URPA Newsletter

[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]

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]

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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; 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.

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; 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

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

[email protected]

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]

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.

 

[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]

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.

 

[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

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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

_______________________________________________

TWA mailing list

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http://lists.unitedrail.org/mailman/listinfo/twa

 

[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:

 

[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.

 

[jis]

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]

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!!!

 

[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

**** 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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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 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.

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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

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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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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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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 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

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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; 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

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

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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

____________________________________________________________

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