• JoYo@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    i donno, amtrak is pretty great on the east coast. there’s absolutely nothing from the mississippi to the west coast so if you’re going that way youre going to have a bad time.

        • ALavaPulsar@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Frequent delays. Poor frequency. Weird routes. Slow average speeds that can barely compete with a bus. Always getting bogged down by track-sharing with freight.

          The Northeast corridor is the only section of the entire system that is even remotely decent and is basically subsidizing the crappy lines that they are congressionally mandated to run so it’s not even that cost competitive with other modes.

          To be fair, most of this isn’t Amtrak’s fault but just a reflection of the fact that America doesn’t care about passenger rail.

          • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de
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            1 year ago

            I live in the northeast and used to use it semi regularly (2-3 times per week).

            Delays were insane if it was so much as sprinkling out. But the real problem was that it wasn’t much of any cheaper if you already owned and insured a car.

            Also for the rest of the country, it’s hard to care about something you don’t have access to and won’t be able to experience in even the remote future.

          • Zitronensaft@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            My cousin visited Texas from Germany and took a train from Dallas to Austin. The track sharing with freight was insane, the trip took 9 hours due to freight having right-of-way on the tracks. It’s only about a 3.5 hour drive. He was not impressed at all.

    • rab@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Have you ever been to Europe? The Amtrak is terrible

      • JoYo@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        yah ive been to europe. some things are nicer but amtrak is way more accommodating for people with disabilities.

        • tchotchony@mander.xyz
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          1 year ago

          As a general tip: you usually have to apply for assistance beforehand. Doesn’t mean it isn’t shitty though, and if your train is delayed then and you miss a connection…

          • JoYo@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            yah that is what we ended up having to do for my family. i think the bigger issue was the surrounding buildings and some of the stations not having adequate assistance. they nearly dumped my father into the water in Amsterdam.

            i live in DC and commuted every day on the MARC for years and never saw anything so disasterous. the ACA is a force to be reckoned with.