Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
Passenger
»
If I were the head of Amtrak what would you do

Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
The notion that a portion of the fixed costs (interest and depreciation) and overheads (IT, HR, Procurement, etc.) associated with the NEC are shifted to the long distance trains probably is not true.  Nor is it likely that they are shifted without warrant to another owner of a portion of the NEC.Amtrak's financial statements are audited by KPMG, which is one of the largest and most reputable accounting firms in the world.  The KPMG auditors examine the accounting for and allocation of all costs.  If they find that there has been a shift of fixed costs and overheads that cannot be supported by the underlying drivers, they would report an audit finding.  By the same token, they pay careful attention to the classification of accounting items.  If an item that should be capitalized is expensed or vice versa, they would blow the whistle.  If the audit findings (errors) are significant, they would issue a qualified opinion.  In this hypersensitive post Enron era, Amtrak management does not want to go there.  On July 11, 2007, Alex Kummant told the SUBCOMMITTEE ON RAILROADS, PIPELINES, AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS OF THE  COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE that it would take approximately $10 billion (excluding any real estate acquisition) to upgrade the NEC to a high speed rail line.  He said that it would take $625 million to make the improvements required to reduce the Washington to New York running time from 2:45 hours to 2:30 hours.  Furthermore, he estimated that it would take $7 billion to reduce the running time to 2:20 hours.   The big jump in cost to get the last ten minute reduction appears to stem from the fact that the tunnels in Baltimore and New York would have to be re-worked.
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