Volume II Number 24 - This Was The Week That Was - An Amtrak Saga

March 27, 2002

Just two more days until Good Friday, March 29th, the day Amtrak said it would file official train-off notices for 18 routes making up the national long distance system. No new information about what will happen on Friday other than unsubstantiated rumors of another round of employee layoffs on that day.

1. One wag in Chicago noted late last week that if Amtrak really does print train-off notices, the company will need a million copies or so because so many collectors will seek them out by the fist full.
2. They’re a Lively Bunch Department: Apparently the lack of coach attendants on Amtrak has helped dead people riding the trains.

   News reports say that a passenger from New York heading to South Carolina to see his girlfriend sat in his seat on an Amtrak train for 11 hours before anyone realized he was dead.

   The 35-year-old man apparently died of heart disease after he boarded the train in New York last Thursday afternoon.

   An annoyed passenger who boarded in Washington complained that the man was sitting in two seats and wouldn’t budge when he got on the train Thursday night at Washington Union Station.

   Always glad to know that Amtrak takes a deep interest in its passengers once they’re on the train. Apparently, once your ticket is collected, you’re on your own.

3. They’re a Lively Bunch Department, Part II: Another news report tells the story of a SEPTA (Southeast Pennsylvania, serving the Philadelphia metropolitan area) commuter train conductor and engineer on a moving train getting into a physical brawl in front of passengers.

   The train was heading from Wilmington, Delaware to downtown Philadelphia when the fight happened last week, the Associated Press quoted a SEPTA spokesman as saying. Passengers described the fight between the two as being so forceful that they thought the train was being taken over by terrorists.

   It has not been reported what started the fight. On many commuter trains, the front passenger car of the train has an engineer’s cab in it, which is accessible from inside the main body of the car. These trains either are pushed by a locomotive from behind, or, like subways, are powered by electricity from above or below and don’t require a locomotive on the front of the train.

   The looming, question, of course, is, who was running the train?

4. They’re a Lively Bunch Department, Part III: Back on Amtrak, it has also been reported on the Internet, but not confirmed, that there was a fist fight onboard the northbound Texas Eagle recently between crew members.

   The fight allegedly took place in the dining car, and non-fighting crew members stopped the train to call the local constabulary.

   The report says the train was already half a day late because of host freight railroad derailments delaying all traffic. Apparently tempers were shorter than the wait; the alleged fight messed up the dining car enough to suspend food service for a while.

   Perhaps - speculating here - next time, when it gets down to the very last piece of pie, it would be better just to serve it to a passenger instead of offering it to crew members?

5. Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Amtrak’s Silver Palm service, between New York City and Miami, via Tampa (the last remaining train to actually serve Tampa Union Station) is about to gain a new level of service for the first time on an overnight train: premium coach service.

   The bad news is that this new coach service is going to replace the existing sleeping car and dining car service on the train.

   The sleeping car is headed for use on the Kentucky Cardinal, Amtrak’s service between Chicago and Louisville, Kentucky.

   The Kentucky Cardinal and its sister train, the Cardinal, are both Superliner trains. The Cardinal operates three days a week between Chicago and Washington via Indianapolis, and the KC operates daily between Chicago and Louisville via Indianapolis. On the three days of the week the Cardinal operates, the two trains are combined in both directions between Chicago and Indianapolis. On combined operations days, the Superliner Cardinal will add a transition car so the single level Viewliner sleeping car and an Amfleet coach can be added to the consist and passengers and crew will be able to move about the entire train.

   A similar combination was used on the Capital a few years ago when that Superliner train carried a through coach from a single level Florida service train.

   To go back even further, the original bi-level train, Santa Fe’s El Capitan, was designed to also carry Santa Fe (Actually at that time, Pullman Company) single level sleeping cars in the consist in the 1950s when the first high level cars were put into revenue service.

   No word on where the Silver Palm dining car will be reassigned, or whether the dining service was discontinued to save operating budgets.

   So, the Silver Palm will now resemble its predecessor, the Palmetto, which ran from New York to Jacksonville on a daily basis until the early 1990s when it was extended to Tampa and Heritage sleeping cars and a diner were added during the last days of Graham Claytor’s Amtrak presidential stewardship.

   Florida will still have two full service trains, the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, but neither train goes through Tampa. Instead, each train serves Tampa with a midday Thruway bus connection at Orlando.

   Florida also has the full service Superliner Sunset Limited three days a week in each direction, which originates in Los Angeles and terminates in Orlando. Also, the Superliner Auto Train still has daily service between Washington, D.C. and Sanford, Florida, a suburb of Orlando.

   According to Amtrak, the new premium service is modeled on similar daylight premium coach service now being offered on the Carolinian, which has proven to be popular among passengers.

   The general manager of the Atlantic Coast Business Group, which operates the Silver Palm, was previously the assistant general manager in charge of the Carolinian before his promotion almost two years ago.

   While some have expressed dismay over the loss of sleeping car service to and from Florida, it must be noted that all but six stations in Florida on the old SAL line that are unique to the Silver Palm will still have sleeping car service on two other daily trains, and those six unique stations will still have daily train service.

   If the Kentucky Cardinal was without its own sleeping car service, then sleeping car passengers to Louisville would have to be roused out of their accommodations on the southbound Cardinal at nearly two o’clock in the morning in Indianapolis and ride the for the rest of the night in coaches to Louisville. On the northbound trip, no sleeping car accommodations would be available until 2:30 in the morning when the Kentucky Cardinal is joined with the main Cardinal in Indianapolis three days a week. On the four days a week that the Kentucky Cardinal operates without being a part of the full service Cardinal, there would be no sleeping car accommodations at all.

   While it is not ideal to take high yield sleeping car service out of Florida, it is also not a bad idea to provide consistent sleeping car service on a fledgling route that also may be extended south to now trainless Nashville.

6. Oh, Canada: VIA Rail Canada, Amtrak’s Canadian cousin, is anxious to serve its passengers. VIA issues the following press release yesterday, Tuesday, March 26th:
   

   Extra cars added
   Departures still available
   Public advised to book quickly

   MONTRÉAL — VIA wishes to remind travellers that while snow and inclement weather may often shut down highways and airports, trains are usually the mode of transportation affected last. VIA already reports increased demand on many of its departures over the next 24 hours.

   Some space still exists for Tuesday evening and Wednesday departures in the entire Quebec City-Windsor Corridor, although bookings have increased over the past hours. VIA has added staff and extra cars have been put into service to meet the demand. Extra VIA 1 cars will be in service on trains 66 and 67 departing from Toronto and Montreal.

   VIA suggests that you purchase your train tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Passengers picking up tickets in major stations should arrive early, as ticket line-ups may be longer than normal. Customers may call 1-888-VIA-RAIL or take advantage of on line booking. -30-

   Benoit Simoneau
   Public Affairs
   Montréal
   (514) 871-6119

   These people are looking to expand their system. More power to them.

That’s it for the middle of the week leading up to Easter Sunday. More to come on Friday.

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