The service aboard the Southwest Chief was good, except that we were five hours late. The employees were helpful and friendly. The train was kept clean.

The Lake Shore Limited is a different story. The employees are the laziest, worst group of people I have known. They did nothing to help passengers. they sat around and gossiped with each other the entire time. They were rude to the passengers. The train was filthy dirty, including the windows. The restrooms were disgusting. They were filthy. Some did not have toilet paper. There was urine all over the floors. It looked like they had not been cleaned, even before our trip started. They smelled terrible, even outside the restrooms. When some of the passengers complained about the smell, they did nothing about it, and did not seem to care. They said that 70 people got on in Buffalo. There were not enough seats for them, so many had to sit in the dining car and in the lounge car.

There was supposed to be only certain times that people could smoke in the lounge car, but the crew members did not care about anything. They let people smoke all the time. So in effect, us non-smokers had nowhere to go except in our seats. I even heard a crew member use very foul language in front of the customers in Albany.

I have been a supporter of Amtrak since its inception, but I no longer see any reason for the government to help Amtrak. They are killing themselves with worthless employees who should have been fired long ago. Any airline that treats its passengers like Amtrak does would be out of business immediately. This train should be out of business also.

We enjoyed our ride on the Southwest Chief very much, but the Lake Shore Limited managers and employees should be fired immediately.

It is regrettable that your trip on the Lake Shore was not enjoyable. When service levels are so low, it makes a traveler want to move on to another kind of transportation.
Amtrak is in a management "slump," if you will, and that may rub off on some of the crew members.
You stated that you have been an Amtrak supporter since 1971. It would be a shame to turn around now after this incident.
Amtrak operates over 40 trains across the country, with exceptional service on many of those routes.
The crews that work hard, and are friendly, such as the ones on your Chief trip, shouldn't have to pay for the unprofessional conduct of another trains' crew.
You should send Amtrak a complaint, but don't turn your back on the entire system. Request a voucher for free travel, and try again someday.
I'm sure if you continue to travel with Amtrak, you will almost always find courteous crews, clean trains, and good service.

Eric

On the last trip (this past May) the sleeping car attendant was hard to find, and less than helpful. But on most of the other trips I've taken to and from Florida (from Philly), the service in the sleeper and the dining car has been good.

So it appears that poor service is more random (at least that's how it seems to me on the Silver Service trains) than specific to certain trains.

Now to be fair, I've seen passengers that were less than gracious also....

Jim, I do plan on writing Amtrak a long letter. As always, I kept a very detailed journal of the entire trip. I am in the process of typing a very detailed letter explaining a lot of things. In this letter I will also include the fact that conductor Richard N. Palmer II was excellent. He was the only bright spot on the Lake Shore Limited. I would also like to mention that service aboard the Southwest Chief, westbound in particular, was excellent. Car attendant Andre Fields went far beyond the call of duty to give his passengers a nice trip.

I have found the same crews on the same trains the different times I have riden, so it should be easy to identify the errant employees.

It is sad when a few bad apples can spoil the bunch.

I think the best service I got was on the North Bound Crescent. The dining car Mr. Chang was amazing. He was like my own maitre d. (spelling?). We had two car attendants that had warm cookies, great coffee, juice and ice for us at all times.

I send Amtrak a letter any time I have a bad experience.

I also send good reviews too!

It is sad to see a couple of groups of employees with such bad attitudes, while others are very good. We travelled coach the entire way. On the Southwest Chief, our coach attendant and the others were all excellent.

I had planned on writing to Amtrak like I always do, but I ended up talking to them on the phone for over one-half hour. I went through my notebook and discussed everything, including the names of the good people on the Southwest Chief. It turns out that they gave me a voucher for $250.

In response to lakeshorelimited: I found the section from Albany to Boston better than the rest. The conductor who was very good that I mentioned above worked on the Boston to Albany section.

Sideout1961: I hope you enjoy your trip. I am probably speaking for all of us on this message board when I say: Please let us know how your trip turned out.

Service on the Southwest Chief was, as everybody says, excellent. I had a sleeper on that leg of the trip, and the car attendant was great. All of the dining staff were friendly and attentive. We were also lucky enough to have Paul, the singing bartender.

Unlike the airlines where everything is scripted, the Amtrak crewpeople have individual personalities! I suppose this can work both ways, but I found it refreshing.

Like the above statemensts, I agree that the Southwest Cheif and also the Coast Starlight have a lot better service then the LSL. The LSL has really bad service.

Jeff