Overheard a conductor say something that stuck with me

I was on the 6:15 Amtrak out of Albany last Tuesday and overheard the conductor talking to a passenger about why the train was 20 minutes late. He said 'the tracks don't care about your schedule, they only care about safety.' That really hit me. I had been fuming about the delay but he was right, the rails are old and they have to go slow through certain sections. Made me wonder how many other little delays are actually for our own good. Has anyone else had a similar moment where a train worker changed how you look at things?

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robertb303mo ago

Yeah I had a similar thing with a Metro North conductor last year in Stamford, he pointed out that if we hadn't waited that extra 2 minutes for a late connection, we'd be stuck behind a freight train for an hour. Best advice I can give is always ask the conductor directly when you're steamed about a delay, they'll usually tell you the real reason and it's almost always something you can't argue with.

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gray_patel3mo ago

Ask the conductor every time man, they know exactly what's happening and usually give you the straight story. That one conversation can save you a lot of unnecessary frustration.

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