Is it really true that the private freight carriers want to get back into passenger trains, or it is really an attempt to shut down Amtrak?
Richard
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Richard, I believe you can safely dismiss any of these comments as "rubbish".. The only way a Class I will be in the passenger train business is the way that BNSF,UP, and CSX are at present - holding purchase of service operating agreements with one regional (commuter) passenger agency or the other.
Although Amtrak has lost several operating contracts in the immediate past, they still hold contracts to operate trains in the San Francisco, LA, and Wash DC areas. Why Amtrak did not fight harder to retain contracts they have lost, such as in Boston, escapes me.
So if Mr. Downs is stating that the Class I industry wants to get back into the passenger business, it will be solely confined to holding operating contracts with various regional passenger agencies. There is simply no way that any Class I wants to get back into the intercity passenger business FOR THEIR OWN ACCOUNT. Besides, under provisions of RPSA'70 with respect to intercity serivce that remain in force today, they can't.
smitty195 Member # 5102
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GBN: Amtrak lost the contract to operate the San Francisco trains (aka: Caltrain). I think they only have a week or so left (give or take), and then the new operator takes over. There is also rumor brewing of Amtrak losing the Surfliners as well. A buddy of mine just left the Surfliners to qualify on Metrolink so that he is "cross trained" just in case.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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I couldn't help wondering what Mr. Downs's interest is. Possibly Veolia Transport is interested in expanding beyond light rail into something more elaborate.
Richard
smitty195 Member # 5102
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An interesting note about the Veolia Corporation.....My dad just signed a lifelong contract with them (he's close to retirement) for something he has been working with them on for the last few years. But did you know that Veolia is the largest provider in the world of municipal sewage systems? Even though many cities claim to have their own sewage department, in reality it is actually being run by Veolia. It's a funny topic, but I read a book called "Flush" which describes what happens after flushing a toilet. It's actually pretty darn amazing! Modern sewage and waste treatment plants are why we don't have horrible diseases being spread like they were in "the old days". I've always taken for granted that it just "works" when you push the handle, but actually, there is a massive amount of engineering and work that has gone into that very simple maneuver.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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I would guess then, Smitty, that Veolia probably doesn't have a problem with stopped-up toilets on their trains.
Richard
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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There is a joke to be made here but it is so indelicate that I won't make it.
notelvis Member # 3071
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Now I'm thinking of the story I read some years ago about the Long Island Railroad commuter who dropped his cellphone into an onboard toilet and attempted to retrieve it.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Mr. Presley, I believe two separate incidents regarding cell phones and trains are being confused here.
The first incident, for which I cannot locate a news source, occurred on the Long Island R R, when a teen aged girl dropped her cellphone on to the tracks. She started to retrieve the phone,,,,,,(and I think you know the rest of the story).
While this following incident did not result in any fatality such as did the immediate, it caused massive delays to Metro North RR passengers. Here's New York Times coverage regarding such:
Now how about back to the subject of purchase of service agreements regardless of whether provided by railroads, an American rail services contractor, Herzog, or the two French concerns, Keolis and Veolia, the first being a branch of the French Railroads (SNCF) and the second being represented in the US by Mr. Downs yet primarily in the waste management business worldwide.
notelvis Member # 3071
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Yes, yes, I was thinking of the Metro North incident and not the other.
George Harris Member # 2077
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quote:Originally posted by smitty195: Modern sewage and waste treatment plants are why we don't have horrible diseases being spread like they were in "the old days". I've always taken for granted that it just "works" when you push the handle, but actually, there is a massive amount of engineering and work that has gone into that very simple maneuver.
I long since figured out that good engineering is invisible. This is doubly, if not many times truer, for environmental, or sanitary as it was called when I went to school. As long as the infrastructure facilities are properly built and function as intended nobody notices. However, if they don't then everybody notices.
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