Crowd packs council meeting about Amtrak ticket agents

Editor’s note: This corrects several errors in the original version of the story including that a passenger said buying his ticket at the train instead of online would more than double the price.

Opponents of Amtrak's plan to eliminate the ticket agents from the Havre and Shelby Amtrak stations packed the Havre City Hall courtroom Thursday during a special meeting about Amtrak's plan.

Havre City Council held the Thursday meeting, specifically to hear concerns about Amtrak terminating the ticket agents from the Havre and Shelby offices.

Those positions are scheduled to be eliminated next Friday, and 16 other stations in the country also are scheduled to lose their ticket agents this year.

More than 60 members of the community appeared at the meeting, as well as representatives of Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte.

The meeting also included Montana Department of Transportation Maintenance Chief Matt Ladenburg, appearing for Gov. Steve Bullock.

Many community members including Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, and Bear Paw Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Tuss, who is also running as a Democrat for the seat now held by Tempel, also spoke at the meeting. Many people reiterated concerns raised at Monday's Havre City Council meeting including concerns for baggage check, train safety, service, security, and aid for the elderly and sick as well as other issues.

Amtrak Director of Government Affairs Robert Eaton and Amtrak union representative Jack Dinsdale both addressed the meeting by telephone.

Dinsdale said that he was unsatisfied with how Amtrak was treating the ticket agents in Montana and wanted to stress that even though a caretaker may be appointed the caretaker is not an Amtrak employee.  

Although he is not directly a part of the process, Eaton said he would communicate the concerns and questions of the Havre community.

He said he understood the concerns of the community and would be happy to answer whatever questions he could. He said to the council that cutting ticket agents in 18 stations across the nation was a decision made after analyzing the national numbers and figures. He said that any station that did not have at least 40 passengers a day had their ticket offices closed, Havre only sees about 32 passenger.

Eaton also said that nationally 94.8 percent of all ticket sales are done online through an automated system.

With all of the cuts Amtrak is making the company will reinvest in the infrastructure of the company, Eaton added.

Lesli Robertson Shelton, Amtrak ticket agent, said that the online purchase figure doesn't apply here. She said that over the past month she and the other ticket agent had observed that about 70 percent of ticket sales here in Havre are bought in person, most of them being with cash.

Amsterdam, New York resident Scott Flordice, who stopped in Havre Tuesday during a trip on the Empire Builder, said that he knows first-hand the problems not having a ticket agent can cause.

He said he was traveling from Sandpoint, Idaho, to a station in New Jersey and was frustrated with not having a ticket agent in Sandpoint.

"I called the Amtrak phone service and asked for a ticket office; they said there wasn't one, I'd have to pay with a credit or debit card," he said. "I asked how much a ticket would be. They said if I paid by card, it would be $232. I asked how much would it be if I went and bought from a (ticket in cash at the train); they replied $466. That's ridiculous."

Flordice said he went to a local grocery store to purchase a loaded debit card so he could pay through the automated system. The grocery store did not have any cards that could be loaded for more than $100. He said he purchased three, two for $100 and one for $50. He said he called back Amtrak ready to purchase his ticket with his three loaded cards, he said, but Amtrak said they would not accept the payment unless it was from a single card.

He said he traveled to the nearest Walmart to purchase another card, asking Walmart employees if he would be able to load the new card with the three he had already purchased. Flordice said that the Walmart would not allow him to, so he bought another card for a total of $250.

"Amtrak took that one, but the whole thing put me back over three days," he said, adding he was unsure that he would ever want to ride the Amtrak system again, due to all the problems that he experienced.

Tester's representative said during the meeting that the senator had sent a letter to Amtrak May 8, but has gotten no response. Tester contacted Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson Thursday morning and is waiting for a call back, she said.

Sen. Daines' representative said the senator raised the issue with an Amtrak representative during a hearing in the Senate May 16.

Gianforte's representative said the congressman's office would be happy to help the best they could and that the access to reliable rail service is important for Montana and its communities.

Eaton said an out-of-state company will be hiring a local community member to be the caretaker of the station, who will open the lobby from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. The caretaker will be responsible for cleaning and maintenance on the station, with another contract company for snow removal during the winters. The caretaker will not be full time and will open and close the station according to the needs of the train schedule.

Council member Terry Lillevedt said national statistics don't reflect the the same numbers as the Havre station. Amtrak often focuses on east and west coast and forgets the rural customers and that Amtrak gave insufficient notice for the ticket agents and the city of Havre to respond, she said.

Lillevedt said Amtrak should put a hold on their decision and hire a third party to analyze the importance of the Havre station.

Council member Caleb Hutchins said to Eaton "this is not an inconvenience," inconvenience being something people can tolerate, but a critical issue. He said that minors are riding Amtrak trains alone who will no longer be able to ride if there is no ticket agent presence. Amtrak is neglecting those with accessibility needs, such as the elderly, the handicapped or ill and children in addition to others Hutchins said.

Eaton replied that he understands the frustration.

Mayor Tim Solomon told Eaton that the community needs time to understand and further discuss the future of Havre Amtrak.

Community member Gary Shelton, a BNSF retiree, said that he "knows how much a railroad costs" and that cutting out the ticket agents from Havre and Shelby will have little or no impact on budget savings.

Shelton also said that last year Congress had approved over a billion dollars of subsidy for the railroad, and was curious what had happened to the congressional money, adding "this is a serious problem for Montana, this is a serious problem for the reservations."

Community member Jeff Dibblee, active railroader and active union member, said Amtrak as well as the city of Havre needs a "cooling off period."

There are questions of general safety and security that hasn't been fully thought through yet, he said, making more unnecessary risks. Libby also said that whoever this outside company hires for caretaker of the property, BNSF union might negate it because whoever they hire may not be union.