United Rail Passenger Alliance

Vol. 1, No. 5 – September 30, 2004

1. Amtrak is a business, not a tool of social engineering. Amtrak for too long has been bedeviled by starry-eyed leaders who thought it was either a huge federal jobs program or transportation necessity. Neither is true. One academic has even suggested that it’s essential for Amtrak to provide low cost transportation to the public. Not true, either. If Amtrak is to become healthy and survive into the future, it must be both thought of as a business, and run like a business. As long as it depends on federal handouts, it will always be in danger of collapse.
2. Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn is not the savior of Amtrak, and when the history books are written, will not be regarded as Amtrak’s best president, as many now proclaim. Even though he started off with a bang and did excellent work cleaning up after his predecessor, he does not have the vision to make Amtrak a true participant in a national transportation network. Mr. Gunn has a political tin ear, likes drama too much, and is far too focused on the NEC while ignoring the national system, which early in his stewardship he declared would be maintained, but not expanded. Actually, Mr. Gunn has continually presided over cuts to the national system and services such as the loss of dining and sleeping cars, as well as routes. Read more…