Amtrak Town Hall Meeting

[railohio]

Amtrak held a town hall meeting in Chicago on March 6 in conjunction with Trains Magazine. Topics discussed included Amtrak's photography policy, upcoming equipment acquisitions, and the future of long-distance trains. To summarize the photo policy, photography at Amtrak-owned stations on limited access platforms (those that are staffed or in large cities) will be limited to ticket-holding passengers who are boarding or de-training. The photo policy does not apply at stations not owned by Amtrak (which make up two-thirds of the stations they use). Amtrak is also working on a railfan registration program similar to that developed by BNSF Railway. For upcoming equipment purchased, the immediate future holds twenty to sixty electric locomotives for use in the Northeast and up to 170 additional Viewliner-design cars to replace the remaining Heritage equipment and expand the single-level sleeping car fleet. Beyond that replacing the Amfleet I cars in the Northeast and acquiring bi-level corridor cars for the Midwest are also near-term possibilities. There is a 40 year plan to replace the entire current Amtrak fleet. Finally, the future of the long-distance trains is secure. Amtrak is undertaking a long-range plan to improve on-board service and reliability. Copies of many of these documents are available on Amtrak's web site. After the meeting was over guests were left to tour a display train at Chicago Union Station made up of three rebuilt Superliners and the first GE P40 diesel rebuilt with stimulus funds.



Trains Magazine editor and North Carolina native Jim Wrinn goes over notes with an Amtrak staffer.




Emmett Fremaux, Vice President, Marketing and Product Development, shows off new advertising for various Amtrak route brands.




Trains Magazine publisher Kevin Keefe looks on at Amtrak's first rebuilt P40 with a Beech Grove shop employee.




President Boardman's car, Amtrak 10001, Beech Grove, brings up on the markers on Saturday's edition of train 48/448, the eastbound Lake Shore Limited at Chicago Union Station.


More photos are available on flickr.