for PTC by December 31, 2018. However, he also raised the caveat that even that dead- line might have to be met without adequate “out on the road” testing. He asked for “reg- ulatory forbearance,” he said.
Court Ruling: Freight vs. Passenger As noted above, the Passenger Rail Invest- ment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) created the PTC safety deadline, but as is the case with many “catchall” legislative efforts, it al- so gave Amtrak some say-so in the extent to which freight trains on freight rail property must accommodate easier passage for trains that haul people. That part of PRIIA has been declared unconstitutional by a three- judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals here in Washington. Amtrak, according to the ruling, is a pri- vate company (not a government agency even though the feds control Amtrak through the purse-strings). Nonetheless, wrote Judge Janice Rogers Brown, “Con- gress has both designated [Amtrak] a pri- vate corporation and instructed it to be man- aged so as to maximize profit.” As applied to Amtrak, the term “profit” is another one of those Washington word games. The authors of the original 1970 Am- trak law, as well as everyone who writes to- day’s rail legislation, understands that where main line passenger trains are concerned, there inherently is no such animal as “prof- it,” for reasons repeatedly outlined here and elsewhere. Everybody knows it, but for poli- cy reasons, that reality is widely ignored. Nonetheless, it is the law, and Judge Brown believed she was duty-bound to uphold it. As of this writing, there is no indication as to whether the ruling will be appealed.
AAR Response
Ed Hamberger (speaking for freight rails) is- sued a statement that his members plan “to work closely with Amtrak to make this [re- solving the shared trackage issue] happen,” adding it should not be done with a “one size fits
all” approach, but “addressed jointly
through private bi-lateral contracts that take into account the facts and circum- stances of particular routes.”
In terms of what that comment meant re- garding future payments to the freight car- riers is an issue that was not directly refer- enced by AAR. But a separate statement Mr. Hamberger issued at a congressional hear- ing trumpeted American freight rail’s “well- funded” and “well-maintained”
trackage.
That may (or may not) have signaled a push for “market rates” for Amtrak's usage of the freight infrastructure, something the Class I railroads believe they have never received from the passenger service.
Which Leads Us To...
A House railroads subcommittee hearing as begun the arduous task of searching for an “outside the box “method of financing pas- senger rail service in the U.S. The hearing looks to be the first of many in search of a so- lution, or solutions (plural), applying to Am- trak, as well as commuter, light rail and sub- way rapid transit. Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) reminded his col- leagues that “innovative finance.” has been increasingly used for other purposes. The bulk of the testimony focused on pos- sible use of the current Railroad Rehabilita- tion and Financing (RRIF) loan program, cited as a possible device to help pay for pas-
senger trains. Subcommittee member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) declared, “Unfortunately we are not taking full advantage of this pro- gram.” The RRIF, the Manhattan lawmaker opined, “is one that has the potential to help railroads and states meet rail and infra- structure needs.” Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari agreed with other hearing witnesses that the RRIF program was “underutilized.” Additional witnesses included Union Station Development Presi- dent Beverly Swaim Staley and Reconnect- ing America President and CEO (and former Amtrak Board member) John Robert Smith. Rep. Bill Shuster (chairman of the Parent Committee on Transportation & Infrastruc- ture) backed the RRIF method to be ex- plored for passenger rail. “Other countries have shown us that this is possible and in- vestors right here in the U.S. are eager to in- vest in the transportation system,” he said.
The Great Culinary Battle Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), former T&I chair- man (but not a member of its railroads sub- committee) has returned to the scene with his virtual sword and shield to go forth in a great historic crusade against the evils of that golden oldie — Amtrak food service, as analyzed through the green eyeshade, a problem with a multi-century history. In the 19th century, in 1868, the Pullman Company, (in the early days of its rise to fame as America’s legendary sleeping car manufacturer
and operator) decided it
would also dip its toe into the dining car business, hoping to match its sleeper success on the long-distance trains. What else? If you’re going to provide sleeping quarters for the hotels in transit, why not provide the other service that guests expect from any hotel — food. The “Harvey girls” at meal stopovers had produced mixed results on the property, including time lags on already long journeys. So why not feed the passengers while they’re actually moving?)
Discovery 1 Alas, Pullman quickly realized that making money through on-board meals could not du- plicate the acceptable bottom line the com- pany had achieved with its sleeping cars. And that was back in the days when “a dol- lar was worth a dollar.”
Discovery 2
So what did Pullman do? Simply turned the dining cars over to the host railroads with lots of wishes for “Good luck, we’re outta here.” Thus the railroads, left to their own devices, set up dining car service where they went out of their way — in some cases — to offer haute cuisine, the better to impress their traveling freight rail customers, there- by hoping to grow the more lucrative seg- ment of their rail ventures. Alas, the railroads (like the Pullman Company before them) soon discovered there was (surprise!) no money to be made with dining cars.
Discovery 3 Oh, but they also came to realize that pas- sengers (including those prized freight cus- tomers) were patronizing their trains, in part because of their dining car service. Fur- ther, they learned that if they yanked the dining cars, they would suffer losses (some- times quite steep) by letting their overnight passengers go hungry.
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