Originally Posted by
You want to go where?
I'm a newbie here as far as long-distance Amtrak service is concerned.
I think I understand what a transition sleeper is, but I don't understand why they have one. Aren't all cars on the Capitol Limited double height? Also, why would service be worse on the transition sleeper than the others? Do you pay less in this car? If not, I would complain to Amtrak and ask for a partial refund.
The Transition Sleeper (TS) is a variation of the Superliner II Sleeping Car (double deck). It provides several functions:
--Dormitory for On Board Services (OBS) crew.
--Conductor's space/base of operations.
--Some revenue Roomettes.
--Passage through Superliner cars is on upper level. TS has lower level diaphragm on front end that allows passage through to Baggage Car (and rarely, other single level equipment), hence the name "transition."
When Amtrak sells revenue space in the TS, a Train Attendant (TA) from the adjacent car is supposed to serve these passengers. Much of the time, this happens without incident. I just rode on the
Zephyr in the TS and had an amazing TA assigned to us. But sometimes, these TS pax are neglected as happened to the OP. It's happened to me too and is an Amtrak service failure.
You do NOT pay less to be in the TS. Rather, you usually pay high bucket since they sell TS space last. So that adds to the insult of poor OBS performance. Yes, the OP may be compensated if s/he reports this to Customer Relations. Doing so will also open a case which will hopefully make it to the desk of the proper manager responsible for this train.