Passenger Trains > Amtrak strands 13-year-old in Battle Creek

The conductor who kicked the girl off the train just got his job back after being fired for cheating in Rules Class. Another customer service victory! -PCP

https://www.woodtv.com/news/target-8/amtrak-strands-13-year-old-in-battle-creek/1893229442

A 13-year-old planned to spend her spring break visiting her uncle in Chicago, but instead found herself sitting at the Battle Creek police station after getting kicked off an Amtrak train.

On the morning of March 26, Renee Van Tress boarded a 7:06 a.m. train in Lapeer. Her mom bought a ticket for her online and dropped her off at the station. Her uncle planned to pick her up at the station in Chicago.

Renee and her dad Robert Van Tress sat down with Target 8 after she was forced off halfway to the Windy City.

"I'm so confused. Like, it pretty much was a two-and-a-half-hour-ride to Battle Creek and then on top of it, it was a five-hour train ride anyway to Chicago. So I really would've only had another two and a half hours to go," Renee told Target 8.

Amtrak has specific policies for unaccompanied minors ages 13 to 15. Those include boarding at a staffed station, talking to staff prior to boarding and obtaining a wristband for the young teen for the duration of the ride.

Renee's parents did some research and believed she could ride alone based on what they read online, so they figured everything was set for her trip. She boarded, had her ticket scanned and departed for the Windy City with no problems.

The conductor only got involved after a passenger sitting near Renee asked her how old she was.

"The conductor came over and asked my age and I said 13 and he said I was too young to be on the train alone," she explained. "I explained that my uncle was going to pick me up and they still said that I had to get off."

At that time, the train had made it to the Flint area. Texts she sent to her dad show they told her she would have to get off in Battle Creek by 8 a.m., less than an hour into the ride.

"They could've called Durand police and say, 'We have so-and-so here, can you please come over and pick her up?' Then your next stop would be (East Lansing). Maybe that could've happened there and it would've given her mother a shorter distance to drive to pick her up," Robert Van Tress told Target 8.

He couldn't leave work to go to Battle Creek, so instead Renee's mom drove from Lapeer to pick up Renee. The Battle Creek officer who Amtrak called to the station, Cpl. Joe Wilder, took Renee to the police department. She got a tour of the station before her mom got there around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

-See Link For Rest Of The Article-

As Amtrak drops station staffing, and willfully disobeys the law in restoring some of them for this fiscal year, what then to do with putting off those under 16 ?

Posted from Android

I rode the train as a kid for years— even overnight at age 13 on the Empire Builder from WI to ND and the Floridian from Tampa to Chicago at age 14!

These policies anymore and the meddling from others is over the top!

And there were always threats to your safety — years ago.... But, crews looked out for you, too. Legal depts have ruined it for these young folks now... Was a rite of passage back in the day !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/19 16:44 by IC_2024.

Outrageous behavior, and a policy that could use some tweaking.  

I read the headline and was expecting to read that the teen had misbehaved.  To read the opposite was true, and they  put a minor off at a remote station is just plain stupid on Amtrak's part.  

A 13 yr. old girl alone on a train these days ?  A risky choice by her parents. 

PC1974 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The conductor who kicked the girl off the train just got his job back after
> being fired for cheating in Rules Class. Another customer service victory!

Any relevance to this incident? Did the same conductor scan the girl's ticket as she entered the train?

The only error I see was allowing her to board - but (although unstated in the coverage) she may have boarded with other people and the conductor didn't realize that she wasn't accompanied. Or he may just be a bad judge of age. In any case, once the error was discovered the rules were followed to remove her from the train at the next stop where the rules allowed her to be put off (a staffed station). The Unaccompanied Minors rules are clear.

Lawyers rule the world now.  No room whatsoever for compromise or good judgement.  Amtrak rules also put the fear of God into any employee who thinks outside the box, but that's government for you.  I, too, traveled on LDTs at age 12-14 and was looked after by crew members and affectionate passengers with no problem at all.  The good days are gone forever.

-John

IC_2024 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I rode the train as a kid for years— even
> overnight at age 13 on the Empire Builder from WI
> to ND and the Floridian from Tampa to Chicago at
> age 14!
>
> These policies anymore and the meddling from
> others is over the top!
>
> And there were always threats to your safety —
> years ago.... But, crews looked out for you, too.
> Legal depts have ruined it for these young folks
> now... Was a rite of passage back in the day !

Put perfectly enough, IC_2024, let alone what comes with T&E service. I've been there done that too, about the same age. Such a damn shame society and the blame factor have become such an issue in recent years. Seems just the other day, people were vigilant and able to be responsible for themselves AND their children without incident! I remember my parents giving me just a short enough ration of $h!t about things like this or else, and boy did they usually turn out just fine!

-bird

Posted from Android

That conductor violated numerous rules regarding unexpected Unaccompanied Minors onboard trains...the rule is simple. Unexpecct minor boards...treat them like an expected minor and carry them to their destination and fill out paperweork enroute or at the destination station. We are also to get in contact with the parents or guardians and make sure they didn't run away. But putting them off in the hands of police or putting them off alone at a stop is against policy...and common sense.

Big difference is one kid back then had more common sense than a carload of them now.

jcaestecker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lawyers rule the world now.  No room whatsoever
> for compromise or good judgement.  Amtrak rules
> also put the fear of God into any employee who
> thinks outside the box, but that's government for
> you.  I, too, traveled on LDTs at age 12-14 and
> was looked after by crew members and affectionate
> passengers with no problem at all.  The good days
> are gone forever.
>
> -John

Does anyone remember the Joint Custody Express, as it was unofficially called, an Amtrak California train schedule that ran on Sunday evenings?
 

If conductor was so worried about her security, he should have placed her in business class if a seat was available, which is somewhat isolated form the rest of the train. 

Obviously, Lapeer is an unmanned station, but Amtrak.com shows a ticket office at Battle Creek, why didn't the CSR handle it?
I know some Michigan stations have lost agents recently, but is Battle Creek manned or unmanned?

Here's what the Battle Creek Police had to say... No complements for Amtrak.

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

Wonder why this other passenger got involved unless she had some distressed look or was acting in a strange way.  Oh come on, the train is so dangerous, more so than the typical local hangouts.

Bob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/19 04:43 by robj.

IC_2024 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I rode the train as a kid for years— even
> overnight at age 13 on the Empire Builder from WI
> to ND and the Floridian from Tampa to Chicago at
> age 14!
>
Made a round trip alone Chicago to Seattle on the City Of Portland and 
pool trains when 14 1/2.  Worked the previous winter / spring on a paper
route to pay for it.

Quite a few trips on the GTW and one on the EL before I was 16.

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/19 07:49 by Englewood.

PNWDivision10 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That conductor violated numerous rules regarding
> unexpected Unaccompanied Minors onboard
> trains...the rule is simple. Unexpecct minor
> boards...treat them like an expected minor and
> carry them to their destination and fill out
> paperweork enroute or at the destination station.
> We are also to get in contact with the parents or
> guardians and make sure they didn't run away. But
> putting them off in the hands of police or putting
> them off alone at a stop is against policy...and
> common sense.

This policy would apply for unaccompanied minors 16 and older. Amtrak does not allow 13 year olds to travel alone. Period.

Posted from Android

I rode the coast starlight alone from Oxnard to San Luis Obispo for years, starting at about age 10.  Every other weekend I'd go between my parent's homes.  I never had any problem at all and I knew all of the crews.  It's like someone said before.  The good ol' days are gone forever.

thetuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This policy would apply for unaccompanied minors 16 and older. Amtrak does not allow 13 year olds to travel alone. Period.

https://www.amtrak.com/unaccompanied-minors-policy

13, 14 and 15 can travel unacompanied if the rules are followed.
16 and 17 can travel unaccompanied and bring their children.
A passenger 18 or older is needed to accompany any passenger 12 and under (unless it is the child of the 16 or 17 year old).

PNWDivision10 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But putting them off in the hands of police . . .  at a stop is against policy

Where are you getting this information?  What's wrong with handing the kid over to the cops?