This Week at Amtrak 2006-02-13
Volume 3 Number 8
- 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
“The national passenger rail service, Amtrak, ‘is in better shape and has a brighter future than in years past’ but faces many daunting challenges, according to Amtrak Chairman of the Board David Laney.
“While running through a list of challenges that the National Railroad Passenger Corporation faces, Laney addressed critics that oppose a national rail network and would like to dismember the current system. ‘The answer is clear - there is a place for intercity trains,’ he said. Truncating a passenger rail system into isolated corridors is not the answer, according to Laney. The chairman did address the need for expansion of passenger rail services in areas not now served. He indicated he would like to see one or two new corridors opened where there is sufficient traffic to make the services viable with other forms of transportation.
“While Amtrak is under pressure to reduce costs from a somewhat skeptical Congress, Laney spelled out areas where the company can and will do a better job in the future, under direction from the board. Laney said that Amtrak management has been given the task of reducing operating expenses by $200 million dollars in the coming years. He indicated that Amtrak is in the process of ‘renovating our house’ and ‘can not be lost in yesteryear.’ Labor is one key area where unions will need to come to the table and release their ’suicidal death grip’ on work rules so that Amtrak can be a viable entity. One example Laney pointed out was that nationwide ‘Amtrak trains have a total of 5,000 toilets, but when one needs to be repaired it takes three different craft union members to fix it.’ Labor is currently at 82 percent of revenue and the board chairman said that no business can operate with that high a cost.
“In the future, individual states should be prepared to assume some of the costs of passenger rail service through matching federal/state funding proposals, according to Laney. He indicated that there also needs to be more competition on Intercity passenger rail routes besides the current Amtrak services.
“Laney pointed out several core areas that need to be achieved. Besides getting needed concessions from the 13 labor unions that Amtrak must operate under, Congressional reauthorization of Amtrak’s right to operate must occur. It is now three years overdue, according to Laney, but he is hopeful that Congress can complete the reauthorization by May. Another area of concern is addressing the shrinking capacity on host freight railroads where Amtrak must run trains in most of the country. A dramatic increase in freight train traffic from a booming economy has made dispatching and running trains over many routes a major problem. Laney said that freight train interference in delaying passenger trains is a major concern that must be addressed by the freight railroads and government entities.”
- Amtrak continues to bring home the bacon for its cadre of managers. Here is a new report from Dennis Larson, Vice President of the Minnesota Association of Railroad Passengers:
“The Surface Transportation Board is reporting another increase in freight railroad employment of 3.6 percent from December of 2004 to December of 2005. The majority of rail freight employees are in the transportation department - train and engine, and employment is up 4.2 percent. These people are the workers that bring home the economic bacon for the U.S. railroads and deliver the real bacon to America. Freight train and engine crews account for 42 percent of railroad employment. Although train and engine crews are hired when business picks up, they are also the first to be furloughed when rail freight traffic declines.
“The next large group employed is the maintenance of way and structure employees that constitute nearly 21 percent of rail employment. They also maintain the track that Amtrak operates on throughout most of the nation. The maintenance of equipment and stores people are those that keep the steel wheels turning, fueled, maintained and supplied making up over 18 percent of the American freight rail work force.
“The freight railroads dedicate over 81 percent of their employees to train operation and maintenance.
“To manage the national rail operation, U.S. railroads employ executives, officials and staff assistants constituting 5.8 percent of total employment plus professional and administrative people - another 8.3 percent for a total of 14.1 percent in management support positions.
“Transportation, other than train and engine, is the remaining category at 4.5 percent.
“Amtrak is also included in the same monthly report but the makeup of employees is considerably different. While train and engine crews understandably make up the largest share of freight railroad employees at 42 percent, they are nearly the smallest segment of Amtrak employees at only 16.3 percent. Amtrak train and engine crews bring home the economic bacon too, but this is the group that Amtrak management has been most intent on trimming, even when business levels are high. Unfortunately this disrupts the transcontinental services that Amtrak operates.
“Maintenance of equipment and stores at 26.2 percent, is higher versus 18 percent for the freight railroads. But maintenance of way personnel (the track repair gangs) are also significant at 13 percent for their small route mile system in the Northeast Corridor versus 21 percent for the freight railroads spanning the entire nation. Considering the minimal number of route miles in the Northeast Corridor, maintenance of way employment is clearly out of line for a tiny corner of the nation.
“Transportation other than train and engine is higher at 14.2 percent.
“Using the same direct labor categories as the freight railroads to keep the trains rolling, engineers, conductors, track maintenance, and equipment servicing - the employees bringing home the “economic bacon,” account for only 56 percent of the Amtrak work force.
“The executives, officials, staff assistants (7.8 percent) plus professional and administrative people (22 percent) account for nearly 30 percent of Amtrak employees or more than two times more than the freight railroads. Amtrak has more management people at desks than they have people operating trains.
“The freight railroads have the complex operation, a national network that Amtrak only pays usage fees on, tens of thousands of freight cars and maintenance, and a sales force to deal with thousands of shippers. Yet the freight railroads have a relatively lean management team by comparison.
“Amtrak has recently begun another ‘money saving’ move, by downgrading dining car services. Reportedly over 100 dining car employees will be furloughed, the employees that serve the bacon. But oddly enough during the last year, December 2004 to December 2005, Amtrak has added 29 executives to its ranks, more expensive pork for its payroll, even though employment overall has declined by 4 percent.”
The most striking concept of Mr. Larson’s report is the percentage of train and engine crews Amtrak employs versus the amount of executives. In addition to Mr. Larson’s point about Amtrak desperately trying to trim over the road crews, another huge factor is that Amtrak employs a large amount of people to manage a relatively few amount of trains. The number of Amtrak trains launched from terminals daily is tiny in comparison to what the freight railroads launch, yet Amtrak’s management ranks rival those of the freight railroads, plus, the freight railroads maintain a much higher number of sales and marketing positions than Amtrak does, including Amtrak’s 24 hour reservations operations.
- As predicted last week in TWA, this year’s Amtrak free federal monies begfest will take place with much less drama than in past years, and much more dignity, as befits a national entity that provides an important choice as part of our country’s domestic transportation network. Here is a statement released by Amtrak about this year’s federal government budget process.
“February 6, 2006 Amtrak Statement on FY07 Funding Proposal
“WASHINGTON - Amtrak Acting President and CEO David Hughes made the following statement on the Administration’s funding proposal for FY07 announced today:
“‘The Administration’s proposal serves in part as recognition of the strategic reforms currently underway at Amtrak to reduce costs and make us more efficient. It is imperative that we continue to pursue these measures with urgency and energy. While the growth in our operating deficit has been halted and ridership continues strongly, we must seize the opportunity presented by the growing demand for passenger rail service around the country and make improvements to our customer service. If we can do this, and do our jobs well, we will have made the best case for continued public support for Amtrak.
“This is the first step in a nine-month process. Last year, Congress voted and the President signed an appropriation for Amtrak of $1.3 billion for FY06. This year, we again look forward to working with Congress and the Administration as we make the case for federal support.’”
While there are those who enjoy being in the cheap seats at drama festivals, clearly this year’s budget process will be much smoother than in the recent past. The real test will be to see who keeps a tight leash on Amtrak’s alcoholic-like enabling organizations that apparently base much of their membership recruitment on an annual false Amtrak budget crisis.
One priority for Amtrak’s legislative agenda needs to be the removal of the current budget year’s micro-managing requirement for better financial performance in food service areas and sleeping cars. Until Amtrak gets its financial house in order and a new accounting system in place, no one really knows how these two areas function from a financial standpoint. The thing we do know is that morally reliable food service is not an amenity, but a requirement, for all Amtrak services. Sleeping cars are also not the root of all financial evil, but cash cows that also feed the rest of the train.
- There was an unfolding drama on the Right Coast last week, as Amtrak annulled multiple Florida Service trains because of a lack of equipment, beginning Monday, February 6th. Here is a narrative of the drama as it unfolded.Train No. 51 is the westbound Cardinal, from New York City to Chicago Train No. 91 is the southbound Silver Star, from New York City to Miami via Columbia, South Carolina and Tampa Train No. 92 is the northbound Silver Star, from Miami to New York City via Tampa and Columbia, South Carolina Train No. 97 is the southbound Silver Meteor, from New York City to Miami via Florence, South Carolina Train No. 98 is the northbound Silver Meteor, from Miami to New York City via Florence, South Carolina
The figure which appears behind the train number in parentheses [such as (6)] is the date of departure of the affected train.
Discussant One: “Report says that the reason for the following cancellations, and for car shortages on the NEC this week, is that a surprise visit by the FRA [Federal Railroad Administration] turned up dozens of cars that failed inspection and had to be removed from service.
Amtrak reservations center computer capture:
************** NATIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER ADVISORY *************** ISSUED 06FEB06 WILMINGTON, DE. DUE TO A HIGH SHOP COUNT AND A SHORTAGE OF LONG HAUL EQUIPMENT IN NEW YORK THE FOLLOWING ADJUSTMENTS ARE BEING MADE TO THE FLORIDA SERVICE: TRAIN 97(6) IS CANCELLED NEW YORK TO MIAMI, FL. TRAIN 91(6) WILL DEPART NEW YORK APPROXIMATELY 4'30" LATE. THERE WILL BE THREE COACHES ADDED TO THE REAR OF TRAIN 91(6) AT WASHINGTON IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE AS MANY PASSENGERS OFF TRAIN 97(6) AS POSSIBLE (FOR COMMON STOPS.) AT ROCKY MOUNT PASSENGERS SCHEDULED FOR TRAIN 97(06) FOR THE FOLLOWING STOPS WILL BE TAKEN OFF AND BUSSED: RMT-FAY-FLO-KTR-CHS-YEM (DISCHARGE ONLY). AT&T CHARTER BUSSES WILL BE AT RMT FOR TRAIN 91(6)'S ARRIVAL. TWO BUSSES, RMT-CHS-YEM AND FAY-FLO-KTR.
Discussant Two: “Where DID all those professionally-budgeted billions that David Gunn spent go?”
Discussant Three: “Enquiring minds want to know the nature of these deficiencies. Wheels? Brakes? Amtrak not keeping up with required inspection intervals?”
Discussant Four: “For those who don’t already know: Due to ‘a high shop count and a shortage of long distance equipment in New York’ the Silver Meteor, Train 97(6) was cancelled entirely.
“Train 97(7) has now also been cancelled entirely for the same reason.
“Train 97(8) probably will not run, for the same reason, and it has been blanked for reservations in Arrow in case enough cars can’t be scraped up.
“What REALLY happened, according to two sources, each with partial information, and just now confirmed by an Amtrak representative, is that during a surprise inspection by the Federal Railroad Administration at Sunnyside Yard in Queens, dozens (one source says forty, the Amtrak source simply says ‘an awful lot’) of cars failed inspection and had to be taken out of service.
“Return trips using the equipment that’s not going to Florida are also now being cancelled, and all this is in the peak season for travel between the Northeast and Florida.
“I guess we need to say it again:
“STATE OF GOOD REPAIR”
Discussant Five: “Whatever this turns out to be, what would the FRA or the FDA find if they were to aggressively inspect Superliners? What would that do to western train operations, if a proportional number of Superliners were bad-ordered?”
Amtrak reservations center computer capture:
"DUE TO A SHORTAGE OF SERVICEABLE EQUIPMENT AT NEW YORK, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO OPERATE ALL THE LONG DISTANCE TRAINS. IN ORDER TO PRESERVE AT LEAST ONE TRAIN ON EACH ROUTE (CHI, NOL, MIA): TRAIN 97(6) CANCELLED, ALT. TRANS TO FAY-YEM ONLY. TRAIN 97(7) CANCELLED, NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION. TRAIN 92(7) CANCELLED, NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION. TRAIN 98(8) CANCELLED, NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION. TRAIN 97(8) CANCELLED, NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION. TRAIN 98(9) CANCELLED, NO ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION. "THE RSCC IS CALLING PASSENGERS FOR REACCOMMODATION ON OTHER TRAINS OR DATES, BUT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO PROTECT ALL THE SLEEPING CAR PASSENGERS IN SLEEPER DUE TO LACK OF SPACE."
Discussant Six: “This is disgusting.”
Discussant Seven: “Exactly. How is having a system that is subject to this kind of uncertainty any better than just parking the trains?”
Discussant Eight: “The more I think about this the more evident it becomes that this is a direct reflection of why [former Amtrak President and CEO] David Gunn’s management of Amtrak was a disaster. The FY ‘06 budget - for which this ‘great professional railroader’ and ‘wizard of turnarounds’ and ‘master of business discipline’ (and whatever other adulation the rail fans and pols have heaped upon him) is totally responsible - shows why. Out of a capital spending budget of $717.8 million, with another $24 million to be reserved (’Assumed Under Spend’), $453.9 million (63%) was allocated to a variety of infrastructure (their word) applications. Guess where that money is headed - I would guess that relatively little of that will be used on the Sunset Limited’s fixed facilities. Another $118.6 million (16.5%) is allocated to a variety of other categories, including ‘Facility & Other,’ ‘Procurement,’ ‘Law/Real Estate,’ and ‘Police & Security.’ Just a wild guess on my part, but I doubt that much of that is headed west of Harrisburg, either, so let’s arbitrarily put 90% of all this to the Northeast Corridor.
“The budget then puts $124.3 million (17.3%) to ‘Passenger Cars’ and another $43.9 million to ‘Locomotives.’ The budget does not break out rolling stock maintenance as between the NEC and the other routes, but whatever the actual split is, some major part of the $124 million will go to NEC and other corridor assets, and a minority of it to long distance trains, and a smaller split of that to eastern long distance assets. As only a guess, the eastern single-level car fleet will get maybe 3% of the capital budget in ‘06.
“Now, when we contemplate why it is that (a) the FRA found cause to condemn dozens of cars, which had been in use the day before carrying revenue passengers, and (b) Amtrak had no fleet reserve at all and has had to cancel entire trains with ‘no alternate transportation provided,’ the answer seems fairly simple and direct: Gunn, by his free choice, had been putting 17% of his free federal handout into maintaining all of his revenue-producing capital equipment (and perhaps as little as 7 to 8% into long distance fleet assets that produce nearly half their revenue and output), 72% of it into the fixed assets of the NEC, and 0% into fleet replacement and expansion. And this is what we get as a result.
“I hate to say it, but next in line in culpability is Amtrak’s Board, by law responsible for the management of the corporation’s assets and business. They are supposed to be the ‘adult supervision’ over the geniuses running the day-to-day operations of the company. To their slight exoneration, all they know about the business is what Gunn, et al., and [United States Department of Transportation Inspector General] Ken Mead, told them; but after Enron/Worldcom, if not sooner, that’s really not a good excuse anymore.
“Next in line in culpability is Amtrak’s cheerleading membership organizations, led by NARP, which cheerfully acquiesced in Gunn’s budgets and, so far as we know, said and did nothing to criticize the misallocation of capital, followed closely by Mr. Mead who was too busy reinventing the RDC [Rail Diesel Car; a bus on steel wheels on steel rails] that he missed the bigger issues altogether.
“Probably the biggest failure of all out of this is Gunn’s abject failure to understand that he was investing, by Gunn’s free and unconstrained choice, well under 10% of the available capital into the one application that offered them a huge return on investment measured by ticket revenue and output, and 90+% into applications that had available ROIs of one seventh (or less) of the ROI from investment into long distance fleet assets.
“And then they wonder why so many rational people object to giving Amtrak the free handouts that they get, much less giving them even more money to put to such poor use.”
Discussant Nine: “When the Acela trains came out of service [in Spring of 2005] with cracked rotors it was a national emergency. What’s this?
“This is the current step in a carefully orchestrated, long term plan to sabotage the service by shrinking it, making it inconvenient, and allowing it to deteriorate until there is no longer a clientele willing to use it, and to protest its discontinuance.”
Discussant Ten: “As of yesterday [Thursday, February 9th] the list of OFFICIALLY cancelled and truncated Eastern long hauls was:
“97 of the 8 and 9,
“51 between New York and Washington DC 8th,
“98 of 8 and 9
“92 of 10th.
“Friday’s 97 going up in smoke wasn’t yet official.
“Apparently Amtrak cares so much about the long distance service that there isn’t even a Service Advisory posted at http://www.amtrak.com, regarding this unprecedented cancellation of service on what used to be a vital and necessary Amtrak route.”
Discussant Eleven: “And that’s exactly what we thought when the current scheduling scheme went into effect, with both Silver trains [departing Miami] within a few brief hours of each other. Kill Ocala [Florida], then kill the Ocala bus, then kill Tampa, and then say they have one trainload of people on two trains during the same part of the day and ‘improve’ it by killing one of the trains. But wait - They’re totally squandering revenue and nobody cares!”
And finally, much to everyone’s relief, the following was issued by Amtrak on Friday, February 10th:
“System Operations Advisory
“Issued February 10, 2006
“Significant progress has been made in reducing the concerns regarding equipment availability in New York. Amtrak’s Mechanical forces report that beginning February 11, 2006, Amtrak is able to resume and maintain a normal operation in the Eastern Long Distance service.
“Normal service will resume southbound from New York to Miami beginning with train 97 on Saturday, February 11, 2006.
Full service is restored northbound on February 12, 2006 from Miami when both trains 98(12) and 92(12) resume normal operation.
“Recap of Service Adjustments
“Cancelled: 97(6) 92(7) 97(7) 98(8) 97(8) 98(9) 97(9) 92(10) 97(10) 98(11) 51(8) Cancelled New York to Washington only.”
Amtrak reservation center computer capture, that same day:
"CATEGORY-MGC SUBJECT-FEB ... 10FEB06 1103 8210 PAGE NO 30 01 WE NEED THREE PHONE NUMBERS FOR EVERYONE 02 03 WE HAVE CANCELLED QUITE A FEW TRAINS LATELY, AND ARE HAVING 04 SIGNIFICANT CUSTOMER SERVICES PROBLEMS WHEN WE CAN'T CONTACT 05 THE PASSENGERS TO TELL THEM - ESPECIALLY IF THEY TAKE A 06 CONNECTING TRAIN TO THE CANCELLED TRAIN'S ORIGIN POINT AND 07 NOW FIND THEM STRANDED WITH NO ONWARD TRAIN. 08 09 IT IS MANDATORY TO OBTAIN THE FOLLOWING PHONES. IF THE 10 PASSENGER REFUSES, DOCUMENT THE PNR. 11 12 ONE WAY TRAVEL: 13 - HOME PHONE (ALWAYS) 14 - CELL PHONE (IF THE PASSENGER HAS ONE) 15 16 MULTI-LEG TRAVEL INCLUDING ROUND TRIPS: 17 - HOME PHONE (ALWAYS) 18 - DESTINATION PHONE (ALWAYS) 19 - CELL PHONE (IF THE PASSENGER HAS ONE)"
And, so the saga of the lost Florida Service ended fitfully, yet peacefully, and with an earnest effort on Amtrak’s part to be better prepared to contact passengers in case of other service failures. Keep in mind all of this lost business was not due to the fact that Amtrak didn’t own the necessary rolling stock, but to the fact that Amtrak chose not to maintain the rolling stock it owns. There would have been more than enough equipment in reserve if only Amtrak performed necessary maintenance as required, instead of just sending cars into the weeds on side tracks when maintenance is required and ignoring them from that point forward.
The moral of this story? There are so many problems inside of Amtrak with the current executive corps, that it is impossible to imagine how the next president of Amtrak can come from inside of the company. Someone from the outside, without current working relationships and allegiances is critically necessary to come into the company and “clean house.” The current Amtrak Board of Directors has made an excellent start, and Acting President David Hughes deserves a medal for walking into a mess and holding things together while the search goes on for the next permanent president of Amtrak. In the mean time, Amtrak passengers, employees, and the American taxpayer “took it in the neck” because Amtrak made horrific choices on how to spend its abundance of free federal monies and the income it receives from ticket sales. Keep in mind this is just the middle of the second quarter of the fiscal year, when all budgets - including maintenance - have plentiful amounts of money left to spend.
The service lapse on the Florida trains is NOT due to a shortage of money or funding, it is strictly due to two factors; Amtrak chose to ignore the needs of the long distance system, and chose to support the NEC, first. By maintaining less than razor thin margins of rolling stock, Amtrak daily gambles on its ability to put trains over routes and complete its mission of serving passengers.
- Equipment shortages are not the only problems Amtrak is facing. The railroad is still employing too many people it should have never hired in the first place. Here is a report from a conductor on the Portland, Oregon section of the Empire Builder, which is currently Amtrak’s glamour train for high levels of service and standards:
“Had a great run-in with the sleeping car attendant Friday night. Older, woman with graying hair. She was very sweet (almost TOO sweet; it seemed fake) to me on the train, but she did the bare minimum and sat in her room on her cell phone almost the entire time.
“At Pasco [Washington] a woman showed up who claimed she had bought a ticket in Klamath Falls that morning for the sleeper to Whitefish, but that they had ticketed her for the following day. Knowing a few of our Klamath ticket agents, I wasn’t surprised. She was indeed ticketed in 11/2830 on the 4th. I knew H was open in the sleeper (but that was the only open room), and told her to go back there and board and I’d be back after our job briefing.
“Well, I walked back there just before departing PSC, and the woman and her daughter were still standing on the platform, and the attendant had her door closed. The daughter was crying. Apparently the attendant had told them she would not let them ride. I went to get the attendant and rectify the situation, and she started literally yelling at me. ‘She has no right to ride tonight; she’s ticketed for the wrong date, etc., etc., etc. Right in front of this poor woman and her crying daughter.
“I finally said ‘You WILL put this woman in H or else you’ll be out of service right here,’ to which she replied ‘Psssh’ about 10-20 times, but she grudgingly made the room up. The problem was that she had her linens and ice chest, etc. down there and didn’t want to move it all out. She made a big show moving everything out like it was the most work she’d ever done. I think she had probably planned on sleeping down there as well.
“I was a TA [Train Attendant] long enough that I know how much we all hate surprises and last-minute room sales in the sleeper. I would have been mildly annoyed had I been that attendant, but that’s just too bad. She made two mistakes: 1) Making such a big scene in front of our passengers, and 2) arguing with me! I’m usually a pretty nice guy to both passengers and crew, but in a situation like that I’ll always err on the side of customer service.”
The good news here is that this report (complete with names and other pertinent information) made it directly to the proper office in Chicago where the erring attendant was dealt with appropriately.
- W. Thomas Rice, retired Chairman of the Board of Seaboard Coast Line Industries, and who helped create CSX, died Sunday, February 5th in Richmond, Virginia after a short illness. He was 93. Mr. Rice was at the helm of SCL when the decision was made for all of the railroad’s trains to be transferred to the newly proposed Amtrak, even though SCL’s mainline passenger trains were considered money makers. Only three of SCL’s trains survive today, the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and the Palmetto.
- Other than the former US DOT Inspector General and an assortment of ill-informed Amtrak senior managers, who says the desire for first class travel is dead? There is now a company and web site devoted solely to everyday first class travel for business and leisure travelers. The company is what is known in the travel industry as a “consolidator,” selling tickets on multiple airlines (but not a travel agency, which is a different type of company). Visit the web site at http://www.notcoach.com