Amtrak - Classic or dud?

I rode on bi-levels out to New Mexico in 1989, 1991 and 1993.

Really, how strange. I guess SoCal was low on the totem pole for replacements, then.

Donut Bitch rode the train down from Seattle to LA at least once, and while they came in late it was still a good trip, so I hear.

Amtrak also classic for stopping at LA's Union Station, which has been in more movies than I can count. (The police station interior in Blade Runner is a good recentish example.)

On the other hand, Amtrak is a total dud for costing too much even for unreserved coach class with a veteran's or student discount and for never ever ever ever being on time. It'll leave on time, it'll arrive on time all the way from DC to Philly, and then after that it's a total crapshoot with NJ Transit local trains sharing the same lines all the way to/from Trenton to Manhattan. Lame.

The DC-Boston corridor Amtrak Experience is probably quite different from anywhere else in the country. The mix of people on the regular trains is quite a bit different from what you describe.

What I remember, as a young man obsessed with Americana, was the incredible feeling of privilege I had in being able to see some of the less travelled landscapes in upstate New York, Louisiana, Texas. I've never had that feeling travelling by car.

The Portland conductors say that Amtrak communications south of Portland are shit. This is almost a direct quote.

I think my bedroom for my move to NYC from Chicago via Amtrak was around $300, but that was one-way and I got a moving subsidy, so....

I like Amtrak but it's too expensive, esp. in the Northeast Corridor. A round-trip from NYC to Philly should not be $90.
-- hstencil (hstenci...), June 1st, 2004.

just being supportive!

(sob)

And well, I wasn't the only one being fleeced. There were several lanes trying to escape Staten Island to the Turnpike via the Veracruz(?) bridge...

on last night's crash in Philly, from the WSJ

An Amtrak train involved in a fatal crash here appears to have been traveling at more than 100 miles an hour as it entered a sharp curve where it derailed Tuesday night, killing at least six people, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. The speed limit in that section of track drops to 50 miles per hour, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Investigators are focusing on the possibility that excessive speed was a factor in the derailment, one of these people said. The locomotive and all seven passenger cars of the train went off the tracks at a tight curve at Frankford Junction, north of Philadelphia city center. Multiple cars overturned, severely injuring some passengers and pinning others. Six people were killed and more than 200 were injured, including eight who were in critical condition.

so, the Chinatown bus every time.

it's fortunate it wasn't worse or at a sharper curve, i think that's the same accident speed vs speed limit as the santiago de compostela train accident in spain several years back that killed a few dozen people.

excessive speed appears to almost always be the culprit... wtf is with these drivers? are they under huge pressure to make their schedules? is there some structural issue?

although that said, considering how many trains are criss-crossing this country at any given moment, the number of crashes is really not very high. you're much safe in a train than in a car (or a bus).

that said a derailment is fucking terrifying

I'm sure amtrak still has a better safety record per passenger mile than the interstate highway system over the same time period

oh, with certainty.

important:

http://www.ibtimes.com/amtraks-failure-gain-wireless-spectrum-rights-stymied-safety-technology-1924499

Train was hit by a projectile, that's why the conductor blacked out.

https://fortunedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/rail_map.jpg?quality=80

seems shameful that there's no significant ridership btw austin/dfw/san antonio n houston; also that there's no dallas-houston connection also yes, I know LOL texas

there's a dallas-houston freight connection fwiw

today I got off of my train to go to the baggage claim with like 10 other people. This lady in front of me brings her claim check and says "ok that bag is mine, but there are two more that should be here". the employees are all confused like "ma'am, did you check three bags? You only have one claim check". and she's like "....no? I brought two bags on the train with me!"

The employees are all like..."uhhh, ma'am? We don't carry your carry-on bags off of the train for you. You didn't take them off?". She's all like "No! OHHHHHHHHH DON'T YOU TELLL MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that they're still ON the TRAiiiIIIIIIiiiiIIIIINNNN!!!?? HOw could this happen??! HOw could this trip get any worse! Call the train! Please! CALL THE TRAIN! Please tell them to stop! So I can get my bags". The train, mind you, that had just left 5 minutes ago going 65 mph down the track.

she then proceeds to find anybody wearing a uniform (Amtrak or not) saying "Please CAN YOU CALL THE TRAINNN!!!???? Tell it to stop!!!"

so classic obv

<3 Amtrak (as long as you don't need to be anywhere anytime soon)

Have a San Diego -> San Jose trip planned for the summer

i want a job where if i have to go anywhere in the continental US, i have the luxury of time to just take the train. trains are fantastic.

CAN YOU CALL THE TRAINNN!!!????

classic.

omg that woman

i imagine that after the exchange posted above, she drops her one bag and takes off running down the track after the departed train

imagining that woman as maggie smith's dowager from downton abbey

lolllllllll

love amtrak. you can get up and walk around. you can go to an expensive bar. my archipelago's airline monopoly throws everything it has against ferries so all my experience of longrange travel until my 20s involved being strapped down listening to engine roar, and my idea of trains was a romantic cartoon that came from graham greene, agatha christie, etc.. then i got on amtrak for the first time, all beaming and wow-trains, and the conductor came on the pa and probably got on every passenger's nerves but mine by saying "this train is now leaving for vancouver, kelso/longview, tacoma, seattle, belgrade, budapest, and con-sssssssssssssTANT-inople"

xpost they had to explain to her a few times why the train couldn't a) stop and 'wait for her to catch up' or b) back up and come back.

she was trying to stir up support amongst the other 2 cranky people that cared.

yeah I mean sure it takes a lot longer than if you drove or flew, but you can bring twice the baggage onboard or checked for free! much more leg room (ok, the Silver Star that runs near us is a little old and beat up, but the Piedmont, good christ, the seats were so comfy and the leg room was ridiculous!). and yeah, go to the dining car, get a drink! warm, friendly staff.

compare that to when I get on a Greyhound where the driver's breath smells like bourbon, you leave three hours late, and someone is yellin at you to "sit down, BITCH!"

some guy in the dining car once taught me pinochle

heh the guy in the seat in front of me offered me his spare room in his house (I am not taking but hey nice offer)

remember that george will or maybe it was david brooks piece about how trains were inherently unamerican because the individual passenger couldn't decide where to go

To progressives, the best thing about railroads is that people riding them are not in automobiles, which are subversive of the deference on which progressivism depends. Automobiles go hither and yon, wherever and whenever the driver desires, without timetables.

fuuuuuuuuuck driving

hither and yon

driving's the worst, spend 100% of gdp on trains

CAN YOU CALL THE TRAINNNNNN!!!!!!

http://i.imgur.com/E1VN36N.gif

here's my tribute to the long-ago Amtrak journey that brought me here today:

https://markwrite57.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/all-aboard-amtrak/

more recently, we took the Acela express NYC-DC and back last summer. it was painless if a bit pricey.

how insane would you have to be to take an Amtrak train, and how the hell are they allowed to continue operating?

Twenty three injured in a derailment near Dodge City, KS today. Last year, 8 killed and 49 seriously injured in the Philly derailment. Seems like something happening all the time with these guys.

a large number of Amtrak's recent incidents involved things it couldn't control like vehicles on the tracks, a semi-truck driving into it, large rocks falling, etc....

I've always loved Amtrak, also at least unlike a plane, when the thing derails, you have a spitting chance of surviving. I just road Amtrak last month and i love it.

though completely horrific what happened today, hopefully no casualties when all is said and done.

less scary than the Chinatown bus

I regularly use Acela for DC/NY work trips. They've had their problems of course, but I vastly prefer Amtrak to planes.

One can see why "Acela class" has become a snarling right-wing putdown for alleged elites, who live in an East Coast media/government bubble that is far removed from the concerns of honest, hard-working, salt-of-the-earth Real Americans. So sue me: it is awesome. I can start out at 8 in DC, do a longish meeting in NY, and be back home to put the kids to bed. While in transit it is comfortable and quiet and about as civilized as being home, including electrical outlets and beer.

Twenty three injured in a derailment near Dodge City, KS today. Last year, 8 killed and 49 seriously injured in the Philly derailment. Seems like something happening all the time with these guys.

lol gtfo. Passenger rail accidents are exceedingly rare. In 2013, the NTSB recorded 32,719 highway deaths, and 891 railway deaths. Of those 891, well over half (520) were deaths from pedestrians and vehicles being hit at grade-level railroad crossings. A total of 6 -- that's not a typo -- were passenger rail deaths. Another 345 were "light, heavy and commuter rail." The rest were employees.

So, at a rough reckoning, 40 times as many people are killed in highway accidents every year than in all types of rail accidents combined.

I think all such stats would be more meaningful if expressed in terms of non-deadly passenger trips vs. deadly ones. No matter the mode of transport, for every fiery well-publicized crash there are hundreds of thousands of people uneventfully arriving at their destinations.

According to the journal Research in Transportation Economics:

Cars & light trucks experience 7.28 fatalities per billion passenger miles
Rail of all types experiences 0.43 fatalities per billion passenger miles

Thanks Phil. Fuck a car tbh.

<3 trains <3

I might take the train cross-country again someday, but only with drastically revamped expectations.

1. Don't expect to arrive the day the itinerary says you will.
2. Don't expect particularly good food.
3. Don't expect comfortable sleep.

^^^ u&k

Before I got over my then-crippling fear of flying, I used to take Amtrak from the east coast to Chicago once or twice a year. WAY cheaper than flying, much more comfortable, always cool to look out the window, and just generally fun -- I've never, ever been on a flight where I thought, "Boy, this is fun!" True, sometimes it took 24 instead of 17 hours, but I wasn't on a tight schedule.

The whole process of flying is such an ordeal that I'd take a 24-hour train trip over an uncomfortable 2-hour flight anyday.

I'd pretty much adopt that attitude but I also hate being away from home very long so even if a 2 hour flight is an 8 hour travel day it's still more economical with my time than e.g. however long the train from Seattle to SF would've been when I went to SF for 48 hours this weekend. To Portland though, train now and train forever.

And honestly maybe train if I go to san francisco for longer next time.

Also trains and planes both substantially safer per passenger mile than fucking driving.

loved my San Diego to LA morning trip a couple summers ago, but usually time is money when i'm traveling.

going 80 in a 30 zone seems like a bad idea

Amtrak Washington train crash: Deaths as carriages fall on US motorway

RIP

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2020/06/16/amtrak-is-ending-daily-service-hundreds-stations-blame-coronavirus-pandemic-railroad-says/

Thinking of you, Morbs.

http://media.amtrak.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Amtrak-Connects-Us-Fact-Sheet-for-Statement.pdf

Go ahead, click the link. Scroll to the second page of the PDF. That’s the proposal.

Sigh okay

https://i.imgur.com/CGEPasb.png

I rode the newish Borealis train to St Paul and back to Chicago this weekend, really easy and comfortable. The trains were quite full but with a little patience and finagling we were able to get four friends sitting together. Good price, minimal delays, just over 7 hours end to end eastbound. Will ride again.