Passenger Trains > Is This The New Normal At Amtrak?

Had a relative on #794 reach out to me last night as their train was getting hammered by mechanical delays south of Surf, CA. Looked on Amtrak's twitter reports, but couldn't find anything. Eventually found the delay notices this morning, on the Pacific Surfliner twitter page. Why they aren't cross posted to the normal Amtrak page is beyond me. It is an Amtrak train after all, and most normal people I would think would associate an Amtrak train with an Amtrak tweet, but I digress.

What surprised me, is that after hours of delays between Surf and Goleta, the train crew told passengers they would need to find their own transportation to continue further south once they finally made it to Goleta. This being late at night. Fortunately, she was able to get a ride, but my question is is this the new normal at Amtrak? A train craps out mid run and you are on your own? What happened to securing some motor coaches to continue the trip? Surely, in southern California, this shouldn't have been impossible.

                 This is the most effective way of running off future business at the present time.

irhoghead Wrote:
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 What happened to securing some motor
> coaches to continue the trip? Surely, in southern
> California, this shouldn't have been impossible.

This is a guess, but informed by what I've read about the motorcoach industry.  The onset of COVID was devastating to charter and intercity bus companies.  Unlike airlines, Amtrak and public transit systems, motorcoach companies received almost no federal funding to keep them operating.  Additionally, many drivers and mechanics left these firms when business was down and will never be returning.  Therefore, the ability of Amtrak to secure buses on short notice is not the same now as it was four years ago.

Are there bus companies in the Goleta/Santa Barbara area which could have responded on short notice to an Amtrak request for substitute services?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2023 07:43PM by RuleG.

i would be interested to know the reason(s) the train was annulled at goleta.............

66

Time to write letters and make a stink.  Best yet is to go immediately to TV stations.  They would love a story like "Amtrak abandons elderly in middle of night at Goleta, CA"   If the story can get legs, you may get Amtrak called on the carpet by the local politico's. 

Of course, seems the Am Mgmt doesnt care about anything anymore, and the administration that I thought was going to care about rail transit, seems to be out to lunch.

 

pdt Wrote:
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> ,,,the administration that I
> thought was going to care about rail transit,
> seems to be out to lunch.

================================================

Biden, Buttigieg and their handlers may assume that those who are in favor of rail transportation are going to vote their way no matter what, so they're not going out of their way.

GenePoon Wrote:
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> Biden, Buttigieg and their handlers may assume
> that those who are in favor of rail transportation
> are going to vote their way no matter what, so
> they're not going out of their way.

... and that applies to more than just transportation.

TAW

This is really bad!  Can't AMTRAK even get a UP engine to help out?  That is 110% unacceptable to dump people in the middle of night, and not take responsibility to get them to the end of the line, or at least into a local hotel.

Once the train is underway, your ticket is contract for the journey. Amtrak should be sued by these passengers for their expenses, along with a toxic Fedex letter to Gardner and Harris, cc the Cal legislature and congressional delegation. This is worse then the 19 hour stranding in Michigan, and Amtrak got away with it without financial retribution from the state. Amtrak regards legislative bodies as their customers, not the passengers and thinks they can voucher their way out of anything. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2023 05:17AM by joemvcnj.

That was not an Amtrak train. So the tweets would not be on the Amtrak account.

That is a Pacific Surfliner under California DOT, or CalTrans. 

longliveSP Wrote:
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> That was not an Amtrak train. So the tweets would
> not be on the Amtrak account.
>
> That is a Pacific Surfliner under California DOT,
> or CalTrans. 

Yes it is an Amtrak train, state subsidized under PRIAA. 

It appears that this is a one off event.  How would that be "the new normal"?

He asked, is this the new normal? A good question.
Even if it doesn't happen twice a day.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> longliveSP Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > That was not an Amtrak train. So the tweets
> would
> > not be on the Amtrak account.
> >
> > That is a Pacific Surfliner under California
> DOT,
> > or CalTrans. 
>
> Yes it is an Amtrak train, state subsidized under
> PRIAA. 

Cal Trans seems to think differently. They seem to think since they're paying for it they get to call the shots.

timz Wrote:
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> He asked, is this the new normal? A good
> question.

Not really.

> Even if it doesn't happen twice a day.

Then it isn't "normal", it is the exception.

PHall Wrote:

> Cal Trans seems to think differently. They seem to
> think since they're paying for it they get to call
> the shots.

Amtrak sold the ticket, Amtrak ran the train. Caltran is nothing more than accounting; they are not a railroad. 

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
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>                  This is the most
> effective way of running off future business at
> the present time.

Which is Amtrak's plan I might add.

Having worked for two different contract operators all my railroad career (one of which was both an owner-operator and a contract operator), I can assure you, the organization that pays the bills sets policy for how the service is operated. I can't say whether CalTrans called this shot because I wasn't involved in the incident, but it wouldn't surprise me if CalTrans has told Amtrak they wouldn't pay for substitute buses under some or all circumstances. If the people signing the checks won't pay for something, the contract operator isn't going to incur the expense. 

Jim

Ah, yes, our resident Am-pologist (amtrak apologist) strikes again!
Typhoon Wrote:
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> It appears that this is a one off event.  How
> would that be "the new normal"?

CPMorris Wrote:
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> Ah, yes, our resident Am-pologist (amtrak
> apologist) strikes again!
> Typhoon Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It appears that this is a one off event.  How
> > would that be "the new normal"?

Damn, I know I have never been called that before on this board.



BTW, correcting someones click bait title does not make one an apologist.