U.S.

Amtrak Plan to Expand Ridership Could Sidetrack Storied Trains

Railroad wants to offer more service between cities in fast-growing regions. That could mean swapping sleepers for passenger cars

By Ted Mann | Photographs by Adria Malcolm for The Wall Street Journal
Feb. 20, 2019 7:00 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Seeking to attract millions more passengers, Amtrak is preparing an overhaul of its national network targeting increased service in the South and West—at the expense of long-haul routes beloved by train buffs and their allies in Congress.

The goal is to revamp the way Amtrak runs trains on the aging network of national routes it already maintains, with more frequent service between pairs of cities, such as Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., or Cleveland and Cincinnati. Running more trains over shorter distances would...

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Amtrak Plan to Expand Ridership Could Sidetrack Storied Trains

Railroad wants to offer more service between cities in fast-growing regions. That could mean swapping sleepers for passenger cars (COACHES)

Wall Street Journal
By Ted Mann
Feb. 20, 2019 7:00 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Seeking to attract millions more passengers, Amtrak is preparing a large-scale overhaul of its national network aimed at boosting passenger service in the South and West—but at the expense of long-haul routes beloved by train buffs and their allies in Congress.

The goal is to revamp the way Amtrak runs trains along the aging network of national routes it already maintains, with more frequent service between pairs of cities in the fastest-growing parts of the country, such as Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., or Cleveland and Cincinnati. Running more trains over shorter distances would allow Amtrak to better serve those commercial corridors where rail can compete with flying and driving, railroad officials said. ... But that new service could come at the cost of curtailing some long-distance routes, where storied trains like the Empire Builder and the Southwest Chief have small but fervent bases of support and lineage stretching back to the golden age of railroads.

Red Lines

Amtrak is exploring the possibility of curtailing service on its long-distance routes—which incur the railroad’s biggest losses—to focus on service along more densely populated routes similar to the Northeast Corridor. ... And any change in Amtrak’s management of the national network will require approval from Congress, which has aggressively defended the long-distance routes in the past, even as it presses Amtrak to prioritize improving its financial performance.

The debate over Amtrak’s national service will be renewed in earnest next month, when the railroad releases a five-year asset-management plan that will preview the choices it will face in replacing the aging fleet of long-distance trains. Amtrak says it will need $2.2 billion to $2.7 billion between now and 2030, as part of a total $3.8 billion it expects to spend on replacing the long-distance fleet, including locomotives Amtrak has already ordered. ... Railroad officials are using that looming procurement to present Congress with a tough decision it will have to make when it takes up Amtrak’s reauthorization and capital funding later this year.
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Date: 02/20/19 10:58
Re: WSJ full text, "Amtrak Plan to Expand Ridership..."
Author: Dcmcrider

Gene: the story is much longer than what you've included. I'll include this excerpt:

The debate over Amtrak’s national service will be renewed in earnest next month, when the railroad releases a five-year asset-management plan that will preview the choices it will face in replacing the aging fleet of long-distance trains. Amtrak says it will need $2.2 billion to $2.7 billion between now and 2030, as part of a total $3.8 billion it expects to spend on replacing the long-distance fleet, including locomotives Amtrak has already ordered.

I guess we'll know more soon about Amtrak's intentions.

As for corridors: Cleveland to Cincinnati is the wave of the future?

The State's former governor took a hard pass on that, even when offered federal money. What makes Anderson and his advisors think that conditions on the ground have changed, or that this represents a viable commercial opportunity?

I've read through Anderson's congressional testimony, and most of what he said was an utterly conventional "begfest" for NEC capital investment. Gateway, B&P Tunnels and so forth. ("Infrastructure" was the topic of the hearing, after all.) Cleveland-Cincinnati and Atlanta-Charlotte are embellishments added by the anonymous company official. I wonder what sort of multi-billion-dollar sum NS will come up with for an Atlanta-Charlotte corridor?

The only source cited for a direct quote in the piece is Anderson's written congressional testimony, since he (famously) declines to be interviewed.
....

Date: 02/20/19 11:16
Re: WSJ full text, "Amtrak Plan to Expand Ridership..."
Author: abyler

Full text available here.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/amtrak-plan-to-expand-ridership-could-sidetrack-storied-trains/ar-BBTQFFM