So who is the new head of Amtrak and is he qualified?
The hope is that Alexander Kummant, most recently a Komatsu executive, may know something about railroads, having spent "several years" (which works out to a generous 3 years of railroading experience) at Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and isn't just another Bush political hack. Amtrak chairman David Laney said Kummant has the credentials and experience to lead "a changing Amtrak that is more customer-focused and fiscally responsible."
He was a VP at Union Pacific and these connections will help him significantly improve the on-time performance of Amtrak's long distance trains. A 2005 profile on Kummant in Chicago Business, claimed "seeing engines charge across the Great Plains gave him goose bumps." He doesn't seem like a typical Bush appointee, he has three degrees (B.S., M.Eng., and M.B.A.), and "has an intellectual curiosity" according to his former boss.
The Bush administration has been trying to dismantle Amtrak for several years. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said of the appointment: "It's good they finally appointed someone, but given this administration's record on Amtrak, we need to know whether he was brought in to build up Amtrak or tear it down?" Sen. Frank Lautenberg, (D-NJ), said the Amtrak board "has exercised questionable judgment in the past, so I am obviously concerned about their choice to run our nation's passenger rail system."
However, even with Kummant's brief railroad experience at Union Pacific there are problems. UP has one of the worse relationships with Amtrak in the country. With a UP-trained railroader, I suspect Amtrak passengers may never again ride a long distance Amtrak train, let alone one that arrives on time.
There is little doubt that Kummant is a George W. Bush supporter. According to opensecrets.org, the new president of Amtrak, Kummant and his wife, Kathleen R Kummant, gave $1,000 each, ($2,000 total), to George W. Bush in 2003.
In 2000 Kummant gave $2,000, in 2001 he gave $2,150 and in 2002 he gave $2,373 to the Union Pacific Corporation Fund for Effective Government. For the 2002, 2004, 2006 election cycles, opensecrets.org has Union Pacific as having contributed $779,807 to various PACs and campaigns $100,000 went to Democratic concerns, while $679,807 went to republican concerns (including $50,000 to the President's Dinner).
It is no great surprise that Bush's Amtrak Board would choose a Union Pacific executive to head Amtrak. Union Pacific has quite possible the worst relationship with Amtrak of any of our country's Class I railroads. This August, Amtrak Sr. VP Operations, William Crosbie, sent Union Pacific this letter, excerpted here:
I am writing to seek your immediate assistance in correcting the chronic unacceptable performance of Amtrak trains operating on the Union Pacific Railroad, particularly Amtrak's long-distance trains.
It's sobering to look at how bad long-distance Amtrak train performance on UP has become. In July, 97% of the 211 long-distance trains operated primarily on UP arrived late... Even more amazing is the degree of lateness: 84% of long-distance trains arrived more than 2 hours late, 74% more than 3 hours late, and 66% more than 4 hours late.
To further put this into perspective, over 67,000 Amtrak passengers traveled on UP long-distance trains that were over 4 hours late...in the month of July alone! The resulting damage to Amtrak's brand, reputation, and repeat business is immense.
The vast majority of delays are from causes attributable to UP--nearly 90% of all delays incurred by Amtrak trains operating on UP in July. As high as these UP-responsible delays are, they continue to increase...
Amtrak has tried to work with UP to improve this situation...
A primary root cause of this unacceptable performance is UP's chronic violation of the slow order limits in our UP-Amtrak operating agreement. Each of the four Amtrak long distance routes operating on UP is in violation of these clear contractual obligations...
The responsibility for operating Amtrak trains with minimal delay over UP rail lines is clear in both federal law and in UP's operating agreement with Amtrak...
When the board fired David Gunn, the previous president of Amtrak, in November, Laney said:
David Gunn has helped Amtrak make important operational improvements over the past three years. Amtrak's future now requires a different type of leader who will aggressively tackle the company's financial, management and operational challenges. The need to bring fundamental change to Amtrak is greater and more urgent than ever before. The Board approved a strategic plan in April that provides a blueprint for a stronger and more sustainable Amtrak. Now we need a leader with vision and experience to get the job done.
The plan the Bush Amtrak board has is privatization of the Northeast Amtrak corridor and the elimination of all-long distance Amtrak routes. According to the AP, "The board is in the process of studying Amtrak's long-distance routes and may, by the end of this year or early 2007, select routes it may eliminate, expand or reduce." David Gunn was fired because he stood in the Amtrak's board way of privatization and dismantling of the national passenger rail system. I suspect, Alexander Kummant is the yes-man, the short experience railroad man, and the Bush-man they've been looking for to proceed according to plan.
All aboard the Crony Express! Next stop dismantling, privatization, and all points beyond. So long Amtrak.