Railroad Forums 

  • The big ax just fell. Long distance to 3x/week.

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1550452  by John_Perkowski
 
Behind a paywall at Trains... Amtrak is now saying if Congress mandates daily LD service, it will cut other service.

The betting pool is open as the game of budget chicken begins...
 #1550455  by Pensyfan19
 
John_Perkowski wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 11:00 am Behind a paywall at Trains... Amtrak is now saying if Congress mandates daily LD service, it will cut other service.

The betting pool is open as the game of budget chicken begins...
This might be a bit soon to ask but are these cuts going to affect other daily trains, or trains with at least twice-a-day frequencies? In my opinion, I would rather have service cuts from two or three times a day to daily on one route or more than have daily service reduced to tri-weekly or zero times a week.
 #1550457  by Gilbert B Norman
 
For TRAINS subscriber's ready reference, here's the material Col. Perkowski notes:

https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2 ... -operation

Fair Use:
Flynn said the company had not developed specific contingency plans for operating a daily long-distance network.

“If Congress directs us to operate a seven-day service we will,” Flynn said. “If they don’t [provide funding], we’ll have to make additional cuts to the workforce, and it would certainly affect our capital plans and suggest reductions on the Northeast Corridor and perhaps elsewhere on the national network.”

Gardner explained, “We get funded in two accounts, so the primary source we go to immediately is to slash capital in the national network because the operating will be in the national network. We can’t use Northeast Corridor [money] because that is given to us for capital for the NEC
Complete elimination of a route WILL save $$$; restoring it when COVID is over, "uh, not so fast", for first comes the Class I roads' "laundry list".
 #1550465  by Jeff Smith
 
"Force us to daily LD, we'll cut off our nose to spite our face" or "we'll take a hatchet to the one thing we show an operating profit on".

How much do the daily LD's lose operating wise? What's the loss per passenger? Look, I want to ride cross-country myself, but...

Has anyone ever looked at the 3 versions of the Sunset to see which did best? I.e. Daily, Thrice Weekly, and Thrice Truncated at NOLO? Or the Cardinal when it went thrice weekly?
 #1550471  by Pensyfan19
 
Jeff Smith wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 12:39 pm "Force us to daily LD, we'll cut off our nose to spite our face" or "we'll take a hatchet to the one thing we show an operating profit on".

How much do the daily LD's lose operating wise? What's the loss per passenger? Look, I want to ride cross-country myself, but...
If this bill does pass, then shouldn't the $26 Billion dollars in funding make up for a good portion of the operating losses? Even if a few Regionals, Cascades, Surfliners or other trains with multiple frequencies get reduced to daily service, Amtrak would still be saving money on those services and providing near-daily service on the LDs. (As long as other daily trains, such as the Heartland Flyer, don't get reduced to tri-weekly in areas that only see daily service.)
 #1550478  by John_Perkowski
 
My two cents is Amtrak is playing political headgames with everyone.

Yes, they've lost a ton of revenue, but by playing with the entire system, they are not making friends of anyone, Congress or travellers.
 #1550490  by Dcell
 
The majority of LD riders are leisure travelers and they have flexibility in their travel plans. 3x a week makes sense right now. Let's see per-train ridership with 3x/week service. Airlines have made huge service cuts in response to decreased ridership and Amtrak needs to do the same.
 #1550500  by STrRedWolf
 
Dcell wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:14 pm The majority of LD riders are leisure travelers and they have flexibility in their travel plans. 3x a week makes sense right now. Let's see per-train ridership with 3x/week service. Airlines have made huge service cuts in response to decreased ridership and Amtrak needs to do the same.
My thinking is that Amtrak already took those cuts pre-pandemic, and now the airlines have done the same. Both are still hurting and are asking for more bailout money. Amtrak was at the "lowest functional level with full staff" already. Now it's taking steps to be "essential service only", the same as the airlines who warned, past September, that jobs will be lost.

It's going to happen, for numerous reasons within the Capitol Beltway.
 #1550509  by mtuandrew
 
STrRedWolf wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 6:28 pmMy thinking is that Amtrak already took those cuts pre-pandemic, and now the airlines have done the same. Both are still hurting and are asking for more bailout money. Amtrak was at the "lowest functional level with full staff" already. Now it's taking steps to be "essential service only", the same as the airlines who warned, past September, that jobs will be lost.

It's going to happen, for numerous reasons within the Capitol Beltway.
I think you’re right. People said Anderson was there to be the hatchet-man, and I don’t agree - he wanted to remold NRPC, and break a lot of eggs in the process. I think Flynn was appointed to be the hatchet-man though.
 #1550526  by eolesen
 
I doubt the average citizen cares about Amtrak anymore, Col. Perkowski. Given the choice of making schools safer, funding first responders, and making Amtrak provide daily service, only two of those are of any interest to the average voter.

Long distance trains in the US are as outdated as coal fired powerplants. Time to let it go and focus on what's sustainable.
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