G
guest in the west
Guest
OK. San Diego is hosting Comic-Con this week, the annual convention blockbuster of action comics, Hollywood movies, videos and the like, with 120,000 people attending. It gets bigger every year, with thousands of people, esp. young people, coming from the LA area.
So does Amtrak plan for the extra loads that happen every year on the Pacific Surfliner?
Of course not! :wacko:
Surfliner trains were jammed on Thursday, standing-room only almost the entire distance LA-San Diego.
Take just one example, the 790 at 7:30 p.m. Amfleet equipment with only TWO conductors, meaning for the hundreds of passengers one door open next to the BC-Cafe car and the other at the other end of the train. Passengers screaming that the train was going to leaved before they could get to an exit. People standing the aisles, sitting in the vestibules. No extra cars, no extra personnel, no extra provisions in the Cafe Car for those who could squeeze through.
Almost all of this line is owned by SoCal rail agencies. Freight trains run only late at night when practically all passenger service has ended. There was no weather issue. There were no other acts of God. There was just an abysmal lack of planning by Atmrak for something that happens every year about this time. How difficult is it to add a third conductor for several days, or a week, to some trains? Are there no spare coaches available anymore on the Pacific Surfliner system for certain trains? Does the commissary need a half-year to order extra items, like soft drinks, sandwiches and beer?
The two conductors were apologizing profusely for much of the way, both over the PA system and individually to discomforted passengers, for what they repeatedly called "the Pacific Surfliner" mess.
Another self-inflicted wound by Amtrak on Amtrak, which can never gets it act together, esp. when there are a lot of first-time travelers--to the point where the young adult passengers who are much more willing to put up with snafus than the persons on this forum were talking about Amtrak with disgust.
Way to go Amtrak!!
So does Amtrak plan for the extra loads that happen every year on the Pacific Surfliner?
Of course not! :wacko:
Surfliner trains were jammed on Thursday, standing-room only almost the entire distance LA-San Diego.
Take just one example, the 790 at 7:30 p.m. Amfleet equipment with only TWO conductors, meaning for the hundreds of passengers one door open next to the BC-Cafe car and the other at the other end of the train. Passengers screaming that the train was going to leaved before they could get to an exit. People standing the aisles, sitting in the vestibules. No extra cars, no extra personnel, no extra provisions in the Cafe Car for those who could squeeze through.
Almost all of this line is owned by SoCal rail agencies. Freight trains run only late at night when practically all passenger service has ended. There was no weather issue. There were no other acts of God. There was just an abysmal lack of planning by Atmrak for something that happens every year about this time. How difficult is it to add a third conductor for several days, or a week, to some trains? Are there no spare coaches available anymore on the Pacific Surfliner system for certain trains? Does the commissary need a half-year to order extra items, like soft drinks, sandwiches and beer?
The two conductors were apologizing profusely for much of the way, both over the PA system and individually to discomforted passengers, for what they repeatedly called "the Pacific Surfliner" mess.
Another self-inflicted wound by Amtrak on Amtrak, which can never gets it act together, esp. when there are a lot of first-time travelers--to the point where the young adult passengers who are much more willing to put up with snafus than the persons on this forum were talking about Amtrak with disgust.
Way to go Amtrak!!