posted
give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. sorry could not help it.
-------------------- The Copper Country Limited [Milwaukee Road-Soo Line] and the Peninsula 400 [CNW} still my favorites Posts: 175 | From: FENCE WI USA | Registered: Oct 2000
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That is disturbing to read of your recent trip. Unfortunately, this type of thing occurs far too often. I cannot comment on your station experience, but I know what things are like on-board.I am a LAX based train attendant with 23 years in the system. Back in the late 90 ' s when that route was the San Diegan and all the train sets were Amfleet I worked the Custom Class car.
Where do I begin ? I am frequently embarrassed by the things I see on a daily basis. Amtrak has no concept of a correct, professional, polished product presentation. Those of us who do take pride in the service that we deliver feel like we are swimming against stream amongst the "bad apples". Amtrak needs to be much more selective in the hiring of front-line employees. Why would any major corporation let themselves be represented by some of the poorly polished/groomed/ill mannered people we have is beyond me. It's very embarrassing to have to work with people who show no interest in how they present themselves. Across the system you will find huge inconsistencies with the service delivery. Some people are held accountable, while others are not.
Sadly, Amtrak management doesn't seem to realize how amateurish the product delivery comes across. When I worked the Custom Class car on Amfleet equipment we had a very nice airline style beverage cart that made for a professional presentation. When the trains got the new big level cars we lost the carts and had to run drinks back from the main cafe in dirty plastic milk crates. And this for serving million dollar Orange County businessmen ! Amtrak, shame on you ! It might seem that I'm needlessly negative about my employer, but it comes from a place of caring about that passengers whole experience and how Amtrak can improve. Any constructive criticism is met by management with a firm reply that all service directives to continue as is.
Posts: 4 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Apparently a new policy has been recently adapted at LAUS regarding the main sitting area; not sure of the details but there is quite a bit of talk about it on another rail board. The whole point seems to be the addressing of the homeless problem and the production of valid transportation in order to use the seating area.
TA West, send me a PM if you can; we must have worked together out of Los Angeles/San Diego. My era was '80 to '03.
Posts: 588 | From: East San Diego County, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
My last trip through LAUS was in September 2012, when I arrived at 5 AM on an early Sunset Ltd, and spent only about 2 1/2 hours (minus 1 hour at Philippe's for breakfast!) in the station before I caught the 7:30 Thruway Bus to Bakersfield. While I was in LAUS, I don't recall seeing any homeless or smelly people. On the way back from Philippe's, however, there was one rather rough-looking homeless fellow standing in front of the station with a little dog.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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