Amtrak commits to Southwest Chief via rail in FY19
An Amtrak official told a Senate hearing the agency would continue to operate passenger service through the Southwest on routes exempted from Positive Train Control.
Amtrak
Commentary
The Amtrak era is over. It’s time for a replacement
Railway Age editor William C. Vantuono wondered recently what exactly Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson is trying to accomplish by truncating long-distance routes, replacing fresh dining-car meals with MREs*, and replacing station agents with nobody.
Surfliner Chargers make their entrance
Always a big railroad moment, three California passenger rail agencies unveiled the next-generation motive power for Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner trains.
Amtrak OIG spells out Amtrak’s “challenges”
Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General has released its biannual “management challenges”* report, “highlighting eight areas in which the company may face [problems] in fiscal years 2019 and 2020.”
Commentary
Amtrak reform: Attention must be paid
Watching Washington, October 2018: From operating plans to marketing to pricing, change is relentless in railroading. Where railroaders once every five years looked with suspicion at all aspects of their system, and made substantial changes after 10, scientific advances, new processes and innovative applications propelled by unremitting competition have put the transformation process on steroids.
Commentary
Res Ipsa Loquitur (The Matter Speaks for Itself)
Perhaps former Congressman John Mica had a point, after all, to claim that Amtrak operates like a relic of the Soviet Kremlin? That, and knowing we have the best politicians money can buy, tells a clear story: Beyond the history of outrageous corporate failures due to illegal manipulation of their financial data, like Enron, is there any other example of a company operating in such an egregious manner as Amtrak that defies Congress, lies to states, and spits in the face of the public interest, all the while scooping up even more taxpayer funding?
Commentary
Unintended consequences
Underlying the ancient aphorism “be careful what you wish for … because you might get it” is the law of unintended consequences.
Amtrak clarifies PTC position
Testifying on Sept. 13 at a House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials hearing on Positive Train Control, Amtrak Chief Operating Officer Scot Naparstek said—in contrast to what President and CEO Richard Anderson has stated in previous hearings—that the railroad will not discontinue long-distance train operations on freight railroad routes that lack fully functioning PTC by Jan, 1, 2019, and will apply to the Federal Railroad Administration for an alternative schedule with a Dec. 31, 2020 deadline.
Alstom, Merrill celebrate assembly of first Avelia bodyshell
The first replacement trainset for Amtrak’s high-speed service is just a shell of itself – and that’s good news.
Commentary
TWU’s “crappy boxed lunch,” a PTC paper tiger—and silence
I don’t need to write much about how the Transport Worker’s Union looks upon Amtrak President and CEO Richard Anderson’s purported quest to eliminate dining car service and dismantle the long-distance train national network. The poster below says it all. It’s funny, to be sure, but for thousands of Amtrak customers, the meaning behind it is sad and dehumanizing.