I recently completed a round trip by Amtrak from Chicago to St. Louis, Missouri. I am a strong supporter of Amtrak and of rail travel. I consistently encourage my friends and co-workers to travel by Amtrak. For my trip to St. Louis, I encouraged 3 of my friends to try Amtrak for the first time. Unfortunately, they experienced appalling rudeness and incompetence during the boarding process for our train, the Texas Eagle.
In general, the boarding process for trains in Chicago needs to be examined, and improved. It is always my least favorite part of travel by Amtrak when I go coach. On Saturday, August 16, my friends and I experienced unacceptable rudeness on the part of an employee named Ms. Glass.
Two of my friends, Cochise Belcher and Arthur Parker, are recovering from surgery to their legs. Neither can stand for long periods of time, and neither is able to walk for long distances. Before the trip, I contacted Amtrak reservations to inquire about making arrangements for Mr. Belcher and Mr. Parker. I was advised to make arrangements with the red cap at Union Station.
At Union Station, on Saturday, August 16, I checked with the information desk to find out the procedure for getting red cap assistance. I was advised to proceed to the employee in charge of pre-boarding on the south concourse at gate E. When I arrived at gate E, no one was there. Two employees were standing by track 26 completing the boarding process for the California Zephyr. They advised me to complete the pre-boarding process for senior citizens, handicapped people, and parents with small children.
At 2:35 p.m., there was a pre-boarding announcement for train 3 and for train 21, which prompted a mass movement of more than 100 people towards gate E. The temperature in the station was close to 90 degrees, and people were hot, sweaty and short tempered.
As my party of 4 approached gate E, I observed an Amtrak employee (Ms. Glass) informing a passenger that had approached her that, "You aren't going to run over me, back up!" When Mr. Belcher handed her his ticket, she yelled at him, "Are you over 62?" Mr. Belcher said "no". Before he could explain about his leg, Ms Glass ordered him out of line. When I tried to explain his condition, Ms. Glass told me that she did not have to let him in because she had too many families with small children. We had the same discussion when Mr. Parker approached her. We also explained that we were trying to get red cap assistance. Then she told us to stand to the right, rather than have a seat. During the whole interaction, Ms. Glass was loud, aggressive, and intimidating. When I stated my case, she stepped towards me in a threatening manner. Ultimately, a security guard took responsibility to de-escalate the situation by escorting us to seats in the pre-boarding area. At this point, I turned back to see the fourth member of our party being ordered out of line by Ms. Glass. When I went over and explained that this person was also with us, and that I wanted us to stay together, Ms. Glass stated, "I can separate you if I want to." Ultimately, we were able to sit together in the pre-boarding area. However, the experience of entering the pre-boarding area was degrading and insulting.
I believe that this situation could have been avoided if Amtrak employees had taking a few common sense steps. First, it was not necessary to call pre-boarding for two long distance trains at once. Secondly, supervisors should know which employees have better people skills than others, and assign those employees to deal with the pre-boarding process. I observed several employees, the security guard included, soothing passengers after they had experience unpleasant interactions with Ms. Glass.
Guys, this is the text of an email that I sent to Amtrak. Also, I contacted customer relations. They gave a $10 credit each to Mr. Belcher and Mr. Parker.
I think this process could be improved if they started a seat assignment process for the 7 or 8 long distance trains out of Chicago that was started inside the station on the day of departure. . Most of the stress of using Union station revolves around getting seats together for families, and for some people getting window seats.
If you have traveled on these trains, you know that the consist does not very by much on a day to day basis. We also know that Amtrak groups passengers by destination in the various coaches on a train. I believe that the follwoing procedure could work.
A kiosk, or check-in desk could be set up for each Long distance train, or may two long distance trains at the same time. 3 or 4 could be located in the main waiting room with the woooden benches, and 3 or 4 could be located in the new waiting room by the north and south concourse. The Amtrak employee working in the Kiosk would have a diagram of the train, with a seating chart for each coach on the train. When a passenger checks in with this employee by showing their ticket, they would be assigned a seat, or groups of seats in the appropriate car. People who arrived early would hae the best selection of seats, those who arrived late, get what is left. These Kiosks could open about 10 in the morning for West Coast trains, and maybe about 1 ior 2 in the afternoon for the evening trains.
What this would accomplish is giving the passengers who wanted seats together or window seats a means to getting what they desire in a stress free way. For example, If I was going out on 5, I could have breakfast a my favorite restaurrant near the station, walkover with my ticket, get my boarding pass, and then go have lunch or kill time for a few hours before 5 departs. At about 1:20, I return to the station with my boarding pass. I don't have to stand in line to jockey for a seat, and I won't feel the urge to push others offf the edgeof the platform in my rush to get to the coach door where an overworked attendant is assigning seats.
What do you think?
In general, the boarding process for trains in Chicago needs to be examined, and improved. It is always my least favorite part of travel by Amtrak when I go coach. On Saturday, August 16, my friends and I experienced unacceptable rudeness on the part of an employee named Ms. Glass.
Two of my friends, Cochise Belcher and Arthur Parker, are recovering from surgery to their legs. Neither can stand for long periods of time, and neither is able to walk for long distances. Before the trip, I contacted Amtrak reservations to inquire about making arrangements for Mr. Belcher and Mr. Parker. I was advised to make arrangements with the red cap at Union Station.
At Union Station, on Saturday, August 16, I checked with the information desk to find out the procedure for getting red cap assistance. I was advised to proceed to the employee in charge of pre-boarding on the south concourse at gate E. When I arrived at gate E, no one was there. Two employees were standing by track 26 completing the boarding process for the California Zephyr. They advised me to complete the pre-boarding process for senior citizens, handicapped people, and parents with small children.
At 2:35 p.m., there was a pre-boarding announcement for train 3 and for train 21, which prompted a mass movement of more than 100 people towards gate E. The temperature in the station was close to 90 degrees, and people were hot, sweaty and short tempered.
As my party of 4 approached gate E, I observed an Amtrak employee (Ms. Glass) informing a passenger that had approached her that, "You aren't going to run over me, back up!" When Mr. Belcher handed her his ticket, she yelled at him, "Are you over 62?" Mr. Belcher said "no". Before he could explain about his leg, Ms Glass ordered him out of line. When I tried to explain his condition, Ms. Glass told me that she did not have to let him in because she had too many families with small children. We had the same discussion when Mr. Parker approached her. We also explained that we were trying to get red cap assistance. Then she told us to stand to the right, rather than have a seat. During the whole interaction, Ms. Glass was loud, aggressive, and intimidating. When I stated my case, she stepped towards me in a threatening manner. Ultimately, a security guard took responsibility to de-escalate the situation by escorting us to seats in the pre-boarding area. At this point, I turned back to see the fourth member of our party being ordered out of line by Ms. Glass. When I went over and explained that this person was also with us, and that I wanted us to stay together, Ms. Glass stated, "I can separate you if I want to." Ultimately, we were able to sit together in the pre-boarding area. However, the experience of entering the pre-boarding area was degrading and insulting.
I believe that this situation could have been avoided if Amtrak employees had taking a few common sense steps. First, it was not necessary to call pre-boarding for two long distance trains at once. Secondly, supervisors should know which employees have better people skills than others, and assign those employees to deal with the pre-boarding process. I observed several employees, the security guard included, soothing passengers after they had experience unpleasant interactions with Ms. Glass.
Guys, this is the text of an email that I sent to Amtrak. Also, I contacted customer relations. They gave a $10 credit each to Mr. Belcher and Mr. Parker.
I think this process could be improved if they started a seat assignment process for the 7 or 8 long distance trains out of Chicago that was started inside the station on the day of departure. . Most of the stress of using Union station revolves around getting seats together for families, and for some people getting window seats.
If you have traveled on these trains, you know that the consist does not very by much on a day to day basis. We also know that Amtrak groups passengers by destination in the various coaches on a train. I believe that the follwoing procedure could work.
A kiosk, or check-in desk could be set up for each Long distance train, or may two long distance trains at the same time. 3 or 4 could be located in the main waiting room with the woooden benches, and 3 or 4 could be located in the new waiting room by the north and south concourse. The Amtrak employee working in the Kiosk would have a diagram of the train, with a seating chart for each coach on the train. When a passenger checks in with this employee by showing their ticket, they would be assigned a seat, or groups of seats in the appropriate car. People who arrived early would hae the best selection of seats, those who arrived late, get what is left. These Kiosks could open about 10 in the morning for West Coast trains, and maybe about 1 ior 2 in the afternoon for the evening trains.
What this would accomplish is giving the passengers who wanted seats together or window seats a means to getting what they desire in a stress free way. For example, If I was going out on 5, I could have breakfast a my favorite restaurrant near the station, walkover with my ticket, get my boarding pass, and then go have lunch or kill time for a few hours before 5 departs. At about 1:20, I return to the station with my boarding pass. I don't have to stand in line to jockey for a seat, and I won't feel the urge to push others offf the edgeof the platform in my rush to get to the coach door where an overworked attendant is assigning seats.
What do you think?
