March 24, 2004 -- Long-distance rail trips on our creaky, cranky Amtrak system have raised a range of emotions from A to Zed on our Rail Travel Message Boards: enchantment, confusion, revulsion.
I had to go down from New York to Atlanta for a conference this week, so I decided to take the train and see the lay of the land from the rails. It turns out I had the exact same idea as business-travel columnist Joe Brancatelli (www.zyworld.com/brancatelli/branc.htm), whose no-nonsense account of his recent train trip to West Virginia makes great reading. Consider this column and his as complimentary to each other: he's looking at Amtrak from a business traveler's perspective, whereas here at Frommer's we focus on leisure trips.
My trip was free thanks to my Amtrak Guest Rewards Mastercard (www.amtrakguestrewards.com). This card is a great deal, especially if you live near a train station. As with most airline frequent-flier cards, you earn one point per dollar spent on most purchases. But while most airline frequent-flier programs require 25,000 miles for a free trip, free trips with Amtrak start at a mere 1,000 points in California and 2,500 points on the East Coast; my ride from New York to Atlanta cost 5,000. You can also convert Amtrak points to United, Midwest or Continental miles on a one-to-one basis, or use them at Hilton, Starwood and Marriott hotels.
Great Seats, Sorry Staff
My trip started inauspiciously: my train was an hour late heading out of the gate in New York. At least I wasn't alone. I noticed one train coming into New York that day five hours late from Miami.
I then got shuffled into the one car without any electrical outlets for my laptop or a fellow-passenger's portable DVD player, and the conductor -- while cheery -- refused to let me move to any of the three other passenger cars (all with plenty of available seats) that had electrical outlets at every seat. (I went to the outlet-laden café car when I finally ran out of juice.)
But I still had a great time. I had worried about sleeping in a coach seat, but Amtrak's seats are vast: I may be short, but I couldn't even kick the seat in front of me. There's plenty of recline, and leg rests pop out from under the seats to create a slanty version of a bed, much like you get in international business class on many airlines. Even with a very big guy sitting next to me all the way to Charlotte, I slept sweetly, rocked by the rolling of the rails.
The food in the dining car was another positive surprise. The manicotti at $9 was hot and tasty, and the $3.75 cheesecake was at least average diner quality. Sure, the service was glacially slow -- I felt like I needed to raise a semaphore to get my order taken -- but it didn't matter, as I traded traveling tales with the 70-something grandmother across my table and watched the sun set over broad rivers and bays in Maryland.
She wasn't the only other passenger I met on my trip. There's something about a train that creates a unique camaraderie. I had a friendly chat with two bankers from North Carolina in the lounge car, and spent my last hour onboard comparing my New York City life with that of a fellow from rural Toccoa, Georgia. Train rides make people open up, tell stories, become friends for a few moments -- and the joy and value of that can't be underestimated.
Unlike some of our readers, I don't think the sorry state of Amtrak's staff has much to do with their being unionized; nearly all airline staff are unionized, and attitudes onboard airlines vary wildly. I also don't think it has to do with Amtrak having "no competition," because Amtrak has plenty of competition -- Greyhound, airlines, and cars are all bucking for Amtrak's business.
No, I've seen that look of hopelessness before on United Airlines employees in 1999. It's the look of knowing you're shackled to a sinking ship, and that there's nothing you can do to prop it up in the water. When United was suffering crippling delays in 1999 and 2000, flight attendants started out helpful, then proceeded to embittered and worked their way over to jaded. Amtrak's been miserably underfunded, plagued by delays and breakdowns for decades - the wear and tear on the rail line has steadily transferred to its employees.
The bland unhelpfulness of many Amtrak staff members is a symptom, not a cause. They know they're stuck on creaking, ancient trains, maligned, used as punching bags in Congress and stuck behind freight trains for hours at a time. It's enough to drive any rail fan, after a few years, to apathy.
Fixing What Ails Ya
I ended up only 10 minutes late into Atlanta, relatively mellow and refreshed -- but stymied by another oddball problem with our national rail system.
One of the major advantages of taking the train is coming into a downtown train station. The stations in New York, Washington, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas are all top-notch temples of transportation, located near attractions and well-connected to local transit systems.
The Atlanta station, a tidy building, is neither near downtown nor connected to Atlanta's subway system. That's particularly strange because the train tracks run right by downtown. But it's no stranger than in St. Louis, where a gorgeous old train station has been turned into a shopping mall while actual Amtrak trains stop by a siding under the highway, a mile away.
The lost little Atlanta station reminded me of what a big job it would be to fix our national rail system. Just disbanding Amtrak wouldn't help; Amtrak was formed, after all, because private carriers were going to suspend all passenger rail service. No, it would require a major shift in priorities, to treating rail with the reverence and level of investment we treat highways and airports.
Until then, we're stuck with quirky land cruises. My advice: manage your expectations. Expect no help from the staff, and expect trains to be late -- but expect them to be spacious, comfortable, and filled with great conversation. If that's your kind of trip, jump on board.