Positive comments about Amtrak?

[Oaxacajo]

Does anyone have any positive comments about their Amtrak experience? This forum seems to have many negative and/or cynical comments. I'm hoping that someone actually likes Amtrak.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I love taking the train. Can't wait for my upcoming trip to begin. As in everything else, people are more inclined to post complaints (and repost, and repost) than to post the positives.

 

[Cal]

My positives:
-Friendly and very caring staff
-Great scenery
-Comfortable ride
-Relaxing
-Easy boarding
-Nice lounge(s)
-Great food


Of course, when you've been riding Amtrak for a long time, you already know all the positives (as do most people on the forum) so negatives are the ones that come out. And most of us still do travel by train because in the end we do enjoy the experience, if we didn't we wouldn't have any negatives to talk about.

 

[caravanman]

Yes, we all like Amtrak train rides... However, sometimes our friend "the Amtrak experience" lets us down, and we get a bit disgruntled... We still like our friend Amtrak, and maybe hark back too often to when our friend was a little more to our liking?

 

[Qapla]

There are many positive comments on this forum ... especially with it being full of Amtrak enthusiasts. Just because we would like to see the negatives improved doesn't mean we don't like Amtrak or riding the train.

Just for clarification: I have had positive experiences on Amtrak!

 

[Eric in East County]

As seniors who don’t like to fly and who can no longer drive long distances, Amtrak is the only way to travel. We are very enthusiastic about our long-distance Amtrak trips and try to convey that enthusiasm in our trip reports and in the comments that we post on AU. Recognizing that people who are considering taking their first long distance train trip often visit AU to get some idea of what to expect, we try to offer helpful, positive advice, and would never post anything that would discourage them from taking the train.

Eric & Pat

 

[danasgoodstuff]

I have had many good trips on Amtrak, and hope to have many more. I think it's more than a bit of a miracle they've survived 50 years.

 

[zephyr17]

I ride Amtrak regularly and enjoy it.

I am sorry that Amtrak management has proven both completely incompetent and hostile to long distance services.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present for your consideration flex dining, their IT operation, and the Texas Eagle.

I rest my case.

 

[frequentflyer]

I just need Amtrak to get me to my destination relatively close to schedule. and on clean equipment. My music, headphones and a seat next to the window takes care of the rest. If Amtrak does what I stated in the first sentence, then its a good trip. That's a low bar for some but good enough for me.

I am not expecting Santa Fe Super Chief type service nor do I expect it.

 

[MARC Rider]

Along the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak is pretty much the best way to travel. No traffic congestion, no TSA lines, most trips are faster than driving and not that much slower than flying. There are frequent trains throughout the day and they generally run on schedule. While it's true that the railcars are showing their age, they're usually well maintained, have roomy seats, and are in good operating condition, and the locomotives themselves are pretty new. The only real downside is that the fares are a bit steep.

 

[me_little_me]

I, for one, rarely complain about airline experiences (in airline forums and to airlines) because, not only are they awful, but I don't care about them.

I complain about Amtrak because it could be so much better. If it had leadership that cared, we'd have a lot better onboard experiences (the good ones are always good and the ones not so good would be encouraged to do better). We'd have a lot better operation. We'd have a lot more satisfied customers. The overall experience and service would be so much better.

 

[MARC Rider]

I had 6 rides last June:

A Philadelphia - Pittsburgh trip on the Pennsylvanian was cut short by a NS multimodal wreck on the Horseshoe Curve. We bustituted from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh. It was actually done pretty efficiently, the bus wasn't too crowded, and we got into Pittsburgh by the scheduled time.

A Pittsburgh to Washington trip on the Capitol Limited in coach. We left Pittsburgh close to schedule, and even though we lost time, we made it up and got into Washington on schedule. The coach seat was comfortable, I had breakfast in the cafe car, which was nice, and I got to enjoy some nice views in the Youghiogheny River Gorge and over the Sand Patch Grade from the railfan window at the end of the train.

Baltimore to Boston on the Acela in first class with an upgrade coupon. A nice comfortable seat, and a nice ride with the scenic views of Long Island Sound as we went up the Connecticut coast. Breakfast and lunch were the flex-like COVID downgrades, but were edible. We got into Boston on schedule.

Boston to Albany on the Lakeshore Limited in Business class. A nice scenic ride and we got into Albany a little ahead of schedule. The 2x1 Business class car is very comfortable, and I had my single seat to myself. Unlimited free non-alcoholic drinks and one free alcoholic drink for Business class folks from the cafe car. The cafe menu was limited, so I had purchased a sandwich before I left.

Albany to New York in coach on the Empire Service. A nice seat in an Amfleet 1 coach, the train wasn't too crowded, the weather was great, and we had the spectacular Hudson Valley scenery, plus we got into New York about 8 minutes ahead of schedule. I enjoyed my layover in the Metropolitan Lounge in Moynihan Train Hall, which is the absolute nicest lounge in the Amtrak system.

New York to Baltimore on the Crescent in coach. This was about the only ride I had in June with any real criticism, and it was mostly because the short consist made the train very crowded, and the coach attendant delayed our boarding, as he was trying to fit passengers in like fitting pieces into a puzzle. Despite the crowding and having to move people around, the coach attendant did this job with a good attitude as was as helpful as he could be. He did manage to get me a seat to myself at least to Philly, after which I had a seatmate for the rest of the way. It wasn't the worst ride, but the train was crowded and we got into Baltimore about 10 minutes late. Next time I'm taking either the Northeast Regional or the Acela.

So that was my ride last June. Six rides, and 5 of them were excellent, and one was OK.

 

[John from RI]

One thing I like about Amtrak and I like a lot: I always get a seat. Back in the days of the New Haven and the Penn Central that was not true. I well remember standing from Providence to New Haven. But with Amtrak that is now in the distant past.

 

[Willbridge]

I'm a geography fan so the only thing that keeps me away is complete cancellations. We have an interesting country -- its people and places -- and long ago I realized that it would be a better place if more people understood that.

 

[jebr]

Despite some bad experiences, I do generally enjoy the Amtrak experience. Living in St. Paul, Union Depot (where Amtrak and some bus companies pick up) is, hands down, the best transportation hub in the metro area. There's a romance to the rails that's hard to explain, but it still captivates me. Being able to look out the window and enjoy the countryside, especially the hidden side of a lot of towns throughout the country, is a unique experience that simply can't be replicated any other way. Even the clang of steel wheels along steel rails can be mesmerizing.

What I want is more Amtrak! More routes, more money for better maintenance/updated cars, more frequencies - let's get back on the rails!

 

[dlagrua]

For the better part of 18 years we have been mainly riding Amtrak on our long distance trips. By and large we have had good experiences. We have met many wonderful people on Amtrak and have mostly had great SCA's on our trips. Some of these guys have really made the trip special. We tip them well, thank them and always keep in mind that speech can be used to elevate people. Our dining car experiences have also been great having had the pleasure of dining with people from all over the USA, Canada and Europe. The only really bad spot has been the horrible meals that Amtrak serves on the Eastern routes.

 

[fdaley]

If you want to travel any distance by train in the United States, Amtrak is the only choice, and various of Amtrak's leaders and employees across 50 years have done really remarkable work to preserve trains as a viable travel option in a country where the playing field is strongly skewed in favor of flying and driving.

To me, on the corridors where it runs multiple trains a day -- in the Northeast, California and a few other places -- Amtrak is the most comfortable and enjoyable way to get from A to B, and it's usually competitive time-wise with driving and in some cases with flying. And for cross-country trips, although it can't compare with the speed of flying, Amtrak offers the opportunity to see some fantastic scenery without the stress of driving long distances -- and the ability to visit many places in the interior of the country that are poorly served by other travel modes.

So although there are some of us that offer many critical comments -- and certainly I have, mainly about the downgrading of meal service on the eastern long-distance trains in the past 2-4 years -- those criticisms generally are in the spirit of wanting Amtrak to do better and ultimately to succeed in preserving and expanding train service for the future.

Like any large organization, and especially as one that's ultimately an arm of the federal government, Amtrak has been bedeviled at times by poor leadership and toxic politics. The result has been some bad decisions and, often, wildly inconsistent service quality. Despite some great front-line employees, Amtrak can behave at times like an unresponsive bureaucracy. All of that is easily and deservedly lampooned here, but that doesn't mean most of us hate Amtrak or want it to fail. Quite the contrary.

 

[HenryK]

I like Amtrak travel so much that I could write a book about it. And have.

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

Like John from RI I remember the way it was before Amtrak took over. I realize there were railroads that kept up their standards like Santa Fe and the Southern, but for us in the Northeast Amtrak was a major improvement over the Penn Central and others in the region.

 

[cassie225]

How was it before Amtrak took over?

 

[VentureForth]

How was it before Amtrak took over?

I wasn't around, so I don't know. I imagine LONG before 1971, it was quite glamourous, like air travel up until the 70's. But, it seems like the 5-10 years before AmDay, it was pretty bad. Some services, excepted, like the Southern, which I understand was quite nice up until the end.

 

[cassie225]

Watching old black and white movies and seeing people on the train I wonder was it like that, because those looked quite nice, but remember they were black and white so had to be a long time ago.

 

[Chatter163]

Took numerous rides this summer, and will again next month. I'm a lifer.

 

[lordsigma]

I have very little complaints about my Amtrak experiences and I basically use it for all my travel that I don't do by car. I'm probably a relatively new rider compared to many (been riding regularly 5-6 years or so.) I think most of the negative comments are just complaints when service is downgraded and possibly some that feel that Amtrak is no longer worth the money - I don't necessarily agree with the latter but everyone has the right to their opinion. There are also some who post or have posted in the past here that aren't Amtrak or passenger rail fans though have an interest in the topic or in railroads in general but they of course also have the right to their opinion.

 

[MARC Rider]

How was it before Amtrak took over?

My main experience was with what is now called NEC South, between New York and Washington, and mostly centered in Philadelphia, during the period 1966 - 1971. There was a frequent service, but, boy some of the rolling stock seemed like it should have been in a museum. On the other hand, some of the newer rolling stock was pretty nice. When you think about it, some of the older cars weren't much older than the Amfleet-1s are now, but they weren't air conditioned, they didn't have reclining seats, and the ride was noisy as anything. On the other hand, they had a whole lot of nice streamliner long-distance coaches from all the trains they were discontinuing, so it was always an adventure about what kind of car you rode in. They also had parlor cars, which I never rode, as the fare was over twice that of coach, and dining cars on some trains. The "cafe" service was what they called a "snack bar coach" which was basically a food cart at one end of a coach car serving overpriced pre-made sandwiches, snacks and drinks (35 cents for a can of coke you could get for 15 cents in any vending machine). You didn't want to sit in the snack bar car, as there was always a line in the aisle. Despite all our bad-mouthing the Penn Central, the cars were clean and in good repair.

After 1969, Penn Central also operated Metroliners along the route, which were more or less Amfleet EMU's, and the ride experience was similar to riding an Amfleet Northeast Regional today, except that I think the top speed was only 110 mph. Actually, the Amfleet design was derived from that of the Metroliner EMUs. Again, I didn't ride Metroliners too often because they were an extra fare train, sort of like what the Acelas are today.

The service itself was pretty frequent (hourly between New York and Philly and every 2 hours or so between New York and Washington), and most of the time, it was reliable, but when my Mom went down to Baltimore to visit family, she'd sometimes come back with tales of a train grinding to a halt somewhere in Maryland and just sitting for an extended period of time. I was able to do my joy rides to Trenton and Wilmington, and sometimes New York and never really had to worry about being late for dinner. As someone mentioned previously, coaches were unreserved, and you always risked having to stand most of the trip during busy periods.

For about four years after Amtrak took over, things didn't change too much, as the trains were still being run by Penn Central, although sometimes you'd see coaches from other railroads running in the NEC. The real change started after they started getting deliveries of the Amfleets in 1975, and especially after they did a whole lot of track work on the NEC in the early 1980s which allowed for 125 mph running, greatly decreased travel times, and more frequent (hourly) service between Washington and New York.

The only other pre-Amtrak railroad I rode was the Burlington's Denver Zephyr. That was part of a Scout trip to Philmont, so we were a charter group riding in older cars with our own dining car serving downgraded meals, but I was still impressed with the smooth ride, and, of course, enjoyed riding in the dome car.