# Are Trains Ever Sold Out?



## Everydaymatters (Mar 17, 2009)

I don't recall ever reading about anyone being told a train they wanted to ride on was sold out. Do they sell out, or do they just add another coach?


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## GG-1 (Mar 17, 2009)

Everydaymatters said:


> I don't recall ever reading about anyone being told a train they wanted to ride on was sold out. Do they sell out, or do they just add another coach?


Aloha

When I took the Broadway Limited there were people standing in the coaches According to ?staff the standee got seats within 2 stops. I had asked because there were people standing as we left Philadelphia, And some standing as we arrived in Chicago, these were commuters that used the BL way back then.


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## RRrich (Mar 17, 2009)

Yes, I am in St Louis and frequently I want to go to CHI in order to go somewhere else. It is NOT unusual to see the Texas Eagle #22 to have all its seats sold - there may be rooms or roometts available, but only for a price.


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## Upstate (Mar 17, 2009)

This past summer at least the Crescent was sold out quite a bit. There were three times that I looked at riding it this summer and all three times it was sold out for for about two weeks. Of course that was back when gas prices were high.


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## amtrakwolverine (Mar 17, 2009)

the wolverine sells out alot. the staff will say we have a sold out train today so make sure you don't block seats with bags etc.


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## Amtrak839 (Mar 17, 2009)

Amtrak only has so many coaches, so trains sell out fairly often. This Friday, the following long distance trains are sold out in at least 1 class:

3 - coach (1 roomette left)

19 - coach (1 roomette, 2 bedrooms left)

21 - completely sold out

22 - completely sold out

51 - sleeper

98 - sleeper


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## RailFanLNK (Mar 17, 2009)

The CZ has been sold out before when I have been checking price buckets etc.


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## the_traveler (Mar 17, 2009)

Last week, I took the CS (among others  ) to PDX in a roomette. Due to my ride being unvailable until later, I decided to continue on the CS up to OLW. I asked the SA if I could just remain in my roomette (even though I bought a coach tcket PDX-OLW). She said that my room (and 2 others) were resold, but there was 1 open downstairs that I could use. Later she found me in the PPC and informed me that it was sold, and I would have to reboard coach.  (Mind you that it's only a few hours between PDX and SEA.)

When I reboarded coach, *ALL* seats were sold! Even 2 stops later, when my seatmate got off, someone boarding took the seat, and again *ALL* seats were taken!

On the return, I took a Cascade, #519 - which was also full!


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## OlympianHiawatha (Mar 17, 2009)

This is a busy time of the year with Spring Break and many trains are either sold out or in the very high buckets, including the *Heartland Flyer *which even added an extra Coach to handle the increased traffic. In this case, much of that will be day tripping parents hauling their kids to FTW for the day and for me, that is reason enough to stay away from Amtrak until the kids are back in school.


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## sunchaser (Mar 17, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> Last week, I took the CS (among others  ) to PDX in a roomette. Due to my ride being unvailable until later, I decided to continue on the CS up to OLW. I asked the SA if I could just remain in my roomette (even though I bought a coach tcket PDX-OLW). She said that my room (and 2 others) were resold, but there was 1 open downstairs that I could use. Later she found me in the PPC and informed me that it was sold, and I would have to reboard coach.  (Mind you that it's only a few hours between PDX and SEA.)
> When I reboarded coach, *ALL* seats were sold! Even 2 stops later, when my seatmate got off, someone boarding took the seat, and again *ALL* seats were taken!
> 
> On the return, I took a Cascade, #519 - which was also full!


Traveler,

Does Amtrak ever double sell the roomettes/bedrooms? Like sell the same bedroom twice in the same car for the same leg of the journey?

Just curious if you've ever seen that.

Sunchaser


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## the_traveler (Mar 17, 2009)

sunchaser said:


> Traveler,Does Amtrak ever double sell the roomettes/bedrooms? Like sell the same bedroom twice in the same car for the same leg of the journey?
> 
> Just curious if you've ever seen that.
> 
> Sunchaser


They don't '"double sell", but what they do is sell the same room for more thn 1 segment.

On the CS, the same room could be sold for LAX-OKJ, EMY-PDX and PDX-SEA. No 2 stops overlap, and the SA has to reset he room!


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## Shawn (Mar 17, 2009)

They can sell roomettes and bedrooms from the same stop. I usually travel from TAC to OKJ and back. And more than once, the lady getting off as I was getting on was in my room. So, I just hang out in the PPC till the attendant gets it ready.

So, yes, it is possible for a LAX --> OKJ, then OKJ --> PDX, then PDX --> SEA.

But it's usually not a big deal.


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## amamba (Mar 17, 2009)

Yes, I have been on sold out trains in the Northeast Corridor - especially around the holidays. I was once on a north east regional that was sold out plus people were standing in the aisles.


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## sunchaser (Mar 17, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> sunchaser said:
> 
> 
> > Traveler,Does Amtrak ever double sell the roomettes/bedrooms? Like sell the same bedroom twice in the same car for the same leg of the journey?
> ...


Just checking-I would not be a happy camper if I boarded & someone was already in the room I paid for! 

Sunchaser


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## DivMiler (Mar 17, 2009)

amamba said:


> I was once on a north east regional that was sold out plus people were standing in the aisles.


I remember having to do that way back on trains between Baltimore and Boston in the 1980s going to college. How can Amtrak do that now when Northeast Regional trains are all-reserved, so they can never oversell?

I _suppose_ that if a train was taken out of service Amtrak would get the inconvenienced passengers on the next train, but can I assume that during regular operations, nobody should ever have to stand on a reserved train?


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## nr272 (Mar 17, 2009)

When I went to Seattle two summers ago, the Lake Shore Limited and Empire Builder were sold out most of the way. I remember sitting on the floor of a regional train from Providence to New Haven before they added another coach and I was able to get a seat (this was right before all trains became reserved).

Last summer I was in Montreal and was trying to book a train at the last minute to Albany.... sold out.


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## wayman (Mar 17, 2009)

DivMiler said:


> amamba said:
> 
> 
> > I was once on a north east regional that was sold out plus people were standing in the aisles.
> ...


Individual NEC tickets are all-reserved, but there are also commuter monthly passes. Since that allows one to board any NEC (regionals only, no Acelas), that can throw the numbers off.

I've also been on a regional NYP-PHL where, because the previous regional had an equipment failure and didn't run, all passengers from my train and the previous train were allowed to board. It was SRO through Philadelphia and probably all the way to DC. But everyone got where they needed to go.


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## rtabern (Mar 17, 2009)

Sometimes you will get standing-room only on some of the un-reserved trains.

Twice I've seen the Hiawatha (CHI-MKE) where people had to stand... pretty typical for the 5:08PM train on the Saturday before Christmas when everyone from Milwaukee decides to head down to Chicago and hit the stores.

I've also seen the Pacific Surfliner sold out once (SAN-LAX)... I got business class so I had a seat, but it was standing room only in coach. It was so bad I couldn't even make my way down to the cafe to get something to drink.


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## AlanB (Mar 17, 2009)

One thing to keep in mind with all of this is that a train may be sold out from end to end, meaning that you can't for example get a ticket from LA to Chicago, because at some point during the ride, the train is entirely sold out. But that doesn't mean that someone wanting to go from LA to say ABQ can't get a seat, since the train might be sold out east of ABQ.

And I have boarded a train once to find that someone was already in my sleeper room. Interestingly enough, I boarded at the second stop BBY, only 1 mile away from the origination at South Station. I can only guess that someone had the wrong date and that the attendant didn't notice that when he let the person board. Thankfully the attendant was training another attendant, so they kicked the trainee out of his room and gave me that room.


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## DaveKCMO (Mar 17, 2009)

the chief frequently sells out between KCY and CHI, this weekend is a good example.


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## ALC Rail Writer (Mar 17, 2009)

Coach on the EB during summer *can* sell out between stops-- never the whole route though. Trains like 91/92 are sold out a lot during spring break-- for obvious reasons..


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## Rumpled (Mar 19, 2009)

T-weekend of '07 we took the Surfliner from IRV to Santa Barbara (SBA?) and that is the only time it is reserved. They stiill WAY oversold on the train we were on coming home. All seats were taken and so was all the standing room. Train crew was having people vacate their seats a stop or two ahead to seat someone else and telling the displaced to get ready to get off.


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