Very good comment Peter! Poetic justice for UP.Dr. Agler, please don’t forget about the Surfliner corridor too. I hope you know that yours truly worked on the Proposition 116 petition drive back in 1989 while I was living in California then, and I was overwhelmed with support and wound up being TRAC’s top volunteer on the campaign. The Surfliner corridor and metrolink were the big projects, and I also got support from many northern CA residents as well for the Capitol corridor and ACE trains.I spent many weekends at LAUPT getting signatures to have Proposition 116 placed on the ballot in 1990 and we won.
Boardman needs to Stand up to Congress tell them people amtrak needs more money and alot more new cars. Over Sea Country make Amtrak look like 3 world train system, and other country are spending Billions&Billion on they train system and USA just spends 1.4 Billion on Amtrak. USA will be 3 World Country in everything soon.
Toronto, Canada. Mr Boardman makes a good case for saving money by saying that Amtrak will continue to rebuild much of its old passengers cars… (see what Via Rail is doing with its fleet of nearly 60 year old Budd cars) However refusing to bargin with Union Pacfic is very short sighted The Sunset route as a daily service could bring in a improved bottom line…Sometimes you have to fight to get a better deal, come on Amtrak just fight a little, you may be suprised! thteexunsome sence
There was some consternation when Mr. Boardman was appointed to head Amtrak, and it appears much of that concern has proven correct.
Once more AMTRAK collapses to a railroad. No backbone and no incentive to have one.
There seems to be no desire to lease equipment to extend services or capacity. What kind of company is this?
Problem is Amtrak management won’t “push” for anything. They are cowards and would fail misderably in the real world of business.
Boardman said what Amtrak needs most from Congress is capital investment in the Northeast, and “for the Hill to decide what they want to do in policy investment is in long-distance trains,” because “long-distance trains [are] where we don’t cover our operating costs,” and “we’re not going to be able to do that forever.”
No doubt…this man is not up to the task of running Amtrak.
Heck, I guess getting the Sunset back on east of New Orleans is not even a consideration nowadays. Amtrak is a pro in lessening service. Under Amtrak’s tenure Alabama has lost 3 out of 4 Amtrak trains. When will Amtrak ever be lead by someone with initiative and vision? The Sunset withers away.
Better ride those long distance trains while you can…
Almost feels like Amtrak is trying to cut long distance trains. They stopped service that used to run from Los Angeles all the way to Jacksonville Florida. Their loco power is woefully in need of upgrades yet they stick to the corridor and the State sponsored systems?
Amtrak’s biggest failure is in not recognizing and developing the market potential of its long distance routes, specifically those segments which should offer multiple frequency corridors. These exist on all of the long distance routes operating east of the Mississippi River and portions of those in the west. Amtrak should be buying many more corridor cars and locomotives to grow these services, building on the federal funded purchase for Midwest and West Coast corridors. At least Boardman has correctly identified the need for more Accela cars to add capacity in the NE corridor. Amtrak has never really focused on where people travel (irregardless of travel mode) and trying to capture a strong market share for passenger rail. That is the game in almost every other rail system in the world, and an approach that is well recognized by the airline industry, and the more innovative intercity bus carriers like Megabus.
“Uncle Pete” is a snot! Uncle Joe ain’t much of a railroader.
WOW! No attempt at a Sunset deal, no new Superliner order (I do support rebuilding equipement, but Amtrak is always short on equipment), making it hard for Reno Fun/Snow train to operate, lost commuter constracts–where would we be if David Gunn were still running the show? Gunn would have not allowed the missed opportunities that Boardman is responsible for.
Mr Boardman seems content to turn Amtrak into a regional passenger service and drop long distance routes. Not even considering new cars our new power when you know the P42 are struggling on long distance routes. Guess Mr Boardman should be telling Congress what Amtrak needs, but that might be to much if he can not deal with UP or BNSF.
Mr. Boardman; you just killed the passenger train. I love to travel by train, but I refuse to pay for trains ONLY on the Northeast corridor and in California! Believe it or not, we who live in rural America are also American citizens and Taxpayers.
As a resident of “flyover country” and an American Taxpayer, I resent Mr. Boardmans idea that I have to pay for the Norheast Corridor but I can not have daily service on the Cardinal. It cost the same to maintain the stations for 14 trains or even 28 trains a week as it does for 6 trains a week. Most of them are unmanned anyway. Why should the residents of 50 states pay for the trains in 8?
Amtrak’s failure is America’s failure-
how about fixing the Sunset schedule so you can connect from the Coast Starlight to the eastbound Sunset. A few years back I could do that, no longer. Result; folks from the Bay Area will not be customers for the Sunset.
There has to be a place in our country for long distance passenger rail. Maybe I am spoiled because I lived in Europe for nine years and saw clearly what the advantages were. I can remember commuting to work from Fulda, Germany to Wuerzbury which was about 120 Kilometers in 31 minutes in utter comfort able to read a newspaper or do work. This took place on Germany’s high speed ICE traveling at speeds of 249 kilometers per hour. Would it not be convenient to rida a train from Miami to New York for example in 8 to 10 hours. The point I am trying to make is that we have to start somewhere and work toward that. Of course it is not profitable or self sustaining just like any other start up business. Is there not a public need here? I read that our highways will be ultra congested soon, (study realeased by the University of Florida) not to mention all of the other issues including pollution, fatal auto accidents, increasingly crowded airways, etc.
Where do we start? What do we do?
Amtrak can be a success if the people and politicians are really for it. The problem is too many people want to rely on flying because they don’t have the time to take the train and it’s these same people that say they love trains. Come on people put your money where your mouth is, if you’re for it then patronize it and see what a stress free way to travel. Additionally, the highway contractor and airline lobbies are going to fight passnger train expansion tooth and nail because they fear the cut in their profits. When gas is $5.00 a gallon or higher then people will come to their senses. In America it’s being reactive rather than proactive.