Ok, I'm having an issue with the "fine lady" at the CA in Boston South Station (the CA here is the nicest in the system; the staff, on the other hand...).
Basically, here's the deal: Amtrak.com sells tickets connecting between the Acela and other trains with <60 minute connection times (in particular, 2253 to 97, the annoyance in question). The connection is 30 minutes. This is not unlike the connection between the 0500 Acela out of WAS and the Adirondack (Acela arrival 0745, Adirondack departure 0815). I believe the latter connection has been sold for at least two years; I believe a similar connection at NYP for the Meteor has been sold for several years as well.
So there are two options: Either the Acela allows a 30 minute connection (and this is, in fact, upheld in numerous case on the website without any sort of warning, and I can produce the connections on demand) or the website is being, bluntly, stupid.
Edit: I'm more than mildly irked because this shows as the legal connection (making booking anything else a pain in the arse) and I'm only being told this by a rather temperamental station agent at the last minute...and because I'm being told that I was booked on an improper connection at 0715 on a Saturday morning when I just spent two hours on a bus from Portland, and when it would presumably cost me over $40 to do the upgrade. Let's just suffice it to say that this moment is not one of Amtrak's shining moments.
Edit 2: Also, my understanding is that the Acela does have a tighter allowable connection time than a Regional due to priority status.
Basically, here's the deal: Amtrak.com sells tickets connecting between the Acela and other trains with <60 minute connection times (in particular, 2253 to 97, the annoyance in question). The connection is 30 minutes. This is not unlike the connection between the 0500 Acela out of WAS and the Adirondack (Acela arrival 0745, Adirondack departure 0815). I believe the latter connection has been sold for at least two years; I believe a similar connection at NYP for the Meteor has been sold for several years as well.
So there are two options: Either the Acela allows a 30 minute connection (and this is, in fact, upheld in numerous case on the website without any sort of warning, and I can produce the connections on demand) or the website is being, bluntly, stupid.
Edit: I'm more than mildly irked because this shows as the legal connection (making booking anything else a pain in the arse) and I'm only being told this by a rather temperamental station agent at the last minute...and because I'm being told that I was booked on an improper connection at 0715 on a Saturday morning when I just spent two hours on a bus from Portland, and when it would presumably cost me over $40 to do the upgrade. Let's just suffice it to say that this moment is not one of Amtrak's shining moments.
Edit 2: Also, my understanding is that the Acela does have a tighter allowable connection time than a Regional due to priority status.
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