Empire Commuter: GAO on condition of railroad bridges and tunnels

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) just released a report on the state of the country's railroad bridges and tunnels:

Freight railroads account for over 40 percent (by weight) of the
nation's freight on a privately owned network that was largely built
almost 100 years ago and includes over 76,000 railroad bridges and over
800 tunnels.

But getting info on this topic is difficult because the railroads want to keep it a secret.

Little information is publicly available on the condition of railroad
bridges and tunnels and on their contribution to congestion because the
railroads consider this information proprietary and share it with the
federal government selectively. Major (Class I) railroads maintain
detailed repair and inspection information, while other (Class II and
III) railroads vary, from keeping detailed records, to lacking basic
condition information. Despite their age, bridges and tunnels are not
the main cause of congestion, although some do constrain capacity.
Because bridge and tunnel work is costly, railroads typically make
other investments to improve mobility first.

Not very comforting is it? But not to worry -- our government has the greatest confidence in the railroads' commitment to their infrastructure:

The federal role in overseeing the safety of railroad bridges and
tunnels is limited because FRA has determined that most railroads are
sufficiently ensuring safe conditions. FRA has issued bridge management
guidelines, makes structural observations, and may take enforcement
actions to address structural problems. However, FRA bridge specialists
use their own, not a systematic, consistent, risk-based, methodology to
select smaller railroads for safety surveys and therefore may not
target the greatest safety threats.

Empire Commuter: Reach Amtrak Executive Customer Service

The Consumerist website has these tips on effective complaints to Amtrak:

The corporate email address for Amtrak appears to lastnamefirstletteroffirstname@amtrak.com.

So, just by way of example, president and CEO Alexander Kummant would be kummanta@amtrak.com.

The only phone number we could find was 202-906-3000. You can reach the employee directory by saying "employee," try to pronounce "Alexander Kummant" correctly (or any of the other officers listed here), and then use the tips in How To Interact With Executive Customer Service to escalate your claim.

Empire Commuter: Don't Bother Calling Your Office, Mr. Fort

This morning I was chatting with an Amtrak conductor as the train was stuck in the tunnel right outside the platform in Penn Station. He described a disturbing premonition he had.

"On Saturday I was walking down Sixth Avenue past 47th Street when I saw a man wearing black boots, a black hood and a black cape chasing a taxi. If the Batmobile has been repossessed then we're all in serious trouble."

On Saturday the Albany Times Union reported that protective netting would be installed on the underside of a Broadway bridge to guard against the possibility of concrete falling on Amtrak trains and employees.

But this is not the sort of thing Charles Fort, who devoted his life to investigating strange phenomena in the skies, would have been interested in.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Peter Van Keuren said Friday that those chunks were likely knocked loose intentionally by inspectors who examined the bridge on Wednesday and issued a safety flag to notify the city, which owns the bridge.

"It's structurally sound," Albany Public Works Commissioner Tom Capuano said of the bridge. "This [netting] should take care of it."

If it doesn't, maybe Batman can hold his cape under it.

Empire Commuter: U.K. railroad replaces service with style

The U.K. Times Online reports that a passenger rail service with one of the worst records for on-time performance has decided that style is more important than punctuality. First Great Western, which operates services from Paddington to South Wales and the West Country, has engaged Sally Crabtree, a Cornish poet, to perform at selected stations.

Crabtree, known in artistic circles as "the pink-wigged pocket Venus from Cornwall",  travels with a copper tree hung with a variety of objects. Customers are invited to pick one, and she will read or compose a poem appropriate to what they have chosen.

She will take up her stance outside rush hours, so that poetry readings do not further interfere with an already vexed travelling environment.

Sounds like a good idea -- I'm not sure how I'd react to a "pink-wigged Venus" when vexed by a late train.

Empire Commuter: Another Pork Rind Party and Business as Usual

Bigwigs in New York State government have been using the prospect of a high speed rail service to justify big contacts to politically connected engineering consultants for over twenty years.

Last January Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno joined the pork rind party with an announcement of a "New York High Speed Rail Task Force Action Program", which would immediately receive $22 million in state funds. New York pols were no doubt drooling over his prediction that $10 billion would go into the project by 2025.

One of the first steps in the "Action Program" was to be a commuter rail demonstration between Albany and Saratoga Springs.

Unfortunately the demonstration could not take place because the single-car diesel unit that was to be used was too tall to go under one of the bridges on the route. Possession of a yardstick or any other instrument for measuring distance does not appear to be a requirement for politically connected engineering consultants hard at work on the "Action Program".

John Egan, who has spent many years in senior state government positions and has overseen many New York Capital Region construction projects, originally headed the "Action Program" but has since gone on to greener pastures as the head of the state Office of General Services.

It appears that few legislators in Albany have any real understanding or concern about what's needed for a modern intercity rail system. If you've ever driven around the streets of Albany (or over the Dunn Memorial Bridge which suffered a partial collapse a while back after passing inspection) it's pretty clear that there's not much understanding or concern about any aspect of the transportation infrastructure.

In other news, the sun rose again yesterday, but Hell has not yet frozen over.

Much info for this post came from a recent article in the Schenectady Gazette.

Empire Commuter: Money is not the problem or a solution

Amtrak is hustling for their annual appropriation of taxpayer dollars and the prospects are looking good. A U.S. Senate panel yesterday voted to allocate $1.47 billion to Amtrak in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. That's $176 million more than the agency received in the previous budget, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.

Bill Richardson at the United Rail Passenger Alliance has a few things to say about Amtrak's claim that service is lousy because they're broke:

That is only a myth that has been perpetuated by Amtrak management and the National Association of Railroad Passengers and other organizations of that ilk which believe in the illogical concept that government is good, and private industry is bad.

As we have discussed before, Amtrak onboard employees and station employees, as well as those in back office functions like reservations and accounting are de-motivated and self-demonized by their employment and work atmosphere. Too many unresolved union contracts for too long, too much negative discipline instead of positive discipline, and the allowance of too many people to stay in jobs for too long they are not suited for have made a complete mess of Amtrak passenger service.

Empire Commuter: It can always be worse

Reuters reports that France's renowned rail system is having a problem with bed bugs:

France's national rail company said on Friday it had taken several sleeper carriages out of service to deal with an infestation of bed bugs.

"Some passengers told us they were bitten," an SNCF official said, adding the parasites had been found on a night train going from the Mediterranean city of Nice to eastern Metz last week.

"We took the affected carriages out to treat them."

To prevent capacity problems, SNCF was not taking any new reservations for night trains from Nice to Paris this week. The affected carriages had already been disinfected and services would be back to normal next week, the official said.

Bed bugs were a rare occurrence, she added.

"It's the kind of little animal that unfortunately you'll only notice when they bite. There's no other way to detect them. They are so small."

Of course the Amtrak solution would be the give the passengers enough free booze so they wouldn't notice.

By the way, has anyone else noticed the maniacal little mouse in the Acela Lounge?

Empire Commuter: Everybody gets something but us

Passengers on Amtrak's high-end overnight trips will get a $100 credit towards purchases at the bar while the union representing many of Amtrak's engineers may get their first contract in almost eight years.

And the Albany Times-Union breathlessly reports that "state agricultural officials ... gathered at the Rensselaer Rail Station to celebrate a new initiative promoting 'agritourism' to Amtrak passengers .... A 16-page Pride of New York supplement included in Amtrak's annual New York By Rail magazine was funded by a $50,000 state grant .... [which] comes from a pot of $1 million for agritourism promotion included for the first time in the 2006-07 state budget. The money helps Amtrak encourage more leisure travel within New York, said railroad spokesman Clifford Cole."

What about people who want to have a drink and then go home at a reasonable hour?

Empire Commuter: Let's hope this isn't our future

For about twenty years there have been studies and plans for a "high-speed" train for the Empire Line. So far they have come to little more than a way to fund politically connected engineering consultants. But as the saying goes, "be careful of what you wish for." An article from the UK Globe and Mail describes a high-speed rail system in China that wasn't quite what it seemed:

Fake building material imperils new Chinese railway

July 7, 2007 at 1:25 AM EDT

BEIJING: Fake construction material is jeopardizing the safety of China's newest high-speed railway, a Chinese newspaper says.

An investigation by the newspaper found that large quantities of bogus material had been used in several hundred kilometres of a $12-billion (U.S.) high-speed railway between the cities of Wuhan and Guangzhou.

The newspaper, China Economic Times, said the scam by unscrupulous suppliers could lead to cracking in the railway's concrete supports, creating a "great danger" to the railway.

The newspaper report, published this week, has triggered an investigation by the Chinese Railways Ministry.

The report is the latest revelation in the widening scandal over shoddy and hazardous goods in China. The issue has emerged as a global concern, with many countries, including Canada, increasingly worried by the dangers of food and other products from China.

Empire Commuter: Just when it seemed safe to get back on the train

As I was getting off the 7:10 train in Albany last night I was talking to another regular commuter about how the delays of the last week seemed to be over. Little did I know that my train was the first one that was on-time that evening. The Kingston Freeman reports:

Train kills 44-year-old man on tracks in Staatsburg

STAATSBURG  An Amtrak passenger train struck and killed a 44-year-old man on the tracks in Staatsburg on Tuesday, police said.

The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said the man walked onto the tracks at 4:25 p.m -- about a quarter-mile north of Lee Street in Staatsburg -- stopped and was struck by a northbound train carrying roughly 140 passengers.

The victim's name was not released. Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole, in New York City, referred to the man as a "trespasser" on the tracks, according to The Associated Press.

The train, comprising an engine and four cars, was northbound from New York City to Albany, police said.

No one on the train was injured, but the tracks had to be shut down for about 2-1/2 hours while the incident was investigated, and several trains were delayed as a result. The tracks reopened about 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Police did not know why the man walked onto the tracks and said their investigation was continuing.

Staatsburg is a hamlet in the Dutchess County town of Hyde Park, near the Rhinebeck line.

Inadequate fencing around tracks has been the cause of many Amtrak fatalities.

Empire Commuter: Delay due to lax inspection?

Yesterday I was an hour and five minutes late getting home to Albany on train 241 which is supposed to leave Penn Station at 7:10 pm. The first thing that I noticed when I got on the train was that it was filthy -- old newspapers, soda bottles and stale popcorn on the seats, the seat checks from the previous trip still over the seats. Fifteen minutes after the scheduled departure time the conductor announced that minor engine problems were being fixed and that we we'd be on our way in a few more minutes.

After waiting forty minutes in the train at the platform the conductor asked us to board another train across the platform and then we finally departed.

Obviously the train I originally boarded had not been cleaned or inspected. What if the brakes or signals had failed instead, a few minutes after departing? What regulations are there regarding this? Drop me a line if you know.

Empire Commuter: Is there a mechanic in the hoouse?

Last night my train was an hour and forty minutes late due to mechanic problems. Not mechanical -- the problem was that the one mechanic on duty was working on another train and couldn't get to mine for a half hour after the engineer discovered the engine wouldn't start. You'd think there would be more than one mechanic on duty during rush hour at Penn Station but failing that they could just ask "is there a mechanic in the house?" over the P.A. system. It would a welcome respite from those idiotic "if you see something, say something" announcements.

I called Amtrak, asked for Customer Relations, described the incident and they graciously agreed to send to send me a $22.00 voucher which can be applied to my monthly pass. It's not much but those vouchers can add up when Amtrak has one of their periodic bouts of breakdowns and delays. Besides Amtrak is a political bureaucracy rather than a business so it hurts most when someone complains and forces them to do extra paperwork.

Call early and often!

Empire Commuter: Ride that dinosaur!

Associated Press reports that "Amtrak president says old equipment could slow expansion plans:"

WASHINGTON - Amtrak is still using some equipment that dates back half a century, and obstacles to getting new equipment could stand in the way of the railroad's expansion plans, the company's president told Congress on Tuesday.

Alex Kummant said one major difficulty is the lack of existing U.S. manufacturers of rail cars.

"While we have enough equipment to serve today's needs, we lack the equipment it takes to foster corridor development," Kummant said in remarks prepared for the railroads subcommittee of the House transportation and infrastructure committee.
"It will be a challenge to obtain the necessary equipment to fully exploit our intercity corridor development opportunities, as well as to modernize and replace much of the existing fleet, some of which dates to the early 1950s," Kummant said.

---

The word from Amtrak staff on the Empire Line is that some crucial switching and signaling equipment is so old that no one is alive who knows how to repair it or fabricate replacements. How soon before something breaks down that can't be replaced?

Empire Commuter: Amtrak loses free speech suit

Amtrak's thin-skinned attitude leads to this type of sordid and slightly ridiculous scenario in which a Green Party activist is roughed up and arrested for the crime of being an embarrassment at a publicity event:

DEBBY HANRAHAN WINS SETTLEMENT IN FIRST AMENDMENT-FALSE ARREST LAWSUIT AGAINST AMTRAK

"I was attending a public rally in about as public a place as you can imagine, to which members of the public were invited through radio and newspaper announcements, and which featured on the stage Mayor Williams and several members of the D.C. Council and Sports and Entertainment Commission. My 'crime' was being out of sync with the message of the rally, and for that I was given no warning and was grabbed in a painful shoulder hold by an Amtrak policeman, pulled out of the rally, arrested, charged with trespassing, incarcerated for 28 hours, and required to give a urine sample in the presence of both male and female court and U.S. Marshal personnel. "

Green Party press release with full details:
http://www.gp.org/press/states/dc/dc_2007_06_05.shtml

Empire Commuter: Delays? You get to be pampered for that much longer!

This article from the SF Chronicle on a new "luxury" service is typical of the Amtrak philosophy:

Amtrak passengers this fall will be able to ride in high style aboard vintage Pullman cars, evoking the luxurious rail journeys of the past.

Under a new partnership with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, formerly known as the American Orient Express, the lavishly equipped cars will be attached to the back of some regular Amtrak trains

Luxury sleeping compartments, a lounge with a live pianist and a dining car offering five-course meals are among the amenities.

During a test period from this October to January 2008, the Pullmans will be attached to the California Zephyr between San Francisco and Chicago; the Silver Meteor, which travels from Washington to Miami; and the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago

The luxury cars will be attached to the back of each Amtrak train, which will continue to make regular stops. While conductors will walk between the two segments of the train, passengers will not.

These Amtrak routes are notorious for long delays, but Christina Messa, vice president of marketing for GrandLuxe, said she is not worried about complaints. "If there's a delay, that just means you get to be pampered for that much longer."

How not to complain about delays

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) - Police closed down a section of Interstate-890 in Schenectady last night after a man at an Amtrak station claimed to have a bomb.

The man also stopped Amtrak train traffic in Schenectady Saturday evening around 8 PM.

Police says the suspect, reported to be an 84-year-old man from Philadelphia, was upset about the train being late and said he had a bomb.

The device actually turned out to be a transistor radio with other wires and not a bomb.

The highway was closed temporarily and bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to inspect the train.

The man's name was not immediately available.

Back in the Saddle Again

After a long hiatus I'm going to start posting on the blog again -- I had been emailing to a small list of people, mostly fellow commuters, but I think it makes more sense to reach out to everyone who has a stake in intercity rail service.

There are two other good blogs covering Amtrak antics now, Joseph Vranich's Replacing Amtrak and Amtrak Tracking for My Commute Between New York City and Philadelphia


The latest info on Amtrak ridership, on-time performance, etc. is now available in the
Transportation Statistics Annual Report December 2006


While I think that the Empire State Passengers Association is more part of the problem than the solution, but they have revamped their website and it contains some useful info and links.


Please email me with comments, salacious rumors, sordid speculation or anything else of interest.

Joe Bruno Touts New High-speed Rail

The Albany Times Union reports the latest plans for improved NYC to Albany rail service, inevitably climaxing with yet another plan for a bullet train:

"You didn't get here by train," Bruno wise-cracked to a crowd gathered at the Rensselaer Rail Station. "If you had taken the train, we would be guessing what time you'd get here."

* * *
"We in New York state were literally left at the station when it comes to moving people by rail," Bruno said. "We have got to come into the 21st century here."

Bruno repeatedly dismissed suggestions that this plan will go the way of some 22 previous studies on New York passenger rail now gathering dust.

Wagers, anyone?

Government Accountability Office (GAO) slams Amtrak

The claim that Amtrak's problems are due to underfunding is blown out of the water by this report which reveals no-bid contracts, missing records and huge bonuses to high-level management.

Highlights

Full report

NY Times: Amtrak Breakup Advances

What do you think this really means? Will it really happen? When? How do you think the (ever-changing and mysterious) announcements of fare increases play into this? -- David

Full article

October 13, 2005

Amtrak Breakup Advances

By MATTHEW L. WALD

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - The Amtrak board has approved an essential step in the Bush administration plan to break up the railroad, voting to carve out the Northeast Corridor, the tracks between Boston and Washington, as a separate division.

The board, made up entirely of Mr. Bush's appointees, voted in a meeting on Sept. 22 to create a new subsidiary to own and manage the corridor, which includes nearly all the track that Amtrak owns.

The vote was not announced. It was reported on Wednesday in the newsletter of the United Rail Passenger Alliance of Jacksonville, Fla., an organization that has been highly critical of Amtrak management.

The plan, which would require action by Congress, is to transfer the corridor to a consortium including the federal government and the governments of the states in the region that would share the costs to maintain it.

That would relieve Amtrak from spending billions of dollars to build and rebuild bridges, rails and electrical systems, but still let the company run its trains.

The plan would also remove Amtrak from control of that sector, a condition that the railroad's senior executives say would doom high-speed long-distance service. Managers say they have to be able to give their trains priority over local traffic if they have any hope of keeping their schedules.

A large majority of trains in the corridor are shorter-distance commuter trains operated by state agencies in metropolitan regions, although Amtrak trains accrue a majority of the miles traveled.

The four-member board has shown ambivalence to some aspects of the administration's proposal.

On April 21, the chairman, David M. Laney, testified before a Senate committee, "We have concluded for now that the complexities and risks associated with such a split outweigh any benefits."

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Mr. Laney denied that the vote to make the corridor a separate operating division was a precursor to separating it from Amtrak entirely.