From: jordan@IMSI.COM (Jordan Hayes)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Memo to Amtrak @ Union Station, Washington DC
Date: 18 Aug 92 14:14:32 GMT
Organization: Investment Management Services Inc., NYC

LGA was closed yesterday morning, so I Metro'd over to Union Station to
catch a MetroLiner up to NYC.  There were *two* ticket agents open (#1:
10am is a busy time at Union Station; the Virginian, one of Amtrak's
heaviest load-factor runs leaves around 10:20 ... yesterday it was 20
minutes late in leaving, mostly due to the load -- put more agents at
that 15-odd space ticket area), with about 100 people waiting in line.
No problem, I thought, I'll just use the ATM -- using the ATM for the
Delta Shuttle for the trip down the previous day was simple, quick,
efficient.

Not so for the Amtrak ATMs ... it's been about 2 years since I've used
one, and I hadn't remembered just how *slow* they are (#2: get faster
ATMs.  I saw three people cancel their transactions because they
thought nothing was happening, and they weren't getting any feedback,
so they took their credit card out which cancelled.  #3: get ATMs that
don't require you to leave your credit card in for the whole
transaction).  This made the line really long (I could only spy one
other ATM across the room, and it was clogged as well.  #4: get more
ATMs).  When I got there, I put my credit card in and there was no menu
item for Club Service (MetroLiner's "other than coach class" -- I won't
say "First" :-) -- just unreserved and reserved MetroLiner.  #5: add
Club to the menu of choices for ticketing at ATMs.

Oh, well ... Amtrak has been pushing their "Metropolitan Lounge" as an
alternative to Airline lounges.  It's complementary for Club Service
passengers.  I figured I would just go there and have them upgrade the
regular ticket.  I was also hoping that there would be some of the new
AT&T Public Phone/2000 sets in there and I could log in.  Well, after
finally finding the lounge, the attendant told me that I'd have to go
out to the ticketing line to get it upgraded.  She had no ticketing
gear in there, and it sounded like she was suprised that I had asked.
This is pretty standard in most airline lounges I've been to ... #6:
allow Metropolitan Lounge attendants perform ticketing.

So ... back into line.  This is supposed to be First Class?  Airlines
have First Class check in lines.  Hey, if you pay more, shouldn't you
be served sooner?  #7:  have a special Club Service ticket line.  So I
finally get to an agent, who says that they don't have a mechanism for
upgrading.  They have to *refund* my original ticket, and issue an new
one.  Of course, refunding is no easy matter.  It turns out that if you
have a reservation for Club, you can use the ATM.  Hmmm.  #8: overhaul
this whole thing.  Grrr.

Well, the lounge was nice (if small), and there was a bar with
complementary soda, juice, cocktails, beer, etc.  Except now I'd spent
nearly 20 minutes getting a ticket (fly the shuttle, you can arrive 3
minutes before they close the doors and have a ticket with your FF
number on it in about 40 seconds).  But there were no PayPhone/2000
sets.  Just yucky old pay phones.  There was *one* of those black
desktop AT&T phones with a dataport, but someone was taking advantage
of the fact that it was near a table to use as a regular phone to
arrange his busy schedule, so I couldn't plug in my laptop.  #9: get
higher tech.  There was a PS/2 with "complementary Prodigy" at 2400
baud ... ;-(  I did a quick survey of the rest of the station and found
only regular phones, none for business access, and certainly none with
the keyboards.

Good thing: you can board out the side door bypassing the lineup when
the track number is called.

-----

The trip was fairly standard for MetroLiner.  We were 5 minutes late
out of Union Station and arrived into New York/Penn 15 minutes after
the scheduled arrival time.  I made a few phone calls (RailPhone is
cellular!) and enjoyed the ride.  Grabbed an eyeful of the various
equipment along the way.  The Virginia Express looks spiffy.  MARC
stuff all around.  Club was full, so I had to sit in the smoking half.
It's weird how long it has been since I've travelled anywhere that
people could smoke.  10 *seconds* out of Union Station, three of the
other passengers were on their first cigarette.  I feel sorry for
them.

The hot entrees for lunch seemed too scary to order -- "stuffed
chicken" or "brisket of beef" ... others who did order them were not so
lucky.  I ordered the "deli-duo" which was two small roll-sized
sandwiches.  One turkey and one roast beef.  Pretty decent, but nothing
like even the skimpiest of First Class airline food for comparable
travel times.  The attendant was not very attending, unlike flight
attendants.  There were complementary newspapers (USA Today and Wall
Street Journal), but I had to ask where they were.  Suddenly a light
bulb went on inside his head, and he dragged out the stack from some
closet somewhere.  Other riders got up to get their own.

Last time I took Club on MetroLiner, I remembered that drinks were
free, but they are $3 now.  The best thing Club has to offer is the
extra room.  The seating is 2-1 instead of 2-2, and the seats are
bigger.  Getting some work done was a breeze, though the ride was
fairly bumpy.  More than once my soda crept its way across the
tray-table and nearly landed in my lap.

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Hotel room to office, total trip time was 4:00.  It could have been 10
minutes less if I had a reservation, but I think 20 minutes at a
terminal (rail or air) is fair for safety.  I needed it for Amtrak, but
not for Delta Shuttle.  Breakdown was the following:

10:25	leave hotel
10:40	arrive Union Station via Metro	# $1
11:00	scheduled departure		# $85 + $46 for Club
11:05	actual departure
13:55	scheduled arrival
14:10	actual arrival @ NY/Penn
14:25	arrive at office (mid-town) via cab	# $5

The trip out the previous day was apartment to hotel 2:40.  Breakdown
is as follows:

11:50	leave apartment (lower Manhattan)
12:10	arrive LGA via cab		# $15
12:30	scheduled departure		# $65 (weekend fare)
12:35	push back
12:55	takeoff after being 6th in line
13:45	scheduled arrival
13:45	actual arrival @ DCA
13:55	shuttle bus to Metro
14:05	depart Metro/DCA		# $1
14:20	arrive Foggy Bottom/GWU
14:30	arrive Park Hyatt hotel

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Gosh I like riding trains.  I just wish they were faster and worked
better.  Joseph Vranich says in SuperTrains that Amtrak (by law) would
have to consent to any other passenger service along corridors that
Amtrak serves.  Does that mean we're doomed to look to Amtrak for
leadership?  What about the various TGV-like services that have been
proposed?  Has anthing been addressed about Amtrak's soverignty?  For
instance, the Las Vegas -> Los Angeles route is servced by Amtrak.
Have those folks applied for a waiver or something?  Would it be
operated by Amtrak?  What's the deal?

/jordan
Xref: sparky rec.railroad:6488 ba.transportation:1981 talk.politics.misc:39753 talk.environment:3249