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Interviews: Speaking With Amtrak's Employeesby David Emer As the final hours of my train trip on an August 2002 Amtrak Southwest Chief (Chicago-Los Angeles) came to an end I got the opportunity to sit down and talk to two Amtrak train attendants and briefly to the Product Line Supervisor. Glenn San Luis, a train attendant with two years experience took the job because he wanted an adventure. He said his time in the banking industry “was okay but wasn’t for me.” He didn’t like the nine to five job. So instead of working eight hours a day, he now will commonly put in 18-hour days. He explained that the long hours are a result of Amtrak’s policy, agreed upon by the union, that employees have to work for a certain distance that the train travels, as opposed to a set number of hours. During these hours, he is responsible for the safety and comfort of the passengers. San Luis told me, despite the long hours, he likes the job because he gets to meet new people and enjoys riding the trains. He has developed an appreciation for the rails, even though he was not a rail fan before taking the job. In fact, he had never ridden a train. He now speaks with excitement about the history and nostalgia of the trains. “Riding trains is part of America. It’s right up there with baseball and grandma’s apple pie,” he said. However, even with his optimism, San Luis has serious concerns about how Amtrak has changed just in his few years with the company. When he began with the railroad, he served as a train attendant on the Coast Starlight (Los Angeles-Seattle). At the time, there were five train attendants for five coach cars, and then he saw the number diminish to one attendant for every two coach cars. Today, there is one attendant for every four coach cars. San Luis emphatically said to me that this is a safety hazard and makes it overwhelming for the attendants. He asked, “If something happened in both cars, which would I attend to?” In addition to safety, he explained that it is hard to be personable and make sure people have an enjoyable ride when there are so many people to attend to. The under staffing is not only occurring on the Coast Starlight. On the August 11 Southwest Chief run he was responsible for 286 people in four coaches, and 147 of them were Boy Scouts. When asked about the change of Amtrak presidents from George Warrington to David Gunn, he told me that he didn’t think Warrington was so hot, but likes what Gunn is doing. He told me that Gunn is going in the right direction by getting rid of managers. He also added that a lot of what he hears is through rumor. To read the other two interviews you can subscribe to Train Magazine or send an e-mail to Editor@trainmagazine.com, saying that you want this issue to be your trial issue. Please include your postal address so we can mail it to you.
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