Another step toward losing Southwest Chief
The closing of the Lamy ticket window is another unfortunate example of the forced deterioration of rail service in New Mexico and the country (“Ticket window is history at Lamy Amtrak station,” April 24). To be sure, most tickets are now purchased online, but the ticket agent has many other duties that will be lost.
Most notably, there is the checking and handling of baggage; the liberal baggage allowances on trains are one of the benefits of rail travel, and most days at Lamy, quite a number of bags are loaded into the baggage car. Moreover, the agent helps passengers, assists with boarding and answers questions about one’s trip. This will end. It is said that a caretaker will be available, but they have been shown to be unreliable — either not showing up or refusing to relate to passengers.
It is yet another example of the continual downgrading of rail service (money is available for air and highways, but grudgingly so for rail, if at all), creating a vicious spiral — service is reduced, fewer people travel by train, so service is further reduced and so on. Finally the train is discontinued, which was the plan all along.
And that is the worst issue relating to the loss of the ticket agent — this may be a prelude to discontinuing the Southwest Chief entirely. Four other stations on its route also are losing their agents, and the current administration has indicated that it thinks rail service should be limited to urban corridors. If we want to keep the Chief, people need to speak up and act.