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New Virginia Train Shows What’s Possible With Cooperation
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Yesterday’s Washington-Lynchburg inaugural special, in advance of revenue service starting today, follows 2-1/2 years of hard work and cooperation by state, local, Norfolk Southern and Amtrak officials. Gov. Tim Kaine (D) gets a huge share of the credit, another reminder of the critical importance of having a governor who believes in passenger trains. Hailing Forbes’ ranking of Virginia as “Best State to do Business” for the fourth consecutive year, Kaine said “the expanded service will support economic growth and benefit the environment by taking more cars off the road, improving air quality, and saving fuel.”
Kaine spoke at Charlottesville and Lynchburg [video]. At both stations he followed his father-in-law—former Governor (and former Amtrak Board Member) Linwood Holton (R), the man who 2-1/2 years ago told the Virginia Transportation Board, “You can do this.” Virigina Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer spoke at the earlier stations. There were impressive crowds at all six Virginia stations.
Reflecting the increasingly positive relationship between Amtrak and host railroads, NS Chairman & President Wick Moorman and Amtrak President & CEO Joe Boardman spoke at all the stations. Moorman said, “We’re delighted to partner with Amtrak and their fine team. Amtrak and NS have conversations, we have some tough conversations, but we recognize at the end of the day that it’s a partnership. Norfolk Southern is proud to have worked closely with the Commonwealth and Amtrak to provide this new service.”
Boardman spoke in a similar vein, complimenting NS on a dramatic improvement in their dispatching of Amtrak trains.
The new service is strongly supported by on-line chambers of commerce which long have been working together to create travel products based on train travel. The train is viewed by many as the first step in extension of service to Roanoke and Bristol, the “Trans-Dominion Express,” something that the governor referred to.
The train also should help Amtrak’s Crescent as many shorter distance travelers shift to the new train, freeing up space for more longer trips on the Crescent. The platform was lengthened at Lynchburg which means Crescent won’t have to double-stop there anymore. Lynchburg station costs now are shared among two trains rather than shouldered by Crescent alone, and Crescent’s share of costs at the other jointly served stations will decline. And Crescent should benefit from the added flexibility that makes train travel more practical for more people, and the greater visibility that Crescent gets from people drawn to the stations by the new train. As for example, “Oh, a trip to Atlanta by train? Maybe I’ll try that next time.”
Click “Read More” to see photos of the inaugural run.
—Ross Capon
Posted by NARP
Tags: amtrak, charlottesville, inaugural, joseph boardman, lynchburg, new train, northeast regional, passenger train, tim kaine, virginia, wick moorman,A Healthy Dialogue
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
In a welcome show of responsiveness to Amtrak’s most loyal riders and supporters, President & CEO Joseph Boardman requested, and TRAINS Magazine hosted, a public forum on the present and future of the passenger railroad at the Merchandise Mart adjacent to Chicago’s Union Station, the main hub of the long-distance train network. Over 300 people signed up on a first-come, first-served basis and about 250 showed up to hear from, and ask questions of, Boardman, Amtrak Police Chief John O’Connor, Vice President for Marketing and Product Development Emmett Fremaux, Chris Jagodzinski (a senior official who reports directly to V.P. for Transportation Richard Phelps), and other top officials.
Amtrak officials did discuss the possibility of splitting the Lake Shore Limited at Toledo instead of Albany, with the New York section running via Pittsburgh/Altoona/Harrisburg, partially recreating the Broadway Limited. As columnist Don Phillips put it, “They mentioned this at the same time they said they would operate no new long-distance routes. Train reroutes can have the effect of creating a new service.” As for adding new long-distance routes, the assembled officials would only commit to improving existing services. Fremaux pointed to the fact that the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008 emphasizes the expansion of short-distance corridor services and relies on state leadership. “This country builds stuff, including Amtrak, then walks away from it and doesn’t give it the support it needs,” said Boardman. “I want to do real stuff.”
Fremaux did make a commitment that efforts would be made to improve existing long-distance trains, including daily operation of the Texas Eagle and Sunset Limited (as a through Chicago-Los Angeles train with a connection at San Antonio for Houston, New Orleans and points in between) and the introduction of on-board wireless Internet service across the entire Amtrak system.
On the condition of Amtrak’s fleet, Jagodzinski emphasized “We don’t want 60-year-old equipment. The passengers don’t want it, and we don’t want to maintain it.” He reiterated that the Heritage diners and baggage cars, which are around 60 years old, will be the first to be replaced, within the next five years. After the forum, attendees were led on a tour of three newly-rehabilitated passenger cars—two Superliner sleepers and one Superliner diner—and a rebuilt P42 locomotive that were parked in Union Station’s trainshed.
Another topic of concern to attendees was Amtrak’s months-old policy prohibiting photography from station platforms, except by ticketed passengers and those with permission from a station agent or other Amtrak official. In response to criticism from train advocates, including NARP, O’Connor announced a program whereby photographers could register themselves and be amongst a group of citizens who act as a second set of eyes to warn of safety and security issues, similar to the one initiated by BNSF Railway.
Boardman has promised that this will be the first of many such discussions. NARP welcomes, and stands ready to help facilitate, the further involvement of passengers and train advocates as Amtrak continues to plan and prepare for growth. —Ross Capon and Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, amtrak policies, broadway limited, dialogue, expansion, forum, growth, improvement, joseph boardman, lake shore limited, long-distance trains, passenger trains, photography, sunset limited, texas eagle,Boardman Defends National Network on Fox Business News
Friday, May 07, 2010
In a televised interview with Fox Business News’s Brian Sullivan, a self-described “train aficionado” who nevertheless expresses skepticism about the future of high-speed rail and the need for passenger trains outside of certain densely-populated corridors, Amtrak President & CEO Joseph Boardman deflects what have become common doubts about his company.
Boardman points out that Germany and Spain also only run true high-speed trains on a small percentage of their track miles. When Sullivan brings up Amtrak’s operating losses and asked if the railroad “should shed some unprofitable lines,” Boardman again turns to Europe, comparing Amtrak to Spain’s Renfe, which is “not expected to [make a profit in] ... providing mobility to a larger extent to its population.” He finishes by again touting rail’s energy-efficiency bona fides [PDF] and reiterating his argument that Amtrak is best suited to run “true” high-speed service in the US.
Watch the full interview (6 1/2 minutes):
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, brian sullivan, ceo, conventional trains, corridors, europe, fox business news, germany, high-speed rail, joseph boardman, national network, passenger trains, spain,Mostly good news from high-level presenters at D.C. membership meeting
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
NARP members from Maryland, D.C., Virginia and West Virginia gathered at Washington’s Union Station on Saturday for a very informative 5-hour annual meeting. NARP Director and Mid-Atlantic Division Leader Jim Churchill and Outreach Director Malcolm Kenton put together this report:
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Our first guest was April Maguigad, head of operations for commuter train operator Virginia Railway Express (VRE). Her presentation covered the smooth transition from Amtrak to Keolis as the contractor operating VRE trains, improved on-time performance, new cars and locomotives being delivered, and planned station improvements including allowing passengers to board a train from either side boarding.
VRE remains challenged by growing ridership running into limited capacity, adding service to Stafford County on the Fredericksburg Line (Stafford just became part of the compact that manages VRE). VRE is considering additional reverse commute service on both Manassas and Fredericksburg lines (there is currently one reverse-commute Manassas Line trip and none on the Fredericksburg Line), partly to alleviate crowding of stored equipment in Washington. VRE is also improving track at L’Enfant to facilitate storage of trains there, and building a direct pedestrian tunnel between Alexandria’s VRE/Amtrak station and the King Street Metrorail station.
Michael Testerman, President of the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons and Vice Chair of Rail Solution, presented an overview of the work of the North American Steel Interstate Coalition. Rail Solution’s mission is to vastly expand and upgrade Norfolk Southern’s Shenandoah Valley line to take trucks off of I-81, one of the country’s most heavily-used freight corridors. The Steel Interstate Coaltion wants to expand this concept to other corridors designated by the U.S. military during the 1973 energy crisis, but that have never received major federal investment. The vision includes elecrtifying many main lines to accommodate longer, faster freight trains as well as 110 to 125-mph passenger trains.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, dc streetcars, jim churchill, joseph boardman, marc, narp membership meeting, rail solution, ross capon, union station, vre, washington dc,Amtrak Funding, Amtrak’s CEO, and the National Network
Friday, January 13, 2012
Under the debt ceiling law enacted in August, if the supercommittee failed (which it did), domestic discretionary programs would be cut 7.8% in Fiscal 2013, which starts October 1, 2012. That would mean yet another Amtrak funding reduction, this one exceeding $100 million. Three other wild-card factors could affect the outcome:
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| Amtrak’s westbound Sunset Limited arriving at Palm Springs, CA. [Image: Florian Boyd on Flickr.com] |
- Efforts to reduce the impact of sequestration on the Pentagon by increasing the magnitude of cuts for other programs.
- Flexibility in application of the 7.8%. If it applies only to the transportation/housing appropriations subcommittee’s overall total, the subcommittee almost certainly would hit some programs harder in order, for example, to protect the Federal Aviation Administration, which is being forced to “lay off more than 2,000 employees…close 246 air traffic control contract towers.” The 7.8% cut applied across-the-board also would “cause significant delays of FAA’s NextGen program which is needed to modernize an already aging air traffic control system.” See House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers’ (R-KY) “failure-is-not-an-option” letter of October 14 to the supercommittee (FAA paragraphs are on page 6). Particularly given the amount of new equipment authorized (both Amtrak’s orders already placed and planned orders for California and Midwest states), it would appear that Amtrak will have to fight hard just to be exempt from the hunt for “offsets” to protect the FAA.
- If funding for 2013 remains unresolved by November, the outcome of the elections could bring an even darker future for Amtrak, considering the statements that some candidates have made.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak funding, faa, federal transportation spending, joseph boardman, long-distance trains, national debt, sunset limited, union pacific,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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