Our Group's Goals

[Jarrod DellaChiesa]

Hey all,

Now that we are starting to get more members, I think it's time we
start to compile a list of specific goals and objectives for our
group. Obviously, anything and everything our group can get
accomplished will help the route, but I think we need to have a list
of specific goals in mind so that we can start writing letters and
creating game plans for getting each goal accomplished.

Some things I think we should focus on:

1) Increase community knowledge of the Coast Starlight, it's route,
am amenities, benefits of train travel, etc.
2) Work with individual communities to promote train travel to and
from their communities. This could include working with Amtrak to
create special discounts and promotions for travel to certain cities.
Santa Barbara is currently partnering with Amtrak and Amtrak
California through their Car Free Santa Barbara program.
3) Work with individual communities to improve their Amtrak station.
Station improvements make train travel a more desirable travel option.
4) Work with Amtrak to improve and refine on-board service standards.
I think it would be best if we see what improvements Amtrak makes on
their own through the re-launch program and go from there. I am
hoping that the on-board staff will get excited about the re-launch
and take a refreshed sense of pride in their train.
5) Work with Amtrak, Union Pacific and the the other Coast Starlight
host railroads to improve On-Time-Performance and to shorten the
travel time where necessary. Increasing speeds, and overall travel
time, will make the Coast Starlight more appealing to travelers.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Lets start an in-depth discussion,
and then compile a list of specific goals we can start working on.

Jarrod

[Ryan J. Stern]

Jarrod-

One of the things that I would like to get involved in is trying to
dial our group into the colleges and universities along the route of
the Starlight. One of the special aspects of the Starlight's route is
that it hits up nearly all of the major higher education schools
between Los Angeles and Sacramento (and beyond).

I've often noticed that the friends of my college friends often don't
know that their schools are in such close proximity to a viable long
distance train (my college friends themselves KNOW better, of
course). I think we could be very successful at building a long-term
relationship with future riders if we could find a way to reach out to
the campuses along the route.

Maybe a section of the website could even be devoted to provide
information on how to get from campus to the nearest station. For
example, the Coast Starlight doesn't stop in Northridge, CA, but
students at Cal State University Northridge can ride Metrolink to Simi
Valley and board the train there. San Francisco State and University
of San Francisco students need information on how to get from campus
to the Thruway bus on Market Street-- or, alternatively, information
on getting to Caltrain so they can transfer to the southbound
Starlight in San Jose. UCLA and USC students need information on the
best bus and/or light rail routes to get from campus to Union
Station. And so-on.

Ideally, we could strive to gain member-representatives from each
campus to help move information from our group to their local student-
body, and vice-versa. Amtrak in general, and the Coast Starlight in
particular have a history of serving some college markets very well,
while going completely unnoticed in others-- seeming for no
discernible reason. The viewpoints and concerns of our college riders
could be extremely valuable when we feed issues (whether successes or
failures) back to NARP or Amtrak.

Secondly, I have some thoughts regarding your note about refining on-
board service standard, specifically "hoping that the on-board staff
will ... take a refreshed sense of pride in their train"

I think we always need to be very careful about how we relate to the
employees who are on the front lines. It's been my experience that,
the rare bad example notwithstanding, the crews have no shortage of
personal pride in their train! Often times, what we as the traveler
may perceive to be lack of enthusiasm may be traced back to a
procedure that failed to survive "in the field" or a difference in
expectation between what we might desire (or even logically assume)
and the actual responsibilities laid out for the crew member by the
Company.

This isn't to say that there's an absence of disgruntled employees; on
the contrary-- It's no secret that morale at Amtrak is basically on
life-support. From the conversations I've had with the crew during my
various journeys, the majority of employees are sojourning on in spite
of management! It's not pride they're lacking, it's support from
above. Amtrak is a railroad after all, and railroads have a long
tradition of resisting change and putting mavericks back in line, no
matter how well-intentioned. One doesn't need to dig very deep to
hear stories about this-or-that TA or LSA who got in TROUBLE for
taking initiative-- it's no wonder many employees would just rather
keep below the management radar.

As they say in the old country, "the fish rots from the head"; low
expectations and flawed methods from the top manifest all the way down
the food chain-- we just happen to be looking at the only visible
parts. I suppose that what I'm trying to say is that, when it comes
to on-board service standards, what I'm hoping to see is Amtrak's
management recognizing that they've cut the on-board service staff too
far. To achieve the level of attentiveness we'd all like to see, they
need to roll back the cuts in TAs and waiters so that all the members
of the crew have the opportunity (and the empowerment *AND* the
encouragement) to contribute to a unique and special experience for
every passenger!

Thanks for making it through thins long-winded message!

Ryan Stern
Culver City, CA

[Jarrod DellaChiesa]

Hi Ryan,

I completely agree with you regarding the pride of the employees!  I typed my initial email in somewhat of a hurry and didn't state my point-of-view very well.  Amtrak employees in general - particularly in the Dining Car - have been stretched too far.  After all, how can employees remain motivated and have the energy necessary to give passengers personal attention if they are doing the job of two or three employees by themselves.

Great idea about working with schools and universities!  The Coast Starlight is a great way for students to travel on spring break, to get home on three-day weekends, etc.  As a student at SFSU, I know how public transportation conscious many students are.  At my school, basically the only way to get to school is by taking BART, bus or Muni Light Rail.  There is practically no parking!  I think adding a college area on the website is a great idea!  If members could provide detailed information for colleges in their area, that would be great!  I'll cover the colleges and universities in the SF Bay Area.  We could also develop a brochure/poster to place in school libraries, etc and possibly target school newspapers to put in op-eds about public transportation and the Coast Starlight.

Below is an updated list of goals ... with improved wording :)

1. Increase community knowledge of the Coast Starlight, it's route, am amenities, benefits of train travel, etc.

1. Work with individual communities to promote train travel to and from their communities.  This could include working with Amtrak to create special discounts and promotions for travel to certain cities.  (Santa Barbara is currently partnering with Amtrak and Amtrak California through their Car Free Santa Barbara program)

1. Work with individual communities to improve their Amtrak station.  Station improvements make train travel a more desirable travel option.

1. Work with Amtrak to improve and refine on-board service standards.  This includes the increasing of staffing levels.
2. Work with Amtrak, Union Pacific and the the other Coast Starlight host railroads to improve On-Time-Performance and shorten the travel time where necessary.  Increasing speeds, and overall travel time, will make the Coast Starlight a more appealing, reliable and relevant travel option.

- Jarrod

[Charles Hoover]

I want to echo the comments on Amtrak employees.  Staff has been reduced too much, and that results in those left not always being in the best frame of mind.  And, quite honestly, even management is under stress with their limited budget, and having to battle the administration for even the meager crumbs they get.  Seems like Congress is willing to consider bailing out the airlines and their bankrupt pension funds without batting an eyelash, but they have to debate whether to override the Bush administration’s constant low ball numbers for Amtrak.  Not knowing from year to year if your pink slip is just around the corner is not exactly a morale builder.

 

On the college student issue, I agree!  I live near CSUN and will explore ways to get the word out there. Also, the Van Nuys station is a CS stop now that the platform was lengthened and that’s only a short Metro Bus ride from CSUN – and it’s a staffed station whereas Simi is not.

 

Charlie

<BR

[Ryan J. Stern]

(note that I'm changing the subject-line in case folks want to reply
to this topic)

Here's UCLA to Union Station, via Metro's trip planning website:
http://socaltransport.org/

Metro Bus 20 from Le Conte & Broxton to Wilshire/Western Red Line
Station;
Red Line to Union Station Subway Terminal (total travel time 60-90 min)

Metro Bus 2 from Gayley & Strathmore to Vermont/Sunset Red Line Station;
Red Line to Union Station Subway Terminal (total travel time 60-90 min)

There are other options as well, but they involve back-tracking or
longer travel times. Where is our "Purple Line" subway extension
already??? ;)

On Mar 27, 2008, at 12:24 AM, Charles Hoover wrote:
>

*snip*

[Jarrod DellaChiesa]

I'd like to get our current Goals and Objectives up on the website and
in stone before the relaunch on May 10. That way people visiting our
website after seeing our fliers on National Train Day will have a
better idea of who we are.

If you have anything you'd like added, deleted or changed on the list
I've proposed, please let me know ASAP. I'd like to post them on the
website sometime between Sunday and Tuesday.

I'll be preparing a flier for National Train Day sometime this week.

Thanks!

Jarrod

On Mar 27, 12:24 am, "Charles Hoover" <cdhoo...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> I want to echo the comments on Amtrak employees. Staff has been reduced too
> much, and that results in those left not always being in the best frame of
> mind. And, quite honestly, even management is under stress with their
> limited budget, and having to battle the administration for even the meager
> crumbs they get. Seems like Congress is willing to consider bailing out the
> airlines and their bankrupt pension funds without batting an eyelash, but
> they have to debate whether to override the Bush administration's constant
> low ball numbers for Amtrak. Not knowing from year to year if your pink
> slip is just around the corner is not exactly a morale builder.
>
> On the college student issue, I agree! I live near CSUN and will explore
> ways to get the word out there. Also, the Van Nuys station is a CS stop now
> that the platform was lengthened and that's only a short Metro Bus ride from

> CSUN - and it's a staffed station whereas Simi is not.

> 1. Increase community knowledge of the Coast Starlight, it's route, am

> amenities, benefits of train travel, etc.

> 2. Work with individual communities to promote train travel to and from

> their communities. This could include working with Amtrak to create special
> discounts and promotions for travel to certain cities. (Santa Barbara is
> currently partnering with Amtrak and Amtrak California through their Car
> Free Santa Barbara program)

> 3. Work with individual communities to improve their Amtrak station.

> Station improvements make train travel a more desirable travel option.

> 4. Work with Amtrak to improve and refine on-board service standards.

> This includes the increasing of staffing levels.

> 5. Work with Amtrak, Union Pacific and the the other Coast Starlight

[CPolyExp]

I am a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The station is served by SLO City Transit route 5 northbound and route
4 going southbound. Both routes connect to campus and Downtown. In
addition, there is an Amtrak Thruway bus stop located conveniently on
campus, however, there is currently no connecting thruway services for
the Coast Starlight (that stop on campus). There are connections to/
from most Surfliners, and select Capitol (via SJC and OKJ) and San
Joaquin trains (via HNF).

One of the things that could improve running times is the elimination
of excess station dwell time and/or built in padding time. One of the
things I noticed after the initiation of the abbreviated CS service is
that trains were allowed to spend less than the assigned dwell time at
a station if they were running behind schedule. This allowed trains
to make-up a substantial amount of time. For example, on March 21st i
rode AMTK 14 NB from SLO to SAC. We departed SLO 2 hrs 26 min. late,
due to an incident involving a suicide near Simi. By the time we
reached SAC, we made up almost 40 minutes of time. Keep in mind that
we could have made up even more time, had it not been for some baggage
mishaps in OKJ and EMY and numerous freight meets. The train only
spent 5 minutes in SLO instead of its usual 13 minutes. The 2 P42s
hauling our 5 cars, also helped shave off some time. Aboard that
train, I experienced the fastest acceleration of any Amtrak train that
I've been on (we made the sprint from DAV to SAC in only 12 min).
Despite the initial delay, the trip took 7 hrs 40min. compared to the
normal scheduled time of 8 hrs. 16 min.

Prior to the mudslide, trains had to spend the normal assigned amount
of dwell time at each station even if they were running behind
schedule. The padding time is especially apparent when a train
arrives early into a station, which is now frequently the case (due to
the suspension of service north of SAC) for AMTK 11 in SLO. Coast
Starlight 11 has arrived into SLO 20 minutes OR MORE EARLY eleven
times in the past 2 or 3 weeks. Occasionally this has resulted in
trains sitting in the station for up to 43 minutes waiting till their
scheduled departure time.
Current dwell times at major stations are as follows: SLO 13min., SJC
12min., OKJ 15 min., EMY 10 min. I realize that the longer dwell time
in Oakland probably is for equipment moves and restocking needs. By
allowing the trains to get in and out of the stations quicker, we will
see major improvements in reliability and modest improvements in
travel time.

-Justin

> > short Metro Bus ride from CSUN - and it's a staffed station whereas
> > Simi is not.
>
> > Charlie

[Jarrod DellaChiesa]

Hi,

Thanks for the college information! Your information will go up when the
rest of the college section is ready. I appreciate it!

I'm going to create a new thread to respond to your comments on improving
running times...

- Jarrod

[Jarrod DellaChiesa]

Hi Justin,

I agree.  Improve running times and we gain ridership.

It's interesting that the Starlites have been allowed to spend less than their scheduled dwell time in stations in order to make up time.  As shown from this, shortened dwell times in each station incrementally shaves off the running time.

Below are some random notes about the dwell times:

• Shorten the dwell time in EMY.  Although EMY is the connection to San Francisco and there is usually a significant amount of checked baggage handled here, the baggage is usually able to be handled on one cart.  With EMY is only five miles away from OKJ, there is no need for a smoke break here.  One other problem that has occurred frequently lately is that Train 11 is often times in the station either at the same time, right before or right after the California Zephyr is in the station preparing to leave for Chicago.  This problem will play out on it's own (hopefully) when the CA Zephyr completely returns to it's old schedule.
• OKJ - I'd say that the time in OKJ is needed.  Trains are met by the commissary here to restock the Dining and Cafe Cars.  Sometimes private cars are added here.  Perfect smoke break station.  One thing that could shorten the dwell time in OKJ - ensure that the commissary is on-time and waiting for the train.
• SJC - 12 minutes is not needed here.  I'd say somewhere between 5 (8 tops) minutes are needed here to load baggage.  Quick smoke break also I suppose, as the next station is Salinas.
• Portland - Does anyone know why Portland needs 35 minutes going Southbound and 30 minutes going Northbound?  That's a long time to be stopped in one station.
• It would be great if at OKJ or SAC the windows were cleaned on the outside.  Perhaps someone from the Oakland Yard could be sent over with the commissary truck to do this?

Amtrak should also work with Union Pacific to start taking out some of the buffer time along the route.  It will be interesting to watch as Amtrak California and Union Pacific complete some of the track and signal projects on the Coast Line to begin preparing for the addition of the Coast Daylight, if the running time will shorten some.

 

Did anyone else notice in the month's Trains Magazine Map of the Month that the Coast Line is currently below capacity?  With the line below capacity, why do we often experience the delays and running times that we do?  With the majority of delays being train meets, perhaps longer (or more frequent) sidings are needed so that we can at least make the running times that the old Daylight used to make between the Bay Area and LAX.

- Jarrod

-----Original Message-----
From: coast-s...@googlegroups.com [mailto:coast-s...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of CPolyExp
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 11:57 AM
To: Coast Starlight Communities Network
Subject: Re: Colleges / Universities

[rY.]

During an up-and-back trip to San Luis Obsipo during Thanksgiving, I spotted this article about the Southern Pacific Daylight trains and their influence to San Luis Obispo.  Particularly interesting was this paragraph about the station operation: (emphasis added)

"At train time, the San Luis Obispo train depot would be an exciting place.  'Daylights' were meticulously services, and Cuesta Grade helper engines attached or detached all within the scheduled space of SEVEN MINUTES -- THE LONGEST and operationally THE MOST IMPORTANT STOP OF THE ENTIRE JOURNEY.  Precision schedule adherence in the era timetable operation was a must given the number of daily train movements on the coast line.  The logistical support the 'Daylights' received in San Luis Obispo was integral to the trains' many successes.  The 'Daylights' were dieselized on January 7, 1955."

...

"One final note.  During the glory years of the Most Beautiful Train in the World, the 'Daylight' averaged with stops over 50-miles per hour.  Today the 'Starlight’s' average is 32-miles per hour."

From "The World's Most Beautiful Train" by Walter Rice, PhD

Journal Plus Magazine, November 2007

[Julie Flaming]

Re: long times in Portland  -

 

I suspect, but honestly couldn't confirm, that the long wait times in Portland are due to 1) Major hub - lots of people running between Portland and Seattle, 2) LOTS of bridge issues because of the Willamette and Columbia crossings, which leads to 3) complexities with coordinating schedules with UP/BNSF (sorry, not sure which, maybe UP?).

 

Julie

--
"If nothing changes, nothing changes" (unknown)

[Jarrod DellaChiesa]

Interesting ideas...  Does anyone know where the Coast Starlight refuels?  Is it in Portland?  Klamath Falls? 

 

- Jarrod

 

  Cell: 510.258.9799

  Fax: 866.654.2243

  Email: Jar...@juno.com

 

---

From: coast-s...@googlegroups.com [mailto:coast-s...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Julie Flaming
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 1:45 PM
To: coast-s...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Improving Running Times and Refining Dwell Times

[CPolyExp]

Here is a performance report of Coast Starlight 11 on Sunday April
13th as of 3:20pm (retrieved from www.amtrakdelays.com).
Unfortunately this feature does not include departure times, but if
you know the the dp times or can look them up, it gives you an idea of
how much time is being wasted sitting in the stations.

Sacramento, CA (SAC) : Scheduled: 6:15 am Actual: 5:25 am Delay: 0
minutes
(Normal schedule: 20 min. dwell time, when in full service. I
think this is where they normally refuel.)
Davis, CA (DAV) : Scheduled: 6:50 am Actual: 6:49 am Delay: 0 minutes

Martinez, CA (MTZ) : Scheduled: 7:34 am Actual: 7:29 am Delay: 0
minutes

Emeryville, CA (EMY) : Scheduled: 8:10 am Actual: 8:06 am Delay: 0
minutes
(In station for 14 min.)
Oakland, CA (OKJ) : Scheduled: 8:35 am Actual: 8:28 am Delay: 0
minutes
(In station for 22 min.)
San Jose, CA (SJC) : Scheduled: 9:55 am Actual: 9:43 am Delay: 0
minutes
(In station for 24 min.)
Salinas, CA (SNS) : Scheduled: 11:48 am Actual: 11:30 am Delay: 0
minutes
(In station for 18 min.)
Paso Robles, CA (PRB) : Scheduled: 1:38 pm Actual: 1:29 pm Delay: 0
minutes
11 does not usually arrive this early into PRB, so I won't count the
dwell.
San Luis Obispo, CA (SLO) : Scheduled: 3:07 pm Actual: 2:43 pm Delay:
0 minutes
In station for 37 min. assuming it departs on-time.

-Justin

On Apr 11, 1:22 am, "Jarrod DellaChiesa" <jarr...@juno.com> wrote:
> Hi Justin,
>
> I agree. Improve running times and we gain ridership.
>
> It's interesting that the Starlites have been allowed to spend less than
> their scheduled dwell time in stations in order to make up time. As shown
> from this, shortened dwell times in each station incrementally shaves off
> the running time.
>
> Below are some random notes about the dwell times:
>

> * Shorten the dwell time in EMY. Although EMY is the connection to

> San Francisco and there is usually a significant amount of checked baggage
> handled here, the baggage is usually able to be handled on one cart. With
> EMY is only five miles away from OKJ, there is no need for a smoke break
> here. One other problem that has occurred frequently lately is that Train
> 11 is often times in the station either at the same time, right before or
> right after the California Zephyr is in the station preparing to leave for
> Chicago. This problem will play out on it's own (hopefully) when the CA
> Zephyr completely returns to it's old schedule.

> * OKJ - I'd say that the time in OKJ is needed. Trains are met by the

> commissary here to restock the Dining and Cafe Cars. Sometimes private cars
> are added here. Perfect smoke break station. One thing that could shorten
> the dwell time in OKJ - ensure that the commissary is on-time and waiting
> for the train.

> * SJC - 12 minutes is not needed here. I'd say somewhere between 5 (8

> tops) minutes are needed here to load baggage. Quick smoke break also I
> suppose, as the next station is Salinas.

> * Portland - Does anyone know why Portland needs 35 minutes going

> Southbound and 30 minutes going Northbound? That's a long time to be
> stopped in one station.

> * It would be great if at OKJ or SAC the windows were cleaned on the

[Jarrod DellaChiesa]

Hi all,

I just updated the website. The About Us section is now up and lists
our group's current list of objectives. If anyone has anything to
update or change on it, let me know. The rest of the website is
sloooowly evolving :)

Jarrod

On Mar 27, 12:24 am, "Charles Hoover" <cdhoo...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> I want to echo the comments on Amtrak employees. Staff has been reduced too
> much, and that results in those left not always being in the best frame of
> mind. And, quite honestly, even management is under stress with their
> limited budget, and having to battle the administration for even the meager
> crumbs they get. Seems like Congress is willing to consider bailing out the
> airlines and their bankrupt pension funds without batting an eyelash, but
> they have to debate whether to override the Bush administration's constant
> low ball numbers for Amtrak. Not knowing from year to year if your pink
> slip is just around the corner is not exactly a morale builder.
>
> On the college student issue, I agree! I live near CSUN and will explore
> ways to get the word out there. Also, the Van Nuys station is a CS stop now
> that the platform was lengthened and that's only a short Metro Bus ride from

> CSUN - and it's a staffed station whereas Simi is not.

> 1. Increase community knowledge of the Coast Starlight, it's route, am

> amenities, benefits of train travel, etc.

> 2. Work with individual communities to promote train travel to and from

> their communities. This could include working with Amtrak to create special
> discounts and promotions for travel to certain cities. (Santa Barbara is
> currently partnering with Amtrak and Amtrak California through their Car
> Free Santa Barbara program)

> 3. Work with individual communities to improve their Amtrak station.

> Station improvements make train travel a more desirable travel option.

> 4. Work with Amtrak to improve and refine on-board service standards.

> This includes the increasing of staffing levels.

> 5. Work with Amtrak, Union Pacific and the the other Coast Starlight