June 8, 2021 - Commentary by Russ Jackson, 40 years as a rail advocate -
After 50 years of existence you'd think Amtrak would have thought of everything. Well, below are some ideas this writer has mulled over for a long time. With the restoration of daily service on the six western long distance trains, and the promised return of "traditional" dining for sleeping car passengers (not for coach riders...yet) Amtrak is responding not to their own desires for "service," but to what they were forced to do by the $1.7 billion Congress gave them and by constant nagging from advocates. A better level of service is in the process of being restored, which this writer/rider appreciates and I look forward to the reviews soon.
Food Service. Have you seen the new "traditional" menus on www.Amtrak.com? They look pretty good, and are almost identical to what went away a year ago. Some tasty additions don't look like they came from an expensive French restaurant, and the new carrot cake dessert looks great. Upgraded dinnerware and tablecloths are coming back, BUT, contrary to hopes, the "Inflexible" dining, as Andrew Selden calls it, is still going to be in effect on all the one-night eastern long distance trains and the Texas Eagle! Amtrak's VP of long-distance services, Larry Chester, told the Washington Post's Luz Lazo on June 3, "While the company has no intention of bringing back the dining service to routes in the eastern U.S.," that may be only temporary and they "hope passengers will come back, even though demand is far short of normal" at this time. WHAT? Just look at the sold-out conditions on many of the long-distance trains this summer. There are many other things Amtrak is not going to do, like bring back cash transactions so coach riders and those without credit cards can partake of the menus in the Diners, or for Lounge car purchases.
So, what "new" idea do I have for the cuisine on board? Bacon. Everybody likes bacon, whether it is "good for you" or not. On the new menus bacon will be available as a "side" for breakfast, and the new grilled cheese sandwich will contain it. So, WHY NOT offer a BLT too? Yeah, I've called for that many times...but here's how it can easily and cheaply be done: There will be salads of fresh lettuce and tomato, buns for burgers, and bacon: voila, there's the fixins' for a BLT. Well, that's a start...and they should make some Diner items available to Coach passengers NOW.
On Time Performance. If anything irritates an Amtrak rider more than being late, (many times very late) it's that nothing seems to be done about it. In recent months all of the western trains have had instances of multi-hours late arrivals at intermediate stations. Amtrak is at fault, the Union Pacific is at fault, the BNSF is at fault...it just goes on and on. RailPAC member Ralph James recently rode the Sunset Limited from Benson, Arizona to Los Angeles, the bus to Bakersfield, and the San Joaquin to Sacramento. Ralph reports from on board: "There were three of us boarding at Benson, and three off there. We were 3:40 late at that time and it looked like I would make my four hour connection to the bus in LAUS." Then later: "We are now approaching 7 hours late sitting at the Palm Springs station waiting for a patch crew. Obviously I will not make my connection and will have to take the next bus. The PS station is deserted." This from the Amtrak website: "Effective May 20, 2021, Due to sandstorms at and around the Palm Springs station, Amtrak is temporarily suspending service to this location. Local sandstorms are causing sand drifts, making it an unsafe location." (As far as this writer knows, this important station is still closed.)
Ralph continued about his trip: "The load was pretty good, 75% in my Coach car. The guy across from me had a great experience going to Tucson, but the 7 hour delay going back had him in the 'never again' mode." Then, when Ralph finally arrived in Los Angeles, it was 12:28 PM and he boarded the 1:05 bus to Bakersfield to find the bus trips have been lengthened by about a half hour because of roadwork and traffic. Once on board San Joaquin train 719: "an announcement was made there would be an hour delayed departure because the connecting bus from Las Vegas was stuck in holiday traffic. It arrived an hour and 25 minutes late and we were on the way." On the same day in Tucson, Amtrak train 2 was 90 minutes late approaching Tucson, then had to wait 30 minutes for the UP to move an eastbound train out of the station ahead of it. Sunset Limited delays get worse and worse particularly in the El Paso to San Antonio segment. So, what can Amtrak do? One thing they've never tried is bribery. Of course that's something I wouldn't advocate.
Return to Phoenix. Back to the Arizona state capital and returning the Sunset Limited to daily service have been agenda items for advocates for decades. Since 1997 Phoenix has not had direct service, and Amtrak is largely forgotten there. Not so in Tucson, where every train turns over many riders coming/going east/west. RailPAC member Richard Strandberg, a retired BNSF civil engineer living in Tucson, has proposed a new idea and I have added to it. Neither Amtrak, the Union Pacific, or the State of Arizona have been interested in paying to restore the former SP line between Yuma/Wellton to Buckeye since the 1997 accident that ended direct service. Strandberg proposes that the old line be permanently abandoned. Then the UP, with Amtrak and State help, construct a new, much shorter 30 mile line parallel to State Highway 84 from Gila Bend to Buckeye. The Buckeye area is near a huge new development adjacent to the 303 corridor, with up to 500,000 new residents coming there. A Buckeye station, and a flag stop at Gila Bend, would draw much passenger traffic. How could that be paid for?
Here's MY idea; With all the $$ coming to Amtrak these days for corridor development, and Los Angeles to Phoenix/Tucson is big on that list, Amtrak could offer big bucks to the UP to help build that new route and/or to double track the rest of the Sunset Route in Arizona and eastern California. In exchange, Amtrak would have the right to run some daily trains on the line through Phoenix to Tucson, and perhaps one to El Paso. Then my heresy: With a second frequency the Sunset Limited could remain (shudder) Tri-weekly on its present route continuing to serve the area at Maricopa.
Texas. There's good news and bad news from the Lone Star State. There's nothing new about that statement, of course. But, for rail the good news is the State Legislature here adjourned its every-other year session and passed several bills that positively affect public transit and other rail projects including safety. Other good news affected the high speed rail project. Six bills were introduced which would have killed the Dallas to Houston project being undertaken by Texas Central Railway, and all of them died in session, so the project continues.
The bad news for Texas and other states along the route of Amtrak's Texas Eagle is that while it has returned to daily service and the connection in San Antonio for through cars to Los Angeles continues, Amtrak removed the Sightseer Lounge car from the train north of San Antonio AND it will not return. There are no other improvements. The Texas Rail Advocates President, Peter LeCody, wrote a stinging report about the Eagle, and it and the other comments on that site are very worthwhile reading: www.TexasRailAdvocates.org
To rail advocates: We continue to do a great job calling attention to the foibles that tumble out of Amtrak's DC headquarters almost daily. A question: Have any of "them" "up there" been out on the western rails and seen for themselves what goes on? That's called "Leadership," my friends. If they had, and if they had listened to any of us in recent decades, I'm convinced there would be a different atmosphere. The employees on board the trains are outstanding...does top management (or President Biden) know any of them outside the NEC? Any one of these employees could tell them volumes about what is needed..."management committees" are a poor substitute for personal contact and observation. In an interesting exchange recently, Dr. Bill Hamilton (co-author with Andrew Selden of "Amtrak Accounting" that ran in Passenger Train Journal in 1984) told us how at Amtrak "some things never change." He was reminded of how he, Andrew Selden, Byron Nordberg, and Dr. Adrian Herzog were "sitting in Fullerton going through new RPS results with Amtrak's Brian Rosenwald and we showed him where the Coast Starlight was getting charged for AEM-7 electric locomotive and Amfleet car maintenance," neither of which had anything to do with his train.
Has lack of interest "up there" continued? You bet it has, and I end this with my usual call for Amtrak to have a "GROWTH" philosophy. The Rail Passengers Association (formerly NARP) is claiming credit for what they see coming back. Maybe...their track record for influencing Amtrak administrations has not been stellar, and they even admit that, and the rest of us have been equally vocal. There are small signs of growth in Amtrak operations, but the proposal that everyone got excited about of building all those new corridors AIN'T GROWTH. All that will happen is the states will scoff at the prospect of having to absorb the full cost of their new service eventually, the railroads will want huge amounts to agree to doing it, and nothing will get done. The proposal above for Arizona may be the most realistic one on the list. What do you think?
Texas-based Russ Jackson advocates for trains and writes regular columns for RailPAC.org
After 50 years of existence you'd think Amtrak would have thought of everything. Well, below are some ideas this writer has mulled over for a long time. With the restoration of daily service on the six western long distance trains, and the promised return of "traditional" dining for sleeping car passengers (not for coach riders...yet) Amtrak is responding not to their own desires for "service," but to what they were forced to do by the $1.7 billion Congress gave them and by constant nagging from advocates. A better level of service is in the process of being restored, which this writer/rider appreciates and I look forward to the reviews soon.
Food Service. Have you seen the new "traditional" menus on www.Amtrak.com? They look pretty good, and are almost identical to what went away a year ago. Some tasty additions don't look like they came from an expensive French restaurant, and the new carrot cake dessert looks great. Upgraded dinnerware and tablecloths are coming back, BUT, contrary to hopes, the "Inflexible" dining, as Andrew Selden calls it, is still going to be in effect on all the one-night eastern long distance trains and the Texas Eagle! Amtrak's VP of long-distance services, Larry Chester, told the Washington Post's Luz Lazo on June 3, "While the company has no intention of bringing back the dining service to routes in the eastern U.S.," that may be only temporary and they "hope passengers will come back, even though demand is far short of normal" at this time. WHAT? Just look at the sold-out conditions on many of the long-distance trains this summer. There are many other things Amtrak is not going to do, like bring back cash transactions so coach riders and those without credit cards can partake of the menus in the Diners, or for Lounge car purchases.
So, what "new" idea do I have for the cuisine on board? Bacon. Everybody likes bacon, whether it is "good for you" or not. On the new menus bacon will be available as a "side" for breakfast, and the new grilled cheese sandwich will contain it. So, WHY NOT offer a BLT too? Yeah, I've called for that many times...but here's how it can easily and cheaply be done: There will be salads of fresh lettuce and tomato, buns for burgers, and bacon: voila, there's the fixins' for a BLT. Well, that's a start...and they should make some Diner items available to Coach passengers NOW.
On Time Performance. If anything irritates an Amtrak rider more than being late, (many times very late) it's that nothing seems to be done about it. In recent months all of the western trains have had instances of multi-hours late arrivals at intermediate stations. Amtrak is at fault, the Union Pacific is at fault, the BNSF is at fault...it just goes on and on. RailPAC member Ralph James recently rode the Sunset Limited from Benson, Arizona to Los Angeles, the bus to Bakersfield, and the San Joaquin to Sacramento. Ralph reports from on board: "There were three of us boarding at Benson, and three off there. We were 3:40 late at that time and it looked like I would make my four hour connection to the bus in LAUS." Then later: "We are now approaching 7 hours late sitting at the Palm Springs station waiting for a patch crew. Obviously I will not make my connection and will have to take the next bus. The PS station is deserted." This from the Amtrak website: "Effective May 20, 2021, Due to sandstorms at and around the Palm Springs station, Amtrak is temporarily suspending service to this location. Local sandstorms are causing sand drifts, making it an unsafe location." (As far as this writer knows, this important station is still closed.)
Ralph continued about his trip: "The load was pretty good, 75% in my Coach car. The guy across from me had a great experience going to Tucson, but the 7 hour delay going back had him in the 'never again' mode." Then, when Ralph finally arrived in Los Angeles, it was 12:28 PM and he boarded the 1:05 bus to Bakersfield to find the bus trips have been lengthened by about a half hour because of roadwork and traffic. Once on board San Joaquin train 719: "an announcement was made there would be an hour delayed departure because the connecting bus from Las Vegas was stuck in holiday traffic. It arrived an hour and 25 minutes late and we were on the way." On the same day in Tucson, Amtrak train 2 was 90 minutes late approaching Tucson, then had to wait 30 minutes for the UP to move an eastbound train out of the station ahead of it. Sunset Limited delays get worse and worse particularly in the El Paso to San Antonio segment. So, what can Amtrak do? One thing they've never tried is bribery. Of course that's something I wouldn't advocate.
Return to Phoenix. Back to the Arizona state capital and returning the Sunset Limited to daily service have been agenda items for advocates for decades. Since 1997 Phoenix has not had direct service, and Amtrak is largely forgotten there. Not so in Tucson, where every train turns over many riders coming/going east/west. RailPAC member Richard Strandberg, a retired BNSF civil engineer living in Tucson, has proposed a new idea and I have added to it. Neither Amtrak, the Union Pacific, or the State of Arizona have been interested in paying to restore the former SP line between Yuma/Wellton to Buckeye since the 1997 accident that ended direct service. Strandberg proposes that the old line be permanently abandoned. Then the UP, with Amtrak and State help, construct a new, much shorter 30 mile line parallel to State Highway 84 from Gila Bend to Buckeye. The Buckeye area is near a huge new development adjacent to the 303 corridor, with up to 500,000 new residents coming there. A Buckeye station, and a flag stop at Gila Bend, would draw much passenger traffic. How could that be paid for?
Here's MY idea; With all the $$ coming to Amtrak these days for corridor development, and Los Angeles to Phoenix/Tucson is big on that list, Amtrak could offer big bucks to the UP to help build that new route and/or to double track the rest of the Sunset Route in Arizona and eastern California. In exchange, Amtrak would have the right to run some daily trains on the line through Phoenix to Tucson, and perhaps one to El Paso. Then my heresy: With a second frequency the Sunset Limited could remain (shudder) Tri-weekly on its present route continuing to serve the area at Maricopa.
Texas. There's good news and bad news from the Lone Star State. There's nothing new about that statement, of course. But, for rail the good news is the State Legislature here adjourned its every-other year session and passed several bills that positively affect public transit and other rail projects including safety. Other good news affected the high speed rail project. Six bills were introduced which would have killed the Dallas to Houston project being undertaken by Texas Central Railway, and all of them died in session, so the project continues.
The bad news for Texas and other states along the route of Amtrak's Texas Eagle is that while it has returned to daily service and the connection in San Antonio for through cars to Los Angeles continues, Amtrak removed the Sightseer Lounge car from the train north of San Antonio AND it will not return. There are no other improvements. The Texas Rail Advocates President, Peter LeCody, wrote a stinging report about the Eagle, and it and the other comments on that site are very worthwhile reading: www.TexasRailAdvocates.org
To rail advocates: We continue to do a great job calling attention to the foibles that tumble out of Amtrak's DC headquarters almost daily. A question: Have any of "them" "up there" been out on the western rails and seen for themselves what goes on? That's called "Leadership," my friends. If they had, and if they had listened to any of us in recent decades, I'm convinced there would be a different atmosphere. The employees on board the trains are outstanding...does top management (or President Biden) know any of them outside the NEC? Any one of these employees could tell them volumes about what is needed..."management committees" are a poor substitute for personal contact and observation. In an interesting exchange recently, Dr. Bill Hamilton (co-author with Andrew Selden of "Amtrak Accounting" that ran in Passenger Train Journal in 1984) told us how at Amtrak "some things never change." He was reminded of how he, Andrew Selden, Byron Nordberg, and Dr. Adrian Herzog were "sitting in Fullerton going through new RPS results with Amtrak's Brian Rosenwald and we showed him where the Coast Starlight was getting charged for AEM-7 electric locomotive and Amfleet car maintenance," neither of which had anything to do with his train.
Has lack of interest "up there" continued? You bet it has, and I end this with my usual call for Amtrak to have a "GROWTH" philosophy. The Rail Passengers Association (formerly NARP) is claiming credit for what they see coming back. Maybe...their track record for influencing Amtrak administrations has not been stellar, and they even admit that, and the rest of us have been equally vocal. There are small signs of growth in Amtrak operations, but the proposal that everyone got excited about of building all those new corridors AIN'T GROWTH. All that will happen is the states will scoff at the prospect of having to absorb the full cost of their new service eventually, the railroads will want huge amounts to agree to doing it, and nothing will get done. The proposal above for Arizona may be the most realistic one on the list. What do you think?
Texas-based Russ Jackson advocates for trains and writes regular columns for RailPAC.org