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Topic: Amtrak

	Amtrak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The members of Amtrak's board of directors are appointed by the President of the United States, and are subject to confirmation by the United States Senate.
		Amtrak's portion was acquired in 1976 as a result of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act.
		Amtrak operates 425 locomotives (351 diesel and 74 electric).
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Amtrak (6061 words)

	Welcome to Amtrak, the home delivery specialists
		Amtrak is a dynamic and innovative express parcel carrier supplying quality-driven overnight delivery and collection solutions throughout the UK and abroad.
		Amtrak is the specialist in the delivery of goods to home addresses and has quickly established itself as one of the leading carriers in this exciting market.
		Amtrak remains focused and determined to provide a quality service that is simply second to none.
	www.amtrak.co.uk (177 words)

	Current Amtrak Issues (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Amtrak was created by the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-518) under which the nation's railroads were relieved of the common carrier responsibility for carrying passengers.
		Amtrak was declared to be a "for-profit" corporation and "not to be an agency or establishment of the United States Government." [49 U.S.C. 24301] At the outset, Amtrak was expected to pursue conflicting goals.
		Amtrak has run a deficit every year since its creation and has received over $34 billion (or about $1 billion per year in constant 1999 dollars) in assistance from the federal government in both operating and capital support during that period.
	www.house.gov /transportation/rail/04-30-03/04-30-03memo.html (1952 words)

	Amtrak, confronting subsidy cuts, threatens to cut Pittsburgh service
		Ticket agent Betty Johnston joined Amtrak in the early 1970s when the federally subsidized rail corporation was a fledgling start-up that could guarantee her a job for just six months.
		The Amtrak Reform Council, a congressional committee, is scheduled to release a report tomorrow recommending that the government break up the railroad and open passenger rail travel to competition.
		Amtrak service from Pittsburgh consists of three eastbound and three westbound trains daily: the Capitol Limited that runs between Chicago and Washington, D.C.; the Three Rivers that runs between Chicago and New York City; and the Pennsylvanian that runs between Chicago and Philadelphia.
	www.post-gazette.com /businessnews/20020206amtrak3.asp (734 words)

	Wendell Cox on Amtrak on National Review Online
		Part of the reason is that the Amtrak Reform Council, of which I am a member, is releasing its congressionally required "action plan" for a restructured and rationalized intercity passenger-rail system.
		And, the Amtrak Reform Council was established, with the purpose of monitoring Amtrak performance and notifying the president and Congress should it ever become clear that Amtrak was not going to meet the objective of operational self-sustainability by 2002.
		Amtrak's revenue per passenger mile is higher than that of either airlines or intercity buses.
	www.nationalreview.com /comment/comment-cox020502.shtml (748 words)

	Amtrak: Stuck in Its Tracks - New York Times
		Amtrak may be the only restaurant chain where every busboy has a pension plan, and the railroad says it can't run trains without feeding the people who ride them.
		Along with the midcareer employees who transferred to Amtrak when it was created came responsibility for payments to the railroad retirement system to provide their benefits.
		Amtrak's main asset is the Northeast Corridor, the tracks connecting Washington, New York and Boston.
	www.nytimes.com /2005/06/12/weekinreview/12wald.html?ex=1276228800&en=f64c3e17b28851cc&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss (692 words)

	JS Online: Amtrak bets on the need for speed (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Amtrak plans to focus on providing fast and frequent service on short to medium routes, hoping passengers would find trains quicker than cars, cheaper than planes and less trouble, to boot.
		Amtrak's strategy is to focus on providing swift and frequent service on short- to medium-length routes, with the idea that passengers would find trains faster than cars, cheaper than planes and less hassle than either.
		Amtrak's definition of on-time performance ranges from arrival within 10 minutes for trips of less than 250 miles, up to 30 minutes for trips of more than 550 miles.
	www.jsonline.com /news/state/feb00/amtrak13021200a.asp (2813 words)

	Amtrak's Future
		AMTRAK PRESIDENT David L. Gunn was abruptly fired last month by a board of directors that is operating with just four of seven members.
		Amtrak, a theoretically for-profit enterprise that has never managed to wean itself from government subsidies, has been running annual operating losses of $500 million; it's received almost $30 billion in federal subsidies since its creation in 1971.
		Amtrak shouldn't be spending millions on these uneconomical routes while failing to perform vital upkeep on the critical Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington, where the infrastructure has been so neglected that it would cost around $2 billion to remedy.
	www.washingtonpost.com /wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120201703.html (576 words)

	Friends of Amtrak
		Amtrak`s federal funding would be reduced by 31 percent, to $900 million from $1.3 billion, under legislation approved by a House committee.
		Amtrak ridership increased in FY 2005 to 25,374,998, marking the third straight year of passenger gains for the national intercity passenger railroad, despite service disruptions that included major hurricanes in the south and five months without full Acela Express service in the northeast.
		Amtrak said it planned to further brief the public and officials about the fare increase, which is designed to cover the cost of higher fuel prices.
	www.trainweb.org /crocon/amtrak.html (3826 words)

	Amtrak's New Clothes - Mises Institute
		Amtrak was sold to taxpayers back in May 1971 as something that would be superior to privately owned passenger railroads, and with the promise that the government would make money running trains.
		Amtrak bureaucrats--who offered no icon or link for taxpayers trying to obtain the Reform Council report on their Web site--reacted as though the report was a vindication of their 30 years of management.
		According to a 1997 congressional mandate, Amtrak is supposed to be self-supporting by the end of this year, a prospect that can never happen as long as pols are calling the shots of a system whose labor practices, management, and even routes were politicized from day one back in May 1971.
	www.mises.org /fullstory.asp?control=893 (1423 words)

	Citizens Against Government Waste: NewsRelease_06202002a
		Amtrak's latest financial calamity is so critical that the railroad faces shut down in two weeks, during the peak of travel season, due to lack of funds.
		As part of its reform plan, the administration is considering a guaranteed loan of at least $200 million, while the Senate would like to see funding included in its current supplemental bill.
		Amtrak has calculated it will need at least $1.2 billion in next year's budget to stay afloat.
	www.cagw.org /site/PageServer?pagename=news_NewsRelease_06202002a (485 words)

	Amtrak Facts
		Among the exceptions are Amtrak's Pacific Surfliners, which use the opposite numbering system inherited from their former operator, the Santa Fe Railroad, and some Empire Corridor Trains.
		Amtrak owns three heavy maintenance facilities in Wilmington, and Bear, Delaware and Beech Grove, Indiana, as well as other maintenance facilities in Boston, Chicago, Hialeah, FL., Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Niagara Falls, Oakland, Rensselaer, NY, Seattle, and Washington, DC.
		Amtrak owns 17 tunnels consisting of 29.7 miles of track and 1,186 bridges consisting of 42.5 miles of track.
	www.nationalatlas.gov /articles/transportation/a_amtrak.html (569 words)

	Boston.com / News / Nation / Washington / Democrats' bid to save Amtrak funding loses steam in Senate
		President Bush's budget, submitted in February, provides no funding for Amtrak, a move that the administration and its critics say will probably drive the corporation into bankruptcy by the next fiscal year.
		Amtrak carried about 25 million passengers last year, most in the Northeast, but it operated at a loss of $600 million and has never made a profit.
		Ross Capon, head of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said yesterday's vote was only the ''first inning" in the budget debate over Amtrak and said he was confident that the railroad's Republican supporters would side with Amtrak at later stages of the budget process.
	www.boston.com /news/nation/washington/articles/2005/03/17/democrats_bid_to_save_amtrak_funding_loses_steam_in_senate (679 words)

	Amtrak
		Early on, Amtrak apparently had a hard time of things trying to modernized equipment on slim budgets and repair rail lines and gain support for upgrading deteriorating railroad stations nationwide.
		And certain Amtrak routes, particularly the Coast Starlight (between Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California) and the Empire Builder (between Chicago and Seattle, Washington), cover views you can't get anywhere else.
		There's a unique Amtrak Train called the "Auto Train" that allows you to drive aboard with your family auto, put it in storage, and travel the journey on Amtrak.
	www.knowledgeability.biz /rhjackson/amtrak.htm (1132 words)

	Patrick Ruffini on Amtrak on National Review Online
		Amtrak's problems stem from its very origins, when it was conceived as a national rail network servicing every corner of the continental United States.
		Currently, Amtrak has a fee structure in the Northeast that is competitive with that of the airlines.
		Given this delay, Amtrak must charge less for a seat than an airline would, and it does ($260 vs. $337) — but Amtrak's operating cost for its long-haul Texas Eagle train is triple its break-even level — with $2.37 in net losses for every $1 in revenue.
	www.nationalreview.com /comment/comment-ruffini062602.asp (958 words)

	Amtrak Hearing (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Amtrak was created by the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 under which the nation's railroads were relieved of the common carrier responsibility for carrying passengers.
		Amtrak was declared to be a "for-profit" corporation and "not to be an agency or establishment of the United States Government." At the outset, Amtrak was expected to pursue conflicting goals.
		Because of Amtrak's virtually totally encumbered assets, its absence of any profit center, and the peculiarities of the railroad-specific provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, any Amtrak bankruptcy may well be tantamount to liquidation, absent federal intervention.
	www.house.gov /transportation/press/press2003/release68.html (706 words)

	Seattle
		Amtrak Cascades operates from historic King Street Station, nestled in Pioneer Square.
		Amtrak, WSDOT, and BNSF are working together to rehabilitate and transform the busy station to its former grandeur.
		Amtrak Cascades links the cities of Vancouver, British Columbia; Seattle; Tacoma; Portland; and Eugene, forming the Cultural Cascades region that provides a gateway to endless exploration.
	www.amtrakcascades.com /Seattle.aspx (738 words)

	Succeeding through failure - The Washington Times: Commentary - March 30, 2005 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		In 1998, though, Amtrak boasted it would be "operationally self-sufficient" by the end of 2002.
		Amtrak makes much of the fact that last year it attracted a record 24 million passengers.
		One reason is Amtrak runs through 46 states, which means many members of Congress have a stake in its survival.
	www.washtimes.com /commentary/20050329-104543-1627r.htm (767 words)

	NCPA - Daily Policy Digest - Opinion: Only Privatization Can Save Passenger Rail
		Swimming in a sea of red ink, Amtrak is engaged in launching new routes in low-ridership areas.
		Amtrak's system is deteriorating for lack of capital spending -- the Washington-Boston corridor needs $3 billion alone, and delays have increased 75 percent since 1998.
		Congress established an Amtrak Reform Council in 1997 and set a deadline of December 2002 for the railroad to begin operating without subsidies.
	www.ncpa.org /iss/bud/2002/pd012902d.html (349 words)

	Amtrak’s beginnings (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Amtrak’s arrow logo was replaced in 2000 with its wave-like “travel mark” introduced concurrent with the launch of its satisfaction guarantee program, and in anticipation of the inauguration of the high-speed Acela Express.
		Amtrak’s early years are often called the “Rainbow Era,” which refers to the arrangement of hand-me-down engines, coaches and sleepers from the various railroads that formed the colorful consists of early Amtrak trains.
		Amtrak’s network of trains grew as well, and some of the cities and towns that had been without service on May 1, 1971, later became part of the Amtrak system.
	www.trains.com /Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/123clbam.asp (2304 words)

	Can Canada Teach Us How to Hold The Line on Amtrak Funding (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Amtrak’s ticket sales don’t even cover its wage and salary costs, and total revenues from all sources cover less than two-thirds of its costs, leaving it with losses equal to more than 60 percent of revenues.
		Amtrak seeks a $1.8 billion subsidy for FY 2005, but Congress should limit the payment to no more than the $900 million proposed by the President and demand that Amtrak adopt the improvements that have worked successfully for passenger railways in other countries.
		Amtrak, for example, has not issued a comprehensive annual report since its 2000 fiscal year, and the monthly performance measures it does provide do not lend themselves to year-to-year comparisons.
	www.heritage.org /Research/SmartGrowth/wm539.cfm (1314 words)

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