Trip Report NY to NO

[M Caswell]

We thought this would be a great experience, and I guess it was. However, it was mostly bad. Having travelled on a number of sleeper trains in Australia and Chine, I was very disappointed in this train. The sleeper car was about 40 years old, and had terrible suspension. Most modern trains have hydraulic balancing systems to strop the carriage from lurching sideway as you take a corner, but not this baby.

The 1st class waiting room had coffee and those awful Sara Lee cake things with sticky fondant that sticks to the packet and not the cake. Hardly the experience I was expecting.

The food in the dining car was extremely mediocre. and the last meal before New Orleans was a choice of hot dogs or burgers. Good grief! Is that the best Amtrack can come up with?

We travelled at an average of 35 miles an hour, a huge difference from the Chinese train we recently used which averaged 200 mph. And not a drop of our drinks spilt on the Chinese train. One had to look outside to see if we were actually moving. I asked the guard why we were going so slow and he said much of the track was over swampland and a fast train would pound the track into the bog.

Yes, there is no wifi!

Someone needs to give this company a damned good shake. Wake up Amtrak. You could do NYC to NO in about (1300 miles) in about 7-8 hours using a Chinese train! I would much prefer to do this than go through the nonsense of an airport. And for those that think its important, the carbon footprint would be much less, methinks.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

We thought this would be a great experience, and I guess it was. However, it was mostly bad. Having travelled on a number of sleeper trains in Australia and Chine, I was very disappointed in this train. The sleeper car was about 40 years old, and had terrible suspension. Most modern trains have hydraulic balancing systems to strop the carriage from lurching sideway as you take a corner, but not this baby.

The 1st class waiting room had coffee and those awful Sara Lee cake things with sticky fondant that sticks to the packet and not the cake. Hardly the experience I was expecting.

The food in the dining car was extremely mediocre. and the last meal before New Orleans was a choice of hot dogs or burgers. Good grief! Is that the best Amtrack can come up with?

We travelled at an average of 35 miles an hour, a huge difference from the Chinese train we recently used which averaged 200 mph. And not a drop of our drinks spilt on the Chinese train. One had to look outside to see if we were actually moving. I asked the guard why we were going so slow and he said much of the track was over swampland and a fast train would pound the track into the bog.

Yes, there is no wifi!

Someone needs to give this company a damned good shake. Wake up Amtrak. You could do NYC to NO in about (1300 miles) in about 7-8 hours using a Chinese train! I would much prefer to do this than go through the nonsense of an airport. And for those that think its important, the carbon footprint would be much less, methinks.

You will need to talk to the US Congress if you want to "shake the company". Amtrak gets it's funding from the gov't.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Very sorry you were disappointed in your Amtrak ride. Unfortunately, American trains do not come up to the standards of many foreign lines. Mainly because passenger rail in the U.S. is not a top priority of the government. Other nations subsidize their trains to a much higher degree and thus have newer equipment and better track, free of most grade crossings.

Those of us who enjoy riding trains in the U.S. have come to expect slow service and sometimes some wild rides, but if you are not in a hurry, its still a nice ride through some beautiful countryside. If you are in a hurry, then I guess the only alternative is to fly.

 

[KmH]

Yep.

Write an open letter to the US Congress - both houses.

Plus Amtrak does not own most of the track nor track infrastructure Amtrak long distance trains run on.

The tracks the California Zephyr, Amtrak's longest and maybe most scenic LD train route, runs on tracks that at best have a max speed limit of 79 mph (127 kph), even though the locomotives pulling the train can go 110 mph.

Here in the US we are fortunate to have any passenger trains at all. But, that is another story.

Old, slow, and lurching carriages though they may be, except for the Acela trains in the North East Corridor, they're the best we got.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I will travel 35 MPH on an Amtrak train any day before traveling 200 MPH on something built and run in China!

 

[Train2104]

I will travel 35 MPH on an Amtrak train any day before traveling 200 MPH on something built and run in China!

Unfortunately many politicians and think that way when it comes to HSR..."we want to invite competition, even competition from other nations, but god forbid China wins!!!"

 

[KmH]

China apparently does not have a national highway system similar to what the US has.

A quote from Wikipedia.com regarding US Rail Transportation:

Rail transportation in the United States today consists primarily of freight shipments. Passenger service, once a large and vital part of the nation's passenger transportation network, now plays a limited role as compared to transportation patterns in many other countries.

 

[user 6862]

M Caswell, I think you may have missed the point of Amtrak long distance rail travel, surely it's mainly to savour a long journey taken at moderate speed through a constantly changing landscape. I too have ridden 200 mph trains that were almost silent and movement free (although not in China yet), they look great from the outside and are a revelation and real experience for the first few times, but are also a bit soulless too.

To look at the landscape in a 200 mph train you have to look at best to the middle distance and often to the far distance as you are travelling too fast to be able to focus on scenes near the train.

I also think it's slightly unfair to complain of the speed or time taken from NYC to NOL as you will have known the estimated journey time before you booked and probably a rough idea of the distance too, you did choose to buy your ticket after all.

I agree in large part with your comment on the range of food, but hot dogs and burgers are main American meals so perhaps we have to expect those meals to be better stocked than others?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

M Caswell, I think you may have missed the point of Amtrak long distance rail travel, surely it's mainly to savour a long journey taken at moderate speed through a constantly changing landscape. I too have ridden 200 mph trains that were almost silent and movement free (although not in China yet), they look great from the outside and are a revelation and real experience for the first few times, but are also a bit soulless too.

To look at the landscape in a 200 mph train you have to look at best to the middle distance and often to the far distance as you are travelling too fast to be able to focus on scenes near the train.

I also think it's slightly unfair to complain of the speed or time taken from NYC to NOL as you will have known the estimated journey time before you booked and probably a rough idea of the distance too, you did choose to buy your ticket after all.

I agree in large part with your comment on the range of food, but hot dogs and burgers are main American meals so perhaps we have to expect those meals to be better stocked than others?

**LIKE**

 

[caravanman]

I agree with V.V. that the superfast trains look good, but from a "travelers" perspective, do not offer much contact with the country outside the windows... Which is the whole point of ground level transport, for me.

On the other hand, prices charged by Amtrak for bedrooms can be pretty eye watering, so a first time user from overseas might reasonably expect a better standard of comfort, based on what has been experienced abroad.

It is also worth remembering that many 1st time visitors see America as the height of modern living, and a leader in technology... Quite a surprise to travel at 35mph on a bumpy track, and get pre-wrapped cakes and hotdogs as the 1st class food offerings.

Many tourists don't do a lot of research... If I ever go to Sweden, I imagine the trains will be better or similar to the UK, and I would have expected the same from the USA.

We a.u. members all like Amtrak travel, but it is important to remember how even we feel "cheesed off" at times, so the person expecting a modern reliable train experience as a first time customer may be surprised, at the least!

Ed