How To Solve Chronically Late Trains Surfliner Style

Pacific Surfliner train 591 has been chronically late. It was up to last week scheduled to leave San Diego at 6:15PM for LAX but is always late due to the train from LAX never arriving on time. So, as of last week, they officially changed the time departure time from San Diego to 6:45 PM, the actual time that 591 departed San Diego 95% of the time. So now, the train that is always late, is 99% on time. I'm sure it is easier to adjust the schedule on the LAX - SAN corridor since most of the tracks are NOT owned by the freight railroads. Is manipulating the schedule like train 591 a common practice? If late all the time, change the time and make it on time.

Years ago, during the SP/UP merger meltdown, the SL was chronically late by hours or days. They adjusted the departure time from LAX from 10:xx pm to 2:xx pm. They are doing a similar thing now on the EB with the departure times from PDX and SEA.

Actually there is a Bus garage whose busses were so late so frequently, they devised a unique solution. If the bus left the garage within 10 minutes of departure time, it was considered on time. It could arrive at its destination hours late; it would log on time.

On the Sunset Limited, the LSA did joke that anything under 8 hours late is considered ON TIME for Amtrak. I pretty sure that with the airlines, give or take 15 min is considered on time?

the_traveler said:

Years ago, during the SP/UP merger meltdown, the SL was chronically late by hours or days. They adjusted the departure time from LAX from 10:xx pm to 2:xx pm. They are doing a similar thing now on the EB with the departure times from PDX and SEA.

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But that's very different from what the OP is describing, if I understand it correctly. In the case of the SL and the EB, they extended the "run time" which is to say put in padding in an attempt to make the train appear on time. For what the OP is describing, they are not extending the run time, they are simply moving the departure time. In effect, the padding is inserted before the train actually leaves the originating station.

Airlines move departures all the time to reflect operational needs. This schedule change by Amtrak sounds logical to me. I can see that it would be disappointing for someone who specifically wished to leave San Diego at 6:15 but if that frequently wasn't happening anyway, then the change isn't much of a loss IYAM.