Amtrak Mask Mandate - Practical Discussion

[fillyjonk]

Do the crew wear their masks when making announcements? Since they sound like the old fashioned drive-in speakers without the masks, I can't imagine what they sound like to us HoH with the masks.

"What did they say?"

"Something about arriving in Philadelphia in 15 minutes or was it that the train is on fire and everyone who doesn't leave the back 3 cars immediately is going to die?"

".....and a large orange drink" (people of a certain age will get that)

I would hope there'd be a clear, across-the-board policy about IN roomettes. I am a rule-follower but I can't quite imagine lying down and sleeping in a mask..... I guess you can take it off and just keep it handy to put on in case the attendant has to ask you something; they're not going to see through closed curtains.

I don't mind wearing one in public - I am fully vaccinated but people would not know that, and I'd wear the mask for their comfort, and also to try to "be a good role model" (? as much as I make a role model). But it does get old after a while.

 

[Anderson]

".....and a large orange drink" (people of a certain age will get that)

I would hope there'd be a clear, across-the-board policy about IN roomettes. I am a rule-follower but I can't quite imagine lying down and sleeping in a mask..... I guess you can take it off and just keep it handy to put on in case the attendant has to ask you something; they're not going to see through closed curtains.

I don't mind wearing one in public - I am fully vaccinated but people would not know that, and I'd wear the mask for their comfort, and also to try to "be a good role model" (? as much as I make a role model). But it does get old after a while.

I think "close the curtains and do what you're going to do" is the answer here. Then again, last time I was on the Auto Train the OBS folks made a point of asking everyone to wear a mask when they came by to drop off food, etc., so my brother and I just had them drop the food off and we made up the beds (my brother responding, in so many words, "Army family, we can handle it" dealt with any objections...he is, I'm not, but it was an easy conversational fix on his part). Problem solved, but I think we skipped the tip at that point...if you're that worried about a contact that virtually no authority in the world recommend tracing, then I'm just as happy for you to be invisible.

Bluntly, though, I'm through making other people "comfortable" or being a "good role model". I've been getting the "set a good example" lecture since I was in...oh, probably middle school (maybe earlier than that, but it was always "set a good example for your classmates"), and after last year I'm really just done with it. To be clear, it's a lot more than just the pandemic at play here. But whereas I can "connect the dots" on some of the "out in common spaces" requests, I also think an "ask" of "sleep with a mask on in a private room so someone across the hall can feel more comfortable" reaches a point of being utterly unreasonable.

 

[tricia]

I don't think anyone has reported being asked or told to wear a mask while in their roomette or bedroom with the door closed. Will someone kindly chime in here if I'm wrong about that?

When I was traveling in sleepers last fall, the SCAs were quite clear that I needed to wear a mask whenever I was OUTSIDE my room, but not in it. I kept mask handy so I could put it on if anyone knocked on my door.

 

[PaTrainFan]

I don't think anyone has reported being asked or told to wear a mask while in their roomette or bedroom with the door closed. Will someone kindly chime in here if I'm wrong about that?

When I was traveling in sleepers last fall, the SCAs were quite clear that I needed to wear a mask whenever I was OUTSIDE my room, but not in it. I kept mask handy so I could put it on if anyone knocked on my door.

For goodness sake, you're in a private room. Who's gonna know if you have a mask on or not...presuming your door and curtains are closed?

 

[dcipjr]

For goodness sake, you're in a private room. Who's gonna know if you have a mask on or not...presuming your door and curtains are closed?

Nobody—but I'd prefer a clear policy, and to feel like I'm not hiding anything. I'd also like the option of keeping my curtains open (with the door still shut).

 

[tricia]

Nobody—but I'd prefer a clear policy, and to feel like I'm not hiding anything. I'd also like the option of keeping my curtains open (with the door still shut).

Well, the SCAs on the trains I was on last fall very clearly told me it was OK to take off the mask in my room, with the door closed. On multiple trains. Once again, if anyone has had a different experience with this, it'd be a kindness to post that here.

 

[Cal]

Well, the SCAs on the trains I was on last fall very clearly told me it was OK to take off the mask in my room, with the door closed. On multiple trains. Once again, if anyone has had a different experience with this, it'd be a kindness to post that here.

Again, my SCA's saw that my mask was off during my October trip. We just put it on when they came

 

[TrackWalker]

Nobody—but I'd prefer a clear policy, and to feel like I'm not hiding anything. I'd also like the option of keeping my curtains open (with the door still shut).

If you need a clear policy simply ride any LD train and it will consistently be explained to you at every station stop after new passengers have boarded and the train is departing.

By the end of the trip you should be able to make the announcement yourself. If one still does not understand, you have not been paying attention.

 

[fillyjonk]

my problem is the experience with SCAs is.....so variable. That some are really chill about things, some are by-the-book, and some make up their own rules and try to enforce them if they can.

I really don't want to risk getting booted off a three-times-a-week train in, like, Poplar Bluff, because a SCA is enforcing rules that aren't actually there or something. I'm not sure what recourse one would have in that case

 

[Sidney]

Generally,unless rules change a mask is required when walking through the train and sitting in Coach and the lounge and observation car. If you are in a sleeper,you don't need to wear a mask
Obviously,that is common sense.

 

[Anderson]

Generally,unless rules change a mask is required when walking through the train and sitting in Coach and the lounge and observation car. If you are in a sleeper,you don't need to wear a mask
Obviously,that is common sense.

If you've ridden Amtrak enough, you'll find a few situations where "common sense" has nothing to do with anything...which is, of course, the worry here.

 

[SubwayNut]

The issue isn't commen sense on Amtrak it's the DOT Federal Mask Mandate regulation that makes only caveouts for truck drivers (under FCMA) or other workers (like a maintenance person) who are completely alone in their vehicles. There is no carveout for passengers in an individual enclosed sleeping accomidation on a shared vehicle (like in your private sleeping accomidation) in the regulations.

I know that the FRA in particularly from professional contacts I have at a Railroad has been really strict and giving fines if their inspectors see employees like those working in the repair shop not properly wearing face masks.

In theory Amtrak could lose it's Federal Funding for not enfocing the mask mandate. Although I'm less sure about Amtrak's Federal Funding rules but I know transit agency agreements with the FTA have all been amended that could see agencies loose federal funding if the mask mandate isn't enforced

 

[MARC Rider]

Instead of specul

The issue isn't commen sense on Amtrak it's the DOT Federal Mask Mandate regulation that makes only caveouts for truck drivers (under FCMA) or other workers (like a maintenance person) who are completely alone in their vehicles. There is no carveout for passengers in an individual enclosed sleeping accomidation on a shared vehicle (like in your private sleeping accomidation) in the regulations.

I know that the FRA in particularly from professional contacts I have at a Railroad has been really strict and giving fines if their inspectors see employees like those working in the repair shop not properly wearing face masks.

In theory Amtrak could lose it's Federal Funding for not enfocing the mask mandate. Although I'm less sure about Amtrak's Federal Funding rules but I know transit agency agreements with the FTA have all been amended that could see agencies loose federal funding if the mask mandate isn't enforced

Why do I have the feeling that if the Feds were to penalize Amtrak for not enforcing the mask rule in private on-board sleeping accommodations, there would be a howling political stink raised that might even include some politicians who are opponents of Amtrak defending Amtrak.

Perhaps RPA should raise this issue with DOT in an attempt to convince them to modify the mask mandate. It might help if they include some friendly Members of the House and Senate in their approach to the Agency. Having worked for a Federal regulatory agency, it's really amazing how responsive bureaucrats can be when they receive what we called a "Congressional." (and I don't mean the old PRR express between New York and Washington.)

 

[Mailliw]

I stink whoever actually wrote the text of the mandate was unaware that private compartments even exist.

 

[MARC Rider]

I stink whoever actually wrote the text of the mandate was unaware that private compartments even exist.

Likely true, and, if so, it might not take much persuasion to have DOT modify the mask mandate.

 

[finleyd]

I was on the Silver Star north bound and south in December. No mask required in my roomette, when the SCA came to bring the food or I got off the train for a stretch, the mask went on.

 

[Chris I]

If you've ridden Amtrak enough, you'll find a few situations where "common sense" has nothing to do with anything...which is, of course, the worry here.

Exactly. I got yelled at in Spokane for standing on the platform while the Seattle half of the EB passed by two tracks away from the platform on the mainline. Having ridden trains all over the world, I literally could not comprehend what the Amtrak employee was upset about until he explained it about four times.

 

[west point]

I am curious. Florida governor says mask mandates are not allowed. He did exclude planes , trans. But what about cruise ships ?.

 

[railiner]

I am curious. Florida governor says mask mandates are not allowed. He did exclude planes , trans. But what about cruise ships ?.

He's not going to have any cruise ships calling in Florida to be concerned with, with his crazy new law banning vaccine passports as a condition of boarding, contrary to what the CDC mandates...

 

[Anderson]

He's not going to have any cruise ships calling in Florida to be concerned with, with his crazy new law banning vaccine passports as a condition of boarding, contrary to what the CDC mandates...

That situation is an utter mess. On the one hand, a "hard and fast" vaccine mandate effectively bars family cruises for the foreseeable future (so ironically, picking this fight might give a few lines cover to just not operate for a bit) since there's presently no vaccine for anyone under 16 (and even with the hoped-for approval, still nobody under 12). There needs to be a line drawn a bit further in (at least with younger kids on family-oriented lines...though otherwise, I'd legitimately question whether someone who couldn't take a vaccine because of immune system issues should be on a cruise in the first place). I don't exactly agree with the Florida law, but I'd favor interposing something requiring specific carve-outs (specifically the age bit, perhaps with a required test and a waiver). I'd probably also aim for a clause saying "If you impose a mandate like this, anyone who is hard-barred as a result gets a full refund or an indefinite extension to any credits they're holding onto" (e.g. so the parents can wait until the kids are old enough to have a shot).

Back to the mask side of things, I have to seriously wonder what's going to happen if/when the Putnam County Sheriff's Office/Police Department gets called to deal with a mask/train situation (or if this happens somewhere else...say, North Dakota or Montana, where mask usage seems to be close to non-existent). Do the police back up the conductor? Or tell the conductor to stop wasting their time?

(To be fair to them, I suspect that the likely decision from the local prosecutor's office will also play a role, as will the overarching policy of the department in question. I sort-of pity the conductor who gets stuck trying to throw someone off in a county where the cops have decided not to enforce mask rules and the prosecutor decides that they won't even take up a resulting trespass charge...hell, in some places I suspect "sticking it to Biden's mask mandate" would be a vote-winner for the sheriff and/or DA...)

 

[dcipjr]

Can anyone that's taken a trip recently comment on fresh air / smoke stops? Are masks required if you step out of the train onto the platform and are far away from others?

Will I have to pretend to smoke to get some fresh air?

I'm not an anti-masker by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm vaccinated, and it would be nice to get some fresh air breaks during my upcoming trip.

 

[jebr]

Can anyone that's taken a trip recently comment on fresh air / smoke stops? Are masks required if you step out of the train onto the platform and are far away from others?

Will I have to pretend to smoke to get some fresh air?

I'm not an anti-masker by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm vaccinated, and it would be nice to get some fresh air breaks during my upcoming trip.

I don't recall how they handled it in MSP on my last trip - though smoking was still allowed, but in Winona people stepped off away from the train a bit and took their masks off - and I don't recall anyone commenting about that being a problem or issue. While waiting outside in La Crosse (a staffed station) I also took my mask off for a bit and there was no mention of that being an issue. I also don't recall an announcement on my return specifically stating masks needed to stay on while on the platform at MSP (which is outdoors.) My guess, based on my sample size of ~2-3, is that on most of the long distance trains you'll be fine at stations where the platforms are clearly outdoors - I wouldn't do it in Chicago or NYP, but most of the "fresh air" breaks mid-route should be fine.

 

[Sidney]

I look forward to the fresh air stops. I walk quite a bit,so I'll usually walk beside the train until the "all aboard" is announced. Some stops are crew change points. In the last year stops at Minot,Klamath Falls and Fort Worth have been over an hour so I ll walk until ten minutes before departure and explore the cities. Trains never leave before their scheduled time,so there is no worry.

Also I ll try to grab some food,considering the bland flex meals and the overpriced edibles in the cafe car.

 

[Cal]

Can anyone that's taken a trip recently comment on fresh air / smoke stops? Are masks required if you step out of the train onto the platform and are far away from others?

Will I have to pretend to smoke to get some fresh air?

I'm not an anti-masker by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm vaccinated, and it would be nice to get some fresh air breaks during my upcoming trip.

If you're away from people, I don't think anyone will bother you if you have your mask off.

 

[East Minneapolis NP]

I was in a roomette on the EB in early April. When I had my door closed I had my mask off, even with all the curtains open, and this was allowed and the SCA didn't say anything about it. I put my mask on whenever he came by to speak to me about something or whenever I left my room.