AmtrakReviews 88

I know where I want to go (where there is Amtrak service) and when I want to travel. But this site makes things so difficult, will NOT show their schedules. You have to go thru their screwed up scheduling system that does not work.

I have been riding Amtrak 4 to 6 times a year for several years. Most often I travel between New York Penn Station and Providence but occasionally I travel between Newark, NJ and Washington, DC. In over 20 years of riding I have had one seriously late train (over an hour). I have ridden Amtrak during snow storms when everything else was shut down. I have also used Amtrak for long trips, Newark, NJ to New Orleans and also around the country. For my regular jaunts between NYP and Providence I use Northeast Regional Service; it is important to buy your ticket in advance as the price increases as departure nears. Cars are clean with large comfortable seats. Reading lights and tray tables work as they should. Personnel are helpful although beyond collecting my ticket I have few interactions with train personnel. My one suggestion is that food be purchased in the station where there are excellent take out places and carried into the train. My Providence trip takes just under 4 hours; flying would not be faster and with TSA waiting probably longer. I am not commenting on Acela as I have never used it. But Amtrak is a wonderful resource and more people should take advantage of it.
Note: Because of coronavirus I have not traveled since early this year.

In this day and age of inelegant air travel as Alec Baldwin recently quipped... train travel is a wonderful option.

Admittedly it is not the same gracious experience as it once was; however, there are many lovely aspects to rail travel: spacious seating, watching the cityscapes and rural scenery float by, generosity in regard to luggage and many more.

Some reviewers cite the uncleanliness in bathrooms, but this is due to lack of good manners on behalf of other travelers who have poor aim and are generally slothful by nature.

I travel from Point A to Point C on a regular basis --- with a long layover at Point B, which happens to be a fabulous city. I look forward to these jaunts... and they do not cost an arm and a leg for the price of a one-way fare.

Wifi is spotty... so I read or take paperwork. I break up the time with a trip to the Cafe Car -- their fare is not bad at all.

My main concern is the usage of the Quiet Car. But once again; it is fellow travelers failing to observe normative courtesy who disturb the peace for others.

Four stars, Amtrak.

I was trying to plan a cross country trip on Amtrak. Their website was difficult. I tried the virtual assistant which kept repeating the same answers that had nothing to do with my question. No matter how many questions I asked or how many times it just kept repeating non conclusive answers. I can't call due to a hearing disability, so I sent them an email through the website explaining exactly what I needed to know and that I cannot call due to I am deaf so I need answers through email. A week later and still no response. Sent a second letter. Received a generic "Thanks for email we will respond within 5 business days". Another week later with no response. Sent a third email. Received same generic response. Another week later, with still no response. I gave up. A few days later I received a response from them telling me to call them if I wanted answers. WOW! Which part of "I am deaf and cannot call you" did they not understand?!?
After that I researched them and they have mostly negative reviews. I understand why.

Recently I was able to break away for a weekend back in my home and away from work. I have used Amtrak a few times to do this same trip. The website is user friendly and easy to navigate for me. The prices are very reasonable and tickets easy to get. The trip went well but was delayed slightly due to the recent bad weather in the Midwest. As this is not a long trip I usually travel coach. The room and comfort is very good and the ride very smooth. The only issue I would really bring up is the cleanliness of the restrooms and occasionally the cars themselves. The attendants could be a bit more observant of those things and remedy the situations easily. This is not a serious issue by any standard but more of an improvement that is easily made to improve the overall service. I will definitely ride again. Good value and good service but the food is very high priced.

I used to rave to friends and family about how convenient and customer oriented Amtrak was. It was worth traveling over 16 hours from Albuquerque to Los Angeles just for the stress free travel. No long airport lines or cramped seating on the plane. Update as of March 2016, I am very disappointed with the service of Amtrak. In particular the lazy attendants. I rode the SW Chief from ABQ to LAX on March 25,2016. I had a sleeping car. The train arrived 1 hour late, but that was not a worry or concern to me. Upon boarding, I discover that the room had trash in it. I took it to the waste containers in the hallway. Not a problem. Once the the attendant arrived to check my ticket, not a word out of his mouth (I thought... well I am doing fine, I hope you have a nice trip too... still not a problem). He closed the door without giving me my dinner reservation ticket/time. I thought, well someone else will come to the room and tell me what time to go to the dining car (since the pillowcases needed to brought in and placed on the pillows, and the water replenished. 2 hours later. No attendant. I could not spot one nearby so I pulled the call button. 5 minutes later and lots of anxious passengers later, no attendant. I pushed the button down.(sigh). I left the room once again and spotted David the attendant I saw upon boarding. I asked him for water, pillowcases, dinner reservation, bed turn down etc. David, "Oh I forgot, you were supposed to go eat at 5:30 pm. Just show up at last call and eat at 8:30 p.m." Bummer... Amtrak normally runs out of food before then and you are left with "something". OK I go to eat a cheeseburger, (all the good stuff was already gone) and I saw a few other PAX that were not told when to eat and were given box lunches because the dining car was closing. I get to my room and struggle to get my bed turned down (100% disabled vet with various medical problems. Sigh). (I put the pillowcases on the pillow that David left in the room, not a problem). Breakfast was being served at 5 a.m. I don't eat so early but proceeded to get a fresh cup of coffee from the hallway. WHAT no coffee for breakfast?! The pots had NOT been replenished for over 20 hours according to the other passengers. I asked David why he did not make a fresh pot for breakfast and he said by the time it brewed, he would have to empty it again. So a pot of coffee takes 1 1/2 hours to brew? He's been on duty since 4 a.m. it was now 5:30 a.m. The train arrived in LA around 7:45 a.m. David wanted to get a head start on being released from duty and failed to provide quality customer to some of us passengers. David is/was lazy. I truly hope he is not aboard when I make my return trip to ABQ. AMTRAK customer service complaints: *******245. I will no longer recommend AMTRAK if you are a friend :) Karen

I had booked a trip with Amtrak about 5 months ago, last week I was looking at prices for the same trip and found that the price was now $100.00 less than when I purchased it. I called Amtrak and asked the agent if I could cancel and rebook the fare. The agent said that it was not a problem, Amtrak would charge me $10.00 and the difference in the fares would be credited back to my bank account the agent rebooked me immediately, the money was back in my bank account two days later. It was such a pleasure to work with a business that seems to have the consumer in mind.