UP's Lujan: Freight, passenger railroads work better as partners

Union Pacific Railroad Assistant Vice President-External Relations Wes Lujan recently posted a column on the freight-rail industry’s relationship with Amtrak.

The column’s timing is related to Amtrak’s 15-year, $75 billion plan to expand intercity passenger-rail service across the country. The plan will depend on Congress passing federal funding to help pay for it, as well as negotiations with the nation’s freight railroads on whose tracks Amtrak trains would travel.

"Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic wiping out much of America’s passenger rail ridership, Union Pacific carried approximately 130,000 passengers across its network daily. In fact, UP has 106 Amtrak schedules and 225 other commuter partner schedules across its 23-state network," Lujan noted in his column, which was posted last week on UP’s website under the “Inside Track” newsletter.

"That doesn’t sound like a company that’s against passenger rail," Lujan wrote. "And yet, Union Pacific is labeled by some as hostile to Amtrak and other entities if they aren’t granted unlimited access to our networks."

Lujan noted that UP has “an amazing track record” of partnering with passenger-rail agencies to produce successful projects, including in Illinois and in California.

"There are win-win projects that can be accomplished through mutually beneficial partnerships to expand passenger rail options on Union Pacific," Lujan wrote.

But, he also noted that Amtrak’s expansion plan was drawn up via consultation with state agencies or entities, but not with host railroads such as Union Pacific.

If Congress passes the funding Amtrak says it needs to implement its plan, UP will “face extensive pressure” to expand Amtrak service on its lines, add stops or start new services where none existed before, Lujan wrote.

"Problems come when passenger agencies design routes and plans without including freight hosts, and then expect a rubber stamp after the plans have been publicly announced," Lujan's column stated. "They typically go on to apply unreasonable political pressure for freight railroad hosts simply to accept a flawed project, as is, or agree to inadequate compensation for use of valuable capacity on a privately owned rail network. It doesn’t have to be this way."

To read Lujan’s entire column, click here.

Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Bill Flynn offered the following response to Lujan's column: "The freight railroads have to engage, and that’s not a coercive act on our part, it’s simply the law."

Under federal law, Amtrak has access to freight railroads' tracks.