Leaders and political influences
Unlike many large businesses, subsequent to its formation Amtrak has had only one active investor: the U.S. government. Like most investors, the federal government has demanded a degree of accountability. Determination of congressional funding and selection of Amtrak's leadership have been infused with political considerations. As discussed below, funding levels and capital support have varied over time.
Like many railroads, some members of Amtrak's board have had little or no experience with railroads. Conversely, Amtrak also has benefited from the interest of highly motivated and politically oriented public servants. For example, in 1982, former Secretary of the Navy and retired Southern Railway head W. Graham Claytor, Jr. brought his military and railroad experience to the job. Graham Claytor earned distinction as a lawyer (he was president of the Harvard Law Review and law clerk to U.S. Judge Billings Learned Hand and Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis); as a transportation executive (he joined the Southern as vice president-law in 1963, became president in 1967, and retired in 1977, five years before he took over the command at Amtrak); and as a public servant (he was President Carter's Secretary of the Navy, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and, briefly, Acting Secretary of Transportation, all between his two railroad careers). Claytor came out of retirement to lead Amtrak after the disastrous financial results during the Carter administration (1977–1981). He was recruited by then Secretary of Transportation, Drew Lewis, and Federal Railroad Administrator Robert Blanchette, both Reagan appointees. Despite the fact that Claytor frequently opposed the Reagan Administration over Amtrak funding issues, he was 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. Claytor, the longest serving Amtrak CEO, at 12 years, clearly enjoyed a good relationship with Congress and was perceived by many in the rail industry and government to have done an outstanding job of running Amtrak. Due to limited federal funding, Claytor was forced to use short-term debt to keep most of its operations running. Also, during the Reagan Administration, Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole tacitly supported Amtrak.
In the 1990s, Claytor was succeeded at Amtrak's helm by a succession of career public servants. First, Thomas Downs, who had overseen the Union Station project in Washington, D.C., which experienced substantial delays and cost overruns, assumed the leadership. Amtrak faced a serious cash crisis during 1997. However, Tim Gillespie, Amtrak's highly regarded vice president for government affairs for almost two decades, persuaded Congress to include a provision in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 that resulted in Amtrak receiving a $2.3 billion tax refund that resolved their cash crisis. In January, 1998, after Amtrak weathered this serious cash shortfall, George Warrington succeeded Downs. Warrington previously led Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Business Unit. Warrington ran into trouble with Congress and the Administration through lavish spending and extensive borrowing. When he attempted to mortgage Penn Station in New York City he ran into a fire storm of opposition in Congress. Warrington stepped down shortly thereafter. The 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis served as Amtrak's vice chairman of the board and was nominated as a director by President Bill Clinton in 1998.
Presidents
Roger Lewis (1971–1974)
Paul Reistrup (1974–1978)
Alan Stephenson Boyd (1978–1982)
W. Graham Claytor, Jr. (1982–1993)
Thomas Downs (1993–1998)
George Warrington (1998–2002)
David L. Gunn (2002–2005)
David Hughes (interim) (2005–2006)
Alexander Kummant (2006–2008)
William Crosbie (interim) (2008)
Joseph H. Boardman (2008–present)
[edit]Board of Directors
Chairman Thomas Carper
Vice-Chairman Donna McLean
Joseph Boardman
Anthony Coscia
Albert DiClemente
Ray LaHood
Jeffrey Morland
Nancy Naples
One seat is vacant.
Note: As of summer 2010.
David Gunn (right) with Senator Joe Biden and Senator Tom Carper touring Amfleet dinette 28351's dining facilities in 2003.
In April 2002, David L. Gunn was selected as president. Gunn had a strong reputation as a straightforward and experienced manager. Years earlier (between 1991 and 1994), Gunn's refusal to "do politics" put him at odds with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board of directors, which included representatives from the District of Columbia and suburban jurisdictions in Maryland and Virginia. Gunn was an accomplished public servant and railroad person and his successes before Amtrak earned him a great deal of credibility, despite a sometimes-rough relationship with politicians and labor unions.
Gunn was polite but direct in response to congressional criticism of Amtrak, and his tenure was punctuated by successes in reducing layers of management overhead in Amtrak and streamlining operations. Amtrak's Board of Directors removed Gunn on November 9, 2005. The board then appointed David Hughes, Amtrak's Chief Engineer, as interim CEO. Given Gunn's solid performance, many Amtrak supporters feared that Gunn's departure was Amtrak's death knell, although those fears have not been realized. On August 29, 2006 Alexander Kummant was named as Gunn's permanent replacement effective September 12, 2006. Kummant resigned on November 14, 2008. The board appointed Amtrak COO William Crosbie as interim CEO. On November 26, 2008, the board appointed Federal Railroad Administration chairman Joseph H. Boardman as interim Amtrak President and CEO for one year. In January 2010, Amtrak announced that it had extended Boardman's appointment indefinitely.
Public funding
Amtrak commenced operations in 1971 with $40 million in direct federal aid, $100 million in federally insured loans, and a somewhat larger private contribution. Officials expected that Amtrak would break even by 1974, but those expectations proved unrealistic and annual direct Federal aid reached a 17-year high in 1981 of $1.25 billion. During the Reagan administration, appropriations were halved. By 1986, federal support fell to a decade low of $601 million, almost none of which were capital appropriations. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Congress continued the reductionist trend even while Amtrak expenses held steady or rose. Amtrak was forced to borrow to meet short-term operating needs, and by 1995 Amtrak was on the brink of a cash crisis and was unable to continue to service its debts. In response, in 1997 Congress authorized $5.2 billion for Amtrak over the next five years—largely to complete the Acela capital project—on the condition that Amtrak submit to the ultimatum of self-sufficiency by 2003 or liquidation. Amtrak made financial improvements during the period, but ultimately did not achieve self-sufficiency.
In 2004, a stalemate in federal support of Amtrak forced cutbacks in services and routes as well as resumption of deferred maintenance. In fiscal 2004 and 2005, Congress appropriated about $1.2 billion for Amtrak, $300 million more than President George W. Bush had requested. However, the company's board requested $1.8 billion through fiscal 2006, the majority of which (about $1.3 billion) would be used to bring infrastructure, rolling stock, and motive power back to a state of good repair. In Congressional testimony, the Department of Transportation's inspector-general confirmed that Amtrak would need at least $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion in fiscal 2006 and $2 billion in fiscal 2007 just to maintain the status quo. In 2006, Amtrak received just under $1.4 billion, with the condition that Amtrak would reduce (but not eliminate) food and sleeper service losses. Thus, dining service was simplified and now requires two fewer on-board service workers. Only Auto Train and Empire Builder services continue regular made-on-board meal service. In 2010 the Senate approved a bill to provide $1.96 billion to Amtrak, but cut the approval for high-speed rail to a $1 billion appropriation.
Amtrak Cascades service with tilting Talgo trainsets in Seattle, Washington.
Amtrak's Piedmont near Charlotte, North Carolina with a state-owned locomotive. This route is run under a partnership with the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
State governments have partially filled the breach left by reductions in federal aid. Several states have entered into operating partnerships with Amtrak, notably California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, Missouri, Washington, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Vermont, Maine, and New York, as well as the Canadian province of British Columbia, which provides some of the resources for the operation of the Cascades route.
With the dramatic rise in gasoline prices during 2007–2008, Amtrak has seen record ridership. Capping a steady five-year increase in ridership overall, regional lines saw 12% year-over-year growth in May 2008. In October 2007, the Senate passed S-294, Passenger Rail Improvement and Investment Act of 2007 (70–22) sponsored by Senators Frank Lautenberg and Trent Lott. Despite a veto threat by President Bush, a similar bill passed the House on June 11, 2008, with a veto-proof margin (311–104). The final bill, spurred on by the September 12 Metrolink collision in California and retitled Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, was signed into law by President Bush on October 16, 2008. The bill appropriates $2.6 billion a year in Amtrak funding through 2013.
Controversy
Government aid to Amtrak was controversial from the beginning. The formation of Amtrak in 1971 was criticized as a bailout serving corporate rail interests and union railroaders, not the traveling public. Critics assert that Amtrak has proven incapable of operating as a business and that it does not provide valuable transportation services meriting public support, a "mobile money-burning machine." They argue that subsidies should be ended, national rail service terminated, and the Northeast Corridor turned over to private interests. "To fund a Nostalgia Limited is not in the public interest." Critics also question Amtrak's energy efficiency, though the U.S. Department of Energy considers Amtrak among the most energy-efficient forms of transportation.
Proponents point out that the government heavily subsidizes the Interstate Highway System, the Federal Aviation Administration, many airports, among many aspects of passenger aviation. Massive government aid to those forms of travel was a primary factor in the decline of passenger service on privately owned railroads in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, Amtrak pays property taxes (through fees to host railroads) that highway users do not pay. Advocates therefore assert that Amtrak should only be expected to be as self-sufficient as those competing modes of transit.
Along these lines, in a June 2008 interview with Reuters, Amtrak President Alex Kummant made specific observations: $10 billion per year is transferred from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund; $2.7 billion is granted to the FAA; $8 billion goes to "security and life safety for cruise ships." Overall, Kummant claims that Amtrak receives $40 in federal funds per passenger, while highways are subsidized at a rate of $500–$700 per automobile. Moreover, Amtrak provides all of its own security, while airport security is a separate federal subsidy. Kummant added: "Let's not even get into airport construction which is a miasma of state, federal and local tax breaks and tax refinancing and God knows what."
According to the United States Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, rail and mass transit are considerably more subsidized on a per passenger-mile basis by the federal government than other forms of transportation; the subsidy varies year to year, but exceeds $100 dollars (in 2000 dollars) per thousand passenger-miles, compared to subsidies around $10 per thousand passenger-miles for aviation (with general aviation subsidized considerably more per passenger-mile than commercial aviation), subsidies around $4 per thousand passenger-miles for intercity buses, and automobiles being a small net contributor through the gas tax and other user fees rather than being subsidized. On a total subsidy basis, aviation, with many more passenger-miles per year, is subsidized at a similar level to Amtrak. The analysis does not consider social costs and benefits, or difficult-to-quantify effects of some regulation, such as safety regulation.
Critics, such as the Cato Institute's Randal O'Toole, argue that gasoline taxes amount to user fees because people are taxed to the extent they use the roads. However, there is still a significant amount of road spending that is not covered by the gas tax. It covers little of the costs for local highways and in many states little of the cost for state highways. Taking these facts into account, though, O'Toole claims on page 2 of his report that "in 2006, Americans paid $93.6 billion in tolls, gas taxes, and other highway user fees. Of this amount, $19.3 billion was diverted to mass transit and other non-highway activities. At the same time, various governments—mainly local—spent $44.5 billion in property, sales, or other taxes on highways, roads, and streets. The net subsidy to highways was $25.1 billion, or about half a penny per passenger mile." O'Toole's road budget and passenger-mile numbers are disputed. In the same year, Amtrak receives direct subsidies of just over $1 billion, or 22 cents per passenger mile.
Labor issues
Many trade union jobs were saved by the bailout, and Amtrak itself finances the pensions of most railroad employees, even if they had never worked for Amtrak directly or never worked in passenger railroad service.
In recent times, efforts at reforming passenger rail have addressed labor issues. In 1997 Congress released Amtrak from a prohibition on contracting for labor outside of the corporation (and outside its unions), opening the door to privatization. Since that time, many of Amtrak's employees have been working without a contract. The most recent contract, signed in 1999, was mainly retroactive.
Still, though, the influence of unions is a strong force against change. Amtrak has 14 separate unions to negotiate with, because of the fragmentation of railroad unions by job. Plus, it has 24 separate contracts with those unions. This makes it difficult to make substantial changes, in contrast to a situation where one union negotiates with one employer. Former Amtrak president Kummant seems poised to follow a cooperative posture with Amtrak's trade unions. He has ruled out plans to privatize large parts of Amtrak's unionized workforce.
In late 2007 and early 2008, however, major labor issues came up, a result of a dispute between Amtrak and 16 unions over healthcare, specifically which employees healthcare should be available to. The dispute was not resolved quickly, and the situation escalated, to the point of President Bush declaring a Presidential Emergency Board to resolve the issues. It was not immediately successful, and a strike was threatened, to begin on January 30, 2008. In the middle of that month, however, it was announced that Amtrak and the unions had come to terms and January 30 passed without a strike. In late February it was announced that three more unions had worked out their differences, and as of that time it seems unlikely that any more issues will arise in the near future.
Amtrak operations and services
Main articles: List of Amtrak routes and List of busiest Amtrak stations
Amtrak is no longer required by law, but is encouraged, to operate a national route system. Amtrak has some presence in all of the 48 contiguous states except Wyoming and South Dakota. Service on the Northeast Corridor, between Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., as well as between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is powered by overhead electric wires; for the rest of the system, diesel locomotives are used. Routes vary widely in frequency of service, from three trips weekly on the Sunset Limited (Los Angeles, California, to New Orleans, Louisiana), to weekday service several times per hour on the Northeast Corridor, (New York City to Washington, D.C.)[93] Amtrak also operates a captive bus service, Thruway Motorcoach, which provides connections to train routes.
The most popular and heavily used services are those running on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), which include the Acela Express, and Northeast Regional. The NEC serves Boston, Massachusetts; New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and many communities between. The NEC services accounted for 10.0 million of Amtrak's 25.7 million passengers in fiscal year 2007.
Regional services in California, subsidized by the California Department of Transportation are the most popular services outside of the NEC and the only other services boasting over one million passengers per annum. The Pacific Surfliner, Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin services accounted for a combined 5.0 million passengers in fiscal year 2007.
Four of the six stations busiest by boardings are on Amtrak's NEC: New York (Penn Station) (first), Washington (Union Station) (second), Philadelphia (30th Street Station) (third), and Boston (South Station) (sixth). The other two of the top six are Chicago (Union Station) (fourth) and Los Angeles (Union Station) (fifth).
Many Amtrak trains have both names and numbers. Train routes are named to reflect the rich and complex history of the routes and the areas traversed by them. Each scheduled run of the route is assigned a number. Generally, even-numbered routes run northward and eastward, while odd-numbered routes run southward and westward. Some routes, such as the Pacific Surfliner, use the opposite numbering system, inherited from the previous operators of similar routes, such as the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Many NEC trains only have numbers.
These are the 15 busiest routes in the Amtrak system, ordered by region followed by ridership:
West Coast
Pacific Surfliner: San Luis Obispo – Santa Barbara – Los Angeles – San Diego
Capitol Corridor: Sacramento – Oakland – San Jose
San Joaquin: Oakland–Stockton–Bakersfield & Sacramento–Stockton–Bakersfield
Amtrak Cascades: Vancouver–Seattle–Portland–Eugene
Coast Starlight: Seattle–Los Angeles
Midwest
Hiawatha: Milwaukee–Chicago
Empire Builder: Chicago – Seattle/Portland
Lincoln: Chicago – St. Louis
Wolverine: Chicago–Detroit–Pontiac
East/Southeast
Silver Star: New York City – Raleigh – Tampa – Miami
Northeast
Northeast Regional: Boston/Springfield – New York – Philadelphia – Baltimore – Washington, DC – Virginia (either Richmond, Lynchburg, or Newport News)
Acela: Boston, MA – Washington, D.C.
Keystone: Harrisburg – Philadelphia – New York
Empire: Niagara Falls – Buffalo – Albany – New York
Downeaster: Portland–Boston
Rail passenger efficiency versus other modes
Per passenger mile, Amtrak is 30–40 percent more energy-efficient than commercial airlines and automobiles overall,[96] though the exact figures for particular routes depend on load factor along with other variables. The electrified trains in the Northeast Corridor are considerably more efficient than Amtrak's diesels and can feed energy captured from regenerative braking back to the electrical grid. Passenger rail is also competitive with other modes in terms of safety per mile.
Mode Revenue per passenger mile Energy consumption per passenger mile Deaths per 100 million passenger miles Reliability
Domestic airlines 13.0¢ 2,931 BTUs 0.02 deaths 76%
Transit buses 12.9¢[100] 2,656 BTUs 0.05 deaths N/A
Amtrak 30.7¢ 1,745 BTUs 0.03 deaths 80%
Autos N/A 3,501 BTUs 0.8 deaths N/A
It should be noted that on-time performance is calculated differently for airlines than for Amtrak. A plane is considered on-time if it arrives within 15 minutes of the schedule. Amtrak uses a sliding scale, with trips under 250 miles (400 km) considered late if they're more than 10 minutes behind schedule, up to 30 minutes for trips over 551 miles (887 km) in length.
Intermodal connections
Amtrak connects with Metra commuter trains, water taxis along the Chicago River, and nearby Chicago 'L' trains from Union Station in Chicago.
Intermodal connections between Amtrak trains and other transportation are available at many stations. Most Amtrak rail stations in downtown areas have connections to local public transport. Amtrak also code shares with Continental Airlines, providing service between Newark Liberty International Airport (via its Amtrak station and AirTrain Newark) and Philadelphia 30th St, Wilmington, Stamford, and New Haven. Amtrak also serves airport stations at Milwaukee, Oakland, Burbank, and Baltimore.
Amtrak coordinates Thruway Motorcoach service to extend many of its routes, especially in California.
Gaps in service
Outside the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak is a niche player in passenger transportation. In 2003, Amtrak accounted for just 0.1% of U.S. intercity passenger miles (5,680,000,000 out of 5,280,860,000,000 total, of which private-automobile travel makes up the vast majority). In fiscal year 2004, Amtrak routes served over 25 million passengers, while, in calendar year 2004, commercial airlines served over 712 million passengers.
Initial Amtrak service cuts
When it started on May 1, 1971, Amtrak implemented a fairly drastically truncated system of passenger trains compared to what had previously existed. Out of the 364 passenger trains that operated on April 30, only 182 were continued.
Initially, Amtrak served 46 out of the 50 states. The states not served were:
Alaska was (and is) served by the Alaska Railroad, because it is disconnected from the rest of the US.
Hawaii was excluded because it is outside the contiguous United States and last had passenger service in 1947.
South Dakota's passenger trains, last run by the Milwaukee Road, were discontinued by Amtrak for budget reasons.
Maine was excluded because it last passenger trains were discontinued by the Boston and Maine in 1967, prior to the start of Amtrak in 1971.
Subsequent Amtrak service changes
As of 2010 Amtrak still provides service to only 46 out of the 50 states:
Maine gained service through the new Downeaster trains.
Wyoming lost rail service in the 1997 cuts.
However, even within some of the states in which Amtrak operates, service is nominal at best. Many trains operate along borders and/or away from major population areas, such as in Idaho and Kentucky. Many major cities in the Midwest, West, and South have two or fewer trains per day, such as Atlanta, Denver, Cincinnati, Houston, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis – Saint Paul.
Meanwhile, outside the Continental US:
Alaska is (still) served by the Alaska Railroad, rather than Amtrak.
Hawaii is proposing building a commuter-oriented elevated railroad line on Oahu.
[edit]Service changes due to freight railroads
Since its inception, Amtrak has been reliant on freight railroads and operating over their rights of way. Amtrak services are affected if a freight railroad decides to abandon a right of way that it uses. This can sometimes lead to a rerouting of a train over a different route, adding to a train's travel time, or to the complete discontinuance of a train. Several trains affected by freight railroads over the years have been:
Amtrak train in downtown Orlando, Florida.
In 1983, the Silver Palm, later renamed the Palmetto, between New York and St. Petersberg, Florida, was truncated to Tampa because Amtrak was unable to take on the costs of maintaining the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad drawbridge, which took the train over Tampa Bay.
In 2004, the Palmetto was further truncated back to the route between New York city and Savannah, Georgia, when CSX, successor to the Seaboard Coast Line, decided to abandon its mainline through Ocala. This abandoned track had been the route for the Palmetto from Savannah to Tampa.
The Sunset Limited was rerouted in 1997 to stop at Maricopa, 37 miles south of Phoenix, Arizona, after the Union Pacific Railroad decided to abandon the trackage that served Phoenix. Amtrak did not have the funds to maintain the trackage, and connects Phoenix to Maricopa by an Amtrak bus.
Standard Pacific Surfliner trainset
The San Joaquin service from Los Angeles, through central California, to Sacramento and Oakland, cannot run into Los Angeles after Bakersfield because the Tehachapi Pass line between the two cities, owned and operated by Union Pacific, is the busiest single freight route in the country and thus UP prohibits passenger train use (except when the Coast Starlight's route is being repaired). Passengers take an Amtrak motorcoach bus service between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. The 280 to 318-mile (512 km) route takes roughly nine hours.
The Coast Starlight offers the only direct connection between Los Angeles and Oakland, and onward with Seattle. This runs along the Pacific Coast on a much longer twelve-hour schedule. Amtrak service is provided to San Jose, Oakland, and Emeryville, but not directly to San Francisco. Amtrak passengers destined for San Francisco transfer either at San Jose to Caltrain, which operates all passenger rail service north along the peninsula to San Francisco, or at Oakland to an Amtrak bus or using AC Transit or BART
[edit]Service reductions due to funding issues
Several significant Amtrak routes have been eliminated because of lack of funding since 1971, creating other gaps such as:
The National Limited, a New York and Washington D.C. train that connected with Kansas City, Missouri, providing direct connections to cities such as Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, and St. Louis. After its discontinuance in 1979, Chicago was left as the only passenger rail connection between the Midwest and East.
The North Coast Hiawatha, between Chicago and Seattle, had supplemented the Empire Builder service to the Pacific Northwest until 1979. The Hiawatha, running on a more southern route to Seattle than the Empire Builder, provided communities along that corridor with Amtrak service, in addition to providing another daily service between Chicago and Minneapolis–St. Paul.
In October 1979, The Floridian, which was the last link with the vaunted Chicago–Florida services of such trains as the City of Miami, the Dixie Flagler, and the South Wind, was discontinued – along with the Louisville, Kentucky to Sanford, Florida Auto Train that the Floridian connected to in Louisville. This left the Midwest without any direct connections to Florida. Today passengers must travel east to Washington, D.C. to connect with the southbound Silver Star and Silver Meteor.
In 1985, the local Minneapolis/Saint Paul to Duluth, Minnesota service, the North Star, was eliminated and replaced with through motorcoach service.
In 1995, the Atlantic City Express service from New York and Washington D.C. to Atlantic City via Philadelphia, was replaced by New Jersey Transit passenger trains, which operate 14 daily trains in each direction between Philadelphia and Atlantic City.
The Desert Wind at Las Vegas, Nevada. Service stopped in 1997.
In 1997, the Desert Wind and Pioneer were discontinued, thereby eliminating Amtrak service from Las Vegas, Boise, and all of Wyoming.
In 2003, Amtrak discontinued the Kentucky Cardinal, ending all service to Louisville KY.
In 2004 all Northeast Regional trains between New York and Boston via Hartford and Springfield were discontinued, but the other route between New York and Boston continues to have frequent service.
In 2005, Three Rivers (a reborn Broadway Limited) was canceled, however New York to Chicago trains using the northerly (formerly New York Central) route continued.
In 2005, the Sunset Limited, which offers thrice-weekly service between Orlando FL and Los Angeles CA, was affected by track damage along the Gulf Coast caused by Hurricane Katrina. This resulted in the train being temporarily truncated to the segment between New Orleans LA and Los Angeles CA. Although the track's owner, CSX, completed repairs by early 2006, Amtrak service has not resumed service between New Orleans and Orlando.
[edit]Recent issues with freight railroads
According to August 2010 issue of Trains Magazine, the Southwest Chief currently faces some challenges regarding some moves made by BNSF to cease all freight operations between La Junta, CO, and Lamy, NM. It has been reported that BNSF told Amtrak that as of January 1, 2010, all maintenance costs are to be covered by Amtrak if they wished to continue routing the train over the same right-of-way. Furthermore, BNSF has also declared that it will maintain the tracks between Hutchinson, KS, and La Junta, CO, at a Class 2 (30 mph passenger train maximum) speed instead of a Class 4 (79 mph passenger train maximum), again handing the bill over to Amtrak if they wanted to see service continue at a Class 4 level. These moves have led BNSF to offer to host the Southwest Chief over BNSF's currently used freight routes via Wichita, KS, Wellington, KS, Amarillo, TX, and Clovis, NM; however, Amtrak has refused and insists that they will pay the bill in order to keep the service as it currently is.
Three intermediate stops along the route of the Empire Builder in North Dakota are on the chopping block due to complications arising from Devils Lake, also according to the August 2010 issue of Trains Magazine. Because Canada will not allow the waters of the lake to drain within its borders, the lake is slowly rising and threatens to submerge the BNSF right-of-way located near it. As a result, BNSF has ended freight service between Devils Lake and Churchs Ferry, handing the cost of maintenance over to Amtrak. North Dakota's Congressional delegation has declared that there will be no reroute, as suggested by BNSF, to go directly between Fargo, ND, and Minot, ND, and possibly serve New Rockford, ND; instead, they have declared that they will "find the necessary funding needed" in order to help Amtrak cover the maintenance costs.
Train speeds, frequency, and ridership: international comparisons
US passenger rail offerings are not competitive with the passenger rail offerings in most of Europe or much of Japan, when comparing train frequency, speeds, ticket prices, or geographic coverage. Canadian passenger rail services are broadly similar to US passenger rail services, however.
The causes of these differences are disputed. Some suggest that the longer distances between most US cities and the lower population density, as compared with Europe or Japan, are the primary causes. These people often also note that the US Northeast Corridor route has both higher population density and shorter inter-city distances than the rest of the US. These people also often note that many European Union countries have much higher gasoline taxes, which makes automobile travel much more expensive per-mile in the EU than in the US, thereby encouraging use of alternative modes of transport. Others believe that US passenger rail has received less governmental subsidy (federal and state) than it should have received. Many other perspectives about these differences exist.
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