The biggest single obstacle to expanding the capacity of the Amtrak system to maximize market potential is the lack of passenger cars and locomotives. Up to this point capital funding has allowed the corporation to purchase new equipment to replace the old. Little growth capacity has been added. Amtrak has increased its train miles only slightly between 1971 and 1982. Growth in available seat miles has experienced a slight increase because of the increased capacity of some newer cars.
To fully develop the market potential by strengthening the capacity of existing trains, adding new trains to the present network, and expanding the network, it will be necessary to spend $4.75 billion over an eight-year period. This amount will enable Amtrak to acquire more than 2,700 new cars and rehabilitate 450 older ones; to add more than 500 new locomotives; to renovate and modernize older stations, repair . shops, and servicing facilities or to build new ones; and to raise train speeds through track and signaling improvements. This capital improvement program is summarized in Figure 8.
Equipment Needs
Amtrak currently operates more than 2,000 passenger cars and 300 diesel and electric locomotives. Seven Turbotrains, 68 electric multiple-unit Metroliner cars and 14 diesel rail cars complete the fleet. Although the corporation acquired more than 2,000 cars by purchase and lease in its first years from the private railroad companies, most were more than 20 years old and many were in poor condition. These cars had been built by four manufacturers to dozens of different plans as ordered by the many purchasing railroads. Electrical and heating and air-conditioning systems were often incompatible. In the years immediately preceding the takeover of passenger operations by Amtrak, routine maintenance had been delayed and deferred. While Amtrak struggled to operate a nationwide system with this old equipment, it moved to order new rolling stock in quantity, rolling stock based on standardized designs with interchangeable and compatible components. Some 492 low-level Amfleet cars, 284 bi-level Superliner cars, and 13 five-car Turboliner trains were placed in service between 1975 and 1981. Although these acquisitions were significant, they largely replaced existing stock that could not be rehabilitated. Some 400 older steam-heated cars were also rehabilitated and converted to electric heating compatible with the Amfleet equipment. These refurbished cars have been designated Heritage Fleet by Amtrak.
Even before new passenger cars were procured, new locomotives were ordered to meet an even more acute motive power problem. In 1972 Amtrak ordered, and began receiving a year later, 150 SDP-40 diesel locomotives that were essentially a passenger version of an existing freight design. Subsequently, orders were placed for a four-axle, lighter locomotive that could be used to pull the new, electrically heated Amfleet and Superliner cars. The original 150 SDP-40 locomotives experienced several operating problems and most have been rebuilt to the newer F-40 model. Two types of electric locomotives have also been placed in service on the New Haven-Washington segment of the Northeast Corridor. The most successful of these is the AEM-7, an Americanized version of the Swedish Railways RE4/4 built in the United States. Amtrak will have acquired 47 of these electric locomotives by mid 1983.
Not enough new locomotives and passenger cars have been received to permit any expansion of passenger services. At peak holiday season the Amtrak motive power and car fleets are stretched to the limit. Although another 500-600 steam-heated cars are sitting in yards and shops, funds have not been available for their refurbishment and modernization. This standby, unused fleet is slowly deteriorating. In order to permit any significant expansion of service that would improve Amtrak's financial performance, it is absolutely essential that new cars and locomotives be ordered immediately. The necessary lead time for construction means that the earliest delivery days for new equipment would be 18 to 20 months after orders have been placed. On the other hand, the older cars can be refurbished using Amtrak's own Beech Grove shops and railroad contractors, with delivery times cut to 4 to 5 months, and rehabilitated cars cost less than half the price of new ones. Refurbishing of these 450 cars would provide a quick and economical way to expand service while awaiting delivery of newer equipment. These cars would eventually be placed into a reserve pool as new cars take over daily assignments.
The varied operating conditions of Amtrak require that both low-level and bi-level intercity cars be used. While bi-level Superliner equipment has higher carrying capacity per car and greater operating economies, limited track clearance in tunnels, bridges, etc., prohibit these cars from operating into major centers along the Northeast Corridor (New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, Baltimore). Their operation is currently limited to trains west of Chicago; however, bi-level equipment can be used in other directions out of Chicago and should be considered as part of the short-distance fleet. Most commuter authorities in Chicago operate bi-level suburban trains.
Passenger Cars. The Amfleet, Heritage Fleet, and Superliner car types are the mainstay of Amtrak's current passenger operations. The idea of standardization of components and the economies of manufacture and operation in these car types should be continued in an expanded car fleet. For operating simplicity the number of interior configurations should be kept at a minimum. However, operating economies should not dictate the configurations and cars should be designed to meet the needs of the traveler. The equipment proposed in Figure 8 builds on the existing well-tried types now in use by Amtrak. All cars will be equipped with head-end power and all low-level equipment will be compatible. Three basic passenger car designs are used for new equipment in Amtrak 90. Amfleet III and Superliner II will be the designations of the new orders of intercity equipment. One new type of equipment, a bi-level design based either on the Superliner body or the Hawker-Siddeley GO-Train cars, will be introduced for push-pull operation in near-metropolitan, short-distance services. Conversion of 450 older cars now out of service will expand the current inventory of Heritage Fleet cars.
Fulfillment of these purchases and conversions will give Amtrak a fleet of about 4,500 cars and 800 locomotives by 1990. The number of new locomotives required is relatively low because new designs will be of higher horsepower and a single diesel locomotive will suffice on many trains now requiring two locomotive units.
The addition of almost 3,000 new and rebuilt cars to the system in a short eight-year period can be compared with purchasing programs of European railroads. Since 1975, French National Railways has taken delivery of more than 3,400 modern design, locomotive-hauled Corail passenger cars built to some 17 different interior plans. The French have also received about 40 of an 87 set order of articulated trains for the new TGV line between Paris, Lyon, and other points in southeastern France and adjacent Switzerland. Italy has announced plans to purchase 1,200 new intercity coaches over the next few years. British Rail is now receiving an order of 210 sleeping cars for overnight trains. East Germany, the leading nation in production of passenger roll>ng stock, produces about 8,000 cars per year, mostly for railways in Soviet Block countries.
Locomotives. To pull the additional trains that will be required by the Amtrak 90 plan, new locomotives will be required. The first acquisitions will be further purchases of the 3,000-horsepower F-40 diesel locomotive, the current basic Amtrak power unit. Although the F-40 has performed well, it is a single-ended locomotive that has to be turned at the end of the run, or two units must be run back-to-back. Trains with more than eight low-level cars or six bi-level cars require two of these locomotives. Amtrak 90 recognizes the need for a higher horsepower locomotive with cabs at each end to avoid turning and to reduce the number of units per train. A new design, the "X-90," is proposed to fulfill that need. A prototype unit would be built and thoroughly tested before entering volume production in 1986. In the interim, additional F-40 units would meet the motive power needs of the new trains that the plan proposes.
The only electrified section of the present Amtrak network is the New Haven-New York-Washington portion of the Northeast Corridor and its Philadelphia-Harrisburg branch. The only extension of this electrified trackage envisioned in Amtrak 90 is the planned New Haven-Boston segment already contained (although actual work may be deferred) in the U.S DOT's Northeast Corridor Improvement Project (NECIP).
Fixed Plant Investment
Amtrak 90 budgets more than $1.2 billion for fixed plant investment in the 1983-1990 period. Just over half of this amount is for stations (repair, maintenance, and servicing facilities) and related track and signal work associated with these stations and yards.
Car Repair Shops. At the present time, all of Amtrak's major car repairs are handled at the company's Beech Grove, Indiana, facility or are farmed out to private contractors. As the car fleet grows, it will be necessary to open additional facilities. To reduce the need to deadhead out-of-service equipment to and from shops, a geographic balance must be achieved in the location of new facilities. By 1990 the following facilities would be in operation for all types of car repairs, including complete rehabilitation of damaged rolling stock.
Beech Grove, Indiana In service Long Island, New York 1986 San Jose, California 1987Locomotive Repair Shops. For geographic balance and also to reduce out-of-service transit time for locomotives undergoing repair, five repair shops capable of carrying out a full range of activities from running maintenance to complete rebuilding would be in service by 1990.
Chicago In service Diesel Wilmington, Delaware In service Electric Albany, New York 1985 Diesel and Electric/Diesel Los Angeles 1986 Diesel New Orleans 1988 DieselMajor Servicing Centers. Fifteen major servicing centers have been designated for the 1990 system. These locations have been selected because it is possible to have every passenger car and locomotive scheduled with layover time at one of these centers within a seven-day operating cycle. In addition more than 90 percent of all trains will originate, terminate, or pass through one or more of them. These centers will offer complete train servicing, including refueling, watering, provisioning of food and beverages, linen supply, garbage and chemical effluent disposal, interior and exterior cleaning, routine electrical and mechanical repair, etc. Each of these centers will also have a complete commissary where fresh and precooked food items will be prepared and loaded aboard dining and other food service cars. Some expansion of existing in-service facilities will be necessary to bring their offerings up to a complete range of servicing items. The 15 centers and their phase-in dates are listed below.
Center Phase In Albany In service Chicago In service Los Angeles In service New Orleans In service New York In service Washington In service San Jose 1985 Cincinnati 1986 San Antonio 1986 Atlanta 1987 Boston 1987 Kansas City 1987 Seattle 1987 Denver 1988 Jacksonville 1988Secondary and Tertiary Servicing Centers. In addition to the major facilities listed above, some 34 intermediate and 37 minor facilities will be established. Intermediate facilities will provide refueling, cleaning, secondary food and beverage supply, and minor mechanical and electrical repair. Only water and electrical connections, trash and garbage removal, housekeeping supplies, and top-off beverage and food items would be available at the minor facilities.
Station Facilities. By 1990 the number of stations on the Amtrak network will increase from the present number, about 500, to more than 800. Most of this increase will be stations on new route segments. However, about 50 new stations will be opened up on existing routes to better serve the traveling public. Some will be in communities where trains do not stop and others will be in suburban locations within metropolitan areas. Because many of the present Amtrak major metropolitan stations will also serve new routes, very few major new stations will have to be built. To scale down the expenses of large older stations, Amtrak has built several new smaller stations in major metropolitan areas (Richmond, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Cincinnati). They are located away from the city center or in locations that are for other reasons undesirable. Some of these older abandoned stations have very good locations and with extensive rehabilitation and joint development can be brought back into service.
A list of major new stations needed and others targeted for extensive refurbishing and renovation follows. The new stations are expected to be constructed as joint development projects with Amtrak, local metropolitan governments, and private funds. Where possible, they would be intermodal transportation centers and closely tied into local transit systems. Hotels, shops, offices, and multifamily residences would be constructed in association with station facilities. Amtrak funding would not exceed 50 percent of total costs. No Northeast Corridor stations are listed because their development and/or rehabilitation is programmed in the existing DOT NECIP. For those stations listed under rehabilitation, work will include station structures, platforms, ancillary buildings, and track work.
New Stations Rehabilitation St. Louis 1984 Cleveland 1985 Syracuse 1984 Cincinnati 1985 Columbus 1985 Kansas City 1985 Memphis 1985 Buffalo 1986 Richmond 1985 Harrisburg 1986 Des Moines 1986 Pittsburgh 1986 Mobile 1986 Oklahoma City 1986 Oakland 1986 Toledo 1986 Atlanta 1987 Detroit 1987 Chattanooga 1987 Tampa 1987 Louisville 1987 Nashville 1987 Jacksonville 1988 Tulsa 1988 Houston 1989 Approximately 50 smaller stations will be constructed during the eight-year period. Again, where possible, joint funding will be used and every consideration should be given to effective ties with local transit and other intercity carriers. Eighty-five existing stations will receive some renovation at an average cost of $1 million.
More than 145 unmanned stations will be included in the system. Most of these will be on lightly trafficked lines with only one train a day in each direction. Where possible, these will be existing railroad freight facilities where waiting space and shelter can be leased and where freight agents will sell tickets on a commission basis. Elsewhere, railroad tickets may be available from local travel agents or bus operators. If no local ticketing facility is available, tickets will be sold on board the trains. Another possibility is refinement and use of credit-card-activated ticket machines.
Transfer of existing stations to Amtrak ownership could be facilitated by new laws suggested in Amtrak 90 that would allow railroads to donate such facilities to cities, counties, transit authorities, or state agencies and to receive a tax credit for doing so. These government agencies could then lease such facilities to Amtrak and/or other intercity and local transportation operators, but Amtrak would have guaranteed access. Provision could be provided for direct donation to Amtrak with the same tax credit benefits.
Track and Signal Systems. Although more than 85 percent of the designated 1990 network is in good condition and adequate for passenger train operation, some upgrading will be necessary. More than half of the money designated for track and signal upgrading will be spent on route segments that will pass directly under the operating control of Amtrak. These segments will include:
- Joliet, Illinois-Omaha, Nebraska, 463 miles of the former Rock Island Railroad would be acquired by the states of Iowa and Illinois, rehabilitation with state and Amtrak ($120 million) funds, and leased to Amtrak for operation primarily as a passenger line. Local freight operations would be subcontracted to private carriers, but train dispatching and track maintenance would be under Amtrak control. Iowa has $200 million in state bond authorization available for railroad rehabilitation. East of Joliet, Amtrak would obtain trackage rights from the regional transit authority.
- Indianapolis, Indiana-Dayton, Ohio. This 110-mile segment, an essential part of the new Amtrak route from Ohio to St. Louis and Chicago, would be rebuilt by Conrail and Amtrak funds ($75 million) and leased to Amtrak, with Conrail retaining local freight rights.
- Waco, Texas, to Bremond, Texas. Some 44 miles of new railroad would be built either by the state of Texas or by private investors. Amtrak would provide $35 million. Track would be leased to Amtrak with, operating control passed to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas, the major operating carrier in the Texas Triangle.
Most of the remaining funds will be spent for signaling, occasional double tracking, curvature easing, superelevation, and other passenger-train-related needs on other parts of the system.
Other Capital Expenditures
Some $65 million will be allocated for expansion of the ARROW reservation system and for capital expenditures associated with common corporate costs as the network grows.