Corona virus impacts on Amtrak

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:29 am To claim exception to the mask rule, you have to see the airline's doctor first -- a rule I like!

I like it as well. It will discourage those who are making up a mask exemption excuse and dissuade some of those who actually have an excuse from taking the trip anyway.

rcthompson04 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 9:08 am

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:29 am To claim exception to the mask rule, you have to see the airline's doctor first -- a rule I like!

I like it as well. It will discourage those who are making up a mask exemption excuse and dissuade some of those who actually have an excuse from taking the trip anyway.

NPR followed up on this. In short, Southwest went "No mask, no ride," and Delta is going "no mask, you're doing remote-consultation with a third-party doctor for the exemption. Arrive early, it takes over an hour." All are "Take it off like it's nothing, you're banned."

Amtrak, of course, is "no mask, no ride; take it off and you're booted off at the next stop."

No matter what, it's "Don't travel if you object to a mask for philosophical reasons."

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:27 amAmtrak, of course, is "no mask, no ride; take it off and you're booted off at the next stop."

I've seen people get booted at rural stations and even rural crossings when no station is near. You got to have a screw loose to dance with that devil. How do you entertain the idea of getting home from Wahoo Nebraska when you can't even catch tomorrow's train?

No kidding, I saw a drunk get booted at a crossing somewhere in Nebraska and into a police cruiser in the middle of the night. Bad news...

Tadman wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:31 am

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:27 amAmtrak, of course, is "no mask, no ride; take it off and you're booted off at the next stop."

I've seen people get booted at rural stations and even rural crossings when no station is near. You got to have a screw loose to dance with that devil. How do you entertain the idea of getting home from Wahoo Nebraska when you can't even catch tomorrow's train?

No kidding, I saw a drunk get booted at a crossing somewhere in Nebraska and into a police cruiser in the middle of the night. Bad news...

Yeah, a few of them made national or even off-major news. I remember a report of a woman going nuts, so they called ahead, met police at an intersection, and booted her off.

There does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel, but I fear it'll be another 6 months. A lot of the more reliable news sources (using Wikipedia's standards) are pinpointing a late 2020 to early 2021 estimate for a vaccine to get to general availability (with the later date being targeted for multiple versions). (CNET's reporting) This, of course, centers around the US vaccines and not any foreign efforts.

Let me speculate, and I'll bring it back to Amtrak in a bit.

First, not everyone will go back to what they were doing. While I'd be heading back to the office, some are more productive out of the office. A good guestimate is 80% office.

Second, not everyone will be back immediately. It will be gradual, slowly ramping up over months as more people are vaccinated and company policies adapt.

Third, any tourist spot will also be slow to open back up. For the same reasons, basically. If it's not out and applied widely yet, why risk it? Disney isn't making money with it's resorts open at 50% capacity (with some exceptions on the "full shut down" side). Broadway shows are shut down until January 3rd. Anything major is ether shut down or a superspreader event.

With that in mind, Amtrak laid out it's plans for LD cuts and restoration. In short, all LD but the AutoTrain is 3x/week October 1st through July, re-evaluating throughout the fiscal year, with the expected goal of resuming pre-pandemic service by August. All dependent on Congress... not doing anything.

Now given above... I'd say it's possible. I think one (or many) vaccine(s) will make it possible. The timing is what's critical there.

This came across my radar. The Points Guy: Current Amtrak Experience

I'll have to report on the MARC experience.

Some SNIPS:

...
Train travel is more affordable right now
For better (or for worse), companies have lowered fares to lure in would-be travelers. Amtrak is no exception. Even without sales, fares are significantly lower than in non-pandemic times. Then, add in regularly-offered promotions like buy-one-get-one-free and $50 off Acela and Amtrak suddenly becomes a very attractive mode of transportation, for certain cities.
...
A fare between New York City and Albany can easily run in excess of $100 one-way in normal times, yet my fare was well below that — even for a Friday morning.

In the wake of the pandemic, Amtrak is also waiving all change and cancellation fees for reservations made through at least Aug. 31, 2020. That level of flexibility is in line with most airlines’ policies as well. However, any differences in fare with a new reservation do apply.
...
You’ll likely get an empty seat next to you
Masks are one thing, but what about personal space onboard the train? Well, there is mostly positive news on this front. Amtrak is only selling 50% of total occupancy for most trains so the odds of an empty seat are very high.

In practice, this actually did mean more space to spread out. However, that comes with a significant caveat, as well.

My particular train was sold out — meaning it had reached 50% capacity. With regional trains, like the one that I was on, seats are not prereserved. Upon boarding, that meant a lot of walking, from train car to train car, to look for an empty row. All the while, passengers were putting their bags away and standing in the aisle while getting settled. This all meant more close passenger interaction than I would have liked.
...

Reminder: Let's keep it on impacts to Amtrak. Not about vaccine development, efficacy thereof, and distribution times. Talk about safety, ridership levels, fares, schedules.

Any updates as to when the Vermonter will be restored? I have a trip to Springfield, Ma in a few weeks. I'm going to be there between 9/5 and 9/12 and am taking Amtrak. I would take the Vermonter if it was going to Springfield but I see that as of right now, it's going as far north as New Haven.

njtmnrrbuff wrote:Any updates as to when the Vermonter will be restored? I have a trip to Springfield, Ma in a few weeks. I'm going to be there between 9/5 and 9/12 and am taking Amtrak. I would take the Vermonter if it was going to Springfield but I see that as of right now, it's going as far north as New Haven.

I believe that is still unclear, which is concerning. The Vermont Rail Action Network is hosting a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, August 26th at 1:00 pm to talk about this.

In the meantime, there is still the Hartford Line and one roundtrip direct Northeast Regional to get to Springfield.

Would you believe it?

Amtrak has a half page ad in The New York Times today stating "we're ready...".

In addition to an excellent photo of an Empire Service taken somewhere I think near Storm King, the copy says all about the "great things we're doing to keep you safe".

But most interesting is a blurb "private rooms available"; could they really be thinking that, as suggested here in several postings, assigning Sleepers to Regional and Empire consists?

While there is a report of at least one V-II (eleven reported as "on the property") in a consist of #97, and a video of a Phase III liveried in same (there are several V-I's so liveried out there), and further with the release of Sleepers as tri-Weekly frequencies are initiated, this would certainly suggest they would be in a position to do so.

I couldn't find a digital copy of the ad, but this is something they have online: https://www.amtrak.com/inspiration

A 15 second spot just aired on Chicago Local NBC.

"You're safe with us".

Bad news on the Covid-19 front. Apparently any antibodies you get after having the virus don't last very long. Reports of people getting Covid-19 a second time have popped up in Europe and Asia. This means that if you're hoping for a one shot silver bullet vaccine then we might be out of luck. It's possible you might need a booster shot every three to four months. Now multiply that by 320 million people in this country.

https://science.slashdot.org/story/20/0 ... n-reported

Way back in March I seem to think I might have had Covid-19. I had a fever that lasted for a day followed by two weeks of diarrhea. I didn't link the two until the first week of April when I read an article that extended diarrhea was one of milder versions of Covid-19. On May 28th at a prior scheduled doctor's appointment I got a Covid-19 antibody test. A week later the results came back - negative. It possible we might be stuck with this virus for another two or three years which is about the time frame for the Spanish Flu (1918-1920).