College football game days and Amtrak

[benjibear]

I was wondering if any college football stadiums have significant patrons riding Amtrak on game days.

 

[SarahZ]

UM (Ann Arbor) and MSU (East Lansing)

 

[The Journalist]

The Heartland Flyer runs extra coaches and goes to Dallas (rather than ending at Ft. Worth) for the Red River Rivalry (Oklahoma-Texas), so there's some ridership there for sure. I would imagine that the Illini/Saluki get some of their ridership from games-they're named after colleges on the route.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The Heartland Flyer runs extra coaches and goes to Dallas (rather than ending at Ft. Worth) for the Red River Rivalry (Oklahoma-Texas), so there's some ridership there for sure. I would imagine that the Illini/Saluki get some of their ridership from games-they're named after colleges on the route.

Amtrak does a Wrap on the Engine and some of the Cars for the Heartland Flyer from OKC-DAL for "The Big Game". Interesting that One of the Coaches that was so Wrapped was on the Empire Builder when we rode it out of CHI after the Gathering on 10/20!! (UT whipped up on the Sooners! Hook "em Horns!!!)

 

[Nathanael]

I'm told (secondhand) that the Champaign / Carbondale line gets significant game-day patronage.

 

[chakk]

Amtrak Capitol Corridor heavily promotes ridership from Sacramento and points west to Oakland for Raiders games, with a station shop adjacent to the football colliseum.

 

[haolerider]

Amtrak Capitol Corridor heavily promotes ridership from Sacramento and points west to Oakland for Raiders games, with a station shop adjacent to the football colliseum.

Crescent does some business when Grorgia plays Alabama & if GA plays in the Sugar Bowl, there are plenty of coolers brought onto the train!

 

[Ryan]

We were in great company when we took the Silvers to and from the ACC Championship game back when it was held in JAX.

 

[coachseats]

It isn't Amtrak, but the Hawkeye Express delivers several thousand fans each game day right to the front gate of Kinnick Stadium at the University of Iowa. I used to volunteer as a car host for it and the train has become quite a big part of their game day traditions.

http://www.iowanorthern.com/hawkeye/

 

[Hytec]

The Monday after a Super Bowl was played in New Orleans 20+/- years ago, I had a roomette on the Crescent. I boarded in Slidell, LA about 45 minutes late because AMTRAK had to add five private cars after leaving NOUPT. Additionally, the Crescent was running five coaches instead of the usual four with every seat full, and all compartments in two Viewliners and the Transition Sleeper were taken. Even with that extra crowd, the dining car staff did a great job, staying cheerful the entire trip into WAS. OK, so it wasn't a special train, but AMTRAK did a great job pulling it off.

 

[benjibear]

It isn't Amtrak, but the Hawkeye Express delivers several thousand fans each game day right to the front gate of Kinnick Stadium at the University of Iowa. I used to volunteer as a car host for it and the train has become quite a big part of their game day traditions.

http://www.iowanorthern.com/hawkeye/

Wow, that is an interesting one. Penn state needs that.

 

[FreeskierInVT]

Again, not Amtrak, but I'm sure the LIRR sees a slight bump in ridership for Stony Brook games

 

[tomfuller]

I'm guessing there were some UCLA fans on the CS getting off in Eugene Friday and maybe even Saturday. On Saturday I saw the northbound CS about 15 miles out of Eugene at noon. On the tail end I saw a single level car named "Tioga Pass" Anyone know where this one was headed? I don't think that Tioga Pass (east side of Yosemite) ever had any tracks.

 

[fairviewroad]

I'm guessing there were some UCLA fans on the CS getting off in Eugene Friday and maybe even Saturday.

That could very well be true.

You won't see many University of Oregon fans using Amtrak to get to games, because the schedule

is so limited that same-day trips from Portland down to Eugene are virtually impossible. That said, if

one was planning to stay overnight in EUG anyhow, then Amtrak would be a relatively convenient

option.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about Oregon's other D1 college football team, the Oregon

State University Beavers. While Corvallis is technically served as a Thruway stop once or twice a day,

this option is so inconvenient as to be meaningless. (Plus, Corvallis is much easier to navigate on game-days

then Eugene, so the incentive to use mass transit is less.)

 

[Agent]

I'm guessing there were some UCLA fans on the CS getting off in Eugene Friday and maybe even Saturday. On Saturday I saw the northbound CS about 15 miles out of Eugene at noon. On the tail end I saw a single level car named "Tioga Pass" Anyone know where this one was headed? I don't think that Tioga Pass (east side of Yosemite) ever had any tracks.

This explains that Tioga Pass is on its way to Canada.

 

[Garethe7]

Thank God I'm in a sleeper, as I depart on the EB on a Saturday, not sure if there will be anybody en route but I'm not a huge fan of football and noisy fans, particularly on MY train.

 

[gregoryla]

Again, not Amtrak, but CalTrain makes a special stop near the Stanford stadium in Palo Alto on Cardinal game days.

 

[BigOrangeAndy]

Advance planing is made difficult due to many times not knowing what time the game will start till the Monday prior to Saturdays kickoff. It would seem that planing for bowl games would be easier as you know weeks in advance what time the game will start, and many fans will make a vacation out of the trip.

 

[Alexandria Nick]

It isn't Amtrak, but the Hawkeye Express delivers several thousand fans each game day right to the front gate of Kinnick Stadium at the University of Iowa. I used to volunteer as a car host for it and the train has become quite a big part of their game day traditions.

http://www.iowanorthern.com/hawkeye/

Wow, that is an interesting one. Penn state needs that.

Penn State would need to have tracks anywhere near the stadium first.

Back when Beaver Stadium was on the south side of the campus, the station was only a few blocks away. Station's still there. Stadium isn't. Tracks aren't.

 

[railiner]

The ultimate football specials were the ones that ran for the Army-Navy game....they were immortalized in the famous PRR 1955 calendar painting by Grif Teller entitled "Mass Transportation".