strategic-management

15
National Railroad Passenger
Corporation (AMTRAK) — 2009
Kristopher J. Blanchard
Crown College
www.amtrak.com
Amtrak’s longtime inspector general, Fred Weiderhold, abruptly resigned on June 18,
2009, saying “the independence and effectiveness of the inspector general’s office is being
substantially impaired by Amtrak managers.” That month, Amtrak managers were cited
for interfering with the railroad’s $1.3 billion in economic stimulus funding. Senator
Chuck Grassley from Iowa said, “Amtrak managers are interfering with the system of
checks and balances.” Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was a member of
Amtrak’s board of directors from July 2006 through February 2009.
On August 19, 2009, Amtrak extended through the end of the year its fare promotion
in the Northeast. For example, you can ride Amtrak from New York to Washington, D.C.,
for $49 or New York to Philadelphia for $34 or Boston to New York for $49, etc. There are
no additional fares or fees to these low prices.
In 2009, Amtrak provides services across 21,000 miles of track in 46 states, the
District of Columbia, and three Canadian provinces. Amtrak is the sole nationwide passenger
rail carrier in the United States. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
was organized under the Rail Passenger Service Act in 1970 and operations began in
May 1971.
Exhibit 1 provides a map of Amtrak service routes. It is a large and complex passenger
rail system, operating corridor and long-distance passenger rail service in and through
46 states of the contiguous United States. Amtrak’s best known service may be its Northeast
Corridor (NEC) service between Boston and Washington, D.C., but the company
operates more than 315 trains per day over 43 routes, carrying an average of 78,500 passengers
per day.
Amtrak has approximately 19,000 employees, and revenue for the 2008 fiscal year
was $2.4 billion. This included intercity passenger rail service revenues and revenues from
related businesses and state capital payments. In fiscal 2008, Amtrak carried nearly 29 million
passengers to more than 500 destinations. In addition to Amtrak riders, an average of
850,000 people traveled over Amtrak infrastructure or on commuter trains operated under
contract every weekday. 1 Amtrak has contracts to provide passenger rail service to 14
states; this represents nearly half of Amtrak’s departures. Additionally there are seven state
transportation, or commuter, agencies that contract with Amtrak for the use of various
facilities and assets or for delivery of commuter service. These agencies include Caltrain,
Maryland Area Regional Commuter, Connecticut’s Shore Line East, and Virginia Railway
Express. Amtrak also conducts maintenance for the Sounder Commuter Rail System in
Seattle, dispatching and maintenance-of-way service for Massachusetts Bay Transportation
Authority, and dispatching for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority
Tri-Rail service.
Amtrak owns 363 miles of the 456-mile Northeast Corridor from Washington to
Boston, where Acela Express trains operate at speeds of up to 150 mph; a 62-mile track
segment from New Haven, Connecticut, to Springfield, Massachusetts; 104 miles between
Philadelphia and Harrisburg over which trains travel up to 110 mph; and 97 miles of track
in Michigan over which trains travel at 95 mph. About 70 percent of the miles traveled by
Amtrak trains are on tracks owned by freight and commuter railroads. This has resulted in
Amtrak paying host railroads $101.5 million for reimbursed costs and incentives to travel