Guilford views on passenger rail

I do not think it is fair to expect Guilford to bear the full expense of
maintaining the line to 79 MPH standards as long as this 115 pound rail is
still in use.

You are aware that Amtrak doesn't run for free on Guilford's rails, right? Guilford probably bears NONE of the expense of maintaining the rails.

Noel Weaver wrote:
I do not think it is fair to expect Guilford to bear the full expense of
maintaining the line to 79 MPH standards as long as this 115 pound rail is
still in use. The expense in maintaining this line for speeds above 60 MPH
probably should be the responsibility of others at least until heavier rail
has been put in place.

Guilford does not bear the full expense. Amtrak/NNEPRA pay Guilford for the expenses of maintaining the line to passenger standards.

Amtrak/NNEPRA also pay for all applicable insurance costs, and they pay Guilford bonuses as a reward for keeping the passenger trains running on time.

Guilford doesn't get nearly as bad a deal as they would have us believe.

If Guilford was getting all of the money needed to maintain their lines to
passenger train standards, why was the Conn. River Line allowed to go to
hell so bad that no passenger trains could operate on it and they ended up
losing the line to Amtrak and then to the Central Vermont?
I can't help but wonder if they are being re-imbursed for the full
maintenance of the line to passenger standards.
The fact still remains that it would have been much better to install 132
pound rail, regardless of who paid for it.
Noel Weaver
P.S. - I am not a "lover of Guilford", just think they have a legitimate
concern in this particular case.

Maybe they have a legitimate concern but nobody else seems to think so. Including the American Association of Railroads and the Federal Railroad Administration. It's not just the "Amtrak lovers" who disagree with Guilford on this one.

I understand the "Downeaster" passenger trains under Guilford have an
excellent on time performance figure. Take a look at Amtrak and see for
youself the dismal figures from most of the other railroads, biggest
exceptions seem to be BNSF and CP. I remember a trip from Boston to
Portland and back last summer and while we were delayed on the return,
it was at least in my opinion, no fault of Guilford, we encountered a major
electrical storm and a number of signals got knocked out as a result, a
fairly common occurrance. In both directions, Guilford held one of their
freight trains to run us first.
Doesn't sound too anti passenger to me.
Noel Weaver

The Downeasters do have an excellent on-time performance record. As I said before, Guilford receives extra money when the trains arrive on time. Besides, deliberately making the Downeasters wait for freights would be way too obvious anyway.

Yes, for sure Guilford receives a bonus for running the trains on time.
Having said that, if some of the larger freight railroads treated Amtrak as
well as Guilford does with regard to operating their trains, Amtrak would
be in a much better fix today.
I would like to see UP and CSX in particular improve to Guilford standards
when it comes to Amtrak.
Noel Weaver

The comments here that GRS gets paid well for running the Downeaster made me do a little research into what they really get... some stats from ATK's website are pretty interesting:

In 2003, ATK paid $96.2 million to "host" railroads for running rights. In April, 2004, they ran 2.159 million train-miles on those roads. That works out to $3.71 per train-mile. GRS owns ~80 track-miles on this route. 80*3.71= $297 each way.

Now, I'm using averages and extrapolations here (and if anyone has more accurate stats, lets see 'em), but those figures are probably directionally accurate... and it ain't a lot of money for the railroad, when you consider the required condition of the track, dispatching, freight delays (put a train in the hole for an hour will cost you ~$100 in labor[including fringe], and a lot more in locomotive costs, freight car per diem, etc).

By way of comparison, GRS makes as much as $1,000/car or more on private car received traffic that moves about the same distance, albeit with their own crews and power.


And everyone wonders why the Class 1s and regionals hate passenger trains!

I am not convinced that the regionals hate passenger trains, the Vermonter is a pretty good piece of revenue for the NEC for their basically
one freight each way a day railroad, the Vermont Railway probably too,
the last I knew their Rutland - Whitehall frieght trains run at night.
Noel Weaver