Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton [brAs a member of the Amtrak Board of Directors, I would think Mineta and all the other directors have the legal right to see any document involved in the business and I would be extremely surprised if they or anyone else with a right to know were to claim that they were not getting information needed for proper oversight. [/quote] Good point. Back in 1979, when the Carter Administration ordered Amtrak to cut its routes - for political reasons - not ridership - , one congressman from Oklahoma, disappointed that Amtrak was gutting its 7th most ridden LD train, the Lone STar, which ran from CHI to OKC to Texas, tried to obtain ridership data on the train. Amtrak management at the time wanted to charge him $800 (or maybe that's what they wanted to charge a private individual). The congressman nearly had to sue Amtrak to get the data which, among other things, showed thousands of potential riders turned away because Amtrak had cut the trains coaches to only one or two, therefore limiting the number of seats available and thus showing more losses. It appeared Amtrak management AT THAT TIME wanted to "prove" the train wasn't doing well - like the private freight RRs did in the 60s - by creating conditions that led to bad results. The SP did the same with the Sunset by removing sleepers and dining service. No meals for a 2-3 day trip. How many people would want to ride that kind of train? So, I'm in agreement that Amtrak isn't perfect. It does need reform but not the kind of "reform" that so-called reformers want - train discontinuances. Every time they've cut trains, ridership has suffered and costs have increased. Just look at the Pioneer and Desert Wind. Two popular trains that were cut only to save costs. They ended up costing the system more. Amtrak management knows that now and its CEO- who used to work for ATSF - is making needed reforms. Allow him to do his job.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag