On Thursday I came back from Philly on Amtrak, taking the regional train.
A few comments.
First, I thought that overall Amtrak is very good, but I am not sure they are doing the periodic maintenance to their capital infrastructure needed to keep up with airports. By this I mean the buildings at railroad stations. In Philly at the 30th Street Station both the escalator and the elevator from the rental car return were broken and I had to carry my three bags up the stairs on my own. Of course I made it, but it was an irritant. I think it was the Route 128 station that I noted that the lights on the buttons on the elevator were not working. The elevator worked, but the lights to help you know where you were in the process were out. Attention to detail is important in a service oriented business. I am taking the train these days because of service—the fact that the train ride means less hassle. Don't mess it up by neglect.
Second, I found queues varied by location. At Route 128, here in Eastern Massachusetts, the train was announced and we all sort of filtered out onto the platform. Granted it was Monday last and bad rain and few passengers. Even so, it was very orderly and genteel. Thursday afternoon, leaving Philly we all formed up in one line and patiently awaited the checking of our ticket and the chance to go down to the platform. The kind of British queuing I like. One woman cut the line, in front of me. I let her go. I had to change trains in New York City. There the announcement resulted in more of an Italian queue. That is to say people came at the escalator from all over, merging at the last minute. Chaos organizing into a single line down the escalator to the platform. On the other hand, it worked.
To be noted. The Acela has free wifi. The regional does not.
Another thing. In Philly Avis shuts down its auto rental operation early on Friday, or so a chap on the phone (India?) told me. "You can not be serious!" I cancelled the reservation and went with Hertz. If it is good enough for a curmudgeon like John McEnroe, it is good enough for me.
Regards — Cliff
4 comments:
So where do you come down in the final analysis of train versus plane? I haven't availed myself of the U.S. train system, but I did travel the European rails a fair bit, most recently in the Netherlands. Functional and on-time, minimal hassle, and no problems. However, getting a ticket bought online was a major pain, as was the mandatory ID check for an online-bought ticket.
Having a choice between a connecting flight and the train, I'd take the train anytime. But that's in Europe.
An interesting report. I can't say I've had any experience on Amtrak. My wife used them in WA state, and in the process of preparing to do so, made several changes to her travel plans. On the phone, the Amtrak agent was exceptionally courteous and helpful, a refreshing experience. She said the ride was nice, but the train ran behind schedule both ways. I suppose the airlines can point with pride any improvement over that.
We've used trains in German, Switzerland, France, and Italy. Other than language, and just a smidge of national "persona" the rides were simply excellent....clean trains, comfy rides. The British rail system, which operates in a typical British business approach, is pretty nice too, but perhaps that is because most trains include a pub car...so if you are running late, or detoured, after a short time, you don't really care. The British take these things with a stiff upper lip (often covered with foam).
I think that for Amtrak, it depends on where you want to go. I've read that the Eastern corridor is pretty nice, but if you want to travel to Colorado, or Idaho, or California, the stories become a bit more grim.
Also, Amtrak pricing comes into play quickly. Perhaps in some instances, "convenience" outweighs price, but in almost all the cases I've checked, airlines are at least competitive in price, and of course, much faster on certain routes. MHT to PHL is on a good day a 48 minute flight, vice the time to get to PHL via rail.
But, you probably arrive more relaxed.
Neal makes the point about flight time vs time via rail, from Manchester to Philly. And, if I lived in Manchester I would probably opt to fly, but I live closer to Route 128 and so it becomes an option, rather than a two hour drive from home. But, if you flew, you would have to fly back out of Philly. Now I don't have problems in Philly, but everyone else I talk to claims that it is a terrible airport.
I find buying a ticket on line easy, although they offer a over 65 discount in their drop down list, and then don't deliver for Acela. I have seen signs saying that riding on the train requires an ID and I have seen TSA going through someone's bags, based upon some random system (a TSA agent in Philly told me it was random). But, in two trips I have not been asked for an ID card.
I have gone down to the Philly area this quarter by plane, car and train. I have to admit that I like the train, I like to do work on the train and I find myself rested after the trip. I am no so sure I would pick the train over the airplane if I was going clean to DC.
Regards — Cliff
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