Training New Employees at Amtrak

[Everydaymatters]

Just curious - what is the training at Amtrak for newly hired train attendants? Is it a quick one-day orientation, or does it consist of several classroom presentations and practice?

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Not sure what you mean by train attendent but I know the Sleeper Attendents go on a few runs with someone more exp. then they take over. Try and find Whoozon1st Detour on the starlight TR he talks about it a little in PART TWO IIRC

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Just kidding I found it for you read about it here Its kind of mixed into the 4 pages of stuff so maybe whooz could just post here lol

 

[Everydaymatters]

What I meant was coach attendant, sleeper attendant, cafe attendant, any of the people who take care of the passengers on the train.

I skimmed through Whoozes' travelogue, but it's pretty lengthy and I couldn't find a lot about the training methods.

Maybe Whooze will fill us in (Betty glances over to Patrick).

 

[WhoozOn1st]

(Patrick catches Betty's eye and takes the hint)

I skimmed over the Tehachapi detour rant too, and there's really not much there about training. I do recall talking a bit about training with rookie sleeper attendant Lindsay. If memory serves, there's a period of classroom instruction, followed by riding the rails under supervision of a veteran attendant; whether an official supervisor or just someone more experienced I don't know. Lindsay had marked up on the extra board to make her first solo run as an attendant, and just happened to get the Coast Starlight's Tehachapi detour. As noted in the rant, until I filled her in she'd had no idea of the railfan import of the occasion.

Perhaps AlanB could enlighten us further, and perhaps a little field assignment for somebody here whooz gonna be riding a sleeper soon would be to please ask their attendant about this training thing and report back. I'd do it myself, but won't be aboard a sleeper 'til October and the Patrick & Alice RailRiot 2009.

EDIT: The technical term for what I'm trying to do here is "passing the buck."

EDIT 2: In case my attempt at buck passing proves unsuccessful, I've made a note to ask about crew training on National Train Day At L.A. if I encounter anybody at Union Station who might be able to provide some info.

 

[VentureForth]

Every job I had since Disney has had orientation that pretty much only focuses on safety and benefits. There's very little cultural training or orientation any more. A full day of 'anonymous' riding followed by a right/wrong seminar and a history of passenger rail would be great.

 

[Guest]

Am I the only one who finds humor in that Amtrak needs to train its new employees.

 

[AAARGH!]

Am I the only one who finds humor in that Amtrak needs to train its new employees.

Yes. :lol:

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Am I the only one who finds humor in that Amtrak needs to train its new employees.

:lol: Did Alan forget to sign in again? h34r: h34r: h34r: h34r: :lol: :lol:

 

[BladeSkier]

Just curious - what is the training at Amtrak for newly hired train attendants? Is it a quick one-day orientation, or does it consist of several classroom presentations and practice?

My training lasted three weeks of class room training, then six training trips on the diffrent trains. I trained as a LSA.

 

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

Just curious - what is the training at Amtrak for newly hired train attendants? Is it a quick one-day orientation, or does it consist of several classroom presentations and practice?

My training lasted three weeks of class room training, then six training trips on the diffrent trains. I trained as a LSA.

There ya have it for the new hire LSA training....

The rest of the "newhire" training for the T&E and OBS dept...

TAC & TAS (Trains attendant coach & sleeper) - two weeks classroom and then one round trip in each craft (and supposed to be on each train their home crewbase staffs)

SA - (service attendant/waiter - two weeks class (usually the same time as the coach and sleeper) and then one or two round trips in the dining car.

A/C - Assistant conductor - six to eight weeks classroom training in WIL, and then qualification time in every area (yard, baggage, etc) and individual routes of the crewbase in which they will be working out of of which they must be qualified to staff as according to the host railroad regulations, Amtrak, both, and or a combination of all (wherever applies).

Conductor - usually start as A/C and work their way into that craft.

Engineer - usually hired from within the conductor ranks, and outside if they already have their FRA certification. Their training time is about eight to twelve weeks in WIL, then route qualification of the base they will work out of.

New hire FRA uncertified engineers - about twelve weeks training in WIL, and then qualification time in every area, route, etc where they must be qualified as according to the host railroad regulations, Amtrak, both, and or a combination of all (wherever applies).

OBS gone freight...

 

[Everydaymatters]

That sounds like enough training for all positions.

What does the classroom part consist of? Is it mostly on how to write up reports and take inventory? Is there anything on customer relations?

Who orders the supplies and food?

 

[jackal]

That sounds like enough training for all positions.
What does the classroom part consist of? Is it mostly on how to write up reports and take inventory? Is there anything on customer relations?

Who orders the supplies and food?

Can't speak to the other positions, and I can't really speak specifically about Amtrak, but if the A/C training is anything like the train service training I received, it's mostly operating regulations (from GCOR, on my railroad, and I got the impression that by following GCOR, we would in effect be following FRA regulations), various procedures (from the Air Brake and Train Handling Manual, at least those portions applicable to train service [as opposed to engine service]), memorizing signal aspects and indications, doing practice tests, and then applying these in field training and then finally on-the-job training before testing out and marking up.

Even though the ARR does do passenger operations, there was no specific training for how to handle passenger trains or customer service interaction, but that's not a big deal because train service employees are mostly concerned with operating the train (customer contact is usually not a major part of the job). I would have expected those employees more involved in customer contact roles (TAs and SAs) to have some sort of customer service training.

FWIW, the Alaska Railroad's equivalent of TACs are the high school student seasonal tour guides, and they actually receive six months of training (via an after-school class they get school credit for) in hospitality. At the end of the class, I believe they are considered "certified Alaskan hosts" (a local hospitality program). The results speak for themselves--nearly everyone who has taken the ARR specifically mentions their tour guide as being one of the highlights of the trip. (There is no equivalent to SAs, since dining is contracted out, though I've never met an unfriendly waiter/waitress on the ARR. The contractor does a good job hiring, too.)

 

[Hanno]

Just curious - what is the training at Amtrak for newly hired train attendants? Is it a quick one-day orientation, or does it consist of several classroom presentations and practice?

My training lasted three weeks of class room training, then six training trips on the diffrent trains. I trained as a LSA.

What is the process to remove a person from a position, like SCA, that they are obviously not suited for. I have had some ultra bad service from a person who didn't care and didn't want to be doing the job! How is such a person released back industry?

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

I skimmed over the Tehachapi detour rant too, and there's really not much there about training.

You wrote a trip report about a train trip and managed to write mostly about bussing and airplaning?

 

[GoldenSpike]

Just curious - what is the training at Amtrak for newly hired train attendants? Is it a quick one-day orientation, or does it consist of several classroom presentations and practice?

My training lasted three weeks of class room training, then six training trips on the diffrent trains. I trained as a LSA.

There ya have it for the new hire LSA training....

The rest of the "newhire" training for the T&E and OBS dept...

TAC & TAS (Trains attendant coach & sleeper) - two weeks classroom and then one round trip in each craft (and supposed to be on each train their home crewbase staffs)

SA - (service attendant/waiter - two weeks class (usually the same time as the coach and sleeper) and then one or two round trips in the dining car.

A/C - Assistant conductor - six to eight weeks classroom training in WIL, and then qualification time in every area (yard, baggage, etc) and individual routes of the crewbase in which they will be working out of of which they must be qualified to staff as according to the host railroad regulations, Amtrak, both, and or a combination of all (wherever applies).

Conductor - usually start as A/C and work their way into that craft.

Engineer - usually hired from within the conductor ranks, and outside if they already have their FRA certification. Their training time is about eight to twelve weeks in WIL, then route qualification of the base they will work out of.

New hire FRA uncertified engineers - about twelve weeks training in WIL, and then qualification time in every area, route, etc where they must be qualified as according to the host railroad regulations, Amtrak, both, and or a combination of all (wherever applies).

OBS gone freight...

The very day you posted, during our 45 min. stop in Shelby MT on the w/b EB, I asked our sleeper attendant what his designator was (joined AMTRAK in January). He said he was a TASA (Sleeper and Dining).

 

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

Just curious - what is the training at Amtrak for newly hired train attendants? Is it a quick one-day orientation, or does it consist of several classroom presentations and practice?

My training lasted three weeks of class room training, then six training trips on the diffrent trains. I trained as a LSA.

There ya have it for the new hire LSA training....

The rest of the "newhire" training for the T&E and OBS dept...

TAC & TAS (Trains attendant coach & sleeper) - two weeks classroom and then one round trip in each craft (and supposed to be on each train their home crewbase staffs)

SA - (service attendant/waiter - two weeks class (usually the same time as the coach and sleeper) and then one or two round trips in the dining car.

A/C - Assistant conductor - six to eight weeks classroom training in WIL, and then qualification time in every area (yard, baggage, etc) and individual routes of the crewbase in which they will be working out of of which they must be qualified to staff as according to the host railroad regulations, Amtrak, both, and or a combination of all (wherever applies).

Conductor - usually start as A/C and work their way into that craft.

Engineer - usually hired from within the conductor ranks, and outside if they already have their FRA certification. Their training time is about eight to twelve weeks in WIL, then route qualification of the base they will work out of.

New hire FRA uncertified engineers - about twelve weeks training in WIL, and then qualification time in every area, route, etc where they must be qualified as according to the host railroad regulations, Amtrak, both, and or a combination of all (wherever applies).

OBS gone freight...

The very day you posted, during our 45 min. stop in Shelby MT on the w/b EB, I asked our sleeper attendant what his designator was (joined AMTRAK in January). He said he was a TASA (Sleeper and Dining).

Yes, that is because the three crafts of TAS, TAC, SA are entry level crafts on the same pay scale and pay rate progression scale. And both TAS and TAC were combined into one craft itself to be known as TA. Hence the combined cross craft training of TA/SA.

I mentioned it here, but wasn't very clear or specific about it. My bad...

SA - (service attendant/waiter - two weeks class (usually the same time as the coach and sleeper) and then one or two round trips in the dining car.

OBS gone freight...