Vol. 1, No. 9 - October 27, 2004
- Amtrak has some long time passengers and observers harrumphing over changes due next week on the NEC, similar to changes made previously on the Pacific Surfliners in the Republic of California.
Amtrak has instituted a new policy of one seat per passenger on NEC trains; standees are being eliminated. It has not been uncommon for riders, with valid tickets, to board trains, only to find them full, with literally standing room only. Amtrak is now demanding that passengers actually reserve a seat before they board the train. This can be accomplished at the station at any time prior to the train’s arrival, just like any other mode of transportation.
Those complaining have not given thought to the concept that standees are something found on transit systems, not passenger trains. Not only are the standees uncomfortable, but so are the passengers who planned in advance and reserved a seat. Standees also inhibit the free flow of passengers to and from restrooms, the lounge car, and during the detraining process. Safety, of course, is also an issue; when passenger cars are jammed to the rafters, there is less chance of survival in case of an accident.
NEC and Surfliner passengers need to treat Amtrak trains like the passenger trains they are, and not subways or regional commuter trains. If you plan to travel, take a short moment and make a reservation, or show up at the station early enough to purchase a reserved ticket. There is no inherent right to board the next train into the station if you don’t have a reservation. There may be huge crowds on holidays such as Thanksgiving, and certain holiday weekends. That doesn’t change the situation. If you’re going to travel, make a plan that includes reserved travel. It’s best for everyone.
- Amtrak is heavily promoting a new Amtrak branded Platinum Master Card as part of its Guest Rewards program. Gee, if you’re on time with your monthly payments at least 85% of the time (Amtrak’s systemwide goal for ontime performance of its trains, but the current annual standing is 76.8%), does this mean that you’ll be a success in the eyes of the credit card company?
- (Sigh) The poor Sunset Limited, Amtrak’s best and worst train. The Los Angeles based crews of the Sunset Limited are some of Amtrak’s best, working long hours and covering thousands of miles of geography, coast to coast on Amtrak’s longest route with elan. Then, there is the ontime performance of the Sunset, currently sitting at an average of 0% for the year. Yes, that’s a “zero” we’re talking about here, not a typo.
In the past, when this noble train took a years-long beating from the Union Pacific Railroad when it gobbled up the Southern Pacific, Amtrak managers approved the introduction of the Coast to Coast Adventure, a program designed to soften the blow of chronically late trains and help passengers understand why they were late and what Amtrak was doing to fix the situation.
Today, Amtrak is taking a slightly different approach, issuing the following notice to Sunset passengers:
"Until further notice, passengers traveling on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, trains 1 and 2, between Los Angeles, California and Orlando, Florida, may experience moderate to lengthy service delays.
"These delays are due to severe freight train congestion encountered by the Sunset Limited on tracks owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad.
"We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience you may experience."
Whew! That certainly takes the sting out of being late somewhere between four and 12 hours per trip. And, certainly, that does wonders for relations with the Union Pacific Railroad (there is word that the same notice is being distributed on the East end, blaming host railroad CSX for similar delays). Way, way back when, when passengers trains were operated by the freight railroads, it was a matter of corporate pride that passengers knew their host railroad was treating them well. That really doesn’t count, anymore. This is more an exercise in victimization, where no one takes responsibility for their own situation, and always blames someone else for all of their problems (you may have noticed a lot of that going on this election season by all candidates).
While it’s true that handling of the Sunset Limited leaves much to be desired, how much is Amtrak doing to help with this situation? Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, there was an upstart cruise line called Regency Cruises. It competed for a very profitable business sailing to Alaska and other cruise destinations with huge rivals such as Princess Cruises and Holland America. The Regency ships were small and old, the Princess, and Holland America ships new and shiny. Regency prided itself on attracting passengers back for second and third cruises with its good food and good service. There is always something creative that can be done to help any situation that requires heavy duty customer service recovery. Sending out a four sentence notice blaming someone else for your woes isn’t the answer.
- The latest great leap for an improved Amtrak of its core business as a result of the jettisoning of the mail and express business is the equipment used for trains 807 and 808, a coach that is operated on the rear of the Empire Builder between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago. As is often the case with the Empire Builder, this additional car also sees heavy patronage, but the car is unstaffed. The car is also not wyed at MSP, but the seats are turned so the passengers face the direction of travel. Here’s the catch: now that the few dozen mail and express employees at MSP are looking for new jobs, so too is the manpower to clean and service this coach.
Yes, the next morning after this car arrived in MSP the previous evening, it is attached to the rear of the Chicago-bound Empire Builder in exactly the same shape it was left by the West bound Empire Builder. No cleaning has been accomplished, no restrooms restocked and checked to be in good working order, and no seats turned. Can you imagine how excited first time Amtrak passengers would be to ride on this rolling slum from MSP to Chicago?
The popular steamboat Mississippi Queen makes regular stops in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and often groups of affluent passengers completing their riverboat trip use Amtrak to continue to Chicago. The Mississippi Queen passengers, just out of the lap of riverboat luxury, found a dirty Superliner coach without an attendant, the smell of urine in the car, trash cans full, half of the public toilets out of service, no functioning public address system, and all of the seats facing backwards. These are the types of passengers who often purchase bedrooms in sleeping cars at the drop of a hat. It’s a good chance none of these newly minted Amtrak passengers will consider train travel, again.
Another recent passenger on this imitation of a third world railroad car was a travel agent. The result? She said she would never again recommend Amtrak to any traveler for any reason. Some people say any publicity is better than no publicity at all. Many times, that’s just not true.
- A further word about Amtrak stations: Last week we discussed how Amtrak stations are truly the heart and soul (and often only) marketing effort in many cities and towns. The reality is, Amtrak needs more stations, not fewer stations, and it needs them in large suburban markets.
South Florida’s Gold Coast is the perfect example of how this works well. From Miami north to West Palm Beach, the Gold Coast is solid city, with nary a green space in sight (unless you count the coconut palm trees planted for the benefit of the tourists). The Silver Meteor and Silver Star stop six times in 65 miles (including Miami and West Palm Beach), and each station is heavy with passenger business. Yet, here in Jacksonville, in Northeast Florida, with a population of a million people, Amtrak stops once, in a remote part of town that is best known as a warehouse and high crime district. If passengers want to use the train from Jacksonville to Orlando, as an example, they often have to drive almost the equivalent of a third of the travel time between Jacksonville and Orlando just to reach the train station, and then cover the same geography again on the way south. This is also true in many other large cities.
Amtrak needs to strongly look at the old practice of suburban stations in large metropolitan areas, which would make the train convenient for local residents. These stations may not need to be necessarily staffed, just have a safe and clean platform and a secure parking facility. People will ride the train when it is both convenient and easy. In today’s mobile society, people will not drive out of their way in their private vehicle to take a train that may or may not show up on time, from an obscurely located station, that has a parking lot known for automobile break ins. As said before, passenger rail travel has many unique opportunities and advantages no other mode of travel has; when properly exploited, these opportunities and advantages turn into happy travelers, increased revenues, and lower expenses. What a concept.
- The news media in Richmond, Virginia is reporting that the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation and CSX Railroad have signed an agreement to start construction on upgrading the former RF&P line between Richmond and Washington, a distance of just over 100 miles. This line will primarily be upgraded north of Fredericksburg and south of Washington, adding capacity that will allow for the possibility of 15 new freight trains per day, and five new passenger trains per day, which will be a combination of regional commuter Virginia Railway Express and Amtrak.
The Virginia General Assembly made the $65.7 million in Commonwealth funds available for this project in 2000. Commonwealth officials have accused CSX of dragging its corporate feet, and causing delays. CSX has replied that this is a brand new, one of a kind initiative, which will be a model for other projects and free government money, and the railroad wanted to make sure everything was in place before final agreements were signed and construction began.
Good for CSX. The company could have easily taken the money and run, but, instead, chose to wait until the project was completely viable and the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Virginia will receive full value for their money. Currently, about 500,000 passengers a year travel over all or parts of these rails.
The old Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad was steeped in history long before it was completely absorbed into CSX at the end of the 1990s. Initially, the Commonwealth of Virginia took a financial interest in the RF&P in its earliest days in the first half of the 19th Century, and maintained an interest until sold to CSX at the end of the 20th Century. As a result, Virginia politicians were careful to protect the interests (and profit potential) of the RF&P, and prohibited any competing rail lines from being built between Richmond and Washington. The RF&P carried freight and well-known passenger trains for several foreign roads, and Potomac Yards in Northern Virginia (the site of today’s Crystal City development) was one of the nation’s largest freight yards.
The end result, was that if you wanted to move a train of any description from the Southeast to the Northeast in the most expeditious fashion, you routed the train over the RF&P. The company practically printed its own money. The result of this is the railroad’s remaining main line between Richmond and Washington, a double track former speedway that was built for efficiency. The money from the public coffers of Virginia will help upgrade the old RF&P to meet the needs of today’s traffic demands, beyond those of the first half of the 19th Century.