by WhartonAndNorthern
mtuandrew wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:51 pm If Amtrak does have to add an additional Assistant Conductor to the Avelias (AX-IIs?), they ought to negotiate a smaller OBS crew for the reasons Arlington mentioned. Ideally, one or both of the ACs would provide some sort of customer service beyond their train-handling duties, even just “pinch hitter at the snack bar while the OBS crew takes a bathroom break.”Different unions, different contracts. Then again, they could play the old railroad game of it's only a car if it has couplers. Railroad bills by the carload? No problem: we build a super car. Railroads still consider an intermodal 5-pack as one car for reporting car counts.
That said, Amtrak has a strong case that it doesn’t need an extra person due to the consist being permanently coupled and more accessible than the AX-I. It’ll be an interesting thing to see when they roll out an operational plan, because Amtrak hadn’t said anything about needing extra crew.