Northeast Regional discussion 2022-2024 H1

[jis]

Back in the days I counted myself lucky if I even found a seat at all on rush hour Amtrak trains at Metropark, let alone finding a desirable seat. At least these days you can guarantee yourself a specific seat by getting a Business Class ticket.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Since we board in Roanoke going northbound we will have no problem getting a forward facing seat since #134 starts there in Roanoke, just a little worried about getting a forward facing seat when boarding either in Trenton or the Metro Park heading southbound on # 171? What do you think our chances of finding 2 side by side forward facing seats at those 2 stops when heading southbound?

Hardly any seats at all at those two stations going south. Swarms of people board at New York City, so nothing is available in northern or central New Jersey.

Perhaps consider coach going north but Business Class going south?

Or, as fdaley said, you can go in coach and try to grab better seats at Philadelphia as some of the crowd gets off. That depends on your tolerance for being in a crowded train — possibly even standing — between New York and Philly.

 

[MARC Rider]

Not good, but better if you act quickly at Philadelphia, where a lot of people are likely to get off. Of course, lots more will board there too.

And, of course. there should be lots of seats opening up in Washington.

 

[MARC Rider]

Hardly any seats at all at those two stations going south. Swarms of people board at New York City, so nothing is available in northern or central New Jersey.

Perhaps consider coach going north but Business Class going south?

Or, as fdaley said, you can go in coach and try to grab better seats at Philadelphia as some of the crowd gets off. That depends on your tolerance for being in a crowded train — possibly even standing — between New York and Philly.

No one should have to stand. The Northest Regional trains are all reserved. "Reserved" in this case means there's a seat available, if not a specific seat. It might be good to try the north/east end of the train, or the rear of a Washington bound train, as most passengers in New York board at the Moynihan/west/front of the train.

 

[jis]

No one should have to stand. The Northest Regional trains are all reserved. "Reserved" in this case means there's a seat available, if not a specific seat. It might be good to try the north/east end of the train, or the rear of a Washington bound train, as most passengers in New York board at the Moynihan/west/front of the train.

I don't know how things are these days but ten years back on many occasions after boarding a Regional at Metroprak I had to either stand or camp out in the Cafe until New York.

 

[saxpower]

My most typical train travel is between Wilmington, DE and NYC. Wilmington being in the middle of the route, seats can be hard to find as it is. Luckily, for my next trip (booked before they started the backwards seats) it made economic sense to use Acela northbound and business class southbound. Amtrak changed my seat on the southbound but its still forward facing.

Going forward, if the price difference between coach and Acela/business is too high I'm going to consider Greyhound. Two hours isn't too bad on a bus, and I'd rather do that than ride backwards. Schedule isn't quite as convenient but is doable- Port Authority is actually more convenient to my destination (theatre distict) than Penn Station. Luckily, I ususally am booking a few months in advance and often am able to get cheaper fares- sometimes Acela is actually lower than coach.

Point is- I doubt I'm the only NEC rider who will consider other options to avoid having to pay top dollar to ride forwards.

 

[PaTrainFan]

Not only do the new Airo and Acela seats not flip, Amtrak has decided to stop flipping seats on all trains.

https://media.amtrak.com/2024/02/fixed-forward-and-backward-seating/

Do you like riding backwards? I don't mind it but I know many people really don't like it.

EDIT: This post was moved into this thread, sorry for the repetition.

I don't have an issue riding backwards, but I know some do. What's interesting to me is that so many people talk about how Amtrak needs to be more like European trains, Now they have it and they don't like that idea.

 

[Widfara]

Sadly, instead of being on the Cardinal right now, I've had to cancel the trip due to a sudden medical emergency. I've got a case number open to get a waiver of the sleeper cancellation fee, by getting a doctor's note to them. I hope to do the trip later on when my giant cells are more settled down.

Amtrak gave me a voucher for the full amount. It's good for a year. I hope that I will be able to do a rail trip this summer or fall.

 

[PaTrainFan]

Received this survey today, offering 25% off a future Northeast Regional or Acela trip. Haven't seen this referenced here, but maybe I missed it. Good timing as I am currently on a NE trip.

It is a fairly deep dive and requires every bit of the 20 minutes requested, done right. They present several different potential bundling opportunities for fares, parking add ons, refunds for delays, high speed wifi, etc.

At least Amtrak is actually thinking strategically.

 

[MARC Rider]

Received this survey today, offering 25% off a future Northeast Regional or Acela trip. Haven't seen this referenced here, but maybe I missed it. Good timing as I am currently on a NE trip.

It is a fairly deep dive and requires every bit of the 20 minutes requested, done right. They present several different potential bundling opportunities for fares, parking add ons, refunds for delays, high speed wifi, etc.

At least Amtrak is actually thinking strategically.

View attachment 36319

What sort of questions did they ask?

 

[PaTrainFan]

What sort of questions did they ask?

My memory is not strong enough to remember in detail. Thought about screenshots but they might have detected that and I didn't have much time to complete it.

There were a lot of questions. Many were the usual demographic ones and also a few to get a sense of one's experience on the NE corridor.

One way I can vouch for it as a legit survey (I've been involved for years helping develop them in my job) is that it included a trap question that if answered incorrectly you would be kicked out. They do this to ensure you are paying attention and doing more than going through the motions.

Amtrak is obviously studying new concepts such as bundling parking options into fares including valet service or park your own. Also including "ultra high speed" wifi, varying compensation if trains are more than 60 minutes late which could include refunds or AGR points. There were at least 10 questions that included combos of packages to choose from in order to get a sense of passenger priorities.

The survey leans heavily on understanding passengers' "last or first mile" whether it be driving or public transit.

Also, they are looking to learn attitudes on different travel modes under 500 miles (if I recall properly) and frequency of travel.

Hope that helps.

So, as I said, credit to them for giving a good study into all this.

 

[WBG Station 1935]

Alright. This is new for me. Last week I bought a business class ticket for a future journey. Well, I just received an updated receipt and new ticket but, nothing about the trip has changed -- same train, same departure & arrival, same day, same seat.

The seat map has updated to the new layout and the only thing I can think of is that the changed seat map generated the new issuance of receipt and ticket. Scratchin' my head.

LOL, the reissue of the receipt and ticket was back on February 29. Well today, a month later, I received an email from Amtrak explaining all about the new seating configuration, telling me my seat remains the same, but that the direction the seat faces may have changed and that I'd shortly be receiving a new updated travel document.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Took 86 today from Trenton to New London. Booked a Business Class aisle seat riding backwards, figuring nobody else would want to ride backwards and I might not have a seatmate.

The whole BC car was full! I didn’t have a seatmate when I boarded, but I went to the cafe car at Metropark to get my free coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and when I came back, the window seat had a passenger.

(Turned out nicely for me after all—he was a nice young man attending Boston College and studying for a test the next day, so he was very quiet, plus he put my bag up for me and took it back down.)

My general Northeast Regional experience on 86 today:

Positives: 86 only about 10 minutes late into TRE; professional and courteous conductors on all three crew segments; clean train interior; good coffee and tasty breakfast sandwich (I didn’t try anything sweet because I brought an apple cider donut from home so didn’t see what pastries were offered).

Negatives: Just one. When I got to the cafe, I was the only one in line. The woman staffing it was at a seat and looked at me—I said “Good morning” and she just stared at me, then looked back down at whatever she had been looking at when I got there. She then waited til there were about 6 people in line, slowly got up and went behind the counter, and finally asked what I wanted. I thought at first that she had been on break, but I don’t think there’s a break at Metropark. Even if there was, she could have simply said, “I’m on break and I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

First time I can ever remember not leaving a tip in the cafe.

 

[daybeers]

Likely just example 93758146 of Amtrak employees doing whatever they want unfortunately.

86 is a nice run, glad it was mostly a good experience.

 

[MARC Rider]

Looks like the Swiss are running the NEC this morning.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Booked a Business Class aisle seat riding backwards, figuring nobody else would want to ride backwards and I might not have a seatmate.

It really irks me that they don't at least turn the BC car seats.

 

[TheVig]

It really irks me that they don't at least turn the BC car seats.

I've a got a trip on the Carolinian coming up in a few weeks. I'm in business class. Most of the seats facing direction of travel are sold. Riding backwards has wide open availability.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

I've a got a trip on the Carolinian coming up in a few weeks. I'm in business class. Most of the seats facing direction of travel are sold. Riding backwards has wide open availability.

Does the Carolinian still have a dedicated BC attendant? If so, they should definitely be turning seats as part of their responsbiity.

 

[TheVig]

Does the Carolinian still have a dedicated BC attendant? If so, they should definitely be turning seats as part of their responsbiity.

It's a new Amtrak thing on NEC trains and some long distance trains on the east coast. In other words it's intentional to have half the seats in one direction, and half facing the other. When I look at the seat map on the app for my tickets, it shows what seats face which direction. This way you can make seating changes. Of course that depends on availability.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

It's a new Amtrak thing on NEC trains and some long distance trains on the east coast. In other words it's intentional to have half the seats in one direction, and half facing the other. When I look at the seat map on the app for my tickets, it shows what seats face which direction. This way you can make seating changes. Of course that depends on availability.

It's all regional trains so far, and yes I'm aware. What I was saying is, if there is still a dedicated BC attendant, part of their job should be to turn seats. Just my opinion of course which isn't good for much! haha.

 

[TheVig]

It's all regional trains so far, and yes I'm aware. What I was saying is, if there is still a dedicated BC attendant, part of their job should be to turn seats. Just my opinion of course which isn't good for much! haha.

"Dedicated" IMO seems to be more of a suggestion, than a standard from my observation when riding these days. With that said, there is one conductor I get once in awhile who seems to stay dedicated to the business class car when he works the train. He has a great sense of humor, but is no non-sense when a situation warrants it.

 

[Amtrak25]

A 60 seat Business car means 7 or 8 seat rows would have to turned. That would take about 5 minutes and I think should be a required perk for all the money they charge you for that "free" $3 cup of coffee.

 

[Septa9739]

It’ll only happen if people stop paying

 

[Acela150]

A 60 seat Business car means 7 or 8 seat rows would have to turned. That would take about 5 minutes and I think should be a required perk for all the money they charge you for that "free" $3 cup of coffee.

8 rows are turned. Including the table seats.

It’ll only happen if people stop paying

Bingo!

 

[Amtrak25]

I mean turn seat half the rows after EACH trip so that all 15 face forward for the next trip.