of Intelligent Transportation Systems in enhancing operational performance, optimizing utilization of facilities, cargo security, and promoting seamless freight and passenger transfers at intermodal terminals. The intermodal system requires efficient terminals. There have been significant improvements, but inefficiencies and bottlenecks remain. ITS also has an important role in the overall issue of transportation safety. As I said earlier, I believe that we now have the technological capability to maintain extremely safe conditions in railroad operations. That is less true in highway and terminal operations. A safety problem in one mode affects the overall performances of all modes in the intermodal system. 

Globally, the intermodal revolution and its current operations have owed a great deal to the private sector. The North American intermodal system of ships, ports, trains, and trucks created by the private sector and designed to be responsive to the needs of freight customers. Most of the capital investments in equipment and terminals have private-sector origins. Some industry experts argue — and I agree with them — that intermodal has succeeded because it was a private-sector, customer-driven initiative. There is a role for government. I think it will be difficult in the United States to meet future capital needs for Interstate II without some form of federal, state, and private-sector participation. Proposals such as a 25% investment tax credits for railroad capital investment seem to me to be the right way to go because they limit the potential intrusiveness of public officials who are generally ignorant of transportation issues and realities, and whose agendas may differ from the purposes for which the intermodal system exists. I believe that a 25% tax credit will double the class I railroads annual infrastructure spending and dramatically reduce the congestion, stress, and cost to our highways.

I believe that we must be very cautious in defining the future role of governments as participants in this process. In particular, there is talk in the Unites States of reimposing the type of governmental economic regulation that existed prior to 1980. Only after that deregulation occurred did the freight railroad industry in the United States flourish after what had been 80 years of economic decline. Had that regulation remained in place I seriously doubt that the United States would now be part of the global intermodal revolution. The mere threat of re-regulation already is causing the financial community and railroad shareholders to question whether the freight railroad managements should continue to invest capital – because the return on that investment will be jeopardized by economic re-regulation.

Let me close with this. We now know that autos, trucks, and airplanes can not solve the world’s current transportation needs. Our new Congress and President plan to introduce infrastructure work programs to put people to work and restart the country. We have built all the highway systems we need. The focus should be maintaining the existing highways as well as reviving the private sector bus industry. Buses offer the most flexible solution for low density and connector routes. New national transportation programs must concentrate on partnerships with the private sector railroads to build Interstate II in the next 15-20 years. Investing $100-200 billion will create huge numbers of jobs, stimulate economic growth and provide a beautiful 21st century high speed intermodal freight and passenger system.

[End quote]

6) A sad note in today’s communique. Yesterday, the world lost former Amtrak board member Paul Weyrich at the too young age of 66. Mr. Weyrich had many accomplishments in life and was an ardent conservative supporter of transit and passenger rail. Perhaps what can best be said about him was he was a gentleman with a passion for knowledge and generously sharing that knowledge with others. He was a friend of United Rail Passenger Alliance and many other individuals and organizations.

Russ Jackson, one of the original associates of URPA these many decades, frequent correspondent to TWA, distinguished retired editor of Western Rail Passenger Review, and current editor of RailPAC’s web site wrote this tribute to Paul Weyrich.

[begin quote]

PAUL WEYRICH and Rail

Reported by Russ Jackson

Paul Weyrich, who passed away on December 17, 2008, was a Conservative. No doubt about it, and he led his group, Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, into commentaries about many subjects of interest to conservatives in this country. What set him apart as far as rail advocates are concerned was his devotion to improving rail transportation and its associated infrastructure. He served on the Amtrak Board of Directors, and was a member of the Amtrak Reform Council in the 1990's. He was a RailPAC Patron member for many years, and advocated improvements to not only Amtrak but also light rail projects throughout the United States. He and RailPAC Associate Director Ken Ruben exchanged many e-mails on rail advocacy. Yes, Mr. Weyrich was a "railfan," but like many of us also a "rail advocate."

In the July, 1996, issue of the Rail Passenger Review, of which I was then the Editor, the following article was published on p.5. Many rail advocates/supporters were surprised to learn about Mr. Weyrich:

The article as printed: "Conservatives and Mass Transit: Is It Time for a New Look?" is the name of a new study prepared for the American Public Transit Association by the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, written by William S. Lind and former Amtrak Board member Paul M. Weyrich. RailPAC member Bob Stevens in Helena, Montana, forwarded a copy for RailPAC to review, and we agree with Bob that "it may help diffuse some of the right wing animosity toward transit." The study begins by saying, "Traditionally, mass transit has not been of much interest to conservatives. Their disinterest stems from three perceptions: 1) mass transit is a government creation that would quickly cease to exist in a free market; 2) no conservative constituencies use mass transit; and 3) mass transit does not serve any important conservative goals." They go on to point out that each of those perceptions has some truth, but are open to question on conservative grounds. "The dominance of the automobile is not a free-market outcome, but the result of massive government intervention on behalf of the automobile. That intervention came at the expense of privately owned, privately funded, tax paying public transit systems." They say that conservative constituencies are turning to mass transit; "that usually means rail transit or bus on high speed busways," and mass transit can "serve some important conservative goals, including economic development, moving people off welfare and into productive employment, and strengthening feelings of community." But, it must be quality mass transit. Mr. Weyrich and Mr. Lind call for an informed dialogue between conservatives and transit authorities and advocates as, "Together they may find ways to provide better transit service that is also more efficient."

Paul Wilson wrote, Weyrich was, "A thoughtful voice on the right on may diverse matters, and among those were Amtrak and transit policy." In his final daily news column published December 18, Mr. Weyrich said, "It is the worst of times because the Bush administration has turned down 70 some cities which want light rail or streetcars. It is the best of times because Amtrak has set records in number of passengers carried. It is the worst of times because the airlines carry more people on one day than Amtrak does in a year."

The pro-transit movement will miss Mr. Weyrich, as he brought into advocacy many who would otherwise have opposed it.

[End quote]

For all of us who had our lives touched by Paul Weyrich, we extend our sympathy and sorrow to his surviving wife, children, and grandchildren.

7) As an end note to the first item in this issue, yes, my father was – and always will be – a railroader. At 87 today, he retired 25 years ago from CSX. He started as a young man before WW II in his native Norfolk, Virginia with the original Norfolk Southern Railroad, a small road in southeast Virginia and North Carolina, where his brother was an engineer. My father was a clerk, and, when an opportunity presented itself, he moved over to The Pullman Company in Norfolk, where he also had clerical duties. Two 60 year old photos of a 26 year old version of my father in Pullman offices in Norfolk’s union station hang on my office wall. He held a combo job there, both as a financial clerk, accounting for fares collected by Pullman conductors and dining car revenues, and was also a train inspector.

When an outbound train was backed into the station from the yards, he went onboard and inspected the Pullman cars for cleanliness and made sure everything was in good working order. During the 1960s, in the last years of The Pullman Company, and now with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad as a headquarters manager, he would still "inspect" the various Pullman cars we would travel in around the country, and not be pleased with what he found, especially when departing Penn Station in New York City. Sunnyside yards were never up to his standards for car cleaning and repairs.

My parents took advantage of railroad employee passes, including when they were married in January of 1945. After a ferry ride across Chesapeake Bay from Norfolk to Virginia’s Eastern Shore, they spent their wedding night in a Pullman compartment between the Eastern Shore and New York City, on their way to a traditional honeymoon in Niagara Falls. The story they still tell today is "helpful and friendly" Pullman employees, all buddies of my father, knocked on their compartment door every 30 minutes throughout the night to make sure the happy couple didn’t need anything.

Fortunately for my brother and I, my parents loved to ride the train. By the time either of us reached the age of 21, we had logged over 100,000 miles on America’s premier trains, all in Pullman space. Trains included the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Silver Comet, North Coast Limited, Western Star, 20th Century Limited, Capitol Limited, Golden State, City of Los Angeles, and many, many others. My parents and I were on the last Seaboard Coast Line Silver Meteor out of Penn Station in New York on April 30, 1971, and awoke on the first Amtrak Silver Meteor arriving home in Florida on May 1, 1971. Somewhere in North Carolina at the stroke of midnight, suddenly, Amtrak arrived for us. Prior to that, those early, pre-Amtrak days provided a view of America not readily available today.

So, speaking of our fathers’ passenger railroads is personal. The work ethic of that generation (My father worked full time and overtime at The Pullman Company all during World War II, and still found time to spend several shifts a week working at Langley Field’s coastal defense command in Norfolk as a volunteer since he wasn’t able to serve in the military.) is legendary, and their personal standards were often superb. They were the generation that learned from the Great Depression, and vowed to never have to live through those conditions, again. Their goal was a better world and a better place for their children to live and prosper.

We need to make sure we never let this generation down by being satisfied and comforted by a shoddy product such as is offered today by Amtrak. We can – and must – do better.

Merry Christmas! and Happy New Year! to all, and Happy Holidays! where necessary.

Thanks for subscribing to and reading TWA in 2008. We look forward to 2009.

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 5, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] •

http://www.unitedrail.org​




Volume 6, Number 1
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Welcome to the sixth year of This Week at Amtrak. Thanks for being a TWA reader, and thanks to all who took the time and kindness last year to write with thoughts, suggestions, other opinions, and questions.

From the beginning, TWA has worked hard to be a different voice about the business of passenger rail in North America. For too long, true debate about passenger rail has been shouted down by those who have blindly followed the Amtrak path as gospel, and who haven't bothered to think outside of the proverbial box to create a new and better world of passenger rail centered on success rather than the constant false propping up of failure. Detractors of TWA seem to be terrified someone in a position to do something act on the suggestions made here.

TWA is not for the faint of heart, and has never intended to be another cheerleader for the failures of Amtrak. TWA is a mix of news, facts, proposals and opinions not found elsewhere based on common sense, solid principles of self-reliance, a knowledge of railroading, and a belief entrepreneurs and capitalism are always a better alternative than government, and, when government intervention or financing may be necessary, the less the better.

Many, over these past six years have taken exception to those beliefs as espoused through TWA. That's fine, because then honest debate can occur. During the past decade we have seen Amtrak and passenger rail move from a partisan-Democrat issue to a non-partisan issue where people of all political beliefs have come to better understand the many advantages of a truly diverse domestic transportation network which encompasses more than air and automobile travel.

We have also, through a series of events and the unfortunate dying off of The Greatest Generation, seen a renewed interest in passenger rail by those who never witnessed the last two decades of private passenger rail travel and the ignoble replacement of the passenger train by the Boeing 707 as the preferred choice of the long distance traveler.

We have also witnessed a long-standing debate about modal envy, with passenger rail fans constantly whining about the unfairness of massive government subsidies to airlines in the form of government-owned airports and the air traffic control system and government-built and maintained highways for busses and automobiles.

This silly argument has fed fuel to the fire that passenger rail MUST be government subsidized, and has swept honest debate away from how passenger rail – which once was subsidy free, but had large Post Office and REA Express contracts – can again be subsidy free, even without the Post Office and REA Express. Too many people have blindly accepted arguments without truly thinking about the big picture, and have been more than willing to happily spend someone else's money in the form of government subsidies instead of doing real work and being as close to as possible – or completely – self-sustaining.

Just because something exists – especially if it is the only "something" existing – doesn't mean it is right or should be supported at all costs, with no quarter given to other options.

The passenger rail business in North America was once the envy of the world; companies like Canadian Pacific boasted of the world's greatest transportation system, consisting of CP's excellent passenger rail system, CP ships, which had a grand tradition of bringing immigrants to Canada, and later serving as a top notch passenger line, and, CP airlines, one of Canada's pioneer airlines, whose pilots played a pivotal role in World War II ferrying American-made bombers to Europe.

In the Lower 48, once mighty giants like the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Northern Pacific, Santa Fe, and other roads boasted of passenger trains that have lived on in history and are still a standard to be measured against for future passenger trains.

And, then, there is Amtrak. Created in financial crisis as a public solution to a private industry problem caused in large part by over regulation by the federal government, Amtrak has never fully found its way in the world. Constantly enabled by sycophants who cause more problems than they solve, Amtrak has been allowed to skate by decade after decade with little direction and little oversight of its constantly failing business plans. When an administration finally did stand up to Amtrak and demanded it do better, the sycophants instantly branded those simply asking questions and demanding sound business decisions as traitors and unworthies. How dare they demand success? How dare they turn over rocks exposing beds of worms and snakes? Why, no other passenger railroad in the world is profitable! Why should Amtrak be?

Why, indeed?

Simply, because it can.

If the rest of the world wants to be like lemmings and jump off of the cliff, why should Amtrak follow? Why shouldn't Amtrak work as diligently as possible to be a subsidy-free as possible? New York State's ONLY state subsidized train, the Adirondack, is currently the focus of yet another news media campaign, declaring it "endangered" because the New York Department of Transportation may not have enough money to subsidize it for another year in tight budget times.

How many times have we heard this sad story? How many thousands of potential passengers are discouraged from taking the train because they believe it is going away? How many New Yorkers will only hear "Amtrak" and not "The Adirondack," and think all Amtrak service is going away? If there were ways found to turn this route into a more self-sufficient route, these type of unhelpful media stories would simply disappear.

Some believe any publicity is good publicity, as long as they spell the name right. Speaking from a professional marketing standpoint: hogwash. For all of the negative publicity caused by these annual subsidy soap operas, it takes millions of dollars in savvy marketing to put a positive, call-to-action message in front of the public to overcome the negative media stories.

So, here we go starting another year of This Week at Amtrak. We hope to provide you with a lively account of important events and proposals for passenger rail in 2009. Let's begin with two contributions from Andrew Selden, URPA's vice president of law and policy.

2) [begin quote]

Numbers

by Andrew C. Selden

As we enter a new year, Amtrak is already a third of the way through its 2009 fiscal year, which began October 1, 2008. It is useful to look forward to where Amtrak thinks its future lies, and back to reflect on where it has been.

Amtrak has another new CEO this year, Joseph Boardman, so a quick review of strategy seems especially appropriate. Mr. Boardman is a capable administrator (ex-chief of the New York state DOT, and lately of the Federal Railroad Administration), but his experience seems to have limited his vision to the usual, tired canard of "short corridors" being the wave of the future.

To show why "short corridors" (routes up to 500 miles, like the NEC, the Chicago-hub corridors, and the west coast corridors) are a dead-end spur, let's look at some hard data from Amtrak's FY '08, which ended last September 30, by comparing the key results of the nine short corridors based at Chicago with the seven long-distance routes that radiate out from Chicago.

9 Short Distance Trains 7 Long Distance Trains

Riders 2,604,100 2,012,500

Revenue $64,817,000 $198,770,000

Pass. Miles 410,498,000 1,388,906,000

These are interesting numbers. Look at the contrasts: in ridership, the only metric Amtrak ever talks about, the nine corridors carried about 29% more people. That means they also incurred greater costs for ticketing, marketing, stations, insurance, crew turns, equipment maintenance, etc., based just on handling that many more people.

But in the metrics that matter, which Amtrak always ignores, the seven long distance routes (diluted by the 3-day-a-week Cardinal), from 29% fewer passengers, and on two fewer routes, earned more than three times the revenue and produced nearly three and one-half times the transportation output as the short corridors.

But, you might say, what about all the people carried by those corridor trains? Aren't they helping relieve road congestion and save the environment? Well … not really. By a factor of 2-to-1, the highest ridership corridor into Chicago is the 86 mile Hiawatha line to Milwaukee, with 749,700 riders last year. To give you a perspective on that, local I-94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul (in the same metropolitan area) carries that many people every five days. So does I-94 between Milwaukee and Chicago. So, this big-deal corridor with just one lane-hour a day of ridership on its 96 trains a week really isn't doing very much in terms of mitigating congestion or air pollution.

The weakest of the daily Chicago long distance routes, the City of New Orleans, carried 197,400 riders (about ¼ of the Hiawathas), but earned more revenue ($14.9 million vs. $13.5) and produced 150% more output than all of the Hiawathas combined.

If you were a manager of a business and had money to invest, into which of these two operations would you put your banker's money? Would it help you decide to know that the City of New Orleans was statistically sold out (at a 64% load factor) while the Hiawathas were more than half empty (40% load factor)? Which route has more growth potential?

This is Mr. Boardman's challenge: put his banker's free money into routes that don't do anything? Or, ones that really produce?

[End quote]

3) [begin quote]

Growth Prospects

by Andrew C. Selden

With the prospect of a trillion dollars in federal "stimulus" spending, every pig in Washington is lining up at the golden trough. Amtrak is no exception, but as always for the wrong projects. "Wrong" here meaning "least likely to accomplish anything productive." Amtrak's entire capital budget is focused as always on the NEC, and state-subsidized corridors elsewhere. At the same time, the Superliner fleet is both shrunken and wearing out. The oldest cars are nearing 30 years old.

And it's a shame because Superliners, especially Superliner sleepers, are the most profitable asset Amtrak owns.

The late Byron Nordberg and I figured out two things about Superliners back in the 1980s: First, what it would cost to lease them in trainset lots with a maintenance contract, and what a Superliner set can reasonably be expected to earn in typical western deployment (allowing for seasonality and downtime for maintenance and overhauls). It turns out that the former number is a fraction of the latter.

That means that if you can deploy the cars, you can pay for them easily from their own revenue. The remaining surplus eats away at system fixed costs.

And that means you don't need (or especially want) federal welfare to buy or lease them. All you need is vision and some initiative. All that is left is to show the lender you can reasonably expect to generate the revenue with which to pay the lease. Adrian Herzog's matrix equations solved that: at the same level of market penetration that Amtrak has today (i.e., you don't have to do anything differently or better than you already are doing, just do more of it in a way that is interconnected), by building a national scale interconnecting route matrix, new traffic literally falls off the tree into your trains at an exponentially-growing rate. Build a little matrix with maybe a 10% expansion of today's train-miles, and traffic and revenue doubles; build a bigger matrix, say double what exists today, and traffic and revenue grows so big so fast that you couldn't handle it if it showed up.

In my 1986 TRAINS Magazine article, we published the Southwest Transcontinental Corridor matrix and showed that twiddling with the Chief's route just a little (about 5% more train miles) multiplied the demand by 600%, on just one train.

When Dr. Herzog ran the matrix model on interconnecting the Southwest Transcontinental Corridor with the Central Transcontinental Corridor (accomplished by the simple matter of extending one Mule to Omaha, and adding a Cheyenne-Denver-Pueblo-La Junta shuttle) the numbers were so huge we didn't publish them for fear it would discredit the whole theory.

So it is not so much a matter of "Do we need 100, or 1,000, or 3,000 new Superliners?" as much as the idea that what we should do is start up a line to produce new Superliners at a modest rate, say six a month, and keep that line open indefinitely until the traffic growth starts to slow down, or we run out of track-time to run them.

[End quote]

4) We know by combing through various Amtrak information, it already has a very, very modest five year equipment plan, which is akin to having next to nothing. Here is what Amtrak has said it wants as of right now (hopefully, subject to rational thought and changes):

– Purchase 75 Viewliner class baggage and baggage dorm cars, plus 25 Viewliner class diners, and 15 Viewliner sleeping cars, for a total of 115 cars.

The baggage and bag/dorm cars are a wise investment; currently all baggage cars are from the Heritage fleet, and most are more than 50 years old. Even equipment built more solidly than a battleship eventually wears out, and this proud fleet of equipment deserves a decent retirement. The same is true for the single-level dining car fleet. One Viewliner class diner was put into service as a test vehicle in the 1990s, and with some modifications, can be brought back. However, a mere 25 diners only replaces what is on the road now, and does not allow for ANY expansion, a horrid mistake.

The idea of only buying 15 new Viewliner class sleeping cars is ludicrous. All this will accomplish is allow the current completely worn-out Viewliner sleeping car fleet to be cycled through heavy maintenance on a faster schedule, and, again, will allow for no expansion of sleeping car service. This seems to be a loud and clear signal Amtrak is not serious about new long distance service in the East.

– Purchase 40 new Acela cars, expanding 20 existing consists by two cars each.

The September issue of Railway Age had a hilarious item quoting now former Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant to the effect that "We're out of capacity" on Acela trains. The magazine reports that Acela is "so crowded, especially during peak travel periods" that cars will have to be added to the trainsets. Amtrak doesn't want to break up its two spare sets for the cars, and "there's no funds right now to pay" for more.

Inquiring minds want to know: Where exactly are these trains sold out, since their load factors hover around 50%? Is it just between Philadelphia and New York? What "peak travel periods" are we talking about, exactly? Evening rush hour? Thanksgiving? Maybe some demand-moderating pricing is a better solution.

If Acela is having crowding issues over its peak loading point, but with a 50% load factor overall, does that mean Amtrak maybe will address capacity issues on some other trains that have 30% higher load factors and capacity constraints over their entire routes? Like the Southwest Chief, Empire Builder and Silver Meteor?

– Purchase seven new high speed trainsets for the NEC.

To do what? Replace Acelas, when it wants to bolster that fleet first? To replace the old, reliable, recognized and respected Metroliner brand with a new level of service? To add more service to the NEC which today already is over-populated by Amtrak trains by at least 35%?

– Purchase 166 Superliner/California cars and three Talgo sets as state funds become available. This is a pay for hire idea, where the states pony up for the equipment, and presumably it doesn't come out of Amtrak's capital budget. Not a bad idea, if you can convince states to do the buying.

Recent Amtrak naughtiness uncovered late last year by the Sacramento Bee newspaper regarding Amtrak's alleged misuse of state-paid-for maintenance facilities in California may slow this process down, however. This far-reaching potential scandal could have an enormous effect on how Amtrak does business with its client state governments, and should be followed closely by every state DOT which currently does business with Amtrak.

– Repair and restore 25 wreck-damaged long distance cars for revenue service, including three Amfleet II coaches, one Amfleet II lounge car, nine Superliner coaches, seven Superliner sleepers, and five Superliner transition dorm cars.

Hmmmm ... those Superliners would go a very long way towards restoring Sunset Limited service (or a replacement service) east of New Orleans to Orlando, Florida, and, (are you listening, Amtrak?) work towards increasing the frequency of the Sunset Limited to at least five days a week, if not daily. It takes one trainset a full week to travel from Los Angeles to Orlando and return. Today, Amtrak is using three trainsets to operate the Sunset between Los Angeles and New Orleans, so, only two new trainsets would provide transcontinental service for five times a week.

In FY 08, with the Sunset only operating a truncated route between Los Angeles and New Orleans three days a week, the load factor was 56.7%, which still put it above the daily Crescent, Palmetto, Texas Eagle, California Zephyr, and tri-weekly Cardinal. Imagine how powerful a performer this train would be if it ran more than three times a week.

The Sunset Limited generated revenue of $8,046,900 and 66,149,000 revenue passenger miles at 12.1 cents per revenue passenger mile. The Sunset carried 71,700 passengers an average length of trip of 922.6 miles, with 105.8 passengers traveling every average mile.

– Repair and restore 67 Amfleet coaches for service, including 25 for the NEC, and 42 for state corridor service expansion as state funding permits.

– Repair and restore one single level damaged cab car to service.

As you can see, Amtrak's current equipment rehabilitation plan is squarely aimed at its least productive services, state supported routes and NEC service.

Amtrak seems to constantly forget its proper corporate name is the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Please note the name "National" as the first word in the company name, not "Corridor."

5) Here's a positive note from long-time professional railroader and URPA associate Rob Bohannan of Arizona.

[begin quote]

Empire Builder Trip Report

by Rob Bohannan

Portland [Oregon] Union Station quickly reminded me I was someplace where people believe in trains. One could have eaten off the floor, or used the polished marble walls as a mirror. Outside, a landscaped rose garden sets off the building nicely, and rails for a future light rail or streetcar are already installed in the street. With the Builder, Starlight, and Cascades, Portland is a busy place and has the takes-itself-seriously ambiance of an airport. Every departure brought a "Southwest Airlines gate" style drill, with dozens of people lined up and eager to board. The clientele were more like one would see on a cruise ship, or perhaps at a theme park or National Park – senior couples, singles, young couples, families, and so forth. The agents were friendly and helpful.

I chose to ride the Empire Builder's Portland section, train No. 28, specifically to enjoy the trip up the Columbia River gorge, and I was not disappointed. No. 28's conductor, a friendly fellow who clearly enjoys his job, provided a well-done narrative of the trip. The Superliner cars show their age – even the refurbished ones, but they seemed as clean as any airplane I have been on recently. The lower-level lounge car supper – a hot dog – was not particularly memorable. Number 28 has a nice "branch connection to the mainline" feel. At Spokane, Washington, No. 28 joins the main body of the Empire Builder which originated in Seattle, to become part of train No. 8.

I chose coach the first night – the Portland-Milwaukee price for a sleeper was breathtaking. The coach seats need to be re-upholstered – not because the fabric is worn, but because the padding beneath is so compacted from use as to be unbearably hard. I sat on my pillow!

At Essex, Montana, I stopped off and stayed at the Izaak Walton Inn – trackside, pleasant, and convenient to Glacier Park. The red "Jammer" bus picked me up right at the inn. The decor was "early foamer" with Great Northern Railroad, Empire Builder, etc. photos and memorabilia everywhere.

The next morning I reboarded the Empire Builder, No. 8, right on time. Almost immediately, I began a quest to upgrade to sleeper. Breakfast was okay; lunch – I had the open-faced roast beef sandwich special – was so good I had the same thing the next day traveling across Wisconsin. For dinner, I tried one of the "Havre chicken dinners" and I thought that was fine.

Throughout the day, the conductors made announcements that, again, were reminiscent of Southwest Airlines – "We have a full train today and you WILL have someone sitting next to you" in your coach seat, and so forth. Like the airline, the announcements were made pleasantly and often with a little humor. The upbeat morale of the crew was obvious throughout the journey.

After dinner, the conductor found me and announced I had a room, and to follow him up to the "832" car, where I was promptly installed in Roomette 3. The local upgrade price was reasonable – I think I was probably sold the room from Grand Forks even though we were just a little east of Minot at the time. What a treat – for a while I wasn't sure I would get to experience an overnight in a Pullman in the 21st Century! Of course, I learned in the process that Minnesota is the "land of 10,000 grade crossings." Railfan though I may be, I guess I am a little more open to "quiet zones" than before!

The next day was uneventful. The CP line across Wisconsin had reopened after the floods several days before and we were all treated to an up-close view of the floods. We were only 30 minutes late into Milwaukee.

I was sorry to leave No. 8 – I now understand why the Minnesota Association of Railroad Passengers is so proud of the Empire Builder!

[End quote]

The FY 08 load factor for the Empire Builder was 63.4%, one of the three top trains in Amtrak's long distance fleet.

This single daily train generated revenue of $59,389,600 and 409,480,000 revenue passenger miles at 14.5 cents per revenue passenger mile. The Builder carried 554,300 passengers an average length of trip of 738.7 miles, with 216.9 passengers traveling every average mile.

The secret is out about the Empire Builder, suddenly everyone's darling. Even Amtrak has begun to acknowledge the Builder as its "most popular" and highest revenue western train. In November 2008 the Builder earned nearly $4 million, still more than any other single train, even Auto Train. All of the Pacific Surfliners combined only earned $4.1 million. The Builder was the focus of an episode of "Extreme Trains" on the History Channel in early December.

6) It's amazing Amtrak didn't receive a lump of coal in its corporate stocking for Christmas. While Amtrak has been busy these past few years leasing out what it deems to be surplus locomotives, in December it has been leasing locomotives on the West Coast from its host freight railroad partners so it can get its trains down the tracks.

There has been a reported shortage of Amtrak-owned F59PHI locomotives; some are out of service for overhaul and other damage reasons.

Amtrak has been shifting them around the West Coast as needed, but at the moment there aren't enough to go around, and the only option seems to be to lease power from freight railroads.

As one observer puts it, "This situation would suggest the once-might P42 locomotive fleet is thinning out nationwide; as previously Amtrak would send extra ones West to make up for predicted shortages. Former Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn ditched the P40s, parking all of them; Amtrak is leasing out or selling as many as Connecticut and New Jersey and anyone else has wanted. The rest are unserviceable, and being robbed for parts."

It should also be noted someone needs to take a count of the idle locomotives sitting at Amtrak's Beech Grove repair facility, in Chicago's yards, and elsewhere, that have been pushed out of service for lack of Amtrak's desire to keep them in serviceable condition, either through routine inspections or minor repairs. Amtrak seems to be continuing the highly questionable practice of setting aside any equipment which may inconvenience the company (such as requiring routine maintenance), and just running the wheels off of anything remaining.

Amtrak just never seems to understand the concept of "stewardship" of assets and capital funds.

6) Much more and very serious naughtiness occurred during the Christmas travel season in the Midwest. Brutal snow storms blanketed the Midwest, and, again, Amtrak seemed to be caught completely by surprise that winter always comes after the fall season.

Equipment inexplicably froze up and was out of service, crews were not properly placed to prevent long delays due to crew times expiring on the federal hours of service law, and many other mishaps.

Here's what frosted the shorts of many: Amtrak seemed in too many instances to do its best/worst to provide the worst possible passenger service available, from lack of information to lack of sanitation provisions to stranding passengers on trains in rail yards less than 25 miles from their ultimate destination, and less than a mile up the line from its last station stop in civilization.

Far too many Amtrakers seem to forget they are in the PASSENGER railroad business, and PASSENGERS are their primary concern. There is an assumption made by many Amtrakers that passenger should sit down, shut up, and be grateful for whatever meager efforts Amtrak may make on behalf of paying passengers.

It almost rises to the level of a national disgrace.

Amtrak has so many opportunities, as a unique form of transportation to excel at passenger service. In light of how the airlines treat passengers these days, Amtrak could – with so little effort – simply vow to be the most customer/passenger friendly carrier in the country, and make passenger comfort at all times a priority. This includes basics like keeping passengers informed of new developments (or lack of new developments), going just half a step beyond normal to do the right thing and assist people who are stranded and at the complete mercy of Amtrak, and not have a "take it or leave it" attitude about every facet of Amtrak life.

Here's a news flash: Amtrak trains should be scheduled and operated for the convenience of the traveling public, not Amtrak's operating department. In this day and age of instant communications, there should never be a moment when a passenger or relative or friend of an in-transit passenger should not be able to know where a train is located, and when it will be arriving, barring extraordinary circumstances.

In places like Chicago, where huge amounts of money were poured in recent years into new facilities to keep passenger equipment from have frozen systems in the winter, then that problem should never occur, just because some errant mechanical employees didn't follow instructions or procedures. As one commentator noted in December, the old Santa Fe Railroad, which based much of its passenger service in Chicago, never seemed to have a problem with frozen equipment on its trains, because it prided itself on good passenger service. If the Santa Fe, of which there hasn't been a Sante Fe passenger train since April 30, 1971, could maintain equipment up to that standard in what today would be considered pre-historic times of mostly mechanical systems, when can't Amtrak do the same now nearly a decade into the 21st Century?

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## Larry H.

I couldn't agree more, when I wrote recently that the old railroads would have handled the poor weather infinitely better I was roundly debated by the usual supporters of anything that runs is fine as long as it is on tracks.. Your mention of the Sante Fe in winter was most pertinent. Rail used to have a name for being reliable compared to other modes of travel. Along with all the other short comings mentioned above I have long maintained that Amtrak is not paying anything like the attention to the Passenger or the Conditions and accommodations that a "Passenger" system should. I have long been treated both well, and like cattle by Amtrak.. They need to get rid of the Cattle prodders..


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## WICT106

This Week at Amtrak; January 13, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] •

http://www.unitedrail.org​


Volume 6, Number 2
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Gil Carmichael, former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, former Administrator of the Federal Railway Administration from 1989 to 1993, and the Founding Chairman, Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver, is a man who anyone involved in railroads and transportation should sit at his knee and learn all sorts of useful things. Mr. Carmichael is one of a handful of visionaries in the United States who look at the state of our railroad world – both passenger and freight – and dares to dream and enunciate a rational plan for the future.

At the end of last year, This Week at Amtrak was privileged to print Mr. Carmichael’s latest major speech to the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems held in New York City last November. Part of Mr. Carmichael’s vision spoke of his concept for high speed rail:

"Our success in freight intermodal transportation points the way to what I believe is the most promising strategy for North American transportation improvements, for freight and passenger, in the coming years. I call that strategy ‘Interstate II’. In the last century we built 43,000 miles of grade-separated four-lane highways – the U.S. Interstate I. On the other hand, Interstate II is a vision of truly high-speed intercity/port travel that is based upon steel wheel on a steel rail, not pavement. It partners the superior safety and efficiency of rail transportation with the strengths of the intermodal system. Interstate II can be built on rights-of-way that already exist because there is ample room. I believe that we must build or upgrade about 30,000 miles of double and triple track corridors capable of running freight trains at speeds in excess of 90 miles an hour. That network would be augmented by as much as another 10,000 miles of high-quality conventional routings. This network would be the basis of Interstate II, a high-efficiency network of steel stretching from coast to coast and from Mexico City to Montreal. With GPS and the new PTC technology we should be able to very safely include passenger trains at speed up to 125 MPH. Such trains can be competitive in city pairs up to 500 miles."

Okay, Mr. Carmichael is famous for making people think in a Socratic method way. In other words, his leadership starts people having discussions and expanding thinking and learning.

The various professional associates of United Rail Passenger Alliance took Mr. Carmichael’s thoughts to heart, and spawned the following discussion on URPA’s Intranet.

[begin quote]

... [A]sking this group for opinions is like hauling coals to Newcastle, but, let's do this, anyway.

Gil Carmichael said in his speech to the Rail Congress in New York in November his vision of a high speed train is passenger trains regularly traveling at 100 MPH or more. We know this was possible in the past, and when [several of us] rode the first eastbound run of the Sunset when the CSX road master was on the train crossing the panhandle of Florida, [the late Doctor] Adrian [Herzog] was clocking mileposts and calculated we were doing in excess of 100 MPH. We were in the lounge at the time, and the CSX road master just kind of grinned; and more or less indicated he was seeing what would happen on his newly refurbished roadbed.

... I remember riding the [union Pacific’s] City of Los Angeles across some pretty deserted desert country [in the 1960s], and there was speculation the train was going in excess of 90 MPH.

So, my question to each and every one of you is ... :

– We know the best way to speed up route schedules is to strengthen track around terminals and use other methods to relieve terminal congestion and roundabout terminal routings like in San Antonio, which adds an hour to each trip of the Texas Eagle in and out of the station just because a quarter-mile piece of track is missing. Is 79 MPH running sufficient? If terminal congestion and terminal slow track were eliminated, would 79 MPH running be enough?

– With Positive Train Control coming, should 79 MPH running be bumped up higher, such as 90 MPH or even Mr. Carmichael's suggested 100 MPH or more?

– Anyone who has traveled on the NEC knows 100 MPH running or more makes scenery a blur right next to the train, but faraway scenery is fine. Does this make a difference in the passenger train experience?

– If time sensitivity is an issue, would the traveling public care how fast the train is running, as long as the trip time is the goal? In this case, would terminal congestion elimination do the trick?

– Overall, does the majority of the public care how long it takes a train to arrive at a destination as long as it's reasonably priced, on time, not unreasonably longer than if an automobile trip were substituted, and there are sufficient onboard creature comforts such as food, beverage, and some sort of distraction beyond looking out the window or reading a book?

– Does the current upcoming generation of under age 35 passenger train riders care about cost, length of trip, amenities, or just about getting from Point A to Point B?

– Plans like the current Midwest High Speed Rail proposal want speeds to be even higher than 100 MPH at some points because they believe the public wants faster speeds, and there is also a belief that since the rest of the world has high speed trains, we've got to have them too, or we won't be keeping up with the Jonses. Does it really matter what the Jonses do when it comes to American passenger rail travel?

The responses were:

New York: As a start to this exercise, one needs to look at the FRA classes of track. Class 4 is a maximum speed of 60 for freight and 80 for passenger. Class 5 is a maximum speed of 80 for freight and 90 for passenger. Class 6 is 110 for passenger (no maximum shown for freight, but one assumes that is still 80 MPH).

Considering no matter what is done to improve track speeds, the tracks are going to be shared by passenger and freight trains, it seems like you get the most bang for the buck by going to Class 5 as a top speed. There is no advantage to going to 100 as opposed to 90. If you go to 110 (Class 6), you will probably have more passenger/freight conflicts.

That said, I don't think anyone cares what the top speed is as long as the trip time is competitive. To do that means doing things like straightening curves, eliminating grade crossings, rebuilding bridges, putting in more passing sidings, etc.

I think a lot more is gained by improving average speed as opposed making a major increase in top speed. Over the long term the maintenance costs will be less on a Class 5 railroad than a Class 6 railroad.

If you could just average 70 MPH, you could run New York-Chicago in 13 hours and 40 minutes, which is much faster than the 20th Century ever ran. Number 3 [Amtrak’s Southwest Chief] could run Chicago to Los Angeles in 32 1/4 hours. Chicago-Detroit would be four hours.

The problem we face is convincing politicians who think 110 or higher is sexy that a lot more bang for the buck could be gotten for an average speed of 70 MPH.

When Metro-North raised the speeds on the Hudson Line from 79 MPH to 90 MPH a number of years ago, it saved ... about 30 seconds time between New York and Poughkeepsie.

California/North: - With Positive Train Control coming, should 79 MPH running be bumped up higher, such as 90 MPH or even Mr. Carmichael's suggested 100 MPH?

YES. And with PTC coming, it COULD be.

– Anyone who has traveled on the NEC knows 100 MPH running or more makes scenery a blur right next to the train, but faraway scenery is fine. Does this make a difference in the passenger train experience?

No. In 1974 I rode the San Francisco Zephyr on UP across Wyoming. Stopwatch on the mileposts said 103MPH, mile after mile. I cannot say I saw any less than from the Pioneer, 23 years later in its last days, at 79 MPH.

The "scenic routes" such as the current Zephyr's across the Colorado Rockies, and the Empire Builder across Marias Pass, would not be subject to 100 MPH speeds anyway.

– If time sensitivity is an issue, would the traveling public care how fast the train is running, as long as the trip time is the goal? In this case, would terminal congestion elimination do the trick?

Yes.

– Overall, does the majority of the public care how long it takes a train to arrive at a destination as long as it's reasonably priced, on time, not unreasonably longer than if an automobile trip were substituted, and there are sufficient onboard creature comforts such as food, beverage, and some sort of distraction beyond looking out the window or reading a book?

No, especially not in the long distance markets.

– Does the current upcoming generation of under age 35 passenger train riders care about cost, length of trip, amenities, or just about getting from Point A to Point B?

Cost is always primary and amenities are somewhere in the consciousness. Length of trip is generally not ... 1/10 the speed of air makes it much less of an issue.

– Plans like the current Midwest High Speed Rail proposal want speeds to be even higher than 100 MPH at some points because they believe the public wants faster speeds, and there is also a belief that since the rest of the world has high speed trains, we've got to have them too, or we won't be keeping up with the Jonses. Does it really matter what the Jonses do when it comes to American passenger rail travel?

It doesn't matter until the powers that be, Amtrak or otherwise, TELL them it matters.

Minnesota I: Look at the Empire Builder (in North Dakota and eastern Montana) and Acela over 400 mile distances. The Empire Builder has comparable trip times and sell-out traffic, so empirically a reliable 79 running speed with minimal slow stuff is an eminently salable product. Capital cost of that for the Empire Builder: zero. For regional high speed rail: infinite, because its billions up front and mega-millions annually thereafter. That's why by Acela standards, the Empire Builder – is – "high speed rail."

Arizona I: I'll look at this from the passenger perspective.

The new Phoenix streetcars (err, light rail trains) have been favorably received, even though actual travel times remain slightly poky so far (as speed limits are gradually increased and various other lingering issues are resolved).

In observing and listening to people on our new trains, the factors in attracting ridership seem to be:

– The trains look modern

– Trains and stations are clean and comfortable

– The train "feels" fast (good acceleration)

– The next train is just a few minutes away (low headways)

Actual travel time is a lower priority than comfort, convenience, and frequency.

The longer the distance, of course, the more travel time becomes an issue – but I submit that "true high speed" trains appeal only to the train geeks and a few frantic businessmen.

If we define "high speed" as 110mph, then with PTC there is little reason much of the Class I railroad company network can't support "high speed" trains – but it's the look and feel of the trains and stations, the frequency, and consistency (keeping to schedule) that will attract passengers.

Illinois: Makes sense, but first we should define High Speed Rail. Joe Vranich (... someone who does know a lot about high speed rail) used to state that the proper definition of HSR was consistent speeds of 180 MPH or above. I've also heard "Conventional speed" rail defined as speeds up to 79 MPH, and "medium speed" rail as speeds from 80 to 179. I don't know if any railroad organization – like the Association of American Railroads – has come up with any "official" speed designations, but if anyone knows, please pass it on.

It seems to me that, for passenger trains to be successful, they need to be comfortable, convenient and operate at speeds reasonable for the situation. I know, that's painting with a broad brush, but, especially on the long distance routes, my point is that speeding up the California Zephyr might be counter-productive if – by doing so – you ended up with a Denver arrival of 3:00 AM. I think each long distance route would have to be studied and areas targeted where increased speed makes sense. Increased speed [the Southwest Chief] between Chicago and Kansas City would make sense.

California/South: Define it how you like. [illinois]’s second paragraph is on the nail. Example, the northbound Coast Starlight now arrives Sacramento about midnight, no use to anybody. An earlier arrival in the Bay Area and Sacramento would be a commercial benefit. But with other trains speeding them up gives poor arrivals, unless you can leave later.

For long distance trains, key is, go slow less often, rather than worry about top speed.

I can't imagine the fuel consumption of a train of high level cars at 100 MPH. You've got to have a real commercial justification for that, I'd think.

All things equal, I'd want to put my money on reducing the 20 MPH or less sections (station approaches, etc.) rather than worry about top speed.

Virginia: I concur. I make no claim to operational or track geometry expertise, but it is my understanding that, in shared track situations, there is an unavoidable trade-off between track standards (FRA class and geometry on curves etc.) for freight and passenger. This also drives part of the economics: higher speed track (and trains) become rapidly more expensive as speed increases – not just to modify or install, but to maintain as well.

The "commercial justification" angle boils down to having a trip time/average speed that meets the passengers' needs without breaking the bank. It is far less about what speed is physically attainable than about the average speed that is economically viable. So getting rid of low-speed choke points, reducing delays with passing sidings, etc. can all contribute to higher average speed and shorter trip times – far less expensively than true "high speed rail." This doesn't mean that high speed rail doesn't have a place in the US – just that the locations where its cost can be justified are probably quite few. In contrast, there are more numerous locations where relatively low-cost improvements can make a big difference in the average speed and ride quality that help attract and keep passengers.

Minnesota I: When the United States Railway Administration was planning the first Northeast Corridor Improvement Project, they generated graphs that plotted end-point journey time against train velocity, and demonstrated that end point times are reduced far more and far faster by speeding up slow spots and eliminating stops than by increasing top end running speed.

Picture a graph with a descending parabolic curve. The fast drop on the left-hand side of the curve represents avoided time with increases in average velocity between zero and 40 or so mph.

The far right of the curve where the plot goes nearly flat shows that increased velocity (on the horizontal axis) decreases end point travel time (the vertical axis) very little, and less and less so with increased speed.

Then, figure the capital and maintenance cost to straighten curves, clean up interlockings, add the odd flyover and improve command and control technology as against the capital and maintenance cost of building (new?) Class 8 or whatever track, and the Illinois/Michigan/New York approach begins to make far more sense than the MHRA approach.

Distance matters, too. Going like a bat out of Hell for 15 or 50 miles doesn't save much time at all. Doing so for 300 miles could reduce times noticeably. In the NEC today, cutting Acela back to 125 over its entire route might add as much as 5 minutes to a Washington-New York City trip, and one or two to a New York city-Boston trip, which is well within the operational margin of error (in the US) and well below passengers' thresholds of awareness.

Washington, D.C.: Faster trips through congested interlocking and terminals are not as attention-grabbing as zippy top speeds, but it's the low-hanging fruit. One extreme example is the Cardinal's trip through Chicago.

Virginia: True. A friend who (unlike me) has actually had operating experience, claims that the vertical infrastructure cost curve inflicted by the Acela only vastly increases Amtrak's (uncompensated) NEC overhead for what is ultimately a marginal trip time advantage. He argued that dropping the NEC to a lower FRA track class standard (sans the current PHSR – pseudo high speed rail) would not only save huge bucks in day to day operations, but in long term maintenance costs as well. Right now, as we all know, the Acela achieves "high speed rail" velocity for only a few minutes of each trip.

Texas/East: Arizona I writes:

– The trains look modern

– Trains and stations are clean and comfortable

– The train "feels" fast (good acceleration)

– The next train is just a few minutes away (low headways)

Actual travel time is a lower priority than comfort, convenience, and frequency.

I agree with Arizona I, and have listened for many years to my wife who concurs that the key word for her is "clean."

I like Arizona I’s "feels fast" above, as perception is many times more important than fact. We traveled the Southwest Chief back when the Superliners were first introduced in the early 80's. And, I might add on each trip since then, the experience of being in the top bunk in an Economy bedroom while Amtrak descends from Flagstaff to Kingman at over 90 MPH on the BNSF was and is quite exciting and "feels fast." Very fast.

As to travel time, there are many spots in the system where this should be addressed. California/North said, "All things equal, I'd want to put my money on reducing the 20 MPH or less sections (station approaches, etc.) rather than worry about top speed." I would add, "for now."

Recently I was at Dallas Union Station when the southbound Texas Eagle arrived at 11:15, waited until its scheduled departure time of 12:20 for Ft. Worth where it arrived on time and had to wait for servicing for a 2:40 PM departure. The distance traveled: 31 miles. Were passengers upset about that? Not the ones detraining at Dallas, not the ones boarding at Ft. Worth. The through passengers? Don't know, but it was better than being 3-4 hours late at each spot.

Florida/North Central: Last year I heard Rick Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association tell the tale (twice) of having public meetings on his initiative. What were the two most frequent comments following his dissertation? "How do we get what we already have to run reliably" and "How do we keep the toilets clean." The great masses want predictability and civility from their public transit.

As for the prospects of higher speeds on the long distance routes, I cannot speak to the east-west fleet. However, I have long contended that a run time between Washington and Jacksonville should be no more than twelve hours. There are no technical obstacles to this initiative. The locomotives and rolling stock were designed for the necessary speeds. The right-of-ways in place are capable of upgrading. Even CSX recognized the potential of upgrading this 'corridor' as one of their long term goals. All that is missing is the will and the capital, both of which are in dwindling supply.

Getting back to the masses, the most frequent reason I've heard for not taking the train is "I can drive there faster than the Amtrak." I do not expect to hear this too often going forward due to route slashing and burning by NRPC and the winnowing use of the private automobile.

California/South II: The key ... is to define terms ... while we're building Class V railroad ... . High speed rail is a political, not an engineering term. If the long predicted San Diego Bullet Train were built according to the FRA safety standards and the politically necessary number of stops, this 165 mph "capable" wunderbahn would cut endpoint times by about 10 minutes, according to the study that [the late Doctor] Adrian [Herzog] and I did for Amtrak back in the day. This was and is less time savings than if the Surfliners were able to maintain reasonable timekeeping.

Track upgrading, grade separation, and a couple of holes punched in hills could have increased speed with conventional equipment by nearly 20%. We successfully killed off the taxpayer boondoggle of this and the Las Vegas Bullet Train, but were not successful in getting the much less expensive (and less sexy) improvements made because the train would "only" be capable of a 90 MPH average, making it perhaps a Cannonball, but not a Bullet.

If we define High Speed as reducing the travel time between point A and point B by xx% (got to be double digits), using sexy looking but off the shelf technology, and offer on board services that today's passenger wants (WiFi, 110 Volt outlets, Dish Network, decent – but reasonably priced and presented – food with personable service personnel), not what rail fans think the 20th Century offered, then we have a product that the public might actually use, instead of a public works project that would make the Big Dig look like a line in the sand.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that we maintained that service must be at least twice daily and connecting within reasonable times to other trains or modes? Then we can advertise "high speed" trains traveling between Los Angeles and Chicago in only 36 hours. High speed has to be redefined along these lines so that the politicos can claim High Speed Rail, and we can build realistic fast trains in the real world. We are never going to see the world of the Jetson's with flying cars and maglev trains short of the entire landscape being leveled, which leads to a couple of political and/or military considerations ...

Texas/West: If you intend to make intermediate stops (so you're actually a railroad instead of an airline wannabe), 100 is a good number for conventional trainsets. What you want to do is average over 70.

This is something all of us looked at many years ago.

New York: Like I said in an earlier post, when Metro-North increased the track speed from 79 MPH to 90 MPH, the time savings was 30 seconds. If the money was spent upping the 60 and 70 MPH curves to 79 MPH, I'm will to bet a lot more time would have been saved.

Texas/West: Exactly. That's why averaging 70 or a bit above is so important. The real problem out here in the West is slow running through terminals and urban areas where track speeds are sometimes unreasonably low.

Back during the Texas bullet train debacle (and this goes along with California/South II's observations on Calfornia, to which I was also privy back then) we computed a number of speed scenarios with a reasonable number of stops (if I recall, the west side of the triangle was San Antonio, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Austin, Round Rock/Georgetown, Temple/Belton, Waco, Hillsboro, South Fort Worth, Fort Worth, mid-cities/DFW airport, Dallas), where stops were generally about 15 miles apart (urban areas) and 30-40 miles apart on the spine everywhere else, and there was basically NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE between a 100 MPH (peak) bilevel and the 200+ MPH bullet.

That is because the bullet takes so much time and distance getting up to top speed and back that it never gains an advantage if you actually stop and pick up and drop off people. For you guys not familiar with the lay of the land here, what is laid out above is NOT a local or commute service. Sounds like a certain Wondertrain, doesn't it? This result was entirely consistent with what California/South II and Adrian came up with on Los Angeles-San Diego.

The way the other guys sell this concept is just to replicate the major airline schedule between endpoints, with little or nothing intermediate (Which, of course, is a generally captive market for rail, something our favorite carrier of last choice has never ever learned.), and then claim a great achievement in mobility improvement.

This is why Southwest Airlines opposed the Texas bullet so vehemently – it was transparently aimed right at them, and it didn't help that American Airlines (who has tried to kill Southwest throughout their history) jumped right on the bullet bandwagon as well, failing to recognize how they got their numbers (see below).

Meanwhile, Bubba in Waco still usually drives 100+ miles to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, Dallas or Austin to get his long distance flight because he doesn't want to pay premium price for the four weekday cramjet RJs on American Airlines from Waco Regional Airport to DFW or the 4 weekday cram-and-shake SAAB 340s from Waco Regional Airport to Houston on Continental, which rarely go at the right time anyway. Now Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport has more (and a few additional) destinations, but you still pay the inflated RJ/major carrier prices, and the airport is almost 30 miles west of the corridor (sort of the McGregor of air service if you're anywhere outside the Ft. Hood area and understand what train riders have to put up with down here).

Ironically, since Austin moved south to Bergstrom, Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport is now effectively closer and quicker, with traffic, to get to/from the northern Austin suburb area (Georgetown, Leander, etc.) than Austin is, a fact that Killeen markets with billboards and occasional print ads to the extent of their somewhat limited budget.

In the case of the Texas bullet bust, what they did to make the patronage projections look good (and when we caught them at it they were forced to admit it in a public meeting in Austin) was to assume 100% modal shift to rail for all airline flights operating in the triangle, even flights that were continuing segments of through services originating and ending outside, with a 60% load factor assumed for all flights.

At the time, well over half of the flights were interregional and fit this model, as Continental hubbed at Houston and Delta and American hubbed at DFW, and Southwest hubbed (even under the Wright Amendment and despite the fact that they emphatically deny that they hub – LOL!) at Dallas and Houston, so the presumption was that, for example, a passenger going Miami-DFW on a one stop through Houston was going to get off and take the train when he or she got to Houston, instead of staying on the plane. This is just an extension of the same single-segment endpoint mentality Amtrak has used since its inception.

This is the same line of bull(et) the HSR types use elsewhere, so you guys need to take a serious look at the numbers and market segments when they come calling.

As [the late] Byron [Nordberg], Adrian and I used to tell everyone, it's the captive onesies and twosies that make the service viable, not the airport/freeway crowd.

Minnesota I: Allow me to elaborate on this.

I agree with Arizona I's points, but the analysis also depends to some degree on the distances involved.

In under 400-500 mile markets, where rail competes with cars for the most part, and cars have a 98-99% market share, for rail to even be in the game, it has to overcome inherent technological handicaps.

Cars have virtually infinite schedules (it leaves exactly when you want to go), an infinite route matrix (it goes anywhere there is a road), and convenience (it goes door-to-door, more or less, and has privacy of a sort).

Speed seems to be an issue only to the extent that congestion that slows me down is an annoyance. So if a train goes to the same general area that I want to reach, whether it goes 60 or 90 or 180 doesn't seem to be that much of a factor. Frequency, reliability, lack of hassle, and accessibility (e.g., free parking, and good rail transit or rental cars at my destination) are probably the main drivers of modal preference. And subjective orientation: I know intelligent small business owners on the east coast who drive from points south of Newark to meetings in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and look at you a little strange if you ask whether they considered the train. Their issue seems to be the factors I listed: convenience and privacy trump whatever Amtrak has on offer.

And Acela isn't all that fast either. Look at the timetable to see how long it takes to get from Newark to New Haven or Providence. Most days, you really can get there faster on I-95, allowing for station access, fitting your journey into someone else's timetable, and getting from the destination station to your ultimate actual destination. Even at 150 (or its average of closer to 60), Acela doesn't cut it.

We all know that short sprints up to 150 or whatever can't compensate for miles run at 60, or long stops, or unreliable schedules, or surly help.

Amtrak's persistent NEC load factors in the 30-40% range (lower still if one were to discount PHL-NYP local traffic) tend to prove that rail isn't really competitive even in these markets.

But in longer markets, where share is beginning to shift to air, high speed rail doesn't seem to be that relevant either. Is some businessman going to skip American Airlines and its Advantage points to get from Chicago to New York because (for 30 billion dollars invested) Amtrak can now get him there in 13 hours instead of 20? Or to Denver in 12 hours instead of 17? San Francisco from LA in three hours might have legs, but that's only going to happen if they don't stop at Bakersfield and Fresno, which seems unlikely politically, and foolish commercially. We have ample empirical experience of what happens when Amtrak runs non-stop endpoint trains on either coast.

And we do need to define our terms carefully. If we compare the runs of the Southwest Chief or the Empire Builder over 400 mile distances in the prairies at 79 or 90 to the 400 mile run of any Acela between Boston and Washington, the elapsed end point trip times are very close, so what really is "high speed" rail? Cost should be a factor, too. Public capital cost of the former? Zero. Of the latter? Virtually infinite, because its billions in cash on the front end, and hundreds of millions a year in off-the-books subsidy forever after. (But to a politician looking to dole out bucks to favored constituents, that argument might be exactly backwards.)

My take is that speed only needs to be at an "in the game" average, based on what the bulk of the customers are looking to buy. Since the vast majority have their cars as the other choice for any given trip and the folks that are flying aren't going to come over to rail in any meaningful numbers no matter what rail does, average speeds in the range of 60 to 90 do the job to make rail competitive, and that goal is much more easily and cheaply accomplished at the low end than at the top of the running speed environment.

It's only where someone decides to indulge the conceit that rail can and should compete with air that genuine high speed rail really makes any commercial sense at all. That hasn't worked at 135 mph in a 221-mile market in one of our densest air lanes (I don't buy Amtrak's modal split argument, either, because I think they are comparing apples to pomegranates by not counting all six NY area airports for the air number, but including more than their own Washington to Newark/NYP passengers in the rail tally) and we have precious little research to suggest that cutting the rail trip to two hours is going to bump Delta and Continental out of the NEC shuttle business.

Arizona II: Good points all.

I believe the following two points are as important as speed:

– The perceived "seamlessness" of the journey

– The percentage of total travel time that can be either productive, relaxing, or entertaining

Use each mode for what it does best: Use the "infinite matrix" of the automobile at the origin and destination; use the train for covering the bulk of the mileage in ways that can be realistically productive or enjoyable for the traveler.

Hypothetical case study: Phoenix to Southern California

Currently, there are two viable options – each of which take between six and eight hours.

1. Drive. Of course many persons enjoy driving, if the traffic is not too bad, but it is still tiring, and one's time is consumed by being the operator of the vehicle. Time permitting, sightseeing is possible and, in a car pool, discussion and planning can take place.

2. Fly. If one is not an anxious flyer and the weather is decent, the actual "wheels up" time can be enjoyable – provided one doesn't mind being shoe-horned into a space that barely gives one enough room to sip a Coke or read a book – let alone do any meaningful work on a laptop. Plus, on a longer flight, one is at the mercy of the laptop's battery. Cell phones cannot be used. Most of the trip is unproductive and unpleasant – parking, checking the luggage, the TSA drill, getting to the gate, and so on – with most of this done in reverse at the destination.

On a train trip, there is ample time to do enjoyable or productive stuff – eat a meal, work on a laptop (or watch a video), or converse with fellow travelers where the ambient background noise is low enough to make talking to someone feasible. Cell phones can be used. Plus – at least on last summer's Empire Builder – the cars had electric outlets for plugging in computers so one was not held hostage to battery time.

Train travel could be made more seamless by having "rent-and-ride" stops at the periphery of major metropolitan areas where rental cars are available along with access to the area's freeway system – Minnesota I’s "infinite matrix."

Of course, one can still continue to downtown and use transit when feasible to do so. Rent-and-rides can also be park-and-rides for travelers originating at that location. Covered parking could be provided – rental cars could be electric and be charged up from solar cells on the roof of the garage. Rail fare options could include round trip train, parking at origin, and car rental or transit pass at destination.

Minnesota II: The consensus seems to be that speed isn't important. But here are some exceptions.

The Chicago to Minneapolis route was based on speed. And speed captured lots of business. There were far more people waiting to board at various stops than there is today by two to three times. Today it is 8-1/2 hours plus delays, it was 6-1/4 hours for the best time in the 1950's. Milwaukee Road was usually always on time, the CB&Q usually was late.

A complaint I hear over and over again is the slow transit time of the Empire Builder versus driving today from Minneapolis to Chicago but not westward from Minneapolis.

The Hiawatha's routinely cruised across Wisconsin and from Milwaukee to Chicago in excess of 100 MPH with 105 commonly reported. The speed limit was officially 90 mph. One locality posted "trains pass crossing at 100 MPH". (Local police put their radar on the trains.)

Illinois Central trains crossed Illinois at speeds over 100 mph with a dawn to dusk run from Chicago to New Orleans.

The 20th Century Limited was another long distance train where speed was a major selling point with overnight service between Chicago and New York. My trip in the 1960's was uneventful with arrival in Chicago 20 minutes early. This train is accurately depicted in the old movie North by Northwest. And, yes there was a red carpet at Grand Central.

Another fast route was from Chicago to Denver. Departure was around 5 PM and arrival the next morning around 9 AM.

All of these routes had excellent transit times.

100 MPH makes a good marketing tool, 90 doesn't, but transit time is most important This is what people see on the Internet first.

Illinois: ... I also like the idea that rail travel should be faster than the auto in the same market. Or, at least AS FAST, but with more comfort and convenience.

Washington, D.C.: Speed is a tool to lure customers, but not the only tool. And it should be deployed in selected areas where it makes sense. Too often advocates become too enamored with speed for speed's sake.

Illinois: Exactly, and getting speed up to 90 MPH or 100 in some markets would probably be a very effective marketing tool. Minnesota II’s example of Chicago/Minneapolis is a good one.

A local market here is Galesburg/Chicago. By rail it's 162 miles and Amtrak does it in about 2:40 (Westbound). Driving Galesburg to Chicago is 200 miles because the Interstate goes North to the Quad Cities before heading to Chicago. Anyhow, the drive to Chicago can easily take four hours, depending on traffic, so most folks around here take the train to Chicago for day trips or business. The State of Illinois was going to speed up much of the Galesburg/Chicago run to 90, but I don't think that has happened. Funding was available once, but maybe our soon-to-be-impeached Governor, Blagojevich, used it for something else!

[End quote]

You’ve just read a discussion held on URPA’s Intranet with the usual give-and-take. Among those discussing were two former Amtrak consultants, a professional civil engineer in the railroad industry along with another Ph.D., some professional railroaders both in operations and other areas, a couple of academics, some attorneys, and other professional interested parties.

The point of the exercise was to have a rational discussion of high speed rail, a constant topic of interest in today’s Washington environment where every fantasy project ever perceived is under consideration as part of a trillion dollar stimulus program about to be launched by the federal government.

One thing everyone can agree on in this country is "high speed rail" is a term which has many definitions. Perhaps everyone should attempt to agree on a single definition for high speed rail, and relegate everything else to enhanced conventional rail.

Whatever becomes of high speed rail, including the started project in California, it is incumbent on rational people to look at all of the considerations and detractions of high speed rail, and not only how it will be a short term benefit to the construction industry, but what long term benefit high speed rail will provide in the future. Will high speed rail become so expensive, it will not be practical to operate? Will high speed rail become a permanent, dependent child of government, always needing subsidy, but never providing enough social benefit to justify the subsidy? How long will the initial high speed rail infrastructure practically last, and how soon will that infrastructure become another Amtrak Northeast Corridor financial black hole, where countless billions of dollars will have to be poured into those potential black holes to keep a system running that has limited social and business benefit?

Before everyone gleefully jumps on the high speed rail bandwagon, many of these questions must be answered in a thoughtful and rational way. What may be today’s short term solution to other problems could easily turn into tomorrow’s long term nightmare that may stifle other better, and more useful incarnations of passenger rail.

There is one essential caveat to all of this discussion: Amtrak, as we know it today, has barely been capable of operating the Northeast Corridor in a useful way. While the public numbers Amtrak shows say the NEC is "profitable," and contributes financially to the overall company, we know that to be patently false. A true examination of Amtrak’s financial stewardship of the NEC shows many routine operating expenses are relegated to capital costs, creating a massive financial shell game that rivals the evils of Enron.

Gil Carmichael, as usual, with vision and clarity, has laid a path for us to follow. Steel wheels on steel rails is the answer to present and future transportation needs in North America, including increased velocity for freight trains and decreased trip times for passenger trains. The challenge will be for us to honor his vision by the proper implementation of his plan for the future where fiscal responsibility runs rampant, commercial success is unquestioned, and social benefit is obvious.

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## WICT106

1) "What we’ve got here is failure to communicate." is the famous line uttered by the late, great character actor Strother Martin to the even greater late Paul Newman in 1967's Cool Hand Luke movie. While Mr. Martin’s character, when addressing Mr. Newman’s character, was specifically talking about some perceived naughtiness by Mr. Newman’s character, we can use this famous line when referring to Amtrak, too.

When the House of Representatives version of the new Obama administration’s nearly $1 trillion stimulus plan was announced January 15th, Amtrak and passenger rail fans were agog at how little was included in the plan for the benefit of Amtrak. After all, Amtrak had recently requested over $7 billion in projects it felt were "shovel ready," and, certainly, the thinking of so many went, no organization could be more worthy than Amtrak for free federal largess to help the economy get back on a solid footing.

Whoops! Amtrak was only allotted $1.1 billion in the House version, with the Senate still unheard from. But, you can bet the Senate version won’t be markedly different from the House version; maybe – at best – an extra billion, but nowhere near what the alleged cognoscenti thought would be coming the way of Amtrak and passenger rail. So, what happened (besides reality striking)?

First, let’s visit the most recent column, Volume 20, No. 2, released by Ken Orski and Innovation NewsBriefs, an always informative source for transportation infrastructure topics. (www.innobriefs.com)

[begin quote]

January 18, 2009

The Stimulus Bill Leaves Most of the Transportation Community Dissatisfied

It looks like the economic stimulus proposal unveiled by the House Appropriations Committee on January 15 has left few in the transportation community satisfied. That’s a conclusion we have drawn from informal conversations at the just concluded annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board and from reviewing the National Journal’s Transportation Blog. (The stimulus program has been a focus of discussion on that blog during the past week. The blog can be found at www.transportation.nationaljournal.com). Voicing disappointment were members of the House transportation committee and a wide array of interest groups ranging from the highway users and the construction industry to transit and airport officials, labor unions and environmentalists. According to a January 15 Wall Street Journal story, some members of the House transportation committee protested at a congressional Democratic caucus session last Thursday against what they deemed a grossly inadequate level of funding for transportation projects. In a radio interview on "Marketplace" the same day, Highway and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) made no attempt to hide his displeasure. He pointed out that the transportation sector has received a scant 7% of the proposed stimulus package despite the high potential of transportation funding to create jobs and revitalize the economy.

The House transportation leaders’ dissatisfaction was echoed by a wide variety of transportation stakeholders who voiced disappointment with what they felt was inadequate consideration of their particular needs. "Transportation infrastructure investment should be a core component of an economic stimulus plan," stated a Transportation Construction Coalition release, expressing the views of its leaders, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Writing in the National Journal’s Transportation Blog, Terry O’Sullivan, President of the Laborers’ International Union (LIUNA) criticized the proposed level of infrastructure investment as falling "far short of needs and ... of the opportunity to invest in a way that can revive our economy and leave behind tangible assets and a positive legacy for generations to come." James C. May, President of the Air Transport Association thought the House missed a real opportunity to create new jobs by failing to invest more in the aviation sector.

Environmental spokesmen such as Deron Lovaas, Transportation Policy Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Geoff Anderson, Co-Chair of the liberal Transportation for America Campaign, were blunt in criticizing the House proposal, calling its allocation to mass transit and passenger rail as inadequate and disproportionately low compared to the highway allocation. Other environmental activists decried the House bill in even stronger terms, calling it "disastrous," a "capitulation" and completely lacking any emphasis on "fix-it-first," "green" transportation projects.

The House Appropriations Committee’s $825 billion draft bill (with $550 billion in spending initiatives and $275 billion in tax cuts) would dedicate $30 billion to highways, $9 billion to public transportation, $3 billion to airport runway projects and $1.1 billion to Amtrak and intercity passenger rail. An additional $7.75 billion would be spent on flood control, navigation and public lands infrastructure. The House proposal would require a certain percentage of each state allocation to be distributed to metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), based on population. In selecting projects, the draft bill specifies that priority should be given to projects that are in an approved Transportation Improvement Program and can be contracted within 120 days. Grant recipients must certify that the projects contribute to job creation and are an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. (The draft bill can be found at http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/recove...rt01-15-09.pdf)

Short-term vs Long-term Benefits

What kind of projects deserve to be funded has been likewise a subject of debate. Opinion is roughly divided between those who view the short term economic impact and job creation as the primary (or sole) goals of the stimulus program, and those who view the stimulus as an opportunity to invest in the country’s infrastructure and achieve long-term benefits. "Unless we spend those dollars on the right things (which requires a plan) and efficiently (which requires non-political iron handed oversight) we will ... fail to create the infrastructure needed to support an economy vigorous enough to repay the dollars we are spending," wrote Robert Crandall, retired Chairman of American Airlines in the National Journal’s Transportation Blog. Steve Heminger, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission concurred, evoking the potential of the economic recovery program to launch major infrastructure projects such as those built during the New Deal, whose benefits, he pointed out, Bay Area residents enjoy to this very day.

Jeffrey Shane, former Deputy Secretary of Transportation, speculated that "a national ranking of the most productive transportation investments would look very different from the aggregation of a fifty-state wish list" but, he added, "let’s give our state authorities some credit for knowing what works." Bob Poole, Transportation Director at the Reason Foundation, observed that the process inherent in the stimulus bill "substitutes political priorities for economic priorities," and the use of existing allocation formulas spreads the money across the country rather than focusing funds on high-performing projects that offer maximum pay off. Polly Trottenberg, Executive Director of the Building America’s Future Coalition agreed, noting that "the political process may be producing a result which is at odds with what the public supports." She cited a Coalition-sponsored public opinion survey that stressed the importance of setting priorities and measuring outcomes.

As Steve Sandherr, AGC’s Chief Operating Officer pointed out, many of the details of the stimulus bill will inevitably change over the coming weeks. In fact, as one congressional source told us, the fight has only just begun. Over the next several weeks we shall see some of the most intense lobbying in recent history. The stakes are extremely high. State and municipal governments, the non-profit sector, businesses, and the construction industry are facing tremendous economic pressures and the stimulus bill offers for some of them a rare avenue of relief. The intensity of the lobbying is magnified by the promise of unprecedented sums of money dangled in front of the stakeholders. For example, the $39 billion stimulus allocation to surface transportation represents almost 80 percent of the entire FY 2008 appropriations for highways and transit ($49.9 billion)

Needed: A National Strategy for Infrastructure

Could the stimulus package influence the plans for a new surface transportation authorization later this year? One could argue that an injection of a substantial sum of stimulus money might lessen the need and the pressure for a prompt enactment of new surface transportation legislation. The longer it takes Congress to approve the stimulus bill, the easier it will be for lawmakers to put off consideration of a separate surface transportation bill. Faced with a crowded legislative agenda, congressional legislators might convince themselves that the immediate needs of the transportation program have been taken care of and can safely be postponed until 2010 or beyond. Of course, it can be argued that postponing the reauthorization by one year might not be such a bad thing after all. It would give Congress and the Obama Administration more breathing space to thoroughly reexamine the existing transportation policy and fundamentally restructure the federal program.

Contending that the economic recovery package is no substitute for a multi-year legislation will be House transportation leaders and an array of transportation interests. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) has already announced that he plans to introduce and pass "the largest transportation investment package since the creation of the Interstate Highway System" (as much as $500 billion over six years). Transportation interest groups such as ARTBA, AASHTO, APTA and AGC will be solidly aligned behind the Chairman. Another strong advocate of a multi-year strategy of infrastructure investment is Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Speaking at a January 12 Brookings symposium on Infrastructure, Rendell observed that investment in infrastructure will have to continue long after the stimulus program has expired. He called for a long-term vision to finance major capital investments through a dedicated federal capital budget and a National Infrastructure Bank. (Unconfirmed reports at the end of the week had the National Infrastructure Bank proposal in real danger of being killed by opposition in the Senate Finance Committee).

The current debate surrounding the infrastructure priorities in the stimulus bill offers a preview of the debate later this year (or in 2010) about the structure and priorities of the new surface transportation legislation. But unlike the stimulus bill, the reauthorization will not have the benefit of easy, deficit-financed money. It will require either raising new funds through a politically risky gas tax increase or coming up with some new untried financing mechanisms. The authors of the transportation authorization will face a far more difficult challenge than simply allocating seemingly "free" money.

[End quote]

Let’s add to what Mr. Orski had to say. He’s given a good, broad picture of what it will take for infrastructure improvements.

We can safely conclude, without hesitation, part of the lack of funding for Amtrak projects has very much to do with two simple concepts: First, Amtrak remains America’s best kept secret, and second, Amtrak still only accounts for 1% (yes, one percent) of America’s transportation output, or, about the same as motorcycles.

So, Amtrak has a failure to communicate. When not that many people know – and, as a result, care – about you, why should a flood of funding come your way? Amtrak has burned so many bridges through the years by abandoning routes and stations (Often, stations just recently completed with local or state monies.), annoying Members of Congress in uncountable ways on just about every subject, and by ignoring glaring business opportunities on every level, it was/almost is not relevant in a national stimulus package discussion.

Now, everyone who understands the business of passenger rail and the desirability of passenger rail as a legitimate part of our domestic transportation network knows this is a golden opportunity for passenger rail to waddle up to Washington’s golden trough of money and gobble up some free federal monies. The question is, will Amtrak be able to get its snout close enough to the trough to slurp up a few dollars?

2) Even before the Obama administration was inaugurated last Tuesday, the criticism began to flow after the announcement of the stimulus plan spending allocations. It only took seconds for Internet bloggers to reach a high pitched whine about the lack of support for Amtrak, especially since "Amtrak Joe," (that would be Vice President Joe Biden, dubbed Amtrak Joe by the news media) used to commute daily on Amtrak between his Wilmington, Delaware home and Washington when he was serving in the Senate. It seems more than one blogger made the incorrect assumption that since Amtrak Joe was now just a heartbeat away from the presidency, and his son is Vice Chairman of the Amtrak Board of Directors, Amtrak’s worries about federal funding were at an end.

Wrong, of course. All of these misguided, yet hopeful, Internet bloggers forgot to take into account how Washington works. No matter who Amtrak has as an abstract friend, it still has to prove it’s worthy of extra funding, especially when the federal budget is in a huge deficit mode.

What it’s going to take is honest hard work, backed up by real documentation – not Amtrak’s and it’s wholly owned lapdog organizations’ hyperbole – demonstrating money spent is money well spent.

Anything worth having is worth working for, and that includes free federal monies.

3) Paul Dyson, the take-no-prisoners president of the Rail Passenger Association of California has sent a letter to Amtrak Interim President and Chief Executive Office Joseph Boardman. Here’s is Mr. Dyson’s letter. We can only hope all other state association presidents are being this proactive and sending similar letters at the earliest possible moment.

[begin quote]

16th January, 2009

Mr. Joseph H. Boardman

President and Chief Executive Officer

NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

60 Massachusetts Avenue, NE

Washington, DC 20002

Via Fax to 202 906 2850 (2 Pages)

AMTRAK ROLLING STOCK INVESTMENT PLANS

Dear Mr. Boardman:

As you take up your new duties as President of Amtrak, albeit so far on temporary assignment, we’d like to draw your attention to some distressing tendencies in Amtrak policy over recent years. We refer in particular to the geographic imbalance of Amtrak investment, and the capital starvation of service west of the Mississippi. It has been the case for some years now that 95%, more or less, of Amtrak’s capital budget has gone to the NEC, and at the same time most of the long distance trains in the west have had almost no new equipment since the 1970s. If this trend is continued, and the current 5-year rolling stock plan indicates that it will be, then trains such as the Coast Starlight and the Empire Builder will cease to operate for want of serviceable cars in a few short years. Our Board believes that this will be both politically and economically disastrous for the future of passenger rail in the USA.

We believe that you should quickly review this policy and redress this imbalance as soon as possible. Consider these points:

• Even though Amtrak owns the NEC, it is the minority user as far as trains and passengers are concerned. The commuter agencies that share the route need to contribute more to bringing the route up to date and into good order. We do not advocate starving the NEC, or any other market, of appropriate capital resources, but it would be just as foolish to continue to starve productive western routes.

• We see no regulatory reason why Amtrak should expect the State of California or other western states to provide the rolling stock and other capital improvements for trains on the existing National network. San Diego to San Luis Obispo for example is part of this network and is every bit as deserving of its share of Amtrak’s capital investment as any other route in the country. Since most journeys, even in the shorter state corridors, are longer than most journeys in the NEC, we believe that the western routes are more productive in revenue and passenger miles, and can generate a better return on investment.

• Both the California corridors and the long distance trains need new cars. We believe that these cars can be built using a common hull and many standard components. Indeed the coach car can be common to all these services. We believe that Amtrak should immediately be placing an order for this type of equipment. A long term order with steady state production of say 2,000 cars will give the manufacturer and supplier the opportunity to reduce costs substantially.

We have started to take this message to the California congressional delegation. We are pointing out that California taxpayers are paying twice for Amtrak service, through federal and State taxes, and that this is not acceptable. While most of our elected officials support Amtrak funding as a concept, very few understand the funding mechanisms and the direction in which the money flows. This is changing.

Mr. Boardman, we wish you every success in your new position. We’d be delighted if you could attend our Spring combined members meeting (date to be announced) in Los Angeles. We’d like to discuss these issues with you and give you the opportunity to meet a core group of passenger rail supporters.

Yours faithfully,

SIGNED

Paul J. Dyson

President, Rail Passenger Association of California

[End quote]

4) From Steven Aftergood and the Federation of American Scientists (Amtrak, are you paying attention? It’s time to mend your ways.):

[begin quote/edited for relevancy]

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009

SECRECY NEWS

from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy

Volume 2009, Issue No. 7

January 22, 2009

Secrecy News Blog:

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

PRESIDENT OBAMA DECLARES "A NEW ERA OF OPENNESS"

In a breathtaking series of statements and executive actions, President Barack Obama yesterday announced "the beginning of a new era of openness in our country."

"For a long time now there's been too much secrecy in this city," he told reporters at a January 21 swearing-in ceremony.

"The old rules said that if there was a defensible argument for not disclosing something to the American people, then it should not be disclosed" (a paraphrase of the October 2001 policy statement of former Attorney General John Ashcroft). "That era is now over."

"Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information, but those who seek to make it known," President Obama said.

Moreover, "I will also hold myself, as president, to a new standard of openness.... Information will not be withheld just because I say so. It will be withheld because a separate authority believes my request is well-grounded in the Constitution."

"Let me say it as simply as I can. Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency."

Accordingly, the President issued several new policy statements. A new policy on Freedom of Information directed that "All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure" and called for the Attorney General to develop new FOIA guidelines reflecting that principle. A broader statement on Transparency and Open Government directed agencies to "harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public," and ordered preparation of recommendations for an Open Government Directive. A new executive order rescinded an order issued by former President Bush that imposed increased restrictions on public access to presidential records.

The whole package gained immense force from the fact that it was presented on the President's first full day in office. (By comparison, the Clinton and Bush Administrations did not get around to addressing FOIA policy until October of their first year in office.) The actions closely tracked the recommendations of openness advocates, and they represented a personal commitment to openness and accountability that goes far beyond what any previous President has dared to offer.

Inevitably, several caveats are in order. A "presumption of disclosure" really only applies to records that are potentially subject to discretionary release, which is a finite subset of secret government information. Vast realms of information are sequestered behind classification barriers or statutory protections that remain unaffected by the new policy statements. "In the face of doubt, openness prevails," the President said. But throughout the government secrecy system, there is not a lot of doubt or soul-searching about the application of secrecy.

...

Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News Blog is at:

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/http://www...recy/index.html

Steven Aftergood

Project on Government Secrecy

Federation of American Scientists

web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html

email: [email protected]

voice: (202) 454-4691

[End quote]

Memo to Amtrak: At the earliest possible moment, many of us crave a better understanding of how you allocate expenses to all routes, especially the long distance routes. Also, please explain how the Northeast Corridor is considered profitable, even though not all of the expenses of ownership and operation are fully allocated, and many of the daily expenses of NEC operations are hidden in capital expenditure accounts, instead.

5) Amtrak has been unbelievably naughty this winter by constantly annulling trains in the Midwest and elsewhere (sometimes for days at a time) because of lack of working locomotives. These are not just issues related to cold weather, but issues related to outright neglect of the non-NEC locomotive fleet in order to not spend money on proper routine maintenance and repair of these valuable assets.

For the moment, the burning question is, why has William Crosbie, Amtrak vice president and chief operating officer, allowed this situation to deteriorate to such a degree as Amtrak is unable to fulfill its basic purpose of operating passenger trains on a routine basis? It’s impossible to blame this situation of a lack of funds; it’s a lack of management priorities. Mr. Boardman, what is being done about this deplorable situation?

More on this in the next issue of This Week at Amtrak.

6) An update on the last issue of TWA from Joe Vranich:

[begin quote]

Hello Bruce,

A Google alert showed that you are attributing a definition of High Speed Rail to me being one of 180 MPH or more. Please note that I've never used that figure. I have used 150 MPH or more. At one time that speed could have been considered the "official" HSR definition under U.S. law when the IRS code was modified to permit tax-exempt bonds to be used to help finance HSR systems – provided trains reached (if I remember the language correctly) "sustained" speeds of 150 MPH or more.

BTW, the fastest HSR train in the world today is in China, between Beijing and Tianjin, at 217 MPH.

Hope you are well,

Joe Vranich

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 29, 2009
​




A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​

 

Volume 6, Number 4
​



 

 

 

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Inquiring minds have wanted to know for a long time why Amtrak never wants to report its metrics by standard measures used by all other types of common carriers, not to mention federal government reporting agencies such as the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

The reason is, Amtrak has a dirty little secret it doesn’t want anyone to know or figure out: Statistically, Amtrak is completely irrelevant as a part of our domestic transportation network.

New figures have been released by BTS this month. The latest figures available from BTS are for 2006, but that doesn’t matter, because Amtrak’s figures are so very low, even if they were doubled Amtrak would still be statistically irrelevant.

BTS 2006 Statistics, Market Share by Mode

Air – 11.07%

Passenger cars – 49.82%

Other 2 axle vehicles (Such as SUVs, pickup trucks, etc – 35.38%

Busses – 2.78%

Motorcycles – 0.30%

Rail transit – 0.31%

Rail commuter – 0.19%

Amtrak – 0.10%

Other transit – 0.04%

Just in case you think you read that Amtrak figure incorrectly, it’s one tenth of one percent market share. Yes, far less than a single percentage point.

If you are doling out free federal monies in Washington, how high would that be on your priority list? Amtrak has certain members of Congress who will ALWAYS offer amendments to bills and other devices to defund Amtrak. When you look at Amtrak’s true numbers, you have to wonder why not more members of Congress don’t do the same thing? Just looking at raw numbers, Amtrak is not only a loser, but it’s a colossal loser, and screams government waste and boondoggle to rational people.

If you are a political commentator of any stripe and are accustomed to either flying everywhere or driving to any destination (especially if you live outside of the Northeast), you can see why Amtrak receives little or no support for a future as part of our domestic transportation network.

When someone cries "Close it! Sell it! Dismantle it!" they are doing so from a practical economic standpoint. Amtrak is, in the eyes of anyone doing cold, hard, analysis, unimportant. If Amtrak went away – even (gasp!) in the Northeast – there would be little, if any, impact on any roadway crowding. Even as heavy as traffic is on Northeast interstate highways, Amtrak’s daily passengers could still easily be absorbed onto busses, vans, and in automobiles.

Now, you see why Amtrak only wants to talk about warm bodies/passenger counts. Amtrak says it carries about 26 million passengers a year, for an average of 70,000 passengers a day on its over 300 trains (most of which are Northeast Corridor trains) a day (including the two tri-weekly trains, the Sunset Limited and the Cardinal).

What this tells us is a completely new approach is needed to "sell" passenger rail in North America. VIA Rail Canada isn’t much different from Amtrak in terms of percentage of population it serves; the only real difference is VIA has some social service routes which are critical to the inhabitants of remote parts of various provinces where no real roads exist. VIA and general aviation are still the only two forms of any type of transportation through or over some very desolate countryside.

Here’s the good news. It doesn’t take much to sell travelers on the potential of passenger train travel, especially Generation Y (people in their 20s) travelers. To many, train travel is a new and novel experience to be embraced and enjoyed.

If ever Amtrak gets away from insisting it must be the best kept secret in America, it will explode with riders.

Some otherwise well-respected authors are continuing the tedious and false drumbeat about Amtrak having to perpetually be a step-child of government, and how it can never come close to making money or even breaking even. Since this canard is constantly put before the public, more and more people blithely believe this drivel without bothering to check for themselves what the realities are about passenger rail in North America. Yes, as long as passenger rail commands one tenth of one percent of the traveling public’s market share, it will always have to be an unwanted child of government. It if ever gets just to one percent of market share, it will be a success both financially and socially, as long as the correct business plan is followed.

2) As rational individuals, we know body counts are worthless; revenue passenger miles are the defining figure of measurement.

Here are the same results for 2006, expressed in revenue passenger miles instead of percentages (in millions).

Air – 590,633

Passenger cars – 2,658,621

Other 2 axle vehicles (Such as SUVs, pickup trucks, etc – 1,887,997

Busses – 148,485

Motorcycles – 15,750

Rail transit – 16,587

Rail commuter – 10,361

Amtrak – 5,410

Other transit – 2,221

Amtrak still comes out on the bottom, no matter how you express the data.

If the presumption was made that every Amtrak passenger was unique every year (every passenger used Amtrak only one way for one trip a year), then Amtrak would be serving about 8.5% of the population of the United States. However, since the vast majority of Amtrak’s riders use the train as a round-trip service, and over half of Amtrak’s riders use NEC trains on a frequent basis, it’s safe to say Amtrak actually serves well under 3% of the population of the United States – again, making the service statistically irrelevant.

2) Let’s look at some other figures and trends, all courtesy of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Here’s a breakdown of U.S. passenger miles by mode over an extended period of time (figures in millions).

Air Passenger Miles

1960 – 33,399

1965 – 57,626

1970 – 117,542

1975 – 147,400

1980 – 219,068

1985 – 290,136

1990 – 358,873

1995 – 414,688

2000 – 531,329

2005 – 583,689

2006 – 590,633

Highway Passenger Miles (Combined passenger car, motorcycle, two-axle passenger vehicles)

1960 – 1,272,078

1965 – 1,555,237

1970 – 2,042,002

1975 – 2,404,954

1980 – 2,653,510

1985 – 3,012,953

1990 – 3,561,209

1995 – 3,868,070

2000 – 4,390,076

2005 – 4,887,945

2006 – 4,933,689

Transit Passenger Miles (Combined bus, light rail, heavy rail, trolley bus, commuter rail)

1960 – NA

1965 – NA

1970 – NA

1975 – NA

1980 – 39,854

1985 – 39,581

1990 – 41,143

1995 – 39,808

2000 – 47,666

2005 – 49,680

2006 – 52,154

Passenger rail/Intercity, Amtrak Passenger Miles

1960 – 17,064

1965 – 13,260

1970 – 6,179

1975 – 3,931

1980 – 4,503

1985 – 4,825

1990 – 6,057

1995 – 5,545

2000 – 5,498

2005 – 5,381

2006 – 5,410

Additional figures compiled by URPA from Amtrak data

2007 – 5,653

2008 – 6,159

Figures for prior to 1990 are only reported in five year increments. What’s interesting about the passenger rail figures is the huge drop – over 50% – from 1965 to 1970, a period still prior to Amtrak when most railroads were still running private passenger trains under government regulation.

The drop from 1970 to 1975 includes the introduction of Amtrak with its skeletal national system and the removal of most remaining passenger trains in the country. Since the directed mission from the United States Department of Transportation in the creation of Amtrak was to determine what formerly private railroad routes could be considered sustainable after the creation of Amtrak, it’s obvious just the very creation of Amtrak instituted a false capacity constraint on passenger rail.

The total figure of revenue passenger miles for 2008 – Amtrak’s best year ever – is still below that of 1970, the year before Amtrak started service and private railroads were still operating passenger trains under government mandate.

What does this tell us? From the very beginning, by government directive, Amtrak has placed a false restraint on passenger demand in the United States. Even as bad as the last years of private passenger trains were by some railroads hoping to scare away passengers and only operate the barest of services, the public still wanted to ride trains. Not everyone wants to fly, and not everyone wants to travel by private automobile, no matter how wonderful the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System may be.

What would have happened if Amtrak would not have falsely constrained demand? What would happen if Amtrak was not America’s best kept secret? What would happen if Amtrak’s senior management was actually interested in making the company a success rather than living off of the sour fruits of payments from state treasuries to run intrastate services at high prices while offering low value and bad service?

3) How did Amtrak falsely constrain demand? Let us count the ways, using higher math, of course, because simple arithmetic can’t handle the numbers.

Amtrak has consistently replaced its original fleet inherited from the private railroads with fewer and fewer cars. Here are the numbers.

Passenger Railroad Cars (Does not include locomotives)

1970 – 1,569

1980 – 2,128

1990 – 1,863

1994 – 1,852

1995 – 1,722

1996 – 1,730

1997 – 1,728

1998 – 1,962

1999 – 1,992

2000 – 1,894

2001 – 2,084

2002 – 2,896

2003 – 1,623

2004 – 1,211

2005 – 1,186

2006 – 1,191

2009 – 1,505 plus 140 state owned, but operated by Amtrak, for a total of 1,645

2009 – 1,345 active cars Amtrak lists as available for fleet status or undergoing routine maintenance

Passenger Railroad Car Purchases by Year as reported by BTS (Does not include locomotives)

1975 – 109

1980 – 109

1990 – 58

1994 – 64

1995 – 76

1996 – 92

1997 – 10

2000 – 26

(No figures available after 2000)

Today, Amtrak has 1,551 fewer cars than it did in 2002, mostly due to older equipment being sold for scrap by previous Amtrak stewards, and Amtrak allowing too many cars to go onto the wreck line for minor maintenance issues which Amtrak chooses not to pay for to restore the cars to service.

Again, Amtrak has intentionally created false passenger constraints by simply not providing enough equipment to haul passengers based on demand. While Amtrak’s Amen Corner choruses will incorrectly claim this is the fault of the federal government due to alleged under funding, the reality is Amtrak never requests funding for large equipment orders, nor does it explore viable options through bootstrapping equipment leasing schemes. Instead, Amtrak is content to annually ask for free federal monies to supplement its operations instead of searching for viable ways to support itself, perhaps, say, with the fabulous idea of hauling more passengers instead of seeking subsidies.

4) Most Amtrak supporters suffer from the unbecoming disease of modal envy, that scurrilous malady which forces people to think that just because some other mode of transportation has to have free federal monies to keep it solvent, so does passenger rail.

Here are the numbers – again, from BTS – published in Federal Subsidies to Passenger Transportation in December 2004

[begin quote]

Executive Summary

Recent work in the private sector and current policy debates have refocused attention on Federal subsidies to passenger transportation modes. To provide the Department of Transportation with an independent analysis of this issue, BTS developed data on federal transportation revenues, expenditures, and net subsidies, by mode. Subsidy, for the purpose of this analysis, represents a simple accounting calculation of the net flow of funds to or from the federal government for individual transportation modes. The excess of expenditures over revenues is the net subsidy. To show the amount of subsidy relative to the level of use of transportation infrastructure, we normalized the data by dividing the absolute net subsidy values by passenger-miles.

Highways

Users of the highway passenger transportation system paid significantly greater amounts of money to the federal government than their allocated costs in 1994-2000. This was a result of the increase in the deficit reduction motor fuel tax rates between October 1993 and September 1997, and the increase in Highway Trust Fund fuel tax rates starting in October 1997.

School and transit buses received positive net federal subsidies over the 1990-2002 period, but autos, motorcycles, pickups and vans, and intercity buses paid more than their allocated cost to the federal government.

On average, highway users paid $1.91 per thousand passenger-miles to the federal government over their highway allocated cost during 1990-2002.

Passenger Rail

The net federal subsidy to passenger railroads was the third largest, except for the years 1998-2000, when it was second. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 provided Amtrak with a tax credit in the amount of $2.18 billion in current dollars that caused the net federal subsidy to increase dramatically in 1998 and 1999.

Passenger rail received the largest subsidy per thousand passenger-miles, averaging $186.35 per thousand passenger-miles during 1990-2002.

Transit

Between 1990 and 2002, transit received the largest amount of net federal subsidy, increasing from $5.09 billion to $7.31 billion, an increase of 3% per year. Next to passenger rail, transit received the next highest net federal subsidy per thousand passenger-miles for the period, averaging $118.26 in year 2000 chained dollars.

Air

After transit, air transportation received the second largest net federal subsidy, except for the period from 1998 to 2000, when rail was second. Subsidies declined in 1998-2000 as a result of the increase in federal receipts from aviation users associated with the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which increased existing aviation excise tax rates and introduced new taxes as of October 1, 1997.

Net federal subsidy per thousand passenger-miles for air increased between 1990 and 1996 and then declined from 1997 to 2000, before rising again in 2001 and 2002. The decline during 1997-2000 was caused by the increase in federal receipts from aviation users as a result of the increase in the existing excise tax rates and the introduction of new taxes in 1997, which preceded increases in expenditures.

[End quote]

So, for you in the back of the room sleeping, let’s have a quick review. Out of the 10 modes of transportation measured by the federal government, Amtrak is ranked ninth (9th) in market share, only above "Other Transit," which includes such modes as "demand response, ferryboat, and other transit not specified."

Being ninth in line – passenger automobiles, other passenger vehicles such as SUVs, and air being the top three modes – Amtrak in some recent years has received the second largest net federal subsidy, and often received the third largest net federal subsidy. To repeat part of the quote above: "Passenger rail received the largest subsidy per thousand passenger-miles, averaging $186.35 per thousand passenger-miles during 1990-2002."

Please, stop the modal envy. Amtrak is cleaning up when it comes to free federal monies. Every other mode should be jealous of Amtrak, not the other way around.

5) Where are we in the Winter of 2009? Amtrak is statistically irrelevant. But, even if it gains just one percent of the national transportation market share, it can be self-sustaining without annual federal funds. This doesn’t mean it has to go private (as appealing as that is to many people), but it does mean it doesn’t have to live and die by the will of reluctant lawmakers who constantly use Amtrak as a political pawn.

Prior to the introduction of the Boeing 707 jet aircraft and the building of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, passenger rail had the vast majority of market share in North America for moving passengers. Those days will never be repeated, mostly because there are too many good alternatives to passenger rail. But, passenger rail has tremendous growth potential to regain enough business to make it relevant.

Put all of the annoying tree-hugging arguments aside. Make a modern case for the business of passenger rail. Take visionary schemes like Gil Carmichael’s Interstate II and make them a reality, tugging passenger rail along for the ride.

Most people don’t ride a train for four main reasons: either they don’t know train service is available, today’s embarrassingly skeletal offerings are too inconvenient, no Amtrak service is available to them, or they have joined the thousands of legions of "never again" passengers Amtrak has mistreated in one way or another over the past nearly four decades.

The next time you hear a politician or political commentator griping about Amtrak, just be grateful they even know enough about passenger rail to complain about it. Statistically, Amtrak should never even be a topic of conversation, it’s so insignificant.

As soon as Amtrak management embraces a true growth strategy which includes good passenger service, then Amtrak will become more and more relevant. As long as Amtrak chooses to remain a ghost of America’s past transportation glory, it will be unimportant to almost everyone except Amtrak’s Amen Corner choruses, who are often Amtrak’s worst enemies in disguise because of the enabling they provide for poor management and bad business decisions.

6) We promised last week more in this issue about Amtrak’s winter naughtiness and the appalling lack of functioning locomotives outside of the Northeast Corridor. We promise – really – to address this topic in the next issue of TWA. We’re still gathering information, and had hoped to have more by this point in time.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to  

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## haolerider

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; January 29, 2009
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> ​
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> ​
> 
> 
> America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
> ​
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> ​
> 
> 
> Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail
> 
> [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​
> 
> 
> 
> Volume 6, Number 4
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> I
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.
> 
> 1) Inquiring minds have wanted to know for a long time why Amtrak never wants to report its metrics by standard measures used by all other types of common carriers, not to mention federal government reporting agencies such as the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
> 
> The reason is, Amtrak has a dirty little secret it doesn’t want anyone to know or figure out: Statistically, Amtrak is completely irrelevant as a part of our domestic transportation network.
> 
> New figures have been released by BTS this month. The latest figures available from BTS are for 2006, but that doesn’t matter, because Amtrak’s figures are so very low, even if they were doubled Amtrak would still be statistically irrelevant.
> 
> BTS 2006 Statistics, Market Share by Mode
> 
> Air – 11.07%
> 
> Passenger cars – 49.82%
> 
> Other 2 axle vehicles (Such as SUVs, pickup trucks, etc – 35.38%
> 
> Busses – 2.78%
> 
> Motorcycles – 0.30%
> 
> Rail transit – 0.31%
> 
> Rail commuter – 0.19%
> 
> Amtrak – 0.10%
> 
> Other transit – 0.04%
> 
> Just in case you think you read that Amtrak figure incorrectly, it’s one tenth of one percent market share. Yes, far less than a single percentage point.
> 
> If you are doling out free federal monies in Washington, how high would that be on your priority list? Amtrak has certain members of Congress who will ALWAYS offer amendments to bills and other devices to defund Amtrak. When you look at Amtrak’s true numbers, you have to wonder why not more members of Congress don’t do the same thing? Just looking at raw numbers, Amtrak is not only a loser, but it’s a colossal loser, and screams government waste and boondoggle to rational people.
> 
> If you are a political commentator of any stripe and are accustomed to either flying everywhere or driving to any destination (especially if you live outside of the Northeast), you can see why Amtrak receives little or no support for a future as part of our domestic transportation network.
> 
> When someone cries "Close it! Sell it! Dismantle it!" they are doing so from a practical economic standpoint. Amtrak is, in the eyes of anyone doing cold, hard, analysis, unimportant. If Amtrak went away – even (gasp!) in the Northeast – there would be little, if any, impact on any roadway crowding. Even as heavy as traffic is on Northeast interstate highways, Amtrak’s daily passengers could still easily be absorbed onto busses, vans, and in automobiles.
> 
> Now, you see why Amtrak only wants to talk about warm bodies/passenger counts. Amtrak says it carries about 26 million passengers a year, for an average of 70,000 passengers a day on its over 300 trains (most of which are Northeast Corridor trains) a day (including the two tri-weekly trains, the Sunset Limited and the Cardinal).
> 
> What this tells us is a completely new approach is needed to "sell" passenger rail in North America. VIA Rail Canada isn’t much different from Amtrak in terms of percentage of population it serves; the only real difference is VIA has some social service routes which are critical to the inhabitants of remote parts of various provinces where no real roads exist. VIA and general aviation are still the only two forms of any type of transportation through or over some very desolate countryside.
> 
> Here’s the good news. It doesn’t take much to sell travelers on the potential of passenger train travel, especially Generation Y (people in their 20s) travelers. To many, train travel is a new and novel experience to be embraced and enjoyed.
> 
> If ever Amtrak gets away from insisting it must be the best kept secret in America, it will explode with riders.
> 
> Some otherwise well-respected authors are continuing the tedious and false drumbeat about Amtrak having to perpetually be a step-child of government, and how it can never come close to making money or even breaking even. Since this canard is constantly put before the public, more and more people blithely believe this drivel without bothering to check for themselves what the realities are about passenger rail in North America. Yes, as long as passenger rail commands one tenth of one percent of the traveling public’s market share, it will always have to be an unwanted child of government. It if ever gets just to one percent of market share, it will be a success both financially and socially, as long as the correct business plan is followed.
> 
> 2) As rational individuals, we know body counts are worthless; revenue passenger miles are the defining figure of measurement.
> 
> Here are the same results for 2006, expressed in revenue passenger miles instead of percentages (in millions).
> 
> Air – 590,633
> 
> Passenger cars – 2,658,621
> 
> Other 2 axle vehicles (Such as SUVs, pickup trucks, etc – 1,887,997
> 
> Busses – 148,485
> 
> Motorcycles – 15,750
> 
> Rail transit – 16,587
> 
> Rail commuter – 10,361
> 
> Amtrak – 5,410
> 
> Other transit – 2,221
> 
> Amtrak still comes out on the bottom, no matter how you express the data.
> 
> If the presumption was made that every Amtrak passenger was unique every year (every passenger used Amtrak only one way for one trip a year), then Amtrak would be serving about 8.5% of the population of the United States. However, since the vast majority of Amtrak’s riders use the train as a round-trip service, and over half of Amtrak’s riders use NEC trains on a frequent basis, it’s safe to say Amtrak actually serves well under 3% of the population of the United States – again, making the service statistically irrelevant.
> 
> 2) Let’s look at some other figures and trends, all courtesy of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
> 
> Here’s a breakdown of U.S. passenger miles by mode over an extended period of time (figures in millions).
> 
> Air Passenger Miles
> 
> 1960 – 33,399
> 
> 1965 – 57,626
> 
> 1970 – 117,542
> 
> 1975 – 147,400
> 
> 1980 – 219,068
> 
> 1985 – 290,136
> 
> 1990 – 358,873
> 
> 1995 – 414,688
> 
> 2000 – 531,329
> 
> 2005 – 583,689
> 
> 2006 – 590,633
> 
> Highway Passenger Miles (Combined passenger car, motorcycle, two-axle passenger vehicles)
> 
> 1960 – 1,272,078
> 
> 1965 – 1,555,237
> 
> 1970 – 2,042,002
> 
> 1975 – 2,404,954
> 
> 1980 – 2,653,510
> 
> 1985 – 3,012,953
> 
> 1990 – 3,561,209
> 
> 1995 – 3,868,070
> 
> 2000 – 4,390,076
> 
> 2005 – 4,887,945
> 
> 2006 – 4,933,689
> 
> Transit Passenger Miles (Combined bus, light rail, heavy rail, trolley bus, commuter rail)
> 
> 1960 – NA
> 
> 1965 – NA
> 
> 1970 – NA
> 
> 1975 – NA
> 
> 1980 – 39,854
> 
> 1985 – 39,581
> 
> 1990 – 41,143
> 
> 1995 – 39,808
> 
> 2000 – 47,666
> 
> 2005 – 49,680
> 
> 2006 – 52,154
> 
> Passenger rail/Intercity, Amtrak Passenger Miles
> 
> 1960 – 17,064
> 
> 1965 – 13,260
> 
> 1970 – 6,179
> 
> 1975 – 3,931
> 
> 1980 – 4,503
> 
> 1985 – 4,825
> 
> 1990 – 6,057
> 
> 1995 – 5,545
> 
> 2000 – 5,498
> 
> 2005 – 5,381
> 
> 2006 – 5,410
> 
> Additional figures compiled by URPA from Amtrak data
> 
> 2007 – 5,653
> 
> 2008 – 6,159
> 
> Figures for prior to 1990 are only reported in five year increments. What’s interesting about the passenger rail figures is the huge drop – over 50% – from 1965 to 1970, a period still prior to Amtrak when most railroads were still running private passenger trains under government regulation.
> 
> The drop from 1970 to 1975 includes the introduction of Amtrak with its skeletal national system and the removal of most remaining passenger trains in the country. Since the directed mission from the United States Department of Transportation in the creation of Amtrak was to determine what formerly private railroad routes could be considered sustainable after the creation of Amtrak, it’s obvious just the very creation of Amtrak instituted a false capacity constraint on passenger rail.
> 
> The total figure of revenue passenger miles for 2008 – Amtrak’s best year ever – is still below that of 1970, the year before Amtrak started service and private railroads were still operating passenger trains under government mandate.
> 
> What does this tell us? From the very beginning, by government directive, Amtrak has placed a false restraint on passenger demand in the United States. Even as bad as the last years of private passenger trains were by some railroads hoping to scare away passengers and only operate the barest of services, the public still wanted to ride trains. Not everyone wants to fly, and not everyone wants to travel by private automobile, no matter how wonderful the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System may be.
> 
> What would have happened if Amtrak would not have falsely constrained demand? What would happen if Amtrak was not America’s best kept secret? What would happen if Amtrak’s senior management was actually interested in making the company a success rather than living off of the sour fruits of payments from state treasuries to run intrastate services at high prices while offering low value and bad service?
> 
> 3) How did Amtrak falsely constrain demand? Let us count the ways, using higher math, of course, because simple arithmetic can’t handle the numbers.
> 
> Amtrak has consistently replaced its original fleet inherited from the private railroads with fewer and fewer cars. Here are the numbers.
> 
> Passenger Railroad Cars (Does not include locomotives)
> 
> 1970 – 1,569
> 
> 1980 – 2,128
> 
> 1990 – 1,863
> 
> 1994 – 1,852
> 
> 1995 – 1,722
> 
> 1996 – 1,730
> 
> 1997 – 1,728
> 
> 1998 – 1,962
> 
> 1999 – 1,992
> 
> 2000 – 1,894
> 
> 2001 – 2,084
> 
> 2002 – 2,896
> 
> 2003 – 1,623
> 
> 2004 – 1,211
> 
> 2005 – 1,186
> 
> 2006 – 1,191
> 
> 2009 – 1,505 plus 140 state owned, but operated by Amtrak, for a total of 1,645
> 
> 2009 – 1,345 active cars Amtrak lists as available for fleet status or undergoing routine maintenance
> 
> Passenger Railroad Car Purchases by Year as reported by BTS (Does not include locomotives)
> 
> 1975 – 109
> 
> 1980 – 109
> 
> 1990 – 58
> 
> 1994 – 64
> 
> 1995 – 76
> 
> 1996 – 92
> 
> 1997 – 10
> 
> 2000 – 26
> 
> (No figures available after 2000)
> 
> Today, Amtrak has 1,551 fewer cars than it did in 2002, mostly due to older equipment being sold for scrap by previous Amtrak stewards, and Amtrak allowing too many cars to go onto the wreck line for minor maintenance issues which Amtrak chooses not to pay for to restore the cars to service.
> 
> Again, Amtrak has intentionally created false passenger constraints by simply not providing enough equipment to haul passengers based on demand. While Amtrak’s Amen Corner choruses will incorrectly claim this is the fault of the federal government due to alleged under funding, the reality is Amtrak never requests funding for large equipment orders, nor does it explore viable options through bootstrapping equipment leasing schemes. Instead, Amtrak is content to annually ask for free federal monies to supplement its operations instead of searching for viable ways to support itself, perhaps, say, with the fabulous idea of hauling more passengers instead of seeking subsidies.
> 
> 4) Most Amtrak supporters suffer from the unbecoming disease of modal envy, that scurrilous malady which forces people to think that just because some other mode of transportation has to have free federal monies to keep it solvent, so does passenger rail.
> 
> Here are the numbers – again, from BTS – published in Federal Subsidies to Passenger Transportation in December 2004
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> Executive Summary
> 
> Recent work in the private sector and current policy debates have refocused attention on Federal subsidies to passenger transportation modes. To provide the Department of Transportation with an independent analysis of this issue, BTS developed data on federal transportation revenues, expenditures, and net subsidies, by mode. Subsidy, for the purpose of this analysis, represents a simple accounting calculation of the net flow of funds to or from the federal government for individual transportation modes. The excess of expenditures over revenues is the net subsidy. To show the amount of subsidy relative to the level of use of transportation infrastructure, we normalized the data by dividing the absolute net subsidy values by passenger-miles.
> 
> Highways
> 
> Users of the highway passenger transportation system paid significantly greater amounts of money to the federal government than their allocated costs in 1994-2000. This was a result of the increase in the deficit reduction motor fuel tax rates between October 1993 and September 1997, and the increase in Highway Trust Fund fuel tax rates starting in October 1997.
> 
> School and transit buses received positive net federal subsidies over the 1990-2002 period, but autos, motorcycles, pickups and vans, and intercity buses paid more than their allocated cost to the federal government.
> 
> On average, highway users paid $1.91 per thousand passenger-miles to the federal government over their highway allocated cost during 1990-2002.
> 
> Passenger Rail
> 
> The net federal subsidy to passenger railroads was the third largest, except for the years 1998-2000, when it was second. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 provided Amtrak with a tax credit in the amount of $2.18 billion in current dollars that caused the net federal subsidy to increase dramatically in 1998 and 1999.
> 
> Passenger rail received the largest subsidy per thousand passenger-miles, averaging $186.35 per thousand passenger-miles during 1990-2002.
> 
> Transit
> 
> Between 1990 and 2002, transit received the largest amount of net federal subsidy, increasing from $5.09 billion to $7.31 billion, an increase of 3% per year. Next to passenger rail, transit received the next highest net federal subsidy per thousand passenger-miles for the period, averaging $118.26 in year 2000 chained dollars.
> 
> Air
> 
> After transit, air transportation received the second largest net federal subsidy, except for the period from 1998 to 2000, when rail was second. Subsidies declined in 1998-2000 as a result of the increase in federal receipts from aviation users associated with the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which increased existing aviation excise tax rates and introduced new taxes as of October 1, 1997.
> 
> Net federal subsidy per thousand passenger-miles for air increased between 1990 and 1996 and then declined from 1997 to 2000, before rising again in 2001 and 2002. The decline during 1997-2000 was caused by the increase in federal receipts from aviation users as a result of the increase in the existing excise tax rates and the introduction of new taxes in 1997, which preceded increases in expenditures.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> So, for you in the back of the room sleeping, let’s have a quick review. Out of the 10 modes of transportation measured by the federal government, Amtrak is ranked ninth (9th) in market share, only above "Other Transit," which includes such modes as "demand response, ferryboat, and other transit not specified."
> 
> Being ninth in line – passenger automobiles, other passenger vehicles such as SUVs, and air being the top three modes – Amtrak in some recent years has received the second largest net federal subsidy, and often received the third largest net federal subsidy. To repeat part of the quote above: "Passenger rail received the largest subsidy per thousand passenger-miles, averaging $186.35 per thousand passenger-miles during 1990-2002."
> 
> Please, stop the modal envy. Amtrak is cleaning up when it comes to free federal monies. Every other mode should be jealous of Amtrak, not the other way around.
> 
> 5) Where are we in the Winter of 2009? Amtrak is statistically irrelevant. But, even if it gains just one percent of the national transportation market share, it can be self-sustaining without annual federal funds. This doesn’t mean it has to go private (as appealing as that is to many people), but it does mean it doesn’t have to live and die by the will of reluctant lawmakers who constantly use Amtrak as a political pawn.
> 
> Prior to the introduction of the Boeing 707 jet aircraft and the building of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, passenger rail had the vast majority of market share in North America for moving passengers. Those days will never be repeated, mostly because there are too many good alternatives to passenger rail. But, passenger rail has tremendous growth potential to regain enough business to make it relevant.
> 
> Put all of the annoying tree-hugging arguments aside. Make a modern case for the business of passenger rail. Take visionary schemes like Gil Carmichael’s Interstate II and make them a reality, tugging passenger rail along for the ride.
> 
> Most people don’t ride a train for four main reasons: either they don’t know train service is available, today’s embarrassingly skeletal offerings are too inconvenient, no Amtrak service is available to them, or they have joined the thousands of legions of "never again" passengers Amtrak has mistreated in one way or another over the past nearly four decades.
> 
> The next time you hear a politician or political commentator griping about Amtrak, just be grateful they even know enough about passenger rail to complain about it. Statistically, Amtrak should never even be a topic of conversation, it’s so insignificant.
> 
> As soon as Amtrak management embraces a true growth strategy which includes good passenger service, then Amtrak will become more and more relevant. As long as Amtrak chooses to remain a ghost of America’s past transportation glory, it will be unimportant to almost everyone except Amtrak’s Amen Corner choruses, who are often Amtrak’s worst enemies in disguise because of the enabling they provide for poor management and bad business decisions.
> 
> 6) We promised last week more in this issue about Amtrak’s winter naughtiness and the appalling lack of functioning locomotives outside of the Northeast Corridor. We promise – really – to address this topic in the next issue of TWA. We’re still gathering information, and had hoped to have more by this point in time.
> 
> If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.
> 
> All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-7739
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org
> 
> TWA mailing list
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


I gues, if Amtrak is so irrelevant, then Bruce seems to be spending a great deal of time on something that is not all that important. Perhaps he can re-focus his energies on something important like education, medical care reform or world peace!


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 6, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​

 

Volume 6, Number 5
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Amtrak has a new hero, and his name is Daryl Pesce. Mr. Pesce is the General Superintendent in Chicago, for Amtrak’s Central Division. This guy should get a medal.

Mr. Pesce’s domain is one of Amtrak’s most difficult; Chicago is the main passenger rail hub of the Midwest, and trains converge into and out of Chicago from and to every direction to every part of the country. Eastern long hauls come in from New York and New England, as well as Philadelphia and Washington. Three of Amtrak’s premier transcontinental trains have terminals in Chicago, and it is directly served from New Orleans by the City of New Orleans. Chicago also has its share of corridor and short haul trains which include Michigan’s Pere Marquette, the Detroit service, as well as the Illinois services and others, such as the Hiawathas.

Together, this makes for interesting passenger railroading, because in addition to all of this, Amtrak has to work around Chicago’s vast commuter network.

As Amtrak’s General Superintendent in Chicago, Mr. Pesce is Lord of the Manor. However, along with the glory comes the responsibility over an Amtrak division that every year seems genuinely surprised when winter arrives immediately after the fall. For years, Chicago has been one of Amtrak’s biggest headaches when it comes to equipment maintenance and just about every other facet of operations. It’s almost been as if Amtrak’s employees in Chicago have been doing the equivalent of the inmates running the asylum. Employee comfort and convenience has in almost every instance beat out passenger service or a desire to operate a passenger railroad in an efficient manner.

For years, reports have dribbled into URPA and TWA about the naughtiness of Chicago maintenance employees, especially in winter. This has been on top of numerous firings for things like full-time Amtrak union employees also collecting a paycheck from a second employer while they were supposed to be working for Amtrak.

In short, accountability has been so far out of the window in Chicago, that accountability hasn’t been recognized by anyone recently as a current concept.

Daryl Pesce seems determined to change that. He’s asking questions, and, when the right answers don’t come, is demanding more. He’s not content with "business as usual," and wants things to improve. Not only is he demanding more of his top managers, but he’s rightly demanding more of the frontline employees, too. When a conductor or engineer on a far-flung train hours away from Chicago (but still in the division) makes a passenger-unfriendly decision, Mr. Pesce demands to know why that conductor or engineer was allowed to do that, and what’s being done to fix it in the future.

This is so refreshing, it’s hard to describe the euphoria it generates among those who believe adult supervision should always be prevalent in every part of passenger railroading.

Mr. Pesce is having to answer to the State of Michigan for December’s problems with the Pere Marquette, and Michigan’s Department of Transportation is being rowdy about the whole situation, and demanding performance for the money its spending. Other cities and towns along the way are jumping on Michigan’s bandwagon, and demanding accountability from Mr. Pesce’s division. This is all good; Mr. Pesce seems to be just the man to correct those situations and put new orders in place so problems won’t happen a second time.

In the past, there have been so many good managers, such as current Amtrak Vice President Richard Phelps, that have had to work in less than ideal circumstances because of an ingrained Amtrak culture of non-accountability. Here’s hoping Mr. Pesce, along with the higher-ups like Mr. Phelps, will continue to whack away at that unacceptable culture and create an Amtrak everyone can be proud to work for and to ride as a passenger.

2) Here’s what we have learned about Amtrak’s massive failure to have a serviceable locomotive fleet in the national system.

Several incorrect things have happened, along with some experimentation by an outside consultant who allegedly claims Amtrak can save big bucks by not performing routine maintenance on locomotives, but, instead, just replace crucial locomotive components at timed intervals.

One of the reasons so many trains were recently cancelled in and out of Chicago due to a lack of locomotives also falls on Washington, because eight locomotives were pulled out of the regular service pool to haul President-Elect Obama’s now-famous special train from Philadelphia to Washington on the Saturday prior to the inauguration.

The Secret Service has – correctly – very strict rules about presidential trains which have been in place for decades. The rules make a lot of sense, especially in today’s terrorist environment.

Under normal circumstances, Mr. Obama’s train would have been pulled by electric locomotives, since it operated exclusively on the Northeast Corridor. However, the Secret Service said no to that; diesel locomotives had to be used instead. This meant the presidential train was not at the mercy of overhead catenary, but, rather was always operating under its own power. That makes perfect sense. Also, the train – short as it was – had two locomotives instead of one, in case of engine failure. Another logical move.

What many people don’t know is a presidential train is always preceded by an advance train, which essentially makes sure the rails are clear, and if anyone has placed anything on the tracks, the advance train will deal with it, not the presidential train. Again, a train with two locomotives, bringing the total to four.

Behind the presidential train was a third train, offering protection from the rear. Again, two locomotives, for a total of six.

Two other locomotives were held in reserve, in case anything went wrong with the other six locomotives, brining the total to eight.

By the time Amtrak pulled these units out of regular service, spiffed them up mechanically and both inside and out for presidential service, and later returned them to service, they were gone from the pool roster for a long number of days.

Considering Amtrak was already short of locomotives before this special event, losing eight locos put a huge hole in Amtrak’s operating plan. As a result, regular train service on several routes in and out of Chicago was cancelled on various days for lack of motive power, sometimes for several days in a row.

If you were Amtrak, what decision would you have made? It’s impossible to turn down a presidential request, especially such a high profile request. Secret Service demands are high – thank goodness – and perfection is demanded. Lacking perfection, backup plans must be in place and everything must go off without a hitch. There is no room for error; too much is at stake on every level.

Amtrak did the right thing handling the presidential train, but, in reality, there should have been more than enough locomotives to handle a relatively small request of eight locomotives out of the entire fleet of 199 which serves intercity trains outside of the NEC (but does not include West Coast trains).

Intercity has a requirement of 150 locomotives on a typical day, out of 187 active units. (Keep in mind these locomotives include all of the East Coast units; New Orleans, New England, and anywhere else outside of the NEC and West Coast that needs power, so not all 187 active units have a home base of Chicago.)

It’s not unusual for 15% or more of those units to be out of service for maintenance; that’s 28 locomotives on average. Oops! Suddenly you’re almost out of locomotives. Take another eight units out of service for presidential service, and you’re in real trouble. (You think 15% of the locomotives down for maintenance is high? Think, again. On the NEC, it’s not unusual to have 24% of the locomotives out of service. The NEC has 96 units on its active roster, with a daily requirement of 65; sometimes 23 can be out of service.)

But, the question remains, why is Amtrak always short of locomotives, when it has enough motors on the books to handle all of its needs?

Because, Amtrak has been practicing – as a corporate policy – far too much deferred maintenance to save money, and also, when something breaks, Amtrak just sends a broken locomotive to sit idle in the weeds instead of repairing it.

There are also some silly policies about rotating spare parts stock that make little sense to the rational mind, and these policies often have Amtrak selling/getting rid of spare parts instead of using them to repair out of service locomotives.

3) Let’s get down home about this. If something like this became an issue in a political campaign, any good candidate would be having a field day with Amtrak’s locomotive problems.

Here’s how it would be portrayed for maximum impact: Amtrak, a semi-government corporation, which exists on annual subsidies of taxpayer monies on both the federal and state levels of well into billions of dollars, takes monies specifically to be used for equipment maintenance which allows Amtrak to fulfill its mandate of operating passenger trains for the benefit of the traveling public, yet does not spend that money on basic necessities like locomotive maintenance.

Instead of spending the money on required maintenance on equipment which costs more than $1 million per locomotive, Amtrak just parks this expensive equipment on a weeded side track instead of keeping it in revenue service. Because that locomotive is not in revenue service, and therefore, generating fares from passengers who may wish to travel on a train, Amtrak exacerbates the problem by keeping a valuable, revenue-generating asset idle, therefore, needing more government subsidy to make up for the lost income not generated by a working locomotive.

A good political candidate would be demanding reform, demanding relevant law enforcement agencies be looking into misuse of public funds, and demanding to know why all members of management directly associated with these decisions are still employed by Amtrak.

Legal minds will tell you – in theory – this is the kind of thing management is supposed to be accountable for to a normal board of directors, who are then accountable to stockholders on every level.

However, since this is Amtrak, the board rarely bestirs itself to take an active role in this level of management. In terms of outside remedies beyond the board, there may be the possibility of a citizen "qui tam" suit. This is a suit in which any citizen/plaintiff has standing to sue because the federal government is involved.

From a law enforcement standpoint, it would depend on how much gumption a federal prosecutor has and the time/inclination to start looking into such a rat’s nest of complex financial dealings and questionable bookkeeping practices which Amtrak has used for years.

Which means unless something extraordinary happens, Amtrak will probably get away with these hijinks, and continue to be unaccountable to anyone. Here’s wishing Daryl Pesce well in his pursuit of accountability in Chicago; perhaps he can persuade the powers that be that if he is going to be successful in rehabilitating Chicago into a normally-functioning division of Amtrak, he’s got to have available working locomotives to pull his trains.

4) Amtrak has a new Chairman of the Board, and, to no one’s surprise, he’s from Illinois. For some very odd reason, the Republican Chairman of the Board, Donna McLean, felt it appropriate to step aside from her duly appointed position, and install Thomas Carper, former Mayor of Macomb, Illinois as Amtrak’s new chairman. The former vice chairman, Hunter Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, left his position so Ms. McLean could become vice chairman.

Got that? Ms. McLean, who was chairman is now vice chairman, and Mr. Carper who was a board member is now chairman of the board, and Mr. Biden, who was vice chairman is now a board member. Nancy Naples remains on the board.

In April, Joe Boardman, the Interim President and CEO of Amtrak will become a full voting member of Amtrak board, as directed by the Amtrak authorizing legislation signed by former President Bush last October. There are still four board vacancies to be filled, as the board will be expanded from seven to nine members. The entire tenure of the Bush Administration never saw a fully-populated Amtrak board of directors.

Here’s the official press release from Amtrak, dated January 30, 2009.

[begin quote]

AMTRAK BOARD NAMES THOMAS CARPER OF ILLINOIS AS CHAIRMAN

Former Chairman Donna McLean becomes Vice Chairman

WASHINGTON – At its regularly scheduled meeting yesterday, Amtrak’s Board of Directors unanimously agreed to name Thomas Carper of Illinois as Chairman of the Board. Carper, who has served in various Illinois state and local government positions, including Mayor of the City of Macomb, has been a director on the Amtrak board since March 2008. At the same meeting former Chairman Donna McLean was named Vice Chairman, replacing Hunter Biden, who remains as a board member.

Carper said, "Everything we have done as a board, we’ve done as a unified body, and this change in our hierarchy is no exception. That this was a unanimous and non-contentious decision is testimony to that fact. I look forward to tackling the exciting challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Amtrak is ready to play a growing role in strengthening our transportation system and our economy."

The five-member board consists of four voting members, two Democrats, Carper and Biden, and two Republicans, McLean and Nancy Naples. Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman is a non-voting member of the board.

Former Chairman McLean, who was named Vice Chairman, said, "With the change in administration, its best for the company to have Tom as Chairman. I am pleased to be able to work with Tom and the rest of the board as we face the exciting and challenging years ahead."

As part of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, the Board of Directors of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) is expected in 2009 to expand to nine members from its current allotment of seven positions, five of which are currently occupied. The President nominates and the U.S. Senate confirms Amtrak Board members.

About Amtrak

Amtrak has posted six consecutive years of growth in ridership and revenue, carrying more than 28.7 million passengers in the last fiscal year. Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com.

[End quote]

Here in the real world, it’s amusing the Amtrak board felt this step necessary. There is no evidence Ms. McLean would not have been able to continue functioning as Amtrak’s chairman, but, since she’s a Republican, turned over the reins to a Democrat.

This illustrates the folly of Amtrak being such a child of government; if it were strong enough to stand on its own without billions in federal subsidies every budget year, it wouldn’t matter if a Republican or Democrat was chairman of the board. All that would matter would be if the corporation was being run in a proper way.

Maybe, one day, that will be the case. In the interim, we’ve got a new chairman of the board with Illinois credentials.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to  

[email protected]

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## WICT106

This Week at Amtrak; February 27, 2009

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 6, Number 6

1) No! No! No! The answer is No! What’s the question? The question is, have Americans been told the truth about profitable passenger rail systems in the world, and the answer is No! It’s been the constant Big Lie that’s been told over and over again by Amtrak, it’s wholly owned lapdog organizations, authoritative people who should know better, supposedly prestigious magazines, and a host of innocents who haven’t bothered to do their own research.

The truth is, a number of passenger rail systems in highly developed Western countries all have profitable passenger rail systems which are efficiently run, provide excellent service for passengers, and hold the esteem of bankers and various financial people. In short, just the opposite of what Amtrak, and it’s Amen Corner echo, the National Association of Railroad Passengers, and various others, including members of government want you to believe, because constantly telling the Big Lie provides an excuse for the dismal performance of Amtrak.

It’s not nice to lie.

2) Here’s how it started: Railway Age Online, on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 published the following excerpt from International Railway Journal.

[begin quote]

International News

Another good year for Netherlands Railways

Netherlands Railways (NS) says the introduction of an ambitious new timetable and the opening of new stations helped it to maintain its healthy financial performance last year, although net profit fell by 281 million euros ($357 million) to 56 million euros ($71 million). NS warned that its success in 2008 is unlikely to be repeated this year as the global financial crisis is expected to slow the growth in passenger numbers. NS says it is looking at ways of reducing costs and could sell off non-core areas of its business.

For more on this story, visit:

IRJ Breaking News

[End quote]

So, it seemed those wily Dutch were doing something allegedly no one else was doing, and the International Railway Journal was using normally verboten words in the United States like "profit" when referring to a national passenger rail system.

This required some digging, and the article and subject matter was tossed out to United Rail Passenger Alliance’s discussion and study group for comment. Here is what ensued.

[begin quote]

CONTRIBUTOR ONE: The Europeans have culturally accepted rail as a primary form of transportation. It's profitable simply due to active use and streamlined operation.

In the US people would rather fly or drive, still.

CONTRIBUTOR TWO: ... Remember that movie "Field of Dreams"? It was okay. But, remember how the neighbors of guy that built the ballpark tried to put him out of business because he was going to go broke? They saw a nutcase who was going to go broke so they tried to do him in. It would be the same with passenger service. You will not get much aid and comfort for trying, but you will get lots of folks willing to help you fail!

CONTRIBUTOR THREE: And, lots of state subsidy I expect, just calling it something else, to wit: Britain's "profitable" private train operators who are on the government dole, paying a fraction of costs of their physical plant. Here, we would call that "corporate welfare."

CONTRIBUTOR FOUR: Here, we call that "Acela" and "NJ Transit".

CONTRIBUTOR SIX: Take a look at the Deutsche Bahn 2007 Annual Report [Germany] (on their website). At least at the EBIT [Earnings Before Interest and Tax] level, they say they made money on all of their passenger services (and freight as well). What any given service would look like after interest and taxes, they don't say.

Two caveats: 1) figures don't lie, but liars figure; 2) their positive EBITs in the passenger areas are at least partly based on results after subsidies from the Federal and State (Laender) governments. But, the holding company made money after interest and taxes. I don't think their ROI [Return on Investment] was startling, or even adequate, but that is not an unfamiliar story in railroading ...

CONTRIBUTOR SEVEN: Yes, but the true focus here - and what Contributor One is saying, too – is the system is robust enough to actually promote a profit. If there is enough activity – trains, rational frequencies, passengers, momentum – the system can throw off a profit. It's only those who want to believe that passenger rail MUST be a creature of government that don't want to believe this could happen. Remember, every "credible" source in the country always says there are NO passenger systems in the world which make money.

CONTRIBUTOR SIX: Yes, there is that allegation. BUT, it is actually untrue on two grounds.

1. The three Japanese railways (East, West and Central Japan) make money, period. It is true that there is a question whether the value at which they received their assets in the privatization was too low. Maybe, but you can read their Annual Reports on the web – they are listed on the NYSE (poor guys) – and the numbers are out in the open. One can argue that the SNCF [France] makes money on the TGV, at least Paris to Lyons, but the bookkeeping is not public.

2. There are a number of competed franchises in the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany that make money on passenger services, as do some of the concessions in Buenos Aires and Rio. In these cases, Government is asking for minimum subsidy, and they get pretty efficient service. I will be happy to debate the UK experience at length if anyone wants (see the highly informative website www.tgaassoc.com for this and other studies).

With this said, most passenger operators are unprofitable in the financial sense; their revenues from customers do not cover their costs. Governments make up the difference for social, economic, environmental, or political reasons, or a mix of all of them. Sometimes the governments do the right thing, sometimes they don't.

There is also a caveat about the Netherlands numbers – what is the railroad paying for access charges to use the infrastructure? The Dutch only wanted their operator to pay marginal cost access charges: in their case, this was only about 12 percent of the total cost of infrastructure. The Government paid the rest directly to the infrastructure manager. By comparison, the DB [Germany] operators are supposed to pay the entire cost of infrastructure from their access charges. See the most recent update of EU access charges on the website I mentioned above.

CONTRIBUTOR EIGHT: I think you're on thin ice here. If the infrastructure is subsidized, is the operation profitable? Within the parameters set, perhaps. In the real world, perhaps not. Are airlines profitable if they don't take provision of airport facilities, air traffic control, etc., into account? Truckers too, for that matter.

CONTRIBUTOR NINE: All of these are legitimate – and preferably quantifiable – facets of "profitability," however defined. What one needs to remember is that, in what passes for US policy debate about Amtrak, the mantra of "no passenger service makes money" is almost never a quantified or verified observation about the economics of rail passenger service, but an all-purpose propaganda excuse for Amtrak failures and a bogus premise for complete shutdown of further inquiry, lest any new examples of Amtrak's incompetence and duplicity emerge.

CONTRIBUTOR TEN: Gentlemen, as the inimitable Brother Dave Gardner ("The earth is a southern planet – have a moon pie and an RC") used to say, "it's all in how you look at it and study it."

And, unfortunately, there is no accepted common basis for looking at it and studying it, particularly with regard to our favorite carrier of last resort, who has made a masterwork of consistently pulling newer and more innovative figures and formulas out of an increasingly vast number of heretofore undiscovered ... openings.

The "bottom line" shell game has produced a crop of apples and oranges so extensive that it would cripple the Pacific Fruit Growers’ Express fleet.

That's the payment for politicizing a business. And it's all legal; just don't you try it.

This is why the best stuff has always come from people who dig through and distill the figures.

CONTRIBUTOR EIGHT: Don't get me wrong. The need for subsidy in some instances is no excuse for inefficiency, for failure to make the best use of assets. If your fare box recovery is 55% you should still be straining every sinew to make it 56% or better, because you owe that responsibility to the "owners," in this case the taxpayer. I attend public meetings and frequently ask the question "Is that the best you can do with my money?". I'm not always the most popular person in the room!

CONTRIBUTOR ELEVEN: The question as I see it is, "Can we draw a line, to the left of which is Infrastructure, and to the right of which is Operations; and draw that line so that Operations is profitable?"

The traditional view of Amtrak is that such a line cannot even be drawn.

The fact that an actual passenger railroad has drawn such a line, and made a profit, proves that such a line CAN be drawn.

CONTRIBUTOR SIX: Yes, a line can be drawn. The EU has demanded that a line be drawn and, with great reluctance, the EU railways have gone along. The famous American railroad belief that the EU model has failed has missed this point entirely. With infrastructure separated from all operators, then you can draw a line around infrastructure and tell whether the infrastructure is stable or not. You can also evaluate the performance of the operators as well and, if you want, you can privatize some operators while keeping others public.

The problem comes when they try to set up access charges. The Commission recommends the access charges be set at marginal cost (hard to define, but most people believe it is about 15% to 20% of total costs) with the government making up the remainder. But, the Commission also permits the infra manager to charge more than marginal cost if the government sets a financial target that includes more cost recovery above marginal costs. The result is that some governments set the marginal cost target and make up the rest directly to the infra manager, other governments set varying degrees of full financial cost recovery as a target.

When the target is above marginal cost, then the "markups" become critical, and they are fraught with difficulties that no one really has a perfect answer for. The most recent report on this issue (www.tgaassoc.com) covers the issue as well as it can be covered.

In fact, when Amtrak pays access fees to the freights, the line has been drawn (we don't know how the freights calculate their charges, and Amtrak and the freights refuse to reveal what the access charges are – a guess at about $3.00/train mile is about right). And Amtrak is happy to charge the freights full costs plus a considerable markup for the use of the Northeast Corridor while, in principle, they are charging the commuters marginal cost. Again, though, there is no information or backup about the charges.

With Amtrak, watch what they do, not what they say ...

CONTRIBUTOR NINE: Well stated. In the case of Amtrak, the drawing of the line has been done by that ever trustworthy draftsman, the Congress. For off-NEC situations, the Surface Transportation Board — contrary to popular belief — is not held absolutely to incremental costs when forcing Amtrak onto an uncooperative freight railroad.

Under 49 USC 24308(A)(2)©, the STB is to determine "the extent to which, the compensation shall be greater than the incremental costs of utilizing the facilities and providing the services." Apparently this standard governing off-NEC access was not altered by the recent legislation [Pub. L.110-432, Sec. 212, 122 Stat. 4848, 4925-27 (Oct. 16, 2008)], but it did set up a new regime of STB-adjudicated damages (not fines, as misstated in the press) for "substandard" freight performance of obligations, pursuant to new 49 U.S.C. 24308(f).

On the NEC, where Amtrak is the landlord vice tenant, the recent changes are very significant.

For freight carrier users of Amtrak’s NEC infrastructure, the pre-October 2008 standard of compensation to Amtrak was that the STB "shall assign to a freight carrier … the costs Amtrak incurs only for the benefit of the carrier, plus a proportionate share of all other costs of providing transportation … incurred for the common benefit of Amtrak and the carrier. The proportionate share shall be based on relative measures of volume of car operations, tonnage or other factors that reasonably reflect the relative use of rail property covered by this subsection." [49 U.S.C. 24904©(2)] Note the absence of comparable statutory specificity for the payments to be made by commuter operators. No accident.

However, a potentially monumental change has been made — very inconspicuously – with respect to the NEC. See Pub. L. 110-432, Sec. 212(B)(2), 122 Stat. 4848, 4926. The limiting word "freight" has been deleted. Thus the statutory standard for STB cost allocation now applies to commuters as well.

There was also an existing directive [subsection ©(1)] that NEC access agreements with freight and commuter carriers "shall provide for reimbursement of reasonable costs, but may not cross-subsidize intercity rail passenger, commuter rail passenger, and rail freight transportation."

But, the pre-October 2008 statute contained no parallel coverage of commuter rail in its prohibition [subsection ©(2)] in STB adjudications of access charges; only cross-subsidization between intercity passenger service and freight was prohibited there. No coverage of commuter service. No accident, again. That deficiency, too, has now been cured by Section 212(B)(2) of Public Law 110-432: "commuter rail passenger" service has now been made part of the cross-subsidization provision governing the STB’s adjudications.

These fundamental changes, based on the plain statutory language, would seem to require immediate – well, by government standards anyway – adjustment of the STB’s now superseded administrative standards for assigning costs in NEC access disputes.

There is no delayed effective date for these changes (as with the Amtrak board structure, for example), nor is there any statement that the advisory committee regime I am about to describe displaces any STB obligation to revamp its NEC cost standards right away.

Thus, any affected party could — and probably should — immediately file with the STB seeking the immediate opening of a new proceeding to replace the old standards.

However, there is to be a new NEC access formula developed by the new Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Commission (NCIOC), established under Sec. 212(a) of Pub. L. 110-432, new 49 USC 24905.

The Commission is to consist of members representing Amtrak, DOT/FRA, each state on the NEC (even the one that runs no commuter service whatever), plus DC, and the freight users of the NEC, but the freight representatives must be "selected by the Secretary." Interestingly, only the freight representatives are also prohibited from voting. See new 49 USC 24905(a)(1)(D). Again, presumably no accident.

Among its other duties, the NCIOC is to develop by Oct. 16, 2010, "a standardized formula for determining costs, revenues, and compensation for Northeast Corridor commuter rail passenger transportation," to be applied to the NEC as well as the Harrisburg Line. [new 24905©(1)]

The three elements mandated to be in the new formula are (1) the amended prohibition against cross-subsidization among all three types of services; (2) "each service is assigned the costs incurred only for the benefit of that service, and a proportionate share, based upon factors that reasonably reflect relative use, of costs incurred for the common benefit of more than 1 service": and (3) "all financial contributions made by an operator of a service that benefit an infrastructure owner other than the operator are considered, including but not limited to, any capital infrastructure investments and in-kind services." [new 49 USC 24905(©(1)(A)(i)-(iii)]

This new, late 2010 formula is to be accompanied by a "proposed timetable for implementing" the formula by October 16, 2014.

Whatever the practicality of the mandated formula and any accompanying complexities, it’s only the beginning of a wild and tortuous ride. Remember NCIOC is an advisory committee. But, the newly amended statute requires that "Amtrak and public authorities providing commuter rail passenger transportation over the Northeast Corridor shall implement new agreements for usage of facilities or services based on the formula proposed [by NCIOC] in accordance with the timetable established therein." Note again, no mention of the freights.

If Amtrak and the commuters fail to implement new access agreements based on the NCIOC formula and timetable, NCIOC "shall petition" the STB to "determine the appropriate compensation amounts for such services in accordance with section 24904©," i.e., the newly amended NEC formula statute discussed above. (This would seem to enhance the urgency of a new STB proceeding to replace the now obsolete cost-allocation standards posthaste, in case the NCIOC’s supposed consensus approach "fails.")

I do not pretend to expertise regarding the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), but making the recommendations of an "advisory" committee legally binding without any further intervening action by the Congress or the President seems dicey. Moreover, making the amended cost-allocation statute the default standard if the NCIOC process falters necessarily implies that whatever NCIOC does is expected to be somewhat at odds with or at least different from that statute, so it virtually has to constitute the improper delegation of authority to NCIOC to supersede a federal statute.

A second legal time bomb: as far as I know, there are existing access agreements covering all the current NEC tenants, presumably with specified prices and durations. I think to the Constitution, these are known as "contracts." Impairing same by the feds is a big no-no.

But, this new statute (if the new NCIOC cost-allocation standards actually are implemented) arguably would overturn those agreements by 2014, regardless of their remaining terms, because new NCIOC agreements have not only to be signed by then, but "implemented." (Note also that this same issue of overturning existing agreements prior to their expiration may well apply to new STB-developed allocation standards reflecting the now already fully effective changes to the statute.)

And, then there’s the across the board stiffing of the freights — no vote inside NCIOC, and no assured coverage by the new NCIOC formula. Nothing resembling due process. Deliberately perverse incentives to assure that no consensus NCIOC formula is ever implemented? A clever strategy by the freights to plant some constitutional land mines with which to overturn the statute? In the absence of additional information, I will adhere to the hallowed proverb of Rep. Al Swift (former D-WA): "Never assume conspiracy when mere incompetence will suffice."

As Contributor Six correctly points out, actions and words (even statutory words) are often at considerable variance, and the standards (present or future) I have described apply in practice only when an access dispute finds its way to the STB.

In any other situation, what Amtrak, the commuters, and the freights do in actual negotiations and the setting of unlitigated access pricing and related cost-sharing charges is quite another matter. Whatever the state of play there, it is a virtual certainty that Amtrak’s demonstrably unreliable accounting and lack of transparency is an additional unhelpful factor. Now, at least on the NEC, a further degree of turmoil is virtually assured by the recent statutory changes, even the positive and the non-opaque ones.

CONTRIBUTOR TEN: Contributor Six and Contributor Nine, well put; both of you.

The real problems, as both have stated, is that (1) Congress loves to mix apples and oranges to its own political ends, (2) there is no traceability and/or common methodology to the calculation of incremental costs by the various parties in individual agreements (i.e., what is incremental to one is not to another) including Amtrak, and (3) the remnants of the arcane railroad accounting systems are still also muddying up the waters.

It will be interesting to see if the EU can force consistency on their systems.

It's the 21st century version of the application of the old Interstate Commerce Commission formula: Santa Fe consistently reported an above the rail profit for its passenger services because they viewed them as solely incremental and only charged what they believed they actually added in real costs, while Southern Pacific took all the allowables ever given them and would, for example, charge half the total cost of the Sunset Route infrastructure to the Sunset Limited passenger train when it was tri-weekly in order to show a whopping loss.

The railroads did not magically and immediately roll in dough on May 1, 1971 when Amtrak came into being. And, that's why.

Just remember, in the early 1950s, SP President Russell succeeded in convincing the ICC that SP should be able to drop all interstate routes less than 300 miles because "short hauls don't and can't make money, but, long hauls do." Within 10 years, he and successor Biaggini were back before the ICC axing long distance trains because "long hauls lose money and only short haul corridors less than 300 miles can make money."

That, folks, is the epitome of creative accounting.

I am drawn back to what URPA showed 25-30 years ago, that Amtrak has taken full advantage of the old approach (remember what [former Amtrak Board of Directors member ]Joe McDonald discovered on the Montrealer [passenger train route between Washington, D.C. and Montreal, Quebec]) it inherited from PennCentral (mostly) to say what it wants to say when it wants to say it. This, of course, still extends to gouging states when it wants to (which is generally constantly).

And, the most obvious result is that when national system (read "long distance") routes come off, the deficit goes up.

When McDonald reported to the Amtrak board that they were obtaining a black hole when they got the NEC from PennCentral, he knew exactly what was going to happen, and he was completely right.

For you who are too young to remember, Joe was a Vice President of Continental Can, with an extensive background in corporate operations and accounting who was appointed to the Board as a consumer rep all the way back in the 1970s. He discovered, among other things, that PC, and then Amtrak, were charging the Montrealer crew costs on one division in Connecticut that would account for a total of 26 enginemen and trainmen (not onboard services) on board a single Montrealer trainset at any given time, and after extensive investigation, determined that such "accounting" was occurring all over the NEC in order to prop up [former Pennsylvania Railroad President] Stuart Saunders' old myth that led to President Lyndon Johnson subsidizing Pennsylvania's first Metroliner program. Unfortunately, he succumbed to cancer before he got all the way to the bottom of it.

As we have said for decades, they've been cooking the books since the beginning.

As long as all of the involved parties are going to play this game, don't expect any real progress, either here or (equivalently) overseas.

[End quote]

2) That may have been just a tiny bit on the – shall we say – "dry and technical" side of things, but, the point is, anyone willing to do some honest research can discover throughout the world passenger systems do make money. Some of the systems are playing with similar rules to what Amtrak plays, some systems have a slightly easier time of it, and some have a more difficult time.

The bottom line is, there is nothing that keeps Amtrak from being fiscally responsible and fiscally self-sufficient except that Amtrak chooses not to take that path. We have demonstrated in TWA before that when Amtrak reaches enough critical mass of a combination of rational frequencies, services desired by passengers, and long enough trains, it can be a government-owned, self-sufficient enterprise, without the annual worry of begging federal and state governments for money for everything from operations to new equipment.

It’s true "profitability" is done elsewhere, and it’s true it can be done here. Until now, we have just chosen not to do it, and, in the process of enabling Amtrak’s constantly bad fiscal behavior, have continued to rationalize the constant lies told to us by far too many organizations, people, publications, and members of government.

3) Okay, you say, how do I change this?

Well, first, do your own research. Everything stated above is available on the Internet. Visit the sites above, visit the sites of the passenger railroads from around the world, visit the World Bank’s web site, visit sites where Amtrak statutes can be found, and confirm for yourself what the law says. Question everything and everyone. Don’t take anything at face value unless it’s backed up by facts.

Second, take your research and forget everything you have learned about passenger rail in the United States. The sad reality is, the U.S. is horribly behind the rest of the world in every facet of passenger rail, even to the point there is not a single home-grown major passenger car builder in the country, and we were the home of Pullman-Standard, which, along with Budd, were the two most prominent passenger car designers and builders in the world. Now, both are gone.

As you take your newfound research and study it with an open mind (Not tainted by what you know about Amtrak and it’s ongoing follies.), start applying it to a new generation of Americans who are willing to try different modes of transportation. This does NOT mean different types of automobiles, it means different types of transportation, such as air, surface, and water.

Ask yourself, if someone is willing to leave home and travel, what are their requirements? How important is time spent traveling, availability of schedules, and amenities while traveling? Is speed always the overriding factor? Where do comfort and convenience fit in? If you have ten different people, are there ten different preferences for mode of travel? Since people come in all shapes and sizes, should everyone be required to fit into a 19" wide seat, elbow to elbow and be allegedly happy about it?

Once you have reached your conclusions, start looking around and seeing why some modes of transportation are more popular than others. Is popularity based solely on convenience and cost, or do other factors come into play? Are the two most popular forms of transportation – air and private vehicle – the most popular by choice, or by consensus that these two forms will be the only two forms supported by private enterprise and government?

Then, start wondering how change can come about. We discovered in a previous issue of TWA earlier this year passenger rail is just a tiny fraction of less than one percent of the travel market, and Amtrak is statistically irrelevant. However, at times, it’s the number two recipient of federal dollars for annual infusions of free federal monies in the form of subsidies.

So, we know Amtrak has constant, bi-partisan political support. But, why does it have support? Is it because it’s just another government program which can’t be killed with an atom bomb?

What would happen if individual constituents across the country – especially outside of the Northeast Corridor – did their research and, in turn, attempted to educate their Senators and Congressmen? What would happen if Congress – Amtrak’s most important banker – suddenly said this country should have a viable surface transportation policy beyond building highways, and rational passenger rail is the answer? What would happen if every Congressman who has no Amtrak service or only midnight and wee hours of the morning Amtrak service demanded better schedules and connections for their districts, just like the East and West Coasts have?

The end result would be a viable, robust passenger rail system that is not only sustainable, but desirable.

That’s not going to happen as long as the grossly misinformed (often for their own benefit or political agenda) keep everyone believing nowhere in the world is passenger rail service profitable.

When you say passenger rail service is profitable, it means two things: It’s sustainable, and it’s popular.

When it comes to politicians, like congressmen and senators, "popular" is a critically important phrase, and it often translates into support.

Amtrak isn’t popular. Amtrak continues to be America’s Best Kept Secret.

4) To fix the problem of Amtrak being America’s Best Kept Secret, several things have to happen. First, Amtrak has got to stop being a railroad principally focused on the NEC, and become what it is supposed to be, a national carrier.

Second, it has to embrace the national, long distance system, where financial success is found, and political support can be successfully mined.

Third, it has to have a viable business plan that doesn’t focus entirely on the development of ruinously expensive short corridors, but instead focuses on growth throughout the country.

And, fourth, Amtrak has to have in place a new equipment plan that demonstrates a commitment to long distance trains and all levels of passengers, from short distance coach passengers to high-dollar sleeping car passengers, and everyone in between.

5) Go, do your own homework. Find out for yourself the truth about passenger rail and profitability in the developed world. Find out what everyone outside of the USA and Canada already know: Passenger rail is good, and passenger rail is viable and popular. Then, take your new knowledge and educate others. But, most importantly, stomp hard on those who want you to believe their convenient and/or ignorant lies. Demand the heretics tell the truth.

Because, a lie is a terrible thing, and in the real world, there is nothing bad about passenger rail that anyone should have to lie about.

Passenger rail is a good thing, and we should be telling people the good things about it, not the lies about it.

6) Everyone knows the two best national magazines in the United States about railroading are Progressive Railroading and Passenger Train Journal. Progressive Railroading produces excellent reporting for those in the railroad industry, and Passenger Train Journal provides a satisfying mix of history and perspective about passenger trains in North America and the world.

In the current issue of Passenger Train Journal (2009:1, Issues 238), available on news stands now, PTJ Assistant Editor and Art Director Kevin Holland wrote a piercing essay, "VIA’s New Canadian Schedule: Too Much of a Good Thing?" in which he studies the lengthening of the Canadian’s transcontinental schedule by almost 13 hours westbound, and adds an entire extra evening onboard for passengers traveling from launching terminal to end terminal.

Mr. Holland presents a sound analysis of whether or not the Canadian is actually providing transportation or just another tour train, and a number of associated issues. He writes with brevity and clarity.

This article is required reading for anyone studying the various facets and merits of passenger rail travel.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 9, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] •

http://www.unitedrail.org​


Volume 6, Number 7
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) This word arrived last week from Gil Carmichael, via the University of Denver Graduate Studies Intermodal Transportation Institute. Mr. Carmichael is one of the two greatest visionaries in America (the other being Andrew Selden) for the future of passenger rail.

[begin quote]

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE PROMOTES 21ST CENTURY TRANSPORTATION VISION OF "INTERSTATE II," SAYS ITI'S GIL CARMICHAEL

– $8 Billion Targeted for High-speed, Intercity Rail Equivalent to Phase One of "Interstate II" –

DENVER, CO, February 26, 2009 – In a speech entitled "Railroad-based ‘Interstate II,’" delivered to the Fourth Annual Railroad Night at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, Gil Carmichael, Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver and a former Federal Railroad Administrator, said the $787 billion economic stimulus package, recently signed by President Barack Obama, is the most ambitious transportation infrastructure program put forth in the U.S. since the 1950s, when President Eisenhower initiated the development of the Interstate Highway System.

"Wrapped inside the $111 billion devoted to much-needed infrastructure spending in his American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Obama's stimulus plan very significantly allocates $8 billion for intercity high-speed rail transportation and another $1.3 billion for Amtrak," said Carmichael. "This is the first phase of what should be a three-part, high-speed, intercity transportation blueprint that will connect all our major cities, ports and airports via rail," Carmichael told the audience of students, faculty, and representatives from major railroads. "This is the first time an intermodal strategy, with a strong emphasis on rail, has been proposed by government to meet the North American transportation system's requirements for both freight and passenger transport."

Carmichael told the audience this new approach represents the most economical, fuel-efficient, and environmentally sustainable vision for improving our transportation network in this country, and it will help us achieve energy independence. Carmichael calls this new vision of transportation Interstate II, as opposed to the 43,000-mile, four-lane "Interstate I" Highway System that was begun 50 years ago; and said "President Obama clearly understands this necessary, new approach to meeting 21st century transportation needs."

"The nation has enough highways, albeit, most of them are badly in need of repair and suffering from massive gridlock due to a doubling of our population since they were built. What the U.S. does not have is a rail-based, intercity, rail transportation network like that in Europe and Asia. In those parts of the world, where fuel was priced higher, electric high-speed trains carry hundreds of passengers safely and efficiently between cities and connect to and from major airports. North America has a huge rail system already in place, serving 60 states and provinces with 240,000 miles of route. The rights-of-way are already paid for, and the private sector has done much to upgrade them; but they have been vastly under-utilized for years. Our rail system right now carries only 25 percent of capacity since most of it is single-tracked. By adding 30,000 miles of double- and triple-tracked rail, with grade separations, to our existing system, we can create three times more capacity, connecting millions of people to not only ports, but to airports and center cities, greatly relieving the stress on our overburdened highway system."

Carmichael pointed out that Obama's new infrastructure plan would expand the originally recommended six, intercity, high-speed rail corridors to 13 intercity corridors in phase I and would create developmental partnerships between the private sector and state DOTs. Furthermore, it would be administered by the Federal Railroad Administration, as it should be, and would be fully paid for under the recovery act – not by matching funds.

He also pointed out that the railroad is the only mode of transportation that easily converts to electricity should the world's fossil fuel supply continue to decline, as many predict. It would also offer a vastly more environmentally friendly and ethical form of transportation, providing nine times the fuel efficiency as highway transportation, while operating at speeds of up to 90 miles-per-hour for freight and up to 125 miles-per-hour for passenger transit. "In the foreseeable future, the railroad mode is the only candidate for large-scale benefits from the electrification of a new energy grid, such as President Obama is talking about," said Carmichael. "Electrifying the U.S. rail system would make sense in a future of oil scarcity and would provide us with a 'greener' carbon footprint as we move toward cleaning up the global environment."

"Our nation is experiencing a wrenching reshaping during this time of economic volatility, and by mid-century our lifestyle will be very different from today. Our nation urgently needs a new vision for its outmoded transportation system, and the President's new policy is a step in the right direction," summarized Carmichael. "Phase I of Interstate II represents an important policy shift toward developing and maintaining a 21st century, intermodal transportation network, based on greater cooperation between the freight and passenger rail segments. It will greatly enhance our intercity transit needs. In the future, to build new, national transportation programs, such as Interstate II, partnerships between the government agencies and the private-sector railroads must be promoted. Investing $100-200 billion over the next 15-20 years will create huge numbers of needed jobs, stimulate economic growth, and provide us with a beautiful, 21st century, high-speed, intermodal freight and passenger system."

About ITI

The Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver offers an Executive Masters Program that awards a Master of Science in Intermodal Transportation Management from the University of Denver. This graduate degree program prepares transportation industry managers for the increasingly complex, global business environment where knowledge of finance, quantitative processes, supply chain, law, and public policy issues as well as freight, passenger, and intermodal transportation operational strategies are critical management tools for success. For more information on the ITI Executive Masters Program call: 303-871-4702 or visit: www.du.edu/transportation.

[End quote]

2) Okay, now we have the big picture in a nutshell. So, where do we go from here? Let’s review.

We have Amtrak – which, depending on your point of view and your basis in reality – is a help or hindrance.

We have a number of other companies vying for a spot at the high speed rail table, some well known, and some not known.

We have 10 discreet high speed corridors already identified, and one extra corridor favored by the senate majority leader. We also have an additional high speed corridor which everyone thinks will be looked favorably upon because it’s in the backyard of the President of the United States.

First, back to Amtrak.

Amtrak is fortunate at the moment to have an interim president and chief executive officer who seems to be doing yeoman’s work cleaning out some of the deadwood found in Amtrak’s cadre of managers at all levels. This exercise could prove to be most interesting, because the outcome will demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of Amtrak’s entrenched Good Old Boy system and various duchies which have grown over the past three decades. On the upside, some very good managers could finally be released from their restraining bonds and be allowed to fully accomplish their goals in an honorable manner.

On the down side, many of Amtrak’s ongoing habits are some which are best not spoken about in polite company, but desperately need to change. Included in these are Amtrak’s (And, it’s wholly owned lapdog organizations and sycophant enablers.) continually bad habit of underestimating itself by unilaterally and continuously spreading the lie that no passenger rail systems in the world make money when we know empirically systems in The Netherlands, Germany, and Japan do make money, along with others.

3) Here’s a burning question of the moment (Be assured the old, false canard about under funding has nothing to do with this question.): If, after nearly 38 years of existence, Amtrak has no viable business plan for the future other than to drain state treasuries for the cost of expensive to operate and low-return short corridor trains, has no equipment plan in place to replace its fleet of aging equipment, and has never achieved a greater position than one tenth of one percent of the overall domestic intercity domestic transportation marketplace, why does any reasonable person expect that merely handing Amtrak billions of dollars of Other People’s Money will change its corporate course and suddenly make Amtrak a leading contender to operate new and shiny high speed trains?

If Amtrak can’t make proven technology work in the United States that used to be the greatest transportation system in the world, how can it plan for and operate new technology that will require innovative thinking grounded in reality and financial expertise?

What reasonable person is willing to risk billions of dollars – at a time when the moment is ripe in the public’s mind for rapid expansion of passenger rail transportation – on a company which, at the end of its fiscal year, usually can’t even afford to restock it’s office supply shelf?

As one former Amtrak manager sagely says, "The money will start moving toward rail. Next, a fundamental change in the culture of passenger rail ... currently, entrenched bureaucrats impede potential new and next generation talent from entering. The merits of passenger rail are moot with these conditions, and a skeletal network will continue while bureaucrats play."

But, back to the good news mentioned above, Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joe Boardman openly told a reporter he is cleaning house at Amtrak, getting rid of the deadwood and hopefully empowering those who can make a difference. Since Mr. Boardman enjoys the full confidence of the Amtrak Board of Directors, this has to be a breath of fresh air both for those inside of Amtrak who have been suffering under the heavy hand of immovable bureaucracy, and those Amtrak watchers on the outside who have constantly been asking why so many Amtrak managers who bring nothing positive to their positions remain on the company payroll.

As noted in this space earlier this year, Amtrak’s Chicago General Superintendent Daryl K. Pesce seems to be one of the managers earnestly making a difference and demanding better and improved performance from his staff.

4) Now, on to the question of the division of the new $8 billion dollars provided by the Obama administration for high speed rail. To no one’s surprise, there is a great deal of competition for this relatively small pool of money (Remember, Mr. Carmichael accurately predicts the final need for funding to get infrastructure in place is $100 to $200 billion over the next 15 to 20 years.).

Today, New York State’s governor announced his state’s new high speed rail plan, and he’s counting on some of that $8 billion to put his plan into action.

California is further along than anyone on its $45 billion high speed rail line, and it’s hoping for a piece of the $8 billion in federal monies.

Minnesota says since it’s high speed rail line originates in President Obama’s backyard it should get a piece of the pie, even though the corridor is not currently recognized by the Department of Transportation.

The Midwest High Speed Rail Association, which has been working long and hard to make high speed rail a reality even before anyone had ever heard of Barack Obama, says it has plans in place, drawings on the table, and shovels just waiting to be used, because its plan is the most comprehensive and it feeds in and out of Chicago, and in the process, will alleviate a number of rail congestion points in and out of Chicago.

Nevada, which usually doesn’t have much to say about high speed corridors, suddenly finds itself at the center of attention because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada says he wants a high speed train running between Anaheim, California (home of Disneyland) and Las Vegas. This announcement came at the same time the $8 billion in funding appeared in the 2009 stimulus bill which passed the house and senate in February.

North Carolina dreams of a high speed corridor, running between Charlotte and Raleigh, and then extending northward over the old Seaboard Air Line Railroad roadbed into Virginia and into Washington, D.C. Add to that the thought of a full Southeast high speed rail route that extends southward to Columbia, South Carolina; into Savannah, Georgia and onto Jacksonville, Florida.

Here in Florida, there are plans for a high speed corridor from Tampa northeast to Orlando, and then taking a sharp right turn southward to the Florida Gold Coast and West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, with an extension northward to Jacksonville from Orlando at some point in the future.

And, lastly, Amtrak says it would be pleased to create an entire new Northeast Corridor for true high speed rail to replace the current NEC. No one is quite sure how much that would cost, but it would be one of the most expensive projects in the country because Amtrak envisions an entire new infrastructure over an entire new route.

Who gets funding first? That’s an easy question. Who’s in control of the political process? That’s who gets funding first. Informed opinions say the majority of the $8 billion will stay within 300 miles of Washington, D.C., with some small amounts going to other projects like the Midwest project, California’s two projects, and perhaps some small amount of the money coming to Florida.

Taking the long view, if the new administration’s interest in high speed rail continues, and the federal printing press churning out money doesn’t break down, it’s likely we will see more money for these projects over the next four years.

5) Here is what is going to be critical to the success of high speed rail: whatever projects come on line first have to be measurably successful, both from a social standpoint and a financial standpoint. The old axiom of "build it and they will come" has to hold true, because the full development of high speed rail is a decades-long process, that will take place over a number of presidential administrations of both parties and a number of different ideologies.

Therefore, these first projects MUST stand the test of time and pioneer leading the way for following projects in order to fulfill Mr. Carmichael’s vision.

Since these first projects are likely to be chosen on political rather than financial merits, we can only hope the results will be satisfactory enough to inspire further spending and investment. Which is why the chosen operator of these trains has to be the best available, not the most conveniently available.

6) Joe Boardman is coming up on the four month anniversary of his planned one year stewardship of Amtrak. The handwriting on the wall tells us he walked into a job (like so many of his predecessors) that he had no idea required so much fixing. Basic things like replacement rolling stock for Amtrak’s fleet were not even being whispered among Amtrak’s core executives. Instead, a hodgepodge of disjointed plans were lying around, not making much sense one way or the other. We can hope the Amtrak Planning Department – previously known as the most socialist place in Washington – has a new direction and a new mandate to help create a functioning passenger railroad, not just maintain the status quo by sucking as much money as possible out of government treasuries.

Here is his message to Amtrak employees in the February 29, 2009 issue of Amtrak This Week.

[begin quote]

Message from the President and CEO

Dear Co-workers,

As I travel across the country, I often meet people who tell me about how much potential Amtrak has. The truth is, Amtrak has seen a promising future since 1971. I know you think you’ve heard it before, but I’d like to tell you why it’s true in 2009.

Three major reasons: For the first time in a long while, we have some clear direction from Congress on the future of Amtrak and passenger rail. The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act is our blueprint and aims to make enduring improvements in passenger rail.

As part of the stimulus bill signed by the president last week, we will receive $1.3 billion to make significant strides on capital programs. Among other things, we’ll return to service 100 cars that are currently sidelined, completely replace the Niantic River Bridge in Connecticut, install more Positive Train Control systems and make major Americans with Disabilities Act modifications to our stations. The law also provides money for states to make rail investments of their own, and they’re coming to us for our expertise.

And we have an administration that seems to be building a legacy defined in part by the development of high-speed rail. I believe that this administration is more likely than any other in recent history to be open to making additional investments in passenger rail.

All of these elements combine to help us realize great potential. But that’s just it — it’s only potential if we don’t believe in the direction we’re taking and make it happen. Sometimes I wonder if we’ve become conditioned to low expectations over the years, surviving from year to year, and thinking that no one expects big things from Amtrak. Well, I expect big things from us. We need to open our collective hearts and minds to the Amtrak we know we can be. That is the safer, greener and healthier Amtrak I envision.

That’s where vision and leading by example come in. I’m not just talking about forward movement, I’m taking the steps. Just last week, I met with vendors about how quickly they can deliver the Viewliners we need for our long-distance fleet. I intend to replace the electric locomotive fleet and am seeking the funding to do that. I want to electrify the railroad to Richmond and I’ll be studying the cost estimates on that next week. And I listen — we have a great deal of talent and dedication; our employees have good ideas and they need to be heard.

The time to harness our future is now and we’re moving ahead with renewed energy. I care very much about our future and I know you do, too. Together, we must embrace the opportunities that are before us and run with them — for us, for our customers and for our country.

Sincerely,

Joe Boardman

President and CEO

P.S. By the way, I know everyone wants to know the details of our proposed "stimulus" capital programs, I’ll share the list with you as soon as we’ve finalized it with the FRA — I wouldn’t want to mislead you.

[End quote]

Lots of red meat there for the True Believers, and lots of good stuff about the future, including the information about the new Viewliner series of long distance cars (Which, by the way, the order as it stands today is less than a third of what it should be to meet all current demand potential.)

The truly scary part if his statement he wants to electrify the CSX (former RF&P) main line south from Washington, D.C. to Richmond, Virginia.

Why?

Why is the interim president and CEO of Amtrak worrying about spending money to electrify someone else’s railroad? Especially when Amtrak can’t reasonably maintain the infrastructure it owns and operates north of Washington? What is there to gain? Why would CSX want to run its diesel freight locomotives under electric catenary for passenger trains?

Since the former RF&P route is the ONLY north-south direct route through the heart of Virginia leading to the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, while it is a very attractive passenger route, would CSX ever dream of turning over ownership of this critical route to another company which can’t maintain what it already owns? Not likely.

So, why is Mr. Boardman, who is the fullest of all of the full plates in Washington, spending time dreaming of this and even taking the time to get actual quotes? Shouldn’t this be an issue for the DOT and FRA, and not Amtrak? Mr. Boardman, please, stick to fixing your horribly broken railroad which requires so much attention, and leave issues like this to others. Amtrak as it is requires not only your full attention, but every skill you have to just get it back to a point of being moderately dysfunctional beyond completely dysfunctional.

7) And, finally, the last issue of TWA drew a lot of amusing comments from Amtrak cultists and sycophants who find it inconceivable any passenger railroad in the world makes money, since for decades they have been told the Holy Word is that Amtrak – and, conversely – no passenger rail in the world, makes money.

Just the mere heresy of presenting factual information about this lie sent many into involuntary fits of cultist rage and disbelief, and inspired rambling responses.

Other comments from more rational people contained praise for lifting the veil of lies that have been surrounding passenger rail for lo, these many decades in America.

It’s going to take years to undo the harm done in this country about the true facts of the business of passenger rail. It’s hard to imagine how anyone would actually prefer a system which does not make a profit versus a system which has the potential to break even or make a profit.

Most likely the ghosts of the Vanderbilts and Goulds and Pullmans and Harrimans are heartily laughing at us all day, every day.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to

 

mailto:[email protected] 

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 11, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​

 

Volume 6, Number 8
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) The combined arrogance and hubris of these people is incredible; maybe some enterprising staffer on Capitol Hill will start looking into this and have someone in the House or Senate start demanding some answers. It’s a good thing former Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant is gone, but that doesn’t take the Amtrak Board of Directors off the hook for not doing their lawful duty and asking more questions and demanding better of Amtrak.

Brandweek.com has reported Amtrak spent $15.3 million on U.S. media in 2008, not including online expenditures, up from $14.8 million in 2007, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

If you think that’s a lot of money in today’s world of paid media, you’re very wrong. It’s more like a half a drop in the bucket.

Last year, Amtrak spent $98.1 million on what it categorizes as advertising and sales according to its year end figures. That $98.1 million generated ticket revenue of $1,699,300,000. Most successful companies the size of Amtrak spend about 10% of revenues on advertising and marketing costs; Amtrak spent just slightly less than six percent. Even worse, on actual media the public sees, Amtrak spent only .009 – less than a single percent – on advertising.

No wonder Amtrak perpetually remains America’s Best Kept Secret.

To no one’s surprise, the biggest slice of the advertising and sales money was spent on the Northeast Corridor, instead of the long distance national network where the most good for total transportation output could be achieved.

At this point you may be wondering, what’s all the fuss about?

All the fuss is about how Amtrak positions itself with its customers, which, obviously is not its passengers in the minds of Amtrak executives. Amtrak’s true customers, where all of its efforts are spent, are the various public treasuries of the federal and state governments which constantly have to feed the voracious Amtrak bottomless financial pit.

Amtrak’s decision to spend so very little money on national or local media clearly demonstrates how little it cares about being a successful company.

Is Amtrak afraid of success?

Good heavens, what would Amtrak actually do if a lot of people showed up and wanted to ride its trains?

As always, this isn’t an argument about how much free federal monies Amtrak receives as a result of its annual begfest on Capitol Hill, it’s an argument over unsound management decisions and mis-allocation of resources and poor priorities.

During the same year Amtrak spent less than one percent of its ticket revenues on paid advertising, it received about $1.2 billion in free federal monies, of which less than $500 million was for nationwide/systemwide operating assistance.

Let’s be radical and say Amtrak suddenly saw the light and reoriented its priorities and (Gasp!) tripled its annual expenditures on advertising to less than three percent (Still woefully below any national averages for companies in the real world.) What would happen? Amtrak’s load factors would soar, wiping out at least half, if not more, of the annual operating subsidy requirement.

This also directly goes to the debunked lie no passenger railroad system in the world makes money, when we know factually systems in Japan, Germany, The Netherlands and elsewhere do, in fact, make money.

If, like Amtrak, you run a passenger railroad and don’t bother to tell anyone you’re running trains, well, yes, it’s not going to make money, or even come close to breaking even because no one knows there are trains to ride.

2) Let’s revisit some familiar territory, Amtrak’s load factors. We know a load factor of 65% technically makes a long distance train sold out, because allowances have to be made for entraining/detraining passengers at intermediate station stops. When a passenger on the Silver Meteor boards in Miami at the train’s originating terminal, and detrains in Palatka, leaving a vacant seat, that seat may not be filled again until Savannah, 206 route miles to the north. However, that Savannah passenger stays in that seat all the way to Philadelphia, just 101 miles short of the Meteor’s final terminal in New York City. So, that coach seat on the Meteor (which probably needed new upholstery) was occupied for 1,082 miles out of the total route length of 1,389 miles. The magic of trains is when one passenger detrains, most of the time another passenger entrains.

Those with endpoint mentalities or airline mentalities where there are no intermediate stops on a route, often have difficulty grasping this concept. It’s true, once an airplane pushes out from the gate at its originating terminal, any vacant seat on the plane has no other opportunity to be sold/filled. However, once the Silver Meteor departs Miami on its northward journey, that are still 25 more opportunities for passengers to board the train before it reaches the silly "discharge only" territory of the Northeast Corridor, where long distance trains are banned from picking up passengers between Alexandria, Virginia and New York City so Amtrak can falsely prop up NEC numbers without interference from those pesky, money-making long distance trains.

Look at Amtrak’s load factors for last year:

Long Distance Routes

Silver Star – 58.9%

Cardinal – 55.5%

Silver Meteor – 62.5%

Empire Builder – 63.4%

Capitol Limited – 66.9%

California Zephyr – 52.3%

Southwest Chief – 63.8%

City of New Orleans – 63.8%

Texas Eagle – 53.4%

Sunset Limited – 56.7%

Coast Starlight – 62.4%

Lake Shore Limited – 64.1%

Palmetto – 51.3%

Crescent – 51.6%

Auto Train – 63.6%

Average Long Distance Routes Load Factor – 59.7%

State Corridors and Short Distance Routes

Ethan Allen – 40.8%

Vermonter – 45.8%

Maple Leaf – 54.0%

Downeaster – 31.8%

New Haven-Springfield – 47.1%

Keystone – 35.5%

Empire Service – 35.0%

Chicago-St. Louis – 46.6%

Hiawathas – 40.4%

Wolverines – 54.9%

Illini – 50.0%

Illinois Zephyr – 43.1%

Heartland Flyer – 43.0%

Surfliners – 36.5%

Cascades – 56.6%

Capitols – 29.1%

San Joaquins – 39.1%

Adirondack – 69.4%

Blue Water – 78.7%

Washington, D.C.-Newport News – 60.2%

Hoosier State – 35.4%

Kansas City-St. Louis – 37.4%

Pennsylvanian – 74.3%

Pere Marquette – 67.3%

Carolinian – 77.9%

Piedmont – 44.6%

Average State Corridors and Short Distance Routes Load Factor – 43.5%

Northeast Corridor Routes

Acela – 62.6%

Northeast Regional – 48.1%

Average Northeast Corridor Routes Load Factor – 52.9%

These figures show Amtrak has plenty of room for more passengers without adding a single piece of equipment to its far-too-short existing consists.

Look at the numbers above, realizing the sad state of Amtrak’s skeletal national system, lack of operable locomotives and passenger cars, and lack of rational business plan, and think what a combination of advertising, getting bad-ordered and wrecked cars back on trains, and lengthening consists could accomplish. Close your eyes and start thinking about second and third frequencies, and, suddenly you have the beginnings of a robust, healthy system. Go one step further and start implementing Gil Carmichael’s Interstate II vision, and, astonishingly, you have a real railroad, not a shadow of a ghost of railroads past.

2) We’re talking chump change here in the overall Amtrak universe to begin to get Amtrak up to acceptable levels of advertising expenditures. One cannot help but question Emmet Fremaux, Amtrak’s Vice President who handles marketing, as to why he has allowed these advertising numbers to be so low. Has this been intentional, or a result of more senior managers only allocating so little for his total budget?

Where was the board of directors on this? Oh, wait, they were here, but, consider that of the five board members who constituted the Amtrak board last year, not a single one has corporate background experience; each and every one is either a creature of government service, or a Washington lobbyist or Washington attorney. After David Laney, Enrique Sosa, and Floyd Hall all left the board, not a single member replacing them or remaining has any real world, corporate experience, and would automatically know Amtrak’s abysmally low advertising expenditures amount to corporate malfeasance, and, at best, poor stewardship of public funds when the company willingly asks for billions in government subsidies, and then does nothing to promote the company and try and actually attract paying passengers who would replace the need for government subsidies.

3) Well-respected Washington Post Writers Group syndicated columnist Neal Peirce has been writing about Washington for decades, and often strays to the subject of Amtrak. Mr. Peirce again recently wrote about Amtrak and our new President Obama’s spending on passenger rail. One quote from Mr. Peirce’s column bears repeating, for it demonstrates how Amtrak has gotten away for so long with being America’s Best Kept Secret and nobody seems to care.

[begin quote]

Asserts James RePass, founder-leader of the 20-year-old National Corridors Initiative; "Suddenly, by the grace of God, we have a president who absolutely, positively gets it." This signifies, he adds, an end of the reign of "the ideological libertarians out to destroy the transportation system by saying ‘the market’ will take care of it, that Amtrak should make a profit – which is nuts!"

[End quote]

It’s this type of clearly wrong thinking that has been pervasive throughout America, bolstered by Amtrak’s bad behavior and not spending near enough on advertising to the public that makes Amtrak such a mess today.

Only when this type of wrong opinion is no longer considered gospel will Amtrak stop being enabled and start working towards being more self-sufficient. There’s nothing in our national government constitution that says every government entity has to lose money. There is nothing unpatriotic about Amtrak being self-sufficient. This is something grossly unpatriotic about Amtrak being such a poor steward of the public’s money and doing such disagreeable and arrogant things like taking public money and then not spending it wisely or in such a way which creates more business, more revenue, and more self-sufficiency.

Joe Boardman, as Amtrak’s Interim President and CEO, what steps are you taking to solve this problem and stop keeping Amtrak as America’s Best Kept Secret?

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any individual approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than the distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should be addressed to

 

[email protected]

 

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 6, 2009
​




A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​

 

Volume 6, Number 9
​



 

 

 

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Interesting words from Matt Rose, Chairman, President, and CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. His thoughts and comments mesh well with former FRA Administrator Gil Carmichael’s Interstate II vision.

[begin quote]

Written Testimony of Matthew K. Rose
​


Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
​


BNSF Railway Company
​


Before the House Committee on Appropriations
​


Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
​


For a Hearing on "The Future of High Speed Rail, Intercity Passenger Rail, and Amtrak"
​


Wednesday, April 1, 2009
​



Good afternoon Chairman Olver, Ranking Member Latham and members of the Subcommittee. I am Matt Rose, the CEO of the BNSF Railway, and I appreciate the opportunity to testify before the Subcommittee today on the issue of high speed rail. As a freight railroad CEO, a member of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, and an early supporter of the One Rail coalition, I’ve had a lot of opportunity to think about what our country’s vision for passenger rail ought to be.

I, too, have traveled to Europe and Asia and appreciate the perspective of those in the United States who ask why Americans can’t have what they have – 200 mph corridor service connecting dense population centers which, themselves, have efficient regional transit distribution. However, as I discovered in my work on the Commission, while many passenger rail advocates and policy makers at all levels of government are intercity passenger rail advocates, they are somewhat skeptical of this vision. Their appetite is for a more incremental approach of improving existing intercity passenger rail service. Perhaps conditioned by years of scant Amtrak budgets and Congress’s disinterest in a formal federal intercity passenger rail program, many also are concerned that some large metropolitan areas might not be included in a "bullet train" network, either due to unavailability of right of way or other market-based demand reasons. In the Commission deliberations, we had a very robust discussion about these issues.

The Commission clearly called for the kind of investment needed to support passenger trains operating at the highest speeds in sealed, passenger-only, separated right of way. It called upon Congress to see the future, as Europe and Asia have, and begin the process of developing a corridor system of truly high speed rail. Make no mistake about it – this is a trillion-dollar funding proposition. Such a system may be beyond our current means; but one certainly can envision the development of five to ten truly high speed passenger regional rail corridors that make economic and operational sense. California – where you would expect some of these corridors should be – has taken the difficult yet necessary steps toward a vision of 200-plus mph passenger trains, despite a challenging budgetary environment.

Importantly, the Commission report also specifically recognizes the contribution that less-than-highest speed passenger trains in corridors of fewer than 500 miles can make to the Nation’s transportation system. Existing Amtrak service outside the Northeast Corridor generally achieves 79 mph on freight rail tracks. Public investments made to enhance reliability of this service can yield tremendous on-time performance reliability benefits, which is often all that is needed to successfully satisfy demand for passenger service in certain markets. There are many examples of this, but most recently, BNSF completed several double track construction projects on behalf of the State of California, which are intended to further improve already good on-time performance levels for 79 mph service.

Speaking as a freight railroad CEO, it is possible to increase speeds from 79 mph to 90 mph on tracks that both freight and passenger trains use. Upgrades would include the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC), which I’ll touch on again shortly. Track would need to be upgraded from Class IV to Class V track, which would lead to a step level increase in track maintenance and track component replacement. For example, a larger number of ties per mile would have to be replaced each year. Rail joints would have to be eliminated. Extensive and regular undercutting would have to be undertaken to eliminate sub-grade defects. Rail would have to be re-surfaced much more often. All of this, in turn, would lead to more frequent outages for needed work, which will make joint freight/passenger operations more challenging and expensive.

At sustained speeds in excess of 90 mph, passenger train operations will need to be segregated from freight operations on separate track. The level of maintenance work required, the very different impacts passenger and freight rolling stock have on the surface of the rail and managing the flow of train traffic with such differences in speeds would make the joint use of track uneconomic and impracticable. Furthermore, it is my belief that at these speeds all interface between passenger trains and road crossings will need to be eliminated by grade separations or crossing closures. While it may be possible in some instances to co-locate higher speed passenger tracks with freight tracks in a freight railroad’s existing right of way, that won’t always be the case, and other right of way should be obtained. Where it is possible for the public to purchase freight railroad right of way, we must ensure sufficient capacity remains to operate safely and protect the ability to serve freight rail shippers, present and future, on a corridor.

In sum, the Commission’s model for intercity passenger rail in this country is to develop the highest speed rail where feasible and economically viable, coupled with more reliability for 79-90 mph passenger service in other key corridors where it will continue to make sense from a density, utilization and cost perspective. We believe that this vision could finally generate the public support and political will necessary for a successful passenger rail system in this country.

During the Commission’s deliberations, Wisconsin DOT Secretary and Chairman of States for Passenger Rail Frank Busalacchi and the late, great Paul Weyrich and I spent a lot of time debating the provisions of the report that dealt with the passenger and freight rail interface. It was a worthy exercise because from it came a clear understanding of the importance of how freight and passenger rail are interdependent in today’s policy, political and economic environment. This is the origin of the OneRail coalition, which consists of passenger, freight and environmental interests and advocates for the benefits of both freight and passenger operations.

There were some basic principles around this interface upon which the Commission agreed. These are basic rules of fairness, which make public-private cooperation possible and fruitful. In my own experience, they have helped BNSF and many communities on the BNSF network – including Seattle, Chicago, Albuquerque, St. Paul/Minneapolis, and Los Angeles – realize a partnership that achieves outstanding commuter rail service without degrading present or future freight service. These communities recognize their stake in both passenger and freight rail service.

The first key principle is that access by passenger providers to freight rail networks, where reasonable, must be negotiated at an arm’s length with freight railroads. This includes joint use tracks and rights of way, as well as opportunities for shared corridors with separate track structure for freight and passenger service. The second is that the impact on present and future corridor capacity must be mitigated to ensure that rail freight capacity is not reduced, but enhanced. This recognizes that speed differences between passenger and freight trains and certain well-defined passenger service requirements must be taken into account. There must be a fair assignment of costs based on the ongoing cost of passenger services, including the cost of upgrading and maintaining track, signals and structures to support joint freight and passenger operations and the cost of maintaining and improving the safety and reliability of highway/railroad intersections in joint use corridors. Finally, all host railroads must be adequately and comprehensively protected through indemnification and insurance for all risks associated with passenger rail service on their lines and in their rights of way.

I’d now like to turn your attention to an issue that has become very important in the discussion about the passenger-freight interface: positive train control (PTC). Congress has placed a non-risk based, multi-billion-dollar mandate to install PTC on what effectively could be 90% of the freight rail network. This is driven by the requirement to implement this technology where passenger rail or shipments of certain hazardous materials utilize the network.

BNSF began developing this train control technology in 1984, which led us to the development of what we now call Electronic Train Management System (ETMS). However, it was never intended to be implemented on the scale envisioned by the mandate included in the rail safety bill enacted last year by Congress. The unprecedented cost – which we estimate could be in excess of $1 billion when fully implemented on BNSF in 2015 – is driven by factors mostly outside of our control, such as the presence of passenger trains and our statutory common carriage obligation to haul toxic chemicals. The cost will have to be fairly allocated between BNSF, its shippers and the public.

This mandate represents a tremendous financial burden not just on the freight railroads, but also on Amtrak and the commuter lines. If you have not yet heard about this issue from these constituencies, you soon will. They are partners in the cost of implementing this technology across jointly used lines. While the rail safety bill did authorize a relatively small technology grant program ($50 million per year for Fiscal Years 2009-13), no funding has yet been appropriated. I urge you to fully fund this program.

However, you should also ensure that other funding sources are available to the public passenger and private freight railroads to help defray the tremendous financial impact the mandate will have. For example, the intercity passenger and high speed rail programs at the Federal Railroad Administration received significant funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The intercity passenger program has previously been tapped for safety technology investments like centralized traffic control and cab signal systems and makes sense as a funding source going forward, given the PTC mandate’s intense focus on passenger train operations.

In addition, the Department of Homeland Security’s rail security grant program was created by Congress with specific statutory language making train control, tracking and communications systems eligible for funding. The Transportation Security Administration’s long time focus on reducing security risks surrounding shipments of Toxic Inhalation Hazards fits squarely with the mandate’s inclusion of rail lines carrying these highly hazardous materials.

Finally, the freight railroads continue to support a rail infrastructure tax credit bill, sponsored by Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-FL) and Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) in the House. This bill provides a 25% tax credit and expensing for rail infrastructure expansion activities, of which PTC implementation is eligible. I believe this is a significant way that Congress can soften the impact this mandate will have on the railroads, in what is one of the most economically challenging times we’ve seen in decades.

In closing, my recommendations to you are two-fold:

1) Observe the principles for passenger/freight joint use of rail right of way that the Commission recognized, and be realistic about the kind of passenger service that can be achieved, given the limitations of joint use. Generally, those limitations are based on nothing less than the laws of physics and the consequences that flow from them.

2) Develop a realistic vision for passenger service that works for all stakeholders – including freight railroads and the nation’s shippers – and fully fund it.

It took $4 a gallon gas to show us that passenger train options are important to providing a fuel efficient alternative to the highway for millions of Americans. In addition, though, a comprehensive passenger rail program may shift a portion of the congested short-medium haul air traffic to rail, expand employment in the passenger rail industry and engender vibrant economic development around these networks. The choice to fund passenger rail over the next 20 years can have as significant an impact on this country as funding Air Traffic Control and runways have had in the last 20 years.

I appreciate the opportunity to present these views and I would be happy to answer any questions you have about passenger rail or freight rail policy.

[End quote]

2) An inconvenient fact: When writing about high speed rail coming to the United States, many writers refer to high speed rail in Europe where "everyone rides the train, and high speed rail is very successful." Well, compared to Amtrak’s share of the domestic transportation market in the United States, which stands at less than one percent, yes, high speed rail in Europe does have a much larger market share. However, look at the real numbers. High speed rail in Europe does not have an overwhelming market share.

According to the Rio Grande Foundation, high speed rail works well for tourists traveling in Europe without the expense of renting an automobile, but it hasn’t done much to change European travel habits.

In 1980, intercity rail accounted for 8.2 percent of passenger travel in the 15 countries which made up the European Union as of 2000. But, by 2000, intercity rail declined to 6.3% of market share. Automobile driving gained almost exactly the same market share that rail lost in this time period, growing from 76.4% to 78.3%. Low cost European airlines have made the greatest challenge to high speed rail, thanks to Europe’s "open skies" policies, domestic air travel increased from 2.5% of travel in 1980 to 5.8% in 2000. Both intercity busses and urban transit both lost shares.

3) Thoughts from Ken Orski, Innovation NewsBriefs, Volume 20, Number 5.

[begin quote]

April 1, 2009

The Promise of High-Speed Rail

Is it wise to spend $13 billion of the taxpayers' dollars in the next five years ($8 billion in the recovery package and $5 billion in the next five annual appropriations) as a down payment on a high-speed rail network? Or are there better ways to spend this money on transportation? That was the subject of a recent weekly debate on the National Journal's Transportation Blog. The Blog's contributors include some 80 invited "Beltway Insiders," including members of Congress, governors, state and local transportation officials, senior executives of trade associations, environmentalists and respected transportation professionals. The debate revealed a spectrum of opinion among the contributors, with proponents of high-speed rail outnumbering the doubters by a wide margin.

SUPPORT FROM THE POLITICAL LEADERS

To launch the conversation, National Journal’s Lisa Caruso, who hosts the blog, asked Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood what he thinks of President Obama’s decision to make high-speed passenger rail service a centerpiece of his transportation agenda.

"Do I believe in President Obama’s high-speed rail initiative? The short answer is ‘Yes, I do. Profoundly,’ the Secretary answered. It is a "transformational initiative," the Secretary went on, and the $13 billion in federal money is "a down payment that will jump-start what will be a world-class passenger rail system." The Federal Railroad Administration is finalizing a plan and related guidance for intercity passenger rail grants from the initial $8 billion in the economic recovery package, the Secretary announced.

Belief in the promise and potential of high-speed rail was also expressed by two congressional lawmakers who will be at the center of the legislative debate about the future of the nation's transportation program. "President Obama is on the right track, if I may use the term," wrote Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. High-speed rail can provide "an efficient, convenient, comfortable alternative to driving or flying short or medium distances," he observed. Referring to the European and Japanese experience with high-speed rail (HSR), Oberstar noted "that success did not occur overnight." It took many years for the high-speed networks to mature and European countries continue to invest substantial amounts each year. There is no reason why we cannot do the same here in the United States, Oberstar contended. Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Ranking Member of the House T&I Committee echoed Mr. Oberstar’s sentiments, noting that he has been a long-time supporter of high-speed rail. A solicitation in the Amtrak reauthorization law, he wrote, produced over 110 expressions of interest, "an encouraging sign that there is tremendous interest in bringing high-speed rail to the United States." It won’t be right for every region of the country, and it will require a significant investment, Mica wrote, but it has to be part of our national transportation strategy. Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, was of the same opinion. Many communities have lost commercial air service over the last two decades, he observed, and high-speed rail can be an effective and affordable alternative for shorter commute routes. It already is in the Washington DC-to-New York corridor, he noted, and we need to create additional high-speed passenger rail corridors to support other major urban centers.

STATES’ SHOULD BE AN IMPORTANT PARTNER

Several contributors drew attention to the need to involve the states and to use the leverage of federal money to obtain funding commitments from state, local and private sources. Steve Heminger, Executive Director of (Bay Area) Metropolitan Transportation Commission cited the California HSR Authority’s plan as the kind of business model that needs to be replicated around the country if we are to be successful in building high-speed rail networks. The $35 billion Los Angeles-to-San Francisco project, he wrote, hopes to secure at least $15 billion in federal funds, $3 billion from local agencies and about $7 billion from the private sector in addition to a $10 billion state bond measure. In other words, the federal investment would leverage another 130 percent of funding from other, non-federal sources. "When it comes to high-speed rail, the federal response should focus on helping those states and regions that are willing to help themselves," Heminger concluded. Frank Busalacchi, Secretary of Wisconsin DOT was of the same opinion. California, the Cascades corridor, the Midwest corridor and North Carolina are some of the states already offering corridor services at their own expense, he noted. "Allocating the $8 billion to the state corridors will help expand passenger rail services where services are most needed," he wrote. "High-speed projects that require new rights-of-way would require a longer time frame."

Mortimer Downey, Senior Advisor at Parsons Brinckerhoff and head of the Obama transition team at U.S. DOT observed that what the Administration proposal has done is to bring the rail options to the intercity transportation table. But, he said, "the real proof of the merits of rail investment will come when hard decisions have to be made concerning specific corridor investment. It is those corridor decisions that will prove or disprove the merit of the high-speed rail case. And it will be up to the proponents of specific projects to show how effective high-speed rail is in bringing about desired results in terms of energy conservation, decrease in greenhouse-gas emissions, congestion reduction and other potential benefits.

NOTES OF CAUTION

Several contributors cautioned about raising unreasonably high expectations as to what the $13 billion in federal money can accomplish. There needs to be a reality check on what is practical, since there is no way an entirely new rail line can be built in the near future given the complex and lengthy environmental review and approval process, Rich Sarles, Executive Director, NJ Transit wrote. A similar opinion was expressed by Bob Poole, Director of Transportation Studies at the Reason Foundation. "The $8 billion in the stimulus bill has created expectations for Japanese-style bullet trains on 11 long-planned corridors, but those hopes are likely to go unrealized," he wrote. "True high speed rail (HSR) that goes 150-200 mph requires entirely separate rights of way with no grade crossings, shallow grades, very broad curves, and no 60 mph freight traffic. That’s what Japan, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy are doing, and the taxpayer cost is many billions per line...What the new federal funding will mostly be used for is upgrades to the existing shared passenger/freight tracks, aiming to get Amtrak trains up to speeds of 90 to 100 mph rather than today’s 60 or 70 mph."

Ken Orski, Editor/Publisher of Innovation NewsBriefs, also thought that much of the $13 billion in federal money is likely to end up supporting incremental improvements in existing rail infrastructure rather than building true high-speed lines in new alignments. But incremental improvements, he suggested, could involve not just upgrading existing signalization and roadbed but also adding extra track capacity in existing rail corridors, a move that would reduce interference between passenger and freight trains and benefit both freight and passenger rail service. In the same vein, Ed Hamberger, President of the Association of American Railroads, noted that passenger and freight improvements are not mutually exclusive goals. "America has the best freight railroad system in the world," he wrote, and " there is no reason why we can’t have the best passenger system as well."

Jack Schenendorf, former vice chairman of the congressionally-chartered National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission, urged to consider the high-speed rail initiative in the wider context of a national surface transportation strategy. "I applaud the fact that the President is making a down payment on high-speed rail but I am dismayed by the fact that he continues a pattern of underinvestment in the rest of our national surface transportation network," he wrote. We need to do much more than just increase investment in high-speed passenger rail, he continued. We also need to increase investment substantially in other modes of transportation. We need to adequately maintain our existing roads and bridges, upgrade our freight rail network, expand our transit systems and significantly increase highway capacity. "I respectfully urge the President to revise his budget to do for all the modes of transportation that he did for high-speed rail" Schenendorf concluded. Bill Graves, President of American Trucking Association also cautioned that we must not lose sight of the nation’s need to expand and repair the national highway system. Expanding passenger rail will not end traffic congestion, he wrote.

Greg Cohen, President of the American Highway Users Alliance, injected a note of skepticism. It is important that the Administration, rail advocates and critics answer some critical questions about the ultimate high-speed rail plan before investing hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, he wrote. "Where is the money coming from to fund the ultimate HSR plan?" he asked. Are there no good alternatives to HSR? He suggested that "intercity motor coach" transportation may offer a meaningful alternative and ought to be considered more closely.

Is the $13 billion high-speed rail program a game changing event that, in the words of Peter Gertler, Director of High-Speed Rail at HNTB Corporation, "will lay the foundation for the most significant national investment in public infrastructure since President Eisenhower’s vision to build a national interstate highway system"? Or will the money be frittered away on studies and modest improvements in existing rail service — improvements that may achieve marginal reductions in travel time but do not move us any closer to achieving a true national high-speed rail vision? Will the Administration resist the political temptation to spread the $13 billion among the six high-speed rail initiatives that are in various stages of planning in California, Texas, the Midwest, Florida, Nevada and North Carolina? Or should the Administration take the long view and focus its efforts and resources on one or two corridors that most clearly justify high-speed service (the Northeast Corridor comes to mind), knowing that such a strategy, like the interstate highway system, may take decades to realize over a number of presidential administrations. We should soon find out which road the Administration has chosen to follow.

For a full text of the discussion go to http://transportation.nationaljournal.com

[End quote]

For a full view of all of Mr. Orski’s work, visit www.innobriefs.com

4) Amtrak, finally, after three and a half decades seems to be getting serious about the Sunset Limited. Word is coming the Sunset will become a daily train between Los Angeles and New Orleans. Still no word, however, about much needed service east of New Orleans. Amtrak still has not made a decision about this service; a congressionally mandated study is underway concerning restoring the Sunset Limited or a replacement service for it. We expect to hear about a completed study sometime soon. In the mean time, Amtrak is still sticking to its story that no one is interested in riding this train east of New Orleans even though a full 46% of the Sunset’s revenue used to originate east of New Orleans. Or, to put it another way, Amtrak still claims the dog ate its homework, as usual.

5) There is some good news. Amtrak has restored sleeping car service on the Lake Shore Limited between Boston and Albany, New York. This puts a missing sleeping car service back which has been gone for several years. Miraculously, Amtrak says it can make money from this on-again sleeping car. Wow; Amtrak has figured that out. Does that mean Amtrak also acknowledges what the rest of us have known for decades, that most sleeping car service on Amtrak everywhere else in the country makes money, too?

6) Just a quick note about Amtrak’s $1.3 billion in stimulus money. Amtrak has a plethora of documents on www.amtrak.com detailing how this money is being spent all over the country (That translates to how the money left over from not being spent on the Northeast Corridor is being divided up by the rest of the country.). Lots of good projects included in here, mostly for ADA compliance, and lots of new signage around the country which will help solidify Amtrak’s image. A lot of projects which have desperately needed to be done, such as the restoration and painting of the canopies over the train platforms at Tampa Union Station are included here. Most of this stuff would have never come out of Amtrak’s normal operating or free federal monies capital budgets, so it’s good to have the stimulus money to get these things done.

However, probably the most important expenditure of the money is for the restoration and rehabilitation of out-of-service passenger cars.

On Amtrak’s web site, we are told there are 1,519 passenger cars owned by Amtrak, plus 469 locomotives, 80 Auto Train vehicle carriers and 101 baggage cars. Amtrak operated state-owned equipment includes 136 railroad passenger cars and 20 locomotives.

So, if Amtrak says it owns 1,519 passenger cars, less the 1,346 cars it says it has on its active daily roster, then there are 173 pieces of equipment sitting around in the weeds somewhere on a wreck line. In the stimulus package, Amtrak says it will return 21 long distance cars from wreck status to operating status, and a mixture of 60 Amfleet low-level cars (a very few long distance cars, but the vast majority are NEC cars) back to service. This totals 81 cars, which still leaves 92 cars sitting in the weeds. Yes, some of those cars are most likely beyond repair, but not all 92 of them.

When will we see these other cars returned to service? How much of a priority will this be for Amtrak?

Of the current 1,346 active cars on the daily roster, there is a daily requirement of 1,072 cars for use (Yes, trainlines and consists have been cut that much.). In late February, there were 1,120 cars ready for service, which is a good improvement for Amtrak. That leaves 274 cars (a high percentage) either as spares, or in the shops being worked on.

So, let us say Amtrak is improving its shop performance, and will have a lower amount of cars in the back shop at any one time, and more cars available for service, plus the new Viewliner series sleepers, diners, and baggage cars it is ordering.

What could be done with all of this equipment, right now?

Well, the Sunset could easily go daily between Los Angeles and New Orleans, as could the Cardinal between New York and Chicago.

Either the Pioneer, Desert Wind, or North Coast Limited between Chicago and the West Coast could be restored (Only one, not all three.).

Some type of short daily train between New Orleans and Florida could be added to replace the east end of the Sunset Limited, and this train could include a full consist of cars, including sleepers. Other consists could be beefed back up.

All it takes is for Amtrak management to have the will to do this.

Remember, with the current inventory of cars (prior to lots of wrecks, thus the requirement for some of this equipment to be rebuilt), all of the existing Amtrak network was operated, plus the Desert Wind, Pioneer, and Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, and most trains had longer consists.

It’s not about the money. It’s about Amtrak management wanting to be clever enough and work hard enough to make this happen, and the Amtrak Board of Directors to be asking questions as to why this isn’t happening.

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2009-04-13 Volume 6, Number 10

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) A strong case can be made that often there is not a lot of intellectual honesty when it comes to discussing passenger rail in the United States.

Different groups have staked out different positions, and they are sticking to those positions, no matter what happens to prove those positions are incorrect. Often, the positions make no sense either ideologically or realistically, but are good for membership drives, which accomplishes very little other than to fatten organization coffers.

Such examples are "there are no passenger rail systems in the world which make money," and "all Amtrak needs is more money and everything will be fine." Both statements, of course, are completely wrong.

The real head-scratcher is how the concept/ideology/operation of passenger rail passed from being the province of the very conservative world of the railroad industry to the socialist and liberal world of no one other than a government has the ability to operate passenger rail. Therefore, this unsavory theory goes, passenger rail should be treated exactly as roads and highways are treated, and funded accordingly, without an honest attempt for passenger rail to be as self-sustaining as possible, with government contributions only after other resources are exhausted, not the other way around.

2) Respected passenger railroad historian David Carleton has provided this very brief outline of recent passenger rail history [Note: a TWA guest columnist is working on a longer and more intricately detailed history of Amtrak, which we hope to bring to you sometime soon.]

[begin quote]

By David Carleton

In 1956 the Republican Eisenhower administration approved the Interstate Highway program. It was going to have serious implications for the passenger train, but Congress and the administration did nothing to alleviate it.

In 1967 the Democratic Johnson administration directed the Postal Service to remove all remaining Railway Post Office cars from passenger trains. Since this was the one remaining piece of passenger train business which was consistently profitable, the implications for passenger train service were dire. Still, the administration and the Congress did nothing to relieve it.

Then, in 1970 the Congress passed - and Republican President Nixon signed - the bill creating the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC), commonly known as Amtrak. In light of the previous inaction this would appear to be a dramatic turnabout. What events facilitated it? Here are three:

A) At the end of 1969 the venerable Pullman Company ceased operations and in 1970 was liquidated. Evidence of the impending demise of the Pullman Company became apparent in official Washington when it was necessary to assemble a funeral train to transport the remains of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The large fleets of stand-by Pullman cars which had once been called upon to assemble campaign trains for candidates such as Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower were no longer available and the railroads had to scramble to assemble a suitable train.

B. In 1970 the Western Pacific Railroad succeeded in winning a train-off case to stop running its segment of the California Zephyr, effectively killing the train. This was America's train, the train of the movies, the quintessential post-war streamliner. Its discontinuance had symbolic meaning larger than the train itself.

C) The bankruptcy of the Penn Central Railroad threatened the stability of the entire railroad industry. The Penn Central was the largest passenger carrier, and that became an issue - not because of all the passenger train mileage that was being imperiled, but rather because of the size of the passenger train losses which showed up in the railroad's reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission. If these reports were accurate, then these losses accounted for about ten percent of the railroad's loss, but they were the most obvious item. Then, too, the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project (NECIP) was just then beginning to bear some results with new Metroliner trains moving swiftly over recently resurfaced Penn Central tracks.

It is important to understand what happened to crystallize the thinking of both Congress and the Nixon administration when the decision was made to form the NRPC, because their reaction to those events continue to shape the national passenger train enterprise till this day.

First of all - The NRPC was to stand in the place of the Pullman Company and manage a fleet of cars that could be deployed as needed.

Second - The ICC and the railroads would be relieved of the complications of train-off litigation. That's not to say that no more trains would be cut, in fact on Day One of Amtrak, half of all remaining private passenger rail service (Except for the services which opted not to join Amtrak, including the Southern Railroad and the Denver and Rio Grande Western.) was eliminated by the creation of Amtrak under rules governing what were - and were not - viable routes. But, the railroads and the ICC were no longer part of the process, from then on if the public was dissatisfied with changes to their service they would have to take their complaints elsewhere.

And, third - The NRPC (Amtrak) was to save the NECIP and the Metroliners from the bankruptcy of Penn Central. It is interesting to note Amtrak service has typically been meager throughout most of its system, even on the former Penn Central, with the exception of the Northeast Corridor.

In carrying out the above, the NRPC was formed and contracts were made with the various railroads. The contracts called for these railroads to operate certain designated trains "for" the NRPC, and also allowed the railroads to eliminate most of the rest. All the personnel, stations, etc. were to be provided by the railroads per the contract. The better railroads even continued to print timetables for "their" trains and distribute these to "their" stations. After a year even this began to fade away. What happened?

The NRPC acquired an upper management which proceeded to form it into a strong bureaucracy. They replaced the designation NRPC, which stood for something, with Amtrak, a word they made up. And, then they went to work building and reinforcing the Amtrak we know today - perfectly equipped to stand against the travails of 1969/70!

[End quote]

3) Next, we visit a most interesting and thought-provoking white paper by J. William Vigrass. Through the years This Week at Amtrak has been published, we have been honored to publish the writing and speeches of former FRA Administrator Gil Carmichael, who, along with Andrew Selden, are the two greatest passenger rail visionaries in the United States today. Long-time railroad and transportation specialist William Vigrass has shared his thoughts of a vision similar to that of Mr. Carmichael and his Interstate II concept for the future of American railroading.

Mr. Vigrass completed 56 years on the transportation industry, including service with Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy; Hill International, Inc.; Port Authority Transit Corporation, Lindenwold, New Jersey; Battelle Memorial Institute, the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and the Erie Railroad Company. Mr. Vigrass is the past chairman of the Committee on Rail Transit A1E04 of the Transportation Research Board.

Mr. Vigrass has an extensive background in both passenger and freight railroad operations and planning. The following paper was first presented in 2007 at the height of freight congestion in our country. While today many of the problems cited have abated simply because of a slackened economy, as the national and world economy start to improve, these problems will once again be all too prevalent.

[begin quote]

A proposed National System of Interstate and Defense RAILROADS, as an infrastructure project for the next fifty years

By J. William Vigrass, Member, Blue Ribbon Panel of Experts

Project Manager (retired) Hill International, Inc., Marlton, NJ 08053.

To the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, USDOT Bldg., L'Enfant Plaza, 400 7th St. N.W. Conference Room 4200, Washington, DC, 20590, Tuesday, 10:00am February 6th, 2007.

Background: The scope of the Commission's mandate is to provide policy direction for infrastructure for the next fifty years. This paper will expand upon the thoughts set forth in my December 7th, 2006 paper and will be confined to the railroad mode because all other modes have numerous advocates for government investment in highways, waterways and airways, all of which are owned by the public sector. All are used by private sector operators which have not invested any of their own capital in the infrastructure provided by government. They pay fuel and other taxes as operating expenses, and said taxes cover but a portion of the government's investment and maintenance costs. Only the railroad infrastructure is privately owned, maintained and financed. Even though railroad property is devoted entirely to the public interest, the owning companies nonetheless pay real estate taxes on their properties. In urban areas these taxes can be substantial. Railroad freight rates must cover all operating, maintenance and ownership costs, something that competing modes have never had to do.

When railroad companies invest in improvements to their physical plant with internally generated funds, they must be assured of an internal rate of return equal to or better than the cost of borrowing money in the private market. In contrast, when the Corps of Engineers makes improvements to the inland waterways system, the barge operators do not put up any investment dollars. When the FHWA and state DOT's improve highways, the trucking industry does not have to directly contribute to the investment. This unbalanced situation has led to under-investment in railroad plant with consequent congestion is many locations. Railroads presently have great difficulty adding new train services and have made it clear they are unable or unwilling to add timetable slots for additional passenger train services unless the public sector makes capacity available.

At the same time, an expanding economy has put pressure on freight railroads to add more service and some new services such as long distance run-through trains. The nation's highways are congested in many places, and the expanding economy has added to the pressure for widening existing Interstates and building new Interstates where they do not now exist. Tests done under the auspices of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) have proven highway damage is geometrically related to heavy loads. There is good reason to divert heavy loads off highways onto railroads since the latter are engineered to handle heavy loads. With several good reasons to add more railroad service, why has not more been done? The answer is, very simply, the railroads cannot afford to make the necessary investments. Their margin of profit is held down by truck competition for the most part. Common carrier truck rates are held down by the ubiquitous owner-driver who often works for bare wages, fuel, a contribution to maintenance and little or nothing for depreciation.

The trucking industry is using an Interstate and Defense Highway System designed and built since 1956, and incorporating improvements in design from time to time. It is largely an up-to-date highway system. The enormous capital invested in the Interstate and federal aid highway systems has been generated by motor fuel and other motor vehicle related taxes borne by the entire motoring public. Past studies have found trucking does not cover about 30% of costs related to truck operation. This allows the trucking industry to offer rates less than their true economic costs. Every time taxes on trucks or trucking have been increased, the industry has lobbied intensely and successfully for increased length and weight limits which in turn allowed freight rates to remain lower than they otherwise would have been. This has attracted more freight to highways, which in turn caused more wear and tear and congestion.

It is recommended the Congress not approve any more increases in the size or gross weight of motor trucks in interstate commerce.

Trucking uses up to date highways.

Railroads use Nineteenth Century Alignments. In contrast, nearly all the US railroad network was designed and built in the 19th Century. Grading was done by manpower, horses and scrapers. Heavy excavation was done by manual drilling (sledgehammers on the drill someone was holding) and black powder. Such engineering achievements as the Horseshoe Curve, Tehachapi Loop, the Central Pacific (UP) over Donner Pass were all great achievements of that era, but they are circuitous compared to competing Interstate highways. No matter how fast railroad freight trains may run, they must go further than a truck in most cases. Curvature imposes permanent speed restrictions. Histories of those early projects often include drawings of proposed realignments that could not be carried out by the privately owned railroads. Major tunnels had been proposed, but not built. Many sharp curves remain although realignments had been planned.

Meanwhile in Europe, at this time, many kilometers of new high speed railways have been - and are being - built. Several Base Tunnels are being built for railway use under the Alps and other mountainous barriers. These are:

- Lötschberg base tunnel - portals at Frutigen (Canton of Bern) and Raron (Canton of Valais) in Switzerland. 34.6 km (21.6 miles) in length. Scheduled to open this year (portions will be single track).

- Gotthard base tunnel - portals at Erstfeld (Canton of Uri) and Biasca (Canton of Ticino) 57 km (35.6 miles) in length. Scheduled to open 2015-2017. They are running into geological problems. (This project has been covered on cable television's The Discovery Channel.)

- Combination bridge/tunnels connecting Sweden to Denmark provide an all rail connection between Scandinavia and Europe.

- In project planning (length not yet established) - Mt. Cenis (France-Italy and Brenner (Innsbruck), Austria and maybe Bolzano/Bozen, Italy

- Proposed tunnel connecting Spain and Morocco under the Straits of Gibraltar has been planned and is going into the engineering phase. This will connect the railway system of North Africa with that of Europe.

- The Channel Tunnel (50 km, 31 miles long) is well known in the US. Less known in the US is the Japanese Seikan tunnel between the main island of Honshu and the north island of Hokkaido. It is longer and deeper than the Channel Tunnel, and passes through far more difficult geology. It has the following statistics:

Seikan Tunnel

Location: Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan

Completion Date: 1988

Cost: $7 billion

Length: 174,240 feet (33 miles)

Setting: Underwater

Materials: Steel, concrete

Engineer(s): Japan Railway Construction Corporation

The US has no railroad tunnels that compare.

In all such cases, the railroads are owned by the public sector and such projects have national and/or European Union support. (Switzerland is not in the EU.) While European railroads offer much more frequent passenger train service than is found in the US, they carry a tiny percentage of freight ton-miles and are far less efficient than American freight railroads. Yet, with the superiority of American freight railroading, the companies cannot justify or afford the huge investment that would be needed to provide a 21st Century alignment. They need help!

The present US railroad system is the most efficient hauler of overland freight in the world in terms of ton-mile costs. It is also the result of drastic downsizing that followed deregulation. The present system is carrying double or triple the number of ton miles that had been carried on a much larger network prior to deregulation. About one third the track miles are carrying two to three times the traffic. While efficient, this leaves little room for growth. It is also difficult for freight railroads to maintain their track when there is only one track on a given alignment. Trains must be delayed or rerouted over circuitous routes to allow track to be taken out of service for maintenance or replacement. This is not desirable, but it is necessary.

One may conclude that the present railroad system consists largely of 19th Century engineering, has greatly reduced track miles and route miles than existed in the 1950's, yet is carrying twice the traffic. Expanding capacity to be able to handle increased freight traffic as well as increased passenger train traffic appear to be highly desirable national objectives. Excess capacity is desirable to handle an expanding economy as well as peak loads. Private companies cannot invest in excess capacity (unless they have large profit margins, which the railroads do not.) Redundancy is highly desirable to handle dislocations caused by natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina or terrorist attacks that have not yet been experienced.

It is a point of historic fact the Prussian State Railways in what is now Germany were built in the 19th Century such that the network consisted of a series of triangles. Two routes were provided between strategic points so that the military would always have an alternative route in case of invasion. The US railroad system was not designed with such strategic objectives in mind. The mainland US was never threatened, but now this is a distinct possibility. The loss of a key bridge or tunnel here or there could cause great havoc to the US economy, as there are now fewer alternative routes than there were in the 1950's. Some of the alternatives might be restored, or new ones created.

One may conclude the basic US railroad network is a product of 19th Century engineering with no thought to redundancy which may be needed to cope with natural or terrorist activity, or even routine maintenance or reconstruction. It is also circuitous compared to the Interstate Highway System, and thereby not as competitive as it might be. This all indicates it probably is an impediment to economic growth of the US rather than a lubricant for economic growth.

What, then, should be done?

It is proposed to create a National System of Interstate and Defense Railroads which would be multi-tracked, grade separated and suitable for competitive speeds. This would mean 75 mph for freight trains and 110 or 125 mph for passenger trains. A combination of tax credits and direct grants would be needed, since some strategic investments desired for passenger train use might not be needed or wanted by freight railroads. Those improvements would be provided by grants, and such grants would consist of federal and non-federal shares. Multi-track means at least double tracked, and where combined passenger/freight traffic requires, three or even four tracks.

Heavy Haul Routes Needed. This is not to ignore the need for separate heavy haul routes that would be (and are) designed for 25 - 40 mph. It is recognized such routes being capable of handling 15,000 to 25,000 ton coal or other heavy trains are needed. Energy needed increases with the square of the speed, such that it requires four times the energy to move a train at 80 mph as at 40 mph. The railroad companies have been relatively successful in generating internal capital for such investments in heavy haul routes. It is desired to keep such traffic off high speed freight/passenger routes to avoid delays to fast trains. It may be desirable to have separate heavy haul tracks alongside fast freight/passenger tracks where both share the same corridor as exist on portions of the Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. For purposes of this paper, it will be assumed the railroad companies can continue to fund improvements for heavy haul traffic from their own resources. Exceptional needs might be handled on a case by case application for government aid.

A Program to Create a National System of Interstate and Defense RAILROADS.

A number of steps would be needed to approach, identify and quantify needs. This is not something which can be done by a few papers such as this, in which small numbers of man hours have been committed. A major research and planning effort will be needed. This might be done under the auspices of the Transportation Research Board with funding from USDOT.

Assumptions: Some key assumptions must be made upon which planning would be based. Among them would be the following:

- Population of the US would continue to increase as forecast by the Bureau of the Census. Legal immigration would continue at the same rate.

- The US economy would continue to expand at the same overall rate. Shifts within the economy would be recognized to the extent data become available.

- Petroleum would continue to become scarcer with consequent increases in price. Unusual or anticipated changes in the supply/price would be included to the extent data permit.

- Efforts to control degradation of the environment will increase.

- Population distribution will continue to flow to metropolitan areas.

- Others, as may be developed during initial research.

A Proposed Research Program to Develop a National System of Interstate and Defense Railroads.

Some factors which have come to mind and/or have been suggested by some of my many email friends and correspondents follow. They are in a more or less sequential (chronological) order.

- Identify corridors, and quantify traffic to the extent data permits as to what growth would be expected over the 50 year period under study for the Commission.

- Identify where rights of way for double or multiple track remain. Determine when - and if - restoration would be desirable.

- Identify abandoned rights of way that exist (more or less intact). Determine which ones could be rebuilt for modern use. Rank them in order of probable need. Establish a list of rights of way to be purchased and preserved for future rail use. This use might be freight railroad, intercity and/or commuter passenger railroad or rail transit in urban-suburban areas. Funding for purchase and preservation of such rights of way should be the first item to be implemented under the proposed program. Existing rights of way must be preserved especially in urban areas before they are disposed of to developers or other non-rail use.

- Identify where railroads are essential for defense. It is established that railroads are the most efficient way to move an armored division. There are other areas where railroads have been used effectively.

- Identify new areas where railroads might be useful or critical in combating domestic terrorism.

- Identify areas/places where railroads should be protected from terrorism access. Devise means for such protection.

- Identify corridors suitable for electrification in chronological sequence. Given that petroleum will become more expensive and scarcer, it follows that electrification of major corridors will be in the national interest and will contribute to the railroad system's efficiency. This may well be a major contribution to reducing our nation's dependency on petroleum and allow petroleum's use where there is no alternative, such as for aviation. A major shift of freight and passengers from highway to railroad should be an objective to reduce domestic use of petroleum based fuels. No technological development would be needed. Electric locomotives would be similar to diesel-electric locomotives "under the floor" with similar traction motors. "Above the floor" devices such as transformers, rectifiers and inverters are all within the state of the art. Transmission and distribution systems have been developed in Europe and Japan and could be adapted to American conditions.

- Identify where increased electrical generating capacity would be needed. Whether electrification would be nuclear or coal powered would be decided by research in that area and local policy. It may vary from one place to another in the US. Where convenient to waterpower or coal, those sources would be used. Nuclear power might be used widely provided that certain objections to it can be overcome.

- Determine where by-pass freight routes are desired around urban areas. These are desired for carriage of hazardous materials and as ways around urban railroad congestion. In recent months, carriage of hazardous material through Washington, DC has stirred up opposition by local residents and their political representatives. There are few options other than very circuitous routes that would bring the shipments through other communities which would object.

Input from local planning agencies will be desired, but oversight by a steering committee appears to be desirable and necessary because many planners have not had academic training or experience in evaluating what railroad rights of way might be used for. They might want a hiking trail on what might be a strategic interstate freight corridor.

- A nationwide survey is needed to determine where such by-passes are desired. The survey would include identification of existing abandoned or underused alignments that could be incorporated.

- Costs and benefits from such by-passes should be identified and quantified. They could be strategic redundant routes.

- Create a "Greater Amtrak" route structure and overlay it on a proposed fast freight network. Determine where multiple track would be needed, multiple meaning three or more tracks. It used to exist, and roadbeds remain in most places, primarily New York - Cleveland on the ex-New York Central and New York - Philadelphia - Pittsburgh on the ex-Pennsylvania Railroad. Short segments did exist in other places such as on the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie between Pittsburgh and Youngstown where the heavy industry that was served has disappeared. Some multi-track routes may not be needed to be replaced, but new multi-track may be needed where none existed, such as has occurred for the Powder River Coal Field in Wyoming. Other new needs will occur for multiple track.

The sum of all the above efforts will be a very large research effort. It might be separated by task into contracts, or it might be awarded to an agency that could manage and coordinate the entire effort, subcontracting out tasks. The latter appears desirable because of the huge depth and breadth of scope and need to coordinate tasks.

- Financing of such a National System of Railroads will be a major and continuous undertaking. In the recent past, TRB and USDOT/FHWA have sponsored meetings/seminars/symposia on the subject of innovative financing of transportation projects. There is no need for duplication. Rather, research toward financing the National System of Interstate and Defense Railroads should build upon work already done. This new research effort will be separate from but in parallel with research to define and quantify the proposed system.

Win/Win: A key point to be kept in mind is that financing must be acceptable to all parties to any agreement to improve the national railroad system. With win/win in mind, it is suggested that improvements funded by the public sector be owned by a public entity and leased to the railroads so that the improvements should not be subject real estate taxes.

Some assumptions here may be in order, but they should be confirmed before work begins.

- Whatever is proposed must be acceptable to the freight railroads which own nearly all the national railroad system. It must be a win/win combination that benefits the owning railroads, as well as public sector needs.

- Tax credits as proposed by the Association of American Railroads may well be a primary source of capital funds from the private sector. It is suggested a basic percentage be established for all railroad infrastructure, primarily heavy haul routes, and a somewhat higher percentage be allowed for multi-tracked lines handling passenger trains operated by public entities or on behalf of public entities.

- For very large projects (which would be common) having very long pay off periods, precedent of the Alameda Corridor might be followed. A public entity would be owner, and would issue long term bonds to fund the project. Using railroad(s) would pay a fee (a toll) per car, per ton, per ton-mile or whatever logically fits the project for the use of it. If such fees would not cover interest and amortization, public financing of the balance might be used, covered by a port authority or whatever the owning agency might be assuming it has cash flow from other sources.

- Multi-purpose corridors might be established, especially in urban areas, in which a corridor might include separate freight and passenger railroad tracks along with fiber optic cable, electric power lines (especially if the railroad is or is to be electrified), water or other pipe lines, and perhaps truck-only roads. Fees from all users would be applied to bond issues. If forecast revenues were found insufficient, direct grants from relevant public agencies might be sought. The nature of each project would guide choices of funding. It is likely funding will be project specific, although similar projects might well employ similar funding methods. Innovative, new, financing methods should be an objective of research.

- Legislation at the federal and state levels will be needed to implement the proposed National System of Interstate and Defense Railroads. It would be the objective of a final research task to draft such proposed legislation for review by representative staff of relevant legislative bodies.

The above program is ambitious and will require much investment over a period of years. It need not be done all at once. Much of it is already in place, and needs only improvement. Restoration of double track where rights of way exist could be an early development. Some bottlenecks are already apparent, and are the topic of another panel discussion. Elimination of such bottlenecks would be a natural inclusion in the proposed National System. Identification of defense needs is the subject of still another panel that will be fit into the National System.

Task 0: A preliminary first task will be to estimate the funds and time needed to undertake the research outlined above. A source of such funds must then be identified and found. Some money or services in kind might come from the railroad industry itself, as a key beneficiary and would also give them seats on any steering committee. Much must come from the public sector, most likely USDOT through its FRA, FHWA or other appropriate agency. An independent research organization would manage the effort, and this would logically be the Transportation Research Board which already has much experience in some of the proposed tasks. Tasks would be advertised and awarded to research foundations or consultants in the usual manner. This effort might take up to three years and might cost on the order of $3 to $5 million. Output would be a conceptual engineering type of result defining a National System of Interstate and Defense Railroads and putting tasks in prioritized order for implementation.

A sense of urgency is needed to create a National System that will reduce the nation's dependence upon imported petroleum for its basic interstate transportation needs. The world's petroleum supply is being used up at an ever increasing rate, and many of its sources are in insecure areas. President Bush's state of the union message January 23, 2007 included an objective of greatly reducing the US's consumption of petroleum for surface transportation purposes. The proposed electrified railroad system would contribute to this objective in a big way. Freight railroads are one of the larger users of diesel fuel, much of which must be consumed on main lines which are most conducive to electrification. It has been estimated that railroads consume about six percent of the nation's consumption of petroleum. Railroads are the only interstate mode that is suitable for electrification using existing technology. We should save petroleum for uses in which there is no readily apparent alternative such as aviation.

If we don't get started promptly, we will regret it in the not too distant future. The future is approaching rapidly. It is recommended the research proposed above be authorized and funded at the earliest opportunity. It took fifty years to build the Interstate and Defense Highway System as defined in 1956 legislation and amended from time to time. The railroad system envisaged would take approximately the same length of time.

An improved railroad system will benefit the economy.

An electrified railroad system would reduce petroleum use and will also contribute to faster and more efficient operation.

An unimproved railroad system will be a hindrance to economic growth.

If the United States is to continue its role as the world's leading economy, it must have a 21st Century System of Interstate and Defense Railroads.

The time to begin is now!

[End quote]

4) One highway interchange to be rebuilt in New Jersey using stimulus funds appropriated earlier this year connects an Interstate Highway with a US Highway and a New Jersey state road. The cost of rebuilding this single interchange is $900 million. Amtrak's average annual free federal monies appropriation is $1.3 billion, just $400 million more than the single interchange in New Jersey.

This does not speak of the unattractive bugaboo of modal envy, but makes business sense for the spending of government resources for the highest and best use of funds and return on investment. While the highway interchange will serve perhaps less than two million citizens in New Jersey, that same $900 million, applied to Amtrak's national system, would easily serve over 20 million Americans and international tourists, based on Amtrak's unacceptably skeletal system.

Which is the best return on investment?

Where is the vision in federal, state, and local governments to start seriously including passenger rail in government planning?

Where is the vision in Amtrak to start realigning corporate resources to reach out to the various government agencies to create awareness and programs which benefit everyone involved in domestic network transportation planning?


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 21, 2009

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 6, Number 11

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) America finally has a surface transportation plan – sort of. The Obama Administration has, to great fanfare, placed a renewed emphasis on high speed rail as our next capital system of transportation. No one seems to have an exact definition of high speed rail for this plan, but it's useful to say all of the proposed routes reach a traveling speed of at least 110 miles per hour over some portion of the route.

The foamers are foaming at the mouth over this, and they are so collectively excited, they can't stand to wait for all of this to happen. Towns and cities large and small are trying to get into the high speed rail business, with great speculation as to what high speed rail can do for the future of their denizens. One can imagine that if newspapers of the day were archived when the first transcontinental lines were built just after the Late War of Northern Aggression in the 19th Century, the same type of speculation was made then as today about what the railroad would do for local commerce and local development. Hopefully, the railroad rascals and robber barons of that day haven't become the railroad CEOs of today.

We've read what visionaries like Gil Carmichael and Andrew Selden have to say about the future of passenger rail in this country. And, we're seeing what other voices have to say, too. The informed voices are making interesting projections and floating viable ideas; the uninformed, as usual, are using up valuable oxygen and wasting our time with hyperbole.

2) It is time to step back half a step and look at the big picture. We've seen the designation of 10 allegedly viable high speed corridors in the United States, some just a couple of hundred miles long, others multiple hundreds of miles long.

As we proceed to designate spending this year for the first corridors, what are we doing to design a full system? When the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System was designed and building began, it was pretty much a complete map; certainly much more than today's few high speed rail corridors.

We know connectivity is critical for the success of any rail corridor, and, at the moment, there doesn't seem to be much connectivity in the initial design. "Disjointed" perhaps is the best description of the first parts of the system.

And, we know these new high speed lines are going to be considered almost exclusively for passenger trains, so they will cause a financial double whammy. First, the higher the track speed, the more expensive it is to maintain that track. Speed can kill, and it really can kill when you combine high speed trains on low speed track. Second, today's tracks outside of Amtrak's expensive to maintain Northeast Corridor share the right of way with pesky, money-making, keep-America-moving freight trains. In most instances, the argument is made the tracks are maintained for the heavy pounding of freight trains, and only maintained at incrementally higher costs for passenger train speeds. Thus, outside of the NEC, no passenger train is burdened with the full cost of track maintenance, since tracks are shared with freight trains.

The new, nearly-exclusive high speed train tracks will have ALL of the maintenance costs charged to the high speed trains, which will make the high speed trains less financially viable.

3) Amtrak for years has falsely claimed Acela service on the NEC makes a profit. Amtrak accomplishes this through financial hocus-pocus (which sounds so much better than to simply say they are lying) and the payment of routine maintenance costs from capital budgets instead of operating budgets, or, simply just ignoring maintenance and chalking it all up to deferred maintenance, and claiming Acela service is profitable. The reality is, of course, Acela is never charged with all of the costs of operating the service because of the financial hocus-pocus.

So, who is going to operate these nifty new high speed trains? The French, since they are not busy surrendering at the moment to anyone, have generously offered to come run the trains, but it's unlikely Amtrak is going to take kindly to that suggestion.

If Amtrak is the operator of the high speed trains, will it continue its current shabby and probably illicit accounting practices and use the same methods to keep track of high speed profits and losses it does on the NEC? Or, will somebody – anybody – seize the initiative and declare high speed rail to be free of funny accounting and demand everything be done right from the first moment?

4) And, let's talk more in-depth about the issues of connectivity and feeder systems to the proposed new high speed rail trains.

Everyone wants to point to Europe as the example to follow. (Which, by the way, should you, too, choose to point to Europe, please take note of the Dutch, German, and other passenger rail systems in Europe which do make money, commonly called "profit." Amtrak and its sycophant organizations such as the National Association of Railroad Passengers seem to love to tell the lie that no passenger systems in the world make money, which we know not to be true. Even the Japanese passenger rail systems turn a profit.)

One of the reasons European trains make money is connectivity; you CAN get there from here. Unlike Amtrak's skeletal system, with current glaring holes like the missing Sunset Limited east of New Orleans to Florida, and the fact in Florida you can't get to Atlanta, the commercial capital of the Southeast by passenger train, in Europe everywhere is connected to everywhere else by either conventional passenger rail, fast passenger rail, or high speed passenger rail. Frequencies are frequent (hence, the term), levels of service are designed to match market demand, and competition abounds, providing incentive to do well and provide good passenger service.

In Europe, you can go almost anywhere on a train. In America, there are many more small, medium, and large cities and towns that Amtrak doesn't serve than it serves. Amtrak brags it serves just over 500 destinations in 46 states, with 21,000 route miles of service. Hmmm ... let's see, 46 states, round up to 510 destinations, that averages 11.08 station stops per state. But, wait! In Florida alone, Amtrak serves 23 stations (including Amtrak Thruway bus service), so that means some states have less than the average of 11.08 stations. The Commonwealth of Virginia has 40 cities and towns, but Amtrak only serves 14 of those, including Amtrak Thruway bus service.

Should we return do the days of the 1956 Official Railway Guide where every small town and hamlet had passenger train service? Certainly, not. But, for Amtrak to be successful, and the next generation of high speed trains to be successful, then more than a mere 500 cities and towns must have passenger train service.

5) Where does/where should Amtrak figure into the development of high speed rail? The automatic answer is it should figure prominently. The realistic answer is, Amtrak, after being the monopoly passenger rail carrier in the United States since 1971, for nearly 40 years, still has not proven it is worthy of the tax dollars which are poured into it year after year.

This brings us to "the vision thing" as the first President George H.W. Bush used to say at the end of the 1980s.

As it stands today, Amtrak and its management lack vision. Amtrak may corporately lust after the pot of money which is being thrown at the development of high speed rail, but it really has not proven itself worthy of the privilege of directing the spending of that money.

Here is what Andrew Selden has to say as a vision for the immediate and long-term future of Amtrak.

[begin quote]

A. Amtrak must become relevant.

Its contribution to national mobility today does not justify its cost. The national network is too small – it goes to too few places and interconnects too few city pairs (e.g., it doesn't go to Las Vegas, Nevada or Columbus, Ohio, and one cannot get from Dallas to Denver or Dallas to Orlando). Even in what its own supporters characterize as its strongest market, the Northeast Corridor, its market share of intercity trips is less than 1%, at a public cost of about three-quarters of a billion dollars a year. Even in the NEC, a complete shut-down would be all but imperceptible as all of its customers (except in the New York-Philadelphia sub-market) could be easily absorbed into existing road and airway capacity.

B. Amtrak must grow.

No business, or social service, succeeds by stagnating. Amtrak's share of the national intercity travel business has shrunk steadily for three decades. Its carrying capacity has shrunk steadily for two decades. The newest Superliner rail car is more than 10 years old and the average age of the intercity fleet is far older than the cars Amtrak inherited from the private railroads in 1971. At the same time, Boeing builds a new 737 airliner every day, and Airbus builds a new A320 every day. Southwest Airlines adds a dozen or more new aircraft to its fleet every year. Amtrak could not absorb real growth if it were to occur, except in regional corridor markets where even a doubling of transactions would not raise it to a 2% market share.

C. Amtrak must change its vision.

Amtrak views itself as a social service, like a transit agency or a sewer authority, and thus as a ward of government. It measures its performance by the metrics of a public agency, in simple transaction volume. The only function at which it truly excels is extracting money from public sector sponsors. This vision condemns Amtrak to always being irrelevant to the needs of the traveling public. Amtrak must adopt a vision of sustained growth, relevance and minimized dependence upon public agency financing in favor of dependency upon customer selection, of mode and route. Amtrak must position its services and its operational network such that it can become the mode of consumer preference for most intercity travel.

D. Amtrak needs a new business model.

Amtrak has pursued the same business model for its entire history, one based upon the supply-driven model of point-to-point short corridors between urban city-pairs, based on the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1966. That model has produced the current state of Amtrak: irrelevancy to the traveling public and financial catastrophe. The model causes the results, the results do not occur despite the model. The new business model must be based on consumer demand, in applications that can be financially remunerative. The new model must focus on the metrics of output, not merely transaction volume, and growth, market share, and maximal return (in output and revenue) on invested capital. The model must create volume and efficiencies of scale on a national basis, by developing a true national network of regional and interregional routes that allow use of rail for most intercity travel demand, and inherently grow with demand and population growth. Capacity must be re-allocated to match consumer demand, and must grow to anticipate and accommodate growth in demand.

[End quote]

6) It's going to take a while before the first shovel of dirt is turned to build any new high speed rail systems, even those systems with studies completed and the permitting process underway. What do we do in the interim?

We must unleash the pent-up power of Amtrak and let it take its natural course to prosperity through expansion and growth. Stop all of this silliness of whether or not Gulf Coast cities and towns east of New Orleans deserve or can support the reinstatement of the Sunset Limited from New Orleans to Florida. Yes, those cities can. Nashville, too, can support passenger rail, as could Louisville, Kentucky if it was properly configured and based on passenger needs, not commodity needs. Amtrak's present skeletal system has done yeoman's work as a placeholder, but those days need to be over. Amtrak and its host railroads must devise a plan – right now – that will provide for growth and connectivity and a financial infrastructure through connectivity and a proper domestic transportation matrix to support coming high speed rail and make it viable from the first day.

To allow Amtrak to remain as it is, without first improving it, and jump directly to high speed rail is like putting a race car on a bicycle path.

High speed rail may be visionary, it may be exciting and glamorous, and it may be the wave of the future. But, if the proper connectivity infrastructure is not in place when high speed rail becomes a reality, then it will fail, and be even a worse stepchild of government than Amtrak is today.

Andrew Selden has dubbed a new concept in America – advanced passenger rail. APR will ensure the success of high speed rail, and can be accomplished in less than three years.

This first step towards high speed rail can be done cheaply (as opposed to what is being spent on high speed rail) and efficiently. Things like ordering new passenger cars for existing trains, making station and parking improvements to make Amtrak more user friendly, and making relatively inexpensive upgrades to today's railroad infrastructure to allow initial 90 miles per hour running where feasible, along with eliminating railroad choke points like junctions and bridges, and adding double track where viable.

An important aspect is these are all things which can be done with existing technology and plans, without requiring any costly and time consuming environmental politics, and mostly without land acquisitions (with a few exceptions at a few stations). These are things which can be begun TODAY with almost immediate MEASURABLE results and gauged RETURN ON INVESTMENT. These are the steps which pave the way for successful high speed rail. These are the steps that cost relatively little to do, thus building a new popularity for passenger rail which will result in less spending by the federal treasury later to build a popularity for high speed passenger rail.

7) Now is not the time for the faint of heart. Now is the time for the bold and resourceful to stand up and demand things be done right, in the proper order, and by those who have a vision to understand the process. Now is not the time to waste valuable federal dollars in the beginning on a project that may flounder. Embrace advanced passenger rail as the first logical step towards high speed rail. Finish the job with Amtrak and create a viable, functioning organization which can meet the demands of the future without relying on political patronage and money from others that only comes after months of haggling and begging.

This time, do it right.

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; April 27, 2009
​





A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​



​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​









Volume 6, Number 12
​







Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) We're hearing many things about the Sunset Limited route; not many of them are what we want to hear.

Working from west to east, and working from confirmation from good, multiple sources, it appears Amtrak's plans to make the Sunset Limited a daily train mostly consist of extending the Texas Eagle from its artificial endpoint of San Antonio, Texas all the way west to Los Angeles.

This is the good part, having the Texas Eagle now providing a second daily service between Los Angeles and Chicago over a variety of other intermediate stops and opportunities for hubbing and allowing the natural affects of the matrix theory to come into play. The bad part appears to be this will replace the Sunset Limited, America's oldest named passenger train, with a train once mistaken by Al Gore's office for a noble species of bird.

If the Texas Eagles does extend all the way to Los Angeles on a daily basis, that will be a boon to the fortunes and finances of that train, and – if Amtrak uses enough foresight – a boon to the fortunes and finances of the beleaguered Sunset Limited.

In every way the Sunset has been mismanaged by Amtrak through the years, and even with some of its best frontline managers running the train and making the most of a bad situation, the Sunset has always suffered from being an exceptionally long route with a multitude of stations and infrastructure, but only tri-weekly operation. Where all other Amtrak trains have 730 departures a year (once a day in each direction), the Sunset only has 312 departures a year, yet carries all of the station and corporate overhead of a daily train. Basically, by design, the Sunset has never been given a chance to show its financial chops.

If you take today's Sunset Limited numbers and extrapolate them over a year for a daily train, they are dramatically different, and move the Sunset into a much different financial category of long distance train.

Using Fiscal Year 2008 annual performance numbers, the Sunset (Based on its truncated route of Los Angeles to New Orleans; not its full pre-Hurricane Katrina route of Los Angeles to Orlando, Florida.):

Total Revenue, tri-weekly – $8,046,900

Total Revenue, projected if daily – $18,827,682

This moves the Sunset from next to last place (The Cardinal, Amtrak's only other long distance tri-weekly train.) in revenue for all long distance trains to in front of the Palmetto, City of New Orleans, and Capitol Limited.

Revenue Passenger Miles, tri-weekly – 66,149,000

Revenue Passenger Miles, projected if daily – 154,771,698

This moves the Sunset from next to last place (The Cardinal, again.) in revenue passenger miles for all long distance trains to in front of the Palmetto, City of New Orleans, Capitol Limited, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, and Texas Eagle.

Ridership, tri-weekly – 71,700

Ridership, projected if daily – 167,759

This moves the Sunset from dead last (including the Cardinal) in Ridership for all long distance trains up one place to in front of the Cardinal.

Seat Miles, tri-weekly – 116,569,226

Seat Miles, projected if daily – 272,742,099

This moves the Sunset from next to last place (Back to the Cardinal, again.) in Seat Miles for all long distance train to in front of the City of New Orleans, Palmetto, Texas Eagle, Capitol Limited, and Lake Shore Limited.

This brief display of numbers shows two points: First, if allowed, the Sunset Limited can be a reasonable performer, and not the financial punching bag of every blow-hard politician who doesn't understand passenger rail economics. And, second, ridership numbers alone, the way Amtrak loves to present them as an absolute of performance measurement, mean nothing. While the Sunset's spot for ridership moves up only one position, it moves up dramatically in all other categories which really matter.

But, you wisely say, "what about expenses; won't they go up, too?" Yes, they will, but will only go up incrementally for some, but not all categories.

As an example, station costs will go up, but, since some stations, depending on the train's schedule, are open most of the week, or all of the week anyway (Such as New Orleans, San Antonio, and Los Angeles.), the only difference will be what it takes to open the remaining stations every day instead of most days.

Train miles, of course, will increase. But, so will the corresponding number of opportunities for revenue to be produced, too, and on Amtrak long distance trains, revenue exceeds actual operating costs. Onboard services employees and train and engine crews costs will increase, but only incrementally. Train and engine crews will take the smallest hit, because they work only an average of eight hour shifts now, and with tri-weekly service, these crews are often paid to sit around waiting for the next train instead of staying in continuous service such as on daily trains.

Where incorrectly Amtrak piles on the excess costs to the long distance system (Often, so the Northeast Corridor trains look better financially.) usually occurs in areas of corporate overhead, the reservations system, and related areas. If the Sunset is a daily train, there will be near-zero additional costs associated with all of these functions (Okay, there probably will be a slight increase in the cost of copy machine paper and toner.). A daily Sunset will require no additional costs for reservations, the number of corporate managers in Chicago and Washington, or the number of people in Human Resources.

Put all of this together and tie a nice bow on the package and – suddenly – if the Texas Eagle goes daily and starts fully sharing expenses with the Sunset between San Antonio and Los Angeles, and the Sunset goes daily and provides actual travel choices instead of the one-service-in-each-direction-take-it-or-leave-it for all of the 13 stations between San Antonio and Los Angeles, there is a financial and transportation output boon for both trains.

But, from what is coming out of Amtrak right now, this scenario is unlikely, and a butchered Sunset Limited route seems to be in the making.

If a daily Texas Eagle assumes the Sunset Route on the west end, then most likely a daily, daylight train will run between San Antonio and New Orleans, consisting of coaches and reduced food service from a full dining car to a lounge car selling potentially stale sandwiches. The home terminal for this train would be New Orleans, which has an excellent crew base, and used to have a good maintenance base before most activities were moved elsewhere.

While two connecting trains meeting in San Antonio would preserve the length of the original, pre-1993 Sunset route, it doesn't do much for passengers; but, it does keep intact Amtrak's penchant for operating trains for the convenience of its operating and maintenance departments.

From 1993 to the dark days when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 (We're fast approaching the 4th anniversary of that tragedy, and Amtrak for that long has been telling everyone the dog ate its homework and refusing to reinstate the train and make any move to reconsider running it, even though it officially never cancelled the train or abandoned the route. CSX released the track to Amtrak for use again three years ago, on April 1, 2006.), the Sunset was the only fully transcontinental train in North America, virtually running from the Left Coast in Los Angeles to the Right Coast in Jacksonville, Florida, and down to first Miami and then more sensibly truncated to Orlando.

Passengers luxuriated in single-car, single-train service to any station, without bother of changing trains. And, the service was popular, despite the many digestive ills of Union Pacific Railroad as it gobbled up the Southern Pacific Railroad, owner of the Sunset Route between Los Angeles and New Orleans. Despite the Sunset being tri-weekly, and constantly running late, passengers still rode the train. It wasn't until the final year and a half before Hurricane Katrina when CSX was performing many maintenance and infrastructure upgrade chores on the Sunset route east of New Orleans, that ridership fell for the simple reasons Amtrak management at the time was CONSTANTLY cancelling the train for the entire run east of New Orleans, and the unofficial slogan of Amtrak was "no alternative transportation provided." This was occurring every season of the year; it was nearly impossible to book a trip on the Sunset much in advance of departure because of all of the cancellations.

The arrival of Hurricane Katrina provided the biggest reason of all for cancellation of the Sunset, and Amtrak, in one of its darkest and foulest corporate moments, took advantage of the cancellation to drive a stake through the heart of the Sunset and keep it off the rails east of New Orleans, even though CSX gallantly made a Herculean effort to restore that track and get the route open again in record time.

After all, Amtrak managers and planners could point to the declining ridership east of New Orleans and with something of a con man's straight face, declare to Amtrak's Board of Directors the route was more of a loser than most. The dishonest part of that on the part of Amtrak's management cadre and what it was presenting to the Amtrak Board of Directors was the numbers were falling by Amtrak's own design, as it constantly, in the months preceding the windy arrival of Hurricane Katrina, kept cancelling trains because of CSX planned maintenance and did nothing to assist passengers other than directing them to the bus station and telling passengers they were on their own.

In effect, Amtrak's dishonest managers at the time grabbed onto knowingly false and manipulated information, and killed a train that was a vital link in its system, all the while claiming there was no financial benefit in restarting the train, using every excuse in the book, from storm-damaged stations to bad track, to the dog ate their homework.

Now, after Florida Congresswoman Corrine Brown has given Amtrak $1 million in free federal money to "study" the reinstatement of the route, Amtrak has come up with a scenario which breaks a once promising transcontinental route into three different trains, all at the inconvenience of Amtrak's passengers.

2) All of this brings us to Amtrak's April 23rd initial presentation to the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. This coalition of the three states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama has a long history of promoting efficient and effective rail services along the Gulf Coast.

The bottom line on Amtrak's presentation for restoration of service to the Sunset Limited route east of New Orleans was one of three proposals would likely be chosen.

The first proposal is a complete restoration of Sunset Limited service as it was previously, with an endpoint of Orlando, as before Hurricane Katrina. It should be noted – again – that 46% of the Sunset's total route revenues originated on the route east of New Orleans, a concept which seems to constantly escape the numbers crunchers at Amtrak.

The second proposal is one long advocated by United Rail Passenger Alliance of the route of the daily City of New Orleans being extended eastward to Orlando over the previous Sunset route.

The third proposal, which is probably the most likely, is a new daily train on an overnight schedule, based either in New Orleans or Sanford (Orlando) running the Sunset's east-end route, with connections to the new train to the west of New Orleans, replacing the Sunset to San Antonio.

In its presentation, Amtrak did its usual huffing and puffing about a shortage of equipment (Self-inflicted, by choice, if they were honest with themselves.), and, oddly, about a lack of funding to run this train. Since funding wasn't a problem prior to Hurricane Katrina, one can't help but wonder why funding is a problem now, since this is a national system train, and not a state-sponsored corridor train.

Let's veer to the left here for a moment. If Amtrak is allowed to get away with taking a long distance route and chop it into pieces, and then tell certain states that restoration of service will only come with the proffering of state or regional monies, then no route – NOT A SINGLE ONE – in the Amtrak system is safe from this type of blackmail shenanigans. Amtrak could just as easily take the California Zephyr, and declare the route between Chicago and Denver to be a new corridor, and the company not be willing to operate the Zephyr unless Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois pony up big bucks. Since Missouri and Illinois are already paying twice for Amtrak service (Once through the federal dollars which flow to Amtrak, and the second time for trains within Illinois and Missouri Amtrak says it won't run without state funds.), what's to keep ambitious managers at Amtrak seeking more from these current donors?

But, back to the Sunset route east of New Orleans. Any of the three solutions outlined above are acceptable, as long as the actual restoration of the Sunset be done on a daily basis, and not return as tri-weekly service.

In its presentation, Amtrak said a dependable train between New Orleans and Orlando would generate somewhere between 50,000 to 100,000 passengers a year, an increase over the final year numbers from Amtrak of 16,000 to 17,000 passengers a year based on the many months of train annulments and outright cancellations Amtrak did to the Sunset due to an isolated period of CSX track work and upgrades before Katrina.

Taking Amtrak at its word, at 17,000 passengers a year, and 312 departures a year (If none of the annulments had taken place.), that means an average of only 54 riders per departure were on the train.

That number can't be correct. Year round, Orlando always had heavy boardings, as did Jacksonville. Tallahassee and Pensacola usually had pretty good business, too, and more than a smattering of passengers called Mobile their station stop. What happened here? Most likely, whoever crunched the numbers at Amtrak didn't pull the counts correctly. It's impossible to think that train ran empty through all of the major metropolitan areas it served, especially Orlando, one of the world's busiest vacation destinations. However, Amtrak may have been using one of its old hocus-pocus tricks when pulling this number, by just using local boardings for points between New Orleans and Orlando.

Years ago in the 1980s when URPA fought and won the war to extend the Palmetto from Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida, when Amtrak managers presented data to the Board of Directors, they presented data which showed local business only between Savannah and Jacksonville, a short distance of only 148 miles. The Amtrak planning department never took into account how many passengers in Jacksonville (Which turned out to be a substantial amount.) would board a northbound Palmetto and travel beyond Savannah to all of the other cities along the route, including those cities in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The only figures the Amtrak planning department pulled were for Savannah-Jacksonville business.

It's likely this same scenario has happened with the Sunset numbers east of New Orleans, where we know 46% of the pre-Katrina Sunset's revenues originated east of New Orleans. Passengers boarding in Orlando, Palatka, Jacksonville, Lake City, Tallahassee and elsewhere to the west are just as likely to travel to Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Tucson, Maricopa, Yuma and Los Angeles as they are to Pascagoula, Biloxi, Bay St. Louis, and New Orleans.

Again, we drift into the discussion of intellectual honesty when discussing Amtrak, even when discussing internal numbers crunching and internal communications, and who has what agenda.

The new 50,000 to 100,000 projected figures are probably a bit low, as any figures in a service estimate should be. Based on 100,000 passengers per year, and 730 departures, that puts an average of only 137 passengers per train, on a route which is just over 600 miles in length, which includes Orlando, Jacksonville, Florida's capital of Tallahassee, Pensacola, Mobile, and all of the other Gulf Coast cities between Mobile and New Orleans. It isn't unreasonable to say Amtrak's passenger count estimate is low by as much as 50%, but, again, for estimating purposes, it's good to have a low count of revenues.

Much of the Sunset's transcontinental on-time performance factors in the past were due to the Union Pacific Railroad's problems integrating the Southern Pacific into its larger UP system. It was not unusual for the Sunset to register the lowest on-time performance measurements in the Amtrak system. Today, that has much improved, with the Sunset's on-time factor somewhat equivalent with most other long distance trains.

Running a single train across an entire continent does present its own special set of problems and challenges. Enormous and expensive pad time in the Sunset's schedule partially solves that problem, including, when it ran all the way to Orlando, at least three to four hours layover time in New Orleans, which often wasn't enough.

In an ideal world, the City of New Orleans would be extended to Orlando as the overnight train, offering connections from an eastbound train from San Antonio, but a separate, daylight train would also run between New Orleans and Jacksonville. The increased travel choices through two frequencies generally push ridership numbers through the roof, even with just a second frequency.

So, it's possible the Sunset will be butchered into three separate trains. It would be nice to know Sunset cars would be carried on the Texas Eagle (including sleepers) and transferred in San Antonio to the New Orleans bound train. At least that would provide through-passengers with the convenience and courtesy of same-car service, and would also preserve the Sunset Limited name. A single change in New Orleans is not the end of the world, as long as legal connections can be made and enforced. Even in the early days of the Sunset's coast to coast service, splitting the train in New Orleans, offering a "fresh and clean" on-time train between New Orleans and Orlando was discussed and considered an option. It's tough to explain to someone in Atmore, Alabama their train was delayed by multiple hours because of a grade crossing accident in Yuma, Arizona, about 2,000 miles away.

3) Let's take a moment and study what could happen east of New Orleans if the present City of New Orleans was extended to Orlando (Or, even better, to Tampa, which sits in the middle of a four million resident metropolitan area on Florida's West Coast, just 99 route miles beyond the Orlando Amtrak station, and has a complete, but unloved and unused maintenance base.).

Today's City of New Orleans operates between New Orleans and Chicago via Jackson, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Carbondale, Illinois and various other cities and towns.

Southbound, the City leaves Chicago at 8:00 P.M., arrives in Memphis at 6:27 A.M., and pulls into New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal on Loyola Avenue at 3:32 P.M.

Northbound, the City leaves New Orleans at 1:45 P.M., arrives in Memphis at 10:00 P.M., and arrives at Chicago Union Station at 9:00 A.M., at the end of rush hour.

The City trainset lays over in New Orleans for over 21 hours each day and night before it heads north, again. There is an 11 hour turn time in Chicago.

Okay, let's be creative and get away from Amtrak's habit of only running routes in a straight line, and loathing to split trains into sections (Even as it successfully does each day in Spokane, Washington for the two sections of the Empire Builder.).

Remember, the matrix theory, where more trains to more places with more city pairs dramatically improves travel choices and ridership and revenue passenger miles.

During the 1979 murder of much of Amtrak's long distance system by Democrat Jimmy Carter's administration, Amtrak lost its only Chicago to Florida service, the Floridian. Now, there is an opportunity to not only restore a much-agitated-for Chicago to Florida same train service, but improve on the concept, too.

Understand the Auto Train maintenance facility in the Orlando suburb of Sanford is one of Amtrak's best maintenance facilities. The work done there is consistently superb. When the Sunset had its maintenance performed there instead of Los Angeles, equipment reliability jumped substantially, as well as passenger satisfaction because the train was cleaner and everything worked.

So, move the maintenance of the City of New Orleans to Sanford/Orlando. Since you won't need to rely on maintenance in Chicago, do something dramatic on that end of the route, and extend the City's route to either Minneapolis/St. Paul to the west, or Detroit to the east. Either of these logical extensions make sense because a second, full service train is being added to the busy Minneapolis/St. Paul to Chicago market, or Detroit for the first time in years will have a full service train (And, there is already a maintenance base in Detroit, too.) with direct connections to the lower Midwest and Florida. It's an eight hour run from Chicago to Minneapolis, and about an eight hour run between Chicago and the Detroit maintenance base, too. In other words, the existing Chicago-New Orleans schedule of the City could easily be maintained with either of these extensions.

But, you wail, Amtrak would need more sets of equipment to make either of these changes. Yes, it would. And, there is adequate equipment available, sitting around in the wreck line weeds which could be restored and put back into high revenue service instead of deteriorating on some unloved siding. At some point someone has to make a visionary choice and say either the highly valuable equipment sitting on the wreck line is worth something, or Amtrak is not interested in running long distance trains, and the equipment should be sold to some Third World country which has better service than the United States has today.

Okay, so we've extended the north end of the City to other logical endpoints. What else can we accomplish getting this train to Florida?

Easy. We can restore the River Cities between Kansas City, St. Louis, Centralia, Memphis, and New Orleans. When Amtrak went through its second massacre of routes under Democrat President Bill Clinton, this piggyback train which operated as part of the City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Centralia, Illinois and then split into a separate section, provided the two major metropolitan areas of Kansas City and St. Louis with a direct connection to New Orleans.

If this service is restored, then a passenger in Kansas City or St. Louis will be able to board a train and stay in the same seat or accommodation all the way to Orlando, Florida via Memphis and New Orleans. Again, the power of the matrix theory with enhanced city pairs and many more travel opportunities comes into play, creating a powerhouse of a train.

Think of this, all on the same train:

From the Minneapolis/St. Paul side of the equation (substitute Detroit if you like),

Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota

Red Wing, Minnesota

Winona, Minnesota

La Crosse, Wisconsin

Tomah, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

Portage, Wisconsin

Columbus, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Glenview, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois

Homewood, Illinois

Kankakee, Illinois

Gilman, Illinois

Rantoul, Illinois

Champaign-Urbana, Illinois

Mattoon, Illinois

Effingham, Illinois

Centralia, Illinois

Kansas City, Kansas

Independence, Missouri

Lee's Summit, Missouri

Warrensburg, Missouri

Sedalia, Missouri

Jefferson City, Missouri

Hermann, Missouri

Washington, Missouri

Kirkwood, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

Belleville, Illinois

Du Quoin, Illinois

Carbondale, Illinois

Fulton, Kentucky

Newbern-Dyersburg, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Greenwood, Mississippi

Yazoo City, Mississippi

Jackson, Mississippi

Hazelhurst, Mississippi

Brookhaven, Mississippi

McComb, Mississippi

Hammond, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Gulfport, Mississippi

Biloxi, Mississippi

Pascagoula, Mississippi

Mobile, Alabama

Atmore, Alabama

Pensacola, Florida

Crestview, Florida

Chipley, Florida

Tallahassee, Florida

Madison, Florida

Lake City, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Palatka, Florida

DeLand, Florida

Winter Park, Florida

Orlando, Florida

What a powerhouse. Here's a single train departing Florida, with a section to Kansas City and a section to Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul (Or, Detroit.), providing 60 terminals and intermediate stations, with a total city pair possibility of 1,770 city pair combinations JUST FOR ONE SINGLE TRAIN ROUTE. When you add the additional hubbing/matrix opportunities for this proposed route in Orlando, Jacksonville, New Orleans, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, that number explodes into more thousands of combinations because over a dozen other major Amtrak routes suddenly become connected to this one impressive train. If you calculated every city pair in Amtrak's entire system (Even those which are impractical, such as Dallas-New Orleans.), you have 129,795 city pairs. That is the power of the matrix theory, and that is what can help make Amtrak much more of a player in Advanced Passenger Rail, as a springboard to a high speed passenger rail system all over the country.

Here's hoping Amtrak looks at ALL of the options, and first makes decisions that are best for its passengers and customers (The people who pay the bills and make the company possible.) before it makes decisions based on the comfort and convenience of the operating and maintenance departments.

And, keep in mind when Amtrak WANTS to do something, it can always miraculously find the equipment to do so. Those stimulus dollars which have floated into Amtrak are not the last dollars it's going to receive from the federal treasury. If Amtrak is serious about restoration of service, it will somehow find the money to put a couple of trainsets back together, and get operating funding again for a train which has never been officially discontinued.

This is one of those moments when the Amtrak Board of Directors needs to step up and closely examine all possibilities, not just blindly accept what is presented to them by staff which may have an agenda that is separate from that of the board.

4) On the subject of Advanced Passenger Rail, William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona has some thoughts on the subject.

[begin quote]

By William Lindley

Amtrak is the glue that is to bind the growing local rail networks, and it can have a definite role in what Andrew Selden has named Advanced Passenger Rail. Here's how ...

A prerequisite to APR is a national commitment to opening at least one new passenger railcar factory in the United States. Today, all railcars including commuter, light rail and subway cars, are imported from already overburdened foreign plants. Part of rebuilding America will be reigniting our dormant skills in manufacturing, and if passenger trains are part of our future we will be needing many more of them. There must be significant sources of new equipment, and even if an American plant says "Bombardier," "Siemens," or "Kawasaki" it's a step in the right

direction.

As the single physical roadblock to new trains – namely, manufacturing – is removed, Amtrak can go to the states and make offers. In its history, Amtrak has rarely sought expansion; it has nearly always been the states asking for new trains, or Amtrak making demands and threatening to cut service. Instead, let Amtrak now devise a plan to fulfill its charter of tying together America's existing and emerging regional systems, connecting Los Angeles Metrolink to proposed commuter lines in Phoenix and Houston; connecting Dallas's Trinity commuter trains to Chicago's; and likewise across the country.

Specifically, Amtrak's charter is:

"Amtrak shall operate a national rail passenger transportation system which ties together existing and emergent regional rail passenger service and other intermodal passenger service."

– Title 49, Chapter 247 Section 24701 (http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/49C247.txt )

There has been no better time, with new light rail systems in places like Phoenix and Houston bursting with new riders, many of whom never set foot on a bus but have now discovered that, to quote Amtrak's old slogan, "There's something about a train that's magic."

Cities are looking to expand their rail systems but budgets are short. Commuter rail and regional rail deliver more "bang for the buck" than light rail projects do; in Phoenix, a few hundred millions are slated for several five-mile extensions, but similar money could run trains sixty miles northwest to Wickenburg, thirty miles west to Buckeye, maybe even a hundred miles southeast to Tucson. In Arizona, both BNSF and Union Pacific railroads are at the table with the state, counties and cities on passenger rail projects. Arizona DOT and the associations of governments are careful to point out that the railroads are private businesses, and that any agreement must make business sense to them. But experience from Los Angeles to Denver and beyond proves fair agreements can be reached ... agreements that expand freight capacity and bolster safety while providing space for passenger trains. The recent Arizona pattern is being repeated in nearly every major American city.

With new equipment, and with new determination to forge relationships with the railroads, and with regional rail projects looking like better bargains than subways and new highways, there is little in the way of nationwide passenger rail expansion.

Amtrak's challenge is to develop an Advanced Passenger Rail-style proposal to connect these existing and new commuter and transit lines together – first regionally and then nationally. This lays the base for high speed rail in five to ten years, but more importantly it's how in two or three years we can get our people, and our economy, moving sooner rather than later.

[End quote]

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.http://www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com,

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2009-05-04

Volume 6, Number 13
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Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) It looks like the Sunset Limited, as we know it today - and, since 1993 - is about to be dead and gone, hacked into at least two, probably three pieces as reported in the last issue of This Week at Amtrak. The full story is below, after an account of Florida's SunRail debacle in the Florida Senate. See item number 3, below.

2) SunRail, apparently for all practical purposes is yesterday's news, leaving behind a bewildered constituency trying to pick up the pieces. The demise of SunRail late last week in the Florida Senate came after a long and torturous journey, and the end was due to a lethal combination of revenge, ignorance, and plain stupidity. The last cause - stupidity - shouldn't be too shocking, as it was the stupidity of elected officials who didn't bother to do their homework, and the current state of Florida's Republican Party which has become populated with elected officials who are less than stellar and have only been elected because they pledge allegiance to the Republican label.

Yes, it happened here in Florida, and it could happen to you, too.

First, some background. Florida is a huge state, from the extreme northeast corner just north of here in Jacksonville at the Georgia line, it's over 300 miles due south to the bottom of the peninsula, south of Miami. Going due west from the Atlantic Ocean here at Jacksonville, it's over 300 miles to just west of Pensacola to the Alabama state line. Florida has three distinct coasts, the east coast, west coast, and gulf coast. Our current population estimate is over 18 million souls. Politically, we are divided into seven distinct parts: South Florida, which encompasses Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Palm Beach; Southwest Florida which encompasses Naples, Fort Myers, and Sarasota; Tampa Bay, which includes Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater; the Interstate 4 Corridor of Central Florida which includes Lakeland, Orlando, and Daytona Beach; Northeast Florida which includes St. Augustine and Jacksonville; North Central Florida which encompasses Ocala, Gainesville, and Lake City; and West Florida/the Panhandle, which includes all of the gulf coast areas including Tallahassee, Panama City, and Pensacola.

Republicans for the past 20 years have controlled Florida; we have our second Republican governor in a row (first, Jeb Bush, now, Charlie Crist), and both houses of the Florida legislature have been controlled by Republicans since the 1980s.

South Florida and Gainesville in North Central Florida are the liberal hot spots in the state; most other areas have a mix of Republicans and moderate Democrats running the big cities.

SunRail was a plan to bring commuter rail to Central Florida, starting about 20 miles inland from the east coast in DeLand, on the extreme western edge of Volusia County (Daytona Beach is the most famous city in Volusia County), and traveling southwest to Sanford, Winter Park, Orlando, and Kissimmee, and ending eventually in Poinciana, on the outskirts of what is today the Central Florida theme park area, consisting of Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld, and everything that goes with those three giants of entertainment and vacation nirvana.

Florida, like so many other states, was a creature of railroad development in the 19th Century, but, railroad development, via the Florida Land Boom in the 1920s, kept going until after 1925.

Eventually, through the usual mergers, Florida ended up with three major railroads, with CSX having the most trackage and claim to the majority of Florida. CSX has two Florida main lines, the old Seaboard Air Line main line via Ocala in the center of the state, and the old Atlantic Coast Line, via Orlando, which runs to the east of the Seaboard main line.

It was the old ACL main line CSX was willing to sell to the State of Florida to commence SunRail.

The deal was a commuter railroad developer's dream. A well maintained, vital piece of track starting on the far outskirts of Florida's major metropolitan area in the middle of the peninsular, and hitting every bedroom community along the way, while paralleling Interstate 4. DeLand, Sanford, Longwood, Castleberry, Winter Park, downtown Orlando, Kissimmee, and Poinciana were all planned SunRail stops, with another dozen thrown in for good measure. Some of the track was already double tracked, and several stations were already in place and currently used by Amtrak. Putting SunRail into operation would be relatively easy as opposed to so many other new commuter rail projects which require huge infrastructure upgrades and major building projects. SunRail could be up and running on its first segment in a measurement in months, not years.

Florida already has Tri-Rail in South Florida, which runs from north of Palm Beach to Miami, hugging Interstate 95, and using the old Seaboard main line which was completed during the Florida land boom in the 1920s. Tri-Rail has been in operation for 20 years, and by all transit measurements is a success on a daily basis. It was robust service every day of the week, and is popular in all segments of South Florida society.

Two other areas of Florida are actively looking at creating commuter rail; Jacksonville and Tampa Bay both are putting together long range plans which include major commuter rail components. The Tampa area system will run over existing CSX tracks; the Jacksonville system will use a combination of CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Florida East Coast tracks, all of which radiate like spokes on a wheel from downtown Jacksonville.

CSX, like all railroads, was made the whipping boy of this project because it sought to maintain its risk position, by asking the State of Florida to limit how it can be sued by commuter rail passengers, and be held harmless under any circumstances, no matter who was a fault (including CSX) for the accident.

This is an interesting place to stop, because it involves so much of the convoluted thinking of today's society, where private property rights seem to be disappearing in favor of what some think are overpowering rights for the greater good of society. Of course, we fought a war against the Mother Country of England to get away from such tyranny, but, in light of the shabby job done today by alleged educators in America, no one seems to remember this morsel of history.

CSX, like all railroads, is as private company, owner by stockholders and investors. People buy and maintain shares of CSX stock because they believe it is a well-run company and a good investment, on which there will be a return in the form of dividends. In addition to the widows and orphans which own this stock, there are retirement systems, individual retirees, mutual funds, hedge funds, and a wide variety of other types of stockholders, all who depend on CSX to provide income based on their investment. For those in the back of the class sleeping, this is called capitalism, and it is what makes our country go forward.

CSX has what is called a fiduciary responsibility to its owners/shareholders to run the company as well as possible, and provide a return on investment. If the CSX managers do not do this, they can be held liable in a number of ways, under a variety of laws and regulations. When this does not happen, we have situations like Enron, where everyone is a loser.

So, CSX wants to protect its interests and the interests of its investors/shareholders by asking to be protected against lawsuits in case of accident. Railroading, as everyone knows, is one of the most dangerous activities on Earth, and accidents, under the very best of circumstances, are prone to happen.

We have seen in recent years insane decisions by judges and juries against railroads because it is presumed all railroads have deep pockets, and any time someone gets a hangnail when near a train, it is cause for the railroads to pay big bucks for any pain and suffering as a result of said hangnail. Amtrak in the past couple of years has had more than one lawsuit where scrapings from the bottom of the human gene pool have trespassed on Amtrak property (which was plainly marked as no trespassing areas or fenced in areas to keep the public out), but, judges have said Amtrak didn't to enough to stop dumb people from harming themselves.

CSX, rightly so, wants to avoid this situation in Florida, and, in Massachusetts, too, where it is negotiating to turn over some trackage for commuter use around Boston.

The public and public officials somehow seem to continually think railroad property is public property, and should be available to everyone for any use. It's only when an accident occurs (that hangnail, again), that suddenly the mean, rich, railroad should have been more careful to protect those who use private railroad property for public purposes.

The revenge piece of this saga goes back almost a full decade. Back in 2000, the general electorate of Florida, not realizing what a silly mistake they were making, actually added an amendment to the Florida constitution requiring a high speed rail system be built in Florida. No funding mechanism was added at the time, and the amendment was worded and promoted without benefit of an actual cost to taxpayers. The "gee whiz" factor of the thing, along with total ambivalence by many facets in the state (including this writer), allowed the amendment to be passed and ratified in Florida's general election in 2000. The morning after election day, many rational people woke up and were stunned to learn we actually had a mandate to build a high speed rail system in Florida, even though there was no way to pay for it, nor a rational plan for it.

The amendment was the work of a Florida millionaire, C.C. "Doc" Dockery, who had nothing better to do than push for his dream and spend his money on the constitutional amendment.

Jeb Bush, Florida's Republican governor, two years into his first term, was appalled. Governor Bush, a fiscal conservative grappling with a number of issues and trying to get a handle on a bloated state budget and tax system he inherited from his predecessor, knew a bad amendment when he saw one. Additionally, one of his first acts when he took office in 1999 was to kill another Florida high speed rail project, the Florida Overland Xpress, which was the product of a reputable firm in California. The concept of the FOX project was good, but many felt it had the inherent problems many of today's proposed high speed corridor have; it was a stand-alone system, had inadequate feeder systems, and was too expensive for what Florida needed to spend at the time.

Even though Governor Bush's Florida Department of Transportation had a solid policy to develop rail before developing major new highways in a booming state where 800+ people a day were moving to, Mr. Bush knew both FOX and Mr. Dockery's plans were flawed and had the potential to cost Florida taxpayers a ton of money without much return on investment/sustainable ridership.

Subsequently, in 2004, Florida voters, under the leadership of Governor Bush, wisely got rid of the amendment to Florida's constitution and high speed rail went away.

This annoyed Doc Dockery, a millionaire who was accustomed to getting his way. As a result, Mrs. Millionaire, Paula Dockery, got herself elected to the Florida Senate from the Dockery's hometown of Lakeland, one county over to the east from Tampa on Florida's west coast.

Senator Dockery started ingratiating herself in the Florida Senate, collecting chits and swapping votes she would hoard and use later against SunRail.

Towards the end of his second and final term in office (We have term limits on practically everyone in state office here in Florida.), Governor Bush made a surprise announcement and said a much needed commuter rail system would be created in Central Florida, using the existing CSX/old ACL tracks to the northeast and southwest of Orlando.

It was a great bargain in many respects. In exchange for CSX selling the 61 miles of track for the future SunRail to the State of Florida, the state would provide hundreds of millions of dollars for CSX to upgrade the old SAL main line in Central Florida which runs through Ocala, allowing CSX to move all but local freight service from the ACL line to the SAL line. Additionally, local communities along the SAL line would receive huge amounts of dollars to upgrade and bridge over grade crossings, eliminating traffic congestion and making sure the doubling of freight trains would not be an inconvenience to local residents.

CSX would also move the primary operations from its Taft yards in Southwest Orlando to further south in Winter Haven, and build an entirely new yard and intermodal facility which would be closer to the old SAL main line and still maintain a presence near all of Florida's major Interstate highways.

Senator Dockery found her chance for revenge against Jeb Bush. She flung herself into action, convincing the downtown merchants of Lakeland all of the new trains coming down the SAL line would ruin business in Historic Downtown Lakeland (One man's definition of historic, of course, is another man's definition of blighted and/or old.). She also started a campaign against CSX, and gathered up lots of allies along the way like the trial lawyers, calling the deal a "giveaway" for corporate monolith CSX, unfair because of the limited liability portion of the deal, and pretty much also managed to blame tooth decay in every citizen of Florida because of the overall meanness of CSX.

As a result, the Florida Senate defeated the plan in 2008. But, wait! supporters said, we have a two year deal with CSX, not scheduled to expire before June 30, 2009, so we can win this thing again when the legislature goes into its 2009 session.

And, Senator Dockery did it again, finishing off SunRail last Friday, the final scheduled day of the legislative year. Even though the legislature automatically went into a week's overtime to finish the budget, only budgetary matters are being considered, not new programs.

Republican Senator Dockery used every trick in the book. She scared the unions into going along with her by exclaiming union jobs would be lost if SunRail became reality. The truth is, eight - yes, 8 - CSX union jobs for signalmen would be abolished along the 61 mile SunRail route, but all eight of the workers would be offered their same job on another part of the CSX division which encompasses SunRail.

She also convinced many of Florida's minorities to back her, falsely claiming that money for SunRail would take away money from education and community program accounts. Never mind the majority of the money was coming from the federal government in special earmarked accounts which could only be used for transportation, and never mind what little state money being used was also barred from being used for projects other than transportation.

The trial lawyers the second go-round gave up the fight and endorsed SunRail, as did the downtown merchants of Lakeland. Dockery still fought on, because her goal was revenge on Jeb Bush's system, not what was best for Florida.

Tri-Rail, in South Florida, while a continual success, has been hampered by money for its entire 20 year history. It is currently supported by farebox revenue and the three county government of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. The county governments, while simultaneously pushing for expansion of Tri-Rail by encompassing the parallel Florida East Coast Railway main line to create a giant "U" shaped system (An excellent idea; the possibilities are endless if this goes through.), constantly threaten to cripple Tri-Rail by slowing down basic funding for the system.

Legislators from the other six parts of Florida are generally non-plussed by the hard-and-fast pleas of South Florida politicians to allow them to levy a $2 per day sales tax on rental cars in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties only, claiming it would hurt tourism. They would not even allow a proposed bill this session in the legislature for two things to happen: first, by a super majority, county commissioners would have to approve the $2 rental car tax, and, second, the tax would have to have voter approval in a general election. Despite constant pleas from Tri-Rail supporters, house and senate members from other parts of the state are tone-deaf, and refused to even consider such a measure. And, since many of the South Florida senators refused to back SunRail because of misinformation and threats from Senator Dockery, Central Florida senators essentially said, "too bad, so sad," and turned their backs on Tri-Rail, leaving the three counties to fend for themselves for funding.

Obviously, the politicians from the other six political divisions in Florida want the fruits of expansion and commerce in South Florida, so they will have the sales taxes and property taxes generated in South Florida to spend all over the state, but they refuse to understand how much an efficient commuter rail system contributes to the economic well-being of an area, which ultimately increases tax revenues. They want their cake, and want to eat it, too, but still cling to a silly "no new taxes under any circumstances" mantra in a state which has grown so rapidly it's impossible to keep up with infrastructure needs and expansion solely based on current income.

This story could go on for another 2,000 words to get in all of the details, but, at this point you get the drift. SunRail was killed not for the public good, but for political revenge and intrigue, swapped votes and payback, misinformation, and outright lies.

Congressman John Mica, who represents much of the SunRail area in Congress, was a strong supporter of SunRail, and tried to convince his colleagues on the state level $100 million has already been spent on SunRail, and a quarter of a billion dollars allocated for SunRail on the federal level would forever disappear if the Senate failed to act. Likewise, Congresswoman Corrine Brown of Jacksonville, whose district also includes some of the SunRail territory, and is the most powerful Democrat in Congress controlling railroad money to be spent, couldn't convince her colleagues on the state level, either. It was if all of this federal money didn't matter; political intrigue and revenge mattered more.

Today, as this is being written, defeated SunRail proponents - Republicans and Democrats alike - are meeting in Orlando and trying to figure out what to do. The State of Florida will most likely move ahead with its plans to expand Interstate 4 to its maximum width, and, without the benefit of SunRail to help local commuters, it's going to be very messy driving through Central Florida for the next few years.

The Florida Republican Party has demonstrated what happens when one party stays in power too long. All of the initial visionary stars which got things going and brought the party to power have been replaced by political hacks who win elections only because of their party affiliation. Leadership has been replaced by rote process.

The fun part of this concerns CSX. While CSX will continue to pay property taxes and run trains on the old ACL main line through Orlando and Central Florida, it will proceed to build its new yard and intermodal facility in Winter Haven, and most likely reroute more trains down the old SAL mail line. All of those cities and town along the way which would have received state help for traffic mitigation due to increased train traffic are now on their own. Likewise, the City of Lakeland will see increased train traffic, but now that SunRail is gone, so is the part of the package which would have paid to move the CSX line out of downtown Lakeland. The worst fears of the merchants will come true, but no one will be there to help them solve the problem.

Senator Paula Dockery and her husband, C.C. "Doc" Dockery have their revenge against Jeb Bush, three years after he left office and is a private citizen living in Miami. Just as talk has started again about high speed rail in Florida from the federal level, Doc Dockery resigned his position on Florida's High Speed Rail Commission a few weeks ago. That probably doesn't matter much. Some of the federal criteria for high speed rail, such as having a feeder system like SunRail, won't be met, and most likely federal money will go anywhere but Florida.

The new efforts of TBART, the Tampa Bay area's metropolitan planning organization, to get a commuter rail system organized on CSX tracks just took a major hit. If you were a CSX executive, would you put much time and effort into a project like that so your company can become a whipping boy for a vengeful woman? All of this was not just a slap in the face to CSX, it was a slap in the face in the company's home state.

And, don't forget about us here in Jacksonville. We've been slowly but surely putting together a pretty good commuter rail plan, which not only will help Jacksonville, but provide benefits for Amtrak, too. Don't get too excited about that; Senator Paula Dockery started driving a pretty heavy stake through the heart of our plan, too, for all of the same reasons as with Tampa's system.

Could this happen to you in your state? You betcha. This is why many of us for years have been saying any rail plan must be the best plan, not just any plan. Any time politicians are involved with commuter rail - or, any type of passenger rail - there is a potential for trouble. We've just proved that here in Florida; we have a dead system, $100 million spent on something that doesn't look like it's having any immediate prospects, and one of our best corporate citizens has a black eye through no fault of its own.

One telling result of all of this is the public's (and politicians') love for the automobile. Because this is such a deep and abiding love, no one is willing to look at reasonable alternatives. It's one thing to talk about banning automobiles and forcing everyone onto public transit or commuter rail. It's quite another thing to provide reasonable choices as long as the public budget stays balanced and there is a large enough segment of the population which wishes to use those choices. Those who dearly love automobiles need to understand not everyone have the same deep feelings about spending hours each day in a car, along with hundreds of thousands of your new best friends, all creeping along at minimum speeds, just hoping you can move over four lanes to the right before you reach your exit.

3) William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona attended the joint RailPAC/NARP meeting in Los Angeles and files this report and personal observations.

[begin quote]

By William Lindley

Saturday, May 2, 2009 in Los Angles, Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman and longtime and well-respected Vice President Brian Rosenwald laid out the company's new direction. The scene was an auditorium in the office tower adjoining Los Angeles Union Station, at the well-attended joint membership meeting of the Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada (RailPAC) and the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP).

Amtrak has had some good leaders before; and on occasion there has even been money enough to work with; but like the Chicago Cubs where everything so promising in Spring seems to not quite come together by the end of the baseball season, there has always been a missing link. On Saturday, though, one received the impression that - with folks like the determined and visionary, yet, realistic Mr. Boardman, and the experienced and capable Mr. Rosenwald - there might, this year, be a World Series to be had for Amtrak.

In a letter to Amtrak employees shortly after he arrived in his new position, Mr. Boardman wrote, "In my view, a national intercity, interconnected passenger rail service is critically important for the mobility and energy independence of the United States." Saturday's presentation was consistent with realistically expanding passenger trains' role across the country.

Mr. Boardman spoke of Amtrak as momentarily feeling like "the dog that caught the car" with the recent stimulus funds - "What do you do now?" Yet, plans are moving quickly, with the $1.3 billion already 70% obligated. He said "a healthier Amtrak includes a better relationship with employees" and the May 1st employee appreciation day included due back pay.

Touching on the Obama Administration's high speed rail plans, he explained systems like the French TGV only occurred after the existing networks were at capacity. America does not yet have a "high speed rail culture … we are not ready for orphan systems" that do not have appropriate feeder networks including bus, streetcar, subway, and commuter trains. Boardman described a high speed network emerging through incremental improvements, using improved track such as "Class 6 at 110 MPH," and even using (relatively common) Class 5 mainline freight tracks at 90 MPH. And, "I don't buy the argument you can't mix passenger trains and freight at 110 MPH." This from the man whose immediate previous job as Amtrak's interim president and CEO was the administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, whose primary role is that of the safety of America's railroads.

Concluding his remarks, Boardman characterized the discussion of revising the existing Sunset route as representing a "new way of thinking, not an announcement" and continued, "We recognize the need to reconnect Florida (to the West)."

Replying to questions from the audience, Mr. Boardman indicated there would be a Viewliner (single-level, as used on eastern trains) equipment order, of all types (Coach, Sleeper, and Diner); that "Diner Lite" never worked, and it would be eliminated this year; and that "we will have a long distance fleet plan." He said Amtrak had begun to study new options for serving Phoenix, but that Las Vegas service would be further in the future.

Later, VP Brian Rosenwald spoke of several issues; of particular interest was the Sunset Route realignment proposal which is "within range of demonstrating that added revenue from daily service will offset the additional costs. Our only bias in developing this proposal is that there be daily service" with a primary factor being the highest projected revenue segment via Dallas to Chicago. He was clear this is all still a proposal, subject to further input, not an announcement.

As the proposal stands now, there would be a daily train operating from Los Angeles via San Antonio and Dallas to Chicago, with a cross-platform transfer to a daily train operating from San Antonio via Houston to New Orleans. Running time between Los Angeles and Chicago may be up to eight hours less than today's Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle schedule. There would be daily through-car service with sleepers and full diner between Los Angeles and Chicago by extending the daily service between Chicago and San Antonio and tri-weekly service west of San Antonio of the Texas Eagle on the Sunset Limited route to a single train on the full Los Angeles-Chicago route, and dropping the two existing names of the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited.

Departure from Los Angeles under this scenario would be closer to the Sunset Limited's traditional one, perhaps 10:30 P.M., in order to offer better times at Maricopa (for Phoenix) and San Antonio. The desert Maricopa station "will do for the moment" until a better plan for serving Phoenix can be devised. Estimate a 9:30 P.M. arrival at New Orleans from the west. Also, by moving to the traditional departure time of the Sunset Limited in Los Angeles eastbound, this re-establishes the connection with the Coast Starlight with its "strong revenue potential" because of the matrix effect. Further, a single onboard services crew could operate between LA and Chicago, thus simplifying operations.

To describe this new service, the "Sunset Limited" name might be shelved in favor of, potentially, the "Golden State." When equipment permits, Mr. Rosenwald was hopeful through cars between New Orleans and Los Angeles could be added.

In my opinion, the Sunset restructuring could bring a far stronger, functional passenger train presence to America's entire south and west. Coupled with new and developing commuter-rail and light-rail projects widely perceived as successes in Sunbelt cities like Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston, the seeds of a "rail culture" could well germinate.

My impression was that Joseph Boardman knows when to be specific, when to be delicate, and when to be bold. Mr. Rosenwald has demonstrated ability to manage a train and work with the parties involved. Together, Mr. Rosenwald and Mr. Boardman represent an Amtrak that may at last find its balance.

[End quote]

4) Other interesting facts reported by Mr. Lindley from the meeting include a continuing emphasis by Amtrak on the Route Performance Improvement program, which moves each route more towards product-line management "ownership." Hmmmm … Amtrak had this as a well-working program in the 1990s, and it was thrown out by former Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn in favor of traditional freight railroad management style. Now, the future is the past; at least it's back to a program which proved to be one of Amtrak's best management innovations.

There is also work afoot for restoring higher level of coach attendant staffing, dining car staffing, and restoration of regional dishes in dining cars. Gee, all of those Amtrak employees who were let go or otherwise forced out when onboard staff downsizing took place must be thrilled to know losing their jobs could have/should have been avoided.

Other than Auto Train, the Palmetto leads all trains in cost recovery, with a 96% ratio. This ratio correctly excludes allocated system costs (such as corporate overhead) and depreciation. Auto Train has a 121% ratio (that translates to profit), followed by the Empire Builder at 76%, and the Southwest Chief at 74%. the lowest long distance train ratios are the Cardinal at 52%, and the Sunset Limited at 33%. The common factor of the two lowest ratios is both trains are tri-weekly trains. The Empire Builder contributes over $5,000 per coach per day of revenue, and the Sunset Limited coach daily revenue is $1,990; again a victim of tri-weekly service.

5) Mr. Lindley's report offers a mixture of hope and anticipation.

While the elimination of the Sunset Limited as a separate train - and, America's oldest, continuously operating named passenger train - at least some attempt seems to be made to improve the financial performance of the route, even with a less than perfect replacement. If, as indicated, as soon as possible some necessary equipment comes out of the shops to provide through-car service from Los Angeles to New Orleans (An adequate supply of Superliner transition cars seems to be the hold-up.), then a reasonable substitute for the Sunset will have been accomplished. Later, hopefully, a second frequency on this route will be provided, and the honorable Sunset Limited name can be used, again.

For a number of years, the Sunset Limited has been made a mockery by uninformed politicians and uncaring Amtrak senior management. The move from tri-weekly to daily could have been accomplished long before this, and, even with all of the on time performance problems of the Southern Pacific and later Union Pacific railroads, the train would have had better numbers if it was daily and not tri-weekly. Finally, an answer seems at hand, even if the "chicken" way is being taken, and the equally honorable name of the Golden State for a time rides on the Sunset Limited's rails. No more will ignorant politicians be able to point to the hapless Sunset as the route/root of all evil of Amtrak. So, what will be the solution for the tri-weekly Cardinal between Chicago and Washington/New York?

Mr. Lindley aptly points out what Amtrak Vice President, the father of the Pacific Parlour Car for sleeping car passengers on the modern day Coast Starlight, can accomplish when he's allowed to flourish. Here's hoping now that he's firmly embedded in Washington and apparently has been given room to dream, he can push through more changes for Amtrak passengers and crews and help push the company to viability.

As for Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman, while he received high marks from Mr. Lindley, others were not as fascinated with her performance in Los Angeles. While he receives credit for allowing Mr. Rosenwald to "do his thing," and starting to make other inroads in the Amtrak bureaucracy, it's still questionable if he is the man who ultimately has the type of vision luminaries such as Gil Carmichael and Andrew Selden have for the future of passenger rail. Mr. Boardman has shown us results, and has shown us good starting plans for the future, but, close to six months into his stewardship of Amtrak, we still have not seem a long term plan for Amtrak, nor have we seen any type of meaningful housecleaning in Amtrak's management cadre. We will wait and see what Mr. Boardman next has to say and what he will do about a serious equipment order for the bi-level car long distance route system, which should be one of the highest priorities on anyone's list for the stabilization and future growth of Amtrak.


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## jis

MrFSS said:


> Other than Auto Train, the Palmetto leads all trains in cost recovery, with a 96% ratio. This ratio correctly excludes allocated system costs (such as corporate overhead) and depreciation. Auto Train has a 121% ratio (that translates to profit), followed by the Empire Builder at 76%, and the Southwest Chief at 74%. the lowest long distance train ratios are the Cardinal at 52%, and the Sunset Limited at 33%. The common factor of the two lowest ratios is both trains are tri-weekly trains. The Empire Builder contributes over $5,000 per coach per day of revenue, and the Sunset Limited coach daily revenue is $1,990; again a victim of tri-weekly service.


Those are very interesting figures. I had suspected, but not fully realized how good at cost recovery the Plametto is. I suspect the Carolinian would be right up there too, though unlike the Palmetto it is not counted as a LD train.

I wonder if AlanB or MrFSS or someone in the know can figure out how to get the full list from URPA or wherever it is available and post it for us. Thanks.


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## AlanB

jis said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> Other than Auto Train, the Palmetto leads all trains in cost recovery, with a 96% ratio. This ratio correctly excludes allocated system costs (such as corporate overhead) and depreciation. Auto Train has a 121% ratio (that translates to profit), followed by the Empire Builder at 76%, and the Southwest Chief at 74%. the lowest long distance train ratios are the Cardinal at 52%, and the Sunset Limited at 33%. The common factor of the two lowest ratios is both trains are tri-weekly trains. The Empire Builder contributes over $5,000 per coach per day of revenue, and the Sunset Limited coach daily revenue is $1,990; again a victim of tri-weekly service.
> 
> 
> 
> Those are very interesting figures. I had suspected, but not fully realized how good at cost recovery the Plametto is. I suspect the Carolinian would be right up there too, though unlike the Palmetto it is not counted as a LD train.
> 
> I wonder if AlanB or MrFSS or someone in the know can figure out how to get the full list from URPA or wherever it is available and post it for us. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I don't know if URPA has a list available with the percentages, but you can calculate the numbers yourself from the Amtrak monthly financial statements posted on Amtrak's site. About 3/4ths of the way through the report is Section C where you can find pages showing revenue vs. costs for each train. In the case of the September 2008 report, which was the year end report for Amtrak, the year-to-date numbers are on page #65. URPA is taking the "Total avoidable costs" and comparing that to the revenue earned by the train to come up with the percentage.


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## jis

AlanB said:


> I don't know if URPA has a list available with the percentages, but you can calculate the numbers yourself from the Amtrak monthly financial statements posted on Amtrak's site. About 3/4ths of the way through the report is Section C where you can find pages showing revenue vs. costs for each train. In the case of the September 2008 report, which was the year end report for Amtrak, the year-to-date numbers are on page #65. URPA is taking the "Total avoidable costs" and comparing that to the revenue earned by the train to come up with the percentage.


Thanks.

As Whooz mentioned in one of his posts the info was there for all trains on a slide presented at LA. So I will wait a few days for those slides to be posted by NARP before I crank up my own spreadsheet.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; May 22, 2009

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 6, Number 14

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) It’s the “little things” that often start the biggest stories. Progressive Railroading Online featured a story on May 19th about Amtrak launching construction on the much-needed new Auto Train station in Sanford, Florida. The story went on for four paragraphs talking about this new $10 million facility being paid for with federal stimulus fund monies.

It was the last line in the last paragraph which really matters the most. “Amtrak plans to seek other places throughout the country where it can launch other Auto Train services.”

Wow.

Auto Train, in concept and operation, has consistently been a winner, and has huge potential. Apparently, now that Amtrak is out of full-retreat mode, it thinks so, too.

Today’s Auto Train, with daily service between the Washington, D.C. suburb of Lorton, Virginia, and the Orlando suburb of Sanford, has a “cost recovery” ratio at the farebox of 121%, in Amspeak. In the real world, it makes a profit. The current load factor for the Auto Train is 63.6%, up from 50% where it was for years. Considering this train has no intermediate stops, 63.6% makes this train – even though it is (gasp!) profitable – underperforming. Mostly this is due to seasonal migration of cold-weather states denizens and Canadians coming to the warmth of Florida, or those same people escaping our intolerable heat and humidity of the summer for the cooling breezes of northern climates.

Yes, we need more of this, and good for Amtrak to be looking for other route opportunities.

2) The saga of SunRail in Central Florida continues, with its supporters racing to a deadline of June 30, 2009 with CSX to close the deal, even though the Florida Senate would not vote to approve the deal week in early May. SunRail supporters are looking for a way around the Florida Senate to get the project going. This should be an interesting exercise in government creativity. Despite the fact every leftie in and out of Florida wanted to paint CSX – the current owner of the tracks SunRail will hopefully travel upon after the tracks are sold to SunRail – as evil, money-grubbing, anti-American, anti-human, anti-everything, no rational person can blame CSX for looking for an outcome that will best benefit the company and its shareholders. Everyone seems to forget railroads are not public utilities, but private businesses which have a primary responsibility to create benefits and profits for owners. Anyone who believes CSX should not live up to that responsibility in the best way it can is living in a dreamland.

But, now, some thoughts on Amtrak and some opportunities to prove it’s really an organization dedicated to the proliferation of passenger rail and being an honest provider of transportation, not just dedicated to extracting maximum rents from gullible public agencies.

3) For an exercise, suppose you are a planner in Amtrak’s planning department. Suppose your goal was to harvest the low hanging fruit of opportunities, where passenger train service could be expanded with minimum impact on the need for additional equipment, the establishment of new stations, or blazing new trails, but “closing gaps” in the national system and expansion based on sound matrix theories. What are your obvious choices?

That question has a number of good answers, but we’re going to focus on several easy choices, including extending the Palmetto south from Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida; pushing the former Kansas City Mule/current Missouri River Runner services to Omaha, Nebraska; extending the California Zephyr from Emeryville, California to Los Angeles, taking the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Crescent to Boston; extending the Capitol Limited to Florida; and turning the pretty-much wasted Heartland Flyer into a real route, extending it on both ends to form a Chicago-Oklahoma City-Fort Worth-San Antonio route.

4) In the 1980s, at the instigation of United Rail Passenger Alliance, the Amtrak Board of Directors granted an experimental program extending the New York-Savannah Palmetto route to Jacksonville, Florida, an additional 148 miles that includes the route of the Silver Meteor and Silver Star. Ostensibly, the Palmetto hauled some U.S. Mail, but the extension mostly benefitted passengers.

Originally, the Amtrak planning department opposed the move, saying the only traffic which would be picked up by an extended Palmetto was local traffic between Jacksonville and Savannah, never taking into account the realities of extra frequencies and how much of a traffic generator going from two trains a day to three trains a day produces. The extension started off with a bang, and much to the dismay of Amtrak planners, Jacksonville passengers wanted to go other places than just Jesup, Georgia or Savannah, they wanted to travel to every station along the route, even all the way to New York City! The extension did well for a period of time, and then came the realignment of Florida service, and the Palmetto was extended to Tampa, and given a new name, the Silver Palm. Despite a number of changes, the train continued to do well for over a decade, until yet another realignment and cuts, including the end of Amtrak Express and mail haulage, which was big business for the Silver Palm (Remember, Amtrak managers are judged on how much money they save in a budget, not how much revenue they produce.), and the Silver Palm went away, and the Palmetto returned, this time only to Savannah. The reason, as quoted by an Amtrak spokesman, was Savannah produced better crew turns than Jacksonville, so the train ended there instead of Jacksonville.

Essentially, Amtrak said the needs of passengers were not important, but the needs of the operating department were paramount.

Moving the southern terminus of the Palmetto would cost relatively little; there is already the required crew base in Jacksonville for the train and engine crew and the onboard services crew, no extra equipment would be required, and the only inconvenience would be abolishing the car cleaner jobs in Savannah and moving those jobs to Jacksonville. Also, the hours the Jacksonville station is open would need to be extended. So, the 296 extra train miles a day, and a few extra hours for the Jacksonville station to be opened are the only large considerations. The route matrix of stations increases from 20 stations (including terminals) to 22 stations, adding Jesup, Georgia and Jacksonville. The possible city pair combinations leap from 190 city pairs with 20 stations to 231 city pairs with 22 stations, nicely increasing the travel possibilities. In the final days before the Palmetto was extended to Tampa and renamed the Silver Palm, it was not unusual for the Palmetto to board up to 40 or more northbound passengers in Jacksonville on a daily basis.

As reported in the last edition of TWA, Amtrak says the Palmetto has a cost recovery ratio of 96%; no doubt, with the additional addition of the two new stops that ratio would easily go into the black, which would make the Palmetto profitable, even under Amtrak’s arcane accounting system. The Palmetto has a 51.3% load factor, using only two train sets of one club-dinette, four coaches, and one baggage car.

To recap:

– No extra equipment

– Only 148 additional route miles in each direction

– No extra train and engine crews or onboard services staff (T&E crews on the Silver Meteor already run between Jacksonville and Florence, South Carolina, where the Palmetto’s southernmost crews board on their way to Savannah.)

– Minimal costs to keep the Jacksonville station open longer hours

– Southbound and northbound schedule can remain as is with additional time added in the evening and the morning to accommodate run to Jacksonville

– City pair combination possibilities jump from 190 to 231 city pairs

– Increased frequency makes train travel more attractive for every city along the route because two more stations have been added, including the Jacksonville metropolitan area market of over 1 million souls

What’s not to like about this proposal?

5) Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner, the service with the snappy new name instead of the older Kansas City Mule, operating between St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri via Sedalia is an opportunity to turn a local, state supported service (Illinois, are you listening?) into a regional service connecting three of Amtrak’s long distance routes with a simple extension. Take the River Runners to Omaha, Nebraska, thereby creating a route from St. Louis to Kansas City to Omaha. The extension would be less than 200 miles, and, with some clever scheduling, would tie together for hubbing the routes of the California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, and Texas Eagle. But, really, if you’re going to be aggressive about this, run the trains all the way from St. Louis to Chicago on the Texas Eagle route (Or, for extra credit, be really creative and go beyond the Texas Eagle route and bring the trains into Chicago on the City of New Orleans route, therefore connecting four, instead of three, long distance routes.).

Too many of Amtrak’s current routes begin and end a hubs like Chicago or Los Angeles, but you “can’t get there from here” from anywhere but endpoint hubs, making Amtrak virtually useless for anyone who dares to want to travel in anything but a straight line.

The current fad (as in, hopefully, will go away, like all fads) for Amtrak is to milk money from state governments to run trains which come to a screeching halt at state borders. There is no thought of federalism, or (horrors!) of reducing costs to states (after all, it’s only taxpayer money) by extending state routes and turning them into regional routes. Taking the Missouri River Runners and letting them sprint all of the way from Omaha to Kansas City to St. Louis (and, even into Chicago) creates viable regional connections which provide feeder service from one long distance route to other long distance routes.

Today’s Kansas City-St. Louis service, despite having two daily frequencies, boasts of a depressing 37.4% load factor, carrying 151,700 passengers a year, or just 104 passengers on average per departure. That 37.4% load factor, believe it or not, is based on a train consist of two Horizon coaches and one club-dinette car for one train consist, and three Horizon coaches for the other train consist. Train consists this small are designed for failure and constant government dependance.

If you’re comfortable spending other peoples’ money, and not really caring about financial accountability, it doesn’t matter to you what kind of load factor trains have, just as long as trains run on a route. The three routes involved with hubbing in this concept, the California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, and Texas Eagle, all have better than average load factors, but all have room for improvement. The Zephyr’s is the lowest, at 52.3%, followed by the Chief and Eagle, both at 63.8%. While technically a long distance route is sold out at 65%, both of these trains today are suffering from short equipment consists, so adding a single car to each consist could produce a great amount of revenue for new travelers with better hubbing opportunity and a greater number of city pair combinations.

To recap:

– Create a regional route connecting three (or four) major long distance routes for greater hubbing and matrix benefits; a poor performing, state sponsored route expands into a greater money maker and provides more transportation output

– Route extension is less than 200 miles

6) The extension of the California Zephyr from Emeryville, California southward to Los Angeles was a favorite of the late Adrian Herzog, Ph.D., one of URPA’s early luminaries. Dr. Herzog, who was considered one of the country’s best computer modelers for passenger train routes (He was an astrophysicist/rocket scientist by trade.), considered the addition of an overnight run down the Coast Starlight route on the very western edge of California to have huge money-making potential.

Today’s California Zephyr westbound arrives in Emeryville, California from Chicago everyday at 5:10 P.M., and departs eastbound the next morning at 9:10 A.M.

The Coast Starlight makes the run between Emeryville and Los Angeles in just a tad over 12 hours. Adding that travel time onto the schedule of the Zephyr, plus allowing from some station dwell time, would permit the westbound Zephyr to depart Emeryville at 6 P.M., and arrive in Los Angeles before the morning rush hour, anywhere from 6:30 to 7:30 A.M. Departing eastbound, the Zephyr could depart Los Angeles in the middle of the evening sometime beyond 7:30 P.M., and be in Emeryville for the scheduled departure back to Chicago at 9:10 A.M., allowing a full 12 hours in Los Angeles for the train to be cleaned and maintained, all during daylight hours.

One extra train set would be required for this extension. The major benefit from this extension would be a full second frequency, offering overnight service, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, two giant California markets. Not only would this relieve some pressure from the Coast Starlight, but it would also increase travel possibilities, opening up a huge vista of passenger opportunities.

The city pair combinations for single train travel skyrocket from 561 city pairs on the current California Zephyr route to 946 city pair possibilities when you add the 10 stations in California south of Emeryville and down to Los Angeles. The California Zephyr has a load factor of 52.3%, with plenty of room to grow. It runs with one baggage car, one transition dorm/sleeper, two sleepers, one lounge car, a diner, and three coaches.

To recap:

– One extra trainset

– Second frequency, providing desirable overnight service on a highly popular route with high revenue potential on a full service train

– No new stations, but many stations will have to extend hours for an overnight stop

– Two additional train and engine crews, one additional onboard services crew

– Allows California Zephyr to have turn maintenance and restocking at full Los Angeles maintenance base instead of smaller maintenance base in Emeryville

– Existing California Zephyr schedule remains as is, with additional running added before and after present schedule times

7) Moving the northern terminus of the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Crescent from New York City to Boston isn’t really much of a stretch. Today’s Meteor arrives from Miami in New York City at 11:38 A.M., and returns to Miami at 3:15 P.M. The Silver Star arrives from Miami in New York City at 7:16 P.M. and returns the next morning, departing Penn Station southbound at 10:52 A.M. The northbound Crescent arrives in New York at 2:06 P.M., and departs southbound the next day at 2:15 P.M. It’s obvious too many trains are sitting for too long in Sunnyside Yard in New York; the Meteor, Star, and Crescent each use four full consists under today’s scheduling.

Take the whole bunch, and push them each to Boston, including the Lake Shore Limited, while keeping the separate Boston section, but setting it up as it’s own Boston-Chicago train as a second frequency between Boston, Albany/Rensselaer, and Chicago. All cities along the Northeast Corridor are horribly under served by Amtrak trains going east-west. It would require no extra equipment for any of these trains.

Boston is already servicing the Boston section sleepers of the Lake Shore, and has a full turn maintenance base today, so moving each of these trains to Boston from New York will only impact the onboard services crews of the Lake Shore and Crescent, as the Meteor and Star are staffed by the Miami Crew Base.

Since all of the track on the NEC between New York and Boston is either owned by Amtrak or Metro North, pushing these trains north is not a major consideration, and each train can keep its current schedule, just adding time before and after the current schedule for running between Boston and New York.

Amtrak for decades has had an unsavory habit, except during the Christmas season, of running long distance trains on the NEC as “receive” or “discharge” only, preventing local business between New York and Washington. No matter what excuse may be given about time keeping, quick movement on the corridor, or, Amtrak’s favorite – the dog ate its homework – the only reason this is done is to funnel local revenue to Acela and Northeast regional trains instead of the long distance trains. With proper yield management in place, this receive/discharge system could be abolished, and passengers wishing to travel on a full service train with a complete dining car and private sleeping car accommodations could be filling empty spaces (particularly northbound) on these trains and adding to both food and beverage revenues and accommodations up charge revenues.

As with other routes, the city pair combinations for same train service, by adding either the Shore Route or the Inland Route between Hartford, Connecticut and Boston go up dramatically.

On the matter of sending the Lake Shore from Penn Station in New York directly to Boston, this merely creates a desirable “L” shaped route, which suddenly provides the passengers along the New York-Boston section of the NEC with more travel choices without having to change trains.

On the other side of the coin, by creating a new train between Boston and Chicago via Albany/Rensselaer (such as the old New York Central train, the New England States), this ploy requires only additional dining cars, and, most likely, more coaches to keep up with the increased demand in business because of a second frequency along the current Lake Shore Limited route. The current consist of the Boston section of the Lake Shore is one baggage car, one sleeper, one Horizon food service car, and two coaches.

Today’s Lake Shore Limited sits for 12 hours in Chicago before it heads back east, and the Boston section lays over for 14 hours on the east end. By keeping the current Lake Shore schedule (or, perhaps, departing Chicago 60 or 90 minutes earlier, the new Boston train could depart Chicago an hour later, providing the major metropolitan city of Cleveland, Ohio with a more marketable eastbound train time, from the current 5:05 A.M. to a slightly more civilized 6:00 A.M. and still arrive in Boston before late night because of eliminating the extra time in Albany for switching from one train to two trains. The same theory holds true westbound; by leaving Boston a bit earlier than its current noon departure, and eliminating the switching time of combining two trains into one, the new train from New England could be in Cleveland closer to midnight than 3:27 A.M., and still be in Chicago after 7:00 A.M.

Let’s stop for a moment, and veer to the right. If you’re a resident of Cleveland, and want to ride the train, you better be a night owl. Cleveland’s Terminal Tower downtown station at one time was one of the busiest stations in the country, with dozens of trains serving this major northern city. Today, Cleveland is only served by the Lake Shore Limited and the Capitol Limited. The Capitol’s Cleveland times aren’t much better than the Lake Shore’s, arriving westbound at 1:55 A.M., and eastbound at 2:48 A.M., all at a relatively small Lakefront station. Even though the Ohio legislature and governor’s office are working on creating a new Three C Corridor of Cleveland-Columbia-Cincinnati, that will only provide daylight service, and the southern terminus of that route will be in Cincinnati, which at the moment is only served (you guessed it) in the middle of the night by the tri-weekly Cardinal running between New York, Washington, and Chicago. Cleveland and Ohio all deserve better than what Amtrak has provided lo these many years.

As said before in this space, the most efficient answer to the problem of providing any type of adequate service to Cincinnati is to do what the Commonwealth of Virginia has done with its two new trains – extend an existing NEC train over the route of the Cardinal between Washington and Cincinnati. Amtrak has two daily trains which originate in New York before 6 A.M.; either of these trains extended to Cincinnati would arrive well before the Cardinal does at 1:03 A.M., not only providing a second frequency along this very scenic route, but bolstering the fortunes of the Cardinal, which Amtrak has indicated next year it will look at making a daily train. A return eastbound train from Cincinnati could launch from its terminal anytime after 7:00 A.M. and provide good daylight service until close to arriving in Washington, D.C.

On the west end of the route in and out of Chicago, the Hoosier State operates on days the Cardinal does not, on the same schedule. Once the Cardinal goes daily, again, an opportunity opens for the Hoosier State to operate from Chicago earlier in the afternoon than it does now (about mid afternoon) and still arrive in Cincinnati before midnight, with the return westbound train leaving Cincinnati early in the morning during daylight hours and arriving in Chicago mid afternoon. This also provides the major city of Indianapolis with much improved passenger train service.

But, back to the issue at hand, moving the northern terminus of all east coast long distance trains from New York City to Boston.

To recap:

– No additional equipment needed, except for fleshing out a new Boston-Chicago train by adding a diner and a couple of coaches because of added passenger demand

– Minimal changes in crew bases; moving the Crescent food service crew base from New York to Boston, and moving the Lake Shore Limited crew base from New York to Boston. Boston already has a major crew base. No additional onboard services crews on existing trains, and only minimal additions for new Boston-Chicago train

– Additional train and engine crews needed between New York and Boston, and 231 route miles added to each train between New York and Boston

– Better equipment utilization instead of train consists having long layovers in New York’s Sunnyside Yard. No schedule changes south of New York City

– Passengers better served by single train service for entire east coast to Boston; elimination of receive/discharge restrictions north of Washington allows for these trains to be better financial performers, and provide a new array of choices for local passengers on NEC

– No additional stations costs

8) It’s time to revive an old idea at Amtrak that never made it to reality: taking the Capitol Limited south from Washington to Orlando, Florida. The way the current schedule for the Capitol runs, the train arrives in Washington early afternoon just after lunch, and stays in Washington until the next afternoon at 4 P.M. These trainsets spend more time sitting around than they do on the road; it’s less than an 18 hour run between Washington and Chicago. It takes three train sets today to run the schedule with one baggage car, 2 coaches, one diner-lounge, one lounge car, two sleepers, and one transition dorm/sleeper. The Capitol has a load factor of 66.9%, but with only two coaches, there is ample room for growth, even with an additional coach already added during high revenue periods.

Extend the train down the former Atlantic Coast Line route of CSX via Rocky Mount, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina, and terminate the train at Orlando (Tampa would be better), making use of the excellent Auto Train maintenance facility in adjacent Sanford, just as the Sunset Limited in brighter days used the Auto Train maintenance facility.

Keeping close to the current Capitol Limited schedule would provide a civilized 9 A.M. or so arrival in Orlando, perfect for starting the day in America’s family vacation capital. The return train would leave Orlando after 9 P.M., and resume the northbound Capitol schedule in Washington. Since the current misuse of equipment for the Capitol Limited takes three trainsets, this change would only require one extra trainset, and would most importantly resume through train service between Chicago, the Midwest, and Florida without blazing any new trails (or having an expensive reopening of any old trails). Since the route between Washington and Orlando is already served by both the Silver Meteor and Silver Star as well as the Palmetto (see above), the addition of a Florida-bound Capitol Limited would provide and additional popular frequency feeding passengers into Orlando from the Midwest with through-train service.

An extended Capitol Limited would provide good marketing hours for major stops south of Washington, such as Richmond, Virginia; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Florence, South Carolina.

To recap:

– Requires one additional set of equipment, and makes more efficient use of current three sets of equipment which now have long, unprofitable layovers; also more efficient use of onboard services crews

– No new stations or new routes

– Provides single-train service from Chicago and the Midwest to Orlando, Florida

– Makes more efficient use of Auto Train maintenance facility

– Adds to frequencies on popular east coast routes to Florida

– Combined with previously mentioned concepts such as extending the City of New Orleans east and south to Orlando, extending the Capitol Limited, too, would create a pair of strong services between the Midwest and Florida, with each train complementing the other, and creating huge matrix theory opportunities

9) Bless its steel soul, the Heartland Flyer is probably Amtrak’s most lovable, yet terrible route. Just 206 route miles long, this bump which sits atop the Texas Eagle schedule runs from Fort Worth, Texas almost due north to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with five intermediate station stops. Departing Fort Worth northbound at 5:25 P.M. after the Texas Eagle has called at Fort Worth in both directions, the Heartland Flyer arrives in Oklahoma City at 9:39 P.M., sits overnight, and leaves the next morning at 8:25 A.M., trundling back to Fort Worth and arriving at 12:39 P.M. in time for the southbound Texas Eagle.

It takes one trainset of two Superliner coaches and one Superliner snack coach for this toy route, and the State of Oklahoma pays Amtrak millions of dollars to operate this train on its behalf. The Heartland Flyer generates $1,680,500 in revenue, with ridership of 80,900 passengers per year, or an average of 111 passengers per departure. The load factor, typical of a short run such as this, is 43%, even with a very short consist of equipment.

There has been a good movement afoot, including the state governments of Oklahoma and Kansas, to expand this microcosm of passenger railroading to something useful that has half a chance of being financially successful in the process.

The Heartland Flyer needs major surgery, in two easy steps. Get rid of its base in Fort Worth, and extend the southern terminus of the train either southwest to San Antonio (providing a much-needed second frequency between Fort Worth and San Antonio), or southeast to Houston via Dallas, restoring a long-lost Amtrak route which would reconnect by rail the two largest metropolitan areas in Texas.

The second easy step is to extend the Heartland Flyer northward to Newton, Kansas (on the route of the Southwest Chief, and, coincidentally the near exact middle of the continental United States) and take the train to Kansas City or, even better, to Chicago or St. Louis.

These two easy steps turn the Heartland Flyer from a nearly-useless and tragically expensive stub route into a powerhouse route serving major metropolitan markets and important intermediate stops, and, just as importantly, connects discreet existing routes with new travel opportunities so “you can get there from here” without having to go around the Horn of Africa.

Concepts such as this take money-losing routes like the Heartland Flyer and turn them into real transportation providers, ignoring invisible boundaries falsely built by near-sighted executives who only seek to raid government treasuries instead of completing Amtrak’s real mission of being a truly national passenger railroad company.

To recap:

– Expands a poor-performing local route into a strong regional route

– Connects two other long distance routes and major metropolitan areas through hubbing which has not previously been possible

– Provides real transportation alternatives in lieu of what is essentially a high cost local train which provides no real transportation output

– As a stand-alone route, the Heartland Flyer has 21 possible city pair combination. Combining the Heartland Flyer and its present connection to the Texas Eagle brings the city par combinations up to 1,128; extending this train and connecting it to the Southwest Chief route in Kansas explodes the number of city pair combinations to 3,160, a huge jump from the 21 combinations on the present route.

10) The battle for the hearts and minds and souls of Sunset Limited fans and admirers has gained momentum with lots of discussion going on over Amtrak’s proposed changes to the route of the Sunset, replacing America’s oldest continuously operating named train with three distinct new trains, and one of them being a renamed and extended Texas Eagle operating daily from Chicago to Los Angeles via San Antonio, Texas and then west on the Sunset route to Los Angeles.

Here are a couple of ways to look at this.

First, Amtrak has taken a proactive approach to ending the days of the Sunset being an unacceptable tri-weekly train, stuck with most of the overhead of a daily train but not with the earning potential. The extension of the Texas Eagle to Los Angeles and making it daily all the way with a new name such as resurrection of the respected “Golden State” name (formerly of the Rock Island Railroad) makes senses, because, as Amtrak has said, that has the greatest potential for earning revenue.

While the creation of a second daily train on a daylight schedule to replace the Sunset between San Antonio and New Orleans is offensive to some because it will require a cross-platform change for those traveling all the way from Los Angeles to New Orleans, at least this – again – gets rid of unacceptable tri-weekly service and puts daily service on the line to important cities like Houston, Texas, and the many smaller cities between Houston and New Orleans. Amtrak has also speculated it will provide through-car service all the way from Los Angeles to New Orleans when more equipment is available through being rescued from the wreck line and re-manufactured at Beech Grove in Indiana. Since Amtrak has already restored the Boston sleeping car to the Lake Shore Limited, this bolsters confidence Amtrak is looking at concepts that work, and understands the strength of through-car business.

And, Amtrak openly saying it will take some of the surplus sleepers from today’s Sunset after it is reconfigured and put them elsewhere where strong demand exists so it can capture the revenue from these cars is not only revolutionary coming from Amtrak, but highly welcome.

The second way to look at this is Amtrak has cut and run from the constant bickering over the Sunset Limited name being used as a poster boy for bad management by both politicians and the news media, and is looking to replace what was once America’s only true transcontinental route with three trains (including whatever happens east of New Orleans) that has more consideration for Amtrak’s operating and maintenance departments than the comfort and convenience of its passengers.

A third alternative was offered this week by the prestigious and highly respected Passenger Train Journal magazine, with a full article on how to “fix” the Sunset Limited, complete with reroutings and restructuring so the train has more major metropolitan areas to serve, and better connections with other trains.

Since Passenger Train Journal, along with Progressive Railroading, are the two most important and credible national magazines regarding railroading, it’s tough to ignore what PTJ has to say without some serious discussions.

No matter how you choose to look at the fate of the Sunset, there have been howls of protest from some who simply want what is there now with some improvements, and nothing more. But, these howls overlook the fact Amtrak is taking a critical look at much of its long distance system and attempting to fix some problems which have long needed fixing. While almost any changes to the Sunset as we know it today other than taking it daily are sure to be painful, it’s important to look at the big picture regarding the Sunset and seeking what is the best solution from a combination of interests, including financial, passenger services, and the ability of Amtrak to offer a worthwhile service. The way the Sunset is today accomplishes none of those goals. A changed and/or reborn Sunset under a new name has a chance to accomplish those goals, even if it takes some getting used to by those of us on the ground.

11) This resolution was passed by the attendees of the Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada and National Association of Railroad Passengers joint meeting in Los Angeles on May 2, 2009.

[begin quote]

Whereas the Rail Passenger Association of California is deeply concerned that there has been no new investment in rolling stock for the Coast Starlight, Sunset Limited, California Zephyr and Southwest Chief (the western overnight trains) since 1991, and

Whereas currently up to 95% of Amtrak’s capital investments go to the North East Corridor trains and infrastructure, and

Whereas there is a growing demand for rail passenger travel and these western trains are often sold out, and

Whereas old equipment is expensive to maintain, is subject to mechanical failure, and is unattractive to passengers, and

Whereas without new investment these trains and other routes will eventually be withdrawn for want of serviceable equipment,

Therefore the Rail Passenger Association of California calls upon the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (“Amtrak”) to meet its obligation to provide a national network by allocating a reasonable proportion of its capital investment budget to purchase new coaches, sleeping cars and dining cars for the western overnight trains, to a common design that can also be used for corridor services.

[End quote]

Amen.

Before you start any conversation about the above suggestions, keep in mind, even after Amtrak funds the repairs to wrecked equipment through stimulus funds, there will still be another 200 or so pieces of equipment which can be repaired and put into revenue service. It’s all just a matter of priorities and how much desire Amtrak has to fulfill its mandate to provide a true national system of passenger trains, or its present plan to suck as much money as possible out of government treasuries while providing the least amount of service.

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org

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## Larry H.

I couldn't agree more with your suggestions for the most part. I reported when you mentioned the River City Stub from the City be put back that it might extend to Omaha for greatly improved midwest service. One of the glaring missing links would be the service on to New York or Washington from St. Louis which could also extend to Omaha. It could open service in many cities to people who now as you say can't get anywhere from anywhere. I read with some hope that the new President also from Illinois may be in favor of more established feeder routes before a great deal of new High Speed rail going where trains already travel. It needs to be a complete nationwide system before spending billions on the same old routes to the same old places.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 4, 2009

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 6, Number 15

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) The indefatigable Paul Dyson, President of RailPAC – properly known as Rail Passenger Association of California – and long time associate of United Rail Passenger Alliance, has had a few busy days this week.

Below is a press release from RailPAC, along with correspondence between Mr. Dyson and Joseph Boardman, Interim President and CEO of Amtrak.

2) [begin quote]

RAIL PASSENGER ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA

1017 L Street PMB 217, Sacramento, CA 95814

www.railpac.org

3rd June, 2009

AMTRAK TO REDUCE OR END SERVICE TO MORE THAN 20 STATES?

Railroad experts conclude that Amtrak proposes to cease operations in most of the southern and western states within the next five to ten years. That is based on Amtrak's failure to order replacement rolling stock for worn out trains. For the last 20 years almost 95% of the purchases of locomotives and passenger cars were for trains that run exclusively in the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington DC. Current plans call for refurbishing a handful of out of service cars but otherwise make no mention of the need to replace the aging cars that provide service to most of the states west of Chicago. These trains are already running with a reduced number of seats and sleeping berths in spite of record high demand, resulting in major loss of revenue.

RailPAC's President, Paul Dyson, wrote to recently appointed Amtrak President Joe Boardman in January asking for an immediate review of this policy. He pointed out that a long term program to replace the old fleet and augment the available accommodation on the western trains would provide jobs and helps meet the new administration's target of reducing dependence on imported fuels. "Without new cars there will soon be no trains on most routes west of the Mississippi" says Dyson. The expected service cuts will not happen overnight, nor will they receive much fanfare. Instead the economics of running these trains will gradually worsen as old cars are withdrawn from service, and eventually the trains will be discontinued.

Dyson wrote again to Mr. Boardman today asking for a response to the question, "Will there be a car order for the western interstate trains?"

RailPAC is an all volunteer non-profit group that has campaigned for 30 years for enhanced passenger rail service in California and the western states.

Contact: Paul Dyson

[email protected]

818 845 9599

[End quote]

Interesting, don't you think? Farfetched, you ask? Not very; even though a small, mostly inadequate car order has been placed for single-level eastern long distance trains, nothing has been mentioned about the transcontinental or Midwest long distance trains.

3) Here is the reply letter from Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman to Mr. Dyson's original letter, as mentioned above.

[begin quote]

March 24, 2009

Mr. Paul J. Dyson

President

Rail Passenger Association of California

1017 L Street PMB 217

Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Mr. Dyson:

This is in reply to your letter of January 16, 2009, regarding the need for investment in equipment to support the development of passenger rail service across the whole of the United States. Since taking up the position of President and CEO of Amtrak, I have been working closely with my team to understand just how we will address exactly the sort of issues you refer to in your letter.

The recent enactment of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) has provided a solid basis to deal with the sort of issues to which you refer. Three key elements in PRIIA have specific relevance in this case.

First, PRIIA changes the emphasis on funding for capital investment. Whereas Amtrak has traditionally borne the responsibility to secure funding for new equipment, the funding for service expansion is now with the state partners via the new Intercity Rail Grant matching fund program. For the first time, there will be a level playing field with other modes of transportation. Matching funds for capital investments – including equipment – will now be provided on the same basis for passenger rail as has been the case for highway projects. State partners will define their own requirements through their state rail plans as these are required as the basis for funding applications to the federal government.

Second, PRIIA requires Amtrak to constitute a committee to plan for the specification, procurement, support and funding of next generation common corridor passenger equipment. This will cover different types of passengers car as well as locomotives and, potentially DMUs. This committee will be led by Amtrak but will have involvement from state partners, the FRA as well as other interested parties from the industry.

Last, PRIIA includes an authorization of funding to Amtrak for its own capital requirements. This funding will be required to support the development of the Amtrak services outside those developed in partnership with the states.

With these three elements, it is possible to see a route to the creation of the next generation of service across the United States ensuring that the equipment provided is properly aligned with the requirements of the individual states. Amtrak continues to strive to be the preferred partner for working with states on the development of their services. Based on the core capabilities Amtrak has for all aspects of developing, equipping and operating passenger rail services, we are well positioned to continue to support route development across the country.

You raised some additional points about the Northeast Corridor that I wish to address. While other railroads operate more trains and carry more passengers than we do on parts of the Corridor, none run the entire length of the corridor at the speeds at which we operate, or operate anywhere near the train miles that we do, or own as much of it as we do. It is a matter of asset utilization on the most complex piece of railroad in the Western Hemisphere, and recognition that our own needs make it more complex than it would be if it were simply a string of unrelated commuter railroads. Northeastern states do contribute capital support to the Corridor, and PRIIA ensure that, in the future, all commuter railroads on the Northeast Corridor will bear a proportionate share of its operating and capital costs. Also, the recently approved economic stimulus package stipulates that approximately 56% of the capital funding Amtrak will get will go to places away from the Corridor. We learned long ago that regional differences, however heartfelt, among supporters of passenger rail does much more to harm the goal of better train service nationwide than it does to help it.

Thank you for the invitation to your upcoming meeting on May 2. I look forward to speaking with the group.

Sincerely,

Joseph H. Boardman

President and Chief Executive Officer

cc: Joe McHugh

[End quote]

4) Here is RailPAC President Dyson's response to Amtrak Interim President and CEO Boardman, president to president.

[begin quote]

2nd June, 2009

Mr. Joseph H. Boardman

President and Chief Executive Officer

NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

60 Massachusetts Avenue NE

Washington DC 20002

Via Fax to 202 906 2850 (3 pages total)

THE FUTURE OF THE INTERSTATE NATIONAL SYSTEM TRAINS IN THE WESTERN STATES

Dear Mr. Boardman:

I am reviewing your letter of March 24, 2009, your public comments since then and the remarks you made at our meeting this past May 2 in Los Angeles. In rereading your March letter I see many references to "state partners" and "requirements of the individual states". I see nothing that directly answers my question about rolling stock for the interstate trains that I referred to in my January letter. And while there is reference to commuter railroads on the NEC paying a proportional share of operating and capital costs, I don't see any requirement that the NEC states pay a proportion of the expenses of the Acela or Regional trains. You do mention PRIIA funds for Amtrak's "own capital requirements" but you make no suggestion as to how these funds might be invested. Your public statements since, and your comments at our meeting and answers to questions there have thrown no more light on the question that I asked then and repeat now: "When will you order cars for the western interstate trains?"

I have attached for your information a resolution passed unanimously by about 235 NARP and RailPAC members at the end of the May 2 meeting. After 41 years in transportation I have seen plenty of companies come and go. The ones that are on their way to exiting the business are those that do not invest in their rolling stock. I would be delighted if you can convince me that I am wrong, and that you have every intention of replacing the worn out cars and locomotives of the western interstate trains and of growing the business. What are your intentions?

I don't know who wrote the sentence in your March 24 letter "We learned long ago that regional differences, however heartfelt, among supporters of passenger rail does much more to harm the goal of better train service than it does to help it"? Long ago we had a lot more service in the west, including to major cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas. The trains that still run have much shorter consists even though trains are frequently sold out. What we now have are very real "regional differences", except that they are "heartfelt" by Amtrak management, not by passenger rail advocates. It is Amtrak management that has consistently undervalued the western trains and invested most of the capital dollars in the NEC. At the same time they have downgraded the western trains and in the accounts have heaped average system costs on them that they really don't generate to set them up for failure and the opprobrium of Amtrak's critics.

Mr. Boardman, you've had a few months to digest a lot of information and advice from many quarters. You've taken the helm at Amtrak at a time when it is about to receive an unprecedented amount of funding, and when it has more political support then ever in its existence. It may well be that your Board, Executive Committee and many of your managers view the NEC as the real railroad and the western overnight trains as anachronisms. Yet it is these same trains that are maintaining consistent revenue during the recession while the Acela has lost significant ridership. If you have decided that the western overnight trains should be allowed to fade away as equipment becomes unserviceable then the communities served by them are entitled to know your policy and to react as they see fit. Doing nothing, with no new rolling stock order, is tantamount to abandonment by Amtrak of interstate service to 23 states.

We look forward to an early, and I hope positive response, to these issues.

Yours faithfully,

Paul J. Dyson

President

[email protected]

818 845 9599

[End quote]

5) This is the resolution, passed in Los Angeles on May 2, 2009 referred to by Mr. Dyson. It is repeated here from the last issue of This Week at Amtrak.

[begin quote]

Whereas the Rail Passenger Association of California is deeply concerned that there has been no new investment in rolling stock for the Coast Starlight, Sunset Limited, California Zephyr and Southwest Chief (the western overnight trains) since 1991, and

Whereas currently up to 95% of Amtrak's capital investments go to the North East Corridor trains and infrastructure, and

Whereas there is a growing demand for rail passenger travel and these western trains are often sold out, and

Whereas old equipment is expensive to maintain, is subject to mechanical failure, and is unattractive to passengers, and

Whereas without new investment these trains and other routes will eventually be withdrawn for want of serviceable equipment,

Therefore the Rail Passenger Association of California calls upon the National Railroad Passenger Corporation ("Amtrak") to meet its obligation to provide a national network by allocating a reasonable proportion of its capital investment budget to purchase new coaches, sleeping cars and dining cars for the western overnight trains, to a common design that can also be used for corridor services.

[End quote]

There is little need for a lot of compelling commentary at this point. As Mr. Dyson has figured out, many of the facts and action – or, inaction – all speak for themselves. Now, Mr. Boardman and Amtrak, what's next?

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## henryj

Sounds like it is time to split Amtrak into two distinct corporations, the NEC and everything else.


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## Larry H.

The lack of clarity in Boardmans comments is very disturbing. He seems to have said at times that he thinks we need a good system of feeder routes to make High Speed work. But I agree that actions speak louder than words, especially in politics unfortunately now days. I can't see how they could justify letting the long distance network fall totally apart, although recent years have shown that not much respect is shown for any sense of providing the cars and service necessary for building business.


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## AlanB

I agree that Mr. Boardman could have been clearer in his remarks, and I agree with Mr. Dyson that the west does seem to be getting neglected to some extent. However, I disagree with the conclusion that the LD's are being abandoned.

After all, Amtrak isn't buying 75 new baggage cars for the NEC. They will see service throughout the entire Amtrak system via the long distance trains. And while this part is eastern in orientation, Amtrak isn't buying new single level dining cars and sleepers because they are planning on getting out of the long haul business or because they plan to use them on the NEC. Yes, some of these cars will run on the NEC for part of their journey, but they won't be providing local NEC service, they will only be taking people off the NEC for a long journey or returning them to the NEC from a long journey.

I see these as positive signs that Mr. Boardman does intend to remain in the long distance business. Additionally I expect that assuming that Congress continues to live up to the plan approved last year, that we will see new car orders placed for expansion and replacement of the Superliner fleet within the next few years.

Now perhaps it could be argued that some of the bi-level short haul cars that Amtrak is about to order, if they haven't already done so, could and should have been postponed in favor of new Superliner cars. But there are also good arguments for buying those cars. First of course, it curries political favor with many states. Second, it put Amtrak into people's minds, and perhaps one day encourages them to try a long distance train.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 8, 2009
​

​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 16
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) For those of us who keep track of segments of the news using key words for Internet searches, the term "Amtrak" has been popping up on a frequent basis in stories referring to the bankruptcy and government restructuring of General Motors. Most of the time, Amtrak is being cited as an example of what happens when formerly private industry suddenly comes under public ownership, with all of the resulting ills and pains in that process. Most writers and thinkers are bemoaning the fate of GM, and hoping against hope GM will not one day be a close cousin to Amtrak as we know it today with all of the associated problems.

Optimists, however, don't point to Amtrak as a comparison for GM and Chrysler, but rather point to Conrail, the product of a similar crisis takeover that was allowed to work under market forces and eventually go back into the private sector and eventually become so attractive, it was fought over by two titans of modern railroading, CSX and Norfolk Southern.

One can only wish GM and Chrysler the fate of Conrail, and not that of Amtrak.

2) Another fun exercise with the news has been the tracking of Vice President Joe Biden's and United Stated Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood's ongoing dog and pony shows around the country exploring the future of high speed rail.

There have been nearly identical headlines in almost every newspaper and media outlet around the country, wherever the Veep and Secretary have gone: "(Insert city name here) is likely on the fast track to high speed rail."

Since there is only $8 billion to go around to get things started, it looks like there are going to be a lot of disappointed folks who were hoping and dreaming to be in the first wave of high speed rail free federal monies. After all, $8 billion isn't that much money when you're looking at an entire continent, but it's a start.

3) Speaking of high speed rail, this word has come from Gil Carmichael. As always, whatever Mr. Carmichael has to say is important.

[begin quote]

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

ITI's Gil Carmichael says "ethical" 21st century High-speed rail transportation system 2.0 is needed now

- Ambitious High-speed Freight and Passenger Rail-based Transportation Infrastructure Program Required -

DENVER, CO, June 3, 2009 – Gil Carmichael, Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at the University of Denver, told a group of transportation industry, academics, and government leaders at the National Transportation Infrastructure & Regulatory Policy Forum, held at the University of Denver, in Denver, Colorado, that an "ethical" high-speed rail-based intermodal transportation system must be implemented – and soon.

"Like President Obama, a growing number of American people have a vision of a high-speed rail, intercity passenger transportation infrastructure system in the U.S.," said Carmichael. "It is a logical and necessary next step forward from President Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System of the 1950s; but proponents have long had a hard time being heard until recently."

To illustrate where we have been coming from as a nation, Carmichael pointed to several critical events that occurred during the past four decades. "Many of us remember October 1973, when the Arab oil embargo took place and created our fist energy crisis," he said. "Long waiting lines at service stations formed and many stations turned off their lights on the Interstate. They were out of gas! Americans woke up and realized that we had built a mobility system on a finite fossil fuel. By 1974, I remember people abandoning their 4,000-pound, eight-cylinder, six-MPG Buicks and lining up to buy a VW Rabbit diesel. We started to 'think small' and solar and wind energies were being discussed. But by the late 1970s we were seemingly discovering oil under every polar bear in the Arctic. The price of a barrel of oil then went from $35 back down to $9-$12 a gallon, and by the middle 1980s we were once again well on our way to preferring gas-guzzling muscle cars, SUV's, 400HP V8's, and $70,000 trucks! Fat City was the way to go until last year. Furthermore, research shows the U.S. had an unwritten transportation policy that declared we wanted 'cheap fossil fuel.' Virtually any political figure who even talked about raising the gas tax was doomed to failure."

So, Carmichael posited, where are we today with our 21st century global economy? The truly big energy crisis has occurred. Oil rose to $140.00 plus per barrel. Gasoline/diesel went to $5.00 per gallon. Oil is down now to about $60.00 per barrel, as are gas-per-gallon prices; but our airlines are clobbered by high fuel prices; our Big Three car manufactures are shattered; and our economy is on some sort of life support. It is quite possible that gas, diesel, and jet fuel prices will go back up in the near future as long as we are held hostage by our dependence on foreign oil and unpredictable supplies, consumer demand, and fluctuating prices. Congress cannot keep prices reduced by legislation. Global economic chaos would result if just one major oil producing nation has some sort of calamity.

"We can no longer afford the lavishness of the past. As soon as possible, this nation has got to radically change the way people and freight move in order to avoid long-term economic decline," said Carmichael. "One need only look at our demographics and our growing population density. When I was 30, there were 130 million people in the U.S. By 2040, there will be 400 million. North America will have a population of well over a one-half billion people! We are finishing the first decade of this new century and the old order of 'doing business as usual' is not working. It will not be able to correct itself. Like China, we must think more wisely."

Carmichael looked at where we are headed with our transportation infrastructure. "What is the biggest public-works project this century that can ensure U.S. prosperity?" he asked. "Last century it was building Interstate I – 43,000 miles of grade-separated, four-lane highways. It served millions of cars and trucks and thousands of busy, small airports and commuter airplanes, feeding into huge hub airports with large passenger planes going long distances to big cities. The airlines in the 1970s and 1980s expanded, in part, with jet fuel prices at about 40-60 cents per gallon, with no tax. Western man built a huge transportation system on this cheap oil; it employed millions of people and we all prospered. But that is all over in 2009!"

"So what do we do now?" asked Carmichael. "What major public-works project can we implement this century that will help keep our 400 million people working, will produce a prosperous economy, and will build a long-lasting, sustainable transportation system? My answer is we build 'Interstate 2.0'. I initially said it should be 20,000 miles of high-speed rail. It really should be 30,000 miles and use the huge, wide, existing – and paid for – rail Rights of Way in partnership with the private freight railroads and the states. We should give the private railroads their 25% investment tax credit to encourage them to upgrade and double- and triple-track their main lines to increase speeds and double freight capacity. States should build or lease high-speed track on their ROWs to run new, modern, intermodal freight and passenger trains. These high-speed tracks should be grade separated just as were the Interstate Highways. Our objective is to enable Amtrak and its partners to run frequent and safe 110-125 MPH passenger trains. We have the technology with GPS/PTC to do this with a high degree of safety. It will cut highway fatalities at least 50% and drastically reduce the wear and tear and cost of maintaining the highways."

"So intermodal and high-speed passenger rail visionaries have finally been heard by a young, new President who produced $14.3 billion to be spent on high-speed rail corridors in the next five years to begin Phase I of this century's most important infrastructure program. This huge work program puts America on the way to creating an 'ethical' intermodal freight and passenger transportation network. We can electrify it by mid-century. It will then truly be an 'ethical, sustainable' system. President Obama will be the 21st century's 'Eisenhower' because he will have created 'Interstate 2.0,' a high-speed rail network reconnecting our center cities, major airports, and ports – recapturing the vital role of the intercity bus and transit industries."

In explanation, Carmichael defined an ethical transportation system as one that 1) does not injure or kill 2) does not pollute and is environmentally benign 3) does not waste fuel and 4) does not cost too much. It uses the strengths of each mode. "We must build a 21st century intermodal transportation system using the 'steel wheel and steel rail' as the fundamental element of this system. Early in this century we can electrify all of North American rail, providing a new source of energy for our transportation system," he said.

"We have started," summarized Carmichael. "This is Phase I – $14.3 billion of funding and 13 federally designated, high-speed rail corridors. Amtrak has crossed the Rubicon. It now needs to put out an RFP for 150 new trains sets. It will show the American people that a truly interconnected intermodal transportation system is coming. By using our existing freight rail ROWs and not destroying more green fields, we can actually have a much better transportation system than Europe. It is an exciting new era that we are entering."

About ITI

The Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver offers an Executive Masters Program that awards a Master of Science in Intermodal Transportation Management from the University of Denver. This graduate degree program prepares transportation industry managers for the increasingly complex, global business environment where knowledge of finance, quantitative processes, supply chain, law, and public policy issues as well as freight, passenger, and intermodal transportation operational strategies are critical management tools for success. For more information on the ITI Executive Masters Program call: 303-871-4702 or visit: www.du.edu/transportation.

[End quote]

Two things Mr. Carmichael said are of profound importance. The first is naming an "ethical transportation system," a phrase that is seldom used when referring to major industry. His definition is superb.

The second is his call for Amtrak to immediately order 150 new trainsets. While that is just a round number, the meaning is all too important. Amtrak can either get with the new program in this country, or it can be left behind.

As demonstrated in the last issue of This Week at Amtrak, it's tough to imagine Amtrak having any type of current, relevant plan for expanding the all-too-important national long distance system instead of just raiding state treasuries for the operation of often statistically irrelevant short corridor routes. We need some sort of statement right now from Amtrak about a new equipment plan, even if it's to say a plan is in the works with perhaps a broad, general outline.

We hope GM one day will have the success of Conrail; is it impossible to hope that one day (hopefully, soon) Amtrak, too, will have the success of Conrail?

4) The following commentary appears in the Spring issue of the Minnesota Association of Railroad Passengers newsletter.

[begin quote]

By Andrew C. Selden

Is Amtrak secretly planning to exit the long distance business?

It may be. Despite billions of new federal grants this year, signs are building that Amtrak may be on its way to dropping the commercially strongest part of its business, or alternatively, perhaps, setting up another "hostage" situation, where Amtrak pulls its old stunt of threatening to shut down this service or that, or everything, if Congress doesn't give it billions of new dollars (almost all of which are always lavished on the NEC).

By any objective analysis of Amtrak's actions, one is forced to conclude that Amtrak wants out of the LD train business. They are not repairing locomotives in Chicago, they are not fixing wreck damaged Superliners at Beech Grove, they have no plans to order more equipment for LD trains. Cliff Black, Amtrak's P.R. chief, referring to the LD trains, said "The moment of truth is coming." Before Alex Kummant was run out of town, he said, "The future is in the corridors." The last Amtrak CEO who cared about the LD trains was Graham Claytor, who said at a NARP Board meeting in Washington that "the LD trains are operating in the black." Eyewitnesses sitting right in front of Claytor confirm that this is exactly what he said.

Profit-making businesses have customers, and those customers are vital to the success of the business; not enough customers and the business dies. Businesses do everything they can to get more customers, and the value their most important customers by "courting" them constantly. All this is blindingly obvious.

So, who are Amtrak's valued customers? Passengers? Not really, at least not directly. Amtrak's most important customers are Congress and the States that hand Amtrak all that free cash to pay for service. Thanks to years of myth-making by Amtrak, Congress believes that the LD trains are huge money losers, that nobody rides them, and they go places nobody wants to visit. This is all nonsense, but it is what Congress (and the media) believe, so it might as well be fact.

Since Congress is Amtrak's most important "customer," and since Congress believes that the LD trains are the cause of Amtrak's financial mess, what is Amtrak to do? Admit that they have been cooking the books and lying to Congress for years? Admit that Warrington's promise that Acela would make a PROFIT (and bring in enough cash to support the rest of the system) was a big fat lie? Admit that they have been making spending decisions to garner political support (which translates into free money), rather than to develop a better, bigger national railroad which carries more passengers, more miles? No way, no chance. Amtrak is a company that focuses its attention on doing things that get more of that free money – rather than getting it the old fashioned way, by earning it.

It seems increasingly likely that Amtrak is going to let the LD trains die by simply not ever ordering more LD equipment, and/or not repairing anything at Beech Grove. As equipment wears out or is damaged, trains will come off, and because Congress believes the LD train myth, this action will be viewed by many as an example of Amtrak actually being fiscally responsible.

Once the LD trains are gone, it will be interesting to see how Amtrak and the politicians along the NEC explain the continued need for that huge subsidy.

Consider, too, that Amtrak's new interim CEO, New Yorker Joe Boardman, has been mouthing support for the (skeletal) national network as it exists now, but doing almost nothing to invest in it. Certainly, no new cars are being ordered, and no new route connections implemented (although, plans are well along to run a daily train Chicago – Dallas – San Antonio – Los Angeles over the Texas Eagle/Sunset route). In the six months or so that Mr. Boardman has led Amtrak, there has been much talk about another wave of improvements, including new Viewliner and Acela cars, for east coast services, including the NEC, of course, but nothing at all about new Superliners or western routes."

A business that doesn't believe in itself, that doesn't reinvest in itself, that is consumed with political game-playing rather than a relentless entrepreneurial drive to play to win in the marketplace, is a business that really is in a slow liquidation. This isn't about "fairness," or "regional balance," or "social service to fly-over states." It's about smart business and winning strategies. And based on all the evidence, Amtrak is failing at that.

[End quote]

5) Here in Florida, a game of "Chicken" is being played by the State of Florida and Tri-Rail in Southeast Florida.

Readers of this space know the just completed legislative session in Florida earlier this month was not kind to commuter rail; completely killing (they think) SunRail in Central Florida, and leaving Tri-Rail in Southeast Florida somewhat hobbled without a permanent funding source.

Part of the failed SunRail deal was for Tri-Rail to receive permission for the three counties it serves – Palm Beach, Broward (Ft. Lauderdale), and Miami-Dade – to levy a $2 per day surcharge tax on rental cars in those three counties, only. It was estimated this surcharge would provide adequate funding, in addition to farebox revenues and some monies kicked in from the three counties, for Tri-Rail to be a fully functioning system.

Whoops! SunRail went down in flames (for the moment), and the Tri-Rail's permanent funding along with it.

Now, Tri-Rail says its host counties are not going to fund it fully, and it will have to cut back on service, slashing its daily service and completely eliminating all weekend and holiday service.

Whoops! again. The feds, who provided a lot of the funding for the recent upgrades to Tri-Rail infrastructure, say they have a written agreement with Tri-Rail which states Tri-Rail will at least run all of the trains it does today (less two frequencies), or Tri-Rail will have to pay hundreds of millions back to the feds because the federal money was intended to help Tri-Rail provide a full schedule of trains.

But, wails Tri-Rail, it has no money, and it's going to receive even less money next year from the three counties it serves. So, supplication to the State of Florida has occurred, but the state says it has no money, either, in this tight budget year. (When it comes to government, somehow isn't EVERY year a tight budget year?)

Which leaves Tri-Rail in a pickle.

What about raising fares? That is going on right now, with a 25% increase, but it won't be enough.

More riders? Already happening, courtesy of last year's high gas prices, and the riders decided to stay, even with today's lower gas prices.

Tri-Rail is a relatively new system, just 20 years old. It has never had an opportunity to create any type of financial cushion, and has always been dependent on the financial kindness of others to survive. It kept fares artificially low for decades, declaring it was all riders could afford to pay. No one even took inflation into account; just unrealistically low fares hoping today's day of reckoning would never occur.

Tri-Rail is not alone. News accounts from across the country tell sob story after sob story about insolvent transit systems. What started as sleek steel wheels on shiny steel rails have become lumpy, worn wheels on two streaks of parallel rust.

Who is to blame? Everyone. Commuter rail managements who thought they were in the welfare business instead of the transportation business made unsustainable business plans that never tested to find the high end of commuter fares.

Local governments which saw the benefits of commuter rail systems, but couldn't bring themselves to understand the fiscal needs of commuter rail as much as the fiscal needs of concrete and highways.

State governments which for the most part have ignored commuter rail, never bothering to look at its benefits or flaws, especially the benefits of higher tax bases and greater job creators.

And, the federal government, which has never really had a defined surface transportation policy which blended all types of surface transportation into a cohesive system.

The one group NOT to blame is the public. When given the chance, the public has embraced commuter and light rail time and time again when it was built intelligently and to meet public demand. Skyrocketing ridership in places like Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Minneapolis, various places in California, and elsewhere prove the point.

When the public is presented with intelligent commuter rail, the public will sample it, and a certain portion of the public will choose commuter rail for a variety of personal reasons.

So much public policy today is made for annoying "green" reasons, or reasons various nanny state government busybodies think we should do for our own good (After all, we know best, they say, no matter what.), often public planners forget that if a good plan is put into place, the public will willingly flock to it, without having to inflict pangs of environmental guilt. Good commuter rail systems – especially ones like found in the Dallas-Fort Worth system – are able to stand on their own as attractive alternatives without overt government coercion.

Where should these commuter rail systems be going? Straight into the future, but with better planning, better financing, and better management.

At the moment there seems to be two types of politicians controlling the fate of commuter rail. Here in Florida, we have the type which are uninformed, and ideologically opposed to any new taxes on anyone for any reason. These same folks, while having an admirable goal, seem to think somehow infrastructure and public utilities spring from the ground after a good soaking rain. It never occurs to them the prudent investment in commuter rail brings huge results from higher tax revenues because commuter rail helps make cities livable, desirable for new businesses to relocate to the area, and commuter rail is an economic generator in its own right.

The other type of politician looking at commuter rail seems to think money grows on trees or is easily produced by printing presses, any type of commuter rail is good (No matter how ill-conceived.) because it creates jobs (Even though they are not quite sure how jobs are created.) to build, and then voters can ride for nearly free because Big Brother will be happy to foot the bill for perpetual commuter rail by raising taxes on all of those mean, evil rich people.

Neither type of politician is very good for commuter rail.

All types of politicians need to be educated about commuter rail and learn the discrete benefits of commuter rail as applied to any local system.

Why do we care about commuter rail? Because it is an infrastructure incubator for Amtrak and intercity passenger rail.

6) As long as everyone understands the huge worlds of difference between commuter rail and intercity passenger rail (And, the individual management philosophies which apply to each distinct, separate type of rail.) then an understanding can be reached how one is good for the other.

Commuter and regional rail done correctly provides a superb feeder system for Amtrak's (or, anyone else's) long distance trains. Commuter and regional rail stations and infrastructure also serve nicely as stations and infrastructure for long distance trains, without long distance trains being burdened solely with all of the costs of those stations and infrastructure.

Long distance trains, when part of a robust system (a far cry from today's skeletal Amtrak system), reverse feed commuter and regional trains, disgorging passengers from long distance trains to complete their journey by local rail.

One hand washes the other, neatly and cleanly.

What we now need is a comprehensive government surface transportation policy which understands the interconnectivity of all of these systems, and the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Some will say we used to have that, in the heyday of railroads. But, really, we didn't. Because, while we had a fully mature passenger railroad system, it was a highly regulated system constantly fighting with government interference and resulting high costs to operate often unnecessary trains and services. Also, at the time, there was no mature highway system, but, rather, a skeletal system of two lane roads around the nation which ironically resembled today's Amtrak national system.

And, too, there wasn't a mature air travel system, but, rather, a system of DC-3 Gooney Birds and later ill-starred Constellations with plenty of holes in the route system, and no effective transcontinental service as we know it today.

The bottom line is, we never have had as a nation a real passenger transportation policy which addresses surface, air, and water transportation. We have either had predominantly water transportation (Erie Canal), predominantly passenger rail transportation, or predominantly highway and air transportation. Never have we had a policy which takes into account the full benefits of all of these modes of transportation.

The wise gray heads like Gil Carmichael are making a clarion call for a workable transportation policy. Amtrak can be an important part of that policy, but only after it has had a major restructuring from what it is today.

7) The Wall Street Journal last week reported United Airlines has requested dueling bids from Boeing and Airbus for 150 new aircraft – all paid for with private capital, and all for passenger service. Someone obviously thinks the passenger business is on the upswing.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## AlanB

MrFSS said:


> 4) The following commentary appears in the Spring issue of the Minnesota Association of Railroad Passengers newsletter.
> [begin quote]
> 
> By Andrew C. Selden
> 
> By any objective analysis of Amtrak's actions, one is forced to conclude that Amtrak wants out of the LD train business. They are not repairing locomotives in Chicago, they are not fixing wreck damaged Superliners at Beech Grove, they have no plans to order more equipment for LD trains. Cliff Black, Amtrak's P.R. chief, referring to the LD trains, said "The moment of truth is coming." Before Alex Kummant was run out of town, he said, "The future is in the corridors." The last Amtrak CEO who cared about the LD trains was Graham Claytor, who said at a NARP Board meeting in Washington that "the LD trains are operating in the black." Eyewitnesses sitting right in front of Claytor confirm that this is exactly what he said.


I would love to know what this guy is smoking. Beech Grove has hired dozens of new workers, reports from railfans indicate that cars have already moved that were sitting for years. Amtrak just sent the prototype Viewliner Diner to Beech Grove, along with a bunch of P40's.

Additionally there are reports of new workers being hired in Bear, Delaware to start work on the Amfleets there.

Granted no cars have yet been reported released yet, but it does take a while to ramp up production and start turning out these cars, while still maintaining the normal work programs that must run.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 15, 2009
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A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
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America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
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Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


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Volume 6, Number 17
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Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Are you a fan of failure? You may be, if you believe the following things to be true:

• The reasons freight railroads exited the passenger business in 1971 are the same reasons anyone but Amtrak should not be in the passenger rail business today.

• Railroads in 2009 are just like the railroads of the middle of the 20th Century and later until deregulation in 1980.

• There is no hope rail passenger service in North America can every make money under any circumstances.

• You believe everything you see and hear from many of your state or national rail fan organizations concerning Amtrak, and you refuse to do any independent thinking on your own.

2) Look at each of the four issues above, and think clearly about things in the first decade of the 21st Century.

Joe Boardman, Interim President and CEO of Amtrak is telegraphing to the world he doesn't want to be the head of a company which embraces failure. While there are still miles and miles to go, and there still is an overall lack of vision, there are some isolated signs Amtrak is slowly shaking off its constant culture of failure and has stopped saying no to anything because it's more convenient to do nothing versus working to make money for the company.

And, some state membership organizations, like RailPAC in California, are not happy to be part of a culture of failure, and are demanding in no uncertain terms things be improved at Amtrak.

As said in this space countless times before, when railroads cheerfully exited the passenger business and left it all to Amtrak, things in the world of railroading were far different from today. Railroading on every level was still highly regulated by the government, and railroads were fighting for their corporate lives. State and local governments were taxing railroads practically out of existence, with every two streaks of rust being treated as mainline track and therefore being levied in the highest categories.

When the idea of Amtrak was first floated during the early days of the Nixon Administration, it was embraced as a way of helping the railroads – many of which had already slipped into bankruptcy or were on the very brink of bankruptcy – be relieved of a part of their business which was either running in the red or was not making back the cost of capital required to keep the passenger rail system operating with modern equipment and suitable station infrastructure. At the time of Amtrak's beginning, there was no clue the relief of the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 would ever be considered by Congress.

In the late 1960s, the vast majority of locomotive and rolling stock was nearing the end of its supposed useful life, and would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to replace.

Much of the station and terminal infrastructure in place all over the country consisted of huge buildings built as monuments to the gilded age of railroading and corporate egos. The smaller, more practical stations were okay, but most were built prior to either of the world wars, and needed help to be made modern.

The best and the brightest of the Nixon Administration thought by combining most passenger service into one, non-competing company with a single management structure and all of the alleged savings of said structure would turn around the onslaught of the Boeing 707 jetliners and the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system populated by the latest offerings of Detroit zipping along in air conditioned comfort with power steering and power brakes and enjoying the hospitality of that new, upstart chain of moderately priced roadside hotels, Holiday Inn.

Passenger trains, after all, had no glamour, had no glory, were often old and creaky, and were considered passe, if you were being kind about the whole thing.

Actually, what hurt the passenger business the most was the strangulation of oppressive government regulation, where a struggling railroad couldn't even get rid of a now-useless branch line milk train without spending thousands of dollars bucking the Interstate Commerce Commission and begging and pleading to be relieved of the burden of an expensive, non-necessary, non-revenue generating train.

The sad part is, many good railroaders intentionally sabotaged their once-glorious passenger trains to run off passengers so they could cook the financial books and be rid of what they thought of as the nuisance and vast expense of passengers.

By the Kennedy Administration in 1961, America had already become a too litigious society, with the beginnings of exorbitant jury awards to plaintiffs for the least problem or inconvenience, and railroads – particularly passenger railroads – were in the gun sights of prowling, money-grubbing plaintiff attorneys.

If you were a president of a near-bankrupt, struggling railroad, trying to do everything you could in the face of stiff competition from trucks which were practically unregulated compared to your operation, and trying to keep Wall Street happy so your stock price didn't go through the floor and your ability to sell bonds didn't evaporate, wouldn't you look at your passenger operations and say to yourself, "why not give this business to anyone else to wants it, as long as I don't have to fund it, anymore?"

And, so, they did.

And, the railroad industry struggle for survival continued for a couple of more decades.

In the process, far too much of what was then considered surplus and duplicate main line track was ripped up to keep the tax man poor. Business was at best staying steady, if not shrinking in alarming amounts, so why pay to maintain too much track?

That, of course, is the biggest regret of the era of creating mega-railroads and merger mania. Infrastructure we need today is gone, and if the environmental left has its way, will probably never come back, no matter how much our economy will suffer because of lack of adequate trackage. Just because some infrastructure was "rail banked," that doesn't mean it's now available for reuse by the railroads. Incredibly, even where there was once a railroad, to put a railroad back you have to go through the lunacy and outrageous costs in time and money of worthless environmental impact statements so the latest poster animal or plant or creature for the tree huggers can be "saved" in place of necessity for mankind.

The Staggers Rail Act of 1980, signed into law by Jimmy Carter before he left office the next year, got rid of the worst of government regulation of the railroads. It allowed the railroads to act more like businesses than regulated public utilities, and most will agree it's what saved the freight railroad industry from following Amtrak into the horrors and nightmares of public ownership (See: General Motors and Chrysler for modern applications of this type of fiasco.).

By the time Congressman Harley O. Staggers, Democrat of West Virginia, could get this extraordinary piece of legislation signed into law, there were also other changes in the transportation industry under the Carter Administration, including the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978, and the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. Both the abolishment of the Civil Aeronautics Board and the freeing of the trucking industry, along with the Staggers railroad legislation helped move the country into an era of prosperity under the Reagan Administration, and a welcome realignment of the transportation industry.

Perhaps during all of this the most comical instance was when the Nixon Administration – with a completely straight face – told the world the American passenger train would again reach prosperity within three years of the creation of Amtrak and an initial free federal monies infusion of $140 million from the public treasury. Little did the Nixonites know of the power of the road to ruin by an industry feeding from the federal trough and not having the responsibility of proving to a professional board of directors or shareholders the company is either solvent or on the road to being solvent.

All of this brings us to today, where the sons and daughters of the railroaders of the 1960s and 70s are now, complete with their MBAs, running the few remaining mega-railroads and short lines. Gone are the railroaders who made the tough decisions to rip up track and shrink available mileage. Gone are the railroaders who initially looked at trucks hurtling down new, four lane Interstate highways and sniffed and said, "nothing can replace the power of the train."

Today's railroaders are no longer in the ultimate struggle for survival, but are captains of a mature industry which is both discovering its roots, and overall rediscovering itself and its many capabilities as an essential – and permanent part – of American surface transportation.

Here's a laugh every railroader can have: There is no other type of commercial transportation that has vehicles made – be it ships, space ships, jet and rotary engine aircraft, pipelines, and even trucks – which do not have much of the components for those vehicles shipped to the final assembly point by rail. Rail is the only carrier capable of routinely hauling just about anything, from booster rockets to ship propellers to airplane fuselages to truck transmission parts.

The difficult, messy decisions of 20th Century history for railroads went away thanks to Congressman Staggers and President Carter. Today's railroads, while still subject to the same rules of economic cycles as every other industry, are overall in a healthy position, and all of the support industry, such as car and locomotive builders are overall healthy, too.

Which means, the first thought in the morning for railroad presidents, CEOs, CFOs, and chairmen is not whether or not something is going to happen today to put the company into bankruptcy, but, how to swipe a nice chunk of business from a competing railroad or a trucking company, along with how to make the company more efficient.

Which also means, railroaders today, while having some limits to their patience, are more than willing to sit down and discuss passenger rail with serious people.

It has often been Amtrak through the years, not the host freight railroads, which has been hesitant to talk about system expansion. While many railroaders have moaned and groaned about their systems bursting at the seams for capacity prior to the recent recession, somehow, when someone really wanted to do something and the price was right, one more train could always be squeezed into the system.

Amtrak, using any excuse from the dog ate its homework to "no operating money" to "no equipment," has historically embraced a culture of failure. For years, independent studies conducted by United Rail Passenger Alliance and others have shown Amtrak's long distance trains to be profitable "above the rail." What this means is the actual operating cost of the train, to get it from terminal to terminal, including all costs of running the train, have been cash-positive, or, to use that supposedly nasty "P" word amongst Amtrak's alleged friends – profitable.

Today, Amtrak itself says the Auto Train makes 121% of the its operating costs, but it doesn't use the "profit" word, probably because it was intentionally struck from the Amtrak corporate lexicon decades ago.

The Palmetto, according to Amtrak's byzantine accounting system, makes nearly 100% of its operating costs through the sale of tickets and onboard services.

Most of the other daily long distance trains do as well, but to slightly different degrees. So, what is holding these trains back, through Amtrak's accounting system, from bursting through the ceiling to complete profitability?

The burden on of excessive corporate overhead, a bloated reservations system which runs up costs quicker than a drunken sailor, and the intentional throwing off of costs directly and solely associated with the Northeast Corridor onto the national system of long distance trains so the NEC can claim to be operating in the black. (Keep in mind Amtrak's other favorite accounting hocus pocus, the incorrect charging of NEC operations costs to capital costs, to disguise the real costs of owning and operating the NEC.)

If Amtrak keeps on its current path of promoting irresponsible short distance and corridor trains over cash cow long distance trains, it will forever be a ward of the government treasury and a failure.

Look at New York's Empire Corridor, formerly the domain of current Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joe Boardman when he headed the New York State DOT before taking on the Amtrak assignment.

Mr. Boardman's trains, totaling 18 departures a day (nine roundtrips), solely serve residents of New York State. These trains offer coach and business class service, and some trains have cafe/food service, too. Most of the departures are clustered around morning and evening rush hour in and out of New York City, and cover much of the same stations as Metro North commuter trains. For FY 2008, Empire Service trains had an average failing load factor of 35%, carried just 105 passengers per mile, and had an average length of trip of 124 miles per passenger. Empire Service trains carried 994,300 passengers, each paying an average of 33 cents per revenue passenger mile for total revenue of $41,058,400.

This is relatively wonderful if you are a resident of New York State and want to commute to work everyday in style. However, if you live anywhere else in the country, you have to be wondering why you have one train (or less) a day, while the New Yorkers along the Hudson River have nine roundtrips a day, plus many also have Metro North passenger train commuter service, and New York contributes zero dollars to this operation.

Yes, Mr. Boardman's former home and employer get a free ride, 365 days a year, while just to the south the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pays heavily for its Keystone Service (New York does help pay for the Adirondack route of one train a day), and Vermont, Virginia (starting this year), North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington State, and California all pay for their short distance regional and corridor trains.

Mr. Boardman, are you going to correct this grievous and unfair situation? Why should New York get a free ride while all other states have to pay?

This is the type of failure mode Amtrak has been in for too long. It's irresponsible on one hand, and wants public treasuries in several states to make up for that by paying for what others are getting for free. If the Empire Service trains had a better load factor, then there would be room for debate about the credibility of keeping these trains running. But, since we're looking at a whopping 35% load factor, one can't help but wonder how much longer this is going to continue?

The saviors of Amtrak are the long distance trains. Amtrak in the past few years did a bang-up job, along with the unhelpful assistance of its various Amen Corner organizations, of selling a bill of goods to the government and public that long distance trains are evil, and short distance and regional trains are good.

The people doing this – from Amtrak managers to state and national rail fan organizations – did nothing short of defrauding the public with such nonsense and junk science.

Since there has been no legitimate scrutiny of Amtrak by outside sources beyond URPA, and the respected Amtrak Reform Council, Amtrak has been allowed to remain in a state of failure with no accountability and scrutiny. When some members of Congress or White House Office of Management and Budget officials have demanded Amtrak be held accountable, they have been either roundly shouted down, ridiculed, or ignored in favor of continued bad behavior by Amtrak for all of the wrong reasons.

So, what are you going to do about it?

The railroads of today are not the failed or near-failed railroads of 40 years ago. There is enough empirical evidence to show long distance trains are not only the wave of the future, but have the financial clout to liberate Amtrak from constant government interference and financial guardianship.

There are legitimate reports and corporate information available to anyone who can read from the Internet there are profitable passenger train services in Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. If passenger trains can be profitable there, why not here?

The only people thinking and saying Amtrak must remain a failure are those who either don't want to work cleverly or hard enough to make it a success, or those who have a vested interest in keeping things the way they are so they can retain what power they have (at other people's expense).

So, what are you going to do about it?

Are you going to continue to accept whatever drivel Amtrak hands out to the public and politicians for unquestioned consumption, or are you going to ask questions? Are you going to demand your congressional representative and senators stop blindly accepting whatever Amtrak says, and ask Amtrak to do more?

Are you going to demand the White House, so enamored with passenger trains, makes sure whatever money is spent is done so in the most judicious manner?

Are you going to join the several activist state organizations around the country no longer accepting Amtrak's the dog ate its homework excuses and say "do better!"?

Are you going to stop apologizing for Amtrak, claiming it just can't do better because of the very lame excuse of "no money" and realize whatever Amtrak has done with the $30 billion it has received in free federal monies during its corporate life, have not been the right choices that have benefitted the greatest number of Americans?

Are you going to realize you, as an American citizen, have the same right to ask your government to provide you with passenger rail (as the only current provider of passenger rail in the country) as do people living in the Northeast Corridor who presume the blessings of passenger rail are a "given" and their passenger rail needs are more important than your passenger rail needs?

It's really up to you to choose what to believe, and choose how to believe. You can believe passenger rail will always be a failing proposition, or you can choose to believe passenger rail can stand on its own and be part of a growing proposition that is market driven and a positive part of our capitalist system.

3) A number of times in the past this space has featured the writing of Ken Orski of Innovation News Briefs writing about transportation and infrastructure issues. Here is Mr. Orski's latest issue of his publication, Volume 20, Number 8, dated June 11, 2009. For more information visit the web site www.innobriefs.com .

This issue contains a good roundup of developments in surface transportation policy, among other issues.

[begin quote]

June 11, 2009

The Surface Transportation Bill — Closing the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality

As the debate over the surface transportation program revs up and as Chairman James Oberstar prepares to release his thoughts on the "principles" of the proposed authorization bill, efforts to influence the legislative process are multiplying. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials led with its new, well-documented "Bottom Line Report" that estimates future needs for highway improvements at $132-166 billion annually. The American Road and Transportation Builders Association, one of the most seasoned and influential advocates for transportation on Capitol Hill, has chosen to focus its efforts on promoting a proposal to establish "Critical Commerce Corridors" and to increase capital investment in transportation infrastructure through public-private partnerships.

Ad hoc coalitions also are weighing in. The "Building America's Future" coalition led by Governors Ed Rendel and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has issued a new appeal to Congress and the Obama Administration to make "transformative changes" and chart a new transportation vision for the 21st century. The liberal-leaning "Transportation for America" (T4 America) coalition has published a report, The Route to Reform, calling for "a bold new vision" for a 21st century transportation system and a restructured federal surface transportation program with specific goals. The Freight Stakeholders Coalition, a 17-member organization that includes public and private freight carriers, has released a 10-point platform calling for development of a comprehensive national freight program and a "National Multimodal Freight Strategic Plan." A cryptically named "Combined Infrastructure Working Group" has drafted a set of policy recommendations focused on expanding the opportunities for private investment in U.S. infrastructure (the Group has not revealed the identity of its sponsors).

The latest to be heard from is the Bipartisan Policy Center's National Transportation Policy Project (NTPP). Before a large gathering of Beltway insiders on June 9, the Project sponsors unveiled their report entitled Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy. (The Project co-chairs include former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer (D), former Senator Slade Gordon (R-WA) and former Congressmen Martin Sabo (D-MN) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)) The report recommends "bold and comprehensive reform founded on a relatively simple proposition: U.S. transportation policy needs to be more performance-driven, more directly linked to a set of clearly articulated goals, and more accountable for results." The sweeping proposal also recommends consolidation of all current transportation programs into two categories: formula-based system preservation programs (75% of all funds) and discretionary capacity expansion programs (25% of all funds). The latter would award grants for new infrastructure on a competitive basis. (the full report and executive summary are available at http://www.bpcntpp.org )

In the meantime, a group of private sponsors, including former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, and the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge, have joined forces to launch a Council of Project Finance Advisors (CPFA). The aim of this initiative is "to provide recommendations and advocate for a center of excellence on public-private partnerships" modeled after similar organizations in Canada's British Columbia and the United Kingdom. The CPFA, in the words of its prospectus, will assist the public and private sectors by providing greater transparency and credibility for public-private partnerships, serving as a repository of best practices on financing options, improving public trust in the P3 process and addressing public sector concerns.

A New Policy Consensus

Despite their diverse backgrounds, the various stakeholder groups have reached a remarkable measure of agreement—at least at the rhetorical level — about the future nature and direction of the federal transportation program. Every constituency agrees that the existing program has lost direction and lacks a clear sense of purpose. A composite version of the stakeholders' conclusions and recommendations would read something like this (phrases in quotation marks are verbatim quotes from their reports):

Simply reauthorizing the existing program is not a solution. Rather, there is a need to "bring new approaches and fresh thinking." The new bill must articulate "a compelling new vision" and the nation's transportation policy and program must be fundamentally "reformed," "restructured," "reinvented" or "transformed." (Indeed, calling for "transformative change" has become the mantra of many of the policy statements). Individual program categories must be reduced in number, consolidated and refocused to reflect more closely the national objectives. The future program must be "performance-driven," and "outcome-oriented." State and local transportation agencies must be held accountable for demonstrable progress toward achieving clearly defined goals. Tolling, private capital and public-private partnerships should be among the potential sources of revenue "but are not a silver bullet." The project review and approval process must be streamlined with a goal of getting projects completed in far less time than is the case today. Congress must elevate freight transportation as a new national priority and establish a national freight program, perhaps with its own dedicated source of funding.

On funding, the concensus conclusions would read as follows: The fuel tax will remain the principal source of revenue for the federal surface transportation program for many years to come but the tax revenue currently collected is not sufficient to maintain existing infrastructure, let alone provide the funds needed to expand and modernize the transportation system. Increased vehicle fuel economy standards and a possible leveling of future travel demand is likely to lead to steadily declining receipts from fuel taxes. Moreover, the gas tax provides weak and somewhat inaccurate price signals and needs to be supplemented, and eventually replaced, with a more "sustainable" revenue mechanism that relies on direct user charges. In other words, the days of the fuel tax are numbered — but not just yet.

Closing the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality

Assuming, as we do, that these statements reflect accurately the collective mindset of the transportation community, the challenge for the congressional leadership and the Administration will be to translate the lofty rhetoric and generalities into an implementable program. However, not all the rhetoric lends itself to implementation. For example, the NTTP report speaks of a "performance-driven" program and recommends eight "performance metrics" by which to evaluate the progress towards achieving the national goals (these goals include economic growth, national connectivity, metropolitan accessibility, safety, energy security and environmental protection). At a panel discussion celebrating the release of the NTPP report, skepticism about the feasibility of implementing such a complex performance-based system was much in evidence. "I am a seasoned enough observer to know that such an approach will not be adopted," remarked one panelist. "Measuring performance and assessing outcomes requires a robust national data base and data collection capability that we simply do not possess," another participant who follows the federal highway program closely told us.

The recommendations of the Transportation for America (T4 America) coalition suffer from a similar excess of rhetoric. Its Blueprint: The Route to Reform report recommends a series of performance targets that include reducing per capita vehicle-miles traveled by 16 percent, and tripling walking, biking and public transportation usage by 2030. However, the report is silent on how these targets are to be achieved— if, indeed, they are achievable. Similarly, the T4 America report talks about the need to create a mode-neutral "unified transportation trust fund" that would allow for greater integration of surface transportation systems and for cross-subsidization between the modes. However, the authors fail to consider the realities of congressional committee jurisdictions and modal self-interests, both of which have proved to be serious obstacles to integrating the surface transportation program along mode-neutral lines. What is more, as the Reason Foundation's Bob Poole points out in his latest newsletter (June 2009), opening the fuel tax-funded pot of money to all forms of transportation would be the coup de grace for the user-pays/user-benefits principle advocated by the National Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and endorsed by scores of transportation professionals in and out of government.

Funding Remains the Big Unresolved Issue

Nowhere is the gap between rhetoric and reality wider than on the question of future funding. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates that $2.2 trillion is needed over a five-year period to repair the nation's aging infrastructure. AASHTO recommends an annual investment of $166 billion for highways and bridges and $46 billion for public transportation to improve system conditions and performance. Rep. James Oberstar speaks bravely about the need to double the current federal transportation program to $450 billion over the next six years. But the reality is less obliging.

The Obama Administration in its Fiscal Year 2010 budget has proposed to continue most transportation programs at a one percent baseline increase. It has noted that this proposal is subject to an upward revision as provided for in the upcoming surface transportation authorization. However, Congress has given no indication where any such additional money might come from. What we do know is that the Administration is categorically opposed to any immediate gas tax increase ("we are not going to propose any kind of an increase in the gas tax while our economy is in a state of recession and so many people are at work," Secretary LaHood testified). Secretary LaHood also would "absolutely not" consider a transfer of general fund money into the Highway Trust Fund — thus closing the door on two of the most obvious and straightforward solutions to the funding shortfall. Instead, the Secretary has vaguely suggested that extra funds could be raised through a National Infrastructure Bank and private investors. However, so far the Administration has not spelled out its ideas on how to attract private capital and implement a meaningful program of public-private partnerships.

In the meantime, concern about the near-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund tends to overshadow the issue of long-term infrastructure funding. The Highway Trust Fund will need $5 to $7 billion just to maintain current spending rates through the end of FY 2009 according to U.S. DOT and OMB officials. An additional $8 to $10 billion would be necessary to ensure the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund through the end of FY 2010 in the event the reauthorization schedule slips and Congress is obliged to pass an extension of the current law. (passing the bill by September 30 of this year would be truly "a triumph of hope over experience," former Sen. Slade Gorton observed at the June 9 NTPP press conference).

A House Ways and Means subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures is expected to hold a hearing in late June or early July on alternative approaches to fund the multi-year surface transportation program. Until Congress has settled on a specific long-term funding strategy, until Rep. James Oberstar has unveiled his legislative proposal, and until the interface between the transportation bill and the energy and climate bill (H.R. 2454) has been clarified, the shape of the future federal transportation program will remain shrouded in uncertainty.

[End quote]

4) Keeping up with things on the South Florida Tri-Rail front as it battles for its existence in a political world that doesn't know the difference between a subway and a commuter train: The South Florida Business Journal, a weekly business newspaper with a daily Internet news service which conducts unofficial polls came up with a fascinating tidbit of information.

The Business Journal asked its online readers – mostly executives and wannabe executives – the question, "How important is continued funding for Tri-Rail?"

The poll response was illuminating. Among all of the responses – again, mostly from people who probably don't use the service, but know their employees do – 72% said Tri-Rail needs full funding, 8% said service cutbacks are acceptable, and 21% said they didn't care about Tri-Rail or disapprove of it altogether.

That 72% is a pretty big, whopping number in favor of spending tax dollars on an alternate form of transportation. What do the taxpayers and voters of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties in South Florida know that their elected representatives of both major parties don't know?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

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URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## AlanB

MrFSS said:


> Mr. Boardman's trains, totaling 18 departures a day (nine roundtrips), solely serve residents of New York State. These trains offer coach and business class service, and some trains have cafe/food service, too. Most of the departures are clustered around morning and evening rush hour in and out of New York City, and cover much of the same stations as Metro North commuter trains. For FY 2008, Empire Service trains had an average failing load factor of 35%, carried just 105 passengers per mile, and had an average length of trip of 124 miles per passenger. Empire Service trains carried 994,300 passengers, each paying an average of 33 cents per revenue passenger mile for total revenue of $41,058,400.


I would really love to know where and how he comes up with these numbers, as I can't get close at all, other than to agree that the total passenger count is correct and the total revenue.

But when I try to calculate the passengers per mile, I get 150, not 105. And that's not really correct either, since there are only 18 trains per weekday, there are less on a weekend, which inflates my number. Additionally since this really is geared as a commuter service, one should be making the calculation based upon weekday ridership and then weekend ridership.

I wouldn't argue that NY State should be paying for this service, but that still doesn't change the fact that I believe the numbers are wrong.


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## Hamhock

I keep waiting for him to snap, and just put out an issue consisting of "NO ONE LISTENS TO ME! WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?"


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## haolerider

Hamhock said:


> I keep waiting for him to snap, and just put out an issue consisting of "NO ONE LISTENS TO ME! WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?"


And you don't think he has already snapped???

He mentions that no outside group - other than URPA and the Reform Council - have scrutinized Amtrak; however I think he must be forgetting Congress, FRA, IG, etc. who are scrutinizing Amtrak every day. This is not to mention the rail fan groups that scrutinize from a distance - sometimes with more emotion than fact!


----------



## jis

haolerider said:


> Hamhock said:
> 
> 
> 
> I keep waiting for him to snap, and just put out an issue consisting of "NO ONE LISTENS TO ME! WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?"
> 
> 
> 
> And you don't think he has already snapped???
> 
> He mentions that no outside group - other than URPA and the Reform Council - have scrutinized Amtrak; however I think he must be forgetting Congress, FRA, IG, etc. who are scrutinizing Amtrak every day. This is not to mention the rail fan groups that scrutinize from a distance - sometimes with more emotion than fact!
Click to expand...

Ah! But if they don't agree with *them* clearly they need to keep scrutinizing more until they see the light of the day and do get around to agreeing with him. Until then they don't count  Incidentally, among the so called rail advocates they are not alone in this attitude towards life either.

I have to hand it to them though.... they are masters of rhetoric and one liners.  And sometimes they are even correct on a point or two.


----------



## frj1983

Like everybody else,

he gets a good jab in once in awhile. But his/their sense of self-importance is herculean!!! :lol:


----------



## EB_OBS

MrFSS said:


> There are legitimate reports and corporate information available to anyone who can read from the Internet there are profitable passenger train services in Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. If passenger trains can be profitable there, why not here?



Anyone know where to possibly find these so-called legitimate reports and information? It's been my understanding, since joining AMTRAK three years ago, that there isn't a profitable passenger railroad anywhere in the world. Have I been mislead?


----------



## saxman

ez223 said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are legitimate reports and corporate information available to anyone who can read from the Internet there are profitable passenger train services in Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. If passenger trains can be profitable there, why not here?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone know where to possibly find these so-called legitimate reports and information? It's been my understanding, since joining AMTRAK three years ago, that there isn't a profitable passenger railroad anywhere in the world. Have I been mislead?
Click to expand...

I have seen somewhere that the TGV line from Paris to Lyon makes an operating profit only. I'm sure it doesn't cover capital costs and expansion. That could be this guys definition of profit. I mean the Auto Train makes an operating profit and other routes come close to it. The numbers Amtrak gives even says the NEC makes a profit, but I know thats not really true, given how many of its allocated costs are given to other trains.

I'm willing to bet if proper capitol investments are made, I bet some LD trains could at least break even, operationally. The Empire Builder's farebox recovery is 76%. I'm willing to bet with the addition of the new cars on this train, it would be much higher.


----------



## jis

saxman66 said:


> I have seen somewhere that the TGV line from Paris to Lyon makes an operating profit only. I'm sure it doesn't cover capital costs and expansion. That could be this guys definition of profit. I mean the Auto Train makes an operating profit and other routes come close to it. The numbers Amtrak gives even says the NEC makes a profit, but I know thats not really true, given how many of its allocated costs are given to other trains.


According to http://www.trainweb.org/tgvpages/map.html#pse, LGV PSE (Paris - Lyons) in 1991 made a profit of almost $400 million net of Maintenance, Operations and Depreciation, which would indicate that it was profitable taking into account depreciation of capital investment. That is way more profitable than Amtrak has ever claimed for the NEC or the Autotrain or anything else. I believe the LGV PSE and LGV Atlantique have been profitable net of capital for many years and at least the LGV PSE has actually paid dow the entire capital and interest on it and then some.

That is not to say that all LGV's are that profitable. Many of the newer ones would not have been built if the departments (districts) through which they passed had not agreed to chip in capital to construct them.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 25, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 18
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Here at home in an adjoining county to the south is St. Augustine, which bills itself as the Ancient City. St. Augustine, Florida has been around as a point of civilization since 1565, and was pretty much a sleepy, colonial town, even after Florida statehood in 1845. It wasn't until the notorious Henry Flagler, business partner of John D. Rockefeller (Some historians say Flagler was the smarter of the two ruthless business partners.) came vacationing in Northeast Florida in the 1878 that he noticed sleepy St. Augustine.

Mr. Flagler came to Jacksonville for the temperate climate. (A century ago, oranges were still a cash crop in Northeast Florida.) He crossed the might St. Johns River (The only major river in North America which flows north.) and traveled by passenger train to St. Augustine in 1883. There, he found a slumbering city of Spanish descent which afforded cooling ocean breezes, a pleasant bayfront view, and a rural county seat.

Mr. Flagler took a liking to St. Augustine, and starting building hotels and the Florida East Coast Railway. His first hotel, the Ponce de Leon – begun in 1885 and which today is the home of Flagler College – became an overnight success as a playground for the Gilded Age rich and famous. More hotels followed, with Mr. Flagler becoming St. Augustine's most prominent part-time denizen.

Not content to stop at St. Augustine, Mr. Flagler pushed his new railroad and string of hotels and resorts southward, creating such famous Florida hot spots as Ormond Beach/Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Stuart, Palm Beach (Where Mr. Flagler eventually built his permanent home and today's world famous The Breakers hotel and resort, the only remaining asset of the original Flagler System.), Ft. Lauderdale, and, in partnership with Julia Tuttle and her family, Miami and Miami Beach. Mr. Flagler's railroad entrepreneurship didn't end in Miami; he gazed further southward and saw Key West, the southernmost point of the United States, and promptly in 1905 began building the Florida Overseas Railroad, one island at a time from South Florida to Key West, completing the huge project in 1912.

Depending on your favorite Florida historian, there is debate as to whether or not Henry Flagler or Henry B. Plant, who owned a freight shipping company and small railroads, and in 1879 combined his holdings into the Plant System (Later, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.), building to the west coast of Florida via Orlando, invented modern Florida by the strength of their iron horses.

Of course, it was the common use of residential air conditioning in the late 1950s which created the most modern version of Florida, and allowed inland cities and towns away from cooling ocean and Gulf of Mexico breezes to grow and prosper. The coming of the Space Age at Cape Canaveral on the Florida East Coast Railway really put Florida on the international map.

But, no matter who your preferred railroad robber baron was prior to the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s, it was the railroad which created Florida, and especially St. Augustine.

St. Augustine was the home of a violent and deadly railroad strike in 1963; FEC non-operating employees went out on strike over several issues. The FEC continued to run trains with management personnel, but the strike turned violent with numerous bombings of bridges and trains, resulting in deaths, permanent injuries, and general mayhem.

By the time of the strike, Florida was served by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, the Atlantic Coast Line, the FEC, and, into the northeast corner of Florida, the Southern Railway.

While the Seaboard's Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Palmland, Sunland, and a host of local trains traveled down the middle of the state on SAL's mainline through Ocala, the Coast Line trains, the East Coast Champion, the Everglades, and the trains it operated in conjunction with the FEC, such as the famed Winter-only Florida Special, the Havana Special, and the trains from the Midwest, including the Royal Palm, Dixieland, South Wind, Seminole, and City of Miami all stormed through St. Augustine on their way to and from Miami.

The 1963 strike ended all of that. The FEC's named trains simply disappeared, annulled because of the strike and the continuing violence and threats of violence. The trains handled by the Coast Line moved inland westward, from the FEC to soon-to-be merger partner's SAL lines down the middle of the state.

By court order, train service briefly returned to the FEC from 1965 to 1968, with a lone locomotive and two trailing cars – offering coach seating and parlor car seating, but no food service – running up and down from North Miami to Jacksonville's union terminal. (The main FEC station in downtown Miami had been torn down by 1965 as part of urban renewal in downtown Miami.)

Even FEC retirees who chose to come to Jacksonville from Miami when traveling by train, went via the Seaboard or Coast Line because it was safer, had more frequency offerings, and full train service.

In the late 1990s, in the George Warrington era of Amtrak, there was a brief flurry of activity in St. Augustine because discussions and negotiations were underway to return passenger train service to the FEC, courtesy of Amtrak and a ton of money (Now allocated elsewhere.) from the State of Florida.

Plans were laid, station sites were identified (The FEC, like so many other railroads which exited the passenger business had executives at the time who wanted to make sure those pesky passengers stayed away, so all but one or two FEC passengers stations were either demolished, sold, or had their tracks ripped up.), and cities and towns along the east coast competed to see whether or not they could snag one of the limited number of station stops planned for the new service.

St. Augustine, once the railroad king of Florida and still the corporate home of the FEC until 2008, decided to build a new station on the FEC main line directly across the street from St. Augustine's general aviation airport, claiming it was creating an "intermodal" center of transportation. No one ever quite explained what the attraction would be for private pilots to fly into the St. Augustine airport, tie their planes down, and then board a passenger train, but that was the plan.

All of those plans came to a screeching halt when Mr. Warrington's Acela bubble burst, and the Northeast Corridor Service which was supposed to save the entire company ended up having the company coming close to being liquidated.

Now, in the third century of trains through St. Augustine, once again there is talk of passenger trains calling at St. Augustine. Several local government groups along the FEC are petitioning popular Florida Governor Charlie Crist to apply for free federal monies to pay for restoring service between Jacksonville and Miami via St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Fort Pierce, Jupiter, and into West Palm Beach where a new connection would be built for the trains to join the former SAL main line (Now Tri-Rail commuter line and present Amtrak line.) to take the train into Amtrak's Miami/Hialeah southern terminal.

The scary part of this is the news media is reporting these funds are being asked for to use for high speed rail, not conventional rail. While the FEC is a very good piece of railroad with excellent infrastructure, no one would ever confuse it with high speed rail. Some of the logic goes the incremental approach should be taken, first restoring service, and then eventually upgrading the service to high speed over a specified period of time.

What is interesting about this is the current ownership of the FEC, RailAmerica, Inc., which in turn is owned by Fortress Investment Group. RailAmerica, in addition to owning the FEC, owns nearly four dozen other short line and regional railroads in the U.S. and Canada.

RailAmerica is a solid company, with good financial performance. Fortress Investment Group is a giant fund which controls many companies, all on a private basis. This means there are no individual stockholders or Wall Street money managers demanding RailAmerica do this or that to shore up stock prices, and no public reporting of financial results. In other words, the managers are free to carry out any prudent business decisions they see fit (Within the framework of the law and overall regulations.), including striking a deal with Amtrak to run trains on their property.

If it makes money and doesn't interfere with RailAmerica's other mission of supplying outstanding freight service, then there is an interest.

If the State of Florida does strike a deal for stimulus money for this route, there isn't much standing in the way of restored passenger service between Jacksonville and Miami via the FEC, with the exception of creating a new equipment pool.

Initial plans were to move the Silver Meteor from Orlando to the FEC, which is a very, very bad idea. Why would anyone want to take service away from one of the world's busiest vacation destinations in Central Florida to serve the towns of Florida's east coast?

A better solution is to find additional equipment, or, perhaps split a train in Jacksonville (Which Amtrak did from its very beginning until the horror of the common consist in the 1990s, and the closing of the Tampa crew and maintenance bases.), with half of the train traveling via Orlando and half of the train traveling via St. Augustine. Other options are to extend other trains from the Midwest or Northeast south to Miami via the FEC, such as the Capitol Limited or City of New Orleans via Mobile, Alabama. Extending an existing Superliner train would require less equipment than starting a complete new route.

As usual, it's all going to come down to politics. Which state (Other than Illinois.) has the most juice in Washington? Which state has the best planning? Which state can move the quickest?

St. Augustine may or may not have train service again, 125 years after Henry Flagler became serious about hauling passengers into Florida to fill up his elegant hotels and resorts. If it does, yet another of the dozens and dozens of gaps in America's passenger rail system will be rightly filled.

2) Inquiring minds want to know: With all of the money being thrown around Washington, and every city, town, village, hamlet, and their dog making plans to snap up as much money as possible to expand everything from local trolley systems (A good idea.) to major commuter rail systems to sprucing up stations, where are Amtrak's plans for the future? What about fleet expansion, Rail Passenger Association of California President Paul Dyson wants to know? The single-level sleeping car order for the east coast trains doesn't do anything to expand capacity; it just keeps enough new equipment floating into a maintenance-weary fleet to delay total breakdown.

What about new routes? We know three restart routes are being studied (The Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, the Pioneer, and the North Coast Limited/Hiawatha.), but, what about bold, new plans to fill in so many of the other gaps in the country outside of the Northeast Corridor?

And, the easiest thing of all, what about all of the other dozens and dozens of pieces of equipment sitting around in the weeds on wreck line tracks, waiting to be re-loved and repaired? When will Amtrak ask for money to fix this stuff, too?

A dose of reality for True Believers is Amtrak is lagging behind everyone else in vision, if not outright bold management. Yes, Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman seems to be nudging things in the right direction – only marginally and slightly so – but, when is he or the Board of Directors going to give things a major shove in the right direction?

Wise gray head Gil Carmichael has called for at least 150 new trainsets to ready Amtrak for his brilliant Interstate II strategy. While to some that may seem a big number, it's only a starting point.

Remember, Amtrak today has considerably less than 2,000 cars on its total roster, including active cars and cars sitting in the weeds on the wreck line. In the mid 1960s, just before the invention of Amtrak, there were over 5,000 passenger cars in the combined national fleet of America's passenger carriers, and that was a depleted number from the halcyon post-World War II days of rebuilding the worn out war time fleet of cars.

Now is not the time for timidity and reliance on the graciousness of others for survival. Now is the time for bold plans, bold action, and an understanding of how easy it is to bring America's passenger rail system from an asterisk on the charts of transportation output to a real figure representing growth and prosperity.

3) While we're on the subject of history, News From 1930 blog on the Internet came up with this fascinating gem, reporting what was written in The Wall Street Journal from June 16th through the 21st in 1930:

[begin quote]

Pullman Company [Operator of the nation's sleeping car business over the majority of passenger railroads.] purchases in the last year: 1,165,000 towels, 444,000 pillow slips, 387,000 sheets, 63,000 porter's jackets, 5,786,000 paper bags for women's hats. Launders 278 million items annually.

[End quote]

That's a lot of items, especially for the first year of the Great Depression. At one point early in the 20th Century, it was said the Pullman Company made up more beds every night than the largest hotel chain in the country.

4) Now, what? Amtrak's highly respected Inspector General, Fred E. Weiderhold, Jr. suddenly retired from Amtrak after 35 years, including being the watchdog who kept the contractors honest when the NEC was electrified north of New Haven, Connecticut.

This happened practically overnight, and was unexpected by most. The Boston Globe wondered in its news columns what brought on this sudden urge to retire, but no one is talking. It should be noted in the same several day period Mr. Weiderhold retired, at least three other government IGs were forced out of their jobs by the Obama Administration without reasonable explanation.

[begin quote]

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

60 Massachusetts Avenue NE

Washington, DC 20002

www.amtrak.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATK-09-047

Contact: Media Relations (202) 906-3860

June 18, 2009

Amtrak Inspector General to Retire

Fred E. Weiderhold, Jr. Served Amtrak for 35 Years

WASHINGTON – Amtrak Inspector General Fred E. Weiderhold, Jr. today informed the Chairman of the Amtrak Board of Directors that he is retiring after 35 years of loyal service to the railroad.

"As Amtrak's first and only Inspector General, Fred has made important contributions in helping the Board of Directors understand key issues facing the railroad and made useful recommendations to improve how we do business," Amtrak Chairman Thomas Carper stated. "We thank him for his dedicated service to Amtrak and wish him well in his retirement."

Carper added that under the federal Inspector General Act, the Amtrak Inspector General is appointed by the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Carper said he takes this responsibility seriously and will soon undertake a search for a replacement that can continue to maintain the integrity, independence and objectivity required of the position.

In addition, Carper said that he has confidence in the Inspector General staff and expects them to carry on their important work during this interim period, including providing effective oversight of how Amtrak is handling the stimulus funds it received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Mr. Weiderhold has been the only person to serve as the Amtrak Inspector General since former Amtrak Chairman W. Graham Claytor, Jr, asked him to establish the Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG) in 1989. Previously, he was Amtrak's first Special Assistant to the Chairman for Employee Relations, conducting special investigations and acting as the company's first employee ombudsman. He has been one of the longer serving Inspectors General within the OIG community.

About Amtrak

Amtrak has posted six consecutive years of growth in ridership and revenue, carrying more than 28.7 million passengers in the last fiscal year. Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com.

[End quote]

5) The Holland, Michigan Sentinel on Monday, June 22, 2009 reported ridership on Amtrak's Pere Marquette is down 12.7% this May compared to a year ago, and a state senate committee which funds the service is looking to slash funding for the train.

Only 8,500 people boarded the route in May of 2009, or an average of 137 passengers per departure. All of the usual reasons were given for low ridership, including low gas prices and the slowed economy.

Here's the problem no one seems to want to understand: As long as government funding as the primary source of revenue for these short, perpetually money-losing routes is necessary, politicians are going to always be looking for ways to cut budgets, and low return on investment programs are usually the first to go.

Too much of Amtrak relies on this very type of funding. There are unceasing stories from New England about those states wanting to cut funding for local trains (This, of course, does not include Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman's home State of New York where he previously served as head of the state department of transportation. New York only funds one Amtrak train, the Adirondack, even though the entire Empire Service trains, with only an average load factor of 35%, gets a free ride with an all-federal subsidy.). Oklahoma pays big bucks for the tiny Heartland Flyer with even worse transportation output performance.

What will it take to make Amtrak and its True Believers understand a healthy and robust long distance system throws off enough excess cash (profits) these short distance trains can be mostly internally subsidized? Why perpetually fight these annual political battles when the simple answer is vision and expansion, even if it's just making the existing skeletal long distance system train consists longer?

Why is this such a difficult concept to understand? Why do so many ill-informed people think it's perpetually okay to support failure when success is within easy grasp?

6) Here's some heartburn for those who believe the passenger business can never be profitable: Carnival plc, which owns Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Cunard Line, and The Yachts of Seabourn in North America; Costa Cruises in Europe; P&O Cruises, Cunard Line, and Ocean Village in the Untied Kingdom; AIDA Cruises in Germany; Ibero Cruises in Spain and Brazil; and P&O Cruises Australia in Australia and New Zealand, operates 88 cruise ships with a passenger capacity of approximately 169,040 souls. Carnival also marketed and operated 16 hotels or lodges with approximately 3,500 guest rooms; approximately 560 motor coaches used for sightseeing and charters, 24 domes rail cars, which run on the Alaska Railroad between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Whittier and Denali, and Whittier and Talkeetna; 2 luxury dayboats; and sightseeing packages.

Carnival plc, headquartered in London, when tracing its heritage back through P&O Princess Cruises, was founded in 1850. Television fans may remember the real Princess Cruises happily loaned its ship, the real Pacific Princess, to Aaron Spelling and ABC to create the wildly popular television hit, The Love Boat, which spurred the modern cruise line renaissance.

All of this, by the way, is somehow accomplished without any government subsidies and is effected through private capital and entrepreneurship.

7) William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona has some thoughts on state passenger rail organizations. Mr. Lindley, a longtime professional associate of URPA, is a past president and treasurer of the Arizona Rail Passenger Association, and currently serves as a writer and editor for the group's newsletter.

[begin quote]

What does a rail passenger association really need to do? A recent report illustrates how what looks like failure to uphold principles may have helped doom a major city's plans for modern passenger train service.

In Atlanta, Georgia, a proposed green space called the "Decatur Beltline" would remove track connections which permitted trains to connect in all directions from Atlanta's downtown yards and stations. According to the National Association of Railroad Passengers Newsletter of May 2009, this "pitted local environmentalists against passenger train advocates (Georgia ARP remained officially neutral to minimize bad blood among erstwhile allies.)"

Say, what? Since when would a responsible passenger advocacy group roll over and play dead when the future of any kind of sensible passenger train operations is threatened? When I saw that I had to do some digging.

According to a November 30, 2005 Associated Press report, Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute called for using Atlanta's "unused" railway tracks for a linked system of parks, paths and transit. Now, while this is certainly an admirable goal, according to AP, "A panel of transportation experts raised concerns when it found isolated parts of the loop would not have riders to support trains, trolleys or whatever transit options are proposed." In other words, here we go again with removing a vital railway link – which can't be relocated – in favor of some green space which can be placed anywhere.

This conflicts with the goals of a long-proposed and eagerly anticipated downtown intermodal terminal at approximately the site of the original Atlanta Union Station, and with an immediate connection to mass transit MARTA's hub, the Five Points subway station, from which trains radiate north, south, east, and west.

Atlanta's other former main station, Terminal Station, on the Southern Railway, had south-facing stub-end platforms and was on Southern's mainline just west of Union Station. Although the Richard B. Russell Federal Building replaced Terminal Station in the 1970s, a single through-track connection to the Union Station area still exists ... but neither Terminal Station nor the current Peachtree station used by Amtrak can reasonably be expanded for the demands of an expanded modern passenger operation.

The Five Points site is within walking distance to Georgia State University buildings, the popular Underground Atlanta shopping and nightlife district, and the downtown sports arenas. Furthermore, there is potential at a downtown terminal for a building with visual and interpretive ties to Atlanta's historic train stations and its growth as the key city to the "New South" – building on the idea of the station as gateway to the city.

The City of Atlanta, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper article of March 5, 2009, said that the State Department of Transportation's "vision of high-speed rail would discourage future residential development." Amazingly, the city seems thereby to value a few new apartments over connecting the entire metro area with its downtown transit center.

With the Georgia DOT's March 2009 removal of its objection to the park project, trains will only be able to reach downtown via the west side connection. Amtrak's Crescent and commuter trains from the north and east would have a two-mile backup move to reach a new downtown station.

Now, without the eastern loop connection, Amtrak would likely have to stop at a new station with a MARTA connection – a new stop miles further northeast from downtown than even the existing Peachtree Station. This would mean requiring longer trips for most users, and a

change of subway trains for many. This site, like Peachtree, has little potential for filling the perceptual role of a Gateway.

So, now, let's return to that quote again:

"... pitted local environmentalists against passenger train advocates (Georgia ARP remained officially neutral to minimize bad blood among erstwhile allies.)" – NARP Newsletter, May 2009.

I wasn't privy to the discussions but this certainly sounds like a failure to uphold the principles which should govern a passenger rail association. Rail passenger associations are neither historic preservation groups (the National Railway Historical Society fulfills that goal) nor are they railfan groups. Our associations are not yes-men to Amtrak, the railroads, local transit operators, real estate interests, sports teams, or environmental groups.

Indeed, the whole point of such a rail passenger association, as a non-profit institution, is a fiduciary (meaning: a relationship of confidence and trust) and a moral obligation to guide the progress toward modern and expanded passenger rail service. This is a charitable goal because passenger trains improve our quality of life, offer transportation options to everyone, improve our economy, and improve our environment ... everyone wins with better public transit.

So was Georgia ARP's failure to object to the removal of a vital transportation link a breach of trust for the objective of advocacy? Again, I wasn't there so I can't say, but if NARP's account is correct, placing "not upsetting so-called environmentalists" above "fulfilling the confidence placed in your organization to preserve and enhance passenger train service" seems

highly suspect.

Because detailed coverage has proven difficult to find in newspapers or on-line, I dearly hope one of our Gentle Readers more familiar with the subject can soothe my fears.

[End quote]

8) Six months from today is Christmas Day!

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 27, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​



Volume 6, Number 19
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Things are getting interesting regarding the sudden departure by retirement of Amtrak’s well-respected Inspector General, Fred Weiderhold.

No one seems to know where this is going, but, fortunately for Amtrak and the American taxpayers, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has taken a strong interest in this situation.

It’s important to note throughout Amtrak’s decades-long corporate life, Amtrak has often been remiss in following normal rules and procedures and courtesies (Not to mention settled law.) in Washington.

Back in the late 1980s, this was the identical case with VIA Rail Canada, run by our cousins in the cold north. Since the Canadian federal government is a parliamentary system of government, things can happen more quickly and dramatically there versus what happens in the United States. The bottom line for VIA at the end of the 1980s was the government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney felts it was constantly being submarined by the board of directors and management of VIA, and, in a meeting of just a handful of members of the Prime Minister’s cabinet, suddenly, half of VIA Rail Canada disappeared due to a tremendous slash in VIA’s government funding.

That one cut cost the original Canadian on Canadian Pacific Railway lines to be gone, and the lesser route of the Super Continental on Canadian National Railroad lines to become the premier train of the system (With the “Canadian” moniker.), but to this day only operating a tepid tri-weekly service between Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia via Edmonton and Jasper, Alberta. Also soon gone was the Atlantic, which operated between Montreal, Quebec and Halifax, Nova Scotia via St. John, New Brunswick.

The tourist service VIA Rail Rocky Mountaineer survived, but was transferred to private ownership where it has flourished and grown by being freed of the oppression of government ownership.

Several other routes, such as service to Sudbury, Ontario, also disappeared.

Amtrak for decades has played – like VIA Rail Canada – fast and loose with federal law, mostly often obeying federal statutes and mandates when convenient and otherwise doing as it pleased, often ignoring propriety.

Understand, it really didn’t matter who was on the Amtrak Board of Directors at the time or who was running the White House at the time, these games have continued unabated for decades.

Perhaps, a century from now, when a true and deep history of Amtrak is compiled and written by a neutral historian, there will be an understanding of why so many directors of Amtrak chose to either look the other way or did what they did for the sake of expediency.

Maybe, some of what was done was done to get around the vagaries of attempting to run a business in a cesspool like Washington.

But, for whatever reasons things have happened in the past, it looks like a day is dawning when business as usual at Amtrak may have to be radically changed. We saw the many great efforts of departed Chairman of the Board David Laney to put Amtrak on a more transparent and businesslike track. We saw a reduced board after his departure struggle to get through the wrong hiring of Alex Kummant and his subsequent merciful departure. And, we now see a continuing reduced board with buckets of free federal money and lots of extraneous infrastructure projects going on, but without a clear vision of what Amtrak will be later this year or next year.

Here’s hoping Senator Grassley will continue to work to bring the light what is really going on at Amtrak.

Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman, a creature of government and not accustomed to working within or for private sector boundaries needs to take the lead with Senator Grassley and reveal what his management team is doing to solve any problems being identified as holding Amtrak back from greatness.

2) This is a press release, published in full, from Senator Grassley’s office. Keep in mind this is a press release from a politician, not a news story.

[begin quote]

For Immediate Release

June 25, 2009

Grassley asks Amtrak to respond to report describing interference with IG work

WASHINGTON --- Senator Chuck Grassley has asked Amtrak about the circumstances of the Inspector General's unexpected retirement seven days ago and invited Amtrak to provide information about the interference by Amtrak in the work of the Inspector General described in a report prepared at the request of the retired watchdog.

Grassley said the report indicates that Amtrak's policies and procedures have systematically violated the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Act.

"As I continue my investigation into whether the independence of the Inspector General was undermined by Amtrak officials, I want to make sure I have any and all information Amtrak wants to provide," Grassley said. "The allegations are serious, including third parties being told to first send documents under subpoena by the Inspector General to Amtrak for review, and the Inspector General being chastised for communicating directly with congressional appropriations and authorizing committees,"

Grassley asked the Office of the Inspector General last week for a copy of the report, which was prepared by the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Grassley said his office had been in communication with former Inspector General Fred Weiderhold about the issues before Weiderhold's retirement on June 18, 2009.

Also this month, Grassley has been investigating the President's decision to fire the AmeriCorps Inspector General, after the Inspector General issued two reports of mismanagement and abusive spending by AmeriCorps grantees. Grassley also has asked the International Trade Commission to account for its termination of its Inspector General who had been repeatedly hired for six-month increments and been given outstanding performance reviews. In both cases, Grassley said the administration failed to comply with a law enacted last year requiring Congress to be notified 30 days in advance of the dismissal of an Inspector General and given the reasons for the firing. Then-Senator Barack Obama co-sponsored the legislation along with Grassley.

"Inspectors general are watchdogs over the federal bureaucracy, and the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 is supposed to better safeguard their independence so they can do their jobs for taxpayers and program stakeholders," Grassley said. "The President has said he wants more accountable government, and keeping good watchdogs on the job is fundamental to that goal. Inspectors general need to be strengthened, not undermined."

Last week, Grassley asked the Treasury Secretary to put an end to documented resistance from the Treasury Department to requests for information from the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program. Senator Grassley was an advocate for creating a Special IG for TARP to try to hold the program accountable and co-sponsored legislation to strengthen the ability of the Special IG to conduct oversight after the TARP program changed its original mission. Earlier this year, Senator Grassley also battled the White House after it tried to subject requests of the Special IG to the red tape of the Paperwork Reduction Act. Grassley subsequently introduced legislation to exempt the Special IG from the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Grassley has long worked to empower inspectors general to conduct effective oversight of the federal bureaucracy and he has held inspectors general themselves accountable for meeting the requirements of the jobs.

The text of Grassley's letter to Amtrak is below, along with his letter of last week to the Amtrak Office of the Inspector General, which sought a copy of the report. The attachment to today's letter, including the "Report on Matters Impairing the Effectiveness and Independence of the Office of Inspector General," are posted here.

June 25, 2009

The Honorable Thomas C. Carper

Chairman of the Board

Amtrak

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

10 G Street, NE

Washington, DC 20525

The Honorable Lorraine A. Green

Interim Inspector General

Amtrak

Office of Inspector General

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

10 G Street, NE

Washington, DC 20525

Dear Chairman Carper and Interim Inspector General Green:

Thank you for your response dated June 23, 2009. My staff is currently in the process of reviewing information from various sources concerning the Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG). I am interested in the facts regarding former Inspector General Fred Weiderhold's (IG) retirement. Interestingly, he retired on the same date that the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP completed a "Report on Matters Impairing the Effectiveness and Independence of the Office of Inspector General" ("Report"). I understand that there was a meeting with Mr. Weiderhold and the Board of Directors on that same date as well, and that his decision to retire was made during that meeting. Accordingly, please:

1) provide a description of the circumstances surrounding former IG Weiderhold's unexpected retirement, specifically the relationship between the timing of his retirement and the Report;

2) produce any and all internal as well as personal materials relating to: (a) the former IG's departure; and (b) the Report; and

3) produce any and all materials cited in footnote 7 of the Report.

For definitions related to this request and all future requests, please refer to Attachment 1.

The Report prepared by Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP and Attachment 2 suggests a long-term and unrelenting interference with the activities and operation of the OIG. The Report seems to indicate that Amtrak's policies and procedures have systematically violated the letter and the spirit of the Inspector General Act, as amended. However, in order to ensure that Amtrak has an opportunity to respond, please identify any factual representations with which you disagree, or about which you wish to provide additional information. Please be sure to provide documentation in support of your position(s).

I also want to thank you both for offering to "maintain an open line of communication" with my office, and look forward to my staff receiving a briefing from you. In addition, I would appreciate your making the following individuals immediately available for interviews:

1) D. Hamilton Peterson, Deputy Counsel to the Inspector General;

2) Edward Puccerella, Director of Congressional & External Affairs;

3) Colin C. Carriere, Counsel to the Inspector General; and

4) E. Bret Coulson, Deputy Inspector General.

It was also reported to my staff that some OIG staff members may be fearful of retaliation if they were to discuss the matters set forth in this letter with anyone, including Congress. As you may be aware, 18 U.S.C. § 1505 prohibits obstruction of Congressional inquiries. Denying or interfering with employees' rights to furnish information to Congress in any way will be considered an obstruction of our inquiry. Amtrak and Amtrak OIG employees should be free from fear of retaliation or reprisal, and authorized to freely answer questions from Congress without representatives from Amtrak present, if they so desire. Accordingly, I would appreciate your advising the OIG and all full-time, part-time and contractor employees at Amtrak of the fact that they are free to contact Congress without advising Amtrak management or their respective supervisors.

Thank you again for your continued cooperation and assistance in this matter. As you know, in cooperating with the Committee's review, no documents, records, data or information related to these matters shall be destroyed, modified, removed or otherwise made inaccessible to the Committee.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley

Ranking Member

Attachment

June 18, 2009

E. Bret Coulson

Deputy Inspector General Management & Policy

Office of Inspector General

Amtrak

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

10 G Street, NE

Washington, DC 20525

Dear Mr. Coulson:

As a senior member of the United States Senate and as the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance (Committee), it is my duty under the Constitution to ensure that Inspectors General, which were created by Congress, are permitted to operate without political pressure or interference from their respective agencies. Inspectors General were designed for the express purpose of combating waste, fraud, and abuse and to be independent watchdogs ensuring that federal agencies were held accountable for their actions. I understand that Inspector General Fred Weiderhold, Jr. has retired today.

Based on contacts that my staff had with Mr. Weiderhold on two recent occasions (April 2, 2009 and June 4, 2009), I understand that the OIG has suffered from repeated and continuous interference from the agency. After the most recent discussion, it was agreed that the OIG would provide, among other things, a White Paper and specific examples of agency interference with OIG audits and/or investigations. To date, the OIG has not yet provided any documents. As you know, any interference such as that was described in these previous discussions is a direct violation of the Inspector General Act of 1978.

In light of Mr. Weiderhold's unexpected retirement, please provide the previously requested documentation immediately. I am deeply troubled that these aforementioned meetings with my staff and discussions of the OIG's independence concerns predicated this personnel action with IG Weiderhold. Furthermore, I am even more concerned that there is a lack of accountability, based on the OIG's reported lack of independence, for the $1.3 billion in stimulus funds that Amtrak has received from American taxpayers.

Due to these recent events, I specifically request all materials at the IG's office be preserved immediately.

In addition to providing the requested documentation, please provide an immediate briefing to my staff on the level of proper oversight the OIG has over of the $1.3 billion dollars of American taxpayer money, and what role the previously discussed independence issues with the agency played in the elimination of former IG Weiderhold.

Thank you in advance for your assistance and I would appreciate a response to this inquiry by June 19, 2009.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley

Ranking Member of the

Committee on Finance

cc: The Honorable Thomas C. Carper

Chairman

Amtrak

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

Joseph H. Boardman

President and Chief Executive Officer

Amtrak

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; June 29, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 20
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) There has been so much going on these past couple of weeks that needs to go on the record, we're producing a third This Week at Amtrak in less than a week. We have read about the sudden departure of Amtrak former Inspector General Fred Weiderhold, Jr. and the follow-up to that departure by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Also making a buzz in the past 10 days was the presentation of a report by the United States General Accountability Office entitled "High Speed Passenger Rail: Effectively Using Recovery Act Funds for High Speed Rail Projects." Reading all the way through it could prove to be a snoozer for some, but this report by the GAO's director of physical infrastructure issues raises some important points about the need for clarity and focus in government, particularly relating to the subject of passenger rail. That report is presented at the end of today's TWA.

2) First, some good news from here in Florida. We've been following the saga of Tri-Rail, South Florida's commuter rail system which operates in three counties, Palm Beach, Broward (Ft. Lauderdale), and Miami-Dade. (Note, if you're like this writer and wondered how Dade County suddenly got to be Miami-Dade County in recent years, you are not alone. It seems the county fathers decided since Miami pretty much completely dominates Dade County, the county should officially be renamed Miami-Dade County. Which, if you're a map printer, created some headaches for you. One interesting note: further north, in Central Florida is Seminole County, which is adjacent to Orange County the home of Orlando and partially to Walt Disney World. Originally, Seminole County was named Mosquito County, and the name was changed sometime prior to the Florida Land Boom. It would be tough to draw tourists to a location named Mosquito County.)

Tri-Rail has been publicly struggling with its upcoming annual budget since once again, no permanent funding source was declared for the commuter system by the gutless, do-nothing Florida legislature this year. Tri-Rail officials have been publicly wringing their hands, hoping for a government miracle to save having to slash all weekend and holiday service, and cut huge amounts out of daily service, effectively creating a revised system which would meet very few needs of its total ridership, and drive passengers away. Add to all of that the feds telling Tri-Rail if it didn't run a full complement of service, the United States Government would demand all sorts of money be repaid in full for infrastructure improvements made (Double tracking the system, and more.) with signed contracts saying Tri-Rail would operate a certain size schedule, no matter what.

Suddenly, it was a miracle. Well, no, not really. What it was amounted to was transit officials accustomed to lots and lots of funding from other sources (Mainly, the county governments.) and never having to say you're sorry for anything "finding" some money for operations.

So, what happened? Gosh, golly, gee, wow, it turns out the money for next year's full operations was there all of the time, just sitting unused and unloved in another account. Yes, you guessed it, Tri-Rail bosses figured out money could be borrowed from accounts to improve parking and some other equipment upgrades to keep the system operating while a final solution is found for a permanent source of funding.

The transit-riding public, and all of the businesses in the Tri-Rail area which support the system with paid subsidies for employees and other programs read account after account in the news media saying Tri-Rail was in crisis. Yes, it was – a crisis of its own making. It would have been wonderful if the gutless, do-nothing Florida legislature had done something this year about solving the funding problem for Tri-Rail on a permanent basis. But, keeping true to form, they punted and said it was someone else's problem.

What the various denizens of Florida's legislative branch of government fail to recognize in a huge state such as Florida (Fourth in the nation for population.) is what brings prosperity to one corner of the state brings prosperity to all of the state. Transit is not a regional issue for Florida; it is a state issue. It's a given in state government highways and other infrastructure will be built and maintained; why isn't it a given commuter rail should be built and maintained, too, as long as it's a viable system like Tri-Rail?

3) The plight of Tri-Rail is similar to the plight of Amtrak. There was a belief at Tri-Rail someone else would bail them out and keep the system running, while the real answer to the immediate problem was just sitting in a Tri-Rail bank account.

Much the same is true at Amtrak. As long as it's business plan – a favorite of the fans of failure – continues to emphasize money from outside sources instead of first finding every possible way to generate revenues by full use of the company's various assets, Amtrak will lurch from crisis to crisis.

Amtrak probably thinks the failed experiment of the heartstrings-pulling Heartland Flyer, funded by the State of Oklahoma for seven figures a year, is a good train. Harrumph. The Heartland Flyer is a waste of good Superliners and locomotives which could be producing far more revenue elsewhere, and could be replaced by a bus or two for the average of a total of 111 passengers per day the train hauls over its 206 mile, two-state route. Amtrak nationally only captures one tenth of one percent of domestic transportation output; the taxpayers of Oklahoma are taking a huge bath with the Heartland Flyer as on a statewide basis it falls far below Amtrak's national average.

Rational people hope this more than decade-long operating junior train will one day grow into a real, productive, adult train if the consortium of states working together right now figures out a way to correctly stretch this route north of Oklahoma City and connect it with the route of the Southwest Chief in Kansas. When you consider the tiny consist of the Heartland Flyer still has only a 43% load factor, one has to wonder if anything at all is being done to bolster this train. While it does serve as a feeder to the Texas Eagle in Fort Worth, Texas, (And, the Eagle itself only has a 53% load factor, well below what it should be.) the Heartland Flyer is an example critics can point to and say, "Look at the millions of dollars Oklahoma has fed into this train, and the impact on the mobility of Oklahomans is near zero in the overall picture of state transportation output." While a tiny, vocal, misinformed minority group of supporters of this train can boast and say Oklahoma has Amtrak service, the real question is, "at what price?"

Amtrak's critics constantly point to the high cost of low return on many routes, and the Heartland Flyer is a prime example of when a real, gut-wrenching decision has to be made whether or not to provide a transportation alternative at an exorbitant price, or use those assets elsewhere. Having a train for the sole sake of having a train helps no one except those who like to stand by the side of the track and watch the train go by.

From the standpoint of Amtrak's business plan, it doesn't care where government money comes from, as long as it comes. The only states which have a viable train that can be pointed to by other states as a success story are North Carolina and the Carolinian, with a load factor of 77.9%, Pennsylvania's Pennsylvanian with a load factor of 74.3%, and Michigan's Pere marquette, with a load factor of 67.3% (But, as reported earlier this month in TWA, even the State of Michigan is looking cross-wise at continued funding for this train as ridership has slipped this fiscal year.). If North Carolina's model can be followed, it would be easier for other states to justify the cost of state-funded passenger rail service.

While starter projects are important, the 11-year run of the Heartland Flyer has proven nothing more than a half of a blip on the transportation radar in Oklahoma, and realistic people have to seriously look at this train and how the assets to operate this train could create a better return on investment elsewhere. It's notable North Carolina's other state funded train, the Piedmont, with a load factor of 44.6%, operates solely with equipment owned and maintained by the State of North Carolina.

So, in summary, Tri-Rail found fiscal religion in its own bank account, and will live to fight another day for better state funding, perhaps in the form its has advocated for years, a small, local sales tax on rental cars only in the three tourist-laden counties Tri-Rail serves. Oklahoma has shelled out millions of dollars for a junior train (If there were any Rail Diesel Cars still available for intercity service, this train as it is today would be a good candidate for those.), and, unless a solution is found to extend the train to its logical endpoint further north in Kansas, will have to make some serious decisions about the worth of the Heartland Flyer.

Amtrak, as our national passenger rail provider, still lacking a long term vision, has got to make some decisions, too, before someone else makes them for it. Amtrak has to decide whether it is happy to drain money out of state bank accounts or develop its own plan for as much self-sufficiency as possible. As long as there are annual fights over money being paid to Amtrak to run these small routes, there will be anxiety and wonder every budget year. As one president of a state passenger rail association so eloquently said, "it's not a matter of making 55% return at the farebox, it's a matter of straining every muscle and ounce of energy and squeezing out every dime of assets to get to 56% that's important." Amtrak and its various fans of failure have been too happy for too long to never worry about reaching that extra point of self-reliant liberty.

4) Something fun from half-way around the world: Fox News reported in mid-June many Japanese women choose to commute in female-only passenger rail coaches during rush hour to avoid being groped by men, and now men are requesting men-only coaches for fear of being accused of groping.

You can't make this stuff up. Ten representatives of male commuters petitioned the commuter train operator for men-only coaches, noting there have many cases of groping, as well as false charges of groping, so, since the female-only coaches have been successful, in the spirit of gender-equality, men-only coaches should also be available.

No word on whether married couples would be allowed to ride in the same car.

5) Here is the GAO report mentioned above.

[begin quote]

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, U.S. Senate

HIGH SPEED PASSENGER RAIL

Effectively Using Recovery Act Funds for High Speed Rail Projects

Statement of Susan A. Fleming, Director Physical Infrastructure Issues

For Release on Delivery Expected at 2:30 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Thune, and Members of the Subcommittee:

I am pleased to be here today to discuss the implementation of high speed intercity passenger rail projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act). The $8 billion provided by the Recovery Act for high speed and other intercity passenger rail projects has focused more attention on and generated a great deal of anticipation about the possibility of developing high speed rail systems in the United States. These projects are seen by some as serving an important transportation role, by moving people quickly and safely, reducing highway and airport congestion, and being environmentally friendly. My statement today focuses on (1) the factors that we have identified that affect the economic viability of high speed rail projects and (2) how the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) recent strategic plan incorporates those factors. 1 My testimony is based on our recent report on high speed rail, our review of FRA's strategic plan, and discussions with FRA and selected transportation experts. 2

In summary, we found that while the potential benefits of high speed rail projects are many, these projects—both here and abroad—are costly, take years to develop and build, and require substantial up-front public investment, as well as potentially long-term operating subsidies. Determining which, if any, high speed rail projects may eventually be economically viable will rest on factors such as ridership potential, costs, and public benefits. FRA largely agrees with our March report. FRA's strategic plan for high speed rail outlines, in very general terms, how the federal government may invest the $8 billion in Recovery Act funds for high speed rail development. However, this plan does not establish clear goals for the federal government in high speed rail—other than establishing a "longer term goal of developing a national high speed intercity passenger rail network of corridors"—and does not define a clear federal role for involvement in high speed rail projects other than providing Recovery Act funds. As such, in our view, it is more a vision than a strategic plan. As part of a discussion to prepare for this hearing, FRA told us that it sees its strategic plan as a first step and that it intends to seek structured input from stakeholders and the public to help develop strategies to implement its vision.

Factors That Affect the Economic Viability of High Speed Rail Projects

The factors affecting the economic viability of high speed rail projects include the level of expected ridership, costs, and public benefits (i.e., the benefits to non-riders and the nation as a whole from such things as reduced congestion), which depend on a project's corridor and service characteristics. High speed rail is more likely to attract riders in densely and highly populated corridors, especially where there is congestion on existing transportation modes (such as highways or airports). Characteristics of the proposed service are also a key consideration because high speed rail is more likely to attract riders where it compares favorably to travel alternatives in terms of trip times, frequency of service, reliability, and safety. Costs largely hinge on the availability of rail right-of-way, and a corridor's terrain. To stay within financial or other constraints, project sponsors typically make trade-offs between cost and service characteristics.

Once projects are deemed economically viable, project sponsors face the challenging tasks of securing the significant up-front investment for construction costs and of sustaining public and political support and stakeholder consensus. We found that in other countries (France, Japan, and Spain) with high speed intercity passenger rail systems, the central government generally funded the majority of the up-front costs of high speed rail lines. 3 The $8 billion in Recovery Act funds for high speed rail (and other intercity passenger rail) lines represents a significant increase in federal funds available to develop new or enhanced intercity passenger rail service. This amount, however, represents only a small fraction of the estimated costs for starting or enhancing service on the 11 federally authorized high speed rail corridors. For example, the San Francisco-Los Angeles portion of the California high speed rail corridor alone, which already has about $9 billion in state bonding authority, is estimated to cost about $33 billion dollars. 4 Furthermore, federal funds for high speed rail in the past (as with the Recovery Act) have been derived from general revenues, not trust funds or other dedicated funding sources. This makes ongoing capital support for high speed rail projects challenging, as they compete for funding with other national priorities such as health care, national defense, and support for ailing industries. In addition, the challenge of sustaining public-sector support and stakeholder consensus is compounded by long project lead times, the diverse interests of numerous stakeholders, and the absence of an established institutional framework for coordination and decision making.

FRA's Strategic Plan Is a First Step

FRA's strategic plan attempts to address the absence of an institutional framework for investments in high speed intercity passenger rail service. In our recent report and in 2005, 5 we discussed the need for:

1. Clear federal objectives and clear roles for all stakeholders (federal, regional, state, and local governments and freight, commuter, and passenger railroads).

2. Clear identification of outcomes expected.

3. Ensuring the reliability of ridership and other forecasts to determine the viability of high speed rail projects.

4. Including high speed rail with a reexamination of other federal surface transportation programs to clarify federal goals and roles, link funding to needs and performance, and reduce modal stovepipes that hinder financing transportation improvements that will lead to the greatest

improvements in mobility.

FRA's plan, which the Recovery Act required the FRA to issue 60 days after the act was signed, outlines in very general terms how the FRA will allocate the Recovery Act high speed rail funds. It does not define goals for investing in high speed rail, how these investments will achieve them, how the federal government will determine which corridors it could invest in, or how high speed rail investments could be evaluated against possible alternative modes in those corridors. In our opinion—and as FRA recognizes—this strategic plan is a first step in planning federal involvement. FRA has emphasized that its approach is to involve the ultimate "owners" of high speed rail—the states and communities in which they will reside—to help flesh out the approach to developing high-speed rail that are under its control. FRA officials also told us that it plans to spend Recovery Act funds in ways that show success to help keep longterm political support for these projects at the local level.

Overall, FRA generally agrees with the issues that we raised in our March report, with the report's recommendations, and with the observations that we are making today. Last week, FRA took its next step by issuing interim guidance for applying for Recovery Act funds. 6 The guidance lays out the evaluation criteria for grant funding, the weights to be applied to the criteria, and the selection criteria.

In conclusion, the infusion of up to $8 billion in Recovery Act funds is only a first step in developing potentially viable high speed passenger rail projects. The host of seemingly intractable issues that have hampered development of these projects remain as challenges, and these issues will need to be resolved to effectively spend Recovery Act funds. Surmounting these challenges will require federal, state, and other stakeholder leadership to champion the development of economically viable high speed corridors and the political will to carry them out. It will also require clear, specific policies and delineations of expected outcomes, and objective, realistic analysis of ridership, costs, and other factors to determine the viability of projects and their transportation impact.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have.

1 By economically viable, we mean that a project's total social benefits offset or justify the project's total social costs.

2 See GAO, _High Speed Passenger Rail: Future Development Will Depend on Addressing Financial and Other Challenges and Establishing a Clear Federal Role_, GAO-09-317 (Washington D.C.: Mar. 19, 2009); and Federal Railroad Administration, _Vision for High- Speed Rail in America _(Washington D.C.: April 2009). We conducted this performance audit from May 2009 to June 2009 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. These standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

3 GAO-09-317.

4 The corridor would extend from Sacramento and San Francisco through Los Angeles to San Diego.

5 GAO-09-317 and GAO, _21st Century Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government_, GAO-05-325SP (Washington D.C.: February 2005).

Please contact Susan Fleming at (202) 512-2834 or [email protected] about this statement. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Relations can be found on the last page of this statement. Greg Hanna and James Ratzenberger made key contributions to this statement.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## VentureForth

MrFSS said:


> * Initial plans were to move the Silver Meteor from Orlando to the FEC, which is a very, very bad idea. Why would anyone want to take service away from one of the world's busiest vacation destinations in Central Florida to serve the towns of Florida's east coast?** *
> 
> * A better solution is to find additional equipment, or, perhaps split a train in Jacksonville (Which Amtrak did from its very beginning until the horror of the common consist in the 1990s, and the closing of the Tampa crew and maintenance bases.), with half of the train traveling via Orlando and half of the train traveling via St. Augustine. Other options are to extend other trains from the Midwest or Northeast south to Miami via the FEC, such as the Capitol Limited or City of New Orleans via Mobile, Alabama. Extending an existing Superliner train would require less equipment than starting a complete new route.*
> 
> * *
> 
> * As usual, it's all going to come down to politics. Which state (Other than Illinois.) has the most juice in Washington? Which state has the best planning? Which state can move the quickest?*
> 
> * *
> 
> * St. Augustine may or may not have train service again, 125 years after Henry Flagler became serious about hauling passengers into Florida to fill up his elegant hotels and resorts. If it does, yet another of the dozens and dozens of gaps in America's passenger rail system will be rightly filled.*


Though I typically like Bruce's fiscally conservative approach towards the way Amtrak should be managed, I have to disagree with this point. This is what I sent him back:



> With regards to your commentary in the 6/25 issue of TWA, I find it interesting that you would consider the re-routing of the Silver Meteor to the FEC would be detrimental. Though it isn't traditional routing, does it have to be?
> The current Meteor is the "prime mover" of the Silver service. It runs an extra sleeper (and extra coach?) vs the Star and it makes for a much quicker ride between Miami and NYP. If the Meteor is relocated to the FEC, it would become even more of a premier service, cutting the time (with appropriate rail upgrades, of course) to NYP by hours.
> 
> No station/city would be left without service - just without twice daily in each direction service.
> 
> I strongly advocate that Amtrak needs more trains on existing services. There is no doubt about that at all. I hope that line of thought continues. But even more so is the importance of adding cities to the network. This must happen NOW while the going is good. Let's not forget that all of this was APPROVED back in 2001 and then turned off when the source of funding couldn't be found.
> 
> South of Savannah, the two trains are running only two hours apart from each other, and by Miami, the schedules are almost on top of each other. Rerouting the Meteor would perhaps increase demand on the Star, requiring another sleeper and perhaps another coach. But that's less equipment than an all-new train. Demand on the Meteor would increase with it's faster service and now possibly opposite-time-of-day schedule.
> 
> We can get people to Disney World on one train - this could even encourage the Sun Rail to move forward to increase intrastate passenger rail capacity.


----------



## VentureForth

saxman66 said:


> ez223 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are legitimate reports and corporate information available to anyone who can read from the Internet there are profitable passenger train services in Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. If passenger trains can be profitable there, why not here?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone know where to possibly find these so-called legitimate reports and information? It's been my understanding, since joining AMTRAK three years ago, that there isn't a profitable passenger railroad anywhere in the world. Have I been mislead?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I have seen somewhere that the TGV line from Paris to Lyon makes an operating profit only. I'm sure it doesn't cover capital costs and expansion. That could be this guys definition of profit. I mean the Auto Train makes an operating profit and other routes come close to it. The numbers Amtrak gives even says the NEC makes a profit, but I know thats not really true, given how many of its allocated costs are given to other trains.
> 
> I'm willing to bet if proper capitol investments are made, I bet some LD trains could at least break even, operationally. The Empire Builder's farebox recovery is 76%. I'm willing to bet with the addition of the new cars on this train, it would be much higher.
Click to expand...

JR East, Co, Japan's primary people mover in Tokyo. And they are private, operating without a government subsidy, and infact RETIRING debt from it's previous life under government control.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 6, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 21
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Amtrak woke up this Monday morning for the first time in decades without the prospect of having the many services, decades of experience, and wisdom of Victor Francis at its disposal. Mr. Francis retired from Amtrak on Saturday; the Fourth of July was his declared day of personal freedom, too.

Mr. Francis is a young man; he just turned 60 a few days ago. But, with his combined age and over 30 years of experience and the rules of Railroad Retirement, he was able to go out the door and start the next useful phase of his life. Don't be fooled at that number 60; Mr. Francis could/has/will run rings around lesser folks half his age.

He began his Amtrak career when both he and Amtrak were young in the 1970s, beginning as a trainee in the kitchen of an Amtrak dining care that still used coke logs for fire and heat in stoves. His worthy teachers were salty chefs and cooks first trained by familiar names in the best traditions of passenger railroading such as Santa Fe, Union Pacific, and Southern Pacific, all working out of the Los Angeles, California crew base, where Mr. Francis called home his entire Amtrak career.

His experience under fire taught him the tricks of the trade, and how to turn out a superb meal in a hot, cramped space, often having to improvise to provide the best presentation for passengers.

After the kitchen, Mr. Francis moved into other areas, including a long stint as Chief of Onboard Services for the Coast Starlight and Sunset Limited. After that, other supervisory roles called in the Los Angeles crew base and Los Angeles yard areas, including his last assignment of making sure the Coast Starlight and Sunset Limited were road-worthy and ready to be backed into Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal to being their multi-state runs. It was under Mr. Francis' watchful eye those consists were released for service after making sure everything was well-stocked and in as much working order as possible.

Mr. Francis is a totally passenger-focused manager; he understands service recovery and also what it takes for passengers to have an enjoyable train experience from the moment they step on the train. Graciousness has always been a part of his demeanor – unless, of course, behind the scenes something is awry and a stronger approach was necessary – and he was always an advocate for those working for him. Be sure, Mr. Francis was never shy about speaking his mind, but his purpose was positive and for improvement, not negative.

So, today, Victor Francis will be missed by his many friends at Amtrak, and all of us who had the privilege of working with him at various times on special projects. Under the direction of former Gulf Coast Business Group General Manager Deborah Wetter, Mr. Francis was one of the group of four of us who invented the successful 24-hour dining car experiments on the Sunset Limited. It was great fun working with him creating menus, figuring out labor requirements, and understanding storage limits in a Superliner dining car. He knows union rules inside and out, and he knows railroad safety rules even more. He took all of this experience and put it to use where it was most important, for his passengers.

There are many like Victor Francis in Amtrak's national system; people who go to work everyday determined to make a difference for their passengers. These fine people often have to pick up the slack for co-workers who don't share this creed, but they do it because they understand the passenger – not government subsidy – is what makes Amtrak possible.

Victor Francis will be missed at Amtrak. In the end, he knows he goes into the next positive phase of his life with the knowledge of a job well done.

2) The fans of failure often incorrectly point to Amtrak's host freight railroads as the primary reason Amtrak can't expand, citing track congestion and an unwillingness for freight railroad managers to deal with passenger trains.

Norfolk Southern Corp., owner of Norfolk Southern Railroad (along with Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad) has always taken a more business-like approach to passenger rail. While other railroads have often expressed a knee-jerk negative reaction when the subject of passenger rail is even brought up, the folks at NS have taken their cue from the top.

Wick Moorman, the CEO of Norfolk Southern, recently spoke to business leaders in the NS hometown of Norfolk, Virginia. Mr. Moorman in June told members of the Greater Norfolk Corp. civic development group his thoughts were his own, and not necessarily those of his company, but, please, when the CEO expresses an opinion which is made public for the press, that opinion always carries some extra weight.

When speaking on the subject of the need for high speed passenger rail to come to the Hampton Roads area of Tidewater Virginia, the Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk's daily newspaper quoted Mr. Moorman as saying "... (H)e signaled in an interview that his company is open to becoming an active partner. 'If we think it makes sense for us financially to take some role in the ongoing operation, we'd be willing to at least consider that,' he said. 'We certainly are more than willing to be engaged in the dialogue.'"

The Virginian-Pilot went on to say "Moorman's comments represent a sea change in Norfolk Southern's attitudes. The company historically has had understandable heartburn about trying to coordinate fast-moving passenger trains and slower freight cars. But Moorman and other executives are proud residents of Hampton Roads, and they understand the economic consequences if a network of high- and higher-speed passenger rail along the Eat Coast bypasses the region.

"They also understand their own business model is changing. Moorman told business leaders that cargo traffic has dropped by about 45 percent for automobiles, 40 percent for steel and 25 percent for coal compared to last year's figures. Although Moorman sees signs of improvement he believes recovery will be slow. While the recession has been painful, it's also encouraged Moorman and his colleagues to consider new opportunities, including passenger rail.

"Moorman said 16 states have contacted his company eager to engage Norfolk Southern in passenger rail projects. He's met with officials in Virginia, and his expertise is already helping to level barriers impeding the project.

"For example, he said in an interview that the state's $475 million price tag for a southern route [From the Norfolk area to other parts of the East Coast in the Carolinas and elsewhere.] exceeds his company's own estimates for necessary upgrades. Norfolk Southern boasts a rail network perfectly capable of handling passenger trains with additional side tracks for passing and improved road crossings."

"While Moorman is willing to work with Virginia on passenger rail, issues of capacity, liability and financing must be resolved. 'The trick is the money,' he said."

Well. So, to the surprise of many socialists and others of their ilk, basic business and the desire to make money for corporate shareholders does trump the perceived distaste for passenger rail that came from generations past of railroad executives, not necessarily those of today who are responsible for corporate growth and prosperity.

The time has come to discard the old, outdated thought patterns. People tend to forget railroads are a business charged with producing the highest possible return on investment for shareholders. If part of that process includes the reintroduction of passenger rail on much of America's railroad infrastructure, there is a higher chance that is going to happen than there was 25 years ago. Stop thinking in the past and embrace the future, or you may just miss the train.

3) Okay, so we're seeing an overt willingness by at least two of the four largest railroads in the United States to talk about passenger rail. Most likely, the others will fall in line when they realize what it can do for the bottom line. So, what about Amtrak? Is there a willingness on Amtrak's part to embrace this new culture of expansion?

It really doesn't look that way. While everybody and their dog in the country has created a vision for the future based on stimulus money and all sorts of other goodies as the recession wanes, Amtrak has been steadfast in its silence.

Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman publishes a column two weeks ago in the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch heralding the virtues of high speed rail and how Amtrak is poised and ready to assist states grab free federal monies (Something Amtrak is very adept at doing.) to start high speed passenger services.

But, the column was totally devoid of any mention of Amtrak as we know it – America's passenger railroad – and the future of Amtrak as a provider of conventional rail.

More and more people with the ability to look at Amtrak with their eyes wide open – as opposed to those True Believers who believe Amtrak can do no wrong – are questioning Amtrak's ability to move forward in a meaningful way. No one is seeing any vision, and no one is seeing any plan for the future. In reality, we're not even seeing a holding pattern, just the continued decline in national operations.

Since Mr. Boardman's one year contract expires in less than five months, and he was the product of the previous White House administration, what will happen today and tomorrow? Will the current White House want to put its own imprint on Amtrak, complete with a new CEO? Will the current White House fill the five vacant seat on the Amtrak Board of Directors so the company can move forward in a legal manner?

Will Amtrak ultimately have the management team it deserves; a team committed to expansion, not retrenchment?

Amtrak's current enablers always want us to believe to tired old canard of "just give Amtrak the money it needs, and everything will be fine." Please, that line of thinking has got to stop. Amtrak, because of its lack of vision, doesn't make full use of the money it receives now, but instead, chooses to plow money into the least productive and most socialistic lines of business, short distance trains.

4) Since Mr. Boardman has offered a helping hand to states wanting to get into the high speed rail biz, is he willing to do that to states looking to improve their state funded trains, too?

Michigan is going through some serious heartburn at the moment, with a sure cut coming in its funding of its state trains, including the Pere Marquette and Blue Water services. Michigan state senators have passed a budget resolution which will cut the annual Pere Marquette and Blue Water subsidy from the current $7.3 million to about $3.7 million next year. The governor and house, from a different political party than the majority of the senate, want to cut the Amtrak subsidy to about $5.7 million, still a 22% cut. Either way you look at it, there is going to be a cut in state funding in Michigan. These numbers are just preliminary, final budget resolutions haven't been proposed or voted on by both chambers of the Michigan legislature.

As said before, this is the inherent problem of relying on state monies for routes, because not only will Michigan take a hit, but so will service in and out of Chicago. Both of these routes traverse Indiana to get to and from the Chicago terminal, but neither route makes a stop in Indiana. This is a vivid demonstration of how everything is connected, even when it's paid for separately.

And, even though Michigan pays for these trains, what is Amtrak doing to promote the trains outside of listing them in its printed and virtual timetables? Does Amtrak have any responsibility to make these trains successful? Yes, it does. These state paid-for trains still carry the Amtrak logo and are part of the Amtrak system. The states are Amtrak's clients, so Amtrak has a duty to make these trains as successful as possible, beyond just taking a monthly check from the states for operations. Amtrak will try and tell you promotion is the problem of the states, not Amtrak. While California and North Carolina take this to heart and heavily promote their trains to try and hold down their Amtrak subsidies, that is not often the case elsewhere.

5) Good news came in the past couple of days from Canada. The Canadian federal government has decided to wave its scandalous daily fee of $1,500 for border crossing services for a second daily train from Seattle, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia. This train is designed to be a boost for the upcoming Olympic games in Vancouver, and much nail-biting has been going on over the Canadian's refusal to provide border crossing checkpoint services at the same level it charges for other trains and forms of conveyance.

Finally, someone in Ottawa came to their senses and waved the fee so service on this train can begin. The new service will begin in August in time for the Olympic winter games in February 2010. There is desperate need for much more cross-border traffic between the United State and Canada beyond this new train in the Pacific Northwest. Can anyone say Boston-Montreal for starters?

6) Remember those Rohr Turboliners that caused so much controversy a decade ago in New York State? The trains, originally owned by Amtrak were being upgraded at great expense to the State of New York for runs on the Empire Service route between Albany and New York City. The Turboliners travel at a high rate of speed, but the tracks were never upgraded to handle the service.

Even though $65 million was spent to bring the Turboliners up to modern specifications, they ended up being stored at Amtrak's facility in Bear, Delaware instead of being put on the road. Amtrak said since the tracks were never upgraded in New York State, these trains were too expensive to run in regular service, and chose to store them, instead.

New York took exception to this, and did all sorts of huffing and puffing, but Amtrak won the day and the trainsets remained in storage.

Now, you, too, can own your very own Turboliner. They have been put up for sale to the highest bidder. Be the first on your block to own a trainset; moving expenses must be handled by the buyer. Just think of that $65 million investment by the State of New York as a decade-old jobs stimulus program.

7) We've talked about this before recently in this space; here's the formal press release of the good news.

[begin quote]

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 1 /PRNewswire/ – Private investors affiliated with Value Recovery Group, Inc. (VRG) of Columbus, OH, have acquired the Colorado Railcar DMU and will resume manufacturing this modern domestically produced passenger train in a new manufacturing facility to be established later this year pending state/local incentives and final round investments. Assets acquired by US Railcar include the former Colorado Railcar DMU proprietary rights and information, manufacturing documentation, inventory, and other equipment necessary for production.

According to VRG Chairman & CEO Barry H. Fromm, "US Railcar intends to reestablish passenger train production in the United States." Currently, passenger trains purchased in the U.S. today are produced by European and Asian suppliers typically importing 40 of content from overseas. "We want to keep American jobs and U.S. public investment at home," said Fromm. "There is a major commitment by the Obama Administration and the Congress to make investments in intercity and high-speed rail to promote economic growth and mobility, create jobs, conserve energy and address climate change. This opens a new era for passenger trains and railcar manufacturing in the United States."

US Railcar, LLC will be led by Michael P. Pracht, its President & CEO, a rail industry veteran with extensive past experience at two of the world's leading rail transportation companies, Siemens and Ansaldo. US Railcar will manufacture both single- and bi-level Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) which are self-propelled railcars eliminating the need for more costly locomotive-hauled push/pull trains in lower density corridors. Both platforms are fully compliant with existing Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) safety standards for crashworthiness as established by Department of Transportation and approved for immediate use on the national rail system.

Unlike European & Asian DMUs, the US Railcar DMU can operate in all mixed-mode freight corridors throughout the country without waivers and/or temporal separation agreements currently required for non-compliant foreign platforms. "There are extraordinary growth opportunities for passenger rail development," said US Railcar CEO Mike Pracht. "The US Railcar DMU will enable new cost-effective passenger rail service across a range of corridors and routes, all with a proven, existing equipment platform already in service."

The US Railcar DMU was prototyped through a demonstration project in 2002 and is currently the only FRA-compliant DMU operating in revenue service in North America. Available in both regional and intercity configurations, the US Railcar DMU is uniquely suited for incremental corridor development at speeds from 79-to-90 mph. Platform enhancements currently anticipated include a diesel-electric upgrade, increasing speeds to 125 mph, making this American-made DMU the ideal solution for both mature and emerging passenger rail agencies around the country.

VRG is an asset recovery and management firm that specializes in asset management, advisory and asset recovery services for state and local governments, commercial banks, private investors and several federal agencies, including the FDIC. VRG also manages a brownfield remediation and redevelopment partnership and serves as consultant to advanced energy programs for state and federal agencies. More information about Value Recovery Group can be found at www.valuerecovery.com. US Railcar's website www.usrailcar.com is currently under development.

[End quote]

8) We get lots of mail here at This Week at Amtrak. Here's a sampling from the mailbag after the last issue.

[begin quote]

There are so many comments, suggestions, solutions, etc, on how the federal government will invest/spend the billions of dollars in stimulus funds (wisely). In my opinion, as long as politics are involved (Congress), the money isn't going to be spent wisely nor will such a passenger rail network be effectively planned and structured.

Recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) commented that the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) strategic plan for high-speed rail is less of a plan and more of a vision. Additional comments are that the plan does not establish clear high-speed rail goals for the federal government, other than a longer-term goal of developing a national intercity passenger rail network, and doesn't define a clear federal-role for high-speed rail involvement other than providing recovery act dollars. Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News 6/25/2009 (www.progressiverailroading.com)

It's a tremendous challenge to create a coordinated, reliable, passenger rail network after so many years of neglect. Would it be a consideration to offer the private railroad sector the opportunity to structure/restructure our passenger rail network? Could there be an incentive that would ignite an interest in the private sector to create an efficient, long-lasting, passenger rail system? It might even be less costly and more reliable.

Again, my personal opinion, but presently an excessive amount of emphasis is being placed on the NEC and on "high-speed rail". Equal emphasis should be placed on an integrated, nationwide network for passenger rail service.

One issue that concerns me is, what organization is most influential, or respected, in contributing to the improvement of passenger rail service? My observation is that NARP obtains the most publicity. However, I've seen no dramatic, or noticeable improvement in our current passenger rail system over the years from their advice, judgment, or speculation.

J. C. Tietgens

Fargo, North Dakota

[End quote]

And, a second offering.

[begin quote]

Greetings,

I'm a fairly regular reader of This Week at Amtrak, a mechanical engineer who lately lives in the Portland area and I admit I get curious about the Dr. Herzog's matrix operations theory and other technical aspects from time to time, and anyway the thought of the proposed revivals that have been much-mooted in certain circles gave me some pause for consideration.

I know there has been mandated studies for the revival of the Pioneer and the North Coast Limited. Now the question is – why should the Pioneer continue all the way to Chicago? Seattle has perfectly good maintenance facilities and so does Portland, and it doesn't seem to make very much sense to run it to Chicago especially if the North Coast Limited were to be revived (the main issue with reviving the North Coast Limited to be would see that an ideal trip would require the re-commissioning of Homestake Pass, though I know this wasn't necessary before, but it would make a more direct journey and serve Lewiston then, if I'm correct about the route of the old NP main). Anyway it seems the ideal trip matrix would be to have the Pioneer leave Seattle - Portland in separate sections (one going over Stampede pass) to combine in eastern Oregon in Pendleton, in the late evening/early night (around 10:30 PM departures at the latest, anything else would be an inconvenience). The goal would be to allow a morning arrival in Boise and then proceed by day to Salt Lake City. At that point I'm not sure if it would make more sense to try the Union Pacific main through Wyoming or just keep on the existing route – probably the later unless there's strong demand from Wyoming's congressional delegation, seeing how politicized it is these days.

Anyway, the basic thought is that once the train gets to Denver, why should it go to Chicago? It would seem more worthwhile to run to Trinidad Colorado (and worth establishing a station at least in Colorado Springs) and then mirror the route of the Southwest Chief as far as Albuquerque ... And then head south to El Paso. This would allow mid-route connections with all three of the Chicago-California routes of Amtrak and feed those connections into the Pacific Northwest. Is there something about the route that would make it unfeasable, or is this just another case of a lack of imagination at Amtrak?

As another question, for all that the Superliner equipment is better for the western routes, because Amtrak doesn't run the trains at nearly full capacity for the ability of head end power to provide hotel power to the train, wouldn't a fair bit of savings be achieved via economies of scale if the build order for single-level long distance equipment which is now going through was simply massively increased and the transition sleepers used to combine the two equipment types as necessary? It may be un-ideal, but with Amtrak's chronic refusal to spend money on infrastructure (perhaps America's chronic refusal is a better thing to say, sadly) it might make sense for now to try and squeeze as many cars as possible out of as little money as possible by just expanding the build orders for single-level equipment and starting to use it on western routes again.

If the cost of restarting production of the Superliners and having two separate production lines going at the same time is prohibitive it makes much more sense to just run 12-car single level trains in the future instead of the current trains which at most are eight Superliner cars, anyway – two deck equipment only truly makes sense when you have sold out trains of the maximum operating length with single-deck equipment, which is manifestly not the case with modern Amtrak. It does also offer the advantage of universal system interoperability in addition to the economies of scale from a single large order that I'd mentioned before.

Sincerely,

Marina Collette

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 13, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 22
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) It’s 10:30 A.M. on any morning of the year, and Amtrak train number 97, the southbound Silver Meteor, is racing southward through Northeast Florida on its way to the barn in Miami, due in the Hialeah/Miami suburb station more than eight hours later. Once the flagship train – complete with the trademark Pullman Sun Lounge – of Seaboard Air Line Railroad’s Silver Fleet, the Meteor is traveling over SAL’s once arch rival’s Atlantic Coast Line main line south of Jacksonville. Today, the Meteor is hosted by SAL/ACL successor CSX.

The Silver Meteor has a baggage car, sleeping cars, full diner, lounge, and coaches. It’s the coach passengers who have that look of quiet desperation, just waiting for their station stop to come so they can get off the train. Orlando, home of Walt Disney World and other Central Florida world-famous attractions is still two and a half hours away. Many of the train’s passengers will detrain at the Orlando station, with visions of Mickey Mouse dancing in their heads. A surprising number of passengers will also board in Orlando, headed south into Florida’s cattle and orange grove country, on the way to South Florida’s Gold Coast and the solid metropolitan area from north of West Palm Beach all the way to Miami and beyond.

The diner has been closed after breakfast for more than an hour, and the lounge car has its typical denizens, some working on their first – or second or third – morning eye-opener. Everywhere you look, passengers and crew look weary. The train and engine crew are fresh, having boarded in Jacksonville for the trip to Miami after a good night’s sleep. The onboard services crew is on the last eight hours of their shift which began several days before at the Miami crew base for their northbound trip to New York City, and the turn to come home on the southbound Silver Meteor. By union contract in these modern times, each of these employees which are designated as safety employees, are entitled to four hours of sleep the previous night. Some get more, some of the sleeping car attendants get less if they have entraining or detraining passengers along the route during their designated sleep periods.

You can look at the coach passengers and easily say to yourself, this group of people needs a bath. The passengers who boarded in New York City at Penn Station have been on the train for more than 19 consecutive hours, the Washington, D.C. passengers 15 hours, and the Richmond, Virginia passengers 13 hours. If the coach was full, these people were trying to sleep with 53 of their new best friends, some sitting next to total strangers, crying or restless children, or fidgeting smokers on a non-smoking train. No one got a good night’s sleep, and this morning, the coach itself looks like it’s been hosting people for the 1,000 miles its traveled. The floors are messy, the trash bins are getting full, and the restrooms could use some attention.

For coach passengers, there are no showers, and the tiny restroom offers some opportunity to clean up a bit, but only if you’re not a large person.

Are we there yet? is written on everyone’s face.

The Silver Meteor’s sleeping car passengers are faring somewhat better. They each had a bed with real linens and blankets and soft pillows for the night, and most passengers took advantage of the gentle rocking motion of the car, pretending they were back in an infant’s cradle. Each sleeping car has a community shower for the roomette passengers, those traveling in full bedrooms have their own individual shower. There is plenty of hot water for bathing and cleaning up, and fresh clothes come out of the suitcases. Upon awakening, coffee or orange juice along with a newspaper was available from the sleeping car attendant to help brace for the day before the full breakfast in the dining car which was included in the price of the sleeping accommodation.

Sleeping car passengers, too, look a bit road-weary, but they can comfortably nap in their private accommodation without worry of someone waking them up, other than for the call to luncheon.

Detraining coach passengers gather their belongings and step off the train relieved to be at their destination. Sleeping car passengers tip the car attendant and gather their bags on the platform and go in search of their local transportation, ready to face the day at their destination.

Does this sound like class warfare? Nah, it’s just the very real difference between traveling on Amtrak in coach or in a sleeping car.

Coach travel is fine for daylight travel if you really like being in a long, silver tub with dozens of other strangers and travelers, just like on an airplane or in a bus.

But, for overnight travel, it’s tough to beat the comforts and conveniences of sleeping cars.

The difference in fares is dramatic. New York City to Orlando on the Silver Meteor for two people in coach, one-way costs a total of $308.00. In a full bedroom, the same two travelers taking the same trip would pay $973.00. Both of these fares are based on summer season travel in August.

There is a huge difference of $665 for the same 21+ hour trip. For the extra cost dinner and breakfast is included, and lunch, too, if you eat quickly enough to finish before the train arrives in Orlando at the scheduled time of 12:55 P.M. You get two beds, a shower, toilet, sink, towels, and all of the other usual comforts of a rolling hotel room, including most importantly the ability to close the door, turn off the light, and go to sleep in a bed with pillows, fresh sheets, and blankets.

Too rich for your blood? Yes, it’s pricey, but Amtrak regularly fills the sleeping cars on the Silver Meteor and its sister train, the Silver Star. In fact, sleeping car business does well on all Amtrak long distance trains, with the full, more expensive bedrooms usually selling out before the smaller roomettes designed for one regular size person or two very small people.

Amtrak, always feeling like it must be proletariat, seldom has placed much emphasis on its sleeping car business, and has always focused on the much less desirable, and lower revenue generating coaches. When calling an Amtrak reservations center, often only coach seats are offered; passengers have to ask about sleeping cars.

VIA Rail Canada, Amtrak’s cold country cousin to the north, however, has always placed a high emphasis on its sleeping car business and offers a variety of sleeping car accommodations choices, ranging from the very old Pullman Company-style open berths to elegant drawing rooms, designed with two lower berths and one upper berth. On VIA, it’s the drawing rooms which sell out first.

Amtrak, as it’s ordering new single-level Viewliner sleeping cars and hopefully planning to order new Superliner sleeping cars, needs to revisit the wonders and many advantages of drawing rooms.

Looking at the demographics of Amtrak’s sleeping car passengers, much of the business comes from middle-aged and older traveling couples, people who want two lower berths in their sleeping accommodation, not one upper and one lower. To make this happen, wealthier passengers often pay for two full bedrooms which open en suite to offer a single space with two lower berths.

Amtrak doesn’t care if two people buy space designed for four people, because the cost to feed four people has been factored into the fare (Money Amtrak keeps without complaining when it only has to feed two people.), and the high revenue from selling two bedrooms instead of one looks pretty good.

Well, actually, it’s not so good, because if that same space had been sold to four passengers instead of two passengers, an additional $234 in rail fare (Amtrak charges sleeping car passengers the lowest bucket rail fares in addition to the accommodations charges for each passenger.) would have been collected. If a new design was hatched for sleeping cars which reshuffled priorities to maximize revenue and passenger satisfaction, each sleeping car would have at least four bedrooms, one drawing room, and perhaps seven or eight roomettes.

When the Viewliners were designed, three basic mistakes were made in this experimental car. First, no public restroom was included in the design. When the toilet facilities in any given room are non-functioning, and all accommodations are sold, passengers either have to impose on the facilities of the car attendant (not a good idea) or go to a restroom in another car. All in all, very inconvenient and unprofessional in the design. Second, instead of the former six full bedrooms which were found in the predecessor Heritage 10 roomette, six bedroom cars, only three full bedroom were included, one being a handicapped room. Third, no drawing rooms with three berths were included.

When the original 10/6 sleeping cars were designed during the World War II era, roomettes for one passenger were primarily designed for traveling businessmen. If a passenger was a midnight sailor and had to make use of the toilet, he had to get out of bed, open the door to the room, and back into the hallway inside of a closed curtain to raise the bed which folded down over the toilet, and then repeat the process to go back to bed. In the Viewliners, smaller beds are used and allegedly passengers can access the micro-size toilet which is not covered by the bed when the beds are in use. This, however, does require a certain knowledge of gymnastics to accomplish that feat.

In the process of all of this, Viewliners have fewer full bedrooms, and more roomettes, which contain two beds instead of one bed as found in the 10/6 roomettes. However, since the overall floor space remains about the same as the old roomettes, trying to squeeze two normal sized adults into this space leaves much to the imagination and to be desired, not to mention you have two people using non-private toilet facilities, which harkens back to some Pullman accommodations on western trains prior to World War II. In the Heritage fleet, as in the fleets of all of the pre-Amtrak passenger railroads, a number of all-bedroom cars were found, offering a choice of bedrooms, drawing rooms, and compartments, but no roomettes.

When Amtrak ordered the Viewliners, only 50 were purchased, replacing nearly double that number of Heritage sleepers, allegedly, again, because Viewliners held more passengers so fewer cars were needed. In reality, Amtrak made a conscious decision to restrict the number of sleepers in its fleet, and have less accommodations for sale overall, thereby restricting sleeping car revenues.

Prior to the arrival of the Viewliners in the mid-90s, it was common for the Florida long distance trains and the Crescent between New York and New Orleans to have five or more sleeping cars per train. Today, five cars have been replaced by two or three sleeping cars per train, with dramatically fewer bedrooms for sale, and fewer roomettes, too.

Let’s stop for a moment and do a quick comparison. Amtrak and its many True Believers, egalitarian to the core and non-believers that those who wish to pay for better accommodations should suffer along with the rest, for years made the claim the company makes more money from coach passengers than from sleeping car passengers. Oh, really? Well, no, it doesn’t.

Let us stick to our same trip model, from New York City’s Penn Station or Orlando, Florida. Just for comparison purposes, using fares quoted today for travel in about a month’s time in August, weigh the income from a full coach with 54 passengers to a full Viewliner sleeping car with all accommodations sold. The fully sold out coach brings in ticket revenue of $8,316. The fully sold out sleeping car brings in ticket and accommodations revenue of $10,433, more than $2,000 more in revenue.

And, yes, each of those sleeping car passengers will consume food in the dining car that’s included in the cost of the accommodation. However, it’s doubtful even the most ravenous group of sleeping car passengers, eating full dinners and breakfasts, will consume $2,000 worth of food.

And, yes, many of those coach passengers will also find their way into the dining car, adding extra revenues. Even if every coach passenger spent a total of $25 on dinner and breakfast in the dining car, they would only spend an additional $1,350, still not adding up to the additional revenue from the sleeping car.

Remember, those sleeping car passengers will have other opportunities (Although limited by Amtrak.) to spend money on the train in for form of alcohol sales in the dining car and alcohol and snacks sales in the lounge car. Plus, travelers in sleeping cars are also more likely to have a higher amount of disposable income to spend on the train in the diner and lounge than coach passengers.

Overall, if Amtrak took a page from the VIA Rail Canada book and understood the high value of sleeping and dining car business, it would be eager to operate more sleeping cars, instead of scoffing at sleepers as something that are somehow unpatriotic to operate because of egalitarian concerns.

2) The ideal train – whether long distance or short distance – has a variety of accommodations. Back in the days prior to Amtrak of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Congressional Service (The Pennsy was the builder and original owner of what is today Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.) between New York City’s Pennsylvania Railroad Station and Washington, D.C., passengers had a choice of coach seats, parlour car seating, or private accommodations in sleeping cars set up for day use. The Pennsylvania recognized not one size fits all for travel accommodations, and a good number of passengers were willing and able to pay additional fares for larger seats in less crowded cars, or completely private accommodations with private plumbing in each accommodation. This wasn’t class warfare, this was a recognition of the marketplace and the proper exploitation of the marketplace for (Gasp!) profit.

Congressional Service trains also had a combination of full dining cars, parlour bar lounges, coffee shop taverns, and grill cars. Depending on the size of the train, time of day operated, or level of service advertised, there were drinking and dining choices appropriate for the service.

Amtrak’s Metroliners had first class seating which was three across: one seat, an aisle, and then two larger than normal coach seats. The Metroliners, which were also originally designed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, intentionally recognized the different tastes of travelers, and how accommodations charges could be both profitable and fun.

There is little reason why today’s Amtrak long distance trains cannot have some innovation in coach seating with a few modifications to existing equipment to create a first class/parlour car service with accompanying accommodations charge.

The installation of showers in first class coaches would be a great improvement, and a shower service could either be included in the accommodation price or sold separately onboard by the car attendant when providing towels and bathing articles.

Changing seating from four across to three across is another simple innovation for part of the cars; adding special areas for family travel where five or six seats are clustered together for large groups or families is also an inviting concept.

Adding a self-service food service area, offering 24-hour coffee, cold drinks, and light snacks and perhaps newspapers enhances the experience without dramatically taking away from lounge car sales. Including dining car meals in the price of a first class coach seat adds instant, guaranteed revenue for the dining car and an excellent perk for passengers.

Working on the same principle as for sleeping cars which produce higher revenue for every car carried, first class coach, with fewer coach seats per car, but higher fares for additional parlour car/first class coach seating would serve two excellent purposes: First, those not wishing to spend the costs of full sleeping car accommodations would have a good second choice for travel comfort, and second, fewer passengers in an upscale environment make for a much more pleasant trip overall then being jammed in a long distance coach with 53 of your closest, new best friends.

Coach class could remain for those taking shorter trips or those seeking truly budget accommodations.

3) The idea is to create a broader market for passenger train travel, higher revenues for Amtrak, and a better travel environment.

No one will dispute the annoyance and discomfort of air travel. What was once glamorous has become more than annoying and almost punitive. Today’s air travel is today’s agony. It’s not uncommon for someone to wonder if flying is really “worth it” for all of the hassles one has to go through, from the removal of shoes before you can be allowed to board the aircraft to a total restriction of what you can carry with you on the airplane. Speed does not always trump every other consideration.

Amtrak has a golden opportunity to become the carrier of comfort and convenience, and the carrier of value.

As said before in this space, Europeans are often shocked at the low cost of Amtrak coach travel; if Amtrak chooses to upgrade its service and accommodations offerings, based on how well sleeping car accommodations are sold today, Amtrak has a grand opportunity to become a carrier of first choice instead of a carrier of last choice – or even worse, the forgotten carrier. Amtrak remains America’s best kept secret. Imagine the demand if even a third of Americans knew passenger rail service was available to them.

4) >From Amtrak This Week, that OTHER publication, not to be confused with This Week at Amtrak. Amtrak This Week is the company’s employee news and information publication.

[begin quote]

July 13, 2009

First Stimulus-Funded Car Returning to Service

Today, President and CEO Joe Boardman, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) and other elected officials were in Wilmington, Del., as the first car refurbished with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act departs Bear Car Shops on its way back to the active fleet.

“The real story today is about people – the Amtrak passengers who will ride in these rehabilitated cars and the workers who are doing a great job bringing them back to life,” said Boardman, noting that the additional seating capacity on its trains will help connect families, further business relationships, and position Amtrak for expected future growth in ridership.

The car, Amfleet II Coach 25103, was built in 1982 but has been out of service since April 2005, when it was damaged in a rail yard accident in Florida. It is the first of 60 Amfleet cars that will be returned to service by early 2011. The Amfleet I and II cars in the project are either being converted, rehabilitated from wreck status or undergoing a Level 3 overhaul. The cost per unit ranges from $615,000 to $1.4 million depending on the level of work being done.

Two additional ARRA-funded projects will put 15 diesel locomotives and 21 long-distance cars back in the fleet over the same time period. The combined cost of the three projects is $91 million.

“An expanded fleet is a critical part of our ability to grow,” said Vice President of Policy and Development Stephen Gardner. “We need these cars as we pursue new service in partnership with states and also to increase capacity along existing routes where demand exceeds what we can currently offer.”

To meet the labor needs of refurbishing and overhauling nearly 100 cars in under two years, the Mechanical department has expanded its force by adding 160 new positions between facilities in Wilmington and Beech Grove, Ind. Competition was extremely high, as the company received 3,200 applications and conducted more than 400interviews to fill the 160 positions.

[End quote]

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J. Bruce Richardson

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Telephone 904-636-7739

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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 20, 2009
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A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
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America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
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Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​




Volume 6, Number 23
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Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) The Amtrak Board of Directors should be furious about this document. Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman, since this document was issued during his stewardship, should be fired immediately. The Amtrak planning department should be outright ashamed of themselves and simply die of embarrassment they took a paycheck for producing such an untoward piece of drivel and written chicanery.

We can only be discussing the July 16, 2009 issuance of Amtrak's P.R.I.I.A. Section 226 Gulf Coast Service Plan Report, mandated last year by the Amtrak reauthorization. Congresswoman Corrine Brown, who placed a million dollars into Amtrak's free federal money handout last year deserves a refund for her efforts. At 77 pages long, plus the cover, $12,820.51 for each page will long be noted by government watchdogs as one of the greatest misuses of money in the modern history of the United States government. Certainly, when Congresswoman Brown threw Amtrak this generous bone she most likely never dreamed Amtrak would come back with such an insulting document to her, her constituents, and American taxpayers.

The report is an outright disgrace and complete misrepresentation of facts to restore service east of New Orleans to Orlando, Florida after the Sunset Limited was "temporarily" discontinued in August of 2005 because of the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. Four years later, Amtrak's planning department and Joe Boardman expect us to believe their fantasy document provides any credence whatsoever as to what it will take to restore service over the Sunset Limited route along the Gulf Coast.

2) Here's a summary of the document by one interested observer who has contributed accurate reporting to this space in the past. Then, we'll take a close look at the nuts and bolts of this written travesty that one other commentator who exposed his complete lack of knowledge of the railroad world incorrectly called "a realistic assessment of existing difficulties."

First, the correct summary.

[begin quote]

After reading the Amtrak report I basically held my thoughts and comments until I had a chance to see the input from people within the group who are much more knowledgeable about running a rail passenger system than am I. I believe I can say without exception none of the reports I've read are optimistic or approving of Amtrak's report which is precisely my opinion from the minute I finished reading it.

With the single exception of the report indicating that regardless of which option was selected it would include sleepers between New Orleans and Orlando this was a disheartening report. This inclusion of sleepers was not intimated in the oral reports given to this point concerning the "new train" (Option 3).

Option 1 (tri-weekly Sunset Limited) seemed to be the least desirable based on oral comments simply because of the odd arrangement of having a daily "stub" train arriving in New Orleans (this stub train was made to sound like all but a certainty), but continuing to Orlando only with a tri-weekly schedule. This naturally meant playing havoc with anyone trying to travel _through _New Orleans to points East. Yet the written report makes Option 1 appear as the best option based on several points. Option 2 (City of New Orleans) appeared to possibly be the best option based on early reports, but the written report makes it sound undesirable on several points.

It's obvious to even the most casual reader that the primary recurring theme from Amtrak is that they don't want to reinstate _any _service between New Orleans and Orlando. They do not say that specifically, but by any interpretation of the facts they've done everything they can to make the return of the route as difficult as possible from inflated costs to inflated time frames and convoluted passenger counts and miles. I would love to know the real reason Amtrak absolutely is not interested in running a New Orleans-Orlando train. Might be interesting.

There is little doubt that there has been for years strong opponents of Amtrak (with the Sunset being the punching bag). However, many of those voices of dissent have been silenced or at least muffled to a large extent. We have a president and Congress professing strong support for passenger rail, and actually providing funding. It would seem if ever there was a good time to push expansion and improvement of Amtrak it would be now.

Yet Amtrak seems to still be on the wrong track as usual. I've never seen a company run only for the benefit of the management and employees instead of the customers as is Amtrak. This is what comes from a government-funded company I guess. Their goal seems to be to get more and more government money, but they don't seem to know what to do with it. Amtrak management does not seem to have a plan. They can't even decide whether they want to have long-distance trains. They can't decide the best way to manage the Northeast Corridor. They can't decide how to manage dining car concepts. They can't decide what kinds of cars to order. They can't decide what routes to operate. They can't decide whether to have High Speed Rail or even what HSR is.

If Amtrak were a private company they would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. However, American management can't seem to operate auto companies, banks or insurance companies either. Maybe we shouldn't expect them to be able to operate a rail-passenger corporation. Possibly we should replace the entire Amtrak management team with Japanese rail executives. They seem to have no trouble running passenger rail. I cannot possibly see how it couldn't help but be an improvement.

I for one am fed up with Amtrak's lack of leadership, vision, planning, and just general inability to function effectively. If I remember correctly we paid $1 million for this "informative" report which basically tells us all the reasons Amtrak doesn't want to reinstate service to Orlando. We already knew that. I'm tired of seeing my tax money being wasted by an incompetent company.

If they had just reinstated the train when CSX opened the route all of this could have been avoided. Instead of telling us why they can't reinstate it now we'd be talking about how best to improve service on the route. You don't have to be a rail expert to know this is a snow job which is the one thing Amtrak has perfected during their existence. I've waited four years to catch a train in Pensacola, and now the best they can tell me is that it likely will be four more years if ever. Enough is enough. What a crock. I've no more patience with this nonsense.

Our only hope is if Congress puts their collective foot up Amtrak's posterior, and tells them to make things happen or they'll find people who can. Without that it's going to be business (or no business) as usual for years to come.

[End quote]

3) Amtrak says the dog ate its homework, so it can only do so much to restore service between New Orleans and Orlando. It lists three options, two of which are pretty reasonable.

The first option is to restore the service as it was before, re-extending the Sunset Limited (or it's named replacement service) from New Orleans to Orlando on a tri-weekly basis, using the same maintenance facility at Sanford, Florida, a suburb of Orlando, as it previously successfully used for a decade.

The second option is to extend the City of New Orleans, operating from Chicago to New Orleans via Memphis, Tennessee, to Orlando, an option long sought by United Rail Passenger Alliance. This option would – for the first time since 1979 – provide single train service between Chicago and Florida, with a schedule which feeds all of the western transcontinental trains eastbound into Chicago to cross-platform travelers to the City and to Florida.

The third option is to recreate the old Seaboard Air Line/Louisville & Nashville joint train, the Gulf Wind, as a stand-alone train between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida, and extend it down to Orlando. The Gulf Wind was discontinued on Amtrak Day in 1971, and the service was eventually replaced by the Sunset Limited's tri-weekly schedule in 1993 until Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

4) Amtrak's report has such blatantly false numbers as a basis for the document, and the assumptions use such discredited junk science in the transportation industry, that it's tough to zero in on a starting point. So, the most understandable thing to do is to go through the report as presented and point out the numerous inaccuracies – and, frankly, outright lies – as stated.

Here's the first laugh: "The service remains suspended today because of the cost and challenges associated with restoring service to this route." Really? CSX, the primary host railroad of the route, which suffered considerable damage from Hurricane Katrina, had the track up and running and available to Amtrak on April 1, 2006. The CSX efforts included replacing huge stretches of track, bridges, signaling, switches, and every type of railroad infrastructure in the wake of Katrina. Amtrak's relatively small challenges of rehabbing stations (many of which are municipally owned) pale in comparison to what CSX (and Norfolk Southern on its Crescent line into New Orleans just to the north of the CSX line along the Gulf Coast) had to accomplish, and was able to accomplish in seven months. Of course, the difference is CSX is a private, for-profit company, and every hour the railroad was out of service was an hour of revenue lost. In the case of Amtrak, it could blow off the service and still turn to Congress for more money with yet another, ongoing sob story. When there is no accountability, there is no progress.

The report notes a $10.7 million cost for restoring stations along the route, including $3.2 million for the demolition and reconstruction of the Sanford, Florida station, which was damaged from other hurricane preceding Katrina.

Whoops! The Sanford station is also on the route of the Silver Meteor and Silver Star. The reasons Amtrak gave for closing the station initially had absolutely nothing to do with the Sunset Limited, but rather because Amtrak said there were enough other stations in the area (DeLand, Winter Park, Orlando, and Kissimmee), and Sanford served no useful purpose, plus eliminating the Sanford station stop sped up train schedules.

Also, on an adjoining piece of property to the old Atlantic Coast Line Sanford station and division office building, Amtrak is using stimulus money to build a brand new Auto Train station and terminal.

Now, Amtrak is telling us it wants another $3.2 million – charged directly to the restoration of the Sunset Limited route – to build another new Sanford station that will also serve the Silver Meteor and Silver Star? If this station is built for the restored service, will the Meteor and Star also use it? If this station is important enough to the overall financial health of this route, why wait for this service to be restored; why isn't the station in some other vision plan for the future? And, better yet, why wasn't the Auto Train's new terminal planned and constructed so it could serve both the mainline trains and the Auto Train, too?

The other $7.5 million will be used to upgrade a relatively new station in Pensacola, Florida, and the old Seaboard Air Line station in Tallahassee, which was well out of the way of Katrina. Amtrak said in the report this money would be used to add American With Disabilities Act requirements to the stations, which, most when built or reconfigured for service in 1993 met most of those requirements.

The one major station project to be undertaken is a completely new station in Mobile, Alabama. That building was severely damaged by Katrina to the point CSX sold the damaged building to a real estate developer since it was in such bad shape. A completely new facility will have to be created in Mobile. However, as anyone who has ever traveled around the country on Amtrak knows, there have been many stations in large cities and small hamlets which have functioned well using an Amshack trailer for a building, and later permanent construction considered. St. Louis Union Trailers is perhaps the most famous of these stations, with new construction coming after decades of "temporary" shelter. A single station in Mobile should not be enough to hold up this project; most of the passenger platforms in Mobile are still in place and serviceable.

The report states a cost of $600,000 for improvements at Amtrak's Sanford maintenance facility. Well, prior to Katrina, the Sunset's equipment base was in Sanford, and the maintenance crews there did an exemplary job of maintaining the train. Why, now, more than half a million dollars for upgrades? Is it just because as long as Amtrak is making a wish list or a discouragement list, this $600,000 of Other Peoples Money is necessary?

Amtrak's report makes an assumption $20 million will be necessary to install Positive Train Control (PTC), as required by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 by 2015 on portions of the route solely because of restoration of passenger service. This is an issue we will delve into in a very soon future issue of This Week at Amtrak. CSX had indicated some of the current route may be downgraded because it can route some of its hazmat and other trains requiring the use of PTC on a similar route via Montgomery, Alabama.

5) One of the biggest ticket items in the report is alleged additional passenger rolling stock which would be required to operate either an extended City of New Orleans (two train sets) or a new overnight Gulf Wind (the same number of new cars). Amtrak estimates the need of between six and 14 new passenger cars, at a cost of $24 million to $63 million.

This is perhaps one of the most incredible and ludicrous parts of the report. Amtrak says it could take up to four years (yes, you read that right) to get either of these trains running because that is the time to design, plan, order, and build new passenger cars specifically for this route. Such hogwash.

A review of Amtrak's current System Fleet Pan for Fiscal Year 2009 indicates after the few Superliners which will be taken out of the wreck line and restored with stimulus funds monies, 32 Superliners of every description, including coaches, diners, lounges, and sleepers will still be available to be taken out of storage and rebuilt for service. Even if Amtrak needs the maximum number of 14 cars it says it does, that still leave another 18 Superliners to be restored for other uses. New cars, designed and built specifically for this service? Why? Amtrak already owns all of the cars it needs; it's a question of using existing assets through rebuilds and rehabilitation instead of the lengthy and expensive process of creating a new fleet of cars. In the report, Amtrak says it could cost up to $63 million to buy these new cars. If every car to be rebuilt cost as much as $1.5 million to rebuild (that follows what Amtrak is spending in stimulus funds currently for rebuilding Superliner cars), that a tab of only $21 million, not up to $63 million. It must be wonderful to plan and spend Other Peoples Money with great abandon when you have no accountability.

But, wait! you implore. Some of those Superliners are slated to be used IF the Pioneer is restored or IF the North Coast Limited is restored. Yes, that may be so. First come, first served. If the restoration of the Sunset's route can fill that crucial gap before the gaps of the Pioneer and the North Coast Limited are ready to be filled, get in line, folks.

6) When we start delving into the financial aspects of this report, things become more complicated. Amtrak makes several wrong assumptions.

The report says ridership was a primary consideration in selecting the three preferred route options. Amtrak says if option one is used, and a tri-weekly Sunset Limited is restored, ridership will be 53,300 a year. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, an average of 45% of the Sunset's ridership and revenues came from east of New Orleans. In FY 08, the Sunset, operating only west of New Orleans, had ridership of 71,700 passengers. A projection of 53,300 (171 passengers per trip) is probably the closest thing to a legitimate number in the entire report, although that figure could probably be altered up by 25% and still be a legitimate figure.

Everyone knows in the real, non-Amtrak world, business plan forecasts always figure revenue low and expenses high. Amtrak, of course, being Amtrak, has taken this to heart and grossly distorted its numbers for ridership, revenue, and expenses.

Option two, the extension of the City of New Orleans, creating a single train route from Chicago to Orlando, has the greatest chance of success, and Amtrak terribly underestimates its potential. Today's City of New Orleans has ridership of 197,400 per year (FY 08), and Amtrak says an extended version of that will only bring in an additional 96,100 passengers on the haul to Orlando.

They are saying the system's only Chicago-Florida train, with the Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Lake Shore Limited, and all of the Chicago regional trains feeding into the City would only generate additional business to Florida, projected to be less than half of what the City carries today between Chicago and New Orleans via Memphis. One has to wonder exactly what Amtrak's planning department is smoking on their lunch breaks. It's unlikely enough equipment could be found on this train to make it 18 cars which would serve as a replacement for the long, lost Floridian, gone since 1979.

Option three, a reconstituted and stretched Gulf Wind, running as a stand-alone train between New Orleans and Orlando on an overnight schedule is, according to Amtrak, the most expensive to operate and not very productive, with a predicted ridership of 79,900, because, as Amtrak says, the train would have to have connecting passengers from the eastbound Sunset Limited successor, and the southbound City of New Orleans. Amtrak uses old and discredited junk science to say passengers will not want to detrain at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, spend a few hours in the Crescent City, and entrain for a late afternoon departure and midday arrival in Orlando.

Uh, lessee, well, airlines create their entire route systems around hubs, and passengers hub for bus travel, too. Amtrak expects all of its passengers north of New York City to hub in Washington for Florida trains and the Crescent, after arriving there on Northeast Corridor trains. Lots and lots and lots of passengers hub every day in Chicago for destinations all over the country, and Los Angeles is a big hub, too, not to mention Seattle and Portland, Oregon, and a half a dozen other hubs in the Amtrak system.

So, why is there a dire prediction about hubbing in New Orleans? Is this just another use of discredited junk science to make the report read badly so no service will be restored east of New Orleans? What is the prejudice the Amtrak planners have about those of us living in Florida or along the Gulf Coast? Is there some sort of genetic trait we have that makes us unworthy of passenger train travel? Do these people think all we do is marry our cousins and drink beer and never want to travel?

Here's something else to put a smile on your face. Amtrak's planners say the route between New Orleans and Orlando is adversely impacted by the circuitry of the rail route, a passenger train having to travel 769 miles versus 639 miles by automobile, and what it calls slow speeds which result in a trip time of 18.5 hours versus 9.6 by automobile.

Well. If that's the case, why doesn't Amtrak just turn out the lights and go home? It's also much faster to travel from Jacksonville, Florida to Richmond, Virginia by automobile (less than 10 hours) than by Amtrak (12 and a half hours). But, that doesn't mean everyone wants – or is able – to drive. It's also much, much quicker to take a jet airplane, but that's not always comfortable or easy or desirable for everyone, either.

The point of travel by train is just that – travel by train. Every individual train in Amtrak's system to connected to every other train in the system through the matrix theory. Everything connects with everything (although, sometimes inconveniently), and every train feeds other trains.

Amtrak's rather boorish presumption a new Gulf wind will only haul local business, and only haul those who want to avoid driving is hogwash. Amtrak provides a viable travel choice. Most likely, the Amtrak planning department denizens would be shocked to know someone from Washington State or Oregon may have an interest in riding a new Gulf Wind between New Orleans and Tallahassee or Jacksonville, or Palatka or DeLand or Orlando. That's the beauty of the matrix theory. To presume little or no traffic from connecting trains, especially strong feeders like the City of New Orleans and a daily Sunset Limited (or replacement of that named train) west of New Orleans is like saying a gas station on an Interstate highway exit will only sell gas to local residents, and no travelers from other areas will ever stop at the station.

7) Let's use the existing City of New Orleans as a model for this route. The City's route is similar in length, 926 miles versus the projected length of 769 miles. The City begins in Chicago and ends in New Orleans, and has only one other major city on its route – Memphis, Tennessee. It has a number of smaller cities and state capitals along its route, such as Jackson, Mississippi. Much of the route of the City is rural, such as the route between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida. Since the southern terminal for the proposed Gulf Wind is Orlando, one of the world's largest vacation destinations, the travel data for that city equals – if not exceeds – that of Chicago.

Let's look at the characteristics of the City of New Orleans for FY 2008.

Total Revenue – $14,864,600

Passenger Miles – 93,433,000

Ridership – 197,400

Average Length of Trip – 473.3 miles

Train Miles – 666,000

Passengers per Train Mile – 140.3

Revenue per Passenger Mile – 15.91 cents

Load Factor – 63.8%

Available Seat Miles – 146,375,952

Here's what Amtrak estimates for the three options east of New Orleans to Orlando.

Option One, Tri-Weekly extension of the Sunset Limited (or named replacement service)

Ridership – 53,300

Option Two, Extension of the City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Orlando

Ridership – 96,100

Option Three, Creation of a new stand-alone, connecting train, labeled the Gulf Wind by Amtrak

Ridership – 79,900

Amtrak says it used its normal methods to determine ridership, including "Ridership and revenue impacts for each alternative were estimated utilizing models and data Amtrak has developed to measure the impact of now or changed services. The inputs included surveys of Amtrak's long distance passengers; socio-economic data; and forecasts of population and income in the areas served by each station." Amtrak goes on correctly to say it includes data between Jacksonville and Orlando where a third frequency would increase travel opportunities for the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, and therefore, that ridership would grow, too.

What Amtrak did not bother to measure is overall passenger traffic along the line. Using Amtrak's data, it is all based on population, and only the desire of the local population to travel. It does not account for incoming traffic from other routes or other parts of the country, and it does not account for Amtrak's typical one tenth of one percent of the domestic transportation output Amtrak commands.

When using real data, we discover Interstate 10 parallels the route between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida, and on any given day at any given intermediate rural point (outside of local traffic using the Interstate in such places as Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Pensacola, etc.), an average of 36,000 to 70,000 passenger vehicles (excluding trucks hauling freight) pass a measuring point on the Interstate. What Amtrak is projecting a year for ridership, the Interstate hosts in a day, and we are unable to measure how many occupants are in each vehicle.

The same holds true for air transportation. When culling city pair information from the government's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, we learn travelers between Chicago and Orlando are measured in six and seven figure numbers, not counting other intermediate city pairs along this route.

As previously stated, Amtrak also eschews any real cross-platform business in New Orleans to bolster its numbers. It presumes people will not intentionally schedule connections from one train route to another. Apparently, Amtrak's planning department, located in Washington, never bothers to stroll through Washington Union Station to see the millions of annual riders who make train connections there, or the millions who connect through Chicago or other points.

Therefore, Amtrak's numbers for ridership, expenses, and every other category beyond basic diesel fuel are not credible.

Looking at the ridership and revenue passenger mile figures for the present City of New Orleans we see numbers which are double what Amtrak projects for east of New Orleans. These numbers are a more accurate barometer than Amtrak's report numbers.

8) One final point. Amtrak's report says the company wants an incredible 20 months or more to recruit and train operating personnel for this route.

Why?

Back in 1993 (before HD television), it took Amtrak substantially less than a year to – from scratch – create this service on a tri-weekly basis east of New Orleans. Apparently, the "can do" people who were running Amtrak at that time must be long gone, replaced by a group comfortable in their government-subsidized paychecks with no worries in the world, and no hurry to fulfill Amtrak's national mission of providing passenger service to the lower 48 states.

Twenty months? Even if it has been four years since the Sunset last operated east of New Orleans, many of the train and engine crew members are still employees of Amtrak, just working other routes

9) There is much more ground to cover, but you get the idea. Amtrak fraudulently wasted $1 million of taxpayer money creating a worthless document with false data, incorrect assumptions, and incomplete conclusions.

This type of fiasco has been going on for far too long at Amtrak. Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman has been in office for nine months now, and this was created under his stewardship. He is ultimately responsible. He needs to be gone, at the earliest moment.

It's worth noting a phrase from the last edition of TWA, taken from the Amtrak This Week employee publication story about the first restored passenger car coming out of the shops.

[begin quote]

"An expanded fleet is a critical part of our ability to grow," said Vice President of Policy and Development Stephen Gardner. "We need these cars as we pursue new service in partnership with states and also to increase capacity along existing routes where demand exceeds what we can currently offer."

[End quote]

Still no future vision, still no business plan better than gouging individual states for money for short distance trains. If Mr. Gardner's statement holds true, then Amtrak truly isn't interested in expanding the long distance system and the entire $1 million exercise was just done to appease a Member of Congress.

So, at this point, is Amtrak worth saving? Or, is it time for a complete make over with an entire new leadership team which will have the ability to unleash the power and potential of Amtrak and allow many of the good managers and executives there to do their jobs properly and with some enthusiasm?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## haolerider

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; July 20, 2009
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> 
> A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
> ​
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> 
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> ​
> 
> 
> America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> ​
> 
> 
> Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail
> 
> [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Volume 6, Number 23
> ​
> 
> 
> Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.
> 
> URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.
> 
> 1) The Amtrak Board of Directors should be furious about this document. Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman, since this document was issued during his stewardship, should be fired immediately. The Amtrak planning department should be outright ashamed of themselves and simply die of embarrassment they took a paycheck for producing such an untoward piece of drivel and written chicanery.
> 
> We can only be discussing the July 16, 2009 issuance of Amtrak's P.R.I.I.A. Section 226 Gulf Coast Service Plan Report, mandated last year by the Amtrak reauthorization. Congresswoman Corrine Brown, who placed a million dollars into Amtrak's free federal money handout last year deserves a refund for her efforts. At 77 pages long, plus the cover, $12,820.51 for each page will long be noted by government watchdogs as one of the greatest misuses of money in the modern history of the United States government. Certainly, when Congresswoman Brown threw Amtrak this generous bone she most likely never dreamed Amtrak would come back with such an insulting document to her, her constituents, and American taxpayers.
> 
> The report is an outright disgrace and complete misrepresentation of facts to restore service east of New Orleans to Orlando, Florida after the Sunset Limited was "temporarily" discontinued in August of 2005 because of the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. Four years later, Amtrak's planning department and Joe Boardman expect us to believe their fantasy document provides any credence whatsoever as to what it will take to restore service over the Sunset Limited route along the Gulf Coast.
> 
> 2) Here's a summary of the document by one interested observer who has contributed accurate reporting to this space in the past. Then, we'll take a close look at the nuts and bolts of this written travesty that one other commentator who exposed his complete lack of knowledge of the railroad world incorrectly called "a realistic assessment of existing difficulties."
> 
> First, the correct summary.
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> After reading the Amtrak report I basically held my thoughts and comments until I had a chance to see the input from people within the group who are much more knowledgeable about running a rail passenger system than am I. I believe I can say without exception none of the reports I've read are optimistic or approving of Amtrak's report which is precisely my opinion from the minute I finished reading it.
> 
> With the single exception of the report indicating that regardless of which option was selected it would include sleepers between New Orleans and Orlando this was a disheartening report. This inclusion of sleepers was not intimated in the oral reports given to this point concerning the "new train" (Option 3).
> 
> Option 1 (tri-weekly Sunset Limited) seemed to be the least desirable based on oral comments simply because of the odd arrangement of having a daily "stub" train arriving in New Orleans (this stub train was made to sound like all but a certainty), but continuing to Orlando only with a tri-weekly schedule. This naturally meant playing havoc with anyone trying to travel _through _New Orleans to points East. Yet the written report makes Option 1 appear as the best option based on several points. Option 2 (City of New Orleans) appeared to possibly be the best option based on early reports, but the written report makes it sound undesirable on several points.
> 
> It's obvious to even the most casual reader that the primary recurring theme from Amtrak is that they don't want to reinstate _any _service between New Orleans and Orlando. They do not say that specifically, but by any interpretation of the facts they've done everything they can to make the return of the route as difficult as possible from inflated costs to inflated time frames and convoluted passenger counts and miles. I would love to know the real reason Amtrak absolutely is not interested in running a New Orleans-Orlando train. Might be interesting.
> 
> There is little doubt that there has been for years strong opponents of Amtrak (with the Sunset being the punching bag). However, many of those voices of dissent have been silenced or at least muffled to a large extent. We have a president and Congress professing strong support for passenger rail, and actually providing funding. It would seem if ever there was a good time to push expansion and improvement of Amtrak it would be now.
> 
> Yet Amtrak seems to still be on the wrong track as usual. I've never seen a company run only for the benefit of the management and employees instead of the customers as is Amtrak. This is what comes from a government-funded company I guess. Their goal seems to be to get more and more government money, but they don't seem to know what to do with it. Amtrak management does not seem to have a plan. They can't even decide whether they want to have long-distance trains. They can't decide the best way to manage the Northeast Corridor. They can't decide how to manage dining car concepts. They can't decide what kinds of cars to order. They can't decide what routes to operate. They can't decide whether to have High Speed Rail or even what HSR is.
> 
> If Amtrak were a private company they would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. However, American management can't seem to operate auto companies, banks or insurance companies either. Maybe we shouldn't expect them to be able to operate a rail-passenger corporation. Possibly we should replace the entire Amtrak management team with Japanese rail executives. They seem to have no trouble running passenger rail. I cannot possibly see how it couldn't help but be an improvement.
> 
> I for one am fed up with Amtrak's lack of leadership, vision, planning, and just general inability to function effectively. If I remember correctly we paid $1 million for this "informative" report which basically tells us all the reasons Amtrak doesn't want to reinstate service to Orlando. We already knew that. I'm tired of seeing my tax money being wasted by an incompetent company.
> 
> If they had just reinstated the train when CSX opened the route all of this could have been avoided. Instead of telling us why they can't reinstate it now we'd be talking about how best to improve service on the route. You don't have to be a rail expert to know this is a snow job which is the one thing Amtrak has perfected during their existence. I've waited four years to catch a train in Pensacola, and now the best they can tell me is that it likely will be four more years if ever. Enough is enough. What a crock. I've no more patience with this nonsense.
> 
> Our only hope is if Congress puts their collective foot up Amtrak's posterior, and tells them to make things happen or they'll find people who can. Without that it's going to be business (or no business) as usual for years to come.
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> 3) Amtrak says the dog ate its homework, so it can only do so much to restore service between New Orleans and Orlando. It lists three options, two of which are pretty reasonable.
> 
> The first option is to restore the service as it was before, re-extending the Sunset Limited (or it's named replacement service) from New Orleans to Orlando on a tri-weekly basis, using the same maintenance facility at Sanford, Florida, a suburb of Orlando, as it previously successfully used for a decade.
> 
> The second option is to extend the City of New Orleans, operating from Chicago to New Orleans via Memphis, Tennessee, to Orlando, an option long sought by United Rail Passenger Alliance. This option would – for the first time since 1979 – provide single train service between Chicago and Florida, with a schedule which feeds all of the western transcontinental trains eastbound into Chicago to cross-platform travelers to the City and to Florida.
> 
> The third option is to recreate the old Seaboard Air Line/Louisville & Nashville joint train, the Gulf Wind, as a stand-alone train between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida, and extend it down to Orlando. The Gulf Wind was discontinued on Amtrak Day in 1971, and the service was eventually replaced by the Sunset Limited's tri-weekly schedule in 1993 until Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
> 
> 4) Amtrak's report has such blatantly false numbers as a basis for the document, and the assumptions use such discredited junk science in the transportation industry, that it's tough to zero in on a starting point. So, the most understandable thing to do is to go through the report as presented and point out the numerous inaccuracies – and, frankly, outright lies – as stated.
> 
> Here's the first laugh: "The service remains suspended today because of the cost and challenges associated with restoring service to this route." Really? CSX, the primary host railroad of the route, which suffered considerable damage from Hurricane Katrina, had the track up and running and available to Amtrak on April 1, 2006. The CSX efforts included replacing huge stretches of track, bridges, signaling, switches, and every type of railroad infrastructure in the wake of Katrina. Amtrak's relatively small challenges of rehabbing stations (many of which are municipally owned) pale in comparison to what CSX (and Norfolk Southern on its Crescent line into New Orleans just to the north of the CSX line along the Gulf Coast) had to accomplish, and was able to accomplish in seven months. Of course, the difference is CSX is a private, for-profit company, and every hour the railroad was out of service was an hour of revenue lost. In the case of Amtrak, it could blow off the service and still turn to Congress for more money with yet another, ongoing sob story. When there is no accountability, there is no progress.
> 
> The report notes a $10.7 million cost for restoring stations along the route, including $3.2 million for the demolition and reconstruction of the Sanford, Florida station, which was damaged from other hurricane preceding Katrina.
> 
> Whoops! The Sanford station is also on the route of the Silver Meteor and Silver Star. The reasons Amtrak gave for closing the station initially had absolutely nothing to do with the Sunset Limited, but rather because Amtrak said there were enough other stations in the area (DeLand, Winter Park, Orlando, and Kissimmee), and Sanford served no useful purpose, plus eliminating the Sanford station stop sped up train schedules.
> 
> Also, on an adjoining piece of property to the old Atlantic Coast Line Sanford station and division office building, Amtrak is using stimulus money to build a brand new Auto Train station and terminal.
> 
> Now, Amtrak is telling us it wants another $3.2 million – charged directly to the restoration of the Sunset Limited route – to build another new Sanford station that will also serve the Silver Meteor and Silver Star? If this station is built for the restored service, will the Meteor and Star also use it? If this station is important enough to the overall financial health of this route, why wait for this service to be restored; why isn't the station in some other vision plan for the future? And, better yet, why wasn't the Auto Train's new terminal planned and constructed so it could serve both the mainline trains and the Auto Train, too?
> 
> The other $7.5 million will be used to upgrade a relatively new station in Pensacola, Florida, and the old Seaboard Air Line station in Tallahassee, which was well out of the way of Katrina. Amtrak said in the report this money would be used to add American With Disabilities Act requirements to the stations, which, most when built or reconfigured for service in 1993 met most of those requirements.
> 
> The one major station project to be undertaken is a completely new station in Mobile, Alabama. That building was severely damaged by Katrina to the point CSX sold the damaged building to a real estate developer since it was in such bad shape. A completely new facility will have to be created in Mobile. However, as anyone who has ever traveled around the country on Amtrak knows, there have been many stations in large cities and small hamlets which have functioned well using an Amshack trailer for a building, and later permanent construction considered. St. Louis Union Trailers is perhaps the most famous of these stations, with new construction coming after decades of "temporary" shelter. A single station in Mobile should not be enough to hold up this project; most of the passenger platforms in Mobile are still in place and serviceable.
> 
> The report states a cost of $600,000 for improvements at Amtrak's Sanford maintenance facility. Well, prior to Katrina, the Sunset's equipment base was in Sanford, and the maintenance crews there did an exemplary job of maintaining the train. Why, now, more than half a million dollars for upgrades? Is it just because as long as Amtrak is making a wish list or a discouragement list, this $600,000 of Other Peoples Money is necessary?
> 
> Amtrak's report makes an assumption $20 million will be necessary to install Positive Train Control (PTC), as required by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 by 2015 on portions of the route solely because of restoration of passenger service. This is an issue we will delve into in a very soon future issue of This Week at Amtrak. CSX had indicated some of the current route may be downgraded because it can route some of its hazmat and other trains requiring the use of PTC on a similar route via Montgomery, Alabama.
> 
> 5) One of the biggest ticket items in the report is alleged additional passenger rolling stock which would be required to operate either an extended City of New Orleans (two train sets) or a new overnight Gulf Wind (the same number of new cars). Amtrak estimates the need of between six and 14 new passenger cars, at a cost of $24 million to $63 million.
> 
> This is perhaps one of the most incredible and ludicrous parts of the report. Amtrak says it could take up to four years (yes, you read that right) to get either of these trains running because that is the time to design, plan, order, and build new passenger cars specifically for this route. Such hogwash.
> 
> A review of Amtrak's current System Fleet Pan for Fiscal Year 2009 indicates after the few Superliners which will be taken out of the wreck line and restored with stimulus funds monies, 32 Superliners of every description, including coaches, diners, lounges, and sleepers will still be available to be taken out of storage and rebuilt for service. Even if Amtrak needs the maximum number of 14 cars it says it does, that still leave another 18 Superliners to be restored for other uses. New cars, designed and built specifically for this service? Why? Amtrak already owns all of the cars it needs; it's a question of using existing assets through rebuilds and rehabilitation instead of the lengthy and expensive process of creating a new fleet of cars. In the report, Amtrak says it could cost up to $63 million to buy these new cars. If every car to be rebuilt cost as much as $1.5 million to rebuild (that follows what Amtrak is spending in stimulus funds currently for rebuilding Superliner cars), that a tab of only $21 million, not up to $63 million. It must be wonderful to plan and spend Other Peoples Money with great abandon when you have no accountability.
> 
> But, wait! you implore. Some of those Superliners are slated to be used IF the Pioneer is restored or IF the North Coast Limited is restored. Yes, that may be so. First come, first served. If the restoration of the Sunset's route can fill that crucial gap before the gaps of the Pioneer and the North Coast Limited are ready to be filled, get in line, folks.
> 
> 6) When we start delving into the financial aspects of this report, things become more complicated. Amtrak makes several wrong assumptions.
> 
> The report says ridership was a primary consideration in selecting the three preferred route options. Amtrak says if option one is used, and a tri-weekly Sunset Limited is restored, ridership will be 53,300 a year. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, an average of 45% of the Sunset's ridership and revenues came from east of New Orleans. In FY 08, the Sunset, operating only west of New Orleans, had ridership of 71,700 passengers. A projection of 53,300 (171 passengers per trip) is probably the closest thing to a legitimate number in the entire report, although that figure could probably be altered up by 25% and still be a legitimate figure.
> 
> Everyone knows in the real, non-Amtrak world, business plan forecasts always figure revenue low and expenses high. Amtrak, of course, being Amtrak, has taken this to heart and grossly distorted its numbers for ridership, revenue, and expenses.
> 
> Option two, the extension of the City of New Orleans, creating a single train route from Chicago to Orlando, has the greatest chance of success, and Amtrak terribly underestimates its potential. Today's City of New Orleans has ridership of 197,400 per year (FY 08), and Amtrak says an extended version of that will only bring in an additional 96,100 passengers on the haul to Orlando.
> 
> They are saying the system's only Chicago-Florida train, with the Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Lake Shore Limited, and all of the Chicago regional trains feeding into the City would only generate additional business to Florida, projected to be less than half of what the City carries today between Chicago and New Orleans via Memphis. One has to wonder exactly what Amtrak's planning department is smoking on their lunch breaks. It's unlikely enough equipment could be found on this train to make it 18 cars which would serve as a replacement for the long, lost Floridian, gone since 1979.
> 
> Option three, a reconstituted and stretched Gulf Wind, running as a stand-alone train between New Orleans and Orlando on an overnight schedule is, according to Amtrak, the most expensive to operate and not very productive, with a predicted ridership of 79,900, because, as Amtrak says, the train would have to have connecting passengers from the eastbound Sunset Limited successor, and the southbound City of New Orleans. Amtrak uses old and discredited junk science to say passengers will not want to detrain at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, spend a few hours in the Crescent City, and entrain for a late afternoon departure and midday arrival in Orlando.
> 
> Uh, lessee, well, airlines create their entire route systems around hubs, and passengers hub for bus travel, too. Amtrak expects all of its passengers north of New York City to hub in Washington for Florida trains and the Crescent, after arriving there on Northeast Corridor trains. Lots and lots and lots of passengers hub every day in Chicago for destinations all over the country, and Los Angeles is a big hub, too, not to mention Seattle and Portland, Oregon, and a half a dozen other hubs in the Amtrak system.
> 
> So, why is there a dire prediction about hubbing in New Orleans? Is this just another use of discredited junk science to make the report read badly so no service will be restored east of New Orleans? What is the prejudice the Amtrak planners have about those of us living in Florida or along the Gulf Coast? Is there some sort of genetic trait we have that makes us unworthy of passenger train travel? Do these people think all we do is marry our cousins and drink beer and never want to travel?
> 
> Here's something else to put a smile on your face. Amtrak's planners say the route between New Orleans and Orlando is adversely impacted by the circuitry of the rail route, a passenger train having to travel 769 miles versus 639 miles by automobile, and what it calls slow speeds which result in a trip time of 18.5 hours versus 9.6 by automobile.
> 
> Well. If that's the case, why doesn't Amtrak just turn out the lights and go home? It's also much faster to travel from Jacksonville, Florida to Richmond, Virginia by automobile (less than 10 hours) than by Amtrak (12 and a half hours). But, that doesn't mean everyone wants – or is able – to drive. It's also much, much quicker to take a jet airplane, but that's not always comfortable or easy or desirable for everyone, either.
> 
> The point of travel by train is just that – travel by train. Every individual train in Amtrak's system to connected to every other train in the system through the matrix theory. Everything connects with everything (although, sometimes inconveniently), and every train feeds other trains.
> 
> Amtrak's rather boorish presumption a new Gulf wind will only haul local business, and only haul those who want to avoid driving is hogwash. Amtrak provides a viable travel choice. Most likely, the Amtrak planning department denizens would be shocked to know someone from Washington State or Oregon may have an interest in riding a new Gulf Wind between New Orleans and Tallahassee or Jacksonville, or Palatka or DeLand or Orlando. That's the beauty of the matrix theory. To presume little or no traffic from connecting trains, especially strong feeders like the City of New Orleans and a daily Sunset Limited (or replacement of that named train) west of New Orleans is like saying a gas station on an Interstate highway exit will only sell gas to local residents, and no travelers from other areas will ever stop at the station.
> 
> 7) Let's use the existing City of New Orleans as a model for this route. The City's route is similar in length, 926 miles versus the projected length of 769 miles. The City begins in Chicago and ends in New Orleans, and has only one other major city on its route – Memphis, Tennessee. It has a number of smaller cities and state capitals along its route, such as Jackson, Mississippi. Much of the route of the City is rural, such as the route between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida. Since the southern terminal for the proposed Gulf Wind is Orlando, one of the world's largest vacation destinations, the travel data for that city equals – if not exceeds – that of Chicago.
> 
> Let's look at the characteristics of the City of New Orleans for FY 2008.
> 
> Total Revenue – $14,864,600
> 
> Passenger Miles – 93,433,000
> 
> Ridership – 197,400
> 
> Average Length of Trip – 473.3 miles
> 
> Train Miles – 666,000
> 
> Passengers per Train Mile – 140.3
> 
> Revenue per Passenger Mile – 15.91 cents
> 
> Load Factor – 63.8%
> 
> Available Seat Miles – 146,375,952
> 
> Here's what Amtrak estimates for the three options east of New Orleans to Orlando.
> 
> Option One, Tri-Weekly extension of the Sunset Limited (or named replacement service)
> 
> Ridership – 53,300
> 
> Option Two, Extension of the City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Orlando
> 
> Ridership – 96,100
> 
> Option Three, Creation of a new stand-alone, connecting train, labeled the Gulf Wind by Amtrak
> 
> Ridership – 79,900
> 
> Amtrak says it used its normal methods to determine ridership, including "Ridership and revenue impacts for each alternative were estimated utilizing models and data Amtrak has developed to measure the impact of now or changed services. The inputs included surveys of Amtrak's long distance passengers; socio-economic data; and forecasts of population and income in the areas served by each station." Amtrak goes on correctly to say it includes data between Jacksonville and Orlando where a third frequency would increase travel opportunities for the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, and therefore, that ridership would grow, too.
> 
> What Amtrak did not bother to measure is overall passenger traffic along the line. Using Amtrak's data, it is all based on population, and only the desire of the local population to travel. It does not account for incoming traffic from other routes or other parts of the country, and it does not account for Amtrak's typical one tenth of one percent of the domestic transportation output Amtrak commands.
> 
> When using real data, we discover Interstate 10 parallels the route between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida, and on any given day at any given intermediate rural point (outside of local traffic using the Interstate in such places as Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Pensacola, etc.), an average of 36,000 to 70,000 passenger vehicles (excluding trucks hauling freight) pass a measuring point on the Interstate. What Amtrak is projecting a year for ridership, the Interstate hosts in a day, and we are unable to measure how many occupants are in each vehicle.
> 
> The same holds true for air transportation. When culling city pair information from the government's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, we learn travelers between Chicago and Orlando are measured in six and seven figure numbers, not counting other intermediate city pairs along this route.
> 
> As previously stated, Amtrak also eschews any real cross-platform business in New Orleans to bolster its numbers. It presumes people will not intentionally schedule connections from one train route to another. Apparently, Amtrak's planning department, located in Washington, never bothers to stroll through Washington Union Station to see the millions of annual riders who make train connections there, or the millions who connect through Chicago or other points.
> 
> Therefore, Amtrak's numbers for ridership, expenses, and every other category beyond basic diesel fuel are not credible.
> 
> Looking at the ridership and revenue passenger mile figures for the present City of New Orleans we see numbers which are double what Amtrak projects for east of New Orleans. These numbers are a more accurate barometer than Amtrak's report numbers.
> 
> 8) One final point. Amtrak's report says the company wants an incredible 20 months or more to recruit and train operating personnel for this route.
> 
> Why?
> 
> Back in 1993 (before HD television), it took Amtrak substantially less than a year to – from scratch – create this service on a tri-weekly basis east of New Orleans. Apparently, the "can do" people who were running Amtrak at that time must be long gone, replaced by a group comfortable in their government-subsidized paychecks with no worries in the world, and no hurry to fulfill Amtrak's national mission of providing passenger service to the lower 48 states.
> 
> Twenty months? Even if it has been four years since the Sunset last operated east of New Orleans, many of the train and engine crew members are still employees of Amtrak, just working other routes
> 
> 9) There is much more ground to cover, but you get the idea. Amtrak fraudulently wasted $1 million of taxpayer money creating a worthless document with false data, incorrect assumptions, and incomplete conclusions.
> 
> This type of fiasco has been going on for far too long at Amtrak. Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman has been in office for nine months now, and this was created under his stewardship. He is ultimately responsible. He needs to be gone, at the earliest moment.
> 
> It's worth noting a phrase from the last edition of TWA, taken from the Amtrak This Week employee publication story about the first restored passenger car coming out of the shops.
> 
> [begin quote]
> 
> "An expanded fleet is a critical part of our ability to grow," said Vice President of Policy and Development Stephen Gardner. "We need these cars as we pursue new service in partnership with states and also to increase capacity along existing routes where demand exceeds what we can currently offer."
> 
> [End quote]
> 
> Still no future vision, still no business plan better than gouging individual states for money for short distance trains. If Mr. Gardner's statement holds true, then Amtrak truly isn't interested in expanding the long distance system and the entire $1 million exercise was just done to appease a Member of Congress.
> 
> So, at this point, is Amtrak worth saving? Or, is it time for a complete make over with an entire new leadership team which will have the ability to unleash the power and potential of Amtrak and allow many of the good managers and executives there to do their jobs properly and with some enthusiasm?
> 
> If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.
> 
> All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.
> 
> URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.
> 
> J. Bruce Richardson
> 
> President
> 
> United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
> 
> 1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
> 
> Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
> 
> Telephone 904-636-7739
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> http://www.unitedrail.org


I don't know where he gets the idea that this report cost $1M. If anyone is mis-stating the facts I think it would be Mr. Bruce.! We can either agree or disagree, but there is no way $1M was spent on this report.


----------



## Larry H.

For what ever good it will do I sent Senator Durbin a copy of your report and my thoughts and questions on exactly where the Amtrak Management intended to take this country as far as first rate nation wide rail service as promised. I mentioned to him the obvious that as Illinois is his home state and Chicago being the terminus for the City of New Orleans he should be strongly in support of the service to florida for his constituents and others.


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## bretton88

I would say Mr. Bruce sounds mad because his pet may not be done first. The fact is, not all rail routes are feasible to do. Consultants rarely just pull numbers out of thin air, so I would be more trusting of the report. Its more inflammatory rhetoric from Mr. Bruce.


----------



## henryj

bretton88 said:


> I would say Mr. Bruce sounds mad because his pet may not be done first. The fact is, not all rail routes are feasible to do. Consultants rarely just pull numbers out of thin air, so I would be more trusting of the report. Its more inflammatory rhetoric from Mr. Bruce.


The report is full of mis-information and inaccuracies and obsolete information. Why would you trust it? I think Mr. Bruce was more into pointing this out and the fact that Amtrak was paid over a million dollars for this stupid report.


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## VentureForth

bretton88 said:


> I would say Mr. Bruce sounds mad because his pet may not be done first. The fact is, not all rail routes are feasible to do. Consultants rarely just pull numbers out of thin air, so I would be more trusting of the report. Its more inflammatory rhetoric from Mr. Bruce.


That's not necessarily true. If they extend the CONO to ORL, then it will fulfil his greatest desire - to get another Jax - ORL route. AND it would free up the Meteor to go straight from JAX to MIA without going through ORL, which Bruce doesn't like, but I think is a HUGE winner for East Coast travellers. In fact, it would increase demand on BOTH the Silvers from the NE by a) providing faster service to Miami from points N of JAX and b) merging more Disney-goers onto the already slower and less used Star. It would probably increase demand on the Star to the point where they'd need to go ahead and run the same consist on both Silvers (Meteor has at least one more sleeper and I think and additional coach than the Star).


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 25, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​



Volume 6, Number 24
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Response to the last This Week at Amtrak published Monday came fast and furious. The overwhelming sentiment was negative against Amtrak and the P.R.I.I.A. Section 226 Gulf Coast Service Plan Report as discussed in the last issue.

Here are some samples from the TWA mailbag. Every new paragraph represents a new quote by another individual writer.

[begin quotes]

"Those crooks are so lost in extorting money they have absolutely forgotten their purpose is to operate a 'national network of rail passenger services'."

"I have in my possession a published SCL passenger timetable from December 1970. Could I just mail that to Mr. Boardman and say 'here, can't you replicate this service?'."

"I am totally incensed by Amtrak's total incompetence from Mr. Boardman down the line to middle management. 20 months to train onboard staff is absurd! What can the average person do to correct the culture of mediocrity?"

"Yeah, I read the report. In typical Am-logic, they establish a conclusion first, and then

'manufacture' facts and data to justify it! A new station at Sanford? Why? Good point. ... Yeah, you're right – [Congresswoman] Corrine Brown should request a refund and Boardman should resign. What a disgrace!"

"I was comforted that it wasn't only me that was . . . well . . . flabbergasted . . . at the audacity Amtrak had to issue such a publication. It's filled not only with numerous untruths, but it actually documents their 'hidden' agenda, which obviously is to impede and hinder hooking up east of New Orleans. Does this go unseen by those who SHOULD care? Now, if there are so many obstacles over the New Orleans to Florida issue, will Amtrak raise similar objections for restoring the Pioneer and/or the North Coast Limited? To my knowledge, I've not been made aware of Amtrak's viewpoint on this matter. The restoration of The Sunset Limited issues began previous to the Pioneer or NCL proposals; correct me if I'm mistaken."

"Put two stakes in the ground with yellow tape between them and call it a station until one is built. Not running a train because of one station on the route is nonsense. And 20 months required to train the crews to do what? I worked at an airline and it took way less time to train our crews on the various aircraft they had to fly. Why is Amtrak dragging its feet on this route? It doesn't make sense. I hope they do extend the City of New Orleans ... then I can get on the train in Memphis and make the whole trip to Disney World! You think that Amtrak might try to market that? ... Nah."

"I don't understand this nonsense about tri-weakly service either (misspelling intended). Then again, the Rio Grande Zephyr was a huge success, in spite of tri-weekly service. Yes, I know the Rockies aren't the Florida panhandle, plus the D&RGW folks ran a first class operation and had a huge amount of pride in their train. Always good to get your weekly newsletter and analysis."

"Amtrak New Orleans-Orlando passenger service. Designed to fail. Amtrak's record of plans and implementation have been a failure, except for maintaining an inept bureaucracy. America's skeletal passenger train network is a carryover from decades ago, yet, Amtrak's board continues to perpetuate this as their primary purpose. The present Amtrak board has outlived their usefulness in today's world of American transportation. No disrespect to you and any of the advocates, but I cannot even suggest any choice when the inmates are running the asylum. I suggest you review the 'be careful what you wish for' quote, and listen to what your subconscious tells you."

2) And, so the comments went. There was one comment from someone living on the Gulf Coast this space has a lot of respect for, and there were two other major comments, too.

"Amtrak is accomplishing precisely what they hoped to accomplish with their inaccurate, error-prone, agenda-driven, biased report – turn people against restoration of service. Anyone who doesn't understand the importance of the route to the national system, and also understand that Amtrak has intentionally put the worst possible spin on projected ridership will question whether return of Florida service is a wise decision. Amtrak should be ashamed and embarrassed, but they're not. Goal accomplished and business as usual inside Amtrak – protect the money machine, and not waste precious resources on anything as mundane as service to the passenger. Isn't it odd that spending money to run a train between New Orleans and Orlando simply scares them to death, but paying an Amtrak crew to lay around the pool at a New Orleans hotel for three days while the equipment sets idle [waiting for the return trip] seems likes a logical decision. Only at Amtrak would buffoonic moves such as these be made."

[End quote]

3) For the major comments, first, United Rail Passenger Alliance Vice President of Law and Policy, and President of the Minnesota Association of Railroad Passengers, Andrew Selden of Minneapolis.

[begin quote]

By Andrew Selden

TWA's discussion of the intellectual failures of Amtrak's projections of usage of the various service alternatives across the New Orleans-Florida gap missed one of the most compelling bits of evidence: Amtrak's own experience with actual patterns of usage of this service when it existed.

One of the most striking passenger behaviors that evolved almost immediately upon extension of the Sunset Limited to Florida in 1993 was the spontaneous discovery by passengers and travel agents one could change trains in Jacksonville between the Sunset and trains to and from points NORTH of Jacksonville.

This is not a surprising result to anyone who understands networks in transportation systems. Matrix theory in mathematics predicts when a node (or a "hub") is created, traffic will flow through that hub in all possible directions, and the volume is approximately proportional to the square of the potential number of origin-destination pairs in the matrix.

So it didn't matter the one train – the Sunset – turned south at Jacksonville. Amtrak, of course, if they thought about it at all (no evidence exists that they did, before or after service was started), assumed customers would only go where the train went, to points south.

But passengers could read the timetable, and saw if they got off at Jacksonville, lo and behold, before too long a train would come through headed north into the Carolinas and Virginia, and even all the way to the Northeast. So people bought tickets and constructed their own connections, sometimes enduring unreasonably long waits for the connecting train. But through they went, generating "ridership" – and more importantly revenues – and much longer trips (output, measured in revenue passenger miles). United Rail Passenger Alliance founder Austin Coates documented this phenomenon by going into the Jacksonville station, and talking to passengers and ticket agents. They all understood what was happening, but Amtrak didn't: their systems only saw the local tickets to and from Jacksonville, not the fact it was the same folks passing through Jacksonville.

Amtrak's blindness to inter-route through traffic is further exacerbated by its bias – Amtrak sees itself mostly as operating a high-cost transit service in the Northeast Corridor and other short corridors. Many short trains, running discontiguous short routes, accommodating time-insensitive customers, who won't use the service (Amtrak assumes) if they have to change vehicles to reach their own destination.

It is an old shibboleth of urban transit planners that a connection for a journey will cut potential patronage ("ridership") by 50% or more as compared to operating a through train and/or bus or trolley. That notion is false, of course, but Amtrak's planners didn't get the memo. So to them, potential passengers are not likely to use a long distance service which requires a change of trains, and so only a few riders are to be expected to want to change trains at a place like Jacksonville. In Amtrak's projection, little or no allowance is made for the potential usage or resulting revenue of someone who might choose to use rail to get from Houston to Raleigh, North Carolina or Mobile, Alabama to Boston via Jacksonville, even if that means a short layover at Jacksonville.

But, people are willing to do that. We know that not because of a theory or a forecast, but because of actual historical patterns of usage, of which Amtrak is either ignorant or which it is willing to try to hide, when it really doesn't want to do the work of running the train in the first place.

Our casual analysis suggested the comparatively few passengers who hubbed at Jacksonville between points west and points north of there were generating enough revenue (from their entire trip's fare, not just the fare for the segment taken on the Sunset) to pay all or most of the direct, above-the-rail, cost to operate the Sunset east of New Orleans. Everyone else was gravy. And, of course, all that occurred spontaneously, without benefit of any advertising or promotional support, fare promotions, or any other marketing.

And – at the time – the phenomenon was sharply limited by the lack of capacity on the Silver Star and Silver Meteor, especially in sleepers, to handle any serious growth in traffic. We believe if additional capacity had been available on the Silver trains, especially in first class, there would have been MUCH more connecting traffic at Jacksonville than there was. There is no way to estimate how much revenue Amtrak lost for lack of understanding. And, when the Sunset was discontinued east of New Orleans and the connection lost, ridership and revenue of the Silver trains to and from Florida was diminished accordingly.

Thus, Amtrak's craven failure this year to account properly for inter-route connecting revenue and ridership is really no surprise, either as a methodological failure, or a political scam. But, it is both disappointing and dishonest, and reflects a very serious lost opportunity to serve the public and to make money.

[End quote

Noted rail historian Daniel Carleton of Dunnellon, Florida had this to add, thinking along the lines of last weekend's 40th anniversary of American man on the moon.

[begin quote]

Mission Control … What is our mission?

By Daniel Carleton

As a nation we look back with pride to that day 40 years ago when humankind, humankind of American citizenry, set foot on Earth's first and foremost satellite. It was the pinnacle of our civilization and became the benchmark for all technological leaps… or lack thereof; "We can land a man on the moon but we can't …"

During these intervening four decades we have seen substantial changes in the size and scope of human enterprise. Due to the evident realities concerning what resources are actually available we have readjusted our views concerning our endeavors. Man has not been back to the moon since 1972. Commercial supersonic flight ended in 2002. And on the ground, intercity rail transportation became the ward of the National Rail Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak, in 1971. In Amtrak's 38 years we have seen it expand and contract, rise and fall, lauded and condemned. With all the talk these days of "High Speed Rail" one may conclude the future mission of passenger rail is, in NASA parlance, "ago."

So it was with great dismay that on July 16th of this year Amtrak released its "Gulf Coast Service Plan Report;" ironically on the same day of the states' deadline for Pre-Applications for High-Speed Passenger Rail Funding. Although appearing comprehensive, the inaccuracy of detail leads one to believe it was conceived by one either not familiar with the area of proposed service or counting on those reading it would not be familiar.

The Report calls for "$10.7 million" for restoration of stations including "$3.2 million for the demolition and reconstruction of the Sanford, Florida station." This should not be confused with the southern terminus of the Auto Train. The regular passenger station in Sanford is between the active stations in Winter Park and DeLand, and is passed daily by the current pair of New York to Miami trains. However, unlike other now vacant stations in Florida, Sanford was abandoned years ago due to very low passenger loadings. Why should the restoration of Gulf Coast service shoulder the cost of rebuilding a station with low boardings?

Also cited is "$600,000 for improvements at Amtrak's Sanford maintenance facility where equipment would be maintained." When the Sunset Limited was running prior to 2005 it was adequately maintained at the Auto-Train terminal in Sanford. Sanford is already in line for $2 million in maintenance area funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; this does not include the $10 million new Auto Train passenger station. Why should the restoration of Gulf Coast service shoulder the cost of unnecessary improvements?

The least expensive option for restoration of service is the reestablishment of the tri-weekly Sunset Limited. However, the "major issue associated with this option is the route length. The route length (2,763 miles) presented significant operational challenges for the pre-Hurricane Katrina Sunset Limited with respect to equipment servicing, operational performance, crew scheduling and other issues." This is a curious statement as Amtrak is planning to operate a daily Texas Eagle from Chicago to Los Angeles (2728 miles) as noted in the August 2009 issue of Trains magazine. Does 35 miles make that much of a difference? Or does Amtrak intend to discontinue this train when it is deemed convenient?

As of this early date at least two "advocates" listed in the Report as having been contacted have denied any such correspondence.

This action, or more accurately inaction, on the part of Amtrak is an insult to the people of the State of Florida, the Gulf Coast, and adds insult to injury to those left in New Orleans. What is Amtrak's mission? Are they or are they not our national passenger railroad? If not, so be it; let us find another medium for rail transportation. If so, then where is our train? At a time when we should be working toward a stable and responsible means of ground transportation we are handed a 78-page report which says, in essence, "no, we can't." Remember this point, if New Orleans and the Gulf Coast had been mercifully spared the wrath of Katrina in 2005, would not the Sunset Limited still be running today?

[End quote]

4) Reports like the Gulf Coast Report make it difficult to snuggle up close to Amtrak and make nice. The report showed everyone – politicians, railroaders, passengers, American taxpayers – the worst and most arrogant side of Amtrak. We've seen a company with no solid or permanent leadership, no vision for the future, no regard for its basic mission for existence.

Then, we come to the following two press releases. Read them carefully.

[begin quote]

Veolia Transportation Names Former Amtrak CEO As Chairman of its Rail Division

CHICAGO – June 17, 2009 – Veolia Transportation Inc. announced that Tom Downs has joined the company as chairman of its rail division. Downs will work with Rail Executive Vice President Ron Hartman to continue Veolia Transportation's growth as the largest private provider of contracted passenger rail services in the U.S.

As chairman, Downs will help guide the company's strategic planning efforts as well as its expanding roster of public private partnerships, and catalyze the development of its high-speed rail business. He will further develop the company's relationships and alliances with key organizations in the public and private sectors, including the Federal Railway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as transit authorities and city governments. Downs also will provide assistance with operations, continuing to enhance performance in safety, maintenance, customer service, technology and maintenance of way.

In his distinguished career in transportation, Downs has held several executive roles. As CEO of AMTRAK, Downs was credited with leading the national passenger rail system from insolvency to a $2 billion capital investment fund in 1998. He also has served as commissioner of transportation in New Jersey and as president of the Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority. As city administrator of the District of Columbia in the 1980s, Downs oversaw the restoration of Union Station.

From 2003 to 2008, Downs was CEO of the Eno Transportation Foundation, a forum for the discussion of emerging issues and policies in all fields of transportation. Prior to that, he directed the National Center for Smart Growth Education and Research at the University of Maryland.

"Tom brings a powerful combination of strategic depth, integrity and a proven record of successful leadership in rail to Veolia Transportation," said Mark Joseph, CEO of Veolia Transportation. "The experience he has gained in leading several of the most respected entities in the rail industry will be a tremendous asset to our rapidly growing rail business and to our clients."

"I am very pleased to be joining Veolia Transportation as I believe they have the competence, capacity for innovation and values that will assure their continued leadership in the industry," said Downs. "As the company continues to grow over the next 10 years, we will bring groundbreaking advances in commuter and high-speed rail service to cities and transit authorities in North America. Veolia Transportation is committed to setting the standard in safe and sustainable mobility solutions through genuine partnerships with clients and superb execution, and I share these commitments."

About Veolia Transportation

Veolia Transportation is the largest private-sector operator of multiple modes of transit in North America, including bus, rail, paratransit, shuttle, sedan and taxi services. The company has over 17,000 employees and operates some 150 contracts in multiple modes of transit for cities in North America. The company operates several major commuter rail networks in the U.S., including Boston, San Diego, Austin, Los Angeles and Miami and is an integrated manager and operator, providing a range of rail services to clients.

Veolia Transportation is part of Veolia Transport, the world's largest private operator of multiple modes of public transit, including bus, rail, paratransit, shuttle, ferry and taxi services. Veolia Transport operates contracts for 5,000 city transit authorities in 27 countries, and transports 2.5 billion passengers per year. The Company operates some of the most sophisticated rail systems in the world in Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, and the UK.

For more information, visit www.veoliatransportation.com

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Veolia Transportation Names COO of Its Rail Division

CHICAGO – July 20, 2009 – Veolia Transportation announced today that Donald Saunders has been named chief operating officer of the company's Rail Division. Saunders, who joins Veolia Transportation from Amtrak, will report to Executive Vice President – Rail Ron Hartman and work with the rail management team to advance Veolia Transportation as the largest provider of contracted rail services in the United States.

Saunders joins a management team committed to setting the standard for passenger rail operations in North America. As COO, he will focus on day-to-day operations and operational execution to ensure that Veolia Transportation is continually exceeding the expectations of passengers and clients. He will also participate in the company's strategic planning efforts.

"Don has extensive experience in many parts of the passenger rail industry and an excellent track record," said Hartman. While working at Amtrak in the Central Region, Don dramatically improved the operational performance of the trains he managed, including the operation of 60 daily intercity trains and dispatching of 300 Chicago commuter trains.

"Veolia Transportation has a global reputation for being an innovative company that cares about the safety and well-being of customers and employees," said Saunders. "I look forward to helping them achieve their mission of being best in class through strong partnerships and commitments to clients and employees."

Prior to joining Veolia Transportation, Saunders had a long career in various executive positions at Amtrak. Most recently, he was assistant vice president of the west region for policy and development. His key responsibilities in this role included business development, including developing and implementing plans for stimulus-related projects, and for new future service possibilities. He successfully negotiated contracts with the Departments of Transportation in three western states.

About Veolia Transportation

Veolia Transportation is the largest private sector operator of multiple modes of transit in North America, including bus, rail, paratransit, shuttle, sedan and taxi services. The company has a workforce of over 20,000 people and operates over 200 transportation contracts in 22 states and two Canadian Provinces. The company manages and operates transportation services in leading U.S. cities, including Las Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Baltimore, Atlanta, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as several major rail networks, including Boston, San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami and Austin. (www.veolia-transport.com/en)

Veolia Transportation is part of Veolia Transport, the world's largest private operator of multiple modes of transit, including bus, rail, paratransit, shuttle, ferry and taxi services. Veolia Transport operates contracts for 5,000 city transit authorities in 28 countries, and completes 2.63 billion passenger trips per year. (www.veolia-transport.com/en/)

[End quote]

Ron Hartman, Veolia's Executive Vice President here in North America has been putting together a blockbuster team of transit and passenger railroaders. Adding Tom Downs is a plum for Veolia (After all, transit is what Mr. Downs does best; not intercity passenger rail.) when dealing with various state governors and city mayors, plus an assortment of other politicians.

Good railroaders like Don Saunders add huge strength to the company.

Ron Hartman is a well-respected former Amtrak executive, with excellent private experience, too. He is earnest and hard working, and he is not someone to be taken lightly; he knows his business.

Now, go back and reread the last two paragraphs of both press releases. French company Veolia is a huge, powerful worldwide player in every field it enters, including transit and passenger rail. This is a company with a lot of clout, a boatload of money, huge political muscle, and an executive cadre not to be messed with. If you don't believe everything you read in those last two paragraphs of the press releases, visit the company's web site. You'll be convinced these people are important – and highly relevant.

Look to the future. Here's Veolia with all of this money, all of this talent, all of this experience. What if someone wanted to start a regional rail operation ... who better than Veolia to run it? As a private, for-profit company, Veolia is automatically much leaner and more focused than Amtrak, and has a work ethic far, far different from Amtrak, especially after what we have seen in last week's Gulf Coast Report. What if Veolia had produced that report? Do you think the conclusions would have been the same? No, they would have been radically different, with a dozen different ways to make that service work, instead of three examples and all of the reasons why the service can't work. (Ron Hartman alone would have made sure of that, even without the other new guys.)

Every city, town, and hamlet in America is clamoring for high speed rail. A puny $8 billion to be distributed this year goes against so far over $100 billion in requests by states. Everything is up for grabs. Even Amtrak? Well, possibly so.

What if Veolia gets in the operations door for high speed rail? There is no mandate for Amtrak to have those contracts automatically. (Indeed, the Gulf Coast Report makes a huge argument for Amtrak to be pushed as far away as possible from those contracts.)

So, think outside the box, because that's what everyone but Amtrak is trying to do today. Let's say Veolia (or one of its competitors other than Amtrak) gets one or two high speed routes to operate. Well, to make the contract complete, how about putting some of the existing connecting long distance or regional or short distance Amtrak routes into that contract, to make a nice, efficient, connected bundle? A couple of votes from Congress and that could happen. Amtrak may currently have a monopoly on passenger rail in this country, but it does not have a monopoly on political clout.

Imagine for a moment you're a planning executive at one of the major freight railroads. We just saw earlier this month Norfolk Southern's CEO is willing to talk about passenger rail. If one is talking about it, mostly likely others at competing railroads are, too. Suppose you see an opportunity in passenger rail, but your passenger department has been long gone for nearly four decades. Where do you go to find and populate a new passenger department?

Why go anywhere further than Veolia? Don't hire individual passenger department employees, just sign a contract with Veolia to handle the whole thing for you. No muss, no fuss, and you've got instant professionals handling things to your specifications. If things don't work out, well, don't renew the contract, and don't worry about having to get rid of a huge pool of employees. They all belong to Veolia, not you.

Ron Hartman's Veolia has become the 800 pound gorilla in the room when it comes to transit and regional passenger rail. The desire is there, the financial muscle is there, the deep bench of talent is there, the vision (Amtrak, are you paying attention?) is there. Veolia through its normal lines of business wants to grow and expand, not contract or merely maintain, as Amtrak is, because it is always depending on someone else's good graces or funding and does not have the will to accept normal growth.

If you were Amtrak and you had a lick of sense, would you be looking over your corporate shoulder?

5) Oh, and look at the date. Five months from today is Christmas Day!

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## bretton88

The problem with Veolia, is that they're aren't in our good graces right now. They had the contract for Metrolink, and the crash happened. (Not quite blaming Veolia, train accidents can happen to any company) The COASTER of San Diego is run by Veolia and the transit agency isn't happy with them either. Veolia is also known as Connex down under, and I don't know any Australian that is happy with them. Maybe a better example is UP and BNSF running METRA under contract in Chicago, look domestically.


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## stntylr

Veolia is also a year late in opening the CapMetro commuter train in Austin. They haven't annouced a new start date for that yet.

CapMetro has had a long history of safety violations including two new ones that were just found this month.


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## Bob Dylan

:angry:



stntylr said:


> Veolia is also a year late in opening the CapMetro commuter train in Austin. They haven't annouced a new start date for that yet.CapMetro has had a long history of safety violations including two new ones that were just found this month.


yeah we here in Austin figure we might get it going by 2012!!What a joke CAPMETRO is,hope that Veolia doesnt

get fed up and cancel and leave these clowns! :lol:


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 27, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 25
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) The irrepressible William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona, frequent contributor to This Week at Amtrak, has come up with some sage thoughts about train stations. Mr. Lindley, in the Arizona heat, occasionally rides his motorcycle, drives his car, and frequently uses the metropolitan Phoenix areas bus and light rail transit system in his travels around town. He would very much like to ride Amtrak trains to and from Phoenix for his domestic and world travels, but, alas, none exist. Read, think, and enjoy.

[begin quote]

By William Lindley

Imagine putting a 10-story building in the middle of Los Angeles International Airport's runway. Ridiculous! you say. Yet, that's what Kansas City did with their Union Station – built a mid-rise building right smack in the middle of the train platform area, destroying its ability to be a train station. Saint Louis built a mall inside its Union Station, but at least most of that could be removed fairly easily (malls are always changing, anyway).

Are our historic train stations only to become museums (like Kansas City's) or should they have a rightful place in our transportation future?

Atlanta recently made what appears to be a bad decision that will prevent some mainline trains from conveniently entering its planned new downtown station, but at least the station will be downtown. Saint Paul, Minnesota likewise is moving forward with the renovation of its Union Depot, close to downtown – as light rail, and possibly a southward extension of the upcoming Northstar commuter trains get underway.

These cities understand, as in most real estate, station sites are about Location, Location, Location. That means walking distance to downtown; it means connections with commuter trains and streetcars and buses; it means a place where mainline trains can move in and out easily, and where rail services can be provided.

When the national argument for passenger rail was at its lowest point, Dallas shortchanged itself on the latter, by providing only three platforms – barely enough for Trinity Railway commuter trains and one or two intercity trains. San Antonio, in contrast, found new life for its main depot building as a food an entertainment complex called Historic Sunset Station at St. Paul Square, but, built a harmonious, functional, and pleasant new adjacent passenger and train servicing facility just a few feet away, using the original passenger platforms.

If the original station does not fit today's demands, it is appropriate to build a new building “around” an existing depot as at San Antonio. But, also have the fortitude to build an updated facility in a new location convenient to the city's modern activity centers. Some of our best historic stations and depots, often over a century old, are located in parts of cities and towns no longer desirable for 24-hour public use because of dangerous neighbors.

While it is highly desirable to keep these older structures and find new uses for them, it is equally important and more desirable to meet the needs of the traveling public by providing a station facility in a safe and secure location. The most beautiful or historic station can be meticulously restored, but if it’s in a bad part of town or lacks adequate parking or transit connections, the purpose of a proper, useful, and desirable gateway for rail passengers into a city or town is defeated.

An interesting point of discussion has been for former New York Central train station and tower in Buffalo, New York. The building has been empty since 1979 and is in a high state of disrepair. The sprawling station complex is located 2.5 miles from downtown Buffalo, and was designed to host an astonishing 3,200 passengers per hour. Debate and plans are raging in Buffalo as to how best preserve this architectural gem, perhaps through reincarnation as a high speed rail terminal.

In Detroit, a similarly magnificent structure is in even more dire condition; the old Michigan Central station and tower in another huge complex sits outside of the normal traffic flow of downtown Detroit. The local government in Detroit has decreed the building should be torn down it is in such bad condition, but supporters of this huge architectural marvel are looking to create a new life for the station either through rail-related purposes or as a convention center and casino, perhaps an international trade processing center (The station is near the Ambassador Bridge and gateway to Canada.), or as police headquarters for the City of Detroit.

When Michigan Central originally constructed the complex in 1913, it was built to last a lifetime, and Amtrak used the facility until 1988. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest railroad station in the world, with its massive tower atop the station, going up 18 floors and comprising 500,000 square feet of space, including the station areas. Located about two miles southwest of downtown Detroit, the station was always considered to be outside the loop of normal downtown traffic. The hope today is a revival of the station building will also bring a revival of the surrounding neighborhood.

In Jacksonville, Florida, the downtown Union Station is today the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, named in honor of the late CSX Transportation Chairman of the Board who took a personal interest in saving the historic Jacksonville Union Station, designed by New York Architect Kenneth Mackensie Murcheson. Murcheson also designed Pennsylvania Station in Baltimore, Maryland, which is still in use today by Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor.

When Jacksonville Union Station opened at midnight on November 17, 1919, with its vast array of through-service and stub end tracks, it was designed to handle up to 210 trains a day. On opening day, the station handled more than 110 trains and 20,000 passengers. Every U.S. president from Woodrow Wilson through Richard Nixon traveled through the station. The station was mothballed in 1974, and Amtrak was moved to a far suburban station in the middle of one of Jacksonville’s industrial areas with a high crime rate.

While today’s primary use of the Union Station complex is a convention center, plans are also on the drawing board to remake the complex into a full multi-modal facility, which will include Amtrak, commuter rail, intercity bus, local transit, and downtown airport check-in facility where passengers will be able to come to the complex, check in for their airline, and then take secure bus service from the downtown station to the airport on the north end of Jacksonville. Ideally, when Amtrak moves back downtown, the present, far-suburban Amtrak station will stay in use as a second facility in a sprawling metropolitan area.

For all modern, full service stations, all the local connections – commuter trains, streetcars, buses, taxis, parking – create a "lesser matrix effect," where the intercity train matrix meets the local distribution matrix. The better these two systems tie together, the more useful they both become. Relieved of the necessity to carry every passengers everywhere, intercity trains can again rely, as they did in earlier days, on feeder regional and commuter trains. But, that does mean the Limited needs a stop at one or two suburban stations on either side of downtown, perhaps 10 to 30 miles out, at regional train stations (with that 10-to-30 mile spacing based on regional service levels), to collect and distribute passengers.

Let's look at one more example.

In Phoenix, the 1923 Union Station is still the junction point between BNSF and Union Pacific right downtown. The station is three short blocks from City Hall and a few more blocks away from the new City Hall light rail station (which Valley Metro Rail, in its wisdom, calls "First Avenue and Jefferson Street and Central Avenue and Washington Street Station" – not terribly easy to write and remember).

Phoenix Union Station maintains its alignments for the original six through tracks (a seventh was added during World War II) and several stub-ends on both sides of the depot. There is no other location close to downtown which could accommodate more than perhaps even two platforms, because of the street layout and the historic warehouse district.

Advanced studies are underway for both commuter rail in metro Phoenix and for express trains to Tucson (120 miles to the southeast). The Tucson trains would not be "high speed," but would likely travel at 79 MPH or 90 MPH on upgraded (double-and-triple-tracked) Union Pacific rails. UP, BNSF, and Arizona's short-line railroads are involved, and it is known the railroads are businesses and expect any passenger agreement to be beneficial to their freight business. Arizona has learned from California and New Mexico, Utah, and other western states which have succeeded in working relationships and actual operations with host freight railroads.

Valley Metro Rail ("METRO"), meanwhile, is planning a westward extension in the median of Interstate 10, taking LRVs potentially right past the railroad depot. There has been some talk also of historic or modern streetcars along Washington Street from downtown to the Capitol at 19th Avenue, should the LRT line be deferred or rerouted – and these streetcars could certainly connect Union Station to the Capitol with its thousands of daily workers at the west end, and the LRT line at the east end.

The city of Phoenix has certainly grown since the historic downtown station was built. In the 1920s, a civic goal was 100,000 citizens; today the city boasts 1.5 million, and the metro area over 4 million. But, as the population has expanded fifteen-fold, transportation options have expanded, too. Union Station was built to handle 90% of the transportation needs of a city of 100,000, so it certainly could handle 10% of transportation of a city ten times larger. It still fits the city.

And, it fits the city, too, in its Mission Revival architectural style. It is not enough for a station to be correctly located (both in the city and on the railroad mains) – a station also serves as a gateway, setting the mood for travelers entering a city or town. A station is part of a city's identity; and Phoenix Union Station does fit.

So, in Phoenix, at least for the upcoming decade, Union Station is the only logical intercity train station.

In the future, following Berlin, Germany's motif, a new modern station could be built west of the Airport LRT station (which METRO again calls "44th Street and Washington Street" instead of “Airport”). There is room enough between 38th Street and 44th Street to build an eight or 10 platform railroad station with connections to the new people-mover (to all airport terminals, parking garages, the car rental center, taxicabs and tour buses). This new station would handle commuter trains, intrastate express trains, intercity trains from Los Angeles, San Diego, the Grand Canyon, El Paso, Albuquerque, and points east.

Yet, even in that scenario, Union Station remains the only choice for a downtown depot. Perhaps the commuter trains and express trains will stop there, with the intercity trains serving the Airport station. Once regional commuter trains cover the intermediate stations, a modern Golden State intercity train would likely stop at suburban Gilbert on the east side and suburban Goodyear on the west, with those stations' regional rail connections. Arizona Express trains would likely serve Union Station, the Airport, Tempe (with Arizona State University's huge main campus), Mesa, and Gilbert and just a few more intermediate stops north of downtown Tucson.

A mix of trains and services then blankets southern Arizona. Union Station steps back at that point from some of its design role, and becomes more an historic gathering place, a meeting place, perhaps with conference facilities or shopping in addition to regional rail and streetcar connections.

Southern California has the newest and among the most robust examples of several overlaid systems, although there is room for improvement even there. Los Angeles Union Station has been well refitted to its modern role, a re-interpretation of its historic one; the same is true of San Diego's Santa Fe station. These serve as models for other cities; look, too, to Saint Paul. Learn from mistakes at Kansas City and near-misses like Dallas. Denver would be wise to consider the constraints at Dallas as it looks to reconfigure its historic station built in 1881 as part of a new development, even as it seeks to bring commuter and more intercity service back to the station.

Many of our historic train stations should continue their revival along with their passenger trains... past is prologue.

[End quote]

2) It’s contest time here at TWA! How many train stations can you name where a local or state government treasury has paid to rebuild, upgrade, or create a new station on behalf of Amtrak, and only perhaps months or very few years later Amtrak abandons or severely curtails service to that station?

Here’s a short sample to start your thinking process:

Tampa, Florida

Lakeland, Florida

Dade City, Florida

Ocala, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Tallahassee, Florida

Chipley, Florida

Lake City, Florida

Madison, Florida

Atmore, Alabama

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Gulfport, Mississippi

Tempe, Arizona

Louisville, Kentucky

Okay, that should get you started. Send your list to TWA at [email protected] and we will publish a complete list along with the name of the winner. When you send the list, please include the name of the train which served the former station and, if possible, when the service was discontinued.

3) Just before all the commotion began about Amtrak’s grievously flawed Gulf Coast report restoring passenger train service east of New Orleans, news came from Wisconsin the state was purchasing two train sets, totaling 14 cars, from well-respected Talgo of Spain to place in service on a high speed route between Chicago and Wisconsin stations.

Those with a current copy of Amtrak’s Summer 2009 timetable will notice it is a Talgo train set speeding along Puget Sound en route to Olympia, Washington and Eugene, Oregon for Amtrak’s Cascades service in the Pacific Northwest.

Most people, including this writer, thought Talgo had been banished from expansion in the United States because of safety restrictions imposed by the Federal Railroad Administration. Talgo had received a waiver for those restrictions, but was only allowed to operate trains on approved trackage in the Pacific Northwest. Just a couple of weeks prior to the Wisconsin announcement, it was learned from insider sources the FRA had been studying a relaxation of its perhaps overly rigid standards for Talgo. That information proved to be true with the Wisconsin announcement.

As a bonus, Wisconsin convinced Talgo to perform final assembly of the Talgo equipment in the state, creating local jobs along with buying shiny new trains.

Some old time railroaders have lightly grumbled about mixing in too many types of equipment into Amtrak’s fleet, and the need for overall uniformity for ease and lower cost of maintenance. Certainly, a case can be made for that, but an equally compelling case can be made for the right type of equipment on each individual route.

Along those lines, there are a number of present Amtrak routes where the old Colorado Railcar/now US Railcar DMU self-propelled units are the perfect answer to lower operating costs and matching the right type of equipment to the right type of passenger demand and route.

4) Continuing with that subject, Amtrak has published an RFP for Viewliner 2 passenger cars. In part, here is what the RFP said:

[begin quote]

PURCHASE OF “VIEWLINER 2” LONG-DISTANCE SINGLE-LEVEL PASSENGER CARS

RFP# X-047-9167-001

INTRODUCTION:

Amtrak intends to issue a competitive Request for Proposal for a vendor to design, manufacture and deliver 130 “Viewliner 2” Long Distance Single-Level Passenger Cars, with an option for Amtrak to purchase up to an additional 70 cars. The “Viewliner 2” rolling stock which is fully described in the Technical Specifications, will be used as Amtrak passenger trains, primarily in long-distance service, but capable of operating anywhere within Amtrak’s system. There are four (4) “Viewliner 2” car types: Diners, Sleepers, Baggage-Dorms and Baggage cars. The “Viewliner 2” cars will be modeled on the concept of the Amtrak “Viewliner 1” cars.

[End quote]

The RFP goes on to state ultimately the contract for purchase of these cars and the start of construction will be issued in May 2010, with a notice to proceed in June 2010.

So, with all due lack of speed, we’re a year away from anything even being brought to a point of construction.

Let’s break down the specific order.

– 130 cars total, with an option to purchase up to 70 additional cars, for a grand total of 200 cars, if every option is exercised.

– The 130 cars will be divided into four types: Diners, Sleepers, Baggage-Crew Dorms, and Baggage Cars.

Even if you divide 130 relatively evenly, you still come up with only 32 or 33 cars per type of car. That will not double the existing 50 car Viewliner 1 sleeping car fleet, which is so worn out it can only charitably be described as a long line of rolling slums.

Amtrak’s single level dining car fleet is exclusively made up of Heritage fleet diners, which have operated far beyond their initial service life expectancy. At present, Amtrak doesn’t operate any crew dormitory cars, but instead wastes sleeping car revenue space with crew billets (Granted, you have to put the crews somewhere, but a better solution would have been to keep the older Heritage crew dorms running than taking up high-dollar revenue sleeping car space.).

Baggage cars are all Heritage fleet cars, and there is always a need for more baggage cars.

So, even adding the additional 70 cars for the optional order, once again, Amtrak is doing nothing more than replacing fleet instead of adding to its fleet – inadequately so.

This may be news to Amtrak’s financial folks and senior executives, but, why is Amtrak always buying equipment? It’s very rare among common carriers – especially airlines – to actually buy passenger equipment. Amtrak already knows how to lease locomotives, why can’t it lease passenger cars, too? What is the purpose of getting free federal monies from Congress to buy, when private capital can be used to lease? Is this another example of Amtrak’s lack of financial sophistication? Is it just easier to beg money from Congress every year instead of doing something proactive in the leasing market?

5) Look at some of Amtrak’s internal numbers. Amtrak reports revenue several different ways (not different revenue, but revenue as it relates in different ways). One of the ways it reports revenue is “revenue per car day.” This measures coach revenue versus sleeping car revenue, and it’s done by route. The numbers are based on average days.

This particular set of figures is based on 12 months prior to and including November of 2008; this is NOT a fiscal year report.

Route and classes of revenues

Empire Builder

Superliner Coach – $5,163

Superliner Sleeper – $5,015

City of New Orleans

Superliner Coach – $4,624

Superliner Sleeper – $3,253

Southwest Chief

Superliner Coach – $4,419

Superliner Sleeper – $4,467

Auto Train (Northbound, Train No. 52) *

Superliner Coach – $4,339

Superliner Sleeper – $5,286

Auto Train (Southbound, Train No. 53) *

Superliner Coach – $4,255

Superliner Sleeper – $5,583

California Zephyr

Superliner Coach – $3,251

Superliner Sleeper – $3,587

Coast Starlight **

Superliner Coach – $3,134

Superliner Sleeper – $2,818

Capitol Limited

Superliner Coach – $3,048

Superliner Sleeper – $3,243

Texas Eagle

Superliner Coach – $2,238

Superliner Sleeper – $2,603

Sunset Limited

Superliner Coach – $1,972

Superliner Sleeper – $2,545

12 Month Average

Superliner Coach – $3,476

Superliner Sleeper – $3,835

* Auto Train is reported as two separate figures, north and south.

** Coast Starlight figures include long periods of the train not operating due to the mudslides included in this period, and when the train did operate for some of the period, it only operated on part of the route and without sleeping cars.

What do we learn from these figures? On average, sleeping cars generate more revenue than coaches. What do we conclude from these figures? Sleeping car and first class travel are an important part of the future growth of Amtrak and should have equal – if not greater – weight than coach travel when planning for the future and compiling new car orders.

The most important fact to remember when looking at how well the sleeping car business does for Amtrak long distance trains is that sleeping cars are an even greater secret to Amtrak passengers than Amtrak is itself to the traveling public.

Everything Amtrak does overall is aimed at the coach passenger. When calling an Amtrak reservations center, an assumption is automatically made by res agents passengers only want coach, and in most cases, sleeping car accommodations are never mentioned as an option. When booking through Amtrak’s Internet portal, coach tickets are offered first, and sleeping car accommodations are offered only to hawk-eyed ticket buyers as an afterthought.

In reality, just like Amtrak continually ignores long distance trains in its future plans, it even more ignores sleeping car passengers.

6) This always filters back to the same question: Where is Amtrak’s vision for the future? Where is Amtrak’s long term plan? Where will Amtrak be five, 10, or 20 years from now? Based on what we’ve heard so far, probably exactly the same place it is today, constantly begging for money from a government treasury, and ignoring the most lucrative parts of its business.

7) Comments continue to come into TWA about the grossly flawed P.R.I.I.A. Section 226 Gulf Coast Service Plan Report.

A number of people have asked about simply restoring the route of the Floridian between Chicago and Florida, which was discontinued in 1979 during the Carter administration. The quick answer is some of that railroad infrastructure is gone, and other parts of that route have been severely downgraded to “creeping along” track speeds. Many will remember the short-lived Kentucky Cardinal, which operated between Chicago and Louisville, Kentucky. The biggest part of the problem of that route was slow track; the train crept along at speeds not much faster than speed walking.

While a restoration of the Floridian – or any Chicago to Florida route, especially one via Atlanta – is desirable, from an economic standpoint and the ability to quickly restored Chicago to Florida service, the cheapest and best bet is to either extend the City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Florida, or the Capitol Limited from Washington, D.C. to Florida. Restoring the Floridian route or a similar route would require an entire new set of station infrastructure, upgrading hundreds of miles of railroad to acceptable passenger speeds, and have a need for a number of new sidings or double tracking of very congested railroads. Simply extending the City of New Orleans or Capitol Limited would require no new stations, and only additional train sets, not completely new fleets of equipment.

Depending on originating terminal departure times, either the City of New Orleans or the Capitol Limited could make it to Florida by traveling one night, but it would be two very long days on either side of that one night’s travel. By extending existing schedules, two nights of travel are required, but, based on the success of multi-night schedules in the west, this is not an insurmountable problem.

Here are comments from several TWA readers.

[begin quote]

I look forward to receiving each issue of This Week at Amtrak and appreciate URPA's consistent support for the restoration of rail service east of New Orleans. I am especially pleased to see I am not alone in my analysis of Amtrak's prejudged, fraudulent report concerning the restoration of this missing link in the national rail passenger system.

Back when the Sunset Limited ran through to Florida I was a frequent rider and spent many hours observing Sunset operations and speaking to station agents and train crews. When timekeeping became a major problem for eastbound train No. 2, the station agents and on board crews whom I had come to know collectively came to the conclusion the traveling public would be better served by an extension of the City of New Orleans to Florida. This would reestablish through service between Chicago and Florida and would maintain westbound service to California via a connection at New Orleans. Eastbound passengers from California would likely be required to make an overnight layover in New Orleans before heading to Florida, however, this would be no worse than the present routing via Chicago and Washington in terms of travel time. The net gain would be the ability to operate a timely service with great savings to Amtrak which often had to bus passengers east of New Orleans and/or provide overnight lodging in Jacksonville due to late operations and/or missed connections.

Amazingly, Amtrak never thought of this option on their own despite often having to annul two out of three trips per week of train No. 2 in New Orleans due to excessive lateness. This also necessitated the cancellation the following trip of westbound No. 1. After paying massive amounts of money for the recently released report, Amtrak points out the Chicago option would be the most effective, yet, thanks to fraudulent expenses, this (and all options) appears to be extremely costly.

The report lists expenses for station improvements along the route despite the fact the facilities across North Florida are basically in the same condition as when Amtrak abruptly left the scene after Hurricane Katrina, a move straight out of the playbook of Baltimore Colts owner Robert Irsay who snuck out of town in the dead of the night and moved his team to Indianapolis.

The full service stations in Pensacola and Tallahassee were constructed and/or improved with ADA compliance in mind. Platforms were constructed with the appropriate safety features that had just come into use elsewhere in that day and time. The Tallahassee station, which was actually a remodeled freight station, had ADA compliant ramps added to allow easy access to the off grade waiting room/ticket office. Since Amtrak's pullout, a local group of film buffs has used the waiting room periodically to show movies. The organizer of this group tells me people in wheelchairs often attend. I challenge Amtrak to explain to me why massive amounts of money are needed to rebuild the platform and make other ADA improvements at that station. Likewise, what changes are needed in Pensacola since the station is basically a grade level facility?

There are numerous other inaccuracies in the report such as the time required to train crews and the absurd allocation of money for a new Sanford station. These have been well documented in your newsletter, hence, I will reserve comment.

Thanks again for your leadership in exposing this report. Hopefully, Amtrak will be pressured to restore service at least at the tri-weekly level sooner rather than later, with a goal of making that daily in the near future. To do that, Amtrak needs new leadership who has a vision, a plan to build a large amount of new equipment so that additional routes can be added, and existing trains can be operated with adequate capacity.

[End quote]

[begin quote]

The Amtrak report on service from New Orleans - Orlando comes as no surprise. It is typical of the work Amtrak puts out. In the 1990's Amtrak produced a report on Chicago–Milwaukee service which concluded that not only should there not be any more intermediate stops, but that ridership would be greatest if the then two existing stops, Sturtevant and Glenview, were eliminated, thereby allowing the service to run non-stop, i.e. faster.

We all said "Huh?". Then I figured out their mathematical model obviously factors in a speed/population combination that the faster the schedule, the more people are likely to turn from driving to the train. Of course this is mostly [junk science]. No speed up of five or 10 minutes between Chicago and Milwaukee is going to attract more passengers, especially since the current 92 minute schedule beats driving, anyway. Common sense and/or real knowledge of the area being served is not important to Amtrak planners.

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Since I am very much in favor of the return rail passenger between New Orleans, Jacksonville and points south; I desire to post my comments.

The greatest problem is Amtrak is the originator of this report with no auditing agency to review and comment on this report. This report should have been contracted out to a professional consulting firm and submitted back to Congress. Especially when Amtrak – even the CEO Boardman's – bias' have recently been made known regarding the long distance train system and reluctance to turn in a new car order reveal a lack of concern and empathy for the traveling public.

In 1993, when the Sunset started serving the New Orleans, Jacksonville, and Miami segment, I suspected a problem when the word came back we can’t offer daily service since we need more train sets. It seems Amtrak’s Cardinal and Sunset are unwanted step-children, merely tolerated.

I find it interesting Amtrak is willing to take the Texas Eagle to Los Angeles but extend the City Of New Orleans to Florida? no way! Amtrak is willing to run a train from San Antonio to New Orleans, but why not continue that same train to Florida instead of a separate train from New Orleans to Florida? Why not restore the Floridian? Isn’t the real goal here to expand the system? Oh, I almost forgot, Amtrak needs more train sets!

You brought up an excellent point on interconnecting trains! By not restoring the Sunset to the New Orleans-Florida segment, leaving the segment vacant of train service is perhaps an even greater loss for the traveling public.

Thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts!

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Where is the story on the St. Louis Cardinal's Baseball Team riding passenger trains for the first time in 40 years? It was on yesterday's NPR, that the team was riding Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

[End quote]

Sorry, not being at all a follower of National Public Radio, and only a very, very casual observer of baseball, we missed that story.

[begin quote]

Perhaps the good part of the "Sunset Report" is the fact it is the smoking gun of incompetence/lack of vision/dull thinking/passivity/ignorant-arrogance that is the decision making process of the present Board and management of Amtrak. There is no denying it! What to do? I always write my two senators and now have written Ray LaHood but, who is in a position to change the board and direct them to buy out the senior managers and replace them with competent people?

I am uncertain of the line of authority here ... I doubt if Vice President Biden will do anything, and I have gotten no response from Senator Durbin on another Amtrak matter. Perhaps the alternative of just pushing for private – Veolia for instance – companies to bid on new and existing routes would be more productive. Both BNSF and NS executives seem to have some entrepreneurial interest in a role in passenger service, and perhaps they should be encouraged to explore some ownership/management models.

Maybe putting the freight fox in the Amtrak board chicken coop would do something constructive? I am hoping this administration is open to new, collaborative ideas about building a 21st Century world class passenger railroad system which will include some bold moves on the Amtrak problem.

[End quote]

[begin quote]

Is there any chance Veolia might be interested in taking over Amtrak lock, stock and barrel and then be given free reign? Seems like a WIN-WIN situation to me, for all concerned.

[End quote]

Our thanks to everyone who takes the time to write and share their thoughts and opinions. Regrettably, we are unable to share every e-mail due to space limitations, but we share those which are representative of groups of e-mail.

And, thank you to everyone who reads This Week at Amtrak; we continue to have a rapidly growing subscriber base.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; July 31, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 26
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) And, the hits just keep on coming. Here’s a Congressional, bipartisan press release from earlier this week.

[begin quote]

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Chairman Towns, Ranking Member Issa Call for Replacement of Amtrak’s ‘Interim’ IG

For immediate release: Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Contact: Oversight and Government Reform Press Office, 202-225-5051

Chairman Towns, Ranking Member Issa Call for Replacement of Amtrak’s ‘Interim’ IG

Lawmakers Question Amtrak’s Motives and Legal Basis for Appointing Temporary IG

WASHINGTON. D.C. – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) today in a letter to Amtrak Chairman Thomas C. Carper called for the immediate replacement of Amtrak “Interim” Inspector General Lorraine Green – a 12-year member of Amtrak management who intends to return to her former position when a new IG is appointed.

“We believe that the selection of a senior member of Amtrak management as Interim Inspector General undermines the statutory independence of the Office of Inspector General,” wrote the two oversight leaders. “Ms. Green’s actions during the time she has been serving as Interim Inspector General raise questions about her actual independence.”

The letter follows the June 18, 2009, forced retirement of former Amtrak Inspector General Fred E. Weiderhold, Jr. who had aggressively investigated and questioned the Amtrak General Counsel’s office for spending tens of millions of dollars on outside law firms. A bipartisan investigation by the committee has revealed longstanding and serious conflicts between Amtrak management and the Inspector General and major disputes about the role of the Inspector General within Amtrak.

“The independence of Amtrak’s Inspector General is critical to effectively weed out waste and fraud, especially now with increased stimulus spending at Amtrak,” said Chairman Towns. “By installing one of their own as Inspector General, it looks like Amtrak management is trying to take the teeth out of the watchdog.” “Amtrak has flagrantly disregarded the rules and expectations set forth by Congress to protect the independence of Inspectors General,” said Rep. Issa. “The brazen appointment of an ‘Interim’ IG confirms the existence of a problem within management that must be investigated.”

Chairman Towns and Ranking Member Issa note the interim Inspector General has quickly taken actions that may erode the institutional independence of the Amtrak IG office in demanding a response by July 31.

[End quote]

Where to begin on this one? First and foremost, Amtrak – even though it has pretended to be through the years – is not above the law. Amtrak is no longer flying below the radar, and everyone is expecting much, much better out of Amtrak than a stunt like this.

Second, it’s incredible to think Amtrak, which depends on Congress for its very existence, not to mention ongoing funding, and protection against everyone, would want to so annoy an important Congressional committee that this type of press release and related action would take place.

Third, what in the world has Amtrak’s Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary Eleanor D. Acheson gotten the Amtrak Board of Directors into? She is supposed to be the legal eagle who stops nonsense such as this and provides allegedly sage advice to the company management and Board of Directors. This, however, seems like a major mistake which appears to be grounds for selecting a new general counsel who may be more familiar with the law as written. Also, what does the press release mean when it questions Ms. Acheson and the way the Amtrak General Counsel’s office has spent money on outside counsel like a drunk sailor? Does Amtrak have all sorts of money to throw around on buying outside talent for things which are supposed to be handled inhouse?

Amtrak is entering into a time of unprecedented spending systemwide. Now is not the time to relax the vigilance of the Inspector General’s office. If Amtrak is going to play with the big boys, then Amtrak is going to have to act like one of the big boys. The Board of Directors needs to move quickly to solve this problem and find themselves better legal advice and a new, robust, permanent Inspector General.

2) Andrew Selden of Minneapolis, Vice President of Law and Policy for United Rail Passenger Alliance, and President of the Minnesota Association of Railroad Passengers has some cogent thoughts on the delights and potential profits of first class service on passenger trains.

[begin quote]

There is more to train travel than coach seats and utility transportation

By Andrew Selden

Something to which almost any passenger rail observer would agree is Amtrak hasn't done very much to cultivate the first class dimension to its high revenue long distance services, and what it has done it hasn't done terribly well. One need think only of the sorry state of Amtrak’s dining car services, or the paucity and dismal condition of sleeping car accommodations, or even the complete absence of a family-oriented intermediate class of high-end coach service, to grasp that management does not value this business opportunity. Coach seats and utility transportation is about as far as Amtrak's vision extends.

The highly inconsistent character of service delivery in sleeping cars and diners, and the frequent service disasters occasioned by Amtrak's notorious equipment maintenance practices, undermine whatever chance might have existed for the brand "Amtrak" to denote a quality travel experience. Contrast your – or the public's – visceral reaction to the brand "Carnival" or "Hyatt" or "Disney" to the customary reaction to "Amtrak" to get a sense of the depth of the problem.

But this sad history need not doom the future of quality rail transportation.

Companies which prosper are usually ones focusing intensely on a core competency. Amtrak has competencies, but operating a consistently good-to-high quality rolling hotel or land-cruise experience, whether for experience-oriented travelers, or just serious business or middle-class personal travelers, would not be among them. That does not mean such rail services cannot be fielded on commercially successful terms. It suggests only Amtrak may not be the right entity to provide them.

We are not talking about replicating the famous world-class service of South African Railway's Blue Train, or the analogous effort by the now-defunct American Orient Express to provide a roving five-star cruise train.

What we have in mind is fielding a daily, regular route, and consistently good quality and reliable "Marriott" or "Hilton" level of rail service, not necessarily a "Four Seasons" or "Ritz Carlton." This would be a service which consistently hits the needs and expectations of the American middle class, especially families and business travelers.

But, Amtrak need not be the entity which owns, markets or operates the service, even if it would continue to be the company which owns the relationship with the host railroads and operates the trains.

Amtrak can leverage those de facto monopoly rights to develop an entirely new haulage business where about all it has to do is run the train and collect the fees from someone else whose core competency _is_ providing consistently good quality hospitality services which appeal to American middle class needs and expectations.

Who might that be, and what would the relationship to Amtrak be?

Well, who does that sort of thing now? It's a surprisingly long list which includes such great hospitality providers as Marriott, Carnival, and Disney, and foreign companies such as Veolia (France) and Forte (UK). That _is_ what they do – provide consistent and consistently good quality hospitality services, all in a travel and transportation environment.

History even offers us a well-proven model for what the relationship with Amtrak might look like: the Pullman Company, which operated its own sleeping, dining and parlor cars which were attached to trains owned and operated by a host railroad. They did what the host railroad could not do, or at least could not do as well: offer a predictable and good quality hospitality service associated with getting somewhere by rail.

But we do not propose re-inventing the Pullman Company. This is emphatically not "Back to the Future" in the 19th Century.

Rather, what we envision is a relationship founded on a much more sophisticated modern business relationship modeled after modern business franchise principles. Big-name companies today franchise concepts and capabilities to each other all the time. A brand name hotel company may own franchised restaurants to add food service that the hotel company is ill-suited to offer its guests. Airports and airport food service providers do the same. A resort developer will acquire a franchise from a well-known hotel chain to put lodging into the resort development. Trunk airlines in effect franchise their brands and reservation systems to regional carriers to operate feeder routes into the big carrier's hubs.

So, what we envision is for Amtrak to enter into a franchise in which an outside company would contract to provide the onboard service experience in the sleeping and dining cars on Amtrak's overnight trains.

An experiment is called for to test the viability of the idea. To do that, we would enter into similar arrangements on two long distance routes, one of which would have the outside provider operate the service under its own brand identification, and another where the provider (which could be the same company, or someone else) would operate the service, but do so under the Amtrak brand (or, maybe a slightly different brand such as "Amtrak Premier"). These operating contracts would be negotiated and awarded on a basis unfamiliar to Amtrak – genuine competitive bidding. The experimental contracts would be for a short period of time, perhaps 18 to 24 months.

The "control" for the experiment would be a similar long distance train that continued to operate under traditional Amtrak stewardship. Then, we examine the results.

For example, we could contract the sleeper and diner services on the Silver Meteor to Carnival; on the Southwest Chief perhaps to Marriott. The Empire Builder – currently Amtrak's best and by far its highest revenue train – would serve as the "control."

These experiments would not breach any legal or contractual constraints. The contractors can use Amtrak labor, as long as they have administrative authority over them. And, the franchise relationship would keep the contracted service squarely under Amtrak's ultimate responsibility for purposes of statutory requirements, and the comfort of the host railroads.

Staying on the current arrangement is plainly insane – one simply cannot continue endlessly repeating the same actions, yet, expect different, and better, results. So, the cost and risk of _not_ experimenting with a promising alternative is greater than the lost opportunity value of the status quo. In short ... it's worth a try.

[End quote]

3) There were several good responses to William Lindley’s stations article in the last edition of This Week at Amtrak. A gentleman from the North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division directed us to that state’s web site (www.bytrain.org) which has an extensive section on station improvements. North Carolina has been living the dream of both restoring historic, and building new and improved stations, throughout the state.

We also heard from a longtime TWA reader about the atrocities committed against Cleveland’s Terminal Tower and Cleveland Union Station. This landmark monument to the glory of passenger railroading in the early 20th Century has been permanently disabled as a passenger station by the erection of a federal office building on a piece of land where station tracks used to be, similar to the unforgivable situation in Kansas City.

Mr. Lindley also touched on the calamities happening in Denver, and we will have more on that later.

4) We have also had a pleasant response to our TWA contest to name as many stations as possible in the Amtrak system where local or state monies have gone to fix up or build local stations, only to have Amtrak either completely stop passenger service to those stations, or severely curtail service after huge amounts of non-Amtrak monies were spent. Please, continue to send in your contributions to this list to [email protected] so we may complete the list of stations.

5) The furor over Amtrak’s Gulf Coast Service Report doesn’t seem to be going away. Instead, many who benignly accepted whatever Amtrak had to say on any given subject seem to be understanding differently. It’s just possible Amtrak went one step too far in this instance.

Many former Amtrak True Believers are girding themselves for the upcoming Pioneer route restoration and North Coast Limited route restoration reports coming soon, wondering if the same type of illiterate conclusions will be drawn by Amtrak in those reports as the Gulf Coast report.

One interesting note has come up: Amtrak apparently isn’t in a hurry to help itself. A report on restoration of some Midwest service has been postponed for a year; Amtrak says it’s just too busy to get the report out. Gee, it must be nice to have so much to do it can’t produce reports on restoring or creating new service, especially since someone else is usually paying for these reports. But, hey, we wouldn’t want those hard working folks in Amtrak’s planning department to have to lose any sleep or work late on a Friday evening. After all, it’s just public money we’re talking about here and fulfilling Amtrak’s mission of being a national passenger railroad, nothing really important in the world of Amtrak.

6) No good deed goes unpunished, even in Canada. VIA Rail Canada went through a short, two day strike by some of its union employees last week, and the company felt so bad about the adverse publicity and inconvenienced passengers, it decided to do something nice and offer huge discounts to lure passengers back. VIA offered up to a 60% discount on regular-fare tickets throughout the country.

It seems the response is so huge, all of VIA’s telephone lines into its reservations centers have been jammed for days, and VIA’s Internet res system has practically broken down under the demand. Enterprising Canadians have been lining up at VIA’s station ticket counters, with some lines in major cities such as Toronto blocks long.

Who says nobody wants to ride a train?

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 3, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 27
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) The folks on the Loonie Right – you know the type, they drive the BIG Hummer, not the wimpy small version, don’t care much about the cost of gas, and keep a hunting rifle handy in case while they’re driving home from work they want to shoot Bambi for dinner – are adamantly opposed to high speed rail, transit, and any type of transportation other than the automobile, pickup truck, or SUVs.

Then, there are the folks on the Loonie Left – you know the type, they hate automobiles, demand walking paths everywhere, want the price of gas to be taxed through the roof, adore the use of transit, no matter how inconvenient, and want everyone on the subway to join in singing a few choruses of Kumbaya between station stops after they have led a scintillating group discussion on the myriad benefits of herbal tea – who always know what’s best for everyone, and think the higher and more confiscatory taxes are, the better.

A survey of talking heads, columnists, allegedly learned academicians, and experts on various types of transportation produces such extremes in opinions it’s difficult to find any common ground.

As high speed rail and expanding transit has been discussed this year, conservatives, citing the same statistics over and over and over, demand no money be spent for high speed rail or transit because more money is needed for roads and air travel. These folks cite the absolute, complete freedom of personal vehicle travel, such as the ability to leave and arrive at will, total control over stops and route, and choice of speed. They go on to cite airline statistics, and repeatedly say Americans only want to drive or fly; who has time for other types of what they call wasteful and expensive surface transportation?

Coming from the liberals, who apparently must swear they adore transit in order to receive their cherished government identification papers, is the argument to build! build! build!, sparing no expense or higher taxes to put new transit and high speed systems in place, hoping someone will want to ride them. Never mind the ongoing costs of operations or maintenance, just build the systems so we can save the planet.

Ugh.

Here’s a reality check. As said in this space many times before, not every rail project is perfect, and any rail projects which are ultimately built must be of the highest quality and have the best chance for success so other projects may follow without controversy.

For all of us who live in suburbia, and plan to stay in suburbia, don’t force us to do anything against our will, no matter how smart you think you are, and how much you just know it’s for our own good, so it must be the right thing to do.

Instead, provide us reasonable options.

Now, is that so hard?

Let’s talk about Amtrak, our favorite monopoly common carrier. One tenth of one percent is Amtrak’s market share of domestic transportation output. Less than 29 million people a year climb aboard an Amtrak train of any description, and since the same person is counted twice for round trips and repeat riders, the actual number of Americans riding Amtrak is significantly smaller, probably in the range of 10 million or so.

Yet, we know it’s important to have a balanced mix of transportation options in our domestic network. Passenger rail is an important part of that mix, and it should grow in an orderly and financially responsible manner.

Let’s talk about SunRail in Central Florida, the proposed commuter rail system from the Northeast of Orlando to the Southwest of Orlando’s metropolitan area. Much of the proposed system will parallel Interstate 4, which runs from Daytona Beach on the Right Coast of Florida to Tampa on the Left Coast of Florida, and goes through the middle of downtown Orlando. Interstate 4, which most of time if it isn’t 3 A.M., resembles a long, long parking lot, is about to be expanded – yet, again. It already seems it’s a few dozen lanes wide at some points, but, hey, they want to make it wider.

With the way Central Florida will continue to grow after this pesky recession abates, a larger I-4 will only be a larger parking lot unless it’s 3 A.M.

Will SunRail stop that from happening? Most definitely not. Maybe, if Sunrail has three minute headways all day, and 10 car trains, it may make a trifling dent in I-4 congestion. But, it won’t. Instead, SunRail will offer a reasonable rush hour schedule with convenient schedules other parts of the day.

But, what SunRail will accomplish (As Tri-Rail in South Florida, running parallel to Interstate 95 already does.) is offer a reasonable choice for those commuting from one point on the SunRail route to another.

If you want to creep along on I-4, you can do that. If you want to zip along on SunRail, you will be able to do that, too, if the Florida legislature ever approves the project.

The few hundred million dollars cost of SunRail compared to the cost of expanding I-4 is a reasonable investment. SunRail, because of a number of factors, has a good chance of financial success, so bloated predictions of budget-busting operating costs are scare tactics.

Back to Amtrak, and making the case for an expanded Amtrak, including a healthy long distance system instead of the anemic and embarrassing skeletal system Amtrak boasts today.

If Amtrak had the will – and, don’t even start the baloney about never having enough money, because that just isn’t true – it could find ways to partner with its host railroads to expand the long distance system (See the three press releases press release below.). Equipment costs too high? Nah, lease it. New station costs too high? Nah, let local governments, using Amtrak specifications, provide depots and stations. Operating costs too high? Nah, not if the service is priced honestly and marketed properly.

Some Amtrak True Believers believe it should be a social program, with low cost transportation for all. Why is that? Amtrak isn’t some sort of museum or monument, or public beach – it’s a passenger railroad, tasked with moving people from one city to another in an efficient manner. Nobody said it has to be a welfare program like most transit systems think of themselves. Nobody is going to be penalized by not being able to get to work on Amtrak if a fair fare is charged for transportation; we’re talking about Amtrak’s true mission of long distance, intercity travel, not commuter rail.

But, more True Believers wail, nobody will ride Amtrak if it’s priced too high. It’s too slow, it’s too shabby, it’s too non-cool to be competitive, so it has to be priced low to attract riders.

Such uninformed piffle.

Amtrak boasts it is the largest single passenger carrier in the Northeast between Washington and New York City. Okay, if Amtrak is as smart as it claims to be and can achieve that goal, why can’t it be smart enough to expand in the rest of the country?

If you were the CEO of Amtrak, would you be boasting to your CEO buddies “Hey! My company commands one tenth of one percent of domestic transportation output, which is significantly lower than motorcycle riders!”?

But, again, you wail, “All it takes is more money for poor, starved, emaciated Amtrak!”

And, again, no, it doesn’t.

What it takes is a refocusing, and a rededication to Amtrak’s core purpose of providing a national passenger rail system, not just a loose combination of distinct corridors with little connectivity.

In reality, probably a refocusing of less than $100 million would be required to beef up ridership in the national system, using existing routes and trainsets. What would happen? A new wave of riders – many for the first time discovering America’s best kept secret, Amtrak – dropping money for fares into Amtrak’s coffers which would quickly replace that spent $100 million or less for sales and marketing.

Is that so hard?

How much vision does that take?

How much initiative does that take?

How much reality is Amtrak willing to absorb?

Or, will Amtrak just continue on its slovenly way, happy to eat slops at the United States Treasury trough instead of even attempting to become somewhere close to self-sufficient?

2) If you have any reservations whatsoever about Amtrak not getting into the swing of things and not realizing what is happening in the railroad world around it, read this press release from the Association of American Railroads. The world of passenger railroading – whether it’s conventional or high speed – is very quickly changing.

[begin quote]

Freight Railroads Join Midwest Governors in Planning for High-Speed Rail

Joint Rail Efforts Should Complement, Not Compromise Freight Rail’s Future

Washington, D.C., July 27, 2009 – Association of American Railroads President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger today said the national rail network is critical to meeting the mobility needs of the 21 century. Speaking before the Midwest High-Speed Rail Summit in Chicago, Hamberger said striking the right balance between passenger and freight rail expansion is key to the success of high-speed rail in America.

“America’s freight railroads support the goal of increased passenger rail investment,” Hamberger said. “It’s good for our economy and the environment when more people and goods move faster by rail.”

He pointed out that the country’s privately owned freight rail network is the literal foundation for high speed rail in America. Railroads account for 43 percent of intercity freight volume — more than any other mode of transportation.

“We are critical stakeholders that need to be engaged from the very beginning of project planning and development. Passenger and freight efforts to grow and expand must complement, not compromise one another,” Hamberger said.

Governors that participated in the summit were Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn, Iowa Governor Chester Culver, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Missouri Governor Jeremiah Nixon, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle.

Hamberger noted that each high-speed rail project needs to be examined and assessed based on its own merits, taking into account several important factors – including volume of freight traffic, terrain, number of grade crossings, and track configuration. These issues will help determine the feasibility of operating high speed passenger trains on the freight rail network. In addition, Hamberger emphasized that agreements addressing liability, compensation and increased maintenance need to be approved prior to project planning and development.

# # #

Editors' Note: The Association of American Railroads is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association whose members include the major freight railroads, or Class I railroads, of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, as well as Amtrak. Class I railroads represent 67 percent of the U.S. freight rail mileage and 90 percent of freight railroad industry employees. Railroads account for 43 percent of intercity freight volume — more than any other mode of transportation. To learn more about how freight rail works for America, the environment and for you, please visit: www.freightrailworks.org.

[End quote]

3) Now, take a look at these two press releases from Norfolk Southern; CSX is mirroring NS and saying much the same thing.

[begin quote]

July 20, 2009

Rail Can Help Relieve Highway Congestion Crisis, Norfolk Southern CEO Tells Nation’s Governors

NORFOLK, VA – Wick Moorman, CEO of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC), called on the nation’s governors Saturday to consider railroads as “a vital part of the solution to our nation’s transportation crisis.”

Addressing the National Governors Association at Biloxi, Miss., Moorman said “railroads offer significant economic and environmental benefits while helping relieve highway congestion – which is fast becoming public enemy number one.”

Our nation’s transportation network is a complex, interdependent system that demands our combined creative efforts to operate it most efficiently,” Moorman said. “Our experience at Norfolk Southern has shown that by working together in public-private partnerships, we can achieve far more in far less time and with far greater public benefits than any of us can by working alone.”

Moorman cited two rail routes – the Heartland Corridor between the Port of Virginia and Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago, and the Crescent Corridor linking New Jersey to New Orleans and Memphis, Tenn. – as examples of how public-private partnerships “can create additional capacity in our rail transportation network, with public benefits of jobs creation, less highway congestion, lower environmental emissions, and fuel savings.” He said the Crescent Corridor project alone will result in 41,000 “green” jobs over the next decade and move more than a million trucks annually off the highways onto rail, saving more than 150 million gallons of fuel every year and reducing carbon emissions by nearly two million tons per year.

“It’s clear we must do something,” Moorman said. “Freight volumes in this country are projected to grow 88 percent by 2035 alone. To handle that freight, we must improve our national transportation infrastructure.”

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a leading North American transportation provider. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 21,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal and industrial products.

Norfolk Southern Corporation | http://www.nscorp.com

July 23, 2009

Norfolk Southern CEO Says Tax Incentives for Rail Capacity will Generate Economic Benefits, Create Jobs

NORFOLK, VA. – Tax incentives to expand freight rail capacity would “make sense for America,” generating $1 billion in economic benefits and 20,000 green jobs, Norfolk Southern Corporation CEO Wick Moorman said today on Capitol Hill.

“America needs more transportation capacity and needs it now,” Moorman said on behalf of the Association of American Railroads during testimony to a U.S. House subcommittee. Noting that today’s transportation network is not designed to handle the doubling in freight demand projected by 2035, Moorman said, “Railroads are the most affordable and environmentally responsible way to meet this demand, and that is why tax incentives for rail capacity would be good public policy.”

Railroads have spent record amounts reinvesting in their own networks even during the economic downturn, Moorman said – a record $10.2 billion in capital improvements last year alone. “Since 1980, railroads have spent more than 40 percent of their revenues – some $440 billion – to maintain, improve, and expand their networks.

“Yet as much as railroads are investing, it isn’t enough to meet projected demand,” he said. A recent study found a $52 billion gap between the $148 billion needed for expanding freight rail capacity and the $96 billion railroads can expect to generate. Tax incentives “provide a sensible way to help bridge this gap,” Moorman said.

In addition to creating economic stimulus and jobs, public benefits would include reductions in fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and highway congestion, as railroads are more fuel efficient than trucks, and a single train can haul as much freight as 280 or more trucks, Moorman said.

“Numerous states are partnering with us,” Moorman said. “Thanks to the leadership of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, and others, we are already investing to expand our system to meet the looming demands of moving our nation’s commerce. Congress should bolster these efforts by enacting tax credit legislation to encourage additional freight rail investment,” he said.

“America today has the best freight rail network in the world. Still, it is clear that rail capacity must increase as the economy and population expand in the years ahead. Tax incentives provide one way to ensure that happens,” Moorman said.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is a leading North American transportation provider. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 21,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal and industrial products.

Norfolk Southern Corporation | http://www.nscorp.com

[End quote]

Why is this important? Because, as private railroads are warming to the idea of government help on infrastructure for freight movement, you can bet the mortgage money government strings will come attached to that help, most likely in the way the government will require any expansion plans to include capacity for passenger trains, either at conventional speeds or high speeds.

So, again, the question: Will Amtrak have the vision and be capable of handling this type of expansion? Or, will it be just another wasted opportunity on the part of Amtrak?

4) The comments keep floating into This Week at Amtrak about the horribly flawed Gulf Coast Report on restoration of service east of New Orleans. Here’s the latest comment.

[begin quote]

Re: Former IG Fred Weiderhold

AMTRAK = Always Managing To Remove Anyone Knowledgeable

I like to "have fun" with acronyms.

Anyway, welcome to August, 2009, the 40th anniversary of Hurricane Camille. Imagine SCL–L&N using Camille as an excuse to discontinue the Gulf Wind! Hell, the ICC and state PUC's would have attacked SCL like a swarm of killer bees!

[End quote]

5) And, there was one gentleman who sent this comment.

[begin quote]

Here is a SMART [The ad hoc private group working to restore the Sunset east of New Orleans and make it a daily train.] recommendation draft currently in circulation:

"There is one configuration that would appear to keep everybody happy and also have the potential for the most ticket sales. It is a Double Y Concept. The eastbound Sunset Limited from Los Angeles to Florida would continue to drop a sleeper and a coach in San Antonio for routing to Chicago on the Texas Eagle (the first Y). Later it would pick up another sleeper and coach in New Orleans coming in from Chicago on the City of New Orleans (the second Y) and carry them on to Florida. Westbound would reverse the procedure.

"This gives Amtrak the opportunity to sell through tickets to and from Florida to both Chicago and Los Angeles. It vastly extends the ticketing routes of both the Sunset Limited and the City of New Orleans.

"This solution provides a backbone for national coverage to a large part of the nation, including the second, third, and fourth largest cities in the United States. It covers all of the south and much of the central part of the country. Regional trains can easily connect into this backbone at many locations. All of Amtrak's "options" are covered.

– Dan Pugh

[End quote]

6) Former Amtrak Chairman of the Board John Robert Smith has found a new vocation.

[begin quote]

John Robert Smith Named Reconnecting America President And CEO

Four-term Meridian, Miss., mayor recognized for initiatives to promote sustainability, affordability, livability

Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Mississippi, has been named President and CEO of the national nonprofit Reconnecting America. He has served on Reconnecting America’s board for five years, and was a founding partner and board member of Reconnecting America’s predecessor organization, the Great American Station Foundation, voting to expand its mission and change its name in 2004.

Smith will replace Shelley Poticha, who has been appointed Senior Advisor for Sustainable Communities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she will advise Deputy Administrator Ron Sims and help facilitate the interagency partnership of HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

John Robert Smith was elected mayor of Meridian in 1993 and was re-elected three times before deciding this year not to seek re-election to a fifth term. He has been an active member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and has served Amtrak as both Chairman and as Board member.

Mayor Smith was an early practitioner of transit-oriented development, having successfully renovated Meridian’s historic downtown train station, a project that helped leverage the revitalization of Meridian’s downtown. That experience made him a passionate advocate for the power of station renovation projects to link transportation and community revitalization. He has also been recognized in local, state and national arenas for his initiatives to promote sustainability, affordability and livability.

“John Robert Smith brings real-world hands-on experience to the work that Reconnecting America does. He has initiated and managed the kind of projects that Reconnecting America has long advocated,” said Reconnecting America Board President Janette Sadik-Khan, Transportation Commissioner of the City of New York. “He understands how transit-oriented development can breathe new life into communities and help generate lasting public and private returns.”

While in office Mayor Smith oversaw a number of development projects to boost investment in Meridian’s downtown and several declining inner-city neighborhoods, including the redevelopment of the historic Union Station, the construction of a new performing arts center and restoration of the Grand Opera House, and the development of a HOPE VI mixed-income housing project. He has been a longtime advocate for the performing arts and raised significant arts funding for Meridian. He also built a coalition that was successful in restoring daily Amtrak service from Atlanta to New Orleans, and has been an influential advocate at the national level for investing in and improving the national passenger rail system.

“I have been involved in transportation on a national level for many years, due to my passion for inner-city and urban revitalization,” Mayor Smith said. “With the next-generation transportation bill being crafted by Congress now, it is vital that the voices of those who believe in a connected, multi-modal approach to transportation are heard. Transportation touches every aspect of life in cities of all sizes and I am looking forward to working with our nation’s leaders at all levels to incorporate smart urban planning and connections to people across the United States.”

Reconnecting America provides an impartial, fact-based perspective on development-oriented transit and transit-oriented development, and seeks to reinvent the planning and delivery system for building regions and communities around transit and walking rather than solely around the automobile. Reconnecting America manages the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, the only national nonprofit effort funded by Congress to promote best practices in transit-oriented development.

[End quote]

Reconnecting America’s main office is in Oakland, California, and you can visit its web site at www.reconnectingamerica.org .

7) In the last issue of This Week at Amtrak we discussed Amtrak’s RFP for 130 Viewliner 2 single level passenger cars, of which approximately 25 are to be sleeping cars. Since that TWA was published, the Russians have announced they are purchasing 200 new sleeping cars for their trains, which will be compatible with most other systems in Europe through a changeable system to accommodate different track standards.

It’s also notable since the last TWA the federal government has rushed – without debate – to put an additional $2 billion in place for the cash for clunkers automobile replacement program.

When will Amtrak allow itself grow and be at a point of prosperity so it can be at the point of saying it needs a quick $2 billion without extended debate?

8) Even Trains Magazine, normally a blindly compliant cheerleading magazine for Amtrak is beginning to question why Amtrak seems adrift these days. In the just-out September issue, author Bob Johnston has a major article entitled “Amtrak, time to claim your destiny.” The subhead of the article is, “With an infusion of stimulus money and a new authorization, can America’s passenger railroad ‘be all it can be?’ Here are six things Amtrak can do immediately to capture more riders and chart its own future”

Particularly interesting is Mr. Johnston’s suggestion for Amtrak managers and members of the board of directors to experience the rigors of overnight coach travel.

The refreshing article is a good read. It appears Mr. Johnston and Trains Magazine are as anxious as the rest of us about the future of Amtrak unless it makes major changes in its corporate culture.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 6, 2009
​

​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 28
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) There’s more, on the recent “retirement” of former Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold, and it’s not good.

This came out today from Project on Government Oversight, at www.POGrg. POGO classifies itself as an independent, non-profit organization which investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more effective, accountable, and open federal government. POGO is based in Washington.

[begin quote]

Aug 06, 2009

New Documents Detail Threats to Fire Amtrak Inspector General

A pair of new, just-released documents show that Amtrak, America’s federally subsidized rail network, wanted to fire its independent Inspector General, who was effectively forced to resign several weeks ago. One of the documents, a June 2009 draft letter was to be signed by Amtrak chairman, Thomas C. Carper. The language in the letter is blunt. Addressed to Vice-President Biden – in his capacity as President of the Senate – and to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the letter was to inform Congress – as required by law – of Amtrak’s plan to dismiss Inspector General, Fred E. Weiderhold, Jr. Citing a long list of alleged lapses, shortcomings and failures, Amtrak’s chairman wrote that Weiderhold, "is no longer the effective Inspector General that our Company needs" and that he "will be removed from his position."

The letter was never sent. Instead, Amtrak’s management apparently threatened to give it to Congress last month as a none-too-subtle inducement for Weiderhold to step aside, retiring from his role as one of Washington’s longest-serving inspectors general. In a subsequent separation deal with Amtrak, Weiderhold agreed not to disclose details of his retirement, involving a package worth more than $310,000 that included compensation for unused vacation, severance, health care and outplacement assistance.

In a recent interview, which did not mention the draft-firing letter, Weiderhold told Politico that his departure arrangements were typical for Amtrak executives, adding that he had been planning to leave his job anyway.

But the draft firing-letter reveals deep and bitter conflicts between Amtrak management and their Inspector General. Included in Carper’s reasons for firing his IG are allegations that Weiderhold:

"… failed to keep the Chairman and the Board fully and currently informed concerning fraud, waste, abuse and other deficiencies within the Company."

"…has not properly manage the investigations function within the Office of Inspector General to the quality standards required."

"… is excessively involved in the daily management of the Company to the detriment of his obligation to focus on his fundamental duties."

"… cannot and does not discharge his duties with the independence and objectivity required of the position."

Weiderhold declined to respond publicly. Sources tell POGO that the former Inspector General had grown weary after months of what he viewed as opposition from Amtrak’s management and board. Confronting pressing family issues, and the prospect of more battles with Amtrak, he decided it was time to go.

On the same day Weiderhold opted to retire, June 18, the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP completed a "Report on Matters Impairing the Effectiveness and Independence of the Office of Inspector General." That report, now public, alleges serious and persistent interference by Amtrak management with its Inspector General in violation of the law. Amtrak earlier released a statement saying there was “no relationship” between the report and Weiderhold’s retirement.

Tensions between Amtrak management and the IG grew heated in 2006, after a joint investigation by Weiderhold and the Inspector General of the Dept. of Transportation found that Amtrak had spent more than $100 million in mismanaged fees to outside lawyers over a five year period, allegedly violating Amtrak billing rules.

More recently, Congressional sources received documents showing Amtrak has spent nearly $75 million on outside lawyers in 2007, 2008, and the first half of 2009. That finding, if confirmed, and the accelerating rate of spending on outside counsel – a significant portion of which was spent on battling its own IG – is sure to raise hackles about Amtrak’s government-subsidized expenditures, as well as the conduct of its top lawyer, Eleanor Acheson, who has been the company’s general counsel since 2007, and is Hillary Clinton’s former roommate at Wellesley College.

A second document just made public shows how Amtrak’s chairman and management struggled to get rid of Weiderhold. It is a letter dated July 30, and signed by Charles Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa, ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the House. Addressed to Jeffrey Zients, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the pair describe tactics apparently designed to force Weiderhold to leave his job without a public fuss.

According to Grassley and Issa, Amtrak presented Weiderhold with a separation agreement on June 17, "indicating that if he did not sign it by June 19, the Chairman of the Board (Carper) would send a 30-day notice to Congress to begin the process of removing him as Inspector General." But that proved unnecessary. Instead, the letter says that, on June 18, Weiderhold agreed to leave Amtrak.

In their letter, Grassley and Issa point out that the law requires Congress to receive prior notice when inspectors general are replaced, a provision that Amtrak did not comply with in the Weiderhold case.

The revelations surrounding Weiderhold’s departure are likely to stir controversy, given a string of inspector general firings earlier this year that have drawn Congressional attention.

Amtrak is run as a private company, but is owned and heavily subsidized by the federal government (originally set to receive $2 billion in 2009, it obtained an additional $1.3 billion in stimulus funds). Amtrak’s board appoints the Inspector General. In Weiderhold’s case, he was appointed in 1989, and is the only Inspector General his agency has ever had, a role that has brought him into frequent conflict with both Amtrak’s board and the office of its top lawyer, or general counsel.

Reached by POGO, an Amtrak spokesman said the company stood by its handling of the Weiderhold departure, and emphasized it was working with Congress to resolve questions about the matter. In an earlier statement, Amtrak said its board “is committed to having an OIG that operates under best practices consistent with the Inspector General Act. The Board has been concerned for some time about whether best practices are currently in use in the OIG.”

– Adam Zagorin

[End quote]

Whew!

Let’s stop for a moment and step back and take a look at a couple of things.

What POGO is telling us above isn’t just hardball, it’s blood sport.

This space has often and loudly been critical of Amtrak’s Board of Directors on any number of topics. But, since the board is advised by management and inhouse legal counsel, we have to look askance at completely blaming any individual member of the board for this one. Also as we have said in the past, it is often in the best interest of the board to look outside of Amtrak to determine real facts; this seems to be another example of that situation.

The majority of this mess, including what is outlined in the Wilkie, Farr document, rests squarely on the shoulders of Amtrak Vice President and General Counsel Eleanor Acheson, and her predecessor in the same job.

While the board probably should have questioned this more closely (nobody gets a free ride on this one), again, the majority of the blame goes to Ms. Acheson.

Congressional staffers and Members of Congress for decades have complained about Amtrak’s cowboy tactics, including flagrantly ignoring the various laws passed by Congress and acting as a law unto itself.

Reality may now be crashing in on Amtrak.

At least the last three presidents of Amtrak, David Gunn, Alex Kummant, and Joe Boardman have to take a hit on this. Every vice president in the company – including the VP for law – reports directly to the president and chief executive officer.

So, has there been a conspiracy between various members of Amtrak’s everyday management to break the law? Has the arrogance grown so very strong (i.e., the recently released and hugely flawed Gulf Coast service report regarding the Sunset Limited) Amtrak simply thinks it can do as it chooses, and is accountable to no one?

Somebody is going to have to pay for this; how much longer are Mr. Boardman and Ms. Acheson going to stay on Amtrak’s active payroll?

2) Speaking of the Gulf Coast report, there are two other major reports waiting their turn to be released regarding reinstatement of abandoned routes. Word has come the report for reinstating the former Pioneer route in the Inter-Mountain and Pacific Northwest is due out Monday, August 10, 2009. No indication if the report is going to take into account the large pool of wrecked Amtrak Superliner equipment, or whether or not again the report will call for years of waiting and huge sums of money while new equipment is being built for a route that was run out of the existing pool of equipment.

3) This summer has brought one of the best collections of reader mail to This Week at Amtrak that has been seen in years. Here’s the latest example.

[begin quote]

Back when I was a pup of 33 in 1971, with the breathless arrival of Amtrak I eagerly looked forward to a new dawn in passenger rail transportation.

Now that I'm ancient and decrepit and thereby unhappily in sync with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (in body, mind and spirit), the question remains: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Amtrak may be destined to follow me to the cemetery.

I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

Aside from New Haven - Boston electrification, the history of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation suggests almost four decades of gargantuan missed and/or botched opportunities. And a litany of excuses! Endless and endless and endless excuses!

So if Amtrak may in fact have a subconscious death wish, why not HERE AND NOW put it out of it's misery? Give someone else a crack at it; that's why I voted for Barack Obama; we older American gentry have especially mucked things up in so many areas of domestic transportation. Encourage those with positive vision and motivation to seize the day and make good things happen! My sense is that members of Congress are oh so very weary of dealing with the annual Amtrak funding crisis, both those who support and those who decry Amtrak. The prez says he wants to get rid of government programs "that don't work;" sounds like a plan to me! And after the new kid on the block takes over, be it Veolia or Richard Branson or SNCF or whoever, how about a fleet of (relatively inexpensive) TALGO trains to blanket the nation outside the Northeast corridor? Their relative light weight and tilting ability should produce quick increases in speed with a minimal of needed infrastructure improvements. And they look good.

We have got to think outside the box. At 71 I'm on a slippery slope, but passenger rail transport should be, and IS, the wave of the future. It's time for those WHO REALLY THINK SO to get on board.

And on a personal note, thanks Bruce, for being a strong voice crying in the wilderness.

– Raymond Nelson

[End quote]

4) Paul Dyson, the irrepressible President of the Rail Passenger Association of California has been corresponding again with his favorite pen pal, Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman.

[begin quote]

13th July, 2009

Mr. Joseph H. Boardman

President and Chief Executive Officer

NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

60 Massachusetts Avenue NE

Washington DC 20002

Via Fax

THE SUNSET, EAGLE AND CITY OF NEW ORLEANS ROUTES

Dear Mr. Boardman:

Mr. Bill Crosbie was kind enough to find time for a meeting with me last Thursday (8th July, 2009). A key topic of our conversation was the presentation by Mr. Rosenwald at our May 2 meeting regarding the Sunset route and connections. Mr. Crosbie was very concerned at the lack of operating funds and that any change would produce a negative outcome.

RailPAC’s view of these proposals and of the status of this route is clear.

We do not believe, for political reasons, that it will be possible to abandon the Sunset Route at the west end.

All parties seem to agree that three days a week service is a losing proposition and a poor use of scarce resources.

Even if the service still loses money, it seems highly likely that the overall operating loss will be reduced by changing to a daily service.

Changing the service between Los Angeles and San Antonio to daily will, we believe, receive plaudits from all quarters as representing both a bold entrepreneurial step on the part of Amtrak _and_ an earnest attempt to save taxpayers money by reducing the operating deficit.

RailPAC is willing to support whichever of the many alternatives your staff promulgates assuming this is done with an eye to expanding and improving service to the public. This also goes for what we hope will be a temporary expedient of a “shuttle” between San Antonio and New Orleans, and the much discussed extension of the City of New Orleans to Florida.

Advocacy groups such as ours, and I imagine your staff also, are tired of apologizing for the performance of the Sunset, whether the criticism is justified or not. Now is the time to take on the critics and prove that Amtrak is a forward thinking organization that is willing to take some business risk in the reasonable expectation of a positive outcome for all parties.

We look forward to an early announcement from you regarding this route.

Yours faithfully,

Paul J. Dyson

President

[email protected]

[End quote]

And, a transcript of Mr. Boardman’s handwritten reply to Mr. Dyson.

[begin quote]

7/14/09

Paul:

I have your letter of the 13th. I understand your interest, mine too frankly but we are not ready to pull the trigger on the changes that you want right now. Equipment has become a very complex issue and we are making progress. We rolled out the first stimulus Amfleet rebuild this week. We will roll out the first of 21 Superliner vehicles from Beech Grove August 6th. We are not dilly dallying. Things are getting done.

Joe B.

[End quote]

Here are Mr. Dyson’s thoughts on the subject.

[begin quote]

THE SUNSET LIMITED - THOUGHTS ON THE BOARDMAN CORRESPONDENCE

RailPAC has consistently supported daily service and restoration of the Sunset Route to Florida. A lot of the Amtrak people we talk to agree thrice weekly service just doesn’t work; the seven day a week costs are still there but the revenue isn’t! At our May 2 meeting in Los Angeles a senior Amtrak marketing official, Brian Rosenwald, give an authoritative presentation regarding service options for the Sunset and Eagle drawing this very conclusion, and we have to assume he was there with the blessing of Amtrak management. His boss, Mr. Boardman, was there earlier in the meeting, and since Mr. Rosenwald is still employed by Amtrak it’s fair to conclude his presentation represented Amtrak thinking on this issue.

But is it? A few weeks later Amtrak published its report on the options of restoring service between New Orleans and Florida. (PRIIA Section 226 Gulf Coast Service Plan Report) It’s hard to believe this report came from the same organization as the Rosenwald presentation. While Rosenwald attempts to look at the issues from a business and dare I say entrepreneurial perspective the Gulf Report simply looks for any cost, real or imagined, that can be logged against this route to try and make service restoration look unaffordable. They are still using discredited costing data that indicate that thrice weekly service is less costly than daily. The objective was either to shake down the states or the federal government for an operating subsidy or to hang up a “do not disturb” sign. It’s just too much trouble to meet the obligation to maintain the national network, let’s make it look as costly and deficit laden as possible and perhaps it will go away.

Mr. Boardman took the time to write to me on July 14 in response to my letter of July 13 supporting Mr. Rosenwald’s ideas for daily service. In spite of hearing the daily service would not require additional equipment, Mr. Boardman’s note stated equipment was the roadblock to making the desired changes. This must be part of the same schizophrenia that produced the both Gulf Coast Report and the Rosenwald plan. There certainly seem to be two agendas at work within Amtrak, probably compounded by the fact Mr. Boardman is the _interim_ President, and is still learning on the job.

So where do we go from here? We need to focus on two facts. One, the Sunset is an existing, Amtrak National System train, and the service is only _suspended_ between New Orleans and Florida. We, together with every rail advocacy group along the route and nationally should insist service be restored immediately. Second, we need to educate legislators and the public that daily service is more cost effective than thrice weekly, and daily service will actually reduce Amtrak’s deficit.

RailPAC will soon be circulating a resolution calling for complete restoration of the route, daily service, and setting up of a connecting hub at New Orleans which will also open up service between Chicago and Florida. It’s time to make some noise.

– Paul Dyson, RailPAC President, 07/28/09

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## Tim_Metra

bretton88 said:


> The problem with Veolia, is that they're aren't in our good graces right now. They had the contract for Metrolink, and the crash happened. (Not quite blaming Veolia, train accidents can happen to any company) The COASTER of San Diego is run by Veolia and the transit agency isn't happy with them either. Veolia is also known as Connex down under, and I don't know any Australian that is happy with them. Maybe a better example is UP and BNSF running METRA under contract in Chicago, look domestically.


I agree the UP and BNSF do an excellent job running METRA. My Metra pass is stamped on the back; UPRR. Railroads companies know how to run railroads.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 10, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


Volume 6, Number 29
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) The magnificence of the wisdom of other allows us to think beyond normal boundaries. This issue is devoted to thoughts and information from three impeccable sources.

First, the latest issue of Innovation NewsBriefs from Ken Orski, Volume 20, Number 14, dated Sunday. Mr. Orski can be reached at www.innobriefs.com.

[begin quote]

August 9, 2009

What Can We Expect from Congress in September?

Congress has adjourned for the summer recess with neither house taking action to extend the federal surface transportation program. Understandably, the transportation community is rife with speculation about what is likely to happen in September when the existing program authority is scheduled to expire. Here are our thoughts, based on informal conversations with congressional sources and members of the Washington transportation community.

Hope for a timely enactment of a long term transportation bill this year all but vanished when Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, acknowledged that he does not favor raising the gas tax at this time to pay for the $500 billion transportation authorization ($450 billion for highways and transit, $50 billion for high-speed rail). He made this admission in testimony before a hearing of a House Ways and Means Subcommittee on July 23. "Although increasing and indexing the gasoline and diesel user fee is a viable financing mechanism, ... I do not believe that the user fee should be increased during the current recession," Oberstar stated in his opening statement, echoing the posture previously taken by the White House.

Instead, the T&I Committee chairman and Peter DeFazio (D-OR), chairman of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, suggested several potential sources of additional revenue to supplement the gas tax and close the funding gap. Among them were: (1) Restoring funds to the Highway Trust Fund owed to it for Emergency Relief and forgone interest; (2) Issuing $60 billion worth of Treasury bonds (the bonds would be repaid over a period of ten years, possibly using additional revenue generated from indexing the gas tax); (3) Imposing a fee on barrels of imported and domestic crude oil; (4) taxing crude oil futures transactions (a bill to this effect has been introduced by Rep. DeFazio in the House, HR3379); (5) Freight-related fees to finance freight-related infrastructure improvements. None of the options, however, come near to raising the $214 billion in additional revenue needed to finance the six-year program.

Committee Ranking Republican John Mica (R-FL) took a somewhat different view. "The gas tax is basically dead," he declared. Instead, he said, we should adopt a flat sales tax on the purchase of gasoline. Mica also saw added revenue potential in public-private partnerships, expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act (TIFIA) credit assistance program, and the creation of an infrastructure bank.

U.S. Department of Transportation Undersecretary for Policy Roy Kienitz, testifying at the same hearing, threw cold water on all such proposals. The Obama Administration will not back any new funding sources at this time, he said.

In the end, Chairman Oberstar deferred to the Ways and Means Committee. "The Committee on Ways and Means," he said in concluding his testimony, "must undertake the difficult task of identifying the revenue to finance this bill...We'll take any dollar you can scare up for us for the trust fund."

Meanwhile, in the Senate...

In the meantime, the three Senate committees having jurisdiction over the surface transportation program (Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee; Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee) completed action on their bills to extend the existing program for 18 months, as proposed by the Administration. These bills are to be merged with a measure (S 1474) introduced by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) to replenish the Highway Trust Fund through a transfer of $26.8 billion from the General Fund. The funds are said to represent reimbursements for lost interest payments owed to the Fund since 1998 and for past disaster emergency expenditures.

Shortly before adjourning for a month-long summer recess, the House and the Senate approved a transfer of $7 billion from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund's Highway Account to avert an immediate cash shortfall in the Trust Fund. The transfer represents about one-third of the amount requested by the Administration for its proposed 18-month extension. As approved by the House and the Senate, the bill does not contain an extension of authority for the federal surface transportation program. That issue will be considered in September, after Congress returns from its summer recess. In the Senate, committee action has been largely completed. All that remains is pulling the 18-month extension bill together (with its proposed $26.8 billion funding authorization, probably reduced by the $7 billion transfer) and bringing it up to the floor for a full Senate vote. Senate approval of the measure is virtually assured.

As for the House...

In the House, the situation is more complicated. Rep. Oberstar has announced that he will hold a full committee mark-up of his $500 billion, six-year surface transportation authorization bill when Congress returns from its summer recess. Sources tell us he has a commitment from the House leadership to bring the bill to the House floor by the third week of September if the Ways and Means Committee can come up with the revenue title to the bill. That's a big "if". So far, the W&M Committee has given no indication where the money might come from. According to press reports a majority of the members of that committee are opposed to any tax increases as a means of funding the proposed $500 billion bill. Significantly, only 15 of the 41 committee members have gone on record in a letter to committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) supporting prompt action (i.e. in September) on a revenue package for the bill.

By taking the gas tax increase off the table, Rep. Oberstar acknowledged a political reality but also removed from consideration the most logical source of additional revenue. Other funding options are limited. One possible solution would be to use general tax revenue to fund a transportation-focused "Stimulus II" bill. Such a measure might conceivably be rationalized as helping to bring down the level of unemployment – should high joblessness persist. A second option could take the form of a major bond issue to be financed by additional revenue generated from indexing the gas tax at some future date. Both options have been hinted at by Rep. Oberstar and Rep. DeFazio in recent interviews. But political analysts consider them a remote possibility because of a lack of congressional or Administration support. Neither Congress nor the White House are eager to add to the already sky-high budget deficit.

Another alternative would be to reduce the size and scope of the transportation program to match the expected income to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). According to Rep. Oberstar's testimony before the House Ways and Means subcommittee, the fuel tax and other excise taxes are expected to generate $236 billion at current rates over the next six year period – or roughly $40 billion/year. However, the appropriation bills for FY 2010 (as approved by the House and the Senate appropriations committee) contain respectively $51.6 billion and $53.6 billion for highways and transit, suggesting that congressional appropriators are prepared to supplement the HTF income with some general tax revenue. Scaling down the program to the proposed FY 2010 levels might find lukewarm support from Rep. Oberstar – but it cannot be taken off the table.

There remains the Senate option: to postpone enactment of a multi-year authorization legislation for a period of 18 months. Supporters of this option argue that by early 2011, a more favorable economic climate might allow a significant boost in federal fuel taxes. To cover the full annual $35.6 billion shortfall in a $450 billion program would require an increase of 20 cents/gallon. In the meantime, the proposed authorization of some $20 billion in the continuing resolution, combined with the stimulus funding that still remains unspent, will provide more than an adequate level of funding in the interim period.

But others contend that delaying the bill past the midterm elections would solve nothing. As one colleague remarked, "The U.S. presidential race will begin in earnest the day after the November 2010 elections. Given this reality, do you really think getting a gas tax increase or any other new transportation revenues is going to be any easier politically? No way!"

This is essentially correct. There may be no such thing as "a good time" for passing a substantial gas tax increase. But postponing the multi-year authorization until 2011 would offer two other benefits. It would provide more time to develop a broad-based consensus among the stakeholders on the nature of the needed reforms – a consensus that, as our survey has shown, has not been convincingly demonstrated to date (see, NewsBrief, July 11.) And it would give the Senate and the Administration a chance to participate more fully in the overhaul of the nation's transportation policy. These two points, it may be argued, provide a good and sufficient reason for adopting a more deliberate pace of reform and not trying to rush an important piece of legislation without bicameral congressional support.

[End quote]

2) Wise gray head Gil Carmichael, former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, made an appearance in the commentary section of the Journal of Commerce on July 27, 2009. The JOC can be accessed at www.joc.com.

[begin quote]

INTERSTATE 2.0: GETTING RAILS ON TRACK

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S PROPOSED high-speed, intercity passenger rail network is a major step toward creating a sustainable, ethical, 21st century solution to our nation's badly congested, polluted and eroding transportation system. High-speed intercity passenger rail is a logical and necessary next step forward from President Eisenhower's massive Interstate Highway System of the last century.

Many in the rail freight industry have mixed emotions about allowing passenger trains on their rail network because it involves using their largely single-tracked rail system. They don't understand how they can successfully partner with the rail passenger industry to ensure with the nation.

While this new intermodal transportation vision would utilize their wide, existing freight rights-of-way for safe passenger transit, these two transportation sectors are not mutually exclusive if the rail network is properly upgraded for both highspeed freight and passenger use.

As far back as 1912, when many of our cities were born out of railroad expansion, approximately 80 percent of intercity passengers rode the trains. So did 80 to 90 percent of the nation's freight.

By the 1970s, with a rapidly growing population, mobile society, low gas prices and our love affair with automobiles, this new highway system became the darling of the federal and state governments, and passenger transportation segued to the nation's roads.

At the same time, many freight railroads were downsizing or bankrupt and asked the federal government to take over passenger transportation. The railroads, with this covenant, helped create Amtrak for passenger movement, and promised to give passenger trains priority.

With the economy in recession, massive energy and environmental concerns, and a badly stressed, underfunded and congested U.S. transportation system, it is again necessary for passenger trains to operate on freight railroads' rights of way.

This vision of a shared rail system offers a superb opportunity for developing commuter, intercity and light-rail services in addition to solving the much-needed freight capacity problem. We have a 240,000-mile rights-of-way network in North America that government and private railroads have invested in for 150 years.

But after years of downsizing, it is probably operating at only 20 to 25 percent of its true capacity. By double- or triple-tracking at least 20,000 to 30,000 miles of the railroad mainline, we can build an ethical, rail-based transportation system in the next 20 years.

Concerns such as liability, grade crossing safety, signaling, train-control requirements and capacity constraints remain within the freight industry. But there are solutions. Amtrak for years has operated on 20,000 miles of freight track and has generally indemnified freight companies for every accident. It can continue to do so.

The new high-speed tracks can be grade-separated, enabling Amtrak and its partners to run 110- to 125-mph passenger trains frequently and safely. With global positioning systems and positive train control, we have the technology to do this. It should cut highway fatalities by at least 50 percent. The degree of additional freight capacity built into a transportation system like this is obvious because freight train speeds can increase.

If we are to alleviate highway congestion, develop new energy alternatives and improve economic conditions, our rail network must reliably move people and freight. By 2050, there will be 400 million in the United States. Population density will continue to be a mobility problem. For this reason, we must build "Interstate 2.0" — 20,000 to 30,000 miles of high-speed rail in partnership with the private freight railroads and state transportation departments.

Private railroads should be encouraged to upgrade and double and triple-track their mainlines to increase speeds and double freight capacity by providing them with the 25 percent tax credit they requested.

The Interstate Highway System was paid for with a highway trust fund gas tax that is outdated and expiring. We should support this new intermodal freight and passenger transportation system with an "intermodal trust fund," one that taxes and supports all four modes of transportation. We should have an "intermodal freight trust fund" and an "intermodal passenger trust fund."

By using existing rail rights-of-way to run modern, intermodal freight and passenger trains, we will have a high-speed rail network that reconnects our center cities, major airports and ports, and recaptures the vital role of the intercity bus and transit industries, all in concert with freight operations.

This efficient, ethical transportation system will be safe, will not pollute and can be environmentally benign; it will not waste fuel, will not cost too much and will not destroy more green electrify this rail network, providing the cleanest source of energy for our transportation system.

By building "Interstate 2.0," the U.S. can have a better transportation system than Europe has built or Asia is building, and one the freight industry, railroads and shippers alike, can depend on and grow with.

----

Mr. Carmichael is Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver. He can be contacted at: [email protected] missouth.com.

[End quote]

3) And, by great coincidence, Jim Coston, the former Vice Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, appeared in today's issue of Crain's Chicago Business. More information at www.chicagobusiness.com.

[begin quote]

From this week's In Other News

Locals line up for rail bonanza

By: John Pletz August 10, 2009

Jim Coston is betting that the billions of federal dollars aimed at a high-speed rail system could reassert Chicago's place as the nation's rail center — and jump-start his attempt to resurrect a business that flourished here a century ago: building passenger rail cars.

Mr. Coston, a Chicago lawyer and railroad veteran, is just one of the entrepreneurs and business owners lining up to share in what could be a huge boon to the region, in terms of jobs and transit improvements, once President Barack Obama unleashes $8 billion in high-speed rail funds.

"This is the real deal," says Joe Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University. "The Midwest has become the odds-on favorite to bring home big dollars."

The competition could be fierce. Already there are about 300 applications from around the country with a collective price tag of more than $100 billion chasing the feds' $8 billion.

But insiders say Illinois could snare as much as $2 billion, leading to thousands of jobs in manufacturing, construction and railroads.

Much of the high-speed rail money likely will be spent on laying track, says Joseph DiJohn, director of the metropolitan transportation support initiative at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "The first step toward high-speed rail is to separate passenger traffic from freight."

The Chicago-St. Louis corridor, for instance — at the top of the Midwest's high-speed rail plans — would require a second line of track from Joliet to St. Louis that would be laid by railroad employees. Such an extensive project would require hiring, says Mike Payette, vice-president for governmental affairs at Union-Pacific, which owns the line.

The plan also would require investment in new cars. The Chicago-St. Louis route alone would double the number of trains to eight daily from four. That's where Mr. Coston comes in.

With the stimulus, he figures, the state of Illinois will finally have the money to order the dozen Amtrak trains that have been on its wish list since last fall. "We see the stimulus as a way to restart the rail-car industry in this state," says the head of Chicago-based Corridor Capital, an investment company that bought options on 50 former Amtrak cars that he says could be rebuilt within the two-year time frame required for stimulus projects.

If he won even part of the order, Mr. Coston says, he could immediately put 25 people to work, doubling employment at Gateway Railcars in Madison, near St. Louis, a contract partner. Since Pullman Co. ceased production in 1981, Gateway is the state's sole maker of passenger rail cars.

New train orders also could help National Railway Equipment Co., a locomotive manufacturer based in Downstate Mount Vernon, return to full employment of about 1,100. Its workforce has dropped 20% since last year because of the downturn. "It would fill the void," Vice-president James Wurtz says.

Stimulus funding also would mean additional hiring at Kustom Seating Unlimited Inc., a Bellwood company that makes seats for Amtrak, Metra, the CTA and rail operators across the country. Employment already is up about 20% to 120 workers because of a surge in mass-transit spending, says Gene Germaine, director of business development, and stimulus funding is fueling additional demand. The company expects to boost its payroll by another 20% next year.

Illinois hasn't put a number on the jobs that stimulus money would create if its projects were funded, though the Midwest's high-speed rail plan could generate up to 15,000 construction jobs and 57,000 permanent ones, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has estimated. Chicago is at the heart of that plan, which includes high-speed lines to St. Louis, Madison, Wis., and Detroit.

CREATE A WINNER

The biggest stimulus winner likely will be the six-year-old Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency program. It includes 78 rail projects to speed up freight traffic, separating passenger and cargo trains from each other and from vehicles. Until now, it only had about $200 million in funding, mostly from five freight railroads and the federal government, to pay for an estimated $1.5 billion in improvements, leaving the major construction projects waiting for backing.

Already the state has set aside $322 million in its capital budget to fund projects under the program. If the big-ticket items, such as highway overpasses and railway "flyovers," get stimulus funding, it will trigger a flurry of work for construction companies, says Tom Livingston, a vice-president at CSX Corp.

And while it would take years to complete all the rail work, more jobs could be in the offing once the trains start rolling.

"Eventually, after all the infrastructure work is done, that means operating jobs at the back end," says Bob Guy, legislative director in Illinois for the United Transportation Union, which represents railroad workers. "If everything comes through, it should be a boost in railroad employment across the board."

[End quote]

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Telephone 904-636-7739

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----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 17, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
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Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


Volume 6, Number 30
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) At the end of July, This Week at Amtrak asked readers for a list of Amtrak stations paid for by local or state funds which no longer exist or have had service dramatically reduced (Including downgrading stations where trains previously served to current Amtrak Thruway Bus Service instead of train service). We had a great response. Here's a partial national list of stations no longer served by Amtrak; some were paid for by local or state government, some were paid for by Amtrak.

Tom Pulsifer of Xenia, Ohio wins the prize (A free subscription to TWA!) for having the largest list of former Amtrak stations and the (former) trains served by them.

[begin quote]

Lima, Ohio – Broadway Limited, Capitol Limited

Crestline, Ohio – Broadway Limited, Capitol Limited

Canton, Ohio – Broadway Limited, Capitol Limited

Akron, Ohio – Three Rivers

Fostoria, Ohio – Three Rivers

Columbus, Ohio – National Limited

Loveland, Ohio – Shenandoah

[End quote]

From another TWA reader:

[begin quote]

Youngstown, Ohio – Background: At considerable expense, the city council there restored the ex-B&O station in 1990 for the rerouted Broadway Limited, and then Three Rivers.

Chronology: Service started: November11, 1990, service ended: September 10, 1995; service restored: November 10, 1996, service ended: March 7, 2005

[End quote]

And, another reader contribution:

[begin quote]

Wichita, Kansas – Station renovated with city and federal urban renewal money in 1978, restoring waiting room and exterior. Amtrak abandoned service in 1979 when the Lone Star was discontinued.

[End quote]

And, then, there was this missive from respected rail historian Daniel Carleton:

[begin quote]

This is by no means a contest entry but something which crossed my wandering mind. What of the "intermodal hubs" built new by localities to serve local transit and Amtrak, where all that's missing is Amtrak? Before today two came to mind: Lynx Central Station in Orlando, Florida and Transpo's South Street Station in South Bend, Indiana. Two years ago the rather congenial Amtrak agent at the South Bend station, and I use the term "station" loosely, told me the reason for not moving to the more centrally located and modern building is the lack of a separate waiting area for Amtrak passengers.

Well, today I add a third: Grand Rapids' [Michigan] Central Station. Built in 2004, it's a mere third-of-a-mile closer to town than the current Amtrak station which, I swear, looks like a former _Long John Silvers_ franchise building. But, what a difference that third-of-a-mile makes. Walking from downtown to the station I passed a rather loud domestic disturbance and an "Adult Superstore." For want of a rail turnout and less than 500 feet of track, the Pere Marquette service could terminate within walking distance of the local arena and at the hub of all the local bus service. There has always been the public perception of "the wrong side of the tracks," but is it Amtrak's duty to uphold that perception?

[End quote]

Here's more of the list, station abandonments and station downgrades from the loss of the Broadway Limited, Pioneer, Desert Wind, Sunset Limited, Kentucky Cardinal, Lake Country Limited, Shenandoah, Gulf Breeze, Gulf Coast Limited, National Limited, Lone Star, Houston section of the Texas Eagle, Silver Palm, International, Three Rivers, Montrealer, reroute of the City of New Orleans south of Memphis to Jackson, loss of the Tampa section of the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, and more. The list is not a distinguished list, but an anguished list; major cities and towns throughout America, thinking they had as much of a right to passenger rail service as other locations, but, alas, due to government rationing of passenger rail, inevitable cuts were made. Some of these stations were not cheap; Louisville, Kentucky cost local taxpayers $600,000 for a junior train such as the Kentucky Cardinal, which lasted only a very short time.

The list is in alphabetical order, and contains stations listed above for clarity.

1. Atmore, Alabama

2. Evergreen, Alabama

3. Greenville, Alabama

4. Mobile, Alabama

5. Montgomery, Alabama

6. Coolidge, Arizona

7. Phoenix, Arizona

8. Tempe, Arizona

9. Newport, Arkansas

10. Berkeley, California

11. Indio, California

12. Marysville, California

13. Riverbank, California

14. Greeley, Colorado

15. Chipley, Florida

16. Clearwater, Florida

17. Crestview, Florida

18. Dade City, Florida

19. Lake City, Florida

20. Lakeland, Florida

21. Madison, Florida

22. Ocala, Florida

23. Pensacola, Florida

24. St. Petersburg, Florida

25. Tallahassee, Florida

26. Tampa, Florida

27. Waldo, Florida

28. Wildwood, Florida

29. Boise, Idaho

30. Nampa, Idaho

31. Pocatello, Idaho

32. Shoshone, Idaho

33. Fort Wayne, Indiana

34. Hobart, Indiana

35. Jeffersonville, Indiana

36. Valparaiso, Indiana

37. Warsaw, Indiana

38. Wheeler, Indiana

39. Belleville, Illinois

40. Emporia, Kansas

41. Wichita, Kansas

42. Louisville, Kentucky

43. Batesville, Mississippi

44. Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

45. Biloxi, Mississippi

46. Canton, Mississippi

47. Durant, Mississippi

48. Grenada, Mississippi

49. Gulfport, Mississippi

50. Winona, Mississippi

51. Caliente, Nevada

52. Las Vegas, Nevada

53. Lovelock, Nevada

54. Sparks, Nevada

55. Atlantic City, New Jersey

56. Lindenwold, New Jersey

57. Lima, Ohio

58. Akron, Ohio

59. Canton, Ohio

60. Columbus, Ohio

61. Crestline, Ohio

62. Fostoria, Ohio

63. Loveland, Ohio

64. Youngstown, Ohio

65. Baker City, Oregon

66. Hinkle-Hermiston, Oregon

67. Hood River, Oregon

68. La Grande, Oregon

69. Ontario, Oregon

70. Pendleton, Oregon

71. The Dalles, Oregon

72. Corsicana, Texas

73. College Station/Bryan, Texas

74. Houston, Texas

75. Milford, Utah

76. Ogden, Utah

77. Thompson, Utah

78. Lee Hall, Virginia

79. Janesville/Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

80. Evanston, Wyoming

81. Green River, Wyoming

82. Laramie, Wyoming

83. Rawlins, Wyoming

84. Rock Springs, Wyoming

85. West Cheyenne-Borie, Wyoming

86. Brampton, Ontario – Canada

87. Gerogetown, Ontario – Canada

88. Guelph, Ontario – Canada

89. Kitchener, Ontario – Canada

90. Sarnia, Ontario – Canada

91. St. Marys, Ontario – Canada

92. Stratford, Ontario – Canada

93. Strathroy, Ontario – Canada

If you like to keep score, the list above represents the equivalent to 18% of today's Amtrak system. So, the company has divorced/abandoned/left to wither on the vine the equivalent of about a fifth of its system in less than 40 years of operation. Gee, imagine what it will be at the 50 year, golden anniversary mark?

2) While it's important for the free market to work, and, inevitably some stations at some point should be critically assessed for proper return on investment, that usually occurs in a mature system, not a embarrassingly skeletal national system such as Amtrak. Yes, some of these stations were abandoned because Amtrak was told by the Carter and Clinton administrations to abandon routes, but, so many stations, such as Indio, California were on routes where trains still exist.

What is the answer? Obviously, an Amtrak with a better business plan, a true visionary at the helm of the company instead of the parade of caretakers we've seen in the past, and an internal desire to grow and prosper instead of exist on crumbs from the federal treasury.

We're all waiting, Amtrak, for any of that to happen.

3) More mail came to TWA this week. Here's a sampling.

[begin quote]

I have a story, one that is longer than I would like to have to sit and compose, so I hope you will entertain me and read it in its entirely. While doing so, understand that I am a rail fan and have been involved with the railroad industry since birth as I am the first in four generations from both sides of my family not continuing that linage, after suffering a seizure at the age of 17.

On August 7th, my family and I left from our home in rural Eastern Kentucky. Our destination, the unmanned Amtrak platform in Ashland, Kentucky; a moderate one and an hour drive from home, with the departure scheduled to be 6:29 A.M. that morning.

We left our home in Allen, Kentucky anxious and early enough to allow us to stop for a bite of breakfast before getting on the train. We arrived at the platform early, and thus began our wait, one that would continue for the rest of this experience. As we waited, we noticed everyone who was initially arriving with us, had left the platform area and parking lot.

We called Julie, an electronic voice that prompts responses for research into train status, among other things. We then learned our train had a two hour delay and was given the approximate ETA of the eastbound Cardinal. Our wait passed, and eventually, the train arrived. In a fashion that can only be compared to herding cattle into a train, we were onboard and headed toward our destination of Washington D.C.

Now that we were seated and making ourselves comfortable, we found ourselves listening to the passengers who were already seated in our coach. They were explaining our delay was because the "president" of Amtrak's train had mechanical issues in Indianapolis, Indiana, and chose to add his private car to our consist.

In doing so, he delayed our revenue train over two hours in its departure from Indianapolis, Indiana, but, the engineer was making up some time at the station stops and wherever he found the opportunity.

A bit confused as a rail fan, and understanding the importance of revenue trains, I asked the conductor if this was actually fact, as the coach attendant chose not to answer and seemed to deliberately leave the car during this discussion. The conductor did confirm the event, but felt confident we would be making up some time as we went. He had not accounted for the issue or fact we were traveling on trackage that was not owned by Amtrak, but by CSX Transportation, and eventually Norfolk Southern and the Buckingham Branch, too. Not to mention we had a scheduled meet with our sister train, the westbound Cardinal, bound for Chicago.

Now starts reality, Murphy's Law, or just poor railroad luck. We operated smoothly across the shared trackage, making our way around every train that we came to. That meant there were times we had to stop and allow the oncoming train to get onto a passing track, allowing us to continue. Add too, we were picking up passengers at every station, with the exception of the two stations listed as stops with prior notice.

The proverbial clock still ticking and our day seeming to pass in to evening and into night. The train crew pretty well knew the task that was before them, then factor in we were having crew changes, and you could see on their faces and in passing conversation, just how late we were going to be getting into D.C. [scheduled for 5:55 P.M.] Though they were never specific on our arrival, but more generalized to an approximate time, never letting us know how late the train actually was. As we progressed on our journey, we came to a stop and told, approximately 15 minutes from Charlottesville, Virginia, a train in front of us had a grade crossing accident, and we were forced to wait for a replacement crew and to get the scene cleared; this added another hour to our delay.

Getting to get off the train in Charlottesville was a welcome break of the monotony that we had just been through, not to mention, it gave us our first opportunity to see the Beech Grove, a private Amtrak car with an open rear platform in the tradition of old railroad official business cars, and the original cause for our delay. Of course we were not allowed to approach, as it was my intention to voice my disdain for such selfish, capitalistic behavior which had been reported to us.

Instead, we were herded back onto the train, only to find that a passenger who had boarded in Charlottesville had taken my seat. The only one thing I found any peace or harmony in – window watching – was now taken from me. I asked the gentlemen to replace my personal items in my seat and he refused, listing a "first come, first serve" basis Amtrak subscribes to.

I called the car attendant and in not as many words, was told the same thing. Fortunately, my wife had witnessed the event, and chose for me to sit in the row behind with our daughter, to prevent me from making a scene, or to try to keep some harmony in our coach. As we sat in our new configuration, I watched the male drift off to sleep and not even take advantage of the magnificent views he had forced his access to enjoy.

In sitting there, I did realize I was getting upset, but had no means of distraction. My laptop had died, my phone I used as an mp3 player was dead, and I was stuck with no means to recharge any of my devices. We asked the passing conductor about power outlets, and he confirmed the other cars had outlets and thought our car did, too.

When confirmed we did not have any outlets, he directed us to the lounge car, as it was lined with power outlets. My wife and I went to the car, talked, and charged our devices as others followed and discussion did break out. Everyone in the coach was of the same opinion and questioned the train crew seated in the lounge why the entire consist would have a luxury that would not be offered to every paying customer? Why were people who were just boarding the train, being directed to those cars, when we had been on the train for hours without that luxury, and our only access was to separate ourselves from our family to go into another car? Despite the fact those passengers had paid the exact same amount of money, with the exact same expectation? Only they were satisfied in their expectation, while the passengers who were boarding from Kentucky and West Virginia, were seemingly being passed off as mere "Hillbillies" who wouldn't need any electrical features. I was surprised to find an operational toilet, with this type of mentality present, but I wasn't to be disappointed. One of two of our toilets malfunctioned!

I have composed this letter with no desire of monetary compensation or reimbursement. I have written this complaint, pointing out several key issues that must be addressed. This main issue, how can any executive be allowed to delay a revenue train, when every other private railroad understood the need to keep their revenue trains moving? But, Amtrak executives have chosen to show their importance and disregard for the customer, or its partners in which it shares trackage rights with. One single person can make an entire train over two hours late, merely to satisfy and ego of: "because I can." This attitude has our nation in one of its worst recessions ever, and Amtrak has shown its blessing to continue this behavior.

To my politician addressees, I know I am but one voice, but I am the voice of the people. I deserve to be heard. You vote to give Amtrak funding, you support bills to give Amtrak rights to trackage, and you are starting one of the largest spending plans ever conceived in our history to develop a high speed rail network. Who will run it, Amtrak? I have reviewed Amtrak's ethics policy and found some interesting facts. (Note: all are excerpts directly from the policy currently in place):

[begin quote from Amtrak policies]

Amtrak Values

At Amtrak, we believe that living by a set of fundamental core values based on sound Ethical principles help define the true measure of a company – they guide the way we treat each other and how we make business decisions.

(This single complaint dispels this entire entry.)

Management Responsibility

At Amtrak, leaders must show a commitment to Amtrak's values through their actions. They must also promote an environment where compliance is expected and ethical Behavior is the norm. All Amtrak directors, officers and employees must comply with the Company's values and principles.

(The company and its directors are solely responsible for such actions, and we keep giving them tax dollars with no representation.)

Conduct Involving Our Business Resources

Amtrak is committed to protecting its business resources. We expect every director, officer, and employee to follow the standards set forth in the following Conduct Involving our Business Resources.

(Standards are set, though in writing, the directors will do as they choose, acting exempt from such policies.)

Environmental Policy

Encourage open and candid communication with employees, customers, and the public regarding the Company's environmental program and any hazard that may arise from its operations ...

(Shows that Amtrak has a means for customers to communicate with them, but look over the internet at the countless blogs and entries that restate most of my previous issues. There has been no change made. Amtrak continues as a runaway train, spending tax dollars as it goes.)

I know I am a sole voice trying to reach at least one set of ears that may at least ask why such actions are allowed to exist. I am including in this email, my local representative and congressmen. I also want the gentlemen who have recently presented, supported, and even opposed greater spending for expansion and development for Amtrak to be aware of the behavior that is going on within this corporation, hopefully to allow for someone to ask the question, "Why?" Why aren't taxpayer's rights being observed? Why aren't paying customers being given every possible respect and option available, versus segregated transportation. Why will anyone travel with Amtrak more than once?

Even though great spending is underway to increase ridership, Amtrak should also focus on retention of those passengers. I know I will not consider rail travel with Amtrak anymore. I am sure there is a great consensus of the same population. Why should we pay taxes for a

service that is abusive, wasteful, and is capitalistic, with no regard for anyone other than its Directors? As no thought went toward that train crew who was in direct line to answer so many upset passengers. I could continue, but I feel my point is well made. I will send this on to several agencies and boards, again in an attempt to find someone who may be able to process my formal complaint. I am providing this document as a formal complaint against Amtrak and its Directors for their behavior to its employees and its customers.

[End quote]

Well, the writer certainly feels he has a major complaint against Amtrak, and, apparently, capitalism in general.

It's important to note there is absolutely no ongoing history of Amtrak purposely delaying trains in order for its senior executives riding in Amtrak's sole private business car to be added to a particular train.

Obviously, this was a one time, isolated incident. We don't know why Beech Grove was in Indianapolis, perhaps it was undergoing some work at Amtrak's mechanical shops (Beech Grove, the business car, is named after Beech Grove, the mechanical shops just outside of Indianapolis), or perhaps one of the senior officers or group of officers was visiting the shops on an inspection tour or other official business.

For whatever reason, no great harm was done by adding Beech Grove to the rear of the Cardinal. Yes, it delayed the train, and other factors at or near Charlottesville delayed the train further. But, these were not world-shaking events; they were burps in the world of railroading which occasionally occur.

As far as not every car having electrical outlets, well, that was the luck of the draw. Cars are being upgraded on a schedule, and, eventually all cars will have a copious amount of electrical outlets. When most of Amtrak's equipment was originally designed, there were no such electrical devices as the writer possesses, and it's unrealistic to believe Amtrak can refurbish every piece of equipment simultaneously for the convenience of those with low batteries for their various pleasures. It will be very nice when all cars have more electrical device outlets, but, in the mean time, it is not a major crisis.

Everybody views Amtrak differently. Some of us view it as a tremendous opportunity gone awry, with a painful need for reform. Others view it was a government program which should be designed for their benefit. Even others think of Amtrak as a colossal waste of money and energy.

No matter what your opinion of Amtrak, it is a fact it should be better managed and have better passenger service. Good passenger service goes a long way when any type of problems occur.

It is inconceivable a passenger detraining for some exercise at a station stop would lose his window seat. Were there no seat checks? Why didn't the car attendant know a passenger who had been riding all day at this point was sitting in a particular seat, and then allowed a new passenger to usurp that space?

This letter gives you a glimpse what it is like in Amtrak's customer service department. This type of complaint is handled all day, every day. Make no mistake, Amtrak has a great capacity to sin. But, also understand it is impossible to mollify everyone, especially when there are so very many viewpoints coming from every direction.

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J. Bruce Richardson

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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

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Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 19, 2009
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A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
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America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
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Volume 6, Number 31
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Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

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1) The lack of intellectual honesty when preparing reports apparently goes far beyond Amtrak. We know Amtrak's P.R.I.I.A. Section 226 Gulf Coast Service Plan Report for restoring passenger rail service east of New Orleans and into Florida was fatally flawed and intellectually dishonest in addition to being insulting to anyone who is serious about passenger rail. Everyone is waiting to see what Amtrak will come up with for the Pioneer route restoration report which was originally due last week, and the North Coast Limited route restoration report which should also be due in the next few months.

Amtrak has other reports in the hopper, but keeps putting off the release of them declaring they are just too very busy and just can't get them completed, mostly because the dog ate their homework.

This space frequently features the work of Ken Orski through Innovation NewsBriefs, from www.innobriefs.com. Here is Volume 20, Number 15, hot off the presses. While Mr. Orski does not specifically refer to Amtrak in his important report, he does reflect what is going on in Washington overall in transportation and the alarming trend of intellectual dishonesty in reports which are allegedly done for the public good.

[begin quote]

August 18, 2009

A Tendentious Report Has the Transportation Community Up in Arms

While the nation at large and the political community are consumed by the current debate about health care, another controversy is being played out on a smaller stage but with no less intensity. The object of the controversy is a recently released report entitled "Moving Cooler." The report, unveiled with great fanfare on July 28 before a large gathering of the Washington environmental community, purports to estimate the potential reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that can be achieved from surface transportation. The report's authors conclude that a combination of strategies and policy actions involving changes in vehicle and transportation system operations, travel behavior, land use patterns and level of transit service could reduce annual GHG emissions by up to 24 percent from the expected baseline levels in 2050. The authors further maintain that with "strong economy-wide pricing measures" (read, VMT fees and PAYD insurance), annual GHG emissions could be reduced by up to 47 percent.

The report was commissioned by a group of sponsors and written by a well-known transportation consulting firm, Cambridge Systematics. Sponsors included two environmental advocacy groups (Environmental Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council), several foundations, the American Public Transportation Association, the Urban Land Institute, ITS America, Shell Oil Company and three government agencies – Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), one of the original sponsors, withdrew its support after concluding that the study "did not produce results upon which decision-makers can rely." Specifically, AASHTO expressed concern that decision-makers could be led to rely on the study's conclusions "without understanding the drastic steps that would have to be taken" to achieve the promised reductions.

At an August 13 meeting convened by AASHTO to discuss the report, many of the study assumptions were described as "extreme, unrealistic and in some cases downright impossible." A list of 37 specific issues challenging the report's methodology and requiring clarification was presented by a team of researchers that analyzed the study. Transportation professionals reached after the meeting were equally blunt. "This is an advocacy document pure and simple, couched in the form of a pseudo scientific analysis," one state DOT official told us. Other transportation professionals, speaking on background, criticized the study as "not meeting scientific standards," "using implausible assumptions," "failing to adequately disclose key analytical assumptions," "lacking in objectivity," " a deeply flawed analysis," and "following a questionable peer review process."

Precisely what kind of assumptions did the report use to warrant such a severe condemnation? Here is a partial list of measures assumed by the report's authors that would be needed to achieve the estimated reductions:

• Institute tolling of all interstate intercity highways throughout the U.S. by next year (2010). Minimum toll would be 5 cents/mile. As the presentation to AASHTO pointed out, this would require immediate Federal legislation to authorize tolls and a massive crash effort to install toll equipment on these highways within the next year. The tolls would likely shift some traffic to other roads and hit rural areas hardest. According to the analysis, a 5 cent/mile toll would be equivalent to increasing the gas tax for interstate trips by $1.10/gallon for vehicles that get 22 MPG and $1.75/gallon for high-efficiency vehicles.

• Impose congestion pricing in 125 metropolitan areas, at 65 cents per mile. The presentation to AASHTO pointed out that a 20-mile round-trip commute trip would cost an additional $26 each day . Service workers and delivery vehicles could face much higher increased costs. The top 125 metro areas where congestion pricing would be imposed include such small urban areas as Canton, OH; Jackson, MS; Flint, MI; Modesto, CA; Greenville, SC; and Lancaster, PA.

• Impose or significantly increase parking fees in the CBD and require $400 biennial residential on-street parking permits

• Reimpose a national 55 mph speed limit

• Invest $1.2 trillion over 40 years in expanding urban transportation. Increase transit operating subsidies by next year to allow transit fares to be cut by 50% in all regions.

• Increase highway capacity above the baseline by either $640 billion ("aggressive deployment") or $1.2 trillion ("Maximum deployment") over 40 years.

• Add bike lanes and paths at 1/4 mile intervals in high density areas (more than 2,000 persons/square mile.)

• Require at least 90% of new development to be in compact, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly neighborhoods with high quality transit. The report notes that the land use measures "may require strong regional land use planning and oversight agencies,... may result in higher housing prices and...some people might need to live in smaller homes or on smaller lots than they would prefer."

While the report's authors acknowledge in the body of the report that implementing the strategies at their "maximum deployment level" would require a major shift in national attitudes and political will, the presentation and press releases distributed at the July 28 report rollout ignored this caveat. They also ignored the report's conclusion that lower emission reductions would be achieved at less intensive -- and more realistic-- levels of deployment. Thus, an impression may have been created, says Allen Biehler, Director of PennDOT and AASHTO's President, that emission reduction targets in the range of 24 to 52 percent are reasonably achievable. This, in turn, could lead to their adoption in EPA rulemaking and legislation pending in Congress.

Environmental sources contacted for this story allege that the threat of climate change is no less urgent than the threat of air pollution was 30 years ago, and the means to combat it happen to be largely the same: reduce reliance on and volume of automobile travel, greatly expand public transit, support nonmotorized travel (biking and walking), and change development patterns to achieve more compact "walkable" communities. They had to be reminded that improvements in air quality over the last 30 years have been almost entirely achieved through changes in vehicle and fuel technology and not through changes in travel behavior and land use patterns. Indeed, urban air pollution has been substantially reduced from its 1970s levels despite rising vehicle-miles of travel (VMTs) and continued dispersal of homes and jobs.

Be that as it may, the present controversy is not about challenging the legitimacy of the emission reduction strategies advocated in the "Moving Cooler" report. It is, rather, about using allegedly flawed analysis and unrealistic assumptions that could mislead policymakers and the public and raise unreasonable expectations about how much progress can be achieved using these strategies. Evidence from the last 30 years shows that "travel demand management" and "smart growth" have been largely ineffective as a means of reducing auto dependency and automobile trips. There is thus good reason to question whether these two strategies, applied in a reasonable manner, would be any more effective in reducing future vehicular-based GHG emissions.

Lance Neumann, President of Cambridge Systematics, the consulting firm that authored the report, responds:

Unfortunately, there has been considerable misinformation circulated regarding the Moving Cooler study. Contrary to some reports, Moving Cooler does not advocate for any particular approach to reducing GHGs, nor does it assess the political feasibility or the overall merit of the strategies examined. Rather, it presents estimates of how much GHGs might be reduced for a very large number of measures and under a very wide range of assumptions about how aggressively they are implemented. For Moving Cooler, organizations with varying perspectives were invited to join the steering committee, and members collaborated in selecting the specific measures and the range of implementation assumptions for each measure to estimate strategy effectiveness in reducing GHGs. It is intentional that the implementation aggressiveness of each measure reflected a wide range of assumptions.

Given the range of measures and implementation scenarios examined, it is not surprising that AASHTO disagrees with some of the assumptions used. Many members of the Steering Committee also disagreed with some of the implementation assumptions that were evaluated. However, there was consensus among Steering Committee members that exploration of the strategies under the range of assumptions defined was a worthwhile exercise to inform public debate. We believe that Moving Cooler provides additional objective information to inform the debate, whether you agree with all of the assumptions or not.

It should also be noted that, although the study did not explicitly analyze fuel efficiency, it did use for its baseline forecasts more aggressive estimates of future fuel efficiency improvements than were used by the Department of Energy in its forecasts of future fuel efficiency. So, Moving Cooler analyses clearly acknowledge the absolutely critical role of fuel efficiency improvements in reducing GHG emissions.

Ed. Note: The Steering Committee that Mr. Neumann refers to included representatives of the American Public Transportation Association, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, ITS America, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Shell Oil Company, the Urban Land Institute and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Additional sponsors (but not members of the Steering Committee) included the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Surdna Foundation and The Kresge Foundation.

[End quote]

Mr. Orski paints a bleak, but factual picture. As anyone who has dealt with Amtrak over the years knows, question everything, challenge everyone, accept nothing at face value. Everyone has an agenda, and the days are gone when reports and other public documents can be factually made without an agenda shining through.

2) More mail continues to come into This Week at Amtrak's e-mail box. Here is the latest; some of our correspondents like to share their thoughts on what would make Amtrak a better passenger rail system.

[begin quote]

Bruce: Report on my recent and annual round trip to Denver from Eugene on the Starlight and Zephyr. I left Eugene on the 2nd of August and left Denver to return on the 9th. I had sleeping car accommodations on all legs. Standard bedrooms (roomette) out and deluxe room on the return.

Crews: All crews were pleasant, efficient and available when needed. I'd give the crews a 90% plus rating. Dining car crews 95%

Food: Adequate all things considered, the fish entree was especially good. Am still tired of the plastic plates and paper tablecloths. On the return Starlight on the 11th, I had lunch in the Pacific Parlour Car. A field greens salad with cold steamed green beans, marinated artichoke hearts and a very generous portion of sliced cold beef, well seasoned. Cloth tablecloth, plastic plate. This salad would make the grade at a very good restaurant.

Equipment: Diner lounge subbed for Parlour Car on the 2nd of August. Wine and cheese tasting now open to anyone on the train, $5 for sleepers and $10 for others. Changes the ambiance a bit, or maybe the idea of first class service.

On the return trip on the 11th Parlour Car on board. The 24/32 seats at the 6/8 tables for four (can't remember if its six or eight tables) are not available for card play or other seating until after lunch. They are set for breakfast the night before and set up for lunch as soon as breakfast is over. This only leaves the six cozy chairs and the benches with little bar tables (10 adults max) in the middle, or seating for 16 people until 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon. The car was cleared for the wine and cheese tasting people only on one trip, but not on another trip I took. When a friend and I sat down in mid morning at the tables for four we were informed of the seating ban. The same six people staked out the comfy chairs and sat in them most of the day. The attendant later offered to un-padlock the theater downstairs for us to use.

We were told at 11:00 P.M. the car was closed until 7:00 A.M. Some card players reluctantly went to their rooms, I went to the "comfy chairs" and read till 1:00 A.M. and was not asked to leave. We were told that after 11:00 P.M. we could go to the lounge car which was open all night (no attendant present). I asked why it closed, was told something about the attendant needing to do paperwork and company policy said it couldn't be done with passengers present.

NOW to the main question. If I have my dates correct, the first run of Superliner sleepers were completed in the late 70's, the second run in maybe 1983? Why has Amtrak not been able correct the problem on a number of the sleepers so the toilets will work above 3,000 feet in elevation? The middle sleeper on both trips had this affliction. A weary attendant a few years ago showed me how to reset the system by turning off the breaker for the waste system in the 480 volt panel, counting to 30 and turning it on again. This will get you from one to eight flushes before the system shuts down again. So I made it a habit to reset the system every time I left my room for some reason, so as to keep passenger dissatisfaction to a minimum.

Some attendants are good about regularly resetting the system, but others in the past have just told the folks to go to the downstairs toilets in the next car. OK, so I pay $2,000 or so for a long Chicago to Los Angeles trip in the family room downstairs, with an elderly parent, or the handicapped room for that matter. We are leaving Denver at 5,280 feet. I go into the toilet in my room and well you know ... I hit the flush button and nothing happens. I am supposed to live with the smell as well as go to the next car the next time all the way to California?

I wonder over the years how many tickets were refunded and other monetary concessions have been made to compensate for the problem? MY guess is that the money given to folks who will likely never travel by rail again and will bad mouth Amtrak, might have easily paid for the fix of the problem. On my return, the attendant in the middle sleeper told me that for the 15 years he has worked, this particular car has had only one vacuum pump instead of the designed two and a reset will give you just one flush. From what he said, I think he quit writing it up years ago.

On the positive side, ALL the cars on all four trains were adequately clean and fresh with just a couple of notable quirks. One of the doors in the cafe part of the lounge car didn't want to stay closed and latched. The attendant came out and hit it with his hip hard enough to latch it, which bowed it in at the latch at least four inches, I was surprised the door still fits at all. The other is a door issue also, on one of the doors to access the mechanism that operates the sliding door between cars, it wouldn't latch either. Well, I took a photo of the door, but it seems to have disappeared from the camera. It was a list by the attendants who had reported the door and for how many years.

n time status: Eugene to Martinez: Down 15 minutes to Martinez. I always ride south as far as the schedule allows and my attendant will OK, so I am not in the Sacramento station for as long of a layover. It is about 2.5 hours each way, so that is five less hours layover in Sacramento if you are taking the Zephyr east.

Martinez to Denver: one hour twenty minutes early into Denver. Detour through Wyoming because of track work in Colorado. I was notified in June for an August trip of the detour which misses the Colorado Rockies. I prefer the Wyoming route because as a kid I was a frequent rider of the City of Portland, Boise to Laramie. Arrived Denver one hour twenty minutes early, would have been close to three hours early if the wandering around the Denver yards to back in hadn't taken forever.

Denver to Emeryville: one hour early into Emeryville. Again, through Wyoming. Left Denver Union on time at 8:05 A.M., returned to Denver Union 30 minutes later after the dispatcher in Omaha started us up the track to the regular route. We finally left the Denver yards about 1.3 hours late, but arrived in Salt Lake four hours early with quite a few disgruntled passengers who weren't told they would miss the Colorado Rocky mountains, though the scenery through Wyoming and the Wasatch Mountains is amazing. Left Salt Lake City on time, were an hour an a quarter early into Winnemucka. Early into Reno about 45 minutes. Held the same over the top and ended up an hour early into Sacramento. We left Sacramento 45 minutes EARLY. Apparently they can do that because of the Capitol Corridor service that gives folks an option south every 20 minutes or so. Into Emeryville an hour early.

Emeryville to Eugene: On time or early all the way to Oakridge where we lost about 45 minutes, so were a bit late into Eugene.

On the whole, it was a very pleasant trip for most everyone, I guess except for the folks in the car with the toilets with the altitude challenges. Again, the crews were great, good sense of humor, many with 25 plus years of service. The on time was good for most people, though for myself as long as I don't miss a connection and they don't charge me for the extra time onboard, I don't really care if I am late.

Post Script: Is the report on the Pioneer that was released on August 10th available on the web somewhere? The Pioneer is the obvious missing diagonal link for passengers from the northwest to the southeast. All we need is a rail link from Denver to LaJunta and the hub would in place.

[End quote]

The report, originally believed to be out August 10th, still has not been released.

Here is a later addition to the above e-mail, from the same correspondent.

[begin quote]

... Actually I started riding the City of Portland when I was six days old in September of 1950. Boise to Laramie two or three times a year 'til 1965. Then back and forth from the University of Wyoming when in college. Liked the Portland Rose also since it took longer.

My return of the Pioneer dream from years ago was the refurbish of the rest of the El Capitan high level coaches that Amtrak still owned in the 80's I think? An all coach train would be OK if not great. But, those coaches were full recliners, only, I think, 54 seats per car, Superliners are 70 something I think, but I digress as those cars are long gone.

I have traveled a lot of Amtrak miles since 1971. Such as it is, it is the only civilized way to travel. I just returned from a Eugene, Oregon (home) to Denver round trip that I take at least once or twice a year. This year the train was routed through Wyoming due to track work in Colorado. That cuts nearly 5 hours off the time to Denver. UP's track through Wyoming and Utah to Salt Lake City is mostly double tracked and is in fine shape. The scenery is pretty fine.

OK, my thoughts about the Pioneer (rename it the Portland Rose). It should have guaranteed connections to Portland from Seattle (with checked baggage) to Denver with a RAIL connection to La Junta, Colorado or Raton, New Mexico. This would allow a connection to the Southwest Chief. Currently that connection is made by a bus that leaves Denver at about 6:30 A.M., arrives in Raton at about 10:00 A.M. for an 11:30 departure on the Chief west to Los Angeles at around 11:30 A.M. East at maybe two in the afternoon if I remember right. Going the other way, the Zephyr gets to Denver from the east just a little too late to make the transition to the Chief. Depending on schedules, it then becomes the diagonal link for Seattle to Florida assuming the service east from New Orleans is returned. A note on the Raton, New Mexico/La Junta connection. I was told the New Mexico Rail Runner which currently goes from south of Albuquerque to Santa Fe explored the trackage right with BNSF up through Denver and into Montana. Don't know how true that is, but the possibilities are great since the north/south routes with Amtrak in the west are almost zero.

The most important points I see are:

1. Daily Service

2. Seattle all the way to Denver through Salt Lake City and Wyoming

3. Schedules that allow for reasonable connections at Denver with the Chief (via Raton?) and the Zephyr either in Salt Lake City or Denver or both?

4. Sleepers and full service dining.

5. Easy access from Nampa to Boise. I think the tracks from Orchard junction to Boise are gone.

If you look at Amtrak's U.S. map, the obvious missing link for the whole western system is Seattle to Denver. For me, a trip to Denver takes 50 hours counting layovers through California; 53 hours if I left from Portland. Looking at my 1968 copy of the Official Guide, on the City of Portland, Portland to Denver would be 25 3/4 hours assuming no train changes. If I add in 2.25 hours for Eugene to Portland, that would make 28 hours, making that trip about 25 hours faster. Not really a fair comparison because my old route does not go through Salt Lake City, but takes the Granger cut off, so I shall recalculate. Using the City of St. Louis for Denver to Cheyenne, that is 2.75 hours for 106 miles average speed 38.5 MPH, then Cheyenne to Salt Lake City on the City of Los Angeles, 10.25 hours/519 miles/50.6 MPH, Salt Lake City to Pocatello on the old No. 35 milk train 4.5hours/134 miles/29.7 MPH, Pocatello to Portland on the City of Portland, 13.25 hours/726 miles/54.8 MPH for a total trip, Denver to Portland of 1,585 miles in 30.75 hours for an average speed of 51.5 MPH.

Just for giggles, I looked up the same route that Amtrak uses today from Portland to Sacramento and Sacramento to Salt Lake City and Salt Lake City to Denver for miles and actual on train time. The results were surprising. We have all heard how padded the Amtrak schedules are and so on. So:

Amtrak, Portland to Sacramento, 637 miles, 16 hours

Southern Pacific "Cascade," Portland to Sacramento, 715 miles, 15.5 hours

Amtrak, Sacramento to Salt Lake City, 745 miles, 16 hours

Southern Pacific, "Overland Route," Sacramento to Salt Lake City, 18 hours

Amtrak, Salt Lake City to Denver, 570 miles, 15.5 hours

Denver and Rio Grande "California Zephyr," Salt Lake City to Denver, 570 miles, 14.25 hours

Amtrak – Total Trip, 1,952 miles, 47.5 hours train time, speed 41 MPH

SP-D&RGW – Total Trip, 2,014 miles, 47.0 hours train time, speed 42.8 MPH

I have been curious and wanting to do these calculations for some time, ... gave me the impetus to do it. So, then the Pioneer will connect with the Zephyr at Salt Lake City for those connections to Chicago. If there is a checked baggage connection from Denver to Raton or La Junta, that makes Seattle/Denver/St. Louis/New Orleans possible. To me, the eastern missing diagonal link would be St. Louis/Atlanta/Savannah, which makes a decent routing from Seattle to the southern Atlantic coast. Do we dare hope?

That was fun.

[End quote]

And, one other TWA correspondent brought up this subject, referring to a TWA published earlier this spring regarding quick fixes to Amtrak's system.

[begin quote]

Speaking of long-hanging fruit – I mean, really low-hanging fruit – I never understood why the regional trains which terminate in downtown Chicago don't simply extend their service to O'Hare airport.

This mainly applies to the Illinois regional trains (but not the Hiawatha), as well as to the Michigan routes which currently terminate at Union Station.

The trains, which enter the south side of Union Station, could use the tracks at Union Station which are by the river, which then continue north until the tracks connect to the northbound tracks out of Union. From there the trains could follow the Metra route to the O'Hare station, which then requires passengers to take either a short bus ride to the terminals or a shorter ride to the people-mover.

One would think that there would be quite a market for one-seat service to O'Hare. If inbound Amtrak passenger currently wish to go to O'Hare, they have to detrain downtown and then either take mid-day Metra service (which is generally hourly), take a cab, or hoof it over to the subway. If Amtrak explicitly marketed "One-seat direct from Springfield/Champaign/Grand Rapids/Detroit to O'Hare," which only adds about 20 minutes to the train trip, I bet ridership would increase, and I bet that the cost would be minimal.

There has to be a really good reason why Amtrak can't do this – it seems obvious. If I was running Amtrak I would figure out a way to do this. I wondered if you had any insight.

[End quote]

For those of us not completely familiar with Chicago and Chicago Union Station, well, this is an interesting idea. Any comments from other readers?

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## Larry H.

Why aren't the Toilets given "Stimulus" buy Obama's crew? I have repeatedly complained as has many others of this issue and yet it goes unfixed. It is a total scandal that no one in charge has the slightest desire to really "fix" problems onboard the trains they are so happy to raise fares on.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 24, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 31
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Here’s the pertinent question: Is Amtrak really interested in being a successful company?

Amtrak doesn’t seem interested in route or frequency expansion, Amtrak doesn’t seem interested in drawing new passengers, and Amtrak doesn’t seem interested in cultivating new friends.

All Amtrak seems interested in doing is keeping a company going which constantly has to feed at the various public troughs on the federal level and in several of the united states.

We are less than two week away from Labor Day, indicating the end of the high volume summer travel season.

With the recessionary times we’re having, most of the long distance routes seem to be holding their own, but trains on the Northeast Corridor are performing so badly and advance demand is so low, summer sales have been extended deep into the fall and winter months.

We see some glimmers from Amtrak it wants to be a player in the new high speed game, but it performs so poorly in the conventional speed passenger business it’s hard to imagine it could do any better spending high speed money.

We see Amtrak executives like Vice President Richard Phelps and planner Brian Rosenwald in Washington, or General Superintendent Daryl Pesce in Chicago or transportation manager Mike Chandler in Los Angeles working as hard as they can to make Amtrak a better place, along with a number of their colleagues.

But, we’re not seeing a vision from the top, and we’re not seeing a plan for the future of Amtrak.

We’re seeing a lot of status quo, and a lot of scandal, like the retirement of former Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold, when it appears he may have been one of the few people who genuinely cared about the future of Amtrak and the ability of Amtrak to behave as an honorable company.

The good guys as Amtrak must be getting tired, and the bad guys at Amtrak seem to be keeping things as business as usual.

Wise gray heads like Gil Carmichael have presented a great gift to our nation with a vision of what passenger rail, in a healthy partnership with freight rail, can be in our country, right down to chapter and verse how to get it done.

But, Amtrak continues operating with an interim president and chief executive officer, and an under-populated board of directors.

Every president Amtrak has had since the departure of Graham Claytor over 15 years ago has spent more time either cleaning up the messes left by their predecessors, or following bankrupting dreams like Acela for the Northeast Corridor instead of creating and following a real business plan which doesn’t constantly rely on the generosity of others for annual funding.

Nobody wants to – or seems capable of – coming up with a realistic business plan calling for expansion, growth, and prosperity. All we see is the same song on a different page; more highly expensive, low revenue short distance corridors which are designed to financially fail.

Substantial new equipment orders seem to be an elusive myth; existing passenger cars continue to deteriorate and become less reliable.

Amtrak was a huge beneficiary of free stimulus money, and lots of projects were funded that needed to get done, but very few of those projects will actually produce any new revenue outside of the small number of out of service passenger cars and locomotives which will be put back into service.

So, the question remains, is Amtrak as a corporate culture interested in being a success?

The obvious answer is no. The anguish is Amtrak has such huge potential, but no desire to fulfill that potential. What a waste.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 28, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 33
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Good ideas never go bad, they just sometimes are put on a shelf.

Over a full decade ago in 1998, the late Adrian Herzog, Ph.D., one of the original bright lights of United Rail Passenger Alliance, compiled a long term plan for the expansion of Amtrak.

Dr. Herzog, who by profession was a rocket scientist and university physics department chair professor, died far too young of a heart attack at his home in Northridge, California in February of 2001 at the age of 52.

Outside of the classroom, Dr. Herzog was a business partner with the late Byron Nordberg, also an original bright light of URPA. Dr. Herzog and retired United States Marine Corps Colonel Nordberg were the proprietors of NHA, Inc., a highly successful rail consulting firm based in Oceanside, California. NHA was the engine which brought the UTDC (now Bombardier) bi-level commuter passenger cars to Southern California for both Metrolink and the Coaster services. A very young Noel Braymer, now editor of the Western Rail Passenger Review and luminary in California passenger rail circles, and also an early associate of URPA, worked with Colonel Nordberg and Dr. Herzog.

The amount of work coming from Dr. Herzog was nearly unparalleled. He was one of the first, using early desktop computers, to create computer modeling for Amtrak passenger trains to measure performance and successfully predict future needs. Much of Dr. Herzog’s work has been featured on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and remains today as relevant as when it was created. Perhaps one of Dr. Herzog’s greatest accomplishments was the creation of the matrix theory, demonstrating how hubbing and end point connections are critical to the success of any passenger rail system.

2) One of the documents left by the untimely death of Dr. Herzog in this writer’s care was his plan of how a successful Amtrak would look in 2010, based on several presumptions made for 2000. Alas, those presumptions were not to be at that time, but it is fascinating to see Dr. Herzog’s vision for the future of Amtrak.

Dr. Herzog believed passenger rail was viable on three levels: as a carrier of leisure travelers, as a carrier of regional travelers moving about for any number of reasons, and as a carrier of business travelers seeking an efficient way to travel making the best use of their time in trips under five hours. Remember, in 1998 when this plan was conceived, things like Wi-Fi connections were not yet common, laptop computers were still bulky and heavy, and cellular telephones were in use by a far smaller percentage of the population.

Dr. Herzog and Colonel Nordberg also believed in two basic principles. First, every route should have at least three frequencies, and more if viable. One frequency would be as existing, a second frequency would follow six to 12 hours later so every city or town would have service at marketable times, and a third frequency mimicking the old milk run local trains, where every station had a stop. As you look at Dr. Herzog’s plan below, and see a train with a route name such as the North Coast Limited, imagine a flip schedule train such as the Mainstreeter providing the second frequency, and perhaps another named train for the local.

In some instances, the local train may better serve the route by being a series of shorter trains, such as on the Southern Crescent route between Washington, D.C. and New Orleans, where two separate day trains may provide the best level of service versus one longer train, by providing one train operating between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, and a second day train operating between Atlanta and New Orleans. The first two trains, the Southern Crescent and the (to pick a name) Peach Queen would run the entire route, and the two day trains serve as the “local” option on two separate ends of the route.

Second, they believed passenger train routes did not always have to be in a straight line. They both favored “L” shaped routes where possible, such as taking the Lake Shore Limited from New York City to Chicago, and extending the western terminus of this train south to Memphis, Tennessee to make maximum use of equipment, and build as many city pair combinations as possible into the matrix theory.

Dr. Herzog’s plan focused primarily on a robust long distance network. Some of today’s short distance trains would be replaced by long distance trains (more efficient in many ways), but some regional services as we know them today would continue. Since this was a broad blueprint, many of the minor, regional services were not mentioned, but Dr. Herzog implied each would be retained based on productivity and cost.

3) Here is Dr. Herzog’s plan, with some updates for changes which have taken place in the last 11 years.

[begin quote]

Strategic Routes for Amtrak
​


​


A Planning Document
​


​


October 25, 1998 • Updated 2008
​




Prepared by Dr. Adrian Herzog, URPA • Northridge, California
​



Strategic Goal: Output equal to five times the revenue passenger miles produced in FY 2000, achieved by Year 7 of the strategic plan.

This document was originally prepared by the late Adrian Herzog, Ph.D. in October 1998, and updated a decade later in 2008. The breadth of the document demonstrates the foresight of Dr. Herzog in his quest to make passenger rail in his adopted country subsidy-free.

The planning concepts for this document came from several sources, including historic successful passenger train routes and connectivity points, current travel patterns in the United States for both leisure and business travel, and travel to and from major vacation destinations. As an example, more travelers come to New Orleans from Houston, Texas than any other location.

Other factors taken into consideration are population shifts and population growth in new areas, military installations, and locations of major colleges and universities. Additional factors, such as cruise ship terminals were also considered.

Tactical Goal: Maximize network density of flow by maximizing route inter-connectivity, and multiple frequency (2 to 4) trains per route, per day.

National Corridors

• Southern Transcontinental Corridor

• Southwest Transcontinental Corridor

• Central Transcontinental Corridor

• Northern Transcontinental Corridor

• Atlantic Coast Corridor

• Pacific Coast Corridor

• Southwest Corridor

• Central California Corridor

• Pacific Northwest Corridor

• Chicago-Midwest Corridors

• Florida Corridor

• Gulf Coast Corridor

• Texas Triangle

• International links to Canada and Mexico

• Northeast Corridor low level long distance trains

Equipment Types

• Superliner Service

• California Car Service — Use of the successful daylight California Car/Superliner compatible bi-level equipment for non-overnight trains

• Talgo Service

• Viewliner Service — Conversion of existing fleet single level cars. This Includes: Viewliner, Amfleet, and Horizon

Power Types

• Genesis (Long distance trains)

• F59PH (Corridors)

• AEM-7 (NEC Long distance trains)

Crew Bases

• Seattle

• San Jose

• Los Angeles

• San Diego

• Denver

• Fort Worth

• Chicago

• New Orleans

• Tampa

• Sanford (Auto Train T&E only)

• Miami

• Charlotte

• Newport News

• Norfolk

• Philadelphia

• Boston

• Vancouver/VIA Rail Canada

Maintenance Bases and Principal Commissaries

• Vancouver, British Columbia/VIA Rail Canada

• Seattle

• Eugene, Oregon

• San Jose

• Los Angeles

• San Diego

• Denver

• Fort Worth

• Chicago

• New Orleans

• Tampa

• Sanford (Auto Train/racks only)

• Miami

• Charlotte

• Newport News

• Philadelphia

• Boston

Turn Maintenance and Commissary Support

• Vancouver, British Columbia/VIA Rail Canada

• Toronto/VIA Rail Canada

• Montreal/VIA Rail Canada

• Boston

• Washington

• Lorton

• Newport News

• Norfolk

• Cleveland

• Detroit

• Chicago

• Eugene, Oregon

• Seattle

• San Francisco

• Lancaster, California

• Redding, California

• Reno

• Santa Barbara

• Las Vegas

• Nogales

• Duluth

• Kansas City

• St. Louis

• Memphis

• Birmingham

• Charleston, South Carolina

*Southern Transcontinental Corridor*

*Sunset Limited *– Los Angeles, Tucson, El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Jacksonville Orlando, Tampa

Superliner Service

*Golden State *– Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, Abilene, Fort Worth, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto

Superliner Service

*Southern Crescent *– New Orleans, Atlanta, Washington, DC

Superliner Service

*Gulf Breeze *– New Orleans, Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston

Viewliner Service

*Gulf Wind *– Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa

Superliner Service

*Continental* – Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, Abilene, Fort Worth, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington, DC

Superliner Service

*Southwest Transcontinental Corridor*

*Southwest Chief/Capitol Limited *– Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Kansas City, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, Newport News

Superliner Service

*San Francisco Chief *– San Jose, Oakland, Bakersfield, Albuquerque, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago

Superliner Service

*Grand Canyon Limited *– Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Denver

Superliner Service

*Zia* – Denver, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, El Paso

Superliner Service

*El Capitan *– Chicago, Kansas City, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson

Superliner Service

*Central Transcontinental Corridor*

*California Zephyr *– Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Reno, Salt Lake City, Provo, Denver, Chicago

Superliner Service

*Overland Limited *– Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Provo, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Laramie, Denver, Omaha, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston

Superliner Service

*Pioneer Zephyr *– Vancouver BC, Seattle, Portland, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Provo, Denver, Newton, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans

Superliner Service

*George Washington *– Kansas City, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Charleston WV, Charlottesville, Richmond, Newport News

Superliner Service

*Cavalier* – Fort Worth, Dallas, Little Rock, Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Washington

Superliner Service

*The Memphian *– Fort Worth, Dallas, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Charleston WV, Charlottesville, Richmond, Newport News

Superliner Service

*Northern Transcontinental Corridor*

*Empire Builder *– Vancouver BC, Seattle, Yakima, Spokane, Minneapolis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Newport News

Superliner Service

*North Coast Limited *– Seattle, Spokane, Missoula, Butte, Bozeman, Billings, Bismarck, Minneapolis, Chicago

Superliner Service

*Hiawatha* – Eugene, Portland, Spokane, Minneapolis, Chicago

Superliner Service

*Broadway Limited/Three Rivers *– Duluth, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Boston

Viewliner Service

*Pennsylvanian* – Kansas City, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia

Viewliner Service

*New England States *– St. Louis, Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, Springfield, Boston

Viewliner Service

*Pacemaker* – Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, New York, Philadelphia

Viewliner Service

*Lake Shore Limited *– Memphis, Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, New York, Boston

Viewliner Service

*Steeler *– St. Louis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia

Viewliner Service; Crew Base: Philadelphia

*Columbian* – Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, Newport News

Viewliner Service

*Oriental* – Vancouver BC, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto (Seasonal)

Viewliner Service

*Atlantic Seaboard Corridor*

*Silver Meteor *– Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Charleston, Rocky Mount, Richmond, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, St. Albans, Montreal

Viewliner Service

*Silver Star *– Miami, Ocala, Jacksonville, Columbia, Raleigh, Richmond, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Boston

Viewliner Service

*The Sunland *– Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Columbia, Raleigh, Richmond, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Boston

Viewliner Service

*Everglades *– Miami, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Columbia, Raleigh, Richmond, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Buffalo, Toronto

Viewliner Service

*Auto Train, (Passenger section) *– Tampa, Orlando, Sanford, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, Rocky Mount, Richmond, Lorton, Washington, Pittsburgh, Cleveland (All station stops)

Superliner Service

*Auto Train, (Car carrier section) *– Sanford, Lorton

*City of New Orleans *– Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Mobile, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto

Superliner Service

*City of Miami *– Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Charleston SC, Rocky Mount, Richmond, Charlottesville, Charleston WV, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago

Superliner Service

*Flamingo* – Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Savannah, Macon, Atlanta

California Car Service

*Silver Comet *– Miami, West Palm Beach, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Savannah, Macon. Atlanta, Birmingham

Superliner Service

*The Resort Special *– Miami, West Palm Beach, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Savannah, Columbia, Raleigh, Richmond, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Boston

Viewliner Service

*Champion* – Miami, West Palm Beach, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, Rocky Mount, Richmond, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Long Island

Viewliner Service

*Gulf Coast Special *– Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston, Rocky Mount, Richmond, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Long Island

*Tidewater* – Charleston, Florence, Fayetteville, Rocky Mount, Franklin, Suffolk, Norfolk

California Car Service

*Piedmont* – Charlotte, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Franklin, Suffolk, Norfolk

California Car Service

*Southern States *– Tampa, Ocala, Jacksonville, Savannah, Columbia, Hamlet, Charlotte

California Car Service

*Palmland* – Miami, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Jacksonville, Savannah, Columbia, Hamlet, Charlotte, High Point, Greensboro, Danville, Charlottesville, Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Boston

Viewliner Service

*Rue Orleans *– New Orleans, Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Buffalo, Syracuse, Montreal

Superliner Service

*Southwind* – Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Savannah, Columbia, Raleigh, Richmond, Washington, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit

Superliner Service

*Pacific Coast Corridor*

*Coast Starlight *– Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento, Eugene, Portland, Seattle

Superliner Service

*Shasta Daylight *– Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver BC

Superliner Service

*Columbia Starlight *– Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Provo, Salt Lake, Ogden, Pocatello, Portland, Seattle

Superliner Service

*Southwest Corridor*

*Pacific Surfliners *– San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Jose, San Francisco

Joint Talgo and California Car Service

*High Desert *– San Diego, Los Angeles, Palmdale, Lancaster

California Car Service

*Las Vegans/South *– San Diego, Santa Ana, Riverside, San Bernardino, Barstow, Las Vegas

Talgo Service

*Las Vegans/North *– Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, El Monte, San Bernardino, Las Vegas

Talgo Service

*Arizonan* – Los Angeles, Riverside, Palm Springs, Indio, Yuma, Phoenix, Tucson, Nogales

Talgo Service

*Grand Canyon *– Nogales, Tucson, Phoenix, Williams Junction, Grand Canyon

Talgo Service

*Central California Corridor*

*San Joaquins I *– San Jose, Oakland, Fresno, Bakersfield, San Bernardino, Santa Ana, San Diego

California Car Service

*San Joaquins II *– Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, Redding

California Car Service

*Capitols *– San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento, Reno

Joint Talgo and California Car Service

*Pacific Northwest Corridor*

*Cascades *— Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver BC

Talgo Service

*Chicago-Midwest Corridors*

*Train of the Saints *— St. Paul (Minneapolis), La Crosse, Galesburg, Fort Madison, St. Louis

California Car Service

*The Motor City *— Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit

California Car Service

*The Midwesterner *— Omaha, Chicago, Cleveland

California Car Service

*The Brewer *— Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit

California Car Service

*The City of Nashville *— Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville

California Car Service

*Florida Corridor*

*Seminole* – Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville

California Car Service

*Tampa Bay *– Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa

California Car Service

*Henry Flagler *– Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach, Miami

California Car Service

*Citrus State *– Jacksonville, Ocala, West Palm Beach, Miami

California Car Service

*Florida Palm *– Tampa, West Palm Beach, Miami

California Car Service

*Gulf Coast Corridor*

*Gulf Coast Limited *– Houston, New Orleans, Mobile

California Car Service

*Iron Mountain *– New Orleans, Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham

California Car Service

*Louisiana Eagle *– New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Dallas, Fort Worth

California Car Service

*Texas Triangle*

*Texan* – Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas

California Car Service

*Northeast Corridor (Extended Service Area, in addition to NEC Acela and Regional Service)*

*Mid Atlantic *– Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Richmond, Newport News (Viewliner Service)



*Maple* Leaf/Montrealer – Boston, Albany, Toronto, and New York, Albany, Montreal (Cross Platform at Albany)

Viewliner Service

*Royal Blue *– Newport News, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Long Island (Viewliner Service)

*Bostonian* – Boston, New York, Allentown, Harrisburg

Viewliner Service

*Shenandoan* – Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Charlottesville, Cincinnati Viewliner Service

∙ Note: (Viewliner Service) implies any low level conventional long distance and intermediate distance trains including Amfleet, Horizon, and Viewliner

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; August 31, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 34
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Respected rail historian Daniel Carleton has some thoughts on the coming of high speed rail.

[begin quote]

By Daniel Carlteon

*Your Attention Please… Next Stop: Fantasyland*

_ After over 30 years of neglect, one of the Sunshine State’s premier railroad terminals has been given a new lease on life. Tampa Union Station (TUS), an Italian Renaissance-style building built by the Seaboard Air Line, Atlantic Coast Line, and Tampa Northern Railroads, was rededicated the weekend of May 29-31 after a $2.1 million, two-year restoration. Originally opened on May 15, 1912, the deteriorating building had been off-limits to Amtrak passengers since 1984 and boarded-up since 1988. _– Jackson McQuigg, Trains Magazine, September 1998

*All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go*



Saturday, May 30, 1998 was a beautiful day, even by Florida standards. The bands played, the pledge was recited, the politicians pressed the flesh and made the obligatory speeches for all gathered to hear. At one point the “Rough-Riders”, a local group of Teddy Roosevelt aficionados, rode in on an ersatz fire-truck.

Amtrak, CSX and even the short-lived Florida Fun Train had equipment on display. Amtrak ran a round trip between Tampa and Lakeland ostensibly to promote the idea of a commuter service. (Five years earlier the same had been done with equipment from South Florida’s Tri-Rail.) There were also shorter trips in and out of TUS utilizing the Florida Fun Train. One of these was attended by then County Commissioner Ed “Choo-Choo” Turanchik and his family. He was obviously exhausted by the days’ activities but his smile never waned. Even when one of his constituents questioned why a local road had not been widened he patiently and politely explained there was no money for further eminent domain of people’s front yards.

All around the country this scene was repeated as stations and terminals large and small were rehabilitated, usually with ISTEA or other public funds, with the promise of new and expanded passenger service. Yet, behind the scenes the picture was growing ever more desperate. While the decaying building of TUS was boarded up, outside the grounds hosted a small maintenance base where two separate trains per day were faithfully turned, cleaned, stocked and made ready for another journey. This ended in November of 1996 in an ill-conceived cost-cutting move which cut service to Tampa to less-than-half.

Taste the irony: Tampa had superior rail service when the waiting room was a trailer on the platform than with a restored classic building. Less than a year later, the Florida Overland eXpress, which had mutated in concept from a simple single line running Tampa - Orlando - Miami into “an HSR-in-every-pot”, was mercifully axed by the governor. For almost a decade the term _High Speed Rail _disappeared from the American lexicon. Well, at least the station still looks great.

But now, eleven years after the speeches, music and bunting had faded into obscurity a renewed cry of “High Speed Rail” can now be heard around the country. There are plans. There are studies. There are websites. There is an edict from the highest elected office in the land. There is a dowry of $13 billion for states willing to commit to HSR. All of these pointing to the future; a future of high speed trains of various flavors for all Americans to ride and enjoy… is it time to queue the Rough-Riders, yet?

*Learning to Crawl*

_The remedies are neither easy nor cheap nor immediately realizable. But the task you will set is not beyond the capacity of the aroused American public. _– Robert Moses

The HSR dreams of the late 1990’s evaporated in the heat of sober reality; as a nation we simply would not commit the necessary resources for what was deemed as a luxury. Since the end of World War II Americans have deployed themselves to every far-flung corner of the landscape. Heavily subsidized highway transportation has made this possible. The new sobering reality is this may no longer be possible in the not-too-distant future. With the inertia of America’s post-war boom ever slowing to a crawl, many are re-thinking how we are deployed (and move) across the land and how these arrangements will change in the future.

Potential benefactors of a world with less energy are those championing the idea of livable/walkable communities. To many, this an exercise of social engineering, and envision bland Soviet style look-alike apartment blocs. Yet, walkable communities were the norm in the era prior to World War I and these were the greatest victims of the post war economic boom. As an example, Jamestown, New York; today a moderate sized city of around 30,000 in far western New York. From 1950 to 2000 Jamestown’s population decreased over 20%, while the country as a whole doubled. New York City and its rings of satellite suburbs have continued to grow. Jamestown is not a convenient place to visit despite having the Southern Tier Expressway; a drive from the New York suburbs is over six hours. Fifty years ago there were a half-dozen trains every day connecting Jamestown’s now forlorn station to the rest of the world. Without this lifeline Jamestown continues to die on the vine.

The dirty-little-secret of all transportation schemes is none perfectly overlays another; there shall always be winners and losers. As seen above, New York and its convenient-to-drive-suburbs were winners, while cities like Jamestown were not. Shifting the bias of transportation from one scheme to another will have the unintended consequence of shifting paradigms. Those in the transportation sector have most certainly taken note of this fact. There shall not be any real progress in the arena of rail transit – American HSR or otherwise – until all stakeholders agree to accept and mitigate these consequences.

*Learning to Walk*

_Amtrak views itself as a social service, like a transit agency or a sewer authority, and thus as a ward of government. It measures its performance by the metrics of a public agency, in simple transaction volume. The only function at which it truly excels is extracting money from public sector sponsors. This vision condemns Amtrak to always being irrelevant to the needs of the traveling public. Amtrak must adopt a vision of sustained growth, relevance and minimized dependence upon public agency financing in favor of dependency upon customer selection, of mode and route. Amtrak must position its services and its operational network such that it can become the mode of consumer preference for most intercity travel. _– Andrew Selden, United Rail Passenger Alliance, www.unitedrail.org

For most Americans, passenger rail is synonymous with Amtrak. Amtrak is the sole provider of long-distance trains, and partners with states to provide some corridor services. For some states, this is a marriage of inconvenience and are taking steps to assert their constituent interests. Wisconsin has decided to purchase its own passenger railcars for its corridor service between Chicago and Milwaukee. Although Amtrak has new rolling stock on its wish list, nothing has been ordered for decade. In a much bolder move, New Jersey has asserted itself by moving ahead with plans for a new terminal in Manhattan, to the exclusion of Amtrak. These public symptoms are only hints at a larger underlying malaise.

America must come to grips with the reality of how close it is to not having a national rail system. Per Amtrak’s own website, they are in possession of “_Amfleet, Superliner, Viewliner and other railroad passenger cars totaling 1,519”_. End to end this would make a line of twenty-four and a half miles. At the current standard of 79 MPH for passenger trains, this line could be passed in under twenty minutes. (Imagine explaining to the under-informed we are less than twenty minutes away from having no passenger trains.)

More money is not the answer, as at least two states have discovered. Amtrak was born in the midst of the post war economic boom where the taxpayer’s pockets were always deep. Today, those pockets are threadbare. In response to the realities of our day, a new business model must be adopted, if only to serve as a foundation for future expansion. There shall not be any real progress in the arena of rail transit, American HSR or otherwise, until all stakeholders recognize the practical and political limits of Amtrak, and agree to rework or replace it.

*Learning to Run*

_What Americans are likely to get, for the short term, is “high speed” in a relative sense: the current working definition encompasses 100- to 110-MPH trains that would be a huge advance in much of the country where the top speed is often 79 MPH. _– Luther S. Miller, Railway Age Magazine, August 2009

Once the national rail passenger scheme is rectified, only then may realistic planning commence for more local and regional rail projects. But, these ambitions must be tempered by economic realities. Although $13 billion sounds like a lot, it must be placed in perspective. The congressionally mandated Positive Train Control system to be installed nationwide by 2015 is estimated to cost around $10 billion. Expecting the freight railroads which host passenger trains to foot the entire bill is completely unrealistic. Anticipating ever larger sums of public monies for rail projects, as were lavished on roads during the boom years, is even more unrealistic.

Realistically, American High-Speed Rail will resemble, if not in form then certainly in function, the American passenger train of three generations ago. This is nothing to be ashamed of; with the economic boom years came an anti-historicist bias, “out with the old, in with the new.” New York’s original Pennsylvania Station was a victim of this bias. In more recent years, we have come to appreciate the intrinsic value of those edifices which are still extant.

Besides the aforementioned Tampa Union Station, there is the Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio which received an extensive renovation, yet, sees fewer trains than Tampa. For the sake of sensibility, it would be wise to replicate what was existing networks, and proceed from there. Instead of re-inventing the flanged wheel, start with a known quantity. This is neither out of nostalgia, nor an allegiance to old architecture, but rather the knowledge these schemes once worked, and did so very well.

However, it is claimed by Florida Department Of Transportation the restored Union Station in Tampa is unsuitable for the Sunshine State's HSR ambitions. And, a study commissioned by the Ohio Rail Development Commission regarding the “3-C” corridor has recommended against using Cincinnati Union Terminal in favor of a river front location now housing a restaurant.

Unlike Cincinnati, the station in Tampa is downtown, but this is not to say we should be tied to existing edifices just for the sake of architecture. Rather, this does point to a disturbing trend of these new corridors being developed outside (and to the detriment of) the existing passenger rail network. There shall not be any real progress in the arena of rail transit, American HSR or otherwise, until all stakeholders acknowledge the very real economic and thermodynamic constraints which lay before us.

If we continue to believe American HSR and the existing rail network are mutually exclusive, then both are doomed to failure. This is not the time to draw fantasy lines on a map for HSR routes that shall not be built. Expecting to build and properly operate HSR without rectifying what is currently extant is as realistic as expecting an infant who has just learned to crawl to run a marathon. Yet, the proponents of HSR in places such as Florida and the Midwest are touting the notion of 200 MPH trains before their existing trains have hit the century mark. It was such pie-in-the-sky ideas which killed the HSR schemes in the late 1990’s. If we continue to press these ideas today the results shall be the same… but then again, maybe that’s the idea?

[End quote]

2) A This Week at Amtrak reader from California sent this message regarding last issue’s feature of the late Dr. Adrian Herzog’s plan for a robust and expanded Amtrak national system.

[begin quote]

Impressive!!!

Can the scheduling of all these routes allow optimal connection times so that a passenger can travel from any station to all other stations in the entire system matrix so that a passenger won't have several hours waiting for their next train?

I'd like to see a map on URPA's website of this route system. I'm not sure this contains a train going north from Denver to connect w/Empire Builder, North Coast, and/or Hiawatha. Are there cris-crossing routes to connect Kansas City with Denver or Omaha?

[End quote]

In answer to the first question, absolutely, yes. Dr. Herzog was the king of connectivity, and stressed it at every opportunity, and ultimately through his matrix theory. As far as waiting several hours, well, that depends on a number of things, all to be determined by planners at a more precise time than just the broad brush painting of Dr. Herzog. But, optimally, the days of having to wait more than a very few hours for a train should disappear with at least three frequencies on every route.

The writer would like to see a map on URPA’s web site. We would, too. Someone is working on that, now. It may take a short period of time to develop such an extensive map suitable for public viewing.

In answer to the last question, go back at look at some of the Western routes. There are plenty of trains going southeast to northwest, etc. west of Chicago to provide adequate connections.

3) It should be noted a system this size, with nearly 80 distinctive routes, is a robust-enough system to be self-sustaining, and operated at a profit. As has been documented in this space before, when Amtrak reaches enough density in frequencies and routes, profitability is the inevitable result.

In a world of equipment leasing, high utilization of stations and infrastructure, and economies of scale which naturally occur with larger systems, Amtrak could be profitable and continue to grow.

4) What is needed most to make the type of system Dr. Herzog envisioned is simple vision and a viable plan for the future based on growth, not constant handouts from government treasuries.

There are so many changes Amtrak could make today to improve its financial position with asking for any additional monies, including better equipment utilization, better personnel deployment, and better marketing and public relations.

Until someone with vision is installed as the chief steward of Amtrak, today’s embarrassingly skeletal system will remain, and visions like those of Dr. Herzog will only be a mirage.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 4, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 35
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) An interesting collection of mail came flying over the This Week at Amtrak transom this week. Plus (see item number five, below) an answer from Congresswoman Corrine Brown on the future of passenger rail east of New Orleans and into Florida.

First, a regular rider of the Empire Builder from cold country.

[begin quote]

Allow me to share my observations about Amtrak's "state of good repair" on it's most important train (at least outside the vaunted Northeast Corridor), the Empire Builder. I refer to this train often as Amtrak's "most important" or "most successful" train simply because it earns more revenue, by a wide margin, than any other single train they operate.

I have had the opportunity to travel on the Empire Builder several times this summer for short trips (about 300 miles one way, 600 round trip each time), on personal business. I have done these in coach on a daytime leg of the itinerary, between Milwaukee and St. Paul, but have made the point of walking the train each time to look at the interior and gauge the patronage, and I have also used the lounge and diner each time.

You may recall several years ago, when Amtrak went through its most recent spasm of trying to starve itself into prosperity by cutting way back on the quality of on board food service on its overnight trains, it also conducted an experiment by actually upgrading the Empire Builder to see if an elevated level of service and quality would support a higher fare level than on the run-of-the-mill long distance train.

As part of the experiment, the Empire Builder is supposed to be (but, this year rarely is) equipped with all Superliner II rolling stock and the better engines, to assure a top quality customer experience. The idea, I suppose, was to use all recently-refurbished rolling stock to minimize the frequency of equipment malfunctions like air conditioning failures, ratty carpets, inoperative toilets and doors, etc. They also staffed the Builder exclusively from the Seattle crew base, using mostly re-trained, top-quality on board service staff.

The dining car kept the previous Amtrak-standard meal service, with Amtrak china and stainless flatware, and more-or-less cooked on board meals. The train already had some of the best time-keeping in the country, due to attentive dispatching by BNSF Railroad on the Builder's "home rails" on the ex-Great Northern Railroad "High Line" across northern Montana and North Dakota. (On other trips, I have seen BNSF put their top-priority freight "Z-trains" on a siding to let the Builder run through.) And, they added a summer-only "upstairs guy" to work the upper level snack kiosk in the lounge car (in addition to the full snack bar downstairs), between Chicago and Whitefish. The Empire Builder does not offer a separate first class lounge environment like the "Pacific Parlour Car" on the Starlight, or the "Park" cars on VIA's Canadian, and other overnight trains.

What I have seen this summer, however, in terms of the rolling stock is a sadly degraded environment. The fares are as high as ever (sleeper fares especially are breathtaking on this train), but, the cars are not clean, even on No. 7 westbound leaving Chicago; some are smelly; restrooms are not in good shape physically or mechanically (i.e., they work, but it seems there is always some issue with them – water splashing around from the faucets, toilets don't flush, door locks are jammed, etc.); surfaces are badly worn out in places, leaving a third-world impression of tattered and worn, ill-kept, trains. Signage is worn out or missing, or crudely hand-written and taped up. Things are literally falling apart inside the cars.

The lounge cars are not well-kept, with many seats patched, and floors worn out. And again, this is supposed to be Amtrak's best effort (in the west).

I have NEVER seen any main-line train in this kind of physical condition in Europe (except in the United Kingdom).

The dining car, on each trip on No. 7, has sold out at dinner and turned away customers, despite serving from 5 P.M. through to well after 9 P.M. Sporadically, for a variety of reasons, the diner has resorted to plastic plates and utensils ("the dishwasher is broken" or "we weren't stocked properly at Chicago").

There have been discussions inside and outside the company this summer about promoting this and the other long distance trains with a renewed advertising effort. But, I have to say I am skeptical, based on my trips this summer. I fear almost any ad campaign is likely to create a consumer expectation which will be inevitably disappointed by the actual travel experience, even if employees are well behaved, and the train is on time.

A majority of the other customers with whom I have interacted are still first-timers or foreigners, so even in 2009 many "first impressions" are being formed with every trip. Since mid-June, each Empire Builder I have ridden has had more than 300 passengers on board between St. Paul, Minnesota and La Crosse, Wisconsin, or vice versa. Conductors frequently make public address system announcements to the effect the Builder is or will shortly be completely full, and people cannot use two seats for one person.

The sleepers appear to be heavily – if not fully – booked. They are operating a single coach as an extra car between Chicago and St. Paul, and it appears to sell out each trip (it runs in the computer as "Train 807/808"). Amtrak turns over anywhere between 90 and 125 passengers at St. Paul on each train. One cannot help but wonder how many other would-be customers have been turned away this summer for lack of carrying capacity. That adds up to a lot of people who, if not exactly "never-agains," are at least left with negative impressions, and far from a "come back soon" experience.

It is hard to experience an on-board environment like this, where there is both physical/mechanical decay and a slow erosion of service quality, in a train carrying so much promise and potential. It's almost heartbreaking at times. And, at times one gets angry, wondering what this train could be if management had chosen to invest a trivial fraction of the $1.3 billion dollars in subsidy they get each year from congress into keeping these cars in an actual state of good repair, and supporting the on-board service people, to create a truly premium travel experience.

Northwest Airlines airplanes aren't rolling junk, even though parts break periodically, and I'll bet money no brand-name cruise ship is even remotely like these aging Superliners. It just doesn't have to be this way on a premier passenger train. Amtrak already has that much money available. They just haven't chosen to spend it here. It has gone to other uses, because first former President and CEO Alex Kummant and now Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman have chosen to use it elsewhere instead of here. And that is disappointing, and a lost opportunity.

Cordially,

A perpetual optimist

[End quote]

This is yet another example of a promise Amtrak management made to its employees it has made a conscious decision not to keep. When the crew base for the Empire Builder was moved from Chicago to Seattle, there was a promise made to employees who chose to work this train, telling them they would have first-rate equipment to work with and provide their passengers good service. Oops! It didn’t take very long for Amtrak to slip back into its wicked ways, and start putting junk equipment back on the Empire Builder.

The country this train traverses is breathtaking. The route of the Empire Builder rivals that of its VIA Rail Canada cousin to the North, The Canadian. between Vancouver and Toronto. Tourists from all over the world are willing to pay big bucks to ride the Canadian and experience a level of passenger service often unknown on Amtrak.

But, here’s the kicker. Most of the equipment on The Canadian is half a century old, or older. The Canadian runs Budd built equipment originally designed and ordered for Canadian Pacific Railway when The Canadian was the flagship of a combined travel system that stretched nearly around the world and included passenger trains, ocean-going cruise liners, and an airline.

VIA Rail Canada has lately let some of that equipment slide into a less than perfect state of repair, but it is still much better maintained than newer equipment on Amtrak which is half of its age, or even younger. The VIA equipment underwent a major renovation, but that was about 20 years ago.

With all of the cash Amtrak’s long distance trains throw off to the company, why is there constantly a choice made to squeeze these trains until it hurts, even though they are the geese laying the golden eggs?

2) This came from another part of the country.

[begin quote]

Dear Mr. Richardson,

I have really enjoyed your TWA articles and the website for the last nine years since they provide an alternative to the doom and gloom that I've read from most railfans. Your group's solutions to this country's passenger rail system are very unique.

I have some thoughts in regards to a recent column. I would actually go a bit further than the reader in the August 19th issue and turn O'Hare into a second main Chicago station based on former Amtrak Reform Council member James Coston’s comments in the April 5, 2007 edition, where he talked about Union Station being “beyond obsolete” due to “crowd control and user friendliness problems.” Why not have a stop at one of the world's busiest airports? It would provide air travelers and locals another option. I will also suggest Union Station be skipped by some O'Hare trains and be served by a select few trains primarily for transfer purposes to/from other trains.

Even though I don't live in the Windy City, it's a good thing they have four major train stations left over from the Golden Age of Rail. I believe once we know the operators of certain Midwest High Speed Rail routes (and it's very likely that Amtrak will be outbid on some of these contracts), some of the other companies may want to leave Union Station to less crowded areas.

Here are how the other three main stations in addition to Union Station could play a role in a post-monopolistic intercity rail industry:

A) The Oglivie Transportation Center (former CN&W station) could provide service for Hiawatha service to the Twin Cities and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Also, another operator could choose to serve alternate stops between Chicago and Milwaukee, like Kenosha and Racine.

B) Millennium Station. The Randolph Street station could host Illini and Saluki routes, the super HSR St. Louis service (if it can get pulled off), and maybe, Cleveland service; and

C) The La Salle Street Station could host Quad Cities/Iowa/Omaha service and/or Cleveland service.

To alleviate the problem of changing trains and operators, HSR authorities like MWHSR should work out a special transfer program for passengers if they have to transfer from one station to another operator at a different station in the same city. That would guarantee passengers a connection (e.g., A passenger on the westbound Capitol Limited needing to take a high-speed train to Madison would get his or her transfer at Union Station and take a cab to the Ogilvie Transportation Center to continue on to Madison).

[End quote]

Impressive thoughts, aren’t they? Passenger rail historians will recall it was common in the pre-Amtrak days to shuttle both passengers and passenger rail cars between stations in Chicago for through-train service.

It’s not hard for many people to peer into the future and see a fascinating world of passenger rail. Amtrak seems to be the only group of people constantly incapable of doing this.

3) And, finally, these thoughts came from Georgia.

[begin quote]

Thank you again for this [last] weekend's editions of TWA. As always, they continue to be enlightening. Here are some random thoughts from my Monday Morning brain.

I do not wish to disparage Dr. Herzog's academic mind and practical experience. In reading his proposal, has Host Railroad cooperation been taken into consideration? I feel like three routes daily on all those lines listed would work great on a privately owned, passenger-only right of way, but in the real world of constant delays (some Amtrak's fault, others the Hosts' fault) and even one-per-day run trains regularly (quarterly, perhaps?) encroaching on the train ahead of it, and then turn-arounds and bustitution to get people where they need to go, to multiply that liability as well by three, would seem to clog up the freight network in a manner that the Hosts would not care to take such risk on.

My random thought on HSR is that it should overlay current Amtrak routes and be completely separate (preferably not even run by Amtrak). If you take Dr. Herzog's plan and you overlay an HSR system on top of it, you would have major cities connected with few, if any, stops in between.

Stations would be co-located with current Amtrak stations, but all new. It would have to be all new because HSR should never be envisioned without being at least Class 8 service with a dedicated ROW and no grade crossings.

Boston would be connected to Miami with stops in Providence, Hartford, New York Penn, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville, Orlando, and West Palm. You could break it up with Washington being the focal terminus. The existing Amtrak system would then be Dr. Herzog's "milk run" stations, taking people from the co-located Amtrak/HSR stations and moving them to their local destination.

My thoughts aren't completely random, as this is very similar to the way HSR was introduced in Japan nearly 50 years ago. “Shinkansen” means “New Trunk Line,” and that's what they did – all new ROW with major stations co-located with local service to intermediate locations (that were not necessarily along the same ROW).

Additionally, there is a desperate need for SE to NW corridors. But I think you know that already.

[End quote]

Dr. Herzog was a primary supporter of changing the way Amtrak deals with its host railroads. Like many others of us at United Rail Passenger Alliance, Dr. Herzog felt Amtrak underpays its host railroads for use of tracks and dispatching, and Dr. Herzog felt a new bond should be forged where everyone played equally, without winners or losers when it came to private, freight railroads hosting Amtrak passenger trains.

For so many years, we have all been indoctrinated with the thought Amtrak can’t run trains because host railroad main lines are clogged with freight trains.

While there is some validity to this, that concept has often been a convenient excuse for host railroads to subvert the law which they agreed to at the formation of Amtrak which allows Amtrak access to any two chosen steaks of rust in the country, pending a deal where maintenance costs are worked out if upgraded rails are necessary to host passenger trains safely and comfortably.

For Amtrak to grow and prosper, the word “no” needs to be filtered out of its corporate vocabulary.

If a passenger route can support more than one daily frequency (which is the case on EVERY passenger route Amtrak runs.), then what adjustments need to be made between Amtrak and its host railroad to make this happen? More sidings? Some other type of realignments? Never has the time been more providential than now to determine what needs to be done to host more passenger trains and at the same time have the freight railroads not suffer any inconvenience for the sake of Amtrak passengers.

The freight railroads, through the Association of American Railroads, have indicated a willingness to sit down and discuss more passenger trains. Government has indicated a willingness to come up with funding mechanisms to make this happen.

Now is the time to focus on the future and why things can be accomplished, not why not things can’t be accomplished.

4) Had a conversation with the map maker referred to in the last edition of TWA about the continuing work of creating a map of the late Dr. Adrian Herzog’s vision for a full and robust Amtrak system.

The map maker is still hard at work.

5) To date, we have heard no official word from Congresswoman Corrine Brown of here in Jacksonville in regard to Amtrak’s Gulf Coast Service report she inserted a million bucks into Amtrak appropriation last year to pay for.

However, her primary aide which handles transportation issues, Nick Martinelli was quoted this week by reporter Leo King on www.examiner.com.

[begin quote from Mr. King’s article of Thursday, September 3, 2009]

Returning to Amtrak and trains along the Gulf Coast, he said, “Any rational person would say, ‘We need to address some of the issues with the costs on the long lines, – the _Sunset Limited_, when we get that back – and, of course, running the whole way to L.A. Those prices are really expensive and there are flights that are cheaper, but you have to think of the system holistically, and I think that’s the way the Congresswoman and a lot of people do.”

The _Sunset_ may not return, but there is movement to bring passenger rail service from New Orleans to Jacksonville and on to Orlando.

“No question. The Congresswoman would kill them if they didn’t. That’s ideal. It is expensive and the problem that we’re facing now is that states have to be partners in this system to maintain the things and do that instead of ‘Look, we’ve got no money. The federal government wants us, they need to do it.’

Martinelli said “They presented a couple of options. Amtrak isn’t even love with running that _Sunset Limited _line because it’s expensive for them, so they weren’t going to kill themselves to rebuild the line, but CSX was up in a year, had the system up and going. That’s something we’re going to have to pressure Amtrak [on].”

[End quote]

Well. Many of us were waiting for a comment from Congresswoman Brown on what she got for her (our) money with the Amtrak report.

Now, we know. Her office wants to pressure Amtrak on restoring service, BUT, Mr. Martinelli said “now that state have to be partners [financially].”

So, does this mean no train unless Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida pony up the money?

And, of course, we know this brings us to the precipice of the very, very slippery slope that if Amtrak can put on a mask and use a gun to hold up the three states east of New Orleans, then a precedent is set and it can try this type of robbery ANYWHERE ELSE in the country (Except, probably, the sainted Northeast Corridor, where no states EVER have to pay for anything.).

Somebody needs to stop this madness, right now.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 9, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 36
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Do you choose greatness, or mediocrity? Do you choose a healthy, robust passenger rail system, or a continuation of the shame of Amtrak as we know it today?

At the beginning of the 1950s, America still had the greatest passenger rail system in the world. By the end of the 1950s, that system, through the introduction of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system and the Boeing 707, had started sliding first into depressing mediocrity, and then, by Amtrak Day in 1971, an abysmal black hole.

Yet, we, as the greatest nation on earth, have accepted Amtrak because we’ve been told time and again it’s the best we can expect. Falsely, we’ve been lectured to that it was a matter of money. So many people have blindly believed that annoying canard.

Falsely, we’ve been indoctrinated that passenger rail is rightly a child of government, because no one is smart enough to understand how to run passenger rail without the financial strength of government.

Sadly, as a nation we’ve bought into all of this degenerate rhetoric because the glamour and glitz of passenger rail was snuffed out with the last runs of the Twentieth Century Limited, Broadway Limited, Super Chief, North Coast Limited, and Florida Special.

We looked to the skies filled with jets from Pan Am, Eastern, National, TWA, and Braniff for our glamour and glitz. The Hunt Breakfast which used to be served in first class between Phoenix and the West Coast on Western Airlines replaced the spotless linen of the dining car on the Golden State of the Rock Island and Southern Pacific railroads.

The siren of the complete freedom of the automobile tugged at the restlessness in our breasts and souls, ever seeking to explore new places and stay along the way in always dependable Holiday Inns and Howard Johnson’s motels instead of the slightly swaying bed of a Pullman sleeping car. In every Holiday Inn or Howard Johnson’s room you had a private bath and a shower. On a Pullman sleeping car, you had a lavatory sink for bathing.

Instead of creating the next generation of long distance trains, we created child of government, Amtrak. Yes, Amtrak gave us Amfleet, but, really, is an Amfleet coach seat any more comfortable than a coach set on any previous Budd built or Pullman Standard coach? And, yes, Amtrak gave us Superliners and Viewliners, but, if left up to private innovation without the heavy hand of government regulation, what would we have had today instead from the private marketplace?

We already had the Metroliner on Pennsylvania Railroad’s Northeast Corridor. That was a huge step forward; what else would we have had? Perhaps, a still functioning Pullman Standard passenger car manufacturing company in Chicago? American ingenuity instead of Canadian, European, and Korean ingenuity? Would we have had the disappointment of Acela trainsets without them being created by a company that was a child of government? Perhaps, if complete accountability had come into the picture, would the many trials and tribulations of Acela never have occurred?

As a nation, we are on the cusp of perhaps the next golden age of railroading on many levels. Public and private partnerships are being forged where everyone is a winner. Private freight railroads are weathering the recession, and seemed poised to come back strong as business revives. In the meantime, more and more managers have come to understand there is money to be made in the passenger business. Most people have no clue how much activity there is currently in the private marketplace for new and innovative passenger plans. But, it’s there, all working in the glory of the free market system.

If we’re fortunate, we as peoples of North America will continue to come to rediscover the many advantages of passenger rail on every level. Those with vision will rise to the top, leaving shuffling bureaucrats and negative attitudes of “no, we can’t” back in the dust.

The day is coming. Are you ready?

3) Words, names, labels – they all matter when it comes to how we think about things. William Lindley of Phoenix, Arizona suburb of Scottsdale has a few words on the subject.

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By William Lindley

There has been much hand-wringing about the terms "high speed rail" and "commuter rail" in the United States. This has occurred because most of the new "high speed" systems aren't really all that fast compared to Spain's, France's or Japan's, and because many of the new "commuter rail" systems have broken from the 1950s-think "inbound mornings, outbound evenings" schedules.

This is evident in the August 2009 Railway Age magazine. Railway Age writes more about expansion of passenger rail across the country – with the sometimes supportive, sometimes grudging approval of the Class I railroads – than would have even been seriously considered as a guest editorial in a "fan" magazine like Trains magazine 20 years ago.

Before we as a nation consider new services, let's look at how terminology and "old-think" have stifled the growth of passenger trains and transit for years.

In my college years at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, I grew to be friends with the late George Sanborn, the "puckish" – the Boston Globe's word, not mine – librarian of the State Transportation Library. George, who started with Boston’s transit service, the MBTA, when it was still the Boston Elevated Railway, seemingly knew everything about the history and future of transit in the Bay State. He got me not just understanding the past, but thinking about shaping that future – he turned me from a "railfan" into an "advocate."

Two things stand out which were gleaned from Mr. Sanborn – one, a 1904 map illustrating the "Steam Railroads and Street Railways of Massachusetts," and the other, the opening of the Alewife extension of the Red Line in 1984-1985. The latter made George laugh as he showed me the original plans to extend the Cambridge Subway – as the Red Line was originally known – very much along the 1980s alignment, to Arlington, and even as far as Lexington, and they were dated 1912! Clearly, the wheels of progress grind slowly. And as to that 1904 map – compare it to the modern MBTA "commuter rail" lines and the bus lines, and there are few differences. This despite that streetcars were in high competition with railroads for local passengers.

Indeed, even today, local and express buses in Boston exist in almost complete denial of commuter trains. In my old hometown of Bedford, Massachusetts, there is no attempt by transit to connect the town with train lines which operate in Concord – just a few miles west – or to the Burlington Mall, three miles to the east, or either to Mishawum station in Woburn, 10 miles to the east.

I then lived in Woodbridge, Virginia, where the onetime "Prince William [County] Commuteride" buses have been replaced by "PRTC" – which still runs express buses to the Pentagon, flying in the face of the fact Virginia Railway Express trains have existed since 1992. True, the Pentagon employs tens of thousands, but why is a public bus company designed to serve a single building, instead of the whole city? There are a couple local loop shuttles in Woodbridge, but they make paltry connections to the VRE station there... clearly, there is no thought of a transportation “system” – just a variety of disconnected bits.

Countless examples surely abound across the country. So long as our transit modes, even ones operated by the same agency, refuse to co-operate and work as a local matrix, they will never fulfill their proper roles, and will waste billions of taxpayer dollars on inefficiency.

Part of the problem is not just "we have always done it that way," but the terminology itself. Words are powerful.

In my current hometown of Phoenix, Arizona – since 1991 – the transit system has improved much in 20 years, but still has far to go. I fought for years to get a "drop-off only" sign at the Valley Metro Route 532 express bus stop at Scottsdale and McKellips Roads removed... because even though the Bus Book said the bus stopped there, the drivers wouldn't let passengers – who had departed the morning bus there from Mesa to go to Arizona State University in Tempe or to work in Scottsdale – back on in the evening! The bus was designed only to carry people downtown, and the drivers were told not to let paying passengers on who wish to make the return trip. Amazing.

This sort of foolishness persists today in newer "Rapid" buses, designed again as "commuter" routes. These Rapid buses run in from the west from 79th Avenue along Interstate10, about nine miles to the State Capitol at 19th Avenue, making local drop-offs downtown – and then turn around and run back to 79th Avenue empty... despite other Rapid buses from east Phoenix are arriving off I-10, making local stops downtown and running back empty to the east from the Capitol! Apparently, nobody is permitted to desire to wish to travel from west to east through downtown – as if there are no jobs in the west valley which attract east valley workers, or vice versa. Better to run empty buses in the mindset of transit managers!

The same "commuter only" mentality has been turned on its head now that the same Valley Metro has surveyed the riders of its new trolley system. Not only did a near majority of train riders rarely, if ever, use buses previously, but most trips were not "commuter oriented," but trips to lunch, to visit friends, or just for fun. These trips were utterly missed by all the traditional projection models in the original design.

Meanwhile, despite all indications these trains are used not for commuting, but for everyday, all-day travel – 35% of METRO riders surveyed are new to transit, and 40% use light rail to travel between home and a destination other than work – Valley Metro is forging ahead with an ill-conceived extension west in the median of I-10, which will have just two or three stops, each located unwalkably over a quarter of a mile from anything, with platforms surrounded by screaming, diesel-belching, tire-dust shredding-18-wheelers... stations sunken in the depressing concrete canyon which is a modern superhighway.

This scenario, despite that "commuter rail" surely will run on the parallel Union Pacific tracks a mile or so away within a few years, and despite that Thomas Road, parallel to, and a mile and a half to the north of I-10, has the highest bus ridership of any in the system – Thomas being fronted by apartments, shopping, and offices along its entire length. Valley Metro refuses to give up the misguided highway routing and put the trolley where it would actually serve real people, instead of the imaginary commuter traffic models projected.

Even more baffling, Valley Metro never gave its train stations any names – just intersection addresses. Instead of "Sun Devil Stadium," which is a landmark at Arizona State University, the adjacent station is called "Veterans Avenue and College Way" – a place even Congressman Harry Mitchell, formerly mayor of Tempe for years, had no clue where it was after he said he was off to ride the train. Is it any wonder the common man can't figure out how to talk about the stations? One magazine apparently gave up on such unwieldy names, and prints a map of the confusingly long names and then says, "This delightful restaurant is located at Station 7."

All this shows why "old think" and the associated buzzwords "commuter rail" – even modern buzzwords like "regional rail" and "high speed rail" – need to be discarded. They encourage "wrong-think." (Please excuse my temporary lapse into Orwell's Newspeak.) The old ways and ill-chosen words lead not just in unease in the public's mind, but in the planner's mind, as well.

Instead, let us take a cue from what worked before. Instead of "commuter rail" and "regional rail," consider Local Trains. Some of these, yes, serve commuters – but the emphasis is local, all day, every day, cross-town connectivity.

Instead of "high speed corridor" trains, let us have Express Trains. And overlaid on this, instead of thinking "intercity train," which locks us into the early 1970s mindset – Limited Trains.

Both historically in the United States and across modern-day Europe, it is the network – the matrix – of a variety of trains, which make a viable system. Europe's fast TGV, Thalys, or AVE trains depend on connections with local trains, streetcars, and buses to feed and distribute passengers to endpoints. In France, SCNF trains code-share with numerous airlines, permitting through-booking to a variety of French cities.

Most important, high-speed operators like Thalys and AVE run both types of trains which make just a few stops between their endpoints, as well as some serving a few suburban stops and intermediate cities.

Amtrak has attempted on several occasions to run non-stop endpoint-to-endpoint trains, such as Metroliners in the Northeast Corridor and in the Pacific Surfliner corridor. All these attempts suffered low ridership, partly because few passengers wanted to go only from downtown to downtown, but also because of missing, or poorly coordinated local train service.

Perhaps today, with proper integration with Pacific Surfliner partner train services of Coaster, Metrolink, and Los Angeles subways, an express Surfliner might make more sense than a decade ago, but unless major intermediate stops like Oceanside are added, the matrix effect is so greatly diminished, such a service only would be reasonable as a supplement when the regular trains become over crowded.

The Matrix effect – not just among trains of equal class but among all trains and local transit, is the driving force behind a successful national transportation system. Ideally, at major gateway cities – spaced across the country in a grid, each no less than 150 miles apart – limited trains from multiple directions would converge several times a day to permit transfers to all points... not unlike what airlines do with hubs. At these gateway cities, local trains would provide the links to the surrounding suburbs and smaller cities, while Express trains would give fast links for connecting passengers to nearby metropolitan areas.

As the matrix of different trains and transit increases, and the number of daily trains increases, the need for Clever Scheduling decreases. Amtrak, traditionally having just one train a day on most routes, needs Clever Scheduling to operate its skeleton system. Yet, when each route sees two to four daily trains, there is always a train in a few hours... which solves many problems, from minor delays causing major inconveniences, to crew rest times and expensive overnight hotel stays at Amtrak's expense. When stations are staffed full-time, they cost less per passenger to run – even with a larger staff – than a station open just a few hours a day.

The single factor hobbling rail ridership today is that you simply can't get there from here, with the exception of a few places depending where "here" is. If you live in Dallas, you can get to Oklahoma City, St. Louis or Chicago, El Paso or Los Angeles – and basically nowhere else. Let's see how that changes with a matrix.

I've placed a sample "timetable" of sorts at http://unitedrail.org/images/20090908.html which shows just some of the places you can get to, with a single connection from a train in Texas, under the late Dr. Adrian Herzog's updated plan, as featured in this space in August.

Indeed, in this snapshot chart, there are far more transfer points and far more intermediate destinations than can be shown on a single chart – but, if you compare this to today's connections (shown in red), there are many more x's in Dr. Herzog’s proposed matrix.

As the number of destinations increases dramatically, and convenience increases when there is more than a single train a day to most places, the train becomes a serious transportation option for more and more travelers.

Dr. Herzog wrote in 2000, "...interconnecting a network into a complex matrix of origin-destination pairs even at constant levels of market penetration drives increases in transaction volume (ridership) exponentially."

Serious growth is unprecedented on trains in America since the advent of subsidized highways, but across Europe, ridership in many places is at or above historic highs, even as highway and air travel continue to be strong and grow.

True, air ridership has dropped dramatically in places where high-speed trains now run; and indeed, Air France may bid to operate trains on SNCF's lines; but realistically, operating jetliners for distances of much less than 500 miles makes little economic sense. Once a plane and crew has spent the time and fuel to climb to altitude, it costs relatively little to fly a few more hours. This doesn't even count the maintenance expense and ground charges incurred with each takeoff and landing. Airplanes do what they do very well, and so do trains; but there is little overlap.

In each metropolitan area, then, we begin with a base matrix of pedestrian access, bicycles, city buses, streetcars, and subways. Overlaid on this is a matrix of local trains, serving a greater metropolitan area with all-day, in addition to peak period, service. Overlaid on that are express trains which start on one side of a city, call at the downtown station and again on the other side, and make a few more stops into one or more cities down the line... calling at airports and selected city or suburban transit hubs, passing through the final downtown, and terminating on the far side of the destination city.

The final layer is our limited trains – somewhat like today's intercity services – which connect the country from west to east, south to north, in a matrix, a grid so you can get there from here. Often these Limiteds may call only at one or two stations in each city besides the main downtown terminal, but they almost never make a single stop, except for major intermediate cities or destinations.

The Limiteds must connect with the Express and Local trains, and directly with the airports, where possible. And, almost every Limited train, because there will be two to four of them each day on each route, will continue to serve small town America – places like Deming, New Mexico; Whitefish, Montana; and Alpine, Texas. In the wide open spaces of America, these trains become a mix of long-distance and local.

You can already see this on today's Amtrak trains... sit in the lounge car and chat with a German tourist on one side and the college kid from Green River, Utah going to Lincoln, Nebraska on the other. The Limiteds are not endpoint-to-endpoint services – that's the oldthink – rather, they are the interconnection which make the whole underlying matrix work.

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3) The latest from Ken Orski, at Innovation NewsBriefs. This is Volume 20, Number 17. For more information, visit www.innobriefs.com.

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September 8, 2009

Congress Will Most Likely Extend the Existing Transportation Authorization

Among the pressing legislative priorities facing Congress this autumn – besides the highly visible health care and climate change bills – is an extension of the federal surface transportation program. The program authority expires on September 30 and its renewal is essential to keep the federal transportation money flowing. As we reported in our NewsBrief of August 8 on the eve of the congressional adjournment, the House and the Senate have been on divergent paths in their approach toward renewing the program. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, under the leadership of Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN), has been intent on passing a six-year $500 billion surface transportation measure ($450 billion for highways and transit, $50 billion for high-speed rail) during this session of Congress. In late July, a bill to this effect was reported out by the House Highways and Transit subcommittee. Chairman Oberstar announced at the time that he would hold a full committee mark-up soon after the House returns from its summer recess.

The Senate, on the other hand, has been working toward an 18-month extension of the existing surface transportation program. Its rationale for doing so was succinctly stated by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) ranking minority member. There simply is no way, the two senate transportation leaders concluded, that Congress could pass a multi-year authorization of the surface transportation program before the program’s expiration at the end of September. "There are just too many big questions left unanswered, not the least of which is a lack of a consensus on how to pay for it," Boxer and Inhofe stated. A better approach, they said, would be to pass an 18-month extension as recommended by the Obama Administration. Left unsaid were probably two other motives for wanting to postpone enactment of a long-term legislation: (A) an 18-month extension would allow the Senate to take a more active role in shaping the legislation and influence the nation’s future transportation policy; and (B) by early 2011, a more favorable economic climate might allow a significant boost in federal fuel taxes – a boost that both the Senate and the House leaders have ruled out during the current economic recession.

Three Senate committees having jurisdiction over the surface transportation program (the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee; the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; and the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee) completed action on their bills to extend the existing program before the recess. Also approved was a measure that would effectively ensure adequate funding for the 18-month extension. The bill in question (S. 1474), sponsored by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), would replenish the Highway Trust Fund through a transfer of $26.8 billion from the General Fund. The funds were said to represent reimbursements for lost interest payments owed to the Fund since 1998 and for past disaster emergency expenditures.

This briefly summarizes the situation as it appeared when Congress adjourned for the summer recess. What follows is an attempt to assess the likely course of events in the days ahead. Our analysis is based on conversations with sources on Capitol Hill and members of the Washington transportation community. The report presents a snapshot view of the situation as we see it at the time of publication in early September. Nothing can be asserted with certainty, however, until the Senate and House leaders have sat down and hammered out a negotiated compromise sometime during the month of September.

Where the Matter Stands in the House

Chairman Oberstar says he has a commitment from the House leadership to bring the bill to the House floor by the third week of September if the Ways and Means Committee can come up with the revenue title to the bill. That's a big "if". So far, the W&M Committee has given no indication where the money might come from. According to press reports, a majority of the members of that committee are opposed to any tax increases as a means of funding the proposed $500 billion bill. Significantly, only 15 of the 41 committee members went on record in a July letter to committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) supporting "prompt action" (i.e. in September) on a revenue package for the bill.

In the opinion of many observers, hope for the enactment of a long term transportation bill this year all but vanished when Rep. Oberstar himself acknowledged that he does not favor raising the fuel tax at this time to pay for the $500 billion transportation program. He made this admission in testimony before a hearing of a House Ways and Means Subcommittee on July 23. "Although increasing and indexing the gasoline and diesel user fee is a viable financing mechanism, ... I do not believe that the user fee should be increased during the current recession," Oberstar stated in his opening statement, echoing the posture previously taken by the White House and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Although he suggested other potential sources of supplementary funding, Oberstar deferred to the Ways and Means Committee. "The Committee on Ways and Means," he said in concluding his testimony, "must undertake the difficult task of identifying the revenue to finance this bill...We’ll take any dollar you can scare up for us for the trust fund."

By taking the gas tax increase off the table, Rep. Oberstar acknowledged a political reality but also removed from consideration the most logical source of additional revenue. Other funding options appear limited. One solution could be to use general tax revenue to fund a transportation-focused "Stimulus II" bill . Such a measure might conceivably be rationalized as helping to bring down the level of unemployment – should high joblessness persist. A second option could take the form of a major bond issue to be financed by additional revenue generated from indexing the gas tax at some future date. Both options have been hinted at by Rep. Oberstar and Rep. DeFazio (D-OR) in past interviews. But political analysts do not consider either option as plausible, since both lack congressional and Administration support. Neither Congress nor the White House are eager to add to the already sky-high budget deficit. Several other funding options suggested by the T&I Committee leaders — such as imposing a fee on imported and domestic crude oil; taxing crude oil futures transactions (the subject of a DeFazio-sponsored bill, HR3379); and a flat sales tax on the purchase of gasoline — stand even less chance of congressional approval.

The Senate is Poised to Take Action

According to Sen. Inhofe, he and Sen. Boxer have obtained a commitment from Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to schedule the 18-month extension bill for early floor action, possibly as early as the week of September 7. The bill also will serve as a vehicle for repealing the $8.7 billion rescission of federal highway program contract authority required to take effect on September 30. Prompt action on the extension bill is necessary, say Senate sources, before states take irreversible steps to cancel existing contractual commitments to comply with the spending cutback. Pressure to repeal the scheduled rescission has been intense. In late July, AASHTO sent a letter to members of Congress noting that failure to promptly repeal the provision would lead to "devastating consequences" for the states. Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), author of an amendment to repeal the scheduled rescission, has been equally emphatic: All 50 states will face "drastic cuts" to their highway programs, he said, if the highway rescission is not promptly repealed. The cuts could lead to 250,000 jobs lost in the construction industry, Bond noted.

Given an almost certain approval of the extension/rescission measure by the full Senate, the transportation community is rife with speculation as to the ultimate resolution of the Senate-House conflict. Undoubtedly, an extension of the existing program authority would provide more time to develop a broad-based consensus among the stakeholders on the needed policy changes and program reform. Such a consensus hardly exists today as our survey of transportation stakeholders has shown (see, NewsBrief, July 11.) Postponing the enactment of a multiyear authorization would also offer the Senate and the Administration a chance to participate more fully in the overhaul of the nation's transportation policy. This argument, we suspect, while seldom expressed openly, is probably in the back of the minds of many Senators and senior Administration officials. The current House version of the authorization bill has been developed with virtually no substantive input from the Senate or the Administration, sources tell us.

Whether a full 18-month extension is needed or appropriate is a matter of judgment. It may be argued that a postponement until the spring of 2011 makes sense because passage of a gas tax increase will be politically more feasible in a post-recession economy. But others argue that getting a gas tax increase enacted in the spring or summer of 2011 is not going to be politically any easier. An 18-month extension would expire a mere three months after the start of a new Congress. With new faces and a possible political realignment in Congress, the extension could easily morph into a two-year or longer delay. This point of view has been emphasized by Rep. Oberstar: "An 18-month extension will just take us into the next presidential election cycle," he observed, "so it [the extension] will turn into four years."

Since both houses and both political parties are anxious to keep the transportation money flowing, the current conflict will be resolved through a compromise. The House will most likely drop its insistence on passing a multi-year transportation bill during this session of Congress; in return, the Senate will probably consent to a shorter extension of say, 8 or 12 months— especially as there already is some sentiment for a shorter extension among certain senators. The compromise will be sought in a Senate-House conference before the end of September in order to avoid any disruption in the federal transportation program.

Searching for a Consensus on a New Reform Agenda

Postponing the enactment of a long term transportation authorization does not have to mean a pause in searching for a broad consensus on a new vision for transportation policies and programs. Indeed, a National Transportation Policy Conference, to be held September 9-11 at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs in Charlottesville, may mark the beginning of such a search. Co-chaired by two former Secretaries of Transportation – Norman Mineta and Samuel Skinner, and directed by former Undersecretary of Transportation Jeff Shane, the Conference will aim to develop "an informed, forward-looking, credible agenda to guide the legislative process." Panelists and invited participants include some of the best known and most highly regarded members of the transportation community.

The Conference will begin by reviewing the current state of thinking about transportation policy reform by examining the recommendations of the two congressionally-chartered transportation commissions, and the reports of the Brookings Institution and the National Bipartisan Policy Center. It will then focus on four problem areas: funding, urban congestion, freight movement and multi-modalism. The Conference will conclude with a roundtable in which participants will develop a set of "clear, credible and achievable legislative and policy recommendations for a new transportation authorization." The Conference findings and recommendations will be presented to leaders in Congress and the Administration and to the editorial boards of major newspapers (they also will be featured in a special edition of the NewsBriefs).

We think the conference will mark an auspicious beginning to a dialogue that will reach across ideological lines and develop a true bipartisan consensus on a "transformative" national transportation policy and program.

[End quote]

4) Some of the old silliness and modal envy is still hanging around, particularly in organizations which allegedly claim to help Amtrak.

There is still whining about all of the horrible unfairness of it all; those mean, nasty, ugly highways are sucking up all of the money, and there is no money left to shovel into rail. After all, these ill-informed people say, no passenger system in the world makes money, right? So, why can’t passenger rail have more free government money?

Such unabashed hogwash.

The only people saying silly things like that are people who believe in the nanny state, and government is the cure-all for everything, and government can solve all problems by spending someone else’s money.

None of these people stop to have a rational thought or (Gasp!) come up with a real reason to support passenger rail. The real reason is not because highways get all sorts of money. The real reason is because a true case for passenger rail can be made through a rational business plan.

It’s all about having a solid business plan which provides the greatest return on investment. It’s not about forcing people involuntarily out of their private automobiles, and it’s not about taking money away from air traffic control. It’s about showing people investment in rail provides a desirable alternative which produces results.

The reality is, in this big, huge, endless horizon country of ours, automobiles are never going away. While smaller, more efficient cars may be suitable for city driving, big, brawny, oversized trucks and SUVs are best for rural driving and real work. Telling drivers of either to leave their vehicles at home and get on a train will only generate stares at you, with people wondering if you’re from another planet.

Making comparisons to small-space countries like those in Europe, or pint-sized spaces with big populations like Japan makes no sense, either. After the devastation of World War II and the subsequent rebuilding, those spaces were rebuilt based on existing rail and rail cultures.

After WW II here in North America, we, as a nation, chose to create the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system, and paired that with the Boeing 707 jetliner.

Those choices created our current culture of transportation, which will last for generations to come. Nothing is going to change overnight.

However, wise people such as former Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Gil Carmichael have come up with a plan, which he dubbed Interstate II.

Interstate II take the innovation and formulas of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system and applies it to rail for the twin benefits of freight and passengers.

It’s a plan which makes a lot of business sense. It combines many of the best features of free markets and capitalism with the strengths of government to create a fluid, practical system of moving freight and passengers.

Stop making the case for passenger rail based solely on what someone else receives in free federal monies. Make the case based on hard, cold, facts such as the overall lower cost of building rail infrastructure, better operations costs, and the automatic benefits which come with passenger rail development. Leave the whining to the other guys who have to work much harder to make their case.

It has been demonstrated time and time again, whether on a local, regional, or national level, when the traveling public is offered a reasonable choice through passenger rail, enough travelers willingly choose rail without provocation, but simply through free choice.

Free choice always make the most difference.

5) The always superb and informative Passenger Train Journal magazine has hit the news stands with its latest issue, 2009-3, Issue 240. Discerning readers may be interested in pages 30-33, “A fresh look at Amtrak’s map,” which is a condensed version, with a delightful map, of a previous This Week at Amtrak issue from earlier this year.

As always, the gentle hand of editor Mike Schafer has produced a most satisfying product.

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 11, 2009
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A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
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America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
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Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


Volume 6, Number 37
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) You never know what is to be found on the private United Rail Passenger Alliance Intranet. Here is one of the offerings from Labor Day weekend.

[begin quote]

Today was the first of the two day "Railfest 2009" held at Steamtown NPS in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Amtrak sent along one of each: P42 locomotive, Amfleet I coach, Amfleet I lounge, Viewliner sleeping car.

In the lounge was an Amtrak intern; an astute young man with hope in his soul that has yet to be crushed. I discovered – as I suspected – the current Viewliner RFP is more an exercise of purging the last of the Heritage cars than an expansion of service. But, I asked why there hasn't been a push for more Superliners. The thought process is looking toward HSR and not buying "slow trains".

Does Amtrak understand it is in the fight of its life? There is no doubt in my mind something will be built in this country. Perhaps there will be a fleet of Talgo designed trains running to and through various places in the Midwest. Talgo already performs its own maintenance. It's not much of a stretch for someone other than Amtrak to run the trains.

If the Midwest does succeed in obtaining the requested 31 trainsets it wants through stimulus money and necessary motive power, that would be quite the interconnected network. A network of such size would probably warrant the attention of a larger player such as Sir Richard's Virgin Rail. How does Amtrak intend to compete with that? Point to the fab job they have done with the Northeast Corridor?

I may now say that from the inside to the outside, no one knows what's going on with Amtrak. Stay tuned ...

[End quote]

As they say, from the mouth of babes ...

And, as with most topics on the URPA Intranet, there was follow-up discussion.

[begin quote]

Amtrak says they don't want to buy any slow trains? Then that pretty much leaves them with no place to go. Any TGV-style fast trains would have to be a new start.

Leaving aside the lessons we learned from the Florida Overland eXpress (FOX), we here in Central Florida have also learned to avoid any new start project that involves Amtrak. So Amtrak is left with 79 MPH trains on freight railroad tracks, which is theirs only because of their statutory access to the tracks.

If they don't want that, and they've made it abundantly clear that they don't want it, then they have no purpose at all. They will end up like the proverbial lazy man who dies with his hand in a banquet bowl.

[End quote]

Plus ...

[begin quote]

I think the answer to your last question about Amtrak's vulnerability to, and refusal to respond to competition lies partly in its reliance on its compulsory track access privileges, but mainly in a related conundrum — liability exposure. The freights cannot refuse Amtrak access, and must rely on the combination of Amtrak's $200 million/occurrence compulsory liability insurance requirement and the federal $200 million/accident liability cap (49 USC 28103). (We will skip over the evidence Amtrak maintains no self-insurance reserve/deductible funds below the usual $25-$50 million policy minimum as required by the federal law.)

When it comes to an alternative operator, the freights remain free to indulge their most paranoid liability scenarios — effectively ignoring the existence of the federal cap. This is what produced demands aimed at North Carolina and Virginia for liability coverage in the $300 million to $600 million range.

[End quote]

And ...

[begin quote]]

His report certainly explains why Amtrak has produced no vision for the future – because it chooses not to have one, based on the assumption it will be the high speed rail operator. Considering how many European companies have said they are going to jump in with lots of expertise, well, Amtrak is very, very wrong if it thinks its few buddies in Congress are going to protect it.

[End quote]

Add this interesting observation ...

[begin quote]

At the height of the Battle of Britain when RAF Fighter pilots were barely holding their own against the Luftwaffe, guess what the Air Marshals of the RAF wanted as the priority construction: Bombers. At this time most British Bombs rarely got closer than five miles of the target. The peace time RAF was dominated by Bomber Pilots. Even in war they couldn't give up their ideology. This is true of most large organizations.

[End quote]

And, finally ...

[begin quote]

There's a perfectly logical explanation. Amtrak, from deep in its corporate DNA, doesn't want to change and grow, and its congressional and executive branch enablers will continue to let it get away with it. Therefore, it's perfectly happy to limit its equipment orders to deep-sixing the last of the Heritage fleet: the dining cars and baggage cars. Status quo maintained. I think, as long as the NEC gets its cut of the HSR largess, Amtrak will be perfectly happy on that front, as well. And, many a few more states will step up with operating subsidy handouts.

With true HSR on the European and Asian models (on separate, non-freight and presumably publicly-owned right of way), Amtrak's historic and statutory advantages mean very little. Amtrak brings little to the table in terms of expertise or competence.

So, Amtrak's "drift," while blinkered and execrable, is completely rational, from Amtrak's point of view, given the history. Amtrak has its own inertial guidance system that many have tried, and failed, to correct.

[End quote]

Perhaps this explains why we hear no vision statements from Amtrak; they have none, other than to glom onto more government money for high speed rail in the future. In the mean time, Amtrak's current fleet just keeps shrinking and shrinking, no matter how much money it pours into passenger car and locomotive rehabs. Until a substantial order is placed for new equipment, no real, long term growth is possible.

As the late Austin Coates, founder of URPA used to say, "It's just business as usual."

If Amtrak does plan to not grow its existing system, or, eventually exit the "slow train" business, then it needs to let us know that, right now, so other people – with a true entrepreneurial bent – can step in and run Amtrak's existing system properly. If Amtrak doesn't like what it's doing now, let someone else do it, and probably do it better.

2) Norfolk, Virginia's Virginia-Pilot daily newspaper reported on Wednesday Norfolk Southern Railway projects the cost of putting conventional passenger trains on its freight tracks between Petersburg, Virginia and Norfolk at $75 million, much less than the Commonwealth of Virginia's estimate of $262 million.

A spokesman for the Commonwealth said the figure included costs for stations and other costs not included in the NS figure, but it's hard to visualize the few, small stations along that mostly rural route costing tens of millions of dollars. Towns along that former Norfolk & Western mail line south of Petersburg include (north to south) Disputana, Waverly, Wakefield, Ivor, Zuni, and Windsor, before you arrive in the larger area of Suffolk.

If you're not completely familiar with those Virginia towns (Even though Zuni was the town where the Planter's Peanuts silo burned back in the mid-1960s, and Wakefield is home to the Virginia Diner restaurant.), understand these are mostly tiny towns with four and five building "downtowns" spread on each side of four lane highway Route 460, serving nearby peanut, soybean, cotton, and hog farms. So, it's unlikely an expensive station infrastructure is necessary for any of these locations, other than Suffolk, or Norfolk itself.

A spokeswoman for NS said the $75 million figure for improving the corridor is half the company's early estimate.

Deborah H. Butler, NS vice president of planning and chief information officer, said Norfolk Southern supports sharing its railroad right of way with passenger trains, but the company would only help pay for infrastructure improvements if there are benefits to their freight service.

That stance is not unreasonable; if a railroad has all of the capacity it needs for its own customers, then any incremental improvements have to come from a source outside of the railroad. That's only good business and good public policy.

3) William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona has some further thoughts.

[begin quote]

By William Lindley

In recent weeks we have looked at how a nationwide matrix of passenger trains would work effectively. Some of our readers have asked about timetables. This is natural, because in recent decades many advocates have obsessed over how Amtrak's skeletal system could be tweaked by adding a single train here, or adding one stop there. Contrariwise, the whole point of the late Dr. Adrian Herzog's proposal was a proper grid – a matrix – of trains, with multiple daily departures, largely removes the need for clever scheduling and obsession over microscopic details.

But, hark! In a sufficient network, small changes can make huge differences: let's look at an historic timetable that was a pinnacle of efficiency.

In the autumn of 1965, the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway (Better known as the Frisco.) had reduced its passenger fleet to the principal two of its mainlines, these being arranged in a large X and centered on Springfield, Missouri. Frisco ran one daily train from St. Louis to Oklahoma City, as well as daily departures from Kansas City to Birmingham, Alabama.

Train 1, The Oklahoman, departed St. Louis at 8:55 A.M., arrived Springfield at 2:35 P.M., departing there at 3:10 P.M., and arriving Oklahoma City at 11 P.M. The next morning, that same set of equipment departed Oklahoma City as Train 2 at 5:45 A.M., to Springfield arriving 1:40 P.M., and departing at 2:35 P.M., and returning to St. Louis at 8 P.M. This is 542 miles each way, with daily departures, requiring two sets of equipment.

Train 101, the Southland, departed Kansas City at 9:40 A.M., arrived Springfield 2 P.M., and departed there 2:45 P.M., called at Memphis 9:45 P.M., and arrived Birmingham 6:15 A.M. the next morning. That equipment departed as Train 102 at 10:30 P.M., called at Memphis at 6 A.M., arriving at Springfield 2:15 P.M., with a 3:20 P.M. departure for Kansas City where it arrived at 7:40 P.M., ... in plenty of time to turn for the next morning's departure. That's 737 miles each way, with daily departures, requiring three sets of equipment.

In total, the five trainsets together averaged over 500 miles per 24-hour period, including even sitting still overnight at the ends of the line.

Returning briefly to today, compare this to the Piedmont train in North Carolina, which Amtrak operates on behalf of the State of North Carolina.

The Piedmont makes a single 173-mile daily round trip, or 346 miles per 24-hour period, running between Charlotte and Raleigh. The same trainset could travel 90 minutes and a total of 244 miles further east of Raleigh to serve Selma, Wilson, and Rocky Mount – making connections in both directions with the Silver Meteor to and from New York City... at only the incremental cost of miles and hours; more on that in a minute.

Crucially, all the Frisco trains converged at Springfield with connections possible in every direction. If even one of those connections were inconvenient or broken, the usability of the trains would have collapsed.

To see why, let's look at the matrix effect. As described in Dr. Adrian Herzog's paper "An Introduction to Matrix Theory for Passenger Trains," for each of 'N' stations, there are 'N-minus-one' destination stations.

So, absent the matrix effect, as two disconnected routes, the 18 stations on the St. Louis-Oklahoma City line, and the 25 stations on the Kansas City-Birmingham line, would have given (18*17)+(25*24) = 906 possible origin-destination pairs.

But, with that connection at Springfield, the number of stations becomes 18+25-1 (Springfield being common to both routes) and the number of travel pairs becomes 1,722 – almost twice as many! If you moved the times of any train by a few hours, your revenue would drop by half. Or, if you think of each connection you can restore – your revenue would double!

This applies equally to, say, the connection at Memphis to the Illinois Central – where the eastbound Southland easily connected to the southbound Panama Limited for New Orleans, with another good connection in the reverse direction.

Again in the present, Amtrak, either on its own or convincing the State of North Carolina to extend the Piedmont to Rocky Mount – adding three stations to the current nine – changes that train's matrix from (9*8) = 72, to (12*11) = 132 ... nearly double.

Counting the connection to the Silver Meteor and its twelve stations to New York, the number of potential travel pairs rises to (24*23) = 552. That's nearly eight times the usefulness, for the cost of a 90 minute ride. And, many of those would be lucrative trips of several hundred miles.

Yes, we lapsed for a moment into fine detail we said could almost be ignored. Why? Because once you have a sufficient matrix, each little improvement builds the system far more than "linearly" – meaning each time you "add one" you might "get three or four more." That's why the concept of trains dubbed locals, expresses, and limiteds will work together toward a successful passenger rail system.

[End quote]

4) We note today's date, September 11th, the anniversary of the unspeakable horror inflicted on our country and countrymen by those who don't cherish freedom.

September 11, 2001 was the day so many Americans, trying to go about their normal lives, needed a passenger rail system to step into the chasm caused by a grounded airline passenger system, and it almost wasn't there. For many places in the country, it already wasn't; there simply was no reasonable surface transportation alternative to the thousands of grounded airliners.

What have we learned these eight years since 2001? Not much. Amtrak is carrying a few more passengers than it did then, but it still represents less than a half of a percent of our country's domestic transportation marketplace. Very little new equipment has come online in the past eight years, and Amtrak's route system has taken dramatic hits, such as the loss of the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans into Florida.

Since 2001, Amtrak has replaced its president and chief executive officer three times, with the current officeholder working under just an interim appointment. There have been no substantial changes to Amtrak's board of directors, and it remains dangerously under-populated.

A rational person would have thought we would have learned something in the past eight years.

Apparently, not.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## jis

The only fly in the ointment of the eternal dream of Sir Branson signing up to operate any passenger service in the US is that Sir Branson is not a blithering idiot.  He never signed up for any of the TOCs in the UK before making quite sure that the subsidies that would be coming his way would be higher than what BR was getting to operate the same service, enough as a matter of fact to ensure significant profits for his operations. He will do the same here. So unless there is willingness to shell out substantially more subsidy than is being spent now, there will be no Sir Branson, no matter how much we dream about it.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 14, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 38
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) The late Austin Coates, the founder of United Rail Passenger Alliance, was known to one and all as a courtly, Southern gentleman. Always quick with a friendly handshake, and at a times a poignant pause which was sincere in every way, he did have his grumpy moments in his later years. When Amtrak had been particularly naughty, he was known to say, “They ought to just pull ‘em over and park ‘em,” referring to Amtrak’s trains serving the various united states.

It’s hard to say at this moment what Mr. Coates would say about Amtrak’s naughtiness, but, in honesty, it may not be entirely fit for a family publication, such would be his many frustrations with Amtrak today.

Actually, his “pull ‘em over and park ‘em” may be just what needs to happen.

After that happened, then the parked trains should have a new paint job slapped on them (a la Amtrak Day, May 1, 1971), and a new operator should take over Amtrak’s route system; an operator which would actually be interested in running passenger trains.

Veolia? Herzog? Virgin? Where are you? We need you.

We have all been waiting months for Amtrak, with its fourth president (And, the current one only an interim president.) in less than 10 years, to come up with some – any – vision for the future. It hasn’t happened.

Reports have come (See the last issue of This Week at Amtrak.) Amtrak really isn’t interested in “slow trains,” but wants to jump into the high speed rail game, and place all of its focus there.

Ugh.

Since Amtrak can’t properly operate a conventional speed passenger rail system effectively, what proof is there Amtrak can operate a high speed rail system properly?

And, this one rather significant fact comes into play: High speed systems need conventional speed rail feeder system to make them work efficiently. Since Amtrak hasn’t accomplished that first, well, why would anyone with a rational mind entrust them with a whole new set of trains?

So, here’s the rational thought. If Amtrak management wants to go chasing after the future of high speed rail and compete with the likes of the successful European operators, we should let them. Shovel a few million bucks their way every year to keep the team together, and let them plot and plan to their collective hearts’ desire. It would be cheap by anyone’s measure to pay these folks to do something different.

While current Amtrak senior managers can work themselves silly in their new offices, real railroad managers, who not only know how to run a railroad, but WANT to run a passenger railroad, can take over Amtrak, and run and grow and expand the company the way it deserves to be run.

Veolia? Herzog? Virgin? Are you there?

All of these people like to run trains. Why not let them?

Here is what one TWA reader had to say after publication of the last TWA.

[begin quote]

Here's a thought: why not simply invite TALGO to carefully replace train by train, line by line Amtrak's existing network, with TALGO assuming all maintenance on all Talgo equipment? The argument that TALGO can't use the NE Corridor's high level platforms is ridiculous; back in the mid-50's the New Haven Railroad's Talgo (John Quincy Adams) loaded and unloaded at the high level platforms in Grand Central Terminal on a daily basis.

A Talgo SILVER METEOR or a Talgo LAKE SHORE LIMITED are not difficult to imagine (including sleeping and dining facilities) and the Talgo tilt-feature would allow cuts in running time on EVERY route on EVERY train (imagine what a TALGO could do on the curvy route of the CARDINAL). TALGO is existing, proven technology THAT WORKS.

Washington state's Talgo CASCADES have a stellar record of reliability and passengers love them. Best of all, they're relatively INEXPENSIVE. What's not to like? As for FRA regulations, I have faith that serious Talgo engineering should be able to come up with acceptable solutions to all concerns about crashworthiness and safety.

[End quote]

Kind of makes you think, doesn’t it?

2) Who would be winners, and who would be losers in this process? What would it take to make this happen.

First, it would literally take an act of Congress. Congress created Amtrak, Congress keeps Amtrak alive, and Congress can transfer Amtrak to another management team.

Second, this is a no-brainer for Amtrak’s unions. Beyond Amtrak headquarters in Washington and the Northeast Corridor, there is literally an entire country full of Amtrak union workers who would love to have an expanded system to work on and help grow. A more aggressive passenger rail management would certainly require more workers, creating more union jobs.

Third, Amtrak’s current suppliers probably wouldn’t care who they sell to, as along as they are selling. No love lost there.

Fourth, Amtrak’s current state partners often question Amtrak’s rather high-handed approach to “partnerships,” and most likely would enjoy working with a more professional organization like Veolia, which already has contracts with over 500 cities and states around the world to run transit system.

Fifth, just to use on example, Veolia, under the leadership of Executive Vice President Ron Hartman, is filled on its front lines with some of the best ex-Amtrakers in the country (Mr. Hartman himself is a former Amtraker.).

Sixth, turning over the keys to the kingdom would be much easier today than it was on May 1, 1971; after all, a company completely in place is much easier to transition than putting together a new network made up of parts from over a dozen older networks.

We have all had enough of Amtrak’s foot dragging, whining, and inability to operate passenger trains in a professional manner. Amtrak has espoused no vision for the future, and somehow expects all of us to simply fall in line to what it says, without relevant questioning.

It’s time for that to stop.

It’s time for someone to be proactive.

It’s time for Amtrak as we know it today to come to an end, and a new operator for America’s tattered and tottering passenger rail system to come to the front and take over.

Every taxpayer in America will be better for it, and every Amtrak employee will have new, better employer with the ability to pay prevailing wages and offer better security.

All it takes is – literally – an act of Congress.

Call your congressman and senators today. You will be glad you did.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## bretton88

Interesting idea, but for one problem, Veolia doesn't have a good track record at all in the USA (Cap Metro, and Metrolink come to mind.) Don't let them run it. If he does his research on Veolia, he'll find that its not the best option (Australia knows them as Connex, they are well hated down under).


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## Bob Dylan

bretton88 said:


> Interesting idea, but for one problem, Veolia doesn't have a good track record at all in the USA (Cap Metro, and Metrolink come to mind.) Don't let them run it. If he does his research on Veolia, he'll find that its not the best option (Australia knows them as Connex, they are well hated down under).


From Deep-in-the-Heart of Texas (Austin) Ill second this about Veolia, their partnership with CapMetro is the blind leading the blind, or as the local rag said in a recent editorial: "..the Little train that couldnt.."! Dont know metrolink or the Aussie situation but if they are as bad as the fiasco here please keep their hands off Amtrak!!!


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 18, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 39
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Word has come from Gil Carmichael, former Federal Railroad Administration Administrator and Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council.

[begin quote]

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

ITI's Gil Carmichael Calls for holistic transportation policy

- Says Two, New Intermodal Trust Funds Should Subsidize "Ethical" Intermodal Transportation System -

DENVER, CO, September 18, 2009 – In recent comments to the 68th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO), held in Biloxi, Mississippi, Gil Carmichael, Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at the University of Denver, said the key to solving the nation's 21st century transportation problems lies in establishing a holistic approach funded by two, new intermodal trust funds – one for freight movement, the other for passenger transit, and both based on miles traveled.

Speaking to a technical session of 1,200 government and association members from 12 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, addressing today's transportation challenges, Carmichael said the nation needs to establish an ethical and sustainable "intermodal" transportation system that incorporates both freight and passenger rail in order to produce a new transportation structure that meets 21st century needs. This system should be a joint public- and private-sector initiative that builds and expands upon the success of the Interstate Highway System of the last century.

"The Interstate Highway System that was built has served us well," he said. "But today we have a population that has doubled in 50 years; we have a deteriorating and badly congested transportation infrastructure that cannot meet consumer demand; and we have a growing global economy that requires interconnected, intermodal transportation. The solution to meeting this century's challenges lies in building 'Interstate 2.0', an ethical, fuel efficient, intercity, rail freight and passenger transportation system that reconnects our center cities, bus and transit lines, energizes our economy, and sustains our environment. It is a logical and necessary next step forward."

Among the challenges addressed by the two-day conference was the major dilemma of how a new transportation policy and such a massive intermodal transportation system would be paid for – especially with the end of the highway trust fund and declining gas tax revenues in sight. Carmichael offered several paradigms to address this concern:

• Develop a Holistic Transportation Policy. "Historically, this nation has had a 'single mode' mindset." he said. "Our federal government and state DOTs have not addressed transportation as an interconnected, intermodal system, choosing instead to address each mode independently. That myopic approach will no longer work in our global business environment. Today, the public and private sectors need to partner and address our transportation requirements as they relate to two intermodal modes – freight and passenger rail. This involves utilizing our 240,000 miles of existing (and paid for) rail Rights of Way (ROW) and upgrading about 30,000 miles of it to high-speed, grade-separated track. We should provide the private railroads with a 25 percent investment tax credit to encourage them to upgrade and double- and triple-track their main lines to increase speeds and double capacity. A high-speed rail network that reconnects our center cities, major airports, and ports is vital to 21st century transportation and economic development."

• Create Two Intermodal Trust Funds. "One of the dilemmas we are faced with is: how do we pay for this intermodal system?" he asked. "We paid for the Interstate Highway System with a highway trust fund from gas tax usage. The gas tax worked well for the highway and it is about to expire. To replace it, I strongly recommend the U.S. put into place two, new intermodal trust funds to pay for this new multimodal transportation system. There would be one tax for intermodal freight movement and another for passenger transit. And it would be simple to implement cost per mile traveled rather than cents per gallon."

• Reorganize State DOTs to Oversee Intermodal Transportation. "With a new intermodal transportation system in place, we should reorganize our state DOTs so we have two separate departments that are responsible for intermodal freight transport and passenger transit, respectively," he explained. "We can no longer afford to administer effective transportation policy on a single mode basis. States would also build or lease high-speed track on the private railroads' ROWs to allow new, modern, intermodal freight and passenger trains."

• Utilize Our New Technologies. "We have the technology, such as GPS and PTC, to make this intermodal transportation system work, and technology continues to advance," said Carmichael. "High-speed tracks could be grade separated just like the Interstate Highways so we can safely run passenger trains at 110-125 MPH and freight trains at up to 90 MPH, vastly increasing freight capacity. This could cut highway fatalities by at least 50 percent and drastically reduce the stress, wear and tear, and cost of maintaining the highways, thus extending its life.”

• Increase Freight Capacity and Stimulate the Economy. "A major public-works project of this magnitude will add millions of new and permanent jobs, will produce a prosperous economy, just as Interstate I did, and will build a long-lasting, truly sustainable transportation system," said Carmichael. "We can electrify the rails by mid-century, producing a new source of energy and weaning ourselves off of our dependence on foreign fossil fuels. It will then be an ethical and sustainable system that increases freight capacity and protects our environment."

In closing, Carmichael said: "A new holistic, ethical transportation policy will build upon the strengths of each mode, will reduce injuries and deaths, will be environmentally benign, will not waste fuel, will not cost too much to use, and will provide ongoing economic stability. This 21st century intermodal transportation infrastructure will use the ‘steel wheel and steel rail’ – the same as it did in the 19th century – as its fundamental element of transport."

About ITI

The Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver offers an Executive Masters Program that awards a Master of Science in Intermodal Transportation Management from the University of Denver. This graduate degree program prepares transportation industry managers for the increasingly complex, global business environment where knowledge of finance, quantitative processes, supply chain, law, and public policy issues as well as freight, passenger, and intermodal transportation operational strategies are critical management tools for success. For more information on the ITI Executive Masters Program call: 303-871-4702 or visit: www.du.edu/transportation.

[End quote]

Whatever plan moves us into the future – and Mr. Carmichael usually has the sharpest eye on the future – is going to have to find new ways to pay for the next generation of railroads and highways. The original highway trust fund at one time was sacrosanct, and left alone. Too many uninspired members of Congress kept looking at the pool of money and thinking about how many local pork barrel projects in their districts could be funded with someone else’s money, and ever since then, the highway trust fund lost its integrity. If Congress has the will to plan correctly for the future, it will have the necessary nerves of steel to set up new funding mechanisms which again become sacrosanct and are dedicated to the very important cause of surface transportation. It’s time for Congress to adopt the stepchild and call it its own.

2) The gun haters are going nuts. This week, the Senate passed a bill requiring Amtrak to restore the rights of gun owners to transport guns on Amtrak under proper safety precautions in baggage cars.

To read some of the hilarious, delirious ravings of the gun haters, you would think the Senate is inviting known terrorists to a tea party and asking them to bring along their weapons of choice.

Amtrak used to allow guns onboard trains in baggage cars, prior to September 11, 2001. Since then, Amtrak – acting on its own after 9/11 and the later Madrid train bombings – banned guns from its trains.

However, the Senate, in an overwhelming majority vote, has told Amtrak either figure out a way to get the guns safely and securely back on trains, or your free federal monies go away, as soon as March of 2010.

The gun haters, with great whining and gnashing of teeth, have said it’s impossible to make this happen.

More rational people have reminded one and all we have this controlling document in our lives as Americans – it’s know as the Constitution for those who may have forgotten about it with everything going on in Washington these days – which plainly and loudly says Americans have the right to own and carry guns.

These same rational people also like to point out the TSA (Those same passenger-friendly people who love to watch us take off our shoes in airports.) already has lots of plans in place for things like guns on Amtrak.

The sooner they return, the better.

3) Union Pacific Railroad, the railroad everyone thinks loves to hate passenger trains, apparently is willing to make some money embracing one particular passenger train.

The Chicago Tribune reported today, in a story datelined Denver, the Ski Train may be back this winter, operating between Denver and the Winter Park resort. Previously operating for 69 years, the Ski Train was thought to be dead when its previous owner ended the operation and sold his passenger rail equipment to a Canadian scenic passenger operator.

In came Iowa Pacific Holdings, with former Amtraker Ed Ellis now as President of Iowa Pacific, and the Ski Train is back on schedule. Iowa Pacific operates other short passenger routes, mostly as scenic and entertainment trains.

Mr. Ellis said Iowa Pacific would use Iowa Pacific equipment and contract with Amtrak to provide train and engine crews. A deal has not been finalized with Amtrak.

Okay, let’s take a roll call.

Union Pacific, which, through its official spokesman once described Amtrak as “novelty transportation,” is striking a deal with an operator to allow a seasonal, regularly scheduled passenger train operate over its tracks, which it could have easily let go away after the original operator pulled out.

Then, Amtrak, which sometimes thinks of itself as “novelty transportation” instead of being an important part of our domestic surface transportation network, is in the process of cutting a deal with someone else to run passenger trains.

Gosh (gasp!), could capitalism in passenger rail be rearing its allegedly ugly head and someone has figured out how a passenger rail operation can make money for all parties concerned?

What’s wrong with these people? Aren’t they listening to all of the alleged experts that continuously drone on and on and on that only government is capable of running any sort of passenger train in the proper manner (Which means at a loss.)?

4) Lots of mail came into the This Week at Amtrak e-mailbox after the last issue of TWA calling for another operator to replace Amtrak.

Here’s a sample.

[begin quote]

As the British would say: "Here, Here" to your latest newsletter! What about a new corporation formed by a consortium of freight railroads to run a national passenger railroad system? Since there is little more consolidation to be done between the big boys, perhaps the congress and courts would approve such a novel arrangement as there would be no freight competition issues. The freight lines would benefit from aid in infrastructure construction, and having open knowledge of all passenger operations, the freight lines would certainly be more flexible in schedule development/alternate routes even over competing lines since the passenger business would benefit all of them. Now, that "by George" would be a nice trick to pull off, especially since it might even make sense!

[End quote]

[begin quote]

The message both Joe & Joe (Boardman and Biden) should hear is: If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. Give it up!

I like the idea of shutting-down Amtrak, but suggest a slight variation.

Keep Amtrak in operation. However, quarantine Amtrak between Washington, DC; Boston, Springfield, Massachusetts; Albany, New York; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Transition the remainder of the inter-city passenger rail network, and the franchise rights for additional rail services, to one or more other entities.

If Amtrak believes their NEC is so profitable and is the only part of their network deserving investment, as demonstrated by their actions, and trains in the remainder of the country are bleeding amounts of red-ink exceeding the combined inventory of all retail stationery stores, give Amtrak what it wants!

Let's see how long Amtrak can survive with the NEC and a reduced or zero subsidy.

[End quote]

5) And, finally, this advertisement for a vacant position for a qualified person at Amtrak came floating in to TWA.

[begin quote]

Inspector General - Eff. 09/04/09 Choose actions for Inspector General - Eff. 09/04/09 Apply Remember

Location: District of Columbia-Washington

Req. Number: 90000243

Description: THE SAFETY OF OUR PASSENGERS, OUR EMPLOYEES, THE PUBLIC AND OUR OPERATING ENVIRONMENT IS OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY!

Position Title: Inspector General

Department: Office of Inspector General

Location: Washington, DC

Posting #: 90000243

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL APPLICANTS

SUMMARY OF DUTIES: Amtrak's IG reports to the Chairman of Amtrak's Board of Directors and the Congress. The IG will keep them currently informed, by means of periodic reports required by the IG Act, concerning fraud and other serious problems, abuses, and deficiencies relating to the administration of programs and operations administered or financed by Amtrak, to recommend corrective action concerning such problems, abuses, and deficiencies, and to report on the progress made in implementing such corrective action. Amtrak's Inspector General will:

-Serve as the conscience of Amtrak.

-Work with Amtraks Board of Directors and the Congress to improve program management.

-Maximize the positive impact and ensure the independence and objectivity of Amtrak OIGs audits, investigations and other reviews.

-Use Amtrak OIGs investigations and other reviews to increase integrity and recommend improved systems to prevent fraud, waste and abuse.

-Be innovative, question existing procedures, and suggest improvements to programs.

-Where appropriate, build relationships with program managers based on a shared commitment to improving program operations and effectiveness.

-Work with Amtrak to address company-wide issues, both independently and collectively.

EDUCATION: An undergraduate degree is required.

PERFERRED EDUCATION: An advanced or Masters degree in an applicable field is preferred.

WORK EXPERIENCE: The Inspector General should have the following:

-Be an independent-minded leader who possesses the integrity to ensure Amtrak’s full compliance with the IG Act.

-Either be a sitting Inspector General or Deputy Inspector General, or have recent similar experience.

-A minimum of 10 years cumulative progressively responsible administrative, managerial and supervisory experience that provides extensive knowledge of auditing and inspection practices, law enforcement policies and procedures, accounting, internal controls, financial analysis, law, management analysis, public administration, and/or investigation techniques.

-A comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the audit, investigation and evaluation standards issued by the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency and the Government Accountability Office.

-Direct experience working with upper management, the media and Congress.

-Significant experience in management and a thorough understanding of Federal and IG audits, investigations, law enforcement and evaluations involving large scale companies and operations.

-Evidences familiarity with the Comptroller General's auditing standards.

-Ideally, have an understanding of railroad operations.

-Strong analytical skills and judgment to support critical decision making.

-Unquestioned ethical standards, high level of integrity, sound professional judgment, strong leadership skills, an understanding of business acumen, a high level of common sense and the ability to think logically.

-The ability to work under pressure and make sound decisions with limited information.

-Significant experience with leadership, human capital, and managing budgets.

-The ability to build a strong team; the IG should not be intimidated by a talented staff.

-Strong coalition-building and interpersonal skills to form solid relationships both internally and externally; s/he can work through internal conflicts and/or disagreements successfully.

-Excellent written and oral communication skills, including a strong ability to present to audiences both large and small.

-High energy and committed work ethic.

-No personal or professional relationships with Amtrak that would hinder the candidate's ability to be objective and independent with respect to audits and investigations of Amtrak and its operations.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS: The Amtrak Inspector General will have the responsibility of assuring best practices in the Amtrak OIG. The Inspector General will supervise over 90 OIG employees in conducting independent, objective audits, evaluations and investigations relating to Amtrak programs and operations.

This individual must demonstrate credibility, integrity and objectivity, be a strong communicator internally and externally, and have extensive relevant experience.

The successful candidate will have a strong commitment to the Amtrak mission. The candidates commitment should reflect an interest to help build the Amtrak enterprise, creating best practices for a "first class" organization for the passengers, employees and stakeholders. The successful candidate must also demonstrate an equally strong commitment to implementing all requirements of the IG Act.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: 99 employees and 8 ARRA employees

TRAVEL: Less than 25%

AMTRAK EMPLOYEES MUST COMPLETE A JOB OPPORTUNITY APPLICATION TO APPLY FOR THIS POSITION.

Hiring Range: $246,000.00 - $268,000.00

Annually

Last Date to Apply: 09/30/09

Position Type: Permanent

Job Category: Inspector General

Years of Experience: 10 - 15

Travel Requirements: <25%

Relocation Benefits May Apply: Yes

Classification Agreement: No

Referral Bonus: 2500 pts

[End quote]

Well, Amtrak ASKED for all of the right things. It’s another story as to whether or not the new IG will be able to accomplish anything without the type of interference which seems to have occurred in the immediate past.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 22, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


Volume 6, Number 40
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Now, there is no doubt. Amtrak doesn't want to be in the passenger railroad business. Last week Amtrak released a requested study on Ohio's "3 C" corridor, which runs from Cleveland to Cincinnati via Columbus and Dayton. And, Amtrak released a preliminary draft for discussion for the much-awaited Pioneer route restoration between (Chicago), Denver, and the Pacific Northwest. The part of the route from Chicago to Denver would travel over the existing California Zephyr route, but from Denver westward it would be a restored route.

We will examine each proposal, with the Ohio examination coming in the next issue of This Week at Amtrak, but it's clear Amtrak is pricing the costs of these routes so high it's trying to discourage backers and political entities along the route it really doesn't want to create or restore either of these routes, much in the vein it did with the previous Gulf Coast report earlier this summer.

Yes, of course, any good businessman makes a presentation which is conservative on sales projections, and high on costs. That way, when things work out like they are supposed to beyond the projections, there are no nasty little surprises. But, Amtrak has gone to such extremes in both of these instances, one can only begin to guess at the metrics Amtrak used to create these studies. Good business sense certainly never came into play when putting these studies together.

One consistent component of these two studies and the previous Gulf Coast study is Amtrak expects individual states to pony up money for these trains, and doesn't seem to assume any responsibility for being a national passenger train operator, which transcends state boundaries.

2) To read the Pioneer preliminary report asking for comment before final submission to Congress on October 15th is to truly understand corporate shallowness.

For years, Amtrak has gotten away with running the Empire Builder with a Portland, Oregon section separate from the Seattle section by splitting and joining the train in Spokane, Washington. Just as Amtrak does also with the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited separate from the New York City section, nearly a complete train is operated, minus a dining car. Both of these operations miss a huge revenue producing opportunity for a full, second frequency to operate over the majority of the route.

Time and again, we know a second frequency on any route not only boosts ridership, revenues, and revenue passenger miles significantly, but it also spreads the infrastructure costs such as stations over two trains instead of one.

The Silver Meteor and Silver Star on the Right Coast travel nearly identical routes between New York City and Miami, with the Star diverting from the Meteor's route to traverse the old Seaboard Air Line Railroad route via Raleigh, North Carolina and Columbia, South Carolina, and also call at Tampa, Florida. Less than four hours is added to the running time of the Star versus the Meteor, and the payback for that is reflected in two million additional revenue passenger miles generated for the Star over the Meteor's performance.

The Silver Meteor generated in Fiscal Year 2008 $30,538,800 in revenue, 194,454,000 revenue passenger miles, and carried 319,800 souls an average length of trip of 608 miles. The Silver Star generated $28,111,900 in revenue, 196,924,000 revenue passenger miles, and carried 367,100 passengers an average length of trip of 536 miles.

The Empire Builder generated $59,389,600 in revenue, 409,480,000 revenue passenger miles, and carried 554,300 passengers an average length of trip of 739 miles. The Lake Shore Limited generated $24,212,000 in revenue, 152,329,000 revenue passenger miles, and carried 345,600 passengers an average length of trip of 441 miles.

You can easily see the strength of both the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, and it's also easy to imagine if the Portland section of the Empire Builder became the Western Star as its own, second frequency all the way to Chicago how much fiscal strength and transportation output it would generate, as would a second frequency of the Lake Shore Limited into Boston serving the same purpose.

So, Amtrak's plan for the possibility of a restored Pioneer to is add three cars to the California Zephyr between Chicago and Denver, consisting of a coach, coach/baggage, and sleeper. In Denver, a dedicated diner/lounge and separate locomotive would be added to the minuscule consist and form the Pioneer to the Pacific Northwest, terminating in either Portland or Seattle (Seattle being the better option of the two.).

Amtrak projected ridership and revenue for the Pioneer is too small, too. As said above, while being conservative in projections is the best method, Amtrak projections tend more to fatalism than objectivity.

Amtrak has produced four options for restored Pioneer service, Option 1 being a Salt Lake City-Seattle choice, with 102,000 passengers and $11.6 million in revenue projected.

Option 2 is a Denver-Seattle choice, with 111,000 passengers and $13.1 million in revenue projected.

Option 3 is a Salt Lake City-Portland choice, with 82,000 passengers and $7.6 million in revenue, and Option 4 is a Denver-Portland option with 95,000 passengers and $9.2 million in revenue projected.

Option 2 is consistently the best choice, even though through Amtrak's projections it also has the greatest cost. Option 2 restores service over Union Pacific's fabled Overland Route through Wyoming, which would bring service to another state currently without passenger rail benefits.

Much of Amtrak's projections are based on ridership and revenues from the former Pioneer, which ceased operations in 1997. In FY 1992, Pioneer ridership peaked at 156,000 passengers a year. Amtrak states in its preliminary report it expects lower ridership because of stiffer airline competition in the region. Amtrak likes to sell itself short with silly statements like this; it never seems to understand the uniqueness of its own product and the desirability of its product among all classes of travelers.

Amtrak is projecting per mile passenger revenue of 12.2 cents, which would place it only above the Sunset Limited, with revenue of 12.1 cents per passenger mile. It's a mystery why Amtrak would use this number, since the California Zephyr generates 14.5 cents per passenger mile, the Southwest Chief 13.3 cents per passenger mile, and the Empire Builder 14.5 cents. Why there is any presumption of such a low passenger mile figure can only be explained that Amtrak doesn't want this train to come back.

The 111,000 figure for ridership is easily low by 25,000 passengers, but, if a second frequency all the way from Chicago to Denver and then a single frequency to Seattle was used because it is a better choice, then a ridership figure of 250,000 to 300,000 is more likely. Yes, this would require more equipment, but, that's the cost of having the burden of meeting consumer demand.

When you couple realistic passenger mile revenue of 14.5 cents per passenger mile as is found on the California Zephyr with the ridership of a second frequency, suddenly the Pioneer is not only a good idea, but a great idea. Perhaps Amtrak doesn't want to do this because it is afraid of a new service being successful? After all, it's very difficult for Amtrak today to hide the outright success of its long distance trains, so adding another train would just add to Amtrak's problems of explaining why long distance trains always work better than state supported corridor trains with greater transportation output and greater efficiencies in every area.

Training and personnel preparation is another area where Amtrak's proposal seems to be from outer space. Amtrak wants to budget $6.6 million for crew training for Option 2. Why? Perhaps, Amtrak is considering taking kindergarten students and paying for their entire education (including advanced university graduate studies degrees) and, a lifetime later, making them train and engine crew members. The Pioneer is proposed to operate over a route that is already a freight railroad route; there is no blazing of trails going on here. Between Portland and Seattle, the route is an existing Amtrak route, so it's just a matter of adding more crew to the crew base, not creating an whole new cadre of employees. As far as the portion of the route between Denver and Portland, it is not rocket science to recruit and train railroad employees. Amtrak has obviously based its numbers of taking raw employees off the street and turning them into railroaders, and then doubling that cost for a final project figure. In the real world, that is not only unrealistic, but just silly.

On the subject of equipment, Amtrak says it doesn't have enough equipment on the wreck line it could fix, or other cars in storage to get this service moving. It wants (like in the Gulf Coast report) up to four years to develop and build new equipment, at a cost of $123 million for an expected need (for the too short consist) of 27 cars and locomotives, total. That breaks down to over $4,500,000 for each piece of equipment. Perhaps they are projecting all of this equipment will be made of gold and platinum? This figure is way too high, plus, a few pieces of equipment could come from Amtrak's wreck line at a much lower price for rehabilitation instead of new build. Amtrak says it needs to buy four new locomotives in this equipment group, but it has seven wrecked P42s in its inactive fleet, plus 30 stored P40s, and nine stored F40s. There are other bits and pieces of Superliner equipment Amtrak has that could easily supplement this equipment request without having to buy everything new.

The report goes on and on in this vain vein. Probably, the numbers Union Pacific Railroad have submitted for track upgrades are a good starting point for a wish list, and it would help all parties concerned for some infrastructure improvement on the line.

As far as station costs are concerned, Amtrak worries greatly about taking some existing buildings and having to upgrade them for Americans With Disabilities Act compliance. While this has great merit, it always seems to be Amtrak's default position on any new project; it doesn't have the money to spend for ADA compliance. After over a decade without service, many of the route stations have either been removed or converted to other purposes. There will be a great need for new station facilities. However, this is a reasonable expense for cities and towns that wish to have passenger rail service to share the expenses. If they want passenger rail service, provide the portal for that, just like for airlines.

Amtrak says it will need $469,800,000 to restart Pioneer service, with Denver as the jumping off point. The majority of that is $324,100,000 for track and signals, including the coming need for Positive Train Control.

An educated guess says this cost is $150,000,000 too high, including unrealistic training, equipment, and new station costs. By the time a realistic number is agreed upon between Amtrak and the Union Pacific Railroad, that $469 million should be closer to $320,000,000.

Ridership, revenue, and revenue passenger mile projections are tremendously under-represented, and operating expenses are tremendously over-represented. When the true figures meet in the middle, farebox recovery should be in the 50% or higher range (As opposed to Amtrak's guess of 28%).

So, at this point, if you're an elected official of any of the states hoping for a restored Pioneer, what do you do? Amtrak wants $469 million in start-up costs, and then it expects ongoing subsidies to run a train that is positioned in the most expensive way it can be to drain government treasuries.

Here's an idea. Let Amtrak submit its grossly flawed report, with all of the figures as gospel. Then, spend some more money and some more time (After all, Amtrak wants four years or more to restore this service, so to them time is not a factor.), and find a credible passenger rail consulting firm to create a real route analysis, using real world numbers, and then take that report and beat Amtrak over the head with it until it comes to its senses and becomes realistic on what it will take to restore the Pioneer as part of its long distance system.

3) Here is the most compelling part of the Amtrak Pioneer report.

[begin quote]

These projections reflect the fact that all or virtually all of the equipment required for Pioneer restoration would have to be purchased new. Despite growing ridership, Amtrak's long distance equipment fleet is smaller now than it was when the Pioneer operated. Due to funding constraints, Amtrak has not ordered any new long distance equipment since the early 1990s, and most of the "Heritage" cars built for other railroads that Amtrak acquired at its formation have been retired due to age. Amtrak's existing fleet of bi-level Superliner cars is insufficient to meet equipment requirements on the nine long distance trains that currently use Superliner equipment, and Amtrak has only a small number of repairable "wreck status" Superliner cars. In addition, if Amtrak is to continue to provide existing services on long distance routes, it must in the very near future replace nearly 100 remaining "Heritage" cars that are now more than half a century old.

Amtrak has recently issued a request for proposals for the acquisition of 130 single-level long distance cars, primarily to replace the remaining Heritage cars (although funding for this purchase has not yet been identified). Purchasing additional single-level cars to equip a restored Pioneer would not be an optimal solution. Single level cars would accommodate fewer passengers, and operation of single-level Pioneer cars to/from Chicago on the bi-level California Zephyr would trigger a need for additional Superliner "transition" cars (which are in particularly short supply) equipped with a high-level door one end and a single-level door on the other.

A purchase of new bi-level equipment for the Pioneer, which would take approximately four years for design, procurement and construction, would have to be part of a larger equipment order. The high upfront design and tooling costs associated with building passenger rail cars make it uneconomic to construct them in small quantities. Amtrak is preparing a comprehensive equipment fleet strategy that will, among other things, address the existing shortage of bi-level Superliner cars that limits capacity on Western long distance trains. An order for new bi-level equipment, which would be subject to funding availability, could provide the means to acquire additional equipment for new services such as a restored Pioneer.

[End quote]

What is Amtrak saying, here? Has Amtrak actually said – in writing, in an official document, no less – it has demand for long distance trains that is not being met? (Gasp!) Could this be true? Amtrak has unmet demand on trains which are not corridor trains? Could this be a whole line of revenue Amtrak is ignoring? What about taking more cars out of the wreck line and storage yard and putting them into service? Would that imperil Amtrak's ongoing business plan which is to mainly request government subsidies instead of generating revenue inhouse?

And, take a look at the line, "Amtrak is preparing a comprehensive equipment fleet strategy that will, among other things, address the existing shortage of bi-level Superliner cars that limits capacity on Western long distance trains. An order for new bi-level equipment, which would be subject to funding availability, could provide the means to acquire additional equipment for new services as a restored Pioneer."

(Gasp! again) NEW SERVICES? Our Amtrak? Is someone actually preparing a vision for the future for Amtrak? Inquiring minds want to know.

3) While you're trying to wrap your mind around that concept just above, here's an editorial which is appearing in the October 2009 issue of RAILPACE Newsmagazine, which is appearing on news stands today. This commentary is by Tom Nemeth, Editor-in-Chief of RAILPACE, and is used with his permission.

[begin quote]

EDITORIAL

By Tom Nemeth

Amtrak: Getting the Lead Out

Now that Amtrak has adequate funding for operations and growth, while enjoying unprecedented public and political support, it is time for a management makeover. Amtrak service today, with a few exceptions on some western long-hauls and the Acelas, is beginning to look like the final days of Penn Central. While top management obsesses about photographers, on-time performance continues to lag, trains are dirty, shopworn, and overcrowded. What is the meaning of a "reserved train" when passengers are required to stand between Wilmington and Washington, as a friend did on Train 94 on a recent Friday. This editor endured a Business Class coach from Trenton to Newport News on Train 99 on March 28 with reeking toilets. A round trip on the Texas Eagle on June 15 and June 23 last year, in addition to being 8 hours late each way, revealed shopworn Superliners badly in need of a facelift. Another colleague, writing Amtrak in protest of a rather rude trainman, was advised that Amtrak management is not responsible for the behavior of its crews. Granted that working a crowded train is not easy, but there must be recognition that the company (and Federal funding) exists for the benefit of Amtrak's customers, the riding public. In short, it appears that top management just doesn't care.

There are other Amtrak customers too. The commuter railroads whose spine is the Northeast Corridor, are not treated any better by Amtrak's insular management.The faulty design of the ARC rail tunnel now being built under the Hudson River, which will not connect to Penn Station in Manhattan, is partly the fault of Amtrak, which did not want a seat at the table when the project was in initial design, a fatal flaw that will haunt regional rail advocates for generations. Amtrak management just didn't care about "NJ Transit's tunnel." New York's MTA continues to struggle with Amtrak's inability to execute its responsibility for the Long Island Rail Road East Side Access project. This represents a lack of accountability by Amtrak management, who are in a unique position to influence the outcome of these multi-billion dollar investments. Amtrak's own engineering department continues to lack competent leadership, allowing substandard quality concrete ties onto the Northeast Corridor (now being replaced at great expense), and serious structural cracks in a bridge in Elizabeth, NJ, to go unnoticed by inadequately trained maintenance workers.

But where IS management? Corporate culture on Norfolk Southern and other successful railroads dictates that Division Superintendents and Engineering Department officers are not to be found sitting in their offices; rather they get out and ride the trains regularly and observe the property firsthand. On Amtrak, they sequester themselves behind desks and await their long-sought retirement day.

Then there's the issue of Amtrak operations. Shrinking consists in an era of growing ridership hardly makes sense. Amtrak's "One Size Fits All" policy for its long-distance trainsets is also bizarre. One would expect that Western train consists would swell in the summer months, while Florida bound consists would lengthen significantly in the winter season.

Amtrak's culture is one of meetings and seminars, and hiring consultants to produce "studies" for a laissez-faire management that doesn't want to work to resolve the issues themselves.

Meanwhile, Amtrak's lethargic bureaucracy continues to balloon. The agency continues to be a dumping ground for failed bureaucrats and retirees from other government agencies eagerly awaiting retirement. In fact, many already seem to be there.

This is not a Democratic or Republican partisan issue, rather, it concerns the willingness of elected officials to finally purge Amtrak's management ranks of Bush-era minions and install new, energetic top leaders who are committed to growth and expansion; whose actions speak louder than words (and their consultants' reports.)

Nearly a year after the U.S. election, Amtrak still does not have a corporate Strategic Plan for growth. As of this writing, management still does not have a Fleet Plan in place, nor new equipment on order. Management has become so moribund that Joe Szabo, the recently-appointed Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, recently had to direct Amtrak Acting President Joe Boardman to come up with a Fleet Plan. Hello.

Amtrak's Bush-era management team has become more insular and combative, and dismissive of its long term supporters and customers; witness Amtrak's illegal Photography Ban, perhaps the Boardman Administration's only "accomplishment" this year. Boardman, a career bureaucrat, disdains individual discussions with media editors and freelance photojournalists concerning Amtrak's strategic plans and initiatives, and has refused to acknowledge communications from citizens and customers regarding Amtrak's Photo Ban.

Change must start from the top, and there are a number of great rail executives who stand ready to lead Amtrak out of its chaos this fall, when Acting President Joseph Boardman's term is finished. These luminaries include Gene Skoropowski, managing director for California's Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, the agency responsible for intercity passenger rail service linking Sacramento with the Bay Area. Skoropowski has spearheaded growth and development of intercity and corridor passenger rail in California, including implementation of CalTrain's "Baby Bullet" trains. Peter Cannito, former Executive Vice President of Engineering at Amtrak, and retired president of Metro North Railroad, brings a wealth of engineering expertise. Dennis F. Sullivan, former Amtrak Executive Vice President, is a seasoned Operations railroader who will bring customer focus to Amtrak. These three individuals form the backbone of a team that will inspire performance among Amtrak employees and get the company moving forward.

While politics is a necessary aspect of Amtrak's presidency, it cannot be the only aspect. It is essential now to rebuild Amtrak's management team, to run the company as a railroad and as a business, to achieve a vibrant and growing national system.

The U.S. had an extensive passenger rail system until the 1960s, when financial losses caused for-profit railroads to jettison their passenger services. Now that Federal and State governments have begun to accept responsibility for funding a national passenger rail system, there is growing support for breaking the 38-year old Amtrak monopoly on intercity passenger service, and allowing freight railroads and/or private operators to take over Amtrak routes, or even launch new services. This may be the Amtrak Board's last chance to install competent, growth– and customer– oriented management, or the current groundswell of public and political support for passenger rail— and Amtrak's monopoly of it— may soon come to an end.

[End quote]

Okay, Amtrak, more and more people in the non-Amworld are wondering what you're up to; the "business as usual" status quo is no longer acceptable. Do something. The days of laying around and whining about the world being so terribly unfair are over. You're expected to perform, just like everyone else.

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## bretton88

A few points to make:

1. This study was not done by Amtrak, it was paid for by funds appropriated to Amtrak to an outside consulting firm. Therefore this study should not reflect any "amtrak slant." Otherwise

2. The finanacial numbers for track improvements are actually from extensive negotiations with UP. Read the study and it will explain what they did to come up with the costs. Station costs are only 16 million, seems reasonable, since all would have to be ADA compliant.

3. I do agree with the ridership understated part. I think 200,000 riders would be more realistic.

4. More cars are needed. Amtrak doesn't have enough wrecks to start up new service and do daily Texas Eagle to LA (a higher priority).

5. Did he read the study? I seemed to see a cautious optimism in it that this service would get restored.

Thats my 2 cents.


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## AlanB

> EDITORIAL
> By Tom Nemeth
> 
> Amtrak: Getting the Lead Out
> 
> These luminaries include Gene Skoropowski, managing director for California's Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, the agency responsible for intercity passenger rail service linking Sacramento with the Bay Area. Skoropowski has spearheaded growth and development of intercity and corridor passenger rail in California, including implementation of CalTrain's "Baby Bullet" trains.


Guess he missed the news that Gene Skoropowski is retiring within the next month or two. 

Very sad news IMHO, as Gene has worked wonders with the Capital Corridor. But I don't see him being part of any team.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; September 25, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 41
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Amtrak is three for three. The third report (and, there are more to come) about the start of new service is just like the two previous reports: Amtrak really doesn’t want to be in the passenger railroad business.

The third report is a feasibility report on proposed Amtrak service for the 3-C Corridor, which encompasses Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati by way of Dayton, Ohio. The two prior reports concerned the restoration of service on the Sunset Limited route east of New Orleans, and restoration of the Pioneer route from Denver northwest to Seattle.

It’s important to note that of the three reports, this report has the best detail and lays out its arguments for implementation better than the other two reports.

Let’s start with some facts and numbers as outlined in the report.

Length of route – 255 miles

Number of freight host railroads – 3

Proposed scheduled running time, end to end – 6 hours, 30 minutes

Capital costs for infrastructure improvements – $236,200,000

Capital costs for track upgrading – $51,400,000

Capital costs for mechanical facilities – $55,000,000

Capital costs for equipment procurement – $175,000,000 or $4,380,000 per piece average

Estimated annual ridership — 478,000 passengers

Estimated annual revenue – $12,200,000

Estimated annual operating expense – $29,200,000

Estimated annual operating subsidy – $17,000,000

2) Let’s start with annual revenue. Extrapolating from Amtrak’s numbers, the average fare proposed is $25.52 per passenger, or about 11 to 12 cents per revenue passenger mile.

Why Amtrak has proposed such a low number (Even though, as said in this space many times before, conservative estimates for income and high estimate for expenses are best.) is another Amtrak mystery. Amtrak’s average revenue passenger mile income for its 26 corridor routes is 20.65 cents per mile; the figure Amtrak proposes mirrors what is earned on the Kansas City-St. Louis corridor, which has an annual load factor of only 37.4%.

A bump to 14 or 15 cents a revenue passenger mile, which still puts the corridor below other routes such as the Pere Marquette, Carolinian, Wolverine, or even the Illinois Zephyr, would generate a more realistic revenue figure of $15,000,000 or more.

Look at the consist; probably 300 seats per consist of five coaches and one food service car which also has business class seating. Using the number above, Amtrak is estimating just over 1,300 passengers per day total, breaking down to 163 passengers per each of eight departures a day. While that is a robust 54% load factor, that still falls 10% or more under most other Midwest route load factors.

Amtrak has estimated operating costs of $80,000 a day for the eight departures. Train mile costs to the host railroads will run an estimated $10,000 a day, which leave another $70,000 for maintenance, crew costs (less than $11,000 a day), reservations, station costs, and corporate overhead. At these rates, Ohio could probably do better with a non-Amtrak operator than the high costs of Amtrak operations.

As with the other two reports, Amtrak says it has no equipment available in its pool of stored and wrecked equipment to get these trains on the road, and – again – trots out the line all new equipment must be purchased with years-long lead time.

Not true. Amtrak says it needs five trainsets of five coaches, one food service/business class car, one locomotive, and one non-powered control unit for push-pull operations. All of this, says Amtrak, will cost an astounding $175,000,000, or an average of $4,380,000 per car/locomotive/unit.

In its current stored/wrecked inventory, Amtrak has 55 stored Amfleet I coaches and food service cars, and 24 wrecked cars which can be restored. That’s a total of 79 pieces of equipment, for an equipment pool need of 30 passenger cars. Amtrak also has 30 P40 locomotives in storage, and nine F40 locomotives stashed away, waiting for use. Certainly, somewhere in 39 pieces of equipment, five locomotives and five NPCUs can be found without having to buy new equipment. Even at upgrading/rehab prices of $1,000,000 per car or locomotive for 40 pieces of equipment, that’s miles and miles ahead of the $175,000,000 Amtrak says it needs for all new equipment, or, a savings of $135,000,000.

The capital costs for maintenance facilities is a little steep, too. The majority of the fleet maintenance will be done in Cleveland, with turn-maintenance being performed in Cincinnati and Columbus. Fifty-five million dollars for one enclosed shop facility and one wash facility, plus a few other goodies for the turn facilities in the two other cities is high; probably by at least 40%, unless the ground these facilities are being put on is tragically expensive.

And then, there is training, which seems to be Amtrak’s favorite category to overcharge anybody who will pay the price. Estimated road crew training for this route is an astounding $5,900,000. As with the Pioneer route similar figure, it’s impossible to imagine how training road crews for a 255 mile route could even approach even half of this figure. Amtrak is doing nothing but padding its pocket at the expense of Ohio.

3) Amtrak makes a good case for the chosen route, and it’s apparent the Ohio Rail Development Commission laid down some positive guidelines for this route study. The proposed route is one of three, and it is the shortest, most direct route from Cleveland to Cincinnati via Berea, Columbus, Dayton, and Middletown.

After departure from the existing Cleveland Amtrak Lakefront station, every inch of the route is over freight tracks which do not currently host passenger trains. Some track has speed restrictions of 15 to 25 miles per hour, and goes through a lot of congested city areas.

But, the route has a nearby population of roughly 6,900,000 residents, with a large collection of colleges and universities. The cost of improving the freight infrastructure is significant, and the cost of the coming Positive Train Control must be considered in any proposal. As with the Pioneer study, most likely the early infrastructure numbers in this report represent more of a “wish list” between Amtrak, the three host railroads, and the Ohio Rail Development Commission. As with all wish lists, when reality sets in, costs usually go down, not up.

The Cleveland Lakefront station is the only current station considered for use; it’s been so long since this Ohio route area has had passenger service, no suitable stations exist for recreating this route. When you are talking about stations, you are also talking about train platforms, parking, and waiting areas. Wisely, this report and Ohio assume if a local city wants a station stop, it will pay for the construction of a station stop, as well as on-going maintenance of the station.

One bothersome aspect of the report is the proposed station in Cincinnati. Currently, Amtrak’s Cardinal stops in Cincinnati in the dead of night for three roundtrips a week. The Cardinal uses a small part of Cincinnati’s magnificent and huge art deco station. For the 3-C service, a proposal has been made another station be created out of a riverside restaurant instead of the train going a longer distance into the Cincinnati terminal complex.

The assumption is made in the report that since the Cardinal is a nocturnal train for Cincinnati, little cross business will be created. The report seems to forget passenger train riders are an intrepid lot, and when a connection can be found – no matter how inconvenient – some riders will use it.

The argument about whether or not to use the existing station and create a second station will have to be settled by those in Ohio who will eventually be writing the check for this intrastate service. However, for all of the money which will be put into infrastructure for this route, exploring the costs of extending the route – if reasonable – into the existing Cincinnati station is a worthy goal. In the end, connectivity is everything, and optimists can hope that one day more than just a nocturnal Cardinal will be calling at Cincinnati.

An interesting note in the report, talking about the Cleveland station and proposed maintenance facilities there says, “Therefore, this study recommends the construction of a shop and repair facility in Cleveland to perform all maintenance, repairs, washing, fueling and sanding, as well as layover and turnaround servicing, for the entire fleet of 3-C cars and locomotives. This should include the capability in future years to perform heavy repairs as the equipment ages. It should be noted this facility is planned, not only for the maintenance needs of the initial 3-C Corridor, but also for the future Cleveland Hub System with passenger train service proposed to be initiated rom Cleveland to Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, and other points.”

4) This report is an expensive start for Ohio, but, costs aside, it provide a rational starting point. It will be up to the Ohio Rail Development Commission to sit down with Amtrak eye to eye and go over every costly step and find out the real costs and real revenues. It’s interesting one news report said this report represents $400,000,000 more in start-up costs than Ohio had anticipated. Ohio needs to follow the leads of California and North Carolina when negotiating with Amtrak, and figure out how much is bluff and how much is fact. California learned years ago that if it left route advertising up to Amtrak, the state’s annual share of operating costs for its corridors would sky rocket. But, if California relies on its own resources, it can influence the amount of ridership, and, conversely influence the amount of subsidy needed for some trains. Ohio needs to take note.

5) Every day’s e-mail to This Week at Amtrak is a never-ending parade of thoughts and ideas. Here’s the latest.

[begin quote]

Hello once again URPA,

I'm glad that others share my view on letting other companies operate long-distance routes in this country. Even though a lot of people in the rail community are (deservedly) excited about the aspect of high speed rail coming to their states, they should also remember that competition also applies to the long-distance trains as well, and that pressure needs to be kept on Amtrak. After reading some of the more recent TWA articles, it's obvious to me that certain people in Amtrak's management need a wake-up call (whether it's by losing out on the majority of the HSR corridors or by watching some of its long-distance routes return to the freight railroads, something big needs to happen to shake them up). After all, the poorly handled Sunset Limited report, a failure to drastically upgrade overnight fleet, and demanding states to pay for long-distance routes have all happened on their watch.

Division B, Title II, Section 214 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 says:

(a) In General – Within 1 year after the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, the Federal Railroad Administration shall complete a rulemaking proceeding to develop a pilot program that –

`(1) permits a rail carrier or rail carriers that own infrastructure over which Amtrak operates a passenger rail service route described in subparagraph (B), ©, or (D) of section 24102(5) or in section 24702 to petition the Administration to be considered as a passenger rail service provider over that route in lieu of Amtrak for a period not to exceed 5 years after the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008.

Now, with all the talk about whether Amtrak is really disinterested in operating long-distance trains in the long-term, why don't some of the friendlier host railroads contemplate bidding for some of the overnight routes? Pullman may be gone, but the hosts could talk to a manufacturer like the revived Colorado Rail Car company about acquiring some real dining cars and sleepers.

At last year's Railway Age conference, railroad author Frank Wilner advocated returning intercity passenger trains to the freight companies because he thought that “a sound business model” would win over anti-Amtrak politicians in Congress (Source: January 2009 Railfan & Railroads). While it sounds tempting, I’m not sure that all passenger routes can be returned to the host railroads. Instead, I propose that the hosts talk to the likes of Herzog, First Group America, and some of the foreign bidders for HSR and get them to run the trains. I would definitely like to see routes like the Crescent and Silver Star be supplemented with daytime counterparts so I don't have to go from the Carolinas to Atlanta or Florida in the middle of the night.

The hosts would work out a three or four-way partnership with each other and the new entity operating the route (for example, a daily Sunset Limited could have an agreement with BNSF, CSX, Union Pacific, and First Group America) as a way of avoiding the problem of changing trains. Meanwhile, BNSF could run the Southwest Chief by itself and add routes and branches like a spur to Phoenix (a similar situation would apply to Norfolk Southern with the Crescent).

One more thing, the Auto Train concept could be added to other markets by the host railroads (after all, those empty auto racks currently seen on freight trains could be very useful). It may not have been feasible to have a Midwest-Florida Auto Train route 26 years ago, but if gas ever returns to September 2008 levels, it would be more than practical for the Auto Train concept to be extended to other parts of the country.

– Anonymous

P.S. Based on the discussion in the URPA Intranet group during the Labor Day weekend, states like Florida should contact Veolia or any of the companies which fail to get HSR bids to operate conventional speed routes as a precursor to high speed service.

[End quote]

6) Coming in the next issue of TWA: William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona has more thoughts on the future of passenger rail.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## AlanB

MrFSS said:


> In its current stored/wrecked inventory, Amtrak has 55 stored Amfleet I coaches and food service cars, and 24 wrecked cars which can be restored. That’s a total of 79 pieces of equipment, for an equipment pool need of 30 passenger cars. Amtrak also has 30 P40 locomotives in storage, and nine F40 locomotives stashed away, waiting for use. Certainly, somewhere in 39 pieces of equipment, five locomotives and five NPCUs can be found without having to buy new equipment. Even at upgrading/rehab prices of $1,000,000 per car or locomotive for 40 pieces of equipment, that’s miles and miles ahead of the $175,000,000 Amtrak says it needs for all new equipment, or, a savings of $135,000,000.


I continue to find it amazing how URPA can come out with some numbers that actually do make sense, and then they come out with numbers that seem to have no reflection in reality at other times; like the numbers above.

URPA seems to have forgotten that Amtrak is using stimulus monies to return to service most of those Amfleet cars that are mentioned. Amtrak already has plans for those cars, 55 of them are slated to return to service thanks to the Stimulus. And it is just possible that whatever few cars are left, Amtrak may be hoping to restore them to service in the next few years and press them into service on lines where Amtrak won't be able to obtain new equipment on someone else's dime.

And then we come to the P40's. While URPA is correct that Amtrak could consider pulling some units out of storage, the numbers are still wrong. Back in 2003 Amtrak only had 38 P40's still active out of 44 original units. Out of that 38, 10 have now been sold to NJT and the State of CT. Another 15 are currently being pulled out of mothballs thanks to the Stimulus to be returned to existing services. That leaves only 13 P40's left in mothballs. That is still more than enough to support the proposed 3C's service, with a few spares, but it is far cry from the fictional 39 pieces of equipment stated.


----------



## MrFSS

AlanB said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> In its current stored/wrecked inventory, Amtrak has 55 stored Amfleet I coaches and food service cars, and 24 wrecked cars which can be restored. That's a total of 79 pieces of equipment, for an equipment pool need of 30 passenger cars. Amtrak also has 30 P40 locomotives in storage, and nine F40 locomotives stashed away, waiting for use. Certainly, somewhere in 39 pieces of equipment, five locomotives and five NPCUs can be found without having to buy new equipment. Even at upgrading/rehab prices of $1,000,000 per car or locomotive for 40 pieces of equipment, that's miles and miles ahead of the $175,000,000 Amtrak says it needs for all new equipment, or, a savings of $135,000,000.
> 
> 
> 
> I continue to find it amazing how URPA can come out with some numbers that actually do make sense, and then they come out with numbers that seem to have no reflection in reality at other times; like the numbers above.
> 
> URPA seems to have forgotten that Amtrak is using stimulus monies to return to service most of those Amfleet cars that are mentioned. Amtrak already has plans for those cars, 55 of them are slated to return to service thanks to the Stimulus. And it is just possible that whatever few cars are left, Amtrak may be hoping to restore them to service in the next few years and press them into service on lines where Amtrak won't be able to obtain new equipment on someone else's dime.
> 
> And then we come to the P40's. While URPA is correct that Amtrak could consider pulling some units out of storage, the numbers are still wrong. Back in 2003 Amtrak only had 38 P40's still active out of 44 original units. Out of that 38, 10 have now been sold to NJT and the State of CT. Another 15 are currently being pulled out of mothballs thanks to the Stimulus to be returned to existing services. That leaves only 13 P40's left in mothballs. That is still more than enough to support the proposed 3C's service, with a few spares, but it is far cry from the fictional 39 pieces of equipment stated.
Click to expand...

You should email Bruce and tell him all this and see what he says!


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 1, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 42
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) They’re not going to take it lying down – Amtrak’s Pioneer route restoration report, that is. Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho is not pleased with Amtrak’s initial Pioneer report, and has sent a letter to Amtrak outlining his thoughts. Additionally, several groups interested in the route restoration have gone to great pains to point out the many and various flaws in Amtrak’s initial report. These groups include the Cascadia Center, the Pacific Northwest Economic Region organization, All Aboard Washington (the Washington Association of Rail Passengers), and the Pioneer Restoration Organization.

Here is the Cascadia Center’s Alternative Vision, starting with the Executive Summary. Comments follow at the end.

[begin quote]

The Pioneer: An Alternative Vision

Cascadia Center for Regional Development

September 29, 2009

Executive Summary

Amtrak's draft feasibility study on the Pioneer train's restoration, released September 18, errs on numerous fronts. It neglects the many opportunities for making the Pioneer the backbone of a regional transportation network in the Denver-Seattle corridor.

– On scheduling and routing, the study's options include low-potential stops without asking if a better mix of stations exists. The schedules provide poor service times at key tourist stops. We present a higher-ridership scenario that includes northern Colorado's Front Range cities and responds to expressions of interest from many communities.

– On equipment, Amtrak's analysis calls for high-level cars that it says it doesn't have. Cascadia highlights the good sense of a single-level-equipment option which would not require the study's proposed purchase of more than $100 million of new equipment.

– Regarding public-transportation connections at the Pioneer's stops, the draft study falls silent, overlooking opportunities for new ridership. We show how the Pioneer could connect advantageously with resort destinations and off-route communities, bringing more and more people within the reach of public transportation.

– In spite of general population growth, the steady growth in travel on other Amtrak long-distance trains, and other factors, Amtrak assumes ridership will be less than it was on the Pioneer of the 1990s. The study offers no ideas for improving the numbers. We present numerous ideas - better connectivity, better scheduling, better routing.

– Regarding capital costs, Amtrak presents, without question, a list of proposed capacity improvements representing hundreds of millions of dollars. We believe the Pioneer's impact, on the existing high-quality mainlines, can be fairly compensated with far fewer investments. Freight infrastructure improvement yields public benefits, but should not be cited, in effect, to eliminate chances for passenger rail expansion.

– Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing funds are available to Amtrak at low cost. We raise the possibility of Amtrak utilizing this very substantial funding source - if a big infrastructure budget is ultimately determined to be necessary.

– On operating costs, the study again overlooks opportunities for economy, including private provision of some services. We highlight the fact that the Denver-Seattle option, which we favor, has the lowest operating cost per train mile - that cost representing the platform on which the service is built. Better ridership divides that relatively static cost out, improving farebox recovery and thus operating performance.

– The study's implementation timeline leaves room for improvement. A recently announced service plan for another Amtrak route uses a much shorter timeline for station improvements, and the single-level equipment scenario we advocate would use cars that are already in the fleet or are part of a procurement process already initiated.

The draft study makes tomorrow look like yesterday. Where it sees past failings, we see future opportunities. Wisely implemented, the Pioneer service will anchor an effective public transportation system across a vast and largely under-served swath of the country.

[End of Executive Summary; beginning of full text]

The Pioneer: An Alternative Vision

Cascadia Center for Regional Development

September 29, 2009

Amtrak's draft study on the feasibility of restoring the Pioneer train dismisses many exciting opportunities that this service restoration presents. In this analysis we attempt to elucidate some of those opportunities.

1. Scheduling and route

The draft study's set of schedule options contains nothing resembling the operating scenario that, in our opinion, offers the promise of highest ridership and greatest return to the public. We call for a two-night, stand-alone Pioneer running between Denver and Seattle. The westbound California Zephyr would follow its current schedule. Passengers transferring to the Pioneer in Denver would lay over there from morning until evening, when the Pioneer would depart on the BNSF Front Range Subdivision to Wyoming. The train would serve several Front Range cities and Cheyenne, cross Wyoming to Ogden during the night, and (without stopping in Ogden) arrive in Salt Lake City in mid-morning. It would wye in Salt Lake and return to Ogden (stopping there), then proceed to Seattle. Eastbound, the train would reach Salt Lake in early evening, again providing a conveniently timed overnight service when it continues on to Wyoming and Denver. We attach a sample schedule [Not attached in TWA].

This configuration offers many advantages. No city with a population over 100,000 is served during the middle of the night in either direction. None of the draft study's timetables accomplish this. Often asymmetrical, those timetables also ensure middle-of-the-night service, in at least one direction, at the key tourist stops in Idaho - thus cutting significantly into discretionary ridership. By contrast, the two-night Pioneer visits calls at these stations during the day in both directions. The "dip" into Salt Lake City (modeled on the Silver Star's long-established Auburndale-Tampa-Auburndale dip) establishes a quasi-corridor between Denver and Salt Lake, with travelers enjoying a choice between the scenic, lower-speed Rio Grande route during the daytime and a faster, overnight trip, via Wyoming, for predominantly non-tourist travel. The Pioneer serves the key Salt Lake stop at convenient times, and the connection with service to western Colorado is retained. The Pioneer-western Colorado layovers eastbound and westbound are long, but not much longer, in either case, than the 9:35 eastbound layover that Amtrak's study considers acceptable. At the same time, the Pioneer would not involve even moderately long Salt Lake layovers for most passengers, i.e. those proceeding to or from Denver and points east. The Seattle service times, unlike those in the draft study, meanwhile allow for same-day transfers to and from Vancouver, BC - a key connection. The timetable is considerably more symmetrical than those in the study, meaning ridership is compromised at fewer stops.

We have developed the Portland-Seattle timetable in the light of the current Cascades schedule, and any Pioneer schedule should give the Cascades priority consideration. In our proposal, the northbound Pioneer will be discharge-only at points between Portland and Seattle, thus sustaining Cascades ridership. Since the southbound Pioneer, presumably, will be the last train of the evening, it will however be full-service rather than receive-only. This will in effect enhance the corridor service as presently configured.

We view the Denver layover as a plus. The possibility of passenger inconvenience when the draft study's 2:34 eastbound layover time at Denver fails to "capture" a late-arriving

Pioneer is eliminated, reducing certain operating costs. Instead of a long sit at Denver Union Station, as the draft study proposes, through-travelers find themselves conveniently positioned for a day of pleasure – or business – in the heart of the Mile High City. In a letter to Amtrak, Denver's Regional Transportation District has cited many possibilities for coordinating Amtrak travel with local bus tours, transit access, and the like. We attach the letter [Not attached in TWA].

Of the options presented in the study, no. 3 (Portland-Salt Lake) offers the best alternative to the two-night scenario. If option no. 3 is ultimately adopted, the train should however leave Portland approximately nine hours later, so as to arrive in Salt Lake City with a moderate recovery/working time before its departure eastbound as a section of the California Zephyr. This adjustment would also make the schedule symmetrical and facilitate round-trip day travel between Portland and, for example, Hood River, where the service times would bracket excursions on the Mount Hood Railroad.

The attached schedule [Not attached in TWA] also differs from the study's options in its mix of stops. Boulder, Longmont, Fort Collins and potentially Loveland (to begin from Denver) replace Greeley in Colorado. A new stop in downtown Cheyenne replaces the remote Borie stop. Green River, a few minutes' drive from the larger city of Rock Springs, loses its station. Mountain Home, with its Air Force base, receives service. Nampa, which has no passenger station at all, and whose station location is undesirable, is replaced by Caldwell. Well-positioned halfway between Boise and Ontario, Caldwell has maintained a highly attractive station property and has expressed enthusiasm about receiving Amtrak service. In Oregon, the much-maligned stop at the UP Hinkle yard yields to Stanfield - a solution repeatedly sought by both Stanfield and the nearby off-line city of Hermiston.

These changes would both reduce certain costs and increase ridership substantially, as discussed below.

2. The BNSF Front Range Option

Central to our proposal is the routing of the train on the BNSF Front Range Subdivision, as opposed to the UP Greeley Subdivision, between Denver and Cheyenne. The study draft dismisses the BNSF option with one paragraph:

Between Denver and the Cheyenne area, BNSF’s Front Range Subdivision which runs through Boulder (home of the University of Colorado) and Fort Collins (home of Colorado State University) to Speer and Cheyenne, is a theoretical alternative to the former Pioneer route through Greeley. However, distances via the BNSF line are longer—14 miles longer between Denver and Speer (where there is no connection to the UP line) and 26 miles longer if the train operated over the BNSF line into Cheyenne (where there is a connection, but no access to UP’s historic station in downtown Cheyenne). Moreover, maximum speed on the unsignalled BNSF line is only 49 mph; over 30 miles are restricted to 30 mph or less; and there is a 15-20 mph speed restriction on the six-mile segment of the line through downtown Fort Collins where trains run down the middle of Mason Street. While operation via the BNSF line is not feasible at the present time due to much longer trip times, it could be a viable alternative in the future if proposals to upgrade the line for high speed rail service come to fruition.

There is nothing "theoretical" about the BNSF route. The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) FasTracks plan calls for developing the route's Denver-Longmont segment over the next six years for commuter service. From Longmont north to Fort Collins, plans

including an environmental impact statement process whose completion is expected in 2010 have been outlined for a further extension of commuter rail service, again encompassing major infrastructure improvements. The Front Range Subdivision passes through metropolitan areas totaling 578,000 in population – well over twice that of the Greeley metropolitan area (2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimates). If routed on the Front Range line, the Pioneer would also serve two major universities with a combined enrollment of about 54,000 - more than four times that of Greeley's university. Further, the Greeley subdivision is not being developed for commuter or regional rail, meaning that the BNSF route offers rail connectivity wholly absent from the UP option. At present, the BNSF route has about half the freight traffic that the Greeley Subdivision sees.

The study understates the BNSF route's potential by mentioning the 49 mph speed limit. This is a freight speed limit; the passenger limit is 59 mph. The study also implies erroneously that the street running in Fort Collins totals six miles. In fact the segment is about 1.25 miles long, along a corridor that is being developed for a bus rapid transit system with at least one station that would naturally serve as an interchange point for the Pioneer's passengers.

Further, the BNSF route would serve downtown Cheyenne, as opposed to Borie, the Greeley route's nearest approach - a remote, unpopulated location on a windswept prairie 10 miles from the center of town. This shift would boost ridership from Cheyenne substantially. Perhaps as important, the city of Cheyenne, while it has no interest in underwriting an Amshack station in Borie, is at least in principle prepared to participate in the creation or maintenance of a station in the city center. Contrary to the study's statement, access to the historic UP station in Cheyenne is possible, and other possibilities for the siting of a station in central Cheyenne also exist.

The study thus disregards Cheyenne's ridership and station possibilities, say nothing of the city's clear interest in the matter. It insists instead on Greeley. In the last three fiscal years of the Pioneer's operation in the 1990s, Greeley generated 6,845 boardings and alightings - 2% fewer than the 6,991 generated by Laramie, a community with a somewhat smaller university and a far smaller population base. Both stops were served at convenient times. Pocatello, with a university roughly the size of Greeley's but a somewhat smaller population, contributed 11,614 riders - with middle-of-the-night service (figures from National Association of Railroad Passengers).

The choice between the UP and BNSF Denver-Cheyenne routings should be clear. The latter has much more potential.

3. Equipment

Equipment for a restored Pioneer is far more available than the study asserts. We have drafted several scenarios by which the Pioneer could be restored, a southern Montana service inaugurated, and the Sunset Limited re-extended to Orlando as a thrice-weekly train, without any new equipment [Not attached in TWA] beyond that in the planned 130-car Viewliner order. We attach a summary of what might be the best initial configuration, which deploys single-level equipment to the Pioneer.

The May 2009 Amtrak fleet plan indicates that Amtrak expected to have 179 stored and wrecked cars and an active fleet surplus of 67 cars as of September 30, 2009 (Amtrak, "System Fleet Plan FY2009"). Most of all these cars are of a type usable on the Pioneer. Many of the stored and wrecked cars are being repaired with ARRA funds. The Viewliner order, for which Amtrak has requested bids, would obviously complement that available single-level fleet.

The attachment [Not attached in TWA] does not deal with locomotives for the simple reason that their supply appears very adequate. As of October 1, 2008, Amtrak had 7 wrecked P-42s, 30 stored P-40s, and 9 stored F-40s, and plans did not call for any of these 46 units to be activated as of October 1, 2009. Amtrak is reconditioning 15 of the P-40s, according to Amtrak's own project summary (Amtrak, "ARRA/NRPC Project Summaries," March 25, 2009; project number PRJ29110074), "in order for them to be used in long distance service." This rehabbing will leave a balance of 15 P-40s among the still-undeployed units. Given this information, it is difficult to believe that Amtrak needs to buy new locomotives for the Pioneer (and charge them up front to the Pioneer's account).

While adequate equipment for launching a Pioneer is available through rehabilitation or activation of idle existing equipment, in combination with the Viewliner order, many worthy expansions of Amtrak service are presently under consideration. We thus view the attached equipment proposal [Not attached in TWA] as a shorter-term solution until Amtrak's fleet can be replenished more generally through a system-wide program. According to a September 19 press report, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois is planning to reintroduce his TrainCARS bill to provide an ongoing funding source for new Amtrak equipment ("Demand for locomotives, train cars to pick up under push for high-speed rail," Chicago Tribune, September 19, 2009; http://www.pantagraph.com/ business/article_10109942-a38f-11de-b399-001cc4c03286.html). We support Senator Durbin's initiative. A Pioneer train with largely rehabbed equipment is not a long-term solution; the maintenance of an adequate national fleet is.

The maintenance of that fleet is a system expense. We do not expect Amtrak to vow that the equipment charged to the Pioneer will never leave the Pioneer equipment pool. A railroad is far too fluid a system for that, and equipment moves from train to train for a variety of reasons. It would be preposterous to charge the anticipated order of Viewliner equipment, for example, to particular trains in the existing system – about like saying that the newborn baby has to buy an extension to the house because the family is now too big for the old one. Establishing the principle that capital assets belong to the entire system puts that system, including new services and old, on a fair and uniform footing. Burdening start-ups with the full cost of new cars, at $4-4.5 million a copy, will only prohibit system expansion.

4. Connections

We see the Pioneer as much more than an 11-foot-wide vehicle moving along a set of tracks: it must be the backbone of a much broader system of public transportation. It should catalyze a marketing and business partnership that will welcome large and increasing numbers of tourists, business travelers and prospective residents to an entire region of America.

In the most obvious terms, this means feeder bus routes – of a sort that Amtrak's draft study ignores completely. Idaho offers a case in point. With a grant from the Idaho Transportation Department, the Yellowstone Business Partnership, based in Idaho Falls and Bozeman, Montana, is planning an innovative, regional public-private transportation cooperative that, in contrast to the Pioneer's history, could bring thousands of train travelers to two of America's most magnificent national parks, multiple ski areas, and numerous towns that today have very limited transit services. The partnership notified Amtrak and its consultant of this initiative in the course of the study draft's preparation. Regrettably, however, the study does not even mention the partnership or its potential for boosting the Pioneer's patronage. If just 1% of all visitors to Grand Teton National Park arrived by connecting coach from the Pioneer's Pocatello station, and departed in like fashion, the train's ridership would jump by nearly 80,000 yearly - that is, if the train called at Pocatello at times convenient for tourists. The study's schedules generally give Pocatello wee-hour service.

The train obviously has to be somewhere in the middle of the night, but the night-to-day differential in ridership at a station where the traffic is largely discretionary is far greater than the same differential at a location where the travel is mostly a matter of business or personal necessity. That is, the draft study's bad times in Pocatello or Shoshone – stepping-off point for Sun Valley and Ketchum – repeat the train's history and constrain ridership much more than bad times in western Wyoming would. Our proposal – a two-night train calling at Pocatello and Shoshone at optimal times – would maximize ridership.

The situation in Pocatello is not much different from that in Shoshone, where the local public bus provider, Mountain Rides, has alerted Amtrak to the potential of connectivity with the Sun Valley-Ketchum resort area and Twin Falls. Mountain Rides has signaled an interest in meeting the train even in the middle of the night, if the schedule demands. None of this potential is mentioned in the study, which focuses instead on the discouraging historical example.

We have also noted interest from potential partners like Northwestern Trailways and the Wild Horse Casino in Pendleton. These appear to have received no attention in the study draft. While the analysis did correctly note the growth in urban transit systems in Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City and Denver, we have to wonder whether that increased connectivity was considered in formulating the remarkably low ridership forecasts.

5. Ridership

The ridership estimates, indeed, are the most pessimistic element of the entire study. The study methodology is not even entirely fair. That is, the authors penalize the raw ridership figures by deducting riders who would "defect" from other trains. The study reduces the projected raw ridership by about 10% to cover this predation on other trains. By contrast, the study gives the Pioneer no credit for the added ridership that it certainly would generate on other Amtrak trains.

This summer's Sunset Limited report takes the proper approach, crediting that projected service restoration for an increase in ridership on the Silver Meteor, for example (Amtrak, "Gulf Coast Service Plan Report," pp. 7 and 33). Amtrak's 2000 Market Based Network Analysis likewise illustrates that connecting ridership is a very significant factor, whereby (in negative terms) the elimination of one train cuts into passenger revenue on connecting trains (Amtrak, "Report to Congress: The Market Based Network Analysis of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation," p. 7).

The draft study exaggerates the role of competition with budget airlines. Trains compete meaningfully with airplanes only in short travel lanes, where the airplane's cruising speed does not represent a major factor in the traveler's budgeting of time. For a long-distance train, ridership is drawn almost entirely from motorists, bus travelers, and people who would otherwise stay home.

The alternative routes for the Pioneer's traverse of the central Rockies are Wyoming (including northern Colorado) and western Colorado (which term here includes some Utah communities). Serving both Denver and Salt Lake City as outlined above, the two-night

scenario sacrifices only a minor degree of connectivity between the Pacific Northwest and western Colorado: one has to wait somewhat longer in Salt Lake City for a transfer, but the connection is retained. At the same time, travel from the Pacific Northwest via the Wyoming route to Denver and all points east does not involve any significant layover, or the unpredictability of two train sections meeting, in Salt Lake City. The study's Pacific Northwest-Salt Lake options - that is, with the California Zephyr picking up the Pioneer in the Utah city - cannot match that advantage. Travel from the Northwest to Denver is also faster by the Wyoming route and, most obviously, the Wyoming-northern Colorado traverse brings many new destinations, and even more city-pairs, into the Amtrak network. The one downside of the somewhat more difficult connection in Salt Lake is more than outweighed, in ridership terms, by the other attributes of the two-night scenario we propose.

Given all the factors in our proposal – retention of the Salt Lake City stop, routing via downtown Cheyenne and the BNSF Front Range route, improved scheduling for discretionary travelers, energetic development of connecting services – we believe that the Pioneer's raw ridership would be much higher than in the study draft's Denver-Seattle scenario. Further, ridership on long-distance trains has increased generally in recent years, rising 17% between FY 2002 and FY 2008. Ridership on the Empire Builder, California Zephyr and Southwest Chief, the three trains most comparable to the Pioneer, has increased by 33%, 7%, and 18%, respectively, over the 2003-2008 period. (Data from National Association of Railroad Passengers website; data from earlier years not readily available).

Amtrak West projected 42,339 annual riders for the Portland-Boise train contemplated in the late 1990s – on a stub route less than one third the full Denver-Seattle distance now under discussion ("Amtrak West's presentation on Portland-to-Boise rail service," September 8, 1999?). This projection, too, suggests that the study draft's forecasts are very low.

The 41% general population increase, cited by the study, in the Pioneer's states since 1992 – in contrast to the 19% national increase over the same period – also argues for the Pioneer's potential.

Given all the above, we believe the study's raw ridership forecast (that is, before impacts on other system trains) should be increased by at least 25-50%, i.e. to 154,500-185,400.

6. Capital costs

While many recent passenger rail projects have contended with rising infrastructure demands from host railroads, this study's figures carry the trend to a daunting extreme.

Start-up infrastructure improvements charged to the Pioneer's budget should be limited to the following:

– a 10,000-foot passing siding at each point where the eastbound and westbound Pioneer are expected to meet. Under the two-night scenario, this would mean sidings in the Great Divide Basin of Wyoming, in Idaho west of Pocatello, and between The Dalles and Stanfield, Oregon.

– reconstruction of the station track at Ogden. (Should funding considerations so demand, it might be possible to defer the Ogden station track installation, temporarily omitting the Ogden stop. It could be replaced by Brigham City, 20 miles to the north, where the Pioneer once in fact stopped. An Amshack would likely be required.)

– minimal track and signaling improvements on the BNSF Front Range Subdivision, in anticipation of more extensive upgrades to that line in conjunction with planned regional and commuter rail development.

– construction of a new run-through track at La Grande to prevent freight-passenger interference while the Pioneer is in the station. The run-through track improvements at Nampa and Hinkle are unnecessary for the simple reason that there should not be a stop at either location.

With the exception of the Ogden improvements, all these enhancements would also provide benefits for freight traffic.

In the case of Boise, improvements to the "Boise loop" are called for, but it remains to be seen, among other things, whether the city of Boise, which owns much of the loop, will itself underwrite the improvement of its track. Boise, the third-largest city in the Pacific Northwest, very much wants the service. The City is committed to the maintenance of the Boise Depot for passenger rail purposes.

In the case of Portland, a new crossover track allowing access between the Steel Bridge and Portland Union Station is needed, as the study notes. However, the Oregon Department of Transportation has applied for ARRA funding that would allow for the restoration of the crossover track, or another engineering solution serving the same practical purpose, as part of a larger package of ARRA projects in the area. Those projects include the Graham Line siding also cited in the draft study, which did not mention the hoped-for funding of either of these improvements from another source. We understand that the crossover would be a relatively minor cost item in any event.

We are thus unconvinced that the resumption of a single daily passenger train, at any point along the route proposed by the draft study, from Denver to Seattle, would in itself justify major infrastructure projects, i.e., projects beyond those discussed above. Amtrak should not pass on these staggering estimates to the study's readers without questioning whether they serve freight rail only, without relevance to the passenger train.

Even the four projects listed above could be viewed as excessive. In 1991, Amtrak studied a reconfiguration of the Pioneer using UP track from Denver to Ogden – as the current draft study does. It concluded that track conditions on that entire segment "are a part of UP's primary main line and are considered satisfactory for the restoration of passenger service without need for capital expenditures" (Amtrak, "Reroute of the Pioneer and the Desert Wind through Central Iowa and Wyoming," p. 18). It is difficult to believe that the Denver-Ogden route, as a major active freight line, has deteriorated significantly since that time.

The California Zephyr has recently had to detour over the Wyoming route between Salt Lake City and Denver because of maintenance on the Rio Grande route. Several reliable reports we have received indicate that the train was typically reaching Denver or Salt Lake at least 2:30 sooner than it would have if it had followed the Rio Grande route's schedule. The Wyoming route is of course faster by nature; an extrapolation of Amtrak's 1997 timetable indicates that the Salt Lake-Wyoming-Denver route that the Zephyr has been using should take about 2:15 less than the Rio Grande. The anecdotal evidence thus strongly suggests that the Wyoming route's condition, without any infrastructure improvements, will consistently support a passenger train moving at the 1997 timetable's speed.

Finally, the two-night train we propose allows for relatively slow night-running along the Columbia River, primarily to allow for good service times in Portland. The slow running there will also mean less need to overtake freights, making the need for the ten-mile second main track that the study calls for in the Columbia Gorge all the more doubtful. For passenger traffic access, the basic need is for 10,000-foot sidings at points where the eastbound and westbound Pioneers would meet.

The point here is not that freight infrastructure improvements are not needed on the route, but that such upgrades should not be charged to a passenger train. If however decision-makers conclude that most or even all of the proposed improvements should be implemented, the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program may provide an alternative. RRIF provides a total pool of $35 billion of capital, currently available to Amtrak at somewhat over 4% interest. Amtrak could borrow the entire $324.1 million foreseen by the draft study for the Denver-Seattle route and pass it on to the railroads in question under attractive terms. The UP, for example, has to pay nearly 12% to obtain capital on the private market, according to the federally calculated cost-of-capital figures for the industry, providing "room" to pay Amtrak a premium above the 4%. That premium could defray part of Amtrak's operating loss for the train.

The issue reduces itself to the allocation of investment costs in a complex national economy. Two passenger train movements daily on a high-quality rail line should involve little need for new infrastructure. We agree that capacity investments such as those Union Pacific is calling for will yield social benefits. Shippers will see their products move more expeditiously, expedition of traffic flows will reduce carbon emissions, and so forth. Decision-makers need however to distinguish between the benefits for and needs of passengers, on the one hand, and freight on the other.

The study's projected equipment costs express the reflexive public-sector tendency towards expensive turn-key solutions, rather than the resourcefulness of a private-sector business. As the attached equipment scenario makes clear, rehabilitation of existing equipment will reduce costs substantially. According to Amtrak's ARRA project summaries (cited earlier), the cost for rehabilitation of the variety of equipment being restored with the stimulus funds comes to just under $1 million per car. Those cars represent only part of Amtrak's inactive fleet: other equipment is sitting – waiting. A private businessman who has expressed interest in operating the Pioneer (see under Operating Costs, below) points also to the availability in the open market of considerable additional bi-level equipment that could be acquired and rehabbed for about $1.2 million per car.

Even if, for example, rehabilitated single-level equipment were used in combination with new Viewliner sleepers and diners, the cost per car would still be far less than the study projects.

Cobbling together consists from different sources is not necessarily an ideal solution. Ultimately equipment needs to be obtained system wide, and that equipment should be treated as a system expense, not a charge against any one train.

Station costs could be reduced in certain instances by the willingness of communities to invest (or, in fact, continue investing) in the station properties they own. Ultimately, Amtrak has to move in the direction of the local provision of station infrastructure, and local players

will have to secure the resources to do that. Existing opportunities for local contributions in these sources of civic pride and utility should be explored energetically.

Most of the stations on the potential Pioneer route are either in use as train stations, or have been maintained (in some cases after restoration) through local initiatives, for other purposes. Many of the current station-building activities cited in the draft study either do not occupy the whole facility or serve only occasional events. Because Amtrak will not have agents at most of the stations, the only modification needed at many sites is restoration of the platforms so as to meet ADA requirements.

7. Operating costs

The draft study does not weigh the possibility of private entry into any aspect of the Pioneer's operation (excepting, of course, the private ownership of the railroad). The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, which mandated the study, also specifically encouraged private operation of passenger trains, precisely because it might save the public money (Public Law 110-432, Division B, Title II, Sections 214, 216 and 217).

We have explored the potential for private operation of some aspects of the Pioneer's service. To date, one operator has indicated interest in an arrangement whereby Amtrak would exercise its right of access, and hire the private firm for operations. Having read the study draft, the operator predicted that operating costs could be reduced by about $5 million annually by such a contractual arrangement. While seeking private operators, admittedly, lies beyond the study's scope of work, the potential for entrepreneurial entry into the Pioneer's operation needs to be scrutinized, and certainly offers opportunities for economy. We will continue to investigate these possibilities, and would be happy to discuss them in greater detail with Amtrak and appropriate decision-makers.

The study's enumeration of operating costs seems mostly reasonable; the only expense that appears clearly excessive is the 4 to 14 full-time employees perceived as necessary for added services at the staffed stations. A Denver Union Station employee with whom we spoke stated that the station staff there was not larger during the Pioneer's tenure than it is now, with only California Zephyr service. To some extent, of course, the simultaneity of two trains in a station would raise the question of increased staffing needs; however, our two-night scenario essentially avoids a convergence of schedules with other long-distance trains.

It may be possible to provide the train's on-board staffing on the model of Amtrak's Auto Train, which in financial terms out-performs all other Amtrak long-distance services, and whose labor arrangements are more flexible than those elsewhere in the system. Sensible labor contracts could result in some cost savings, for example by allowing employees to cross craft barriers more flexibly.

It is the severe underestimation of revenue – of ridership – that draws our attention far more than any expense item, however. The analysis should have at least pointed in the direction of a fresher, more imaginative approach to this issue. The study draft's consist (like the ridership figures) is very small. As the attached equipment summary [Not attached in TWA] suggests, a larger consist would facilitate certain innovations. One coach car – an Amfleet I coach, with its existing seat configuration – would provide budget transportation for persons of limited means, who would take a bus if it weren't for the fact that the bus service is no longer available. Another coach, with a capacity lower than that of a standard long-distance coach but exceeding that of a sleeper, would be outfitted with seats that recline to full horizontal position, and each two seats would be enclosable by a retractable curtain to provide a modicum of privacy for sleeping – at a somewhat increased fare, naturally. The potentials for attracting new market segments are not the most obvious subjects for a feasibility study, but nothing prohibits their consideration, either.

The Pioneer needs to be seen in terms of its possibilities, not its difficult history. The most telling statistics in the draft study are the cost per train mile and net per train mile in Table 12 (p. 46). The Denver-Seattle option wins the competition here. While the study considers that route less attractive in the light of other metrics, cost per train mile trumps those other considerations. It does not increase markedly as the train's occupancy increases or cars are added to the consist. It is the platform we have to work with, and in that sense the table makes it clear that the Denver-Seattle option is best equipped to minimize subsidies per unit of travel.

8. Timeline

The study presents a discouraging timeline, and we have to wonder why. The analysis concludes that even ADA projects "will average approximately 36 to 48 months" (p. 26). New equipment must be ordered. Existing equipment cannot be rehabbed, even as a temporary measure to get the wheels rolling while grander solutions await. The possibility of using Viewliners, which would be available relatively soon, is brushed aside because the California Zephyr is a bi-level train.

The 36 to 48 months for ADA-compliance upgrades contrasts with the Sunset Limited service plan (cited earlier), which (p. 55) allots 9-26 months for comparable enhancements. One is left feeling that the study stretches out the timeline much as it maximizes expenses - and to no one's benefit in either case.

Tri-Met (Portland), UTA (Salt Lake City) and RTD (Denver) have experience with building ADA platforms and ramps and working safely in railroad rights-of-way in this region. Amtrak has little experience in implementing improvements in this rugged country, and therefore may be anticipating higher-than-necessary costs. An innovative alternative would be for Amtrak to utilize regional transit agencies as general contractors for this work, to reduce costs and expedite the service launch.

9. Conclusion

Under the Amtrak legislation in force since 1970, the nation's passenger railroad has a right to operate on the tracks of private railroads. It needs to exercise that right, at its discretion rather than the discretion of the private railroads. The draft study gives the contrary impression of a federal institution whose duties include reporting, without question, the claims asserted by private railroads as the price of passenger access. We agree that costs engendered by Amtrak trains should be defrayed by Amtrak and that investments in freight rail infrastructure are necessary and will yield important public benefits. The study appears, however, to mix the two priorities, going beyond the scope of what is the passenger train's "responsibility." It is up to Amtrak and Congress to correct this confusion of purposes.

We also perceive the study's infrastructure and equipment budgets as a means of discouraging interest in this system expansion - or any system expansion, for that matter. There are ways to do this more economically. We have advanced some possibilities in this paper, and we urge the further exploration of those possibilities. It behooves us to fulfill the Pioneer's considerable promise without ignoring the need to conserve public resources.

[End quote]

2) Well. Most interesting.

And, yes, the proposals differ from what was offered as a similar analysis in TWA in September. However, these proposals are offered by competent local authorities, working with local knowledge and vision formed by years of waiting for the Pioneer to return. There are no single, final answers; there are a range of choices of final answers which are superior to those initially offered by Amtrak.

Some of the equipment use ideas (specifically, reshuffling other train consists which often operate at a high load factor, such as the Empire Builder) need work, but the sense of thinking outside of the box is genuine. When the subject is equipment pools, there are usually a half a dozen good ideas for any one situation.

Most startling in the analysis is the sense of entrepreneurship, which is totally absent from the Amtrak document. The Cascadia Center for Regional Development obviously does not believe in all power to the government, but, rather, good solutions can be found outside of government. Also most tantalizing is the prospect of private operation of this train under an interesting arrangement with Amtrak.

Under Amtrak’s proposal, the people of the Pacific Northwest are given a one-bid, one horse race. The Cascadia Center changes that equation, and demands at least two horses in the race, if not more. Bravo! Cascadia Center.

Now, it will be up to the federal, state, and local politicians along the proposed route of the Pioneer to ask for more than what Amtrak initially offered. Since Amtrak is a creature of government, these people have the power to influence Amtrak and demand more from Amtrak than what Amtrak was initially willing to do.

And, politicians along the routes of Amtrak’s other two route restoration and new route proposals along the Gulf Coast and in Ohio: the same goes for you, too. The silence coming from Florida and its elected officials since the Gulf Coast report was published in August has been deafening. Congresswoman Corrine Brown of Jacksonville put $1,000,000 of taxpayer money for Amtrak in its 2008 reauthorization to pay for the Gulf Coast report, which had major flaws. To date, not a public word about this report. We’re waiting, Congresswoman. The folks along the Pioneer route have led the way, in record time. We need action in Florida, too.

3) We promised this edition of TWA would contain the latest scribbling of William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona. If you’ve made it this far down, you know this issue of TWA is running considerable longer than normal (Almost 7,000 words.) due to the Pioneer report. Mr. Lindley will return next issue; we promise – really, we do, this time.

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J. Bruce Richardson

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1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

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Telephone 904-636-7739

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http://www.unitedrail.org


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## henryj

MrFSS said:


> Here is the Cascadia Center’s Alternative Vision, starting with the Executive Summary. Comments follow at the end.
> 
> 
> – On scheduling and routing, the study's options include low-potential stops without asking if a better mix of stations exists. The schedules provide poor service times at key tourist stops. We present a higher-ridership scenario that includes northern Colorado's Front Range cities and responds to expressions of interest from many communities.
> 
> 1. Scheduling and route
> 
> The draft study's set of schedule options contains nothing resembling the operating scenario that, in our opinion, offers the promise of highest ridership and greatest return to the public. We call for a two-night, stand-alone Pioneer running between Denver and Seattle. The westbound California Zephyr would follow its current schedule. Passengers transferring to the Pioneer in Denver would lay over there from morning until evening, when the Pioneer would depart on the BNSF Front Range Subdivision to Wyoming. The train would serve several Front Range cities and Cheyenne, cross Wyoming to Ogden during the night, and (without stopping in Ogden) arrive in Salt Lake City in mid-morning. It would wye in Salt Lake and return to Ogden (stopping there), then proceed to Seattle. Eastbound, the train would reach Salt Lake in early evening, again providing a conveniently timed overnight service when it continues on to Wyoming and Denver. We attach a sample schedule [Not attached in TWA].
> 
> This configuration offers many advantages. No city with a population over 100,000 is served during the middle of the night in either direction. None of the draft study's timetables accomplish this. Often asymmetrical, those timetables also ensure middle-of-the-night service, in at least one direction, at the key tourist stops in Idaho - thus cutting significantly into discretionary ridership. By contrast, the two-night Pioneer visits calls at these stations during the day in both directions. The "dip" into Salt Lake City (modeled on the Silver Star's long-established Auburndale-Tampa-Auburndale dip) establishes a quasi-corridor between Denver and Salt Lake, with travelers enjoying a choice between the scenic, lower-speed Rio Grande route during the daytime and a faster, overnight trip, via Wyoming, for predominantly non-tourist travel. The Pioneer serves the key Salt Lake stop at convenient times, and the connection with service to western Colorado is retained. The Pioneer-western Colorado layovers eastbound and westbound are long, but not much longer, in either case, than the 9:35 eastbound layover that Amtrak's study considers acceptable. At the same time, the Pioneer would not involve even moderately long Salt Lake layovers for most passengers, i.e. those proceeding to or from Denver and points east. The Seattle service times, unlike those in the draft study, meanwhile allow for same-day transfers to and from Vancouver, BC - a key connection. The timetable is considerably more symmetrical than those in the study, meaning ridership is compromised at fewer stops.
> 
> We have developed the Portland-Seattle timetable in the light of the current Cascades schedule, and any Pioneer schedule should give the Cascades priority consideration. In our proposal, the northbound Pioneer will be discharge-only at points between Portland and Seattle, thus sustaining Cascades ridership. Since the southbound Pioneer, presumably, will be the last train of the evening, it will however be full-service rather than receive-only. This will in effect enhance the corridor service as presently configured.
> 
> We view the Denver layover as a plus. The possibility of passenger inconvenience when the draft study's 2:34 eastbound layover time at Denver fails to "capture" a late-arriving
> 
> Pioneer is eliminated, reducing certain operating costs. Instead of a long sit at Denver Union Station, as the draft study proposes, through-travelers find themselves conveniently positioned for a day of pleasure – or business – in the heart of the Mile High City. In a letter to Amtrak, Denver's Regional Transportation District has cited many possibilities for coordinating Amtrak travel with local bus tours, transit access, and the like. We attach the letter [Not attached in TWA].
> 
> Of the options presented in the study, no. 3 (Portland-Salt Lake) offers the best alternative to the two-night scenario. If option no. 3 is ultimately adopted, the train should however leave Portland approximately nine hours later, so as to arrive in Salt Lake City with a moderate recovery/working time before its departure eastbound as a section of the California Zephyr. This adjustment would also make the schedule symmetrical and facilitate round-trip day travel between Portland and, for example, Hood River, where the service times would bracket excursions on the Mount Hood Railroad.
> 
> The attached schedule [Not attached in TWA] also differs from the study's options in its mix of stops. Boulder, Longmont, Fort Collins and potentially Loveland (to begin from Denver) replace Greeley in Colorado. A new stop in downtown Cheyenne replaces the remote Borie stop. Green River, a few minutes' drive from the larger city of Rock Springs, loses its station. Mountain Home, with its Air Force base, receives service. Nampa, which has no passenger station at all, and whose station location is undesirable, is replaced by Caldwell. Well-positioned halfway between Boise and Ontario, Caldwell has maintained a highly attractive station property and has expressed enthusiasm about receiving Amtrak service. In Oregon, the much-maligned stop at the UP Hinkle yard yields to Stanfield - a solution repeatedly sought by both Stanfield and the nearby off-line city of Hermiston.
> 
> These changes would both reduce certain costs and increase ridership substantially, as discussed below.
> 
> 2) Well. Most interesting.



I think Bruce is going a little easy on these folks. I don't think it is productive to try and route a long distance train all over the map and try and serve every community and go everywhere and do everything at the expense of the timetable. Denver to Portland should be a one night out ride period. Connect to Cheyenne and SLC with a bus. The ride along the Columbia River into Portland is gorgeous and should be in daylight. They are sacrificing schedule and view in order to serve some insignificant online communities. If they want this train so bad then they should finance it themselves, get their own equipment, and contract out the operations to a private contractor. Then they can run it whenever or wherever they want.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 9, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 43
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) If you are an airline, which pays landing and takeoff fees, plus user fees at every airport, plus user fees for the federal and international air traffic control systems, you make the most money operating long haul flights, preferably international long haul flights. As an airline, you stuff as many passengers as will fit in a tiny, tiny space known as “coach” class, and you make sure everyone knows you’re giving them peanuts, allegedly because so many people are allergic to peanuts and they don’t know it. You sell these people their “meals” and drinks, and hope many passengers purchase alcoholic beverages because you make a fortune from them, but – at the same time – don’t want any particular passenger to purchase too much and become drunk and disorderly.

Up front in the aircraft, you have first class and business class passengers, who willingly pay huge extra dollars for larger seats, better food (which is included in the price of the ticket), and a higher level of service. On the long, profitable, overnight international flights, if you are a foreign flag carrier, you now provide something of a cocoon for seating, which has all sorts of technological gadgets and a slightly heightened sense of privacy as the space converts to what allegedly passes for sleeping space.

You operate some short haul flights to feed your profitable long distance flights, but, in as many cases as possible, you take advantage of smaller, more efficient commuter airlines to feed your long haul flights. Sometimes these feeder airlines operate under your name using your reservations system, and sometimes they operate under their own names. Either way, the more expensive, short flights feed your true money-making long haul flights.

If you are a cruise line, which pays docking fees every time your ships are connected to land in any way, plus government inspection fees, plus all sorts of other interesting, yet, arcane taxes no one knows about, you have several classes of passengers on your huge ships, most of which host over 2,000 passengers per sailing.

Way down below the water line, next to the engine room, you have “economy” class interior “staterooms” (really, large closets with bath facilities and no windows) which provide cruise passengers with a place to sleep, bathe, and change clothes. You do provide these passengers with at least four major meals a day (including the always popular midnight buffet), and several small meals a day, all included in the price of your ticket. These same passengers are highly encouraged throughout the days at sea to purchase expensive alcoholic beverages, gamble in the onboard casino, shop in the gift shops, and pay lots of money for shore excursions.

The higher you go on the ship, the more expensive the accommodations, the more money the cruise line makes, and the more affluent passengers through very high fares for cabins with balconies, subsidize the passengers traveling in interior cabins next to the engine room way down in the bowels of the ship.

And, then, there is Amtrak, which is determined to never understand any of the economics of passenger travel, and do things as expensively as possible, with the lowest possible return on investment, and the least ability to create an enterprise which can support itself. Just like the airlines and the cruise lines, Amtrak pays a user fee to its host railroads for use of tracks and dispatching; in fact, this fee is so small and so below market, it’s almost a crime the host railroads don’t make a better return on their investment for their privately owned infrastructure, which Amtrak uses for next to nothing.

Amtrak runs 15 long distance routes throughout the country, and feeds those routes with 26 short distance routes. The 15 long distance route generate 2,609,387,000 revenue passenger miles, and the 25 short distance routes in comparison generate only 1,754,039,000 revenue passenger miles.

Here is what Amtrak brags about, but really doesn’t matter. The long distance routes carried 4,170,300 separate passengers, and the short distance routes carried 13,605,800 passengers. Wow! Amtrak will tell you; look at how wonderful we are because we carried all of those people.

Who cares? The average length of trip of a long distance passenger was 625.7 miles, and for short distance passengers it was only 128.9 miles. Which passenger would you rather have? The long distance passengers coughed up total revenues of $416,284,100, while the many more short distance passengers spent $362,294,100. Whoopee.

Amtrak’s short distance trains would be fine if there was enough capacity and enough long distance routes to carry more passengers. But, as we have seen in the recent reports issued by Amtrak for restoration of long distance service east of New Orleans and for the Pioneer route, Amtrak has little – if any at all – enthusiasm for long distance trains.

To back this up, one only has to look at Amtrak’s business plan. Whoops! We can’t do that, because Amtrak doesn’t have a business plan; it only has an indication it is more interested in taking money from states for short distance trains than for expanding the long distance network.

Amtrak’s short distance trains – little more than a series of Greyhound busses on steel wheels hooked together – are expensive to operate, and, as we see above, don’t generate nearly the transportation output of the long distance trains. But, Amtrak loves body counts, so it likes to brag how many individuals step onto an Amtrak train. This, of course, doesn’t matter, because 1,000 passengers only traveling 10 miles doesn’t mean nearly as much as 100 passengers traveling 150 miles each. Any rational manager will always take the 100 passengers traveling 150 miles because you get a much better return on investment and actually accomplish more good. Moving 1,000 passengers 10 miles is a job for transit or commuter services, not intercity rail passenger trains. It was all of the freight railroads’ big city and regional commuter services – such as those of the Pennsylvania Railroad, New Haven Railroad, Chicago Northwestern, and many others – which ultimately led to the downfall of private passenger service, because by federal regulation the railroads had to run those trains (at huge losses) and the dwindling long distance trains trying to compete with the new glamour of jet aircraft and new, four lane Interstate highways with Holiday Inns could not cross-subsidize the commuter services.

If Amtrak had not been created, and at the same time the Staggers Act had deregulated the railroads as it did a decade after the creation of Amtrak, and the railroads could have found a way to shed their expensive branch line passenger milk runs and various commuter services, there is more than half a chance private passenger rail would not only have survived, but eventually flourished as it has the opportunity to do so today.

Had Amtrak not been created and the railroads deregulated, there probably would still be a healthy rail passenger car building business in this country, a much stronger national network of long distance trunk line trains, and CSX would be running stainless steel silver trains in and out of Florida and Union Pacific would be running armor yellow trains with red striping in and out of California. Had deregulation happened in the Nixon Administration instead of the Carter Administration, it’s quite possible the railroad corporate map would be very different today, because many of the mergers which took place merely for corporate survival may have been put off, or never have occurred if deregulation had happened and the free market place had acted a decade or more earlier.

But, well, today we do have Amtrak, a company which doesn’t seem to want to bestir itself for much more other than its annual begfest for funding on Capitol Hill for more and more free federal monies.

Everybody but Amtrak seems to realize the Obama Administration has handed Amtrak the biggest challenge of its corporate life by saying, “okay, you whined about money for decades, so, here it is. What are you going to do with it?” Amtrak’s answer so far is, “not much.”

Perhaps Amtrak’s apathy is because it seems to be a company at war with itself. It has an interim president and chief executive officer who refuses to speak with the news media. It has a general counsel who seems to think Amtrak – and, herself – are pretty much above the law. It has an interim inspector general who is totally unqualified to hold the position. It has a chief operating officer who is obviously loyal to the guy who hired him – two Amtrak presidents ago (three if you count one other short term interim who was forced out, too).

We know there are a number of good people at Amtrak; we’ve named many of them in this space before. These are senior managers who show up for work everyday, and try to throw off the various shackles which are hung around them on a routine basis and create something worth bragging about. But, these same good people run into incredible roadblocks and bureaucracies which close ranks together and block any type of meaningful change. If you want to fire any of these particular bureaucrats putting up the roadblocks, you’re blocked from that, too, because of what can only be mildly referred to as the “good old boy network.”

What to do?

A new board of directors is forming. The White House announced two appointments to the board this week, and there are still two vacancies to fill. We have a new FRA administrator who serves on the board, too, and whenever a permanent Amtrak president is named, he/she will also be a board member.

It’s time to clean house. Give some of these good people at the top of Amtrak who want to do better the ability to do that. Get rid of the deadwood, and all of the folks with the old allegiances, and replace them with a new, dedicated team that wants to succeed, not merely survive until retirement. Give somebody – and Amtrak – a fighting chance.

If Amtrak keeps going much long the way it is going today, the bankruptcy of New York City back in the Ford Administration is going to look like a romp in the park. Amtrak is also headed down the nearly identical path of the inglorious Penn Central Railroad, which, at the time, created the Enron financial disaster of its day in the last half of the 20th Century. The only way Penn Central eventually was saved and turned into a profitable Conrail was to get rid of so many of its internal antagonists and start with a fresh group of people. Amtrak needs to do that right now, before it becomes as helpless as Penn Central did so many years ago.

2) As promised, and promised, here’s William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona.

[begin quote]

By William Lindley

Let's look at one scenario for creating the full matrix of passenger trains in the United States.

Please understand, the continuation of much of the existing "long distance" train network is helpful, but not required, for this scenario. A single daily train handing a handful of passengers at each station is very close to an irrelevancy compared to the volumes the eventual network will create.

We begin with perhaps a half-dozen local turnkey train operators. Each of these would be, at the beginning, in a fairly sizable region of the country and attached to a single Class I railroad, acting as a single point of contact between the railroad and the governmental agencies for all services.

The local trains act as the catalyst to bring cities and towns, large and small, on board with modern passenger rail. Providing local service gives direct benefit to monies spent rebuilding local stations, upgrading rights of way, eliminating grade crossings, and generally providing the "terminal services" that the later express and limited trains will require. The goal with the first phase is to begin laying groundwork so that, as in Europe, when a train leaves the station it can accelerate directly to full speed without creaking through miles of ancient switchwork.

Once these local trains have built political support through an expanding ridership base, express services will be added on longer routes, between the major cities... gradually connecting the matrix of local trains. Then the limited trains, on much longer routes, will be upgraded and dramatically expanded from whatever "long distance" trains still exist.

Looking at the beginning phase – Each turnkey local train operator would follow steps like these:

First, line up an equipment manufacturer – Bombardier, Talgo, or US Railcar which is planning to start building on the former Colorado Railcar's DMU production plans.

Second, bring aboard an insurance company which is willing to work with the railroads. Then, select one of the Class I railroads – and only one – to start with. It is this single railroad with whom you will be a single point of contact. Indeed, it might be beneficial to have a five-year exclusive agreement that "all commuter and short-distance passenger services" on their lines be provided through such a single point of contact.

Finally, and only after these are all at least tentatively aligned, go to the states, counties, and municipalities all along the one carrier's lines. Each region will have different needs – from sidings and double-track, to restoration of missing segments, to grade crossing and station issues; but every city will be getting a uniform and well-understood arrangement. In short, this sort of turnkey operation benefits both the railroads and the cities.

The basic plan for the turnkey local operator in each region is to start with two trainsets, offering three or four daily round-trips. Service will provided not just into destination downtowns, but, to the suburbs on either side, and to most every town of any size along the route. These are true basic transportation, local trains. And they will act as feeders – the base matrix – to the express and limited train networks which will follow.

Generally these first trains will run on routes of between 150 and 200 miles, either centered on one large city or between two cities, with one-way times of about three to four hours, and about a dozen stations. Each trainset will operate about sixteen to eighteen hours a day, maximizing return on investment while permitting sufficient time for servicing.

Let's look at two examples.

In the Tampa, Florida, metro area, two trainsets could provide four daily round-trips. The first train from St. Petersburg could leave at 6:30 A.M., arriving Tampa at 8:05 and Sarasota at 9:45; the first train from Sarasota leaving at 6:30, arriving Tampa at 7:55 and St. Pete at 9:45. The first three trains would leave each terminus every four hours on a "memory schedule" with the exception that the 2:30 P.M. trains, which both would arrive Tampa at about 4 P.M., would wait there an hour until a little after 5 P.M. for the evening rush; then the last trains would depart each terminus at 7:30 P.M. Each train would stop at Pinellas Park, Largo, Clearwater, Oldsmar, Carrollwood, and Sulphur Springs west of Tampa, and Gibsonton, Apollo Beach, Ruskin, Palmetto, and Bradenton on the way to Sarasota. Total population of these is over 950,000. Today's Silver Star calls at Tampa at 12:34 P.M. southbound and 2:17 P.M. northbound, and these local trains would provide excellent connections in all directions.

In Georgia, Atlanta and Macon are less than a hundred miles apart, so four or five daily round-trips should easily be made with two trainsets. Indeed the initial local route should at least connect Warner-Robins, south of Macon, with some of the suburbs beyond Atlanta. Atlanta is an excellent connection point, if a train station at the Five Points MARTA subway stop can be constructed – MARTA acting as the local feeder. These local trains would then serve commuters as well as all-day regional travel. Later, express service to Chattanooga to Savannah would overlay these local trains, followed by a further overlay of limited-stop service from Chicago via Indianapolis and Louisville to Florida.

Similar opportunities exist all across the country. Duluth to Minneapolis. Green Bay to Milwaukee. Anywhere there are cities under 150 miles apart is a prime candidate for comprehensive local train service.

Again, first we bring the states, counties, and cities on board with three or five daily trains that serve not just commuters, but, tourists and residents all day long. Much needs doing to upgrade the existing tracks, signals, and bridges to accommodate relatively fast passenger trains along with today's freight trains; much needs doing to restore stations, station tracks, and re-integrate the passenger train facilities with today's bus, streetcar and subway networks.

The improvements made possible by the local trains is what makes the later express and limited trains work smoothly. By building ridership and political support, all is possible.

[End quote]

3) Found on the internal United Rail Passenger Alliance Intranet:

[begin quote]

When your doctor works for the folks who created Amtrak:

– Office hours are from 2:10 A.M. to 2:25 A.M., Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

– He knows the more patients he sees, the more money he loses.

– You'll have to ride an hour on a bus to the middle of nowhere, because the downtown location was closed "to save money."

– Everything takes longer than it did in 1951, and the furniture looks it.

[End quote]

4) And, this missive from a TWA reader.

[begin quote]

Hello, once again, URPA,

I'm glad that others share my view on letting other companies operate long-distance routes in this country. Even though a lot of people in the rail community are (deservedly) excited about the aspect of high speed rail coming to their states, they should also remember competition also applies to the long-distance trains as well, and pressure needs to be kept on Amtrak. After reading some of the more recent TWA articles, it's obvious to me certain people in Amtrak's management need a wake-up call (Whether it's by losing out on the majority of the HSR corridors, or by watching some of its long-distance routes return to the freight railroads, something big needs to happen to shake them up.). After all, the poorly handled Sunset Limited report, a failure to drastically upgrade the overnight fleet, and demanding states to pay for long-distance routes have all happened on their watch.

Division B, Title II, Section 214 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 says:

(a) In General – Within 1 year after the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, the Federal Railroad Administration shall complete a rulemaking proceeding to develop a pilot program that –

`(1) permits a rail carrier or rail carriers that own infrastructure over which Amtrak operates a passenger rail service route described in subparagraph (B), ©, or (D) of section 24102(5) or in section 24702 to petition the Administration to be considered as a passenger rail service provider over that route in lieu of Amtrak for a period not to exceed 5 years after the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008

Now, with all the talk about whether Amtrak is really disinterested in operating long-distance trains in the long-term, why don't some of the friendlier host railroads contemplate bidding for some of the overnight routes? Pullman may be gone, but the hosts could talk to a manufacturer like the revived Colorado Rail Car company about acquiring some real dining cars and sleepers.

At last year's Railway Age conference, railroad author Frank Wilner advocated returning intercity passenger trains to the freight companies because he thought “a sound business model” would win over anti-Amtrak politicians in Congress (Source: January 2009 Railfan & Railroads). While it sounds tempting, I’m not sure all passenger routes can be returned to the host railroads. Instead, I propose the hosts talk to the likes of Herzog, First Group America, and some of the foreign bidders for HSR and get them to run the trains. I would definitely like to see routes like the Crescent and Silver Star be supplemented with daytime counterparts so I don't have to go from the Carolinas to Atlanta or Florida in the middle of the night.

The hosts would work out a three or four-way partnership with each other and the new entity operating the route (for example, a daily Sunset Limited could have an agreement with BNSF, CSX, Union Pacific, and First Group America) as a way of avoiding the problem of changing trains. Meanwhile, BNSF could run the Southwest Chief by itself and add routes and branches like a spur to Phoenix (a similar situation would apply to Norfolk Southern with the Crescent).

One more thing, the Auto Train concept could be added to other markets by the host railroads (after all, those empty auto racks currently seen on freight trains could be very useful). It may not have been feasible to have a Midwest-Florida Auto Train route 26 years ago, but if gas ever returns to September 2008 levels, it would be more than practical for the Auto Train concept to be extended to other parts of the country.

– Anonymous

P.S. Based on the discussion in the URPA Intranet group during the Labor Day weekend, states like Florida should contact Veolia or any of the companies which fail to get HSR bids to operate conventional speed routes as a precursor to high speed service.

[End quote]

5) More reader mail.

[begin quote]

Mr. Richardson,

This latest Pioneer (a splendid route serving "rich pickings" territory, lots of greens, etc) issue reminds us that Amtrak sees itself not in the passenger service business at all, but, as a candid porter once told me, as a "jobs program." Sad to say, that's the kind of people you have "managing" it, though "managing" is probably the wrong word. "Showing up at the office to get the benefits and the pension" is more like it.

Pity a private operator can't pick this one off.

Always value reading your (depressing) reports.

[End quote]

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J. Bruce Richardson

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Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 22, 2009

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 6, Number 44

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Well. A lot has been happening in the two weeks since the last This Week at Amtrak was published. Before we get into some specifics, we first need to hear what Minnesota Association of Rail Passengers and United Rail Passenger Alliance Vice President of Law and Policy Andrew Selden has to say on the current state of Amtrak.

[begin quote]

By Andrew C. Selden

Amtrak blinds itself, in its endless posturing to fool its bankers in Congress, by measuring its performance by numbers that do not really matter, while ignoring or burying numbers that do matter. As a result, it makes decisions, including strategically important allocations of precious investment capital, on the basis of fundamentally misleading data.

The most glaring example is Amtrak's endless blathering about "ridership." Ridership is only a measure of a sale transaction. It does not differentiate among the size of the sales. One "rider" from New Haven to Boston is, by this yardstick, exactly equal to one rider from Washington, D.C. to Boston, or even Los Angeles to Boston. Amtrak makes this worse by blurring useful sales data (ticket prices) into averages by which they measure (actually, it's just arithmetic, not really "measuring" anything) "yield," which is the average revenue per passenger mile on a train or route. This tends to reinforce the false belief any one passenger is pretty much the same as any other.

In an urban transit system where every passenger pays the same fare, that might be okay.

But on Amtrak, where a typical "corridor" customer might pay $10 to $30, but a family in a sleeper to the west coast could be paying $1,000 or more, these "riders" are decidedly unequal. Fifty of the former are less than two of the latter. But Amtrak is obsessively focused on "ridership."

A yardstick Amtrak tries to hide, and apparently never uses to make important resource allocation decisions, is load factor. Load factor is the percentage of your inventory you are able to sell. Airlines live and breathe load factor.

Load factor is available seat miles (total inventory) divided by revenue passenger miles (seat-miles sold to paying passengers).

Load factor ("LF") matters greatly. Among other things it is a perfect measure of capital efficiency, and where a business is over-invested vs. under-invested. It is an indirect measure of opportunity cost. A trend analysis of LF is a tell-tale for a growing or a dying business.

It indicates whether an operation has achieved an efficiency of scale, or needs to ramp up, or down, its application of capital assets to achieve an efficiency of scale. The NEC's low load factors show Amtrak is already over-invested there: it offers much more inventory than it can sell for $30, or even give away. Long distance trains, with high load factors, show where Amtrak is under-invested, turning away potential $1,000 customers by the hundreds.

Simple "ridership," without consideration of load factor, is classic "Amtrak accounting" that disregards the cost and utilization of capital. If you have a rich uncle who doesn't care, or a politically-oriented appropriations committee that has other objectives, or a gullible state agency that doesn't seem to get it (a la Oklahoma and the Heartland Flyer), then one can disregard capital costs, load factor, and utilization. Ready access to "free" capital (but always with a heavy political and opportunity cost) obscures that.

Suppose a train or route has a LF of 40% (NEC average is about 40%). Suppose the LF is static, or even growing slowly. Is that a good thing? Or does that suggest the capital – represented here by the rolling stock, the overheads and even the relationship and rent costs with the host railroad – might be better applied elsewhere?

In other words: Can those trainsets produce, or earn, even more someplace else?

Real world, actual example: take a standard KFC restaurant with 72 seats grossing a million a year, and is often "full" (i.e., has a very high LF). It is a cash cow. The owner is happy. His banker is happy. But an investment banker focused on returns on capital (i.e., making money by maximizing output) will say, "Bulldoze this obsolete, underperforming asset. Get rid of it. It is a parasite. It is an obstacle to growth and profit. In its place, build a new, larger KFC with 150 seats and a bigger kitchen and a drive-through, that is physically capable of growing into a TWO or even three million a year store." And if the KFC instead were a lightly-used 40-seater that was doing $500,000 a year and showing no real growth, even if it were steadily profitable at that level, any rational analysis would conclude the store should be closed outright, and maybe re-located across town by the Wal-Mart, or out by the interstate. LF as well as cash flow, market share, and earnings are all part of the constant analysis that should be done of any commercial activity.

Amtrak NEVER does that. Amtrak instead fools itself and fools its bankers in Congress and its client state governments with phony-baloney data about transaction volumes ("ridership") and other irrelevancies.

ITEM: Amtrak's net loss last year was UP from the year before, for the umpteenth year in a row, even after all the subsidy and the deferred maintenance and the shrunken fleet and all the other voodoo accounting. That is why Amtrak is still a sinking ship, and why Interim President and CEO Joe Boardman, just like his several predecessors, is no different from Captain Edward Smith of the White Star Line. And trains like the Harrisburg – Philadelphia locals, or Acela, or the Heartland Flyer, with their low load factor, whatever the ridership, are just like that tiny scrape in the hull that eventually worked its disproportionate magic on the fortunes of the RMS Titanic.

[End quote]

2) Amtrak issued another route renewal report, and issued a final report on a second route.

The Pioneer route report, which was commented on previously in this space, was issued in a final form with no real changes in how Amtrak perceives to put this train between Denver and Seattle back into service at extremely high costs and a too long lead time, despite questioning from two United States Senators along the route, Senator Crapo of Idaho, and Senator Wyden of Oregon.

The new report issued was for restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha (Originally, the North Coast Limited, pre-Amtrak.) over the original Northern Pacific Railroad tracks. This route will parallel the Empire Builder route, but make a more southerly trip. Pre-Amtrak, the Empire Builder and the North Coast Limited were strong rivals between Chicago and Seattle, and both routes have breath-taking mountain scenery. The North Coast Hiawatha was one of the trains massacred by the route cuts of the Carter Administration.

Amtrak wants – yes, we're not kidding – over one billion dollars to restore this route, with the bulk of the money going to track upgrades. After the Burlington, Northern Pacific, and Great Northern railroads were all folded into one company (which eventually became BNSF when the Santa Fe was added to the mix), the Northern Pacific route was considered redundant to the Great Northern (Empire Builder) route, and was downgraded. Part of the route in Montana was sold to a short line operator, too.

All of that aside, Amtrak has come out with ridiculously high figures for route restoration, including an amazing $330,000,000 just for six trainset of new equipment, including locomotives. This works out to an astounding $4,500,000 per piece of equipment, which is not only impossible to justify, but incredible anyone could present this figure with a straight face. Additionally, Amtrak demands millions and millions of dollars for crew training, as it has done in previous reports.

This analysis of the North Coast Hiawatha landed in the This Week at Amtrak mailbox.

[begin quote]

Amtrak North Coast Hiawatha Report Reflects Apathy and Atrophy; Fails to Answer Many Questions

By Joseph D. Henchman

October 17, 2009

Introduction

On October 16, 2009, Amtrak published the North Coast Hiawatha Passenger Rail Study as required by the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA). That law required Amtrak to produce a report within one year of October 16, 2008 examining the feasibility of restoring passenger rail service between Chicago and Seattle via the former Northern Pacific mainline in Southern Montana.

Confronted with a political environment favorable to the expansion of its services, the report suggests an institution whose marketing and innovative instincts have atrophied. The report's tone reflects a determination to drag out the timeline and extract as many subsidies as possible rather than seriously consider how a successful passenger rail service in the study area can be implemented.

Below are specific areas the report is insufficient or raises serious concerns.

Amtrak penalizes the study train for diverted passengers from other trains, but does not credit it for passengers fed to other trains.

Amtrak's report penalizes the ticket revenue of the North Coast Hiawatha by $8 million because Amtrak estimates the train will divert passengers from the Empire Builder, a heavily-patronized Amtrak train (693 passengers each train in FY 2009 through July) that also operates daily between Seattle and Chicago. Amtrak goes so far as to say that the diverted revenue will "increase Amtrak's direct operating loss."

This analysis is incomplete for two reasons. First, the Empire Builder is often sold out for being over capacity, so an additional train may have the net impact of freeing up space on that train to be sold to others, wiping out any revenue loss. Second, and more importantly, Amtrak does not estimate additional revenue for other trains from the addition of the North Coast Hiawatha (or if they do, they don't report it). Few Amtrak long-distance passengers ride end-to-end, with many taking shorter trips often involving transfers to other trains. On the west end is the Seattle-Portland Cascade train as well as the long-distance Coast Starlight to California. On the east end are services to St. Louis, New Orleans, Washington, Boston, New York, and Michigan. Added service into and out of Seattle and Chicago will result in additional revenues for all of these trains. If Amtrak "penalizes" the North Coast Hiawatha for "diverting" passenger revenue from trains, it should also "credit" the North Coast Hiawatha for "feeding" passenger revenue to other trains.

One approach Amtrak did not take would be to estimate system-wide revenues and expenses from the addition of the North Coast Hiawatha. This would give a true picture of the actual incremental cost of service expansion. Amtrak is also studying the expansion of services in several other routes, and is producing piecemeal reports on financial impacts, one-by-one. As Amtrak adds trains and frequencies, the additional options stimulate demand beyond that of one-train-on-one-corridor. A comprehensive approach of these proposals would be necessary for informed decision-making.

Amtrak Inexplicably Buries Its Conclusion that the Train Will Cost Its Operating Costs

There are two types of costs associated with running trains. One are relatively fixed costs that do not vary with the number of trains (system reservations and website, management costs, station costs), and the other are costs that vary with the number of trains (crew costs, fuel, payments to host railroads, and to some extent equipment maintenance). Amtrak's estimate of North Coast Hiawatha operations, put in these terms, is as follows:

Passenger Related Revenue (not including $8 million revenue penalty for diversions from Empire Builder) – $51,000,000

Variable Expense: Fuel – $7,400,000

Variable Expense: Train Crew Labor – $13,000,000

Variable Expense: On-Board Services Labor – $14,700,000

Variable Expense: Mechanical – $11,900,000

Total Variable Expenses – $47,000,000

Net, Variable Expenses – +$3,000,000

Non-Variable: Station & System Expenses – $27,100,000

Total, All Expenses – $74,100,000

Total Net, All Expenses – ($24,100,000)

Farebox Recovery, Variable Expenses Only – 108.5%

Farebox Recovery, All Expenses (Amtrak reduces the farebox recovery by 10 percentage points by excluding the diverted revenue to the Empire Builder) – 68.8%

Amtrak's long-distance service requires subsidies to cover its operating shortfalls [based on Amtrak accounting methods]. Few if any recover 68.8% of their costs for all expenses, or actually break even on variable expenses, as Amtrak estimates here. Why Amtrak buries this information is inexplicable. One possibility would be that acknowledging Amtrak will run a train with a rather positive financial performance undermines its argument that massive subsidies are required to operate it.

Note: Amtrak does not clarify whether its estimate of system and route costs are the amounts that will be assigned to the North Coast Hiawatha or whether they are incremental costs of adding the train. For example, assume (using made-up numbers) Amtrak spends $100,000 a year operating the existing station at Fargo, North Dakota (which the North Coast Hiawatha would stop at), and $5 million a year running its existing national reservation system. Assume also Amtrak's cost estimates in the report include line-items of $50,000 for the Fargo station and $200,000 for system reservations (they don't; those items are not broken out). Does that mean Amtrak is spending an additional $250,000 when the North Coast Hiawatha is launched, or rather the North Coast Hiawatha will be assigned $250,000 of existing costs?

If the latter, it is relevant information, but its inclusion warps the decision-making process. Among Amtrak's costs of operating the North Coast Hiawatha would be costs Amtrak is already incurring, and will incur whether the route is launched or not. To use economics terms, a decision-maker would be erroneously looking at average cost instead of marginal cost.

If it is the former, Amtrak needs to justify the $27 million in route and system expenses beyond merely saying they are "other direct expenses." The amount reflects a third of the expenses associated with running the train, and while not suspect on its face, it does raise questions. Why does Amtrak's report not include a technical appendix itemizing the costs it has estimated?

Amtrak Provides Just One Option: A Single, Slow, Short Train over the Entire Route

Unlike here, Amtrak's past studies have often included a series of operating options. The recent Pioneer Service Study looked at several different alignments, the Sunset Limited Service Study looked at different service options, and the Ohio Service Study looked at different frequency options. Here, however, Amtrak provides no option other than one single, slow, short train. Given Amtrak's own ridership and cost estimates, this is indefensible. It also allows Amtrak to demand higher subsidies than would be required to operate the North Coast Hiawatha.

The report recommends the establishment of one round trip a day along the 2,300 mile route on a 49 hour schedule, for an average speed of 47 M.P.H. (The North Coast Limited in 1956 managed 46.5 hours, so Amtrak proposes a train slower than one run 50 years ago.). The train would consist of locomotives, a baggage car, a crew car, two sleeping cars, three coaches, a dining car, and a lounge. Since each sleeping car has a maximum capacity of 49 and each coach has a maximum capacity of 74, that would mean a total train capacity of 320.

On page 28, Amtrak estimates even this slow, single train will result in 359,800 passengers a year, or 492 per train. On the face of it, this suggests the train will fill 153% of its capacity. Of course, few passengers will ride end-to-end, resulting in turnover en route. It would be useful to know Amtrak's estimate of passenger-miles or load factor, but the report does not provide those numbers. Even if each seat turns over once per trip, the load factor would still be 76% (which would make airlines envious).

Amtrak's report handicaps itself by limiting the train's capacity. Many of a train's expenses are fixed (engineer and conductor costs, for instance) or grow only minimally (fuel and service attendant costs, for instance) with additional cars. In the past, American passenger trains have operated with 16 to 22 cars (Today, in Canada, the Canadian transcontinental often operates with 22 cars in high season). The only serious limiting factor on train lengths are station platform lengths and locomotive power (itself limited based on the route's curves and grades) and the ability to transmit hotel power from the locomotive to the rest of the train; usually 18 cars in the United States is the maximum train length because of this. Amtrak provides no information on why it limits the North Coast Hiawatha to nine cars (with only five being revenue cars) other than it lacks the imagination to try for more.

Since Amtrak's proposed train already has locomotives, a baggage car, a crew car, dining car, and lounge, any additional cars would be revenue cars generating sleeping or coach ticket revenue. A 14-car train, for instance, would double the North Coast Hiawatha's capacity, potentially doubling its revenue and most certainly not doubling its costs. Given Amtrak's ridership estimates, such a capacity expansion would be justifiable. Amtrak does not investigate this option.

Amtrak also does not investigate the option of greater frequencies or runs over segments of the route (aside from noting that Washington State would not object to running trains to Minneapolis instead of all the way to Chicago). As Amtrak has discovered with service in California and Illinois, additional trains each day can reduce subsidies because (1) added frequencies can mean equipment spends less time idle at each end and (2) added frequencies can increase revenue from additional riders taking advantage of more options. A second frequency 12-hours off of the proposed schedule would be a natural consideration, as would additional day-train frequencies between segments of the route. It is unfortunate Amtrak looks at additional frequencies not as expanding passengers options and thus revenue, but rather as something to be penalized for "cannibalizing" passengers and revenue from existing trains.

Most transportation providers offer travelers options. One of Amtrak's largest weaknesses is many of its trains run only once per day, resulting in equipment sitting idle for 6-18 hours at each end and passengers giving up if they cannot work with Amtrak's one timetable option. Twice the trains can in many cases result in more than twice as many passengers. Fixed route costs, such as station operating costs (here estimated to be $27.1 million), can also be spread over more trains. As noted above, Amtrak estimates that the train's operation itself, exclusive of system and route costs, will break even.

Amtrak Does Not Investigate Marketing Options

Amtrak's report also provides no discussion of service options or marketing opportunities. The report mentions the North Coast Hiawatha's Livingstone station is not far from Yellowstone National Park, but does not enlighten the reader as to whether Amtrak will capitalize on that beyond leaving passengers at Livingstone. (In the past, the Northern Pacific Railroad ran shuttle trains and later shuttle buses to the park.) The private Grand Canyon Railway in Arizona offers four different accommodation options, including a basic coach seat option. The higher-priced options include snacks, entertainment, and Grand Canyon National Park admission. In Europe, the CityNightLine overnight train service offers several different accommodation options, with higher-priced options including welcome wine or beer, an array of magazines, and breakfast on arrival. Other Amtrak trains have included parlor lounges, observation cars, children's playrooms, quiet cars, wine tastings, and enroute tour guides. Other ideas could include on-board treadmills or weight equipment, video arcades, taverns or bars, or gift shops. Amtrak's report shows no creative thinking with regard to providing services to passengers, an important aspect of its operation.

This is particularly indefensible in that Amtrak requires the purchase of brand-new railcars to launch the service, and estimates it will take 4-5 years to begin operations after funding becomes available. If Amtrak needs five years and new trainsets to provide exactly what it has provided for years on other routes, it is not thinking sufficiently creatively.

Amtrak's report also provides no discussion of joint marketing opportunities for other popular attractions along the route, including the Mall of America in Minneapolis; historic tourist attractions in Butte, Montana (a larger town which Amtrak inexplicably writes off without bothering to estimate the costs of serving it despite rails existing and being on the train's route, even though it reports that public and Montana Department of Transportation comments strongly favored studying operating service via Butte) and Bozeman, Montana; airports; and small-town communities currently without rail service in Washington State.

Conclusion

Throughout the report and its actions in recent history, Amtrak views its role as merely common-carrier transportation handling passengers when they show up. Instead, Amtrak should push itself to figure out how it can develop a market, providing a travel experience. Doing so will improve the bottom line for the company and for taxpayers, but requires shaking Amtrak out of its apathy and atrophy.

Questions Unanswered by Amtrak In Its Report

1. What is Amtrak's estimate of the load factor for the North Coast Hiawatha, and how many passenger-miles will it generate?

2. What are the system-wide and marginal revenues and costs associated with launching the North Coast Hiawatha, including additional revenues to other trains from its operation?

3. How many of the cost items within Amtrak's estimated $74.1 million in estimated North Coast Hiawatha operating expenses will be incurred whether or not the train route is launched?

4. What are the revenue and costs associated with other operating options, such as a longer train of 14-22 cars, or additional frequencies?

5. What additional level of capital investment would be required to raise average operating speed to 55 M.P.H. (42 hour schedule), 65 M.P.H. (36 hour schedule), or 75 M.P.H. (31 hour schedule)?

6. Given that Amtrak will be purchasing new equipment for these trains, what innovative ideas will Amtrak explore for the equipment?

7. What marketing opportunities will Amtrak explore for the operation of the trains, to maximize passenger travel experience and develop the market?

8. What are the costs associated with operating via Butte, Montana?

9. How would a system-wide expansion of train lengths and frequencies for long-distance trains change the operating performance of this route?

10. Why does Amtrak estimate so many people will ride the North Coast Hiawatha, relative to other long-distance trains?

About the Author

Joseph Henchman lives in Arlington, Virginia, and is interested in transportation economics and rail planning. He works as an attorney and policy analyst with a non-profit think tank in Washington, D.C., but this report is not associated with that organization. His email address is jdhenchman [at] yahoo.com.

[End quote]

3) Amtrak has now issued four reports since the end of the summer. First, the Sunset Limited – East of New Orleans/Gulf Coast report (Amtrak doesn't want to run the service); the Ohio 3-C report for restored service between Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati (Amtrak doesn't want to run the service), the Pioneer report for restored service between Denver and Seattle (Amtrak doesn't want to run the service), and, finally, the North Coast Hiawatha restored service report (Amtrak doesn't want to run that service, either).

When you add up Amtrak's estimates to restart these four routes, it's over $2,000,000,000 (that's two billion dollars, if you don't want to count zeros).

In reality, if Amtrak really wanted to do any of these projects, the estimates are probably high by at least 40%, if not a full 50%. But, when you're a planner for a quasi-governmental agency and you're accustomed to spending someone else's money (That would be money which belongs to you, the taxpayer.), costs don't really matter. What matters is convenience and lots of bells and whistles (No pun intended.). Amtrak's dream world dictates all new equipment, extravagant stations where smaller ones will do, crew training costs which are incomprehensible to any railroad professional, and a gold-plating of railroad infrastructure "just in case" the railroads want their entire right-of-way wish lists fulfilled at someone else's expense.

All of this leads to the inescapable, sad conclusion that until Amtrak has a new management team which has any inkling of a vision for the future which includes new passenger car orders, a business plan based on reality instead of only raiding government treasuries, or without fantasies of ignoring the conventional passenger rail business because of the glamour of an incorrect assumption Amtrak will be the exclusive high speed rail operator (there's a thought to give you nightmares for a week), restored long routes such as the North Coast Hiawatha may not be the best plan.

As presented, Amtrak's four route restoration plans are a prescription for disaster.

The Gulf Coast report laments Amtrak went to all of the trouble of studying multiple scenarios, and settled on four, all of which Amtrak has priced too high. The reality of the Gulf Coast report is if Amtrak simply extends the City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Orlando, Amtrak will instantly reestablish a Chicago-Florida train, restore service on the Gulf Coast, and have a powerhouse operation for the cost of one extra trainset for the City of New Orleans (due to current too long equipment layovers in New Orleans) and the cost of Positive Train Control installation on the CSX line between New Orleans and Jacksonville.

The Pioneer report wants to set up a separate operation for the Pioneer between Denver and Seattle, with through-cars on the back of the California Zephyr between Chicago and Denver. Amtrak never considered the huge benefit of running a second frequency in the form of the Pioneer between Chicago and Denver, apparently because it would be too much trouble, no matter how much of a financial gain would be found.

The Ohio report wants to set up a pretty good service, but with a lousy end point in Cincinnati so the service will not connect withe the Cardinal; Amtrak continues its reckless policy of not often enough offering connecting trains just in case some passengers may want to travel on more than one route to reach a final destination.

None of the reports take into account the matrix effect of connectivity, more travel choices, or more stations served. Amtrak can only see costs, instead of benefits.

Little of Amtrak's work reflects it was created by anyone with real concepts of passenger service, what's overall best for passengers, or what posture best serves Amtrak – and, our country – financially.

For right now, until some of this changes, Amtrak may best serve itself and all of us by making some logical, small steps which will strengthen the company financially. Things like Kansas City-Omaha, Oklahoma City-Kansas City, Peoria-St. Louis, Savannah-Jacksonville, or Barstow-Bakersfield (/San Jose). Maybe think about Harrisburg-Newark via the Lehigh Valley.

Even easier would be to add truly new Superliner capacity to the existing long distance trains, to start to capture many of those $1,000 tickets Amtrak is losing now because the sleepers are full at various peak load points.

For those hoping for restoration of routes which never should have went away, this fall is truly a season of discontent. Amtrak seems to have gone out of its way to make things as difficult as possible for any returning trains, yet its chairman of the board and some senior executives are making presentations around the country about how Amtrak is the perfect organization to be the exclusive high speed rail operator for new services in America.

Until Amtrak gets its house in order and demonstrates it has some – any! – vision, no one (even government bureaucrats) are going to be foolish enough to anoint Amtrak as the high speed rail operator.

4) Last Saturday, October 17, 2009, a determined band of people met together here in Jacksonville, Florida. The group named itself the Sunset Marketing and Revitalization Team, and has been meeting for over a year now at various locations along the former transcontinental route of the Sunset, prior to its unceremonious loss of the east end of the route beyond New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

John Sita, Jr. of New Orleans is chairman of the SMART group, and Jerry Sullivan of Jacksonville was the gracious host of the meeting.

The meeting lasted three hours, and the SMART members represented a number of states along the route, both east and west of New Orleans. One SMART member from Louisiana made an all-rail trip from his home to the meeting. To cover the roughly 600 miles from New Orleans to Jacksonville without the Sunset, he rode first to Washington via Birmingham, Atlanta, and Charlotte on the Crescent for a full day and a night, and then took the Silver Star from Washington for the afternoon and overnight trip to Jacksonville. Whew! Talk about dedication ...

Without getting into the various discussions and deliberations the group had, what is notable is the very need for the existence of this group. This group has no formal sponsorship, and is completely self-funded. These people banded together because they feel their quasi-governmental national passenger rail carrier has failed in its duty and obligations to restart the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, and has constantly failed during the entire existence of Amtrak to make the Sunset Limited a daily train between Los Angeles and New Orleans (And Orlando when the train ran its full route.).

In the real, non-Amtrak world, this group should never have been necessary. If Amtrak had the compunction to live up to its mandate as a national rail carrier, there would be no discussion about the gaping hole in Amtrak's route map between New Orleans and Jacksonville. An entire region of the country is disenfranchised for passenger rail service because Amtrak isn't clever enough to figure out how to make the Sunset a success.

So, a group whose membership is more than 50 souls is working together to take the place of a taxpayer funded organization's planning department to figure out how to make the Sunset Limited viable. Amtrak should be terribly embarrassed.

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J. Bruce Richardson

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Telephone 904-636-7739

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http://www.unitedrail.org


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; October 30, 2009

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 6, Number 45

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Here is the latest press release from Crown corporation VIA Rail Canada, Amtrak’s cold weather cousin in the Great Northland. Read, absorb, and learn.

[begin quote]

VIA Rail Canada to boost famed transcontinental train's accessibility and appeal

MONTREAL, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ - VIA Rail Canada today announced a $19.5 million program for the reconfiguration of 12 of the stylish stainless steel passenger cars used on its western transcontinental train, the Canadian, to increase its accessibility and market appeal. The work is being funded from the $407 million allocated for passenger rail improvements under the Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan.

"It gives me great pleasure to announce the complete redesign and rebuilding of these cars," said VIA President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Cote. The contract for the rebuilding of VIA's eight Chateau sleeping cars and four Park sleeper-dome-lounge cars has been awarded to Avalon Rail, Inc., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Avalon Rail specializes in remanufacturing passenger rolling stock of all types. The company will use various Canadian engineering, design and supply firms for a portion of the project. The cars will be delivered in 2011.

Mr. Cote added, "Avalon Rail was selected for this demanding work through a competitive bidding process based on numerous factors. These included price, craftsmanship, a detailed knowledge of the equipment to be rebuilt and on-time completion of previous projects."

"We are honoured to undertake this work for VIA," said June Garland, president of Avalon Rail. "The Canadian is a living legend, offering thousands of travellers from around the world the ultimate in safe, stylish and sustainable rail travel every year for more than a half-century. I can think of no better showcase for the skills of Avalon's dedicated craftspeople."

The work involved in the modernization and major upgrading of this classic rolling stock is extensive. The eight Chateau sleeping cars will be reconfigured with an all-new arrangement of six upscale cabins designed to accommodate up to three passengers each.

Each sleeping cabin will be completely self-contained and will include an en-suite washroom plus a separate shower. The new cabins will also feature wood paneling, sofa seating, a widescreen television and controls to enable passengers to raise or lower the beds whenever they desire. This elegant new design has been selected to enable VIA's Canadian to attract the growing clientele for more upscale travel experiences.

This program will also substantially increase the train's accessibility for travellers with special needs. The four existing Park car bedrooms will be replaced by two large upscale cabins. One will be identical to those in the rebuilt Chateau sleeping cars. The other will be an extra-large, fully-accessible cabin. It will provide separate, fully-accessible washroom and shower facilities. Each Park car will also feature an onboard wheelchair lift.

About Avalon Rail, Inc.

Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Avalon Rail is renowned for the excellence of its highly-specialized remanufacturing of vintage and contemporary passenger rail rolling stock. The firm's skilled craftspeople have extensive experience in renewing the sturdy and durable equipment produced from the 1930s to the 1980s by the Budd Company, the originator of stainless steel passenger rail cars.

About VIA Rail Canada

As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail Canada's mandate is to provide efficient, environmentally sustainable and cost-effective passenger transportation, both in Canada's business corridor and in remote and rural regions of the country. Every week, VIA operates 503 intercity, transcontinental and regional trains linking 450 communities across its 12,500-kilometre route network. The demand for VIA services is growing as travellers increasingly turn to train travel as a safe, hassle-free and environmentally responsible alternative to congested roads and airports.

VIA's Stainless Steel Fleet Backgrounder

The 174 cars in VIA's stainless steel fleet were primarily built for Canadian Pacific (CP) in 1954-1955 by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, the world's leading manufacturer of stainless steel rolling stock. These elegant and robust cars were used to create CP's Canadian, the last all-new train of the Art Moderne-influenced Streamlined Era. VIA bought this distinctive and durable rolling stock when it took over the operation of the former CP services in 1978.

Between 1990 and 1993, VIA completely rebuilt the CP cars, as well as some additional Budd equipment acquired from the U.S. [Editor’s note: This equipment came from Amtrak equipment which was deemed surplus.] The cars were stripped to their shells and fully remanufactured for greater efficiency and passenger comfort at a fraction of the cost of new and unproven equipment. New interiors and a head end power (HEP) system were installed to eliminate the obsolete steam and battery-generator systems that previously provided lighting, heating and air conditioning.

This $200 million project not only renewed the cars for another 15-20 years of productive service on the Canadian and other long-haul and remote trains, but reduced operating costs by more than $20 million annually. A subsequent HEP 2 program applied the same modernization techniques and systems to 33 Budd stainless steel cars for use in the Quebec-Windsor Corridor.

As far back as the 1950s, Budd proudly proclaimed that not one piece of its rolling stock had ever been retired because it had worn out. More than half-a-century later, VIA's HEP 1 and 2 fleets reinforce that accurate. SOURCE VIA RAIL CANADA INC.

[End quote]

2) Sadly, VIA Rail Canada has time and again in these modern times been labeled “Canada’s worst run company.” Even sadder, this smaller and feistier company than Amtrak, which operates far fewer trains, with a much smaller equipment pool, and hundreds of millions of dollars less of free Canadian federal monies, constantly out bests Amtrak when it comes to the professionalism of onboard personnel, clever and widespread marketing, the overall maintenance of equipment, and the desire to succeed.

3) VIA is taking Chateau sleeping cars and brilliantly refurbishing them to provide drawing rooms for three passengers. This delightful throwback to the 1960s and before provides two lower berths in one room, without having to purchase two separate bedrooms and opening them en suite. A third bed, as an upper bunk, is provided, as well. One private toilet and one sink (along with a new shower) fill out the room’s amenities. Note the wood paneling being added, too. It’s notable Amtrak has no drawing rooms in its inventory, even though full bedrooms in all trains always sell out before roomettes.

The remake of the rear end observation dome Park cars to accommodate passengers in wheelchairs and with other challenges speaks volumes for VIA; they understand the upscale and senior citizen market, and are strategically placing themselves to take full advantage of the piles of cash accumulated for long trains such as The Canadian heavily laden with sleeping cars and appropriate accompanying amenities, with less emphasis placed on lower revenue producing coaches.

Amtrak needs to pay attention to this move by VIA Rail Canada, as it will once again be trailblazing a new standard in sleeping car travel.

4) While we’re in the neighborhood, let’s take a look at some of the many opportunities the bureaucrats who populate Amtrak’s executive cadre through the years have flushed down the drain.

These same Budd Company cars VIA is bragging have never gone out of style were once a part of Amtrak’s Heritage fleet, too. When the late Henry Christie made the famous “A” and “B” cars lists of which equipment Amtrak would keep and upgrade from the myriad of fleets it inherited from the private railroads, almost 100% of the equipment retained was Budd-built. The excellent equipment built in the same generations by Pullman Standard was – alas – built using carbon steel instead of the longer-lasting aluminum and stainless steel used by Budd, and, as a result, many of those excellent and exciting cars merely rusted away internally, becoming non-roadworthy and non-useful to Amtrak.

The Budd fleet, which numbered in the hundreds of cars, included crew dorms, sleeping cars of various configurations (including all-bedroom cars on the Auto Train which had drawing rooms), diners, lounges, and coaches.

Through the years, Amtrak’s disdain for this equipment – as opposed to the correct attitude of VIA Rail Canada – grew, and the equipment was sidelined as quickly as possible, with excuses such as no new replacement parts were available and had to be individually machined, and the cars were “too worn out” to have a useful future. (Tell that to the Canadians, and they will look at you like you’re too much in love with winter weather.)

So, even though the Heritage Budd fleet had millions of reliable miles on each car, and all of the fleet had been expensively upgraded to head end power systems for hotel power and air conditioning and heat, the cars were stripped away from Amtrak’s fleet roster, unloved and unwanted.

Many of those cars today and in the hands of railroad equipment brokers, waiting to be loved and used, again.

In addition to the hundreds of single level Heritage Budd fleet cars, also cast away by Amtrak were over 60 of the original Santa Fe Hi-Level cars, which were the basis for the successful development of today’s Superliner fleet. Less than 10 of these cars remain in Amtrak’s fleet, most notably as the Pacific Parlour cars on the Coast Starlight, and some coaches used on the Heartland Flyer stub end train.

The original Pennsylvania Railroad Metroliner cars from the 1960s, numbering in the dozens, sat for years in yards, and, while a few were placed in service for other purposes, almost all of the equipment was scrapped where it sat, gorily cut up and sent to scrap metal dealers.

The Rohr Turboliner sets of equipment (entire trainsets, such as today’s Acela and Talgo trainsets) are another example of equipment summarily discarded by Amtrak, even after the State of New York paid to have three trainsets rehabilitated for use between Albany and New York City, and a then-chief executive officer of the New York DOT by the name of Joseph Boardman (Today’s Amtrak Interim President and Chief Executive Officer) raised cane because Amtrak appeared to be hiding the unused trainsets outside of New York State and refusing to use them for the purpose New York State paid huge money for rehabilitation of the equipment.

5) The question must be asked: Why is Amtrak so quick to discard solid, reliable equipment which other railroads cherish and brag about, resulting in shorter consists, less revenue passenger miles, and overall less income? Why is VIA happy to brag this equipment constitutes a vital core of its company, and cheerfully says rehabilitating this equipment is saving the company tens of millions of dollars, while Amtrak only sees inconvenience and headaches?

Perhaps the answer is VIA has truly been on the brink before, and has a much more precarious political situation under a parliamentary system of government than our system here in the Unites States. It only takes five members of Parliament (The Prime Minister’s version of our presidential cabinet.) to make a decision to do anything to VIA Rail Canada it pleases, including putting it up for sale, as is currently being discussed in Canada.

Amtrak has much more political protection in Congress than VIA has in Parliament, and, perhaps, Amtrak feels since it always has a steady stream of free federal monies coming its way each year, it doesn’t have to be as clever as VIA Rail Canada and constantly prove its chops.

What a pity. The folks running VIA Rail Canada can certainly teach the folks running Amtrak a few things about the best use of resources and making a silk purse out of what Amtrak considers a sow’s ear. Necessity is the mother of invention. Amtrak needs more necessity, not more coddling.

6) As always, the This Week at Amtrak electronic mailbox has something interesting lurking about. Here is a missive about the last issue of TWA featuring the untangling of Amtrak math by Andrew Selden.

[begin quote]

Another excellent issue. It goes into great detail pointing out exactly what is wrong with the numbers that Amtrak distributes to support its internal policies. In a sane environment, the data would determine policy, rather than the opposite. Unfortunately Amtrak is not really accountable to any agency that can force it to meet the goal of an effective national passenger rail system (and probably there is little consensus of rail advocates on what such a goal really means, much less public agreement on that even being a legitimate goal).

Looking back over the history of passenger rail service in the U.S., it is very unfortunate that the kinds of analyses you present were not available when many railroads filed data with state and federal regulatory agencies to justify their “train off” petitions. I see a great deal of similarity between Amtrak’s actions today and many railroad’s activities 50 years ago. Just as Amtrak selects and creates data to justify its desires, those railroads that wanted all their passenger trains to be eliminated did the same, no matter whether they were profitable, made a positive addition to their cash flow, or not. Some didn’t find out until it was too late that they were better off when they still operated passenger trains. The “fact” that passenger service was an anathema to the operation of a profitable corporation became the accepted paradigm of the day to many railroad executives, who in turn were very headstrong and surrounded themselves only with “yes men.” Too few opponents of that policy, both in regulatory agencies or as members of the general public, had the time and resources to interpret the data presented by the railroads or to question its accuracy in order to counter the misleading conclusions that the railroads created. There were some exceptions, but the individuals who fought for retention of profitable or break-even rail service in the public interest were eventually worn down, driven from their jobs, or left them for better opportunity.

If only URPA were around then.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; November 17, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 46
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Here is the text of a speech delivered to the Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers here in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday, November 7, 2009 by this writer.

[begin quote]

It's been an interesting week for the railroad business; changes we couldn't imagine a decade ago have suddenly become true. America again has a "railroad robber baron" – but, this time, it's a benevolent man who may be the smartest businessman in the world.

Warren Buffett said he would cheerfully pay $34 billion for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, and BNSF said they would cheerfully accept his offer.

While many people agree this is not going to launch a series of mergers – there isn't much left to merge other than creating a transcontinental railroad – this is a game changer. BNSF under private ownership no longer has to act by the dictates of Wall Street.

Think of the BNSF deal as a giant-sized version of what happened to our own Florida East Coast Railroad: going private allowed it to think radically outside of the box.

The FEC – after over a decade of waiting – has partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation and Amtrak to restore passenger service on its coast route between Jacksonville and Miami. Now, start thinking about BNSF and passenger service – they have already publicly indicated if the right business opportunity comes along, they will talk about it.

Reading the FEC/FDOT proposal – which is part of the national grab for high speed rail stimulus money – gives any reader respect for the Florida DOT.

Amtrak has its usual equipment demands, because both the Silver Meteor and Silver Star will again be split here in Jacksonville, and half of the consists will go to Miami via Orlando, and half go on the FEC.

The best part is the request for additional local regional trains running between Jacksonville and Miami to provide a higher level of frequencies. The most obvious part left out is extending the Palmetto south of Savannah and running it down the FEC or perhaps over to Tampa.

The only part of Florida's rail plan found wanting is mention of doing something to bolster Tampa's conventional train service. In the Tampa Bay area we have Florida's second largest metropolitan area, and it's level of train service is less than that of Sebring and Palatka.

If you really want to look at the unfairness of it all, take a look at Florida's panhandle. The people living there pay all of the same taxes we pay, but their train – the Sunset Limited – went away because Amtrak doesn't want to bother restoring the train after a hurricane that happened over four years ago temporarily tore up some track.

As I join you today on behalf of United Rail Passenger Alliance, my late friend and predecessor, Austin Coates, was no stranger to this group or many of you personally. We've never forgotten Austin's most famous line regarding Amtrak – "it's just business as usual."

More than half a decade after Austin's passing, we need to help Amtrak stop its continuing "business as usual."

Let's look at how Amtrak has treated us here in Florida over the past 25 years or so.

Going back to the pre-Amtrak days, Florida had so many passenger trains you couldn't walk very far without tripping over one. Florida was a state built by the passenger train.

We had the Seaboard's Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Palmland, Sunland, and Gulf Wind. Not only did we have service to Miami, but we also had service down the middle of the state and from Tampa down the west coast to Venice.

The Atlantic Coast Line provided us with service on the East Coast Champion, West Coast Champion, Gulf Coast Special, seasonal Florida Special, and the Everglades. The ACL on the west coast would take you to Fort Myers.

From Chicago and the Midwest, you could catch the City of Miami, South Wind, Seminole, or Dixie Flyer.

Until just a couple of years prior to Amtrak, the Florida East Coast even operated its daily two car train between Miami and Jacksonville.

Then came Amtrak Day in 1971.

Amtrak Day wasn't as bad for Florida as elsewhere, for we still had the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Champion, and South Wind. We lost the Gulf Wind, and that huge – and currently unfilled gap – between Jacksonville and New Orleans opened up. We lost service south of Tampa on the west coast. But you could still get to Florida from Chicago with single train service, and you had three choices from New York to Florida, and both coasts and the middle of Florida through Ocala were still served.

We all know what has happened since then.

The once busy crew and maintenance base in Tampa is gone, with just a single daily train remaining. Naturally, this occurred only after the City of Tampa decided to spend a king's ransom on the breathtaking restoration of Tampa Union Station.

Miami, once the golden goose of passenger railroading, now has two trains a day.

The South Wind, then the Floridian, with direct Chicago service, is gone.

The Cross Florida service between Tampa and Miami came and went.

The extended Palmetto from Savannah to Jacksonville, and eventually to Tampa, and then turned into the Silver Palm to Miami – is gone.

We now have Auto Train, but unless you're taking along your car and only have a destination of Northern Virginia or beyond, it's not the most useful service in Amtrak's stable.

Then, there is the sad saga of the Sunset Limited. We all worked hard in Florida to bring the Sunset to us in 1993. The State of Florida ponied up over $7 million to help upgrade the CSX line in the panhandle.

We knew prior to the Sunset's extension, there was an average of 75,000 calls per year into the Amtrak res centers seeking a train between New Orleans and Florida.

Now, the Sunset is almost history. I say "almost" because it never officially went away, just in reality went away. As [FCRP member] George Bollinger often asks, "what if it had been the Seaboard and L&N that had suddenly decided to stop running the Gulf Wind, just because it was inconvenient?"

For a while, unknowing people tried to blame our friends – yes, make no mistake about it, at CSX they are our friends – for not allowing Amtrak to resume service on the Sunset. But, we know CSX gave Amtrak written notice the line was available for the Sunset on April 1, 2006.

By law, when Amtrak cancels an entire train route, it is supposed to post a 180 day notice of cancellation. This minor technicality to Amtrak has never been honored, with the ongoing excuse of not only did the dog eat Amtrak's homework, but Amtrak merely "suspended" the service due to conditions wrought by the hurricane.

A number of union jobs on all levels were lost by the suspension of the Sunset. Yet, Amtrak's unions have chosen to do nothing about this. No union filed a lawsuit, no union screamed at the top of its organized lungs about this flagrant abuse of the law.

Congresswoman Corrine Brown put $1 million into last year's Amtrak reauthorization to study the restoration of the Amtrak route. We know the result of that; a lot of paper with a lot of excuses and reasons why Amtrak doesn't want to restart the service.

The quickest, cheapest, cleanest way to restore service is to extend the City of New Orleans from New Orleans to Orlando.

Because of bad equipment scheduling, the City trainsets sit for a full day in New Orleans before they return to Chicago. On any given day there are two trainsets in Louisiana, the one just departing New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal and the one about to arrive at NOUPT. By extending the route to Orlando, only one extra trainset would be required to bring the train to Florida.

Amtrak will instantly whine about stations; the only real station problem is at Mobile, where the Eisenhower-era relic of the L&N Railroad's poor choice of architect station building was mercifully torn down after Katrina. The only problem for Mobile is finding a new spot for a platform and placement of a temporary Amshack.

Remember, the only manned stations between New Orleans and Jacksonville were Mobile, Pensacola, and Tallahassee. Everything else was just a platform and city-run shelter.

Many of my readers of This Week at Amtrak know I talk about the Sunset and the City of New Orleans a lot, and there's a reason for that. From 1996 to 2000, I was a paid consultant to the Gulf Coast Business Group, working with both of those trains, plus the Crescent. My late business partner and I specialized in marketing for these trains, creating onboard services programs, the highly successful 24 hour dining car test runs on the Sunset, and handled special events, such as station openings and helped with the inaugural of the Gulf Coast Limited. Even today, those are still my trains.

From 1999 to 2000, we ran the Sunset Limited and City of New Orleans Promotional Office for Amtrak from our offices here in Jacksonville. We worked a number of projects that brought new riders to the Sunset and City through radio and television station promotions, worked with local media, and even hosted a dining car gathering in Memphis for local and regional media food critics.

Like any large company, we found white hats and black hats inside of Amtrak. Some very good people left because of the constant problems caused by the black hats, and others left merely because Amtrak was not the most pleasant place to work if you weren't part of the good old boy network.

But, there is a shrinking core group of dedicated people who are there because they like running passenger trains.

What can we do to help those at Amtrak who want the company to succeed?

First, everyone must realize there is more than one answer to Amtrak's problems. Those who constantly plead "we all have to work together" generally mean we all have to agree with them, and forget about any other solutions.

Second, we have to realize the reality of passenger rail around the world. Amtrak constantly wants us to believe no passenger rail system in the world makes money. This is only an excuse to enable Amtrak's dysfunctional behavior.

I invite you to do your own research; scan credible publications like the International Railway Journal and read the stories about passenger rail systems in The Netherlands, Germany, and Japan which make money.

Doubters say this isn't true, these companies are still propped up by their governments. Wrong. Some of these systems may operate over government owned right of way – just as trains do on the Northeast Corridor – but they still pay a train mile fee. Some of the systems share the rails with freight trains – just like Amtrak – and they receive a benefit – just like Amtrak – from the shared cost of infrastructure.

For years, URPA has been crunching numbers and seeing almost every long distance train in the Amtrak system makes money "above the rail." This is the same system used by other countries – based on operating costs, not full infrastructure maintenance costs – and revenue passenger miles.

One thing URPA has talked about for decades is Amtrak's erroneous use of warm body counts in the form of ridership instead of the real world metrics of load factor and revenue passenger miles. Amtrak wants us to be wowed by warm body counts, which are meaningless. What matters is how far you carry a passenger, and what revenue you derive from a passenger, not how many passengers.

Which passenger would you rather have: one passenger traveling the 608 mile average length of trip on the Silver Meteor at 15.7 cents a revenue passenger mile ... or four passengers on Oklahoma's Heartland Flyer, traveling an average length of trip of 175 miles at 12 cents a revenue passenger mile? That one passenger on the Meteor not only makes Amtrak more money than the four passengers on the Heartland Flyer, but that one passenger will also spend more money onboard in the diner and lounge, had less cost to the national reservations system, less to reach through marketing, and tracks all the way through Amtrak's accounting system with less costs because Amtrak is handling one passenger instead of four.

When the late Graham Claytor – without a doubt Amtrak's best president – retired from Amtrak in 1993, the company was generating internally enough money to cover 72% of its 1989 $1.7 billion operating budget, up from 48% in 1981. Today, that number has slipped dramatically, down to about 60%.

Since Mr. Claytor retired, we have seen a virtual parade of permanent and semi-permanent interim chief executive for Amtrak, from Tom Downs to George Warrington to David Gunn to David Hughes to Alex Kummant to today's Joe Boardman.

Every new Amtrak president seems to have made the company worse in so many ways. We've seen the Heritage fleet – which is highly valued and treasured by VIA Rail Canada today – sold off. The original Pennsylvania Railroad Metroliners were scrapped. The Turboliners were rehabbed with someone else's money, and then suddenly hidden and stored, and are now for sale.

We have seen the delivery – and subsequent running off the wheels – of the too small order of Viewliners, with a promise, but no firm order for any more. We've seen a more than decade old order of Superliners, but those numbers are thinning due to neglected maintenance. We've seen the much heralded arrival of the Acela trainsets, but their mechanical troubles, too, have become legendary.

In short, Amtrak has no reserve equipment pool it can activate quickly to expand or create new services. Even though there are still nearly 200 cars sitting in the wreck line, most of that is needed just to restore existing consists to previous levels of productivity, or put a service back east of New Orleans.

During all of this while we have seen meaningless ridership numbers rise, we've also seen abysmal systemwide load factors; during some years more than half of Amtrak's highly perishable inventory goes unsold.

We have seen train consists shrink and shrink.

So, Amtrak is running fewer seats miles for occupancy, creating less of a chance for success. Its equipment is old and getting more worn out by the hour. We know some equipment is being rehabbed by this year's stimulus money, but it's only token amounts for the national system.

Which brings us back to, what can you do to help change Amtrak?

I urge everyone in this room to start a new campaign.

The Cardinal is the only train in Amtrak's entire system which is run by federal mandate. Senator Robert Byrd slipped into federal law that his train – the Cardinal running through his home state of West Virginia – has to be operated. Amtrak uses and abuses this train, but it's helpless to cancel it the way it did the east end of the Sunset Limited.

My conservative soul is tortured by this next suggestion, but it may be necessary until Amtrak can be made to run like a real business. FCRP needs to convince the Florida Congressional Delegation the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and an extended Palmetto south from Savannah to Jacksonville and beyond, and some sort of restored service east of New Orleans, must be mandated to be operated by federal statute.

Your sister organizations in other states need to do the same with their trains. Remember – if it happened to the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans – it can happen to any train. Most of you know the very most basic rule of railroad safety: when on railroad property, be prepared for a train to be coming towards you at any time, from any direction. You know the second most basic safety rule – the one which separates real railroaders from rail fans – never, never, never, step on top of the rail; always step over the rail.

Florida – and every other state – is currently standing on top of the rail, unaware a train is bearing down from an unknown direction. Amtrak's management is much more interested in seeking free federal monies than in operating trains.

We've seen no new equipment orders to date – just promises of a single-level order for Viewliner cars – and the just released update of Amtrak's ongoing five year plan calls for no new cars.

If Amtrak is serious about keeping its system intact, it would be at least talking about a new car order, especially for Superliners. But, the silence is all we need to know.

Paul Dyson, President of the Railroad Passenger Association of California and Nevada, has openly raised the question of whether or not Amtrak is actually planning to exit the long distance route business because of a lack of equipment order.

A few weeks back, one of our URPA associates was attending a rail fair in the Northeast. He ran across an Amtrak Engineering Department intern who wanted the world to know how important he was – after all, he was an intern at Amtrak.

The question of equipment orders came up, and this young man offered a glimpse into Amtrak's corporate thinking. He said, "Amtrak isn't interested in slow trains, it's only interested in fast trains."

Just shortly after that, Tom Carper, Amtrak's Chairman of the Board, gave a presentation to the Midwest High Speed Rail folks touting Amtrak as the logical and national operator of all of the nation's high speed systems. When you read Mr. Carper's presentation, you realize the young intern wasn't just whistling "Dixie."

So, if you're [FCRP member] Jerry Sullivan and you want to travel west to visit your grandchildren in Texas, it's not likely to happen any time soon on a restored Sunset Limited. If you're George Bollinger and you just want to ride trains, you better plan your trip early, because too often you can't get there from here.

Until Congress mandates Amtrak must operate its long distance trains, every one of those trains is in danger. The train may not go away today, but it's consist will be constantly shrinking, the level of service will deteriorate worse and Amtrak will remain – as Union Pacific's official spokesman labeled it – "novelty transportation."

Amtrak today accounts for only two tenths of one percent of America's transportation output, hardly enough for anyone to take seriously. Even worse, Amtrak isn't doing much to change that.

The only people Amtrak listens to is Congress, when it mandates Amtrak do something. It's time for Congress to mandate – without exception – Amtrak must run all of its long distance trains, and throw in some restorations like the Sunset back to Florida, the Pioneer, with a full second frequency operating all the way between Chicago and Denver, the North Coast Hiawatha, and take the Sunset and the Cardinal daily.

Amtrak will kick and scream and whine everyone is being mean to it by making it run trains it doesn't want to run. But, if someone doesn't do something this drastic soon, long distance passenger rail in America will be only a memory like steam locomotives, dome cars, and Pullman berths.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be with you today; it's a pleasure to be here.

[End quote]

2) Warren Buffett's privatization of the venerable Burlington Northern Santa Fe rocked the railroad world. Here is what William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona had to say.

[begin quote]

Warren Buffett's offer for BNSF the first week in November might prove to be a pivotal event for intercity passenger rail, having come at a time when, as Don Phillips in his recent Trains magazine column recently highlighted, dissatisfaction over Amtrak's seeming refusal to participate in a renaissance of train travel is at a peak.

Undoubtedly, Buffett has a record of making sound business decisions; and BNSF, being among the best managed and progressive of large railroads, does fit a motif of acquiring something good and making it better.

Over the next weeks we will look at some of the synergies (much as that word is overused, it does apply here) and economies of scale that could apply to an enlarged role for BNSF in the passenger train business. But right now a single move would signal a positive direction. Words and attitude cost little but mean much; as you may know, trademarks, unlike copyrights and patents, are most defensible when they are in continuous business use. BNSF could gain much publicity, and build on its widespread and long standing – even if subconscious – recognition, by reviving its classic red, yellow, and silver "Warbonnet" scheme.

A new interpretation of their classic corporate symbol would show a revived interest in being a participating citizen in every railroad town and city. Not to mention the free advertising garnered from rolling under practically every child's Christmas tree. Renewing interest in today's youth will perpetuate the recent industry rediscovery that trains are good for more than just hauling coal – they are the future of transportation, as well as the history.

Yes, we undoubtedly will consider details in our upcoming columns here, but for now, Mr. Buffett, we simply convey – Welcome to the world of railroading.

[End quote]

3) Professor James McCommons of Northern Michigan University has a new book out this month, and it's required reading for anyone interested in the business of passenger railroading.

For full disclosure, this writer was interviewed for the book here in Jacksonville by Mr. McCommons. The interview was full of serious, well thought out questions and observations; it's very clear the product of all of his interviews and research has led Mr. McCommons to creating a book far any beyond anything else on the market today regarding passenger rail as it stands in America.

"Waiting on the Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service – A Year Spent Riding Across America" is much more succinct than its title, and presents a wide variety of honest opinions and thoughts about passenger rail. More than just the usual viewpoints are presented with conclusions both obvious and left for the reader to determine.

The book is actually too short; Mr. McCommons reports his publisher, Chelsea Green (www.chelseagreen.com) had him remove about 40,000 words of his original text to fit into a predetermined format. What a shame; when you read the book, you are wanting more, and another brief 40,000 words would be welcomed by any reader.

There is a lengthy review of the book in the current issue of Passenger Train Journal magazine by Karl Zimmermann for those wishing more detail, but, please, if your buy just one railroad book this year, buy "Waiting on the Train;" it's time and money well spent. We can only hope Mr. McCommons will one day do a follow-up book.

4) Speaking of the latest issue of Passenger Train Journal (2009:4, Issue 241) which just hit the newsstands in the past week or so, there is an ever-so-timely article on Amtrak's Pioneer, the subject of much discussion for an expensive route restoration, as well as the usual mix of good articles and photos. Editor Mike Schafer's On The Point column – as always – not only hits the mark about the Pioneer, but covers some other good points, too. Other rail magazines may publish more frequently, but Passenger Train Journal remains the magazine of record for the business of passenger trains.

5) And, this e-mail to TWA arrived shortly after the last issue was published regarding VIA Rail Canada.

[begin quote]

I am a big fan of VIA and have been doing a yearly trip from Toronto to Vancouver on that lovely train, the Canadian for quite a few years. About a year ago, I wrote a comment to Crain's Chicago Business online about Amtrak and their lack of interest in taking care of their equipment. When we board the Canadian in Toronto, she is shining, the windows are spotless, (glass, not micro scratched plastic), flowers are fresh and the crew seems happy to see us!

A couple of weeks ago, we went from Portland, Maine to New York City, and while waiting in Boston to transfer trains, several Acela's came and went: they were already grimy and neglected looking. One of my stories about VIA involved what I consider to be a remarkable piece of quality railroading when the Canadian from the west was delayed by a blizzard and a freight accident making it too late east to turn. VIA put together a very spiffy "shuttle" consist which left on schedule from Toronto with a complementary lunch, complementary wine too!, and in several hours we rendezvoused with the now turned train and proceeded west, right on schedule. I asked a supervisor how this feat was accomplished, to which he replied, "it is all a matter of attitude." Says it all about the difference between VIA and Amtrak.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; November 24, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


Volume 6, Number 47
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Today is the Tuesday before the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and Wednesday is considered by everyone to be just about the busiest travel day of the year, even in times of recession.

Once again, Amtrak is making its usual Herculean effort on the Northeast Corridor to shuttle holiday travelers between Washington, New York City, and Boston.

This year, there are also some additional services on the West Coast in California, and some extra goodies elsewhere.

However, once again, there is a notable lack of beefing up of long distance trains throughout the nation; Amtrak apparently feels only people on the Left Coast and Right Coast, north of Virginia, celebrate Thanksgiving, and the rest of the country – as usual – are left to fend for themselves for holiday travel.

Part of the problem is Amtrak's lack of equipment, due to its deliberate plan to keep as much long distance equipment as possible out of service to save on maintenance costs. Never mind the revenue lost or new passengers to be served; Amtrak managers only receive recognition and bonuses on money saved, not money spent to improve the company's core financial position.

2) All of that aside, it is important to pay respect to all of the Amtrak employees who will be working long and hard on Wednesday and Thursday, and throughout the holiday weekend taking care of their passengers. Amtrak is still a 365 day a year operation, and no matter that it's Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, or any other holiday, dedicated Amtrak employees are out on the road, manning ticket windows in stations, cleaning cars in coach yards, and refueling locomotives all over the country, and we thank them for taking care of our needs while they are away from home and their families.

3) You may want to glance again at the date of this missive; one month from today is Christmas Eve. Finished your shopping, yet?

4) Thanksgiving also marks another milestone: Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman marks the completion of his single year contract this week as Amtrak's chief steward. Since no announcements have been made to the contrary, everyone can only assume his one year contract has been extended ...

William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona has some thoughts on the subject.

[begin quote]

By William Lindley

Those of you who held General Motors shares and now hold the converted "Motors Liquidation Company" will be pleased (sarcasm alert) to know that according to their website (https://www.motorsliquidation.com/?evar10=InvestorInfo_MotorsLiquidation), at the end of the bankruptcy proceedings, it is the Company's expectation your remaining interest in "common stock will have no value."

We could argue who was to blame for GM's failure – the unions? the management? the corporate culture? too much government regulation? not enough government assistance? – but the crux of the matter is, the board of directors – and particularly the president – are ultimately responsible for a corporation's performance. It was the board's, and the president's, responsibility to either guide the company to stability, or advise the stockholders far in advance of an impending failure. The board, and particularly the president, failed to do so.

No-one should be much interested in placing blame now, though; words have little value, results have much.

By the same token, we expect interim Amtrak president Joseph Boardman to be clear about his company's future. Many of us have heard him speak, with positive impressions. Yet the results that matter – reports stuffed with lackluster, unimaginative excuses instead of positive plans for restoring furloughed routes or opening new ones – ultimately rest under his watch. The failure to order equipment sufficient even to maintain current routes, ultimately rests under his watch.

Look out your window. Do you see a tree or a shrub? It is doing one of two things – growing or dying. There is no middle ground, there is never stagnation. A business is the same way. Grow, or die.

Is it Amtrak's intention simply to go gentle into the good night? If not, where is the bold plan, where is the vision for growth? Eagerly, we await.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; December 7, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 48
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Paul Dyson, the Never Say Die President of the Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada sent yet another love letter to Amtrak Interim President and CEO Joseph Boardman.

[begin quote]

5th December, 2009

Mr. Joseph H. Boardman

President and Chief Executive Officer

NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

60 Massachusetts Avenue NE

Washington DC 20002

Via Fax to 202 XXX-XXXX (1 pages total)

MORE UNACCEPTABLE SERVICE FAILURES ON PACIFIC SURFLINER

Dear Mr. Boardman:

Once again I must write to you about the catastrophic service failures on the Pacific Surfliner service. As I write hundreds of passengers are stranded by the locomotive failure of train 769 at San Diego. As a result I have been told that 796 from Goleta will be covered by buses this evening even though it would be possible to deadhead a crew to cover the service.

This is a repeat of the disaster of the day before Thanksgiving when you should have had every available manager and every piece of rolling stock in service. Instead passengers waited for hours for trains that were as much as 6 hours late. There is no excuse for the lack of action by Amtrak. We demand that you:

– Make arrangements with the commuter operators Metrolink and Coaster to make standby trains available to you, with extra crews available to operate them.

– Hire in some of the hundreds of idle freight locomotives and put a freight and a passenger locomotive on every train until you have put your own equipment in a state of good repair.

– Negotiate a power pooling arrangement with the commuter operators. Many of their locomotives operate only about 30 hours per week.

We are tired of excuses and inaction. We will be asking for a congressional hearing and state hearings to find out why California is paying so much to Amtrak for corridor service and getting so little in return.

We look forward to your early response.

Yours faithfully,

ORIGINAL SIGNED

Paul J. Dyson

President

[email protected]

818 XXX-XXXX

cc RailPAC Board , LOSSAN Board, Bill Bronte, Division of Rail

[End quote]

2) Mr. Dyson has perhaps directly targeted finding a solution to Amtrak’s ongoing misadventures. Even though Amtrak top executives directly appear before Congressional committees, they often leave with only a slap on the wrist and business as usual recommences.

Those with a good understanding of history recall this same type of mischief took place with VIA Rail Canada in the late 1980s. In a parliamentary form of government such as in Canada, it doesn’t take an “act of Congress” to get things done; it only takes a vote in the Prime Minister’s cabinet to institute often drastic actions. That happened with VIA when it was unresponsive to its owner’s (the federal government of Canada) wishes, and ended up with its budget slashed so mercilessly, over half of VIA’s long distance system simply disappeared.

No one wants to see Amtrak any smaller than it is today, but, at some point, Amtrak’s management must be made to understand they are not operating in a vacuum and they cannot operate on hubris alone in perpetuity.

3) Here is a letter which ended up in This Week at Amtrak’s mailbox this past week; it’s being circulated among over 30 state passenger rail associations. The natives are definitely restless, and the Army seems to be close to being in a state of agitated rebellion. Somebody better make sure the stockade doors at Amtrak are sturdy and can withstand assault.

[begin quote]

A CALL FOR CHANGE AND NATIONAL VISION

An open letter to Amtrak

We in the rail-passenger advocacy community, along with friends and well-wishers outside the movement, are longtime supporters of expanded and improved rail passenger service in the U.S. As part of our support for passenger trains, we have supported Amtrak, standing by it and defending its funding in good times and bad.

Now the times have changed, and the temper of our advocacy must change with it. The Obama administration’s embrace of passenger rail, including its unprecedented commitment $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, has lifted the nearly four-decade threat against American passenger trains. The breathing space afforded by this sea-change in public policy allows advocates to switch from a posture of defense to a more sober and measured examination of the American passenger train.

We are deeply concerned by Amtrak's apparent unwillingness to embrace change, its reluctance to express a national vision and, most of all, its failure to develop a National Growth Plan with annual ridership targets, programmed frequency expansions, openings of new routes, and a major equipment-acquisition program designed both to support and stimulate ridership growth and route expansion.

Amtrak seems unaware that a transportation revolution is under way in America. The Obama Administration and progressive leaders are now offering Amtrak an opportunity for expansion and growth. Unfortunately, Amtrak continues to be plagued by the same drift, inertia and self-doubt of the past. Indeed, Amtrak president Joseph Boardman himself noted that “there are a whole host of people here who don't know whether to believe,” implying that people who cannot make the transition will have to leave the company.

President Boardman must now follow through on his observation.

Amtrak must realize that if it is to prosper, it must make itself relevant to America's transportation needs to the point of being indispensable. It must take a proactive role in the design of our national rail passenger system rather than merely executing plans developed and funded by others.

For the last 30 years Amtrak’s “business plan” has been: “If anybody wants us to run trains we’ll run them—just bring a check.” Outside of the Northeast Corridor, this message has been directed solely to state governments and has resulted in the addition of primarily intra-state trains. There has been no acknowledgment of any interstate route obligations beyond what Amtrak inherited from the private railroads. The company does not acknowledge any obligation to grow the interstate or overnight part of its business and has never designed a blueprint or sought funding for doing so.

For example, in years past Amtrak could have offered to share the costs of developing a showcase corridor, such as Chicago-St. Louis, to demonstrate to Congress and to other regions of the nation how a properly designed, funded and operated passenger-rail service could stimulate economic growth in the communities it served. It could have advocated the development of such a service between Chicago and Florida, or between booming city pairs in the underserved Sun Belt, such as Phoenix and Los Angeles, or Dallas and Houston. Such a success would have led to calls for more service elsewhere, ensuring a better future for Amtrak, while blunting calls for its demise.

But Amtrak never displayed the necessary initiative, and its absence did not go unnoticed by Amtrak’s adversaries as they subjected the company to one shutdown scenario after another.

It is time for Amtrak to be its own best advocate, as well as the advocate for the traveling public and for passenger trains themselves. It can only strike the public as odd that while the president, the congressional leadership, the advocacy community and dozens of state departments of transportation call for a passenger-rail buildup, Amtrak itself is silent.

A good first step for Amtrak to begin embracing the future would be through the placement of an equipment order large enough to allow system and frequency expansion. The company's current request for a 130-car order of new Viewliner II single-level cars and an option for 70 more cars, while praiseworthy, shows no vision for the future and ignores present and future capacity needs. This order will do little more than replace old, worn-out equipment. It will not allow for any meaningful expansion. To its credit, Amtrak recently proposed an additional 500- car order for new, standardized coaches, but these cars will only replace worn out Amfleet cars running primarily on the Northeast Corridor. It ignores the needs of the Superliner fleet and does nothing to address the need for new routes and additional frequencies on existing routes.

When the ARRA funds suddenly became available in 2009, Amtrak didn’t even have a wish list ready and is only now belatedly beginning to talk about a large-scale acquisition program. Amtrak needs to get started on that list now. But, it must do more than propose an order for cars or locomotives. Priority should also be given to route planning and expansion. It should develop a real vision for expansion of the current Amtrak system, laying the foundation for a truly national network. The “Grid and Gateway” proposal by the National Association of Railroad Passengers represents an excellent start.

Amtrak needs to evangelize governors, mayors, chambers of commerce, major colleges and universities and regional economic-development authorities about the good news robust train service can bring. It must champion trains nationally and regionally and lobby Congress for a national budget sufficient to support multi-state route expansions. It must court Congress, the Obama Administration, states, local leaders and others to promote its own survival and prosperity by developing plans for expansion that do not depend solely on the largesse of state legislatures. If Amtrak fails to do this, its relevance will continue to be a question in the minds of many.

Apologists may plead that Amtrak has had to fight just to stay alive and has no “juice” to support a culture of growth. But even in a hostile environment – which all private businesses and public-sector agencies encounter at one time or another – real leaders continue to prepare plans and wish lists, float trial balloons and put together pilot projects to demonstrate a concept and build public support for more ambitious programs.

We in the advocacy community have supported and defended Amtrak over the decades, but that support is conditional. If Amtrak wants our continued support, it will have to change, and soon. Amtrak must embrace the future, and if that means separating itself from those who feel comfortable only with the past, so be it. Nothing less will be acceptable. We are committed to the creation of a truly national rail passenger system by all possible means, whether it’s through Amtrak or some other approach.

The time to build a national passenger-rail system is now and Amtrak must become proactive and forward-thinking or risk its own demise.

[End quote]

Here is the only proper response to this letter: Amen.

At last word, less than a half dozen state passenger rail associations have summoned the collective intestinal fortitude to endorse this letter. Many seem content to continue to do nothing and metaphorically play the fiddle while Amtrak burns around them.

Now is not the time for cowardice; now is the time for action. If you are an active member of a state passenger rail association, demand your association not only endorse this letter, but begin to take action to force Amtrak to live up to its obligations to every American.

As long as Amtrak management thinks it can continue to feed at the public trough and not have to worry about support, then it will continue to operate as it does today with managers more worried about hanging on long enough to collect their pensions rather than creating and growing a national passenger rail system which is robust and viable.

Make it your personal New Year’s resolution to make Amtrak accountable to you and every other taxpayer in America. If we’re going to spend public money to keep Amtrak going, then we should be realizing a public benefit.

4) More from Ken Orski at Innovation NewsBriefs. This is Volume 20, Number 23; further information is available at www.innobriefs.com.

[begin quote]

December 5, 2009

The Selling of Transportation Reform

A small but influential group of individuals gathered recently at the downtown Washington office of University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs at the invitation of its Director, former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles. The bipartisan group included two former U.S. Transportation Secretaries and some 30 key players and opinion leaders who constitute what could be loosely described as Washington's permanent transportation policy establishment.

The purpose of the meeting was to solicit advice on a set of recommendations stemming from the Miller Center's transportation conference (see, "Reconsidering the Current Paradigm: Notes from the Miller Center Transportation Conference," NewsBrief, September 17, 2009). While the discussion dealt with a number of discrete issues to be addressed in the report, the central challenge was posed succinctly by Gov. Baliles at the outset of the meeting. The transportation sector, he suggested, is being neglected despite the evidence of a mounting crisis – aging infrastructure, growing traffic congestion, strained freight and logistical facilities. Both the Congress and the Administration are extemporizing rather than taking bold steps to avert the looming crisis. Where is the outrage? Baliles asked. Why is there no popular outcry? And what can we do to overcome this inertia? How can we create a sense of urgency and develop a narrative that will reverberate with the public, capture the media's attention and goad Congress and the Administration into action? The Governor's conclusion: we must involve "the three Ps": the Public, the Press and the Politicians.

What follows is some reflections stimulated by the Miller Center discussion. Specifically, can we sell the notion that continued inaction on the transportation front is placing the nation at risk? Can we elevate the need for greater transportation investment and program reform to a higher priority on the nation's policy and legislative agenda? And how can we rally the public, the press and the politicians to support these goals?

The Public

Does the public perceive a genuine "transportation crisis?" Opinions differ. While catastrophic failures such as the bridge collapse in the Twin Cities are a powerful reminder of the need for constant vigilance, such dramatic failures are happily few and far between. The public does not necessarily share the transportation officials' sense of urgency or alarm about "crumbling infrastructure." The Minneapolis bridge collapse is a fading memory. And while the severity of metropolitan traffic congestion and its adverse impact on the economy and people's lives are readily acknowledged, the driving public has grown skeptical that more money or program reform will bring effective congestion relief. Perhaps they have come to accept the truth of the oft-repeated skeptical refrain that "you cannot build your way out of traffic congestion." What is more, traffic congestion leaves vast stretches of rural and small-town America unaffected and unconcerned. As one participant pointed out, the average nationwide commute time of 25.5 minutes has not increased for the past eight years according to Bureau of the Census data. Traffic congestion may be of great concern to many individual communities, but it is not necessarily perceived as a "crisis" deserving national attention.

Contrast this with the strong public support for climate change action. Until recently, at least, the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions received substantial public support. (This support has reportedly declined precipitously in the wake of "Climategate" – the recent disclosure of climate data manipulation at the U.K.'s Climate Research Unit.) The issue resonated strongly with the public because global warming was perceived as a potentially catastrophic threat to mankind ("planet in peril"). Traffic congestion and an occasional bridge collapse have not reached – and we doubt they will ever reach – the same level of concern and apprehension (or mass hysteria, depending on your point of view.)

We offer the above arguments not to refute the need for action, but to suggest that they provide a plausible explanation why there has been no public outcry about the stalled transportation authorization and no groundswell of public demand for a reform of the transportation program.

Supporting a Transportation Vision

If evoking an impending transportation crisis is not a convincing way to gain public support, could an appeal to the people's sense of vision be more effective? After all, America's transportation history has been marked by a series of ambitious transportation initiatives – Erie Canal and the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century, the Interstate Highway System, the urban rail transit networks and the air navigation system in the 20th century. Can't public support be rallied around a bold new transportation infrastructure agenda suitable for the 21st century? The positive reception given to President Obama's high speed rail initiative would suggest that a new transportation vision can still capture the public imagination. And if a giant new infrastructure program on the scale of the Interstate Highway Program no longer is financially feasible, could one not enlist public support for a more modest capital program that could still enhance the nation's infrastructure and contribute to economic growth? The answer, we believe, is a tentative "yes" – provided, as one participant noted, that the infrastructure plan is presented as a collection of tangible projects that could capture the public's imagination, rather than vague and poorly understood promises "to improve transportation performance."

The Press

The popular press and mass media can be captivated by and serve as an effective communicator of bold new transportation visions – especially ones with a high technological content. The daily press and television also can effectively dramatize and draw public attention to spectacular transportation failures such as a bridge collapse or traffic gridlock. But the media's attention span is short and its ability to stay on subject is limited by a constantly shifting news focus. Moreover, many of the issues central to transportation reform are considered as too arcane by newspaper editors and editorial writers to be of interest to the general public. Trade and "niche" publications do provide more depth but their outreach and influence are limited to the client groups they serve. In principle, the blogosphere could serve as a useful educational tool. However, constituency-driven blogs are often tendentious and advocacy-driven. To properly inform and educate public opinion requires a flow of accurate information, diverse views and impartial analysis. Most blogs do not meet this test. We are left with a conclusion that getting one's message across will require a sophisticated outreach strategy that includes ability to connect with opinion makers outside the traditional communication channels.

The Politicians

There are several explanations for the delayed plans to enact a transportation bill and more generally for transportation's relatively low standing on the list of Congressional and Administration priorities. The most obvious reason is the already crowded Obama policy agenda and the importance of the competing priorities of health care overhaul, the challenge of job creation, financial regulatory reform, and climate change.

Deficit Financing and Higher Taxes Are Off the Table

Contributing to the legislative inertia on the transportation front is the Administration's reluctance to use deficit financing or raising taxes to support expensive new government initiatives. Administration officials have signaled that the President's focus next year will bear heavily on bringing the deficit down. This mindset is matched on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are conscious of the political and economic danger of increasing the national debt and reluctant in an election year to consider measures that would add to the soaring deficit. As one participant remarked, the political community refuses to buy into the crisis scenario or admit there is an infrastructure problem. Or else the problem is not viewed as serious enough to warrant additional deficit spending.

There is an equal reluctance to consider tax increases. Proposals to enhance the Highway Trust fund revenue by raising the gas tax – to the extent such proposals are still heard these days – are coming from interested stakeholder groups and lobbyists rather than from the grassroots. And those meet with a skeptical reception on Capitol Hill, a bare 12 months before mid-term congressional elections. One telling indication has been the unwillingness of the House Ways and Means Committee to consider a tax hike to fund Rep. Oberstar's proposed $500 billion surface transportation bill.

Suggestions as to other sources of funding – such as a National Infrastructure Bank or a federal capital budget, mileage (VMT) fees and financial transaction fees – have likewise met with deep congressional and White House skepticism.

Short-term vs. Long-term funding

To be sure, there exists a possibility of a short-term infusion of funds in the context of a new job creation initiative. Highway and transit interests have seized on the White House "jobs summit" on December 3 to push for an $84 billion package of "ready-to-go" projects, and the House is readying a jobs bill that would provide up to $70 billion for "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects and aid to small business. However, this places transportation advocates in a quandary. They need to be part of the current job creation dialogue in order to stake out a claim to any stimulus funds that might be forthcoming. However, any short-term infusion of funds will remove – or at least seriously reduce – congressional urgency to act upon the larger need for strategic investment in transportation infrastructure aiming to promote long-term economic growth. This dilemma was evident in President Obama's remarks at the jobs summit. What's good in the long term, Obama is reported to have said, may not necessarily work as an immediate short term jobs stimulus, currently the Administration's paramount objective. There are tensions in the process of allocating infrastructure spending, he said, between immediate "shovel-ready" projects as opposed to long-term visionary projects. He intimated that the short-term goal to spur job growth would take priority in choosing projects over the long term need for strategic infrastructure investment. But some observers have raised questions whether even immediate "ready-to-go" transportation projects, such as pavement re-surfacing and highway beautification, create new jobs or merely keep existing DOT and contractor road crews fully occupied.

The Clouded Future

Thus, the prospect for an early enactment of a reform-oriented multi-year surface transportation authorization remains murky. Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has abandoned his quest to enact a six-year $500 billion bill by the end of the year in the face of continued Senate and House leadership opposition. Instead, he announced during a press conference on December 2, that he would agree to a six-month extension of the existing program, provided that there is an agreed upon time line for enacting a longer-term authorization. One possibility could be a staged process consisting of a two-year "front-loaded" transportation bill focused on job creation, followed by a longer-term bill containing broad policy reforms. However, at this point, the constantly shifting dynamics concerning the need for and type of a jobs stimulus makes any predictions about congressional action at the expiration of the current short-term extension on December 18 a mere speculation. Only one thing is certain: getting the lawmakers to enact an ambitious long-term surface transportation program in the tax- and deficit-averse political climate of an election year would be an uphill struggle.

[End quote]

5) And, on this final note, this missive arrived at This Week at Amtrak. Good thoughts for all to consider from Evan Stair of Passenger Rail Oklahoma.

[begin quote]

I thought you might like to take a look at the new Amtrak 2009 national route map. Isn't it pretty? I especially like the photograph of the train crossing at the top. Look at the inclusion of all those magnificent buses that flesh out the system... making it look twice as large as it really is.

Oops... I guess someone forgot to tell the cartographer to remove the New Orleans to Florida segment of the Sunset Limited... Oh... excuse me? I guess Amtrak considers this just a "service disruption" so it has a rightful place on the map?

Seriously, several questions come to mind:

1) If this IS just a service disruption, then why did they have to study its restoration? Why not just start operating it again?

2) Since this is just a "service restoration" why did Amtrak see a need to study alternatives to its pre-Katrina operation?

3) Since this is a federally funded route disruption, shouldn't the financing of the restoration match that of its pre-Katrina operation? It seems that Katrina erased everything but the red ink on the National map.

Needless to say, the four-year-and-counting "service disruption" and inclusion of an operational line on the Amtrak system map that has not operated for four years should be a source of embarrassment to Amtrak. In fact, it is false advertising. This map is displayed in Amtrak depots across the nation; possibly even travel agencies. It is included within travel planners and timetables. Fortunately, travel planners and timetables explain the situation. However, where is the disclaimer on the system map?

[End quote]

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; December 8, 2009
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


Volume 6, Number 49
​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Finally, at last, after waiting oh, so very long (Too long, in fact.), SunRail, the 61 mile long commuter rail system in Central Florida serving the Metropolitan Orlando area is about to be a reality.

Just hours ago, the Florida Senate, meeting in a special session, passed HR 1, a bill to create SunRail and to also permanently fund South Florida's Tri-Rail system.

Life is good.

SunRail had failed twice before in the Florida Senate, two years in a row in the legislature's regular annual sessions. The Florida House each time overwhelmingly passed the proposal, but a spiteful state Senator from the small city of Lakeland, Senator Paula Dockery, did her best to kill SunRail because she was mad her husband's original, too-expensive, ill-advised bullet train scheme was made to go away by former Governor Jeb Bush almost a decade ago.

In a rare change of places in politics, the Republicans were pushing for SunRail, and the Democrats were mostly against it. Senator Dockery, who is now running for governor in next year's state elections, is also a Republican.

Overall, SunRail had bipartisan support on many fronts, but the trial lawyers were originally against it because the original bill protected CSX, which is selling the track and infrastructure to the State of Florida for hundreds of millions of dollars wanted reasonable risk protection for any freight trains it would continue to run in off-hours when SunRail wasn't running between Deland, a far northern suburb of Orlando in Volusia County (near Daytona Beach), through the heart of downtown Orlando via Sanford (home of Auto Train's southern terminus), Casselberry, Longwood, and Winter Park all the way down to Poinciana, to the southwest of Orlando, near the theme park area of Orlando (Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, Universal Studios).

There was a fuss by the unions, who claimed the Republican-ruled State of Florida government was union-busting. At the last moment, they came to an agreement through some sort of backroom deal, and the unions relented and allowed the Democrats to vote for SunRail.

But, mostly, for the first two years, SunRail failed because of one Senator, Paula Dockery. She used every piece of disinformation and distortion she could find to kill SunRail out of spite, and she cut deals with as many other senators as she could on unrelated topics to buy their votes in her favor. It took the untimely death of a longtime Senator from here in Jacksonville, who supported the concept of SunRail, but voted against it due to a deal cut with Senator Dockery, for the bill to finally pass. The dearly departed Senator's elected replacement was one of the chief paid lobbyists for SunRail the previous year, so his vote was an automatic "yes."

In the end, it all came down to politics and perception. SunRail was touted as a job creator (no doubt about that), and it was touted as a budget buster, taking money out of the mouths of babes and education opportunities away from school children, not to mention all of the alleged hospitals and clinics which wouldn't be built because of the cost of SunRail.

It was only when the Republican majority in the Florida Senate realized it wouldn't be prudent to go against the Republican President of the Senate and the Republican Governor that some sense came into focus.

In the mean time, United States Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood came to Florida earlier this year and made it very, very clear if SunRail was not approved, and a funding source found for Tri-Rail, then Florida would be completely out of the running for any federal stimulus funds to build the proposed high speed rail routes in Florida. Added to Secretary LaHood's admonishment were similar dire warnings from Republican Senator George LeMieux and Democratic Senator Bill Nelson (of NASA and space travel fame), as well as a varied assortment of Members of Congress.

So, no matter how good the plan, how good the plan is for the citizens of Florida and Central Florida's tens of millions of annual visitors from around the world, it all came down to a few votes and a lot of political pressure.

Is that any way to run a railroad?

2) Here is who will benefit from the SunRail/Tri-Rail bill:

– The majority of SunRail will run fairly parallel to Interstate 4, the main highway through the very middle of downtown Orlando. Interstate 4 is best described as a slow moving parking lot any time between 7:00 A.M. and about 8:00 P.M., and if there is a wreck, well, don't plan on being home for dinner on time.

As with all commuter rail systems, the sudden appearance of commuter trains will do nothing to alleviate traffic congestion; you couldn't run enough trains with a two minute headway on a triple track mainline to take care of Central Florida's driving problems. The benefit of SunRail is it will provide a reasonably priced, reasonable time alternative to driving on Interstate and surface roads, so almost every commuter in and out of downtown Orlando or commuters traveling from one side of Metropolitan Orlando to another will have the opportunity to take the train and possibly benefit.

– The Orange Blossom Expressway, a second proposed commuter rail system in Central Florida will also benefit. This much smaller system will connect in downtown Orlando with SunRail, coming from far suburban counties to the north of Orlando. This system will travel over rails currently owned by a short line railroad. The start of SunRail could prompt this feeder system to get off the ground faster.

– Everyone in the engineering and related fields, plus many in the construction industry will benefit, almost immediately.

SunRail is probably one of the projects which is actually "shovel ready" and will have a relatively short construction window before beginning service. The current CSX infrastructure is excellent, and it won't take much to upgrade what is already there to make it commuter-system ready. There will be some double tracking required, and the construction of local stations will take place, but none of those are years-long projects, especially with the year-round, construction friendly warm climate of Central Florida.

– CSX will hugely benefit; it's selling 61 miles worth of infrastructure it currently pays taxes on to the State of Florida for over $400 million, and it still gets to run as many freight trains as it wants over the tracks in off hours for – are you ready for this? – $1.00 a year (Yes, one dollar.).

Additionally, CSX gets more tens of millions of dollars to upgrade the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad main line through Ocala to divert trains from the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad main line through Orlando it is selling to the State of Florida for SunRail. The money for diverting the traffic will go to more infrastructure improvements on the old SAL line such as grade crossings, more sidings, better signaling, and the construction of several highway and road overpasses in congested areas.

CSX will also build a brand new Intermodal facility southwest of Orlando in Polk County, abandoning its older, smaller, more expensive to operate facility in Orlando that is currently on the SunRail route. The upgraded CSX/SAL line via Ocala will handle the diverted traffic from Orlando and the old Intermodal facility and take it all to the new facility.

– Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties, the host counties of Tri-Rail, will all benefit from this legislation. In lieu of the desired $2.00 per day surcharge (A nice synonym for "tax.") on rental cars in each of the three counties, excess state transportation funds will be used for Tri-Rail. Each of the three counties will still contribute to Tri-Rail finances on an annual basis, but the three counties will not be solely responsible for funding the commuter rail system.

This will also most likely clear the way for a huge expansion of Tri-Rail into a "Y" shaped system. The former inland SAL main line Tri-Rail now calls home parallels – in some cases just by a matter of city blocks – the current main line of the Florida East Coast Railroad, a private subsidiary of RailAmerica, based here in Jacksovnille. The FEC for years has been hoping for a similar deal CSX received over two decades ago to sell its track and infrastructure to an expanded Tri-Rail system, while retaining similar rights as CSX has to run over Tri-Rail in off hours.

As with CSX, the FEC would be relieved of the tax burden of ownership and the costs of maintenance and insurance on about 75 or so miles of very expensive, urban track and infrastructure if Tri-Rail buys its line from the north of West Palm Beach (Around Jupiter, Florida.), south all the way into downtown Miami.

Since Henry Flagler and the FEC in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries were the original builders of all of the East Coast of Florida south of St. Augustine for all practical purposes, the FEC line has a superior route through the middle of downtowns and urban areas than the old SAL line which was not completed into South Florida until the Florida Land Boom in the 1920s. The FEC had all of the downtowns and track which hugged the South Florida beaches, and the Seaboard was forced to build further to the west in the suburbs and swamplands on the edge of the Florida Everglades south of West Palm Beach where the line swung east from its route through Winter Haven, Sebring, and skirting Lake Okeechobee.

Tri-Rail plans to keep its current system, and add trackage to the north and south of West Palm Beach on the FEC (The same trackage which is part of Amtrak's high speed rail proposal for Florida vying for part of the $8 billion in stimulus money to be awarded later this Winter.).

– Every other proposed commuter rail system in the country will benefit from the passage of the SunRail bill because from the beginning, the bill has been a model of rational, reasonable planning, with no pie-in-the-sky ridership figures, too conservative costs, or too extravagant revenue figures. SunRail was conceived and planned using real world numbers and real world expectations. Like the Northstar system in Minneapolis, and the Trinity system in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, SunRail most likely will exceed expectations on opening day.

The deal struck with CSX, similar to the deal the Commonwealth of Massachusetts struck with CSX to expand its state commuter system outside of Boston, most likely will become a model for all future deals with CSX, which is good. CSX will receive huge benefits from the deal, which is to be expected as CSX acts on behalf of its shareholders. While CSX will benefit, the public will also benefit in any number of ways, not the least of which is access to private railroad infrastructure CSX has no duty to share with anyone else it doesn't choose to do business with on any particular day. But, both the SunRail and Massachusetts projects demonstrate how everyone can win, and life goes on with everyone benefitting.

– Amtrak will greatly benefit from SunRail; it will have the benefit of the upgraded infrastructure necessary for SunRail, plus the upgraded shared station facilities, and more friendly dispatching since there will be very little freight train activity south of Jacksonville (Where ALL freight trains came into Florida to be funneled south into Florida's peninsula) on the former ACL line/now SunRail line for 61 miles in Central Florida. For about 210 miles from Jacksonville to the Auburndale cutoff where Amtrak trains turn from the former ACL line onto the former SAL line for the run into Miami, Amtrak trains should have a mostly clear shot of clean dispatching with very little freight train interference. This could lead to a shortening of Florida schedules since the northbound Silver Meteor and Silver usually arrive into Jacksonville ahead of schedule.

Another benefit to Amtrak will be a heightened awareness of passenger rail travel by the commuters on SunRail; passenger-train-aware people are more likely to be receptive to long distance train travel. Hopefully, Amtrak will make the most of this by heavily promoting Amtrak trains at commuter stations.

– U.S. Railcar, which is now the proud owner of the former Colorado Railcar designs for both single and bi-level commuter trains should benefit greatly from today's vote. The original plan, when Colorado Railcar was still a viable company, called for that company's DMUs to provide all of the motive power and consists for SunRail, and it's highly likely any expansion of Tri-Rail in South Florida will also use these same DMUs which have undergone field tests on Tri-Rail in the past few years. Perhaps this will help U.S. Railcar with its request for a federal grant to construct a factory in Ohio to build these self-propelled railcars.

– Transportation planners in Jacksonville to the northeast of Central Florida, and in the Tampa Bay area to the southwest of Central Florida have won a major victory. In addition to the creation of SunRail and the funding of Tri-Rail, the enabling legislation also creates two new state programs to deal with all present and future commuter rail systems in Florida. As far as state government is concerned, commuter rail in Florida "has arrived."

– Real estate developers and entrepreneurs will benefit greatly. Even though Central Florida is very densely built-out and populated, look to new mixed use housing and retail and office developments to spring up within walking distance (Even in the Florida heat and rain in the Summer.) of the new SunRail stations.

3) Here is who will not benefit from the SunRail/Tri-Rail bill:

– Anyone who intentionally buys or builds a home near an existing railroad track which has been in place since the late 19th Century. The NIMBYs lost; the train tracks which were built to handle traffic will continue to do so, and those opposed to trains will have to find a life elsewhere.

– The anti-rail talking heads who make careers out of making arguments which are usually a couple of French fries short of a Happy Meal against commuter rail and any other type of rail. Often, what's old is new, and commuter rail is making a comeback in this country and will have a happy life alongside the automobile and sport utility vehicles of the world. While the return on investment in SunRail and Tri-Rail may not happen in exactly the same way or following the same formula which works for building more and more roads and highways, the ROI on commuter rail has a proven record of success beyond the tired "green" and "sustainability" arguments which are – by themselves – no complete arguments at all for huge projects such as commuter rail.

– Asphalt and concrete manufacturers. Instead of laying literally miles and miles of asphalt and concrete on new roads, these folks will have to settle for acres of new asphalt and concrete on new commuter rail station parking lots and access roads.

4) As a final note, we should examine Amtrak's role in all of this. Some had suggested in order to go around various liability questions with CSX and other issues before this bill was passed Amtrak should simply be the operator or SunRail, and many of those issues would go away.

Amtrak is consistently the most expensive commuter system operator in the country, with a less than stellar record (See the immediate previous issue of TWA to this issue and the discussion of Amtrak's failures in California operating the Pacific Surfliner service on behalf of California.).

Here is something to think about: If Amtrak were no longer America's best kept secret, and the company promoted itself like any other American company, more Americans would know of and understand passenger rail.

Reading the online news articles about SunRail and the accompanying idiotic, knee-jerk reactions to SunRail by uninformed readers was a tragic exercise. It appears a certain element of our society absolutely hates anything to do with passenger rail, and think it should be consigned to museums and Third World countries. These people have no idea, nor rational concept of the many economic and social benefits of passenger rail. Many of these people would rather give up their firstborn child than their automobiles.

There is nothing wrong with choice, just as there is nothing wrong with someone choosing to only travel in their personal vehicle. That's the kind of choice we take for granted in this country, and we cherish to right to make that choice.

But, while keeping that same right to choose, we should not be taking away the rights of others who choose to travel by a means other than a personal vehicle.

Amtrak carries two tenths of one percent of America's travelers, which is hardly a blip on anyone's screen. Amtrak is – and remains – statistically irrelevant to American transportation.

If Amtrak chose to be a healthy, relevant passenger carrier, then many of the arguments made against SunRail out of ignorance simply would not have added anything beyond puffs of hot air to the discussion. That was not the case, however; SunRail failed twice because no one knew how to make a rational argument for passenger rail against a determined foe, because no one knows about passenger rail.

That is something Amtrak can do something about; it can stop being statistically irrelevant, and create a vision for the future which includes conventional passenger rail as part of our domestic transportation network. Until that happens, more prospective commuter rail systems are going to be delayed or shot down in flames because no one can talk intelligently about the sins and virtues of passenger rail in America.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; December 10, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 50
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Just when we thought things were slowing down for the Christmas season ... word has come the Amtrak Board of Directors has authorized taking the current tri-weekly Sunset Limited and turning it into a daily operation.

The new version of the Sunset Limited – and, most likely, the Sunset Limited name will regrettably be retired, in a death before its time – will make the daily Texas Eagle a daily train all the way from its present daily endpoint in San Antonio, Texas to Los Angeles. For the first time in decades, the fabled Sunset Route of the former Southern Pacific Railroad and now Union Pacific Railroad will have daily service. The Texas Eagle will now be a Chicago-Los Angeles daily train. There is hopeful speculation the less than spectacular Texas Eagle name will be retired, too, and perhaps replaced with something more appropriate such as restoring the former Southern Pacific/Rock Island famed name, the Golden State. Other names, such as the lackluster California Eagle, have also been suggested.

Cities and towns with current tri-weekly service now having daily service from a full service train include

Del Rio, Texas

Sanderson, Texas

Alpine, Texas

El Paso, Texas

Deming, New Mexico

Lordsburg, New Mexico

Benson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Maricopa, Arizona (Phoenix)

Yuma, Arizona

Palm Springs, California

Ontario, California

Pomona, California

and, into Los Angeles Union Station.

For the segment of the current Sunset Limited route between San Antonio and New Orleans, a new daily stub train will be established, with coach and a first class coach service, along with a food service car. The schedules of this yet-to-be-named train will coordinate with the new version of the Sunset at San Antonio.

When this plan first surfaced earlier this year at the Railroad Passenger Association of California meeting in Los Angeles, many had hoped through car service from Los Angeles to at least New Orleans would remain. Alas, in this version, that is not to be; passengers traveling from points west of San Antonio will have to change trains for cities, towns, and hamlets east of San Antonio.

Many are hoping that will change; there are other points in the Amtrak system where that type of operation takes place, notably on the Lake Shore Limited and Empire Builder.

As an interesting note, Alpine, Texas, most known for its wide open spaces and almost total lack of denizens, will now have daily train service with sleeping cars, and a full service diner, but Houston, Texas, one of the largest cities in America, will have daily service with only coaches, a first class coach service, and some sort of diner/lounge food service. Somewhere, somebody at Amtrak thinks that’s a peachy idea.

Stations east of San Antonio which will now have daily coach service on the new stub train include

Houston, Texas

Beaumont, Texas

Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lafayette, Louisiana

New Iberia, Louisiana

Schriever, Louisiana

and, New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.

There is no information as to when this service will commence, and on what schedules the two trains will operate.

2) What of service on the Sunset Limited route east of New Orleans?

Don’t hold your breath. Amtrak’s Gulf Coast report which it published late this summer made pretty plain hash of what the company wants before it will consider restoring this much-missed and much-needed service.

We will give the Amtrak Board of Directors some credit for embracing Brian Rosenwald’s plans for the Sunset Limited west of New Orleans, but the board will receive a collective lump of coal in its Christmas stocking for doing nothing to restore the immorally-stopped service east of New Orleans.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; December 15, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 51
​



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) It’s that time, again. Amtrak has put out the Fall 2009/Winter 2010 national timetable, and these things just keep getting better with every edition. Amtrak’s timetables are one of the few bright spots in the company; each one becomes more user friendly than the previous edition, and the design – which was stagnant for years – shows some zip and imagination.

Notable are the number of paid advertisements by outside agencies and vendors. These people are obviously interested in the business which can be created by Amtrak’s passengers, and they are reaching them in the most expeditious manner, plus helping reduce the cost of producing the timetables.

Whoever is creating the timetables needs to keep doing whatever they are doing. It’s working, and working nicely.

2) It’s begun. Yesterday’s San Francisco Business Times reports the California High-Speed Rail Authority is submitting a business plan to state lawmakers increasing the price tag of the California bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco by $9 billion, from $33.6 billion last year to $42.6 billion now.

Ridership estimates have also fallen, from 51 million riders a year down to 41 million; the Authority says the lower ridership estimate is based on projected higher fares, from $68 to $104, now almost $105 instead.

The cost increases for construction are due to inflation, more right-of-way purchases, and additional track work required.

The Authority expects the intrastate project will be funded by $9 billion for 2008's Proposition 1A approved by California voters, local funding of $4 to $5 billion, private funding of $10 to $12 billion, and you and me as federal taxpayers will kick in $17 to $19 billion over the life of the construction project, which isn’t planned to be completed until 2020, 11 years from now.

3) This will give you an end-of-the year giggle. There is a mini-crisis brewing in Tallahassee, Florida’s capital. Senator Paula Dockery, who lost the battle to defeat SunRail this go round earlier this month is never saying “die.” Her new approach: Ask for all of the e-mails swapped between various government officials, departments heads, etc., relating to SunRail. Senator Dockery has particularly been gunning for the Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

Here’s the fun part: Florida has very strong sunshine laws governing all public communications, including intra-governmental e-mails. It seems while the legislation was being formed, Florida’s Department of Transportation was in constant contact with CSX, the main beneficiary of the law; CSX is selling its right-of-way and infrastructure to the State of Florida to make SunRail in Central Florida possible.

Horrors! says Senator Dockery. Florida DOT, as it was crafting legislation, was in contact with CSX, the beneficiary of the legislation. Something crooked must be going on!

Most likely, it never occurred to Senator Dockery, in all of her vitriol and seeking revenge against CSX and Florida DOT, perhaps, since both parties are going to have to agree to this deal, if the parties communicate while the deal is going on, there will not be a prolonged period at the end for negotiations? Perhaps, if agreements are made incrementally, then upon final drafting of the deal, only signatures will be required instead of more and more negotiations?

That’s what a reasonable person would think.

The folks at Florida DOT didn’t help themselves, though, by creating what is now known as “Wafflegate.” It seems the DOT people MAY have wanted to avoid public records disclosure searches by labeling all of their e-mail pertaining to SunRail with the names of breakfast foods.

Yes, you read that correctly. E-mails traded between DOT officials had subject headers of “pancakes,” and “French toast.” When the initial public records search was made using key words such as “SunRail,” “CSX,” and “commuter rail” the search engines somehow completely ignored “pancakes” and “French toast.”

So, a tempest in a teapot has come to be. Somebody, drinking the breakfast tea, should have used better judgement in labeling e-mails. A very good commuter rail project is now mired in election year political backbiting and witch hunts because somebody was just being foolish.

3) Does everyone understand the concept of an unfunded mandate? This is what Congress and the federal government frequently do; laws are created everyone must follow, but no money is provided often for the billions of dollars it will cost for private industry or individuals to follow the new law’s mandate.

Positive Train Control, as mandated for 30 of our nation’s railroads in the Amtrak reauthorization signed last year by President George W. Bush is an unfunded mandate, which the railroad industry estimates will cost $10 billion to comply, says ProgressiveRailraoding.com. The railroads (including Amtrak) will be required to install the monitor-and-control system. Industry benefits on the $10 billion investment are expected to be about $600 million, far, far short of the cost of installation.

As a result of this, some railroads are looking at their track networks and trying to figure out how much of the networks have to have PTC by the mandated start date. Some railroads, such as CSX, are looking at lightly used main lines, like the Sunset route east of New Orleans into Florida, and making decisions not to upgrade that track, electing instead to move freight trains over a nearly parallel route further to the north, and dropping back into Florida for the gateway at Jacksonville to all of Florida’s peninsula.

Other Class I railroads are correctly doing the same. With a mandated investment in the billions, and return on investment in the low millions, railroads have to take a rational approach to PTC. No track is being torn up, but routes are being downgraded until the long term business climate looks more favorable.

This puts Amtrak in a bit of a difficult position. Any route expansions or restorations have to take into account for the first time whether or not PTC infrastructure is in place. If not, the cost of the expansion includes the addition of Positive Train Control on the new track.

Some TWA readers have wondered what all of this is going to do to Amtrak as it shakily stands today.

Most likely, the host freight railroads are going to look to Amtrak as much as possible to bear the cost of PTC on their lines, especially on routes which are lightly used for freight movements, but constantly used by Amtrak. Parts of the Southwest Chief route on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway qualify under this condition.

The freight railroads will look at Amtrak like one of their investment bankers; Amtrak has less controversial access to cash from the federal and state governments than the private railroads. Don’t be surprised sometime in 2010 or soon after for Amtrak to make a large grant request to Congress, perhaps in the hundreds of millions of dollars, solely for the purpose of PTC upgrades along established routes.

This only makes sense; it was Congress, in its rush to prove its chops after the many fatalities of the Metrolink crash in Southern California earlier in 2008, which said any line carrying passenger trains and certain hazardous freight loads must be PTC equipped if used in regular, scheduled service.

If Congress believes its own publicity and believes it acted correctly with the Amtrak reauthorization in 2008 which included PTC mandates, then it should have little, if any, problems coming up with the big bucks it’s going to take to fund Positive Train Control.

Since Congress mandates host railroads MUST handle Amtrak trains, and Congress mandates host railroads MUST offer the safety of PTC, the Congress MUST pay for all of this. It’s one thing to make railroads host passenger trains, it’s entirely another to penalize them with additional expense to create a multi-billion dollar mandate nearly 40 years after Amtrak was created.

4) Here is the latest from Ken Orski at Innovation NewsBriefs. This is Volume 20, Number 24; for further information, consult www.innobriefs.com.

[begin quote]

December 12, 2009

Using the Jobs Stimulus to Reform the Transportation Program

Writing recently in the National Journal's Transportation blog, we observed the new Obama-proposed job stimulus might dim the prospects for an early enactment of a long-term surface transportation authorization. "The jobs stimulus," we wrote, "or rather its infrastructure component, could be the death warrant for any foreseeable reform of the federal surface transportation program." ("What Have We Learned from the Recovery Act", December 9, 2009, http://transportation.nationaljournal.com)

The crowded senate calendar, we reasoned, means congressional action on the second stimulus proposal — or at least its $50-70 billion component dealing with new infrastructure spending — must wait until next year and may not reach the President’s desk until late Spring 2010. With the newly authorized infrastructure funds added to the still unspent $16 billion left over from the Recovery Act (ARRA), federal stimulus spending for transportation projects could stretch well beyond 2010.

Assuming the job stimulus becomes law, we asked, does any one think Congress would still have any appetite to enact a $500 billion multi-year authorization in 2010, on the eve of a congressional midterm election? Most likely, we concluded, a multi-year authorization would be delayed until 2011and some pessimists think that with a new Congress and an increased emphasis on deficit reduction, an even further slippage could occur. "Is the tradeoff worth it? You decide" we wrote.

Well, the response is in and it largely supports our point of view. It came in the form of responses from fellow bloggers and in a December 9 Newsweek column by David A. Graham, entitled "Putting the Cart Before the Horse: Could a transportation-based jobs stimulus stymie infrastructure reform?" Wrote Graham: "The stimulus bill would spend tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure but do little to remake a flawed financing and planning system. That’s a missed opportunity, according to some observers, who are concerned a stimulus, while better than nothing, would fall short of its potential by ignoring the issues the surface transport bill aims to address." The column goes on in a later paragraph to say: "The worry is that by pumping large sums into infrastructure this spring, Congress might kill any appetite for a meaningful overhaul of surface transportation funding any time soon." It quotes my fellow National Journal Transportation blogger James Corless, director of the liberal Transportation for America coalition as "very concerned." "We worry greatly," the column quotes Corless, "that putting tens of billions of dollars into these existing stovepipes is not going to have the intended outcome," i.e. a true reform of the surface transportation program.

Meanwhile, the objectives of the proposed second stimulus are becoming more elastic as we speak. At a December 10 Brookings Institution forum on Infrastructure, U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said he sees no reason why some of the infrastructure funds in the stimulus program should not be allowed to be diverted to fund the operating expenses of transit systems which have been hard hit by the economic recession. It's difficult to see how such a move would help to promote job growth, but then the entire rationale and objectives of the second infrastructure stimulus have been poorly articulated and, not surprisingly, are coming under increased scrutiny.

Hopefully, by the time Congress is ready to act — most likely, only after the President’s State of the Union address in January — the hemorrhaging of jobs will stop and Congress will be able to shift its focus, as several of my fellow bloggers suggested, from "ready-to-go" maintenance projects (which seem more effective at preserving existing jobs than at creating new jobs) to a longer lasting goal of investing in infrastructure projects that improve national connectivity, increase metropolitan accessibility and enhance economic growth. Such action would make it less urgent to enact a multi-year transportation bill, whose prospects of passage in 2010, we still believe, are anything but certain.

[End quote]

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## WICT106

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; December 15, 2009
> ​


Loks like the PTC mandate will make it all the more difficult and challenging to add service for Amtrak, or any service provider. Just when things were starting to look a little bit good for Amtrak, there are dark clouds on the horizon.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; December 17, 2009
​


​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 6, Number 52
​


​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Sometimes, the information sneaks in through the backdoor, which is fine, as long as it comes in.

Courtesy of the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, we have learned of Amtrak’s plans for new equipment.

The United States House of Representatives, in a rush to spend more public money, has presented H.R. 2847, THE “JOBS FOR MAIN STREET ACT, 2010” which it considers to be a jobs creation bill. There is all types of transportation monies in the bill, including scads of money for Amtrak.

Before you jump to any conclusions, this is a bill which is in progress, not a completed bill approved by both the House and Senate and sent to the president for signing. This is only a bill in progress, working its way through the legislative system.

But, what this bill does is give us a good glimpse into Amtrak’s wish list for new equipment.

Here’s what the bill has to say, pertaining only to Amtrak.

[begin quote]

AMTRAK: $800 MILLION

H.R. 2847, the Jobs for Main Street Act, 2010: Title I, Chapter 6 of H.R. 2847 provides $800 million to Amtrak for fleet modernization, including rehabilitation of existing equipment and acquisition of new equipment such as fuel-efficient locomotives. It also strengthens Amtrak’s Buy America requirement to encourage domestic manufacturing and rehabilitation of the equipment.

Amtrak’s equipment is aging; it is a major factor in delays. Some of Amtrak’s vehicles are more than 50 years old. The average life of a passenger rail car, depending on its usage, is 25 to 30 years. The lifespan of a locomotive is 20 to 25 years. Currently, Amtrak has 92 Heritage cars in service (which are 53 to 61 years old), 17 Metroliners (which are 42 years old), 412 Amfleet I cars (which are 32 to 35 years old), 122 Amfleet II cars (which are 28 to 29 years old), 249 Superliner I cars (which are 28 to 30 years old); 184 Superliner II cars (which are 13 to 15 years old), 97 Horizon cars (which are 19 to 20 years old), 50 Viewliners (which are 13 to 14 years old), 29 Talgo cars (which are 10 years old), 120 Acela cars (which are nine to 10 years old), and 41 Surfliners (which are seven to nine years old).

With respect to locomotives, Amtrak has 49 AEM-7 locomotives (which are 21 to 29 years old), 18 P32’s (which are 18 years old), 18 P32DM’s (which are 11 to 14 years old), 21 F59PHI’s (which are 11 years old), 15 HHP-8’s (which are eight to 10 years old), and 207 P42’s (which are eight to 13 years old).

Over the next five years and given adequate resources, Amtrak plans to purchase 396 new single-level vehicles for corridor service, which will replace about 95 percent of the Amfleet I vehicles; purchase 275 new single-level vehicles for long-haul service in an effort to remove all of the Heritage single-level cars and about 95 percent of the Amfleet II vehicles from service; purchase 160 new bi-level vehicles to replace 65 percent of the Superliner I cars; and purchase 100 new electric locomotives to replace the entire electric locomotive fleet. Amtrak also plans to acquire 54 new diesel locomotives, replacing 20 percent of its diesel fleet; and purchase five additional Acela trainsets and 41 new switch engines to replace the entire switcher fleet. Amtrak estimates that the effort requires capital funding of approximately $4.57 billion.

Recovery Act Implementation: The Recovery Act provided Amtrak with $1.3 billion for capital improvements. Of the $1.3 billion, Amtrak has awarded $623 million in contracts for 350 projects. This amount represents 48 percent of the total apportionment. Other major initiatives are planned, including infrastructure improvements (such as major bridges); and improvements to rights-of-way, facilities and other structures, information management systems, and communications and signal systems. Amtrak is also making capital improvements to stations and other facilities to meet requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act; various safety and security improvements, including purchasing police equipment; and replacing concrete ties.

[End quote]

Okay, while your True Believer buddy to the left of you is jumping up and down for joy at the information above, you, being a regular reader of This Week at Amtrak, and, therefore, exercise more bold caution when it comes to announcements from Amtrak or about Amtrak, take a more critical view of what you have just read.

You realize everything above only talks about REPLACING aging equipment; none of the hyperbole above actually talks about fleet EXPANSION.

In other words, Amtrak, if it gets the big bucks, only plans to replace its fleet, not expand its fleet. Using Amtrak’s usual bureaucratic thinking nonsense about always wanting perfect government-think scenarios because they are neat and tidy and don’t require any real thought, probably considers all of that older-hopefully-replaced equipment as upcoming surplus, to be sent to the scrap yard.

Amtrak still hasn’t learned its lesson from its chilly cousin to the north, VIA Rail Canada, which has the majority of its fleet’s equipment older than what Amtrak is using, and they cheerfully slap a new coat of paint on it, take out some of the dents, upgrade the electronics, and keep it going down the road with great dispatch, mostly because when Budd built the stuff in the 1950s, they built is the same way other companies built Sherman tanks: virtually indestructible.

But, no, that won’t do for Amtrak. Amtrak wants all-new, instead of new augmenting older for a blended fleet with different purposes. Heaven forbid Amtrak maintenance would have to be as clever as VIA Rail Canada maintenance.

So, yes, it’s nice to know Amtrak does have some plan tucked away somewhere for the future. Unfortunately, that plan doesn’t call for any expansion, or any improvements. It only calls for replacements.

Amtrak hasn’t figured out that wars are not won by just replacing dead soldiers; wars are won by determined surges making use of a combination of existing and new soldiers.

2) Did you notice the ad in the November 2009 issue of Railway Age Magazine?

It has the unglamorous title of “Request For Proposals: 10-PCJPB-T-025 For a Rail System Operator.” Did that make you start tingling all over? No? Well, here’s why it should.

The ad was placed by Caltrain, which operates the former Southern Pacific Railroad commuter service in and out of San Francisco and down the San Francisco Peninsula. Caltrain operates 98 trains per day, San Francisco-San Jose-Gilroy, with a total of 33 stations (including endpoint terminals). Included in the system is the famed Silicon Valley. The system has 77 miles of track with a top speed of 79 M.P.H. Caltrain carries on average, 39,000 passengers a day on weekdays.

This is not an inconsequential system; there are 29 locomotives and 110 passenger cars.

Let’s look at Amtrak in California; Amtrak’s biggest state cash cow. Amtrak takes in State of California (Caltrans) revenues for operating costs for the Capitols, San Joaquins, Pacific Surfliners, and, now Southern California’s Metrolink, in addition to its current operations deal for Caltrain.

Amtrak has been operating Caltrain on behalf of the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (a longish and legally proper way of saying the old Southern Pacific San Francisco Peninsula commuter service) since 1992. Now, the contract is up, and Caltrain has advertised for a request for proposals.

Amtrak just lost the Virginia Railway Express on the Right Coast; what would happen if it lost Caltrain on the Left Coast?

With the addition of Southern California’s Metrolink, probably not much on the surface; the Amtrak bureaucracy in the West would just keep on marching.

Those with a sharp eye may notice Gilroy, California is on the Union Pacific main line which is traversed by Amtrak’s Coast Starlight. Gilroy slips right in the middle of the San Jose and Salinas station stops.

So, let’s speculate, just a bit, as an intellectual exercise.

Suppose Amtrak doesn’t keep the Caltrains contract; suppose some other service provider, such as Veolia Transportation, Herzog, or even the French company which is taking over VRE on the far side of the country successfully bid for and win the Caltrain contract.

And, then, suppose the Caltrain operator performs successfully, and pleases not only the folks at Caltrain, but also – more importantly – the folks at Caltrans, who are monthly writing big, big checks to Amtrak for operating the Pacific Surfliners, Capitols, and San Joaquins (Metrolink writes its own checks).

What if some renegade bureaucrat in Caltrans says, “well, Caltrain is doing so well, how can we expand that service?

“What would happen if, say, we took one or two of those Caltrain consists, and pushed them further south than Gilroy, perhaps all the way to Los Angeles?

“What would happen if Union Pacific Railroad liked the Caltrain operator better than Amtrak?

“What would happen, if say, well, gee, we just start turning over all of the Caltrans contracts to the Caltrain operator, instead of retaining Amtrak contract after contract?”

The answer is, Amtrak would suffer a horrible blow, and be crippled tremendously in the west. Amtrak would actually have real world competition. Amtrak would have to sing for its supper every night. Amtrak would really have to perform.

All of this, of course, comes under the heading “what if?”. But, it’s an intriguing “what if?”.

Amtrak for too long has taken most of its world for granted. It has even had the hubris of presuming it will be the preferred operator of the coming various high speed rail systems, even though it has not done well operating what it has today.

An article in today’s Daily Finance (www.dailyfinance.com) says Japan Central Railway has started putting together a proposal to be the sole builder and operator of America’s high speed rail system; everything from building track and infrastructure to building and operating trainsets. These are the same folks who operate the profitable bullet train franchise in Japan today.

The French and Germans want in on the USA action, too.

Amtrak may think it has the home field advantage, but it’s tough to see how, when there are much more successful worldwide competitors out there knocking on America’s door.

Veolia Transportation, which operates some sort of commuter rail or transit system in over 500 cities around the world (equivalent to Amtrak’s number of station stops in the national system) wants in on US high speed rail, too. They have the talent, and they have the financial clout to make it happen.

Will Amtrak understand in time what is swirling around it and potentially causing a lot of mayhem? Will Amtrak understand it has a long, long way to go to get its corporate house in order so it can fend off these much more successful international competitors? It’s going to take a lot more clout than Amtrak has today on Capitol Hill to keep things together. Amtrak needs to understand the world is not an exclusive Amworld.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 5, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 7, Number 1

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Welcome to the seventh year of This Week at Amtrak, where there is always the hope, dream, and desire Amtrak will become a responsible part of our nation’s domestic transportation network.

Hope always springs eternal. Reality always disappoints.

Where are we this January that we weren’t last January?

We still do not have a permanent president of Amtrak (see the next item below).

We still do not have an expected passenger equipment order which will expand the fleet.

We still do not have a funded marketing plan which will increase ridership nationwide.

We still do not have every train in the system operating on a daily schedule.

We still do not have anything but a bare, inadequate, skeletal national system.

We still do not have anyone publicly leading the company with a future vision or growth plan.

We do have a plan to take the Sunset Limited west of New Orleans to a daily operation, but we don’t have a plan to restore the illegally stopped service east of New Orleans.

We do have some executives at Amtrak who are anxious to make the company perform better and provide better service, but they are hamstrung by the cadre of executives who seem to be there mostly for the retirement package.

We do have a desire on the part of many Americans of all ages to ride trains, but there are not many trains to ride.

We do have other competent passenger train operators in this country waiting for the opportunity to move beyond providing commuter services to real intercity services.

We do now exist in the era of anticipating coming high speed rail, but it’s going to be a long, long process getting there.

We do have visionaries like former Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Gil Carmichael who have developed realistic plans for the future, but often these learned and inspiring voices seem to be talking in the wilderness more than to receptive audiences in Washington, no matter how long and hard they talk and make a great deal of sense.

We do have people like Andrew Selden of Minneapolis, Minnesota who not only understand the business of passenger railroading, but are willing to create a vision and plan for the future.

Where are we in January 2010 versus January 2009? Another year has gone by without much major happening in the world of Amtrak.

Keep in mind, that has occurred intentionally on the part of Amtrak; it has had a plethora of opportunities, and it has chosen to focus on planning for the expected panacea of high speed rail and ignore its core business of 79 M.P.H. conventional trains. Maybe that’s why so many foreign passenger rail operators, from across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have expressed an interest in developing high speed rail in the United States. These astute businessmen have looked at Amtrak and found it wanting in so many ways; they must figure competing for Amtrak for a chunk of business is like shooting fish in a barrel.

2) There is always someone in a company who has the zest and drive to make things happen. Eh, not so much at Amtrak.

The Amtrak Board of Directors, which will never be mistaken for a body which takes bold action, has extended indefinitely the tenure of interim President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman.

The Amtrak board currently consists of five voting members, one being Mr. Boardman. There are four vacant seats on the board, two of which have nominees awaiting Senate confirmation. Two seats have no announced appointees; apparently the White House and various and sundry Members of Congress haven’t agreed upon who gets those seats (If anybody asks, we can recommend a cadre of highly competent potential board members, none of which have the type of conflicts the two current nominees have, and each would be a stellar addition to the board.).

So, in a fit of bold caution, the Amtrak board extended Mr. Boardman’s contract and made a statement saying a permanent president of Amtrak would not be announced until the board is more fully populated.

Hmmmm, let’s see. When was the last time the Amtrak Board of Directors was fully populated?

Seriously, anybody know?

You have to go all the way back to the end of the Clinton Administration to find a legal quorum of board members.

In the interim during the Bush years, stars like former board chairman David Laney and some others held things together and worked through a number of problems while the White House dithered and the Senate obfuscated about appointing qualified board members.

So, Mr. Boardman gets to keep his job a while longer.

Okay, let’s get to the bottom line. There is certainly a rational argument to be made about a board of directors hiring a chief executive, and then new members of the board arrive and find the chief executive not to their liking. We’ve already seen that scenario play out with the unlamented departure of former Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant. Even though Mr. Kummant departed over disagreements about a number of issues, it was never an ideal situation to have a CEO hired by a departed board expected to meet the needs of a new board.

The big complaint really centers around the White House. Guys, it’s been a full year, now. That is more than enough time to find and screen political appointees to the Amtrak board. There are a number of qualified people just waiting in the wings, hoping for a chance to lead Amtrak into a better era and a more prosperous time. But, the Amtrak board, always a bottom of the barrel issue for any White House administration, remains a sideshow, and – highly regrettably – business as usual reigns.

In the interim, how about some leadership from the United States Department of Transportation and/or the Federal Railroad Administration? How about setting some goals for Amtrak and creating a true surface transportation policy?

How about SOMEONE doing SOMETHING? Doing ANYTHING? Dan Pardue of Raleigh, North Carolina, when trying to do problem solving with non-cooperative equipment or non-cooperative clients, always says “Do something, even if it’s wrong. At least some action is being taken, and perhaps the right answer will come along by starting some sort of process.”

Amtrak, here at This Week at Amtrak we will gladly provide you with Mr. Pardue’s telephone number so you can call him for some tutoring. Please, start some sort of process to start doing something – anything, please.

In 2009, a year which will go down in the annuals of history as a truly misbegotten year, Amtrak received record amounts of free federal monies. Stimulus money flowed, and regular budget money flowed.

While Amtrak did start whittling away at a backlog of projects which are nice to have completed, most of those projects (with the stark exception of rolling stock rehabs) will not generate any additional revenues for Amtrak. Most of the projects are just things which needed to be done, and had been neglected; some for decades.

Again, Amtrak has an unprecedented opportunity for change and upgrading itself as a company and our nation’s domestic passenger railroad.

But, Amtrak seems to be doing a bang up job of wasting that opportunity, instead of taking advantage of so much manna from the federal treasury.

We give Mr. Boardman credit for stabilizing some things, and he gets a huge “attaboy” for leading the company to accepting Brian Rosenwald’s excellent work of starting the process of converting the Sunset Limited west of New Orleans into a daily – yet, still a bit flawed – operation. We’re waiting for some leadership on what will happen east of New Orleans, and we keep hearing whispers the Cardinal, perhaps one of Amtrak’s most scenic routes, will be lifted from the doldrums and waste of a tri-weekly operation.

But, Mr. Boardman, in his interim post, is still head of the company, and he still sets the daily tone and pace of the company. We do expect some sort of future vision, even if it’s just a building block to be used by a permanent CEO. We do expect some sort of growth plan, and we do expect an equipment order beyond the rather paltry announcements which have been made for replacement equipment, only.

In short, even if it’s interim leadership, we do expect leadership.

Amtrak is an ongoing enterprise, with a long-forgotten mandate and mission to provide the United States of America with a national passenger train service. Keeping Amtrak in a state of suspense because the White House and Members of Congress can’t decide on political appointees for the board of directors is not only wasteful, it’s sinister and displays an outright prejudice against all of us who understand and cherish passenger rail travel.

Mr. Boardman, please start the process. The Obama White House, please do your duty and populate the Amtrak Board of Directors. United States Senate, please fulfill your advise and consent duties as outlined in the constitution so the Amtrak board seats can be filled in an expeditious manner.

Somebody, somewhere, please, don’t leave us all hanging.

3) Amtrak ended 2009 battling the late fall/early winter Blizzard of 2009, with a pretty good record. Chicago got penalized by one of its host railroads dumping a freight train off the tracks, causing a huge traffic jam, and it took a while to get things back to normal. No penalty to Amtrak. On the Northeast Corridor, while the airlines just threw up their collective hands and said they weren’t flying in the bad weather (it’s kind of tough to blame them when the weather is that nasty), Amtrak did mostly fulfill its duty as the all-weather common carrier and kept a lot of trains running, as did its host railroads south of Washington, even though trains were woefully late. Too many trains were cancelled during the busy holiday period (it’s especially vexing Amtrak chose to cancel the Palmetto, even though the majority of its run was south of the destruction of the storm), but transportation still was available.

There were too many mechanical malfunction reports of Amfleet cars on the NEC with doors which were frozen open. Gosh, those cars have only been around for a bit more than three decades now, in the heat of summer and the cold of winter, one has to believe someone in that vast period of time could figure out how to overcome Budd’s design flaws of the vestibule doors freezing in the open position when the car is full of passengers traveling at 100 M.P.H. and the icy wind is tearing through the interior of the car and passengers.

Going further into winter, Amtrak has been battling more weather-related problems and the country has been battling record cold temperatures and storms. (It MUST be all of that global warming; what other explanation could there be for such a cold and cruel start of what most likely is going to be a long, cold, bitter winter?) Some trains are running more than a dozen hours late, other trains just seem to be disappearing off of the schedule, and are never being launched out of their terminals.

This is when Amtrak’s too thin fleet reserves come back to bite it. Inbound equipment that normally turns for the next day’s outbound train suddenly is stranded on a siding somewhere on the far side of nowhere, and there’s no spare equipment to put on the road. Passengers and crews are stranded; things spin more and more out of control, and eventually system gridlock occurs. Remember all of that old equipment that used to sit around, but is gone, now? Wouldn’t it be nice to have that for occasions just such as this winter?

Before the Age of Amtrak, the private passenger railroads always kept a slice of their old equipment fleets around for use in emergencies. It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t the most efficient stuff in the world, but it got passengers to a destination when nothing else could. Amtrak has scrapped or sold all of its old equipment; after all, since it gets lots of free federal monies from the government treasury it doesn’t have to worry about keeping passengers happy by providing them the transportation they paid for in advance. Amtrak can just annul as many trains as it wants, and say “so sorry, so sad” to its stranded passengers, and keep totaling up the tab to be paid for by Congress next budget year.

What a way to run a railroad.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## yarrow

the 1/5/10 newsletter should, imho, be required reading. excellent statement of the state of amtrak.


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## Larry H.

Yep, too many apologizers down below here that accept any excuse. Its a sad state and one can only imagine how health care will turn out with its entrenched politicians running the show! The words National Rail Passenger system may as well just be removed from any literature. It a system reduced to a few major hubs and what lucky cities and towns that happen to be along the way. Progress or improvement are unknown terms it seems.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 11, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 7, Number 2

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) VIA Rail Canada is superb at doing it. The freight railroads do it like it’s an everyday occurrence. Amtrak, on the other hand, can never seem to get it right.

We’re referring, of course at this time of year, to operating trains in severe winter weather. While things have mostly been humming on the Northeast Corridor, it’s been a far different story out in flyover country where the Empire Builder operates between Chicago and Seattle, Washington/Portland, Oregon.

It’s been a while since Amtrak consistently got a train over the road anywhere near to keeping a schedule, and even running two trains in a row.

The problem has mostly been blamed on malfunctioning air systems from the locomotives. Without a working air system, there are no brakes on a train. (The air system we’re referring to has nothing to do with the hotel power from the locomotives to the rest of the train which provides heat for the train.)

Some Empire Builders have arrived nearly a day late, some not at all, some have only traveled a part of the route before being annulled. Word is, even Amtrak’s host railroad for the Empire Builder, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, has banned the Builder from its infrastructure until Amtrak can prove it can get a train from Point A to Point B without having a locomotive failure and fouling the main line which has heavy freight traffic.

All of this begs the question, “why?” since Amtrak has had nearly 40 winters to figure things like this out.

Some folks have speculated it’s because Amtrak tries to have an all-weather locomotive fleet, which operates in desert heat in the Southwest as well as it does in blizzard conditions in North Dakota. As with anything else which tries to be all things to all people, the inevitable failure occurs.

Some folks have speculated Amtrak’s mechanical department just isn’t up to the job, and does what it can with the budget it has to work with each year.

Some folks have speculated Amtrak just doesn’t care; if it doesn’t have anything directly to do with the NEC, then it’s not important.

But, looking at VIA Rail Canada, which generally operates under some of the most severe winter weather conditions in the world, VIA rarely has Amtrak’s winter weather problems. And, VIA is a smaller company, has fewer resources, and often makes do with older equipment.

The freight railroads in the same severe winter weather always manager to get trains with dozens and dozens of heavily loaded freight cars down the track, also using air brake systems, and they don’t have these problems. BNSF, like Amtrak, operates from the extreme northern tier of the country to the extreme southern tier, and needs locomotives, too, which can work in extremes of heat and cold.

If VIA can do it, and BNSF can do it, and Union Pacific can do it, and CSX and Norfolk Southern and Kansas City Southern can all do it, along with Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, why can’t Amtrak?

As said in this space before, we know there are some dedicated transportation people at Amtrak who want the railroad to run right, no matter what the weather forecast. Why aren’t these people given the budget and resources they need to get the job done? Amtrak begs for money every year from Congress and the federal treasury, laying out priorities. Why isn’t locomotive reliability outside of the Northeast Corridor in the winter a priority?

These are the times which try mens’ souls, when the harsh realities of Mother Nature go up against the needs of mortal man. These are the times when the professional railroaders, who go to sleep thinking about railroading and then wake up the next morning thinking about the same thing, need the resources to do their jobs. If Amtrak wants to continue to promote itself as the custodian of the next generation of passenger trains and thinks it’s going to be the first choice as the operator of the new high speed rail systems, rational people making those decisions are going to wonder why Amtrak, which is operating conventional rail on a system which has been in place for over 150 years, can’t figure out how to make that system work. If Amtrak can’t get conventional rail right, how will it ever get high speed rail right?

2) Where are you on the Amtrak spectrum? Are you a True Believer, willing to accept anything Amtrak and the National Association of Railroad Passengers says, at face value? Are you always willing to give Amtrak more and more money, without accountability, just because it’s Amtrak?

Are you more of a pragmatist, and believe in the business of passenger rail, knowing at one time it was a sane, profitable business, and there is no reason why in the future it can’t return to that status?

Are you convinced the days of passenger rail are gone, and everyone should enjoy driving their private vehicle down crowded highways or the only other option for public transportation is airplanes?

Which one are you? Do you fit into any of those categories, or, perhaps are you something of a blend of two or more of those categories?

How do you see the future of passenger rail? Are we on the cusp of renaissance, or near the end of the line? Is that light at the end of the tunnel an oncoming passenger train you welcome, or the halogen headlights of an overpriced SUV getting five gallons of gas to the mile of transportation?

It’s time to start choosing sides. More and more passenger rail publications are openly questioning the actions/lack of actions of Amtrak. Columnists who were once reliable Amtrak Apologists are now apologizing to their readers for taking so long to see the truth about Amtrak, and its lack of motivation.

So, are you going to sit on the sidelines and kibbitz about what the final colors of pre-merger Seaboard Air Line Railroad passenger locomotives were, or are you going to figure out how to take some action and demand better passenger rail transportation in this country, whether or not it’s from Amtrak?

Politics in Washington are in a turmoil, and there is likely to be a huge sea change in Congress at the end of this year. No matter who is charge in Washington, it’s time to express your displeasure with how things are with passenger rail, and demand better oversight, and, most importantly, demand someone, somewhere, develop a coherent national surface transportation plan.

As long as everyone just sits around and waits for something to happen, nothing is likely to happen. Amtrak seems content to consume its annual free federal and state monies without any demonstration of progress to create more or better passenger trains. Amtrak needs some major prodding, and it needs prodding from someone who can force change and inspire vision at Amtrak.

What are you going to do about it?

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## guest

Boca Raton translates as "rat's mouth," and refers to some rocks located at the inlet, not to the people who currently live in the city. Snarkiness is fine, but accuracy is better.


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## haolerider

guest said:


> Boca Raton translates as "rat's mouth," and refers to some rocks located at the inlet, not to the people who currently live in the city. Snarkiness is fine, but accuracy is better.


What in the world are you talking about?


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## Ryan

Way the hell back on Page 1 and 3 years ago, Bruce makes the following claim:



MrFSS said:


> Of course, the denizens of Boca Raton, a wealthy South Florida city (which, by the way, Boca Raton translates to House of the Rat), think noisy and unwelcome trains detract from their quality of life.


Our takes issues with his accuracy.


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## jis

Reading the latest issue, it appears even Bruce is getting bored with his own rants. :lol:


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## Larry H.

What is boring are exactly as he mentions, the people who seem to think Amtrak is so "Wonderful" and nothing needs to be improved. Or at the least we should be eternally grateful for the pitiful way in which Amtrak Management operates the system. Anytime you point out how the better old roads would have treated passengers, cars, schedules or food services you get howls of protest from the "newer breed of apologist that frequent this site". I have repeatedly mentioned in winter that Amtrak's tendency to "give up and shut down" are symptoms of poor management and a no one seems to care attitude that permeates at Amtrak. The articles on Via Rails Canadian coming in an hour early in a four day trip while the Empire Builder and most other long distance trains left passengers stranded with not other options was proof of a colossal lack of responsibility of anyone to keep the trains running.

Going on twelve years or more of toilets that won't work at high altitude proved to me that the passengers were way down on the list of things to take care of at Amtrak. When is my next break is probably the top priority.


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## Ryan

No more boring than the same old "Amtrak is awful" posts, ignoring the realities of the situation (for example the fact that the Canadian in wintertime has a massive pool of equipment laying in wait and more padding than a roll of Charmin toilet paper) and providing nothing in the way of *realistic* suggestions for the betterment of Amtrak.


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## Larry H.

Ryan said:


> No more boring than the same old "Amtrak is awful" posts, ignoring the realities of the situation (for example the fact that the Canadian in wintertime has a massive pool of equipment laying in wait and more padding than a roll of Charmin toilet paper) and providing nothing in the way of *realistic* suggestions for the betterment of Amtrak.



Your amazing. Do you think that the many problems that are endemic within amtrak have gone without suggested improvements. Where the heck have you been for the last 30 years! Time after time people have written, called, emailed both amtrak, and their representatives with general disregard for the writers complaints.

If a pool of extra cars is what it takes to make winter service work again as it should, then were are the plans to fix that? If more capable service people are needed, where are they? Its been well over a year since the administration has said it will back improved passenger rail service, I see no evidence that other than a few pet lines anything much is being done. Where are the plans that fix the current operating problems, or are we to accept thousands of passengers being dumped after reserving, and paying for fares, many months in advance for years on end yet. That is not a way to "run a railroad", even a child would know that.

I dare to say that Amtrak has received many thousands of complaints about the toilets. Have they been fixed?

I took part in at least three surveys on the CCC and gave it low marks on all points. Crews have hated the car, passengers hated the car. Yet they still tout them as successful. I have rarely met someone on a train where the lounge has been removed that thinks its a good thing. Has no one told them?

Cars run dirty and with torn seats, that complaint has gone on for as long as Amtrak has existed.

Bottom line is, the public is not running a passenger rail road, are not experts at management either, however we are the very reason they exist. A good manager is someone who studies all the aspects of a business and improves things when necessary. When you have a group that seems oblivious to any problems and year to year operates the same old way something is wrong. Now even while there is some chance that things could be significantly improved with a chance for expanded rail service to cities long abandoned by Amtrak, nothing much is done except more emphases on rail service in the east. There is much more to the country than that small slice. We need management who can see that and have a vision of how to restore it. This business of waiting and denial is not acceptable.


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## jis

There is much truth in the problems that you describe. My only rejoinder is that the fix to these lies mostly through the Congress changing the charter and structure of Amtrak, and that too within a broader coherent integrated transportation vision. Continuously repeating that these problems exist to anyone that is wiling to listen to repeated rants (and mostly apparently ignore them anyways) and a management (poor as it is) that is clearly tolerated and at the same time starved of funding by its paymasters is what I find tedious. What are we going to do to fix Congress (and the executive branch) so that they will either take real responsibility for a coherent integrated transportation policy is the fundamental issue I think. Amtrak is but a small component of the overall problem. It is also a relatively small (but significant) component of the overall rail ridership in the US. Where passenger railroads have succeeded in the last 50 years, they have done so as part of a broader integrated transportation vision, not as an isolated "we run 12 LD trains and 3 corridors" kind of operation.


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## Larry H.

Gee we agree on something! I have repeatedly written my Senator which is Durbin whom does support Amtrak. However and Amtrak Management that was promoting passenger expansion as well and taking responsibility for fixing the problems that exist instead of ignoring them has to be a part of the solution. For too long no vision of a truly nationwide system has been suggested by amtrak and that is the problem.


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## AlanB

Larry H. said:


> Its been well over a year since the administration has said it will back improved passenger rail service, I see no evidence that other than a few pet lines anything much is being done.


So you don't see restoring full dining cars to the LSL as an improvement? You don't see restoring some 100 rail cars as an improvement to service, or restoring 15 locomotives so as to allow for more flexibility and time for repairs to the current engines as an improvement? Or perhaps all the ADA improvements or even the efforts to stabalize the NEC's power problems or replace a bridge before it falls into the water as an improvement?


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## jis

Larry H. said:


> Gee we agree on something! I have repeatedly written my Senator which is Durbin whom does support Amtrak. However and Amtrak Management that was promoting passenger expansion as well and taking responsibility for fixing the problems that exist instead of ignoring them has to be a part of the solution. For too long no vision of a truly nationwide system has been suggested by amtrak and that is the problem.


My primary point is that those that are looking for articulation of said vision from Amtrak are destined to be disappointed. Amtrak management has no incentive whatsoever to do that unless the reward structure of the Amtrak bosses are structured in such a way as to cause them to want to do this. Right now the incentive structure ain't there, nor is a clear message from Congress that that is what is expected of them. The message from Congress that has been clearly articulated during the Bush years, and has not been assertively modified since is, find the money in states for any expansion.


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## PRR 60

AlanB said:


> Larry H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Its been well over a year since the administration has said it will back improved passenger rail service, I see no evidence that other than a few pet lines anything much is being done.
> 
> 
> 
> So you don't see restoring full dining cars to the LSL as an improvement? You don't see restoring some 100 rail cars as an improvement to service, or restoring 15 locomotives so as to allow for more flexibility and time for repairs to the current engines as an improvement? Or perhaps all the ADA improvements or even the efforts to stabalize the NEC's power problems or replace a bridge before it falls into the water as an improvement?
Click to expand...

Just as a clarification, no Amtrak bridges are about to "fall into the water." The Niantic River bridge replacement is being performed for mechanical reasons associated with the aging and unmaintainable lift mechanism, not for structural deficiencies. The reason the entire bridge is being replaced (and relocated downstream) relates to constructability and maintenance of rail traffic issues, not because the structure is in any way unsafe.

While Amtrak is certainly benefiting from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), I think that Amtrak's share of the funding is more or less in line with Amtrak's typical share of transportation funding. The funding does not appear to be a shift in prioritization. While Amtrak is eligible for $1.3 billion in ARRA funding, aviation is also getting $1.3 billion, transit is getting $8.4 billion, and highways are getting $27.5 billion. The wild card is the illusive $8 billion for high speed rail corridors. That funding does not go to Amtrak, but Amtrak may benefit from the spending sometime down the road: or not. Since those grants have yet to be announced, it is hard to say who or what they will help.


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## Larry H.

AlanB said:


> Larry H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Its been well over a year since the administration has said it will back improved passenger rail service, I see no evidence that other than a few pet lines anything much is being done.
> 
> 
> 
> So you don't see restoring full dining cars to the LSL as an improvement? You don't see restoring some 100 rail cars as an improvement to service, or restoring 15 locomotives so as to allow for more flexibility and time for repairs to the current engines as an improvement? Or perhaps all the ADA improvements or even the efforts to stabalize the NEC's power problems or replace a bridge before it falls into the water as an improvement?
Click to expand...

Mostly if you live in the East you will see improvements.. Trying to get anywhere quickly in the midwest unless your bound for chicago is about it. I won't be happy till some of the routes are restored that used to allow service in all directions from many midwest major cities that were removed over the years.

For instance.. We wanted to go to Kansas City.. To do so would mean a 5 hour, 72.00 ticket to Chicago, totally in the wrong direction. Then you would have to purchase another equally expensive room or seat to Kansas city arriving in the middle of the night. About 10 years ago you could have gone from Centralia to St. Louis in a hour and a half, now a 11 hours trip at least with layovers in Chicago, Kansas City in maybe 8 hours total, most likely less for about a fourth the price. That is the kind of thing that is preventing many to go places by rail that will not do so now.


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## jis

PRR 60 said:


> Just as a clarification, no Amtrak bridges are about to "fall into the water." The Niantic River bridge replacement is being performed for mechanical reasons associated with the aging and unmaintainable lift mechanism, not for structural deficiencies. The reason the entire bridge is being replaced (and relocated downstream) relates to constructability and maintenance of rail traffic issues, not because the structure is in any way unsafe.


Yep. I understand that the track deck height is going to be raised considerably this reducing the net need for opening the bridge for really small boats considerably.

BTW, speaking of replacement bridges reducing the need for opening, it now appears that the Portal Bridge replacement has now been redisgned to ake the entire thing a fixed span 50' above MSL, so no more lift bridge and such.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 21, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 7, Number 3

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) After his death, famed and talented architect Daniel Hudson Burnham, the designer of Amtrak’s headquarters building, Washington Union Station, was quoted as having said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized.”

Amtrak, not taking the sage advice of the late Mr. Burnham, released its plan for 2010 last week. We will return to that topic in a moment. First, though, Amtrak has come up with something so incredibly naive, and tin-eared towards its own employees, it’s impossible for rational people to fathom.

2) One of the good points of Amtrak through the years has been its nationwide network of local personnel offices, or, in the modern vernacular, offices housing human resources (or, even human capital) workers.

Whatever term you choose to use, the people working in these offices are the front-line interface for Amtrak employees on all levels, from new hires to veteran employees looking for information about retirement plans. These offices are staffed with managers and clerks, and very much put a necessary human face on a crucial part of the corporation.

Some genius in Washington has decided they can “improve” this by closing all of the local HR offices, and consolidating all HR operations in a call center located (where else, but?) Wilmington, Delaware. The current employees, few if any who elected to move to Wilmington (Why would anyone living in a large city want to move to an Eastern second-tier city like Wilmington?), will either leave the company (taking with them their collective experience, knowledge, and wisdom), or transfer into any other available jobs on their current level or lower level.

Amtrak employees, instead of dealing face to face with a knowledgeable person, will now deal with a new hire over the telephone, most of which will only know about Amtrak HR rules and regulations based on what they read in a manual.

Amtrak will tell you this is being done in the name of efficiency and consistency. The real reason is this is just another example of an Amtrak senior manager with a wild idea who is out of control and refusing the deal with reality. Anybody taking bets on how long this latest scheme will last before sanity returns and all of those closed offices will suddenly be reopened and restaffed at great expense, without the benefit of the many employees there today who have found other jobs?

3) Here’s Amtrak’s press release about its plans for 2010. We’ve been moaning for months asking Amtrak to come up with some sort of plan – ANY sort of plan – for the future. Well, they did. It’s a good start, but here’s hoping this is only the barest of beginnings.

[begin quote]

Press Release

January 11, 2010

AMTRAK READY WITH BIG PLANS FOR 2010

New Year brings major projects and new initiatives

WASHINGTON— Amtrak is ready for an exciting 2010 with major projects and new initiatives that will benefit passengers, increase service, rebuild infrastructure, and put America’s railroad at the center of intercity and high-speed passenger rail development and expansion.

“Amtrak enters 2010 with a strong sense of optimism, enthusiasm and purpose,” said President and CEO Joseph Boardman. “We have an aggressive game plan to modernize, renew, and grow America’s passenger railroad,” he said, noting increasing ridership from 21.6 million in FY 2002 to 27.2 million in FY 2009, with an all-time record of 28.7 million in FY 2008.

He explained that numerous projects and initiatives being undertaken in 2010 support goals established in Amtrak’s new Strategic Guidance including becoming safer, greener and healthier and improving financial performance, customer service, and meeting national needs.

In particular, Amtrak is playing a major role in the development and expansion of intercity and high-speed passenger rail. As America’s provider of intercity passenger rail service and its only high-speed rail operator—operating trains at speeds up to 150 mph every day— Amtrak has unmatched knowledge, experience and expertise in the U.S. rail environment.

Boardman added that Amtrak is partnering with 25 states in support of more than 100 projects submitted for funding from the $8 billion made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for intercity and high-speed rail capital improvement grants. An announcement from the U.S. Department of Transportation on which projects have been selected is expected this winter.

During 2010, Amtrak also will undertake track and bridge construction projects, safety and security enhancements, and will release a plan to replace and expand its locomotive and passenger railcar fleet, among many other projects and initiatives.

Following are highlights of major activities Amtrak will begin, continue or complete during the coming year.

High-Speed Rail

In 2010, Amtrak will celebrate the 10th anniversary of America’s fastest train, the Acela Express, which began operating along the Northeast Corridor in 2000 and reaches speeds up to 150 mph. In addition, Amtrak will increase train speeds to 105 mph over a section of track it owns between Porter, Ind., and Kalamazoo, Mich., which will benefit Blue Water and Wolverines service. Amtrak currently operates nearly half of its more than 300 daily trains at speeds of 100 mph or higher on their routes.

Deploy WiFi and Upgrade Interiors on Acela Express

In March, Amtrak will deploy WiFi technology on Acela Express and make it available to every passenger initially free of charge. In late 2010, Amtrak will complete a program to upgrade the interior of all Acela Express trainsets to increase passenger comfort and amenities, including leather seating, improved tray tables, and better outlets to power laptop computers, DVD players and other electronic devices.

Major Infrastructure Improvement Projects Funded by ARRA

Many major Amtrak infrastructure improvement projects funded in full, or in part, by $1.3 billion in ARRA funds will be under construction in 2010. Some of these projects include: replacement of the 102-year old movable bridge over the Niantic River in Connecticut; modernization of transformers and other electrical equipment used to power trains between Washington, D.C. and New York; improvements to tracks and switches at Chicago Union Station; and construction of new maintenance buildings for passenger railcar equipment in Los Angeles, Calif., and Hialeah, Fla.

In addition, ARRA funding is supporting: renovation of the station in Wilmington, Del.; expansion of the Auto Train station in Sanford, Fla.; restoration of locomotives and passenger railcars in Beech Grove, Ind., and Bear, Del.; improved emergency exits and fire detection and suppression systems in New York tunnels; and enhanced accessibility at more than 200 rail stations across the country.

Major Infrastructure Improvement Projects Funded by Annual Engineering Program

Beyond the ARRA funded projects, Amtrak will spend $442 million as part of its annual FY 2010 engineering program. Among these projects include: installation of more than 112,000 concrete crossties and more than 49,000 wood crossties on the Northeast Corridor; construction of a new air ventilation shaft for the New York tunnels; and repair to several bridges in Michigan, Maryland, New York and New Jersey.

In addition, Amtrak will: complete the multi-year modernization of the catenary wires on the Hell Gate Line in N.Y.; begin construction of upgrades to the Seattle maintenance facility; and improve accessibility at stations in Philadelphia, Pa., Baltimore, Md., Providence, R.I. and elsewhere.

New Plan to Replace and Expand Fleet of Locomotives and Passenger Railcars

Amtrak will announce a comprehensive and detailed plan to replace and expand its fleet of locomotives and passenger railcars to enhance current service and accommodate expected future growth. It will include the purchase of several hundred single-level and bi-level long distance passenger railcars and more than a hundred locomotives. This major equipment purchase will support American rail manufacturing industries and create jobs in the U.S.

Long-Distance Routes, Corridor Services and Commuter Contract

Amtrak will undertake an in-depth evaluation of the poorest performing long-distance routes to identify and implement changes where possible to improve key measures such as customer service, ridership, and financial performance. The five routes being analyzed are the Sunset Limited, Cardinal, Texas Eagle, Capitol Limited, and California Zephyr.

Also, Amtrak will expand corridor services in collaboration with state partners. In Virginia, a fifth Northeast Regional train will operate between Richmond and Washington, D.C. In North Carolina, a second Piedmont roundtrip between Raleigh and Charlotte will be added. In Washington, a second Amtrak Cascades train is now operating from Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia through the duration of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Games. In addition, Amtrak is finalizing a new operating contract with the Los Angeles-based Metrolink commuter rail service to provide train and engine crews for all seven of its lines.

Installing Positive Train Control and Enhancing Safety

Amtrak is committed to an aggressive, self-imposed schedule to install Positive Train Control (PTC) by the end of 2012—three years ahead of a Congressional deadline for the rail industry— on sections of Amtrak-owned tracks not already equipped with the sophisticated technology capable of controlling train movements to prevent collisions. A significant amount of design, engineering, and some installation work will occur this year to advance the project. Amtrak is also implementing two industry-leading risk-reduction safety initiatives to complement traditional rules-based compliance programs. The Safe-2-Safer program strengthens the emphasis on safety within the corporate culture by promoting a more collaborative working environment and ensures a higher reliability of safe behaviors at all levels of the railroad.

In addition, Amtrak intends to participate in a Federal Railroad Administration sponsored Close Call Reporting project under which incidents that did not result in an accident or injury, but could have, can be anonymously reported by employees so that safety improvements can be made as appropriate.

Strengthening Security

Amtrak passengers will see a more interactive police and security presence in 2010 with greater emphasis on random and unpredictable patrols, baggage screenings and other activities In stations and on trains. Amtrak will continue to expand its K-9 explosive detection teams, harden stations and strengthen cooperative inter-agency operations with local, state, and federal law enforcement and counterterrorism partners.

About Amtrak

As the nation’s intercity passenger rail operator, Amtrak connects America in safer, greener and healthier ways. Last fiscal year (FY 2009), the railroad carried 27.2 million passengers, making it the second-best year in the company’s history. With 21,000 route miles in 46 states, the District of Columbia and three Canadian provinces, Amtrak operates more than 300 trains each day—at speeds up to 150 mph—to more than 500 destinations. Amtrak also is the partner of choice for state-supported corridor services in 15 states and for several commuter rail agencies. Visit Amtrak.com or call 800-USA-RAIL for schedules, fares and more information.

[End quote]

Let’s take it from the top. Amtrak has a new promo line which it has worked into the first four paragraphs and into the end corporate identification piece: “Amtrak operates more than 300 trains each day – at speeds up to 150 mph – to more than 500 destinations.” It also added in the fourth paragraph, “Amtrak has unmatched knowledge, experience and expertise in the U.S. rail environment.”

Sure, Amtrak does operate more than 300 trains a day, and sure, some at speeds up to 150 M.P.H., but, let’s be completely honest here. Amtrak’s few Acelas on the Northeast Corridor operate at speeds up to 150 M.P.H. on considerably less than 100 miles of specific track, not the hundreds of miles other high speed trains operate daily in the rest of the world.

And, the second statement about Amtrak having unmatched knowledge, experience and expertise in the U.S. rail environment, well, compared to what, or who? More than the operators of the various regional/commuter systems around the country? More than the freight railroads have, all of which manage to operate in all weather conditions when Amtrak can’t quite find its way through winter weather in January?

All of this obviously is designed to move Amtrak psychologically into a superior position with decision makers who will be determining which company – Amtrak, the French, the Japanese, the British, the Germans, and whoever else is qualified and interested – will be the operator of the coming high speed rail lines.

Any decision maker worth their salt are going to be looking at a number of factors, including how good of a steward Amtrak has been through the years of the tens of billions of dollars it has received from various government treasuries, and how well it has performed on maintaining its motive power and rolling stock fleets, as well as managing infrastructure and real estate assets. Good decision makers are not only going to be looking at what Amtrak is doing right this minute, but also what it has done in the past and what type of corporate culture it harbors. And, these guys think they’re the best choice? Ask the folks who are still peering down the track, waiting for a Sunset Limited east of New Orleans to arrive, and you may get an earful about how good Amtrak is working on behalf of passengers and taxpayers.

Now, specific sub-headlines in the press release above, after high-speed rail:

Deploy WiFi and Upgrade Interiors on Acela Express

The WiFi deal has gotten a lot of press, and it’s a good thing. Upgrading the interiors on Acela trainsets is due; it’s been 10 years now, and the folks (all who have mercifully left Amtrak) who made the choices for Acela interiors and paint scheme colors pretty well flunked “Introduction to Design 101.” If the rocking the train doesn’t make you queasy, the interior decorations will.

Major Infrastructure Improvement Projects Funded by ARRA

This is all old news; lots of things which need to be done and will help the aesthetics of the company, but won’t do much to increase revenues, with the exception of the out of service locomotives and cars which will be rehabbed. One has to seriously wonder, with all of the goodies handed out in the stimulus plan, why Amtrak chose to only upgrade part of its out of service fleet; why didn’t it go for the whole group while it had the chance?

Major Infrastructure Improvement Projects Funded by Annual Engineering Program

See above; same song, different verse.

New Plan to Replace and Expand Fleet of Locomotives and Passenger Railcars

This is the part that has sent the hearts of many a rail fan aflutter. We’re told no details until February, but lots and lots has been read into this statement. This could be a very good thing, but, at the moment, there are no known plans for expansion, other than the route studies completed last year which will require billions of dollars to make happen.

And, the big concern is Amtrak is going to follow its path from the past, and retire aging equipment rather than keep it in service for expansion. If we have another fiasco like the replacement of the Heritage sleeping cars with the Viewliner fleet (where something like two or more Heritage cars were taken out of service for every one Viewliner car put into service), then Amtrak’s long distance system is likely to shrink to even more depressing levels than it is today.

Again – and, again, and again – VIA Rail Canada is happily restoring equipment which is more than 50 years old and was originally built like battleships. VIA is using this equipment on its premier trains, and charging even bigger bucks than Amtrak charges for the privilege of riding a train. If Amtrak makes the huge mistake of shrinking its fleet with the acquisition of new equipment instead of expanding its fleet and keeping existing equipment, then we may as well all go home, for Amtrak will have nothing as a future.

Long-distance Routes, Corridor Services and Commuter Contract

Hopefully, Brian Rosenwald is going to be the man in charge of the next round of upgrades (actually, in some cases, more like restoring what was there 10 years ago and was lost) to long distance trains. We’ve already seen results like the restored full dining car service on the Lake Shore Limited and the plan to take the western end of the Sunset Limited daily (still not the best plan, but a step in the right direction).

The next group of trains is going to be the Sunset Limited (continuing from the last group), Cardinal, Texas Eagle, Capitol Limited, and California Zephyr.

The Sunset and Eagle parts are already in the works; we’re still hoping for a new name, such as the historic and charming “Golden State” from the Southern Pacific/Rock Island days. The pedestrian Texas Eagle name needs to be retired.

For the Cardinal, this much abused but highly scenic route must be taken from its abysmal tri-weekly schedule to a healthy daily schedule. Time is not a crucial factor on this route; scenery is. Better scheduling on the eastern end, perhaps a companion daytime service between Cincinnati and Washington or New York along with making the Hoosier state a daily train on its own, and a full dining car and more sleeping car space will make this train a winner. In Fiscal Year 2009, the Cardinal had a 56% load factor; pretty amazing considering it’s so ignored by Amtrak.

The Capitol Limited and California Zephyr are already good trains; give them the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight amenities and onboard services treatment and it will be impossible to find space on these trains because they will become more popular than ever. In Fiscal Year 2009, the Capitol had a 68.9% load factor (technically, sold out), and the Zephyr had a 52.4% load factor; plenty of room for improvement.

Amtrak talks about expanding state corridor service, at the expense of states, naturally. Both Virginia and North Carolina will see more service, and Washington State already has more service in time for the Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. The North Carolina companion frequency to the Piedmont round trip between Charlotte and Raleigh will be the train to watch; the Piedmont has a load factor of 40.3%, hauling 68,400 passengers last fiscal year. The train was created to provide relief to the popular and well-performing Carolinian, which has a 74.5% load factor and carried 277,700 passenger last fiscal year. Adding a third frequency between the Charlotte-Raleigh city pairs should prove to be worthwhile; part of that route is also served during nighttime hours by the Silver Star.

Amtrak also noted it is finalizing details for taking over the Metrolink commuter service in and out of Los Angeles; it’s getting back a contract it lost several years ago.

Installing Positive Train Control and Enhancing Safety

Every railroad is talking about this unfunded federal mandate to have PTC in place by 2015; Amtrak is planning to have its system in place by 2012. Most likely, the rest of the railroads in the country would like to have the help from the federal treasury Amtrak is receiving to install PTC.

Strengthening Security

Amtrak talks a bit about increased security measures and baggage screening; all good things.

4) Amtrak did come out with a plan, and it’s a good start, albeit a too small start. We need to see more route expansion plans, and we need to see the same emphasis from Amtrak on its core business of conventional rail as we see on the dream of high-speed rail.

The only way Amtrak is going to survive is to grow, and the best growth potential is in the national system, not short, expensive state corridors. Amtrak has the opportunity; it needs to make the best of what it has been handed.

Still unanswered are the big questions: What new routes? What about revenue expansion? What about filling up the existing trains? (Amtrak’s system wide load factor for FY 2009 was only 49.3%; abysmal by any measure.) What is Amtrak doing to contain costs? What about the existing equipment sitting in the weeds on the wreck line; when will it be fixed and put back out on the road to earn revenue? When is Amtrak going to stop being America’s greatest kept secret?

5) This week’s special election in Massachusetts for the replacement of the late Senator Edward Kennedy morphed into a stunning finale. Republican Senator-Elect Scott Brown ended the Democrat’s lock on passing any legislation party leaders want in Washington.

Why is this important? Because Amtrak cannot expect an unfettered flow of funds with a more level playing field in Washington. Amtrak is going to have to go back to being able to prove its need, and prove its worth to convince not only all of the Democrats, but some of the Republicans, too, that federal monies spent on Amtrak are monies well spent.

6) The first This Week at Amtrak of the year earlier this month zeroed in on Amtrak’s failure to keep the Empire Builder running across the western northern tier of the country just south of the Canadian border through difficult weather conditions in January.

The response from TWA readers was overwhelming, and the interesting part was all of the excuses made on behalf of Amtrak from those in Amtrak’s Amen Corner.

One writer noted that VIA Rail Canada kept its trains moving because it had a different brand name of locomotive (never mind, that in most cases, Amtrak and VIA locomotives are nearly identical), perhaps inferring some locomotives are not supposed to operate in cold weather?

Another writer, noting he was writing as a political scientist, opined that perhaps Amtrak was misbehaving badly and not making plans for the future and itself because the poor dears were so beaten down by the Washington bureaucracy they just couldn’t summon up the courage for a good fight and ask for what they really needed. Maybe the reader wants to leave the light on at night, too, for Amtrak when its dark outside.

But, most writers seemed incredulous that over 125 years after passenger trains began operating in that part of the country in frigid weather conditions, and nearly 40 years after Amtrak began operations, it can’t figure out how to deal with cold weather.

Again, these are the same people who dream they will be entrusted with the new high-speed rail systems?

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## bretton88

We already saw some photos of the locomotives in winter. After seeing those, it was no wonder amtrak couldn't run. The freight companies can just slow down the freight trains and make them a day late, Amtrak cant. Though there are a few things Amtrak could have done better, It has become apparent that some things where out of Amtrak's control.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; January 28, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 7, Number 4

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) To the surprise of no one, when political decisions are made, those decisions are not always based in reality. Today’s announcement from the White House on how the $8 billion pie for high speed rail is being carved up can be viewed as nothing more than a string of political decisions, but, with some good results.

Every region of the country gets a piece of the pie, but, surprisingly and, with a certain note of disappointment, the Chicago area received a rather small portion. Billions are needed to untangle the web of rail lines in and out of Chicago to make both passenger and freight trains move smoother and quicker. Illinois received only $1,102,000,000 for upgrading a line between Chicago and St. Louis. Minneapolis-Milwaukee-Chicago got another chunk of money – $823,000,000 – but not much of the money actually goes into Chicago-based infrastructure. On the east side of Chicago, the Chicago-Detroit line got $244,000,000 for stations and some signaling and infrastructure improvements.

Never really addressed were the core problems directly in and around Chicago, the nation’s largest rail hub.

Here in Florida, we received $1,250,000,000 which proves the point you shouldn’t look a gift high speed rail system in the mouth, but you really have to figure out how to feed it. Florida’s share of the spoils will pay for a hair less than half of the cost of building the redundant Orlando-Tampa high speed rail system, which the voters of Florida rejected in 2004 as too expensive.

So, now, the feds have given us half of the cost of the system, and we have to come up with a matching amount. The problem is, the State of Florida is pretty well broke, and we are a state with exceptionally high unemployment, an exceptionally high amount of home foreclosures, and a nearly stagnant tourism economy. We may have billions in federal monies coming, but it’s anybody’s guess if the Florida legislature and Governor Charlie Crist can find the matching funds. If it would have been a typical federal/state partnership of 80/20, most likely $500,000,000 could have been found by scrounging through various state capital budgets for a number of programs. But, with a 50/50 match, it’s not a lock Florida can find the money.

Some money was awarded to the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of North Carolina for track and infrastructure upgrades, as well as rolling stock purchases, totaling $620,000,000. Political language can be found in the award, such as “doubling the number of frequencies between Charlotte, North Carolina and Raleigh, North Carolina.” Well, gee, yes, that’s a true statement, but we’re only talking about from two frequencies to four frequencies, hardly an Interstate highway-clearing endeavor.

A fascinatingly small amount of money went to the Northeast; only a total of $485,000,000, which includes some work on the Northeast Corridor.

California received the largest prize, totaling $2,344,000,000, which not only goes to the proposed new California high speed route, but also includes monies for the Pacific Surfliners, the Capitol corridor trains, and others areas, specifically for pollution mitigation. Considering the cost of California’s new high speed system is going to be north of $40,000,000,000, California isn’t going to be getting much federal help from this go-round.

2) What will the $8 billion do specifically for Amtrak? Actually, Amtrak will benefit nicely from a number of these projects, mostly in the form of enhanced track and infrastructure, which will improve running times, eliminate a lot of railroad congestion, add some new station buildings (something Amtrak pretty desperately needs in a lot of cities), and boost rolling stock.

3) A lot of fuss was made during the announcement about how all of this is a “down payment” for the beginning of high speed rail, and we should be happy for all of the jobs these few dollars (in Washington terms, not in real world terms) will create. Comparisons were made to the early days of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system, and we can look to a future of high speed rail rivaling today’s Interstate highways.

Some very reasonable arguments were made (which were not political arguments, so therefore ignored) that perhaps one high speed system – as a demonstration project – should have been selected and completely built to prove the wonderfulness of high speed rail. Not a bad idea; however, political realities said as much money as possible should be spread around to political swing states which will benefit incumbents at the expense of reality.

4) Of interest to many of us are the dozens and billions of dollars worth of projects which didn’t receive funding. Will those projects remain viable for future funding? Will some other source of funding be found for the best of those projects?

We know the White House has proposed a funding level freeze for three years for all non-defense and non-entitlement programs in Washington. This freeze includes the Department of Transportation. Since Amtrak received a high amount of funding in the current fiscal year budget, life will be good for Amtrak if current levels are maintained.

But, what about these new projects? Will an annual infusion of $1 billion be enough to keep these programs going, especially in California?

Take a look at one specific, unfunded project here in Florida; a favorite of many.

Amtrak and the Florida Department of Transportation proposed a request for $268 million – using the old, true metaphor of about the same or lower cost than an urban Interstate interchange – for restoring service on Florida’s original tourist passenger line and first real economic engine, the Florida East Coast Railway.

We lost primary passenger service on the FEC when the unions ferociously struck the railroad in 1963. All of the “name” Florida passenger trains from the Midwest and originating on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad were moved off the FEC at Jacksonville and picked up the old Seaboard Air Line Railroad route at Auburndale, Florida into West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami.

For $268 million, service would be restored on the FEC between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach, returning passenger trains to major tourist destinations such as St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, the Cape Canaveral area, and the coast just above Palm Beach. Included in the cost of restoration were eight stations, upgrading the FEC for 90 M.P.H. running, a track connection between the FEC and the Tri-Rail line at West Palm Beach which Amtrak uses, upgrades to the proposed Miami Intermodal Center, and additional rolling stock for regional frequencies in addition to splitting the Silver Meteor and Silver Star in Jacksonville and sending half of the train to Miami via the FEC and the other half via Orlando.

The proposal was a great, inexpensive deal for Florida, and, beyond Amtrak, would have benefitted the future of Tri-Rail by building the connecting track between the FEC and Tri-Rail’s track for future Tri-Rail expansion up and down the FEC to both the north and south of West Palm Beach.

What will happen now to this project? If Florida has to pony up $1.25 billion to build the high speed rail between Orlando and Tampa (which will provide redundant service to existing Amtrak service), will there be any money for new service on the FEC? It’s doubtful the proposed Orlando-Tampa high speed line will bring any additional visitors to Florida, but the FEC line has the potential of adding eight new highly desirable tourist destinations to the Amtrak system, as well as dramatically cutting the travel time between Jacksonville and Miami.

Most likely, it’s the same story all over the country. Political decisions were made to carve up the $8 billion, but what are the immediate results and consequences? Perhaps it would have been better to designate $1 billion to the Orlando-Tampa line, and almost fully fund the FEC project? Inquiring minds want to know.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; February 10, 2010
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A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
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United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
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America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
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​


1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail

[email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org​


​


​


Volume 7, Number 5
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​

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) This is my final issue of This Week at Amtrak as principal writer, editor, and publisher. Starting with the next issue, William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona will take over those chores. I will be contributing occasional articles on various subjects. Mr. Lindley is a longtime United Rail Passenger Alliance professional member, and a former President of the Arizona Rail Passenger Association. He is a man with a high sense of ethics and purpose.

It has been a true delight to produce over one million words about Amtrak and passenger rail in North America writing TWA the past seven years. Throughout these years, many of you have been kind enough to send messages and replies about the various columns, many complimentary, many in angst. Each and every message, no matter the content, meant someone was reading TWA, and was passionate enough about what they read to produce a response. Thank you to everyone who took time to read TWA, and especially to those who took time to reply.

Most of you are familiar with Mr. Lindley’s writings in this space; he will be a clear, and much more concise voice on the issues of passenger rail – including and beyond Amtrak – as our country moves back into an era when passenger rail is not only fashionable, but realistic.

Mr. Lindley’s views of written communiques differ from mine; he believes in shorter messages with a lot of punch. No one has ever accused me of having an economy with words; “verbose” is a term often coming to mind regarding my writings.

I have assumed some new responsibilities with exciting projects which will bring me in conflict with continuing TWA from my keyboard. You will be hearing more about those projects at a later date.

Amtrak last week delivered a 99 page report on the present and future status of its fleet. This space has long agitated for a plan, and one has been put on the table. The hope is this plan is just a faint beginning, and a recognition of passenger rail’s place in the future of surface transportation in this country.

For much of the past decade for various reasons, the Amtrak Board of Directors has not been fully populated. As of today, there is only one vacant board seat, and hopefully that will soon be filled. The Amtrak board has seen many stars in the past such as David Laney, the late Paul Weyrich, and current Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour. Here’s hoping the new board will be as serious about a vital Amtrak as those board members were, and the new board will attempt to accomplish what was accomplished by those stars.

My e-mail and mailing addresses will all remain the same. All subscription matters will be moved over to Mr. Lindley soon. Please, don’t stop those cards and letters coming just because I will no longer be writing on a regular basis. Each new one with your thoughts will be welcome.

Thanks for reading This Week at Amtrak, and thanks for caring about the future of passenger trains in North America.

Mr. Lindley, it’s your turn, now.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203

Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


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## yarrow

i never knew quite who j. bruce richardson was but i often agreed with his views. will be interesting to me to see what the new editor has to say


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## jis

bretton88 said:


> We already saw some photos of the locomotives in winter. After seeing those, it was no wonder amtrak couldn't run. The freight companies can just slow down the freight trains and make them a day late, Amtrak cant. Though there are a few things Amtrak could have done better, It has become apparent that some things where out of Amtrak's control.


Considering the CSX could not run anything on the RF&P through most of last week, and finally had its marooned outlawed crews rescued by a pair of Amtrak P42s sent out on a rescue mission, it is not clear that the freight companies necessarily do much better under severe snow conditions either.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2010-02-16
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Volume 7, Number 6

Gentle Readers,

Thank you for returning this week for another installment of This Week at Amtrak. I would like to give special appreciation to Mr. J. Bruce Richardson for the first seven years of this column.

1. Reviewing this Monday, let us begin with a line from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" –

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said "one can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast…"
Well, well. Two impossible things happened yesterday.

On the world stage, Professor Phil Jones, at the "centre of the Climategate scandal" admitted there has been no global warming since 1995. According to the Daily Mail, he "also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now… And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no 'statistically significant' warming." This is, naturally enough, entirely attributable to a mere blip in the data, all of which he has apparently conveniently mislaid.

See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...-organised.html

2. And then, back home in these United States, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the waters of conventional wisdom, Ray Reed of the Lynchburg News and Advance reported Monday evening on the new second frequency on an Amtrak route in Virginia: "Lynchburg's honeymoon with Amtrak continued in November, producing enough riders on the new train that started in October to generate a profit in its second month of operation. Virginia had planned to provide a $242,000 monthly subsidy to keep the train running. It won't need any of that money for November…" http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local...nd_month/24136/

Can it really be true that, despite relying on derivatives of accounting methods originally and deliberately skewed by the freight railroad companies over fifty years ago to show passenger train losses no matter what, that Amtrak really is admitting a conventional train can be at least partly profitable? Stay tuned.

We have discussed before the plight of our nation's grand downtown train terminals like those in St. Louis and Kansas City which have been perhaps permanently shorn of their proper passenger functions. Cincinnati Union Terminal seemed near to receiving a similar sentence, but thankfully the kind citizens of the Queen City have raised an outcry that the "3-C" trains should again serve this Art Deco landmark as their gateway. We lend them our support toward a strong regional rail network.

3. Meanwhile, I recently have been corresponding with Richard Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association; and in reference to my comment about recent plans I felt were far too large for some high speed rail projects, he wrote:

You don't get what you want by not asking for it.
Well, that is certainly true. And that's what Amtrak should have done starting with the Oil Embargo of 1973 — ask Congress, "Give us $x more and we'll do Y … give us $2*x more and we'll do Y plus plus plus…" Ah well, hindsight.

Today there do need to be **reasonable** and **prudent** requests… based on what is already working from experiences in California, Missouri, and so on. Not pie-in-the-sky multi-billion dollar wish lists for fast trains that will never get built, nor serve a useful purpose without a base network of local trains and transit. The ground-breaking Shinkansen and TGV, of course, were not built in a vacuum but overlaid a huge matrix of existing services.

Nevertheless, in support both of Mr. Harnish's position and my own, and speaking of learning from what works — the Arizona Public Interest Research Group recently asked the Arizona Rail Passenger Association to support and speak at its press conference on the US PIRG report issued 9 February –

http://www.uspirg.org/home/reports/report-...tem-for-america

As a conservative and a Republican (and those two are far from always the same), I am pleasantly surprised by its generally sensible attitude toward incremental progress to eventual true high speed rail. I was also pleased that Arizona PIRG invited ARPA and the Southwest Rail Corridor Coalition advocates to answer press questions on their behalf.

Here in Phoenix, the Metro system was approved and built after several failed transit ballot measures over a dozen years. The difference was that the successful 2000 measure had the support of both the Sierra Club and the Realtors… something which almost never happens. When a group like PIRG now comes to advocates of diverse political backgrounds to support a common goal, things might start happening.

Now, Gentle Readers, I invite you to read the PIRG report and ask yourself — does there exist a common ground on which rail advocates from both sides of the aisle can make sensible progress toward better passenger trains? If you wish, you may reply to me directly ( [email protected] ).

I look forward to hearing from you until our next Week at Amtrak.

William Lindley

Scottsdale, Ariz.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2010-02-27
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Posted By wlindley On February 27

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect

before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

- John Quincy Adams

Gentle Readers,

Darwin was wrong. No, I'm not questioning "did man descend from the apes?" (perhaps he should have said "ascend" anyway). Darwin postulated a continual pace of evolution, but the reality is: whether we discuss clothing fashions, musical taste, or changes in animal species, change is almost invariably glacially slow for long periods, punctuated by flashes of utter revolution.

We seem at last to have entered such a quick phase of passenger rail renaissance.

In these past few decades, passenger trains have been accumulating a constituency in both size and composition. Like a blizzard in New York City or Philadelphia, it grew slowly at first and now more quickly.

Robert R. Young, variously known as the "gadfly of the rails" and the "populist of Wall Street," as early as the 1940s, foresaw the impending crisis in passenger trains and indeed railroading generally. Even before jet aircraft and superhighways, Young saw slow trains and antiquated equipment as obstacles to future passenger train profits, and the stagnation of American design and manufacturing as impediments to progress. Young sought to improve his Chesapeake & Ohio passenger trains "to head off a slump that might mean a demand for nationalization…" — a threat realized in the creation of Amtrak in 1971 — and "When Young decided to buy two new streamliners for the C&O and two for the Chicago-Grand Rapids-Petroskey run of the Pere Marquette, he was struck with the limited capacity of the de luxe car-building industry. Young's subsequent decision to replace every bit of passenger equipment on the C&O involved waiting for months for delivery…" (both quotes, Life Magazine, 24 February 1947.)

The creation of Amtrak, proceeding from a goal set in the late 1960s by Anthony Haswell's National Association of Railroad Passengers, was a legislative place-holder designed to effect the return of a healthy national rail passenger system. Despite the most concerted efforts of many during the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo and since, the legal and political roadblocks erected over the preceding century have proven difficult to overcome. But as the romance of fast planes and fast cars was replaced by the frustrations and dehumanizations of X-rays, pat-down searches and plugged expressways, the latent demand for trains returned.

Even in the warmth and vast spaces of the American West, the San Diego Trolley and Los Angeles Metrolink were pioneers of streetcar and regional rail, overturning forever the idea that superhighways and jet aircraft had obsoleted trains.

As cities across the country opened new rail systems, and as Amtrak has worked with states to extend services, the snow-drifts continued. Some of these, like the Gulf Breeze, were scattered in the wind; while others grew, in places like North Carolina and Virginia.

Pressure for change also grew in equipment and the railroads themselves. In the 1990s, Bombardier's BiLevel coach and General Motors' F59PH led the way in modern passenger equipment even as most light-rail orders went to Europe or Japan. The failed Penn Central, which had become government-owned Conrail, was sold and became parts of the profitable CSX and Norfolk Southern railways.

The Obama administration's eight billion dollar outlay on higher-speed rail, announced in April of 2009, perhaps played a part in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway purchasing BNSF. Fast upon the heels of the awards of this Federal money we find billionaire Carl Icahn's American Railcar Industries having formed a joint venture with US Railcar. US Railcar has built regional trains for Florida, and hopes to capture the upcoming market for high-speed equipment. Obama's eight billion dollars, on a national scale, is tiny; but it has become a critical piece.

Though you may not be able to ride Denver's Ski Train to the slopes this year, residents of New York City and Philadelphia who have been keeping the tips of their show-shovels shiny can tell you that, when snow has been falling on the mountain for long enough, sometimes it only takes one flake to start an avalanche.

Yesterday's Friends of Transit conference which I attended in Phoenix highlighted that, when enough people — and the right people — assemble behind an idea, there are no more obstacles: just work to be done. The same avalanche as happened with streetcars in Phoenix leading now to serious plans for regional rail, is happening nationally. Of note: Richard Simonetta, who spearheaded the genius of Phoenix's METRO success — where, through community involvement, seven billion dollars of new development _accompanied_ rather than _followed _the construction of the line — is now National Director of High Speed Rail at URS, a joint venture of whom is planning the California High Speed Rail Authority's 800-mile system. (URS press releases on Simonetta [1] and California HSR [2])

California's HSR so far looks to be at least somewhat sensibly designed to build on, rather than compete with, a passenger rail matrix which includes Amtrak California's Surfliners, San Joaquins and Capitols. This contrasts with some other high speed systems recently proposed (and next time we will look at what happens to travel time versus return on investment, on a hypothetical 81-mile corridor). California is carrying on Robert Young's desire for modern railways.

Desire for continuing passenger profits like Young felt at C&O carried over to the street railways, whose President's Conference designed the PCC streetcar in the late 1930s with modern innovations: smooth, powerful acceleration and comfortable suspension. PCC cars continued to be built in America through the 1950s; in Europe, licensed designs were improved upon and constructed until fairly recently. Competitor products for the PCC were offered by the J.G. Brill Company, which became ACF-Brill; in 1994, some of that same American Car & Foundry's designs, properties and personnel were acquired by the same American Railcar Industries that Mr. Icahn owns today.

As streetcar manufacturing moves back to the United States, with American plants of Japanese and European companies recently joined by Oregon Iron Works products; and as production likewise steps up on full-size passenger trains, remember that a "stimulus" is hardly a new idea. In 1947, the United States was in recession; and 63 years ago this week:

"Young's idea is that if the American railroads would replace their Pullman and coach equipment every seven years, the resulting mass manufacturing orders would make the U.S. economy recession-proof…" (also from Life Magazine's 24 February 1947 profile of Robert R. Young.)

Now, Canada's VIA Rail has been using 50-year old streamliners from the Budd Company, which were built well enough to have lasted decades. VIA plans to use them for decades more. An inspection of passenger trains as recently as five years before "Amtrak Day" (May Day, 1971) shows U.S. railroads on their secondary trains continued to successfully use heavyweight equipment built in 1920s and 1930s before the advent of lightweight construction. Such well-built cars too lasted 40 or 50 years, being outmoded only by style, not function. So perhaps "augment" rather than "replace" every seven years would be prudent and effective, as passenger trains increasingly recover the market share vacated fifty years ago, and cater to new needs.

Amtrak can seize on the positive publicity from its successful train to Lynchburg, Virginia which has so far not required its planned state operating subsidy. This is a chance to appeal to both conservatives and progressives… yet the same Amtrak this week is threatening "to scuttle the SunRail commuter train planned for Central Florida before it picks up its first passenger." (Orlando Sentinel [3], 23 February 2010) The issue is liability insurance — and surely a consistent policy on this subject is crucial — and one hopes a constructive discussion can take place.

States like Virginia don't really care how much "profit," if any, Amtrak makes; only that state monies reserved for operating subsidies should be as small, and last as long, as possible. Any state function fulfilling its role while turning even a little of its money back to the treasury is bound to get someone excited at the State House. Several other Amtrak trains could follow the Virginia model of additional service for small increases in subsidy. Extending the Heartland Flyer south to Houston, or north to connect with service to Kansas City or even St. Louis, springs to mind.

If Amtrak, in partnership with host railroads, can thusly open the spigot for future capital outlays like upgraded tracks, signals, and stations, then the advancing avalanche which is the passenger rail renaissance will be unstoppable.


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## jis

I actually like William Lindley's style of writing. It is less shrill and more substantive. Good change!


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2010-03-08
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Jack Benny, one of America's most beloved comedians and reputed tightwad extraordinaire, was perpetually 39 years old; Amtrak, this first of May, will join Mr. Benny at milepost 39. Benny's radio and television persona never sold his ancient Maxwell automobile, but Amtrak does seem to have traded in some sputtering old ideas for new ones.

First off, the news items:


The State of Oregon reports it has purchased two new TALGO trainsets [1] for service between Eugene and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Jolene Molitoris, currently Director of Ohio Department of Transportation, and former Federal Railroad Administration chief, this Wednesday "gave a passionate speech about ODOT" and the nascent 3-C (Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati) corridor. According to "Linking Ohio [2]," Ms. Molitoris emphasized "that no corridor has ever gone from zero passenger rail options to high-speed rail in one step. She described projects like in Maine and North Carolina that all started with standard speed rail before upgrading to higher-speed." Linking Ohio, which is a project of the 501©3 non-profit All Aboard Ohio, noted that improving current speeds — 39 mph average, 79 mph top speed — needs to be the first phase "of a larger passenger rail strategy."

And then from North Carolina comes the news, according "The not-so-fast track for high speed rail [3]" (Stateline.org, 25 February 2010), that a "$520 million chunk [of the Federal high speed funds]… will go toward 30 specific improvements between Raleigh and Charlotte, and another $25 million will be used to reduce [rail] congestion between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia… Eugene Conti, North Carolina's secretary of transportation, says work on the upgrades will start within a few months. The projects include adding more double-tracking that would allow freight and passenger trains to pass each other and separating rails from roads. The changes are designed to cut down on delays for both trains and auto traffic."

On the flip side, Buena Park, California may have to demolish a brand-new passenger station if the planned high-speed trains whiz past there without stopping (AP story, 8 March [4]), and Florida's newly-awarded high-speed train is not planned to connect with SunRail commuter trains (cable-only local news "channel 13″ story, 5 March [5]; and commentary on The Infrastructurist [6]). Doesn't anyone talk to anyone else anymore?

Saturday's Amtrak Town Hall, sponsored by TRAINS magazine (Kalmbach Publishing Co.) was the first of its kind. Presentations, plans, and candid discussions indicate Amtrak has some good people who are making real progress. More on this shortly, but one remark overheard afterward was, "For the first time I heard discussion of 'per revenue passenger mile' rather than just 'per passenger.'"

And a personal note: "Gentle Readers" is how Isaac Asimov — a modern-day Renaissance man, author of nearly 500 books, and my chief inspiration to learn about science, arts, literature, history and everything — addressed his audience, and I will occasionally use his phrase in remembrance.

Next, some feedback –

On the PIRG report, C.B. Hall writes:

I saw the document as an expression of advocacy, not an analysis of high-speed rail's actual prospects. Chief among the obstacles – and an obstacle I don't recall US PIRG even mentioning – is the likelihood of political winds shifting in Washington, DC. We now have a national administration that is exceptionally well disposed towards passenger rail, but that administration has less than three years to go. We're not going to get HSR, or even a major part of it, done by the next presidential election. What we can get done is a foretaste of HSR can ultimately do.
 
The investment should go to a very limited number of corridors where visible results can be achieved on the shortest timeline. Three years from now, we may have a national administration that returns non-NEC HSR funding to the $25 million or whatever it was all through the 1990s. That likelihood will decrease, however, if in the meantime HSR in a few model corridors is far enough advanced to act as good advertising to the rest of the country. Otherwise, the risk of stagnation and skepticism only grows.
 
Yes, Mr. Hall, the report addressed "here's what we need and how we can get there" more than it asked, "what stands in our way." Being guardedly optimistic, it exemplifies elimination of once-widespread socialist dogma which stunted rail passenger advocacy for decades. Look, if you want to start an argument, propose a project that will "reduce Global Warming." If you want to get something done, propose a project that will "reduce Pollution." Same project, but which one will get built? Eliminate the rhetoric from passenger train advocacy and let's get people moving.

To Mr. Hall's other point, a perfect example of a results-oriented approach is the San Diego Trolley, which built its first, highly successful, line at low cost, and proved its value to the community. North Carolina is doing the right thing already: read on.

Regarding continued expansion of passenger rail, reader Stan Probstein asks:

[W]hy does Amtrak continue to be the best kept secret for rail travel? Why isn't Amtrak advertising on cable networks like Fox News channel, MSNBC and CNN as well as on the broadcast networks? How can rail travel make a comeback if new rail ridership isn't informed?
 
True, the only market-specific advertising ever run in Phoenix by sputtering old Maxwell-style Amtrak was in 1996 to announce the closure of Union Station and the re-routing of the Sunset Limited. However, if updated thinking as was heard at this week's Chicago's Town Hall meeting is any indication, — Stay tuned.

Now, let's look at a hypothetical 81-mile passenger train route. By the way, that happens to be the distance from Tampa to Orlando.

Key to investing our dollars wisely, is understanding the difference between Average speed and Top speed. Trains do not accelerate like sports cars; subway trains with their powerful electric motors accelerate at about 2.5 miles per hour per second, or in the parlance of race cars, "zero to 60 in half a minute or so." A conventional diesel-electric passenger train takes perhaps two minutes from a standing stop to 60 mph. Similar figures apply to slowing down. Thus, it is far more important to eliminate slow sections of track than it is to have short stretches of theoretical high speeds.

Amtrak today operates the 81-mile Orlando-Tampa route with six intermediate stops in almost exactly 2 hours – about 40 mph average speed. Eliminating most of the stops would save perhaps fifteen minutes, but at a severe impact to ridership and to the detriment of Kissimmee, Waldo, Ocala, Wildwood, Dade City, and Lakeland.

I have here a spreadsheet with rough estimations of times for a route with one station stop and a 1/4 mile section of 10mph (like a bridge or slow curve). Plugging in some sample numbers, let's look at what happens as we increase top speed.

top speed,
*59*
mph:
*1 hour, 27 minutes*
top speed
*79*
mph with curve upgrade to 30mph:
*1:08*
(saves
*19*
minutes)
*90*
mph,
*1:02*
(saves an additional
*6*
minutes)
*110*
mph,
*53*
minutes (saves an additional
*9*
minutes)
*168*
mph,
*44*
minutes (saves an additional
*10*
minutes)
 
The biggest time savings comes from increasing the top speed to 79mph versus 59mph. Beyond 90mph, we save only twenty more minutes by nearly doubling that speed. Going three times as fast (180mph vs. 60) doesn't get you there three times as fast, either: only about twice as fast, because of acceleration and deceleration.

And the cost of a 168mph railroad is far beyond a 90mph railroad. Beyond 110, trains cannot share tracks with heavy freight trains, nor can there be grade crossings, so an entirely new guideway is needed.

Removing bottlenecks is the single best thing: upgrading that one curve to 30mph saves about 1 minute; to 59mph, about 2 min. Compare two minutes savings for the cost of a single curve or bridge against 20 minutes saved upgrading 80 miles of track, and you're looking at a pretty favorable cost-benefit ratio.

The practical impact is that incremental investments up to 79mph have direct, positive impact on freight and passenger trains alike; much above 90mph starts to diminish the utility of corridors for freight; and above 110mph removes passenger trains from most existing corridors, at stratospheric costs for new rights-of-way and without the benefit to industry and jobs that accrue from better freight service.

Looking again at North Carolina, Secretary Conti says that the high-speed funds there will result in noticeable "improvements in stations, on the track and with equipment in the next couple years… Our focus is to show progress in the immediate sense…" (stateline.org)

Amtrak of late seems to be involved with sensible projects that will get built, like North Carolina's upgrades, while also talking refreshingly favorably about intercity routes at the Chicago Town Hall. Will America's modern passenger trains finally catch their stride at Amtrak's 39th birthday? Stay tuned, Gentle Readers.

\\/

William Lindley, Scottsdale, Ariz.4


----------



## Bootman4U

Well-written....unfortunate that because we cannot use electric traction for this "theoretical" corridor we have to make other compromises


----------



## haolerider

MrFSS said:


> This Week at Amtrak; 2010-03-08
> ​
> 
> 
> Jack Benny, one of America's most beloved comedians and reputed tightwad extraordinaire, was perpetually 39 years old; Amtrak, this first of May, will join Mr. Benny at milepost 39. Benny's radio and television persona never sold his ancient Maxwell automobile, but Amtrak does seem to have traded in some sputtering old ideas for new ones.
> 
> First off, the news items:
> 
> 
> The State of Oregon reports it has purchased two new TALGO trainsets [1] for service between Eugene and Vancouver, British Columbia.
> 
> Jolene Molitoris, currently Director of Ohio Department of Transportation, and former Federal Railroad Administration chief, this Wednesday "gave a passionate speech about ODOT" and the nascent 3-C (Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati) corridor. According to "Linking Ohio [2]," Ms. Molitoris emphasized "that no corridor has ever gone from zero passenger rail options to high-speed rail in one step. She described projects like in Maine and North Carolina that all started with standard speed rail before upgrading to higher-speed." Linking Ohio, which is a project of the 501©3 non-profit All Aboard Ohio, noted that improving current speeds — 39 mph average, 79 mph top speed — needs to be the first phase "of a larger passenger rail strategy."
> 
> And then from North Carolina comes the news, according "The not-so-fast track for high speed rail [3]" (Stateline.org, 25 February 2010), that a "$520 million chunk [of the Federal high speed funds]… will go toward 30 specific improvements between Raleigh and Charlotte, and another $25 million will be used to reduce [rail] congestion between Raleigh and Richmond, Virginia… Eugene Conti, North Carolina's secretary of transportation, says work on the upgrades will start within a few months. The projects include adding more double-tracking that would allow freight and passenger trains to pass each other and separating rails from roads. The changes are designed to cut down on delays for both trains and auto traffic."
> 
> On the flip side, Buena Park, California may have to demolish a brand-new passenger station if the planned high-speed trains whiz past there without stopping (AP story, 8 March [4]), and Florida's newly-awarded high-speed train is not planned to connect with SunRail commuter trains (cable-only local news "channel 13″ story, 5 March [5]; and commentary on The Infrastructurist [6]). Doesn't anyone talk to anyone else anymore?
> 
> Saturday's Amtrak Town Hall, sponsored by TRAINS magazine (Kalmbach Publishing Co.) was the first of its kind. Presentations, plans, and candid discussions indicate Amtrak has some good people who are making real progress. More on this shortly, but one remark overheard afterward was, "For the first time I heard discussion of 'per revenue passenger mile' rather than just 'per passenger.'"
> 
> And a personal note: "Gentle Readers" is how Isaac Asimov — a modern-day Renaissance man, author of nearly 500 books, and my chief inspiration to learn about science, arts, literature, history and everything — addressed his audience, and I will occasionally use his phrase in remembrance.
> 
> Next, some feedback –
> 
> On the PIRG report, C.B. Hall writes:
> 
> I saw the document as an expression of advocacy, not an analysis of high-speed rail's actual prospects. Chief among the obstacles – and an obstacle I don't recall US PIRG even mentioning – is the likelihood of political winds shifting in Washington, DC. We now have a national administration that is exceptionally well disposed towards passenger rail, but that administration has less than three years to go. We're not going to get HSR, or even a major part of it, done by the next presidential election. What we can get done is a foretaste of HSR can ultimately do.
> 
> The investment should go to a very limited number of corridors where visible results can be achieved on the shortest timeline. Three years from now, we may have a national administration that returns non-NEC HSR funding to the $25 million or whatever it was all through the 1990s. That likelihood will decrease, however, if in the meantime HSR in a few model corridors is far enough advanced to act as good advertising to the rest of the country. Otherwise, the risk of stagnation and skepticism only grows.
> 
> Yes, Mr. Hall, the report addressed "here's what we need and how we can get there" more than it asked, "what stands in our way." Being guardedly optimistic, it exemplifies elimination of once-widespread socialist dogma which stunted rail passenger advocacy for decades. Look, if you want to start an argument, propose a project that will "reduce Global Warming." If you want to get something done, propose a project that will "reduce Pollution." Same project, but which one will get built? Eliminate the rhetoric from passenger train advocacy and let's get people moving.
> 
> To Mr. Hall's other point, a perfect example of a results-oriented approach is the San Diego Trolley, which built its first, highly successful, line at low cost, and proved its value to the community. North Carolina is doing the right thing already: read on.
> 
> Regarding continued expansion of passenger rail, reader Stan Probstein asks:
> 
> [W]hy does Amtrak continue to be the best kept secret for rail travel? Why isn't Amtrak advertising on cable networks like Fox News channel, MSNBC and CNN as well as on the broadcast networks? How can rail travel make a comeback if new rail ridership isn't informed?
> 
> True, the only market-specific advertising ever run in Phoenix by sputtering old Maxwell-style Amtrak was in 1996 to announce the closure of Union Station and the re-routing of the Sunset Limited. However, if updated thinking as was heard at this week's Chicago's Town Hall meeting is any indication, — Stay tuned.
> 
> Now, let's look at a hypothetical 81-mile passenger train route. By the way, that happens to be the distance from Tampa to Orlando.
> 
> Key to investing our dollars wisely, is understanding the difference between Average speed and Top speed. Trains do not accelerate like sports cars; subway trains with their powerful electric motors accelerate at about 2.5 miles per hour per second, or in the parlance of race cars, "zero to 60 in half a minute or so." A conventional diesel-electric passenger train takes perhaps two minutes from a standing stop to 60 mph. Similar figures apply to slowing down. Thus, it is far more important to eliminate slow sections of track than it is to have short stretches of theoretical high speeds.
> 
> Amtrak today operates the 81-mile Orlando-Tampa route with six intermediate stops in almost exactly 2 hours – about 40 mph average speed. Eliminating most of the stops would save perhaps fifteen minutes, but at a severe impact to ridership and to the detriment of Kissimmee, Waldo, Ocala, Wildwood, Dade City, and Lakeland.
> 
> I have here a spreadsheet with rough estimations of times for a route with one station stop and a 1/4 mile section of 10mph (like a bridge or slow curve). Plugging in some sample numbers, let's look at what happens as we increase top speed.
> 
> top speed,
> *59*
> mph:
> *1 hour, 27 minutes*
> top speed
> *79*
> mph with curve upgrade to 30mph:
> *1:08*
> (saves
> *19*
> minutes)
> *90*
> mph,
> *1:02*
> (saves an additional
> *6*
> minutes)
> *110*
> mph,
> *53*
> minutes (saves an additional
> *9*
> minutes)
> *168*
> mph,
> *44*
> minutes (saves an additional
> *10*
> minutes)
> 
> The biggest time savings comes from increasing the top speed to 79mph versus 59mph. Beyond 90mph, we save only twenty more minutes by nearly doubling that speed. Going three times as fast (180mph vs. 60) doesn't get you there three times as fast, either: only about twice as fast, because of acceleration and deceleration.
> 
> And the cost of a 168mph railroad is far beyond a 90mph railroad. Beyond 110, trains cannot share tracks with heavy freight trains, nor can there be grade crossings, so an entirely new guideway is needed.
> 
> Removing bottlenecks is the single best thing: upgrading that one curve to 30mph saves about 1 minute; to 59mph, about 2 min. Compare two minutes savings for the cost of a single curve or bridge against 20 minutes saved upgrading 80 miles of track, and you're looking at a pretty favorable cost-benefit ratio.
> 
> The practical impact is that incremental investments up to 79mph have direct, positive impact on freight and passenger trains alike; much above 90mph starts to diminish the utility of corridors for freight; and above 110mph removes passenger trains from most existing corridors, at stratospheric costs for new rights-of-way and without the benefit to industry and jobs that accrue from better freight service.
> 
> Looking again at North Carolina, Secretary Conti says that the high-speed funds there will result in noticeable "improvements in stations, on the track and with equipment in the next couple years… Our focus is to show progress in the immediate sense…" (stateline.org)
> 
> Amtrak of late seems to be involved with sensible projects that will get built, like North Carolina's upgrades, while also talking refreshingly favorably about intercity routes at the Chicago Town Hall. Will America's modern passenger trains finally catch their stride at Amtrak's 39th birthday? Stay tuned, Gentle Readers.
> 
> \\/
> 
> William Lindley, Scottsdale, Ariz.4


It is a real pleasure to read his articles, as opposed to the Bruce Richardson theory of "bash Amtrak" and then "bash them some more!" Lindley's comments are rational and well informed and recognize small accomplishments without making light of the process. I also don't miss Richardson's continued comment about "the dog eating Amtrak's homework"!


----------



## had8ley

Bruce has an unique way of opening a wound and then pouring salt into it. I did enjoy his rantings as he was mostly right on~ Amtrak's back


----------



## jis

had8ley said:


> Bruce has an unique way of opening a wound and then pouring salt into it. I did enjoy his rantings as he was mostly right on~ Amtrak's back


Compared to Lindley's level headed writings, Richardson's rantings and ravings were mostly a waste of bits and bytes :lol:


----------



## haolerider

had8ley said:


> Bruce has an unique way of opening a wound and then pouring salt into it. I did enjoy his rantings as he was mostly right on~ Amtrak's back


That may be true, but I can assure you, that no one at Amtrak ever took Bruce seriously, in fact he was considered very uninformed and saddled with tunnel vision.


----------



## had8ley

haolerider said:


> had8ley said:
> 
> 
> 
> Bruce has an unique way of opening a wound and then pouring salt into it. I did enjoy his rantings as he was mostly right on~ Amtrak's back
> 
> 
> 
> That may be true, but I can assure you, that no one at Amtrak ever took Bruce seriously, in fact he was considered very uninformed and saddled with tunnel vision.
Click to expand...

Which may be the very reason we have a new blogger....


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2010-03-15
​


Volume 7, Number 9

Amtrak is now saying the right things. Will they start doing the right things, like correcting last year's flawed route studies as the first step toward a dramatically expanded national system?

But first, a correction on the list of Florida stations in the last issue. Amtrak serves Kissimmee and Lakeland between Tampa and Orlando. The other stations are were on the alternate Jacksonville-Tampa line, which Amtrak no longer uses. I am writing the column from Scottsdale; I have lived in the Phoenix area since 1991, Northern Virginia before that, and Boston for most of my first 23 years. I mistakenly copied the wrong list of stations, probably remembering my trips on the Silver Star and Silver Meteor to St. Petersburg and Clearwater in the 1980s. Mea culpa.

Now, to this week.

In the 1940s, a consortium of companies symbolically led by General Motors drove the privately-owned street railway business to bankruptcy.

Seven decades later, the streetcar returned the favor.

No, that's not strictly true; but it is a curious reversal of fortune — karma? — suggested by one of three college students who visited the Phoenix Trolley Museum on Saturday afternoon. (The intelligence of the young never ceases to amaze. And signing up some bright new members who have been spending their days and nights devouring everything about trains and buses that the Internet can offer, is a very good thing.)

National City Lines, organized by G.M.'s Alfred P. Sloan to purchase trolley lines and replace them with rubber-tired, fuel-burning buses, was at least a symptom if not one of the myriad causes of the failure of the street railway industry. The trolley was a bellwether for the impending crisis in passenger trains generally.

Conversely, the growth of cities building rail transit in recent years has mirrored a growing dissatisfaction. The postwar suburban consumption-based lifestyle has proven to be an ecological, social, and economic cul-de-sac. Yet in my city of Phoenix, as elsewhere, business along the streetcar — pardon me, "light rail line" — is the bright spot of the local economy; Mesa, which once grudgingly permitted a single rail station to be built just inside its border, has seen the light called "transit means business" and is extending the line to bring shoppers, workers and students to its moribund downtown.

And this reversal of the streetcar's fortune is proving to be a bellwether for the passenger train generally.

We now turn to two guest columnists. Rob Bohannan attended Amtrak's Town Hall in Chicago last week; Daniel Carleton wrote in January on why the route studies completed in 2009 exposed fundamental barriers to our much-needed passenger train system expansion. The juxtaposition of these two columns raises the question: If Amtrak is now letting the once-hidden good ideas from inside bubble to the surface, when will we see the potential of a new equipment order resulting in new routes all across the country? Does Amtrak's new emphasis on long distance trains as fundamental to its mission and future represent the first steps toward correcting the issues Mr. Carleton raises?

I leave you with these reports and those questions, which we shall ponder again next time. — William Lindley

*Illinois Report*

by Robert H. Bohannan, AICP (March 2010)

Saturday, March 6, Amtrak and Trains Magazine co-sponsored a "Dialog for Progress" Town Hall Meeting at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Many of Amtrak's "top brass" were there, including Board Chairman Tom Carper, President Joe Boardman, and Chief John O'Connor of the Amtrak Police Department. The three main topics of discussion were the Amtrak Photography and Videography Guidelines, Fleet Strategy, and Long Distance Service.
 
*Photography. *
Chief O'Connor did an excellent job of explaining Amtrak's photography policy. Essentially, Amtrak would like to be notified in advance if one is going to do extensive photographing on Amtrak property—other than photography taken by boarding and alighting passengers or photos taken onboard trains—of the passing scenery, for example. Given the proven use of photography by terrorists in preparation for attacks on infrastructure, it is not unreasonable to have a few, simple, reasonable rules. [A strong minority points out that we once laughed at the Soviet Union and other totalitarian states for such absurdities as prohibiting photography and requiring citizens to carry identification cards. Nevertheless, railroad stations are in some fashion private property and it is entirely within Amtrak's purview to have some sort of rules. - Editor] Of course, Amtrak struggles to get the word out about the degree of leniency to all the station and other personnel nationwide and concedes that "over-zealous" employees have needlessly chastised rail fans for taking photos. Moreover, the rules only apply to Amtrak property—different rules apply for photos taken on property of other railroads, and so forth. We advocates and our "railfan" friends have a responsibility to assist Amtrak in educating others about their reasonable photography policy.
 
*The Fleet. *
A significant aspect of the fleet policy for readers of TWA is that Amtrak is using stimulus funds to repair cars and locomotives at Beech Grove. After the meeting Saturday, we were all invited down to Union Station to see a rebuilt train consisting of two sleepers, a diner, and a locomotive—all of which had been wreck damaged. The equipment looked great: The diner was decorated in pleasing shades of navy blue and brown, and looked really classy.
 
*Routes. *
Regarding long distance trains, Amtrak made official their intent to restructure the Sunset and Texas Eagle routes by operating a daily Los Angeles-San Antonio-Chicago train with a connecting San Antonio-New Orleans train. The LA-Chicago train would have full dining and lounge services. Amtrak has divided their 15 long-distance trains into three groups of five. The five worst performers — including the Sunset and Eagle—will be addressed this year, the middle five in 2011, and the five best—such as the Empire Builder and Southwest Chief — will be tweaked beginning in 2012. The undesirability of tri-weekly service on any route was noted.
 
Perhaps more significantly, Amtrak seems to be grasping—and willing to emphasize publicly — the importance of their long distance trains. One of the slides in a presentation devoted to long distance trains was titled "Long Distance Trains are Fundamental to Amtrak's Mission and Future". The slide included pie charts that showed that, while long distance trains provided 15 percent of Amtrak's riders, they accounted for 24 percent of Amtrak's revenue. Long distance trains account for 39 percent of Amtrak's train miles but 46 percent of passenger miles. Moreover, long distance ridership and on-time performance has been steadily improving.
 
Regarding on-time performance, Amtrak is changing the metric to include arrivals at intermediate stops, instead of just end points. Officials commented at the meeting that this change took the passengers' point of view into consideration as well as the Operating Department's point of view. The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) provides that, beginning in 2013, there will be an on-time performance tolerance of 15 minutes for intermediate stops.
 
*Overall Impression. *
As encouraging as these developments are, the most significant aspects of the "Dialog for Progress" were that it was conducted in the first place, and that Amtrak recognized the need to reach out directly to the railfan and advocacy communities—the event was open to anyone who saw the notice in Trains and was one of the first 300 to register—rather than simply report the findings to any particular group.
 
Tom Carper, Joe Boardman, and the other officials were present throughout the session and at the subsequent equipment display and responded patiently and concisely to all the questions. This was at times no small feat, with an audience so amazed at finally having a chance to speak and hear candid responses that emotions sometimes ran high. Amtrak intends to conduct more of these events and I encourage TWA readers to plan on attending.
 
*The Long Distance studies: Amtrak buy the numbers*

by Daniel Carleton (late January 2010)

Amtrak, in the past months, has proffered three studies regarding the re-establishment of service on three lines: The
_Sunset Limited_
east of New Orleans, the
_Pioneer_
and the
_North Coast Hiawatha_
. The
_Hiawatha_
was discontinued in October of 1979 as the country reeled from the consequences of the world's third oil shock. The
_Pioneer_
was discontinued in May 1997 as Amtrak banked its future and fortune on a then-yet-to-be-named high speed train in the Northeast. The
_Sunset_
was indefinitely suspended east of New Orleans due to track damage sustained in August 2005 and repaired by January of the following year.
 
Section 224 and 226 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) required Amtrak to develop plans for restoring service to these routes. Much has been written and shall continue to be written as to the validity of these studies; the rhetoric is long and facts are questionable. As regards equipment, however, this boilerplate paragraph appears in both studies for the
_Pioneer_
and
_Hiawatha_
:
 
"Restoration of daily service on the three long-distance routes Amtrak has been directed to study by PRIIA – the North Coast Hiawatha; the Chicago-Seattle Pioneer; and the Sunset Limited between New Orleans, Louisiana and Sanford/Orlando, Florida – would require approximately 100 additional Superliner cars. That equipment does not exist today. Amtrak has 20 repairable "wreck status" Superliner cars, which it plans to restore to service in order to alleviate equipment shortages on existing Western long distance trains. In addition, if Amtrak is to continue to provide existing services on long distance routes, it must in the very near future replace nearly 100 remaining "Heritage" cars that are now more than half a century old."


 


When summing up the hypothesized dollar figures for equipping the expanded services the amount runs between $477-534 million, depending on what options are acted upon. Amtrak appears to be settled on the inflated figure of $4.5 million per Superliner, bringing a 100 car order to $450 million. The balance would purportedly be expended on motive power.
 
To the uninitiated it would be reasonable to assume that a public carrier would enjoy certain benefits unavailable to a private company. The rolling stock of a common carrier railroad is private property and as such subject to applicable property taxes. Private companies take great pains to justify what assets are kept as well as the spare parts on hand to keep them in a state of operation. Such justification must take into account the ebbs and flows of business. Therefore, during the 'golden age' of passenger rail transportation there could be found in or near major rail hubs rows of passenger cars awaiting the call to duty during times of heavy traffic demand. In 1946 the Pullman Company alone operated 5500 cars; by 1956, this was down to just over 2600.
 
Amtrak is a public corporation and not subject to property taxes. And since Amtrak could be viewed as a work-fare program it is not a stretch to imagine public monies spent for fleets of passenger cars awaiting the call to duty during heavy traffic loads. In 1972, the roster held 1262 cars. If Amtrak's advertising is to be believed, this was about one-third of the total cars inherited from the private railroads. Currently Amtrak rosters 1367 active passenger cars; exclusive of Acela and Talgo trainsets. Where is all the extra capacity when needed? Where is the work-fare program to sustain the domestic railcar manufacturers? Instead of the rows of passenger cars on standby there is a one-size-fits-all passenger train running 365 days a year. Instead of a robust domestic railcar industry there is silence with the last, the Budd Company, closing its doors in 1987.
 
Currently, Amtrak stables about 250 active diesel-electric road locomotives, exclusive of the dual-mode locomotives in the Northeast. At the height of the F40 era at Amtrak there were 216 on the roster (plus 25 GE P30CH's); please bear in mind there was as yet no electrification east of New Haven, Connecticut. Today, the F40 is extinct on Amtrak. With the exception of Ontario's GO Transit, Amtrak is the only original owner of the F40 locomotive to completely phase them out. On the private railroads, locomotives could be rebuilt under a Capital Rebuild Program allowing the unit to be depreciated over the anticipated additional life of the unit. As Amtrak is a public entity and not subject to property taxes no value was seen in the F40 fleet, and they were sold to commuter railroads, freight service or for scrap.
 
The national malaise toward serviceable passenger rolling stock has not gone unnoticed by those states desiring service. California, Washington and North Carolina have acquired cars (and in some cases locomotives) to properly address the needs of their constituents. Soon Wisconsin will join this once exclusive club as they reequip their Milwaukee to Chicago service with new trainsets from Talgo.
 
The national malaise toward service expansion has not gone unnoticed by the federal government as may be witnessed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants (ARRA) for High-Speed Rail. In an effort to revitalize America's passenger rail network the feds have bypassed Amtrak and instead are seeding monies directly to the states. None of these projects tapped for funds will actually attain true high speed (greater than 150 mph) but will improve or expand existing rail services.
 
Even to the most casual observer the role of Amtrak is being minimized. Attempting to reverse this trend Amtrak's president recently gave a speech declaring their relevance, "
_Being a healthier Amtrak helps position itself as THE provider and partner of choice for commuter, intercity passenger rail and high-speed rail service. We currently have partnerships with 15 states accounting for nearly 50 percent of our average weekday departures and we plan to foster more."_
 
However, when there is a legitimate need for a service to be rendered a way shall always be found. Lately it appears that 'way' does not include Amtrak. Is it the fault of the track worker who was given defective concrete ties to install? Is it the fault of the Viewliner car attendant whose car is shaking apart around her? Is it the fault of Pullman-Standard or Budd whose doors closed for good for a lack of orders? Is it the fault of management whose priorities change just a often as the politicos they answer to? Ultimately, it must be recognized that Amtrak does not deliver any of the possible benefits of a public corporation and all of the disadvantages of a welfare program.


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 23, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 7, Number 10

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

Volume 7, Number 10

Before we begin this week, a note from Bruce Richardson:

Amtrak will lose one of its most important human assets at the end of this month. Cliff Black, long the public face of Amtrak and its long serving spokesman is retiring after decades of service. He will be greatly missed by all of us who have known him professionally, and by those who have worked directly with him.

During his tenure at Amtrak there have been too many presidents of the company who have come and gone to keep count of, but, through each change of leadership at Amtrak the one constant has been Mr. Black’s deft handling of the news media and corporate communications. Any of us seeking true, honest information knew Cliff Black was the man to talk to; while keeping on message for his employer, he never led anyone in the news media astray, an amazing feat in today’s world of journalism.

A phone call to or from Cliff Black is always a few moments of pleasant diversion. A written message from him is always an honest missive, whether it contains good or bad news.

So, Mr. Black heads into the next part of his life, leaving the corporate world behind. All of us thank him profusely for his service to Amtrak and good journalism, and wish him well for the future. If his successor is just half as good at what Mr. Black does, then his successor will be a great success.

# # #

An ocean liner does not turn on a dime, and neither does a large corporation. Some parts of Amtrak are definitely changing course while others have not yet caught up.

Starting with the positive, we hear a few weeks ago that real china, linens, and glassware are returning to the Coast Starlight. This is certainly a good bit of news, and part of a refocusing on passenger needs. One wonders, however, how many surveys are required to determine that folks shelling out the equivalent of a fairly posh hotel room in most American cities, for their “first class” railway accommodations, expect a table setting in the diner to more closely approximate something saying “Lenox” than “Dixie Cup Company.” We do extend a note of approval to Mr. Brian Rosenwald, Chief of Product Development, and all those involved in the recent changes on the Starlight.

Then we hear from Amtrak spokesman Mark Magliari that Amtrak is also evaluating the Capitol Limited in a not dissimilar manner, looking also at the schedule. An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer invites residents of that city to request Amtrak consider changing the wee-hour stops to something more amenable to civilized travel. We further commend the company for such recent emphasis on listening to advocates, railfans, and (gasp!) even their own potential customers, and fervently hope to see more “doing more with what we have.”

The key to Amtrak solving its financial and public-relations challenges will be getting more people on its trains — not just “doing more,” but adding capacity. Again we see positive developments in the rehabilitation of wrecked Superliners and an order for Viewliners… the beginning of what needs to be a long road.

Speaking of alternatives to wee-hour schedules, and doing more with existing routes and stations, we can now thank www.timetables.org — a new web site which has scanned all Amtrak’s historic timetables — for providing proof that, once upon a time, Amtrak operated at least one of its Western long distance trains on a twice-daily basis. Page 52 of the June 11, 1972 timetable shows both the Chief and the Super Chief operating Chicago-Los Angeles, on schedules several hours apart. Any railfan younger than 50 years old probably never knew this; certainly the popular railfan magazines never mentioned the fact in all the years I read them. One could well imagine all long-distance routes past the Eastern seaboard with two daily trains, spaced by eight or ten hours, providing convenient times in most every origin-destination pair… doubling revenue with little increase in station or system costs.

David Carleton writes,

At the very beginning of Amtrak, the railroads were still the operating agents running trains “for” the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. The Santa Fe and the SCL did at first add trains to the schedule during periods when they knew there would be heavier traffic…

In 1971, the El Capitan / Super Chief ran with six Hi-Level coaches containing 424 seats, and six sleeping cars containing eighty rooms with a total of 132 berths.

The Chief which ran in 1972 carried three Hi-Level coaches containing 208 seats and two sleeping cars of various configurations.

By 1975 the same operation (but renamed the Southwest Limited when a disgusted Santa Fe withdrew the rights to the traditional names) was down to three Hi-Level coaches containing 208 seats and three sleeping cars containing fifty-nine rooms with a total of 88 berths.

Remember, the year 1973 saw the Arab Oil Embargo, rationed gasoline, and folks looking for any alternative to driving. Little Japanese cars like the Honda CVCC (later the Civic) were all the rage, as Detroit rushed the Vega and the Pinto to market. Where were 1972’s second frequencies on 1973’s Amtrak? Mr. Carleton writes, “We can confirm based on our own direct observations that none of those trains ran empty!” Have we yet truly overcome obstacles to expanding our country’s passenger trains?

Judging by the past week’s Kansas rail study — no. The Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World reports — http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/mar/11/a...through-kansas/ — that “Ridership numbers have good potential, but [the] effort” to carry passengers between Kansas City and Fort Worth “will take years, officials say.” The study considered four options with start-up costs ranging from about $150 to $500 million (exclusive of stations), projecting 65,000 to 174,000 annual riders.

John Mills of Topeka noted in a forum elsewhere on the Internet that the study includes the addition of a second main track to 40 miles of the BNSF railway, at four million dollars a mile, rather than a more sensible six mile stretch of double-track and one new passing siding. Much more than that, he argues, is more a pure benefit to freight movement than a mitigation of the relative few minutes of delay introduced by a couple daily passenger trains, and thus should be partly paid for by BNSF itself. Bluntly, just as with last year’s flawed system expansion reports (the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans, the Pioneer and the North Coast Hiawatha) the Kansas study overstates the obstacles and understates the potential to get something moving quickly while seriously working with the railroads to improve even further. There’s much more to say about this, next time.

On the High Speed Rail front, Scott McCartney’s “blog” on the Wall Street Journal website ( http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2010/03/09...gh-speed-train/ ) noted that Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood, addressing the Federal Aviation Administration’s annual forecasting conference in Washington, D.C., said that within a few decades, American cities will be connected by high-speed rail – “whether airlines like it or not. ‘People want alternatives,’ he [LaHood] said pointedly. ‘People are still going to fly, but we need alternatives. So get with the program.’”

On the heels of Mr. LaHood’s comments comes an employee advisory from Mr. Boardman at Amtrak on Friday 19 March, regarding a new High-Speed Rail department at Amtrak to “be led by a vice president reporting directly to me.” The press release continues,

Specifically, this department will work on the planning and development activities that will allow us to significantly increase operating speeds above 150 mph (240 kph) on the Northeast Corridor. It will also pursue partnerships with states and others in the passenger rail industry to develop federally-designated high-speed rail corridors such as the new projects moving forward in California and Florida.

Amtrak’s leadership in this area is reaffirmed in the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 and we must make every effort to remain in that position.

That last paragraph sounds curiously aware of potential competition from the private high-speed railway operators of Europe and other shores. Who says competition is a bad thing?

Finally, and on this subject, we hear from Mr. Daniel Carleton. Until next week, gentle readers.

– \\/

William Lindley, Scottsdale, Ariz.

A Tale of Two (High-Speed) Rails; a lesson of pragmatism vs. phantasm

by Daniel Carleton

The awarding of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants (ARRA) for High-Speed Rail projects has ended many months of speculation how the funds would be allocated. In all, $8 billion has been sown toward expanded and improved passenger rail service in America. The big winner is California with $2.3 billion going toward various projects, including a very small down-payment for their $45 billion HSR system. In comparison, Illinois, considered an early crony favorite, only picked up $1.1 billion; strange considering Chicago is the railroad hub of America.

However, there are two states which are poles apart in their passenger rail ambitions and ARRA grant requests: Wisconsin and Florida. Wisconsin is on tap to receive $822 million; the vast majority of this to reinstate service between Milwaukee and Madison, 80 miles. Florida sees things somewhat differently. The Sunshine State is bequeathed $1.25 billion for preliminary engineering on a high-speed railway between Tampa and Orlando, 84 miles. Why does four miles add $428 million to the tab? Moreover, the total estimated cost of the Tampa – Orlando route is $3.5 billion. Can both these plans be realistic?

In Wisconsin the idea is rather straightforward: reinstate passenger traffic between the state capitol, Madison, and the state’s largest city, Milwaukee. The right-of-way historically is former Milwaukee Road; part of the route, Milwaukee to Watertown, sees Amtrak’s daily Empire Builder. West of Watertown, the line is now governed by the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, a local regional road. The Badger State has already committed $47 million dollars of state funds for two new fourteen-car TALGO trainsets to support their existing Chicago – Milwaukee service. Ostensibly, two more trainsets will be ordered to support this further expansion in service, and the concurrent increase in speeds to 110 mph, all of which is expected to be running by 2013.

Florida, in contrast, has opted to reinvent the flanged wheel by building an entirely separate railroad between Orlando and Tampa, as part of a larger goal of extending the system to Miami. The initial phase would see a new right-of-way established between or near the lanes of Interstate Highway 4. New stations would be built even though numerous ones already exist. A new station is planned for Walt Disney World even though Disney’s involvement has been the kiss of death for all previous HSR incarnations in Florida. Preliminary engineering is expected to be finished by 2011 and service by 2014.

The desire to utilize existing highway rights-of-way is manifold. On top of this list is the low-to-nonexistent cost of land acquisition. Yet, a brief look at the historical economic impact of highways should be reviewed before proceeding. When a new highway was built there was a positive financial influence; land at or near interchanges and exits became more valuable and businesses were built. However, over time traffic increased and transit times increased to the point of highway expansion. What was the economic impact of new lanes to an existing highway? Practically nil. The land at the interchanges and exits didn’t move and any extra business practiced comes no where near to paying for the lane addition. Does anyone realistically expect building a railroad adjacent to a highway, high-speed or otherwise, to have any different an effect? If built as planned, Florida’s HSR stations will be built at or near existing development. Whereas heavy construction will gain a short-term production there will be no long-term development. Is this worth $3.5 billion?

There is an existing railroad between Tampa and Orlando with a daily scheduled Amtrak train. The right-of-way is owned by CSX and is predominantly a secondary route to Tampa. (A small section between Lakeland and Auburndale will increase in importance once a new yard in Winter Haven is completed.) This former Atlantic Coast Line trackage rolls through the heart of numerous well established central Florida towns such as Plant City, Lakeland, and Kissimmee; Lakeland having built a brand new station in 1998. Anchoring the west end of this corridor is Tampa Union Station, which was completely renovated and dedicated also in 1998. Orlando does not currently have the best station for the riding public. This situation which will change with the coming of SunRail commuter train service and a new intermodal station built downtown; Lynx Central Station. As of right now none of this existing infrastructure is slated to be utilized for Florida’s HSR ambitions. Is this really an act of recovery or reinvestment?

What if Florida were to, instead of reinventing the flanged wheel, rebuild the existing corridor? The existing highway and its associated development will not go away; the fast food restaurants, big box stores and movie multiplexes are not likely to blow away with the wind. Rebuilding the existing railroad would mean an opportunity for growth to the towns and cities who owe their origins to the railroad. Downtown Tampa, where Union Station is already situated, could once again be made vibrant. Similar could be said of the smaller towns which atrophied or shrank in the highway age. What this means is jobs. Already development is seen, either on the ground or on the drawing board, around the area to be served by SunRail. There is no reason this cannot be expanded west. What does it say about governance when glitzy ambitions are placed ahead of the people’s needs?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

William Lindley

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PO Box 3621

Scottsdale, AZ 85271

480-947-6100


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## Ryan

Very nice mention on the timetables.org project in there.


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## Anthony

Ryan said:


> Very nice mention on the timetables.org project in there.


Just noticed that! Glad it is well received.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; March 31, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 7, Number 11

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

As Amtrak continues to say the right things, and to do a few as well, the logic of incrementalism is making inroads... but the "old-think" that stunted our passenger rail network for half a century hasn't gone away yet.

Amtrak's Fleet Plan (pdf), released at the end of February, is one of the most positive of their publications issued. Parts of it read almost as a reply to the calls to action reprinted in this column a few short months ago:

The modeling that has been undertaken to underpin this plan is based on anticipated growth in all major lines of Amtrak business, the Northeast Corridor (NEC), long distance services and state corridors (both existing and new). This approach is consistent with the goals that have been set within Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA), which reauthorizes Amtrak and establishes new programs for the development of the intercity passenger railroad system within the United States, and the experience of recent years with the increase in demand for the current services.

It cannot be emphasized enough that new equipment is a vital pre-requisite to the process of delivering enhanced passenger rail as envisioned by PRIIA. Moreover, a sustainable passenger service requires regular investment in equipment. Rebuilding existing equipment is always a temporary solution and does not save money in the long term. If passenger rail service is to be sustained and grown, equipment investment has to be accepted as part of the process...

Based upon demand analysis and the defined [lifespan] policies, Amtrak needs to buy the following equipment over the next 14 years:

780 single level cars

420 bi-level cars

70 electric locomotives

264 diesel locomotives

25 high speed trainsets...

That certainly counts as "saying the right thing." According to Business Week on March 23rd, Amtrak is proceeding apace with the plan:

Amtrak, the U.S. long-distance passenger railroad, asked Congress for $446 million to begin replacing locomotives and passenger cars...

Joseph Boardman, chief executive officer of Washington- based Amtrak, told a House Appropriations Committee panel today the railroad needs to raise its budget from the requested $2.1 billion for the next fiscal year...

“Between 2002 and 2008, Amtrak increased its ridership by 32 percent without buying a single piece of new rolling stock,” Boardman testified at the transportation subcommittee hearing. “That’s a remarkable accomplishment, but one that cannot be sustained indefinitely.”

In this space previously, we have opined that Amtrak has rarely gone to Congress with a request for specific growth targets. For the first time in recent memory, they have.

(Speaking of adding service, North Carolina announced yesterday a third daily train between Raleigh and Charlotte, creating basically a train leaving each endpoint of the corridor roughly every five hours between 7am and 5pm. Service begins June 5th.)

As Amtrak makes the first moves toward expanding capacity, the high speed rail advocates have begun speaking a little about the importance of the "conventional" train as part of a matrix. Chicago's WBBM reported this week:

Advocates for high-speed rail passenger service, meeting in Chicago, said Saturday that this is the year to seek what they want from Washington and laid out an ambitious agenda that calls for higher-speed passenger trains nationwide...

While Harnish's immediate goal is a true high-speed, 220 mile-an-hour, rail link between Chicago and St. Louis by 2020, he wants to see a series of other steps funded that will make Chicago the nation's high-speed rail hub.

"Four bullet train routes, upgrading the rest of the system to at least 100 miles an hour, filling in some very key gaps and at least doubling frequency on all routes. That's what I'd like to see," Harnish said.

Harnish's last point is the strongest. Certainly it would be nice to have something like the ICE, TGV, or Thalys whizzing across the Midwest, in California or Florida, or one day between Georgia and Maine (though the concept of an Augusta-Augusta train is too much alliteration for this author to contemplate); but it is the raising of average speeds, the expansion of the route matrix, and the increase from daily to multiple frequencies that will create the need for the few high-speed trains. As we have discussed here before, running trains between two cities (oh, say, Tampa and Orlando) without connecting to downtowns, local transit, the network regional or "conventional" train service, and all the airports on the route is a recipe for failure. Projects like Wisconsin's, connecting Madison with the Chicago hub, are the sensible ones and should be the "immediate goals" because they start serving people in a relatively few months, not ten years from now.

As to the critics, Joseph Vranich, in his 1997 book "Derailed: What went wrong and what to do about America's passenger trains", writes:

Amtrak's goal of operating at 100 mph outside the Northeast Corridor was a throwback to past railroading practices. Steam engines pulling passenger trains on the Milwaukee Road and Chicago & North Western Railroads more than fifty years ago [in the 1940s] were hitting that speed, and trains elsewhere were close to it. If 100-mph trains were unable to keep their customers when airports and highways were underdeveloped, then they sure won't build traffic in today's competitive environment.

Let us momentarily set aside modern railroad safety requirements that have limited top speeds.

Now, a dozen years after Vranich's remarks, you can no longer re-enact Dinah Shore seeing the U.S.A. in your 1957 Bel-Air Chevrolet because your pothole-plagued Interstate is plugged from 5am to 9pm; and if you care to endure the traffic to the airport, the demand to see your papers please and the strip-search followed by sitting in a seat that feels nine inches wide for two hours with no peanuts let alone bathroom breaks while waiting for a takeoff slot, then you can fly. Seriously -- No market for convenient train service between our towns and cities?

Ronald Sheck, in his 1982 report "Amtrak 90: A Route to Success" writes,

Amtrak trains outside of the Northeast Corridor are slow not only in comparison with passenger trains operated on main-line railroads in other parts of the world, but they are frequently slower than trains two decades ago on the same routes. While more than $2 billion has been spent in upgrading the 456-mile spine of the Boston-New York-Washington Northeast Corridor for 125-mile-per-hour operation, there is no need to make an investment of that magnitude in order to bring overall passenger train speeds up to competitive levels. Figure 12 shows target end-to-end travel speeds, and some sample journey times for 1990 illustrate goals for the planning period. Speeds in these suggested ranges are considerably above automobile trip times and for journeys of up to 300 miles may equal or better aircraft times if airport-to-downtown travel is included.

Note that, almost three decades later and even after the Acela project and its further billions, there are still few miles in the Northeast Corridor that see speeds higher than 125 mph.

From his Figure 12 let us excerpt these sample goals and examples:

Long Distance 50-55 mph Chicago-Los Angeles 40 hours

Medium Distance 60-65 mph Los Angeles-Tucson 8 1/2 hours

Short Distance 70-75 mph Tampa-Miami 3 3/4 hours

In 1937, Santa Fe advertised its Super Chief as making the run from Chicago to Los Angeles in "39 3/4 hours." In 1956, with equipment not unlike today's trains, performance was nearly the same, leaving Chicago at 7pm and arriving L.A. the following morning at 8:30. Today's Southwest Chief departs Chicago at 3:15pm and arrives the following morning at 8:15 -- three and a half hours slower than in 1956. Yes, there route differences (especially in greater Los Angeles) and station stops have changed somewhat, but we are talking endpoints here. Sheck's 40-hour goal should be easy, if not inexpensive, equaling the 1937 schedule one with modern technology. Building Harnish's Midwest network of 100-mph corridors would be a start.

Similarly, the Sunset Limited, America's oldest name train, likewise in July 1956 left Los Angeles at 07:30pm, arriving New Orleans on the third day at 4pm. Today, Amtrak's version leaves Los Angeles at 2:30pm -- five hours earlier than 1956 -- and arrives on the same third day at 2:55pm -- about one hour earlier. Today's train is four hours slower than in 1956.

Here are comments submitted by Anthony Haswell -- widely known as the "Father of Amtrak" -- circa 1998 to the Surface Transportation Board ("under 49 USC §24308(a), Finance Docket 33469.") The subject at that time was the addition of Express to Amtrak's trains, but the facts remain:

Amtrak passenger trains over many of its route-miles outside the Northeast Corridor are anything but "modern". Amtrak trains between many city-pairs are slower than the trains operated between the same points 45 to 60 years ago.

Railroads' Time/MPH Amtrak Time/MPH

City-pair December 1941 October 1997

New York-Chicago 16:00 / 60 18:26 / 52

New York-Pittsburgh 8:25 / 52 9:20 / 48

New York-Miami 24:00 / 58 26:25 / 53

New York-New Orleans 28:30 / 49 30:10 / 46

Washington-Chicago 15:45 / 49 18:00 / 43

Washington-Pittsburgh 6:40 / 44 7:28 / 40

Chicago-Detroit 4:45 / 60 6:00 / 47

Chicago-Cleveland 6:00 / 57 6:46 / 51

Chicago-Cincinnati 5:15 / 58 8:45 / 37

Chicago-Carbondale 4:26 / 70* 5:30 / 56

Chicago-New Orleans 15:30 / 59* 19:25 / 48

Chicago-St. Louis 4:55 / 58 5:30 / 51

Chicago-Kansas City 7:00 / 64 7:55 / 53

Chicago-Omaha 8:00 / 62 9:00 / 56

Chicago-Milwaukee 1:15 / 68 1:32 / 57

Chicago-Minneapolis 6:45 / 62 7:59 / 52

St. Louis-Fort Worth 14:55 / 50** 16:17 / 46

St. Louis-Kansas City 5:00 / 56 5:30 / 51

New Orleans-Memphis 6:30 / 61* 8:35 / 47

New Orleans-Houston 7:30 / 48** 9:13 / 39

Fort Worth-San Antonio 6:23 / 50** % 7:22 / 39

Oakland-Los Angeles 9:47 / 47 10:45 / 43

Oakland-Bakersfield 5:40 / 56 6:05 / 52

Oakland-Portland 15:00 / 47** 18:50 / 39

* June 1948 ** June 1953 % Dallas-San Antonio

Source: Amtrak October 26, 1997 timetable

Official Guide of the Railways, 12/41, 6/48, 6/53

In some instances, there are small differences in mileage between Amtrak routes and the earlier routes. These differences were taken into account in computing the average speeds.

Some of the Amtrak trains make more stops than the fast trains of earlier years. I submit that this is not of major significance. For people traveling between endpoints or larger intermediate cities, the fact is that their train is slower today than what would have been available to them two generations ago, while air and highway transportation has improved exponentially. Furthermore, it is not unreasonable to expect that a half-century later, intercity passenger trains should be able to make more stops while at least equaling the earlier end-to-end schedule time. In at least two instances -- Chicago-New Orleans and St. Louis-Kansas City -- the impressive historical performance included more stops than Amtrak makes today.

Many of Amtrak's trains have a poor on-time performance even on their slow schedules...

The timekeeping of trains like the Sunset Limited has happily improved from the dark first days of the Union Pacific - Southern Pacific merger. Amtrak can continue to improve performance by making sure their trains are always ready to leave on time; but it will be the incremental upgrades of a siding here, a straightened curve there, and a new automatic-switched station throat track to eliminate a five-minute delay, that will move the average speed upward, and whittle away the minutes between endpoints.

Stepping back to a broader picture -- Passenger rail facing stiff competition from publicly subsidized highways and airlines; the need to repair and modernize the passenger fleet; a push to do more with existing trains and stations; and a productive relation with labor. When are these headlines from? 2010? No -- let us look back to 1947 and Robert R. Young, the "Populist of Wall Street" who, at that moment, controlled the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and was poised to take chairmanship of the New York Central:

"Competition on land, sea, and in the air, the steady decentralization of industry, and the carriers' inability [primarily through regulation] to increase the price of their product as much as other prices have increased, are again working to reduce their [the railroads'] share of the national income... They have got to make money the hard way. They have got to try to expand their passenger business, the only part of their business inherently expansible..."

"...Young himself is absolutely sure the unions will come his way [on reforms] 'Labor is with me,' he explains airily. 'I told them it was a choice between an efficient low-cost operation and a high-cost dying operation. They said they understood it the same way, but could never get the management to go along.'" Fortune describes how Young's team implemented suggestion boxes, long resisted by management, and how "employees identify themselves with Young... morale of the rank and file seems remarkably high."

Another of Young's controlled railroads, the Pete Marquette, inaugurated its "Detroit-Grand Rapids streamliner... in August 1946; the train reversed the national trend of declining passenger revenues, hauling 76 per cent more people between Grand Rapids and Detroit than its predecessor did in the same period of 1945..."

"[Young] wants to replace practically all the Centrals fleet of 2,100 cars, of which only some 700... are of the so-called lightweight type. This would cost no less than $100 million... The Centrals present management is, to put it mildly, distinctly cool to the whole notion. 'If Governor Dewey puts through his $200-million superhighway from New York City to Buffalo,' President Metzler says flatly, 'we're bound to lose still more people to the highways.'"

As to Young's "almost endless inventory of ideas, some pneumatic and some substantive, about passenger service... most of [them] are a bit dusty; anyone who reads Railway Age, the industry's excellent trade paper, will recognize them readily... Yet the fact remains that whereas others only talk about their wonderful ideas and then put them on ice, Young is doing something about them, and right on the C.&O."

-- Fortune magazine, May 1947, page 96, "Mr. Young and his C.&O."

Hold the line, please! What was that quote again?

"They have got to make money the hard way. They have got to try to expand their passenger business, the only part of their business inherently expansible..."

There you have it -- Fortune at the late date of 1947 suggesting that passenger trains, run properly, could make money for the railroads. With, indeed, the caveat about publicly funded superhighways.

The operative parallel between 1947 and now is that Amtrak is asking itself the question, How can we raise revenues faster than expenses? This we could call at least "cutting their deficit" while the more optimistic among us might postulate such an idea, sufficiently nurtured, eventually resulting in phrases like "small operating profit."

If we can stop trying to build superfast toy trains that don't connect to anything, and keep doing what Amtrak and states like North Carolina and Wisconsin have started these past few months, then we might finally be getting something done.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

William Lindley

c/o wlindley.com, l.l.c.

PO Box 3621

Scottsdale, AZ 85271

480-947-6100


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## jis

I think that the latest URPA Newsletter above is an exceedingly well written and balanced issue. Kudos to Mr.Lindley foran excellent job!


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## delvyrails

As a display of the general deterioration in train travel times, Haswell's 1998/pre-World War II comparisons are telling. If done today, some even longer Amtrak travel times would be cited.

However, a more appropriate, realistic, and useful comparison would be between current Amtrak schedules and total time by driving, which is Amtrak principal competing transport mode. To be realistic, Amtrak times would include transfer time between trains where appropriate; and driving times would include all necessary stops, including overnight stops in longer travel markets.

The list should NOT cite traditional Amtrak routes or route segments; but it should include all of the major travel markets, whether Amtrak serves them with a through train or less directly. There would be separate lists of short haul markets (no overnight stay needed for driving) and long haul markets (say, ten hours added for each night in the road alternative).

Long distance markets would start with New York-Miami and New York-Los Angeles. Short distance markets would begin with the likes of Los Angeles-Las Vegas and New York-Philadelphia. The top 20 or 30 each of short and long distance markets would show Amtrak's competitive stance with the automobile. Among the traveling public, Amtrak is generally measured against the automobile alternative, not against long-past train travel times.

This is the kind of "homework" that constructive critics of Amtrak should be doing now.


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## MrFSS

Volume 7, Number 12

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

This week we look first at Amtrak’s slow pace, then at continued nationwide wrong-think surrounding Amtrak’s new venture into high speed rail; and we wrap up with a guest commentary by our Andrew C. Selden.

“In the unlikely event of a cabin depressurization, oxygen masks will appear overhead. Reach up and pull the mask closest to you, fully extending the plastic tubing, fasten the straps, and begin breathing normally… If you are seated next to a small child or someone needing assistance, secure your own mask first, then assist the child.”

— Airplane safety announcement

Consider a dramatization of the above starring Amtrak’s Joseph Boardman as the passenger, and network expansion as the child. Faced with the upcoming depressurization of its system through aging equipment, Amtrak is now in the process of securing its own mask with an equipment order. This is no little feat, but Congress still holds the strings. The mask isn’t even on yet, and as the air drains away, what are the prospects for the little form in the next seat?

Readers of This Week have had plenty to say about Amtrak’s progress, or lack thereof. Charles McMillan wrote:

I just finished reading your March 31st issue and I have just visited the two universities in Montana, Meeting with Faculty/Students/Staff and interested local citizens who want to see the restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha reinstated. In fact the consensus is to pretty much take the bull by the horns and get America back to the forefront of technology and world leadership in all areas of Science and Business. They are very adamant about this!

Their desire for Amtrak to get off of this NEC mentality and get a nation wide rail passenger system in place is unparalleled. They are disgusted with Joe Boardman and the attitude of the present board of directors in this regard, because they see no real growth on the part of Amtrak in the form of expanding routes around the country. They keep asking “how much growth in ridership can Amtrak realize just by operating their present routes without adding more trains,coaches or service”? “Can’t they (Amtrak) see that expansion is the key to real growth.” These are some of the thoughts of the general public and our Univesity system students.

We are continuing to garner support for this N.C.H. train all across the northwest including Minnesota.

Jerry Sullivan echoes a sentiment of frustration at,

Amtrak’s absolute refusal to restore the Sunset, or even a connecting train, to Florida. The only train I rode regularly was the Sunset prior to August 2005, and I have not been on a train since, except for excursions. Amtrak has become irrelevant; although I despise flying, Southwest Airlines is now my forced choice until Amtrak gets off their backside on the Sunset issue.

Until last year’s flawed Gulf Coast report is revisited and corrected, and until enough new — not just replacement — equipment is available, probably nothing will happen. Amtrak may be the only company whose product is desperately wanted by everyone but refuses to offer more of it.

As to markets and expansion, Christopher Parker noted, in reference to the speed comparison table:

[At that time,] top speeds were held by limiteds that were mostly overnight sleepers, a market [ceded] to the airlines… You should be comparing today’s trains to the stopping [all-stop local] trains of old. The other factor is we live in a more open and safety conscious world – routine disregard of speed limits is impossible now, as are top speeds over 79mph without automatic train-stop.

I wonder if railroads had the regulative freedom to run very fast if the fate of the passenger train would have turned out differently. Speed makes a huge difference in staying competitive. With some exceptions (IC), today’s top speeds aren’t much different.

True, after a number of accidents fifty years ago, legislation was passed that did limit train speeds. Modern safety devices warrant revisiting those speeds, as does the pending implementation of Positive Train Control, along with satellite, GPS, wireless technology, and computer control. There must be an equilibrium point of higher speeds versus construction and maintenance costs. How to implement a mixing of relatively high speed passenger trains in an era of double-stack containers and long unit coal trains is no easy task, but a worthwhile one. Mr. Parker suggests, that with good track and “cheap technology to detect open switches, dark territory should be good for 70-79 mph.”

And while railroads no longer have the monopoly on business travel, but European experience suggests there is plenty of market here for a slogan like “we are your rolling hotel.” A businessman at a conference in Phoenix could have a late dinner, board the midnight sleeper, and be in downtown Los Angeles by morning in plenty of time for a 9am meeting. Mr. Parker responds, “Let’s start by getting sleepers back on the [Washington-Boston] Night Owl or whatever they call it now.” Could not be repeated across the country?

Amtrak’s newest focus is on high speed rail. As yet they have little involvement in most of the pending projects, so let us see the fine mess they are getting into.

Over the last few weeks we have compared Wisconsin’s pragmatic expansion approach to Florida’s Bullet Train That Doesn’t Connect (Daniel Carleton, 23 March 2010). We will look at Colorado’s venture into high speed rail in a moment, but first consider the California high speed project, which started some years ago along the lines of the Florida fiasco. Each refinement, we are pleased to report, generally tended toward a more logical approach. Maglev was eliminated in favor of compatible steel-wheel technology, permitting shared rights-of-way and stations. Nevertheless, room for improvement still exists in the “Plays well with others” department:

In a letter dated 23 March 2010, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) ask the California High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA) to please revisit and consider “a rational shared use option in the Anaheim to Los Angeles segment of the CAHSRA project… In November of 2009, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued its first High Speed Passenger Rail Safety Strategy which provides a strategy for the development of shared use corridors. We believe this safety strategy has direct applicability to” the L.A.-Anaheim corridor and they point out that “reports prepared by the CAHSRA staff and consultants did not contemplate any discussion of the rationalization of passenger services in the Anaheim to Los Angeles segment… [part of] the second busiest passenger rail corridor in the nation… we would like to make these services more coordinated and integrated.”

One could well read this as a formal, polite way of saying, “You’re doing it wrong,” and one does wish that high speed trains, where they are built in this country, integrate with local trains and transit as well as they do in Germany, for example. In Germany they have even figured out how to run a streetcar into a regular train station, where you might see one on the platform alongside an ICE high-speed train. If the Germans can master the engineering and those safety features to give easy cross-platform transfers, why can’t we?

Meanwhile at the northern end of that California corridor, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on April 3rd that Caltrain, facing “plummeting sales tax revenues and shrinking ridership” could be forced “to eliminate its midday, night and weekend service, and return to its roots as a commuter-only railroad.” Yet an article there the previous day noted of the new High Speed project, “New numbers put the price of the Anaheim-to-San Francisco segment alone at $42.6 billion.”

Why are we spending millions on high-speed rail studies to the detriment of existing services? Why are we further planning new trains that will hurt, instead of complement, the few successful ones we have spent decades building? Cannot even railroad people work together or has too many years of fighting the highway lobby fractured the passenger train industry?

Colorado is poised to make the same mistake. Railway Track and Structures on March 30th reported,

A study of possible high-speed, intercity rail for Colorado has found that lines between Fort Collins and Pueblo and between Denver International Airport and Eagle County have the best “operating and cost-benefit results” of the options evaluated… The full system carries a $21.1-billion price tag, but Harry Dale, chairman of the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority, which produced the study, said the rail system would probably be built in phases…

The feasibility study… took 18 months to complete and cost $1.4 million… “It might be 10 to 20 years before we actually build anything,” [Dale] said…

The study identifies a $3.32-billion rail segment from DIA to downtown Denver and then south to Colorado Springs as a likely first phase [,which Dale said] would not compete directly with [the] Regional Transportation District’s planned East Corridor commuter train that will link the airport and Denver’s Union Station.

“This [HSR] is not meant to be fare-subsidized,” Dale said of the proposed high-speed rail system. “Average speeds must be superior to travel by car, or nobody will ride. There have got to be time savings to make it worthwhile.”

Does it not matter that almost every new well-planned light-rail and regional-rail system in the West has met, exceeded, or far exceeded ridership expectations? Why spend money planning a second “high speed” system paralleling a regional train we haven’t even built yet? Why do we keep having to fight the superfast fallacy? Frequency, dependability, and the matrix of connections are what attract people to trains — not high speeds. Dr. Adrian Herzog’s Matrix Theory, despite being proven repeatedly, continues to be ignored.

— William Lindley, Scottsdale, Ariz.

p.s., Mr. Selden’s guest commentary follows.

Why Joseph Boardman Can’t Succeed

By Andrew Selden

Joe Boardman is a fine fellow, and an experienced rail administrator, but his tenure is doomed to be another failure as CEO of Amtrak, for the simple reason that his strategy for the company is to pour ever more capital and effort into the exact same business strategies and plans that have failed the company consistently for four decades. This is evidenced by Amtrak’s latest strategic “plan” released late this winter.

“Amtrak Planning” has come to be as much of an oxymoron as “Amtrak Accounting.” Key elements of the latest plan:

Upgrade interiors and add WiFi on Acela trains, with leather seats, new tray tables and improved at-seat power outlets.

NEC infrastructure enhancements such as a new Niantic River drawbridge in Connecticut, new power supply equipment for New York – Washington, new switches at Chicago Union Station, new car shops at Los Angeles, station renovation at Wilmington, Delaware, fire safety improvements in the Hudson River tunnels, car renovation at Beech Grove, NEC track and wire maintenance, etc.

Study its “poorest performing long-distance routes” to identify possible changes. These routes include the Sunset Limited, Eagle, Cardinal, Capitol Limited and California Zephyr. (No mention of chronically underperforming short routes.)

Expand state-funded short corridors.

Install PTC on Amtrak-owned track.

Increase security.

Replace large parts of the company’s locomotive and car fleet.

Now, this all sounds wonderful, and many observers leapt on the last item as proof that “Amtrak was home free and the Age of Aquarius was upon us.” No one paused to ask, “With the U.S. trillions of dollars in debt and piling on new debt just as fast as we can sell bonds to the Chinese, how is Amtrak going to pay for all this?”

Even worse, no one seemed to notice that Amtrak’s plans were nothing more than a reshuffle of the same tired 40-year-old business plan that has put Amtrak into a financial black hole. (Amtrak’s net loss worsened again last year, proving once again that the billions “invested” so far into the NEC, Acela, and all the other infrastructure projects has produced a negative rate of return on investment.) No one asked: “Based on 40 years of consistent failure and steadily worsening financial results, why should we continue pouring billions of new dollars of federal support down the same old black hole?”

This ultimately is why Mr. Boardman cannot succeed: recycling failed business strategies is not “planning.” Doubling the bet on a losing position is a poor strategy.

When Amtrak released its wish list of new engines and rolling stock in March, it took independent analysis by URPA professionals to point out that the “new fleet” strategy reflected a net shrinkage of lift capacity in the national system.

But, there may be a growing awareness inside Amtrak that they are missing out in their long distance markets. At an Amtrak conference in Chicago in March, some interesting ideas were surfaced. A URPA attendee reported:

“Amtrak made official their intent to restructure the Sunset and Texas Eagle routes by operating a daily Los Angeles-San Antonio-Chicago train with a connecting San Antonio-New Orleans train. Amtrak has divided their 15 long-distance trains into three groups of five. The five worst performers – including the Sunset and Eagle – will be addressed this year, the middle five in 2011, and the five best – such as the Empire Builder and Southwest Chief – will be tweaked beginning in 2010. The undesirability of tri-weekly service on any route was noted.

“Amtrak seems to be grasping – and willing to emphasize publicly – the importance of their long distance trains. One of the slides in a presentation : ‘Long Distance Trains are Fundamental to Amtrak’s Mission and Future.’ The slide’s charts showed that long distance trains provided 15 percent of Amtrak’s riders, but 24 percent of revenue, and 39 percent of Amtrak’s train miles but 46 percent of passenger miles.”

As promising as this is, it still fails to reflect any understanding of how explosive growth could be if Amtrak were to address two simple questions:

What would long distance ridership, passenger miles and revenue be if Amtrak actually added capacity to existing trains, especially in peak periods? Long distance capacity and available seat miles have been flat, if not down, for two decades. Since these trains run nearly full much of the year, no growth is even possible without added capacity.

What would long distance ridership, passenger miles and revenue be if Amtrak better interconnected its routes, so that its trains could serve hundreds of new origin-destination city pairs? Examples: extend a Missouri state corridor train to Omaha, to connect St. Louis, Kansas City and intermediate points to the Central Transcontinental Corridor – Denver, Salt Lake City, Reno, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area; or, drop a coach and sleeper from the Chief, at Barstow, to run over Tehachapi Pass to Bakersfield, connecting to a San Joaquin, linking the entire Southwest Transcontinental Corridor to the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay area.

Even if one assumes that these new services perform no better than the known performance of the existing trains, these small increases in operations, by opening up many hundreds of new long distance city pairs, will triple output, and revenue. Now there is a capacity issue, and a growth strategy, all in one.

If you are reading someone else’s copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA’s web site, www.unitedrail.org

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

William Lindley

c/o wlindley.com, l.l.c.

PO Box 3621

Scottsdale, AZ 85271

480-947-6100


----------



## MrFSS

Volume 7, Number 13

April 22nd, 2010
​



A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org
​

Our desks being at last clear of the beloved IRS instruction booklets, and with last year's tax forms safely snuggled in their bankers' boxes, we turn now to how a few of our hard-earned dollars are — refreshingly — wisely to be spent in Ohio.

We hear this week from our Bruce Richardson who wrote the following just before (according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette), "Democrats on the state Controlling Board voted 4-3 along party lines to approve spending $25 million in federal stimulus money to complete final engineering and design work on" Ohio's Three Cs corridor this Monday. This is a wise investment, giving planners the opportunity to prove the plan's worthiness: "Future support from GOP lawmakers on the panel will be crucial. State law requires a supermajority vote for capital improvements on passenger rail development…" reports the Journal Gazette, so lawmakers will have the opportunity to weigh the merits of the complete design before committing to construction.

This is a welcome development; Mr. Richardson explains why:

Oh, Ohio.

By Bruce Richardson

It's a mad, mad, mad world in Ohio right now for rail fans, who for decades have been agitating for the creation of the Three Cs corridor. The rail fans are "this close" to having the Three Cs corridor recreated, tying Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati together in one passenger train run after the feds opened the treasury and doled out $400 million in free federal stimulus monies to create the route.

Currently, Cleveland has dreary nocturnal service in each direction courtesy of the Lake Shore Limited and the Capitol Limited. Cleveland has a metropolitan area population of 2.25 million, yet Amtrak passengers entraining and detraining only total 39,371 for fiscal year 2009. Cincinnati fares even worse, with only three days a week nocturnal service provided by the Cardinal. Cincinnati's metropolitan area is almost as large as Cleveland, with an area population of 2.15 million souls. Hardly anybody notices the Cardinal in Cincinnati, with only 14,777 FY 2009 passengers entraining and detraining.

Columbus isn't even on Amtrak's map. The metropolitan area population is 1.77 million, not a small city.

The plan is to right this wrong by creating a four round-trips day train between the three cities and Dayton, with some extra stops along the way. Here's the problem: Ohio's governor wants to do this, Ohio's Department of Transportation wants to do this, and the feds want to do this. But, the majority party in the Ohio state senate doesn't want to do this, and some members of a state commission which ultimately have to sign off on this don't want to do it, either.

The naysayers say thanks very much for the $400 million, but what about the small state matching money and funds for operating the trains? They are afraid Ohio will be in the same position as charity recipients are on that silly ABC Television reality show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition: Some goofy looking guy with bad hair who for whatever reason nobody can figure out has become a celebrity hands you a nice gift, but you can't afford to keep it up or pay the taxes on it year after year. So, rail fans in Ohio are gritting their teeth, and can taste the new Three Cs corridor it's so close. All of this comes down to convincing just less than a handful of people of the wonders of intrastate passenger train travel, and the Three Cs will be a reality.

The question must be asked: Has anyone educated these recalcitrant public servants about other state success stories? Have they quizzed their next door neighbors in Illinois about how successful those state trains are? Did they take a look at the country's most important state, Virginia, and see how in just the first quarter of operations of the new Lynchburg train, the state paid no operating subsidy in the second month to Amtrak because ridership and revenue passenger miles were so successful? Did anyone consult with North Carolina, home to the country's most enlightened state department of transportation on rail matters about how to run state-subsidized passenger trains successfully so the subsidies remain low or nonexistent? What about California, and its giant, successful state rail program?

All of this boils down to education and the proper presentation of facts. Most likely, Ohio politicians are relying on past Amtrak studies, such as last year's Three Cs report, which predicted low ridership and high expenses, as Amtrak always does to prevent later finger pointing claiming the company was too optimistic. Instead of doing their own homework, they incorrectly relied on the work of someone else. Had they done their own homework they probably would have come up with a completely different set of numbers and been able to make far different decisions.

Another point of contention is the alleged speed of the proposed trains. The alleged forces of evil claim the overall speed is too slow for the money being spent. visions of high speed trains dance in their heads. Nobody told these folks about incrementalism, using relatively inexpensive conventional rail such as found in the Three Cs proposal as a building block and later feeder system for high speed rail.

The war in Ohio will continue until someone figures out a way to educate these politicians about the realities of passenger rail and the promise passenger rail holds for a balanced transportation system in the future. Until that day comes, Ohio will be a state of highways, not a state of transportation choices.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

William Lindley

c/o wlindley.com, l.l.c.

PO Box 3621

Scottsdale, AZ 85271

480-947-6100


----------



## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2010-04-27
​





Posted By brichardson On April 27, 2010 @ 9:41 am
​


Volume 7, Number 13

Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other cities. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org [1].

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Thank you, Bill Lindley for allowing me to "borrow" This Week at Amtrak for this special edition. This is Bruce Richardson, and I have a special announcement to make.

2) I've been waiting for over a year to write this column, and I'm immensely excited about what I have to tell you. Today, April 27, 2010, a new, privately funded and privately operated intercity passenger train is being announced, slated to begin operations during the Christmas season of 2011.

The name of the train is "Z-Train," and it will operate six days a week on a regular schedule between Los Angeles Union Station and Las Vegas, Nevada, with an intermediate stop in Ontario, California.

Initially, the train will be 14 cars long, made up of a combination of bi-levels and dome cars.

3) Some of you reading this may think this is old news; that you heard about the Las Vegas train 10 days ago.

That was the X Train of Las Vegas Railway Express; this is the Z-Train.

It's a bit of a sordid story about how two trains came about.

Z-Train has been in continuous, active development since 2007. When I was first contacted about Z-Train in March 2009, before I could have more than a cursory telephone conversation with Romm Doulton, the Las Vegas entrepreneur of D2 Holdings who created Z-Train, I had to sign a lengthy and complicated non-compete, non-disclosure legal document. Everyone even marginally involved with the project has signed the identical document for the protection of the project.

Earlier, in 2008, before I became involved with the project, a local gentleman in Las Vegas was briefly part of the development team. He invited a second gentleman to learn about the development group; both of these people signed the same non-compete, non-disclosure document. Neither gentleman was related to the project very long; in fact, the second gentleman only had a cursory involvement as part of Z-Train's development team.

So, they went away.

But, it appears they took with them all of the team's proprietary plans and documents which had been created up to that point in 2008.

Since then, plans for Z-Train have matured and changed dramatically, as is often in the case of projects like this, as new people with new or better ideas join development teams.

In July 2009, in my United Rail Passenger Alliance e-mail box, I received an invitation from the X Train people to review their project and give them any advice I may want to offer.

I immediately contacted Z-Train, since by then I had developed a full relationship with them, and alerted the development team about a rival project.

Instantly, the Z-Train team knew what was going on; it seemed their own, privately held materials were being used by someone else and represented as their own property, instead of the sole property of the Z-Train developers.

A cease and desist demand was made by Z-Train to X Train.

Nothing happened, and in the past 30 days various press releases have been popping up about X Train, all amazingly similar to Z-Train ideas, plans, and materials from 2008. Well, with two big exceptions. The Z-Train developers know it is impossible to have onboard, legal gambling, yet X Train says it will have gaming onboard. And, X Train says it will offer a $99 roundtrip fare, which is pretty close to impossible to do if you're going to be financially viable.

4) There had been no plans to fully announce Z-Train until every detail was fully developed and every business relationship established.

But, then came X Train; a decision had to be made to protect the interests of Z-Train, so a public announcement – even though a bit early probably by about a month – would be made.

That's what we're doing today; Z-Train is seeing the first light of day in TWA.

All that out of the way; you would probably like some details about Z-Train. Here is some information for you from the Z-Train fact sheet which is part of the detail being sent to the news media today.

Train Operations

• Z-Train is expected to begin operations for the Christmas season in 2011.

• Plans are for the train to be pulled by Amtrak locomotives, and Amtrak will also provide train and engine crews, as well as all equipment maintenance at its Los Angeles maintenance base.

• Onboard services crews will be direct Z-Train employees.

• The route encompasses trackage rights to be provided by Metrolink in Southern California, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, and primarily Union Pacific Railroad.

• Los Angeles Union Station, owned by Catellus Development Corporation will be the Southern California terminal, and a new Z-Train station will be built in Las Vegas adjacent to the famous Las Vegas Strip, the heart of the hotels, resorts, and casinos in Las Vegas.

• Trip time is planned for five hours in each direction, with a single intermediate station stop in Ontario, California. The train will be turned and cleaned in Las Vegas for a same-day return to Los Angeles, where maintenance will be performed overnight.

• Z-Train will be America's only regularly scheduled, non-government subsidized intercity passenger service between two major metropolitan areas, where anyone can purchase a ticket for transportation; operating full roundtrips six days a week.

• The train will operate Wednesdays through Mondays, with Tuesdays planned as a full maintenance day.

• Z-Train has been developed to meet the rigid requirements of host railroads and federal transportation statutes, including any necessary construction of additional railroad passing sidings or other necessary upgrades to host passenger trains. Every facet of Z-Train has been created to work in harmony with pending agreements with host railroads and operating crew and motive power providers.

Equipment and Onboard Experience

• Z-Train is beyond just traveling from one city to another; it's a transportation, dining, pampering and entertainment experience designed to rekindle the great American slogan, "getting there is half the fun!".

• Z-Train is the only passenger rail project which will run directly from downtown Los Angeles/Los Angeles Union Station to the heart of the Las Vegas Strip and Z-Train's proposed, newly-built passenger train station, and is the only passenger rail project which will directly connect to all other passenger rail routes in Southern California.

• All Z-Train passenger railcars will be rebuilt and redesigned equipment from America's most prominent passenger railcar builders, designed originally for some of America's most luxurious passenger trains. The upgrades and modifications made by Z-Train will meet every need and desire of modern travelers from new technologies to comfortable, plush seating.

• Z-Train offers four levels of accommodations and services, all aimed at up-market travelers, especially international travelers from the lucrative Asian market.

• Food and beverage and onboard pampering and entertainment will be areas of major emphasis, with dining and lounge cars to meet every expectation and requirement for all age groups.

• Almost half of the passenger space is devoted to coach passengers, although coach passengers will have amenities and services available to them not normally found elsewhere.

• Additional classes of service are club, business, and first class premium cars, all of which have their own discrete, expanded levels of service.

• The most distinctive level of service will occur in private dome cars, each not holding more than 25 passengers per car. This unparalleled level of luxury will rival any private jet experience, appealing to the most discriminating passengers.

• Four separate dining cars run the choices from high end gourmet to an all-organic, healthy living dining car choice to a dedicated sports car, complete with micro brewery and comfort food buffet.

• Onboard services are unique, with a company of repertory players providing live entertainment, a murder on a train mystery, fortune tellers, fashions shows provided by one of the most distinctive fashion retailers, art gallery offerings, spa services, and book signings by best selling authors.

Development Team

• Created by professional railroaders in the best traditions of the passenger railroad industry, combining successful historical values with today's passenger and operating environment.

• Z-Train has been developed by a professional team working since 2007 to provide an exciting passenger rail experience between Los Angeles/Southern California and Las Vegas. Weeks, months, and years have been spent in deep research of every aspect of the market, jobs growth, and economic development for Z-Train to be an economic engine for tourism and in support of Las Vegas. Government officials on every level have been consulted, in addition to professional railroaders, hospitality and gaming industry luminaries, and marketing experts. Every facet of Z-Train has been developed with one overall goal in mind: to provide America's unrivaled premier intercity passenger train experience.

Z-Train Limited, LLC and D2 Holdings

• D2 Holdings is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada and controlled by Romm and Elaine Doulton and James K. Clark. D2 is a well-established company with a wide variety of interests. For further information, consult www.d2holdings.net [2]. D2 provided the company umbrella for the Z-Train development team to come together and create the project before it was formally incorporated.

• Z-Train Limited, LLC is a Nevada corporation, headquartered in Henderson, Nevada (A Las Vegas suburb).

• Romm Doulton, creator of Z-Train, currently serves as the company's Chairman, President, and CEO while a search process is being completed to find other individuals to hold those offices. Mr. Doulton will continue to serve as a Chief Executive Officer of the company, but the other positions will be filled by individuals with a strong financial and railroad industry background.

• Z-Train has been developed using sound, conservative financial principles.

• Over $500,000 worth of time, materials, and funds spent have been put into the creation and development of Z-Train.

• Everyone associated with the development of Z-Train has been a senior executive in their respective fields.

• Z-Train as a company has been designed as an organization which will have a number of strategic alliances with corporate partners for cross marketing and branding purposes.

Marketing and Development

• Z-Train will be marketed on three levels: regional, national, and international.

• Regional marketing will reach Southern California, providing a travel choice beyond private automobiles, busses, and air travel to bring new visitors to Las Vegas.

• National marketing will promote both Z-Train and partner casinos and resorts and the city of Las Vegas.

• International marketing, aimed heavily at the lucrative Asian market, will provide a familiar travel choice to the 4.4 million Asian visitors who arrive in Los Angeles, of which 32% currently travel onward to Las Vegas via bus and airplane. Asians are currently the single most profitable demographic for visitors to Las Vegas, followed by Southern Californians.

5) That's pretty much everything in a summary; if you want more information, you can visit Z-Train's web site as it is being developed at www.z-trainltd.com [3] or to find out more about the creators of Z-Train, visit www.d2holdings.net [2] for a fascinating background on Romm and Elaine Doulton, Z-Train's parents.

6) And, yes, this native of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and 42 year resident of Florida, who has never lived more than 100 miles (and, currently less than 20 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean is about to relocate to Las Vegas and Southern California to be a part of Z-Train as the Chief Special Projects Officer, where dreaming of the future is encouraged, and all sorts of interesting projects about present and future passenger trains await. A permanent move west will not be happening for a while, but there will be lots of airplane time between Jacksonville, Florida and Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

There will be some wonderful people from Amtrak and elsewhere working and helping create Z-Train, and it's exciting to be a part of the re-invention of the modern intercity passenger train.

7) Make you plans now to ride Z-Train in 2012; you will be glad you did.


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## IHC

^^ I am loving all this competetion from private companies to so something Amtrak says it can't do. Kinda is puttin' the heat on Amtrak...


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## haolerider

IHC said:


> ^^ I am loving all this competetion from private companies to so something Amtrak says it can't do. Kinda is puttin' the heat on Amtrak...


I am not sure that is a fair comparison, since Amtrak simply cannot afford to - or be allowed to operate a train of this service level, based on constant criticism that they should not be operating luxury service at taxpayers expense. Acela is a bit different, since it is a business oriented product that has appeal in the NEC, but "land cruises" have been a point of contention in Congress for years. I will also believe this product when I see it. The backers have a strong track record, but there model is based on heavy usage by the Asian market and that has not always proven to be a constant demographic.


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## Ryan

Sad to see Bruce taking over two in a row - hopefully Mr. Lindley's more reasoned writings will return next week.



MrFSS said:


> Hardly anybody notices the Cardinal in Cincinnati, with only 14,777 FY 2009 passengers entraining and detraining.


This works out to just more than 94 people entraining/detraining every time the Cardinal pulls in. I don't know if I'd call that "hardly anyone".



IHC said:


> ^^ I am loving all this competetion from private companies to so something Amtrak says it can't do. Kinda is puttin' the heat on Amtrak...


That's a lot of talk for a train that hasn't carried a single passenger yet.


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## jis

Ryan said:


> IHC said:
> 
> 
> 
> ^^ I am loving all this competetion from private companies to so something Amtrak says it can't do. Kinda is puttin' the heat on Amtrak...
> 
> 
> 
> That's a lot of talk for a train that hasn't carried a single passenger yet.
Click to expand...

Interesting and somewhat misguided comment IMHO about "heat on Amtrak" considering that it is Amtrak engines and operating crews that will be running this train under contract. Only OBS staff, facilities and consist will be provided by the operator. I think this should be viewed as a very nice public-private partnership serving a leisure market, instead of as a big competition thing.


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## IHC

My point is here we are in 2010 and Amtrak is not running a train to Vegas. For whatever reasons they are saying, they are not doing it.

But there are two private companies, who want to start up service. Regardless of whether they hire Amtrak to run the train, or have their own engines and operating crews, it's still ANOTHER COMPANY (and for profit) that is running the show. And Amtrak is sittin' there lookin' like a fool with their pants on the ground, bent over.


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## jis

IHC said:


> My point is here we are in 2010 and Amtrak is not running a train to Vegas. For whatever reasons they are saying, they are not doing it.
> But there are two private companies, who want to start up service. Regardless of whether they hire Amtrak to run the train, or have their own engines and operating crews, it's still ANOTHER COMPANY (and for profit) that is running the show. And Amtrak is sittin' there lookin' like a fool with their pants on the ground, bent over.


Ideally that is the way it should be, and unless someone has a strange idea of what Amtrak's mission in life should be, specially given that the expansive view of such is as close as one gets to an unfunded mandate, I don't see why Amtrak should be looking like a fool as a result of this. They have made it quite clear what they can and will run and what they won't. We know and have discussed ad infinitum why Amtrak cannot operate every route that it would be nice to have a train or two running on. That fact is not going to change. So the more we see this sort of partnership efforts the better it is for all concerned. There is absolutely no reason to believe that Amtrak should be the only company running LD or even Corridor trains. It would certainly be good if we can maintain a single uniform reservation system for the sake of the riding public, but running individual trains should be opened up to whoever is able and willing.


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## Bob Dylan

Right one Jis! Dont want to knock Private Enterprise but this has been tried several times by private companies in various forms, I'll just point out that all of them DID NOT MAKE A PROFIT and WENT BROKE!! :blink: For what it will cost to operate this "land cruise", and with cheaper (and faster!)alternatives available, there is no way most folks will pony up the big bucks it will cost to ride this luxury gambling junket, perhaps a one time thing!(dome and lounge cars!  ) But most folks who can afford it will continue to fly in their private jets, ride on the casinos dime ("Free" is the most expensive thing in the world in Vegas!)or have their driver drive them!  IF it gets started Ill give them a year till it's History and the equipment will be auctioned off like so many previous "Dream Trains"!) IF it happens, glad Amtrak will get to operate it!For sure no-one will ride it for the scenery!


----------



## haolerider

jimhudson said:


> Right one Jis! Dont want to knock Private Enterprise but this has been tried several times by private companies in various forms, I'll just point out that all of them DID NOT MAKE A PROFIT and WENT BROKE!! :blink: For what it will cost to operate this "land cruise", and with cheaper (and faster!)alternatives available, there is no way most folks will pony up the big bucks it will cost to ride this luxury gambling junket, perhaps a one time thing!(dome and lounge cars!  ) But most folks who can afford it will continue to fly in their private jets, ride on the casinos dime ("Free" is the most expensive thing in the world in Vegas!)or have their driver drive them!  IF it gets started Ill give them a year till it's History and the equipment will be auctioned off like so many previous "Dream Trains"!) IF it happens, glad Amtrak will get to operate it!For sure no-one will ride it for the scenery!


In reality, this venture is nothing different from the relationship between American Orient Express and Amtrak. They provided the equipment and on-board staff and Amtrak provided the operating crew - engineers, conductor. While this partnership existed, the Road Foreman of Engines in each district generally shadowed the train to insure there was someone able to deal with operational issues along the route. We know what happened to AOE, so there may be no difference in the final outcome of this venture, but it will be interesting to view as they progress.


----------



## Larry H.

I have a couple of thoughts here.

First is that one of the major things wrong with our "national rail system" is that it doesn't go nearly enough places. The idea that it should be scoffed at that two very major cities shouldn't expect to be a part of a national system is wrong to me. Its like giving in to the naysayers. Can you even conceive of closing the airport at Los Vegas because every city shouldn't expect one. Please a little reality here. Trains always ran to Los Vegas and they certainly should now.

Second it should be noted that even if it fails, which is quite possible, the fact that they understand that many passengers want more than the most minimal comforts and that trying to entice riders by offering a experience of getting there is as old as the railroads of old that rolled out many a famous train. Broadway Limited, Super Chief, Panama Limited, Twentieth Century Limited, Cites Streamliners, Empire Builder, these names meant something in their heyday, I see nothing wrong with stealing something they knew that todays operators are loath to admit. Plus I must point out that even though it has been degraded somewhat since its roll out the Amtrak Empire Builder is one of the most sought passenger routes, if it ran like the Cardinal I doubt it would be seeing that kind of support. People are not fools, they spend where they can enjoy both the scenery as well as the amenities.


----------



## jis

Larry H. said:


> People are not fools, they spend where they can enjoy both the scenery as well as the amenities.


I agree. In spite of all the dire predictions of how Amtrak's NEC service will be abandoned by all due to the availability of cheaper Boltbus and China Bus service, the Regionals and Acelas are running more full than ever. Of course the big differentiators are journey time and comfort in this case, and it is some of the buses that are trying to use luxury as an enticer.


----------



## Ryan

Larry H. said:


> Amtrak Empire Builder is one of the most sought passenger routes, if it ran like the Cardinal I doubt it would be seeing that kind of support. People are not fools, they spend where they can enjoy both the scenery as well as the amenities.


Having recently gotten off the Cardinal and gone directly onto the Empire Builder, I think that the differences between them are massively overstated.


----------



## Larry H.

Ryan said:


> Larry H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Amtrak Empire Builder is one of the most sought passenger routes, if it ran like the Cardinal I doubt it would be seeing that kind of support. People are not fools, they spend where they can enjoy both the scenery as well as the amenities.
> 
> 
> 
> Having recently gotten off the Cardinal and gone directly onto the Empire Builder, I think that the differences between them are massively overstated.
Click to expand...

I think the Cardinal may have been updated some. The reviews I often read were of a train with "No Lounge as such", a very limited diner, one sleeper and an unmatched consist. At one point the Empire Builder offered food prepared on board, small things like candy and wines in your room, wine tasting on board, and a newly remodeled consist. The fact that your not seeing much difference is more the leveling out again of all services that has been taking place.


----------



## Ryan

Not really, those reviews are all still pretty much true - having experienced them, it just doesn't much matter in my book. It doesn't particularly matter to me if a train has one sleeper or 10, I'm not interested in sitting in a lounge if I have a bedroom (Amy and I have spent maybe 30 minutes in the lounge here on the Chief and maybe that much on the Coast Starlight and Empire builder as well). The limited menu isn't a big deal when you get one breakfast lunch and dinner (from WAS to CHI) and the food was delicious.

Yes, we got champaign on the EB and CS, and we're still hauling around one of the bottles that we were given on the Builder (I plan on cracking that guy open as we settle into our room on the Capital Limited). I guess that the little "perks" aren't as important to me as some, but I was wholly satisfied by my experience on the Cardinal - a Viewliner bedroom is the same regardless of what train you're on, and the food was delicious, the staff was friendly and the scenery was beautiful. It's a real winner of a train in my book.


----------



## Bob Dylan

Ryan said:


> Not really, those reviews are all still pretty much true - having experienced them, it just doesn't much matter in my book. It doesn't particularly matter to me if a train has one sleeper or 10, I'm not interested in sitting in a lounge if I have a bedroom (Amy and I have spent maybe 30 minutes in the lounge here on the Chief and maybe that much on the Coast Starlight and Empire builder as well). The limited menu isn't a big deal when you get one breakfast lunch and dinner (from WAS to CHI) and the food was delicious.
> Yes, we got champaign on the EB and CS, and we're still hauling around one of the bottles that we were given on the Builder (I plan on cracking that guy open as we settle into our room on the Capital Limited). I guess that the little "perks" aren't as important to me as some, but I was wholly satisfied by my experience on the Cardinal - a Viewliner bedroom is the same regardless of what train you're on, and the food was delicious, the staff was friendly and the scenery was beautiful. It's a real winner of a train in my book.


Thanks Ryan, Im on the Card next Thursday CHI-PHL for NTD, my first trip on this route! Really look forward to it, Im with you I dont complain about things like delays, more time on the train! And food just seems to taste better on a LD train! I do complain about rude and lazy OBS and conductors

and totally agree that a Viewliner sleeper is a grand way to travel, I prefer them for sleeping  :lol: as compared to a Superliner with its uptop coffin!

(Ive never been in a Viewliner Bedroom since the roomettes do the job, a Superliner bedroom is THE way to go on the Superliners however!)Little perks like bottles of shampoo and cheap wine are nice but a smiley, helpful OBS crew goes a long way for sure! Hope your next post is from the Metro Lounge in CHI waiting on the CL!


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## Larry H.

Ryan said:


> Not really, those reviews are all still pretty much true - having experienced them, it just doesn't much matter in my book. It doesn't particularly matter to me if a train has one sleeper or 10, I'm not interested in sitting in a lounge if I have a bedroom (Amy and I have spent maybe 30 minutes in the lounge here on the Chief and maybe that much on the Coast Starlight and Empire builder as well). The limited menu isn't a big deal when you get one breakfast lunch and dinner (from WAS to CHI) and the food was delicious.
> Yes, we got champaign on the EB and CS, and we're still hauling around one of the bottles that we were given on the Builder (I plan on cracking that guy open as we settle into our room on the Capital Limited). I guess that the little "perks" aren't as important to me as some, but I was wholly satisfied by my experience on the Cardinal - a Viewliner bedroom is the same regardless of what train you're on, and the food was delicious, the staff was friendly and the scenery was beautiful. It's a real winner of a train in my book.


Well I am glad to hear your detailed review. Personally I hope it holds, at least the scenery will remain the same. That is train that hopefully will be coming very close to me here in Illinois should it get routed over to St. Louis which would be real boon to the central midwest. I look forward to riding it from Effingham to Washington or New York with out spending many extra hours sitting in chicago and on the rails getting there. Makes a lot of sense to me.


----------



## BlakeTyner

Interesting news item from the Trains News Wire today about the Vegas trains:

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has thrown cold water on two separate plans to run party trains between Los Angeles and Las Vegas over its rails, the Associated Press has reported. Developers of the competing "X Train" and "Z Train" proposals both plan to use the freight railroad's tracks, but in a letter, UP said it's nowhere near reaching an agreement with either.

The two companies are already in a legal battle over whether one stole the idea from the other. UP's letter further cast into doubt whether either proposal could hold water. Concerned about growing publicity over the trains, the railroad denied being in serious negotiations with either company. It also said it doesn't endorse gambling on its property, though the trains' developers say on-train gambling isn't a necessity.

Meanwhile, two plans for high speed trains linking the two cities have also been drawn up, one using magnetic levitation technology. Both would use isolated rights-of-way and wouldn't need UP's blessing, but both are years from being ready for development.


----------



## leemell

BlakeTyner said:


> Interesting news item from the Trains News Wire today about the Vegas trains:
> OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has thrown cold water on two separate plans to run party trains between Los Angeles and Las Vegas over its rails, the Associated Press has reported. Developers of the competing "X Train" and "Z Train" proposals both plan to use the freight railroad's tracks, but in a letter, UP said it's nowhere near reaching an agreement with either.
> 
> The two companies are already in a legal battle over whether one stole the idea from the other. UP's letter further cast into doubt whether either proposal could hold water. Concerned about growing publicity over the trains, the railroad denied being in serious negotiations with either company. It also said it doesn't endorse gambling on its property, though the trains' developers say on-train gambling isn't a necessity.
> 
> Meanwhile, two plans for high speed trains linking the two cities have also been drawn up, one using magnetic levitation technology. Both would use isolated rights-of-way and wouldn't need UP's blessing, but both are years from being ready for development.


Desertxpress is planning to start construction at the end of this year or EIR approval, if that comes earlier.


----------



## MrFSS

Volume 7, Number 15

May 26th, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

National Train Day

National Train Day passed uneventfully in Phoenix. Union Station, the mission-style depot turned fortress, protected by its tall prickly steel fence painted cactus green, was immune to invasion by curious passers-by. No-one rode a train through the station, except one hobo who waved from the end platform of a covered hopper -- all freight trains must now traverse the lone remaining passenger track, the bypass line having been removed a few years ago.

A man with a camera lurked in the shadow, afraid he might be asked for identity papers by Homeland Security, as a dry scrap of newsprint talking about transit cuts and tax hikes scudded across the broken concrete remnants of the platform.

Somewhere, Fred Harvey, whose ghost long ago departed the station's mahogany-and-brass news-stand with its eight-by-four-foot lead-lined humidor still scented with the ever-fainter aroma of Havana tobacco, turned in his grave. Amtrak, the nationalized passenger railroad, deserted the station for America's fifth largest city nearly fifteen years ago, with hope of its return having been repeatedly crushed.

Meanwhile at Dallas Union Station, Russ Jackson of the United Rail Passenger Alliance witnessed a healthy station in an upbeat city. North Texas is booming with new and extended programs from streetcars, light rail, commuter rail, and Amtrak intercity rail. Train Day in the Metroplex showcased all these, attracting people of all ages were to Dallas Union Station and to the Intermodal Transportation Center in Fort Worth:

On display at Dallas Union Station were the 1931 M-180 Doodlebug in Santa Fe colors that years ago worked the line to Carlsbad, New Mexico, and a heritage Pullman sleeping car, both now housed at the Museum of the American Railroad at nearby Fair Park. That museum is now under orders from the city to vacate the property, as it is underfunded and the land is needed for other purposes. The museum intends to move to nearby Frisco when funding is obtained. The successful TRE commuter line, that runs from Dallas to Ft. Worth displayed a train set of a newly repainted F59PH locomotive and two bi-level Bombardier (UTDC)-built coaches. Inside the historic station were staffed displays from the successful DART system, which is undergoing the same financial crises as in other cities, and the new under-construction Denton County "A- Train" commuter rail line, a model railroad club, music, face painting, etc., and the Texas Rail Advocates who were selling souvenir t-shirts and whistles. Where was Amtrak? They had a full staffed display table across from their ticket window, giving away packets of information including the timetables that would be out of date two days later. The new ones "were in the back somewhere," but would not be available until they go into effect. And, Amtrak 821, the southbound Texas Eagle arrived in Dallas 30 minutes late with 3 coaches, Diner-Lounge, Dining Car, and two sleeping cars (one of which is the crew dorm as well). That day was not one of the thru trains that connects with the Sunset Limited, but everyone we talked to is anxiously awaiting news as to when daily service through the West to California will begin. After loading and unloading, #821 quickly departed for Ft. Worth..

Thirty miles away in Ft. Worth Amtrak had several of their cars on display from the Heartland Flyer pool, and, like Dallas, had the packets and drawing tickets for travel on the Texas Eagle. The BNSF had a locomotive on display and employees there to answer questions. The Union Pacific displayed the newly painted 2010, the Boy Scouts of America commemorative locomotive, and North Texas Historic Transportation displayed their NTT interurban and had information about the proposed City of Ft. Worth Streetcar Circulator. TRE trains came and went through the station, the southbound Heartland Flyer arrived, the northbound and southbound Eagles arrived and departed, there was music, face painting, and the Texas Rail Advocates were there as well. Yes, there is a "rail presence" in the Metroplex, and while there is much to do and finances to do it are getting scarce, the foundation has been laid.

The Dallas station, despite its perfectly suited location, is crippled by having only three platform tracks, because city leaders who renovated the facility in the early 1980s believed Amtrak when it said that would be enough for any conceivable future needs. The station once had at least ten through tracks, an upper concourse perpendicular to the tracks with stairs to each level for quick and safe passenger flow, and a freight-and-baggage subway. DART's trolleys now serve the station, which is good, but in a way that precludes restoring platforms that would be needed for Dallas to act as a proper hub for regional trains. A little engineering and a lot of hard work could rectify the situation but it's yet another roadblock that could have been prevented. Vigilance today resolves tomorrow's problems.

Keolis moves closer to taking Virginia trains from Amtrak

The Washington Post on 11 May reported that the company soon to "take over operation of Virginia Railway Express trains from Amtrak wrapped up its first month of nationwide recruitment efforts as it prepares for the June transition." VRE's press release says operation will begin July 1 of this year.

Keolis Rail Services America is a division of Keolis, "a significant operator of tramways as well as operating bus networks, funiculars, trolley buses and airport services" according to Wikipedia; Keolis is owned by a group that includes SNCF, the French railway.

Coast Starlight group pushes plan for better service

The Coast Starlight Communities Network ("a coalition of various interests with the goal of protecting and improving rail service between Washington, Oregon, and California") has prepared a whitepaper describing the route, how trip times have increased by several hours since Amtrak's founding, and what can be done to improve the train's ambience and appeal, and expand the purpose of the train. A positive attitude like this is key to getting results.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

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You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

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Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org

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William Lindley

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Scottsdale, AZ 85271

480-947-6100


----------



## jis

So it looks like Phoenix (and Arizona) needs to get its act together to get trains back to the city.


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## Guest

jis said:


> So it looks like Phoenix (and Arizona) needs to get its act together to get trains back to the city.


Isnt this where Senator McCain rules, the guy who didnt know Amtrak ran through Arizona? 

Unless the notorious tight wads in Arizona come up with the money for rail expansion the best they can hope for is thruway bus to Maricopa or Tuscon to catch the Sunset/Eagle or North to Flagstaff for the Chief!What are the chances this will happen, their nonothing Gov. and Leg are busy bashing "illegal aliens" and forming oosses, er vigilante militias to "protect our borders"! You could look it up, most civilized people laugh @ these clowns, or cry as the case may be!


----------



## jis

Guest said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> 
> So it looks like Phoenix (and Arizona) needs to get its act together to get trains back to the city.
> 
> 
> 
> Isnt this where Senator McCain rules, the guy who didnt know Amtrak ran through Arizona?
> 
> Unless the notorious tight wads in Arizona come up with the money for rail expansion the best they can hope for is thruway bus to Maricopa or Tuscon to catch the Sunset/Eagle or North to Flagstaff for the Chief!What are the chances this will happen, their nonothing Gov. and Leg are busy bashing "illegal aliens" and forming oosses, er vigilante militias to "protect our borders"! You could look it up, most civilized people laugh @ these clowns, or cry as the case may be!
Click to expand...

Don't even get me or for that matter several of us started on the various idiocies of Arizona. That could become an extremely OT discussion very very quickly. <_< At least they have very beautiful Sonoran Desert with those spectacular Saguaros.


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## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak; 2010-06-10*
​
This week: A brief report from each coast and then we look at some Amtrak finances.

On the right coast, some good news for the passenger rail manufacturing industry, and a lesson in perseverance. Around 1974 when I was in fourth grade my parents took me to a public meeting about Washington Metro. Even then, I loved studying maps; and one of the "future extensions" was to Dulles Airport. A mere 35 years later, that line may have a chance to finally be built — which is quite quick, really, compared to Boston's extension of its Red Line past Harvard (proposed in 1912, with the Cambridge segment completed in 1985). In any case, here's is part of WMATA's press release:

Metro's Board of Directors approved a contract today (May 27) to have Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., manufacture 428 new generation Metrorail cars known as the Series 7000 cars at a cost of $886 million. The cars will address Metro's number one safety priority to replace its oldest rail cars (Series 1000).Of the 428 cars, 128 of the cars will enable the expansion of Metro service on the Dulles rail corridor and 300 of the cars will be used to replace Metro's oldest rail cars (Series 1000), which will improve safety and reliability of Metro's fleet. The Dulles rail cars will be funded by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority…
The delivery schedule calls for the cars to start arriving on Metro property in 2013, and undergo a rigorous, months-long inspection process. All 428 cars are scheduled to go into service by 2016…. Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., will manufacture the new rail cars in Lincoln, NE…
Kawasaki has built single and double level commuter railcars, as well as NYCTA subway cars, partially at the Lincoln plant with final assembly at Yonkers, New York. At least one factory in America will be busy for awhile.

Now to the left coast, where Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo _ponders in the San Francisco Chronicle_ what will happen to Caltrain's nearly forty thousand daily riders in California's anemic budget, even as plans for high speed trains in the same corridor proceed, threatening Caltrain on a variety of levels:

For many months, the people of the 14th Congressional District have been worried – and justifiably so – about what high-speed rail could mean to their communities. Now comes word of financial difficulties that threaten the future of Caltrain, the spine of the Peninsula transportation system and the little train that could, and does so much, to serve us…
 
The High Speed Rail Authority has to hit the reset button, improve its reputation and assuage Peninsula residents, who have every reason to fear that this project will be a nightmare… We need to see what high-speed rail will do for us, not only to us. In other words, we need high-speed rail on the Peninsula to be a betterment, not a detriment. One of the betterments we expect is an improved Caltrain, and that is something that can be done right now…
Perhaps California will look at England's "Javelin" trains, the long-anticipated high-speed commuter trains that only recently replaced a large part of the usual fleet of electric trains between London and the southeast Kent coast. The _Evening Standard_ reports:

The 140mph hour Southeastern trains linking Kent to London were launched with great fanfare [in] December [2009]… [the fleet of] 29 Japanese Javelin trains were expected to be embraced by commuters as they cut an hour from the London-to-Dover route…
 
But [train operator] Southeastern has now halved the length of six of its trains because not enough people are using the services following complaints they are too expensive and uncomfortable. The fares cost a third more than those of conventional trains….
 
Commuters have complained the trains only take them to St Pancras and they then must cram on to "normal" Victoria or Cannon Street-bound services, which have been reduced to accommodate the Javelin trains.
 
Commuter John Cherry, from Chatham, said the new service had proved a "disaster" for many.
 
He said: "Passengers for Victoria lost their peak period services and now pack on the remaining reduced services or the Cannon Street services as people do not wish to go to St Pancras."
 
Another traveller said passengers have "rebelled against being forced to use an even more expensive service with uncomfortable trains which terminate in a place no one wants to be…"
This is exactly what could happen in California if new high-speed trains bypass many existing stations and run to a new terminal that does not connect to BART and Muni properly. One could also maintain the same thing has happened with Acela from its inception.

Finally this week we look at the wonderful world of Amtrak-o-nomics. Bruce Chapman of the Discovery Institute wrote on June 1 of a "Developing scandal at Amtrak" –

I served on the Amtrak Reform Council ten years ago and was frustrated, ultimately, by the failure of the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress to press harder for changes to Amtrak that would have made that entity more transparent in its finances and more collaborative with the private sector…
 
The Bush folks knew we needed reform, but couldn't deliver it, and wouldn't fund the transition to a public-private partnership. The Obama people are prepared to spend plenty, but not to reform the system.
 
Now we are seeing the
http://www.masstransitmag.com/publication/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=11608&pageNum=1public beginning to a scandal
http://www.masstransitmag.com/publication/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=11608&pageNum=1of unknown proportions at Amtrak. It broke in the
_Washington Times_
today.
 
The scandal could be the grounds for a true new beginning in passenger rail. America needs rail, not just as an alternative choice to roads and airplanes in carrying freight, but also in carrying people on many inter-city corridors.
The article to which he refers is from the _Washington Times_ via Mass Transit Magazine, and titled Amtrak 'Misled' Congress on Finance

When Amtrak assured Congress it was on a "glide path" to free itself of federal subsidies early last decade [2001], a handful of top executives secretly had reason to know better. In fact, the rail service was on the verge of bankruptcy.But Amtrak's public assurances were based on far more than overly rosy financial projections… What authorities ultimately unraveled was that two former Amtrak officials, in fiscal 2001, either booked false or incorrect accounting entries in Amtrak's monthly financial statements or failed to report the activities.
Mr. Chapman sees hope in this adversity, and perhaps there may be some; but let us remember that "Amtrak accounting," like "military intelligence," is at best a questionable subject. If you have not recently read Ayn Rand's _Atlas Shrugged_, please hasten to your local library or bookstore for a copy. This tome of over a thousand pages is well worth the reading, or re-reading. Published in 1957, and focusing on American national politics and economic structure, it recounts the tale of a Dagny Taggart who struggles to keep her family's transcontinental railroad afloat against a tide of socialism and nationalization, and a Hank Rearden who invents a revolutionary steel-replacing metal only to encounter the same destructive forces.

In the book, Wesley Mouch's Steel Unification Board is proposed to lift the heavy restrictions previously imposed on Rearden, with a Plan explained by the government representative:

"Our Plan is really very simple," said Tinky Holloway, "…every company will produce all it can, according to its ability [with all earnings collected and assembled by the government]; at the end of the year… [we will] distribute these earnings by totaling the nation's steel output and dividing it by the number of open-hearth furnaces in existence… The preservation of its furnaces being the basic need, every company will be paid according to the number of furnaces it owns…"
Rearden, who heads the nation's only remaining innovative steel-making plant, retorts:

"Well, let me see," said Rearden. "Orren Boyle's Associated Steel owns 60 open-hearth furnaces, one-third of them standing idle and the rest producing an average of 300 tons of steel per furnace per day. I own 20 open-hearth furnaces, working at capacity, producing 750 tons of Rearden Metal per furnace per day. So we own 80 'pooled' furnaces with a 'pooled' output of 27,000 tons, which makes an average of 337.5 tons per furnace. Each day of the year, I, producing 15,000 tons, will be paid for 6,750 tons. Boyle, producing 12,000 tons, will be paid for 20,250 tons… Now how long do you expect me to last under your Plan?"
You may recognize here the accounting basis for Amtrak's "Route Profitability System," which derived from the federal Interstate Commerce Commission's formulas for determining passenger train profits and losses. Amtrak, in a 1997 National Association of Railroad Passengers meeting, admitted that revenues were pooled, and expenses were allocated to trains "subjectively" [sic].

In this as in every instance where Karl Marx's "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" has been applied, the doom of failure is not far off.

Case in point: My apartment complex sends me a water bill each month. The total number of gallons used by the complex — for each apartment, plus the pool and irrigation — is added up, and divided by a formula involving the square footage of each unit and the number of registered occupants. This means that if I do my part and conserve water, I am punished because my parsimony is a microscopic fraction of the total, so I am charged effectively the same amount; yet if I squander water and let it run all day, my bill is again hardly unchanged. Clearly, then, the incentive is to waste water.

The manager of an Amtrak train is faced with the same quandry. Carry more passengers and you are allocated a much larger share of expenses, even though your revenues increase only slightly. Ideally you would carry zero passengers, because then your train would have zero expenses on an allocated basis.

Is it any wonder Amtrak has gone precisely no-where in its almost forty years of existence?

Please do read _Atlas Shrugged,_ for we will be looking at it again quite soon.

Meanwhile: The moment someone says, "Don't worry, I'm from the government, I'm here to help!" is the moment you should look for the exit.


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## jis

Hmmm. Not even a peep about the Z-Train affair. I hope that is because there is a muzzle order from the court


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## Trogdor

Can't believe he's quoting a "Washington Times" article. The Washington Times is about as garbage of a newspaper as you can get.

Seriously. They're "breaking" a story that happened 10 years ago?


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## Bob Dylan

Trogdor said:


> Can't believe he's quoting a "Washington Times" article. The Washington Times is about as garbage of a newspaper as you can get.
> Seriously. They're "breaking" a story that happened 10 years ago?


Same difference as quoting Fox News ! (aka Fixed Noise) And Ayn Rand!? (is this where Rand Paul got his name?)  This is the first Newsletter since the change in authorship that doesnt seem reasonable, or as Fake News would say, "fair and balanced"! Total waste of time, meanwhile life goes on all around you!


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## haolerider

jimhudson said:


> Trogdor said:
> 
> 
> 
> Can't believe he's quoting a "Washington Times" article. The Washington Times is about as garbage of a newspaper as you can get.
> Seriously. They're "breaking" a story that happened 10 years ago?
> 
> 
> 
> Same difference as quoting Fox News ! (aka Fixed Noise) And Ayn Rand!? (is this where Rand Paul got his name?)  This is the first Newsletter since the change in authorship that doesnt seem reasonable, or as Fake News would say, "fair and balanced"! Total waste of time, meanwhile life goes on all around you!
Click to expand...

URPA is just not happy unless they can find 2-3 things to crticize concerning Amtrak - even if they are 10 years out of date. In the past it has been Bruce Richardson's rants and raves, but it appeared initially that Lindley was going to be more impartial and report facts and maybe even come up with solutions rather than generalizations about what should be done. To read the political mumbo-jumbo regarding Ayn Rand it just a bit too much for me to stomach on an Amtrak focused site. Let's keep politics on its own site and rail-related issues on this site - even though Amtrak is "politically connected" by its very method of operation.


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## jis

Maybe URPA and Washington Times will organize a planchette to attempt to contact Warrington's spirit so that he can be cross-examined regarding the glidepath to profitability :lol:


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2010-06-14

Volume 7, Number 17
​


Positive news for commuter operations, and ponderings on the future of high speed and intercity operations. But let us begin with two brief preludes; first, a short poem, called a "Grook" by its author, Danish poet and philosopher Piet Hein.

*Thoughts on a Station Platform*

It ought to be plain
how little you gain
by getting excited
and vexed.
You'll always be late
for the previous train,
and always in time
for the next.
 
A second lead-in: a note on why we are all here. Marcus Garnet, of Transport Action Atlantic in Canada, writes in a Progressive Railroading internet journal,

What is commonly overlooked, is that time spent on a full-service long-distance train is also available for other purposes, including overnight sleep, meals, work, meetings, socializing or simply the enjoyment of scenery. Overnight train travel serves a transportation function, but also offers a total experience, especially for those who are able to afford a bedroom. These passengers do not just travel on the train, they live on the train. Whether for tourists or traveling Canadians, this is a vital market distinction from other land transport modes.
 
Mr. Garnet sums up many of our feelings and motivations for being passenger train advocates. Yes, trains are a vital part of our national infrastructure, but we want trains because of what they do for us personally, what they do for our friends and families and neighbors, what they do for our economy and our ecology. Trains are special and we need many more of them.

One last item, from the Inbox: Reader Ole Amundsen wrote in regard to the referenced article on VIA Rail Ocean Train Service:

The comments around this exceptional piece of work seem to be getting at the heart-wood of the rail passenger conundrum in this country. My positions come from being 70 years of age, nurtured by an old school conservative view of individual responsibility, educated in business and economics, and experienced in national agendas…
 
When Amtrak was started, I was only interested in getting the
_Montrealer_
re-instated so I could avoid driving from my new home in Vermont to family in Connecticut. It is easy to look back and say Amtrak should have been done differently: it has performed the task of "place holder" for passenger rail but that is about it. Those were dark days for railroads, but we are now in a very different world: then I paid 16 cents a gallon for fuel oil to heat my drafty Vermont farm house! Today, we have 75 million boomers aging out; they control about 75% of the nations wealth, they love to travel, they are fit but getting more prone to medical situations, they have "done it all" and want to continue to have adventures, they enjoy creature comforts and are enjoying being grandparents. This is not a market block to be ignored, it is not solely a market for "luxury train travel;" it is a major component of the traveling public which does not opt for speed alone, but which prefers reasonable mode frequency, reasonable adherence to published schedules, reasonable and clean accommodations, reasonable food, accessible and accommodating equipment and a minimum of hassle…
 
My friend, the late Paul Weyrich, had all the conservative credentials a person could have; and he was a strong voice for passenger rail and trolley ("light rail") as well as integration of inter- and intra-urban service. This problem, this opportunity, must be addressed without falling back on old reasons not to, and [there must be a way we can] come together with fresh ideas on how to really run the railroad.
 
Now, on to the news.

The _San Mateo County Times_ reported on 27 May that

Caltrain officials have convinced federal safety authorities to allow quick European-style electric trains to zip from San Francisco to San Jose… common in Europe, the smaller electric trains… [had been considered] unsafe. But after three years of tests and research, Caltrain will become the first railroad in the nation to use the technology after being granted a waiver… [this] will essentially be a pilot operation for the trains, called electric multiple units. If successful, commuter railroads and planned high-speed rail networks throughout the nation would have access to cheaper, greener and faster trains…
 
Even with several restrictions, the advent of modern equipment used successfully and safely for years elsewhere around the globe is a huge step forward for the implementation of regional rail lines around and between American cities.

For those who saw the Ayn Rand quote last week as being "the politics of the past," we turn to Paul Merrion 's article in Chicago Business this June 10th, regarding high-speed rail (emphasis mine):

In a move that reportedly "stunned" the rail industry, the Federal Railroad Administration last month proposed stiff terms for the grant agreements that railroads must sign with states to get funding to upgrade their rail systems… Among other things,
*the FRA said railroads must be required to pay, without limit, for any further improvements or fixes needed to meet on-time performance goals*
set out in the grant agreements, or else pay back the federal grants.Even Boston-based non-profit, National Corridors Initiative Inc., a high-speed rail advocacy group, questioned whether that is feasible."While the objective of these guidelines — to protect the taxpayer against the (mis)use of their money when federally assisted railroad projects are built — is a valid one, the prescriptive, punitive nature of the proposed FRA regulations are and will be non-starters for any normal businessperson who has to carefully assess projects for risks to his company, or face the wrath of his stockholders," the group said in a statement on its Web site…
 
The FRA holds over the railroads, not just the billions in high-speed rail grants effectively controlled by Amtrak, but also the impending imposition of Positive Train Control (PTC), a worthwhile safety and capacity improvement but one that will cost billions and take years. It is still not certain how much of PTC the railroads are expected to shell out of their own pockets. Is the Obama administration seriously going to require the railroads to pay _any_ price so Amtrak can operate its government-funded high speed trains?

In parallel developments, concerning the Gulf oil spill, "Obama said he had no interest in undermining the value of BP" (Reuters story, 12 June 2010), but meanwhile "U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday BP should be subjected to unlimited liability costs and should pay all damage claims" (Reuters story, 11 June 2010). How can one impose unlimited liability without undermining industry? What person or corporation in their right mind would continue operating under those conditions?

(Caution: Ayn Rand reference follows; the timid may avert their gaze.)

In _Atlas Shrugged_, Rand populates her dystopia with officials who do not understand how the world works. Rand's bureaucrats have only ever ridden, as a Mr. Guthrie would put it, "their fathers' magic carpet made of steel," never seeing the engineering brain-power and the technical muscle-power behind a railway, imagining that trains function by magic, that oil pumps itself, that commerce and industry exist in a mythical land of everlasting continuation unaffected by taxes, regulation, and legislation. Rand posits a government whose popular and well-intentioned enactments "for the public good" strangle commerce and industry, slowly as a gentle flurry at first, finally escalating to a murderous avalanche.

Arthur Laffer explained in the _Wall Street Journal_ one June 6th why this neverland of perpetual sameness does not exist:

People can change the volume, the location and the composition of their income, and they can do so in response to changes in government policies… It has always amazed me how tax cuts don't work until they take effect. Mr. Obama's experience with deferred tax rate increases will be the reverse. The economy will collapse in 2011.
 
Dire predictions of impending doom aside, will the Obama administration, having already started down the dystopian road (One of the characters in Rand's 1957 book asks, When they nationalized health care, did anyone ask what the _doctors_ wanted?), truly enact scorched-earth policies in one economy sector after another? If so, look for oil and rail executives to be among the first to relocate to Galt's Gulch.

Back in the high speed arena,

Amtrak announced it is reorganizing and establishing a new department to pursue opportunities to develop new intercity high-speed rail service in select corridors around the country…
 
"Amtrak is the unparalleled leader in high-speed rail operations in America today and we intend to be major player in the development and operation of new corridors," said President and CEO Joseph Boardman…
 
–
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobS...30_Amtrak_Reorg_to_Advance_HSR_in_America.pdfAmtrak press release, 22 March 2010
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobS...30_Amtrak_Reorg_to_Advance_HSR_in_America.pdf
 
Aside from the omission of a word (does Amtrak intend to be
_*a*_
major player, or
_*the (only*_
) major player?), does it not sound as if Amtrak might be jockeying for a near-monopoly in high speed rail? Will we see a resuscitation of the dead corpse of its former monopoly over all intercity trains, moved to HSR? Prior to the passage of S.738, the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, U.S. Code:
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/49C247.txtUS Code, Title 49, section 24701(b) read
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/49C247.txt(emphasis mine): "Except as provided in section 24306 of this title, a person may provide intercity rail passenger transportation over a route over which Amtrak provides scheduled intercity rail passenger transportation under a contract under section 401(a) of the Act
*only with the consent of Amtrak*
."
 
The "monopoly clause" indeed prevented state agencies as well as private companies from even talking to railroads about running passenger trains. Would Amtrak have approved trains like New Mexico's RailRunner? Doubtful. Certainly not in the short time it took from its announcement to the first cue for the "Meep-meep!" of the RailRunner departure door chimes.

That provision having been rescinded, will the liability issue now be how private operators are forced out of business?

Perhaps echoing liability concerns voiced frequently by North America's Class I freight railroads, Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman has cited similar concerns "emerging as a significant obstacle to the improvement of existing passenger rail service and the development of new, including high speed and intercity corridor, passenger rail service in the United States."
 
Boardman, in a five-page letter to four congressional leaders dated Feb. 26, says in part, "The core of the problem is the unwillingness or inability of a growing number of entities, including states and other public bodies, to enter into the kind of agreements for risk allocation … and/or to purchase insurance at all or at sufficient levels …"
 
"Moreover, the attitude from a number of private parties and state entities alike seems to be that Amtrak, in significant part because of its federal funding, should assume the greater share or risk of liability." That, Boardman warned, could curtail or terminate state-supported services Amtrak currently provides…
 
–
http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/amtrak-to-congress-liability-is-a-nationwide-concern.htmlRailway Age, 2 March 2010
http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/amtrak-to-congress-liability-is-a-nationwide-concern.html
 
Airlines are feeling a similar pinch. According to Susan Stellin in the _New York Times_ , this 7 June, reporting from the first meeting of the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee, air travel will look much different within half a decade. Small cities will continue to lose air service, or at best will have ever-fewer flights at ever-higher prices, while some large cities with aggregated volume will see volumes above today's and low prices from further rate wars.

…Glenn Tilton, United's chairman, stated it more bluntly: "There are clearly going to be winning cities and losing cities," he said, addressing the fact that the industry cannot sustain service to destinations that don't have the passengers to fill planes…
 
High speed trains have the same problem as airplanes: They just do not serve enough places. California's governor Schwarzenegger has proposed running a "high speed lite" train before he leaves office. Here is what Noel Braymer of RailPAC [12] has to say in a letter to the _Los Angeles Times_:

According to the letter signed by the Governor, it looks like there are plans to run rail service between Los Angeles and San Diego by November in about 2 hours. It looks like the new train would only have 3 stops at Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Diego. Just dropping the six other intermediate stops would save 30 to 36 minutes on the current schedule of 2 hours 40 minutes.
 
Generally express trains are not successful. By skipping stops such trains also loses the business from those stations. Amtrak has tried several express trains and they have all failed. A local example of this was the
_San Diegan Metroliner_
which ran for about a year starting in September of 1984. It rarely carried more than a busload of passengers. It lost the traffic the other trains carried from the skipped stations. There was only one train a day leaving Los Angeles for San Diego in the morning and returning in the afternoon. Saving 10 minutes wasn't worth the extra money for passengers if the return train ran at an inconvenient time. Another problem with the Metroliner was most cities with train stations lost a train to run this new train. Many of these cities had gone to great trouble to build new or rebuilt their stations and had not been consulted about this decision. These cities were not happy…
 
Precisely this same scenario is playing with the English Javelin trains, the California HSR project, the Florida HSR, and soon coming to a minor city near you whose airport terminal will lose scheduled flights.

Looking back to Mr. Garnet's thoughts about the vital market distinction of rail, clearly the nation's towns and smaller cities, the ones left without air service, and nowadays without even bus service or anything at all, are the market for regular passenger trains. Even fifty or a hundred years of mangled government transportation policy cannot hide the basic utility and need of trains over cars and airplanes. The difficulty will be to create something that works more like a free market, replacing today's lack of choice or hope for too many towns and people.

The way forward involves tort reform, reasonable liability caps, and getting government back to _governing_, not operating, passenger trains. The same prescription holds for the freight railroads, the oil industry, even our highway and airway systems. This involves the dreaded "C" word — Change — and nobody much likes change; not lawyers, not unions, not management, not stockholders, and certainly not government.

We had better get started quickly.


----------



## Guest

Well, there he goes again as St. Ronnie would say! More right wing propoganda from kookie dead "conservatives"!

He might as well be quoting Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck, this nonsense is what caused our current economic mess!

I think we all thought, at first, that the new approach to this Newsletter was a breath of fresh air! Has there ever been a worse time for touting the free market, tax cuts and pie in the sky economic schemes that lead to disaster than today!

Maybe this idiot would be happy if George Bush was put in charge of Amtrak, or heaven forbid, back in the White House busy ruining the economy again! Trains yes, kookie right wing economics no!


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## Larry H.

While I supported this administrations goals of improved rail service your correct about the sad way in which government has tended to become overly interested in controlling all aspects of anything they touch which I fear as mentioned is leading to a melt down in our free enterprise system. Unfortunately the backlash to this power grab is likely to be a rather large change in direction yet again which may leave many of the otherwise good plans in the dust. Amtrak like interstate highways and FFA operations should be non partisan necessities, but I fear it won't turn out that way if the picture changes yet again. If it has to be for the good of the country I am resigned to it, but it could prove a huge disappointment for those who favor rail travel.


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## Trogdor

Actually, I'd say the "free enterprise system" led to its own meltdown.


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## jis

What I find truly fascinating is the amount of tears that are shed about "Free Enterprise", when the reality is that the US has been an oligopoly for a long time with large industry and government playing together hand in hand most of the time, all paying occasional lip service to the common man and small business, but behaving very often to the detriment of the common man and small business. The same people rotate back and forth from government leadership positions to industry leadership positions, and yet there is almost a religious belief among some that they behave differently when in the industry than in the government. C'est la vie!


----------



## Ryan

jis said:


> What I find truly fascinating is the amount of tears that are shed about "Free Enterprise", when the reality is that the US has been an oligopoly for a long time with large industry and government playing together hand in hand most of the time, all paying occasional lip service to the common man and small business, but behaving very often to the detriment of the common man and small business. The same people rotate back and forth from government leadership positions to industry leadership positions, and yet there is almost a religious belief among some that they behave differently when in the industry than in the government. C'est la vie!


One of the most insightful posts in the thread. In light of the recent Supreme Court decision rolling back campaign finance laws in favor of "corporate free speech" (whatever the hell that's supposed to mean), it's becoming pretty obvious that our government "by the people, for the people" is now "by the corporation, for the corporation" and us little folks get left behind.


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## Larry H.

Ryan said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> 
> What I find truly fascinating is the amount of tears that are shed about "Free Enterprise", when the reality is that the US has been an oligopoly for a long time with large industry and government playing together hand in hand most of the time, all paying occasional lip service to the common man and small business, but behaving very often to the detriment of the common man and small business. The same people rotate back and forth from government leadership positions to industry leadership positions, and yet there is almost a religious belief among some that they behave differently when in the industry than in the government. C'est la vie!
> 
> 
> 
> One of the most insightful posts in the thread. In light of the recent Supreme Court decision rolling back campaign finance laws in favor of "corporate free speech" (whatever the hell that's supposed to mean), it's becoming pretty obvious that our government "by the people, for the people" is now "by the corporation, for the corporation" and us little folks get left behind.
Click to expand...

Lets not forget that many of us are invested though our retirement programs to those very companies we like to think are not owned by real people like us.

That said I must concede that the destruction of the manufacturing in this country which used to offer employment to many types of people has pretty much ended ways of life for way too many common american workers. That too perhaps is somewhat our fault with our ever growing insistence on lowered prices which over time forced american companies to find cheaper ways to sell to us, or go out of business. I know that isn't the entire story, but almost all items that end up made somewhere else usually have a problem competing at the wage structure here. Yes I am sure that the companies are happy to then report increased profits, but that is what drives the value of our mutual and retirement funds. Its a complicated weave of problems not so easily pinned on any one thing. Globalization in my mind is a fraud and only destroys our ability to produce our own needs and remain strong.


----------



## Ryan

Larry H. said:


> Lets not forget that many of us are invested though our retirement programs to those very companies we like to think are not owned by real people like us.


Sounds like a pretty poor investment decision, rather than a reason to prop up the power of those companies then. What influence do you wield over that company by virtue of your "ownership" of it?


> Globalization in my mind is a fraud and only destroys our ability to produce our own needs and remain strong.


Quite the opposite, it's called specialization and it's a good thing. Why waste money building something here when you can build it for cheaper overseas. If we had an educational system worth a crap, instead of life in a factory, people can aspire to more worthwhile pursuits.


----------



## Trogdor

Ryan said:


> Quite the opposite, it's called specialization and it's a good thing. Why waste money building something here when you can build it for cheaper overseas.


The only reasons it is cheaper to build stuff overseas are because the workers aren't paid jack, and there are few, if any, regulations governing things such as environmental impacts, worker treatment, etc. The only thing places like China "specialize" in is cheap labor (and turning a blind eye to environmental abuse).

Certain types of food are cheaper to produce in some areas vs. others because the land and/or climate are better suited for it. That kind of specialization is legitimate. However, there's no real need to have certain countries "specialize" in manufacturing unless the raw materials are in abundant supply in that country, but not here.

If you apply equivalent human rights and environmental standards, the advantages of their "specialization" go away pretty quickly.



> If we had an educational system worth a crap, instead of life in a factory, people can aspire to more worthwhile pursuits.


I'll agree that our educational system is broken, but it really goes deeper than that (think families, parents, lifestyle habits such as TV watching, etc.). Such details would be going way beyond the scope of this forum (as if we're not there, already).

But, I wonder what you mean by "more worthwhile pursuits." First of all, with 10% unemployment and who knows how much underemployment, combined with all of the idle manufacturing capacity in this country, having stuff produced here would be a good thing, and would definitely fuel the economy.

Secondly, I actually take offense to your implication that physical labor is not worthwhile. After all the planners, designers, engineers, consultants, etc., have planned, designed, engineered, and borrowed your watch to tell you the time, someone actually has to build the damn thing. Otherwise, all of that "worthwhile" work becomes worthless.

Further, manufacturing is one of the few economic activities that produces something tangible, something "real." It's also one of the few that actually can result in an income to your city/state/nation.

"Service" jobs generally don't bring in money from outside (except in tourist-heavy areas). If you lived in Seattle, you wouldn't send your dry cleaning to Atlanta. But you might buy a product that's manufactured in Atlanta, and so if Atlanta has manufacturing, they gain.

So, long-story short, don't knock manufacturing.


----------



## Larry H.

Ryan said:


> Larry H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> Lets not forget that many of us are invested though our retirement programs to those very companies we like to think are not owned by real people like us.
> 
> 
> 
> Sounds like a pretty poor investment decision, rather than a reason to prop up the power of those companies then. What influence do you wield over that company by virtue of your "ownership" of it?
> 
> 
> 
> Globalization in my mind is a fraud and only destroys our ability to produce our own needs and remain strong.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Quite the opposite, it's called specialization and it's a good thing. Why waste money building something here when you can build it for cheaper overseas. If we had an educational system worth a crap, instead of life in a factory, people can aspire to more worthwhile pursuits.
Click to expand...



I suggest as a rail fan you consider those empty huge mostly brick structures that one passes endlessly around any major city or town. Now consider the Janitors, Salesman, Foreman, Workers, Secretaries, Accountants, Electricians, Carpenters, Machinist, Advertising teams, Truck Drivers, Delivery People, Order takers, and then multiply that all the parts, power, equipment, agents, for every product that building would have needed to operate. It quickly becomes obvious why in the 50s we were among the greatest countries on earth with the best standard of living and many other things. Its not lost on me that all those positions now lost are one of the reasons we were so great.

And the schools, well in the days of the one room school which my parents attended everyone could read, write and do math and learned how to treat others with respect. You can't say the same for the ever increasing expenditures made today on education. Some as mentioned is due to the students and lack of commitment that used to be the standard when learning was seen as a way to improve your life, not how to see everything as a flat plane with nothing worth more than anything or one else.


----------



## Ryan

Trogdor said:


> But, I wonder what you mean by "more worthwhile pursuits."


Find a cure for cancer. Build better and faster computers. Develop clean energy solutions that are actually viable. Things that would improve the quality of life and use our natural resources more efficiently. I'm not saying that we should completely abandon manufacturing totally, but saying that there are better things that we can devote our resources to. I certainly agree that we shouldn't discount human rights and environmental concerns, but they can be dealt with without keeping all the manufacturing in house.


Larry H. said:


> It quickly becomes obvious why in the 50s we were among the greatest countries on earth with the best standard of living and many other things. Its not lost on me that all those positions now lost are one of the reasons we were so great.


You're chasing a flawed ideal - we're every bit as great now as we were in the '50s. In many ways, we're in a far, far better place than we were 50 years ago. Bemoaning the loss of manufacturing is akin to bemoaning the fact that we now don't have to raise our own food, or make things ourselves. We've got better skilled things that we can set out to do.


----------



## Larry H.

Ryan said:


> Trogdor said:
> 
> 
> 
> But, I wonder what you mean by "more worthwhile pursuits."
> 
> 
> 
> Find a cure for cancer. Build better and faster computers. Develop clean energy solutions that are actually viable. Things that would improve the quality of life and use our natural resources more efficiently. I'm not saying that we should completely abandon manufacturing totally, but saying that there are better things that we can devote our resources to. I certainly agree that we shouldn't discount human rights and environmental concerns, but they can be dealt with without keeping all the manufacturing in house.
> 
> 
> Larry H. said:
> 
> 
> 
> It quickly becomes obvious why in the 50s we were among the greatest countries on earth with the best standard of living and many other things. Its not lost on me that all those positions now lost are one of the reasons we were so great.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> You're chasing a flawed ideal - we're every bit as great now as we were in the '50s. In many ways, we're in a far, far better place than we were 50 years ago. Bemoaning the loss of manufacturing is akin to bemoaning the fact that we now don't have to raise our own food, or make things ourselves. We've got better skilled things that we can set out to do.
Click to expand...

I would find your theory flawed. An economy such as one in which we are more self reliant seems to be able to find jobs for a much wider range of skilled and un skilled workers of which there is always going to be a need. To many are being left behind or with no jobs at all in this every diminishing jobs situation continues.

If I buy from you and you hire people locally to build and provide the products and then you spend your profits on more goods made here you keep the money cycling within our economic systems. When we continue to send our money to places like China we are building the strength of their economic system all the while depriving our citizens the use of the money that would have stayed here. Worse yet is we had become so government top heavy that we have to borrow that money back and China now owns more of our economy than anyone. We can not possibly be better off, more secure or more independent if our every move is now tied to our borrowing abroad.

One other thing you are overlooking. Just think of the rail conversations here about where are we going to purchase new rail equipment. Many want to go with European or even Chinese made train sets now. Why? Because we no longer have the manufacturing plants geared to making this type of heavy large rail equipment. If you have any sense of history, you will see that in all magazines from the World War II era the ads for nearly every major manufacture, nearly all of which are now gone, were geared to making things necessary to win and protect our country.. Now if we were massively attacked, ( and china is building its armies along with others), we would be rather dependent on other countries for the money and goods to fight back. Not a good place to be and perhaps a fatal one.

Clean energy is another pie in the sky.. Try flying across the ocean, or driving 300 miles without oil! You can't! And the day when we can is not very close. All those who wish to eliminate oil and coal from our lives should immediately do so. They could at once cut a great deal of the usage, but till its a viable and comparable expense then leave the rest of us alone. I am not against alternate energy, in fact I think Solar and Wind are great ideas have long admired them but I am not so stupid as to think they are going to power all the cars in this and other countries anytime soon. Nor are the capable of heating our homes in zero weather, or run our air conditioners, (I personally don't use one). When they are able to do so it will be wonderful, but its not reality and that is where this whole left wing push falls short.


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## MrFSS

Seen this ad?


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## Ryan

Larry, you're taking my statements to a ridiculous extreme to create a strawman. I never said that we should do no manufacturing (in fact I said the opposite), and I never said that "clean energy" = "use no coal or oil".

Sure it makes sense to make some things here, but manufacturing isn't the only thing that we can do and it isn't what makes America great. Past that, it's not worth discussing with you until you can actually respond to what I write and not go off the rails ranting about whatever you feel like I've written. Complaining about goods being manufactured overseas is about as worthwhile as complaining that we no longer have to devote 100% of our time and energy towards providing food and shelter for ourselves.


----------



## jis

Larry H. said:


> I suggest as a rail fan you consider those empty huge mostly brick structures that one passes endlessly around any major city or town. Now consider the Janitors, Salesman, Foreman, Workers, Secretaries, Accountants, Electricians, Carpenters, Machinist, Advertising teams, Truck Drivers, Delivery People, Order takers, and then multiply that all the parts, power, equipment, agents, for every product that building would have needed to operate. It quickly becomes obvious why in the 50s we were among the greatest countries on earth with the best standard of living and many other things. Its not lost on me that all those positions now lost are one of the reasons we were so great.


There are a couple of other global factors that come into play. In the late 50s most of the rest of the world was either recovering from their self-destruction in the second world war and the colonies had not quite been liberated fully and stood up on their own two feet yet, and even those that had were busy flirting around with random Utopian theories of governance. The US was in a position where they had essentially zero competition and was the supplier of the world, and able to dictate terms of the trade in most cases. It could essentially get almost any price it asked for, for its goods. It did not for maintaining its lifestyle hopelessly depend on business partners who were inherently unbstable and at some level hell bent on causing harm to it.

Needless to say the situation is a little different now. Europe has recovered from the war fully and is resurgent. The erstwhile colonies, many of them are self sufficient and growing faster than the developed world. They have given up flirting with Utopian social theories and are taking pragmatic approach to business, while the developed world is busy getting itself mired into flirting with Utopian social theories of their own while ceasing to be pragmatic. And all this while maintaining the current lifestyle inherently requires funding questionable business partners to the tune of many millions of dollars a day which can then be used to turn the engines of harm targeted at the US.

So it is not clear to me that the loss of those positions caused the current situation. Perhaps it is the other way round that the evolution of the global situation is what caused the loss of those positions. Just something to think about.


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## Larry H.

JIS

That basically was what I was attempting to say. That the loss of those jobs was due to moving our factories from within to external sources, mainly for cheaper labor.

The Idea as well that were part of a global economy now so we are trapped in a new dimension is not totally unchangeable in my mind. If the public were purchasing our products and they could be made for reasonable prices, not highly inflated prices from a labor stand point, we might be able afford our own things and create lots of jobs once again. That is perhaps unlikely but its part of the problem to me.


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## MrFSS

Volume 7, Number 18

July 31st, 2010
​

First off, some unfinished business: Amtrak leadership. We hear from the UTU that the contract of Amtrak's President Joseph Boardman has been extended to 2013, leaving only the Amtrak Board incomplete for the upcoming year.

The Board is now more populated than at any time since the Clinton administration, but one opening remains. Representation of the West has been less than sparse in recent decades, and somewhat surprisingly comes news that both Senators from the State of California, and 24 of her United States Representatives, noticed this fact and sent a letter to President B. H. Obama, calling for the lone open seat to be filled by a Californian:

*CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES*
 
July 7, 2010
 
President Barack H. Obama
 
Dear Mr. President:
 
We write you today to urge you to consider a qualified individual from California with a clear understanding of the unique California Amtrak system as you make nominations for the remaining vacancy to the Amtrak Board of Directors. Currently, no states west of Texas are represented on the board.
 
The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 states that the President shall "try to provide adequate and balanced representation of the major geographic regions of the United States served by Amtrak" when nominating members to the board. As it stands, no such balanced representation exists. The lack of geographical diversity on the board is contrary to Amtrak's authorizing language.
 
California has the highest Amtrak usage of any state in the country. In 2009, one in five of Amtrak's 27 million passengers rode in California. Three of the top six most traveled routes in Amtrak's system are in our state. In addition, California's Amtrak system has a unique and highly successful partnership with the State, and California is likely to be the first to integrate the needs of high speed rail and Amtrak. We believe that with seven voting members appointed by the President, at least one individual with expertise in California's passenger rail system is warranted.
 
The role of passenger rail is as vital to the West as it is historic. We urge you to consider Amtrak's significant presence in California by nominating a qualified Californian to the Board of Directors. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
 
Sincerely,
 
(signatures by the following)
 
*U.S.*
* Senators*
: Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer
 
*Members of Congress*
: Jane Harman, George Miller, John Garamendi, Henry Waxman, Linda Sanchez, Jackie Speier, Zoe Lofgren, Mike Honda, Adam Schiff, Lois Capps, Jim Costa, Judy Chu, Laura Richardson, Bob Filner, Diane Watson, Brian Bilbray, Ken Calvert, Jerry McNerney, Grace Napolitano, Mike Thompson, Gary Miller, Dennis Cardoza, Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Loretta Sanchez
 
It is a testament to the many who have created the California rail renaissance that members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are increasingly taking notice.

Looking eastward, the anticipated _Sunset Limited_ service changes have neither proceeded, nor failed to proceed. The town of Maricopa (in Pinal County, not Maricopa County which contains Phoenix) has protested against a schedule change, on the not unreasonable grounds of public safety. The poorly designed depot there has a platform far too short for the _Sunset_ to stop, so the train will stop once to change crews, move a hundred feet or so, stop for the first sleeper, move again, stop for the coaches, and so on. This can take ten or even twenty minutes, during which time the train blocks the state highway and bisects the town, isolating new homes from the fire department and causing large traffic jams.

The Arizona Rail Passenger Association passed a resolution in support of daily service, but something needs to be done about Maricopa. Something like finding a way for the train to directly serve America's fifth largest city of Phoenix, perhaps.

Now to the eastern seaboard, where there is excitement in Virginia over a new train which has received state funding. The Commonwealth seeks to create an entirely new route between Norfolk, and Petersburg, just south of Richmond, and on into the Northeast Corridor to Boston. You can read the Executive Summary at the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation site.

Norfolk, the huge military and industrial hub, is part of southeast Virginia's sprawling Hampton Roads region, which includes major population centers on two sides of the James River and the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Included are Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, and Newport News. Any of these cities by themselves are larger than most stops in the Amtrak system. Newport News has always had Amtrak service, including two daily trains today. But, it takes an Amtrak Thruway bus connection to make it across the bridge into Norfolk.

John Lee writes us,

There is much to like about this proposal, but one key flaw.
 
A piece of railroad track owned by Norfolk Southern, which hasn't seen passenger service since the 1950s when it was the Norfolk & Western Railway, will again be hosting a daily passenger train. The train will originate in the City of Norfolk, which itself by any passenger rail carrier has not seen service since well before Amtrak.
 
Norfolk at one time was a major passenger rail hub, especially during World War II when the Navy and other military were the predominant force in the Hampton Roads area. Norfolk had a large, grand station, which included an office tower above the head house. Sadly, that structure, when only about 50 years old, was destroyed in the name of urban renewal for downtown Norfolk in the destructive years of the 1960s, as was the fate of the Pennsylvania Station in New York City.
 
In the 21st Century, Norfolk is building a new station for new service. But, the flaw in the service being commenced by Virginia and Amtrak is the train will begin in Norfolk, and after stopping about 10 miles out at Bower's Hill, travel non-stop, first west and then north -- right through the highly populated city of Suffolk -- to Richmond, the state capital.
 
Suffolk, a city of 67,000, is eleven miles west of Bower's Hill but (according to Google Maps) a twenty-five minute drive away. The train also will pass through Windsor (population 3,000), Wakefield (a town of about a thousand, the "Peanut Capital of the World" and home of the famous Virginia Diner), and Waverly (population 2,300) without stopping.
 
There is an incorrect expectation that potential Suffolk passengers will drive east to take a train west and north. Under the current plan, all the population in the five farm counties - about 100 miles worth - between Suffolk and Richmond which have no other means of transportation other than surface road transportation and a couple small airfields, are ignored.
 
The two trains to Newport News will continue to operate, and enjoy intermediate stop business at the tourism mecca of Colonial Williamsburg. Petersburg will continue to have service for the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Palmetto, and Carolinean. But, it is again going to be a classic example of "you can't get there from here" for Norfolk and the surrounding countryside.
 
Virginia officials are enthusiastic about spending $93 million of state monies to start this service, and it's a good start. They proclaim a second frequency will soon come, after the first frequency shows its chops, as the new service on the westerly Norfolk Southern line between Lynchburg and the Northeast Corridor has shown. But, the Lynchburg service, which is showing a profit (no state subsidies required since ridership and revenue is much above projections), also has the second frequency provided by the Crescent. The new Norfolk service is only one frequency in the beginning.
 
As this plan goes forward, and, so far, most of the plan has been sound, will Virginia and Amtrak entertain modifying their plan to allow other areas to provide local stations? Suffolk certainly is large enough to warrant a station, and at least one of the other towns along the route should be considered for a truly regional service.
 
For decades, people serious about passenger rail have clamored for more than one station stop in major metropolitan areas. In Florida, the Central Florida/Orlando area has four Amtrak stops in less of the geographic area than the new Virginia service, and all of those stops produce good ridership. Yet, just down the track, in Tampa, that huge area, comparable to Hampton Roads, only has two stops, and the rest are serviced by Amtrak Thruway busses. Tampa could easily support at least one more metropolitan area stop in Plant City.
 
"Build it and they will come" is true to a certain extent. The new Norfolk to Richmond to Boston service is a good start, and it should enjoy decent ridership. But, what is being left on the table? If at least two more stops were added, which would only add to operating costs in a minuscule way (It does cost diesel fuel to stop and restart a train), how much more ridership and revenue would be gained?
 
This is a state subsidized train, which means Other People's Money is being used to start the service and maintain the service. When using OPM, it is always best to look at all possible scenarios to make every dollar spent work as hard as possible to create revenue to repay that dollar as quickly as possible.
 
 
Next time, we intend to look at Republican U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry's call to allegedly save $1.2 billion over a decade by axing Amtrak's first class service.

William Lindley


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## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak; 2010-09-13*
​

September 10th, 2010
​

After a slow August in the world of passenger rail, we return to a busy soon-to-be autumn.According to Fred Frailey in TRAINS magazine,

Union Pacific has told Amtrak that changing the
_Sunset Limited_
's frequency from tri-weekly to daily will cost the government-supported company about $750 million in capital improvements.
 
That's almost as much as Phoenix spent building an entirely new 20-mile "light rail" system — including two large bridges and a complete modern maintenance facility and fifty computer-controlled trolley cars. We eagerly await U.P.'s wish-list. One wonders, once you spend some millions to restore a missing connection at San Antonio to eliminate back-up moves, add a couple formerly removed station tracks at places like Tucson, add a bridge here and some signals there … how do you come up with three-quarters of a billion dollars to run one train once a day?

Meanwhile, Berkshire's BNSF issued a two-part $750 million bond, $250 million for a 10-year period at 3.616% and a 30-year $500 million part at 5.074%, both paying a premium over Treasury bonds.

In his annual letter to shareholders, Berkshire chief Warren Buffett wrote: "Overall, we expect this regulated sector to deliver significantly increased earnings over time, albeit at the cost of our investing many tens — yes, tens — of billions of dollars of incremental equity capital…" So the same dollar figure that U.P. wants for one passenger train, it seems, is the same as BNSF's first installment in sprucing up its entire system. Does one of those numbers seem a bit off?

Next, to Ohio, where Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich has "vowed to kill the 3C plan if elected." This train, which would connect Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland, is in line for a $25 million for a preliminary study. Kasich and his advisors apparently are fretting over the $400 million starting price tag, and continuing state outlays. One does wonder, where is one penny of income from Ohio's libraries? From Ohio's fire departments? From Ohio's superhighways? Oh, you say they result in increased education, decreased property losses, and increased economic and social activity, right? So why do we not frame trains in the same way? What is the cost of a trip not taken…

Yet we rail advocates find ourselves in a nasty predicament. Every time good work gets done, as in Ohio, toward a new train… or in Boise… or anywhere across the country where cities and states who want better transportation, and the social and economic benefits that stem from trains… Every time new Amtrak service is proposed, the price is so high and the service to be so slim that nothing ever happens. A year ago we looked at Amtrak's Ohio report, one of three wrong-think reports issued around that time. We saw how "Amtrak really doesn't want to be in the passenger railroad business" and, although there were some hopeful signs in subsequent months, we seem still stuck in the same doldrums as for the past 40 years.

One correspondent writes,

Amtrak's complaints are so ingrained in politicians' and voters' minds that when some good public relations is needed, the cupboard is not only bare, but snarling back at those seeking relief.
 
Another writes that Amtrak,

has spent most of the last forty years not only saying, but proving, that passenger rail is a fiscal sinkhole. Needless to say the green eye-shade brigade in state capitals that must produce a
_balanced_
state budget every year takes on massive new obligations only with trepidation.
 
Add to this carriers like Union Pacific pulling massive numbers, some might think out of a hat, but perhaps out of reasonable expectations based on past dismal performance of a government-run passenger railroad, and here we sit, stalled again.

Perhaps the most excellent description of the conundrum is Steve Forbes' recent commentary on high-speed rail. Forbes, logically unconvinced by what trains _might_ be able to do, looks at projects like the Acela so-called high speed train which have failed to deliver on practically any of their promises, and at the cost of billions including a hidden billion-dollar loan from Canada… and rightly asks, Where is the benefit? Forbes doesn't see any. And without benefit, what is the point of pouring billions more dollars into it? At some point, there have to be _results_. Call it _return on investment_.

To succeed in business, to succeed in the real world, you have to *become indispensable*. Apple has done that. Google has done that. Some might say Amtrak seems to have concentrated on becoming irrelevant.

Perhaps the renaissance of passenger trains will have to occur from the bottom up. USA Today reports that Denver has broken ground for its commuter train to the International Airport that replaced Stapleton Field. This is to be the long-anticipated first of four commuter lines radiating from Union Station which will complement Denver's light-rail system. The article continues,

Denver joins a growing list of U.S. airports that are trying to promote public rail transportation. Others that will be connected directly via rail in the coming years include Dallas Love Field, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, Oakland, Washington Dulles and Los Angeles.
 
An AP newswire story tells how even Arizona is planning on a commuter and regional train system:

"It will not be possible to accommodate growth and avoid traffic congestion by improving roadways alone, so passenger rail should become a key component of the Sun Corridor transportation system," the draft plan stated, referring to a planning area that stretches from Prescott on the north to Nogales on the south and includes both Phoenix and Tucson.
 
Phoenix is seeing results with its Metro trains, with monthly averages up to 44,000 daily riders, far above the projected 26,500, and continuing year-over-year increases. With few exceptions, every city that has built a rail system in the past decades has met or exceeded expectations, and brought new development and a renewed sense of place and community pride. The cost has shown its benefit. Why should there be any different standard for intercity trains?

Finally, as promised, this on first-class accomodations.

*AMTRAK SLEEPING CARS ARE THE BEST VALUE AMTRAK OWNS*

Commentary by Andrew C. Selden and Randy Schlotthauer, URPA

Note: This item was on (Congressman) Eric Cantor's list of budget cuts he wants people to vote on. Only 48% of respondents to the poll favored the idea, but on Thursday, July 22, Mr. Cantor and some of his followers appeared on the floor of the U.S. House to extol the desirability of this cut. An amendment to a pending bill was introduced to implement the idea, but was rejected 234-179. We asked Mr. Selden and Mr. Schlotthauer to comment on the reasons this idea was not a good one. – Russ Jackson

Eric Cantor: "Prohibit 'First-Class' Subsidies on Amtrak; Potential savings of $1.2 billion over ten years. While only 16 percent of Amtrak long-distance passengers opt for "sleeper class" travel, as opposed to coach class, federal taxpayers provide substantial extra subsidies for this first class travel. Passengers in long-distance first class travel are provided a sleeping room, many with a private toilet and shower, turn-down service, and complimentary entertainment and pre-paid food. Yet, Amtrak loses more than twice as much per passenger (an average of $396) for first class service as compared to coach class service. These losses are made up by taxpayers. This proposal would eliminate subsidies for first-class service and require Amtrak to provide any first class service at cost."

Andrew C. Selden: The issue is the corrupt Amtrak RPS-based internal MIS/cost accounting system. Large subsidies to western sleepers are an artifact, if not an intentional distortion, caused by the system, not the business activity. We can show (and have often done so) that these sleepers are substantial net contributors of free cash flow to Amtrak, failing only to cover arbitrarily allocated shares of other system, not operating, costs, only some of which are even indirectly related to the operation of these services.

The Superliner sleeping car, measured by business economic factors like return on capital investment, load factor, revenue per dollar invested, etc., is the best thing Amtrak owns. These members of Congress should look closely at actual sleeping car fares out west, where many passengers are paying thousands of dollars for a single trip. There is NO POSSIBILITY that these fares are losing money on a direct cost basis. The catch is always to audit deeply what costs Amtrak is charging against the sleeping car revenues to determine that a loss exists in the first place. That is where the members of Congress were being conned.

The collateral issue is the subsidy that these sleepers provide to the dining cars. FIRST, diners are indispensable to all travelers on LD trains, where the AVERAGE trip runs 15-20 hours in duration (varying by route). These people therefore (including every coach passenger) are on board over two to four meal periods (and of course some for even more). Lose the diner, and you'll lose ALL the passengers, not just the "fat cat" families and retirees in the sleepers. The sleeper fare transfer to the diner is what keeps the diner on at all—by including meals in the sleeper fare, Amtrak guarantees a predictable base of revenue to the diner. Take away the sleepers and that fare transfer, and with the loss of sleeping car passengers (most of whom wouldn't be caught dead making a two or three day trip in coach) and their fare transfers to the diner, the diner would have to charge obscene prices that would drive out the remaining coach passengers, and without meals over two to three day trips, no one will ride and the trains would be empty.

If Congress wants to look for subsidies to first class riders, have them divide the Acela first class revenue by its proportionate share of the annual two-thirds of a billion dollars of subsidy "invested" each year into the NEC. Those numbers are real and staggering, even though Amtrak never reports them as such.

Randy Schlotthauer: Were it not for the frightening lack of concern by our government about the concerns of citizens, not to mention their misplacing of the Constitution (I have several copies of my own that I would be happy to donate to them), this entire debate over "first class" subsidies would be so tiresome that I would not be drawn to the laptop to respond to it. Those of us that have been involved with Amtrak since THE BEGINNING (that would be before many supporters and opponents were born) have seen this windmill tilted at every year. I remember when we were desperately phoning and writing politicians, interest groups, and anybody else that would listen over a $246M TOTAL SUBSIDY that promised that the pin would be pulled on October 1, (fill in the year). This was in the good old days when there were just two types of cars: Amfleet and everything else, which wasn't much. Though few of us at the time would have granted it, Amtrak President Graham Claytor managed to "modernize" the fleet with new equipment which in retrospect probably saved the LD trains, which we were convinced he was conspiring with THEM to eliminate.

Though designed with the promise and physical capability to deliver a high quality LD experience, through active sabotage by some crew members and a benign neglect (read: stupidity) on the part of management. None of the LD trains ever made full use of the features designed into the cars, and did not repair equipment that was damaged or stolen by passengers, crew, and the denizens of 16th St, 8th Street, and other "maintenance facilities". As a result, even the best attempts by individual route managers to ended up flowering and then all too soon downgraded due to budget cuts that often were the disguised jealousies of other route managers. Despite the efforts of the original RailPAC-URPA group to introduce market economic laws and theories to Amtrak and it's 485 owners, every year it was a battle for survival, with Amtrak management's RPS accounting system proving that they could be profitable if not for those nasty LD trains.

Never was enough capacity provided to even approach break even, which was all any serious advocate discussed. If every seat in every car on every train on every day were filled at the highest tariff fare, there would still be a loss. Even Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines) couldn't do anything with one triweekly plane to its largest potential markets. He recognized that planes (and trains too!) make money only if they are moving and filled with people. In fact Herb was one of Amtrak's greatest opponents, because he knew what a well run passenger railroad could do.

So today we are discussing the proposed elimination of the First Class Subsidy, in order to "save" the railroad. First of all, the last trip I took in a Deluxe Bedroom on #3 and #4 could not be called luxury by any stretch of the imagination. Indeed, Denny's offers superior food, service, and even entertainment (if you are at the right one at the right time of night). When you kill the sleepers you kill the diner and lounge. When you kill those, you are the Southern Pacific in the 1960′s, although this time there are not enough people that buy the line that America NEEDS Amtrak. I can build you a great case for a quality passenger rail service, including multiple classes of service. I can even build you a case of how you make it break even in 10 years. RailPAC-URPA's Dr. Adrian Herzog did the math a long time ago, and it still works. What I cannot do is build a case to justify an Amtrak First Class Subsidy for LD trains. There is corporate culture at Amtrak that would fight any attempts to a really make things work.


----------



## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak; 2010-09-20*
​

*The Cheese Sandwich Bill*

The absurd myth of the First Class Subsidy just won't die. Thanks to Amtrak-o-nomics, formerly known as the Route Profitability System, in which you add up every expense and divide by every income to create meaningless numbers, Amtrak's figures seem to suggest that coach passengers are subsidizing first class passengers, when in reality the opposite is true.

Nevertheless, Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, presumably taking Amtrak at its word, has introduced the Cheese Sandwich Bill, H.R. 4801 (link on Thomas) [1] which, taking the complaint *taxpayers are subsidizing linen turn-down service!* toward its logical extreme, surely leads to the complaint that *taxpayers are subsidizing steak in the diner!* and the demand that only government cheese sandwiches be served even on three-day long journeys. (And you had better not want mustard on your cheese sandwich.) Here is the text of the bill in question:


(a) Amendment- Chapter 243 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:


*Sec. 24317. Sleeper class service*

`(a) Pricing- Amtrak shall ensure that the fares charged for sleeper class service on all long-distance routes are priced to equal all of the operating costs for providing such service.


`(b) Discontinuance- Amtrak shall discontinue sleeper class service on any long distance route with respect to which total costs of such service exceed total revenue for such service for the first full fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of this section.


`© Funding Limitation- Amtrak may not use any funds provided by the Federal Government to subsidize sleeper class service.'.
David Carleton writes,

It's useful to look at the quantity of inventory in a sleeper as compared to a coach. A Viewliner sleeper has fifteen rooms, each with two bunks, so call that space for thirty passengers. An Amfleet 2 coach has 59 seats. So the sleeper has only half the inventory of the coach.
 
Based on the above, in order to keep the sleeping car passengers from receiving a higher subsidy in comparison to the coach passengers, then the sleeping car passengers would have to be paying more than twice what the coach passengers are. By every measure they are paying even more than that. Not only are the fares higher, but the average length of trip is much longer for sleeping car passengers causing the sleepers to enjoy a much more favorable load factor compared to the coaches.
 
Not to mention that one sleeping-car passenger needs less time with reservations agents than the equivalent two or three coach passengers. True, each sleeping car has one attendant, versus one per every two or three coaches, but the fact remains that sleeping car passengers are paying far more than their fair share.

The myth of the first-class subsidy is a direct result of dividing revenues by ridership — never mind the _potential_ revenues and economies of scale which might be possible from system expansion. Andrew Selden explained in this column last October [2]:

The most glaring example is Amtrak's endless blathering about "ridership." Ridership is only a measure of a sale transaction. It does not differentiate among the size of the sales. One "rider" from New Haven to Boston is, by this yardstick, exactly equal to one rider from Washington, D.C. to Boston, or even Los Angeles to Boston. Amtrak makes this worse by blurring useful sales data (ticket prices) into averages by which they measure (actually, it's just arithmetic, not really "measuring" anything) "yield," which is the average revenue per passenger mile on a train or route. This tends to reinforce the false belief any one passenger is pretty much the same as any other.
 
In an urban transit system where every passenger pays the same fare, that might be okay.
 
But on Amtrak, where a typical "corridor" customer might pay $10 to $30, but a family in a sleeper to the west coast could be paying $1,000 or more, these "riders" are decidedly unequal. Fifty of the former are less than two of the latter. But Amtrak is obsessively focused on "ridership."
 
A yardstick Amtrak tries to hide, and apparently never uses to make important resource allocation decisions, is load factor. Load factor is the percentage of your inventory you are able to sell. Airlines live and breathe load factor.
 
Load factor is available seat miles (total inventory) divided by revenue passenger miles (seat-miles sold to paying passengers)… The Northeast Corridor's low load factors show Amtrak is already over-invested there: it offers much more inventory than it can sell for $30, or even give away. Long distance trains, with high load factors, show where Amtrak is under-invested, turning away potential $1,000 customers by the hundreds.
 
Simple "ridership," without consideration of load factor, is classic "Amtrak accounting" that disregards the cost and utilization of capital…
 
Meanwhile, it is only the _sleeping car_ passenger under fire, a nearly entirely Outside-the-Beltway phenomenon. When is there mention of cutting back the first-class service for those well-heeled intelligentsia who partake of the heavily-subsidized Acela First-Class service to Washington?

Bottom line: None of Amtrak's accounting systems were ever designed to predict what might happen if routes or services (like sleeper cars) were expanded or cut. None of Amtrak's figures are meaningful in that regard.

The lack of a holistic approach is endemic in the rail and transit industry. A perfect local example is in Phoenix, Arizona, where Metro is continuing to plan an LRT line in the middle of a superhighway, despite the fact that plans for commuter rail — which were not on the table in 2000 when the LRT plan was originally approved — now appear to be ready to precede light rail expansion. It is not just the competition between to separately funded transit modes (LRT and commuter rail) that parallels Amtrak's internal competition (Northeast versus the rest of the country), but the failure to consider the Matrix Theory, the failure to consider urban form, the failure to consider how our cities feel and work, that are frustrating.

*Light Rail in Freeway Medians? Not Really a Good Idea*

By John J. Gale, Arizona Rail Passenger Association

Imagine standing in the middle of a freeway as cars, trucks and motorcycles rush by on either side. Maybe you have experienced this if you have waited for a train at an in-median station. I have in Los Angeles, on the Metro Green Line which is located in the median of Interstate 105 (Century Freeway), and certainly there are such stations in other locations around the country such as Chicago and the Bay Area. It is not particularly fun to wait for a train at these types of station. Now imagine doing that in Phoenix when it's 110 degrees!

One of the proposed extensions to the popular new Metro Light Rail in Phoenix is a line heading west in the median of I-10, from generally the State Capital area to the Desert Sky Mall area. Stations would be located at the overpasses of the arterial streets that cross the Interstate. Station access would be in the middle of the interchange. Several ARPA members think this is a bad idea, and have expressed that opinion at public hearings related to this proposed line. It is unpleasant, and in fact unhealthy, to wait for a train in a freeway median, and further that the land uses adjacent to interchanges are not conducive to generating transit trips.

Unfortunately it seems that Metro Rail has made up its mind that because the right-of-way is available, they should use it. They also seem to be infatuated with the thought of their trains speeding past stopped traffic on I-10 during rush hours, not that that isn't a nice thought to have. Often, public input is dismissed as not coming from "experts" but from "fans." So let's consult an expert and see what he has to say about locating transit lines with stations in freeway medians. Vukan R. Vuchic, Professor of transportation and transit planning at the University of Pennsylvania, widely acknowledged "Dean of Transit Planners" and author of the "Transit Trilogy" (Urban Transit: Systems and Technologies; Transportation for Livable Cities; and, Urban Transit: Operations, Planning and Economics) has this to say about transit in freeway medians (all quotes are from the last named book):

"First and basic, no freeway in North America was planned with considerations for the optimum alignment for a transit line."
 
While I-10 was designed with a 50-foot median for "future transit purposes," that in and of itself does not mean it is a good alignment for transit. The same holds true for the Century Freeway/Green Line facility in the Los Angeles area. The Century Freeway/Green Line was hyped as a "model" of intermodal transportation when it was planned, designed and built. It included extensive high-occupancy vehicle facilities and a light rail line with the freeway from the inception. But the simple fact of the matter is that traffic engineers determined the route of the freeway, and a light rail line was simply added to it. It is in no way optimal as a transit line.

The same holds true for I-10 here: traffic engineers determined the route. A reservation for future transit was made, but the adjacent land use is related to the Interstate, not a transit line.

Of course I-10 is already used for transit, for express buses running from suburban park-and-ride facilities to downtown Phoenix. And that's just fine; in fact Vuchic states that freeways are perfect for establishing "line haul" operations such as express bus services, especially when priority measures such as a reserved lane and ramps are available for them, as they are on I-10.

But as far as lines with stations along freeways, Vuchic goes on to say this:

"The second problem is that stations in freeway medians are by definition remote from any trip-generating objects."
 
This is certainly true. Around any of the I-10 interchanges you will find truck stops, gas stations, convenience stores, and fast-food restaurants. Hardly big trip generators. Apartment complexes and houses are generally several blocks away. Most employment centers are large transshipment warehouses. Because of their large "footprint" they spread out the jobs (lower the density), meaning only a few jobs are within a reasonable walking distance. And can you imagine crossing the Interstate ramps as a pedestrian to get to and from the station access in the middle of the overpass?

Vuchic further states:

"Finally, stations in freeway medians are in an extremely nonhuman- friendly environment: intensive noise and air pollution are constantly produced by high-speed vehicular traffic on both sides…"
 
As I pointed out in the opening, it's just not a pleasant place to be!

So we can conclude that the best practices established by Professor Vuchic in his textbook would seem to indicate that professional planners should be avoiding use of a freeway median to establish a transit line with stations. But the "fans" already knew that.

Not to simply be negative, and always supportive of the expansion of well planned rail service, this author and several others in ARPA believing that locating a light rail line in the median of I-10 would result in a line which does not meet the ridership potential that other routes would provide, do have ideas for alternate routes for light rail, and also believe that to take trips off of I-10 to the west, commuter rail service on the Union Pacific line is the best bet. In the interim express buses are doing a fine job of the line haul service from suburban park-and- rides to downtown, and need to be expanded.

The most likely candidate for an alternate route for light rail is Thomas Road. Bus Route 29 on Thomas is currently the busiest bus line in the Valley, which would indicate it should be looked at for introduction of high-capacity transit. Further even if a route on Thomas were chosen, there is no reason it would preclude an additional route to the west located further north, such as a route to and through downtown Glendale, possibly on Glendale Avenue.

Article printed from United Rail Passenger Alliance: *http://www.unitedrail.org*

URL to article: *http://www.unitedrai...rak-2010-09-20/*

URLs in this post: [1] H.R. 4801 (link on Thomas): *http://thomas.loc.go...?d111:H.R.5801:*

[2] explained in this column last October: *http://www.unitedrai...rak-2009-10-22/*


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## MrFSS

Volume 7, Number 21

October 7th, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

The President and CEO of VIA Rail Canada offers these thoughts on the future of passenger rail in Canada. Some of the thoughts apply outside of Canada, too.

This speech was delivered in Vancouver, British Columbia on Tuesday, October 5, 2010.

Speech for Mr. Marc Laliberté,

President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA Rail Canada

Gaining Ground Conference – Vancouver

October 5 2010

Thank you Mark.

Bonjour. Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning.

I would first like to thank the conference organizers for inviting me to share with you VIA's thoughts on a topic of concern for many of us, especially those here today - the environment. I would also like to recognize three members of VIA Rail Canada's Board of Directors who have joined me this morning, Wendy King, David Hoff and Dr. Anthony Perl.

I know that this conference was inspired by a commitment to make Vancouver the leading ecological city in North America. This is an ambitious goal, but one I believe is attainable for a number of reasons.

First is the geographical setting and the exceptional climate that surround you. British Columbia, and more specifically the Vancouver area, boasts a healthy environment compared to other Canadian, US and even global cities.

But its not just about geography, it's also about a vision.

We must dare to dream, and that's precisely what you are doing. Vancouver is seeking to become a leading ecological city. It's evident to me that you are achieving this, not only by concrete gestures in the city, but also by taking the time to delve more deeply into discussions and to consult experts. The conference which is taking shape today is clear proof of this and I offer you my congratulations.

As the subject of my speech suggests, making the right choices today is key to securing a sustainable tomorrow, and I would like to speak to you about choices we are making at VIA Rail to ensure sustainable development of passenger rail in Canada.

Secondly, and on a more global scale, I will venture with all modesty to address the broad underlying question behind one of the reasons why this conference was held, namely how cities can share their vision of a sustainable city with the various stakeholders making up a community. But before I begin, allow me to provide you with a brief overview of VIA Rail, so that you know who you are dealing with this morning!

1. VIA in a Nutshell

This country was founded upon the construction of the railway and our railway system has always played a vital role in major development issues in our country and the cities comprising it.

VIA's history, of course, is more recent, having only existed for 33 years. In fact, it was back in 1977 that the Government of Canada created an independent Crown corporation responsible for providing Canadians with a national passenger rail service. And we continue to operate a passenger rail transportation service from coast to coast.

Every week, close to 500 of our trains travel across 12,500 kilometres of track. Just to give you a hint as to the magnitude of the network, 12,500 kilometres of track is close to three times the distance between Vancouver and Honolulu!(4357 kilometres) We provide service to some 450 Canadian communities and, every year, over 4 million passengers take the train, for business, for pleasure and of course to see the country itself.

Our revenues cover more than 50% of our operating costs and federal subsidies cover the rest. To better illustrate what this all means, consider the following facts: we have certain routes that cover nearly 100% of their direct costs, as is the case in the very busy Ontario-Quebec corridor. In contrast, other trips, particularly those serving remote regions and in which we have a specific mandate to operate, cover only a small fraction of their direct costs.

Last year, our trains logged over 1.5 billion seat-miles and achieved an on-time performance of 83%. Much to the chagrin of my Chief Operating Officer, I fully plan on moving this to over 90% in the coming years!

VIA's Three Mandates

The other key fact behind fully understanding VIA is knowing that we carry out a number of different mandates.

For example, here in the West, we contribute a great deal to tourism.

You are no doubt all familiar with the legendary transcontinental train, The Canadian, which embarks on its expedition three times a week from Vancouver to Toronto. This train passes through the majestic Rockies on a path like no other in the world and we operate this service 365 days a year, in all manner of weather conditions.

We also operate other routes that contribute to tourism growth in Western Canada, including our services between Victoria and Courtenay and our fully daylight service from Jasper to Prince Rupert. VIA's Ocean service between Montréal and Halifax contributes to tourism in Eastern Canada.

VIA's presence across the country, but particularly here in the West, allows several hundreds of communities to benefit from a reliable, safe transportation service. VIA's presence in these tourist markets also fosters several partnerships with government and municipal tourism development agencies, not to mention the numerous businesses operating in this market, such as hotel operators, maritime and airline carriers, plus many more.

VIA also ensures downtown-to-downtown services between the major business centres in Canada. In the Eastern part of the country, this is accomplished through what we refer to as the Ontario-Quebec corridor.

As I mentioned earlier, these various mandates are not all cost effective. As a public service, we have a duty to serve certain remote communities. Moreover, when it comes to our business operations, we must perform along the same vein as a private enterprise. And I must tell you that, for the past few years, we have made substantial achievements in this area.

Over the past 10 years, with respect to VIA's operating costs, we have reduced our financial dependence on the government by 44%, while managing to increase our sales by 85%!

As you can see, we are on the right track – to coin an expression you hear quite often at VIA.

There is no need to clarify that this performance is a direct result of the dedication and experience of our employees. There are some 3,000 people employed at VIA who work on board our trains, in our stations, call centres as well as our maintenance facilities in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montréal.

And our employees are critical to our success. They are knowledgeable, dedicated and passionate, not only about the job they do, but also to our customers and the future of passenger rail in Canada. And yes, it would be fair to say there are a few "rail buffs" in the ranks. I salute their efforts.

Let us look now at the choices we make at VIA to ensure the sustainable development of passenger rail in Canada.

2. VIA's Choices for Sustainable Development of the Passenger Rail in Canada Let's start by placing passenger rail in the perspective of one of Canada's most environmental challenging areas.

To begin, it is important to mention that the entire transportation sector in Canada generates 27% of all the greenhouse gas emissions emitted in the country. In real terms, this represents 200,000 kilotonnes per year, one of the highest per capita levels in the world.

84% of the emissions stem from road transport. In fact, only 3% of greenhouse gases in Canada can be attributed to railways, freight and passenger services combined. As you can see, passenger rail is not the biggest transportation contributor to pollution in the country! However, just because passenger rail's "environmental footprint" is minimal, this is no reason for us to be complacent. That is why we are taking action!

At VIA, we have serious concerns about the environment, which is why we have incorporated an environmental approach into the very core of our business strategy.

The fact that the environment is an integral component of our business strategy is quite significant in my view. This means that, to VIA, the environment is not something to be taken lightly. It is one of the company's six priorities, in the same capacity as the financial results or our human resource development; it is a true commitment for which I am accountable to the Board of Directors.

VIA's Environmental Strategy

VIA carries out its environmental strategy in four key areas. Firstly, we extend a great deal of effort towards reducing the environmental effects of our operations. Secondly, we invest in several green technologies. Thirdly, we promote green practices and, lastly, we have a very strict environmental risk management program. Allow me to briefly elaborate on these four defining priorities.

As mentioned earlier, we are not the biggest polluter in town. In fact, passenger rail is widely recognized as one of the most environmentally responsible transportation modes. When it comes to transportation, many of our customers see us as a real "green choice".

Why?

Since 1990, we have reduced our fuel consumption by more than 25% per passenger kilometre, and we have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 19%. As well, our entire fleet of rebuilt equipment now includes far more fuel-efficient heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting systems than ever before.

Additionally, for several years we have encouraged the creation of "VIA green teams", comprised of employee volunteers who promote safe environmental practices among employees on a national scale.

These teams have contributed to the creation and launch of useful initiatives, such as waste reduction in VIA's offices and facilities, not to mention a metal recycling program that has benefitted a local school. These green teams also coordinate VIA's participation in events aimed at raising awareness among the public of environmental issues, through events such as Waste Reduction Week, Car Free Day and Earth Day. Additionally, these teams publish a "Green Bulletin" for employees, a publication that provides information and updates on environmental events, issues and projects.

Fourthly, in 2004, we implemented an Environmental Management System, which provides a follow-up, assessment and environmental performance communication system. This system is updated on a continual basis and is subject to annual internal audit procedures.

I hope that this gives you a general overview of what we are currently doing at VIA to ensure the sustainable development of passenger rail in Canada.

3. Conveying the Sustainable City Vision to all Community Stakeholders

I now come to the more global issue behind your conference: how cities can convey their vision of a sustainable city to all the stakeholders of a community.

Clearly, I do not have all the answers.

I began this morning by saying that we must dare to dream. As a delegation of leaders participating at this conference you need to inspire, to challenge, and to continue to raise awareness of these issues among political and social stakeholders. It is vital that you continue making plans, establishing policies and laying the foundation for new solutions, because the future of our societies lies largely in our cities.

Last May Canada chaired the 2010 International Transport Forum, in Germany. A meeting focussed on innovation in transportation. Two common, universal facts emerged.

One - throughout the world, the need for populations to travel more efficiently is on the rise. Understandably, we might add, so is the need to find an alternative to the automobile, to traffic build-up in several major cities, and the list goes on.

Secondly, increasingly more people are worried about the health of our planet. When it comes to transportation, people want to make the right choice, a "green choice"! We are well aware of these two areas of concern at VIA. We know that, in the future, more people will take the train due to efficiency and environmentally safe reasons. There is a reason why passenger rail occupancy indicators are on the rise throughout the world, and this is also the case in Canada.

Last year, the Canadian Urban Transit Association conducted a study known as Transit Vision 2040 among 275 Canadian companies, all of which are linked to the transportation community. This study is opening up avenues for us. Among other things, we have learned that:

- by 2040, the Canadian population is expected to grow from 33 million to over 40 million;

- our society will have become quite different, with more densely populated cities, an aging population, growing immigration, as well as changing lifestyles;

- the small cities and rural areas will see a further decline in their populations;

- people's mobility will become a major issue;

- traffic congestion will continue to increase;

- uncertainty around the future of energy will be greater than today;

- we will have made significant progress with respect to environmental protection, but several significant challenges will still need to be overcome;

- support from the population for sustainable policies and practices will increase; and all of this will guide us to a society that will favour public transportation.

From this perspective, the train is poised to become a hot alternative commodity in the 21st Century. In fact, this vision for 2040 paves the way for a more vibrant society that is in tune with community values, more focussed on sustainable development, more open to community life and more open to public transportation.

I need not even mention to you that projections of this nature inspire me each and every morning when I arrive at my office. And just as the Canadian Rockies bring inspiration no matter how many times you have seen them, creating and maintaining a vibrant passenger rail system for years to come energizes not only me but the entire VIA team.

Of course we need to do this without loosing focus on our customers of today. And we've already taken a number of steps to make it easier for customers to travel..and to make public transportation options more appealing, a real win-win for the environment from both a gridlock and an emissions perspective.

Let's take a minute and look at how we might make it even easier though, or more seamless. For example, today, intermodality, or the way that different modes of intercity transportation compliment each other and provide travellers with relatively seamless transfers from one mode to another, is still not very far advanced in North America compared to Europe and Asia.

We're moving in the right direction though.

For instance, in some cases, the transportation providers share the same facility such as in the Vancouver and Québec City train stations, but have no agreement between them for selling each others' tickets. We are working to make that better, a lot better!

In other cases, the infrastructure is separate, the operators have no agreement, yet consumers still use them in an intermodal fashion doing much of the scheduling and ticketing on their own with or without the knowledge of the respective carriers.

I can think of Vancouver station where customers regularly arrive by train and catch a bus to get them to a ferry to take them to Vancouver Island. A prime example of intermodality in North America can be seen right here in Vancouver with your own new Canada Line of the Sky Train from the airport to downtown, with I might add, a connection to your Expo Line that stops right in front of our Vancouver train Station.

Vancouver and BC are to be congratulated for this great advance in intermodality. You are leading by example.

So what are the barriers that prevent collaboration between carriers and how do we get by them? Ticketing, accounting and schedule integration are a few we can name.

As I mentioned earlier, at VIA, we are breaking through these kinds of barriers. How are we doing that? By leveraging the power of electronic technology. By establishing partnerships with foreign and domestic airlines that will allow us to offer integrated ticketing, making the transfer from one carrier to another seamless.

Many of you here today are frequent travellers. I am sure that you have your own ideas of how companies like VIA could make your total travel experience more efficient and simpler. If so, I'd love to hear from you later.

The Government of Canada's Response to Transportation Challenges of the Future: Capital Investments

The Government of Canada is well aware of the need to invest today to ensure a solid foundation for future generations of travellers, and the passenger rail sector is no exception. In fact, since 2007, this government has invested almost a billion dollars in the passenger rail network in Canada. This is the largest single infusion of capital we have received since VIA was created in the 70's.

Moreover, I want to emphasize the active role that Canada's Department of Transport has played in these issues, especially the interest shown by Minister of State for Transport Rob Merrifield. I would also take this opportunity to acknowledge the support of the Honourable Chuck Strahl, our new Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, who took on this position last month.

Thanks to these dollars, we can now rely on more rapid, efficient, reliable, fuel-efficient locomotives. We will also be able to provide more appealing, comfortable, passenger cars.

Regarding traffic, we will be able to reconfigure certain infrastructures, to allow us to avoid bottlenecks in the Montréal-Ottawa-Toronto triangle.

In short, these investments will allow us to increase our capacity to better serve the public, with faster trip times and more departures. We are also working on breathing new life into our stations to make them more appealing and efficient.

We will soon embark on the implementation of a new wireless Internet sytem…or WIFI… in the Ontario-Québec corridor which will be the highest-performing of any wi-fi system offered on a passenger rail service in the world today.

As you can see, we are going full steam ahead in preparing the future of passenger rail! And we are not alone. Even President Obama is investing billions of dollars in railway infrastructure in the United States, including the construction of some lines reserved for high-speed trains.

This conference is about envisioning … daring to dream about the future. I would be remiss if I left without mentioning High-Speed Rail a file that many Canadian are talking about and looking at more seriously, both in central Canada as well as here in the West. I would just like to make a couple of points on this topic.

Firstly, it is important to keep in mind that, when we talk about High-Speed Rail, we're referring to a secondary dedicated rail line.

In all countries operating this type of train, the two networks coexist, each with a very specific vocation. This means that any high-speed trains would run in tandem alongside the current network, not replace it.

Secondly, as the head of a federal Crown Corporation, I would be overstepping my boundaries by providing you with my own opinion on whether Canada should move ahead with High-Speed Rail or not. Those decisions will be taken at a higher level, and we are ready to continue offering our advice as part of that process. Let's be clear though. We are also ready willing and able to operate such a system if the project were to come to life.

Conclusion

In closing, I believe that an effective forward-looking transportation policy should possess two major characteristics. Global and local. It must be in tune with the needs of cities, while not losing sight of the crucial need for planning on a global scale.

One thing is for sure: any community that seeks to become a leading ecological city in the Americas should count the passenger rail among its partners.

We look forward to collaborating with Canadians from across the country including our partners here in Western Canada to help our society become greener and more sustainable.

I will be available during the break to answer any questions you may have.

Merci.

I thank you for listening and I wish you a productive conference.


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## MrFSS

Volume 7, Number 22

October 18th, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida USA
​


*Changes, new directions for This Week at Amtrak*

* *

By J. Bruce Richardson

There is nothing more inevitable than change, and change is again occurring at This Week at Amtrak.

Since early this year, TWA has been fortunate to have William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona producing the publication, handling all of the chores from writing and editing to all of the publishing functions, including mailing list maintenance.

Mr. Lindley's burgeoning business interests are preventing him from publishing as often as he would like.

As a result, at Mr. Lindley's request, the mantle of writing and editing This Week at Amtrak has moved to the Brothers Carleton; David and Daniel by chronological order. Scions of the D. Carleton Railbooks publishing enterprise, M'sieurs Carleton bring a wealth of current and historical knowledge of the passenger and freight railroad industry, and a wonderful ability to offer concise, pertinent analysis. We will all look forward to their upcoming editions of TWA.

Mr. Lindley will continue to handle the various mechanical aspects of producing This Week at Amtrak, and he will also be an occasional contributor to the TWA under the Brothers Carleton.

We thank Mr. Lindley for all of his excellent efforts, and his continuing work on behalf of TWA and United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc. in general. Mr. Lindley provides URPA with our website, mail list hosting, and a number of other facets of our work.

We look forward with great anticipation of the work of the Brothers Carleton, carrying on a great family tradition of superb publishing in the railroad industry.

Amtrak, passenger rail, and the elections which are upon us

By John Lee

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA - There is an excitement in Virginia about passenger rail service. The state government is growing passenger rail in Virginia, and, so far, the efforts have been successful - so successful that one of the newest lines is operating free of state subsidy.

All across America, political candidates are promising if they are elected, they are going to be fiscal conservatives, and eliminate wasteful government programs and unnecessary expenditures of tax dollars which belong to the public. One of the main targets is a cluster of passenger rail projects which have begun under current administrations, but may be doomed under new administrations after the elections just two short weeks away.

Indeed, in many states, the elections have already begun with early voting.

Many in the passenger rail advocacy community fear long fought for rail programs, such as the Three C program in Ohio, will become just another project stopped in its tracks, just like Robert R. Young's C&O stillborn post-war Chessie streamliner. Similar thoughts are coming to the surface in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Perhaps as many as half a dozen passenger rail projects, particularly those tied to the proposed high speed rail projects, may be canceled by new state government administrations who wish to spend the state portion of the monies elsewhere, even when the federal government has promised to fund much of the initial costs to get services up and running.

No matter than Amtrak announced last week it had set another record for ridership and revenue, even though no real numbers were published, such as load factors or revenue passenger miles. The many bright spots in passenger rail, such as here in Virginia, the Piedmont expansion in North Carolina, the Illinois regional trains, and a few others are not bright enough lights on their own to convince budget conscious state lawmakers to take a chance on passenger rail. Here in Virginia, we have a new train planned from Norfolk to the northeast, via Richmond and Washington. We're excited about this new route, and our state administrators are carefully planning for this route to be a success from the beginning. There is a spirited fight among various small towns along the route, such as Windsor, Virginia, to grab a station stop along the way.

The important question is, should passenger rail advocacy voters vote against candidates because they are against rail projects as they now stand?

The resounding answer is no. Too much is at stake in this watershed election to vote for candidates merely based on the subject of passenger rail.

The hardest thing in the world to kill is a government program. Just ask New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who is trying to kill the new passenger rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York City under the Hudson River. While this is a project with a bad location on the New York side, and it doesn't connect to anything, making it a bad project for decades to come (the existing tunnel it is supposed to augment just celebrated its 100th birthday this month, and is still going strong), the project won't die.

Federal Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, upon hearing of the cancellation of the project, flew the next day to Trenton, New Jersey's capital, to try and work something out with Governor Christie to keep the project alive. Even though the feds are writing a $3 billion check for the tunnel work, Governor Christie says the State of New Jersey will be on the hook for billions more, perhaps more than $10 billion more, and his state can't afford that.

So, Secretary LaHood convinced Governor Christie to at least take a look at a new deal, and to never say never.

Dollars to doughnuts, the tunnel is going to be built, just not with New Jersey money, and, maybe, if everyone is fortunate, with a better terminal location in Manhattan. There will most likely be some gnashing of teeth, grinding of molars, and posturing before news cameras before this is all over. In the end, there will be a tunnel.

If the same thing happens in Ohio with a new governor, then probably the same scenario is going to happen there. Lots of gnashing of teeth, grandstanding before cameras, and utterances about fiscal responsibility.

But, in the end, the Three C corridor will probably go forward. The best case scenario, as has already begun to happen in Ohio, is a much closer look will be taken at the operating numbers and project forecasts. Maybe some comparisons will be made to Virginia and North Carolina and Illinois, and perhaps California. Maybe someone, somewhere, will cut through all of the obfuscation of reality and take a look at the real economics of passenger rail, not the worst case scenarios we have been treated to in the past.

When that happens, all of the proposed projects will have a chance at redemption. Those projects which are truly bad projects, such as the proposed high speed rail project down in Florida running between Orlando and Tampa, hopefully will go the way of the nearly forgotten Chessie streamliner. The good projects, such as Virginia's new train from Norfolk to the northeast, will flourish, no matter who is in charge at the capital in Richmond.

Don't throw away your precious vote on a single issue which can be addressed more positively elsewhere. Vote as if your life depended on it, because it does, for your future, and the future of your children and grandchildren, no matter what your political persuasion. If a rail project is good, it will survive. If it's not good, it deserves to die, and something more productive needs to take its place.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.


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## MrFSS

*Note from MrFSS - there are two editions below. They were both recieved at the same time from URPA*
​​Volume 7, Number 24
​

December 12, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] Website http://www.unitedrail.org


*Editors: D & D Carleton Proofreading: Black Bear Wordsmiths (**[email protected]**)*
​

*From the Editors…*

With this edition, we conclude the coverage of this year's _Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads_ conference presented by _Railway Age_ magazine.

*How does one brake a high-speed rail?*

By Daniel Carleton

For many years, two prominent gentlemen have always been a presence at these soirées to act as guiding lights and voices of reason: Gene Skoropowski of California's Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, and Thomas Mulligan of Union Pacific. Today, both have retired from their long, distinguished careers; therefore, it was a real treat when they took the stage, engaging in a simulated freight/passenger negotiation session with a twist -- reversed roles. Skoropowski represented the railroad, and Mulligan the local municipality seeking to start a commuter rail service. Assisted by Kevin Sheys (Partner, K&L Gates LLP) and his two hats, the hour-long simulation was both humorous and sobering.

Many times railroads learn about plans of starting passenger service by reading about it in the newspaper. By the time they are invited to discuss the plan, the governing municipality has garnered numerous ideas about the railroad and its operations, most of which are completely erroneous. The railroad is left to quell these preconceived notions before the real discussion may begin. Any excess capacity on the railroad is owned by the shareholders. Liability costs must be borne by the new commuter entity.

The current Amtrak rates for track access to preexisting routes do not apply, and actual access fees will be some $7-10/train mile. Non-railroad capacity studies are "not worth the paper they're printed on." Railroads are receptive to incentive payments for service, but not penalties. Ultimately, the right business deal is needed to make such service a reality.

Martin Schroeder of American Public Train Association (APTA) addressed the gathering on safety standards development. Currently, APTA has over 200 standards in publication, and they are recognized by numerous professional and government agencies. The result of this proactive effort has been minimization of government regulation and an educated influence on the final outcome of said regulation. Fixed standards equal reduced liability for those adhering to them.

Alan Zarembski, President of Zeta-Tech Associates, spoke to us about engineering hurdles required for higher-speed corridors. Anyone looking to build or upgrade track for high- or higher-speed trains needs to enlist Zarembski's expertise. Through numerous charts and graphs, he illustrated requirements for making a higher-speed corridor, as well as conflicts between the needs of freight and passenger trains.

Simply put, passenger track is expensive. For instance, a #20 turnout (a broad track switch) costs about $100-120K. A #30 turnout (an even broader switch) costs over $250K. In the U.S., track maintenance dollars are spent on rails and ties; in Europe, the resources go into right-of-way surfacing. When asked about the failures of concrete ties in the U.S., he stated that since the 1970s over 300 million concrete ties have been installed, and about 5-10% of these have suffered chemical degradation.

Rodney Case presented an outsider's view of European freight and passenger operations. Europe does, indeed, have a mixed-operation network, and private investors are showing up in the European Union. He concluded by asking aloud if projects such as Access to the Region's Core and East Side Access would not be fundamentally more attractive if jointly constructed to accommodate freight across Manhattan. He also asked, Why does the U.S. rail industry approach the government and stakeholders in such a fragmented approach?

Thomas Mulligan graciously received this year's Graham Claytor Award for Distinguished Service to Passenger Transportation. A self-effacing man, he humbly summarized his railroad carrier. Early on, one of his superiors once declared him ambidextrous; he could not take shorthand with _either_ hand! The ovation Mulligan received was well deserved, and we wish him the best that retirement can offer.

Over lunch, casual conversation turned to some quite shocking and virtually unmentioned facts about Positive Train Control (PTC). Overall PTC will make transit times _longer_. How can this be? Was not one of the touted benefits of PTC higher speeds? It was explained this way: Suppose a train is entering a 40 mph curve. Currently, the engineer may enter the curve at 41-42 mph with no discernable difference in train operation. This will not be possible with PTC. The train will have to be at 40 mph (or less) entering the curve, or there will be a penalty. That conversation ended with, "We're still working on the algorithms." It would appear Casey Jones truly is dead.

There was a panel discussion on U.S. high-speed rail initiatives. The panel Chair was Al Swift, former Representative from Washington State, who started the discussion with the admonition, "Advisory committees are there to be ignored." He later made the salient point that we use the term "High-Speed Rail" indiscriminately, and we need to make some agreement on what it means. Art Guzzetti of APTA made the point that ARRA was a "jobs bill" and not a rail program. Currently, most intercity rail work is building back to a state of good repair and capacity expansion. Of note, one of the scheduled panelists, Drew Galloway of Amtrak, could not attend (as he was attempting to save the ARC program).

During the question/answer period, this author inadvertently kicked the hornet's nest. The point was made that all true High-Speed Rail programs around the world began as augmentations or replacements of existing conventional rail systems. The two true HSR programs proposed in this country, Florida and California, are not replacing existing conventional corridors. Without a pre-existing rider base to naturally migrate from an existing service to an improved service, any new-start HSR service may not meet preconceived notions for ridership.

Would not such a failure on the national stage have long-lasting negative impact on operation/expansion of passenger rail in the U.S.?

There was a pregnant pause. A stunned backlash followed. One of the panelists responded, "I'm just a consultant." The sternly-worded formal answer, from someone actively working on the Florida project, defended his efforts with the standard line, pointing to existing state-owned right-of-way and choice of station location as being surrounded by nothing but parking lots. The existing renovated station in downtown Tampa is purportedly unsuitable, as there is currently nothing near it.

The final presentation was an update on the higher-speed initiatives in Illinois. This primarily focused on the upgrade between Chicago and St. Louis, where speeds of 110 mph will be recognized. By that time, the majority of attendees had vacated, starting their way back from whence they came. How many traveled by train?

Epilogue

It has been less than two months since the conference, and yet it seems everything has changed. In the elections of last month many candidates ran, at least in part, on a platform of 'stopping the train.' Higher-speed plans in Wisconsin and Ohio may be cancelled. Even the true HSR project in Florida is in question. It would appear at least at this early date that passenger railroading in America has had yet another false start.

The first exposure this author experienced with passenger rail and politics was the High-Speed Ground Transportation Association convention of 1996. The crowd was huge. The air was electric. We were going to set the world on fire. Amtrak had officially signed to buy the American Flyer (later Acela) trainsets for the Northeast, and Florida was to get the Florida Overland eXpress (FOX). Before the end of the decade, the FOX was cancelled and Acela suffered setback after infamous setback.

Yet it is the same people from back in 1996 who have been coming again and again to Washington, and to similar meetings around the country. Now, with a probable payout for the first time in 14 years, they were practically tripping over one another to sell their wares. After 14 years, their angst is entirely understandable; so when the long-awaited call for "shovel ready" HSR projects came, about the best Florida could come up with was a dust-covered plan for the FOX.

But this is not 1996. The paradigm has most definitely changed. Is this really the best idea for denizens of the Sunshine State? The new anti-rail sentiment now threatens the future of SunRail, the Orlando area commuter rail system. Is the audacity of HSR such that it may endanger all potential rail projects in Florida? Instead of asking these and other questions, those would-be builders of HSR are running ahead full throttle. Their actions border on malicious compliance. High-Speed Rail is not the devil incarnate, as some politicians would contend; however, all successful HSR programs follow successful conventional passenger rail programs. This is something this country has not enjoyed for almost a half century.

Just as a baby learns to crawl before walking, we the people must learn (or re-learn) the basics of passenger railroading before contemplating moving forward. It is a generational arrogance that believes elementary steps may be skipped, yet viable results still be achieved. Seldom does arrogance go without receiving its due reward.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can received your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you reside. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.


Volume 7, Number 23

December 12, 2010 for November 10, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] Website http://www.unitedrail.org
​

NOTE: This edition of This Week at Amtrak was originally published to the United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc. web site on November 10, 2010, but, through an administrative error, was not distributed to the general subscriber list. Therefore, the edition is being generally distributed now, immediately followed by a second distribution, which will be the original distribution for edition Number 24. We apologize for any inconvenience to readers of TWA.

*Editors: D & D Carleton Proofreading: Black Bear Wordsmiths (**[email protected]**)*

*From the Editors…*

As with all journeys, this one begins with an itinerary. There are points of interest. There are schedules to be met. And, there is, of course, the occasional missed connection. As the new editors of this on-line publication, we shall attempt to keep this interesting and do so in a timely manner. We do not bring an agenda with us, but do believe in the free flow of news and ideas to that which unites us all together: the realistic belief in and rational expansion of passenger railroading in the United States. Therefore, without further ado, we would like to take a moment to introduce ourselves.

David Carleton has been in the engineering field for over thirty years; more than twenty of those years with an ENR top 500 civil engineering firm in Central Florida. Along the way, he has worked in railroad civil engineering and railroad electrification, as well as landmark preservation and intelligent mixed-use land development. He also has an extensive background in publishing railroad books for historians and enthusiasts, alike, by virtue of the fact that his family founded and operated the publishing house of D. Carleton Rail Books. David has made himself available here in the role of researcher and historian, so that all the lessons learned along the way can be put to their best use.

Daniel Carleton is a twenty-year veteran of the electrical power industry, with eighteen of those years spent in the nuclear field. He is now semi-retired, having attained the position of Supervisor of Mechanical Maintenance. Like his brother, he grew up around and in the world of railroading, and continues to draw parallels between these two branches of industry: railroads and power generation. Combining the context of railroading's nearly two-century-old history with the strict attention to detail necessary in today's environment, Daniel intends to be the vigilant eye on the ever-shifting landscape of passenger railroading.

We would also like to thank Jean Sopko, of Black Bear Wordsmiths ([email protected]), for graciously accepting the task of proofreading our musings and ramblings. Jean has a B.A. in English. She has been a newspaper proofreader, newspaper archivist, and medical transcriptionist. She has also held several highly-technical positions in the electronics industry.

Many have been convinced, looking at the "modern" high speed trains of faraway lands, that history has nothing to teach us regarding the future of passenger railroading; however, as the old saying goes, "He who fails to learn his history is destined to repeat the seventh grade." Sadly there are more seventh graders who are more prescient about the future of transportation than most adults. Another wise man once said, "Good ideas never go bad, they just sometimes are put on a shelf." Shall we return to the days of steam, steel, and limiteds? No, that is not our vision; however, unless rational decisions based on proven formulas are made, the future of transportation, all transportation, is in jeopardy.

Our journey has just begun. When and where it will end is still unknown. So for now let us sit back, relax, and gaze out the large window as the scenery whisks by.

*Waiter, there's a High Speed Rail in my soup.*

By Daniel Carleton

You know the party has only started when Charles "Wick" Moorman, Chairman, President, and CEO of Norfolk Southern Corporation, begins his statements in regard to passenger trains with, "Get the damn things off my railroad."

After the roar of laughter settled down, day one of this year's _Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads_ conference, presented by _Railway Age_ magazine, was underway. Afterward, Moorman acknowledged his appreciation for passenger trains, having ridden them to school every day in Great Britain. Hardly a stuffy or stodgy individual, Moorman proved to be quite congenial and self-effacing. He sees his company's relationship with Amtrak as "strong," a position this gathering of railroad professionals would not deny. He made one fact quite clear: passenger trains on his freight railroad means 79 mph, maybe 90 mph in certain circumstances, but definitely not "High Speed Rail." He also made it very clear that the increased track maintenance will not be borne by his railroad or stockholders.

Moorman was quite concise that every corridor and potential corridor for passenger trains is different; they are "*not all the same*." He pointed to three areas where current and future services are welcome: (1) Virginia — the increase of service by extension of a Richmond train to Lynchburg is seen as a success. Norfolk to Petersburg makes a lot of sense, but a connection will have to be built between the former N&W and SCL at Petersburg, after which one would "bounce your way to Washington" (a good-natured jab at his primary competition, CSX). The Commonwealth of Virginia is shouldering the cost of these services and upgrades. (2) Chicago — the grade separation at Englewood, which will raise a Metra commuter line over a busy NS freight line (also shared by numerous Amtrak trains), is one of many great projects in that area, improving freight and passenger service. (3) North Carolina — work continues in this state to continuously improve passenger service, and NS is committed to this work.

Then Moorman addressed two areas that have caused great concern to the industry, those being the now reconsidered Federal guidelines for high-speed rail, and Positive Train Control. He described the Federal guidelines as "surprising to us" and "frightening to us." The reward of passenger trains is slight, to the freight railroads. Then a call to any seeking to run a new passenger service: "Keep the word `risk' in mind." Whereas many may see the benefits of running passenger trains, it is the freight railroads who weigh the risk. As for PTC, it is a well-intentioned but bad piece of legislation, with an estimated price tag of $10 billion for the industry. This is going to be a big distraction to the railroads for the next five years. NS has estimated two-thirds to three-quarters of its track will require PTC.

Following that was a panel discussion on the National Rail Plan, chaired by Al Engel on his first day as Amtrak's new Vice President for High Speed Rail. The Plan is a project by the FRA. As it is limited to 120 pages, the Plan is a strategic vision for the future, and an answer to Congress when it asks, "Show us your High Speed Rail plan?" FRA replies, "We don't have an HSR plan, we have a National Rail Plan." Even so, there were many useful tidbits of information brought out in this two-hour segment. The freight hauling system in the United States currently moves 40 tons of freight per person, per year. The goal of the Plan is to realize an increase of intermodal (trailers or containers moving greater than 500 miles) on the railroads from about 23% today, to 50%. The largest roadblock to building new intermodal terminals is not NIMBYs, but the environmental permitting process; this is a critical issue for the Plan. The expected cost of applying PTC to a single locomotive is $60,000-70,000.

Don Itzkoff, who will be moving to GE Transportation, then gave us an update on how things stand in Washington, DC. Simply put, HSR is now a higher political target. Everyone is feeling his way around this new scheme of transportation with the mindset of "play the game, then write the rules." Of the more than $10 billion (soon to be over $11 billion) set aside for HSR, only $1 billion has been spent; however, rail is now very visible on Capitol Hill. Rail is now very much part of the surface transportation discussion, and rail is now speaking with one voice.

Our luncheon speaker was none other than Joseph Boardman, President and CEO of Amtrak. He started off by joking that his education in Agriculture Management at Cornell qualified him for Amtrak's top spot. Despite his wit and spry manner, he looked tired and concerned, as though the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders. Even so, he did attend the entire morning, and most of the afternoon sessions. He was quick to point out that despite the conference title of _Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads_, talk of High Speed Rail kept "sneaking" in. Unlike most of the participants who stuck to the 'where and when', Boardman seemed compelled to answer 'how and why' he is, where he is, and what he intends to do about it. His appreciation for public transit came with the gas lines of 1973 and a national lack of desire to fix the problem. Even now it is already too late to provide balanced transportation for the nation. Amtrak needs a fundamental change in its culture — it has visibly lost support due to its arrogance – and to this end, Boardman seeks to instill the three parts of humility into those in his charge: inclusion of all, being collegial, and pursuing continuity. He said later on that he wants the people in key positions to be able to make those decisions on their own with the proper input. Is this perhaps a move away from the micromanagement so prevalent in state agencies? Time will tell.

Boardman acknowledged that his work is cut out for him. He noted that in the 1930s the number of passenger cars in the United States was around 65,000. By the late 1940s the number was down to about 30,000. Today, Amtrak stables less than 1400 passenger cars. As regards the latest order for rolling stock from CAF USA, everything except the stainless steel will be domestic, since they could not find a domestic source.

After lunch, representatives from Veolia Transportation delivered an interesting discussion on Cognitive Distraction and Attentional Error, which included actual cab video of a commuter Railroad Engineer verbally acknowledging a restrictive signal, yet still throttling up his train as though it was clear. Fortunately, he and the oncoming train did stop prior to an impact. Much research has been done to study the mind and mental health of those operating our trains nationwide, and there is still much to learn. It should be noted that the Chatsworth wreck was not discussed outright due to the ongoing investigation in which the panel is involved.

Next, a representative discussed what has been done and what is proposed in the Pacific Northwest. Like NS, Burlington Northern Santa Fe has been a cooperative partner in passenger rail, but has also made it clear that the maximum speed it will allow on its railroad will be 90 mph.

Then Al Fazio of Bombardier Transportation North America, who has overseen the build and start-up of NJ Transit's River Line interurban in southern New Jersey, spoke on Extended Temporal Separation. For years, the River Line has been running non-compliant (crash standard) vehicles on the same tracks used by heavy freight trains protected by positive separation and lockout of one service or the other. He pointed out that the FRA defines systems as either `rail transit systems' or 'short haul passenger railways'. The decision is based on the `purpose of the trip'. If it is a rail transit system, then they may use non- or near-compliant equipment with temporal separation. If it is a short haul passenger railway, then the equipment must be compliant. This will be important going forward, as Fazio pointed out there are no more abandoned rail lines left to convert to light rail. The next step will be shared use.

The day closed with a sobering panel discussion, "Safety and Security: the Basics of Counterterrorism." The panelists were quite dismayed over the cancellation of the second set of tunnels under the Hudson River; not because of the money lost in contracts, but due to lack of redundancy that presently exists in a heightened security environment. After a review of worldwide terrorist actions prior to 9-11, it was obvious that threats and sabotage against railroads is nothing new. Even so, the 'Homeland Security Model' developed and adopted after 9-11 does not fit all. There are five steps for counterterrorism on the railroad: (1) integrate thoroughly, ( 2) evaluate constantly, (3) know the threat, (4) foster vigilance — employees and rail fans, and (5) shift the balance.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can received your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you reside. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copes of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org
​


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## MrFSS

Volume 7, Number 25
​

December 20, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] Website http://www.unitedrail.org


*Editors: D & D Carleton Proofreading: Black Bear Wordsmiths (**[email protected]**)*
​
*From the Editors…*

We are privileged to present the following commentary by Russ Jackson. Russ is a decades-long URPA vice president. He is also a founding member and Secretary of the Rail Passenger Association of California (RailPAC); the largest, most active rail passenger advocacy group in that state. Russ regularly attends and reports on state rail meetings of the San Joaquin, Coast Rail, and Capitol Corridors.

The passenger trains operated by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway between Chicago and the West Coast are the stuff of legend. Their post-war fleets of stainless steel trains were, and are, considered the gold standard for American passenger railroading. Everybody knows the Super Chief ran over Raton Pass. They forget that the El Capitan was a separate train for most of its existence, but they vaguely remember that there was a different train called the Chief that also ran over Raton Pass. They remember that the San Francisco Chief ran through Amarillo, but they forget that the line through Amarillo also saw half of a train called the Grand Canyon; the other half of the Grand Canyon ran over Raton Pass!

Something else that apparently few people remember is that right up until Amtrak, the Santa Fe served Denver directly, with service between Denver and La Junta. In fact, there were two round trips per day until 1967. There were two trains a day through Amarillo before the Postal cuts in 1967, and there was one train daily right up until Amtrak.

It has been proposed that the one remnant of this once-proud lineage, Amtrak's Southwest Chief, be rerouted some 790 miles off its current route through Raton Pass to the prominent BNSF Railway transcontinental mainline through Amarillo. This week, Mr. Jackson examines this proposition.

What Happens if the Southwest Chief is Rerouted?

Commentary by Russ Jackson, RailPAC

Every once in a while, the rerouting of Amtrak Trains 3 and 4, the Southwest Chief, off the traditional line from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Hutchinson, Kansas arises, because the line has virtually no BNSF freight traffic in Colorado and New Mexico any longer. That is a true statement. The railroad no longer uses the Chief, and has diverted through freights to the soon-to-be fully double-tracked "Transcon" line, farther south. This was the historic route of Santa Fe's San Francisco Chief prior to Amtrak. In recent months, Amtrak has been forced to add 40 minutes to the Chief's schedule due to a BNSF lowering of the speed limit on the very rough trackage in western Kansas and Colorado, such that Train 4 now departs Los Angeles at 6:15 PM. The BNSF has offered to move the train to the Transcon line, which as we will see, is more populated. The State of New Mexico now owns the line within its borders and runs the very successful Railrunner trains on the portion south of Santa Fe to Albuquerque. The BNSF still owns the rest.

Well then, what would happen if Amtrak had to abandon the line?

Would New Mexico pay to maintain the line through Raton Pass? Would Colorado step up and pay to maintain their portion of the line? Would Kansas pay? Would a "short line" purchase it, knowing there are almost no freight customers? Would Amtrak pay a higher share of the maintenance? Would anyone pay to rebuild it? Would the BNSF pay for a portion of an abandoned line? The answers to these questions are likely to be "No."

All right, then what would be lost in a reroute?

Certainly, there is the loss of the "absolutely spectacular and incomparable" scenic route through Raton Pass, as stated by URPA's Bruce Richardson, "but how many millions of dollars a year in track maintenance is that scenery worth?" In this case economics will eventually govern the results, even though Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman has said he is "not interested in" moving the train.

Here are the FY '09 Amtrak ridership and revenue statistics for the abandoned towns; but not including Albuquerque, as that ridership could be largely retained by having the Railrunner act as a shuttle to Belen, thereby avoiding Amtrak's having to back up into Albuquerque.

Station - FY09 Riders - FY09 Revenue

Lamy, New Mexico - 13,012 - $1,623,108

Las Vegas, New Mexico - 4,456 - $335,144

Raton, New Mexico - 15,066 - $1,572,789

La Junta, Colorado - 6,809 - $658,928

Lamar, Colorado - 1,722 - $162,363

Trinidad, Colorado - 3,923 - $388,961

Dodge City, Kansas - 4,248 - $429,647

Garden City, Kansas - 6,930 - $712,501

Hutchinson, Kansas - 4,045 - $396,749

Totals - 60,211 - $6,280,190

(Statistics found on Great American Stations)

To Amtrak Accounting, that might be "chump change," but to the people who live in those towns and use the train it can be a matter of life and death, just as was the case for the Empire Builder across North Dakota and Montana.

Yes, there is also a human cost. On my October trip to northern New Mexico, I stopped for a visit at the Las Vegas, NM, Amtrak station, which is not staffed by Amtrak but is the city's nicely-restored Intermodal Facility in the Historic Railroad District. Employees handle questions about Amtrak travel, and there is a Quik-Trak ticket machine.

Transportation Facility Manager Debra Trujillo was aware there was talk of a potential loss of the train, and expressed concern for her town's people, many of whom are senior citizens who would have no transportation alternative. Greyhound does not serve the town. She said many people ride the train to Albuquerque for medical appointments, or into Colorado to visit relatives. While dealing with Amtrak can be difficult, she is looking forward to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus-money-funded new, ADA-compliant platform; although as of the date of my visit, construction had not yet begun. I urged Manager Trujillo to let Amtrak and the political establishment know how important the train is to her city, and to muster the other cities on the route to do the same.

What would Amtrak gain by rerouting the train?

Many observers felt Amtrak should have also retained the San Francisco Chief when it began in 1971. To go into these towns now would mean they would be starting over, selling rail passenger service after 40 years of absence. Here are the current populations of the new station cities, not their metro areas. It is not a prediction of ridership, but one can certainly see the temptation to reach out to new customers. The towns listed below are not all the stations that were served by the Santa Fe's train, but are the most likely stops:

Station - Population

Vaughn, New Mexico (flag stop?) - 463

Clovis-Portales, New Mexico - 45,124

Hereford, Texas - 14,455

Amarillo-Canyon, Texas (major university at Canyon) - 200,183

Pampa, Texas - 17,204

Alva, Oklahoma - 4,738

Woodward, Oklahoma - 12,206

Wellington, Kansas - 7,812

Wichita, Kansas - 361,420

(Statistics from Rand McNally map book)

Eventually, the decision may be out of the hands of the cities, the railroad or Amtrak. That would be unfortunate and would probably be a big black eye for all. The BNSF's Joseph Faust told the Amarillo Globe-News on October 8 that Amtrak is free to use the freight tracks in Amarillo, but that option "would require a great deal of study." The historic passenger station is used by an auction house, but is still standing; as is the brick platform. Amtrak's Marc Magliari told the newspaper, "Right now (the delays) are not significant. Our intention is to stay on the current route."

This writer urges all parties to work to preserve this service area and work to restore the San Francisco Chief into the Amtrak long-distance system; yes, to San Francisco from Barstow, up the San Joaquin Valley. That would be a bonanza for Amtrak ridership and revenue. Years ago, the Amtrak agent in Stockton told me that he could fill a sleeping car on the train every day, in the old days. Think future, Amtrak!

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can received your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]
​


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## Larry H.

I heard Boardman interviewed on NPR the other day. I was struck by a comment in which he was defending high speed rail in places other than the popular corridors. He said loosely that for successful amtrak high speed lines they needed feeder lines from all parts of the country if were ever to get the majority of the public able to access rail travel. I almost fell of my chair when he mentioned that by a certain date, which I won't try and recall, but a dozen or so years out I would guess, that 80% off american towns would have access to rail transportation again? I wonder what that means since so little interest appears to be given in actually returning many of the abandoned cities to the route structure, which in my view is the only way for a successful system and not one touted as only a coastal system by many.


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## Ryan

Amazing that Boardman can come out and say that Amtrak is interested and planning on returning to those towns and you can still state they have "so little interest".


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## Larry H.

I can see your mostly interested in arguing points, however how long has amtrak been around? 40 years? It is a surprise that after contending they had little support for expanding the system that they would now indicate they might. I see nothing the least bit odd about that.


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## Ryan

I can't even begin to divine what point you're trying to make. Are you trying to say that since they haven't expressed any interest in expansion in the past that they're not allowed to do so now?


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## Larry H.

Its the internet era for sure! Your not going to see a point because you don't want to and can keep arguing about it from now on. Yes I said what I meant. It is some what surprising when so many have tried and had it to fall on deaf ears all these years about the need to expand the system to those places that have no service, the usual reports were that if States would pay for them they might run them other wise they weren't interested. So it did come a big surprise to hear they might be now considering changing that policy. I will believe it when I see it. Besides that there were and probably still are a lot of people who seemed to think that the north east or california was the only place suitable to rail service. Obviously there not living in or near the hundreds of towns for which rail service is the only public transportation available.


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## Ryan

Larry H. said:


> Your not going to see a point because you don't want to and can keep arguing about it from now on.


I'm not going to see a point because your writing is nearly incompressible.


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## pebbleworm

Since I live in San Francisco, a restored San Francisco Chief would suit me just fine. I usually travel to southeast Iowa, so that would get met there a little faster by avoiding the California Zephyr snow delays and the 30 MPH canyon crawl through the Rockies, AND give me a one seat or one room ride back home without transferring to the San Joaquin or the Starlate.


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## MrFSS

Volume 8, Number 1
​

January 18, 2011

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] Website http://www.unitedrail.org

*From the Editors…*

And now a (highly) condensed look at the year past through the eyes of This Week at Amtrak.

2010, A.D. [Amtrak Defined]

As we enter our eighth year of publication, we find the world of passenger railroading in a greater-than-usual state of flux. Obviously, the biggest curveball thrown may be summed up in three little words: High- Speed Rail. After the "Vision for High-Speed Rail" and High-Speed Rail guidelines of 2009, we waited in expectation for January 28, when $8 billion worth of specific American Recovery and Reinvestment Act rail projects would be announced. It took months for the euphoria to subside. Then came reality; mid-term election candidates began to run on platforms advocating stoppage of HSR projects in their respective states. Freight railroads found the punitive federal guidelines "surprising" and "frightening."

Then things got interesting.

On January 5, after an initial one-year term as President, Joseph H. Boardman was granted (by the Amtrak Board) a permanent position. On January 11, an Amtrak press release announced, "AMTRAK READY WITH BIG PLANS FOR 2010 -- New Year brings major projects and new initiatives." This was hardly the first announcement heralding "big plans." As with so many other forward-looking statements of years past, this was generally received with a sigh. As events would later prove, however, some rather big things did actually happen.

March 6 saw the first Town Hall meeting co-sponsored by Amtrak and Trains Magazine. Well-attended and featuring the presence of Amtrak Chairman Tom Carper, as well as Joe Boardman, there were those inside the corporation who decried this "foamers' forum." Even so, there was positive dialogue about photography and updates on equipment rebuilding at the Beech Grove Repair Facility, using stimulus money. A train of three cars and a locomotive were on display for all in attendance to tour (and photograph).

March 31 was the end of an era at Amtrak. Cliff Black, long-time (and long-suffering) Chief of Communications and employee since 1981, retired. For years, it had been his quotes, his voice which represented Amtrak to the general public. Through each change of leadership at Amtrak, and there were several, the one constant had been Black's deft handling of the news media. Any of us seeking good honest information knew Cliff Black was the man to see. While keeping on-message for his employer, he never led the news media astray; an amazing feat in today's world of journalism. Suffice it to say, this is a retirement well earned and richly deserved.

July 23 brought what was perhaps the biggest, most jaw-dropping initiative undertaken by Amtrak all year, and possibly all decade: The order for 130 new Viewliner 2 single level cars with an option for 70 more to replace the remaining Heritage baggage cars and diners. Was this shocking turn due to a previously-unrealized corporate need? No. As far back as 15 years ago, Amtrak's then-president Thomas Downs described the remaining Heritage cars in service as "junk." Was this, then, as a result of a sudden jump in demand for sleeping car space on eastern trains? No. Sleeper space has been at a premium, especially in the East, since the retirement of the last Heritage sleepers in 2006. Ever since the 50-unit fleet of Viewliner sleeping cars entered service in 1995-96, we have been waiting for the rest of the Viewliner fleet to supplant the last of the Heritage fleet. We have waited… and waited… and waited. When Amtrak announced, on January 11, "a comprehensive and detailed plan to replace and expand its fleet of locomotives and passenger railcars" they could have warned us that this time they really meant it.

The Washington Times of September 12 reported on a Congressional probe of the sudden ouster of Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold, the previous year. Quoting from draft copy, "Because of his expertise, the [Amtrak] Board viewed Weiderhold as a threat." Also found were "excessive fees" paid to outside law firms by Amtrak's Law Department and, due to the circumstances surrounding Mr. Weiderhold's departure, "It was not a truly voluntary resignation as Amtrak management had suggested in public statements." There was some attention given in the Halls of Congress which, thus far, has amounted to nothing beyond lip service. But as Chicago Cubs fans are used to saying, "maybe next year."

On October 16, a Norfolk Southern freight train departing Enola Yard across the river from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, en route to Hagerstown, Maryland and points South, derailed in downtown Harrisburg. The rear of the train was still west of the Amtrak station, precluding the eastbound Pennsylvanian from entering. Many will use such an incident to demonize the freight railroads and to call for building separate tracks. Ironically, that is exactly what NS has been attempting to accomplish in the area for a number of years. Currently, when freight trains to or from the south enter or depart Enola Yard, they are required to cross the Susquehanna River twice (and pass the Amtrak station), a process which adds hours to transit times. NS has been working with the State to rebuild a former connection on the south side of Enola Yard at Lemoyne. The process has been held up for the usual political reasons (concerning which a boxcar could not care less). Until this has resolution, efficiency will suffer. Passenger rail will suffer. Egos will continue to be stroked. A similar incident occurred July 2, and for what? For less than 1,300 feet of track. Sometimes the answer really is that simple.

Also in October came an admission of the obvious. One year earlier, the contract to run the Virginia Railway Express commuter service, held by Amtrak for 18 years, was awarded to the French company Keolis. Amtrak did not like this intrusion into its turf. As documented by veteran reporter Don Phillips, "The battle then turned bitter, and Amtrak and its unions turned nasty. Union officials made it clear to employees that if they signed with Keolis, they would be fired immediately by Amtrak and permanently blacklisted. Crews who agreed to stay with Amtrak not only received a $5,000 bonus but were guaranteed a job. Amtrak, meanwhile, even tried to hire crews laid off from New Jersey Transit who had been approached by Keolis. The idea was to prevent Keolis from hiring enough crews to run the system by takeover day, June 28." Yet, in spite of all the chicanery and dirty tricks Keolis did begin service (albeit delayed) and continues to operate. By October of 2010, Amtrak President Joe Boardman finally admitted, "We know we did not provide the right answers," and "I see a lot more competition coming forward." Amtrak considers itself to be the sole keeper of American passenger railroading. Considering its isolationist history, this is understandable; however, the word is getting around that there are others willing to ante up to the table. Amtrak has promised to behave. Will it?

Finally, on December 20, Norfolk Southern and the Commonwealth of Virginia entered an agreement to reintroduce passenger service to Norfolk. This is funded by "an $87 million Rail Enhancement Fund grant" which, when translated into English, means these are state monies, not Federal or ARRA grant. Yes Virginia, there really are states who take the initiative in their passenger rail programs.

2010 promised to be the year of "High-Speed Rail." Ultimately, it came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. HSR was touted as the savior of our economy; an engine for creating jobs in much the same way as the Interstate Highway System of two generations ago. Rhetoric was thick. Substance was lacking. The proposed fast trains look sleek and sexy, but where is the business case to justify them? No one is against creating jobs, but with at least $8 billion in the offing, the question is begged: Is this a good, sustainable transportation policy?

Perhaps the biggest story in passenger rail is the one that did not happen.

Amtrak's manifesto of January 11 predicted, in part, "the purchase of several hundred single-level and bi-level long distance passenger railcars and more than a hundred locomotives." New Viewliners were ordered in July, followed by a contract for new electrics in October. Unlike many of the HSR initiatives, these orders have had no political opposition. Yet as 2010 wrapped up, there were no "bi-level long distance passenger railcars" on the horizon. As pointed out by Andrew Selden, URPA Vice President, "This is the one application of capital available to Amtrak that promises a quick and positive return on incremental invested capital. No other investment opportunity, honestly accounted for using GAAP measures, offers anything even close to this. Yet Amtrak refuses to pursue it."

As the year has drawn to a close, the same basic route map remains in place. Apologists are grateful the map has not shrunk any further. Advocates wonder why, in an era of so much talk of rail, the map is not growing. The Sunset Limited still does not venture any further East than New Orleans, and is carried on Amtrak's daily status as "Hurricane`Katrina' Aftermath & Service Adjustments - Sunset Limited: Normal service resumed 03Nov05, with the exception of Trains 1 and 2 between Orlando and New Orleans."

True, there was much more talk about passenger rail this past year than in recent memory. The small order for equipment was positive, yet after so many years of benign neglect, this can hardly be counted as a fresh start. "What is needed most in 2011, following what happened in 2010, is a better, more rigid plan for creating new trains which have a higher guarantee of success and financial reward, instead of becoming yet another burden on the overburdened taxpayers," said Bruce Richardson, URPA President.

As the afterglow of the latest surge in HSR interest fades into memory, it is clear that sleek, fast trains do not exist in a vacuum. Around the real high-speed world, fast trains succeed as part of a vast integrated network; the trains, by themselves, would be nothing more than pricey tourist attractions. Amtrak would appear to have figured this out, as evidenced by its current equipment orders, and wish list from last January. Unless projects of this type are embraced, to build upon the few successes of this past year, then the whole enterprise is for naught; hopefully, it will not be too little, too late.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can received your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you reside. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copes of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org
​​


----------



## MrFSS

Volume 8, Number 2
​

 January 26, 2011 
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


Jacksonville, Florida USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • 

http://www.unitedrail.org​


From the Editors…

 

Something is turning 40, and oddly enough someone wants you to know about it. This and other more somber milestones are covered this week.

 

 

Of Time and (Wall) Space

 

If you are not already aware, Amtrak intends to make very sure you will be: On May 1, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC) — yes, that is still Amtrak's legal name — will achieve 40 years of existence. According to its internal newsletter, Amtrak Ink, there are numerous outlets planned to observe this latest milestone. There will be a commemorative book for which Amtrak has already canvassed its employees for pictures. There will also be a video by "an Emmy award-winning producer." Also, "Beech Grove is renovating surplus equipment and restoring one F-40, one P-40, three baggage cars, and an Amfleet food service car for a special 40th anniversary `museum train' that will travel across the country to many employee locations." Since when has Amtrak had "surplus" equipment?

 

One thing is for certain, this year's Amtrak wall calendar makes the pronouncement loud for all to hear: "AMTRAK CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF SERVICE." Superimposed over a map of the original route structure are over a dozen snapshots from those early years of "rainbow consists" and '70s fashion sense. The lovely Patty Saunders is captured in her go-go boots and early Amtrak uniform. The first Amtrak-painted locomotive is seen in a one-of-a-kind design of black with a wrap-a-round pointless-arrow logo. (Mercifully, that was not repeated.)

 

It is a wonder to contemplate the journey of the last four decades; yet, this wall hanging of 24 x 33 inches is quite the reminder of an uncertain era not that long ago. On the original system map, in the lower left corner of the montage, is the directive, "Service from Fort Worth to Houston will be shifted from Temple route to Dallas route as soon as possible after May 1, 1971." Imagine, direct service between Houston and the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. In the lower right of the map is seen the line and station stop for Wildwood, Florida. Just above that, between snapshots of the original Metroliner and a bedraggled Coast Starlight, is the line depicting the service we once enjoyed between Chicago and Florida. Today both of those are distant memories, as service to the Sunshine State has been continuously marginalized over 40 years. Was it something Florida said?

 

Perhaps most telling is the stylized logo all the way in the lower corner of the montage. As a depiction of motive power progress, five caricatures are arrayed from left to right, displayed in five different paint schemes. On the left is an Amtrak-painted GG-1 electric, internationally recognized as the finest example of electric traction ever to see service under wire. Designed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1934, the GG-1 fleet would serve her masters and successors until the 1980s. On the right of the lineup is depicted an Acela Express train, the antithesis of the GG-1.

 

On this calendar, Amtrak touts itself as "America's Railroad," but wait — there is a picture used in the ad campaigns from its formative years, showing an employee (not a model) standing between the gauge of the rails, holding a large-scale replica of a passenger rail car. The tag line for the ad was the vow to "make the trains worth traveling again." In 1971, the year the NRPC (now Amtrak) was created, the trains already were worth traveling. Crowds showed up to ride in the peak of summer, 1971; then again in winter, 1971-72. Amtrak did not have the wherewithal to keep up with such demand. When the railroads, in their original role as sole source contractors, did what they could to keep up, the pushback to stop doing that came from inside — Amtrak! It was a downhill slide from there. After 40 years of false starts and unfulfilled promises, is it not time to hold Amtrak to its word?

 

In Memoriam

 

As we muddle our way through the winter season, we wish to pause for a moment to reflect on the lives of three men who, in their own separate ways, left their mark on American railroading:

 

Eugene K. Garfield worked for the Johnson Administration in the 1960s as Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation, Alan S. Boyd, in the then newly-minted U.S. Department of Transportation. It was during his tenure that a feasibility study for an auto-ferry service between the Northeast and Florida was conducted, and concluded that the service would be potentially profitable but best left for the private sector. After returning to the private sector in 1968, Garfield set about making that study a reality, and from 1971 to 1981 he ran the private Auto-Train Corporation. The original Auto-Train eventually succumbed to financial troubles and the infrastructure was purchased by Amtrak. Garfield died at the age of 74 on December 26, 2010, in Hollywood, Florida. Reflecting on his life reminds us that the entrepreneurial spirit in transportation in not dead, but merely dormant, in a generation that has been taught otherwise.

 

James A. (Jim) Boyd was a prolific railroad photographer and writer. Much more that just the average railfan, Boyd worked for the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors as a field service representative. In 1972, Boyd began his long association with Carstens Publications, eventually becoming editor of Railfan (later Railfan & Railroad) magazine from 1974 to 1998. Additionally, he authored many Trains magazine articles as well as dozens of books. Boyd brought a sense of discipline and decorum to the railfan ranks. His guiding influence will be sorely missed. Boyd died at the age of 69 on December 31, 2010, in Newton, New Jersey.

 

Robert G. (Bob) Lewis was that rare, perfect blend of knowledgeable railfan and professional railroader. Between 1934 and 1941 he worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and briefly for the Bessemer & Lake Erie. Following the war and a brief return to railroading, he joined the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. He worked in various editor positions for Railway Age magazine until 1956, when he was named Magazine Publisher. He retired in 1995, but maintained the title of Director of Special Projects. All through his professional travels, he had his camera with him, and amassed an impressive collection of photographs of America's railroads.

 

Bob died at the age of 94 on January 5, 2011, in Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida, but not before this author had the opportunity to meet him at the High-Speed Ground Transportation Association convention in 1996. Lewis was as congenial and approachable as anyone could be.

 

Later, as a result of merciless prodding by his former co-workers, a number of his photos were published in book form in Off the Beaten Track — A railroader's life in pictures (Simmons-Boardman, 2004). Having obtained a copy, this author made an appointment to stop by and garner an autograph. The welcome was warm and sincere. The meeting was as touching as it was informative. Lewis said the real reason behind starting the publication of International Railway Journal in 1961 was just to have an excuse to travel the world. We discussed the issues of the day including, of course, what to do about Amtrak.

 

With the completion of these distinguished runs the sun shines less brightly over the railway; reminding us of our own finite existence and the need to make our remaining days count. All too soon, the weeds will overgrow and obscure our own tracks.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to:

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org 

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.


----------



## MrFSS

Volume 8, Number 3

February 14, 2011
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​



United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​



Jacksonville, Florida USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] •

http://www.unitedrail.org​


From the Editors…

This week a tale of caution, a tale of woe, a tale of passenger rail investment in our 21st Century.

Editors: D & D Carleton Proofreading: Black Bear Wordsmiths ([email protected])

Beware the Law of Unintended Consequences

Basic physics teaches us that for every action there is a reaction. The sociologists tell us such reactions may bring unintended consequences; unanticipated and potentially undesirable outcomes. It is widely held that such unintended consequences fall into one of three categories: Positive, negative, and perverse (wherein the results of the reaction are opposite to what was intended). Prominent sociologist Robert Merton cited numerous reasons for this lack of foresight, but perhaps the most dangerous in the political arena is the "imperious immediacy of interest" wherein "…paramount concern of the immediate excludes consideration of further or other consequences …"

At this time last year, passenger rail was garnering more than its usual share of the public eye. This was entirely due to the Administration's said goal of building "High-Speed Rail" projects all around the country, even likening these to the Federal Interstate Highway program of the 1950s. As a result, many states pulled their decades-old dreams for intrastate passenger trains off their respective shelves, shook off the dust, and slapped on "High-Speed Rail" labels. One of these was the state of Ohio which wrote, in part, in its High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Application of October 2009:

"During the past 35 years, the State of Ohio has continued planning for the reinstitution of passenger train service on its Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati corridor and vested several state agencies with that responsibility. In 1973, the Ohio Legislative Service Commission (LSC) moved to 'study the feasibility' of establishing a rapid transit system connecting Ohio's 'major cities' in response to the Arab Oil Embargo. In 1977, the Ohio Rail Transportation Authority (ORTA) was created by the Ohio General Assembly to continue feasibility planning. In 1979, the Ohio legislature passed a law urging neighboring states to join them in exploring the potential for the development of a regional rail system within the Great Lakes Region. Following the 1982 defeat of a statewide sales tax initiative to advance high speed rail service, ORTA was abolished and its staff moved to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

"The initiative advanced in 1991 when the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) was enacted funding safety improvements at highway-rail grade crossings on corridors that were 'designated' as high-speed intercity passenger rail corridors based on their present utility and their potential for future development. It was in 2000 that the FRA designated the 3C Corridor as an extension of the Chicago Hub network and included the primary points or cities along the line: Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.

"Subsequent and current initiatives to advance passenger rail service in Ohio have been the responsibility of the ORDC, which was established by the Ohio General Assembly in 1994. In 1996, ORDC joined the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (MWRRI), which calls for the development of a 'Chicago Hub' a system envisioned as a 3,000-mile rail system with eight passenger corridors serving 60 million people in a nine state region. The most current Midwest Regional Rail System (MWRRS) Plan report was issued in October 2004."

Another of these was the state of Wisconsin. Although its rail aspirations were not as long-lived as Ohio, Wisconsin did bring its checkbook. In July 2009, the state entered an agreement with Talgo America to purchase two train sets for $47 million. As part of that agreement, Talgo would establish an assembly plant within the state's borders. In doing so it would set the standard for the Midwest. Its High-Speed plan, also of October 2009, was the guideline for reintroducing service of some 85 miles between the state capital of Madison and Milwaukee. Although tagged with the "High-Speed" label the proposed service would never have exceeded 110 mph. The plan read in part:

"WisDOT is the lead state for the [Midwest Regional Rail Initiative] and will manage the efforts of the Steering Committee to identify the preferred train set equipment type. WisDOT also is involved in the nationwide effort to identify and acquire the preferred train set equipment through their involvement in the Next Generation Corridor Equipment Committee (mandated by the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, Section 3605)."

Talgo, for its part, kept its end of the bargain. They set up shop in the former Tower Automotive facility in Milwaukee with the promise of jobs in an area perpetually hit by hard times. The train sets to be delivered are of the new Talgo Series VIII, which are to be fully FRA-compliant and needing no waivers. The two sets ordered in 2009 will be placed in service on the existing Chicago - Milwaukee Hiawatha service. (The state of Oregon also ordered two sets, also to be built in Wisconsin.) It was initially hoped that two more train sets would be ordered for the expanded Madison - Milwaukee service. Ultimately, a new maintenance facility would be established in Madison.

At face value, this seemed like a good idea; a state connecting its largest city to its capital. New Mexico accomplished the same in 2008 when it connected Albuquerque with Santa Fe; however, the New Mexico Rail Runner has the look and feel of a commuter train, and has a total length of 97 miles. Recently the Commonwealth of Virginia announced its intention to connect its second largest city, Norfolk, with the state capital of Richmond, a distance of 109 miles. At no time in either case was the moniker "High-Speed" ever used or applied.

As with most parties these days, however, after the champagne stops flowing and the music stops playing, comes the stark dawn of day. The HSR party was no different. This ersatz High-Speed Rail was deemed as grossly indulgent in an era of austerity. New regimes elected to high office in Ohio and Wisconsin view HSR as too rich for their blood. Both new projects have been canceled, and the Federal monies reallocated to other states.

Talgo, for its part, will continue to hold up its end of the bargain; however, instead of filling the 125 positions originally projected, it will fill just 65. The four train sets on order for Wisconsin and Oregon will be completed by 2012. If no new orders are secured by then, the Milwaukee plant will only be used as a maintenance base for Wisconsin's equipment. [As we go to press it has been reported Talgo shall move its operation to Illinois. Details of this shall be forthcoming.]

It was believed by many that these projects of Ohio and Wisconsin were reasonable -- and realistic -- due to their basic nature. Despite the "High-Speed" label, they were really in fact just a return to the past, with schedules that would not have been out of pace just two or three generations ago. Since these were really conventional trains and not the gold-plated fast trains of another continent, it was hoped those in charge would see past the HSR-"imperious immediacy of interest"; however, this was not to be. Even though all that glitters is not gold if it is perceived by the public to be gold, then it is a target. And whereas the call was for "High-Speed Rail" to be built around the country, it appears its collapse will doom many conventional rail projects as well. Can any other reaction be more "perverse?"

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

Volume 8, Number 4
​

February 21, 2011
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​



United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​



Jacksonville, Florida USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] •

http://www.unitedrail.org​

From the Editors…

Beware the idea of ... February? This week a brief of some current events.

Editors: D & D Carleton Proofreading: Black Bear Wordsmiths ([email protected])
​

Just How Much is that Wild Goose?

"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money."- Senator Everett Dirksen

Just how many names can one give to a hole in the ground? What does one name a hole that does not really exist? This particular hole, meant to connect suburban New Jersey with New York City, has had many names and titles. A decade and half ago, it was known as the "Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel" (THE Tunnel) or, deridingly, as the "tunnel to Macy's basement." Later known as "Access to the Region's Core," (ARC) ground was officially broken in June of 2009. On October 27, 2010, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (New Jersey being the only state officially participating in this project) gave it a new name: Dead. Concerned that the $8.7 billion undertaking would spiral to Big Dig proportions, the governor decided the price was too rich for New Jersey's blood. There were meetings and more meetings between Trenton and Washington, but despite Federal demand for payback of $271 million, the project was axed once and for all… or so it seemed.

On February 6, 2011, a new player, Amtrak, rode into town along with U.S. Senate representation from New Jersey. Together, they announced a new scheme to build, and a new name: The "Gateway Tunnel." They intend to spend $50 million for more design and engineering work, with a potential cost of $13.5 billion for completion. (It would appear Governor Christie's concerns over costs were more than prescient.)

Two days earlier, the City of New York contracted with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. to (quickly) study the feasibility of extending the No. 7 subway line west, under the Hudson River to NJ Transit's station at Secaucus, New Jersey. Unlike the previous tunnel plans, this would allow riders transferring at Secaucus access to the West Side of Manhattan, Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, and Queens, without traversing an already-full Pennsylvania (Penn) Station.

Unlike the ARC, the Gateway Tunnel (actually two tunnels with one track each), proposed by Amtrak and friends, will not terminate north of Penn Station or Macy's basement. Rather, it will run directly into Penn Station, adding to its already burgeoning passenger congestion. Currently, Penn Station handles a daily crush of some 600,000 persons. The existing century-old, twin single-track tubes handle a maximum of 23 trains per hour. It is expected the new Gateway Tunnel will allow for an additional 21 trains per hour. No source for this project's funding was cited.

Just two days later, on February 8, Vice President Joe Biden announced a new Administration initiative to spend $53 billion over the next six years on High-Speed Rail projects nationwide. The goal is to allow high-speed train access to 80 percent of the public within 25 years. Again, no source for the requisite funds was cited.

Not everyone is onboard with the immediacy of interest in "High-Speed Rail." As has been reported in these pages before, many have advanced their political careers on "stop the train" platforms; therefore, it does not portend well that the two U.S. Representatives who declared this initiative "dead on arrival" are the House Transportation Committee Chairman and Railroads Subcommittee Chairman.

John Mica (R-Fla.) was his usual sanguine self in frankly appraising this development: "This is like giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio." Mica is none too happy about the previous $10 billion pledged for HSR, or about the involvement of the Federal Railway Administration (FRA) in the HSR corridor selection process; and is especially displeased with the continued interference of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. "Amtrak hijacked 76 of the 78 projects, most of them costly, and some already rejected by State agencies," said Mica. "Amtrak's Soviet-style train system is not the way to provide modern and efficient passenger rail service."

Bill Shuster (R-Penn.) also had his take on this latest HSR missive: "The Administration continues to fail in attracting private investment, capital, and the experience to properly develop and cost-effectively operate true high-speed rail." … "Government won't develop American high-speed rail. Private investment and a competitive market will."

To date, $271 million has already been spent. This includes $26.3 million for property acquisition in New Jersey for what was the ARC project; and $50 million has been proposed for more study of "ARC-lite." Of the $10 billion pledged for "High-Speed Rail," at least $1 billion has already been spent. To keep this all in perspective, Amtrak currently has on-order 70 new railcars for Eastern trains at approximately $2.3 million per each. The $1.321 billion already spent and proposed could have purchased over 500 of these railcars, expanding Amtrak's existing fleet by one-third. The problem with a wild goose chase is that regardless of the amount of money or resources expended, one still may not wind up with the goose.

An "E-Ticket Ride" to Fantasyland

Lathen, a small city of some 11,000+ souls (in 2009), may not ring a bell in the minds of those from outside the Emsland district in Lower Saxony, Germany. Yet, Lathen boasts what may be considered the world's fastest form of overland transportation. This is where ThyssenKrupp's Transrapid Maglev test track extends over 30 kilometers. If one is interested in buying one's very own maglev transportation system, then Lathen is the place to visit. The test track was built to devise, test, improve and (most importantly) sell the concept of Maglev; nothing more, nothing less. It does not see active scheduled service for the general public to ride.

The team members involved in writing, editing, and publishing this newsletter are all current or former residents of the State of Florida. As such, we have been watching intently the now almost-daily developments, with the latest incarnation of fast trains here being Florida High-Speed Rail. On February 16, newly-elected governor Rick Scott officially turned down $2.4 billion in Federal funds earmarked for the initial east-west, Tampa-Orlando route (roughly 80 miles). His reasoning for doing so included projected cost overruns and questionable ridership/revenue projections. This has become quite the firestorm in Tallahassee, and may rage for some time to come.

Governor Scott was not the only one questioning the validity of this project. At this year's Southwest Rail Conference, one presenter succinctly pointed out that American HSR supporters were "attempting to have their icing without bothering to bake the cake." Specifically he added, "Florida needs to mature its HSR plans." Transporting tourists from theme parks to the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico is not a mature reason for building HSR.

When the go-ahead for High-Speed Rail projects came early last year, it was like popping the cork on a bottle of long-fermenting ideas. For Florida, it was a matter of dusting off the plans for the stillborn Florida Overland eXpress of 1996. When proponents for Florida HSR were questioned about the validity of this endeavor, the answer was curt and simple: The state already owns the right-of-way, and the environmental impact studies are complete. It is true that both of these prerequisites are a major hurdle for any project; still, is it not odd that public benefit was not one of the top two reasons for building?

Would Tampa-Orlando HSR be of anymore use to riders than the test track in Lathen? The simple reality is: No. It was not, nor was it ever meant to be, a serious contender for moving residents about the Sunshine State. As much as Lathen proved the workability of Maglev, so too would Florida HSR be merely a vehicle to test and prove the feasibility of High-Speed trains in America. Every nation that has ventured into the HSR arena has had to develop its own system, with its own parameters to suit that nation's specific needs and conditions. The United States will be no different. Those involved with Florida HSR have been in talks with the FRA about requirements for vehicles traveling at hitherto-unseen speeds. As State Senator Paula Dockery said, "This was going to be a model for the nation."

Numerous potential companies and consortia of companies have been eagerly awaiting the expected payout to develop all the systems for such a project. Now that it appears Florida HSR has been scrubbed, those would-be builders are scrambling. Without Florida, where else will they "beta test" their product? Without Federal money, who will pay to develop new, or adapt existing, technology for use in America?

Had the Tampa-Orlando line been built, the technology would have been built, tested, redesigned, retested, ad nauseam until everything was ready for primetime; after which, maybe the second phase of Florida HSR, a north-south, Orlando-Miami route (roughly 230 miles), would have been built. Tampa-Orlando is, however, a bit of a misnomer. In reality, the Eastern terminus is not the city of Orlando, but rather the airport (which bears its name, but is nowhere near Orlando). The western end is not the beautifully-restored downtown Union Station, but rather a parking lot off the highway. The likelihood of drawing riders was about par with drawing bees with vinegar. No matter how technically successful this may have been, would the public tolerate the spending of billions more of public monies in order to go to Miami?

Universal Truths

Every project has to start somewhere; and someone has to pay for it. Whereas private dollars may combine with public monies and actually build the line on State property between Tampa and Orlando, what about the future? When the champagne stops flowing and the confetti settles, there will still be a train to run. Will those private dollars still be there to fund its operation? When all is said and done, Florida HSR is nothing more than a novelty, a $2+ billion tourist attraction for foreign and domestic visitors to gawk at before moving on to the next attraction. Speaking as a resident this very expensive, publicly-funded tourist trap is the last thing we need here.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org


----------



## jis

> Just how many names can one give to a hole in the ground? What does one name a hole that does not really exist? This particular hole, meant to connect suburban New Jersey with New York City, has had many names and titles. A decade and half ago, it was known as the "Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel" (THE Tunnel) or, deridingly, as the "tunnel to Macy's basement." Later known as "Access to the Region's Core," (ARC) ground was officially broken in June of 2009. On October 27, 2010, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (New Jersey being the only state officially participating in this project) gave it a new name: Dead. Concerned that the $8.7 billion undertaking would spiral to Big Dig proportions, the governor decided the price was too rich for New Jersey's blood. There were meetings and more meetings between Trenton and Washington, but despite Federal demand for payback of $271 million, the project was axed once and for all… or so it seemed.


These guys need to first read the history of the project before making pronouncements that anyone involved remotely would take seriously. At least they do provide bits of amusement from time to time


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## saxman

MrFSS said:


> Governor Scott was not the only one questioning the validity of this project. At this year's Southwest Rail Conference, one presenter succinctly pointed out that American HSR supporters were "attempting to have their icing without bothering to bake the cake." Specifically he added, "Florida needs to mature its HSR plans." Transporting tourists from theme parks to the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico is not a mature reason for building HSR.


I was at this conference, so I'm wondering if this guy was there too. I remember this quote too, and I can't think of who said it. I have to admit that I agree with most of what he said though.


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## haolerider

saxman said:


> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> Governor Scott was not the only one questioning the validity of this project. At this year's Southwest Rail Conference, one presenter succinctly pointed out that American HSR supporters were "attempting to have their icing without bothering to bake the cake." Specifically he added, "Florida needs to mature its HSR plans." Transporting tourists from theme parks to the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico is not a mature reason for building HSR.
> 
> 
> 
> I was at this conference, so I'm wondering if this guy was there too. I remember this quote too, and I can't think of who said it. I have to admit that I agree with most of what he said though.
Click to expand...

I don't know a lot of the details, but if the origin and destination of the route make sense and if you have ever driven I-4 between those two cities I think it is a good project and would help with the heavy traffic.


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## MrFSS

March 21, 2011 
​


A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


Jacksonville, Florida USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • 

http://www.unitedrail.org​


From the Editors…

 

This week a post-mortem of Florida's latest foray into High-Speed Rail.

 

*There was no Plan B*

* *

_Oh I used to be disgusted… and now I try to be amused. - Elvis Costello_

_ _

On February 16, Florida's Governor Rick Scott announced that the State of Florida would not move forward with the Federal plans to build a high-speed railway between Tampa and Orlando International Airport. Similar announcements had already been made in Wisconsin and Ohio earlier this year. So what is the big deal? 

Well, if one were to believe the political rhetoric that has been fired across the bow since then, one might come to the conclusion the governor has cancelled every holiday on the calendar and shot everyone's favorite pet. The U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, extended the deadline for accepting the Federal monies, $2.4 billion, so as to give the state just one more last chance. On March 1, two State senators filed suit in the Florida Supreme Court, as citizens, not on behalf of the Senate, to order the governor to take the money. Right about now, Governor Scott is probably wondering if he should have stayed in his native American Midwest. Nevertheless the answer is still "no." So what is the big deal? 

The U.S. Department of Transportation was willing to let go of projects in Ohio and Wisconsin that were not really high-speed rail, but rather state-of-the-art conventional trains running at conventional speeds on improved conventional track. The HSR label was only added to offer the illusion of progress to sell this imperious immediacy of interest. However, as they were not true HSR they were expendable. The sum total of rejected Federal monies was less than half of the ultimate total offered to Florida, and was quickly dispersed to other states. Florida, it would seem, is an entirely different story.

_"You recall unpleasant memories: of hours wasted in slow moving traffic; of disquieted children in the backseat of your car; of rushing to the airport to discover your flight canceled; of missing important business appointments; and of the hassles involved in moving around this great state. Those difficult days, though, remind you how fortunate you are to live in a state where logic prevailed in the mid 1990s. Relaxing into your plush, expansive seat, you sigh contentedly when an attendant brings your drink. Just before you doze off, lulled into a peace-filled rest by the train's near-silent motion, you briefly wonder, 'Who made all this possible?'" _- Opening statement from the Florida Overland eXpress Executive Summary, 1996.

Fifteen years ago, the vision was crystal clear; a fast train connecting three of Florida's largest metro areas in comfort and style. The planning was solid but the money was scarce, and the whole thing seemed to come to naught in 1999. Then in 2000, an amendment to the State Constitution was approved by Florida voters, and in 2001 the State Legislature enacted the Florida High Speed Rail Authority Act; however, in 2004 Florida voters repealed the 2000 amendment, citing the expense of such a project.

To say there are a tenacious few who continue to keep the flame alive for fast trains in the Sunshine State would be an understatement. Five years after the voting public made their opinion clear, a Federal initiative sought to overrule local sentiments. With a seemingly ever- larger flow of Federal monies, a scheme was hatched to invest $2.4 billion in just the 84-mile Tampa-Orlando leg of the system under the auspices of building a national network of fast trains. There was no referendum, there was no ballot initiative; just an imperious immediacy of interest from Washington, D.C. With the nation in general and the State of Florida in particular suffering the ravages of hard economic times, any infusion of cash -- from any source -- seemed like a godsend. And with other trains on the national drawing board, Florida did not feel alone. But once again there was one rather large string attached: The potential large outlay of local funds. For this reason, the governor cancelled the project. Once again money was a big deal.

High-speed trains are not evil. However, nowhere on earth do they operate in a vacuum. In France, the national railway operates everything from urban transportation to high-speed trains. While they operate around 14,000 trains every day, only a relative handful are high speed. For a high-speed train to be successful it needs feeders to connect to places where the riding public actually wants to go. As of right, now these types of networks do not exist in Central Florida.

In what may appear as a case of bitter grapes, a ridership report was released just after the project was cancelled. Picked up by various news outlets was the figure of "3.3 million annual riders" and "would have made money from Day One." This report was produced, for $1.3 million, by the firms of Steer Davies Gleave and Wilbur Smith Associates. In March 2010 Wilbur Smith Associates along with HNTB, in a joint partnership, were selected as program manager for passenger rail in the State of Florida. Moreover, the much-touted report was nothing more than five pages of numbers, with no justification for how those figures were compiled. The reader may read into this with impunity.

The initial route of 84 miles was chosen in large part due to the relative low cost of building, possibly $3 billion if one includes moderate overruns; however, connecting Central Florida with Central Florida now seems like an oxymoron. This fact was not lost on a recent article by Michael Cooper in the _New York Times_, "Tampa and Orlando are only 84 miles apart, generally considered too close for high-speed rail to make sense. The train trip, with many stops along the way, would have shaved only around a half-hour off the drive. Since there are no commercial flights between the two cities, the new line would not have lured away fliers or freed up landing slots at the busy airports."

Ultimately the fast train in Central Florida would have been of little to no practical use for the everyday traveler. It would have missed all of the town centers on its route, thus would not have been a catalyst for urban development or renewal. A state-of-the-art conventional train on improved extant tracks would pass through the historic town centers, would be a catalyst for development, and should cost less than a third of the now-defunct fast train. But without the "HSR" label, it is not sexy enough for consideration by those who worry about their legacy.

In retrospect, perhaps the Orlando to Miami leg of the plan should have been considered first. At 240 miles, just over two and a half times the length of Tampa-Orlando, it certainly would have cost over two and a half times as much; however, connecting Central Florida with South Florida does make sense both politically as well as financially, and it certainly would be much less expensive than the postulated $42 billion price tag for the full build-out proposed in California.

With Florida now officially out of the high-speed rail business, attention turns to California and the building of America's first true high-speed train between the metropolises of Fresno and Bakersfield. Instead of Central Florida it will be left to the Central Valley to iron out specifications, codes, analyses, and operating procedures for all American fast trains to follow. This is probably not what the administration envisioned as the next great leap in transportation for the country.

Ultimately the administration placed all its bets on Central Florida in the belief that everyone was on the same page; that everyone believed in the concept of high-speed rail. In doing so, they never contemplated what to do if everyone was _not_ on the same page. In short, they had no plan B. If connecting Central Florida with Central Florida seemed obtuse, then what would connecting the 35th- and 58th- largest cities in the nation seem like?

For now, those passionate purveyors of fast trains in Florida must once again close their plan books and return them to their shelves. Again, they will have to wait for the day when someone whisking along at over 150 mph will ask, _"Who made all this possible?"_ Perhaps someday, but not today.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to 

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You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.

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----------



## VentureForth

haolerider said:


> saxman said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MrFSS said:
> 
> 
> 
> Governor Scott was not the only one questioning the validity of this project. At this year's Southwest Rail Conference, one presenter succinctly pointed out that American HSR supporters were "attempting to have their icing without bothering to bake the cake." Specifically he added, "Florida needs to mature its HSR plans." Transporting tourists from theme parks to the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico is not a mature reason for building HSR.
> 
> 
> 
> I was at this conference, so I'm wondering if this guy was there too. I remember this quote too, and I can't think of who said it. I have to admit that I agree with most of what he said though.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I don't know a lot of the details, but if the origin and destination of the route make sense and if you have ever driven I-4 between those two cities I think it is a good project and would help with the heavy traffic.
Click to expand...

But they don't. As pointed out in the article, and as repeated in the next newsletter, The Eastern end of Tampa to the Orlando airport is not much use to anyone.

Keep in mind that the most financially viable HSR system in the world connects Tokyo and Osaka - the #1 and #12 most populated urban areas in the world. Tampa, on the other hand, ranks 153rd. Miami is 53rd, but isn't part of the project. Orlando doesn't even rank.

I've lived in Orlando and travelled to Tampa many times. Sure, there is traffic, but there is also heavy traffic in Albuquerque, NM. And in Savannah, GA. And perhaps even occasionally in Kodiak, AK. Traffic isn't a yardstick to measure the necessity for high speed rail by. Commuter rail? Perhaps.


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## MrFSS

Volume 8, Number 6
​

 April 2, 2011 
​


A companion digest of events, opinions, and forecasts

to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


Jacksonville, Florida USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • 

http://www.unitedrail.org​


*From the Editors…*

There is a lot of talk these days of "passenger rail." This week we attempt to separate reality from hyperbole.

*The Definition of Success; The Price of the Definition*

"What is the value added?" or similar questions are asked whenever any enterprise considers expansion, upgrade or reorganization. In principle it is a simple exercise; will future generations see this investment of time and resources as valuable or worthless? In the mania that has defined passenger railroading for the second decade of the 21st Century, one fact has become crystal clear, and that is that very few can accurately define what the value added is for passenger trains.

This is not to say that those promoting new trains are doing so out of shear ignorance or malfeasance. Many of these efforts are well meant. This past February, the Administration called upon Congress for a $53 billion down payment on high-speed rail for the country to enhance mobility and create work-fare. The goal was to provide access to fast trains for 80 percent of the country in 20 years. The general response was "Would you like fries with that?" More recently, two actors from a period-piece cable television drama performed, in character, a skit promoting the virtues of high-speed trains. The idea, if not the allure, of sleek, fast, sexy transportation seems positive and for good reason, because it is; however, the path from the trains of today and the trains of tomorrow is not as straight, short, or simple as one would be led to believe.

All around this great land of ours there are mixed signals as to the future of new passenger trains, let alone improvement of those extant. Passenger rail went from a Washington missive to center stage in many regional elections. As a result, planned projects in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Florida came to naught. In California, plans are moving forward to build a high-speed railroad as far out in the country as possible so as not to attract any attention. As a result of the many rejections, once-ostracized states of the Northeast are now allowed to bid for the now unwanted Federal dollars to improve Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

Despite these false starts, there has been meaningful progress on many fronts for the augmentation of passenger trains. In just the last month, Washington State received its grant of $590 million for improvements between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. In North Carolina, $461 million was received for upgrades to its Raleigh-to-Charlotte route. And in Illinois, $685 million was realized to continue improvements from Chicago to St. Louis, Missouri. Some $1.736 billion of taxpayer monies have been doled out for worthwhile projects around the country.

It is still early in the decade, but a definite trend has started to take shape regarding the future of domestic passenger trains. At one end of the spectrum, the assumed silver bullet [train] which was to herald the new era of national HSR transportation was nixed in Florida. It would have run on an independent right-of-way with no direct connection to the rest of the National system. The "3C" service cancelled in Ohio was not HSR but rather an upgrade of existing freight-only trackage, most of which has not seen passenger trains for four decades. Even with the blessing of the current owners, the enhanced track was not going to be of too much benefit to freight, as Cincinnati to Cleveland via Columbus is not a natural through-freight corridor. The stalled extension of Hiawatha service from Milwaukee to Madison, Wisconsin, also not true HSR, did plan to make use of an existing passenger route as far as Watertown. From there, a nearly-abandoned freight line would have been completely rebuilt for passenger speeds. West of Watertown, the line sees minimal traffic currently handled by a short line.

The successes seen in Washington, Illinois, and North Carolina are another matter, altogether. What do they have in common?

All are pre-existing state-supported services. Washington started daily service in 1994 using trainsets made by Talgo. The Chicago-to-St. Louis service has existed in many guises since the beginning of Amtrak, and was once home to the French-made Turbo trains. (With Talgo reportedly relocating to Illinois, perhaps the Lincoln service will see yet another iteration of exotic equipment.) North Carolina's intrastate train service started in 1995 and utilizes its own fleet of equipment.

All are on track owned (or operated) by freight railroads. The track in Washington State is a major corridor for BNSF, linking the Pacific Northwest with Canada. Even so, they have proven time and again to be willing partners with the local authority for operating the Cascade services. In Illinois, the line between St. Louis and Chicago is Union Pacific's shortest route between the two cities. North Carolina's Piedmont trains utilize Norfolk Southern's main line from Greensboro to Charlotte. This track is currently undergoing capacity expansion as part of the Crescent Corridor initiative.

All currently host long-distance Amtrak trains. In Washington State the route of the Cascades is also part of the route for the Coast Starlight. The Illinois Lincoln service also hosts the daily Texas Eagle, while North Carolina's Piedmont shares the same track with the Crescent between Greensboro and Charlotte.

In Washington, overall track capacity will increase with completion of the Point Defiance bypass. This bypass will obviate a single track tunnel and will be used by the Cascades, local commuter, as well as long-distance trains. Union Pacific plans for increased freight traffic on the Illinois line once upgrades are complete. North Carolina will add 28 miles of double track between Charlotte and Greensboro, part of the aforementioned Crescent Corridor. The planned enhancements for all three of these routes not only aid the regional and freight trains, but also increase the viability of long-distance trains; it is like getting three for the price of one. Now that is value added!

There is virtually no end to the possible public/private synergies around the country. In Virginia, passenger service will be returned to Norfolk (using State funds). The line from Norfolk to Petersburg is the Eastern end of Norfolk Southern's recently upgraded Heartland Corridor connecting tidewater to the Midwest. Recently, the state of Missouri applied for Federal high-speed money to increase speeds between St. Louis and Kansas City. This is the route of the State-supported Missouri River Runner, and operates over the tracks of Union Pacific. Another plan under consideration is a daily train connecting Dallas to Eastern Texas. Currently, the daily Texas Eagle runs between Marshall and Dallas; westbound in the morning, eastbound in the evening. A counterpart train would run on opposite schedules with a possible extension to Shreveport, Louisiana. This would necessitate capacity expansion on the 150-mile route also owned by Union Pacific. Enhanced service between Oakland, California and Reno, Nevada is also a possibility. Currently, the route between Oakland and Auburn sees daily service as part of California's Capitol Corridor, including the daily California Zephyr. Pushing the corridor past Auburn to Reno, 118 miles, may require capacity expansion over famed Donner Pass; predominantly re-laying much of the second track removed prior to Union Pacific's accession of the route in 1996.

As the nation continues to adjust from the economic correction of the last few years it is evident we are a people defined as "risk averse." Houses are not selling even though there are those who should be able to afford such. The numerous vacant automobile dealerships that now dot the landscape are further evidence of our new-found fiscal conservatism. The progress being seen in Washington, Illinois, and North Carolina demonstrate the public will to invest in the "tried and true," where return on investment may be easily calculated and expedited.

Of all the trains run by Amtrak, it is the long-distance fleet which has garnered consistently increasing passenger loadings despite the downturn of the economy. To those inured by the high-speed-rail mentality sweeping the nation, these "slow trains" do not fit the prepackaged ideal; however, it must be understood that no high-speed train anywhere on earth was built without something predicating it. It must also be recognized that the United States has been limping along on a skeletal passenger rail network for four decades. If there is to be a true high-speed rail network, it must be preceded by a true conventional rail network.

The simple if painful truth is that a legitimate high-speed train is not a few years or even a decade away. A genuine network of meaningful passenger trains will have to be reestablished before going any further. This is a process that could conceivably take at least a generation, and no decree of imperious immediacy can change this. The latter half of the 20th Century was defined by America's embrace of the automobile. This did not happen overnight. The return to rail-based transportation will also be a long-term transition; perhaps too long to satisfy those overly concerned about their legacy in the annals of history.

If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to 

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of This Week at Amtrak, the Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, or related URPA materials.

Subscribers to This Week at Amtrak automatically receive a subscription to the Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; subscriber lists are maintained simultaneously for both publications, and neither publication can be subscribed to exclusively.

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----------



## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak*

_Companion Publication to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail_

*By D&D Carleton*

 

_Proofreading: Black Bear Wordsmiths (__[email protected]__)_

Volume 8, Number 10
​

*From the Editors…*

With the same assurance as the sun setting in the West, once again all of Amtrak's perpetual financial woes are blamed on its long-distance trains.

*Oh, really?*

_"Ducking this issue calls for real leadership."_ - Springfield Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby,_ The Simpsons_

Passenger rail ridership is up, of this there may be no doubt. Using the rudimentary yet flawed number of "riders," Amtrak carried 28.7 million people in fiscal year 2010. This year should be even higher. Of course, now-a-days Amtrak never discusses "passenger miles" or "revenue per passenger mile" but this was not always the case.

Even so, when questioned by Congress as to why increasing "ridership" did not correlate to a drop in losses, the standard chestnut was brought out one more time, "It's the long-distance trains," said Amtrak President Joe Boardman. "They're all unprofitable." Oh, really? We have all heard this before, but how long will this broken record continue to play?

For many, the long-distance trains are the perceived final connection to an earlier era. Many a parent has packed up his family for an overnight trip with the proud exclamation, "We're going to 'Travel in Pullman Safety and Comfort' like our grandparents did." Obviously, there are no more open sections or drawing rooms. If there is an observation car it is privately owned. Oh, and when was the last time someone shined your shoes for you whilst you slept? Today's long-distance train is a mere shadow of the former glory that once was the grand conveyance. Whereas average citizens could not afford fine linens, china, and silver service, these were commonplace for all who frequented the dining car; it was their chance to live like royalty, if only for a few hundred miles. Do today's trains even come close to emulating such an emotion? Alas, such only exists for those who remember when, or who have studied the subject.

Things behind the scenes have changed, as well. Even into the early Amtrak days, long-distance reservations still used the old tried-and-true drum system. Dozens of agents sat around a rotating metal carousel with compartments containing train accommodation diagrams, while talking to customers or agents by phone. Today all of this is computerized. The ragtag collection of locomotives and rolling stock has been replaced by standard designs. Locomotive fuel economy has never been higher. Steam heating has been replaced by electric. Operating crew districts are no longer 100 miles. Bases for maintenance have been consolidated and centralized. Yet with all of these changes, which should have led to better economies, the long-distance trains still "lose money." How can this be?

*The Vision from 20 Years Ago*

 

For Amtrak's 20th anniversary, then-Amtrak-president Graham Claytor boasted of its cost control:

"Amtrak is determined to continue to improve bottom line through better service and controlled cost until 100 percent of operating costs are covered by earned revenues. At close to 80 percent in 1991, we are nearing that goal." - All Aboard Amtrak 1971-1991, Railpace Publications

At no time in any of the historical records has it been found where Mr. Claytor blamed any of Amtrak's financial woes on just the long-distance trains. Mr. Claytor was a railroad executive starting with a career at Southern Railway in 1963. He knew the numbers and, more importantly, knew what they meant:

"A year before Amtrak, railroads carried intercity passengers 4.9 billion passenger-miles and lost the 1991 equivalent of $1.5 billion doing it. In Fiscal Year 1990, Amtrak carried its 22.2 million intercity passengers 6.1 billion passenger miles and pared operating losses to about $330 million." - All Aboard Amtrak 1971-1991, Railpace Publications

Mr. Claytor understood that the true measure of output is "passenger-miles" and revenue per passenger-mile, not the mere number of tickets sold. Tickets sold is the measure of the number of transactions, but ten $1 tickets are not as valuable as one $20 ticket. To this end, it must be noted that during the last five years the long-distance trains have averaged a growth rate of 3.7 percent, with no years of negative growth; something not even the regional or corridor trains can claim. Even more surprising is that the LD trains showed any growth at all, since they were statistically almost sold-out to begin with, and over the last 15 years (post-Claytor), their aggregate capacity (measured in "available seat miles" or even just "car miles") has declined. This is growth in a product line defined as distance of 750 miles or greater on trains that have not seen any additional equipment in over a decade. Even so, this growth in patronage should correlate to higher revenue. What went wrong?

Since the passing of Mr. Claytor, there has not been a seasoned railroad executive at the helm of Amtrak. As a result Amtrak, a ward of the state, has reverted to a function of government; a workfare/basic transportation/federal entity charged with placating the public while twisting in the political winds. As a result it finds itself stuck between the dichotomous mandates of affordable transit and covering debts. The July/August 1974 edition of the Official Railway Guide lists the one-way coach fare between Chicago and Los Angeles at $113.50; corrected to 2011 dollars, this would be $514.47. Today's fare is one-half to one-third the inflation-corrected fare. After checking coach fares between numerous city pairs, today's fare is one-half or less than that of 35 years ago (when corrected for inflation). Remarkably, sleeper fares are on par to then, when correlated. The result of this has, in effect, reduced Amtrak's trains (long distance in particular) to Greyhound buses on rails. Was this always the plan? Not according to Mr. Claytor:

"They [fares] are going to increase just as fast as competitive factors permit… Because our service has been improving, and more and more people have been willing to ride, and as long as more and more people are willing to ride, and pay higher fares, the fares are going up. This is not new. This is the policy that we have been following for at least 10 years." - Interview with Graham Claytor, Trains magazine, June 1991

Today there appear to be "more and more people willing to ride," yet in the last 20 years Amtrak ticket sales have gone from 22.2 million to 28.7 million. Just 6.5 million more riders per year in 20 years? This is hardly anything to crow about. During the same period, as aggregate intercity travel has increased (and air traffic has quadrupled), Amtrak's aggregate national market share has declined. How, after all this time, could ridership remain so paltry? Perhaps no one at Amtrak knows how to grow ridership and increase output. Mr. Claytor knew how to do both. When asked about service expansion and the goal of full cost recovery:

"That is one of the ways we hope to reach it and to get additional equipment in order to increase our revenues faster than our costs. That spread is what counts. With the new order for locomotives already in [to General Electric], and with the orders for new Superliner cars we hope to make this year, these would give us the additional capacity to increase our revenues. We are up against the stops on many ways, because many times of the year we can't carry more people. We have more people wanting to go than we can carry, because we do not have the capacity. The first priority is to get more capacity on the routes we serve. The second priority will be to start new routes that we think have a good possibility of working." - Interview with Graham Claytor, Trains magazine, June 1991

Mr. Claytor's "first priority" fell by the wayside after his passing. Instead, focus shifted and intensified on the corporation-owned Northeast Corridor (NEC). This would culminate in the extension of electrification from New Haven, Connecticut to Boston and the notorious Acela trainsets. While these are demonstrative improvements in infrastructure and passenger amenities, it is still a short corridor, and as such offers limited potential for passenger-mile revenue growth. While total NEC ridership has grown, Amtrak's overall market share has declined sharply, and is less than 1.5%; all of this is hardly enough to offset the costs of infrastructure maintenance, and the high maintenance and power consumption of the Acela trainsets.

Ultimately, passenger railroading in America has been held hostage by misconceptions. In the 1950s, hucksters such as Robert Young convinced people that the only future for passenger rail was the short-haul train; conveniently, short-haul trainsets were what he was attempting to sell. The outcome of a 1958 Interstate Commerce Commission investigation has been dubbed the "Hosmer Report," after ICC examiner Howard Hosmer, wherein:

"This examiner's proposed report included an oft-quoted speculative conclusion that railway passenger coaches would likely soon become museum pieces along with stagecoaches, sidewheelers, and steam locomotives. Such language was not adopted in the subsequent formal ICC decision." - Amtrak's Long-Distance Service, Can it be Made Viable?, Gordon Gill

Today's weary chant of "the long-distance passenger trains are a money drain" is nothing more than a continuation of the "junk science" formulated over 50 years ago by those lobbying for their own agendas. The public at large blithely accepted that junk science as fact, since passenger trains, for the most part, were not germane to everyday life. As growth in passenger rail with long-distance trains, in particular, has shown, junk science no longer cuts the mustard for today's savvy travelers. Amtrak had better find a new mantra.

*Past is Prologue*

 

Recently, someone was nice enough to publicly post a picture of a train gate at Chicago Union Station from 1964, showing the makeup of that day's South Wind: http://www.rrpicture...aspx?id=2487104 Even at this late date, seven years before Amtrak, notice there are eight sleeping cars assigned to this train along with five coaches. On today's trains, if the number of sleepers is equal to the coaches, it is a miracle; in the East, the sleepers are outnumbered by coaches. Moreover, Amtrak does not have an adequate supply of spare equipment to increase train length to match fluctuating demand. If Amtrak had kept the proper ratio, at least the income from the First Class section of the train would still be the same as 35 years ago.

Is it rational to expect Amtrak to provide "First Class" amenities? Does Amtrak really provide a First Class Service? Is the provision of a mattress enough to be classified as "First Class?" If so, try to remember that, the next time Motel 6 leaves the light on for you.

Even though Graham Claytor believed it was possible, perhaps Amtrak is not capable of providing the equipment, let alone the proper business acumen/model for overnight service. It should be remembered that for most of the history of American passenger railroading, overnight rolling stock, sleepers, and diners were provided by a third party: The Pullman Company. Pullman was a private enterprise employed by the private railroads to provide a service. For most of its life, Pullman made money. Relieving Amtrak of this chore should allow it to concentrate on its core business; the equivalent of buses on rails.
​


----------



## Anderson

A lot of what went wrong is that Amtrak had to throw away their entire Heritage sleeper fleet, which left us with a bunch of Viewliner sleepers and nothing else. If I had to guess, that decimated the sleeper end of things. Of course, the lack of appropriations for cars (and the fact that Amtrak can't count on steady enough funding to place some sort of "continuing order") has also played a role. I don't think it's entirely Amtrak to blame here...a _lot_ of the blame lies with what cards they've been dealt.


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; June 15, 2011*
​

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

_This Week at Amtrak_

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 8
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) If you're going to be in the passenger rail business, then you have to think like you're in the passenger rail business, which pretty much means anything that Amtrak does, you want to do differently.

There has been a false concept for years – undoubtedly fueled by silly comparisons between airline travel and passenger train travel – passengers will only take the train if it has few stops between terminals. EXPRESS TRAINS is the hue and cry of those who simply don't understand the realities of passenger rail.

Those ignorant of the passenger rail business believe end point to end point trains – which also mean big city terminal to big city terminal trains – will fill simply on the premise "build them and they will come."

Nah, that's just more junk science promoted by those who think they know more than the rest of us.

The matrix theory of passenger transportation, as developed by the late Adrian Herzog, Ph.D. tells us the more city pairs there are on any given single route or easy connecting route, the more attractive that route will be to travelers.

There is one indisputable fact: travelers like choice and convenience.

Just because travelers are forced to use airports in large cities due to the huge land mass airports must have and the overwhelming costs of operating airports and everything else related to air travel, doesn't mean passenger rail has to adopt the same model.

There is also a belief host railroads don't like passenger trains to stop at multiple intermediate stations because it slows down the velocity of the train, and, thus the velocity of all trains operating on the same tracks.

While there is some small validity to that argument, when you look at it globally, it's like agreeing to build a store on a busy street, but agreeing not to put any doors for customers to come in the store because the sidewalks will be too crowded at certain points.

If you are going to have successful passenger trains, you have to have convenient, intermediate station stops.

For years, Amtrak has been loathe to stop a train anywhere less than 25 miles away from a current station stop, citing the belief in the mobility of Americans and their private passenger vehicles to get them to stations. "Why, people are content to drive up to 50 miles to reach an airport, so why won't they drive 50 miles to reach a train station?"

The answer to that idiotic question is, in many cases, passengers having to drive an hour to reach a train station often will just stay in their private vehicles and drive all the way to their destination. It's called "one seat service," whether that seat is on a train or in an SUV or sedan.

Another false argument is the cost of intermediate/smaller stations. We will look at two such stations in North Carolina; Southern Pines, which is on the route of Amtrak's Silver Star, and Rocky Mount, which sees daily visits by the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Palmetto, and Carolinian.

To understand the Silver Star for Fiscal Year 2010, the Star had total revenue of $30,321,000, and ridership of 393,600 passengers which generated 206,699,000 revenue passenger miles and a load factor of 62.9%. The average length of trip per passenger was 525.1 miles, and each train carried an average of 186.2 passenger per train mile. The average revenue per passenger was just under 15 cents per passenger mile.

The northbound Star arrives in Southern Pines, North Carolina at 7:06 A.M., and Southern Pines is a crew change point for train and engine crews. The southbound Star calls at Southern Pines at 10:39 P.M. The station is unmanned except for a caretaker which opens the waiting room for both trains. No tickets are sold, and no baggage is handled.

Southern Pines, on the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad route of today's CSX, is the closest stop for the Pinehurst Resort, and the area is famous for golf. There are 43 golf courses within a 15 mile radius of Southern Pines. The town itself has a population of around 11,000 souls.

If you are a pure bean counter, you would look at the Southern Pines numbers and say it's hardly worth stopping the Silver Star – the only passenger train service in the town – beyond the fact it's a crew change point.

But, Amtrak reports in FY 2010, 6,392 passengers used the Southern Pines station. That breaks down to 17.51 passenger a day, or 8.75 passengers entraining or detraining every time the Star stops in Southern Pines.

It costs somewhere south of $75 to stop a full size passenger train such as the Silver Star. Those costs are mostly fuel costs for what it takes for a fully stopped train to get up to full, mainline speed.

Let's say the associated costs of keeping up the Southern Pines station, such as electricity, routine maintenance, insurance, and the caretaker who opens and closes the station every day comes in at $5,000 a month (that's a generous figure). In the morning for the northbound train, the station opens at 6:00 A.M. and closes at 8:15 A.M. In the evenings, it opens at 9:30 P.M. and closes at 11:45 P.M., a total of four and a half hours a day, seven days a week.

Since the average passenger on the Star travels 525.1 miles per trip, at a rate of .1467 cents per revenue passenger mile, each passenger on and off at Southern Pines generates an average of $77.03 in ticket revenue, plus what is spent onboard in the diner and lounge car.

Take our $5,000 monthly station cost and divide that by 60 (in each month, there are 60 trains in and out of Southern Pines, 30 northbound and 30 southbound) for a per departure cost of $83.33. Add the cost of diesel fuel of $75 per departure, for a total of $158.33 to stop each train in Southern Pines, with the added benefit of being a crew base.

Multiply an average of 8.75 passengers per departure by the income each generates, which gives us 8.75 x $77.03 = $674.01 of revenue for each passenger, whether they are entraining or detraining.

Monthly cost: 60 departures x $158.33 = $9,499.80.

Monthly revenue: 60 departures x $674.01 = $40,440.60.

Difference (profit) between Southern Pines station costs and revenue generated because Southern Pines is a station: $30,940.80 each month, or an annual total of $371,289.60. Not bad for an unmanned station in a town of 11,000 people.

Is it worth stopping the Silver Star at Southern Pines, North Carolina? Absolutely. All of this is generated with close to zero advertising and marketing at difficult marketing times. The surrounding countryside, while full of resorts and golf courses, is sparsely populated farm country. Yet, there is an obvious, financially rewarding demand for passenger rail service. Imagine if someone actually told someone there was a train serving Southern Pine, and ridership (Gasp!) doubled.

The ridership at Southern Pines requires no additional coaches, sleepers, diners or lounges on the Star. Obviously, since there is no ticket agent and no baggage service, this is a minimal-service and minimal-cost station. People just want to ride the train, and do so at great inconvenience.

If Southern Pines was eliminated from the Star's city pair matrix, a third of a million dollars per year would be lost in net revenue, money which would have to come from somewhere else, such as the federal treasury to make up the shortfall.

Isn't it a good idea to keep stations such as Southern Pines?

To the east of Southern Pines, on the old Atlantic Coast Line route also of CSX, is Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Compared to Southern Pines, Rocky Mount is a happening place, with a "metropolitan" area of 145,596 residents. Rocky Mount is the extreme eastern end of North Carolina's Research Triangle.

In FY 2010, Rocky Mount's station served 52,959 passengers entraining and detraining four Amtrak trains, for a total of eight departures a day.

The station, recently handsomely rebuilt, is open 24 hours a day. To be generous, let's assume a station staff of seven at Amtrak's ticket office clerk pay of $18.60 per hour, plus 42% which Amtrak uses for benefits and other related employee costs. That puts us at $26.41 per hour for each employee. (Yes, someone is the station manager at a higher rate, and some are more senior employees at a higher rate, but, for simplicity of our example, we will use this number.)

Seven employees x 23 work days a month x 8 hours a day = 1,288 hours a month x $26.41 = $34,016.08 a month in employee costs.

Add $10,000 a month for station expenses such as electricity, routine maintenance, etc.

Eight departures a day x 30 days = 240 departures a month.

$10,000 divided by 240 departures = $41.66 station costs per departure.

$34,016.08 divided by 240 departures = $141.73 in employee costs per departure.

$75 to stop/start each train x 240 departures = $18,000 per month.

For each train stopping at Rocky Mount, the costs per departure are

$41.66 + $141.73 + $75 = $258.39.

The average revenue per passenger mile for all trains stopping at Rocky Mount is 16.81 cents per mile.

The average length of trip per passenger for all trains stopping at Rocky Mount is 474.65 miles.

Each departure, 18.13 passengers entrain or detrain at Rocky Mount.

Each passenger generates $79.79 of ticket revenue in Rocky Mount.

Ticket revenue of $79.79 x 18.13 passenger per departure = $1,446.59 of revenue per train departure, plus what is generated onboard in dining and lounge cars.

Revenue of $1,446.59 – per departure station costs of $258.39 = a net of $1,188.20 per departure.

$1,188.20 x 8 departure a day = $9,505.60 in net revenue a day to Amtrak which wouldn't exist without stopping at Rocky Mount, North Carolina. That totals $285,168 in revenue per month, and $3,422,016 in annual revenue generated by Rocky Mount, after station costs are deducted.

It's clearly to Amtrak's advantage to stop at Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Imagine (Gasp!) what that figure would be if business doubled to 36.26 passengers per departure; not unrealistic if Amtrak didn't remain America's Best Kept Secret.

The crucial bottom line is smaller, intermediate station stops do make a difference. What may appear to be high station costs are actually relatively low in comparison to the amount of business generated.

To carry the argument further, talk to local city fathers about what that relatively small amount of business does for local economic impact on other businesses.

Passenger trains mean money, and not just money to host railroads, as paltry as that sum may be in the overall scheme of railroad finances.

If you're in the mood to do a lot of research and math, take a look at the percentage of population at small stations which use passenger trains in comparison to the percentage of population of large urban areas, such as Miami, Florida or Columbia, South Carolina which use passenger trains. Since passenger trains are often the only means of common carriage for smaller cities and towns as the intercity bus service map shrinks nearly daily, the impact of passenger trains grows considerably.

And, one last thought.

Amtrak corporately thinks a single station in a large urban area is enough for the "convenience of everybody." It's not uncommon in a large urban area for potential passengers to have to drive 30 miles in the opposite direction of their intended travel to catch a train to go in their real travel direction. This maddening concept keeps many passengers from using passenger trains. Small, suburban stations – some manned, some unmanned – can make a huge difference in ridership in and out of large urban areas. One is not enough; sometimes two is barely adequate. Three or four may be best. The decisions on how many suburban and intermediate stations for passenger trains should be based on passenger demand, not the convenience of the railroad's operating department.

Any passenger rail operator of the future which doesn't understand this concept will not only be "leaving money on the table," but will be grossly under-serving its potential passenger base.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States.


----------



## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; June 17, 2011*
​

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

_This Week at Amtrak_

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org
​

Volume 1, Number 9
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) Not a moment too soon, here's the latest press release from United States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica of Florida.

[begin quote]

For Immediate Release

June 15, 2011

Contact: Justin Harclerode

(202) 226-8767

Mica, Shuster Roll Out High-Speed & Intercity Passenger Rail Plan

Washington, DC – A dramatic new direction that focuses on bringing competition to high-speed and intercity passenger rail service across the country was presented today during a national briefing by Committee leaders. The plan incorporates competitive bidding and private sector involvement to bring high-speed rail to the Northeast Corridor and improve intercity passenger rail service nationwide.

U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), Chairman of the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, presented their new direction for U.S. passenger rail service to national and state transportation officials and passenger rail stakeholders across the country, and enable their participation via webcast and teleconference. The Mica/Shuster initiative is called the "Competition for Intercity Passenger Rail in America Act."

"After 40 years of costly and wasteful Soviet-style operations under Amtrak, this proposal encourages private sector competition, investment and operations in U.S. passenger rail service," Mica said. "Competition in high-speed and intercity passenger rail will cut taxpayer subsidies, improve service, and bring our nation into the 21st century of passenger rail transportation.

"Our plan will create jobs by finally bringing real high-speed rail to the one region of the country where it makes the most sense – the Northeast Corridor – and do so in a dramatically shorter time than Amtrak's 30-year plan, at a fraction of their proposed $117 billion cost," Mica said.

"Amtrak has repeatedly bungled development and operations in the Northeast Corridor, and their new long-term, expensive plan to try to improve the corridor is simply unacceptable," Mica continued. "The nation cannot afford to continue throwing money away on this highly subsidized, ineffective disaster.

"It is time for a new direction. Around the world, other nations and the private sector have successfully competed to develop high-speed and passenger rail service," Mica said. "There is no reason we cannot do the same in our most densely populated and congested region. By giving the private sector the opportunity to bring its resources and expertise to the table, we can lower costs, increase efficiency, and improve high-speed and intercity passenger rail service across the country."

The Mica/Shuster proposal will also give states greater control and authority over their intercity passenger rail services, currently operated by Amtrak. Ridership on state-supported routes has increased significantly over the last 15 years, and incentivizing private sector competition for rail services on these routes will ensure states and taxpayers get the best possible deal and the best possible service. The initiative will also open up other Amtrak long-distance money-losing routes to competition, allowing the private sector the opportunity to bid on any intercity route and potentially improve service.

"It is time to deregulate America's passenger rail system, and give intercity passenger rail the same opportunity for success that the freight rail and commercial truck industry have benefited from" Shuster said. "We must look for more effective and innovative approaches to providing modern and efficient passenger rail service by focusing on projects that make sense, leveraging private sector investment, increasing competition, and opening the door to public-private partnerships.

"Both around the world and right here in the United States we have seen that competition works," Shuster continued. "When Virgin Rail began operating the West Coast Line in Britain, the company doubled the corridor's ridership in six years and turned a profit. Here at home, in an open bid process, Veolia won over Amtrak for Florida's Tri-Rail South commuter line at $97 million to Amtrak's $162 million. Success and cost savings like this can happen here if we end the Amtrak monopoly on intercity passenger rail and open it to competition. Done right, what in the past has been a liability can become an asset, generating jobs, economic development, and value for hardworking taxpayers."

Northeast Corridor Competition

The Mica/Shuster initiative will bring real high-speed rail to the nation's Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, DC, New York City and Boston. The NEC is the region of the country where high-speed rail offers the greatest chance of success and the most national benefits. The corridor is already owned almost in its entirety by Amtrak. It is the most densely populated and congested area of the United States, and has the essential transit connections necessary for a successful high-speed system. Unfortunately, Amtrak's Acela currently averages only 83 mph between Washington and New York, and just 65 mph between New York and Boston. The Mica/Shuster initiative will:

End the Amtrak Monopoly

• Separates the NEC from Amtrak, spinning it off as a separate business unit

• Transfers the title for the NEC to US DOT, including all assets, property and trains

• US DOT enters into 99-year lease with Northeast Corridor Executive Committee

• Executive Committee manages NEC infrastructure and operations

Bring Private Sector Expertise and Financing to the Table

• Requires a competitive bidding process for development of high-speed rail on the NEC

• Allows private sector to recommend best PPP framework

• Establishes performance standards for competitive bidding process:

– Real high-speed rail on NEC – less than 2 hours between WDC and NYC

– Double total intercity rail traffic on NEC

– Highest level of private sector participation and financing

– Lowest level of federal funding

– Full implementation in 10 years or less

• Winning bids selected by NEC Executive Committee

Protect the Public Interest

• 5-member NEC Executive Committee represents federal and state interests

• All current commuter and freight operations on NEC are protected

The Time is Now

• NEC high-speed rail in one-third of the time as Amtrak's proposal, with firm deadlines

• Within 20 months of enactment, the NEC will transition from Amtrak monopoly to PPP

Create and Protect Jobs

• New jobs for rail construction and operations

• New jobs associated with development around rail stations

• Hiring preference to any displaced Amtrak employees

Intercity Passenger Rail Competition

Fifteen states around the country currently pay Amtrak to operate intercity passenger rail. Unlike the Northeast Corridor, most state-supported routes run on track owned by freight railroads. The Mica/Shuster proposal encourages private companies to compete on these state-supported intercity routes. Because these routes still require federal subsidy, and because they are operated by Amtrak, there is significant room for improvement in service quality and financial performance. The Mica/Shuster initiative will:

Create Competition and Improve Service

• Promotes competition by encouraging states to initiate a competitive procurement process for a menu of services

• Incentivizes competition by redirecting funds from Amtrak to state DOTs

• Establishes an expert panel for recommending competitive best practices

Save Taxpayer Dollars

• Allows states to keep money saved through competitive bid process

• Saves federal taxpayer dollars by requiring a new allocation process in 2020 to reflect cost savings achieved through competition

Protect Freight Railroad Interests

• Involves host freight railroads through market-driven access negotiations

Create and Protect Jobs

• Requires states to maintain current levels of service

• Creates private sector jobs

• Provides hiring preference to any displaced Amtrak employees

Long-Distance Passenger Rail Competition

This initiative will finally allow for competition to Amtrak's least successful lines in an effort to reduce federal subsidies and improve service. Amtrak's long-distance routes are subsidized at an incredible $117.84 per passenger on average. For example, the Sunset Limited, traveling between New Orleans and Los Angeles, lost $407.92 per passenger in 2010. Amtrak's failing long-distance routes need to be opened to competition to reduce the burden on taxpayers and improve service for the traveling public. The Mica/Shuster initiative will:

Create Competition and Improve Service

• Promotes competition by allowing private sector operators to compete with Amtrak to operate long-distance routes

• Requires winning bids to be selected based upon the lowest possible level of federal support

• Allows private sector operators to make a profit, incentivizing improved service and ridership growth

Save Taxpayer Dollars

• Mandates that operating subsidies for contracted long-distance services be lower than Amtrak subsidies

Protect Freight Railroad Interests

• Involves host freight railroads through market-driven access negotiations

Create and Protect Jobs

• Creates private sector jobs

• Provides hiring preference to any displaced Amtrak employees

[End quote]

To absolutely no one's surprise, Democrats and Amtrak officials took exception to the concept put forth by Mr. Mica and Mrs. Shuster.

Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown, the ranking member on the Railroad Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee had this to say in an article by reporter Larry Hannan of The Florida Times-Union daily newspaper here in Jacksonville, Florida on June 16th:

[begin quote]

"While Congressman Mica refuses to focus on critical infrastructure issues, he is bent on destroying Amtrak," Brown said. At the very time that we should be working together to solve the problems plaguing this nation's transportation infrastructure, Chairman Mica is introducing divisive legislation that is dead on arrival in the Senate."

[End quote]

Mr. Mica addressed a timeline for passage of the bill in his opening remarks, saying it could take up to 36 months for the bill to become law. If it did take that long, that would be after the November 2012 elections and a new Congress would be in session, with perhaps a Republican majority in the Senate as well as the House, and possibly a new occupant of the White House.

Congresswoman Brown, great lover of higher taxes and who never met a government program she didn't like and wants to spend other people's money on, and usually instantly dislikes anything proposed by anyone who is a Republican, represents a district which directly abuts the district of Congressman Mica in Northeast and Central Florida.

Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman wasn't a big fan of the proposal, either. Immediately after Wednesday's announcement, he had this to say to reporters on a conference call and included in The Hill's Transportation Blog of June 15th:

[begin quote]

"This is broader than the northeast at this point," Boardman said on a conference call with reporters. "This is the Privatize Passenger Rail for America Act. The overall impact is this takes Amtrak apart, from an infrastructure standpoint, and replaces it with a government entity."

[End quote]

Mr. Boardman's statement is somewhat odd, since Amtrak is a government entity, especially when it wants to be so it can feed at the public trough and have direct access to the federal treasury.

All the rhetoric aside, here's what will frost the shorts of anyone with an ounce of common sense.

As reported by David and Daniel Carleton in the June 3, 2011 edition of This Week at Amtrak, the company claims most of its financial woes are due to allegedly unprofitable long distance trains. If only the world could see that future of passenger rail in America lies in the success of the Northeast Corridor and other services such as the Pacific Surfliner trains in California, there would be no more problems so Amtrak and its various supporters constantly lament.

Except, of course, the great majority of Americans would be completely cut off from even minimal passenger train services.

Here is what the Mica/Shuster report showed as Amtrak results for its long distance service ending in FY 2010:

[begin quote]

Silver Star, New York - Miami: $46,500,000 annual loss

Cardinal, Chicago - New York: $15,200,000 annual loss

Silver Meteor, New York – Miami: $39,100,000 annual loss

Empire Builder, Seattle – Chicago: $56,200,000 annual loss

Capitol Limited, Chicago - Washington D.C.: $20,600,000 annual loss

California Zephyr, San Francisco – Chicago: $52,100,000 annual loss

Southwest Chief, Los Angeles – Chicago: $57,700,000 annual loss

City of New Orleans, Chicago - New Orleans: $21,800,000 annual loss

Texas Eagle, Chicago - Los Angeles: $27,100,000 annual loss

Sunset Limited, Los Angeles – Orlando: $37,400,000 annual loss

Coast Starlight, Seattle - Los Angeles: $47,100,000 annual loss

Lake Shore Limited, Chicago - New York/Boston: $35,000,000 annual loss

Palmetto, New York – Savannah: $13,800,000 annual loss

Crescent, New York – New Orleans: $40,200,000 annual loss

AutoTrain, Lorton, Va. – Sanford, Fla.: $18,500,000 annual loss

TOTAL – $527,300,000 annual loss

[End quote]

Since Amtrak often declines to publish useful financial information, it can sometimes be difficult to understand how it reaches the conclusions it does for the numbers it publishes reluctantly.

But, here are some other numbers Amtrak did publish in its annual reports:

Federal operating grants (FY 1998 through FY 2009, companywide grants for all trains)

FY 1998 – $202 million

FY 1999 – None

FY 2000 – None

FY 2001 – None

FY 2002 – $205 million

FY 2003 – $519 million

FY 2004 – $756 million

FY 2005 – $711 million

FY 2006 – $485 million

FY 2007 – $485 million

FY 2008 – $475 million

FY 2009 – $550 million

Hmmmmm ... In FY 1998 there was a small $202 million operating grant which covered the entire system. In FY 1999 through FY 2001 there were no grants, but that was in the "Acela will save the world" years when Amtrak went on a borrowing spree and hocked just about every asset the company has, thinking when Acela finally was operating the world would be perfect. But, we know how that worked out, because by FY 2004, the federal operating grant ballooned to $756 million, dropped down to $475 million in FY 2008, but now is on the upswing again, with Amtrak saying its long distance routes needed a federal operating subsidy of $527,300,000, plus what was needed from state supported trains.

Doesn't all of this exactly prove the point of Congressmen Mica and Shuster?

For whatever reason anyone chooses, Amtrak seems incapable of running an efficient system, and constantly blames its problems on any handy excuse, including the dog ate its homework.

During all of these years of ballooning subsidies, Amtrak hasn't hesitated to trumpet the increases in ridership it has recorded – specifically – for the long distance trains.

In the real, non-Amtrak world, when you have an increase in volume, you have a decrease in costs due to natural laws of efficiency.

As Congressman Mica pointed out in his remarks at the beginning of the presentation, in the past decade, Amtrak has shed 10,000 employees, going from 29,000 employees to 19,000 employees today.

It has reported increases in ridership while its train consists have been constantly shrinking, thus its operating costs should be shrinking, too.

So, why are costs going up, when in every real world scenario, they should be going down? Amtrak even has good fuel costs because it buys diesel in bulk on long term contracts.

While new, much overdue union contracts raised employee wages, Amtrak was shedding employees at the same time.

What's going on here?

How is Amtrak cooking the books to make the long distance trains look bad?

One favorite train for everyone to criticize is the beleaguered – but lovable – Sunset Limited, currently operating on its "temporarily shortened" route of Los Angeles to New Orleans, instead of its authorized route of Los Angles to New Orleans to Orlando, Florida.

Politicians and critics alike love to quote an exceptionally high loss per passenger figure for the Sunset Limited.

But, few ever ask why that alleged loss figure is so high over the 1,995 mile route. The answer is because the train only operates three days a week in each direction, the single most inefficient way to operate passenger train service. The station costs are the same, the management structure costs are the same, and the marketing costs are the same for a tri-weekly train as a daily train. Yet, the income potential is only a fraction of that of a daily train because there are so few travel choices for tri-weekly trains.

The same holds true for Amtrak's only other tri-weekly train, the Cardinal, operating between Chicago and New York City via Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

There is a very good reason the new entrepreneurs looking at privatized passenger train service are looking at daily service instead of non-daily service. "Build it and they will come" does not apply to passenger trains which operate on inconvenient schedules.

The conversation started over the past few weeks by Congressmen Mica and Shuster which escalated yesterday with their formal announcement of legislation only strengthens the hand of the members of the Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators and anyone else considering or planning independent passenger train service.

Once this legislation passes, many more opportunities for competition will be available.

Why does ANYONE think competition is a bad idea?

Why does ANYONE think only government can run a passenger train?

Why does ANYONE think Amtrak is ever the right answer?

Look at what yesterday's presentation made note of on the commuter rail front: Here in Florida, the Tri-Rail commuter system which operates between West Palm Beach and Miami now uses Veolia Transportation as its operator. Veolia took over the service in 2007 and has a contract in place until 2014 with some additional time options. Veolia's bid for the contract was $97 million; Amtrak's bid for the same contract was $162 million, a difference of $65 million. Over the last five years, there has been an average annual increase of 10.8% in ridership ever year (In the commuter world, ridership is an acceptable measure of success, but not in the non-commuter rail passenger train world.).

Why was Amtrak's bid so very high?

For the Virginia Railway Express service, operating between Washington Union Station and south on two routes into the far exurbs of Washington in Northern Virginia, Keolis replaced Amtrak as the system operator about a year ago, coming with a bid of $1 million less than Amtrak for a five year contract. Amtrak fought hard to keep the contract, but VRE stewards said they had to go with the lowest bid for the benefit of the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Virginia. VRE has enjoyed an annual increase of 1.43% in ridership over the past five years.

Amtrak was close, but couldn't bridge the final $1 million gap to win the contract on its home turf.

Other private operators (all AIPRO members) in Massachusetts, Texas, and Washington State have all successfully operated commuter systems which have constantly sustained growth.

It is important to note that Amtrak took away a contract from Veolia in Los Angeles for the operation of Metrolink commuter trains after the Chatsworth crash, and one of Amtrak's very best managers is running that operation today.

But, the overall point is competition is good; Amtrak as a mostly public entity is expensive because it has little reason to be lean and efficient. Whenever money troubles arise, it's always much too easy to just go to Congress and ask for a supplemental appropriation. That's a strategy that has never failed in Amtrak's 40 year history.

The future of passenger rail will be some combination of private and public operators. If Amtrak cleans up its act, it can be one of those public operators. If it doesn't, with the momentum started, the members of AIPRO have a much brighter future than Amtrak.


----------



## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; June 24, 2011*

 

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 10
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

1) The usual suspects are aghast at the prospect of Amtrak not owning the Northeast Corridor in the future. Good heavens! How will the Republic survive without Amtrak owning the NEC and it being under "private" ownership? Actually, quite well, thank you, because the proposal of the Chairman of the United States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee simply wants to transfer ownership from one government entity to another – from Amtrak to the United States Department of Transportation. It's tough to see anywhere in there private ownership comes into play.

A somewhat sometimes lazy local and national news media, instead of gathering information on its own, relies on misinformation from others and has bought into this misconception. Many in the news media doesn't seem to be in much of a hurry to correct the bad information.

The other really silly debate arising from this proposal is that "privatization of the NEC and some of the routes would bankrupt Amtrak."

Hmmm ... how do you bankrupt a company which is in every way – except technically by going through a federal court procedure – already bankrupt?

Since Amtrak does little to help itself earn revenue in many instances and instead is often content to live off the largess of free money from the federal trough, how could anyone declare Amtrak isn't already bankrupt in just about every sense?

If its general financial state doesn't impress you, take a look at the auditor's statement in each Amtrak annual report. Every one is a "qualified statement," which means without its annual subsidy income from the government, it couldn't continue operations.

And, the third guffaw coming out of this much needed discussion about the future of the NEC and Amtrak in general: The tired, old saw (especially from pols in the Northeast) "just give Amtrak the money it needs instead of keeping it on a starvation diet and it will be fine; a healthy company serving millions."

Uh, huh. And, the Easter Bunny looked particularly attractive this year, too, hopping down the bunny trail. Plus, don't forget to write you letter to Santa Claus early this year to avoid the rush.

Committee Chairman John Mica's presentation more than precisely lays out all of the reasons why Amtrak can't be trusted by any reasonable soul to improve itself just because it receives more money. For all of the tens of billions it has received in the past, seldom has it done much to improve its lot in life, other than spend the money and ask for more.

As new entrepreneurs in the passenger rail business look at workable business models, the Amtrak model is the one closely studied to make sure any new entrepreneur doesn't do things the Amtrak way.

2) Happily so, readers of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail are not shy about sending letters with their reaction to various subjects raised in any column.

All letters, pro or con are always welcomed and encouraged.

Here is a sampling of recent letters. When used, the letter writer's name is used with permission.

In Volume 1, Number 7, there was a discussion of why Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was running such long, full passenger trains immediately prior to the start of Amtrak operations. A list of railroads which didn't join Amtrak was included for reference, but the mention of the Rock Island railroad without the reason why it didn't join Amtrak brought this letter from Gary Widell, a former officer of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.

[begin quote]

I always enjoy reading every issue of [The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail] with its food for thought.

There is one item in this week's edition on which I want to comment. Some people might take the reference to the Rock Island's not joining Amtrak as an indication that they were making

money on their passenger trains. Since I was an officer of the Rock Island from 1965 to

1975, I can tell you that was not the case.

The formula for determining the cost of membership in Amtrak was constructed in such a

way as to penalize the Rock Island, since it was based primarily on losses on passenger

trains that had been discontinued. The Rock Island determined that, on an out-of-pocket

basis, there was no way we would lose as much money by continuing to operate the Peoria

Rocket and the Quad Cities Rocket for the mandated five-year period as it would cost to join

Amtrak, and we would be free to seek discontinuance after five years.

That decision pleased me, of course, because those trains remained OUR trains. From the

time Amtrak was created, I always felt a better course would have been to identify the

passenger services that were considered indispensable and pay the railroads the amount

required to continue their operation (together with a reasonable profit). It would have been

more cost-effective, and the individual railroads would still have their pride in their passenger

trains.

One only had to look at what happened to the Super Chief after Amtrak's takeover for

vindication of this position. When it was the Santa Fe's train, everyone on the railroad took

great pride in it and operated it accordingly. When Amtrak took it over, Santa Fe personnel

no longer cared.

Keep up the good work!

– Gary Widell

[End quote]

The formula used by the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 (as enacted by Congress) included the participating railroad pay Amtrak an amount equal to half of that railroad's losses from intercity passenger service during 1969 and provide Amtrak with the use of tracks, facilities and services. A participating railroad could elect to receive either a tax deduction or common stock of Amtrak in an amount equal to its payment.

This letter arrived from Texas:

[begin quote]

I read with interest your ideas and description of Florida passenger service before Amtrak. However, per Amtrak FY 2010 reports these four trains, the Meteor, Star, Palmetto and Auto Train lost over 125 million dollars last year. There is no way CSX or anyone else would take on something like that. The freight railroads want no part of passenger trains or the resulting liabilities and exposure. They may be willing to sell track space if they have any or take Government subsidies to increase track capacity to handle them, but operate them ... no way. Personally, I see no reason why the Florida service can't be a success and at least cover it's operating costs. It's just poor management on the part of Amtrak. Similar routes exist as in New York to Chicago or Atlanta to New York, etc. As for the western long distance trains, the reason for their existence died with the interstate highway system and the jet plane. They can only be sold as a luxury land cruise for vacationers and tourist as VIA does the Canadian. Their usefulness as a transportation system just doesn't exist. It takes five or more sets of equipment worth millions of dollars just to transport basically one plane load of people a day. Just not practical unless you think people are going to desert the airlines in droves and we can run multiple trains on the routes. Here in Houston, Hobby airport handles something like 10 million passengers a year, Bush intercontinental handles something like 40 million. Amtrak around 15 thousand.

As for Amtrak, after 40 years of ineptitude it's time for it to go. Contract out the NEC operation to a private operator, put the track and property ownership and maintenance under the DOT and handle rest of the system as part of the interstate and US highway system funded by the fuel tax. At least then the country might get some balance in the system and take Congress and the states out of the loop.

[End quote]

Most likely the various passenger railroad entrepreneurs would dispute much of the suppositions in this heartfelt letter. Much of what the letter writer said has been held as Holy Writ for the past 40 years, but is becoming out of date.

As to the transportation utility of the western long distance trains, in Fiscal Year 2010 the California Zephyr carried 377,900 passengers, the Empire Builder 533,500 passengers, the Southwest Chief 342,400 passengers, the Texas Eagle 287,200 passengers, and the tri-weekly Sunset Limited 91,700 passengers. The Coast Starlight carried 444,200 passengers. The transportation output of these trains is tremendous, with robust business at almost every intermediate station, large or small. For all of Amtrak's long distance trains, the average length of trip was 625.5 miles, and the load factor 61.4%.

Every departure of the California Zephyr carries an average of 517 passengers on a too short consist.

VIA's Canadian is also considered vital transportation to the intermediate stations it serves between Toronto and Vancouver with only tri-weekly service.

Because Amtrak chooses not to provide a full domestic system of transportation in cities like Houston does not mean there is not unfilled demand for passenger rail transportation.

As far as taking money from the federal fuel tax to pay for passenger rail, instead of that, how about just expanding Amtrak or allowing a competitor to Amtrak to be created and pay for passenger rail out of income instead of subsidy?

Here is a letter we were honored to receive regarding using Southern Pines, North Carolina as an example for a small intermediate station stop for the Silver Star. When writing the piece, there was a belief on the part of this writer the information about the Southern Pines area was well researched. Oops! Bad assumption. Thanks for Kevin McKinney for the update and other thoughts.

[begin quote]

Dear Mr. Richardson: I read with interest your commentary in the June 15th Digest, regarding the value of intermediate station stops. For the past 11 years I have been a resident of Pinehurst and have utilized Nos. 91-92, the Silver Star, on a number of occasions using the Southern Pines station. There are always passengers boarding and detraining at Southern Pines and there are times when a double stop is made (unnecessarily, I believe) for coach and sleeping car patrons. There could be substantially more usage of the service if capacity was expanded and service offerings improved.

First, a quick overview of this market. Once upon a time, Southern Pines, Pinehurst and Aberdeen were three towns each about five miles apart. Picture a "V" shape, with Aberdeen at the bottom of the V, Pinehurst at the upper left and Southern Pines at the upper right. Today each town's downtown area retains its charm and each is unique in its own way. In between the towns and surrounding them, population has developed along with more typically American retail strips, so we now have Walmart, Best Buy and most of the usual retail players. Fused into one small metro area, Pinehurst/Southern Pines/Aberdeen and "suburbs" claim about 40,000 residents. The rest of Moore County is largely rural and the county has a total population of 90,000. Many of the 40,000 residents in our "metro" area are affluent retirees who travel and receive visits from friends and family. Fort Bragg, in Fayetteville (on the ex-Atlantic Coast Line route of the Silver Meteor and Palmetto) has expanded considerably in recent years and many of the military families have chosen to live in this area and commute 30 miles or so to the Base. In addition, this area is a popular tourist destination, with (as you pointed out) dozens of golf courses, including those of the famous Pinehurst Resort. So this would seem to be a natural market for good intercity transportation.

However, that is not the case. We had four US Airways Express flights a day from our local airport to Charlotte until 2002 or 2003, when they were discontinued. Delta was persuaded (along with some cash) to enter the market a few years ago. They came in with one flight a day between here and Atlanta. It was always late and people missed their connections at ATL, getting stranded for hours, or worse, so before long the service ended. (One flight a day is much like a tri-weekly train, inconvenient and absurd.) Now the only way to fly here is to have your own airplane, or charter one. A number of affluent golfers do just that. (The alternative is to drive 70 miles, or use an expensive limo service, to and from Raleigh-Durham Airport.) There was Greyhound service here at one time, up and down US-1 which runs through Aberdeen and Southern Pines. By the time I found out where it went and where it stopped, it too was withdrawn. So our county of 90,000 affluent retirees, military people and "regular folk" plus tens of thousands of visiting tourists have no choice but to drive... except for our only remaining intercity public transportation, Amtrak. The planes are gone, the buses are gone, but the Silver Star remains.

As you pointed out, the train is well used. But here is my experience: Whenever I ride it (mostly north to Washington or beyond), the load factor appears to be between 98% and 102%. If two people board it is difficult to get a seat together, although that can get sorted out in Raleigh (if you have a cooperative coach attendant), where usually 60 or more people detrain and an equal or larger number board. Once we boarded as a family group of seven; five of the group (two parents and three children) could not be seated together, ending up a few rows apart, while my lady friend (who loves to travel by train) and I, without any seats available at all, headed to the dining car for breakfast. That is the typical experience, if you can even get a reservation. Often seats are not available. Daytime sleeping car space (also seldom available) is out of the question price-wise. My lady friend has recommended the train to several of her friends, and some have taken her advice. Unfortunately, they have said "never again", the reasons generally being a) crowded b) dirty c) unfriendly personnel and d) too slow. The dining car does get some positive mention, however.

I know I am focusing on the "micro" of our little area, instead of the larger picture. But all of our little areas, and the larger areas, do in fact make up the larger picture. Here are some suggestions that could make Amtrak a service here worth taking and worth recommending to others.

1. Find a way to add a least one coach to the consist. It would probably sell out immediately (two would be even better). Even at peak holiday times, the Silver Star has four coaches. Only on extremely rare occasions I have seen a fifth coach.

2. There must be some way to actually assign seats when a reservation is made. It is hard to believe that in this day and age we have to rely on a coach attendant's back-of-the-envelope scribbling to assign seats.

3. Collect the tickets on the train, while it is moving, like they used to do. Even when the train is late, more minutes are consumed as the crew checks tickets prior to boarding. Are they afraid someone is going to get on the wrong train? If someone gets on without a ticket and without any money (an unlikely situation) the worst-case scenario is they get a free ride to Cary, the next station up the line.

4. If seats were assigned, some of the coach attendant positions could be converted to cleaning crew positions – picking up the trash and making sure the bathrooms are as pleasant as can be.

5. Advertise the food service: Often the diner and the snack-lounge cars are half-empty or worse. Could it be that some of 300 passengers are unaware of the existence of the food cars or what is available and at what price?

6. Hire friendly, service-oriented people, or better train the ones that are hired. I have encountered some great employees on No. 91 and No. 92 (and elsewhere on Amtrak), especially in the dining cars. Some of the employees, unfortunately, are rude, indifferent, lazy, incompetent, or all of the above. That can ruin an otherwise OK trip.

7. Longer term, Amtrak needs to find a way to reach the big market it is not reaching. If the consist could eventually include a business class coach, or a parlor car (as offered on Illinois Central, Burlington and other long distance trains pre-Amtrak), passengers boarding at Southern Pines or Raleigh heading to Washington and the Northeast could enjoy a more pleasant daytime business-like atmosphere, instead of entering a crowded, trashy coach filled with sprawling, sleeping, snoring passengers.

8. Also longer term, develop the Next Generation Slumbercoach, an affordable sleeping car. I continue to be amazed at Amtrak's stratospheric sleeping car prices and the fact that people are paying that kind of money, especially given the level of service provided. If they are turning away passengers at these prices, imagine what kind of business they could do offering a mix of quality premium and economy sleeping accommodations.

9. Once there is a product worth advertising, advertise it. Unlike the Greyhound service we once had that almost no one knew existed even when we had it, most people around here do know there is a passenger train through here every day (two actually, one north, one south) and the charming depot in Southern Pines, restored by the state of North Carolina a few years ago, is the center-piece of that community. But few people know any details about the train. They ask me, where does it go? Where does it come from? How much does it cost? How fast is it?

Develop a quality service, provide the capacity, then advertise it in the local media, and those ridership figures you quoted will skyrocket.

Until then, at least some of us are grateful that we have one way out of town other than driving.

– Kevin McKinney, Passenger Train Journal Founder and Contributing Editor

[End quote]

Amen.

And, this additional note with updated information:

[begin quote]

Southern Pines is not a crew change point for 91/92. Raleigh and Jacksonville based crews change out at Hamlet, North Carolina.

[End quote]

It's always good to have updated information, even on the small stuff.

One final letter for this issue:

[begin quote]

This is in the nature of commentary on This Week at Amtrak Vol. 8 No. 8 [Regarding the separation of the NEC from Amtrak.].

RE the last two or three paragraphs of same. The more and more I think about it the more convinced I become that real, major reform of Amtrak would require, in addition to a separation off of the Northeast Corridor and reform of the Board of Directors, the moving away from Washington DC and the Northeast of its corporate headquarters and operational nerve center to somewhere in the great middle of the country. Only a government/Congressional liaison office and operational facilities principally or solely connected with the NEC should remain.

While perhaps this could be sold as seeking to lower overhead costs by moving to a location with lower rents and other office costs then are the case in DC the real object would be to escape from the inside-the-Beltway mindset and go somewhere that will permit the absorption of private enterprise/entrepreneurial ideas, beliefs and attitudes. Get management out to where they will breath fresh air and clean out the intellectual cobwebs within the organization that have developed from being WAY too long in DC, around too many government bureaucrats, going to too many DC cocktail parties, being infected with too much Beltway attitude.

And if some don't want to make the move; would rather leave Amtrak to stay in DC and get into some comfortable government sinecure in which to coast to retirement, that might not be a bad thing either.

Where to move to? At least a couple hours one-way travel time away from either coast. West of Buffalo and Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City/Ogden on east. Chicago has traditionally been the railroad capital; or maybe consider an online suburb such as Naperville or Glenview. Or perhaps look to one of the better run more entrepreneurial Class 1's to sublease space and absorb free-enterprise expansionist ideas.

Then again, there's Indianapolis and Beech Grove. Perhaps there are underutilized buildings there that might be redeveloped as a new headquarters. Replant the heart of the organization smack in the middle of the great neglected middle of the nation, so maybe they'll pay more attention to it.

Will it work? I don't have a familiarity with corporate histories that would enable me to say whether a corporate headquarters move has succeeded in changing a dysfunctional corporate culture; perhaps someone in your organization does.

Thanks for letting me rant.

[End quote]

District of Columbia Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton most likely would take great exception to this excellent suggestion, since she is primarily focused on keeping as many high paying jobs as possible in Washington. But, that aside, what rational person could argue with the scenario the letter writer above lays out?

There are a number of other letters to come, but for this issue, we are out of space. Join us next issue for more letters and commentary and other issues. And, thanks again to each and every letter writer, pro or con. Your time, effort, and thoughts are much appreciated.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.


----------



## jis

I actually wholeheartedly agree with kevin McKinney's 9 points. They also appear in his article in the latest PTJ.


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; June 28, 2011*

 

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 11
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

When is a passenger train like a jet airplane?

Never.

When is a passenger train like a cruise ship?

Never.

When is a passenger train like a bus?

Never.

When is a passenger train like an automobile, SUV, pickup truck, or passenger van?

Never.

When is a passenger train like a dirigible?

Never.

When is a passenger train like a passenger train?

Always.

Passenger trains are unique forms of conveyance. While a passenger train may take on certain attributes of other forms of transportation, a passenger train will always in the end still be a passenger train.

Because passenger trains are unique, the fare pricing for passenger trains should be unique, too. A passenger train can easily be more than transportation – it can be a saleable experience.

Entrepreneurial passenger train operators will price offerings to the traveling public at competitive prices for the services offered, and not price tickets at grossly under market prices as Amtrak does today. Amtrak sells sleeping car space at stratospheric prices, but gives away coach seats.

"Aha!" you shout, "But, Amtrak is a governmental agency, and, therefore, MUST sell coach seats at fares "fair" to all.

Hogwash.

"Well, gee," you whine. "Trains take so long to get there, they aren't competitive with driving or flying, so people aren't going to be willing to pay a realistic fare to travel on a train.

Amtrak MUST discount fares to attract business."

More, but not new and improved, hogwash.

If the uniqueness of sleeping car space on a train, priced today well above any comparable market rates can sell out months in advance of departure, then why should coach space be given away?

"Well," you continued totally unabashed, "Sleeping cars are so expensive to operate, Amtrak has to charge outrageous fares to pay for them. After all, maybe Amtrak shouldn't be in the sleeping car business because it only serves wealthy travelers who can afford to travel that way, and that's unfair to the rest of us. Maybe Amtrak is trying to start class warfare, and shouldn't do that because it is a governmental agency."

One can only believe those folks who think that also have a strong, abiding belief in the Great Pumpkin.

The reality is, passengers who choose to travel by train do so because of the desirability and uniqueness of the train and whether or not there are other convenient travel choices. For coach seating, price is often not in the top two or three reasons for travel.

Passengers can do things on a train which can't be done elsewhere, such as move around at will, choose where and when to eat or seek between-meal refreshments, and sleep in a freshly made bed in an utterly private space.

In most instances, passenger trains often provide city-or-town-center to city-or-town-center travel, not far suburb to far suburb travel as is found using airplanes and airports.

There is no reason for any operator to apologize for train travel, especially in the form of low fares. There are too many benefits to train travel to downplay its significance in a modern society.

In 1965, when train travel was still a broad public form of travel and competitively priced for the marketplace, a typical long distance coach fare was three cents a revenue passenger mile. Adjusted for inflation (1965 to 2010), that fare today would be 21 cents.

In 2010, other than the unique Auto Train, none of Amtrak's long distance trains earned anywhere close to 21 cents a revenue passenger mile. Coach travel on every long distance route was grossly under priced; not even keeping close to inflation.

Here's the breakdown of FY 2010 fares from Amtrak:

Silver Star – 14.67 cents per revenue passenger mile

Silver Meteor – 16.25 cents per revenue passenger mile

Cardinal – 14.80 cents per revenue passenger mile

Empire Builder – 15.22 cents per revenue passenger mile

Capitol Limited – 17.55 per revenue passenger mile

California Zephyr – 14.74 cents per revenue passenger mile

Southwest Chief – 13.26 cents per revenue passenger mile

City of New Orleans – 16.20 cents per revenue passenger mile

Texas Eagle – 13.63 cents per revenue passenger mile

Sunset Limited – 12.74 cents per revenue passenger mile

Coast Starlight – 16.67 cents per revenue passenger mile

Lake Shore Limited – 14.78 cents per revenue passenger mile

Palmetto – 18.01 cents per revenue passenger mile

Crescent – 17.48 cents per revenue passenger mile

Auto Train – 29.02 cents per revenue passenger mile

None of the long distance trains are running empty, either, precluding a call for discount fares to stimulate ridership. Most of these load factors have been achieved with near zero advertising, marketing, or public relations campaigns. Load factors are:

Silver Star – 62.9%

Silver Meteor – 63.8%

Cardinal – 55.3%

Empire Builder – 59.5%

Capitol Limited – 67.5%

California Zephyr – 60.0%

Southwest Chief – 66.6%

City of New Orleans – 61.5%

Texas Eagle – 69.8%

Sunset Limited – 47.2%

Coast Starlight – 62.5%

Lake Shore Limited – 60.4%

Palmetto – 52.4%

Crescent – 55.7%

Auto Train – 65.1%

With the exception of the Auto Train, which has no intermediate station stops, any train with a load factor of 65% or greater could easily fill another car. As a rule of thumb, because of on/offs at intermediate stations, a train with a 65% load factor is generally full and at some point in the route peaks out with no seats available.

It is a mystery why Amtrak chooses to charge so little for long distance train travel when it bitterly complains to Congress and the news media the majority of the company's losses are due to the forced operation of allegedly money-losing long distance trains.

It appears these are "money-losing long distance trains" by design and manipulation. The only regulation for Amtrak fares is free market pressure; no government entity dictates to Amtrak the amount it charges for tickets on long distance trains.

Are these trains intentionally underpriced to make them less financially desirable?

In Amtrak's early days in the 1970s, the then-current management of Greyhound Lines, Inc. was a bitter foe of Amtrak and the subsidies it received. Greyhound held itself out as a last bastion of public travel, and it corporately screamed to the high heavens Amtrak was unfair competition because it received government subsidies while Greyhound received none.

It's interesting to note in the 40 years since Amtrak was created, Greyhound's main competitor, Trailways Transportation System, has slunk into near oblivion, and Greyhound itself has abandoned a myriad of routes and cities and towns it once served. In many instances, Amtrak has emerged as a sole common carrier in many smaller cities and towns which no longer have any common carrier bus service.

The definition of predatory pricing is, according to www.wikipedia.org: "In business and economics, predatory pricing is the practice of selling a product or service at a very low price, intending to drive competitors out of the market, or create barriers to entry for potential new competitors. If competitors or potential competitors cannot sustain equal or lower prices without losing money, they go out of business or choose not to enter the business. The predatory merchant then has fewer competitors or is even a de facto monopoly, and hypothetically could then raise prices above what the market would otherwise bear."

Well, we're waiting for Amtrak to raise prices, because it doesn't seem to be in a hurry to do so if predatory pricing is its business plan.

If Amtrak charged long distance fares consistent with inflation at 21 cents a revenue passenger mile instead of an average of 16.29 cents per revenue passenger mile, it would collect an additional $131,937,710 in long distance fares based on FY 2010 business results.

There is one area of Amtrak business where fares have kept up with inflation: state supported routes and corridors. These fares for FY 2010 averaged 21.27 cents per revenue passenger mile. But, the average load factor on state supported trains is a full 20% lower than on long distance trains, with state trains averaging a load factor of 41.6% while long distance trains have an average load factor of 61.4%.

What would happen if Amtrak charged for state supported route coach fares what it charges for Northeast Corridor fares? NEC Northeast Regional trains average 41.80 cents a revenue passenger mile for nearly identical services provided on state supported trains.

The FY 2010 state supported route gross revenue would go from $386,439,600 to $759,401,082, most likely eliminating the need for any state subsidies.

But, with mouths open and a look of total anguish on faces, many will say, "how in the world could fares be raised that much and anyone still ride?"

The answer is fares could not reasonably be doubled in a single stroke; most likely fare hikes would have to be phased in over a six to 36 month period. Still, this would be a classic study of fare elasticity – how much could fares be raised and still attract the same or nearly same amount of riders?

There is a burning question of why, if fares averaging 41.80 cents a revenue passenger mile are sustainable in a high population area like the Northeast Corridor, would those same fares not be sustainable on the Pacific Surfliners in Southern California, where the cost of living is not that different from anywhere in the Northeast? Or, in Illinois; is the cost of living in Illinois that much different than in Wilmington, Delaware?

According to Bankrate.com, a cost of living comparison calculator, anyone making $50,000 a year in Wilmington, Delaware needs $64,775 a year to have an equivalent lifestyle in Los Angeles, California. That same $50,000 a year in Wilmington needs only 2.83% less a year in Chicago to live the same lifestyle, so there is little difference between Chicago and Wilmington.

Yet, residents of Los Angeles pay 23.08 cents per revenue passenger mile to ride a Pacific Surfliner train (with, it is important to note, in most instances newer and nicer equipment than the older Amfleet equipment used on Northeast Regional trains), and 23.19 cents to ride a Hiawatha service train between Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. If it costs considerably more to live in Los Angeles and nearly the same to live in Chicago, why are those residents paying nearly half what residents of the Northeast are paying to ride a state supported passenger train?

While Amtrak does charge higher fares on state supported trains than it does on long distance trains, most likely it is because it has to answer to state departments of transportation and state legislatures. But, still, why does it underprice fares? State supported trains have an average load factor of 41.6%, and Northeast Regional trains have an average load factor of 45%, 3.4% higher, with fares that are nearly twice as high. How is this explained? Population density is not the answer – it's as tough to find a grassy open space in Chicago or Los Angeles as it is in the Northeast.

It must be noted Amtrak claims the Acela service on the NEC makes money, but the Northeast Regional trains do not. This strange concept, since both services use identical stations, reservations systems, commissaries, infrastructure, etc., dictates someone, somewhere is doing some creative accounting. Because Acela trains actually travel faster than Northeast Regional trains, it costs more to maintain track infrastructure for Acela than it does for slower Northeast Regional trains, so Northeast Regional trains should technically be cheaper to operate. Plus, the regional trains have older equipment overall (some locomotives are newer, but many of them are shop queens) than Acela, so regional equipment should be further depreciated, and Acela equipment should be held at a higher book value for depreciation.

The argument can come down to one of demographics.

Does Amtrak believe it has a "better" class of traveler on the NEC, and, therefore can charge a higher fare with impunity? Does Amtrak believe the typical coach passenger on a state train in flyover country or – even more so – a typical coach passenger on a long distance train is poorer and less willing or able to pay for a coach ticket than the average NEC coach passenger? Yet, we still see exceptionally high sleeping car prices which sell out months in advance, even on Eastern routes where the travel is for transportation purposes as much as recreation purposes as found on some Western routes in warm weather months.

So, the question returns: does Amtrak scorn its passenger base, and think it can't attract the same financially viable passengers nationwide as found on Northeast Regional trains? Is there any proof Pacific Surfliner passengers are any less viable as a group than NEC passengers? Probably the opposite is true.

What priority does Amtrak have? Generate enough income to run the company effectively, or keep fares artificially low so the federal government in its present reduced financial state, can keep shoveling money into the company?

More importantly, does Amtrak WANT to succeed financially? Do Amtrak managers have enough faith in themselves and their product to start pricing services at fair market value?

At this point, someone inevitably brings up the point Amtrak doesn't have enough equipment to do the job. More distilled hogwash. On so many routes the load factor is so low, even a 15% to 20% load factor increase would not call for more equipment, but would have a tremendous financial benefit.

And, if Amtrak wants new equipment, why doesn't it do like every other common carrier in the world, and lease the equipment? There is no law which says Amtrak must outright purchase new equipment; plenty of lessors would be happy to make Amtrak a good deal on new equipment.

What are state department of transportation managers doing about this? Are they happy to pay Amtrak large sums of money every year from state public treasuries without investigating fare elasticity?

Amtrak received a large amount of stimulus money to upgrade its information technology, and much has already been put in place. How sophisticated is Amtrak's yield management system? Surfing through the reservations system comparing fares, while many elements of a yield management system are apparent, one has to wonder how deep down the system digs; for instance, does it manage by route, or by city pair? What type of limits have been set for producing revenue from selling day space in sleeping cars? Are there enough programmers and managers in place to monitor the whole system constantly, tweaking and updating fares for optimal yield management?

Let's review for a moment.

United States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica in June published the Fiscal Year 2010 losses Amtrak claims to have endured on its long distance route network.

Here is what we learned:

[begin quote]

Silver Star, New York - Miami: $46,500,000 annual loss

Cardinal, Chicago - New York: $15,200,000 annual loss

Silver Meteor, New York – Miami: $39,100,000 annual loss

Empire Builder, Seattle – Chicago: $56,200,000 annual loss

Capitol Limited, Chicago - Washington D.C.: $20,600,000 annual loss

California Zephyr, San Francisco – Chicago: $52,100,000 annual loss

Southwest Chief, Los Angeles – Chicago: $57,700,000 annual loss

City of New Orleans, Chicago - New Orleans: $21,800,000 annual loss

Texas Eagle, Chicago - Los Angeles: $27,100,000 annual loss

Sunset Limited, Los Angeles – Orlando: $37,400,000 annual loss

Coast Starlight, Seattle - Los Angeles: $47,100,000 annual loss

Lake Shore Limited, Chicago - New York/Boston: $35,000,000 annual loss

Palmetto, New York – Savannah: $13,800,000 annual loss

Crescent, New York – New Orleans: $40,200,000 annual loss

AutoTrain, Lorton, Va. – Sanford, Fla.: $18,500,000 annual loss

TOTAL – $527,300,000 annual loss

[End quote]

Focus on the Palmetto.

The Palmetto has a route length of 829 miles between New York Pennsylvania Station and Savannah, Georgia via Washington, Richmond, Rocky Mount, and Florence.

It is an undistinguished long distance train which requires only two sets of equipment. Southbound, it departs New York Penn every morning at 6:15 A.M. and arrives in Savannah at 9:03 P.M. Northbound, the Palmetto departs Savannah at 8:20 A.M. and arrives in New York Penn at 11:47 P.M.

The consist is one locomotive, one Heritage baggage car, one Amfleet I Club-Dinette, and four Amfleet II coaches. Only two trainsets are required for this service. The maintenance and crew bases are Sunnyside yards in New York City, with turn maintenance (cleaning) and a crew base at the Amtrak Savannah train station.

Between Savannah and Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the Palmetto shares stations with the Silver Meteor. The Silver Star also shares the stations in Rocky Mount and Savannah.

Between Rocky Mount and Richmond, Virginia, the Palmetto shares stations with the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Carolinian.

Between Richmond and Washington, the Palmetto shares stations with an additional six Northeast Corridor trains, plus shares Alexandria, Virginia with the Crescent, Cardinal, and the new Lynchburg, Virginia train.

From Washington to New York City, the Palmetto shares stations with an additional 41 trains of the NEC and Keystone services and whatever regional commuter services make use of the same stations.

Add all of that up, and in some combination, the Palmetto shares its stations with 53 other trains plus commuter trains. There are no stations exclusive to the Palmetto. The only exclusive service the Palmetto requires is the cleaning/turn maintenance crew in Savannah and the Savannah crew base.

The Palmetto requires two employees in the locomotive on some of the route and just one on most parts, one conductor, one assistant conductor, one lead service attendant in the lounge/dinette, and two coach attendants for a total crew of six on the train the majority of the time.

The annual passenger count is 189,500, and the average length of trip is 450.2 miles. Total revenue for the Palmetto is $15,366,600, and annually, 85,309,000 revenue passenger miles are generated.

The Palmetto travels 584,000 train miles each year, carrying 146.1 passengers in an average mile, each generating 18.01 cents per revenue passenger mile. There is an annual load factor of 52.4% on 162,751,277 seat miles available.

Remember, Amtrak says it loses $13,800,000 a year on the Palmetto. It's a Plain Jane train, with the only upgrade of business class service available, which consists of a free newspaper and free soft beverages in the lounge car as actual cost items. It's an all-reserved train with baggage service.

If Amtrak loses $13,800,000 a year on the Palmetto, that means the train, which makes 730 terminal departures a year (one in each direction every day of the year), loses $18,904 every time it leaves New York Penn or Savannah.

Since the Palmetto carries an average of 146.1 passenger every train mile at 18 cents per revenue passenger mile, the train generates $26.30 every train mile in fares. This does not include what it generates in the lounge car or for excess baggage in the baggage car.

If the Palmetto loses $18,904 every departure as Amtrak claims, that means it loses $22.80 every train mile above what is collected in ticket revenue.

But – and this is the big but – it only costs just a little less than $28.00 a train mile to operate the Palmetto, including host railroad (with on time performance bonus), crew (with full benefits and employee costs allocated), maintenance, depreciation, insurance, reservations, fuel, and every other cost – other than headquarters overhead and whatever extraordinary allocated costs may be assigned to each train such as corporate debt reduction. Station costs are not included; but, considering the Palmetto has no exclusive stations, the cost per departure are very low specifically for the Palmetto.

So, to be completely generous, let's say it costs $29 a train mile to run the Palmetto every day over the 829 route miles (including the 225 miles of the Northeast Corridor Amtrak owns and pays itself for use), for a cost of $24,041 every departure.

$21,803 in ticket revenue generated every departure.

$24,041 in expenses generated every departure.

A difference of $2,238 (loss) every departure, or $4,476 a day, plus station costs. That works out to a loss of $2.70 a train mile.

Amtrak says it loses $18,904 every departure, or $37,808 a day.

Harrumph. At the most, the Palmetto's daily share of station costs is well under $1,000. There are no avoidable station costs directly tied to the Palmetto because of the time of day it operates. Each station would be open and staffed for other trains whether or not the Palmetto existed.

Is Amtrak corporate and divisional headquarters eating up that much in subsidy costs?

Or, is Amtrak just assigning a huge amount of corporate costs to the long distance trains so the trains it wants to look good (Acela) look better?

Here's another bit of ironic cheer: The Palmetto only both entrains and detrains revenue passengers for 604 of its route miles. North of Washington on the NEC, southbound trains only entrain passengers; no local business is allowed. Northbound, the same thing; no new passengers north of Alexandria, Virginia (a Washington suburb).

So, if you wanted to erase some of that deficit, add in food service revenues, and excess baggage revenues That would help some, but not completely. The food service revenues would erase the cost of the lead service attendant in the lounge car, however. And, since the Palmetto's load factor is only 52.4%, pushing up that load factor with a small amount of marketing and advertising effort would quickly erase any real deficit. The Palmetto only needs an additional 15 passengers per train mile to break even under this formula. If the load factor bumped to the 78.7% load factor the Carolinian does on much of the same route, the Palmetto would be a cash cow. If the Palmetto was allowed to take on local passengers between New York Penn and Washington, that deficit would be quickly erased.

What about local business between New York Penn and Washington?

Here's the odd thing about that. During the Christmas holiday season, Amtrak opens up the long distance trains to local business between Washington and New York. There is no government rule or regulation or union deal prohibiting that from happening.

There isn't much difference between the Palmetto and any Northeast Regional train running on the NEC. The equipment is the same, the employees are the same, the stations are the same. Really, the only significant difference is the Palmetto carries a baggage car, a service most likely many NEC passengers would covet if they were allowed to use it.

But, the Palmetto generates only 18 cents per revenue passenger mile over its entire 829 mile route, INCLUDING the 225 miles it travels over the NEC trackage.

Northeast Regional trains – over the identical tracks, using the identical equipment, identical stations, etc., etc., etc. – generate 41.8 cents per revenue passenger mile over the 225 miles of the NEC. Acela trains generate 72.14 cents per revenue passenger mile.

The question is, why do long distance route Palmetto passengers pay 18.01 cents per mile, while Northeast Regional passengers pay 41.8 cents for the identical service, less the desirable option of checked baggage?

Can anyone explain why that is different? Please?

Can anyone explain why on the NEC, where there is a myriad of travel choices, including multiple long distance bus services and competition is high for passengers, why the cost is more than south of Washington, where there are fewer travel choices, yet the cost is less than half?

Isn't a lack of competition supposed to drive prices up, not down?

If Amtrak is going to blame all of its losses on the long distance trains, why does it charge so much less for long distance trains than NEC trains?

Long distance trains, other than the short times operating over the NEC, travel exclusively on tracks of host railroads, where a per train mile cost for use of the tracks and dispatching is paid. On the NEC, Amtrak is responsible for track and infrastructure maintenance. Is it possible the Acela service is allegedly profitable because Amtrak charges something close to a real market price for the service to cover actual costs (even though tens of millions of dollars of annual capital costs to keep and upgrade the NEC annually are never figured into the real costs of operating the Acela service)?

Is Amtrak's true opinion of the long distance trains such that it doesn't care about them and literally gives away the coach seats because it doesn't matter how much income the trains generate? Do long distance trains – as full as they are – only exist for political benefit to Amtrak?

We've looked at only the Palmetto because it's the closest in comparison to NEC trains. When looked at closely, other long distance trains with sleepers and full diners perform even better than the Palmetto because of the stratospheric sleeping car fares, even with station costs assigned to only one train service.

When the new generation of passenger rail entrepreneurs calculate proposed fares to start creating profit and loss and balance sheets, none of Amtrak's formulas will be used.

Instead, real market pricing will be the norm, such as "what will the market bear?" and what will passengers be willing to pay for the experience of riding the train? Remember, a passenger train offers options and services not found on any other type of land transportation, and reaches cities and town not served by other modes of common carriers. These are real, tangible benefits of train travel which are worth something in the marketplace, and the worth of these benefits should be reflected in ticket pricing.

Good yield management always plays a part, too. Three to four fare buckets for each city pair, based on demand and space availability are paramount for a good financial result. The airlines and cruise lines discovered this decades ago, and, Amtrak today uses yield management. One of Amtrak's problems is it just uses too low of base fares for the yield management to have any significant impact beyond the high rates charged for sleeping car accommodations.

Here is one final example of pricing gone completely wrong, and the only consequence is the American taxpayer has to cough up more and more subsidies for Amtrak. This example was based on prices at the time of compilation, June 18th, for travel on Monday, August 22, 2011.

New Orleans to Chicago

– Amtrak offers one coach fare, $112, for a trip of 19 hours and 15 minutes on the City of New Orleans, a full service train.

– Greyhound offers service in 20 hours and 20 minutes, with two transfers. Greyhound offers four fares, web only – $123.30, months in advance purchase – $89.00, standard fare – $137.00, and refundable fare – $154.00

– Southwest Airlines, should you enjoy a 17" wide coach seat, also offers the same city pairs, flying into Chicago Midway. Travel time of 2 hours 15 minutes. Web only, non-refundable – $156.00, anytime fare – $348.00, business select – $368. There are seven travel choices of varying length of travel, none over 4 hours 10 minutes.

– Should you choose to drive a private vehicle, at 51 cents for 926 miles over a period of 14 hours and 52 minutes, the cost allowed by the Internal Revenue Service is $472.26 for however many souls you can cram into a private vehicle for that period of time. [Note: As of Thursday, June 23rd, the IRS raised the standard mileage rate for the last half of the year to 55.5 cents per mile.]

Amtrak's standard fare is less than Greyhound's discount quick travel fare, and Amtrak is offering a full service train with complete dining and lounge car services, baggage handling and a shorter trip than Greyhound, plus no transfers. What is wrong with this picture?

Oh, and the lovable but beleaguered Sunset Limited, the long distance train everyone loves to complain about because it allegedly loses more money per passenger than any other long distance train, well, look at its pricing. The Sunset's revenue per passenger mile is only 12.74 cents, the lowest per mile fare of all of the long distance trains. Amtrak says the Sunset loses $37,400,000 per year, or, as many love to say, $408 per passenger. It's no surprise the Sunset is the biggest loser because its revenue passenger mile income is the lowest, and its operating characteristics are the worst – only tri-weekly service over a route which serves major cities such as Los Angeles, Tucson, El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, and New Orleans. It would take a miracle to make the Sunset Limited look good under these circumstances. If the Sunset was given half a chance and priced accordingly and put on any schedule but a tri-weekly schedule, it would no longer be the worst performing train.

It should be noted the new entrepreneurs will never have the opportunity to say, "I can't make this work because a stingy Congress doesn't give me enough money to be successful!"

None of the problems outlined above about below market pricing that never kept up with inflation has anything to do with how much free federal money flows from the public treasury to Amtrak. These problems are a direct result of poor decisions made expressly by Amtrak's management cadre that doesn't look internally to solve its problems, but constantly to the taxpayer to keep erasing the results of their poor decisions so they have the opportunity to make the same mistakes again and again and again.

For anyone in business, if there are no consequences to their actions, there is no accountability. Amtrak rarely faces any permanent consequences for its actions and poor decisions. The same people who scream for the heads of anyone on or connected to Wall Street that make these types of poor decisions for some unknown reason are completely silent about the same type of decisions at Amtrak. These same people fear the privatization of some Amtrak routes because of the unknown future under private operation. But, could any private business make as bad of decisions as Amtrak's pricing decisions and not be held accountable one way or the other? Either everyone has to be held accountable, or no one held accountably. Anything in between is just an exercise in hypocrisy.

The Miami Herald ran a headline Monday, June 27th proclaiming "Privatization's unspoken risk: corruption." The accompany story was about building private toll roads in South Florida. As is often with the media, there was much gnashing of teeth and fretting over what potentially evil entrepreneurs would do to poor, innocent citizens given the chance to fleece them for the sake of allegedly evil profits. Considering what Amtrak has done to the American taxpayer for the past 40 years and continues to do today with irresponsible fare pricing, it's safe to say there is plenty of corruption one way or the other in the public sector under the color of monopolistic government programs, too.

The new passenger railroad entrepreneurs know their business model rests on the best of the far past and the innovation of the future. No part of the business model – other than what NOT to do – rests on any business model in use for the past 40 years.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.


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## AlanB

You'd think that after all the investigating to find all those other numbers that Mr. Richardson would at least investigate long enough to find out that those low fares he laments about on the Pacific Surfliner's aren't set by Amtrak. They're set by California.

In fact, that why that route remains unreserved because that's what California wants, not Amtrak.


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## stntylr

Also he complains about the Sunset Limited only being three days a week. I know that's not Amtrak's choice either.


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## jis

Also remember that Mr. Richardson is yet to succeed in starting his privately operated service to Las Vegas. He does not seem to mention that ever anymore.


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## AlanB

jis said:


> Also remember that Mr. Richardson is yet to succeed in starting his privately operated service to Las Vegas. He does not seem to mention that ever anymore.


I'm guessing, but I suspect that his return to writing the column is do to the failure of that company.


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## bretton88

Believe me, if fares weren't this low on the LD coaches, I probably would be flying everywhere. Because if all was equal, time equals money, so for example the 26hrs on the train versus 6hrs on a flight for Omaha-Salt Lake City (the flight is 4hrs, I'm giving 2hrs for security, etc...). That extra 20 hrs is worth real value, whether business or time with friends. But, when the coach fare on Amtrak is 100$ lower than the flights, that's worth the 20hrs I lost on the train in addition to some scenery considerations. I don't consider Greyhound in this discussion, equal travel times, much less comfortable. I do note that he conveniently ignored Greyhound's advanced purchase fare, which a lot of people use in travel planning, its the same with flights. But Amtrak has to keep the fares low in coach. Otherwise, we're flying. That time is valuable.


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## haolerider

AlanB said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> 
> Also remember that Mr. Richardson is yet to succeed in starting his privately operated service to Las Vegas. He does not seem to mention that ever anymore.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm guessing, but I suspect that his return to writing the column is do to the failure of that company.
Click to expand...

I am quite sure that is why he has returned to the URPA world in an active role. Bruce has never been the same since he did a brief "marketing" job for Amtrak that he viewed as a success and Amtrak viewed as a failure. He had several proposals for various projects, but Amtrak turned him down. His views are biased, short-sighted and he tends to ignore facts that do not support his case. I have always been curious as to how he supports himself.


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## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak*
​

_Companion Publication to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail_

*By D&D Carleton*

 

_Proofreading: Black Bear Wordsmiths (__[email protected]__)_

Volume 8, Number 12
​

July 11, 2011
​


A digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
​


​


United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
​


America's foremost passenger rail policy institute
​


​


Jacksonville, Florida USA
​


Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] •

http://www.unitedrail.org​


​

*From the Editors…*

* *

Recently a prominent state rail advocacy group signed on accepting the ultimatum of a major railroad. What does this portend for the rest of the country?

 

*Cannot Predict HSR Speed? How About a Happy Medium…*

 

_"A thousand miles seems pretty far, But they've got planes and trains and cars, I'd walk to you if I had no other way…" Hey There Delilah_ - Plain White T's

 

Back in January of 2008, not long before the most recent resurgence and subsequent retreat of American High-Speed Rail, Rick Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association was one of the highlighted speakers at the Carmichael Conference held in St. Louis, Missouri. An interesting anecdote during his lecture told of the public's reaction to plans for high-speed trains: "How do we get the trains we already have to run on time," and "How do we keep the bathrooms clean." This may lead one to wonder: Are the public's expectations low or just realistic?

 

It should be noted, all hyperbole aside, that there are currently no high-speed trains in operation anywhere on the North American continent. The true definition of HSR by those who actually operate it is 250 kph (155 mph), so Amtrak's Acela does not quite make it. But that's okay here in the USA where our motto is, "If you don't like what you see, lower your expectations." Therefore, the American definition of HSR is anything faster than a bicycle going downhill. As a result there are projects ongoing to raise certain corridors up to top speeds of 90 mph or greater. The freight railroads which own the track in those corridors have their own ideas pertaining to "high speed."

 

As has already been covered by _This Week_, Norfolk Southern's CEO, Wick Moorman, made it clear that for his railroad "passenger train" means 79 mph, maybe 90 mph in certain circumstances. Ergo, the extension of regional trains in the Commonwealth of Virginia to Norfolk will top out at 90 mph. CSX has the same vision for passenger trains. In upstate New York, CSX has stipulated that 90 mph be the top speed for the current service running from Albany-Rensselaer to Buffalo. The government of New York State sees things quite differently, pushing to raise those train speeds to 110 mph. This is where perception meets reality; the former New York Central main line, the storied Water Level Route, is the property of Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX.

 

In a move to help settle this impasse, the Empire State Passenger Association agreed with CSX:

 

_"The Empire State Passengers Association (ESPA) has endorsed 90 miles per hour as the near-term maximum speed for Amtrak's Empire Corridor passenger trains operating on CSX's busy freight mainline across upstate New York from west of the Capital District to the Buffalo region."_

 

To be sure, the ultimate goal of ESPA is to realize 110 mph trains in New York State. Still, they have wisely determined that half a loaf, paid for by someone else, is better than none. They must also be keenly aware that time is of the essence. As per the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, specifically Section 209, it is expected that individual states will be held responsible for the operating losses for such trains. If everything had gone as per the language in the PRIIA, then in October, 2013 New York State would have to buy the cow because the milk will no longer be free.

 

*Asleep at the Switch*

 

Speaking of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, formally known as Public Law 110-432/Division B, it may well be described as a train wreck in no motion. By law enacted October 16, 2008, Amtrak was required per Section 209 to "develop and implement a single, nationwide standardized methodology for establishing and allocating the operating and capitol costs among the States and Amtrak" for routes under 750 miles by October 16, 2010. Now some nine months later, no such "methodology" has been brought forward by Amtrak, although negotiations with the states are ongoing. Even so, the law is clear as to what was supposed to happen following the deadline and no agreement:

 

_"If Amtrak and the States (including the District of Columbia) in which Amtrak operates such routes do not voluntarily adopt and implement the methodology developed under subsection (a) in allocating costs and determining compensation for the provision of service__* in accordance with the date established therein*__, the Surface Transportation Board shall determine the appropriate methodology required under subsection (a) for such services in accordance with the procedures and procedural schedule applicable to a proceeding under section 24904© of title 49, United States Code, and require the full implementation of this methodology with regards to the provision of such service within 1 year after the Board's determination of the appropriate methodology."_

In other words, with no negotiated agreement in place by October 2010 there should have been accelerated implementation deadline for the Surface Transportation Board-issued standards. Instead of five years from enactment if the schedule had been followed, with the STB involved, it was supposed to be two years (the missed deadline) + 120 days (the STB decision) + one year = three years and four months vice five years. The STB was required to issue standards by mid-February 2011, to become effective and binding one year later.

 

To be certain, the Surface Transportation Board has more than enough on its plate these days, what with every utility in the land seemingly attempting to re-regulate the railroad industry. As such, they are more than content to sit back and watch the negotiations from afar, and will only intervene if a dispute arises between the states and Amtrak.

 

This is nothing we have not seen before, here at _This Week_. We fully expect Amtrak to come into the STB waving a tardy "agreement," and then the STB to take the path of least resistance by adopting it. The inherent danger of such after-the-bell acceptance would be the serious legal questions about the validity of any cost standards thus generated. Any other operator seeking to bid on any route negotiated with this agreement will be free to challenge said standards simply on the basis of missing the October 2010 deadline, and the STB's subsequent failure to promulgate standards unilaterally as specified in the PRIIA when that happened.

 

*The Future of American Passenger Rail Corridors?*

 

No matter how you slice it, the costs of transportation,_ all transportation, _are going to be reallocated such that the states will have a more direct financial responsibility. The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, specifically Section 209, has a goal of establishing a uniform strategy for determining those costs of train routes 750 miles and under and then passing the bill along to the states. Translation: The federal government is getting out of the corridor business. Eventually we will see the same scenario with the Northeast Corridor.

 

Learning from the British experiment, the physical in-place plant should belong to a public entity; in the case of the NEC, perhaps a compact of those states. The legal foundation for such a compact already exists:

_"Consent to Compacts.--Congress grants consent to States with an interest in a specific form, route, or corridor of intercity passenger rail service (including high speed rail service) to enter into interstate compacts to promote the provision of the service…" - The Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, Section 410_

Connecticut and Massachusetts already own all or a substantial portion of their intrastate section of the route. The states already have the bureaucratic machinery in place for their commuter services. The maintenance needs of the NEC are roughly $500 million per year, which comes out roughly to $1 million per mile. New Jersey would have the largest stake, at 58 miles. But they also have the largest NEC demand: NJ Transit. Is it any wonder that New Jersey politicians are fighting tooth and nail to keep the status quo?

 

The next logical step would be to bid out the premium services. If, say, an entity such as Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains wins the bid, they purchase and maintain their own equipment; they pay an access fee, and the public gets to ride in the same manner as it would if it had flown. The private entity now has room to innovate within the bounds of its own equipment and on its own dime, far from the scrutiny of the budget hawks. In the real world of HSR, this is becoming a reality. In 2013 German Rail (DB) will commence HSR Intercity Express (ICE) service from Frankfurt and Amsterdam to London. The existing HSR services on the lines will continue to run. Although DB is a public entity it is improvising like a private company. This also demonstrates that HSR can be done over someone else's infrastructure, and that competing HSR services can coexist. That is about the practical extent of "privatization" in the corridor world.
​

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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; July 19, 2011*

 

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 12
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

Hot off the Internet presses, the latest from Gil Carmichael, undoubtedly the wisest man in the railroad world today.

[begin quote]

Gil Carmichael Reports – Investing in Interstate 2.0, Volume 2; July 19, 2011

Fixing the Transportation Infrastructure: A Simple Public Works Project

There has never been a greater degree of conversation and talk over our nation's transportation problems than exists today. Ideas range from the rational to the irrational as ideas flow from the left and right. But to date, no comprehensive plan has been put forth that would create a 21st century intermodal transportation infrastructure to meet growing economic demands, as well as improve passenger and freight movement. The Obama administration has proposed an intercity rail passenger vision that would help address the crumbling infrastructure and create a large public works project; but takers have been too few. We are still thinking in a single mode only manner.

Lost in all the rhetoric about how to update the nation's dysfunctional transportation infrastructure is a single, cogent plan that can solve our problems of congestion, connectivity and fuel efficiency in a challenging global economy. The fact is however, that as a nation, we have already successfully dealt with a similar dilemma once before – in the 19th century! Today's solution should draw from and expand upon that lesson. We need only look to the building of the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad network that began in 1863 and continued to develop for decades, to see how a 21st century intermodal passenger and freight transportation solution can be achieved. Supported by Congress, this historic "steel wheel on steel rail" system ultimately connected the coasts for the first time, built vast cities in the west, greatly reduced passenger and freight travel time and created great economic vitality. It was a massive, yet simple economic plan much better than Eisenhower's Interstate Highway program of the 1950s.

As we continue to argue over freight versus passenger rail movement, we should remember that by 1912, when all of our center cities and ports were developing due to railroad expansion, approximately 80 percent of intercity passengers were riding the trains. So was 80-90 percent of the nation's freight. It was a shared rail system. And it worked beautifully! Following the building of Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System, by the 1970s, however, our growing population became an increasingly mobile society, enjoying cheap gas and diesel prices for private vehicular travel. Highways became the darling of not only the social order, but the federal and state governments, and freight and passenger transportation segued from the railroads, to the nation's highways and airports. Unfortunately, we built a mobility system based on individual transportation modes with a finite, largely foreign, fossil fuel source that at that time was funded on "increasing consumption."

We all know that is no longer the case. Nearly 150 years after we began to build this great railroad system, we live in a vastly more complex and technological global economy. Fossil fuel sources have been re-priced to very high levels; and our highways are congested, expensive and deteriorating. We have failed to invest intelligently in a seamless, modern intermodal North American transportation infrastructure policy which has the railroads as its key element.

Transportation in today's high-tech global economy must be an intermodal/internet-based process that moves goods, people, energy and information. For most goods, this requires international containerized movement by ships, trucks and railroads; for people it means air travel and intercity rail. With today's technology, such as digital communications, Intelligent Rail Systems (IRS), GPS and Positive Train control (PTC), we could safely increase passenger rail speeds to 110-125 MPH, and freight speeds up to 90 MPH. We could do so while creating great efficiencies, reducing congestion, and cutting highway fatalities by as much as 50 percent. It would also drastically reduce the wear and tear and cost of maintaining highways – thus extending their life.

While we talk incessantly, we are staring at a simple solution to this 21st century problem. We have a fairly wide 240,000-mile rail ROW network in North America that is already paid for. In most cases, this rail network connects all of our major "center cities" and ports, but sadly not any major airports. The rail network, however, after years of downsizing, is currently operating at only 20-25 percent of its real capacity. But, by double- or triple-tracking at least 30,000-40,000 miles of the railroads' main lines, with grade separations, we can create an ethical and fuel-efficient, rail-based, transportation system that will transform our transportation landscape into a modern, shared intermodal system. This would meet today's challenges by allowing freight and passenger trains to share the same system once again, while permitting the fast container movement of freight on a global basis and permitting the development of a new North American intercity high-speed rail system. It's a win-win policy.

With proper planning and investment, this holistic approach to a North American "Interstate 2.0," will be an ethical, fuel-efficient, intercity, rail freight and passenger transportation system. It will be seamless in nature, connect our center cities, ports, airports, and bus and transit lines, without destroying any green fields. It is a simple, but logical public works project – one that will require a working partnership between state agencies the private sector. This large public works project will also play a major role in restoring badly needed jobs and creating much needed economic prosperity. Done properly, it can be accomplished in 20 years. It's a simple, sensible fix.

__________________________________________

Gil Carmichael, a leading Southern Republican spokesperson on transportation issues, is Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver, a former Federal Railroad Administrator, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council. Mr. Carmichael can be reached at: [email protected]

[End quote]

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.


----------



## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; July 29, 2011*

 

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 13
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

There are about a dozen projects in the pipeline for private passenger rail in the United States, and the first one is out of the planning stages and into actual operation.

Iowa Pacific Holdings' Saratoga and North Creek Railway had its inaugural last Saturday, July 23rd, and is officially open for business. This is a new railroad for general passenger transportation and a resort component in upper New York state. The route is a former branch line of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, and the Saratoga and North Creek Railway frequencies make connections with Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express Service.

In brief, here is how Ed Ellis, president of Iowa Pacific Holdings described the new service:

[begin quote]

This is a fully-compliant passenger railroad. We make a good connection with the [Amtrak] Ethan Allen in both directions, and we lease the two station tracks from Canadian Pacific. Amtrak stops on the controlled siding.

Present equipment is full-length Budd dome cars and bi-level coaches built by Toyku Car for the Long Island Rail Road. Full dining service is available in dome class.

It's not quite a year round operation. We operate Thursday through Monday (no trains on Tuesday or Wednesday), two round trips a day, one oriented to residents, one oriented to connections. This schedule runs through October 30th. There is a ski train late December through March, and there are special event trains in the gaps. North Creek is a summer and winter market, but there is a shoulder season that is pretty quiet.

The ski train will be an early morning departure from Saratoga to provide a full day of skiing at Gore Mountain which is adjacent to North Creek.

[End quote]

You can learn more about the new, private-for-profit operation at www.sncrr.com or visit the web site of the parent company, Iowa Pacific Holdings at www.iowapacific.com.

Iowa Pacific Holdings is privately owned, with 10 owners, is profitable, and has reinvested all earnings, plus tax credits, plus RRIF loan proceeds into infrastructure over the years. Iowa Pacific has extensive holdings in short line freight operations, car repair, and infrastructure maintenance, as well as passenger tourist and excursion operations in the United States and Great Britain.

As for expansion, Mr. Ellis said:

[begin quote]

We will run additional trains for ridership demand, or if one or more units of government will pay for additional trains. As you may know, New York State DOT is paying for a second track on the CP at Ballston Spa (about two miles, connects two long sidings yielding maybe five miles of double track) and between Albany and Schenectady. It's no secret they would like to have two more pairs of trains between Albany and Saratoga. We would be willing to consider operating trains such as those under contract, and would be willing to add whatever qualifications and insurance that would be necessary to do so. That could also yield a year-round operation to North Creek.

I should point out that unlike many contract commuter operators, we are "soup to nuts," and maintain track and equipment, take reservations, provide onboard services and do our own marketing. So we are not like, for example, Herzog running the RailRunner. We are more like Amtrak running the Heartland Flyer, except there is no subsidy, we take the risk, and we expect

to make a profit.

[End quote]

The Saratoga and North Creek serves nine cities and towns, with full stations in North Creek and Saratoga, and seven flag stops in between. Each trip takes about two hours and 15 minutes for a trip just under 60 miles. Fares are from $19 for coach seating, one way.

For historians fond of Theodore Roosevelt, it was the North Creek railroad station where he boarded a special train after learning President William McKinley has died at the hands of an assassin, and vacationing Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became President Roosevelt.

Keep your eyes open for more to come from other successful railroaders outside of the government realm.

____________________________________________

We need to have a discussion about intellectual honesty and funding for Amtrak and various proposed high speed rail projects. Most rational people know the federal government is broke and is struggling to meet its obligations. Some want higher taxes to accomplish the goal of meeting past and current obligations, other, more rational beings, simply want lower levels of spending and a redefining of government as a smaller entity.

Just about everything – as it should be – is on the table for discussion in Washington. Leaders of every description are seeking ways to improve various things, and, as often happens, this leads to seismic shifts in how government programs survive, either in whole or part.

The cries of unabashed full funding for Amtrak and high speed rail in the current Washington environment are not only not helpful, but cheapen the cause for improved passenger rail transportation.

The proper cry is for full productivity by Amtrak and increased self-reliance, and, for high speed rail, the biggest bang for the smallest buck. This is a time to be making friends by demonstrating worth, not alienating large populations which may be necessary for future gain.

Amtrak's various Amen Corner support organizations need to be working to help Amtrak achieve recognizable goals, not demanding others do without funding to prop up an organization which always seems to lurch from one budget year to the next without a defined plan for permanent success. In this time of financial crisis, it's hard to shed any tears for those who don't help themselves, first, and ask the help of others after their own resources are exhausted.

The goal of more trains to more places is achievable by clever people with a clear purpose and a clearly defined path. Anything less just creates problems for the future.

____________________________________________

Most readers know of the devastating high speed train wreck over a week ago in China. This is the first major wreck for the new Chinese system, and it took the lives of nearly 40 people. There is lots of finger pointing going on at the moment, and good information is slow coming out of a country which has been tight-lipped for centuries. What we do know is the major accident slows down considerably any other countries which may have been listening to the siren song of the Chinese, hoping to export their high speed rail technology outside of their own country. In their haste for a world showcase, apparently they forgot one critical component – safety comes first.

______________________________________________

The ever thinking William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona passed along these thoughts after the final landing of NASA's Space Shuttle recently.

[begin quote]

The final Shuttle flight raises the question: What does Amtrak have in common with the Space Shuttle?

Both cost far too much, did far too little, and led their industry to atrophy. Our space program and our intercity passenger train network today lie shriveled and sunken, in need of a new and vibrant life.

The Space Shuttle was envisioned as an inexpensive way of transporting men and machines, with quick turn-around times on the ground and weekly launches. Yet, somewhere between concept and execution, the program became burdened with supporting so many different objectives, becoming so heavy and complex, that in reality each launch cost over a billion dollars – a hundred times the original budget – and across the 30 years the program averaged 11.5 weeks per launch – ten times longer than desired. According to the Boston Globe, the Shuttle program ran up a total budget $196 billion. Other than the Hubble Telescope and a few other major successes, the Shuttle program resulted in relatively little new science, at the cost of the loss of all crew on mission numbers 51 and 107.

Contrast this with the two highly successful and scientifically valuable Mars Rovers whose total budget to date is somewhere around one billion dollars. Yet, NASA, which has an effective monopoly on space exploration, has barely been able to build and operate programs like the Rovers, with the Shuttle devouring so much time, manpower, and money.

The net result across three decades was that few scientists and engineers were inspired to pursue space careers, and few new businesses were formed. How far ahead we would be if there were a hundred Burt Rutans competing to build spacecraft to the stars! Instead, our space program lies mired in bureaucratic muck.

Amtrak, too, came out of this eggs-in-one-basket approach. Like the centrally-planned NASA, there was one way to do things and Congress held all the purse-strings. Like NASA, almost everyone at Amtrak believed in their mission and their product, but the organization's structure permitted little dissent or imagination.

Both Amtrak and the Shuttle were monstrous, ponderous programs that discouraged competition and co-operation.

I shed no tears for the Space Shuttle which drained the adventure and vitality from the Space Age I envisioned as a child watching the Moon Landing, and I shall shed no tears at whatever befalls Amtrak. – William Lindley

[End quote]

_______________________________________________

Trains of Discovery: Railroads and the Legacy of Our National Parks by Alfred Runte has been issued in its updated, fifth edition.

It's a book chocked full of colorful railroad photos, posters, and illustrations, focusing on how our nation's national park system was promoted and grown by the passenger railroads of the 19th and 20th centuries. The book has been updated to include parks east of the Mississippi River.

Al Runte is a hardcore conservationist and his work reflects that. He's obviously in love with passenger trains, and his work reflects that, too. His books are a combination of excellent history about passenger trains and his passion for conservation. Whether you read the book for trains, or read the book so you can enjoy hugging the next tree you see, either way, you will spend an enjoyable time with the writing of Al Runte. The book also contains full color photos of many of his extensive railroad collectibles and many illustrations by J. Craig Thorpe.

The book is published by Roberts Rinehart is available in both hard and soft covers. It was released this month.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.

Useful links for the passenger train world (New links have been added since the last edition):

www.passengerrail.org – Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators

www.herzogcompanies.com – Herzog Transit Services, Inc.

www.keolis.com – Keolis Rail Services/America

www.railamerica.com – RailAmerica, Inc.

www.ratpdev.com – Ratp Dev

www.veoliatransportation.com – Veolia Transportation

www.spartansolutions.org – Spartan Solutions LLC

www.durangotrain.com – Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

www.cumbrestoltec.com – Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

www.rockymountaineer.com – Rocky Mountaineer Railtours

www.viarail.ca – VIA Rail Canada

www.tampaunionstation.com – Friends of Tampa (Florida) Union Station

www.larail.com – Private passenger railcars for individual hire in Southern California

www.americanrail.com – American Rail Excursions, Inc.

www.newrivertrain.com – New River Train Excursions/Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society

www.scottishthistle.com – Scottish Thistle private passenger rail car

www.bombardier.com – Bombardier, Inc.

www.hamilton-associates.com – Hamilton & Associates, Inc.

www.iowapacific.com – Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC

www.sncrr.com – Saratoga and North Creek Railway

www.rhbohannan.net – R.H. Bohannan & Associates, LLC

www.tgaassoc.com – Thompson, Galenson and Associates

www.worldbank.org – World Bank

www.aar.org – Association of American Railroads

www.du.edu/transportation – Intermodal Transportation Institute, University of Denver

www.amtrak.com – Amtrak

www.dot.gov – United States Department of Transportation

www.volpe.dot.gov – Volpe Center

www.fra.dot.gov – Federal Railroad Administration

www.unitedrail.org – United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

www.APRHF.org – American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation

www.azrail.org – Arizona Passenger Rail Association

www.colorail.org – Colorado Rail Passenger Association

www.railpac.org – Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada

www.fcrprail.org – Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers

www.nmrails.org – Rails, Inc., New Mexico passenger rail advocacy group

www.railvermont.org – Vermont Rail Action Network

www.texasbytrain.org – Texas Coalition

www.texasrailadvocates.org – Texas Rail Advocates

www.TXARP.org – Texas Association of Rail Passengers

www.dot.ca.gov – Caltrans/California Department of Transportation

www.dot.state.fl.us – Florida Department of Transportation

www.dot.state.il.us – Illinois Department of Transportation

www.bytrain.org – North Carolina Department of Transportation, Rail Division

www.virginiadot.org – Virginia Department of Transportation

www.railroaddata.com – Railroad Internet web site information consolidator

www.trainweb.com – Railroad Internet web site information consolidator

www.usa-by-rail.com – Informative route guide paperback book for the Amtrak system

If you would like to have your company or organization's Internet web site link listed here, submit it for consideration to [email protected] Inclusion will be at the sole discretion of the publisher, and the publisher reserves the right to exclude any company or organization for any purpose. This list is not intended to be a complete list.

Subscribers to This Week at Amtrak automatically receive a subscription to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; subscriber lists are maintained simultaneously for both publications, and neither publication can be subscribed to exclusively.

If you are reading someone else's copy of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, This Week at Amtrak, or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail and This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

*By D&D Carleton*

 

Volume 8, Number 13

*From the Editors…*
​
One cannot discuss Amtrak without at least a basic knowledge of the Northeast Corridor. What exactly is the NEC? In this first installment of a two-part series we examine the rise and fall of the NEC.

*In the beginning*

_"While the mighty Pennsylvania boasted of having pushed its steel tentacles into some of the nation's most populous cities, it could not make that claim with regard to New York City. Throughout the last years of the nineteenth century, the PRR struggled in vain to conquer the great natural barrier--the Hudson River--which lay between it and America's largest metropolis." - Michael Bezilla, Electric Traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad 1895-1968, Pennsylvania State University Press_

To understand the United States, one must contemplate the challenges of those earliest days of the Republic. The two largest cities on the East coast, New York and Philadelphia, were a six-day journey by horse and boat for the founding fathers. Yet as early as 1811, Colonel John Stevens, the father of American railroading, petitioned the New Jersey Legislature to charter a railroad between Trenton and New Brunswick. His request was denied. His sons would build the storied Camden & Amboy Railroad in 1834 from a ferry connection in Philadelphia to a boat dock on the Raritan River in South Amboy, New Jersey. The Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad was built and fully operational in 1835. The Camden & Amboy completed a branch between Trenton and New Brunswick in 1839. That same year, the New Jersey Railroad completed its line between Jersey City and a connection with the C&A at New Brunswick, and initiated through service from the New York City area to Philadelphia. A journey that had taken six days a quarter-century before could now be completed in a matter of hours.

A similar story can be told south of Philadelphia. In 1832, the New Castle & Frenchtown Railroad commenced operation in Delaware. After numerous charters and a few false starts, numerous smaller roads were consolidated into the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad in 1836. Through service between Philadelphia and Baltimore began in 1838. By 1851, it was possible to travel from New York to Washington, DC in 12 hours via a connection with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Following the American Civil War, railroads began their transformation from local concerns to national institutions. By and large it was these ideals that were at the heart of the war, itself. The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired control of the C&A, P&T and NJRR roads in 1871. After a battle for control with the B&O, the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control of the PW&B in 1881. As a result, the B&O would build its own line from Baltimore to Philadelphia.

What followed is a lesson in corporate overreach. There had been a proposal in the 1860s to build a "National Air Line" railroad between New York and Washington. It was supported by the then-upstart PRR, and opposed by the established B&O, which already had a line between Baltimore and Washington. After the B&O successfully fought off the "Air Line" repeatedly, it then found that the PRR was buying up the other railroads with which the B&O had been connecting for traffic between New York and Washington (the Baltimore and Potomac was the last piece, and then the B&O would be cut out). So the B&O built its own line to Philadelphia, at a time when the original B&O, and particularly the West End, were still unimproved and badly in need of investment; thus perpetuating its slide from the first-place East-West trunk line to third-place behind the PRR and NYC.

The story of the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad is somewhat more colorful. Originally chartered as a regional road to connect the farms of southern Maryland to the ports in Baltimore, it was purchased by a group of associates of the PRR in 1866. A "branch" was built in 1872 between Bowie, Maryland, and Washington, DC. In 1873, tunnels were completed in Baltimore, allowing connection between the PRR-owned B&P and the PRR-friendly PW&B. Within a decade, the PRR would control its own railroad in what was considered the most valuable stretch of real estate in the country.

North of New York the tale is equally as complex and historic. The first link was the Boston & Providence Railroad, which began operation between its namesake cities in 1835. The New York, Providence & Boston Railroad began through operation in 1837 between Providence and Stonington, Connecticut. In 1848 the New York & New Haven Railroad completed its line between New Haven, Connecticut and a connection with the Harlem Railroad to access New York. In 1858 the New Haven, New London & Stonington Railroad completed the last link, and by 1859 an all-rail route with two ferry crossings was possible between Boston and New York via four railroads. The NYP&B purchased the NHNL&S in 1864.

In 1872, the New York & New Haven combined with the Hartford & New Haven Railroad to become the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad; thus began an insatiable quest for consolidation in Southern New England. Germane to the Northeast Corridor, the NYNH&H, better known simply as the New Haven, acquired the NYP&B in 1892. The Old Colony, which had leased the B&P in 1888, was itself leased in its entirety by the New Haven in 1893. With all of its acquisitions, the New Haven controlled all rail traffic in Southern New England and in so doing then possessed three separate routes between New Haven and Boston: The Inland route via Hartford, the "Air Line" which avoided all major cities as well as the State of Rhode Island, and the Shore Line route which hugs the northern banks of Long Island Sound. Sometimes holding all the cards means control of one's destiny; and sometimes it means too much of a good thing.

*Let there be light*

The New Haven was a pioneer of electric traction utilizing low-voltage direct-current applications as far back as 1895 on many branch lines. The New Haven connection to New York was then part of the New York Central System, and as a result of a horrific accident on the NYC in 1902, steam locomotives were banned by city ordinance after 1908. The New Haven would use the NYC third rail system into the city, but had much more ambitious plans for the rest of its main line. In April 1907, the first high-voltage overhead catenary was energized between the end of third-rail territory and the power plant at Cos Cob, Connecticut. By the end of that year, wires had been extended east to Stamford. In 1914, electrification had reached New Haven. Numerous branch lines for freight and passenger service were also electrified. Had economic conditions not worsened, the electrification program would have continued, possibly to Boston.

For the PRR, of course, owning the premier transportation system in the country had its own responsibilities. As the final years of the 19th Century wound down, traffic on the PRR continued to grow. Even so, terminating at Harsimus Cove, like so many other roads on the Hudson River, did not meet the expectations of the "Standard Railroad of the World." After much consideration, a plan of attack was reached in 1901 wherein the PRR would access New York and beyond. Tunneling beneath the solid rock of New Jersey's Bergen Hill and then slogging through the muck that is the river bottom, the PRR would not just enter Manhattan, but would make the grandest statement in passenger railroading travel: Pennsylvania Station New York. It would not stop there. Working in conjunction with the New Haven and PRR subsidiary Long Island Railroad, four tunnels would connect Manhattan to the Borough of Queens and then a spectacular connection to New England via a bridge over the East River at Hell Gate.

Upon its completion in 1910, the new electric division from Manhattan Transfer, New Jersey to Sunnyside Yard in the city Borough of Queens was powered by low-voltage third-rail DC electricity as the result of the city ordinance banning steam locomotives. Even then the PRR was contemplating electrification of the railroad in a manner without the restrictions of low-voltage DC, high-voltage overhead catenary. In 1915, it electrified the Main Line between Philadelphia and Paoli. This was followed by extensions north to Trenton and south to Wilmington. In 1928, the PRR announced its intention to electrify north to New York, replacing the original third-rail system except for what was needed by the LIRR (the New Haven had extended its overhead electrification to Sunnyside Yard in 1917). Despite the Stock Market crash of 1929 and Great Depression of the 1930s, the expansion continued with plans to electrify to Washington and Harrisburg. Service to New York began in 1933, to Washington in 1935, and to Harrisburg in 1938. Much of this was underwritten by Federal loans of some $107.5 million.

It should be noted that the improvement to what would later be called the Northeast Corridor was not the only PRR plan for massive improvement. In 1905, the PRR incorporated the Pennsylvania & Newark Railroad, to build a parallel freight route from the yard at Morrisville, just south of Trenton, north; connecting to a freight yard in Newark. Work was suspended in 1916 due to wartime scarcities, and never restarted. The PRR had also planned building an entirely new mainline to the Midwest running west from Lewistown, Pennsylvania, across Ohio, and well into Indiana. This new low-grade line would have given the PRR the shortest and fastest link between New York and Chicago. For reasons left to speculation, the PRR decided to improve its line between Washington and New York. This would unwittingly set the stage for passenger railroading in the later decades of the 20th Century.

*The darkest hour*

By the mid 1960s, America's railroads were in trouble. Not only was the once-mighty PRR not exempt from this pain, but in many ways was its full embodiment. The radical improvement of the 1930s which made the PRR the paragon of transportation now weighed like a millstone around its neck. Overly-burdensome regulation from early in the 20th Century had ended the PRR program of continuous self improvement. This was followed by the post-war largess manifested in the Interstate Highway program; an open-access network of asphalt and concrete, underwritten and maintained at the expense of the American taxpayer. Passenger trains had always been guaranteed enough cross revenue from freight through the rates set by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Now with freight (especially the premium carloads) leaving for the subsidized highways, there was no longer enough to go around.

For the New Haven, things were even worse. Having a dense regional railroad in a small industrial area of the country made sense before the age of subsidized roadways. With the coming of the Connecticut Turnpike and New England Thruway, the New Haven did not stand a chance.

*Sowing the seeds of socialized rail transportation*

In the decade of the 1960s, the economy of the country was running like a well-oiled machine. Every corner of business was garnering its share of the national largess with one notable exception: The railroads. Increase in business revenue correlated with an increase in internal revenue, and much of this went to the railroads' new competition: Socialized transportation in the form of interstate highways and airports. Meanwhile, Japan was continuing to rebuild its infrastructure. As it did not enjoy national largess, it was imperative to make the most of what it did have by rebuilding and improving on existing technology. Thus, after rebuilding its railroads, Japan took the next logical technological step of speeding up its railroads. Its 125 mph "Bullet Trains" captured the imagination of the world, and the imagination of at least one person in the U.S. Senate. After all, that money in the U.S. Treasury was not going to spend itself.

Claiborne de Borda Pell served in the U.S. Senate representing the people of Rhode Island for six terms starting in 1961. He will always be best known as the father of the Pell Grant, which offers tuition aid for college students. Immediately following his election, he turned his attention to the possibility of high-speed trains in the Northeast. He aroused then-President Kennedy's enthusiasm for the idea, and this led to the initiation of feasibility reports by the Commerce Department. But how to pay for it?

_"Where will the money come from to build a high-speed rail line in the northeast corridor? A federal subsidy only as a last resort, said the Senator. What he favors is the creation of a public authority which could guarantee bond issues. But there are other possibilities, too: 'I am by no means exclusively wedded to the public authority approach…one alternative which has been discussed is the formation of a public corporation…'" - Railway Age, October 12, 1964_

Apparently, all the other possible options were discarded rather quickly. Following the release of the Commerce Department corridor studies in 1964, Senator Pell introduced (and Congress passed) the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965. Signed into law by President Johnson, the Act authorized in 1965 an expenditure of $20 million, and $35 million the next year. These funds went to upgrades to the railroad right-of-way between New York and Washington, DC, as well as to the purchase of the now famous Metroliners; 50 multiple-unit cars capable of 120 mph speeds, from the Budd Company.

This was the era of "The Great Society" where all the nation's woes could be cured with copious quantities of public money. Sadly, such was the mindset of the age of avarice; throwing money at problems was much easier than solving problems. All around the country, the railroads were losing traffic to government-subsidized competition. This atrophy of traffic led to the mistaken notion that parallel railroad mergers would equate to survival, thus leading the PRR to merge with its long time rival, the New York Central, in 1968. Part of the PRR's agreement to allow its property between New York and Washington to become a guinea pig for an imperious immediacy of political interest was the hope of a favorable decision to grant its merger. Unfortunately, in less than two years this misbegotten union called Penn Central became the single largest corporate bankruptcy in history up to that time.

Instead of addressing the continuing failing fortunes of the nation's railroads, elected leaders of the day concentrated on one symptom: Passenger rail losses. It has been said that Americans operate in only the two modes of complacency and panic. Complacency was no longer an option. Millions of public dollars invested in the NEC faced the possibility of liquidation in bankruptcy court. Politically, this was untenable. A key reason for the 1971 formation of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak, was to protect America's investment. America's passenger trains were now in the hands of Senator Pell's suggested "public corporation."

How has this public corporation fared in its governance of the NEC? This will be addressed in our next installment.


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## jis

The NEC infrastructure was not given to Amtrak in '71. In '71 Amtrak was a purely Train Operating Company. It was in '76 when Penn Central failed that parts of the NEC was handed over to Amtrak to offload that cost from the new Conrail's books. Simultaneously parts of Penn Central was also handed over to NJ-DOT. By all accounts that maneuver has been a partial success since Conrail has been effectively privatized and the government made money on that deal. The problems of NEC are at least as much a collective political problem as anything else. Using it to beat up on Amtrak and nothing else smacks of a single minded agenda and not a cogent analysis.


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## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak*
​

*By D&D Carleton*

*Volume 8, Number 14 *
​

* *

From the Editors…

 

In this issue, the conclusion of our two-part series where we look at the modern-day history and contemplate the future of the NEC.

 

Amtrak's Northeast Corridor

 

_"It will remain for the future to show how that institution can be preserved, and the way provided for its continued progress in usefulness and effectiveness for the public, for its employees, and for its owners." - Martin W. Clement, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, forward to_ Centennial History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company 1846-1946

 

The first six years of Amtrak operations on the NEC could be described as "business as usual." From coast to coast, Amtrak was taking responsibility for all remaining passenger services, thus the NEC was just another piece of railroad. Operating crews, conductors and engineers, were still provided by the host railroads. Federal monies were made available to prop up the failing railroad infrastructure of the Northeast, including the NEC, until a permanent fix could be agreed upon. For more than five years between May 1, 1971 and sometime in 1976 Amtrak, itself, governed all of its local and long distance trains in the NEC as a tenant of Penn Central. (This is still the case almost everywhere else in the U.S. on other host railroad properties.) PC was still responsible for the dispatching of their freight trains and the many, many commuter trains that PC continued to operate over the NEC facility. It was during this brief but bright moment that the 1973 oil embargo hit the country, and suddenly the population began to take notice that there were still passenger trains running.

 

The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act (4R Act),signed into law on February 5, 1976, would forever change the NEC and domestic passenger railroading. In the fire sale that was the end of Penn Central, the NEC south of New Rochelle, New York and between New Haven, Connecticut and the Rhode Island/Massachusetts state line was ceded from the newly-formed ConRail to Amtrak as per the 4R Act on April 1, 1976; the remainder went to State agencies. Transfer of ownership of the NEC to Amtrak in 1976 was orchestrated by the United States Railway Association not because of the magic of Amtrak owning its own railroad, but in order to get the financial albatross of NEC ownership off the back of the brand-new ConRail, and onto Amtrak's books, where the presumed continuing flow of free public money to sustain it would be more appropriate. Also, with the 4R Act came the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project (NECIP) and $1.75 billion in Federal funds, with the goals of achieving New York-Washington running times of two hours forty minutes, and Boston-New York running times of three hours forty minutes. The pitfalls and temptations of government money were all too soon apparent:

 

_"A highlight of the first year of the NECIP was a three-inch-thick Environmental Impact Statement, which came to the startling conclusion that there would be no environmental damage from continuing to run trains where trains had been running for over a hundred years."_ - Tom Nelligan and Scott Hartley, Trains of the Northeast Corridor, Quadrant Press, Inc, 1982

 

At one point, the FBI was summoned to investigate a $16 million discrepancy between material purchased and material on hand. By 1979 Congress knew what to do: Increase the NECIP budget to $2.4 billion and extend the deadline for completion from 1981 to 1985. In 1981, the Reagan Administration cut $600 million from the NECIP, and the plan to extend electrification to Boston would have to wait.

 

The wait ended January 31, 2000 when regular electrified service commenced to Boston's South Station. The four-year $2.4 billion project had its own drama, with FBI raids of contractors' offices. But the biggest fraud would be the Acela Express trainsets; an untested, one-of-a-kind fleet of heavy energy users, dubiously procured and never to be repeated.

 

Today, the maintenance needs of the NEC are about a half billion dollars per year. Yet, due to its nature, the bulk of patronage was not, nor would ever be, Amtrak ticket-paying customers. Even so, prior to direct State assumption of commuter rail services in 1983, Amtrak would be called upon to subsidize those local needs. New amendments to Amtrak's governing laws in the early 1980s assured that the "formulas" contained therein would never allow Amtrak to recover the huge costs of subsidizing massive commuter rail operations. Unfortunately, that situation still has not changed:

 

_"We are paying a lot of money not needed to operate rail passenger service. We are also cross-subsidizing some of the commuter operations in the Northeast Corridor. That's a matter of policy, and we are not urging that be changed. But the fact is, it's not an operating cost of intercity rail passenger travel service. [Cross subsidization] is about $47 million a year."_ - Interview with Graham Claytor, Trains magazine, June 1991

 

Asking those states which utilize the corridor to ante up would bring Amtrak closer to solvency. Doing so, however, would mean ceding some degree of control to those states. Repeal of the commuter subsidy "formulas" was attempted in the original version of what became the 1997 Amtrak reform law, but the political clout of the NEC states on both sides of the aisle proved too strong. As of this writing, ceding any jurisdiction of the NEC to anyone other than itself is anathema to Amtrak. Emboldened by shear ownership, the NEC has taken on a life of itself; it is no longer a part of the Amtrak network but rather the core of Amtrak, to which all other lines of service must cede.

 

Amtrak is a political animal, and as such, political expediency will always come before business acumen. Amtrak currently touts its "market share" in the Northeast as 52% between Boston and New York, and 65% between New York and Washington. These numbers, however, are strictly a modal split, as between Amtrak and the air shuttle carriers. Using U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics data for intercity travel (non-commuter trips over 100 miles), you get a true "market share" value for rail of somewhere under 2%, and Amtrak itself reports its own paltry load factors. Mobility in the Northeast is just as important as anywhere else in the country, but are these results of a thus-far $30 billion investment worth it?

 

Breaking the cycle of [Federal] dependency

 

Whereas the 2008 economic downturn was characterized as a failure of business, the 2011 economic malaise has been defined as a failure of government. The populous will spend the rest of the decade, if not longer, asking and answering some very deep and basic questions regarding who pays for what and how much.

 

To this end, U.S. Representative John L. Mica of Florida, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and U.S. Representative Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, presented a new initiative called the "Competition for Intercity Passenger Rail in America Act." The press release of June 15, 2011 reads in part:

 

_"After 40 years of costly and wasteful Soviet-style operations under Amtrak, this proposal encourages private sector competition, investment and operations in U.S. passenger rail service," Mica said. "Competition in high-speed and intercity passenger rail will cut taxpayer subsidies, improve service, and bring our nation into the 21st century of passenger rail transportation."_

_ _

_"Amtrak has repeatedly bungled development and operations in the Northeast Corridor, and their new long-term, expensive plan to try to improve the corridor is simply unacceptable," Mica continued. "The nation cannot afford to continue throwing money away on this highly subsidized, ineffective disaster._

_ _

_"It is time for a new direction. Around the world, other nations and the private sector have successfully competed to develop high-speed and passenger rail service," Mica said. "There is no reason we cannot do the same in our most densely populated and congested region. By giving the private sector the opportunity to bring its resources and expertise to the table, we can lower costs, increase efficiency, and improve high-speed and intercity passenger rail service across the country."_

 

The intent is to transfer title of the NEC from Amtrak to the U.S. DOT or some other organization to allow for more flexibility in operations and investment. It should be noted that relieving Amtrak of the NEC property (and its attendant endless capital needs) is something that has been recommended by members of the United Rail Passenger Alliance for over a quarter century:

 

_"But Amtrak need not own the NEC. It can be sold and its costs of ownership eliminated without adverse effect on train operations…"_

_ _

_"Shared ownership is not unprecedented. It simply treats the NEC as a large terminal district; many hotly competitive railroads jointly and profitably own feeder lines, terminal districts, and union stations…"_

_ _

_"Structuring the buyer of the NEC as a limited partnership (the customary means of syndicating large real estate projects) would enable Amtrak to be the general partner, retaining needed day-to-day operational control. The limited partners would be allocated the tax and other financial benefits of ownership."_ - Andrew C. Selden (URPA Vice President Law and Policy), How to get Amtrak out of the woods, Trains Magazine, January 1986

 

On the international railroad scene, this is already a reality. In Great Britain, the national network of track is owned by Network Rail, a government-created "not for dividend" company. Network Rail's customers are separate and for the most part private-sector "train operating companies" (passenger) and "freight operating companies" who operate under periodically-renewed franchise contracts. An interesting exception to the private-sector passenger operations is the East Coast Main Line: London-York-Edinburgh. The through trains are currently being operated by another government-created company, Directly Operated Railways, because the last for-profit franchise holder, National Express, bailed out in dramatic fashion after discovering it was losing its shirt running trains even over subsidized tracks. Numerous companies, fast passenger and slower freight, operate over Network Rail and have learned how to play well together over somebody else's infrastructure. The British experience did not come without its fair share of unpleasantries, but in the end the nationalized British Railways were successfully weaned off the public dole, and succeeded by multiple entities; private where profitable, public where warranted. This was not just to keep the trains running, but to grow and continuously improve national rail transportation. Its progeny now have a chance to learn from this experience.

 

The Mica-Shuster initiative was immediately castigated as total "privatization" and declared dead-on-arrival by those who may be on the losing end of this potential transaction. One amusing erudition emanating from this fracas involves invoking the final phrase of the Fifth Amendment, "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." The NEC was "private property" which was ceded by Penn Central to public ownership upon its exodus from the transportation business. Amtrak, a "quasi-public corporation," does have preferred and common stockholders. All of the preferred stock is held by the U.S. DOT. The common stock is held by the successors of the original Amtrak-participating railroads who accepted stock in lieu of tax credits that would not aid their fiscal malaise. Today this class includes a financial group and three class-one railroads. The Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997 "required Amtrak to redeem at fair market value the shares of common stock outstanding as of December 2, 1997, by the end of fiscal year 2002." Despite this being law, it has not come to pass. If, indeed, the NEC is property of Amtrak and therefore property of the stockholders, then that stock may be worth more than wallpaper, after all.

 

The other side of the "taking" coin, however, is that Amtrak received the NEC in 1976 subject to a 999-year balloon mortgage, held by U.S. DOT, who holds the mortgage on the NEC property as security on billions of dollars of debt owed back to U.S. DOT by Amtrak; which they cannot repay. All of this is laid out in Amtrak's annual report. Thus, it is not a question of a "taking," but one of foreclosure on a lien that has existed for 35 years, is in default, and is callable whenever U.S. DOT chooses. That is a matter of political and commercial will, not constitutional rights. Extinguishing the mortgage in return for a title transfer to U.S. DOT could also eliminate the constitutional objection. Moreover, current law [49 U.S.C. 24907©] already immunizes and indemnifies Amtrak and its board of directors from liability regarding any transaction "related to" the mortgage.

 

Also, a foreclosure would not necessarily directly impact Amtrak's operating rights, except to the extent that U.S. DOT or its successor might choose to price access to the infrastructure at levels closer to actual cost recovery. Even that would not change anything, except to make the actual accounting losses of the NEC (especially Acela) a lot more visible.

 

Separating the NEC from Amtrak with all its legal gyrations will take a few years. Even then it is highly unlikely the property will be in the hands of one or more private companies. More likely is a compact of those Northeast states that will hold and become responsible for the whole corridor. (Congress pre-approved such interstate compacts for passenger rail service in the 1997 Amtrak reform law.) Today there are five state commuter agencies operating under the wire of the NEC. Add to this Amtrak and limited freight operations. Yet, once upon a time this was all under the banner of one railroad. Will we ever make it back to one operator?

 

The Baltimore & Ohio's overreach of the late 19th Century bears out a pertinent object lesson for us today. The B&O concentrated its resources on a short-haul piece of railroad due to its location in what was believed to be the most valuable stretch of real estate in the country. As a result of neglecting their long-haul routes to the west, however, the railroad would become an "also ran." The B&O would be controlled at various times by various railroads including the PRR. Ultimately the B&O found security as a lesser partner of the Chesapeake & Ohio. Today there are no major railroads headquartered in Baltimore. This is the purposeful outcome of the free market. 

 

Today Amtrak, self-described as "America's Railroad," pours the lion's share of its meager resources into the NEC to the detriment of the national network. Unfortunately, as a public entity, the laws of the free market are not allowed to be applied. Amtrak points to sheer passenger counts, opposed to passenger-miles, as justification for this aberration. With government deficits growing and public patience waning, this dichotomy cannot continue indefinitely. The longer the decision is forestalled, the fewer resources will be left available to 
​


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## yarrow

i wonder how many au members read this newsletter? i enjoy riding amtrak(for the most part)and don't have the knowledge to analyze the arguments presented in the urpa newsletter but on a superficial reading many of the arguments made appear, to me, cogent.


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## NE933

I would like to see the leaders of URPA, NARP, and National Corridors Initiative conduct a three day forum with Amtrak management participating and ansering to challenges, with the public invited to take part in the discourse.

UPRA seems to have an out of norm orbit in its view of Amtrak and passenger rail. I know people have different ideas, and I want to squeeze the juice out of each of these, to see which arguments stand or fall, and whether a blended solution of all the entities is the answer. Otherwise this newsletter screams of dredging up the same muck at the bottom of the lake only to dump it back, and re-pick it up.

UPRA often goes after NARP in its writtings to challenge it's roll and ethics in posturing itself as America's voice to stand up for passenger trains. I want NARP's Ross Capon to respond, damn it. If one's claims are false, you reprimand the author of such moldy hubris for the charlatan he or she is. If they're true, explain why.

Stop these panty-skirt squabbles for once and all, as these distractions are taking the time, money, and energy out of work to solve some of these issues.


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## jis

NE933 said:


> UPRA often goes after NARP in its writtings to challenge it's roll and ethics in posturing itself as America's voice to stand up for passenger trains. I want NARP's Ross Capon to respond, damn it. If one's claims are false, you reprimand the author of such moldy hubris for the charlatan he or she is. If they're true, explain why.
> 
> Stop these panty-skirt squabbles for once and all, as these distractions are taking the time, money, and energy out of work to solve some of these issues.


Interesting! On the one hand you want to stop the "panty-skirt squabbles" and on the other hand you complain because someone other than URPA declines to participate in such? Until NARP membership asks NARP management to deal with URPA, I don't see why NARP should bother. If you happen to be a NARP member have you sent an email to Ross? What was the result? If you are not a member why would anyone in NARP care what you think NARP should do?

URPA is not a membership organization by their own admission. It is a few people expressing their opinions, and that's a good thing, if done logically and rationally. But IMHO (and I am allowed at least one  ) there appears to be too much of gratuitous sniping that comes out which does not add to the credibility of the discussion.

I bet if NARP members clamor for something or it starts losing membership, they'd do something about it. But until then..... life goes on. While NARP claims to be a National Organization, I doubt that any such can legitimately claim exclusivity, and doubt that they do. Contrary to popular misunderstanding, none of the State ARPs have any formal organizational relationship with NARP. They exist on their own and choose to collaborate and cooperate with NARP as they see fit. The one that I am active in aligns with NARP on certain issues and disagrees with them on certain other ones, but without getting into a name-calling match. It is true that many in the leadership of various state ARPs also play a role in the NARP Council formally as individuals, not as representatives of the state ARPs. But that is all that the relationship is limited to.


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## NE933

jis said:


> Until NARP membership asks NARP management to deal with URPA, I don't see why NARP should bother. If you happen to be a NARP member have you sent an email to Ross? What was the result? If you are not a member why would anyone in NARP care what you think NARP should do?
> I bet if NARP members clamor for something or it starts losing membership, they'd do something about it. But until then..... life goes on.


Well, I am currently in a dispute over my membership status: they claim the money I sent was for an 'extra gift during extraordinary times', I claim it was a renewal. Tit tat, back forth, it's going nowhere. This, plus two years ago I did speak with Mr. Ross Capon over the phone and admonished the organization's complacent and total lack of force in persuading Amtrak to do something about procuring new equipment, besides just writing about it. Trains Magazine writer Don Phillips has treated this issue several times, and even now during two or three major purchases in progress, laments of a certain 'missed the chance to jump on the horse' sort of thing. Ross' response was that I should rachet up the amount of letter writting to Congress, the President, my mayor, etc. I shot back that while communications are invaluable, we need to be trying something else besides letters and emails. Something out of the box, that would posture us as a force to be reckoned with.

As both you and myself sort of concede to, NARP is like church. All the good deed doers want to go but never do. NARP's strategy of reciting endless statistics of fuel consumption, ridership, funding efficiency, is like playing a chamber music concert when the crowd wants to hear rock and roll. NARP practically abdicates its roll in any leadership that would change the perception of itself, and of Amtrak, to a player that knows what it needs to do and then to do it. There are times in life you must take the offense tactic, not all the time, but certainly when your survival is at stake if all your moves are going to be reactions to the adversary then the game is over in a matter of time.

Except for that phone conversation, in which Mr. Capon was cleary caught off guard with long pauses, "eee ahh ee ohh uhh"'s, I have not made any letter by mail to him. Given the time that has passed, along with my membership in dispute status, fruition has blossomed into flower and, I'm just waiting for when the right words come to mind, courtesy and respectful but appropriataly reprimanding as well, for lack of fixing my files (as a customer), then, to debate our ideology of interacting with Amtrak's equipment affairs. If I can't do that, then the purpose of my contributions to such organization should be up to my review and final decision.

Now, UPRA's missives are witty, intelligent and insightful, long, and loaded with plot holes. Without going into more paragraphs, it's recent news release states that the Northeast Corridor would have more transparent accounting if it were conferred over to the U.S. DOT; Amtrak's stewardship of it has worsened a perception of favoritism in the rail network.

I believe the accuseation of favoritism is a true one, though not to the extent others have orated. Besides though, giving the NEC to the U.S DOT, another federal agency that is large and facing its own budget hiccups, will do nothing in the way of remedy.

Also, UPRA cites the lavish subsidies of highways and oil well nations as a cause of rail's decline, which is correct. So then why doesn't UPRA assign blame to this money laundering as a direct cause for much of the woes of the long distance fleet? The fact that Superliner I cars are over 30 yrs old and are begging for an overhaul, like the Viewliner I's are, has less of a corelation of covering the Northeast Corridor financially and more to do with letting the highway and oil lobbies making us their b--ch.

Why should we care? Well, if NARP and UPRA got more guerilla like, with direct campaigns of the kind that blew up the adult tobacco market, now we got something worthwhile going on.

*sigh* I'm now going to brush my teeth.


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; August 24, 2011*

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 14
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

"Vice President – Passenger Services" is a title which may be returning to the corporate roster at Florida East Coast Railway. Yet another major railroad is more than flirting with the idea of operating passenger trains; this time, South Florida commuter services for Tri-Rail between West Palm Beach and Miami, and possibly northward along the Florida coast above West Palm Beach.

The Palm Beach Post reported in today's editions officials with the FEC and the Florida Department of Transportation have been talking in secret – so secret, even members of the Tri-Rail board of directors were unaware of the talks.

Tri-Rail, currently operated under contract by Veolia Transportation between West Palm Beach and Miami, is routed over former Seaboard Air Line Railroad/CSX tracks which run parallel to the FEC tracks, but to the west in suburban areas parallel to mega-laned Interstate 95. The FEC tracks were the original railroad tracks in South Florida, opening South Florida for development early in the 20th Century. In those pre-historic, pre-air conditioning days, the vast majority of development in Florida was along the coasts, taking advantage of refreshing ocean breezes for relief from the broiling heat. The Seaboard didn't arrive until the 1920s during the Florida Land Boom.

If Tri-Rail abandoned the former CSX suburban area tracks in favor of FEC's tracks which go directly through a number of downtown cities such as West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, it is likely the federal government would demand repayment of a $275 million federal grant which paid for adding a second set of tracks in 2006. A longtime proposal on the table has been for maintaining the current former CSX trackage, but adding the FEC trackage and simultaneously expanding Tri-Rail northward on the FEC to reach coastal counties north of Palm Beach County and areas such as the town of Jupiter. The expanded system would form an upside down "Y" in shape, with West Palm Beach being the only interchange between the two legs of the system.

The Palm Beach Post story says it is likely legislation will be introduced in the next session of the Florida legislature when it meets in early 2012 to allow private firms to bid on the entire operation of Tri-Rail, perhaps completely usurping the current structure. As part of the awarding of the bid to run an expanded system, the winning company would have to agree to operate the system at a price below the current taxpayer contribution.

The cost of operating Tri-Rail has been in the news the past three years on two fronts. There has never been a dedicated source of state funding for Tri-Rail; the system has been operating on a combination of contributions from the federal government, state government, and three local county governments which host the system. Farebox revenue is only about $11 million a year. Contributions from the three counties total $13 million, the State of Florida kicks in $30 million a year, and the balance comes from the federal treasury. Typically for a mass transit/commuter system, farebox revenues are a low contributor to operating costs. Numerous attempts to fund Tri-Rail through a local $2.00 tax on rental vehicles in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties have repeatedly failed.

The second thing shoving Tri-Rail in the spotlight has been the attempt by Florida Governor Rick Scott to use Tri-Rail as an example of everything wrong about passenger rail commuter systems, citing the cost of Tri-Rail as an excuse not to go forward with Central Florida's SunRail system. That argument eventually failed, and SunRail is now in a development phase, with the system scheduled to be up and running at the end of 2013.

Can one, single, proven, private operator run an expanded Tri-Rail better than a governmental-run system? Tri-Rail says it already has privatized 80% of its operations by bringing in Veolia Transportation to run the system for a seven year, $64 million contract, and Bombardier Transportation to take care of rolling stock maintenance, also on a seven year contract, for $90 million. Tri-Rail itself is overseen by the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, a governmental body.

The FEC is part of RailAmerica, owned by Fortress Investment Group, which manages $44 billion in investments. The FEC, which runs 351 miles down the Florida coast from Jacksonville to Miami via St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville, Cocoa, Melbourne, and Stuart, has struggled with profitability during the past months. Overall, however, it is part of a rock-solid entity which counts its money in billions, not millions. Even before being acquired by RailAmerica, the FEC for decades has been considered to be a well-run and profitable railroad with good operating ratios and savvy management. It interchanges in Jacksonville with both Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation.

Politics in Florida for years have skewed towards privatizing as many state functions as possible, and the possible privatization of the operation of Tri-Rail fits the mold Governor Rick Scott is trying to use for many areas of public entities. The governor, elected in November 2010, had never held political office before his election and holds very few political allegiances, even within his own Republican Party. He has constantly confounded politicians and voters of both parties in Florida with his autocratic style of governing and outward disdain for the news media and public opinion since his inauguration in January of this year.

FEC tracks are the only tracks available northward from West Palm Beach for future Tri-Rail expansion into the heavily populated coastal area. CSX tracks north from West Palm Beach take a sharp westward turn, skirting the north short of Lake Okeechobee, and then head up the middle of the state. The Palm Beach Post article says if Tri-Rail expands to the FEC, plans call for the FEC to add two new tracks to its existing 100 foot wide right-of-way to accommodate Tri-Rail operations. The FEC is currently expanding its South Florida footprint through enhanced intermodal and yard facilities to accommodate expected larger freight loads from the wider ships which will be transiting the soon-to-be-completed, newly enlarged, Panama Canal.

An interesting note is both Veolia Transportation, current contract holder and operator of Tri-Rail, and RailAmerica, the parent company of the FEC, are members of the Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators, the Washington-based lobbying group formed to promote private operation of passenger trains.

Would, perhaps, the FEC, recognizing the professional body of knowledge held and used by Veolia, simply subcontract the actual operations to Veolia, as Veolia now operates the existing part of Tri-Rail, and the FEC find its profits elsewhere? There have been no passenger rail operations over the FEC since before Amtrak Day on May 1, 1971, and, as professional as the management of the FEC and RailAmerica is constantly shown, it's doubtful a completely new area of expertise would be ramped up from scratch.

The Palm Beach Post article pointedly refers to the huge opportunities in real estate profits the FEC would accrue by running new Tri-Rail trains down its tracks. A lucrative part of the FEC before its purchase by RailAmerica was its real estate operations, often tied directly to railroad right of way. That real estate has been transferred in most part to another part of RailAmerica, but is still in the corporate family. It's a given real estate values boom around commuter rail stations, and FEC/RailAmerica/Fortress could make several new fortunes exploiting real estate along the commuter rail route.

When railroads think globally, often passenger rail can fit into an overall investment/planning strategy which fully exploits all facets of the business, as the FEC is demonstrating with this exercise.

The hostility of the past demonstrated by freight railroaders not wanting any interference in the operations of freight trains and hotshot intermodal trains is being tamed by a new generation of senior railroad managers focused on making profits from every possible source as opposed to protecting the freight railroad franchise at any cost. While the freight railroaders are still extracting a high and specific price for operating passenger trains on their right of way, including restrictions on high speed passenger trains, they are not ignoring the potential profits of passenger trains while balancing the benefits against the headaches.

And, one final note. The proposed expansion of Amtrak up and down the FEC is not a dead issue. The State of Florida has committed the requisite millions of dollars to make this expansion happen; the hold-up is the federal government share. Considering these crisis economic times, it may be a while before that much-needed expansion takes place. Perhaps, when a more robust economy returns to Florida, that state may be able to fund all of the FEC expansion, without help from the federal government. Of course, at that point, it may be an all-FEC passenger operation, with interchange and connections in Jacksonville with Amtrak.

_Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy._

_ _

_____________________________________________________

_ _

_ J. Craig Thorpe, noted Amtrak and railroad illustrator is available for all railroads, railroad-related companies, and organizations for his dramatic illustrations on a custom basis. Mr. Thorpe's impressive gallery of work and contacts for engagement may be viewed on his web site, which is listed below._

Useful links for the passenger train world (New links have been added since the last edition):

www.passengerrail.org – Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators

www.herzogcompanies.com – Herzog Transit Services, Inc.

www.keolis.com – Keolis Rail Services/America

www.railamerica.com – RailAmerica, Inc.

www.ratpdev.com – Ratp Dev

www.veoliatransportation.com – Veolia Transportation

www.spartansolutions.org – Spartan Solutions LLC

www.durangotrain.com – Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

www.cumbrestoltec.com – Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

www.rockymountaineer.com – Rocky Mountaineer Railtours

www.viarail.ca – VIA Rail Canada

www.tampaunionstation.com – Friends of Tampa (Florida) Union Station

www.larail.com – Private passenger railcars for individual hire in Southern California

www.americanrail.com – American Rail Excursions, Inc.

www.newrivertrain.com – New River Train Excursions/Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society

www.bombardier.com – Bombardier, Inc.

www.hamilton-associates.com – Hamilton & Associates, Inc.

www.iowapacific.com – Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC

www.rhbohannan.net – R.H. Bohannan & Associates, LLC

www.tgaassoc.com – Thompson, Galenson and Associates

www.worldbank.org – World Bank

www.aar.org – Association of American Railroads

www.du.edu/transportation – Intermodal Transportation Institute, University of Denver

www.amtrak.com – Amtrak

www.dot.gov – United States Department of Transportation

www.volpe.dot.gov – Volpe Center

www.fra.dot.gov – Federal Railroad Administration

www.unitedrail.org – United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

www.APRHF.org – American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation

www.azrail.org – Arizona Passenger Rail Association

www.colorail.org – Colorado Rail Passenger Association

www.railpac.org – Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada

www.fcrprail.org – Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers

www.nmrails.org – Rails, Inc., New Mexico passenger rail advocacy group

www.railvermont.org – Vermont Rail Action Network

www.texasbytrain.org – Texas Coalition

www.texasrailadvocates.org – Texas Rail Advocates

www.TXARP.org – Texas Association of Rail Passengers

www.dot.ca.gov – Caltrans/California Department of Transportation

www.dot.state.fl.us – Florida Department of Transportation

www.dot.state.il.us – Illinois Department of Transportation

www.bytrain.org – North Carolina Department of Transportation, Rail Division

www.virginiadot.org – Virginia Department of Transportation

www.railroaddata.com – Railroad Internet web site information consolidator

www.trainweb.com – Railroad Internet web site information consolidator

www.usa-by-rail.com – Informative route guide paperback book for the Amtrak system

www.jcraigthorpe.com – Noted Amtrak and railroad illustrator and artist J. Craig Thorpe

If you would like to have your company or organization's Internet web site link listed here, submit it for consideration to [email protected] Inclusion will be at the sole discretion of the publisher, and the publisher reserves the right to exclude any company or organization for any purpose. This list is not intended to be a complete list.

Subscribers to This Week at Amtrak automatically receive a subscription to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; subscriber lists are maintained simultaneously for both publications, and neither publication can be subscribed to exclusively.

If you are reading someone else's copy of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, This Week at Amtrak, or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail and This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## AlanB

I guess Bruce was away in Las Vegas for too long and missed the news that Florida finally did approve that rental car tax last year to help fund Tri-Rail.


----------



## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; August 25, 2011*
​

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By William Lindley and J. Bruce Richardson*

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 15
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona has issued a declaration of victory for the passenger rail world in North America. His compelling commentary:

Gentle Readers,

These past few weeks you have witnessed the beginnings of the new Golden Age of American passenger rail.

Fifty years of negativism on the subject of passenger trains, and the resulting spirit-crushing socialist bureaucracy, are finally crumbling. The codifying document of the disconsolate movement was the April 1959 special issue of TRAINS magazine entitled "Who Shot the Passenger Train?" which saw the symptom of shrinking schedule-books but utterly misunderstood the disease. It called not for making trains more competitive with the new super-highways and jetways, but saw only a world where over-regulation, over-taxation, and inflexible union rules were beyond the ability to change. Indeed, the magazine effectively calls for the demolition of allegedly useless edifices like New York's Pennsylvania Station -- realized only four years later in "a monumental act of vandalism against one of the largest and finest landmarks of its age of Roman elegance." ("Farewell to Penn Station," The New York Times, October 30, 1963.)

You have seen in the past few weeks here in this space, some of the history of the Northeast Corridor. And you may wonder why -- Why, on God's green Earth, would the Pennsylvania road wish to build an absurdly expensive new station in New York City, which for many years already had the perfectly good Grand Central Station? (That facility became properly known as Grand Central Terminal upon completion of its 1913 rebuild.) And why would the Pennsylvania resort to nearly unproven new technology like underwater railway tunnels, two of them, and a station and connecting tracks requiring the purchase, leveling, and excavation of a huge swath of prime Manhattan real estate?

The answer lies in two seemingly forbidden words: Competition and Profit.

In 1898, the Pennsylvania Railroad derived $14,576,724 in income from its passenger operations, $17,530,769 including mail and express -- 26.67% of the total, with $47,122,172 or 71.67% being from freight. Meanwhile the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad had $16,189,359 or 35.33% of its income -- well over a third -- from passengers, mail, and express. (Source: "Eleventh Annual Report on the Statistics of Railways in the United States for the Year Ending June 30, 1898", Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington DC 1899, page 348.)

The Pennsylvania road was after the passenger business, particularly the high-dollar through passenger; and, in competition with New York Central, the direct and through traffic of mail, express, and freight between the Mid-Atlantic states and New England. Not to mention the free advertising that the imposing grandeur of Pennsylvania Station would inspire.

New York City's grand railway edifices did not descend upon the metropolis as gifts from unseen gods. No, Gentle Reader, one hundred years ago -- as today -- it's all about money. And those evil words, Competition and Profit. The Grand Central and Pennsylvania stations were, to be blunt, temples of commerce. If you wish to read the details, please pick up a copy of "Conquering Gotham: Building Penn Station and Its Tunnels" by Jill Jonnes.

Now, separated from those years by two World Wars, the advent of super-highways, the Jet Age, and the Space Age, and their passing fancies of tail-finned rockets and Cadillacs, we find ourselves fifty further years removed from those technologies' heyday. The glamour of the 707, the Saturn V and the Bel-Air convertible has become the reality of "your papers please," invasive pat-downs, the retirement of the bloated Space Shuttle, and collapsing highway bridges in Minneapolis. All of these have set the stage for America to catch up to what Europe rediscovered two decades ago: Trains make economic, social, and ecological sense.

More passengers are riding trains in Great Britain than ever before, a decade and a half after the railways were privatised. It has not been a perfect process, but the numbers speak for themselves. In France, Veolia - a French company operating buses and passenger trains around the world - has a license to operate passenger trains in competition with SNCF. Germany's DB has undergone privatization starting in 2008. The list goes on.

Here at home, in the past months we have seen Ed Ellis's Saratoga and North Creek Railway, part of the Iowa Pacific Holdings group, begin operation of its privately run passenger train. We have seen Caltrain move to recommend that TransitAmerica Services, not Amtrak, operate that San Francisco peninsula railway. We have seen Florida move to work with Florida East Coast on a new passenger train arrangement. Meanwhile in Boston, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company, not Amtrak, operates MBTA trains. Keolis runs the Virginia commuter trains. New state-sponsored trains in Virginia and Illinois have attracted far more riders than expected. Norfolk Southern has spoken positively about passenger trains from Washington DC to Roanoke and beyond. Even Union Pacific has a good relationship with the Front Runner commuter trains in Utah.

This week I have seen trucks of DB Schenker - Deutsche Bahn's freight subsidiary of the German railroad - all around Phoenix, a city whose buses are operated by Veolia and the American branch of First Group PLC (a British company who operates buses and passenger trains around the world). And speaking of British passenger train operators, the Palm Beach Post today reported that Virgin Trains was also consulted on the Miami passenger train service. Also please consult the website of the Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators: There is money to be made, and the eyes and ears of business are open.

Yes, it is at last clear that the new golden age of American passenger trains is upon us; a new age of competition and profit... for the despondent era of "we-can't-do-it" has been broken.

- William Lindley, Scottsdale, Ariz.

_Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy._

_ _

_____________________________________________________

_ _

_ J. Craig Thorpe, noted Amtrak and railroad illustrator is available for all railroads, railroad-related companies, and organizations for his dramatic illustrations on a custom basis. Mr. Thorpe's impressive gallery of work and contacts for engagement may be viewed on his web site, which is listed below._

Useful links for the passenger train world (No new links have been added since the last edition):

www.passengerrail.org – Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators

www.herzogcompanies.com – Herzog Transit Services, Inc.

www.keolis.com – Keolis Rail Services/America

www.railamerica.com – RailAmerica, Inc.

www.ratpdev.com – Ratp Dev

www.veoliatransportation.com – Veolia Transportation

www.spartansolutions.org – Spartan Solutions LLC

www.durangotrain.com – Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

www.cumbrestoltec.com – Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

www.rockymountaineer.com – Rocky Mountaineer Railtours

www.viarail.ca – VIA Rail Canada

www.tampaunionstation.com – Friends of Tampa (Florida) Union Station

www.larail.com – Private passenger railcars for individual hire in Southern California

www.americanrail.com – American Rail Excursions, Inc.

www.newrivertrain.com – New River Train Excursions/Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society

www.bombardier.com – Bombardier, Inc.

www.hamilton-associates.com – Hamilton & Associates, Inc.

www.iowapacific.com – Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC

www.rhbohannan.net – R.H. Bohannan & Associates, LLC

www.tgaassoc.com – Thompson, Galenson and Associates

www.worldbank.org – World Bank

www.aar.org – Association of American Railroads

www.du.edu/transportation – Intermodal Transportation Institute, University of Denver

www.amtrak.com – Amtrak

www.dot.gov – United States Department of Transportation

www.volpe.dot.gov – Volpe Center

www.fra.dot.gov – Federal Railroad Administration

www.unitedrail.org – United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

www.APRHF.org – American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation

www.azrail.org – Arizona Passenger Rail Association

www.colorail.org – Colorado Rail Passenger Association

www.railpac.org – Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada

www.fcrprail.org – Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers

www.nmrails.org – Rails, Inc., New Mexico passenger rail advocacy group

www.railvermont.org – Vermont Rail Action Network

www.texasbytrain.org – Texas Coalition

www.texasrailadvocates.org – Texas Rail Advocates

www.TXARP.org – Texas Association of Rail Passengers

www.dot.ca.gov – Caltrans/California Department of Transportation

www.dot.state.fl.us – Florida Department of Transportation

www.dot.state.il.us – Illinois Department of Transportation

www.bytrain.org – North Carolina Department of Transportation, Rail Division

www.virginiadot.org – Virginia Department of Transportation

www.railroaddata.com – Railroad Internet web site information consolidator

www.trainweb.com – Railroad Internet web site information consolidator

www.usa-by-rail.com – Informative route guide paperback book for the Amtrak system

www.jcraigthorpe.com – Noted Amtrak and railroad illustrator and artist J. Craig Thorpe

If you would like to have your company or organization's Internet web site link listed here, submit it for consideration to [email protected] Inclusion will be at the sole discretion of the publisher, and the publisher reserves the right to exclude any company or organization for any purpose. This list is not intended to be a complete list.

Subscribers to This Week at Amtrak automatically receive a subscription to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; subscriber lists are maintained simultaneously for both publications, and neither publication can be subscribed to exclusively.

If you are reading someone else's copy of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, This Week at Amtrak, or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail and This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; September 1, 2011*

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 16
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

It's getting really interesting; a worthwhile, guaranteed-to-be-fascinating ideological battle is brewing in South Florida, and it has nothing to do with hurricane season.

As chronicled in this space on August 24th, The Palm Beach Post has been doing yeoman's work reporting on a momentous turn of events for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, the government agency which oversees and operates Tri-Rail, the commuter rail system which spans three counties between West Palm Beach and Miami.

The Florida Department of Transportation, according to the latest story from The Palm Beach Post, has more than casually been chatting with the executive cadre of the Florida East Coast Railway, with an eye towards "privatizing" Tri-Rail operations.

That's where things are going off the rails, so to speak.

For those in the back of the class who were napping, let's review for a moment.

Tri-Rail is a 70.9 mile long commuter railroad, operating over the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad/CSX tracks in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties in South Florida. Tri-Rail was created in 1988 to help long-suffering commuters commute to and from work in South Florida while the mega-laned Interstate 95 was being widened and enlarged considerably.

The tracks used by Tri-Rail were bought from CSX by the State of Florida, and have since been double tracked the entire length. The route is inland and to the west of the existing right-of-way and tracks of the Florida East Coast Railway, which was the original passenger and freight railroad in South Florida, dating back to the turn of the 20th Century. Because the FEC was there before most of the now big cities of South Florida, such as West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, the cities grew up around the prosperity brought by the tracks. The FEC goes right through the heart of all of the major cities in South Florida.

CSX predecessor Seaboard Air Line Railroad was late coming to South Florida, and arrived in the 1920s during the Florida Land Boom. As a result, the Seaboard built its tracks to the west of the FEC in what is now suburban areas. (As a historical note, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, while a major player in Florida, never built tracks into South Florida, instead relying on its partnership with the FEC to bring its passenger and freight trains into South Florida. This arrangement stayed in place until the violent FEC strike of 1963, which forced the ACL to move its trains onto its own tracks through the middle of the state and onto pending merger partner SAL tracks from Auburndale in Central Florida down to South Florida.)

When the State of Florida was pondering the 1980s widening of I-95, which prompted the creation of Tri-Rail to help alleviate mass congestion resulting from the building process, the state first talked with the FEC about acquiring its line from West Palm Beach south to Miami instead of the parallel CSX line. At that point, the FEC was still an independent railroad and controlled by the Ed Ball/duPont interests, and the word is, not only did it say "no" to the state on any type of deal for Tri-Rail, but would barely return phone calls on the subject.

CSX, which saw not only a bird in the hand, but a great financial opportunity that would be gift that would keep on giving for decades, was happy to cut the deal and have someone else on its line at the extreme end of its system and relegate freight movement to night-time only.

Since the 1980s, the FEC has undergone some changes (And, thanks to those FEC people who provided the most current information). As of just a very few years ago, the FEC is now a part of Fortress Investment Group.

RailAmerica, a well-known railroad short line owner and operator, which used to be headquartered in South Florida, was also bought lock, stock, and switches by Fortress Investment Group, a multi-billion dollar enterprise. The RailAmerica people were moved from South Florida to here in Jacksonville and combined with the FEC folks at a common address. The FEC headquarters, from the beginning of its days under Henry Flagler, had been headquartered in St. Augustine, just 30 miles to the south of Jacksonville.

Now, in 2011, the FEC has a new boss, James Hertwig, a seasoned railroad executive, and he has wisely decoupled the FEC from RailAmerica. Everybody still sits in the same offices, but the FEC has regained its complete independence, and now is just another company owned by Fortress, as is RailAmerica. Looking at the RailAmerica and FEC web sites, it is impossible to tell they are even sister companies. Mr. Hertwig has kept much of the FEC management, but also brought in some new managers, too. Mr. Hertwig removed all RailAmerica logos and other indicators from all FEC documents and collateral materials. He wisely is creating a new sense of belonging and pride among FEC employees and FEC customers.

Okay, now that we have the basis, here's what seems to be the point of irrational discussion in South Florida.

Tri-Rail in 2010 carried an average of just under 10,000 riders a day on its trains. It is a system with a good schedule, good service, and well-planned and placed stations. It looks successful from the outside. But, it is a system running 71 miles in a population area of 5.6 million residents. In 2011, that figure is closer to 14,000 riders a day, most likely due to the spike in gasoline prices. Even at 14,000 riders a day, Tri-Rail is carrying 0.0025% of the local population, an abysmal amount.

The Florida Department of Transportation, which provides an annual funding source for Tri-Rail, comes up with about $30 million annually for the service. Farebox revenue kicks in another $11 million or so, and the three counties together contribute about $13 million for the annual budget.

The Palm Beach Post and other news outlets in South Florida have reported Florida DOT is interested in "privatizing" the Tri-Rail operation because it believes $10 million a year in savings can accrue by a private company running Tri-Rail instead of a government entity.

Kristin Jacobs, a member of the Broward County Commission and the current chairwoman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (the official agency created by the Florida legislature to oversee and run Tri-Rail), says much of the Tri-Rail operations are already "privatized" by contracting with Veolia Transportation for train operations, and Bombardier Transportation for equipment maintenance. She says the only part of Tri-Rail that is not "privatized" is the administration of the authority. Chairwoman Jacobs says only nine cents of every dollar from every source coming into Tri-Rail goes to administration.

She is loudly opposed to thoughts by the FEC or perhaps any other non-government operator taking over Tri-Rail, including the administration. Apparently, the thought is private industry cannot do as well as big government. She also claims the FEC has never run a passenger train and has no experience in that, even though the FEC operated entire fleets of passenger trains prior to the 1963 strike and is a highly successful freight train operator.

So, let's take a look. For the administration of Tri-Rail, it now takes 104 managers and employees (based on 2010 numbers) to handle just the paperwork and planning for a 71 mile commuter railroad. There are departments with 13 executives, 21 in finance and IT, nine in planning, four in engineering, two in human resources, eight in contracts and procurement, an astounding 19 in marketing, 26 in operations, and two in legal. Public reports say it takes over $18 million a year to support these few people. The annual marketing budget is over $2.3 million.

Of course the FEC, or just about any other private operator can run Tri-Rail on $10 million a year less than it is currently being run on; just the savings from combining many of the Tri-Rail departments, such as planning, engineering and human resources into existing FEC department structures can result in significant savings. And, salaries paid by Tri-Rail must be considerably higher than those in the private sector to create such a giant administrative budget of over $18 million a year for what is essentially a short line railroad.

What we are witnessing in South Florida is a state government which wants to lower costs and still provide a good commuter service, and local, entrenched politicians with their own agendas and a willingness to spend Other People's Money in the form of tax revenues to protect bureaucrats and an unsustainable administrative structure.

Again, no commuter system makes a profit. The nature of a commuter system is it is akin to a public utility, and it has a business model which requires subsidy. However, when you look at Tri-Rail, we find a relatively short system with high costs, low return on investment from marketing efforts, and a microscopic ridership base. It is not unreasonable for its largest funding contributor, the state government, to demand better and more efficiency. If that greater efficiency also makes it possible to provide a spark to eventually more than double the system in size and therefore create a much larger and more sustainable ridership base, then the world is a better place.

To not do anything and keep Tri-Rail the way it is today would be a black eye to any administration in the state capital of Tallahassee.

A new commuter system or similar size to Tri-Rail is currently under construction in Central Florida. The new SunRail system, with perhaps an additional feeder system adding to it from counties not originally considered for the core system, has seven years after it is up and running to find permanent funding other than the state treasury. Local officials have affirmed they plan to do this.

Other cities in Florida, such as Jacksonville and the cities making up the Tampa Bay area on the west coast are all looking at sustainable commuter rail systems. Anything Tri-Rail can do to improve its financial performance will help pave the way for other, new systems in Florida. For Tri-Rail to do nothing but keep its present structure and financial model is not only irresponsible, but an insult to taxpayers who seek reasonable choices other than growing Florida's already large system of super highways.

"Privatizing" Tri-Rail is a misnomer. Awarding a contract for the planning and operation of Tri-Rail is a better choice of phrasing. Seldom can it be proved government does something better than private industry, perhaps except for raising and maintaining a strong military. If the FEC or another bidder can take over the responsibility for Tri-Rail and do it better, stronger, and more cheaply than the entrenched, expensive bureaucrats which run it today, the State of Florida and every responsible taxpayer in Florida should embrace that, and shun the ambitions of officials who were supposed to be elected in South Florida for the betterment of their constituents.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.

___________________________________________________

J. Craig Thorpe, noted Amtrak and railroad illustrator is available for all railroads, railroad-related companies, and organizations for his dramatic illustrations on a custom basis. Mr. Thorpe's impressive gallery of work and contacts for engagement may be viewed on his web site, which is listed below.

Useful links for the passenger train world (New links have been added since the last edition):

www.passengerrail.org – Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators

www.herzogcompanies.com – Herzog Transit Services, Inc.

www.keolis.com – Keolis Rail Services/America

www.railamerica.com – RailAmerica, Inc.

www.fecrwy.com – Florida East Coast Railway

www.ratpdev.com – Ratp Dev

www.veoliatransportation.com – Veolia Transportation

www.spartansolutions.org – Spartan Solutions LLC

www.durangotrain.com – Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

www.cumbrestoltec.com – Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

www.rockymountaineer.com – Rocky Mountaineer Railtours

www.viarail.ca – VIA Rail Canada

www.tampaunionstation.com – Friends of Tampa (Florida) Union Station

www.larail.com – Private passenger railcars for individual hire in Southern California

www.americanrail.com – American Rail Excursions, Inc.

www.newrivertrain.com – New River Train Excursions/Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society

www.bombardier.com – Bombardier, Inc.

www.hamilton-associates.com – Hamilton & Associates, Inc.

www.iowapacific.com – Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC

www.rhbohannan.net – R.H. Bohannan & Associates, LLC

www.tgaassoc.com – Thompson, Galenson and Associates

www.worldbank.org – World Bank

www.aar.org – Association of American Railroads

www.du.edu/transportation – Intermodal Transportation Institute, University of Denver

www.amtrak.com – Amtrak

www.dot.gov – United States Department of Transportation

www.volpe.dot.gov – Volpe Center

www.fra.dot.gov – Federal Railroad Administration

www.unitedrail.org – United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

www.APRHF.org – American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation

www.azrail.org – Arizona Passenger Rail Association

www.colorail.org – Colorado Rail Passenger Association

www.railpac.org – Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada

www.swrail.org – Southwest Rail Passenger Association

www.fcrprail.org – Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers

www.nmrails.org – Rails, Inc., New Mexico passenger rail advocacy group

www.railvermont.org – Vermont Rail Action Network

www.texasbytrain.org – Texas Coalition

www.texasrailadvocates.org – Texas Rail Advocates

www.TXARP.org – Texas Association of Rail Passengers

www.dot.ca.gov – Caltrans/California Department of Transportation

www.dot.state.fl.us – Florida Department of Transportation

www.tri-rail.com – South Florida Tri-Rail Commuter Railroad

www.dot.state.il.us – Illinois Department of Transportation

www.bytrain.org – North Carolina Department of Transportation, Rail Division

www.virginiadot.org – Virginia Department of Transportation

www.railroaddata.com – Railroad Internet web site information consolidator

www.trainweb.com – Railroad Internet web site information consolidator

www.usa-by-rail.com – Informative route guide paperback book for the Amtrak system

www.jcraigthorpe.com – Noted Amtrak and railroad illustrator and artist J. Craig Thorpe

If you would like to have your company or organization's Internet web site link listed here, submit it for consideration to [email protected] Inclusion will be at the sole discretion of the publisher, and the publisher reserves the right to exclude any company or organization for any purpose. This list is not intended to be a complete list.

Subscribers to This Week at Amtrak automatically receive a subscription to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; subscriber lists are maintained simultaneously for both publications, and neither publication can be subscribed to exclusively.

If you are reading someone else's copy of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, you can receive your own free copy each edition by sending your e-mail address to

[email protected]

You MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and state where you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internet connection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail from [email protected]; we are unable to go through any approvals processes for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictly confidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than distribution of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail, This Week at Amtrak, or related URPA materials.

All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe should be addressed to

[email protected]

Copies of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail and This Week at Amtrak are archived on URPA's web site, www.unitedrail.org and also on www.todaywithjb.blogspot.com where other rail-related writings of Bruce Richardson may also be found.

URPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.

J. Bruce Richardson

President

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739

[email protected]

http://www.unitedrail.org


----------



## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak; 2011-09-08*
​

* *

Posted By D.Carleton On September 8, 2011 @ 9:22 am In This Week | Comments Disabled

Volume 8, Number 15

*From the Editors…*

As sands through the hourglass, so are the history and future of passenger rail in America; unrelenting.

Editors: D & D Carleton

* *

*The Year Is…*_"[A]s we all know, events must run their course before becoming history, so that all true history exists only by virtue of its conclusion, and begins its historical career from there." - Anthropologist Germaine Tillion_

Contemporary thinking: The belief in that which is, has always been; ergo, shall always be. Any historian worth his or her salt knows that history does not repeat itself, but does rhyme. The way it is is _not _the way it has always been, nor can we expect things to remain the same perpetually. Only the most indolent of our citizenry is unaware of the rapidly shifting social order now dawning on the national landscape. Therefore, let us return to where we have been in an effort to determine where we are going.*

*This newsletter contains forward-looking statements within the discretion of the prognostic abilities of the writers. Our forward-looking statements involve expectations, projections, goals, forecasts, assumptions, history, and flat-out guesses. The writers may be spot-on or completely out to lunch. Whatever the case, our readers may rest assured we will be there to document it.

*The Year Is 1970*

Just 245 days after man landed on the moon, the _California Zephyr_ completed its final run on March 22, 1970. The _California Zephyr_ was considered to be the last word in overland travel in America; perhaps the finest conveyance in the world, but now it was gone after a mere 21-year run. For most Americans this was just a passing of the torch, no different from the demise of the stagecoach or the interstate canal network, for the year is 1970; the Interstate Highway System now makes possible national travel on _your _schedule. Gasoline is a national-average 36 cents per gallon ($2.09 in 2011 dollars). Jobs are plentiful and so are automobiles. The only real limiting factor of mobility is one's endurance.

The long road to this reality has been told to the point of being hackneyed. Following World War II, the nation became flush with largess by virtue of its infrastructure remaining intact. Even though the national treasury was empty as a result of the conflict, billions of dollars were "invented" to send to Europe and Japan to rebuild their societies. As a result, those billions of dollars came back to the United States in the form of orders for the material and machines necessary to rebuild. The American worker was a benefactor of this circular cash, giving the average citizen a buying potential unheard of in previous generations. It was the Federal Government which became the primary beneficiary. All of this national income resulted in higher tax revenues, and politicians were more than eager to spend it. The American population was now on a much more level plane than at any other time in human history. With no end in sight to our newfound avarice, there came experiments in socialization. One of these was the Interstate Highway System. While this was pleasing to the American public, it was a millstone around the neck of the American railroads.

With billions of dollars going to highways and roads during the 1950s and 1960s, railroads politicked and lobbied for some sort of Federal aid. They rightfully eschewed nationalization, but did hope for some funds to invest as a counter to their subsidized competition. Any dreams of subtle aid were dashed on June 21, 1970 with the catastrophic bankruptcy of the Penn Central (Transportation Company). With the proverbial lid now blown off the true railroad condition, it became apparent to all that the situation was dire; no minor injection of public funds could rectify three decades of decline.

Even before the wreck of the Penn Central, another experiment in socialization had started public investment in the Northeast Corridor. In the early 1960s, the cause of improving passenger railroading in the Northeast was championed by Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell. He had no small plans:

"_The encouraging news which I bring you today is that there is a strong current of opinion within our federal government that we should go forward with the kind of development which the railroads themselves have not been able to do…there is now a school of opinion that if we are to promote such a development at all, we should not be satisfied with half-way measures limited to existing technology." – _Railway Age_, October 12, 1964_

In keeping with the spirit of the times, the Senator sought to spend the national largess instead of answering the very basic question, Why are the railroads, themselves, not able to make such investment?

By 1970, millions of public dollars had been invested in the Northeast Corridor. With Penn Central now a financial basket case, the Federal Government saw its investment in jeopardy. As early as 1969 there was consideration inside the Beltway as to some Federal involvement in passenger railroading. With the true situation of America's railroads now making headlines, efforts intensified, and President Nixon signed what was then known as the Railpax legislation into law on October 30, 1970. The main reason for doing so was to forestall any more Penn Centrals around the country. Railpax was renamed Amtrak, and began direct operation of a much-rationalized passenger rail network on May 1, 1971. But with other forms of nationalized socialism taking hold around the country, a little more would not hurt, right?

*The Year Is 2011*

Amtrak has been a reality for 40 years. If you do not believe it, just ask it: http://www.amtrak40th.com/ [2]. Amtrak has published a book, a video, and has even commissioned a train to publicize its four decades' longevity. It has been no small task, and much blood, sweat, and tears have been shed in the process. Even so, there are many larger questions, vastly larger than Amtrak itself, now looming on the horizon.

The seemingly inexhaustible largess of the latter half of the 20th century is gone. The age of avarice is over; the era of austerity now grips us. The question of "The National Debt," and exactly who is responsible for it, is now a subject for debate in every corner store and boardroom. Ultimately, this is all a referendum on what role government plays and what size it needs to be in order to fulfill that role. Everything is out on the table. It is only a matter of time before nationalized passenger rail is under the microscope.

Meanwhile, America's real railroads are no longer financial basket cases. Quite the contrary; railroads are the very model of healthy business. Again, this did not come about without much blood, sweat, and tears. The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 effectively ended a bloated regulatory bureaucracy that lasted about three decades beyond its actual usefulness. Moreover, through the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s, the railroads achieved a truce of sorts with their labor organizations, resulting in a drastically-rationalized workforce. Even so, railroads hold onto their traditional role of biding their time and never forgetting the path which brought them to where they are. Eminent veteran journalist Wes Vernon, when answering the question, _Freight Rail: What Recession? _notes:

_"Highway congestion and skyrocketing gas prices strengthen the logic of converting highway-only freight traffic to intermodal. Of the 14 million domestic truckloads moving 550 miles or more each year within the eastern half of the United States, 35 percent-or 5.1 million-have shifted to the mix of rail and highway. That means about nine million truckloads are ripe for converting to intermodal…_

_"What that means, in practical terms, is that the trains will likely be shipping more consumer products, from appliances to toys. Heretofore, that had been largely the predominant province of the trucks, while the freight trains primarily focused on bulk commodities such as coal and grain."_ - Railfan & Railroad_, August 2011_

The inherent efficiency of a railroad, the thermodynamic efficiency which propelled them to success from their genesis, is once again making them the transportation mode of the future. Unfortunately, such success always comes with its detractors. Special interest groups, specifically utilities reliant upon railroads for shipment of fuels, are actively looking to re-regulate railroads for their own financial relief. The utilities, who answer to multiple state or local agencies for the setting of consumer rates, believe it easier to mandate freight rates down from the Federal level rather than push politically-unpopular higher consumer rates at the local level. Such is the result of socialization of consumer electric rates. Thus far, the railroads have been able to resist such maneuvers to set them back to the era of needless burdensome regulation. But as the era of public cross-subsidization erodes, the search for new sources of subsidy will only intensify. The railroad re-regulation battle is barely out of round one.

Meanwhile, Amtrak touts the number of riders it attracts year over year. It is expected that Amtrak will carry over 30 million passengers in 2011. Gasoline has averaged $3.50 to over $4 per gallon so far this year; for all practical purposes, this is about double the inflation-corrected price of 1970. Even so, Amtrak is a socialized government animal which looks more for "rider-voters" than customers. Even during the days of Senator Pell it was appreciated that the high density population in the Northeast would make subsidizing passenger rail politically palatable. Consequently, Amtrak has concentrated more on achieving ever-higher numbers of rider-voters than it has on efficient business acumen.

Amtrak's formula is very simple: High-density, short-haul/low-revenue corridor trains are touted as the solution for congestion; these attract the highest number of rider-voters/constituent-subsidy. The dilution of long-distance/high-revenue trains by lower-than-historical coach fares destroys any potential meaningful revenue, but is touted as the thread of a "national network." If coach fares were raised in line with what it costs to operate them, and the number of high-revenue cars (sleeping cars) were increased, these trains would have a chance of at least breaking even. But sleepers carry fewer passengers than coaches, thus reducing the number of rider-voters. Also, if this happened, then these trains might be turned over to private operators, and Amtrak would lose its national constituency of rider-voters. Such is the mentality of a government agency, to wit:_"We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen!"_ Governor William J. Le Petomane – _Blazing Saddles_.

*The Year Is 2020*

It has been an arduous decade; transition from a guns _and _butter economy to a guns _or _butter economy is bittersweet, at best. The American experiment of socialization has ended. The United States was born in defiance of "taxation without representation." The belief that taxes are a necessary evil defines the American ethos; they are evil nonetheless, and as such, should always be minimized. But the largess of the latter half of the 20th century was too tempting to pass by. When said largess ended, we attempted to fill the void by massive borrowing and hoping, praying for another round of national benevolence which never came. Now the bill has come due.

Life in 2020 is much like 1920, if not in form then certainly in function. The public does not travel as much or as far as during the "good times." Due to expanding worldwide demand, the price of transportation fuel is now well over four times the rate of inflation. Efficiency is replacing convenience. The Interstate Highway System is being rationalized in the same manner as the railroads were during the 1970s and 1980s. Automobiles and airplanes are returning to their original positions, as toys for the genuinely rich. Just as the American public adapted to the era of cheap and abundant fuel, so they have adjusted to the era of expensive and scarce fuel seen during the early days of the Industrial Revolution. The technological salvation everyone was counting on did not pan out. Technology uses energy; it does not create energy.

It is no longer 1970. No one is trying to save the passenger train from the guilt of excess. It is no longer 2011. No one is trying to expand the passenger train solely on the basis of an imperious immediacy of political interest. Passenger rail has rebounded due to its inherent efficiency, and it is back in the hands of private industry. Thus, trains are running where they should be, and not where they cannot be justified.

*Back to the Present*

Saving the passenger train from the oblivion of low ridership is a battle that has been fought, won, and memorialized. Unfortunately, many passenger rail advocates are still fighting the battle to save the _California Zephyr _from the landscape of 1970. Yet even in today's tight budget debates, no one of any authority is talking about discontinuing passenger trains. Quite to the contrary:

_"It is time to deregulate America's passenger rail system, and give intercity passenger rail the same opportunity for success that the freight rail and commercial truck industry have benefited from._

_"We must look for more effective and innovative approaches to providing modern and efficient passenger rail service by focusing on projects that make sense, leveraging private sector investment, increasing competition, and opening the door to public-private partnerships." – U.S. Representative Bill Shuster, Chairman of the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee_

It was not too long ago when the call to "reform Amtrak" could be heard around Washington. To those who prefer the status quo, the response was, "Define reform; what do you mean by reform?" Now the focus is shifting from reform toward an orderly dissolving of Amtrak.

For older or retired railroaders, Amtrak's only reason for existence is an "irrational love of trains that would have us run almost empty trains over long distances simply so a foamer can stand out there and watch 'em." Perhaps such reasoning was justified four decades ago. Today it is well documented that those trains, especially those long distance trains, run full. They are sold out weeks before departure. This has not gone unnoticed by the private sector; higher demand means higher revenue potential. Higher revenue should translate into profitability or at the very least break-even. Amtrak, however, as a political animal focuses on "rider-voters" rather than passenger miles. Consequently, it has become the greatest of ironies that the passenger train, which was purported to be saved_ by_ Amtrak, now has to be saved _from _Amtrak.

Also, Amtrak has become an important conduit for tax dollars to flow into the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) pension system (of which all railroaders are members) instead of Social Security. Many of those currently employed by the railroads, as well as the retirees, fear that if Amtrak is fundamentally changed then an adverse effect on railroad retirement will occur. What is not realized is that any new passenger railroad venture established, which may augment or replace Amtrak service, will also have to be under the RRB; eventually making the system stronger, not weaker. There is also the possibility Congress may find another funding conduit for the RRB, other than through in-and-out entries in Amtrak's corporate checkbook.

No, history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme. The "good roads" crusades of the 1920s and Interstate Highway program of the 1950s happened after forgetting the lessons of the National Road debacle during the first half of the early 19th century. Now the lessons of railroad regulation/deregulation have been forgotten by many, and the results are negative.

What really is our rail future? It is not ours to see. But whatever happens, we will be writing about it.


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## NE933

MrFSS said:


> Amtrak's formula is very simple: High-density, short-haul/low-revenue corridor trains are touted as the solution for congestion; these attract the highest number of rider-voters/constituent-subsidy. The dilution of long-distance/high-revenue trains by lower-than-historical coach fares destroys any potential meaningful revenue, but is touted as the thread of a "national network." If coach fares were raised in line with what it costs to operate them, and the number of high-revenue cars (sleeping cars) were increased, these trains would have a chance of at least breaking even. But sleepers carry fewer passengers than coaches, thus reducing the number of rider-voters. Also, if this happened, then these trains might be turned over to private operators, and Amtrak would lose its national constituency of rider-voters.
> ...and whatever happens, we will be writing about it...



Well that explains what I'm doing here on a hot Friday night almost 45 years after I was born. But we love Amtrak. Why else would we be writing like this about, belay our being willing flies in it's spider web, paying the prostitute to trap us in it's old coach seats and sleeper rooms, and diner cars that took three decades to be ordered. A look at Amtrak is like a look at a poem. Or a disease. And its cure. Indeed we have made what the NRPC is, even if you were born on Mars and chained to its rocks. Amtrak is our mirror. We are the its mirror.

So please avenge this love me/love me not dance and tell how reduced coach fares is the major contributor to the detriment of U.S. passenger rail, and how we can be served better by math in performing a simple equation by how many underpriced coach seats made the mess we are in now.

There aren't enough coach seats and enough dollars to raise them by that will pay for all that passenger trains incur, without losing patrons. And the reason is the factor of highway and gas subsidy largeess the UPRA acknowledges as being the severest weapon to bring down our trains.

A fast tangent: all of us are voters, so please stop confounding things by declaring the desire to keep Amtrak alive is by pork words only instead of sound economics. To think raising the price of coach and sleeper itself will pay for everything is not sound and it ain't economical. But I can see why some feel that that is the way it works, because it is true that the Sunset NOL to Florida East section was a disastrous Amtrak managerial decision perpetuated by Boardman and others who have handled the matter poorly. But the matter of paying to keep track to 80mph standards and paying to buy enough new equipment so the fleet can be stabilized as in the early 80's is an excercise of spending money, even if private companies had to do it.

Much of Amtrak's original founders and employees have either retired or died, meaning that there are new ones, who will have figured out the answer, the correct balance. Perhaps a new kind of contract between say Amtrak and BNSF to run the Empire Builder. But the massive cost for maintenance and rolling stock, not to mention other beauties like high insurance and real estate, sucker punches Amtrak and the BNSF alike. The only difference is that Amtrak doesn't run 100 car freight trains carrying UPS, coal, and wine grapes, so it doesn't have a source of capital funds.

Once again, the NRPC is far from perfect, and that's coming from me, the love of my life. If me and Amtrak get married, please consider yourself invited. But I also want to do your homework. Amtrak's trains are not there just for foamers to ejaculate to orgasm for that Kodak moment that we gave up graduations, sleep, intimacy, etc. for -- just to see a passenger train. The proof in that is that most known railfan gathering sights are along Amtrak routes that see only one train a day, so if the railroad was the nursling of camera blisterhands, they would abandon Tehachipi Loop for Harrison NJ.

My reason for seranading all of us is that these kinds of divisive fightings will bury us and our trains. The problem is not one or two railroads, not just government, not just citizens. Regular market regulation of capitalism based economics pays for lots of things, but not trains. Not today, not in 2020. Sure changes need to be made, but the over-mis-simplification given in the quote above, from the URPA newsletter, is obscene in its wires getting crossed.


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak; 2011-09-13

Volume 8, Number 16

*From the Editors…*

Now that the passenger rail future of Florida is coming into focus, _This Week _reviews how we got here.

Editors: D & D Carleton

*A Tale of Two Rails*_"High-Speed Rail-you didn't let that stop you…Central Florida got its act together and look at what is happening–SunRail is coming." - U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood at the groundbreaking for SunRail, July 18, 2011_

As most of our readers are aware, everyone involved in producing _This Week at Amtrak _has an inextricable link to the Sunshine State. Obviously, the passenger railroading world does not revolve around Florida. Even so, in a place where our usual entertainment is either watching one of our fellow citizens defend himself in court or watching the foreigners attempt to navigate our roads, our rail on-goings are a welcome change. In just the last year, two projects have been run through the meat grinder known as the court of public opinion. The final outcomes could not have been any different. Up until now, we at _This Week _have been loathe to mention SunRail and Florida HSR in the same sentence due to the mass perception that a rail is a rail. Therefore, yet again we beg the indulgence of our readers, as we take _This Week_ back home for one more issue. The time has come to make the difference profoundly clear.

*A "FOX" By Any Other Name*

Florida had been seriously talking about linking some of our largest cities with high-speed trains since the energy crisis of 1973. In April 1982, Florida established a High-Speed Rail Committee to investigate the potential of HSR in the State. At the time, elected officials firmly believed such improvements would be funded by private investment; yet even, then many questions were raised:

_"Are sufficient transit infrastructures available (or planned) to feed the rail system? Would tourists, many of whom now come in by car from out of State, switch modes once in Florida? Could other tourists be induced to ride the train with the current cost, service, and convenience factors provided by competing modes? Would private capital be sufficient to cover a project of that magnitude? Are there transportation alternatives that might better meet the State's needs?"_ – U.S. Passenger Rail Technologies _(Washington, D. C.: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, OTA-STI-222, December 1983)._

It was not until the following decade that all of these efforts crystallized into the initiative to be known as the Florida Overland eXpress (FOX):

_"Introducing the FOX…a fully integrated 21__st__ century, high speed travel system combining proven European TGV train technology with American engineering, management, and construction expertise to provide Florida with a safe, reliable and environmentally sensitive world class transportation system." – Florida Overland eXpress brochure_ , 21st Century Travel_, May 1996_

The undertaking was as grand as the times we were living in. Truth be told, the 1990s were a great time to be alive. The Northeast was in line to get high-speed trains, and it was believed Florida would come in second in this friendly race, which was more than acceptable, since we were starting from scratch.

"_*Florida Overland eXpress – *__*Initial and Projected Future Routes*_
​


_Our initial route responds to the State's request and will provide service between Miami and Orlando and between Orlando and Tampa. FOX service may eventually be extended into Fort Lauderdale, downtown Orlando, and St. Petersburg. After the main portion of the system is underway, service may also be extended to Jacksonville and then to other parts of Florida." – Florida Overland eXpress brochure, Executive Summary, May 1996_
​

With the State of Florida continuing to grow with no abatement in sight, it seemed only natural to enhance State infrastructure to meet future demands. The initial and future route regimen was simple and attainable; and then politics intervened. Within two years, the proposed route map exploded with high-speed routes running amok through every corner of the state. This phantasm along with its bloated price tag was mercifully put out of its misery by then-Governor Bush before the end of 1998, yet this was by no means the end.

What transpired over the next 10 years is what we here refer to as "high-end entertainment." In 2000, the voting public approved an amendment to State constitution, mandating the establishment of a system of high-speed trains. The Florida High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) was created the following year. Although State funds for HSRA were vetoed by the Governor, Federal funds kept it afloat; efforts in planning a system continued. In 2004, the voting public approved a repeal of the high-speed train amendment, but the HSRA continued to meet, and completed the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the route between Tampa and Orlando. Ah, but now there was no more funding, and it seemed all for naught; yet, this is Florida, after all, and nothing is ever as it seems.

In 2009, the clarion call went out all over the land for High-Speed Rail. This call was answered in many corners of the country, but ultimately only two of the responses were close to plausible: California, which had its own long history of pursuing HSR; and Florida, which had its own EIS. As a result, Florida became the front runner for establishing, for the first time in the Western Hemisphere, a true high-speed railroad; even if it was only to be 84 miles long. The overall usability of the line was not the point, but rather the establishment of the ground rules for further HSR around the country.

Unfortunately, this was no longer the 1990s. Those halcyon days were long past, and the pale of a new era was only beginning to be understood by the masses. Florida, especially, was coming to grips with this new era. The 20-year boom era of about 1985 to 2005 had given way to bust and freefall. Most insidious of the boom days were the final few years, where real estate values skyrocketed on speculation, and home builders built houses for buyers who did not yet exist, but who they were sure would come. By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, it was plain that the prospective buyers were not coming. Millions of dollars of new building would remain vacant or sell dirt cheap. The last thing the citizenry wanted to hear about was some fancy new fast train that might put it on the hook financially for some indefinite period of time. Hunger will have that kind of affect on people. Consequently, the project went back on the shelf in 2011.

It may sound duplicitous, but the writers were in favor of the FOX back in the 1990s. It was a good idea. It was something we could afford…at the time. Was it perfect? No. It did not serve the downtown areas of the cities it was meant to connect, but the hope was that it could, someday. The Florida HSR of 2009 followed the same basic idea. Why not support it now? There was absolutely no guarantee the monies would ever be available to connect into downtown, let alone extend to South Florida. Although the landscape looks familiar, the reality is that we are in a very different place now. With these changes come shifts in priorities, if not a shift in paradigm. We most certainly have gone from thriving to survival mode, and it looks like we will be here for the duration.

*Here Comes the Sun [Rail]*

As early as 1989, the possibility of commuter rail had been deliberated in Central Florida. Tri-Rail had begun operation two years earlier, and one proposal was to extend Tri-Rail from South Florida to Tampa and Orlando as a way to connect the state. Soon enough, Tri-Rail was experiencing its own tribulations; thus Central Florida would be on its own, and so was formed the Central Florida Commuter Rail Authority (CFCRA).

In 1992, the CFCRA released its _Project Feasibility Report_ which was all-inclusive of various forms of transit including light rail, commuter rail, and an increased number of buses to facilitate travel in and around the greater Orlando area. The commuter rail component received Federal authorization in 1998 as part of the Central Florida Rail System in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). In 2000, the light-rail portion was scrapped. In 2006 the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and CSX, the owner of the existing track in Orlando, agreed on the purchase of 61.5 miles of track between DeLand and Poinciana. For $432 million, the State gets the right-of-way, and pays CSX to increase capacity on the parallel freight line through Ocala for the anticipated traffic which will now bypass Orlando.

Perhaps it was ignorance; perhaps it was an attempt to curry favor. For whatever reason, FDOT committed a huge blunder in 2008 when it entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Amtrak regarding maintenance of commuter trains at its Sanford Auto Train facility. This would come around to bite FDOT almost two years later.

With the track through Orlando to become property of a State entity, liability for an accident would now be similar to that of any other public-owned conveyance: Limited. Such capped liability would also extend to CSX and the few freight trains that would be left. This did not sit well with many, and CSX ultimately agreed to shoulder _"some of the cost of the state purchasing a liability policy. We wanted to help with them buying the type of policy they would need" _and_ "we're doing a similar thing up in Massachusetts where there were similar concerns about the liability issue. As a matter of fact, what we're doing in Massachusetts and Florida is identical." – interview with CSX CEO Mike Ward, _Florida Times-Union_, December 16, 2009 _

It did seem the whole thing might come to naught in 2009. The Great Recession hit central Florida rather hard, and many questioned the wisdom of spending scarce State cash on trains. Through two sessions of the State Senate, funding for commuter rail, now known as SunRail, was not forthcoming. But remember, this is Florida and nothing is ever as it seems. For the first and last time, an overt tie was made between commuter rail and high-speed rail. The Feds told the State that if the millions of dollars made available for commuter trains were not claimed, then the State could forget the billions of dollars made available for HSR. In an amazing turnaround, the State Senate met in a special session and passed the SunRail legislation.

Since its inception in 1971, Amtrak has carried it own indemnification for its operations over the tracks of other railroads. Even if Amtrak experienced an accident that was completely the fault of the host railroad, Amtrak would still be responsible for settlement. So it was something of a shock (even for those of us in Florida) when Amtrak claimed, in January of 2010, that FDOT was in violation of their MOU. Despite carrying its own indemnification, it pushed for an arrangement similar to that of CSX. For whatever reason, Amtrak believed it had a stake in the game because of a 1999 agreement with CSX regarding the long-distance passenger trains that run through what was to become State-owned property. Amtrak was deluded enough to believe it held the authority to scuttle the deal. At best, if Amtrak did not wish to recognize State ownership, at jeopardy were the two long-distance trains and the Auto Train which runs North out of Sanford. This was tantamount to sticking a gun to one's own head and demanding "Do as I say or I'll shoot."

It took almost all year, but in December of 2010 Amtrak dropped its opposition to SunRail following an hour-long meeting in the office of U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, with soon-to-be-Chairman of the Transportation Committee, Florida's own U.S. Representative John Mica, in attendance. Following this calibration, Amtrak issued a statement saying it had "long supported the SunRail project." Hopefully, going forward, FDOT and SunRail will appreciate that they had best do without Amtrak's support.

Of course, the rest is history. On January 28, 2011, newly-elected Governor Rick Scott put SunRail on hold in order to review the project. On February 26, 2011, he cancelled Florida HSR, citing concerns over possible future operating costs. Then came July 1, 2011, and the official go-ahead for SunRail followed by the official "ground breaking" on the property of Florida Hospital. The caterers expected 300 to attend, but there were at least 400. There was one protester, who did succeed in attaining his fifteen minutes of fame.

Many pundits believed the Governor would ax SunRail, since in their eyes all rails are created equal. State supporters of HSR mounted rallies and campaigns to stop SunRail. (Most people did not notice, since the airways were saturated with the trial of one of our denizens who was found guilty of parental antipathy which, as it turns out, is not a crime.) Five days before the governor's decision, what can only be described as an embarrassment of journalism proffered by a will-write-for-food reporter appeared in the New York Times. Although starting off with "Here in sun-parched Central Florida," the author obviously had no clue what Floridians are really about, as evidenced by describing SunRail in these terms: "It will not link to the Orlando airport or Disney World, among the region's biggest traffic generators." This is a slap in the face to those of us who actually live here, and the Grey Lady owes us an apology for printing such tripe.

SunRail is not purposed for the tourists, but rather for the locals. The New York Times made no mention of Florida Hospital or Orlando Regional Medical Center, two of the biggest employers and traffic generators in the City of Orlando. Their master plans; not their plans for future development, but their actual master plans as filed to the governments per State law; are contingent on SunRail. For example, a Florida Hospital station is to be provided by Florida Hospital according to its master plan, and Florida Hospital has already provided the infrastructure for it. During the ground breaking, the hospital announced the impending construction of a new administration building to be sited next to the future station site. This is a case where it will not be feasible to just deny the commuter train and build a road, instead. The whole "Medical City" concept will have to be reconsidered, with much of it already in the ground.

Unfortunately, with all this "rail" talk, the lines blurred. Most media outlets cannot tell the difference, with one even referring to "high-speed commuter rail." Florida HSR did do some good in that it prompted enough elected non-stake holders outside the Orlando area to vote in favor of SunRail. Ultimately, Florida HSR failed because it was the purview of out-of-state interests who, once it served its purpose of setting the new standards for domestic HSR, could easily walk away, leaving it to the locals. The questions raised nearly 30 years earlier are still pertinent and remain inadequately answered. SunRail succeeded because it is _from_ the locals. Local stakeholders understand it will have cascading benefits on other local interests such as engineering and construction companies, all of which are eager for work in our recession-ravaged state. The locals also understand that this is their baby, for which they will be responsible. Yes, Mr. Secretary, we did get our act together. SunRail is (finally) happening.


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## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak*

*Companion Publication to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail*

*By D&D Carleton*

*Volume 8, Number 17*

* October 14, 2011*

*A digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from*

* *

*United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.*

*America's foremost passenger rail policy institute*

* *

*Jacksonville, Florida USA*

*Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail **[email protected]** • **http://www.unitedrail.org* 
​


From the Editors…

A recent op-ed piece by a conservative former New England Senator has only succeeded in distorting the reality of passenger trains. The lesson learned? Quote Amtrak's numbers at your own risk.

Amtrak? A crazy train? Surely you jest, Senator

"T[he] passenger train is moribund. The heart still beats, but the brain waves are still; and those of us who loved it gather about the deathbed, either to propose euthanasia, to advocate a peaceful natural end, or to seek a heart transplant (in the form of a subsidy) in one last desperate try to prolong life. The time for the obituary is not far off, probably no later than 1975, whatever the physicians may elect to do." - George W. Hilton, Introduction to the reprint of Passenger Terminals and Trains, July 21, 1968

It is almost hard to believe that it has been 43 years since the above was written. To the casually informed, it would appear the "heart transplant" was the chosen remedy in 1971, when saving the American passenger train. It turns out, however, that a mere "subsidy" hardly explains the history of the last 40 years. Instead of subsidizing the railroads which ran passenger trains, the powers that be opted to add them, in the form of Amtrak, to the list of government social welfare programs. With access to the public money trough and without the discipline of veteran railroad managers comes the lack of accountability to the bottom line. This has not gone unnoticed by a few; in particular, a politician from New Hampshire.

John Edward Sununu served his constituents proudly for a dozen years, first as a three-term member of the U.S. House of Representative and then one term in the U.S. Senate. He holds an impressive array of educational certificates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Unfortunately, with the populist purge that was the election of 2008, Senator Sununu found himself out of a job. Since then, His Honor has kept himself busy doing those things that sidelined politicians do, which include but are not limited to: Joining a law firm and/or board of directors, teaching college classes, shaping public policy, and writing the occasional op-ed piece.

It is this latter avocation which recently caught our attention. In an op-ed entitled "Off the rails on Amtrak's crazy train" which ran this past Labor Day in the Boston Globe the Senator started off with:

"OZZY OSBOURNE never rode the Zephyr, but he did popularize the notion of a crazy train."

We at This Week at Amtrak cannot confirm whether or not Mr. Osbourne has ever been a patron of Amtrak, nor did we realize the Senator's appreciation for heavy metal rock and roll. Even so, he did succeed in gaining our attention. After citing the horrific events of August 26, wherein a passenger train derailed after striking an illegally-positioned industrial crane, he proceeded to castigate everyone's favorite bailiwick: The long-distance passenger train.

"Along with a dozen other long-distance routes, the Zephyr has been losing money hand over fist since 1970 [sic], when the government-owned passenger rail system was created. Insanity, we are told, is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result."

It is a tune we have all heard before here at This Week; granted, without the electric guitar. Last time it was covered by someone much closer to the source:

"It's the long-distance trains…They're all unprofitable." -Amtrak President Joe Boardman, May 17, 2011, explaining to the U.S. Senate why higher ridership has resulted in higher losses

It is the same song-and-dance we have been accustomed to for the last four decades. Amtrak in effect tells Congress, "Your constituents ride trains. We run trains. Keep giving us money so they may continue to ride." This is all well and good so long as no one takes any of what Amtrak has to say seriously. Therefore, it is rather disturbing to read Senator Sununu doing just that:

"Amid a budget crisis and the US debt downgrade, the Congressional Special Deficit Committee is looking for $1.5 trillion in budget savings over the next 10 years. There's no better place to start than long-distance train routes, which lose more money today than ever - despite years of endless promises, watered-down reforms, and rosy predictions. These routes represent the triumph of politics over common sense - the very attitude that must be overcome to restore some semblance of order to the federal budget."

To the above we must confess, the Senator is correct. The long-distance trains do lose money, by some reckonings, and very much embody the attitude of "politics over common sense." Also true is the supposition on insanity, that is, "doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result." The Senator makes note of the "years of endless promises, watered-down reforms, and rosy predictions" but also adds, "Throughout the 1990s, three successive Amtrak presidents claimed the company was on the path to profitability. Tweaks have been made to everything from retirement packages to food service with no change to the river of red ink." The Senator is merely hoisting Amtrak with its own petard. Is there any way it is not deserving of this fate?

But the real question is, is it the doing of the same thing -- or the ones doing the same thing over and over again -- which are insane? Today's long-distance train is vastly different in form if not function from anything with which Professor Hilton was acquainted. The modern diesel locomotives and train electrical systems have greatly enhanced overall efficiency. The reservation system is computerized. The overall number of people needed to operate the train has decreased. Moreover, railroads have always been the most thermodynamically efficient method for overland transportation, even back at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Today's offerings often sell out, sleepers even more so than coaches, and do so at sometimes astonishingly high prices, to boot. Load factors on the long hauls are often twice those of the short regional corridors (including the sacred Northeast Corridor), suggesting strongly that, if anything, Amtrak is rather underinvested in its long-distance services. In light of all these advances, how could these trains still lose money? Amtrak found a way.

Charity begins in…Washington?

Some of the iconic names of the long-distance trains may be the same; some of the routes may be similar; but this is where the similarities end. The glamour and prestige associated with those names has faded into the one-size-fits-all socialist hegemony which befits the residue of all Great Society undertakings. The word "Pullman" has no bearing in today's world of passenger railroading. In fact the majority of space offered on these long-distance trains is coach class. Before and during Amtrak's early years, the balance of coach space to sleeping car space was close to even. Not so, now; and that is not all that has become uneven.

In 1968, three years before Amtrak, one-way coach fare between Chicago and Washington, D.C. would have been $34.25. Corrected to 2011 dollars, this is $222.96. In that same year the same class of service between Chicago and Memphis was $19.47; $126.75 in 2011. For coach between Richmond, Virginia and Savannah, Georgia, $16.91; $110.08 in 2011.

These journeys are still possible in 2011, and at a bargain price. One-way coach fare between Chicago and Washington, D.C. is $111.00. This is 49% of the inflation-corrected fare of 1968. Today's one-way coach fare between Chicago and Memphis is $95.00, or 75% of the 1968 fare. Coach between Richmond and Savannah, at $84.00, is 76% of the fare from 43 years ago.

Granted, there are efficiencies from the use of modern equipment on these trains which may result in savings, and which may be passed on to the consumer; however, does this justify the levying of fares up to half of what the private railroads were charging? Some pundits rationalize the discrepancy in these fares by noting that fewer would ride coach if the fares were any higher than what they are currently. A major drawback resulting from the artificially-low coach fares is the appearance of dramatic deltas between coach and sleeper fares. Sleeping car fares are about the same as back then, when corrected for inflation.

Well then, why are coach fares so low? Is Amtrak a charity, subsidizing transportation to the nation's interior? If this be the case, then so be it. Whenever Amtrak brass is before Congress and the subject of long-distance train losses comes up, then this charity should be explained. None of us here are against charity and aiding our fellow man. Amtrak, however, is not a charity. It was instituted as a for-profit corporation. It may never yield dollar one in profit, but this is no reason not to operate as a business.

As a contemporary hypothetical, let us say one books a trip this coming November from Chicago to Denver. This hypothetical train, however, has only two Superliners: One standard 74-seat coach and one standard sleeping car. Standard coach fare is $106. A bedroom for two adults is $1143, a roomette for two is $451, and the family room for four is $1073. If every seat is full and every berth is taken, then the yield from the coach is $7844; but the sleeper would be $13,553. A sleeper brings in almost double that of a coach. How could Amtrak lose money on this proposition? The long-distance trains are the only class of trains to have uninterrupted growth for the last four years, even during 2009 when all other classes dropped. Simply put, Amtrak cannot offer what it does not have. Whereas there were many coaches "laying around" and available to return to service, Amtrak does not have a surplus of sleeping cars which could be rebuilt and utilized. There are some new sleepers on order for the Eastern trains, but nothing thus far for the West; meaning Amtrak's plans for the future are anemic, at best.

Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008

If passenger trains were run like a real business, coach fares would be raised at a minimum to the equivalent of pre-Amtrak levels. This would drop coach patronage and allow for the removal of some equipment from the train. More sleeping cars could then be added. Couple all this with the aforementioned advances in efficiency, and the result should be lower losses and a possibility of breaking even.

This is a reality not lost on just passenger train advocates. Three years ago, some enlightened folks in Washington passed some legislation aimed at improving the lot of the American passenger train. To them, it is obvious that Amtrak is not the answer. Specifically, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA), section 214, Alternate passenger rail service pilot program, calls for other entities "to petition the Administration to be considered as a passenger rail service provider over that route in lieu of Amtrak." On September 7, 2011 the "Notice of proposed rulemaking" outlining the process for other operators was entered into the Federal Register.

There is one very salient fact that all but the enlightened acknowledge: People are riding passenger trains again. It is no longer 1968, and the public is no longer setting its sights on the moon. It is no secret that the airlines have cut everything to the bone and are still struggling to make a profit. People are driving less and consuming even less gasoline, leaving the Highway trust fund inadequate for the level of capital improvement necessary to remain viable. Moreover, as the bowl of spaghetti that is the subsidization and cross-subsidization of social welfare programs unravels, the true cost of normal everyday institutions will be laid bare for all to see. This will be especially true of transportation. In other parts of the world where this decoupling has occurred, the out-of-pocket cost for transportation has risen in absence or reduction of public subsidy. This has resulted in fond reminiscence of the "good old days" of nationalized railways, even though it was never a sustainable arrangement in the long term.

Unfortunately, old habits die hard. The "junk science" that has defined passenger trains for over a half century still hangs in the air like the stench and smoke of an exhausted forest fire. Any railroader worth his salt knows the real money is made in the long-haul, both freight and passenger. For too long the long-distance passenger train has had to get by with scraps, while real demand is left abandoned at the station. All would do well to ignore said "junk science" and look to a future where non-public entities operate and maintain passenger trains well away from the public coffers. Otherwise, one may find himself described by the sage John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne: "I've listened to preachers. I've listened to fools. I've watched all the dropouts, Who make their own rules. One person conditioned to rule and control. The media sells it and you live the role." - Crazy Train


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## MrFSS

This Week at Amtrak

Companion Publication to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail

By D&D Carleton

Volume 8, Number 18

October 24, 2011

A digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org
​
From the Editors…

For every action there is a reaction. Sometimes, however, inaction evokes a reaction.

He who hesitates loses

"Well, who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" - Chicolini, a.k.a. Chico Marx, Duck Soup, 1933

If one were to take the word of Amtrak at face value, and there are quite a few who still do, one might conclude the sky is falling -- at the behest of the U.S. House of Representatives. At least, that is the gist of an Amtrak news release from September 8, 2011. Therefore, for the benefit of our readers, here is the full text of said release:

HOUSE REPUBLICAN BUDGET PLAN WILL ELIMINATE ALL STATE-SUPPORTED AMTRAK SERVICE

WASHINGTON – Despite record-breaking Amtrak ridership and strong support for intercity passenger rail by 15 states, the House Republican transportation budget plan will effectively eliminate all state-supported Amtrak service across the country for the fiscal year beginning October 1.

The FY 2012 Transportation-HUD House Appropriations Subcommittee budget proposal offered by the Majority prohibits the use of federal funds provided to Amtrak to fund any operating costs of state-supported trains. If enacted by the full Congress, it will eliminate nearly 150 weekday state-supported trains and negatively impact the more than nine million passengers who ride those trains each year and the communities they live in.

"The House Republican plan is shortsighted and is the wrong policy for America," said Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman. "It will result in the loss of jobs and reverses significant progress made to use passenger rail to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil."

"The GOP plan penalizes states that have made investments in passenger rail, some of which have contributed toward costs for nearly 40 years," said Amtrak board chairman Tom Carper. "It kills an engine of local and regional economic growth much needed today, harms the future economic vitality of the nation and is unnecessary."

Under legislation passed by Congress in 2008, Amtrak is working cooperatively with its state partners to develop a common methodology to share more of the operating and capital costs of state-supported trains with the states.

"The Republican proposal forces an unwelcome decision on states who clearly want to preserve and expand passenger rail service," Carper stated.

The 15 states which provide state-supported Amtrak service are: California, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

What is being referred to is the proposed budget submitted by the U.S. House of Representatives on September 7, 2011:

"A BILL making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes."

Specifically, under the section titled "Operating subsidy grants to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation" is the offending language:

"Provided further, that notwithstanding the provisions of section 209 of Division B of Public Law 110-432, or any other provision of law, none of these funds may be used to fund operating expenses for state-supported routes…"

Just to be clear, "notwithstanding" is defined as "in spite of; without being opposed or prevented by."

For regular readers of This Week at Amtrak, Public Law 110-432 may sound familiar. Most people know this by its common name, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA). Section 209 of PRIIA, "State -Supported Routes," was covered in our July 10, 2011 issue. By way of review, section 209 reads, in part:

"Within 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Amtrak Board of Directors, in consultation with the Secretary, the governors of each relevant State, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia, or entities representing those officials, shall develop and implement a single, nationwide standardized methodology for establishing and allocating the operating and capital costs among the States and Amtrak associated with trains operated on each of the routes…"(Bolding has been added.)

As already discussed this did not come to pass by the due date of October 16, 2010; so what was to happen next?

"If Amtrak and the States (including the District of Columbia) in which Amtrak operates such routes do not voluntarily adopt and implement the methodology developed under subsection (a) in allocating costs and determining compensation for the provision of service in accordance with the date established therein, the Surface Transportation Board shall determine the appropriate methodology required under subsection (a) for such services in accordance with the procedures and procedural schedule applicable to a proceeding under section 24904© of title 49, United States Code, and require the full implementation of this methodology with regards to the provision of such service within 1 year after the Board's determination of the appropriate methodology."

For those who are just joining us, NONE of the above legislated actions have been completed. Amtrak and those locally appointed to enter the defined negotiations are in violation of Federal Law. What is the penalty for noncompliance with Federal Law?

Amtrak currently has contracts with over a dozen states to operate these local services. The language of these disparate agreements is quite literally all over the map, with some States' payout significantly less than others for like services. Amtrak prefers this status quo, as this enables it to extract the maximum rent from individual State treasuries and gives it the ability to play one against another. Moreover, were such a methodology and its basis negotiated and agreed upon then Amtrak would be locked into a rate structure set in stone. When, not if, when outside agencies begin to bid on some state sponsored routes the new potential operator could quote a lower rate with the justification to prove it. Is it any wonder Amtrak is dragging its feet?The parties involved had until last year to hammer out "a single, nationwide standardized methodology for establishing and allocating the operating and capital costs among the States and Amtrak associated with trains operated on each of the routes." The U.S. House has now gently prodded the States and Amtrak to get going.

Amtrak could have sheepishly acknowledged its intransigence and forged ahead with negotiations, albeit tardy, as per the law. Instead, Amtrak has fanned the flames of the faithful and claimed the role of the wronged. Amtrak has ratcheted up the rhetoric, ignored its inability to follow Federal Law, and predicted the outcome, to be a "result in the loss of jobs and reverses significant progress made to use passenger rail to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil." Since when has unemployment and dependence on foreign oil been a result of following the law?

Amtrak and its supporters truly see domestic passenger railroading as a cause célèbre; something that transcends all law, whether it be codified or supply and demand. Perhaps this was necessary at one time. But passenger trains are no longer cowering in the alley darkness; oppressed, misunderstood, and awaiting a savior. People want to ride these things again, and are willing to buy a ticket. Successful enterprises need no savior. So long as passenger trains are kept in that middle niche of the collective consciousness, not too small so as to be ignored and not too big so as to garner full National attention, then they will never amount to any more than a novelty of transportation in this country. Sadly this situation satisfactorily suits some with entrenched interests, the public be damned.

Amtrak receives lots of funding from gullible government sponsors, State and Federal, commuter and corridor. It spends its subsidies pretty much where and how it chooses, yet no one is really in a position (like shareholders in a publicly-traded business) to hold management accountable for the results of its investments. The result of this lack of serious, consistent accountability--the persistent sense on the part of management, as well as labor, of overwhelming entitlement--brings about the constant repetition of ruinous financial adventures based on largely political rather than market-driven strategies.

Amtrak is reliant on the ignorance of its supporters to not read the fine print; and certainly not to pour over page after page of the Federal Register to delve deeply into the actual nuts and bolts of how the system really works. Amtrak has depended on friendly journalism to imbibe its take on matters, and then regurgitate the "facts" to the faithful, who accept it as truth. Will Amtrak get away with it again this time? Time will tell.

Even so, regardless of these political shell games, and regardless of the political convictions of all sides of the argument, there are much larger realities looming on the immediate horizon. The Federal Deficit is very real and has to be reckoned with. The powers that be are tasked with bringing expenditures under control. The simple reality is that if Amtrak had followed the edicts as laid out in PRIIA then the none-too-subtle reminder in the House Budget Proposal would have been unnecessary. Amtrak continues to exist within the era of its origin, the Great Society era of bureaucracy, bottomless government funds, and national largess. The present and future realities are those of austerity and efficiency. Since Amtrak is the antithesis of austerity and efficiency, then it is highly unlikely to play a part in the future reality.


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; 2011-11-01*
​

*By J. Bruce Richardson*
​


Volume 1, Number 17
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

There is a nice man in New Orleans by the name of John Sita, Jr. who follows in his father's honorable footsteps in his admiration for passenger trains. Mr. Sita, Jr. does something wonderful for many of us by sharing his passion for passenger train photography and compiling the best of current and historic passenger train photos and then providing them to us daily. He puts a lot of time and energy into what he does, and it shows. Many of us are thankful to him for his efforts. He seeks no compensation or praise, but has the satisfaction of a job well done.

Through the years, there have been more than a few This Week at Amtrak and now Business and Politics of Passenger Rail columns inspired by one of the photos generously shared by Mr. Sita.

Looking at the various photos, one can come to many conclusions, of which more than a few apply to the upcoming new generation of passenger train operators.

We're working on a second full generation of adults who have never known anything in the United States other than Amtrak, and never had the full impact of the colorful and myriad railroads which provided passenger train service.

The first thing you notice about pre-Amtrak passenger trains is each railroad had a personality expressed through paint and color schemes, types of cars operated, and general spit and polish. For all of the uniformity of the Pullman Company through the decades, you still knew whether you were in a Pullman car on one of Union Pacific Railroads's striking Armour Yellow streamliners, or a stainless steel consist of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad with a purple letterboard on the side of its passenger cars.

Much of the railroad personality through color schemes was a direct result of making the switch from steam locomotives to diesel electric locomotives. The diesel locomotive builders all had design departments which created color and design schemes for new locomotives. Any color anyone could think of was used, and used to good purpose.

Car manufacturers Budd and Pullman followed suit with striking passenger car paint schemes.

Think of the instantly recognized Tuscan Red of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which styled itself as the Standard Railroad of the World. The Pennsylvania used famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy in the heyday of the 20th Century, but he understood the importance of the railroad's signature color. (Many people don't know that in 1962, he designed the exterior color scheme for Air Force One; a variation of that design is still used today.)

Rival New York Central was known for its muted two-tone gray paint scheme; displaying panache and subtlety simultaneously. Not to be outdone by the Pennsylvania, NYC used famed designer Henry Dreyfuss to create its celebrated image.

The Baltimore Ohio showed great dignity with blue, gray, and gold.

The Chesapeake and Ohio owned a pleasant combination of yellow and dark blue, with gray tones, too.

The Northern Pacific Railroad, perhaps the classiest operation west of the Mississippi River, sported two tones of a pleasing green, with a dash of red in its logo. Nothing was more impressive than a consist of the North Coast Limited or the Mainstreeter.

Competitor Great Northern was a delighting combination of oranges and deep greens.

Nothing outshone Southern Pacific's ultra classy Coast Daylight, complete with reds and oranges from the front of the streamlined steam locomotive all the way to the end of the round end observation car. It was nothing short of moving art.

Every reader of this space will have their own favorites; there were just too many to mention here, but, we know they were there.

Those were the days when railroads were serious about the passenger business, before the intrusions of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways and the Boeing 707.

As late as 1964, there were over 5,000 passenger railroad cars operating in the United States, Today, Amtrak operates 1,500 pieces of passenger equipment, plus baggage cars and locomotives.

As the evidence grows almost daily of the new wave of private passenger operators in the United States to challenge Amtrak and the status quo for both corridor and long distance trains, perhaps we will see a return of the pride once displayed in the presentation of passenger trains.

The railroads understood their mission wasn't just to operate trains, but to try and make money from the exercise. There were no annual government hand-outs from Congress to prop them up, and stockholders held management accountable.

So, we saw things like named passenger train services advertised on the side of boxcars. We saw a pride in stations. We saw trains with clean windows.

It wasn't until the last, grimy days of the end of the 1960s when things really began to go downhill. By the time the Pullman Company was gone just multiple months before the beginning of Amtrak, the railroads were visibly displaying why AT THAT PARTICULAR POINT IN HISTORY many of them wanted out of the passenger business.

Telling photos show relatively short branch line or local/all stops long distance trains with what appears to be much more than needed motive power on the front end, such as two locomotives or an "A" and "B" unit both pulling a four or five car train.

These early diesel brutes of locomotives were not underpowered for their day; they were simply just wearing out, and trainmasters were taking no chances their rail lines would be fouled because a locomotive broke down somewhere 12 miles past the middle of nowhere.

First glance at photos makes you think, "well, maybe they were just doing power redistributions, and lashing a lot of locomotives together to conveniently move them from one terminal to another." That holds true, but, over a long term, and, looking at dates on photos, it becomes clear there was a far greater concern for the train getting over the road from terminal to terminal than moving power around.

Also, looking closely at many of the locomotives in the 1960s; they were just simply wearing out. Even when Seaboard Coast Line which was created by the merger of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1967 was slapping fresh paint on its merged locomotive fleet, you couldn't escape noticing they were painting over a lot of scrapes, dents, and road abuse that can only happen through frequent and long use. Other railroads were simplifying their locomotive paint schemes to single colors with little or no fanfare it was the Earl Scheib of paint jobs for the locomotives instead of the more expensive, complex paint schemes.

Those first "rainbow" years of Amtrak, when individual railroad fleets were merged into national fleets, and Union Pacific cars were showing up on New York to Florida trains, and Florida train round end observation cars were operating between New Orleans and Los Angeles on the Sunset Limited, showed the daunting task Amtrak had in assembling a useable fleet of equipment. The big boys, such as the Santa Fe, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, Seaboard Coast Line, and Penn Central had pretty well maintained fleets of equipment. The smaller roads which joined Amtrak has less stellar equipment rosters to contribute, and it showed.

Some of that equipment survives today on Amtrak, 40 years after the railroads had figured it was wearing out and soon needed to be replaced. Surviving diners and baggage cars still roam Amtrak routes, and the occasional odd car here and there such as the full length dome car which normally runs on Amtrak's Pacific Surfliners in California much of the year and moves to the Adirondack route in New York State in the fall for the changing of the leaves.

The surviving equipment is almost exclusively Budd equipment because its method of car building in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s used a particular type of steel and welding process different from Pullman Company cars. While sadly many of the Pullman cars deteriorated beyond use, the Budd cars keep rolling down the road.

VIA Rail Canada has vividly demonstrated how to maintain and improve a fleet of stainless steel passenger cars over half a century old, and is still both desirable and practical for daily use.

By the beginning of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, there were lots of considerations for railroad managers and bean counters. Equipment was wearing out; it would take tens of millions of dollars, even in 1971 dollars, to refleet. Stations were mostly older and not in the best parts of town. Huge railroad cathedrals dotted medium and large cities, built for tens of dozens of trains a day, not one or two frequencies. The tax man on all levels was looking at the allegedly deep pockets of the railroads as a ready source of cash, never mind how sick the goose was that was laying the golden eggs.

And, the country was changing. The first social upheavals took place in the 1960s (most railroaders of the day never could understand the allure of "those long haired hippies, like the Beatles"), and railroads were "so last century" when it came to Wall Street, passenger tastes, and dreams of travel adventures.

The Metroliner was supposed to change a lot of that, but it was too little, too late, and it had the wrong focus and business plan.

The United States Post Office Department was making the switch from trains to planes and trucks.

No one was to blame; everyone was to blame for the near extinction of the passenger train in the United States.

Amtrak has kept things limping along for four decades. But, that's about all you can say. No matter what the reasons or what your beliefs, America's passenger rail system is a mere shadow of what it was even as late as 1969. There could be great discussion as to how much it needs to regrow should there just be trunk lines? or trunk lines with branch lines? Can a modern branch line, with modern equipment and modern work rules make money? or even be revenue/expense neutral?

Of course, the big debate is, even though there are a number of profitable passenger railroads in the world, can passenger rail in America be profitable? The proper answer is yes, it can.

Can it be profitable under Amtrak? Not with the current mind set. It will require an entire new way of thinking such as we are finding in the new passenger rail entrepreneurs to overcome the stymied and out of touch Amtrak thinking.

Make no mistake about it; there are some very smart people crunching numbers and looking and wondering about the future of passenger rail. They peel away the bad parts, savor the good parts, and make business plans that make sense in the 21st Century.

As competition for Amtrak heats up, thinking people can't help but reflect back on everything they know about Amtrak from the past 40 years. In the beginning, everyone thought it should be an airline on steel wheels, a truly horrible idea. Then, there was the modernization phase, but the corporate thinking was never updated with the equipment. Permeating the entire Amtrak experience has been the constant carping, the constant begging, the constant hubris from Amtrak deciding which laws it may or may not choose to follow, and the annual Capitol Hill begfest.

There has hardly EVER been a positive tone coming from Amtrak, and its enabling organizations. Instead, there has always been whining, constant excuses why the dog ate its homework, and nothing but "woe is me."

So, all of that has worked. NO ONE of a reasonable mind thinks Amtrak can stand on its own two feet. They all believe it's doomed to a perpetual existence of feeding at the federal and state money troughs. But, along the way, the folks in Washington who control the purse strings are asking more and more tough questions, which the only answer Amtrak has for them is to constantly bleat like a sheep its refrain of woe.

That's just not good enough in these trying economic times. Everyone in Washington is tightening their belts and figuring out how to do with less. Amtrak's enablers still think the right thing to do is constantly quibble for more money, instead of demonstrating how Amtrak could both generate more revenue on its own, or rework its business plan to be a more streamlined company.

The people on Capitol Hill are taking note and seriously wondering how little Amtrak can be funded for while the real railroaders those who WANT to run passenger trains, instead of just ask for government handouts are putting the finishing touches on their own plans for the future of passenger rail in America.

If Amtrak is left behind, it is not the fault of anyone but Amtrak. Amtrak has never put forward a radical, serious business plan for growth. Amtrak has never said how it can maximize the use of its assets to wring every dime of revenue out of them. Amtrak has NEVER displayed any hint of "can do" spirit.

There are plenty of people out there with the "can do" spirit on every level. They are creeping towards reality. If Amtrak isn't looking over its corporate shoulder, it's like to have a very nasty surprise in the next 18 months.

_____________________________________________________

_Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at __[email protected]_ _ for your very own copy._


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; November 7, 2011*

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 18
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

Election day, Tuesday, November 6, 2012 is exactly a year – 365 days – away (Presidential election years are always leap years, with February having 29 days; hence a full year from November 7, 2011.). If you think all things are political now, well, you haven't seen anything, yet.

Presidential and congressional politics are already full of talk about railroads, high speed passenger rail, and Amtrak.

Republican presidential presumptive frontrunner Mitt Romney has said he's for eliminating Amtrak funding. You can bet, since he's among the least conservative of Republican presidential primary candidates more conservative candidates will take at least the same tone.

Congressional Republicans already want to trim Amtrak funding, and any new incoming members of Congress are likely to follow the same path.

President Obama, if re-elected, will continue to support Amtrak. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi boldly predicted last Friday the Democrats will retake the House of Representatives because they have recruited such outstanding candidate for 2012. No one rushed to agree with her.

The Senate has a good chance of either going Republican (along with the House staying Republican), or having Republicans come so close to a new majority that EVERYTHING will have to be negotiated in what is supposed to be "the world's greatest deliberative body."

On the state level, more Republican governors like Ohio's John Kasich and Florida's Rick Scott are likely to be elected, and they may take a dim view of continuing to – or starting to – shovel money to Amtrak without good accounting of what the money is being spent for each and every day.

So, what's an Amtrak True Believer to do?

The answer is, panic.

Well, then, what's any reasonable person who believes in the business of passenger rail to do?

The answer is, celebrate.

Will Amtrak simply go away? No.

Amtrak will be forced to better itself, one way or the other.

The result will also be a new vista for private passenger rail on all fronts. Sensing this was coming, the Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators (www.passengerrail.org) was formed and is now a presence on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Competition is coming. Amtrak and its True Believers should welcome it, not disdain it.

Good, healthy competition makes products and services better, not worse. If Amtrak can't stand the heat in the competition kitchen, then maybe it should find something else to do.

Knowing this year is going to be consumed by politics, what is the best course of action?

First, face reality. Change is coming unless the Democrats miraculously hold on to the White House, Senate, and retake the House of Representatives. There is a good chance they will not.

In the event Republicans sweep into power, a good case for passenger rail is going to have to be put forward. Merely saying Amtrak had a banner year of 30 million riders doesn't mean anything.

Whoever wins the White House in 2012 will have first say over the budgets, appointments to Amtrak's Board of Directors, and will provide "guidance" through the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration.

As everyone knows, the real decision makers are the Congress, who ultimately hold the purse strings and create laws which in turn makes things possible or impossible. It's the purse strings which determine final outcomes.

There may even be a medium sized miracle and an administration will actually develop a surface transportation policy, something which hasn't been around for decades.

Amtrak, and its sycophant enabling organizations will most likely continue to tout Amtrak's record ridership numbers, now totaling over 30 million passengers a year.

When you break the numbers down, seeking individual riders instead of multiple rides by the same person, you're probably looking at closer to 10 million individual riders instead of 30 million riders. As a percentage of population and transportation output, that doesn't come close to justification of the amount of money spent on Amtrak annually. The constant argument Amtrak is in a long term building phase – allegedly, the rising number of riders is supposed to support that argument – doesn't wash anymore. If Amtrak was coming close to doubling its ridership numbers, and simultaneously demonstrating good load factors (the only number which really matters) then some sort of bland argument could be made it is a successful organization.

But, take a look at the reality of it all – even with Amtrak ridership going up, its amount of annual subsidy is going up, too, at a faster rate. Amtrak is doing nothing to realize savings or improvement due to volume, but is going in the opposite direction.

The Pocket Guide to Transportation 2011, published by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, publishes passenger-mile statistics. The last year numbers are available for is 2008. Here's the breakdown:

Passenger-Mile Statistics (Numbers in millions)

Scheduled air carriers – 583,506

Passenger automobiles – 2,553,043

Other vehicles, 2-axle, 4-tires – 1,921,960

Buses – 150,827

Motorcycles – 18,395

Rail, transit – 18,931

Rail, commuter – 11,032

Rail, Intercity/Amtrak – 6,179

Did you notice Amtrak's share of national transportation output is just a hair over one third of motorcycles? Before you have a knee-jerk reaction and say motorcycles have the benefit of a mature road system, well, so does Amtrak. It's running on railroad mainlines which have been in place for well over a century, and Amtrak has a federal statutory right to run trains over those rails, if it so chooses.

How, in these difficult, fiscally austere times, can anyone with a straight face agitate for extra money for Amtrak with that type of dismal performance, and no improvement in sight?

In politics, the Democrats look at Amtrak and passenger rail as a union and labor issue: more trains mean more jobs. Not a bad way to look at things in an economy which has 9% unemployment (much higher when you factor in the under-employed and those who have simply left the work force because they have been out of work so long) and people are aching for jobs.

The Republicans look at Amtrak and passenger rail as a business and economic issue: how can running trains benefit the overall economy and make the economy grow? Also not a bad way of looking at things in an economy which is growing at best at a snail's pace.

The argument will be made Amtrak props up the Railroad Retirement Board system, the railroad specialized version of Social Security. Yes, for years it has been a conduit for money to be pumped directly from Congress into the RRB to subsidize the incomes of current retirees.

Okay, well, if Congress found that conduit, can't it find another?

And, what everyone else seems to forget is current law says any other new passenger rail operators which take over any part of Amtrak routes or create new routes MUST be a part of the RRB system.

So, it's a false argument if Amtrak is greatly reduced or goes away it will hurt RRB. Only if the net number of employees paying into the system goes down will RRB have a problem. But, RRB is much healthier than its sister, Social Security, so it's unlikely that will occur. Plus, the freight railroads are now back to looking for new hires (Norfolk Southern Railway just announced last week it plans to hire 500 employees in eight states almost immediately, with more to come, numbered in the thousands. Other freight railroads are making similar noises.).

We will hear the well worn canard from many quarters the freight railroads simply will not allow more passenger trains on their rails, because they are so busy and congested.

The economy pretty well poked holes in that argument, and, if you drill down deep enough, you discover the freight railroads fear more Amtrak passenger trains on their rails than passenger trains in general. The freights know they have little to fear from responsible passenger operators which maintain their locomotive fleets as well as the host railroads do, and have the ability to launch their trains out of terminals on time, in a designated slot versus Amtrak's poor performance due to bad maintenance practices, poor planning, or poor scheduling which create late terminal departures.

Plus, around the country, make a habit of counting locomotives on relatively short Amtrak trains. Amtrak is being forced to run its trains with extra motive power by contract with the host railroads because the host railroads fear en route locomotive mechanical breakdowns. You have to ask yourself, why does it take three locomotives to run a nine car train, or two locomotives to run a four car train? This is similar to what the railroads did with their own waning fleets of locomotives just before Amtrak was created; to make sure the lines remained clear and opened, they added extra locomotives to make sure trains kept their schedules and had no critical breakdowns en route. It was cheaper to buy diesel fuel than make expensive repairs or upgrades to equipment they weren't sure they were going to keep or replace, soon.

Many people – and politicians – fear change. But, change is coming, and in today's environment, it's inevitable. We all hear the whine, "but, if Amtrak goes away, there will be nothing to replace it and there will be no more passenger trains!". That is a false whine, not befitting the American entrepreneurial spirit. Too many people with good ideas and financial backing are out there today, plotting and planning a post-Amtrak dominated world of passenger railroading in North America.

When something is broken and unable to be repaired, you move on to the next thing. Amtrak is that way, now. It's been mostly fear of "losing it all" which has generated support for dysfunctional Amtrak. Instead of looking to a brighter future and a spirit of progress, too many people and politicians have continued to look backwards, clinging to an originally flawed idea from the Nixon Administration which created Amtrak.

Remember, when Amtrak was created, the word was the first $140 million invested by the federal government was all it was going to take to make passenger trains sleek and modern and profitable again. Oops! Things just didn't work out that way.

Today, we are still haunted by the junk science of the 1950s and 60s which said corridor trains were the trains of the future and the only hope for passenger train travel. The ongoing financial strength and transportation output of the Empire Builder, Coast Starlight, California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Silver Meteor, Silver Star and other long distance trains pretty well blows that junk science theory out of the water.

That junk science theory was created in a time when the jet airplane and the private automobile and a growing interstate highway system were on the rise. A prosperous America was willing to ignore and throw away the "old" technology of the passenger train in favor of the glitz and glitter of new ways to travel. Now, the tarnished aura of air travel is the system without the glory, and the automobile/SUV/pickup truck, while still the single most convenient mode of travel, are costing more and more to operate.

The politics of 2012 will make everything interesting for passenger trains and the railroad industry. Many railroaders – this was unthinkable a generation ago – are open to public/private partnerships for infrastructure upgrades and improvements. Money is flowing from the federal treasury to railroads as an inexpensive alternative to move freight (railroads have never lost their efficiency to move goods over long distances) instead of building more lanes on highways for increasing truck traffic.

Visionaries like former Federal Railroad Administration head Gil Carmichael are coming up with plans like his aggressive Interstate II plan, which addresses growth problems across the surface transportation spectrum and the solution to those problems which can be found on an enhanced railroad right-of-way.

Many new and returning members of Congress will seek to keep what little passenger train service they have for their districts and home states. This will keep things alive – barely. But, these same lawmakers will be open to new and innovative ideas from private passenger train operators.

Representative John Mica of Florida, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has correctly labeled Amtrak a "Soviet-style passenger rail system." Some have scoffed at this label, but Mr. Mica is correct: For most, Amtrak is the only choice; take it or leave it. Mr. Mica chooses not to take it, and envisions something better. He and the majority on his committee are willing to explore new ideas and concepts and are not afraid of change. They need support, not scorn. Unions should be embracing their proposed changes, because in every instance, it means more – and better in most instances – jobs. Which also means more people paying into the Railroad Retirement Bureau, bolstering that system.

There is much discussion which can be had about Governors Kasich and Scott of Ohio and Florida. Governor Kasich, because of bad information, made a bad decision to kill the Ohio "3C" plan, which would have linked Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. His Washington background in Congress before becoming governor simply left too much of a bad taste in his mouth from seeing Amtrak up close and personal as it dealt with Congress. So, after too long of a wait, Ohio is back to the drawing board to figure out something about passenger rail.

Governor Scott here in Florida made an excellent decision to kill Florida's first leg of a high speed system between Orlando and Tampa to the southwest. There were too many flaws to go into them here and now, but the simple motivation of jobs to build the system was not a good enough reason to create something that never would have met its projections, as California is this month finding out about its own proposed high speed rail proposal.

From a political standpoint, it's going to be important for state governments to understand their choices for the future of passenger rail in state corridors. In true Soviet style, Amtrak has been the only choice as a service provider. But, the members of AIPRO now have something to say about that; look to the upcoming battle over Amtrak state subsidies to suddenly turn very unhappy for Amtrak True Believers. Governors on the prowl for budget savings and true choice are not going to be looking favorably at the single entity which consistently has the highest cost and least accountability – Amtrak.

Remember, prior to Amtrak, which also means prior to computers and lightening-speed communications, America had a highly functional passenger rail system with dozens of independent operators which figured out how to work together with interline agreements for operations and ticketing, the creation of equipment pools, and terminal company operations. If it was successfully done before, it can be done again.

The politics of 2012 will be rife with rumor and bad information, misstatements, and ignorance. In the middle of all of that will be passenger rail, a greatly-diminished high speed rail program on its way to oblivion, and a discussion of "what's next?".

The lessons of the high speed rail program will come up again and again. The Obama Administration threw billions at it, and, even though it's early, not much to show for it.

But, a glimmer of hope has arrived. More and more intelligent writers are not talking about "high speed rail," but "high performance rail." This fits nicely into programs like Mr. Carmichael's Interstate II, what Illinois is doing between Chicago and St. Louis, and several other projects around the country. You may even have noticed last week Amtrak's new-hire vice president for high speed rail development announced he is leaving the company after only 14 months on the job; reality often sets in at the oddest places.

The high performance rail concept makes great sense, and it's what should be seized upon to meet the demands of politicians in 2012. Take what you have now, which is a completely solid foundation, and build upon that foundation for improvement and enhancement at a greatly reduced cost and higher benefit from the new construction of high speed rail such as is in the agony of development in California.

Budget-minded people like enhancements at a reasonable cost versus the higher costs of new-build, especially when you have a similar outcome.

If Amtrak and its True Believers expect any type of future, then a new approach has to be created. Ridership improvements along with rising subsidy costs only make things worse.

Amtrak must become economically relevant to politicians in Washington and statehouses around the country. Demonstrable benefit must be proved, and not in small numbers.

There must be a plan for growth which doesn't rely on spending tens of millions of dollars on new equipment. Amtrak must demonstrate it is a good steward of its present resources.

Load factors, not just ridership, must increase – in numbers that make a difference. There must be a marketing and public relations campaign which touts the good about the company, not the constant whine of "just give us more money and things will be fine." Those days of "woe is us" are over and gone.

In short, Amtrak must demonstrate it is relevant, which it has seldom done before.

Private proposals will accomplish all of those things, without apology. Private proposals will have credible numbers which pass the scrutiny of host railroad managers, and nothing will happen without sound financial statements and financial forecasting. Rhetoric will mean nothing – performance will be the only governing factor.

The political year 2012 will become the watershed year for passenger rail in America; it will be the beginning of a new golden era of passenger rail travel that has many more choices than a Soviet-style system.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.


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## MrFSS

*This Week at Amtrak; 2011-11-08*

* *

*Volume 8, Number 19*
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*From the Editors…*

To say that these are interesting times for passenger railroading in America would be a gross understatement. Significant changes to the forty year status quo are afoot. The following discourse by Stan Feinsod at this year's _Passenger Trains on Freight Railroads_ conference outlines a future, not of political hubris, but of practical possibilities. Mr. Feinsod has over thirty years of diverse passenger rail expertise as a transit contracting specialist and project development and management, planning and engineering, operations and even streetcar specialties. In his distinguished career he has worked for numerous agencies such as NJ Transit, Veolia, Connex and now Ratp Dev. And now, Mr. Feinsod in his own words [abridged for space].

*The Path Forward: Creating and American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Rail System*

My theme is creating an American *High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Rail System*.

A system based on the American economic model of competition.

A system based on the private sector and cooperation with the pre-eminent American freight railroads who own the most important rights-of-way.

A system developed by a broad public-private partnership with the states and the federal government.

A system that strives for continuously improved performance and the reduction of travel time; a system that has excellent connectivity to the urban transport systems it serves.

I am speaking from my personal perspective, but, informed by my roles as Secretary Treasurer of the Association of Independent Passenger Railroad Operators – AIPRO, and co-chair of the APTA Commuter Rail and High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Subcommittee.

Public transport generally has had to work hard to secure funding after a decades-long policy framework which favored highway and aviation investment.

The intercity passenger rail mode has been the step child of public transport investment in the US. That must change. The projected population increase in America between 2000 and 2030 is 30%. Some 120 million more people are expected into the nation's mega regions in the coming decades. We cannot build enough highway or airport capacity to meet the new intercity travel demands. We must have an integrated public transportation option that connects our mega regions. That would be an American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Rail System. Not doing this may prove catastrophic.

An opportunity now exists to create a major public-private partnership that will rebuild and improve America's rail infrastructure to create a third intercity transportation option.

When PRIIA was passed in 2008, there was a bipartisan consensus on the need for a passenger rail system. In the 2009 stimulus program, the President offered $8 billion in the name of High Speed Rail and it became his signature transportation program. But, we have tripped up on the title and the program name. Although the States requested over $54 billion for projects and programs which defined an Intercity Passenger Rail Program; it was attacked as not being truly high speed, and being too scattered. This is a shame because the states used the opportunity – and the invitation – to apply for funds to begin building a solid foundation for the future.

As a result, we need to get away from some of the confusing labels we have used, because the American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Rail System will not have one single performance criteria. It will not be a national high speed rail system. Rather, it will be continually evolving, moving from our heritage system now operated as well as possible by Amtrak, to something better in all cases. Yes, some of this network will be in the 200 miles per hour range, but, much of it will be between 79 and 150 miles per hour.

Let's define some terms:

By _integrated_, I mean great attention to linkages with the urban transportation systems in the all of the major activity centers served, connectivity to provide passengers with convenient transfers, good information, and a means to move through the local urban and intercity system conveniently.

By _high performance_, as opposed to _high speed rail_, I mean providing an adequate level of service to meet current demand and also to significantly penetrate the existing market between urban areas so passenger rail makes a difference in the modal split along its corridors. This means travel time differences that are becoming competitive with air and automobile travel times. This could mean moving from 79 mph towards 110 mph, or in some cases on dedicated corridors moving up to 150 mph and in other cases also on dedicated corridors towards 200-220 mph. No single standard of speed is required. What is required is a commitment to improving the corridors and reducing travel time between major urban areas.

By _American_, I mean focusing on the major American urban areas, the mega-regions that contain most of our national economic activity and for which this system will make a great difference. The system needs to be focused on the corridors that link our mega-regions, and the service improvements needed between them, not on serving everywhere.

By _competition_, I mean creating procurement opportunities for well qualified private-sector passenger rail operators who can compete for contracts being procured by states and regional agencies. Such competition among potential contractors will drive innovation, permit private investment, improve efficiency, expand and improve the services, increase market share and ridership, create the best jobs at the lowest cost, increase rail labor nation-wide, create a "race to quality," reduce travel time and increase revenue while reducing public subsidies. Competition is the foundation of the American economic system and for the rest of the world, the standard way passenger rail services are being produced, improved and operated.

I will continue to define this proposal and explain its importance to the nation.

Establishing an American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Rail System:

_Will be an integral part of resetting our economy, with competition as a foundation focused on the classic engine of change in America–the states and partnering with the freight railroads._

We seem to be at a crossroads in the United States, coming out slowly from a Great Recession with an opportunity, in the words of Dr. Richard Florida, a speaker at the APTA Annual Meeting, for a Great Reset to our economy driven, in part, by improving the linkages between the great mega regions that are the heart of the U.S. economy.

Dr. Florida believes one of the most important elements of the Great Reset must be the kind of transformative transportation that will help make us more efficient, more mobile, and more productive. Researchers tell us Americans are choosing quality of life, walkable urban centers, healthier living, and an alternative to the suburban life style that resulted from the last economic dislocation in the 1930's and World War II. As our urban centers are transformed slowly by consumer choices, the connection between them becomes more and more important, and, perhaps, most important to transforming the U.S. economy, renewing its vigor and accelerating growth.

We must acknowledge there are physical, environmental, economic, and fiscal constraints to rapid expansion of our intercity transportation system unless we adopt "best worldwide practices" to fit local conditions here in the U.S. on a state by state or regional basis. Most important is the effective and proper use of competition when corridor and long distance trains operate over our fine freight railroad network.

It is time we realized linking our great economic centers by a high performance passenger rail network will have a profound impact on economic development, the creation of jobs, the overall quality of life, and the level of overall energy produced by these great American urban centers and mega-regions.

The linkages between these centers must be accomplished by an *American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Rail System* connecting the Southern California Region to Northern California, connecting the Northwestern Centers of commerce and industry, connecting the Chicago hub with the great urban centers of the mid-west, connecting Southern Florida, connecting the Southeast from Houston to Charlotte, connecting the New England urban centers and connecting the great Northeastern megalopolis.

Creating an *American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Railroad System* in these great corridors will transform regional economies and our national multimodal transportation system. With improved connections in each urban center, we will re-energize our national transportation system and reshape our economic competiveness with the rest of the world.

And as speeds increase, time differences will begin the transformation. As travel times are reduced more and more people will be attracted to a better product and intercity passenger rail ridership will increase, perhaps in startling ways.

*Building on the Existing Framework.* The framework for this system is the existing network of state supported intercity corridors integrated into the urban commuter routes. The states and commuter authorities are putting money into these routes and planning for the future. Now that the states are defining the system improvements, we need to establish the national system. For an idea of how extensive the planning is, one only has to look at the fact there were over $54 billion in applications for the $8 billion available in stimulus ARRA funds. While the naysayers are out there, this is not a process that should be stopped.

I should point out the American commuter railroad industry is in its fourth decade of renaissance. There were but nine commuter railroad services in 1980, and today there are 29, with more on the way!

There are a few important issues to discuss as we map how to reach this objective:

*Competition*

The first is competition. After the Staggers Act in 1980, America's freight railroads, unfettered by intense regulation, entered into an era of growth and revitalization which was shaped by competition. This quintessential American economic attribute, competition, is responsible for continuous innovation, efficiency, and growth in most of the American economy (the present situation excepted!). I believe competition for operations of an American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Rail system is a necessary attribute to move towards continuous improvement and growth. This seemingly simple strategy seems to be very controversial, however, all over the world, competition has been used to reinvent passenger rail services and bring the ingenuity and dynamic drive of the private sector to this industry.

In the United States, we only need to look at the rest of the railroad industry for proof of its efficacy and ability to transform. The freight railroad industry is the best in the world, because of competition and the energy and economic drivers of the private sector. Our commuter railroads for the most part have been open to competition helping to dramatically grow their services and numbers, manage costs and improve services to the public. The most recent competition for Caltrain in California included five competitors and provided a private sector solution to Caltrain.

We have established a small independent advocacy organization, the Association of Independent Passenger Railroad Operators, AIPRO, to explain the benefits of a competitive environment and to illuminate the success of competition which is already in place for commuter and other services.

In the United States, once the Caltrain transition is complete, AIPRO members will be operating ten commuter railroads and over 325 trains per day with almost 80 million annual riders. These numbers are expanding not contracting!

*Role of the States*

The states are the key to the establishment of an American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Railroad System. Through their support and establishment of intercity services, the states have demonstrated the political and technical conviction that the system is essential to their well being. The 15 states supporting 27 intercity corridor routes have provided financial and technical support and the wisdom to commit to service improvements and travel time reductions. They have worked on urban connectivity and helped to improve urban transportation connections. The States must be ultimately the sponsors of the new system as they were for the creation, construction and operation of the Interstate Highway System.

The American Intercity Passenger system should be state-centered under a program of national standards and national solutions to the issues that will face the system. We believe there needs to be an organization within the federal government to set standards, to insure interoperability, safety and operator quality that will provide connectivity across the corridors and with the great urban transit systems. The federal role should also be to help fund the development of this system, in the same way it was a central force in development of the interstate highway system. _The States will carry out a program, conceptualized nationally, but assigned to them for implementation, as they successfully did for the Interstate Highway Program_.

The States have led the way in requesting $54 billion for the ARRA program and worked without pause to finalize agreements with the FRA and their freight railroad right-of-way owners to carry out over $7.8 billion of intercity projects across the United States. Further, under Section 209 of PRIIA, the States will be responsible for substantially the entire operating subsidy on each route. Under the formulas now being worked out, this could add as much as $100 million to State costs within the next few years.

This state-centered program should have strong bipartisan support as it did when it was first put forward in PRIIA. Unfortunately, because of partisan differences over the ARRA program generally, and over many most other initiatives proposed by either side in current day Washington, the intercity passenger rail program received no funding in the House appropriation for 2012. The Senate adopted an amendment in full committee that provides $100 million to the states for 2012. It is very important the $100 million be approved as the States make the transition to cover full operating costs of their corridor routes.

*Freight Railroads*

Our freight railroads are the gold standard to which the rest of the world aspires. The new American passenger railroad system must be wholly cooperative with that freight network. As we build an American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Railroad System the freight network must not be degraded, but expanded. This in turn creates the potential for an exciting future for passenger railroading, as a partner with freight railroads in America.

The relationship to the freight railroads must be fundamentally a partnership. The system and its proponents must adhere to the principles of crafting mutually beneficial investments that will protect the interests of the freight railroads and insure the capacity they need. As the recent agreements among the Class I railroads, the FRA and the ARRA project sponsors prove, with good will, and mutually acceptable objectives, the parties can reach agreements about the future of an American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Railroad System. Over 70 projects have been obligated through these agreements. A landmark step toward establishing the system.

Looking forward, a mutually beneficial partnership will evolve in a variety of ways. With the necessary capital improvements, some lines will be able to accommodate the desired freight and passenger operations. In other cases, these services can be accommodated within the same right-of-way, but not necessarily on the same tracks. In corridors where passenger services are likely to be the predominant mode, ownership of certain rights-or-way may be sold from private to public ownership. The objective should be to embrace each of these options in a win-win strategy.

We need to recognize America's passenger railroad system is already hosted by freight railroads, which provide essential functions including right-of-way maintenance, signaling systems, dispatching and control, safety, etc.

Although much work needs to be done, we have come a long way to recognize freight railroads and improved passenger services can together help secure the future of American railroading.

*Liability and Insurance*

We need to recognize there is work to be done to deal with allocating liability and the provision of insurance for that liability. The existing Statutory Cap covers all private and public operators of passenger railroad services. It should be retained and tightened so that it is recognized it applies to all claims. However, more needs to be done. We can look for solutions in other industries (the pooling used by the Nuclear Power Industry for example) or find a solution particular to this industry to assure continuity of coverage and the growth we believe in. We can certainly look at the arrangements made in the Commuter Railroad industry for examples that work. And of course, involve the States in arranging for a solution.

*Rolling Stock*

We are working towards standard setting and the first new purchases of a national fleet of passenger rolling stock. However, we have not addressed adequately the issues of ownership and clearly set up a system which will allow States and regional sponsors to acquire and control the fleets they need to provide the services they finance and encourage. It may not be appropriate to have the ownership vested in Amtrak. One solution we may look at is the establishment of special purpose rolling stock companies (ROSCO's) to purchase and lease rolling stock across the United States. Another is to convey ownership or pooled ownership to the individual states which are responsible for state-supported corridor services rather than in a single national fleet controlled by another entity. The establishment of standard specifications would continue, but the ownership of the resulting fleet would be placed in the hands of the users or a separate national pool not associated with all of the specific arrangements operators need.

*Access*

Access rights are in law for intercity passenger operations provided by Amtrak. I want to be clear I am not advocating an expansion of these rights. I believe competition will work. The model is the Commuter Rail industry where there is no mandatory right of access. My premise is the growth of freight rail traffic and the growth of passenger rail service need not be an antagonistic proposition and can be resolved in the interests of both freight customers and intercity passengers. I believe, in a more business-like model – free negotiations .Free negotiations provides a way for the freight railroad right-of-way owners to deal with public passenger sponsors and potential competitive providers to establish a fair allocation of expense, taking into account the mutually beneficial capital investments made by the public sponsor. We believe such a business model will provide freight operators with a fair agreed-upon rate to accommodate passenger operations with financial consideration for the investment benefits provided. In this way, States and the competitors for passenger service operations will be able to reach agreements with freight railroads and be able to control costs, performance, service quality and the travel time they seek. I am not specifying a specific method or forum for negotiating these arrangements, but, believe the parties can work together to define a process that works.

*Long Distance Trains*

Although this category of railroad transportation lies outside the system of corridors linking the nation's mega-regions, there are public policy arguments to continue these services. They certainly benefit rural areas that may not have alternative public transportation options. Clearly, there is a political will to continue these services. For these services we may also consider creating a competitive environment where supporting organizations can be given the current subsidy level and determine if there are private sector companies willing to take over the services and drive costs down – and efficiencies up.

*Conclusion*

As we deal with these issues we need to maintain focus on the objective, a national system connecting our major urban mega-regions, integrated with urban transport systems, providing continuous improvements, reducing travel time, and providing high performance. The first $7.8 billion steps have been taken. The next steps must include a Rail Title in the Transportation Authorization implementing a funding mechanism to continue the investments we have started and complete the system over time, segment by segment. The American Public Transit Association has a draft rail title and I am sure they will share their ideas with all of you.

Let's work together for a passenger rail renaissance in the United States, let's agree to build an *American High Performance Integrated Intercity Passenger Railroad System* and let's take this issue out of the partisan politics that has encumbered it.


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; November 14, 2011*

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 19
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

Ah, the agony and tragedy which has befallen California, the golden state.

High speed rail blues have set in with the heavy thud of reality.

New cost projections and business plan have been unveiled, much to wailing and gnashing of teeth over the new projected costs.

When California voters, being California voters who often believe money grows on trees, approved a high speed rail project in a statewide referendum in 2008, just before the full impact of the Great Recession was being felt, the price tag was $33 billion.

Hey! Many people said, the feds are going to pay for a big chunk of this, and we all know that's not real money out of our pockets, so let's have a new, shiny, high speed rail system!

Oops! The new estimate – and, it's still only an estimate, just like the initial projections of Boston's infamous Big Dig were – is now $98 billion, triple the initial estimate.

That's all before the first shovel of dirt has been turned, and none of the lawsuits against the project trying to stop it or reroute it away from various NIMBYs are settled.

So, the California public seems to be wisely turning against this turkey and are having second thoughts. Just about every newspaper in California except the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle are editorializing against proceeding, wisely so.

Ken Orski, in his usual good work, has a full essay on the subject in his always informative Innovation NewsBriefs, Volume 22, Number 31, dated November 13, 2011. You can access all of Mr. Orski's work at http:www.inobriefs.com to read more. Keep in mind, once you start reading his work, you will want to follow every word.

Here in warm, sunny Florida, our beleaguered Governor Rick Scott looks like a genius for killing Florida's proposed high speed starter system between Orlando and Tampa to the southwest. Everything the governor predicted could come true with Florida high speed rail has already come true in California.

One other California high speed rail project not many are talking about in this process is the DesertXpress, a private company hoping to use public money loans to build a high speed rail system from Victorville, California, in the middle of the desert, to Las Vegas, Nevada.

The business plan calls for convincing Southern California drivers to drive east to Victorville, going through the worst of the heavy traffic between Southern California and Las Vegas, park their cars in Victorville, and then board a high speed train to whisk them to Las Vegas. Of the five hour drive between Southern California and Las Vegas on heavily traveled I-15, the worst of the traffic is between the Los Angeles area and Victorville, From Victorville into Las Vegas, it's all open road at high speed.

No one has explained why the founders of the DesertXpress seem to believe drivers will abandon their automobiles after the worst part of the trip and then spend money to travel on a high speed train the easiest part of the trip.

The DesertXpress plan calls for an eventual connection to the rest of California's proposed high speed system after it is built. Now that the California system is in jeopardy, you have to really wonder why anyone would continue to promote the DesertXpress. It easily could become another desert white elephant; a curiosity for future historians to wonder why it ever got as far as it did before it fell over and died from the weight of illogical choices.

If the main California system goes away and the DesertXpress system slows as a result, that makes life easier for other conventional rail projects now being planned for Southern California to Las Vegas.

Andrew Selden had this thought about the $6 billion California wants to start spending on high speed rail: "Imagine what you could do with $6 billion for the conventional passenger rail system in California; it could become the strongest in the country."

Indeed, it could.

Two decades ago, there was a great debate in Southern California over the beginning of Metrolink. Tens of millions of dollars were spent acquiring private railroad right of way in and around Los Angeles and environs. Plans were drawn and implemented to upgrade the infrastructure into some of the finest in the world for passenger rail. It's a beautiful system, and a sight to behold because public dollars were wisely spent on a not-too-ambitious system which built upon existing infrastructure and merely made things better and smoother running.

Metrolink continues to be a great success today, and created a template for other cities and regions to follow.

Reports have come that Ross Rowland has put his Greenbrier Express project on hold. The plan calls for service from major northeastern cities to the swank Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. The Greenbrier Express was expected to have a regular schedule, but not a daily schedule.

The cited cause for the suspension of the project, according to a story in The Mercury newspaper of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where the car refurbishment work was being done for the Greenbrier Express, is over-regulation by the federal government. Mr. Rowland said the Federal Railroad Administration has too high of standards for crash-worthiness if the cars were in an accident.

According to the story, the project isn't dead, but is being reevaluated.

Many of you are familiar with Mr. Rowland as a former member of the Amtrak Board of Directors, and as the creator of the American Freedom Train. He was also involved in a project to attempt to bring steam locomotives back to mainline railroading.

Is all of this doom and gloom for private passenger service? Nah, it's just a natural shaking out of projects, some of which never should have been started in the first place.

There are still enough other projects around the country in the works which will keep things going.

As long as we're talking about surprising turns of events in the past few days, we have to include the change of direction Chairman John Mica of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has taken about change of ownership of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

Chairman Mica had correctly said everyone would be better off if the NEC was not under Amtrak ownership, but ownership of another agency of the federal government and then the operations put out to bid.

The usual firestorm erupted from the New Jersey cabal of politicians and their cohorts who all believe Amtrak must be the owner and operator of the NEC so all of the local transit agencies who use the NEC daily (and, more than Amtrak) can continue to have sweetheart deals regarding the cost of infrastructure and maintenance and suck the economic life out of Amtrak in the process.

Mr. Mica said there was little support in Congress outside of his committee to do the deal, so he changed course, and is now supporting Amtrak ownership of the NEC and hopes to steer even more money to the NEC to upgrade it to what he calls true high speed rail.

Depending on who the next and/or continuing occupant of the White House is may ultimately decide this for good.


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## leemell

While I cannot comment on the above attack on the CA HSR, I can tell you that the I15 between Victorville and LV is usually far from a wide open superhighway. For most of that distance is it four lanes and on any busy weekend a four hour drive can take any where from 6 to 12 hours (yes it happened to me). There is a real compelling reason to get an alternative to I15. It is nearing it's maximum capacity for much of the time. The Desertxpress passengers could make a connect to Victorville station and proceed by conventional train to Union Station in LA. There currently is only one train a day, but I don't think it would be long before someone figures out that Metrolink style trains could be very busy on this link.


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## MrFSS

The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; November 16, 2011

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

By J. Bruce Richardson

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America
​


Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org
​


Volume 1, Number 20

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

Here in the South, we take our railroads as seriously as anyone along the Northeast Corridor, we just do it with our own money instead of constant raids on the federal treasury.

It has often been said there are only two types of Americans – those from the South, and those not fortunate enough to be from the South. It was one and a half Southerners which saved the railroad industry in 1980, when Georgian and then-President Jimmy Carter signed the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, named after Congressman Harley O. Staggers, (Democrat, West Virginia) who was chairman of the powerful House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee.

Congressman Staggers may claim to be half of a Southerner, as he was from West Virginia, or, the Breakaway Counties as many true Virginians refer to the counties which were maliciously torn from the loving bosom of Virginia in 1863 during the unpleasantness of the Late War of the 1860s.

United States Secretary of War Edwin Stanton of the Lincoln administration was an instigator of the indignity of the Breakaway Counties forming a new state because he feared Washington, D.C.'s lifeline to the West, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which ran through the northern part of what today is West Virginia, would fall into the hands of gallant Confederate forces. To ensure the B&O would remain in Union hands and Washington would not become isolated (he also feared Southern sympathizers in Maryland), Secretary Stanton manipulated events to form West Virginia, a state formed because of a railroad. Much of today's present route of Amtrak's Capitol Limited runs on those same former B&O tracks, now CSX tracks.

It's ironic that just a year before, in 1979, the Carter administration gutted much of Amtrak's long distance system, eliminating such trains as the National Limited, Floridian (Amtrak's only direct Chicago-Florida service) North Coast Hiawatha, and others.

President Carter and Chairman Stagger's elimination of much of the unnecessary federal regulation of the railroad industry by the creation of the Stagger's Act saved the railroad industry as we know it today from extinction. The post war years of the late 1940s and 50s were good to the railroads because of a booming national economy, gearing up to serve a suddenly wealthy and war-starved populace which wanted everything "now."

By the 1960s and 70s, reality was setting in, railroads had contracted merger fever, and fewer and fewer railroads survived and both logical and illogical combinations came to be.

Two combinations still pondered today are the basis of today's CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway.

CSX is a result of the initial merger of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which had near-parallel routes from Richmond, Virginia south into Florida, and southwest to Atlanta, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama. Nearly simultaneously, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, which used to call itself "George Washington's Railroad" since some of the survey work done in his early days eventually benefitted the C&O, was busy taking over the B&O and other regional railroads.

Norfolk Southern is a result of the initial combination of the Southern Railway System and the Norfolk & Western Railway. The N&W was mostly a stepchild railroad of the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad (the Standard Railroad of the World as the Pennsy liked to style itself) and served Virginia with a mainline to Cincinnati, Ohio, with lots of lines branching out to Maryland and North Carolina. The much larger Southern, headquartered in Washington, D.C., was a more far-flung railroad which served Virginia southward to Northeast Florida, but had lines west to New Orleans, Memphis, and St. Louis, with equally strong north/south service between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Cincinnati.

Even today, some historians are wondering why a more strategic combination wasn't created, such as the Seaboard, with a strong system throughout Florida, pairing with the Southern instead of the Coast Line (or vice versa) and the remaining road picking up the N&W, which was primarily known as a coal hauling railroad.

While today there is a healthy competition in the South between CSX and NS, one cannot help but wonder, "what if?".

All which brings us to today and South by Southeast, a project of Armstrong Atlantic State University, part of the University System of Georgia in Savannah, Georgia.

Armstrong Atlantic State University offers a College of Education, College of Science and Technology, College of Liberal Arts, and College of Health Professions, none of which would be classified as powerhouses in the academic world of transportation.

The school (www.armstrong.edu) says this about itself on its web site:

[begin quote]

Situated on the Atlantic coast in beautiful Savannah, Georgia, Armstrong Atlantic State University is a dynamic public university known for excellent arts and sciences along with outstanding professional programs. With approximately 7,600 students, Armstrong is small enough to foster a genuine sense of community and large enough to offer more than 100 academic programs that prepare our graduates for success in their careers and leadership in their communities. Armstrong is part of the University System of Georgia.

[End quote]

And, then, there is South by Southeast: A Passenger Rail Feasibility Study. From the South by Southeast web site page (www.armstrong.edu/Initiatives/passenger_rail_study/train_about) we have this:

[begin quote]

South by Southeast is an organization set up to link universities and their corresponding communities in an effort to address the American social need of an appropriately strong public transportation system. University systems are well positioned to study and advance civil projects for the greater social good. They have dedicated, motivated and educated faculty within a broad range of disciplines and areas of interest and students eager to make meaningful contributions to their communities.

The purpose of this website is to help organize interested faculty, students and community members in advancing public transportation in Georgia.

Under Projects you will find a list of potential research topics that we believe to be the starting points for developing a viable passenger rail line linking Savannah, Macon and Atlanta. It is our intention that each project should provide the researchers with a conclusion that offers a meaningful contribution to the advancement of Georgia's public transportation as well as other initiatives taking place across the nation. We plan to post regular updates of ongoing research and the conclusions of completed projects in this section. We also encourage researchers to publish any work associated with these topics in other academic and professional journals that will be acknowledged here.

Scholars and community members should also feel free to visit us on Facebook to identify other research projects, or make comments useful to our goal of improved public transportation and economic development in Georgia.

[End quote]

In short, they want to recreate the route of the Nancy Hanks, famously of the Central of Georgia Railway, which operated as a "Diesel powered coach streamliner" between Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah on just a hair under a six hour schedule.

What are we experiencing, here? Something that is all good.

We have a university taking leadership, committing its various resources, engaging faculty, students, and outsiders to study the return of a named passenger train within state boundaries.

Note: They are NOT doing this in cooperation with Amtrak, but, on their own volition.

Interestingly, they are publicly seeking private project sponsors for various parts of their endeavors.

There is nothing about this project not to like.

Here's the fun part: a restored Atlanta-Macon-Savannah link will create an incredible new city pair matrix for the Amtrak long distance system, linking Florida service trains with the Crescent.

Examples: with new links in Savannah and Atlanta, passengers could, by using Florida service trains, at long last travel between Atlanta and Florida.

When the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was still delivering trains from Chicago to Florida via Atlanta and Waycross, Georgia to Jacksonville for pickup by the Florida East Coast Railway, the Atlanta-Jacksonville running time was about eight hours. If a new Nancy Hanks can still make Atlanta-Macon-Savannah in six hours, plus the current two hours and 20 minutes between Savannah and Jacksonville, Florida, that schedule isn't much different in running time than schedules were in 1956.

The possibilities here are many; the excitement of a group of academics taking the bull by the horns and creating these possibilities is outstanding.

Who else in the country will take up a similar cause?

Crain's Chicago Business is reporting a deal has been reached in Washington for funding of Amtrak (among other things) for the remainder of the year.

Gone is any money for high speed rail; $100 million had been proposed by Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, but that has disappeared. Senator Durbin says he will look for replacement money in other government accounts.

Crain's also says the House and Senate conference committee has approved $1.438 billion in fiscal 2012 for Amtrak, down from $1.5 billion is fiscal 2011. The cuts are from operations and not capital spending. In the process the conference rejected a proposal from House Republicans which would have prevented Amtrak from using any federal funds to help states pay for state-supported routes. Before there is an alleged national panic, if you do the math, you're talking about a difference of $62,000,000 out of nearly one and a half billion dollars, an amount easily dealt with in any overall budget.

Allegedly, that proposal of not having any state supported routes paid for with federal funds would have caused a shutdown of nearly all state supported routes, but, by rational analysis that would not have happened. Since the state contracts are supposed to make up any difference between ticket revenue and actual operating costs, how could there have been any state supported services being paid for by the federal subsidies, inquiring minds continue to want to know? Many feel this was yet another "woe is me" smoke screen by Amtrak and its enabling organizations.

In other news, Amtrak on Monday, November 14th put out another meaningless press release about how much market share it commands along the Northeast Corridor. Since the press release only contains ridership numbers and does not include load factor numbers, the only true measure of success for anything other than commuter trains and transit operations, the press release gave no pertinent or hard information.

One bit of shocking international passenger rail news from the BBC came on Tuesday. The BBC is reporting alcohol could be banned on Scottish trains. Alcohol is already banned by ScotRail and the British Transport Police on certain specific services, such as travel to and from rugby and football games. The document making this suggestion, according to the BBC says, "One of the most distressing ways to spend a rail journey is to be subject to the bade behaviour of other passengers.

"This can be fueled by excessive drinking of alcohol"

It adds, "Consideration is being given to whether there should be a ban on the consumption of alcohol on all trains in Scotland and we welcome views."

The BBC says a spokesman for the opposition Labour's transport, Lewis Macdonald said the report was "jam-packed with crack pot ideas" that threatened to "reverse the growth in rail usage since devolution."

Other measures being considered are raising fares and eliminating sleeper car services.


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## SCrails

That first sentence turned me off - _"Down here in the South here's how WE do rail...."_. I didn't wade through the rest of the post. Maybe I will later...

My experience in the South is that when it comes to passenger rail, we mostly DON'T do it.


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## jis

MrFSS said:


> Other measures being considered are raising fares and eliminating sleeper car services.


You mean the two Sleeper service to Scotland that survives as the Caledonian Sleeper? It would be interesting to see its financial numbers. I think it is a wonderful service, but whether it can be cost justified is another matter, and it is ScotRail that has to bear the entire cost since it is operated by them all the way from London to Inverness and other Scottish points it serves.


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; November 17, 2011*

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to This Week at Amtrak

By J. Bruce Richardson

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org
​


Volume 1, Number 21

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

United Rail Passenger Alliance has a spiffy updated homepage and some materials on the web site have been reorganized for ease of use. We invite you to visit www.unitedrail.org to see the changes.

William Lindley of Scottsdale, Arizona has penned a Business and Politics guest column. Enjoy his insights.

Overcoming The Fallacy of Allocated Costs

By William Lindley

"As ye sow, so shall ye reap." -- see Galatians 6:7

What happens when you base business decisions on meaningless numbers?

From the 1870s on, the Pullman sleeping car was the premier first-class transportation on this continent. Pullman also operated parlour chair cars, lounge cars, and dining cars. These cars were operated by the Pullman Company, generally as part of the host railroads' trains, but occasionally in an all-Pullman consist behind the railroad's locomotives. In any case, a passenger effectively bought a regular coach ticket as the base part of their first-class fare.

For this service, Pullman entered into an agreement with each host railroad.The economics of it went like this:

"When revenue from a Pullman line exceeded expenses, the railroad generally kept 75 percent of the profit and Pullman got the remainder. Yet when expenses exceeded revenues, the railroad was required to make up the deficit to Pullman." – "The Cars of Pullman" Welsh, Howes, and Holland, Voyageur Press, 2010, p. 15.

That little snippet gives us a clue of what contributed to the demise of the American passenger train. Such a formula, which became a permanent edict after the 1940s anti-trust breakup of the original Pullman Corporation, led to the inevitable downfall of the American passenger train.

And derivatives of this economic formula, including Amtrak's "Route Profitability System" and its successors, continue to strangle passenger trains today.

But, wait! you say; it all sounds so sensible. Perhaps – until you look at what happens when you start plugging in numbers: Once the system as a whole has the slightest downturn, anything you do (adding capacity, removing capacity) can be construed as deepening the perceived loss. Obviously, adding capacity increases expenses; so, logically, the response is to cut capacity; however, when you divide the high fixed costs of the system across the remaining services, the effect is to make those remaining services look even worse. This occurs because attempting to divide relatively fixed costs against a fluctuating demand ignores economies of scale and other non-linear business realities.

This is the same sort of fallacy that leads traffic engineers, and frustrated commuters, to widen highways. The exact opposite of the expectation happens: Widening a highway tends to _increase_ traffic: "...our data suggest the following law of road congestion: adding road capacity will not alleviate congestion on any sort of major urban road or rural [highway]..." ("The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion: Evidence from US cities" by Gilles Duranton and Matthew A. Turner, http://www.nber.org/papers/w15376.pdf ) As you may have seen in your city, widening one bottleneck only makes the next one glaringly obvious; widening an interchange only leads to jam-ups at the top of the off-ramp above a traffic light; and so as we spend billions of dollars to "improve" our roads, things only get worse... and ever more expensive to maintain.

Even worse, even the railroads' nonsensical numbers were sliced, diced, and well-cooked. At a 1990s convention of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, I witnessed an Amtrak official, in answer to my question, admitting that expenses were allocated to trains "subjectively." That means that they "felt" that the Sunset Limited should be given the highest per-passenger loss, based on a holistic reading of the numbers, I suppose.

It was more Pullman's and the railroads' failure to come to grips with the accounting principles necessary to continue the business, and less the traveling public's desire for a two-tone Bel Air or a new jet-liner (in the days before ***** "your papers please" security, dangerous irradiation scans, and dignity-crushing body searches) that led to the downfall of Pullman, and the passenger train business in general. Coupled with the traditional railroad mentality of "We've always done it this way" and "The public be damned," [1] the old-style railroad passenger train was an entity that deserved to vanish into obscurity.

Yet this is no damnation of the passenger train itself; only of the way they were run. Although my parents had a fair chunk of their retirement funds in General Motors stock, and lost it all when GM Liquidation Corp. cashed out at the grand total of $0 (zero, zip, nada; and do you think they will ever buy another GM car?) that is a condemnation of General Motors, not of the automobile itself.

Another case in point: The Bell System. Alexander Graham Bell's company prided itself for a hundred years on running the world's best telephone system. By all accounts, they did. However by their "always done it this way" outlook, they failed to see the prospects for what became today's Internet. Indeed they actively discouraged and prevented the early adoption of many technologies which could have brought us an Internet, perhaps in the 1960s or 1970s instead of twenty years later. In this, the "Ma Bell" may have helped cede America's competitive computer and communications advantages precisely by running the best TELEPHONE lines in the world. (See also, "Did Ma Bell Delay the Information Revolution by Decades?" by Mark Whittington,

http://www.associate...revolution.html )

Back at that same 1990s convention, Union Pacific's Tom Mulligan responded to Amtrak's plan to run an express freight service. The Amtrak presentation included a photograph of a U.P. train in the 1950s with numerous loaded express boxcars. Absent from Amtrak's plan, however, was any involvement of the host railroads. Mulligan asked the audio-visual operator to please flip back to that slide, and asked everyone: "What color are those boxcars? Yellow."

Perhaps Amtrak should have involved the freight railroads in their scheme? Hmm. Gene Skoropowski recently summed it up best: "The private railroads are not in the business of running trains. They are in the business of making money. Running trains is simply how they do it. This is the hallmark of our capitalist system."

(http://www.railwayag...-2011-3662.html )

Is the time now right for the start of the new golden age of passenger trains? Will one of Europe's profitable operators run trains here? In what part of this will the host railroads make their money? My crystal ball is a little hazy, but there's a bright light approaching.

[1] Attributed to New York Central's William Henry Vanderbilt in 1883


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## VentureForth

*This Week at Amtrak*

Companion Publication to The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail

By D&D Carleton

Proofreading: Black Bear Wordsmiths ([email protected])

Volume 8, Number 20

November 30, 2011

A digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org
​
From the Editors…

The President of the United States laid down the challenge, and we at This Week will attempt to answer the question, Where would we be without the national highway network?

Do not ask the question if you cannot live with the answer

“Ask yourselves -- where would we be right now if the people who sat here before us decided not to build our highways…?” - President Barack Obama, address to the U.S. Congress, September 8, 2011

In 1806, just 18 years after ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the Cumberland Road was authorized by President Thomas Jefferson. Construction would begin in 1811 and the full route from Cumberland, Maryland to Wheeling, Virginia would be completed by 1818. This thoroughfare served as a bridge between the Ohio and Potomac Rivers, to secure the flow of goods and people to a growing nation.

Unfortunately, even in those early days, the U.S. Congress did not know when to leave well enough alone. In 1820, Congress authorized an extension westward. Now known as the National Road, it was to run from Cumberland to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1825, Congress authorized the road beyond the Mississippi River into Missouri. The road would not even reach St. Louis. The last appropriation from Congress was made in 1838, construction stopped in 1839, and in 1840 Congress voted against completing it. By this time the road had been turned over to the individual states through which it ran.

The National Road was an early attempt at internal improvement for this young nation. The idea was simple: Build a thoroughfare to promote commerce and thereby grow the nation. Waterways were the main avenues of travel, and where they were not extant, the animal-drawn cart or wagon would have to suffice. But in the middle of the (first) Congressional road building frenzy, the world of overland transportation was revolutionized. In 1825, as Congress was setting its sights on Missouri, the first steam-powered railroad was being built in England. It would not take long for this technology to jump across the ocean to aid a growing nation. By the beginning of civil hostilities in 1861, there were over 30,000 miles of track across the divided nation.

Railroads would bring road building to a temporary halt. It has been said the National Road was both obsolete and premature; the railroads rendered roads with animal-drawn vehicles obsolete; and the mechanized road vehicle would do the same to the railroads. It is the common consensus that railroads are a 19th Century relic. Such is the result of not teaching basic physics to our young.

W=f x d

In physics, the definition of “work” is “force times distance” or W=f x d. This has been true on Planet Earth since day one. Force is defined as “mass times acceleration” (F=ma). For the purpose of this discussion, “force” is the degree of mechanical exertion exercised on an object for movement and the resistance (friction) to such movement. In the days of animal power, mechanical exertion was increased by breeding larger beasts of burden and/or working them in tandem. Resistance was decreased by designing the wheels of the cart or wagon as narrow as feasible where they contacted the riding surface, and smoothing the riding surface (Roman roads, 500 B.C.) to reduce friction. The apex of the animal-drawn load was the tramway, a fixed guideway of a flanged iron wheel riding on an iron rail or strap. Drastically decreased friction of the riding surface dramatically increased the potential load for a given beast of burden. The next step was easy: Mate James Watt’s steam engine to the tramway, and … the steam locomotive was born.

As the industrial revolution continued, technology improved in all aspects, especially metallurgy. It was not long before steel replaced iron for rails, as well as wheels, and just about every other aspect of the railroad. But by the early 20th Century, the strength and machining of steel improved to the point of making the internal combustion engine an economic reality. The Otto and Diesel cycles were established late in the 19th Century but would have to wait until the technology improved to make them viable. Moreover, the fledgling petroleum industry was making inroads into the home, supplying oil for heat and gas for lights. As part of the refinement process, however, they had a leftover waste product for which there was no market. This distillate we know today as gasoline became the primary fuel for the internal combustion engines that would power automobiles and early airplanes. The oil companies were more than happy to sell this stuff cheaper than drinking water. In 1908 Henry Ford’s Model T automobile made driving an option for all Americans. There was just one problem: No roads.

The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1916 provided millions in Federal monies in 50-50 matching funds to the States. By 1917, every state had a Highway Agency to administer the Federal funds. In the economic boom that was the 1920s, sales of affordable automobiles were brisk; 10 million registered by 1920, to over 26 million by 1930. The Good Roads Movement instigated by bicycle enthusiasts toward the end of the 19th Century was now taken up by automobile owners. Many Americans were inspired by the National Park-to-Park Highway after a publicity stunt in 1920, wherein a dozen motorists spent 76 days traveling 5000 miles visiting the then 12 National Parks. It was the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 that defined an immense national highway system. The Auto Trails of the early century gave way to numbered national highways. Initially 50,100 miles were recommended for the new network. In 1925 the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Public Roads approved the new U.S. Highway system with 75,800 miles planned, 2.6 % of the total certified public road mileage of the day.

The Great Depression of the 1930s slowed but did not dampen the national enthusiasm for roads. Automobile ownership increased during the decade, with 27.5 million registered by 1940. In some places, road building was seen as an ideal public works project to spur economic recovery. The building of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a toll road, was signed into law in 1937. The New Jersey Turnpike, another toll road, was first planned in 1938. World War II, the war of machines, completed the mechanical familiarization of the American male. When the boys came home they wanted cars; and the domestic production plants, shifting from wartime to peacetime, were ready to build them. To the soldiers coming home, nothing more personified the freedoms they had defended than the freedom of the open road. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 authorized the construction of 41,000 miles of the Interstate Highway System, the largest public works project in American history.

Physics is still physics

For many, the national highway/roadway network is seen as technology triumphant; however the laws of physics, especially the equation of work-equals-force-times-distance, did not change. It is true that the compact internal combustion engine made possible the conversion of liquid or gaseous fuels into mechanical energy which increased the amount of force available to do work. But so did the external combustion engine such as the steam locomotive. This increase of mechanical exertion, over what had been available with animals, moved transportation out of the exclusive purview of large companies and into the realm of the individual. What made the internal combustion engine practical for general use was (1) the exceptionally low price-per-volume of the fuel, and (2) the density of energy in the fuel. One standard 42-gallon barrel of oil yields the equivalent of 25,000 man-hours of work. This is the equivalent of a workforce of 12 people working 40 hours a week for one year. Compare the market price of one barrel of oil to the payroll of a dozen people for one year, and the energy density of that barrel of oil becomes evident.

Through it all, the American railroads suffered. From the short-sighted Federal takeover during World War I, their subsequent release, over-regulation, the doldrums of the Great Depression, the crush of World War II, their wholesale rejection by the public after the war, deregulation; the railroads adapted and survived. The railroads would embrace internal combustion after the war, adopt mechanization for track maintenance, and ultimately surrender the passenger train to the same socialized ideals that built the highways that carried away the passengers. But they have survived. Why? Because the laws of physics favor railroads. Whereas highways may seem technologically advanced simply by reason of the car being newer than the iron horse, the train is still more efficient. A metal wheel on a metal rail has less resistance (friction) than a rubber tire on asphalt.

Moreover, the railroads are private property, and fund their own maintenance and upkeep; not so the highways, which are reliant on the public surplus. The Federal Highway Trust fund, which is fed by the Federal Gasoline Tax, nearly became insolvent two years ago. Of the $48.1 billion for transportation provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, over half ($27.5 billion) went to highway and bridge construction projects. The Gas Tax, 18.4 cents per gallon, has not been increased since 1993. Any politico wishing to remain employed does not dare raise the tax to a level which may sustain the highway network. Some politicians who are ignorant of how the system works and/or wish to curry favor with their constituents have even suggested abolishing the tax. The tax’s receipt directly correlates to the amount of gas sold, which peaked in 2007 at 143 billion gallons. The level of gas sold in this country has risen slightly off its lows of 2008-09, but the miles of road to be maintained have remained the same. This is no way to run a railroad, thank goodness.

Gasoline is not just a Federal problem. As America moved forward after the war, the construct of daily life was calibrated, perhaps unconsciously, at the costs of the day. As an example, a gallon of gas in 1950 averaged 27 cents. Since then, so long as the price of gasoline remained at 27 cents per gallon corrected for inflation, then the economy hummed right along; 27 cents in 1950 is $2.54 in today’s dollars. In 2006, the price of gas exceeded the price of inflation for the first time since 1984. For the week ending September 16, 2011, national demand for gasoline was 8.858 million barrels per day; the national average cost was $3.601 per gallon. The average daily cost to the consumer for gasoline is $1.339 billion. If today’s gasoline were still in line with the cost of inflation starting in 1950, then the daily cost to the consumer for gasoline would be $945 million. Everyday Americans spend $394 million more for fuel than the cost of inflation. That’s $394 million that, every day, does not go to the purchasing of food or clothes or medicine or just plain “stuff” that keeps the economy moving. Gasoline, it seems, is no longer the unloved byproduct of the refining process.

At the local level, the States are also facing the challenge of funding road repair and improvement. To put all this is perspective, the Union Pacific Railroad’s infrastructure comprises over 26,000 miles of track, bridges, and tunnels. The BNSF Railway is over 24,000 miles. Yet there are four states -- California, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania -- that spend more on road projects than U.P. or BNSF Railway spend on track and infrastructure work. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is seeking to long-term lease its turnpike following the precedents Illinois, Indiana, Texas and Virginia. Plans to institute tolls on Interstate 80 were retracted. A deal to lease the turnpike to a Spanish-American consortium for $12.8 billion awaits approval by the legislature. Ah yes, and to think, selling the Brooklyn Bridge was once considered a joke.

So where would we be if the highways had not been built? To say that the highways should never have been built would be short-sighted. But the belief that highways are the final solution to all our overland transportation needs (as espoused in Disney’s television film Magic Highway, U.S.A., 1958) is no longer realistic. The Federal overreach of the early 19th Century was repeated in the middle of the 20th Century. The notion that the open (that is Federally subsidized) road is essential for “the pursuit of happiness” is no more appropriate than a wall telephone in your kitchen being essential to your family's well-being. The pursuit of happiness has never been contingent on overt Federal empowerment.

What is missing, what has always been missing, is empirical balance. It is this balance which is slowly being restored:

"If you think about the pressure a lot of states and local communities have today - they fund many of the programs, the highway infrastructure -it's hard to see where states are going to be able to not only accelerate spending on highways but maintain where it is today. We think railroads can be a part of that solution." - Union Pacific Railroad Chairman and CEO Jim Young

Today, of all intermodal traffic moving over 500 miles, over 30% moves by rail. The goal is to increase this to 50%. Across the country, railroad traffic lanes are being expanded through the investment of private and sometimes public funds. Even though public monies may be used, the resultant traffic will pay for future capital maintenance; there is no regular or return trip to the public trough. The railroads are poised to reclaim their place as the preeminent provider of transportation, both passenger and freight, moving volumes unheard of during the previous Golden Age.

Gasoline, the once-unloved petroleum distillate is now in demand worldwide. As former second- and third-world countries build American-like highways, the demand for fuel builds with them. The price for this fuel is dictated by the laws of supply and demand. As such, we will never see the price return to the low levels we enjoyed for a half-century in this country. We adapted to cheap fuel, we will adapt and are adapting to life with incrementally more expensive energy. Fuel use is down, as are car-miles. Home prices are rising in some places, but not unilaterally. This is where the “distance” part of the equation, W=f x d, comes into play. These are but some of the adjustments we find ourselves undertaking in this new era. Fewer miles driven may be perceived as less freedom, which may also be perceived by some as oppressive. Already there are those of a conspiracist bent who see their cheap fuel disappearing as a result of government or corporate malfeasance. Who ever thought oppression would come at the price of a gallon of gas?


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## VentureForth

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; December 1, 2011*

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

 

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute

 

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org
​


 

 

_Volume 1, Number 22_

_ _

_Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at __http://www.unitedrail.org__._

_ _

_URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources._

 

The wise, gray heads in Washington and the railroad world are predicting there will be a railroad strike next week.

 

The final cooling off period in the negotiation between railroad unions and the railroads expires at 11:59 P.M. next Monday, December 5th.

 

After the cooling off period, the railroad unions can go on strike, and, conversely, the railroads can lock out employees.

 

The union participants in this exercise are the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWE), and the American Train Dispatchers Association. These three unions make up about 40% of rail labor which is unionized.

 

While it is expected Congress will act quickly to end the strike if it happens, and the financial world is pretty ho-hum about this since a short strike is predicted, and, if anything, a slight dip in railroad stock prices due to a strike would be considered an opportunity to buy otherwise strong stocks at a bargain price for a while, most people don’t realize what this could do to passenger rail operations.

 

The strike would be against the freight railroads; but, outside of the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak operates almost exclusively on freight railroads. The same is true for most commuter operations – passenger/commuter trains on freight railroad tracks.

 

No freight railroad dispatchers because of the strike – it’s likely no passenger trains moving, either. It doesn’t matter if the commuter trains are operated by any of the Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators (AIPRO), the commuter trains mostly are on freight railroad tracks. Examples would be Metrolink in Los Angeles, Virginia Railway Express in and out of Washington, D.C., as well as Maryland’s MARC system. Any of the commuter lines in and out of Chicago which operate on Union Pacific or other freight railroad tracks would face the same problem.

 

Then, there is the issue of by law, a secondary picket threat to Amtrak under the Railway Labor Act. An interesting note is any company which is part of the Railway Labor Act – both railroads and airlines – such as FedEx or American Airlines, could be subject to secondary picket threats. While the union employees of those companies may not be a part of the unions on strike, the law allows for secondary picket lines from the striking unions to be set up at those companies. Does anyone think a non-striking union employee of Amtrak or FedEx or American Airlines is going to cross a legal picket line at a crew base or terminal or any other spot where Amtrak and freight railroad operations come together? Don’t think the Northeast Corridor, because it is owned and operated by Amtrak is a non-strike haven. Both CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway operate over parts of the NEC; secondary pickets could technically go up there, too.

 

There are a lot of things which can happen between now and midnight Monday night. Congress may act in a preemptive manner or both sides may come to an unexpected agreement. But, the smart money is betting on a strike, albeit a short one. Watch the progress of this, and check your travel and commuting plans, even your overnight package delivery plans. Things may come to a halt for a day or two or three.


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## bobnabq

How long could this strike last, and could it affect the SWC, on which I'm booked for 12/20 ABQ~ L.A. ?


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; December 6, 2011*

* *

*A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to*

*This Week at Amtrak*
​

By J. Bruce Richardson

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 23

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

Amtrak Chairman of the Board Tom Carper, please call your office. In the next few months, your railroad is about to be in grave danger of disappearing as we know it.

Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman has set in place a plan which is about to cause such spectacular failure, the company may never recover from it.

If you are a member of the Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators (AIPRO, www.passengerrail.org) thing are very interesting right now, and there is about to be the largest pool of senior executive passenger rail talent available in the past quarter of a century.

In chaos, there is opportunity. But, the chaos may be too large; the opportunity too convoluted for many to understand. In short, Amtrak appears to be imploding, and Mr. Boardman needs to be replaced at the earliest moment.

Mr. Boardman is currently restructuring (again) Amtrak as a corporation and organization. He recently initiated a not-quite-golden parachute program (think, perhaps, instead, silver parachutes) for non-union employees and managers at Amtrak. Those current ranks number over 3,000 managers systemwide, overseeing a total workforce of over 20,000 employees. None of the more than 17,000 agreement (union) employees are subject to this restructuring.

The word to targeted employees and managers was, we're making it easy for your to take a generous buyout, and, if enough of you don't, you can expect the company will make choices for you that you probably won't like, and not have the benefit of the buyout cash.

This is not uncommon in the corporate world, but, it rarely produces the results hoped for. Here is what one wag had to say about the situation:

[begin quote]

It has been suggested (by a retired, Fortune 50, HR executive with a career specialty in executive development and assessment), namely, Boardman is simply in over his head, the Dilbert "pointy-haired boss." The Peter Principle. This source says what we are seeing is almost always what happens with untargeted buyout offers, because younger, high potential employees see not vacancies up the ladder but a sinking ship, with the buyout simply a bonus for being first into the lifeboat, so they leap at the offer, and older ones just being literally tired of the chaos, of the bad leadership, the bad results, of the hopelessness, of being affiliated with a losing team, so they jump at the offer, too.

What is left is the dregs and the unemployables.

Reportedly, when the Soo Line decided to exit the business, and the ICC balked, they fired the car cleaners. SP replaced diners with vending machines. PC just fell apart.

Maybe Boardman is creating a situation where the national system simply collapses under winter conditions, with no power, no plan, no leadership, and soon no customers.

[End quote]

There are reports of over 150 mid-level and high-level (including some of the senior-most vice presidents in some of the most critical positions on the operations side of the company) managers and executives applying for the program. Some managers have been told their departments are being combined with other departments (at times, some really odd combinations which smack more of bureaucratic empire building rewarding cronies than thoughtful combinations for efficiency), and being told to eliminate up to half of their staffs. Shockingly, many senior safety-related management positions are being eliminated, posing huge questions about conditions for employees and passengers.

Longtime transportation writer Don Phillips, in an online column for Trains Magazine on December 5th, ran a similar story, and Amtrak denied to him any potential safety problems as a result of departing managers.

There is no doubt Amtrak for years has been overstaffed and its management cadre has been overfed. But, when you are choosing which cows to slaughter, you choose a balanced mix which thins the herd, but doesn't endanger the long term viability of the herd by either eliminating all of the males or females. Some reports have told of managers departing which should have been gone decades ago; these very people often created near impossible conditions for other Amtrak managers and agreement employees to function in a positive way. Those will not be missed. But, so many others will be missed in so many ways.

Amtrak appears to be on the path of reckless slaughtering of the herd with no thought for the future.

One wise Washington gray head inquired as to why this buyout scenario is different from the one in the 1990s which caused a lot of very senior people to leave.

The difference is, there was a competent junior varsity team which was close to being ready to step up and take the place of the departing managers. Some of those, who are still with the company, are the ones leaving this time. After all of the turmoil of the past two decades at Amtrak, many of the best people have moved on to more rewarding careers. Once this group of managers leaves, the ranks of managers – particularly on the operating side – are going to be thin.

Causing great fright is the number of competent, well-respected senior managers in the field in places like Chicago and the West Coast which are grabbing the buyout, and are going to leave Amtrak without seasoned field leadership. Too many managers responsible for maintenance and keeping the fleet rolling are leaving, too.

One former senior field manager correctly said, "There was always a good group of people managing in the field; it's always been the few non-operating very senior managers in Washington who have kept things screwed up."

What is going to happen this winter in Chicago when Amtrak can't muster enough locomotives to launch the full schedule of daily trains? Who is going to be there to figure out what to do when most of the Chicago fleet is debilitated by ice and frozen stiff, and there too many cars are bad ordered as a result?

Will Amtrak just do what it did with the east end of the Sunset Limited and simply discontinue trains at will, and, somehow, forget to reinstate them later?

For all of the Boardman years, Amtrak straw men have told us time and again how well things are going, despite the lousy economy. We have seen press releases boasting of record ridership and revenues (while ignoring load factor, the only real metric which matters).

Yet, year after year during the Boardman stewardship, we have seen the operating subsidy rise. This is most perplexing, since Amtrak is not operating any more or longer trains, merely filling empty seats with new riders. No new employees are being added, and, the cost of diesel fuel can't exclusively be blamed.

VIA Rail Canada, a crown corporation, operates very much like Amtrak; it receives an annual operating subsidy from the Canadian federal government, and occasional subsidies for equipment upgrades and other issues. VIA just published a press release saying it has lowered its operating subsidy from the government, while Amtrak says it needs more.

Why? VIA for years has labored under the perception it is one of Canada's worst companies, yet it is making progress. Why can VIA make progress, and Amtrak can't?

It comes down to leadership.

Here are some considerations why Amtrak needs a new president and chief executive officer, and needs one today.

Company performance is abysmal

On time performance systemwide is between 75-80%; Acela has on time performance of 84%, short haul trains less than 79%, and the long distance system of less than 65%. All of this at a time when America's freight lines are not suffering from congestion; freight train interference cannot be blamed.

For the year, there have been over 4,300 cancelled or terminated trains in the Amtrak system. Some of this is due to weather such as blizzards, hurricanes, and major storms. Amtrak usually seems to find any minor excuse not to launch a train from a terminal. The great majority of the time when this happens, an accompanying note says, "no alternative transportation provided." Translated, that means passengers are on their own; don't look to Amtrak for any assistance.

Locomotives out of service regularly hit over the 20% mark; passenger cars, depending on the type of car, 10-14%.

It's election season

Presidential elections are less than a year away. Amtrak usually plays the smallest of small roles in presidential elections. High speed rail, a signature initiative of the White House is on life support. Between Vice President Joe Biden, known in some circles as "Amtrak Joe," and the support the White House has shown for passenger rail, seldom has there been an administration more closely linked with passenger rail.

The Amtrak managers and executives taking the buyout will be gone in 60 days or less; which puts Amtrak in the dead of winter. Give everything another 90 days to fall apart as the company adjusts to the loss of talent, and you're in the final six months of an election year when Amtrak could start making negative headlines.

The current Republican president of Amtrak will be blamed by many, but the Democrat chairman of the board and the board of directors will be the ultimate "buck stops here" figure.

The top contenders for the Republican nomination for president have all indicated they want to end Amtrak subsidies. If Amtrak leadership is allowed to continue on the path they now trod, ending Amtrak subsidies will become an academic debate, as much of Amtrak as we know it today will simply vanish under its own weight of poor leadership.

The big picture on politics

Amtrak's northeast corridor survives mostly based on politics. The states which profit greatly from Amtrak owning and maintaining the NEC all have political clout – but, not enough if Amtrak's national system shrinks from its present skeletal condition. The NEC profits greatly from the political support of the flyover states – which, from the perspective of the NEC, is everything but the NEC states. If there is no Amtrak in New Mexico, why should New Mexico politicians vote to shovel money into the NEC if it's not connected to a national system? Without the long distance system, the NEC is politically and financially doomed. If Amtrak present leadership stays in place, the long distance system is in great peril. More than once, Mr. Boardman has testified before Congress and told members of the media the long distance system is the greatest economic drain on the company, ignoring the financial and political reality of the long distance system.

If Mr. Boardman chooses to allow the long distance system simply wither away thinking it doesn't matter to the overall health and wealth of the company, he chooses to make a policy decision for everyone in the country: long distance passenger rail is no longer desirable or necessary. It should not be up to Mr. Boardman to make such a momentous decision, which in every case would be wrong.

Since out of chaos comes opportunities, the opportunity presents itself for a fresh look at Amtrak and passenger rail in general.

If Amtrak doesn't want to be the nation's long distance passenger train operator, then who would like to take that opportunity and run with it? There are many competent long distance passenger train operators in the world which could bring their knowledge and craft to the United States; some of them are already here in the array of members of AIPRO.

Then, there are the several states

It's no secret among those who keep up with the politics of state supported corridor trains many state departments of transportation would very much like to free themselves from the yoke of oppression having Amtrak as the operator of their state trains. They know as a fact Amtrak is always the most expensive and unpredictable operator of corridor passenger trains, and they know in the next couple of years when PRIIA requirements kick in for states to shoulder more of the burden of the cost of corridor trains, states costs will at least double, if not triple in some instances.

Most of the states simply cannot afford that kind of price hike in this debilitated economy. Amtrak rakes in about $200 million a year from state subsidies. Lose that money and the company really is in a world of hurt. Because Amtrak's headquarters operation is so large and so much of the company's costs are charged to individual states, if state business goes away, the remaining company will be in great danger of survival.

Instantly, some people will say, "Amtrak is the only company with enough equipment to operate most of the state trains, so the states have no choice but to use Amtrak."

Really?

Are you sure?

All through history, too many people have thrown down ultimatums, and been severely surprised at the results. There is enough equipment floating around the previously-owned marketplace which could start replacing Amtrak equipment on some state supported routes. Don't believe for a second railcar manufacturers won't rush in to give aid and comfort to any state which wishes to remove itself from Amtrak's financial clutches.

If the first domino falls, you won't have to wait too long for the rest of the states to figure out what to do. Oh, and don't forget California. Remember the Amtrak California fleet? Amtrak doesn't own those cars and locomotives.

Does Amtrak want a future outside the Northeast Corridor?

Several states and regions have been the recipients of restored or future service studies conducted by Amtrak or the private sector using Amtrak-provided data. Studies have included the restoration of the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans into Florida, the creation of service in Ohio between Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, the restoration of the Pioneer route into the Pacific Northwest, and, of late, the extension of existing Heartland Flyer service from Texas and Oklahoma to Kansas City.

One theme has been prevalent in each of these studies: Allegedly, it will take tens – if not hundreds – of millions of dollars for service on any route studied, and the time lines have been measured in multiple years, sometimes stretching to almost a decade.

The ongoing signal has been: we've (Amtrak) conducted this study, but we really don't want to do any new service, so we're making the study results so expensive and unappealing, this will all just go away like a bad dream.

We have seen minimal lip service paid to the equipment needs of trains outside of the NEC. Yes, there has been an order placed for new sleepers, diners, crew and baggage cars for use on the Eastern long distance trains.

But, as was done with the minimal order placed for the original Viewliner sleepers, this new order won't provide much for expansion, and barely keeps up with present demand. As far as bi-level equipment on Western long distance trains, that fleet constantly shrinks through derailments and lack of maintenance. It's been two decades since the Superliner II order was placed, and no help seems to be on the horizon.

Useable older equipment, eschewed by Amtrak in favor of new equipment, has found new homes at VIA Rail Canada and elsewhere, and is still able to provide reliable passenger service when probably maintained. Amtrak a few presidencies ago even sent the entire original Metroliner fleet to the scrap yard for salvage value instead of having the foresight that equipment could have been updated and put to use in proposed corridor services around the country.

VIA Rail Canada, the State of North Carolina and others have taken existing rolling stock, had it completely remanufactured to new specifications and appointments so that it is "Zero Age" – or has the same functionality and projected lifespan as new equipment – at less than half the cost and in far less than half the time as procuring new equipment.

Why has this easy source of rolling stock eluded Amtrak?

One inexplicable act of Amtrak has always (with the notable exception of the Acela equipment) been to outright buy new rolling stock instead of leasing it. Just about every other type of common carrier seeks long term leasing deals on equipment, which always bootstraps itself for making lease payments through daily use. Amtrak always seems content to wait for free federal monies from Congress to buy equipment instead of finding a way from car manufacturers and others which have existing programs in place to provide equipment on a fast, economical, and easy basis.

In summary

The Obama Administration has a huge potential political problem on its hands from an unlikely source: Amtrak. If Amtrak goes much further into the winter season (Winter officially begins on Thursday, December 22nd, but try to convince those who have already been snowed in this year it hasn't already started.) without the necessary management personnel it needs to hold the duct tape and bailing wire together, the system could come to a grinding halt with all of the accompanying negative headlines.

States are already looking for ways to abandon Amtrak for state supported routes in favor of less expensive operators, who are lining up outside of office doors to make their cases.

The NEC does not have enough political clout to maintain the fierce flow of federal monies to the NEC for the advantage of local and regional commuter operators if the political muscle of states being served by long distance trains disappears.

Many simply believe Amtrak is so far gone, it's a hopeless cause. That may be true. But, for all of the tens of billions invested in Amtrak over the past 40 years and with Amtrak's minuscule transportation market share (less than that of motorcycles nationally), the nation's taxpayers deserve a shot at recovering their losses through better leadership and management than Amtrak has today.

Stop the bleeding by changing presidents. Even an interim president could arrive with a fresh set of eyes and make an assessment of what there is left to work with. Find someone from outside of the Northeast Corridor who is able to focus on all of the country, not just the NEC. We in Florida, Nebraska, Oregon, Arizona, Mississippi, and every other state outside of the NEC have as much claim on decent passenger train service through federal efforts as taxpayers of the NEC. To think less is to think less of us outside the NEC as Americans.

United Rail Passenger Alliance has a spiffy updated homepage and some materials on the web site have been reorganized for ease of use. We invite you to visit www.unitedrail.org to see the changes.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.

J. Craig Thorpe, noted Amtrak and railroad illustrator is available for all railroads, railroad-related companies, and organizations for his dramatic illustrations on a custom basis. Mr. Thorpe's impressive gallery of work and contacts for engagement may be viewed on his web site, which is listed below.


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## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; December 16, 2011*

 

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 24
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

Oh, my.

There is hardly anyone left.

Here's today's Amtrak Special Employee Advisory.

[begin quote]

December 16 , 2011 Page 1 of 1

Operating Departments Management Changes

As some non-agreement-covered employees begin to leave the company as a result of taking advantage of the Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan (VSIP), Amtrak continues to align the organization with the Strategic Plan, and is taking steps to ensure continuity of operations.

Effective today, Chief Financial Officer DJ Stadtler will take on the role of Acting Vice President of Operations, while Controller Gordon Hutchinson carries out the day-to-day Finance duties of the Chief Financial Officer.

In the near future, Amtrak will be actively recruiting to fill the roles of Chief Transportation Officer, General Manager - West, and Central Division General Superintendent. Following that effort, a Vice President of Operations will also be recruited, following today's departure of Jeff Geary.

Senior-level positions — those held by Vice President of Transportation Richard Phelps, General Manager -West Bill Duggan and GeneralSuperintendent Daryl Pesce — vacated as a result of the VSIP are not being immediately filled to enable a competitive job selection process.

I thank Jeff for his hard work and wish him the best in his future endeavors. In the midst of this transition, I want to assure all Amtrak employees that we are being thoughtful and thorough about the changes we're making in the organization," said President and CEO Joe Boardman. "We have very strong operating departments with talented railroaders. While a handful of specific positions may be temporarily vacant, Ihave full confidence that our employees will continue to lead and to help deliversafe and reliable service. Change can be distracting, but I know that you will remain focused on delivering the safe and professional service you deliver every day."

Employees who previously reported to these positions will report directly to DJ Stadtler, as will the Chief Mechanical Officer and the Chief Engineer. In this role, DJ will also be working with managers to develop a structure that is aligned with the Strategic Plan. In the coming days and weeks, DJ will be communicating with employees in the operating departments to provide more information about his role.

Amtrak thanks all of the employees who are leaving the company for their contributions to the company. We wish them well as they start new chapters in their lives.

[End quote]

Okay, let's review.

"... (T)aking steps to ensure continuity of operations." That's not exactly team building and confidence building stuff.

The Vice President of Operations – the Number Two guy in the company is gone.

The Vice President of Transportation – the Number Three guy in the company is gone.

General Manager – West – the guy who runs things on the West Coast is gone.

The Central Division General Superintendent – the guy who runs Chicago is gone.

Over 150 other front line and senior managers are gone, too.

The Chief Financial Officer – the money guy – is now temporarily running operations as Acting Vice President of Operations.

The Controller is now the acting Chief Financial Officer because the real Chief Financial Officer is temporarily the Acting Vice President of Operations.

The money guy is running the railroad, and he's reporting to the guy who has spent the vast majority of his career as a public employee bureaucrat with no railroad operating experience – Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman.

To review from the last issue of Business and Politics, here's what a recently retired Fortune 50 Human Resources vice president, an expert at executive development and assessment had to say and Amtrak's mismanaged Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan:

[begin quote]

... Boardman is simply in over his head, the Dilbert "pointy-haired boss." The Peter Principle. This source says what we are seeing is almost always what happens with untargeted buyout offers, because younger, high potential employees see not vacancies up the ladder but a sinking ship, with the buyout simply a bonus for being first into the lifeboat, so they leap at the offer, and older ones just being literally tired of the chaos, of the bad leadership, the bad results, of the hopelessness, of being affiliated with a losing team, so they jump at the offer, too.

What is left is the dregs and the unemployables.

[End quote]

Time and time again through this agonizing process of the past few weeks we have seen constant emphasis from Amtrak about how it is attempting to improve it's personnel costs through elimination of management positions without a single union employee leaving the company. This is somewhat akin to the constant drumbeat out of Washington that it is necessary to tax "millionaires and billionaires" to balance the budget instead of raising taxes on the middle class.

You can't balance the federal budget solely by taxing "millionaires and billionaires" (or even come close to it), and you can't fix all of Amtrak's problems by eliminating so many management positions without a carefully crafted plan of succession and restructuring in place BEFORE you being the buyout plan.

The ongoing theme for Amtrak for the rest of the year is going to be Chaos at Christmas, and everyone can play, from employees to passengers to host railroads and suppliers.

An incredible amount of human capital, institutional memory, and gained wisdom has walked out of the office door to a relaxing holiday season. Those that are left are probably going to wish they went, too.

The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail will have more on this next week.

United Rail Passenger Alliance has a spiffy updated homepage and some materials on the web site have been reorganized for ease of use. We invite you to visit www.unitedrail.org to see the changes.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.


----------



## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; December 19, 2011*

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

 

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 1, Number 25
​

Founded 35 years ago in 1976 by the late Austin Coates, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.

If Amtrak is going to survive in any semblance of what it is today as a nominal national system, there must be a new president and chief executive officer at the earliest moment.

Current President and CEO Joseph Boardman appears to not only be spinning out of control, but rapidly losing the confidence of many Amtrak stakeholders.

Finding a replacement for Mr. Boardman at this point in the political process is going to be difficult for a number of reasons, mostly related to the timing of the upcoming presidential election.

The best solution is to find a distinguished railroader – similar to the late Amtrak president Graham Claytor – with the ability to arrive in Washington quickly, take control of a company nearly devoid of competent senior operation personnel because of the ill-planned senior management buyout program, and attract other outside talent willing to pitch in on an interim or permanent basis and under his guidance, save Amtrak.

The ideal man is already an important part of Amtrak: Jeffrey R. Moreland, a member of Amtrak's Board of Directors.

Mr. Moreland, 67, is the retired Corporate Secretary and Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and Law of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, and before that, was BNSF's General Counsel and Chief of Staff. He currently serves as President of Western Fruit Express Company.

There is a long, distinguished railroad tradition of law department vice presidents assuming the top spot in the company. The same path was taken by Graham Claytor to the presidency of the Southern Railway and then retirement and next his service to Amtrak as it's longest serving president from 1982 to 1993, what some would call Amtrak's best period. Most of today's Class I freight railroads have all been helmed by attorneys.

Mr. Moreland's 14 years at BNSF – a railroad everyone considers to be Amtrak's most cooperative host railroad – puts him head an shoulders above any other candidate which may be considered to replace Mr. Boardman, especially any candidate which may emerge from the transit world. Mr. Moreland also has a deep background in corporate finance through service with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If someone has to untangle Amtrak finances and at the same time keep train operations going, he's the man.

It will take the real world railroad experience of someone like Mr. Moreland to grab the Amtrak tiger by the tail and attempt to whip it into shape so there will be an existing company for the stewardship of the next permanent president.

Certainly, Mr. Moreland has the advantage of the other members of the board knowing him well since he began his board service in 2010.

Mr. Moreland is an obvious choice to bring order to the Amtrak Chaos at Christmas.

This can't be a good time to be an Amtrak employee; the cream of the crop – and, some people who really needed to be gone – either took the management buyout offer and have departed, or outright quit to make sure their reputation and careers stayed on track.

More than one source from a host of contacts are confirming President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman appears to be experiencing some sort of difficult time with outbreaks of flying off the handle verbally at any given moment, without provocation. His targets are non-discriminatory – employees are not the only recipients.

Mr. Boardman has had a lot to defend in the past weeks and months.

Earlier this year he made a statement to Congress that the biggest financial drain on the company is the long distance system. Many seized on this as evidence he wants to scuttle the long distance trains in favor of the Northeast Corridor and selected state corridor trains in a disjointed, non-national system.

This discussion simmered throughout the year, but heated up after several weeks into the management volunteer buyout program when most of the top level operating executives chose to take the buyout – particularly in critical safety-related positions – and there was a realization the people responsible for keeping the trains running were all abandoning the company simultaneously.

When this became public, a hue and cry emerged wanting to know what direction the company was taking and what type of strategic plan was being implemented.

As this drama has been unfolding, the reference to Amtrak's "strategic plan" has been constant, but no recognizable strategic plan has been detected.

Which led to this Special Employee Advisory from Mr. Boardman the day after The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail ran a lengthy column about the buyout program and the questionable stability of Amtrak.

[begin quote]

Special Employee Advisory

December 07, 2011

Message From Joe Boardman

Dear Co-workers,

I know that there is a feeling of uncertainty in the air for some of you, and that many of you have questions. I don't have all the answers that many of you are seeking, but I want to tell you where the company is going — knowing what the plan is will at least help reduce some concerns that I have heard expressed.

As you know, our board of directors approved a Strategic Plan in October that sets a new course for our company. I recently asked you to read and become familiar with the Strategic Plan — I will ask you again to do so now — because it is in large part the basis upon which we are bringing change to Amtrak. As we follow it, our company will become stronger, more customer-focused, and more bottom-line business focused. Amtrak can no longer hunker down in survival mode, and we do not need to. We are a critical asset to this nation; we must serve

our nation and our customers well.

Before I get into the changes that I'm seeking, I want you to know that there are no planned or expected service reductions anywhere. Similarly, there are no planned layoffs for agreement-covered employees, other than the normal seasonal adjustments that we go through each year. Nothing different there.

As you know, I am seeking to align how we do business with our Strategic Plan. As I've communicated before, this realignment of the organization will result in a reduction in the number of non-agreement employees across all departments. We are not going to reduce any management forces during the coming holidays, other than those who have elected and have been approved for the recent Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan. A little more than 150 non-agreement-covered people have chosen to leave the company via the VSIP, several of them from the senior ranks of management. On behalf of the company, I am grateful for the contributions that they have made through the years. Many of those among the group were close to making a retirement decision, and this program provided the incentive they needed to make a positive affirmation that it was time. I saw many struggle with that choice, as so many have done in the past when it was time to enter into retirement.

Also, remember that when we released the Strategic Plan, I told you it was developed with significant employee input and that it is a living document — it's not set in stone. A grand plan rolled out all at once does not allow for the creative ideas of those that are out there doing the work, or who have been asking questions for years and have nothing but frustrations left. So that's part of why we don't have all the answers that people are seeking yet.

So far, we have formally rolled out only one part of the Strategic Plan from a Business Line point of view — the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Investment Development Business Line managed by Stephen Gardner. Stephen Gardner and team he has assembled is hard at work to make our vision for very high-speed rail a reality and while doing so improving the infrastructure and its capacity in an incremental way. We must increase current Acela capacity, commuter access to NYC and advance the state of good repair of our entire NEC infrastructure with a collaborative cross-functional team of Mechanical, Engineering and Transportation effort that is goal-oriented and customer-focused. Stephen's success will be our success, and he must not be alone in the effort.

As we look at Operations outside of the Northeast Corridor, we need to determine how we minimize costs that are not directly connected with the actual operation of safe, customer-focused and reliable service. Our operations outside of the NEC do not cover their basic operating costs, so the questions we need to ask are how can we do a better job to minimize costs, what can be done differently so that cost is lower without hurting the safety, customer service or reliability? Even more importantly, why are we still doing things in a way that does not take advantage of all the improvements available today? What should we stop doing?

We don't have all those answers, and as I said earlier, no one grand plan is going to give those answers to us. But I do have some answers. We cannot expect a reliable, on-time, customer-focused railroad to operate if there is not dedicated accountability for that. So we will establish a structure that includes a senior-level person who will be held accountable for both cost and revenue, while meeting the standards and the budgets that are set by the Chief Engineer, Chief Mechanical Officer and Chief Transportation Officer. Each of them will report to the VP of Operations. Accordingly, I have asked the VP of Operations to submit his plan for aligning under this structure in early February, and I expect to have given him enough input along the way that it will begin to be implemented by mid to late summer. I expect it to provide fewer levels of management from the top to the bottom, and that will cause an impact to the number of non-agreement-covered positions.

Northeast Corridor Operations is another one of the Business Lines in the Strategic Plan. It will operate differently than the off-corridor structure. The details on that will not come until after the off-corridor structure is set, although once that is known it will help define the boundaries of the Northeast Corridor. So this is an area that will need to wait a while for answers.

There will be one centrally managed Legislative, Government, Policy and Public Affairs function, with a field presence that will keep major contact with our state partners and determines what, if any, planning needs to be done for a customer or state partner. This function has been split up among too many departments, with a lack of focus and accountability. Some of that change has begun with the dissolution of the Policy and Development department. We expect 10 to 15 positions will be eliminated with that change.

In addition, there will be three planning organizations in the company, and they will be relatively small. Facility Planning, which will be within Real Estate under the Chief Financial Officer, will become much more active in proper planning for our real estate assets including our stations. Operations Planning will be placed under the VP of Operations. Strategic Planning, which will be in the President and CEO's office, and will monitor the Strategic Plan, make adjustments to the plan to keep it current, update the plan or help define course corrections early by paying attention to economic and other business trends to keep Amtrak on top of its game.

The Marketing and Product Development department will be less marketing and more sales. Social media will grow along with the use of other more up-to-date methods of improving our service to our customer. Field functions will be part of operations, part of Legislative, Government, Policy and Public Affairs, or will be a targeted sales function with sales goals or will not exist. The distribution function of the commissary will go to Operations but the Menu Development will stay with Marketing. The Call Centers will stay with Marketing, and Marketing will pick up accountability for selling our management services to commuter operations, as well as evaluating and responding to the solicitations for commuter contracts.

There are other changes that will occur as we respond to the requirements of this new direction. It's often said that change is the only constant that we deal with. We see it in our families and we see it in the world around us.

Amtrak costs continue to climb with additional direct salaries and wages, and while some revenue from ridership is up, other revenue like federal operating assistance, is down and that is part of the reason we must make cuts and adjustments to improve our bottom line. But frankly, that is not the primary reason. We must operate a more competitive company and it must reflect the realities of the competitive environment today. We have global competitors coming into our backyard and convincing members of Congress, state and commuter officials and others that they can do a better job than Amtrak. We also are in competition for federal assistance across transportation modes — airlines through the Federal Aviation Administration; highways and the intercity buses through the Federal Highway Administration; transit, commuter rail and buses through the Federal Transit Administration. We also have to compete with the funding for U.S. DOT safety programs, which comes out of the same appropriation funding.

We are making these changes for a stronger future, and yet I know when it affects you directly that high-minded idea gets lost. That's the tougher part of leading change. I've tried to mitigate some of this with the VSIP, giving us some room and also allowing those who have other opportunities to pursue them without hurting the company or the people. That won't be enough, and the positions that have been vacated won't be filled immediately and others will not be filled at all. When you see them posted and you qualify for them please apply, if your record is good and your skills are the ones that are needed, you will stand in a good position to be competitive.

Please be assured that the steps we are taking are designed to preserve and strengthen the important service we provide to our nation. I will keep you updated as we move forward, and thank you for taking the time to read this important message.

Sincerely,

Joe Boardman

President and CEO

[End quote]

Only comrades of the Amtrak Propaganda Ministry and the cadre of Amtrak True Believers didn't go "Huh?" when they read Mr. Boardman's employee communique. It's entirely likely it caused more problems than it solved, and reports from inside Amtrak back up that notion.

A few days later, respected transportation journalist Don Phillips published an online story on the Trains Magazine newswire containing an interview with Mr. Boardman, with him saying no trains were in any danger of train-offs or discontinuances.

All of this was followed by the Friday (December 16, 2011) end-of-the-day additional Amtrak Special Employee Advisory from the Employee Communications department outlining senior management personnel changes.

This communique was featured in the immediate previous edition of The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail of late on December 16th.

So many senior and upper tier managers and senior managers have departed the company that new lines of reporting and responsibility had to be determined.

In was dubbed the "afternoon of the long knives," again Don Phillips also outlined the many changes of the 16th.

One important change was the departure of Jeff Geary, Amtrak's Vice President of Operations, incumbent in the position for just a matter of months. Reports claim Mr. Geary was forced out of his position because he had not moved quickly enough restructuring Amtrak train operations management, and had the audacity to request arrangements be made to temporarily fill some critical management positions now vacant because of buyout departures while the restructuring was accomplished in an orderly fashion.

As a result, Amtrak operations are now under the direction of – and, this is not a typo – Amtrak's Chief Financial Officer. Yes, the guy in charge of locomotives, all rolling stock, equipment maintenance, engineering, and all train operations is the head bean counter.

On top of that, the gentleman now in charge of the Northeast Corridor is Stephen Gardner, the former Vice President of Policy and Development, and, prior to that, a Senate staffer on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Gardner now commands a troop strength of approximately 6,000 employees between Washington and Boston.

On the West Coast, there is apparent good news. At this point, unconfirmed reports place one of Amtrak's very best managers as the man now in charge of Amtrak in California and points north. When this is confirmed, we will talk more about him – a man any railroad would be thankful to have as a senior manager.

We do not know who with what level of expertise will be running Chicago as we are less than a week away from the official start of Winter. An ill-run Chicago can cause tremendous problems throughout the entire Amtrak long distance system because so many routes radiate from Chicago, not to mention state supported trains in four states.

Here is what one passenger rail insider had to say about this mess laid at the feet of Mr. Boardman and where anyone should start to untie the knots of Amtrak operations.

[begin quote]

"One of the easiest and least costly places he could start would be to take his own train operations seriously as a transportation system. This would involve a combination of trivial schedule adjustments (not even speeding trains up or reducing scheduled "recovery time") and operating discipline in order to have many more trains actually connect with one another. To cite just a couple of obvious examples: Why does the northbound Texas Eagle in Chicago not connect to the westbound Empire Builder, or the eastbound Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited to the northbound Vermonter train at Springfield, Massachusetts?

"Another would be to stop his lying to the public and to Congress and restore the Sunset Limited between New Orleans and America's Number One tourist destination, Orlando. This can and should be done with the next timetable change.

"Another change he could institute is to stop the insane regimentation in the dining cars, which exist to serve the needs and convenience of customers, not the staff. There is no reason diners need to operate like Soviet bureaucracies. Hours and services need to be opened up and relaxed, and the all but forgotten breakthrough success of the 24-hour dining car service experiment on the Sunset Limited, in 1999 rolled out to more trains."

[End quote]

Mr. Boardman is not without partners in this mess. Others are looking to the board of directors as a whole under the chairmanship of Tom Carper of Illinois and wondering how much governance and oversight has been occurring. While the calls for Mr. Boardman's earliest possible departure have been growing, the board's collective role is coming into focus, too. A Washington Wag had this to say.

[begin quote]

Indeed, the "cure" for Boardman's departure may be worse than the disease. It comes back to sound governance from those nominally in charge of the company.

Having stuck by Boardman, having made him permanent CEO, having approved the Voluntary Separation plan, and having vetted Boardman's vague "Strategic Plan" for cutting the company to prosperity, how can the Board suddenly now be "concerned" at the departures en masse. Do these people have no shame or an ounce of perspicuity?

[End quote]

People deep inside passenger rail are wondering if Mr. Boardman can hold on even to the end of January, just over a month away. If this was a private corporation with an effective board of directors and stockholders, onlookers would be focusing on the end of December, not the end of January.

If/when Mr. Boardman departs, who other than Mr. Moreland could replace him? The Chief Financial Officer is already the acting Vice President of Operations. Most of the other top people in the company are lightly disguised political appointees from the usual circle of Washington musical chairs who move from government organization to government organization depending on how the political winds are blowing. Some come from District of Columbia jobs, some from local transit agencies, some from Capitol Hill. None are railroaders.

As discussed before in this space, what about the White House? The presidential elections are marching closer and closer every day and this problem is no closer to being solved. Mr. Boardman came to the company by way of his seat on the Amtrak board of directors because of his background as head of the New York State Department of Transportation and as the Administrator of the Federal Railway Administration and a board seat as a result of that position. Is it possible for the board to get it right this time, and appoint the only one of its members who is truly a qualified railroader to run a railroad and not a political appointee? Especially a real railroader – from the West! – who is not enamored with the ongoing pampering of the Northeast Corridor at the expense of the national system.

If you were a qualified railroader without a current stake in the company, how interested would you be in taking over Amtrak permanently at this point? Someone has to stabilize the company and repopulate the critical operations and safety positions before any sane railroader would consider the job. If another transit executive wants the job, plan on business as usual. Amtrak desperately needs a railroader, not a politician.

As the late Austin Coates, founder of URPA in 1976 was fond of saying, "they might as well pull 'em over and park 'em" and the last guy out the door turn out the lights if someone close to perfect can't be found to run Amtrak – and found soon.

United Rail Passenger Alliance has a spiffy updated homepage and some materials on the web site have been reorganized for ease of use. We invite you to visit www.unitedrail.org to see the changes.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.


----------



## MrFSS

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; January 3, 2012*

 

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

Jacksonville, Florida • United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

Volume 2, Number 1
​

Founded over 35 years ago in 1976 by the late Austin Coates, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

URPA is not a membership organization.

It's crunch time, according to the PRIIA 2008 calendar. The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush put a deadline on when individual states will have to start shouldering more of the burden of costs of state passenger rail services.

No one ever took this deadline seriously (as often happens with Amtrak), and when Republicans in the United States House of Representatives churned out a budget which finally reflected this reality, everyone panicked. Amtrak True Believers were pretty sure the sky was falling and the Earth was rushing up to meet it.

It turned into a financial windfall for dentists throughout the land because so many people were gnashing their teeth over this. Nobody could actually believe the day of reckoning was at hand; everyone thought the funds for Amtrak's budget and state department of transportation budgets grew on trees which were well fertilized and bearing fruit endlessly.

Oops! Turns out money doesn't grow on trees, especially in recessionary times when state budgets are stretched to the limit, and the federal budget only gets by through the liberal use of borrowed money.

As with so many other things in 2011, Congress backed down at the last minute and said that really, they were just kidding about the states having to pony up more money for state corridor trains. It's okay, and Amtrak can once again be a spigot for all sorts of money.

The True Believers sighed a sigh of relief, and got back to more important things, like arguing over what color the upholstery of coach seats was on the 1959 Santa Fe Super Chief.

But, the smart folks at various state departments of transportation took note of this, and the best ones have girded their financial loins for this fight again, soon.

They are the ones who will have state trains which will survive and prosper; they are the ones who are looking at the various member of the Association of Independent Private Rail Operators (AIPRO; www.passengerrail.org) and wondering out loud, what a post-Amtrak world will be like.

After much of Amtrak's critical senior operating and maintenance executives took the last train to Clarksville via a hugely ill-conceived management buyout offered by Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman at the end of 2011, and the few remaining executives are trying to figure out how to run the railroad (Amtrak's current Acting Vice President of Operations is the simultaneously current Chief Financial Officer), there is nervousness throughout the land about the overall viability of Amtrak through the harsh winter months of 2012.

While Mr. Boardman has made a lot of noises about everything continuing as usual, and even sent out an end of the year employee advisory saying overtime for union employees would continue (but, with a cap of $35,000 per individual for a year), more and more people are placing bets on how much longer Mr. Boardman will be running the company and what can be done by his successor to save Amtrak from itself.

As state departments of transportation begin to think beyond the many restrictions of running passenger trains as imposed by the continuing narrow thinking of Amtrak through the years, here are some concepts which are likely to come to light.

*Stations*

 

Post-Amtrak operators will create more station stops for corridor trains. The whole idea of these trains is to move people efficiently from one station to another, and when you impose radical limits – as Amtrak has – on the number of station stops on any one route, you limit patronage. Amtrak often allows for a single station stop in a large urban area of multiple millions of people, citing the false belief people will drive great distances in their personal vehicles (often, backtracking from their starting point to a train station) to catch a train.

We know there is a huge need for a new assortment of suburban station stops and small town station stops. The false claim passengers won't ride a train because it stops too often is just a repeat of the junk science of the 1950s. People care more about trains departing and arriving on a convenient and predictable schedule at accessible locations than actual transit time.

These new stations and many existing stations will also suddenly be manned by real people, not machines incapable of providing customer service. A smile from a ticket agent and a politely answered inquiry goes much further than punching buttons and jabbing at an impersonal screen on a ticket vending contraption.

New stations will be driven by local governments anxious to cash in on the many pluses of passenger trains; stations will be built and maintained by local governments in the airport model instead of the old railroad model.

No longer will there be startups such as the new service in the Commonwealth of Virginia now under construction between downtown Norfolk and the Northeast Corridor. The new service will depart Norfolk, cross a major river, go through the densely populated city of Suffolk, and continue through a series of small towns until it reaches Petersburg, without a single station stop for nearly 80 miles. While the new service is helpful for denizens of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, it does nothing for the tens of thousands of citizens in Suffolk and along the way, which can only watch a passing trains the way cows in a field do. Towns along the way have fought to have station stops, but have rebuffed to be told perhaps sometime in the murky future intermediate station stops will be allowed. In effect, not only is this saying the residents of these areas are not important, but the potential business they bring is not important, too. This is too much like a government saying it would rather spend more money for train service than allow local citizens to provide their own stations and help pay the costs. Where is the efficiency here?

*Length of consists*

 

Post-Amtrak operators will plan train consists which can carry a decent number of passengers, not the mini-trains now operated by Amtrak. You need 300-400 passengers per train for it to pay its own way; carrying a dozen passengers 50 miles smacks of horrors of the pre-Staggers Act of 1980 mandates by the Interstate Commerce Commission that railroads must operate trains whether they make money or not.

The states will come to embrace the California model where the state figured out decades ago it couldn't trust Amtrak to market any state supported trains, so the state took it upon itself to market the trains beyond Amtrak's efforts. For years, the state has spent much, much less on advertising in-state passenger trains than it would paying higher rates to Amtrak to make up the difference between the cost of the trains and the revenue generated by ticket sales. This model has worked well in Virginia with the relatively new Lynchburg to the Northeast Corridor service, which in the entire time of its existence has yet to cost the commonwealth a penny in state support to Amtrak because passenger revenue has exceeded expectations from Day One.

At the beginning, refurbished equipment – gutted and rebuilt to current specs so the age of the equipment is effectively zero – will be chosen for service. There is a large pool of sturdy, mostly Budd-built equipment which can withstand many more decades of the rigors of passenger train service (See: VIA Rail Canada and it's Budd fleet, all over a half a century old.) while new equipment is built and put into service. The states, not Amtrak will own and operate through contractors and maintain this equipment for their advantage.

*Onboard services*

Onboard services will again flourish, and the only consistent aspect will be the inconsistency between services as states decide how they wish to best present passenger train service. No more "one size fits all," and no more automatic "no" to any new and innovative idea.

Corridor trains will all have at least two levels of service, if not three. A standard coach service will be available, and a business class service will be available. For those states really wishing to recapture as much of the passenger rail service as possible, an executive class service will also be available, with private rooms, small onboard conference rooms, and business amenities such as printers, copiers, and simple bindery services.

All seating, from coaches to first class services, will have a different look. No longer will there be long tubes sporting two-by-two seating. Coaches and other cars will be broken into sections for noise abatement and to instigate creative seating patterns. Those wishing for a solitary single seat will have one; those traveling in groups or as families will have seating clusters. The occasional table and refreshment centers will be scattered about, with passengers having access to hot and cold potable water as well as coffee and tea.

The first class services will have a single shower and changing area in those cars, allowing passengers traveling to business meetings to board a train casually and step off a train ready for negotiations.

Wi-fi and power outlets will be available for every seat in all levels of service.

Food service will instantly gravitate away from what is now essentially vending machine food served by a service attendant. The junk science of the 1950s will again be ignored, and full service dining cars, such as on the level of a Denny's, will be offered, providing reliable meals at a reasonable, non-hostage price. The old canard about dining cars always losing money will be quickly banished, and between modern food service techniques for freshly prepared food and modern efficiencies of ordering and service, dining cars will again become rampant. Dining cars will be open from terminal to terminal; if passengers are on the train, they will have the ability to eat and drink.

Lounge cars will be radically different from the bland environments of today. True analysis of costs and passenger needs will redefine lounge car services, and, with a full service dining car open the entire length of the trip, the lounge car will cease to be a primary food source and revert to its original intent of being a place of quiet recreation and conversation, beverages, snacks, and convenient sundries and other items for purchase.

Good onboard services only come from well-trained and well-motived onboard services employees. Employees simultaneously handling several cars are incapable of providing meticulous service. More OBS employees will be needed to fully staff each train so each route can reach its full potential.

*You can get there from here*

Connectivity, creating a good route and city pair matrix in each corridor will be critical to overall success.

Currently, Amtrak often offers service in single directions, from some sort of hub, but is oblivious to service needs or potential ridership needs beyond defined areas such as state borders. We know travelers have no concerns for state borders; they are only invisible lines on a map.

The State of North Carolina recognizes this, and sponsors the Carolinian, a train which begins in Charlotte, North Carolina and finishes it daily run in New York City. North Carolina allows its citizens and visitors full access to other cities along the way, including stops in Virginia, Washington, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey before reaching the terminal in New York City.

The new thinking will go beyond this.

As an example, the Commonwealth of Virginia has three current state sponsored routes, with a fourth under construction.

The westernmost route follows the long distance route of the Crescent, with a second state sponsored train along part of that route originating in Lynchburg, and continuing north to Charlottesville, Culpeper, Manassas, Burke Centre, Alexandria, and Washington, and further north along the NEC to Boston.

The next route slices through the heart of the commonwealth, with a straight north/south run from Washington south to Alexandria, Quantico, Fredericksburg, Richmond, and Petersburg, then down to North Carolina. This is the route of the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Carolinian, and Palmetto. The state sponsored part of the route is from Richmond to Washington.

The third route follows the same route to Richmond, then veers southeast to Williamsburg and Newport News, the terminal point for Hampton Roads and the greater Norfolk/Virginia Beach area.

The new fourth route will run north from downtown Norfolk on a more westerly route than the Newport News service, and connect to the rest of the Virginia route in Petersburg and continue up to Boston.

Here's the problem: every one of these routes is essentially a north/south route, with no east/west connections. You can't get from Newport News or will be able to get from Norfolk to Charlottesville or Lynchburg, both important cities in the commonwealth unless you ride an Amtrak Thruway bus connection from Richmond. It's at least a two-seat, if not a three-seat ride, and schedules are not very well coordinated.

Managers intent on making passenger trains viable instead of taxpayer dependent will look at a map of the Old Dominion and discover the former C&O east/west main line between Doswell, Virginia – just north of Richmond – and Charlottesville. This is primarily a route which for many years has hosted long trains of empty coal cars. Yet, it connects with the other former C&O route which today hosts the tri-weekly Cardinal through Charlottesville, just north of the Charlottesville station which also serves the Crescent and Lynchburg servce. Scheduling trains from either Norfolk or Newport News to Richmond, Charlottesville, and Lynchburg, or beyond to Roanoke would open up tremendous connectivity opportunities for Virginia travelers which do not exist today. If you want an all-train route from Williamsburg to anywhere on the Cardinal route in West Virginia, unless you want the discomfort of the Thruway bus, you must travel all the way north to Washington to go back southwest to West Virginia.

A connection such as this would not only be a huge boost to the state sponsored trains, but also a great gift for connectivity for the six Amtrak long distance trains involved in these routes, too. Everybody wins, nobody loses in this scenario.

Many other corridors with state sponsored routes have such simple opportunities to greatly expand the potential of their routes, reestablish connectivity with Amtrak long distance trains, and provide popular travel options for passengers – which is really what all of this is about.

*It's good to have reservations*

 

Amtrak's current reservations system skews heavily towards coach travel; some people are not even aware many Amtrak trains offer business class or sleeping car services. Some live reservations agents act as if they are loathe to talk about anything other than coach seats.

This problem will be solved by contracting with professionally operated reservations services as the airlines and hotel chains do today. Everything can and should still interface with Amtrak's reservations system, but each state will either want their own reservations system or be a part of a pool system with nearby states for maximum efficiency.

*How much will all of this cost?*

All of this will cost money, but, when you base the cost of ongoing service with a new, efficient operator versus the continuing cost of the consistently highest cost operator (Amtrak) then all of this becomes not only affordable, but in the long run healthy.

Remember, Amtrak accounting is based on losses per passenger. Forever we have heard the more passengers Amtrak carries, the more it loses. There is never any calculations made for efficiencies of volume or quantity – only higher losses because of higher ridership.

In the real world of AIPRO members, high volume efficiencies do count, and count a lot. Plus, none of the new services will have the crippling headquarters overhead Amtrak continually has as a boat anchor around its corporate neck, nor will any of these new operators be saddled with expenses of the NEC which somehow always seem to be spread throughout Amtrak instead of isolated where they belong.

In short, small and efficient operations, similar to those of short line railroad management will be put into effect, eliminating all of the corporate overhead waste which has been a part of Amtrak for decades. Before long, the new operators will have more frequent, longer and better trains, and at a lower cost.

*Beyond just train service*

 

Many other revenue generating opportunities will be present, as well. Each corridor will be a good candidate for onboard publications such as magazines and route guides, all which can be advertising based.

Seat-back video services can be offered on demand and as pay-ver-view for movies and games, and these same video screens can be used to promote dining and lounge car services as well as upgrades to first class services and other routes. Advertising can be sold to outside parties who will be happy to have captive audiences.

Reservations systems can offer services beyond train tickets; rental car, hotel reservations, even theatre and event tickets can all be offered on a single reservations system with commission fees flowing to the system owner.

Onboard sponsorships can provide revenues; how many coffee or tea makers would like to be known as the exclusive provider of their wares, as well as specialty desserts in the dining car and specialty drinks in the lounge car?

A properly motivated and fully staffed marketing department, beyond standard advertising media efforts, can stimulate group travel (Such as theatre group travel to shows in larger cities; this type of trip would be possible because of most likely increased frequencies by better operators.) or join with organizations such as credit unions to promote passenger rail travel through credit card deals or inhouse promotions for discounts.

The only restriction on other potential revenue related to corridor passenger train service is the restriction on one's imagination and business savvy.

*In the end*

 

The Great Recession and its lingering effects are going to be positive catalysts for corridor passenger train travel because Amtrak's inability to operate efficiently and in the best interests of its largest customers – state departments of transportation – will force the self-interest of the stewardship of state budgets to look beyond Amtrak to a much brighter future.

United Rail Passenger Alliance has a spiffy updated homepage and some materials on the web site have been reorganized for ease of use. We invite you to visit www.unitedrail.org to see the changes.

Gil Carmichael, former FRA Administrator during the Bush I years, and former Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, as well as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver has started a new series of reports, entitled the Gil Carmichael Report, Investing in Interstate 2.0. The reports are free, informative, and a must read for anyone serious about the future of railroads in the United States. Contact the report distributor at [email protected] for your very own copy.


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## jis

.... And if pigs could fly .....


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## VentureForth

*The Business and Politics of Passenger Rail; January 10, 2012*

A Companion Digest of Events, Opinions, and Forecasts to

This Week at Amtrak

 

*By J. Bruce Richardson*

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

Americas foremost passenger rail policy institute

 

Jacksonville, Florida United States of America

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] http://www.unitedrail.org

 

 

Volume 2, Number 2
​
 Founded over 35 years ago in 1976 by the late Austin Coates, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia, Texas, New York, and other locations. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents and a compendium of This Week at Amtrak, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.

 

 URPA is not a membership organization.

 

 

 

 Too many people are familiar with the tragedy of co-dependency, an abnormal condition where often a physically or emotionally battered spouse or mate stays or keeps going back to someone who is abusing them. The co-dependent person thinks they are acting and behaving rationally, and they really do love the person who is doing the abuse. Its a sad, sad condition which is heartbreaking for those around someone who is co-dependent, because no matter how much you try and help them, they keep running back for more abuse.

 

 Its much like the situation between Amtrak and its legions of True Believers who refuse to see the forest for the trees, and, in many instances, want to embrace something new and better, but are unable to do so because of so many decades of Amtrak and its wholly owned lapdog organizations propaganda which have somehow convinced nearly an entire nation of otherwise rational people to believe Amtrak is the only and single, with no exception choice for passenger rail service in America.

 

 Here at Business and Politics of Passenger Rail and sister publication This Week at Amtrak we receive lots of mail after each issue. Every one of us involved in these publications deeply appreciates the time and effort someone takes to send perhaps a quick note agreeing with us, or a longer missive providing some detail as to why we are not only wrong, but obviously it was a result of disagreeable breeding on the part of our ancestors. Then, theres the one gentleman who has the answer to every problem: its all the Republicans fault, no matter what the issue.

 

 It doesnt matter what the message, all are welcome and each one is read and internally commented upon. If youre dedicated enough to be a regular reader of this space and wish to comment good or bad more power to you, and thank you for your efforts.

 

 What the latest batch of mail regarding the most recent issue of Business and Politics and thoughts about future passenger train operators in a post-Amtrak monopoly demonstrated is how much some folks are like a beaten puppy; theres a ray of happiness just from being a puppy, but a belief nothing can be accomplished beyond what Amtrak deems possible simply because, well, Amtrak has said so.

 

 One thing Amtrak has seldom done and everyone who is not Amtrak routinely does is plan for success.

 

 Its not a difficult concept or process, it merely requires a positive disposition and the ability to think like a rational business person.

 

 If you are a true student of passenger rail, and you do your own research and draw conclusions with an open mind, then everything proposed in the last issue of Business and Politics is not only possible, but desirable. Most of the items related to improved customer/passenger service, where the needs of the current and potential passengers are forefront, as opposed to the needs of the company.

 

 When passengers are happy, they return.

 

 One gentleman correspondent pointed out that concept isnt working very well for the airlines, so why should it be expected in passenger rail?

 

 An excellent point. Let us digress for a moment.

 

 In the early days of air travel, until the arrival of the airline knows as Peoples Express, air travel was considered an occasion for good customer service, dressing well for travel, and high expectations of comfort and reliability.

 

 The, Peoples Express arrived, bringing Greyhound-style service to an airport near you.

 

 From that point on whether by great coincidence due to changes in society or the opening of the floodgates flying started to become more of a chore than a pleasure. From the last days of the venerable Eastern Air Lines with its surly cabin crews, to the constant downgrading of personal space as seats kept getting smaller and smaller and leg space pretty well completely disappeared, to the cattle calls of Southwest, airline travel simply deteriorated as a travel experience. Add the tender ministrations of the Transportation Security Administration when it checks every grandmother in a wheelchair to see if shes a terrorist, and air travel is hardly bearable.

 

 Which is why there is such a huge opportunity for passenger rail travel.

 

 Despite the fact some passengers on Amtraks Northeast Corridor who are professional worry-warts fret constantly every passenger isnt screened for terrorist devices (an always comical suggestion), passenger train travel has the ability to be very pleasant, from start to finished, especially when a well-prepared crew is aboard.

 

 This is a major marketing and sales point that is a gift from the airlines to passenger trains, and not to be taken lightly.

 

 The other obvious advantages of trains: walking around space, dining and lounge cars, easy handling of excess baggage, the ability to create multiple classes of service on each train, and, of course, the ability to serve cities and towns in the middle of town, not some far-off former corn field that has become an airport miles out of town, all make creating a pleasant and marketable experience for train operators.

 

 The other trick in planning for success is planning for realistic marketing. Amtraks allocation of resources to marketing is so small, in many parts of the country where the companys best performing trains serve, there is no marketing at all. Amtrak remains Americas best kept secret.

 

 Planning for success includes planning for robust marketing and sales.

 

 One Business and Politics reader brought up the question of Amtrak having multiple frequencies on each of its existing long distance routes. The huge advantages of this are obvious, from the spreading of station costs across more frequencies to more and better travel choices for passengers are just two.

 

 But, Amtrak True Believers and the various WOLOs instantly point out at least a dozen bad reasons why this cant be accomplished, from no equipment available to the host railroads would never allow it.

 

 Both of those excuses are right up there with the standard Amtrak excuse, the dog ate my homework.

 

 No equipment available? Find some to lease, or place an order with a car builder for leased equipment. Thats what the airlines do; why cant Amtrak?

 

 The host railroad wont allow it? The law says they have to allow it; everything comes down to a matter of negotiation.

 

 Why are Amtrak True Believers and WOLOs so very timid when it comes to Amtrak or passenger rail expansion? Everybody claims they want more trains to more places, but throw up their hands in despair when it comes to figuring out how to do it.

 

 The corporate mind-set at Amtrak is to maintain, and not do much more. The past half a dozen Amtrak presidents have all talked about maintaining the long distance route networks, but rarely have talked about expanding that network. Why? The old chestnut about no money for expansion? Did anybody ask anybody about that? Did Amtrak management EVER go to Congress with an aggressive plan to expand the long distance system as we know it today, along with a financing plan and say, Mr./Ms. Banker (Member of Congress), we have a plan for expansion which will benefit you and your state/district, and wed like to discuss how to make this a reality.

 

 Heres another example of the mind-set which has been created.

 

 Here in Florida, debate has been going on for three gubernatorial administrations about restoring passenger train service to the Florida East Coast Railway route between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach. Its the fastest, straightest route to Miami and the riches of Floridas Gold Coast. Passenger service has been missing since the violent, bomb-infested strike of the early 1960s. Before the strike, the FEC hosted all of the Miami-bound Atlantic Coast Line streamliners including the East Coast Champion and the seasonal Florida Special, as well as the Havana Special (pre-Castro), and the Chicago/Midwest trains, the Dixieland, South Wind, City of Miami, and Royal Palm. This is a railroad which was principally built for passenger business, and entire cities all along the Florida coast were developed for the winter tourist trade.

 

 The State of Florida has put up over $100 million to make this happen. Two levels of service are proposed; extending one of the existing Florida service trains over the route by splitting it in Jacksonville, and then intra-Florida service between Miami and Jacksonville.

 

 The Florida Department of Transportation has taken a somewhat relaxed public view of all of this, and appears content to allow Amtrak to make a series of demands for this new service without objection. The FDOT seems to believe its only obligation to the taxpayers of Florida is to be a money conduit for state funds.

 

 There seems to be very little interest in establishing this service independently, even though the FEC is a well-run, well-managed railroad, and could probably operate the service at a lower cost than what Amtrak will try and extort to start the service.

 

 Never forget that in any given situation when it comes to corridor or regional service, Amtrak is ALWAYS the highest bidder to operate a service.

 

 Here in Florida, nobody seems to be chatting with any of the members of the Association of Independent Passenger Rail Operators (AIPRO, www.passengerrail.org) to see if some sort of hybrid service can be put together, with a lower cost operator of intra-state service, and still being able to host an Amtrak long distance service. Why is this?

 

 Planning for success is not difficult, and its a rational thing to do. Its taken 40 years for the national mind-set to come to incorrectly believe only Amtrak is capable of running a passenger train in these several united states. How long is it going to take to wake everyone up and realize the potential opportunities are nearly endless?


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