Nothing good will come from Wednesday’s dismissal of Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner, who was pushed out as part of the White House’s purge of officials who are not deemed loyal to President Donald Trump.
The timing of the move was curious. The Trump administration has been seeking to pull funding for programs it deems wasteful or contrary to its priorities. Gardner announced his resignation on March 19, just five days after issuing a statement saying that Amtrak looked forward to receiving the $2.42 billion Congress has appropriated for fiscal year 2025. Could that be a coincidence?
No names have yet been floated about a potential replacement for Gardner.
Amtrak needs a CEO who is an experienced railroader and knows the business inside out — someone who can fix its operational and mechanical woes, improve efficiency, boost revenue, and effectively manage its ballooning capital budget. In other words, someone who has been a Class I railroad chief operating officer.
Yet thus far the Trump administration has been allergic to expertise. So what Amtrak instead will get as its next CEO is a political hack. He or she will know nothing about passenger trains or railroads. But that won’t matter: His or her marching orders will be to dismantle the national network and privatize what’s left.
During his first term, Trump sought to cut Amtrak funding in half, phase out support for long-distance trains, and block funding for the much-needed Gateway Project on the Northeast Corridor in New York and New Jersey.
Earlier this month, billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who heads the advisory Department of Government Efficiency as part of the administration’s efforts to upend business as usual in Washington, said Amtrak should be privatized.
Trump, meanwhile, has a vindictive streak a mile wide. And he clearly wants to erase anything that has predecessor Joe Biden’s fingerprints on it. Amtrak Joe’s signature achievement was the infrastructure law that sent billions Amtrak’s way for new equipment, route expansion, and Northeast Corridor improvement projects.
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress has earmarked $22 billion for Amtrak and $36 billion in federal-state passenger partnerships through fiscal 2026. Much of the grant money remains tied up in the cumbersome Federal Railroad Administration review process, which likely will get further bogged down by job cutbacks at the agency. This means the funding is vulnerable at best.
Put all this together and the inevitable conclusion is that Amtrak as we know it will cease to exist.
Long-distance trains will disappear. State-sponsored routes will continue in some form, so long as the states pick up the tab. And the Northeast Corridor will be raffled off to the highest private bidder.
Calls to privatize Amtrak, zero out its funding, or eliminate long-distance trains are nothing new. In the past, Republicans who represent rural states in Congress always rode to Amtrak’s rescue. Neither they nor their constituents wanted to lose their long-distance trains. At the end of the day, Amtrak always emerged from political scuffles with enough funding to scrape by.
Don’t expect that to happen in the current environment. If Republicans in Congress are afraid to stand up to Trump’s plans to cut 83,000 Veterans Affairs jobs — a move that will only hurt medical care for veterans — they’re certainly not going to be willing to take a bullet for Amtrak.
All of this underscores the fact that Amtrak is as much political creature as it is a transportation company.
Wick Moorman, the former Norfolk Southern CEO who led Amtrak in 2016 and 2017, says “I really didn’t get a significant amount of political conversation or pressure while I was there. Politics are inevitable given the role that the FRA plays, and it was sometimes a little frustrating, but nothing more than that. Part of my experience was probably driven by the fact that the politicians seemed to be happy that I was there.”
That’s no longer the case. Until now, Amtrak has been able to navigate its way through political controversies. Trump has nominated Robert Gleason, the former state GOP chairman in Pennsylvania, to the Amtrak board. Gleason has championed expanded Amtrak service in the Keystone State. But by pushing Gardner out, the White House has kneecapped the Amtrak board and made it irrelevant.
Musk has called Amtrak a national embarrassment, saying it falls well short of providing world-class service. He’s not wrong.
But you get what you pay for: Comparing U.S. passenger rail to well-funded systems in Europe, Japan, or China is an unfair apples to oranges comparison given our relatively meager spending on Amtrak and the fact that most of its routes must operate over host freight railroads.
Instead of decimating Amtrak, why not provide the funding and proper oversight required to Make Passenger Rail Great Again? Flying is a hassle. Driving gridlocked interstates is a nightmare. On trips under 500 miles, there’s no better way to travel than on a passenger train.
You can reach Bill Stephens at bybillstephens@gmail.com and follow him on LinkedIn and X @bybillstephens
More useless political commentary on the Internet. Thanks. You filled a real void there, Silly Billy.
Nothing like an unbiased reporter. And you are nothing like and unbiased reporter. Why can’t you guys just tell the story?
Kudos to you, Bill, for having the courage to speak out in spite of Trumpian vindictiveness.
Unless something significant changes soon, Amtrak is indeed doomed, along with many other critical federal an quasi-federal programs.
As a political scientist and rail advocate, I mourn for the country.
So how is it responsible people so not want to be rid of fraud and waste? Stop pointing fingers at the politics and give me three solid, doable ideas to make Amtrak profitable or at least break even. I have read in this very magazine that passenger rail can not make a profit, and that was decades ago.
When I rode Irish rail this fall, there was a paucity of employees and easy electronic bank card ticketing. It was not what I expected but certainly worked.
This is just an editorial with some facts mixed in. First paragraph tells you as much. It is not a news article.
Title of the article clearly states it’s an analysis, you should’ve started at the very beginning.
I worked for Amtrak in Chicago. I started in 1977 and retired in 2017. Passenger Rail will never be profitable. If they want to privatize the NEC, it’s still going to require federal and/or state funding. Amtrak owns the infrastructure on the NEC. It’s very expensive to maintain.
New Jersey is splitting the cost with Amtrak to replace a bridge that’s 100 years old. When the PRII initiative was implemented, states pay to operate trains. Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan do. They bought new locomotives. They use Amtrak employees to operate and maintain equipment. They’re not required, too. Amtrak must allow them to use their stations and yard to maintain the equipment. Amtrak needs to bring back the diners from Beech Grove, serve cooked meals, and allow coach passengers to eat in the diners.
I was surprised Amtrak canceled long distance trains when we had winter storms and it was really cold. Historically we would be very busy when the weather was bad and planes canceled flights. When I started we had Autotrain that
operated from Louisville, Kentucky to Florida. Historically Amtrak hired or promoted experienced railroad employees. Around 2012 they started hiring managers that had no experience and no desire to gain experience. It was terrible. I created a new hire management training outline. I would email it to every vice president when I updated it. No one responded. I sent it to Wick Moorman. He called me and he implemented a training program. He was experienced, I wish he would have stayed longer. When it comes to cutting social security, VA benefits, medicaid, or medicare, Amtrak means nothing. People are very concerned. I think we’ll see mass protests. Amtrak is very political. As old as Amtrak’s long distance equipment is, it’s better and safer than Tesla Cybertrucks! Hopefully Amtrak survives. We need to contact our representatives.
Thank you for your service, Colleen. Clearly you take pride in your work; a condition sadly lacking most everywhere in the post-tRump era.
This article was not biased at all. Another left wing hack who has no idea what is really going on behind the scenes. Also FYI Bill Stephens that wasn’t Joe Biden, he was never the President, might want to review Trump’s executive orders on election interference.
Oh and you’re not biased? Biden was never the president? Seriously? Bad case of BDS.
Regardless of the politics, I miss the days of multiple railroads with various paint schemes rolling through regional areas around the country. It’s why footage from pre-Amtrak days are so fascinating to me. Amtrak frankly bores me. If it does go away, I choose to see it as a potential boon for rail fans to see some variety in our passenger trains again. Imagine the blazing orange of SP daylight in a heritage consist, or a flash of conrail blue!
Whoever wrote this is a moron, maybe the guy got pushed out partly due to running the place into the ground the last 5 years and letting marketing run the show? Or maybe it was the $600k bonus he gave himself and a dozen other people in the 200-400k wheelhouse??
Mr. Hammer, Amtrak’s LD routes are not trying to compete with airlines. Most of Amtrak’s LD clientele are people traveling to points between the origin & destination of the route. Most of those communities are not served by air, except those few who have EAS which is also taxpayer subsidized.
Thumbs up on this post Galen. Sorry I only have two thumbs.
I don’t necessarily agree that Amtrak’s long distance routes should be broken up, if they can show some promise or potential profitability, such as competing against the airlines in certain situations. If certain regional Amtrak routes can be efficiently linked together with other similar Amtrak regional routes, then why not include a long distance route within.
Once Amtrak should ever establish certain (potentially) profitable regional routes, then those segments should be sold to the highest private bidder, like the Conrail breakup going to NS and CSX.
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if one of the larger airlines bidded on a proven Amtrak high(er)speed passenger route.
I don’t know if anyone is still reading these comments after the article has been up for two or three days. I support Amtrak. I ride Amtrak. I am in favor of Amtrak being subsidized with tax money. But let’s look at what we are up against. Amtrak sells about 30 to 35 million tickets annually. Which probably means somewhere around, to try to pick a number out of the air, maybe five or six or seven million people ride Amtrak, in a nation of I think 350 million.
Last year I needed to get from Seattle to Tukwila (Washington). Easy —- ride Amtrak’s Cascade corridor. I had misplaced my map of downtown Seattle (I found it later). I must have asked twenty people (including paid “downtown ambassadors”) where King Street station was. About nineteen of them either didn’t know or sent me in the wrong direction. That’s how relevant Amtrak is, even in “green” Seattle.
For all those who feel passenger rail should be privatized, why not the same for flying & driving? Privatize the air traffic controllers, TSA, they can charge the airports for these svcs the airport can pass it on to the airlines & they in turn add it to the ticket prices. Sell or lease out the Interstates to toll operators turn all other road responsibilities to the individual states. The taxpayers have had to foot the bill to the tune of over $150 Billion dollars to make up for the gas tax failing to cover its full responsibility because drivers didn’t think they should have to pay the full cost of their joyriding. Plus an additional estimate of $300 Billion subsidy to the trucking industry. The Federal Govt then does not belong in the transportation business other than safety matters, so why just passenger rail? Oh! that’s right that’s what you use ..so don’t touch that!! Privatizing passenger rail is a non-starter as long as you have enormous public subsidies going to air & hwy. So we will just be the largest developed country in the world with no passenger system. WHAT A DISGRACE!!!
We have a part private part public aviation & highway system.
Public funds cover infrastructure, accident risk, and security costs then private companies design and operate vehicles.
Amtrak could serve as a intermediary umbrella, mostly focused on arranging for infrastructure use or owning infrastructure directly, providing accident risk coverage, and security. Then either a completely separate Amtrak entity could operate a route (with a distinct first-mover advantage) or a private company could come to an agreement to do so. It wouldn’t mean ditching unions or workers, but instead would mean expanded capacity and lower fares as trains have a declining long-run average cost WRT volume carried.
”
Don’t expect that to happen in the current environment. If Republicans in Congress are afraid to stand up to Trump’s plans to cut 83,000 Veterans Affairs jobs — a move that will only hurt medical care for veterans — they’re certainly not going to be willing to take a bullet for Amtrak.
”
Can we stop playing these games, Mr. Stephens? That reduction would trim the VA to —> 2019 levels <—-. 2019 was just fine for everyone, including vets getting treatment via the VA.
Seriously, that would leave the VA with 400,000 employees. Do you really think we're all so naive as to think 400,000 employees are not enough?
Well said.
Nowhere in the many comments pro or against privatization of Amtrak have I seen any comments on the fact that as created Amtrak has certain rights to use Class 1 rails. As a private operation it likely lose these rights and the class 1’s will surly take advantage of the chance to raise charges making dreams of profit impossible.
Thanks Bill for the fine analysis. I think you hit it on the head that there will be no one to save Amtrak this time. Let’s be honest here: if you are a Republican congressman are you really going to buck the President over a passenger train? Sure, your constituents will initially be upset, but they will get over it. And districts are so gerrymandered today they have little chance of losing except in the few “swing” districts. Remember that the number one goal of ANY elected official is to get re-elected, not serve the public, sorry to say. So self-preservation is key, and the President would not hesitate to “primary” anyone who bucked him. And even if an elected official protests, it’s not going to be over Amtrak, but something like Medicaid or farm subsidies. I’m sure the NE Corridor will survive, some states will step up, but it’s likely the national network is dead. And what a shame, as the next generation of younger travelers aren’t big drivers, are concerned with the environment, and would like to have more trains, a wish I fear will not be realized.
But, the people elected Mr. Trump. They should have known full well what they were getting, so if they lose their trains they should have thought about that when they cast their ballot. The fault, if you consider losing trains a bad thing, lies not with the President, but with the voters.
I think the title of this article should have read “CEO’s dismissal signals the beginning of the end for Amtrak: Political Rant” instead of Analysis.
I dont know if I was reading an article about the possible demise of Amtrak or a political rant by Stephens. And of course we had to have the word “Billionaire” in there when describing Elon Musk for added emphasis on how “Evil” he is.
Sorry Mr Bauer.
Bill Stephens’s analysis is spot on when states:
He or she will know nothing about passenger trains or railroads. But that won’t matter: His or her marching orders will be to dismantle the national network and privatize what’s left.
That’s exactly what many observers expect to happen if only based on prior actions by the administration.
That you view this as a political rant says more about you than about Bill Stephens.
I think it says what is exactly right. It is the samr rant that every member of the liberal agenda keep trumpeting even though their only alternatve is to “Spend, baby spend…” WHy do you think they are so like a ship without a rudder, cutting and sniping at each other as if they had no clue that what happened would happen. Swearing and calling those in power political names never worked in the past (not even during the election) and won’t solve it now. Its time for the Dems to go back their moderate roots and then maybe more of America would agree with them…
Steven sez:
“Swearing and calling those in power political names never worked in the past […]”
Maybe you ought to tell that to your Fearless Leader, who seems bent on having everyone who listens to him that he is 11.
Amtrak has been “broken” for years, long before Donald Trump or Elon Musk came into the picture. Many factors have hurt Amtrak over the decades. But the REAL culprits of Amtrak’s many failures have been Amtrak’s inept and ineffective top executives! They’ve neither had the vision, the drive, or the skills needed to truly create products and services that appeal to the public. They’ve selectively chosen to focus on a few corridors and a few regional services, while ignoring the long-distance routes they were required to operate.
Amtrak executives have deliberately chosen to HURT LONG-DISTANCE TRAINS by —
(1) severely restricting the number of coaches and sleeping cars assigned to each route, thereby dramatically limiting the number of passengers needed to generate the revenues required to cover costs,
(2) deliberately refusing to operate dining cars and lounge cars on every route, while these cars sit idle and empty at Beech Grove Shops, thereby making the trains less attractive to potential riders,
(3) discriminating against coach passengers who are not allowed to pay for and enjoy dining car meals, thereby forced to survive on sandwiches and snacks, on long trips,
(4) failing to operate every route on a DAILY basis, which restricts standardized functionality and customer understanding,
(5) structuring schedules and connections that do not maximize convenience and create innovation,
(6) and many more too numerous to mention!
Companies survive and thrive by listening to the wants and needs of their potential customers. Amtrak management has failed to do this over the years. Amtrak management has clearly demonstrated that they do not support, nor have any interest in, true long-distance service. Actions speak louder than words and Amtrak management has chosen to provide the bare minimum of service to cut costs to the bone, so they can receive their massive bonus checks! Their total focus has been to ignore the customers and collect the huge bonuses.
I believe Biden’s son Hunter was on the Amtrak board at one time? Most people reading this article are passenger rail fans. Amtrak is an 80/20 political decision, 80 percent of the people don’t care about Amtrak. Even with proper funding Amtrak will always be a mess.
Yes, Hunter Biden was on Amtrak’s board, as appointed during the George W. Bush presidency. He resigned in 2009, when his father became Vice-President.
Musk is not in ANY government nor official position. His “DOGE” is imaginary and solely the fiction of Dishonest Don. Amtrak is symptomatic of unfettered, unidirectional wrath from an elderly, unstable flat-earther. The firing of NSA, CIA, NIH, CDC experts, researchers, and scientists show zero understanding by 47. A 49.8% election total is not a mandate; more Americans voted for someone NOT named DJT.
I vote for a government funded but fully privately operated Amtrak. Get the politicians and politically appointed managers out and let real railroad professionals take charge. As noted, public transportation can never cover operations through fare revenue. Government funds, either Fed and/or state, is mandatory. Amtrak’s operational problems are bad enough, but their purchase and implementation of new equipment is abysmal. How many new Acelas are sitting in yards? And for how many years? Hopefully, intelligence will overcome dogma. But we’ll see.
I wonder what they think of EAS. They subsidize an airline about 5 mil per year to fly into our local airport.
EAS has got to go.
So how about an alternate explanation. USDOT Sec. Duffy issued a memo on 3/6/25 ( https://railroads.dot.gov/about-fra/communications/newsroom/press-releases/us-transportation-secretary-sean-duffy-issues-1 ) requesting a plan in 30 days to address crime and homelessness at Union Station. Perhaps there was a follow-up call to see how the plan was going and the usual half-answer was given, like when Amtrak was stonewalling Senators about its plan to bus-stitute the middle of the SW Chief which was actually going to cost more money per year than the annualized amount of the capital investment in question.
Mr. Stephens is highly partisan in stating Trump cuts at the VA will affect veterans medical care. It will not be a negative as it will free up funds for better care. His further comment that Trump “has been allergic to expertise” flies in the face of his having one of the most educated and experienced cabinet of any President.
In addition Stephens claims all sorts of dreaded happenings to Amtrak yet Trump has not announced any changes in Amtrak as yet.
I was involved along with Tony Haswell and others in starting in 1967 with attempting to save the passenger train. I was President of the Illinois Association of Railroad Passengers for 20 Years and served on the National Commission of Intermodal Transportation during the Clinton years. I knew and worked with every Amtrak President and FRA Administrator, members of Congress and state officials. I saw billions in tax poured into track. stations, rolling stock and countless schemes to make passenger rail relevant. I came to the conclusion that passenger rail has only a modest role our transportation network. The vast bulk of America voted for airports highways and their freedom of the automobile in the 1950s. They will never return to rail on the scale to make it financially viable. It has found a role and will continue in commuter and some city pair corridors but the dream of railfans, political leftists and others for restoration of the 1950 Official Guide will never happen.
“… flies in the face of his having one of the most educated and experienced cabinet of any President.”
Craziness abounds; a Cabinet put together of those that bought their way in, said nice things about him on television or are just pretty enough to make the cut. Yet you keep telling yourself Ken that it’s the best.
Mr Bird states “His further comment that Trump “has been allergic to expertise” flies in the face of his having one of the most educated and experienced cabinet of any President.”
Excuse me Mr Bird, but today is only March 21, there is another 10 days before April Fool’s Day which is when I’m sure you really intended to post your patently laughable statement.
Mr. Bird, when you find ANY form of public transportation that’s financially viable without taxpayer subsidies or bailouts then please by all means let us know. Otherwise your argument rings hollow.
Multiple LTEs in the communities around me prove otherwise: care is suffering, wait times have skyrocketed, facilities have reduced hours. Partisanship and wishful thinking cannot change that. Neither unelected President Musk nor plurality President Trump can change that.
Left unsaid is the active role of the class 1s to intentionally operationally cripple long distance (eg, Southern Crescent, CN, UP) and many state supported trains (Empire Service). Add to this fact, the industry employees swarms of DC lobbyists (how else to explain the Rail Safety Act of 2023’s bipartisan derailment and death). Both are insurmountable barriers for Amtrak. Only dedicated public policy and litigation can remove them.
The central economic planners on Wall Street have dictated every railroad adopt PSR. Passenger trains are incompatible with PSR. They require operational flexibility, well maintained infrastructure and sidings. Wall Street requires asset stripping and reduced CapEx.
There is no substantive regulation of class 1 railroads, we’re back to the Robber Barrons. Nor is their vigorous enforcement of both common carrier obligations and Amtrak’s statutory rights to operate.
In spite of Amtrak Joe and Mayo Pete trickling out some long over due funding, it has long been bipartisan legislative and executive policy to starve Amtrak and assure the US will never have world class passenger rail.
How much time could be left? I remember that VIA, in1989, announced thier cut backs 180 days before.
Is there any similar requirement in the US?
Regards
The current Amtrak model has been at it for nearly 54 years. It has never covered its costs. The failed model should be changed. Amtrak should be privatized.
The first step is to eliminate the long-distance trains. They are used by less than 2% of intercity travelers, and they are the biggest drag on Amtrak’s financial results. For the four years ended FY24 they had a cumulative operating loss of approximately $2.3 billion. Add depreciation, capitalized interest and other capital expenses, and the total is probably north of $3 billion.
Spin off the the State Supported trains to the states. If they believe corridor passenger trains are essential for their states or region, let their taxpayers pick up the tab. Ultimately, the users should pay for the trains. If they are unwilling to do so, they should be junked.
A privatized Amtrak might be able to make a go of the NEC. It would need to bring in management that understands how to run a competitive business. If a privatized Amtrak cannot make a go of it, Brightline or similar operator should have a go at it.
The time has come to stop throwing money at passenger rail that makes no sense. With a national debt approaching $37 trillion, throwing good money after bad is no long a luxury the country can afford.
Well said Paul, spoken with the true hypocrisy of a far right radical republican. Why in the world are you on this site as you are obviously anti passenger train. Maybe you work for a taxpayer subsidized road paving company.
Sigh – this exemplifies the original mistake that Sec. Volpe made in 1969 to say there is no place for federal funding outside the congested corridors, which for what it is worth Sec. Volpe was a reformer when the USDOT was alright with condemning private property and then demolishing it to build new interstates through cities. I had a large hand in building the last Interstate, I-269, and the pubic infrastructure subsidy was about $0.26/auto-mile paid for by the HTF. The previous ones were lower per-mile but much larger in extent.
There is a realistic option for Amtrak of a P3, with public investment in infrastructure, risk, and security at a rate similar to highways per traveled-mile. Roughly, it would mean an annual baseline of about $1.6 B in fixed funding for the large metro terminal districts (NEC, Chicago, etc.) and $0.8 B earned per train-mile operated for the national routes.
“The Department’s proposed program offers a test of long-haul service as well as corridor service. There are certain long-haul markets which appear to be profitable and, this being the case, should be retained. We do not look to long-haul service for external benefits such as congestion relief, and hence we propose no significant Federal financial assistance for long-haul service. The corporation would keep the financial management of the two operations separate so there would be a sound test of long-haul service under strong management.”
Page 22 –
https://enotrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/1969-12-23-DOT-Railpax-Proposal-to-OMB.pdf
When Amtrak was created in 1971, it was purposely designed to fail within one or two years. It was never intended to survive. The business model for privately operated passenger trains in the U.S. was broken when the Federal Government decided to create the U.S. Postal Service out of the former U.S. Post Office Department. It then canceled all of the mail contracts with the freight railroads, thereby eliminating the last bit of revenue that kept passenger trains running. This, coupled with the Government’s massive investment in building airports and operating the FAA Flight Control System, and the massive funding of the Interstate Highway System, were the final blows that forced the private railroads out of the passenger market.
What is needed, is a complete restructuring of the passenger train business model. There are multiple options, but the following two ideas might be worth consideration:
OPTION #1 — Since the Postal Service loses $10 Billion a year, reformat some of the mail contracts and offer them to railroads with the requirement that the mail be moved on passenger trains between major cities. These lucrative millions could help incentivize freight railroads, or other private rail companies, to operate passenger trains. The contracts could require that railroads operate basic services like Coach, Sleeping Car, Dining Car, Lounge Car, Dome Car (were clearances allow). Details on marketing, schedule coordination, equipment, etc could be worked out between the rail operators.
OPTION #2 — Create a passenger train business model that mimics the airline industry by:
(a) letting cities and states set up their own train station authorities to build, operate and maintain stations/terminals, just like airports are built, maintained and operated by the local airport authorities around the country.
(b) allowing all freight railroads and newly created passenger rail companies to have interline agreements that give equal access to all mainline rail routes that would be needed for each individual passenger train route.
(c) establishing within the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that same oversight and standardization policy functions for passenger trains, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversees and standardizes airline operations.
(d) lettting the FRA operate and maintain a national reservation / ticketing system to handle the website and mobile app needed to list and sell all passenger train services nationwide. This system could be an expansion of the existing Amtrak Arrow System and would be provided free to the railroads operating passenger trains. Since railroads do their own dispatching and train traffic control, this reservation/ticketing system would be in place of the FAA Flight Control System.
(e) possibly let the Department of Transportation fund upgrades to rail lines, bridges, tunnels and other supportive infrastructure on rail routes used by passenger/mail trains. This would mimic the funding given to airports and the FAA Flight Control Network.
AGAIN — The current Postal Service and Amtrak business models are broken in their own respective ways. Both need major transformations to make them sustainable. Amtrak’s recent management executives should have never been rewarded with millions in bonuses for failing to offer the products and services needed to attract and grow ridership and revenue on ALL routes. By selectively prioritizing corridor and regional trains, and by ignoring long-distance trains, Amtrak management has failed the American public. Operating trains 3-days a week, or without dining cars or lounge cars, or only allowing certain passengers to eat meals instead of snacks, or not creating innovative connections and services, etc, is no way to run a railroad!
I like this – there are indeed massive amounts of palletized small packages moving around and the highway only system is inherently inefficient as you have to cross-dock a trailer for several hours at each node. I can see an automated pallet shuttle (these already exist in warehouses) moving around pallet of packages in express cars either en-route or while at a short station stop, so that the nodes in the network could be every 50-miles or so.
If one coupled that with federal formulaic support for the Below-the-Rail infrastructure, accident risk, and security costs at a rate similar to public funding of such for highways the entire operation should be profitable Above-the-Rail.
“Amtrak needs a CEO who is an experienced railroader and knows the business inside out — someone who can fix its operational and mechanical woes, improve efficiency, boost revenue, and effectively manage its ballooning capital budget…”
Yes Amtrak needs an experienced railroader. Steven D. Gardner, however, was not that person, at least as far as the person to “fix ts operational and mechanical woes, improve efficiency, boost revenue, and effectively manage its ballooning capital budget…” He NEVER DID ANY OF THAT, instead only looking to enrich himself and his lacky’s while making no attempt to repair needed equipment that languishes in Beech Grove , IN and would boost long distance trains that people would ride if they were equipped properly, He also should have created two companies within Amtrak: Commuter Routes and Long Distance Routes and made the Commuter Routes SELF SUPPORTING instead of stealing funds from the Long Distance Routes, the trains that Congress mandated when Amtrak was created. Bill is also wrong about the threat to the existence of Amtrak. Amtrak can only be ended by an act of Congress. Except for the heavily subsidized NEC, Musk is correct, Amtrak IS an embarrassment to the rest of the world. Of course Gardner was the man supposedly smart enough to know all of this and do something about it but as soon as he was installed, getting bonuses and his 1.1 million dollar potential salary became the priority, not managing the franchise. We need a David Gunn or W Graham Claytor type of CEO who will actually try to grow the franchise rather than sit back and collect a salary. If any part of the enterprise should be privatized, it should be the Commuter operations so that their true costs can be verified and fares kept up to date accordingly. This, along with some of the ideas proposed by Mr, Ashenfelter are the only way to make the system efficient and cost effective and meet the mandates of Congress and the needs of the Nation as described in the organic creation act that led to Amtrak being formed in the first place…
Does America, the beautiful and brainy, want a well-funded and well-functioning passenger rail service at home, just like Europe, Japan and China? That is the essential question!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
*Corrected Comment*
Does America, the beautiful and brainy, want a well-funded and well-functioning passenger rail service at home, just like Europe, Japan and China, or not? That is the essential question!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
America might, but the Fatass politicians want more tax breaks for billionaires, at anybody else’s expense.
While reading Bill Stephens’ thought-provoking article, this suddenly came to my mind: Who were the most powerful and determinant players in intercity passenger transportation in America in the late 1960s, and who are they today?
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
This decision for making Amtrak privatized is disgraceful, disgusting, despicable, and disagreeable We have the right to write to Congress to stop budgets cuts for any passenger rail and our country needs long distance overnight Amtrak trains without them people will never be able to sleep, eat, and see the country by rail, It is important to almost everyone including the communities and the public and The CEO of amtrak shouldn’t have step down it isn’t fair
Mr. Gustenhoven writing your Congressman as I’m afraid we’ve past the point of no return in this country.
Continue to write your Congress people everyday if you have to, a phone call is better though. The only way they know what their constituents think is by letting them know, otherwise they think everything is hunky dory back home. Except for those that don’t give a crap about their constituents like my last “representative” who now gets his knees dirtier for a convicted felon.
Republican legislators from flyover country will lose their trains. The price they will have to pay for not standing up to Trump’s insane tariff wars and his dismissal of military veteran heroes (who voted for him) from government employment.
I’m a 100% Republican. Trump is a lunatic.
Charles you are absolutely correct, trump is a lunatic. I really need to ask how the hell you did not see this BEFORE you cast your vote for him?
You knew that in 2016 yet still had your blinders on for the last election Charles.
I have never voted for Trump in a Republican primary. Past in the primaries into November, each time Trump has been far and away superior to the Democrat candidates.
If Trump is a lunatic, then why did America prosper in away that was unseen in history during his last administration, a fact that not even the Democracks can knowingly deny? The US can not keep going on as it has, trying to spend its way to prosperity instead of controlling its budgets and should instead let THE PEOPLE spend their own personal treasure that they have earned. If Joe Biden or Kamala Harris were so wonderful, they would have been re-elected. But they WEREN’T and Americans were smart enough to see it in spite of the lies told by the Democrack elitists. Their robbing from the poor and middle classes so their pals could cash in richly had to come to an end and the wasteful spending in government is truly an affront to every American Taxpayer. And if you can’t see that then you truly cannot say you love America or Americans no matter your political persuasion… And Charles is right, whether you like it or not, Trump was superior to Lying Joe and Lying Kamala and America voted accordingly. And each day as the lies told to the country during the run-up to the election are made known, the more the jaundiced eye will be pointed at the Democratic elitists who thought things would just continue as they had designed and none would be the wiser. Well, the majority of the country was the wiser. And that bill just came due!
Vincent sez:
“If Trump is a lunatic, then why did America prosper in away that was unseen in history during his last administration, […]”
They didn’t. But you just keep chawin’ on those gummies, Vince.
We ordinarily would be making reservations on the Auto Train for next winter but will wait and see how things turn out. The prices may well end up lower if fewer Canadians head to Florida.
Canadians may get to ride (rebranded) Amtrak equipment in their own country. After Amtrak’s long-distance trains are destroyed, the equipment likely would be available at bargain-basement prices (and if the American economy collapses, at maybe an even-better exchange rate CAD to USD than now) for a country nearby with the same railroad gauge. With Trump influencing the Canadian election (now set for April 28) to the point that a more-likely-to-be-anti-VIA Conservative party might not be in power later this year, a Liberal government might seize the opportunity to obtain Amtrak rolling stock and make the necessary refurbishment. Not only do existing trains need new rolling stock, but the completion of the upgrades to the Matapedia-Gaspe route is to be complete in 2026, and online residents want their Chaleur back….