Amtrak to add WiFi, upgrade Fleet | Hacker News Reader

Amtrak to add WiFi, upgrade Fleet

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17 pointsanderzole26 comments

These are the public transit options for NYC-BOS commuting nowadays:

  (all buses about 4.5 hours all-in)
  Bolt / MegaBus: $10-25 with free WiFi from Penn Station
  Fung Wah / Lucky Star: $15 every half hour from Chinatown
  Limo Liner: $70-100 WiFi, comfy seats, bus attendant, free snacks
  Airplane: $60-100, 1 hour flight, 2.5h all-in time
  Amtrak regional train: $60-70, 4.25 hours
  Amtrak Acela: $90-110, 3.75 hours

Acela to me is the least attractive option, and free WiFi + a fleet upgrade won't change that. Of course some people hate buses and planes, have special travel circumstances, want to be able to stroll the aisles, etc, but Acela's target market seems quite niche, especially when compared to the standard Amtrak regional service.

There are also cheaper options for the shorter legs. There are much cheaper trains or buses for NYC to New Haven, Boston to Providence, NYC to DC, for example.

I agree, WiFi is not going to save Amtrak. It's almost always the worst possible transportation option available in terms of cost, quality, comfort, time, etc - for any and all start and end points, not just NYC/BOS.

I'm surprised to hear so much negativity about Amtrak. I live in NYC and head upstate (to Rochester) for business regularly and Amtrak is by far my favorite way to make the trip.

A bus might make more sense on a shorter trip (like the aforementioned NYC to Boston example), but I think there's a real sweet spot for taking the Amtrak on trips longer than, say, 4-5 hours on the bus but shorter than a 2 hour flight (excluding baggage/security/travel to and from airport time).

Especially Amtrak's business class, which is extremely comfortable, with plenty of space for a computer and stretching out, quiet and spacious enough to get work done, and usually only an extra $20 or so.

I admit my fear of flying sways me toward Amtrak when a flight might make the most sense, but to me a bus is almost always the worst possible transportation option available.

If you compare Amtrak to Greyhound, the price difference might not be so bad, but if you compare it to the more competitive bus lines routes (NYC-BOS, NYC-DC) like leelin does, you can see it's pretty awful value.

Agreed that Amtrak is a much more pleasant experience, though - much less stop and go, generally higher reliability of arrival time, more legroom, smoother ride.

I wonder what it would take for Amtrak to be able to compete on price with the competitive bus lines in the northeast corridor. Subsidies on rails comparable to those on the interstates, perhaps (or getting rid of the interstates' subsidies and making them self-funded)...

It strongly depends on what part of the country you are in. Amtrak routes and delays south of about DC, for example, are pretty miserable.

Well, you save some time taking the train: no going through security, or going to a giant airport 10-20 miles outside of a city.

No going through security... until a terrorist attack by "The Train Bomber" grips the nation.

Is that round-trip? I looked on Kayak and a round-trip flight tomorrow is at least $300. I don't think the busses and trains get so much more expensive at the last minute, but I could be wrong.

In my experience, Amtrak is almost always more expensive last-minute than flying. I remember trying to go from Chicago to St. Louis once, and was quoted $600! Needless to say, I took the $130 last-minute flight instead, and saved myself several hours in the process.

I used to always price Amtrak out for my various domestic trips, because I think the train is cool. But it was always way more expensive than flying. (The only people I know now that ride Amtrak are those with irrational fears of flying. And I say this with great regret, because I am a huge railfan.)

Something special must have been happening, because right now a train ticket from Chicago to St. Louis leaving in 12 hours is $65. If you can wait until 7:00 pm, it's only $23.

Once the Chicago-Kansas City trains fill up, you get to St. Louis via a Chicago-New Orleans train. That is much, much more expensive for some reason.

I totally forgot about Limo Liner. I'm thinking of taking it this Thursday morning.

I tried it once round trip. WiFi was so-so, a bit spotty at times, seats weren't bad, but at the end of the day it's still a pricey bus. The bathroom was decent, meaning I didn't get the typical $5 of negative utility penalty when I have to use a bus bathroom.

My NYC->BOS leg I was in the left aisle (single seat, no neighbors on either side), which was a much much more enjoyable experience than the BOS->NYC leg when I had to sit next to neighbors in the back-right of the bus.

Oh yes, unlike the Chinatown buses, I don't recall the driver talking on a cell phone the entire time.

Thanks for the notes! Did they have free coffee on the Limo Liner? That may be a plus.

Just bought my ticket (somehow Amtrak let me cancel my Accela ticket) for Thurs. We'll see how it goes =)

I've tried LimoLiner a few times, however the price has gotten a bit too steep for me. The last time was about 3 years.

They provided tea, coffee, water, and they provide you with a decent snack; a decent wee sandwich that's much better than you'd get on the train. It's not enough food to substitute for dinner (maybe they'd give you a 2nd sandwich if you ask), but enough to keep you going till dinner.

How did it compare to Bolt, besides the massive difference in price?

As a semi-frequent traveler on the Northeast Corridor, I want to be excited about this, but the upcharge for the Acela on top of already expensive Amtrak tickets adds up to quite a bit more than the upgrade is worth IMO. The regular Amtrak trains are convenient and comfortable, but I still always feel like I'm overpaying whenever I take one. Busses aren't glamorous but they're definitely the best option for the budget-conscious traveler in this neck of the woods.

Amazing to me that airlines were able to beat Amtrak to the punch on Wifi, considering what must be a very wide gap in technical difficulty.

It's not that amazing. Amtrak is a quasai-governmental entity; airlines face a lot of competition. Planes fly longer distances and have no alternate way to get online. People on a 3-4h train ride might be satisfied with a Blackberry or iPhone.

And the most important of these? Accountability. It happens that the Amtrak Downeaster line (http://amtrakdowneaster.com/) is unique in having WIFI, but it wasn't Amtrak that set up the service, rather it was the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority. That is, a local authority, which is more directly accountable to the riders of that line, a far cry from Amtrak's "accountability" to Congress.

Likewise, the other decent line I've ridden, the Cascades line (www.amtrakcascades.com/) is largely supported by & accountable to the Washington and Oregon state governments.

Amtrak is a decades-old failed experiment. Here's to hoping private & state-run high-speed passenger rail authorities show the way forward. My money is on Texas: http://www.thsrtc.com/

How about buying some Alsthom gear and laying high speed rail across the USA ? the country is pretty much made for it, and it would save a bundle of fuel and money.

Also none of that check in business.

If it would just be used to connect the clusters of major cities within the cluster itself that would already be a pretty good thing to have.

Acela was originally supposed to travel at TGV-class speeds on the Northeast corridor, but I believe it was neutered by noise complaints/regulations which resulted in it being not much faster than regional service from NYC to Boston (or a bus, for that matter).

It doesn't seem to be a serious priority for the national govt.

Interesting, I never knew that.

The noise complaints would have to come from people that have experienced the noise though, if they never made it that far that's really strange to see it listed as a reason.

The TGV is an amazing bit of engineering, I've made the trip along the elevated sections by car a couple of times and to be overtaken by a train with such a speed difference is really impressive (I live too far away from a connection point so I prefer to take the car).

They average about 280 km/h, and even though there definitely is noise I'd rather hear a TGV swooshing by than an aircraft overhead for minutes or a regular passenger train.

I can't seem to find a good source for the noise complaint part, so it may be hearsay (sorry for the potential misinfo). Wiki seems to attribute it mostly to issues with track electrification and some other issues: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela_Express#High_speed_issues

Most of the track is definitely not equal to the special stuff laid down for the TGV's very high speed sections, so I'm sure that's a contributing factor.

The old benefit of Amtrak is that you could count on your arrival time into any major large city, as opposed to buses, which were often late due to traffic. Lately Amtrak has been failing this with repeated track delays, washouts due to rain, and other track problems. For me this has removed a great deal of its benefit, at least in the northeast corridor where I usually travel.

What's crazy is that not once, but twice in the past month, I've been on a train from BOS-NYC that has broken down at some point in CT or RI. The first time they sent a new train (we boarded it using planks laid across the tracks) and the second time they sent a new engine car.

Otherwise, yes Amtrak has been more reliable than Megabus/Boltbus =)

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