Empire Commuter: In Brief

Catching up after the holidays with a few:

• The Strike is off: From the 1/18 press release: "A tentative agreement on new contract terms was reached today between Amtrak and union coalitions comprised of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the Teamsters Union (BMWED), the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (SEIU), the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), the Transportation Communications Union (TCU), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU)." On one hand, long-overdue pay raises may raise Amtrak employee morale -- but as Bruce Richardson points out on the United Rail Passenger Alliance site -- both the Amtrak management and the union leadership are at fault for letting things deteriorate to this point.
• A pattern here? Hudson Police are trying to figure out what caused a collision between a tractor-trailer and an Amtrak passenger train around one o'clock last Wednesday morning, January 16th. Later that morning the 6:20 from Albany stopped five miles from Hudson then was put in reverse back to the Rensselaer station -- because of brake problems.
• Congrats to Anne Marie Bologna: A fellow commuter is profiled in AMNY's "Extreme Commuter" column. I gather that an "extreme commuter" is defined as someone who takes longer than ninety minutes one way  -- each of us must be at least two of them!
• It was announced on Christmas Day that the Coffee Beanery at Rensselaer station would begin serving beer and wine. Four days later, Stephanie Abrams broadcasted her radio show "Traveling Feet" from the Rensselaer Rail Station on Saturday (12/29/07). Abrams said "it's really important for people to be reminded of the value and opportunity that traveling with public transportation, particularly with Amtrak, offers them in terms of comfort, efficiency and a wonderful opportunity to relax and unwind while you're getting where you need to go." Sounds like the beer truck was late and she was drinking shoe polish instead!