Viewliner II and bicycles

[TiBike]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone had thoughts about the timing for roll-on bike service on the new Viewliner II baggage cars? A year ago, Amtrak was saying it would happen by the end of 2014, but that's passed. From reading the discussions about the Viewliner II's on the forum, it seems that the cars are finally entering service, at least on the East Coast.

What do you think a realistic expectation would be for when bikes will actually be allowed aboard unboxed? Weeks? Months? Years?

Thanks!

 

[Acela150]

I would expect when all VL bags are in service.

 

[TiBike]

I would expect when all VL bags are in service.

Thanks! It seems like a major culture shift for Amtrak, though. Do you think they'll roll it out quickly?

 

[Guest]

I would expect when all VL bags are in service.

Thanks! It seems like a major culture shift for Amtrak, though. Do you think they'll roll it out quickly?

It is not really a culture shift. It is something they have wanted to do for years. There have even been various tests. The impediment was being able to do it safely with the equipment they had on hand. With new bags they were able to design and build the cars with bike racks. As the OP stated it should be expected when all the new bags are in service. Until then there would be no guarantee that there would be a bike rack equiped bag car on a train so they would not want to offer a service that could be hit or miss.

 

[neroden]

I've stopped trying to predict when Amtrak will actually make service changes. We'll see it when we see it.

That said, I'd really be startled if it wasn't in place by summer 2016.