December 01, 2001

Get on trak




Amtrak, the 1-800-USA-RAIL phone number isn't well optimized for the regular commuter to learn the status of his train
-- the system asks lots of questions, and periodically Amtrak inserts new
things at the beginning which make it hard to program a phone to spit out
the needed information quickly and conveniently. This is a reasonable
design choice to support the occasional Amtrak rider, and so I don't
suggest changing it.		 . Capitol Corridor train crossing Alameda Creek in Fremont, CA

For the regular commuter, however, it would be a great convenience
to be able to call a phone number, provide a train number by
touch-tone, and hear the status.

We know when the train is scheduled to be at our station, and don't
need to be told this (so there's no need to tell what station we care
about, or whether we want arrival or departure time);
we're always looking for status on today's train (if long-haul trains like
the Zephyr are included in this information system, the system could
report on all trains that are -- or were scheduled to be -- intransit
today).

This should also save money on phone bills and equipment relative
to 1-800-USA-RAIL, because the phone line would be in use for a
fraction of the time. My ideal would be something like:

 .
.

(dial special number)

Hello, you've reached Amtrak blah, blah, blah; this phone number is
only for getting current status of trains by train number; for
general information call 1-800-USA-RAIL, blah, blah; please enter
the train number followed by pound -- next time you call, you can
enter this information immediately after the phone is answered"

523#

"Train 523 left Davis on time at 5:44, but is 15 minutes late
arriving in Martinez" (extra points for explaining why it's late
and/or estimating how much later it will be)

Posted by dc at December 1, 2001 12:01 AM
Comments

I'M TRYING TO FIND SOME INFORMATION FOR A FRIEND OF MINE SHE WANTS TO USE AMTRAK TO GO FROM LYNCHBURG, VA TO LAS VEGAS, NAVADA. FROM JULY 8TH TO JULY 13TH. AND ALSO WANTS TO KNOW THE RATES AND THE ACCOMODATIONS THAT COME WITH THE TRIP GIVE 1ST CLASS AND COACH PRICES PLEASE. THANK-YOU VERY MUCH

Posted by: HEIDI SCOTT on February 6, 2004 05:14 PM
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