thebigp

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Amtrak interim CEO Charles W. Moorman III made a rare admission for a businessman in a speech last week: His company is never going to make a profit. That’s no surprise to anyone who knows anything about Amtrak, which has cost taxpayers more than $45 billion in subsidies since service began in 1971. Even in a good year, such as 2014, Amtrak lost $227 million, or $1.1 billion including depreciating assets.
Moorman said his mission is simply to minimize the rail system’s losses. “My mantra to everyone has been we’re going to run [Amtrak] like a great company. We’re going to benchmark ourselves against great private corporations, because we can deliver great service and minimize the money that we require from the government,” he explained. That’s a far cry from the way Amtrak has been treated in the past. Congress has barked and growled but never held the organization accountable. And the train was hailed as the blue-collar, eco-friendly flying carpet of former Vice President Joe Biden, who announced before leaving office $2.54 billion in additional funding for Amtrak—the largest loan ever given by the Department of Transportation.
If President Trump follows through on his campaign promise to slash the Department of Transportation’s budget by 13 percent, Amtrak would be forced to close its long-distance lines. Several weeks ago, I rode one of these lines myself, taking the train between New Orleans and Washington, D.C. It was a pleasant experience, especially considering (shiver) Greyhound was my only alternative. Still, it was easy to see that Amtrak has a number of problems.
The food was good, but overpriced. The dining car was enjoyable, but understaffed. The train technically arrived “on-time,” but it often reduced speed because of the weather or bad track. It’s also worth mentioning that most of my fellow riders said they chose Amtrak because they hate to fly, hate to drive, or have been loyal customers for decades.
Based on the budget numbers, my experience was typical. Amtrak’s long-distance routes lose about $600 million annually. Despite exorbitant menu prices, the train’s food service scraped $900 million into the garbage between 2003 and 2013. The average onboard employee, meanwhile, made $41.19 an hour on Amtrak in 2012, while private contract employees earned $7.75 to $13.00 an hour.
The scope of Amtrak’s shortcomings induces nervous laughter. Amtrak estimates it would need an additional $1 billion until 2030 to bring the Northeast Corridor—its only profitable line—up to speed. According to a congressionally established Northeast Corridor commission report, the average age of major backlogged projects is—no typo—111 years old.
Moorman has given up the scam that Amtrak has played for decades, asking for increased funding while failing to turn a profit, or even be self-sustaining. He admits that “Rail passenger transportation is not a particularly good business model … and the people who built [Amtrak] up always knew … ‘this thing will probably never make money.’” Moorman is asking the American taxpayer to think of Amtrak as a public service (money pit) that will always need to be subsidized, and is right to say a private company would fail to do better. Amtrak was, after all, formed precisely because private passenger railroads could no longer compete with airlines and interstate highways.
Amtrak has announced that Richard Anderson, former Delta Air Lines CEO, will take over for Moorman as President and CEO at the end of the year. Hopefully he will share Moorman’s skepticism, and succeed in losing fewer billions than his predecessors. As it exists now, Amtrak can do no better.
source--grant wishard, charles moormanIII, joe biden, richard anderson

Raydolinka

Yes, Yes and a super BIG. YES. From the Day One, AMTRAK, Politically Controled and Operated.The know it all Chief should go to Europe and how to operate a railroad.
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