Aircraft_Maintenance_Technology_January-February_2020 - 4

EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT

Planes, Trains
and Automobiles
Actually just planes and trains for this comparison. During
the recent holiday season, one of my sisters came to visit.
She rode the train from southern Wisconsin to Red Wing,
Minnesota, the closest Amtrak station to
my home. I was to meet her late evening
arrival so we could enjoy a few days of
sibling quality time.
The small, old, but well cared for train station had a
dozen people or so anxiously waiting on that cold night to
board the train for a variety of west-bound destinations,
or to meet travelers like me. As the time got closer to the
train's ETA, I sent sis a text message to let her know I
would be there when she arrived.
By Ron Donner,
The text message response I received said the train
Chief Editor
had stopped on the track about 10 minutes away and
passengers were advised of some delay to inspect a section of track. About that
same time, waiting passengers were receiving messages on their smart-phones of a
10 minute delay, followed by another, then another.
About an hour and a half later, the train pulled up to the platform. Passengers
stepped off the train, luggage was unloaded, with onward passengers onboard and
some limited grumbling by passengers. The short stop at this little town was complete and off the train went.
First, I commend the railroad for inspecting the track for a possible problem before
proceeding. I also understand there are differences between airline and train travel.
Most trains have larger seats, in this case not near as many passengers onboard,
the ability for train passengers to stand and walk around in a spacious cabin and,
of course, ticket price differences.
On the drive home, I couldn't help but to make the comparison to a delayed airline
flight arrival, say an arrival that had landed but had to park on the tarmac for a similar
amount of time (hour and a half) before actually parking at the gate and deplaning.
Apparently, there was little passenger complaining onboard that my sister witnessed, little in the train station, I saw no prime-time news report similar to a plane
being "stranded on the tarmac" for 90 minutes and no internet videos posted with
ranting passengers and frustrated cabin crews. When I asked sis what she did for
the extra 90 minutes, she said something to the affect of, "we were all just visiting
and laughing and the time passed quickly." No passenger uprising, no free travel
voucher for the inconvenience and what about free snacks and drinks while waiting?
Are train passengers really that different from airline passengers? Do train passengers not complain? Is the level of passenger complaints dependent on the price of
a ticket or the size and comfort of the seat? I don't know... just an easy comparison
that cold winter night.

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