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This was a very useful tool for the agents and conductors to contact each other to help the passengers. We were able to straighten out ticketing problems, get info on helping handicapped passengers, find out how bad a train was delayed, and just generally streamlined train operations. Well, no longer, no phones, no help. Anyone thinking about taking a train in the near future will be for quite a shock.
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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"This train's got the disappearin' railroad blues..."
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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Yeah, a conductor talking to a ticket agent on board the LSL had to use an employee's phone.. It would seem to me that the cell phones are an essential piece of equiptment on the job.
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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But I must point out that cellphones are a relatively recent innovation. Amtrak operated perfectly well without them for at least two decades.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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Yes, they did operate for a long time without them, but boy, did they come in handy.
Rumor----350/353 are being cut.
KA6BGJ Member # 662
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I think it is really a shame to take the cell phones away because of their realibility in communicating over very long distances. With the popularity of Cell Phones today, the telephone companies (VERIZON,CINGULAR,ETC.) have better than 90 % of the Continental US capable of handleing Cell Phpone traffic.
A Cell Phone is an essential part of equiptment that the Conductor and Engineer should be required to carry as a back up Comm. system should there ever be a situation where the existing two way radios on board the train fail to work.
CK Member # 589
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KA6BGJ, you make good points. It seems to me that Amtrak is trying to save "nickels & dimes" at the expense of service & safety by taking back cell phones. Granted Amtrak operated before cell phones, however, having a cell phone can provide a valuable safety link in an emergency. Many state & local law enforcement departments now issue cell phones to their officers.
[This message has been edited by CK (edited 02-28-2002).]
cajon Member # 40
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Amtrak engineers don't get issued cell phones, just conductors. The cab radio has more than enough power to reach the conductor & the dispatcher. They haven't taken away cell phones in LA but they sometimes don't have enough to go around.
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