Empire Commuter: Just when it seemed safe to get back on the train

As I was getting off the 7:10 train in Albany last night I was talking to another regular commuter about how the delays of the last week seemed to be over. Little did I know that my train was the first one that was on-time that evening. The Kingston Freeman reports:

Train kills 44-year-old man on tracks in Staatsburg

STAATSBURG  An Amtrak passenger train struck and killed a 44-year-old man on the tracks in Staatsburg on Tuesday, police said.

The Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said the man walked onto the tracks at 4:25 p.m -- about a quarter-mile north of Lee Street in Staatsburg -- stopped and was struck by a northbound train carrying roughly 140 passengers.

The victim's name was not released. Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole, in New York City, referred to the man as a "trespasser" on the tracks, according to The Associated Press.

The train, comprising an engine and four cars, was northbound from New York City to Albany, police said.

No one on the train was injured, but the tracks had to be shut down for about 2-1/2 hours while the incident was investigated, and several trains were delayed as a result. The tracks reopened about 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Police did not know why the man walked onto the tracks and said their investigation was continuing.

Staatsburg is a hamlet in the Dutchess County town of Hyde Park, near the Rhinebeck line.

Inadequate fencing around tracks has been the cause of many Amtrak fatalities.

Empire Commuter: Delay due to lax inspection?

Yesterday I was an hour and five minutes late getting home to Albany on train 241 which is supposed to leave Penn Station at 7:10 pm. The first thing that I noticed when I got on the train was that it was filthy -- old newspapers, soda bottles and stale popcorn on the seats, the seat checks from the previous trip still over the seats. Fifteen minutes after the scheduled departure time the conductor announced that minor engine problems were being fixed and that we we'd be on our way in a few more minutes.

After waiting forty minutes in the train at the platform the conductor asked us to board another train across the platform and then we finally departed.

Obviously the train I originally boarded had not been cleaned or inspected. What if the brakes or signals had failed instead, a few minutes after departing? What regulations are there regarding this? Drop me a line if you know.

Empire Commuter: Is there a mechanic in the hoouse?

Last night my train was an hour and forty minutes late due to mechanic problems. Not mechanical -- the problem was that the one mechanic on duty was working on another train and couldn't get to mine for a half hour after the engineer discovered the engine wouldn't start. You'd think there would be more than one mechanic on duty during rush hour at Penn Station but failing that they could just ask "is there a mechanic in the house?" over the P.A. system. It would a welcome respite from those idiotic "if you see something, say something" announcements.

I called Amtrak, asked for Customer Relations, described the incident and they graciously agreed to send to send me a $22.00 voucher which can be applied to my monthly pass. It's not much but those vouchers can add up when Amtrak has one of their periodic bouts of breakdowns and delays. Besides Amtrak is a political bureaucracy rather than a business so it hurts most when someone complains and forces them to do extra paperwork.

Call early and often!

Empire Commuter: Ride that dinosaur!

Associated Press reports that "Amtrak president says old equipment could slow expansion plans:"

WASHINGTON - Amtrak is still using some equipment that dates back half a century, and obstacles to getting new equipment could stand in the way of the railroad's expansion plans, the company's president told Congress on Tuesday.

Alex Kummant said one major difficulty is the lack of existing U.S. manufacturers of rail cars.

"While we have enough equipment to serve today's needs, we lack the equipment it takes to foster corridor development," Kummant said in remarks prepared for the railroads subcommittee of the House transportation and infrastructure committee.
"It will be a challenge to obtain the necessary equipment to fully exploit our intercity corridor development opportunities, as well as to modernize and replace much of the existing fleet, some of which dates to the early 1950s," Kummant said.

---

The word from Amtrak staff on the Empire Line is that some crucial switching and signaling equipment is so old that no one is alive who knows how to repair it or fabricate replacements. How soon before something breaks down that can't be replaced?

Empire Commuter: Amtrak loses free speech suit

Amtrak's thin-skinned attitude leads to this type of sordid and slightly ridiculous scenario in which a Green Party activist is roughed up and arrested for the crime of being an embarrassment at a publicity event:

DEBBY HANRAHAN WINS SETTLEMENT IN FIRST AMENDMENT-FALSE ARREST LAWSUIT AGAINST AMTRAK

"I was attending a public rally in about as public a place as you can imagine, to which members of the public were invited through radio and newspaper announcements, and which featured on the stage Mayor Williams and several members of the D.C. Council and Sports and Entertainment Commission. My 'crime' was being out of sync with the message of the rally, and for that I was given no warning and was grabbed in a painful shoulder hold by an Amtrak policeman, pulled out of the rally, arrested, charged with trespassing, incarcerated for 28 hours, and required to give a urine sample in the presence of both male and female court and U.S. Marshal personnel. "

Green Party press release with full details:
http://www.gp.org/press/states/dc/dc_2007_06_05.shtml

Empire Commuter: Delays? You get to be pampered for that much longer!

This article from the SF Chronicle on a new "luxury" service is typical of the Amtrak philosophy:

Amtrak passengers this fall will be able to ride in high style aboard vintage Pullman cars, evoking the luxurious rail journeys of the past.

Under a new partnership with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys, formerly known as the American Orient Express, the lavishly equipped cars will be attached to the back of some regular Amtrak trains

Luxury sleeping compartments, a lounge with a live pianist and a dining car offering five-course meals are among the amenities.

During a test period from this October to January 2008, the Pullmans will be attached to the California Zephyr between San Francisco and Chicago; the Silver Meteor, which travels from Washington to Miami; and the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago

The luxury cars will be attached to the back of each Amtrak train, which will continue to make regular stops. While conductors will walk between the two segments of the train, passengers will not.

These Amtrak routes are notorious for long delays, but Christina Messa, vice president of marketing for GrandLuxe, said she is not worried about complaints. "If there's a delay, that just means you get to be pampered for that much longer."

How not to complain about delays

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) - Police closed down a section of Interstate-890 in Schenectady last night after a man at an Amtrak station claimed to have a bomb.

The man also stopped Amtrak train traffic in Schenectady Saturday evening around 8 PM.

Police says the suspect, reported to be an 84-year-old man from Philadelphia, was upset about the train being late and said he had a bomb.

The device actually turned out to be a transistor radio with other wires and not a bomb.

The highway was closed temporarily and bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to inspect the train.

The man's name was not immediately available.