No checked baggage - 66 and 67

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Joined
Jan 17, 2019
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Someone recently brought to my attention that 66 and 67 no longer feature a checked baggage symbol so it appears that checked baggage has been discontinued. I tried a test booking on 67 and this appears to be true.

Maybe this happened some time ago and maybe it has already been discussed here.
 
This has been a problem for me too. Several years ago I did a tour of the country with my bicycle, but when the LSL Boston section lost it's baggage car that make it more difficult. I hear that I can take a regional to NYP with my bicycle but I would want to book the trips together as you never know what time the returning train will arrive and I don't think I can boot through NY online anymore.
 
This has been a problem for me too. Several years ago I did a tour of the country with my bicycle, but when the LSL Boston section lost it's baggage car that make it more difficult. I hear that I can take a regional to NYP with my bicycle but I would want to book the trips together as you never know what time the returning train will arrive and I don't think I can boot through NY online anymore.
When I did my test booking on 67 this morning, it was still offering bicycle transport as an amenity.
 
Yes, this was some time ago; don't exactly remember now. There's now no baggage service anywhere northeast of NYC: Vermonter, NER, or LSL Boston section.
I have got to hand it to Amtrak. This must be one of their new environmental initiatives to prevent passengers from sacking around too much baggage on their trips. And not having to handle checked baggage prevents injuries to employees and passengers. Passengers will no longer have to arrive at stations 45 minutes ahead of time to check bags or wait at their destination to pick up checked baggage because there isn't any. An no more train delays caused by loading and unloading checked baggage en route. A new day is dawning in the Northeast.
 
All the more unfortunate since they still have red cap staff at Boston South Station to assist passengers to and from the train. The savings from not having checked baggage to Boston has got to be miniscule to non-existant.
 
All the more unfortunate since they still have red cap staff at Boston South Station to assist passengers to and from the train. The savings from not having checked baggage to Boston has got to be miniscule to non-existant.
As someone who used to check baggage on 66 and 67, it seemed that the amount of checked baggage on those trains was pretty miniscule, too. I only check baggage because I had skis and was riding the Acela, and all I checked was the skis.

I guess it would be a little complicated to have baggae service on 66 and 67 because they're also using the train set for 66 and 67 on 151 (NYP - Roanoke), and 186 (Newport News - to New York).
 
As someone who used to check baggage on 66 and 67, it seemed that the amount of checked baggage on those trains was pretty miniscule, too. I only check baggage because I had skis and was riding the Acela, and all I checked was the skis.

I guess it would be a little complicated to have baggae service on 66 and 67 because they're also using the train set for 66 and 67 on 151 (NYP - Roanoke), and 186 (Newport News - to New York).
But there ought to be checked baggage on LSL, Boston being a major city and the terminus of an overnight LD train.
 
If I can check a bag on a CRJ-200 puddle jumper operating into BOS, Amtrak should be able to let me check my bags on a long distance train.
I guess the problem is there was not enough baggage on 448/449 to justify an entire baggage car. Perhaps if there was such a thing as a sleeper with a baggage compartment, which would reduce the number of sleeper accomodations. But the times I took 448/449 they were never full. In practice the SCA usually allocates an unused roomette for people to put bags in which kind of amounts to the same thing except that it is not checked and you have to carry it yourself if connecting to another train.
 
I have taken advantage of an empty roomette for baggage storage and have appreciated that. However the trouble with that is that it is not available to anyone traveling coach. Checked baggage isn't supposed to be a first class perk. Also so as far as I know Amtrak has an excess of baggage cars. Why not use them for their intended purpose? Even if a particular routes checked baggage is lightly used by way of connections and availability of more destinations it will contribute to the usefulness of checked baggage service as a whole
 
The "problem" with the checked baggage is not the availability of baggage "cars" - it is the availability of baggage "handlers" at many of the stations. Many of those positions have been cut. With no one to load/unload the baggage, Amtrak is not going to let us put our own baggage in the baggage car ... nor do we want to do that, they don't accept checked baggage.
 
This whole thread only reinforces how stupid the decision was to reduce the number of bag-dorms to nearly zero while increasing the number of non-revenue baggage cars.

Baggage compartments enable much, much easier travel of bikes throughout the system, keep large luggage out of the ridiculously narrow aisles and boarding areas, and provide the option of sending your bags the night before if another train you're ticketed on doesn't accept checked baggage.
 
Lets look a baggage cars another way. IfAmtrak had a 16mcar train with 13 revenue cars how much baggage would there be for a baggage car. I do not know.But these snemic 5, 6, 8 car trains cannot carry enough passengersto hardly justify a baggage car. This is just another example of the chicken and egg position the present manageent has put Amtrak service. Sleeper, baggage, 24 hour dinning / snack bars, agents at stations.

Full trains in FEB? Slowest month of year and you cannot get a coach or a room.
 
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