Guaranteed Connections

[caravanman]

I was reading a post about a Guaranteed Connection issue, and am wondering how this works in the real world.. I am offered routes and connections between two stations on Amtrak website, so are these "guarenteed", E.G. sw.chief to lax, then onto coast starlight within the hour or so. If I miss the connection, what is Amtraks response going to be? There cannot be any way of knowing whether there will even be space on the next days coast starlight.... Ed B)

 

[jccollins]

A general rule of thumb is that if Amtrak's website AUTOMATICALLY schedules a connection for you that it will be guaranteed by Amtrak in one way or another. Your example of connecting from train 3 to train 14 at Los Angeles-Union Station is a good example of that. It is a guaranteed connection and Amtrak's website shows it as such. The reservations system will not set you up for failure and automatically schedule a connection for you that will not be guaranteed by Amtrak.

The only time you can really run into trouble is if you click on the "multiple city" trip link on Amtrak's Reservations page (as many advanced users do) and plan a complicated trip with multiple connections. At that point you need to remember that Amtrak will not guarantee connections of less than 60 minutes between most routes or 90 minutes between a longhaul train and eastern corridor train. The website will let you book a trip with 0+ minute connections on the multiple city trips page but those self-generated connections will not be guaranteed. Most novice users stay away from the multiple city trips page so it really hasn't been a problem for Amtrak. It is the best feature of the website if you know what you are doing though!

B)

 

[Randy Henderson]

In most cases if you are on a late train with a guaranteed connection booked, Amtrak will use a bus bridge from your arrival train to your connecting train. For example (pre-Katrina), if you are on the westbound Sunset Limited and connecting to the City of New Orleans, the company would take you off at Bay St. Louis and bus you to Hammond. As for the Western trains, I would suggest that you schedule an overnight stay at your transfer point to avoid long bus bridges. Amtrak really likes to avoid putting passengers into hotels and you may find yourself in coach since the sleeper you reserved won't be available on the following day's train. After riding the Coast Starlight for the first time this summer, and reading many travelogues by hundreds of writers, I've learned that there "are no real guaranteed Amtrak connections" that you can really put money on. Years of working on the train gave me the experience in telling passengers almost every trip that they are going to miss their connection due to delay and telling them to do the overnight stay in the future. I know that the one time you book an overnight stay, your train will be right on time! Just do some research on your train's OTP when you schedule your trip. Good luck!

 

[battalion51]

There are situations though where you are forced to side-step the system creating your own guaranteed connection. For example, SPG-BOS. Reservations automatically comes back with 448 as your only option. Anyone with half a brain knows that 448 never runs on time, or it's very cold downstairs if it is. At any rate, if one has to be in Boston by a certain time, or earlier than 6:20 than you have to do it yourself. For example you can take 141 SPG-NHV, then 190 to BOS. The connection is 1:02, over the guarantee minimum, but the Reservations system can't create it for you because of 448 being a direct route.

 

[caravanman]

Thanks for the info, it's pretty much as I imagined. I have taken long distance Amtrak trains in the past, and booked overnight hotels to ensure connections, but I am planning a trip to USA in Jan 2006, just to enjoy the Amtrak experience, and wanted to spend as much time aboard trains as possible, rather than in hotels! As Battalion 51 states: Most people know that 448 mostly runs late..but I have no way of knowing that. I was asking for that type of advice on another posting of mine (whistle stop tour), so that I could get the most miles in with "best bet" connections during the two weeks travel.

Ed. B)

PS It sounds like I might need to pack 2 weeks worth of food if the dinner cars are going..it would be a real shame, as they seem like the "heart" of the long distance experience, and a great way to meet fellow travellers.

 

[Randy Henderson]

I really wouldn't worry about the diners on the western long distance trains in the immediate future. I believe they'll operate through the holidays without scheduled cuts. Just be sure to check on certain routes with possible diner cuts, like the Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle and City of New Orleans. Right now, the CNO doesn't have its diner, and as of today, won't return when the train returns to NOL (source: Amtrak Consolidated National Operations Center; NOL crew base manager). Of course, this is subject to change without notice. Amtrak is notorious for making 11th hour decisions about operations, so nothing I write today may apply by the time you make your trip. The Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle are always being eyed for cuts at a moments notice, so just be forewarned. With the exception of the Train 92 and 97, the diners are scheduled to operate through the holidays. Diner-lite, the new dinette food service cars, will replace the diners on these two trains no later than December 1st (source: Amtrak Consilidated National Operations Center personnel; MIA crew base manager).

 

[battalion51]

According to one of my sources the new Dinette cars will be the redone Amfleet II Smoking Cars. The Smoking boxes have been taken out and replaced with tables IIRC.

 

[Randy Henderson]

That is correct on the Diner-lites. As stated in the September 2005 Amtrak Ink article, the dinettes are the Amfleet II smoking cars with a retrofit of dining booths in place of the smoking box. As Miami Joe stated in another post topic, Amtrak's biggest problem was putting enough refrigerator and cooking space to accomodate the entire train as Diner-lite is designed to help Amtrak keep food service onboard while eliminating the costly and hard to maintain dining cars. We'll see how they do it. I know of one MIA crew base employee whose returned from Wilmington for Diner-lite training, but I haven't had a chance to ask him how the company plans to provide food service for the entire train out of the one car as they begin to abolish the traditional dining cars throughout the single-level trains after the holidays.