United Rail Passenger Alliance

Volume 3 Number 21

1. Tick, tick, tick, tick … As of this writing, very close to the middle of May, no new Amtrak President and CEO has been named. We all await the choice of the Amtrak Board of Directors with great anticipation.
2. Whoever becomes the next chief steward of Amtrak, there are several daunting tasks that need to be undertaken immediately, above and beyond the financial, mechanical, transportation, passenger service, and operating issues.The Amtrak marketing department needs to be taken apart and put back together with a group of new professionals dedicated to the concept of Amtrak’s mandate to operate a national system of long distance trains. With the new group needs to be a new budget for marketing and advertising, that is more closely aligned with private sector budgets matching marketing performance with company revenues. Amtrak is spending about half now of what it should in this area, and the results demonstrate both a too small budget and a too wrong focus for Amtrak advertising.

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Volume 3 Number 20

1. This is the fifth and last in a series of special editions of This Week at Amtrak concerning a report by a bi-partisan forum of congressmen known as the Amtrak Working Group, led by Congressman Richard Baker of Louisiana. In March, this group issued the most important government document regarding Amtrak since the final report of the Amtrak Reform Council was issued in December of 2002 by Chairman Gil Carmichael and his blue ribbon panel. The title of the AWG report is “Amtrak in the 21st Century.”
2. Amtrak Chairman of the Board David Laney was quoted in a news article earlier this year saying a new President and CEO of Amtrak would likely be named in mid-May, which is only days away. We do know a well-known, international search firm was engaged to handle the search, and a number of respected candidates are part of the process. As this week marks the 35th anniversary of the start of Amtrak operations, we eagerly await the naming of a new chief for Amtrak.Whoever the new chief is, the Amtrak Working Group report has clearly outlined much of a full agenda of change which needs to be completed. In the past few months, we also know change has begun at Amtrak, under the combined leadership of Mr. Laney and Acting President David Hughes. Mr. Hughes has left a favorable impression wherever he has gone, helping boost employee morale and not hesitating to make needed changes. All of this process has been good, and long overdue.

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Volume 3 Number 19

1. This is the fourth in a series of special editions of This Week at Amtrak concerning a report by a bi-partisan forum of congressmen known as the Amtrak Working Group, led by Congressman Richard Baker of Louisiana. In March, this group has issued the most important government document regarding Amtrak since the final report of the Amtrak Reform Council was issued in December of 2002 by Chairman Gil Carmichael and his blue ribbon panel. The title of the AWG report is “Amtrak in the 21st Century.”There are a number of important topics which will be covered in a series of This Week at Amtrak special editions. The topics will not necessarily be in the order as presented in the group’s report.

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Volume 3 Number 18

1. This is the third in a series of special editions of This Week at Amtrak concerning a report by a bi-partisan forum of congressmen known as the Amtrak Working Group, led by Congressman Richard Baker of Louisiana. In March, this group has issued the most important government document regarding Amtrak since the final report of the Amtrak Reform Council was issued in December of 2002 by Chairman Gil Carmichael and his blue ribbon panel. The title of the AWG report is “Amtrak in the 21st Century.”There are a number of important topics which will be covered in a series of This Week at Amtrak special editions. The topics will not necessarily be in the order as presented in the group’s report.

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Volume 3 Number 17

1. This is the second in a series of special editions of This Week at Amtrak concerning a report by a bi-partisan forum of congressmen known as the Amtrak Working Group, led by Congressman Richard Baker of Louisiana. This group has issued the most important government document regarding Amtrak since the final report of the Amtrak Reform Council was issued in December of 2002 by Chairman Gil Carmichael and his blue ribbon panel. The title of the AWG report is “Amtrak in the 21st Century.”The Amtrak Working Group is a part of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and consists of Republican Congressmen Richard Baker, Vernon Ehlers of Michigan, Sam Graves of Missouri, Mark Kennedy of Minnesota, and John Boozman of Arkansas. Democrat members are Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Jerrold Nadler of New York, and Brian Baird of Washington.

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Volume 3 Number 16

1. It’s tough to know where to begin. The Amtrak Working Group, led by Congressman Richard Baker of Louisiana has issued the most important government document regarding Amtrak since the final report of the Amtrak Reform Council was issued in December of 2002 by Chairman Gil Carmichael and his blue ribbon panel. The title of the AWG report is “Amtrak in the 21st Century.”The Amtrak Working Group is a part of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and consists of Republican Congressmen Richard Baker, Vernon Ehlers of Michigan, Sam Graves of Missouri, Mark Kennedy of Minnesota, and John Boozman of Arkansas. Democrat members are Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Jerrold Nadler of New York, and Brian Baird of Washington.

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Volume 3 Number 15

1. Food and beverage service on Amtrak doesn’t have to be something akin to a national shame. It has the potential to be pleasant, profitable, and nourishing. It has the potential to be good, rather than a necessity begrudgingly dished out by a common carrier with no ambition for good passenger service.There is a myth in railroading, that dining cars and the food service business are perpetual money losers. This is analogous to an urban myth that just won’t go away. Some will quickly say that even the private, pre-Amtrak passenger railroads didn’t make money on dining cars. Harrumph. Railroads have been manipulating financial numbers for over a century and a half to suit their needs, and dining car numbers were no exception. Back in the dark old days of the 1960s, at the end of private passenger rail service as we historically knew it, dining cars were shown to be money losers simply as a tool to get rid of them and in turn ultimately get rid of the trains they served.

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Volume 3 Number 14

1. And, the hits just keep on coming. Here’s an unsolicited e-mail received by URPA this week. Read more…

Volume 3 Number 13

1. From a TWA reader:
   

   “Opening lines from a story in The Wall Street Journal, reprinted in today’s [local daily newspaper], on how cruise lines are positioning their ‘discretionary travel’ product: ‘A number of cruise lines are upgrading their amenities to attract more luxury-focused cruise-goers. … Carlson Companies … Seven Seas Cruises … plan[s] a new suite design, upgraded furnishings, down comforters, brand-name linens, … flat screen TVs and iPod music systems. Other lines promising more luxurious cruising include Celebrity Cruises, which ordered two ships last month that will have larger standard staterooms, more balconies and new ‘guest-inspired’ service and amenities. Holland America Line, which started a $225 million upgrade for its fleet, … will include more plush mattresses and flat screen TV sets.’

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