United Rail Passenger Alliance

Vol. 2, No. 14 – July 01, 2005

1. One area where Amtrak constantly shines is the public system timetables, and the current Spring/Summer 2005 issue continues that tradition. The design is good, the information presentation is good, and the company promotional aspects are good. It’s too bad that these timetables were obsolete before they went into use because of the Wondertrain Acela problems that forced cancellation of the Acela service on the Northeast Corridor.

   It’s interesting to note that when passengers at Pennsylvania Station in New York City asked for a copy of the timetables, they were told the timetables had all been discarded because of the Acela cancellations. In other words, the station agents in New York City presumed that information on the entire national system was unimportant because service in one small area of the country was interrupted. Word is that Amtrak headquarters intervened, shipped new timetables to Penn New York, and had stickers placed on the front of them warning of the Acela information. It’s nice to know that New York City, which, next to Washington, DC, considers itself the center of the world, has rejoined Amtrak’s national system.

2. Amtrak, after a decade-long pause, has hired a vice president for customer service, who will be in charge of onboard and station services, as well as other areas that have an impact on passengers. The gentleman hired, who will begin in August, was first hired by Amtrak under the Tom Downs administration (The first of the Transit Trio of Mr. Downs, George Warrington, and David Gunn). He left the company to go into private enterprise, and has now returned to Amtrak under the third of the Transit Trio, Mr. Gunn. Here’s the scary part: like so many people first hired by Mr. Downs, the gentlemen left the administration of the District of Columbia city government to come to Amtrak. We all know how well city government in Washington works. And, this gentleman will be in charge of Amtrak customer service.
3. A rather frightening event occurred in Chicago a few days ago. The Southwest Limited, train No. 3, departed its originating terminal minus all 28 of its sleeping car passengers.

   It seems that the sleeping car passengers, patiently waiting as they were told to do in the first class Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago, were never called for boarding for the train, and it departed without them. As a result, each passenger received dinner that night in Chicago, along with hotel accommodations at Amtrak’s expense, and the next day were flown to their destinations. One can only imagine how much money this cost Amtrak.

   Chicago has long been known as a cesspool for Amtrak customer service and maintenance, and this event at the height of the summer travel season only adds to the unsavory legend. Did not the sleeping car attendants notice they had NO passengers boarding at this busy terminal? Did not the conductor notice he lifted no sleeping car tickets at boarding? Was anybody awake in the first class Metropolitan Lounge that could have checked on the status of the train? Inquiring minds want to know.

4. Amtrak’s annual begfest for free federal money is half over. The House of Representatives this week voted to appropriate $1.17 billion for Amtrak for FY 06. Amtrak has demanded $1.8 billion, or alleged dire consequences will occur to the foundations of the Republic.

   In the House appropriations committee, Amtrak was approved for only $550 million, which was decried as a “shutdown budget,” a favorite term for Amtrak, Amtrak apologists and cultists, and Amtrak’s various attendant sycophant wholly owned lapdog organizations. Acolytes of David Gunn and his school of high drama and tragedy thought great conspiracies were underfoot, and this was the handiwork of entrenched ideologues who only wished great ill upon Amtrak. (Sigh). It’s always the same old story. Amtrak is one of America’s greatest political footballs, and every year recently it has been used to make political points, while in the end, Congress always gives Amtrak a generous amount of free federal money. Let’s be realistic about what we’re talking about here, because we’re sure to hear from the Amtrak chorus that even $1.17 billion is too little, too late. Hogwash. Amtrak itself says the national system takes $300 million a year in free federal money subsidy to operate. Amtrak claims that Acela is profitable (as Enron claimed it was a good corporate citizen), and that the rest of the NEC trains can be operated for less than the national system.

   So, where does the rest of the money go? Why, of course, the great bulk of it goes into capital improvement projects on the NEC. So, since less than half of what Amtrak is getting in free federal money goes towards actual operations, and the rest is for elective capital improvement projects, why is there a “shutdown” crisis?

   Because Amtrak incorrectly focuses the bulk of its resources and attention on the financial black hole otherwise known as the NEC, and pretty much ignores the rest of the country. Somehow, a crisis of bridge replacements in Connecticut is supposed to be a crisis for rail passengers in Texas, Colorado, and Nebraska. No rational person has yet to make this bizarre connection work in their minds.

   The solution to this annual gnashing of teeth and great wailing is very simple. Amtrak desperately needs to get rid of the NEC infrastructure and accompanying overhead and maintenance, and just be an operating company, as it was originally envisioned and chartered in 1971. The worst thing, other than the arrival of the Transit Trio and the havoc they have put upon Amtrak with their poor stewardship, was the 1976 transferral of the NEC from the bankrupt Penn Central to Amtrak to allow the fledgling Conrail to have a fighting chance at economic survival. Conrail soared and prospered, while Amtrak has remained mired in a morass of epic proportions because of the upkeep and capital needs of the NEC.

   If Amtrak becomes an operating company, its free federal money subsidy needs would shrink considerably, taking it largely out of the political football arena. The NEC infrastructure, perhaps under federal government control, could receive the transparent separate funding it needs for ongoing capital improvements, without endangering train operations in the rest of the country. It’s a win-win situation for everyone except those at Amtrak and elsewhere who consider the NEC their giant phallic symbol and desperately hold on to this trackage so Amtrak can be a “real railroad.” Such silliness. All Amtrak needs to be considered a real railroad is to run trains efficiently and to the benefit of its passengers. No one says United or US Air or Delta is not a “real airline” because they don’t own the sky or airports. The same holds true for Amtrak.

   Amtrak needs an end to this annual manufactured slugfest. While it’s a great tool for the various attendant sycophant wholly owned lapdog organizations to use as membership and fund raising tools (What good is a membership organization without a constant crisis to keep the members interested?), all these annual mud fights do is drive away passengers and constantly give Amtrak a corporate black eye. While Democrats, liberals, and socialists and their ilk are busy using Amtrak changes and funding as a tool to strike back at the Bush administration simply because they don’t like ANYTHING that comes out of the Bush administration or from Republicans, this political one-upmanship is also hurtful in the public eye.

   The best thing for Amtrak is to try and change the conversation. The news media constantly refers to Amtrak as “struggling,” “financially weak,” and in other ways that do not instill confidence in future passengers. Amtrak doesn’t help this fiasco with its own statements to the media, especially those from President and CEO David Gunn. Amtrak Chairman of the Board David Laney appears to be attempting to change the public conversation saying “changes need to be made” versus constant financial crisis. Amtrak needs to take the lead in determining its own public relations fate. When the conversation becomes more positive, the end results will be more positive, too.

   The real interesting part of this year’s begfest now shifts to the Senate. The Washington Post, along with others, have hinted that Senator Trent Lott, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s subcommittee that deals with Amtrak, has his own ideas about the future of Amtrak. Senator Lott, along with a gaggle of senators from both sides of the aisle, have said that Amtrak will either be a national system, or no system at all. The coming dog days of summer should prove to have some life in them when Senator Lott’s proposals are made public.