It was generally acknowledged that passenger trains will continue to require subsidies. The only question they really debated was how subsidies should be paid, and how they should be tied to incentives. Amendments were proposed by John Norquist to link subsidies to ticket revenue and his amendments were passed.

James Coston made an eloquent case for making sure any plan includes funding for infrastructure upgrades. Bruce Chapman offered some improved wording and the amendment was passed unanimously.

Wendell Cox, the ultra right-winger on the board, wanted to recommend Congress repeal the requirement that passenger trains receive priority over freight traffic. Nobody seconded his motion and it died a quick death. Generally, Cox got very little of what he wanted, but he turned out to be more flexible than I imagined him to be from his writings.

Charles Moneypenny, representing labor, wanted to make sure that any Amtrak union contracts be honored by any future operators. However, the consensus was that labor issues should ultimately be decided by Copngress. In the end, Moneypenny was the only person to vote against the restructuring plan.

The "restructuring plan" is really only a statement of general principles that Congress will consider. This plan will be submitted to Congress as the "preferred option" but other plans will also be submitted as worthy of consideration by Congress.

It was acknowledged that Congress may very well keep Amtrak intact, but the ARC advised in that case subsidies should be tied to Amtrak's service performance. Norqust's funding amendments could apply in that event as well.

Final wording of the plan will be worked out in a conference call meeting in the next week or two, so it may be awhile before the plan makes it to the ARC website.

This is just my initial reaction after seeing the meeting on TV. My thoughts are sure to evolve as more information becomes available.

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

The Del Monte Club Car

I don't watch enough television to check the C-Span schedule all the time. When anyone realizes that these meetings are being televised , please alert the forum so that others who might be interested can listen in.

There was a statement made on another rail forum that I did not understand. Perhaps somebody can "interpret" it for me. It related to the GOVERNMENTS "take-over" of the track-system.

I did not understand this at all. Evidently it related to one of the "options" that Congress might have.

Most of the nation's track , unless I am mistaken , is privately owned by freight-rail companies. Thusly , how could this track be "taken-over" the Congress ? Also, if the general consensus is to privatize passenger-rail , why would such a plan make sense in the first place ?

Did the statement perhaps just concern the NEC track system ?

Related to the "future" of passenger-rail in this country :

I have said it many, many times before and I will say it again:

Absolutely NO "rebirth" of passenger-rail service in this country (except perhaps along the NEC) can or will happen without the FULL COOPERATION (blessing) of the private freight-rail companies.

If passenger-rail service in this nation IS privatized , WHO are these private operators going to be "negotiating" with ??---why private freight-rail companies , of course. Why do many presume that these private freight companies will suddenly "embrace" passenger-rail service on their tracks when all they have given Amtrak is a HUGE "thumbs-down ?" Am I missing something here ?

Money talks, as we all know. For BILLIONS of dollars worth of "incentives" , I COULD see the freight-companies offering to accept (and even encourage) passenger-service on their tracks. But , would any private company be able to do so ? I think not.

Until it is PROFITABLE (and I mean HUGELY profitable) the private freight-rail companies of this country will slowly but surely do EVERYTHING in there power to LIMIT (and that is an UNDER-statement) ANY and ALL passenger-rail service on their tracks.

Correct me if I am wrong , but in Europe (where some privatization has already happened) there were NO privately owned freight-rail companies to "negotiate" with. Thus the whole matter of privatization was completely different than it would be here in the states.

Does anyone agree with me that one of the MAJOR "stumbling-blocks" (besides FUNDING) to a rebirth of passenger-rail service in this country is the privately owned freight-rail track-system ?

I have heard any number of proposals related to what should be done to develope a "world-class" passenger-rail system in this nation , but none (or very , very FEW) EXPLICITLY address how the freight-rail companies "FIT-INTO" the big picture.

Any passenger-rail advocate KNOWS the power and influence these private freight-companies have over Amtrak. This is a basic "landlord-tenant" situation. Am I wrong in presuming that ANY private passenger-rail provider would STILL be the TENANT ?

For over thirty years now Amtrak has been forced to "share" the nation's track-system with freight-rail . This "PROCESS" (in MY opinion) has been a DISMAL failure. Evidently , most freight-rail companies INSIST that any and all Amtrak passenger-service on the tracks is a costly "annoyance" that simply MUST be curtailed as much as is possible.

However, Coston's infrastructure funding amendment was intended to encourage federal assistance in expanding the private infrastructure in order to better accomodate passenger trains. If the government is willing to help pay for it, and if it will benefit both passenger and freight operations, the freight companies would be more accomodating of passenger traffic.

The ARC was eager to make it clear that Congress must address this issue if any passenger service is to succeed. A good deal of time was spent on this matter at the meeting.

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

The final report hasn't been completed yet. This is just the items that were considered at the meeting.

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy