I am shocked, shocked, to find that the government-managed Amtrak system still gets passengers. Especially in the winter months. But I recently saw a few stories about crappy Amtrak service, with the obligatory government promises to “investigate.”
"Amtrak Train From Hell Delayed Almost 24 Hours" Jan 8, 2010
"Amtrak trains on the East Coast are running on schedule or close to it after an electrical problem ... "
"Thousands of passengers were stranded in stations and on trains."
Some might recall that in December of 2008, a trainload of holiday travellers heading into Grand Rapids were stranded on an Amtrak train for some 12 hours.
The train was destined for Grand Rapids, but got hung-up a short distance past Holland. One guy couldn’t take it any more and jumped off, and walked away. Walking and hitching his way back to G.R., he arrived here before the passengers on Amtrak did!
The problems included workers (apparently) totally unable to work past their shift (thanks to the government); so the customers were left simply out of luck and stuck. The train they were stranded on didn’t have, among other things, working toilets (on top of not having working employees.)
The passengers ended up reaching their destination when a private company went out and got them. Haha!
From a Grand Rapids Press article:
Among other things, MDOT officials asked in their letter to Amtrak why the train left the Holland station early with an Amtrak crew that was within minutes of finishing its federally mandated 12-hour work shift. The train stopped a half-mile east of the station and waited three hours for a relief crew.
…
CSX officials said Amtrak’s relief crew never made it. Instead, a CSX crew finished the trip.
That was joined by another occurrence of people being stranded in Chicago’s Union Station for nearly 24 hours. From an article at Consumerist.com back in Dec 2008:
About 450 Amtrak passengers were stranded in Chicago’s Union Station for almost 24 hours — without food, water or access to reliable functioning restrooms. … Similar reports of horrible delays are popping up all over the country.
Here’s a train to Michigan that left 8 hours late from Chicago and was spotted sitting on a sidetrack waiting for a new crew. And here’s another one to Chicago that stopped mysteriously every hour and forty-five minutes.
Remember, Government also wants to run your health-care and manage your defence for you. Be afraid.
Ridiculous comments! In the first place, the government doesn’t run Amtrak; it’s a private corporation that recived about 20% of it’s operating funds from both federal and state governments. Every other national passenger rail system in the world receives higher percentage of government support. You give the airlines a pass for cancellations and delays because of bad weather, but won’t do the same for Amtrak? One reason Amtrak has equipment problems is that Bush did his best to kill Amtrak through under-funding year after year. Don’t complain about subsidies either. EVERY form of public transportation is heavily subsidized, from the airlines to sidewalks. And dragging health care into this is irrelevant partisan ideology, and … well … just dumb.
Hi, Jim!
Thank you for the thoughtful comments.
• “The government doesn’t run Amtrak; it’s a private corporation … ”
Yes, it’s true that it is somehow considered a private company. The government itself stated “Amtrak is considered a private corporation” in a statement from the Congressional Budget Office in 2003. But they use the word “private” pretty loosely.
That same document states that Amtrak is owned by the government. It also states that “the first claim to any profit that Amtrak might earn is held by the Secretary of Transportation.” It further states that “the federal government is the primary source of capital for Amtrak.”
Amtrak is owned, and funded, and run by the Federal Government. The Federal Government itself says so. “The federal government has extensive control over Amtrak’s policies through the board of directors that it appoints and through the leverage that it gains by providing essential financial support.” And
all of Amtrak’s preferred stock is owned by the government.
(http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=4571&type=0&sequence=6)
• “You give the airlines a pass for cancellations and delays because of bad weather, but won’t do the same for Amtrak?”
Because government has a monopoly on the passenger rail system through Amtrak, I have a huge problem with them. Their business sucks so badly, government bails them out again and again. Quoting that same document, Amtrak requires the Federal Government to “cover operating losses on nearly every route.”
If there was a monopoly on air travel through the Federal Government owning and managing a single airline, I’ll “rail”on them too. (Pardon the bad pun.) But airlines compete, and some fail. Amtrak continues to live on forever, with no consequences.
• “EVERY form of public transportation is heavily subsidized, from the airlines to sidewalks.”
Yes. They shouldn’t be.
• “And dragging health care into this is irrelevant partisan ideology, and … well … just dumb.”
First of all, I am not partisan in the Republican vs Democrat sense. I do not vote Republican. Moreover, all of Versailles DC can fall into the stinking pit as far as I am concerned.
Secondly, government cannot manage a rail system. Hell, they can’t even get a restaurant biz to function properly. (See http://www.withoutadjectives.com/?p=213). Yet they wanna manage car companies and health care and the mortgage industry? Be afraid.
Again, Jim, thank you for bringing up the points. It made for a nice opportunity for me to think about, and clarify, my concerns. Please, feel free to post again.