I agree 100% with the present rule that only pets that can fit in an under-seat carrier should be allowed. But the perennial topic of pets on Amtrak tends to go a bit off the rails. :giggle:
Nothing other than service animals. Keep Fido and Fifi at home.
And keep the passengers who won't travel without Fido and Fifi off Amtrak too. Who needs their money and support?
There's a $25 fee for taking a pet along under Amtrak's limited (IMHO correctly) pet scheme. As a flat fee, that can be more than the pet owner's own fare for some shorter rides. Amtrak charges various bicycle fees, because it has various arrangements for handling bikes, but I once paid $8 for me and $10 for my bike (each way) to travel Chicago-New Buffalo, MI. Had I not been able to do so, I would've reluctantly driven to New Buffalo -- I was going there for a bike ride (Apple Cider Century) -- and Amtrak/MDOT would've foregone $36.
Look, I get that dogs on a train can be a problem. So can children, drunks, and music on loudspeakers. But Amtrak and pretty much every other common carrier in the world, rail or otherwise, deal with those problems rationally; they don't ban children, they don't stop selling alcohol but deal with drunks if/when they make trouble, and they don't ban electronic devices but warn users who get too loud. Some people are allergic to pet fur, but some are allergic to strong perfumes and colognes, and Amtrak doesn't ban those.
I have no pets, so I have no dog in this fight.
But I do take my bike on trains -- transit, commuter, and Amtrak -- and I've dealt with my share of Metra conductors who think bicyclists on "their" trains are usurping "real" passengers. (I've also dealt with many more who are bike-friendly or neutral.) No, I
am a real passenger, as my monthly pass should make particularly clear, and the trains are as much mine as anyone else's.
If Amtrak (or Metra, or CTA, or whoever) adopts reasonable bike & pet regulations, as I believe they have, then it's my own damn business why I want to bring my bike or my dog with me, just as much as it's any passenger's business why they're going where they're going. I
can get around downtown without a bike, and that gal
can visit her relatives for a week without her cat, but she'd prefer not to and I'd prefer not to. And as rail supporters, I would hope we'd all prefer that I and she be on the train rather than driving (pun intended) us onto the highway.