Amtrak Service Reductions

[Mystic River Dragon]

If someone was going from say Charleston, WV to Salem, OR on 3X trains, they look at the schedule.

“I can go by Amtrak, but I would have to travel 5 days, including overnights in Chicago and either Portland or Sacramento, or I could fly for the same fare or less with 1 short connection and be there in 9 hours. Which should I chose?”

Well, Dave, most people would probably fly. But I bet you would do the three trains with the overnights in the cities—it sounds like a classic “traveler” trip—going the longest way possible to get in as many trains as you can!

 

[NativeSon5859]

I just got off the Crescent this morning in WAS. The cuts are happening. SA (who’s in the top 100 in seniority in the whole OBS division) told me some new higher up was recently on the train and talking to the employees about the upcoming reductions. He said he kept on calling them (the employees) “commodities”. Anyway, just passing on what I heard.

 

[piedpiper]

If they go thru with this assinine plan, I perdict the death of Amtrak, as we know it, by the end of 2020

 

[AmtrakFlyer]

I don’t think it’s THAT dire but it’s definitely bad. Right now the fight should be to keep the network intact (hopefully daily) and live to fight another day which in this case is November/January when hopefully we will have a new head of the Department of Transportation.

Elaine Chao is on record as being hostile to the network trains just like Amtrak’s management. A new competent department head and a non hostile funding request from the possible new Administration would shake things up for the better. It would also possibly mitigate or replace Amtrak’s current “leadership” with more competent individuals who have a vision.

I take solace in the fact we probably only have 5 months left of this Administration. Amtrak needs more than its bipartisan support in Congress to thrive, it needs leadership from the Administration and from within its own ranks as well.

 

[tonys96]

A while back, in another thread, I said that I thought the LD network would not be the same a year from that date as it was that day. I expected some changes to some routes
Now it seems that the entire network will be different.

A few years ago, there were a few of us who considered the first "amenity" changes to just be the tip of the iceberg on what was to come. We caught a lot of flack. Seems we just may have been correct. Sadly.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

A while back, in another thread, I said that I thought the LD network would not be the same a year from that date as it was that day. I expected some changes to some routes
Now it seems that the entire network will be different.

A few years ago, there were a few of us who considered the first "amenity" changes to just be the tip of the iceberg on what was to come. We caught a lot of flack. Seems we just may have been correct. Sadly.

Well, nobody on AU predicted the pandemic. I wouldn’t say these cuts are due to bad management but are due to what a lot of companies are going they right now due to the pandemic.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

My trip on the Sliver Meteor on August 2nd has become a trip on the Sliver Star. Per the email today.

Whole trip has now been cancelled into 2021.

Not sure if 2021 is a good idea, but it’s something to hold on to.

 

[the_traveler]

My station (FED) has 2 routes serving it - both of which are “temporarily cancelled”!

As bad as it is for me not having trains, you can’t even go from Saratoga to Plattsburgh or Schenectady to Rutland. Neither route is running at all.

 

[John Bredin]

I sent the following email to Amtrak today:
I am writing to express my displeasure and concern at the proposal to slash the already skeletal long-distance system so that most routes don't run daily but only 2-3 times weekly.

While I understand that the coronavirus epidemic has severely impacted travel demand, daily service on all long-distance routes is the minimum level of service that allows (1) same-day transfers or connections and (2) travelers to arrive or depart on any day they choose rather than having to change their travel plans to fit the train schedule.

Anything less than daily service is too inconvenient to attract passengers who can choose between driving, taking Amtrak, taking a bus, or (with videoconferencing etc.) not traveling at all. It will discourage travelers from considering Amtrak so that demand numbers never recover and daily service is never restored.

In the past, I have taken several trips by long-distance train in sleeper class the entire length of the route (California Zephyr, City of New Orleans, Lake Shore Ltd., Capitol Ltd.). I plan to travel by Amtrak long-distance train ... if they are still running.

If long-distance service is slashed as proposed, I see little reason to continue accumulating Guest Reward points, by using my Amtrak Guest Rewards credit card as my primary credit card, to take sleeper-class long-distance trips as I have in the past.

 

[John Bredin]

I just sent the same message (slightly tweaked) to Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Amtrak board, at his easily-googled law firm address.

 

[Barb Stout]

Seems like we've seen this "scare tactic" before, from Amtrak president's...IIRC, even the vernerated W G Claytor used this to get his desired funding from Congress at one time or other. Especially effective if you target the 'home train' of budgetary chairperson's....
Not sure if this form of "blackmail" would work in today's climate...

Who is conveniently a Republican from no-train Wyoming.

 

[LookingGlassTie]

Well, nobody on AU predicted the pandemic. I’m wouldn’t say these cuts are due to bad management but are due to what a lot of companies are going they right now due to the pandemic.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking too.

But what I'm wondering is (based on what others have said) would the cuts be necessary or as deep if Congress had approved the funding that Amtrak requested?

 

[Barb Stout]

I just got off the Crescent this morning in WAS. The cuts are happening. SA (who’s in the top 100 in seniority in the whole OBS division) told me some new higher up was recently on the train and talking to the employees about the upcoming reductions. He said he kept on calling them (the employees) “commodities”. Anyway, just passing on what I heard.

Commodities?! What the heck!?

 

[Barb Stout]

Well, nobody on AU predicted the pandemic. I’m wouldn’t say these cuts are due to bad management but are due to what a lot of companies are going they right now due to the pandemic.

Actually someone did predict it. Mr. or Ms. Elephant in the Room raised concerns early in the "game'. I thought s/he was just a paranoid freeker and that the situation was going to be like SARS with Seattle substituting for Toronto. I regret both that I was wrong (in both ways) and that I thought that about Mr./Ms Elephant.

 

[me_little_me]

I just received an email about it this morning. It must be part of the changes announced this week - or rather not announced.

This is what my reservation looks like now. Which incidentally makes no sense because I'm arriving in Philly after the Star leaves.

View attachment 17796

Whine! Whine! Whine! Next you'll be wanting that fixed. Be reasonable. It's the Covid. We can blame that for everything.

 

[me_little_me]

Commodities?! What the heck!?

Well, it started as "Personnel" if anyone remembers those days when employees were thought of as people. Then it became "human resources" so it was just like other resources - equipment, supplies, etc. This way, "resources" can be disposed of because they are not people.
Now it's commodities. Even lower than resources because you need resources but commodities are available from anywhere.
I'm guessing Disposables is the next word for employees. It's that way in all but name anyway.

Just be thankful they don't call it "Soylent Green".

 

[Barb Stout]

Well, it started as "Personnel" if anyone remembers those days when employees were thought of as people. Then it became "human resources" so it was just like other resources - equipment, supplies, etc. This way, "resources" can be disposed of because they are not people.
Now it's commodities. Even lower than resources because you need resources but commodities are available from anywhere.
I'm guessing Disposables is the next word for employees. It's that way in all but name anyway.

Just be thankful they don't call it "Soylent Green".

"You are a 50 pound bag of soybeans, more than a bargain to me-e-e!" That line is from a song by The Roaches (I think).

 

[SanDiegan]

I'm assuming that the switch to the microwaved TV dinners is also extended, but see no mention of that in the announcement. I generally do two big train trips each year, which include stays in two to four cities, and usually involve more than one train route. Reduced service would make it really hard to plan my trips, and I'm not eager to pay the exorbitant rates (we always book a roomette) to eat from a tiny selection of TV dinners for several days on the train. I've already written to my congresspeople..... LOL, received a response from Kamala Harris's office thanking me for my concern over California response to the pandemic, clearly my email was NOT actually read by anyone there.

The dining cars are probably gone forever

 

[SanDiegan]

This seems to be a very odd move. Why did Amtrak operate all the LD trains during the height of the Covid 19 crisis, then decide to reduce service as the nation moves back to a semi-normal status? Write to your congressmen and senators, people, and put a stop to this nonsense.

Government logic

 

[SanDiegan]

This seems like a very poor move in terms of trying to save money. Sure, you save on some labor expenses and fuel, but you don't remove much of your capital expenses, building expenses, etc., and the only major savings on equipment is if ridership drops further so you don't need as many cars to operate. You can still shorten a consist somewhat as demand requires, and 7x/week of a shorter consist may result in similar mileage as 3x/week full consist.

It seems far smarter, at least for a short-term solution, to significantly scale back on-board services and run a bare-bones but daily operation. Remove most services from the sleeper cars and treat it closer to "coach-with-a-bed" in terms of amenities given, remove the dining car temporarily, and have food service handled by the cafe car. It may not be the service we're used to, but it'd still provide essential transportation and leave a better structure in place to build from.

Makes way too much sense ...

 

[SanDiegan]

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this just the obvious other shoe dropping, in a manner of speaking?

The first shoe was Flynn sending a letter to Congress stating that Amtrak will have a shortfall of about a billion dollars in FY21 that will need to be covered with supplemental appropriation.

Having heard pin drop silence from all, the next obvious step is to plan for operations assuming that there will be a $1 billion budget shortfall. Then the discussion becomes how do you keep the company going while staying within the available resources. Of course Congress has it within its power to fix this problem in a snap, if they choose to do so.

Very low on the priority list ...

 

[crescent-zephyr]

The dining cars will probably gone forever

They’ve gone and come back before... just like the trains have gone to tri-weekly and come back to daily before.

Of course the parlour cars really did leave for good and the theee Rivers, Silver palm, and pioneer are but a memory.

 

[SanDiegan]

They are being cut appropriately now. Some trains only have 4 On board service employees and are half the size as normal. You can’t run a functioning transit system 3 days a week. It’s a model that has been proven to be a failure in the short and long term costing revenue along with riders making for higher loses.

Three days a week, or even once a week, is fine for "experiential" trains ;-)

 

[SanDiegan]

I don’t think it’s THAT dire but it’s definitely bad. Right now the fight should be to keep the network intact (hopefully daily) and live to fight another day which in this case is November/January when hopefully we will have a new head of the Department of Transportation.

Elaine Chao is on record as being hostile to the network trains just like Amtrak’s management. A new competent department head and a non hostile funding request from the possible new Administration would shake things up for the better. It would also possibly mitigate or replace Amtrak’s current “leadership” with more competent individuals who have a vision.

I take solace in the fact we probably only have 5 months left of this Administration. Amtrak needs more than its bipartisan support in Congress to thrive, it needs leadership from the Administration and from within its own ranks as well.

Looking back at the last fifty years, I am skeptical. Amtrak is not a priority, especially now given all of the other "priorities"

 

[Bob Dylan]

They’ve gone and come back before... just like the trains have gone to tri-weekly and come back to daily before.

Of course the parlour cars really did leave for good and the theee Rivers, Silver palm, and pioneer are but a memory.

As are several other Amtrak Trains!( Broadway,Desert Wind,Pioneer,Montrealer etc)

The real hope is with Congress, even though Biden is known as "Amtrak Joe", ( and if Trmp gets re-elected who knows??)Democrat Presidents have actually cut more than Republican Presidents!!