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Originally Posted by Arshavin
(Post 23183319)
I commute on Amtrak from San Jose to Emeryville. I have been commuting for over a year now. My experience with Amtrak has been so disappointing. The train is frequently delayed by more than 30 minutes one way. The frustrating part is there is no real time tracking so that I could plan to leave home/office accordingly. Given the car commute being even worse, this is I guess lesser of the evils. I can not wait for the project to be over by year end. When I accepted the project, I thought Amtrak will be cool way to commute. I mean it could be so much better only if its on-time performance was better. I cannot believe Amtrak is just so tardy operations wise.
Originally Posted by Arshavin
(Post 23183319)
Also, now that BART is expanding, Amtrak will lose even more customers if it does not put its act together. Compared to BART, the monthly pass is much more expensive but all I get is frustration in return. Same old excuses of train congestion, drawbridge open, train hit somebody all the time. I get it, just show the darn time real time so that people can plan.
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A web site that's good at determining current status of *all* Amtrak trains at any point of time is available at:
http://dixielandsoftware.net/Amtrak/status/StatusMaps/ Also, Mrs Bob H and I always work with what we call the "two hour" rule for both flights and trains... Take the published arrival time and allow a couple of hours for delays, then make your plans. So far this year, all my flights and trains have been within the two hour window with one exception: a Delta flight that was delayed 3.5 hours by weather. Bob H |
Originally Posted by DCA writer
(Post 23199586)
Not south of NYP (which I should have specified before). As I understand it, that's one key reason why the Acela can't hit 150 mph anywhere between D.C. and NYC.
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Originally Posted by GoAmtrak
(Post 23199691)
Is there a particular train you take that's chronically late? I mean, this route, the Capitol Corridor, is often the most punctual route in the entire Amtrak system on any given day. In fact, for the month of June, the 96% average OTP was the best in the nation. Perhaps there's a certain time of day that's inordinately impacted by marine traffic at the drawbridge as you mentioned?
BART and Amtrak are complementary and not competing modes in most cases. In fact, BART provides the staff support to manage the entire Capitol Corridor and its contract with Amtrak. @:-) Even once BART reaches San Jose, they'll each serve different markets and needs. BART likely won't be faster on a San Jose Diridon-MacArthur Station trip than the train is on SJC-EMY presently. I've been so impressed with the punctuality of Amtrak California's 'San Joaquin' Trains I leave my car at Bakersfield and let Amtrak #701 take care of my needs on any particular Saturday morning (Jeff Chavez is my conductor, though he's a Dodger fan - I like chatting baseball and other stuff with him). Joe G - Still A 'Proud' Padres Fan |
rest in peace
We mention chronic reasons why trains are late--poorly-maintained tracks, freights--perhaps a less-discussed reason is what's referred to in emergency reports as "train vs. trespasser."
For example, yesterday, the northbound Coast Starlight was modestly late--departed LAX 24 minutes late, and San Jose (with 290 pax) 40 minutes late. Shortly after that, in Fremont, there was a train vs. trespasser incident, and the train was held for about 5 hours until released by the coroner (incident was reportedly determined to be a suicide). It departed Oakland's Jack London Square, the next stop, 5 hours and 47 minutes late. |
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