Sealink
Service Attendant
Finally! The day of the trip!
A sunny and hot day in New York, and a hopefully lovely trip in Acela First Class...
Reached Penn Station in plenty of time, thanks to a limo transfer
and found the ticket collection system excellent. Much better than in the UK. Found the lounge, which was empty, and settled down, managing to charge my camera, get a cup of coffee and a big Danish pastry. The lounge was nice enough, but there didn't seem to be that big a range of snacks.
Our train was called, 2158 to Boston, so made my way to the track. Carrying our cases to the train is par for the course over here, but I was told that it's unusual for Amtrak...
...on reaching the track there was an instant blast of uncomfortable heat and a terrible smell... a bit like rotting fish. Not pleasant at all. First class was at the back of the train and was quite a walk. I was annoyed by the fact that seat numbers were not pre-assigned, so the table seats (ie: two seats facing another two with a table in the middle) where all taken up by single travellers who had spread out! That said, the leg room in the airline style seats was amazing, and the air con was nice so it wasn't such a big deal.
Offered a drink before the train left, in a glass! And very generous servings. The staff were efficient, not overly friendly, but nice all the same. (Although one of the attendents let me take pictures at each station, which was great!)
The view from Hellgate Bridge was indeed amazing... I managed to capture a bit of it here
Then another ticket check, this time the conductor took my ticket and placed in a pouch on top of my seat, saying 'Your ticket is in the seat above your head, not in front of you, not across from you' which I couldn't understand or explain!
Then another vodka and coke! And a rather lovely meal. This was my third drink which was in a plastic cup, but all the others where in glass cups. Very nice ones too!
The bread roll was warm, the butter at room temperature and the beef very tasty. The only disappointment was the 'pudding' which was basically a mint chocolate. But that's small fry, as by now I was enjoying another vodka and coke!
In the UK, the only operator that includes meal in the price of a ticket is Virgin Trains, who operate on the West Coast Mainline Line. Their food doesn't come close to this!
As I mentioned, the attendent let me take pictures at the stops so I got a few in, as well as pictures of the scenery en route which was gorgeous.
And finally to lovely Boston. New York was amazing, big, bold, unlovely but wonderful, Boston was just beautiful, and felt like a breath of fresh air compared to pressure cooker New York. But I can't wait to go back to both places.
And I would recommend Acela in an instant.
A sunny and hot day in New York, and a hopefully lovely trip in Acela First Class...
Reached Penn Station in plenty of time, thanks to a limo transfer
and found the ticket collection system excellent. Much better than in the UK. Found the lounge, which was empty, and settled down, managing to charge my camera, get a cup of coffee and a big Danish pastry. The lounge was nice enough, but there didn't seem to be that big a range of snacks.
Our train was called, 2158 to Boston, so made my way to the track. Carrying our cases to the train is par for the course over here, but I was told that it's unusual for Amtrak...
...on reaching the track there was an instant blast of uncomfortable heat and a terrible smell... a bit like rotting fish. Not pleasant at all. First class was at the back of the train and was quite a walk. I was annoyed by the fact that seat numbers were not pre-assigned, so the table seats (ie: two seats facing another two with a table in the middle) where all taken up by single travellers who had spread out! That said, the leg room in the airline style seats was amazing, and the air con was nice so it wasn't such a big deal.
Offered a drink before the train left, in a glass! And very generous servings. The staff were efficient, not overly friendly, but nice all the same. (Although one of the attendents let me take pictures at each station, which was great!)
The view from Hellgate Bridge was indeed amazing... I managed to capture a bit of it here
Then another ticket check, this time the conductor took my ticket and placed in a pouch on top of my seat, saying 'Your ticket is in the seat above your head, not in front of you, not across from you' which I couldn't understand or explain!
Then another vodka and coke! And a rather lovely meal. This was my third drink which was in a plastic cup, but all the others where in glass cups. Very nice ones too!
The bread roll was warm, the butter at room temperature and the beef very tasty. The only disappointment was the 'pudding' which was basically a mint chocolate. But that's small fry, as by now I was enjoying another vodka and coke!
In the UK, the only operator that includes meal in the price of a ticket is Virgin Trains, who operate on the West Coast Mainline Line. Their food doesn't come close to this!
As I mentioned, the attendent let me take pictures at the stops so I got a few in, as well as pictures of the scenery en route which was gorgeous.
And finally to lovely Boston. New York was amazing, big, bold, unlovely but wonderful, Boston was just beautiful, and felt like a breath of fresh air compared to pressure cooker New York. But I can't wait to go back to both places.
And I would recommend Acela in an instant.
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