Future of Amtrak
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 11:48 am
(Placing in National forum as it pertains to Amtrak as a whole)
Morning folks,
The Rail Passenger Association met with Amtrak CEO Anderson and Chief Commercial Officer Gardner to discuss the future of Amtrak including equipment, long distance trains, and food service.
Currently, Amtrak has no plans to eliminate long distance routes. Anderson said that Amtrak will always have LD trains and that they want to service more Americans, not less, but right now the easiest way to expand is in the corridor market (<600 miles). The long distance network will be determined by Congress.
As for food service: Gardner and Anderson both want to raise the quality of Amtrak’s food and they are prepared to spend more money to meet this goal. They also want at least one hot option and acknowledges that the LSL/CL menus are a “work in progress”. Amtrak is also anxious to get their new diners out of Florida and into service. 11 are currently awaiting replacement parts. Amtrak also is looking at opening the dining car up full time to allow people to eat when they want and going cashless.
New equipment: Amtrak is ready to submit an RFP for the replacement of the Genesis fleet. Anderson and Gardner want motive power that can be produced and put into service quickly. They also plan to submit RFIs for new single level LD equipment and DMUs. Personally, I believe that the Chargers will be the Genesis replacement, as Siemens already has a production line going and the Charger has completed testing already. It’s the fastest way to get what Amtrak wants instead of waiting on EMD, GE, or someone else to design a totally new locomotive, test it, change it, then get it into production. Anderson and Gardner also looked at refurbishing the Superliners, but after looking at the laundry list of items that would be needed to accomplish that, they decided that replacement is the way to go.
Thoughts?
Link: https://www.railpassengers.org/happenin ... line-1068/
EDIT: I forgot that EMD has once again started building passenger locomotives (F125). However, my personal belief still stands, as the F125 hasn’t exactly been flying off the shelves (Metrolink is the only company who has purchased it).
Morning folks,
The Rail Passenger Association met with Amtrak CEO Anderson and Chief Commercial Officer Gardner to discuss the future of Amtrak including equipment, long distance trains, and food service.
Currently, Amtrak has no plans to eliminate long distance routes. Anderson said that Amtrak will always have LD trains and that they want to service more Americans, not less, but right now the easiest way to expand is in the corridor market (<600 miles). The long distance network will be determined by Congress.
As for food service: Gardner and Anderson both want to raise the quality of Amtrak’s food and they are prepared to spend more money to meet this goal. They also want at least one hot option and acknowledges that the LSL/CL menus are a “work in progress”. Amtrak is also anxious to get their new diners out of Florida and into service. 11 are currently awaiting replacement parts. Amtrak also is looking at opening the dining car up full time to allow people to eat when they want and going cashless.
New equipment: Amtrak is ready to submit an RFP for the replacement of the Genesis fleet. Anderson and Gardner want motive power that can be produced and put into service quickly. They also plan to submit RFIs for new single level LD equipment and DMUs. Personally, I believe that the Chargers will be the Genesis replacement, as Siemens already has a production line going and the Charger has completed testing already. It’s the fastest way to get what Amtrak wants instead of waiting on EMD, GE, or someone else to design a totally new locomotive, test it, change it, then get it into production. Anderson and Gardner also looked at refurbishing the Superliners, but after looking at the laundry list of items that would be needed to accomplish that, they decided that replacement is the way to go.
Thoughts?
Link: https://www.railpassengers.org/happenin ... line-1068/
EDIT: I forgot that EMD has once again started building passenger locomotives (F125). However, my personal belief still stands, as the F125 hasn’t exactly been flying off the shelves (Metrolink is the only company who has purchased it).