Include me in the inconvenienced. Prince is great. Free parking. Baggage service. 4 easy daylight hours driving from home. Place to hang out in nearby Beckley (Tamerack) which is open until 7PM even on Sunday. Overnight to Chicago or back with 6PM departure and 10AM arrival in both directions.But it's an inconvenience to anyone who used the checked baggage service there, which will disappear. There will now be no staffed stations between Charlottesville, VA and Charleston, WV on the Cardinal route, a distance of 279 miles by rail that will include 8 consecutive unstaffed stations.
Not sure if I heard correctly, but I believe I just heard a zone 5 conductor out of WAS say that they were soliciting zone 5 conductors to qualify on zone 2 and transfer, but they'd be locked in to the extra board for six months. Sounds like they're desperate, which I don't understand why, because from what I heard, NY extra board is slooow right now.I think that one thing to keep in mind is that this is a pretty bad FY for Amtrak.. So bad that many job postings were at an extreme low.. I would check every day, the lowest the number was around 55.. This also included T&E jobs. I went to test for an AC job out of DC back in early February. They told us that the class was to start April 7th.. I honestly don't know if they hired anyone and if the class took place. I was told by the Recruiter and Trainmaster that they wanted 7 guys and galls. Which a gander says that 7 is a lot for Amtrak. Especially being hired for the DC-NYC zone. Someone may know more then me on that.
Anyway I digress.. The station agents that are losing there jobs at Prince and Glenview can use their Seniority to move elsewhere if I had to take an educated guess.
I agree make company and turn most amtrak station over to that company contracted by Amtrak. Have Amtrak train and make sure very one does their job right. Not only e-ticketing ,put in ticket machines that takes cash or card.Agree that with e-ticketing, the need for station agents is reduced. However, if this trend continues they really need to start exploring trainside baggage checking. Actually, they should have started exploring it a long time ago.
They do have those types of machines...they're called Quik-Trak (though they only take credit cards, not cash). Generally you do not find them in stations with once-a-day (or less) service. With e-ticketing, though, the Quik-Trak machines are also less needed than before, since there is no need to pick up a physical ticket anymore.Not only e-ticketing ,put in ticket machines that takes cash or card.Train the worker to do baggage in some stations.
Instead of calling them caretaker call them train station attendant.
Hmm, well it's possible there are more Quik Traks out there than I realized. The SWC timetable, as well as the Flagstaff station page on Amtrak.com, both indicate no Quik-Trak for Flagstaff. If you go by the timetable, there is only one station on the SWC chief route that has a Quik Trak (Fort Madison, IA) and is not also served by other Amtrak trains.Fair view- What you wrote I think is pretty much correct, but Flagstaff has a Quik Trak machine. One train a day each way. ( and dozens more freighted )My favorite agent here, Carol, will retire next week. I am happy for her decision, but will miss dropping in on her.
Actually, it has been implemented at some stations already. I believe it is referred to as Limited Service Stop aka Baggage Lite.Agree that with e-ticketing, the need for station agents is reduced. However, if this trend continues they really need to start exploring trainside baggage checking. Actually, they should have started exploring it a long time ago.
I thought I had heard about this here on AU, but it's been quite a while so I didn't want to say anything.Actually, it has been implemented at some stations already. I believe it is referred to as Limited Service Stop aka Baggage Lite.Agree that with e-ticketing, the need for station agents is reduced. However, if this trend continues they really need to start exploring trainside baggage checking. Actually, they should have started exploring it a long time ago.
It will be three years ago this Summer that it was the instigated at Mt. Pleasant, Ft. Madison, Topeka, Newton, and Rte 128 .Actually, it has been implemented at some stations already. I believe it is referred to as Limited Service Stop aka Baggage Lite.Agree that with e-ticketing, the need for station agents is reduced. However, if this trend continues they really need to start exploring trainside baggage checking. Actually, they should have started exploring it a long time ago.
It will be three years ago this Summer that it was the instigated at Mt. Pleasant, Ft. Madison, Topeka, Newton, and Rte 128 .Actually, it has been implemented at some stations already. I believe it is referred to as Limited Service Stop aka Baggage Lite.Agree that with e-ticketing, the need for station agents is reduced. However, if this trend continues they really need to start exploring trainside baggage checking. Actually, they should have started exploring it a long time ago.
http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/56417-new-checked-baggage/
Has it ever been extended beyond these 5?
Yes, the QuikTrak machines are quite redundant nowadays...the most used ones are probably the ones in WAS and BAL that sell MARC tickets!To update the remarks yesterday about Quik Trak machines in stations with one train per day or less: The one in Flagstaff has been removed. I was just visiting agent Carol before she retires next week and she hugged me more than once! It is fairly apparent that Etickets have made the machines redundant. Flagstaff, however, is a substantial stop and now they need to fill not one, but two of the four positions here.
In the case of this station, I think the question is why it was staffed before. It never met Amtrak's standards for being busy enough to require staffing.Title says it all...
Caretaker will open and close the station three days a week for the Cardinal.
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