Subj: Aftermath of the tragedy; Travel and Meeting information
Date: 01-09-13 16:55:08 EDT
From: [log in to unmask] (NARP)
Reply-to: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask] (NARP)
To NARP Members--September 13, 2001:
First, we at NARP hope that you and your loved ones are safe, and
express our sorrow and sympathy if your lives have been touched directly
by the tragedies on Tuesday.
I. USING AIRLINE TICKETS ON AMTRAK
If you need to travel, it may be helpful to learn (or be reminded) that
Amtrak has a standard policy of honoring airline tickets between the
same or similar city-pairs Amtrak serves. "Similar" generally means a
city in the same metro area as the city named on the airline ticket. The
honoring of airline tickets is subject to space availability on trains,
and limited to the value of the airline ticket (or ticketless travel
receipt).
[However, Amtrak does NOT honor Southwest Airlines tickets. Southwest
Airlines does not belong to the Airline Reporting Corporation which
handles inter-company reimbursements.]
If the Amtrak fare is lower, and you want to recover the difference, it
may be simpler to buy the Amtrak ticket outright and have the airline
fully refund its own ticket. However, you can exchange the airline
ticket (or ticketless travel receipt) for an Amtrak ticket, and then get
a partial refund from the airline by showing the airline receipts from
both tickets (so the airline sees what you paid to Amtrak).
If the Amtrak fare is higher than the value shown on the airline ticket,
the passenger must pay Amtrak the difference.
Be forewarned that Amtrak trains are more full than usual, and both
Amtrak's telephone information and website are slower than usual. (See
next item.)
II. AMTRAK EXPANDS SERVICE AS AIR SYSTEM DISRUPTIONS CONTINUE (Amtrak
release)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 13, 2001
Capacity Added to Many Trains Nationwide; Amtrak Partners With Red Cross
to Ship Relief Supplies
Wilmington – As the disruption to the nation’s aviation system enters
its third day, Amtrak is continuing to operate its regular weekday
schedule throughout the country and is adding capacity to handle the
growing volume of passengers.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced earlier that the
nation’s airspace would reopen at 11:00 am Thursday, but many airlines
are reporting delays and limitations in the resumption of service.
Meanwhile, Amtrak also announced it is partnering with the American Red
Cross to deliver emergency relief supplies to New York City. Amtrak is
donating the use of a train to be dubbed the “Clara Barton Express,”
which departed Washington’s Union Station at 11:00 am today and was
scheduled to arrive at New York’s Penn Station at approximately 1:30
pm. The train is carrying supplies including Red Cross comfort and
cleanup kits, dust masks and beverages. American Red Cross President
and CEO Dr. Bernadine Healy is among those traveling to New York on this
train.
Amtrak will arrange for additional trains to carry relief supplies to
New York as needed...
Capacity Being Added in Northeast and Other Regions
Meanwhile, while the air service disruption continues, Amtrak will add
more than 200 seats on virtually every unreserved train operating
between Washington, New York and Boston, increasing this capacity by
nearly 30 percent. One additional roundtrip was added today between
Boston and New York, departing Boston at 11:12 am and arriving New York
at 2:40 pm. This train is scheduled to depart from New York at 4:00 pm
and arrive back in Boston at 7:37 pm.
Additional capacity is also being added to Amtrak services on the West
Coast and on long distance trains serving other parts of the country.
The company has also reached out to the airlines to assist family and
friends of victims of the terrorist attacks.
Amtrak trains are seeing significant increases in ridership throughout
the national system serving 45 states and over 500 communities. On
Wednesday, almost all of Amtrak’s long-distance trains were sold out.
The railroad will continue to adjust capacity as needed.
To help serve stranded airline travelers, Amtrak is honoring most
airline tickets for travel to the cities it serves. Those wishing to
make a reservation on Amtrak should call 1-800-USA-RAIL or a travel
agent, or log on to www.amtrak.com. Guests may also book travel at many
Amtrak stations using automated Quik Trak machines.
III. LESSONS LEARNED?
The tragedy and its aftermath raise the possibility that more Americans
will see the need for more modern passenger trains. We will be pointing
this out.
One by-product of the tragedy was a call to NARP from the president of
US-Citizens Aviation Watch, an organization developing "a plan of action
to protect people from aviation industry abuses...The plan is aimed at
protecting the public from adverse environmental impacts that aviation
and airport activities have on public health, air/water/ground/noise
pollution and property issues affecting everyone on our planet." Much
detailed information on this is available at their website
<www.us-caw.org>. Their members are all organizations, and include
several municipalities as well as the Baylor University School of
Aviation Sciences and a number of grass-roots civic groups.
IV. EVENTS CANCELLED OR POSTPONED
Rail-Volution, scheduled for San Francisco September 13-16, has been
canceled. Organizers are considering the possibility of rescheduling for
one of these time periods:
* November 29-December 2
* December 6-December 9
* December 13-December 16
The conference, "Representing Rail Passengers Interests," scheduled for
Philadelphia September 15-16, has been postponed to December 1-2.
The Amtrak Reform Council meeting in Los Angeles, scheduled for
September 20, has been cancelled.
V. TWO AMTRAK DERAILMENTS THIS WEEK
The NARP hotline reports on a "Texas Eagle" accident Tuesday morning
west of Marshall, Texas, with minor injuries to five passengers and a
crewman. This morning, a well-filled westbound "California Zephyr"
(Amtrak says "approximately 263 passengers") struck a Union Pacific
freight train near Wendover, Utah. Amtrak says "sixteen individuals have
been transported to a Salt Lake City hospital with non-life threatening
injuries."
--Ross B. Capon,
NARP Executive Director
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