Passenger Trains > Michigan Review

This deserves additional comment:

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> My dentist's receptionist and her friend took
> Amtrak from Dearborn to Chicago on Christmas day
> to see the play "Hamilton". She was really
> impressed with the service. She noted the
> relatively new station in Dearborn is "beautiful,"
> the train (in coach) was clean with comfortable
> seats, new carpeting, and restrooms much larger
> than the plane. Thought the crews were very
> friendly and efficient. They were close to OT in
> both directions. They also liked the ability to
> walk to their downtown hotel rather than expensive
> ride from Midway or worse, O'Hare. Good to hear.

Wait! You can’t possibly be referring to the Amfleet and Horizon coaches that Richard Anderson dedicated the funding to completely refurbish with new seats, carpeting and restroom rebuilds! Or was it the additional coaching and training given to Conductors on making good announcements and ensuring that PA systems are in good working order that he insisted on? Or maybe it was the increased focus that he has placed on terminal operations to improve OTP and the dedicated team focused on defining and measuring train cleanliness?

Please say it isn’t so!

I can’t stand the constant rhetoric and biased posts claiming that he is responsible for the demise of Amtrak when he is making more investments to improve service than any of his predecessors in recent history, especially the last CEO, who created most of this mess everyone keeps complaining about.

The only investment that Joe Boardman made in the fleet was that which was regulatorily required and the CAF fiasco, otherwise all he did was cut core funding so he could fund his personal theater car and three (yes, count them three) private cars for his personal use, all of which I believe are stored now because they provide no value for the tax payers.

Yes, Anderson put new seats in a bunch of 40 year old Amfleet cars.  Lipstick on a pig, you might say.  These cars are overdue for retirement.  But, I can't knock it.  I've ridden them, and they do look better.  He gets criticized for not ordering new cars--especially Superliner replacement.

However, if you think he has improved service in any way--then you are looking at "Black" and calling it "White".  He has downgraded service.  What he has done to the Lake Shore could never be called a service improvement.