Passengers stranded on MARC train for hours

Passenger notification is a MUST. Nothing like sitting on a dead train and not knowing what's going on and whether you need to contact family members. I hear (through media only) that this failure in communication was a large reason why passengers in this situation were irate (aside from the stuffy, hot, dark train...)

As for passenger notification, there was an apparent problem of lack of communication on VRE as well back awhile ago. As in, being at a dead stop for several minutes and not knowing why. So VRE pretty much modified their rules and now the crew must make an initial announcement as soon as possible and then give an update at least every 10 minutes as time will allow (that is, whenever they aren't actively engaged in fixing a problem, vice twiddling their thumbs and listening to the radio while waiting for a red signal to clear). Trust me, there's been a change. I have two real-life examples of communication at work and lack of communication, and it happened during the same trip:

Two weeks ago, early in the morning, we hit a deer and its carcass severed the air-hose line. We came to a screeching emergency stop and the conductor was on the intercom in less than 10 seconds after the halt explaining that we were in emergency and they had to walk the train. About 10 minutes later the update was that we hit a deer and had to check some things. Eight minutes after that they said a few tests must be conducted and we should be on our way. Five minutes later, we were. No one complained, and those who were listening to headphones or sleeping got the info from fellow passengers.

Fast forward about 20 minutes...

We're truckin' along and then come to a hard stop again. This time it was a couple of minutes before an announcement of "having some problems" came on. We sat there and another VRE passed by us. Then I got a text message from VRE saying that our train was "stopped and experiencing mechanically problems due to earlier deer strike". Then the conductor comes through with the FRCs and someone asked what was going on. "Having some power problems", he says under his breath. No announcements. Irritated people. They go hand in hand. Just makes a tough situation worse.

Another news article: Rail service needs competence more than bullet trains
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/o ... rains.html
Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is running for re-election, certainly saw something embarrassing about it. On Thursday, accompanied by U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin and state transportation officials, he boarded a MARC train at the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport station and rode to New Carrollton. O'Malley went down the aisles asking commuters "Were you on the hell train?" and offering them apologies and promises of action.
But in truth, the governor isn't directly in control of what happens on MARC's Penn Line. Under a contract with the state, the trains are operated and the crews are provided by Amtrak, the notoriously inefficient government-owned corporation that runs America's passenger railroads.
MARC ridership has been climbing - it hit a record of nearly 35,000 average daily boardings in April - and the state has purchased new locomotives. But only so much can be done when you're using Amtrak's undermaintained tracks and its crews, who have absorbed the organization's customers-come-last ethos.


How else can you explain Amtrak's customers come last ethos better?

A train with more than 900 riders breaks down a few minutes from a station. It's a hot evening, there's no air conditioning or water, the windows can't be opened, and the conductors - who don't tell the passengers what's going on - insist on closing the doors that provide the only ventilation.
As the temperature in the sealed-up cars climbs past 100, passengers revolt and take out removable window panes intended as emergency exits. Some just walk away. The relief train that finally arrives doesn't have room for all the passengers, and pregnant women and adults with children are among those left stranded by the tracks.
The whole mess takes 2 1/2 endless hours to clear up. When emergency crews arrive - summoned by passengers with cell phones - two people have to be hospitalized, and others are treated for heat-related problems.

Yes, the Amtrak conductors didn't even call for help to assist those overcome by the heat. It's almost like they wanted some MARC customers to die!

Wrong again Ron..... as I have mentioned, all of the side doors were opened. I passed the scene and had a tech on my train which I had to drop off. I was there, were you? Since you like to talk about Amtrak and train crews, I take it that next you will say that the train crew wasn't suffering from the heat? They were on the same train as these passengers.... come on already.....

BuddSilverliner269 wrote:Wrong again Ron..... as I have mentioned, all of the side doors were opened. I passed the scene and had a tech on my train which I had to drop off. I was there, were you? Since you like to talk about Amtrak and train crews, I take it that next you will say that the train crew wasn't suffering from the heat? They were on the same train as these passengers.... come on already.....

I'm just passing on opinions printed in local newspapers by local reporters.

I'll agree, my opinion isn't worth a penny.

But the publisher's and editor's opinions of the Baltimore, Annapolis, and D.C. newspapers are, whether they are reporting the whole truth or not. Their business is to sway opinions, and the last thing any organization wants, whether it be private or public, is to lose the faith of the local newspapers.

I have heard the report several times in the Baltimore Sun, now, that after having the doors open, the conductor(s) ordered them shut in advance of the rescue train. If true, this was a mistake. I understand possible concerns about passengers leaving, but as Mr Dresser noted this morning:

Railroad folks seem to be very conscious of the dangers of trains in motion but oblivious to the dangers of a train at rest under a hot sun for hours. MARC needs to stress to its contractors that heat stroke can kill a person just as dead as walking in front of an Acela train.

I apologize Ron. I read what you posted and I thought it was something you wrote. It does seem to fall in line with your anti Amtrak attitude that does prevail from time to time but please just bear with me as I'm only trying to defend my employer. I can't defend outside the NEC as that's a part of Amtrak I don't know or familiar with.

Doors being open or shut was probably immaterial as there would be little air entering into the closed cars via the end doors even if they were opened.

Between this incident and many other breakdowns, MARC seems to have shifted operational patterns and is running some trains with a locomotive on each end. Quite a change from yesterday (when I was on a Penn Line train that had to be taken out of service at NCR because the brakes on the MP-36 (#24) wouldn't release) to more than quadruple the horsepower with a HHP-8 on both ends of the consist.

Jersey_Mike wrote:Doors being open or shut was probably immaterial as there would be little air entering into the closed cars via the end doors even if they were opened.

Agreed, but every bit counts. Also, there's the "insult to injury" aspect of shutting them, if that's the case.

OK and they overshot a station just yesterday - Boardman and his strap hangers were there the next morning apologizing and ATK rerouted the carry byes on southbound Acela....

Hope that's enough to placate MARC given that the contract or at least a big piece of it is out for bids....

You don't want to get in the habit of doing this - at least it appears that Boardman cares and might do something about it...

Historically A rash of mechanical failures reportedly caused by sunshine fixes by Ivy mechanical with no acceptable response or remediation was the beginning of the slope for the VRE relationship.....

What station did they overshoot?

There's going to be a special meeting of the Rider's Advisory Council meeting where we're going to be briefed by the MD Secretary of Transportation, and a simultaneous "Meet the Managers" at Union Station with the CEO of Amtrak, Secretary of MDOT and MTA Administrator, so it sounds like the brass is taking this seriously and trying to get out in front of it.

Should prove to be an interesting day.

Odenton

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... ?4,2220691

My station, that's awesome.

Thanks for passing that along.

electricron wrote:A bidding process is underway to see who will be operating MARC trains on the Camden and Brunswick lines, it's a very bad time for Amtrak to be providing extremely poor services on MARC's Penn line. It's almost like Amtrak wants to loose the bids....

Not good - 1st they completely blow the VRE bid and finish 3rd and now this - good luck to all my friends at Amtrak - looks like your management wants to get out of the train business or is completely inept...

P.S. anyone know if the runner got any discipline? In the old days something like this was good for an unpaid vacation....

Oh well he can just plead malfunctioning equipment can't he?

And this looks like it is rapidly getting away from them! People are seriously pi$$ed!

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dr-gri ... d=newswell

Isn't Keolis a bidder on this contract too? Hey maybe they paid off the runner and the maintenance folks? NOT!