NARP Urges STB Action on Unacceptable Freight RR Handling of Amtrak Trains

Release #06-11—July 14, 2006

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Washington, D.C.—In a letter to Surface Transportation Board Chairman W. Douglas Buttrey, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) said its members “are increasingly alarmed at the on-time performance of many Amtrak trains operating on tracks of the freight railroads—especially CSX and Union Pacific. We urge you to take every action you can…to bring about improved performance.”

The letter was from NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon. In June, he wrote, “more than 100,000 passengers rode Amtrak trains that reached their final destinations over four hours late; the overwhelming majority of these passengers were on routes that use CSX or Union Pacific exclusively or primarily.” This year’s performance appears to represent an intensification of several years of negative trends. In April, Amtrak Acting President and CEO David J. Hughes told the Association’s board that the “on-time performance of Amtrak trains on freight railroad tracks dropped 50% from 1999 to 2005.”

Last month, only 15% of runs of the Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight, primarily using UP tracks, reached their final destinations less than four hours late. “By contrast, the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief (BNSF tracks) and Chicago-Seattle/Portland Empire Builder (BNSF and CP) were on time (no worse than 30 minutes late) 63.3% and 80.0%, respectively.”

Short-distance runs in which states have invested heavily also are infected by bad on-time performance. Last week alone [June 30-July 6], Union Pacific accounted for 1800 minutes of delays to Cascades service in the Pacific Northwest. The 124-mile Eugene-Portland segment uses UP tracks, and has just two daily Cascades round-trips. The 1800 minutes do not include extensive Coast Starlight delays.

Federal law requires that Amtrak trains be given “preference over freight transportation…except in an emergency” or where the Secretary of Transportation, in response to a railroad’s application for relief, has “established the rights of the carrier and Amtrak on reasonable terms.”

Capon noted, “Amtrak mechanical and personnel issues also can delay trains, but the root causes of many such delays are relentless, terrible on-time performance. This unreasonably stretches Amtrak crews and equipment, leaving inadequate time for crew rest and equipment maintenance between trips.

“Any investigation and related public hearings should:
(1) Identify specific, detailed causes of the freight train interference issues;
(2) Determine whether and how much freight train interference results from actions which might reasonably have been avoided; and
(3) Most importantly, identify short and long term remedial issues.”

In many cases, both freight and passenger trains are hurt by substandard dispatching and excessive slow orders, the latter caused by deferred track maintenance. Capon wrote, “We understand that the segment between Sacramento and Eugene has over 100 slow orders, many at 10 mph. One southbound run of the Coast Starlight lost 3 hours 33 minutes due to slow orders between Sacramento and Portland plus 4 hours 52 minutes meeting other trains.”

In closing, Capon suggested, “Where short term solutions exist, the very existence of a high-profile STB investigation—or even the knowledge that you care—may stimulate noticeable improvement in Amtrak on-time performance in surprisingly short order.”

Copies of the letter were sent to Acting Secretary of Transportation Mario Cino, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman, and leaders of the House and Senate authorizing committees with jurisdiction over railroads.