L
lone star
Guest
Well we did the San Antonio-Austin roundtrip.
Going from San Antonio was OK, train left on time, got breakfast though this took a while because you could not go into the dining car until the conductor had scanned the e-ticket and it took a while for the conductor to get around. But the train pokes along so slowly that we still finished breakfast in plenty of time before getting to Austin. I guess the people in the sleeper cars have priority in eating over the people just riding in the regular coach? That is because it seems all the sleeper people were in the diner with their food when the first coach passengers arrived. Maybe they get their tickets taken first? I guess it makes sense. Anyways, all us coach passengers were seated together in a different part of the diner. The train was pretty empty but maybe it fills up after we got off in Austin.
Coming back was a different story. The train was more than two and a half hours late getting into Austin and of course the diner was closed. We figured on that after waiting in the station more than an hour after the scheduled arrival. Finally the ticket clerk said we should walk up the block to the Whole Foods Market and buy some dinner there because the train was going to be much more delayed than the "official" announcements. So we did, thank goodness. He gave us good directions and the walk wasn't really that far at all.
Finally limped into San Antonio about 100 minutes, even though the schedule seems to allow for three and a half hours from Austin to San Antonio, as opposed to two and half hours going in the opposite direction.
I guess we chalk all of this up as a new experience but don't think we'd do it again. It seems that the trains are pretty unreliable in keeping to their schedules, unless I guess if the station is the kick-off point for the line, like San Antonio to Austin. Unfortunately the car is a much quicker and easier way to get between the two cities. We have friends who have done Greyhound and that takes only an hour and forty minutes or so. Even with traffic, you still are a lot faster than the train. It seems a shame since a fast train between the two cities would definitely appeal to people like us who otherwise drive. But from what I can tell from this forum, we should consider ourselves lucky in Texas even to have this one train at all.
Oh well, just some thoughts from an infrequent rider.
Going from San Antonio was OK, train left on time, got breakfast though this took a while because you could not go into the dining car until the conductor had scanned the e-ticket and it took a while for the conductor to get around. But the train pokes along so slowly that we still finished breakfast in plenty of time before getting to Austin. I guess the people in the sleeper cars have priority in eating over the people just riding in the regular coach? That is because it seems all the sleeper people were in the diner with their food when the first coach passengers arrived. Maybe they get their tickets taken first? I guess it makes sense. Anyways, all us coach passengers were seated together in a different part of the diner. The train was pretty empty but maybe it fills up after we got off in Austin.
Coming back was a different story. The train was more than two and a half hours late getting into Austin and of course the diner was closed. We figured on that after waiting in the station more than an hour after the scheduled arrival. Finally the ticket clerk said we should walk up the block to the Whole Foods Market and buy some dinner there because the train was going to be much more delayed than the "official" announcements. So we did, thank goodness. He gave us good directions and the walk wasn't really that far at all.
Finally limped into San Antonio about 100 minutes, even though the schedule seems to allow for three and a half hours from Austin to San Antonio, as opposed to two and half hours going in the opposite direction.
I guess we chalk all of this up as a new experience but don't think we'd do it again. It seems that the trains are pretty unreliable in keeping to their schedules, unless I guess if the station is the kick-off point for the line, like San Antonio to Austin. Unfortunately the car is a much quicker and easier way to get between the two cities. We have friends who have done Greyhound and that takes only an hour and forty minutes or so. Even with traffic, you still are a lot faster than the train. It seems a shame since a fast train between the two cities would definitely appeal to people like us who otherwise drive. But from what I can tell from this forum, we should consider ourselves lucky in Texas even to have this one train at all.
Oh well, just some thoughts from an infrequent rider.
