# Wi-Fi on Eastern LD Trains



## AmtrakLKL (Jul 2, 2015)

Wi-Fi is coming to the eastern long distance trains later this year. I've seen the Amtrak Connect network in a couple coaches and am told equipment is being installed in the Amfleet II coaches as they cycle through periodic maintenance right now. Even though the system is turned on and broadcasting the network, it doesn't work without the "brain" car. I assume those will be the lounge cars just like the corridor trains.

So, if you see the WiFi network onboard right now, don't get too excited, but at least progress is being made!


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## Cho Cho Charlie (Jul 2, 2015)

I wonder if the new Viewliner II's, will come with WiFi preinstalled?


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## AmtrakLKL (Jul 2, 2015)

Cho Cho Charlie said:


> I wonder if the new Viewliner II's, will come with WiFi preinstalled?


I would think they'll be delivered with the WiFi factory installed. Deliveries seem far enough off that they'll be equipped one way or another before going into revenue service.

The bigger question I have is whether WiFi will be installed in the Heritage Diners or not. While there is no news on Viewliner Diner deliveries, the life expectancy on the Heritage diners is very, very short to justify a capital spending project. If the lounge cars are indeed the only "brain" on the train, then the sleepers won't have access without the diner in the middle to relay the signal. I don't imagine the system is designed to leap over non-WiFi cars, especially diners with lots of interior walls and signal blocking kitchen equipment.


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## Cho Cho Charlie (Jul 2, 2015)

You have me now wondering. :unsure:

Is the "brain", the car with the master satellite or cellular radio? And such daisy-chain connects to a series of WiFi routers, one located in each car? And between the cars, there is an Ethernet cable connection (along with the HEP connector?).

So, a Heritage Diner would only need to pass the Ethernet cable signal onto the next car. Yea, some hardware would need to be installed (the cable), but not much.


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## John Bobinyec (Jul 2, 2015)

I'd like to know the answer to that also. I'm guessing there is not a cable going between cars which carries the internet/tekephone signals.

jb


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## Amfleeter (Jul 2, 2015)

There's a 'node' on top of each car that carries signals from car to car on the Amfleet Is, as I recall. The Cafe's node includes a receiver for the 4G signal.


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## John Bobinyec (Jul 2, 2015)

NCDOT took a different approach with their Piedmont trains. The wifi equipment in each car is self contained.

jb


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## Hal (Jul 2, 2015)

Amfleeter said:


> There's a 'node' on top of each car that carries signals from car to car on the Amfleet Is, as I recall. The Cafe's node includes a receiver for the 4G signal.


It is a mesh network. The brain is located in the cafe car with an antenna on top of the cafe. Only the brain picks up the the cell signals from the cell carriers towers on the wayside. The brain retransmits the signal forward and rearward wirelessly to receiver routers in each car located in the electric lockers. If one of the cars routers is down that might break the mesh in that direction. You can't skip a car. Since there does not need to be a brain in every car, only a wireless router to mesh with, I think it is possible they might put a router in the Heritage diners even though they are on the way out. Of course assuming they are installling the same kind of network on the LD trains as used on the NEC.


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## jis (Jul 2, 2015)

The Piedmont approach would yield net greater overall bandwidth for the train, and possibly cost more in wireless bills too.


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## TylerP42 (Jul 2, 2015)

I've seen Amtrak Connect in most Superliner Coaches, if that adds anything to the conversation.


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## cassie225 (Jul 3, 2015)

So it must have been a fluke that in March I got Hulu on over 95 percent of my train trip from Newark to NO. It was on my phone with unlimited data . I was so surprised, it only buffered a few times, each time I thought this is it. Couldn't use my iPad because it went out and wouldn't log in at all time I got on the train.couldnt even read books I had already downloaded, boy was I bummed out.


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## afigg (Jul 3, 2015)

AmtrakLKL said:


> Cho Cho Charlie said:
> 
> 
> > I wonder if the new Viewliner II's, will come with WiFi preinstalled?
> ...


I seriously doubt that Amtrak would be installing WiFi in the Heritage diner cars. WiFi on the LD trains has been stalled for years due to limited capital funds, adding WiFi to the Heritage equipment would be an obvious and visible waste of funds. The new Viewliner II diner cars may finally start to show up by this fall and I would expect that they will have WiFi routers installed at the CAF plant. However, even if the 25 new Viewliner II sleeper cars come with WiFi installed, the 50 Viewliner I sleeper cars will need to be updated.

So when WiFi does comes to the eastern LD trains, coverage in the sleeper cars may be spotty for years.


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## SubwayNut (Jul 3, 2015)

This confirms my suspicions. A friend of mine told me he successfully used the wifi on a rear Amfleet II car on the Pennsyvanian miles away from the nearest Amfleet I. On the Adirondack once I spent the trip getting a partial wifi signal sitting about three-quarters of the way from the Amfleet I cafe but not close enough for it to work (I ended up sitting in the cafe to send a few emails).


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## PRR 60 (Jul 3, 2015)

SubwayNut said:


> This confirms my suspicions. A friend of mine told me he successfully used the wifi on a rear Amfleet II car on the Pennsyvanian miles away from the nearest Amfleet I. On the Adirondack once I spent the trip getting a partial wifi signal sitting about three-quarters of the way from the Amfleet I cafe but not close enough for it to work (I ended up sitting in the cafe to send a few emails).


The Pennsylvanian runs with a mix of Amfleet I and II cars, with an Amfleet I cafe providing a hub for the wifi. The rear car is usually an Amfleet I used for Business Class.


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## SubwayNut (Jul 3, 2015)

Maybe I'm or him is mixing the direction up them (I was thinking business class was in the front like the Palmetto for some reason)


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## ronkstevens (Jul 3, 2015)

The Amfleet II coaches on the Pennsylvanian are in the rear between NYP and PHL


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## SubwayNut (Jul 3, 2015)

Thanks! That's what I'm thinking of my friend texted me about it (I had seen him a couple of days before and mentioned the car differences) somewhere between NYP and PHL


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## PRR 60 (Jul 3, 2015)

SubwayNut said:


> Thanks! That's what I'm thinking of my friend texted me about it (I had seen him a couple of days before and mentioned the car differences) somewhere between NYP and PHL


But, with an Amfleet I cafe and coaches in the consist, the nearest Amfleet I is not "miles away." The Amfleet II coaches may well have been equipped to pick up the wifi, but it also may have been a signal from the nearest Amfleet I car. Just sayin'.


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## AmtrakLKL (Jul 3, 2015)

afigg said:


> I seriously doubt that Amtrak would be installing WiFi in the Heritage diner cars. WiFi on the LD trains has been stalled for years due to limited capital funds, adding WiFi to the Heritage equipment would be an obvious and visible waste of funds. The new Viewliner II diner cars may finally start to show up by this fall and I would expect that they will have WiFi routers installed at the CAF plant. However, even if the 25 new Viewliner II sleeper cars come with WiFi installed, the 50 Viewliner I sleeper cars will need to be updated.
> 
> So when WiFi does comes to the eastern LD trains, coverage in the sleeper cars may be spotty for years.


I'm pretty sure the existing sleepers will get WiFi before the system goes live and Amtrak starts touting the availability of WiFi. Why put money into advertising the service if your first class passengers don't have access. Ok, yes, this is Amtrak, but it seems this is an all-in project for the eastern long distance trains which also includes Auto Train since their equipment is captive.


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## SubwayNut (Jul 3, 2015)

I was sitting a third of the way back from the cafe on the Adirondak in February in the front Amfleet signal I could get a tiny amount of signal but not enough to use. I know certain people on this forum "Anderson" who sit at the very front of the car for wifi. My friend said he hadn't.


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## Thirdrail7 (Jul 4, 2015)

There are almost 40 AM2s that are equipped with WIFI and at least one Viewliner is equipped so it is not a surprise that your friend was able to use the wifi on the Pennsylvanian/Palmetto. They are being blocked together.


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## WoodyinNYC (Jul 4, 2015)

afigg said:


> AmtrakLKL said:
> 
> 
> > Cho Cho Charlie said:
> ...


The new Viewliner cars from CAF will have Wi-Fi.

There was a mini-delay a few years back when Oregon's two new Talgo trainsets were close to delivery -- when an Amtrak inspection found them without Wi-Fi. *Oops. Do over.* Turned out that Amtrak policy required all new cars to be Wi-Fi equipped, but Oregon and the car- maker somehow hadn't got the memo. LOL.

And while it will take a couple of years to fully retrofit the 50 Viewliner sleepers with new roomette modules and new on-board equipment, why couldn't the roof-top Wi-Fi equipment be installed a.s.a.p., without waiting for the full make-over of the cars?

++++++++++++

I hear this news about Wi-Fi on the LDs as pure good news. The fact that Amtrak is apparently this far along installing the equipment suggests it has money budgeted to do the job. *Hooray!*

+++++++

Never mind my sleepy-headed and confused edit on the Oregon car-maker. Sorry.


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## Caesar La Rock (Jul 4, 2015)

Looks like what I was told by an Amtrak employee about wifi coming to the Silvers was true. Glad to see this happening.


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## Anderson (Jul 4, 2015)

SubwayNut said:


> I was sitting a third of the way back from the cafe on the Adirondak in February in the front Amfleet signal I could get a tiny amount of signal but not enough to use. I know certain people on this forum "Anderson" who sit at the very front of the car for wifi. My friend said he hadn't.


That's correct. As spotty as it would be, I could usually get something passable for at least part of the trip from that car.

Worth considering is the fact that, since I think most (if not all) of the cafes are equipped for wifi, you'd at least have one base car that could offer it (and nominally cover part of the neighboring cars). I don't think Amtrak will start hawking it until they have most or all of the Viewliner Is and Amfleet IIs outfitted as well, though.

Another note: I was chatting with OBS on one of the the eastern LD trains a few weeks back, and between talking about the diner cuts they mentioned that wifi was coming. The joke was made that management said it would be coming in September...but didn't specify which year.

(Apparently there have been a few false starts on this front, with rumors of it getting added happening in cycles)


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## afigg (Jul 4, 2015)

WoodyinNYC said:


> And while it will take a couple of years to fully retrofit the 50 Viewliner sleepers with new roomette modules and new on-board equipment, why couldn't the roof-top Wi-Fi equipment be installed a.s.a.p., without waiting for the full make-over of the cars?
> 
> ++++++++++++
> 
> I hear this news about Wi-Fi on the LDs as pure good news. The fact that Amtrak is apparently this far along installing the equipment suggests it has money budgeted to do the job. *Hooray!*


Yes, $6 million is listed in FY2015 budget and business plan for adding WiFi to the LD trains. In the document, it states "This program starts in FY15 with implementation on the eastern (single-level) Long Distance fleet, and will be extended to the remaining fleet contingent on the performance of and customer satisfaction with the first phase system."
With 145 Amfleet IIs and 50 Viewliner I sleepers to be upgraded, that is a smaller and less expensive task compared to the 426 Superliners in the active fleet. However, the above statement leaves wiggle room for delaying installation of WiFi in the Western LD Superliner trains if the deployment in the eastern LD trains does not go well.

As for installing WiFi in the Viewliner sleeper cars, the interior is segmented into rooms with metal walls. The only pathway for the RF signal is through the windows on the inside. Its a more challenging installation than in a coach or cafe car with an open interior space. If they don't put antennas in each room, might have to place multiple antennas along the hallway for passengers to get acceptable WiFi reception in the rooms and roomettes.


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## Anderson (Jul 5, 2015)

Well, the Western trains will also be a spotty proposition if only because most of the trains have large areas where wifi just ain't gonna happen (the Rockies, Vandenberg, and probably some chunks of West Texas come to mind). East of CHI you really only have the New River Gorge and some parts of PGH-CUM where wifi is going to be a bust (and there you just disclaimer the heck out of things much like you do on a few other routes or like VIA does on the Corridor).


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## neroden (Jul 5, 2015)

Regarding the Heritage dining cars not being WiFi-equipped, I'm guessing the Silver Star, now running without a dining car at all, will get WiFi first.  By September I would hope that the Viewliner dining cars will finally be rolling off the line and the other trains can have WiFi deployed as they show up... after all, with 8400 already running (and presumably in line to be retrofitted), you only need two more to supply the LSL, etc...


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## WoodyinNYC (Jul 6, 2015)

neroden said:


> ...
> 
> By September I would hope that the Viewliner dining cars will finally be rolling off the line ...


I'm with Lily Tomlin on this: "No matter how cynical I become, I just can't keep up."

If we get any new diners in service by 2016, calendar year, not FY, I'll be happy. LOL.


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## AmtrakLKL (Aug 5, 2015)

Quick update: Enough Amfleet II coaches have been equipped that all mixed consist trains (Amfleet I and II) now offer WiFi throughout. This includes the Adirondack, Maple Leaf, Palmetto and Pennsylvanian.

On the brain car side, installations have begun on the Amfleet II Lounge cars. You'll see the new antennas on top of the non-vestibule end of the lounge cars. Should see the first car or two rotating back into consists in a few weeks. I imagine the service will be on and working, albeit unadvertised. Get it while no one else knows and hog all the bandwidth for yourself!

Installs have also begun in the sleepers. Haven't heard anything about the Heritage diners, but my gut says they aren't getting WiFi.


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## jis (Aug 5, 2015)

That is very good news indeed!


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## WoodyinNYC (Aug 5, 2015)

AmtrakLKL said:


> Quick update: Enough Amfleet II coaches have been equipped that all mixed consist trains (Amfleet I and II) now offer WiFi throughout. This includes the Adirondack, Maple Leaf, Palmetto and Pennsylvanian.
> 
> On the brain car side, installations have begun on the Amfleet II Lounge cars. You'll see the new antennas on top of the non-vestibule end of the lounge cars. Should see the first car or two rotating back into consists in a few weeks.
> 
> ...


Thanks for this update, and for this entire* good news thread *that you've moved along with solid info.

However, I doubt there's much chance of beating the crowd to use the unannounced Wi-Fi. After all, the _Adirondack_ serves the State University of New York-New Paltz, SUNY-Albany, and SUNY-Plattsburgh (near Canada). Once one of these students figures out that the Wi-Fi is working, the students from Plattsburgh down to the Savannah College of Art and Design will be connecting. And that's all good.


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## neroden (Aug 6, 2015)

Anderson said:


> Well, the Western trains will also be a spotty proposition if only because most of the trains have large areas where wifi just ain't gonna happen (the Rockies, Vandenberg, and probably some chunks of West Texas come to mind). East of CHI you really only have the New River Gorge and some parts of PGH-CUM where wifi is going to be a bust (and there you just disclaimer the heck out of things much like you do on a few other routes or like VIA does on the Corridor).


Yeah, there might be some short dropouts elsewhere, but looking at it there really is WiFi almost everywhere else on the Eastern routes. I expect the sudden disappearance of WiFi at the Canadian border (because I bet Amtrak doesn't have a Canadian roaming contract) will be noticed, however!


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## SubwayNut (Aug 8, 2015)

The Adirondack already has had wifi since it was a mixed consist train. I've used it over the past few years.


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## jis (Aug 8, 2015)

If Amtrak wished they could just get a contract from a Canadian provider in Canada. No reason to have roaming anything.


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## AmtrakLKL (Aug 30, 2015)

Almost 80 coaches are now equipped along with six Viewliner sleepers and one lounge "brain" car.


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## jebr (Aug 31, 2015)

Thanks for the update! Any idea if they've been rolled out on specific long-distance routes yet?


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## jphjaxfl (Aug 31, 2015)

I was on the Silver Star on Saturday. I had my mi-fy, but Amtrak Connect connect was an option. The connection was not as good as the mi-fy, but it was there.


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## AmtrakLKL (Aug 31, 2015)

jebr said:


> Thanks for the update! Any idea if they've been rolled out on specific long-distance routes yet?


Nothing is officially rolled out. Most eastern LD trains probably have at least one WiFi coach in the consist, but they don't work without the associated lounge car containing all the cellular antennas and routers. The only equipped lounge deadheaded to NYP a couple days ago. I would expect it'll end up in going somewhere in revenue service soon.


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## Ryan (Aug 31, 2015)

My random number generator keeps producing 50/51 for some reason.


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## AmtrakLKL (Sep 15, 2015)

Looks like the WiFi lounge is in service on 50(15). Progress!


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## zephyr17 (Sep 16, 2015)

SubwayNut said:


> The Adirondack already has had wifi since it was a mixed consist train. I've used it over the past few years.


It wasn't in the Amfleet II cars, if you got it in an Amfleet II, it was bleed over from the Amfleet Is or cafe. Last time I took it, they stuffed all the MTR-NYP passengers in the Amfleet Is, and the explanation I got is that people going to New York would want wifi over legroom.

The wifi is pretty useless much north of Schenectady in any case.


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## PVD (Sep 16, 2015)

Part of the triip North is in an area notorious for poor cell phone coverage. North of Lake George almost to Plattsburgh is pretty much no cell on I-87 in a car. Getting off and driving towards LP you can go 2/3 of the way with little or no coverage. They dont want towers built all over the Adirondack Park land, and the terrain is very limiting for building mount coverage distances. The train has the same issues.


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## ronkstevens (Sep 18, 2015)

AmtrakLKL said:


> Nothing is officially rolled out. Most eastern LD trains probably have at least one WiFi coach in the consist, but they don't work without the associated lounge car containing all the cellular antennas and routers.


How does the WiFi work on Keystone trains, that have no lounge/cafe car?


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## Thirdrail7 (Sep 18, 2015)

ronkstevens said:


> AmtrakLKL said:
> 
> 
> > Nothing is officially rolled out. Most eastern LD trains probably have at least one WiFi coach in the consist, but they don't work without the associated lounge car containing all the cellular antennas and routers.
> ...



The cab car is the brain car on the Keystones.


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## Thirdrail7 (Oct 17, 2015)

AmtrakLKL said:


> Almost 80 coaches are now equipped along with six Viewliner sleepers and one lounge "brain" car.


The numbers have swelled to 99 and 16.


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## afigg (Oct 18, 2015)

Thirdrail7 said:


> AmtrakLKL said:
> 
> 
> > Almost 80 coaches are now equipped along with six Viewliner sleepers and one lounge "brain" car.
> ...


Is that 99 Amfleet II coach cars and 16 Viewliner I sleeper cars have been equipped with WiFi? Will be of limited utility until the Amfleet II diner/cafe lounge cars have been upgraded with hubs and cellular antennas.


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## Thirdrail7 (Oct 18, 2015)

afigg said:


> Thirdrail7 said:
> 
> 
> > AmtrakLKL said:
> ...



Actually, it is extremely valuable. If you recall, 42,43,63,64,68,68,89 and 90 are trains that have wifi. That's a good amount of AM-2s in need of wifi. The more cars that have it the better whether or not they are used in the over night long distance trains. This allows the cars to swapped if necessary. You no longer have to hold cars to make sure that you have a wifi equipped replacement if necessary.

Additionally, if things get tight on the AM-1 side, you may now go back to the practice of subbing an AM-2 for a Capstone business class or even a coach if you need to. This is because they are now wifi compatible and will work with the rest of the AM-1 set.

Little things like this make all the difference in the world when there is a disruption or a deviation.


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## Anderson (Oct 18, 2015)

And the head of Amtrak marketing spoke to NARP today. About the only thing useful he said* was that the Eastern LD trains should have wifi by January 2016 or thereabouts.

*There was a lot of canned speech and blind boosterism of the new AGR program, along with virtually every question not on the Eastern wifi being answered with "I don't know".


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## neroden (Oct 19, 2015)

Oh, I think I just figured out the logistical decision here.

They want to continue to use the Amfleet II coaches as an interchangeable pool, and likewise they want to continue to use the Viewliner I sleepers as an interchangable pool.

Therefore, in order to make even one long-distance train have WiFi, they want to equip the *entire pool* of cars first because it might use any car in the pool.

After all the non-brain cars are equipped, they will do the brain cars -- they can then start advertising a train as having WiFi when there are enough brain cars for its consists alone. They've done one lounge car just to figure out how to do it and work out the bugs, but they're going to do the others after the entire pools of coaches and sleepers are done.


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## afigg (Oct 19, 2015)

neroden said:


> After all the non-brain cars are equipped, they will do the brain cars -- they can then start advertising a train as having WiFi when there are enough brain cars for its consists alone. They've done one lounge car just to figure out how to do it and work out the bugs, but they're going to do the others after the entire pools of coaches and sleepers are done.


That makes sense as a sequence to install WiFi. Although I wonder how well the Viewliner I sleeper cars WiFi will work if there is a Heritage diner car without WiFi between the sleeper cars and the Amfleet II diner/cafe car with the hub.
There is WiFi news for the eastern LD trains today. Amtrak issued a press release announcing that Free Wi-Fi Now Available On Auto Train. So the AT Superliner cars have been upgraded. The press release previews the roll-out of WiFi to the single level LD trains.

Most of the press release:



> WASHINGTON AmtrakConnect® cellular-based Wi-Fi service is now available to all passengers on Auto Train as part of an ongoing effort to enhance the passenger experience. Auto Train allows passengers to travel with their personal vehicles including cars, vans, SUVs and motorcycles between the Washington, D.C. area and Florida, and stands as the first long-distance Amtrak train to provide Wi-Fi.
> 
> This marks the first phase of a larger Amtrak rollout that will provide passengers with free Wi-Fi on all single-level, long-distance train routes in 2016. Combined with other routes where Amtrak has already activated the service, more than 90 percent of Amtrak passengers will soon have access to on-board Wi-Fi so that they may stay connected and entertained throughout their journey.
> 
> ...


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## Philly Amtrak Fan (Oct 19, 2015)

afigg said:


> neroden said:
> 
> 
> > After all the non-brain cars are equipped, they will do the brain cars -- they can then start advertising a train as having WiFi when there are enough brain cars for its consists alone. They've done one lounge car just to figure out how to do it and work out the bugs, but they're going to do the others after the entire pools of coaches and sleepers are done.
> ...


No Capitol Limited?


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## keelhauled (Oct 19, 2015)

Philly Amtrak Fan said:


> No Capitol Limited?


It is not a single level long distance train.


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## Ryan (Oct 19, 2015)

The baggage car is single level!  h34r:


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## A Voice (Oct 19, 2015)

Ryan said:


> The baggage car is single level!  h34r:


Why does your luggage need Wi-Fi...


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## neroden (Oct 20, 2015)

Interesting that they've implemented WiFi on the Auto Train. That indicates that they've solved all the technical problems with implementing it on Superliners (the Auto Train has every sort of Superliner car except the Sightseer Lounge). At that point, it's just money. We can probably expect expansion of WiFi to some of the Superliner trains in 2017 (I'd guess Capitol Limited & City of New Orleans would be first).


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## Ryan (Oct 20, 2015)

Except the technical problem of running in areas with no service.  We may never see wifi on some routes because of that.


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## jis (Oct 20, 2015)

Unless they are able to switch to satellite based connection in the blank terrestrial service areas somehow. Afterall those little bumps on the roof of the airliners don;t seem to be all that huge.


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## afigg (Oct 20, 2015)

jis said:


> Unless they are able to switch to satellite based connection in the blank terrestrial service areas somehow. Afterall those little bumps on the roof of the airliners don;t seem to be all that huge.


In August, Amtrak released an RFP for satellite broadband solutions for WiFi so they are considering it. I posted the short summary that was available in the public section of the Amtrak procurement portal website: Amtrak's RFP for satellite broadband solutions for WiFi. Cost will be an issue, obviously. Especially if the goal is enough bandwidth to support WiFi for a train of 300 to 400 passengers I would think.


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## Aaron (Oct 20, 2015)

Here's another announcement of Wifi service on the Amtrak blog: http://blog.amtrak.com/2015/10/sun-sand-and-wi-fi/

They seem to have buried the lede, though. The bigger news is that the Auto Train is apparently now a single level train.


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## WoodyinNYC (Oct 20, 2015)

Aaron said:


> They seem to have buried the lede, though. The bigger news is that the Auto Train is apparently now a single level train.


An official Amtrak announcement. How embarrassing.


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## Palmetto (Oct 21, 2015)

I do not see where the info says that the Auto Train is a single level train. It does say, though, that starting in 2016, all LD single-level trains will have Wi-Fi.

So: the Silvers, the Crescent, the LSL and the Cardinal, AFAIK.


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## WoodyinNYC (Oct 21, 2015)

Palmetto said:


> I do not see where the info says that the Auto Train is a single level train. ...


This sentence was edited overnight. 

"The Auto Train is the first  long distance train to receive Wi-Fi service and in early 2016, all single-level long distance trains will be equipped with Wi-Fi via Amtrak Connect."

Glad they fixed it quickly.


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## WoodyinNYC (Oct 21, 2015)

WoodyinNYC said:


> Palmetto said:
> 
> 
> > I do not see where the info says that the Auto Train is a single level train. ...
> ...


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## Palmetto (Oct 21, 2015)

Ah, that explains it!


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## AmtrakLKL (Dec 10, 2015)

The WiFi progress is now at 109 coaches equipped, 46 sleepers and 8 lounges. Lounges are the important part as they have the cellular brains. I recently saw one of the equipped lounges, but the system was turned off. I've heard everything should be complete with official introduction of WiFi availability in January. Slightly late Christmas present for the passengers.


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## Anderson (Dec 12, 2015)

Yet again got a "head fake" AmtrakConnect connection on the Meteor tonight (took it home from WAS after taking three planes to get from Maui to DC).


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## neroden (Dec 13, 2015)

AmtrakLKL said:


> The WiFi progress is now at 109 coaches equipped, 46 sleepers and 8 lounges. Lounges are the important part as they have the cellular brains.


From On Track On Line, I see that that leaves 11 coaches, 4 sleepers, and 17 lounges.



> I recently saw one of the equipped lounges, but the system was turned off. I've heard everything should be complete with official introduction of WiFi availability in January. Slightly late Christmas present for the passengers.


I can believe it; that's really not a lot of cars left to equip. Though given that number, maybe *late* January (equipping 32 more cars by New Year's seems unlikely).
Hopefully there will be a little marketing done when the trains are all equipped (although the Capitol Limited will be the "odd man out" so marketing will have to mention that). Should boost ridership some.


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## PVD (Dec 13, 2015)

If the coaches and sleepers are the same ones that would be out for regular maintenance at any given time, that would be close to 100% in service. We need those lounges done, they are the heart of the system, and all the coaches and sleepers on a train being available/done, don't matter if the lounge car on a train is not equipped.


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## Anderson (Dec 14, 2015)

neroden said:


> AmtrakLKL said:
> 
> 
> > The WiFi progress is now at 109 coaches equipped, 46 sleepers and 8 lounges. Lounges are the important part as they have the cellular brains.
> ...


Which is going to get even more...interesting...if the through-cars happen. Amtrak might seriously want to consider grabbing a batch of hotspots _a la_ the Coast Starlight and Auto Train, if just to sort of standardize the experience east of Chicago.


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## neroden (Dec 15, 2015)

Or better yet, buy enough Viewliners to make the Capitol Limited single-level and alleviate the Superliner shortage. But we've discussed that already.


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## PVD (Dec 15, 2015)

And you are still corect about it!


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## afigg (Dec 15, 2015)

Anderson said:


> neroden said:
> 
> 
> > Hopefully there will be a little marketing done when the trains are all equipped (although the Capitol Limited will be the "odd man out" so marketing will have to mention that). Should boost ridership some.
> ...


By the time the through cars on the CL happen, the Superliner fleet may be mostly to fully upgraded to WiFi. The FY15 budget and 5 year plan states the plan is to eventually equip all LD trains with WiFi with the single level LD fleet the focus for FY15 (and into FY16). The AutoTrain has WiFi, so a portion of the Superliner fleet has already been upgraded.


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## west point (Dec 15, 2015)

Like the idea of changing to V-2s for the Capitol limited. However that does require 3 train sets especially if the swap of departure times of the CL and lake shore happens. Now that would also allow for thru cars to Florida on the Meteor that might increase the need for more cars. That would require about 7 - 10 sleepers, 3 diners, 3 lounges & 9 - 12 coaches. So 22 - 28 additional V-2s. Higher number would be the thru Florida cars. Those number include maintenance spares. How to get congress to appropriate the money ? Unknown.


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## neroden (Dec 16, 2015)

Does anyone have a link to that diagram of connecting passenger numbers on the Capitol Limited? I wanted to do some calculations as to whether through cars to Florida would make sense, but of course I didn't save the diagram.


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## Ryan (Dec 16, 2015)

It's saved on my computer desktop, I'll post it again when I get back to the computer. Or you can try to find it here, I know it's posted in the thread that I started about the report it was included in.

Had time to stop off at the computer on the way out the door.


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## rapperguy98 (Jan 2, 2016)

I took the Southwest Chief from Chicago to Raton to go to Philmont Scout Ranch, and then afterwards took it back to Chicago. On the westbound trip, I was in coach and I had wi-fi. I was able to watch youtube with it without a vpn for a while, and then it stopped working for that purpose, but still worked for other things like facebook. Sadly though, on the return trip, there was no wi-fi.


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## PVD (Jan 2, 2016)

Even on current routes with wi-fi, they do not claim to provide bandwith for streaming video.


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## neroden (Jan 2, 2016)

Thanks, Ryan. You answered my question. If we assume none of the connections to "long distance trains" at DC are to the Crescent (an unreasonable assumption) it's only an average of 27 north and 27 south per day. That isn't a whole Viewliner sleeper let alone a whole coach, so a through car to Florida wouldn't make any sense.

(P.S... at this time, of course. If connecting ridership increases, that could change.)


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## WoodyinNYC (Jan 2, 2016)

Ryan said:


> It's saved on my computer desktop, I'll post it again when I get back to the computer. Or you can try to find it here, I know it's posted in the thread that I started about the report it was included in.
> 
> Had time to stop off at the computer on the way out the door.
> 
> ...


Did we say this before? Some graphic artist did a bang-up job with this one for Amtrak! So much info so clearly presented and easy to follow. Congratulations to whoever!


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## AmtrakLKL (Feb 11, 2016)

Eastern long distance WiFi is finally coming. Service will start being enabled on February 16 with official roll-out on February 29.

Now the number one question onboard the train will go from "Is there WiFi available" to "Why is the WiFi so slow/not working?" :giggle:


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## DooBdoo (Feb 11, 2016)

On #97 southbound. From Washington to Orlando - so far - there is a 4/4 bar Amtrak Connect signal, but no connection. Soon .. .


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## JoeBas (Feb 11, 2016)

DooBdoo said:


> On #97 southbound. From Washington to Orlando - so far - there is a 4/4 bar Amtrak Connect signal, but no connection. Soon .. .


Just in time for it not to be turned on, due to signal costs.


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## CSXfoamer1997 (Feb 17, 2016)

Amtrak has free wifi on many of its regional and corridor trains, but there's wifi only on select long distance trains. Long distance trains such as the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, the Capitol Limited, etc do not have wifi at all.

Why does Amtrak not have wifi on its long distance trains?


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## greatcats (Feb 17, 2016)

Shorter distance trains tend to have business travelers as a substantial part of the clientele, while very few are to be found on long distance trains. Furthermore, the western trains pass through some very remote areas resulting in sketchy signals. Plus, there are other priorities besides Wifi in running the train well, and we know they more than their share of problems. As much as I am always on the Internet, I would rather spend my time on western trains looking at the scenery and meeting other passengers.


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## R30A (Feb 17, 2016)

WIFI is relatively new. They have not finished rolling it out yet. 

It started with Acela. People were asking the questions you are about regionals. Then Regionals got it. Then the West coast corridors got it. Then the midwest corridors. Now the Cardinal and Auto train have it, and in the next few weeks it will go live on the Crescent, Star, Meteor, and Lake Shore.


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## CSXfoamer1997 (Feb 17, 2016)

R30A said:


> WIFI is relatively new. They have not finished rolling it out yet.
> 
> It started with Acela. People were asking the questions you are about regionals. Then Regionals got it. Then the West coast corridors got it. Then the midwest corridors. Now the Cardinal and Auto train have it, and in the next few weeks it will go live on the Crescent, Star, Meteor, and Lake Shore.


Really? I looked on the Amtrak website and it doesn't say anything about the Cardinal having it.


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## chakk (Feb 17, 2016)

Cost. Spareness of reliable signal. Knowledge of onboard staff to maintain operation.

That said, my last trip on the SWC included some wifi in my sleeper -- the SCA turned on the hot spot in his cell phone and posted the SSID and password at the top of the stairs for this secure signal for use by his passengers. No faster (or slower) than the hot spot signal from my own phone, but using his nickel instead of my own.


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## greatcats (Feb 17, 2016)

That SCA would rate a good tip!


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## afigg (Feb 17, 2016)

CSXfoamer1997 said:


> Amtrak has free wifi on many of its regional and corridor trains, but there's wifi only on select long distance trains. Long distance trains such as the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, the Capitol Limited, etc do not have wifi at all.
> 
> Why does Amtrak not have wifi on its long distance trains?


It costs money and Amtrak has had tight budgets and federal funding levels in the past few years. WiFi is being added to the single level LD fleet and as noted, should be turned on soon for all the single level LD trains. The FY2015 budget had $6 million for installing WiFi equipment in the LD trains, the FY2016 budget still has not been posted (even though we are 4.5 months into the FY) so don't know the installation cost for this fiscal year. The FY15 budget and Five year Financial plan calls for expanding WiFI to the entire LD fleet, ie the Superliners, but with the caveat of being "contingent on the performance of and customer satisfaction with the first phase system."

Even when and if WiFi is added to the LD trains, coverage and adequate bandwidth are going to be less than solidly reliable. The trains will pass through dead zones with no 3G/4G coverage and even where there is a good signal to a local cell tower, 100 or 150 people on an LD train may overwhelm the network capacity of rural cell phone towers.


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## Anderson (Mar 17, 2016)

Well, I tried to post this while I was on the train the other day but had no luck. Ironically, it seemed that the wifi wanted to work for just about everything _but_ railroad-related websites...

There's now wifi on, at a bare minimum, the Silver Star...though I think it's probably live on the whole single-level system (or close to it now). And yes, it works, though the speeds are often somewhat reminiscent of the 1990s (which sadly brings to mind an alt-hist where Amtrak had wifi starting then...yes, I know the limits of the technology). A text-based MOO (basically a MUD) I ran operated smoothly as did most messenger applications, but AU would not load (and a lot of other sites were painfully slow). There's wifi but it isn't perfect...but it's a _lot_ better than nothing.

When I saw the card in my room on Monday night (3/14) announcing this (I was boarding at ORL) I did a mildly embarrassing fist pump (you have _no_ idea how happy I was to see this) given how long there's been a teasing AmtrakConnect wifi network visible-but-not-working. The card listed all of the eastern overnight trains (Auto Train, Cardinal, Meteor, Star, Crescent, and LSL); the Palmetto already had wifi as a day train (it was in the same loose boat as the Adirondack and Pennsylvanian IIRC) and so didn't get a note, though I think wifi is out in all the cars on all of those trains now as well.

The slow connection is better than nothing (and understandable given a lot of the areas the trains go through) but nothing would have been better than the "teasing". I suspect this was one of the first trains with it; the SB Meteor on 3/10 was still "teasing" so the system probably got activated over the weekend. Either that or I was just on...basically the first run of the service (something that would truly thrill me in some ways) and it'll be going out elsewhere over the next few weeks.

Of particular note, this basically kills off the last (theoretical) advantages the Regionals had over the Silvers for me: Now the Silvers have arguably better seats, the ability to book a room, and (with the Meteor) far better food service.


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## oregon pioneer (Mar 17, 2016)

CSXfoamer1997 said:


> Amtrak has free wifi on many of its regional and corridor trains, but there's wifi only on select long distance trains. Long distance trains such as the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, the Capitol Limited, etc do not have wifi at all.
> 
> Why does Amtrak not have wifi on its long distance trains?


In November east bound I had wi-fi on the Cardinal. It worked well as soon as we were out of New River Gorge, most of the time throughout the rest of the trip. It was not supposed to be on that train yet, but they certainly proved it worked!

In December west bound I had wi-fi on the SWC. I could get a connection the first evening, but could not actually do anything due to the number of people on the router (close to the theoretical maximum). Next morning, I got up early and it worked fine for me. Of course, there were spots where there was no signal, but I was able to send and receive email the rest of the way to LAX.

I see they are now advertising wi-fi on most eastern LD trains. Kind of funny they don't have it on the Cap Ltd, but that train may go through the most terrain with no cell signal. I also see they are still not advertising it on any western trains at all (including the SWC, where my SCA Peggy said it was a test).


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## tim49424 (Mar 17, 2016)

oregon pioneer said:


> CSXfoamer1997 said:
> 
> 
> > Amtrak has free wifi on many of its regional and corridor trains, but there's wifi only on select long distance trains. Long distance trains such as the Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, the Capitol Limited, etc do not have wifi at all.
> ...


I too, got the same story from Peggy in late October. She told me the train I was on was the first SWC involved in the test roll out. I couldn't get it to work at all likely due to low bandwidth caused by high usage and the remoteness of many parts of the route where there are no cell towers for miles.


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## Eric S (Mar 17, 2016)

Haha, I had Peggy in February - same thing, WiFi but it was kind of spotty.


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## tim49424 (Mar 17, 2016)

It's all Peggy's fault. LOL j/k. She's awesome, one of my favorite SCAs!


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## City of Miami (Mar 18, 2016)

Working pretty well pn 91 today and yesterday...slow but working. Better than cell coverage actually.

Also the cafe is working well, busy but no long lines at all. Everyone seems satisfied - including in sleepers yesterday. The train is well occupied.


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## ScottRu (Mar 20, 2016)

Took the Meteor from Orlando to NYC last month. WiFi was available most of the way (slow). But I was enjoying the scenario and fellow riders ... and enjoying being freed from my iPhone, iPad, and laptop!


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## keelhauled (Mar 31, 2016)

An Amtrak press release has officially announced that Wi-Fi is available on the Silvers, LSL, Crescent, and Cardinal.

In related news, existing on-board equipment is getting the "latest next-generation Wi-Fi solution" which will "allow Amtrak to incorporate higher-speed backhaul technologies, such as trackside Wi-Fi and satellite."


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## John Bobinyec (Apr 18, 2016)

Rode 92 (4/15/2016) and 91 (4/172016). Wifi was unusable. Could connect to the on-board router but not to the internet.

jb


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## Montreal Ltd (Apr 19, 2016)

Rode 49 to CHI Sunday am and WiFi was fine.


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## Orangesaint (Apr 19, 2016)

Been amazed by the performance of the WiFi today on the Crescent 20 (19). Outperforming the WiFi in the NEC that I am used too.

*knocks on wood*


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## striker64 (Apr 20, 2016)

Good to hear about the Crescent. We rode it at the end of February and although it was there, it wasn't usable. Although I guess that was still before the official announcement.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


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