Version XVI – This Was The Week That Was

August 24, 2001

This week is Version 16 of TWTWTW – hey, it’s old enough to drive now! This week marks four months of the adventures of Amtrak, and, the week was pretty quiet.

1. One wag wondered this week about the legions of Amtrak managers that are taking advantage of the two separation packages offered all 2,900 managers: “If the seemingly perpetual 30% discount on fares that Amtrak marketing can’t seem to wean itself away from was supplemented by a 30% actual reduction in management ranks, how would this impact revenues?” We’ll leave the answer to this question to our readers.

   You can almost feel the institutional memory slipping away from Amtrak for every new name heard that is leaving the company. Many of Amtrak’s most senior managers, who have been through all of the wars of the last 20 to 30 years are headed for greener pastures. Unfortunately, Amtrak is not an organization that writes things down in lengthy reports for future generations.

   Battles that were fought and won or lost will be fought again soon when the new crop of managers take their places and ask the same questions as their predecessors. The problem is that their predecessors won’t be around to answer the questions and prevent the wheel from being reinvented time and time again.

   At last count, at least two vice presidents and a couple of senior assistant vice presidents are shopping for new golf clubs. Come the first of October, Amtrak management ranks are going to be pretty empty of those who know how to run a railroad.

2. It was reported this week that the Amtrak bean counters have come up with a new way to annoy T&E employees. The policy is changing about on board ticket sales. The surcharge is going from $7.00 to $9.00 per ticket, and the policy says the conductors no longer have discretion as to waiving the surcharge for any reason. So, if the line is long at the ticket window, or the QuikTrak machine isn’t working, be prepared to cough up some more bucks. No exceptions.

   The real question is, are these bean counters so naive that they think they can force conductors to do something they don’t want to do on their own train? As one conductor commented on the A-A list this week, the bean counters just don’t understand that a conductor is going to find a way around something he or she doesn’t want to do.

   Just for a good laugh, does anyone remember the old Amtrak interoffice slogan that went something like “One Team, One Amtrak”? Uh huh.

3. Associated Press Washington bureau reporter Laurence Arnold, one of the most informed reporters covering Amtrak in Washington, offered a story this week to AP readers about the slowness of the Acela program.

   Mr. Arnold offered the information that since the trains have been in service eight months that they are falling short of projections in both riders and revenue. Reimbursement requests from dissatisfied customers are three times higher than Amtrak’s goal, and the Bomber Boys have only delivered 11 of 20 trainsets.

   The story went on to point out other deficiencies in the program; other news outlets published their own versions carrying the same information.

   Amtrak, however, was quoted this week as saying how glad the company was about the outstanding progress of Acela and how well the ridership and revenues were for the service.

   OK, so here is the critical question: who do we believe? Do we believe trained, professional journalists from a variety of news outlets who compete with each other to get their facts straight and a good story out, or do we believe the press releases from a critically injured company that is gasping for breath and hoping for a miracle to keep it afloat?

4. As noted last week, the Chicago-Des Moines proposed service is deader than last year’s calendar. Your humble correspondent related last week how Amtrak President and CEO George Warrington was caught in an unguarded moment by the press last week when asked about the proposed Iowa service that had been published by Amtrak as part of the now seemingly defunct company growth strategy.

   News reports from Cedar Rapids, Iowa put the last nail in the coffin: “In our current financial situation, we have other, more pressing projects to pursue,” said Kevin Johnson, spokesman in Chicago for Amtrak Intercity.” For all of those in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines who may need some bucking up in the Self Esteem Department, fear not. The good citizens of Phoenix have somehow pushed ahead during Life Without Amtrak, even though it’s been a tough row to hoe. You can make it. Be strong.

5. In a final issue for this week, New York state officials have had the temerity to suggest in a news article that Amtrak, the federally subsidized railroad that owns the crumbling tunnels in and out of Pennsylvania Station in New York City was more interested in pursuing projects like the new Acela high-speed rail service and the redevelopment of the James A. Farley Post Office Building across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station. The New York bureaucrats blame Amtrak for not correcting fire and safety problems in the tunnels, some of which were identified as early as the late 1970s.

   Who are these ungrateful state officials who are attempting to place public health and safety issues before the need for speed or a replacement for the less than glamorous Penn Station under Madison Square Gardens?

   However, as one astute observer noted also this week on the A-A list, don’t New Jersey Transit and other commuter trains use those tunnels more than Amtrak trains? Isn’t Amtrak actually the smallest carrier in Penn Station?

   Which only begs the question, why does Amtrak own this station (Oops, they don’t, really, so much now as before because they had to pawn the station for a 17 year, $300 million mortgage to make payroll and fuel bills for 90 days this summer), instead of some other entity that could find funding for projects quicker than Amtrak? Once again, are train riders from all over America (including all of the Pioneers west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) going to pay an enormous bill for train service in just one city in the Northeast?

6. This is a good moment to talk about some of the best Amtrak managers in the system, those running the Los Angeles Service Manager’s Office of the Sunset Limited. These people, some who have been with the Sunset for many years, do an extraordinary job with few resources. They work in one interior room, with just one door and no windows. They have created private spaces in the room through the clever use of book cases and other office furniture barriers. If one sneezes, the others catch a cold. But, they cheerfully keep the Sunset running, the only transcontinental train in the Amtrak system to cross eight states in four time zones, and connect Disneyland with Disney World.

   Even though the Sunset is only a tri-weekly train, there is always some issue in a far-flung state to deal with, usually in the middle of the night. Sunset crews only make two trips a month because each trip is about 90 hours each (plus overtime for late trains). The Sunset OBS employees work three full days and three full nights Eastbound, with less than 24 hours rest at the turn terminal in Orlando. They then work back two and a half days and three full nights before going home after reaching Los Angeles. The LA Service Manager’s Office handles all of the OBS crews, and a number of other duties. This office has traditionally managed the complete functions of the train on a daily basis, usually with a much smaller staff than other trains.

   The very good people in the Los Angeles Service Manager’s Office are shining examples of why Amtrak has managed to do as well as it has this long summer of discontent. They have doggedly continued to do their job, keep a lid on things, and kept their train running even under continuing adverse conditions. These people are some of Amtrak’s best. Anyone would be proud to call them a friend.

That’s it for this week. Back to the dog days of summer.

Bruce Richardson
Jacksonville, Florida