Now that the Sunset is more on time......

[Bill Haithcoat]

I have been spot checking with"Julie" the last few days and it really seems the Sunset Limited is doing much better, even though it is 11 hours late tonight(Dec. 7) into Orlando.

So here is my question...in the past, on those few times the westbound was o.t. out of Pomona(the last stop before LA) it would arrive LA 2 or 3 hrs early, 5 or so in the morning due to excessive padding. It is reported that people were kicked off, even in the sleeper, at that ungodly hour. The correct arrival time was about 8 a.m.

I wonder if that is still happening??? Seems to me that sleeping car passengers should be allowed to detrain any time up scheduled arrival in this particular case. Yeah, I know people get off trains when they arrive........but this seems to be an exceptional situation. Almost like the "set out" sleepers of long ago and more recently on the overnight from Boston to DC, which had a set-out sleeper on from NYC to DC.

 

[Amfleet]

I think if the schedule says an arrival time is 5 am lets say, then Sleeping Car and Coach passengers are obligated to detrain so the crew can rest and the train serviced. However, like the situation with the Sunset, if a train arrives early than passengers should be allowed to stay on until the trains actual arrival time.

 

[Steve4031]

The scheduled arrival time for the Sunset into LA is actually around eight in the morning. So it would seem reasonable to expect to sleep until atleast seven when the train is early. Maybe they will eliminate padding in the future.

 

[Viewliner]

I think if the schedule says an arrival time is 5 am lets say, then Sleeping Car and Coach passengers are obligated to detrain so the crew can rest and the train serviced. However, like the situation with the Sunset, if a train arrives early than passengers should be allowed to stay on until the trains actual arrival time.

I completely agree.

Maybe if the Sunset can perform well enough, then yes the padding can be reduced, but there should be padding. These passengers shouldn't be kicked out so early as there's no need for the extra 3 hours of having the equipment available, especially on a tri-weekly train. (Which should be made daily.)

 

[jccollins]

I don't really know which is better - there is a good argument for both sides. However, Amtrak should develop a set policy for "really early" arrivals and force the crew to stick to the policy so that all passengers on all trains are treated equal - not treated on "how the crew feels."