This Was The Week That Was, Vol. II No. 7, 2002-01-25
Volume II Version 7 - This Was The Week That Was - An Amtrak Saga
January 25, 2002
Did you notice that today’s date is Friday, January 25th? Just 11 more months until Christmas Day!
Lots to talk about today. Let’s begin:
- The Paul Harvey Rest of the Story Department: Thanks to the US Department of Transportation Inspector General’s office, we now have the rest of the story to Amtrak’s constant claim it was experiencing record revenues and passenger boardings this past year.
According to a report issued and presented today, the IG said that Amtrak last year also experienced a record operating loss of $1.1 billion, the largest in Amtrak’s history. The report also said the company had an actual cash loss of $585 million for the year.
When you have record revenues and passenger boardings, it’s not uncommon to have record expenses, too. One usually hopes, though, that the revenues exceed expenses. Oops. Not this time.
The report also agrees with the ARC finding of last November that it will be impossible for Amtrak to meet its congressionally mandated goal of self-sufficiency of later this year. Amtrak, the report said, has run out of time to try and meet the goal.
- Amtrak is finding it tough to meet other goals, too, like fielding enough rolling stock to meet the needs of daily trains.
A week ago last Wednesday, January 16th, the FRA pulled from service the entire trainset making up the soon to depart westbound California Zephyr at Chicago.
It still has not been revealed what was wrong with the equipment; it had been in Chicago overnight since the previous evening, but reports say nothing was done to it until the midmorning of the departure date. The eastbound Zephyr is due into Chicago at 3:55 P.M., and sits overnight, awaiting a 2:45 P.M. westbound departure the next day.
Instead of annulling the train, the on-time arriving eastbound Southwest Chief trainset was commandeered upon entering Chicago, hastily cleaned and restocked, and sent back on the road as a five hour late departure of the westbound Zephyr.
Having an entire trainset pulled by the FRA is not a common occurrence. It appears that the old demon of deferred maintenance may again be rearing its ugly head for Amtrak Intercity trains.
Other reports show that the Kentucky Cardinal often departs Chicago for Louisville short of equipment that has been robbed to use on western long distance trains.
Since Amtrak’s pool of equipment to use for maintenance replacements is virtually at zero, some passengers somewhere are always going to be deprived of either accommodations or feature cars when something goes wrong. And, with the advent of deferred maintenance coming home to roost, this is going to happen more and more often.
Simply by equipment attrition, Amtrak is becoming the Great Disappearing Railroad.
- Back from disappearing is George Warrington, Amtrak President and CEO. He appeared in Washington Thursday (yesterday) at a press conference held by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It had been a considerable while since he had been sighted in public.
Earlier this week, when Amtrak Board of Directors Acting Chairman Michael Dukakis was asked about persistent and nagging rumors that Mr. Warrington was on his way out of the company, the former tank-driving presidential candidate and governor of Massachusetts flatly denied that Mr. Warrington was leaving, and reiterated the board’s unflagging faith in Mr. Warrington’s leadership.
The rumors, however, persist, particularly the one about current board member Amy Rosen of New Jersey wanting to be the next president of Amtrak. You may recall that Ms. Rosen, a consultant by trade, was a member of the previous Amtrak board that was wiped out by the Amtrak Reform Act of 1997. The Reform Act said that a new board must be appointed, and COULD NOT have any members of the pre-1997 Reform Act board members.
The Clinton Administration, which pretty well did what it wanted to do, no matter what the law, re appointed Ms. Rosen and also Sylvia de Leon to the new (now existing) board. The then-Republican controlled Senate did nothing to stop this illegal act, and went along with the game.
At the time of Ms. Rosen’s reappointment, there was some discussion of an alleged conflict of interest with the Amtrak board because she had a business relationship with New Jersey Transit, an Amtrak customer on the Northeast Corridor.
Now, Ms. Rosen is alleged to want to be the next president of Amtrak.
Upon reading the Midweek Update column earlier this week referring to the fact that, if appointed, Ms. Rosen would be the third president of Amtrak in a row to hail from New Jersey, one wag commented, “Are there any success stories that come out of New Jersey, other than Frank Sinatra?” One can only wish that people from other than New Jersey will be considered for the top job at Amtrak. Enough is enough.
- A local business newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee has reported that Amtrak has made a formal request to CSX to begin planning for operating a daily train from Louisville, Kentucky south to Nashville.
Plans are in the embryonic stage and lots of work needs to be done to bring the plan to fruition. However, a glance at the current schedule of the daily Kentucky Cardinal and the results of a test train run in the last few weeks by Amtrak and CSX, show that the existing Kentucky Cardinal equipment could easily be used for the relatively short extension from Louisville to Nashville.
An extension of the train would require no new or extra equipment, and finally reconnect the epicenter of Country and Western music and the mid south entertainment mecca with the rest of the world by passenger rail.
- Finally, yet another highly emotional and tragically sad note to end this week.
Ashley Woullard, one of Amtrak’s true stars, passed away Wednesday evening, January 23rd, in California.
Her passing was noted in a memo from Sunset Limited Product Line Supervisor, Victor Francis that was distributed throughout the Amtrak world. Mr. Francis, a gifted and eloquent man, noted the passing by saying
“At 11:15 P.M. on the night of January 23, 2002, Ashley Woullard passed away.
Ashley was one of Amtrak’s Finest Employees. She was awarded Amtrak’s highest Presidential Honor in 1993, Employee of the Year, in the category of Sustained Excellence.
Ashley was a Human Being of the Highest Caliber who touched everyone she met.
Her warmth, her generosity, her sincerity, her caring ways were felt by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her.
She was Beloved. She will be missed. She was our Friend.
She was My Friend.”
Victor Francis
Product Line Supervisor
Sunset LimitedAshley Woullard was a dear friend and beloved individual to all who knew her, including your humble correspondent. She lit up the world around her, had a million dollar smile, and made the world a much, much better place. She was lost to illness at a very early age.
She was the Sunset Limited’s star sleeping car attendant, and had also worked on the Coast Starlight and other trains. She was known throughout the company and the country. Someone may take her place on the seniority roster, but she will never be replaced. She was one of a kind.
She lived in the Los Angeles area, and every trip of the Sunset Limited she worked, she rode through her hometown of De Land, Florida on the way to nearby Orlando.
On one occasion, your humble correspondent was boarding the Sunset in New Orleans at the end of a business trip, headed home to Jacksonville.
Trudging down the platform late at night and feeling like death warmed over from an illness, there was no better tonic than to see that Ashley, a longtime coworker and friend, was this trip’s sleeping car attendant. “You look terrible!” she exclaimed.
She took over at that point. Got the bed in the room made, made sure everything was in order, and then guarded the door the rest of the night and next morning to allow uninterrupted sleep and recovery.
She was a true angel of mercy that trip, providing comfort and assurance to an ill traveler. She made what otherwise could have been a miserable trip home bearable.
That was her way. Passengers loved her. Fellow crew members loved her. Managers loved her. Your humble correspondent loved her.
Now, she is lost to the world, survived by her sister, Victoria. Our prayers and thoughts are with Victoria.
Ashley will always be remembered as that near-perfect person.
That concludes another week. Only time will tell if this week’s rumors of a change in Amtrak senior management are true. February 1st is a week from today.