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I wonder how the author of that article is able to get out of bed and make it through the day, given the complete lack of sense, and total obliviousness, that the person has. I’d be mortified telling family and friends that I had done what the author did. I certainly wouldn’t write an article...

Amtrak cafe cars are the worst thing about Amtrak: gas station food but with service that makes gas stations seem upscale and appealing. And a 1970s ambiance in Amfleet cafes.

The City of New Orleans breakfast and lunch menus are not appropriate for that price point: $527 for a one-way trip (for a trip on September 15). American Airlines can do the same trip in first class for as low as $401 and at least the drinks selection is better, and unlimited.

How about running significantly longer trains? So much of a railroad’s expenses are overhead that freight railroads, and Amtrak with the Auto-Train, do well by running long trains. As long as the revenues from adding an additional car to a train are $0.01 or more huger than the added expenses...

I have an idea: If Amtrak wants revenue, it should run trains! Starting with restoring long-distance trains to seven days a week.

I was surprised to see an ad inside the Acela Express recently. I’m fine with that; more money for Amtrak means I pay less (in fares or tax dollars).

Given Amtrak’s reduction of sleeping car and dining car services, despite having received numerous new sleeping and dining cars in the past few years, I think that another provider of sleeping car services should be found. Perhaps the new provider could provide cars to Amtrak and Via, and...

The US is particularly bad about ballooning costs for rail infrastructure projects. The US just needs to use more cost-effective construction, and the issue doesn’t negate the desirability of HSR.

A pretty good percentage of flights from NYC airports is to other cities along the Northeast Corridor. If the Acelas had 100+ mph average running times, many of those flights could be eliminated. With additional capacity in the Northeast Corridor, perhaps Amtrak could add a low-cost service as...

Sure, but the Acela does go 150 (and certainly 125 or above) for a lot of its route in NJ and if you compare the Acela to other trains that have a lot of stops, it isn’t much slower. For example, Thalys can fly at top speed for a long time between Paris and Brussels because it has no stops...

Good point, thanks. Doesn’t Amtrak have a lease for space there? Maybe the Acelas should just stop serving Newark (unless they get business from connecting trains there from northern NJ).

Clearly I’m in the minority here, and I appreciate that everyone else has made some good points about why Amtrak did as it did. I’ll conclude by saying that lawlessness will harm all of us. It leads to lower revenues for Amtrak, fewer empty seats and a less pleasant atmosphere onboard and in...

If your first argument is that many traffic violations are not victimless crimes, then the solution should be more, not less law enforcement, consistent with holding fare evaders accountable. For your second argument: my position is that Amtrak should have a fare evasion policy that minimizes...

Amtrak needs get Newark Penn Station fixed up. It’s a dump, particularly the platform areas. Someone paying $250 for a first-class Acela ticket or $500+ for a sleeping car ticket wants to wait there? I think not!

Then get someone else to get off the train with the fare evader. The points that you and others have made are certainly valid: it’s not worth delaying a train or causing a ruckus over a modest amount of fare loss. Surely Amtrak could develop a policy of taking actions against fare evaders...

The person who handled both fare evaders was the person who checks tickets. There were several, and by NWK, there were no more tickets to check, as the end of the line was the next stop, NYP.

Exactly. The “see something, say something” campaigns ask people to alert the police for anything suspicious, including anyone’s behavior that doesn’t seem quite right. The police can decide if alerts are worth acting on. And on my Acela, the second fare evader was caught at Newark. The...

The crowd on my 150-mph Acela Express trip this past weekend would certainly disagree.

That’s not how American Airlines handles it. American Airlines allows you to change your ticket, within 24 hours of your ticketed trip, and receive a confirmed seat on a different flight on the same day as your ticketed trip, for no fee if you are a frequent flyer, and without paying a fare...

If a train isn’t sold out, which Amtrak should know, then one should be able to switch tickets to travel on it. It’s not rocket science.