amtrak versus the shutdown

[yarrow]

Amtrak, the National Passenger Railroad Corporation, could cease to be a “national” network if the federal government shutdown drags on. The company has said that it can ride out a short-term shutdown, on the order of several weeks, but it’s unclear what might happen beyond that point. The good news is that the company is in better financial health than they have been in a decade or more, somewhat extending the window of time they can operate without federal assistance. The bad news is that it would still be a extremely difficult task to find the $100 million or so per month they would need to keep running the company as it is today.



LINK

 

[montana mike]

The Amtrak people I have spoken with over the past week here locally say stuff like this is just not entirely accurate. They have sufficient cash flow and operating funds to run for months (this is not to say certain new projects/service will not be effected, but current services remain mostly unchanged). There was a similar article about the EB in several MT news media recently on exactly the same theme and the Amtrak people replied almost immediately that the authors didn't even bother to contact Amtrak on this to get their position on the current slow down (remember over 80% of all federal employees are still at work). Whatever happened to responsible investigative journalism. One would have thought that at least this author would have contacted someone in Amtrak to ask what their position is. Anyone know the source of this info? In MT the story was picked up by the AP, but they gave no attribution and pulled it down after one day.

I know the current situation is frustrating, but our journalists need to focus on facts and real things rather than supposition....

 

[guest]

The Amtrak people I have spoken with over the past week here locally say stuff like this is just not entirely accurate. They have sufficient cash flow and operating funds to run for months (this is not to say certain new projects/service will not be effected, but current services remain mostly unchanged). There was a similar article about the EB in several MT news media recently on exactly the same theme and the Amtrak people replied almost immediately that the authors didn't even bother to contact Amtrak on this to get their position on the current slow down (remember over 80% of all federal employees are still at work). Whatever happened to responsible investigative journalism. One would have thought that at least this author would have contacted someone in Amtrak to ask what their position is. Anyone know the source of this info? In MT the story was picked up by the AP, but they gave no attribution and pulled it down after one day.

I know the current situation is frustrating, but our journalists need to focus on facts and real things rather than supposition....

Is it possible that "our journalists" are required by their employers to crank out, at top speed, the types of articles that sell papers (and hits on websites) and the advertisers' products? Where does the "responsible journalist" go for a job that does not compromise idealism? I am not sure there is much market for it these days.

 

[SarahZ]

The Amtrak people I have spoken with over the past week here locally say stuff like this is just not entirely accurate. They have sufficient cash flow and operating funds to run for months (this is not to say certain new projects/service will not be effected, but current services remain mostly unchanged). There was a similar article about the EB in several MT news media recently on exactly the same theme and the Amtrak people replied almost immediately that the authors didn't even bother to contact Amtrak on this to get their position on the current slow down (remember over 80% of all federal employees are still at work). Whatever happened to responsible investigative journalism. One would have thought that at least this author would have contacted someone in Amtrak to ask what their position is. Anyone know the source of this info? In MT the story was picked up by the AP, but they gave no attribution and pulled it down after one day.

I know the current situation is frustrating, but our journalists need to focus on facts and real things rather than supposition....

Is it possible that "our journalists" are required by their employers to crank out, at top speed, the types of articles that sell papers (and hits on websites) and the advertisers' products? Where does the "responsible journalist" go for a job that does not compromise idealism? I am not sure there is much market for it these days.

Exactly the reason I got out of the journalism field. It focuses on quantity, not quality. They barely even use editors/proofreaders anymore, and a lot of the articles I read online hover around 4th or 6th grade quality. I got laid off in 2005, which was awful, but it was also kind of a blessing.

 

[Ispolkom]

To be fair, the quoted article is from a blog, not a newspaper. Nice picture of St. Paul Union Depot, though.

 

[montana mike]

Ah, a blog. One thing about the internet, if you have a blog you are all of a sudden an "expert" and it is amazing how people then pick these things up and run with them. On both sides of the spectrum these folks get waaaaay more credit than due. Oh, well. I guess it is a sign of the times. Some people may think of Amtrak and the trains it runs as an anachronism in the 21st century, but it is one of the few "institutions" that plods along, day after day, helping thousands of pax reach their destinations. They may not go 500 mph, but it is heartening to see the trains for the most part can be counted on to reach their destination.

 

[me_little_me]

If the shutdown goes on a few more weeks, Amtrak will only be a small part of the country's problems anyway. That is, of course, if nobody comes up with alternatives. Witness the parks where states have come up with solutions to them.

 

[SANSR]

The 'media', no matter what shape or form they may take, have effectively managed to remove themselves from fact based reality because they seek to be 'the first with the worst'. A ratings count is more important than accuracy in reporting of actual events (including how that information is presented to the reader / listener); regardless of a political compass.

Disclaimer: I appreciate that I can vocalize a political premise on AU. All too often, discussions of a political nature on this platform tend to create needless churn. Hopefully, this will not be one of them.

 

[Ryan]

Agreed wholeheartedly. When there's so much profit to be made, things like journalistic standards seem to fly out the window. Too bad we all lose.

 

[billthebarn]

Profit and good journalistic standards are nor mutually exclusive. Nor is profit a dirty word. An entity can be both honest and profitable at the same time.

 

[henryj]

Amtrak is a public corporation. All it has to do to keep running is generate some cash. They could start by laying off all the redundant, expensive overhead they carry year after year. Then they could start operating like a service company that wants to stay in business.

 

[Anderson]

At least on the operating side, Amtrak is probably only down $200-250m/yr. The problem is that there's necessary capital maintenance on the NEC that also has to come from somewhere. Now, it's possible that they could lean on NJT, MARC, SEPTA, the MTA, and/or MBTA a bit due to the situation (whether a shutdown qualifies for a force majure change in access fees or not is a good question), as well as possibly the freight customers, with an agreement that their surcharges would get at least partly refunded if/when the Feds come through. But beyond that...well, things get a bit hazy.

The other mess, of course, is the state corridors. Amtrak has contracts on (almost) all of them; it's possible they could negotiate prepayment of a few months' fees, for example, as a short-term cash flow solution...but they're going to be hard-pressed to not run those trains after the agreements have gone into place, and hard-pressed to renegotiate those agreements as well.

 

[Ryan]

Profit and good journalistic standards are nor mutually exclusive. Nor is profit a dirty word. An entity can be both honest and profitable at the same time.

A distinction without a difference, since nobody does it.

Amtrak is a public corporation. All it has to do to keep running is generate some cash. They could start by laying off all the redundant, expensive overhead they carry year after year. Then they could start operating like a service company that wants to stay in business.

Which is why there are so many passenger train companies around the world are able to operate with no subsidies, right?

 

[montana mike]

Good thoughts. I look at Montana, which will run a budget surplus this year of between $400 million and $500 million. Next year it may be higher due to energy revenue, and my state could and should support Amtrak's efforts in the state. It is the ONLY reliable and safe transportation across the entire Hi-Line, serving hundreds of thousands of people. There are no commercial airports anywhere except in Kalispell, about 20 miles south of the Whitefish station (and those flights can get very expensive in the summer and winter recreation months-I know, because I sometimes do fly and the fares are as high or higher than taking a sleeper on the EB).

We are all in this together. If nothing else this exercise in inept and incompetent government should be a wake up call for ALL states--That relying on the Federal gravy train can be a risky endeavor...........

 

[chakk]

Amtrak is a public corporation. All it has to do to keep running is generate some cash. They could start by laying off all the redundant, expensive overhead they carry year after year. Then they could start operating like a service company that wants to stay in business.

Can't lay off all the "redundant expensive overhead they carry year after year". Those folks are union labor with contracts and employment rules that courts will uphold.

 

[benjibear]

About the media: It seams like they all report the same inaccuracies. You see one news story about something, and every media outlet reports the same thing. Nobody seams to want to actually investigate the facts.

About Amtrak: Sure if the shut down lasts long enough but this will probably be the least of our problems.

 

[henryj]

Amtrak is a public corporation. All it has to do to keep running is generate some cash. They could start by laying off all the redundant, expensive overhead they carry year after year. Then they could start operating like a service company that wants to stay in business.

Which is why there are so many passenger train companies around the world are able to operate with no subsidies, right?

I believe we are talking short term here Ryan, in which case you do whatever is necessary to keep running.

 

[Alexandria Nick]

The Amtrak people I have spoken with over the past week here locally say stuff like this is just not entirely accurate. They have sufficient cash flow and operating funds to run for months (this is not to say certain new projects/service will not be effected, but current services remain mostly unchanged). There was a similar article about the EB in several MT news media recently on exactly the same theme and the Amtrak people replied almost immediately that the authors didn't even bother to contact Amtrak on this to get their position on the current slow down (remember over 80% of all federal employees are still at work). Whatever happened to responsible investigative journalism. One would have thought that at least this author would have contacted someone in Amtrak to ask what their position is. Anyone know the source of this info? In MT the story was picked up by the AP, but they gave no attribution and pulled it down after one day.

I know the current situation is frustrating, but our journalists need to focus on facts and real things rather than supposition....

Is it possible that "our journalists" are required by their employers to crank out, at top speed, the types of articles that sell papers (and hits on websites) and the advertisers' products? Where does the "responsible journalist" go for a job that does not compromise idealism? I am not sure there is much market for it these days.

Exactly the reason I got out of the journalism field. It focuses on quantity, not quality. They barely even use editors/proofreaders anymore, and a lot of the articles I read online hover around 4th or 6th grade quality. I got laid off in 2005, which was awful, but it was also kind of a blessing.

That's the average reading level in the US.

 

[SarahZ]

Ugh.

 

[afigg]

Amtrak, the National Passenger Railroad Corporation, could cease to be a “national” network if the federal government shutdown drags on. The company has said that it can ride out a short-term shutdown, on the order of several weeks, but it’s unclear what might happen beyond that point.

While the shutdown drags on, it looks like it could be over by the end of this week or this weekend. While it is hardly settled with a lot of hue and cry to come, there is a framework which would end the shutdown with, at a minimum, a continuing resolution for a few months at FY2013 sequestered funding levels while a FY14 deal is reached. The Democrats are pushing to end or change the sequestration with a higher discretionary spending level, but the floor for Amtrak funding for FY14 looks to be the FY2013 sequestered funding levels which would keep the LD trains and the rest of the system running. So fear of a sudden shutdown of LD trains is overblown.

Staying at the FY2013 sequestration funding level of $1.365 billion means insufficient capital funding to address longer term issues such as ordering replacements for the Amfleets, Superliners, P-42s and getting the NEC to state of good repair. But it covers the debt service payments, keeps the lights on, and assuming Amtrak can move federal funds from operating subsidy to capital purchases, should cover the CAF Viewliner progress payments. Amtrak will also be getting additional funds from the increased state subsidies, maybe around $80 million or a little more, so even if the funding stays at the sequestered FY2013 levels, Amtrak will have more combined federal and state funding in FY14.

The upper limit for FY2014 would be the proposed Senate transportation bill which has $1.45 billion for Amtrak with $848 million for capital grants, about $140M more than FY2013. Better for track maintenance and projects for the NEC, but still short for addressing the issues of new rolling stock and capacity. Those issues will have to wait.

 

[Nathanael]

This is insane. The country cannot function if one political party in Congress keeps taking the government hostage. A deal which postpones the crisis for "a few months" is frankly pretty damn useless, because we'll be back to the same hostage-taking in three months.

 

[Ryan]

We'll see.

As wildly unpopular is this was this time, it'll be less so that much closer to the elections.

 

[montana mike]

Amtrak, the National Passenger Railroad Corporation, could cease to be a “national” network if the federal government shutdown drags on. The company has said that it can ride out a short-term shutdown, on the order of several weeks, but it’s unclear what might happen beyond that point.

While the shutdown drags on, it looks like it could be over by the end of this week or this weekend. While it is hardly settled with a lot of hue and cry to come, there is a framework which would end the shutdown with, at a minimum, a continuing resolution for a few months at FY2013 sequestered funding levels while a FY14 deal is reached. The Democrats are pushing to end or change the sequestration with a higher discretionary spending level, but the floor for Amtrak funding for FY14 looks to be the FY2013 sequestered funding levels which would keep the LD trains and the rest of the system running. So fear of a sudden shutdown of LD trains is overblown.

Staying at the FY2013 sequestration funding level of $1.365 billion means insufficient capital funding to address longer term issues such as ordering replacements for the Amfleets, Superliners, P-42s and getting the NEC to state of good repair. But it covers the debt service payments, keeps the lights on, and assuming Amtrak can move federal funds from operating subsidy to capital purchases, should cover the CAF Viewliner progress payments. Amtrak will also be getting additional funds from the increased state subsidies, maybe around $80 million or a little more, so even if the funding stays at the sequestered FY2013 levels, Amtrak will have more combined federal and state funding in FY14.

The upper limit for FY2014 would be the proposed Senate transportation bill which has $1.45 billion for Amtrak with $848 million for capital grants, about $140M more than FY2013. Better for track maintenance and projects for the NEC, but still short for addressing the issues of new rolling stock and capacity. Those issues will have to wait.

We need the states to share more of the burden. If a state is well served by Amtrak trains then they need to step up to the plate. Some have, but others, including my own sadly, are lagging behind.

 

[traindiva]

I'm an LSA for Amtrak and I've not heard anything about shutting down. Granted since I'm 'just' an LSA, maybe even my supervisors haven't heard of anything. On the other hand, I figure we'd be told well in advance if Amtrak were going to shut down. *shrugs*

 

[CHamilton]

I'm an LSA for Amtrak and I've not heard anything about shutting down. Granted since I'm 'just' an LSA, maybe even my supervisors haven't heard of anything. On the other hand, I figure we'd be told well in advance if Amtrak were going to shut down. *shrugs*

That is good news. I hope you and your colleagues get through the shutdown with no inconvenience to you.