Business Class Coming to Auto Train Feb 1, 2016

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AmtrakLKL

Lead Service Attendant
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Hot on the heels of the Cardinal Business Class is bookable now for travel beginning February 1 on Auto Train. Like the Coast Starlight, a regular coach car will offer the business class service. Unlike Coast Starlight, business class will not take away from coach inventory. It will be an additional car. Amenities include:

  • Priority boarding
  • Passenger comfort kit
  • Two bottles of water
  • Complimentary newspapers via AmtrakConnect WiFi
  • Meals in the sleeper diner
The Business Class car will be positioned between the sleepers and coaches.
 
a) I though the Auto Train was at a hard car limit? I wonder how this will be done...

b) With Wi-Fi for all and free meals for all already on the Auto Train, who is the intended market for this? It's not like there's a day corridor market on this non-stop overnight train...
 
a) I though the Auto Train was at a hard car limit? I wonder how this will be done...

b) With Wi-Fi for all and free meals for all already on the Auto Train, who is the intended market for this? It's not like there's a day corridor market on this non-stop overnight train...
There is a hard 50 car limit imposed by CSX for passenger cars and auto racks combined. For the purposes of head end power capabilities, 16 cars was the limit. I understand Auto Train reconfigured the Superliners in their pool to use LED lighting which reduced the load enough to permit additional cars. I'm not sure what the new max limit is, but they now operate 17 Superliners on peak days.

The dinner menu for sleeping car passengers (and now business class) is slightly upgraded from the coach menu. I'd say the market is for people willing to pay for more than coach but won't shell out for a room. Business Class is a $59 up-charge. Right now, is is pricing at $167 on all dates, including those where the lowest coach fare is $268. :ph34r:
 
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… Business Class ... beginning February 1 on Auto Train. Like the Coast Starlight, a regular coach car will offer the business class service… . It will be an additional car. Amenities include:

  • Priority boarding
  • Passenger comfort kit
  • Two bottles of water
  • Complimentary newspapers via AmtrakConnect WiFi
  • Meals in the sleeper diner
A "regular" coach car? Is it 2 + 2 seating, or 2 + 1 seating?

This is a 17-hour ride, from 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. both ways.

If it's 2 + 1 seating, this Business class will probably become a glorified slumber coach between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., mostly for passengers traveling alone. The roommettes cost a helluva lot of money for a single occupant.
 
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I think it's like the CS with two plus two seating, but perhaps leather seats and thicker seat cushions and backs. Maybe with one less row too. I know that the Amfleet I BC seats are much thicker than the coach seats, and they also have more legroom. Fewer rows of seats. Generally a better looking car too.
 
Unless Amtrak has done a full conversion of a superliner, it will just be a regular coach superliner. So you're basically paying for the perks and possibly a quieter environment.
 
I don't know what percentage of the HEP load was lighting to start with (I think most of the rest of the load is cooking, heating, cooling, and passengers' personal devices). But the LED lighting practically eliminates the lighting load entirely (it cuts 90% of it). So if 20% of the electrical load was lighting before (a purely hypothetical percentage), then Amtrak might be able to increase the length of the train by 25% (or more, since the dining cars probably uses more energy than the coaches).

Depending on how much electricity was previously used for lighting, Amtrak may be able to increase the train length beyond 17 passenger cars to 18 or even 19. Which is good stuff financially speaking: I've said repeatedly that if you can fill the train, you want the train as long as possible.
 
Starting HEP loads are managed by only the lights coming on at first. Then random time relays in each car cause the heavy loads to come on at different times through out the train.

Lighting loads are not reduce 90% because originally some lights were incandescent but some are fluorescent.
 
I would guess that heat (electric resistance) and air conditioning are probably pretty significant (albeit normally non coincident) loads. As a circuit increases in length, losses increase. In regular electrical work you would upsize the conductors and/or raise voltage to keep voltage drop within acceptable parameters, at 85 feet per car (ignoring the couple of extra feet of slack in the cables between cars) we are getting up there in length. Maybe one of the really sharp engineering and tech writing folks on the site might want to go through the losses at each connector and power cabinet and how this factors in.
 
This came as a surprise to me so I did a bit of checking. I was not able to get the complete story, and the plan is evidently not yet fully formed, but here's what I know so far:

The tests of the new plan are to begin some time in February, but I don't know whether these tests involve mechanical issues, practical issues, or something else. There will be a premium fare charged for the service. Whatever is planned will probably be subject to change, subsequent to the tests. The coach will be the one closest to the sleepers, and it will be designated as a quiet car with appropriate signage. Passengers in this car will dine in the sleeper diner. If the initial plan is successful, it is possible that the seats in this one coach may be upgraded to compare with Business Class seats on other trains, but that is not planned for the initial roll-out. Everything I have said is subject to change. This is a work in progress.

That's not a lot to go on, but it's all I know for sure.

Tom
 
Naive question, but is the HEP bottleneck the cabling / pass throughs or the engine? Because if it were the latter a 3 engine train would solve the problem (and one would think that w/ the large amount of revenue this train generates, one they'd scrounge up a loco of some sort)

The tests of the new plan are to begin some time in February, but I don't know whether these tests involve mechanical issues, practical issues, or something else. There will be a premium fare charged for the service. Whatever is planned will probably be subject to change, subsequent to the tests. The coach will be the one closest to the sleepers, and it will be designated as a quiet car with appropriate signage. Passengers in this car will dine in the sleeper diner. If the initial plan is successful, it is possible that the seats in this one coach may be upgraded to compare with Business Class seats on other trains, but that is not planned for the initial roll-out. Everything I have said is subject to change. This is a work in progress.
So if one buys a BC ticket they essentially must sit in the quiet car. I sure hope it's made clear to the passenger...quiet cars on other Amtrak trains are coaches where the passenger normally has a choice...
 
a) I though the Auto Train was at a hard car limit? I wonder how this will be done...

b) With Wi-Fi for all and free meals for all already on the Auto Train, who is the intended market for this? It's not like there's a day corridor market on this non-stop overnight train...
There is a hard 50 car limit imposed by CSX for passenger cars and auto racks combined. For the purposes of head end power capabilities, 16 cars was the limit. I understand Auto Train reconfigured the Superliners in their pool to use LED lighting which reduced the load enough to permit additional cars. I'm not sure what the new max limit is, but they now operate 17 Superliners on peak days.

The 50 car "hard limit" was lifted in tandem with the LED conversion almost a year ago.
 
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The identification of the car as a "quiet car" was mentioned to me by an employee, but that employee is not part of the team that is planning this. It is possible that the term was used out of convenience, and may not apply exactly to this new service in the same way that the term applies on other trains. As I said, there are a lot of details that haven't been worked out yet.

It's hard to say much of anything with absolute certainty.

Tom
 
I would hope BC is a quiet car, otherwise there's little point in paying for it since it's just a standard coach.
 
I have to say I am surprised that the Autotrain is the next LD train to get BC along with the Cardinal. Although for the AT, the BC appears to be a very modest upgrade, but there will be those who will almost automatically opt for the BC upgrade, so why not get the additional revenue?

After the Coast Starlight apparently successful experiment with BC, I would have thought the Texas Eagle with its CHI-STL and Dallas/FTW to Austin & San Antonio daytime city pairs or the Silver Star with its NEC to Richmond & Raleigh and Tampa to southern Florida daytime city pairs would have been among the next LD trains to get BC. Or the LSL. Although for the eastern trains, the limited number of Amfleet I BC-lounge cafe cars is a constraint. Still, with 2 LD trains getting BC one after the other, a BC option for all the Superliner LD trains may be coming soon.
 
a) I though the Auto Train was at a hard car limit? I wonder how this will be done...

b) With Wi-Fi for all and free meals for all already on the Auto Train, who is the intended market for this? It's not like there's a day corridor market on this non-stop overnight train...
There is a hard 50 car limit imposed by CSX for passenger cars and auto racks combined. For the purposes of head end power capabilities, 16 cars was the limit. I understand Auto Train reconfigured the Superliners in their pool to use LED lighting which reduced the load enough to permit additional cars. I'm not sure what the new max limit is, but they now operate 17 Superliners on peak days.

The 50 car "hard limit" was lifted in tandem with the LED conversion almost a year ago.
Yes, but I was referencing CSX's 50 car limit for Auto Train which, AFAIK, still stands.
 
a) I though the Auto Train was at a hard car limit? I wonder how this will be done...

b) With Wi-Fi for all and free meals for all already on the Auto Train, who is the intended market for this? It's not like there's a day corridor market on this non-stop overnight train...
There is a hard 50 car limit imposed by CSX for passenger cars and auto racks combined. For the purposes of head end power capabilities, 16 cars was the limit. I understand Auto Train reconfigured the Superliners in their pool to use LED lighting which reduced the load enough to permit additional cars. I'm not sure what the new max limit is, but they now operate 17 Superliners on peak days.
The 50 car "hard limit" was lifted in tandem with the LED conversion almost a year ago.
Yes, but I was referencing CSX's 50 car limit for Auto Train which, AFAIK, still stands.
And as I stated, CSX no longer imposes a 50 car limit. There is a limit but it is no longer 50 cars.
 
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