Siemens Venture cars in revenue service on Lincoln services

Observed 382(4):

Charger, Horizon Cafe, 2 Ventures.

Haven't been into town in a while, must wonder how many Ventures are presently sitting at Lumber Street in full view of BNSF and Amtrak passengers.

A positive review of the new business class cars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CtfVzxK7kI

It appears that this videographer and his GF have laid the matter to rest that, for the moment, the peasants can sit in the space intended for the aristocracy.

I also must note not one word was said about having to ride "hind quarters forward" or having to "listen to the music". But for the present, even if in a piece of nearly 50yo equipment, the video shows that the aristocracy (presumably) forward rides and a good ways away from the music.

For all the times I've traveled overseas in recent years, I still get vertigo when having to do as the young videographer did and as those overseas have done for at least a millennium.

Checking tickets upon boarding instead of on board is a ridiculous waste of time and such a low-hanging fruit way to decrease travel times and increase OTP. Out here in the northeast, it is very common for Amtrak dwell times to be 1-2 minutes or less, and for commuter rail it's usually around 30 seconds. Absolutely no need to wait around.

You'd think there would be an established uniform policy for such basic procedures, but things I read suggest that ad hoc decisions are being made locally by individuals, with no coordination. There was a post awhile back about an incident in Chicago in which two employees on the platform were arguing in the presence of boarding passengers about what the boarding procedure should be. Is anybody minding the store?

Observed 381(11) - 20ML
Charger
2 Coach Ventures
Horizon Cafe Business

Have any routes started running all Siemens trainsets? (Aka, no Horizons)

When the full 110mph schedule comes out, it would be great from the marketing perspective to also introduce the full new fleet.

I don't think any food service cars are in service yet, so no all Siemens sets until that happens.

KC-STL plugs are running 1 Siemens coach, occasionally 2, per consist. Still Amfleet and Horizons, plus V-II bags for axle count.

I rode the new equipment from Chicago to STL recently. Nice and quiet and comfortable in coach. Restroom was huge. Door closes and locks automatically upon push of a button. Seat felt like it had good lumbar support. I have long legs and would have preferred it to be a tad higher, but it will be great for most. No one seemed to mind that half the coach had reversed seats. The middle section with tables and facing seats was great for families. The table extension was marked that it was temporarily out of service. (This might be where the magnets are located that supposedly caused some laptop hard drive issues). PA system is huge improvement and you can clearly hear announcements. I was somewhat surprised that the traps were kept open while the train was underway as someone could fall down the steps, but they are hugely visible and marked in yellow plus the steps are more gradual than the older Amfleet. Wifi worked well and zipping along at 110 felt quiet and smooth. Overall, a nice upgrade from Amfleet or Horizon equipment.

I rode round trip to downstate and back last week - coach south and business class north. The latter was in an old car. I don't know equipment well, but Heritage?

When I asked about an earlier return trip shortly before departure, business class was sold out and there were only 4 coach seats left.

Southbound was right on time. Northbound was running 20 minutes ahead of schedule till Western Ave., 3 miles from home, where a freight held us up for nearly a half hour. Grrrr.

"I rode round trip to downstate and back last week - coach south and business class north. The latter was in an old car. I don't know equipment well, but Heritage?"

Likely you were in an Amfleet Cafe car that has business seating in one half, Cafe in the middle and table seating on other end.

Sorry you got stabbed right before Union Station in Chicago. Plan is to switch the line over to Metra's Rock Island route from Joliet to Chi which supposedly has fewer freight rail diamond crossings so timekeeping should improve. I have used the Summit stop in the past (on the current IC route) to connect to Midway airport which I will miss, but perhaps there is an equivalent suburban station on the RI route that Amtrak could add instead.

StLouSteve wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 5:50 am Sorry you got stabbed right before Union Station in Chicago. Plan is to switch the line over to Metra's Rock Island route from Joliet to Chi which supposedly has fewer freight rail diamond crossings so timekeeping should improve. I have used the Summit stop in the past (on the current IC route) to connect to Midway airport which I will miss, but perhaps there is an equivalent suburban station on the RI route that Amtrak could add instead.

Looking at the Chicago CTA and Metra maps... not really. Moving to the Rock Island would mean Amtrak would have to stop at 35th/"Lou" Jones, have passengers take the 35 bus to 35th & Archer, and then the Orange Line the rest of the way in. Anything else requires many bus transfers or going out of the way. At least with Summit, dedicated bus service would be justified as it's "too close not to."

StLouSteve wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 5:50 am Sorry you got stabbed right before Union Station in Chicago.

Losing 27 minutes doesn't feel as bad when started 20 minutes up. I was most angry that the blocking freight traffic hadn't cleared in time for what ought to be the scheduled window, in order to get us in on time.

What will the running time if an Amtrak has to follow a commuter train <> Joliet?.