So why did the government do this again? Simply put, the industry was heading toward a major derailment—specifically in the case of Penn Central.
The product of a massive merger between multiple regional railroads, Penn Central filed for bankruptcy slightly more than two years after it first sprung to life —the largest corporate bankruptcy of all time by that point and the very definition of too-big-to-fail. The harsh comedown for Penn Central threatened to hobble rail service, both freight and passenger, on the East Coast, which was then and now the most successful area of the country for when it came to putting people in trains.
Penn Central's failure led to the creation of what became Amtrak, and a few years later, Conrail, a federally run freight train-system that managed the remains of Penn Central and other dormant rail lines until someone picked up the mantle. The Penn Central debacle, if not turned around quickly, will hasten the day that this private system becomes another arm of the government.
As it turned out, this fire-and-brimstone scenario, the kind of stuff libertarian thesis papers were designed for, was only half-right. The U. The number of trains that ran on the Amtrak system during its earliest days in —a sharp decrease from the number of lines run by train operators prior to the switch-over, and a point not missed by Congress, where senators complained after entire states were ignored by the revamped model.
As Classic Trains magazine notes, some private operators chose to continue their passenger service, but eventually fell into the warm loving arms of public operation. This Empire Builder train sure looks awesome, doesn't it?
Well, it's gonna be late. Sorry in advance. At least it generally shows up to Philly or Washington, DC, on time more than 80 percent of the time.
But expand beyond that, and the numbers are often depressing. The Auto Train, a bring-your-vehicle ride between Virginia and Florida, had an on-time performance rate of roughly 35 percent in March. There are a lot of factors that go with this, but probably one that matters more than any other is that these lines are some of the many not actually owned by Amtrak.
Why such a stark difference? From a policy paper :. A caricature? By Federal law, Amtrak has theoretically privileged access to the entire national rail network, including host railroad property such as station buildings, platforms, and other facilities for passengers:.
But despite the law, it has become clear that this system is not working. There is presently no means for Amtrak to enforce its preference rights, Amtrak trains continue to experience major delays on some of the very freight railroad-owned lines that have benefited from publics investments, for example by adding track capacity on shared tracks to improve reliability of freight services and provide room for growth.
Politically powerful The weight of the rail freight sector is overwhelming in the United States. Its significant decline in the s and s led to the Staggers Rail Act of , which largely deregulated the rail industry. Today, this sector is considered one of the most dynamic freight systems in the world. The U. The majority of the investments are for maintenance in order to ensure that the rolling stock is in good working order, while 15 to 20 percent of capital expenditures, on average, are used to enhance capacity 4.
In this context, Amtrak is just a little aphid…. An unsuitable railway track Freight trains do not need speed but capacity. Trains of 3 to 5, tonnes are likely to damage the track, even at low speeds.
Amtrak performs far better on the Northeast corridor, where it owns the tracks. Last year, 85 percent of its high-speed Acela Express trains between Boston and Washington arrived within 10 minutes of their scheduled time.
But where Amtrak depends on the freight railroads, the picture is far gloomier, and the Capitol Limited is not even the worst case. The Coast Starlight, which runs between Seattle and Los Angeles, had an on-time performance of 4 percent in the fiscal year ended Sept. In the current fiscal year, the California Zephyr has not once arrived on time. The freight railroads say they do the best they can and are investing heavily in capacity improvements. In its own letter to the board, CSX Corp.
There is little incentive for the railroads to help Amtrak arrive on time, because the fees that Amtrak pays to use the tracks are paltry in relation to the billions of dollars the freight lines take in.
Nor are there any real consequences for failing to accommodate Amtrak. A bill in the Senate calls for establishing penalties. Last year, the U. Court of Appeals for […]. Notices may soon start appearing at train stations around the United States warning of possible service disruptions as states struggle to finalize funding agreements with Amtrak. Sign Up.
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