We recently took Amtrak from Chicago to Seattle & I'm sure the lavs were not cleaned up during the entire trip. That alone would keep me from another long Amtrak trip. The train employees were pleasant enough & the food was decent but outside of seeing the country as you travel, train tickets are not cheap! You could find on-sale air for the same price.

I never could understand why it cost SO MUCH to ride the train. Traveling back and forth between NY and DC, I would much rather ride the train than to drive, but (the last time I checked) at $425 round trip compared to $40 for gas and $25 for tolls...You do the math!

The schedules & availability of trains are atrocious. It would cost me more to take a 40-hour Amtrak trip from Ft. Worth to L.A. (not including a 12-hour layover in San Antonio waiting for another train) than to take a 2-1/2 hour flight. No way!

As an Engineer for a freight railroad, I have to say, As for the delays, its not always Amtrak's fault. With the booming rail service that we are running now days, and the need to get "hot" trains moved, sometimes Amtrak gets put on the "siding" to let us by. I know they have their fair share of problems but until the hosting railroad "wants" to help out and get that train moving, well it just isn't going to happen. Amtrak only pays so much to use that line, and if delayed the % of pay decreases, but the ammount that they pay, doesn't provide the hosting rail company with any great ammount, so why move it? Long Distance Commuter Trains is about what they are now. Railroads do not want to haul passengers due the the liability... plain and simple....

Passager trains in US need to become more like European trains. Neat, on time and more geared to the consumer. I use to ride the Southern Cresent before Amtrak took over all passanger service. What a treat it was. I have heard people who have taken that train since Amtrak say that they would never take a train again. Passanger rail service would work in this country, but it has to cater more to the rider. Our railways are now freight haulers and not people carriers.

My husband loves riding the trains. We took a great trip to Montreal from NYC a few years ago and it was surprisingly great! I was weary of the amount of hours, but it was very nice. Why do we have to always be in such a rush? Now the food, how well its stocked and its prices definatly needs to be addressed! Cleaniness and service was ok for us, but ok is just not good enough to compete. I would absolutly hate to see Amtrak go away. Why don't they get one of those top chef's to provide a better and affordable menu?

I took that train from Chicago to Seattle a couple of times years ago and it was clean and cheap. I recently took a train from Charleston to Miami and found it to be the filthiest experience of my life. The bathrooms were floating in urine and the smell was unbearable. All bathroom trash went into the box that served as a waste basket, which was overflowing into the wet floor. We made many stops and I could not understand why at least the trash could not be emptied. The fare was cheap, but the seats are old and VERY uncomfortable.

I call AMTRAK annually to ask when service to areas in the Southeast will begin. They always say, "we are considering it". I would love to ride a train, but they just do not serve areas of the country I have interest in visiting. What they don't seem to understand is that 52% of the nation's population lives within a 1 day "driving" distance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the most visited Park in the Nat'l Park System, and they just refuse to provide train service into Knoxville, TN or other areas. Oh well, your tax dollars at work!

One more thought, as I undestand it - Steve above can correct me - but most of the tracks in the US Rail system are only designed for speeds up to about 45 mph - so that limits the areas the Passenger Trains can use. Maybe we need to spend more money building rail lines designed for Passenger Trains rather than building and then RE-building interstate highways to accomodate more traffic that would not be there if there were rail lines ??

I would love to make rail travel something that we did regularly but the cost is usually the same or more than flying. Amtrak could easily move the company in a new direction with the right advertising (I'm thinking...trendier, upper class, luxury) or (adventure, excitement, etc.) maybe even (Harry Potteresque). Sell it to us as the green alternative and taking time to relax and enjoy the ride!

Amtrak is saddled with an unwinnable situation. It is neither run by the government, or allowed by the government to operate as a commercial enterprise. Due to Congressional medeling, Amtrak is forced to maintain stations where there is litle ridership. This eats into their profits. Secondly, Amtrak rides on rails owned by the big freight haulers like CSX and Norfolk Southern. Their priority is frieght, not passengers. Our tax dollars build and maintain the airport and highway infrastructure, giving these modes of transportation a competitive advantage. So the choices are clear. Either have the government take over ALL responsibility for Amtrak, or get them ALL THE WAY out of Amtrak. If allowed to run as a fully commercial enterprise, Amtrak would quickly close service to low use areas, focusing on the Northeast Corridor which is its bread & butter. In time, they would either become competitive & profitable, offering additional services, or they would dissapear. I believe that there is a place for a good rail system (or two or three) in the United States, but we need to fund the rail infrastructure to support it. We have squandered so much money on useless things in the last twenty years that I am afraid we will not see it happen, even though it would be environmentally fruitful.

Acela service is the most popular in the country, Boston to Washington DC. But once it arrives into Connecticut it has to slow down and share the rail with MetroNorth Commuter Rail. So it goes down from 150 MPH to 30 or less. Imagine if Acela had a dedicated rail all the way through? We could go from Boston to NYC in perhaps two hours! Such service could have a positive effect on the nation's economy. Are you listening, US government?

Closing down Amtrak will not solve the problem. In fact this would make travel in the US worse.
There are 12 million people using Amtrak between D.C. and Boston, MA. If you close Amtrak where do these people go. The airports in this area are already at unsafe capacity and can't absorb any of this. I-95 is the Interstate parallel to Amtrak through the region. Any one who has driven this highweay knows it can't take another 12 millkion cars a year.
And as for the cost of Amtrak or driving don't forget to figure in all the tax money you paid for those roads, From sales tax, property tax, income tax and excise tax the roads use up hundreds of billions of tax dollars a year. Amtrak is required to be self supporting. Amtrak gets a hundred or so million a year. Much less than the highways get, less than airports get, even less than commercial shipping gets in subsidies.
And remember. Amtrak is the only one able to increase its passanger capacity.

I took the train a couple times and found it uncomfortable t some degree (U have t buy th blanket?!) but I truly enjoyed not worrying about th thousands of stops it doesn't make as opposed t th buses, being able t get up and walk around comfortably (try that in a plane) except for th feeling of motion, but u adjust. The price was only about $5 more than the bus at th time so it was decent and I could eat if I wanted w/o getting off. My biggest issue w th train is that my nearest station was an hour away which means u had t get a ride or take a bus t get there. If the train stations were even 1/2 as plentiful as bus stations I'd choose that every time especially with airfare having gone so high. Still it is cheaper t drive myself unless u add wear on your car, insurance, meals or snax on th road and the possibility of car accidents.. not t mention construction, other delays , assorted rush hours... etc etc piece of mind cost is lower w AMTRAK but they should do some serious service overhauls or they'll never compete.

I think that Steve and Merrill said it best in their entries. Alot of the scheduling and timing is subject to the freight roads that Amtrack runs over on trackage rights. As I understand it, an Amtrak train should be given priority over the road but often is not because the freight road will not really see any money from that! It's an unfortunate situation for both systems to be in but you can't blame the freight road for wanting to protect it's paying customers with good service or Amtrak for the delays it suffers because of this! Also, Amtrak has been starved for money since it's inception so can not afford to upgrade equipment that it knows needs to be updated! Like any business, the money needs to be put up from somewhere to improve services and Amtrak does not get it. Not Amtrak's fault! Let's spend the money folks, it's a viable transportation option.

I recently started working for Amtrak as a conductor and it does sadden me to see some of these opinions of the railroad. Some regretably we have earned, others through no fault of our own. I will however point out that years ago, passenger rail was operated by what are now strictly freight carriers. There is a reason for this. The cold hard truth is passenger rail, much like mass tranist busses and subways do not turn a profit. It was for this reason in the 1970s the government took most if not all intercity passenger operations from the freight railroads, simply because the railroads were losing too much money on these passenger trains. Historically passenger rail does not turn a profit. Even in the golden age of rail it did not. But with high profits from freight, it did not matter to the various freight companies. Even in Europe to this day, passenger rail does not turn a profit. However, their governments provide much more support for their systems including a rail system specifically designed for high speed rail in the 1960s or there-about. Even on our Northeast Corridor we are using a line built back in the 1800s. Most of our equipment, locomotives, and railcars esp. are pushing 30 years old. Our dinning cars are looking at 50 years old. I understand concerns about appearance, but I am still impressed of what we can do with a 50 year old railcar on a very limited budget. What Amtrak really needs is the support of the people, to get the funds needed to bring our rail up to pace with the rest of the world. The one question I will ask, and this is also aimed directly at John McCain. In a time when fuel and energy costs are through the roof, airlines are having constant operation issues (candled flights, poorly maintained aircraft, extra costs like checked luggage), highways are over crowed, the economy is in a slump, and more and more Americans are losing jobs with some simply going overseas. Why wouldn't you want to fund a system that reduces congestion on the highways and in the skyways, is more fuel efficient than cars, or planes, and creates jobs that cannot be outsourced?

My family and I chose Amtrak to travel from Charleston, SC to NY. We booked a roomette. I have to say it was the best trip we have taken. The staff was very friendly and effecient. The train was clean and pleasant smelling. The bathrooms were cleaned and restocked regularly. The food was pricey but well prepared. As a result, we joined Amtrak Guest Rewards and routinely enjoy the benefits. All the trips we have taken have not been without delays and other unexpected glitches, but, when compared to airline travel today Amtrak is golden.

There are many reasons Amtrak has problems. First; it's the ONLY passenger railroad in the world not fully funded by their gov't. Secondly, the system largely operates on freight railroads which forces many delays caused by the freight trains that operate at the same time. Amtrak ridership is up over 22% in the last 16 months which in turn keeps autos off the road and reduces green house gases. Yea, McCAIN should close it down to screw everyone like the genius he is. It'll NEVER happen!!!

The article did a good job describing why Amtrak is the way it is--Amtrak doesn't WANT to be a railroad with dirty bathrooms, but this being America, you get what you pay for (or, in this case, what you fund governmentally; no passenger railroad in the world subsists on fares alone). Republicans in Congress and the White House have tried hard to sabotage Amtrak by underfunding it, so their customers have the reactions to service described above. I am hopeful with our imminent regime change that at last people and politicians will see the potential of what a passenger rail system can do when it's given enough money to be an attractive option, but it will take a while. The recent uptick in passengers is a hint of what could be possible.

Amtrak is underfunded for the system it has to run. No passenger transportation system pays all of its own way. Airlines take advantage of the multi-billion dollar air traffic control system and airport benefits at taxpayer expense. Users of highways don't pay real estate taxes on the rights-of-way. All transportation systems (other than most freight railroads) get some form of direct or indirect subsidies, amounting all-in-all to tens of billions of dollars. You get what you pay for.

That being said, the experience on Amtrak, as has been noted, is not always positive. Part of it has to do with the need for better management oversight, and part has to do with the unions not fighting the discharge of employees not adequately doing their jobs. Equipment maintenance also is tough when funding is tight, and the rail systems in this country are straining to meet demand.

All-in-all, though, don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Amtrak is our only national rail passenger system. If it were eliminated, there would be little left, and that almost all commuter rail. We should push Congress to increase both funding and oversight of the quality of service delivered by the system.

Most of my trips on Amtrak have been positively memorable. Don't let one bad trip deter you from riding Amtrak. If your car breaks down on a trip doesn't mean you won't travel by car again. Don't deprive yourself of the opportunity for having a really enjoyable experience.