Amtrak

When it comes to customer service, Amtrak is easily derailed.  My nephew gave me an Amtrak gift certificate for Christmas. I tried to use it on Sunday when making reservations for travel to New York.   First, I went online. Nothing relevant could I see on the computer screen.  I called the Amtrak 800 number. The friendly man said I had to go to the train station to use the gift certificate.   On Monday, I went to Penn Station. The man at the counter made the reservations, then said he thought he'd better check with his manager to be sure the certificate could be used at his terminal.

Amtrak will pay $466 million this year for 70 new locomotives to enhance the speed and reliability of rail service in the Northeast Corridor and invest $298 million on 130 new rail cars to serve the East Coast and Midwest. The new equipment will be a major upgrade for a system that now operates with locomotives that are 20 to 30 years old and some sleeper cars that are 60 years old, Amtrak President Joe Boardman said in announcing the federally subsidized passenger rail line's plans for 2012.

Around 10 a.m. Thursday an Amtrak contractor struck a 24-inch gas main on the property of Penn Station in Baltimore, a utility spokeswoman said. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. responded to the scene and were continuing work on shutting off the gas line at around 2 p.m., said Rachael Lighty. Only buildings on the Penn Station property are expected to lose gas service because of the leak, she said, but BGE is having employees canvass the area to ensure no residential gas users have lost service.

For the first time ever, Amtrak is expected to hit the 30 million milestone on Sept. 30. That's how many passengers it will have served over the previous 12 months, an annual increase in train ridership of 6.4 percent — a remarkably robust result given the nation's high unemployment rate and challenging economic circumstances. That's something to be celebrated. The public's embrace of passenger rail recognizes both improvements in Amtrak and the diminishment of alternatives, as highways and air travel become increasingly congested.

Three public groups are looking for a private-sector partner interested in building a transit-oriented development on a triangular parking lot just north of Penn Station. Amtrak, which owns the 1.5-acre development parcel, has set Aug. 5 as the deadline for groups to submit qualifications to serve as the master developer for the property, which is bounded by Lanvale, St. Paul and Charles streets and the Amtrak train lines. Amtrak issued the request along with the Maryland Department of Transportation and the City of Baltimore.

Amtrak passengers in Maryland and other Eastern states emerged as some of the biggest beneficiaries of Florida's decision to turn down more than $2 billion in federal high-speed rail funds, as the Obama administration redirected nearly $800 million of that money into Northeast Corridor infrastructure. The windfall includes $22 million sought by Maryland for planning and engineering of a replacement for the century-old bridge that carries Amtrak and MARC trains over the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville.

Saturday is National Train Day with celebrations at multiple locations, including Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. Amtrak, which celebrates its 40 th anniversary this year, will unveil a host of attractions and a major discount: free fare for kids. For every adult passenger in coach, one child can ride free when you make reservations by Friday – and at least three days in advance – for travel through June 9. Use promo code H859. Events at Washington’s Union Station include model trains, live performances, historic cars and a 40 th Anniversary exhibit train displaying historic advertising, uniforms, photos and other memorabilia.

To celebrate 40 years of service, Amtrak is letting kids ride free on trips booked before May 6th for travel through June 9th. Click here for all the details. Almost makes me wish I had kids; almost.

Amtrak is turning out to be a good neighbor after all. The railroad announced plans Friday to install a good fence, not the shoddy chain-link joke in place now, along its Northeast Corridor tracks in Middle River. It was along that 2-mile stretch, where ultra-quiet trains race by at speeds up to 125 mph, that 14-year-old Anna Marie Stickel was killed in January 2010 as she walked along the tracks and was hit from behind. Certainly Anna didn't belong there. She was a trespasser.

Widespread electrical problems along railroad lines Saturday morning sent Amtrak riders in the Mid-Atlantic region scrambling to reschedule their weekend plans. The outage occurred at about 9:30 a.m., according to an Amtrak media relations spokeswoman, and lasted for about four hours. Twenty-one trains were affected in Amtrak's Northeast corridor, running between Washington and New York, and on the Keystone Corridor in Pennsylvania between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, she said.