Web page hosting provided by the Arizona Rail Passenger Association. The report was scanned and formatted for HTML viewing, with minor typographical corrections, by William Lindley. Reprinted with permission of the author.

Please remember, this report was written in 1982.

Amtrak 90: A Route to Success Executive Summary July 1982 Ronald C. Sheck Associate Professor of Geography and Planning New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico

Abstract

Professor Sheck's report is a far-reaching, comprehensive plan that not only will establish a truly nationwide rail passenger system, but will also turn Amtrak into a profitable system that can stand on its own financially, providing the United States with a quality intercity rail passenger system.

Figures 2 and 5 illustrate the Amtrak route system in 1982 (left) and Prof. Sheck's proposed system (right). See also: Complete list of figures

CONTENTS

• Acknowledgement
• Illustrations
• Introduction
• Amtrak Performance: Problems Identified
  • Economic Performance
  • Market Perception
  • Operational Constraints
    • Equipment Shortages
    • Restrictive Labor Rules
    • Policies and Procedures of Contracting Railroads
  • Planning
• Planned Growth for Profitability
  • Strategy: Volume Growth
    • Increasing Train Capacity
    • Additional Trains on Existing Network
    • Network Expansion
  • Tactics
    • Route Identification
    • Service Levels
    • Capital Needs
    • Marketing
    • Labor Productivity
    • Operations
    • Northeast Corridor
  • Financial Impact
• Implementation
  • Case Studies
  • Annual Highlights
• Conclusion
• Selected Bibliography
• About the Author