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Amtrak is fine if you have realistic expectationsFeb 05 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Don't expect the Ritz at a Motel 6 price. Single travelers should stick to flying/driving long distances. Looking through the Amtrak/VIA opinions, it appears that a lot of the complaints are from people who took multi-day trips in coach or missed connections due to delays. I can't help but say, "Duh!" If anyone thinks it's going to be pleasant to spend two or three days trying to sleep in a chair, they're not quite right in the head. Same with anyone who thinks other forms of transportation don't experience delays. Delays are delays and they happen in every industry. I also notice a number of "I took a trip XX years ago and..." which doesn't really help anyone decide whether the train is a viable option _now_. Stepping off the soap box... If you're going more than 500 miles or so, there's very little reason for a single passenger to take the train unless you want to do it just for the sake of taking the train. Any longer than that and you're going to want a sleeper car. Even if you don't plan to sleep, you'll want to get away from that screaming kid sooner or later. :) Of course, once you add the sleeper car, you've entered the air-fare price range for a single passenger and you need to decide if you want to spend 15 hours on a train or 2 hours on a plane. So when is the train a good choice? Last minute trips, trips where the journey is your vacation, family trips, etc. [-------Actual Amtrak Trips-------] The longest trip I've taken on a train (700 miles each way on the Coast Starlight) is one I'll never make again in coach. I have no problem with the condition of the train, the ability/attitude of the staff, or any gripes with the other passengers. I just couldn't manage to get any sleep in that seat. Any time I came close to nodding off (or shortly after I'd managed to), we'd stop at a station and the noise of passengers getting on and off would rouse me. Aside from the lack of sleep, the trip was fine. The cars were clean, the bathrooms all functional and as clean as possible (considering the jostling nature of a train), the food was passable and not outrageously priced, and the number of crying babies wasn't unreasonable (you've always got to expect one or two but they tend to wear themselves out after about 15 minutes). I boarded the train around 3:15pm, well fed and rested. When dinner time rolled around, I decided to give the dining car a shot just to see if the food was any good. I took a fairly late reservation since I wasn't very hungry. The seating arrangements, of course, teamed me up with 3 total strangers. I had chicken which was decent. Good but not inspiring. After dinner, I read a book for a few hours, then started my attempt to sleep. All in all, I probably managed to get a couple hours of fitful sleep between midnight and 5am (which is when I gave up). For breakfast, I went with an omelette and a glass of orange juice. It was pretty good and really hit the spot. As usual, the train was about 1.5 hours late by the time we reached my destination but I'd expected that. As planned, I popped out the cell phone about an hour before reaching my destination and my ride was waiting when I got there. The ride back was pretty much the same except I only ate one meal in the dining car. I did grab a sandwich from the snack car the next day which was okay. About what you'd expect to get from an automat. I guess a more modern reference would be those pre-packaged sandwiches you find at gas stations. Basically meat, cheese ant lettuce on a bun. Squeeze your own condiments out of packets. Mmmmm. Nummy. :) If you've got the cash, stick to the dining car. If you can't afford the dining car, bring your own food. you won't save any money by eating in the snack car. Due to my inability to sleep through the periods of activity, I wouldn't want to do it again. The price of adding a standard sleeper to the trip makes it more expensive than flying (for a single passenger) so there's no reason for me to do it unless I want to kill some time. I've made this same trip just about every way there is and the non-sleeping train trip is my least favorite. I can fly at about three times the cost of the train ride. Sounds like a lot of money until you compare the time. 4 hours on the plane (including layover), 19.5 hours on the train. Taking a rental car costs about the same as taking the train but lets me put that 1400 miles on someone else's vehicle and shaves about 5.5 hours off the train's time, too. I can leave early in the morning and reach my destination at a decent hour if I don't make any extra stops. Of course, driving that far isn't for everyone. --------- Another trip I've taken a few times is about 300 miles on the Pacific Surfliner. At around $90 round trip in business class ($58 for coach), it's significantly cheaper than flying and the station is about a 10 minute walk from my destination. The trip takes about 8 hours and the schedule has me leaving and arriving at decent hours on each end. I only save about 2 hours by driving or riding my motorcycle and I don't really need a vehicle on the other end so the train is a great way to make the trip. The Pacific Surfliner doesn't have sleeper cars or a dining car but it really doesn't need them since the length of the run is just a hair over 300 miles and it runs during the day. Even with delays, you can't spend more than 9 hours on board. In business class, you get free snacks and beverages so the extra money is well spent if you don't want to bother with bringing your own food and drinks. Now that they've got plugs on most of the cars, I can even top off the batteries in my PDA and cell phone. :) --------- I've also taken a few short trips between Solana Beach and San Diego area at around $5-6 per hop. With trains going almost hourly in that area, it's quick and easy to slap down a few bucks and catch a ride. From the San Diego, station, it's just a walk across the street to the trolley where a couple bucks will get you to most stops. --------- Tips for traveling by rail: 1) If you're traveling on a weekend or anywhere near a holiday, pay a bit more for a reserved seat. If you're boarding at or near the start of a train's run, you can probably avoid this by arriving early and making sure you're at the front of the boarding line. There are sometimes other benefits to getting a reserved seat, though, so find out what services are provided before deciding. 2) Bring your own snacks, food, and drinks if you want to save money. This isn't as important if you're traveling first class (pay for a sleeper and you get free meals) but food costs can really drive up the cost of your trip if you're traveling coach and you're on the train for more than one meal. 3) Bring something to amuse yourself. And don't think one good book will do it unless your trip is under an hour. Bring three or four things to keep yourself busy. Music, books, knitting, letters, etc. If you're social, you may be able to get a card game going so pack a deck or two. 4) Travel lightly. This applies to all travel, not just rail travel. I never take any more than I can carry with me. If you don't have to check a bag, you don't have to worry about it getting lost. 5) Expect delays. The time tables posted by Amtrak are have little room for error and there will often be something that slows the train. The longer the trip, the later you will be when you reach your destination. Just accept it and plan accordingly. They're going as fast as they can. The alternative is to artificially extend the time between stops by moving at a slower average speed or sitting around at the stations longer than necessary. So either you're a bit late some of the time or you're sitting around twiddling your thumbs all of the time. Either way, the average travel time isn't decreased. ---------- Bottom line: The shorter the trip, the more I like Amtrak. Anything more than about 12 hours and I'd rather fly or drive unless I've got some reason to kill time and can justify the added expense of a sleeper car. Having complained about long trips in coach, though, writing this review has got me thinking about taking a long trip with a sleeper. The standard sleeper cars aren't _too_ expensive...A round trip to Chicago is under a thousand dollars, room and board included, and could be done in under a week with a day to wander around Chicago and a night in San Francisco. :)  |
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