You know the concept of a "murder-mystery weekend" where hotels con people into coming on a slow weekend with an event. Same deal. It's got to be showtime when the premium passengers board the train. Disney calls all their employees "cast members." It's hokey, but the concept is right.

Now that all sounds kind of funny for a quasi-government operation, I know. But Amtrak has got to act more and more like a business for the most part, thinking of the taxpayer money it gets as a subsidy to offset the cost of coach seats for people who can't afford the upscale stuff.

What about hauling private cars, too? What if Amtrak had a fleet of private cares that could be rented out to families? It might be really expensive, but there might be rich people willing to spend the money. 
The key is product differentiation to get a full spectrum of customers. The last thing they should be interested in is getting from Point A to Point B. That just isn't what the long haul trains are good for any more.
Bill D added 3/8/02

I think that a national rail trust fund must be created, just like we have for highways and airtravel. Otherwise I think the will be wasting our time. I also think that public-private partnership will the freight railroads will be needed to improve the infastructure for both freight and passenger use. 
It's gonna be an intersting to see what congress does. 
Yours Truly 
Mark D ADDED 3/8/02

I am from the Northeast Corridor region, but that does NOT in any way mean that I like the idea of eliminating long-distance trains one bit.  This is a disgusting idea which has unfortunately seduced the uninformed (thanks to the efforts of Joseph Vranich, and now even Amtrak officials) by portraying the "horrible money loser" long-distance trains as the "big bad wolf" preventing high-speed rail from being viable. 

We can have both.  We should have both.  We must have both. 

What I think is getting lost in this issue (perhaps not by us Amtrak supporters, but by others) is that Amtrak restructuring, reform, and reauthorization does not have to be a long-distance versus corridors thing.  We should keep our long-distance trains running, and improve them where we can.  We should also have funding appropriated to develop high-speed corridors throughout the nation (personally, If I were calling the shots, I'd start with the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative and California plans and work my way elsewhere since those two projects alone would double Amtrak ridership and the former would benefit long-distance trains immensely as well). 

That's right, the corridor improvements will benefit the long-distance trains significantly--it will expand capacity by allowing services to be operated with fewer trainsets (allowing saved equipment to lengthen consists), will increase ridership and average trip length (while not as phenomenally as a corridor service, probably a pretty decent improvement), and this, combined with a modest yield increase, would allow revenue to rise with a "multiplier effect."  Costs would decrease too, with more passenger miles being able to be generated by the same amount of equipment man-hours of labor (although more equipment should be added for the long-hauls).  Granted, it will probably not be enough to make long-hauls profitable, but passenger train profitability, like I said earlier, is a dirty myth. 

I've written my Congressman, Senators, and at least one newspaper so far about this, and I hope to do more soon.  As a member of a younger generation of Americans (who will hopefully soon be using the train to travel to and from college), I am going to probably live to see the day when the world really begins to see its fuel gauge needle approach E.  The current Amtrak system may be skeletal, but we must add, not subtract, from it. 

Best Regards,  -Adam O., NJ added 3/8/02

For crying out loud, Honorable Congress of the United States, stop playing games with my options and with public transportation that will grow with the future.  It's time to treat Amtrak like what it is and what it was created to be: a PUBLIC SERVICE.  A public service does not make money, it provides a needed service to the people of a country.  Amtrak or anything of the sort will never make money, no passenger rail system in the world makes money.  What they do is provide freedom of movement for the citizens of their respective countries.  Amtrak should be refined, reformed, and the like- but it should be built upon and made better, not cut down. 

Congress, give us in the West a break and treat us the same as you'd treat yourselves in the densly populated East.  Give us the option to travel on a nationwide rail network. 

Thanks, 
C. K F 2/18/02
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If one reads the news group misc.handicap one will see the horror stories of airplane travel for those of us who need wheelchairs.

Not only do we suffer as we have to pay for the repairs to our "legs" sometimes we cannot even get someone there to fix the damage--e.g. many wheelchair vendors/retailers are not open nights, weekends!  That leaves us literally captive in the airplane (unless they will send someone to carry us off the plane--that's truly humiliating!)

I also want to point out that there is a disease called fibromyalgia.  People with that terrible disease cannot sit in a confined space without getting cramps in the muscles, pain in the joints, etc.  In fact it is widely recommended that a person with fibromyalgia get up, move around and stretch every 15-20 minutes. That is IMPOSSIBLE on an airplane.

I sure hope the Lake Shore Limited is still operating when I will want to go the the funeral of a friend who has terminal breast cancer.  It is the prefered way for me to get from Troy, NY to Lagrange IN.

L. A B, Ph.D., J.D.
Troy, NY  2/16/02
A note from the webmaster.. I have met many wonderful people who are mobility impaired and or had other challenges .on the train.  Many many  people would not be able to travel at all  if it was not for Amtrak and our national passenger rail system. Let alone be more comfortable and have their wheelchairs handled properly.

I hope  people and groups you and others belong to take an active interest in saving our national rail network.  It's important!  No one in this life knows when or if  they too will some day end up in a wheelchair or face other life's challenges. Use it or not it's nice knowning the train is there for you. I hope your friend does well !  Thank you, doctor for your comments and support.
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    It's one thing to put back an individual train (as Congress did with >the "Cardinal" many years ago). If the whole network shuts down for >more than a few weeks, getting it back would involve huge logistical >problems. If Congress "blows up" Amtrak, the public's right to access >to freight railroad also disappear. 

I would add that, with regard to legislators, those of them who support Amtrak would still do so without a strike, while those of them who hate it would either be happy or just not care.  Again, let's do our best to convince legislators to support Amtrak and thus protect it. 

Also, I have been surprised that some people I know refuse to believe that highways are funded by govrenment.  One of them says that highways pay for themselves from 'very expensive tolls'. 

Regarding Mica's hatred to Amtrak.  I saw his website.  There is a special page about the commuter rail project in Florida, which he supports.  In a FAQ section, to the question "Why not just buy more buses?", he reasonably answers that trains are more spacious and energy-efficient.  This makes me even more wonder about Mica's psychology, I mean what his hatred to Amtrak/long-distance trains is based on.  Though I am not from his area, I wrote him about it.  Though I didn't get a response, I hope he will pay attention to my words. 2/17/02
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Rep. Mica's comments on passenger train travel are characteristic of people who have never stepped on a inter-city Amtrak train. He has obviously never experienced the pleasure of watching the scenery pass them by in the observation car,  eaten spectacular food in the dining car or made new friends in the coach compartment. And, for some ghoulish reason, he wants to deny those pleasures to future generations of Americans.

First off, Amtrak is affordable. With just a little advance planning, a person can get wherever he wants to get for the price of an airplane ticket, sometimes even cheaper. Just last month I bought a North American Rail Pass for only $423 and visited about 10 cities in the US and 3 cities in Canada for the price I would have had to pay to visit just one city by air. I found the reservation process to be extremely-user friendly and encountered absolutely none of the security hassles that have filled the pages of the newspapers since Sept. 11.

Second, some people are unable to fly. Either because of legitimate fears of dying a horrible, fiery death, or just because of physiological problems (such as Eustachian tube problems), passenger trains offer a compelling alternative to traveling by airplane. 

And so what if train travel takes a little longer? What's the big deal? What is the rush, for Pete sakes? I can get on the train from Albuquerque in the afternoon and arrive fresh as a daisy in Los Angeles the next morning! Rep. Mica may be running around like a chicken with his head cut off, but most civilized people can adjust their schedules to accommodate train travel. Sometimes just getting to a place, sometimes the journey itself, has immeasurable intrinsic value. For some reason, we have lost touch with the amazing beauty of traveling great distances by train.

The fact of the matter is, lots of us Americans are tired of being treated like cattle by the airlines. We're tired of being forced to sit in tight, cramped seats like sardines. We're tired of being subjected to cabins that are improperly pressurized, getting us to our destinations with perforated eardrums, exploded blood vessels and rare forms of food poisoning. In short, we're tired of traveling on airplanes and we refuse to give up the only civilized form of mass transportation left to Americans.

Third, trains get to their destinations. Sure, sometimes the freight trains cause delays, but hey! Freight trains own the tracks and they're making the rules. We just buy right of way. If Rep. Mica wants to get somewhere on time, maybe he can guarantee passenger trains the right of way! A freight train can handle an eight hour delay, but human beings cannot and should not be subjected to this treatment.

And fourth,  on Sept. 11 where were all the planes? On the ground, that's where. And where were the trains? Chugging away! Right on schedule. When the ice is clinging to the wings of planes on frigid nights, do they get off the ground? Maybe, and with a little luck they land, too. But trains are always chugging away. Slowly but surely. 

Let's remind Rep. Mica who elected him into office. If he wants to stay in office, he should start listening to the American people. And the American people want a strong, intercity-rail service run by Amtrak. Not some pipe dream conjured up by a bunch of grumpy, jet-lagged bean counters!

Sincerely,
Chuck R  2/7/02
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Richard DeGarmo
Chairman-Volunteers
Centennial Station
Olympia-Lacey, Washington 2/6/02

"Amtrak was also granted a monopoly to provide intercity rail transportation over its route system and was to receive federal subsidies for the first few years, but then it was expected to make a profit." - from the ARC web site.

Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution enumerates the only powers granted to the federal government.  Section 8 contains three paragraphs which clearly give Congress the power to fund operations of a national passenger rail system.  These are:

1. "To lay and collet taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; ..."

2. "To establish post offices and post roads;"

and,

3. "To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;"

Public transportation (the ability to move about our country) is clearly a general welfare responsibility.  Establishing "post roads" would certainly include railroads for moving long distant mail more efficiently.  The ability to deploy "militia" (armed forces) throughout the country would certainly be aided by an effective long-distance passenger rail system.

Other general welfare applications include civil defense movements and evacuations of large metropolitan areas in times of threat from severe weather, terrorist attack or invasion.  When air travel is curtailed there would be no alternative to automobile travel if no national passenger rail system exists.

The federal government has seen fit to pour billions of dollars of funding into a national highway transportation system (far in excess of anything spent on passenger rail services).  Nobody seems to question this expense, nor the ongoing cost of  maintenance and new construction.  This highway system provides enormous benefits to the trucking industry.  What similar system of cross-country railroads has the federal government built?  None! Why not?

The federal government has supported the aviation industry for over 50 years.  The FAA and its system of air traffic control are a routine expense of government.  Airlines could not function without the FAA and air traffic control system.  Nobody seems to question this expense, nor the cost to improve and maintain equipment to keep pace with increasing demands for air travel safety.  What similar network of cross-country rail traffic control has the federal government built?  None!  Why not?

Yet when it comes to supporting a national passenger railway system, outlays have averaged less than $1 billion per year for the first 26 years of operation!  "after 26 years and approximately $22 billion in federal operating subsidies and capital investments" - from the ARC web site.

Instead of subsidizing passenger rail travel, the Congress has decreed that Amtrak should find some magic way to become self-sufficient.  This is a prescription for the dissolution of Amtrak.  There isn't a single large scale national passenger rail system in the world that is financially self-sufficient.  Why is Congress demanding the impossible of Amtrak?

Proposed solution:

In addition to reforms proposed by the ARC which are not inconsistent with the following, these remedies should be considered:

1. The Congress should accept responsibility for establishing a subsidized national passenger rail system.  Self-sufficiency is a delusion and inconsistent with the federal role in other major transporation systems.

2. The federal government should fully fund all rail equipment and rail equipment repair and maintenance, including costs of passenger station construction or leases.

3. The federal government should fully fund building and maintenance of additional trackage for passenger rail service, parallel to and interchanging with existing freight rail systems, to improve the speed and quality of cross-country rail services.

4. The federal government should fully fund all other infrastructure costs for building and maintaining a first-class passenger rail system.

5. Rights to use federal passenger rail trackage should be leased to regional passenger railroads to interconnect and enhance long-distance services of Amtrak provided such usage does not interfere with Amtrak operations.

6. Rights to use federal passenger rail trackage should be leased to private freight carriers provided usage priority is secondary to all passenger rail traffic and does not interfere with Amtrak operations.

7. Passenger fares should be strictly limited to amounts sufficient to pay Amtrak employee compensation, including benefits and any Amtrak pension system.  All other costs should be funded by the federal government, consistent with constitutional requirements outlined above.

Summary:

It is a travesty to think that the federal government should shirk from its obligations to its citizens to provide for their general welfare through a national passenger rail system when we routinely spend billions each year for highways, aviation, and foreign aid to support infrastructures of other nations.

It is the obligation of the Amtrak Reform Council to inform the Congress that the requirement for self-sufficiency by recinded and Congress accept its constitutional responsibility to properly fund a national passenger railway system.

The question should not be one of how to retrench Amtrak so that a limited subset of operaions might possibly provide sufficient funding for self-sufficiency (it never will).  Rather, the question should be posed as "How do we create and maintain a viable first-class national passenger railway system subsidized by the federal government consistent with its constitutional responsibilities?"

I would be happy to volunteer to do whatever I might to help bring about the kind of reform I've suggested.

Thank you for your consideration,

//SIGNED//

Robert D. W
Andover, NJ  07821 2/03/02

Hi!  Is there a book, study, paper, or any publication where I can find a
comparison of U.S. passenger rail ridership/financing with the systems of
other countries?  I am trying to assemble an argument against Congress'
passing the bill to force Amtrak to either be self-sustaining or go out of
business.   I don't think many public transit systems in the world break
even but cannot find a reliable source.  I am hoping that you can lead me to
a good summary type of document.
Regards, Jim,J Tampa, Fl.1/26/02

While I share your enthusiasm for train travel, Amtrak is not necessarily the only entity that knows how to run a railroad. 

Thanks again for your input. 

Sincerely, 
John L. Mica 
Member of Congress 

Not exactly what I was expected. How can Amtrak survive when it isn't even being given a chance?
1/26/02

please forward this note to Mineta and other members of council and include with your report to congress

David H
1/19/02

At this critical time in our history, we need a working, well funded rail
system to alleviate the congested and increasingly un-friendly skies. In the
age of the terrorist, there is no safer way to travel than aboard your
trains.

I am a Republican, a financial contributer, and a regular voter. They listen
to people like me. I have made it clear that those who fail to support your
cause will no longer enjoy my support.

On a more pleasant note, I have been a passenger on the Southwest Chief many
times from Chicago to Los Angeles. It is the crown jewel of Amtrak, and is
one of the most pleasant parts of the vacation itself. This letter finally
gives me an opportunity to thank all of you for the outstanding service I
have enjoyed. My wife and I will be with you again on January 25, and we are
looking forward to it.

I wanted to drop you this note to let you know that you are not alone, and
that many of us out here are working hard to see that you have a future.

Regards,

Jeff  Z
Cincinnati, Ohio
1/19/02

The United Rail Passenger Alliance has some new charts and graphs of
Amtrak data to share. Titled "Analysis of Amtrak System Indicates Long
Distance Trains, Not Corridors, Are the Moneymakers," this information,
all based on internal Amtrak data, can be found at

    www.trainweb.com/urpa

URPA is also seeking to have Andrew Selden, a Minneapolis lawyer once
described as "The dean of pro-passenger Amtrak critics," to replace
Amtrak's current president.  The "Selden Plan" would begin to
establish a denser network of long-distance trains, leveraging the "matrix
effect" and moving Amtrak toward profitability, while changing the
legislative environment which has perpetuated Amtrak's need for continuing
subsidies.  The URPA site shows details of the Plan, and what could be
expected in the first six months of a Selden Administration at Amtrak.

\\/
William L
Scottsdale, AZ
1/19/02