Passenger Trains > Another Great Day for MARC and Amtrak - NOT

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/2010/06/amtrak_apologizes_for_missing.html

June 29, 2010

Amtrak apologizes for missing Odenton station

Amtrak took responsibility today for a lapse Monday night in which a northbound Penn Line MARC train missed its stop at Odenton station in Anne Arundel County -- forcing passengers to continue to the BWI station to catch a southbound train back to their destination.

Maryland Secretary of Transportation Beverly Swaim-Staley and Maryland Transit Administration chief Ralign T. Wells were both aboard the train, MTA spokesman Terry Owens said.

"They were not at all happy," Owens said. "We are extremely disappointed with Amtrak's performance and we have conveyed that to the highest levels of Amtrak management."


Joseph Boardman, chief executive of Amtrak, released a statement in which he apologized to more than 150 passengers who were inconvenienced by the mistake aboard Train 538, the same one that was stranded a week before for two hours in blazing temperatures.

Boardman said the incident is being reviewed but that the early indication is that "the engineer began to slow the train too late and as a result continued past the Odenton station by about three car lengths before coming to a stop." By the time the train came to a stop, he said, it could not back into the station because another train was coming up behind it.

Amtrak said Odenton-bound passengers were transferred to an Acela Express train that stopped at Odenton to let them off. The railroad, which operates the Penn Line under contract with the Maryland Transit Administration, estimated the delay at 30 minutes. The Amtrak chief and other managers appeared at the Odenton station this morning to apologize to commuters in person.

Several MARC riders reported that the train crew's first reaction was to blame track conditions rather than engineer error. Kevin Cup of Severn, who said he was sitting in the lead passenger car of the train that overshot the station, said regular passengers noticed that the train was approaching Odenton too fast.



"Just before we passed the station (at full speed), the train’s brakes were applied sharply and very briefly (as if the engineer tried too late to make the station stop in time)," Culp said. "The brakes were immediately released and we came to what I can only describe as a stop under 'normal' braking about 1 mile north of the station. The train sat there idle for about 2-3 minutes until the trip resumed north. A conductor apologized and indeed blamed the missed stop on 'rail conditions.'"

Culp, like other irders, found the explanation unsatisfactory.

"What makes me apoplectic is the manner in which these things are handled," he wrote. "Instead of just telling us the truth (the engineer made a mistake; we’re really sorry; please get on the next southbound train) they make up these fantastical stories and treat us with disdain, condescension, and sanctimony."


Some MARC riders were looking for more than an apology.

"The relationship between MARC and AMTRAK needs to be reevaluated," said Penn Line rider Eric Luebehusen. "It needs to be pointed out at the highest level that MARC passengers are not to be treated as second fiddle to their AMTRAK counterparts. AMTRAK needs to stop simply sending trains around disabled MARC trains to maintain its own on-time agenda."


The Odenton incident was just one of many troubles reported on the MARC system Monday. including malfunctioning traffic signals and heat-related track problems on the Camden and Brunswick lines. Owens said the two late Penn Line trains were both seriously late -- one by an hour and the other almost two hours -- because of mechanical problems. The last train, No. 446 scheduled to leave Union Station at 10:30 p.m., didn't depart until nearly 12:30 a.m. because an electric locomotive malfunctioned.

Did I read this correctly? Boardman showed up, in person, to apologize for the train overshooting the platform? And, they stopped an ACELA at Odenton to deliver these inconvenienced people? Amazing what happens when a government bureaucrat is inconvenienced, compared to 600 taxpaying schlubs.

Amtrak puts NJ Transit commuter trains in stop mode for ten minutes to accommodate a late running Acela Express, and that happens a few times a week

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did I read this correctly? Boardman showed up, in
> person, to apologize for the train overshooting
> the platform? And, they stopped an ACELA at
> Odenton to deliver these inconvenienced people?
> Amazing what happens when a government bureaucrat
> is inconvenienced, compared to 600 taxpaying
> schlubs.
>
> Amtrak puts NJ Transit commuter trains in stop
> mode for ten minutes to accommodate a late running
> Acela Express, and that happens a few times a week

Yesterday the NJT train I take (with only about four out of eight coaches running properly with A/C) sat and sat and sat at New York Penn Station waiting to leave. Doors were closed and we were ready to go at departure time. But a late running Northeast Regional train was released ahead of us, then a late arriving Keystone from Sunnyside Yard departed ahead of us, and then a NJT train that was scheduled to leave after us was released. Now all these trains were stacked in front of us as we had to "make the crawl" across the Meadowlands. This appeared to be poor dispatching on a rail line that had "transit alerts" all day on trains between New York City and Trenton and New York City and Long Branch, NJ (wire problems, signal issues etc. related I am sure to the 90+ degree heat in the metro NYC area. Our train was loaded and ready to go but held over 15 minutes and then further delayed across the Meadowlands. Today - disabled train during the AM rush into NYC from NJ. Mechanical issues with a NJT train on the North Jersey Coast Line. Boardmand and Amtrak management + NJT officials would be out there nearly every other day to greet disgruntled passengers due to various delays ocurring between New York Penn Station and Newark/Rahway/Trenton.

Perhaps the motorman should make another student trip...

Me thinks Boardman is only out there because the contract for the other 2/3 of MARC is out for bids and he already lost a similar 1 on VRE to Keolis and doesn't want to do that again...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/10 14:19 by Chucksc.

All this takes me back to memories of the three years in the mid '80's that I rode MARC regularly from Bowie, MD to DC on the Penn Line.

Cars with working AC were often a rarity in the summer and the best location to ride home on a hot (!) summer evening was at an open dutch door on one of the ex-PRR coaches going 80mph+ up the Corridor.

It was on one these hot rides home that I well remember our E-60 loosing all power shortly after leaving Seabrook. The pantograph came down and the big beast went silent. With just enough momentum left we crested the slight grade and coasted to a perfectly quiet stop at the old Bowie station. Fortunately I just walked to my car and was home in short order. My fellow commuters bound for points north enjoyed over two hours in beautiful Bowie that evening, with the bar near the station having an unexpectedly busy night!

Boardman made it worse by blaming the engineer.

He should have stuck with the original story, and remarked how lucky they were that Amtrak ran so many trains on that corridor that they could get them back without much delay.

I think the article quoting passengers as saying missing the station was unacceptable should have had some balance and asked an engineer if this is unusual.

Highspeed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Boardman made it worse by blaming the engineer.
>
> He should have stuck with the original story, and
> remarked how lucky they were that Amtrak ran so
> many trains on that corridor that they could get
> them back without much delay.
>
> I think the article quoting passengers as saying
> missing the station was unacceptable should have
> had some balance and asked an engineer if this is
> unusual.

Shouldn't the engineer be expected to know this was a scheduled station stop? That would seem to be a basic requirement for the run.

People got very out of shape when those Northwest pilots overshot the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles, while remaining out of touch with controllers. Those pilots got a six month furlough, and the opportunity for some retraining.

Anybody ever think that this guy might be an extra board engineer not familiar with that particular train's schedule?

I sure wished I'd gotten an official apology from the Amtrak President for being delayed by a day in Chicago due to a late connection a couple years ago.

Oh wait, I'm not an arrogant douche and I don't feel entitled to an explanation or an apology, and I'm not an elected official, so that's out. Transportation agencies have delays and make mistakes, it's part of it. Take your free ride back to your missed station, your food voucher, or your free hotel room, and be happy you got that.

Try getting stranded by American Airlines. "Here's your sugar packet sized pillow. There's the floor. There will be another flight tomorrow...maybe."

Pump