Passenger Trains > OIG Urges Amtrak to Improve Communication

April 25The Amtrak Office of Inspector General this week issued a report describing how the passenger carrier can improve its communication with passengers.
However, the report said possible steps to do that onboard trains was beyond the scope of the OIG's inquiry.
The OIG report concluded that during 2022 and 2023 Amtrak was consistently deficient in timely communicating to passengers of en-route delays, shortening hold times, and reducing the proportion of abandoned calls.

The conclusion was drawn after comparing Amtrak’s performance with travel and hospitality industry norms.
However, the report did find that Amtrak improved its passenger communications after implementing text messaging advisories in March 2023.
Even then, the OIG investigation found that during during a two-week period later in the year passengers on delayed trains received communications at varying times or sometimes not at all.

In some instances, the texts were sent 12, 16, and 24 hours after the delays began.
The average wait time at Amtrak’s national reservations and information telephone number fell from 9.5 minutes in fiscal year 2022 to 5.5 minutes in FY 2023, but more than 900,000 of the more than 5½ million calls placed were never answered, and it took call center representatives more than a half hour to answer 200,000 calls.

In response to the OIG report, Amtrak said it has created plans to address weaknesses and expects to implement those plans by the end of this year. From the akronrrblog
 

That's what Amtrak always says to the OIG reports, or of similiar context. This is nothing new and goes back YEARS:

Amtrak said it has created plans to address weaknesses and expects to implement those plans by [the end of this year]. 

At least Amtrak responds in understandable English. When I have an inquiry about my pension or other benefits from my former employer I get someone in India with that sing songey and totally unintelligible version of the English language. And even worse is the knowledge that my private records are in the hands of someone who lives in a country where multitudes ride on the outside of passenger trains.
 

POW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At least Amtrak responds in understandable
> English. When I have an inquiry about my pension
> or other benefits from my former employer I get
> someone in India with that sing songey and totally
> unintelligible version of the English language.
> And even worse is the knowledge that my private
> records are in the hands of someone who lives in a
> country where multitudes ride on the outside of
> passenger trains.
>  

Just as bad as making airline reservations, I remember that talk a few years ago!

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