What follows are some of the highs and lows of my trip to Washington, DC, for the annual meeting of the Rail Passengers Association. Suffice to say, things are a long way from normal. The Southwest Chief (L.A. to Chicago) was on time, start to finish. There was a full-service dining car on board and…
At last we come to the point of this narrative, which is that for many reasons, Amtrak can be a better choice for long-distance travel than flying. At the airport, we are required to hand over our personal belongings to be inspected and even searched. We are squeezed into narrow seats that won’t recline and…
Word is flashing about on-line that, because of the coronavirus, Amtrak has made drastic cuts in its schedule—cuts that will probably be in effect for at least the next several months. . That said, it is a fact that Amtrak has maintained a much higher level of service than probably most of us expected. Only…
The Amtrak leadership is continuing its cost-cutting, despite negative response from Rail Passengers Association and almost universal opposition from numerous sources, including individual travelers. The new directive says that, effective October 1st, all overnight trains east of the Mississippi River will transition from whatever it is they are now doing to what Amtrak persists in…