“However,” the Amtrak chief warned the congressmen, “[that] even the $782 million] will not address needed capacity improve- ments, trip-time reductions, or other new initiatives.” Translation: We’re talking about today’s generation. You can forget about the envi- sioned “Next-Gen” mega-fast enlarged NEC HSR (as described previously in this space). If we’re lucky, our great-grandchildren may enjoy that. The requested money would be required to keep the system at its present state. Ridership on the NEC has skyrocket- ed, especially since the hourly Acela Express trains were introduced. Amtrak — the NEC owner and the only railroad to operate end-point-to-end-point over the entire Washington-Philly-New York-Boston line — operates about 157 of its own trains on a given weekday, and hosts 40 to 50 daily trains from freight carriers (a number that has doubled since 1975, Board- man testified); the eight commuter railroads account for roughly 1800 trips (in and out of major cities along the line to and from their suburban locations).
A 42-Year-Old Problem Whether Boardman will have more success than his predecessors at taking Amtrak out of the “tin-cup” circumstance of having to beg for every penny just to stay in business is a question that has yet to be determined. Just a few days after his testimony in New York, the Amtrak president was blasting the funding cuts for the rail service included in the House fiscal 2014 transportation bill He cited the safety factor as a sticking point. Boardman let it be known he was not about to compromise on the safety of his pas- sengers, and that, if he has to, he will call for “slow orders.” That would compel the NEC, where the trend and ridership pressure have brought the trains to the fastest speeds in the nation, would have to operate on slow- er schedules. That would cause the-suits- and-ties, Wi-Fi-clutching and attaché-cases crowd now riding the Acela Express to re- turn to the air shuttles in droves. “If I have to reduce speed, that’s what will happen along the Northeast Corridor,” warns Boardman, “and we think that’s bad for revenue,
it’s bad for the economy.” He
added the slashing by lawmakers will “put every one of our services [not just NEC, but nationwide] at risk.”
Rural Communities, Too Adding to the complaint, National Associa- tion of Railroad Passengers (NARP) Presi- dent Ross Capon declared, “[Not only do] millions of Americans depend on the U.S. rail network to commute to work every day, [but for] millions more, Amtrak is a vital in- ter-city connection. This is especially true in smaller and rural communities where trains serve as the only alternative to driving.” On that point — serving smaller towns
and rural communities — Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) raised the possibility of merely “sus- pending” some long-distance trains until the NEC is brought up to speed, so to speak. Mr. Shuster (who chairs the parent House Transportation and Infrastructure Commit- tee [T&I]), deserves some credit for being well-meaning. However, we offer the follow- ing observation on his suggestion: Let’s take the case of three long-distance trains that were in fact eliminated (possibly with the idea that they were merely “sus-
pended” for a few years, with the option to return). First to go was the North Coast Hi- awatha
neapolis-Milwaukee-Chicago).
★★★★ ★★★★
(Seattle-Spokane-Billings-Min- Later,
the
axe fell on the Pioneer (Seattle-Boise-Salt Lake City-Denver-Omaha-Chicago) and the Desert Wind (Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Salt Lake City-Denver-Omaha-Chicago (the last two trains were joined at Salt Lake for the trip eastward). Those three trains served a string of small and medium-sized town stops in the interior western states In more recent times, Amtrak seriously considered bringing those trains back. At which point, their supporters ran smack into an economic reality on the rail system’s lim- ited track space: In the intervening years, the absence of those passenger runs afford- ed the host freight railroads an opportunity to
substitute one more money-making
freight trains in the slot where the passen- ger train had previously operated. When Amtrak initiated a discussion about bring- ing the passenger trains back, it was discov- ered that huge infrastructure investments would be required for any revival. The host carrier can argue (convincingly, according to some analysts) that in those intervening years the very value of the operational space has shot way up, and thus that a sharp in- crease in fees for access by another rail serv- ice is thereby justified, perhaps to levels that are unaffordable for Amtrak. Moral of the story: So much for the chancy process of “suspending” long-distance trains until a later date — just “temporarily.” You know the familiar warning: “Use it or lose it.”
Energy and Freight Rail: De facto Partnership A report from the Chicago Mercantile Ex- change says rail is “reshaping America’s en- ergy system.”
Analyst/journalist Debbie
Carlson notes, “Railroads, that 19th century technology, are having a 21st century impact on the crude oil industry with a lot of crude oil and nowhere to send it. With pipelines full, energy companies began to look at ship- ping crude oil via rail, the way it was trans- ported when the U.S. energy industry was in its infancy over 100 years ago.” Morgan Stanley analysts are saying, “Pipelines will fail to keep pace with North American crude production. Rails are need- ed to move inland crude from Williston (N.D.) and Alberta (Canada) and Eagle Ford Shale [much of south Texas].” Rusty Brazile, president of RBN Energy says that while rail shipments of crude are still a fraction of the oil sent by pipeline, the energy industry has quickly embraced rail for its transport requirements.
As Carlson adds, “Nothing beats the effi- ciency and convenience of pipelines,” but the use of rail car trains where 100 cars or more are dedicated to one product, helped signifi- cantly to lower the cost of using rail. Which in turn has led to a boom in the rail car in- dustry.
Their Own Railroad? And that, in turn, has persuaded the pipeline industry itself to invest in rail. Kinder Morgan and Mercuria Energy Trad- ing (the latter a Swiss firm with offices in the U.S.) plan to partner in order to build a Texas rail project that could handle 210,000 barrels a day. The tracks will be laid down at the Greens Port Industrial Park on the Houston Ship Channel. Thus another move toward independence
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