Passenger Trains > Caltrain Staffing Cuts - Cont'd

Don't think I'm trying to beat a dead horse, I have always been critical of the JPB and Amtrak's handling of Caltrain and I always will be. We have what is/was a great system, slowly going downhill by poor decisions. With all the finicial hardships, I question why more managers need to be hired by Amtrak to manage Caltrain, and why JPB officials don't stand up and sacrafice like everyone else and take a cut in pay.

This was posted on my previous thread (on page 2 now), and this is what prompted to make a continuation.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1992662

"Approximately 10% of Caltrains Engineers will be cut. Cuts have been made in the ticket office. Conductors and Mechanical forces will be cut. Cuts have been made everywhere except in Management and at the J.P.B. Could Amtrak face yet another discrimination suit because of these cuts? Does anyone feel Caltrain would be better served by a Carrier other than Amtrak? Does Amtrak deserve the contract? What would be the pro's and con's of a Caltrain without Amtrak?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't plan on purchasing a ticket in San Francisco after a certain point, the office closes and you must purchase from the ticket vending machines, so if you don't get a ticket because you didn't want to miss your train you could stand a chance at getting a citation.

But don't worry, some trainmen are being cut, so maybe you won't get a citation.

But then again you might not even have a train to ride because mechanical forces are being cut, so less workers means less productivity than is already being done.

And don't worry, with no engineers, you can't run trains anyways.

Though don't forget, hire some managers.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/09 19:04 by fjc.

HOW MUCH OF THE "MANAGEMENT" WILL BE CUT?

2720 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HOW MUCH OF THE "MANAGEMENT" WILL BE CUT?

None, a new RFE will be hired for San Francisco anytime now and I believe he is being put in charge of the oars!

to those in the know, from an outsider looking in, i am curious about something:

everything i read or hear about concerning mass transit leads me to believe that the demand is increasing. is the demand decreasing for caltrain services?

thanks for any info........

66

goneon66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> to those in the know, from an outsider looking in,
> i am curious about something:
>
> everything i read or hear about concerning mass
> transit leads me to believe that the demand is
> increasing. is the demand decreasing for caltrain
> services?
>
> thanks for any info........
>
> 66
I don't know about Caltrain, but I have been commuting on the Capital between Great America and Coliseum for a year and the ridership is noticeably down. Especially on the afternoon train.

Those of us who worked the Peninsula commute trains under both SP and Amtrak were amazed how top heavy with management Amtrak was even when they first took over the commutes in 1992...and they just kept hiring...and hiring...and hiring more managers! It sounds like not much has changed since I retired in 2002! I mean under SP you had an RFE in San Francisco and one in San Jose, a terminal superintendent, trainmaster and a couple of assistant trainmasters who seemed more concerned and occupied with SP freight operations than they were with the commutes. Even the RFEs had to deal with the freight engineers under them and operational freight problems (derailments, etc.). For the most part the commutes seemed to pretty much run themselves! Even during the 1970's and early 1980's when Bayshore yard was packed with cars and we had pool freight (San Francisco-Oakland), several locals and nearly 30 switch engines working around the clock in San Francsico and South San Francisco alone SP got by with relatively few managers for both freight and commutes. I've heard the JPB wants Amtrak to have all that management but otherwise I just don't get it!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/09 13:22 by johnw.

You must remember that Amtrak is a GOVERNMENT corporation. Not a private corporation. Government entities are out to fill quotas; to hire people of the right gender and race; to have all sorts of programs to insure equality of opportunity.

Further gov't. entities have everyone with elaborately written job descriptions about what they can and can't do. They have major meetings to decide these things. Turf wars......

They have exhaustive benefits which need even more managment to manage. Everyone works just a 40 hour week at most. And then they will make sure that they take all their sick days and vacation days and any other possible leave time, for which they are even remotely eligible.

Then they must reorganize themselves at least every 24-36 months, which means further chaos.

Then they have to have all kinds of lawyers when people file lawsuits over every arcane little detail of law, regarding their benefits, their job description, their location, etc.

I can guess that when the SP ran the operation, or really any private corporation, the amount of management staff was minimal. People did their jobs or they were terminated, quickly. The expectations were high, and people did produce quality work, or they were on the way out.

Amtrak kept all kinds of dead wood working in Washington, DC because they were completely afraid of being sued by someone for any sort of slight.

Forget which paper this was in, pretty interesting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/09 19:10 by fjc.

---

You cut 8 trains, something has to give. We hire when we increase trains, but never enough. The way it stands now is that we are low in number. I am senior and I get called to fill positions. I will be called after Sep. 1st also. Bodies missing, no on the call. This all is a smoke and mirror game. They were told to show a reduction. Code 74? Hell, you will see that code on all toilet paper when you use it. That means you are under a 74 CODE layover status. Hope you can make this months morgage.

Pardon my confusion, but where is the official notice by Caltrain about the schedule changes (Cuts!) and the ensuing layoffs? I must have missed both in these threads. One might think the passengers would be told in detail about these changes.

Holy you know what!!

I'd like to see the salary of the janitors, they probably make around that :-)

TopCat

stone23 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pardon my confusion, but where is the official
> notice by Caltrain about the schedule changes
> (Cuts!) and the ensuing layoffs? I must have
> missed both in these threads. One might think the
> passengers would be told in detail about these
> changes.


http://www.caltrain.com/news_2009_07_02_board_approves_changes.html

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You must remember that Amtrak is a GOVERNMENT
> corporation. Not a private corporation.
> Government entities are out to fill quotas; to
> hire people of the right gender and race; to have
> all sorts of programs to insure equality of
> opportunity.
>
> Further gov't. entities have everyone with
> elaborately written job descriptions about what
> they can and can't do. They have major meetings
> to decide these things. Turf wars......
>
> They have exhaustive benefits which need even more
> managment to manage. Everyone works just a 40
> hour week at most. And then they will make sure
> that they take all their sick days and vacation
> days and any other possible leave time, for which
> they are even remotely eligible.
>
> Then they must reorganize themselves at least
> every 24-36 months, which means further chaos.
>
> Then they have to have all kinds of lawyers when
> people file lawsuits over every arcane little
> detail of law, regarding their benefits, their job
> description, their location, etc.
>
> I can guess that when the SP ran the operation, or
> really any private corporation, the amount of
> management staff was minimal. People did their
> jobs or they were terminated, quickly. The
> expectations were high, and people did produce
> quality work, or they were on the way out.
>
> Amtrak kept all kinds of dead wood working in
> Washington, DC because they were completely afraid
> of being sued by someone for any sort of slight.


This is the "Post of the Week!"

OK, So 8 midday trips will come off. If the schedule making is done right in the first place, base trips are always operated by crews that MUST be used for peak trips. That is known as "Schedule Making 101"! Crew savings would be 0!

Bob K. (Transit Schedule Maker for 47 ears).

By any chance, is similar data available for the BART system?