Two years ago, when this blog criticized the CHSRA for its Amtrak-style practices, it was meant somewhat as a joke. Who knew they would actually go out and hire Amtrak’s Chief Engineer!?
Frank Vacca, the chief engineer of Amtrak, has been hired as chief program manager of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
Mr. Vacca has over 35 years of experience in commuter, inter-city and high-speed passenger rail systems. “Frank Vacca is a highly recognized and respected executive in rail and will be a major asset in delivering high-speed rail to California in his new role as the Authority’s chief program manager,” says Jeff Morales, CEO of the Authority. “Frank’s expertise will help fulfill our ongoing commitment to partner with existing rail systems in building a statewide rail network.”Mr. Vacca has a long and varied background in rail management, most recently as the chief engineer of Amtrak – a position he has held since 2006. He has held several other key positions with the national rail line. He was also the deputy general manager for infrastructure engineering at New Jersey Transit. In his role as chief program manager, Mr. Vacca will lead technical and engineering teams as they focus on delivering the high-speed rail project.
I love your blog but I never comment because I’m not familiar with most of the stuff you’re discussing (Illinois high speed rail is a completely different domain than CA HSR).
I enjoy your humor, although looking at it deeply, none of this is really humorous but outrageous.
I get the joke, but can you explain a bit more why this guy is actually going to do a poor job? It seems that, given what he’s had to work with (and frankly I have no idea how much control the Chief Engineer has), Amtrak has actually come quite far during his tenure. It’s still not good, but I think most people would agree that it’s significantly better.
There’s nothing wrong with Amtrak’s Chief Engineer, nothing whatsoever. He’s just responsible for designing and building permanent way, and honestly Amtrak does a good job at that.
It’s not like they’re hiring Amtrak’s head of customer service (my god Amtrak service personnel are inconsistent in policies and behavior).
Your irrational bias against Amtrak is showing.
Really, this is simple guilt-by-association of the sort which suggests that *systemic failure* has happened in your brain.
Do you think New Jersey Transit doesn’t know how to build track and structure either? Because that’s the other place he worked, and their track and structure seems just fine too.
I suggest you correct the causes of systemic failure in your thinking before posting further.
Amtrak has never built a greenfield high-speed line or anything close. He may be fine at what he does, but CAHSR should be hiring an engineer with at least some actual high-speed rail experience (i.e. someone from France, Spain, Japan, etc.).