Top lawmen want to stop funding and crease Amtrak. The Class 1 Railroads wants to restart their passenger service but i see that being a huge mess.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2012/03/15/railroads-republicans-muscling-out-amtrak/
what is your take?
Mr. LMD, Owner, founder
The Central Chicago & Illinois Railroad
Maybe I could give Amtrak some Money if I hit the 640 Million Mega Millions tonight
conrailman Maybe I could give Amtrak some Money if I hit the 640 Million Mega Millions tonight
For that much, you could buy Amtrak and Conrail lol
I don't believe this quote from the linked article to be true:"All of the Class Ones are now getting back into the the passenger rail service,” Downs said, naming Union Pacific, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe, and Norfolk-Southern: Maybe when pigs fly
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
That article strikes me as being oddly ambiguous. Why in the world would the class ones want back into passenger service after wanting so bad to get out of it? And if they really want back in, why don’t they just go ahead and do it?
I get the impression that what is really on the table is replacing Amtrak with private operators such as the class ones, but still subsidizing the whole operation at a loss with public funding. Maybe under that model, the class ones would be clambering to get back in. But even that seems a stretch.
Bucyrus That article strikes me as being oddly ambiguous. Why in the world would the class ones want back into passenger service after wanting so bad to get out of it? And if they really want back in, why don’t they just go ahead and do it? I get the impression that what is really on the table is replacing Amtrak with private operators such as the class ones, but still subsidizing the whole operation at a loss with public funding. Maybe under that model, the class ones would be clambering to get back in. But even that seems a stretch.
if they do restart this passenger service, they would have to pay quite a good amount of money to upgrade or construct stations (if need to) and redo their train schedule to fit a passenger service inbetween freight runs.
Mr. LMD if they do restart this passenger service, they would have to pay quite a good amount of money to upgrade or construct stations (if need to) and redo their train schedule to fit a passenger service inbetween freight runs.
Yes, but the far bigger problem is that there is no market for train service that would be sufficient to cover the cost and produce a profit. That is why the class ones all wanted out of the passenger business in the first place. Lacking any clarification; for the Bloomberg article to say that the class ones want back into the passenger business is preposterous. That would be the biggest railroad news since 1850.
Read closely, Downs' statements amount to: There will be more passenger trains when the freight railroads get to call the shots, not before. The optimistic spin put on it by Forbes' enviro blogger is totally unjustified. You hear what you want to hear, I guess.
Bucyrus said {snipped]
"...
and the following comment was written in response by Anonymous:
"...if they do restart this passenger service, they would have to pay quite a good amount of money to upgrade or construct stations (if need to) and redo their train schedule to fit a passenger service in between freight runs..."
My comment in response is that the way the current government is operating, would iut not be somewhat in the rehlm of possibilities that they might return the Postal Service Operations to the Railroads by re-instituting the Railway Post Office service to passenger rails? Thereby subsidizing the passenger services, and creating more jobs for the Post Office? Thus the administration would avoid the onus of another 'Bailout'.
I do not think the blogger knows what he is talking about when he claims BNSF, UP, and NS want to run passenger trains. Nothing in the economics of the service or the competitive position of passenger trains has changed since 1970 that would make the idea attractive. ATK going away would be attractive. Being paid a market rate for the capacity ATK consumes would be attractive.
Maybe the Republicans will succeed with the first, but no one in the government is going to pay for what they can steal.
Mac McCulloch
What the writer of the article is smoking, drinking, snorting or shooting up has him on a high that is far outside the realm of even a science fiction reality if he is expecting the current Class I carriers to operate passenger service themselves.
Today's Class I carriers are configuring themselves to operate the most efficient freight networks possible and suffer Amtrak's operations as a cross that has to be born. The carriers are not seeking additional Amtrak service or to operate passenger service on their own.
The FEC Industries initiative in Florida, I believe, is based more on the real estate speculation on the holdings the company has along the identified route than actually making money hauling passengers.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I do not know the innerworkings of Amtrak, but IMO I believe that the Class 1's who are wanting for Amtrak to disappear could work out some agreement. The railroads who want passenger operations under their banner should/could provide a few passenger cars in their colors while Amtrak supply the locomotives. That way Amtrak would only have to tend to the locomotives and the railroads would maintain the cars.
It's a win-win, Amtrak stays in business (even tho i hate them) with low cost and the other railroads have their passenger service and a little cut of the profit. Sounds out there, but it seems reasonable.
I'd say, that what the Class 1 railroads really want, is for Amtrak to pay the true cost of riding on the host's rails.
IF the freight roads get a massive subsidy to make it worth their while I could possible see it, otherwise, ain't gonna happen, no way, no how.
I would think that generational change has to be considered among the reasons that these proposals are made. Amtrak has been around for over 40 years so there are a fair amount of people around who weren't even born since Amtrak took over the intercity passenger business. They have no idea that the freight railroads left the passenger business since they couldn't make any money at it. Couple that with the tea partiers' desire to privatize everything and you can see how these proposals turn up.
samfp1943 "... My comment in response is that the way the current government is operating, would iut not be somewhat in the rehlm of possibilities that they might return the Postal Service Operations to the Railroads by re-instituting the Railway Post Office service to passenger rails? Thereby subsidizing the passenger services, and creating more jobs for the Post Office? Thus the administration would avoid the onus of another 'Bailout'.
Samfp1943....Certainly has a different idea to project. I like the thought, but do we have enough stations still in existence and those that are....active and operating, that would be available to "handle" the mail coming in and going out.....?
Certainly there needs to be some creative {workable}, solutions for the P O operations, or it;'s going to go the way of decades ago, passenger trains operations. Wonder how Americans feel about keeping and or loosing their P O service as we know it....? Is it really a fact of having to pay the pension fund {in excess}, as is banded about back and forth on today's news....If so, why can't Congress correct that problem...Or is that too political to work on as well.....?
We all know, {those who've been here long enough}, Amtrak has never been funded enough to really create a good system of passenger train operations in the last 40 plus years. Somehow, it the service is to continue and maybe improve, a workable solution has to be created and agreed upon.
Certainly with one side of the Presidential "race" ongoing now right up front saying they will eliminate all Amtrak funding....Just as they have been trying to do for decades. If the Service is to continue, or made into a much better workable system, extreme changes will be necessary.
Believe most of us agree simply running passenger trains does not seem to be a profitable business. So something besides the "freight railroads" returning to the passenger business and making it pay at the fare box, is not going to happen.
Somehow, America must decide if we care to support this kind of transportation for now, and for the future....If so, how.....Partial government subsity....P O operations with some kind of revenue....fare box....and some other creative financing. It certainly isn't easy, or it would already be in place.
Quentin
Perhaps what the Class Ones are reported to have said was about operation and/or dispatching, like the UP crews who run Metra trains on one (?) line out of Chicago. That operation is funded by a subsidy, while UP is just a private contractor who staffs and operates the trains. The fact that they're also a Class 1 freight railroad is only a minor difference from a passenger-only contractor like Connex or the Mass Bay Commuter Railroad.
In Spain there is a new privately-owned and funded High Speed Rail startup (link) which uses existing trackage, but with none of that infrastructure existent here in the US, the idea of a profitable privately-funded passenger railroad is far-fetched at best.
TrainManTy Perhaps what the Class Ones are reported to have said was about operation and/or dispatching, like the UP crews who run Metra trains on one (?) line out of Chicago.
Perhaps what the Class Ones are reported to have said was about operation and/or dispatching, like the UP crews who run Metra trains on one (?) line out of Chicago.
That is true. Metra also have BNSF and UP employees on staff to overhaul and repair commuter cars as well. The NEC is fine with the Acela and the rest of the country do not need high speed trains since that would eat a hole in anyone (except Bill Gates') pockets to convert old rail into high rail counting the fact many railroad companies would be against this since they do not have any high speed trains of their own.
TrainManTy Perhaps what the Class Ones are reported to have said was about operation and/or dispatching, like the UP crews who run Metra trains on one (?) line out of Chicago. That operation is funded by a subsidy, while UP is just a private contractor who staffs and operates the trains. The fact that they're also a Class 1 freight railroad is only a minor difference from a passenger-only contractor like Connex or the Mass Bay Commuter Railroad. In Spain there is a new privately-owned and funded High Speed Rail startup (link) which uses existing trackage, but with none of that infrastructure existent here in the US, the idea of a profitable privately-funded passenger railroad is far-fetched at best.
Let it not be said that retired accountants are picky, but the project is in Italy. There was a brief article about it in last months Trains.
I guess I can't give Amtrak Millions now, since i lost last night on Mega Millions.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.