COLUMBUS, Ohio — Amtrak announced it will eliminate one of its daily passenger rail services on Jan. 27, 2003 to five Northern Ohio cities because the rail service had reliability problems, ran on a slow schedule and operated on a timetable that largely favored freight customers instead of travelers. An Ohio rail travel organization said those factors prevented ridership growth on Amtrak’s daily east-west trips of its Pennsylvanian (Chicago – Philadelphia) route, serving Alliance, Cleveland, Elyria, Sandusky and Toledo.
But, instead of working with affected local, state and federal officials to deal with the Pennsylvanian’s problems and improve the service, Amtrak instead chose to eliminate the service, argued the Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers (OARP), a nonprofit rail advocacy organization.
In 1998, Amtrak restructured the Pennsylvanian from a Pittsburgh – New York City route to become a Chicago-Philadelphia operation to handle Amtrak’s then-new emphasis on carrying freight in box cars and converted truck trailers that can be attached to existing passenger trains. But profits from freight operations nationwide never materialized. So Amtrak decided several months ago it would end its freight business, but continue to carry bulk mail shipments. Without freight, Amtrak officials decided to revert the Pennsylvanian back to its Pittsburgh – New York City route.
“OARP asked Amtrak earlier this year to put the Pennsylvanian on a schedule that we felt would improve ridership, but we were told by Amtrak officials that this would harm their freight business,” said Stu Nicholson, OARP’s administrative director. “When Amtrak said it would end its freight business, we hoped this would be an opportunity to finally get that passenger-friendly schedule. Instead, Amtrak took that opportunity and chose to once again reduce service to Ohioans.”
Specifically, OARP recommended having the eastbound train leave Chicago at midday, serve Toledo and Cleveland in the evening hours, and pause in Pittsburgh about 11 p.m. before an overnight trek to arrive in Philadelphia and New York the next morning.
Westbound, OARP envisioned late-evening departures from those two East Coast cities, arriving Pittsburgh at dawn, and serve Cleveland and Toledo in the late-morning hours, arriving Chicago in the afternoon. OARP’s Board of Directors reiterated this request in a unanimous vote at its meeting Dec. 7 in Berea, Ohio.
Ironically, Amtrak’s decision to reduce rail service to Ohioans comes as the Ohio Rail Development Commission is engaged in a comprehensive feasibility study of passenger rail routes focused on Cleveland. One of those is Detroit – Toledo – Cleveland – Pittsburgh, which the Pennsylvanian serves, except for Detroit. The study’s early returns show that ridership would be high, assuming there are multiple daily trains that operate reliably and swiftly.
“Clearly, Amtrak has been unable to operate reliably nor swiftly,” Nicholson said. “And, losing the Pennsylvanian means there will be one less daily train for travelers to choose. This is not the way to build either ridership or good will.”
OARP believes Amtrak should work jointly with local, state and federal officials to undertake a number of measures to improve the reliability, financial performance, marketing and attractiveness of the Pennsylvanian. These include:
— Reschedule the trains per OARP’s recommendation, as noted earlier, to make the service more passenger-friendly;
— Improve reliability. The Pennsylvanian has lengthy schedule stops at cities where freight cars are switched on and off. Delays often resulted from those switching moves, harming the trains’ reliability for travelers.
— Speed up the trains’ schedule. Since freight hauling is being eliminated, there is no longer a need to “pad” schedules to absorb delays from switching freight cars on and off trains.
— Make better use of a new rail traffic control system between Cleveland, Alliance and Pittsburgh that permits 90 mph passenger train speeds. This can be done by adjusting road crossing warning devices that are now timed for slower trains. These can be adjusted at relatively low cost to significantly reduce rail travel times;
— Develop joint marketing programs between Amtrak and local/state tourism entities to advertise the mere existence of rail service, as well as offer rail travel packages to major tourism sites in Sandusky, Cleveland and other cities;
— Seek new United States Postal Service shipment contracts with regional bulk mail centers in southern Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago and elsewhere;
— Work with Ohio’s Congressional Delegation to secure a federal Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) grant to offset any train operating losses, as has been done in Nevada, Maine and elsewhere to promote travel alternatives that do not rely on congested highways and airports.
“It’s clear that there are many resources available to Amtrak to preserve and improve the Pennsylvanian,” Nicholson said. “Amtrak sought none of these. Instead, Amtrak took the easy way out and unilaterally chose to remove another travel option for Ohio’s weary travelers. It’s not too late to halt this shortsighted decision.”
OARP is a nonprofit, educational organization founded in 1973 to advocate for service and safety improvements to intercity passenger rail and urban transit services.