An open letter to Amtrak
First, note
that I am writing from the standpoint of friend and enthusiast. I recently took three long-distance, overnight journeys by rail, in each instance
utilizing a private room. While it is
true that these experiences were far from perfect – see below – they thoroughly beat
the torture chambers into which our airports have evolved. But of course, improvement always
is possible, so here goes:
1) 11 WASH
YOUR DAMNED WINDOWS! Even the best
scenery is degraded if viewed through a filter of brown dust and streaks of old
rain water.
2) Turn some real human geeks loose on your web
site. I am not exactly dumb, but it took
me hours finally to realize – too late – that what I really wanted was called a
“bedroom”, not a “room” or a “roomette”.
3) Or, if you don’t like #2, above, hire a few dozen more real people to give answers over the telephone. Try to avoid people who speak with a strong Bangladeshi
accent.
4) Put grab bars everywhere, and especially near
stairwells. In case you have forgotten,
trains tend to jerk a lot, especially at high speeds.
5) Fix your intercom system so that it actually
can relay messages, especially to “rooms”.
It is no fun sitting there wondering if the last announcement was either
“the lounge is now open for cocktails”, or “Dreadfully sorry:, the train is
about to plunge into the Mississippi River”.
6) Finally, do not try to make up your budget
deficit by charging so much for booze.
So, yeah, I much
appreciate your service, but inevitably it could be better. All of these suggestions come at some cost,
but so what? You are a governmental
agency, after all. You are supposed
to lose money.
