Amtrak Midwest Train Routes.

[Guest]

I also liked being in Union Station's platform areas because it just had that railroad atmosphere: busy, loud (very loud), hot, smelled of diesel, Amtrak trains of all sizes going to all different destinations, people hurrying about!  Watching the trains arrive and depart from the waiting area is always intresting as well.

Yes, it's fun to watch if you don't actually have to board a train. If you're not a sleeping car passenger utilizing the Metropolitan Lounge, boarding a train at Union Station in Chicago is a horrible, crowded, hectic, disorganized mess.

 

[P40Power]

Guest, you have a point there, I watched the boarding of many key long distance trains the afternoons in 97 I was at CUS, and it was a chaotic mess not helped any by the station workers, who seemed to yell at passengers more then anything. That isnt a good way to treat paying passengers!! I thought to myself : "Wow this is very unprofessional!!"

Boarding the Lake Shore in Albany was total chaos as well, but that was mostly due to car attendents that dont know how do their job and just ended up by confusing people more then they did to help them.

 

[battalion51]

We can probably make a case for the International being one of the unloved step-children in the amtrak system.

I don't know. The Palmetto's pretty unloved too. Don't forget the Three Rivers as well.

 

[P40Power]

I would say the Cardinal is quite unloved as well!

 

[tp49]

We can probably make a case for the International being one of the unloved step-children in the amtrak system.

I don't know. The Palmetto's pretty unloved too. Don't forget the Three Rivers as well.

That's why I said "one of" and not "the" I remembered the palmetto and the three rivers, and I'm sure we could dig up one or two more if we tried.

 

[tp49]

Oh and on the issue of the Customs Agents they don't like dealing with the train because they have to drive farther to work they would rather be on the Bridges.They are Rude to Passengers i have pulled one Agent aside and had a talk with him and told him i was going to file a complaint against him for the way he was talking to the Passengers and Crew on the train.

When my girlfriend who is asian (and born in the US) and I returned from MTR on the Adirondack we had one of those rude customs agents who checked her documentation no fewer than five times before going on his way with no explination, bad for public relations because it allows one to draw their own conclusion as to why that happened. We would not have the conclusion we had about the incident if the agent just gave some reasoning for his actions.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

On the issue of customs officials being rude, are we talking about Canadian or U.S. or both?

 

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

On the issue of customs officials being rude, are we talking about Canadian or U.S. or both?

U.S the Canadian agents are nice.

 

[tp49]

Bill, unfortunately I was referring to US actually they weren't customs but uniformed INS agents. Going into Canada was a breeze (even though due to trackwork we had to go by bus) the agent was courteous, polite and efficient.

 

[AlanB]

I've hit a few Canadian agents who weren't too nice, although I must admit that I wasn't on the train at the time.

My wife has been hassled several times by Canadian agents as we've crossed the boarder into Quebec. While she's now a US Citizen, she was born in Montreal. Frankly I think that they don't seem to like the idea that she defected to the US, so they often give her the third degree.

 

[Save Our Trains Michigan]

I've hit a few Canadian agents who weren't too nice, although I must admit that I wasn't on the train at the time.
My wife has been hassled several times by Canadian agents as we've crossed the boarder into Quebec. While she's now a US Citizen, she was born in Montreal. Frankly I think that they don't seem to like the idea that she defected to the US, so they often give her the third degree.

:angry: