Amtrak makes strides in on-time performance

[JeffreyS]

Amtrak makes strides in on-time performance
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/5B0A24DD8114111C862575D90000BA09?OpenDocument


By Elisa Crouch
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/18/2009

Amtrak's track record on punctuality has traveled a long way in a short time.

In May, 93 percent of its passenger trains traveling between St. Louis and Kansas City arrived within 15 minutes of schedule â€" up from less than 1 percent last October. Its on-time performance has surprised longtime riders, who had become accustomed to delays as long as five hours.

Sandy Brown of Sunset Hills remembers the old Amtrak.

When she took Amtrak to Kansas City several years ago, "it was terribly late," she said, waiting to board at the Kirkwood station recently. "It has been late most the time."


According to Amtrak, arriving on time is critical to keeping passengers happy. "We've made some huge strides," Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

Service between St. Louis and Chicago also is improving.

In May, 77 percent of trains on the Illinois line arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival, compared with 26 percent the same month last year, according to Amtrak figures.

The challenge for Amtrak now becomes getting the word out to passengers who may have tried the train last summer when gasoline prices shot up, only to face long delays. When gasoline prices fell last fall, so did ridership gains. The number of riders in Missouri went from 18,615 in July to 11,571 riders in November.

"You literally have people who get off the train and say they're not getting on the train again," said Rod Massman, administrator of railroads for the Missouri Department of Transportation. "You can't run a service like that."

In Missouri, the dramatic turnaround began late last fall, after Union Pacific, which owns the track Amtrak uses, added an extra track across the Gasconade River. About the same time, a new federal law called for fines on railroad companies, such as Union Pacific, if they didn't keep passenger trains running on schedule 80 percent of the time. It was about that time that on-time performance began to improve for Amtrak trains in Illinois as well.

And then earlier this year, the Missouri Department of Transportation began working with Union Pacific on the biggest stumbling block to keeping passenger trains on schedule: the track itself.

"It's almost like a perfect storm of things started," Massman said.

Amtrak uses a double track between St. Louis and Jefferson City. But west of the capital, there is only a single track, and Amtrak must share it with 50 to 60 freight trains daily. Freight train interference causes most of Amtrak's delays. Union Pacific dispatchers direct Amtrak trains to pull over onto sidings whenever a freight train needs to pass. Those sidings aren't long enough to hold a mile-long freight train, which is why passenger trains must always yield.

To unclog one major bottleneck, Union Pacific is using $5 million from the state and $3.3 million from the federal government to lengthen a siding near California, Mo., where Amtrak trains and freight trains meet regularly. By November, the new siding should allow slower freight trains to move off the main track and let faster passenger trains pass, reducing annual delays by an additional 17 percent, according to MoDOT.

Union Pacific has spent tens of millions of dollars in Missouri in recent years on track upgrades â€" removing curves, replacing weak rail with stronger rail, and improving crossings. The improvements allow trains to travel more quickly, and allow Union Pacific dispatchers to get trains around each other without delays.

As a result, "We've been able to see an improvement in velocity in Amtrak and freight," said Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific.

It also hasn't hurt Amtrak that freight traffic nationwide is on the decline.

In May, U.S. rail carload traffic was down 25 percent compared with the same month last year, the Association of American Railroads reported. Freight traffic has been declining since November, reflecting the drop in demand for chemicals, raw materials and consumer and manufactured goods, such as automobiles.

When freight traffic picks up, track improvements and changes in Union Pacific's dispatching should keep Amtrak on schedule, rail officials say.

Amtrak's improved on-time performance isn't a fluke, Massman said. "We think it a trend that will stay this way."

But much will depend on Union Pacific's dispatching priorities.
"It really comes down to how well we operate on their tracks under their control," Magliari of Amtrak said.

[JeffreyS]

I think if we all realize that it is not about making the trains have faster top speeds.  It is about eliminating the slow downs that could give America reliable usable rail service.

[Ocklawaha]

For the railroads, just a few years ago, Amtrak could just run off a cliff. Sadly they had ZERO support from Federal Administration after Administration. "Run excellent trains and schedules, cut the costs, make a profit, and oh, by the way, operate a NATIONAL system, to and from these key cities..." Sounds good on the surface, but translated into real concepts that line is FULL of self destruct mandates.

Examples:
Cut costs AND operate a National System.
Make a profit, but you MUST serve this, that and the other cities.
Run Excellent trains and schedule, but we won't fund ANY equipment, Not even repairs, to trains, stations or packages.

For more then 35 years, not a finger was lifted in Washington for Amtrak. Mr. Environment, Al Gore, Guru of the Green, has so ignored Amtrak that Tennessee still only has two active train stations, Memphis and a small town to the north... Nashville, World Country Music Capital...ZERO; Chattanooga, Home of the famous Choo Choo hotel and Glen Millers famous song...ZERO; Knoxville, university's and gateway to the Blue Ridge...ZERO; murfreesboro, Medium city with a Giant National Military Park...ZERO. So if Gore hasn't been helping Amtrak who has?

Jeffery, you are 100% correct. It's NOT about High Speed Rail, rather it IS about HIGHER SPEED RAIL ON AMTRAK ROUTES OF TODAY AND TOMORROW. Union Pacific was recently infamous for delaying every Amtrak train on the system. Easy out, just tell them the passing sidings are only 2,500 feet long (about .5 miles). No freight train worth it's salt is going to be that short, so if we keep the sidings short, guess who MUST go into that hole and wait for traffic to clear? Duh? Railroad friends were getting off 12 hour late trains in California and commenting to me stuff like, "We went in the hole 33 times from Chicago!" Now FINALLY we have an administration who has given Amtrak Legal some TEETH, and they have already taken a chunk out of U.P. (*AKA-Uncle Pete's) hind end. "El Duce" would be proud.

Now comes a new administration, one that is pouring money into rail. Already things are changing across the country, and NOBODY wants to delay this train. Speed is NEVER as important as schedule keeping, frankly in national surveys speed is way down the list. People want to know 3 things,1.) WHERE AND WHEN DO I BOARD,
2.) COMFORT LEVELS AND CONVIENCE, 3.) THIS TRAIN/BUS/PLANE WILL PICK ME UP WHEN IT SAYS AND DROP ME AT MY DESTINATION WHEN IT SAYS.

Clearing a path for Amtrak on all of our rail lines is possible, the sale of our old "S" line and the line to Yulee to the City of Jacksonville for a terminal road opens HUGE possibilities. Want to have some fun? Go to a satellite view of Yulee, Florida, and follow that railroad / abandoned railroad all the way into Savannah. After this exercise, write back and tell my how many "billions" we'll need for the Savannah-Jax leg of our new rail system.
Here's a hint: BETTER THEN BRT, ONLY MUCH LESS COST.

OCKLAWAHA

[Ron Mexico]

I saw this link and thought you all might like it give the enthusiasm for rail here...

http://www.moonamtrak.org/

[Jason]

Ha!!  Great find!

There are a few nice moons.    And better yet, they've made a festival of it!