How long will the State of Illinois pretend that it has built true HSR (high-speed rail) by naming what is actually higher-speed rail (HrSR)* “Illinois High Speed Rail”? When you allow state
When it comes to the news of Jan. 16, 2020 of Amtrak approaching the State of Tennessee to gin-up interest in its latest pitch for the highly questionable PRIIA legislation, it is best to remember what long-ago Supreme Court Associate Justice Louis D. Brandeis once said: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” As this action looks like a maneuver to manipulate Congress to allow Amtrak to disassemble long-distance trains and reallocate their equipment, I intend to ensure sufficient sunlight is evident here when Amtrak touts its newly discovered Nashville-Atlanta route.
As exemplified by Yogi Berra, the continuing incidence of vehicles violating grade crossings and causing accidents has been easily explained over the years by DOT, FHA, FRA and trucking/bus firms as “we made too many mistakes.”
As Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, approaches its golden anniversary in 2021, it is quite apparent that it has squandered opportunities to mature into a stable and useful transportation entity, given the plethora of internal issues that have historically crippled Amtrak operating under the federal umbrella as a state-owned enterprise. Adding to this position is the impact from a shortage of experienced senior management.
First, a salute to Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank Wilner for finally obtaining an interview with a senior officer at Amtrak, Executive Vice President Stephen Gardner. From my perspective, this article offers interesting revelations; yet, it’s still like pulling a thread from a sweater to slowly unwind the backstory as to why Amtrak conducts itself in such a secluded, secretive style, operating in a bubble seemingly oblivious to expressed concerns.
Apparently, only as a fortunate consequence of the partial federal government shutdown, the U.S. Senate returned to the Administration its three proposed appointees to Amtrak’s Board of Directors. Rather than an outright rejection, a fair question would be: Does the U.S. Senate operate in such a bubble that it acts like the House of Romanov that everything is fine with Amtrak? Is the Senate in such bi-partisan denial that it does not see Amtrak as a failing State-Owned Enterprise (SOE)?
Regrettably, Stephen Gardner’s year-end response to the many op-eds appearing this past year in Railway Age (“Amtrak A ‘Failure’? Hardly. Here’s How We See It,” Dec. 20) fails to explicitly answer the factual issues previously raised here. Instead, his retort to the decisive points raised in op-ed and editorial pieces this year reads very hollow, ignoring the salient issues and making excuses for what could not be achieved. Throwing questionable data around these issues prevents concise, acceptable answers.
In follow-up to my previously published article in Railway Age (“Does the Emperor Wear No Clothes?” June 23, 2017) critically analyzing why would Amtrak put sleeper compartments on sale without any black-out dates during the last part of summer and Thanksgiving, “There ya go again, Mr. Anderson!”
In its former high-flying days, GE’s business model was praised in most MBA programs for its skills in planned, self-destructive obsolescence to cannibalize its operations; to reinvent itself to always stay ahead of the competition by pushing competitors back on their heels. Today, Sir Richard Branson evidences that business acumen quality sorely lacking at Amtrak between the political appointees indifferent to stewardship on the Board of Directors and the ranks of “cardboard senior and executive management” dutifully towing the party line.
Perhaps former Congressman John Mica had a point, after all, to claim that Amtrak operates like a relic of the Soviet Kremlin? That, and knowing we have the best politicians money can buy, tells a clear story: Beyond the history of outrageous corporate failures due to illegal manipulation of their financial data, like Enron, is there any other example of a company operating in such an egregious manner as Amtrak that defies Congress, lies to states, and spits in the face of the public interest, all the while scooping up even more taxpayer funding?
