Year: 2005
Poor Management Leads to Millions in Losses
WASHINGTON — Poor management controls of Amtrak’s food and beverage service lead to millions in losses annually, reports reveal. The Amtrak Inspector General (IG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), at a recent Congressional hearing, outlined their separate reviews of Amtrak’s food and beverage service and the substantial losses incurred by Amtrak due to poor management. According to the IG’s review, Amtrak’s food and beverage operations lose up to $150 million each year. The IG figures do not incorporate losses resulting from theft, which were discussed in the hearing as being significant. The GAO review found that for every dollar
Traffic Booming on Historic ‘Stormy’
Railroaders call it the “Stormy” for its wild summer thunderstorms. Historians call it the Sunset Route. It has become a vital link handling booming traffic, and to address this growth, the 760-mile Union Pacific corridor between Los Angeles and El Paso is in the midst of an on-going effort to add capacity.
Amtrak’s Grounded Acela Returns to Service on N.E. Corridor
WASHINGTON – The first Acela Express trains returned to service July 11 with four daily departures from New York and Washington, marking an end to a roughly three-month service disruption, Amtrak announced. Throughout July, Amtrak announced weekday Acela Express service between New York and Washington beginning Monday, as well as weekend service starting July 16 on the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak suspended the trains’ operations after the discovery of cracks on the spokes of brake discs on April 15. The first trains to return operated Monday-Friday with two morning and two afternoon departures from New York and Washington, and served all
Amtrak: New, More Convenient Schedules Between New York and Florida
WASHINGTON – Beginning Monday August 1, Amtrak’s daily Silver Service trains will operate on new schedules between New York and Miami, creating more desirable arrival and departure times in several cities along the trains’ routes and improving connections to trains traveling to other areas of the country. The new schedules mean: Later southbound arrival times in Jacksonville and Orlando, allowing passengers a little more sleep and breakfast on-board before reaching their destinations. Earlier northbound departures from Miami allowing passengers from Jacksonville and Orlando an improved choice of afternoon and evening departures for New York and other northeast cities. Passengers from
June 2005 Wreck Roundup
A Union Pacific coal train derailed June 26 near Glenwood Springs, Colo., and the mishap stranded 200 passengers aboard an Amtrak train using the same tracks. Eighteen cars of the Union Pacific train derailed, but no coal from any of the cars spilled, WLS television in Chicago reported. Amtrak planned on using buses to transport passengers past the derailment. Eleven cars derailed in Jasper County, Texas, on June 24 and caused more than $1 million in damages, KTRE reported. Although the 74 car Watco Co. train had four cars with hazardous materials, none of them derailed, and no injuries or