hello everyone. Tonight I decided to go out and get some ideas on what peoples opinions about amtrak where. I found this site and found some of the information seemed weird. Where's My Jetpack?: Amtrak SUCKS my post is all the way down at the bottom. What I'm seeing is that many people think amtrak should treat them like gold, kings, or queens. and then with a minor mistake, its back to the old "i hate amtrak" phrase. I personally love amtrak but this just put a whole new insight in my head as to why most people I ask won't take amtrak.
I have only ridden Amtrak once, last summer. It took a while to figure out that if you tip the lady in the snack bar she will treat you very well. Just be nice to others and they do the same. My experience on the 33 hour trip in coach was quite positive. :tb-biggrin:
I've had some great trips on Amtrak as well. Some people want instant gratification and gold-plated service but at a bargain price. I have never found Amtrak staff to be other than courteous and helpful. They are certainly no worse than your average airport/airline staff. As far as the federal money bit some comments following up that post mentioned, there are precious few modes of transportation in this country that don't receive some federal subsidy. Airlines are subsidized, freeways are subsidized, lots of transit projects are subsidized... the list goes on. Unless one is willing to ride one's bike across private property, making all necessary arrangements with the landowners prior to the trip, one's long-distance travel in this country is likely subsidized in some way.
The American public, in general, is poorly educated when it comes to railroad history and how railroads function. Also, too many people are today a lot like spoiled little brats. Combine these two problems, and you have.... Well, you have a hate blog such as that, filled with ignorant comments from dullards. Nothing is perfect. People, equipment, you name it. It may not be fun for passengers if something goes awry, but for the crew, their stress level skyrockets. And some situations they simply cannot mitigate. If they do nothing, that's one thing. If they're trying and keep me informed, that's what will satisfy me. I, too have found that a smile and a kind word go a long ways. When riding the train, if you address the crew like a friend, it goes a very looooooooooooooooooooong way. They are doing the best they can. And really appreciate someone who is a bright spot in their day, or night. My last ride, when asked by crew if I wanted anything to eat or drink, I simply smiled, gave them a thumbs up and said "I'm good." Next time through they seemed a lot more attentive- There was a friendly, chatty exchange. A little bit goes a long ways! Boxcab E50
Amtrak allows you to see the US of A in a way you can't with an airplane or a car. And to love America is to see it all. Therefore, if you're a person that hates Amtrak, don't dare call yourself patriotic, because that means you also hate America! Grrrrrrr!
I didn't bother to read any of the comments (I can just imagine), but I did read the blog post itself... and I just finished the book "Derailed" ... Just to stir the pot a bit. I know - just like every other government agency (and I used to work for one) - Amtrack has some stellar folks working for it, doing their best and all that. But the guy kinda has a point, at least where it comes to long-distance travel on Amtrak. Every so often I go check to see what it would cost, both in time and money, to take Amtrak (vs., say, flying) from my home in KY to somewhere I'd want to go - like DC, or Boston, or Orlando. Frankly, only a railfan with money to burn would do this. The best phrase I can think of is "you can't get there from here". The rates are very high, the trip takes days, and it's routed in a seemingly nonsensical fashion. IF it even serves the locations you want to reach. Which it doesn't. I have to drive to Cincinnati to even board the thing. It actually takes longer to ride the train from Cincinnati to Chicago than it takes me to DRIVE from Lexington (a hundred miles farther south). It makes me sad. I would love to be able to use Amtrak for some long distance travel. The one time I did (STL to Charleston WV as a teenager), it was a very memorable (in a good way!) experience. It also appears that rail is competing well and thriving on a local and regional basis. But for long distance... it's not even on the radar. Compared to how successfully rail is used in France, Germany, and Japan (to name a few), we do suck. As a long-distance transportation business, I'm not sure how one could categorize Amtrack as anything other than a failure. In all fairness, geographically, the French, German and Japanese systems might more fairly be compared to a state/regional size operation in the US. Few other countries (China? India? Russia?) have the thousands of miles of land to cross as we. < zips up flame-proof suit >
I recently watched a documentary produced in the 90's on the railroads of India by, I believe, National Geographic. Anyone who has a problem with the way things are on Amtrak should watch that! Unfortunately there are those who feel a certain level of entitlement that puts them above others and when life doesn't treat them as they feel it should then look out. I've seen it plenty in my industry as well. That's not too say that there are areas for improvement or change but it seems some believe things are done just to persecute and offend them and they react. For long distance and regional train travel the problem is that there is no vision to make high speed rail a real part of the nation's infrastructure. And by high speed I mean 200 mph range. This is not Amtrak's fault. Amtrak just works with what they have been given to work with. Until there is national will to make it happen I don't see any major improvements coming and as it is maybe we are lucky to have Amtrak at all.
I use the Amtrak California service regularly between MOD and the Bay Area, and I have had nothing but great experiences. I am taking it from MOD to LAX tomorrow, and other than having to take a bus from BFD to LAX, I expect it to go well and be on time. It would be nice if they had the wifi on the San Joaquin route, but they don't so if I need to get online I'll plug in my Blackberry. I can sit back and write on my laptop or just chill and enjoy the scenery. I love it.
I have used Amtrak quite a few times. Gone to the East Coast and back...TWICE. I have enough travelers club miles to go anywhere in the system by roomette for free. I have found the attendents to be EXCELLENT. I had a split ticket from CHI to SAC so I had to change rooms in Denver. Only accomidations available. The car I had to transfer too was having problems, and I joked to my attendent about it. He set me up in a full bedroom all the way to SAC. I always bring my golf clubs. When I got to CHI I told the baggage attendent I was staying for 2 days and asked if I could keep my clubs at the station until I left. See told me not to worry, she would take care of then. She had them stored in the baggage room and told me who to see to get them. Perfect. My only complaint is when they last cut the budget and eliminated the china and the grill. no more made to order dinners...Damn. The T-bones on the Cal Zephyer were great as well as the fresh eggs breakfasts. For Me, Amtrak has been very good, and it's personel have been truely wonderful. Passengers must remember, train crews are not responsible for delays. They do not deserve the grief they get, and are forced to accept. Amtrak is doing a very GOOD jod with antiquaited equipment, host railroads that view them as a bother, and a shoe string budget:thumbs_up:
Everyone is pretty much hitting it on the head. My perspective is from that of an operating railroad employee, I dealt with train riders every day. Commuter train passengers have a somewhat different perspective since they ride every day. The infrequent passengers are and were the most difficult. Intercity passengers who take the train are probably more inclined to fly anyway and most likely have some experience flying. Unfortunately the "legacy" airlines have little resemblance to what they were like 25 -30 years ago. I can say that with authority since I worked for a "legacy" airline for just over 25 years and was a travel agent for another 10+. Railroading was my 3rd career. People are spoiled. I cant sugar-coat that in anyway. They want value-added but they don't want to pay for it. The tired old bromide applies..."you get what you pay for". If you ride "Peanut Central" airlines or any of the other bargain carriers, you know what I mean. No manner or amount of "happy talk" and "aren't we having fun" conduct is going to take away the fact that I am crammed in a too-small seat for which I had little or no choice of selecting,elbowing my way in a crush of boarding passengers who are in the same "holding pen as I, to board an airplane JUST big enough to carry the passenger load, making multiple stops,dining on a tiny bag of peanuts and having to pay for any other amenities, like flying my luggage with me,paying a surcharge for the use of an airport I dont necessarily care to be in, paying another surcharge to put gas in the damn plane etc. No Sir! The last time my wife and I flew together was returning from San Francisco in 1999. We decided at that time...NEVER AGAIN! It was the worst experience we ever had involving an airplane flight. The last time I flew was on the company $$$ when I was in engineer training and had to fly CHI-MCI to "Choo-Choo U." a couple of times on "Peanut Central" under the care of their "happy talk" pukes! NEVER AGAIN! We travel 1st class on Amtrak, deluxe bedroom preferred. I know its a "tourist" thing, but who cares? That's why it's there. Sure, AMTRAK could stand to expand their route system, but the caveat is "If we build it, WILL they come"? Unless gasoline and jet fuel are completely shut off or raised to the point of the National Debt, I dont see any return to even a reasonable facimile of the passenger rail network as it was. AMTRAK has a "user friendly" political administration for the time being, but they are slow in shaking the money tree! In the meantime AMTRAK has to make the best of what they have, with people who are getting ever closer to retirement and just trying to stay ahead of a disintegrating physical plant! Write your Representatives and Senators! I do, and mine are all rail-friendly and rail labor friendly. Be the "squeaky wheels"! In the meantime... "Take the Train"! Charlie
Nor did I. And that is not an issue of Amtrak's so much as it's an isse of CSX. Even with regular track Speeds, from the time one boards a plane in Indy to the time one arrives in O-Hare's concourse, the Cardinal/Hoosier State CAN beat the plane, and also dumps you closer to the action than does the airport. Cincy has a straighter shot than does the Card, but I'd expect the base numbers to not be far off. But when CSX starts shoving trains in there, and letting the line deteriorate (Monon stretc used to be 70, dropped to 65, I think its heading for 60 all in a few years) that gets harder to do. The main trick is the time a plane sits on the tarmac. With Amtrak the time required may be the same Frankly, although I do not wish to come across asa a flame, that comment about "only Railfans with money to burn" is too sour and incorrect in too many cases. I have several relatives from the Iowa and New Mexico regions who traveled to Indiana by Amtrak ONLY. Not because they have money to burn,, but because they refuse to fly. Yes, it doesn't serve them door-to-door, but they don't mind. A Lot of travellers on Amtrak do not have "Money to burn". They have "A want for an alternative to flying" A train will NEVER beat a plane across the country long distance, high-speed or no. That argument goes nowhere. But they can beat them in quality, which is what Amtrak has/been trying to do/is doing/will achieve for some time. The reason the Kentucky Cardinal died was trck, not Amtrak. AMTK could not justify a train on track that was being maintained by CSX as 25mph quality. And the Postal conection left them, but one cold argue the reason the Postal left was because of the 25mph track... And again, they've pulled a semi-successful operation out of the dregs of the freight railroads. The horror stories of what they inheirited on Amtrak Day are quite intriguing.
I like driving to a certain extent. The extent being when I tell the wife "I'm tired, your turn", to which she replys " your doing fine, your better at this than me"...500mi and some rumble strips later, howbout now?...So, I like Amtrak. I've found that usually most delays I've had on Amtrak were caused by the RR's and not Amtk themselves. Cut them some slack there in the delay dept. I've notice over the last several years the cleanliness has improved greatly, just from my own experience's. I've also notice from some of the conductors and car attendants an attitude of this is our train, you will take care of it...We're accommodatingyou, not babysitting you. Really great to see that being asserted to the handout dependant whaa whaa things aren't going my way crowd. Good, I hope you don't ride the train again, I don't won't to be in the same car as you. Or, have to pass you going to the cafe or diner for that fact. Oh boy...the politics of Amtrak. Please, no one take this personal or to the dark side and get us in trouble. The one I just don't get (well, I sorta do), the Empire Builder. In the Devils Lake area the amount of flooding has caused BNSF to nearly abandon the line due to $$ to raise the line out of the water...again! Oh geese, listen to Grand Forks and the small towns like Rugby scream when Amtrak might use the Surrey Cutoff (couple hours shaved off the trip this way too). Grand Forks 100mi to get on in Fargo and Rugby around 50mi from the Surrey cutoff at that westward point... gosh that, that's horrible. Nevermind people in the actual big population centers(and college towns) in ND and MT have to drive upto 300+mi to get on the train. If all the I-90/N.P. corridor traffic quit going up north to get on the train, how many po-dunk users do you think would acctually use it? Probably enough to make only a RDC or 2 the only feasable operating option if it had to sustain itself. Without getting too long winded...Put that train on the NP route through all the population centers and college towns to give it a chance to pay for itself...Until then, you the taxpayer are going to spend around $100million to raise the tracks (again) in the countinuously rising water region of the Devils Lake area. Thanks for paying that so a few people a week don't have to drive 50 or 100mi to get on the train. Figure about $700 a week out of Rugby, we'll have that nearly $100mill paid off in no time. I wonder how many population center people have hybrids? Gotta make that 300mi trek to the train as green as possible... Hows that John Denver song go? I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know if I'll be back again...or is it, when I'll be back again. Oh I tell ya, that gravity can really bite ya.
