National Journal article: How Washington derailed Amtrak

[WICT106]

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/amtrak-acela-high-speed-trains-20150417

Post comments below.

 

[DetroitTed]

Interesting, in depth article. Good photos too. I'm not obsessive enough to nit-pick amongst the various issues he raises. I think others will enjoy/find it interesting.

 

[Guest]

Joseph H. Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak, begins to cry. We're in the dining car of a train called the Silver Star, surrounded by people eating hamburgers.

Well, Joe. You will no longer be able to cry in the dining car on the Silver Star.

 

[chrsjrcj]

Joseph H. Boardman, president and CEO of Amtrak, begins to cry. We're in the dining car of a train called the Silver Star, surrounded by people eating hamburgers.

Well, Joe. You will no longer be able to cry in the dining car on the Silver Star.

Lol, how ironic!

 

[Cipollini]

When you wish upon the Star,

While eating in the dining car,

Anything your heart desires

Will NOT come true

If your heart is in your dream

All requests are too extreme

When you wish upon the Star

As that dreamer Boardman do...

:help:

Either that, or it was the raw onion on his Boardman Burger. :giggle:

 

[dlagrua]

I though that the meals were just taken out of the price of sleeping passenger tickets and that you could still purchase a meal in the dining car. While the article made some very good points, one thing that stood out was that Amtrak's labor costs were 2.3X that of comparable European train crew labor costs. The profiteers will say "see we pay them too much" while the humanitarians will see this as a fairer labor practice.

Right now, it seems that Amtrak is in a cut everything mode. IMO, this will not help but kill the service.

 

[Bjartmarr]

Labor cost isn't only salary, is it? I would imagine that the practice of giving each LD crewmember a $300 roomette every night likely boosts labor costs significantly. European trains, with their vastly better OTP due to having dedicated tracks, may be able to switch crews much more easily and let them sleep at home or at least somewhere off the train.

Also, Europeans' healthcare is generally not directly paid for by the employer like it is here.

 

[tonys96]

I though that the meals were just taken out of the price of sleeping passenger tickets and that you could still purchase a meal in the dining car.

Has that happened just on the Star only?

 

[neroden]

Good article.

 

[Anderson]

Labor cost isn't only salary, is it? I would imagine that the practice of giving each LD crewmember a $300 roomette every night likely boosts labor costs significantly. European trains, with their vastly better OTP due to having dedicated tracks, may be able to switch crews much more easily and let them sleep at home or at least somewhere off the train.

Also, Europeans' healthcare is generally not directly paid for by the employer like it is here.

That isn't registered as a cost (it is an opportunity cost, yes, but not an "actual" cost). However, there are certain other costs and benefits (any paid leave, health care, etc.) which do come into the mix.

 

[andersone]

Good writing is such a pleasure to read.

 

[user 1215]

I though that the meals were just taken out of the price of sleeping passenger tickets and that you could still purchase a meal in the dining car.

Has that happened just on the Star only?

The Diner will be physically removed from the Star from July thru January. The stipend has been removed from the sleeper cost (sorta). The only choice for dining is in the Café Car.

This was a very even-keeled article - one of the best that I've seen, stepping back and giving each political posture a fair glance.

There is a LOT that can be done on the NEC. It's not going to be cheap, but it's necessary. There is the best return for investment there. I agree with the writer that the best action that has come out of Congress is the Federal-State partnership. Unfortunately, this will hurt some corridor state run trains, but it gives the political football to the states who would most benefit from service the opportunity to choose to fund it.

The example of Hattisburg, MS was terrific.

 

[acelafan]

That was a well-written article. Thanks for posting it.

 

[dilligaf]

In the face of republican bullying, the leader publicly cries. The kid who keeps getting his lunch money stolen and books knocked on the floor - cries. Yep...that'll get you left alone on a pedestal of respect by the schoolyard bullies in about the same time frame as Big A actually gets a budget allowing expansion and improvement of the system by the republicans.

Its one thing to be bullied around on C-SPAN about how much it costs to serve a hamburger on rails, but public self-pitying for a traditionallh right-wing 'news' outlet is about as smart a move as picking a scab off in a tank of pirhannas.

 

[neroden]

There is a LOT that can be done on the NEC. It's not going to be cheap, but it's necessary. There is the best return for investment there.

Actually, I'm pretty sure the NEC spine is not the best return for investment, after a few low-hanging-fruit items.

Much of the catenary needs replacement. And a new pair of tunnels under the Hudson are needed, certainly. And the Acelas need replacing. I think there are still a few bridges which are on the verge of failure and need immediate replacement. And the few low-platform stations need to be fixed.

But the stations are (with about five exceptions) in good shape; the track is in good shape; the train frequency is good enough; the platforms are, on the whole, long enough; there is no shortage of cars. Even the tunnels in Baltimore are in no danger of collapsing.

So after the key deferred maintenance items on the NEC are addressed, I am pretty sure that better return on investment would come from upgrading the various corridor & commuter routes which connect to the NEC, whether Amtrak or non-Amtrak (going to Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina... expansion in Delaware would not go amiss either). When these routes become faster than driving and sufficiently frequent, Amtrak will reap benefits well beyond their immediate vicinity, thanks to the network effects. NY Penn Station needs upgrades too, but I can't count that as strictly NEC; it's an NJT, LIRR, and Empire Corridor station as well.

I also believe that good bang-for-the-buck can be found in the South of the Lake exit from Chicago to the east, which benefits three Michigan routes and three routes from Chicago to the NEC. And from general upgrades to Chicago Union Station to handle its renewed volume of passengers. Again this is a matter of creating a network, not just an isolated line; there are enough routes radiating from Chicago (Amtrak, Metra, and South Shore Line) to make it worthwhile.

The idea here is that the region where the passenger rail network is a viable and popular means of travel should be expanded; and this is done by building faster, more frequent routes out incrementally from the part where it already is viable and popular. The NEC is in the best shape, so its branches need to be improved. Chicago's in the best shape other than the "NEC branches". The two networks should be pushed towards each other in hopes of catching Ohio in the middle.

There may be other nuclei of expansion which could work (LA, San Francisco), but the NEC seems like the best candidate, followed by Chicago.

 

[EGR]

Of course the NEC seems like the best candidate! It always does according to people that don't understand a collapsed national system means no NEC as we know it either! I suppose WAS is falling apart and will be rubble if another 7 billion isn't spent on it right away, while the rest of the system treads water?

 

[Ryan]

I suppose WAS is falling apart and will be rubble if another 7 billion isn't spent on it right away, while the rest of the system treads water?

That's either a gross misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the plans for WAS.

 

[inthegauge]

Here ya go...http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/amtrak-to-propose-7-billion-overhaul-at-union-station/2012/07/24/gJQApGwi7W_story.html.

Not so gross of a misunderstanding or misrepresentation when it's in the headline!!

 

[user 1215]

I'm pretty confident that the NEC would exist as we know it if the National system collapsed.

In fact, as a Savannah area resident, last time I rode on the NEC, I drove to get to it rather than spend the cost transporting my family by the Silver Service.

Problem is that it needs to improve. To Neroden's point, it's generally in good shape. But the improvements that I'm talking about that would show a return on investment would be a DEDICATED Acela ROW, Acela trainsets that have more than 5 (out of EIGHT) cars producing revenue, and continued improvement on speed.

Other than that, I do respect and agree with most of Neroden's assessment.

Here ya go...http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/amtrak-to-propose-7-billion-overhaul-at-union-station/2012/07/24/gJQApGwi7W_story.html.

Not so gross of a misunderstanding or misrepresentation when it's in the headline!!

Ha ha ho ho hee hee.

No where does it say the existing station is crumbling. I think $7B is WAaaaay too much, but if they can greatly increase efficiency and productivity, 'tis an investment. Have you been to DC lately? Have you seen the lines that crawl around the whole food court?

 

[Ryan]

Nor does it say that the $7 billion is all going to come from Amtrak. Very little of it will, with the lions share coming from the developers that would be developing the air rights over the tracks.

So, yeah. The statement that the proposed project at WAS will take $7B that could be used elsewhere in the system is either a gross misrepresentation or misunderstanding. Now that we've cleared the latter up, hopefully we won't see any of the former.

 

[afigg]

Nor does it say that the $7 billion is all going to come from Amtrak. Very little of it will, with the lions share coming from the developers that would be developing the air rights over the tracks.

So, yeah. The statement that the proposed project at WAS will take $7B that could be used elsewhere in the system is either a gross misrepresentation or misunderstanding. Now that we've cleared the latter up, hopefully we won't see any of the former.

The NEC Commission has posted their Five Year Capital Plan FY2016-FY2020 which has $622 million on the wish list for DC Union Station engineering design, start of construction, expansion of the passenger waiting areas and concourse, and platform rebuilds. That is what they want to do in the next 5 years, so the several decade long project total for the actual station part of the $7 or $8.5 billion plan is likely in the $1 to $2 billion range. Maybe more depending on how one allocates the cost for building a large underground parking garage which needs to be built to clear the air rights space over the tracks. So the NEC operation portion of the scary $7 or $8.5 billion figure is sizable, but a manageable cost number, especially when spread over a decade or two.

 

[afigg]

But the stations are (with about five exceptions) in good shape; the track is in good shape; the train frequency is good enough; the platforms are, on the whole, long enough; there is no shortage of cars. Even the tunnels in Baltimore are in no danger of collapsing.

No, the B&P tunnel in Baltimore is in danger of becoming unusable if it is not shut down and completely rebuilt sometime in the next 10-15 years; maybe they can get a few more years out of it beyond that. The water leakage problem in the B&P reportedly continues to get worse, that led to an emergency repair of the track bed last December that resulted in single track operation through the B&P tunnel for weeks. The NEC has a huge backlog of deferred maintenance and replacement, the situation is not static. Either the NEC gets sufficient funding for maintenance, replacing 100+ year old bridges and tunnels, replacing catenary, expanding capacity or it continues to get worse.
I do not expect the NEC will be shut down. What is going to happen is the infrastructure will continue to degrade until the problem becomes critical and service disruptions are imminent, then the feds and the states will dig deep for money and provide the funds needed to fix the immediate problem. Then we will lurch to the next crisis rather than addressing the problems in advance.

 

[neroden]

So single-track the B&P tunnel and reline it or put in a drainage system. There aren't enough trains per day through that section for single-tracking for repairs to be a real problem, unlike NY-NJ where the NJ Transit trains mean there are a *lot* of trains.

Like I say, this is a limited list of stuff. Without hardly thinking about it I can come up with twenty times that much in deferred infrastructure needs on the 'branch' lines, all of which is very very high priority. (Some of this is being done, such as Springfield-New Haven, or parts of NY-Albany, or Philadelphia-Harrisburg. Other parts aren't, like the critical Long Bridge across the Potomac.)

There's a reason much of the HSR money went to lines like Springfield-New Haven, NY-Albany-Schenectady, Springfield-Vermont, Philadelphia-Harrisburg, etc. Those *were* the best return on investment, significantly better than the ROI of multibillion-dollar improvements on the NEC. Since most of those projects aren't done yet, we haven't seen the benefits yet, but it should be obvious by 2018.

 

[Ryan]

So single-track the B&P tunnel and reline it or put in a drainage system. There aren't enough trains per day through that section for single-tracking for repairs to be a real problem,

Untrue, for certain values of "real problem".

 

[PRR 60]

I was struck by two items. One was Joe Boardman's apparent distain for the two private intercity rail proposals in Texas and Florida. He even professed to not know the end points of the Texas Central project. Even if he personally feels that way, I would think he would publicly state support for any initiatives to improve intercity rail, even those outside of Amtrak. The second was his statement that he would have love to have gotten his hands on the money being spent on the California high speed rail project so he could have spent in on the NEC. In both instances, he came across as having an Amtrak or nothing mentality for intercity rail funding, and in the second he reinforced the wide perception that Boardman's Amtrak is the NEC, and everything else is an unwanted nuisance to him.