tonrob

You do seem to have a jaded view of Amtrak. I've done a fair few trips:

Springfield-New York and back a few times.
Springfield-Chicago-Memphis
Birmingham, AL-Washington DC-Springfield
Boston-Portland and back
San Diego-Santa Barbara

I find that Amtrak coach seats are roomier and more padded that most US domestic airlines' first class (on all but the trans-cons). The staff are a mixed bunch, some happy, some miserable, but roughly the same ratio as any airline I've ever frequented. The fares aren't too bad either - they've recently reduced the fare to New York to $29 each way, which I think is a bit of a bargain.

Their rewards programme is good too. Points are fairly easy to acquire (as I said, my sleeping car trip to Seattle cost me almost nothing - well, probably about $55 for two people - and I didn't need to travel on a train to get them) and, while there are some blackout dates around holidays, the rest of the time award tickets aren't capacity-controlled unlike the airlines. If there's a seat - or a sleeping compartment - you can have it.

Amtrak long-haul simply cannot compete with airlines - obviously - based on travel time. No-one who is concerned about time should take the train.

The bogs can be rancid (as can plane bogs), but if your closest one has suffered a code brown then simply stroll down the train to the next one.

You should give them another go.

Bob

Aye, but that's because they've not been kind to me. It's like going to a restaurant and getting shit food, a second chance but rarely more than that.

Especially as it's not really any more convenient these days, certainly since the Bigdig is over with, driving back and forth to Maine isn't that bad.

The missus used to use it to get down to PA a few times and down to DC/VW area for the family.

The new prices to NY are pretty decent though, but the service just isn't really very reliable enough. Sure speed isn't of the essence, but if you're spending a couple days somewhere and you get a couple hour delay, that's a big chunk of the trip wasted and until there's some real competition to the trains, there's likely not going to be much improvements other than being a bit of a novelty.

GeoffM

To be fair though, you haven't exactly seen much - just a small corner where the routes tend to be short haul, even commuter, so you don't really get the long haul experience. Even the Silver Service down the east coast is not really representative of the whole thing.

Something that Amtrak will do is put you up in a hotel for the night and give you food - both on a very late train and dinner/breakfast in Chicago. Depending on your connection they also sometimes run coaches or taxis to connect with the other train, or hold the other train if there are a lot of connectees.

Yeah. On time is not unheard of either.

The Zephyr runs on UP from Denver to the west, and that's where it picks up most of the delays. BNSF do actually try to run the trains on time because they receive large cash incentives for doing so from Amtrak. I was at the BNSF Network Ops Center in Fort Worth about 8 years ago and watched as the dispatcher quite literally cleared the tracks for tens of miles in front of the Empire Builder so it could have a clear run - a daily ritual in each direction.

Lothianlad

Last Saturday 30/06/12 I and my partner and two friends went on a special charter train excursion from Norwich to Durham city, passing through both York and Darlington, then back again later that day....start time 04:45 from Norwich, arriving back in Norwich at 22:50 hrs. We were staying with friends who live in Norwich, a city I absolutely adore.

The weather throughout the day all the way from Norwich to Durham, during our stay in this lovely cathedral city, and back again was a right mixture - heavy rain, glimpes of sun, then showers and periods of rain again and wee spells of sunshine again.....UK "Summer" 2012 at its finest......

Giantaxe

Was it run by Amtrak

Giantaxe

I wonder how Amtrak defines late and what the average lateness is for its cross country routes?

tonrob

He is BE's official Queen of Irrelevance...

SalopianFunk

A friend decided to use moving to Oakland as an excuse to take the train cross country from Pennsylvania. She's a writer, and so found the trip good for getting stuff out.

I think I'd like to do something similar in the near future.

GeoffM

There used to be the 30/90 rule but I'm not sure whether it's changed. That meant 30 minutes for short haul like north east corridor, Bob's Downeaster, etc, and 90 minutes for long haul like the California Zephyr. Thus recently the CZ arrived within 90 minutes of scheduled arrival time at Emeryville/Chicago about 60% of the time. Note that Amtrak heavily pads its final run from the penultimate stop to make it more likely to arrive on time - just like the UK.

See for yourself on Amtrak's website. It even breaks it down into who caused the delay, and what caused the delay (in general terms like track/signalling defects or dispatching priority).

scrubbedexpat091

I was being light hearted with the BNSF comment as they were the top of the list for the top delay cause.


Track and Signals: 35.2%
64.6% on BNSF Railway Company
35.0% on Union Pacific
0.4% on Amtrak

But yet in the other categories of operational and train interference, UP wins for top spot.

GeoffM

That was for May, when there was flooding in the midwest - BNSF's trackage. Some trains were put on different routes which means delays whether due to distance/speed or waiting for the host railroad's pilot crew.

Incidentally, if you include the statistics you missed out, UP came top with 45% of overall delays; BNSF 35%. Are you a politician by any chance?

No I don't work for BNSF but if they want to send some work my way... or any other RR for that matter!

Giantaxe

Interesting info, but I'm not seeing any absolute numbers for delays on Amtrak's website.

tonrob

Well I'm on the train now, safely ensconced in my cosy little compartment sipping Cabernet, listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and watching western MA roll by. Not bad. Another 65 hours of this to go...

45 minutes late so far...

Scouse Express

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Rail Drink"

Safe & Timely Travels.



Jim

tonrob

By the way, my mate missed his outward flight due to a shambles on the M25. Apparently he's now on the last JFK flight out of Heathrow, an hour late and sat in a jump seat!