Any guidelines for travelling foreigners?

[ken]

Hi All,

A friend of mine and her co-worker (two attractive young women) from China will be here soon and are planning on taking the night train from WashingtonDC to Boston to visit. They asked me about safety on the train and, never having ridden a train, i'm really not sure what to tell them. Considering that they won't have the, take your pick: hardened edge, thickened skin, etc. of most American travellers can anyone offer some re-assurance the night train is safe and/or some personal safety guidelines if there is anything that pertains particularly to train travel? Will they have other people in their room or are most sleeper rooms 2 person? Should they avoid lounges etc at night?

I hope this isn't sounding paranoid, I really just want them to have a fun, safe experience travelling in America and I have no personal experience with their selected means of travel.

Any advice will be appreciated,

Thanks,

-Ken

 

[caravanman]

Hi Ken,

Your friends will be fine aboard train, I am sure they need take no extra precautions above normal common sense to use Amtrak.

However, as far as I am aware, there are no "sleeper" trains between Washington and Boston. Sleeping in a coach seat at night is

quite possible, but they may prefer to take a daytime train for the journey. Prices are from about $83 for a normal train, taking about

7 to 8 hours , or express Acela trains taking an hour or so less. Acela costs quite a bit more. You can check the fares and options at www.amtrak.com without

booking. There is the option to upgrade to "Business" class seats on the regular trains also.

Cheers,

Ed. B)

 

[AlanB]

That is correct, there are no sleeping cars on the overnight train from Washington to Boston anymore. Amtrak removed the sleeping car a few years back. The only choices are coach & business class. Business class does offer nicer wider seats, with more leg room, a foot rest, and a calf rest. Coach has no calf rests and the seats are a bit tighter than in business class.

They should be perfectly fine and safe in either BC or coach. People will be getting on and off the train all night long, and the crew will be walking through the train on and off all night.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Hi All,
A friend of mine and her co-worker (two attractive young women) from China will be here soon and are planning on taking the night train from WashingtonDC to Boston to visit. They asked me about safety on the train and, never having ridden a train, i'm really not sure what to tell them. Considering that they won't have the, take your pick: hardened edge, thickened skin, etc. of most American travellers can anyone offer some re-assurance the night train is safe and/or some personal safety guidelines if there is anything that pertains particularly to train travel? Will they have other people in their room or are most sleeper rooms 2 person? Should they avoid lounges etc at night?

I hope this isn't sounding paranoid, I really just want them to have a fun, safe experience travelling in America and I have no personal experience with their selected means of travel.

Any advice will be appreciated,

Thanks,

-Ken

Two people have already noted that unfortunately there is no sleeper on that particular night train. But to answer one of your questions; in those cases where there are sleepers, you never share accommodations with strangers. Even if you are one person in a room built for two, another person will never be put in there with you, in those cases where there ARE sleeping cars.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Amtrak's trains are, contrary to what Senator McCain might like you to think, very crowded. Assuming your friends don't plan to leave their wallet on their knee, or some such, they should be fine. As long as someone is sensible (for example, not leaving money/ID/Wallets where people can easily see and snatch them) you should be fine. The Northeast Corridor is a fairly safe place, in general.

 

[the_traveler]

Your friends should be fine, as long as reasonable sense is used. On the overnight train, most passengers will be sleeping anyway. And the train crew will be walking around every so often.

I won't deny that crime and theft can occur - just like anywhere else. But a thing to think about is where is a thief going to go on a train moving at 90 MPH, and with 30-60 witnesses in your car?

I find train travel much safer than walking around most cities or towns!

 

[George Harris]

Ken:

I would be much more concerned about their safety while doing the usual touristy things rather than on the train. The level of ordinary person to person crime is much lower in Asia almost everywhere than it is in the US. The "revolving door" criminal justice system certainly does not exist in China. These are the things they need to be warned about more than anything. Such things as

1. Always be concious of the nature of your surroundings. If the area looks bad, it probably is. Get out of it.

1a. Time of day can make a large difference in how safe an area is or is not it a lot of cities.

2. Be aware of who is around you and what they are doing. Acceptable personal space around you is much larger in the US than in Asia.

2a. Do not stand too close to people. They will be suspicious of you.

2b. If people are getting very close to you, give them space and be cautions. They may be up to no good.

3. Be very wary of offers from people to guide you around. You may not like the real destination.

4. Make them aware of 911 and also the limitations on how fast or slow the response might be.

I think most night trains in China have sleepers. They need to be aware that the one between Washington and Boston does not.

There are normally at least two classes of sleeper travel in China.

"Hard Class" is berths three high

"Soft Class" is 4 berth compartments with each berth individually sold.

Knowing that, explain how US sleeper space works.

 

[Ken]

Hello again All,

Thank you so much for your time to share your thoughts with me, it is definitely appreciated. I shouldn't say i've never ridden a train, i did ride in China when i was there and we were in one of the 4 berth sleepers with strangers. It is pretty much true that the crime rate is significantly lower in China (except for nuisance crime like cell phone/wallet theft). So my apprehension might come just from having no first hand knowledge of train travel in the US. Thanks for your kind reassurances. I will pass along your suggestions for personal safety when touring (at least I'll be with them while in Boston, though Boston is a great town and quite safe, please come visit if you have the chance and happily re-assure them that train travel is very safe in the US and that they have nothing to be worried about.

I'm very much looking forward to having a chance to show them around my city and return the good will they graciously extended me during my travels in China.

Thanks again for all your help,

_Ken

 

[TransAtlantic]

Amtrak's trains are, contrary to what Senator McCain might like you to think, very crowded. Assuming your friends don't plan to leave their wallet on their knee, or some such, they should be fine. As long as someone is sensible (for example, not leaving money/ID/Wallets where people can easily see and snatch them) you should be fine. The Northeast Corridor is a fairly safe place, in general.

It was recently revealed that Senator McCain rides Amtrak's Acela trains dozens of times per year...hypocrisy, anyone??