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The only place to take Amtrak is in the Northeast.
Anywhere else, it's basically a crap shoot, but in the Northeast, the trains run regularly and on time.
I've done the trip from Boston to NY and it was fine. About the same time and price as flying once you account for security and all.
The bad part is that Amtrak has suspended their Rail Passes, which are basically their hop-on-hop-off.
Not knowing your starting point.. I'd book a ticket to NY, then another to Boston. But, you could be better off just flying into NY and then picking up the train, pending on what that starting point is.
Here in Greenville, SC, we're served by the Crescent to NY and New Orleans. The train to NY, over the past month (Which they've cut from daily service to 3 times a week) has ranged from 49 minutes to almost 5 hours late. With an average of 2 hours 11 minutes late.
I have always wanted to take a train trip, across the USA or Canada, they even have a way to go from here in Tampa to Washington DC. And Amtrak WAS running a two for one roomette, which made getting a two person private room cheaper.
BUT I am the only one of 4 people who want to travel by train. My sons are not interested, and my old lady says that it is not convenient to take the train when we could fly there in a few hours. She also sees no adventure in being in the train for a day, while I seem to be the adventurous one of the lot.
SO likely it will not happen. I know it takes longer, but after the 5 hour flight to Vegas last month, why not 5 days on a train? At least we would have some room in the roomette to stretch out.
New England IS Absolutely beautiful. I worked there, I took road trips all through there whenever I had time off, and Even though I hate the Patriots, Boston was a fun town. I recommend a car though, because most of the fun small town experiences and sights will not be accessible by a train. Last time, we flew from Tampa to Hartford, rented a car, drove all around, including Montreal, then ended up later back in Hartford for the ride home. It was fun to go to a town, plop into a hotel for a few days, sightsee out of that area, then go to another one, repeat, enjoy. Would definately do New England again. But I do still dislike the Patriots. They are the evil rivals to my team.
Here in Florida, Amtrak has no service along the majority of its East coast.
The following cities are NOT served, and do not even have a passenger rail station:
Port St Lucie
Ft Pierce
Vero Beach
Palm Bay
Melbourne
Titusville
New Smyrna
Daytona
Palm Coast
St Augustine
If I want to take a train from Fort Lauderdale to points North, I have to travel all the way to Tampa (on the complete opposite side of the state!) and then back East to Orlando before I start to crawl up the central part of the state as the tracks run to West Palm Beach then go WEST! to Tampa, then back East but NOT along the coast.
A true Inter-City rail line in Florida would be one that serves a lot more major cities and towns along the East coast!
I was going to take the train from Tampa to Washington DC then Washington DC To Chicago, then Chicago to Needles AZ, take the bus to Vegas. Then after a few weeks, take a flight from Vegas to Phoenix, get on the train to New Orleans, then back to DC then back to Tampa. All in a Roomette.
Problem is, I cannot talk anyone into going along with me.
Nah, I wouldn’t bother with Amtrak if I were you, OP. They’re loud, VERY shaky (even the Acela), and more often than not, expensive (more expensive than flying). Oh, they’re also often late.
There’s a reason why not many people would ride the train in the US. Heck, even the Mega Bus is better.
I have been on 3 or so Amtrak rides 5-15 years ago. Better than taking a greyhound (which I did a couple times 20 years ago). I remember one trip where someone was clearly sick and coughing the whole time. Personally I would rather drive. My experience with Amtrak is they are either really full or rather empty. If they are full its a bad experience and not any better than "riding the dog" as they say. And with covid being on a crowded train having to wear a mask the whole time would be horrible. I suppose if you have a sleeper car and rarely leave it, that might work. Otherwise its probably more affordable to just drive and stay in hotels. Much safer that way with covid.
I was going to take the train from Tampa to Washington DC then Washington DC To Chicago, then Chicago to Needles AZ, take the bus to Vegas. Then after a few weeks, take a flight from Vegas to Phoenix, get on the train to New Orleans, then back to DC then back to Tampa. All in a Roomette.
Needles is in CA, by the way, on the other side of the Colorado River. "The Needles", meaning the rock formations, are actually in AZ.
I love your travel plan, though. I have done similar tours myself in roomettes.
Ugh, sorry you are having such an issue getting through. That sucks.
But on the plus side, it sounds like a great trip. I love New England. I also know that they run regularly to Boston and that you can go to Vermont--the quintessential New England state--by Amtrak, because I have stayed at a Vermont writers retreat a number of times, and once when I was there, one of the others present lived in Brooklyn and had gotten there by train (someone from the retreat picked him up at the station about half an hour away, IIRC).
New England was long my retirement destination, although I now have an alternate plan. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be Vermont because it taxes my NYS pension, and I'm not having that.
I like taking the train-warts and all. Go over to the Amtrak Unlimited forum. They are really helpful and can give you tips on booking and answer any questions you might have. Good luck. I hope you go and have a great adventure. I think roomettes have a special so a second person can go for free in the same roomette.
USA is not very 'train-friendly', especially for New England.
We get a $49 flt to Manchester and rent a car for a week, and stay in local lodging / with locals. Done deal, very nice, very informative. VERY inexpensive (We have been doing for 30+ yrs).
Rural Switzerland is nice to see via the train. You will meet lots of retirees riding from town to town and hiking between towns. They do it every day as an adventure / healthy lifestyle. parts of southern and eastern Germany are similar in train access and use. Worth the effort to get there.
I saw an documentary on this train through Switzerland and it looked fantastic.
Nah, I wouldn’t bother with Amtrak if I were you, OP. They’re loud, VERY shaky (even the Acela), and more often than not, expensive (more expensive than flying). Oh, they’re also often late.
There’s a reason why not many people would ride the train in the US. Heck, even the Mega Bus is better.
The Northeast Corridor trains actually have good records when it comes to arriving on time. That said, the problem lies with trains that go through the Northeast Corridor but are not regional trains per se. Those trains going further south at some point share track with the freight trains and since the shared tracks are owned by the freight train company (forget which name it is) those trains get priority over Amtrak trains. Hence, the late arriving Amtrak trains.
Back in 2019, we took the Acela from DC to Boston and back. Both times it left on time and arrived on time. Plus, we had a comfortable ride.
OP---Do you live near any Amtrak stations? If so, for a long trip like you want to do, it's best to go to a ticket counter and work with a ticket agent. We tried calling Amtrak before and like you, we got frustrated and annoyed.
With a simpler itinerary, booking on line works. That said, I agree with what you said about Amtrak's schedules. Trying to navigate them and figure things out is really byzantine.
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