Disorderly ? passenger "ejected"
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Wait... So Amtrak ended up honoring their original tickets the following day and the two travelers were given transport to their destination? And only 24 hours later than originally scheduled? I really don't see much for grounds in terms of a lawsuit, or even a refund. They caused their own delay by being unruly, getting the boot, spending an evening in a hotel and then catching the next day's train. I'd not provide any reimbursement if I were Amtrak either, especially since my understanding is you have to be pretty darn bad to be kicked off.
Arm-chair quarterbacking, of course. But we really are only hearing the sensational reporting of one newspaper in Florida as a single side of the story.
Arm-chair quarterbacking, of course. But we really are only hearing the sensational reporting of one newspaper in Florida as a single side of the story.
It appears the disagreement resulteded from efforts to upgrade to a sleeper. The conductor told police the passengers were intoxicated. The police said passengers were cooperative. This should be interesting.
Ryan
Court Jester
Yeah, that's going to be the interesting part...
Texan Eagle
Conductor
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The type of Amtrak attendants I have seen on coach on some LD trains, I wouldn't be surprised if this was a case of one of them deciding to use his power to win an argument with a passenger and deciding to eject passenger midway just because s/he can. Sounds unlikely when thought of in vacuum, but in Amtrak context, I have seen they do have staff that is capable of doing something like this.
Peter KG6LSE
Lead Service Attendant
IMO there needs to be more over sight over how conductors run trains ..
absolute power corrupts.... cough TSA cough ...
That said .. I am not going to put my $.2 in . on this particular case as all the data is not in here right now...
Peter
absolute power corrupts.... cough TSA cough ...
That said .. I am not going to put my $.2 in . on this particular case as all the data is not in here right now...
Peter
DivMiler
Lead Service Attendant
From the newspaper article:
I wasn't aware of any commuter trains going from New York to Florida...
haha I thought the same thing.
Apparently commuter train = long-distance train.
It'll be interesting to see the details on this. If they were intoxicated, then the conductor did have the right to give them the boot if they were disturbing the other passengers. IF they weren't...well then obviously the conductor didn't have that right. I think the main thing is if they were causing a "ruckus" on the train...but this is where the legal-ness is sketchy...since it's mainly up to (and solely up to) the conductor to decide the deboarding option...
So that's my take on it. IF they were being unruly, then they don't deserve anything, and in fact Amtrak was being nice by letting them board the next day without having to pay anything extra (Planes/Greyhound...they never let you do that). Slightly off topic, but I was explaining to my girlfriend how even if you miss your train, if you're in coach you can still get up to a 90% cash refund, or a 100% refund on a voucher. She explained that if you miss your bus on Greyhound...too bad. Buy a new ticket.
But if they weren't being unruly, then yes Amtrak should compensate them.
Is Ashland "in the middle of nowhere"? Id think not since its so close to Richmond and they were able to get a hotel and catch the Train the next day! Be interesting to see all the facts, my natural skepticism makes me think a lawyer wouldnt take a case over a few hundred dollars unless they thought they could settle the case! Ive known a few power tripping conductors and OBS myself, but doubt if this one will go anywhere, might be worth Amtraks while to just settle this nusciance suit for a thousand bucks or so and have it go away!(maybe one of our attorney members in Florida will have some insight on this matter as pertains to Florida Law versus Federal Law since it happened in Virginia in Interstate Commerce?? :unsure: ) We dont want to encourage Fortune Hunters and Ambulance Chasers to file more suits against Amtrak, there's already enough of those IF this is the case here!! :help:
Id think not since its so close to Richmond and they were able to get a hotel and catch the Train the next day! Be interesting to see all the facts, my natural skepticism makes me think a lawyer wouldnt take a case over a few hundred dollars unless they thought they could settle the case! Ive known a few power tripping conductors and OBS myself, but doubt if this one will go anywhere, might be worth Amtraks while to just settle this nusciance suit for a thousand bucks or so and have it go away!(maybe one of our attorney members in Florida will have some insight on this matter as pertains to Florida Law versus Federal Law since it happened in Virginia in Interstate Commerce?? :unsure: ) We dont want to encourage Fortune Hunters and Ambulance Chasers to file more suits against Amtrak, there's already enough of those IF this is the case here!! :help:
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George Harris
Engineer
Not so. Being a troublemaker and unruly is sufficient, whether drunk or sober.
This is where your confuse me. Unruly only = should have been allowed to stay on train. Kicked off for being unruly = should have been required to pay another fare to be let back on. What am I missing?
Another story of a conductor that refused to do a on-board up-grade. Bet he told the people to buy there ticket at the next train station. Bet you there frequent travelers and know the system. Conductor lazy, and got friends who will cover for him.
Too bad the Police did not charge him with file a false and misleading police report.
Maybe if Amtrak would pay the counductor a small amount of money ever time they do this type of transaction. This problem would stop.
Oh no I am getting flamed for that last one....
Too bad the Police did not charge him with file a false and misleading police report.
Maybe if Amtrak would pay the counductor a small amount of money ever time they do this type of transaction. This problem would stop.
Oh no I am getting flamed for that last one....
johnny.menhennet
Conductor
I don't think anybody has mentioned it, but how could the passengers have gotten back on the next day in the same direction if the Card is tri-weekly? Did they go back the other way?
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Because it was the Meteor, train 97, not the Card, train 51.
Yes, I apologize as that was what I meant. Typically those intoxicated can be quite annoying to the rest of us, however all they have to do is disrupt the public to have grounds for dismissal.
I was saying that if we find out that they were disrupting the public, then the conductor had just means to boot them. If they weren't disrupting the public then they should get the compensation they're seeking for being kicked off a train and forced to spend extra money to stay somewhere they weren't expecting.
It was however nice that Amtrak honored the ticket on the next trip, even though the ticket (I'm assuming) was pulled already since they were on the train. In normal circumstances, if you get off at a station that isn't your end point (for a smoke break or whatever) and don't get back on, you have to buy a new ticket for wherever you are to your end point.
So if they were disrupting the public, then Amtrak went out of their way to allow them to continue on their trip without paying for another ticket, even if they were booted by a conductor following the "rules."
johnny.menhennet
Conductor
Sorry... I didn't actually read the article, just relied on the OP's info
Meat Puppet
Lead Service Attendant
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This incident occurred over a month ago. You can read the victims detailed version of it here http://www.getpayback.com/railroads-trains/amtrak/
Yeah. 3:15 PM out of NYP is the Meteor.
I'd love to see the discovery on this one. My best guess is that the conductor didn't want to do the upgrade, the passengers got argumentative when he didn't want to (and I know that some people can get very sore when they don't get their way), the conductor assumed that they'd gotten drunk and put them off as a result. However, I don't know what happened...this is a guess and nothing more.
I'd love to see the discovery on this one. My best guess is that the conductor didn't want to do the upgrade, the passengers got argumentative when he didn't want to (and I know that some people can get very sore when they don't get their way), the conductor assumed that they'd gotten drunk and put them off as a result. However, I don't know what happened...this is a guess and nothing more.
If I was a personal injury lawyer, I would not take the case. Most PI lawyers take cases on a contingency and accept a percentage of the recovery as their attorney fee. Attorneys generally evaluate the case based on the amount of damages and liability. I do not see a large amount of damages suffered by the complaints, but then again, I am not privy to all the facts and I am not a personal injury lawyer.Is Ashland "in the middle of nowhere"?
No, but if they get a "good" venue, they might be able to get a lot of money on the punitive side of things. And there's a case for the venue to be:If I was a personal injury lawyer, I would not take the case. Most PI lawyers take cases on a contingency and accept a percentage of the recovery as their attorney fee. Attorneys generally evaluate the case based on the amount of damages and liability. I do not see a large amount of damages suffered by the complaints, but then again, I am not privy to all the facts and I am not a personal injury lawyer.Is Ashland "in the middle of nowhere"?
-Virginia (where the incident happened)
-Florida (presumably their residence)
-DC (Amtrak's HQ)
I could see any of the three prevailing.
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
However making a false police report is a felony so Just cause the attendant thinks they can abuse their power they can't abuse the law. Attendant says to police the passengers are drunk unruly etc police say different that can be classified as making a false report or lying to police.
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rrdude
Engineer
Well, I just read the report form the link in this thread, written by the passenger. And sure, "Monday morning quarterbacking" is EZ, both for the writer of the report, and the conductor. But even given that, I've witnessed so many similar instances over te years, I'm going with the passenger on this one............... Plus the "fact" that the writer reports the police were so cooperative........ "Assuming" all that the passenger writes is true, why does this conductor even HAVE a job today?
amamba
Engineer
Very interesting to read the pax's version of this.
The conductor is GONE. Even the crew didn't have her back. If management does any kind of investigation they can get rid of this person.
"My mother is in the dining car with chest pains. I'll go searching the train for the conductor to get a sleeper." Am I missing something?
On my last trip on the Chief, I saw a guy suddenly get very civil when the police came aboard to escort him off the train.
On my last trip on the Chief, I saw a guy suddenly get very civil when the police came aboard to escort him off the train.
TVRM610
Conductor
I can totally believe the story. I've seen an Amtrak Conductor get a police escort for a passenger who argued with her about not opening another coach up for passengers. While he was a bit argumentative, he had not done anything to deserve to be thrown off the train. Anyone else have any stories about this "Mellisa Rose" ?
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