Yahoo Finance: Gardner interviewed

[Willbridge]

We're seeing 'strong demand' for holiday travel: Amtrak President (yahoo.com)

Video interview in NY

 

[Bob Dylan]

Just PR Fluff,with no mention of what the Plans are to accommodate the expected Holiday Crush, whether its adding Cars ( doubtful with the current Short consists and lack of Staff to man the Trains), Special pricing, etc.

Also nothing about the Food and Beverage Services which are currently nothing to write home about @ Stadium Prices!

Total waste of Time IMO!

 

[user 14106]

He did acknowledge that overnight trips on long distance trains performed the best during the pandemic which I guess is something when you hear it coming from Gardner.

 

[Bob Dylan]

He did acknowledge that overnight trips on long distance trains performed the best during the pandemic which I guess is something when you hear it coming from Gardner.

But only because of the High Bucket Fares! The shortened consists and Flex Food, along with the Employee Layoffs/Furloughs, contributed to the increased Revenue!

They're still following this Model while trying to hire OBS so they can increase the consists, and hopefully return Traditional Dining to Orphan Trains like the Texas Eaglette and Cap Very Limited!

 

[west point]

I am going to have to retract one item mentioned a few days ago. The latest hiring posts have changed drastically Just this week Nov 1 - 3 the are 15 different locations open for engineer trainee and 9 conductor positions.
OBS = 8 different openings: 2 Chef == Chicago and Seattle.

Definitely too late for Thanksgiving and probably X-Mas / new years. Depending on school date except for few T&E that have prior experience in that craft. For training what would be wise is to assign these newbies to ride along if classes near Wash then plenty of trains to get some important observation time.

 

[neroden]

I am going to have to retract one item mentioned a few days ago. The latest hiring posts have changed drastically Just this week Nov 1 - 3 the are 15 different locations open for engineer trainee and 9 conductor positions.
OBS = 8 different openings: 2 Chef == Chicago and Seattle.

Definitely too late for Thanksgiving and probably X-Mas / new years. Depending on school date except for few T&E that have prior experience in that craft. For training what would be wise is to assign these newbies to ride along if classes near Wash then plenty of trains to get some important observation time.

Hmm. The Passenger Engineer Trainee and Conductor Trainee listings may not be an accurate hint as to which sign-on points need more staff. But anyway..

Passenger Engineer Trainee positions list Pontiac, Rensselaer (Albany), Toledo, Depew (Buffalo), Lincoln NE, Oakland, Indianapolis, Savannah, Jacksonville, Sanford FL, DC, Denver, LA.

Conductor Trainee positions list Toledo, St Cloud MN, Oakland, Pontiac, Jacksonville, Carbondale, Huntington WV, LA, St Louis, Milwaukee, Chicago.

So, plausibly affecting Wolverine, LSL, Zephyr, Cardinal, Auto Train, Silver Service, EB, Hiawathas, Lincoln Service, CONO/Illini/Saluki, and something out of LA.

This isn't a long list of openings; hopefully some are just for usual staff turnover and don't really represent a shortage; we know Amtrak does normally try to keep an "Extra Board" around.

Extremely sloppily, the Conductor listings have the Engineer description. Whoops.

 

[ShiningTimeStL]

I would absolutely love to be a conductor in St. Louis. My only relative experience is at Six Flags and a heritage 12in gauge operation that I started at this year... what are my chances?

 

[neroden]

I would absolutely love to be a conductor in St. Louis. My only relative experience is at Six Flags and a heritage 12in gauge operation that I started at this year... what are my chances?

It's been said in the past, don't tell them you're a railfan and you have good chances (assuming you're physically able and polite); tell them you're a railfan and they'll keep you out.