Save Our Trains Michigan
Conductor
The only thing i can say is i recived an e mail about the situation and i can't say who it is from but it has been a real good source.
The whole incident was surprisingly quiet. There was never a "service advisory" of any kind put on the Amtrak site. Apparently their mechanical forces made great progress in getting the fleet back together. Didn't do any good for my (cancelled) vacation, but gotta give credit where it's due.~Guest~ said:Lastly, things have been rather quiet with the silver service vehicle availbility recently. Do you think it was a conincidence that all these cars were bad ordered in the middle of a trackwork project which causes many cancelations.
Here is the criteria used to unstaff the stations the list of the 26 stations has now been upgraded to ALL STATIONS ON THE AMTRAK SYSTEM that meet this criteria.BNSF_1088 said:What i would tell my Reps is don't let the Long Distance trains be taken off due to the idea that the Long Distance trains have to make a profit to stay on due to the Reform Amtrak has to go thru.
If you wan't to know who is behind all this it is the Bush Admin there telling the Amtrak Board what to cut and how to do it.
There may or may not be 26 stations on the system that could get by unstaffed; with the rising number of internet reservations, I could see fewer agents being needed in the field. The figure of "$450000" is suspect. One employee running an Amshack isn't covered by almost half a million dollars?! I would have to learn more before commenting.BNSF_1088 said:Here is the criteria used to unstaff the stations the list of the 26 stations has now been upgraded to ALL STATIONS ON THE AMTRAK SYSTEM.
All Amtrak Stations that meet this criteria could be unstaffed.x-press said:There may or may not be 26 stations on the system that could get by unstaffed; with the rising number of internet reservations, I could see fewer agents being needed in the field. The figure of "$450000" is suspect. One employee running an Amshack isn't covered by almost half a million dollars?! I would have to learn more before commenting.BNSF_1088 said:Here is the criteria used to unstaff the stations the list of the 26 stations has now been upgraded to ALL STATIONS ON THE AMTRAK SYSTEM.
The statement of "all Amtrak stations" is absurd. They gonna unstaff Penn Station, New York? Come on now.
JPS
This is nothing new, the process was going on years before Amtrak was created. In 1970, Congress went thru the exercise of determining the essential trains and stations to be the Amtrak system. 2/3 of all LD trains disappeared on May 1, 1971.BNSF_1088 said:As of right now people are riding the Long distance Amtrak trains to see which ones will be cut off,They are also going around to Amtrak stations to see which ones they can unstaff.
People now is the time not to argue but start making your calls to the proper people in congress Amtrak is on it's last leg as of right now.
The Long Distance trains will come off 1 by 1 also Stations will be unstaffed 1 by 1.
That is not accurate. The Amtrak appropriation states that the DOT IG is to report to Congress on July 1 on his (or her) assessment of Amtrak's enacted cost savings and efficiencies. Nothing in the law authorizes the the DOT IG to take managerial control of Amtrak. Here is the text of the portion of the Act that pertains to the the DOT IG and Amtrak:trainboy325 said:...However, this date has been established by Congress in the FY2006 appropriations makes July 1 the date the DOT Inspector General has total jurisdiction over LD operations and routes, not the Amtrak Board and its management corps.
Note that the need is for the IG to "certify savings". Not savings of X dollars, but just savings. This means that Amtrak has to show a meaningful change, but is not tied to a dollar figure. The food service does not have to break even. Sleepers do not have to break even. But there has to be some manner of efficiencies demonstrated to the satisfaction of the IG. It is a judgement call. If not, the subsidy is cut, but the DOT IG certainly does not move in and take over Amtrak.Provided further, That the Corporation is directed to achieve savings through operating efficiencies including, but not limited to, modifications to food and beverage service and first class service: Provided further, That the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation shall report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations beginning on January 3, 2006 and quarterly thereafter with estimates of the savings accrued as a result of all operational reforms instituted by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation: Provided further, That if the Inspector General cannot certify that the Corporation has achieved operational savings by July 1, 2006, none of the funds in this Act may be used after July 1, 2006, to subsidize the net losses of food and beverage service and sleeper car service on any Amtrak route:
If that were actually the case, that alone would be the best ever reason to shut down Amtrak. If you have actual proof of illegal actions or finacial wrongdoing by Amtrak, the US Department of Justice has some substantial whistle-blower funds for you.trainboy325 said:Again, never take "the law" regarding Amtrak too much to heart. Amtrak has done so many things against the law regarding contracts, human resources, safety and welfare, etc. and has never really having to take responsibility for their actions. That's the nature of the beast that is Amtrak.
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