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The Acela line with business & first class is literally the only quality Amtrak line in the country. For that line, and that line only, it can be worthwhile as

by mlthoughts2018 7y ago

The Acela line with business & first class is literally the only quality Amtrak line in the country. For that line, and that line only, it can be worthwhile as an alternative to flying or driving among a select few destination spanning from DC to Boston. I’m sure that line accounts for some wildly disproportionate revenue for Amtrak, but in most other places people prefer to pay cheaper fares and don’t care about the surrounding quality properties enough to pay more for them.

mattkrause 7y ago
And that’s the only major part of the network where Amtrak controls the tracks. Elsewhere, it’s hamstrung by limited capacity and bad/illegal behavior by private operators. The Office of the Inspector General put together a fairly comprehensive report about this: https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/Amtrak_Root_Causes_Final_Report_9_8_08_with_508_charts.pdf https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/Amtrak_Root_Caus... In principle, this could easily be fixed—-and cracking down operators ignoring the preference rules did help a lot—-but people have to want it.
leetcrew 7y ago
I would disagree (or maybe you have much higher expectations than I do). I find the NE regional to be quite nice as long as you aren't trying to go all the way from boston to DC. and going up the hudson river on the empire line is simply a lovely experience.
- mlthoughts2018 7y ago
  Yeah, our preferences for what an Amtrak priced fare should provide are likely just different. I won’t ride Amtrak at all unless it’s business or first class, and typically I just buy far in advance or simply don’t travel if these fares are too high. The price for coach tickets is ludicrous to me when accounting for the crowdedness / mad dash to get seats. The last time I rode coach on NE regional lines, my girlfriend & I arrived over an hour early for the train & we had to stand up and hold our suitcases for the first 90 minutes of the ride because there were simply no seats. We walked back to front every coach car and every seat was taken and all of the luggage racks were filled. I get frazzled by hectic transportation experiences so it was especially nasty for me. For a $70-80 fare, I expect easy access to a comfortable seat, ample space for 1-2 bags / suitcases directly at my seat area, and easy ability for multiple people in the same party to get seats directly next to each other. I hate that Amtrak locks these (basic) amenities behind business & first class fares, and essentially acts like a slumlord towards their coach class service.

mattkrause 7y ago

And that’s the only major part of the network where Amtrak controls the tracks. Elsewhere, it’s hamstrung by limited capacity and bad/illegal behavior by private operators. The Office of the Inspector General put together a fairly comprehensive report about this: https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/Amtrak_Root_Causes_Final_Report_9_8_08_with_508_charts.pdf https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/Amtrak_Root_Caus... In principle, this could easily be fixed—-and cracking down operators ignoring the preference rules did help a lot—-but people have to want it.

leetcrew 7y ago

I would disagree (or maybe you have much higher expectations than I do). I find the NE regional to be quite nice as long as you aren't trying to go all the way from boston to DC. and going up the hudson river on the empire line is simply a lovely experience.

mlthoughts2018 7y ago
Yeah, our preferences for what an Amtrak priced fare should provide are likely just different. I won’t ride Amtrak at all unless it’s business or first class, and typically I just buy far in advance or simply don’t travel if these fares are too high. The price for coach tickets is ludicrous to me when accounting for the crowdedness / mad dash to get seats. The last time I rode coach on NE regional lines, my girlfriend & I arrived over an hour early for the train & we had to stand up and hold our suitcases for the first 90 minutes of the ride because there were simply no seats. We walked back to front every coach car and every seat was taken and all of the luggage racks were filled. I get frazzled by hectic transportation experiences so it was especially nasty for me. For a $70-80 fare, I expect easy access to a comfortable seat, ample space for 1-2 bags / suitcases directly at my seat area, and easy ability for multiple people in the same party to get seats directly next to each other. I hate that Amtrak locks these (basic) amenities behind business & first class fares, and essentially acts like a slumlord towards their coach class service.