Amtrak

Great big GIANT THANK YOU to Amtrak for getting hundreds of us safely from NYC to DC on Sunday morning (January 24). I caught the first train back (9:05am). It was a little late arriving, but the crew was fantastic! Very patient and maintained a sense of humor — totally worked hard to get everyone safely to their destinations. At each stop, they had to de-​ice the engine and shovel out the doorways from the accumulated ice.
It was also pretty awesome to be inside watching the train haul through snow with no problems. At times, there was a white-​out from the window. But we were warm and happy inside. Penn Station was up and running like nothing was going on. DC — as usual — completely unprepared for snow. DC gets a negative 25 stars (not the Union Station people — just the mayor and her total incompetence).

I love trains. I love Amtrak. They provide the only nationwide passenger train service in the United States, they make for every train travel I’ve had always memorable, fun, and always wanting me to come back for another trip.
Since 2008, I can safely say I’ve been riding Amtrak more consistently. I’ve always been looking to live as close as I can to their service because well, 1.) I am an Amtrak Guest Rewards member, and 2.) Traveling by train is always my preference to driving. From New York to Washington, D.C., the experience is fast, efficient, and fun. Sure, the prices are a bit steep, and you don’t get the experiences you might get if you were to fly, but flying isn’t the same as traveling by train, not at least that I think so. You can bring your own food and drink on the train, sleep, relax, and not have to worry about bumping into anybody when you have to go to the bathroom during those long trips. And of course, the view out the window is just breathtaking.
Plus, riding in trains like the Acela (a high speed bullet train from Boston to Washington) is just an awesome combination of class and speed. It feels awesome. Take a snooze in the quiet car (some trains strictly enforce this car), and you’ll feel refreshed. Whenever I take Amtrak, sitting in the quiet car (2^nd car from the engine) is a must for me, if I can get it.
For the young train rider, to the veteran one, Amtrak provides an amazing experience for all. Amtrak will continue to provide amazing service for everybody and for many more years to come, because Amtrak continues to strive for a better passenger, and a better railroad in this country. You need rail service in this country. It’s what built it. Without it, I don’t know where this country would be. Railroads, especially passenger ones, are essential to making this country move, and I for one hope to see it move for many, many more years ahead.
Thanks Amtrak for all you do each day.

Train 71 from NY Penn Station to DC that left at 3:06 on Jan 2^nd 2016, car 82 534. With the expensive ticket I paid, at least asking for the next stop shouldnt be a problem. One of the conductors raised his voice as I asked him this simple question. Do you not have at least some degree of customer service?

Served its purpose and got us to DC from NYC safely.
Comfortable seats, good air conditioned cars, clean bathrooms, food/​bar car, outlets at each seat to charge up, clean bathrooms, and WiFi.
Pretty much on schedule, and the Amtrak workers were helpful.
Cost per ride or round trip depends on what day, line, and times you choose.
What does alarm me is the total lack of security protocols practiced by this transportation line. No one checks bags or suitcases for weapons or questionable objects. How safe and secure can one be when riding Amtrak?
Overall, no complaints here when it comes to the actual ride. Just hope no nut jobs ever do something stupid when it comes to taking advantage of the security weakness.

Dear Amtrak Customer Service,
Just purchased a last-​minute coach ticket from DC to Richmond, VA. The regular price is $ 35. I paid $ 70. Feels like gouging.
I could understand if coach tickets were sold out and I had to buy first class. Not the case. I’ve purchased last-​minute train tickets in several countries where people regularly use the train, and I have not felt so ripped off. The pricing reminds me of airline pricing, which nobody thinks is fair or proper.
I understand you’re borrowing airline policies for pricing, crowd control, and baggage limitations. These make no sense for train travel. Since there is a monopoly on trains, gouging is exactly that.
–David Fischer

I ride the NE Regional and Acela Express several times a year and I’m a pretty satisfied customer.
Traveler’s Tip: download the Amtrak app for your phone; the latest version is user friendly, and enables you to change your train time with a few clicks. This helped me extend a stay in New York seamlessly, no time lost on the phone waiting in queue.
Years ago, when all fares were cheaper (sigh) the major advantage to taking the Acela over the Regional to/​from Washington basically guaranteed

I loved taking the train. I took it from Martinez ca to Lacey Wa. But that being said I was very disappointed by the lack of clean restrooms and not very polite personnel. The worst part is that in the Klamath area there were 2 docents who narrated for 4 hours in the sightseeing car. I so looked forward to seeing the sights, perhaps meeting new people, but that was not possible. Perhaps there should be a survey as to whether this is what people want

Café car review: on the 177 Northeast Regional from Boston (Route 128 station) to Newark, NJ. Due to our very tight logistics, we could not grab dinner to bring on train. So 3 of us headed to café car, and were very pleasantly surprised with food. Pre-​made turkey sandwiches and wraps were totally edible, fresh tasting, and sandwich on good multi grain roll. Fruit cup was very fresh. And there is wine, much needed after a difficult day.
[we were a little flummoxed when conductor announced that engines had shut down but would start back shortly only 15 minutes after our departure. Really? Luckily, they did start up fairly quickly. Not sure why we somehow still arrived over an hour late. Better than an airplane — but not by much — bathroom. Still, for a $ 77 last minute coach ticket it was overall a positive experience. ]

Is it just me or is the ride up and down the NE corridor from DC to NY gotten so incredibly bumpy that its difficult to hold a bottle of water or even work on a laptop. I’m on a regional from PHL to BAL now and my head has almost hit the side of the train a few times from being jostled back and forth.

I wanted the romance and a low carbon footprint of the train. What I got was rude conductors, stinky passengers, slow travel and no sleep in uncomfortable seats. Amtrak is pathetic. The conductors scolded me for buying discount tickets, others littered the platform with their cigarets. The ride from Alpine Texas to Austin had great scenery, but the employees all appeared to be tired, over worked and did not give a damn about customer comfort.
I would have been better of in a box car.
Don’t take Amtrak over night if you can’t afford a sleeper car or need to be anywhere on time.

BEST EVER! Especially going first class.
All the food and beverages you can drink. The staff was wonderful. Very polite. Very helpful. Truly recommend going first class on Amtrak.

The train is always a decent option over flying in cost if you plan in advance and have no more than an 8 hr (or less) trip (one way).
Having said that, the Amtrak of yore is long gone (lol).
I found many of the Amtrak attendants at this location (and others outside of D.C.) to be inattentive and unprofessional. They clearly either do not like their jobs or aren’t supervised well (or both). I know dealing with the public is difficult (I’ve done it most of my adult working life and know full well the drain it can place on a person); that said, there is a certain amount of professionalism and attentiveness that needs to be present and on display or else you wind up looking like lazy, uneducated fools.
There were about 2 Amtrak attendants via my trip from Norfolk, VA to Washington DC and back that were exceptional… the rest left much to be desired.

This a single star because I had an understanding that there would be wifi on the train from reading about the trip online. There was no wifi on the train. When I asked about it, the staff was pretty rude and extremely dismissive. It was like they were offended I even asked.
This was in general a terrible experience. I found the staff to be very rude, and unwilling to communicate anything of substance. We stopped constantly, and there were no updates about where we were or why we were stopped.

If you ever have traveled on another train system say in Europe, then our Amtrak system here looks very antiquated… and it is. Amtrak in the U.S. is like our U.S. Postal system.
Ticket prices are way too much and are even more expensive the day of for no reason. Even if the train isn’t full. About $ 150 round trip for DC to NYC. Those «$ 50 round trip» tix never exist.
The rail cars are like from the 1960s and the rail tracks are old — making for slow and often delayed travel.
Unfortunately Amtrak has a stranglehold on the rail system and it probably won’t change her anytime soon.

Mechanical problems, again?! What are the odds? And thanks for the healthy dose of birth control. Every. Single. Trip.

After a great stay in Washington DC took the Acela train in the late morning from Union Station to Manhattan. I found a documentary on YouTube that detailed the Acela.
Definitely the Fastest train in North America not only in speed but in its timetable efficiency. Because the train has priority over other trains along the North Eastern Corridor, it took my train two hours and 50 minutes to arrive into Penn Station New York City Manhattan from Union Station Washington DC. No delays.
If you take the Metroliner, I’ve experienced standing still on the tracks waiting for other priority trains passing us by. No fun.
I noticed there are basically four different cars, the café car, first class, business class quiet, and business class regular. I sat in the latter.
Roomie and cushy business-​class seats. Had to be careful because it appears that the seats were able to swivel in a 180° rotating position. If not locked you can accidentally squish the passenger behind your which was the case of a fellow passenger. Whoops!
My seat had two 110 V outlets right underneath the window up against the wall.
Wi-​Fi worked well for me throughout the duration of the trip.
Bored in your seat? No problem! Get up and explore the other parts of the train including the café car and the spacious bathroom.
The bottom line is that unfortunately, it’s not the cheapest way to travel via train, But it is an experience that fast efficient and unforgettable…

Train No. 176 suffered a power loss during my trip from Union Station in DC to Newark Penn Station last Tuesday, October, 14, 2014. We had just left the 30^th St. Station in Philadelphia when this occurred roughly around 2:25 pm.
During the time between when we lost power and when we were moving again, we received a few updates with fellow passengers in the quiet car directly commending the conductor for saying something and keeping us as informed as possible.
About 30 minutes after the train stopped moving, power was shut off (meaning no internet or A/​C), and the conductor said, «We are dead in the water. The engineer is unable to get the train moving.» He also added that a worst case scenario is transferring to another train, which to me seemed like a good case so we didn’t have to sit and wait. By 3:14 pm, we were told that they are going to attach a rescue engine and pull us the rest of the way.
In the meantime, several trains had passed us, and the car was starting to get stuffy. By 3:23 pm, brakes were being tested, and 17 minutes later, we had some movement. By 3:48 pm, we were really moving so I was about 2 hours late on arriving to Newark.
The conductor shouted that we could help ourselves to a bottle of water, and I saw customers take a couple each.
Despite the delay, this is the first time I’ve encountered any trouble traveling on Amtrak’s Northeast Regional Route. I appreciated the timeliness of updates and plethora of outlets to charge devices. Wifi is spotty usually, but all in all, the trains run on a great schedule, seats are spacious, and there is ample room for all the baggage people seem to lug aboard the train.

3.5−4 stars. Hard to say really.
Took the Northeast Regional to get to and from BWI from Union. Evidently that’s the most efficient route. On the way from BWI to Union it was around 5:30 or 6 on a Friday and there wasn’t a ton of people yet the train was late. Since it’s coming from NYC that’s not to be unexpected but what was annoying was the screens said that trains could come 2 – 5 minutes EARLY from posted times on the board (if they weren’t running late). This would infuriate me if I was one of those people checking the times on my phone while I was running off a shuttle bus-​to find out the 6:05 actually leaves at 6:00??? Just post the actual times please.
On the way back to BWI I grabbed the last train of the day which was supposed to leave at 2:20. Of course there was a line down the entire platform and the train was 15 minutes late. As long as I left myself time to get to my plane, I was ok (I made it). However, they still waited, and waited, and waited. Once we got on. To pull out of the station. After we moved up 100 feet again. Once we got on our way it was fine and a quick ride-​to BWI it’s only 2 stops. The seats have plenty of room and the overheads have plenty of space for big luggage. If I was going to take this on a longer trip I imagine it would be comfortable (and with wifi and cell signal). I’m a plane girl and would rather get there in a third of the time but it’s always an option.
It’s so old school how your tickets don’t get scanned until you’re actually butt in seat on a moving train. I like the nostalgia though. As long as they’re not terribly late I’ll continue to take the same route.

I, Kimberly S, am now happy to announce that I am a train traveler at the ripe old age of 30!
An avid reader since I was a mere child, I had always imagined that traveling by train was a sophisticated and romantic way to be on the go. When Harry Potter came out, I became obsessed with the idea of snack carts that sold a dizzying amount of home baked goods and also carrying an antique leather trunk with my initials stamped on it.
Let me tell you, it is nothing like that AT ALL.
On the other hand, it is a very cheap and efficient way to get from town to town. Plus they have beer! The WiFi is something terrible but luckily I had my Verizon stick with me.
I was lucky enough to meet a friendly passenger who helped me figure out where to go, which cars to sit in, and how to get people to scan my tickets. Nobody on my ride was sketchy or smelled bad and I got to sit down the entire way. It was definitely a step up from the metro.
Unfortunately my conductor did not wear an awesome conductor hat or have a bushy mustache but otherwise, it was overall a great trip!

We boarded on BWI Train station. They help us with the bags. Go us the the designated seat for wheel chair and people with disability.
Only thing they didn’t ask the station we going to. We gotten to Union Station lower level. During they switching the electric engine to Diesel engine. My brother stated looking for one of the conductors. Not one of the conductors was found. They was switching staff and one of the new conductor was doing there round. He end up contacting a red cap at the station.
They got there wheel chair lift in place got me out the train. They got me to the front of the station. Like everything hit and miss.
extra star for because I like Amtrak. Two Star for the new staff. One only star I can give them for messing it up. Wish was more then 26 min trip.