Elderly lady kicked off Eagle.

[Old MM]

Alpine is NOT in the middle of nowhere! If I had to be put off the Train I wouldn't have any problem being in this nice little Mountain Town!

Yup, detraining is actually the least punitive option among many. "lifetime" bans are disproportionately harsh, and probably difficult to enforce, as would an additional cleaning fee, or any fee the passenger didn't agree to beforehand.

 

[Thirdrail7]

A lot of this fake service animal problem would be alleviated if Amtrak offered more services for regular pets, not to mention a good strong new market for Amtrak.

The PET program has been in effect for a few years now. They can see if this market is strong or weak. It is no longer speculative. They can see how many pets (and bikes) are legally reserved on a train.

Nothing would change for service animals, but how about a couple of bedrooms for other pets maybe with rubber flooring and washable seat covers and a pet cleaning fee?

The Auto Train is a great platform to try something along these lines and the market is certainty there.

Yes. There is nothing like leaving a pet on a train with a 17 hour schedule, with one stop..and that assumes it is one time.

Amtrak had a great opportunity to carry larger pets in climate-controlled baggage/dorms but not sure if that is a real possibility because I don't know if the baggage area has A/C and heating.

They don't.

 

[me_little_me]

Many many years ago I used to take the Southern Crescent back and forth to Georgia Tech from my home in Boston. My very first long distance train experience occurred only because that train allowed pets in bedrooms and it was the easiest way to go home with our two cats.

A lot of this fake service animal problem would be alleviated if Amtrak offered more services for regular pets, not to mention a good strong new market for Amtrak.

Nothing would change for service animals, but how about a couple of bedrooms for other pets maybe with rubber flooring and washable seat covers and a pet cleaning fee? Amtrak had a great opportunity to carry larger pets in climate-controlled baggage/dorms but not sure if that is a real possibility because I don't know if the baggage area has A/C and heating.

The Auto Train is a great platform to try something along these lines and the market is certainty there.

Traveling with pets is problematic. People love their pets and this could create a whole new market for Amtrak and stop this fake service animal situation.

The biggest problem I see is that there are too few bedrooms available on a train to leave any available for pets. Moreover, the potential cleanup could take too long to get the car back in service if there is a serious issue. As to air conditioning in baggage cars, not only is that a big expense for too little a return but how long would the animal have to remain caged up and unfed and who would do it? You're not talking about a 2-5 hour plane ride.

 

[TiBike]

The PET program has been in effect for a few years now. They can see if this market is strong or weak. It is no longer speculative. They can see how many pets (and bikes) are legally reserved on a train.

Have they released any numbers about bike reservations? My casual observation is that the number of bikes on the Starlight has steadily increased over the past three years, based on what I've seen on the train and on the reservation system. From my occasional looks at a few other LD routes, I'm not seeing the same pattern, but it's a small sample size.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I'm not sure they've done it publicly and the revenue portion is buried in "other" categories.

 

[troo troo tcrane]

Just met someone last weekend who bragged about lying to have her dog labeled ESA dog so she can have it in her condo without paying a fee.

Some people have no scruples.