Iowa Pacific says that it will cease operating the Chicago-Indianapolis Hoosier State at the end of this month. The train was originated by Amtrak with support from the state of Indiana, but Indiana was dissatisfied with Amtrak’s service. It contracted with Iowa Pacific, the owner of several regional railroads and some deluxe passenger equipment, to operate the train instead.
The last dome dining in the world is found on the Hoosier State, but only until February 28. Wikipedia photo by Pecan314159.
Iowa Pacific offered many things that Amtrak did not, including a dome car, dining facilities, and free wifi. The improved service led ridership to grow faster than expected. But the company said that a quirk in the contract with the state of Indiana led it to get less revenue than it expected.
Many still believe Provigro is a dream as it really favors sexual problems of men, which indeed satisfies women too who get viagra prescription were worried about dull sexual cooperation from their husbands. These are known as anti-impotent drugs and are not sold over the counter. online levitra You can also get rid of trouble appealing to viagra france some handy solutions and remedies. It is a very effective short term solution for managing the levels viagra brand of blood sugar in the body.
Where the state of Indiana had agreed to subsidize the service, most of the subsidies actually went to Amtrak, not Iowa Pacific, even though the latter railroad provided all of the cars and locomotives. When Iowa Pacific asked for some contract revisions, the state said “no,” so the railroad backed out.
Contrary to what some say (see comments), this is not evidence that privatization doesn’t work because it wasn’t really privatized; it was contracted out, which is very different. While it lasted, the service showed that a private operator could provide better, more attractive service than Amtrak. However, the service relied on used railcars, and it is doubtful that there are enough such railcars in serviceable condition to replace any of Amtrak’s major routes.
The main lesson from this is that contractors such as Iowa Pacific need to take care that they are fairly compensated for their work. A variety of companies contract for rail services, including Virgin, First Group, Stagecoach, Veolia, Deutsch Bahn, and others. Iowa Pacific had never run a regularly scheduled passenger service and may have agreed to an unfavorable contract due to this lack of experience. That doesn’t mean that other contractors could not do better than Amtrak with the same or smaller subsidies than Amtrak receives today.
The real question that has to be asked is why these trains exist at all. The Hoosier State cost the state of Indiana more than $4 million in 2016, yet it carried less than 100 passengers a day. As much as I love passenger trains, the relatively unsubsidized Megabus makes more sense. While the Hoosier State operated once a day, four days a week, with fares starting at $20 each way, Megabus has six trips a day with fares starting at $10. Megabus is also faster, taking 2-1/2 hours vs. four for the train. Iowa Pacific’s train was great for nostalgia buffs such as myself, but not for taxpayers.
Can these numbers be right? $4 million/year is $19,178 per revenue day, based on 4-day weeks. At 100 passengers per day, that’s $192 per passenger.
That sounds about right.
I’m curious as to how Amtrak was involved. Was it that they hold the trackage rights + some payment for use of facilities like the station in Lafayette?