Amtrak Timetables

[AmtrakBlue]

I can understand that printed timetables may not be cost-effective for Amtrak. But I think the absence of PDF timetables on Amtrak's website may contribute to a lot of confusion for potential customers. As it is, the only way to see if you get from Point A to Point B conveniently is to start a speculative ticket purchase. Many potential riders who are only casually interested may not be ready to take that step.

You can print out schedules from their website. And by having it done this way you’ll know the times are up-to-date.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I just checked the Schedule tab and looked up the Southwest Chief. I found 2 trains per direction: 3/1003 and 4/1004. What are the 1003 and 1004 trains? They had different departure and arrival times from each other. For example, train 3 departs Los Angeles at 2:25 pm whereas it's 2:50 pm for train 1003.

Trains that begin with 10 followed by the regular number are trains that will arrive at a station the same day as the previous train. Arrow, Amtraks system, cannot handle two #3’s arriving at XYZ station on the same date.

 

[Amtrak25]

You can print out schedules from their website. And by having it done this way you’ll know the times are up-to-date.

What they call a timetable is not a timetable. It is origin-destination throughout the day, requiring a tap to Details drop-down to get intermedate stops for each train individually, a sloppy mess and not printable on one piece of paper. It does not contain the information that pdf's once had. It does not show connections.

The times on a pdf can be mainained up to date because every commuter railroad manages to do it. LIRR changes their schedules every 2 months, with far more editions for weekday or weekend engineering-driven changes, and are far more complicated than anything Amtrak has. This is what one of them looks like: https://new.mta.info/document/85026

This is about Amtrak being cheap and lazy.

 

[jis]

In my thinking technically there is no show stopper in generating upto date PDF each day and automatically posting them on the website. It should not take more than one competent knowledgeable person to do so once the basic workflow is set up. It is mostly a management decision to not do so possibly based on lack of understanding of customer needs and technical feasibility. Afterall, why would the gold plated consultant want to lose their source of income?

 

[cirdan]

Another case for timetables is where commuter lines (or other things that aren't trains) run in parallel or overlap with Amtrak services. You would want to know who reaches your destination or transfer point first or the fastest. Think of something like Keystone/Pennsylvanian service vs SEPTA for going between points in PA along the Keystone line and Philadelphia.

I guess that use case is technically not in Amtrak's interests...

I guess this is the sort of thing that Google Maps is good at . Maybe there is even an eclectic bus service that just happens to fill a gap between two trains but whose timetable you would never ever think of checking. But Google will fill you in on the details.

Not sure what TRE Texas Eagle means.

 

[cirdan]

In my thinking technically there is no show stopper in generating upto date PDF each day and automatically posting them on the website. It should not take more than one competent knowledgeable person to do so once the basic workflow is set up. It is mostly a management decision to not do so possibly based on lack of understanding of customer needs and technical feasibility. Afterall, why would the gold plated consultant want to lose their source of income?

you could even automate that.

 

[zephyr17]

you could even automate that.

Scheduling routine jobs to run automatically has been the standard since the 1960s. There is no "even" about it, it's SOP.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

What they call a timetable is not a timetable. It is origin-destination throughout the day, requiring a tap to Details drop-down to get intermedate stops for each train individually, a sloppy mess and not printable on one piece of paper. It does not contain the information that pdf's once had. It does not show connections.

The times on a pdf can be mainained up to date because every commuter railroad manages to do it. LIRR changes their schedules every 2 months, with far more editions for weekday or weekend engineering-driven changes, and are far more complicated than anything Amtrak has. This is what one of them looks like: https://new.mta.info/document/85026

This is about Amtrak being cheap and lazy.

Huh, apparently you haven't tried looking and printing by route. It's not perfect but it's better than what you've described.

 

[Amtrak25]

It should not require hunting, discovering, or a training course. When I see Schedule, I want to see a PDF timetable, period.

Your attachment is for a route for one train a day. Try that for the NEC or Empire Corridor.

Amtrak is a railroad, not a software educational firm.

 

[zephyr17]

Amtrak is a railroad, not a software educational firm.

You'd sincerely hope not, given just how badly Amtrak does with software.

 

[daybeers]

Huh, apparently you haven't tried looking and printing by route. It's not perfect but it's better than what you've described.

There is still lots of information missing, like local transit and airport connections as well as Thruway schedules. I don't trust Amtrak to keep the Thruway connections on the system map up to date, and as far as I know the only other way to find them is by trial and error through the reservation system or schedule system. This still doesn't show who runs them: Amtrak Thruway? Private intercity bus operator? Commuter rail?

The timetables also described more complex situations, like where trains are split/combined and how that affects dining service, as well as the confusingly complicated different types of bicycle service.

The schedules from the website also don't have an effective date, so you never know when a schedule you might have is incorrect. This also makes it much more difficult to find schedule changes because Amtrak often doesn't put out out a service alert or press release for those anymore.