United Rail Passenger Alliance

January 30th marks the 10^th anniversary of the passing of Byron Nordberg. Called the “heart and soul” of RailPAC, his influence on Rail Passenger service is still being felt nation wide. Continue Reading »

1. So many of us have been wondering where the Sunset Limited is, east of New Orleans. It’s been AWOL since a couple of days before Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Even though CSX, the host railroad for the Sunset east of New Orleans released its post-hurricane rebuilt track to Amtrak for the Sunset on April 1, 2006, there’s been nary a Sunset in sight.Amtrak hasn’t notified its unions of a discontinuance, and it says the train is coming back. But, when? And, what has been the delay?

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1. MEMO TO: Amtrak Corporate Communications DepartmentSUBJECT: Stop playing defense, and go on the offense

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Volume 4 Number 2

1. Last week’s This Week at Amtrak brought some interesting comments this week. One, from a middle-aged wag in California noted how difficult it often is to find an Amtrak train station in any given city or town. He, and another gentleman noted that road signs appear for almost any reason these days along public right-of-way, announcing the smallest and most insignificant public park, tourist trap, or commercial venture, yet, rarely do signs appear directing the general population to the nearest Amtrak station.This problem was solved a number of years ago here in Jacksonville because URPA founder Austin Coates made it his mission to badger the Florida Department of Transportation into erecting signs along Interstate 95 and other feeder roads to the specific Jacksonville Amtrak station. In North Carolina, a state which has a high interest in passenger rail, many signs are present along I-95 directing drivers to the various stations in the state. This is true elsewhere, but not everywhere.Is this yet another worthy and inexpensive mission Amtrak has failed to spend the salary of a junior manager on to reap hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of free publicity by announcing to all drivers directions to the nearest Amtrak station? Isn’t this something that could become a motivating project for a rising young star in the Amtrak firmament; a year’s worth of effort that would produce incalculable amounts of revenue for years to come? Can someone start working on this, today?
2. Another area of consideration are official state tourism Internet sites. Every state has one, but not every state mentions Amtrak as a way or getting to or getting around the state. This is another case of “Amtrak blindness,” where travel planners and promoters have no idea Amtrak exists, or, if it does, it goes anywhere someone may want to travel. The same holds true for state department of transportation Internet sites. Lots of things about highways and interstate highways, but, often, not a word about passenger rail. At least, we could hope Amtrak becomes an afterthought, instead of no thought at all.
3. If you love to go to the movies, you know it has become common practice to screen commercials before the movies, in addition to previews. Some of this movie theater commercials, such as the famous Coca-Cola Christmas bears are great fun and have a huge impact. These commercials are generally considered institutional advertising, versus a specific type of advertising which has a call to action.A dark movie theater with a huge screen provides the most conducive atmosphere for absorbing visual images accompanied by high quality sound. Imagine what an impact a wide screen movie theater commercial for Amtrak could have on people who have never ridden a passenger train, much less seen a train. A clever marketer could find a way in a short commercial to introduce the high points of train travel such as accommodations, scenery, the ability to move around, food service, and much more. All on a huge movie screen in a slickly produced advertisement.
4. Here in Florida, tourism is big business. In fact, we rely on tourism so much that everything we do in Florida is geared to the Yankee tourists. We don’t have rain in Florida - we have liquid sunshine, so we don’t scare the tourists away.As a result of this we’ve learned a few things about reaching tourists. One of the best way to reach tourists is through the paid brochure racks at Florida Welcome Centers and in motel lobbies. These racks feature all sorts of tourist attractions, discount books, and more. The racks are found not only in Florida, but almost anywhere there are travelers. The cost of stocking these racks is cheap, and the cost of printing in huge bulk quantities is often much cheaper than reaching targeted demographics in traditional publications.If Amtrak used these racks, it’s doubtful anyone already on a trip would change their mode of travel. However, we know materials picked up from these racks are read and absorbed (and can be tracked through coupon codes and other ways) and acted upon. A brochure read today may not cause an instant reaction, but a brochure read today may cause a reservation for the next holiday trip.
5. Let’s go through an exercise together as to how Amtrak can greatly improve its financial fortunes with a relatively small cash investment.Here are some things we know: Continue Reading »

Volume 4 Number 1

Welcome to another year of This Week at Amtrak. We hope this will be a positive and eventful year for all parties concerned. Continue Reading »