Union Pacific and Amtrak

[Amfleet]

AMTRAK TRAIN DELAYS ON THE UNION PACIFIC RIGHT OF WAY - September 16, 2002. Friends of Amtrak has learned of some rather alarming statistics regarding delays of Amtrak trains on Union Pacific tracks.
In August 2002, UP-attributable delay to Trains 21 and 22 totalled 20,381 minutes, or an approximate average of 339.7 minutes per train; that's an astounding 5.5 hours of UP-attributable delay for each and every Train 21 and 22.

Not to be outdone, the UP delayed Trains 1 and 2 for a total of 10,687 minutes. With the tri-weekly operation, that comes out to approximately 6.9 hours of UP-attributable delays to each UP-handled Train 1 and 2.

What's going on here. UP should be fined for doing this. They are able to let Amtrak by-pass their trains. This has gotta stop. :angry:

 

[tp49]

The answer simply is UP both thinks their freight is more important than passengers and they probably want more money from Amtrak to run their trains on UP's tracks. I would love to see the contract between UP and Amtrak though.

 

[Amfleet]

Well the "new" contract better state to GIVE AMTRAK TRAINS PRIORITY.

 

[tp49]

I was thinking there might be provisions in the contract that would allow Amtrak to sue UP for breach due to their delays. I do however know for a fact that in the corridors that use UP (probably only the Capitol Corridor) that over a certain number of frequencies UP will consider the service commuter and charge a higher rate for use of the tracks. I believe it might be between 16 and 20 one way trips.

 

[Viewliner]

Well the "new" contract better state to GIVE AMTRAK TRAINS PRIORITY.

You might as well say the "new" budget for this year should give Amtrak more funding than the airlines. As much as I'd like to see it happen, it isn't. However there should be some sort of term that UP has to limit (i.e. minimize, or limit) the Amtrak delays.

 

[Miami Joe]

I'm sure there are provisions, but over the years many RR's have chosen to ignore the contracts.

Having worked in government services, I wouldn't be surprised if UP still gets its monthly bonuses for on-time performance. The checks are probably computer generated. Somebody will have to blow the whistle before it stops.

Then again, Amtrak has a bad record for paying on schedule. Amtrak could be months in arrears!

B)