Overloaded Empire Builder

[DragonLoaf]

I rode the Empire Builder from Portland to Vancouver today, and the conductor told 2 passengers sitting near me that they could spread out for now but would have to move to their assigned seats soon since "the train seats 75 and we have reservations for 80." "Where will they sit?" inquired the passenger. "Hopefully some won't show up or whatever, otherwise we will have to put them in the lounge or the observation level." (NOTE: not his exact words, but very close) He went on to point at a coach car sitting at the Portland station, saying that it was not part of the train now due to repair needs. Being short of cars, they were overbooked.

Upon arrival in Vancouver, I was pleased to see about 20 people boarding the Empire Builder. It makes me happy that so many people were riding the Empire Builder, to the point of not having enough seats! I was surprised that it would be so well utilized on a Sunday evening, but maybe that is the heaviest travel time, I don't know. It's a shame that Amtrak can't adjust to the absence of a single car with a backup. My hopes are high for the future of train travel, having seen many full or nearly full Cascades trains and now a full Empire Builder, but Amtrak employees seem to be holding things together on a frayed shoestring.

Most impressive of all: the passengers I mentioned above were a mother and teenage daughter. The daughter was so excited about riding the train (and she made it clear by saying so) that she could hardly sit still. Both were full of questions that I tried my best to answer, and it was inspiring to hear the mother say "Well, this is certainly better than flying so far." I couldn't agree more, and told her so, noting that the only drawback was taking more time... if one sees such a thing as a drawback. I left them with well wishes and hoping that nothing would happen to extinguish their enthusiasm for train travel.

 

[diesteldorf]

I probably do 75% of my travel on the Builder and should have no trouble qualifying for AGR Select this year. May even get Select Plus.

It's truly a nice train and many times has been crowded because of increased ridership. That's a good thing and it's one of the best trais in the system.

I've taken it as far west as Minneapolis (usually I go the other direction to Chicago), but in a few weeks I'll be riding out to Seattle in a deluxe bedroom and back again with an Alaskan cruise in between. I'm really looking forward to Glacier.

Hoefully trains will be around for a long time.

 

[rtabern]

Yeah, the Builder seems crowded this year.

I do Trails & Rails on the Builder between Chicago and Winona... I was coming back on #8 on Saturday (6/23) and had lunch with a woman who was on since Portland. She (traveling by herself) said they moved her around 4 times... even once in the middle of the night. I understand keeping families together, but that's a little excessive I think.

Oh well.

Wouldn't it be great if they added an extra Builder? Or atleast an extra train between CHI-MSP.

 

[AlanB]

It's a shame that Amtrak can't adjust to the absence of a single car with a backup. My hopes are high for the future of train travel, having seen many full or nearly full Cascades trains and now a full Empire Builder, but Amtrak employees seem to be holding things together on a frayed shoestring.

Well in this case the problem is that Portland isn't a maintenance base, so there are no spare cars just sitting around. Had the problem car been on the Seattle section, they most likely would have had a spare car available to replace it. Same with Chicago too.

 

[yarrow]

ridership up on eb, havre daily news