Coast Starlight

[Marisa Samuels]

I have now had to change my reservations four times. Now Railpac.org tells me "sometime in May". Amtrak tells me NOTHING. I am so angry that I plan to attend Railpac's meeting and tell them what I think of their wonderful success in getting Amtrak to run the Starlight to Klamath and then bus you to Eugene. And then, Eugene to Klamath, bussed, in the middle of the night. I didn't pay for this, I paid for a TRAIN. Amtrak has nothing on its website and you practically have to spend hours on the internet to get anything. I have reservations now on the 13th and 16th of May, and if I were a violent person, I would be showing up in Amtrak's main office screaming about their insensitivity toward their passengers. I have been as many as 6 and one-half hours late on the Starlight, but still I ride, because the train is lovely. It gets less lovlier every year. The personnels' morale is in the toilet. They are overworked. The amenities have slowly been dispensed with. But still I ride. But this is the last straw. Amtrak won't even put updates on their sites, and their personnel (customer relations) don't know any more than I do. I am disgusted and the next time someone wants to privatize Amtrak I will be for it.

Marisa Samuels

 

[AlanB]

Marisa,

While we feel some of your pain and many of us here have criticized Amtrak for how it's handled certain parts of this disruption, you do also need to realize that the disruption isn't their fault. The side of a mountain fell down taking out the tracks that the train needs to use. Tracks that Amtrak doesn't own and has no responsibility for repairing.

That said, even the company that does own the tracks UP had hoped that they would have the repairs done long before this. Massive, unusual amounts of snow have falled on the site of that slide hampering their efforts big time. There have also been smaller slides that have occured in the original damage path, setting them back several times. UP desperately wants this line reopened and are doing everything that they can to get it open.

Next, starting with April 15th, Amtrak will once again start running the train as far north as Klamath Falls. Prior to this point, the train only runs to Sacramento. And while I realize that the bus isn't nearly as nice as the train ride, it is not an overnight ride. You would have been able to sleep in your room. Going northbound you'd get off the train at 8:25 AM to transfer to the bus. Going southbound you'd reboard the train by 10:00 PM and find your room all ready for you to sleep in. The bus ride connects with yet another train on the other side of the slide, that runs between Eugene and Seattle.

Now I won't disagree that Amtrak needs to do a better job of getting this info out to it's customers. They IMHO have dropped the ball on this. But that said, part of the issue is that they are relying on UP to provide them with information. And sadly as I pointed out above, that information remains in flux.

Next, Amtrak will be relaunching the Coast Starlight next month. This will see a restoration of the Pacific Parlour cars, full service dining, sleepers that have seen a major refurbishing, and a few other ammenties. So things will improve very shortly.

I also suspect that between those improvements, coupled with the fact that the employees, many of whom have gone 8 years without a new contract and therefore a raise, now have a new contract in the works will improve the moral.

Finally, I sure hope that Amtrak never get's privatized, because if that happens you won't be riding the train. No one will run it without a subsidy.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Marisa (what a nice name!),

I'm also sorry that you've experienced such troubles.

However, if privatization of Amtrak, and any passenger rail service, including urban transit, was thought to be a viable and profitable corporate option, don't you think private companies would be falling all over themselves to get a piece of the pie?

Notice that they are not.

No other nation expects passenger rail service to be a profitable business. It's more akin to a public utility that nations (except for ours) realize is vital to their economic vitality.

Perhaps a new administration will at last realize this, instead of making repeated efforts to kill Amtrak.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

The lack of amenities and the service problem you refer to are not Amtrak's fault. The lack of amenities is your government starving Amtrak of funds and demanding they "cut losses" by spending more money and reducing revenue. Works well, right?

The slide is the fault of God or nature, your pick.

The lack of communication is the fault of society, not wanting to say something will be when they aren't 100% signed in triplicate sure about something.

 

[gyuri_ft]

No other nation expects passenger rail service to be a profitable business. It's more akin to a public utility that nations (except for ours) realize is vital to their economic vitality.
Perhaps a new administration will at last realize this, instead of making repeated efforts to kill Amtrak.

Unfortunately wrong. The new trend in Europe is privatization and expecting the service to be profitable. There are fiendish ways to do it - and 'neocon' railroad managers from Spain till Russia try to apply what they learned while completing their on-line MBA degrees.

Spain: kill the TCV (common international) passenger tariff, every train now "global fare", no per-kilometer tariff. Ridership down, people complain, use busses and www.vueling.com

France: almost killing the TCV tariff (with TCV tickets only local trains can be used). Large families now happy to travel by car, the degressive TCV tariff not useable. Also return discount killed = we will use car.

Germany: price increases the way the TCV tariff now is per-relation, not per-km, that means massive and unreasonable price increases - unless you know the trick (but German CITY-STAR tickets in Hungary or Serbia, laugh at German tariff)

Italy: like France, except, their TCV tariff is twice as high as domestic anyway - what an idiotism.

East Europe: TCV tariff is 2-3 times as high as domestic.

Russia: make domestic tariff unreasonably high, so you can get rid of these pesky passengers, what a relief! Everyone who can, drives. Trains are less crowded, finally.

Ukraina, Russia, Baltic States, Serbia: make sure, you stuff the most incapable losers in the ticket offices who do not know, what discounts and tickets are available. The hidden agenda: make everyone travel by road anyway.

Hungary: make sure, your conductors are the most corrupt ones on the Earth. Passengers who know the tariff and try to beat the unreasonable TCV tariff are asked to pay baksheesh.

I will stop here - because you will think, I am difficult to be pleased. No, we kind of liked the way it WAS. But the trend in Europe is alarming. This just won't work. BTW: MÁV-Baksheesh is eons old tough, since 70-s they play the game, we play the game.

 

[Chris J.]

No other nation expects passenger rail service to be a profitable business. It's more akin to a public utility that nations (except for ours) realize is vital to their economic vitality.
Perhaps a new administration will at last realize this, instead of making repeated efforts to kill Amtrak.

Unfortunately wrong. The new trend in Europe is privatization and expecting the service to be profitable. There are fiendish ways to do it - and 'neocon' railroad managers from Spain till Russia try to apply what they learned while completing their on-line MBA degrees.

You missed the mess that is the UK. After the rails were privatised (for, imho political / dogmatic reaons by John Major, who will be remembered for nothing else.. even the anti-rail Thatcher didn't go as far as to privatise them) subsidy rocketed and the service stayed largely the same or got worse - so evidently someone was making a lot of money out of this.

Eventually after a series of fatal accidents, the infractructure part (Railtrack) was semi-nationalised to be Network Rail, a 'not for profit' group (and to their word they've made a loss every year). The West Coast fiasco (or fiascos, there have been several) is an example of this, along with serveral signalling projects that overran badly. I'm not sure if they've finished Portsmouth yet!

Now the trains are run by train operating companies - they each bid to run a given set of lines. The winner is the company who will accept the least subsidy or pay the most premium to run the given franchise. Of course, as First Great Western should tell you (but probably aren't allowed to) their hands are also tied because the Department for Transport micromanage the entire operation, so while there is serious overcrowding, theres not a lot they can do because the DfT won't allow them to have any more stock.

I won't deny there have been some improvements, but IMHO almost all of them we would have seen anyway under the old BR and at a fraction of the cost. The new trains would have eventually happened anyway, the old 1960s slamdoor stock was going to have to be replaced at some point.

One of the few real good things that has some about from it all was Hull Trains. Setup as a true private enterprise who saw a demand for a through train from Hull to London, and they were right and have improved the service several times, including new trains. IIRC they pay the charges to run the trains on the track, but aren't involved in the franchising system.

My station (York) now has five train companies serving it - im not sure this is better for anyone than the old 'British Rail'. Other than in a few small cases there is no real competition between the lines. If i want to get to Manchester, only Transpennine Express will do that, if I want to get to Exeter, I have to use CrossCountry. There are now 2 companies to take me to London, however.

So we now have the worst of both worlds (something the UK excels at in several areas IMHO). The DfT keeps on about 'tranferring the costs of rail transport to the users' .. I don't see them transferring the costs of road or air transport to the users, but that's also no suprise to anyone.

 

[yarrow]

it sounds to me like marisa is not a newbie to amtrak. she has dealt with amtrak, continues to ride but is now near the end of her patience. not because of the slide or union pacific or amtrak's on board employess but(and i use capitals rarely)AMTRAK'S UNCARING ATTITUDE ABOUT PASSENGERS AND THEIR LIVES AND PLANS MANAGMENT. there have been threads lately exhorting people to take the train not the plane(which is what our family has done the past few years) but i have had much better luck getting info from airlines that from amtrak. we are booked on the cs in june. will it happen? will it happen as booked? who knows? not me. not amtrak. i don't mind subsidizing passenger rail(as we subsidize other transportation modalities)but i am getting tired of the subsidy being paid for what we are getting. WAKE UP, MR KUMMANT.

 

[AlanB]

we are booked on the cs in june. will it happen? will it happen as booked? who knows? not me. not amtrak. i don't mind subsidizing passenger rail(as we subsidize other transportation modalities)but i am getting tired of the subsidy being paid for what we are getting. WAKE UP, MR KUMMANT.

Yarrow, you already know where I stand regarding what Amtrak did to you when the CS was first suspended, leaving you and your family stuck in EMY, so I won't rehash that other than to say that was a huge mistake on Amtrak's part.

But as far as what's going to happen in June, this isn't about Amtrak not doing it's job communicating. They simply don't know. Even UP isn't sure what's going to happen and it's their line, their tracks. They originally thought that they'd have things open 2 months ago. But that was before several more smaller slides occured, and IIRC something like 12 feet of snow fell on the area hampering their efforts.

Until the mountain stops moving and mother nature stops dropping snow on them, no one on earth truly know when that line is going to reopen fully.

That said things are looking much better finally, UP has started running a few freight trains through the area at night. However major work continues during the daylight hours shutting the line down during that time. And of course Amtrak runs through there at that time of day. Not to mention that at present I don't think that either UP or Amtrak is willing to gamble with a train full of passengers that the mountain won't slide again.

Now I do think that Amtrak could and should have it's agent's providing better answers than some people seem to be getting, not to mention consistant answers. When one agent tells you that the train will be running next week and another says, "no, it's still a bus." That is a problem.

But again, when an agent tells you that he/she doesn't know about June, that I think is Amtrak acting responsibly. Things look very good that the train will indeed be running through by June, and most likely by early next month, but the simple reality is that no one can guarantee that. If the mountain slides again, all bets are off!

 

[yarrow]

alan, maybe i have just gone from being an incurable amtrak optimist to an amtrak pessimist. perhaps i will settle someday as an amtrak realist. when i look at those on this board who have vacations planned on the cs and the inability of amtrak to deal with this problem the day after the slide with a bus bridge from klamath falls to eugene thereby solving the uncertainty of its customers and amtrak's pr problem i am incredulous that a company with competent managment would handle the situation as they have.

even now, my wife wants to go spk-dav on 4/25. amtrak will sell her a ticket spk-dav but not a return ticket as they won't offer that service until 5/7.

when you multiply the number of people on this board who are unhappy with amtrak's handling of the situation times the customer base as a whole, i ask, what is amtrak thinking.

this debacle, which has taken place in the name of "saving" money has to have cost many times the "savings" in customer and employee dedication to amtrak.

as always,alan, i appreciate your insightful comments

 

[transit54]

With regard towards privatization in Europe, I think its important to note that the privatized train companies are only responsible for the "above the rails" costs. The governments of Europe have spent billions to provide them with new, passenger only high speed tracks, electric infrastructure, and all sorts of research and development funding. They are responsible for covering above the rails costs, including train maintenance and labor costs, but the government keeps the tracks in shape, builds new tracks, and generally helps them along. It's an arrangement that Anthony Pearl, in his book, "New Departures: Rethinking Rail Passenger Policy in the Twenty-First Century" terms the "new model railroad." (BTW, IMHO that book is an excellent and insightful read if you want an examination of Amtrak and VIA provided in a global context - I can't recommend it highly enough).

The reality is that in the US, Amtrak has to share freight tracks with freight trains, is subjected to constant delays that cost them millions (see the other thread that was running on this recently), and has to work frequently in a political environment that is very hostile to its very existence. I wouldn't rule out privatizing US passenger rail, but I wouldn't suggest it until we are spending yearly on railroads what we are on airplanes or highways. And as in any form of transportation - the company may be private, but the subsidy is always there.

 

[AlanB]

alan, maybe i have just gone from being an incurable amtrak optimist to an amtrak pessimist. perhaps i will settle someday as an amtrak realist. when i look at those on this board who have vacations planned on the cs and the inability of amtrak to deal with this problem the day after the slide with a bus bridge from klamath falls to eugene thereby solving the uncertainty of its customers and amtrak's pr problem i am incredulous that a company with competent managment would handle the situation as they have. even now, my wife wants to go spk-dav on 4/25. amtrak will sell her a ticket spk-dav but not a return ticket as they won't offer that service until 5/7.

when you multiply the number of people on this board who are unhappy with amtrak's handling of the situation times the customer base as a whole, i ask, what is amtrak thinking.

this debacle, which has taken place in the name of "saving" money has to have cost many times the "savings" in customer and employee dedication to amtrak.

as always,alan, i appreciate your insightful comments

Yarrow,

Again, no arugements that Amtrak should have kept the bus bridge between Klamath and Eugene that they ran for the first three days following the slide running this entire time. Not only would that have not left people stranded like happened to you, it would have taken a lot of the misinformation out of the loop as it were. One consistant policy would have made everyone's life easier. Instead we had three days of bus bridging. Then we had a few weeks of total annulment. Then we got a few weeks of service between LAX and Sacramento. Then we added an overnight bus run that connects at SAC with the train.

And now here we are once again talking about service to Klamath Falls, with a bus bridge between there and Eugene.

This has without a doubt caused mass confusion for Amtrak's customers, made a customer service agent's job much harder, and frankly probably pissed off many a potential traveler. They should have simply stuck with the original plan and never varried from that plan.

But I will repeat once again, to expect anyone at Amtrak to know for sure when the entire line will reopen is quite simply impossible. This is a disaster unlike any that the RR's have seen since Katrina took out the Gulf coast.

 

[Amtrak Watcher]

The case of the Coast Starlight is just another example of the decline of taste, politeness, and general functioning in America. The American century has come to a close. We are watching the passing of the baton to new centers of power and greatness elsewhere on the globe. Have you been on American Airlines lately? Have you been on any of the U.S. air carriers lately? The same petty, narcissistic, self-centered attitude in our government that allowed a stupid turf war within the FAA, dressed up in the garb of American Airlines, to be visited on the flying public this week, is precisely the same self-centered and tiresome attitude that keeps Amtrak from being funded as a viable entity. Our government is content to ride rough-shod over the American people. Our elected leadership would just as soon have all of us living in Section-8 housing as they would have us wallowing in a neurotic fear of not getting a mortgage bail-out. Our leaders have distilled themselves down into an oligarchy hostile to the fabric of individual human dignity. Since well-run and pleasant travel facilities enhance the individual's spirit, just as good food and safe cities do, we are sure not to see these in the present century. Today's Amtrak, like the airlines, like the big-box stores, like the retail giants selling us junk, are symbols of the sacrifice of excellence and good taste to the pitiful and petty.

 

[Guest Marisa Samuels]

it sounds to me like marisa is not a newbie to amtrak. she has dealt with amtrak, continues to ride but is now near the end of her patience. not because of the slide or union pacific or amtrak's on board employess but(and i use capitals rarely)AMTRAK'S UNCARING ATTITUDE ABOUT PASSENGERS AND THEIR LIVES AND PLANS MANAGMENT. there have been threads lately exhorting people to take the train not the plane(which is what our family has done the past few years) but i have had much better luck getting info from airlines that from amtrak. we are booked on the cs in june. will it happen? will it happen as booked? who knows? not me. not amtrak. i don't mind subsidizing passenger rail(as we subsidize other transportation modalities)but i am getting tired of the subsidy being paid for what we are getting. WAKE UP, MR KUMMANT.

Yarrow, you are absolutely right. Those are my complaints. I know all about UP, I know all about unforeseen problems caused by mechanical failure or nature, but while I can get annoyed about these things, they don't stop me from riding the train. Even this last mess won't stop me. But I am ENRAGED (I don't usually use capitals either) by Amtrak's attitude and unprofessional comunications system. If you look at any official Amtrak site you get stuff for January 28, pictures of rail trips, etc. What's so hard about updating the site?

Marisa (I have ridden the train since I was 5, alone -- Southern Pacific. I am 72.)

 

[Mommie to 5]

Here's a good one... My daughter and I are riding back on the Coast Starlight on the 23rd. I wouldn't have even known that the busing was involved except for this forum. When my tickets were issued the end of March, I was issued a ticket all the way from LA to Portland. I called Amtrak to find out if indeed we were being bused, and here's the itinerary that I received today:

Bus: 8447 Thruway Bus

Departure: Boise, Idaho

Tuesday April 15, 2008 10:50AM

Arrival: Salt Lake City, Utah

Tuesday April 15, 2008 6:10PM

Accommodation: 2 Reserved Thruway Seats

Train: 5 California Zephyr

Departure: Salt Lake City, Utah

Tuesday April 15, 2008 11:30PM

Arrival: Sacramento, California

Wednesday April 16, 2008 4:11PM

Accommodation: Superliner Roomette 13 In Car 0532

Train: 551 Capitols

Departure: Sacramento, California

Wednesday April 16, 2008 7:40PM

Arrival: Oakland (Jack London Square), California

Wednesday April 16, 2008 9:38PM

Accommodation: 2 Unreserved Coach Seats

Bus: 4768 Thruway Bus

Departure: Oakland (Jack London Square), California

Wednesday April 16, 2008 10:00PM

Arrival: Santa Barbara, California

Thursday April 17, 2008 6:30AM

Accommodation: 2 Reserved Thruway Seats

Train: 768 Pacific Surfliner

Departure: Santa Barbara, California

Thursday April 17, 2008 6:45AM

Arrival: Anaheim, California

Thursday April 17, 2008 10:23AM

Accommodation: 2 Business Class Seats

Train: 763 Pacific Surfliner

Departure: Anaheim, California

Wednesday April 23, 2008 8:06AM

Arrival: Los Angeles, California

Wednesday April 23, 2008 8:50AM

Accommodation: 2 Unreserved Coach Seats

Train: 14 Coast Starlight

Departure: Los Angeles, California

Wednesday April 23, 2008 10:15AM

Arrival: Klamath Falls, Oregon

Thursday April 24, 2008 8:15AM

Accommodation: Superliner Roomette 11 In Car 1430

Bus: 6814 Thruway Bus

Departure: Klamath Falls, Oregon

Friday April 25, 2008 8:45AM

Arrival: Eugene, Oregon

Friday April 25, 2008 12:15PM

Accommodation: 2 Reserved Thruway Seats

Train: 1014 Coast Starlight

Departure: Eugene, Oregon

Friday April 25, 2008 12:44PM

Arrival: Portland, Oregon

Friday April 25, 2008 3:40PM

Accommodation: 2 Reserved Coach Seats

Bus: 8455 Thruway Bus

Departure: Portland, Oregon

Friday April 25, 2008 11:50PM

Arrival: Boise, Idaho

Saturday April 26, 2008 10:20AM

Accommodation: 2 Reserved Thruway Seats

I don't think I like Klamath Falls enough to spend an entire day there! lol!! Needless to say, I'm on hold with an agent right now to see why the heck I'm there for a whole day. I wouldn't have even noticed, except for that my husband noticed that my trip was suddenly extended by a day, and he only noticed because he has to stay home with the other four kids!! lol!

 

[AlanB]

If you look at any official Amtrak site you get stuff for January 28, pictures of rail trips, etc. What's so hard about updating the site?

Here's part of the info from Amtrak's site:

April 8, 2008
Partial Amtrak Coast Starlight Service Restored Between Los Angeles and Seattle

Motorcoach Service between Klamath Falls and Eugene, Ore.

OAKLAND - Amtrak will operate partial rail service between Los Angeles and Seattle on the disrupted Coast Starlight route beginning Tuesday, April 15, 2008 with the northbound Coast Starlight, train #14. The first southbound Coast Starlight, train #11, will depart Seattle on Wednesday, April 16, 2008.

Trains operating between Seattle and Eugene will only consist of coach cars, a lounge car, a café car, and a baggage car. Passengers will transfer to motorcoach service between Eugene and Klamath Falls in both directions. The northbound and southbound, Coast Starlight trains #14 and #11 will operate normally between Los Angeles and Klamath Falls, Ore., with coach cars, a dining car, a lounge car, a baggage car and sleeper accommodations.

The full notice can be found on Amtrak's site by clicking here.

I will grant that it probably should be more prominently displayed, but the info is there.

 

[GG-1]

Here's a good one...

Aloha

I can understand why the return is routed the way it is due to the land slide that wiped out the tracks. But I don't understand why you are booked with so many segments t0 Anaheim. The CZ goes to Emeryille/San Francisco The Coast Starlight To LA and a Surfliner to Anaheim.

However it is to late to change so just enjoy the trip and time with your daughter.

 

[Mommie to 5]

Here's a good one...

Aloha

I can understand why the return is routed the way it is due to the land slide that wiped out the tracks. But I don't understand why you are booked with so many segments t0 Anaheim. The CZ goes to Emeryille/San Francisco The Coast Starlight To LA and a Surfliner to Anaheim.

However it is to late to change so just enjoy the trip and time with your daughter.

Oh my goodness Eric, I KNOW! Apparently the CZ misses the connection with the Coast Starlight, so we are forced onto the bus. That's actually the part of the trip that I am looking forward to the least, but I can sleep anywhere for one night, right?????? Hope so! If not, I'll know not to do that part of the trip again! I tried a bunch of different ways to get into Anaheim with the best possible connections and this was all I could come up with. Next time I travel, I'm going to submit my request to this board to do the planning for me! You all are just so much more experienced than I am. Like I said, I don't mind the train ride at all, but I sure would have preferred not to be on that bus!

As for my crazy entire day that I was spending in Klamath Falls, Amtrak changed that for me. Apparently the agent that I talked to was less than pleased with the way the whole thing was handled. The first agent had told me that my fare difference would be handled at the station in SLC, but the agent who fixed my itinerary said that wouldn't have happened in SLC at all because they're not allowed to adjust fares at the station. Good thing that my husband caught the whole thing. SO - I'm getting enough of a refund to take a chunk of out upgrading to a bedroom, which I just might do! AND, I no longer have a day's layover in Klamath Falls. Imagine how surprised I would have been when I was stuck there for a day!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

The case of the Coast Starlight is just another example of the decline of taste, politeness, and general functioning in America. The American century has come to a close. We are watching the passing of the baton to new centers of power and greatness elsewhere on the globe. Have you been on American Airlines lately? Have you been on any of the U.S. air carriers lately? The same petty, narcissistic, self-centered attitude in our government that allowed a stupid turf war within the FAA, dressed up in the garb of American Airlines, to be visited on the flying public this week, is precisely the same self-centered and tiresome attitude that keeps Amtrak from being funded as a viable entity. Our government is content to ride rough-shod over the American people. Our elected leadership would just as soon have all of us living in Section-8 housing as they would have us wallowing in a neurotic fear of not getting a mortgage bail-out. Our leaders have distilled themselves down into an oligarchy hostile to the fabric of individual human dignity. Since well-run and pleasant travel facilities enhance the individual's spirit, just as good food and safe cities do, we are sure not to see these in the present century. Today's Amtrak, like the airlines, like the big-box stores, like the retail giants selling us junk, are symbols of the sacrifice of excellence and good taste to the pitiful and petty.

I just wanted to mention, when it comes to looking at the world, you and I seem to be on the same page.

 

[Marisa Samuels]

Marisa,
While we feel some of your pain and many of us here have criticized Amtrak for how it's handled certain parts of this disruption, you do also need to realize that the disruption isn't their fault. The side of a mountain fell down taking out the tracks that the train needs to use. Tracks that Amtrak doesn't own and has no responsibility for repairing.

That said, even the company that does own the tracks UP had hoped that they would have the repairs done long before this. Massive, unusual amounts of snow have falled on the site of that slide hampering their efforts big time. There have also been smaller slides that have occured in the original damage path, setting them back several times. UP desperately wants this line reopened and are doing everything that they can to get it open.

Next, starting with April 15th, Amtrak will once again start running the train as far north as Klamath Falls. Prior to this point, the train only runs to Sacramento. And while I realize that the bus isn't nearly as nice as the train ride, it is not an overnight ride. You would have been able to sleep in your room. Going northbound you'd get off the train at 8:25 AM to transfer to the bus. Going southbound you'd reboard the train by 10:00 PM and find your room all ready for you to sleep in. The bus ride connects with yet another train on the other side of the slide, that runs between Eugene and Seattle.

Now I won't disagree that Amtrak needs to do a better job of getting this info out to it's customers. They IMHO have dropped the ball on this. But that said, part of the issue is that they are relying on UP to provide them with information. And sadly as I pointed out above, that information remains in flux.

Next, Amtrak will be relaunching the Coast Starlight next month. This will see a restoration of the Pacific Parlour cars, full service dining, sleepers that have seen a major refurbishing, and a few other ammenties. So things will improve very shortly.

I also suspect that between those improvements, coupled with the fact that the employees, many of whom have gone 8 years without a new contract and therefore a raise, now have a new contract in the works will improve the moral.

Finally, I sure hope that Amtrak never get's privatized, because if that happens you won't be riding the train. No one will run it without a subsidy.

That's all very interesting, but when and where do I eat? On the bus? A box lunch/dinner? They're going to open up the diner at 10 pm? This is better than a "bus bridge" from Sac to Eugene (!) but not much.

Marisa

 

[AlanB]

That's all very interesting, but when and where do I eat? On the bus? A box lunch/dinner? They're going to open up the diner at 10 pm? This is better than a "bus bridge" from Sac to Eugene (!) but not much.
Marisa

I'm sure that they won't be opening the diner up at 10:00 PM in the southbound direction. I don't know if Amtrak will provide boxed dinners to sleeping car passengers on the buses or not. You may just have to get dinner in the cafe car prior to arrival into Eugene. Or perhaps buy something to bring with you on the bus.

It is also possible that the bus will just stop some where to allow people to buy their dinner.

 

[amtrakwolverine]

That's all very interesting, but when and where do I eat? On the bus? A box lunch/dinner? They're going to open up the diner at 10 pm? This is better than a "bus bridge" from Sac to Eugene (!) but not much.
Marisa

I'm sure that they won't be opening the diner up at 10:00 PM in the southbound direction. I don't know if Amtrak will provide boxed dinners to sleeping car passengers on the buses or not. You may just have to get dinner in the cafe car prior to arrival into Eugene. Or perhaps buy something to bring with you on the bus.

It is also possible that the bus will just stop some where to allow people to buy their dinner.

like mcDonalds. they did when i took greyhound cross country bus stop was next to a mcDonalds

 

[Marisa Samue ls]

That's all very interesting, but when and where do I eat? On the bus? A box lunch/dinner? They're going to open up the diner at 10 pm? This is better than a "bus bridge" from Sac to Eugene (!) but not much.
Marisa

I'm sure that they won't be opening the diner up at 10:00 PM in the southbound direction. I don't know if Amtrak will provide boxed dinners to sleeping car passengers on the buses or not. You may just have to get dinner in the cafe car prior to arrival into Eugene. Or perhaps buy something to bring with you on the bus.

It is also possible that the bus will just stop some where to allow people to buy their dinner.

I think I will just wait for full service. Eating at 4 pm or on the bus is something I would rather not do. I have reservations on May 13 and 16 and if that doesn't work I will push the trip farther ahead. I have already missed so many events and celebrations that it really doesn't matter much -- except in terms of frustration.

Marisa

PS How does one become a member?

 

[yarrow]

how to become a member

i guess the link doesn't tell how to become a member. i forget how i registered. help me out someone more knowledgable

 

[jackal]

how to become a member
i guess the link doesn't tell how to become a member. i forget how i registered. help me out someone more knowledgable

When you're not logged in, there is a link in the middle of one of the bars at the top of every page that says "Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )". Clicking "Register" leads you to the registration page. Said welcome disappears when you're logged in, which is probably why you (yarrow) could not see it. For simplicity, here is a direct link:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?...Reg&CODE=00

HTH

 

[RobertF]

The case of the Coast Starlight is just another example of the decline of taste, politeness, and general functioning in America. The American century has come to a close. We are watching the passing of the baton to new centers of power and greatness elsewhere on the globe. Have you been on American Airlines lately? Have you been on any of the U.S. air carriers lately? The same petty, narcissistic, self-centered attitude in our government that allowed a stupid turf war within the FAA, dressed up in the garb of American Airlines, to be visited on the flying public this week, is precisely the same self-centered and tiresome attitude that keeps Amtrak from being funded as a viable entity. Our government is content to ride rough-shod over the American people. Our elected leadership would just as soon have all of us living in Section-8 housing as they would have us wallowing in a neurotic fear of not getting a mortgage bail-out. Our leaders have distilled themselves down into an oligarchy hostile to the fabric of individual human dignity. Since well-run and pleasant travel facilities enhance the individual's spirit, just as good food and safe cities do, we are sure not to see these in the present century. Today's Amtrak, like the airlines, like the big-box stores, like the retail giants selling us junk, are symbols of the sacrifice of excellence and good taste to the pitiful and petty.

I just wanted to mention, when it comes to looking at the world, you and I seem to be on the same page.

Please... if you want to point blame, point it at US. We the people. We who expect government to be the answer to everything. We who think we are entitled to everything. We who wine if we don't make enough, or if others make to much. We who buy that cheap piece of garbage at Wall Mart because we are too cheap to buy something with some quality thus fattening their bottom line and THEN we complain about how big they have become! Don't blame the government or politics... we are just getting what we want and what we are asking for. We are a spoiled, gimmie gimmie, cheap society in general with a huge sense of entitlement, unwilling to take the risks, do the work or accept that we are entitled to NOTHING except our God given lives, our freedom (willingly given away in the name of security) and opportunity. THAT is why we are in the dumpsters and going deeper. Our polititions are only a reflection of what we Americans have become. Until WE change, WE can't expect that THEY will.