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Old Jan 8, 2011, 3:14 pm
  #2  
Arnur
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Bonn, Germany
Programs: TK Elite, LH FTL
Posts: 647
Nice TR, much appreciated. I took the Adirondack between NYC and Montreal a few years ago (also in winter) and my experience was much the same. It is a scenic and pleasant (albeit slow) way to travel. But who could argue at that price?

Originally Posted by aaron1262
Overall this was an enjoyable and very scenic experience. I would do it again, but Amtrak really needs to work with the govt's of U.S. and Canada to eliminate the 2 hour border stop and do it on arrival instead. Not sure what they could do about the speed of the train. Also, i think more people would ride this train if the timing was better. You essentially lose 1 day of travel each way making it less appealing to most folks. If they made it into a night train that would fit most people's schedule much better, trade off is that you miss the scenery!
I agree with your statement regarding the need to work with both governments to make it easier to cross the border. Last September, I took the Maple Leaf from Canada to New York City and I was again surprised that it took us 2.5 hours to cross the border.. The agents were very thorough, which is in fine in principle, but it took mere minutes to cross the same border on other occassions during the same trip either by car or on foot.

I'm not so sure about the idea to run the train at night. Much as I agree that the Amtrak coach seats are reasonably comfortable, I would not want to sleep in them. And if AMTRAK would add sleepers, those would be much more expensive and less competitive compared with the airlines.. I think both the Adirondack and the Maple Leaf cater mostly to students and tourists (and to a lesser extent to local traffic in upstate NY), where price and scenary are important considerations.. Another improvement I would like to see on those trains would be the return of checked baggage, at least between large(r) stations, such as Toronto, Montreal, Albany and NYP. I have no idea why Amtrak stopped adding a baggage car on those trains.
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