Should (or could) Amtrak Contract out Certain Routes to Private Operators?

So, in the Keystone/Harrisburg topic, there's been talk about Pennsylvania buying out Amtrak and operating Keystones themselves. Their motivation ostensibly is, to paraphrase: "keep PA money in PA", and not subsidize Amtrak, but rather, their own service.

I posited that perhaps they should contract it out to a private operator, which shall form the basis of this discussion.

There have always been proposals to privatize Amtrak, or break it up. I'm going in a bit of a different direction here. Amtrak would become less of an operator, and more of a transportation agency overseeing rail operations and ROW ownership.

Which lines could you see being ideal for private operation, and which operators?

I'll start us off:

- Keystone. Duh.
- Empire NYS. I think this is a no-brainer, particularly ALB-NYP. Leave west of ALB to Long Distance.
- Chicago - Milwaukee
- Florida from Jacksonville south. The Florida trains are daylight schedule, right? Except perhaps the Star, which is only a few hours off.
- Sacramento to Oakland
- Charlotte to Atlanta

What else ya got?

Illinois? It’s already having so much fun with METRA.

The magic questions is will the operators be able to suck at the public teat?
Who will provide equipment?
Who will make whole the losses?
Is Amtrak subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation?

1. How?
Are you thinking of something like the MBTA contracting a private operator (ironically enough, Amtrak at one point) to run the commuter rail using MBTA-owned equipment on MBTA-determined schedules? Or are you looking for the contract operators to provide the equipment, too?

2: Why?
What advantages would Amtrak or the nation get from having private contractors operate Amtrak trains for Amtrak? What savings could private contractors generate that would make up for the fact that they would want to earn a profit?

Why do you think contracting out routes would make more sense for day/corridor trains than for long distance trains?

Arbor, I'm not advocating it; putting it out there for discussion. If states contract out to private operators, why not Amtrak? What is the advantage to the states which do so?

1. Yes to the first.
2. If equipment is supplied, and if ROW is maintained, I'd think there'd be many advantages.

Isn't the DownEaster done like that, where Amtrak contracts out for operations? Or is that some weird operational contract with them and the various states?

I've long been an advocate for this out of Chicago, and with the Midwest Consortium buying both locomotives and coaches, there's no reason Amtrak needs to be in the mix on any of the state sponsored routes or the Hiawathas.

The only attempt to make this work in recent times (Iowa Pacific and the Hoosier State) was great from a service and cost perspective, but operationally was a nightmare.

If Keystones could be under SEPTA, Albany local service could be run by MNCR (which already operates beyond
the MTA region thanks its ConnDOT operating contract agreement).

R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Fri Nov 06, 2020 2:02 am If Keystones could be under SEPTA, Albany local service could be run by MNCR (which already operates beyond
the MTA region thanks its ConnDOT operating contract agreement).

I can see Metro-North running to Albany. It has the right experience in running a service. Compare with SEPTA which tries to run trains like buses... and they're not the same.

The only thing they need to do is plug in or replace the track-side monitoring equipment to work with their existing setup.

As far as Florida is concerned, Brightline could take over all rail passenger operations south of JAX. The Silver Meteor and Silver Star could be split there and one section run down the FEC with Brightline power and crews similar to the days when ACL trains were handed off to the FEC. The west coast sections could be similarly operated, maybe over the A line to Tampa or the S line through Sebring to Miami.

Show me the savings and the service improvements. Hard numbers, please, and without just gouging employees or customers.

Not talking about SEPTA or MNRR. We're talking at a minimum corridor trains, not commuter. They are not private operators.

Brightline would operate their own trains and equipment, not Amtrak's, no sections.

I see the California routes most suited for privatization, as Caltrans directly manages two lines (Surfliner and San Joaquin) and the Sacramento-San Jose service under the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (an indepedent agency as with NNEPRA on Downeaster). Food service is under Caltrans and privatized by local catering contractors, much like Downeaster has privately run cafe service.

NCDOT (which has its own state fleet) could also privatize as well. The Pacific Northwest service is under two states (WSDOT and Oregon), with also a unique fleet.

On the topic, the thought of 63/64 having a VIA stocked and operated cafe car north of border makes me ask does VIA operate food service in-house or through a private commissary or catering outlet?

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Fri Nov 06, 2020 3:38 pm Not talking about SEPTA or MNRR. We're talking at a minimum corridor trains, not commuter. They are not private operators.

OK, if you're going to consider Veola/Herzog or any of the other "private" operators who are running state-supported commuter services, why wouldn't MNRR, Metra or SEPTA be in the running to operate a corridor train with the appropriate equipment?

Contracting Metra to operate the Hiawathas would be a no-brainer. They're already qualified on at least half the territory.

eolesen wrote: ↑Sat Nov 07, 2020 8:44 pmOK, if you're going to consider Veola/Herzog or any of the other "private" operators who are running state-supported commuter services, why wouldn't MNRR, Metra or SEPTA be in the running to operate a corridor train with the appropriate equipment?

Contracting Metra to operate the Hiawathas would be a no-brainer. They're already qualified on at least half the territory.

Exactly. Metra has the motive power and rolling stock, and it would save Illinois some money over outsourcing to either Amtrak or a private company. In the same vein, MBTA’s operator (currently Keolis) would be an obvious choice for Downeaster Service and VRE’s operator (same) for Virginia Service.

What’s in it for Amtrak?