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Same with San Antonio. The train from Los Angeles to New Orleans makes a stop in San Antonio from about 1 am to 6 am. I can't possibly think of a more inconvenient time.
They can't make every stop at a convenient time. It's just not physically possible.
[quote=RogueMom;44619389 If you don't bring your own food, you are stuck paying ridiculous prices for drinks and snacks from the snack bar. I wanted to treat my daughter to dinner in the dining car. I was not hungry myself and was just going to sit and sip on a cup of coffee while she ate. I was told by the "waitress" I really should not be in there if I was not going to order a meal.
It's said that we don't have better passenger rail travel in this country. We let our passenger railroad system pretty much die once the highway system came along. Other countries have developed theirs - we have dropped the ball on this.[/QUOTE]
When I took Amtrak 3 years within California with my dad, we decided to try out the dining car for dinner. We found the experience quite pleasant and the prices reasonable. But I do agree that snack bar (during the rest of the trip) were quite limited.
I believe it would be great with had a high speed train network around the country. But I don't see that really happening although I know that they are working on that within California.
And the funny (or sad) thing is, Amtrak is subsidized by the taxpayer at a cost of about $1.5 billion a year.
And so is air travel -- which wouldn't be possible without all those public-owned airports. And, yes, nationwide all but a single airport with commercial service (BKG, Branson) is owned by the taxpayer. A mere overhaul of LGA currently in the works has a price-tag of $4 billion. TSA costs billions of dollars per year to operate. The FAA costs tens of billions to run annually. Airlines themselves are directly subsidized by the federal government and states for a variety of things, including Essential Air Service - flying in and out of small airports where they cannot otherwise turn a profit.
Modern transportation works because it is heavily subsidized.
I traveled Amtrak from California to Kansas City last summer and had a roomette. I had traveled by coach multi-day about 14 years previous so this made for much improved sleeping, even if the roomette is indeed quite small. Meals at the "restaurant" (not the cafe car downstairs) was included so you have to factor that in, and they were very good meals at that.
Here is the thing, however: I got the ride for free because I had travel points from a credit card (Chase bank I think, it was called the Amtrak card but I believe they no longer offer that program). Sometimes Amtrak has deals. For the '01 trip I had some kind of pass where I could travel anywhere in the U.S. with any 3 stops. I saw family in Chicago, Denver, and Spokane.
I like traveling on train; I think you meet interesting people, and the views can be wonderful. I like the space and freedom to roam about. BUT if you are a solo traveler, beware of theft. Sad but true. On the return trip my camera was stolen. Having to replace it made it no longer a free trip, and it made me cynical. I would like to do another train trip sometime but probably not solo due to this experience.
PS: One thing people like about the train is that it is less stressful than plane travel. It takes longer of course but it still has that kind of romantic feeling for the history buffs or people who just appreciate some olden ways. If you are traveling for more than one night and can afford the roomette, it is worth it.
So now we have some good news on Amtrak....
"During its fiscal year ended in September, Amtrak’s total number of passengers grew 1.3% to 31.3 million, a record." Ticket revenue up $12 million. Losses down by about $80 million.
There have been safety improvements but it seems like people can't stay off the tracks lately.
I rode four Amtrak trains this year and three were actually very comfortable and enjoyable. The third one was less enjoyable due to a grumpy crew and some passengers' kids that needed discipline and supervision. We also had to stop in the middle of Kansas because some fool had his truck stuck on the tracks. We didn't hit it and it delayed us only about 30 minutes.
Some people here, have mentioned that stations are in high-crime parts of cities. That's less true now than before. Buffalo, Richmond, Jacksonville, Savannah, have all moved their stations to the suburbs. Unfortunately, the little stations are often opened and manned only briefly just before trains arrive, and then locked up again. Passengers who are dropped off at the station by loved ones, naively assuming that their trains will be on time, have to cool their heels waiting outside on a bench in freezing weather, for hours for trains that may be several hours late. This is why, before catching a train, I now make a point to call 1-800-USA-RAIL to check whether it's on time.
It is frustrating, how trains creep agonizingly at a snail's pace through the Allegheny mountains of PA and W-MD. Driving on the turnpike from Pittsburgh to Washington or Baltimore takes only 4 -5 hours, but on the train it takes 8 hours, using I suppose the same route that was originally laid in the 1840's. Creeping thru the Adirondack mountains between Albany and Montreal is the same way.
And ever had to sit up front, next to a smelly, overflowing broken toilet like I did ?
Last edited by slowlane3; 11-19-2016 at 08:56 AM..
Some people here, have mentioned that stations are in high-crime parts of cities. That's less true now than before. Buffalo, Richmond, Jacksonville, Savannah, have all moved their stations to the suburbs. Unfortunately, the little stations are often opened and manned only briefly just before trains arrive, and then locked up again. Passengers who are dropped off at the station by loved ones, naively assuming that their trains will be on time, have to cool their heels waiting outside on a bench in freezing weather, for hours for trains that may be several hours late. This is why, before catching a train, I now make a point to call 1-800-USA-RAIL to check whether it's on time.
It is frustrating, how trains creep agonizingly at a snail's pace through the Allegheny mountains of PA and W-MD. Driving on the turnpike from Pittsburgh to Washington or Baltimore takes only 4 -5 hours, but on the train it takes 8 hours, using I suppose the same route that was originally laid in the 1840's. Creeping thru the Adirondack mountains between Albany and Montreal is the same way.
And ever had to sit up front, next to a smelly, overflowing broken toilet like I did ?
There has been much talk over the past few decades about HSR service between NYC-Montreal, Boston-Montreal, etc... but it has stopped mostly at just that. Shame really as such improved service would help many other cities along the route such as Albany.
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