Trainorders tidbits (re BOS South Station; PPCs)

[aviva_dawn]

I'll say one thing. When I rode the CS with my best friend, who was new to train travel, back in May to celebrate my college graduation, I insisted on upgrading to sleeper because of the special amenities and the PPC. We got on at LAX, and got off in SAC. Those hours were blissful ones, watching laptop movies and chatting, watching the scenery...eating every meal, and finally retiring to our roomette for a decent nap. For us, the sum of the parts made the trip wonderful. We could have flown home for a less than than our jaunt on the CS cost...but we wanted our time to be a destination to enjoy not just a way to get from point A to B.

Those cars have been the source of so many delightful memories, and it's sad to see them leave even for a short while. I suppose that it's time for me to finally take a full length journey of the CS in early January before they take away the PPCs....

 

[afigg]

Amtrak's current management will argue that the changes are not driving away any passengers. Amtrak is blaming the current issues with long distance train ridership on host railroad delays. It's a great excuse, and it might even have some validity. It also gives Amtrak management convenient cover to not assign any loss of ridership to the reduction in on board amenities.

The September 2014 monthly report data supports Amtrak management's contention. For the month of September, despite a -11.0% decline in sleeper ridership for the EB, the total sleeper ridership was up +4.9% over September 2013. Even with the NS meltdown, LSL sleeper ridership was up +5.3% for September. Now the LSL September coach ridership was down -11.6%, but that can be attributed to cancellations from the horrible delays for the trips to/from the cities along the route.
For the year, sleeper ridership was off -0.2% with the EB distorting the year totals with a -9.0% decline.

If the LD trains OTP rebounds overall in FY2015, and we surely hope it does, then we will see if sleeper ridership holds up over time with the amenity and menu cuts. I agree that the limited menu is going to wear thin for people taking 2 night trips or a 3 night coast to coast trip. I think that once Amtrak has trimmed F&B losses and gets pass the FY15 & FY16 budget threats, we will see the menu get more choices added back in as they adjust the service levels.

 

[jis]

Make no mistake, Joe Boardman is no fan of the long distance services, at least not financially. Listen closely to exactly what he says. He wants every dime of the LD loses to be subsidized by someone other than Amtrak. He does not want to use any of the "profits" from the NEC to support the LD's (something that is happening now). With the state-supported trains nearly self sufficient, he envisions a three-part system - The NEC making money (allegedly) that is used for the NEC only (with additional capital grants for state-of-good-repair and other needs), the state trains being paid by the states or others (ops and capital), and the LD's fully subsidized by the feds or others. Basically, he has told DOT and Congress that if they want the LD's, they have to pay for the LD's, not just pay for the LD's after the NEC "profits" are applied. We'll see what happens.

Actually, I think we give too much credit to Boardman as the originator of these ideas. These have been in the works for a while that pre-dates Boardman. PRIIA 2008 lays down the groundwork for the three segments. the proposed PRRIA 2014/2015 takes it a few steps further, including proposing essentially separate line items for the 3 operating segments + a 4th NEC capital (which is already somewhat separate anyway). The clean separation of NEC from the rest (as clean as feasible) is something that comes from the creation of the NEC Commission. The only way they can know what they are operating with money wise is to create clear separate accounts and books for the NEC.
I think Boardman is just a somewhat more efficient executor, rather than the originator of most of these policy ideas. He has definitely managed the finances of Amtrak better than most previous Amtrak CEOs. However, since we as normal humans require an individual to castigate rather than lay the responsibility at the feet of a collective of which the individual is merely an executor, we like to go after Boardman. But make no mistake, even if he is replaced by someone else that is acceptable to Congress (or even otherwise) will not change the direction that Congress is going is not going to change, until Congress changes. All that it might affect is the longevity or lack thereof of the new appointee.

At the end of the day, it is just a different way of slicing and dicing the same set of subsidies. It is not a question of what is Amtrak's budget, since either way the subsidies are part of the budget. They can either be structured as Contract price or as direct subsidies. The state run MD corridor trains have now become mostly Contract execution cost and Contract price for the same. Next step is to get NEC there and get the states to pay a fairer share for their use of the NEC. As for LD trains, well, that is the part that really calls out for continuing federal subsidy, since it will be almost impossible to arrange for Contract ops. The federal subsidy could be accounted for as the federal government paying a contract price for Amtrak delivering specific service levels. We are not quite there yet because the keepers of the federal government are still bickering over that, but are slowly moving in that direction, while throwing out random flares about privatization from time to time about everything.

 

[Acela150]

Just like 30th Street is now the Jim Gray?? Beats the heck outta me what it got named. But guess what I'll always call it 30th Street.. Not some politicians name who had nothing to do with PHL. South Station will always be South Station to me. Although I do have a tremendous amount of respect for Gov. Dukakis.

30th Street has not been renamed - yet. Plus, if it happens, it will be William Gray, not Jim. Jim is a former sports commentator for NBC.

Thanks for the correction Bill. Its tricky to remember all these names..

 

[Anderson]

Just like 30th Street is now the Jim Gray?? Beats the heck outta me what it got named. But guess what I'll always call it 30th Street.. Not some politicians name who had nothing to do with PHL. South Station will always be South Station to me. Although I do have a tremendous amount of respect for Gov. Dukakis.

30th Street has not been renamed - yet. Plus, if it happens, it will be William Gray, not Jim. Jim is a former sports commentator for NBC.

Thanks for the correction Bill. Its tricky to remember all these names..

Sounds like the name got stuck in a gray area...*rimshot*

 

[George K]

Oh well spookier things have happened for sure in Salem other than the sticker.

Witch things might those have been?

I'm sure that he'll be able to spell it out for us.

 

[Anderson]

Oh well spookier things have happened for sure in Salem other than the sticker.

Witch things might those have been?

I'm sure that he'll be able to spell it out for us.

If not, we'll just have to cast about for answers.