Amtrak SUCKS
Maybe it's simply a matter of our country's size. Maybe it's the fact the goverment runs the damned thing, but we sure are the crappiest operator of a rail system the world has ever seen. India, China, Japan, and the kings of rail, Germany, seem to get people to and fro with few glitches and little hassle. Not so America. The rates are higher than air travel and the trips take 10 times longer, with routine delays, ridiculously circuitous routes and train changes in cities far from where you want to be.Either we give up the notion of a national rail system or the next President appoints a Transportation Secretary with a background in resurrecting dead crap and turning failing businesses into profitable operations. With what we've spent in Iraq thus far, we could've had an amazing rail system.
Amtrak now has it's "Acela" first class service for all you Northeast Corridor dwellers, but I dare you to try to take a train to Kansas City or Orlando - or God forbid, Los Angeles. No amount of marketing and advertising can help Amtrak at this point. You need a steak before you can have any sizzle.
Sent into orbit at
11:12 AM
43 Comments:
Where do I begin to agree...and have no idea where to stop. EVERY thing about the AMTRAK trips I've taken has been unacceptably miserable. The worst thing I think, the way the employees treat the customers (they dont' know the definition of the word apparently) like they are doing you a favor and you are putting them out. Never again. I'm trying to find every place I can to comment on it because I don't want a free fricken trip voucher. I want change. OH! I forgot; when I called customer service, their response wasn't "we're very sorry" as it should have been, it was "I'm sorry you feel that way"! psycho babble putting the onus of misery on me, like its my fault they are continually late, unfreindly and uninformative. AMTRAK SUCKS.
By
Anonymous, at June 26, 2007 at 2:17 PM
So true. I've been commuting from DE to DC on Amtrak daily for work and I don't even know where to begin. I'm a monthly pass holder and the train attendants treat me with no respect whatsoever. If I ask them any questions they wont make eye contact and seldom answer at all, and if they do its with some completely cryptic and cold response that leaves me more confused than if I hadn't asked anything at all. The trains almost never arrive on time, destination or departure, so trying to plan anything by their is worthless. Its loud, noisy, smelly, slow and unreliable. Amtrak is just plain shit.
By
Anonymous, at November 5, 2007 at 6:11 PM
My 90 year old grandfather wont fly, so I had to take him from Charlotte NC to Syracuse NY
the train was 3 hours late, and we didnt leave charlotte till 4AM!
He had 3 very heavy large bags, that amtrak wouldnt help me with- i had to carry them myself onto the train and find a spot for them- im used to flying and thought they would handle it. guess not.
the train kept getting further off schedule, to the point where once we got to NYC, we got off, and took a bus home.
I was considering canceling charges on the credit card, because of how lousy the service was.
The workers screamed like military personel- it was absolute garbage
By
Anonymous, at April 8, 2008 at 3:25 PM
It was the summer of 2007. My four year old son, six year old daughter and a neighbor I had only met a week prior to, were in route back home to Vermont from a train trip we had taken to Georgia.
We were transferring trains in New Yorks Penn Station when all hell broke loose. My neighbor panicked at the escalator and refused to grab my six year old daughter to put her on the stairs going down to our train.
A red cap had my four year old son and he was blowing through that depot like flame... I had to run to keep up and I was panicked when I looked back to see my daughter was no longer behind me.
When we got on the train, I seated my son, the red cap knew I was in a panick and he told me he would find my daughter.
He failed.
I ran to the door to scream for my six year old and went to turn back to get my son out of his seat so I could retrieve his sister, when the doors locked up behind me and I was unable to step off of the train to get my child.
I screamed for a conductor and three of them came to me... none of them would stop the train so my daughter could get on with us.
When the train pulled away, she was on the landing trying to run after the train. She was six!!!
I instantly lost it, puking uncontrollably. I called my husband back home in Vermont and informed him of what just happened. He was furious that they would not stop the train for a lost child.
He called the station to have the employees hunt down our child so that my husband could some how get that little girl home.
The staff found her in the bathroom sobbing her tiny eyes out as she asked why her mommy left her behind!
I hate Amtrak and have informed anybody and everybody about Amtraks policy of "NO STOPPING, NOT EVEN FOR A CHILD SEPERATED FROM HER MOTHER, LEFT IN NEW YORKS PENN STATION ON THE LANDING ALONE" policy.
I HATE AMTRAK!!!
By
Anonymous, at May 1, 2008 at 10:15 PM
Can anyone tell me, when traveling Amtrak from Kannapolis NC or Charlotte NC, there are two long stops, one in Washington DC and one in NYC. DO BOTH stops require changing trains?
By
Anonymous, at June 21, 2008 at 5:17 AM
Amtrak sucks!
By
Anonymous, at June 22, 2008 at 10:34 PM
Took Amtrak for the first time this weekend. From Syracuse to NYC. Outbound was 1 hour late. Return was cancelled at the last minute with no announcement what so ever. 400 people lined up for customer service and were told to "Shut up or I'll lock the doors". Wouldn't give any options except maybe 3 or 4 days. Now I can't get a refund unless I send my ticket to them via registered mail (including return registered postage). I'm not spending another cent. This technology has been around for 150 years, you'd think they could have figuered out how to work it by now. I will never travel with Amtrak again.
By
Anonymous, at September 16, 2008 at 7:44 PM
Have taken the train from Dearborn to Chicago and back 50 times at least, and it's fine.
What's with all the "sucks" stories? It's not the railroad's fault, it's the government idiots who refuse to fund it.
By
Anonymous, at September 23, 2008 at 1:43 AM
I agree Amtrak has no sense of caring. they get really bitchy if you walk through the dining car and act like your walking through to randomly sit at a table.
I went to San Francisco from Seattle in August and the train was 2 hours late. I had carry my own bags onto the train. I also kept being told push my bags outta the way of the aisle and this one woman who worked on Amtrak got so bitchy that she took one my bags and shoved it in the cubby hole area above my seat. later on I had share a table with a guy who talked my ears off so much that I gave up on ordering desert. they kept apologizing for giving me a shared table when I said no because I wanted have it for just me and my girlfriend. we wanted a quiet dinner together but that never happened since we had to keep sharing tables. I hated fact that Amtrak charged for blankets. I just used my coat instead. I also found the tap water kept running out. I had tell them and they'd just say it'll get filled on the next stop. But it never got filled until like 3 hrs later or so. My girlfriend and I kept getting awakened by people shoving past our seats.
By
Anonymous, at November 7, 2008 at 6:06 PM
I take Amtrak all the time for work. I hate it. Customer service does not exist, their "schedule" is nothing but a suggestion (if I know I have to be somewhere for an 11 AM meeting I take a train that gets me in at 8:30 AM), and their ticket window operators are competing with the sloth for Earth's slowest living things.
I've traveled throughout Europe and Japan. Boy, they make the US look bad.
By
Bluebeard, at December 5, 2008 at 3:18 PM
I realize funding for Amtrak is relatively poor and that leaves the system with few dollars to have more routes. Still, that doesn't explain the poor customer service on almost every train I've taken in the US. Amtrak employees badly need to be fired or retrained in customer service. I would love to take the train regularly for business and pleasure trips, but invariably it would take 20+ hours traveling through the middle of the night for 30-40% more than flying....and with rude customer service.
I sure wish the US had a good quality train service. Amtrak should be shut down and the profitable NE corridor service sold to a private company that could improve customer service and on-time schedules.
By
Anonymous, at December 15, 2008 at 12:02 AM
100% agree! It was our 1st train trip and the train aspect was 90% of the reason we took this trip. After 9 hours delay, we got onto a train that smelled of latrine and had no working power or water in the sleeping cars. They had no food left. The staff was harried. We were not given consistant information during our delay. On our way home, the train was cancelled entirely for those that were going 2 stops farther than ours. Travellers were scrambling in the station trying to figure out what to do next. The train trip home was better and would have been on time arriving, however, 2 miles outside of our destination, it was decided that we needed to wait 40 minutes for freight traffic. Evidently there was a choice made between Amtrak v.s. freight and freight won. So much for people first. I won't be travelling Amtrak again. Isn't there any way for a private investor to start a rail system?
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Anonymous, at January 10, 2009 at 9:37 PM
The commenter who allowed her children to become separated from her at Penn Station sounds like a retard. What kind of parent are you to lose control of your children like that in a busy place like Penn Station? I think it is great that the train took off on time and left your kid behind. I bet you will do a better job as a parent next time and not trust your child's welfare to a "neighbor that you met a week ago." Idiot!
By
Unknown, at February 24, 2009 at 6:41 PM
I agree. Amtrak is a wonderful part of this country's infrastructure, but it's run very, very badly and if we're going to subsidize it - as we should, I think - it needs to be a much more responsive organization.
Here's my take:
http://tinyurl.com/amtrak-fails
By
Anonymous, at April 12, 2009 at 11:38 PM
NEVER take Amtrak, unless you like to not get a refund on a ticket you paid for, that AMTRAK said was earned through guest reward points, as a cardholding guest services member! Long story short:
Was told by a little guy that 'You can argue all you want' . yes, he said this to a CUSTOMER. Bye bye !
Their promise that I had earned a free one way ticket, subsequent error on their end (they try to blame customer for their incompetence and miscommunication amongst dept's) and treatment of their 'special ' guest rewards member with words such
was poked hard enough to feel bruised by a big guy /crew member at 2:30 am on texas eagle july 2008 who was too stupid to look above passenger head and see she was getting off 800 miles down the road! Keep your hands off me !And the noise! from the crew laughing their heads off at toledo station at 3 am in the morning, oh yeah it's so jilarious.. the crew are louder at night when you are trying to sleep than the passengers!
DO NOT EVER EVER EVER SIGN up for their guest rewards'. I was told by 12th person I spoke to that 'it doesn't have to be in writing' when asked to see where on the site amtrak.com does it say 'no cash refunds'? uh uh, we don't want your added bonus points or vouchers (laughing as typed) we got terrible service and will get OUR money back (as if we would ever take your train again!)
ALL YOU COMPLAINERS NEED TO GET TOGETHER AND GO TO CONGRESS. THIS IS OUR TRAIN SYSTEM, OUR MONEY! Passenger isn't going to fight for their money, which pays for the running of a 'govt owned' entity! WE ARE the govt! Come on.
Yes I have been laughed at by amtrak staff, as have others, yes, I told them 'you think this is funny? It isn't funny'. YES, guest rewards customer was told bu SURLY MR. CLERK AT the austin texas station that she would have to call guest rewards, called them 8 :15 am and told 'sorry, no supervisor is available right now', yeah right, who do you think your foolin'?
By the way, I want to get a job where curt, icy rudeness, loudness and treating customers like crap is acceptable and you are never fired for it.. where are those jobs??
What is with your bad attitude, amtrak employees? GET OUT! We don't like negative, angry people,nobdoy does.. go work somewhere else. The conductor on teh Cleveland route in March, there was another mr unhappy.. get a life! It is a 'customer service' position. What the hell are these people doing working in customer service?! The snack guy on texas eagle '08 was famous for sighing, oh poor baby he was having a bad day and was so put out.. baloney! He had to stop and take his break and told customer 'I was just up there, why didn't you tell me then you needed that?' expecting customer to know HIS entree crap junk food order (ha ha hahah) Luckily I work in media , so Amtrak, if you wouldn't treat the Queen or Bush this way, don't do it to me.
Get a job more suited to your angry nasty dispositions, like..
By
Anonymous, at April 16, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Amtrak USED to be nice in the late 80's.. what happened?
Oh, the staff... they're mad! They're overworked, they're frustrated (said in sarcastic voice) too bad! You don't take it out on customers. Get another job.
Report them to your congressman, and DOT. Find out exactly what agency, is in charge of 'amtrak'. "BY the people".. this is OUR government, our train. Don't bother mailing back the tickets, my experience and the experience of others is they claim to not receive them, not to know the number, etc. etc. Following their 'rules' did not help at all. Why are we fighting to get back our money which belonged to us to begin with if taxes are being used to fund this terribly poor service? And what is the deal with 'the freight owns the tracks'? Who says so?? Took amtrak across country several times, and it took literally hours to get out of one state. The girl who was going to Washington state said "I have to be in Seattle and I haven't left Ohio yet".
What is the deal with letting passengers yell their personal cellular phone conversations, spewing profanity? Again, no one is impressed . Take your personal conversations elsewhere; the public does not choose to associate with you or to hear it.
Inconsiderates.
Again, public entity (tracks) belong to the people, not individual private companies. Stop the complaining and let's gather together to make a voice of all these complaints to the dept. that is in charge of changing this poor service.
By
Anonymous, at April 16, 2009 at 9:24 AM
I love riding amtrak but don't take it if you want to be sure that you get to your destination on time. Most of the delays are caused by the freight railroads that own the tracks except on the Northeast Corridor between Boston and DC. That route is usually pretty good about being on time. Soem of the employees are rude but some of them are really nice.
By
Anonymous, at August 16, 2009 at 12:30 PM
I cannot agree more...rightnow I am on a train from Syracuse to Toronto. The train was delayed half an hour coming into Syracuse and again stopped on the side before Rochester (next stop) for half an hour. WORST OF ALL between Buffalo and Buffalo - Exchange place...rightnow we are put on the side track since last 90 minutes and to let pass two freight trains...."FREIGHT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HUMANS!!!!"...SUCKS...should have taken a plane or drove to Toronto. I come from India and trains are not that comfortable, however they serve the purpose well, so I was getting nostalgic and try train in the states, so tried train....NEVER AGAIN!!!...90 minutes and counting on the side.....
By
Unknown, at December 29, 2009 at 5:25 PM
I completely agree with the entire Amtrak sucks thing but you people who are complaining about "freight before people" need to realize that THE FREIGHT RAILROADS OWN ALMOST ALL OF THE TRACKS! It's sad but Amtrak owns very few rais of their own. Amtrak trains are at the mercy of the respective freight railroads that own the particular tracks on each route and must play by their rules. Not saying it's "right," but it is "why."
By
Anonymous, at January 11, 2010 at 2:00 AM
Most people who have looked in this site have been looking for people who also think amtrak is bad. thus the reason for majority of the bad comments in this section. I've been traveling with amtrak for years. Never really had any major problems. The schedule issues have recently been fixed. in the 80's amtrak became a corperation instead of being government owned. those of you who blamed the government are wrong. majority ownership is the railroads that amtrak uses trackage on. thus the reason why amtrak can be held up by fright more then it used to. prior to the 80's amtrak charged a large fine for delaying their trains. however when the railroads became majority owners, they voted against this high fine and its dropped dramatically. Thus the railroads don't care anymore about delaying. congress recently ran some tests on the Coast Starlight. the most delayed train on amtraks system. prior to the test the train was running about 10 hours late consistently. they forced UP dispatchers to keep the train on schedule. well whadda know, starlight has been arriving not 10 hours late, but 10 minutes late, even something airlines can't do. The government has recently been taking control of the railroad again. This will bring there service back up to par. As for the lady who lost here kid in Penn Station. Really? There not going to stop a train because somebody lost track of her kid. thats going to annoy everyone on the train.
the people complaining about the noise and stuff onboard at night and the supply issues? really, come on. the story about not topping off water. Its not like they can call central, have central charter a water company, and have a truck ready to go at the next stop. No, they have to use the company's that charter for them already. which means they have to wait for a town that can provide water. and the ones about sharing the dining car tables? does it look like amtrak has enough tables to give EVERYONE there own? thats right, NO. If your sleeping in coach, then get used to the noise and stuff. It doesn't get any better overnight in coach in any other country, been there done that. If you want privacy, get sleeper. Its not amtraks job to treat you like a royal king or queen. Amtrak can only check bags, not their job to carry them around for you. Same with the airlines. I've had good and bad experiences with airlines. There are people out there who hate United, I love united. I hate CRJ's that skywest flys for them, but most people love them. I know a bunch of people who wouldn't take mass transit if there lives depended on it. America became enthralled in the dumb car about 60 years ago. Prior to that we had EVERYTHING this country wanted then. A nice mass transit system, passenger trains that had royal service onboard, and alot more. during the 70's we also had great airlines, guess what, you guys and your cars destroyed that too. and now people complain about being crammed in to airlines as well. guess what, all you guys who drive everywhere are to blame for that. you gave the airlines a taste of what squeezing as many people into an airline would do. and this is the result. almost every country in the world had the same problem. the bullet train in japan was put in to get traffic back from cars. it worked. as did it for many other countrys. However every attempt in the united states the people hugged there cars tighter. If you really cared about half the stuff people think about today. Use mass transit and leave the car in the garage.
By
James Patterson, at March 8, 2010 at 9:19 PM
Jimmy.. you are an a$$hole..
AMTRAK SUCKS. period.
By
Anonymous, at March 15, 2010 at 10:34 AM
just to bump some opinions from another thread I posted a link to this from.
"I have only ridden Amtrak once, last summer. It took a while to figure out that if you tip the lady in the snack bar she will treat you very well. Just be nice to others and they do the same. My experience on the 33 hour trip in coach was quite positive."
"I've had some great trips on Amtrak as well.
Some people want instant gratification and gold-plated service but at a bargain price. I have never found Amtrak staff to be other than courteous and helpful. They are certainly no worse than your average airport/airline staff.
As far as the federal money bit some comments following up that post mentioned, there are precious few modes of transportation in this country that don't receive some federal subsidy. Airlines are subsidized, freeways are subsidized, lots of transit projects are subsidized... the list goes on. Unless one is willing to ride one's bike across private property, making all necessary arrangements with the landowners prior to the trip, one's long-distance travel in this country is likely subsidized in some way."
"The American public, in general, is poorly educated when it comes to railroad history and how railroads function. Also, too many people are today a lot like spoiled little brats. Combine these two problems, and you have.... Well, you have a hate blog such as that, filled with ignorant comments from dullards.
Nothing is perfect. People, equipment, you name it. It may not be fun for passengers if something goes awry, but for the crew, their stress level skyrockets. And some situations they simply cannot mitigate. If they do nothing, that's one thing. If they're trying and keep me informed, that's what will satisfy me.
I, too have found that a smile and a kind word go a long ways. When riding the train, if you address the crew like a friend, it goes a very looooooooooooooooooooong way. They are doing the best they can. And really appreciate someone who is a bright spot in their day, or night.
My last ride, when asked by crew if I wanted anything to eat or drink, I simply smiled, gave them a thumbs up and said "I'm good." Next time through they seemed a lot more attentive- There was a friendly, chatty exchange. A little bit goes a long ways!"
"I recently watched a documentary produced in the 90's on the railroads of India by, I believe, National Geographic. Anyone who has a problem with the way things are on Amtrak should watch that! Unfortunately there are those who feel a certain level of entitlement that puts them above others and when life doesn't treat them as they feel it should then look out. I've seen it plenty in my industry as well. That's not too say that there are areas for improvement or change but it seems some believe things are done just to persecute and offend them and they react.
For long distance and regional train travel the problem is that there is no vision to make high speed rail a real part of the nation's infrastructure. And by high speed I mean 200 mph range. This is not Amtrak's fault. Amtrak just works with what they have been given to work with. Until there is national will to make it happen I don't see any major improvements coming and as it is maybe we are lucky to have Amtrak at all."
ok, that about balances the scales in this argument
By
James Patterson, at March 16, 2010 at 11:26 PM
Jimmy: You make some fine points (or take them from elsewhere just to bump the comments you don't like) but you can't tell me that all the people here who think Amtrak sucks just need to smile more and stop expecting things be given them.
In this country, we expect customer service. If a company is not good at providing that, and Amtrak is not, then the consumers go elsewhere. In the case of train travel, there is no competition so the people complain.
There are no two ways about it: Amtrak is a broken system that needs total overhauling. It's nice that you can see the human side of the porters and employees trying to work with what they have, but the original point of the post was that what they have is not nearly enough. The other point is that Amtrak is not un-fixable.
And until it is fixed, you should expect that people will complain.
By
RFB, at March 17, 2010 at 8:12 AM
Just kill it-government run anything sucks.
By
Unknown, at April 23, 2010 at 12:41 PM
Not only are the prices higher and the trips longer, but I cannot find the train I want. Either I find the train and there are 3 connecting cities, or I cant find the train at all.
By
Kristi , at May 7, 2010 at 12:13 PM
If you all think that the Crews and Customer Service is bad then you should see how Management treat the workers! A group of Pre-Schoolers can run Amtrak better then what they have! I mean Management are 95% filled with Morons who couldn't do their jobs even if their lives depended on it!
I know I've seen how they Threaten, Abuse, Intimidate, and Discriminate on Employees as well as the Public! The Mid Alantic Division located at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia is the Main Office that Controls and I mean Controls from Washington D.C. to Harrisburg,Pa in Transportation and Engineering.
These Clowns are beyond any hope that anybody can save, in other words they are a waste of skin! I have seen all the misdeeds that are grounds for multiple lawsuits. GOD Forbid if your a Whistle Blower. They know by Law they can't retaliate but YES they will in forms of finding something you did such as a Mistake, Judgement Era, Argument or just for Marking Off Sick and they will use these Trumped Up Charges to persue any person in their line of fire as basis to cover the Whistle Blowing Retaliation!
Amtrak is a Joke. Management only cares about 1 thing and that sure isn't the Passengers or their Employees but Annual Reviews! I have seen many Employees Fired as Reprocussions from their Managers who are in partnership with the Chief and Deputy Engineer as well as the Division Engineer and all the Asst. Division Engineers and Senior Engineers! It is a crying shame how they all back each other up to try and make themselves look good but Not knowing that looks are deceiving!
I feel that the Passengers and Employees deserve better then what they get. I truly beleive that a Manager is suppose to look out for their Employees since they are the people that get the jobs done that make them look good! These are the people who make sure the rails are in safe working order to transport Passengers Safely to their destinations. So in this I Agree Amtrak Sucks!
By
Fustrated, at May 13, 2010 at 11:30 AM
IF I WANTED TO BE HELD HOSTAGE, I WOULD HAVE TAKEN AN AIRPLANE.
On Saturday, June 05, 2010, I boarded Amtrak train number 160, the Northeast Regional, leaving Trenton, New Jersey at 7:47 am and scheduled to arrive in Boston at 12:56 PM.
Just north of New London, Connecticut the train stops dead at about 11:30 AM and the passengers are informed that the electric line north of New London is not working and all trains are stopped.
The PA systems are not working so most of the passengers do not hear that Amtrak’s plan is to back the train up to New London to allow passengers to get off. Problem is, Amtrak personnel do not tell people that they are only stopping at the New London station for five minutes and that anyone staying on the train will have no option to leave the train because they are going to park the train on the tracks one quarter mile south of New London.
Besides not telling passengers the plan, Amtrak personnel refuses to call the Greyhound bus station – located in the New London train station – to have them hold the next bus to Boston. Food and drink run out. Toilets clog.
Passengers are furious. They demand to be let out in New London. Passengers are missing weddings and planes and one set of passengers was going to miss a family cruise planned for a year because Amtrak would not let them even walk the ¼ mile to New London where they had a car waiting.
Four hours go by. The conductor doesn’t help matters when he finally gets the PA system working and announces: “You are captive here. The Boston chief will not let us move the train to New London”
Just the night before I listened to a CNN interview of the Chairman of Amtrak, who stated that Amtrak’s signal accomplishment with the new money they have been given the federal government is to upgrade the electic system along the Northeast Coridor.
If this is an Amtrak upgrade, I’d like a downgrade.
By
Anonymous, at June 7, 2010 at 10:33 PM
I ride both Amtak and Metro North and I can tell you that Metro North has no problem being on time, their staff is efficient and courteous and every station has a ticket vending machine. Compare this with Amtrak, and you will have to wonder how this monster has been allowed to waste our tax dollars for so long. It is probably to a large extent responsible for railroads not getting better funding, Washington knows that to pour money into that quagmire will not yield good results.
Amtrak needs to be disbanded and a new agency based on the Metro North model needs to be set up and well funded to help America wean itself off of our dependence on cars and oil.
You can contact
US Dept. of Transportation,
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE,
Wash. DC 20590
202-366-4000
By
SandraLa, at August 7, 2010 at 9:36 AM
If i had more time to share how horrible amtrak has treated me, i would.
By
Anonymous, at September 21, 2010 at 11:09 PM
ok on the NORTHEAST CORRIDOR AMTRAK DOESN'T OWN ALL OF THE TRACKS
NJT HAS A HIGHER PRIORITY OVER AMTRAK ON THE TRACKS
THEREFORE AMTRAK TRAINS BECOME LATE
DUE TO NJT AND FREIGHT
I KNOW A FRIEND WHO WORKS FOR AMTRAK AND HE IS ON THIS SITE
RAILROAD.NET
HIS NAME IS BUDDSILVERLINER269
COMPLAIN TO HIM IF YOU REALLY HATE AMTRAK
By
Anonymous, at November 9, 2010 at 11:36 AM
I am getting my butt kicked as a disabled guy in a hit and run in 2000 and again falling in 2010 (the disabled support rail in a hotel bathroom ripped from the wall--I am getting my butt kicked. I am homeless with my kids in a hotel 15 in 9 months--its harder for me to walk and Amtrak smashed both of my wheelchairs AFTER I tried to file a discrimination complaint for being locked alone in the train and worse--now I have no chairs I have lost 2 jobs because of it and my legs and body are dying more and more everyday. I have fought hard but it is clear I am losing this battle. I have no idea what to do next--I am brain damaged and its harder and harder for me to think.
We had our (2nd hand) toys stolen from the back seat of our car that we just got fix--I see no way out of this.
I have little to no help and Amtrak refuses to fix the chair I need to go to work in--I am trapped inside most days and I am losing my mind.
bestmanager27@ymail.com
By
Anonymous, at December 14, 2010 at 8:47 PM
Bought round trip Amtrak tickets from Atlanta to New Orleans, booked a cruise round trip New Orleans. Amtrak then informs us that the train is cancelled due to scheduled track repairs, via a recorded message which we had to respond to if we wanted a refund. No alternative train available. No concessions of any kind. Very long telephone wait times. Terrible customer service. No refund for ticket delivery fee and possibly a service charge will be assessed, but we will have to wait up to 8 weeks for our refund to be issued before we find out. Never again will we consider Amtrak.
By
Anonymous, at December 16, 2010 at 1:19 PM
I ride AMTRAK frequently, and have had few problems. Mostly just minor annoyances. Certainly, not anything like one puts up with at airports, or God forbid Greyhound, with all the drifters, parolees, and otherwise social misfits who ride their buses. It must also be understood that AMTRAK operates over, and is dispatched by freight railroads. It follows then that most delays are caused by the railroad doing the dispatching, not by AMTRAK. So get your information straight, before you start bitching so much!!!'
By
Anonymous, at July 14, 2011 at 12:15 AM
Had ticket bought on the 10:20 train from Chicago to Milwaukee on 7/16/11. Guess what? The train was cancelled. Guess why? A massive storm blew through the area and not only left all kinds of debris on the track, but also screwed up the signal system. Amtrak cancelled this train for the safety of it's pax. If you want better rail transportation in this country, then quit whining about nonsensical crap, and contact your congressmen and senators. Or better yet, fly. You'll just love the way the airlines and the TSA treat you. Oh yeah. Can't even take a bottle of water on the plane that was bought outside the gate area. And then there are the controllers who sleep on the job. Believe me train dispatchers are much to busy to take a nap. So keep complaining about AMTRAK. I really don't care. It just gives me a better seat when you whiners aren't around.
By
Anonymous, at July 17, 2011 at 3:17 AM
Never had a problem with Amtrak. I'm a train dispatcher with a freight railroad, and we always do our best to keep Amtrak on time. I think that most of the complaints that I've read here are from first time travelers who expect to be coddled. Jump in your car and drive if you don't like the train. Deal with all the orange barrels on the Interstate. Deal with your kids who have to go pee when there's no place to stop for fifty miles, then get a ticket for speeding
GIVE ME A BREAk!!!!!!!!!
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Anonymous, at July 29, 2011 at 3:46 AM
Every summer my kids ride from Sacramento, CA to Nebraska for 2 weeks vacation. Today at midnight, Nebraska time August 3, 2011 they were supposed to board for their return trip to CA. This morning they rec'd a voice message that the train was canceled. Maybe on Sunday they might get to start home. Yes, Amtrak SUCKS...I would bet that my daughter in law loses her job over this.
Grams in CA
By
Grams in CA, at August 3, 2011 at 8:13 PM
I haven't been on Amtrak in 20 years but this last trip from Upstate NY to Chicago and eventually back was the last time I will ever consider them.
First rename the company from Amtrak to I'm Trapped. Second come up with a new slogan like
It beats walking (sometimes) or We may get you there eventually, Indifference and attitude are our only priorities.
or at very least: Amtrak - F You.
rude crew, very late, bathrooms were disgusting (like right out of the originating station) - no papertowels in the can, wet toilet paper, really late, Julie the automated Amtrak Attendant doesn't seem to understand perfect english.
By
Anonymous, at September 3, 2011 at 2:31 PM
My husband loves trains and so for Thanksgiving we decided to take Amtrak to the relatives house instead of driving over a mountain pass. We thought it would be nice to spend 5 hours together on what would be normally a two hour drive.
I received a call the day before mentioning that part of my trip would be by bus due to a mudslide. O.k., act of God, I get that. I called for more information and the guy on the other end said he had no idea about the time it would leave, if it were on time, or anything. We called again in the morning 4:00 a.m. and the gal had no information. We finally found someone with an IQ higher than a slug and were told the train would be 5 hours late.
If this were a private company this would not happen. We are the government, we don't have to care. Airline subsidies, train subsidies, all need to end. Make it on your own or not at all.
Who is John Galt?
By
Anonymous, at November 24, 2011 at 8:29 AM
This morning (12/3/11) at 3:00 AM I took my disabled mother-in-law to the Amtrak station in Toledo to get on her train back to Rochester, NY. The older gentleman working the desk was simply rude (some people should just not be Customer Service positions). He made it as difficult as possible for her to process her ticket. And since she was 2 minutes late he would not allow her to check her cases, forcing her to carry them on board, which is noy east being that she uses a walker (disabled). Then they did not have a 'Disablity Access' seat for her even though she requested one weeks in advance. The individual working the desk should be FIRED!!! Shame on you Amtrak.
By
Anonymous, at December 3, 2011 at 11:20 AM
I'm sitting on a broken down Amtrak train just outside of Baltimore. We're waiting for a MARC train to come and rescue us. I've been taking the train along the Northeast corridor for years and the train has never been on time. It's time to privatize this failed company. Amtrak SUCKS!!
By
Anonymous, at December 27, 2011 at 10:15 PM
None of you have a legitimate proof of your supposedly "delayed" train, so how can we possibly know that you're telling the truth or just bashing Amtrak just because you don't like the railroad running in your neighborhood?
And honestly You can't blame Amtrak for every fucking delays they have, on the NorthEast Corridor, NJT, SEPTA, MTA trains could cause delays for Amtrak since they share tracks.
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Anonymous, at February 7, 2012 at 7:35 AM
I've taken Amtrak about 10-11 times it the last two years and the train been late (30 min to 2hr range) on 7 of those occasions. I can remember them individually. MARC and SEPTA trains have never been more than a few minutes (10 minute max) late, and they cost only a small fraction of what Amtrak costs. And of course the customer service is awful, especially on the trains themselves, where they treat you like they're doing you a favor and you're wasting their time. Some people say you shouldn't blame Amtrak, that it's not their fault and that there's good reasons why the have so much trouble being on time etc etc etc, but that DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT AMTRAK IS SHIT. Whatever the reasons behind it, THEY ARE SHIT, and that's the point.
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Anonymous, at May 30, 2012 at 11:14 AM
I bought an Amtrak ticket because I need to go to take a flight. Then the airline company changed my schedule, which I accepted. Because of this change I do not need to take Amtrak train any more. Since the travel date is on April 11, 2017, which is 3 months and 20 days from today, I figure I can cancel the train ticket and get a refund. Boy was I wrong! Amtrak agent told me that my ticket is not refundable, and they can only gave me a voucher, which have no use for me whatsoever because I don't anticipate to travel by train again next year.
I told them my airline company changed my schedule that's why this train ticket has no use for me. Since this change occurred through no fault of mine I believe I deserve to get a refund for my Amtrak ticket. But Amtrak only gave me a voucher which is the same as waste paper because I don't anticipate to travel more next year.
So my friend be careful. Do not trust the good comment about Amtrak website about refund. They just don't and won't give you any refund. I am not using Amtrak any more, you will feel trapped.
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Anonymous, at December 21, 2016 at 2:55 PM
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