When I took the Pennsylvanian from Cleveland to connect with the Capital Limited after departing ClevFest, I had a 4-hour layover at Toledo. While I sat in the waiting room learning how to play Train Simulator on my laptop, I had the opportunity to witness Greyhound’s pitiful lack of concern over its agreement with Amtrak.
The westbound Pennsylvanian has a connection with Thruway Bus #8243 at 9:00pm. On this particular August night there were at least 20-25 people waiting for bus #8243. Approximately 10 minutes late a bus pulled up outside and in walked the Greyhound Driver. He walked over to the ticket counter and spoke to the agent for a about a minute. He then walked back across the waiting room and just before he went out the sliding door he stopped and turned. He then announced in a very surly voice with an, I don’t care attitude, that he had only 5 empty seats on the bus. He then immediately turned and went out the door.
For a few stunned seconds no one moved, and then about a dozen people grabbed their belongings and raced for the door. The rest just sat there stunned, either by the driver’s attitude or by the fact that they were now stranded or maybe both. While those inside started to collect their wits and try to figure out what to do, the losers in the free for all outside returned. Now it should be pointed out that all of these passengers had Amtrak tickets for this bus. From my conversations with a few of the people near me, and a few others that I overheard, most of these people had picked up their tickets at least 3 or 4 days prior to traveling. One young mother with 2 small children in tow that I spoke with extensively, had purchased her tickets almost 4 weeks prior. So it wasn’t like this was a sudden last minute decision on the part of all of these passengers.
A few of the now stranded passengers, including the young mother that I spoke with, went up to speak with the Amtrak agent. He asked them for their patience, said he was working with Greyhound to see if they had another bus, and to please return to their seats while he worked. He assured them that he would do everything he could possibly do. In my opinion he was extremely cool and professional under the circumstances.
After about ten minutes on the phone, the agent walked to the center of the waiting room to address all of the waiting passengers. He announced that Greyhound had no additional buses to send over. He then proceeded to tell them that he had paged his supervisor and was waiting for him to call back. He explained that he needed the manager’s permission to setup taxi service for the passengers. He asked for their continued patience, promised to keep them informed, and assured them that he was doing everything within his power.
Perhaps another 10 minutes went by before the agent once again came out. He told everyone that he had reached his supervisor and obtained approval for the taxies. He explained that the manager from the cab company was on his way over to make arrangements. He again thanked them for their continued patience, apologized for the problems, and the growing lateness of the hour.
Maybe five minutes later in walked the manager from the cab company. He immediately went over to the ticket counter to confer with the agent. After a few minutes of conversation, both the manager and the agent came out to talk with the passengers. The manager asked for a show of hands from all of those going to Detroit. The total came to 18 plus a fair amount of luggage. The manager told them that he already had 3 cabs coming, but that he needed to call for more. He promised that he would get them as quickly as possible. He then walked outside to speak with the first driver who had just showed up.
Finally around 9:45 the cab manager came in from outside and announced that he had enough cabs there for all of the waiting passengers. A total of two station wagons, three cars, and one van were waiting outside. The grateful passengers started filing outside to the waiting cars. The young mother and one other passenger quickly thanked the ticket agent, before proceeding outside.
Two new Amtrak agents came on duty at 10:00pm with the shift change. I could not completely hear all of the conversation, but I heard enough of the original agent telling the new arrivals of his fun and games for the evening. From what I did hear, I got the impression that this was not the first time that this had happened. Apparently Greyhound has decided that they would rather sell their own full priced tickets, than honor their commitment to Amtrak and the cheaper contract for the connecting service. This was however the worst overbooking that the agents had seen.
I find it incredible that Greyhound overbooks by that much. Even more astonishing was the driver’s surliness and total lack of feeling or concern for the people that he was stranding. If he had at least been polite and apologetic it would have helped a very difficult situation. I even heard several people comment on his rudeness.
The Amtrak agent however was the picture of perfection. He did everything right, he keep the people informed, he called all the people he could to solve the situation, he apologized for a situation he did not cause, he maintained his cool, and best of all he made sure that Amtrak was able to honor it’s commitment to it’s passengers. I especially liked the fact that he felt it was better to come out from behind the counter to speak more personally with the passengers, instead of remaining behind the counter and using the PA. It was a nice personal touch to try to connect with the group.
Sadly though, this is just one more expense that Amtrak didn’t need. Not to mention that I suspect that a few of the passengers will never return, even though Amtrak and its agent did everything right. I think that Amtrak seriously needs to consider continuing the contract with Greyhound, since they are apparently not interested in their commitment to Amtrak.
What I observed back in 2001 was simply inexcusable and definately didn't put Amtrak into a good light. :angry:
