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Re: Amtrak Puzzle: RailwayAge Andrew vs. Richard? Two failed visions?
Author: FUD
Date: 08-17-2019 - 07:43
In principle, the California model is that the state owns the equipment and the shops, and contracts with Amtrak to operate and maintain its fleet. Many commuter operations run the same way; ACE between Stockton and San Jose, for instance, owns their equipment (and, now, shops) and has successfully used Herzog to run it. Several others contract with Amtrak for operating staff.
The advantage of having Amtrak operate it is that Amtrak has all the properly-certificated staff, and is a generally acceptable operating group for the freight railroads. The state (or, now, the regional JPAs) don't have to hire, train, etc. the operating staff, which can be expensive. It allows the state trains to be integrated with Amtrak's long-distance system for ticketing, transfers, and the like. And it allows access to Amtrak's equipment to keep things running when stuff breaks down or there's insufficient state equipment for a new service (can lease stuff from Amtrak, short or long-term). The downside, of course, is the cost and Amtrak's seemingly political method of allocating it (opaque accounting), and there are occasional rumblings about doing a bid for service that would let other organizations have a crack at it.
Note that, with minor exceptions where segments of a run are on commuter lines, the state trains, like Amtrak long distance, run on freight railroads. The state seems to have a better relationship with them than Amtrak as a whole, especially in terms of schedule-keeping, probably in part as a result of the state spending money to improve the tracks. The fact that the runs are short (longest California run is the San Joaquin, on the order of 300 miles) also helps with equipment utilization and schedule-keeping compared to the true long-distance trains.
There is a catch: we're talking here about trains that are all in one state. The only interstate runs for California Amtrak are bus connectors to Reno and Las Vegas. Being all in one state simplifies management and makes it relatively easy to allocate costs. Interstate corridors like the Hoosier State fiasco are a different animal, because it's very hard to set up a multi-state authority to run the trains that won't be constantly whipsawed by politics. That's especially true if there's an attempt to use somebody the freight railroads are unfamiliar with or don't like to run the trains, rather than Amtrak.
The advantage of having Amtrak operate it is that Amtrak has all the properly-certificated staff, and is a generally acceptable operating group for the freight railroads. The state (or, now, the regional JPAs) don't have to hire, train, etc. the operating staff, which can be expensive. It allows the state trains to be integrated with Amtrak's long-distance system for ticketing, transfers, and the like. And it allows access to Amtrak's equipment to keep things running when stuff breaks down or there's insufficient state equipment for a new service (can lease stuff from Amtrak, short or long-term). The downside, of course, is the cost and Amtrak's seemingly political method of allocating it (opaque accounting), and there are occasional rumblings about doing a bid for service that would let other organizations have a crack at it.
Note that, with minor exceptions where segments of a run are on commuter lines, the state trains, like Amtrak long distance, run on freight railroads. The state seems to have a better relationship with them than Amtrak as a whole, especially in terms of schedule-keeping, probably in part as a result of the state spending money to improve the tracks. The fact that the runs are short (longest California run is the San Joaquin, on the order of 300 miles) also helps with equipment utilization and schedule-keeping compared to the true long-distance trains.
There is a catch: we're talking here about trains that are all in one state. The only interstate runs for California Amtrak are bus connectors to Reno and Las Vegas. Being all in one state simplifies management and makes it relatively easy to allocate costs. Interstate corridors like the Hoosier State fiasco are a different animal, because it's very hard to set up a multi-state authority to run the trains that won't be constantly whipsawed by politics. That's especially true if there's an attempt to use somebody the freight railroads are unfamiliar with or don't like to run the trains, rather than Amtrak.
