This Week at Amtrak; October 30, 2009
A weekly digest of events, opinions, and forecasts from
United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc.
America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute
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 6, Number 45
Founded over three decades ago in 1976, URPA is a nationally known policy institute which 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, New York, and other cities. 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) Here is the latest press release from Crown corporation VIA Rail Canada, Amtrak’s cold weather cousin in the Great Northland. Read, absorb, and learn.
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VIA Rail Canada to boost famed transcontinental train's accessibility and appeal
MONTREAL, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ - VIA Rail Canada today announced a $19.5 million program for the reconfiguration of 12 of the stylish stainless steel passenger cars used on its western transcontinental train, the Canadian, to increase its accessibility and market appeal. The work is being funded from the $407 million allocated for passenger rail improvements under the Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan.
"It gives me great pleasure to announce the complete redesign and rebuilding of these cars," said VIA President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Cote. The contract for the rebuilding of VIA's eight Chateau sleeping cars and four Park sleeper-dome-lounge cars has been awarded to Avalon Rail, Inc., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Avalon Rail specializes in remanufacturing passenger rolling stock of all types. The company will use various Canadian engineering, design and supply firms for a portion of the project. The cars will be delivered in 2011.
Mr. Cote added, "Avalon Rail was selected for this demanding work through a competitive bidding process based on numerous factors. These included price, craftsmanship, a detailed knowledge of the equipment to be rebuilt and on-time completion of previous projects."
"We are honoured to undertake this work for VIA," said June Garland, president of Avalon Rail. "The Canadian is a living legend, offering thousands of travellers from around the world the ultimate in safe, stylish and sustainable rail travel every year for more than a half-century. I can think of no better showcase for the skills of Avalon's dedicated craftspeople."
The work involved in the modernization and major upgrading of this classic rolling stock is extensive. The eight Chateau sleeping cars will be reconfigured with an all-new arrangement of six upscale cabins designed to accommodate up to three passengers each.
Each sleeping cabin will be completely self-contained and will include an en-suite washroom plus a separate shower. The new cabins will also feature wood paneling, sofa seating, a widescreen television and controls to enable passengers to raise or lower the beds whenever they desire. This elegant new design has been selected to enable VIA's Canadian to attract the growing clientele for more upscale travel experiences.
This program will also substantially increase the train's accessibility for travellers with special needs. The four existing Park car bedrooms will be replaced by two large upscale cabins. One will be identical to those in the rebuilt Chateau sleeping cars. The other will be an extra-large, fully-accessible cabin. It will provide separate, fully-accessible washroom and shower facilities. Each Park car will also feature an onboard wheelchair lift.
About Avalon Rail, Inc.
Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Avalon Rail is renowned for the excellence of its highly-specialized remanufacturing of vintage and contemporary passenger rail rolling stock. The firm's skilled craftspeople have extensive experience in renewing the sturdy and durable equipment produced from the 1930s to the 1980s by the Budd Company, the originator of stainless steel passenger rail cars.
About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail Canada's mandate is to provide efficient, environmentally sustainable and cost-effective passenger transportation, both in Canada's business corridor and in remote and rural regions of the country. Every week, VIA operates 503 intercity, transcontinental and regional trains linking 450 communities across its 12,500-kilometre route network. The demand for VIA services is growing as travellers increasingly turn to train travel as a safe, hassle-free and environmentally responsible alternative to congested roads and airports.
VIA's Stainless Steel Fleet Backgrounder
The 174 cars in VIA's stainless steel fleet were primarily built for Canadian Pacific (CP) in 1954-1955 by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, the world's leading manufacturer of stainless steel rolling stock. These elegant and robust cars were used to create CP's Canadian, the last all-new train of the Art Moderne-influenced Streamlined Era. VIA bought this distinctive and durable rolling stock when it took over the operation of the former CP services in 1978.
Between 1990 and 1993, VIA completely rebuilt the CP cars, as well as some additional Budd equipment acquired from the U.S. [Editor’s note: This equipment came from Amtrak equipment which was deemed surplus.] The cars were stripped to their shells and fully remanufactured for greater efficiency and passenger comfort at a fraction of the cost of new and unproven equipment. New interiors and a head end power (HEP) system were installed to eliminate the obsolete steam and battery-generator systems that previously provided lighting, heating and air conditioning.
This $200 million project not only renewed the cars for another 15-20 years of productive service on the Canadian and other long-haul and remote trains, but reduced operating costs by more than $20 million annually. A subsequent HEP 2 program applied the same modernization techniques and systems to 33 Budd stainless steel cars for use in the Quebec-Windsor Corridor.
As far back as the 1950s, Budd proudly proclaimed that not one piece of its rolling stock had ever been retired because it had worn out. More than half-a-century later, VIA's HEP 1 and 2 fleets reinforce that accurate. SOURCE VIA RAIL CANADA INC.
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2) Sadly, VIA Rail Canada has time and again in these modern times been labeled “Canada’s worst run company.” Even sadder, this smaller and feistier company than Amtrak, which operates far fewer trains, with a much smaller equipment pool, and hundreds of millions of dollars less of free Canadian federal monies, constantly out bests Amtrak when it comes to the professionalism of onboard personnel, clever and widespread marketing, the overall maintenance of equipment, and the desire to succeed.
3) VIA is taking Chateau sleeping cars and brilliantly refurbishing them to provide drawing rooms for three passengers. This delightful throwback to the 1960s and before provides two lower berths in one room, without having to purchase two separate bedrooms and opening them en suite. A third bed, as an upper bunk, is provided, as well. One private toilet and one sink (along with a new shower) fill out the room’s amenities. Note the wood paneling being added, too. It’s notable Amtrak has no drawing rooms in its inventory, even though full bedrooms in all trains always sell out before roomettes.
The remake of the rear end observation dome Park cars to accommodate passengers in wheelchairs and with other challenges speaks volumes for VIA; they understand the upscale and senior citizen market, and are strategically placing themselves to take full advantage of the piles of cash accumulated for long trains such as The Canadian heavily laden with sleeping cars and appropriate accompanying amenities, with less emphasis placed on lower revenue producing coaches.
Amtrak needs to pay attention to this move by VIA Rail Canada, as it will once again be trailblazing a new standard in sleeping car travel.
4) While we’re in the neighborhood, let’s take a look at some of the many opportunities the bureaucrats who populate Amtrak’s executive cadre through the years have flushed down the drain.
These same Budd Company cars VIA is bragging have never gone out of style were once a part of Amtrak’s Heritage fleet, too. When the late Henry Christie made the famous “A” and “B” cars lists of which equipment Amtrak would keep and upgrade from the myriad of fleets it inherited from the private railroads, almost 100% of the equipment retained was Budd-built. The excellent equipment built in the same generations by Pullman Standard was – alas – built using carbon steel instead of the longer-lasting aluminum and stainless steel used by Budd, and, as a result, many of those excellent and exciting cars merely rusted away internally, becoming non-roadworthy and non-useful to Amtrak.
The Budd fleet, which numbered in the hundreds of cars, included crew dorms, sleeping cars of various configurations (including all-bedroom cars on the Auto Train which had drawing rooms), diners, lounges, and coaches.
Through the years, Amtrak’s disdain for this equipment – as opposed to the correct attitude of VIA Rail Canada – grew, and the equipment was sidelined as quickly as possible, with excuses such as no new replacement parts were available and had to be individually machined, and the cars were “too worn out” to have a useful future. (Tell that to the Canadians, and they will look at you like you’re too much in love with winter weather.)
So, even though the Heritage Budd fleet had millions of reliable miles on each car, and all of the fleet had been expensively upgraded to head end power systems for hotel power and air conditioning and heat, the cars were stripped away from Amtrak’s fleet roster, unloved and unwanted.
Many of those cars today and in the hands of railroad equipment brokers, waiting to be loved and used, again.
In addition to the hundreds of single level Heritage Budd fleet cars, also cast away by Amtrak were over 60 of the original Santa Fe Hi-Level cars, which were the basis for the successful development of today’s Superliner fleet. Less than 10 of these cars remain in Amtrak’s fleet, most notably as the Pacific Parlour cars on the Coast Starlight, and some coaches used on the Heartland Flyer stub end train.
The original Pennsylvania Railroad Metroliner cars from the 1960s, numbering in the dozens, sat for years in yards, and, while a few were placed in service for other purposes, almost all of the equipment was scrapped where it sat, gorily cut up and sent to scrap metal dealers.
The Rohr Turboliner sets of equipment (entire trainsets, such as today’s Acela and Talgo trainsets) are another example of equipment summarily discarded by Amtrak, even after the State of New York paid to have three trainsets rehabilitated for use between Albany and New York City, and a then-chief executive officer of the New York DOT by the name of Joseph Boardman (Today’s Amtrak Interim President and Chief Executive Officer) raised cane because Amtrak appeared to be hiding the unused trainsets outside of New York State and refusing to use them for the purpose New York State paid huge money for rehabilitation of the equipment.
5) The question must be asked: Why is Amtrak so quick to discard solid, reliable equipment which other railroads cherish and brag about, resulting in shorter consists, less revenue passenger miles, and overall less income? Why is VIA happy to brag this equipment constitutes a vital core of its company, and cheerfully says rehabilitating this equipment is saving the company tens of millions of dollars, while Amtrak only sees inconvenience and headaches?
Perhaps the answer is VIA has truly been on the brink before, and has a much more precarious political situation under a parliamentary system of government than our system here in the Unites States. It only takes five members of Parliament (The Prime Minister’s version of our presidential cabinet.) to make a decision to do anything to VIA Rail Canada it pleases, including putting it up for sale, as is currently being discussed in Canada.
Amtrak has much more political protection in Congress than VIA has in Parliament, and, perhaps, Amtrak feels since it always has a steady stream of free federal monies coming its way each year, it doesn’t have to be as clever as VIA Rail Canada and constantly prove its chops.
What a pity. The folks running VIA Rail Canada can certainly teach the folks running Amtrak a few things about the best use of resources and making a silk purse out of what Amtrak considers a sow’s ear. Necessity is the mother of invention. Amtrak needs more necessity, not more coddling.
6) As always, the This Week at Amtrak electronic mailbox has something interesting lurking about. Here is a missive about the last issue of TWA featuring the untangling of Amtrak math by Andrew Selden.
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Another excellent issue. It goes into great detail pointing out exactly what is wrong with the numbers that Amtrak distributes to support its internal policies. In a sane environment, the data would determine policy, rather than the opposite. Unfortunately Amtrak is not really accountable to any agency that can force it to meet the goal of an effective national passenger rail system (and probably there is little consensus of rail advocates on what such a goal really means, much less public agreement on that even being a legitimate goal).
Looking back over the history of passenger rail service in the U.S., it is very unfortunate that the kinds of analyses you present were not available when many railroads filed data with state and federal regulatory agencies to justify their “train off” petitions. I see a great deal of similarity between Amtrak’s actions today and many railroad’s activities 50 years ago. Just as Amtrak selects and creates data to justify its desires, those railroads that wanted all their passenger trains to be eliminated did the same, no matter whether they were profitable, made a positive addition to their cash flow, or not. Some didn’t find out until it was too late that they were better off when they still operated passenger trains. The “fact” that passenger service was an anathema to the operation of a profitable corporation became the accepted paradigm of the day to many railroad executives, who in turn were very headstrong and surrounded themselves only with “yes men.” Too few opponents of that policy, both in regulatory agencies or as members of the general public, had the time and resources to interpret the data presented by the railroads or to question its accuracy in order to counter the misleading conclusions that the railroads created. There were some exceptions, but the individuals who fought for retention of profitable or break-even rail service in the public interest were eventually worn down, driven from their jobs, or left them for better opportunity.
If only URPA were around then.
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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
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