The creation of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (“Amtrak”) was authorized by the Rail Passenger Service Act, as amended, 84 Stat. 1327, 45 U.S.C. 541 et seq. (“the Act”). The Act requires that Amtrak be operated and managed as a for-profit corporation, that it be incorporated under the District of Columbia Business Corporation Act, and subject to the provisions of that statute to the extent not inconsistent with the Act, and that it provide a balanced transportation system by developing, operating, and improving intercity rail passenger service. The Act also states that Amtrak will not be an agency or establishment of the United States Government. Amtrak thus is a corporation created by Congress to compete for the transportation business of the intercity traveller, to the end that the travelling public will have a choice of travel modes. The address of its headquarters is 400 North Capitol Street, NW., Washington, DC 20001. Telephone: (202) 383-3000.
(a) Board of Directors. Amtrak's major policies are established by its board of directors. The nine members of the board are selected as follows: The Secretary of Transportation serves as an ex-officio member and Amtrak's President, ex-officio, is Chairman of the Board; three members are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate (representing labor, State Governors, and business); two represent commuter authorities and are selected by the President from lists drawn up by those authorities; and two are selected by the Corporation's preferred stockholder, the Department of Transportation.
(b) Officers and central management. Amtrak is managed by a President and a Management Committee consisting of four Executive Vice Presidents. Reporting to the Executive Vice Presidents are eleven vice presidents representing sales, transportation marketing, planning and development, computer services, labor relations, finance and treasurer, personnel, passenger and operating services, government affairs, operations and maintenance, engineering, and the General Counsel. Areas handled as special matters with the authority of vice presidents, such as corporate communications, safety, real estate, procurement, materials management, police and security, contract administration, and internal audit are supervised by assistant vice presidents and directors.
(c) Regional and field structure. The need for decentralization of functions in the areas of passenger services and transportation operations has led to the creation of Amtrak's regional and field structure. Field offices are located in major cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles. Pursuant to overall policies established at headquarters in Washington, DC, these offices handle matters like the assignment and scheduling of employees who work on board moving trains; purchase, stowage and preparation of food for dining service; maintenance and rehabilitation of rolling stock; and daily operating arrangements such as the make-up of trains or the cleaning and repairing of cars on trains.
(d) Route system. Amtrak's basic route system has been established pursuant to statutory guidelines, and in some cases by specific statutory directive. Out of a route system covering about 23,000 route-miles, Amtrak owns a right-of-way of about 2,600 track miles in the Northeast Corridor (Washington-New York-Boston; New Haven-
Springfield; and Philadelphia-Harrisburg) and small segments of track near Albany, New York, and Kalamazoo, Michigan. In the Northeast Corridor Amtrak trains are run by operating crews consisting of Amtrak employees. On other routes, Amtrak operates trains on the tracks of about twenty different privately owned railroads and compensates the railroad for the use of their facilities and for the services of their employees, including engineers, conductors, and maintenance personnel. Those private railroads are responsible for the conditions of the roadbed and for coordinating the flow of traffic over their lines.
(e) Operations. Amtrak provides about 250 trains daily, serving about 500 stations in over forty states. Amtrak owns most of its cars and locomotives, some of its stations, and most of its repair facilities. Its capital improvements and almost half of its operating losses are supported principally through Federal financing, with some State, regional and local financial support for some trains and stations. Congress requires Amtrak to earn revenues equivalent to at least fifty percent of its operating costs, and it currently does so.
(f) Revenue production. The sale of tickets for transportation and accommodations, Amtrak's principal source of revenue, is accomplished through Amtrak ticket agents at stations, travel agencies, and five central reservation offices which service a nationwide telephone network. National Timetables contain basic information about routes, stations, and services.