United Rail Passenger Alliance

Volume 3 Number 2

1. There is hope, after all. Last week, Amtrak’s Vice President, Transportation left the company. The gentleman in question is someone who had been with Amtrak for a number of years, all in high level posts, including as one of the last presidents of Amtrak Intercity before it was folded back into the previous corporate structure. We are all grateful the gentleman is pursuing other avenues of employment. Could this be the beginning of a process of sweeping out so many of the failed executives at Amtrak and beginning a search of competence instead of good old boy connections? Could Amtrak Acting President David Hughes now be holding his managers personally responsible for their areas of authority, and demanding more than “business as usual?”If this move is the result of Mr. Hughes taking action to improve Amtrak, then more power to him. The job of Vice President, Transportation is a major post within Amtrak that requires a combination of railroad skills and a complete understanding of the needs of passengers. The people who run the railroad – make the trains run, staff the mechanical forces, etc. have to understand the big picture beyond just making sure all the components for a full train consist exist. They must also understand the needs of passengers and onboard services crews, and how the operating and mechanical forces meet those needs for the convenience of passengers, not the operating department.
2. There was even more welcome news last week from the White House. President Bush, using recess appointments, reappointed Floyd Hall and Enrique Sosa as members of the Amtrak Board of Directors. They were originally appointed nearly two years ago in a similar scenario, and the Senate has shamelessly yet to act on their confirmations.There is suspicion that Democrat members of the Senate (euphemistically referred to as “Amtrak supporters”) have blocked the confirmation of Mr. Hall and Mr. Sosa for various political gain reasons. What are these Senators afraid of with these two well-qualified nominees? Are the Senators afraid that Mr. Hall and Mr. Sosa, along with Chairman of the Board David Laney are going to bring standard business practices to Amtrak? Are they afraid that these astute businessmen – well respected professionals each and every one in their chosen fields – are going to expose the “follow the money trail” to the Northeast Corridor where so many federal funds are unnecessarily used on what at best could be described as a limited regional interest and poorest choice for investment of federal capital into Amtrak?

   Amtrak apologists and cultists, along with some of Amtrak’s sycophant wholly owned lapdog organizations are opposed to Mr. Hall and Mr. Sosa because they say that neither gentleman has a railroad background and (gasp!) have never even ridden a passenger train. Let’s take a reality check here.

   Thirty years ago, it was likely that many business executives had ridden a passenger train, simply because of their age and time of life in the history of transportation. Today, most business people not only have never had the opportunity to ride a train for various reasons, but most probably don’t even know that Amtrak exists thanks to the marketing geniuses at Amtrak that continue to make Amtrak America’s best kept secret. Of all of the universe of qualified business people that are necessary to help tug Amtrak out of the financial mire that it is in today, probably less than one percent have ever ridden a train. Add to that the many non-benefits of being on a corporate board such as Amtrak that offers no real compensation, lots of political fallout and criticism, and a pretty good chance at being at the helm of what everyone considers a failed enterprise, and the bloom is pretty much off the rose as far as the attractiveness of qualified business people wanting to serve on the Amtrak board.

   While the now open position of Vice President, Transportation requires someone with a great deal of railroad skill, at this point in Amtrak’s history, the company – and America – far more need skilled business professionals that understand the worlds of finance, labor, and sound corporate strategy. Mr. Hall and Mr. Sosa fit that description. Through their service these past two years, and the changes they have begun to bring under the leadership of Mr. Laney, Amtrak has a fighting chance of survival to become less of a child of government, and more of a successful enterprise that will become a relevant and important part of our domestic transportation network.

   The ideal situation would be to have every board seat filled immediately; it’s a mystery to everyone what that hasn’t happened. There is no rational explanation for there to be so many open seats on the Amtrak board. But, working with what we have, we probably have one of the best scenarios possible today. Amtrak is fortunate to have the services of Mr. Hall and Mr. Sosa.

3. Full dining car and lounge car services have returned to the beleaguered Sunset Limited between Los Angeles and New Orleans. This is good news, but it’s not known for how long this will last if the Diner Lite program is instituted in February, as predicted.Although CSX crews are racing to reopen their railroad between New Orleans and Mobile, work is still in progress. The original estimate for reopening the Bay St. Louis railroad bridge was the first of March. No word if that schedule is running fast or slow, but it’s a good bet CSX wants that railroad reopened at the earliest possible moment. The track east of New Orleans hosted over 40 trains a day before Hurricane Katrina blew through the Gulf Coast; that’s a lot of freight tonnage that CSX is not making full dollar on while trains are either traversing other CSX routes as detours, or traveling over Norfolk Southern trackage detours as an expensive courtesy between competing railroads. Reports from Meridian, Mississippi on the Norfolk Southern main line, are that there are more railroad cars on the tracks going through town than there are automobiles on the highways.
4. As a result of the congestion on the Norfolk Southern main line through Meridian and into New Orleans, Amtrak’s Crescent has experienced numerous delays between Atlanta and New Orleans, causing the Crescent to be no more reliable than the Sunset Limited. What to do? Some have suggested truncating the Crescent at Atlanta, and forgetting about the sparse business between Atlanta and New Orleans. That’s a bad idea. New Orleans needs Amtrak service as it continues to rebuild and attempt to achieve any shreds of normalcy.Here’s a bold idea: create a new day train, complete with proper amenities and morally admirable meals, between Atlanta and Washington, with plentiful NEC connections in Washington that has a good chance of operating on time. This train, perhaps patterned on the Palmetto (a long time day train cash cow for Amtrak that costs practically nothing to operate) that runs up and down the Right Coast, would be an excellent experiment to see what happens when a second frequency is introduced on a popular route, and travelers have a choice of travel opportunities. This could be a great experiment to monitor how the traveling public responds to Amtrak meeting their needs.
5. An airline hoping against hope to exist on low fares and an unattractive hub at Dulles International Airport in Washington has financially flown into the ground. Independence Air, which flew small, regional jets and hubbed all business through Dulles ceased service last week. Its route structure primarily served cities east of the Mississippi River, and up and down the Right Coast. Independence Air relied heavily on Internet bookings for business.As is customary when one airline fails, another airline speedily fills whatever void was created by the failure. JetBlue, which is quickly becoming everyone’s favorite low cost, no frills air carrier, immediately announced a $25 one way fare between Boston and Dulles airport in Washington.

   Even though there is minimal cross business elasticity between air carriers and Amtrak, this allegedly dastardly deed by an alleged Amtrak competitor is bound to set off howls of protest and excuse mongering by Amtrak NEC apologists and cultists about unfair competition, modal envy, and a host of other silliness. Air travelers are air travelers, and train riders are train riders. While a small minority will travel on whatever is the cheapest way to travel (and a $25 fare into Dulles isn’t that cheap when you add the cost and time to get into the District of Columbia on top of the airfare), the difference is not enough to chase after with any great effort. It’s better to sell each type of travel on the unique strengths of the mode, not in false competition with each other.

   Even though 2006 is only two weeks or so old, probably the most bone-headed marketing thought has already occurred in relation to Independence Air’s timely demise. It has been suggested that Amtrak should take advantage of the end of Independence by trying to attract Atlanta-Washington travelers to the Crescent. Let’s look at this closely. A flight between Atlanta and Dulles takes about two hours. On the Crescent, the trip is 12 hours, and all of the travel occurs either overnight or in the early morning hours. Sure, some of those former low cost Independence flyers are going to rush right over the to Crescent for an overnight trip in an Amfleet II coach. Whichever twit thought of this idea needs a basic course in Marketing 101, plus having their head examined for the barest signs of common sense.

   One last fun fact to know and tell. With airlines coming and going onto the corporate scrapheap, there is always an excess of hundreds of airplanes stored at desert sites in the Southwest. These planes are well-maintained to both retain their value as equipment, and be able to be put to use in short order, if necessary.

   A Central Florida rail historian reminds us of another time, when, “according to The Pullman Company lists of cars, in 1961 there were 500 Pullman cars in ‘government’ storage as a hedge against any sudden need to move masses of people.” Considering this was the Pullman Company, all of the cars would have been either sleepers, diners, or lounges for long distance service. Keep in mind this was beyond any active fleet or fleet reserve needs for the railroads in 1961, and does not count any coaches of any type. As of January 6, 2006, Amtrak has a total of 307 sleeping cars, diners, and lounges in active service for long distance trains, with none in reserve. One can only surmise that in any national emergency, rail is not even an afterthought as a way of moving people from place to place.