URPA Newsletter

[MrFSS]

Volume 7, Number 15

May 26th, 2010

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from

United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.

America's foremost passenger rail policy institute

1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203 • Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA

Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail [email protected] • http://www.unitedrail.org

National Train Day

National Train Day passed uneventfully in Phoenix. Union Station, the mission-style depot turned fortress, protected by its tall prickly steel fence painted cactus green, was immune to invasion by curious passers-by. No-one rode a train through the station, except one hobo who waved from the end platform of a covered hopper -- all freight trains must now traverse the lone remaining passenger track, the bypass line having been removed a few years ago.

A man with a camera lurked in the shadow, afraid he might be asked for identity papers by Homeland Security, as a dry scrap of newsprint talking about transit cuts and tax hikes scudded across the broken concrete remnants of the platform.

Somewhere, Fred Harvey, whose ghost long ago departed the station's mahogany-and-brass news-stand with its eight-by-four-foot lead-lined humidor still scented with the ever-fainter aroma of Havana tobacco, turned in his grave. Amtrak, the nationalized passenger railroad, deserted the station for America's fifth largest city nearly fifteen years ago, with hope of its return having been repeatedly crushed.

Meanwhile at Dallas Union Station, Russ Jackson of the United Rail Passenger Alliance witnessed a healthy station in an upbeat city. North Texas is booming with new and extended programs from streetcars, light rail, commuter rail, and Amtrak intercity rail. Train Day in the Metroplex showcased all these, attracting people of all ages were to Dallas Union Station and to the Intermodal Transportation Center in Fort Worth:

On display at Dallas Union Station were the 1931 M-180 Doodlebug in Santa Fe colors that years ago worked the line to Carlsbad, New Mexico, and a heritage Pullman sleeping car, both now housed at the Museum of the American Railroad at nearby Fair Park. That museum is now under orders from the city to vacate the property, as it is underfunded and the land is needed for other purposes. The museum intends to move to nearby Frisco when funding is obtained. The successful TRE commuter line, that runs from Dallas to Ft. Worth displayed a train set of a newly repainted F59PH locomotive and two bi-level Bombardier (UTDC)-built coaches. Inside the historic station were staffed displays from the successful DART system, which is undergoing the same financial crises as in other cities, and the new under-construction Denton County "A- Train" commuter rail line, a model railroad club, music, face painting, etc., and the Texas Rail Advocates who were selling souvenir t-shirts and whistles. Where was Amtrak? They had a full staffed display table across from their ticket window, giving away packets of information including the timetables that would be out of date two days later. The new ones "were in the back somewhere," but would not be available until they go into effect. And, Amtrak 821, the southbound Texas Eagle arrived in Dallas 30 minutes late with 3 coaches, Diner-Lounge, Dining Car, and two sleeping cars (one of which is the crew dorm as well). That day was not one of the thru trains that connects with the Sunset Limited, but everyone we talked to is anxiously awaiting news as to when daily service through the West to California will begin. After loading and unloading, #821 quickly departed for Ft. Worth..

Thirty miles away in Ft. Worth Amtrak had several of their cars on display from the Heartland Flyer pool, and, like Dallas, had the packets and drawing tickets for travel on the Texas Eagle. The BNSF had a locomotive on display and employees there to answer questions. The Union Pacific displayed the newly painted 2010, the Boy Scouts of America commemorative locomotive, and North Texas Historic Transportation displayed their NTT interurban and had information about the proposed City of Ft. Worth Streetcar Circulator. TRE trains came and went through the station, the southbound Heartland Flyer arrived, the northbound and southbound Eagles arrived and departed, there was music, face painting, and the Texas Rail Advocates were there as well. Yes, there is a "rail presence" in the Metroplex, and while there is much to do and finances to do it are getting scarce, the foundation has been laid.

The Dallas station, despite its perfectly suited location, is crippled by having only three platform tracks, because city leaders who renovated the facility in the early 1980s believed Amtrak when it said that would be enough for any conceivable future needs. The station once had at least ten through tracks, an upper concourse perpendicular to the tracks with stairs to each level for quick and safe passenger flow, and a freight-and-baggage subway. DART's trolleys now serve the station, which is good, but in a way that precludes restoring platforms that would be needed for Dallas to act as a proper hub for regional trains. A little engineering and a lot of hard work could rectify the situation but it's yet another roadblock that could have been prevented. Vigilance today resolves tomorrow's problems.

Keolis moves closer to taking Virginia trains from Amtrak

The Washington Post on 11 May reported that the company soon to "take over operation of Virginia Railway Express trains from Amtrak wrapped up its first month of nationwide recruitment efforts as it prepares for the June transition." VRE's press release says operation will begin July 1 of this year.

Keolis Rail Services America is a division of Keolis, "a significant operator of tramways as well as operating bus networks, funiculars, trolley buses and airport services" according to Wikipedia; Keolis is owned by a group that includes SNCF, the French railway.

Coast Starlight group pushes plan for better service

The Coast Starlight Communities Network ("a coalition of various interests with the goal of protecting and improving rail service between Washington, Oregon, and California") has prepared a whitepaper describing the route, how trip times have increased by several hours since Amtrak's founding, and what can be done to improve the train's ambience and appeal, and expand the purpose of the train. A positive attitude like this is key to getting results.

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William Lindley

c/o wlindley.com, l.l.c.

PO Box 3621

Scottsdale, AZ 85271

480-947-6100

 

[jis]

So it looks like Phoenix (and Arizona) needs to get its act together to get trains back to the city.

 

[Guest]

So it looks like Phoenix (and Arizona) needs to get its act together to get trains back to the city.

Isnt this where Senator McCain rules, the guy who didnt know Amtrak ran through Arizona?

Unless the notorious tight wads in Arizona come up with the money for rail expansion the best they can hope for is thruway bus to Maricopa or Tuscon to catch the Sunset/Eagle or North to Flagstaff for the Chief!What are the chances this will happen, their nonothing Gov. and Leg are busy bashing "illegal aliens" and forming oosses, er vigilante militias to "protect our borders"! You could look it up, most civilized people laugh @ these clowns, or cry as the case may be!

 

[jis]

So it looks like Phoenix (and Arizona) needs to get its act together to get trains back to the city.

Isnt this where Senator McCain rules, the guy who didnt know Amtrak ran through Arizona?

Unless the notorious tight wads in Arizona come up with the money for rail expansion the best they can hope for is thruway bus to Maricopa or Tuscon to catch the Sunset/Eagle or North to Flagstaff for the Chief!What are the chances this will happen, their nonothing Gov. and Leg are busy bashing "illegal aliens" and forming oosses, er vigilante militias to "protect our borders"! You could look it up, most civilized people laugh @ these clowns, or cry as the case may be!

Don't even get me or for that matter several of us started on the various idiocies of Arizona. That could become an extremely OT discussion very very quickly. <_< At least they have very beautiful Sonoran Desert with those spectacular Saguaros.

 

[MrFSS]

This Week at Amtrak; 2010-06-10

​

This week: A brief report from each coast and then we look at some Amtrak finances.

On the right coast, some good news for the passenger rail manufacturing industry, and a lesson in perseverance. Around 1974 when I was in fourth grade my parents took me to a public meeting about Washington Metro. Even then, I loved studying maps; and one of the "future extensions" was to Dulles Airport. A mere 35 years later, that line may have a chance to finally be built — which is quite quick, really, compared to Boston's extension of its Red Line past Harvard (proposed in 1912, with the Cambridge segment completed in 1985). In any case, here's is part of WMATA's press release:

Metro's Board of Directors approved a contract today (May 27) to have Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., manufacture 428 new generation Metrorail cars known as the Series 7000 cars at a cost of $886 million. The cars will address Metro's number one safety priority to replace its oldest rail cars (Series 1000).Of the 428 cars, 128 of the cars will enable the expansion of Metro service on the Dulles rail corridor and 300 of the cars will be used to replace Metro's oldest rail cars (Series 1000), which will improve safety and reliability of Metro's fleet. The Dulles rail cars will be funded by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority…
The delivery schedule calls for the cars to start arriving on Metro property in 2013, and undergo a rigorous, months-long inspection process. All 428 cars are scheduled to go into service by 2016…. Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., will manufacture the new rail cars in Lincoln, NE…
Kawasaki has built single and double level commuter railcars, as well as NYCTA subway cars, partially at the Lincoln plant with final assembly at Yonkers, New York. At least one factory in America will be busy for awhile.

Now to the left coast, where Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo ponders in the San Francisco Chronicle what will happen to Caltrain's nearly forty thousand daily riders in California's anemic budget, even as plans for high speed trains in the same corridor proceed, threatening Caltrain on a variety of levels:

For many months, the people of the 14th Congressional District have been worried – and justifiably so – about what high-speed rail could mean to their communities. Now comes word of financial difficulties that threaten the future of Caltrain, the spine of the Peninsula transportation system and the little train that could, and does so much, to serve us…
 
The High Speed Rail Authority has to hit the reset button, improve its reputation and assuage Peninsula residents, who have every reason to fear that this project will be a nightmare… We need to see what high-speed rail will do for us, not only to us. In other words, we need high-speed rail on the Peninsula to be a betterment, not a detriment. One of the betterments we expect is an improved Caltrain, and that is something that can be done right now…
Perhaps California will look at England's "Javelin" trains, the long-anticipated high-speed commuter trains that only recently replaced a large part of the usual fleet of electric trains between London and the southeast Kent coast. The Evening Standard reports:

The 140mph hour Southeastern trains linking Kent to London were launched with great fanfare [in] December [2009]… [the fleet of] 29 Japanese Javelin trains were expected to be embraced by commuters as they cut an hour from the London-to-Dover route…
 
But [train operator] Southeastern has now halved the length of six of its trains because not enough people are using the services following complaints they are too expensive and uncomfortable. The fares cost a third more than those of conventional trains….
 
Commuters have complained the trains only take them to St Pancras and they then must cram on to "normal" Victoria or Cannon Street-bound services, which have been reduced to accommodate the Javelin trains.
 
Commuter John Cherry, from Chatham, said the new service had proved a "disaster" for many.
 
He said: "Passengers for Victoria lost their peak period services and now pack on the remaining reduced services or the Cannon Street services as people do not wish to go to St Pancras."
 
Another traveller said passengers have "rebelled against being forced to use an even more expensive service with uncomfortable trains which terminate in a place no one wants to be…"
This is exactly what could happen in California if new high-speed trains bypass many existing stations and run to a new terminal that does not connect to BART and Muni properly. One could also maintain the same thing has happened with Acela from its inception.

Finally this week we look at the wonderful world of Amtrak-o-nomics. Bruce Chapman of the Discovery Institute wrote on June 1 of a "Developing scandal at Amtrak" –

I served on the Amtrak Reform Council ten years ago and was frustrated, ultimately, by the failure of the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress to press harder for changes to Amtrak that would have made that entity more transparent in its finances and more collaborative with the private sector…
 
The Bush folks knew we needed reform, but couldn't deliver it, and wouldn't fund the transition to a public-private partnership. The Obama people are prepared to spend plenty, but not to reform the system.
 
Now we are seeing the
http://www.masstransitmag.com/publication/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=11608&pageNum=1public beginning to a scandal
http://www.masstransitmag.com/publication/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=11608&pageNum=1of unknown proportions at Amtrak. It broke in the
Washington Times
today.
 
The scandal could be the grounds for a true new beginning in passenger rail. America needs rail, not just as an alternative choice to roads and airplanes in carrying freight, but also in carrying people on many inter-city corridors.
The article to which he refers is from the Washington Times via Mass Transit Magazine, and titled Amtrak 'Misled' Congress on Finance

When Amtrak assured Congress it was on a "glide path" to free itself of federal subsidies early last decade [2001], a handful of top executives secretly had reason to know better. In fact, the rail service was on the verge of bankruptcy.But Amtrak's public assurances were based on far more than overly rosy financial projections… What authorities ultimately unraveled was that two former Amtrak officials, in fiscal 2001, either booked false or incorrect accounting entries in Amtrak's monthly financial statements or failed to report the activities.
Mr. Chapman sees hope in this adversity, and perhaps there may be some; but let us remember that "Amtrak accounting," like "military intelligence," is at best a questionable subject. If you have not recently read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, please hasten to your local library or bookstore for a copy. This tome of over a thousand pages is well worth the reading, or re-reading. Published in 1957, and focusing on American national politics and economic structure, it recounts the tale of a Dagny Taggart who struggles to keep her family's transcontinental railroad afloat against a tide of socialism and nationalization, and a Hank Rearden who invents a revolutionary steel-replacing metal only to encounter the same destructive forces.

In the book, Wesley Mouch's Steel Unification Board is proposed to lift the heavy restrictions previously imposed on Rearden, with a Plan explained by the government representative:

"Our Plan is really very simple," said Tinky Holloway, "…every company will produce all it can, according to its ability [with all earnings collected and assembled by the government]; at the end of the year… [we will] distribute these earnings by totaling the nation's steel output and dividing it by the number of open-hearth furnaces in existence… The preservation of its furnaces being the basic need, every company will be paid according to the number of furnaces it owns…"
Rearden, who heads the nation's only remaining innovative steel-making plant, retorts:

"Well, let me see," said Rearden. "Orren Boyle's Associated Steel owns 60 open-hearth furnaces, one-third of them standing idle and the rest producing an average of 300 tons of steel per furnace per day. I own 20 open-hearth furnaces, working at capacity, producing 750 tons of Rearden Metal per furnace per day. So we own 80 'pooled' furnaces with a 'pooled' output of 27,000 tons, which makes an average of 337.5 tons per furnace. Each day of the year, I, producing 15,000 tons, will be paid for 6,750 tons. Boyle, producing 12,000 tons, will be paid for 20,250 tons… Now how long do you expect me to last under your Plan?"
You may recognize here the accounting basis for Amtrak's "Route Profitability System," which derived from the federal Interstate Commerce Commission's formulas for determining passenger train profits and losses. Amtrak, in a 1997 National Association of Railroad Passengers meeting, admitted that revenues were pooled, and expenses were allocated to trains "subjectively" [sic].

In this as in every instance where Karl Marx's "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" has been applied, the doom of failure is not far off.

Case in point: My apartment complex sends me a water bill each month. The total number of gallons used by the complex — for each apartment, plus the pool and irrigation — is added up, and divided by a formula involving the square footage of each unit and the number of registered occupants. This means that if I do my part and conserve water, I am punished because my parsimony is a microscopic fraction of the total, so I am charged effectively the same amount; yet if I squander water and let it run all day, my bill is again hardly unchanged. Clearly, then, the incentive is to waste water.

The manager of an Amtrak train is faced with the same quandry. Carry more passengers and you are allocated a much larger share of expenses, even though your revenues increase only slightly. Ideally you would carry zero passengers, because then your train would have zero expenses on an allocated basis.

Is it any wonder Amtrak has gone precisely no-where in its almost forty years of existence?

Please do read Atlas Shrugged, for we will be looking at it again quite soon.

Meanwhile: The moment someone says, "Don't worry, I'm from the government, I'm here to help!" is the moment you should look for the exit.

 

[jis]

Hmmm. Not even a peep about the Z-Train affair. I hope that is because there is a muzzle order from the court

 

[Trogdor]

Can't believe he's quoting a "Washington Times" article. The Washington Times is about as garbage of a newspaper as you can get.

Seriously. They're "breaking" a story that happened 10 years ago?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Can't believe he's quoting a "Washington Times" article. The Washington Times is about as garbage of a newspaper as you can get.
Seriously. They're "breaking" a story that happened 10 years ago?

Same difference as quoting Fox News ! (aka Fixed Noise) And Ayn Rand!? (is this where Rand Paul got his name?) This is the first Newsletter since the change in authorship that doesnt seem reasonable, or as Fake News would say, "fair and balanced"! Total waste of time, meanwhile life goes on all around you!

 

[haolerider]

Can't believe he's quoting a "Washington Times" article. The Washington Times is about as garbage of a newspaper as you can get.
Seriously. They're "breaking" a story that happened 10 years ago?

Same difference as quoting Fox News ! (aka Fixed Noise) And Ayn Rand!? (is this where Rand Paul got his name?) This is the first Newsletter since the change in authorship that doesnt seem reasonable, or as Fake News would say, "fair and balanced"! Total waste of time, meanwhile life goes on all around you!

URPA is just not happy unless they can find 2-3 things to crticize concerning Amtrak - even if they are 10 years out of date. In the past it has been Bruce Richardson's rants and raves, but it appeared initially that Lindley was going to be more impartial and report facts and maybe even come up with solutions rather than generalizations about what should be done. To read the political mumbo-jumbo regarding Ayn Rand it just a bit too much for me to stomach on an Amtrak focused site. Let's keep politics on its own site and rail-related issues on this site - even though Amtrak is "politically connected" by its very method of operation.

 

[jis]

Maybe URPA and Washington Times will organize a planchette to attempt to contact Warrington's spirit so that he can be cross-examined regarding the glidepath to profitability :lol:

 

[MrFSS]

This Week at Amtrak; 2010-06-14

Volume 7, Number 17

​

Positive news for commuter operations, and ponderings on the future of high speed and intercity operations. But let us begin with two brief preludes; first, a short poem, called a "Grook" by its author, Danish poet and philosopher Piet Hein.

Thoughts on a Station Platform

It ought to be plain
how little you gain
by getting excited
and vexed.
You'll always be late
for the previous train,
and always in time
for the next.
 
A second lead-in: a note on why we are all here. Marcus Garnet, of Transport Action Atlantic in Canada, writes in a Progressive Railroading internet journal,

What is commonly overlooked, is that time spent on a full-service long-distance train is also available for other purposes, including overnight sleep, meals, work, meetings, socializing or simply the enjoyment of scenery. Overnight train travel serves a transportation function, but also offers a total experience, especially for those who are able to afford a bedroom. These passengers do not just travel on the train, they live on the train. Whether for tourists or traveling Canadians, this is a vital market distinction from other land transport modes.
 
Mr. Garnet sums up many of our feelings and motivations for being passenger train advocates. Yes, trains are a vital part of our national infrastructure, but we want trains because of what they do for us personally, what they do for our friends and families and neighbors, what they do for our economy and our ecology. Trains are special and we need many more of them.

One last item, from the Inbox: Reader Ole Amundsen wrote in regard to the referenced article on VIA Rail Ocean Train Service:

The comments around this exceptional piece of work seem to be getting at the heart-wood of the rail passenger conundrum in this country. My positions come from being 70 years of age, nurtured by an old school conservative view of individual responsibility, educated in business and economics, and experienced in national agendas…
 
When Amtrak was started, I was only interested in getting the
Montrealer
re-instated so I could avoid driving from my new home in Vermont to family in Connecticut. It is easy to look back and say Amtrak should have been done differently: it has performed the task of "place holder" for passenger rail but that is about it. Those were dark days for railroads, but we are now in a very different world: then I paid 16 cents a gallon for fuel oil to heat my drafty Vermont farm house! Today, we have 75 million boomers aging out; they control about 75% of the nations wealth, they love to travel, they are fit but getting more prone to medical situations, they have "done it all" and want to continue to have adventures, they enjoy creature comforts and are enjoying being grandparents. This is not a market block to be ignored, it is not solely a market for "luxury train travel;" it is a major component of the traveling public which does not opt for speed alone, but which prefers reasonable mode frequency, reasonable adherence to published schedules, reasonable and clean accommodations, reasonable food, accessible and accommodating equipment and a minimum of hassle…
 
My friend, the late Paul Weyrich, had all the conservative credentials a person could have; and he was a strong voice for passenger rail and trolley ("light rail") as well as integration of inter- and intra-urban service. This problem, this opportunity, must be addressed without falling back on old reasons not to, and [there must be a way we can] come together with fresh ideas on how to really run the railroad.
 
Now, on to the news.

The San Mateo County Times reported on 27 May that

Caltrain officials have convinced federal safety authorities to allow quick European-style electric trains to zip from San Francisco to San Jose… common in Europe, the smaller electric trains… [had been considered] unsafe. But after three years of tests and research, Caltrain will become the first railroad in the nation to use the technology after being granted a waiver… [this] will essentially be a pilot operation for the trains, called electric multiple units. If successful, commuter railroads and planned high-speed rail networks throughout the nation would have access to cheaper, greener and faster trains…
 
Even with several restrictions, the advent of modern equipment used successfully and safely for years elsewhere around the globe is a huge step forward for the implementation of regional rail lines around and between American cities.

For those who saw the Ayn Rand quote last week as being "the politics of the past," we turn to Paul Merrion 's article in Chicago Business this June 10th, regarding high-speed rail (emphasis mine):

In a move that reportedly "stunned" the rail industry, the Federal Railroad Administration last month proposed stiff terms for the grant agreements that railroads must sign with states to get funding to upgrade their rail systems… Among other things,
the FRA said railroads must be required to pay, without limit, for any further improvements or fixes needed to meet on-time performance goals
set out in the grant agreements, or else pay back the federal grants.Even Boston-based non-profit, National Corridors Initiative Inc., a high-speed rail advocacy group, questioned whether that is feasible."While the objective of these guidelines — to protect the taxpayer against the (mis)use of their money when federally assisted railroad projects are built — is a valid one, the prescriptive, punitive nature of the proposed FRA regulations are and will be non-starters for any normal businessperson who has to carefully assess projects for risks to his company, or face the wrath of his stockholders," the group said in a statement on its Web site…
 
The FRA holds over the railroads, not just the billions in high-speed rail grants effectively controlled by Amtrak, but also the impending imposition of Positive Train Control (PTC), a worthwhile safety and capacity improvement but one that will cost billions and take years. It is still not certain how much of PTC the railroads are expected to shell out of their own pockets. Is the Obama administration seriously going to require the railroads to pay any price so Amtrak can operate its government-funded high speed trains?

In parallel developments, concerning the Gulf oil spill, "Obama said he had no interest in undermining the value of BP" (Reuters story, 12 June 2010), but meanwhile "U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday BP should be subjected to unlimited liability costs and should pay all damage claims" (Reuters story, 11 June 2010). How can one impose unlimited liability without undermining industry? What person or corporation in their right mind would continue operating under those conditions?

(Caution: Ayn Rand reference follows; the timid may avert their gaze.)

In Atlas Shrugged, Rand populates her dystopia with officials who do not understand how the world works. Rand's bureaucrats have only ever ridden, as a Mr. Guthrie would put it, "their fathers' magic carpet made of steel," never seeing the engineering brain-power and the technical muscle-power behind a railway, imagining that trains function by magic, that oil pumps itself, that commerce and industry exist in a mythical land of everlasting continuation unaffected by taxes, regulation, and legislation. Rand posits a government whose popular and well-intentioned enactments "for the public good" strangle commerce and industry, slowly as a gentle flurry at first, finally escalating to a murderous avalanche.

Arthur Laffer explained in the Wall Street Journal one June 6th why this neverland of perpetual sameness does not exist:

People can change the volume, the location and the composition of their income, and they can do so in response to changes in government policies… It has always amazed me how tax cuts don't work until they take effect. Mr. Obama's experience with deferred tax rate increases will be the reverse. The economy will collapse in 2011.
 
Dire predictions of impending doom aside, will the Obama administration, having already started down the dystopian road (One of the characters in Rand's 1957 book asks, When they nationalized health care, did anyone ask what the doctors wanted?), truly enact scorched-earth policies in one economy sector after another? If so, look for oil and rail executives to be among the first to relocate to Galt's Gulch.

Back in the high speed arena,

Amtrak announced it is reorganizing and establishing a new department to pursue opportunities to develop new intercity high-speed rail service in select corridors around the country…
 
"Amtrak is the unparalleled leader in high-speed rail operations in America today and we intend to be major player in the development and operation of new corridors," said President and CEO Joseph Boardman…
 
–
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobS...30_Amtrak_Reorg_to_Advance_HSR_in_America.pdfAmtrak press release, 22 March 2010
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobS...30_Amtrak_Reorg_to_Advance_HSR_in_America.pdf
 
Aside from the omission of a word (does Amtrak intend to be
a
major player, or
the (only
) major player?), does it not sound as if Amtrak might be jockeying for a near-monopoly in high speed rail? Will we see a resuscitation of the dead corpse of its former monopoly over all intercity trains, moved to HSR? Prior to the passage of S.738, the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, U.S. Code:
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/49C247.txtUS Code, Title 49, section 24701(b) read
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/49C247.txt(emphasis mine): "Except as provided in section 24306 of this title, a person may provide intercity rail passenger transportation over a route over which Amtrak provides scheduled intercity rail passenger transportation under a contract under section 401(a) of the Act
only with the consent of Amtrak
."
 
The "monopoly clause" indeed prevented state agencies as well as private companies from even talking to railroads about running passenger trains. Would Amtrak have approved trains like New Mexico's RailRunner? Doubtful. Certainly not in the short time it took from its announcement to the first cue for the "Meep-meep!" of the RailRunner departure door chimes.

That provision having been rescinded, will the liability issue now be how private operators are forced out of business?

Perhaps echoing liability concerns voiced frequently by North America's Class I freight railroads, Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman has cited similar concerns "emerging as a significant obstacle to the improvement of existing passenger rail service and the development of new, including high speed and intercity corridor, passenger rail service in the United States."
 
Boardman, in a five-page letter to four congressional leaders dated Feb. 26, says in part, "The core of the problem is the unwillingness or inability of a growing number of entities, including states and other public bodies, to enter into the kind of agreements for risk allocation … and/or to purchase insurance at all or at sufficient levels …"
 
"Moreover, the attitude from a number of private parties and state entities alike seems to be that Amtrak, in significant part because of its federal funding, should assume the greater share or risk of liability." That, Boardman warned, could curtail or terminate state-supported services Amtrak currently provides…
 
–
http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/amtrak-to-congress-liability-is-a-nationwide-concern.htmlRailway Age, 2 March 2010
http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/amtrak-to-congress-liability-is-a-nationwide-concern.html
 
Airlines are feeling a similar pinch. According to Susan Stellin in the New York Times , this 7 June, reporting from the first meeting of the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee, air travel will look much different within half a decade. Small cities will continue to lose air service, or at best will have ever-fewer flights at ever-higher prices, while some large cities with aggregated volume will see volumes above today's and low prices from further rate wars.

…Glenn Tilton, United's chairman, stated it more bluntly: "There are clearly going to be winning cities and losing cities," he said, addressing the fact that the industry cannot sustain service to destinations that don't have the passengers to fill planes…
 
High speed trains have the same problem as airplanes: They just do not serve enough places. California's governor Schwarzenegger has proposed running a "high speed lite" train before he leaves office. Here is what Noel Braymer of RailPAC [12] has to say in a letter to the Los Angeles Times:

According to the letter signed by the Governor, it looks like there are plans to run rail service between Los Angeles and San Diego by November in about 2 hours. It looks like the new train would only have 3 stops at Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Diego. Just dropping the six other intermediate stops would save 30 to 36 minutes on the current schedule of 2 hours 40 minutes.
 
Generally express trains are not successful. By skipping stops such trains also loses the business from those stations. Amtrak has tried several express trains and they have all failed. A local example of this was the
San Diegan Metroliner
which ran for about a year starting in September of 1984. It rarely carried more than a busload of passengers. It lost the traffic the other trains carried from the skipped stations. There was only one train a day leaving Los Angeles for San Diego in the morning and returning in the afternoon. Saving 10 minutes wasn't worth the extra money for passengers if the return train ran at an inconvenient time. Another problem with the Metroliner was most cities with train stations lost a train to run this new train. Many of these cities had gone to great trouble to build new or rebuilt their stations and had not been consulted about this decision. These cities were not happy…
 
Precisely this same scenario is playing with the English Javelin trains, the California HSR project, the Florida HSR, and soon coming to a minor city near you whose airport terminal will lose scheduled flights.

Looking back to Mr. Garnet's thoughts about the vital market distinction of rail, clearly the nation's towns and smaller cities, the ones left without air service, and nowadays without even bus service or anything at all, are the market for regular passenger trains. Even fifty or a hundred years of mangled government transportation policy cannot hide the basic utility and need of trains over cars and airplanes. The difficulty will be to create something that works more like a free market, replacing today's lack of choice or hope for too many towns and people.

The way forward involves tort reform, reasonable liability caps, and getting government back to governing, not operating, passenger trains. The same prescription holds for the freight railroads, the oil industry, even our highway and airway systems. This involves the dreaded "C" word — Change — and nobody much likes change; not lawyers, not unions, not management, not stockholders, and certainly not government.

We had better get started quickly.

 

[Guest]

Well, there he goes again as St. Ronnie would say! More right wing propoganda from kookie dead "conservatives"!

He might as well be quoting Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck, this nonsense is what caused our current economic mess!

I think we all thought, at first, that the new approach to this Newsletter was a breath of fresh air! Has there ever been a worse time for touting the free market, tax cuts and pie in the sky economic schemes that lead to disaster than today!

Maybe this idiot would be happy if George Bush was put in charge of Amtrak, or heaven forbid, back in the White House busy ruining the economy again! Trains yes, kookie right wing economics no!

 

[Larry H.]

While I supported this administrations goals of improved rail service your correct about the sad way in which government has tended to become overly interested in controlling all aspects of anything they touch which I fear as mentioned is leading to a melt down in our free enterprise system. Unfortunately the backlash to this power grab is likely to be a rather large change in direction yet again which may leave many of the otherwise good plans in the dust. Amtrak like interstate highways and FFA operations should be non partisan necessities, but I fear it won't turn out that way if the picture changes yet again. If it has to be for the good of the country I am resigned to it, but it could prove a huge disappointment for those who favor rail travel.

 

[Trogdor]

Actually, I'd say the "free enterprise system" led to its own meltdown.

 

[jis]

What I find truly fascinating is the amount of tears that are shed about "Free Enterprise", when the reality is that the US has been an oligopoly for a long time with large industry and government playing together hand in hand most of the time, all paying occasional lip service to the common man and small business, but behaving very often to the detriment of the common man and small business. The same people rotate back and forth from government leadership positions to industry leadership positions, and yet there is almost a religious belief among some that they behave differently when in the industry than in the government. C'est la vie!

 

[Ryan]

What I find truly fascinating is the amount of tears that are shed about "Free Enterprise", when the reality is that the US has been an oligopoly for a long time with large industry and government playing together hand in hand most of the time, all paying occasional lip service to the common man and small business, but behaving very often to the detriment of the common man and small business. The same people rotate back and forth from government leadership positions to industry leadership positions, and yet there is almost a religious belief among some that they behave differently when in the industry than in the government. C'est la vie!

One of the most insightful posts in the thread. In light of the recent Supreme Court decision rolling back campaign finance laws in favor of "corporate free speech" (whatever the hell that's supposed to mean), it's becoming pretty obvious that our government "by the people, for the people" is now "by the corporation, for the corporation" and us little folks get left behind.

 

[Larry H.]

What I find truly fascinating is the amount of tears that are shed about "Free Enterprise", when the reality is that the US has been an oligopoly for a long time with large industry and government playing together hand in hand most of the time, all paying occasional lip service to the common man and small business, but behaving very often to the detriment of the common man and small business. The same people rotate back and forth from government leadership positions to industry leadership positions, and yet there is almost a religious belief among some that they behave differently when in the industry than in the government. C'est la vie!

One of the most insightful posts in the thread. In light of the recent Supreme Court decision rolling back campaign finance laws in favor of "corporate free speech" (whatever the hell that's supposed to mean), it's becoming pretty obvious that our government "by the people, for the people" is now "by the corporation, for the corporation" and us little folks get left behind.

Lets not forget that many of us are invested though our retirement programs to those very companies we like to think are not owned by real people like us.

That said I must concede that the destruction of the manufacturing in this country which used to offer employment to many types of people has pretty much ended ways of life for way too many common american workers. That too perhaps is somewhat our fault with our ever growing insistence on lowered prices which over time forced american companies to find cheaper ways to sell to us, or go out of business. I know that isn't the entire story, but almost all items that end up made somewhere else usually have a problem competing at the wage structure here. Yes I am sure that the companies are happy to then report increased profits, but that is what drives the value of our mutual and retirement funds. Its a complicated weave of problems not so easily pinned on any one thing. Globalization in my mind is a fraud and only destroys our ability to produce our own needs and remain strong.

 

[Ryan]

Lets not forget that many of us are invested though our retirement programs to those very companies we like to think are not owned by real people like us.

Sounds like a pretty poor investment decision, rather than a reason to prop up the power of those companies then. What influence do you wield over that company by virtue of your "ownership" of it?

Globalization in my mind is a fraud and only destroys our ability to produce our own needs and remain strong.

Quite the opposite, it's called specialization and it's a good thing. Why waste money building something here when you can build it for cheaper overseas. If we had an educational system worth a crap, instead of life in a factory, people can aspire to more worthwhile pursuits.

 

[Trogdor]

Quite the opposite, it's called specialization and it's a good thing. Why waste money building something here when you can build it for cheaper overseas.

The only reasons it is cheaper to build stuff overseas are because the workers aren't paid jack, and there are few, if any, regulations governing things such as environmental impacts, worker treatment, etc. The only thing places like China "specialize" in is cheap labor (and turning a blind eye to environmental abuse).

Certain types of food are cheaper to produce in some areas vs. others because the land and/or climate are better suited for it. That kind of specialization is legitimate. However, there's no real need to have certain countries "specialize" in manufacturing unless the raw materials are in abundant supply in that country, but not here.

If you apply equivalent human rights and environmental standards, the advantages of their "specialization" go away pretty quickly.

If we had an educational system worth a crap, instead of life in a factory, people can aspire to more worthwhile pursuits.

I'll agree that our educational system is broken, but it really goes deeper than that (think families, parents, lifestyle habits such as TV watching, etc.). Such details would be going way beyond the scope of this forum (as if we're not there, already).

But, I wonder what you mean by "more worthwhile pursuits." First of all, with 10% unemployment and who knows how much underemployment, combined with all of the idle manufacturing capacity in this country, having stuff produced here would be a good thing, and would definitely fuel the economy.

Secondly, I actually take offense to your implication that physical labor is not worthwhile. After all the planners, designers, engineers, consultants, etc., have planned, designed, engineered, and borrowed your watch to tell you the time, someone actually has to build the damn thing. Otherwise, all of that "worthwhile" work becomes worthless.

Further, manufacturing is one of the few economic activities that produces something tangible, something "real." It's also one of the few that actually can result in an income to your city/state/nation.

"Service" jobs generally don't bring in money from outside (except in tourist-heavy areas). If you lived in Seattle, you wouldn't send your dry cleaning to Atlanta. But you might buy a product that's manufactured in Atlanta, and so if Atlanta has manufacturing, they gain.

So, long-story short, don't knock manufacturing.

 

[Larry H.]

Lets not forget that many of us are invested though our retirement programs to those very companies we like to think are not owned by real people like us.

Sounds like a pretty poor investment decision, rather than a reason to prop up the power of those companies then. What influence do you wield over that company by virtue of your "ownership" of it?

Globalization in my mind is a fraud and only destroys our ability to produce our own needs and remain strong.

Quite the opposite, it's called specialization and it's a good thing. Why waste money building something here when you can build it for cheaper overseas. If we had an educational system worth a crap, instead of life in a factory, people can aspire to more worthwhile pursuits.

I suggest as a rail fan you consider those empty huge mostly brick structures that one passes endlessly around any major city or town. Now consider the Janitors, Salesman, Foreman, Workers, Secretaries, Accountants, Electricians, Carpenters, Machinist, Advertising teams, Truck Drivers, Delivery People, Order takers, and then multiply that all the parts, power, equipment, agents, for every product that building would have needed to operate. It quickly becomes obvious why in the 50s we were among the greatest countries on earth with the best standard of living and many other things. Its not lost on me that all those positions now lost are one of the reasons we were so great.

And the schools, well in the days of the one room school which my parents attended everyone could read, write and do math and learned how to treat others with respect. You can't say the same for the ever increasing expenditures made today on education. Some as mentioned is due to the students and lack of commitment that used to be the standard when learning was seen as a way to improve your life, not how to see everything as a flat plane with nothing worth more than anything or one else.

 

[Ryan]

But, I wonder what you mean by "more worthwhile pursuits."

Find a cure for cancer. Build better and faster computers. Develop clean energy solutions that are actually viable. Things that would improve the quality of life and use our natural resources more efficiently. I'm not saying that we should completely abandon manufacturing totally, but saying that there are better things that we can devote our resources to. I certainly agree that we shouldn't discount human rights and environmental concerns, but they can be dealt with without keeping all the manufacturing in house.

It quickly becomes obvious why in the 50s we were among the greatest countries on earth with the best standard of living and many other things. Its not lost on me that all those positions now lost are one of the reasons we were so great.

You're chasing a flawed ideal - we're every bit as great now as we were in the '50s. In many ways, we're in a far, far better place than we were 50 years ago. Bemoaning the loss of manufacturing is akin to bemoaning the fact that we now don't have to raise our own food, or make things ourselves. We've got better skilled things that we can set out to do.

 

[Larry H.]

But, I wonder what you mean by "more worthwhile pursuits."

Find a cure for cancer. Build better and faster computers. Develop clean energy solutions that are actually viable. Things that would improve the quality of life and use our natural resources more efficiently. I'm not saying that we should completely abandon manufacturing totally, but saying that there are better things that we can devote our resources to. I certainly agree that we shouldn't discount human rights and environmental concerns, but they can be dealt with without keeping all the manufacturing in house.

It quickly becomes obvious why in the 50s we were among the greatest countries on earth with the best standard of living and many other things. Its not lost on me that all those positions now lost are one of the reasons we were so great.

You're chasing a flawed ideal - we're every bit as great now as we were in the '50s. In many ways, we're in a far, far better place than we were 50 years ago. Bemoaning the loss of manufacturing is akin to bemoaning the fact that we now don't have to raise our own food, or make things ourselves. We've got better skilled things that we can set out to do.

I would find your theory flawed. An economy such as one in which we are more self reliant seems to be able to find jobs for a much wider range of skilled and un skilled workers of which there is always going to be a need. To many are being left behind or with no jobs at all in this every diminishing jobs situation continues.

If I buy from you and you hire people locally to build and provide the products and then you spend your profits on more goods made here you keep the money cycling within our economic systems. When we continue to send our money to places like China we are building the strength of their economic system all the while depriving our citizens the use of the money that would have stayed here. Worse yet is we had become so government top heavy that we have to borrow that money back and China now owns more of our economy than anyone. We can not possibly be better off, more secure or more independent if our every move is now tied to our borrowing abroad.

One other thing you are overlooking. Just think of the rail conversations here about where are we going to purchase new rail equipment. Many want to go with European or even Chinese made train sets now. Why? Because we no longer have the manufacturing plants geared to making this type of heavy large rail equipment. If you have any sense of history, you will see that in all magazines from the World War II era the ads for nearly every major manufacture, nearly all of which are now gone, were geared to making things necessary to win and protect our country.. Now if we were massively attacked, ( and china is building its armies along with others), we would be rather dependent on other countries for the money and goods to fight back. Not a good place to be and perhaps a fatal one.

Clean energy is another pie in the sky.. Try flying across the ocean, or driving 300 miles without oil! You can't! And the day when we can is not very close. All those who wish to eliminate oil and coal from our lives should immediately do so. They could at once cut a great deal of the usage, but till its a viable and comparable expense then leave the rest of us alone. I am not against alternate energy, in fact I think Solar and Wind are great ideas have long admired them but I am not so stupid as to think they are going to power all the cars in this and other countries anytime soon. Nor are the capable of heating our homes in zero weather, or run our air conditioners, (I personally don't use one). When they are able to do so it will be wonderful, but its not reality and that is where this whole left wing push falls short.

 

[MrFSS]

Seen this ad?

 

[Ryan]

Larry, you're taking my statements to a ridiculous extreme to create a strawman. I never said that we should do no manufacturing (in fact I said the opposite), and I never said that "clean energy" = "use no coal or oil".

Sure it makes sense to make some things here, but manufacturing isn't the only thing that we can do and it isn't what makes America great. Past that, it's not worth discussing with you until you can actually respond to what I write and not go off the rails ranting about whatever you feel like I've written. Complaining about goods being manufactured overseas is about as worthwhile as complaining that we no longer have to devote 100% of our time and energy towards providing food and shelter for ourselves.

 

[jis]

I suggest as a rail fan you consider those empty huge mostly brick structures that one passes endlessly around any major city or town. Now consider the Janitors, Salesman, Foreman, Workers, Secretaries, Accountants, Electricians, Carpenters, Machinist, Advertising teams, Truck Drivers, Delivery People, Order takers, and then multiply that all the parts, power, equipment, agents, for every product that building would have needed to operate. It quickly becomes obvious why in the 50s we were among the greatest countries on earth with the best standard of living and many other things. Its not lost on me that all those positions now lost are one of the reasons we were so great.

There are a couple of other global factors that come into play. In the late 50s most of the rest of the world was either recovering from their self-destruction in the second world war and the colonies had not quite been liberated fully and stood up on their own two feet yet, and even those that had were busy flirting around with random Utopian theories of governance. The US was in a position where they had essentially zero competition and was the supplier of the world, and able to dictate terms of the trade in most cases. It could essentially get almost any price it asked for, for its goods. It did not for maintaining its lifestyle hopelessly depend on business partners who were inherently unbstable and at some level hell bent on causing harm to it.

Needless to say the situation is a little different now. Europe has recovered from the war fully and is resurgent. The erstwhile colonies, many of them are self sufficient and growing faster than the developed world. They have given up flirting with Utopian social theories and are taking pragmatic approach to business, while the developed world is busy getting itself mired into flirting with Utopian social theories of their own while ceasing to be pragmatic. And all this while maintaining the current lifestyle inherently requires funding questionable business partners to the tune of many millions of dollars a day which can then be used to turn the engines of harm targeted at the US.

So it is not clear to me that the loss of those positions caused the current situation. Perhaps it is the other way round that the evolution of the global situation is what caused the loss of those positions. Just something to think about.