how late is the amtrak train ?

[mommiepoppins]

I am having enterprise pick us up and they close at 2. My train gets in at 1230. Should I just forget about that?

 

[pxlbarrel]

I have never taken the train to Orlando but the Amtrak train I was just on was 5 hours late...and the one I took previous to that (the first leg of the trip) was over 3 hours late.

It's pretty much soured me on train travel...

You might have a better idea of how late you'll be when you're on the train...so you may be able to call them on your cell phone and tell them to forget about it (if you're terribly late).

 

[Nala2007]

Same here, I took Amtrak once to WDW and we were delayed 3 hours
it really sucked

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Amtrak's record for on-time arrivals is not good. I believe the January 12th train just arrived today.......j/k!

BobK/Orlando

 

[kaytieeldr]

... the tracks are owned by CSX. Freight trains get preference. Amtrak does the best they can given those conditions

 

[pxlbarrel]

... the tracks are owned by CSX. Freight trains get preference. Amtrak does the best they can given those conditions

5 hours late? That's the best they can do? Then, perhaps, they should be adjusting their schedule to reflect the real, actual time. If I had known it would take 17 hours to do the trip instead of 12, I may not have taken the train.

 

[ducklite]

When I lived up north I took Amtrack up and down the Northeast corridor on a regular basis--between NYC and ALbany, NYC and Boston, Albany and Boston,. Syracuse and Albany, NYC and Washington, Philly and Washington, etc., etc. I think I can count on one hand how many times the train was on time. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count how many times it was late.

One time I remember the train from Syracuse to Albany being eight hours late--making it an eleven hour trip--I could have driven in under three hours!

Anne

 

[kaytieeldr]

5 hours late? That's the best they can do? Then, perhaps, they should be adjusting their schedule to reflect the real, actual time. If I had known it would take 17 hours to do the trip instead of 12, I may not have taken the train.

That's your right. Nobody is forced to use a particular mode of transportation.

As for adjusting schedules, well, freight trains don't run on regular schedules - they transport different freight at different times from different locations to different points - so how would Amtrak be able to adjust its schedules accordingly?
-

When I lived up north I took Amtrack up and down the Northeast corridor on a regular basis--between NYC and ALbany, NYC and Boston, Albany and Boston,. Syracuse and Albany, NYC and Washington, Philly and Washington, etc.,

Of those pairs, only Boston/New York and New York/Washington are considered Northeast Corridor.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Actually, except for local freight trains working the sidings and ferrying freight cars to and from various places, most long distance freight trains are on a schedule just like passenger trains.

In addition, in many cases Amtrak has paid extra to give its trains priority. The problem is that if the Amtrak train falls behind schedule then the freight railroads have their own schedules to keep and Amtrak has lost its priority. Then the passenger train must wait for openings. It's even worse now than years ago because many railroads that used to operate double-track main lines have switched to single tracks with sidings every few miles. When the Amtrak train is not on schedule it can only move further when there is space to do so, stopping on each siding whenever a scheduled freight is coming through. Thus the passenger train falls further and further behind schedule.

BobK/Orlando

 

[DC7800]

5 hours late? That's the best they can do? Then, perhaps, they should be adjusting their schedule to reflect the real, actual time

Except it won't work. When schedules are lengthened to reflect "actual" train running times, somehow the host railroad appears to just take that much longer to get the train over the road. For instance, a train is scheduled 27 hours to make its trip, and is consistently late by 30 to 90 minutes. Stretch the schedule to, say, 29 hours, and somehow the train still manages to frequently show up an hour or more late. It just gives extra time for sloppy handling and a potentially greater chance for the fright railroad to give its own trains priority.

What amazes me is how a train can be, on average, a couple hours late day after day after day, but whenever someone from Amtrak management rides the train to observe and document the host railroad's mishandling of the schedule, the train doesn't arrive late. In fact, it shows up a few minutes early...

 

[pxlbarrel]

That's your right. Nobody is forced to use a particular mode of transportation.

As for adjusting schedules, well, freight trains don't run on regular schedules - they transport different freight at different times from different locations to different points - so how would Amtrak be able to adjust its schedules accordingly?
-
Of those pairs, only Boston/New York and New York/Washington are considered Northeast Corridor.

Yes, it's my right to choose a particular mode of transportation...but we make that decision based on the information given to us by the company selling us that mode of transportation.

So...while I was willing to accept being behind schedule by a couple of hours, my goodwill toward Amtrak died when it stretched beyond a couple of hours to 5 hours being behind schedule. 1.5 hours of that time was spent going backwards and forwards at 1 station...for no apparent reason at all. The other problem with this particular train ride was that there were no announcements as to why were were so behind schedule, ie...no announcement as to why were were going backwards and forwards for that length of time or no announcement as to why we were just sitting in the middle of nowhere earlier in the day. A lot of frustration can be eliminated by a simple announcement. Giving people information about what the heck is going on may not get us there faster but it helps us cope better cause now we have a reason.

If they're trying to kill rail service as an alternative to flying, Amtrak is doing a pretty good job. Everybody on my train vowed never to use it again.

 

[ducklite]

Of those pairs, only Boston/New York and New York/Washington are considered Northeast Corridor.

I know, I was using it all as an illustration of my actual point--train service is unreliable.

Anne