Yesterday's Northbound Coast Starlight is entirely sold out, not one seat or room is available. Also, a friend of mine is on the Surfliner today and says it is standing room only in Coach. It is nice to see this kind of high ridership.
Posted by PaulB (Member # 4258) on :
Unfortunately it's only running with 4 coaches instead of 5+ as in years past.
Posted by Tanner929 (Member # 3720) on :
So AMTRAK looks at $3.60 a gallon gas and sees opportunity, and cuts the amount of coaches. I'm sure those riders who did their patriotic duty to take the train where be happy to stand, the'll be back in the SUV by the end of the week.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
First you got to find the money to fix up the equipment before you add more coaches. Hello, congress, anybody home?
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
Four coaches is the Starlight's average. Sometimes they only have three. Sometimes there have been five during the summer, but not always.
Its good to see it sold out. Last I heard ridership on this train was dropping due to poor on time performance.
As an aside, my sister may be moving to Seattle, so I may finally have reason to take it farther north than Salem.
Posted by zephyr (Member # 1651) on :
Hmmm--on my recent CS trips (7/7 CIC to PDX, 7/22 PDX to CIC), the train was far from sold out. Neither sleeper nor coach. Strolls through the train gave me the impression ridership was high, but not as a high as I have observed in past July pilgrimages to the City of Roses. Just anecdotal, but I'm just sharing some anecdotes.
Northbound 14 on 7/7 was 6 hours late into PDX, southbound 11 7/22 8 hours late into CIC. Ah, both trains were like a hatchery for fumers (the "I'll never take Amtrak again" crowd as opposed to foamers, the "Oh, gee, the later it is, the more time I get to sit on the train" crowd).
On the southbound 11, a number of passengers ticketed to SoCal rebelled and made arrangements to detrain in SAC and Southwest Air the rest of the way. They had the usual lame excuses--you know, they claimed they had weddings, funerals, kidney transplant operations, etc. to get to. Wimpy whiners. But who cares? They'll show up in ridership stats nonetheless.
My itinerary also included an Empire Builder leg (PDX to Whitefish). Again, ridership was good, but not noteworthy. I noticed the Builder is currently included on Weekly Special deals on the Amtrak website. Puzzling--afterall, it is the peak of the travel season, and the EB is about as good as it gets.
Some notes:
The new meal deal wasn't bad. Even the box dinner on the EB (remember, no diner Portland to Spokane) was very good. The lamb shank on the CS--oh, mama mia. But keep in mind I live in an area where Spam and Velveeta Cheese are found in the deli sections of the local markets.
CS equipment is getting pretty ragged.
OB Services were great on both trains.
Responsibility for CS delays was not just UP's. Amtrak 14 not having an engineer qualified for the Klamath Falls to Eugene run caused 2-3 hours in lateness.
Instead of a Route Guide on the Starlight, Amtrak might consider replacing it with a Lateness Guide. A little pamphlet that explains slow orders, bad orders, dead crews, kinky rails, split rails, work windows, freight vs. pax pecking order, ancestral lineage of UP dispatchers, and so on.
Maybe include an Amtrak math wheel in the Lateness Guide: you know, a table that tells you if you are 2 hours late into Station X, and the train was scheduled to arrive at Station Y at 6:00 am, then that means we'll get there at 8:00 am. Just turn the wheel to the number of hours behind schedule, and it will revise arrival times for all stops down the line. Simple--with some training, even UP upper management people might be able to do it. Amtrak veterans know this method of predicting ETA is silly, but some newcomers might find the math wheel entertaining.
Next trip--to St. Jo MO in August. By rail (and some bus)--of course. In the interim, I'll keep working on that Lateness Guide.
Posted by RussM (Member # 3627) on :
The track conditions which are delaying the Coast Starlight aren't likely to go away soon. Why doesn't Amtrak simply adjust the schedules ? The schedules did not come down from a mountaintop on stone tablets. If the arrival times are unrealistic, change them !
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by zephyr: On the southbound 11, a number of passengers ticketed to SoCal rebelled and made arrangements to detrain in SAC and Southwest Air the rest of the way. They had the usual excuses--you know, they claimed they had weddings, funerals, kidney transplant operations, etc. to get to.
I have long noted that an Amtrak LD passenger is best advised not to schedule any "events' at destination for the day of arrival.
Posted by DeeCT (Member # 3241) on :
GBN ---
Though we may continue to preach "thou shalt not schedule an important 'event' on day of arrival", it is only the choir who hear --- all others are deaf.
Dee
Posted by graynt (Member # 17) on :
I am actually looking forward to a late Starlight arrival when I go from Seattle to LA in about six weeks. I am booked on the next afternoons Sunset, so I figure if the CS gets in at its usual 4 to 7AM arrival time, I ll have enough time for a quick Surfliner trip to San Diego and back in time for the Sunsets 2:30 departure. Not too concerned about sleep. I ll be in a roomette on both trains.
With my luck the day I m riding it will be on time or two hours late and I don t have a hotel booked!
Posted by rY. (Member # 3528) on :
The lateness of the Starlight is starting to become something that even we, the rail-friendly, would be hard-pressed to defend. Unavailable qualified engineers, bad equipment, holding for connecting trains all start to get a little stale when they're part of EVERY single run.
At the moment I write this, Amtrak's site shows #11(23) anticipated into Los Angeles at 6:06am-- tomorrow. "As of the last report at 5:40 pm between Davis, CA (DAV) and Martinez, CA (MTZ), it was running 10 hours and 40 minutes late."
I mean, c'mon Amtrak and Union Pacific: Get the darned thing over the road already!!
Posted by rY. (Member # 3528) on :
Update: "As of the last report at 6:59 am at Santa Barbara, CA (SBA), [#11(23)] was running 12 hours and 42 minutes late."
Doesn't look much better for #11(24) either: "As of the last report at 4:40 am between Klamath Falls, OR (KFS) and Dunsmuir, CA (DUN), it was running 5 hours and 42 minutes late."
Posted by rY. (Member # 3528) on :
Coincidentally, there is an op-ed in today's San Jose Mercury News by Arthur Lloyd (RailPAC Exec-VP and former Amtrak advisor) on the State of the Starlate:
quote:The Coast Starlight, once the most popular train in America, now limps into San Jose hours late, in disrepair and in disrepute. Amtrak politics and congested freight lines are literally driving it off the rails -- and driving passengers back to driving. With the Bush regime openly hostile to long-distance trains, California, Oregon and Washington must forge a regional solution ...
Meanwhile #11(23) finally staggered into Los Angeles nearly 13 hours late at 9:51am. Anyone know if the actual TRAIN showed up, or if they offloaded to busses somewhere up the line? #14(25) departed Los Angeles this morning "just" 44 minutes late. Would it have been possible to wye the equipment on arrival (or departure) and perform an all-hands restock/refuel on the platform that quickly? Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Arthur L. Lloyd was on Amtrak's payroll during the 70's as a VP.
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
RailPAC sent me the Art Lloyd piece by e-mail, which I just read. His proposal for the a state consortium of California, Oregon and Washington to take over management of the Starlight is intriguing, but runs into the same problems posed by the Bush/Mineta plan, what if one state won't join in? Although Oregon's DOT is highly supportive of rail, the state legislature is less committed, and came close to pulling funding for the Portland-Eugene segment of the Cascades not long ago. I don't know if Oregon can be relied on.
He also fails to explain how a change in the Starlight's management will make UP run it on time.
Last I heard Art Lloyd served on the board of Caltrain.
Posted by MDRR (Member # 2992) on :
Ry, in answer to your question about turning equipment, no you cannot turn the equipment that quickly. You need a minimum of 2 hours to turn a set and thats if everything is working perfectly.
Posted by PaulB (Member # 4258) on :
The Starlate is running with a total of 5 trainsets.
#11 arriving into LA becomes #14 two days later.
So Monday's #11 becomes Wednesday's #14 out of LA.
There is still an overnight turn in Seattle.
Posted by CoastStarlight99 (Member # 2734) on :
Mr. Toy, I think the top article on Trainweb.com is the one you are refering to. I cannot link it successfuly since it is from RailNews.
Posted by rY. (Member # 3528) on :
Paul- that explains a whole lot! No wonder people have been reporting an occasional (one in five?) absence of the Parlour Car..
Meanwhile: "As of the last report at 6:27 am at Oxnard, CA (OXN), #11(24) was running 11 hours and 19 minutes late."
I guess I could look at the bright side of this: We got the Lark back Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
I have a question about the way Amtrak is noting the "scheduled arrival time" on their website tracking system for #14. The site says scheduled arrival in SEA is 11:39 pm. The actual PDF schedule says arrival should be 8:30 pm. Now, using 11:39 makes the lateness appear to be 3 hours less but we naive people think the actual schedule is what we should be looking at to determine scheduled arrival time. And for arranging hotels for the night (apparently that's not going to be necessary) and telling family and friends when to expect us. Any explanations would be appreciated.
Posted by Beacon Hill (Member # 4431) on :
The 11:39 pm arrival time allows for delays caused by UP's track work, the PDF hasn't been updated to recognize the "temporary" work project. Either way you can expect to arrive in Seattle just about sunrise.
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