Amtrak Intercity cuts too deep - Amtrak official says.
Amtrak official:
cuts hurting intercity travel - banning passengers carrying too
much baggage
By Doug Ohlemeier, MOKS Rail newsletter editor
OMAHA, Neb. - The cuts Amtrak is making on the system's
long-distance trains will do nothing but hurt passenger train
travel, said an Amtrak official addressing a group of National
Association of Railroad Passengers meeting in Omaha.
Brian Rosenwald, Chicago, Amtrak's general manager of the
Southwest Chief, California Zephyr and Empire Builder, presented
a "State of Intercity" talk at the NARP Region X
membership meeting.
The cuts in 2002, though necessary, Rosenwald said, are much
worse than previous cuts. He said they are longer, larger and
deeper in scope.
"These serious and drastic cutbacks are having a dramatic
impact on our business," he said. "We do not have
enough money to make it through the fiscal year, without taking
some drastic actions to survive."
Rosenwald questioned the value of the massive station cuts that
Amtrak management ordered on station hours, station staff and
checked baggage service for the western long-distance trains.
"The cuts were done almost exclusively at intercity
stations," he said. "The cuts did not go on at
northeast corridor and very little at Amtrak West. Personally, I
question whether this is the right way to go."
Rosenwald said the checked baggage cuts have meant passengers are
carrying on more than two bags. He said Amtrak management, as a
worst case scenario, may have to seriously consider preventing
passengers who bring more than two bags on board trains from
boarding trains.
"It may get to the point where we won't take that
guest," he said.
Due to cost savings, dining car savings are being studied.
Amtrak is going to a national dining car menu starting in May.
Trains will have a regional selection, he said.
"It will be that way for quite some time," Rosenwald
said. "There will be no difference in direction."
Rosenwald doesn't agree with the cuts that are being make-up its
$285 million shortfall. He said the dining car changes will
"take away a little bit of the soul of the train."
"If it's not safety-related, it's now considered a low
priority," he said. "It's heart-breaking for me."
So don't expect to see Rainbow Trout on the California Zephyr.
Amtrak is now in a survival mode, Rosenwald said. He said his
plan was to transform the California Zephyr to the service level
the train offered during the 1950s.
"I wanted to make it a true land cruise (experience),"
he said.
Rosenwald formerly led efforts that transformed the Seattle-Los
Angeles Coast Starlight into a rail cruise experience.
Rosenwald said there is enough demand to run the popular
California Zephyr in two sections - one being sleeping cars only
and another with only coaches.
"When you see sleeping car demand (increase) May through
October with little or no advertising, that tells you something,
that the demand is there."
When the product is upgraded, more people who wouldn't normally
ride overnight trains are attracted to the trains, Rosenwald
said.
"Many young people don't know or think about trains. This is
not a recipe for long-term success," he said.
Customer satisfaction has taken a back seat to the ability to
survive within the next few months.
Experience shows cutting service or amenities has in the short
term saved money but has resulted in long term ridership and
customer satisfaction losses, Rosenwald said."These service
reductions won't attract people out of their cars. If service
isn't good, people won't come back."
He gave NARP a strong show of support.
"NARP has always been important. They are crucial to Amtrak
making passenger rail survive," Rosenwald said. "Today,
the importance is even greater."
Rosenwald said the fight over Amtrak comes down to a political
battle beyond the power of Amtrak's managers to fix.
"I'm grateful to all of you in this room for fighting,"
he said. "Clearly, we are in a terribly difficult situation
that's putting our
long-distance trains at risk."
Rosenwald said he respected Amtrak's former president, George
Warrington, who recently resigned.
Rosenwald told rail supporters that many of Amtrak's senior
marketing people have never ridden an intercity train. "If
the people involved in marketing and selling Amtrak could see the
product, talk to guests and employees, it would help them
understand the strengths and weaknesses of the product," he
said.
Amtrak's intercity trains, he said, are normally the last area of
concern for Amtrak senior management.
"We hope that changes," he said.
Of Amtrak Intercity, the Southwest Chief is ranked second, in
terms of operational performance, only to the Empire Builder,
which runs from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, Ore., via
Minneapolis-St. Paul and Montana. The Southwest Chief, Rosenwald
said, has an 87% operational rating compared to the Empire
Builder's 88.4%.
Unfortunately, the third train Rosenwald manages, the famed
California Zephyr, which traverses the scenic Rocky Mountains on
its journey from Chicago to the San Francisco Bay area, "is
one of the worst trains on the system for dependability."
Union Pacific, he said, is "absolutely unable, not willing
or undependable to run it on time."
The California Zephyr, which stops in Omaha, Neb., Lincoln, Neb.,
Denver and Salt Lake City, "is late every day, all the
time."
Despite its poor on-time performance, the train is enjoying large
ridership increases.
Region X is comprised of rail passenger advocates in Nebraska,
Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
The Missouri-Kansas Rail Passenger Coalition, which is in region
IX, was represented at the meeting.
Joe Esty, ColoRail leader, and others, arrived at the meeting via
the California Zephyr, which arrived Omaha nearly four hours
late. He said it provided him an opportunity for rare views of
daytime Nebraska scenery.
"It was different and a change of pace since the train
normally goes through this state at night," he said.
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