Amtrak Pushes Beefed Up Service
by Jeff Wright
Marketing representatives with Amtrak-Missouri said Tuesday that poor on-time performance of their trains is a thing of the past, with passenger trains now running on time or early 93 percent of the time, on average.
“Years ago, you had to be brave to take the train. Now, the system works reliably,” said Mark Magliari, media relations manager for Amtrak. He was one of four guest speakers at a special Amtrak meeting held at Hermannhof Festhalle.
Hermann is one of 10 Amtrak stations or stopping off points for the Missouri River Runner, which runs four times daily between St. Louis and Kansas City. The current station, built in 1991, is modest by most standards and referred to by some as the “Am-shack.”
Speaking on behalf of MoDOT’s railroad operations division, Lisa Lamons said, “We definitely would like to see a better station.”
Jim Grebing, the city’s director of Tourism, discussed the city’s plans for a replacement station. (see "City Unveils Amtrak Station Plans" story)
“We are preparing the track for an increase in freight trains; to ensure we flow the trains across the corridor and meet the on-time performance,” continued Lamons.
She said January 2010 ridership for the Hermann train station increased 19 percent from 2009. “Your customers couldn’t get to you on time,” she told some B&B owners in the crowd of about 30 people. “Now, they’re getting to you on time.”
That’s the result of what Lamons characterized as “big initiatives” and infrastructure improvements made over the past year and a half or so, like 9,000 feet of railroad track or “siding” west of Jefferson City that’s been made available “to give dual track, so freight trains can move over and Amtrak can go through,” Lamons said.
In an effort to eliminate train delays caused by bottlenecks, MoDOT plans to construct a second rail bridge over the Osage River. It’s one of three shovel-ready projects aimed at enhancing train performance, along with safety improvements at several rail crossings west of Sedalia.
In the early 90s, Amtrak’s on-time performance was some of the best in the country, according to Anne McGinnis, marketing director for Amtrak-St. Louis. That performance diminished as more coal trains dominated the available rail lines.
Magliari said Union Pacific, which is Amtrak’s largest “host” or track provider, “is fully engaged as a company in working with us.”
He explained that the Kansas City Mule and St. Louis Mule passenger train names were changed to “Missouri River Runner” because that name more accurately describes the currently level of service. “The name really tells the story of the train,” Magliari said. “The train ‘runs,’ 90 or so percent on time, which is way, way better.”
“The goal is to get people visiting in your community and spending money,” McGinnis said. “That really is the bottom line. We want more riders and we know you guys want more visitors.”
To help accomplish this, McGinnis said Amtrak is considering sponsoring community events and festivals, along with meetings of mayors and maybe business owners, to talk about ways “to get people to come from one community to another.” She said Amtrak has made several Web site improvements and now has a Twitter account and Facebook page.