It’s Time We Stood Up to Amtrak.
I had an interesting conversation the other day with someone who has been around the intelligentsia, the rich, and the powerful throughout his professional career. Furthermore, he’s familiar with and sympathetic to what RPA is trying to accomplish: more trains, better trains, faster trains.
Early in our conversation, I was complaining about the loss of the Pacific Parlour Cars when he interrupted with a question:
“Looking back over the years, what has your organization ever asked for and gotten from Amtrak? Something that has actually improved passenger service.”
“Well,” I said, Amtrak was going to implement a bus bridge on the Southwest Chief and we objected. It looks like we succeeded in stopping that.
“That’s not what I mean,” he said. “You opposed something so stupid it would never have happened anyway. So that doesn’t count. But has Amtrak ever actually given you guys something you’ve asked for? Something that would have improved the national system?”
He waited, while I tried to think of something.
“You’ve asked them to make the Sunset Limited and the Cardinal daily trains,” he said. “Any progress there?”
“No,” I admitted.
“Has Amtrak made a serious effort to get service restored to the Florida Panhandle?”
“No.” I was not enjoying this conversation.
“It seems to me they are constantly “rope-a-doping” you. Taking your concerns “under advisement” or having a study done or blaming the freight railroads, but never delivering for you or your members. And you’ve been lugging their water for 50 years! “
And that, I’m afraid, is the painful truth. We have headed off some bad ideas and we have certainly helped to increase support for Amtrak in Congress. But from this day forward, Amtrak had damn well better start taking RPA seriously. Because we’re on to them. As of today, no more Mr. Nice Guy!
How about this as a start: We want Amtrak to put dining cars back on the Lake Shore Limited and the Capitol Limited. Do it because your passengers want it. And do it because we’re asked.
And if we get the usual run-around, we inform Amtrak that we’re drafting a formal letter to all 575 individual members of Congress—House and Senate both—saying the Rail Passengers Association has reluctantly concluded that Amtrak is not serious about improving the quality of service it provides to our members and the general public. Therefore, RPA recommends that Amtrak receive no further federal assistance until there’s an obvious improvement in the quality of service now provided to the general public.
That sure as hell would get some attention.
Some of this reminds me of people who have said to me something along the lines of “Amtrak is awful. The trains are late. The service is lousy. The equipment is old and run down. There aren’t enough trains”. Their solution is “We should take away all of Amtrak’s government funding until they get their act together and improve service”. …and I’d be like “what?! Lack of funding is the fundamental problem” And, yes, inevitably the folks that say this to me on the train have elected a representative who is completely against Amtrak. I’ve always found it strange how people can’t connect the dots…
The theory here, I think, was to jolt Amtrak into the realization that RPA members are tired of carrying Amtrak’s water and getting blown off whenever we ask for something in return. A few years ago at the luncheon concluding one of our Spring meetings, I was at the same table as senior Amtrak executive. During the meal several of us made suggestions of one kind or another for improving some aspect of you passengers experience. Each time, this guy would smile and say, “I’ll have to look into that.” But he never jotted a little reminder note for himself. After lunch, several of us agreed that the guy was patronizing us and that he had no intention of following up on any of our suggestions. This idea was, in large measure, designed to let Amtrak know we need to get something in return for 50 years of unflagging support.
It’s not just RPA. When in the last few years has Amtrak backed away from something because of public outcry or pressure?
Dining service? Nope, still gone. Station agent de-staffing? The bill to force their hand died in Congress. Closing the Riverside Ccll center? It’s a done deal. PV changes? Rates are up and intermediate switches are dead. Keeping the solari board in Philly? The people who think Amtrak cares enough to keep it around are delusional.
The fact of the matter is that the current administration is bent on implementing their vision of PRIIA and I don’t think anything short of new legislation will change the outcome. Keep that in mind during the new re-authorization.
Shorter A. T. Williams: be careful what you ask for.
This person is egging you on; if they have rubbed shoulders with the PTBs they know how this approach will end: “Oh, so everyone agrees now that Amtrak sucks? Finally, it’s done, no more Amtrak.” Then, quickly, no more RPA, as why would anyone join? The cause is lost – bringing BACK a National Network would be utterly impossible.
Anyone who looks at the current administration and the political climate of the past ~40 years and thinks aggression and yet more negativity are the way to get something built …. that person needs to go to the nearest community college and take a Political Science 101 class.
Amtrak doesn’t give us anything new because Amtrak is not the giver. The federal and state legislatures determine new stuff. We’ve gotten improvements in Michigan, the trains run faster every single year. That’s been achieved because it was decided that Amtrak is going to do it; at the end of the day Amtrak is nothing more than a contracted service. Want more and better service? Focus on who writes the contract[and that is not Amtrak].
All the passenger rail associations spend too much time focusing on Amtrak.
Aside: the passenger rail associations need to also spend more time focusing on the complete network. The last-mile local transit systems, the inter city bus systems, and the connectivity of all of these. Too often the passenger rail associations treat those thins like also-runs.
Amen!
I totally agree with this. Loyalty is overrated sometimes, and Amtrak management needs to appreciate what it is throwing away with these stupid savings games.
Hello Jim.
I share the frustration with AMTRAK.. Yes, drafting a letter to Congress may get some attention but it still may not be enough to generate action. Nobody in Congress, or those running AMTRAK are wholly dependent on AMTRAK for their livelihood. Yes, the board of directors are appointed and receive a salary but if AMTRAK were to go under they would simply be put into some other political slot and nothing would change.
The only way to really force change would be to form a voting coalition of several thousand members from each State and then contact Congress with numbers.
A letter drafted with the support of several thousand people leaning on congressmen to force AMTRAK to act would get results, especially when the congressmen see that the coalition could possibly swing votes for or against their own reelection.
We have no direct input on who serves on the AMTRAK board of directors so contact must be made with those who do.
“””We have no direct input on who serves on the AMTRAK board of directors so contact must be made with those who do.”””
We elect the people that appoint them, and we elect the people who write the budgets. There is a lot of hypocrisy out and about; in my years of Advocacy I’ve heard a lot of people gripe about the rail network, Amtrak, etc… who voted for people who would not be supporting any of those things. Overall Americans love love love to complain about Infrastructure – – – as much as they love to elect people who won’t build it.
This does make real sense!