Thanks BNSF for the update. I must tell everyone now that this is all true and if you don't believe it, well that's your choice. I have spoken with my former bosses in both JAX and NOL whom I have absolute trust in their honesty regarding the subject of the future of services in and out of NOL, and yes, both 1/2 and 58/59 will be abolished and will be completely off the Amtrak roster no later than September 30, period! I can't speak for the other routes BNSF1088 reports personally, but I do believe they are dead too. The actual public announcement by Amtrak will begin with the formal 180 notices on Monday, June 3. The NOL crew base, both OBS and T&E were "unofficially" notified of this service cut by regional and local managers now unable to cover up this long awaited change in the way Amtrak will do business nationally. According to my former supervisors, they were point blanked asked by other OBS employees during the 58 safety briefing the other day, if the date of Southern Division Superintendent Sid Birket's resignation was just a coincidence or specific timing to get off the "Titanic" before it hit the iceburg. At that point, they openly confessed to everyone that the Hughes Adminstration had given them direct orders that any leak of the shutdown to labor employees from them would result in an immediate dismissal from Amtrak employment. In addition, again according to my former supervisors via my phone converstation, the station clerk at NOL, whom I believe 100% since I helped her and her family in Natchitoches when she got evacuated from NOL during Katrina, received a FedEX mail package that strickly states that it may only be opened by the manager of stations no earlier than Monday, July 3 its contents be distributed to all depots within her division. Folks, its here and now, and the people who remain with Amtrak now have the full picture of the pending doom that's about to occur with their jobs, and more importantly, the national passenger rail system. They can no longer deny it to themselves or others that the end is near.
Folks, this has been coming for a long time now. BNSF, Amtrak OBS Employee and myself have been warning of such radical system cuts for almost a couple of years now. I'm not going to say I told you so, because that's not an appropriate response by a member of a civil forum such as this and more importantly is it obsolutely true that those who choose not to believe statements made by others on this forum have every right to question the integrity and validity of such information made by people on any on-line forum. What I will say is that the formal announcement to the general public and the entire Amtrak employee network and the general public is scheduled for Monday, July 3 from David Hughes' office. That in a nutshell is exactly what three OBS managers told me on the phone Friday after calling to check up on old friends and to quite frankly find out if any news of the long awaited shutdown of the long distance network was truly coming pass as feared. I no longer work for Amtrak, I have personal agenda. I'm just giving you the facts as presented from three Amtrak managers to one former employee and personal friend.
Trainboy325 has said all that can be said of this very sad and disappointing subject!!!
