I rode Amtrak train 172 the other day. The equipment was in good shape, clean and the temperature just right. The problem was the constant announcements made in a harsh, aggressive voice over a PA system that was so loud that it must have been at maximum volume. Colleague with me is a foreigner and was really annoyed at how aggressive the announcements were - repeated blaring about the same station stops, constant orders to keep masks on etc. Then crew come through frequently with their blaring static filled walkie talkies. It was really an unpleasant experience. Must it be like this?
Not excusing your experience at all, which sounds very unpleasant, just a few notes:
1) The equipment is old. PA volume cannot be adjusted by crews. In some cars it is deafeningly loud and in others so quiet you can't hear it when the train is stopped with the air conditioning turned off. They get written up and eventually mechanical will adjust.
2) There are supposed to be mask announcements whenever passengers board the train and as needed in response to those "forgetting" their mask fell off, in additional to the personal follow up provided to those folks. It is required, being audited and crews have been written up for not making the mask announcements.
3) Aggressive announcements don't help at all. If someone has their headphones on and is ignoring the competent, professional announcements they're going to ignore the aggressive ones, too. And if they miss their stop as a result, maybe they'll pay better attention next time. No need to punish the many for the ignorance of a few.
I wish Amtrak would install more modern displays i cars and provide more upto date status information on them continuously rather than making frequent loud announcements. Of course announcements cannot be totally foregone sice that is the only channel of information available to those that have inadequate eyesight. But display of upto date information continuously is very useful for the rest.
The electronic dot-matrix EXIT THIS WAY signs on each end of the Amfleet cars used to be programmable, but they just cycled through a couple static messages and each sign had to be independently updated with a cable, IIRC. No provision for dynamic messaging of upcoming stations, etc. I'd love to see them replaced with LCD signs that provided all sorts of useful information, but that's not going to happen in the Amfleets. There was a Digital Train Line project installing highspeed data connections between cars, but that project seems to have been abandoned. It's a square orange box you'll see on the end of some cars. It was meant to provide faster Wi-Fi and a backbone for onboard technology like this.
The new trainsets, whenever they're ordered, will likely have these signs. Thinking about it, digital signage on new trains may also include automated, digital announcements. There are probably some ADA aspects that apply requiring both audible and visual announcements be the same. Hopefully Julie won't get mad and switch to Aggressive Announcement Mode en-route.
