TransitTyrant
Lead Service Attendant
Probably closer to 60% coach and 40% business class.Are the business class cars full coaches? I thought they were going to be half business/ half economy coaches married to economy coaches?
Probably closer to 60% coach and 40% business class.Are the business class cars full coaches? I thought they were going to be half business/ half economy coaches married to economy coaches?
I've seen a diagram of the business/eco cars but I can't find it - that said, at least by space taken up, the car is about 75% business class seats.Probably closer to 60% coach and 40% business class.
Happy to see the 350 and 355 back in general too.Someone on the Facebook group “Amtrak Michigan Line” posted a picture of 350 running with 4 Venture coaches. Happy to see them back - perhaps I will plan a trip soon…
That’s interesting then, because for months the automated announcements and digital signs weren’t operational.Rode 318 back from St Louis today. It was a complete venture consist except for lounge car. There were automated messages for the stops. And the digital overhead signs in each car showed the stood like on some of the newer subway cars. At Chicago all doors were open. I was on the last car and got of at an unattended door. So the doors and steps worked as designed in this instance.
Wait, business class cars are in service now!?!?!It was a complete venture consist except for lounge car.
During our visit to the Brightline OIA maintenance facility we got to see one of the new trainsets demonstrate how things would work if the train operated at a mixed platform height station. Some of the doors had temporary platforms adjacent to them and other did not. Doors that were open at the temporary platforms had the trap down and the bridge plate extended to fill the gap between the train and the platform. The doors that were at the low level platform had the traps up and the steps down all the way to the platform, no stepping stool required. Then they shut all the doors. All the deployed hardware withdrew into the body of the cars and the doors closed. Very impressive.Rode 318 back from St Louis today. It was a complete venture consist except for lounge car. There were automated messages for the stops. And the digital overhead signs in each car showed the stood like on some of the newer subway cars. At Chicago all doors were open. I was on the last car and got of at an unattended door. So the doors and steps worked as designed in this instance.
Please forgive me for the confusing post. I was lazy when typing the information in on my iPhone. It was one amfleet business-class dinette car and the rest of the cars were venture cars.Wait, business class cars are in service now!?!?!
That is what I saw in Chicago minus the need for exiting from different levels of platforms.During our visit to the Brightline OIA maintenance facility we got to see one of the new trainsets demonstrate how things would work if the train operated at a mixed platform height station. Some of the doors had temporary platforms adjacent to them and other did not. Doors that were open at the temporary platforms had the trap down and the bridge plate extended to fill the gap between the train and the platform. The doors that were at the low level platform had the traps up and the steps down all the way to the platform, no stepping stool required. Then they shut all the doors. All the deployed hardware withdrew into the body of the cars and the doors closed. Very impressive.
I am sure when things are working properly that is how the Ventures will be in the Midwest too.
Please forgive me for the confusing post. I was lazy when typing the information in on my iPhone. It was one amfleet business-class dinette car and the rest of the cars were venture cars.Wait, business class cars are in service now!?!?!
That is what I saw in Chicago minus the need for exiting from different levels of platfoDuring our visit to the Brightline OIA maintenance facility we got to see one of the new trainsets demonstrate how things would work if the train operated at a mixed platform height station. Some of the doors had temporary platforms adjacent to them and other did not. Doors that were open at the temporary platforms had the trap down and the bridge plate extended to fill the gap between the train and the platform. The doors that were at the low level platform had the traps up and the steps down all the way to the platform, no stepping stool required. Then they shut all the doors. All the deployed hardware withdrew into the body of the cars and the doors closed. Very impressive.
I am sure when things are working properly that is how the Ventures will be in the Midwest too.
Not surprised Siemens can't take any back, they need a larger shop complex badly. I've got no idea how they expect to crank out 20 mainline cars and locos a month from their tiny plant + light rail.An interesting note from the Amtrak board meeting, Amtrak was expecting 60 cars to be in service by now. Currently only about 30 are service ready with about 25 available at any one day. Siemens has to send techs to work on the cars in the field, they can’t take the cars back to the factory.
The big difference will be VIA's HEP set up compared to Amtrak's.Maybe it's some kind of procedural step required to get approval to run the Venture Coaches in Canada? On one hand the Cascades are the next route scheduled to get them, but on the other hand that's 2 years away and VIA Rail is already taking delivery of the exact same model of cars.
Amtrak trains running into Canada that will eventually use Venture Cars will not be using VIA HEP setup. They will use Amtrak HEP setup both on the Cascades and the Empire Service.The big difference will be VIA's HEP set up compared to Amtrak's.
I still saw a bunch the Business class cars together in the yard at Chicago today. I don’t think they’re running yet. From the outside they don’t look very different from the coach cars.I have several questions about the construction and deployment of the new Midwest venture equipment:
Have any of the Venture Business class cars gone into service yet on the Midwest routes?
If yes, does anyone have a photo of the interior of a Venture Business class car?
Has there been any progress on building and/or deploying the Venture Café cars?
If yes, does anyone have a photo of the exterior and/or interior of a Venture Café car?
Can someone post an update each time more Venture cars go into service?
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