Amtrak Long distance trains are in danger of being

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BNSF_1088 said:
Here is part of an e mail i received on the June 30th date
Front line managers and certain clerical employees got the word that the

Board has approved the train-offs of multiple routes effective June 30. However,

due to the "secret" nature of this agenda, the details of the plan will not

be publicly announced.
Click to expand...
Here is part of a e mail or memo if you want to call it.
 
tkt clerk said:
approximately 2 mos ago  we were told that there would be  people riding the trains that week evaluating stations and trains. she said they were looking for stations and trains for possible unstaffing and cutting. this came from my immediate mgt in my area. i have been with the company for 29 yrs
Click to expand...
And here is someone else with the same information.
 
BNSF_1088 said:
tkt clerk said:
approximately 2 mos ago  we were told that there would be  people riding the trains that week evaluating stations and trains. she said they were looking for stations and trains for possible unstaffing and cutting. this came from my immediate mgt in my area. i have been with the company for 29 yrs
Click to expand...
And here is someone else with the same information.
Click to expand...
And here is part of that same e mail that i also got.

My understanding is that this gentleman is looking for reasons to discontinue long distance trains and perhaps close some stations. Lets not give him reason for that. Please make certain everything is neat and clean and that you are in proper uniform - long sleeve white shirt and uniform slacks.
 
I appreciate your copies of emails, but that can be from anyone and is not "official" I am looking for a copy of the secret memo that notified these front line managers of the train-offs. Does anyone have a copy of this.
 
haolerider said:
I appreciate your copies of emails, but that can be from anyone and is not "official" I am looking for a copy of the secret memo that notified these front line managers of the train-offs. Does anyone have a copy of this.
Click to expand...
That is done over the phone on conference calls
 
I will add even farther to this big picture. I just returned home from my training class regarding the "Simplified Dining Services." I am not going to go into extreme detail, but here is what I can tell y'all with what is coming. First off we as employees have to work hard at making this program work! I hope it will pay off, however, I am concerned with the way the program is set up all togther. I personally believe it is set up to fail! IMHO the corporation is spending more money on trying to implement this one program than it would if it went a different route. That is a topic for farther discussion, though. We have to remember we have to follow the law as it is written in the latest bill! Folks if we do not succeed, we are in deep doo doo!!! Part of the agenda is to try and pull food service off the trains, and if that were to happen it would jeopardize the long distance trains themselves!!! I can't quite see that extreme action just yet, but it is possible. I also see the services being contracted out!

I will provide more in detail at a later date as my time is kinda short at this time. But I see holes in the plan, and it is being changed by the minute! I see this working on certain trains, but I am having my doubts regarding the Florida services. There are many issues I saw today which NEED to be worked out. With all in mind I learned today, I just can't seem to see where they are going to acheive "considerable savings" other than a reduction in labor costs right away. I don't think it will be enough. We'll see. More later.

To the guest poster (who is obviously an Amtrak Employee), I invite you to carefully consider your position. And please feel free to register on this site PM me back and forth so we can discuss this better as fellow employees! I am not only observing the coming events as an OBS employee, but as a realist! I am a retired manager in my last career. The signs are obvious that things are different this time around than years past! I hope I am getting the wrong signals, but my gut feeling tells me otherwise! You make many fine points with your discussion (many of which are true to the T)! However, in the part of where I am speculating is just that! It is an accurate group of observations, though! What was said then DOES NOT in ANY way mean what will be done tomm. In other words we have to focus on what's happening now! The point regarding the UP's position with passenger rail, well I'll offer this...... If privatization occurs with our national rail passenger system, that statement tells me there are no plans for any passenger service anywhere on UP territory unless Amtrak survives whole and intact as our national rail passenger service!

OBS...
 
I just wrote all three officials. Hope it does some good.
 
haolerider said:
I appreciate your copies of emails, but that can be from anyone and is not "official"
Click to expand...
BNSF_1088 does this all of the time. Even when he posts something from an easily verifyable source, like AP, he won't make the effort.

This casts serious doubt on his credibility, which, in my opinon, is a real shame.
 
Sechs:

What is your point? You sound like the type of person who would be doubting the veracity of flood warnings until the water was knee deep in your living room. Hint: By that time it is too late.

If it is from AP or a generally available news wire and is factual there is no real point in putting a "Chapter and Verse" reference on the source. You can't copyright facts.

If it is internal, it is far better not to quote the source precisely. That is a sure fire way to find yourself closed out. Ask anyone who works for any big outfit. Generally the rumor mill that works its way through the secretaries and clerks is going to be more accurate than the official announcements. To state your source is to burn it, because in the usual way things go there are always multiplie possibilities for how the information was obtained.

My own opinion is that a lot of the past "rumors" were not rumors at all but were the plan until the objectors got both numerous and noisy. Politicians like to keep the sheep happy and Amtrak, as government programs go, is really a dirt cheap bargain.

George
 
Whether or not the situation is real is beside the point. What we really need here is a change of attitude on our part.

Instead of operating in "panic mode" over Amtrak's situation, let's exert some control over the matter.

Let's write to President Bush and tell him flat out, hell no, he will NOT kill Amtrak because of the American people will not allow it, end of story! Kindly remind him that long after he leaves office in 2008, we will still be here fighting for what's right and we will never cease to work hard for better transportation options that benefit the taxpayer, end of story!

Then, let's keep writing to Congress. Kindly remind them that we will never cease to promote better transportation options that benefit the taxpayer and that we are in this for the long haul, end of story! Keep in mind that Congress has been much friendlier to Amtrak, maybe because they are slightly more accountable to the taxpayers.

Then, keep riding Amtrak and let's keep working at the grassroots level to improve Amtrak. Got a rundown train station in your town? Work at the local level to remedy that problem, even if it takes a few years. Got train service that's more of an afterthought? Work at the grassroots level to improve the situation, even if you feel your hands are tied.

Folks, we had every reason in this world be discouraged here in Tennessee about the future of passenger rail, but we did not give up. Now, after years of what felt like spinning our wheels, we have two improved Amtrak stations and a soon-to-be Nashville commuter train that will sell the first ticket possibly in June 2006. We have decided that, come hell or high water, we will still be standing here fighting for what's right, end of story!

So, once again, Amtrak's threat may be as real now as it ever was. But, no matter what, we will all stand firm and keep fighting and we will never quit fighting, no matter what, end of story!
 
Write to Congress. Even write to your state legislature reps and senators - if you get them sufficiently concerned they will contact your Congressional folks themselves, and their opiniions probably count more than an individual voter's does. I don't know that writing to the president would do any good because we all know beyond any argument at this point that he doesn't give a rat's hindquarters what ANYBODY else thinks about ANYTHING, unless, of course, you are a big campaign contributor or a rich friend. Anything coming from "Brownie, you're doing a fine job" has precious little to do with truth or reality. That's why Amtrak's fate is in such precarious circumstances now despite a lot of folks in Congress that DO want to preserve it. We just need to keep the pressure on Congress, keep reminding them that we are watching this closely, that we will vote accordingly, that this is an election year, and that they work for US, at OUR pleasure, and not for the President, so hopefully they won't lose their courage to fight the White House on this.
 
As a new comer to this site and even to rail travel, I am sadden by the problems facing long distance train travel.

As a kid growing up in the Panhandle of West Texas during the 40's and 50's we had 2 train stations in our small town. One was Santa Fe and the other was Burlington. I remember the busy hustle of the passengers and baggage handlers on what seemed everyday of the week. It was common for passengers to travel up to Amarillo for business and then return.Then suddenly in the early 60's it all stopped.

This is the main reason I have never ridden a train in the United States.

We have to travel an average of 300+ miles Northwest, East or South in order to reach a route. I had always hoped that that a route would be reestablished to this area but I see that truly is merely nothing but a pipe dream.

To those of you in danger of losing your routes, stations and jobs my sympathy. I can see why there is passionate debate on both sides.

Maybe just maybe, if we could have know the future of rail travel and had a forum for debate back in the 60's, my area of the country might still enjoy

an additional means of transportation........
 
Amtrak OBS Employee said:
I will add even farther to this big picture. I just returned home from my training class regarding the "Simplified Dining Services." I am not going to go into extreme detail, but here is what I can tell y'all with what is coming. First off we as employees have to work hard at making this program work! I hope it will pay off, however, I am concerned with the way the program is set up all togther. I personally believe it is set up to fail! IMHO the corporation is spending more money on trying to implement this one program than it would if it went a different route. That is a topic for farther discussion, though. We have to remember we have to follow the law as it is written in the latest bill! Folks if we do not succeed, we are in deep doo doo!!! Part of the agenda is to try and pull food service off the trains, and if that were to happen it would jeopardize the long distance trains themselves!!! I can't quite see that extreme action just yet, but it is possible. I also see the services being contracted out!
I will provide more in detail at a later date as my time is kinda short at this time. But I see holes in the plan, and it is being changed by the minute! I see this working on certain trains, but I am having my doubts regarding the Florida services. There are many issues I saw today which NEED to be worked out. With all in mind I learned today, I just can't seem to see where they are going to acheive "considerable savings" other than a reduction in labor costs right away. I don't think it will be enough. We'll see. More later.

To the guest poster (who is obviously an Amtrak Employee), I invite you to carefully consider your position. And please feel free to register on this site PM me back and forth so we can discuss this better as fellow employees! I am not only observing the coming events as an OBS employee, but as a realist! I am a retired manager in my last career. The signs are obvious that things are different this time around than years past! I hope I am getting the wrong signals, but my gut feeling tells me otherwise! You make many fine points with your discussion (many of which are true to the T)! However, in the part of where I am speculating is just that! It is an accurate group of observations, though! What was said then DOES NOT in ANY way mean what will be done tomm. In other words we have to focus on what's happening now! The point regarding the UP's position with passenger rail, well I'll offer this...... If privatization occurs with our national rail passenger system, that statement tells me there are no plans for any passenger service anywhere on UP territory unless Amtrak survives whole and intact as our national rail passenger service!

OBS...
Click to expand...
just curious, do you know if Amtrak is leaning towards keeping regular dining car service on the Empire Builder or Auto Train? or if you think the signs point otherwise(or if they haven't made a decision on this issue yet). i'm still crossing my fingers that they do keep regular dining service on those 2 trains, but knowing the current administration(and since i'm still unsure if the 2 Davids would fight as hard as David Gunn to preserve Amtrak), i'm not holding my breath that this may occur.

thanks for posting about SDS, its great to hear some inside voices about how good(or bad) Amtrak is doing with operations.
 
At the moment, Amtrak has no plans to implement SDS on either the Empire Builder or the Auto Train.
 
George H. Harris said:
Sechs:
What is your point? You sound like the type of person who would be doubting the veracity of flood warnings until the water was knee deep in your living room. Hint: By that time it is too late.

If it is from AP or a generally available news wire and is factual there is no real point in putting a "Chapter and Verse" reference on the source. You can't copyright facts.

If it is internal, it is far better not to quote the source precisely. That is a sure fire way to find yourself closed out. Ask anyone who works for any big outfit. Generally the rumor mill that works its way through the secretaries and clerks is going to be more accurate than the official announcements. To state your source is to burn it, because in the usual way things go there are always multiplie possibilities for how the information was obtained.

My own opinion is that a lot of the past "rumors" were not rumors at all but were the plan until the objectors got both numerous and noisy. Politicians like to keep the sheep happy and Amtrak, as government programs go, is really a dirt cheap bargain.

George
Click to expand...
George,

I applaud your analogies (sp ?) !!!! I agree that the nay sayers will continue to say "its just a rumor" up and until they walk up to the depot and find the doors chained.

People need to quit back biting and rise to the occation !!

Erik :angry:
 
You know....if the Bush Administration cuts the 1 Billion dollors it costs to run Amtrak for one year, I guess they can put it toward "finding those weapons of mass destruction" over in Iraq. Man....where could those weapons be?!?
 
Well I gotta say, BNSF's credibility is very good and I don't doubt it for a second. I believe every word he is saying. Otherwise he wouldn't be so persistant. nuff said..

But, you gotta put the pieces together. All the lies, dining issues, zero funding, privatization, Sunset Ltd cuts, poor dispatching by UP, firing Gunn....it all should make since now. Bush wants every penny for our country to be "safe" and secure, yet nothing else. This is serious stuff guys, and we need to work together. No one's going to take away my passenger trains. Hell, I hope they decide to cut the entire railroad network, including commuter rail and the like. Obviously if the LD trains don't cut it, neither should anything else.

I have been debating when to bring this up in other forums such as airliners.net. Those guys love bickering about Amtrak and how great it is, or how much its not. But there are 12,000 members in that forum, so it would definetly raise some more flags.

This is real guys, and June 30th will be too late, when NARP emails us telling us that all the routes will be cut, and we need to call our reps. Remember when the Board voted to spin on the Northeast Corridor, and no one found out until 2 months later? Not even NARP knew. It's good now for we do have some railraod workers who actually have insider information.

There are tons of forums like this out on the net. Get this issue out there, and we can even chime in. I'll see you in airliners.net tho.

Chris
 
George H. Harris:

What's your point?

Just because you see it on the Internet, doesn't make it true. Anyone could come in here and post a whole lot of plausible, yet false information. You strike me as the kind of person who would buy it -- lock, stock and barrel.

If a story belongs to a reputable news agency, then it should be no problem to point to its source. Unless you have something to hide.

The issue, which you have clearly missed, is not about sources, but hysteria. Inciting a frenzy of fear is counterproductive. It's the kind of tactic that the current presidential administration has been using for years. Hint: You don't want to be like them.

My own opinion is that if you're going to openly insult a member here, you should at least have the common courtesy of registering and logging in. That's no rumour -- but the plan all along.
 
sechs said:
George H. Harris:
What's your point?

Just because you see it on the Internet, doesn't make it true. Anyone could come in here and post a whole lot of plausible, yet false information. You strike me as the kind of person who would buy it -- lock, stock and barrel.
Click to expand...
Well, sechs, I now am registered. As for insulting people, it is obvious that you need not lessons on how to do that. As to gullibility, I tend to be very skeptical about much of what appears in the public print, in fact I can say of any event that I knew anything about first hand what appeared in the public print or on TV was warped beyond all recognition. I am probably one of the last people that would see something on the internet and say oh, wow, it must be true.

I did not intend to insult you but to point out that you were making some very disparaging remarks about a person for no apparent reason other than you appeared to disagree with what he said.

My main point was that I regard BNSF 1088 as a very reliable source of information. Beyond that, it was exactly as said. Given the track record of the congress and administration, OF EITHER PARTY, the only thing that has kept Amtrak alive is public pressure. You have got to remember that the biggest cutbacks they ever suffered were under Carter. Many times these "rumors" are more in the nature of trial balloons to gauge public reaction.

Neither he nor I fell off the turnip truck yesterday. He is very much an insider, a responsible person, and not a scaremonger. End of subject, so far as I am concerned.

George
 
We should still urge our representatives to support Amtrak, but I don't think the situation is as bad as many of you think. Every year we go through the same sh_t about how the system is going to shut down, yet every year there is a last minute decision by the government to give the money Amtrak needs to run. I believe the LD trains are safe. If there are cuts, it won't be anything major.
 
I wonder if June 30 is the date Amtrak announces the results of the long distance train efficiency study and which trains will be added and which ones cut. I wonder how dramatic the changes will be.
 
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