WASHINGTON — Amtrak lacks an overall strategy to improve service to passengers with disabilities, leading to disjointed efforts that are not well coordinated between departments, the Amtrak Office of Inspector General said in a report issued Tuesday (July 15, 2025).
The report credits Amtrak with increased engagement with disability advocacy groups over the last six years, with several of those groups saying they have good working relationships with the company. But italso found that the lack of a strategy setting goals and priorities informed by data, Amtrak may not focusing on actions with the highest potential to aid customers. As a result, it could be exposed to avoidable financial, legal, and reputational risks.
The report identifies three key areas where Amtrak can improve:
— Interactions with employees who deal with the public. The OIG found that 39% of complaints in its sample related to poor assistance at stations and with getting on and off trains, and 22% dealt with insensitive staff interactions. OIG auditors also found onboard policies were not being consistently enforced, seeing such things as space for passengers with disabilities being used for storage.
— Communication. The audit found that passengers cannot always request in-station assistance, that station-pacific information is limited, and that accessibility information can be limited in on-line booking systems.
— Access to onboard amenities is not always available. This is particularly true of food service, with access to café and dining cars not always available for those in mobility devices, and employees not always meeting the requirement to offer at-seat food service.
The report offers several recommendations to address this issues, which Amtrak agreed with in its response and described how it would address them.
The full report is available here.
“station pacific information is limited”? I guess the spellcheck gremlin strikes again.
The severe lack of logical functionality and lack of user friendliness of the Amtrak website is a major stumbling block for ALL potential customers who might think of riding Amtrak. The website needs a TOTAL redesign in both appearance and functionality to make it truly user friendly! As the gateway to improving Amtrak’s overall service, the Amtrak.com is the “front door” of the company. Finding basic info about routes, trains, equipment, on-board services, policies and the actual reservation process should not be as complicated as the current website offers.
Wake-Up Amtrak!! Redesign your website from the ground-up and make it easier to use and provide the info customers need and want at their fingertips!
A train or bus at its worst is better than an airplane at its best. I can barely stand in an airplane head, let alone get a wheelchair in there.