1966: Declare Rail Service Is Deliberately Graded Down

09/16/1966 Charges that Texas and Pacific passenger coaches are filthy and rat-infested, and that service in and out of El Paso is deliberately down-graded and deplorable, were heard today at a Texas Railroad Commission hearing. The El Paso hearing, presided over by Waiter Wendlandt. commission director, is on a T and P application to quit operating passenger trains No. 26 and 27 between El Paso and Fort Worth. Officials of El Paso and private citizens joined in testifying against the railroad’s application. FOR ITS PART, the T. and P. introduced officials who testified that its passenger traffic is suffering heavy financial losses, and that the service between here and Fort Worth is contributing to those losses. Atty. Joe Christie, Democratic nominee for staff senator, said he is unalterably opposed to discontinuing the two trains, which would leave El Paso, the fifth largest city in Texas, without any rail service between El Paso and Fort Worth. Mr. Christie promised there would be witnesses to give eyewitness testimony of what appears to be a deliberate campaign to discourage rail passenger service. He said there would be evidence of “rat-infested” cars, of cars being ankle-deep in water, of passengers being charged twice the price that local citizens are charged for meals, of planed inconveniences in schedules, of refusal to provide pillows or drinking cups, of forcing passengers, including women and children, to cross busy highways to eat or rest, of one lady passenger (a regular customer) who brings a bed sheet to spread over the seat so her dress will not get filthy, of no porters, of no heat or water, of no personnel to clean the coaches in El Paso (the jobs were eliminated), of faulty air conditioning in cars with the windows sealed shut and of conditions so deplorable that even those who can ride free on passes refuse to do so.” Mr. Christie said the T. and P. agreed to furnish freight and passenger service to the people of Texas in return for the land grant of a million acres “Before the railroad is allowed to breach half of this agreement on economic grounds, I ask that they prove good faith in attempting to make passenger service a paying proposition,” he said. County Judge Travis Johnson submitted a Commissioners Court resolution, adopted yesterday, apposing discontinuance of the passenger service. He asserted the railroad has “deliberately down-graded the passenger service in an effort to discourage passenger traffic and thus operate at a loss. “At the present time the passenger service of the Texas and Pacific Railway is at its lowest ebb,” Judge Johnson said. “Conductors of the passenger cars are not only unsanitary, but actually unsafe, and the scheduling of these trains is deplorable. “I submit that if these conditions were converted, if Pullman service were restored, if diners were used, if schedules were set up to meet the needs of the people (an there are people who need to travel by train) I submit that if the Texas and Pacific would upgrade its service, instead of downgrading it as it has and if it would advertise this service, it could and would operate at a profit. “With the increasing death tolls on the nation’s highways, and with the number of people who are apprehensive about flying, the railroads could perform a public service. The railroads have promised this service time and time again and have, in fact, an obligation to the public to perform this service.” Judge Johnson asked E.E. Spencer of St. Louis, T and P, passenger traffic manager, if he had ever ridden the trains between El Paso and Fort Worth. Mr. Spencer said he had ridden between Fort Worth and Sweetwater twice in 1965, but had not been on the trains this year. “What have you done to exterminate the rats and roaches in the trains?” Judge Johnson asked. Mr. Spencer replied, “Nothing. That is not my category.” Judge Johnson asked if he knew that T and P trains ran so slowly that “bicycles outran them.” Mr. Spencer said, “That also is an operating matter.” Judge Johnson also read an article written by Editor Robert W. Lee of The Herald-Post which dealt with a passenger’s experience on the T. and P. train. County Commissioner Richard Telles testified he has been told by people that they found it impossible to buy passenger tickets at the depot. He said they described “the inconvenience and terrible conditions of the trains.” Alderman Oliver Nordmarken, representing the City Council, said he had been told of T. and P. coaches that were “overflowing filthy and dirty.” He said he does not argue with railroad statistics, but believes the railroad if properly operated could provide adequate passenger service. Mr. Spencer, the traffic manager, testified that the T and P has not made a profit on its passengers operations in 20 years. The railroad’s deficit on passenger operations last year was $4 million, he testified, and that the two trains between El Paso and Fort Worth contributed to that deficit by $250,000. He said the losses will be greater this year.