Amtrak needs to place a new cars order now

[Guest_Fan_Trains]

it's time for Amtrak to place a Large new orders for new cars.First Amtrak needs 500 brand Superliner cars, 50 more Viewliners sleeping cars,150 new Viewliners Coaches, 50 new Viewliners Lounge, 50 Baggage Cars, 350 New Coaches for the Northeast Corridor. it's Time Amtrak milks Congress now for Money Amtrak needs 3 to 5 billion year for the next 10 years to get a-shape again.

 

[Trogdor]

Exactly how is Amtrak supposed to "milk" congress for money?

 

[AmtrakWPK]

Just change the name from Amtrak to Iraqi Passenger Rail Corporation and apply for aid. You should have 15-20 Billion within a week or so. Use a P.O. Box in Baghdad.

 

[AlanB]

it's time for Amtrak to place a Large new orders for new cars.First Amtrak needs 500 brand Superliner cars, 50 more Viewliners sleeping cars,150 new Viewliners Coaches, 50 new Viewliners Lounge, 50 Baggage Cars, 350 New Coaches for the Northeast Corridor. it's Time Amtrak milks Congress now for Money Amtrak needs 3 to 5 billion year for the next 10 years to get a-shape again.

You forgot Viewliner diner's which is probably the most important thing for Amtrak right now.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Yes Amtrak needs new cars but Amtrak will be lucky to get $1.82 Billion in 06.

 

[AlanB]

Yes Amtrak needs new cars but Amtrak will be lucky to get $1.82 Billion in 06.

You're right, they'll be lucky to get that.

However, if they do it will be a step in the right direction and will allow for a DMU purchase. That would free up some desperately needed Amfleets.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Yes Amtrak needs new cars but Amtrak will be lucky to get $1.82 Billion in 06.

You're right, they'll be lucky to get that.

However, if they do it will be a step in the right direction and will allow for a DMU purchase. That would free up some desperately needed Amfleets.

Don't forget about freedup Horizon's.

 

[Steve4031]

DINING CARS DINING CARS DINING CARS, PLEASE

IMHO, there should be ablsolute no over night train without a full service dining car on it. Well, maybe not the overnight train from Washington to Boston, but all of other long haul trains should have a full diiner. But of course this is contingent on Amtrak getting money.

 

[WICT106]

I think as well that Amtrak has to order additional sleepers and coaches. New diners would be very nice though. Amtrak has to get through the guantlet that Our Elected Representatives have thrown down in front of the organization regarding funding, though. What I've suggested on another forum would be for several states (or the Feds) to set up a rail trust fund. This would be funded by disembarkation fees. If airports can impose landing fees for their use, why not tack on a disembarkation fee. FL would be able to collect a tidy sum of money, so would some other states. This could be supplemented by selling government bonds. We also need to go ahead and get some sort of funding for some of these corridors like MSP-CHI. MSP could also set up some sort of situation where Amtrak would supplement the local commuter flights, and the trains would go to the main MSP terminal. This would free up space at the terminal for the airlines to concentrate on the longer distance flights. It would also free up space on the local highways, too.

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

I'll believe this when I see them actually delivered!

On another note, Auto Train should be taking delivery of new auto carriers either end of this year or begining of next (I last heard that is). OBS...

 

[AlanB]

On another note, Auto Train should be taking delivery of new auto carriers either end of this year or begining of next (I last heard that is). OBS...

All reports that I've heard say that they should be there before year end. The cars are already built, but they are having their coupler pockets modified to fix some issue. I'm not sure what, perhaps too much slack or too little, or maybe it's something else.

 

[Guest_Amtrak_flyer]

Forget about new cars for now. Amtrak is hanging on by a thread. Alot of people seem to be upset at David Gunn for Amtraks budget request for next year. Its crystal clear to me whats going on. Gunn has NO choice but to go along with the Board. What he's doing is buying time for Amtrak. Remember Amtrak was supposed to be self-sufficient by the late 1990's early 2000..obviously that didnt happen. Same thing is going to happen now. What I think Gunn is banking on is the election in 2006 giving Amtrak a few more votes in Congress to guarantee real funding. If Amtrak had 10 more votes in both houses we wouldnt be jumping through these hoops.

Regardless what party line you vote, I think the majority of Americans are realizing we cant have all three branches of goverment controlled by one party. Anyways I dont see a new car order til 2007 at the earliest..

 

[AlanB]

Forget about new cars for now. Amtrak is hanging on by a thread.

I agree, by and large we won't be seeing any large orders of new cars for a few years at least, if ever. If however Amtrak gets what they asked for, probably unlikely though, I suspect that you will see an order for some DMU's.

Alot of people seem to be upset at David Gunn for Amtraks budget request for next year. Its crystal clear to me whats going on. Gunn has NO choice but to go along with the Board. What he's doing is buying time for Amtrak.

Actually I'm not so sure that David was forced and had no choice in this budget. After all, remember that he can go back to retirement anytime he wants. He doesn't need this job to support himself.

Frankly, while there are things that I'm unhappy with in the proposal, there is some real genius in there too, IMHO. I think that David had his hand in there, especially with regard to the accounting changes being proposed. Everyone is always complaining and using the LD's to show how much Amtrak looses transporting a fraction of the passengers in this country.

This proposal will remove some of that ammunition from those naysayers. By separating the various lines, along with removing the overhead expenses from all lines for 5 years, I think that it will prove once and for all that the LD's don't really loose big monies. They loose big money because of the allocated, overhead expenses.

Yes there are a few LD's, like the Sunset that will still do poorly, unless other changes can be affected. Things like OTP and daily service, to mention a few. But many of the other LD's will be shown in a good light, with the removal of those extra expenses.

It will also show the states how much money they are going to need to put up, in order to keep the state supported trains running. This IMHO is going to cause a huge outcry once they see those numbers. Most states will not be able to afford those trains.

Especially when coupled with the infrastructure improvement matches also being considered. I do think that the infrastructure match is a good idea. I think and hope that the reality of the future will be that the states will improve travel by promoting the infrastructure improvements with matches from the Fed, while Amtrak along with the Fed fund the actual service and equipment needs on those lines.

 

[hickorytrainlover]

You guys are absolutely right. I just got back from Florida on the Silver Star. The coaches are mostly old red interior and in poor condition. There was one newer coach car blue interior. The train was pretyy crowded both ways. We got 2 sleepers on the way back for $105.oo each. Orlando to Hamlet,nc. The tv's didn't work in the sleepers. The intent of the crew is to provide excellent service but they are going up against impossible odds. Someone like me will ride again but the average Joe won't be impressed by the equipment they have. If they don't fix this then I see little chance of survival.

 

[AlanB]

You guys are absolutely right. I just got back from Florida on the Silver Star. The coaches are mostly old red interior and in poor condition. There was one newer coach car blue interior. The train was pretyy crowded both ways. We got 2 sleepers on the way back for $105.oo each. Orlando to Hamlet,nc. The tv's didn't work in the sleepers. The intent of the crew is to provide excellent service but they are going up against impossible odds. Someone like me will ride again but the average Joe won't be impressed by the equipment they have. If they don't fix this then I see little chance of survival.

That's been Amtrak's #1 problem since the day it was formed, old equipment. The first 10 years or so, saw Amtrak running with all of the old cars from the freight RR's. Cars that by and large had been horribly neglected by the freight RR's, since they were loosing so much money.

Even when Amtrak did get new equipment, it was in bits and pieces and it has never been a steady flow or enough. In the real world to stay on top of things, every 5 years Amtrak should be placing a car order that replaces 1/6 of the fleet. That's in addition to adding extra cars to replace cars that were scrapped and extra cars for increased ridership.

On top of that, each car should receive two major interior overhauls during it's 30 year life.

The above would give Amtrak a decent fleet that would attract more passengers and increase ridership and revenue.

 

[Steve4031]

For about 5 years or so in the 80's with the newly refurbished heritage fleet in the east and superliners in the West, Amtrak's equipment was pretty good. But they were never able to keep it maintained and overhauled, thus the wear and tear. Gunn seems to be trying to turn this around, but in order for an overall, comprehesnive impact, money is needed.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Yes Amtrak needs new cars but Amtrak will be lucky to get $1.82 Billion in 06.

You're right, they'll be lucky to get that.

However, if they do it will be a step in the right direction and will allow for a DMU purchase. That would free up some desperately needed Amfleets.

I do support Amtrak but they will luck if they get $1.6 BIllion.

 

[Midland Valley]

Who is the company that will build them? I can't remember the one that built the viewliners.

 

[dh127]

Someone asked who built the Viewliners. It was Morrison-Knudsen (I probably spelled that wrong), which went out of business while building them, and a company called Amerail finished the building. Amerail is now out of business. It would need to be a new company, although Alstom moved into a lot of the buildings that M-K used in Hornell NY, and does work with other types of rail passenger cars.

I noticed others mentioning funding. Just off the top, I would think that if Congress allowed Amtrak say $5 or $6 billion each year, it would go a long way for improvements of service, replacement equipment, etc, and maybe a lot more additional service. If people are lining up to take the trains in small out of the way stations in the middle of the night, they would be more willing to take trains if the services were at more reasonable hours.

Last year, I took the Lakeshore Limited to visit western New York. The time leaving Chicago was reasonable, but catching the train in Buffalo at 11:30 at night was a negative. I would think Buffalo would be large enough that if Amtrak was expanding service, it would support more trains going west toward Chicago, or St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, etc.

Someone else mentioned disembarkation fees. I would think if they added a tax of say 2 cents per gallon on gasoline earmarked for passenger rail, it would be useful. If it discourages car useage, maybe the people would have dependable rail as an alternative.