Trip Report: October 8 - 28, 2000
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
ONBOARD AMTRAK
WITH TED AND SYLVIA BLISHAK
October 12, 2000: Chicago Union Station.
As we detrain the California Zephyr, a Redcap with a luggage cart arrives and delivers our luggage to the Metropolitan Lounge, reserved for first-class travelers. The platform, which is in a rather dungeon-like place, is very busy with the outbound Texas Eagle loading passengers as our train unloads, and several commuter trains in the station as well. The engine noise under the station roof is deafening.
The Metropolitan Lounge contains easy chairs, a fireplace, sofas, and a serve-yourself drink area with coffee, fruit juice, muffins and soft drinks. It is warm outside and it feels like the heat is turned on inside the lounge. A number of cooling fan are in evidence, suggesting that the lack of air conditioning is not just a temporary problem, however none of the fans are in use. Since our new Sprint cell phone has not worked well on board the train, we utilize the payphone and the computer work station to catch up with phone messages and Email from our customers.
Much of the newer part of Chicago Union Station is under a low roof. The classic, high-ceilinged great hall is across the street, but accessible by a tunnel from the rest of the station. The beautiful old building, with its Greek columns, is nearly empty of people although there are benches and pay phones there. For some reason, Amtrak has all but abandoned it in favor of the overcrowded, low-ceilinged, and stuffy newer facility.
As I start to make some phonecalls from the Metropolitan Lounge, I can't help eavesdropping on the conversations at the adjacent phones. Passengers are calling home to relatives and saying, "It was a wonderful trip very relaxing. We saw lots of deer. It's so much better than driving you can relax and walk around."
Another caller says, "If you have the time, you really must try Amtrak next time. The bedrooms are so comfortable and cozy, and you can really stretch out"
The Amtrak agent manning the counter in the lounge calls passengers for the Lakeshore, and then our train, the Capitol Limited, due to depart at 7:45 PM. The last time we took the Capitol was quite a few years ago, also in October, a couple of days before its Heritage Fleet consist was retired in favor of newer equipment. At that time, the station had posters announcing, "This Halloween, the Capitol Limited is coming dressed as a Superliner!" The Superliner consist is showing signs of years of heavy passenger use now.
Since we had an early lunch to accommodate the arrival in Chicago of the CZ, we are hungry. Our car attendant tells us that dinner will be announced around 8:30 PM, after we are underway. We pull out of the station a short distance, then stop for about 45 minutes while they couple some material handling cars on behind us.
The Prime Rib dinner is excellent, with much larger portions than we experienced on the California Zephyr.
Our table companion is a woman employed by the Washington State Department of Transportation on her way to a professional conference in Florida. She is unable to fly because of a health problem, so will be on Amtrak for four consecutive nights. She points out that Washington DOT contributes heavily to support Amtrak trains in the Pacific Northwest. Her job is to analyze data about traffic accidents involving grade crossings. She feels that the only real solution to these collisions is for roads to either overpass or underpass train tracks. The cost of such construction projects is millions of dollars per grade crossing.
We ask if there is any alternative. "Yes, it is possible to construct an island at each end of the grade crossing with an eight-inch concrete wall around it. This would prevent drivers from driving around the grade crossing bars when they're down - unless they subsequently drive into oncoming traffic." Of course, drivers willing to risk being struck by an oncoming train might also risk driving on the wrong side of the road, putting other drivers at risk.
After a night's sleep, we get an early call for breakfast while it is still dark. In the dining car, I, as usual, order two side orders instead of one entrée. Ted, as he usually does, requests one side order and an entrée. We've encountered no problems with this either on the Coast Starlight or the California Zephyr. The request for my two side orders, rather than one entrée, annoys our waiter, who not only refuses to comply but gives me a lengthy and hostile lecture, concluding with "I have to do it this way to keep my boss happy." Ted offers to pay for the extra side order (meals are included in the price of a sleeping car ticket) as there is only a small amount of money involved. No luck.
This is our first opportunity to complain about on board service, after three consecutive days of excellent service. I decide to test the railroad's "Satisfaction Guaranteed" policy and say so. The waiter denies any ability to deal with this policy, so I ask to speak to his boss. She is both waitress and maitre' d, and stands slouched with hands in her pockets and, in a surly voice, also refuses my request for two side orders and suggests that if I am unhappy with her policy I can call Customer Service about their "Satisfaction Guarantee" policy. Putting this guarantee to the test, I say that I've been told onboard personnel can provide vouchers worth a few dollars if a customer has a minor complaint. She also denies any knowledge of both the customer satisfaction guarantee or her responsibility for customer satisfaction.
I ask to speak to her boss, who arrives shortly, and introduces himself as the conductor. I ask if there is a train chief on board. "I'm it!" is his retort. (We have two onboard staffers doing double duty here.) We repeat the same conversation, with the same hostile responses, that I've had with the other two employees. He says he knows nothing of any Satisfaction Guarantee policy, does not have any service vouchers, and repeats over and over again that if we are unhappy with the way he is running "his" train, we can call 800 USA RAIL.
However, the conductor does speak to our waiter, and I do get the second side order served politely to complete my two-item meal while others around me are finishing their conventional six-item meals. I realize I've made a big deal out of a small matter, but I've also learned that the policy is not what Amtrak advertises it to be. It is also clear that we have an unusual dining car staff and conductor, not at all typical of the Amtrak employees we've encountered so far. Perhaps if this Capitol Limited had a train chief, the dining car staff could remember how to be professional and courteous, and passengers would not have to deal with a non-service oriented conductor with an attitude.
In contrast, our sleeping car attendant is helpful and courteous, and helps us unload our luggage in Pittsburgh, where we'll stop to visit friends and relatives for a few days, and where Ted will attend a reunion of the Ambridge High School Class of '55.
On Monday morning we will reboard the Capitol Limited, headed for Washington, D.C. and Williamsburg.
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