Passenger Trains > John Robert Smith, former Antrak Board Chair, speaks out

A Blueprint for Amtrak Success....

Too long to quote. Go to:

https://t4america.org/2022/09/21/jrs-amtrak-success/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c7b6767d-6175-4d59-ab45-f097a55b0ce7



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/22 01:38 by GenePoon.

Excellent, excellent, excellent!!!  This is a man "who gets it" and understands exactly what needs to be done.  I hope he keeps talking LOUDLY to the Amtrak people.  I'd love to see him IN CHARGE of Amtrak!

All too familiar, and always enlightening. And this seems to be Railroad Business 101......but you can decide. John's advice resonates well:

“Ride the trains unannounced and individually. See the same service your customer does. Ride lines other than the Northeast Corridor, and more than once. Leaders like myself and David Gunn knew what the company’s workforce and riders needed to thrive because we used the service we were providing nationwide. We moved our monthly board meetings out of Washington two or three times per year and traveled there on our trains.Talk to the crews. Ask what they need. Ask them what it’s like to work an entire train alone. Talk to coach passengers who are not allowed to purchase meals from the diner if they don’t carry cash or if delays cause passengers to board after food service has ended. Many of them, especially along lower-income, more rural sections of the national network, do not own a credit card. Eat the food on the trains, which is often unhealthy and undesirable. Focus on long-distance service. We’re seeing an increase in remote work, so business and commuter passengers might not come back to riding Amtrak. But long-distance passengers have proven their desire for more frequent trips.”

- John Robert Smith, former Amtrak Board Chair

He's from a red state. Is he willing to serve again? Three more seats need to be filled.

good comment

Charles Rice
Saint Louis, MO

The comments are as excellent and a good supplement to the article. 

Flyer92122 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He's from a red state. Is he willing to serve
> again? Three more seats need to be filled.

Amen! This was an excellent article, and the solutions it proposes are absolutely on target. There's more to be done, of course, but the ideas proposed would be an excellent start. You have to build (or in this case, rebuild -- sadly, yet again) from a foundation somewhere. The kinds of suggestions made in the article are a good start. As would be the nomination of Mr. Smith to serve once again on the Amtrak board.

I always had felt reasonably good about Mr. Smith during his previous tenure on the board, and had actually met him once during a rail historical society event in Meridian (GM&O Historical Society, if I recall). It was relatively early in his rail passenger advocacy work. He of course had the politician's skills of being warm, friendly and engaging. But there was more. He showed genuine respect, even enthusiasm, for the importance of railroads in general in his community, and for the role that passenger service played. I distinctly remember being impressed by that.

At a time when Amtrak has so much to do to rebuild its service and employee morale, even as it faces both the possibilities and challenges of its big new funding stream enabled by the infrastructure law's program, it desperately needs people like Mr. Smith on its board to give it the right vision and guidance.

MC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/22 10:25 by ironmtn.

And under Gunn Amtrak was starting to become Amtrak that I remember back in the 90s, now it's more corridor only, screw coach passengers, make excuses about equipment shortages, and the reduction in the LD Trains 2 years ago was their "claim" that they weren't worth it, it's just corridors and they should've left that alone!

John Robert Smith was probably the best Mayor (in my lifetime) of Meridian. Had it not been for him, Union Station wouldn't have been built and passengers would be using a "Am-Shack." 

He's also been instrumental with helping the new Meridian Railroad Museum over the past few months. 

I was at the annual RPA Spring "Day On the Hill" conference a few years back when John Robert Smith was added as a last minute speaker. Wow! I was very inspired by his vision and his institutional knowledge. He spoke very movingly of taking previously anti-long distance Republican Senator Trent Lott on a ride on the Crescent. That ride converted Lott into a long distance train believer and supporter. I was close to standing up on my chair and waving my hat in the air as Smith finished his talk.