Question about AMT Policy
 

A buddy of mine rode the Silver Star yesterday from WPB to TPA and after boarding placed his bags in the overhead and then headed off to the dinning car for lunch.

Upon return to his seat, he was yelled at by Asst. conductor who said that he should have waited for his ticket to be collected before leaving his seat.

I was wondering is that policy or was this a case of a power tripping Asst. Conductor?

Also, I have left my ticket on the little lip on the overhead rack (where they place the piece of paper denoting your final stop is place), is that acceptable or am I violating the rules as well?

Thanks,
Dan

That is indeed supposed to be the policy -- it's often announced upon departure from larger stations, so one can assume that an announcement may have been made leaving MIA but not WPB.

However, if "yelled at" is an accurate characterization, that's unfortunate.

I can think of two issues with that: one is that your number may be up for a "random" ID check, or the conductor may have some other reason to have a conversation with you ("do you realize you're on the wrong train?"). The other is that it's easy to imagine a situation where your uncollected ticket "disappears," and at best, you have to buy a new full-fare ticket in order to stay on the train.

If you leave your seat before your ticket is collected, then in some sense of the word you are a stowaway. It's one thing to pay a quick visit to the bathroom...but to leave the car entirely puts the conductor at a real disadvantage since s/he has no way of knowing where you are and thus cannot verify whether you are authorized to be on the train.

That said, there is a limit to how long you should reasonably have to wait for said conductor to come lift your ticket. In most cases if you are boarding a train mid-route, this should happen in the first 5 minutes after departure, except at very large stations. Anything longer than that is a poor showing on the part of the conductor (with the caveat that there may be some sort of emergency situation that may require the conductor's attention).

The last three times I have taken the Silver Star (92) from WPB-TPA the ticket taker has routinely taken at least 25-30 minutes (the last time I timed her) to collect all the tickets before reaching my seat.

On the Northeast Corridor, they really do not care what you do with your ticket as long as it is collected.

Routinely I have handed in my ticket in the lounge car or on my way to the lounge car.

Dan

There is no telling how long the conductor will take to make their way through the train. I take the Capitol Corridor train between SJC and SAC, about a three-hour trip. Sometimes we are approaching Davis 2.5+ hours into the trip by the time they get around to pulling my ticket.

Placing bags in the overhead could go unnoticed by others boarding the train and you loose your seat (if unreserved). Leaving your ticket laying is not wise either as it may "walk off" with someone's help.

When travelling alone there are not a lot of options. If I need to leave my seat before the conductor arrives, I take my ticket with me. If we cross paths coming or going, then I'll offer my ticket at that time.

Once last year I boarded #92 in RGH. When no one came to collect tickets, I went to the dining car and took my ticket with me. After breakfast, I went back to my seat and took my uncollected ticket with me. The tickets were collected right after RMT, 1.5 hours after boarding in RGH.

Another time I boarded #75 in RGH, which is the originating station. The tickets were collected before we left RGH.

The differences in ticket collection practices vary depending on the crew, the train and the location. One would think it would be more uniform.

In Jacksonville, a crew change point, all passengers line up in the station and the outbound conductor lifts tickets at the platform entrance. In Tampa, another crew change location, tickets are lifted onboard after departure. Leaving Miami, I've always had tickets lifted after departure. All three locations have a single point of entry to the platform, have crew originating there and significant passenger volumes.

Exactly. This is one area that will always have inconsistency due to the widely varying operating environments through the system.

It should be noted that cafe cars on all short distance and corridor trains are supposed to operate on a "bumper-to-bumper" basis. The attendant should have the cafe counter open and ready to serve from the moment the first passenger boards to the moment the train arrives at its final destination, regardless of when anyone's tickets are collected. This is formal policy in Amtrak's internal Service Standards.

Long-distance trains tend to be much more restrictively structured in many ways, with assigned seating, possibly needing to stay seated until one's tickets are taken, and varying times of operation for the food service cars.

In theory, but not in practice, I have heard an announcement made that the cafe car will close upon arrival at NWK and will not re-open until leaving NYP (this is on Regional Trains).

Dan

That's a necessary exception for restocking and/or re-crewing. WAS-BOS is a long run; for Regionals running Virginia-BOS it's even longer. A similar "intermediate major station shutdown" happens on Pacific Surfliners before and after LAX, for those trains running to/from Goleta or SLO.

But some years ago ago, Regionals were plagued with attendants who wouldn't open until well into the run or would shut down well before the terminus. To their credit, Amtrak management began cracking down in a major way. Hopefully they continue to monitor adherence to Service Standards.

What really burned me just recently occurred in ACELA F where by I boarded in WAS and took the train all the way to BOS. (In reality I should have flown, but I sort of did not feel like dealing with TSA).

I order lunch out of WAS and the AMT employee (not sure of the term for the ACELA F waiter) does not say one word about being limited to one meal, either WAS-NYP or NYP-BOS but not two meals.

Upon departure out of NYP I watch the new Acela F employee take order and skip me and one other through PAX. He comes over to me after taking orders and asks what I would like to drink and I order a beer and the ribs for my dinner.

The AMTRAK employee said that I had lunch out of WAS thus I was not entitled to another meal out of NYP. If I had known that I was not entitled to a second meal I would have run into NYP and grabbed a slice of Pizza at Rose's or maybe a Burrito from Moes.

He claims that rules has been on the books since day 1.

Dan

If this rule exists it would have to be very new. Two meals -- one out of BOS/WAS and one out of NYP -- has been the policy for Acela F since day one. You should very much call Customer Relations and seek clarification and, if the employee was rogue in creating this "policy", just compensation.

Correct, things used to be quite bad with some attendants. It was not at all unusual to find a cafe attendant that closed shortly after Philly to take inventory for restocking in NY and then wouldn't reopen until Stamford.

This was a major pet peeve for Senior VP Emmett Fremaux and he started working on fixing that shortly after he was hired. As long as Emmett remains, there won't be any backsliding on this issue.

But a short break between Newark & NY is permitted, after all the attendant does need to call in what he needs to be restocked on, and is deserving of a short break, as that is a very long run from DC to Boston.

Agreed, first that I've heard of this rule. Granted living in NYP I don't normally run through on Acela, in fact I've never done it. But I know plenty of people who have done it, and I've seen plenty of people get a second meal. And they didn't have to ask, it was offered.

AFAIK, unless there has been a very recent change in policy, it is SOP to load enough meals on in NYP for everyone along with a few spares for last minute bookings and to try to avoid running out of everything. So this is news to me, and it definately has NOT been the rule since day 1.

I for one have to wonder if either he wanted the meal for himself or was just being lazy. But again, I've heard of no change to the policy of two meals for those who run through NY.

I spoke to AMT CS and the agent was very nice but honestly had no idea if a rule exists or not, she added that she had never fielded a call like this before.

She offered to refund the F add-on as a gesture of good will, which I declined as did indeed drink a fair amount of beer and felt I did utilize the product.

She then offered me some AMT Guest Rewards Points which I happily accepted.

I thought the attendant was being lazy, but I was not really sure as he did refuse the other through passenger a meal a well.

I did mention something to his assistant (who spent most of his time sitting in an empty FC seat) and she just shrugged her shoulders.

I have been very happy with ACELA F over the years and this experience was my first real disappointment with the service in a long time.