by JoeG
The timeliness of Amtrak trains does not apply only to LD trains. Many times I've been sitting in NYP watching the boards and listening to announcements, and noted Acelas often being delayed or canceled. I have sometimes missed connections riding Acela where there was a 30 minute time to make the connection. I found Amtrak wouldn't sell me a ticket with a mere 30 minute window so I would make 2 reservations. Back when I did this, I made the connection about half the time.
If they can't run Acelas on time, is there any hope that they can run anything on time? And it appears that to them "on time" is within 15 minutes. Japan and Switzerland, for two, post sub-minute times in their schedules--that is, the granularity of their timekeeping is smaller than 1 minute. Amtrak allegedly runs to the minute but considers 15 minutes late as on time. And of course they include lots of padding in their schedules.
It has been said, in the past, that NJT schedules were padded so management, whose bonuses were partly determined by on-time percentage, would get bigger bonuses. Does this also apply to Amtrak managers? Inquiring minds want to know.
If they can't run Acelas on time, is there any hope that they can run anything on time? And it appears that to them "on time" is within 15 minutes. Japan and Switzerland, for two, post sub-minute times in their schedules--that is, the granularity of their timekeeping is smaller than 1 minute. Amtrak allegedly runs to the minute but considers 15 minutes late as on time. And of course they include lots of padding in their schedules.
It has been said, in the past, that NJT schedules were padded so management, whose bonuses were partly determined by on-time percentage, would get bigger bonuses. Does this also apply to Amtrak managers? Inquiring minds want to know.