EB connections to be restored 1/23/15

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One good thought for the spring time may be a lower risk of major flooding along the Hi-Line. At this point in the winter there is virtually no snow on the ground from the Rocky Mtn front in MT into a good part of western ND. With snow depths in eastern ND and MN somewhat below normal as well. Long range predictions are that this trend will continue thru March, so the odds are improving that flooding will not play a significant role in delaying the EBs this spring. Keep our fingers crossed......
 
As was posted, the 14 to 28 connection was only available to Chicago. An AGR agent said they don't trust the connections to 30 and 48. 48 leaves several hours after 28 arrives. Lately the timekeeping has been decent, so we are booking a 2 zone roomette from San Luis Obispo to Chicago and are paying coach to South Bend on 48. Going through the Glaciers in the morning was the selling point, and hopefully we'll make the connection. We are traveling in June,so daylight will be at the maximum.
 
I got a reply from

WellTrained said:
FWIW, I just booked ALY(Albany, OR)/PDX/CHI/NYP and the #28 to #48 connection went through just fine - dep. 2/18.

But booking this was anything but easy. If I tried to book ALY/NYP, the only valid routing was to leave ALY at 6:13 AM and connect to #8 in SEA! If I instead tried just ALY/CHI, it gave me 3 routings through PDX (connecting to #28) up to and including the 2:05 bus ALY/PDX. And when I called Amtrak, an agent at first refused to book me on anything except the 6:13 departure.

The #14 to #28 connection is still not guaranteed, probably a wise decision.

Moving right along, anybody explain how later, both a Julie agent and his supervisor were unable to find my reservation when Donna at Customer Relations was able to pull it up immediately? I didn't know my res number, if that explains anything.

Yes, yesterday I sent a long message to Amtrak CR. No reply yet.
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FWIW a few days ago I got a reply from Amtrak apologizing and promising that personnel issues had been dealt with.

But the schedule problem continues unchanged. There's still no way on-line to book ALY to NYP via PDX, which as I pointed out in my earlier post is absurd.

Anyone know if hardism is still Chief Marketing & Sales Officer? ( http://gethuman.com/email/Amtrak/sales--20373/ )

How 'bout them Builders!
 
If you leave from Salem or Eugene AGR allows you to transfer from 28 to 48 in Chicago,but not from 14. 14 to 28 has been restored. Again, why? As I mentioned,we booked SLO to Chicago 14-28 on a two zone reward,but we have to do a separate reservation to get to South Bend.
 
benale said:
If you leave from Salem or Eugene AGR allows you to transfer from 28 to 48 in Chicago,but not from 14. 14 to 28 has been restored. Again, why? As I mentioned,we booked SLO to Chicago 14-28 on a two zone reward,but we have to do a separate reservation to get to South Bend.
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Have you contacted AGR Insider on FlyerTalk?
 
I see that CHI-ELP routing through PDX and LAX is now an allowable routing on some days. That's a nice 98 hour 2-zone trip. What happens if the Builder is very late into PDX? They could put you up for a night in PDX and send you to LAX the next day, but then there's no Sunset until one or two days later.
 
Just for the record, my EB to CS trip this week went perfectly. 27 was exactly on time into Portland, and 11 made its run on time or better all the way to LAX. Loved it.
 
Chicago connections for the Empire Builder have been restored to Trains:

  • 383 to Quincy (departs 5:55PM)
  • 354 to Detroit and Pontiac (departs 6:00PM)
  • 370 to Grand Rapids (departs 6:30PM)
  • 30 to Pittsburgh and Washington, DC (departs 6:40PM)
and any later departures.
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Just in time to catch the latest summer construction delays. Looks like todays EB will miss all of these. The last four days for example have ranged from 2 1/2 to 4 hours behind and today will likely be 3+ hours late. The same area (Eastern MT and ND) is the culprit. My BNSF guy says that BNSF is doing all it can to make sure the west bound EB gets thru the mess with minimal delays (usually around an hour), but that the east bound trains usually lose 2-3 hours on their journey to CHI. Expect many days to see this length of delays until this Fall.
 
What is the effective date? Is it possible that anyone on the Empire Builder arriving in Chicago yesterday (May 02, at 1838, if I read that correctly) had a guaranteed connection to the Capitol Limited (which departed at 1852, 12 minutes late, again if I read that correctly)? Would that have been enough time to transfer all passengers making the connection?
 
I would assume the effective date for 370 would be May 4, as that's when their new schedule goes into effect.
 
I am pretty surprised they did this. There's still loads of trackwork going on in North Dakota this season, and it's going to happen again next season as well up there.
 
Interestingly BNSF informed Amtrak--in writing according to my contacts--to expect he multi-hour delays eastbound thru this entire summer several months ago. There was no commitment by BNSF to shepherd the EB's eastbound thru the construction maze and heavier traffic in a more timely manner. I must say though with that said, BNSF is making a tremendous effort to help the westbound EBs arrive close to schedule in SEA and PDX each day, since there is no longer an extra train set to protect departures. I asked if they can do it westbound why can't they do it eastbound, and I was told it was all a matter of timing, both for the BNSF freight traffic heading east and the construction schedules in ND and MT, and the eastbound trains are more effected on both counts.

5-5-15: Average delayed arrival time in the past week has been 172 minutes. This would not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling to make any of the above connections.
 
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From the Facebook Lake Shore Limited group, a comment that the connections from the EB are

Suspended for now--the BNSF derailment on the cutoff has caused major congestion on the Devils Lake line. I suspect these connections will be restored as soon as the cutoff is reopened to freight traffic.
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After a good Sunday (only 34 minutes late into CHI-all connections made), today is starting off very bad. #8 in MN is now 4 1/2 hours behind and will miss all connections today. Bummer.
 
Still over 4 hours behind in Wisconsin. Agree, should still make the LSL connection. I guess the good news about being so late is that it will be after most of the commuter rail traffic in and around the CHI area!

:)
 
I would imagine the LSL would wait for the EB, unless the train is arriving after 11,which hasn't happened in quite some time. The LSL is the last Eastbound train to leave Chicago. The CL leaves quite earlier, and lately 8 has been coming in to Chicago at or around the same time the CL leaves. If you have a guaranteed connection and you miss your train Amtrak will put you up overnight and put you on the next days train. Only problem is if you have a sleeper and they are sold out.
 
benale said:
I would imagine the LSL would wait for the EB, unless the train is arriving after 11,which hasn't happened in quite some time. The LSL is the last Eastbound train to leave Chicago. The CL leaves quite earlier, and lately 8 has been coming in to Chicago at or around the same time the CL leaves. If you have a guaranteed connection and you miss your train Amtrak will put you up overnight and put you on the next days train. Only problem is if you have a sleeper and they are sold out.
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Interestingly I was on a trip from NYP to MSP last February. I had a ticket that showed a continuous trip on the LSL #49 and EB #7. This allowed a 4+ hour connection in Chicago. Well due to last winters weather #49 was 4+ hours late into Chicago that day.

They did hold the EB for an extra 30 minutes so everyone from #49 just made it on board. I commented to my SCA and the Asst. Conductor that I was glad to just make it as I did not relish straying in a hotel in Chicago overnight. There reply was “Hotel…What Hotel? Oh Amtrak doesn't do that anymore. They’ll hold the train rather then pay for a hotel. But if it’s too late your on your own that night!"

Does a ticket need to explicitly state somewhere "Guaranteed Connection" to be treated so? Has anyone actually been given a hotel room lately for an overnight missed connection in Chicago or elsewhere?
 
They still give hotel rooms for missed connections on a single reservation. I was supposed to get one in NY not so long ago. The guy who was supposed to give it out never showed, and as a result Customer Relations reimbursed me for my hotel room which I got myself. (It was cheap.)
 
Sounds like Amtrak is leaving missed connections to fend for themselves and only reimbursing passengers who continue to make a stink about it after the fact.
 
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#7 lost over 3 hours thru the congested area today. This will make things really tight for the SEA/PDX turnaround tomorrow. My BNSF local guy says they no longer can count on making up much, if any, time in MT these days with the new construction and increasing Intermodal traffic.
 
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