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This seems to be a chronic problem for Amtrak (which discourages a lot of riders, see my other post). I am taking the empire builder from spokane on friday morning and connecting to the Cardinal in Chicago. I have noticed the empire builder has been quite late a lot lately, which is strange because the builder is the one train that is usually close to on time. anybody know why it has been running late?
The cardinal is another story. i took it once earlier this year and the train was two hours late leaving chicago, and we arrived in DC 7 hours late. Now i have noticed the cardinal has been late leaving chicago almost every time in the last couple of weeks (according to the train status page on amtrak's website). why is the cardinal so late leaving chicago so often?
i can handle amtrak being a little late, i am not in a big hurry. but i do have to make my connections, and often times being late makes it impossible to see the nice scenery (like when the cardinal is really late going east).
I have travelled on passenger trains in europe, russia, china, and india, and even in third world countries their trains run on time. I know Amtrak is at the mercy of the freight railroads, but this is a serious problem for amtrak. It results in fewer passengers, and costs amtrak money in employee overtime and passenger compensation (like when amtrak flew me and a bunch of other people to make our connecting train in st louis after we were late getting into chicago).
7 hours late getting into DC is ridiculous, (arriving at 3 am.) I might continue to give amtrak a try, but many people dont want to put up with it.
Posts: 416 | From: St. Albans, Vermont | Registered: Feb 2003
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Yah, trains can be late, its not usually the engineers fault though!! Freight trains I hear are prioritized in the heavy rail traffic. If you live in Los Angeles like me lots of trains originate their so its easy for me! But if you live in a smaller town you can be waiting for hours, as I did once in Pittsfield, MA fo the "Late for Sure Limited".
But if people really like trains they wont mind the delays of train travel!
A.
Posts: 1082 | From: Los Angeles, CA. USA | Registered: Aug 2003
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thats the problem, coaststarlight, the people who really like trains (like us on this board) will still continue to ride them, but others wont. That could result in amtrak cutting more trains or being scrapped altogether. and even for die hard train fans like me, getting into DC at 3 am 7 hours late) was definitely annoying
Posts: 416 | From: St. Albans, Vermont | Registered: Feb 2003
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I'm a recreational traveler and love it when the train is late and I have a sleeper. They have to feed you if your still aboard at meal time. I consider late time to be free travel time. But, I do feel sorry for the folks waiting for the train.
Posts: 71 | From: lawrence,kansas,usa | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Originally posted by shanghaiamtrak: This seems to be a chronic problem for Amtrak (which discourages a lot of riders, see my other post). I am taking the empire builder from spokane on friday morning and connecting to the Cardinal in Chicago. I have noticed the empire builder has been quite late a lot lately, which is strange because the builder is the one train that is usually close to on time. anybody know why it has been running late?
The reason for the recent tardiness of the Empire Builder has been the weather that has occured the past few days in the Pacific Northwest. The route has had to deal with its share of power outages & non-functioning signals, among other things. your other comments regarding Amtrak trains being tardy are right on target, though. When it has happened to the trains that I've been on in the past, it has provided me with the opportunity to point out to other passengers that Amtrak has been under-funded in comparison to the other modes of transportation in this country. Most non- railfan train riders have no idea that the tracks are private property, and not public in the same sense that roads are. Many other folks have absolutly no idea that Amtrak has little to no control over the priority given its train by the freight railroads' traffic controllers, and no effort is made to educate or communicate that fact to the general public. As a result, many folks misattribute the causes of Amtraks tardiness to Amtrak itself, and not the dispatching of the landlord railroads. Tardiness and the failure of the crews to adequatly communicate the reasons for the tardiness to the passengers have been chronic issues for Amtrak, however, many crew members I have come across in recent years have improved in their efforts to explain what happens to a public that has become more and more conditioned to expect comments, a la what many airline pilots make when their planes are delayed. Funny, but when planes are delayed, and traffic backs up on the highways, one doesn't hear folks saying that they'll never fly or drive again, but that tolerance and level of patience doesn't translate to Amtrak. I've had to point out that planes become late - sometimes by several hours - to folks who are very quick to lose patience with Amtrak, but I digress. I hope this answers your question.
Folks, if we want to have the choice of taking the train in the future, we have to spread the understanding to the non-rail enthusiast public, and let folks know about the unique situations and under-funding the Amtrak finds itself in.
quote:I have travelled on passenger trains in europe, russia, china, and india, and even in third world countries their trains run on time. I know Amtrak is at the mercy of the freight railroads, but this is a serious problem for amtrak. It results in fewer passengers, and costs amtrak money in employee overtime and passenger compensation (like when amtrak flew me and a bunch of other people to make our connecting train in st louis after we were late getting into chicago).
7 hours late getting into DC is ridiculous, (arriving at 3 am.) I might continue to give amtrak a try, but many people dont want to put up with it.
Concur with your sentiments. I've learned to enjoy spending more time on the train, but I have several family members who won't take the train due to the tardiness issues that plague Amtrak. Posts: 506 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: Mar 2002
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