AN OPEN LETTER TO AMTRACK

                                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.