charlie hebdo Why would anyone choose to take such a train?
Why would anyone choose to take such a train?
I have only had two late experiences with the train. One was after Christmas when Amtraks locomotives started to fail en masse at Chicago Union Station. Which hopefully will not happen this time with the Siemens replacements for the Midwest Corridor work, probably why they are dumping them onto the market this year.
Anyhoo, Only one other late train. I only liesure travel Amtrak LD on weekends at the moment and next to holidays when freight operations are minimal. So if we are late it is usually Amtraks fault vs. traffic. Most times the train is only 20-30 min late when I ride it.
My rule of thumb is greater than 4 hours late or if arrival is less than 4 hours late but more than 1 hour after rental car counter close and I abandon the flight or train and ask for compensation money.
Yesterday, October 28th, No. 21 arrived at Temple seven minutes late. It was held there for unknown reasons. It finally departed Temple 6 hours 21 minutes late. It got into San Antonio at 3:46 am.
Anyone know why No. 21 was held in Temple for more than six hours?
I imagine there were a lot of unhappy campers when the train finally got to San Antonio or any of the intermediate stations between Temple and the Alamo City.
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
PJS1 Yesterday, October 28th, No. 21 arrived at Temple seven minutes late. It was held there for unknown reasons. It finally departed Temple 6 hours 21 minutes late. It got into San Antonio at 3:46 am. Anyone know why No. 21 was held in Temple for more than six hours? I imagine there were a lot of unhappy campers when the train finally got to San Antonio or any of the intermediate stations between Temple and the Alamo City.
Does Amtrak give passengers any sort of info about such huge delays? It would be a courtesy so that folks who would prefer not to get to their destinations in the middle of the night could find alternatives.
Yes, Charlie, Amtrak does, sometimes, give passengers information. Last mointh, when I was coming back to Salt Lake City, we arrived in Denver only a little late--and were told very soon that we would not leave Denver until about noon because of a forest fire along our way--it was expected that the danger from the fire would be past by the time we reached the area that night. As it was, some time later that it was determined that we would have to detour across Wyoming--and it took some time to call the UP pilots. The train arrived in Salt Lake about 5 1/2 hours late, so I had a good night's sleep.
We left Denver about two, had a lot of opposing traffic between there and Borie, and reached Borie about six.
Four years ago, we left Chicago a little more than two hours late--and we were told that we had to wait for both the Capitol and the Lake Shore. We, of course, lost our slot, arrived in Lincoln 5 hours late, and arrivd in Slat Lake 6 1/2 hours late (we had to stop for new crews at a road crossing in western Nebraska because the crews had been called in Lincoln for their scheduled time).
My worst experience came last spring when we were held at a pass track in western Nebraska because of high winds--and there was no telling when the dispatcher would let us go; we arrived in Salt Lake 12 1/2 hours late.
Johnny
charlie hebdo Does Amtrak give passengers any sort of info about such huge delays? It would be a courtesy so that folks who would prefer not to get to their destinations in the middle of the night could find alternatives.
Based on my experience, the San Antonio based Texas Eagle conductors are pretty good at telling passengers the reason for and estimated time of a delay. But their information is usually restricted to general terms, e.g. freight train interference, Amtrak equipment problems, signal problems, etc.
The only way for a passenger stuck on the Eagle in Temple, TX to get to Austin or San Antonio would have been to call a cab. It would have been an expensive ride.
In a previous post, I noted that on another occasion the Eagle did not arrive into Fort Worth until 10:00 pm. In that case the through passengers for points west of San Antonio were taken off the train in Longview and bused to San Antonio so they could get the Sunset Limited.
Passengers for points south of Fort Worth, including those ticketed to San Antonio, had to stay on the train. From Fort Worth they were bused to their destination. The San Antonio passengers did not get to the Alamo City until nearly 6 am.
The Eagle has struck again. No. 21 arrived into San Antonio at 9:21 this morning. It was due to arrive last night at 9:55.
Someone commented that the long-distance trains would draw more riders if they had more coaches. Really?
Given the on-time performance of the Texas Eagle, it probably will be able to get by with one coach. The few people I know who ride the Eagle between San Antonio and Dallas have given up on it. Including me! It is not worth the aggravation.
Before social media most people probably were unaware of late running Amtrak trains. Now, I suspect, the word spreads like wildfire. I imagine most of the passengers on the Eagle reported their plight before the train arrived in San Antonio. Consistently late running trains will turn off most current and potential customers.
As noted above, No. 21 did not arrive into San Antonio until approximately 9:20 this morning. No. 22 is currently running 4 hrs, 45 minutes behind schedule as it makes its way to Chicago. So, not only did Amtrak tick-off the passengers on No. 21 yesterday, it is also ticking off the passengers on No. 22 today.
What they should have done was terminate No. 21 in Fort Worth and bused the passengers to San Antonio or intermediate stations. By using buses between Fort Worth and San Antonio, they probably could have departed San Antonio this morning on-time and, thus, not ticked-off the folks with reservations on No.22.
No. 22 departed Dallas 6 hours, 18 minutes late.
JPS1 Now this is more than just late! According to Amtrak's webpage, No. 22 from San Antonio today – January 30th - was cancelled. No explanation! Anyone have any ideas on why the train was cancelled?
If yoou read Amtrak's CHI cancellation notice they are cancelling all trains to / from CHI today so #7 chi cancelled and #8 out of SEA cancelled as well. Guess the lack of spare equippment is necessary for these cancellations.
blue streak 1If yoou read Amtrak's CHI cancellation notice they are cancelling all trains to / from CHI today so #7 chi cancelled and #8 out of SEA cancelled as well. Guess the lack of spare equippment is necessary for these cancellations.
It's all over the news FOX, CNN, etc. They are resorting to the old soak the rope in cresote and set it afire along the rails in the Chicago area alongside switches and some welded rail. A lot of fear the rails are going to pull apart due to the bitter cold. In fact it happened in the Twin Cities (Chicago is colder than the Twin Cities)for the Northstar Commuter Rail I heard as well on the news. I think it would be a good guess that METRA has reduced frequencies today since everyone was told to say home and Amtrak management is probably freaking out as well due to seeing everyone elses precautions.
Chicago was at -40 with windchill last time I saw a weather chart and Twin Cities was -22.
Welded rail is a technology that railroads have yet to MASTER at the extremes of weather's heat and cold.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I understand the reason for not running to Chicago. However, the Texas Eagle made it to San Antonio last night?
It did not drop below freezing last night in central Texas. It is currently in the middle 50s in Austin. So, I wonder why Amtrak did not run No. 22 from San Antonio to Dallas or maybe even Little Rock today?
No. 21 is marked up 1 hour 6 minutes late for Austin, so it was able to get out of Chicago yesterday.
The rail map (https://asm.transitdocs.com/map) currently (4:11 PM, Wednesday) shows three Amtrak trains in the Chicago area, #49 Ar CUS 6 Hr, 24 Min late, #22 departing Joliet for Chicago @ 4:10 PM expected CUS AR at 4:47 PM, and #8 Lv Columbus WI @3:35 PM (2:38 late) with a CUS ETA of 6:09 PM.
#4 Ar CUS about 3:44 PM (0:54 late), #6 Ar CUS 4:02 PM (1:12 late), #29 Ar CUS 4:02 PM (7:17 late) though it left South Bend @ 11:23 AM 3:32 late).
I would not want to be an Amtrak termianal service worker trying to make up a train in this weather.
Number 21 departed Little Rock today - March 21st - at 11:42 am, 8 hours 32 minutes late.
I have given up riding the Texas Eagle between Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio because of late running. I wonder how many other people have done likewise?
JPS1Number 21 departed Little Rock today - March 21st - at 11:42 am, 8 hours 32 minutes late. I have given up riding the Texas Eagle between Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio because of late running. I wonder how many other people have given up on it.
I have given up riding the Texas Eagle between Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio because of late running. I wonder how many other people have given up on it.
Anderson's plan is working on you!
JPS1 No. 21 is running about 4.5 hours late today. It is estimated to arrive in San Antonio 3 hours, 17 minutes late. It was running 1 hour, 46 minutes late at Little Rock, but fell off to more than 5 hours late between Little Rock and Malvern. The train that departed Chicago on March 24th was 1 hour, five minutes late departing Little Rock, but it was more than 3 hours late by the time it got to Hope, Arkansas. And it was approximately 3 hours late arriving in San Antonio. The March 23rd train from Chicago departed Little Rock 1 hour, 26 minutes late, but it was 3 hours, 10 minutes late by the time it got to Mineola. The March 20th train was more than 8 hours late when it got to Fort Worth. The train was tied down in Fort Worth, and the passengers for points south of there had the joy of a middle of the night bus ride. Anyone have any idea why No. 21 has been running hours late for the past week or so?
22 is over three hours late by Taylor Texas and is only 100 miles from San Antonio where it left on time. Is it UP traffic? Is UP rerouting transon traffic south?
longhorn1969What happened to the Eagle last night ? An on time 21 last 5 hours between LRK and MVN. 22 got stabbed too for multiple hours. Track work?
Why would anyone, even the modal long distance passenger in no big hurry, subject themselves to such an "experience" in the future?
How times have changed--2 1/2 years ago, when I took the three-night ride from Los Angeles to Chicago, we arrived in St. Louis well over an hour early--and then lost time as we were detoured over the former C&EI line to Chicago.
A couple from St. Louis boarded there so they could go to Chicago to cheer as the Cubs defeated the Cardinals that night.
charlie hebdoWhy would anyone, even the modal long distance passenger in no big hurry, subject themselves to such an "experience" in the future?
That is what Anderson is banking on.
BaltACD charlie hebdo Why would anyone, even the modal long distance passenger in no big hurry, subject themselves to such an "experience" in the future? That is what Anderson is banking on.
charlie hebdo Why would anyone, even the modal long distance passenger in no big hurry, subject themselves to such an "experience" in the future?
The problems which many Amtrak LD trains have with scheduling (running hours late) long precede Anderson's tenure.
charlie hebdo BaltACD charlie hebdo Why would anyone, even the modal long distance passenger in no big hurry, subject themselves to such an "experience" in the future? That is what Anderson is banking on. The problems which many Amtrak LD trains have with scheduling (running hours late) long precede Anderson's tenure.
And what is Anderson trying to do to get Amtrak's trains to run on time. I haven't heard of any 'come to Jesus' meeting between Amtrak, Congressmen and the carriers that are screwing Amtrak to the wall. If Anderson cared, such meetings would be taking place. Anderson is hoping the trains get screwed bad enough consistantly enough to drive away whatever clientel that the trains have had in the past, he has no intent to attracting new users and is working to discourage the old users. Classic strategy employed by the Class 1's with their own passenger trains to force the creation of Amtrak.
Drive the passengers away and then cry nobody is using your service.
The Eagle is outdoing itself today. No 21 is due in Marshall, TX at 5:53 p.m., which is a tad off its 7:40 am sheduled arrival. It will be interesting to see if No. 21 can make it as far as Fort Worth before midnight, where they generally tie the train down when it is running very very late.
No. 21 that left Chicago on Sunday is on time. It is estimated to arrive into San Antonio 1 hour, 14 minutes early. The train that departed Chicago on Friday, April 13th, was 1 hour, 19 minutes late into San Antonio; it had been nearly 2 hours at late between most of the Dallas and San Marcos.
Would interfering freight train traffic tend to be less of a problem on Saturday and Sundays?
TTrain 21 of 4/17 departed Mineola TX 5 hr, 1 min late, Departed Ft Worth 4 hr, 16 min late. Back to business as usual?
Electroliner 1935 Train 21 of 4/17 departed Mineola TX 5 hr, 1 min late, Departed Ft Worth 4 hr, 16 min late. Back to business as usual?
It sure looks like it. No. 21 is estimated to arrive in Temple at 8:44 pm, which would make it 4 hours, 1 minute late. It is estimated to stay four hours behind schedule until San Marcos, but it is expected to be only 2 hours, 46 minutes late into San Antonio. Oh, the beauty of a heavily padded schedule.
I have seen Nos. 21 and 22 in Austin the past couple of days. The baggage car has been dropped at least temporarily. Moreover, the last coach did not have any passengers.
I suppose the word is getting around. This train is a dog, and people are deserting it for better alternatives. I have given up on it.
I have shared my concerns about the lateness of Nos. 21 and 22 with Richard Anderson. I am keen to learn what he says if anything. I will post his response on this forum if I hear from him. Stay tuned!
JPS1This train is a dog, and people are deserting it for better alternatives. I have given up on it. I have shared my concerns about the lateness of Nos. 21 and 22 with Richard Anderson.
Some on here blame it on a conspiracy led by Anderson, even though the lateness is caused by the freight lines and was regularly occuring pre-Anderson.
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