Amtrak [image] Locale continental United States, as well as routes to Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal Dates of operation 1971 - present Track gauge 4 ft 8˝ in (1435 mm) (Standard gauge) Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Nominally, Amtrak is an independent for-profit Corporation, but all of its Preferred stock is owned by the federal government, and the members of Amtrak's board of directors are appointed by the President of the United States and are subject to confirmation by the United States Senate. Some common stock is held by private railroads and other investors, although it is not actively traded and is generally considered to be worthless as an investment, as it has never paid dividends.
The interim President of Amtrak is David Hughes. Until November 9, 2005, David L. Gunn was president. Mr Gunn was fired after a GAO report critical of the board's oversight was released on November 3, 2005. The current chairman of Amtrak's board is David Laney, a presidential appointee. Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, also sits on the board although he has never attended a board meeting. Per Amtrak's authorizing legislation, there are to be 7 members on the Company's board. Aside from Laney and Mineta (or, more accurately, his designee), there are only two other board members. As of the date of Gunn's firing, both of those other members were recess appointments whose terms expire with the adjournment of the current session of the 109th Congress.
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As early as the 1930s, automobile travel had begun to cut into the rail passenger market, somewhat reducing economies of scale, but it was the development of the Interstate Highway System and of commercial aviation in the 1950s and 1960s that dealt the most damaging blows to rail transportation, both passenger and freight. There was little point in operating passenger trains to advertise freight service when those who made decisions about freight shipping traveled by car and by air, and when the railroads' chief competitors for that market were interstate trucking companies. Soon, the only things keeping most passenger trains running were legal obligations. Meanwhile, companies who were interested in using railroads for profitable freight traffic were looking for ways to get out of those legal obligations, and it looked like intercity passenger rail service would soon become extinct in the United States outside a few highly-populated corridors. The final blow came with the loss of railway post offices in the 1960s.
The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) was formed in 1967 to lobby for the continuation of passenger trains. Its lobbying efforts were hampered somewhat by Democratic opposition to any sort of subsidies to the privately-owned railroads, and Republican opposition to nationalization of the railroad industry. The proponents were aided by the fact that few in the federal government wanted to be held responsible for the seemingly-inevitable extinction of the passenger train, which most regarded as tantamount to political suicide.
Penn Central Transportation, the major railroad of the Northeast U.S., went bankrupt on June 21, 1970. Legislation was quickly drawn up and signed October 30, 1970 by President Nixon to create the National Rail Passenger Corporation (Railpax) to take over intercity passenger trains. Those railroads that joined would be freed from their obligation to provide service, except for commuter rail. The freight railroads would continue to own and operate the tracks, but the NPRC would run the passenger trains. At the time, it was thought that it would give passenger trains one last hurrah, and allow the President and Congress to save face, then quietly disappear. Many insiders, including President Nixon's aides, assumed that the NPRC would disappear within two years of its creation. However, popular and political support for Amtrak has persisted while subsidies from both federal and state governments have helped Amtrak to survive and grow.
The Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 permitted railroads to buy into the new corporation using a formula based on their recent intercity passenger losses. Any railroad who contracted with the NPRC was permitted to discontinue all intercity passenger service after May 1, 1971 except those services chosen and paid for by the NPRC as part of its nationwide system. Railroads who chose not to join were required to continue operating their existing passenger service subject to ICC rulings.
The Southern joined on February 1, 1979, when its Southern Crescent became Amtrak's Crescent. The D&RGW last operated its Rio Grande Zephyr April 25, 1983, and Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr was renamed the California Zephyr; the train was rerouted to use the DRG&W July 15, 1983 (delayed by a mudslide). The bankrupt CRI&P ran its last passenger trains (the Peorian and a Chicago-Rock Island train) December 31, 1978 and was liquidated in 1980. The last Georgia Railroad mixed train was operated May 6, 1983 by the Seaboard System Railroad. The Reading Philadelphia-Newark Penn Station service stayed around into Conrail and was discontinued in 1983. In addition, the Canadian Pacific Railway's Atlantic, taken over by VIA Rail in 1976, crossed northern Maine until 1994.
Except for the joining of routes through Oakland, California to create the continuous Coast Starlight, all Amtrak services on day one were continued from pre-Amtrak operations. The first all-new Amtrak route, in other words a route that had not been operated immediately prior to Amtrak, was the Montrealer/Washingtonian. That route was inaugurated September 29, 1972 along Boston and Maine Railroad and Canadian National Railway track that had last seen passenger service in 1966.
In its original conception, Amtrak did not own any track and thus was not a true railroad. Following the bankruptcy declaration of several northeastern railroads in the early 1970s - particularly that of Penn Central, which owned and operated the Northeast Corridor, Congress passed the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to create a consolidated, federally-subsidized freight network called Conrail. As part of this legislation, the vital Northeast Corridor passenger route was transferred to Amtrak, and the corporation became a true railroad for the first time. In subsequent years, various short route segments needed for passenger operations but not for freight were transferred to Amtrak ownership. However, the majority of Amtrak's routes are hosted by private railroads, to which Amtrak pays the costs of adding its passenger trains to the freight trains of the host railroad.
At the beginning in 1971, the host railroads supplied the rolling stock and operating crews. Amtrak soon purchased the best of the railroad equipment and subsequently has purchased new equipment.Today, Amtrak trains are staffed by Amtrak employees but, other than on the routes that Amtrak owns outright, are dispatched by the host railroads on whose tracks these trains operate.
The fuel shortages of the mid-1970s on the nation's highways and increased air fares which also resulted in creating a renewed interest in passenger rail travel. Given that railroads used fuel very efficiently, passenger rail travel no longer seemed quite so outmoded. Consequently, Amtrak's ridership began to increase. Another rebound occurred after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
There have been few times in history when any intercity rail passenger operation in the world has been profitable, even with respect to only its operating costs, and passenger trains have never brought in enough revenue to pay their infrastructure costs. Even highly efficient private-sector railroads such as the Norfolk and Western Railway could not earn a profit, or even recover operating expenses for passenger service. The concept of Amtrak as a for-profit business was fatally flawed before the first passenger boarded.
Amtrak is in many ways dependent on freight railroads. As it owns little track, it must rely on maintenance done by the freight owners, and sometimes has to cancel service over routes taken out-of-service by the host freight railroad (as occurred recently with service to Phoenix, Arizona) or pay to maintain the tracks.
Because Amtrak's board and president are all political appointees, some have had little or no experience with railroads. However, Amtrak has also benefited from both highly skilled and politically-oriented leaders.
For example, in 1982, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy and retired Southern Railway head W. Graham Claytor Jr. brought his naval and railroad experience to the job. Claytor had served briefly as an acting U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter in 1979, and came out of retirement to lead Amtrak after the disastrous financial results during the Carter administration (1977-1981). He was recruited and strongly supported by John H. Riley, an attorney who was the highly-skilled head of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) under the Reagan Administration from 1983-1989. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole also tacitly supported Amtrak. Claytor seemed to enjoy a good relationship with the Congress for his 11 years in the position. Of course, politics aside, that may have also been because he did a good job. According to an article in Fortune magazine, through vigorous cost cutting and aggressive marketing, within 7 years under Claytor, Amtrak was generating enough cash to cover 72% of its $1.7 billion operating budget by 1989, up from 48% in 1981.
Claytor's replacement was Thomas Downs. Mr Downs had been City Administrator of Washington DC, and oversaw the Union Station project, which had experienced both massive delays and cost overruns. Under Downs, Amtrak began to claim that it could achieve operating self-sufficiency, and its leaders seemed to be increasingly misleading as to the prospects of achieving that goal when pressed by Congress and the media.
After Downs left Amtrak, George Warrington was appointed by the board as the company's next president. He had previously been in charge of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Business Unit. When he took the helm of Amtrak in January, 1998, self-sufficiency was still officially a stated goal, although it was becoming elusive in the eyes of Congress. Under Warrington's administration, Amtrak was mandated by the Administration and Congress to become totally self-sufficient within a five-year period, and all its management efforts were directed to that goal. Passengers became "guests" and there were expansions into express freight work. Finally, at the end of the 5-year period, it became clear that self-sufficiency was an unachievable goal, no matter how much additional express revenue was gained or how many cuts were made in Amtrak services.
[image] In fairness, while both Downs and Warrington had extensive experience in government, neither had the non-governmental cost accounting or practical experience in private-sector railroading that Claytor had had. Claytor also enjoyed the benefit of serving during the Reagan Administration when increases in federal spending on military items was drawing a lot of the political attention in Congress.
The efforts to expand Amtrak's express income were unpopular with the host freight railroads, who did not want the additional Amtrak traffic it brought (or the competition). The express work also brought Amtrak new political enemies in the powerful trucking lobby before Congress. Warrington also had the burden of delays in implementation of the new Acela Express high-speed trainsets, which promised to be a strong source of income and favorable publicity along the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington DC.
Gunn was polite but very direct in response to congressional criticism. He was also seen as more credible by Congress, the media, and many Amtrak supporters and employees. Perhaps more than any past president of Amtrak, Gunn seemed willing to publicly oppose the policy and budget positions of the President of the United States who appointed the board at whose pleasure he serves.
A more realistic view of Amtrak under the Gunn administration is that no form of mass passenger transportation in the United States is self-sufficient as the economy is currently structured. Highways, airports, and air traffic control all require large expenditures to build and maintain, although some of those taxpayer dollars are gained for other modes under the guise of user fees and highway fuel and road taxes. Before a Congressional Hearing, Gunn answered a demand by leading Amtrak critic Arizona Senator John McCain to eliminate all operating subsidies by asking the Senator if he would also demand the same of the commuter airlines, upon whom the citizens of Arizona are much more dependent. McCain, usually not at a loss for words when debating Amtrak funding, did not reply.
Some of Gunn's actions have been seen by many as politically wise. He had been very proactive in reducing layers of management overhead and has eliminated almost all of the controversial express business. He had stated that continued Deferred maintenance will become a safety issue which he will not tolerate. This improved labor relations to some extent, even as Amtrak's ranks of unionized and salaried workers have been reduced.
On November 9 2005, Amtrak's board of directors asked David L. Gunn to step down as president. David Hughes was named as acting president and CEO until a permanent replacement can be appointed. David Laney, Amtrak's chairman, stated "Amtrak's future now requires a different type of leader who will aggressively tackle the company's financial, management and operational challenges. The need to bring fundamental change to Amtrak is greater and more urgent than ever before." The board envisions fundamental changes for the railroad including increasing competition and shared financial responsibilities with states.[:Amtrak}}#endnote_Amtrak-2005-11-09]
As has been the practice in most years, the current budget proposal from the U.S. President to the Congress does not support Amtrak's continued existence in its current form. Hoping to spur Congress to overhaul the way Amtrak does business, the budget proposed by the Bush Administration for fiscal 2006 would eliminate Amtrak's operating subsidy and set aside $360 million to run trains along the Northeast Corridor once the railroad ceases operating.
Several states have entered into operating partnerships with Amtrak, notably California, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
Amtrak employs over 19,000 people. The nationwide network of 22,000 miles of routes serves 500 communities in 46 of the United States, with some of the routes serving communities in Canadian provinces along the United States border. In fiscal year 2004, Amtrak routes served over 25 million passengers, a company record.
In addition, many large cities are not served by Amtrak such as
Other cities are not served directly due to inconvenient water barriers including Norfolk and Virginia Beach in the Hampton Roads area, and San Francisco, where trains stop across the bay in Oakland and Emeryville. Others have only indirect service for other reasons, such as Phoenix, Arizona, which is served via Thruway coach from the Southwest Chief train at Flagstaff, Arizona or the nearby, yet remote due to a lack of any public transportation connection, Maricopa, Arizona roughly thirty miles from the city.
[image]Amtrak has a complex albeit decentralized management structure wherein individual train conductors and other staff are assigned to particular routes or stations whereas ticket sales are managed by a nationwide computer system.
As a general rule, even-numbered routes run north and east while odd numbered routes run south and west. However, some routes, such as the Pacific Surfliners, use the exact opposite numbering system, which they inherited from the previous operators of similar routes, such as the Santa Fe Railroad.
Amtrak gives each of its train routes a name. These names often reflect the rich and complex history of the route itself, or of the area traversed by the route.
In the past, Amtrak has operated Metrolink . and MBTA Commuter Rail.
On most parts of the few lines that Amtrak owns, it has trackage rights agreements allowing freight railroads to use its trackage.
Amtrak also code shares with Continental Airlines providing service between Newark Liberty International Airport (via its Amtrak station) and Philadelphia 30th St, Wilmington, Stamford, and New Haven. In addition, Amtrak serves airport stations at Milwaukee and Baltimore.
Amtrak also coordinates Thruway Motorcoach service to extend many of its routes, particularly in California.
Northeast Corridor (electrified railway)
Keystone Corridor (electrified railway)
Empire Corridor
Amtrak also owns station and yard tracks in: Chicago, Hialeah (near Miami, Florida) (leased from the State of Florida), Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland (Kirkham Street Yard), Orlando, Portland, Oregon, Saint Paul, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, DC
Amtrak wholly owns the Chicago Union Station Company (Chicago Union Station) and Penn Station Leasing (New York Penn Station). It has a 99.7% interest in the Washington Terminal Company (Washington Union Station) and 99% of 30th Street Limited (Philadelphia 30th Street Station). Also owned by Amtrak is Passenger Railroad Insurance.
Twenty Acela Express trainsets have been used to provide popular High-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Union Station in Washington D.C. This service has been so popular, in fact, that the Acela trains even cover their "above the rail" costs (operating expenses, but not capital to maintain infrastructure).
However, the innovative service has not been without problems. In April 2005, all 20 trainsets were removed from service to repair cracked brake rotors. As of September, 2005, most had been returned to service.
| Current (operating) Class I railroads of North America |
| United States: AMTK, BNSF, CSXT, GTW, KCS, NS, SOO, UP - Canada: CN, CP, VIA - Mexico: FXE, TFM |
| Former or Fallen flag Class I railroads of the United States (Detailed list) |
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