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i have noticed that the coast starlight has been late getting into portland by over an hour everyday for the last few weeks, sometimes by as much as 4-5 hours. amtrak must be paying a lot to bus or fly those people connecting to the empire builder in portland.
i was thinking of taking the starlight to connect to the builder, but it looks like i wont now because i will probably miss the connection or be bussed (and i dont want to buy a train ticket to be put on a bus)
lateness is amtraks biggest problem. when will the problem be solved??????
MontanaJim Member # 2323
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and why are the coast starlight and the cardinal such troublemakers when it comes to lateness????????
CG96 Member # 1408
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Some possible reasons for the tardiness of the Starlight:
1. lots of freight traffic 2. inclement weather 3. track maintenance, or the lack thereof. SP, when they still existed, was rather challenged when it came to track maintenance over certain stretches of track their last few years of existance. 4. Poor weather causing signal & traffic control systems malfunction. 5. Union Pacific. "We Deliver" yeah right. UP has long been suspected of being quite hostile to the presence of Amtrak - or any other entity's - trains over their rails. One of the ways to show their distaste for Amtrak? put every other train, including the drag freights, on a higher priority than Amtrak.
CG96 Member # 1408
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The cardinal's tardiness? I'm uncertain, but it could be possible that the tardiness is due to the bad condition of the track through Indiana. Don't take my word on it, though.
CoastStarlight99 Member # 2734
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I am visting minnestoa soon from Los Angeles...I would take the coast starlight to portland, and then if the starlight is late as it always is ever to Sacramento.....How would I get to the train? On Air planes if a flight is late, the other planes then wait.
A.
[This message has been edited by CoastStarlight99 (edited 01-23-2004).]
MontanaJim Member # 2323
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coast starlight, i too would like to connect to the empire builder from the coast starlight in portland. I did this route one year ago and although the starlight was an hour late, they held the builder up for those of us making that connection.
lately though i have noticed the starlight has been late everyday at least one and a half hours and sometimes up to 5 hours. I do know if the starlight is really late, amtrak busses passengers from klamath falls to catch the builder, but this is a big downer because the passengers miss a very scenic part of the trip north of klamath falls. i would suggest maybe spending a night in portland if you go that way, or roll the dice and try to connect on the same day, but these days it seems that is unlikely without being bussed.......
pismobum Member # 2628
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well, if you were on today (friday 1/23) you would really have 'bought the farm'. A freight derailment near albany has closed the line with 11 and 14 stalled on each side. No way would a bus catch up with the Builder after they untangle and back #14 into albany and bustitute. And by the way - I have been late on several flights lately, and no WAY did connecting flights "hold" - it screws up too many other ongoing connections. Advantage with air is there are many OTHER flights so getting you where you want to go is a lot easier (have also had them put me up in hotels with late air flights too). Amtrak is pretty good about accomodating you when connections are missed. I was booked New Orleans - San Luis Obispo CA (2 nights sleeper) on #1/#14, and the route was blocked in Texas. Amtrak put me on the 'City' to Chicago (1 night sleeper), then there was no sleeper on the Chief so they put me on the CZ (2 more nights sleeper), then there was no connection in Oakland to #11 until the following day so they picked up my hotel for the night. No complaints here....
CoastStarlight99 Member # 2734
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good info pismobum, and shanghai!
A.
traveler Member # 1415
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pismobum, That ride must have been a blast if you weren't on a tight schedule.
MontanaJim Member # 2323
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hey, anybody know if a passenger can refuse to be bussed to a connecting train and instead accept a seat on the next days' train (but have to pay for a hotel room)?
pismobum Member # 2628
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you could certainly lay over at your own cost (as long as the next day's train wasn't sold out). By the way, there was a protracted battle a couple years back where sombody did not want a bus ride and instead rented a car to get to the connecting train. Amtrak refused to reimburse for the car rental (as they would if he had flown). As long as they provide a means of tranportation, they have fulfilled their obligation (of course sleeper fees are refunded). Side note on busing if you have a sleeper - refund is not "prorated" -
example: sleeper fare I had was about $850 for 2 rooms SLO-PDX. We got dinner, wine & cheese party, night's sleep, breakfast, then were pulled at KFalls for bus to Portland to catch the builder (we were 4 hours late). Sleeper refund was for normal fare 2 rooms KFalls to PDX which was about $750 (they discourage "short haul" sleepers with high fares to keep them open for long haul, but it works great for passenger in above case).
MontanaJim Member # 2323
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pismobum, amtrak would have reimbursed him if he had flown but didnt reimburse his rental car? strange
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