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Dump the Long Distance Passenger Trains?


REP BILL SHUSTER (R-PA.), the new chair- man of the House Transportation and Infra- structure Committee, generally supports Amtrak, but believes that the “money-losing” long-distance trains do “not seem to be work- ing.” Amtrak President Joe Boardman, on the other hand, believes those overnight runs cannot be sacrificed, noting that, for ex- ample, airlines and buses are not going out of their way to offer services to small towns and rural communities. Without the long-haul trains, many smaller rail stations or “whistle stops” in whole swaths of America (read the South, the Rocky Mountains, and most of the Plains states) would be without any inter- city transport other than automobiles. FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo in a “not on my watch” statement says, “Rural America [should] not be disenfranchised by eliminating this very essential service for them.” Salt Lake City, Utah, is a fairly good- sized town, and yet it is served by just one Amtrak train in each direction anywhere be- tween 11:00 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. (depending in which direction you’re traveling). Recently, American Airlines and U.S. Air-


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ways merged (which suggests that less com- petition will mean higher prices for tickets, luggage, and other related service. The ques- tion raised by Jordan Vogel of the Utah Chronicle is this: “If airlines aren’t going to compete with each other, perhaps it is time for a different form of transportation [trains] to apply some pressure.”


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The More Things Change, The More They . . . House T&I Chairman Shuster does not share the views of his predecessor John Mica (R- Fla.) that Amtrak should be privatized by a bidding process in which all of Amtrak’s routes would be privatized, possibly resulting in multiple ownerships on different routes, or even multiple ownerships on different por- tions of routes. That suggestion was endorsed more than a decade ago by the now-defunct Amtrak Reform Council. At the time, the freight railroads that own most of the infra- structure on which most of Amtrak’s long-dis- tance passenger traffic operates, vehemently opposed that change. The freight rail carriers argued that at least, Amtrak “is the devil we know” and “we can’t deal with all these new groups unfamiliar with the railroad busi- ness” [operating trains on freight property] “who don’t know what the hell they’re doing,” to quote Association of American Railroads President Ed Hamberger. At the time, Hamberger even took AAR’s case directly to the White House. When I asked him later if he got a definitive re- sponse from the Bush Administration, he replied, “None that I can report.” Hint: The proposal not-so-mysteriously faded into the woodwork. Some 45 years in this town offers any re- porter the opportunity to see ideas thor- oughly debated and shot down with a vengeance only to reappear a few years later and again and again, debated by newer law- makers only to see the drama played out — also again and again. This is but one prime


example. Shuster prefers not to beat that dead horse — yet again.


Dead Horses and “Baby Steps” Instead, the chairman thinks now is the time to consider taking “baby steps” by privatizing certain categories of employees aboard Am- trak trains on the Northeast Corridor. This could include “operating the equipment, or on-board personnel selling the tickets.” Those two categories are probably non- starters for privatization aboard Amtrak runs, especially finding locomotive engi- neers who require extensive training. Ticket sellers on the train? That conceiv- ably could be a slightly closer call. Still, con- ductors are also heavily ensconced. They and the engineers are operating personnel. Other personnel are (perhaps) another


matter. These would include the food servers or dining car chefs. Even that would be an uphill climb. A few years ago, Amtrak union workers disrupted an Amcafe that was preparing for its journey with workers from a fast food restaurant chain, and that was that. Amtrak did not revive that idea. For one thing, a number of questions would have to be navigated, such as (to quote Congressman Shuster), “The private sector is not going to come in if they don’t get a return on their investment .We’re going to have to figure that out.” In other words, if you have to pay the private contracted-out food service enough money so that it can pay its employees working the train and still have money left over for the private compa- ny’s own bottom line, does that save Amtrak money as opposed simply to pay its own em- ployees directly, as at present? Then again, perhaps not.


NARP, MWHSR, and Brookings


The Brookings Institution caused a stir with a report claiming that while Amtrak’s record ridership and revenue figures have reached all-time highs, most of that is coming from the increased ridership on the corridor and short and medium distance routes, but that the long distance trains have been losing pa- tronage. To counter that finding, the Nation- al


Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) and the Midwest High Speed Rail Association (MWHSRA) produced a report that says Brookings overlooked several fac- tors. Those would include “lack of [adequate] service.” Instead NARP/MWHSRA calls for longer trains; new equipment, including a fleet more conducive to overnight travel; more frequency (the Salt Lake patrons of the California Zephyr, cited above, would no doubt appreciate a train arriving and de- parting at more palatable times of the day). Moreover, it is noted that three of the 15 overnights made impressive gains in rider- ship. That leads to the conclusion that “Lack of service, not lack of demand, is what limits usage.”


In fact, Amtrak believes the increasing ridership may leave the passenger service with a “crisis.” Explanation? Stay with us here.


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