F MINUS for state of Illinois and Lincoln service on 301 for June 15

After raising prices for business class, at least double in past 6 months, bc is no longer open nor pre boarded. We had to walk 3 cars up when boarding at Chicago union station. Then 3 cars back to bc. I voiced displeasure to conductor and he replied that the state of Illinois had written a memo stating that this was the way things would be fine from now on. If this the case this is the most stupid ASSinine thing that I have ever seen.

I will be writing a letter and calling customer relations when they open on Monday.

The state wants boarding from one door? Seems a little fishy. Looks like somebody was too lazy to open the business class door.

Steve, I'm seeing similar business class price increases on the Saluki/Illini system. Luckily, on my last couple of rides I have not experienced the same problem with having the doors open. Hopefully you just experienced a lazy conductor staff (I hope you have the name of the conductor who laid the blame on the state of Illinois.) I can't think of even one possible reason that the state would care, much less micromanage, what doors are opened or when.

MikefromCrete said:

The state wants boarding from one door? Seems a little fishy. Looks like somebody was too lazy to open the business class door.

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Some Conductors are known to lie through their teeth for the sake of their own convenience. I have seen such happen. I remember one incident on the CONO at Memphis when we boarded the train during n OTOL Fest. When the Conductor started off on his **** and bull story I called him on it. So he just stopped discussing it with me and went and lectured the next poor sap.

I will be writing a letter to boardman soon.

Steve4031 said:

We had to walk 3 cars up when boarding at Chicago union station. Then 3 cars back to bc. I voiced displeasure to conductor and he replied that the state of Illinois had written a memo stating that this was the way things would be fine from now on.

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I think he was insulting your intelligence. If it had happened to me, at the very least I would have contacted the Illinois Dept. of Transportation who foots the bill.

http://www.dot.il.gov/Email/Email.asp?from=1

Thanks for the link to IDOT. They have been notified about my opinion in regards to their "memo".

At least we will arrive stl about 10 minutes early.

If I were king do the world I'd go around my kingdom bestowing wealth on people who were nice just because they could be. And I'd lop off the heads of the petty jerks who exercise authority to other peoples detriment just because they can. There would be so many heads rolling of Rent-A-Cops alone it would look like a billiard a table.

Needless to see, I sympathize with you, Steve.

Guest said:

Steve4031 said:

We had to walk 3 cars up when boarding at Chicago union station.

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Steve4031 said:

I will be writing a letter and calling customer relations when they open on Monday.

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Steve4031 said:

I will be writing a letter to boardman soon.

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What would you do if something really went wrong?

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i don't know if i would give amtrak an f- but the op seemed to be complaining about not getting what he paid for and then getting a fishy story as to why he didn't. an all too common amtrak event

Steve4031 said:

After raising prices for business class, at least double in past 6 months, bc is no longer open nor pre boarded. We had to walk 3 cars up when boarding at Chicago union station. Then 3 cars back to bc. I voiced displeasure to conductor and he replied that the state of Illinois had written a memo stating that this was the way things would be fine from now on. If this the case this is the most stupid ASSinine thing that I have ever seen.

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Meh, BC isn't pre-boarded in the NEC on the regionals so I can't get too upset about that.

My guess is that it was some conductor who was being lazy and didn't feel like opening the door.

Gml, I apologize for my response to your post. I over reacted to that. I don't think my initial annoyance was an over reaction. A year or so ago rt tickets in bc from chi-stl were between 120-180 for 2 people. At this price I'm pretty flexible in my expectations.

The current rt price in bc for 2 people from chi-Stl is 281. This is a significant increase. At this price point I expect people to do their job. This means doing basic things such as opening the door to bc in Chicago and St. Louis. This has been a routine practice of the lsa on this route. So I was quite annoyed with the change today. And then the conductor blamed Illinois by stating this was a new policy as written in a memo.

This part about the memo is what prompted me to write a letter. If this is indeed a new policy, I think I have the right to voice my opinion. If the conductor is being lazy, this is no longer acceptable at this price point. A sleeping car passenger on the cz would not be required to board in coach and drag their luggage through several cars to get to their room.

Again, gml, I apologize for my response to your post. I do think your characterization of me overacting was inappropriate. Iirc you have health challenges that would make this process of boarding and walking through several cars a challenge. I would expect that you understand this.

The F minus post was an evaluation of the boarding experience in Chicago. The rest of the trip was fine. We were early into stl. The lsa consistently had to be asked to provide ice with my Pepsi. Another indication of her efforts.

I'm heading back this evening. I'll post on my experience on the return.

I am disabled and would not be able to walk the 3 cars up and back to bc. They would have to open the door for me. I would not stand for this nor be able to physically accept this.

If you have issues with mobility it is reasonable to expect that they would make accommodations. On Friday I had to walk back 2 cars to exit from business class. I do every time I ride BC, usually paying more than the OP for a seat which is not as nice. I see no problem with this at all. I know the conductors on my usual train are people who go above and beyond. As were the crews previously assigned, who made us walk further back.

I don't understand why Amtrak gets so lazy in the rest of the country (not opening doors, closing off cars, etc.). Hopefully the new bilevel cars will eliminate any excuses or incentives towards such behavior since they should allow conductors to open all doors from a single spot.

Just boarded 306 in stl. This crew got it right. Bc was open. Coach passengers and those not in the know we're lined up getting tickets scanned. Myself, gf, and another lady who knew how to find bc were waved past by the conductor.

Steve4031 said:

I will be writing a letter to boardman soon.

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Include the date and the train number, and Amtrak can figure out which conductor it was who lied to you.

Steve, I don't think your upset was an overreaction. My reaction would be to give the conductor the what-for, followed by me giving Amtrak a reading of the riot act. I think people who have too much tolerance for male bovine manure are the big problem.

Again, gml, I apologize for the confusion. I asked administrators to remove the posts that I mAde that were inappropriate.

306 has had bad luck tonight. A meet with 21 at carlinville, slow running, police activity at Dwight, And then slow running to protect a crossing north of Joliet. Of course we waited for a freight at one of those crossings too. After all of that about 1 hour late. I'm not mad. Gf was mad until I told her about 6 running 12 hours late across Iowa this ravening.

If were to revise the grade I would make it a B. We got to our appointment in stl on time. The delay into Chicago results in some missed sleep.