LIRR v.s AMTRAK

If one had to make a choice as to who to work for, what would be the better choice? Amtrak or LIRR?
(assume that amtrak was hiring for the NY-Washington division).

LIRR

Amtrak's future looks kinda shakey. They fired David Gunn and from what I hear and have read Gunn was turning Amtrak around.

LIRR no doubt salaries and working conditions better..plus bush is doing all he can to undermine amtrak

I would think the working conditions would be better on amtrak, you have bigger more comfortable trains, less passengers (not mobs of commuters) and only a handfull of stops to worry about.

Back at the end of 1982, I was faced with a choice, which railroad do I
want to continue working for.
I was working for Conrail as an engineer at that time and as of Jan. 1,
1983, Conrail was no longer going to be in the passenger business and
would no longer furnish engine (nor train crews either) for commuter rail
service nor for Amtrak. Metro-North was starting up and they were going
to hire their own crews and Amtrak had to take over their own crews at
the same time too.
I was given three choices, stay with Conrail and work freight and yard
jobs throughout the system, go with Amtrak in the NEC and work between
New Haven, New York, Boston, Springfield or possible other places in that
area or go with Metro-North and work commuter trains in and out of New
York based in New York City, Westchester, Putnam or Dutchess Counties
in New York or Fairfield or New Haven counties in Connecticut.
I looked at it this way, Conrail was starting to come back but the future
with them was quite uncertain and the work in the New York area was
plentiful but not great work and not great working conditions at that time
either for that matter. Amtrak had decent conditions and work but they
also faced an uncertain future and I did not fancy running back and forth
between New Haven and Boston on F-40's one man five days a week.
This left Metro-North which had the highest pay and the most certain
future of the three. More work involved in the daily jobs than with Amtrak
but by far the best pay.
Seniority wise, going with Metro-North provided me with a leave of
absence from Conrail and gave me a one shot back to Conrail twice each
year if I really wanted to make a change, relocate or for some other
reason did not want to remain in commuter passenger service.
I chose to go with Metro-North as of January, 1983 and stayed with them
for four years still living in New York City which I did not like.
I finally got so fed up with New York City that I started looking around for
something in White Plains, Brewster, Croton, Stamford or New Haven but
the cost of property in every one of those areas was rising very rapidly
and I could not find anything that I liked at a price that I felt I could afford.
I finally contacted a local chairman friend who was working in Selkirk for
Conrail and asked him how my seniority would stand for me in Selkirk
and it was determined that I would be one of the top engineers in Selkirk
if was was working there and there would be lots of security for me there
too. I then made some trips up to the Albany area to look around for
living places and found that I could do better than anywhere around the
Metro-North system.
One thing led to another and I finally chose to return to Conrail and
exercise my freight seniority in Selkirk in November, 1987.
Unfortunately, one hiring out today does not have an opportunity like that
nor do they have the opportunity to cross bid from one type of service to
another like I had prior to the end of 1982.
For all around job security there is nothing better than Metro-North or the
Long Island Rail Road. Having said that, I also have to say that there is
likely more tasks on a daily basis with Metro-North or the LIRR than there
likely is with Amtrak and you would probably be on your feet more.
I know it took me a long time to say this but if I were starting out today
and knowing what I do know, I would hire out with the Long Island Rail
Road or Metro-North Railroad before I would consider anything else.
I don't think money is quite the big issue that it could be as you have to
figure living in the New York City metropolitan area, your living expenses
are probably the highest in the nation so the higher earnings that you
would earn on either LIRR or MN will be eaten up in a much higher cost of
living than elsewhere whether on Amtrak or a freight railroad. I know
when I relocated from New York City to Albany, yes, I made less but I had
a much lower cost of living in Albany than in the New York City area.
Another consideration that one has to think of is whether you already have
a place to live in the New York City area or not, if not, you might want to
think twice about whether you wanted to live in that area or not.
There is much to think about when making a choice of this nature.
I hope what I put here is helpful.
Noel Weaver

For what it's worth...

The Long Island has perhaps a hundred employees who gave up Amtrak careers to work for it.

I know of two LI employees who left the Long Island for Amtrak -- only one by choice.

Salaries are much higher on the Long Island, with a block operator earning as much as a superintendent and some field supervisors and engineers earning more than Amtrak's president.

The down side of course is that one is locked into an area with a huge cost of living and a system that is turning more like rapid transit.

Either way, I believe most of us in the trade would have never done it differently.

Clem

A General rule of thumb in the USA and CANADA (and most of the above posters corroberate this, at least for the NY area) is that Commuter service has a much brighter future than the long distance service. Put it in another way, people who have to get to work every day have more pull with those in government holding the purse strings than those off on "pleasure holidays".
That being said (and oversimplified), the Northeast Corridor between BOS-NY and WAS defies the traditional definition of "Amtrak" for this discussion. It sort of falls halfway between Commuter and long haul.
My gut feeling is that you haven't been offered either yet, but you're trying to have your decision ready when the time comes. If that is the case, I would say, accept employment with the first carrier that offers you employment, (What if the second one never comes through).
If BOTH offer you a job simletaneously, I'd go for the Commuter agency first
(paying heed to NOEL's above post, I'd seriously consider METRO NORTH).
I also hear taht it's easier for an LIRR or MNCR employee to change to Amtrak than Vice Versa.
Goof Luck

I would have to agree that the LIRR is better for job security as Amtrak is always on shaky ground. Amtrak could get squashed if govt. funding ever ended where as LIRR is funded by the state of NY.

Being an ex-Amtrak employee and now Metro-North employee, I can tell you this. Amtrak is great for getting your foot into the railroad and getting experience. Once you got the experience, you move on to a higher paying rr job like I did. I now have a great job, good future and most important, peace of mind. Amtrak is not really a bad place to work, but neither is it a good one.

Based on what I’ve seen (and as an Amtrak employee, I admit bias) Amtrak tends to be very selective when compared to other railroads. As such, Amtrak employees that wish to go to another road usually don’t have very much difficulty doing it.

As someone mentioned, working for Amtrak itself isn't bad, but its the longterm job security and quality that is something to worry about. The demand will ALWAYS be there for Monday through Friday commuters to the city.