Originally Posted by ssullivan
I realize the delays are beyond Amtrak's control, and that Amtrak really has almost no support in the current administration in Washington to put pressure on the freight railroads concerning this issue. However, it seems like they could impose some sort of fine structure that penalizes the freight operators for not clearing Amtrak trains through with higher priority.
Since the freight RR's are private companies, Amtrak cannot impose penalties for late trains. It would take an act of Congress to do that, and even then I'd bet that the Supreme Court would overturn any such law passed. Congress should not have let the Freight RR's out of the clause that Amtrak ran under for its first 25 years, where the freight RR's had to run passenger services on time.
However, when Amtrak's original agreement with the freight RR's came up for renewal after the first 25 years, Congress let that provision expire.
Now that said, Amtrak actually does have a program in place that rewards freight Co's that keep Amtrak train on time. Due to the lack of Federal funding, the reward program isn't as substantial as it could or should be, but it still is decent. But some freight RR's just don't seem to care about that extra money over and above the normal fees that Amtrak pays for passage.
BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) routinely collects at least some bonus money, and often collects the maximum. UP, on whose tracks the Sunset runs, has to my knowledge never collected a bonus. They just don't care!
Originally Posted by ssullivan
Additionally, Amtrak could do a better job of managing passenger expectations with regards to the schedule. For a route like the Sunset Limited, which is almost always several hours late, it would make sense to me that Amtrak studies where the delays are occurring, and adjusts the schedule to allow for more time between station stops where delays are common. This would at least provide a schedule that's more realistic, and keep passengers from scheduling connections that look good on the schedule but in reality are almost never possible to make. This part of the equation is under Amtrak's control.
As The_Traveler alluded to, Amtrak has adjusted schedules for the Sunset Limited. However, his statement isn't exactly accurate; he's missing a few hours. In the last 6 years, Amtrak has added 12 and 1/2 hours to the schedule in the east bound direction. That's half a day that has been added to the schedule and it's still not enough, because UP in part simply doesn't care and in part because UP failed to properly manage their growth.
Originally Posted by ssullivan
No amount of "simplified dining" with pre-cooked food, reduced dining car staff, and disposable plates and cups will make up for the fact that Amtrak lacks a clear vision of where it should be going, has some poor executive management, is overly burdened with unionized employee groups and negative labor relations, and is underfunded by an administration that would prefer to see it cease to exist. I'd love to see Amtrak fixed, but I don't think our "leadership" in Washington has the know-how to fix it even if they weren't trying to kill it off. I will be writing my Congressional representatives to tell them my experience in traveling nearly 2,000 miles on Amtrak this week. I doubt it will make a difference, but at least I'll feel like I've done my part to preserve, and improve, passenger rail service in the US.
Sadly Amtrak had some vision in David Gunn, until the Amtrak board fired him last year.
As for the union's, please don't heap too much blame at their feet. I for one do believe that the unions do need to concede some work rule changes to Amtrak. And I think that the unions shouldn't be fighting to keep the jobs of those workers who don't do their jobs.
However on the other hand, most Amtrak workers could make more money by working in the private sector. They are not by and large overpaid as some might have you believe. For example, the average waiter on Amtrak does make more per hour in base salary, than a waiter/waitress in most restaurants. However, most waiters in restaurants do far better in tips than waiters on Amtrak trains. Additionally most waiters don't work 18 hour shifts, Amtrak's do. Most waiters go home each night to their own beds, Amtrak's don't. They are away from home for half a month most times. Part of that is spent on the train, part spent in a hotel hundreds of miles from home. Amtrak workers are trained in safety procedures that are unique to trains and are responsible for the passengers under their care, resturant workers are not. Finally most waiter/waitress' don't have to carry a tray full of drinks and/or food in a restaurant that is bouncing down the tracks at close to 80 miles an hour. It's a real art to manage that without spilling things, especially while working in the close confines of the dining car.
Most Amtrak conductors and engineers could make more working for the freight RR's and/or commuter RR's, than they make at Amtrak. And finally, none of Amtrak's workers has had a raise in 5 years, since there has been no new contract in that time.