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I can see both sides to this argument. As a business owner i would generally try and wait until I have a solution before informing a customer of bad news.
As a customer / passenger , I would want to know straight away, but again The first question is hat are you doing about it .

danib62 wrote:Man I really hope genius thinking like yours isn’t actually running Amtrak. Let’s withhold info from our passengers so they can’t make alternative plans. Great customer service there.

Hey, not my rules. It's just the harsh reality that call centers have only so much capacity, and nobody knows exactly how long repairs will take. If it were me, I'd be embargoing the service for a month out.

Besides, nobody is hiding info or stopping you from rebooking. They're just making a business decision not to reach out to you immediately, just in case the situation improves.

Bottom line is you bought a ticket to get from A to B with no guarantee to be ontime. If they substitute a bus connection mid-journey they met their obligation...

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My trip is in less than 2 weeks. They know the route isn't going to be reopened by then.

It's government run rail. Don't hold your breath waiting... I know my airline would have already contacted you with alternatives if it's within two weeks.

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I think Mr. Dani is best advised to become "pro active". If he does not wish to ride a bus overnight through the embargoed area, and I guarantee you I wouldn't, time to take the initiative and book a flight.

To my best knowledge, Amtrak has waived exchange fees, and since Mr. Dani has portrayed himself around here as an avid train rider, the exchange will not go for want.

Now another point to keep in mind is that Amtrak has not yet indicated that they cannot fulfill the transportation contract. The contract between them and Mr. Dani is to provide his transportation from Portland to Oakland - and not necessarily on a train. The only thing Amtrak is obligated to refund is the cost of his Private Room, as busses are "not exactly" so equipped.

Mr. Olesen's airline is also obligated to do same; and with me they did just that. Attempting to travel home MIA-ORD during the '19 Polar Vortex, flights got the CANX and the next was the Wednesday after my intended Monday. However, all they could give me was Coach instead of my usual First (even though I was dreading the Middle Seat, it worked out OK as there was a nice gal on the Aisle). I didn't even have to ask; for a day later Mr. Olesen had my American Express credited with the fare difference (about $160), even though otherwise, the transportation contract was fulfilled.

Trust me, I've been proactive and have already booked myself an alternate flight/hotel room. I'm more concerned about the non-foamer experience.

UP is saying 1 September for reopening the line.

https://www.up.com/customers/announceme ... 21-44.html

danib62 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 9:12 am Trust me, I've been proactive and have already booked myself an alternate flight/hotel room. I'm more concerned about the non-foamer experience.

Smart move, Mr. Dani.

You have a point in that some "Private Room" (seems to be the new term) passengers, not exactly of the pro-active varietal, will just show up for their train, and "not exactly be" too happy over the "Busteetoot".

"Busteetoots" can happen anywhere; I've seen such overseas. Somewhere, I have a photo of the signage, in German, for one of such starting at Salzburg.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: I didn't even have to ask; for a day later Mr. Olesen had my American Express credited with the fare difference (about $160), even though otherwise, the transportation contract was fulfilled.

To be fair, this was not due to any intervention on my part, but a result of some creative IT tools developed by a colleague and our Refunds team to act immediately on crediting downgrades that can't be honored at departure time.

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eolesen wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 5:12 pm

Gilbert B Norman wrote: I didn't even have to ask; for a day later Mr. Olesen had my American Express credited with the fare difference (about $160), even though otherwise, the transportation contract was fulfilled.

To be fair, this was not due to any intervention on my part, but a result of some creative IT tools developed by a colleague and our Refunds team to act immediately on crediting downgrades that can't be honored at departure time.

I can see how this would be triggered in the booking software used (in two ways, actually) which would cause a refund to be issued near-immediately, and Amex probably has a deal with the airline about processing said refunds overnight.

Its not just Amex. Last I recall, the days work closes around 2200 and gets sent to the banks/Amex/Visa/Mastercard overnight, usually posting early the next morning. It's fascinating to see how much money actually passes in both directions on a daily basis.

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Amtrak announces bustitution now to SEPT 7th.
SERVICE ALERT: Coast Starlight Train 14 departing Los Angeles (LAX) on 7/15 - 9/7 will operate as a bus between Sacramento (SAC) & Klamath Falls (KFS) due to a track closure. All intermediate stops will be made. For reservation assistance please call or text 1-800-USA-RAIL.

west point wrote: ↑Thu Jul 15, 2021 4:58 pm Amtrak announces bustitution now to SEPT 7th.
SERVICE ALERT: Coast Starlight Train 14 departing Los Angeles (LAX) on 7/15 - 9/7 will operate as a bus between Sacramento (SAC) & Klamath Falls (KFS) due to a track closure. All intermediate stops will be made. For reservation assistance please call or text 1-800-USA-RAIL.

They must of just signed the contract with the commuter bus company for the service. Hope it's not overnight!

I'm sure I read somewhere that the bus trip will indeed be overnight and will feature an intermediate rest stop in the wee hours at a truck stop somewhere around Dunsmuir. Take the train and see the country ...

Hard to see what else they can do, though; let's hope there's some adjustment to the fare for sleeping-car passengers.

NY&LB wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 9:43 amUP is saying 1 September for reopening the line.
https://www.up.com/customers/announceme ... 21-44.html

A reroute plan is in place to move shipments around the impacted area. As a result of the alternate routing, customers should anticipate between 48 and 72 hours of additional transit time.

How many additional hours of transit time for a passenger reroute?