Mask Situation inside Chicago Union Station

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San Diego said masks were required in the station, I think it'd be the same. Not sure
 
Completely true, but I've been in a number of transit hubs recently where masks were at about 50%. Nobody obviously enforcing. And that wasn't even in Florida :cool:
Yep. On my recent Surfliner trip the conductor did make the announcements about the mask. However, when checking the tickets of a maskless person, he didn't make an effort to enforce it.
 
Is the Chicago Metropolitan Lounge still allowing food from outside to be brought in?
Still? Except for the first few months after it opened, the CUS Metro Lounge has always allowed outside food, AFAIK. I was there a few days after they closed the old lounge and opened the current one, and they didn't allow outside food. There were lots of complaints here, and then soon there were reports that outside food was now allowed. The next several times I passed through (most recently in Sept 2019), outside food was allowed.

It may have been disallowed during COVID - I don't know - but if so, your question should be are they still NOT allowing outside food, not are they still allowing it.
 
Still? Except for the first few months after it opened, the CUS Metro Lounge has always allowed outside food, AFAIK. I was there a few days after they closed the old lounge and opened the current one, and they didn't allow outside food. There were lots of complaints here, and then soon there were reports that outside food was now allowed. The next several times I passed through (most recently in Sept 2019), outside food was allowed.

It may have been disallowed during COVID - I don't know - but if so, your question should be are they still NOT allowing outside food, not are they still allowing it.
Outside food was allowed during COVID
 
Still? Except for the first few months after it opened, the CUS Metro Lounge has always allowed outside food, AFAIK.

Allowing outside food pretty much correlated with the closing of the other “pay per day”lounge at CUS. I think it lasted about a year.

Even though there may have only been a relatively short time that outside food was not allowed, they were extremely vocal about it.

In the polite, subtle way of those friendly Chicago Amtrak employees, of course.
 
Amtrak police don't seem to be enforcing masking inside the station. Most people are wearing masks anyway.

I'm riding Metra & haven't paid close enough attention to know if Amtrak staff are requiring masking to enter the Met Lounge or do business at the ticket or baggage counters. (I'll look today if I remember.) But the police aren't stopping people walking through the station generally without a mask on, nor are the Metra conductors asking people to mask in the station, only on the trains.
 
Still? Except for the first few months after it opened, the CUS Metro Lounge has always allowed outside food, AFAIK. I was there a few days after they closed the old lounge and opened the current one, and they didn't allow outside food. There were lots of complaints here, and then soon there were reports that outside food was now allowed. The next several times I passed through (most recently in Sept 2019), outside food was allowed.

It may have been disallowed during COVID - I don't know - but if so, your question should be are they still NOT allowing outside food, not are they still allowing it.
The last time we used the Metro Lounge in Chicago was 2018 and at that time, people were NOT allowed to bring outside food into the lounge. We read where, during the COVID emergency when most if not all of the lounge's snacks were done away with, people were bringing in outside food. We're delighted to know that this "no outside food" policy has been done away with.

E & P
 
Amtrak police don't seem to be enforcing masking inside the station. Most people are wearing masks anyway.

I'm riding Metra & haven't paid close enough attention to know if Amtrak staff are requiring masking to enter the Met Lounge or do business at the ticket or baggage counters. (I'll look today if I remember.) But the police aren't stopping people walking through the station generally without a mask on, nor are the Metra conductors asking people to mask in the station, only on the trains.
This is not good with the Delta Variant spreading all over and less than 50% of the American people Fully Vaccinated!

Get ready for new Waves after the 4th,Labor Day and in the Fall, especially among the Young that seem to feel they are Immune to COVID!🥺🤬
 
This is not good with the Delta Variant spreading all over and less than 50% of the American people Fully Vaccinated!

Get ready for new Waves after the 4th,Labor Day and in the Fall, especially among the Young that seem to feel they are Immune to COVID!🥺🤬
It is probably safe to assume that, right at this moment, hostile players are working to develop new and even more potent viruses to unleash on an unexpecting world. Make the most of every day.
 
The last time we used the Metro Lounge in Chicago was 2018 and at that time, people were NOT allowed to bring outside food into the lounge. We read where, during the COVID emergency when most if not all of the lounge's snacks were done away with, people were bringing in outside food. We're delighted to know that this "no outside food" policy has been done away with.

E & P

I started this thread when I noticed the change to the policy, while in the lounge.

https://www.amtraktrains.com/thread...ge-outside-food-policy-change-feb-2019.74686/
 
It is probably safe to assume that, right at this moment, hostile players are working to develop new and even more potent viruses to unleash on an unexpecting world. Make the most of every day.
And as I said, we have lots of people helping them by refusing to get vaccinated or follow common sense Health and Safety Rules!🤬
 
Masks are supposed to be required but in my experience, Amtrak has stopped enforcing that policy except on the Northeast Corridor.

On my recent Capitol Limited trip from WAS-CLE, I had no seatmate from Harper's Ferry until Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, a large contingent of Amish passengers boarded, none of whom had masks. Nothing was said to them.

Having just received my 2nd shot a few days before, I wasn't in the clear yet so I went to the lounge. I got kicked out of the lounge and had to go back to coach, even though it had previously been announced that the lounge would be open all night.

I complained to Amtrak about this treatment and requested a refund, and got a response saying that they provided the travel I asked for so I would get no refund. So I would say that masks are required on the Northeast Corridor, but they're required in name only on other routes.
 
Masks are supposed to be required but in my experience, Amtrak has stopped enforcing that policy except on the Northeast Corridor.

On my recent Capitol Limited trip from WAS-CLE, I had no seatmate from Harper's Ferry until Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, a large contingent of Amish passengers boarded, none of whom had masks. Nothing was said to them.

Having just received my 2nd shot a few days before, I wasn't in the clear yet so I went to the lounge. I got kicked out of the lounge and had to go back to coach, even though it had previously been announced that the lounge would be open all night.

I complained to Amtrak about this treatment and requested a refund, and got a response saying that they provided the travel I asked for so I would get no refund. So I would say that masks are required on the Northeast Corridor, but they're required in name only on other routes.
Call Amtrak and ask for Customer Relations. They need to know about this and there's no reason they should refuse a refund for not enforcing the federal mandate.
 
This is not good with the Delta Variant spreading all over and less than 50% of the American people Fully Vaccinated!

Get ready for new Waves after the 4th,Labor Day and in the Fall, especially among the Young that seem to feel they are Immune to COVID!🥺🤬
This is disappointing. They were being very strict about masks on the Crescent and COMO and in the stations a couple of weeks ago. Although we are vaccinated, I would not feel nearly as good about riding if Amtrak is not going to enforce the Federal requirement.
 
This is not good with the Delta Variant spreading all over and less than 50% of the American people Fully Vaccinated!

Get ready for new Waves after the 4th,Labor Day and in the Fall, especially among the Young that seem to feel they are Immune to COVID!🥺🤬

Looks like a lot of the vaccine are highly effective against the Delta variant:
Delta COVID variant: Pfizer, AstraZeneca vaccines effective against new coronavirus strain, studies show - nj.com

It doesn't look like we got a wave after Memorial Day, so maybe we're starting to see the end of this. Even if we don't get herd immunity, perhaps there are enough people vaccinated to keep things under control.
 
Looks like a lot of the vaccine are highly effective against the Delta variant:
Delta COVID variant: Pfizer, AstraZeneca vaccines effective against new coronavirus strain, studies show - nj.com

It doesn't look like we got a wave after Memorial Day, so maybe we're starting to see the end of this. Even if we don't get herd immunity, perhaps there are enough people vaccinated to keep things under control.
I'm worried because travel and crowds are becoming so prevalent, and the young are mostly the ones testing positive and going into the Hospital.( and have the lowest Vaccination Rate)

The South and the Red States are where there are still the Lowest Vaccinarion rates, but with all the Holidays and Travel picking up, I'm on the side of better safe than sorry,and still listening to the Doctors and Scientists that talk about their concerns, NOT the Politicians!

I will continue to wear my mask whenever I'm around people I don't know, and get a Booster Shot as soon as they are available.
 
I'm worried because travel and crowds are becoming so prevalent, and the young are mostly the ones testing positive and going into the Hospital.( and have the lowest Vaccination Rate)

The South and the Red States are where there are still the Lowest Vaccinarion rates, but with all the Holidays and Travel picking up, I'm on the side of better safe than sorry,and still listening to the Doctors and Scientists that talk about their concerns, NOT the Politicians!

I will continue to wear my mask whenever I'm around people I don't know, and get a Booster Shot as soon as they are available.
Ditto!
 
…so maybe we're starting to see the end of this. Even if we don't get herd immunity, perhaps there are enough people vaccinated to keep things under control.

I know this is not a popular opinion on this forum but I think this is probably true. Most places have been pretty much wide open since well before Memorial Day and there’s been no surge.

The “end” doesn’t mean zero cases or herd immunity - but those who choose to protect themselves, can. Those who don’t will have to live with whatever the consequences happen to be.
 
It doesn't look like we got a wave after Memorial Day, so maybe we're starting to see the end of this. Even if we don't get herd immunity, perhaps there are enough people vaccinated to keep things under control.

Maybe, but we've heard this before and had premature reopenings followed by a surge.

The epidemiologists I'm reading are saying they're expecting Delta to have taken over the country (with the possible exception of areas dominated by Gamma, which is spreading faster in some highly-vaccinated areas) by the end of July, and they expect the wave to be visible in the US in August.

I'm doing all my errands where I have to leave the house now (masked!!!), before the spread of Delta or Gamma gets any worse, so that they're all done if we have to lock down again in August.
 
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