'CC and UP - Partnering for a Greener Way to Travel'

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chuljin

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
May 2, 2008
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Glendale, CA: 2 miles from GDL :)
One of the many things I picked up during My National Train Day Adventure was the new Capitol Corridor Timetable.

On the front is a picture of a CC train, as well as a picture of Amtrak schedule planners' eternal and mortal enemy, a Union Pacific freight train.

Between these two pictures:

CAPITOL CORRIDOR AND UNION PACIFIC - PARTNERING FOR A GREENER WAY TO TRAVEL
It would make sense to me if it were

PACIFIC SURFLINER (partially), SCRRA, and BNSF - PARTNERING ...
as SCRRA and BNSF actually treat Amtrak nicely, but as printed, it seems strange to me, as (based on quick back-of-the-napkin calculations) a Capitol Corridor or other Amtrak train, idling on a siding waiting for a mile-long UP freight train to pass, gets approximately 0 passenger-miles per gallon and emits approximately an infinite amount of air pollution per passenger-mile.

OK, that was tongue-in-cheek, but it seems well out of the ordinary for Amtrak to praise UP.

Chris
 
Well the Capitol Corridor is not really Amtrak. Yes the trains say Amtrak on the side, but the Capitol Corridor operates under the authority of the CCJPA and is finances primarily through funding by the State of California.
 
Well the Capitol Corridor is not really Amtrak.
And yet, Capitor Corridor sorta is Amtrak. IIRC, the joint powers authority contracts with Amtrak to operate the service (funded primarily by the state of California).

I laughed when I saw the green timetable. I wondered if passengers could ride on a Union Pacific train (tongue in cheek, of course).

I also wondered what UP did to merit such placement on a passenger train service brochure.

Aside from the photo, I think the brochure does a decent job of giving credit where credit's due. It says it's "An intercity passenger train service managed" by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority in parnership with Amtrak, Caltrans and UP. The details of the "partnerships" can be found elsewhere.

Anyway, I know that UP is a great white whale for a lot of passenger railfans. I'm new around these parts, but it seems like the relationship is a lot more complicated than a simple love-hate relationship.
 
The CCJPA has a separate contract with the Union Pacific for handling of the Capitols. They do not rely on the Amtrak access rights. The result: in January the Capitols had an 87% on-time rate. That compares favorably with Amtrak's own Acela (81%) and NEC Regionals (79%). For the CCJPA, the Union Pacific does a pretty good job hosting the trains.
 
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Aren't most Acela and Regional delays the result of equipment problems, though? And the California cars and engines are maintained at CAs expense to higher standards, right?
 
Aren't most Acela and Regional delays the result of equipment problems, though? And the California cars and engines are maintained at CAs expense to higher standards, right?
According to the new Amtrak route performance data:

Acela 12 month on-time rate: 83%

Top three causes of Acela delays

33% Track and Signals

31% Train Interference

14% Equipment

Regional 12 month on-time rate: 79%

Top three causes of Regional delays

33% Train Interference

32% Track and Signals

13% Equipment

Capitol Corridor 12 month on-time rate: 87%

Top three causes of Capitol Corridor delays

43% Train Interference

28% Track and Signals

9% Non-railroad (delays related to a non-railroad third party)
 
Capitol Corridor 12 month on-time rate: 87%Top three causes of Capitol Corridor delays

43% Train Interference

28% Track and Signals

9% Non-railroad (delays related to a non-railroad third party)
Some of that "non-RailRoad third party" business would include Drawbridges being raised for Shipping Traffic... both across the Sacramento River (right out of Sacramento) and across Carquinez Strait (right out of Martinez).
 
And, when they talk about "freight train interference" on the Capital Corridor you are usually dealing with a few minutes, not the long delays elsewhere. A lot of the credit needs to be given to Eugene K. Skoropowski, the Managing Director of Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority. He seems to have developed ways gain UP's respect and cooperation. The CCJPA has over the years also put a lot of money into track improvements, and having ridden it a couple of times, the passenger trains obviously get priority.
 
A lot of the credit needs to be given to Eugene K. Skoropowski, the Managing Director of Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority. He seems to have developed ways gain UP's respect and cooperation.
IMHO Gene is one of the true geniuses still working in the railroad industry. He's taken the Capitol Corridor from a fledgling operation of just about 4 or 6 daily trains to where it is today with over 30 trains per day now and thousands of riders. He's worked well with UP, although it's been a struggle and he's probably got a few bumps and bruises over the years. He's out in public, he rides the trains, he meets his riders, and he's not afraid to stand up in public and say "Sorry, we screwed that one up!" when something does go wrong.

I’m not sure that Gene’s looking for the job, much less am I trying to usher Alex Kummant out the door. But Amtrak can only stand to benefit from having Gene as its next President, IMHO.
 
Here is a quick summary of the growth of the corridor by the man, himself:

Look How We've Grown
The Capitol Corridor has been built from basically ground zero since 1991. The voter-initiated capital bond funds approved in 1990 provides the capital investments needed to establish and deliver the intercity passenger rail service we have today. Our Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) Board of Directors is comprised of two members from each of our eight-county district and each of them must also be a Board Member of one of our six member transit agencies (Sound complicated? Somewhat, but it seems to work!).

Since the Capitol Corridor is a complex series of arrangements between the CCJPA Board, BART, Amtrak, Union Pacific Railroad, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the state Business, Transportation & Housing Agency (BT&H), the California Transportation Commission (CTC), our six member transit agencies - Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), Solano Transportation Authority (STA), Yolo County Transportation District (YCTD), Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT), and the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency (PCTPA), some have commented that it is a miracle that it works at all. We believe in miracles, and we now have the third busiest intercity passenger route in the country, called The Capitol Corridor. We offer more intercity service than anywhere else in the nation outside of Amtrak's busy Northeast Corridor.

We have grown from 8 trains a day in 1998, to 32 trains a day, and we have stabilized the state funding required to due so. We are running a 32 train schedule for about the same level of state funding that we were allocated in 2002 for an 18-train schedule. At the same time, our farebox recovery ratio has jumped from 29% in 1998 to 48% in 2007, and is up over 50% for the first quarter of 2008, meeting the state's 50% goal.

Few public service agencies can claim such an impressive record of stewardship of public funding. What has made this possible? We would like to think that prudent "run it like a business" management has had something to do with it, but we also know that the availability of capital money to invest, build, maintain and improve the railroad, the trains and facilities we need to continue to deliver this service to the people of California also had a lot to do with it. This is why we believe California voters supported the Governor's Proposition 1B in 2006, because it had additional capital bond funds to continue our successful, nationally recognized intercity passenger rail program.

Sincerely,

Eugene K. Skoropowski, AIA

Managing Director

Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority
 
As I mentioned before, the CCJPA has a seperate deal with the Union Pacific for access and dispatching. They pay the UP much more than Amtrak would for the same access, but expect more from the UP as well. Is it working? Seems to be. By they way, Amtrak was none to pleased with the CC cutting it's own deal. They felt it was stepping on their turf. Tough.

I should also add that the CCJPA holds Amtrak's feet to the fire also. They do not accept shoddy maintenance or operation from Amtrak, and when they get it (and they do once in a while), they scream bloody murder. They are also very careful to prevent Amtrak from overloading the operation with financial overheads, and tactic that Amtrak has been known to employ.

One example is the Amtrak reservation system. The CCJPA got tired of what it perceived to be excessive charges by Amtrak for the Capitol Corridor's use of the 1-800-USA-RAIL phone reservation system. So they dropped out. You can book Capitol Corridor on-line and by Amtrak phone as part of an Amtrak itinerary, but you cannot call Amtrak to just book the Capitol Corridor.

When they CC was started (with some hostility from Amtrak, I must add), there was no market there. The market was developed and nurtured. Today, it is a showpiece that Amtrak itself is hard pressed to match. They run a great service, and the Director certainly holds all parties responsible for service quality, including himself. I'm not sure how well that would translate to the national system, but within the friendly confines of the Capitol Corridor, it works just fine.
 
The CCJPA got tired of what it perceived to be excessive charges by Amtrak for the Capitol Corridor's use of the 1-800-USA-RAIL phone reservation system. So they dropped out. You can book Capitol Corridor on-line and by Amtrak phone as part of an Amtrak itinerary, but you cannot call Amtrak to just book the Capitol Corridor.
So that's what happened. In this area, when you call Amtrak now, there is a recorded lead-in offering the chance to push #1 for the Capitol Corridor Trains, & "Stay on the Line" for all other Amtrak Business.

Their own phone service appears to be pretty complete.

They also have their own Website, http://www.capitolcorridor.org

They claim a recent survey showed 86% on-board passenger satisfaction (undoubtedly higher than Amtrak at large)

Wi-Fi along the entire corridor is expected to be available next year.

There is also a Website covering all three of the California-funded Corridor Trains:

http://www.amtrakcalifornia.com

They offer helpful news items like the following:

4/01/08 KIDS RIDE FREE TO STOCKTON ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL

Really, who would have guessed?
 
Gene for Amtrak president? Hmm! I hadn't really thought of that, but I'm starting to like that idea! :) Maybe we should get a petition going...
 
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