Can anyone explain to me WHY Amtrak does not make schedules friendly for connecting trains. I notice that on the east coast very few trains will connect with out going trains. Most need a overnight stay to continue on my journey. Yes I know that the trains are seldon on time but that dont mean that the train cant be scheduled to arrive earlier, as in Chi. I for one would rather arrive and waite 6 hours and see part of any major east coast town maybe even leave a few $'s behind having a snack than have to get a room a taxi n dinner ($$$$) to catch my next train. Yes I know the NEC has trains leaving all hours of the day but... dont try to get into Canada fron the LSL or South from the CL or even the Cardnal. I would travel by train if the connections were better and I know others would too. Who out there wants to spend an extra $100 for a short night in a hotel to get somewhere? I would rather drive the family myself!
The short answer 12 hour mirror schedules.
Amtrak has only a skeleton system, often with 1 train per day. The limited schedule trys to serve the most likely demand. Apparently that does not coincide with your schedule.
Since many of the trains run on railroads owned by other railroads, they usually call the shots on schedules. Amtrak can negotiate to a certain degree but it is their railroads. That is also why Amtrak can't get more trains or even more frequencies on the trains that run less than daily. There are plenty of instances where schedules suck when it comes for connections or just times in general but Amtrak doesn't really have much control over it. I'm with you when it comes to connections, especially when trains are late and connections are missed (I remember missing a connection).
Philly Amtrak Fan, I appreciate your remarks concerning poor Amtrak connections. It may well be that many people who know of, and want to ride, Amtrak are unaware of the constrictions placed upon Amtrak by the host roads--whose primary concern is their freight service.
Being aware of the possiblities of delay, I am careful in planning my trips so as to allow some slack. Incidentallly, the only time I ever missed a connection was in 1970, when I rode from Detroit to St. Louis by day, planning to go to New Orleans overnight--and was delayed by freight troubles along the way--to the point that I spent the night in St. Louis and not in a roomette.
Johnny
Deggesty Philly Amtrak Fan, I appreciate your remarks concerning poor Amtrak connections. It may well be that many people who know of, and want to ride, Amtrak are unaware of the constrictions placed upon Amtrak by the host roads--whose primary concern is their freight service. Being aware of the possiblities of delay, I am careful in planning my trips so as to allow some slack. Incidentallly, the only time I ever missed a connection was in 1970, when I rode from Detroit to St. Louis by day, planning to go to New Orleans overnight--and was delayed by freight troubles along the way--to the point that I spent the night in St. Louis and not in a roomette.
I made the mistake of making a connection between the Sunset and the Crescent at New Orleans once-won't do that again. Now that I'm out west, if I go back east I make my connections in Chicago. That's about the only place that you can make same day east-west connections. The other reason for me to go through Chicago is the through sleeper on the Texas Eagle/Sunset. That allows me to get home to Tucson without having to change cars.
Amtrak had the good fortune to force a major schedule change on the Sunset, which allows it to go through Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas in daylight both ways. Ridership greatly increased once that change was effected.
Never, ever try to make a same day connection from one Amtrak LD train to another LD train in Chicago, New Orleans or anywhere. Save yourself the stress and spend the night in the connecting city. If you can't afford the price of the hotel room fly to your destination. It'll save you money and stress.
Granted, I travel, at most now, only twice a year--and change trains in Chicago both ways--and have not yet missed my west-east or east-west connections.
The worst connection that I had any association with was one three and a half years ago, when NS had severe congestion east of Chicago; both the Capitol and Lake Shore were delayed until after the CZ was scheduled to leave--and #5 was held until the two trains from the East arrived. We lost more time, and arrived in Salt Lake about five in the morning rather than about eleven at night.
This is why it is such a big deal that it is now required to make a transfer at Pittsburgh between the Capitol Limited and the Pennsylvanian when in the old days there used to be the Broadway Limited or the Three Rivers to have a one seat ride between Chicago and Philadelphia (or Harrisburg, Lancaster, New Jersey). Too many things can go wrong with a transfer. Plus, anyone who has ever been in Pittsburgh's Amtrak station can tell you it is not a place you want to spend more than a few minutes waiting. Luckily Philadelphia has a few more options for connecting points that are more pleasant (although still a hassle). Passengers traveling to/from the rest of PA to Chicago are stuck with PGH and the wait westbound is almost four hours, assuming the CL is on time.
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