United Rail Passenger Alliance

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. Read more…