Passenger Trains > Leaving Passengers Behind: What's the Solution?

Without "the rest of the story", these threads are frustrating to follow.  It appears the conductor has some leeway as to what to do...some stop, some do not.  I had one such experience, in 1970, where I went into the station, and, to my horror, saw the train departing without me......that conductor did stop for me, and yes, I did get chewed out, and correctly so.

AA
edited for correct year

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/20 15:27 by agentatascadero.

I remember my first trip on the Empire Builder.  The conductor would announce, “Ladies and gentlemen, our next stop will be (whatever).  This will be a 15-minute fresh air and smoke break.  We’ll toot the horn about a minute before we depart.  Do not leave the platform area.”  They made this announcement at every long stop. 
 
Then there was a slightly different announcement while we were in Montana.  “Ladies and gentlemen, our next stop will be Whitefish, Whitefish Montana.  This will be a 20 minute stop.  Feel free to step off of the train for some fresh air or a smoke but do no leave the platform or the station.  We’ll toot the horn about a minute before we leave.  If you wander off and we leave without you, you’ll have 24 hours at Whitefish at your own expense and we’ll be glad to pick you up tomorrow when we come through town.”  Whitefish is a very nice town and it’s tempting to wander into town, but passengers are well warned that they will be left if they are not on the train when it departs. 
 
On the other hand, I was on the Coast Starlight when a lady and her 3 daughters failed to get off at her stop.  They were supposed to get off at Klamath Falls.  They had been seated in a coach that was a bit crowded and they moved to a coach with a few more empty seats.  At her stop, they didn’t open the door on her coach and they couldn’t get off.  When the train started moving, she told the conductor that she was supposed to get off at that stop.  The conductor tried to figure out what to do.  Should he let them off at the next road and let her husband pick her up since he had driven to the area.  The problem was the poor cell service in the area and no way to contact him.  They ended up taking them to Chemuth and put her and the daughters on the southbound Starlight.  I guess that’s a good way to get some extra mileage and time on Amtrak but I don’ think hat’s what that family wanted.
 
It all amounts to personal responsibility.  Stay close to the train and on the platform or in the station.  When the engineer blows the whistle, It’s time to be getting back on the train.  Dilly-dally around and miss your train, you have no one to blame but yourself.
 
On a side note, the deaf have a sign that basically means “train’s gone.”  If they sign something and you were not paying attention and want a repeat and they don’t want to repeat it, they use that sign.  “That train has left the station.”   They know that once the train pulls out of the station, it’s gone.  There is no recalling it back to the station.

John
 

I'm not sure I understand what the problem is, from the railroad's point of view...

The carrier might have a greater "duty of care" to the passenger who gets kicked off than to passenger getting off at their ticketed destination.

Just my opinion. I am not in the legal field.

dcfbalcoS1's post is a very accurate description of what happened and it was witnessed by me and near 1,000 LaPlata webcam viewers on YouTube.  Simple thing is that LaPlata IS NOT A FRESH AIR STOP and it is announced on the train that no through passengers should detrain as the train will only be stopping to let off passengers and load new passengers and then depart immediately. The only time the train stands in LaPlata is when it is ahead of schedule and thus cannot depart until the scheduled departure time.  The only person at fault and totally responsible was the lady passenger and no amount of internet discussion can change the story or her consequencies. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/20 20:05 by TennesseeTraveler.

I remember back in 2014 riding no. 11 from Seattle and leaving Eugene one coach attendant called out some passengers missed their stop and on my scanner both conductors were not happy, 5 minute stopv(Eugene) and you missed your stop? I just shook my head!

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/20 20:08 by ProAmtrak.

ProAmtrak Wrote:
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> I remember back in 2014 riding no. 11 from Seattle
> and leaving Eugene one coach attendant called out
> some passengers missed their stop and on my
> scanner both conductors were not happy, 5 minute
> stopv(Eugene) and you missed your stop? I just
> shook my head!
>
> Posted from Android

I saw this happen on the CZ when passengers chose not to leave the lounge car for their stop until the train actually came to a stop in their station.  The CA and the conductor both were calling out on the P.A. looking for these folks.

Staffed stations when ever possible is the solution. In other cases maybe the conductor should have a 24/7 number to call and advise someone in operations control a possible sitution exists. That person can try to contact family, the authorities etc. Juggling safety,  liability and inconvenience to the rest of the passengers is a slippery slope. What's Greyhound or Megabusses policy with unstaffed stops? (Granted that's not a high bar but maybe they have policies in place, who knows)

In 1992, as an Amtrak employee traveling for work on the Crescent from the northeast to New Orleans, I wasn't interested in the same old dining car food so when we stopped in Birmingham, Alabama, I made a mad dash looking for a sandwich shop, found one, got a huge po-boy and made it back to the train in time.  Of course, I was mindful of the departure time so I wasn't worried but it was close.  I grabbed a photo of a freight train passing by, too.

A few years ago, I used to get a coffee at 30th St. Station during the long stop in Philly when riding eastbound on a Keystone train from Downingtown to New York, as long as the train was on time.

Here is video of the indicent.

The date was October 16, 2017.  And yes the conductor could have brought the train to an easy stop and let her back on.

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Your right he could and should have. Yeah she should have stayed on and said her goodbyes to mom on the trian but the train was barely moving and he was looking right at her from his window. No reason they couldnt have stopped the train.

He should have stopped the train it was barely moving period. The circumstances dont mean a thing.

Exactly.

In fact you can hear him shouting something to her as the train pulls out.  He left her there on purpose.

kingman Wrote:
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> He should have stopped the train it was barely
> moving period. The circumstances dont mean a
> thing.

Let me guess, you also believe that the person that had her feet on an adjoining seat preventing others who were standing to sit down on a LA Metro line train should have been allowed to stay that way and that responding officers should have just left her alone and let her disobey not only passenger rules/policies but common decency and respect for others.

restricted_speed Wrote:
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> Exactly.
>
> In fact you can hear him shouting something to her
> as the train pulls out.  He left her there on
> purpose.

So, what if she was directly warned and told NOT TO GET OFF THE TRAIN but she in her own mind said to "H" with authority I am going to do what I want to do, you are then directly condoning disobeying and ignoring rules and authority and just do what ever you want, everyone else will just have to bow down to your desires?

I happened to be watching live when this happened.

The girl obviously was not familiar with train travel.  She had been chatting on the train with the people who got off and decided to walk with them to their car.  As I understand it, as she stepped off the conductor said to her "Are you getting off here?".  To which she replied "Yes".

Yes she screwed up, but she was no "problem passenger".  She was just a confused girl who was made an example of for some unknown reason.  It made me angry at the time when I saw it happen.  It was completely unnecessary to do that to her.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/20 07:45 by restricted_speed.

I bet she hasn't done it again. If the trainman did ask her if she was getting off. He did so, because she wasn't carrying any luggage, just her purse.
He presumed she was with the people she was talking to as they left the platform. The blame is squarely on her shoulders.

BaltoJoey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I bet she hasn't done it again. If the trainman
> did ask her if she was getting off. He did so,
> because she wasn't carrying any luggage, just her
> purse.
> He presumed she was with the people she was
> talking to as they left the platform. The blame is
> squarely on her shoulders.

Have to disagree with you here Balto.  The conductor did this on purpose for no apparent reason.

Maybe she reminded him of his wife or something.  Who the %^$^ knows.  But it was inexcusable.

That cold, hatless "conductor" should be fired. If you can't allow for someone's minor thoughtlessness in the back of nowhere, you have no business dealing with the public. 
Was there a loud, drunken, out-of-control crowd present?

Total lazy, malevalent jerk.
 

The train would have stopped well off of the end of the short platform there at La Plata. What are the rules for picking up or dropping of passengers outside of the paved areas?

Gary

Posted from iPhone