# Amtrak and Field Trips



## Oreius (Dec 12, 2016)

One thing I think Amtrak should do is promote "Field Trips By Train." They could run a promotion on such corridor services as the Keystone, Northeast Regional, Empire Service, and even the Midwest and California Services. They could team up with popular field trip destinations in major cities such as The Philadelphia Zoo, Franklin Institute, American Museum of Natural History (NYC)--to name a few. The package would include discounted rail fare at the 50% off rate, plus discounted admission to the field trip attraction and lunch in one of the cafeterias at the attraction. Teachers and chaperones would also receive a discount "package. Or, say a group of 30 students plus 6 chaperones/teachers could pay a one price lump sum that would include rail fare, admission, and lunch. The amount would then be divvied up at the school to determine the price per student/teacher/chaperone. Of course, the school would have to be close enough to an Amtrak station for this to be economical. But, hey. They say getting there is half the fun, and who says taking the train is not educational in itself? It most certainly is!


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## JohannFarley (Dec 12, 2016)

Here's my take on this. The fare would have to be very competitive with bus prices, obviously. But Amtrak would still need to make money from this, or the whole thing is for naught.

And like you said, the school would need to be close to an amtrak station. I can think of an example where this would be difficult. In Edison, NJ, Thomas Jefferson Middle School is about a quarter mile from the station. However, this is only an NJT station, so that kind of falls apart there. They would need to get students either on an NJT train to metropark, or bus them there. Also, let's say they were going to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. And let's say they lived in a town where the school had close access to amtrak service. So they get to Penn Station, and then have to walk 50 or so blocks north to get to the museum, and 50 or so back. This is where taking a bus comes in handy because it's a simple point A to B, whereas the train wouldn't necessarily get them to their destination, which most schools (I believe) would consider a logistical nightmare and not bother with it, even if it was cheaper than the bus.

Unfortunately, in my view, this would be a great thing for Amtrak, but it requires too many steps in some cases and I don't think many school districts will take that kind of leap from simple bus trips.


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## Seaboard92 (Dec 13, 2016)

Could give it to Special Operations not like they do much.


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## Steve4031 (Dec 13, 2016)

The issue is getting to and from the Amtrak stations. I'm a school teacher. Keeping track of a group of kids in nyp or any other large station is something that I would not wish on my most hated colleagues.

It's relatively easy to load the students onto a bus and drive directly to the museum. Most museums have a way of accommodating busses for loading and unloading.


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## Uncle Dick (Dec 13, 2016)

I don't know how the economics work out, but the Kids 'n' Trains program in California appears to be fairly popular. Perhaps the biggest problem is the lack of major attractions at most stops along the line (I'm thinking of the San Joaquins specifically). At any rate, it's a great way to expose children to train travel and let parents know that Amtrak serves their community.

https://m.amtrak.com/mt/www.amtrak.com/kids-n-trains


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## Mystic River Dragon (Dec 13, 2016)

Oreius--

There's a group called "PA Trips by Train" that has a program that sounds like what you're suggesting, only it seems to target families rather than groups. (For example, they have a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo by train, with discounted Amtrak tickets as part of it.) I saw them at Train Day at PHL one year, advertising the program. If you look up their website (sorry, I would link to it, but I'm not great with links), you might get some ideas from there.


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## Devil's Advocate (Dec 13, 2016)

JohannFarley said:


> Here's my take on this. The fare would have to be very competitive with bus prices, obviously. But Amtrak would still need to make money from this, or the whole thing is for naught.




Why would Amtrak need to make money from kids? Is there any other group Amtrak actually profits from carrying? Families on the Auto Train and businesspeople on Acela/NER I suppose. Other than that it doesn't seem to matter much if Amtrak profits or not. The main benefit of carrying lots of kids on field trips is that we eventually grow up to be adult customers on long sleeper trips.


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## Philly Amtrak Fan (Dec 13, 2016)

Devil's Advocate said:


> Why would Amtrak need to make money from kids?


I would think if it's a field trip it's the school and/or parents who are paying.


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## Oreius (Dec 13, 2016)

I think Amtrak is great for small field trips of 20 people or less. It was quite a sight though to see 60+ kids waiting at Elizabethtown when I first took a field trip to PHL! Just like in its heyday!


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## Oreius (Dec 13, 2016)

For that trip, we had two school buses drive us down to the station, a distance of about 15 miles from the school. The buses then picked us up that evening when we returned.


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## Thirdrail7 (Dec 16, 2016)

Steve4031 said:


> The issue is getting to and from the Amtrak stations. I'm a school teacher. Keeping track of a group of kids in nyp or any other large station is something that I would not wish on my most hated colleagues.
> 
> It's relatively easy to load the students onto a bus and drive directly to the museum. Most museums have a way of accommodating busses for loading and unloading.


This is a big thing. The coordination and destinations needs to be there. Is the train a reasonable mode of transportation for the trip you're taking? My first train trip was to the beach. Buses picked up the class and took us to the train station. Another group of buses were waiting for us at our arrival station. This worked since the the originating station was close to our school and destination station was close to the beach. However, our return trip was a bus trip which was door to door. The train was just a lark and it hopefully accomplished what Devils Advocate mentioned:



Devil's Advocate said:


> The main benefit of carrying lots of kids on field trips is that we eventually grow up to be adult customers on long sleeper trips.


This should be the goal. Exposure. Memories. Without turning this thread into a rant, this is one of the things I think the railroads are lacking. What's memorable? As **certain** companies (I am not mentioning Amtrak...I am saying passenger rail in general) cut service, amenities, provide a weakening, inconsistent product supported by a lackluster, brow beaten staff, with sky high, prohibitive pricing under the guise of "covering expenses," the railroads have turned the operation into a bus on steel wheels. It has gone from a wistful "remember that time?" to a resigned, "yeah, I remember THAT time." Hopefully, operators will see there needs to be a defined difference in the experiences and start providing for it...before it is too late.

I hope that wasn't a rant! ^_^

Along the lines of the original topic, memories are indeed made (for better or worse...my first trip, I got my fingers slammed in dutch door) with field trips. Indeed, there have been numerous Amtrak "trips to nowhere." Sometimes, you'll have schools trips around train yards and between facilities, which are available for tours. I remember a group of kids that thought it was kick to be on boards as their train went through the car wash!



Seaboard92 said:


> Could give it to Special Operations not like they do much.



What exactly do you think they do?


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## seat38a (Dec 16, 2016)

As mentioned above, California trains already offer this. There is also an option to have boxed lunches catered for the students. Looks like Cascades also offers a program.


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## Bob Dylan (Dec 16, 2016)

When I was in Elementary School back when Dinosaurs ruled the earth, our school took field trips to San Antonio (50 miles) and Austin (30 miles) on the Train. (The Katy and Mopac both ran through our town)

School busses would take us to the depot, we'd board the train with our sack lunches and when we arrived at the Station the same busses would pick us up and take us to places like the Zoo, The Alamo and the State Capital. The same busses should then take us home from wherever we visited.

Of course there were several trains a day in each direction then, including the Crack Trains The Texas Special and the Texas Eagle.

As the song says, "..Memories are made of this.. "


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## Seaboard92 (Dec 19, 2016)

You know my opinions thirdrail.


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## Thirdrail7 (Dec 20, 2016)

Seaboard92 said:


> You know my opinions thirdrail.



Indeed. Somehow, I didn't put two and two together. See what happens when I don't have your avatar to stare at? :giggle:


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## Carolina Special (Dec 21, 2016)

When I was a kid pre-Amtrak, there was a train field trip from Columbia, SC to Camden that I remember fondly.

Of course, today the only option for that trip would be the Silver Star in the middle of the night, so not likely to happen.


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## Seaboard92 (Dec 21, 2016)

Thirdrail7 said:


> Seaboard92 said:
> 
> 
> > You know my opinions thirdrail.
> ...


I'm about to change my avatar. So you'll get a new one to memorize.


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