Vote tonight to decide fate of Amtrak-VRE relationship
(The following story by Jennifer Buske appeared on the Washington Post website on November 5, 2009. Herbert Harris Jr. is Chairman of the BLET’s Washington D.C. Legislative Board.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The fate of Amtrak's relationship with Virginia Railway Express will be decided Thursday night as two Commonwealth transportation commissions vote on who will become the next operator of the commuter service.
The Northern Virginia and Potomac and Rappahannock transportation commissions will act on a recommendation from the VRE Operations Board to abandon the commuter rail service's 17-year relationship with Amtrak and give an international company its first try in the U.S. transportation industry.
VRE wants to award a five-year, $85.7 million contract to Keolis Rail Services America, the U.S. subsidiary of a France-based company. The contract, which has two five-year renewal options, would begin July 1, when Amtrak's contract ends.
VRE spokesman Mark Roeber said that if the commissions don't accept the recommendation, VRE officials will have to come up with an alternative plan. He said that plan could be to default to the company that scored second-highest when VRE reviewed the four applications for the operation and maintenance contract: the global transportation company Bombardier.
VRE selected Keolis, Roeber said, because its proposal was the most cost-effective and the strongest, particularly in customer service and its management and operations plan. Keolis has said that the approximately 80 Amtrak employees who work with VRE can remain on the job and retain all benefits, salaries and retirement plans.
Last week, Amtrak challenged the VRE board's Oct. 16 decision, saying there might have been some "improper scoring" during the review process.
Amtrak says VRE's request for proposal stated that 80 percent of the scoring would be based on an applicant's "performance and experience." Keolis has no experience operating under U.S. rail safety and security regulations, Amtrak officials said. Amtrak also filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking for Keolis's application and score card.
This week, VRE chief executive Dale Zehner found Amtrak's challenge to have no merit, Roeber said.
Amtrak also failed to challenge the VRE board's decision within the 10 days allotted in the request for proposal, according to a letter Zehner sent to Amtrak on Nov. 2. The FOIA request, the letter states, will be granted after Thursday night's decisions.
Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said that the denial was expected, but that VRE's response did not address Amtrak's safety and security concerns.
"The national capital region is a unique area, and the safety and security plans of potential rail operators deserve special review and scrutiny to ensure they are in compliance with all federal regulations," he said.
The Federal Railroad Administration weighed in on the issue in a Nov. 4 letter to commission members and Virginia officials. The letter states that the FRA has no opinion on the suitability of Keolis to fulfill the contract, but the agency has numerous concerns, including maintaining safe rail operations and ensuring that the operator can communicate not only with Amtrak, which dispatches trains in and out of Union Station, but with Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX, the freight railroads that own the rail lines VRE uses.
FRA spokesman Warren Flatau said the agency will work with whatever company the commissions select and make sure it complies with safety standards.
Union officials, however, are apprehensive about changing to a new operator.
"We think VRE is undertaking a very dangerous experiment," said Herbert Harris Jr., chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen's D.C. Legislative Board. "We think without question that it's a risky undertaking, despite Keolis's experience in France and Europe."
Harris said that for the past several years there have been a number of variables beyond Amtrak's control -- including a lack of federal funding -- that has strained the company's relationship with VRE and other commuter carriers.
But circumstances have changed, he said. The Obama administration has redirected funding to rail activities and Amtrak is under new management: It is being led by former FRA administrator Joseph Boardman.
"There may have very well been moments when management was not as responsive as VRE would have liked, but it was nothing that impacted the safety of the passengers or the efficiency of the service," Harris said. "Our new leadership gives us the opportunity now to look at what those differences may have been and constructively solve them."
Thursday, November 05, 2009
