UP North has a "dispatching problem"

[strictures]

I've gotten numerous emails from Metra this afternoon about problems on the UP North Line.

They latest ones are blaming the dispatching department.  I don't know if that's a new term for PTC problems, which seem to happen at least once a week on the UP North.

[trainman8119]

On 4/9/2019 at 4:45 PM, strictures said:

I've gotten numerous emails from Metra this afternoon about problems on the UP North Line.

They latest ones are blaming the dispatching department.  I don't know if that's a new term for PTC problems, which seem to happen at least once a week on the UP North.

First of all, I didn't realize the UP had PTC up and running on the North Line. Secondly and maybe more important, you have to realize that the top 3-4

honchos at Metra these days are finger pointers. They are never responsible for ANY problems, its always someone else. But I will also say this.

The state of dispatching these days is terrible. Metra dispatchers are absolutely the worst !!! The rest I come in contact with day in and day out have

no concept of passenger service and schedules, constructing meets to keep everything moving with as little disruption as possible, and refuse to answer

radios or phones. Its gone really downhill since I did it in the mid 90s. To the credit of the UP though, the people manning the DeVal interlocking at UPNE

do a great job working with us to get us through, answering their radios and letting us know up front what to expect.