WASHINGTON — Railroad Workers United, which describes itself as “an inter-union, cross-craft solidarity caucus of railroad workers and their supporters,” has expressed its support for Amtrak’s efforts to launch service on the Gulf Coast — while taking more than a few shots at CSX and other Class I railroads.
In a statement filed with the Surface Transportation Board earlier this week, the organization says it is “essential” that the STB “assist in this effort to restore passenger service to the Gulf Coast. After 16 years of study, it is time to initiate the service.”
RWU says its members have seen “a serious decline in customer service, eroding safety conditions, a lack of maintenance, and poor on-time performance of both passenger and freight trains” from Class I railroads, blaming the Precision Scheduled Railroading model of “running extremely long trains on infrastructure that was not designed to handle them.
“The operating model now in use across the continent does not facilitate scheduled movements,” the statement continues. “If the Class I railroads were in fact keeping their trains to schedule, then running a few 500-foot passenger trains each day would consume practically no track capacity at all and cause no disruption and limited need for infrastructure.”
Referencing a 2016 study in which CSX estimated $2.3 billion in infrastructure work would be needed to accommodate passenger service between New Orleans and Jacksonville, the statement says, “It is a sad day when a highly profitable railroad that only runs 11 trains a day on a mainline” can make a such a request, adding, “This $2.3 billion figure is more than spent on capital improvements to its entire network of 21,000 miles in 2017!”
“We must ensure that Amtrak has a meaningful right of access to host railroad infrastructure,” the statement concludes. “Otherwise the grand plan to develop passenger train service in the United States will be unlikely to succeed.”
OK, Jobs for the Boys, of course! Now how well or poorly did this passenger service do while it was in service up to 2004? Anyone know? Sounds like the Gulf Coast version of the Downeaster.
This last train between Mobile and N.O. was the Sunset Limited, which, by the way, did well on the Gulf Coast. It was an entirely different type service than is being proposed now and you can’t compare the two. Living here in the Mobile area, I can attest to the strong local interests for the new trains. But the backwards thinking politicians in this state are as pessimistic about the future of passenger train service as it seems you may be.
Im glad to see the rail Unions are showing support for expanding passenger train service on the Gulf coast and elsewhere.
It was stated that 11 trains operate on this route per day between Mobile and N.O. Given what I’ve seen that number is high even on a busy day. I’d say six maybe seven trains on average per day including locals. Train count is way down from what it was before hurricane Katrina in 2005.
It’s not uncommon to spend a day in downtown Mobile and see only two trains pass through. But somehow they do manage to keep trains sitting sometimes for days in sidings up and down the line.
It all boils down to CSX wanting Amtrak to pay for upgrades to their system to compensate its poor management.