ANDERSON: Contract Renewal

[Gilbert B Norman]

Richard Anderson came to Amtrak with a two year contract. Including his time as "co-CEO" with Wick Moorman, is close to expiration.

So "will he, or won't he" accept an offer to "sign up for another hitch?"

It's obvious that the LD advocacy community will want him gone, for his "vision" of Amtrak does not include trains offering "experiential" service amenities, and LD trains only to the extent needed for political expedience.

Saving the advocacy community, for whom Amtrak is all about restoring "lost" LD routes, freshly prepared meals, wine tastings, and "feature Lounge Cars", Amtrak is ordering new short range equipment, and for the LD's new locomotives, which I guess represents "acceptance" that some will "be around for a while".

While #501 Dupont occurred during the co-CEO period, Amtrak appears to be addressing the "broken" safety culture Anderson inherited. Hopefully, progress is being made regarding employee injury occurrences, but such information is not publicly circulated.

The Penn Station infrastructure repairs are done, and apparently "weren't so bad" for those affected.

Even though ridership appears to have "plateaued", the Operating Loss has decreased on Mr. Anderson's watch. Perhaps that in itself shows discipline within the management ranks and that the existing $1.9B funding level will continue, and that those funds can be directed towards the infrastructure.

So, with that said, "will he, or won't he"?

[eolesen]

I hope he stays to see a few more things thru.

[Dick H]

Delta Dick needs to go. He has proposed cutting the Amtrak security force by 20%,

[R36 Combine Coach]

Delta Dick needs to go.

He seems to be the Scott Walker of the transportation industry. Cutting costs, trimming service, arguing with unions (while in the airlines).

[Backshophoss]

Delta Dick has got to disappear and done enough damage!
He has no face to the host RR's,has lost any support of the pro passenger advocates,and has made a mockery of food service on some of
the east coast LD's(Lake Shore,Cardinal) .
He would rather store brand new cars than put them to use(View II Bag-Dorms,Diners)
He has destroyed employee moral across the system,and tried kill off the entire LD network!

[JoeG]

Mr Anderson's behavior can only be explained if his real goal is to destroy Amtrak. He isn't only going after the LD trains. He has made it extremely difficult for PV to run; these cars have to be profitable for Amtrak. He imposed such onerous conditions on the profitable New River train that it couldn't run. He cancels trains days in advance of possible bad weather. As a frequent user of Keystone service I am particularly annoyed by his needless cancellation of these trains. You might make a case for canceling a LD train because it might be difficult to reposition equipment, and if trains get stuck in the Rockies it may be difficult to rescue the passengers. But Keystone service? Give me a break!
Amtrak has big problems that mostly are caused by a lack of money and by failing to make good agreements with host railroads, which is another case of not enough money. The current appropriation only enables Amtrak to limp along as it has been doing. We need Amtrak to have a CEO who wants to see it improve and prosper, rather than a saboteur. Send Mr Anderson back to Delta.

[mtuandrew]

The man talks a big game re: corridors, but we haven’t seen any movement. I predict a pair of one-year extensions simply because the replacement process would be hellish, and no added corridors except very unlikely a new Gulf Breeze Mobile to New Orleans.

[ExCon90]

Delta Dick needs to go. He has proposed cutting the Amtrak security force by 20%,

After reading that I'm wondering whether airlines have much in the way of security forces--I'd think that they could rely on airport police and local police to handle most things (how much right-of-way does an airline need to own?). Is this another instance where he fails to recognize differences in the operating environments of railroads vs. airlines?

[rcthompson04]

Airlines do not have “airline police”. I wonder if this is a cynical attempt to get the other major tenants at these facilities to take over security. We kind of see this already on the Keystone Corridor where Amtrak Police are far and few between west of 30th Street. You see a combination of SEPTA Transit Police, State Police and local police handling most matters with the latter two handling most things and patrolling.

[Suburban Station]

Septa police are almost non existent. Septa throws a few token officers at 30th at rush hour but otherwise relies on amtrak while refusing to pay anything for it.
30th street appears to have a pretty hefty staff of officers.

I have to wonder why someone would criticize the CEO for arguing with unions, that's pretty much in the job description. I think Anderson has his flaws but is bringing some sorely needed organizational discipline to amtrak. Hes not the long term guy but he will leave Amtrak in better shape than how he found it.

[Tadman]

I have no idea what people are on about with the security force complaints. Railroads are the only companies with real police forces. But in reality, that is a huge expense for little return. Railroad police offer little protection and railroads are highly exposed, with thousands of miles of mainline. Critical infrastructure such as switches, bridges, and signals go unguarded and it's likely that most critical points never see a railroad policeman.

Did you know the Chicago and Northwestern, owner of thousands of miles of track in 1995, had NINE policeman. How do 9 policeman cover thousands of miles and a commuter operation with 100,000 riders daily?

They don't. It's numerically impossible. The bellyaching about Amtrak's police cuts is ridiculous.


As far as the private car business goes, I'm sure it showed an accounting profit, but the operating guys will tell you a different story. I have had management that I have known for thirty years tell me that the hidden costs are a huge drag. Cars show up with old brake shoes barely passing code (what happens if the lining goes below code in central Montana?) so they change the shoes gratis just to keep the PITA factor low. Guys ask for wyes and extra turns and switches as "favors" but that costs real money, and never gets put in the contract or charged for. Every time garbage like this happens, it costs money and time. This leads to origination delays which costs big money and upsets the host carrier. None of this is good news. If you read between the lines, all the PV restrictions are operations-related. In other words, I don't doubt Mr. Anderson got a bunch of operating guys in the room and asked "why are we always late and broken?". I'm sure there were 20 reasons, but one that he saw as easily fixable was private car shenanigans. It's a distraction from the core business purpose and not really profitable.

[rcthompson04]

I have no idea what people are on about with the security force complaints. Railroads are the only companies with real police forces. But in reality, that is a huge expense for little return. Railroad police offer little protection and railroads are highly exposed, with thousands of miles of mainline. Critical infrastructure such as switches, bridges, and signals go unguarded and it's likely that most critical points never see a railroad policeman.

Did you know the Chicago and Northwestern, owner of thousands of miles of track in 1995, had NINE policeman. How do 9 policeman cover thousands of miles and a commuter operation with 100,000 riders daily?

They don't. It's numerically impossible. The bellyaching about Amtrak's police cuts is ridiculous.

This is not unlike most roads in this country. Police driving by on patrol running traffic in spots does not count as securing infrastructure.

[Tadman]

Right, but the highway patrol or city police have the ability to concentrate force on a trouble spot while maintaining some semblance of coverage in other areas. You couldn't guard a Burger King with 9 policeman.

[mtuandrew]

Right, but the highway patrol or city police have the ability to concentrate force on a trouble spot while maintaining some semblance of coverage in other areas. You couldn't guard a Burger King with 9 policeman.

Remind me not to go to your Burger King

CNW must have leaned on Chicago PD to guard North Western Station and reserved its force for fraud & grand larceny. It’s also worth noting that everyone has more police today - Chicago went from 3300 employees in 1900 to 10,500 in 1969 to 15,000 today. (Sources from Wikipedia and http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory. ... s/983.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

[Suburban Station]

CNW must have leaned on Chicago PD to guard North Western Station and reserved its force for fraud & grand larceny. It’s also worth noting that everyone has more police today - Chicago went from 3300 employees in 1900 to 10,500 in 1969 to 15,000 today. (Sources from Wikipedia and http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory. ... s/983.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

perhaps the more interesting questions is why