Rude Amtrak employees

[Ryan]

One surgical assistant was not allowed on a train last year by a conductor even through she had a ticket, complained in Newark, and was sent back home on an upgraded Acela.

I'd love to hear the details of this story.

 

[Bonser]

If I am correct, these are Amtrak employees posting responses? Seriously, if Amtrak does not want to improve service, then don't. I ride up with crews of nurses, medical assistants, and others and the experience matches mine. One surgical assistant was not allowed on a train last year by a conductor even through she had a ticket, complained in Newark, and was sent back home on an upgraded Acela.
Sorry for even posting an honest review.

I am not an Amtrak employee, nor have I personally known any. I'm not exactly sure what bothered you about my post because I did not deny that you had bad experiences. Perhaps you could have been more specific.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

No one has denied that you had the experience that you say you had. Just like you expressed what your experience was, others expressed their general experience. Different people can have different experiences. It is not clear why that upsets you. None of the posters who shared their non-negative experiences here work for Amtrak. Furthermore many of the posters that you appear to be complaining about also have posted in this and other threads with their bad experiences with Amtrak and at least a few are generally quite critical of Amtrak management. Maybe after you have experienced some other.

It is possible that you mistakenly believe that this site is run by Amtrak. It is not. There is no guarantee that anything posted here will get communicated to Amtrak management. Sometimes they read this site and sometimes not. This site is for people to discuss trains in general and Amtrak in particular with no other connection to Amtrak.

I think he, as others have, thinks the “title” under our names indicate our role with Amtrak. And, as we know, that is not the case.

 

[Bonser]

Does this include service on Penn Central, PRR, or New haven, too?


I, too have been a regular NEC rider. Of and on since the 1960s, 2-4 times per weeks since 2000. In general, the conductors are fine. Of course, not much service is required, basically all they do for the passenger is lift the ticket. However, I've rarely seen them act nasty or be on a power trip, force people to sit where they don't want to, or any stuff like that.

My first corridor trip was Newark to Boston on the Pennsy in 1966.

 

[Bonser]

My first corridor trip was Newark to Boston on the Pennsy in 1966.

I still remember the upholstered smoking lounge cars as well as the magazine and snack guy that would briefly board in New Haven

 

[JoeBas]

I am not an Amtrak employee, nor have I personally known any. I'm not exactly sure what bothered you about my post because I did not deny that you had bad experiences. Perhaps you could have been more specific.

MSM isn't the first person to be confused thinking the "Titles" along the left under everyone's screen name reflect actual employment positions.

Might be time to think about changing those.

 

[Bonser]

MSM isn't the first person to be confused thinking the "Titles" along the left under everyone's screen name reflect actual employment positions.

Might be time to think about changing those.

Funny, I guess everyone here works for the railroad.

 

[alpha3]

MSM isn't the first person to be confused thinking the "Titles" along the left under everyone's screen name reflect actual employment positions.

Might be time to think about changing those.

Definitely agree; I lurked on this site a long time before joining as a member, always thinking the titles meant those folks were Amtrak workers. It wasn't until I signed up as a member and saw I was a ''train attendant'' that I had my 'duhhh' moment. The titles ARE a bit misleading.

 

[jis]

Actually anyone can change their title to whatever they like.

 

[Willbridge]

Regarding the complaint, it may partly have to do with the times of day and crew schedules. I haven't much experience in the NEC, but my one row with a conductor on that line was late on a Saturday night on his last trip of the week.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

In general, on the NEC routes I’ve traveled the most, I have found the Boston to New Haven crews and the crews in Virginia wonderful, the crews between NYC and New Haven on too short a time to see them longer than when they come through to check tickets, but businesslike but pleasant, and the NYC to DC crews somewhere between businesslike and annoyingly bossy.

Having said that, two of the nicest and most helpful conductors I met recently were on the DC to NYC stretch.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

In general, on the NEC routes I’ve traveled the most, I have found the Boston to New Haven crews and the crews in Virginia wonderful, the crews between NYC and New Haven on too short a time to see them longer than when they come through to check tickets, but businesslike but pleasant, and the NYC to DC crews somewhere between businesslike and annoyingly bossy.

Having said that, two of the nicest and most helpful conductors I met recently were on the DC to NYC stretch.

Was one of those on 84?

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Was one of those on 84?

No, but if it’s who I’m thinking of, he’s nice, too! Maybe I’ll run into him on the NEC one day.

 

[Ryan]

I dunno, he's kind of creepy, running around trying to give people hugs and stuff.

 

[Joe from PA]

I've been riding the NEC for 58 years, and cannot recall any employee negatives. Local trains, just one young jerk.

 

[Steve4031]

I watched a conductor chew out a woman for being on her cell phone in the quiet car on an Acela. She boarded at an intermediate stop and was on the phone as she got on. Probably was not aware she was in the quiet car. The woman was in the wrong, but this could have been handled better. But one time out of dozens of trips on the corridor does not indicate that every employee is rude.

I've had a few bossy, rude attendants in FC on the Acela. One took orders and waited on passengers, but refused to speak. Another scolded me about my bag being in the aisle seconds after I had just sat down. A third doted on parents with a baby at the expense of providing service to other passengers. None got tips.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

No, but if it’s who I’m thinking of, he’s nice, too! Maybe I’ll run into him on the NEC one day.

Nah, a different one. I sometimes talk to him, if he’s not busy helping the passengers, when 84 stops at NRK. I might plan a trip to NYC sometime just to board a train in NRK and to give him trouble

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Funny, I guess everyone here works for the railroad.

If I do, where's my pension????

 

[jis]

If I do, where's my pension????

You could appoint yourself VP of HR here and then give yourself "fantasy pension"

 

[Asher]

I have been riding the NEC - Northeast Corridor - for about four years, 2 -3x per week. The conductors, for the most part, are not nice. They are rude, abrasive, condescending, and generally in a power mode for whatever reason. These are customer service representatives, and they do NOT act that way. As far as the excuse of the conductors being overworked, I am a surgeon traveling at 4:25 AM from DC to NY and getting back home at 9 PM at night, round trip. I am overworked, far more than these conductors, and in a high stress position. I have chosen to use Amtrak as a cost savings to my company vs other forms of travel. I put up with their behavior at my choice. There are definitely other forms of travel that are more pleasant, faster, and easier to deal with than Amtrak with these conductors involved.
Customer service lessons are necessary. Amtrak wants to increase ridership. One of the best ways to do this is to teach the conductors that riders on the train have a choice - they are not obligated to use Amtrak. Rather than being hostile and rude, maybe consider a smile once in a while or a nice greeting or two. That may create an environment that keeps people coming on back, and build a much better atmosphere for growth and development of the service Amtrak provides.

Doing the math 52 x 2.5 x 4= a lot of abuse. Even if I was on my bosses dime I would find a different mode of transportation. But hey, that’s just me.

 

[JoeBas]

Actually anyone can change their title to whatever they like.

Yup, but most people don't bother to. And actually, the fact that you CAN just adds to the confusion. If you see ALL position-related titles, you might think that looks kinda suspiscious, but seeing some NON-position-related titles mixed in just reinforces that perhaps the others really are employees.

Again, not saying we need to "cater" to new posters, just pointing out why the OP likely said what they did.

 

[jis]

MODERATOR'S NOTE (including to self): Let us please get back to the subject matter of the thread which is "Rude Amtrak employees”. Shall we?

We will try to clean up the off topic posts over time.

Thanks for your understanding, cooperation and participation.

 

[pennyk]

With regard to rude Amtrak employees, fortunately, I have not experienced too many rude employees. In fact, on my recent trip from Florida to NYP, I encountered an excellent crew. I knew both SCAs in the sleepers, who also knew me by name. The LSA was fairly new and was friendly and efficient.

Additionally, a friend (and AU member), who is a conductor on the NEC, knew I was traveling and met my train yesterday. He was in uniform since he was preparing to work later that day. We chatted for a while in the lobby of Moynihan Hall. While we were chatting, my conductor friend was approached by numerous individuals who had questions about their tickets, where to go, etc. My firend patiently answered their questions in a friendly manner. We parted ways when a sight impaired man approached my friend with a question and my firend offered to walk the man to his gate. My friend showed an excellent face for Amtrak. Thank you.

 

[AFriendly]

Hello all

I just completed my first trip on am Amtrak train yesterday. I traveled aboard the Crescent train from Atlanta, GA to Wilmington, DE. While overall it was a very good experience, I did encounter some rude Amtrak employees. Is this common occurrence on Amtrak? While boarding the train, one employee asked where I'd be heading and I got directed to a specific car, where I sat near the front of the car, which was fine.

During other stops, the conductor (or other Amtrak employee), would announce the stop so everyone could clearly hear on the train, even near the front of the car where I was sitting, because it was hard to hear the usual arrival announcements. When we arrived in Wilmington, I couldn't make out the usual announcement over the PA and the conductor did not repeat that we had arrived in Wilmington. I almost missed my stop and I guess the conductor was not pleased that he had to direct me all the way to the back of the train so I that could step off the train. I was not rude, I simply told him that you can not hear the announcement clearly from where I was sitting and that they should somehow fix the problem, so more people don't miss their stops, but it seemed like he didn't care...

Has anyone else had this kind of problem before? Just curious. I'm very unsure if I will be taking Amtrak again in the future. As stated before this was my first Amtrak trip and am not sure if my situation is experienced by more passengers.

I strongly suspect you got the response that you did because the conductor did not feel like he was empowered to actually do anything about the issue, he probably encounters it frequently, and it is frustrating to see it happen over and over knowing that it will continue to happen for the foreseeable future. I am not defending him- a better response than just acting "put out" would have been to maybe suggest alternative ways for you to keep track of when your stop is coming up for sure!

To answer your original question, I personally haven't encountered any rude Amtrak employees, but I have encountered a couple of people who gave off definite "don't mess with me" signals and also one or two (this is a lot more rare fortunately) who were either surprisingly incompetent or had some major difficulty with perspective-taking. None of it rose to the level of what I have experienced traveling by air, however- those experiences still take the cake for me.

 

[Ryan]

I'd love to hear the details of this story.