“Is it just me, or . . . . ?” A recent post in PASSENGER regarding VIA Rail’s THE CANADIAN and the spit-and-polish factor set me off on a rant [soapbox], so don’t say you were’t warned!
Perhaps Amtrak could inaugurate a new train called “Death by a Thousand Cuts” and staff it with its lowest-rank staff, because there are elements of such slovenliness in at least half, if not more, of every Amtrak journey I’ve had. Rude (or sleeping, or nonexistent) sleeping-car attendants. Diner food that changes level of quality and style of service seemingly every year, the only given that the “gourmet” items are fakey and overblown, and everything is beyond expensive past any standards except maybe Midtown Manhattan’s. (If you get a diner: one train I rode out of Charlottesville did not have the promised diner, and nobody knew or cared to find out why it was missing.) Missing equipment that no one seems to know or care about. Schedules so unrealistic they border on science-fiction.
At least I wasn’t on one of the “Lincoln Corridor” trains that got stuck in the snow not quite a year ago. Four different trains, four solutions: one being “Our day is over” from one staff on one train. In fact, the happiest solution was on another train, the last or next-to-last of the four IIRC, where the passengers basically mutinied against a crew with their cell phones and 9-1-1 service. [Which begs the question as to why the third and fourth trains were even allowed to set out from Chicago – apparently Amtrak standard ops. doesn’t use anything resembling the speed and specificity of a consumer-owned cell phone: sad!]
Several years ago, before the BNSF Northern Transcon shifted to the north (CB&Q out of Chgo, not the old ATSF mainline), I persuaded a friend from Peoria to take
I have had good luck in getting good sleeping car attendants on my trips. Nothing too bad.
One thing they do need to improve on is getting information to the passenger. If the train is stopped, for over a few minutes, they should at least give an explanation. Other than maybe ONE trip, I have never seen or heard conductors trying to tell us (people on the train I was on) what the situation was. Since i had a scanner, it was relatively easy to find out, and I was able to inform a few people that also wanted to know what was going on.
I just took Amtrak from Portland, OR to Charlotte, NC.
First leg, Empire Builder, I couldn’t have had a better sleeping car attendant. Food was good and we arrives in Chicago within 45 minutes of our scheduled time.
Second leg, Capitol Limited, sleeping car attendant was fat lazy worthless individual. Food was good and we arrived into DC within 45 minutes of our scheduled time.
Third leg, The Crescent, I rode coach, the car attendant was good, dining car sucked and we arrived into Charlotte 5 minutes early.
Overall, I had a great time, would/will do it again. We always left on time which is more than most airlines do, didn’t have to stand in a security line and get half naked to pass through it. If I had the luxury of time, I’d always take the train. Keep in mind, many, in fact most of the delays are not of Amtrak’s making.
I once visited the Smithsonian years ago and it was time for lunch.
They had a wonderful McDonalds sort of contract resturant very well done but no one was eating (Too expensive) and there were three staffers mean and onery.
From that day forward, I bring my own lunches. That way I dont worry about the now-irrevelant food court with grumpy people. Now I just wolf it down at a empty table and be on my way before they chase me with unauthorized food. “Im sorry Sir. Your food is unauthorized in this facility…”
Spare me.
I point to Southwest as a good travel example. Ive flown them a few times and have been lucky with my schedules, good weather and people who actually took a moment to actually give a damn about my question… I’ll fly em again.
Now, Amtrack will never be a valid transport until a true HST or other method arrives Nationwide. Sure, I can call up a ticket for Chicago thence to DC out of Little Rock with a sleeper but the fares are twice the flying and time two to three days with potential for delay in Chicago requring a motel room or worse.
Bad Amtrak performance is the result of three factors:
[Political viewpoints removed] - Bergie
Freight railroad congestion and the UP’s attitude, to some extent CSX’s, with NS and BNSF doing all they can under strenuous circumstances. Hats off to NS and BNSF. And everyone is working on congestion, so this can only improve.
Labor force. Gunn was working on this problem and had ideas. He is the expert on how to alleviate it (cannot be solved completely in the current USA labor situation) and I would not attempt to second guess what he intended to do.
You make a good point. Grouchy or surly employees often are the result of overwork, but sometimes they are the result of __under__work. Those mean and ornery waiters at the overpriced restaurant apparently had little to do than grouch about how they’d rather be anywhere else.
Solution: give them something to do! I can offer in one instance one of the many reasons K-Mart is failing. Yes, they cleaned up their stores but they didn’t clean up their employees’ attitude. The last time I was in a K-Mart three(!) floor staff had parked their butts on the super-clean floor. I asked a question, but since it would have required one or two to get on their feet, I got no help. I wanted to put in a complaint but the service desk had eleven people in line waiting to get to the one person behind the counter. That was the last and will be the very last time I patronize K-Mart.
It is almost inconceivable to me that such idiocy would be tolerated at, say, Target. I worked for Target and believe me, it never occurred to us to sit on the floor! And without a good reason, such a malingerer would probably have been fired on the spot.
Likewise I have little sympathy for the kind of Amtrak staffer I’ve seen on occasion, who is simply not to be found 45 mins. out of the hour and then gets p.o’ed that he or she can’t get all the work done in the remaining 15 mins.(say); and then berates the paying passengers for having the termerity to ask questions, etc. Such awfulness is a minority percentage of Amtrak staff behavior, but I’
Bergie, I give you credit for being selective. So, thanks for being selective.
But the point of view I have expressed regarding particular politicians’ opposition to long distance rail passenger service, and the unhappyness of railfans and rail passengers with the firing of Gunn has been printed in TRAINS MAGAZINE already! One leader’s long opposition and proposals for zero funding are so well known that it is no longer really “political” but more “historical.” So, suppose if Gunn had had a good working relationship with Mineta: After the well-known refusal by the mayor, he would have called Mineta, and those 22 nearly empty coaches and sleepers would have been filled with evacuees whose lives would have been saved. This is too important a lesson for the USA to simply be wiped off the internet.
One thing that Phil Hastings or someone like him could do (maybe you) in talking to McCain, Obama, and Hillary, is to discuss just how valuable Amtrak was after 11.09.01. All the trips senior government officials and important businessmen were able to complete that would have been impossible in those few days if Amtrak had not been around.
The Amtrak issues that I see relate to ‘Esprit d’corp’. I don’t get the feeling from Amtrak employees that the truly believe in their company…and with the funding, and thereby, employment uncertantities that have been a staple of Amtrak’s existance is it next to impossible to motivate a work force that they could be out of a job tomorrow just as well as working tomorrow. The continuing funding issues of Amtrak, as well has working without having a labor contract in full force and effect, leaves the Amtrak work force wondering what tomorrow will bring and the realization, that no matter what they do, good or bad, it won’t have an effect on that tomorrow. Amtrak was, is and will always be at demoralized organization until their funding issues are behind them…until the budget makers decide that Amtrak is here…FUND IT.
Amtrak, like any other passenger operation in the world, will not be a profit making enterprise. It is a public service. Deal with it.
Definitely agree with the second paragraph but IMHO would like to qualify the first. Working for a company on the brink can be unnerving; I once worked for a law firm that went belly-up during an era that no law firm worth its salt could go bankrupt. The reason? Attitudes, largely, in this case prima-donna posturing.
I forget the name of the man who said that everything worth knowing he learned in kindergarten, but beneath both [possibly] untenous situations at law firm and “quasi” passenger-train corp., the unifying theme is that not being able to “Work and play well with others” has consequences.
When I think of all the commercial airline companies that have gone into receivership (biggest effect seems to have been to escape funded pension obligations), and then downsize their employee ranks, it gives me pause. Did the flight crew with the nastiest attitudes toward the flying public have privilege to show their hostility to people who only want what they paid for? Seems to me attitudes have brightened in the past several years, aft
I would like to Amtraks labor situation and perhaps the USA’s in general into perspective. This is a story that Phil Hastings could comment on, or any of the USA railroad people who have tried and who are making a buck overseas. In a county with a modern political history far shorter than the USA and that was started by Socialists (not Communists) a couple from an English speaking country with similar culture as and ties to the USA immigrated with strong technical knowledge for a particular industry, let us call it pottery making. They used their capitol to establish themselves, were popular in thier community, and after six months of operation their business grew to where they needed one extra hand. A young man turned up, terms were agreed upon, and the business prospered even more. On the first anniversary of the firm’s startup, they held a party in the factory, and the young man was honored for his assistance. But the next morning, he came a little late, and did only about two hours worth of work instead of the usual seven (with one hour lunch break). They let this go for a few days, and finally asked what was up. Did he want to be fired? He replied that he did not want to be fired, but suggested the couple look at labor laws and see just what would be involved in firing him. They did spend the cash for consultation with a lawyer and found the situation pretty terrible, since there had been no signed agreement with the worker on specific job conditions, and after a certain time, six months in the particular industry, a worker in this particular country essentially “ownes” his job! The lawyer said that to avoid bankrupcy, they should plan on closing the business. Even this required something like a month’s notice to the worker, a month during which they would continue to run the business at a loss. Fortunately, they did get out without going into debt, and now the couple run a conv
Sounds like what we get from lawyers makeing all the rules. We have too many there in DC makeing laws right now. Don’t forget there is a lawyer running for president. God help us.
I would like to Amtraks labor situation and perhaps the USA’s in general into perspective. This is a story that Phil Hastings could comment on, or any of the USA railroad people who have tried and who are making a buck overseas. In a county with a modern political history far shorter than the USA and that was started by Socialists (not Communists) a couple from an English speaking country with similar culture as and ties to the USA immigrated with strong technical knowledge for a particular industry, let us call it pottery making. They used their capitol to establish themselves, were popular in thier community, and after six months of operation their business grew to where they needed one extra hand. A young man turned up, terms were agreed upon, and the business prospered even more. On the first anniversary of the firm’s startup, they held a party in the factory, and the young man was honored for his assistance. But the next morning, he came a little late, and did only about two hours worth of work instead of the usual seven (with one hour lunch break). They let this go for a few days, and finally asked what was up. Did he want to be fired? He replied that he did not want to be fired, but suggested the couple look at labor laws and see just what would be involved in firing him. They did spend the cash for consultation with a lawyer and found the situation pretty terrible, since there had been no signed agreement with the worker on specific job conditions, and after a certain time, six months in the particular industry, a worker in this particular country essentially “ownes” his job! The lawyer said that to avoid bankrupcy, they should plan on closing the business. Even this required something like a month’s notice to the worker, a month during which they would continue to run the business at a loss. Fortunately, they did get out without going into debt, an
The very good reason not to answer your question is not to lower the chances of having these laws altered. They must be altered by people working within and not seem to be guided by foreign criticism. I hope you understand. The country does want foreign investment, or at least one newspaper reporter with a good following really wants it (a opposed to lip service), and that is why I learned of the situation.
Well, if it’s the French all I can say is tht Mr. Sarkozy has his hands full. And that the ordinary French person doen’t give a ratatouille about my effect on foreign policies or media, since I have none and they know it.
You may know that potential and actual shareholders receive a form 10-K every year; it is mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and is pretty intricate in terms of financial detail. When Americans own foreign investments (overseas, at least) the compensating document is called a 20-F (I think).
Not by planning but by acqusition I hold a very few shares in a French telecommunications outfit. The 20-F was about three times as large as the large as the typical big blue-chip type of 10-K. Since it was a French document and had to meet the needs of the French gov’t, potential shareholders, the bureaucrats in Brussels, and our SEC, it had a lot to say. In fact, almost a third of that document was the company trying to prove it didn’t violate the letter or spirit of the shortened work week that’s been in effect for nearly ten years (30 hrs. but I’m not sure). The pertinent French gov’t agency has refined a lot of questions that corporate officers answer under threat of perjury if they lie. The biggest focus seemed to verify that the company hadn’
AL,I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON ANY VIA TRAINS,BUT IN TALKING TO PERSONS WHO HAVE HAD THE VIA EXPERIENCE, THERE WASNT A SINGLE COMPLAINT ON THE SERVICE THAT WAS PRESENED TO ME. AS TO AMTRAK,SOME OF THE STORIES I HAVE HEARD AND SOME OF WHIC I HAVE EXPEIENCED THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF NEGATIVE COMMENTS.I REMEBER GOING TO WASHINGTON BACK IN 1972 WHEN AMTRAK HAD JUST GOTTEN STARTED IN 1971 AND THE ONLY EQUIPTMENT THEY HAD WAS HANDME DOWNS,FROM OHER CLASS 1 RRS WHO WERE GLAD TO GET RID OF ITS OLD OBSOLETE EQUIOTMENT. NEEDLSS TO SAY THE EQUIPTMENT WAS ALWAYS BREAKING DOWN,NO AIR,POOR FOOD SERVICE ETC. THANKFULLY IT IS A LOT BETTER IN THE PAST 35 YRS,BUT STILL HAS A LONG WAY TO GO TO Y CATCH UP WITH IHE FINEST EUROPEAN TRAINS AND JAPENSE TRAINS WICH DON PHILLIPS REPORTS ON IN HIS MONTLY TRAIN COLUMN.
I’m acquainted with one Amtrak long-time supervisor and I’ve gotten the impression that much of the negative attitude problem is due to the employees who were hired at its start–coming from the private rail carriers with poor attitudes. They passed it on to new hires and so on. I also gathered that the union rules being what they are, don’t look for much change since bad attitude doesn’t appear to be something that can get one fired very easily, if at all. (It kind of reminds me of the US Post Office of whom I’ve known some of their employees over the years. Many of them grumbled all the time about their jobs but none of them left since the odds of their finding employment that paid as much were slim and none.)
As an over 40 year employee of a carrier, I have had the opportunity to work with various locations of the carrier that are generations removed from my prior working with the location. While the people at the locations change…the general attitudes that the locations possessed 20/30 years ago, are the same attitudes they possess today. The single hardest job for managements to do is to change the attitudes of the work force. How those attitudes came into being is of secondary importance…how to change them is the primary importance.
Grumbling among the crew is one thing; many people in the Armed Forces are of the opinion that “It’s a soldier’s right to complain” and that people who complain often have the best ideas. I mean among themselves, at lunch, or at parties. Carrying out such sour attitudes and extending them to the traveler doesn’t really advance anyone’s cause. Except for one regional and two medium-sized railroad companies, any former staff grandfathered in from pre-Amtrak passenger trains did so in the early Seventies or as soon as any expanding traffic required more hires. In other words, a bar attendent hired by GN to work the Empire Buillder, if he was only 21 in 1970, would turn 59 this year. But most of the l-d private-co varnish employees were older; in other words, “the originals” are of retirement edge or very near it. Early attrition might help reduce the numbers of employees who perform at a subpar level. Without some more discipline, and really I mean not so much punishing underperformers or personality employers as celebrating the many who d
If lower management which has to work with the attitudes of the workers and run into the unions on a daily basis discovers that no one above them really cares or is willing to risk a union grievence to back them up, true supervision goes out the window.
Did anyone besides me think it was silly for the arbitration board to go about comparing Amtrak’s workers to the Class I freight carrier’s when it came time to settle their dispute? First, the freight carriers are making good money and, second, they normally have tougher working conditions than Amtrak. Also, the fact that Amtrak couldn’t even establish a new, AND UNION, position for repairing toilets shows just how little control management has over the operations of Amtrak. The entire situation reminds me of the former big USA steel companies and what led to so much of their collapse, starting just after AMTRAK was formed. That might not be a coincidence since much of how labor was structured and operated in the US was based on the steel industry at that time. Of course, Amtrak can’t fail because the Feds will keep it in existence so there’s no real incentive on the part of the workers or unions to compromise. But the evidence so far indicates that even if the feds would suddenly start putting many more $'s into it, its inefficency would not improve and very possibly get worse.
Let me make clear that when I said the freight carriers are “making good money” in the above post, I was talking about the railroad companies themselves being profitable.