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Passenger rail service jinxed by a lack of federal funds

By MARTIN DYCKMAN
Published August 28, 2005

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - It had been 25 years since I last traveled by rail in the United States, where it is widely unavailable or inconvenient. But now we live nearly beside one of Amtrak's main routes and the station, nicely restored, is just five minutes away. So when I needed to go to Connecticut on short notice last week, the train looked like a winner, in comfort, convenience, cost and even time, compared to the hardships and indignities of air travel or to driving the New Jersey Turnpike. I went online and booked a round trip.

Riding European trains had spoiled me for what came next.

At the museum-piece Williamsburg station, a sign warned that signal delays along the CSX tracks were causing "severe" delays between Richmond and Washington and that passengers should consider "other travel options." Nearby, an exhibit noted that once upon a time "residents set their clocks by the whistles of the steam locomotives."

It took 21/2 hours longer to get to New Haven than the 81/2 scheduled. The return trip got me home three hours late.

As very little of that was Amtrak's fault, I had to feel sorry for the train crews, who were scrupulous about announcing what was happening, or not happening, and why. French crews rarely need to do that.

Leaving Williamsburg, the train made only 15 mph because something was wrong with the CSX signal system. It eventually speeded up, only to slow to 50 mph north of Richmond because of heat restrictions enforced whenever the temperature tops 90 degrees and the rails might warp.

North of Washington, where Amtrak owns its own rails, the train made good time. But it had to pause outside New Haven to wait for a platform while a commuter train took priority. The commuter line owns those rails.

The day I was to return began with the news that a freight train derailment in the Bronx had taken out Amtrak's overhead electric lines, causing severe delays to the few trains still running. "You're a jinx," my son John remarked.

My regional service left New Haven on time, but had to wait for a diesel engine to tow the train through the Bronx and got to Pennsylvania Station an hour and 42 minutes late.

The cause remains to be announced, but it was a CSX freight on CSX tracks that parallel Amtrak's. Poor Amtrak.

No sooner was it cut loose from its tug, than my train stopped again. It wasn't CSX this time; the conductors said the engineer was coping with a mechanical problem by "jiggling the switches." He made it go, but we arrived at Washington 21/2 hours late.

There was another unscheduled stop south of Fredericksburg, where the conductors got off the train and manually reset a track switch to keep us out of the way of an oncoming CSX freight. This was a main line, not a side track. Aren't switches supposed to be remotely controlled?

"No batteries on the remote control," said one of the conductors. She may not have been kidding. A CSX spokesman said Friday that train crews must manually reset switches when signals fail. It would take a while to pinpoint the reason this time. Security? Yes, the switches are padlocked. The crews carry keys.

From the Amtrak conductors, I learned it is nothing unusual for them to act as brakemen or even mechanics. One described fixing brakes atop a trestle 60 feet high.

For all that, it still beat driving or flying. I would do it again. But not too soon.

Being only a guest on many of the tracks it uses is a big reason why Amtrak's on-time performance in June was only 64.3 percent, 20 percent worse than its own expectations and worse even than the airlines. As recently as 1999, Amtrak arrived on schedule 79 percent of the time. But considering that aviation and highways got $56-billion in federal money this year and Amtrak only $1.2-billion, it is perhaps remarkable that they don't do worse.

Rail passenger service is scandalously underfunded. The freight railroads, which delightedly dumped passenger service on the government, should be forced to give passengers a better shake. Nobody in Europe would put up with what we do.

To readers curious about the unfamiliar dateline: My wife was appointed a visiting instructor in French at the College of William & Mary, so we have moved from Tallahassee to Williamsburg and for the time being I will write from here.

Martin Dyckman's e-mail address is dyckman@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 26, 2005, 23:37:02]