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True! I feel like the "redundancy" is viewed in a macro sense, focused on end-to-end travel from the East Coast/mid-Atlantic to Chicago. So in that sense, as Jis said, it's a safety valve for the LSL and the Cardinal also exists (and, we hope, may become a daily train sometime). That said, I do...

Oh my! That is an incredibly low consist and helps explain the nosedive in ridership. Goodness. And I somehow hadn't seen that the Cap was suspended in connection to the East Palestine debacle. The (relative) redundancy factor also makes sense, what with the Cardinal (and I guess the LSL) also...

Interesting, good to know! Thanks for the info. Down one coach isn't too bad. I've seen many references to the Cap being "a shadow of its former self" and so on; seems like that's a little bit of hyperbole, but I'm sure the loss of the sightseer lounge stings for many. (And less coach capacity...

@lordsigma, do you happen to know roughly why the Cap, specifically, is having equipment issues? I'd guess due to he overall Superliner availability issues...? It seems sad for it to have declined so far; I didn't know until a few weeks ago that it used to have a Sightseer Lounge (!). That truly...

Yes, and riders could also take the 94 express bus! It's not something most think about, but the 94 terminates directly at Union Depot on its east end, and is essentially steps from Target Field Station (~5 minute walk or less) on the west end. The 94 runs at least every 30 minutes for most of...

Yes, as of now, the TCMC/second train will terminate at St. Paul and the NLX in Minneapolis. However, I know that there have been what could best be termed as background discussions, along with, I believe an offhand mention or two in now-dated planning documents, to have the second train...

Glad you have made it all the way back to Maryland safely! I am sorry to hear about your lack of sleep 😞That is really too bad! I'll be taking the Cap for the first time exactly a month from now (WAS-CHI) in a roomette and I am disappointed to hear about how bad the tracks are on that route...

Oh, that is very good to hear! I hope that does indeed turn out to be correct. If nothing else, the big to-do over how "bad" the Venture seats are will give/is giving Amtrak + suppliers a very obvious kick in the pants to do something different for the Airo/LD orders, which will be considerably...

Circles within circles, it seems! I would be equally unsurprised if this whole "Venture coach seats are garbage and/or worse than Brightline's" situation ends up to be a bit overheated and off the mark. Like many things, I'd guess that the ultimate verdict will end up somewhere between the two...

Hmm, I had not heard that the seats are inferior to Brightline's...if so, that is a major, major error on the state buying consortium and Amtrak. Embarrassing, really! Now I am interested to know who the seat manufacturers are. In a previous job, I once did some research on transit and rail seat...

Looks like car 10004, American View, everyone's favorite inspection car! Some railfans in MN (and honestly along the EB's route) got some great pics a few months ago when it was on the EB.

Best of luck on your return trip! Having checked Intercity Rail Map throughout the day just randomly, I noticed that the 7 and 27 were late, and the 7 in particular looks like it hit some pretty major issues of some type around Everett--it went from just under 3 hours late to more than 5 hrs...

Aha, I see--interesting! Thank you for the info. That setup makes sense and is smart! I will amend my earlier statement somewhat to say that I hope the Hiawatha gets back to having six regular cars. Though for the CHI-MSP second train, my presumption is that they will almost certainly run a cafe...

I share the hope that the new fare structures works out. I also hope they get back to the pre-COVID seven car trains; I hadn't even known they were up to 7 cars at one time. My interest in this question is also driven by the fact that the second daily train/TCMC (potentially called the Great...

Very nice! Glad that the switch worked out, there were Siemens coaches, and one was almost empty. Thanks for the pic of the interior, very interesting to see. I haven't ridden on one of the Ventures yet and your pic is great + helps me get a better sense of what things look like. The full...

Last I read elsewhere on this forum, the cafe/business Ventures are not in service yet, so cafes would still be Amfleet (or Horizon?). I believe that of the Amtrak Midwest lines, the Lincoln Service is one of those that has the most Venture cards in service regularly, but don't quote me on that...

Not today, but I have been encountering this exact issue in the past couple weeks when I've made a few bookings and looking at potential bookings. It's very, very annoying, and has at times occured on all browers I've used on my computer.

Thanks for the great report, @Septa9739 ! I have to say that I have really enjoyed reading your ridership tracking reports this year. They have always given me a lot to chew on when it comes to what's going on in the Amtrak world. In fact, if I recall correctly, your ridership reports may have...

Good points, PVD! It is surprising that (at the very least) Amtrak doesn't have a "charge extra for seat selection" policy, which would bring in revenue at the very least. Not to say I necessarily support that, but there are some situations on Amtrak where a reserved seat would be nice. But...

This is a fun thread! My username comes from the old Omaha Road--otherwise known as the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha Railway, which was a wholly owned subsidiary railroad of the Chicago & North Western for most of its existence. Although the 'Omaha's' trackage ultimately included a...