auto train will you still take it despite the recent event?

[joyfulnet]

I haven't heard about the woman found dead by the tracks. ?? scary.

BUT, I will never, ever, ever take a train again for the rest of my life. I tried Amtrak once several years ago and it was the worst traveling experience EVER. Let's see....

cramped, hot, they ran out of water to sell (what??), the bathrooms were having overflow problems (yes!!), they were over FOUR HOURS LATE and acted like that was normal. I kissed the ground when I got off of that thing and swore never again.

You can see that I feel strongly about this....

 

[NJRRK]

We've taken the Auto Train a number of times and will gladly take again. Being on the train I can't see how someone could "accidentally" fall off, it would have to be intentional, either by the person or someone else. We have never felt threatened or afraid on the train and as I said we will not hesitate to take it again.

For cost, each time we have taken the Autotrain (and we always have sleepers) it has always been cheaper for us then flying and renting a car. Yes the time is greater, but we see the train as part of the vacation, not just transportation and it also gives us a chance to unwind, before we get to DW and a chance to unwind, after what always turns out to be a hectic time in the world. I'm not saying we're never going to fly down again, but we will not rule out the train.

As for those of you who say flying is quicker, from the NE to Florida it is quicker, but flying is not always the quikest way. I can get from my home in NJ to Washington DC in about 4.5 hours on the train, 3.5 if I'm wiling to drive to the station in Iselin rather than commuter train to NY. Driving takes about 4.5 hours (with no traffic) and flying is about 3.5 hours, including 30 minutes to get to airport, you need to get EWR about 1.5 hours before flight time, 1 hour flight plus 30 minutes to get downtown.

Some of us don't like to fly for one reason or another, I have sinus issues that makes it very uncomfortable for me to fly, but I will to save time, I just have to suffer through it, so if we have the time the train is much more comfortable for me.

 

[Dorisk3]

I wouldn't let that incident stop you from taking the autotrain, I'm sure there are not people on board waiting to push you off.

As far as flying goes, I hate it, but I love that I'm in Orlando after only about 2 and a half hours. I take my xanax and deal with it, knowing I'm not wasting my precious vacation time sitting on a train for a day or worse yet sitting in my car for 18 hours.

On a side note, there are a number of free sites for help with fear of flying, I read many before I left and was a lot less nervous this time!

 

[WDWCP96]

I took the AutoTrain in May 2008 and I would take it again but it wouldn't be cost effective for us. We did it at the time because my son was obsessed with trains and we thought it would be fun for him and we were staying off-site so having our car with us was great instead of renting a car and a carseat (I don't like the rental carseats personally).

I wouldn't let this incident affect you. Like any type of transportation odd events can happen and it really has no impact on you. Like a PP said there is something behind this story that we don't know so I wouldn't cancel your plans.

 

[bumbershoot]

Those are the seats. What stops some US carriers from putting some of them in. They look horrible to sit in.

They were simply unveiled at a trade show. By a designer. Not by an airline. And the safety commissions in the article said that they doubted the stand-up seats would be allowed at all even if ryanair really wanted to put them in. As far as I remember, the standup seats were merely unveiled by a designer at a same sort of event...no one is commissioning these seats; designers are just playing, IMO.

they were over FOUR HOURS LATE and acted like that was normal.

That part is normal. I have friends that were 24 hours late coming from SF to Seattle. Passenger trains don't have primary "rights" to the tracks. Freight does. So if there's freight that needs to get through, passengers get to wait. And since there aren't multiple lanes like on a freeway, or lots of airspace around, if there are accidents ahead of you, there's nowhere to go.

I personally really enjoy train travel, and wish such a train existed out here. You just put delays into your schedule, get a room so you're considered first class (at least out here) and enjoy the meals (which were quite good, at least the vegetarian meals, back in '04) and watch the scenery go by.

I'm thinking about switching to a regular amtrak train down, just to put my mind at ease...

So what is the difference to you? If this isn't caused by someone known to her (remembering that on cruises if someone goes overboard, their travel companions are always looked at first) and it was caused by a stranger, how would the regular train be different? I don't mean to talk you out of it entirely, but autovsregular...doesn't seem to make much of a difference in terms of personal safety.

 

[Sadie22]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/13/georgia.passenger.death/

She was shaking so her husband went somewhere else to sleep????

 

[Vijoge]

We're flying to MCO with our granddaughter in Feb so just for kicks I checked to see what it would have cost had we decided to take the train. Assuming we bought Amtrak coach seats, the price would have been almost identical to our coach airfare.

Now, I love the train. I really do. But I will only travel in a sleeper so that's where the expense comes in. A sleeper for this same trip brings the total to nearly four times what our airfare cost.

In addition, when my vacation days are limited to a week or less I can't justify spending four of my seven days on the train.

That being said, I am planning another trip in the next couple of years on Amtrak because the train is actually my preferred way to travel.

 

[skoi]

Hadn't seen this before. We're taking the Autotrain up from Disney in December. We always drive, since there are six of us, and flying is too expensive.

We decided on the train because while the trip down is overnight for us driving, the trip home is two days, and when we added in food, hotel (two rooms), etc, train is about the same.

Love the train. We've taken them all over the US and Europe, in Morocco, and looking forward to doing the same in Egypt next Fall. Great opportunity to meet new people and learn new things.

 

[maxiesmom]

I spend 3 hours a DAY on a commuter train in and out of Wash. DC and I only have 8 more days until I retire -- I hope to never step on another train unless it's going around MK.

Totally off topic, but congrats on your retirement!!!

 

[POOHsie]

Sorry, but the story about the lady with Parkinson's who was found dead along the tracks, with the train window found open, and the husband wasn't with her at the time this all happened, doesn't pass the smell test. It's hinky.

 

[duffy]

Bizarre story, but I wouldn't let the fact that someone died in a strange accident alter my plans.

 

[DebbieB]

Those are the seats. What stops some US carriers from putting some of them in. They look horrible to sit in.

I really doubt any US airlines will put them in. I saw that on the news and they said they could put 262 people in a 737. But my question is how would the plane be able to handle the weight of all those passengers? I know when USAir squeezed their seats together to allow a couple more rows, they had to block some of the extra seats on longer flights because they would not have enough fuel with the weight of the extra people to reach the west coast non-stop.