Boarding at station when there is track work

Hello,

I am new to this forum and i will be taking my first trip on a Amtrak, Zephyr during christmas week. i am travelling from San Francisco to Grand Junction CO. after 4 days of Arches park, Monument valley, i will be heading to Denver. When i tried to book coach tickets from Grand junction to Denver, it showed only the roomette available and no coach seats. but coach seats were available from Green River UT (one stop before Grand junction), so i took the tickets. I called amtrak customer service to confirm that i can board from Grand junction instead of green river (since my car rental has to be returned at Grand junction). they said that there will be track repair work at Grand junction(hence no coach seats) and no one will be able to board from there and they may make transportation arrangements for people who have tickets from GJ.

I am not sure how roomette seats show up but not coach when no one can board from GJ. Also do they really make alternate bus transport and take you to previous station for boarding and if so, how early will they notify you. I need to make hotel reservations in GJ or Green river plus find a bus from GJ to Green river myself depending on how/when amtrak will give correct info.

I appreciate any help or advice.

The roomette was probably in error.

If you're booked from Green River, you had best be there to board, as the train may not even go through Grand Junction.

If a human at Amtrak wanted to intercede, it might help but if you just let things stand as they are and don't board at Green River (because you'll be at GJ) you would almost certainly be listed as a no-show. Your seat could be re-sold and/or you could be penalized financially.

As the post above implies, if the track work at Grand Junction is serious enough, the train could bypass Grand Junction altogether. I don't recall if it's single-tracked or not in the vicinity of GJ, but if it has multiple tracks on the approaches and at the station it is possible the track work isn't going to cause a reroute and the boarding denial is because of safety reasons.

In any case...

I'd call Amtrak and escalate to a supervisor if necessary to get this resolved ASAP, not just hope for the best. If Amtrak is making alternate arrangements for people who already have tix to board at GJ it would seem a CSR or supervisor could rebook you from GJ after hearing your story and include you in that alternate arrangement. Some Amtrak employees do care and would do that if at all possible. And some wouldn't. You need to be persistent.

Just for general information: there is a good-sized yard at Grand Junction, so it would be possible for the CZ to pass through town without coming near the platform.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I contacted customer service again and they said there is no scheduled track work at GJ. i was able to get the roomette from GJ itself.

What it looks like to me is that Amtrak is blocking Grand Junction to Denver as a so-called "short" that week: a "short" being a short distance trip on a long distance train. The fact that Green River to Denver is available in coach, and (upon checking) Grand Junction to McCook NE is also available in coach shows that coach seats are open between Grand Junction and Denver, but at this point, Amtrak does not want to sell them for intrastate travel in Colorado in order to keep them open for those wanting to book longer, more expensive travel.

PRR 60 said:

What it looks like to me is that Amtrak is blocking Grand Junction to Denver as a so-called "short" that week: a "short" being a short distance trip on a long distance train. The fact that Green River to Denver is available in coach, and (upon checking) Grand Junction to McCook NE is also available in coach shows that coach seats are open between Grand Junction and Denver, but at this point, Amtrak does not want to sell them for intrastate travel in Colorado in order to keep them open for those wanting to book longer, more expensive travel.

Click to expand...

You could be correct. But it's not right. Residents of small communities often use their Amtrak service because it is their ONLY public transportation to the rest of the world. They should not be blocked from doing so just so long distance recreational travelers will be able to buy their seat(s).

samsj said:

Thanks everyone for the replies. I contacted customer service again and they said there is no scheduled track work at GJ. i was able to get the roomette from GJ itself.

Click to expand...

Excellent. Once again, touchdown for Team Persistence!

Skyline said:

PRR 60 said:

What it looks like to me is that Amtrak is blocking Grand Junction to Denver as a so-called "short" that week: a "short" being a short distance trip on a long distance train. The fact that Green River to Denver is available in coach, and (upon checking) Grand Junction to McCook NE is also available in coach shows that coach seats are open between Grand Junction and Denver, but at this point, Amtrak does not want to sell them for intrastate travel in Colorado in order to keep them open for those wanting to book longer, more expensive travel.

Click to expand...

You could be correct. But it's not right. Residents of small communities often use their Amtrak service because it is their ONLY public transportation to the rest of the world. They should not be blocked from doing so just so long distance recreational travelers will be able to buy their seat(s).

Click to expand...

Your point is well taken....space should be sold on a "first come, first served" basis.....that is the "fair way"....

That said, doing so could hurt Amtrak financially to the point where service could be in jeopardy.

Let's suppose large travel marketer's, long in advance, booked all the space between Oakland and Reno, and between Denver and Glenwood Springs for weekend packages....what do you suppose that would do to the train's financial performance?

I think the way they are doing it now makes the most sense...they have some kind of algorithm, that allocates a certain percentage of space to take care of both short and thru markets, and based on historic models, adjusts the allocation as time passed with the goal of filling the train to the max for the entire distance if possible, for the best financial return.

In the long term, this is to everyone's benefit....

JMHO.....

I think this is just the case of the coach seating associated with his fare being sold out for those points on that particular day (if it is the 23rd as I surmise).