So, my son and I decided to take a quick trip to Chicago Friday and Saturday. Just as an FYI, we stayed in the Holiday Inn near Union Station which was more the adequate for our needs and very close to union station.
I felt this trip showed much of what is wrong with Amtrak, as well as a few things that are right about it.
July 31 - Texas Eagle 22 - scheduled 11:08 departure, 1:52 arrival - Actual 1:45 departure, 5:15 arrival (3 hours, 22 minutes late)
Since this trip was last minute, the roomette was only a few dollars more than coach so we booked a roomette. Train pulled into Bloomington 2 1/2 hours late. Bloomington is a busy stop, so it took a while. Also, the sleeper was near the end of the consist, so the train had to be pulled up for us to board even though they just built a new platform for the new station but didn't build it long enough to handle the Texas Eagle.
Once on board, we were put into room 3 instead of our assigned room 4. Not sure why but not a big deal. We were not given any water bottles, and since our train was late the diner was closed for lunch. Our car attendant, however, was extremely friendly and I would enjoy having him on another trip.
About 20 minutes outside of Joliet we pulled to a stop. We were told we would wait for southbound train 21 to pass. We were on a brand new siding designed to help facilitate high speed rail. Unfortunately, train 21 had some sort of passenger issue at Joliet, so we waited nearly an hour to move. Seems like UP could have moved us up closer to Joliet during the 45 minute wait. The rest of the trip into Union Station was uneventful, although arriving in the height of Metra rush hour would have been overwhelming for non-seasoned Amtrak passengers.
August 1 - Lincoln Service 307 - scheduled 7:00 departure, 9:15 arrival - Actual 7:28 departure, 10:15 arrival (1 hour late)
After a fun day on the Metra Electric and Metra BNSF line, we headed back to Union Station and entered the Metro Lounge around 6:00 pm (business class) for our 7:00 departure. The lounge was a little crowded with Capital Limited passengers, but we quickly found a seat and the lounge emptied once the Cap Limited was boarded. The customer service and redcaps were both very friendly. Free soft drinks but no snacks out at all.
A Michigan Service and the Capital limited were both boarded at 30 minutes prior with professional and courteous announcements.
At 6:30, we had no announcement on the Lincoln Service. We had a prior issue where they forgot to board us once, so at 6:35 I inquired at the front desk and they said we would be boarding soon. I asked again at 6:40 and they said the train was not in the loading area yet and they would let us know. About this time, "delayed" showed up on the status board.
At 6:50, the called us for boarding. Only three of us (most folks don't know business class can get you in the met lounge). Of course, once we got down the alley and to the platform, they were already boarding coach and they had boarded the business class passengers from the normal waiting area. So much for the met lounge getting early boarding. Luckily, the business class area wasn't very full, so my son and I found seats together. I should note that there was very little direction from any of the Amtrak staff on how to actually board the train. A fairly big family followed us to the end of the train only to find out they were boarding the wrong place for coach.
This is where the fun begins. At 7:05, we departed. I was surprised we departed so quickly, but was happy we were almost on time. However, we didn't get past the yard before we stopped for a few minutes, then backed back into the station. Turns out the delay was due to a faulty cafe car, and they hadn't restocked the food !. After we were restocked, we left at 7:28, but the poor cafe attendant had boxes everywhere she had to sort out and empty.
While the conductors and cafe attendant worked feverishly to get the cafe ready, we actually got through the Chicago mess with no delay and pulled into Joliet only about 30 minutes late. However, we had to sit 12 more minutes for the hand off from CN to UP before we finally left Joliet.
The conductors and cafe car attendant finally got the cafe ready, and the attendant allowed the business class folks to get their snack first, I thought that was a nice gesture. I felt bad for her because she had worked very hard to get the cafe ready and was worn out..
We made it to Pontiac and departed only 40 minutes late. We the pulled on a siding and were told that the northbound 306 would be passing in a couple of minutes and we would be on our way. However, after the 306 passed we were told we would also have to wait for a freight train and another 20 minutes passed before we were on a way. We finally made our way into Bloomington about an hour behind schedule at 10:15.
So, the good parts of this trip were that almost everyone from Amtrak we dealt was friendly and for the most part working pretty hard. The bad parts were that Amtrak continues to have trouble keeping trains on time through both their self-inflicted problems (bad cafe car, passenger issues), and the lack of cooperation from the host freights. Also, the service continues to be spotty at times (no water bottles in the roomette, no snacks in the met lounge).
Note, this is not meant to be a rant. I love living in an Amtrak town and will take Amtrak every chance I get. I just wish they could be a little better.
I felt this trip showed much of what is wrong with Amtrak, as well as a few things that are right about it.
July 31 - Texas Eagle 22 - scheduled 11:08 departure, 1:52 arrival - Actual 1:45 departure, 5:15 arrival (3 hours, 22 minutes late)
Since this trip was last minute, the roomette was only a few dollars more than coach so we booked a roomette. Train pulled into Bloomington 2 1/2 hours late. Bloomington is a busy stop, so it took a while. Also, the sleeper was near the end of the consist, so the train had to be pulled up for us to board even though they just built a new platform for the new station but didn't build it long enough to handle the Texas Eagle.
Once on board, we were put into room 3 instead of our assigned room 4. Not sure why but not a big deal. We were not given any water bottles, and since our train was late the diner was closed for lunch. Our car attendant, however, was extremely friendly and I would enjoy having him on another trip.
About 20 minutes outside of Joliet we pulled to a stop. We were told we would wait for southbound train 21 to pass. We were on a brand new siding designed to help facilitate high speed rail. Unfortunately, train 21 had some sort of passenger issue at Joliet, so we waited nearly an hour to move. Seems like UP could have moved us up closer to Joliet during the 45 minute wait. The rest of the trip into Union Station was uneventful, although arriving in the height of Metra rush hour would have been overwhelming for non-seasoned Amtrak passengers.
August 1 - Lincoln Service 307 - scheduled 7:00 departure, 9:15 arrival - Actual 7:28 departure, 10:15 arrival (1 hour late)
After a fun day on the Metra Electric and Metra BNSF line, we headed back to Union Station and entered the Metro Lounge around 6:00 pm (business class) for our 7:00 departure. The lounge was a little crowded with Capital Limited passengers, but we quickly found a seat and the lounge emptied once the Cap Limited was boarded. The customer service and redcaps were both very friendly. Free soft drinks but no snacks out at all.
A Michigan Service and the Capital limited were both boarded at 30 minutes prior with professional and courteous announcements.
At 6:30, we had no announcement on the Lincoln Service. We had a prior issue where they forgot to board us once, so at 6:35 I inquired at the front desk and they said we would be boarding soon. I asked again at 6:40 and they said the train was not in the loading area yet and they would let us know. About this time, "delayed" showed up on the status board.
At 6:50, the called us for boarding. Only three of us (most folks don't know business class can get you in the met lounge). Of course, once we got down the alley and to the platform, they were already boarding coach and they had boarded the business class passengers from the normal waiting area. So much for the met lounge getting early boarding. Luckily, the business class area wasn't very full, so my son and I found seats together. I should note that there was very little direction from any of the Amtrak staff on how to actually board the train. A fairly big family followed us to the end of the train only to find out they were boarding the wrong place for coach.
This is where the fun begins. At 7:05, we departed. I was surprised we departed so quickly, but was happy we were almost on time. However, we didn't get past the yard before we stopped for a few minutes, then backed back into the station. Turns out the delay was due to a faulty cafe car, and they hadn't restocked the food !. After we were restocked, we left at 7:28, but the poor cafe attendant had boxes everywhere she had to sort out and empty.
While the conductors and cafe attendant worked feverishly to get the cafe ready, we actually got through the Chicago mess with no delay and pulled into Joliet only about 30 minutes late. However, we had to sit 12 more minutes for the hand off from CN to UP before we finally left Joliet.
The conductors and cafe car attendant finally got the cafe ready, and the attendant allowed the business class folks to get their snack first, I thought that was a nice gesture. I felt bad for her because she had worked very hard to get the cafe ready and was worn out..
We made it to Pontiac and departed only 40 minutes late. We the pulled on a siding and were told that the northbound 306 would be passing in a couple of minutes and we would be on our way. However, after the 306 passed we were told we would also have to wait for a freight train and another 20 minutes passed before we were on a way. We finally made our way into Bloomington about an hour behind schedule at 10:15.
So, the good parts of this trip were that almost everyone from Amtrak we dealt was friendly and for the most part working pretty hard. The bad parts were that Amtrak continues to have trouble keeping trains on time through both their self-inflicted problems (bad cafe car, passenger issues), and the lack of cooperation from the host freights. Also, the service continues to be spotty at times (no water bottles in the roomette, no snacks in the met lounge).
Note, this is not meant to be a rant. I love living in an Amtrak town and will take Amtrak every chance I get. I just wish they could be a little better.
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