Refund for Amtrak train accident involving suicide

[wildcat45]

A man jumped onto the tracks and was hit by our train last night. It caused a nearly 5 hour delay, which is on top of the 30 hour trip. Is there any way Amtrak would issue me a full or partial refund due to this inconvenience? The accident occurred only 30 minutes away from my final destination(in the Arizona desert, so we were stranded on the train and only given small bottled waters). Some fellow passengers had mentioned receiving refunds for previous train rides involving accidents. What do you think?

 

[the_traveler]

Well, they will not give you a full refund, because your contract with Amtrak was to transport you from point A to point B - which they did! However if you contact Customer Service, they may send you a voucher for future Amtrak travel.

 

[MiRider]

Personal opinion here and nothing to do with Amtrak policy....

How is it any fault of Amtrak's that someone decided to commit suicide?

Are they supposed to be responsible for the actions of everyone in the world?

I don't understand why you would even consider asking for a refund.

If one is offered, that's another story, but I consider the actions of an individual like that, someone who is not an employee or even a passenger of Amtrak to be an act of God.

As far as I'm concerned, If you got to your destination, the contract was fulfilled.

Like I said, my personal opinion.

 

[MrEd]

my heart goes out to the person killed and their family. sorry to hear about your experience.

 

[Texan Eagle]

If you call up Customer Service they might offer you a voucher, but ask yourself, is it morally correct to ask Amtrak to reimburse you for an incident that was beyond their control? If you feel it is appropriate, go ahead.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

People should not commit passive suicides like this. Killing yourself should not inconvieniece other people. You should not even kill yourself in the first place!

 

[George Harris]

It is just me?

I find it offensive that someone would try to profit off someone else's death. Particularly since the engineer, and anyone else in the train crew that checked the train or walked back to see the condition of the person hit will likely have nightmares about this for the rest of their lives.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

People should not commit passive suicides like this. Killing yourself should not inconvieniece other people. You should not even kill yourself in the first place!

Suicide prevention is such a tricky issue in a free society.

Better to just promote the use of contraceptives instead.

Simple. Easy. Inexpensive. Effective.

Available at your nearest pharmacy or supermarket.

 

[RRrich]

Only a small bottle of water? Was there a tap from which you could refill it? Did the cafe car run out of beer?

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Is there any way that the process of releasing the train could be sped up a bit? Which folks participate in the determination that the train can leave the scene and which of those groups is the usual hold-up?

 

[Aaron]

I've got an upcoming trip on the Sunset Limited out of Tucson, so I've been watching the train status the last couple of weeks just for fun. I thought something was wrong last night when after going through Lordsburg, it didn't arrive at Benson for several more hours (about 5 hours late). Sorry to hear it was an actual death and not freight disruptions or mechanical problems.

I looked around for news on the incident and couldn't find any, but found two other people struck and killed by trains in the last 24 hours.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_20325728/man-struck-and-killed-by-train-antioch

http://westchester.patch.com/articles/woman-struck-killed-on-paoli-tdale-tracks-05681011

Those don't look like intentional suicides, but they were probably preventable deaths nonetheless. People, be careful around trains! Even if you have no regard for your own life, there are always those who are going to be hurt or at least massively inconvenienced by your carelessness.

 

[Ryan]

It is just me?

I find it offensive that someone would try to profit off someone else's death. Particularly since the engineer, and anyone else in the train crew that checked the train or walked back to see the condition of the person hit will likely have nightmares about this for the rest of their lives.

Nope, not just you.

 

[saxman]

A man jumped onto the tracks and was hit by our train last night. It caused a nearly 5 hour delay, which is on top of the 30 hour trip. Is there any way Amtrak would issue me a full or partial refund due to this inconvenience? The accident occurred only 30 minutes away from my final destination(in the Arizona desert, so we were stranded on the train and only given small bottled waters). Some fellow passengers had mentioned receiving refunds for previous train rides involving accidents. What do you think?

Well you can always call, but you won't get a refund. They may give you a small voucher for the inconvenience to use for future Amtrak travel. The airlines probably wouldn't give you anything if someone jumped out on the runway while your plane was landing.

 

[jebr]

You might be able to, but I couldn't in good conscience.

EDIT: I could see a desire to be reimbursed for direct costs due to the accident (for example, any additional meals you ate on board), so a $10-$15 voucher may not be out of line. However, actively wanting money because you were "inconvenienced"? Sorry, but that seems wrong.

 

[Guest]

Wow. I can't believe someone actually asked this question. But, from the other responses, it's good to know that I'm not the only sensitive person left in the world.

I have been on a train before when someone committed suicide in a similar way. The thought of asking for compensation never crossed my mind for a second.

 

[white rabbitt]

You might be able to, but I couldn't in good conscience.

i cant imagine someone would want to profitover such a tragic actcident, to me that is unthinkable

 

[Old MM]

Sometimes in life you will be inconvenienced. When did that word get to be a code for, someone must owe me something? if thunderstorms and tornadoes shut down your arrival airport, do we not feel gratitude for being fortunate enough to be out of harm's way? Or do we complain to the airline about our missed "meeting" so we can hopefully get a voucher?

Someone took their own life... a few extra hours on a train doesn't sound like an inconvience to me

 

[amtrakwolverine]

It is just me?

I find it offensive that someone would try to profit off someone else's death. Particularly since the engineer, and anyone else in the train crew that checked the train or walked back to see the condition of the person hit will likely have nightmares about this for the rest of their lives.

Like that woman who got hit by flying body parts when a person ran in front of the train and the lady who got hit sued the family of the victim.

 

[EB_OBS]

It is just me?

I find it offensive that someone would try to profit off someone else's death. Particularly since the engineer, and anyone else in the train crew that checked the train or walked back to see the condition of the person hit will likely have nightmares about this for the rest of their lives.

Like that woman who got hit by flying body parts when a person ran in front of the train and the lady who got hit sued the family of the victim.

Well, not really the same situation. That lady that got hit by the flying body parts was not merely inconvenienced, she was severely injured.

 

[Ryan]

And she didn't sue the family, she sued the guy's estate.

Subtle, but important difference.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

People should not commit passive suicides like this. Killing yourself should not inconvieniece other people. You should not even kill yourself in the first place!

Suicide prevention is such a tricky issue in a free society.

Better to just promote the use of contraceptives instead.

Simple. Easy. Inexpensive. Effective.

Available at your nearest pharmacy or supermarket.

So no one should ever breed?

Suicide=/=Lack of acceptable parenting.

 

[Acela150]

People should not commit passive suicides like this. Killing yourself should not inconvieniece other people. You should not even kill yourself in the first place!

Suicide prevention is such a tricky issue in a free society.

Better to just promote the use of contraceptives instead.

Simple. Easy. Inexpensive. Effective.

Available at your nearest pharmacy or supermarket.

So no one should ever breed?

Suicide=/=Lack of acceptable parenting.

Let's keep opinions on Suicide to ourselves.. While I'm all about expressing opinions. This is one where we should stay clear of. We're not doctors.

To the OP. There is no reason you should be asking Amtrak for any type of refund or Travel Voucher. Someone took there life because of a reason we don't know. An Engineer is now traumatized and will have to live for the rest of his or her life knowing that they hit a person and killed that person. I feel for the family of both parties.

 

[RRUserious]

Not to cast aspersions, but I think if my trip was delayed by a suicide, I'd be thinking "They are dead, I am alive, I think I prefer my fate". Their lives weren't interrupted, they were ended. What I wonder is whether there's ANYTHING Amtrak should do in the event of such interruptions. I don't think it is a matter of whether the train crew is at fault. The complaint often made about airline passengers stuck on the tarmac is not entirely the time. It is what the airline did or did not do while the passengers were trapped in their plane.

Before deregulation, I flew Northwest from Seattle to Minneapolis. We had to sit for a long period of time in Spokane due to heavy traffic. Now, I would NOT recommend this as a model, just saying they opened the bar and poured drinks for anyone who wanted them. I guess that was when people were customers, not cargo.

So I don't know what policy should be when people are sitting on a train, stuck without any recourse. I guess if any of them wanted a beer, they should be able to buy one. Take measures of a reasonble proportion to care for passenger comfort wihout going to extremes. Remembering that practically all our train fares are low due to subsidy.

 

[sechs]

Some fellow passengers had mentioned receiving refunds for previous train rides involving accidents. What do you think?

They didn't know what they were talking about.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Some fellow passengers had mentioned receiving refunds for previous train rides involving accidents. What do you think?

They didn't know what they were talking about.

What they were talking about were probably not fatal accidents.