Passenger Trains > Keolis, Amtrak disagree over VRE train operator status

Keolis and Amtrak disagree over VRE train operators' status
Washington Post
By Jennifer Buske

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

> Keolis Rail Services America has solidified contract agreements with
> the unions for engineers and conductors and will recruit employees
> this week in preparation for the end of Amtrak's reign with the
> Virginia Railway Express this summer and its takeover of its first
> U.S. operation.
>
> The company, the U.S. subsidiary of a France-based firm that won
> VRE's operating and maintenance contract in the fall, plans to extend
> job offers to the 80 or so Amtrak employees who operate VRE trains,
> said Steve Townsend, executive vice president of Keolis's local
> operation. According to Townsend, the economic package Keolis is
> offering is better than that offered by Amtrak, which has operated
> VRE trains for 17 years. Employees will keep their seniority and
> other benefits, but if they choose to switch back to Amtrak, they
> will lose their status with that company.
>
> "Early in the procurement process, there was concern about people
> losing jobs, but we will protect employees on the service if they
> want to remain," Townsend said. "I'm certain a lot of engineers and
> conductors will want to stay in their jobs."
>
> Townsend said that there is no hard number for how many will stay but
> that he has multiple applications from other trained railroaders who
> want to join the commuter-rail service and fill any spots not kept by
> current staff. VRE officials said if they have to train new
> employees, the funding is already worked into the Keolis contract and
> training would involve the new staff running several trips on
> non-passenger trains to become familiar with the system. Although
> there are only a few months until the June 28 switch, VRE and Keolis
> officials said they remain on schedule on hiring, which was outlined
> and agreed upon by the host railroads in Keolis's contract.
>
> Amtrak feels otherwise.
>
> On Friday, Amtrak sent a letter to Sean T. Connaughton, Virginia's
> transportation secretary, stating that the companies have "a ton of
> work to do in a very short time." Amtrak President Joseph Boardman
> wrote that he questions whether the companies will be prepared for a
> smooth transition.
>
> "Amtrak's had no discussions with us about where we are in the
> process or anything that would be service-related," VRE spokesman
> Mark Roeber said, noting that Boardman called VRE only once to say he
> was contacting the state. "Amtrak is not a party to any of these
> negotiations or the internal workings. . . . If they thought VRE
> would not be ready, they should have come to us. Instead they went to
> the state in an attempt to create confusion and distortion."
>
> In the letter, Amtrak officials stated that, to their knowledge,
> employees plan to stay with Amtrak. Officials said that Amtrak has
> enough jobs available if all employees want to stay and that some
> people have already bid for those jobs. A spokesman for the United
> Transportation Union returned a call but declined to comment. A call
> to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, District of
> Columbia region, was not returned. ad_icon
>
> Amtrak officials said they have done everything possible to create a
> smooth transition, short of turning over their employees. The point
> of the letter, they said, was to update the secretary of the
> situation as they understand it.
>
> "When looking at [Amtrak's letter], one might think the purpose of it
> is to scare the current employees from joining or to create some
> apprehension about Keolis," Roeber said. "But we are aware of where
> Keolis is in the process, and we know they are meeting all their
> obligations to make this a smooth transition."



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041203907.html?referrer=emailarticle



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/10 10:19 by GenePoon.

If I was a 45 or 50 year old engineer with, say, 15 or 20 years of service on VRE, I'd be scared. A new employer, only one opportunity to keep my seniority with Amtrak, that's a lot of risk.

What if Keolis walks or gets fired in five years? It's not like an operator hasn't had a contract renewed before. Where does that leave me? I'm 50 years old, nobody's gonna hire me.

I feel for these guys. It's a terrible position to be in.

Yeah, just ask the guys who gave up their Amtrak seniority to go to Metrolink. Now Amtrak has the contract and these former employees risk not getting hired back.

Another JOE DEELY ERA begins!

AmHog raises a good point, but it's entirely Amtrak's doing. There have been lots of commuter contracts before now, all over the country, in Boston and San Francisco and Los Angeles, where a private railroad lost or gave up the commuter service to Amtrak or someone else, and the crews who agreed to stay with the commuter service rolled to the new operator with no penalty. One day they were private railroad employees; the next day they worked for a new operator. If Amtrak or the new operator lost the contract later, the employees always rolled to the new operator, if they wanted to. It ensured continuity for the service and it was the right thing to do for the employees.

It's only now, with Metrolink and maybe with VRE, that Amtrak is saying that it won't hire people back. This is new in commuter-railroad contracts and, yes, it's scary. And it's Amtrak's doing.

The commuter agencies ought to take a stand to stay, Stop it, in order to ensure continuity of service in the event they want to change operators. And the unions need to make their position clear, in order to protect their membership. We're not talking about some little private business refusing to hire existing workers because they elected to stay in the service and work for a new operator. This isn't like a dry cleaners, where you can simply take your business to the next one down the street. These are public-service operations, providing a contracted service to the public, and the agency, the employees and the public shouldn't be subjected to this sort of behavior from a contractor.

Amtrak was caught off guard by this from VRE. They assumed they had it in the bag.
It would not have come to this had VRE not been so disgusted with Amtrak mgmt to begin with.

proudfoamer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another JOE DEELY ERA begins!

This has been bandied about for a while on TO, but can anyone confirm that it is true?

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Amtrak was caught off guard by this from VRE. They
> assumed they had it in the bag.
> It would not have come to this had VRE not been so
> disgusted with Amtrak mgmt to begin with.


It's not the first time Amtrak has tried to intimidate a train operator.

They did it to the State of Missouri, which wanted Herzog to take over its intrastate (KCy-STL) train. Amtrak refused to allow use of the STL and KCY stations, and to even SHOW the trains in Amtrak timetables as connections.

Amtrak has been making an attempt to stop the sale of CSX trackage to a Florida commuter rail agency. They appear afraid that will grow into an intrastate passenger rail system without Amtrak's finger in the pie. No telling how that's going to turn out, yet.

And actually it happened in Virginia already, some years ago. VRE wasn't happy with Amtrak's performance on its first operating contract and sought to select an operator by a bidding process. Amtrak under David Gunn threatened to shut off access to Union Station by VRE if another contractor were selected. VRE could have gone to the Surface Transportation Board if that happened but instead, they blinked and rehired Amtrak as operator.

This time they didn't hesitate. With Amtrak's performance remaining marginal at best and unacceptable at worst, VRE went ahead with the bid process and Amtrak lost out. Now it appears that Boardman's Amtrak is trying the same heavy-handed bullying and thuggery.

Sounds like the Mafia.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Amtrak was caught off guard by this from VRE.
> They
> > assumed they had it in the bag.
> > It would not have come to this had VRE not been
> so
> > disgusted with Amtrak mgmt to begin with.
>
>
> It's not the first time Amtrak has tried to
> intimidate a train operator.
>
> They did it to the State of Missouri, which wanted
> Herzog to take over its intrastate (KCy-STL)
> train. Amtrak refused to allow use of the STL and
> KCY stations, and to even SHOW the trains in
> Amtrak timetables as connections.
>
> Amtrak has been making an attempt to stop the sale
> of CSX trackage to a Florida commuter rail agency.
> They appear afraid that will grow into an
> intrastate passenger rail system without Amtrak's
> finger in the pie. No telling how that's going to
> turn out, yet.
> (snip)

If I was Amtrak, I'd be very concerned about losing the rights to build and run the new HSR network. Amtrak is up against world class operators (SNCF, Japan Railways, etc) who know how to run railroads. The bidding will include builders of roadbeds and builders of equipment, and I fully expect some will include contracts to "build and operate", neither of which are Amtrak strong points.

Companies like Siemens, Alstom, Hitachi, are already light years ahead of Amtrak in designing and running passenger rail networks. At least two major electric firms have launched prep teams to position themselves for the US building spree.

The other consideration is these firms are already recruiting US talent. They're already represented by lobbyists in the legislatures and federal agencies. Armed with $$$ and Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc backing their deals, Amtrak may find itself with the scraps of the next US rail boom. Wait until they start poaching the competent people left inside Amtrak for their businesses...

Say all you want but LA tried an operator besides Amtrak and all hell broke loose.

Back to Amtrak!

What stone23 says is true, but almost all of the Metrolink management and employees at Veolia were former Amtrak. When Amtrak lost the Metrolink contract to Veolia, much of the management and most of the Engineers and Conductors simply rolled to the new operator. The Engineer at Chatsworth was former Amtrak. These horrible accidents can happen to anyone. What was especially horrible, though, was Veolia's response to it. Amtrak would have done a much better job.

stone23 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Say all you want but LA tried an operator besides
> Amtrak and all hell broke loose.
>
> Back to Amtrak!


Like when the Amtrak train in Chicago rear ended a freight train or when a Metrolink train (under Amtrak) ran a stop signal at Basta and collided with a BNSF freight train?

All Amtrak knows how to do is bully. Period. And, this as well as Metrolink in LA is a perfect example.