Oct 02, 2009: Hotline #624

Hotline #624
October 2, 2009

In a letter to Federal Transit Administrator Peter M. Rogoff, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) and 18 other advocacy organizations wrote that—despite the potential for great economic benefits—New Jersey Transit’s current plans for new, dead-end tunnels under the Hudson River into a deep-cavern station under 34th Street in Manhattan would constitute “one of the greatest wastes of taxpayer money in history.”

The 19 organizations are asking U.S. DOT to intervene and force appropriate changes to New Jersey Transit’s Mass Transit Tunnel project (formerly Trans-Hudson Express and Access to the Region’s Core).  The list of groups endorsing the letter include Sierra Club New Jersey and Connecticut Chapters, the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the [New York] MTA and the Midwest High Speed Rail Association. 

The organizations have asked the federal government to intervene to stop the project as planned and mandate inclusion of a direct track connection to the existing Penn Station, to promote greater connectivity throughout the region, as well as to provide back-up redundancy in case of failure or other disruptions in the two, century-old tunnels linking Penn Station with New Jersey.

“[T]he NJT plan is irresponsible at its core,” the Association writes, “and offers a case study as to why deference to the ‘locally preferred alternative’ does not serve the public interest.” to run Amtrak or commuter trains through between New England and New Jersey.

The full letter, with a complete list of NARP’s recommendations, is available online.


Virginians celebrated the expansion of Amtrak’s Northeast Regional service to Lynchburg on September 29, gathering at stations on a whistle-stop tour to welcome the inaugural run of a daily, round-trip service.  Norfolk Southern Chairman, President and CEO Wick Moorman and Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman spoke at all the ceremonies.  Governor Tim Kaine (D) and his father-in-law (former) Gov. Linwood Holton (R) spoke at Charlottesville and Lynchburg.  The new train is more evidence of the good things that happen when a governor is committed to passenger train development.

“By linking communities along the US 29 corridors with Washington, D.C., and numerous destinations in the Northeast, Virginia and our partners have taken a significant first step toward expanding passenger rail service today while providing more transportation choices for travelers and businesses,” Kaine told the gathered crowd.

While Kaine cautioned that service beyond the first two years depended entirely on people actually riding the trains in sufficient numbers, he also suggested if the demand existed, extension of the line to Roanoke was likely.

Gov. Kaine referred implied this could be the first step in development of the Trans Dominion Express—that is, extension of service to Roanoke and Bristol.  There is interest in extending the line to Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee.  For now, chambers of commerce (destination marketing organizations) along the Washington-Lynchburg route are developing packages based on train travel to make sure the service works well.

Visit the NARP blog to read Capon’s account of the inaugural event, which includes pictures.


Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) released a letter to Amtrak on September 30 that is highly critical of the passenger train company’s draft study on the restoration of service for the Pioneer, questioning the methodology for determining both the startup costs and ridership estimates.

The Amtrak study put the cost of restarting the Denver to Boise to Portland train at $400 million.  The cost was higher than many expected, in large part due to the need to order new rolling stock, a result of the national shortage of available locomotives, passenger cars, and sleeping and food service cars which is currently plaguing the passenger rail system.

In his letter, Senator Crapo writes:

“Unfortunately, the draft report appears to understate the ridership levels by using projections at a level nearly 30 percent below the historic high in 1992 and overstates the capital investment requirements and annual costs.  Even under these questionable assumptions, it is important to note that in terms of total subsidy to long-distance routes, the Pioneer would be the sixth smallest out of sixteen.
“…The report needs to be reworked so that its assumptions can withstand scrutiny and comparison with the other fifteen long-distance trains that Amtrak operates.  The goal for the study should be to develop a blueprint to reinstate the Pioneer Train at the lowest capital investment cost that supports safe and efficient operation and to quickly grow the ridership to a level that will bring a farebox recovery and the net cost per passenger mile to the median for Amtrak long-distance trains.”

Some of the points Crapo makes about station renovation costs echo arguments NARP made in response to Amtrak’s Gulf Coast service restoration plan in July: overestimating the cost of station renovation and underestimating ridership.

Crapo does not acknowledge the seriousness of the equipment shortage.  The suggestion that equipment can be procured for far cheaper through existing rolling stock and refurbishments ignores the unmet demand that currently exists; Amtrak cannot open new routes at the expense of existing ones.  That is why it is vital that legislators begin to initiate a plan for train fleet expansion, as outlined by NARP’s recent proposal.


Canada’s Bombardier Transportation has officially thrown their hat into the ultra high speed train market this week with the announcement that they have secured a contract with the Chinese Railway Ministry to provide 80 very high speed train sets for the burgeoning economic power.

The order for the train sets—which will be made up of 1,120 individual cars—will be provided by Bombardier Sifang (Quingdao) Transportation, a joint venture between Bombardier and China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp.  The train technology will be based on Bombardier’s Zefiro 380 model, capable of reaching 238 mph (380 kph), setting it up to become the world’s fastest train in commercial service.

While Bombardier is no stranger to the ultra high speed rail business—claiming to have supplied components for 95% of very high speed trains in service—this contract will allow the Canadians to establish the Zefiro technology as a major brand alongside the Siemens Velaro and Alstom’s TGV.  With China and the United States expanding as lucrative new markets for the technology, competition is sure to be fierce.

Bombardier’s new contract is, at the very least, a success for the join venture system, wherein a western train maker pairs with a Chinese manufacturer, and shares technology and expertise in exchange for access to the Chinese market.  The model could be used within the US as an incentive to buy from a particular company, since an ailing domestic manufacturing sector has left American policy makers scrambling for new industries to channel public investment into. 

This quid pro quo, in fact, was built into a recent deal between Talgo and the state of Wisconsin; Wisconsin is purchasing two train sets from the Spanish train maker, and in return Talgo is establishing new assembly and maintenance facilities within the state.

A chief executive from France’s Alstom had angered Chinese officials earlier this year when he questioned whether European countries should import Chinese trains which were based heavily on European technology.  In their press release, Bombardier explicitly praised the joint venture system.

The Chinese order is part of a larger Chinese effort to avoid being the world’s “bad guy” when it comes to climate change.


A delegation of Midwestern elected state officials returned October 27 from an exploratory trip to Europe to better understand Spain’s high speed rail network.

Missouri state Representative Charles Schlottach, in his role as chairman of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC), told reporters that the group had met with Spanish officials to ride the high speed route between Madrid and Barcelona, and to learn about proposals to expand Spain’s high speed train network.

The delegation, in addition to learning best practices and transportation policy from governments who are currently operating high speed rail lines, should now be better able to convey to their constituents the desirability and benefits of a world class passenger train system.

The MIPRC represents Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin (though officials from Texas and Washington state were also in attendance on the trip).


Amtrak’s northbound Silver Star, traveling from Miami to New York will be departing two hours early on from now until October 7.  The train will be arriving one hour earlier at stations between Washington, D.C. and New York City.

The temporary schedule change will accommodate track work being done by CSX Transportation, which owns a major portion of track the Silver Star runs on.  The work could be a boon for passengers, since 86% of the delays on the northbound train were attributed by Amtrak to train interference and operational, track, and signal issues by CSX.

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Oct 09, 2009: Hotline #625

Hotline # 625
October 9, 2009

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) was inundated with 45 applications from 24 states—totaling approximately $50 billion—for high speed rail stimulus funds on October 2.

Last Friday marked the second deadline set for states to apply for high speed train funds, as prescribed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—so called “Track 2” projects, to advance high-speed and intercity passenger rail corridor development programs.  The first, August 24, was for smaller projects, corridor planning, and fiscal year 2009 appropriations projects (labeled Track 1, Track 3, and Track 4, respectively), and received 214 applications totaling $7 billion.

There is still no clear indication how the Obama Administration intends the $8 billion in funds to be allocated.  States with advanced rail programs have been arguing that the lion’s share of the money should go towards one, flagship project to demonstrate the viability of high speed trains in America (notably California, the only state in the nation with a voter approved, truly high speed train program in the nation, and applied for $4.7 billion in Track 2 projects).  Representatives of the U.S. Department of Transportation, however, have been consistent in asserting that all well-conceived projects will have a shot at the money.

State officials and railroads were disappointed at the October 6 statement from Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo setting back the date for grants to be awarded.  “Due to the overwhelming response and our desire to lay the groundwork for a truly national high-speed and intercity passenger rail program, we will be announcing all awards this winter.  Our selections will be merit-based and will reflect President Obama’s vision to remake America’s transportation landscape.”

Deputy Federal Railroad Administrator Karen Rae told NARP that, “with so much at stake, it makes sense to take a few extra months to get it right.”

Below is a list of major applications, as publicized by applicant states:

California: $4.7 billion for preparations for 220 mph service between Los Angeles to Anaheim, Fesno to Bakersfield, Merced to Fresno, and San Francisco to San Jose (source).

Florida: $2.6 billion for Tampa-Orlando high speed rail, and conventional rail between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach (source)

Georgia: $472 million for Atlanta to Macon rail line. (source)

Illinois: $550 million for CREATE, upgrades to rail line from Chicago to St. Louis (source)

Kansas: $10 million for upgrades to rail line from Newton to Oklahoma state (source)

Michigan: $830 million for upgrades to Detroit to Chicago rail line (source)

New York: $7.9 billion for upgrades to Albany-Rochester-Niagra Falls rail service. (https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/recovery/repository/FRA_corridor_preaward_attachment.pdf” title=“source”>source)

North Carolina: $5.3 billion to upgrade tracks from Charlotte to Raleigh, build rail line from Raleigh to Richmond (source)

Ohio: $564 million for the 3-C line between Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus (source)

Oklahoma: $2 billion for Tulsa to Oklahoma City section of “T-Bone” high speed corridor (source)

Pennsylvania/New Jersey: $3.1 billion for upgrades to Harrisburg to Philadelphia, Lackawanna Cutoff, and Pittsburgh Maglev line (source)

Texas: $2 billion for “Texas Triangle” rail line between Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin-San Antonio (source)

Virginia: $1.8 billion to upgrade Washington to Richmond to Petersburg (source http://www.governor.virginia.gov/MediaRelations/NewsReleases/viewRelease.cfm?id=1103)

Vermont: $125 million for renovations and extensions to Rutland to Burlington and Middlebury rail line, and upgrades to rail lines from St. Albans to Montpellier (source)

Washington: $850 million for Portland to Seattle to Canadian border (source)

Wisconsin: $652 million for Madison to Milwaukee rail line(source)

The National Association of Railroad Passengers challenged Thomas Carper, chairman of Amtrak’s board of directors, to make growth the railroad’s top priority, and to accordingly begin planning for the purchase of new equipment immediately.

“The demand for passenger train service will surge again as the world economy recovers and fuel costs rise.  Reduced trip times, improved on time performance and competitive fares – when achieved – will also drive demand higher,” wrote the Association in a September 25 letter.  “Amtrak must begin now to acquire the equipment it will need to add capacity on existing trains, to increase frequencies on current routes, and to add new routes that will create the interconnected ‘grid and gateway’ system required to make passenger train service available and attractive in most city pair markets.”

NARP urged Carper to use state rail plans only as a starting point, but not let to have those plans set the limits of passenger train growth. 

“It is inconceivable that state initiatives could create the NEC from scratch today; it is equally unrealistic to expect states to plan and fund interstate services in the rest of the nation,” argued NARP.  “The volume of interstate travel means that most unserved or under-served markets have more in common with the Northeast Corridor than they do with California… [which is] why Amtrak leadership is so vital.”

Included with the letter was NARP’s fleet expansion proposal that challenges current dogma and pushes existing constraints, offered as a catalyst to engage in the type of large scale, long-term equipment acquisition program needed to support the service improvements and expansions America will need in the coming years.

The plan is on NARP’s website.


The Obama Administration is in talks with Congressional leaders about new stimulus strategies in the continued face of bleak employment figures, with transportation one of the sectors that may benefit.

The White House is attempting to reconcile the need to intensify the economic recovery process without adding to the ever-widening budget deficit, which rose to $1.4 trillion in FY2009, equal to almost 10% of the U.S.’s gross domestic product, the highest percentage since 1945.  Mindful of this, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs publicly stated that there are no plans for a second stimulus bill.

The result may be that recovery efforts are funneled through other channels; a prime candidate would be the federal surface transportation program, currently being propped up by a 30 day extension after Congress was unable to meet the September 30 deadline to pass replacement legislation.

“If there was to be another round of stimulus, additional infrastructure would be at the top of the list,” Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)—chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee—said in an interview with Bloomberg News.  Funding for rail, roads, and bridges would be a priority.

There are currently competing plans about what form this legislation will take, with most of the Senate behind an 18 month extension (favored by the President), and a significant portion of the House supporting Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar’s (D-MN) full six year reauthorization. 

Whatever form the transportation bill finally takes, high unemployment will continue to put pressure on Congress to get money out the door and funding rail, road, and transit construction.  In meetings on Capitol Hill this week, OneRail Coalition representatives including from NARP have urged that states be allowed to spend Highway Trust Fund (HTF) money on railroad projects to the extent that general funds are replenishing the HTF.  General funds have been used twice in the recent past to “bail out” the HTF—$8 billion in September 2008 and $7 billion in August 2009—and a third bailout is likely soon.


President Barack Obama announced his nominations for two vacancies on Amtrak’s board of directors, turning to the top official of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and a top executive of the world’s largest commercial real estate company.  The President’s office issued a release on October 5 that revealed the selection of Anthony R. Coscia and Bert DiClemente as nominees for Amtrak’s nine-member board (seven positions are nominated by the President, with one seat reserved for Amtrak’s chief executive officer and one seat reserved for the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation).

“I appreciate the willingness of these individuals to serve the American people. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead” wrote the President.

Coscia has been chairman of NY/NJ port authority’s board of commissioners since April 2003.  The White House’s statement cites Coscia’s experience overseeing the port authority’s transportation programs and annual $6.7 billion budget, as well as the port authority’s new mass transit rail programs.

DiClemente, a former chairman of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, works as a real-estate broker for office and industrial space in Delaware.  For 20 years, he was Senator Biden’s State Director.  DiClemente is a National Committeeman for the Democratic Party and serves on the Democratic National Committee.

The nominations must be confirmed by the Senate.


While relocating a line to accommodate construction at the west end of Indianapolis Union Station, the two tracks that Amtrak uses were cut and made into stub tracks, causing delays.  Eastbound trains—both the Cardinal and the Hoosier State—now have to make back-up moves to arrive at the station.  Our understanding is that this is a temporary problem.

Transportation advocacy groups are warning that a government cost-cutting exercise will force VIA Rail, Canada’s intercity passenger train operator, to cut routes and lay off staff.

Earlier in the year, the Canadian government asked the state-owned enterprise to look for waste and redundancies in preparation for a potential 5% reduction in government funding even though Via’s federal operating grant has been constant for years.

“Via doesn’t have any fat to cut,” said David Jeanes, president of Transportation 2000 Canada. “The only way they have to achieve those types of budget cuts is to completely eliminate or drastically reduce services, for example cutting the number of trains across the country,” he worried in an interview with Sun Media.

Management at the passenger railroad has issued no public notices about what form the cuts might take.  A spokesman for the Canadian Treasury Board has asserted that the 5% reduction is not necessarily about cutting government investment, and that the theoretical savings could be redirected to other parts of VIA Rail, or to other sectors of the government.

“Absolutely no decisions have been made regarding any effect that this process could have on any part of our operation, let alone the passenger rail network,” said Via Rail’s spokesman Malcolm Andrews. “None would be taken until some time in early 2010.”

Complicating matters is a drop in fare revenue, as the global economic downturn has depressed demand for commuter and tourist travel.


Two think-tank reports were unveiled this week.  The Brookings Institution’s review of U.S. aviation finds short-haul trips contribute disproportionately to congestion, have significant environmental costs and in many cases could be supplanted by passenger trains if they existed.  Heritage Foundation attacks high speed rail investments as a hidden subsidy for private railroads.  That attack obviously does not apply to separate very high speed rail projects.  As for “incremental upgrades” to existing tracks, if there are clear passenger service benefits as we have seen in California and other states, these projects should not be held hostage because someone thinks private railroads should get no benefits. 

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Oct 16, 2009: No Hotline This Week

Hotline News was not published for the week of October 10 through 16 due to NARP’s Council of Representatives meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, and the fact that NARP staff was occupied in preparing for and attending the meeting. Hotline News will resume its regular schedule on Friday, October 23.

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Oct 23, 2009: Hotline #626

Hotline #626
October 23, 2009

Amtrak released FY2009 ridership numbers that, despite an overall decline in passengers, contained a number of positive indicators for passenger trains in America

The passenger railroad carried 27,167,014 total passengers for the 12 months ending September 30, 2009.  While that number is down from last year’s all-time-high of 28.7 million, it is the second-highest total in Amtrak’s history, and 5.1% above the FY 2007 level.  Total fare revenues came to $1.6 billion.

“In a difficult year for the economy–particularly in the travel industry—Amtrak ridership has remained strong albeit with some regional variation,” President and CEO Joseph Boardman said in a statement. “In particular, reduced business travel along the Northeast Corridor prevented us from reaching the ridership we achieved last year.”

Boardman revealed that the FY2009 ridership numbers are consistent with the steady growth demonstrated since FY2002, and attributed last year’s record numbers to the surge in gasoline prices.

Passenger train advocates are concerned that Amtrak’s efforts to expand its fleet won’t be enough to meet future demand.

“With the economic crisis easing, and leading financial institutions predicting the imminent resurgence of oil prices, it is incumbent on Amtrak to start thinking about 2008’s numbers not as an aberration, but as the new minimum for passenger train demand in the U.S.” said NARP communications director Sean Jeans-Gail, citing a Bloomberg News report that was released over the summer.

While the Northeast Corridor’s Acela Express and Northeast Regional lagged noticeably, ridership highlights include:

Chicago-St. Louis corridor — up 6%

Harrisburg-Philadelphia-New York Keystone Service — up 2.7%

Raleigh-Charlotte Piedmont — up 3.8%

Washington-St. Albans Vermonter — up 1.9%

Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight— up 22.3% (largely reflecting recovery from the 15-week service disruption in FY 2008; on an apples-to-apples basis, August 09 was 2.1% above August 08)

Los Angeles-New Orleans Sunset Limited — up 9.8%

San Antonio-Chicago Texas Eagle — up 3.6%

New York-Miami Silver Meteor — up 3.4%

New York-Miami Silver Star— up 1.1%

Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has awarded a five year, $85.7 million contract to Keolis Rail Services America, the U.S. subsidiary of a French company marking the company’s entry into American train operations.  The contract was announced October 16.  Assuming final approval November 5 by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, the new deal will bring end VRE’s 17-year working relationship with Amtrak except regarding Amtrak-controlled infrastructure including Washington Union Station.  VRE’s current contract with Amtrak ends June 30, 2010.

Keolis is the largest private sector French transport group and is partly owned by SNCF, the French national railway.

VRE spokesman Mark Roeber said that Keolis presented the strongest of the four applications, particularly in customer service, and did so at a bid that was $2.8 million lower than Amtrak’s for next year alone. 

“This company was willing to accept a little less profit to make this partnership work,” Roeber told the Washington Post.  “And . . . the plan they have proposed didn’t leave anyone with any concerns or doubts. We are confident they will be able to bring to the table every aspect of the customer service experience we expect it to be.”

In a statement sent to the Post, Amtrak’s director of media relations Steve Kulm wrote: “Amtrak and VRE have had a long and positive working relationship since before the commuter railroad began operations. Amtrak is saddened and disappointed in the recommendation, as our employees have invested a great deal of heart, energy, and effort in providing excellent service to VRE passengers since 1992.”

Herbert Harris, Jr., chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen—whose members include Amtrak employees, including those working on VRE trains—publicly stated that he disagreed with the decision, but would work to make the transition go as efficiently as possible.  VRE has said it will offer positions under the new operator—with commensurate benefits—to the eighty or so workers it currently employs through its contract with Amtrak.

Keolis expressed optimism that the changeover would go smoothly.  “We are very flattered that the staff and the board see fit to vote on our behalf and we hope the commissions will select us,” said Steve Townsend, executive vice president of the U.S. branch of Keolis.  “We are a team player and we are going to be on VRE’s team to make this the best service available.”


Several members of the NARP Council of Representatives received Amtrak’s highest award given to citizens for their work in advocating for passenger trains in the ArkLaTex region, at an event held on October 9 in Los Angeles.

The Texas Eagle Marketing and Performance Organization (TEMPO) received the 2009 President’s Service and Safety Award as a Champion of the Rail for their outstanding work to expand and improve passenger train service in the Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas region.

“This is an award presented to honorees nominated and selected by Amtrak employees representing departments and locations across the country” said Amtrak President Joseph Boardman.  “PSSA recognizes employees and external business partners who have made outstanding contributions toward improving Amtrak’s service, productivity and safety and who have brought extraordinary credit to Amtrak.”

TEMPO members chosen by Amtrak to accept this award in Los Angeles included NARP members Christina Anderson, Matt Fels, Peter LeCody, and Bill Pollard.  NARP member Dennis Glaze, who recently passed away, was also honored for his work with TEMPO.


From October 26, Amtrak will re-establish a direct connection in Los Angeles from the westbound Sunset Limited (New Orleans-Houston-San Antonio-El Paso-Tucson-Maricopa-Los Angeles) to the northbound Coast Starlight (Los Angeles-Oakland-Sacramento-Portland-Seattle).


Officials in Hong Kong announced on October 22 that they have approved an $8.4 billion high-speed rail line to the Chinese mainland.

The new high-speed train will run from the former British colony to the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and is scheduled to open in 2015.  The train will run at 155 mph, cutting the trip-time to the mainland in half (to 45 minutes), and is projected to carry around 99,000 passengers per day.

Critics have savaged the high cost of the plan, saying it would take decades for the country to recoup on the investment.  Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Chang responded in the media that the government is not looking to profit from the new line, and that the higher costs could be offset through the economic benefits generated by connecting Hong Kong to the mainland’s high-speed rail network.


UPDATE - Appended October 27, 2009: NARP originally reported that Christina Anderson had individually received the PSSA Champion of the Rail, when in fact the award was given to TEMPO as a whole.  Ms. Anderson is a member of TEMPO, and acted as one of the representatives for the group at the event in Los Angeles.  NARP apologizes for the error.

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Oct 30, 2009: Hotline #627

Hotline #627
October 30, 2009

The Pew Charitable Trusts issued a “cheap-shot” report October 27 highlighting claims that Amtrak understates costs per passenger.  The Pew document, part of their Subsidyscope project, is short on explanations, but predictably generated a huge amount of bad publicity for Amtrak, epitomized by the New York Post’s screaming headline: “Amtrak’s a wreck on rails; Loses $32/passenger…41 of 44 nationwide routes lose money.” 

NARP and others have often stated that the best metrics for intercity service are “subsidy per passenger-mile” or “revenue-to-cost ratio” (percent of costs covered by the farebox).  Pew has passenger-mile figures in its table but not in its news release, and does not mention the ratio.  We also have pointed out that Amtrak’s routes work together as a network, both on the cost side due to sharing of common facilities and on the revenue side due to passengers connecting between or among multiple trains.  Thus, in the event a route is discontinued, the operating grant requirement would not go down anywhere nearly as much as a superficial reading of Pew’s tables implies.

But the truly bizarre aspect of Pew’s work is its handling of “depreciation and other overhead costs,” which it says constitute “an additional $697 million in net losses” that averages out to $24.29 per passenger or 75% of Pew’s claimed $32.31 systemwide average loss per passenger!  Without ascertaining the makeup of these costs—including, for example, how much is attributed to Northeast Corridor infrastructure—Pew allocated these costs to every route according to number of riders. 

Thus, the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest are assessed a portion of the interest on debt used to mortgage New York’s Penn Station.  Yet, since that debt was incurred to meet payroll and not to improve Penn Station, one should ask whether this interest expense should be allocated to any route.  It would also be interesting to know whether Pew (or Amtrak) allocates any depreciation or interest expense to Amtrak’s “profitable” contract work.

Amtrak responded to Pew in part by complaining that the leaseback deals Amtrak has done on most of its rolling stock (again, to meet payroll) means that the equipment and the related trains are being charged for depreciation as if nearly brand new when much of it is at least 15 years old.

In fact, Amtrak has not allocated depreciation and overhead costs because of the confusion it created.  Interest has also been a source of disagreement.  Importantly, however, in accord with the 2008 reauthorization law, Amtrak is working with the U.S. DOT’s Volpe Transportation Center on a better method for allocating costs, which likely will replace “interest and depreciation” with a synthetic capital charge calculated for all Amtrak business lines—including real estate and commuter.

One last word about depreciation: it is a non-cash expense whose assessment has no logic if no effort is being made to replace rolling stock.  Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, passenger cars last longer than cars, buses or planes.  Witness Amtrak’s single-level dining cars, the youngest of which is over 50.


The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) announced October 28 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Amtrak to provide crews for all seven of Metrolink’s Los Angeles commuter train lines.  A contract has not been finalized, but discussions involve a four-year agreement with an option for extensions, set to begin July 1, 2010. 

The board-directed change followed Connex Railroad’s decision not to renew their contract with the SCRRA after one of their crews was involved in the Chatsworth train crash from last August.  Connex has received criticism for lax oversight in the past, and when one of their engineers was found to have been texting on his cell phone moments before the deadly crash, they immediately became a center of harsh attention from officials and the media.

Amtrak crews operated Metrolink trains from the service’s 1992 inception until Connex took over in 2004.


Amtrak today wrote to Virginia Railway Express (VRE) challenging VRE’s notice of intent to contract with French-owned Keolis Rail Services to replace Amtrak as operator of the trains.

In a statement today, Amtrak referred to “potential improper scoring of proposals and such other bases as may not be known until we gain access to the relevant records previously requested.  The VRE request for proposal was to be scored 80 percent on performance/experience, but the foreign-owned Keolis has no experience operating a railroad in the U.S. or under this country’s strict rail safety and security regulations that are designed to protect the traveling public and the employees operating the trains.” 

Amtrak asked that its challenge be considered before final action is taken by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission.”  That action had been expected November 5.

VRE has not issued a response at the time of publishing.


The battle to require Amtrak to accept guns as checked baggage continues to heat up, eliciting passionate responses from both sides of the debate.

Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS)—the lawmaker who originally included the provision as an amendment to the Senate transportation appropriations bill—has been called out by Rep. Bennie Thomas (D-MS) who said the stipulation “adds another layer of vulnerability we can do without.”

While a number of key Democrats have spoken out against it, centrist members of the party appear unwilling to come out in opposition of what many of their vocal constituents view as a civil liberties issue.  If the provision makes it through the conference process, Amtrak would be required to meet the March deadline for allowing guns or lose all federal funding. 

“For us, it’s not about Second Amendment rights,” Amtrak spokesman Steven Kulm told the Clarion Ledger. “Our issue is that Congress wants us to do it by a date certain, which we don’t think we can meet. ... We want to do it properly.”

Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) added another element to the debate when he introduced the Amtrak Secure Transportation of Firearms Act of 2009 earlier in the month, which would make the gun-requirement permanent (Wicker’s amendment applies to FY2010).  The bill has not been scheduled for floor debate.

NARP has been consistent in saying that Congress must initiate a study to assess the impact and costs a requirement to carry guns would have on Amtrak, and that any bill that threatens train service which is so economically vital to so many regions of the country is unacceptable.

Acela riders will be able to log on to the internet starting next year when Amtrak introduces free Wi-Fi on the high speed trains.

“We must think big, be innovative and pursue opportunities and decisions that make good business sense because the competition is real,” Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman wrote in a statement.

While a step forward, Amtrak is coming to Wi-Fi relatively late; airlines and boutique bus companies operating on the Washington, DC-New York City-Boston already offer internet access to passengers.

Amtrak has not yet announced what kind of Wi-Fi roll-out they are considering for routes other than the Acela, or whether it will remain free of charge (airlines charge passengers for access, while most intercity bus companies that have Wi-Fi offer it free-of-charge)


The advancement of the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees to the World Series has led many to dub the contest the “Amtrak Series.”  Amtrak announced that Yankees and Phillies players will travel between the two cities by chartered trains. 

The last time these two teams met in the World Series in 1950, passenger trains were the dominant mode of travel in the region, and the ballplayers regularly used trains to travel back and forth for the games.  The Phillies paid homage to this storied connection between America’s pastime and trains by holding a rally at 30th Station on the afternoon of October 26th, to send the team off for game 1 in New York City (which Philadelphia won).

Amtrak has gotten into the spirit of the games, sponsoring a promotion that polled Acela Express passengers as to which team would win, with participants receiving t-shirts for the team they chose.

A long series (it is currently tied 1-1) would be good for Amtrak’s business on the already in-demand corridors.  Amtrak reports that during fiscal year 2009, New York was their busiest train station with more than 7.8 million passengers boarding or offloading at Penn Station, while Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station ranked third with 3.7 million passengers.

In an October 27 release, Amtrak said it operated 32 sports charters during fiscal 2009 (which ended September 30), including six for Major League Baseball teams.


In other train/sports news, the organizers of the 2011 Super Bowl are nearing an agreement with Union Pacific Railroad to run passenger trains on their tracks between Dallas/Fort Worth and Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. 

“We are excited about this opportunity,” said UP’s director of public affairs Clint Schelbitzki. “The Super Bowl is such a huge event for this region. There are a few outstanding issues that we are going to have to work through, but we are very hopeful that we will be able to do so.”

Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments and acting lead for transportation logistics for the 2011 Super Bowl remained cautious, citing the continuing negotiations.

“Until we have a signed agreement on something as important as this, I don’t think we can talk about it,” Morris told the Dallas News.

The news would be a boon to fans; Arlington is the largest city in the U.S. to not have a mass transit system, and their have been complaints from Texans about the inaccessibility of the Cowboys’ new stadium.

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