United Rail Passenger Alliance

Vol. 1, No. 11 – November 11, 2004

1. It was just learned this week that URPA Founder and Chairman (and Seabees veteran) Austin Coates was the victim of a home invasion at his apartment in Helena, Arkansas approximately three weeks ago. Mr. Coates (now in his early 70s) answered his door to a stranger who allegedly wanted change for the laundromat, was then assaulted, and pushed down, falling on the floor and breaking his hip in the process. Two neighbors heard him fall to the floor and came to investigate.

   In the process they saw his attacker, who was later apprehended by the local police.

   Mr. Coates was taken to nearby Memphis, Tennessee for hip surgery, and is now further recovering in a physical rehabilitation facility in the Nashville area, near the home of his daughter. At this time, we do not know the name or exact location of the facility, nor when he will return to his home. When further information develops, we’ll let you know.

2. The Associated Press has reported that a man has received a jail sentence in Wisconsin of nearly four years in prison for making calls from his cell phone on July 6th, saying there was a bomb on the Empire Builder he was riding because he was unhappy with the food service.

   The 35 year old man, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, apologized for his actions. He was also ordered to pay Amtrak over $28,000 to cover the company’s costs in the incident.

   While this was an ignorant and harmful willful act, and the punishment was swift and sure, it does not tell the full story of what Amtrak employees deal with every day on trains all over the country.

   Amtrak onboard services and train and engine crews constantly deal with a wide variety of passengers whose only purpose in life seems to be to cause problems. Train passengers run the gamut from the completely passive to annoyingly aggressive, including rowdy and sullen drunks, passengers high on drugs, and that special set of people that are oblivious to the rest of the civilized world.

   In dealing with all of this, OBS and T&E employees, working in a confined space with large crowds of people all traveling at 79 MPH or faster, are constrained by FRA rules, FDA rules, a wide spectrum of safety rules, company rules, and union rules. Passengers, mostly unaware of all of this, often innocently make outrageous requests, simple requests that defy common sense description, or just requests out of boredom. Add the complexities of late or stalled trains into the equation, and things only get worse.

   This is why it’s so important to have OBS and T&E employees that are well suited for their jobs. Regrettably, many Amtrak employees are not, and only make the situation less pleasant. If you have never spent even an hour on a moving train wearing an Amtrak name tag, or 30 minutes behind a ticket counter, you have no idea what these employees deal with. They have an awesome responsibility, with little authority, other than the ability to say “no.”

   These employees have been some of the hardest hit by the failed policies of the Transit Trio of Downs, Warrington, and Gunn. The elimination of the extra board, a particularly illogical cost saving move, only added more pressure to this group of employees, hiking the requirements for more extra trips to fill in for ill or otherwise indisposed fellow employees. Amtrak needs to completely restudy this area and find better solutions to help the front line employees that make or break the success of the company.

3. The myriad of problems caused by the regrettable elimination of the extra boards for T&E employees is further emphasized by problems on California’s Pacific Surfliners this week.

   Trains 571 and 578 (on the 7th) were cancelled due to a manpower issue in San Diego. The regular engineer was marked off with no extra board engineers and no other engineers legally rested out of Los Angeles available to deadhead to San Diego. A similar situation occurred the previous weekend, with more train cancellations.

   Apparently, Amtrak is willing to give up revenue instead of paying extra board employees to be available as needed. One has to presume when you can go to Congress for all the free federal money you need to cover such lost revenues, that passenger convenience and reliability become less of an issue.

4. There is a new train to celebrate, even if it is only a corridor train, and not a part of the national system. A new Pacific Surfliner will commence operation on November 17th between Los Angeles and north to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. This is a needed addition to this popular service, financed in large part by the Republic of California.
5. (Sigh) Renowned actor, writer, and director Tom Hanks appeared on the CBS Late Show With David Letterman this week while flogging his new movie. The conversation between Mr. Letterman and Mr. Hanks focused a good bit on trains, with Mr. Hanks asking Mr. Letterman, a resident of Connecticut, if he had ever taken a train trip. Mr. Letterman asked in reply, “In this country?” “No,” apparently Mr. Hanks said (paraphrasing), “In Europe. I don’t think we have any trains here perhaps except between New York and Washington, but that’s about it.”

   Amtrak has one of the best spin and public relations machines in the business. Too bad they don’t focus on some basics, like letting the traveling public know they exist beyond the NEC.

6. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran a story on November 5th about the recent elimination of the Palmetto from Amtrak’s Florida schedule, removing a full third of Amtrak travel options for South Florida travelers. Sadly, as usual, the newspaper quoted Amtrak officials as saying the cutbacks are part of a restructuring that will provide the state with more convenient schedules and improved service.

   Really? How? Less service equals more convenience and better service? On which planet?

   A spokesman for one of Amtrak’s wholly owned lapdog organizations was quoted in the story that the elimination of the service could attract new riders in South Florida because of better arrival and departure times of the remaining two trains. He said his organization took the view that the good points outweighed the bad.

   So, let’s see. There is no equipment shortage for this train. Amtrak recently bragged in one of its press releases that this now-truncated train was one of its better performers for ridership. The schedules of the remaining trains, the Silver Meteor and Silver Star remain similar to the previous schedules in South Florida. Where is the improvement, other than for the convenience of Amtrak’s operating departments? Where is the benefit to that group that seems so inconvenient to Amtrak, the passengers? Inquiring minds want to know.