United Rail Passenger Alliance

TWA is fortunate to have many generous contributors from all walks of Amtrak life, including some Amtrak officials who wish to have their side of the story told. Last week, one Eastern wag with knowledge of the situation was kind enough to share their version of what happened to train No. 704, and how it came to be 12 hours late. The gentleperson providing this information requested anonymity because they are not an official Amtrak spokesperson, but felt compelled to tell this story. A request was also made not to use their writing verbatim, for fear of recognition through a style of writing. So, here is the communication from the East, rewritten, but containing all of the facts transmitted to TWA:

• Amtrak knew what time the operating crew on train No. 704 would expire on the hours-of-service law [when the train left Stockton]. Calls were made to begin looking for a relief crew. A conductor was available, but not a rested and available locomotive engineer.
• Amtrak did request, and BNSF did provide, a rested engineer to operate the train (BNSF owns the tracks the train was operating over, and is also considered Amtrak’s friendliest host railroad). Matched with the rested Amtrak conductor, there was a lawful crew which could operate the train.
• Once the BNSF engineer got to the stricken train and climbed into the cab of the locomotive, it was discovered the engineer did not know how to operate this type of locomotive (locomotives are not like cars and trucks where everything is basically the same). The rescue engineer then advised his BNSF dispatch center that he could not move the train.
• Before the BNSF engineer arrived at the locomotive, Amtrak was under the impression the problem had been solved, since a lawful engineer and conductor were now assigned to the train, even though they were in transit and had not arrived at the train on the siding in Turlock/Denair. This false assumption/mis-communication cost two to three hours of lost time, because nothing else was done to rescue the train since everyone thought the problem had been solved.
• Amtrak felt there was no reason to begin a search for busses, because the train would be moving with the rescue crew they did not know had an unqualified engineer. Word is that BNSF, which thought it was being helpful and rescuing passengers, became corporately embarrassed over this mis-communication.
• It is now after midnight in California, and finally the search for busses began. No bus companies would come to Amtrak’s rescue and send busses to Turlock/Denair to take the passengers to their final destinations.
• Now after midnight, the hero of this was the Amtrak Road Foreman (the boss of the engineers), who drove over 100 miles to the stricken train, and joined the unqualified BNSF engineer in the cab of the locomotive, so the train was able to proceed to Corcoran and Bakersfield. The road foreman was qualified to operate the locomotive, and the BNSF engineer was qualified to pilot a train over that stretch of track. Together, they could legally move the train.
• The gentleperson sending the response went on to say that both CNOC, Amtrak national operations center in Wilmington, Delaware was involved in this process, as was Emeryville [California] Operations, which oversees operations in Washington State, Oregon, and California. They say that it was a horrid combination of events that caused the lengthy delay, not one single action.
• The gentleperson also was annoyed about the references to the crew bases being short of employees, and made note a rested Amtrak conductor was able to be found to work, but made no mention of the lack of an engineer. Further references were made to the general lack of train and engine operating crews on railroads all over the country, and that each railroad is finding it difficult to hire and train new conductors and engineers.
• A further reference was made by the gentleperson that Amtrak, in their view, tried very hard to provide transportation to its stranded passengers, and noted how unusual it is for Amtrak to detach an engine and deadheaded cars and move them across a different railroad (from Union Pacific to BNSF in Stockton, where the rescue train was assembled, replacing the first train which had a locomotive with a punctured fuel tank and broken air hoses).
• The last comment by the gentleperson was heartfelt, that this forthcoming information might help all readers of TWA understand what happened, and that yes, it may raise more questions, too.

It’s wonderful this information was provided, for it shows that someone was worrying about San Joaquin train No. 704. But, it also, as the gentleperson predicted, raises a lot of other questions, and, too, just because someone was working hard in their eyes on this problem, were the solutions the best available, and was there any input or thinking from outside their own box? Should there be no criticism because of what the people in the East felt was hard work on this problem?

The information states that Amtrak had full knowledge that it dispatched a train from the Stockton station with a crew that could not take the train to its final destination, or anywhere close. At the time of dispatching from Stockton, Amtrak still did not have a guaranteed full relief crew for the train.

To a true customer service oriented company, contingency plans, including reserving the services of a bus company “just in case” to meet the needs of the passengers should have begun the minute the mishap with the train originally occurred when the original train suffered a punctured fuel tank on the locomotive late in the afternoon, California time. Too much “wait and see what happens” mentality immediately came into play with this situation, and no immediate contingency plans were put into place.

The rescue train should never have been dispatched from the Stockton station. Stockton is not a small town, and there are resources there if passengers needed assistance Amtrak could not have provided. A railroad siding in Turlock/Denair is not an acceptable substitute for the potential facilities in Stockton, including working restrooms in a train station.

While the requisition of a deadheading locomotive and trainset from one part of Stockton to another (from UP to BNSF) to create a rescue train may appear to be heroic, this should have been a near-automatic response to meet the needs of passengers instead of an act of extraordinary valor and cunning. These were available resources, and they were used; what’s special about that?

BNSF gets lots of gold stars for providing an engineer; there are some Amtrak host railroads which may not do that; however, it is unfortunate the engineer could not operate the locomotive. Certainly, there is no mystery about what type of locomotive Amtrak uses in California; why wasn’t the questioned asked about the engineer’s qualifications when the call was made?

All in all, it’s great to have this additional information from someone important at Amtrak. But, the question still remains, why was the train dispatched from Stockton? Why were no bus companies willing to help Amtrak? The San Joaquin trains have an extensive bus feeder network at many points on the routes, why was no one willing to come to Amtrak’s aid?

Finally, this is not just about train No. 704 in California. This is about all of the other continual situations where Amtrak passengers find themselves stranded on trains time and time again. Yes, anytime you operate a large enterprise, unpleasant events are going to happen, and all that can be done is to issue apologies and refunds. But, again, this happens too frequently at Amtrak. What we see above is an effort to get a train eventually moving, but no contingency plans (other than feeding the passengers on the train, as stated last week) for the overall comfort of the passengers, that included having alternate transportation already in place in the event of such a problem.

Overall, we don’t see a corporate bureaucracy, functioning as a management team, that is willing to address this often repeated scenario, where Amtrak passengers become hostages on their own train to situations which are mostly avoidable. Again, as said before, and must be said as many times as necessary, there needs to be wholesale management changes at Amtrak that will sweep away the mentality that Amtrak trains are operated for the sake of the operating department, and not for the convenience of passengers. Repeat constantly and write this down: Amtrak exists solely for the purpose of being America’s primary passenger rail carrier, eventually as an important part of our domestic transportation network. In the role of America’s primary passenger rail carrier, Amtrak’s only mission is the safe, dependable, and expedient movement of passengers from station to station and terminal to terminal as convenient for the passengers, not the Amtrak operating and mechanical departments.

This will be an interesting test to see if food and beverage sales increase by bringing the product directly to the passengers, without requiring them to get up from their seats and negotiate their way to the Bistro Car. This sounds like a good experiment.

Peter Armstrong:

“[Transport] Minister [Jean Lapierre], the success of my company is a clear demonstration that growth in tourism travel is best left to private-sector operators focused on business models that work. Subsidizing the travel of our tourists simply is not necessary, yet that is what we continue to do through the on-going subsidization of VIA Rail.

“The federal government believes in the private sector’s ability to harness the potential of any business. You have unleashed the ingenuity of the private sector on Air Canada, Petro-Canada and CN Rail. Why continue subsidizing the travel of our foreign guests who are more than willing to pay the price of a competitively priced service?

“It is time to innovate and to motivate the private sector to invest its money. Instead of spending millions of dollars each month to keep VIA Rail going, your government will reap the benefits through increased employment and taxes. Why assume all the risks and problems when you don’t have to?

“In 54 other countries, the private sector is investing in all forms of passenger rail, from commuter to tourism services. Governments should focus on regulatory regimes to ensure safety, not the management of businesses. Now is the time for this government to sell off VIA Rail.

“Bill C-44 enshrines the status quo and it adds new elements of risk with VIA Rail’s ability to take on debt. The experience of Amtrak should be enough to convince you that this will not work. In the end, the U.S. government is on the hook for billions of dollars wasted on projects that didn’t work.

“Instead of the Bill C-44 section of the VIA Rail Act, you should instruct your ministry’s staff to sell off every route. Review each route on its merits before deciding on the need to subsidize any of them. The final analysis will show that most do not warrant the investment of taxpayer dollars.”

How times change. In the very last days of the 1960s before the creation of Amtrak, Union Pacific still operated premium transcontinental trains between Chicago and the West Coast that were known for superb, attentive service; well maintained equipment; and high ride quality.