Amtrak Retirement Question...

[WANNABEE]

What could an Officer receive after 10 years service and age 60 when he retires from Amtrak Police?

[FedIG]

Amtrak falls under the U. S. Railroad Retirement Board for retirement benefits. http://www.rrb.gov/default.asp. Full retirement age is 65, so there is a reduced benefit for every year under. Also, it is a 2 tier system, with many factors that go into computing your annuity. Best to check out the RRB site, which explains in detail how annuities are computed.

[WANNABEE]

Thanks, just what I was looking for.

[amsarge]

Actually full retirement is at age 60. Its pretty good if you make it. You get your pension and your wife gets another half.

[ftlaudcop]

also believe it or not, with your pension money that goes into

railroad retirement, you as a police officer get no special beifits

for doing a hi risk job, the person employed as a file clerk or

a janitor get close to the same pay and is under the same rules of

retirement, with thant said, I started my railroad job in 1979 at age

19 and if i stayed til 60, i'd have 41 yrs of service and drop dead

soon after, i started police work at 23 and will get full retirement

if i want with 25 yrs service at 75%.....please 2008 , get here

quick...!!!......... :D

[FedIG]

Amsarge, I was referring to his particular situation, working only 10 years. Full retirement at age 60 is with 30 years of service. Under it is 65.

[WANNABEE]

Thanks for the info. I am glad to see Amsarge in this thread as you are a wealth of Amtrak info. I just submitted my background packet to the DC personnel office. I understand at a minimum, it will be a three month wait to move on after background is completed. I would love to hear any comments good or bad about Amtrak PD. Thanks again.

[WANNABEE]

My application is with the DC area. I understand primary duties involve patrol of Union Station. Looks like a busy place. Do you work permanent shifts or do the officers rotate? Also can I be considered for advertised openings in Baltimore as well? Is it easy to hop on any Amtrak train by showing the badge if not in uniform? How are promotional opportunities with Amtrak? One more question involving patrol in the train stations, if there is an emergency and someone calls 911(robbery, assault, whatever), How is the Amtrak Officer alerted to the incident? I would imagine the call goes to DC or Baltimore City 911 rather than to Amtrak nationwide communications center. Thanks and sorry to go off in so many different directions, I am excited about a career with Amtrak PD.

[amsarge]

Biden to push for 'rail police force'
By JOHN MACHACEK
Gannett News Service

03/10/2006
WASHINGTON -- Hoping to capitalize on the uproar over port security, Senate Democrats from states with heavy mass transit ridership called for a greater federal commitment to protect the nation's rails.

Sen. Joe Biden, of Delaware, said Thursday he will introduce legislation to create a "national rail police force" to protect Amtrak.

Others, including Sens. Tom Carper, of Delaware; Robert Menendez, of New Jersey, and Chuck Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, both of New York, warned that the Bush administration has neglected rail security despite terrorist attacks on the London and Madrid, Spain, mass transit systems.

"I don't know if we are prepared for an attack on rail," said Carper, who served on Amtrak board of directors while governor of Delaware a decade ago. "But we have to make sure that the moneys that are allocated [for homeland security] go for higher risk first."

Biden said his bill would spend $82 million annually for a 1,000-member "federal marshal" force for Amtrak. Currently, there are 288 Amtrak officers for the entire nation, he said.

The push to beef up rail security is part of a weeklong Democratic offensive aimed at convincing voters that the Bush administration's budget fails to meet national security needs. Thursday's news conference came two days before the second anniversary of the Madrid attacks and against a backdrop of congressional efforts to scuttle a port deal allowing an Arab-owned company to take over some operations at six U.S. ports, including the ports of Wilmington and New Jersey.

"Madrid should have been our wake-up call. The bombings in London should have been our reminder," Menendez said. "How much longer must we wait to secure the over 14 million Americans who use public transit to get to work?"

The Democrats did not dispute the decision to spend $20 billion on airline security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but said it was time to spend considerably more to protect public transit and interstate train traffic.

The government has spent "less than a half billion" on rail security since 9/11, Biden said.

Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has said funding for rail security was increased after the Madrid bombings. Another $8.6 billion is available through general homeland security grants for transit protection.

[amsarge]

My application is with the DC area. I understand primary duties involve patrol of Union Station. Looks like a busy place. Do you work permanent shifts or do the officers rotate?

Amtrak Police Officers bid on positions based on seniority.

Also can I be considered for advertised openings in Baltimore as well? Is it easy to hop on any Amtrak train by showing the badge if not in uniform?

All Amtrak employees and their families ride for free.

How are promotional opportunities with Amtrak?

Its a small job so its slow. But Amtrak is talking about hiring 700 people so it may get real good soon.

One more question involving patrol in the train stations, if there is an emergency and someone calls 911(robbery, assault, whatever),
How is the Amtrak Officer alerted to the incident? I would imagine the call goes to DC or Baltimore City 911 rather than to Amtrak nationwide communications center.

APD has a national communications center in Philadelphia that is in contact with local PDs. Some of us carry local PD radios too.

Thanks and sorry to go off in so many different directions, I am excited about a career with Amtrak PD.





Good luck