Commuter Rail & Labor Productivity Article

[The Davy Crockett]

Some food for thought this Labor Day weekend 2012, from THIS article:

For the past 50 years, however, this [productivity] progress has eluded passenger rail in the United States. While unions and management squabble over wages and benefits, the overarching issue of labor productivity remains unresolved. The resulting high labor costs drag down service, prevent new lines from opening and depress ridership and revenues.

Also:

But organized labor is only one obstacle to reform. Management and politicians also have to want it, and it’s not clear they do.
Philadelphia has an extensive regional rail network and the wasted potential to go along with it. Its Center City Commuter Connection, which linked the terminal stations of the Pennsylvania and Reading railroads, allowed trains to run through the city without stopping to turn around, increasing capacity and bringing the system to the same level as express rapid-transit systems in Germany and France. Add in its totally electrified network, and the regional-rail infrastructure of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is the perfect candidate for an upgrade.

When the Philadelphia transit authority took over the network from Conrail in 1983, the regional rail unions started a strike that lasted more than three months. Management eventually won the right to assign work in maintenance shops without onerous craft-union restrictions, as well as the right to assign engineers to drive between the old lines of the Reading Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad. Septa managers also won the ability to set train crews at rapid-transit levels if they so desired.

"I don’t think [septa managers] have even pressed the unions to do it, but they’re using them as an excuse to not make any change," said Vuchic, who designed Philadelphia’s original through-running system. "They’re not even trying."

Vuchic also cited Septa’s regional-rail platform heights — conditions that also affect NJ Transit’s Pascack Valley, Bergen and Main lines — as an indication that the impediments to reform are bigger than the unions. Besides taking tickets, conductors are also needed to cover the cars’ stairways for high-platform stations, and uncover them for those with low platforms. Getting rid of conductors requires that every station on a line be given a high platform, flush with train floors. Septa has made no systematic attempt to make this change, according to Vuchic.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Interesting comment about Illinois Central's installation of gates in the mid-1960's. Riders hated them and Metra almost had a full fledged revolt by passengers on its hands before removing them. These anti-labor comments come from a guy whose mad because SEPTA has basically abandoned his ideas for color-coded rail lines. Commuter rail lines generally have a much higher farebox recovery ratio than rapid transit systems, so his complaints don't even run that true.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Interesting comment about Illinois Central's installation of gates in the mid-1960's. Riders hated them and Metra almost had a full fledged revolt by passengers on its hands before removing them. These anti-labor comments come from a guy whose mad because SEPTA has basically abandoned his ideas for color-coded rail lines. Commuter rail lines generally have a much higher farebox recovery ratio than rapid transit systems, so his complaints don't even run that true.

I don't know about the IC gates issue, but a lot has changed in almost 50 years. Many 'gated' public rail systems have opened in that period of time. At the same time, there are also many commuter rail systems where gated systems would simply just not work.

As far as the article being anti-labor, I did not see it that way. Looking at my second quotation, I think he is saying that labor productivity needs to be improved, but that often 'the powers that be' make decisions that impact the bottom line - and then try to blame labor for the high cost of doing business.

And if the author has an ax to grind with Septa, wouldn't he grind that particular ax on management and not labor?