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Amtrak LogoWASHINGTON – Amtrak has successfully negotiated contracts with 19 state transportation departments and other entities to increase state control and funding of 28 current passenger rail routes. America’s Railroad is now poised to move forward with state partners to further expand and improve the intercity passenger rail network.

“We thank these state leaders who have sent a strong message in favor of Amtrak service and the need to offer multiple mobility options for the traveling public across their regions,” said Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman.

California-Caltrans, California-Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, Connecticut, Indiana, Illinois, Maine-Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin have each reached agreement for Amtrak to operate their state corridor services.

“These state-supported services are vital links in the Amtrak national network that bring value, connectivity, economic development and jobs to states and local communities,” stated Tony Coscia, chairman of the Amtrak board of directors.

The 28 state-supported routes are in addition to the Amtrak Acela Express and Northeast Regional services in the Northeast and the overnight long-distance trains that connect the regions, which combined have set new records for ridership over the past decade.

“This has been a long process and one that has produced agreements that are fair and consistent while recognizing the needs of these states and the unique qualities of these routes,” Boardman continued. “Many of these are our fastest growing services and we are working on expansion plans with our partners in several states.”

The agreements fulfill Section 209 of the federal Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA). It required states to share costs with Amtrak under a consistent formula for all routes of less than 750 miles, excluding the Northeast Corridor. During the past four years, Amtrak and the states partnered to jointly develop the cost formula which received approval by the federal Surface Transportation Board.

Under the Section 209 policy, state partners will pay for approximately 85 percent of operating costs that are attributed to their routes, as well as for capital maintenance costs of the Amtrak equipment they use and for support costs such as safety programs and marketing. Amtrak will pay about 15 percent for “backbone” costs such as centralized dispatching and services, and back shops. States will continue to benefit from Amtrak’s incremental cost access rights to tracks owned by host railroads, dispatching priority and Amtrak capital investments that support the entire system such as technology improvements like eTicketing.

“Our state partners have told us they are expecting Amtrak to continue to improve the services we provide to them,” Boardman said. “It is a challenge I know we are ready to meet.”

Amtrak LogoWASHINGTON – Amtrak carried a record 31.6 million passengers in fiscal year 2013, delivering nationwide benefits, providing vital transportation services, advancing America’s economy and demonstrating the value and convenience of the national passenger rail network. It is the tenth ridership record in 11 years.

“Amtrak moves people, the economy and the nation forward everywhere the trains go,” said President and CEO Joe Boardman.

“In towns all across America, Amtrak brings economic opportunities for people, businesses and communities to grow and prosper,” stated Tony Coscia, chairman of the Amtrak board of directors.

During FY 2013, Amtrak’s state-supported corridor services grew to a new record of 15.4 million passengers. In addition, all long distance routes combined had the best ridership in 20 years with 4.8 million passengers. Ridership for all Northeast Corridor services reached 11.4 million passengers, the second best year ever. As evidence of a strong ridership rebound following Super Storm Sandy, the Northeast Regional service set a new record.

Also, FY 2013 produced eight individual monthly ridership records, the single best month in Amtrak history and new records on 20 routes. In addition, ticket revenue increased to a record $2.1 billion.

State-supported services are vital links in the Amtrak national network. The power of increasing demand for passenger rail is recognized through state investments to improve service, speed and safety. In addition, states and communities realize stations served by Amtrak are anchors for economic development, catalysts for historic preservation and tourism growth, sites for commercial and cultural uses, and points of civic pride.

Amtrak itself is an economic engine that returns nearly three dollars to local communities for every one dollar of federal investment (FY 2010-FY 2012). This support has allowed Amtrak to place more than $12.6 billion back into the economy through the purchasing of goods and services and employee salaries to maintain, operate and improve its national network.

“This year’s record ridership was achieved station by station in the more than 500 communities across America that Amtrak serves,” said Boardman.

UTU Membership Survey National GOTV ProgramWASHINGTON – New polling shows that Americans across the ideological spectrum support more public funding of Amtrak passenger rail service.

“We polled people who mostly do not live in large passenger rail regions and yet they overwhelmingly said they want the same level of or more federal funding for Amtrak,” said John Previsich, president of the SMART Transportation Division. “What’s interesting about this poll is that a majority of Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike all want to maintain or expand Amtrak service. It is now time for Congress to listen.”

In a poll conducted by DFM Research of St. Paul, Minn., from February to September 2013, eight districts in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri were polled and 70 percent of respondents said they support a robust federal government role in funding Amtrak. In Illinois’ 3rd District, which includes the Chicago Amtrak hub, the percentage jumped to 80 percent.

“This new polling confirms what we have always known: Americans want more, not fewer, transportation choices,” said Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD). “And while too many politicians in Washington are saber rattling about government spending, people across the nation, from conservatives to liberals, believe the federal government has a responsibility to play in supporting and funding Amtrak passenger rail service.”

Previsich added that in the weeks ahead, SMART Transportation Division activists will be working with TTD and the other rail unions to make the case for more federal funding for Amtrak as lawmakers prepare to rewrite federal passenger rail law (known as PRIIA). “This polling will boost our effort to advocate for common sense passenger rail legislation that gives Amtrak and its employees the resources they need to deliver first- class passenger rail service that Americans are clearly telling us they want.”

The full survey results can be found here.

The SMART Transportation Division represents a variety of employees in the freight and passenger rail, mass transit and airline industries throughout the United States.

The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, represents 32 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, motor carrier, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, go to www.ttd.org or find TTD on Facebook and Twitter.

Carl_Smith_2013
Carl Smith

Armed with polling data obtained by SMART?Transportation Division?political consultant Dean Mitchell of DFM?Research, Colorado State Legislative Director Carl Smith and Assistant Legislative Director Charlie Skidmore Sept. 14 presented community leaders from Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico, convened in Pueblo, with data showing large support for funding of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief service.

“With the knowledge that state and local politicians from Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico would be attending this event, Kansas State Legislative Director Ty Dragoo and myself had discussions with Dean Mitchell at the Anaheim regional meeting about doing a survey to show the politicians from our respective states the support the public has for Amtrak, even in the most conservative districts,” Smith said.

The surveys were conducted in Colorado’s 4th District and Kansas’ 1st and 2nd Districts, home to traditionally conservative voters between September 3 and September 10. About 800 adults responded to the survey, 400 in Colorado and 200 in each of the Kansas districts polled.

The survey found that people had a favorable view of Amtrak and high speed rail, with 44 percent of people polled stating that passenger service should increase and 40 percent stating that it should remain the same. Only four percent of those polled stated that the service should be eliminated, while 12 percent were unsure of what should happen.

Seventy-one percent of those interviewed said they would support additional service in the cities of Denver and Kansas City.

Forty-five percent of those polled said that their state governments should provide some funding for Amtrak and 49 percent were in favor of keeping the current levels of government funding. Of the 45 percent that said their state should contribute to the funding of Amtrak, 83 percent stated that they supported their states providing up to one third of one percent of the state transportation budget to keep daily Amtrak service.

“The survey was well worth the expense and will be a valuable tool for the state directors of Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico to present to state legislatures and governors when discussing funding for Southwest Chief service,”?Smith said.

Smith also presented the findings to attendees at the Labor Initiative of the Colorado Democratic Party event held Sept. 18.

Click here to view all results from the survey.

Amtrak LogoAmtrak, the U.S. intercity passenger railroad, may have trouble staying on track, literally, if a U.S. government shutdown is prolonged for a month or more.

The Washington-based railroad, which has never made money, gets 12 percent of its operating budget and most capital and debt-service funding from U.S. appropriations funneled through the Transportation Department. Some are scheduled to be paid quarterly while others are reimbursements, all of which have been cut off for now.

Read the complete story at Bloomberg News.

 

Amtrak LogoWASHINGTON – Amtrak is moving forward with a plan to eliminate its food and beverage losses over five years. It builds on successful initiatives implemented since fiscal year 2006 that have increased the cost recovery rate from 49 percent to 65 percent.

“We have made steady and consistent progress, but it is time we commit ourselves to end food and beverage losses once and for all,” said President and CEO Joe Boardman. “Our plan will expand initiatives that have worked, add new elements and evolve as updated information and opportunities lead us to better solutions.”

Amtrak Inspector General Ted Alves agrees improvements have been achieved and testified before Congress that “over the last several years, Amtrak has taken action to reduce food and beverage losses and improve program management controls and these efforts have yielded benefits. We believe opportunities remain for further improvement.”

In inflation adjusted dollars, the Amtrak food and beverage loss is down $31 million, from $105 million in fiscal year 2006 to a projected $74 million in fiscal year 2013 – or about a 30 percent move in the right direction.

Boardman explained that approximately 99 percent of the food and beverage loss is reported from the long-distance trains that Congress requires Amtrak to operate, specifically costs associated with the dining car service. Cafe car services across the system, on the other hand, essentially break even or make a positive contribution to the bottom line.

The centerpiece of the plan is an improved management structure that consolidates operations and accountability for food and beverage into a single department. This new organization also establishes a long-distance services general manager and route directors responsible for profit and loss of specific trains who will identify opportunities for further cost savings and efficiencies.

Some of those opportunities include: aligning dining car staffing with seasonal changes in customer demand; establishing metrics to assess service attendants’ onboard sales performance; reducing spoilage; closely tracking onboard stock levels; regularly refreshing menus; and exploring new pricing and revenue management options to align with customer needs and enhance cost recovery.

Further, Amtrak is using technology onboard trains aimed at improving customer service, automating financial and other reporting, and eliminating the error prone and time consuming method of manual data entry. Just this week, for example, Amtrak began a pilot on the Silver Meteor (New York-Miami) long-distance train to test a new touch-screen tablet-based solution that dining car service attendants use to take passenger orders and print customer receipts.

In 2014 Amtrak will roll out its Point of Sale (POS) system across its national network. Currently in operation on Acela Express and California trains, POS technology improves the customer experience by streamlining the check-out and receipt printing process in café and lounge cars, and allows onboard employees more time to focus on sales and customer service. It also provides real-time inventory status, better decision support and more flexibility to introduce targeted pricing and discounts, including value and combo meals.

Also in 2014 Amtrak plans to test “cashless” sales for food and beverage on certain routes. The elimination of cash reduces transaction time and significantly reduces accounting expenses and the risk of fraud or abuse. In addition, many venues that have pursued similar initiatives have seen increased sales. This model is very popular in the airline industry and has been seen as a favorable change by travelers.

“I am confident Amtrak will succeed in this effort just as we have in other areas and across a wide range of financial and operating performance metrics,” he said, noting records for ridership, ticket revenues, and on-time performance as well as significantly reducing corporate debt and the amount of federal operating support.

If Amtrak were to eliminate food and beverage services as some observers recommend, the railroad would actually lose more money because of the loss in associated ridership and ticket revenue, and thereby increase its dependence on federal support, he stated.

Amtrak LogoALBANY, N.Y. — Amtrak and the state Department of Transportation have reached an agreement on a method for sharing costs on most trains in the Empire State, avoiding a shutdown of service that could have taken place as early as Oct. 17.

The agreement, required by the federal Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, basically requires states to assume more of the cost of operating trains on routes of up to 750 miles. Long-distance trains such as the Lake Shore Limited, which connects the Capital Region to Chicago, Boston and New York City, aren’t covered by the requirement.

New York state will provide about $22 million in federal fiscal year 2014, which will help cover operating and capital costs for the Empire Corridor trains, as well as the Adirondack, Maple Leaf and Ethan Allen services. It also has a separate agreement with Vermont to cover 35 percent of the Ethan Allen’s costs, estimated to be about $800,000, in the 2014 fiscal year.

Click here to read more. 

Amtrak LogoINDIANAPOLIS. Ind. (WLFI) – In less than three weeks, Amtrak’s Hoosier State Line will stop operating. That is unless Indiana spends millions of dollars to keep it from getting derailed.
Dozens of supporters of the Hoosier State Line gathered Thursday afternoon at the Indiana Statehouse. Members of the United Transportation Union were on hand at the rally, even though they said they don’t represent Indiana Amtrak employees.
“Support our fellow railroaders and make sure, try our best to keep jobs,” said Kyle Brooking.
Click here to read more.

Creative vision in Washington, D.C., is not quite an oxymoron, but seemingly only extraordinary external events cause it to materialize.

Perhaps there was prediction of a month of Sundays when Congress authorized land grants for a transcontinental railroad; expectation of hell freezing over when lawmakers approved construction of the Interstate Highway System; and sightings of flying pigs when the House of Representatives combined aviation, highway, and railroad funding authorization and oversight into a single Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

It may require the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series before the entire Congress ceases to treat passenger transportation project-authorization and funding as if aviation, highways, and trains were mutually exclusive even though travelers frequently combine all three in their travel plans.

Read the complete column at Railway Age.

Amtrak LogoRail use in America continues to climb ever higher. In July, Amtrak posted its busiest ridership month ever. But what are the busiest individual routes?

Let’s take a look. Here are the 10 highest ridership Amtrak routes, as of July, 2013.

Read the complete story at greatergreaterwashington.org.