Flynn on Amtrak

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Amtrakfflyer said:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/t...-trains-again/ar-BB1eCh1b?ocid=BingNewsSearch
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A few quotes from this interview, specifically about long-distance service:

...Does that require moving resources away from the money-losing long-distance routes that run across the country?

No. Many of the communities we serve have limited alternatives for transportation other than driving a car. The administration and the Hill have prioritized long-distance services because they believe that while it may be losing money, the larger economic benefit is greater than the cost of providing service on the long-distance routes. And I support that....

...There’s been a return of low-cost sleeper trains in Europe, where they’re catching on with young people who don’t want to fly, and maybe want the romance of the experience or something like that. Is that something that you have looked at for Amtrak?

Right now, our sleepers are essentially fully utilized. I told you that our ridership is in the low 20s right now, compared to pre-COVID times. But our sleepers, when we look at our long-distance trains, we’re actually operating not at 20 percent of demand, we’re operating at 34 to 35 percent of normal on three-day-a-week service down from seven. Several months ago, we had to bring sleeper cars out of storage and put them in service because our sleepers are simply sold out. Travelers like the sleeper product. They find it to be a good deal and they like the fact they can get in a sleeper car and close the door.

We have some overnight trains on the Northeast Regional, from Boston down through to D.C. We’re putting some sleeper cars on those overnight trains right now to see what the rider acceptance would be of that product as well....

...If you had one single ask from Washington that would make some of the stuff you’re talking about possible, what would it be?

Sure. It’s really three things. But they’re all interrelated. It’s the funding that’s really required on core essential infrastructure across our country. It’s the ability to exercise the right of access that exists by statute for Amtrak—I’ll call that fair access. And then it’s that the preference for passenger over freight be realized. Everyone likes a three-legged stool analogy.
 
I suspect that fleet renewal of many hundreds of Coaches is such a pressing matter right now that significant additional Sleepers will have to wait a while, unless Congress decides to fund such an addition separately. I think Congress will find it hard to do so while Coaches are falling apart.
 
“ Travelers like the sleeper product. They find it to be a Travelers like the sleeper product. They find it to be a good deal and they like the fact they can get in a sleeper car and close the door. l and they like the fact they can get in a sleeper car and close the door.”

“Good deal” isn’t what comes to my mind.... I don’t think we need slumber coaches just get rid of the top 3 fare buckets and fill the trains.
Exvalley said:
He didn't really answer the question about low cost sleepers.
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jis said:
I suspect that fleet renewal of many hundreds of Coaches is such a pressing matter right now that significant additional Sleepers will have to wait a while, unless Congress decides to fund such an addition separately. I think Congress will find it hard to do so while Coaches are falling apart.
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Perhaps Amtrak should consider modifying some of those 70 underutilized baggage cars. I would think it would be a lot less expensive to modify by adding maybe 50/60 seats rather than buy new one.

I don’t know if you could add windows without compromising the structural integrity. Every time I looked inside one at a station they were almost empty, and that was before package service was ended. Perhaps the modified cars could be called combines!
 
Palmetto said:
Some of us here would like to see the return of the Slumbercoach concept. It offered a private accomodation + a surcharge over the coach fare. Not as comfortable as a roomette, but,it was passable, IMO.
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I’m just saying realistically, Amtrak considers roomettes the budget sleeper option. Besides, it would be a crazy amount of money to design and order yet another type of car for the fleet.

In a perfect world, yes let’s get slumbercoaches and tail cars and domes back... but realistically we need more trains period and to better use the equipment we already have (diners etc.)
 
I like the roomette configuration with the beds next to the window. I don’t know if Siemens can create a single level sleeper that is similar to a viewliner sleeper as well as a diner that can provide full meal service. That would be great for standardization. The superliners are going to need to be replaced at some point.

Possibly an intermediate step to replacing the superliners would be a complete overhaul of the interior along with the toilets, showers and hvac systems. This could be done at beach grove.
 
Steve4031 said:
I like the roomette configuration with the beds next to the window. I don’t know if Siemens can create a single level sleeper that is similar to a viewliner sleeper as well as a diner that can provide full meal service. That would be great for standardization. The superliners are going to need to be replaced at some point.

Possibly an intermediate step to replacing the superliners would be a complete overhaul of the interior along with the toilets, showers and hvac systems. This could be done at beach grove.
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What? The Viewliner II’s are barely in service and you want to replace them? Lol
 
crescent-zephyr said:
What? The Viewliner II’s are barely in service and you want to replace them? Lol
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I think he wants to augment the fleet rather than replace anything.

As I said elsewhere, I don;t think that will happen until the Amfleet I replacement is in the bag, minimally, and possibly not until even the Amfleet IIs and some portion of the Superliner fleet is taken care of first.
 
crescent-zephyr said:
In the Amtrak world, the Roomette is the low cost sleeper. I don’t think that is changing anytime soon.
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That's how I read his answer too. Essentially saying they're not having trouble selling what they have and the product is already popular. It sounds like more of the same would be preferred to a new type. Sometimes a non-answer is an answer.
 
My intent was to augment not replace. I like the viewliner sleepers. Imho this is Amtrak’s best opportunity in years to update/ overhaul its fleet.

Yes, the Amfleet 2 cars need to be replaced or overhauled with completely new interiors, bathrooms and hvac. It would be best to do both.

We need more sleepers/diners for east coast operations. Every overnight train should be daily and operate with a viewliner diner. With full dining service.
 
I got a few things out of the quotes posted:

1) He sees the value of the long-distance service, even if it never becomes "profitable." (He talked about the value of the economic benefit of the train service to the communities served being more than the cost of the subsidy.) That said, he said nothing about the desirability of expanding the long-distance network. Of course, right now they're in survival mode and they may just be focusing on keeping what they have running.

2) If they're selling out sleepers, then as far as he's concerned (at least in the short term), there's really no reason for him to change the product or its pricing, even if some of us think they're overpriced. If they're being sold out, there must be other people who think they're a good value.

3) For the final point, he sees his main challenge as being able to run the trains reliably on time. Thus the emphasis on infrastructure, right of access, and ensuring Amtrak priority from the host railroads. All of the new fancy equipment you can buy and exquisite customer service and tasty food won't make passenger rail a viable transportation alternative if it's unreliable and can't keep to schedule.

4) He could have said more about increasing the priority for fleet renewal of the long-distance fleet, but consider that new locomotives for the long-distance fleet are already in the pipeline. This alone should improve train reliability, at least from Amtrak's side. However, they really do need to replace the Superliners and the Amfleet 2 coaches and cafe cars.
 
I was on 27 from Chicago to Portland in January. in my car every roomette was sold. Only one bedroom was occupied the entire trip. I mentioned that to my attendant. She said it's because of the high price. I would imagine for a $100 upcharge a lot of people would have loved to upgrade. Yet,that isn't done. I do remember the days when you could get an unsold sleeper on board through the conductor. Done it several times.
 
That sounds like an possible argument for augmenting existing sleeping cars will all-roomette (+ADA Bedroom) cars. Roomettes are also a good configuration for premium day travel.
 
Mailliw said:
That sounds like an possible argument for augmenting existing sleeping cars will all-roomette (+ADA Bedroom) cars. Roomettes are also a good configuration for premium day travel.
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I don’t think it’s an issue with Viewliners (only 2 bedrooms per car).

I’m guessing it’s mostly the type of travelers that are currently traveling on the western trains. There are quite a few international tourists who travel on the western trains usually, and they are happy to spend $$$ for a bedroom. When the pandemic is over, they will return.
 
Sleeper option for peasants and the budget conscious. Trans-Siberian style.

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Steve4031 said:
Possibly an intermediate step to replacing the superliners would be a complete overhaul of the interior along with the toilets, showers and hvac systems. This could be done at beach grove.
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I completely agree. To me, the Viewliner II sleepers are perfect, it's using the same design but with a much-needed facelift. I wish we could just renovate the Superliners to match the Viewliner II's, maybe without the sink.
 
Dakota 400 said:
Don't agree; there is a need to increase checked baggage service. If that would happen, those baggage cars would be needed.
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I wasn’t suggesting converting them to all coach. Rather, I suggested they modify them to still carry baggage, like baggage-dorms, but install some coach seating. In the past they were referred to as combines.

Many of the pre Amtrak trains did this as does Amtrak. Modification to include coach seating would be a lot easier than retro fitting as bag-dorms and would gain some much needed revenue with the increased coach capacity.
 

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