Depot needs to be used, not locked up

An open and functioning train station might have prevented the death of the woman who was killed by a train on Dec. 27.

I am a frequent traveler to Seattle and to the East Coast and I often choose to take Amtrak. This can be inconvenient simply because of the times of departure/arrival, 11:49 p.m. going west and 2:35 a.m. going east, not to mention Amtrak’s less than stellar on-time record.

However, all of this would be greatly ameliorated by having an inside area, with a station attendant, where one could wait. This is especially necessary in the winter where it is quite miserable to wait on the platform in the middle of the night for a train that may or may not show up on time. This brings me to the young woman’s death. I don’t know the details but I do know that often times what happens is that you end up waiting in your car out in the lot.

While you are waiting, freight trains come through around the same time that the Amtrak is due. This can cause a scramble as you run from your car thinking that it’s your train when it’s not. It’s dark, there are no announcements, it’s confusing. I wonder if the woman misunderstood and thought she was missing her train. Whatever the actual reason, Sandpoint has a historic building just going to waste. Being able to see it from the bypass emphasizes this need.

CAROLYN GULDBERG

Hope