EchoSierra
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2017
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- 84
They should just bring it back. When people see the train is almost full, it's an incentive to book immediately.
Amtrak's customer facing IT issue
- Thread starter OmahaRoad
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Load indicators were removed several months ago. They have gone the way of the public timetable.
Siegmund
OBS Chief
I had had the impression the load indicator was always wrong anyway and was only sowing confusion, so haven't missed it. If it actually worked, I'm sure people would like to have it back. (Though if it were me, I would use it to find the least-busy days, not to 'hurry and book because it's almost full.')
trimetbusfan
OBS Chief
Yes, the load indicator was taken away a few months ago, but does appear to be intermittently appearing again.
Note that the indicator does not always appear on the first search, it sometimes takes multiple searches. And I haven’t noticed it on the website, just the app. This leads me to believe its an error rather than intentional for now.
Note that the indicator does not always appear on the first search, it sometimes takes multiple searches. And I haven’t noticed it on the website, just the app. This leads me to believe its an error rather than intentional for now.
Last week, when making a reservation, the agent said the website is troublesome, the App is more reliable.
I had been on the website trying to make a reservation for the summer, and the button to proceed after entering all the information including payment would stay gray (inoperative) and would not turn green, no way, no how. I checked every box and entered all information I was supposed to. I gave up and called to have them do it.
The agent came up with a fare that was 58 cents more than what I was quoted when I tried. I let that go. (It was a Senior + 15% NY State discount - mathematically comes the same regardless of which discount you apply first)
I had been on the website trying to make a reservation for the summer, and the button to proceed after entering all the information including payment would stay gray (inoperative) and would not turn green, no way, no how. I checked every box and entered all information I was supposed to. I gave up and called to have them do it.
The agent came up with a fare that was 58 cents more than what I was quoted when I tried. I let that go. (It was a Senior + 15% NY State discount - mathematically comes the same regardless of which discount you apply first)
Cal H
Train Attendant
Just joined. Count me in as disappointed that it's gone.
Flix has a compromise version. It only appears when the trip is nearly full.
Naturally, the most sophisticated version of this info is the DB's.
"The current demand indicator in the connection information shows you how busy your train is expected to be. This tool helps you to decide in advance whether you want to reserve a seat or travel on another service."
And here's Flix.
Naturally, the most sophisticated version of this info is the DB's.
- High demand expected (in red)
- Medium demand expected
- Low demand expected
"The current demand indicator in the connection information shows you how busy your train is expected to be. This tool helps you to decide in advance whether you want to reserve a seat or travel on another service."
And here's Flix.
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Amtrak put up those percentages so that people could avoid crowded conditions during Covid. With the pandemic gone, so is that feature.
Amtrak gets a juvenile sense of power and authority with obfuscation of information, whether it be load factors, timetables, laziness in posting Twitter delays and cancellations, Adirondack suspension, you name it.
Amtrak gets a juvenile sense of power and authority with obfuscation of information, whether it be load factors, timetables, laziness in posting Twitter delays and cancellations, Adirondack suspension, you name it.
Ouch!
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
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I do not understand why Amtrak cannot simply publish how many seats are available at what fare at any given point in time. Airlines are able to do this and even third world railways like in India are able to do this even on trains and accommodation which are subject to yield management, and of course on trains and accommodations that are not subject to yield management (there are both types of trains in their system), and even publish status of waiting lists (WL) and reservation against cancellation (RAC) lists. It may have something to do with Amtrak not having a single source of truth database like these other systems do, and being hamstrung in funding to get to such a state.
I think Amtrak is significantly handicapped by having chosen less than competent contractors to revamp their customer facing IT platform, together with ill conceived destaffing of functions that are important for providing useful and convenient information to the customers in a usable for.
The loss of timetables falls in this category. It is not like it took an army of people to create and provide timetables. We are talking of one, maybe two people. Witness the effort it takes the volunteers to provide timetables to RPA. The timetable fiasco was a typical self-goal that Amtrak is so expert at.
Similarly it is mind boggling how Amtrak has failed to put together an event notification system that actually works. Again possibly due to people who are managing the system having little domain knowledge and are experts and juggling spreadsheets alone.
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slasher-fun
Service Attendant
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
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Actually that is sufficient information for most purposes. Of course in an environment where trains mostly run full and are more often than not sold out a few days before departure there are additional facilities available and numbers associated with those like Waiting Lists and Reservation Against Cancellations which carry different fare supplements. But Amtrak can barely manage straight reservations so we won;t worry about such complications.
slasher-fun
Service Attendant
In today's episode of "Amtrak IT issues", someone made me realize that you currently cannot book a trip that only combines the Empire Builder (8/28) then the Lake Shore Limited (48/448) with a single transfer. Any other combination including this one is fine though.
Fargo > Pittsfield? Gives you Fargo > 8 > Chicago > 48 > Albany > 448 > Pittsfield.
Fargo > Albany then? No connection available.
Seattle > Pittsfield? Again, Seattle > 8 > Chicago > 48 > Albany > 448 > Pittsfield.
But Seattle > Albany? Seattle > 11 > Sacramento (!) > 6 > Chicago > 48 or 448 > Albany
What about Portland > Albany? It's shorter, Portland > 500 > Seattle > 8 > Chicago > 48 or 448 > Albany...
Fargo > Pittsfield? Gives you Fargo > 8 > Chicago > 48 > Albany > 448 > Pittsfield.
Fargo > Albany then? No connection available.
Seattle > Pittsfield? Again, Seattle > 8 > Chicago > 48 > Albany > 448 > Pittsfield.
But Seattle > Albany? Seattle > 11 > Sacramento (!) > 6 > Chicago > 48 or 448 > Albany
What about Portland > Albany? It's shorter, Portland > 500 > Seattle > 8 > Chicago > 48 or 448 > Albany...
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My understanding is all connecting city pairs must be entered into ARROW individually. I understand it cannot even handle entering connections on a train to train basis.
While I do not know of any schedule change on either the Builder or the Lake Shore lately, even very minor schedule changes are well known to break connections internally, causing them to have to be re-entered. It sounds like something or other happened to 48 inside ARROW and the connections were dropped. Remember, as far as ARROW is concerned, 448 is an entirely separate train.
It is a system artifact and they'll be available again within days or a couple weeks at most as they go in and put them all back. In the meantime, an agent can handle reservations if you do not trust the guarantee will be honored by using Multi-City (it will be, though).
This is a well known glitch that happens with some regularity on various connections. Someone is sharpening their cuneiform stylus as we speak.
Also strange that they make you change from 48 to 448 at ALB rather than booking you on 448 the whole way from Chicago.
The proper city pair routing entries are apparently temporarily missing/dropped inside ARROW. It is entirely a system artifact, not reality. When you realize the city pairs with routes have to be manually entered into ARROW, that pretty much explains such temporary screw ups. The remaining options are just that, ones that did not get dropped for whatever reason. 48/448 change at Albany has usually been a valid option that route, that one just didn't get sideswiped in the current mess and is now is the only/top option. For me, right now the displayed SEA-NYP options 8/30/42, 11/6/48, 11/6/50, but not 8/48.
This kind of thing happens with some frequency. Perhaps modifying connections for some Builder cities to account the Borealis is the reason. Since 48 is still fine for the CZ, that makes me think the issue is with the Builder side of the connection, not the LSL side. Yes, the way connections are set up in ARROW is weird and stupid, but it is what it is. In any case, this has happened before, will happen again, and is temporary. All the connections will probably be back within a couple weeks at the outside.
In the meantime, "normal" routes can be booked using an agent or Multi-City.
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