Amtrak news, July-Sept., 2002

Visit Amtrak website

Visit Amtrak Reform Council website
(ARC ended its involvement in all
decisions with its Feb. 7 report to
Congress, so its website may vanish.)

National train travel boosted - While members of Congress and senators spent the Fourth of July week away from the Capitol, various groups continue pressing for complete funding of a nationwide system of passegner trains. Amtrak is presently the only passenger train operator able to use freight railroad tracks, under a ‘grandfather clause’ in the 1970 statute which created the company, and its funding levels have been challenged for most of its 31 years. The newly dire fiscal straits through which Amtrak President David Gunn and Chairman Robert Smith must navigate in coming weeks – just to reach the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30 – have increased awareness among diverse factions that long-term funding must be defined and legislated. Freight railroads have voiced reluctance for fragmenting Amtrak (see March 27 entry); rail unions have voiced support for the present company, Amtrak; and rail passenger groups at regional, state, and national levels have mostly denounced the February recommendation to slice and dice Amtrak into several entities, matching a British model of the mid-1990s which has subsequently shown major shortcomings. A website dedicated to tracking latest news reports on events affecting Amtrak has been established by trainweb.org, the host computer for this website.
Several extensive proposals for a national train travel system have been published, but by individual advocates rather than official agencies. Unlike other G-7 nations, which operate their national train systems under government sponsorship, the USA has focused on shifting all intercity train travel to the private sector. Unlike the economies of consolidation touted by major corpoartions – including many US companies, such as Union Pacific and CSX – a vocal minority in Washington DC insist greater efficiency can be achieved for train travel by splitting it into pieces, both financially and geographically. National Association of Railroad Passengers has a link at its home page to NARP Report Urging Passenger Rail Development, and a Trainweb contributor offers a thesis, “The need for a National, Subsidized, Passenger Rail System in the US: A Call for Support of Amtrak.” Each paper must be formed into legislation, a lengthy process wihch suggests one of several pending bills in Congress likely will advance and may add some of those advocate provisions. Senator Hollings authored the most comprehensive bill, S-1991, which was sent in May from the Transportation Committee to the Senate for consideration.
Appropriations-Transportation sub-committee chair Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) pledged before the holiday "to press for a direct appropriation for Amtrak's urgent needs so that Amtrak does not find itself even deeper in debt in October." DOT Sec. Mineta independently guaranteed Amtrak a $100 million loan, due for repayment on Novemberr 15, and intends to seek another appropriation from Congress. So on July 8, just four days after the nation's 226th anniversary of its founding Declaration, the fireworks over Amtrak's future will begin.

David Gunn leads - Among proposals likely to save Amtrak, a poll at the Trains magazine website showed almost half of 2400 respondents (as of Friday morning, July 12) expect Amtrak President David L. Gunn to devise the best plan. A much smaller fraction – less than one-fifth – think Trains magazine itself has come through with the solution, about the same fraction as those who think no plan can save Amtrak and passenger trains. Hopes for the Bush Administration or Congress to solve the thorny issues ranked at the bottom, about the same as the number of train boosters who believe they personally have the correct combination of ideas for making American passenger trains a permanent part of the nation's travel choices. Registration is required to view most Trains web pages.

NY Times backs train travel - At mid-July, New York Times asserted its editorial voice in support for train travel among America’s travel options, and for Amtrak among the proposals and schemes for funding and managing those trains. “Building high-speed rail corridors between major cities ought to be a top American priority. The investment of several billion dollars a year is modest when one considers that a proposed expansion of Chicago's O'Hare Airport alone is slated to cost $6 billion,” the Times opined.

S-1991 author urges end to restructuring schemes - Senator Ernest Hollings, of South Carolina and chairman of the Senate transportation committee, has written to DOT Secretary Norman Mineta, TRAINS magazine website reports. TRAINS quoted a Reuters news service account of the letter, which included this cautionary sentence from Senator Hollings: "Let me be clear, I will resist all efforts to have long-term proposals regarding Amtrak considered as part of the one-year appropriations process." DOT and Office of Management and Budget have pressed for short term funding relief to Amtrak, while senators have approved a long term strategy for train travel and its S-1991 implementation.

Full Amtrak funding agreed to finish FY 2002 - The compromise steaming toward enactment last week is back on track, according to news services reporting on the emergency spending bill. Amtrak will receive $205 million of the $28.9 billion package, which mostly assures continuation of Defense Department activities and purchases. The compromise bill includes $1.9 billion more in categories for Defense and Domestic Security than requested by the White House. Amtrak will receive a grant, not a loan.

Amtrak's hot/cold cycles get more extreme - If it's extreme you want, try Amtrak. The national railroad company for carrying passengers has seen intense emotional lows and highs this year: harrowing moments of near-demise, joyous moments of reprieve and progress (e.g. straight-talking David Gunn returning Amtrak to a typical railroad company organizational chart). So, this week's news should be no surprise.
Well, it is a surprise. On Monday, Aug. 12, Acela Express trains were sidetracked en masse by order of Amtrak mechanical executives. A routine inspection uncovered a cracked mount for the "yaw damper" (a lateral shock absorber) beneath one propulsion car, a Washington Post story recalled four days later, on Thursday, as Amtrak announced builder Bombardier is milling new, sturdier mounts and shipping them to three Amtrak maintenance bases for prompt installation.
That plan went off track when more cracks were found in other Acela Experss underbodies. As of Friday morning, Aug. 16, news from NE Corridor cities indicates Amtrak may borrow locomotives from New Jersey Transit or MARC to maintain its schedule of other NEC trains, as problems deepen and spread for the cornerstone of the railroad's revenue stream. All Acela Express trainsets are parked until an engineering assessment devises a new repair strategy, a later Washington Post report by Don Phillips reports. Amtrak had hoped to have its most important revenue-generating trains, the 150-mph Acela Expresses, back in service and meeting all weekday schedules (and ticket reservations) by Monday, Aug.19, but no longer has a date-certain for resumed 150-mph service.

Amtrak repair shops exceed expectations - Repair and maintenance workers at Amtrak bases in the North East Corridor, including 80 highly skilled welders specialized at working with stainless steel, have refitted 60 percent of Acela Express trainsets needed for full service, a Washington Post story reported Monday. Bombardier gathered the specialists from throughout the nation, and assigned its front line managers to co-ordinate welding repairs with Amtrak. Amtrak CEO David Gunn gave full credit for the rapid return to service of the premium trains to Bombardier, lead company in the consortium that has built 18 of the trains for Amtrak. Two more trainsets are due to complete the order, but lawsuits have clouded their delivery date. This latest Post article indicates Amtrak and Bombardier have overcome months of strained relations in the past week, foreshadowing a brighter future for North East Corridor travelers and for all of Amtrak, which relies heavily on that most densely travelled corridor for its revenues.

Acela Express roller coaster tickets next? - True to Amtrak's year of exhilerating ups and devastating downs, the Acela Express saga has reversed again, this time as four Acela Express locomotives showed minute cracking in a main structural side beam, called a "side sill," when inspected with specialized equipment, Washington Post reported Tuesday (Aug. 20). Amtrak President David Gunn described the hairline cracks as "mostly invisible to the naked eye" and his spokesman emphasized that Amtrak and Bombardier are acting with an "abundance of caution" by withdrawing the premium trains for further minor repairs. More permanent redesign of the yaw damper attachment, or "mounting," to the side sill will require a month or more, and can be effected without sidetracking all the trains at once.

Acela Express repairs continue - Far from the trains-on-time routine familiar to Hiawatha Service passengers between Milwaukee and Chicago, Amtrak's most visible, most popular, most lucrative trains -- Acela Express,.between Washington DC and Boston -- remain mostly sidetracked, where they await repairs to a heavily stressed carbody structure related to the lateral yaw damper on each locomotive. Amtrak's website lists four northward departures from Washington and New York City on Friday, August 23, and four southward departures from Boston and NYC. Planned schedules for Monday (Aug. 26) match the Friday departures -- four northward, four southward -- far less than the full Acela Express schedules. Amtrak President David Gunn has previously made clear that all concerned are exercising "an abundance of caution."

Acela Express at half-schedule in NEC - At mid-week as August neared its end, Amtrak and Bombardier continue expanding North East Corridor operation of the 150-mph trains, Amtrak's single most remunerative service, following August 12 discovery of metal cracks which caused Amtrak to sidetrack all 18 Acela Express trainsets and Federal Railroad Administration to monitor repairs day-by-day. As of Wednesday, August 28, Washington Post reports the premium train service is back up to 50 percent of its normal number of departures, and round-the-clock repairs to the yaw damper mounting at Washington, New York City and Boston continue for both Acela Express and for 15 Bombardier-built electric locomotives.

Recap of Acela Express cracks and consequences
“Amtrak owns 18 Acela Express trains, which consist of six passenger cars and two locomotives. Amtrak typically holds three trains in reserve.

“But there have been no typical days since Aug. 12, when a periodic inspection in Boston revealed cracks in an assembly on one train. Amtrak immediately slowed all Acela Express trains to 80 mph while ordering inspections of all the locomotives.

“More cracks were found, and Amtrak canceled the high-speed service Aug. 13. It put two of the 18 trains back in duty the following day, but then pulled them again after additional cracks were found.

“Last week, the discovery of still more cracks -- these on the steel frames of the trains where the assemblies are attached -- complicated Amtrak's efforts to get the trains back in service. Those cracks, described as tiny, were discovered when inspectors painted the metal assemblies with a chemical that makes flaws more obvious.”

-- from Associated Press, 29 August 2002, filed at 5:45 p.m. ET; published 30 August 2002 in New York Times

Northeast Corridor, a symbol and an indispensible infrastructure - Amtrak's Washingon DC-New York City-Boston NorthEast Corridor has been called into use for a symbolic session of Congress on Friday, Sept. 6, at the 1790 site in Manhattan where George Washington addressed the fledgling national legislature. Senators and House members journeyed to New York City aboard a meticulously secured Amtrak special train prior to the day's increased operation of Acela Express trains, which Trains magazine reported Sept. 5 now numbers about 60 percent of Amtrak's complete premium service schedule. That 50-departure schedule for Acela Express service dropped to a handful in mid-August after one yaw damper was discovered partially separated from its placement and others were found with varying degrees of metal cracks in the mountings, possibly caused by vibration fatigue. In the past three weeks, Amtrak and lead Acela Express builder Bombardier have worked diligently to repair each and every mounting, applying "an abundance of caution," to quote Amtrak President David Gunn, in a manner time-tested for generations in the railroad industry. Plainly, the commemoration by Congress of its historic roots in symbolic rememberance of Sept. 11 victims, just blocks from the World Trade Center former site, is good form. It has a fully functional complement in Amtrak, in Amtrak and Bombardier handling of the Acela Express crisis, and in daily operation of the rail travel infrastructure on which so many depend. Even Congress.

Visit Wisconsin DOT web page for high speed Midwest trains and related topics.

Return to KenRail main page | page 1 | 2 | 3