40 plus years ago I travelled for business a lot, and I made my own travel arrangements. I subscribed to the OAG (Official Airline Guide). It was a phone book sized thing that came out often. Amtrak used to publish its own system table, but most of us don't take the train because we HAVE to for work. I read the Amtrak guide just out of idle curiosity.
Today, if I want to travel I head for the internet. Most Americans have the internet in their pocket wherever they are. Where would they get a paper schedule anyway?
It seems the main reason they discontinued timetables was because they were constantly changing with the pandemic. We will see if they bring them back. I think most younger people don't know what a timetable is, and they are used to buying tickets as is done with airlines. If you want to see intermediate stations, you can look at the system map.
Most people know where they are going and don't want a timetable. It's unnecessary with modern technology. The airlines got rid of them long ago. Ditto with foreign rails though on some you can check the route if you must.
Amtrak's interface assumes that you already know where you want to go and approximately when. But a timetable lets you see all the options. Some folks want to know what's available, then plan a trip. Amtrak's website is like a catalog in which you can see only one product at a time; you cannot compare. It's stupid.
If I see a timetable I can decide where I might wish to make a stopover before continuing on to my final destination. This decision will be influenced by what time trains stop where, and what times trains may leave when it's time to move on; it will also tell me if there is any train the next day or whenever I wish to move on.
There is simply no excuse for not having timetables, at least online. A passenger railroad without timetables??? It's utterly ridiculous.
(Also, not that Amtrak cares, timetables are very valuable to us railfans and photographers ...)
Still in training.
They stopped with the timetables because thanks to most our Class I freight lines, Amtrak trains are notoriously late and they are probably tired of the public complaining about it. So adopting the frieght railroad philosophy of the train will get there when it gets there, I suspect Amtrak hopes to reduce complaints.
Why print a timetable when you're never going to abide by it? Passengers might start thinking that they're going to get somewhere at a certain time!
Make your own ...https://www.amtrak.com/train-schedules-timetables
or ..https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/timetables/Amtrak-Cascades-Schedule-052421.pdf
Miost commuter railroads do, as does Israel Railways.
I haven't seen an airline timetable in years, not even on foreign carriers such as Mexicana or Aeromexico. I don't even think that you can find them on their websites.
BaltACDDo airlines print timetables?
No, but they don't have to. For long distance travel they're effectively the only game in town.
Remember those old Avis car rental ads? "When you're Number Two, you have to try harder!" Well, if Amtrak wants the business they have to try harder, and if you're Number Zero you have to try harder still.
If nothing else those printed timetables are reading material for people coming to an Amtrak station to pick up arrivals. They'll look at the schedules and might just possibly think "Hmmm, maybe. Just maybe." Printed schedules are a way of attracting business, not foolproof of course but another tool in the bag.
Making the trains WORTH traveling is another subject.
trainrider1What ever happened to Amtrak timetables, and why? Amtrak used to publish a system timetable and a series of route-specific ones. As I recall, the system timetable disappeared first. Then Amtrak stopped “printing” the other timetables, although they continued to “publish” them to the Internet. And now the timetables appear to be gone entirely. In my judgment, the reasons for timetables are manifest. If I were to enumerate the reasons, it would be a long list. But I still don’t know why they were discontinued. Can anyone tell me why Amtrak did this?
Do airlines print timetables?
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Could it be just one way to decrease LD passenger demand? others are bad meals, poor customer service, long wait on telephone,stranding passengers with no effort to mitigate strandees, etc????
What ever happened to Amtrak timetables, and why? Amtrak used to publish a system timetable and a series of route-specific ones. As I recall, the system timetable disappeared first. Then Amtrak stopped “printing” the other timetables, although they continued to “publish” them to the Internet. And now the timetables appear to be gone entirely. In my judgment, the reasons for timetables are manifest. If I were to enumerate the reasons, it would be a long list. But I still don’t know why they were discontinued. Can anyone tell me why Amtrak did this?
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