Wayne Davis

David Gunn was fired by the Amtrak Board on November 10th, 2005. Mr. Gunn, the most dynamic and
effective leader of America's besieged passenger service, earned the respect of those associated
with this vital transportation system. The article below, filed in 2003, is still worth reading.

Amtrak President David Gunn Praises Downeaster Success
and Lists Barriers to Continued Growth at TrainRiders/Northeast 15th Annual Meeting

A Celebration

TrainRiders/NE Chairman Wayne Davis presents a Downeaster print to Amtrak President David Gunn

(April 11, 2003) It was a grand night in South Portland as 170 TrainRiders/Northeast members, hosts, Amtrak train crews and state transportation officials came together at the Marriott Hotel to celebrate 15 years of passenger rail advocacy and the second year of Downeaster service. And to add frosting to the cake, Amtrak's President David Gunn was the featured guest speaker. Known as a "straight shooter," he lived up to his reputation in a 30-minute talk outlining his vision of the 'New Amtrak.'

Riding the Cab to Portland

Mr. Gunn took the Downeaster from Boston to Portland for the celebration, riding with the engineer in the cab to get a real feel of the route, its strengths and weaknesses. This was his first train ride from Boston to Portland since 1955. He complimented all present on how far they had come in restoring passenger service to Northern New England, but urged that no one rest on that accomplishment. He quickly identified the problems that stand in the way of Downeaster service growth:

Failure to achieve the federally ordered 79 mph speed limit..."60 is too slow." [Guildford Railroad Systems owns the Maine and New Hampshire tracks and has yet to agree to the new speeds].
Unreasonable speed restrictions - 25 mph through one Massachusetts town.
Single tracks where double tracks should be the norm.
Not enough passing tracks so that train conflicts are reduced to a minimum.

Taking Aim at Congress

David Gunn startled the audience with the statement that "earlier this week, Amtrak had only 3 days of cash left." Ready to shut down the system if no more money appeared, he told the Secretary of Transportation. Within 24 hours a $400 million check was deposited in the Amtrak account from the Treasury. That 'near miss with death' exemplifies the problem...a hand-to-mouth existence imposed by the Congress.

"We operate in a hostile environment," he warned, "with certain members of the Congress deliberately trying to destroy Amtrak." He had praise for Maine's two Republican Senators, Olympia Snow and Susan Collins, as well as Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas - each an important supporter of Amtrak within the Republican Party. He also noted that some 50 Republican house members broke with their party's leadership to support this year's Amtrak budget.

An Uneven Playing Field

Victor Salemme, Maine Amtrak Manager, dining with the "Big Boss"

Gunn expressed frustration with the "uneven playing field Amtrak is required to operate on. Highways, airports and the airline infrastructure are built, funded, promoted and maintained by the U.S. taxpayer through heavy government subsidies," he explained, "but not so for America's rail systems. Many in Congress do not believe Amtrak should receive a subsidy like the bus, trucking and airline industries. We are in real trouble."

Making Amtrak Work

An important part of Mr. Gunn's job is to demonstrate to Congress that Amtrak can streamline its organization, institute efficiencies and eliminate waste while attempting to improve service. In order to gain more congressional support, he sees Amtrak's overriding goal as "reestablishing credibility. Too many past officials promised a profitable service - an impossible goal to attain," said Gunn. If Congress has been misled in the past, David Gunn has achieved remarkable success in reducing those expectations and returning the conversation to reality.

Here is his credibility schedule:

Eliminate redundant managerial positions (there were 84 vice presidents at Amtrak when he arrived, now there are but 22 such senior positions) and make sure managers have technical competence in their field.
Practice fiscal discipline. Unused equipment is being sold off and junk equipment is being scrapped. "Long-in-the-tooth" engines are being mothballed.
Increase productivity - one service yard is already rebuilding wrecked and broken equipment so that it can return to the rails and be productive. He plans to ask Congress for a five-year capital improvement plan to rebuild cars, locomotives, repair track and signals.
Eliminate "bad deals" that sap Amtrak's tight budget.
No "great leaps forward." He has committed Amtrak to no new service.
End the perception that Amtrak is a source of federal funds for the states.
Work with states who are willing to partner financially with Amtrak for service.
Encourage "focused service and good markets," like the Downeaster.

The Six Myths of Amtrak

Mr. Gunn also took aim at the six damaging myths about Amtrak. They are:

Amtrak can be profitable. "It ain't going to happen, ever!"
The private sector is dying to take over our service. "The freight railroads already dumped passenger service into the lap of the federal government many decades ago."
Long distance trains are the problem. "Not so."
A general view that Amtrak is here to employ labor. "Our employees are not over paid."
The Northeast Corridor is profitable. "It looses money when you add in the capital/infrastructure costs."
There's a quick fix and it's called 'reform.' "Nothing can be accomplished quickly or it would have been done a long time ago. Give us time to fix the railroad and sufficient money with which to do it."

How Best To Proceed?

Even the Amtrak president needs a ticket, though the price is right!

David Gunn called for a new alliance between Amtrak and the states focused on the federal government and the way it funds America's national passenger rail service. ""We need to wrest money from the control of special interest groups. Sadly, there is no one to sell a good rail project to in the federal government."

With Mr. Gunn's concluding comments still ringing in their ears, members left the meeting understanding some of the serious challenges that must be overcome if Amtrak is to survive, let alone expand and prosper. Such challenges have in the past brought out the best in Mainers and it was clearly evident that this group remained dedicated to building on the Downeaster's success.

William Lord - Webmaster