I took Amtrak instead of flying and it made me want to die a little bit

[spinnaker]

Really?

https://jalopnik.com/i-took-amtrak-instead-of-flying-and-it-made-me-want-to-1833533707

So the author gets a free roomette (I would love to get a free roomette) but it was for the wrong day. author never checked the date on the ticket and somehow it is someone else's fault?

So the author rides in coach instead of trying to sort things out with customer service. Riding in coach for multiple days? Well yeah I would be miserable too.

The other complaint. It takes longer. No kidding and who cares.

I will give the author that some of the trains are worn and dated. Again, who cares? As long as things work that is.

 

[SarahZ]

To be fair, the author was trying to figure out why people would take the train instead of flying or driving. So, I understand their surprise in finding small bathrooms, worn fixtures, depressing colors, slow speeds, etc. They voiced, several times, that they could see how people afraid of flying or those who want to meet others would enjoy the train, but for the average John Q. Public, the train wasn't as "fancy" as they'd pictured. The author admits, right at the beginning, that they romanticized trains a bit.

The author also states that their boredom/depression was fueled by the let-down of leaving their family, traveling solo, spotty cell service, grey weather, and not much scenery (when you're from the Midwest, the endless grey/snow/fields are BORING).

I completely and totally understand their point about the ennui affecting their journey. When I took the California Zephyr from Emeryville to Chicago, I was absolutely miserable and could not wait for the trip to end. It had very little to do with the train and everything to do with my mood at the time. Since cell service was pretty much non-existent for most of the trip, I couldn't even reach out to talk to a friend. I just wanted the trip to be over, even though it's one of the most beautiful routes in the country. (My SCA and I talked about books for a while, which perked me up a bit.)

Trains aren't for everyone. Rather than get offended, I say at least they TRIED. I know people who won't even try train travel, even a short trip from Kalamazoo to Chicago. I think it's kind of cool that they chose an overnight trip as their first adventure rather than a shorter regional trip. It's too bad it didn't end well, but at least they tried.

 

[Acela150]

As soon as I started reading the article I could sense one thing. Negativity. That’s all this article was except the small nod to the LSA. I think the author had a negative attitude about this from the get go from the article. YMMV.

 

[Asher]

I think if ones reason for taking the train is to see why one would, then they are starting out wrong to begin with. LD train travel cannot begin to be compared with air travel. Traveling cross country on a plane is a movie, part of a book and a couple of trips to the bathroom. For me anyhow. Train travel cross country is journey to shut off the outside world and relax. But, at the end of a vacation, I like to get on a plane and get the hell home.

 

[Larry H.]

I can certainly agree with the poor boring design of the trains today. Just look at any of our historic name trains and you will find excellent design, pleasing colors and imaginative but elegant furniture. Worse on Amtrak is that the name of a train means nothing, each one looks just like the last which gives you nothing to really look forward too. I have never understood the people here who don't care how customer friendly a railroad is run so long as its running, shabby, wore, and tired equipment, an now almost no decent food, and soon no sleepers or diners on trains that now have them. Its "No way to run a railroad" as the saying goes. Search you tube and you will find nearly ever country has trains that put ours to shame, that shouldn't be.

 

[PerRock]

Author takes train looking for disappointment, and finds it. Such a biased article.

I think Larry, it's more Amtrak than "trains today" look at some of the new equipment coming out in Europe & Aisa. These trains are bright, clean, modern, and inviting. Amtrak is predominantly stuck in the 80s still; and arguably even older than that. Amtrak doesn't look for new designs for equipment, the last set of new cars they bought Amtrak took an old car to CAF & said "remake this".

I for one am glad that the Midwest ended up with the new Siemens cars rather than rebuilding an old car.

peter

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Riding in coach for multiple days? Well yeah I would be miserable too.
The other complaint. It takes longer. No kidding and who cares.
I will give the author that some of the trains are worn and dated.
Again, who cares? As long as things work that is.

So you admit you'd be miserable in coach too (but who cares). You admit the trains are old and dated as well (but who cares). You admit Amtrak is the slowest option available (but who cares). Well, the author of the article you brought to our forum seems to care. If you think nobody else cares maybe you should post your thoughts on Jalopnik and put your theory to the test.

 

[PRR 60]

I have to admit that comparing the microwaved morning bagel to a go-cart tire cracked me up. Element of truth there.

 

[spinnaker]

As soon as I started reading the article I could sense one thing. Negativity. That’s all this article was except the small nod to the LSA. I think the author had a negative attitude about this from the get go from the article. YMMV.

Could not agree more. You simply cannot compare train travel to air travel. They are two different ways to go. If you need to be somewhere fast and/or on time then fly! But even then things can go wrong. Frankly I would rather be sitting in a nice comfy roomette (be it a bit dingy) than being stuck crammed into a metal tube for hours waiting for a flight to take off.

The author criticizes the bus station. Well of course bus stations are a lousy place to spend your time. It just doesn't have enough people to provide the services offered at airports. If you are lucky you are in a city transit depot that has multiple modes of transit and there is enough foot traffic to support services.

The station at Cumberland is barely a shack. I had a great time visiting the nearby downtown then later watching the freight trains and talking to others at the depot waiting for the Amtrak. It is all about attitude. If you decide you are going to have a lousy time time then you will have a lousy time. Or you can go with the flow and realize there is something that can be appreciated by this method of travel.

 

[spinnaker]

So you admit you'd be miserable in coach too (but who cares).

Try reading. I never said that I would not care if I had to be stuck in coach for that length. It is the authors fault for not getting a roomette. Author had a free one then is angry when no one told him it was for the wrong date till he got on the train.

 

[PerRock]

The author criticizes the bus station. Well of course bus stations are a lousy place to spend your time. It just doesn't have enough people to provide the services offered at airports. If you are lucky you are in a city transit depot that has multiple modes of transit and there is enough foot traffic to support services.

The Detroit "bus station" the author boarded at was in fact the Detroit Amtrak station, and not the Detroit bus station... which is actually a fairly nice station. Down in Toledo, the transit center there serves as both bus station & train station, and isn't horrible. It's an older building that could use some TLC, but it's really not in bad shape & they have been doing work on it (they had a Subway sandwich shop in it last time I was there, vast improvement over previous visits!)

peter

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Some decent points are made. I will say the Capitol is one train that gets to me when it comes to slow running. That 35 mph running on the CSX does seem like it takes forever. Of course the Capitol doesn't have a dining car anymore... hello? If he could have sat down and had scrambled eggs and hashbrowns served to him maybe he would have one more positive thing to say?

My counterpoints are - #1 there are people with medical conditions that can't fly. For them, their choices of public transit are trains or busses. Amtrak is still a better choice than greyhound that's for sure (in my personal experiences.)

#2 The Amtrak system is very bare bones, it shouldn't take 23 hours to get from Detroit to Raleigh, but you have to take a bus South to meet a train that goes straight East to get on a train that goes straight South. That's a problem with the limited system, not train travel itself.

I genuinely enjoy travel, I like looking out the window when I fly, take the train, or take the bus. It's an enjoyable experience to watch the world go by.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

I wonder if this writer has ever flown Domestic first class... I've been on some pretty dated delta planes that he would probably be equally dissapointed in if he has "romanticized" first class air travel the same way.

 

[OldCond]

Seemed very biased against travel by rail. Flying isn't always peaches and cream either.

 

[sttom]

He doesn't like train travel. God knows why he would subject himself to a day's worth of travel if he expects things to be quick and convenient. But its easy to tell from the writing about Amtrak's finances that he is either disingenuous or doesn't know how Amtrak is forced to operate. It would be nice if we treated Amtrak half as well as the interstates, but we don't. So Amtrak is deficient in some cases. But I fear this guy would hate riding a Polish TLK train even for 4 hours. I rode one for two trips, a 4 hour trip in first class and a 3 hour trip in second class and they made me happy for how good we have it in California! Those trains didn't have AC or flush toilets. I will say, that the EIC/IC trains are all on par with Amtrak California for the most part, but then again, Poland cares about its trains more than we do. PKP on its own carried 42 million people in 2017.

 

[fillyjonk]

I suspect if I flew somewhere I could write an article that said "I flew instead of taking Amtrak and it made me want to die a little bit." It's been a Loooooooong time since I flew anywhere but my memories of my last few trips were mostly being herded, cattle-like, through Security, and then waiting very long times in a small waiting area, and then feeling claustrophobic on the plane the whole time. (And there was that time I got stranded in St. Louis from about 7 pm to 2 am because the mid-states radar decided to shut itself down for a few hours.... and then had to go back and teach a class after arriving home around 4 am....)

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I'm glad the planes are there for people in a hurry, or who hate trains. But I'm also glad to have train access when I want a relaxed trip.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I wonder if this writer has ever flown Domestic first class... I've been on some pretty dated delta planes that he would probably be equally dissapointed in if he has "romanticized" first class air travel the same way.

&

Flying isn't always peaches and cream either.

I agree that domestic flying isn't that great. I'm not sure how this alone is supposed to make Amtrak look good though. Flying has the advantage of much faster speeds so even if the service is not that great the shorter duration and better ground services remove the need for many on-board amenities. In most situations Amtrak long distance service leaves or arrives at worse times with fewer local services and limited last mile transportation. That means the on-board experience needs to be top-notch to really win people over.

Try reading. I never said that I would not care if I had to be stuck in coach for that length. It is the authors fault for not getting a roomette. Author had a free one then is angry when no one told him it was for the wrong date till he got on the train.

For someone who is so concerned about bias and comprehension it's amazing you don't see the favoritism and confusion in your own posts.

 

[spinnaker]

#2 The Amtrak system is very bare bones, it shouldn't take 23 hours to get from Detroit to Raleigh, but you have to take a bus South to meet a train that goes straight East to get on a train that goes straight South. That's a problem with the limited system, not train travel itself.

[

I was surprised Amtak doesn't serve Detroit by rail Seems like a big enough city and with plenty of nearby population.

 

[sttom]

I was surprised Amtak doesn't serve Detroit by rail Seems like a big enough city and with plenty of nearby population.

They don't have long distance service, but a few trains going west to Chicago daily. Amtrak is a very sparse system. It needs a lot of investment.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

3 trains a day west to Chicago
3 trains a day north to Pontiac

 

[neroden]

Comments are all positive towards Amtrak (but comment that it's delayed by freight trains, natch)

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

They don't have long distance service, but a few trains going west to Chicago daily. Amtrak is a very sparse system. It needs a lot of investment.

I wouldn't want to make the Detroit-Toledo connection either. Hopefully direct service from Michigan to the East Coast happens soon.

 

[PerRock]

I wouldn't want to make the Detroit-Toledo connection either. Hopefully direct service from Michigan to the East Coast happens soon.

The latest budget request for Amtrak lists starting a DET-TOR service...

peter

 

[Asher]

I posted my first reply to this conversation without reading the misery this poor soul was subjected to. But first I'm trying to picture the conversation with the agent who comped the roomette after being told " I'm going to write an article about the trip" I'm sure it was a cheerful, perky person, not the same one who discovered the mistaken date. I can only imagine what the response would have been when seeing the size of a roomette while dreaming of a suite. Well the rest is all history now, a day in the life of a person trapped in a magical mystery tour called Amtrak train travel. I'm sure the days to follow were much the same. Some ups, mostly down.

 

[Mike Calo]

The author seems to be down on public transportation as a whole; HE couldn't find the electrical outlets on the bus, HE got the ticket date wrong, but it's everyone else's fault? AMTRAK could run state-of-the-art, high-class trains like the 20th Century Limited or the Broadway Limited and he'd complain because there was a smudge on his wine glass or because the porter was 30 seconds late turning his berth down. Geez.