Just a rant: Amtrak is a dead company.
Sunday, May 18, 2008 | Labels: constructive rant, travel |For the post
below this line:
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2nd update (Mon evening): I am utterly wiped from this day. Three hours sleep and an busy first day of a training class. And...er... so apparently this post was noticed elsewhere. That's a first! LOL. Maybe I should try my science-light posts here as well, see if someone cares. Anyways, as a mild peace offering to Amtrak, I am attaching the comment I made at the Universal Hub to the end of this post.
Back to normal stupid shit next time.
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Morning (1st) Update for those who care: Got home at 2am. Up at 6:30 for an 8am training. Tired.
Probably shouldn't have ranted - what's the point?
Anyways, more tonight. Some pics.
End update.
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I'll talk about the fun blogger thingy that was in NYC later.
But for now, I only want to say one thing. And do note, this is flavored with some of the frustrations that arose from the weekend...
DO NOT EVER RIDE AMTRAK.
I have given literally thousands of dollars to the jokers at Amtrak over the years. And they have repaid me with at least 50% of rides being delayed by more than an hour.
And not for weather reasons.
No.
Purely because of plain incompetence.
It's simply unbelievable.
We're now sitting in the middle of Rhode Island, trapped on this train, for absolutely no reason at all. None. Oh yeah, except for their incompetence. A bunch of things they - and I quote the conductors - "didn't think about".
This happens constantly. And they keep raising their fares.
And you know what. It's simply cheaper to fly from Boston to NY and back then to take Amtrak.
Look, Amtrak, I'm sorry the Federal government took all your money away Amtrak. But, really, I think it's time to just wrap it up and close shop.
You're the most expensive clown show in the country.
And I'm really not interested in giving you any more money.
None.
Because, Amtrak, you're a rotting corpse of a once impressive railway system.
You completely and utterly suck.
OK, rant over. Some pictures later.
Can someone throw some loving my way? Cause a mixture of anger (at Amtrak and being trapped on a train right now) and frustration (with myself, stimulated by the weekend's events) are making me feel a world of angst. Or something.
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Now for the comment I put up at the Universal Hub.
Back to normal stupid shit next time.
---
Morning (1st) Update for those who care: Got home at 2am. Up at 6:30 for an 8am training. Tired.
Probably shouldn't have ranted - what's the point?
Anyways, more tonight. Some pics.
End update.
----------
I'll talk about the fun blogger thingy that was in NYC later.
But for now, I only want to say one thing. And do note, this is flavored with some of the frustrations that arose from the weekend...
DO NOT EVER RIDE AMTRAK.
I have given literally thousands of dollars to the jokers at Amtrak over the years. And they have repaid me with at least 50% of rides being delayed by more than an hour.
And not for weather reasons.
No.
Purely because of plain incompetence.
It's simply unbelievable.
We're now sitting in the middle of Rhode Island, trapped on this train, for absolutely no reason at all. None. Oh yeah, except for their incompetence. A bunch of things they - and I quote the conductors - "didn't think about".
This happens constantly. And they keep raising their fares.
And you know what. It's simply cheaper to fly from Boston to NY and back then to take Amtrak.
Look, Amtrak, I'm sorry the Federal government took all your money away Amtrak. But, really, I think it's time to just wrap it up and close shop.
You're the most expensive clown show in the country.
And I'm really not interested in giving you any more money.
None.
Because, Amtrak, you're a rotting corpse of a once impressive railway system.
You completely and utterly suck.
OK, rant over. Some pictures later.
Can someone throw some loving my way? Cause a mixture of anger (at Amtrak and being trapped on a train right now) and frustration (with myself, stimulated by the weekend's events) are making me feel a world of angst. Or something.
---
Now for the comment I put up at the Universal Hub.
yikes. I didn't really think anyone would actually read that post - certainly not outside a small group of friends.
Seriously, I thought I was just writing a one-off rant, mainly to myself. Surprised it was picked up anywhere.
Also, I *am* aware that the rail vs. flight comparison is a stretch.
But less so than, say, 10 years ago when the Amtrak fares were far
cheaper than air travel to NY.
I openly admit - if it wasn't obvious from the post - that I wrote the
post in what I'd kindly call a fit of pique. I was pretty ticked off,
for sure.
I also offer up - and will attach to the original post - that many of
my other trips were completely uneventful and perfectly nice.
Even then, though, I have noticed the deterioration, both in service
and infrastructure (meaning the trains themselves) on the regional
Acela - and more recently even the extremely expensive Acela express.
I have also learned (pointed out in these comments, too) that many of
those "switching problems" and "line maintenance" issues are not even
under Amtrak's jurisdiction.
Look, I *want* Amtrak to thrive. I use it a lot. It just doesn't seem
to be doing anything that feels like improvement at the moment. It
seems to be... declining. We really do need a rail system - one that
is both functional and welcoming. Someone at a government or corporate
level needs to actually give a crap and address the issue.
And, yeah, we know that's not gonna happen - because no one really cares, apparently.
For the post
above this line:
*hugz*
I totally missed out on going to the Eagle. I went home, had dinner, played a little EQ2 and took a nap.
Oops.
I woke up at 1:30 am with a start and realized there was no way in hell I could've made it downtown in 30 minutes. *sigh*
Nice meeting you Scott. Sorry to hear that your trip home sucked. I'm returning tomorrow.
Tip: BOLT BUS.
Mike in Boston (errr...Davis Sq.)
I'll send some love your way. :)
Nice to finally meet you.
I took Amtrak yesterday and had a relatively uneventful trip. Ended up leaving 1.5 hours earlier and exchanging my ticket was no problem. (Except I had to cough up an extra $25.) There's nothing worse than being trapped in any transportation...car, plane, train...and not moving.
I second the Bolt Bus recommendation. $15, wifi, power outlets, convenient pick-up & drop-off.
Doooit.
They need a real budget. Their entire allocation to run the entire nationwide rail system for a year is about the cost of one highway interchange in Detroit. 1.4 billion.
Caveat about Bolt Bus. If you miss your departure time, you are SOL. Also, the 4 hour turnaround time is a fantasy. It was 5 hours down and about 5 and half back. But they do have wi-fi.
I will check in when you are feeling more rested and are ready to dish the dirt on what you, RG and CB got up to.
I would take Fung Wah before I took the evil, corporate, racist BoltBus.
man, I'm sorry you had a shitty train trip. My flight sucked and LaGuardia smells of urine, but at least I got home by 11:30 pm.
I had an exceedingly nice time with you this weekend. I hope I didn't get on your nerves too much.
(throwin' you some mental lovin')
Hey man, you're living in the wrong country if you want great train transportation. Unheard of here. As you've well discovered.
Well then... you'll just love the fact that on June 14-17 all Amtrak between Boston and NYC will be shut down while they replace the Thames River Bridge just this side of the New London Station in Groton. Gov's Patrick (MA) and Rell (CT) have been wringing their hands and insisting on some kind of connecting replacement service. So far - nada. Seems there are not enough private busses available and connecting roads that will *easily* allow people to be shuttled between Boston and New London which is as far north as any Amtrak trains from NYC will venture those 4 days.
During the bridge replacement, Amtrak is taking that 4 day slot (might even ask for an additional day or two I understand - based on rumor) to perform a maintenence blitz where there are less or no trains running. Note that while Amtrak will not be running, the MBTA is not expected to be effected.
One of the problems with Amtrak is that it only owns the trains and *some* of the tracks. In MA the tracks are owned by the MBTA, in RI by Amtrak (at least the main line - note that is the only segment they actually reach that 125 MPH - on the tracks they own, for the Acela Express. In CT it's owned by ConnDOT. While Amtrak dispatches much of this link (think of that as air traffic control for trains) on most of the other tracks nationwide they are guests.
While they are *supposed* to be accommodated, they rarely are, and nothing in the law forces the freight companies that own the tracks to give them a right-of-way *before* their own traffic.
So it is not all Amtrak's fault. Much of it is infrastructure that is not being maintained by various states and freight railroads, and freight railroads that make them go second.
Funding Amtrak doesn't fix that. What you need is a *will* to establish a transportation policy and budget that will make it work right.
Now that gas is so high priced and more people are taking the train, many states are actually looking at rail as a necessary option. Somewhat late, but better than never I guess.
DMK
Man, you and I have to head to our little pub by the train station and dish about Amtrak - I had the ride from hell as well. I got into Boston around 10:45. I was supposed to arrive at 7:30. Joy.
Oh, and BIIIIIIIIIIIIG HUGZ - I feel your pain.
Unless something happened Sunday morning or late Saturday night that I don't know about (which certainly is possible), I'm not sure what frustrated you about your participation this past weekend. It seemed that you charmed everyone you met and it was a pleasure to have you with us.
But yes, Sunday was National Horrible Train Ride Day.
take a big fat dick and suck it like you know you fucking bitch.