I'd rather be late on Amtrack...

[birdguy 3,956]

I've been on Amtrack trains that have been as much as 7 or 8 hours late.  It doesn't bother me because I expect it and plan for it.  If I have to change trains at an Amtrack hub like Chicago or Los Angeles I schedule my connection for the next day and stay at a hotel overnight.  A comfortable room and a good book and an extra meal in the dining car make running late confortable.  On an Amtrack trip from Seattle to Los Angeles we were running several hours late.  I read the entire Hunger Games book before we reached Chicago.  For me it was an enjoyable trip.  Much better than trying to read a book while stiuck in an airline terminal

These situations are become more frequent.  

https://abc7ny.com/jfk-airport-power-disruption-terminal-1/12829813/

Noel

[Bob Scott 7,747]

Well, in all fairness, Amtrak is no jewel, either--they're experiencing a surge in nasty delay situations as well--a college buddy of mine was stuck in the middle of nowhere in SW Texas on the Southwest Chief for more than 38 hours on his last train trek...toilets overflowing, no opportunity to get out, etc.  An Amtrak train was in the news for the same thing--pax stuck on a train in rural VA for over 40 hours with overflowing toilets and no food--around the same time the Christmas SWA fiasco was going on.  https://nypost.com/2022/01/04/virginia-amtrak-train-stranded-for-nearly-40-hours-due-to-storm/

I won't lower my standards and just accept that the sort of unreliability and incompetence we've been seeing across the entire transportation system is some kind of new normal--it's embarassing third-world fare, and definitely not something to shrug off.  The people in charge of keeping the transportation system running should be ashamed of themselves, but alas, there is no shame any more.

[mwilk 1,107]

Anyone know what time the train leaves from Los Angeles to Honolulu?🤣

[HUSSAR 272]

I agree Bob, no one takes responsibility nor is accountable for the frequent shortcomings in travel these days.  They've groomed the traveling public into believing everything they tell us.  Even our trusted ferry system here in the PNW has not been spared.  Ferry trips to and from Vancouver Island are cancelled daily and causes a large backlog among travellers.  

[birdguy 3,956]

Well, I have to agree.  It's been a number of years since I travelled anywhere on commercial transportation.  And I doubt I will ever be using using public transportation again.  That part of my life is over.

I read about the 40 hour delay on the Autotrain in Virginia.  But what is the solution?

Noel

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by birdguy

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

European passenger rail systems - good to excellent 

American passenger rail systems - horrible!!

No way you could get me on an Amtrak these day. If for some reason I couldn’t fly, I’d rather drive. Even the train stations are nasty.

Over the last Christmas holiday I took a train from Vienna to Prague and it was a pleasant experience. The train station in Vienna was really nice looking, almost like a modern airport with shopping and cafes. Same can be said for a lot of train stations I’ve been to in Italy, France, and Spain.

Not only that, but the trains are fast, cabins are nice and food is descent. Not sure how much Amtrak charges but the train I took from Vienna to Prague only cost about €50 for a first class cabin seat.

Plus there’s no vagrants, drunks, open air drug usage at the terminal. 

[Antipodeslonghaul 80]

I'm an aviation enthusiast, but I do also love trains. New York to San Francisco or Paris to Beijing, I'd much rather be on a train than inside an aeroplane.

I love ships too. I could imagine transatlantic or transpacific passenger oceanliner travel picking up again some day, except with high speed internet. Maybe sort of the idea, you can never be everywhere at once anyway, so may as well enjoy travel, doesn't matter so much when you get there, but you also have the ability to stay connected.

Long distance bus travel on the other hand, not so great. I took a few roughly four hour long city to city bus trips recently. It wasn't that bad, but had the trips been longer they might have been excrutiating.

[birdguy 3,956]

5 hours ago, Antipodeslonghaul said:

transpacific passenger oceanliner travel picking up again some day

I can't think of anything I'd enjoy less than booking passage on a cruise ship.  Those massive floating cities where you think you are on New York's 5th Avenue when you go on deck and where everything is organized.

As a young boy in San Francisco, I remember watching the Matsonia and the Lurline going out or coming back from Honolulu.

I liked crossing the Pacific on troop ships.  I did it three times...twice westbound and once eastbound.  I found it quite enjoyable.  Lots of dog eared porn books being passed around (some with pages missing).  Just staring out over the ocean.  Standing on the bow and watching the bow wave.  "Now hear this!  Now hear this! Sweepers man your brooms.  Sweepers man your brooms!  Sweep down all decks and passageways.  Empty all trash over the fantail!"

I've often thought about booking passage on a container ship or freighter that has passenger cabins.  Take a long a good pair of binoculars and several good books.  But that's one of the things I never got around to doing.  And no crowds.  Usually about a dozen passenger cabins.

But Betty would have part of that.  She was afraid of the sea and the sky.  She only went flying with me a couple of times and then said she wanted no more of that.

Yes, you can book passage on some of these ships.  

https://www.freightertrips.com/guide/ships.html

Noel

Edited February 18, 2023 by birdguy

[scott967 62]

First, when you live in Hawaii you better like to fly, or at least be OK with it.

 

We got caught in the Southwest meltdown over Christmas.  In Tampa, but at least we were able to get our bags back so ended up paying through the nose on Delta.  Flew through Atlanta.  At midnight I never saw a terminal so crowded.  And here we were, Hawaii people, and it was like 18 deg F at the airport.  Couple weeks later coming back home (again Southwest, I guess we are gluttons for punishment) we push back from the gate at KLAS and Capt gets on and says "We're going back to the gate to pick up a Capt"  (I guess needed to reposition) .  That took an hour and a half, making our connection in San Jose tight, but we needn't have worried, as in San Jose they couldn't get their contractor over to service the lavs and they couldn't push back until they had.

 

But having experience with "Air Mobility Command Airlines" PAXing you need to be able to go with the flow.

 

AFA Amtrak, most of my experience is on the NEC and Amtrak tries to make that work.  My Father used to train from New Orleans to Birmingham AL and back to see my brother, and that mostly went well (I think Amtrak has trouble past Birmingham to Atlanta where they run in NS territory).  What I see as significant problem is high platform/low platform if you have mobility issues.  Airlines are much better able to deal with wheelchairs etc.  Birmingham does have a new Amtrak terminal, much nicer than what was there before.

 

scott s.

.

 

 

[188AHC 2,141]

I've been to DC on Amtrak in the last few years and it was ontime and great. I'm very sorry to see these reviews.