Passenger Trains > Why did Amtrak the dissolve the Chicago Union Station Co.?

Last year, Amtrak quietly merged its wholly-owned subsidiary Chicago Union Station Co. into the National Railroad Passenger Corp, a DC corporation dba "Amtrak."

Metra is now seeking a declaratory order at the Surface Transportation Board, arguing Amtrak executed the merger without the Surf Board's permission. Chicago Union Station Co. was a "railroad" (a carrier regulated by the STB). Metra smells a rat. It argues Amtrak did so to neutralize Metra's appeal rights to the STB on lease terms and facility-related charges at Union Station.

The case is FD 36171, filed on April 6.

Frank Wilner has reported on similar palace intrigue in Washington. The Washington Union Terminal Co. enjoys similar STB-regulated "railroad" status--and VRE used that as leverage in negotiations over terminal access. Amtrak wanted to play hardball after VRE put its operations contract out for bid, and Amtrak lost the contract.

https://www.railwayage.com/news/no-fingerprints-on-nec-track-grab/

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/18 12:34 by Dcmcrider.

The STB filing is a good read. Lots of historical info'
Link to STB filing:
https://www.stb.gov/FILINGS/all.nsf/d6ef3e0bc7fe3c6085256fe1004f61cb/aee6dbe596f60abb85258267005a4be6/$FILE/245433.pdf


I can't speak to the current fraud but METRA has no grounds to complain.
From talking to long time pre-Amtrak CUS employees I have found that METRA
dropped the ball decades ago when they let Amtrak purchase CUS. METRA could
have purchased CUS but the clowns running METRA at the time said "Amtrak will always
be a good neighbor and will not screw us". Ha Ha.

To illustrate what a screwing they gave themselves, METRA operated more than 70% of the
trains into CUS at the time which meant METRA paid more than 70% of the costs. But they
let Amtrak control the operation when METRA was paying almost 3/4 of the cost.

So METRA should just sit down and shut up. It goes along with other idiotic moves they made
in their early days like letting CR get control of 40th St. (CP 518), and purchasing the
old Milwaukee Road lines but letting the MILW (now CP) retain the dispatching.

Back to CUS, even though METRA is paying the vast majority of the expenses they are at the
mercy of Amtrak as far as dispatching, the poor dispatching software, assignment of station
tracks, etc.

The Amtrak Gerry Hester management team in the early 90's was so into cost cutting (during his
tenure Nos. 3 and 4 were kept artificially short so he would not have to pay a second AC) that
he was cutting towerman and other CUS assignments even tho METRA was
paying for almost 3/4 of the wages.

Not to mentioned the moronic operating rules that Amtrak put in place when they took over
CUS. The AMT-1.

So whatever is going on now Metra only has itself to blame. I am sure all the information
discussed above has long disappeared down the memory hole in METRA' official history.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/18 16:27 by Englewood.

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the clowns running METRA at
> the time said "Amtrak will always
> be a good neighbor and will not screw us". Ha

Did Metra one time lease some equipment to Amtrak for a Thanksgiving weekend, told Amtrak to give it back clean and on time after Sunday's surge, but of course it was returned dirty and late, and said never again ?

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Englewood Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > the clowns running METRA at
> > the time said "Amtrak will always
> > be a good neighbor and will not screw us". Ha
>
> Did Metra one time lease some equipment to Amtrak
> for a Thanksgiving weekend, told Amtrak to give it
> back clean and on time after Sunday's surge, but
> of course it was returned dirty and late, and said
> never again ?

I did not hear that one. I do know that up until about the mid-80's
Amtrak did lease equipment and tried to put on some extra trains
for Thanksgiving. Now they think it is a big deal if the put on an
extra West Quincy and Springfield turn.

Englewood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I did not hear that one. I do know that up until
> about the mid-80's
> Amtrak did lease equipment and tried to put on
> some extra trains
> for Thanksgiving. Now they think it is a big deal
> if the put on an
> extra West Quincy and Springfield turn.
=============================

Extra trains now have to be ordered up and paid for by the States.

Dcmcrider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Frank Wilner has reported on similar palace intrigue in Washington. The Washington Union
> Terminal Co. enjoys similar STB-regulated "railroad" status--and VRE used that as leverage
> in negotiations over terminal access. Amtrak wanted to play hardball after VRE put its
> operations contract out for bid, and Amtrak lost the contract.
>
> https://www.railwayage.com/news/no-fingerprints-on -nec-track-grab/

Then Amtrak CEO Boardman had a hissy-fit when Keolis got the VRE contract, and did everything he could (including threatening Amtrak VRE employees who considered transferring) to put roadblocks and landmines in Keolis' path. In so doing, we Amtrak employees all got an early look at Boardman's underlying management style, and its potential for the future direction of Amtrak.
Today, Keolis quietly runs VRE; their train crews are as good as those of Amtrak/VRE ever were(quite good) and IMO their overall attention to detail and management of the commuter operation is better.

Years ago, a Washington politician once said "don't watch what we say, watch what we do."
METRA would be very well-advised to heed that advice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/18 06:24 by hazegray.

I suspect the machinations in Chicago are about much more than Metra. There other potential tenants at Union Station, if the states put their trains out to bid, or the City wants to run service to O'Hare, etc. Amtrak does want any sort of "alternative operators" to be able to run to the STB for relief if Amtrak denies them access to Chicago Union Station.

Metra's petition for a declaratory order asks to two things: (1) for the Board to declare that the railroad properties of the Chicago Union Station Co. remain under the Board's jurisdiction and (2) that the Board retains the right to mediate disputes over access to said facilities pursuant to the relevant statutes.

One the hallmarks of Amtrak is that it was exempt from ICC regulation. That did not extend to Chicago Union Station or the Washington Terminal, as they were under separate ownership at the time. Over time Amtrak acquired the assets of these companies, but they remained on the books as "railroads" subject to ICC (and subsequently STB) economic regulation. It does seem like Amtrak pulled a fast one here by not seeking the Board's approval prior to merging a railroad property.


hazegray Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dcmcrider Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> > Frank Wilner has reported on similar palace
> intrigue in Washington. The Washington Union
> > Terminal Co. enjoys similar STB-regulated
> "railroad" status--and VRE used that as leverage
> > in negotiations over terminal access. Amtrak
> wanted to play hardball after VRE put its
> > operations contract out for bid, and Amtrak lost
> the contract.
> >
> >
> https://www.railwayage.com/news/no-fingerprints-on
> -nec-track-grab/
>
> Then Amtrak CEO Boardman had a hissy-fit when
> Keolis got the VRE contract, and did everything he
> could (including threatening Amtrak VRE employees
> who considered transferring) to put roadblocks and
> landmines in Keolis' path. In so doing, we Amtrak
> employees all got an early look at Boardman's
> underlying management style, and its potential for
> the future direction of Amtrak.
> Today, Keolis quietly runs VRE; their train crews
> are as good as those of Amtrak/VRE ever were(quite
> good) and IMO their overall attention to detail
> and management of the commuter operation is
> better.
>
> Years ago, a Washington politician once said
> "don't watch what we say, watch what we do."
> METRA would be very well-advised to heed that
> advice.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

I was thinking this came out of fear of some mid-west states outsourcing their PRIAA-209 trains to an outfit other than Amtrak. Soon they will own all the rolling stock, not just lease it from Amtrak, which makes it a bit easier and more portable. Amtrak just can't seem to get over the cafeteria food fight they had with VRE - and lost.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/18 16:28 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Amtrak just can't seem to get over the cafeteria food fight they had with VRE - and lost.

Maybe that is because some of the enablers of the top food fighter are still in Amtrak management?
Last time I checked, the former Amtrak "Sr VP Operations" under Boardman is still drawing his six figure salary, albeit now in a position that doesn't require any knowledge of operations(which as a financial guy he never had).