Railroad jobs in general are dangerous and involve a great deal of time away from home (often 14 hrs/day). But this company and their zeal to save money, or perhaps stop the hemorrhaging of funds due to mismanagement, creates a workplace laced with incompetence. Keolis' upper management treats line employees like second-class citizens, rarely deigning to speak to them, much less seek out opinions. This was demonstrated clearly in their first disastrous winter when a record number of trains had to be cancelled. The French-based company had no experience dealing with New England winters, and while snowfall that year was well above average, they failed to ask long time and well experienced commuter rail middle managers for their opinions on dealing with the problem. They simply failed to plow the tracks, opting to save money instead. When the snow got so deep that trains were plowing it into the track switches, the system came to a standstill. Had they but asked the people who had dealt with winter in New England for decades, the system failure could have been largely avoided. Unfortunately Keolis' arrogance continues to this day, their third year in Boston, and they have yet to learn to reach out to the people who know the system best. Trains continue to have mechanical failures and Keolis policies have alienated the workers who repair the rolling stock, and have disincentivized the very people who could best help them out. Furthermore, Keolis has unilaterally failed to followed established precedent in terms of labor agreements, basically abrogating long standing past practices and policies, creating an atmosphere of distrust in the labor-management arena.
