Joseph Vranich has produced the first insightful analysis of the deficit-ridden Amtrak system since the passage of major reform legislation in 1997, the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act. His review comes as Amtrak is seeking record federal subsidies while continuing to resist meaningful reforms. The book addresses myths and fallacies about Amtrak, exposing how the railroad is not as essential to mobility as it claims. For example, each of the nation's top sixteen airports serves more travelers every day than does Amtrak's entire national system.
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Mr. Vranich made the conversion from spokesman to scourge, arguing in books titled 'Derailed' and 'End of the Line' that train service would never improve as long as Amtrak had a monopoly on it. . . . Amtrak officials no longer pretend that Acela is the future—they've vowed not to buy any more of the trains—but they insist that they still know the solution to passengers' woes: more money from Washington. Last week, though, the Bush administration adopted Mr. Vranich's idea of giving the federal money to someone other than the folks who brought us the Acela. (John Tierney New York Times )
About the Author
Joseph Vranich helped to create and expand Amtrak as executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers in the early 1970s. His long career in passenger rail service included two years as president of the High Speed Rail Association and work as the media affairs manager at Amtrak. He is the author of Derailed: What Went Wrong
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Somewhat off target...,
By
This review is from: End of the Line: The Failure of Amtrak Reform and the Future of America's Passenger Trains (Hardcover)
This attack on Amtrak seems to ignore the comparison to how much of the taxpayers' money is spent on supporting a money losing airline industry as well as an interstate highway system abused by trucks that are HEAVILY subsisidzed by the federal government. The amount of money lost per person is much less with Amtrak than any other public transportation means.
21 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vranich's book exposes Amtrak as a dangerous monopoly,
By
This review is from: End of the Line: The Failure of Amtrak Reform and the Future of America's Passenger Trains (Hardcover)
If your idea of a good time is sitting down on a winter night to read a page-turning, scary story, End of the Line, a new book by transportation expert Joseph Vranich is just the ticket for you. Unfortunately, unlike Bigfoot and other fictional monsters, in this case the horror is all too real and the monster is Amtrak, a federally managed corporation that operates America's rail network.
Vranich's book is not a weighty tome, but with more than 75 pages of notes and appendices, it packs a mighty punch. His tale of a socialistic passenger rail monopoly run amuck will send chills up and down your spine. As if the $27 billion in direct taxpayer subsidies Congress has provided Amtrak is not frightening enough, Vranich explains how Amtrak received a $2.18 billion income tax "refund" in 1997 even though it has never paid income taxes. He exposes the fact that Amtrak's real subsidies far exceed the advertised $27 billion, because: The railroad has defaulted on a $1.1 billion loan that was ultimately paid for by Uncle Sam; Federal agencies and state and local governments often foot the bills for train stations and infrastructure that are Amtrak's rightful responsibilities; and, Amtrak even suckered the Canadian government into providing $1 billion in low-interest loans for its purchase of Canadian-made rail equipment. Worse than the fiscal horror story in Vranich's book is the fact that Amtrak has been asleep at the switch in managing the tunnels it owns under New York City. These busy venues are prime terrorist targets and even a train accident could be a disaster -- yet, Amtrak continues to under-invest in upkeep on these important assets in order to shift resources to little-traveled, money-losing (though politically essential) long haul routes in the west. As Vranich points out, the DOT's own Inspector General, Kenneth Mead, does not trust Amtrak to make the needed tunnel work a priority. Yet, narrow, winding spiral staircases, crumbling walkways, inadequate ventilation, and lack of standpipes to bring water for fighting fires all make the condition of New York's train tunnels a clear and present danger not only to Amtrak passengers traveling through New York, but also to the 500,000 users of commuter rail who travel through Penn Station each weekday. In shedding light on Amtrak's true nature, Vranich reveals a gruesome picture indeed, but as a "train person" at heart, (Vranich previously worked for Amtrak), he is optimistic that -- if unburdened from Amtrak's bureaucracy and incompetence -- passenger rail can be viable in America. In fact, the last half of End of the Line outlines how other nations including Britain and Japan (to name just a couple) have reformed their passenger rail networks, thus saving taxpayers billions of dollars and providing superior service to rail passengers. Whether your interest is trains, taxes, or the federal government's inherent tendency to expand, you will find this book enlightening and fascinating. Vranich has undoubtedly added intellectual fuel to the fire of those calling for major reform or outright privatization of one of America's most dangerously incompetent monopolies.
11 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for Amtrak reformers,
By Joh Padgett (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: End of the Line: The Failure of Amtrak Reform and the Future of America's Passenger Trains (Hardcover)
End of the Line: The Failure of Amtrak Reform and the Future of America's Passenger Trains is the best analysis of the efforts to reform Amtrak ever to be put into printed form. The fact that the book is written by Joseph Vranich, a former spokeman for, and ardent supporter of Amtrak (now a critic of) speaks volumes about the troubles facing this storied government agency.
Vranich has an insider's view of the history of the railroad having helped lobby for its creation and from being there in its early years on through to helping convince Congress to pass the authorization for the Acela Express program in the early 90s as President of the High Speed Rail Association. Vranich does an excellent job of laying out the particulars of the problems with reform efforts to save Amtrak. With details that reminds this reviewer at times of characters straight out of an Ayn Rand novel, Vranich does an excellent job of telling the story in a way that takes dry material and makes it interesting yet informative.
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