LD Trrips - advance notification of schedule changes / disruptions

[user 683]

Greetings all -

I just booked a LD trip on the California Zephyr (my first CZ trip) for October. Although I am totally psyched for the trip, I began thinking about some of the problems the CZ experienced last year and wondered if / how / when Amtrak provides advance notification of schedule changes and disruptions? I've taken a couple of LD trips on the Capital Limited, SWC, Cardinal and Silver Star - just haven't thought about these types of notifications before. Perhaps I'm getting more anxious in my old age.....

Thanks!

 

[jb64]

Chances are you will learn of any service/schedule disruptions on this forum long before Amtrak gets the word out. At least that has been my experience and I have used that information to be proactive and make any necessary arrangements. One of the reasons that this is such a great forum.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

If Amtrak has a phone number for you, Julie will call you. My experience is that you'll get "the call" before it is posted on Amtrak's website, so that you can call back and try to sort things out before it is 'broadcast' to the rest of the world. Now that said, and unless things change quickly, there won't be the snowpack we had last year, and hopefully flooding won't be an issue.

So now, let's all gather around the campfire and sing "Kumbaya," so that Amtrak does not experience the service disruptions of last year, this year.

 

[user 683]

Thanks -

Usually, I checkout discussions in this forum a couple times a week and figured someone would start a thread/conversation describing their experiences with good, bad or indifferent conditions. I have learned a lot from the folks here! Likewise, I figured that Amtrak would post advisories on their website, especially if a service disruption is expected to continue for a period of time.

I was thinking about more directed notifications, such as a phone call or e-mail, and how far in advance these notifications would be made so that I could make alternate plans. Julie has my number and hopefully I won't hear from her

 

[river]

I found out about a service disruption on a planned long distance trip on this forum. I never received a call from Julie. My reservation was simply changed when I checked online--showing the disruption, which was a deal breaker for me. I changed my reservation for the better! Glad for this forum!

 

[daveyb99]

Greetings all -

I just booked a LD trip on the California Zephyr (my first CZ trip) for October. Although I am totally psyched for the trip, I began thinking about some of the problems the CZ experienced last year and wondered if / how / when Amtrak provides advance notification of schedule changes and disruptions? I've taken a couple of LD trips on the Capital Limited, SWC, Cardinal and Silver Star - just haven't thought about these types of notifications before. Perhaps I'm getting more anxious in my old age.....

Thanks!

Schedule changes do not happen that often actually. Service Disruptions could happen any moment.

Stop worrying and enjoy the trip.

 

[user 683]

I found out about a service disruption on a planned long distance trip on this forum. I never received a call from Julie. My reservation was simply changed when I checked online--showing the disruption, which was a deal breaker for me. I changed my reservation for the better! Glad for this forum!

This is the sort of thing I was thinking about. I'll have access to Internet during most of the trip, but there are times when Internet access may be limited. I don't have too much flexibility on the inbound trek to EMY/San Fran. Outbound is another story.

Schedule changes do not happen that often actually. Service Disruptions could happen any moment.

Stop worrying and enjoy the trip.

That's the plan! Just trying to avoid significant surprises.

 

[Michael P]

"Julie" will call you if it is over about 2 hours I believe, there is a threshold that must be met and as always amtrak must have your phone number to call you and have yet had them leave me a voicemail(the main reason I have heard "amtark didn't call me" is because someone was using a traditional landline with no call history).

 

[the_traveler]

"Julie" will call you if it is over about 2 hours I believe, there is a threshold that must be met and as always amtrak must have your phone number to call you and have yet had them leave me a voicemail(the main reason I have heard "amtark didn't call me" is because someone was using a traditional landline with no call history).

That's the reason I give my cell number as my "primary" phone number!

 

[river]

I don't even own a land line. Only have a cell phone that rings loudly and takes phone and text messages without any problem. It also tracks every phone call that comes in and goes out like most cell phones do. The service disruption was a 'bus bridge' of over 4 hours due to track work in Texas in January. Being in a sleeping car meant we would have to be roused very early and miss breakfast and lunch in the dining car. I never received a call from 'Julie' to let me know but my reservation was changed online which showed the bus bridge. Not happy about that but happy the forum let me know so I could change my reservations to another train--which I did.

 

[Michael P]

I don't even own a land line. Only have a cell phone that rings loudly and takes phone and text messages without any problem. It also tracks every phone call that comes in and goes out like most cell phones do. The service disruption was a 'bus bridge' of over 4 hours due to track work in Texas in January. Being in a sleeping car meant we would have to be roused very early and miss breakfast and lunch in the dining car. I never received a call from 'Julie' to let me know but my reservation was changed online which showed the bus bridge. Not happy about that but happy the forum let me know so I could change my reservations to another train--which I did.

maybe it's just a Starlight and Empire Builder thing then...never have had a problem and have had to sit through a few disruptions before of over 2-3 hours. Ultimately I hope you did follow up with Customer Relations, improvement is only made when the bar is set high, the bar is set high by responsive (non-priviliged, understanding) feedback.

 

[manderson]

Best to keep an eye on this forum -- don't count on the phone call. I didn't get one last June when the Empire Builder was cancelled, although Amtrak records showed that the call had been made. We confirmed that they had my correct land and cell numbers, but I received no message.