Northeastern292
Service Attendant
As some of you might know, I am a member of NARP (and a council rep) and I came up with some agenda Items for the 2015 Spring Council of Representatives meeting back in April, and my ideas got mixed reviews. My original commnents are in italics, with my updated notes non-italicized.
- State of Amtrak's customer service in general: equipment seems more ragged, noticeable “running it hard and putting it away wet” mentality? If so, it's a threat to the railroad.
- Station agent attrition: downgrading stations, especially on the LD trains. Station agent decides to retire, position isn't filled. Does Amtrak want to downgrade customer service? Station agents do various roles, and the “attended station” with a caretaker in my eyes is simply unacceptable. With bikes on trains as popular as they are, THIS has to be dealt with ASAP.
- Recent accidents (Frankfort Junction, Kansas SW Chief derailment, others)- Amtrak is IMHO facing a severe equipment shortage. They're cutting it close as it is. And with the potential of returning the Sunset Limited to the Gulf Coast, urgency to get them back in order?
- Future Amtrak car orders: show they order excess for service expansion, peak periods and just-in-case incidents? Go in with VIA Rail for a joint single level car order? According to the the last PRIIA 305 next-generation equipment committee meeting reports, VIA Rail wants to join as an observer. Expect standardization, but with BBD getting the VIA contract and Amtrak going to Siemens or Alstom or both.
- CAF retain production patters in case of future Amtrak single level orders? Probably unlikely. While Amtrak is desperate for equipment, CAF hasn't demonstrated that their build is up to snuff.
- Work with MDOT on getting the Talgos on the Pere Marquette to free up Superliners for the LD trains? Not happening. Bad blood in the Michigan legislature due to the MI Train project.
- Retain Horizon cars (even though they are in quite rough shape) after the arrival of the Midwest bilevels and use them for peak periods + service expansion? And (if the political situation in Wisconsin changes & the bugs with the current order are worked out) an order from that state? (If Wisconsin and Iowa get their heads out of their asses, I would hope for orders, same for Minnesota, although with a different problem. Right now California and the Midwest states have 175 cars on order (if I recall correctly, the options for both the bilevels and the additional Siemens Chargers went through), but it's simply not enough. If Minnesota, Iowa and in an unlikely situation Indiana need corridor cars, 175 isn't enough to go around). However, there was agreement with several people I spoke to that the Horizons, while put away quite wet, should stick around for another decade or two.
- Retain Heritage diners/baggage cars for emergency purposes, fleet shortages, etc.
- Should Siemens Chargers be purchased for diselized corridor routes in the NE to free up P42DC's for overhaul and return to use on LD runs? This looks likely, and the rumor mill has it that Siemens would like to lease Amtrak some Chargers. That or buy the AC4400CW's that Metrolink is leasing from BNSF once Metrolink's F125's are in. Sure, you can't use them by themselves due to a lack of HEP, but at least you wouldn't have P40/P42's crapping out on LD runs and annoying host railroads. I'm sure the AC4400CW's could run at 90mph safely with a gearing change. As for faster than that, I wouldn't want to count on it.
- Should Amtrak acquire surplus commuter equipment for various routes to free up other equipment? Not likely.
- States: should they buy used commuter equipment and rehab it for use on corridor routes. Iowa Pacific and the states should be doing this. NCDOT has had success with this, and to a lesser extent and with less success, California. Definitely more likely than Amtrak doing it themselves.
- Amtrak needs to be more transparent and vocal in regards to equipment. They're a government agency. Can't quite do that. NEXT!
- Biz class on LD routes, however I'd like to see the addition of slumbercoaches and open sections. (Slumbercoaches and open sections are a pipe dream, but why not?) This is a MUST. Why should I pay extra for a seat on a train with no difference in or less legroom than coach? Amtrak should consider lie-flat business seats. While the privacy wouldn't be as if you were traveling in a sleeper, at least you would sleep better. It's hard for me to sleep unless I lie flat. I tried it at my girlfriend's parent's house in Iowa back in May and it sucked.
- Issues with other agencies (WMATA, for instance) that should be resolved. Some of Amtrak's problems are not exclusive to Amtrak. Only way that's happening is if John Mica loses his Congressional seat.
OTHER STUFF
- Political blitz: NARP & state level members should write to Congress, members of state legislators to drum up support for passenger rail and infrastructure improvements. This is a no-brainer. Everyone who is a frequent visitor on this site should do just that.