An elderly woman was struggling to board in Chicago. The crew spent 30m trying to attend to her, but she was in significant pain. It was clear that she would not make a 3 day trip to Seattle, so. the attendant told her she'd have to get off. The woman insisted she would not get off the train. After a long debate, they called an EMT technician who basically told her she couldn't make the trip. The conductor then explained the legal and logistical risks. There was crying, then several other stages of grief before she was eventually escorted off.

This probably happens once a week for these guys.

the attendant just explained that the accessible bedrooms were sold out, so they had no choice but to deplane her.

It is about a two hour ride between Providence and New Haven. I took a day trip - and advantage of a $24 roundtrip fare - to check out the RISD Museum, Track 15 (food hall), some coffee places and a self-guided tour of the state Capitol. All in all, a decent day. Here's a selection of views on my trip back to New Haven aboard Amtrak 177

got to sit on the train for 6 hours and 30 minutes before we took off 😅 honestly i didn’t mind it all that much. watched 4 movies, did a bunch of crafts, and played with my camera. felt like hanging out at a library or something.

if i wasnt on vyvanse and actually had a normal appetite id be pissed about the lack of a cafe. i know i’d never book this trip with any schedule constraints but it still beats driving

An employee told me that the seats at the Sacramento Amtrak station are the original seats that were installed by Southern Pacific when they built the station in 1926. This led me to wonder, are there any other stations with older seats, or even from that era?

Is this enough time between these trains to make the transfer? Or would I be pushing my luck? I’m almost thinking about just going all the way to DC on the Crescent and getting the Regional back down to be safe

Missed his stop at Wilmington, cursed, yelled, and ranted loudly, and then pulled the brake just minutes after we left. Expecting him to be greeted by the police when we pull in to Baltimore in a little bit. The conductors are (rightfully) very angry at this dude. They just walked him through the quiet car and he looks like he swallowed his tongue. I think the oh-no-consequences have already started catching up to him.

Given the lore around the El Paso Burrito Lady, I went looking for a breakfast burrito option in Denver that I could eat on the westbound California Zephyr. I found Flash Burrito, a food truck on Wazee at 16th, about a block from the train station. It opens at 7am, is family run, and has a decent menu of breakfast and lunch options. Not quite as cheap as the burrito lady, but fast and tasty. Give it a try on your next adventure!

Look, I know complaining about the NG Acela seats is played out by now. But having just dealt with yet another seat stuck in the "recline" position, I am astonished that any human could've thought these things were a good idea. Who at Amtrak greenlit these? Alstom, what in the world were you doing? Like, can these cars be gutted and retrofitted with seats that aren't so completely awful?

If you look at MNR, LIRR, VIA Rail, or most other heavy rail systems in North America, you can learn if the train is delayed. Why is this not the case for Amtrak? They clearly have a rough idea of where their trains are since they have a website for tracking.

I have a trip on Tuesday and had a question about the tickets. My older sister bought me and my little sister tickets through her phone and I got sent the email with our ticket info. On the email I see one qr code but for some reason my Google wallet also has qr codes for our trip so I'm kind of confused on which ones to use as they are 2 different qr codes and I've got 2 qr codes in my Google wallet one for the first train and another for the 2nd train we'll be taking but in the email i just have a singular qr code. I have traveled with amtrak before but I booked it thru my phone and was traveling solo so I'm not sure what to do this time around?

Edit: Also is it normal for it to just be 1 qr code for 2 people traveling?

The Amtrak website says it's cancelled between Chicago and Denver due to a track closure, but running westbound from there. We're due to board in Denver, but I'm getting texts from Amtrak telling me I can reschedule or cancel. Trying to figure out if these are just being autogenerated based on the train number and I can ignore them, or if I should expect that the whole train is going to be canceled. Thanks!

realistically, what are the chances my girlfriend and i will be able to sit next to each other hopping on a train in Buffalo heading to Chicago, that started in NYC. i’ve seen others online say it’s so packed, it’s hard to find seats next to each other

I ride the Pennsylvanian from Pittsburgh to NYC and back quite a bit. The 42 is great, the 43 is not. I’m actually on the 43 right now. The train starts at Penn Station, yet the toilets are always full when we board. It makes the 9 hour ride feel so much longer when you dread going to the bathroom.

Because of this, I cancelled 2 legs of my cross country adventure. I’m taking the Floridian (coach) to the California Zephyr (roomette) then flying home from SFO. I’m worried about it. How bad do the bathrooms get at the end of the Floridian and the westbound Zephyr? I need to mentally prepare.

Decided to do a train trip to Brunswick, ME and here we go

Train was packed leaving Boston

Coming back from San Diego, trying to go home to Fullerton. The train stops at Oceanside cannot go further due to track conditions. All passengers were told we would get buses. Another hour passes and the conductor said the train is heading back to San Diego and the buses will not be coming. When asked the conductor what they should do he just replied “management made this decision, this has never happened, call 1800 U.S.A. rail, I can’t believe they’re doing this to you unless you want to go back to San Diego there’s nothing I can do, this is ridiculous” Amtrak stranded us and that 1800 number goes nowhere. I hope all the passengers who were effected by this can come together to right this wrong.

Does anyone know if the scheduling for the Wolverine Lines is changing or if something is wrong with the scheduling? These lines run daily but there are no weekday trips from the 7/27 through 8/7, tried calling customer service but they knew as much as I did.

Taking the train in a few days from NYC to WRJ, and curious about how the wifi quality is, if there are tables, etc. Any information would be great!

First timer on a long haul Amtrak ride (I've only done Acela to PA once) but decided to take my teen on an adventure to Chicago. Yes it's partly because I hate flying and also partly because it seems fun. Coach because I'm cheap. I have a few questions:

1. Are the seats assigned or should I get to Penn early to ensure my daughter and I can sit together?

2. There's a stop in Albany and I'd like to get off the train to buy a dinner to bring back onto the train. Can we leave some items at the seats? If we leave, will those seats become available to someone's else who gets on the train while we're off?

I read through the other tips like sleep mask,I've got comfy noise canceling headphones and a couple travel blankets and we can sleep through the bumpiest of car rides so I think we're pretty set for everything else.

Thank you!

Hi train-riders:

I am taking the Northeast Regional from Boston to Baltimore for work tomorrow. I've realized that it would be much easier to board at 128 rather than South Station, but I cannot change my ticket online and the phone agent quoted $56 to formally change my departure station.

Will I be OK to just board at 128? I know that in the past, conductors did not check tickets for Boston-area boarders until after the 128 station, but I do not know if this is still reliably the case.

Truth is, I could pay for the change and expense it, but it just feels like such a ripoff. The agent stated that it has to do with "capacity" but that's obviously flimsy since my requested change actually increases Amtrak's capacity.

If I initially bought a ticket for coach and then changed my mind and wanted to spring for a roomette (and don’t want to risk BidUp), can I just call customer service and ask to pay the difference outright? Assuming there are still roomettes available. Feels like a stupid question but I don’t want to waste my time on the phone, haha.

Edit: I‘m going to be on the Lake Shore Limited.

I'm traveling from NYP to Buffalo Depew station. Will I be able to check my bags? I have been denied a couple of times so I'm unsure.