Amtrak Thruway buses at night - interior lighting

[rms492]

Hello, when an Amtrak Thruway Bus runs late at night (after 10pm), are the lights dimmed?

How "dark" is it on-board a Thruway bus at night?

I like the night views out of a train (or bus), so was hoping it will be dark (reading lights and/or stripped safety lights are fine) on board, just not super bright like on board transit buses and commuter trains.

 

[oregon pioneer]

There are multiple companies and many, many models of buses that run as Amtrak Thruway Service. I always take a little 14-passenger connector thruway bus from BND to the nearest rail station at Chemult, Oregon (CMO). It says Amtrak on the front, but is run by a contractor, High Desert Point. Yes, they turn the interior lights off if it is dark.

The last full-size AmBus I was on at night (Dec 2013, from PDX to SPK), they turned all the overhead lights off as soon as we ate dinner (it was a bustitution, so everyone got a meal, even coach got a sandwich). There were reading lights, but about 30% of them had burned out, and it was a full bus, so the people with burned-out lights were forced to sit in the dark even if they wanted to read. :angry: I think there were some really dim blue safety lights, can't remember if they were floor or ceiling. But yes, the view out the window was nice and it was about the only thing that ride had going for it.

I think it's standard practice to turn the interior lights off at night, so the driver does not have to cope with bright reflections from the inside of the bus on their windshield.

 

[the_traveler]

I have taken the overnight Ambus OKJ-SBA. After everyone boarded/reboarded, the overhead lights were dimmed.