(The following editorial appeared on the Stamford Advocate website on April 16.)
STAMFORD, Conn. — One of the continuing problems that has plagued Amtrak, the nation’s rail system, since the beginning has been the lack of on-time performance.
Generally is not due to the weather, something that is to blame for most airline delays. As the airlines deal with soaring fuel costs — and some of the smaller airline companies go belly up — it should be an incentive for passengers to turn to rail travel.
The one thing that could make rail travel on Amtrak more attractive is an improvement in the on-time record. So what’s the problem?
It’s not in how Amtrak operates its system, it falls directly on the freight lines that own most of the trackage around the nation.
Passenger trains often must be sidetracked to allow freight traffic to pass.
This is not the case in the Northeast Corridor, where its on-time record is 86 percent and Amtrak owns most of the tracks.
That’s good, but it could be even better. When the long distance trains operate on tracks owned by the freight lines, that percentage drops to 42 percent and that’s not acceptable.
On-time performance is the major key to boosting passenger rail service and, as the airlines struggle with fuel costs, now is the time to press for better conditions for Amtrak.
When the system was first formed in 1970, it lifted the passenger burden from the then-private rail lines. In exchange, the freight lines were supposed to give priority to Amtrak trains, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
If Amtrak were indeed given the priority it was promised, on-time records would improve, revenue would increase by attracting more passengers and costs would be reduced by cutting overtime.
The present administration has not been a promoter of Amtrak as a national rail service. It has made it a practice of appropriating just enough money to allow it to fail.
Now that we see airlines and other forms of transportation — trucks in particular — dealing with fuel costs, we have a chance to set new priorities for a national rail system.