Acela Baggage Question

[Hank]

Am planning a second Amtrak round trip in mid January. This time it's from Atlanta to New York on the Crescent, and to Providence RI on Acela. Got a sleeper reserved, and first class booked on Acela. Am really curious about the high-speed electric.

I know it's mostly business commuters on the express, but I sure hope there's room for baggage. My wife & I are going with one bag each, which are well within weight and size specs. I can't seem to find any interior pictures of the Acela, so I'm wondering what kind of bag storage is available.

Oh, thanks to everyone who has shared his knowlege on this site. With very few exceptions, a search on this forum will find you an answer to your question. And to you more experienced travelers, thanks for your patience with the new folks. It's that sharing of information that makes this site a joy to visit, and makes traveling much easier!

 

[AlanB]

Hank,

First off, thanks for the kinds words about our forum. Our members do try very hard to answer any and all questions. Since we live in various places and have each sampled different trains, it's a pretty rare occasion that someone here doesn't know the answer.

I think that all of us here have a love for Amtrak and each and every time we can help out a new traveler to have a better experience, we feel as though we've now found one more supporter to help keep Amtrak running.

Now to answer your question. Yes Acela does have places for your luggage. First off there are overhead luggage bins, much like you'd find in an airplane. They are however larger than the typical airline bin. Additionally each car has a luggage rack at one end. Plus since you are traveling in the First Class car, the attendant's there will help you to store the luggage. They can get quite creative, putting luggage into the phone area, between seats, and whatever else it takes if there is a large amount of luggage.

Bottom line, I wouldn't worry. You should have no trouble getting it onto the train.

One question, do you know where the Club Acela Lounge in DC is? As a first class passenger you are entitled to use this lounge. They will allow you to pre-board the Acela train before the rest of the masses, plus they offer free non-alcoholic beverages, along with nice clean bathrooms. No bums wandering around either.

If you need directions please let me know.

 

[battalion51]

There are several interior shots of Acela on my Amtrak Florida website (listed in my signature), but it doesn't specifically show baggage racks. There is another website here that has lots of great interior shots including Acela.

 

[Hank]

Alan; We'll be making a stop in DC, but going on to NYP on the Crescent. It's funny, there wasn't muck price difference (about $17 more, I think) to take Acela from DC to Providence. If we have time, we'll visit the Acela lounge in both DC & NYP. Might as well, cause our next vacation may be a long way off. Is the DC Acela lounge within close walking distance of the tracks?

Battalion51; Those overhead storage bins look huge compared to an average airliner. Also, the business class seats look much more comfortable than a Delta flight, so first class should be a real joy!

Thanks for the useful info, guys. I gave us about 2 hrs time from arrival at NYP to catch the Acela that leaves at 4:00pm. I know trains can be much later, but we're in no rush and we can always take a later Express if necessary.

 

[AlanB]

Hank,

You won't have time to visit the lounge in DC most likely. I'm also not real sure that they would let you in anyhow, since you are not originating there. That was my mistake; I didn't realize that you were staying with the Crescent all the way to NYP.

In NY of course you can use the lounge, assuming that you arrive on time. The Lounge in NYP is to the left of the NJ Transit windows and behind the west gate to tracks 7 & 8.

The seats are indeed roomier in first class, than they are in business class. First class seating is 2 & 1, as opposed to 2 & 2 in business class.

Now one word of caution. Amtrak does not consider your connection to the Acela in NY to be a guaranteed connection. They only guarantee connections to the Regionals, not to the Acela's. So if the Crescent is running late, you will need to take some action.

While Amtrak won't penalize you to switch Acela trains in business class, they will penalize you in first class. If you miss the train, you will forfeit your first class fare or what's listed as the accommodation charge on your tickets. They won't care that it's their fault that the Crescent was late; you will loose that accommodation charge, unless you cancel that trip more than one hour before its departure.

So if things are looking really bad time wise, you would be well advised to either call Amtrak on your cell phone (assuming that you have one) or get the conductor to call in for you. Have them switch your reservation to a later train, to make sure that you don't loose your money. Make sure that they give you both a cancellation code and a new reservation number.

Again, just to be clear, you must rebook your reservation at least one hour prior to the departure of that 4:00 PM train, or you will forfeit the first class fare.

 

[Hank]

Thanks for that info, Alan. Yes, I'll have my cell phone with me, and will keep track of time onboard. I try to read all up on all ticketing & reservation "mice type", but I must have missed that good bit of rescheduling knowlege along the way.

Thank goodness there's folks that have done this a few times!

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Hank, just to make you feel better, it seems me (living in Atlanta) that the Crescent does a reasonably fair job of running on time, so hopefully it will be ok. In fact, any of the long distance trains coming from the south(New Orleans or Florida) can even be quite early. This is because all of their stops Alexndria Va. and north are to discharge passnegers only, they do not pick up new passengers.

Passengers traveling locally between the various stops on the NE corrider are handled by the regionals, Acelas, etc, The long distance trains do not work with short haul travelers in the NE at all. Thus, this is one of those rare cases where a train can legally LEAVE EARLY, (all the way to New York). Nobody is waiting to board.

You will note in the timetable that such trains going southbound have an "R" (for receive) by those stations (See the Crescent, page 77, newest timetable.) . You will see in the northbound column all "D's", meaning discharge only. Southbound, of course, they can not run rampantly ahead of schedule because people are all waiting to board.

OF course I make no promises....for all of the above, it could still be five hours late!! But not too likely. I have heard stories of trains from New Orleans or Florida arriving over an hour early into NYC due to above policy---never happened to me, of course!