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A more technically correct answer is that a dispatcher gives a train authority to operate over tracks. How the switches to access those tracks are operated depends on the capabilities of that section of railroad: the dispatcher may control the switches directly, he may direct a tower operator to...

Where did you get that idea? While commercial pilot HOS rules were extensively changed at the beginning of 2014, there have always (for some definition of "always") been HOS rules for pilots. However, they were mostly based on "flight" time (which includes taxi time), not duty time. Sitting at...

There is no equivalent for airlines. Airline flights are all scheduled as single segments so there is no "next to last stop" to "last stop" segment to pad. However, as someone who does airline scheduling for a living, the idea of "schedule padding" is a chicken and egg issue. Are you adding time...

That is very true. I am on my airline employer's emergency response team and saying things like "I know how you feel" are on our list of things to never say.

Best story I've heard along those lines (although airline, not rail) had a captain (friend of a co-worker of mine) sitting in his seat on the plane for a scheduled deadhead segment dressed in civvies when a Customer Service Rep came up to him and said the crew desk had just called and was...

Thirdrail, a lot of other posts are in between but neroden was on the incident train heading to NYP. His connection was to a non-Empire Service train so reaccommodating him (and the other passengers on that train) really should have been independent of anything Customer Service was doing for...

Wow! What a "blame the customer" response. Speaking as someone in a management position at a major passenger airline, what a BS response. Based on what neroden posted, he was expecting nothing more than Customer Service (perhaps Amtrak uses a different term but at airlines pretty much...

Not quite. Europe starts Summer Time (they don't call it Daylight Saving Time) on the last Sunday in March (which may be a week later than the Sunday closest to the spring equinox) and ends it on the last Sunday in October (which is over a month after the autumnal equinox). As I work in the...

As a daily Metra rider, yes, the 95% of us who ride daily find their way to the right train. But on my rush-hour express, every week or two, we get someone who couldn't be bothered to read the schedule or destination board and wants to get off at a station we don't stop at. For instance, they...

Having worked for an airline, I am familiar with the standard department names pretty much used throughout the travel industry so I expect by Amtrak as well. "Customer Relations" is not some magic term but rather a department. Typically, Customer Relations is empowered to deal with service...

For a few dollars, probably worth it. For that much, no way. You'd have to drink a lot of sodas or coffee to get your money's worth. Yes, the seat is a little nicer and it's a more private atmosphere but it's not that much nicer.

OP here. Attempts to have Amtrak "force sell" SAC-EMY went nowhere. I actually did get a helpful reservations rep who tried and thought it could be done with supervisor override but in the end, whoever had to make the call said no, apparently because it would be giving official blessing to...

What am I missing here? 48 is due out of CHI at 9:30pm CT which is 10:30pm ET. Perhaps I don't know what you mean by "appearing on the status maps" but my assumption is it means that five minutes after scheduled departure, it's showing as on the move. Did you mean something different?

Only somewhat true. The typical pilot or flight attendant contract pays them the greatest of five different ways to calculate their pay - four based on schedule and one based on actual. The four based on schedule are flight hours, duty hours, time away from home, and a minimum per duty period...

At Chicago yesterday (8/18), the departure board had a note for passengers on 21 for Poplar Bluff and Walnut Ridge to "see agent".

I rode on the Fred Harvey earlier this week as part of a Grand Canyon trip. The car is in great shape! Upper deck is reserved seating; the lower deck lounge is open seating for use by "luxury class" passengers (luxury class being both the luxury dome passengers in the Fred Harvey as well as the...

Today, Disneyland has two different meanings - there is Disneyland Park (the original park) and Disneyland Resort which encompasses the entire property - Disneyland Park, California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and the Disney owned hotels. Why? First, with the addition of California Adventure, a...

Since Hiawathas are unreserved, there's no such thing as a no-show.

On the airline I work for, they record the data in the device the FAs carry and then it's uploaded once the plane is on the ground. Nothing real time.

Holding a Coach reservation EMY-SAC and Sleeper SAC-SEA won't be a problem because there's no overlap. I think people do that frequently with AGR bookings although it's usually Coach to a zone boundary, then Sleeper or vice versa. I didn't want to go into all the details. Seeing relatives is...