# Good, Bad, and very Ugly.......



## ciship (Jul 29, 2011)

Just completed my Amtrak trip from Kansas City to Orlando and back. There were high points and very low points. I hope my true and realistic report will be accepted without complaint and flaming. I'm just reporting my own experience.

I'll preface by saying that on a good day, I absolutely love train travel. My father got me hooked back in the 1960's. I always look forward to it.

We were scheduled to depart KC early morning to Chicago for the first leg of the trip. I chose coach since this is a short trip. Train was late approx 2-1/2 hours. Not a good start and lots of complaints from passengers. I had a substantial layover in Chicago, so I wasn't too worried at the time. Coach was fine with a seat mate who was quiet and read her book the entire time. Coach attendant was worthless and slept in the back of our car the whole time. I noticed the attendant for the coach car in front of ours was constantly up and in "attendance". Not to worry. I could take care of myself.

We lost time on the way to Chicago, so my cushy four hour layover turned in to about 20 minutes to get to my next train to Washington D.C. Still wasn't too worried until I saw the absolute chaos of the Chicago terminal. Good Lord! What a mess! I had no idea where I was going or how to get there, so I just kept asking anyone "official" I could find which just led me on a wild goose chase. I finally saw which gate I needed to get to and ran for that gate which was boarding. I had a sleeper on this next train and I was really glad I did! The train left pretty much on time and I had the wonderful "BILL" as my sleeper attendant. Bill was the best part of my Amtrak trip and I tipped him very well for his accommodations and great service.

I'll stop to speak of the dining cars on both the SW Chief, Capitol Limited, and Silver Meteor. Food was fair to poor with the one exception of a New York Strip one night on the Capitol Limited which was quite excellent. Being from Kansas City, I'm used to the best meats and that particular cut and preparation was very well done. In the past, I have normally been very pleased with the food on the trains. Not great....but good. Service was strangely quite poor in the dining cars. Bad enough that it was the topic on each train with the sleeping car passengers. Typically, when traveling before I have rarely been impressed with the dining car staff....but, they usually were efficient and got the job done...even though they lacked in manners or personality. On this trip, the dining crew was slow, non attentive, forgot orders, rude at times, and just plain really bad! It was almost freakish how bad it was. On one said night, they failed to serve salad, roles, and drinks. The dining passengers continued to ask for these items, and they would make excuses why they didnt have any. We couldn't even get a bottle of water. Then all of a sudden, a salad or two would appear on a table......leaving the rest of the dining car wondering why someone got a drink....or a salad....but, the rest of us didn't?? Very strange.

Arriving pretty much on time in Washington D.C. , I was incredibly impressed with the Union Station mall. Quite beautiful. I searched out and found the first class lounge without too much trouble. Rang the doorbell....rang again several times...and then finally someone let me in. The two women behind the counter looked irritated that I had "disturbed" them and I had to deal with their nonchalant, rude behavior for check in. I have always been accustomed to the lack of training in customer service Amtrak has with their customer service agents....so, this was just par for the course. In the years I've been traveling on trains, I have yet to come across an Amtrak customer service agent that was friendly......or even cared that I was standing in front of them needing service. I've always thought that they must be so miserable in their jobs or lives because they act so depressed. Anyway.....moving on to the first class lounge. Nice, fairly clean, drinks, snacks, newspapers, and CNN news. I decided to explore the Washington monuments during my five hour layover, so I stored by luggage and off I went. Pretty awesome day doing that and nice weather.

My train from Washington DC to Orlando was on time. I have always been on Superliners, so the Silver Meteor Viewliner was a new experience for me. My cabin attendant was "Jack". At first, I wasn't sure how to take Jack. He had a dry sense of humor (or maybe no sense of humor at all) so my attempts of being friendly didn't really sit well. Jack was a rather large man, so he chose to just tell us where everything was (pillows, extra towels, etc) so that we could get them ourselves instead of calling him. I loved the little sink in my roomette, but did NOT like having a toilet in there!! Of course, this wasn't Jacks fault. Jack was ok.....not great, but ok. We arrived nearly on time in Orlando the next afternoon.

Returning to KC after my week in Florida, I checked "Julie" to see if the Orlando train was on time. She said it was, so I proceeded to the station. Long story short, the train was 3 hours late and people were getting vocal about it. Once again, the two customer service agents were not helpful.....always acting as if they didn't know what was going on. I just sat and waited, but I saw several people go up to the agents and try to find out what they could to no avail. Finally boarding in Orlando, most folks wanted to eat immediately of course. It was a fiasco (as I explained before). There were three dining attendants in the dining car.....all inefficient to be sure. It was a mess.

Washington DC to Chicago. Another mess. The train was an hour behind. The two agents behind the first class lounge desk didn't acknowledge anyones questions. They were rude as usual and just told people they didnt know anything. I didnt even bother asking them questions. I just depended on calling "Julie" for my information. They finally started walking the sleeping car passengers out on the platform to board the train......but, oh wait!! There is no engine on the Capitol Limited!! It's been sitting there all day and no one figured that out? Who's running this place anyway? Well, they had all of us out on the platform and decided to turn us all back around and move us back to the first class lounge. The coach passengers (already ticked off because we were an hour late) were all standing in line waiting to be called and refused to move back to let us back in the lounge. I probably don't have to say how ugly this got! Another Amtrak fiasco....lots of shouting, pushing and shoving. Back in the first class lounge people were fuming mad. Our hour wait turned in to another hour and a half wait. It wasn't pretty.

I dreaded arriving in Chicago again. Not only did I not like the crazy chaos of the CHI Amtrak station, I had coach tickets for my last leg back to KC.......so, I couldnt even escape to the Acela lounge...UG! I picked a corner out once I found my gate (which got changed two times before we boarded) and sat myself down to wait. Engrossed in a book, I am alerted to an argument going on in front of me. The California Zephyr is running quite late and the line wrapping clear around to the mall is not happy about it. Apparently, someone tried to cut in front of the line and a verbal fight broke out. I watched in awe how uncivilized people can become when inconvenienced. This man and woman got so loud and threatening, I couldn't believe security wasn't hauling them off. But the two Amtrak attendants nearby just sat there looking bored. Very sad. There were lots of children around that had to witness this.

The SW Chief was only about a half hour late. The man and woman that had been raising such a ruckus in the line for the Zephyr, realized they had been in the wrong line the entire time. They really should have been in line for the SW Chief (great!!). The line to board was quite long and once realizing they were in the wrong line, they just cut to the front of our line and demanded to be boarded first. Now the woman taking tickets was not a small woman. In fact, she was quite a pushy firecracker.....but, she let this guy yell at her at make his demands and finally let him through in front of us. I prayed the whole time that he would not be on the same car as I was. NOT TO BE........long story short, they were taken off the train in Kansas City by police (their final destination was Los Angeles). Dealing with these two individuals on the train is where I finally saw some customer service skills in some Amtrak employees take place. The car attendant "Monica" who took quite a bit of verbal, personal attacks from these people handled herself amazingly well while still keeping her passengers comfortable. She needs to train the rest of the employees of Amtrak how it's done! The conductor was all business with his job (as he should be) while handling these two rowdy individuals, so I was somewhat impressed with him as well.

Our train was a little over an hour late to KC. I had checked my luggage all the way through from Orlando, so I knew I would have to wait for it. I just didnt realize it would take so long. It was almost midnight at the time. There were only a handful of people waiting for their luggage, but it still took over 45 minutes for our luggage to be brought to us (what the heck??) I could see my luggage down on the platform and almost went to just get it myself if they would have let me down there. I guess the baggage handler needed a snack and a smoke break while we all just sat around and waited in the middle of the night. Unbeliebable! I'm just not convinced anyone is in charge at Amtrak? No supervisors to keep their crew on top of things??

That is my trip report......and I'm sticking to it! Enjoy


----------



## Ryan (Jul 29, 2011)

ciship said:


> I dreaded arriving in Chicago again. Not only did I not like the crazy chaos of the CHI Amtrak station, I had coach tickets for my last leg back to KC.......so, I couldnt even escape to the Acela lounge...


Your sleeping class ticket stub from the Capitol Limited would have given you access to the Metropolitan Lounge (not a whole lot of Acelas in Chicago).


----------



## Bob Dylan (Jul 29, 2011)

:hi: Sounds like the stars were not aligned for your trip! Please call Customer Relations (1-800-USA-RAIL-when "Julie" Amswers Dial 0/ask for Customer Relations when you get a real person on the phone! Share your info here, both Good (ie Monica/the Conductor/good Steak on the Cap) and bad, hope you got names for them, poor and rude service is not excuseable! The Gate wardens in Chicago are known for their rudeness and abruptness but surprised the CA in Washington had bad service, usually its very professional and pleasant there!

As to the lateness, lots of reasons, most out of Amtraks control (ie bad ordered equipment/freight railroad dispatching/weather etc.)Amtrak seems to do a poor overall job of keeping passengers informed but lots of times the employees arent given any information! Lots of passengers with scanners and members on forums like this one know more than the Amtrak employeees on the Train most of the time!  You should receive a Voucher for future Travel and hopefully your feedback will help the poor OBS and agents you encountered either get further training or else let go to seek other jobs! :excl: :help:


----------



## guest (Jul 29, 2011)

Your report only confirms the reasons why I will never ride Amtrak again.


----------



## Dovecote (Jul 29, 2011)

I enjoyed reading this report and not surprised by any of your experiences, both good and bad. Happy to hear that Bill on the CL continues to receive positive reviews. I have had him as a car attendant on two occasions. Sounds like the dining car staff on the CL continues to be provide horrible service. I am tempted on my next CL trip to eat my meals in the room in lieu of the dining car.

Hope you will continue to travel Amtrak as not all Amtrak personnel are as bad as what you experienced. I make it a point not to travel on LD trains during the summer months. It is much more pleasant traveling long distance with less crowds like in the fall. By the way, you could have stayed at the Metropolitan Lounge in CHI on your return trip with your coach ticket since you were a sleeping car passenger earlier in the day.


----------



## ciship (Jul 29, 2011)

Ryan said:


> ciship said:
> 
> 
> > I dreaded arriving in Chicago again. Not only did I not like the crazy chaos of the CHI Amtrak station, I had coach tickets for my last leg back to KC.......so, I couldnt even escape to the Acela lounge...
> ...


I was told since my ticket from CHI to KC was in coach class, I could not be admitted to the first class lounge. The only sleeper tickets I had were b/t CHI-WAS and WAS-ORL.


----------



## ciship (Jul 29, 2011)

jimhudson said:


> :hi: Sounds like the stars were not aligned for your trip! Please call Customer Relations (1-800-USA-RAIL-when "Julie" Amswers Dial 0/ask for Customer Relations when you get a real person on the phone! Share your info here, both Good (ie Monica/the Conductor/good Steak on the Cap) and bad, hope you got names for them, poor and rude service is not excuseable! The Gate wardens in Chicago are known for their rudeness and abruptness but surprised the CA in Washington had bad service, usually its very professional and pleasant there!
> 
> As to the lateness, lots of reasons, most out of Amtraks control (ie bad ordered equipment/freight railroad dispatching/weather etc.)Amtrak seems to do a poor overall job of keeping passengers informed but lots of times the employees arent given any information! Lots of passengers with scanners and members on forums like this one know more than the Amtrak employeees on the Train most of the time!  You should receive a Voucher for future Travel and hopefully your feedback will help the poor OBS and agents you encountered either get further training or else let go to seek other jobs! :excl: :help:


I am really used to the lateness of the Amtrak trains and understand most of the reasons why. However, no one seeing that there wasn't an engine on the CL until they had all of us out on the platform was NOT a good reason in my book!


----------



## ciship (Jul 29, 2011)

Dovecote said:


> I enjoyed reading this report and not surprised by any of your experiences, both good and bad. Happy to hear that Bill on the CL continues to receive positive reviews. I have had him as a car attendant on two occasions. Sounds like the dining car staff on the CL continues to be provide horrible service. I am tempted on my next CL trip to eat my meals in the room in lieu of the dining car.
> 
> Hope you will continue to travel Amtrak as not all Amtrak personnel are as bad as what you experienced. I make it a point not to travel on LD trains during the summer months. It is much more pleasant traveling long distance with less crowds like in the fall. By the way, you could have stayed at the Metropolitan Lounge in CHI on your return trip with your coach ticket since you were a sleeping car passenger earlier in the day.


Actually, I am already planning a December trip to California on the SW CHIEF.....sleeper all the way! I have made this same trip with the Chief several times. I like it b/c I don't have to change trains. I long for the day that Amtrak finds a route from KC straight down to the southern states instead of having to go clear up to CHI and WASH!!


----------



## henryj (Jul 29, 2011)

Enjoyed reading about your trip. I think what you experienced is now common place on Amtrak, particularly on the eastern trains. With the current Amtrak management I expect it to only get worse. Slow and late trains, frequent break downs and surly rude attendants. It is after all, a government agency. I feel really fortunate that my trip last year was genuinely great. Good service on the Sunset, friendly crew and similar service on the Coast Starlight. And both trains were on time and no mechanical malfunctions. But, the more I read the more I think this is the exception. Boardman needs to go and they need a real 'railroader' in there to shake things up.


----------



## GG-1 (Jul 29, 2011)

ciship said:


> Ryan said:
> 
> 
> > ciship said:
> ...


If you have a sleeper ticket for any train you can use the lounge. this is a perk that last 24 hours used mostly when arriving in one class and departing on the other.

Hope I explained that correctly;

Aloha


----------



## greatcats (Jul 29, 2011)

I am sorry that you had problems on your trip such as you described, some of which is not excuasble. I made a coast to coast trip earlier this year form Flagstaff as far east as Boston to California and back and overall gave Amtrak a B+. it was not perfect, but I encountered no substandard employees and it was mosty very professional and a pleasant trip.


----------



## mtburb (Jul 29, 2011)

ciship said:


> I long for the day that Amtrak finds a route from KC straight down to the southern states instead of having to go clear up to CHI and WASH!!


I hope for the same, excpet for the day Amtrak decides to create a route from Detroit down into the South and stops in Wyandotte, MI instead of heading up to Dearborn, board a Wolverine to Chicago (or head to Detroit and travel on a Thruway bus (we haden't have Amtrak service through Wyandotte, MI since 1995, but even then it went non-stop through Wyandotte, last time passenger trains stopped in Wyandotte was before Amtrak!) to Toledo or even drive down there) and change to the CL at Chicago or Toledo and take it to WAS, then change over to one of the Silver trains. Of course I haven't been down in the southern states yet.


----------



## Ryan (Jul 29, 2011)

ciship said:


> I was told since my ticket from CHI to KC was in coach class, I could not be admitted to the first class lounge. The only sleeper tickets I had were b/t CHI-WAS and WAS-ORL.


Whoever told you that was mistaken.



ciship said:


> I am really used to the lateness of the Amtrak trains and understand most of the reasons why. However, no one seeing that there wasn't an engine on the CL until they had all of us out on the platform was NOT a good reason in my book!


Lets think about this logically for a second. Equipment doesn't sit on the tracks all day at WAS waiting to be used - there just isn't enough space. If the Capitol Limited's consist was there, that's because a pair of P42's that were going to haul it to Chicago brought it down from the yard not too long before you headed out there. So, if there weren't any locomotives on it when you saw it, the only logical conclusion was that there was a problem with one of them, requiring them to be switched out. That's never a smooth process, and communication surrounding isn't perfect. It's quite likely that the decision to swap the locomotives was made just before folks were sent out there, and the people at the gate didn't get the word in time. No big deal, it happens every once in a while.
You've also got to remember that the CL is leaving in the middle of the evening rush hour, so the station is an absolute mob with MARC passengers all over the place on the upper level trying to get to their trains - it's chaos in the best of times, and when something goes wrong, the crowds get unruly and K tower has to scramble. You've got to remember that trains getting into and out of WAS is like a ballet at that time of day, and an extra move to swap out equipment puts a wrench into things. There's a good chance that the situation with the CL caused the delay of a MARC train boarding, which puts an extra 1100 people in the same area waiting for their train.


----------



## Ryan (Jul 29, 2011)

henryj said:


> It is after all, a government agency. ... Boardman needs to go and they need a real 'railroader' in there to shake things up.


No it isn't, and Boardman is doing a hell of a good job. Without him, you wouldn't see any of the equipment on order that you do now, and Amtrak would be even further behind the curve in replacing old, broken equipment and having and adequate supply of single level sleepers.


----------



## lepearso (Jul 30, 2011)

The summer months are simply the worst time of year to ride Amtrak.

Summer is when most track work is done, which is a leading cause of train delays. Equipment failures, especially overtaxed air conditioning systems, are also common in the summer. Add in tornadoes, floods and thunderstorms and you get more delays. Trains are also crowded in the summer due to vacation travel.

People go crazy when they're in a crowd of people in hot weather waiting for a late train. It takes a toll on the employees whose service can go from lackluster to pathetic.

Most of my experiences with Amtrak have been good, but then I have never ridden in the summer. My travels are almost always in the fall or spring when the weather is relatively fair, crowds are lessened, delays are fewer, air conditioning systems aren't overwhelmed and employees aren't overstressed..._most of the time._

Don't get me wrong, I am not making excuses for bad service. The cause of bad service is what needs targeting. New and reconditioned equipment (already in the works) will help remedy the issue of failing air conditioners, for example. A renovated Chicago Union Station (in the works) will help reduce chaos and confusion. Track projects such as CREATE (in the works) will help reduce some of the delays. As for rude employees, that's a management issue that's beyond my pay scale, but it desperately needs attention!


----------

