Riding #14 the Coast Starlight on Sunday up from LA, UP put us in sidings even if the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. We even had to give way to a Surfliner.
Talking to my sleeping car attendant and a few other passengers, there was near unanimous agreement that Union Pacific is the most anti-passenger railroad in America today. One woman I dined with was by no means a train fan but had travelled Amtrak enough to know the name “Union Pacific” and agree that they were the most unfriendly hosts.
Is this a fair assessment of UP? Are all the Class Is the same? Is BNSF, NS, or CSX more favorable? Has UP just gotten a bad rap?
I’m no UP fan but I wanted to get other opinions before I make my mind up on this issue.
[:(] I can tell you that local commuter service in the Chicago area under Metra deteriorated on the three branches handled by the old C&NW after it became UP about ten years ago.
The prior service had been flawless. The trains ran on time to the point where even a minute’s delay was noticeable. While I wouldn’t characterize today’s service with UP as host road as a big lapse, I have noticed over the past few years that problems that never seemed to be problems before – like a “frozen switch” – will delay operations 5-15 mins. Very annoying to those of us who were used to the very best! [8)]
Perhaps there are others in Chicagoland who have opinions about the UP’s West, Northwest and North lines??
I don’t mean to sound contentious or seem like a defender of the UP, but what actions on UP’s part annoyed them? Did UP personnel insult them personally or say they were acting against Amtrak’s interests? Or is Amtrak another hapless victim in the UP’s ongoing problems? Just curious. If the UP isn’t meeting its contractual obligations it seems to me that Amtrak should seek remedies. When I ride Amtrak I hold them, not the road on whose tracks the train travels, responsible for getting me there on time and safely. If you offer a product, the customer should rightly expect you to stand behind it and fix problems even though forces beyond your control act against you.
This is how it is down here:
I can tell you that the North Shore Scenic Railroad’s Two Harbors Train in the Duluth-Two Harbors area under NSSR became much slower into the yard handled by the old DMIR after it became CN about 1 year ago.
The prior service had been flawless. The trains ran on time to the point where even a ten minute delay was noticeable. I would characterize today’s service with CN as host road as a big lapse, I have noticed over the past few years that problems that never seemed to be problems before – like one train entering the yard ahead of us – will delay operations 1-2 hrs. Very maddening to those of us who were used to the very best!
Soooo, is it a matter of the UP having anti-passenger priorities, or is there perhaps insufficient attention paid to the niceties (a switch will not freeze in winter if hot water is poured on it pre-emptively) – or perhaps both?
I remember reading in TRAINS that NS has a good reputation with passenger and commuter railroads, but CSX has a terrible one- the case in point was the 2003 blizzard season.
Last I year I took Coast Starlight from Seattle, WA to Martinez, CA. We were pretty much on time. Only time we had an “extended stop” was in the middle of the night parked opposite the turntable at Dunsmuir, complete with a full moon. What a nice view from my bed! By the way, first class (which includes bed, meals, movie, fresh-baked cookies, and wine tasting) on Amtrak is about the same as coach air fare, with peanuts, between the Bay Area and Seattle if you are traveling with a companion.
We also had problems with switches and had to stop two or three times to take care of them.
It wasn’t so much that passengers or my attendant were personally insulted by someone wearing a “Move America Forward” t-shirt. It was just consistent experiences of being shunted aside while on UP rails. I’m sure this happens on all the Class I railroads but it seems UP has a worse reputation than the rest. From my conversation with other travellers in the Diner or in the Pacific Parlour or wherever, being late is a huge PR problem for Amtrak. Not for seasoned rail travellers but for folks taking their first Amtrak trip. Two passengers told me they were not likely to go on Amtrak again. That hurts. In our case, we ended up four hours late. Two hours were because the southbound Coast Starlight was late getting into LA and couldn’t be turned quick enough (and one car needed repairs on top of that). I expect slippage due to sidings on the way, but Amtrak has to work on getting the trains to depart on time. It needs happy customers. Remember that old business school adage about a dissatisfied customer telling something like 40 people about his/her bad experience.
I am surprised that when the National Rail Passenger Act was created, freeing the joining railroads of their obligation to run passenger trains, that some stipulation was not provided–at least for major intercity runs–that they be given priority over freight. After all if the railroads wanted out of the passenger business THAT badly then the government had some leverage. We’re not talking about hundreds of intercity runs.
I agree with markpierce. My LA-SJ ticket in sleeper class for a roomette was 127.90, not far off what it might have cost on Southwest Airlines if I had not booked airfare well in advance. Yes, it was far longer–12 hours to 1–but it was a great experience and I am looking forward to my two-week rail trip later this summer.
That was your problem. UP will run you on time IF you stay in your alloted time slot. But if you are outside of it for even one minute and for any reason at all, sorry.
A lot of it is sheer train volume. There ate times between KC and Jeff City (125 miles) that the UP will have to begin holding trains at Jeff City before Amtrak leaves KC and Amtrak will still have to make 2 or 3 on 1 meets all the way across.
Amtrak’ Monthly Report give a summary of delays by cause with further detail by host railroads for delays caused by their activities. The UP has usually had a poorer performance record than the other carriers. In fairness, the UP routes for the Starlight and the Sunset Limited are on two of the most capacity constrained lines in the country. At one point, part of the problem might have been a lack of effort on the part of the UP, but Amtrak and the UP have been working on the problem over the last couple years, and there has been some signs of improvement. For example, a couple of years ago the Texas Eagle was frequently hours late, but after completion of track work by the UP I think it is running much better.
This year, the UP is working to add capacity to the line between El Paso and LA, and no doubt they have many other major improvement plans on the boards. It is a matter of cash and time. Meanwhile, something as inconsequential as a false hot journal reading on a freight train a hundred miles away from the Amtrak, can ruin the dispatcher’s best laid plans.
For the most part, passengers don’t really care about the cause of a delay, and it is unfortunate that for many it is an “I am never taking the train again” response. It is not for effort, but there are no quick fixes.
The long range solution is better track capacity with better maintenance for Amtrak. The first is a problem being worked on by the UP, but the second requires different thinking by the Administration and that is where your efforts should be directed, I wrote a letter to National Review today on the matter saying that the money to put and keep Amtrak in good shape is peanuts compared to the land taking and construction for highways and airports that will be needed if it isn’t in good shape.
To me it is interesting that there is still a lot of “magic bullet” ideas floating around. A Madison (WI) paper ran an editorial giving credit to Amtrak and DOT for presenting ideas to reform Amtrak. They praise the idea of “private” companies being able to compete for a contract to run any part of the the service and imply that that will be so effective as end the need for government support.
I should have added that the Starlight was late into LA because of track work in Oregon.
As a previous post mentioned, whatever the good, bad, or indifferent reasons for train delays, the sad result is that many casual riders say “never again” and Amtrak cannot afford to lose these people. We train fans might put up with delays. They won’t. And they are a far bigger percentage of ridership than us.
For what it’s worth, I’m throwing in the following finance article-slash-PR release, courtesy of Uncle Pete his own self:
Union Pacific’s Historic Sunset Route Importance Underscored as Traffic Booms Thursday June 30, 12:55 pm ET
OMAHA, Neb., June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Railroaders call it the “Stormy” for its wild summer thunderstorms. Historians call it the Sunset Route. It has become a vital link handling booming traffic. To address this growth, the 760-mile Union Pacific corridor between Los Angeles and El Paso is in the midst of an on-going effort to add capacity. ADVERTISEMENT
The route’s strategic importance was recognized more than 150 years ago. The treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War in 1848, resulted in Mexico giving up Texas and ceding most of what are now Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah and Nevada to the United States.
James Gadsden, president of South Carolina Railroad Company, dreamed of connecting his railroads to a southern transcontinental railroad to California, linking the West directly with the Southern states. The best route, however, was determined to be south of the new U.S. border. Congress paid Mexico $10 million in 1852 for the Gadsden Purchase, a strip of land south of the Gila River, for the proposed railroad route.
Gadsden didn’t live to see the line built, but Central Pacific pioneer Colis P. Huntington saw the value of the route and ordered his Southern Pacific Railroad to begin building east from Los Angeles in 1877 with rails reaching Tucson in March 1880. A stub line was extended to Tombstone where the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral was fought in 1881.
The railroad reached El Paso in May 1881. It was quickly dubbed the Sunset Route, and the Southern Pacific circular logo showing a setting sun over a railroad track soon bec