Employment Perspectives at AMTRAK?

Hello

I've done a bit of researching online and found some threads on these forums regarding employment opportunities, but most of them were dated and often it's difficult to find any more specific information.

I've been long thinking about a possibility of a career in the railroad, but it somehow waned and eventually I ended up going to a community college. I am in community college now but I might be forced to take a semester or a year off after my first year due to financial reasons. A while ago, thoughts of a career at the railroad, particularly AMTRAK, resurfaced, so I did some research, and I actually heard a conductor (probably assistant conductor) discuss this with someone on the Keystone recently, how it's a great job, that he got hired recently and that there should be new hirings out of Harrisburg "by the end of the summer."

Whether those words are true or not, I don't know and I'm not relying on them, but I wanted to get more information from people who might be knowledgable about this. How often are there openings usually for entry-level jobs like assistant conductor? I live on the Keystone line so I'm fairly close to both Philly and Harrisburg and other areas by train. To put it blunt, how much of a chance does one have of getting in and getting a job at AMTRAK that could lead to a long(er) career on the railroad? Are there other jobs that can be available through AMTRAK that are "entry-level" and can lead to promotion and being something more than a baggageman for the next 10 years?

I understand those are very general questions, but I'm struggling a bit to put it in more concrete terms at this point, so thanks for your understanding and thanks in advance for any responses and knowledge that you might share.

It is entirely possible to come "off the street" into an Assistant Conductor role, but you'd need some sort of relevant experience. A large part of what an Assistant Conductor does is customer service, so if you have a demonstrable customer service role (hotel, restaurant, airline, etc. all translate well) then it's entirely possible you could get the job. However, if you don't have that experience then you might need to aim for a Red Cap or Ticket Agent role to move into an Assistant Conductor role. Your ability to move on from a role like that, from my understanding and personal experience in hotels, is all based on the motivation and performance in your present role. In no job will you ever be considered for a bigger role if you don't excel in your present role and show desire to achieve more. Hope that helps!

I just applied for an office job in Wilmington. I had to fill out an online application which asked questions related to all types of jobs at Amtrak. You can set up your profile and set up job alerts.

The link to careers is at the bottom of the Amtrak website.

Good luck!

First off, the opportunity to advance, at Amtrak, is open to anyone! If you are energetic, hard working, and go above and beyond, you will have the chance to work towards whatever goal or position might interest you. The next question would be, are you willing to relocate? That will increase your chances drastically, especially if working on the train.For example, even if Harrisburg was hiring for Conductors, I can't see it being more than maybe 4-6 people. However, when NYP, WAS, CHI, etc. hire conductors, it is usually 10-15 people. These locations also hire OBS people a couple times a year in the same quantity. If this is what you want to do, watch the job postings, and apply, apply, apply! Even if you interview and are turned down, apply again!

battalion51 said:

It is entirely possible to come "off the street" into an Assistant Conductor role, but you'd need some sort of relevant experience. A large part of what an Assistant Conductor does is customer service, so if you have a demonstrable customer service role (hotel, restaurant, airline, etc. all translate well) then it's entirely possible you could get the job. However, if you don't have that experience then you might need to aim for a Red Cap or Ticket Agent role to move into an Assistant Conductor role. Your ability to move on from a role like that, from my understanding and personal experience in hotels, is all based on the motivation and performance in your present role. In no job will you ever be considered for a bigger role if you don't excel in your present role and show desire to achieve more. Hope that helps!

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I see. Are there other jobs that you can move into this (train crew) position? Or is it all fluid and once you're in there at some point through work you can advance to other positions etc?

As for the relocating, well, I live with my parents in Lancaster at the moment so yes, relocating is an option, since I would like to obviously move out of the house and become independent at some point anyway (I am 20 years old), as long as the job that I would get would earn me enough to support myself in some way.

Barciur-

I am a conductor for amtrak, and wanted to try to clarify a few things for you.

Yes amtrak can be a very rewarding (monetarily job), they offer decent benefits, good retirement, and its not your typical desk job.

I feel as though you should know what you are getting yourself into though. First off the position of an assistant conductor is NOT considered an entry level position, but rather one of the higher craft positions, second only to the conductor on the train. If you are looking for entry level work, there are a few choices you would have. For on-board the train there is on board services, such as a train attendant. Mechanical, coach cleaners. And for station services, a clerk. Please don't be discouraged by this, as amtrak does hire assistant conductors off the street, but they usually want to see some work experience first, for train crew they look for safety sensitive positions and some customer service experience. Also remember that should you hire out as a car attendant after your probation is up and you have one year of service you are eligible to apply for other jobs within the company.

As an assistant conductor, you are the second in command behind the conductor of a train. The conductor is the highest on train authority level before management. You would be required to learn and understand all practice operating rules, signals, customer service books and manage the revenue of the train. Assistant conductors are directly responsible for the safe movement of the train under the direction of the conductor. Also please understand the the life of train crew personal doesn't exisist outside of the railroad. Being a union position it is seniority based and you will be on the extra board for the first half of your car rear. (I'm at 7 yrs and still on the extra board). That means you are on-call 6 days a week and required to report in with two hours notice, so forget birthdays, holidays, or special events. It also doesn't mean you get a guaranteed day off in the course of a week, but rather a 24 hour period.

This last part sounds really harsh but again is not meant as a discouragement but rather to inform you what you are getting into. Amtrak demands allot of the employees, long hours, abusive passengers, low tolerance for little mistakes. All amtrak sees the employees as is a number, nothing more. You will be scrutinized over every stupid little detail, second guessed by managers who were poor at their job and the carrier couldn't fire them so the promoted them away from customers. Management has the mentality that you are a screwup and they need to catch you goofing off instead of working and they go out of their way to do so. You are here at the whim of politicians who constantly hold the future of your career in mid-air as political leverage. It's hard, and please understand if you choose this path what you are getting into.

In short it's a fun, challenging field, you will receive no support for your management, work allot of long hard hours (blood money), you will be scrutinized over every decision you make, but you are on a train, you aren't tied down to a desk, you get to help people, and you get good benefits, a retirement, and a decent sallerie in today's economy that's pretty hard to beat. If you are looking to pay bills and get yourself financially stable, work for the next 40 years (you said you are twenty) and retire its not a bad gig. If you want to have a family, please look for a 40 hour a week job elsewhere or pursue a different craft with the railroad. I don't want to discourage you, but at the same time I want you to make an informed decision that will be best for you. Good luck. Remember amtraks prioities of train crew, particularly operating crew is safety, safety, safety, that. Customer service.

Conductor Sac,

Your post was very true, as Amtrak does not consider an employee as an asset, but a liability. I hired on with Amtrak in May 1973 and went on a permanent disability in March of 2008. At the end of May of this year I will resign my seniority and transition to retirement. I can tell you that Amtrak has many good managers and a few that were promoted to get them out of the way. Yes the first few years are very challenging but as you said a career can be rewarding.

I think that is interesting to note that Amtrak did massive amounts of hiring in the late 70's and the early 80's. This crowd was primarily Baby Boomers that will have met or soon to meet the Railroad Retirement Board's 30 years service and 60 years of age.

(another benefit of working on a railroad is the early retirement) This fact ought to lead to another hiring boom very soon if it has not started already.

The work can be long and hard and you always must maintain safety as you top priority. I can vouch for that as when I resign I will have 41 years of railroading, my wife will retire also at the end of May with 33+ years of railroading, We were both second generation railroaders with my mother having almost 45 years and my father in law with 37+ years.

Good luck to anyone considering a railroad career and also to those working now as with retirements coming they will gain seniority rapidly!

I'm considering an Amtrak career as a second career after retirement from a public safety job. A few questions, how many years does it take to be vested, is there a mandatory retirement age, is it possible to commute some distance to crew base, do crew members cohabitate/share house or apartment near the crew base while maintaining a residence at another location, when crews are put up in motels do you have to share a room, are the accommodations nice, how much $ would one need for a 5-6 day out and back trip, is there a per Diem for meals, how does extra board work (how quickly does it move if you just finished a run),can you mark off, are there furloughs, uniform cleaning between trips,(with a short turn around), what would be an average annual salary for a car attendant working the extra board? Where can this information be obtained before making decision to apply? Thanks!

PupfosterG said:

I'm considering an Amtrak career as a second career after retirement from a public safety job. A few questions, how many years does it take to be vested, is there a mandatory retirement age, is it possible to commute some distance to crew base, do crew members cohabitate/share house or apartment near the crew base while maintaining a residence at another location, when crews are put up in motels do you have to share a room, are the accommodations nice, how much $ would one need for a 5-6 day out and back trip, is there a per Diem for meals, how does extra board work (how quickly does it move if you just finished a run),can you mark off, are there furloughs, uniform cleaning between trips,(with a short turn around), what would be an average annual salary for a car attendant working the extra board? Where can this information be obtained before making decision to apply? Thanks!

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Ok, here goes... It takes 10 years to become vested in RR Retirement program. There is no mandatory retirement age, I have seen OBS people work well into their 80's, no problem as long as you can perform the work. You are required to be within a two hour distance from the crew base, as you could be called to work ASAP. If you live much greater distance than that from the Crew base where you are interested in working, they probably won't consider you. I am not aware of any apartment sharing, I know some regularly scheduled employees, who commute long distances and stay at the Amtrak hotel in the appropriate city when they commute in the day before. This is done at their own cost, but usually at the negotiated Amtrak rate. If you work a 6 day r/t, all your meals are provided in the dining car, you just need funds for incidentals and meals during layover. You are reimbursed a small meal allowance for meal periods when in hotel, this comes in your check. The only employees who share rooms are Auto Train employees, and there are just day rooms during a 4-6 hour layover.

When on the extraboard for OBS employees, you are entitled to layover the number of your hours of the previous trip up to maximum of 48 hours, before going on call again. You can certainly make yourself available sooner if you wish. How quickly it moves depends on many factors...You could be home 3-4 days, you could go out as soon as rest period is over. Sometimes there is no explaining it... You are allowed a certain number of markoff's without penalty. If you do not answer your phone during call period, that is considered a mark off and breaks your guarantee. Your first 120 days (I think 120) you are on probation, and attendance is scrutinized. Any hint of attendance problems, and you WILL be fired. Furloughs are rare but do occasionally happen. You can apply to another crew base if furloughed from one you are currently in. Uniform cleaning is :your problem", so helps to have many sets. Yor receive $12.50 a month (!) towards uniform costs. Train attendant starting salary would probably be in $30,000 area. This can easily be increased by being available to work at last minute, etc.

I think that covers your questions, don't hesitate to ask anything else, and good luck.

Wow, great responses, massive wealth of knowledge here. Massive thanks to conductors and ex-conductors here responding!

So can somebody explain the thing with extraboard a bit more? Let's say they were hiring in Harrisburg (would they hire crews out of there for the Keystones?) is that how it works? Would I be just on the Keystones in that case or could I be shipped to Philly and from Philly go on a different train? That's all very technical I guess and details but I'm just curious how it would work.. and the dining car thing - if you were on the Keystones, there is no dining car for example.

Also, while I'm here, another technical aspect. How do days off work, are you entitled to take say a week of leave in a year or something like that? I'm not sure how it all works if you're on call and may have 3 days off and then work for a number of days and it's all unscheduled, but I'm curious if there are still benefits such as a leave for a certain amount of days per year etc.

Barciur said:

Wow, great responses, massive wealth of knowledge here. Massive thanks to conductors and ex-conductors here responding!
So can somebody explain the thing with extraboard a bit more? Let's say they were hiring in Harrisburg (would they hire crews out of there for the Keystones?) is that how it works? Would I be just on the Keystones in that case or could I be shipped to Philly and from Philly go on a different train? That's all very technical I guess and details but I'm just curious how it would work.. and the dining car thing - if you were on the Keystones, there is no dining car for example.

Also, while I'm here, another technical aspect. How do days off work, are you entitled to take say a week of leave in a year or something like that? I'm not sure how it all works if you're on call and may have 3 days off and then work for a number of days and it's all unscheduled, but I'm curious if there are still benefits such as a leave for a certain amount of days per year etc.

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If you are hired as a conductor out of Harrisburg, you could be assigned to the zones going East to PHL or West to PGH. On the Conductor's extraboard, you are assigned one day off a week.Other than that, you are subject to working 6 days a week, sometimes more than once a day. If you were working any kind of food service, you will be working out of NYP, Was, Bos, etc. You receive two weeks vacation after one year

Thank you so much for answers. Got a couple of more questions for now I think.

Is the extraboard thing just for conductors or does it apply to anybody in the crew service? Also, is this a salary job or is it paid by the hour while on extraboard? Or does it depend on a position?

Just hypothetically, if I were hired out of Harrisburg, would living in the Harrisburg area be still an option? If so, would that basically limit me to working the Keystone and the Pennsylvanian? I didn't clearly get that part.

In light of the valuable information provided about various operations positions, you might want to consider other opportunities in the administrative area of the company. They generally require a bit more college training, but the quality of life seems to be better...you would work a 'normal' 40 hour week, with weekends and holiday's off, for example.

It seems like there are usually openings for those with computer skills in the Information Technology field. Another frequent opening are for internal auditor's. That position often gives you a break from being tied to a desk, as you travel around auditing various stations, etc. Don't just limit your search to train or station service positions.....

Barciur said:

Thank you so much for answers. Got a couple of more questions for now I think.
Is the extraboard thing just for conductors or does it apply to anybody in the crew service? Also, is this a salary job or is it paid by the hour while on extraboard? Or does it depend on a position?

Just hypothetically, if I were hired out of Harrisburg, would living in the Harrisburg area be still an option? If so, would that basically limit me to working the Keystone and the Pennsylvanian? I didn't clearly get that part.

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Second question first, If you are working out of Har. crew base, those are the only trains you will work. You can eventually change to other crew bases, but you need to be able ro get to those locations in a timely manner from wherever you live.

All passenger related positions at Amtrak, except administrative and management, have extra boards to help cover positions. they are all paid on an hourly basis with weekly/monthly minimum guarantees of numbers of hours paid as long as you abide by all the rules to protect your guarantee. HTH

Thanks for the great information. Is the initial application best done online? Or could you apply to an individual human resources office, i.e. Chicago? What determines where you are hired out of? Is it based upon position and location selected on the online app.? Is there a list somewhere of OBS crew bases, and a list of train crew bases? Going the train crew (asst. conductor and up) route would give a better selection of places to live that wouldn't be as expensive as L.A. or Chicago, but train crew route could lead to working almost everyday off extra board vs. OBS crew maybe getting a day or two off between runs? I would assume OBS starting wage would be less then Train Crew starting wage, due to the responsibilities of the positions, that being said, is there a preferred position from those that have done both, beside wages? Any guess where the most retirees in the near future would come from, OBS or Train Crew? Thanks for the input and looking to see more!

PupfosterG said:

Thanks for the great information. Is the initial application best done online? Or could you apply to an individual human resources office, i.e. Chicago? What determines where you are hired out of? Is it based upon position and location selected on the online app.? Is there a list somewhere of OBS crew bases, and a list of train crew bases? Going the train crew (asst. conductor and up) route would give a better selection of places to live that wouldn't be as expensive as L.A. or Chicago, but train crew route could lead to working almost everyday off extra board vs. OBS crew maybe getting a day or two off between runs? I would assume OBS starting wage would be less then Train Crew starting wage, due to the responsibilities of the positions, that being said, is there a preferred position from those that have done both, beside wages? Any guess where the most retirees in the near future would come from, OBS or Train Crew? Thanks for the input and looking to see more!

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No applications are taken in person...When they get ready to hire, they post the position on line and how many they are hiring for a particular position. beyond that, I can't answer regarding specific process. The OBS crew bases are NYP, WAS, Bos, Raleigh, Mia, Chi, Sea, Lax, Oak, Nol, and a few people in Ft. worth. I would say your assessments regarding work schedules is correct. T & E crews are paid higher rates, but not by a large margin, especially for asst. conductor positions. I guess what you prefer depends upon what you are looking for, maybe long term? Schedules can be very inticing for OBS jobs when you hold a regular position. T & E crew work can involve working outside in less than optimum conditions (heat/snow/ dark of night) when working a yard job or work train... There are lots of angles to consider. There probably are equal numbers retiring from both positions... Watch the job postings on Amtrak .com to get a handle on what is available. I don't have a list of all t & E crew bases, you might be able to search a list on this website. Of course understand that other than the major cities listed above which also have t & e bases, most of other bases are small and won't be hiring great numbers of people...

I approve the previous message...LOL...Wrote all that out and forgot I wasn't signed in...

Thanks for all the great info.

Ok, this may be stupid but,

Can you work an extraboard out of your area ?

One trip I made on the Sunset, the SCA told me she was normally on the EB but was working the extraboard on the SL.

( or maybe she was just trying to blow me off................ :wub: )

However, if someone does work the extra board in a different area, do they get to deadhead to/from that position and are there extra rooms in the crew car for that ?

Speaking of crew sleepers, are they different than regular sleepers and if so, how so ?

People can work outside of their normal areas depending on the desperation and the position. OBS can work off of their normal route much easier than T&E because the principles are all the same. For T&E you can work outside of the area you're qualified but you can only work as an Assistant Conductor or Fireman/Second Engineer. The Engineer and Conductor must both be qualified on the physical characteristics on the territory they will operate over.

the Other Mike said:

Speaking of crew sleepers, are they different than regular sleepers and if so, how so ?

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Right now on the single level trains, the crew occupies what used to be revenue rooms in the Viewliner sleepers. On the bilevel Superliners the rooms are essentially the same as the Superliner roomettes, only they're in a special car the Trans/Dorm.

Barciur: I am also on the path to join the Railway industry as well and yes while its not an easy field its something i want to do, i became a member of Amtrak Unlimited due to my support for Amtrak and Passenger Rail service, but also for my future Career of working for the Railways.

I am a big supporter for High Speed, Higher Speed Rail services and i want it to happen in this country, the United States has the money in the world to do this and yet Congress likes to play hardball with the idea.

Anyways back to this topic i am too trying to get my foot in the door with Amtrak, and even if i don't start as being a conductor, my biggest goal with Amtrak is to go up to be a Passenger Engineer, i want to get my FRA License to drive the big boys whether its electric, diesel-electric, or High Speed Trains, I want to make myself proud and my mama proud, i am doing something i love to do for a living, and i am following my hearts content.

Of course i have to go thru steps which is fine i don't mind starting out as a ticket accounter, usher, or train attendant, i just want to work for Amtrak, thats where i want my future to be, then of course i will move up to be a Conductor then an Engineer.

OBS: Thank you so much for the tip too, i am willing to look forward to working with you too, i am a person willing to relocate, i don't mind where i go, i want to be a part of your company, i want to do something better with my life.

I don't see any on-board service positions, or even the category, on the career site. Am I missing something?

I believe OBS falls under either Operations or Transportation. It's possible there may not be any positions vacant at this time. They tend to hire people in "classes" not one or two at a time.

WOW! I happened to stumble across this site looking for information on Coach cleaner and got so much more! Thanks for all the information everyone has given and all the questions posted! ;-)