Northeast Regional discussion

[AmtrakBlue]

And so it begins, a few days early.
The first 4 regionals left WAS with backward consists due to a derailment on the Ivy City wye yesterday. I’m told the seats are 50/50 on those 4 trains.

 

[Aegrotatio]

Not only do the new Airo and Acela seats not flip, Amtrak has decided to stop flipping seats on all trains.

https://media.amtrak.com/2024/02/fixed-forward-and-backward-seating/

Do you like riding backwards? I don't mind it but I know many people really don't like it.

EDIT: This post was moved into this thread, sorry for the repetition.

 

[Brian Battuello]

Not only do the new Airo and Acela seats not flip, Amtrak has decided to stop flipping seats on all trains.

https://media.amtrak.com/2024/02/fixed-forward-and-backward-seating/

Do you like riding backwards? I don't mind it but I know many people really don't like it.

Actually not long distance trains (at least yet). The Silvers, the LSL and all Superliners will still be all forward facing.

I'm in the minority that prefers backward, for reasons discussed before. I fully understand forward folks being annoyed.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

I just realized I don’t know which half of the seats will face forward and which half back.

Anyone know?

I don’t want to book what I think is a backwards-facing seat on a Regional Business Class only to find I got it wrong.

 

[Brian Battuello]

The forward facing seats are toward the front of the train in the direction it is moving.

 

[Acela150]

I don’t want to book what I think is a backwards-facing seat on a Regional Business Class only to find I got it wrong.

From my understanding the diagram will say what seats are facing forward.

 

[Brian Battuello]

Could someone take a screen shot of the seat selection for an NEC business class? I am curious if they still have some pairs of seats facing each other near the end of the car, for groups of four. I tried a sample booking but they wouldn't show me a seating chart unless I purchased a ticket. I know it is totally refundable but didn't want to stress the system .

 

[Acela150]

I tried a sample booking but they wouldn't show me a seating chart unless I purchased a ticket.

Just a heads up that seat selection before purchasing will becoming available at some point in time. So this won't be an issue.

 

[Brian Battuello]

"some point in time" is when Amtrak trains arrive at their destination

 

[dadonatrain]

Buried in a thread about backward seating on northeast trains I see a ref to new schedules going into effect tomorrow? Monday, March 4?


Brings to mind my usual dilemma: being an olde guy who still uses paper and pencil whenever I can, I always want to have a paper copy of a schedule to read and ponder. Is the Rail Passenger Assn still the best place to find things like that? I doubt they’ll have the new data as soon as tomorrow but I’ll surely keep watching just in case.

 

[dadonatrain]

I just found this thread and I just thought of this Q. Maybe asked and answered…does the switch to fixed fwd and bwd seating mean all new cars built this way from scratch or has Amtrak simply renovated its existing fleet one car at a time to do whatever it took to accomplish this configuration?

 

[Trogdor]

I just found this thread and I just thought of this Q. Maybe asked and answered…does the switch to fixed fwd and bwd seating mean all new cars built this way from scratch or has Amtrak simply renovated its existing fleet one car at a time to do whatever it took to accomplish this configuration?

New cars will be built this way. Meanwhile, the Amfleet Is, which already had rotating seats, will have them set to the new orientation and then, more-or-less permanently set that way. The seats could easily be rotated when the cars are serviced overnight, so it’s not a “one-at-a-time” deal. In theory, all the cars running on the NEC should be done already.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Unless you want all the extras the old PDFs had, you can print schedules from Amtrak’s website. That’s what I do occasionally.

 

[dadonatrain]

New cars will be built this way. Meanwhile, the Amfleet Is, which already had rotating seats, will have them set to the new orientation and then, more-or-less permanently set that way. The seats could easily be rotated when the cars are serviced overnight, so it’s not a “one-at-a-time” deal. In theory, all the cars running on the NEC should be done already.

Thank you for that explanation. Most of my Amtrak rides are on Superliners and I don’t follow the distinction btwn types of cars on the NEC, so I didn’t know some of the cars are already “interchange”. That explains so much.

 

[Septa9739]

Just a heads up that seat selection before purchasing will becoming available at some point in time. So this won't be an issue.

Just in Business?

 

[Acela150]

Just in Business?

Yes. It’s the only car on the train with assigned seats.

 

[nferr]

Honestly curious, why would they do it that way? There’s fundamentally no reason there couldn’t be a consistent row where the seating direction changes. Having the direction change in different rows for different cars is just asking for problems for no real reason.

On all of the midwest/West Coast routes that have 50/50 seating, they basically use the same seat row to flip directions.

I fail to see how that is "asking for problems". Not every car is exactly the same.

 

[daybeers]

Just a heads up that seat selection before purchasing will becoming available at some point in time. So this won't be an issue.

I'll believe it when I see it. Amtrak IT isn't exactly industry-leading.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I fail to see how that is "asking for problems". Not every car is exactly the same.

?? How are some Amfleet Is different from other Amfleet Is?

 

[railiner]

?? How are some Amfleet Is different from other Amfleet Is?

I don’t know the current configs, but in the early years, the standard Amfleet I’s contained 84 seats. Until the AMI II’s came, they set up some AM I’s as “long - distance” cars, with only 60 seats, and added a “dressing room”…

 

[PVD]

I believe what actually happened was the ADA conversion, with the enlarged restroom and wheelchair space. The 60 seat cars are not LD cars they are AM-1 BC cars, you get different seating and curtains.

 

[saxpower]

Have a Business class trip booked in April and recieved an update with my seat reassigned. Luckily still forward-facing. I assume they moved people around so those who booked forward facing stay that way.

So does this mean, effectively, if you want to guarantee a forward-facing seat you have to use Acela or business class? My home station (Wilmington, DE) is pretty much in the middle of the DC/NYC corridor so it takes some looking to find coach seats as it is. There will be stops where forward seating is not available.

 

[JoeRids]

Have a Business class trip booked in April and recieved an update with my seat reassigned. Luckily still forward-facing. I assume they moved people around so those who booked forward facing stay that way.

So does this mean, effectively, if you want to guarantee a forward-facing seat you have to use Acela or business class? My home station (Wilmington, DE) is pretty much in the middle of the DC/NYC corridor so it takes some looking to find coach seats as it is. There will be stops where forward seating is not available.

This brings up a valid point. Will this also extend to Acela? Those seats also need to be turned (though admittedly there aren’t as many, and many are at tables.)

 

[lordsigma]

This brings up a valid point. Will this also extend to Acela? Those seats also need to be turned (though admittedly there aren’t as many, and many are at tables.)

According to the announcement - later this year. The new Acelas will also have fixed seating.

 

[Maverickstation]

Amtrak's own Press Release on increased NEC Service.

https://media.amtrak.com/2024/03/am...ast-corridor-to-meet-growing-customer-demand/