United Rail Passenger Alliance

Vol. 2, No. 31 - October 28, 2005

1. Hurricane Wilma in Florida was an extraordinary gift to Amtrak, if you’re an Amtrak corporate bean counter. Once again, Amtrak took advantage of a natural disaster to shun its national responsibilities to operate a passenger rail system for the benefit of American travelers. (more…)

Vol. 2, No. 30 - October 17, 2005

1. “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” No, wait, wrong century. (more…)

By Andrew Selden, Vice President, URPA October 14, 2005The Amtrak Board’s initiative to reorganize the internal structure of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation - Amtrak’s real name - by separating the NEC infrastructure into a new, separate, subsidiary of NRPC, is a standard corporate technique to focus management resources - both capital and management attention - on core functions and avoid distraction and dissipation of both time and money.

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Vol. 2, No. 29 - October 11, 2005

1. A major event has happened in the checkered life of Amtrak that, if successful, will change Amtrak forever for the better. On September 22, 2005, the Amtrak Board of Directors voted to begin an exploration process of creating a separate subsidiary of Amtrak to own and operate the infrastructure and real estate of the Northeast Corridor. This will be a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary of Amtrak, and will have its own president and management structure, and the president will report directly to the Amtrak Board of Directors. The original part of Amtrak - the national system and the NEC trains - will operate as originally intended in the Amtrak charter of nearly 35 years ago; Amtrak will be an operating company that owns passenger rail cars and locomotives, based on the successful century long Pullman Company model. (more…)

Vol. 2, No. 28 - October 04, 2005

1. Golly, gee whiz, wow. It sure didn’t take long for Amtrak to reestablish the running of the Texas Eagle and the Sunset Limited into Texas following the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. Could that be because hurricane damage was minimal, or because Amtrak made the intentional decision not to run the train so it could allegedly save a few bucks, never mind the needs of passengers? Inquiring minds want to know. (more…)

by Bruce Richardson, October 2005

The passenger train in the 20th Century was shining symbol of the success of capitalism, a point of pride for private enterprise. How did this American icon go from being a showcase for a huge and successful industry to a welfare stepchild of government?

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