Train Conductor’s Personal Apology Letter Makes City Transit Slightly More Tolerable

He wrote a lengthy apology to 500 commuters.

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Metro-North commuters were greeted in their train cars Monday morning with 500 copies of a personal apology letter resting on every seat. What happened? Conductor Michael Shaw had been given incorrect information about an express train that he reiterated to passengers — making them late for work.

“I made a huge mistake in telling you, MY/OUR passengers to ‘trust me and wait for the express train behind us,’ not knowing Metro-North had canceled it,” he wrote, saying that he was “shocked & furious” to hear the news that he had inadvertently led passengers astray. “I am as sick of apologizing to you as you are of hearing it. Like I tell my kids, its ok to apologize for something but its even more important not to let it happen again.”

And then Metro-North had to go and ruin everything by condemning Shaw. The railroad released a statement: “While we share his concerns, we do not condone his methods of communicating them.”

Maybe he should have gone with an incoherent message over the loud speaker?