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something positive on TV. Last night Iwas watching the news when a segment came on about how people are so disatisfied with the air lnes. They are too expensive,usually late, too much hassle etc. I am sitting there saying "so take the train" when the anchor suddenly says "and then there is Amtrak" He went into all the advantages of passenger train and how hassle free it is. How it would help with the energy crunch since since 50% of plaanes money goes for fuel while ony 11% of Amtraks does. In short we are missing a grat opportunity. I was really flabergasted as usually Amtrak isn't mentioned except for derailments
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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Here's a article I sent to all the major networks and newspapers sometime last week...
Hello,
I’ve been following your reporting about the airline bankruptcy cases and also the grounding of flights. Thousands of passengers have been delayed – often times for more than one day. It would be great if the news media reported a travel alternative for passengers stranded in airports and also passengers planning travel who have some extra time. Amtrak services many cities with international (and local) airports – Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Oakland, San Francisco (via Emeryville), San Jose, New York and almost five hundred other locations.
Traveling on Amtrak is environmentally friendly – trains consume less energy and produce fewer pollutants than air and car travel. Unlike airlines, Amtrak has no added or hidden fees and offers spacious seat and leg room. Amtrak also features appealing food choices – most trains have Café Car service and Long-Distance Trains also offer full-service Dining Car service.
One thing’s for sure – it beats sitting in an airport for days.
Thanks for your time. I am looking forward to your reply.
Jarrod DellaChiesa Coast Starlight Communities Network
Posts: 82 | From: San Lorenzo, CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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So with this kind of publicity, all of a sudden people realize there is a rail alternative. Then there is a surge of interest, but Amtrak doesn't have the equipment to handle the increase in business. The equipment they have is 25-30 years old. It takes 3-4 years to get new rolling stock into service.
As the wicked witch said, "what a world, what a world".
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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jarrod, I was so surprised that I simply can't remember which it was. I think it may have been the 6:00pm on either local CBS Or NBC. It could also have been the 10 pm Fox or one of the other locals watch if I am following a story. Sorry I know this is useless info.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by amtraxmaniac: Excellent letter Jarrod. I'm VERy curious how many responses you get. Keep us posted.
Thanks! Well, so far I haven't heard anything back... and I wrote to them on April 11... lol I set the letter too thirty two networks, newspapers and magazines (including the AP and Rueters) ... Strange that I've gotten no replies. But hopefully we'll start to see more stories like this.
Posts: 82 | From: San Lorenzo, CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by train lady: jarrod, I was so surprised that I simply can't remember which it was. I think it may have been the 6:00pm on either local CBS Or NBC. It could also have been the 10 pm Fox or one of the other locals watch if I am following a story. Sorry I know this is useless info.
Well, I guess we can check their websites and search the transcripts... Was it a local story or national story segment?
Posts: 82 | From: San Lorenzo, CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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Great letter, Jarrod!!! I think I heard something similar on one of our local (central Florida) news channels also in the last couple days. Also, I noted something funny just this AM -- I was taking my wife to the airport (don't worry, she's going on a TRAIN trip with me this summer!) this AM, and I saw a huge AMTRAK billboard about 1/2 mile from the entrance road to the Orlando International Airport!!!!
The things you say in your letter, as we all know, are very true, Jarrod. Unfortunately, I believe the "mindset" for many people nowadays is that they will do ANYTHING rather than take a train!!!! It is unfortunate, but there are a lot of people who would rather be stuck in an airport for 3 days than "stoop down to the lower class" and ride a train to their destination. And these are the same people who don't bat an eyelash if their flight is canceled and they are stranded at the airport for 3 days, but if they DO ride a train and the train is a couple hours late, OH BOY!!!!!! You hear something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT then!!!!! (like "Oh, I'm NEVER going to ride AMTRAK again!!!!!!")
Many people I have known over the years view travel by train as "lower class," and believe this mode of transportation is only used by college students are "people of lesser means." (I don't quite understand that in light of the HIGH sleeper fares these days on AMTRAK and VIA!)
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Back in the eighties, Amtrak made it a point to rent billboard advertisements along I-95 in places of known traffic congestion. Does anyone know if they still do this? AmMarketing is not what it once was.
Posts: 391 | From: Schenectady | Registered: Jan 2002
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Amtrak207 -- yes I think there are still billboards along I-95 in some places, In Central Florida, AMTRAK also advertises on radio and television.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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In the DC area they also advertise on TV.It used to be aimed at families to see the country but now it is aimed at the business travelor using Acela
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by TwinStarRocket: .......but Amtrak doesn't have the equipment to handle the increase in business. The equipment they have is 25-30 years old.
And therein lies the rub. Actually, they DO have the equipment to handle the increase in business. There are soooooo many single-level cars back east (Wilmington, Delaware IIRC) and accident-damaged Superliners in Beech Grove, that's it's actually ridiculous. They also have more locomotives than they know what to do with-----seriously.
The problem is money. If they had the bucks, they could repair all of the wrecked Superliners and bring back numerous coaches and sleepers, as well as a huge number of single-level cars for the east coast routes. But there they sit.......and sit.......and sit........I should note that there are some cars sitting there which can not be touched because they are evidence in legal matters (fatalities), so there's nothing that can be done with those units yet. But for the most part, Amtrak has plenty of equipment---it's just not being used.
As far as the age of the equipment, well, yes......many of their Superliners are getting "old". But old is a relative term with railroad equipment. 25 to 30 years old, actually, is not old at all. They can last 50 years and beyond---they are built very well. But the thing that makes them last that long is an aggressive maintenance and refurbishment program. One example of this would be Canada's VIA trains. Most of their cars are older than Amtrak's cars, yet they manage to have almost flawless, beautiful, well-maintained equipment. I have never seen a VIA train in-person, but I know a few people who have taken those trains and I've read countless trip reports on their equipment and have seen the pictures. It's great to see how well that equipment is maintained. When comparing it to Amtrak's equipment, the difference is huge.
Amtrak does an okay job with most stuff, but at times (and it seems more often lately) I just scratch my head and wonder what the heck they're doing. Sometimes I think the whole thing should just be blown up, everyone fired, and make the entire thing disappear and then start all over again with new people, new equipment, new attitudes, and NO UNIONS. I don't want to start a pro-union/anti-union debate, but in my opinion, unions have done more to screw up Amtrak than anything else. There are so many rules in place (and so many different union groups!) that it makes the easiest thing a complete nightmare to accomplish. I also have a good friend who is an Amtrak engineer, and I am completely blown away at the lack of support and the lack of benefits that their employees have. I won't get into the nitty-gritty of it, but suffice it to say that their dental program is among the worst I have ever seen. They don't have worker's comp either! They have a bizarre "railroad only" program, and the benefits (if I can even call them that) are worse than a McDonald's employee---literally. This guy that I know was hurt in a locomotive he was running, and has now had to declare bankruptcy, move back in with his parents, and is going through hell with doctors and pharmacies......because the stupid railroad rules dictate a practice that is different than ANY other program out there. The medical practices don't know how to handle billing, don't understand it, and they operate in 21 day cycles instead of the normal 30 days.
Well, I'll end my rant here. It's just frustrating sitting back and watching the constant parade of problems with Amtrak (for passengers and employees alike), when I know it could be so much better.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Amtrak207: Back in the eighties, Amtrak made it a point to rent billboard advertisements along I-95 in places of known traffic congestion. Does anyone know if they still do this? AmMarketing is not what it once was.
During the 1990's Amtrak had a great series of billboards through the Carolinas on I-95 advertising the Auto-Train. They had those big letters that were intentionally made to look fuzzy and they screamed "Tired Yet?" at motorists.
It must have been effective because I knew one of the agents in Fayetteville, NC at the time. He said that almost every evening there would be some motorist pull in off I-95 and ask him about taking the Auto-Train the rest of the way!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Home again (as previously noted, I'm not railfan enough anymore to have considered CHI-30-WAS-19-ATL)--
While not related to Auto Train, Amtrak DOES have a strategically placed billboard visible to anyone traveling South from O'Hare on the Tri State Tollway I-294. The ad says "Window or Aisle? no middle seat with us -- Amtrak'
Oh...and WAAAY OT, possibly some noted I checked in at each stop - save one; a Marriott Fairfield in Marion IL account no working computer. Guess what showed up today; a customer satisfaction e-survey! Something tells me, Ms. TrainLady, residing not all that far away from Marriott HQ, could hear the groans when I get done with them regarding that "Dive-Inn". I do not normally respond to those surveys (hey I vote with my $$$ whether or not to come back), but this will be an exception. As a result on my return, I scrubbed a Fairfield in Bowling Green and thankfully upgraded to a Courtyard @ an additional $25 or so room rate.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I scratch my head and wonder too, Smitty 195, but I find it hard to blame unions [admitted, nobody in the strange love/hate world of Amtrak is a sacride cow, including our band of brothers/sister here] when you list these strange benefits/health programs that are more creatures of management's indifference to people and focus on political survival. Your friend has many companions in other public and private organization who are in the same leaky boat. I agree new people, new equipment, new attitudes would go a long way to correcting many problems. If it calls for heads to roll, let them roll in the executive suites also.
Posts: 39 | From: Detroit, MI, USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by smitty195: This guy that I know was hurt in a locomotive he was running, and has now had to declare bankruptcy, move back in with his parents, and is going through hell with doctors and pharmacies......because the stupid railroad rules dictate a practice that is different than ANY other program out there.
Mr. Smith, what you address here is the Federal Employer's Liability Act, or FELA.
This program is different than the usual State administered Worker's Compensation Acts which by and large seek to indemnify an employee for the cost of medical care and time lost. Rather FELA instantly places an injured employee in an adverse relationship with the railroad employer much the same as parties involved in a motor vehicle incident are placed in with one another.
I agree the system stinks. I knew (and still know) a lovely young woman (always married; we were "just friends") who literally "had her life stolen" account FELA. After a job related injury, she had to forgo needed medical care because her railroad health insurance (just like any other health insurance out there) will not pay when there is an employment related injury involved. But since there was no indemnification, but rather the right to seek civil remedies, she had to do without and I assure you gentlemen, even twenty years after the fact, she cannot work and lives in pain.
While I cannot address all facts and circumstances here (what my friends tell me in private stays private) suffice to say she would have rather had her life back than any settlement she got.
But she did get to see her daughter married.
Yes, if there is anything regarding railroad employment that needs an overhaul it is the underlying doctrine set forth in FELA.
But then, the trial lawyers have their friends; case in point www.ble.org Just hit the FELA tab there or at any other RLO's site.
Thank God, I never got hurt during my railroad career. Even non-Agreement employees can get hurt. Just ask my friend about that (I went to Dinner with her husband and Mother recently; I was invited to her Daughter's wedding, but did not attend).
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by smitty195: They don't have worker's comp either! They have a bizarre "railroad only" program, and the benefits (if I can even call them that) are worse than a McDonald's employee---literally. This guy that I know was hurt in a locomotive he was running, and has now had to declare bankruptcy, move back in with his parents, and is going through hell with doctors and pharmacies......because the stupid railroad rules dictate a practice that is different than ANY other program out there.
To underline and emphasize what Mr. Norman said: This is not a railroad corporation idea. It is a federal law. FELA it is commonly called. It should go away, but there are quite a few lawyers that make their living off it. The results can be quite irrational, as Mr. Norman's example points out. The "brotherhoods" seem to like it, but you got to wonder how much gets kicked back to them from the lawyers. It strongly enformces the "us versus them" mentality that causes no end of problems.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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It's just frustrating sitting back and watching the constant parade of problems with Amtrak (for passengers and employees alike), when I know it could be so much better.
