Delay NEC 6/29 AM

One time I was on a train that was already an hour late for a number of reasons. It was supposed to be an express but for some reason, became a local at Metropark. Then we almost got to Elizabeth and a NJCL train right in front of us broke down. After 45 minutes there, we slowly reversed back to Union interlocking. Then we finally got there, went over to track 1 and 2 (from A) and then made local stops (which meant low platforming at Elizabeth) and then finally got up to speed. Arrived at Newark about an Hour and a half late and then, "Ladies and Gentlemen, there is a medical emergency in the first car we are awaiting for EMS. Path is right next to us- otherwise stand by." Fifteen minutes later "Ladies and Gentlemen- we are still waiting for EMS. If anyone can speak an asian tongue, please come to the first car. Well, I had had it. I got off and saw trains were coming in on Track A and ran over there missed the first one but got the second one. Then I finally arrived at NYP and was able to catch my Dover train from there. Agh! Got home about 3 1/2 hours late. But, I realize, not much could have been done (except maybe backing up the train sooner instead of waiting a half an hour doing nothing But, you had to laugh. I know I did. When they anounced all of that at Newark, most of the people in the car were laughing. It was just one of those trains where not a whole lot went right with no fault to anyone.

Oh yea, one more thing, in this heightened state of security, there are times when we are told randomly to check our trains for packages, and sometimes even the undercarrage of the train.

If anyone thinks Im going to make an announcement stating, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are currently checking our train for a bomb, please be patient" your out of your minds!!! Yea, hello - that might not go over real well with the passegners, and now we have hundreds of people panicing and causing injury to themselves or others, and causing almost a riot. So in this case, I might say "We are checking our train for a dragging chain or hose, please bear with us and when we fix the problem, we will be on the move"

I know some crews don't make any announcements at all, and some make horrible ones, but whatever is told on the announcement is what we are telling (or not telling) the passengers, sometimes for their own safety. So sometimes, its not even the truth, because the truth might send everyone into a panic and prevent us and others from doing the job at hand, at that moment in time.

In a lighter, and better example, I HAD to have a group of passegners removed from the train, they were being obnoxious, threatening and down right mean to me and other passengers. I put up wiht it as long as I could, but we had to call for the police. So we called ahead, and they told us they would meet our train in Perth Amboy. So while we are in the station waiting for the police to meet the train, I make an announcment......

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the drawbridge ahead of us is open, right now, once they close it and get it locked, we will be on the move into South Amboy" Well, guess what, there was no open drawbridge, we had a clear signal. Instead, we were waiting for the poilce to show up. (BTW, the doors were open the entire time) When the police finally came, I told the fellas, "guess what guys, there is no open drawbridge, and this is your new ride home"

A key part of this job is crowd control, as things can go down hill QUITE quickly, and announcements aer a LARGE part of it, some trainmen are good at it, some aren't, thats VERY obvious often times.

Jtgshu wrote:"Ladies and Gentlemen, the drawbridge ahead of us is open, right now, once they close it and get it locked, we will be on the move into South Amboy"

Haha. Nice to hear the Perth Amboy bridge helped send some folks down the river.

jt, some comments about your posts:

So what would have been the harm in saying you were waiting for the cops to come to remove some unruly passengers? Worst comes to worst they would decide to get off the train to avoid the police and the train could have just gone merrily on its way.

I will not argue with you however that it is a bad idea to announce that the train is being searched because there may be a bomb.

I wonder how much money some consultant was paid to come up with the script about an unfavorable signal?

When the train crew does not know what is going on there is nothing wrong with saying exactly that: We do not know why we are stopped but will try to find out and if we do we will tell you.

I heard from someone who was apparently on the train ahead of me....it took over 30 minutes from arrival at Metropark for EMS to arrive. That is sickening. Isn't JFK like right across the street on 27 almost?

Not "right across" the street—JFK Medical Center is in Edison, 1.6 miles away. They would be the right place to go for cardiac patients too, looks like.

Now as to how Woodbridge handles EMS dispatch, don't know their policy. Woodbridge Township and their services are a quite bloated bureaucracy as it is, what with having to handle Fords, Iselin, Colonia, Keasbey, Port Reading, Sewaren, Avenel, and Woodbridge Village.

Because these guys who were in the car more than likely would have known the cops were going to be for them, and probably would have caused even more trouble.....possibly running through the train, so they couldn't be found, maybe even starting a fight with me or others who complained about them, and caused the police to be called in teh first place......and again, if the whole train were to hear "waiting for the police to come and take away unrulely passengers," everyone's ears would have perked up, and been nosey to see what was going on and possibly causing more trouble......so its better to blindside those who are causing the problem and this prevents more problems.

As for making announcements when the cause isn't known, well, I do that too (stating we don't know the cause of the delay) , and sometimes (but not always, you can almost tell the reaction by the mood of the train) that just leads to more problems, because people start to make comments, "of course you don't know what is going on, no one EVER knows anything....." or "i think you do know and your not telling us" "How can you NOT konw what is giong on???" "You are so incompetitent" etc etc etc.............its a loose loose situation sometimes, can't please everyone.

It was a few years ago that LIRR or MN got in a big mess because they wouldn't stop an express train at an intermediate station because a passenger was haveing a heart attack. The passenger ended up dieing and lawsuits were filed for neglect.

JT, The announcement you said that you make certainly sound like the best ones to make to me. Any announcement is good, weather true or not, and always appreciated but normal people. Now we just need to get a greater percetage of normal people on the trains who actually listen and absorb the announcement.

In light of the above mentioned example, with the person having the heart attack or med emergency on an express train, I have asked MANY different supervisors of both Amtrak and NJT about what to do. Most of the answers where teh same.

Of course, notify dispatch, and let them decide. Make all communication over teh radio, and let them decide the best location to get medical attention........they may even let you skip a stop to get there. For example, a NJT train is an eastbound express from lets say Metropark to Newark Airport. A person is found to be having a problem as the train is passing through the Elizabeth area. the next stop is Newark Airport. It may take a long time for medics to get to the airport, so most likely the dispatcher would tell us to meet the medics in Newark Penn. Its their call, and as a Conductor I would most definately ask them, if we are to make our Newark Int Airport stop, or make us skip the EWR stop and go directly into Newark Penn.

Different towns have variing degrees of quickness of a response, and the closest town may not be the quickest.

Mark Schweber wrote:Same thing with medical emergencies. We hear it so many times it is meaningless. Tell us if you have a woman going into labor or a person possible having a heart attack. Then we will know why it is important to wait. Otherwise I (and I think others) will tend to assume that it is someone who stubbed his toe and is overreacting.

There are laws (HIPAA) in this country that guarantee a person's right to privacy when it comes to their medical condition - I'm sure HIPAA could very well apply in this case.

If YOU were having a heart attack, would you want close to 1000 other people to know what your very personal situation was?

If YOU were having a heart attack, would you want close to 1000 other people to know what your very personal situation was?

I are not talking about identifying a person by name. There is no privacy problems saying "a person on the train may be having a heart attack".

Even if there was an identification by name (which I would not expect or advocate) the fact that it is happening in a public location negates the privacy issue. For instance if a newpaper wanted to right up the story there would be no issue with them locating and using the persons name.