10 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

Richmond, VA was "hammered" by TS Gaston yesterday afternoon and evening. Reports are from 6 - 11 inches of rain resulting in serious flooding along rail lines and roadways. ACCA yard was reportedly "under water." CSX had several crews stranded waiting for crew vans that couldn't leave ACCA yard to pick them up. AMTRAK service south of Washington is disrupted. It appears the last train north from Richmond yesterday was 80. The Amtrak site does not show an arrival or departure time at Richmond for train 66. Southbound train 91 shows arrival in Richmond 2:08 late at 8:42 pm. The last status for 93 is Fredericksburg at 7:32 pm. I believe 85 and 97 were annulled south of Washington. This morning, VRE is reporting that northbound Amtrak 84 and 86 are canceled. The northbound AutoTrain is estimated nearly 4 hours late for arrival at Lorton later today. The southbound trains status is not on the Amtrak site. Ross

[BillMagee]

Once again, Amtrak makes no mention of any service interruption on its web site. Where is NARP on issues like this? Does NARP represent the interests of rail passengers or are they simply a PR and lobbying surrogate of Amtrak?

[NickG]

Does NARP represent the interests of rail passengers or are they simply a PR and lobbying surrogate of Amtrak?

Lately, I've started to think that they are the latter, Bill. If NARP would actually call Amtrak on some of the company's shortcomings that are not caused by underfunding or freight railroads, I bet you Amtrak would promptly discontinue its 10% discount for NARP members.

[ICGsteve]

I would not expect NARP to have anything to say about particular service disruptions, but they sure should be in AMtraks face about the lack of information on current service problems on Amtrak's website.

[BillMagee]

Lately, I've started to think that they are the latter, Bill.    If NARP would actually call Amtrak on some of the company's shortcomings that are not caused by underfunding or freight railroads, I bet you Amtrak would promptly discontinue its 10% discount for NARP members.

Nick: you raise an interesting point. To me, NARP should be an unbiased advocate for the railroad passenger. That would mean supporting Amtrak when Amtrak is right, and privately then publicly criticizing Amtrak when Amtrak is failing. But, in my opinion, that discount undercuts NARP’s true mission. If they were to come down hard on Amtrak, Amtrak very well might pull the discount. And if that possibility exists, it would seem that NARP is at least somewhat constrained from acting in the best interests of rail passengers.

In short, is the discount offered by Amtrak to NARP members (and, by proxy, to NARP through increased membership generated by the discount) a subtle “incentive” to prevent or at least temper any possible NARP criticism of Amtrak? That would explain what, to me, is a puzzling failure of NARP to get on Amtrak over issues that Amtrak could correct at little or no cost. Poor communications of service disruptions is a perfect example.

Bill

[ICGsteve]

And I will add Bill that NARP officials admitted to getting a special look at the new Superliner rebuild, which must make us all wonder just how cozy these NARP officials are with AMtrak. HAve they pissed away any possible effectiveness that NARP could have as an organization to speak for passengers so that these guys can get their egos stroked? I do not know, but just as journalists lost credibility and objectivity over the years as they got too cozy with the Washington insiders, NARP has lost credibility and appears to have lost all objectivity and effectiveness by getting too "inside" Amtrak. When we toss in that NARP is not an reliable source of info for passengers (because they are so obviously biased towards Amtrak managment) and that they have not been an effective player on K street in decades, we can say that this organization appears rotten through and through. They need to be reformed or replaced.

[EllisSimon]

NARP is far from perfect, but who else is in a position to speak for passenger trains and train passengers? There is no passenger train lobby, so to speak that is on a par with the Highway or Airline lobbies. The AAR represents the freight RRs. APTA's constituency is primarily municipal transit authorities and agencies. Amtrak fights every year for its funding, but its base is mainly in the "blue" states where trains are a more important part of the transportation mix, and as a corporation owned by the U.S. DOT there is a limit on what it can do.

[dcwarner]

DUE TO FLOODING AND POWER OUTAGES IN THE RICHMOND, VA AREA:

TR 66(31) - ORIGINATES WAS. NO ALTERNATE TRANS. NPN-WAS.
TR 67(31) - TERMINATES WAS. NO ALTERNATE TRANS. WAS-NPN.

TR 66(01) - ORIGINATES WAS. NO ALTERNATE TRANS. NPN-WAS.
TR 84(01) - ORIGINATES WAS. NO ALTERNATE TRANS. RVR-WAS.
TR 85(01) - OPERATES NORMALLY.
TR 86(01) - OPERATES NORMALLY.
TR 93(01) - OPERATES NORMALLY.
TR 94(01) - ORIGINATES RVR. NO ALTERNATE TRANS. NPN-RVR.
TR 95(01) - TERMINATES WAS. NO ALTERNATE TRANS. WAS-NPN.

TR 84(02) - ORIGINATES WAS. NO ALTERNATE TRANS. RVR-WAS.
TR 86(02) - OPERATES NORMALLY.
TR 94(02) - ORIGINATES RVR. NO ALTERNATE TRANS. NPN-RVR.

OTHER TRAINS THROUGH RVR COULD BE DELAYED.

-source: AMTRAK

NPN: Newport News, VA
RVR: Richmond, VA
WAS: Washington, DC

From a posting on the All_Aboard List by Gene Poon

[NickG]

From the Hampton Roads, VA Daily Press, 9/3/04:

Amtrak to resume train service

NEWPORT NEWS --  Four Amtrak trains were canceled among Richmond, Williamsburg and Newport News on Tuesday and Wednesday because of power outages and flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston.

Service was expected to resume in full today, though delays in normal travel times are expected to continue.

The full story is here.

[NickG]

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 9/2/04:

Trains on the slow track

Power outages, rail damage and congestion limit Amtrak service, CSX

Paul Higgs usually helps Amtrak keep its trains running on time. Yesterday, he just wanted to get its lights back on.

Staples Mill Station has been plunged into darkness since Monday night. "I'm hoping we have limited power soon," said Higgs, general foreman for the passenger railroad's mid-Atlantic division.

The full story is here.