Nobody dies this time, but Amtrak halts service because of fears its Talgo trains are unsafe
By: Editorial Board
The Oregonian
August 7, 2007
Original editorial
Skittish travelers everywhere are having an awful week. Two days after the Interstate 35W highway bridge collapse in Minnesota, Amtrak yanked its Talgo trains out of service in Oregon and Washington. Technicians for the Spanish railcar company discovered a pattern of cracking in the train cars' suspension that raised fears the cars may have become unsafe.
The result: a series of disruptions for Northwest rail travelers and another black eye for America's skeletal passenger rail system. Even though Amtrak resumed limited service on Monday, using cars brought in from other parts of the country, passenger rail in the Northwest continues on life support.
Two years ago, when Amtrak was touting its (potentially) high-speed Acela service in the Northeast Corridor, it was forced to yank the Bombardier-made trains out of service when inspectors discovered cracks in many cars' brake rotors. The result was the same as last week's interruption, but it affected more travelers.
From these episodes it's easy to conclude the railroads are getting worse, not better. Amtrak's on-time record, especially in the West, is atrocious. Long stretches of track are in poor repair. Passenger cars are frequently shunted to sidings to allow freight trains to rumble through. The system is deeply unprofitable with a tremendous backlog of deferred maintenance projects. And now we have another reminder that the rolling stock itself is deteriorating.
Train buffs generally like the Talgo trains, with their comfortable cars and suspension systems that allow them to hug curves at higher speeds than conventional trains. But with the discovery of matching sets of cracks on different Talgo trains, it's possible that the company will do what Bombardier did two years ago and redesign the parts that cracked. That meant the cars were out of service for a long time, with Amtrak filling in with different, smaller trains from other routes.
The cracks are the symbol of an American infrastructure, built a long time ago and since then operated on the cheap. Congress has shown itself willing to give more money to airlines than to passenger rail -- although critics point out that the rail subsidy is larger when calculated per passenger mile. But the cracks in the Talgo cars show again that, when it comes to passenger rail service, we are lukewarm -- neither willing to invest in what the system needs to become reliable, nor quite willing to let it disappear.
Isn't it time to figure out which track we should be on?
