New Amtrak CEO

Richard Anderson is on his way out and his replacement has been named. The only appropriate response to William Flynn succeeding the guy derisively referred to by railfans as "Delta Dick" and "Propellerhead" is A BIG YAWN. 

Charles Sanders was spot on when he hinted that Anderson's personality was his likely demise.

It will be up to Congress to enforce guidelines that force Amtrak to compete with others for intercity routes because its current regime only cares about shaking down states for money while wasting money on vanity projects like new Acela cars.

As the Metrolink Turns

Amtrak recently told its people in the Los Angeles area that it would be losing the Metrolink contract for the second time. This would mean that the national operator's slump against private entities will stretch into a third decade with only a couple of victories--and even those have qualifiers. 

First, when Amtrak won back the Metrolink contract in the summer of '09, it was no-bid (i.e. the commuter agency only talked to the national operator after the wake of the Chatsworth disaster). Second, when MARC put its Penn Line up for bid, the outcome was never in doubt since that route was on the southernmost end of the NEC.

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.

A wasted decade

Around this time a decade ago, the passenger rail community was gearing up for President Obama's announcement of high speed rail funding and it looked like a renaissance was upon us. Rather than the sky being the limit, here's what actually happened:

• The infamous Tea Party backlash that resulted in Wisconsin (Hiawatha extension to Madison), Ohio (3C Route) and Florida (Express HSR Tampa-Orlando-Miami route) returning their stimulus money to the feds
• A trade group composed of Amtrak's commuter competitors being formed but ignored by the press and blacked out among most rail activists
• A failed attempt by Senators Dick Durbin and Harry Reid to drive private operators out of the commuter business
• A successful power play by Joe Boardman, the NEC congressional slate and NARP that kept the Northeast Corridor from being rehabbed based on a clever yet deceitful PR campaign
• The Hoosier State being eliminated
• The loss of the Silver Star diner
• No advocacy for the long distance routes from the people who matter the most
• Congress passing another rail reform bill but failing to enforce competition provisions
• Amtrak stripping ticketing and checked baggage from numerous stations throughout the country
• An ex-airline executive currently runs Amtrak and has alienated almost everyone with his moves

The status quo has prevailed and there has been little progress in the 10 years since. The vast majority of rail advocates have exposed themselves as little more than a bunch of Amtrak shills. As far as NARP, its name change is pretty much an indication that it is taking a step backward.

Colorado news

State House Speaker opposes Front Range Rail

If Becker is betting the future of transportation on autonomous vehicles, she is deluding herself. Furthermore, if anyone in the Colorado legislature is looking to Anderson et al to come to the rescue, then, they need to look at how the Boardman Administration dragged out the Southwest Chief issue.

Inside the box thinking is going to render intercity rail in Colorado stillborn.

A private operator wants to complete RTD's B Line

Given the route's issues, it wouldn't hurt at all to let Rocky Mountain Rail try it out.

All you need to know about Amtrak's limited vision

The end of the Hoosier State

Amidst much scrutiny, the final Hoosier State left Chicago on June 30. In late April, the Indiana General Assembly slashed $3 million a year (total $6 million until 2021) set aside for Trains #850 and #851 following Governor Eric Holcomb's own exclusion of the train route in his budget.

Thus ends a six-year debacle that started when Indiana balked at PRIIA Section 209 requirements. I will analyze the big players' roles starting with...

...Amtrak

• Management reportedly told ex-CEO Joseph Boardman to not pursue CSX on making the Cardinal daily
• Responsible for Section 209 in the first place
• Delayed handing the Hoosier State over to Corridor Capital
• Offered free amenities when Corridor Capital was yanked and then rescinded them after five months
• Briefly provided Business Class after IPH pulled out

Indiana

• Was the only state to hold out of Section 209 payments
• Conducted a bidding process for the Hoosier State
• Passed on Herzog, who wanted to operate the train in favor of contracting out the route while keeping Amtrak crews
• Almost sabotaged the route before partial private service even began
• Made no effort to upgrade the route to daily
• State officials at best merely tolerated the route while it was the cities who exhibited far more interest in it
• Imposed onerous requirements that made it impossible for IPH to operate the Hoosier State at a profit

Corridor Capital

• Had the cars to operate the route
• Maybe not much the expertise
• Had to deal with a saboteur

Iowa Pacific

• Had the equipment and made good use of it on the Hoosier State
• Also made the best of its limited situation
• Ran out of money in 2017

D.C.

• The FRA attempted to classify states as rail carriers in early 2015
• Congress had the power to enforce PRIIA and FAST Act provisions encouraging private sector competition but did nothing

Railfans

• Most of them hated the idea of anyone other than Amtrak even touching this route from the beginning
• Rejoiced when Corridor Capital was booted and when IPH handed the Hoosier State back to Amtrak

The final verdicts
Thumbs down to Amtrak: If it wanted to, it could have made either the Cardinal or the Hoosier State daily. That it made such a fuss about keeping the train when others made bids on it says a lot about management and its culture. Yet another part of the country has been ceded to a startup bus company.

Thumbs down to the state of Indiana: Misstep after misstep led to the route's demise and state officials botching things. It is worth noting that all alternatives to Chicago-Indianapolis are either circuitous or they no longer exist.

Thumbs in the middle to Corridor Capital: It never got to prove itself. Hopefully that changes with the planned Eau Claire-Twin Cities route.

Thumbs up to Iowa Pacific: It was able make the best out of a bad situation. Unlike middle mangers in D.C. and Chicago, you can't deny the passion that Ed Ellis had for providing more than decent services on the Hoosier State.

Thumbs down to D.C. politicians: First, the executive branch under Obama cooked up a harebrained idea of making states rail carriers. If the intention was to prevent the states from selecting AIPRO members or any other non-Amtrak operator, then, mission accomplished. The attempted power play just set passenger rail back another 5-10 years when we couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Next, the legislative branch. Congress has no excuses because it has heard from enough experts so it needed to make sure that anyone bidding on existing Amtrak routes had a fair shake. Instead, state departments are more scared and even more risk averse all because our so-called leaders were willing to sit on their hands while a previously tolerated status quo could now lead to intercity rail crumbling from within.

Thumbs down to railfans: Their attitude over the nation's only non-daily corridor service vindicates everything I said  5 1/2 years ago.