Fort Madison and Mount Pleasant Iowa - Ticket agents and baggage.

[jfandre]

Last year, the Mount Pleasant Iowa Station lost their agent, but they kept the checked baggage. This year, Fort Madison lost the ticket agent, but they no longer have checked baggage. I don't understand why. On the same note, If Mt. Pleasant can do checked baggage without a full time agent, why can't other stations do it?

 

[KmH]

Ottumwa was slated to, if it hasn't already, lose it's agent too.

So Iowa will not have any Amtrak station that has an agent.

I can't say why other stations can't do checked baggage without an agent.

 

[Lonestar648]

When a volunteer or caretaker is hired maybe the city, county, agency could include checked bagged assistance. Get the bags tagged correctly and placed at the spot where the baggage car will stop. Keep an eye on the bags unloaded. If the train leaves and no one claims a bag, have a locked room to store the bag until the next time the station is open.

 

[MikefromCrete]

I have mixed feelings about "volunteers" staffing Amtrak stations. It makes Amtrak look like a charity, which just contributes to the idea that Amtrak serves no practical purpose.

Having paid caretakers who could handle baggage, offer information and keep the stations tidy is an answer to full time staff at smaller stations with only one or two trains a day.

 

[railiner]

I too have mixed feelings about volunteer's "staffing" a station. Especially when you start adding more and more responsibilities to those volunteers, that should be performed by paid, trained, union employees. I am not sure about the current agreement, but perhaps the union could be persuaded to make some adjustment to allow things like split shifts, when trains are more than eight hours apart at small stations, or perhaps some other adjustment to make staffing more economical at the minor stops....

 

[Bob Dylan]

Lots of Staffed Stations have the same problem of being open for long periods while one or two trains are all that serve that Station.

Just off the top of my head here in Texas, I think about Austin ( my Home Station),Temple,Dallas( Ft Worth is Intermodel and has,Amtrak( 4 Daily Trains ,TRE,City Buses)Longview,Houston( 3 days a week!),San Antonio and El Paso(3 Days a week).

In the case of Austin, although they are very friendly,helpful and hard workers, there are 5 Full time Agents with 2 being on Duty for the Morning Northbound Eagle and One for the evening Southbound Eagle.

Perhaps only one agent needs to be on Duty @ a time here, since 5 Full time Employees seems excessive for the ridership and the "deadtime" here.

I'm not advocating eliminating positions, the extra agents could be transferred to the Stations that are having staffing eliminated such as Marshall,Texarkana etc

Also they could provide coverage in other Single staffed Stations such as Temple when Agents go on Vacation, are Sick etc.( the Austin Agents already do this, I've seen them in Temple,Dallas,Longview,San Antonio and even Houston.)

 

[PaulM]

FMD and MTP are two of my go-to stations, so I found this particularly obnoxious.

What is odd is that both FMD and MTP had only a five day-a-week agent and self check baggage on week ends. So it looks like FMD, but not MTP has lost self check. I just came back from a FMD to LMY trip; and can verify there was no baggage service. I entered a dummy reservation from MTP to DEN; and the result showed baggage service. So the OP is correct.

When a volunteer or caretaker is hired maybe the city, county, agency could include checked bagged assistance. Get the bags tagged correctly and placed at the spot where the baggage car will stop.

As mentioned, FMD and MTP, Newton, and maybe others had self check. It was a no-brainer and no volunteer was required; although the last time I boarded in MTP on a week end, someone did take our bags the golf cart to the baggage car. He was the kind of guy that hung around the station with a scanner, kept you informed as to train status, and was told you where to stand so you didn't get caught on the wrong side of the train when it came in.

It's not just Iowa. The only baggage service left on the SWC between Chicago and Albuquerque is Galesburg (only recently reinstated) and Kansas City. Two state capitals, Topeka and Lamy (Santa Fe) bit the dust.

Granted, a full time agent for two-a-days is an extravagance ripe for elimination. People touting this refer to the internet, etc. for reservations, but neglect the baggage issue. It would seem that with all the money saved by closing the stations, Amtrak could hire a baggage man for each LD train. Just think, during the 2 1/2 plus hour period between Elko and Winnemucca, he could take on other duties, such as cleaning the bathrooms.

But then, if your objective is to drive away business and then kill LD trains, why be innovative.

 

[Charles785]

I believe Newton, KS (Wichita) has full baggage service (at least it did the last time I boarded the SW Chief there last year). And I think their baggage service (and ticketing service) is seven days a week.

And, actually, I think, in general, if Amtrak could get rid of their labor union contracts, they'd be a much more efficient operation (it's management's job to dictate work rules, not labor). At lightly used depots

I'm sure caretakers and volunteers would be in a position of offer any needed baggage service. At least it could be tried.

And I've often wondered, when I come across surly Amtrak employees in the dining car, if the reason they haven't been fired is that management's hands are tied because even employees with negative attitudes are protected and defended by the unions, making it extremely difficult to fire low performers. (I'm not sure top performers even need unions anyway. Productive employees are always in demand.)

 

[PaulM]

I believe Newton, KS (Wichita) has full baggage service (at least it did the last time I boarded the SW Chief there last year). And I think their baggage service (and ticketing service) is seven days a week.

And, actually, I think, in general, if Amtrak could get rid of their labor union contracts, they'd be a much more efficient operation (it's management's job to dictate work rules, not labor). At lightly used depots

I'm sure caretakers and volunteers would be in a position of offer any needed baggage service. At least it could be tried.

And I've often wondered, when I come across surly Amtrak employees in the dining car, if the reason they haven't been fired is that management's hands are tied because even employees with negative attitudes are protected and defended by the unions, making it extremely difficult to fire low performers. (I'm not sure top performers even need unions anyway. Productive employees are always in demand.)

Consulting the Staffed to Unstaffed Stations Master Thread, Newton appears to have been spared. However, I'm almost certain it was one of the 5 days per week plus self check on the days the agent was not on duty.

Regarding volunteers and baggage service, we don't even need to make a distinction between handling the paperwork vs. handling the baggage. The customer can and has done do both; although having someone lug it to the baggage would be nice.

Regarding poor performing employees, I've always said that the problem is that an Amtrak train is like a factory without a plant manager or shop foremen.