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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMt/Wy Assn of RR Passengers (2)MONTANA/WYOMING Association of Railroad Passengers MTWYarp 2110 Wingate Lane Billings, Montana 59102 February 2002 AMTRAK REORGANIZATION What is the status of our project? What is the status of Amtrak? What is the status of rail passenger service in the United States? What is the status of long distance trains in this country? What is the status of the possibility of closing some long distance routes? Since the last newsletter a lot of things came to a head with reports and editorials. I thought them to important not to go ahead and get out another issue. I think a lot of your questions and concerns will be some what answered with the inclosed information. As I said in the last issue we need to let our Senators and House members what we believe and what we want. This is true with the State politicians. If things are settled one way, then we must be prepared at the state level for some backing, and I do not mean just back slapping backing. We need to instill upon the state this is an economic issue of different proportions that what they are considering. By that I mean not just an expense for the state, but the potential for more revenue to the state by more workers, more tourist, more development. I believe we have rested too long on our backsides, now we must get them where it hurts, the pockets. With elections just around the corner then we need people in the state Senate and state House that will support what we need, and quite listening too those guy with all the money. Time for action is now and the next few months. NEWSLETTERS MEETINGS This is the fourth newsletter in our fiscal year, which makes us about half way until our next annual meeting. If we have the meeting this year where should it be? Would you attempt to attend? We have set the date for the annual meeting for September 281. Some of you receive information by me forwarding articles via email. When so much is at stake and happening I wanted to send the last one and this one via snail mail to all. This will be the last issue sent via snail mail or by email to those who have not paid their dues. Remember dues go from October V to September 3V' each year. We are trying to send these newsletters to as many people in positions that make decisions which are paid by the sponsors listed in the first column on front/first page. Expense of the members copies is paid by due. So the bottom line is either pay the dues of $24 or we will drop you from the list of sending information either by regular mail or by email. MEMBERSHIP We are asking each of you to recruit members, as the more we have, the stronger our voice. I know it sounds odd to have article above saying this is last free newsletter, then asking for more members to get word out to more people. But that is how life works, nothing gets down without the finances. By LAURENCE ARNOLD The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal oversight panel for financially troubled Amtrak voted Friday to recommend opening the nation's intercity rail system to competition. Amtrak, for three decades the nation's monopoly provider . of long-distance trains, would be competing with private companies to operate trains. But Amtrak's tracks and stations, as well as its authority to make rail policy, would be distributed among state, federal and private entities. The plan, approved 8-1 by the Amtrak Reform Council, is only a recommendation. Congress will decide Amtrak's future after it receives a final version of the council plan Feb. 7. The council opted for the most radical and free market-friendly option among three plans it considered. The only member to oppose the plan was Charles Moneypenny, who represents labor interests on the panel. Established by Congress in 1997, the panel has drawn praise from critics of Amtrak who contend mismanagement is responsible for its perpetual financial problems. Amtrak supporters retort that the problem is a paucity of federal financing for an overlooked mode of transportation. "What we're trying to do is produce a new national rail passenger system that works and is modern and meets the needs of this country and this century," Gil Carmichael, the council's chairman, said before the vote. Amtrak officials would not comment. But the executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, Ross Capon, said the council's plan "misses the point." "The fundamental question is not which preferred method of reorganization you do," Capon said. "The real question is,' What are we willing to pay for a passenger rail system?"' Bruce Richardson, president of the United Rail Passenger Alliance, said the plan would improve the national rail network. "Any time you have competition, as the late Soviet Union learned, the better off you are," Richardson said. Congress and President Nixon created Amtrak in 1970 to take over passenger service from freight railroads, who wanted to concentrate on moving cargo instead of people. Now, some hope that freight railroads might be interested in bidding for passenger routes. Byron Boyd Jr., international president of the United Transportation Union, recently called for a "rail-policy summit". of union leaders and freight company executives. Edward Hamberger, president of the Association of American Railroads, said he has not been involved in any discussions about freight railroads returning to passenger service. Labor's Moneypenny, who opposed much of the council's work right through the final vote, questioned whether anybody but Amtrak wants to run passenger trains. "If you're going to privatize stuff, you better have someone willing to do it," he said. "What if you give a party, and nobody shows up? Tom Till, executive director of the reform council, insisted the private sector is fertile territory. He said Peter Pan Bus Lines has expressed interest in running trains in the United States, as have four of Britain's 19 rail operating companies. The council voted in November that Amtrak could not meet a Dec. 2, 2002, congressional deadline to begin operating without federal subsidies. Under the 1997 law that created the council, that finding authorized it to come up with a plan for a restructured national rail system. Ironically, the council's plan envisions a continuation of government subsidies to intercity trains. But the council endorsed an idea by member John Norquist, the mayor of Milwaukee, that higher subsidies should go to routes that are doing well, rather than those doing poorly. The plan also would have Amtrak transfer ownership of tracks, bridges, tunnels and stations, possibly to states or cities. Two alternative plans also were on the table at Friday's meeting. One would have maintained national or regional rail monopolies but shifted authority for route and service decisions to a government agency. The other would have opened up competition for long-haul trains only. The panel decided to include summaries of those options in its report to Congress. ; U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure<BR> U.S. Rep. Don Young, Chairman<BR> Contact: Steve Hansen (Communications Director); (202) 225-7749; Justin Harclerode (Communications Assistant); (202) 226-8767 To: National Desk/Transportation Reporter February 14, 2001 Major Restructuring Of Amtrak Is Needed Immediately To Improve Passenger Rail Service, According To Amtrak Reform Council Chairman ; House Transportation Committee Chairman Washington, D.C. - Amtrak passenger rail service needs to immediately be restructured in order to improve passenger service throughout the United States, the Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council (ARC) told a Congressional Subcommittee today. Sadly, Amtrak has proven that it cannot concentrate on its core mission of running trains and running them well, Gil Carmichael, the Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council, stated in his testimony to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Railroads. Under current law, there is no one who can hold the railroad accountable. It has too much to do, and does little of it well. As it is chartered and organized today, Amtrak does not have any effective oversight of its business plans, its funding requests, or its financial and operational performance. Nor are its many business operations flexible, innovative, or responsive to customer needs. The chronic difficulties that Amtrak experiences - year in and year out - are not due principally to lack of funding, Carmichael said. They spring primarily from an organization that is obsolete, that cannot do all the things that it is charged to do, that will not consider recommendations for change, and that desperately needs to be redesigned. The 11-member ARC has proposed to Congress a major restructuring of Amtrak and passenger rail service. Amtrak Is A Dysfunctional Corporation - Chairman Don Young I have noted on several occasions that Amtrak as is a dysfunctional corporation, U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, stated in his testimony for the hearing. Amtrak has not utilized the management freedoms it was granted in the Reform Law of 1997 to rationalize its route system or control its costs. In fact, for most of the past five fiscal years, Amtrak has no even requested its full authorization Although for years Amtrak claimed to be on the glide path to self-sufficiency, few believed them.; Reports by the General Accounting Office and the Department of Transportation Inspector General have repeatedly observed that Amtrak costs were rising faster than its revenues. Indeed, recent reports show that Amtrak is no closer to self-sufficiency today than it was in 1997. The Council was left with no choice but to make the finding required by law that Amtrak would not be self-sufficient by December of this year. Amtrak recent actions confirm that the Council did the right thing. Just last week, Amtrak admitted to its poor financial condition when it suddenly threw up its arms and threatened to close down routes. It claims that unless it receives an appropriation of $1.2 billion for the coming fiscal year - an increase of about 30 per cent over authorized level for last year - it will have to be shut down its long distance routes. Chairman Young Outlines Important ARC Recommendations The Amtrak Reform Council report does three important things, Young said. First, it recognizes the unfortunate realities of Amtrak's continued management and operating problems. Amtrak's costs are too high and it runs a system that is designed to win funding support in Congress rather than a system based on sound financial and economic decisions. Second, the Council's report outlines a number of important policy goals. Among them are promoting interrnodalism, establishing a regional decision-making process, funding rail infrastructure, and creating the potential for competition while recognizing the legitimate interests of Amtrak's employees. Legislation I have introduced - the Rail Infrastructure and Development Expansion Act for the 21 st Century (RIDE-21) - would provide $71 billion in railroad infrastructure expansion and improvements and move us in the direction of achieving many of the Council's goals. Third, the Council makes concrete suggestions. For example, it suggests that we look, at separating Amtrak the operating company from infrastructure responsibilities, especially in the Northeast Corridor. This idea may have merit. All of the reports we have received from the General Accounting Office and the DOT Inspector General have confirmed that the Corridor is deteriorating, and that Amtrak has not even been able to put in the amounts of capital necessary to keep it in a state of good repair.8tnbsp; In short, if Congress chooses to shift the responsibility for the Corridor elsewhere, the Northeast Corridor and its users (passenger, freight and commuter trains) have nowhere to go but up. If Congress Continues To Turn A Blind Eye To Amtrak, We Face The Prospect Of The Disintegration Of Passenger Pail Service - Chairman Jack Quinn Members of Congress have had the Council's plan for several days, said U.S. Rep. Jack Quinn (R-NY), the Chairman of the Railroad Subcommittee. Whether we agree with any or all aspects of their restructuring plan, two truths are evident. First, and foremost, we as lawmakers must clearly define our expectations of passenger rail service in this country. In 1971, Amtrak was created to completely develop the potential of modem rail transportation to meet the needs of the United States. I interpret that statement as a mandate to perform a public service. Yet, five years ago we wrote a law requiring Amtrak to become operationally self-sufficient by 2003. In other word s, we mandated that it run like a business in the classic commercial sense. Amtrak is left wondering which mandate to follow. As a public service provider, we expect Amtrak to operate where the community need is. Yet, any profit-oriented business would refuse to serve money-losing markets. Numerous reports, studies and statistics have documented the impossible task of operating certain long distance trains at a profit. This conclusion should force us to re-examine Amtrak's current policy model. Secondly, the federal government must make a commitment to develop and invest in passenger rail service. Our national rail system, both passenger and freight, is our country's most under-utilized asset. Over the past thirty years, we have spent roughly $750 billion on highway and aviation improvements. During that span, a mere $11 billion has been invested in passenger rail. How can we expect Amtrak to compete with the other modes of transportation without a comparable level of investment? We can no longer treat Amtrak this way - We in Congress must get serious about the future of passenger rail service in America. The issues that surround the Amtrak Reform Council Report are not new and should not be a surprise to any of us. It has been apparent for quite some time now that we need equity in our transportation policy - and with the Reform Council's findings, it is now more urgent than ever. Passenger rail service is not only important to my district of Buffalo and Erie County, NY, but critical to America. September 11th showed all of us that we need alternatives to air travel, and rail service is the alternative. If Congress continues to turn a blind eye to Amtrak, we face the prospect of the disintegration of passenger rail service in this country. I will not stand by and watch that train leave the station. Passenger Rail Service Will Never Achieve Its Potential As Provided, Managed By Amtrak ARC Chairman Carmichael opened his testimony by quoting from the ARC's Action Plan: The Councils view is that there should be a bright future for passenger rail service in America. But the Council believes that passenger rail service will never achieve its potential as provided and managed by Amtrak. A new and different program is needed to move forward. Amtrak's performance is at odds with this vision, Carmichael said. Over its lifetime, the increase in Amtrak's ridership has barely kept pace with the growth rate of the U.S. population. Amtrak is burdened with debt and debt service, and its assets are in poor condition. And Amtrak organizational structure and its management and financial systems are not those of a modem corporation. Several years ago, this committee gave Amtrak a fighting chance for survival when it drafted the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, Carmichael said.Remember, it was the enactment of the ARAA that allowed Amtrak to ccess the $2.3 billion in the Taxpayers Relief Act for a tax refund for capital improvements. In addition to the reforms, this legislation also provided Amtrak with an authorization of approximately $1 billion per year, on average, for five years. For whatever reason, Amtrak chose not to ask for an appropriation equivalent to what had been authorized in the first or any succeeding year - until now. We all know the value of hindsight but it is now clear that if Amtrak had succeeded in establishing a benchmark appropriation nearer to what had been authorized, they may have been able to establish a foothold in the appropriations process that would have allowed them to address much of their infrastructure needs in that first year and subsequent years. Frankly, Mr. Chairman, I was a little surprised to hear Amtrak blame Congress for not providing enough funding in their press conference on February 1. The Northeast Corridor Will Continue To Exist - With Or Without Amtrak There are no easy solutions to restructuring Amtrak and our goal should be to take a step back and look at the system as a whole and make a determination on what works best for the various components of the system, Carmichael said. That is what we have tried to do. No matter what the Congress decides to do about Amtrak one thing is very clear - the Northeast Corridor will continue to exist, with or without Amtrak, and the first objective of the federal government must be to take steps to assure that a proper level of investment is achieved through federal and state governments and possibly the private sector. Based on historical funding patterns, particularly in recent years, having Amtrak as the owner of the NEC may be the worst outcome. <RR> <BR> By LAURENCE ARNOLD Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats gave a cool reception Thursday to a proposal to break up Amtrak, voicing concerns about routes in their states and the impact of free-market competition in passenger train service. Let's not 'Balkanize' Amtrak,; Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., said at a hearing of the House Transportation subcommittee on railroads. Oberstar and other lawmakers questioned a 1997 law that has put Amtrak on the brink of major change. The law required Amtrak to operate without government subsidies by December 2003 -- something the council has said wont happen. Amtrak lost $1.1 billion last year, the most in its history. We expect Amtrak to operate where the country needs it, yet any profit-oriented business would refuse to serve money-losing routes, said Rep. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., chairman of the railroads subcommittee. He said the federal government has not spent enough on developing a national train network.The hearing was held to discuss a report from the Amtrak Reform Council, government oversight panel that recommended that Amtrak be broken into three pieces: one to make policy, one to oversee the tracks and stations Amtrak owns in the Boston-Washington Northeast Corridor, and the third to conduct train operations. The reform council said that after a transition of two to five years, private companies should be allowed to submit bids for franchises to run various routes. Passenger rail currently is the exclusive domain of Amtrak, which Congress created in 1971 because freight railways were losing money carrying passengers. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., said he believes rail service has a strong future in America, but I don't believe in (Amtrak's) current organization, and I don't believe in the current management.. Many Democrats on the panel said they support maintaining a^ A,irtrak-controlled system and devoting more federal dollars to rail Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the Federal Highway Administration received $32 billion this year, compared to $521 million for Amtrak. I don't hear anyone arguing the highway system is bankrupting the country, he said. Rep. Nick Ralnall, D-W.Va., said trains like the Cardinal, which serves his state, provide an important public service to people who have few other transportation options. Gilbert Carmichael, the reform council's chairman, told the subcommittee that Congress should resist spending new money on rail until Amtrak is restructured. Amtrak does not have any effective oversight of its business plans, its funding requests or its financial and operational performance, he said.Nor are its many business operations flexible, innovative or responsive to customer needs. Some Republicans on the subcommittee signaled they are open to major change. Your report proves again that we have a disaster on our hands, said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., an Amtrak critic who has proposed spinning off two profitable routes. The hearing was the first of three the subcommittee plans to hold on Amtrak's future. Congress is expected to vote this year on whether to authorize Amtrak's continued existence. Amtrak President George Warrington added a sense of urgency to the debate by announcing Feb. 1 that 18 long-distance routes will be eliminated unless Amtrak receives $1.2 billion in the 2003 budget year, which begins in October. President Bush has proposed $521 million. Page I of 2 Editorial/Op-Ed e"iffte ;1t1u fork C'•Tmes • SEARCH ' k0o to Advanced Search MARKET R Fa 7-33 Days REAL ESTATE J n AUTOMOBLLE9 E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Format sc ro MEMBQi C Welcome,jcr< Most E-Mailed Articles International ADVERT[ National Nation Challenged Polities February 20, 2002 Discover New Business Tonics of the T Technology Science Across the Great Divide Health Sports Winter Olympics By DAN SAVAGE New York Region Education Weather EATTLE -- When I went to Chicago for a wedding a few years Obituaries ago, I decided to spare myself the agonies of air travel and take the r Front Pag Corrections e Co train. I booked a first-class sleeping compartment on the Empire I r, r ; Builder, one of Amtrak's most historic trains, which travels more than EditorialslOg-Ed 2,000 miles over the Cascades and across the Great Plains. Since then, - ColumnOoihions I've taken the Empire Builder half a dozen times, and the stops along the way - places like Havre, Mont., Minot, N.D., and Red Wing, Minn. - have become for me more than abstractions on a map. Books Traveling by train, I've spent time with people I would never have met Movies otherwise. Once in Havre, I played poker at 8 o'clock in the morning D a e ll & Wine ing with an elderly rancher I'd had dinner with on the train the night before. Home & Garden The Empire Builder makes an hourlong morning stop in Havre and Fashion & Style N , when I got out to stretch my legs, the rancher hurried over, grabbed my ew York Toda Crossword/Gars Games hand and asked if I would be so kind as to escort her to a small casino a Cartoons few blocks from the station. She didn't want to go by herself, she Magazine Week in Review explained, y because it isn't ladylike to gamble alone so early in the Photos morning. We talked politics at dinner the night before and in the casino College Leamino Network that morning; she was a straight, pro-life Bush supporter, and I am a gay, pro-choice, Gore voter - and we got along famously. Arch ve Classifieds Not everyone can afford the Empire Builder - the time or the money. NY YT T Store With stops, the trip takes about 46 hours, and for coach, the price is E-Cards & More about $300 round trip. But a cost-benefit analysis is the wrong way to Jobs ei NYTDDib measure the value of train travel. The best justification for traveling by Online Media Kit rail, and the best rationale for continuing its federal subsidy is cultural. Our Advertisers , MMBLK CENTER Your Profile After the last election there was a lot of talk about "red America" and E-Mail "blue America," about the divide between the heartland and the coasts Preferences . The heartland, colored in red on the maps behind the network news News Tracker Premium Account anchor desk, was home to socially conservative Bush voters. Socially site Hato liberal Gore voters lived in big cities and on the blue-colored coasts. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/20/opinion/20SAVA.htm1 2/20/02 rut ua? ulc vreal. LAVtue NEWSPAPER Home Delivery Amtrak alone can't bring the reds and blues together. But trains like the Customer Service Empire Builder provide a real, tangible link between small towns like Electronic Edfion Media Kit Havre and big cities like Chicago. Flying tends to magnify the distance between places like Minot and Seattle, with planes swallowing up text version people in one urban area and burping them out in another. Traveling on the ground, you can see that the divide between red and blue, between urban and rural, isn't all that sharp. Rural fades into suburban, suburban into urban and back again. Some have suggested that Amtrak's long-distance routes be transformed into the rail equivalent of luxury cruise ships. That's a poisonous idea. In the rural areas once served by Amtrak, there would be few travel options left, and while luxury trains might still pass through huge swaths of red America, they would be filled with wealthy tourists from blue America. Still, Amtrak lost $1.1 billion in 2001, its largest deficit ever, and it isn't going to be self-sufficient by the December 2002 deadline set by Congress five years ago. Amtrak has said it may eliminate as many as 18 long-distance trains if it doesn't receive at least $1.2 billion from Congress this year. That's a substantial amount of money, I realize, even if it does occasionally bring together unlikely companions for a game of seven- card stud. But the federal government subsidizes airports to the tune of $13 billion a year and spends more than $30 billion on highways annually. In this context, $1.2 billion hardly seems excessive. I know train travel makes doesn't make economic sense for everyone - the bus is still the cheapest way to get from place to place, at least in red America - and I harbor no illusions about its potential to bridge anything other than the Continental Divide. All I know is that I enjoy it, even learn from it, and that if more Americans would make time for the train, they might feel the same way. Darr Savage is editor of The Stranger, a Seattle-hased netirsweekly. Home I Back to Opinion I Search I Help Back to Top ®? E-Mail This Article Q Printer-Friendly Formal -__-p__ hlost E-Mailed Articles ----- Click Here to receive an introductory offer to The New ROM York Times Electronic Edition. Copydaht 2002 The New York Times Company I P iy cy Information Page 2 of 2 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/20/opinion/20SAVA.htmi 2/20/02 To NARP Members--February 15, 2002: Unless a major news event causes another postponement, it appears that on Monday (February 18, Presidents' Day) public television's "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" will air an interview with Amtrak Board Member Mayor John Robert Smith of Meridian, Miss., and Amtrak Reform Council Chairman Gilbert Carmichael. The interview was taped February 13. Below is our news release reporting a slight intensification of the recently established trend that finds Amtrak gaining market share and airlines losing it. --Ross B. Capon, Executive Director National Association of Railroad Passengers 900 -- 2nd St., N.E., Suite 308 Washington, DC 20002-3557 202/408-8362, fax 2021408-8287 rcapon narpraihora; Lv w.nairail.or, For Immediate Release Friday, February 15, 2002 - #02-04 Amtrak ridership was 4.5% above the January 2001 level, and passenger-miles were up 5.0%. The corresponding numbers reported by the Air Transport Association for domestic airline service are declines of 14.7% and 12.8%, respectively. Amtrak's passenger revenues were up 12.4%. * All three Amtrak business units posted gains in ridership, passenger-miles and passenger revenues. * Long-distance sleeping cars continue to experience heavy volume and frequent sell outs. Overall, sleeping-car ridership grew 10% and revenues grew 19%. * While these Amtrak statistics represent a continuation of established post-9/11 trends, they all reflect stronger growth than in December, and are particularly notable given the continuing recession in the travel industry. These figures underline what we have been saying: the traveling public wants more transportation choices, not fewer, particularly in the wake of September 11. Public policy should be aimed at expanding, not contracting, intercity passenger rail service. At yesterday's House Railroads Subcommittee hearing, the statement was made that long-distance trains are "used by railfans for nostalgic reasons." We urge anyone who believes this to get on a long-distance train and tall: to the passengers. They are overwhelmingly using the train for real transportation purposes. MONTANAMYOMING ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGERS 2110 WINGATE LANE BILLINGS, MONTANA 59102 406-652-1339 limabiffaearthlink.net THIS EDITION OF THE OFFICIAL NEWS FOR "MONTANA/WYOMING ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD PASSENGER" IS WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS WE ASK YOU TO SUPPORT THEM!! MAR 5 2002 OP L ,;s MAR"" ?.- Mayor, City of Laurel Laurel, Mt 59044 CHICO HOT SPRING RESORT PRAY, MT 406-333-4933 LEWIS TREE SERVICE 225 SHERMAN ROCK SPRINGS, WY 307-382-8675 ACKLEY PAINTING 2009 SO 9th St W. MISSOULA, MT 406-728-2178 THE BEANERY BAR & GRILL BILLINGS NP DEPOT COMPLEX 896-9200 2314 MONTANA AVE _BILLINGS, MT We need more business to sponsor the newsletter. We are sending nowto all the Chambers, the County Commissioners, and the Mayors. I would like to start also with the Planning Boards of each County/City plus the Economic Development Councils. This takes money to print, and postage to send. Dues takes care of other expenses F LAUREL CIiY 0