Amtrak - Late Trains

On August 22, 2011, my husband and I were traveling from New York Penn Station to Wilson, North Carolina on train #79. Because of work on the tracks, my husband and I arrived about an hour late to our destination.

On our way back, leaving Wilson, North Carolina, the train was about a half an hour late. Once on train #80, my husband, other passengers and I continued to smell this foul odor coming from the bathroom. My husband asked the crew if the bathroom can be cleaned. He was told by the crew that the bathrooms should have been drained in Charlotte, North Carolina, but weren't and were not going to be drained in Washington, D.C. This means that we had to endure the odor throughout our ride. This smell caused my husband and I to be sick to our stomachs.

This was a very unpleasant ride. As an avid Amtrak traveler, we were disappointed with this trip regarding the tardiness of the trains, but more so with the conditions of the bathroom. We hope that in some way we can be compensated for our inconvenience. Thank you.

The rest of the trip was stop and go, since Amtrak has to stop to let the CSX trains go by, each stop had to be at least 30 min. We were supposed to arrive in Washington, DC by 12 noon, which just so happens to be where I had to transfer, but we didn't get there until 6:15 pm. When we got there I had to haul a** to transfer to my train to Metropark, luckily I got the train within minutes of its departing. I have learned a lesson from this, which is to NEVER ride Amtrak for a long distance trip.

She also mentioned that someone was listening in (and that person spoke up at that point). I don't know what they were trying to do except intimidate me. They certainly didn't care to listen to me. I have to say the treatment I received was terrible.

My brother was supposed to arrive at the Amtrak Station in St. Louis at 8:00am on May 19. He was traveling from Arizona. He departed on Saturday May 17. When my mother, my younger brother, and I arrived at the station at 8, the man working at the desk told them that the train would be arriving at 1:00pm. This was really depressing because my family has not seen my brother for almost a year now.

We went home and awaited my brother's call. It never came because his battery went dead. It was due to the fact that he was on the train so long. While at home I called the Amtrak station to find out once again when the train would arrive. The time was near noon. I called 8 times and the phone was busy. I waited 2 minutes and tried to call again. This time the call went through. The employee answered the phone and he told me that the train would arrive at 4:30pm. My family was very disappointed by this time we were also angry too. We killed time by sleeping and watching some sitcoms.

By 2:00pm I called 5 times. The line was busy. I waited 10 minutes and I called 5 more times each time to find that the line was tied up. I waited another 5 minutes and again I called 5 times only to find that the line was still busy. My family could wait no longer to see if anyone would answer the phone because we had to travel down to the station to pick up my brother. When we arrived for the second time to the station we were told that the train would arrive at 6:30pm. The employee was on the phone at the time and didn't put it down to answer my mother's question.

At this point we were all very frustrated and hurt. The man offered no explanation for the delay. My younger brother had to call for the reason. The reason was because the train had taken some detours. At this point my mother had to go to her college classes because she was already late and traffic was backed up. Classes aren't cheap. Now to add to my mother's stress she doesn't now who can pick my brother up from the station. Maybe she will have to leave class early to get him because she doesn't want him to be alone.

This is my brother's first time on the train and I doubt if he will take another especially if the service is Amtrak's. I know nobody in my family will ever take the Amtrak anymore.

Amtrak 194 from Metro Park NJ to South Station Boston MA April 13, 2003 was approximately 2 hours late. No announcement was made in the Business Class Car and no information available from the conductors. Also fare was about $20 more than what I paid in March and no explanation available from a very nice ticket lady at Back Bay Station, Boston, MA when I picked up my ticket. Did Amtrak ever hear about keeping people informed?

The trip from Orlando to WPB was harrowing. The conductor said they try to make up time and travel over 80MPH. Couldn't even sit on the chair without being tossed around. This was my very first train ride. And it was unforgettably uncomfortable, tardy, strictly NOT 1st class.

We had to spend 24 hours on a train, it used up 2 days of our one-week holiday. We were meant to meet friends who by the time we arrived had suspected we hadn't traveled and so went home only to have to travel back to the station again.

I had taken the 21 Texas Eagle on Friday evening to visit my sister, and was supposed to depart Union Station at 5:05. It was over two hours late arriving. I then proceeded to find out that the reason for the delay was because they were carrying freight cars (which they aren't supposed to) and that they weren't connecting right. So the original 20 minutes that they said the 21 was going to be late wound up being over two, and I arrived in Bloomington at 10:45, instead of the scheduled 7:22.

Lawsuit? For a train being two hours late? Dream on. Oh, Amtrak does now hook a few freight cars onto some of its trains and, yes, it is permitted to do this.