oltmannd henry6 You're talking less than $200 or 15% difference less actually. From a marketing standpoint that is competitive not "WAAAY too expensive." No. $700 difference. $1100 for the Crescent. $400 for NEC/BWI. That's WAAAY too large a difference. The Airtran/Southwest flights were $110 each. Amtrak was $42 and $32. Hotel was $100. Flew up on Friday AM. Arrived Philadelphia just after the Crescent. Left Philadelphia at 9:30 PM Sunday, about 5 hours after the Crescent. Arrived in ATL about same time as Crescent.
henry6 You're talking less than $200 or 15% difference less actually. From a marketing standpoint that is competitive not "WAAAY too expensive."
You're talking less than $200 or 15% difference less actually. From a marketing standpoint that is competitive not "WAAAY too expensive."
No. $700 difference. $1100 for the Crescent. $400 for NEC/BWI. That's WAAAY too large a difference.
The Airtran/Southwest flights were $110 each. Amtrak was $42 and $32. Hotel was $100.
Flew up on Friday AM. Arrived Philadelphia just after the Crescent. Left Philadelphia at 9:30 PM Sunday, about 5 hours after the Crescent. Arrived in ATL about same time as Crescent.
If the extra six hours on the ground was for business purposes, you need to factor its cost into the calculation.. If it was for personal purposes, it still has value, although it is implied and may be different than the time for business.
In addition, at least in my case, I have never gotten off an overnight train feeling completely rested. For years I would not admit it to my non-rail friends, but I suspect very few people get as good a nights rest on a train as they do in a good hotel bed.
Your description of your recent NEC trip is most interesting and informative.
On more than one occasion, when going to DC or Philadelphia, I have stayed at the LaQuinta near BWI. It has a shuttle to the airport as well as the rail station.
Clearly, the BWI station is not 30th Street or Washington Union Station. But it works.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
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henry6 So with the overnight at BWI, wouldn't a straight Amtrak Atlanta to 30th Street have worked in your favor?
So with the overnight at BWI, wouldn't a straight Amtrak Atlanta to 30th Street have worked in your favor?
WAAAY too expensive...
RT on Amtrak roomette would have cost over $1100. Flight to PHL - $550. Amtrak/BWI - $400 including hotel.
and I got to spend a bit more time at destination (not much - only about 6 hours more.)
---and to be fair, you'd have to back out the "free" Amtrak meal and add in the ATL parking, but that doesn't really move the needle much.
My recent NEC trip:
I just spend the weekend in Phila and found the cheapest way there was to fly to BWI from Atlanta and then take Amtrak to 30th St. This included and overnight stay at BWI, which just goes to show how expensive flying in and out of Phila is these days....
I also had to piece the trip together myself. Too bad the Amtrak and airline schedules aren't integrated.
Here are some random observations:
1. It is really pretty easy to get between the airport and the train station. Shuttle runs frequently, is well marked and the trip is short.
2. BWI rail station is a tiny and is a dump - considering the number of people using it on a Friday morning - it could use some upgrading. How about a joint MARC/Amtrak/BWI project?
3. The BWI station staff were very good. I saw an agent go out of his way to give a 3 yr old girl a paper Amtrak hat and coloring book. Just fabulous to watch happen!
4. I spend an hour and a half down at the end of the platform taking pix before my train came. Not a single hassle.
5. The center track has 1983 140 RE rail (rolled in June of 1983, so it's exactly 30 years old) - the old PC standard that Amtrak adopted. It must have been put down with the early 80s NECIP that put the bulk of the concrete ties in place. The other two tracks had newer 136# rail (which is NS's std). For comparison, NJT and CR use 132 RE rail.
6. The ride quality has gotten much worse in since the 80s and 90s when I last rode this part of the corridor. The interlockings, which were always rough, were even worse and there were some other bad spots as well. A lot of the route was pretty good, though, just not "rock steady" like it was 20 years ago.
7. The Amfleet coaches are just as good as they always were. The "peel and stick" interiors were nice and clean, the seats comfortable, and the ride nice and quiet.
8. The Crescent came through while I was waiting at BWI. It had the ex-NYC Hickory Creek obs car on the rear end. Had put my camera away by then... It was cool to see it though.
9. The free WiFi worked pretty well.
10. The e-ticketing feature of the Amtrak phone app worked great! No paper - they scan your phone screen (just like Starbucks) . On my return train on Sunday evening, I'd say about 1/3 of the riders were paperless. Another cool thing Amtrak did was to offer an "upsell" when you go to display your ticket - really easy to spend a bit more to upgrade to business class (I didn't - but I thought about it). Also, the conductor's hand-held looked like a modified iPhone - nice and small and easy to use. Off the shelf technology. Smart.
11. 30th St Station is still the best train station in the US. It's big. It's full of people using intercity trains. It has massive art-deco coolness. It just is. I like just being in the building.
12. Amtrak has some kiosks up in 30th St selling the story of their proposed NEC upgrade. That's good PR.
13. Acelas and HHP8 locomotives are neat looking. The Acelas have a goofy paint job, but the train sets look nice. The HHP8s look good in Amtrak paint - less so in MARC paint. MARC's new diesels look pretty good.
14. The onboard employees on both trains I'd give an A or B. They've come a long way from the days of the Penn Central charm school. Amtrak did this. Good for them.
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