Will segmented train routes work?

   An issue that is bound to be heavily debated in coming months is the idea of breaking up long distance Amtrak routes into segments
that involve a series of day trains covering the same routes. 

   The idea originated with anti-Amtrak sources in the Administration, but actually dates back further, having been proposed by various think tanks with anti-rail orientations. 

   The apparent money- saving idea is that there would no longer be a need for sleeping cars and the crews to man them. The day trains would cover the same route, but there would be no overnight operation, so that travelers whose routes included an overnight portion would have to occupy hotel rooms between train segments. 

   The National Association of Railroad Passengers has been performing comparison analyses of existing long distance routes and the segmented routes that would most likely substitute for them. The results are so weighted in favor of the long distance routes that no logical justification could be made for the segments.

   Rather than creating cost saving for Amtrak, the segmenting would actually either yield no savings or raise costs, while reducing patronage to such an extent that the segmented route would fail altogether. 

   Of course, creating a route failure might be the ultimate aim of the anti-rail originators of this scheme. 

   Amtrak President Kummant and other company officials continue to mention this plan while being fairly noncommital and saying it would be evaluated carefully. If the evaluation is indeed done carefully and rationally, it would seem that no possible case could be made for segmenting. 
 
 

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A tentative agreement on new contract terms was reached today between Amtrak and the Brotherhood of
Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) of the Teamsters Rail Conference.

"The BMWED members have waited and worked for eight very long years without a contract," said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. "It was a
surprise to us that a board appointed by President Bush, one of the most anti-labor presidents in history, decided upon a resolution to the Amtrak
contract that awarded most of what we in rail labor had been fighting for."

Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who was present at the tentative contract signing today, said, "It's a great day for the country, the workers and
the passengers. This agreement gives respect to the workers. This agreement is important for our economic growth and stability."

"The Amtrak negotiations took a hard toll on our members," said Fred Simpson, President of the BMWED and Teamsters Vice President. "Now we are
concentrating on explaining the terms of the agreement at membership meetings in preparation for the members' vote. Once again, coordinating
bargaining among the rail unions succeeded. This is another example of how joining with the Teamsters Rail Conference has provided strength in
bargaining for our members."

The tentative agreement's terms closely follow recommendations of a Presidential Emergency Board appointed by President George W. Bush to investigate
the prolonged contract dispute. Provisions include wage increases that average 35.2 percent over the life of the agreement, which is January 1, 2000-December 31, 2009, or 3.1 percent compounded per year. Retroactive pay varies, but averages $12,800, which will be paid in two installments.

"With this agreement, Amtrak's insistence that their employees be treated as second-class railroad workers has been rejected," said Jedd Dodd, BMWED
general chairman of the Pennsylvania Federation, which represents many of Amtrak's maintenance of way employees.

The tentative agreement is subject to membership ratification. BMWED members comprise approximately 2,000 of the 20,000 workers on the Amtrak system
nationwide.

Source: Teamsters Rail Conference

The Empire Builder some time in 2008 will begin serving Leavenworth, Washington, about 23 miles west of Wenatchee. The popular tourist destination is presently served in the winter by charter ski trains.

   With global warming and an oil crisis inexorably approaching, the passenger rail mode is receiving more attention from citizens, the media and politicians--with the usual exception of the White House.

   The Senate has passed bill S294 by a veto-proof vote of 70-22. The House must still act on its version. The Senate Lautenberg-Lott legislation re-authorizes Amtrak for six years, giving it $11.45 billion over that time period for passenger rail improvement. Amtrak has never before been so generously endowed.

   Editorials are more favorable to Amtrak and to enlarging and improving its system than ever. Among new calls for added service are the restoration of the DESERT WIND and the NORTH COAST HIAWATHA.

   Behind the favorable editorials, one senses a feeling of inevitability, that the nation unquestionably needs the rail option given the threatening future of energy, transportation and pollution control.

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