Revolting Against Amtrak

Two months ago, Stacey Mortenson of the San Joaquin JPA spilled the beans to Congress on how Amtrak overcharges state-supported routes--namely, her San Joaquin service. I'm pretty sure that Herzog would do a much better job operating the San Joaquins than Amtrak. Also, the SJ JPA plans on rerouting the trains to serve multiple parts of Sacramento. I really hope that Mortenson can pull off the transfer and even if this just a negotiating ploy, it would further show Amtrak's Northeastern-centric managment and board that California's JPAs are not fooling around--after all, the state's three JPAs were the only agencies that refused to go along with Amtrak Corporate's boneheaded moves to eliminate discounts in 2018.

Last month, a rail advocate told a Pennsylvania House committee that the commonwealth could do a better and cheaper job operating intercity rail than Amtrak. Whatever happens in Harrisburg, it's mandatory that there is at the very least a restoration of a second frequency between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

Despite Richard Anderson's bluster, this is the clearest sign that Amtrak's "valued state partners" are getting fed up with an agency that only cares about the Northeast Corridor and is only interested in shaking down the states for money while refusing to expand or provide new equipment.

That said, the states should have rebelled against Amtrak during the Section 209 fight seven years ago. California needed to be the guinea pig for private operators getting into corridor service, not Indiana. A state with three distinct corridors would have made it much more appealing to other state DOTs to ditch Amtrak instead of the only state to have a less than daily corridor service.

The dustup with the San Joaquins and Pennsylvania may very well prove what Amtrak critic M.E. Singer has said about PRIIA: That the 2008 law is the problem an may need to be repealed or reformed.

Outside of the box thinking is needed now more than ever because a continued reliance on Amtrak instead of turning to AIPRO members or Virgin Trains will squash any hopes of a passenger rail renaissance. States with limited or no corridor service need to pay attention to what's happening on both coasts so they can know what to avoid if they want to expand their routes.