I ran across this article where he tells it like it is: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5022721&ft=1&f=1003
Click the button that says “listen” under the headline.
Good to hear him be as blunt as he has always been.[bow][(-D][:-,][swg][tup]
It was interesting to “hear” this article.
I didn’t learn anything new from it but I did enjoy hearing Mr. Gunn. The response from DOT was that the Bush administration is committed to saving and improving Amtrak. Funny, Bush has given $0.00 funding to Amtrak to operate under his new budget. I don’t know about you but I have NEVER been able to save or improve anything without putting funding into it. It just goes to prove what Mr. Gunn said recently that anything this administration tells you is (sorry can’t print it here, family website you know) . By the way, I just ran across a book recently entitled, Weapons of Mass Deception, The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq. The title of that book pretty well sumes up the current administration. Mineta was quoted as saying that we have put 29 billion into the flawed national rail system. My question is how much money have we put into the national highway system during the same time? How much money have we put into the air transporation system during the same time? If Amtrak is not worth the investment then I have to question if air travel or the highway system is worth it either.
Amtrak could play a major role in our country’s current gas/oil crisis by being expanded to accomodate more passengers on more routes. Airlines are cutting back on the number of flights and destinations. Greyhound recently announced it was cutting service to a number of cities. Of course this country really doesn’t have an energy plan now does it? Amtrak could become a major player if the administration is really committed to saving and improving Amtrak. But you know, Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, don’t they ! ! !
It also doesn’t have a plan to cope with emergencies like Katrina and a plan with Amtrak as the key would have saved at least 1000 lives.
Mineta’s response to Katrina is like GM’s immediate response to 11 Sept. 01, to get people to buy more SUV’s and fewer smaller cars.
As I said on one of the other posts on this subject, I’m more inclined to listen to an experienced railroad manager on this topic than a political appointee that probably couldn’t tell you what standard gauge is. Gunn was the best type of manager for a troubled company of any type: the type that gets down in the “trenches” with the workes and roots out the problems from inside. He didn’t sit in an ivory tower and send out edicts based on what he learned in school.
The question is will Lotus listen? It is very hard to argue with that interview. Thanks Zach.
I couldn’t agree more.
Big Boy [:)]
NO
Very True
I agree.
David Gunn has an excellent record working with passenger rail in a lot of different situations. I thought that he was an excellent choice to run Amtrak. If he doesn’t get reinstated, then who are the top choices to run Amtrak?
CC
Funny congress writes the budget, and keeps giving Amtrak money.
Now it works!
Works like this. President sends his proposed budget to Congress. Congress makes adjustments to the proposal and then passes a budget resolution. Everybody wants to go as close as possible to the budget, but further adjustments are made during the appropriations process.
The Bush budget initially proposed $360 million to continue the operation of the non-Amtrak services uising the NEC. Zero dollars for anything Amtrak. The assumption was that Amtrak would file for bankruptcy and continue operations until a reorganization could be completed, just as the airlines are doing. Big difference, unlike the airlines which can generate enough ca***o keep operating, Amtrak would run out of money after the first payday.
Either the people in the Bush administration were exceedingly stupid or they were convinced they could fool all the people on the bankruptcy issue.
If you want my take on the NEC isssue dispute, which is presented as the primary cause of Gunn being fired check here
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=50315
Jay
Just my ignorance at play here, but I have felt for a long time that what Bush want’s to do is steer the NEC into the hands of his well feathered cronies.
There is no way anyone could afford to aquire the infastructure needed to set up a competing operation, so whosever hands it might fall into will have a virtual monopoly.
Which, if combined with a creative and opportunistic fare structure, could be a goldmine.
To me it looks like one of the very few segments of Amtrak that could be run as a profitable business. And whoever got their hooks into it on a private basis would be the beneficiary of years of taxpayer capital improvements, probably at bargain basement prices.
Anti Gates, sorry man but you’ve got to remove that cool GIF from your signature. It is a bandwidth pig at over 600K. I have cable, and it is bogging down my connection. What you may not realize is, that image in your signature goes to every post you have ever made in the past.
I suppose it could be viewed as a metaphore for the “wheels of progress”.[swg]
He’s too blunt, so they never did like him, lol.
Big Boy 4005,
Hey, I have 52kbs dial up and the graphic comes up just fine. Well, almost fine, it is rotated 90 degrees clockwise from what it should be. No it is not an imaginary graphic. The UP had items from this design in one class of road switchers which were in service at the same times as the UP 4005. For another clue think FM as your mantra.
Gunn statements were simple, direct and accurate; something that the Amtrak Board and Minetta inparticular have no grasp or understanding of…expecially the accurate part.
I haven’t heard of any savior waiting in the wings to save Amtrak. As far as separating infrastructure from operations, I don’t think the U.K. is happy with the results now that they tried it.
Uptrain…Just listened to the Mr. Gunn recording…Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I just listened to it again. He (Mr. Gunn) certainly makes sense. Something the current administration has never done.
I know that I will **** off some people with this but shut your yap. Gunn got fired becuase he obviously wasn’t the best choice. This is like Lionel vs. MTH,
it is really starting to tick me off.
All right, I thought I was the only guy out there that thought this. As far as I heard Gunn was fired because he wouldn’t make the changes and reform needed to ever make Amtrak worth-while; for being such a savior, I haven’t heard of him doing anything but trying to hold status quo, which as Mineta said is not good enough. (A new topic of leftist Bu***hrashing every three days is not “right”.)