Originally Posted by
nuschu
In regards to people making excuses for Amtrak...
I think in most cases people reporting problems back here are not doing it just to complain. I think most people who ride and support Amtrak regularly want to see it perform well and succeed. When I run into problems like this my brain starts making excuses for Amtrak because I really enjoy train travel, but you have to put yourself into the shoes of a first time Amtrak passenger who is looking to make a judgement call on future Amtrak travel. The first train ride, first long distance trip, experiences with Amtrak employees, on-time performance, if any of these goes wrong you can push potential riders back to their car or to the airport. If you are already a rail fan you'll put up with just about anything to continue traveling by train, but most people need some convincing to keep traveling by train and to vote for politicians that will support Amtrak.
Of course you get some people who want to vent, but Amtrak needs to be aware of the problems so they can try to correct them.
Agreed.
Comments on a recent Coast Starlight trip report by a first timer shows that excuse making is still alive and well.
At this past weekend's National Train Day show at Grand Central Terminal, Amtrak was kind enough to send many passenger cars for display. The beautifully restored prototype Viewliner dining car was enough to woo many new customers to the rails--judging by comments I overheard.
However, a good number of the employees staffing the displays were taciturn or yakking amongst themselves (ignoring the potential customers) or eating lunch in the dining cars.
Can you imagine Disney cast members (employees) eating lunch in the display car? Or three Ritz Carlton employees sitting in a hotel trade show display as if it was an employee lounge? Before someone decries that I'm against employees eating lunch (I'm not), lunch can be consumed at any number of off-car or behind the scenes locations away from public view.
Some employees on the train were quite engaging.
Come to think of it--this was a fairly representative of the Amtrak experience. Some good, some not so customer engaged.