The President of Amtrak, David Gunn, says that he is determined to dismantle the entire passenger rail system before he will discontinue the long haul (over 500 miles) trains.

Since you appear to be a resident of New Mexico, you may want to e-mail your Congressional House representative right away and show your support for The Southwest Chief. This is very important because the future of passenger rail is being decided by the House even as we speak. I keep bombarding my representative (Rep. Heather Wilson) with e-mails but I don't believe she has made a decision on the matter yet. This is unfortunate because Senators Domenici and Bingaman support Amtrak, even though they are of opposing parties. Our new Governor, Bill Richardson is also a fan of passenger rail and I'm sure an e-mail from you would certainly help the situation.

The battle is not lost yet. Keep the faith and please write letters to your representatives as well as your newspapers.

But, as it is one of the biggest money losers, the SWC is certainly a potential target. I always wondered why it loses so much, as I know it's a popular train. Are the costs high or extreme along it's route for station agents, stations, or other reasons? I wonder if because four locos are used, the fuel costs are higher for this route.

But even with the money issue, I really don't think the SWC will be the first to go. It is the only true Chi-La route and this is a major connection. I'm really worried for the Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle. The Cardinal is already planned to be discontinued, so who's next?

David Gunn recently said that Amtrak lost money on carrying freight and that service was to be discontinued. I ride past the Chief every night and see it carrying well over a dozen freight cars and I find it difficult to believe that it can lose money carrying that much stuff, in addition to all those passengers.

And passengers! Post 9/11 the train seems to be always filled to the gills with people. Before that tragedy I could always get a couple seats to myself. Now I never, ever can get a couple seats to myself.

Also, I believe that the Chief also recently won a lucrative $25 million contract to carry mail.

So.... where does all the money go? This does not make sense. Maybe those often-quoted loss figures are incorrect.

Here's an interesting paragraph I just cut from a NY Times story that addresses our discussion, but refers specifically to the Sunset Limited:

"This year the Amtrak Reform Council, an advisory panel created by Congress, said that the Sunset Limited lost $347 per passenger, although Amtrak did not agree. Amtrak argues that cutting the long-distance trains would save nothing in the short term, because its unionized workers have contracts that specify that they would still be paid. It has no track maintenance costs on its long-distance routes, because it does not own the tracks."

quote:

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Originally posted by Chucky:
That's a good question: Why does the Southwest Chief lose money? And I think it really needs to be answered.

David Gunn recently said that Amtrak lost money on carrying freight and that service was to be discontinued. I ride past the Chief every night and see it carrying well over a dozen freight cars and I find it difficult to believe that it can lose money carrying that much stuff, in addition to all those passengers.

And passengers! Post 9/11 the train seems to be always filled to the gills with people. Before that tragedy I could always get a couple seats to myself. Now I never, ever can get a couple seats to myself.

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It's long past time to get over the idea that long distance passenger trains have to MAKE money to survive. Gunn has stated ALL the ld trains lose money. The question is, should these trains be subsidized to provide an alternate means of transportation, I believe they should.

As for the number of mail/express cars on the SW Chief. Observing that there are many does not mean the service is profitable. If the overall service is unprofitible, adding volume will only increase loses, not achieve profibility.