Completely unacceptable. The train exists for the passengers. Period. But, this seems to be common practice. If the conductor needs work space, let him commandeer the windowless end seats in Amfleet car and use his grip for a table.
And, yes, he should be able to do all his work wirelessly. I believe Amtrak is working on that, but don't hold your breath.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Why is the crew, like, handling paper? That is sooo 20th century. Can't Amtrak write some kind of app for an IPad to take care of all of that?
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
It may be time for passengers to report these events immediately to the Amtrak corporate offices??
On a recent trip from NYC to Syracuse and back, two of the six (33%) of the tables in the Amcafe were cluttered with the crew's paperwork, making those tables unusable for passengers. Of course, the crew needs someplace to manage their tickets and manifests, but using one-third of the very limited "lounge" space on the train seems excessive, preventing passengers from enjoying what few amenities these trains have. Couldn't the crew just use one table? Part of what makes a train more pleasant than a plane or bus is the opportunity to leave one's seat and sit someplace else for awhile, but these Amcafes do not seem to be operated with the passengers' enjoyment in mind.
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