Passenger Trains > What Happens in Chicago When a Train is 12 Hours Late?

Consider a train from the west coast arriving in Chicago at 3 AM instead of 3 PM.  How does Amtrak accommodate this?  Has the dining car served dinner?  Has the snack bar stayed open to say 10 PM?  Does Amtrak have sufficient staff at Union Station at 3 AM to assist passengers.  Many have missed connections to not only Amtrak trains but commuter trains and CTA.  For those who missed Amtrak connections, does Amtrak book hotels at that hour? Are there sufficient Taxi Cabs available to take passengers to hotels? Is the Metropolitan lounge open?  Is the main waiting room safe for passengers trying to sleep but with baggage?  Is that new lounge open where you pay $10.  When does someplace in the station open that serves breakfast?

Amtrak has had lots of practice at this.  They should be good at it.  Are they?

I'm motivated to ask this because I come into Chicago next week on the CZ to connection to the Lake Shore.

Marty Bernard

My experience several weeks ago when I was on a 13 hour late # 6 says the answer is no. When we arrived at about 3am a huge line quickly formed at the Passenger Services desk and the 1 clerk working was swamped. Those 150-200 people in line had a VERY long wait till they got taken care of.

  Very glad I already had a voucher for the Holiday Inn or I'd have been stuck in that long line. I waited about 15 minutes to get a cab as at 3am there aren't many working around Union Station.

   All in all a very bad scene.

   Sad but true. Ross Rowland 

Amtrak usually puts passengers in a hotel to catch the next day's connecting train. 

The dining cars seem to be stocked with some kind of canned beef soup and rice that gets served in these situations. I've also had Amtrak order KFC box meals for the whole trian at a station along the line. 

It can be a nightmare when everyone has to wait in line to make arrangements in Chicago. I've also had Amtrak send people to meet the train a few hours before Chicago and make arrangements and issue vouchers onboard the train. This way, once it arrives everything is taken care of. 

In short, Amtrak is a great way to travel. However, you must be flexible and ready for anything to happen. It's a little like camping and always an adventure. 

In prior years, Amtrak would fly (yes, fly, as in AIRLINER...can't wait for the next train) Customer Service
agents out to meet the train.

They would provide vouchers to passengers for hotels meals and taxis, and reaccommodate them on
connections, or arrange for them to meet a bus or van to get where they were going.

That eliminated a lot of standing, waiting, fuming in a big, long line at Chicago.

Having only one Customer Service agent meet a long distance train that is twelve hours late is sheer insanity. 
For those who have to endure this kind of ordeal, Amtrak is no longer a great way to travel.

Enjoy your canned beef stew...



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/15 14:36 by GenePoon.

Re: What Happens in Chicago When a Train is 12 Hours Late?

       The folks at headqurters congratulate each other on a job well done.  "It wasn't a day late".  

       Management gets a bonus.

       Maintenance creww sits around all day doing nothing because the train won't arrive on their shift. 

 

GenePoon Wrote:
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> In prior years, Amtrak would fly (yes, fly, as in
> AIRLINER...can't wait for the next train) Customer
> Service
> agents out to meet the train.
>

I experienced this once and it was absolutely amazing to see how Amtrak use to handle such situations.  I was on a very late California Zephyr back in 1993 and these guys got on at a station complete with those old brick cell phones. One by one passengers went to the dining car for assistance.  There were a lot of passengers because this was back when by the time the Zephyr left Denver it was a combined Zephyr, Desert Wind, and Pioneer.... 20 car superliner train. By the time the train arrived in Chicago every connecting passenger had a hotel reservation, taxi voucher, and arrangements for transportation onward.   



 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

The cost to passengers, both economic and personal, when this kind of debacle occurs is huge and compensation is not possible. Lost work time, missed reservations, missed family time, wasted time making phone calls, anxiety, anger, etc. I have seen it on too many trips. I no longer make any plans that require an on time arrival or departure. As for flying, much less risk than long distance trains unfortunately.

Why do they even have a line? They should have folders ready for each (premium) passenger.

Posted from Android

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In prior years, Amtrak would fly (yes, fly, as in
> AIRLINER...can't wait for the next train) Customer
> Service
> agents out to meet the train.
>
> They would provide vouchers to passengers for
> hotels meals and taxis, and reaccommodate them on
> connections, or arrange for them to meet a bus or
> van to get where they were going.
>
> That eliminated a lot of standing, waiting, fuming
> in a big, long line at Chicago.
>
> Having only one Customer Service agent meet a long
> distance train that is twelve hours late is sheer
> insanity. 
> For those who have to endure this kind of ordeal,
> Amtrak is no longer a great way to travel.
>
> Enjoy your canned beef stew...

Your account of Amtrak arranging air service as a backup reminds me of a similar, but opposite experience I had when flying from Chicago to Fargo ND in the early 70s.  Fargo was fogged in, and the plane was finally diverted to Minneapolis, where Northwest Airlines gave us the option of either bus or train service to Fargo. Everything was arranged for us by Northwest, just as you describe how Amtrak used to deal with similar situations. I had flown earlier in the day with my mother and sister, and my elder brother and dad were booked on a later flight.  When they arrived at O'hare and learned that their flight was cancelled, Northwest put them up in the airport hotel, complete with a little dopp kit, and they flew out the next AM.

Quote: I've also had Amtrak order KFC box meals for the whole trian at a station along the line.

You may have not ridden for a century or so.. Yes, it used to be that way. But those days are long gone. Cut off everything above bare basics and then claim victory in the press for the improved profitability. Right?

Did you see Amtrak's Central Division slaughter #307 the other night for over 12 hours? Wouldn't get the buses started cause it costs too much $$$.. Back the train up and start again after the sun comes up... The folks riding who were at The Dead concert even had time to get sober and realized they were being fleeced...

Quote: It's a little like camping and always an adventure.

You missed all the people saying never again.. With the one ticket agent scenario mentioned above, it's even a smaller percentage of return patronage. And it's what the A team does to make those budget numbers look better. Station services fall under Supt Sheets. Fits the stereotype perfect!

Three years ago, I was on #8 from SEA booked to connect with #30 at CHI.  Unfortunately, we were running about 6 hrs late, and Amtrak arranged to have an 'agent' board at La Crosse, WI to handle the passengers with connections.  Yea, right. 

They called passengers to the diner by connecting train number.  Those with what would have been maybe 2 hr connections first.  Perhaps an hour later, they called for #30 passengers and I was one of perhaps 20 or so that wouldn't be making that connection.  I figured he had a connection via cell phone to the reservations computer.  Nope.  Not a chance.  He was writing out vouchers for meals and lodging and giving everyone instructions to go to the Customer Services counter once we arrived.

Fortuntately, we arrived about 8:45PM.  I knew I could make #448 if I could get to the ticket counter fast enough, which I did.  I lost my sleeper space, but I got back to Springfield earlier than planned. 

These days, with everyone having a cell phone, it would make sense to change your reservation as soon as possible over the phone.  The first ones to the reservations agents gets the seats or rooms.  Getting the jump on the 'competition' has its advantages.  Even if it means having Amtrak provide a voucher for a room overnight in Chicago, having pre-made the outbound reservations before the rest of the 'flood' gets the best results.  Unfortunately, that never occurred to me until after I was on #448 leaving town that night. 

BRAtkinson Wrote:
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> These days, with everyone having a cell phone, it would make sense to change your reservation as soon as possible over the phone.

That's what business travelers on airlines tend to do at major airports as soon as something goes badly wrong ("the mechanics are working on a problem" or "we don't have a properly rested flight deck crew yet" or "the incoming aircraft is still in Philadelphia due to bad weather").

There could be some differences depending on when or where the delay accursed.  I was on #8 when we departed SEA about 11 hours late.  Amtrak knew we were going to be late into Chicago two days before our scheduled arrival time.  They sent two agents to MSP to met the train.  Then, from there on, they met passengers in the diner, sleeper passengers first and then coach passengers.  The agents had airline and bus schedules with them and offered passengers several options.  Most passengers took the option for the next days train.  A few were able to connect to an earlier train the next day.  A few that were on a time constrained schedule were offered a ticket on airlines where possible.  I was connecting to the Cardinal that wouldn't be running the next day and the only option was bustitution.  By the time we arrived at CHI, everyone had a voucher in hand.  There were two or three agents at the station.  I was about the 15th person in the line but with three agents and vouchers in hand, it only took about a minute or less per customer.  They get you to sign a piece of paper and they hand you the cash.  They had called the cab companies and the wait for a cab was just about 5 minutes.  Cab drivers were looking to pick up the larger groups because it was extra bucks for them.  My wife and I buddied up with another lady and got picked up as a group of three.  There were a few that were going to have about 4 hours before they could make a connection.  There wasn't really time to go to a hotel and then turn around an go back to the station.  Amtrak opened their lounge for them to have a place to lay around for a few hours.  Not great but beats what you see airline passengers doing, sitting on hard floors with people and equipment moving around them and the bright lights.

Amtrak gave us cab fare, bus fare, and a little over $50.00 for meals.  

If the delay had happened east of MSP, I suspect the treatment would have been different.  Sometimes you have plenty of advanced notice to meet the delay problems properly.  Sometimes you don't.  

John

There are two TO members on the Train 6 due into Chicago today at 2:50 pm.  It is now 19 hours late and not yet at Omaha.  Let's see what their report is on how Amtrak cared for its passengers.

Marty Bernard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/15 21:10 by MartyBernard.

My advice is to NEVER depend on making a same-day connection between Amtrak trains when you are riding a long-haul western run.   Book a hotel in Chicago as part of your itinerary  and leave on the following day's connecting train.  This avoids all the phone calls on hold, re-booking lines, vouchers, hassles, etc.   When your train (eventually) gets to Chicago late, collect your bag, go directly to the cab stand and head for your hotel.   Spend the next day in Chicago enjoying the multitude of attractions / restaurants Chicago has to offer and then take your connecting train.  If you are going to be super late, you can call ahead an cancel the hotel if that makes sense based on your arrival time.  The cost of one night in a hotel is well worth it to avoid the anxiety. 

This approach served us very well this past June, where our cross-Canada trip on Via's Canadian got into Toronto 16 hours late.  Instead of arriving in Toronto at 9:30 am we got in at 1:15 am the next morning.  (The cumulative effects of 2,400 miles of horrible dispatching east of Jasper plus a freight mishap ahead of us east of Winnipeg which resulted in a loco crew dying on the law did us in.)  We lost our planned day of visiting Toronto, but we were able to make our connecting train to Montreal the follwing mornnig, after a short nite in our pre-arranged hotel.

Good luck, Marty.

- Norm

VIA used to allow passengers to stay on the Canadian overnight until 5 or so the next morning. But with the 4 night out schedule that's not possible. However there is NO excuse why Amtrak can't allow passsengers to stay in the sleeping accomodations until at least 5A for anything arriving after Midnight if they so choose. That would still allow enough time to turn the train (assuming competent help was on duty). Oh wait. I forgot. The train's on board staff would never go for such a passenger friendly plan. THEY might get home late from work!

About the time I am getting brave enough to even think about an Amtrak trip I hear these stories and put those thoughts on the back burner again.  I have been doing this since about 1970 or so when my first and only Amtrak trip was a horror story.

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> ...there is NO excuse why Amtrak
> can't allow passsengers to stay in the sleeping accomodations until at least 5A for anything
> arriving after Midnight if they so choose. That would still allow enough time to turn the train
> (assuming competent help was on duty). Oh wait. I forgot. The train's on board staff would never go
> for such a passenger friendly plan. THEY might get home late from work!
===============================================

Didn't apply to Train 6(12) anyway.  It arrived at 1109am...over 20 hours late. 
 

One time about 2005 I got into Chicago around 2:30 am. I went to the pass. services desk as did others ...and " sorry about your delay ...but I guess you'll have to take a cab to a hotel."  I was a coach passenger. So cab fare and a $150 / night hotel...at my expense.  I could go on about other experiences.....
For me, short day trips are all I want on Amtrak . Then it's fun, not frustrating.
 

I am looking forward to my two upcoming Amtrak trips. Most of the time everything is fine and employees do all they can on board. Occasionally, something like the aforementioned sun kink will foul thing up. There is no predicting that. Even on the local Capitol Corridor with its 95% on time rating, I receive delay texts multiple times daily.


Normanroger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About the time I am getting brave enough to even
> think about an Amtrak trip I hear these stories
> and put those thoughts on the back burner again.
>  I have been doing this since about 1970 or so
> when my first and only Amtrak trip was a horror
> story.