Doing the Basics

[Mike]

Nine times out of ten,when I tell folks that I am taking Amtrak on a trip,I hear "I've always wanted to do that." I think if Amtrak(I am probably preaching to the choir here) would improve customer service and spruce up stations(I realize money is tight at Amtrak) I think more folks would travel by rail. People can deal with late trains,they can't deal with a surly crew. All my riding has taken place in the South. Between the Crescent and the Silver trains,usually if I saw a rude crew member,it was on the Silver Star or Meteor. Usually it was a coach attendant who was short with folks and not helpful. One time the dining crew was rude to patrons on a particular trip I took because the train was running late. Sadly they took their frustrations out on the passengers. Friendly service will go farther than on time trains when it comes to keeping passengers I think.

 

[frj1983]

Nine times out of ten,when I tell folks that I am taking Amtrak on a trip,I hear "I've always wanted to do that." I think if Amtrak(I am probably preaching to the choir here) would improve customer service and spruce up stations(I realize money is tight at Amtrak) I think more folks would travel by rail. People can deal with late trains,they can't deal with a surly crew. All my riding has taken place in the South. Between the Crescent and the Silver trains,usually if I saw a rude crew member,it was on the Silver Star or Meteor. Usually it was a coach attendant who was short with folks and not helpful. One time the dining crew was rude to patrons on a particular trip I took because the train was running late. Sadly they took their frustrations out on the passengers. Friendly service will go farther than on time trains when it comes to keeping passengers I think.

I can't find the link now,

But yesterday I was reading online complaints in a travel forum about the poor customer service people have recieved from the airline companies...so I wasn't feeling so bad about Amtrak. But I would agree Mike, Customer service can always be improved and I think it is something Amtrak shold focus on.

As for stations, a lot of them are not owned by Amtrak but by the municipalities in which they exist. And yes, I think money is tight everywhere so they are hard to keep up. Then again, some airports don't exactly look great either.