Business Insider:
I traveled first class on Amtrak for the first time. The most luxurious perk wasn’t even on the train.
I’ve never flown in first class — the closest I’ve come was a free upgrade to Delta Comfort Plus because all the basic economy seats were full.
However, I got a taste of luxury with my first first-class Amtrak ride in February.
Amtrak ridership hit record highs in the fiscal year 2024 with 32.8 million trips, a 15% increase from 2023. In a statement, Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said that the ridership record “shows that travelers throughout the US want efficient travel options, and we are committed to meeting that demand.”
I occasionally take Amtrak for medium-distance trips when I don’t have access to a car, but I’ve always sat in coach.
For my inaugural first-class trip, I paid $241 for a seat on an Acela train from Philadelphia to New York City, a journey that typically takes around 1 ½ hours. MORE
I’d love to be able to take Amtrak from SLC to Phoenix, but last time I looked there were no N-S direct tracks. IIRC, I would have had to go west to (San Fran?) and then come back east again.
A big nope.
In the 50s my grandmother would take me on the New York Central from Buffalo to Schenectady to visit relatives. Leisurely travel. To a young kid the trip took forever, but a visit to the dining car always made up for it.
The Amtrak Pacific Coastliner is a very good trip. The coastline is incredible. The train goes right through Vandenburg AF base. Once the train I was on had to come to a complete stop so a test missile could be towed across the tracks to the launching pad.
There are strange things to see. There is some sort of abandoned military base with a little harbor, maybe just south of Vandenburg. I tried to find out if it was Coast Guard or what, but I could not track it down. There are sand dunes where movies were filmed, like Rudolf Valentino films of Arab Sheiks, stuff like that.
The train stops in LA for an hour or so to change crews. That is a pain if your destination is south of LA.
But I highly recommend it. California is a lot more than LA, Hollywood, and SF. It’s so unfortunate that we have the “leadership” we have now, but it is still IMO the most beautiful state.
It was enjoyable before Amtrak to travel by rail between Montana and Auburn WA. It’s still kinda fun, but I don’t have my truck or SUV when the kids and I get there. So, we have rarely taken it. I’m going to go over this year and shoot prairie dogs for ten days, then pick up the kids in Shelby and shoot for a few days before doing other activities. Kids attention span doesn’t allow them to shoot for two straight weeks. The little shits can get downright mean once they have reached their limit.
So, I took Amtrak from Tacoma to Kansas City once and had a sleeping compartment. It cost me a mint and was fine, I was in my twenties and it was kind of cool… until there was some problem with the availability of that and I ended up in coach in Wolf Point or something like that. Then was supposed to get it back in Chicago. I got off and caught a flight out of somewhere in So Dak, I think Sioux Falls to Kansas City after being stranded on a siding for eight hours and then creeping along at 15mph for another eight.
I wanted to visit my sister on a four-day weekend. A 10 hour car trip, and no air service. She lived in Alturas, CA at the time and I was in LA. 28 Hours via Amtrak. By the time I arrived we could have dinner together and then I would have to board the train for the return trip. Amtrak sucks.
I looked into Amtrak a couple years ago as an option to go visit my elderly parents in NorCal. Texas to Kali… Dumps me in Los Angeles at 2am. Connecting train to NorCal doesn’t leave for ~6+ hours. No way in **** I’m hanging out at an LA train station for 6+ hours to connect to my destination.
KR
Both of my grandfather’s worked and retired from Grand Trunk Railroad and were able to ride their lines for free. My one grandpa used to occasionally take my sister and I to Chicago from SE Michigan to visit our great grandfather. Used to love those train rides but it was nothing like the luxury described in the article.
I have a old leather covered bench my grandmother retrieved when they tore down the old train station down in my basement.
In college days, I would sometimes take the train from Buffalo to Kalamazoo Michigan. The train departed at 2AM. It trundled through the night through southern Ontario before reaching Detroit. The station in Kzoo was just a few blocks from the college, so I would just walk along the tracks which intersected part of campus.
Amtrak carries the drugs from NYC to upstate NY, and Boston, along with the flea infested drug dealers. Safety Tip: Dress like a bum if you don’t want to get robbed when you get off. And be sure to travel during the day light hours.
Loaded my motorcycle onto VIA RAIL to the Maritimes from South Western Ontario and stopped for 2 hours in Quebec city. Then to New Brunswick and off loaded the motorcycle and rode around PEI and Nova scotia for a week. Nice vacation.
If you want to see the worst part of a city view it from a train window.
Huron, they say the trip through the Canadian Rockies on Via Rail is worth the price.
never traveled on Amtrak, but my tax dollars have.
As a kid in the 40’s (!!) we travelled cross country often from Idaho to VA. Then on a bus to WVA. OH Boy…loved to ride right over the roaring bus engine. The driver had a fit until we got back to our rightful place in front. Ticked me off…outright discrimination against the White folk.
@Huron
I went from Vancouver to Toronto on VIA rail once. Pretty good trip.
The only province I have not visited is Nfld. It’s way out east.
Yeah, 51st State. I’m cool with that. If we end up with a US + 51st state national hockey team, no other country’s hockey team could beat us, not even Ethiopia.
@Different Tim
That could the VIA rail, or even better, the Rocky Mountaineer, which specializes in trips across the Rockies, ending in Calgary (south route) or Jasper (north route). I’ve done both.
“Amtrak carries the drugs from NYC to upstate NY, and Boston, along with the flea infested drug dealers.”
Sounds like the Greyhound bus between Nevada and California.
My mom took the Pacific Coastliner and it was a nightmare. Came in 4 hours late. No food. Constant stops. And had to take a bus to her final destination.
We once took that bullet train from London to Paris that goes under the English Channel. As we were seated on the train at the station, we watched as the train next to us started moving away from the station. Suddenly, we realized that it was our train that was moving away. There was absolutely no feeling of motion or sound from our train. It was the smoothest ride we had ever experienced. Even as that baby flies along at 186 miles per hour, there is very little motion or sound. Screw Amtrack!
most of those seats have been stained by Joey Shitpants.
also, did anyone notice the writing style of this article? i wonder what the author will do when she gets out of 7th grade