Interesting blog post here: http://usa.streetsblog.org/2014/09/16/dont-look-now-but-the-house-amtrak-bill-actually-has-some-good-ideas/
Read elsewhere that LD train subsidy is virtually unchanged, but bill doesn't do anything for backlog of capital work needed for NEC. Maybe that's what the RRIF loans are for? Hard to tell.
Also in the bill is provision to " require Amtrak to bring in an independent entity to evaluate the worst performing routes with an eye toward finding ways to “improve its services and reduce costs.” Ugh. This is bad for a couple reasons. One is that Amtrak needs to be doing this as a regular business process - not a "one-off" congressional command performance. The other is that ideas from the outside always meet NIH syndrome, particularly in companies as ingrown as Amtrak.
They'll likely get a long list of things practical and impractical and then choose a couple, like "replace brand name paper napkins with generic" and "install LED lighting in coaches", declare victory, and go back to sleep.
Anyway, what I'd conclude is that the LD trains remain a political necessity. They aren't going to disappear. And, any internal change that will ultimately result in a "better Amtrak" is still a long way off.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
They are going to leave long distance trains alone, budget-wise?
My response is to start singing the Doxology. ("Praise God from whom all blessings flow....")
NKP guy They are going to leave long distance trains alone, budget-wise? My response is to start singing the Doxology. ("Praise God from whom all blessings flow....")
NKPGuy has got it right. AMTRAK stands for American Tracks, not Northeast Corridor. If we folks west of the Alleghenies can't have our trains, we don't give a rip if you Coasters have yours or not. You pay to ride, boys, and sharing is part of the price.
dakotafredIf we folks west of the Alleghenies can't have our trains, we don't give a rip if you Coasters have yours or not. You pay to ride, boys, and sharing is part of the price.
Fine and good, Fred. I'm not on the coast, either, but in fact, the NEC helps to subsidize LD services. If you want service, try paying for it in part in the state-subsidized program. My guess is the states like N. Dakota won't pony up a penny of all that oil money floating around.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
If what Schlimm is saying is that the states served by the traditional LD system should start to contribute toward its costs, I agree. At the same time, we would have to invent a mechanism in which the participating states collectively can have meaningful input into the Amtrak decision process, which probably means a significant number of Board seats appointed by the participating states. Moving headquarters out of Washington and requiring staff to ride the trains would also help.
However, since I'm from the only contiguous state which has never had Amtrak service, maybe I don't have a dog in this fight.
dakotafred NKP guy They are going to leave long distance trains alone, budget-wise? My response is to start singing the Doxology. ("Praise God from whom all blessings flow....") NKPGuy has got it right. AMTRAK stands for American Tracks, not Northeast Corridor. If we folks west of the Alleghenies can't have our trains, we don't give a rip if you Coasters have yours or not. You pay to ride, boys, and sharing is part of the price.
"Better Amtrak" does not mean "no LD trains". It means Amtrak shines a cold, hard light on every business practice and tries to be best in class for everything they do. And, they do this all the time, as part of their culture.
It DOES mean that they don't just keep running the same trains, the same way, on the same schedule, with the same business process because it's what what was handed to them from the 1950s, in 1971.
I DOESN'T mean the goal is simply coloring in lines on a national map.
I DOES mean trying to be as relevant as possible.
Amtrak fails in this regard so badly that Congress starts meddling in minutiae like food service and boarding procedures. If you are best in class, people would come to YOU for solutions, not the other way around.
THAT is the problem.
No need. The existing LD network buys enough votes from flyover country.
Mac
This false premise has been studied to death! NE corridor DOES NOT subsidize ANYTHING. They all share the INVESTMENT.
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