The Carmichael Conference: Follow Up and Calls for Action

Transportation Advocates: We Must Act Now!

I would also like to thank Gil Carmichael for serving as an inspiration not only for this conference but for many of us who are now engaged in seeking transportation solutions for our people. I truly regret that my dear friend, Gov. Michael Dukakis, could not be with us today in person, although we will bring him in by telephone later. He is a gentleman and a truly gifted transportation proponent. I first met Gov. Dukakis in 1998 when I was appointed to the Amtrak Reform Board. We two, together with then-Gov. Tommy Thompson and Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater, formed the initial board, and the four of us served as the board for the first six to eight months of its existence before other members were added. I can honestly say that in the five years we spent together as board members, never once did partisanship rear its divisive head. We were engaged in providing the best passenger rail service possible for this country regardless of our parties’ positions.

When I arrived on the Amtrak board, Tom Downs had been forced out as president and CEO, and George Warrington was hired to fill that role. At that time, if you remember, Amtrak had been forced by Washington onto that infamously ill-conceived “glide path to self sufficiency”—a mandate to seek zero operational investment from the federal government—in essence to live out of a fare box, a feat no passenger rail system in the world truly achieves. Notice I said “invest.” You see, we “invest” in highways. We “invest” in airlines. But we “subsidize” railroads. When I first became chairman of the board, the annual “subsidy” for all Amtrak operations was less than the annual “investment” in removing road kill from our nation’s highways. Acela, this country’s first high-speed rail consist was rolled out and, although initial problems arose, Acela remains an extremely popular transportation option in the northeast. George Warrington moved on to New Jersey Transit, and I hired David Gunn, a real railroad man, a highly successful railroad operator, who created accurate and transparent accounting for Amtrak and who invested in a capital budget which returned the railroad to its state of good repair. David did all of this without sacrificing our long-distance trains, the backbone of the passenger rail system in this country.

To demonstrate the lack of understanding at the federal level at that time, of how Amtrak is critically integrated into the delivery of all passenger rail service, I will share this story. Shortly after coming on board, David and I were called to Washington, D.C. by Secretary Norm Mineta for what was to be a two-hour board meeting at the secretary’s office. Secretary Mineta had decided to decline the approval of a $100 million loan that Amtrak desperately needed to see its way to the end of the year. The secretary informed us if we could not make it without the $100 million loan, then shut Amtrak down. David said we could do that but we would not only lose all long-distance service but the entire northeast corridor would cease to operate as well—no electrified catenary, no dispatching; therefore, no Amtrak, no commuters, no freight. Needless to say, the meeting lasted somewhat longer than two hours, and I stayed in D.C. not for two hours but for one week, successfully negotiating a $100 million loan with the Department of Transportation.

I’ll show you what kind of man David is. I had come to D.C. with no change of clothes because the meeting was supposed to last only two hours. Therefore, every night David would wash my shirt, socks and underwear and return them to me the next morning for another round of negotiations. Under David’s leadership, ridership, revenue and on-time performance improved remarkably, and each following year has set new records-- all of this accomplished, I remind you, with an administration in the White House grossly underfunding Amtrak and its proposed budgets even to the point of zeroing Amtrak out. But there was a shift on Capitol Hill. Amtrak’s credibility with Congress had been restored. My senator, Trent Lott, and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg introduced Amtrak reauthorization and railroad infrastructure bonding bills. And, for all of his success, David was fired.

Now, Alex Kummant, Amtrak president and CEO, struggles to do much with little and has been most recently saddled with labor agreements for which insufficient revenue exists in 2009 to cover the cost. These labor agreements contain no work-rule changes sought by Amtrak. I remind you this presidential emergency board that constructed the settlement was appointed by the same administration that repeatedly recommends less than adequate funding levels for Amtrak. It sounds a lot like pharaoh’s order to “make bricks without straw.” But there is still hope. Senators Lott and Lautenberg have again won approval for reauthorization and bonding in the Senate. Chairman Oberstar assures me the House will pass similar bills. Then on to the appropriations battle.

This “Perils of Pauline” serial that is Amtrak’s continuing story line occurs simultaneously with highways that are overcrowded and highway trust funds in jeopardy, with airlines in meltdown, and all with the added layers of homeland security, an energy crisis and urgent calls for sane environmental choices in the face of a deteriorating planet. But out of crisis comes great opportunity. “Our unity as a nation is sustained by communication of thought and by easy transportation of people and goods. Together, the unifying forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear—United States. Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts.” These words were spoken by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1955. That is the last time we had a vision of what transportation investment means to this country. However, 53 years later, his words are still true. With reauthorization for rail, highway and air occurring concurrently and a new T bill ahead of us; with the presidential election upon us, with an engaged public concerned over increasing gas prices, global warming and threatened choices for transportation, I believe the confluence of these events provides unique timing for a new transportation vision.

I just arrived here from Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Conference of Mayors mid-winter meeting. Mayors are the most effective voice for our American cities on Capitol Hill, and transportation is about connecting from city center to city center. I see mayors of cities large and small energized and committed to address these issues. They are engaged in station development and addressing grade crossing concerns. Mayors see freight rail companies as important partners in economic development. I see states like Wisconsin, Illinois, California and North Carolina investing in all modes of transportation, including rail. I see freight railroads such as Norfolk Southern and Kansas City Southern embracing passenger traffic as a revenue source and an infrastructure partner. I see think tanks such as Reconnecting America convening the best minds in the transportation world to craft recommendations for our leaders. I see conferences such as this where we engage in open discussion and debate about our shared transportation future. All of these things give me great hope that we will finally see modes of transportation as feeding one another, not competing; as interconnected partners, not isolated silos unto themselves.

Consider this simple possibility—a citizen in Newton, Mississippi buys a ticket and boards a bus, his bag with him and a small container of La-Z-Boy recliners, made in his hometown, on the back of the same bus. Both passenger and freight travel to Meridian’s multi-modal station, where, still using the same ticket, that passenger and his bag board a higher-speed Amtrak Crescent, bound for the international airports in either Atlanta or New Orleans, with the container of La-Z-Boys on the same train. At either airport, he boards a jet bound for Orly Airport in Paris with the same ticket and, when he arrives, his bag is with him. What a novel concept.

The timing is right for this gathering, but if this conference is merely another convocation to puzzle over transportation’s navel and not act, then we have wasted time and energy. These issues are complex and daunting, but we must act and act now. Our children and grandchildren will hold us accountable. To fail them is to leave our great nation “a mere alliance of many separate parts.” This we cannot do.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy speaks at AGV unveiling

ALSTOM’s Automotrice Grande Vitesse (AGV) will supplant the famed TGV on France’s highest-speed electrified rail lines, traveling at speeds up to 360km/h (224mph), and powered not by locomotives but by under-floor mounted traction motors.

The roll out of the AGV pours gasoline on the competitive fires ranging around the world in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, and in China, Japan and Korea, as manufacturers fight for the lead in an exploding 21^st century market --- everywhere but in America --- for high speed rail. With the exception of the 155-mph Acela, built by Canada’s Bombardier, on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, North America has not been a competitor in this new 21^st century market.

Sounding more like an American President of a generation ago than a Frenchmen, Sarkozy declared “That we are here today is testimony to the courage of ALSTOM, because during its worst period it decided not to sacrifice its research and development,” at the dedication at the La Rochelle plant.

In 2004, reported the BBC which covered the event, Sarkozy, then finance minister, intervened to save ALSTOM “…by partially privatizing the company and blocking a takeover by Germany’s Siemens which wanted to dismantle the French giant.”

“We need to entrench a simple message in people’s minds: industry is not over, industry is essential for the economy of a rich nation as much as an emerging nation,” Mr. Sarkozy said at the launch.

The new AGV trains will travel 600 miles in three hours, about the distance from, which is “a new stage in the competition with the airlines”, said ALSTOM’s Executive Chairman, Patrick Kron, at the ceremony.

With a motor under each carriage, the AGV - which translates as “high-speed railcar” - is unlike the TGV, which has motors only at the back and front.

It was also built using ALSTOM’s own funds rather than as a joint venture with the state rail firm SNCF as the TGV was.

Source: www.MarketWatch.com

Copyright © 2008 National Corridors Initiative, Inc. as a compilation work and original content. Permission is granted to reproduce content provided acknowledgements to NCI are given. Return links to the NCI web site are encouraged and appreciated. Color Name Courtesy of Doug Alexander. Content reproduced by NCI remain the copyrights of the original publishers.

Web page links as reproduced in our articles are active at the time we go to press. Occasionally, news and information outlets may opt to archive these articles and notices under alternative web addresses after initial publication. NCI has no control over the policies of other web sites and regrets any inconvenience experienced when clicking off our web site.

We try to be accurate in the stories we write, but even seasoned pros err occasionally. If you read something you know to be amiss, or if you have a question about a topic, we’d like to hear from you. Please e-mail the editor at editor@nationalcorridors.org. Please include your name, and the community and state from which you write. For technical issues contact D. Kirkpatrick, NCI’s webmaster at webmaster@nationalcorridors.org.

Photo submissions are welcome. NCI is always interested in images that demonstrate the positive aspects of rail, transit, intermodalism, transportation-oriented development, and current newsworthy events associated with our mission. Please contact the webmaster in advance of sending large images so we can recommend attachment by e-mail or grant direct file transfer protocols (FTP) access depending on size. Descriptive text which includes location and something about the content of the image is required. We will credit the photographer and offer a return link to your web site or e-mail address.

In an effort to expand the on-line experience at the National Corridors Initiative web site, we have added a page featuring links to other transportation initiative sites. We hope to provide links to those cities or states that are working on rail transportation initiatives – state DOTs, legislators, government offices, and transportation organizations or professionals – as well as some links for travelers, enthusiasts, and hobbyists. If you have a favorite link, please send the web address (URL) to our webmaster.

Destination Freedom is partially funded by the Surdna Foundation, and other contributors.