Last time I was looking, starting salary for an Amtrak engineer was around $50k.

On a side note, a friend of mine is an engineer for CSX. His work rules are better than ours, and he still gets a pension. I feel a career change coming on...

 

I was jumpseating to my parents and sat next to the wife an Amtrak Engineer. Boy, I didn't say a word and all she talked about was erosion of benefits, pay cuts and concessions, younger people coming in all excited to conduct a train and accepting lower wages and worse work rules, etc etc etc. The similarities were astounding.

Doesn't CO have something set up with Amtrak since they are travel partners in the Northeast?

 

I don't know about CSX, but I can tell you that the vast majority of railway operators' work rules for engineers are NOT better than regional airlines' pilots. I got to speak with quite a few engineers for BNSF at a BBQ, basically their lives are always on reserve. The system they described is once they return to their home base, their name goes to the bottom of a list. As another train needs to go out, the top name is taken off the list and out they go, until your number comes up again. Might be 2 days, but might also be 10 hours. Not uncommon I guess to get in around midnight, only to get a call at 9am for a noon departure again, for 4 days. Not to mention you usually have to start as a rail car worker (tough, tough physical labor), and engineers usually earn 50-70k/ year maximum. They said 8 days off in a month is about average, sometimes less, sometimes more. Apparently UPR and WPR are very similar.

Amtrak used to be considered a much better place to work as an engineer, kind of like moving from the "cargo" side to "passenger" side of an airline, but I guess Amtrak is doing very poorly financially, and as a previous poster said, are slashing their salaries and work rules. The similarities do sound very strikingly close to the situation at the airlines, don't they?

 

Usually you have to start as a conductor to move to engineer. Not really sure what the pay is, but I know car attendants do pretty well (+50K) with tips and all. I've riden Amtrak quite a few times, and their trains are always sold out, even in the middle of North Dakota or something. Obviously related to gas prices. As far as getting a discount, the airlines would have to offer them discounts, and I don't think thats happening.

 

This thread goes to show you how low this profession has sunk in the recent years... Try comparing trains to airplanes 20 years ago... not to mention the pay.

 

How so? Comparing the two professions?

 

no future in the railroad business:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/ny...l?pagewanted=1

 

I bought a ticket on Amtrak today from CT to Newark to get to work. The conductor saw I was in uniform and said she won't scan my ticket and that the cost would be refunded in a few days because it wasn't scanned. She said "we take care of our own, no charge."

 

Anyone know how much metro train drivers get?

 

The problem with driving a train is that you end up under the Railway Labor Act. I've heard its not all that great.