Why Amtrak is completely unnecessary--and always has been.

Once upon a time, there was a thing called the Interstate Commerce Commission. It was founded to prevent kamikaze capitalism amongst railroads in a day when their efficiencies and primitive technology pretty much guaranteed them a monopoly in viable transportation.

The best thing Reagan did, in my opinion, and the one time I felt some hope for a moment that he would prove to be the libertarian he claimed to be, was when he abolished this bureau. But it was a decade too late to save the passenger train.

In 1970, the Santa Fe was voluntarily running very high quality passenger services between Chicago and Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, Chicago and Houston via Ft. Worth and with a connecting train to Dallas, and Los Angeles to San Diego. All were daily; the San Diegan featured three daily round trips.

The ICC was also forcing the corporation to operate daily between La Junta, Co. and Denver, and between Kansas City and Tulsa. These services were losing the railroad considerable money. But the ICC refused to let the railroad drop these unpopular services. Montana was the worst, thanks to Sen. Mike Mansfield. The Burlington Northern was forced to maintain six round trips a day between St. Paul and Seattle.

So, rather than beat Reagan to the punch and declare the ICC redundant in a world of Interstate highways and air freight services, Nixon and his henchman Erlichman found a way to expand government instead. They bought rail from the New Haven and the collapsed Penn Central, and created Amtrak out of it. This rail runs through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and into the District of Columbia.

They also took over all passenger services, and reserved unto itself the authority to run on privately owned rail. This was voluntary; 'joining up' required a massive payoff (payable at the government's option in locomotives and passenger cars) and agreement to trackage rights and such. Those that didn't join were to keep running their current schedules for ten years. No cooperation in routing, scheduling or ticketing was to be forthcoming between the holdouts and Amtrak.

Most railroads joined. Then came the insult added to the injury. It turned out that the government wasn't willing to run many of the 'vital' services that the government wouldn't let private enterprise discontinue. So, after the Amtrak takeover, the national passenger rail network looked much as it would have looked had the government let the railroads run what was popular and drop what wasn't. But with a difference. Amtrak sucked from the first.

So, would there be high-speed rail if Amtrak were never created? Well, Amtrak would have been created, even if the eight states that benefit most had to create it themselves. But it wouldn't have spread beyond that corridor. And I haven't heard of high-speed rail being created without government involvement in recent years. So, who knows? But it wouldn't have and won't happen(ed) out West, where medium sized cities are hundreds of miles apart. The economics aren't there.

But what we would have, had Nixon acted like a conservative for once, and in my opinion, are a select few, very nice trains much like hotels on wheels. They would have come back into style by now, they would not only be helpful but really pleasant, and we'd like them. And I think the process could be reversed, if public interest could be kindled. The way Amtrak was equipped in the beginning could be reversed at it's end. This would allow private enterprise to resume their traditions with minimal risk.

 

There's also one other factor that is rarely understood and never publicized. Amtrak was initially created by the Nixon Administration and Congress to be PR "eye-candy" to appease those of us who believed that passenger rail was a viable public service as it is in Europe and Japan. The original intent was that Amtrak would die within 5 years due to "rotten" service because of lack of funding from Congress. Unfortunately, the Powers That Be didn't realize the size and population of American rail riders was as large as it is and had so much lobbyist clout that Congress had to placate them by funding Amtrak just enough to keep it alive...for 40 Years!

Unfortunately, today's members of Congress are so young that they never have ridden on a train, so don't understand the benefits of passenger rail. Furthermore, the only public transportation they have experienced has been the taxicab or the "high-speed" airplane. It's going to take at least one more generation of public-minded persons to realize that air travel is a pain in the butt, and SLOW! So that hopefully the brighter of the lot will see that rail passenger travel has substantial benefits. Isn't it interesting that the Eastern, Delta, and American Shuttle Services between Washington, New York, and Boston have all but died thanks to Metroliner and Acela services.

I know I won't live to see that day, nor will my sons. However hopefully my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will start to question the status-quo....

It's sad that the media continues to herald that airlines make a "profit". That's only because the media does not acknowledge that airlines only pay for aircarft operation and terminal gate space, and that we, the taxpayers provide terminals, taxiways, runways, air traffic controllers (dispatchers), law enforcement, and weather forecasts. While Amtrak must provide ALL those functions and facilities from the meager funds that Congress drops onto the floor from the Highway Trust Fund "banquet table".

Unfortunately, almost every Republican Presidential candidate claims that Amtrak is a "waste" of money and should be disposed of.

 

AMTRAK was formed with the intention of it failing and inter-city passenger service be done away with henceforth and forevermore with the USA being a land that was described in a song as "pave paradise to put up a parkin' lot". The air we breathe being ever more fouled by carbon emissions from airplanes and automobiles that burned ever more expensive hydrocarbon fuels. Autos that were"unsafe at any speed". Airplanes maintained with auto hardware that failed and caused them to fall from the sky killing hundreds of innocent people. Who cared what the electorate wanted, our elected rulers told us what we wanted and needed. What was good for us was even better for them and their coffers. Then mercifully came the faux Arabian oil embargo driving up the price of precious oil to stratospheric levels ever more enriching the treasuries of the corporations who paid for the election of our public officials. The people suddenly realized they were being "had". The pitiful AMTRAK that was intended to fail somehow through the dedication,loyalty and competence of it's staff,and the meager budget it was given managed to survive and somewhat thrive. Government officers either resigned,went to jail or both. Oil is still breathtakingly expensive but the people have in some respects realized their folly and are demanding more economical vehicles with less of a carbon "footprint"(apologies for the buzzwords). Commercial airlines are failing left and right, imploding from their own ponderous demand for expensive materials and the refusal of the traveling public to pay the ridiculously high prices the airlines demand for their substandard service.AMTRAK still runs,people are still traveling by train AND in ever increasing numbers. Some of our elected officials still refuse to admit that mass transit as a private,for profit,operation is a thing of the past. It doesn't exist ANYWHERE on this planet except on small islands and tourist operations.
AMTRAK irrelevant... I don't think so! But I will tell you one thing, you wont find many people in the halls of our current government willing to admit they are wrong about not funding AMTRAK. You wont find many of them who have ever used AMTRAK either.
For your information, I spent more than 25 years in the commercial airline industry, another 10 in the travel agency business and another 10 in railroading. I have had the view from the inside! And one more thing...I was seconds away from having one of those falling airplanes fall on my head back in 1980! It was a day I dont care to remember!

Charlie

 

Amtrak did not gain ownership of the Northeast Corridor tracks when it was formed in 1971. This did not take place until Conrail was formed in 1976, which was a couple of years after Nixon and Erlichman were gone.

 

Thank you Charlie & Carl for answering this. If I had when it was 1st posted, I would've been kicked off TB. I'm staying away from this. I'll just read it. BTW, the ICC was formed to regulate all forms of INTERSTATE transportation.

 

This particular rant is being posted in multiple places by the same poster......troll???