Jake Vest (who is the author of this story), from what I know of him is a sensible person. I used to read his comic strip titled "That's Jake" religiously every morning. Good ole country boy humor at its best! Anyway, his argument is just as legitimate as all the other passengers I deal with. If the passengers could make plans, and actually know they can pretty much bank on them, then the rest of problems with the train in general would be less exposed. THE AVERAGE PASSENGER WANTS TO BE ONTIME! That is not an unreasonable thing to ask of the transportation carrier one is using. Yes, crap happens all the time, but every single day! Almost every single trip I work, the train is late at least one direction. It may get into the end point ontime, but how is it right to make someone who is going to say Charleston, SC be over an hour late into their station? They need to be able to make their plans, too. Passengers usually are not overly upset if the train gets them to their destination within thirty to fourty five minutes after the scheduled time! But start getting over an hour late, and then they start getting really anxious. The average railfan doesn't care for the most part. They just wanna be on the train. As employees, we like to be ontime, too. It is hard to plan anything when you don't know what time you're gonna get home. That is what the schedule is for! So as I read Mr. Vest's story, yes he is exagerating the point a bit, but his main beef is the OTP! Of course human nature steps in and he sees any negative point from then on for the most part. This how the general public tends to be in any service industry, period!
As far as his point regarding the meal announcements, if in fact they made the call at 7:30 in the AM, that is just a bit too early especially if the announcement went through the sleepers. Usually 8:00-8:30 AM is the right time to announce meal service in the coaches and after 10:00 announcements can be made in the sleepers. He is ignorant of the fact a diner must shut down in order to prepare for the next meal, but 9 AM is too early. In route the last call is 9:30 AM and diner closes at 10 AM. But is nice to hear they were making announcements! Some crews are terrible in that dept. As far as offering an apology for the late arrival at his stop, we gotta remember this was the "Sunset Limited" he rode! And the employees are used to being late all the time, and probably didn't give it any thought. No that's not a good excuse, and I am guilty of the same myself sometimes. But chalk it up as another late train is the mindset sometimes. I will say, however, (and not justifying Amtrak to be late everyday) of my personal opinions regarding lateness to all passengers is the following; I feel more of an obligation as an OBS employee to those passengers who have already been on the train while it was ontime. If the train picked them up ontime, I understand their being upset a little more than someone (though I see their point, too) who is at the station and may already know the train is late (providing they either called the 800 number or talked to a station agent at a staffed stop). When I know my train, bus, or flight is late, then I MAKE THE CHOICE whether to go or exercise my other options! Passengers seem to forget this fact! They have a choice if they have the information and know the train they are catching is late! They are go another day, take the bus, drive, or stay home! If they can't exercise any other option (such as being away from home, etc), then I understand. But that is the way the general public is! So I guess try to understand each passenger, anyway.
I know I have made this long, but OTP is one of my biggest issues with the company I work! Bad employee attitudes are, too when I encounter them. Amtrak is doing what they can do with the bad attitudes of certain employees. I believe Mr Gunn is trying to do what he can regarding OTP. The situation with the "Sunset Limited" is a great example. It is better at least on the end points than what it was before (at least I see it getting here to FL on a more "timely" basis). But Mr Gunn can't do it alone. There needs to be better incentives in place for the freights to do their part. Mr Vest already knows that answer despite his complaints. If more money would be poured into the rail infrastructure as a whole, with Amtrak being funded appropriately to the purpose it was/and should have been intended for (I sometimes feel Amtrak was created for other reasons in which I can't go there on the boards), then I believe we could have a good passenger rail system here in our country!
Memeber bat51, writes in another thread, "Not going bankrupt is a good first step so that there are cars period, getting the Acelas back is number two, then adding capactiy is number three."
Reform regarding OTP with the long distance trains should fit in there somewhere, too. That would really help Amtrak's credibility. I know there are times when OTP is gonna be shot dead, but I really feel strongly in the area regarding better incentives for the freights to act accordingly! Some freights already do the best they can for example BNSF.
1088 what do you think of this? You are a fellow railroader I believe. OBS...
