Volume II, Version 1 - This Was The Week That Was - An Amtrak Saga

January 04, 2002

Happy New Year to one and all. The new year dawns bright because, for optimists, 2002 will be the year that the government of the United States of America makes a serious and worthwhile attempt at settling the issue of passenger rail service in this country.

1. Among the several things that must happen for a New Amtrak to be viable is the complete removal of the current discredited Amtrak senior management. Their business plan failed, their vision for a national system turned out to be solely a focus on the Northeast Corridor and other phantom corridors which could be used to pump free federal cash into the company.

   Two senior executives are still MIA and haven’t been accounted for so far this still very new year. Another, who is has also been thought to be the heir apparent to the CEO and president’s post, has become unusually visible.

   For the moment, the current status of Amtrak leadership is as well kept of a secret as Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts.

   One scenario has one of the leaders returning to New Jersey, as either a high level state bureaucrat, or as part of the senior management of New Jersey Transit after the newly elected Democrat administration assumes office and makes senior appointments.

   Whatever the current status, the sooner Amtrak senior management is COMPLETELY replaced, the better.

2. As the New Amtrak is created, it is going to be incumbent on the national news media to give itself more than a passing acquaintanceship with the many intricacies of passenger rail service. While there are some good national rail reporters in Washington now, there are some that for so long have bought into the Standard Amtrak Party Line of misinformation that their credibility is next to nothing with many knowledgeable sources and opinion makers.

   Truly good reporters are going to have to stretch themselves, do some homework, and start writing stories based on all of the facts instead of only what Amtrak has been feeding them.

   Other journalists around the country are in sore need of education as well. Their many attempts at “cute” and “wit” in stories, such as “Amtrak chugged down the track towards more federal monies today” need to be moth balled, and their stories need to take on a realistic tone like those of any other industry.

   Passenger railroading is a complicated and intricate story. Right now, the best Washington reporting is being done by the national wire services, not by local or regional reporters. The rest of the group needs to pay attention and get their stories right the first time.

3. The House and Senate are the other parts of this equation of solving the Amtrak problem. In fact, as usual, it will be these august bodies which make the final decision.

   Again, the House and Senate staffs, where the real work is done, need to follow the path of some of their existing senior staffers, and do their homework. They must dig far beyond what they have been spoon fed by Amtrak, and learn for themselves the details of what they will be spending literally billions of dollars on over the next decade or more.

   The reality is that the costs of fixing Amtrak rank up there with many other federal programs that are most often given far more attention, time, and study than Amtrak usually receives.

   The 20+ million Americans that boarded an Amtrak train this year, plus all of those who would have if local service were available, deserve the best thinking and consideration on the subject that any other group of Americans would have on most other matters.

4. The last part of this equation are the individual supporters of passenger rail. These are the Americans who live and breath passenger rail, even if they only ride a train every couple of years. These are the people who pass out leaflets, write their congressman, and annoy their family, friends, and neighbors with their passion for passenger rail.

   Along with the 20+ million Amtrak riders and other supporters of passenger rail in this country, this group has the most emotional baggage to deal with in 2002.

   Many are just now realizing how much they were lied to and deceived by Amtrak and its duplicitous organizations in the past. These were the people who truly believed The Big Lie that Amtrak was on the “glide path to self sufficiency” by 2002.

   It’s been difficult for many to turn away from their cherished - albeit, wrong - thoughts, and realize that sheer hope and billions and billions of free federal dollars are not going to fix what is wrong with Amtrak.

   Even more difficult after this realization is that they must face a future of uncertainty in their minds that the New Amtrak is going to serve their needs.

   It’s hard to lose a war and be happy about it.

5. The good news in all of this is that some very good people are working on the future of passenger rail and the New Amtrak. We have to place our trust in these organizations and individuals that are working hard to bring a myriad of visions into reality.
6. The beginning of a new year is a good time to look back and see some of the heroes of last year in the realm of Amtrak. Here is a list of heroes, in no particular order after the first one:
   1. The Amtrak Reform Council. This group of patriots had the nerve and good sense to shoot Bambi, and clear the way for new growth and prosperity. Five or 10 years from now, passenger train riders will be arguing over where new statues and monuments should be erected in honor of the ARC’s members and staffs.
   2. The middle level and front line managers of Amtrak and the contract employees who have kept the company functioning and providing basic services as best they could under almost impossible conditions. No matter what silliness emanated from 60 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington last year, Amtrak kept on working and getting passengers from terminal to terminal. These people, the real unsung heroes of Amtrak, deserve high praise.
   3. The United Transportation Union and its president, Byron Boyd. Mr. Boyd took a strong public stance against the current Amtrak senior management after the ARC finding was released last November. Mr. Boyd did not mince his words, and was forthright in his indignation for the hurt and abuse which has occurred at Amtrak under the abysmal stewardship of the current senior management. Mr. Boyd was an example to all that “enough is enough” and we all must have the courage of our convictions and make those convictions known.
   4. The American traveling public. Often oblivious to the many problems of Amtrak including horrid on-time performance, people kept calling Amtrak and booking reservations. While many trains ran with plenty of excess space, train riders continued to be train riders, keeping the need for the service alive.
   5. The Bush Administration. While the Bush Administration was not highly visible to most Amtrak riders or supporters, it quietly worked behind to scenes to come up with a solution to “the Amtrak problem.” The Bush Administration is the first administration in a number of years to actually assign a professional team to address the needs of American passenger train riders. Most prior administrations either treated Amtrak as a labor issue or as something that should just be funded and allowed to limp along on its own.
   6. Congress. 2001 was a year when a near record number of bills, in both the House and Senate, were filed to deal with Amtrak. Included were RIDE 21, RAIL 21, HSRIA, and a number of more modest bills, all designed to help and assist passenger rail travel and commuter rail travel. Also included were the first brilliant attempts in RIDE 21 at addressing the needs of private freight railroads for help improving infrastructure.
   7. Governor Jeb Bush of Florida. Governor Bush committed $82.5 million dollars to the rehabilitation and reconfiguration of the Florida East Coast Railway to restore passenger service down the east coast of the state from Jacksonville to West Palm Beach. Outside of the Midwest high speed rail initiative, the voter approved rail programs in California, and the commitment North Carolina has made to passenger rail travel, it has been difficult to find states that are willing to include passenger rail as part of their overall state transportation plans.

      Florida’s Department of Transportation policy is to build no new roads in Florida, but expand rail service, instead.

We’re off and running for a new year and the creation of the New Amtrak. Here’s hoping for the best.

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