(The following article by Matthew L. Wald was posted on the New York Times website on July 18.)
WASHINGTON — Amtrak is still struggling to find the money for the capital improvements it says it needs to return to a state of good repair, but the railroad says it is making progress, and is putting more coaches and locomotives on the rails, buying new car carriers for the Auto Train, and working with states for expansion of rail service on corridors of less than 500 miles.
On any given day, fewer than 80 percent of Amtrak’s cars are in service. “There are days in the Northeast Corridor when we could fill every seat we could put out there, ” said David Gunn, Amtrak’s president, at a briefing in June where he explained the railroad’s five-year plan. The lack of cars is “costing us money,” he said.
His goal is to concentrate the railroad’s resources on car repair and raise the percentage of cars in service to over 85, thus putting another 75 to 100 cars on the tracks.
In addition, he said, Amtrak would buy new cars for the Northeast Corridor, beginning in 2007. The cars on that route were acquired soon after Amtrak’s creation in the early 1970’s and, on average, they are 28 years old.
“High failure rates due to deferred overhauls are impacting service reliability,” according to the railroad’s five-year plan. But the plan to purchase new cars assumes more generous aid than the $1.2 billion that Congress provided last year.
The cars that carry automobiles on the Auto Train, from suburban Washington, D.C., to suburban Orlando, Fla., date from the early 1960’s, the era of Studebakers and Ramblers. There are 64 of them, but beginning in February, Amtrak will replace them with 80 new carriers.
Amtrak is also working with officials in several states to improve rail service. In contrast to earlier proposals around the country for high-speed trains running on new tracks, often where no service exists now, the new proposals are mostly for modest improvements, adding an extra track at some bottlenecks, improving signal systems to allow for higher-speed operations, and rebuilding stations. In some cases, improving the tracks will allow use of existing equipment for more trips each day. With more frequent service, more passengers will come to the routes, experts say.
The route from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pa. which is owned by Amtrak, is already being rehabilitated. Among others included in the railroad’s five-year plan was a route from Washington, D.C., through Richmond, Va., and into North Carolina, passing through Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte. The work involves adding short stretches of track, a new bridge, realigning curves and renovating or rebuilding stations.
On another, from Chicago through Milwaukee and on to Madison, Wis., some rails and switches between Chicago and Milwaukee would be replaced, and tracks and signals near Madison would be improved. Track and signal improvements would eventually allow operation at 110 miles an hour over part of the route.
In California, state transportation officials highlighted a route from San Luis Obispo south through Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego, and another north from San Jose through Oakland and Sacramento to Reno.
While the railroad expects ridership to grow, the five-year plan cites concerns about security. Spurred by the March 11 attacks on trains in Madrid, the Transportation Security Administration has been working on adapting airport security techniques to the rails.
In June, the security agency conducted a three-week test of luggage screening at Union Station in Washington. On some weekday long-distance trains, checked bags were run through airport-style screening equipment, including X-ray machines. Screeners also used bomb-sniffing dogs and wands that sense explosives. The object was to see what such measures would cost, and what delays, if any, they would cause.
Before the Union Station test, the agency tried searching carry-on items and passengers. At New Carrollton, an Amtrak stop between Washington and Baltimore, passengers were put through a machine that sniffed for explosives, and their bags run through an X-ray machine. There was no ban on pocket knives and similar objects that are not allowed on planes, but the railroad does ban guns, swords, axes, explosives and hazardous chemicals.
The goal in both tests was to see how well the procedures and equipment would work. One question at New Carrollton was whether sensitive electronic scanning equipment could function in parts of train stations that lack heating or air-conditioning. The idea was that it might be rolled out in a hurry if officials believed there was a threat to rail security.
The government did not state publicly what level of performance would constitute success in the drill.