AMTRAK -- NYC to Providence
 

I know most of you don't use AMTRAK for your
travel, But I have to post a short review of the service.

Only took Amtrak once. It's no "Orient express" but clean and generally OK.

12-23: Left Penn about five minutes late. Very, Very crowded for a RESERVED train (I think they oversold the train.) Lots of people angry they they could not get a seat. The Meal car (which I did not use) sold out of food about half way into the trip (the train was bound for Boston.)

A further delay as they changed engines in New Haven, Ct. What started as a four hour ride turned into five and I was so glad to reach Providence.

12-24: took unreserved train back to Penn, NYC. A fifth of the crowd, had two seats to myself. Ticket Takers seemed a bit friendly then in the outbound trip. There were delays
as well because of the snow and broken signals. I reached Penn about a hour and a half late and had to rush home, dump luggage and pick up Christmas gifts for friends in Queens.

Holly wanted me to take AMTRAK to save money.
I would rather have saved time and taken a hour long plane ride to Providence.

Plus: NO FREQUENT FLYER MILES OR HOTEL POINTS! (But I charged the Tix on Amex so some membership rewards!) CATMAN

I take the Amtrak in the East quite regularly, and have been most pleased. I suppose it is alot like flying. If you do it enough, you learn the tricks, which trains to book, and so forth.

My experiences have been in the Newport News / Richmond, Va to Washington, DC to Philadelphia to New York corridor.

1st rule: Metroliners are preferred. Coach seating is one step up, and the train is express.

2nd rule: Club Service is great. For roughly 2x the fare of a coach ticket, you get REAL first class service. Good food, extra room, eating at your seat, curtains, etc.

3rd rule: If you can't get Club, get Custom Class. A bit more room, and very few crying babies.

John

PS -- for travel from NYC south, I have found that I can get to my destination FASTER by taking the Amtrak Metroliner to Philadelphia, and flying out of PHL, than taking a cab at rush hour to LGA, JFK or EWR.

Penn Station is in Mid-town Manhattan. The Metroliner gets to downtown Philadelphia just as fast as a cab gets to LGA (1hr 10 min), if you consider that you will likely stand in the cab line for 20 minutes at 5:00p or 6:00p in NYC.

Philadelphia has a very efficient local rail system that takes you to the airport every 30 minutes on a 20 minute trip.

Also, PHL is usually not delayed as LGA is often due to air traffic control problems.

Just a thought...

JGill is absolutely right! My AMTRAK experience is limited to the Metroliner between DC and Manhattan (or stops between), and I find it excellent, especially in First. Lots of room, good meals, walk-around space, etc. And downtown DC to downtown Manhattan is faster than flying.

I share this experience and opinion (downtown D.C. to Penn Central and into Madison Square Garden ...).