Railroading seems to run in the family!!Source: AmtrakHe is married to Kathleen Regan Kummant, a former senior
executive with the Santa Fe and BNSF railroads."
I guess they all have one track minds. :lol: :lol:Railroading seems to run in the family!!Source: Amtrak
He is married to Kathleen Regan Kummant, a former senior
executive with the Santa Fe and BNSF railroads."
When what they need are double track minds. .I guess they all have one track minds. :lol: :lol:Railroading seems to run in the family!!Source: Amtrak
He is married to Kathleen Regan Kummant, a former senior
executive with the Santa Fe and BNSF railroads."
My thought exactly.Hmm, wonder if his connections with UP will help solve the ongoing problems with running on UP? :unsure:
Perhaps they will, but I fear just HOW!Hmm, wonder if his connections with UP will help solve the ongoing problems with running on UP? :unsure:
Well, he definitely didn't come up thru the ranks........that was probably summer work done while going to high school/college. Here's a bit of his job history-Perhaps they will, but I fear just HOW!Hmm, wonder if his connections with UP will help solve the ongoing problems with running on UP? :unsure:
He does seem to have a good railroading background, and has come through the ranks. I only hope that his UP affiliation doesn't indicate that the fox is now entering the hen house! :huh:
Yes he donated to the Repbulican Party, which I will openly admit I am a Repbulican but I hope he doesn't kill Amtrak. Amtrak was smart to hire someone who has Freight RR Experience, not another Transit guy.Is he a Republican????????????? :huh:
I agree with George,Another forum had a link to http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/con...nt.asp?cycle=02
which gives his political contributions.
$4,523 total in two pieces done in 2002. That would hardly be enough to be noticed in DC, so this likely has nothing to do with his getting the job.
My main concern is that other that likely one summer of sweat, which if he really learned anything from it could make a real difference in his outlook, he has spent his entire working life in management in the true sense of the word. The amount of moving around is a little unnerving. I have seen too much of management that had no true understanding of what they were trying to manage to the extent that they even make Dilbert's boss look good.
Considering the relative ability of the UP to move trains compared to almost anybody and everybody else in the industry, I am not sure that being from UP managment ranks really indicates ability in knowing how to run a railroad.
George
Sam,For the time being, I'm going to be cautiously optimistic. If the man has worked on a track gang, even as a summer hire, I think he can't be all bad for Amtrak.
This opinion could change rapidly if he wants to kill LD trains, however. DaimlerChrysler recently acknowleged their internal planning for the next four years was based on $3.00+/gallon prices for gasoline; Amtrak needs to look at how to extend and improve service, not cutting it.
No business I have ever read about "saved their way to #1."
That is perhaps the greatest tragedy that the "rebuilds" are cosmetic only. I was stunned when the sleeping car attendant opened the electrical cabinet on my recent EB trip to see the 30 year old breakers. He told me that everything else like that, that really matters operationally was still original. So while the inside may look nice and pleasing to the customer, in a few more years it will all be wasted as the rest of the car falls apart around the customer.Currently the shop forces are only doing cosmetic restorations on the Superliners, while a guy I know who works for Amtrak says the Superliner I's all need to be rewired and repiped or constant breakdown with electrics and plumbing are soon going to be a regular problem.
My Grandfather lives directly next door to Kathleen Regan Kummant's parents in suburban St. Louis. I had heard about a week ago that Kathleen's husband was considering taking the Amtrak CEO position, but I didn't know his name (or even Kathleen's married last name). From what I have heard, Kummant has a reputation for successfully turning around troubled companies. Given this, it seems to me that he does thrive on challenges. I hope he is up to the challenge of turning around Amtrak. (and I hope that his idea of turning Amtrak around involves adding more Long and Short Distance routes, not cutting back on them)If his tenure at UP was successful, why did he leave? And this is now his third high-level position after leaving UP. Unless he's a person who thrives on challenges, why take on a job with (1) huge headaches, (2) relatively low salary, & (3) no stock options? Plus none of his prior jobs would have involved dealing with politicians on the scale he'll have to with Amtrak.
Perhaps he's more likely to be Laney's hand-puppet rather than a pawn of the UP. Come home, David Gunn, all is forgiven!
I should have made it clearer; implicit to me with looking at "extending and improving service" is finding the funding for new equipment. Replacing Amfleet cars alone is going to run $1 billion+, let alone the Superliner successors. That sort of scratch is not going to be easy to find, even if gasoline is $3.00+ a gallon.I agree on the issue of extending and improving service. But I think that Amtrak has to be planning for new equipment soon! Currently the shop forces are only doing cosmetic restorations on the Superliners, while a guy I know who works for Amtrak says the Superliner I's all need to be rewired and repiped or constant breakdown with electrics and plumbing are soon going to be a regular problem. In order to expand, I think new equipment is needed.
Such ideas transplanted into Amtrak would mark a revolution in the USA intercity passenger rail system.We responded to rising global competition in the 1980s by defining a new Best Cost Producer Strategy. The idea was to not compete exclusively on price but rather on value—the optimum combination of products, services, and pricing—as perceived by our customers: best cost, not lowest cost.
The Best Cost Producer strategy originally consisted of six points (see "Emerson's Best Cost Producer Strategy: 1980s") that mingled old and new management policies and principles at Emerson. We maintained our traditional emphasis on formalized cost-reduction programs, effective communications, and ongoing capital expenditures. However, we stopped using ourselves as a benchmark and focused instead on the best-in-class competitors, wherever they happened to be.
i'd say i feel exactly the same way as you right now about Mr. Kummant accepting the Amtrak CEO/President job. i have mixed feelings about him, but i echo the sentiment of another poster who said that he hopes his ties to UP will force them to stop severely delaying Amtrak trains in favor of their freight traffic so damn often. too bad that railroad traffic relief(by building 2nd tracks in certain rail routes through rural areas that are single-track) probably won't happen as quickly as i'd like to see happen among many freight RRs, save for BNSF's inititive to do this on the line that the SW Chief runs on(and a few of BNSF's other lines)Another forum had a link to http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/con...nt.asp?cycle=02
which gives his political contributions.
$4,523 total in two pieces done in 2002. That would hardly be enough to be noticed in DC, so this likely has nothing to do with his getting the job.
My main concern is that other that likely one summer of sweat, which if he really learned anything from it could make a real difference in his outlook, he has spent his entire working life in management in the true sense of the word. The amount of moving around is a little unnerving. I have seen too much of management that had no true understanding of what they were trying to manage to the extent that they even make Dilbert's boss look good.
Considering the relative ability of the UP to move trains compared to almost anybody and everybody else in the industry, I am not sure that being from UP managment ranks really indicates ability in knowing how to run a railroad.
George
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