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[quote user="CMStPnP"] Note the difference in labor costs in the below article as well: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/08/20/post-office-vs-amtrak-which-one-is-more-wasteful/ [/quote] On my last trip to Dallas, the Texas Eagle had an engineer, a conductor, and a trainman. The conductor and trainman spent most of their time in the dining car whilst the train was moving. The dining car (cross country cafe car) had three servers and the cook. Or maybe we should call him the heater upper. The lounge car had an attendant. The three coaches had two coach attendants, and the sleeping car had an attendant.   The boarding process at Temple is labor intensive.  The station agent opens the gate and makes sure that everyone in line has a ticket. The conductor or trainman inspects the ticket (now read with a scanner) and points the passenger to his or her car. The car attendant marks the passenger's destination on a seat check and hands it to him or her. Once on the train the conductor and/or trainman has a quick look at the seat checks to see who is getting off at the next stop and, then as far as I can tell, heads to the dinner. Or sometimes they camp out in the lounge car. The on-board service personnel stay on the train from end point to end point.  But the operating crews change out five or six times between San Antonio and Chicago.  The best is the engineer from San Antonio to Austin or vice versa. He or she brings the train from San Antonio to Austin or vice versa. That's roughly 2.5 hours northbound; 3.5 hours southbound, although it seldom takes 3.5 hours to run from Austin to San Antonio. Then he or she spends the day in a nice hotel in Austin or is driven back to San Antonio or vice versa. How or why this arrangement was worked out is unclear, but it does not seem to be very efficient.   No wonder Amtrak needs more than 20,000 employees! Or does it?
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