Amtrak Missouri service will continue!

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Superliner Diner

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From St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/27/03:

Amtrak to continue service in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Encouraged by the prospect of getting more money, Amtrak said Thursday that it has decided to continue its twice daily passenger train service between St. Louis and Kansas City.
More about this is here.
 
More money? A surcharge, but less service? Eliminating staff at stations not only puts people out of work but provides less service to the traveling public. One of the stations to lose staff is Jefferson City--the Missouri state capital, where financial decisions are made. Ironic? People, especially the elderly, like being able to go to the station and talk to someone, ask questions, etc.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, the Cascadia corridor trains (except the Coast Starlight) are funded by the states of Washington and Oregon, and stations are manned (womaned, too), at least most of the time. I like seeing that.
 
Steve Relei said:
More money? A surcharge, but less service? Eliminating staff at stations not only puts people out of work but provides less service to the traveling public. One of the stations to lose staff is Jefferson City--the Missouri state capital, where financial decisions are made. Ironic? People, especially the elderly, like being able to go to the station and talk to someone, ask questions, etc.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, the Cascadia corridor trains (except the Coast Starlight) are funded by the states of Washington and Oregon, and stations are manned (womaned, too), at least most of the time. I like seeing that.
I agree Steve. However, isn't an unmanned station better than no train service at all? That might have been the other option.
 
This is definitely true. My one personal wish is that all the unstaffed stations would have a QuikTrak machine so people with reservations can pick up their tickets/purchase tickets, rather than Conductors having to cut tickets on board.
 
Yes, I agree than unmanned stations are better than no trains. Still. one can't help wonder how much service loss is going to be enough. What kinds of services can we lose and still keep people choosing to ride the trains. We can't expect people to ride in cattle cars. Not only do I like to watch trains, I like to ride them and be comfortable and attended to on them. I like to think that the people on the trains I watch go by are enjoying themselves and are being properly taken care of, having a delicious meal in the diner, having a good night's sleep in the sleeper, and so on.
 
I completely agree with what you are saying here Steve. This is one of the reasons I would like to get a Train Ambassador program started down here on Silver Service. I have seen many attendants struggle as they try to work 3-4 cars at once. I think that there are enough active railfans down here that we could start a volunteer program that has the Ambassador ride either 98-97, 92-91, or 90-89 and assist the Coach attendant with seating passengers, making their trip as comfortable as possible, and relieving the stress from the sole coach attendant. I think the program could be successful if the volunteers are given a one or two day training class on how to operate the equipment and so on and so forth.
 
That much is true, but the area we would be running through isn't exactly the best for pointing out sights, mostly cow country, rolling plains, orange trees, and a bunch of scrap heaps. As you get further up on the A-Line (north of Deland) it makes for pretty good commentary. My good Conductor friend gave me a great narrative about the area we were going through, but a lot of it more of the stuff railfans would care about, spurs, spurs that were, the home of the Georgia 300, where he grew up etc. Down on the South Florida corridor and in Orlando is where I think the ambassadors would be best used, as you have a large influx of short to medium long hauls, as well as a large number of of long hauls.
 
It is, of course, very bad when a station is completely unstaffed. It is also bad when a station is very short-staffed. I witness this most commonly at Birmingham and Atlanta. At BHM, the same person has to sell tickets, and handle baggage, etc. And frequently the northbound and southbound arrive at very nearly the same time, if one or the other is late . It is a madhouse. Not much better in Atlanta.
 
We ahve a few similar situations like that down here in Florida. Three stations like this I can think of off the top of my head are Deland, Winter Haven, and Tampa. Tampa is the worst of them, obviously because of the volume at the station. But the other guys take it in stride and handle it pretty well.
 
Amtrak has a Press Release that came out today regarding this topic.

March 07, 2003
CHANGES TO AMTRAK'S SERVICE ANNOUNCED DUE TO REDUCED STATE FUNDING

Two train stations to be unstaffed and a surcharge to be imposed

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. - While Amtrak has decided to keep twice daily service operating between St. Louis and Kansas City beyond February 28 despite a state funding shortfall, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and Amtrak have agreed to implement some cost-savings measures to help meet the shortfall.

Amtrak's contract with MoDOT states that Amtrak may discontinue daily operation of the Missouri Mules after February 28 if a supplemental funding agreement is not in place.  Given that the Missouri House passed a supplemental appropriations bill that included $800,000 in operating support for Amtrak late last month, Amtrak announced it would continue to operate the second daily roundtrip between St. Louis and Kansas City.  Earlier this week, the Missouri Senate also passed the supplemental appropriations bill with this funding level for Amtrak.

Since the supplemental appropriation falls short of the $1.2 million required to maintain the service as it currently exists, however, the two parties have decided to move forward in reducing expenses in order to maintain the two roundtrips currently provided by Amtrak.

First, station agent positions in Kirkwood and Jefferson City, MO are slated to be eliminated to achieve additional savings for the remainder of the fiscal year.  Arrangements are being made that will keep the stations open during the day to serve most train passengers.  Since passengers will no longer be able to buy tickets in the station and the train is reserved, they should purchase tickets in advance via the Web site www.amtrak.com or the toll-free number 1-800-USA-RAIL.  Those making last-minute trips may be able to purchase tickets from the conductor with cash, if seats are available.

Second, a $5 surcharge per intra-state trip is being implemented April 1 to generate additional revenue. Since the surcharge may impact ridership, however, it is unclear exactly how much revenue will be raised.  

Amtrak provides service across the state between St. Louis and Kansas City on two daily trains that receive operating support from the State of Missouri - the Missouri Mules (#301/306) and the Ann Rutledge (#303/304), with service to/from Chicago.   In the Midwest, Amtrak also receives operating support for intra-state rail service in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan.
 
A news story on the $5 surcharge and service cut becoming reality:

From St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3/8/03:

Deal will keep Amtrak trains running in Missouri, but riders will pay $5 surcharge on ticketsJEFFERSON CITY - State officials and Amtrak have reached a deal that will keep the trains running through Missouri but will cost riders a little more.

Starting April 1, all instate tickets will have a $5 boarding surcharge. As of that date, stations in Kirkwood and Jefferson City will not be staffed, leaving Kansas City and St. Louis as the only staffed stations in the state.
Entire article can be found here.
 
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