Worst trip ever taken on Amtrak

[caravanman]

Maybe I got the whole AU vibe wrong, I was sure almost all folk here were sleeper only riders? I am quite happy myself in coach, just offering a point of view that "If most look on coach as low rent, then maybe the staff do too"?
There are many videos on youtube of police, etc, getting caught out in erroneous behaviour, maybe posting bad Amtrak behaviour would improve staff standards?

 

[flitcraft]

Maybe the problem is not so much with amtrak, as with all of us?...Most folk on this forum would not use Amtrak LD in coach? That seems to be my take on the membership? Not everyone, but mostly... When did you last ride in coach, a rare thing, or fairly often? Coach is mainly seen as "low rent", not of interest or concern to most. Likewise, maybe amtrak staff feel the same? Coach passengers are a necessary evil, no need to treat them with much consideration or respect? Think about it, think about your own attitude to coach passengers?

I don't ride in coach in LD trains, not because it is 'low rent' but because I have arthritic hips and knees and an overnight in coach would be agonizing. I do ride coach when I ride the Cascades or Surfliner or NEC. And I use busses, trolleys, and light rail in town---which serve a wide swathe of the population, particularly lower income folks. Also, I have noticed the prevalence of comments here on the forum complaining about the current Amtrak policy of restricting dining cars to sleeper passengers. That hardly suggests that folks on the forum object to mixing with coach passengers--rather the contrary.

Maybe in Britain there is more of a class bias against coach travel? But, I think for those of us in our 70's and beyond, being able to sleep overnight flat rather than upright in a seat is more a matter of medical preference than class bias. Just my perspective...

 

[Barb Stout]

I think I have seen polls in this forum, but I don't know how to do it. My Amtrak rides have been 60% sleepers and 40% coach. I'm pretty sure that ratio will be switching on account of the sleeper price increases. Like Cassie, I have met some interesting people in coach and enjoy that aspect very much. Sometimes I can sleep ok in coach, but get the best sleep in a roomette, even better than at home or a hotel, on account of the gentle motion. When I travel with my sister, we usually get roomettes, but if I'm traveling by myself, it has to be coach on account of money.

 

[Keith1951]

I have run into a few rude Amtrak employees. In all my travels I would put the number at 10% of Amtrak employees are rude or incompetent. The problem is that these employees seem to have little or no supervison so their actions go unchecked and their level of service continues.

Talk about rude Amtrak employees. This is what I mailed to Amtrak after this trip back in 2015. They gave us a $300 voucher for our trouble.
My wife and I just completed a 3 day trip on the Texas Eagle in a superliner bedroom from Chicago to LAX. For the price we paid for this trip we were upset with the quality of service on our trip. To begin, the light in our bathroom didnt work. We called our train car assistant to fix it before we left Chicago but he said wait til the train leaves. After the train left he came to the room and said there was nothing he could do since the train left. DUHHHHH!!! We had asked for help BEFORE the train left. So now we were supposed to go 3 days in a train without a light in the bathroom??? I went and found someone else for help and he said we would have to wait until St Louis when a mechanic could come on board and fix it. This is no way to run a train. They wouldnt move us to another room and they wouldnt fix the light.
We were told we would get a newspaper and bottle of water every morning during our trip, we got 3 days of nothing. The first train car assistant (who was with us from Chicago to San Antonio) wasnt courteous to us. Everytime we wanted to ask him something he acted as if we were bothering him. The second car assistant who boarded at San Antonio acted like he didnt know his job. For 3 days he would bring our desert first. then after about 30 minutes he would finally bring our meal, then he had to go back and bring our drinks. I really mean this is how we were served 3 meals everyday. One time he brought my wife her dinner, but I had to wait 15 minutes before he brought mine. We had to eat in our bedroom all the meals except the first one. The first meal we ate on board is when we found out the dining car was 4 cars away. Why would the sleeper car travelers in our car have to walk the farthest to get to the dining car? In fact, our sleeper car was the last car on the train all the way to LAX. We are seniors and my wife has problems walking, we had to walk thru 4 coach cars with sleeping passengers feet and heads sticking out into the aisle on a bouncing train. The dining car should have been next to the sleepers because of the price we paid, compared to the price coach paid for the trip. It seems as if they had the better deal, price and service wise.

 

[zephyr17]

The dining car was next to a sleeper, the one from New Orleans. The train is combined at San Antonio, with the Eagle cars are tacked onto the end of the Sunset. The consist would have been:

NOL transdorm
NOL sleeper
NOL diner
NOL Sightseer Lounge
NOL coaches
CHI coach
CHI sleeper.

This is longstanding Amtrak practice when combining trains. Both the Empire Builder (Portland cars on the end, Seattle cars, with the diner, in front), and the Lakeshore (Boston cars in front, New York cars, with the diner, in the rear) do the same thing as the Sunset/Eagle. The sleepers are also at the furthest point, front or rear, to prevent coach passengers from having to pass through the sleeper.

If you didn't like the Eagle, don't ride the Boston section of the Lakeshore. It has the longest walk to the diner. From the Boston sleeper, you go through the cafe, a couple of Boston coaches, and like 4 New York coaches to get to the diner from New York.

Sleeper passengers in the Chicago sleeper on the Sunset, the Portland sleeper on the Builder and the Boston sleeper on the Lakeshore have to walk through most of the consist to reach the diners located in the other section of the train. The diner is right next to that section's sleepers. That is just how it is.

 

[Asher]

Talk about rude Amtrak employees. This is what I mailed to Amtrak after this trip back in 2015. They gave us a $300 voucher for our trouble.
My wife and I just completed a 3 day trip on the Texas Eagle in a superliner bedroom from Chicago to LAX. For the price we paid for this trip we were upset with the quality of service on our trip. To begin, the light in our bathroom didnt work. We called our train car assistant to fix it before we left Chicago but he said wait til the train leaves. After the train left he came to the room and said there was nothing he could do since the train left. DUHHHHH!!! We had asked for help BEFORE the train left. So now we were supposed to go 3 days in a train without a light in the bathroom??? I went and found someone else for help and he said we would have to wait until St Louis when a mechanic could come on board and fix it. This is no way to run a train. They wouldnt move us to another room and they wouldnt fix the light.
We were told we would get a newspaper and bottle of water every morning during our trip, we got 3 days of nothing. The first train car assistant (who was with us from Chicago to San Antonio) wasnt courteous to us. Everytime we wanted to ask him something he acted as if we were bothering him. The second car assistant who boarded at San Antonio acted like he didnt know his job. For 3 days he would bring our desert first. then after about 30 minutes he would finally bring our meal, then he had to go back and bring our drinks. I really mean this is how we were served 3 meals everyday. One time he brought my wife her dinner, but I had to wait 15 minutes before he brought mine. We had to eat in our bedroom all the meals except the first one. The first meal we ate on board is when we found out the dining car was 4 cars away. Why would the sleeper car travelers in our car have to walk the farthest to get to the dining car? In fact, our sleeper car was the last car on the train all the way to LAX. We are seniors and my wife has problems walking, we had to walk thru 4 coach cars with sleeping passengers feet and heads sticking out into the aisle on a bouncing train. The dining car should have been next to the sleepers because of the price we paid, compared to the price coach paid for the trip. It seems as if they had the better deal, price and service wise.

Sounds like you had a laundry list of issues. Hope you were able to turn that voucher into a more enjoyable trip.

 

[MARC Rider]

Last month, I did two circle trips (all during daytime) in which I rode (mostly) coach. Of course, on the NEC, we don't really demand much in customer service from staff. Mostly that the conductor scan my ticket in a timely manner so that the rest of my reservation doesn't get fouled up. The cafe cars are mainly for drinks and snacks, so all I want is efficient service and not have to stand in line too long.

I rode on the Capitol from Pittsburgh to Washington, and on the Crescent from New York to Baltimore. I had no need of any service from the coach attendant on the Capitol, and the cafe attendant was cheerful and helpful, and they let me eat breakfast in the cafe. The attendant on the Crescent was courteous and helpful, but given that he was responsible for 2 very full coaches, he was a bit overwhelmed. Part of that was the process (that I'm sure wasn't his idea) of assigning seats in the coach at the door on the platform. He was really doing all he could to accommodate people with mobility issues, of whom there seemed to be a lot on this train. In fact he even kicked me out of my seat (very nicely, and the seat he got me was a better one, anyway).

As far as the restroom go, while I think Amtrak needs to enhance the staff and processes to make sure they get cleaned regularly, part of the reason they're disgusting is because of a small percentage of the passengers. It only takes one pig to turn a place into a pigsty. The last time I rode coach overnight was in 2012 on the Silver Star, and at the time, they had a process in place that really kept those restrooms clean. I think it involved posting a log on the door with records of when the place was cleaned, and it seemed like they were cleaned every couple of hours. I was really impressed. However, 3 years later, my wife and I rode the Silver Meteor in a roomette, and when I needed to use the facilities, I would go to the coaches, and the restrooms there were in pretty rough shape. Again, there's probably more Amtrak can do to pay attention to it, but some of it is the luck of the draw on what passengers are aboard.

I've never has any Amtrak service folks, coach or sleeper, that are as rude and inattentive as depicted in some of the posts here. The worst I've experienced are dining car waitstaff that are a bit slow and inefficient.

 

[Barb Stout]

The dining car was next to a sleeper, the one from New Orleans. The train is combined at San Antonio, with the Eagle cars are tacked onto the end of the Sunset. The consist would have been:

NOL transdorm
NOL sleeper
NOL diner
NOL Sightseer Lounge
NOL coaches
CHI coach
CHI sleeper.

This is longstanding Amtrak practice when combining trains. Both the Empire Builder (Portland cars on the end, Seattle cars, with the diner, in front), and the Lakeshore (Boston cars in front, New York cars, with the diner, in the rear) do the same thing as the Sunset/Eagle. The sleepers are also at the furthest point, front or rear, to prevent coach passengers from having to pass through the sleeper.

If you didn't like the Eagle, don't ride the Boston section of the Lakeshore. It has the longest walk to the diner. From the Boston sleeper, you go through the cafe, a couple of Boston coaches, and like 4 New York coaches to get to the diner from New York.

Sleeper passengers in the Chicago sleeper on the Sunset, the Portland sleeper on the Builder and the Boston sleeper on the Lakeshore have to walk through most of the consist to reach the diners located in the other section of the train. The diner is right next to that section's sleepers. That is just how it is.

Very good information to know. I have bookmarked this response.

 

[hlcteacher]

Hubby & I have been riding Amtrak for years we live in Fl. We have taken quite a few routes-Builder, Chief, Zephyr, Silvers and never once had a really awful experience, until yesterday. We were in DC and were waiting for the 91. I had asked about a redcap since I have some mobility issues and I wasn't sure how that worked since we were in coach, we usually do roomettes but prices were a bit much. Anyhow, a couple of Amtrak employees told us to be back to the redcap/luggage area at least 25 min. before train departure. We came back almost an hour before. We were basically ignored, we had asked a redcap and he said "yeah someone will be back" it was 2:45 train scheduled to leave at 3:04, still no sign of anyone. A gentleman in a suit happened to come from the back ( lost luggage area) and asked if we needed help. Told him the situation and he was visibly upset, got on his walkie-talkie to someone about getting there right now, then led us back to an elevator and sent us to a young lady waiting with a cart. She was so nice, but I didn't get her name. She got us over to the train talked to the conductor outside and proceeded to get us a seat in the rear by restrooms and with little more legroom. Right across from wheelchair seating. We were settling in when this other female Amtrak employee got on with some people and started yelling at my husband and me that these were reserved seats and who told us we could sit there, I tried to explain but she kept shouting at us, finally I raised my voice and told her that the man outside taking tickets, the conductor told redcap to seat us there. She threw her hands up in the air and muttered something and stormed off. She passed thru a few times and glared at us. We were so embarrassed by the whole thing. We may never ride again. Right after the train started to move I went to the restroom, now I know train originated in New York, but it was already disgusting, looked like someone peed in the floor toilet was stuffed with paper towels it was gross. waited for the other one that wasn't as bad. It stayed like that for hours till someone finally came and cleaned it. They made an announcement about not trashing the bathroom but by 6 am it was nasty again. passengers were off the chain, laughing had music blaring, someone was smoking pot in the bathroom. And the only time anyone came thru the car was if someone got on and they only scanned tickets and took off. We seriously may never take the train again. I didn't get the woman's name that was screaming at us, so I don't know if I should try to call someone to complain or who to call. If she was like that to us I'm sure she has been or will be like that to someone else.

she would have be SOOOOO reported and glared back at each time she galre

 

[hlcteacher]

have ridden in all "classes" and we prefer coach and resent the "classism" exhibited by those who chose to have beds as opposed to those of us who do not need to lie flat and be catered to...coach cross country it is and coach coach country it will be! i just need them to bring back the pricey dining car for those of us who want a "hot" meal

 

[Rasputin]

Outside of Amtrak I don't normally see staff shouting at customers without fear of penalty or punishment. Maybe we should blame the people treating customers like trash instead of worrying about misplaced surrogate guilt.

I have met some great and very helpful Amtrak employees but on the whole, I get better customer service at Walmart or at almost any hotel.

 

[PaTrainFan]

In 2015, my son and I took the Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville. Due to a freight derailment west of Ottumwa, we were delayed several hours there. We were probably lucky that our train was not annulled, but after a several hour delay we continued on. We encountered further delays in Nebraska when the operating crew timed out and we sat for a few more hours in the middle of nowhere waiting for the replacement crew. When we got to Denver, it was decided to short turn the Zephyr there and they put us on a bus bridge to Glenwood Springs where we were to catch up up the westbound Zephyr in front of us and we finally reached that in the middle of the night. So unfortunately we saw none of the Rockies in daytime and all of the Great Salt Lake by daylight and arrived in Emeryville almost exactly 12 hours late. Not a fun trip.

 

[Asher]

I have met some great and very helpful Amtrak employees but on the whole, I get better customer service at Walmart or at almost any hotel.

no reply, mistake.

 

[Tlcooper93]

I have met some great and very helpful Amtrak employees but on the whole, I get better customer service at Walmart or at almost any hotel.

Interesting to know. I’ve had fantastic experience with all Amtrak employees on board (in stations is another question entirely).

Luck of the draw I guess.

In 2015, my son and I took the Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville. Due to a freight derailment west of Ottumwa, we were delayed several hours there. We were probably lucky that our train was not annulled, but after a several hour delay we continued on. We encountered further delays in Nebraska when the operating crew timed out and we sat for a few more hours in the middle of nowhere waiting for the replacement crew. When we got to Denver, it was decided to short turn the Zephyr there and they put us on a bus bridge to Glenwood Springs where we were to catch up up the westbound Zephyr in front of us and we finally reached that in the middle of the night. So unfortunately we saw none of the Rockies in daytime and all of the Great Salt Lake by daylight and arrived in Emeryville almost exactly 12 hours late. Not a fun trip.

Truly terrible... hopefully that’s an infrequent occurrence.

 

[Rasputin]

Interesting to know. I’ve had fantastic experience with all Amtrak employees on board (in stations is another question entirely).

Luck of the draw I guess.

Not really. It involves recruitment of the proper employees, their training and supervision. Some companies seem to get it right but not Amtrak in my experience.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Not really. It involves recruitment of the proper employees, their training and supervision. Some companies seem to get it right but not Amtrak in my experience.

But not Wal-Mart either! Whole Foods ( now Amazon owned), Southwest Airlines,HEB,Costco and Disney consistently have excellent Customer Service!

In the old days, Santa Fe was the Best of the Class Is I rode, but Southern and New York Central had excellent Customer Service too!

SP and PRR were some of the Worst!,

As for Amtrak, it's luck of the draw, but there doesn't seem to be as many really Excellent Employees as the Old Timers Retire, and more Rude,Lazy, Attitude Employees and Invisible OBS Types.

 

[me_little_me]

I have met some great and very helpful Amtrak employees but on the whole, I get better customer service at Walmart or at almost any hotel.

And at any restaurant.

 

[zephyr17]

Inconsistency is the problem. OBS crews really follow a bell curve, with some terrible, some great, and most mediocre in my Amtrak experience.

Amtrak management's challenge is to create a consistent experience in the good to great range, and that is something they have failed miserably at for decades.

The first step would be to put empowered supervision on trains. There is a model right next door with VIA's Service Managers. They are on every train. Heck, one was on a bus from Toronto to Niagara Falls when the Maple Leaf was bustituted.

I have heard a lot about unions being the issue. They aren't or don't have to be. It is up to management to negotiate proper disciplinary procedures and then use them. Yes, it is a bigger job and more exacting job with a union labor force, but most unionized companies manage it. It is ultimately the responsibility of Amtrak management and they shirk it.

The first step is to set a goal of improving onboard service at the highest level and set a program up to do it, and metrics to measure it (probably a program of post trip surveys). You get what you measure, and a program that is more than nice words ("Center of Excellence" comes to mind) has to come from the top.

While I strongly support contacting Customer Relations when really poor or really great service is encountered, random reporting isn't going to change Amtrak's OBS culture. The only thing that will would be Amtrak management's organized and sustained focus on it. Even if they do it, it will take years of sustained focus to turn it around fully. The current culture is deeply embedded.

 

[Dakota 400]

nconsistency is the problem. OBS crews really follow a bell curve, with some terrible, some great, and most mediocre in my Amtrak experience.

I love your entire post. The bell curve applies to the general population. No reason it would not also apply to Amtrak's employees.

Amtrak management's challenge is to create a consistent experience in the good to great range, and that is something they have failed miserably at for decades.

It becomes even more of a challenge, I think, when there has been a past culture in management where providing consistent positive experiences has not been a priority. Trying to improve the customer experience with those who have been less than guest friendly in the past would be difficult.

 

[TC_NYC]

I recently rode the Empire Builder on a quick weekend round trip from Pasco to Portland. I'm pretty sure the OBS on this train has always been staffed out of Chicago and they all seemed so exhausted since they where in the middle of their trip. It seems one thing Amtrak could do to greatly improve their service on board is simply staffing the OBS like they staff the train crew. That way you wouldn't have exhausted sleeper/coach attendants, exhausted cafe attendants and exhausted dining car servers who are on day 4 of a 6 day trip. Initially from a hiring perspective it would be a little bit tougher, but I think it would have great benefits for turnover over the long term and would let everyone on the train to be more familiar with the territory. It always frustrates me when coming into a small town station stop like Cut Bank, Montana and the attendant is asked what time for Cut Bank and the attendant has no clue, since he/she is only interested in when they get to Chicago the next day.

 

[zephyr17]

Portland section OBS crew based from Chicago, Seattle section OBS crew based out of Seattle.

 

[me_little_me]

Inconsistency is the problem. OBS crews really follow a bell curve, with some terrible, some great, and most mediocre in my Amtrak experience.

Amtrak management's challenge is to create a consistent experience in the good to great range, and that is something they have failed miserably at for decades.

The first step would be to put empowered supervision on trains. There is a model right next door with VIA's Service Managers. They are on every train. Heck, one was on a bus from Toronto to Niagara Falls when the Maple Leaf was bustituted.

I have heard a lot about unions being the issue. They aren't or don't have to be. It is up to management to negotiate proper disciplinary procedures and then use them. Yes, it is a bigger job and more exacting job with a union labor force, but most unionized companies manage it. It is ultimately the responsibility of Amtrak management and they shirk it.

The first step is to set a goal of improving onboard service at the highest level and set a program up to do it, and metrics to measure it (probably a program of post trip surveys). You get what you measure, and a program that is more than nice words ("Center of Excellence" comes to mind) has to come from the top.

While I strongly support contacting Customer Relations when really poor or really great service is encountered, random reporting isn't going to change Amtrak's OBS culture. The only thing that will would be Amtrak management's organized and sustained focus on it. Even if they do it, it will take years of sustained focus to turn it around fully. The current culture is deeply embedded.

EXACTLY! And it's not just Amtrak where management fails when dealing with unionized or otherwise protected employees. In government, they often traded off good ratings for someone who wanted a transfer even if the employee was poor. I've seen managers at companies that just refused to make the effort. These problems occurred even though HR taught classes on how to document and counsel managers so they would have a record of attempts to help employees or of the counseling itself. Rarely would managers make the effort. That's why management likes at-will employees and fight unions. They don't want to do the job they were hired to do - MANAGING PEOPLE.

 

[Seaboard92]

The Silvers have some very poor performers but that has been going on for a really long time. In coach you now have one attendant running two cars which equates to 116 passengers to one employee. VIA Rail Canada I believe is one attendant to each coach on the corridor.

 

[Willbridge]

I recently rode the Empire Builder.............. on the train to be more familiar with the territory. It always frustrates me when coming into a small town station stop like Cut Bank, Montana and the attendant is asked what time for Cut Bank and the attendant has no clue, since he/she is only interested in when they get to Chicago the next day.

I'm reminded of a time on the Mainstreeter when I was standing behind the Slumbercoach attendant while he was asked by a polite middle-aged couple as to what time the train was due into Missoula. They may have planned to use the platform mailbox there. The attendant politely doffed his cap as he addressed them. He had the exact time because he had glanced at the paper timetable stuck inside his cap! Of course, he was left over from the Pullman company.

Of course today there's no Mainstreeter, no Slumbercoach, no mailbox, no Pullman company and no paper timetables. There are, however, still car attendants and there should be modern ways of training them and supporting them.

P.S. I've heard that there still is a Missoula.

 

[Oreius]

I do agree with you that you both were treated unfairly based on ADA. A RedCap should have come for you when it was time to board. Fortunately, the Star has a long layover at DC because they must switch locomotives. The Coach Attendant, however, was way over the top. You were OFFERED those two coach seats as per the Conductor or another Amtrak staff. She had no right to ridicule you so I’d definitely complain about this and the ADA issue.

However, I’m unsure if it’s been awhile since you rode in Coach for a long-distance train. I ride Amtrak an average of once per year long-distance, but I do it for the experience. I ALWAYS will opt for a sleeper. I’ve done Coach on the Adirondack in 2012 for 12 hours. While the scenery was spectacular, I too had an issue with the cleanliness of Coach potties. Amfleet 2 coaches have only two potties for 59 people. So, because they’re used frequently and by basically everyone multiple times each, they get dirty. Amtrak, IMHO, should have Attendants clean the potties several times a day. If I were an Attendant, I wouldn’t mind. It keeps me busy, and the customer is always right.

The saying is: “You get what you pay for.” However, I find Coach on Amtrak more comfortable than airline economy seats and even more so than bus seats. I have not and NEVER will take Greyhound for intercity travel because the cheapo fares attract a LOT of riffraff. I’ve heard horror stories about Greyhound. I don’t mind Coach on short Amtrak trips but for long-distance I will ALWAYS pay extra for a sleeper. I’m more into the experience. However, I would complain about the mean Coach Attendant and RedCaps as per ADA.