Does fare ever go lower than low bucket?

If they do, are they more likely at closer to travel date?

Generally, I see the fare rise the closer to departure date. More and more people are traveling Amtrak. If at lowest bucket, don't count on the fare going lower especially during the peak months when most sleepers sell out. I am traveling this summer and 2 of my 4 trains have their sleepers almost sold out just one roomette remains in these cars. The other two trains have just a hand full of rooms left to be sold out of 3 sleepers per train.

Check out smart fares on the Amtk site for specials, Also saver fares are often available, but with a long lead, and in limited quantities of seats

Why doesn't Amtrak add more cars (coach/sleepers) during the peak seasons? Sell more tickets and make more money - not sell fewer and make more. Also, this would show the right that American passenger rail is alive and well. There are lots of things stacked against Amtrak.

Make train travel great again!

Generally they do actually...

peter

railguy said:

Why doesn't Amtrak add more cars (coach/sleepers) during the peak seasons? Sell more tickets and make more money - not sell fewer and make more. Also, this would show the right that American passenger rail is alive and well. There are lots of things stacked against Amtrak.

Make train travel great again!

Click to expand...

Because they don't have enough cars, and working locomotives, to go around. These capital expenses require major funding from Congress, which for the past 46 years has been making a practice of feeding Amtrak just enough to keep it alive, but not enough to let it grow. This dithering has decimated the industry which used to supply passenger rail equipment in this country...when an equipment order actually is authorized, it takes the successful bidder several years to figure out exactly what to do (witness CAF and Viewliner 2), if in fact they ever figure it out at all (Nippon-Sharyo). Then, if an order is actually completed and delivered, there is no follow-up order in a reasonable time so the workforce which has finally begun to learn the business is laid off and dispersed...and the whole depressing process has to start all over again. Locomotives are not so bad as there is an ongoing market for freight locomotives, but they are more expensive to construct and my understanding is that after Amtrak's last major Diesel locomotive order was completed (the P42s sixteen years ago), General Electric (who happens to be the largest locomotive builder in this hemisphere) opined that they were not interested in bidding on Amtrak business ever again.

I have believed for several years that Congress should authorize ten or so single-level plus about another ten double-deck Superliner cars each year, every year. Yes, you'd pay more per unit than you do with the One Big Order once a generation...but you do get what you pay for.

Amtrak could place a large order, commitment, spread out over several years with options to add on. This gives the manufacturer company a long term plan and employees a career. Many times a large order over several years will carry a similar discount to one for all at the same time.

My understanding is that the manufacturers of both the Superliner II order (Bombardier) and Viewliner I (Morrison-Knudsen) priced their bids as they did with the expectation of significant follow-on orders. But no follow-on orders were ever forthcoming. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me...."