User:Mackensen/Network Growth Strategy

The Three Rivers at Lewistown, Pennsylvania in 2002. Multiple material handling cars are visible at the head end. Amtrak hoped that mail and express service would help it achieve profitability.

The Network Growth Strategy was a business strategy adopted by Amtrak, the national intercity rail carrier of the United States, toward the end of the 1990s. Amtrak, which depends on government support, intended to achieve profitability by expanding its mail and express service over existing routes and adopting new routes whose primary purpose would be freight and express, with passenger traffic a secondary consideration. Amtrak planned fifteen "route actions" (new routes or alterations to existing routes) to be implemented between FY1999 and FY2002. Of these only three were ever implemented, and only one remained in place after 2003. Amtrak exited the freight business in 2003 and returned its focus to passenger travel.

History

The United States Congress passed the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act (ARAA) in 1997. Among other provisions, the act called for an end to operating subsidies by 2002.

George Warrington, then Amtrak's president, officially unveiled the plan on February 29, 2000. The plan envisioned growing both passenger and the freight and express business, with the aim for the company to become financially self-sufficient. Amtrak expected to realize $229 million per year in new revenue. At the time Amtrak faced possible liquidation if it did not achieve that status by the end of FY 2002. Revenue from the mail and express business grew from $70 to $117 million between 1997–2001, but this growth was offset by increased expenses, which Amtrak met through borrowing. Not all expenses were attribute to the network growth strategy as substantial amounts were invested in the Acela Express program. Nevertheless, Amtrak's operating loss increased by 70.9% between 1997–2001 (all numbers in millions):

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

•   Revenues
•   Expenses

David L. Gunn replaced Warrington as president in May 2002. In September he ended the mail and express program, which at the time was losing $3 million per year. Amtrak continues to handle small parcels in its baggage cars.

Route changes

Amtrak planned numerous route changes, including several completely new services. Most of these never advanced beyond the planning stages and were abandoned in the face of freight railroad opposition, funding woes and equipment shortages. Of the eight new services proposed only two, the Lake Country Limited and the Kentucky Cardinal, operated in revenue service, and both were cancelled by 2003.

Florida

In May 2000 Amtrak had three long-distance trains serving Florida:

• the Silver Meteor, which ran from New York City to Miami, Florida, following a route along the Atlantic coastline.
• the Silver Palm, which followed the Silver Meteor's route as far as Jacksonville, Florida but then took a route through the Florida interior to Tampa, Florida, before turning east to serve Miami.
• the Silver Star, which ran from New York City to Miami, but followed an inland route through the Carolinas.

Amtrak planned two changes to these trains:

• Move the northern terminus of the Silver Meteor from New York to Boston, creating a direct New England–Florida connection. This train would use the so-called "Inland Route" via Springfield, Massachusetts.
• Create separate Miami and Tampa sections for all three trains, with the split occurring at Jacksonville. The Miami sections of the Silver Meteor and Silver Star would use the Florida East Coast Railway.

Iowa

Passenger service to Des Moines, Iowa had ended on May 31, 1970, when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (the Rock Island) discontinued an unnamed round-trip between Chicago and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Amtrak proposed to run an overnight train, the Hawkeye, from Chicago to Des Moines via Savanna, Illinois. The train would have used the tracks of I&M Rail Link and the Iowa Interstate Railroad. Nothing came of the proposal.

Kentucky

A typical Kentucky Cardinal consist: a B32-8WH locomotive (out of frame), a P42DC locomotive, a Hi-Level coach, and a boxcar

Main article: Kentucky Cardinal

On December 17, 1999, Amtrak extended the Chicago–Indianapolis Hoosier State south to Jeffersonville, Indiana, across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. Amtrak sought to tap in to mail and express business at the United Parcel Service's Louisville hub. The train began serving Louisville directly in 2001. Poor track conditions south of Indianapolis hampered operations, and Amtrak discontinued the train on July 5, 2003. A planned revival of service to Nashville, Tennessee never occurred.

Michigan

Detroit's Michigan Central Station, disused since 1988. Amtrak hoped to handle mail and express business here with the Canadian Pacific Railway

Amtrak planned changes for three of Michigan's five trains: the International would be re-routed via Detroit, the Twilight Limited would become a long-distance train and begin serving New York, while the Lake Cities would resume serving Toledo, Ohio, which it had done until 1995. Both would bypass the existing Detroit station. None of these plans were implemented.

The International operated between Chicago and Toronto via the Canadian National Railway in Michigan, serving East Lansing, Michigan. Amtrak proposed to re-route it over the former Michigan Central Railroad east of Battle Creek, Michigan, which already saw several daily trains. This would permit the train to service Ann Arbor and Detroit. Under this arrangement the International would no longer be supported by the state of Michigan.

The Twilight Limited and the Lake Cities, along with the Wolverine, provided thrice-daily service between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan, via Detroit. Amtrak proposed to extend the Twilight Limited to New York, via Ontario. This would also replace an existing Empire Corridor train. Under the New York Central Railroad the New York–Chicago via Detroit and southern Ontario route had hosted multiple long-distance trains, with two surviving under Penn Central until the formation of Amtrak. Amtrak had operated the Niagara Rainbow between New York and Detroit from 1974–1979. The Lake Cities had terminated at Toledo instead of Pontiac until 1995. Amtrak opened a mail and express facility at Michigan Central Station in Detroit in expectation of increased business.

None of the three route changes came to pass, although both the Lake Cities and Twilight Limited terminated at Detroit for several months. The initiatives founded on opposition from the host freight railroads and a lack of mail and express business.

New York-Chicago

In its February 2000 announcement Amtrak included the Manhattan Limited, a new long-distance train on the ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line. The Manhattan Limited was to operate between New York and Chicago via Pittsburgh, supplementing the Three Rivers and Pennsylvanian. In the spring this service appeared on the national timetable as the Skyline Connection with its eastern terminus moved to Philadelphia and a note that service would "commence on a date to be announced." The Skyline Connection would have departed Chicago in early afternoon and arrived in Philadelphia the following morning. The westbound version was scheduled to depart Philadelphia after midnight, arriving in Chicago in the evening. The train's equipment would have included Viewliner sleeping cars. Amtrak was unable to come to an agreement with the Norfolk Southern Railway and cancelled the proposed train in 2001.

New York-Los Angeles

As part of its strategy Amtrak announced a "luxury transcontinental" train which would operate between New York and Los Angeles on a 60-hour schedule, making just eight intermediate stops. The train's route would take it via Pittsburgh and Albuquerque. Amtrak intended to partner with American Orient Express, a private purveyor of luxury train travel in the United States.

Texas

The Texas Eagle at Marshall, Texas in 2005, after the restoration of daily service

Amtrak planned numerous changes within Texas, including two new routes, a re-route, and a increase in service. The overall effect would be to convert Fort Worth into a regional hub.

At the time the Sunset Limited followed the former Southern Pacific route through Texas, serving San Antonio and Houston but passing well south of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Amtrak proposed routing the Sunset Limited north from Houston to Dallas, then west to Abilene before re-joining the former SP at El Paso. Amtrak believed that the Sunset Limited, traditionally a weak performer, would realize an additional US$2.9 million in yearly revenue from this move. Amtrak considered discontinuing the train altogether, but reported that doing so would save $8 million against $9.5 million in fares and business from connecting routes.

Included in the Network Growth Strategy was returning the Texas Eagle to daily operation between Chicago and San Antonio; the Texas Eagle had operated quad-weekly since 1998 and tri-weekly before that. Amtrak implemented the change on May 21, 2000. A further change, in which the Texas Eagle would continue to provide twice-weekly service to Alpine and Del Rio in place of the re-routed Sunset Limited, was never implemented as the Sunset Limited's route never changed.

Wisconsin

The Lake Country Limited in 2000. The lack of expected mail and express business led to a swift discontinuance

In 2000–2001 Amtrak considered extending one Hiawatha Service round-trip 70 miles (113 km) north from Milwaukee to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Potential stops included Brookfield, Elm Grove, Slinger, and Lomira. Travel time would be nearly two hours. Amtrak hoped to attract mail and express business along the route, but abandoned the idea in September 2001.

One of the few new services begun was the Lake Country Limited, a corridor train between Chicago and Janesville, Wisconsin. It began running on April 15, 2000. Amtrak intended this train to exchange mail and express with the Skyline Connection. The cancellation of that service before it even began undermined the Lake Country Limited and Amtrak discontinued it on September 23, 2001.

Summary

Amtrak proposed fifteen discrete route actions. Of the fifteen only three were implemented, and the only one persisted beyond 2003:

Name	Endpoints	Action	Outcome
Hiawatha Service	Chicago—Milwaukee, WI	Extend to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin	Cancelled
Lake Cities	Chicago—Pontiac, MI	Restore Toledo, Ohio service	Cancelled
Lake Country Limited	Chicago—Janesville, WI	New service	Operated 2001—2002
Skyline Connection	Chicago—Philadelphia	New service	Cancelled
Silver Meteor	New York City—Miami, FL	Extend to Boston	Cancelled
Crescent Star	Meridian, MS—Dallas, TX	New service	Cancelled
Aztec Eagle	San Antonio, TX—Monterrey	New service	Cancelled
Texas Eagle	Chicago—San Antonio	Increased service from quad-weekly to daily	Implemented
Twilight Limited	Chicago—New York City	Extend to New York	Cancelled
Luxury Transcontinental	New York City–Los Angeles	New service	Cancelled
International	Chicago—Toronto	Re-route in Michigan	Cancelled
Hawkeye	Chicago—Des Moines, IA	New service	Cancelled
Silver Service	New York City—Florida	Service along Florida East Coast Railway	Cancelled
Sunset Limited	Los Angeles—Orlando, FL	Re-route in Texas	Cancelled
Kentucky Cardinal	Chicago—Louisville, KY	New service	Operated 1999—2003

Equipment changes

The proposed new routes would have outstripped Amtrak's existing rolling stock. To meet the new demand Amtrak planned to "activate 50 passenger cars and 45 locomotives, as well as 4,000 mail and express cars." In addition, the size of existing trains would have been reduced.

References

• "Amtrak Needs to Improve Its Decisionmaking Process for Its Route and Service Proposals" (PDF). General Accounting Office. April 2002.
• Johnston, Bob (May 2000). "Under a new strategy, Amtrak to add trains, routes". Trains. Vol. 60, no. 5. p. 16.  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
• Pinkston, Elizabeth (2003). The Past and Future of U.S. Passenger Rail Service (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Budget Office. ISBN 978-0-16-051500-2.
• Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.
• Thoms, William E. (1973). Reprieve for the Iron Horse: The AMTRAK Experiment–Its Predecessors and Prospects. Baton Rouge, LA: Claitor's Publishing Division. OCLC 1094744.

Category:Amtrak