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Although he acknowledged the delays were caused by CSX, he sent his complaints to Amtrak. Maybe passengers need to start complaining to CSX with a CC to Congress and Amtrak.
tarheelman Member # 6095
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quote:Originally posted by Mr. Toy: Although he acknowledged the delays were caused by CSX, he sent his complaints to Amtrak. Maybe passengers need to start complaining to CSX with a CC to Congress and Amtrak.
Sounds like a good idea to me.
IMO, until something is done to solve the problem of America's passenger rail system running over tracks that it neither owns nor leases (except in the NEC), our passenger rail system will remain a national afterthought.
train lady Member # 3920
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I wonder if all the complainers ever write to the airline companies, especially about having to sleep on the floor of the airport in some cases for several days.With all the ice storms now I would imagine that it will be quite a mess.
George Harris Member # 2077
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Maybe I am too much a cynic. I always wonder about the reality when you hear from these people who have nothing to say until they can come up with some apocolyptic tale of woe and then dissapear back into the woodwork.
Mike Smith Member # 447
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I've complained to UP on 2 occasions {Ccing my Congress critters}. I have never received a response from them.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Why bother complaining to a Class I carrier when you, the Amtrak passenger, do not hold any kind of transportation contract with them?
They "don't owe you the time of day" as Mr. Smith's experience bears out.
palmland Member # 4344
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Actually, some question in my mind who is the culprit here. The stretch of track from Charlottesville to Clifton Forge, VA over the Blue Ridge mountains is operated, maintained, and dispatched by the Buckingham Branch RR, who made the deal with CSX several years ago.
CSX retains the right to send trains this way. Usually this means the 150 car empty coal trains while the loaded trains generally move on a different line via the James river. But since this is dispatched locally now (Staunton, VA), seems to me even less of a reason to stab the Cardinal.
I guess after a derailment, there was no place for the Cardinal to run around a train of that length until Clifton Forge - just before White Sulfur Springs. Its not clear where the eastbound was delayed. Hard to believe the C&O operated 3 passenger trains each way over that line, plus more manifest freight trains.
train lady Member # 3920
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After reading Mr. Gannon's complaint I still can't figure out what makes his trip a nightmare. So the train was late. They were warm,comfortable and fed. So big deal they missed one meal at the Greenbriar. I have no patience with people like that.
tarheelman Member # 6095
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Two questions I have about this:
1. Why didn't CSX (or whoever dispatches this line) let the 'Cardinal' leave Charlottesville first? After all, how long could it have taken for a short passenger train to pass an idling freight train....maybe a couple of minutes at most?
2. Regarding the delayed eastbound 'Cardinal', why didn't the dispatcher order the freight trains into a siding while they awaited a new crew, rather than letting them sit on the through track blocking all traffic?
smitty195 Member # 5102
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: Why bother complaining to a Class I carrier when you, the Amtrak passenger, do not hold any kind of transportation contract with them?
They "don't owe you the time of day" as Mr. Smith's experience bears out.
Because sometimes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
notelvis Member # 3071
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Seems to me that the biggest problem here is that the author made his plans assuming that Amtrak would get him there on time.
If he were as much a railfan as he claims to be, it seems like he would have been paying more attention to what could go wrong. Especially taking his wife who was prepared to not want to be on the train in the first place (his next biggest mistake) with him.
I hope he gets back to us the next time he has a flight cancelled and winds up spending an unexpected night in some inconvienent place. I have a story about this but will hold on to that for now.
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