I think that any credible point made by the author in his self-contradictory, poorly researched, and outwardly misleading rant was stumbled upon by accident.
He claims that Amtrak has simultaneously pushed native advertising via mass media pieces while also "trash[ing] its own product." He claims that Amtrak ignores GAAP when
their own auditor says that their statements are "in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles." He suggests that California "take the next step and lease [its] own equipment," apparently blissfully unaware that the state has done so already for several decades. He claims that there is no longer a staffed lounge car, which is depending on your definition of lounge either completely false or a state of being that has extended for far longer than his bogeyman Richard Anderson has led Amtrak. He claims that Amtrak "continues to ignore advising passengers in its advertising that the
Silver Star lost its diner" when
Amtrak's Silver Service page states quite clearly that "food service is limited to meals purchased in the Café/Lounge car." He claims that Anderson has "set a course to intentionally dilute revenue in peak periods" via reducing consists without any data points to support the claim, nor any attempt at a cost/benefit analysis, and in complete contradiction of Amtrak's continued
addition of service and capacity this past Thanksgiving, as it does every year.
The man is a disgrace to journalism, and Railway Age should be ashamed to publish such misleading trash under its name. An op-ed is one thing, a piece that has failed at basic fact-checking in support of its arguments is quite another. Unfortunately, Railway Age seems to be committed to an editorial philosophy of throwing anything negative possible at Amtrak, with truth an optional component.