Railroad Forums 

  • First time on Acela - wow does Amtrak suck

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1599671  by carajul
 
Amtrak sucks. Big time.

My first time on Acela was last weekend with my 2 friends. 3 of us total. We took Acela from Phili to NYC and it was NOT cheap.

We get to 30th street station 30 mins before departure time and find out the train is delayed 1 hour. After 1 hour it's delayed another 20 mins. Then after 20 mins its delayed yet 40 mins. At this point we could have just drove (but who wants to pay NYC tolls, fight NYC traffic, and pay NYC parking???). Amtrak staff at the station were terrible, rude, no help at all. Just useless.

We finally board and go to the seats we selected (Acela is assigned seating). We selected table seats so we could work. A woman and her 2 kids ages 8-10 are sitting in our seats, sprawled out with food and tablets. She looks up at us and says "oh, yea, about these seats. See these are my kids and for some reason I couldn't select seats online an I need to sit together with my kids. You'll need to sit somewhere else". Ok this is my problem how? She refuses to move and expects the 3 of us to sit all over the sold out train. I had to call the conductor over who 15 mins later finally shows up as we are standing there in the vestibule with the entire coach now watching us. He checks everyone's tickets and tells her she must take her assigned seat, it turns into a screaming match until she finally moves to the first car.

Food in the cafe was overpriced and disgusting.

We only booked one way tickets as we were not sure of our return date. When our return date was decided, I was half asleep in bed and book our one way return. I screwed up the date as the Amtrak app defaults to todays day when our return was 1 day later. I realize the mistake later in the date and call Amtrak to change. Sorry, it's more than 1 hour since your train time NO REFUNDS and NO CREDIT. Are you kidding me I just spent $900!!!! Sorry, no refunds. Had to spend another $900 for the correct day. Called Amex who promptly reversed the charge.

We get on our return train - table seat. Guess what.... a couple with their laptops and headphones on is sprawled out in our seats on a sold out train. And they refuse to move.

Throw ontop of everything screaming infants, screaming toddlers. OMG. And you wouldn't believe how many dipshits bought NJ Transit commuter train tickets and "accidentally" got on the Acela. The conductor threw them all off at the next stop.

If this is the flagship of Amtrak my goodness they just need to tear down and rebuild from scratch.
 #1599676  by rcthompson04
 
Have you ever flown on a plane especially recently? I have seen almost all and worse things flying recently. I had reserved seats taken from us with small child and airline employees taking 3 hours to fix my 3 year old being separated from us. Everyone knew it was a problem, but they didn't have an easy way to fix it and had to start begging customers to fix their mistake. Our return flight was delayed 12 hours (luckily in-laws live near the airport we were at). The voucher granted was a joke. $150 a room in Fort Myers in late February is a joke. I never had airline horror stories before COVID; now it seems like everyone has them on every trip.

Welcome to the post-COVID world. Travel sucks. Customer service sucks (with everything including travel). This is true whether it is Amtrak or American Airlines. I take Amtrak when I can, drive if I cannot, and fly as a last resort. I have to go to Pittsburgh next month for work. I would take Amtrak if it fit my schedule better, but am driving as the flights are even more atrocious timewise.
 #1599691  by eolesen
 
What do you really expect from government run transportation?...

To be fair, you screwed up your return booking. The other customers took over your space because people are selfish...

That's not Amtrak's fault.

Running late and the indifferent service? That's what you'll get from Government employees only concerned about their paychecks being deposited ontime.



Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

 #1599692  by Matt Johnson
 
You lost me at plan-demic, but as for your experience it seems consistent not only with Amtrak's declining service standards but also the generally declining civility and decorum of society these days. The latter is a tougher problem to fix!
 #1599694  by hrsn
 
eolesen wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:37 am What do you really expect from government run transportation?...
Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk
....a standard set by SNCF or DB, or even the Chinese State Railway.
 #1599697  by rcthompson04
 
hrsn wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:31 am
eolesen wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:37 am What do you really expect from government run transportation?...
Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk
....a standard set by SNCF or DB, or even the Chinese State Railway.
I am sure they would perform just as well as Amtrak if they were operating on the US railway system. We get what we pay for as the saying goes.
Last edited by rcthompson04 on Tue Jun 14, 2022 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 #1599698  by rcthompson04
 
Matt Johnson wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:44 am You lost me at plan-demic, but as for your experience it seems consistent not only with Amtrak's declining service standards but also the generally declining civility and decorum of society these days. The latter is a tougher problem to fix!
Yep. Amtrak conductors aren't going to teach people manners.

The wrong passengers boarding at NYP going south/west has been a problem for years especially when things are backed up. I was on a Regional once where they had to kick off a couple dozen people at Newark because their train was backed up.
 #1599725  by Red Wing
 
eolesen wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:37 am Running late and the indifferent service? That's what you'll get from Government employees only concerned about their paychecks being deposited ontime.
You lost me here.
 #1599726  by Railjunkie
 
eolesen wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:37 am What do you really expect from government run transportation?...

To be fair, you screwed up your return booking. The other customers took over your space because people are selfish...

That's not Amtrak's fault.

Running late and the indifferent service? That's what you'll get from Government employees only concerned about their paychecks being deposited ontime.



Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

Guess I might be be one of the few who do not want to be stuck on a train any longer than I have to be and I get paid to to be there. I think if you were to talk to most of us you would get the same answer its called BLOOD MONEY. I deal with broken engines now but spent five years in uniform dealing with many of the same issues of the original poster. Only thing back then was the lack of cell phones with cameras which people seem to pull out at a moments notice.
 #1599727  by Gilbert B Norman
 
rcthompson04 wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 9:01 am Welcome to the post-COVID world. Travel sucks. Customer service sucks (with everything including travel). This is true whether it is Amtrak or American Airlines.
Let's accept it; travel "just ain't what it used to be".

I haven't been on a flight since August last - and I'm not going out of my way to go on one until there is overriding reason to do so. On that one round trip, ORD-MUC, I'm accustomed in Business Class to having Attendants "making rounds" with a bottle of Pinot in one hand; Chardonnay in the other. Uh, not no more. You get a 187ml "split" same as if you purchased same in Coach (want more? they have it "comp" but you have to ask). Now for the indignity; United has removed the 777 from that route and replaced it with a 787 "Nightmareliner". On this aircraft, THE ATTENDANTS control the window shades, so flightseeing is at their discretion. Over at airliners.net, it was noted that the Attendants have learned "keep 'em closed; they'll just go to sleep and be yelling for less".

Wonder why I'm not going over this year (oh, and let's not get into a "big chunk" lost in the market)?

Hotels? let's not go there as well. Two stays at "ostensibly four star" Hyatt Regency; well one in Greenwich CT had only Room Service; no bar; no restaurant, no housekeeping until you checked out (really don't miss that - until you run out of soap; those lotion bottles "don't cut it with me).

Next was same in Indianapolis; this one had NO Room Service (where I wanted it for some Hors D'oeuvres). Now the indignity, the room had been stripped of both a Guest Service and a TV Guide. Oh, available using a QR Code, but I'm not into that kind of stuff. And again, only lotions (they did have soap at the Desk; apologized for none in the room).
 #1599748  by eolesen
 
hrsn wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:31 am
eolesen wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:37 am What do you really expect from government run transportation?...
Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk
....a standard set by .... the Chinese State Railway.
You want bedbugs in the sleepers? Yeah, that's a real thing.

Not me.
 #1599760  by STrRedWolf
 
hrsn wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:31 am ....a standard set by SNCF or DB, or even the Chinese State Railway.
You don't want DB/Germany. It's constantly late and breaking down, enough for German artists to do this: https://www.deviantart.com/cervelet/art ... -919161362
Image
 #1599761  by scratchyX1
 
STrRedWolf wrote: Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:49 am
hrsn wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:31 am ....a standard set by SNCF or DB, or even the Chinese State Railway.
You don't want DB/Germany. It's constantly late and breaking down, enough for German artists to do this: https://www.deviantart.com/cervelet/art ... -919161362
Image
I've not seen Alon Levy's latest article on why DB went downhill. Was it because of following the UK model?