Amtrak Service Reductions

[Palmetto]

The Heartland Flyer uses this set up too since the Train cant be turned in OKC.

This is puzzling, as there is a wye south of the station. It's a bit far, but looks usable, looking at it on Google Maps.

 

[Trogdor]

I'm not sure how they do it, but the Surfliners run with Cab-Control and Superliner coaches in the consist.

Some, but not all, Superliners were retrofitted to allow for MU operation.

 

[TinCan782]

Some, but not all, Superliners were retrofitted to allow for MU operation.

Not only Superliner coaches - I've seen the Sightseer Lounge in Pacific Surfliner consists from time-to-time.
Even the Great Dome (when still running) has been Pacific Surfliner trains.

Did not get included in my reply to Trogdor's reply to
crescent-zephyr said:
I'm not sure how they do it, but the Surfliners run with Cab-Control and Superliner coaches in the consist.

 

[John Bobinyec]

Have the three-day service reductions which were scheduled to commence on 10/1/2020 been rescinded? I think Congress told Amtrak that if they did that they get no money - period. So what's the latest official situation?

jb

 

[20th Century Rider]

Requesting advice and suggestions from the forum on what I should do with this upcoming reservation... noting uncertainty of frequency levels and food service... and the free cancellation deadline coming up August 31. If you were me, what would you do with this reservation??? 85,000 points

EUG - EMY - H room
overnight
EMY - CHI - H room
CHI - WAS - Bedroom
2 nights WAS
WAS - BOS - Acela 1st class
2 nights BOS
BOS - CHI - H room
CHI - PDX - H room
PDX - EUG - Business class

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Have the three-day service reductions which were scheduled to commence on 10/1/2020 been rescinded? I think Congress told Amtrak that if they did that they get no money - period. So what's the latest official situation?

jb

It's still unknown whether the cuts will take effect or not. The House passed legislation which would have prevented the cuts but it is stalled in the Senate.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Requesting advice and suggestions from the forum on what I should do with this upcoming reservation... noting uncertainty of frequency levels and food service... and the free cancellation deadline coming up August 31. If you were me, what would you do with this reservation??? 85,000 points

EUG - EMY - H room
overnight
EMY - CHI - H room
CHI - WAS - Bedroom
2 nights WAS
WAS - BOS - Acela 1st class
2 nights BOS
BOS - CHI - H room
CHI - PDX - H room
PDX - EUG - Business class

Have you already booked this or are you thinking about booking it?
If you already booked it, you can cancel after 8/31/20 with no penalty. That date is the "booked by" date, not the "cancel by" date

 

[20th Century Rider]

Have you already booked this or are you thinking about booking it?
If you already booked it, you can cancel after 8/31/20 with no penalty. That date is the "booked by" date, not the "cancel by" date

Yes... yes, booked and reserved with points. It is my understand I can cancel without penalty up to Aug 31... but the question is whether or not I should keep the reservation active past that date... due to all the uncertainty.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Yes... yes, booked and reserved with points. It is my understand I can cancel without penalty up to Aug 31... but the question is whether or not I should keep the reservation active past that date... due to all the uncertainty.

If already booked, you can cancel after Aug 31 w/o penalty. That's the BOOK BY date, not the cancel by date. I have a two week trip that I booked early this year for October and I may not cancel it till after August 31, though personal things are in the process of being changed, so I may cancel those trains and rebook on other train and maybe other dates.

Right at the top of Amtrak.com it says: "Amtrak is waiving all change and cancellation fees for reservations made by August 31, 2020."

 

[20th Century Rider]

If already booked, you can cancel after Aug 31 w/o penalty. That's the BOOK BY date, not the cancel by date. I have a two week trip that I booked early this year for October and I may not cancel it till after August 31, though personal things are in the process of being changed, so I may cancel those trains and rebook on other train and maybe other dates.

Right at the top of Amtrak.com it says: "Amtrak is waiving all change and cancellation fees for reservations made by August 31, 2020."

Wow! Thank you!

 

[TinCan782]

If already booked, you can cancel after Aug 31 w/o penalty. That's the BOOK BY date, not the cancel by date. I have a two week trip that I booked early this year for October and I may not cancel it till after August 31, though personal things are in the process of being changed, so I may cancel those trains and rebook on other train and maybe other dates.

Right at the top of Amtrak.com it says: "Amtrak is waiving all change and cancellation fees for reservations made by August 31, 2020."

About the same here...have three legs of a return trip booked for October. May be as late as mid-September before I make the final decision. This trip was booked after cancelling a June-July trip. Got instant "refund" of AGR points without a hassle.

BTW...checked on AmSnag this morning for October 5-20 ... still showing daily service for trains that are currently daily.

 

[20th Century Rider]

About the same here...have three legs of a return trip booked for October. May be as late as mid-September before I make the final decision. This trip was booked after cancelling a June-July trip. Got instant "refund" of AGR points without a hassle.

BTW...checked on AmSnag this morning for October 5-20 ... still showing daily service for trains that are currently daily.

Thank you for the additional info. I also have a TCV which must be put towards a res by Jan 20... and they aren't extending that. Think I'll book something for the San Diego area... always nice there in January.

 

[joelkfla]

It's still unknown whether the cuts will take effect or not. The House passed legislation which would have prevented the cuts but it is stalled in the Senate.

The Grim Reaper strikes again.

 

[20th Century Rider]

It's still unknown whether the cuts will take effect or not. The House passed legislation which would have prevented the cuts but it is stalled in the Senate.

The United States Senate belongs to you and me and all the tax payers. It's been proven by experts that such cutbacks will ultimately cost Amtrak more by driving away ridership with inconveniences. If the Senate is to properly represent the people they must reinstate those cutbacks. Hmmm... what are other voters thinking???

 

[user 14106]

If I recall this was part of the appropriations bill for next FY. With COVID going on I highly doubt anything will get passed before the election. It’s highly possible that whatever eventually passes will stop the cuts, but it probably won’t pass before the election which is tricky given the cuts are slated for October 1. The $10 billion the house proposed is highly unlikely to happen but that doesn’t mean the senate won’t agree to an amount that’s enough to avoid the cuts.

 

[Old MM]

Typical Politician! I gave up trying to contact my 2 Senators since I'm not on their "Supporter List", so I would always receive Form Letters ( look it up Kiddies), now its Boiler Plate emails.

My Congress Critter is just as worthless, as a self avowed " Constitutionsl Conservative",he's against Everything the Congress passes!

2020 has been the year that really made it clear how little "representation" the average American has in Washington.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Requesting advice and suggestions from the forum on what I should do with this upcoming reservation... noting uncertainty of frequency levels and food service... and the free cancellation deadline coming up August 31. If you were me, what would you do with this reservation??? 85,000 points

EUG - EMY - H room
overnight
EMY - CHI - H room
CHI - WAS - Bedroom
2 nights WAS
WAS - BOS - Acela 1st class
2 nights BOS
BOS - CHI - H room
CHI - PDX - H room
PDX - EUG - Business class

You probably have hotel reservations and other events planned which would be affected. I was in a similar situation when the governor of California imposed restrictions a few weeks ago. I was afraid that even more restrictions would be in place including quarantines. I cancelled. Nowadays everything is upside down. Changing policies all over the place. People standing in line to enter supermarkets and those shops that are open. I am reminded of visits to the USSR and eastern Europe in the 1970s.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

If I recall this was part of the appropriations bill for next FY. With COVID going on I highly doubt anything will get passed before the election. It’s highly possible that whatever eventually passes will stop the cuts, but it probably won’t pass before the election which is tricky given the cuts are slated for October 1. The $10 billion the house proposed is highly unlikely to happen but that doesn’t mean the senate won’t agree to an amount that’s enough to avoid the cuts.

Is Amtrak taking reservations for any day of the week as of October 1? At the very least they should limit reservations to those three days a week on which they will operate assuming their plans are not altered by congressional mandate.

 

[niemi24s]

Is Amtrak taking reservations for any day of the week as of October 1?

There are three ways to find the answer: call Amtrak; make dummy bookings on the Amtrak website; use AmSnag (which does the same thing by making dummy bookings for as many as thirty consecutive days).

Well, four ways actually - hope somebody finds the answer for you.

 

[PaulM]

Is Amtrak taking reservations for any day of the week as of October 1? At the very least they should limit reservations to those three days a week on which they will operate assuming their plans are not altered by congressional mandate.

Apparently so. I amsnagged Washington to Tampa for 11/1 through 11/14. It offers the silver meteor 4 days a week and the silver star 3 days. The odd thing is that the days are consecutive, i.e., SM 4 days in a row and SS 3 days.

What happens if you book CHI to TPA departing on a day that connects to the SS on the last of the SS's 3 days, and the 2 hr connection is missed. Will Amtrak still put you up in DC, and then put you on the SM and ORL to TPA bus?

 

[TinCan782]

There are three ways to find the answer: call Amtrak; make dummy bookings on the Amtrak website; use AmSnag (which does the same thing by making dummy bookings for as many as thirty consecutive days).

Well, four ways actually - hope somebody finds the answer for you.

AmSnag is the easiest way to check...that is what I'm doing for October as I have three LD reservations during that month. Still showing daily service.
Who knows if/when that will change!

 

[20th Century Rider]

You probably have hotel reservations and other events planned which would be affected. I was in a similar situation when the governor of California imposed restrictions a few weeks ago. I was afraid that even more restrictions would be in place including quarantines. I cancelled. Nowadays everything is upside down. Changing policies all over the place. People standing in line to enter supermarkets and those shops that are open. I am reminded of visits to the USSR and eastern Europe in the 1970s.

The 'new normal' is to be able to make a reservation with the anticipation and flexibility that anything can change. Kind-a think things will become more predictable [with the caveat 'anything goes'] when:
1] Sept 1 rolls around and Amtrak confirms schedules / food service --- at that point in time
2] November 3rd impact of election [although the new term doesn't start until January, 2021
3] Vaccine is rolled out... whenever that is

 

[brianpmcdonnell17]

Apparently so. I amsnagged Washington to Tampa for 11/1 through 11/14. It offers the silver meteor 4 days a week and the silver star 3 days. The odd thing is that the days are consecutive, i.e., SM 4 days in a row and SS 3 days.

What happens if you book CHI to TPA departing on a day that connects to the SS on the last of the SS's 3 days, and the 2 hr connection is missed. Will Amtrak still put you up in DC, and then put you on the SM and ORL to TPA bus?

Even when the SS was daily Amtrak would rebook passengers on the SM and the thruway bus if the connection was missed from the CL. I'm curious what they would do if someone was going someplace like Columbia though.

 

[uncleboots]

Well, the Sunset has been such a stunning success, no doubt management is so happy to emulate it nationally. (insert sarcastic nod here...)

Actually the Sunset was going daily in 2021.

 

[MikeM]

Actually the Sunset was going daily in 2021.

Really? Last I heard UP was asking for millions of dollars to enhance capacity of the line to facilitate daily service. Great news if true, but I'm doubting it...