This Week at Amtrak; March 3, 2008

A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
Telephone 904-636-7739, Electronic Mail info@unitedrail.org
http://www.unitedrail.org


Volume 5, Number 9



Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute that focuses on solutions and plans for passenger rail systems in North America. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA has professional associates in Minnesota, California, Arizona, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Texas, and New York. For more detailed information, along with a variety of position papers and other documents, visit the URPA web site at http://www.unitedrail.org.


URPA is not a membership organization, and does not accept funding from any outside sources.


1) Amtrak’s well respected Inspector General, Fred Weiderhold, Jr., needs to act swiftly and decisively. A mess has been dropped in Mr. Weiderhold’s lap that isn’t pretty, and it may involve fraud and other criminal acts. Mr. Weiderhold is the only one who can get to the bottom of this and clean up what has become an unholy confusion where reputations are on the line.

We implore Mr. Weiderhold to act impartially and decisively at the earliest possible moment.

All of this relates to the January annulments of Amtrak’s Coast Starlight due to snow and mudslides in Oregon along the Union Pacific Railroad owned route of the Starlight.

Paul Dyson, President of the Rail Passenger Association of California, wrote two letters to Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant about the situation, seeking Mr. Kummant’s assistance in restoring as much of the Coast Starlight route as soon as possible.

Mr. Kummant replied to Mr. Dyson’s letters, and a reply was also received by RailPAC from who appears to be J.W. Deely, Amtrak’s General Superintendent in Oakland, California. Amtrak says the letter allegedly from Mr. Deely is a fake.

Mr. Dyson has made all of his correspondence to an from Mr. Kummant public information, and has posted everything on RailPAC’s public web site, www.railpac.org.

Included in the correspondence posted was this letter which appeared to be from Mr. Deely, which arrived in Mr. Dyson’s hands on Amtrak letterhead with an Oakland return address, and with a pen ink on paper signature.

Here is the letter from Mr. Deely to Mr. Dyson which Amtrak says is a fake.

[Begin quote]

January 24, 2008

Mr. Paul J. Dyson
President
Rail Passenger Association of California
1017 L Street – PMB 217
Sacramento, California 95814

Mr. Dyson:

This letter is in response to your e-mail message to Amtrak President Alex Kummant dated January 22, 2008 wherein you expressed your concern over Amtrak’s decision to annul Coast Starlight service between Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California indefinitely pending cleanup of a mudslide which severed the Union Pacific mainline near Frazier, Oregon.

The decision to completely suspend all service was not an “opportunist decision to save a few operating dollars” or a “seemingly reflexive jump to no alternative service” as stated by Mr. Ross Capon [Executive Director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers in Washington] in his e-mail message of January 22. Rather, it was a sound business decision based on several factors ranging from economics and service impacts to passenger inconvenience and political fallout. However, in considering all factors, it is still in the best interests of the corporation to move forward with our original plans to suspend service over the entire route. Furthermore, given the recent award handed down from the President’s Emergency Board-242 which allows for retroactive pay to agreement covered employees, Amtrak must consider all possible avenues with regard to cost savings. Additional service cuts are also presently being considered to accommodate the award on a system-wide basis.

With regard to your recommendation for maintaining a truncated service featuring midweek packages catering to overseas tourists, the logistics and complexities involved far outweigh any potential revenue or repeat ridership which may result. I have enclosed a copy of the e-mail correspondence between my office and Messrs. Kummant, Crosbie and Phelps regarding the Coast Starlight service disruptions for your review. Hopefully this information will provide additional insight to this important matter.

Sincerely,
/s/
J.W. Deely
General Superintendent

cc. R.H. Phelps

[End quote]

The Mr. Crosbie referred to is William Crosbie, Amtrak’s chief operating officer, and R.H. Phelps works directly for Mr. Crosbie in operations, and is considered by many to be one of Amtrak’s most able and honorable executives. Mr. Crosbie reports directly to Mr. Kummant, and Mr. Phelps reports directly to Mr. Crosbie.

The e-mails enclosed with the letter in question from who Amtrak claims is not Mr. Deely seem to be genuine, with return Amtrak e-mail addresses. They are routine internal communications, more or less confirming in writing whatever oral conversations had taken place.

2) As readers of TWA know, despite what was or wasn’t said by Mr. Deely and what was originally said in writing by Mr. Kummant, partial daily service was quickly restored between Sacramento and Los Angeles. The service offers no sleeping or dining cars, but does maintain the Starlight’s schedule for coach passengers. By the end of February, Amtrak had also announced the commencement of an overnight bus bridge between Sacramento and Portland, Oregon, which passengers could continue up the Starlight route to Seattle using daily Cascades regional service in place of the annulled Starlight service north of Sacramento.

Union Pacific Railroad, known for its corporate grit and determination to fix trestles which have been destroyed and track that has been covered by mudslides, continues to work diligently to get its railroad line reopened in Oregon, so its freight trains and the Coast Starlight may again traverse the Left Coast from Seattle to Los Angeles unimpeded. At this point, April is the earliest anyone is predicting for the line reopening.

3) On February 20, 2008, the following letter from Amtrak was received by RailPAC’s webmaster regarding the letter on the RailPAC web site supposedly written by Mr. Deely, reproduced above.

[Begin quote]

Bill Lindley
Webmaster
Rail Passenger Association of California & Nevada (RailPAC)
1017 L Street – PMB-217
Sacramento, CA 95814
railpac@wlindley.com

Mr. Lindley:

I am writing to you regarding posting of a letter on your website, http://www.railpac.org, allegedly authored by Joe Deely on Amtrak stationery. Please be informed that the letter is a fake and not created by Amtrak. Accordingly, please immediately remove it from your website and provide a retraction. As you are aware, the letter holds Amtrak in unfavorable light and is defamatory. We anticipate your prompt compliance with our request so that legal action may be averted. Thank you.

Sincerely,
/s/
William Herrmann
Managing Deputy General Counsel
Litigation
Amtrak

[End quote]

As requested by Amtrak, the alleged letter from Mr. Deely was immediately removed from the RailPAC web site, and a retraction was posted.

4) Note the phrase used by Mr. Herrmann, “As you are aware, the letter holds Amtrak in unfavorable light and is defamatory.”

What unfavorable light is Mr. Herrmann referring to? What is defamatory? Is Mr. Herrmann just throwing around legal jargon to intimidate the officers of RailPAC?

Could Mr. Herrmann be referring to the part of the letter where supposedly Mr. Deely says, “it was a sound business decision based on several factors ranging from economics and service impacts to passenger inconvenience and political fallout. However, in considering all factors, it is still in the best interests of the corporation to move forward with our original plans to suspend service over the entire route. Furthermore, given the recent award handed down from the President’s Emergency Board-242 which allows for retroactive payt to agreement covered employees, Amtrak must consider all possible avenues with regard to cost savings. Additional service cuts are also presently being considered to accommodate the award on a system-wide basis.

With regard to your recommendation for maintaining a truncated service featuring midweek packages catering to overseas tourists, the logistics and complexities involved far outweigh any potential revenue or repeat ridership which may result.”?

5) Inquiring minds want to know, if this letter is found to not be a fake and actually did originate from Mr. Deely, why was this gentleman writing a letter in answer to Mr. Dyson that had already been eloquently answered by his boss, Amtrak President Alex Kummant? Why would internal company e-mails between high-ranking company officers be included?

Why was a reference made to “political fallout”?

Especially, why, was the reference “recent award handed down from the President’s Emergency Board-242 which allows for retroactive pay to agreement covered employees, Amtrak must consider all possible avenues with regard to cost savings. Additional service cuts are also presently being considered to accommodate the award on a system-wide basis.” ever made, and is this a harbinger of highly unpleasant things to come throughout the Amtrak system? Was no one supposed to know Amtrak may or may not be planning service cuts in retaliation to its employees wanting a union contact settled that had been in suspense for eight years? Did this phrase somehow undercut what Amtrak has been telling Congress in Washington what it needs to pay for the new union contract?

Did Mr. Deely act impulsively and out of school, and then try to cover up his impulsiveness by saying he did not write this letter? Is there a special relationship of the “good old boy network” going on between Mr. Deely and Mr. Herrmann, and one is acting to protect the other? Has Mr. Herrmann been duped into acting by someone before he made a sound legal decision based on facts rather than a breathless request for help from Oakland?

There are so many unanswered questions to this whole mess, and only someone well respected like Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold can get to the bottom of this situation.

6) Of course, RailPAC has felt its credibility has been injured in this whole affair, and has also made a formal request to Mr. Weiderhold. Here is Mr. Dyson’s letter to Mr. Weiderhold on behalf of RailPAC.

[Begin quote]

Rail Passenger Association of California

28 February, 2008

Mr. Fred Weiderhold, Jr
Inspector General
NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION
P.O. Box 76654
Washington, DC 20013 6654

Via FAX to 215 XXX-XXXX


CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN RAILPAC AND AMTRAK RE-COAST STARLIGHT SUSPENSION - CLAIM THAT LETTER FROM J. DEELY IS FAKE - REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION

Dear Mr. Weiderhold:

Our organization, Rail Passenger Association of California (RailPAC) is a non-profit advocacy group staffed entirely by volunteers. We have recently been in correspondence with Amtrak President Mr. Kummant over the suspension of “Coast Starlight” service. Here’s a chronology of events to the best of my knowledge. Please note that RailPAC has a P.O. Box in Sacramento, I am domiciled in Burbank, and so letters to me may be delayed depending on when one of our members can pick them up and forward them to me.


1/22/08: I faxed my first letter to Mr. Kummant urging reinstatement of the Coast Starlight with a bus bridge.

1/24/08: A letter was sent to me from Amtrak’s Oakland office over the signature of J. Deely expressing why Amtrak had suspended the service. The letter included attachments which are reprints of internal e-mail documents including my letter to Mr. Kummant.

1/28/08 A letter was sent from Washington signed by Alex Kummant explaining the Coast Starlight decision.

2/11/08:I wrote a second letter to Mr. Kummant objecting to the Amtrak decision, and also referencing Mr. Deely’s letter.

2/15/08:A reply was sent from Mr. Kummant.

2/15/08:Correspondence was posted on RailPAC website for our members and supporters.

2/20/08 An e-mail was sent from Mr. William Herrmann, Deputy General Counsel, alleging that the Deely letter was a fake and requesting us, under threat of legal action, to remove it from our web site. The letter was so removed immediately.

We at RailPAC feel that we have been the victim of a fraud. Based on the representations of Amtrak’s Mr. Herrmann the fraud was perpetrated by a person or persons unknown. The letter we received over Mr. Deely’s signature is on Amtrak stationary with the correct Oakland address. It was written so quickly after my first letter was sent to Mr. Kummant and before I published the contents and before it was posted on our website that it must have come from inside Amtrak. No one has denied that the attached e-mails are genuine. By being forced to withdraw this letter and publish a retraction we have had our credibility questioned.

Mr. Weiderhold, in the interest of preventing a recurrence of this most regrettable incident I request that you carry out a full investigation to discover beyond doubt whether the “Deely” letter is indeed a fake, and if not, then who is responsible for sending it and the accompanying Amtrak e-mails. If you need any more information or assistance with this enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Yours faithfully,
/s/
Paul J. Dyson
President
Rail Passenger Association of California

Cc RailPAC Board
Richard Silver, RailPAC Executive Director

[End quote]

7) Mr. Weiderhold, it’s up to you and your staff. If one of your general superintendents wrote a letter out of school and later regretted it, then the honorable thing to do would have been to appeal to RailPAC to remove the letter and apologize for speaking in an unauthorized manner. If this is merely someone trying to save their corporate skin at the expense of others inside of Amtrak, then this is a highly shameful affair which must be exposed and dealt with appropriately by Amtrak. If this is a conspiracy by more than one person to force a private group of citizens to do something which puts them in an adverse light to try and cover up something done by an Amtrak manager, then we’re on the road to Amtrak’s own Watergate. If this is the result of someone writing a letter using Amtrak stationery and forging the signature of an Amtrak manager, then this is now a case for the United States Postal Service criminal inspectors and the criminal courts for appropriate prosecution and punishment.

No matter how this sad episode end, the truth must be made public and RailPAC must have its reputation restored.



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J. Bruce Richardson
President
United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
1526 University Boulevard, West, PMB 203
Jacksonville, Florida 32217-2006 USA
Telephone 904-636-7739
brucerichardson@unitedrail.org
http://www.unitedrail.org