WEBVTT - Amtrak President Roger Harris Talks Travel Infrastructure 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:08.440 Just about three thirty pm here in New York. This 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:11.640 is the countdown to the close arm remain bostic. 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:14.360 And I'm Alex Steele. Guess what's that's performing today? What's 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.560 now Transportation index? And I wonder if that's a China 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:19.920 effect or if it's growth here in the US effect, 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:20.840 But it is outperforming. 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:22.639 Yeah, it was kind there to I saw earlier this 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.080 week it is all airlines rallying, a lot of transportation 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:27.720 socks rallying as well here, and of course I think 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:29.880 a lot of US, at least certainly here in the US, 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:33.599 obsess over some of these transportation stocks. Yeah, that's right, 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:35.360 because we try to get fromer point A to point B, 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:37.680 and if you're in New York, that's impossible even when 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.960 it's not un week here. And of course it raises 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:43.000 a lot of questions here about the infrastructure that we 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:44.160 have to move people around. 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:46.839 So whether it is by land, air, or sea. You know, 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:47.599 you have a. 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:51.800 Huge amount of passengers utilizing US transportation systems every year, 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.760 more than three hundred million, and just last year twenty 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:57.320 eight million of those passengers chose But what you're looking 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.880 at they are Amtrak, formerly known as the National Railroad 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.640 Road Passenger Corporation amtractors remained one of the go to 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:07.200 services for inner city rail travel, particularly here in the Northeast, 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.480 but it also has challenges, be it outdated infrastructure causing 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:14.680 delays or increase competition from other private rail companies. Here 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.200 to talk about all that is well, the president of Amtrak, 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.759 Roger Harris, joining us right now from Union Station down 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:23.520 in Washington, DC. And Roger, great to have you back 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:25.920 here on the program. I do want to start off 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.479 you guys have been spending a lot of money last 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.760 time I checked, at least in the fiscal year. Last year, 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:32.880 at twenty twenty three, you had one of your biggest 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.160 capital investments. The Biden administration gave you a big shot 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:39.160 in the arm about a year ago, fundeling several billion 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:43.640 dollars to railroads here. How exactly is that money being spent? 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.280 Hi remain Thanks for having me back. It's good to 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:50.280 be here. Well, it's going on a lot of different things. 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.240 It's partly going on new fleet, so we have new 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:57.080 trains coming this winter. We're going to be hopefully putting 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:01.720 into service our new Aessela trains coming after that in 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:06.120 twenty twenty seven, we will be launching our new Aerrow 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.920 trainsets on the Northeast Regional service in the Northeast, so 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.640 really a complete makeover of the trains that we have 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:18.360 in the northeast of the US. We're also spending a 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:22.760 lot of money on new infrastructure, not only in things 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:27.520 like tracks, signaling, and electrical infrastructure that really makes the 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.560 railroad run every day, but also those really big one 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:35.679 hundred year investments in things like major bridges and tunnels. 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:37.919 And that's really a lot of the work that we're 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:41.280 going to have us getting underway and earnest in twenty 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:45.640 twenty five. So you mentioned that we have a lot 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.880 of growth in our capital spending in twenty twenty three. 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:52.359 Well this year twenty twenty four, we grew fifty percent 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:53.600 for twenty twenty three. 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.160 And is that going to continue into twenty twenty five 0:02:56.240 --> 0:03:00.000 and beyond. And if so, Roger, are some of the 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:01.600 those costs are they going to be passed on to 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:03.800 the commuter? Are they going to pay more in ticket prices? 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:09.400 So the large infrastructure items that we're talking about are 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.160 primarily funded through the I I J at this point, 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:18.760 so they won't inherently be passed on to the commuter 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:20.959 in that form. We have a lot of other costs 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:24.239 that are going up though at the same time, so 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:28.160 there are price increases probably underway, but it's for all 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:29.520 kinds of other inputs. 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:34.680 Roger, it's Alex, what's the biggest hurdle to you building 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:38.040 these projects on time and on budget? Like, what's the 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:39.960 risk that you take on in the medium. 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:44.560 Term, Alex, great question. One of the things we've done 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.400 since the money was awarded is we have built up 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:54.240 an incredible infrastructure of project management, project controls, things to 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:58.480 make sure that we get the projects done right and 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:00.960 that we don't have a lot of unpleasant prizes later on. 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.480 There are a lot of steps that we have to 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:10.280 go through, including environmental clearances, historical clearances. We work with 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:16.440 our partners who are investors in these projects, and those 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.360 steps typically take a number of years. And that's why 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.680 you don't see these projects delivering benefits yet because the 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.680 setup of the projects really takes a long time. But 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.120 it's a necessary part of making sure that they're successful 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:28.760 in the long run. 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:31.680 So then how do you compete back to Romains's original question, 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:34.840 how do you compete then with more of the private 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.240 players who can get in there in a different way 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.799 and move money faster and build projects faster. 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.520 Very good question. We have a lot of efforts underway 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.600 to be more efficient. So when you look at, for instance, 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.600 our newest sellers that, as I said, we hope to 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:57.039 launch this winter, they carry about twenty five percent more 0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:01.159 customers than the previous sellers, and they're about twenty five 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.640 percent lighter. So they're actually going to be twenty percent 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:08.560 more energy efficiently, and that translates directly into lower operating costs, 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.400 especially on a per passenger basis. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:13.560 You know, Roger, I am curious when we talk long 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.760 term about the future and the health of Amtrak, when 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:19.320 we talk about the number of miles of tracks you have, 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:21.680 the number of passengers you have a lot of that 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:25.039 is still and correct if I'm wrong, still weighted towards 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:28.440 the Northeast Corridor. And I am curious as to whether 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:32.080 there are ambitions to do more outside of the Northeast, 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:36.159 whether there is profitability to be had outside of the Northeast. 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:38.960 Is there? I think so? 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.839 I mean there's some very unique features of the Northeast 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:46.919 Corridor that do help to make it profitable, including density, congestion, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.880 et cetera. But those things are happening all over the 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:55.720 country as the country grows. We've been investigating the Texas 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.520 High speed Rail project to see what we can do 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.159 there to assist in the development of that project, because 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:05.640 we think that's very promising. Between Dallas and Houston. It's 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:10.799 a metro market of fifteen million people and perfectly situated 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:14.840 for high speed rail. We also have really exciting developments 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:17.440 in North Carolina with the S Line project, which also 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.920 got some funding in the last round of grants from 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.839 the FRA, and we continue to work with our partners 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:29.240 in the Commonwealth of Virginia on extending and expanding rails 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:33.320 between Washington, d C. And Richmond, Virginia, which will eventually 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:35.760 connect to the S Line projects. 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.520 In addition to those issues, there's also the issue of 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:42.440 delays and other things. Some of that has to do with, 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:44.800 of course, the tracks that you control, or rather that 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.000 you don't control. I know you guys have made some 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.480 deals recently that gives you more control of tracks. 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.039 Even in Union Station, where. 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.880 You're at right now, you've gained a greater degree of 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:55.680 control of what comes in and out of there. 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:57.720 Do you have more leverage to do that? 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:02.320 In other cities and other regions as well well. 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:04.680 I think we do. One of the things that we're 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.000 really focused on is working with our partners to have 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:13.000 the kind of relationships that really enable those improvements that 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.640 you're talking about. Whether it be our host railroads or 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.400 freight railroads that we run on, We're really trying to 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.240 work hard to make sure that we understand their concerns. 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.840 And also, you know, all over the country we were 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:29.400 commuter agencies who are also an important part of the 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:34.680 rail environment, and they're necessary parts of the environment in 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.160 terms of the investments that need to be made. 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:37.920 Yeah. 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:39.800 One just final quick question here, and you mentioned the 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:42.840 host tracks that you're on. Obviously a lot of those 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.680 either owned or operated by the freight companies. There's a 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:49.800 big potential strike in East Coast ports. It could have 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:53.600 reverberations on rail lines. Is that going to affect Amtrak 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:53.920 at all? 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:56.320 We don't expect it to. 0:07:56.520 --> 0:08:00.360 I mean, there may, in isolated situations, create congestion on 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.880 the freight lines, but we don't expect it to impact 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:05.120 our operations. 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:07.160 All right, Roger, we'll let you get back to work. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:10.080 Appreciate you taking time to be with us today. Roger Harris. 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.800 He's the president of Amtrak down there in Union Station 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:14.080 in Washington, DC.