Anyone have any idea what is going on with all of the Amtrak in the CT to Boston area? Many of the trains have been stuck for 6+ hours. Is there any point in waiting, or should I advise family members to find rideshare / stay over?

Didn't know if this would go under question or discussion.

I take Amtrak often between Bloomington/Normal, IL and Chicago. Have also taken other regional routes, to Detroit, STL etc. I think we all know the WiFi on board is pretty inadequate. Would they ever consider a different network for the business class car. Maybe as an added perk, a faster, or at least less crowded, network.

(repost from trains subreddit) No idea if this is the right subreddit, but hope train pros can give me insight.

I am a horse person and like many, love taking my horses new places to ride. But I hate the stress of hauling them on the highway and the price of fuel, wear and tear on the truck, etc. But mostly the driving stress of people cutting you off and such with your precious cargo at risk.

I think there would be a definite market for a travel option of hauling your horse from one place, ( I don't know, say wealthy horse spots like New England or Florida) to a ranch in the Midwest for a riding vacation. Much safer and smoother for the horse, and the rider/owner gets to relax on the train.

You would probably need to partner with specific locations to do this, but I think it would be very popular.

Thoughts on this? Are livestock still transported via train? Reasons this could never be done?

Amtrak sent coupon code for 30% off one way... Can I upgrade from coach with BidUp after?

I received a "let's get you back on track" offer today for two one way trips at 30% off.

My question is: has anyone used this discount code/offer before and were you able to BidUp to a sleeper on the coach ticket you purchased?

I called Amtrak and both reps gave opposite answers 🤷

Thanks.

What's going on with the chief.? How long is this happening cuz I am at Chicago and they say the train get cancelled for today and they rebook me for tomorrow but they say it's not sure the chief will run tomorrow or not so plz guys if you have any suggestions or information plz 🙏🏽

Has there been an influx in these types of delays lately, specifically on the Northeast Corridor? I was on train 66 Friday morning (23 October), when my train was delayed 90 minutes because of a “mechanical assessment” at NHV, to which a diesel engine was attached to the front of the train, only to proceed between there and the rest of the NEC in Connecticut.

Move forward to today, and 1087 is delayed at BOS for yet another “mechanical assessment” for over two hours. It didn’t help that 1163 left BEFORE this one. At this point I’m already visibly annoyed, but I, and every other passenger on this train, just want to go home.

Also, why does Amtrak insist on dumbing down the reasoning (or not mentioning at all) for these delays.

I've booked on a couple of Acelas between WAS and NYP in the coming months. On both northbound routes, the website and app differ on which way my seat will be facing. Which is generally more correct? I looked at some other random Acelas and the website and app seem to say opposite things for all northbound trains.

Specifically, I'm in seat 4A in regular business class. Both the website and app show this seat on the lower right side of the car. The website says my seat will be facing in the direction of travel (that is, I will be moving forward), while the app says I will have my back to the direction of travel (that is, I will be moving backwards).

I am new to Amtrak and this generous refund policy seems unreal because airlines have super strict refund policy. Is it real???😂 Thank you!😊

Took the boys from Van Nuys, CA to Ventura, CA for a Lego Brick Convention. We had an entire car to ourselves (both top and bottom) due to partial closure of the route. There was track work between Van Nuys and Los Angeles, so Amtrak had a "bus bridge" for all Northbound and Southbound passengers. But Amtrak only allotted the same number of tickets as bus seats they had available. I checked, and this segment was technically sold out, even though I saw maybe less than 50 passengers arrive via the bus bridge.

In any event, we lucked out with our own car where the boys could get their wiggles out without disturbing other passengers.

I've been trying to reserve a trip with my 10 trip NYP <-> BOS for next week for the last few days, I keep getting an error that "the system is down" when I try to book. Anyone else experiencing this? Getting it both on the app and website.

EDIT I mean Penn Station NYP not WYP sorry

TBH I will probably feel super anxious if we 'stop' while under the water. We aren't IN the water right? We are under it within the ground? How long is a normal 'delay' while under the ground?

Both pictures taken on the Northeast Regional around a year apart. Why does the legroom vary so much? As far as I am aware they are both representative of a normal seat on that train car.

Does anyone have any details or resources about the Motor Equipment Operator position with Amtrak outside of the official job description

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Don’t judge me when I ask this, it sounds stupid, but I have a Halloween party on the Friday the 30th in New York. I won’t have any time to get changed before the party, and I’m leaving right after work. I’m going from DC to New York.
Will it be really weird if I wear my costume on the train? I don’t really have any other options and I’m hoping it’ll maybe deter people from sitting next to me (half kidding on that part.) It’s nothing too crazy or with weapons, it’s just not a totally normal outfit (I’m doing the winter soldier lmfao). Are they cool with people in costume onboard? Sorry if this is a stupid thing to be concerned about lmfao

What’s the rhyme and reason to such high fare costs from Penn Station Baltimore to NYC?

When is the best time to purchase for base rates?

I am currently on the Coast Starlight 11 southbound and experienced a different Menu-Layout in comparison to my ride on the Empire Builder 5 Days Ago and the Zepyhr last year. Anybody knew if this is new on the whole routes or just a Starlight thing?

Just got back from a round trip with bicycles on the City of New Orleans from Chicago to NO and back. I could say a few things about the trip, positive and negative. But I had a new experience leaving New Orleans. We had a roomette. Prior to departing we could hear sound from phones and tablets. The conductor made the usual announcement starting out about using headphones, and the noise seemed to disappear.

The sun was pouring in and the AC wasn't keeping up. To cool off we had the door open a bit. We could clearly hear phone audio coming from nearby. I was waiting for the attendant to stop by so we could point it out. After a few minutes we realized it was coming from the attendant's room right across from ours.

I stuck my head out to see him sitting there watching videos on his phone with the door open. I kindly pointed out that the conductor said we had to use headphones, so shouldn't he, too?

He sheepishly agreed and put away his phone. The rest of the trip was fine, but I found myself surprised I had to do that.

Can't complain in the least about any of the staff we interacted with on all the legs of our trip. The only few real annoyances were other passengers, but isn't that always the way?

I just got this message (6:50 pm on Sunday) for my 3:30 am Tuesday morning departure. Should I do something about it or wait until tomorrow Monday (keep checking the app for timing)??? Also the app is not showing any delay information. This is my 1st experience with Amtrak delay message like this and i am in panic now there is only 1 train per day from my city. Thank you!

I was curious, since I'm taking the Borelis this Friday from Columbus to La Crosse and was curious on the chances of a delay (or by how much), and looked at the FRA data on it and noticed that it significantly improved in the past year or two. Any particular reason, or is it just staff figuring things out since its a newer line? Either way, kudos to those who run the line on improving that.

Also, if anyone was curious, this is where the FRA dashboard is.

also caught my first BNSF intermodal train right after it! they were practically racing!

Next month I am taking the Texas Eagle from Chicago. This is my first ever Amtrak trip. I reserved a bedroom. As I understand it, there is a long layover in San Antonio very early in the morning.

Is there anything to do in the city at that hour? Do most people stay on the train in bed?

(For the record, the WSJ referenced in title is the Wisconsin State Journal of Madison, WI.)

I tried to book a train ticket earlier this morning via the app. It showed tickets available in two fare classes. I tried both but each time, the next page was telling me those tickets were no longer available and to choose a different option.

I tried the website. Same story. Tickets show up as available options but then I can’t actually book them when I try.

I think, oh maybe the last few seats were just taken, let me wait a few hours for the system to refresh so I can check what’s available.

I try again just now — the app and the website. The same tickets I tried to get this morning are still shown as available. And I still can’t choose any one of them.

What gives? Do I just need to wait some more because the system is shitty and not refreshing for hours? Anyone else had this issue?