United Rail Passenger Alliance

Volume 3 Number 11

1. Call it what you like. Some will call it bait and switch, some the ‘ole switcheroo, some will call it a shell game, and others will call it smoke and mirrors. It’s your choice. What we’re talking about is Amtrak’s addition of 64 managers to train and manage the newly reduced dining car staffs on long distance trains. Yes, this new program, which attempts to validate its existence by saying that 60% of the alleged losses in Amtrak dining cars are due to personnel costs, and where over 100 onboard personnel have been furloughed so there will be less employees in the dining car and lower costs, has added 64 managers to make sure things run smoothly.Okay, let’s take a fresh look at this. Dining cars, prior to the disaster known as Diner Lite, ran with crews of anywhere from five to nine employees, depending on the train. These people were managed by the existing management staff. So, due to the demands of micro-managing by Congress, dining car staffs have been slashed, mostly to save money and demonstrate to Congress Amtrak can attempt to be fiscally responsible. At least 100 employees from crew bases all over the country have lost their jobs. There are now rigid seating regimens in dining cars so the new, tiny-sized staffs can handle all of the passengers who require meals to stay alive. Chefs, which once had one to three assistants, now work alone, and are also dishwashers. Lead Service Attendants, which used to handle the duties of host and money manager, now also work as waiters and bus boys. Dining cars originally designed to seat 72 passengers and have a wait staff of six, now have a wait staff of one. This required 64 new managers? On whose payroll? Are these managers charged to food and beverage budgets, or some other budget that Congress is not peering over its collective reading glasses at for every decimal point? Does this mean that those lower on the dining car food chain have lost their wait staff jobs, while others in the company at a favorable managerial level have retained their jobs, but with questionable new responsibilities? Inquiring minds want to know, especially those of former Amtrak employees now on the street looking for a new job, and passengers forced to eat what some have already called the indigestible Diner Lite bill of fare.
2. Here’s an example of what Amtrak apologists and cultists are fighting tooth and nail to preserve and protect. It’s a mystery to any rational thinking person why this type of event causes no more than a shrug of the shoulders for that group, with a non-apologetic “things happen” comment. This type of event is not acceptable for Amtrak, any airline, or bus company.This story comes from KGPE CBS TV47 in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The students were traveling from Sacramento to their home in Corcoran, California, on San Joaquin corridor train No. 704, covering a distance of 254 miles in Central California. Read more…

Volume 3 Number 10

1. Shame on them for not knowing better. Shame on them for not being more creative. And, it’s true in Washington, if you want a friend, get a dog.What they (Amtrak staff management) should have known better about is that the hapless Diner Lite program is not going to work, based on past history; they should have had the institutional memory to figure it out. What they should have been more creative about is a way to work within the context of the Congressional micro-managing mandate to improve dining car and sleeping car financial results without resorting to Diner Lite.And, from a friend standpoint in Washington, look at what one Washington insider had to say about departing United States Department of Transportation Inspector General Kenneth Mead: Read more…

Volume 3 Number 9

1. f you haven’t taken a look lately at VIA Rail Canada’s web site at http://www.viarail.ca do yourself a favor and see what it has to offer. VIA has positioned itself as a company which specialized in leisure, long distance travel (while still recognizing the needs of business travelers), and has tailored its web site accordingly. The site is friendly, easy to use, and chocked full of good information. There is also an extensive section on VIA executives and the company’s strategic plans and finances.
2. Here is VIA’s latest press release from last week. This is a company that is not afraid to offer good passenger service and good food. Read more…

Volume 3 Number 8

1. Amtrak Chairman of the Board David Laney was a featured speaker Friday, January 27th at the Second Annual South Central High Speed Rail Corridor Conference, held in Dallas, and hosted by Texas Rail Advocates. Here are excerpts of the report of his remarks, from http://www.texasrailadvocates.org Read more…

Volume 3 Number 7

1. Can you feel the tingling in the air? Yes, it’s that time of year again, when all of the wards of the federal government line up and begin the annual begfest and budget requests for the 2007 fiscal year which begins October 31st.Reuters news service has already reported that the White House Office of Management and Budget is requesting $900 million for Amtrak next year, what inexplicitly in the past has been wrongly called a “shutdown” budget by those who don’t understand the true nature of Amtrak’s budget needs. Let’s understand the simple statement and fact of Amtrak life that repairs and upgrades on the Northeast Corridor have nothing to do with running the national system, and the capital needs are separate from operating needs. A figure of $900 million more than adequately covers all operating assistance needs nationwide and on the NEC and leaves plenty of room for reasonable capital improvements.

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