Correct. Crew change is scheduled at SCD, and tickets are usually pulled before the train ever arrives there.Last I heard, the crew changes at SCD. (barring the all-too-usual delays)
Correct. Crew change is scheduled at SCD, and tickets are usually pulled before the train ever arrives there.Last I heard, the crew changes at SCD. (barring the all-too-usual delays)
You could threaten to whine at them.This is why the idiotic "one door, check tickets at door" stuff is - according to what I've heard secondhand -- prohibited by the rulebook. Is there some way to get Amtrak to crack down on conductors who do this?At every intermediate stop until the discharge only stops of the NEC, the same thing happened just one door would be opened and our train got later and later, two to two and a half hours late. There were no noticeable freight train delays.
The platform at SPUD is wide enough. Us old-timers at the old Midway station assumed that detraininig people just bypassed the station and walked around the building, maybe to the checked baggage carousel, or not,or to to their ride with friends or family, as need be. It takes some adjustment to not be able to walk right up to the tracks, like we used to do. Now, got to go up, over, around. But who cares about us long-time users?I am not sure if wider than CHI. But it's narrow when you got a lot of people getting off and on at the same time so it can get crowed vs the old Midway, there was LOTS of space.. (I'm guessing they are used to that.)hWhat did he mean by "narrow platforms"? They seem quite wide to me, certainly more so than Chicago Union Station!
For Amtrak employees, getting to the ticket office from the platform shouldn't require going up the escalators through the Waiting Room and back down to the ticketing area.. I haven't been in it, but if you look to the north of the Amtrak platform there appears to be an access point leading to a route that goes under the platform area which would allow access to the ticket office.At the new SPUD, the gate is way up 2 flights from platform to the classic waiting area. The ticketing and baggage check people are way away -- at least 60 yards and 2 flights from the head of the gate to the escalators and stairs to the tracks.
Also, there's still only 2 people assigned to the ticketing and baggage check (2 levels down and 80 yards from the head of the amtrak boarding escalator.
When the eastbound #8 was late a few weeks back, I watched the second "ticketing and baggage person" go up - over - down -- at least 3 times.
I apologize for not explaining more clearly.Or they could follow the baggage cart route.
If they want to be arrestedOr they could follow the baggage cart route.
The best havens for the homeless in Saint Paul - used to be - the old streetcar adit - up under the Cathedral. (gone) Now - I've got no clue. The new wonderful station does not attract. The area around the bluffs near the big Hoffman wye is still pretty good. I see some travellers near Saint Anthony from time to time.When Saint Paul Union Depot was vacant, they used to have problems with homeless people coming up the stairs from the platform to the building to stay warm in the winter even though it wasn't heated. At one time, BN stored old passenger rail cars in the depot, many from the early zephyr trains and the observation cars from the post WWII Empire Builders. They too were a haven for the homeless.
If you take a look at pre-renovation photos of Union Depot when it was shuttered, you can actually see a giant heater near where the First Class lounge is now located. USPS kept the concourse and waiting room heated "just enough" to keep the pipes from freezing and structure from crumbling in the harsh winters.When Saint Paul Union Depot was vacant, they used to have problems with homeless people coming up the stairs from the platform to the building to stay warm in the winter even though it wasn't heated. At one time, BN stored old passenger rail cars in the depot, many from the early zephyr trains and the observation cars from the post WWII Empire Builders. They too were a haven for the homeless.
I meant the employees could follow the baggage cart route and unlock the door from the back side.Or they could follow the baggage cart route.
This is never sane policy. These are trains. People should be on the platform before the train pulls in. Syracuse doesn't have ideal policies, and it has dangerously narrow sections on its platform, but they do get all the boarding passengers onto the platform a few minutes before arrival, so that boarding can be as efficient as possible.Nobody gets to the tracks before official arrival.
A policy which needs to be changed. This is another one of these goofy airplane-mimicking policies which makes no sense for trains.I've heard her check in at the lock on the gate to the tracks, use her card, check in with "somewhere", and open the mostly-locked door to the platform. "Super-gate dragons are us"
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The point is -- one of the two ticket-area (and bagage-check people)
has to walk to, and unlock, the concourse level gate. In person. At the head of the stairs.
This is obviously a policy thing. No pax on the platform before the train officially arrives.
I've only caught #7 out of SPUD once, but when I took it we boarding passengers were on the platform at least 10 minutes before the train arrived. I'm not surprised that different Amtrak personnel have different procedures, as that's the one uniformity of Amtrak.No pax on the platform before the train officially arrives.
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