by gokeefe
RPSA has expired. There is a possibility that these provisions may no longer be law.
gokeefe
Railroad Forums
Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman
gokeefe wrote:RPSA has expired. There is a possibility that these provisions may no longer be law.In which case BNSF or NS could run its own passenger trains again, for their own benefit*, and without interfacing with Amtrak in any way.
Gilbert B Norman wrote:The issue the LD advocacy community has is with the allocation of the fixed expense that they contend Amtrak allocates a disproportionate amountnof that expense against the LD. As such. Amtrak accunting is "fraudulent".See, I've heard the opposite. I've heard that Amtrak's billings to states is not transparent and the states have no idea if they're really paying for the X% required by agreement (law?) or if Amtrak is throwing in the kitchen sink. I've had a few Amtrak managers tell me that Michigan is hopping mad over the performance the last few years. Clearly Indiana is not happy.
John_Perkowski wrote:As an aside, I think UP has figured out how to make moneyWith the exception of #4, you just described how UP approaches their Metra operations...
1) Run historic power people want to travel behind.
2) Run nice equipment.
3) Treat the customers right.
4) Don’t do this in daily service.
Tadman wrote: So back to my position on letting NICTD run the train. If you don't have a big office full of brass in DC, you don't have 10+ running shops and 2-3 heavy shops, you don't have a mausoleum in every major city (that sees 2-20 trains a day), you don't have a yard in every major city, it's a lot harder to fudge the bills because there is nothing to fudge.This is what I believe will occur when the new cars are completed. Once the States (IL MI MO WI) own their own eqpt they can issue RFP's and Amtrak will be forced to drill down their operating costs in a competitive environment.
I'd advocate Michigan pull out of Amtrak as well. They have a vibrant enough network that they could pull their Chargers and Siemens cars out of the pool and contract someone like Keolis or Serco to run them. If they're so angry, make a move.
Tadman wrote:NNEPRA participated extensively in the committee that was tasked with creating the agreed upon formula. Other states did as well. I believe the process was relatively transparent with the fundamental outcome being an acceptable formula but also an acknowledgement by all that Amtrak has exceptionally high costs. Their equipment doesn't come cheap nor does their labor. Pennsylvania got hit with the double whammy of paying for electric locomotives (brand new ones at that).Gilbert B Norman wrote:The issue the LD advocacy community has is with the allocation of the fixed expense that they contend Amtrak allocates a disproportionate amountnof that expense against the LD. As such. Amtrak accunting is "fraudulent".See, I've heard the opposite. I've heard that Amtrak's billings to states is not transparent and the states have no idea if they're really paying for the X% required by agreement (law?) or if Amtrak is throwing in the kitchen sink. I've had a few Amtrak managers tell me that Michigan is hopping mad over the performance the last few years. Clearly Indiana is not happy.
So back to my position on letting NICTD run the train. If you don't have a big office full of brass in DC, you don't have 10+ running shops and 2-3 heavy shops, you don't have a mausoleum in every major city (that sees 2-20 trains a day), you don't have a yard in every major city, it's a lot harder to fudge the bills because there is nothing to fudge.
I'd advocate Michigan pull out of Amtrak as well. They have a vibrant enough network that they could pull their Chargers and Siemens cars out of the pool and contract someone like Keolis or Serco to run them. If they're so angry, make a move.
mtuandrew wrote:Is Indiana still an active participant in the MIdwest HSR Initiative, to the extent that anyone is active? I guess if I were them, I’d want to wait for the big pot of undiluted (non-TIGER) money for that project before committing to passenger service again."Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission" http://miprc.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
gokeefe wrote:Amtrak's accountants ... ensured that the formula accounted for depreciation and capital expenses (as required) to the fullest extent allowable.And that is where it sounds like Amtrak is sticking it to the states to the fullest extent possible. Any cost that can be billed is apportioned to the states.