Making nice with big rail Options

[KevinKorell]

From Forbes, 4/14/04:

No one promised David L. Gunn an easy ride when he took over as Amtrak's chief executive two years ago. The government-owned passenger railroad, which last year lost $1.3 billion on sales of $2 billion, faced financial and organizational disarray, outspoken enemies on Capitol Hill, and at least a decade's worth of deferred maintenance projects.

The full story is here.

[ICGsteve]

Sure the railroads like Gunn. Under Gunn AMtrak says barely a word when railroads want to abandon lines that Amtrak uses, close down lines for weeks or months at a time causing Amtrak trains to be canceled, and Amtrak has been very easy about extending scheduled run times and then being OK with on-time rates far less than 50%. WHATs NOT TO LIKE?

Whether this is good for Amtrak, good for passenger rail, fair to the taxpayers, or a balanced relationship is another matter. A leader wants to be feared and/or respected because that means they can be effective. The railroads like Gunn, so what? That does not seem to help passengers where the wheel meets the rail.