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Amtrak - Abusive Train Crews

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Blane of Salt Lake City writes (7/6/03):
I boarded the California Zephyr at Winter Park, CO. with my companion, Scott. Shortly after lunch, Scott retired to our seats in Coach. I was approached by two young men -- possibly in their mid-teens -- who asked me if I had any spare money for them. I asked why. They said they had run out of food and were hungry. I offered to buy them dinner.

Following dinner, I retired to the lower level cafeteria where one of the young men (whose name I do not know) informed me that the Conductor had warned them that I was "up to no good" and that they should stay away from me and return to their seats. Apparantly the conductor had profiled me as a predetory gay male and had warned the boys of "people like me."

When I went upstairs to discuss this with the Conductor, I was immediately cut off and informed that "I should know better" and that "it didn't look good." I did not have a moment to defend myself.

The conductor then gathered as many crew members as he could. He confiscated my tickets. As I passed by the Conductor who was blocking my path, I brushed against him. He accused me of shoving him. I could immediately tell that I was not dealing with a civil person and that no matter what I said, or did, he could make life unpleasant for me.

One of the more tenured, older stewards politely pulled me aside and suggested "I use my head." When I asked him what he meant, he confided in me that he and other Amtrak employees on duty that night had substantial disagreements with the Conductor and that he intended "to get even" with the Conductor having had a run-in with him earlier that same day. When I asked several employees for the Conductor's name, they declined to speak to me; one said "You don't want to know."

Upon our arrival in Salt Lake City, the conductor approached me and said "Make sure you spell my name correctly when you write to Washington. I like it when they know that I am doing my job."

I refuse to be victimized by a Federally-funded organization, or its employees, because I am perceived to be "different." My citizenship accords me certain rights. I feel responsible to uphold my rights to privacy, freedom of association and the right to move freely throughout the country.

Kathryn of Newark DE (4/4/02):
In mid-October 2001 I was grossly mistreated by a member of the Amtrak staff in NYC. I completely understand that public transportation has gotten to be quite interesting since September, to say the least. However, I would like to point out/warn people that there is a danger of encountering public transportation employees who will unfortunately use the current situation to empower themselves to threaten and verbally abuse people.

On 15 October, I was returning home to NJ from Buffalo. The trip home was dreadful to say the least--the train was almost two hours late picking us up in Buffalo, it was cramped, and then it somehow got "re-routed" to make all local stops--all in all, we came into NYC over 8 hours late. We were bribed with a chicken sandwich for our troubles (I'm a vegetarian). I had never been through the NYC train station before and I was nervous and exhausted.

It turned out that there was no way to use my ticket for the remainder of my trip to NJ because we had arrived so late; I got very confused and almost got stuck in the train station overnight. Luckily, I had my phone with me, and I called Amtrak and got a new ticket number just in time to catch the last train home.

Shaken and exhausted, I approached "Kim" at the ticket window. She asked me for identification. The first thing I pulled out was my passport, which I was carrying since I had been so close to the Canadian border on my conference trip to Buffalo. The passport was from 1996--not a recent photograph. I travel overseas for business at least 4 times a year, and no one had ever questioned it. I had not, however, used it since September, and understood that security had been increased since that time.

Kim asked me for another form of identification. While I was fishing for my driving license, I asked if there was a problem with my passport--truly concerned, because I use it so often. She snapped at me, "Yes; it doesn't look like you." I handed her my driving license, which was from 1997, and politely expressed a concern that the photo was almost as old as the one on my passport.

Kim exploded, "Well, you're FAT on your passport photo, and you're not fat HERE (re: my driving license photo)." Not that it matters, but I am 5'9" and 130 pounds, and I've never been called "fat" before. I was deeply offended, and completely taken aback. I said, "Yes, well that's very charming of you to say so." She continued, threatening me, "Do you want me to call the police? You know that now, I can call them over and MAKE them arrest you! They have to arrest you if I tell them to! Do you want to go to jail? You should be glad you're not FAT anymore!"

I can hardly express what I felt at that moment, but it was clear that Kim was calling to mind some recent additions that had been made to her "responsibilities," which obviously included a degree of increased legal authority. I believe that employees of public transportation businesses, such as Amtrak, must bear in mind that their responsibilities also include a duty to the public to help them and to see them through these times, especially when there is more chance of confusion and discomfort during travel. To my mind, Kim's abuse of power is a small victory for terrorism.

I would like to add that since October, I have flown overseas twice, on two different airlines, out of two different airports in the area. Security is increased, and it is a bit inconvenient, but the people responsible for carrying out the security measures at the airlines/airports I have patronized seem to be very sensitive to the needs and discomforts of the customers they encounter. Perhaps Amtrak needs to make sure that their employees are on par with everyone else with regards to sensitivity, diplomacy, and indeed decency.

I turned from the counter, stunned, and began to look for me train. I was embarrassed to be streaming tears at 27 years old, but by the time I got to the train, I was sobbing uncontrollably. I consider my encounter with Kim to have been nothing less than emotionally traumatic. When I got into Newark, I was still shaking and crying.

Perhaps it was a lot harder because I was completely exhausted from the journey home. The train from Buffalo to NY was crazy; by the time I got to NY--and figured out a way to get home from there--I guess I was just completely drained, physically and emotionally. To be attacked in such a manner while I was in this state was really a horrible experience. I collapsed in tears on the shoulder of the person who picked me up from the station in NJ, unable to even express for a time what had happened. I will never take the train again, if I can help it. If I can't drive, I'll fly.

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