Amtrak Guest Rewards - Info re Chicago-Detroit Reliability and Ontime Perf.

I am thinking of taking a few trips on Amtrak between Chicago and Detroit. I have a sense of Amtrak's reliability and on-time performance for the Northeast Corridor service, which I have ridden several times, but I have no idea how well Amtrak performs on this route. Any comments would be appreciated.

Also, is anyone aware how much more comfortable (if at all) business class is than coach on the equipment on this route?

Thanks

For hb1's benefit I looked up the status of today's 3 Chicago-Detroit trains, #350, 352& 354, all arrived or were running within 8 minutes of schedule. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Just to know what to expect on a planned rail trip I been using the Amtrak website "Check Train Status" following the Sunset Limited, which goes 3 times a week between LA and Florida.

The train is usually 2-3 hours late, once it was 11 hours and 55 minutes late! I guess if it were a few minutes later it would have been early. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif I figure I have at least a 50% chance of making a 3 hour connection in Florida. But it's supposed to be a vacation, and I ain't gonna worry, no way. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Today #2 arrived in Jacksonville 3:05 late today, but the connection #92 was 1:50 late so there was no problem connecting. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by snake (edited 02-10-2003).]

hb, I went to school in Ann Arbor, right on the Chicago--Detroit line....

Anecdotally, I'd say the trains were close to on schedule, arriving at the end of the line within 20-30 min. of scheduled arrival time. Arrival times into Chicago are padded-- you can tell by comparing the Chicago-to-Hammond scheduled time to Hammond-to-Chicago. If you're leaving out of Chicago, the trains seem good about leaving on time, and may lose some time going east into MI, but again, will arrive at the end of the line within 30 min. of schedule.

Biz Class on the Midwest local service usually means you're in the same size seat as regular coach, with the same amount of legroom, but the seats are often at the back of the train, behind the lounge, so you have little foot traffic passing through. Biz class also entitles you to julce and coffee, plus a newspaper.

Thanks, Viajero Joven; it sounds like the Michigan service is not bad.

Snake: thanks for looking up today's status. As for Florida, you have to love a railroad that ensures connections by having the lateness of both segments cancel each other out.

(edited for grammer)

[This message has been edited by hb1 (edited 02-11-2003).]

I'm not makin' this up, I just checked the status of train #2 and train # 92, its a little after 9:00 PM MST

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> #2 Scheduled arrival at Jacksonville: 4:40 PM Actual arrival: (estimated: ) (4:40 PM) As of the last report at 6:44 AM, at Pensacola, FL, it was running 14 minutes late. #92 Scheduled departure from Jacksonville 7:45 PM Actual departure (Estimated) 8:05 PM Departed 20 minutes late.
</font>

Where did that darn train #2 go?


[This message has been edited by snake (edited 02-12-2003).]

No new word on the status of train #2 this morning, I just checked the status of train #1, which is the return of train #2 from Orlando, got this message:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The scheduled departure time is 1:45 PM. At this time, no further information is available. Please check back later for updated information. </font> I love a mystery! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif