Assuming this is true, it will have very interesting ramifications. Interesting that it comes less than a week after NS and UP put "on time or your money back" service guarantees on parts of the Crescent route to be discontinued (Meridian Speedway - East). Who did Kummant work for before Amtrak? Oh, yeah, big Yellar...
NOTE: This is not posted in Passenger due to the greater implications of what this may mean.
LC
This Week at Amtrak; October 3, 2007 - SPECIAL EDITIONA weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts fromUnited Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USATelephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail http://us.f558.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=info%40unitedrail.orghttp://www.unitedrail.org/Volume 4, Number 34Founded over three decades ago in 1976 by the late Austin M. Coates, Jr.,URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions andplans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered inJacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota,California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and NewYork. For more detailed information, along with a variety of positionpapers and other documents, visit the URPA web site athttp://www.unitedrail.org./URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding fromany outside sources.1) The Amtrak execs said on the conference call this morning, "We don'twant this to get out to any of the politicians until it's a done deal."Oops. It got out.This appears to be Amtrak's latest plan for the Crescent and New Orleans.Gone is the plan to extend the Crescent from New Orleans to San Antonio,and extend the Texas Eagle from San Antonio to Los Angeles. Instead, theSunset Limited will remain as it is (deeply regrettably, without puttingthe Sunset back to Florida, east of New Orleans).The Crescent will be rerouted west of Birmingham, dropping all trainservice to Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Meridian, Laurel, Hattiesburg, and Picayune, Mississippi; andSlidell, Louisiana.The Crescent's new route between Birmingham and New Orleans will restoretrain service between Birmingham, Montgomery, Atmore, and Mobile,Alabama; and send the Crescent west from Mobile to Pascagoula, Biloxi,Gulfport, and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and into New Orleans on theformer Sunset Limited/Gulf Coast Limited route, with New Orleansremaining as the Crescent's terminal point.Amtrak wants this to happen relatively quickly and as quietly as possibleto keep interference from local and state politicians from getting in itsway.Amtrak doesn't seem to care that the City of Hattiesburg has just in thelast year poured $10 million of local money into completely restoring itslocal Amtrak station, or that Meridian built a completely new Amtrakpremier facility about 10 years ago, again, also with local money.From what can be determined, this is also being done without the blessingor knowledge of the three-state Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commissionthat has been working to restore Amtrak service between New Orleans andMobile, even trying to find ways to fund the service outside of Amtrak.The Southern Rapid Rail Transit Commission allegedly was supposed to finda way to be a pioneering governmental body for converting existing Amtrakroutes into corridor services.But, Amtrak seems to be back to its old tricks of doing what it wants todo, when it wants to do it, and with no justification (other than theusual whine about everything being financially motivated) to anyone oranything which has supported Amtrak in the past, but is no longerconvenient for Amtrak to work with, such as the cities of Meridian andHattiesburg.What we have is yet another example of Amtrak trying to accomplishsomething underhanded before it's owners and bankers, the United StatesCongress and United States Department of Transportation, find out and tryand stop them.In this case, asking forgiveness instead of permission for doing a deedis definitely the wrong thing to do.2) So, how can this current mess be fixed, and everyone be happy, andAmtrak be financially whole?The answer doesn't take brain surgery to figure out.Many readers with a sense of passenger railroad history may remember the"City of Everywhere" that was operated by the Union Pacific Railroadprior to Amtrak. UP's name trains were the City of Los Angeles, City ofSan Francisco, and City of Portland. The "City of Everywhere," as dubbedby wags, was a train which left its eastern terminus as one train, andsplit into several sections as it headed west, serving various endpointsinstead of one endpoint. This concept could easily be the answer for theCrescent.Try this for a plan: The Crescent departs New York City as it does today,but it regains the double name it had before the Downs/Mercer cuts in thelate 1990s. A combined Crescent/Gulf Breeze would run, as it didsuccessfully previously, between New York and Birmingham. In Birmingham,the train split, with a section continuing on to New Orleans via thecurrent Crescent route, and a section went due south from Birmingham toMontgomery, Atmore, and Mobile. While the former Gulf Breeze terminatedin Mobile, a new Gulf Breeze section of the Crescent could easilycontinue west from Mobile to New Orleans, covering all of the importanttourist destinations of the Gulf Coast.But, wait, there's more. Also back in the late 1990s, there was talk ofsplitting the Crescent in Meridian, and sending half of the train to NewOrleans, and half of the train overnight to Dallas on the Kansas CitySouthern Meridian Speedway to Jackson and Vicksburg, and into Dallas. Themissing component was the condition of the track west of Meridian, whichhas now been upgraded with the deal between Kansas City Southern andNorfolk Southern for the new hotshot joint freight service now beingoffered by the two railroads. So, the tens of millions of dollars oftrack upgrades, adding sidings, signaling, and other amenities are now inplace, and the route could easily handle one passenger train a day ineach direction.This would definitely give the Crescent a split personality, with onetrain departing New York City, first splitting in Birmingham, and thenfurther splitting in Meridian. What this would do is preserve service onthe existing Crescent route, restore much needed service betweenBirmingham, Montgomery (yet another city which upgraded its Amtrakstation at local cost and them promptly lost Amtrak service), Mobile, theGulf Coast and New Orleans, and create a dynamic new service which woulddirectly connect Dallas/Fort Worth with the east via Atlanta, and notforcing anyone traveling to and from Dallas to route themselves viaChicago.Not enough equipment to do this, you say? Not true. Plenty of Viewlinersleepers and Amfleet coaches to make this happen.3) Amtrak has a great opportunity to better use its current assets,create a lot of public and political goodwill, and greatly strengthen itsnational network with positive changes for the Crescent. If, indeed, itmerely wants to pull service from cities it now serves merely to restoreservice to other cities it should be looking at independently, thenAmtrak has learned zero lessons from past mistakes.Amtrak has a chance to shine here, and instead, could very well begreatly harming itself with the public and some of its best politicalsupporters on Capitol Hill. Pay attention, Amtrak. Don't blow this one.4) Here are the most recent numbers of passengers using the Amtrakstations in question. Since Amtrak doesn't publish revenue passenger milefigures generated by passengers at particular stops, we only haveavailable this information. The 2005 figures reflect the time of lostservice due to Hurricane Katrina, and the subsequent recovery periodsreflect lower passenger counts as Mississippi and Louisiana recoveredfrom the storm.Tuscaloosa, Alabama2005 Boardings and alightings - 9,4362006 Boardings and alightings - 7,222Meridian, Mississippi2005 Boardings and alightings - 12,3552006 Boardings and alightings - 10,732Laurel, Mississippi2005 Boardings and alightings - 5,1082006 Boardings and alightings - 3,552Hattiesburg, Mississippi2005 Boardings and alightings - 8,6162006 Boardings and alightings - 7,063Picayune, Mississippi2005 Boardings and alightings - 1,3312006 Boardings and alightings - 2,001Slidell, Louisiana2005 Boardings and alightings - 4,5502006 Boardings and alightings - 5,609If you are reading someone else's copy of This Week at Amtrak, you canreceive your own free copy each week by sending your e-mail address tohttp://us.f558.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=freetwa%40unitedrail.orgYou MUST include your name, preferred e-mail address, and city and statewhere you live. If you have filters or firewalls placed on your Internetconnection, set your e-mail to receive incoming mail fromhttp://us.f558.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=twa%40unitedrail.org; we are unable to go through any individual approvalsprocesses for individuals. This mailing list is kept strictlyconfidential and is not shared or used for any purposes other than thedistribution of This Week at Amtrak or related URPA materials.All other correspondence, including requests to unsubscribe, should beaddressed to http://us.f558.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=brucerichardson%40unitedrail.orgURPA leadership members are available for speaking engagements.J. Bruce RichardsonPresidentUnited Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USATelephone 904-636-7739http://us.f558.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=brucerichardson%40unitedrail.orghttp://www.unitedrail.org/
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern Offer On-Time or Free Service Guarantee on New Coast-To-Coast Westbound Intermodal Service through Shreveport
Omaha, Neb., October 01, 2007 - Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) today announced new westbound intermodal train service that will shorten by a day the trip for standard intermodal freight from the Southeast to Los Angeles, California. The eastbound service was launched in May 2007. The new coast-to-coast service is part of the railroads' commitment to improve capacity, service quality and speed by shifting domestic traffic to a new, shorter route over the Shreveport, La., gateway.
This shift began with the completion of the first phase of improvements on the Meridian Speedway - NS and Kansas City Southern's joint venture corridor between Meridian, Miss., and Shreveport, an important direct-rail connection between the Southeast and Southwest. UP and NS ran successful test trains in this corridor last December. In establishing this new route, the railroads eliminated almost 130 route miles by moving this freight service from the Memphis gateway.
"The new westbound route complements the eastbound service launched earlier this year," said Jack Koraleski, Union Pacific's executive vice president, marketing and sales. "We are pleased to offer customers a fast, high-quality rail solution at rates competitive with other modes of land-based transportation."
"The investments made in this transcontinental route, including the Meridian Speedway, have created a high-speed, highly dependable intermodal gateway linking the Southwest to the Southeast, providing the capacity to meet the needs of intermodal customers today and accommodate future growth," said Don Seale, Norfolk Southern's executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
The new westbound service will provide fourth-morning availability for BlueStreak intermodal shipments from Atlanta to Los Angeles, fifth morning from Charlotte and Jacksonville, and sixth morning from Miami. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are backing their new service offering with an "on time or free" guarantee on the BlueStreak SuperFlyer service between the Southeast and Los Angeles for a limited time. These trains also provide the only ride for trailers in the Southeast - Los Angeles lane as they handle both containers and trailers.
BlueStreak offers expedited intermodal service with two products -- SuperFlyer and Expedited. Blue Streak's reliability, combined with the economies of rail, make this service highly competitive to over-the-road tractor trailers.
Let's see now. Senator Trent Lott is one of the strongest Amtrak supporters on the Republican side of the aisle. And where is he from?
Hellooo! Anybody home?
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
jeaton wrote: Let's see now. Senator Trent Lott is one of the strongest Amtrak supporters on the Republican side of the aisle. And where is he from?Hellooo! Anybody home?
You may actually find Lott supportive of this change as the route now serves Biloxi and Gulfport, MS a change that was sought by many in Mississippi. Of course those areas losing service will be unhappy so its a tossup...
All those place that would be skipped amount to 50 people per train per day. A bus load. So, run a bus to/from Birmingham!
Montgomery and Mobile are much more likely to generate more passengers. MS is itching to get something running between Mobile and NOL.
The biggest problem getting the Crescent over the road it between Birmingham and Meridian.
Doesn't sound like such a bad idea (provided CSX can run the train decently between Birmingham and NOL.)
Extending the Crescent to Dallas is also a decent idea, but Amtrak would probably have to throw some money into the route to add enough capacity for good timekeeping.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
oltmannd wrote:The NS/UP trains over Shreveport are the result of CSX giving BNSF direct access to Atlanta.
Actually, the NS UP trains came first. Also, BNSF and KCS had a prior deal involving intermodal over the Meridian Speedway. Some of those trains are still running until the agreement expires.
oltmannd wrote: All those place that would be skipped amount to 50 people per train per day. A bus load. So, run a bus to/from Birmingham!Montgomery and Mobile are much more likely to generate more passengers. MS is itching to get something running between Mobile and NOL.The biggest problem getting the Crescent over the road it between Birmingham and Meridian.Doesn't sound like such a bad idea (provided CSX can run the train decently between Birmingham and NOL.)Extending the Crescent to Dallas is also a decent idea, but Amtrak would probably have to throw some money into the route to add enough capacity for good timekeeping.
Actually, for a city of its size (40,000 +/-) Meridian produces quite a few passengers. Also, it has made an impressive investment in its intermodal center as has Hattiesburg. The State of MS overall will like the reroute as it will enhance casino revenues in Biloxi and Gulfport as a large portion of those heading to the coast casinos are from Alabama which has no casino gambling.
Keeping to a schedule on CSX is likely to be a nightmare. Also, a substantial number of Amtrak folks will have to relocate as both Meridian and Laurel are crew terminals for Amtrak.
oltmannd wrote: All those place that would be skipped amount to 50 people per train per day. A bus load. So, run a bus to/from Birmingham!Montgomery and Mobile are much more likely to generate more passengers. MS is itching to get something running between Mobile and NOL....Doesn't sound like such a bad idea (provided CSX can run the train decently between Birmingham and NOL.)...Extending the Crescent to Dallas is also a decent idea, but Amtrak would probably have to throw some money into the route to add enough capacity for good timekeeping.
...Doesn't sound like such a bad idea (provided CSX can run the train decently between Birmingham and NOL.)...Extending the Crescent to Dallas is also a decent idea, but Amtrak would probably have to throw some money into the route to add enough capacity for good timekeeping.
Agreed. Mobile, Biloxi, and Gulfport seem to make more sense from a National Train System point of view. As for Dallas, perhaps rerouting the Sunset via Baton Rouge to Dalls would work. Per trains, that seems to be the way of UP's future. Getting out fo Houston, a huge bottleneck, might be a good thing for Amtrak.
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