Once again, I am surprised—and pleasantly so—to discover that Amtrak cares about little issues as well as the big ones.

In my previous post, I wrote about the car attendant I had on the California Zephyr and her P.A. announcement at he conclusion of what I am certain was a long day. 

Essentially, she said she was going to bed and was not to be disturbed until the morning . . . that if anyone needed anything that was actually important, one of the conductors would be up and awake and on duty to take care of whatever problem one of us might have.

Of course, every senior-citizen passenger settling down for the night on that sleeper was at that moment imagining having a severe illness and being forced to seek out a conductor, who would no doubt be three car lengths away on the lower level of the lounge car.

Today I found a text message on my phone from someone at Amtrak who had seen or had been sent that item from my web site. The lady caller expressed regret over the incident, assured me that the car attendant was out of line, and that the matter had been reported to the train manager.

So good for Amtrak!. It’s reassuring to know that when an incident of some significance occurs, Amtrak really does try to take appropriate action. 

It is a fact, however, that because of the pandemic, Amtrak’s on board crews are often short-handed and two car attendants sometimes find themselves responsible for three sleepers . . . meaning they’re having to make up sixty berths instead of forty.

It is indeed a tough job and I will continue to cut them some slack. But it is good to know that Amtrak takes valid complaints seriously.