I've travelled all over Europe by train. Though the rail system is complex, it's very easy to get around nearly the entire continent by train. Trains run on time with predictable pre-printed schedules. Bookings are easy to make for almost any train anywhere in Europe. Ticket agents are friendly and helpful. I only had problems in Italy, when the night train was mysteriously cancelled and no one could hazard a guess as to why, either in English or even Italian. And in Spain, when the train was mysteriously and inexplicably late departing (but that worked out ok, because so was I.)
Then there's Amtrak. I wanted to take a trip from the Bay Area to Lake Tahoe, but I didn't know the best way to route it. The website was insufficiently helpful. So I called the reservation line. The agent was even less helpful. She didn't know where the stations were, and when I tried to look them up online while we were talking (broadband is a good thing) so I didn't book the ticket to the wrong place, she threatened to hang up. "This line is for reservations only! I've got calls waiting and can only talk to people who have all their information. You need to do your research and call back."
"But it isn't possible to do any research because I can't get any information!"
Back and forth we went. Eventually it became clear that she wasn't going to be able to provide me a sufficient amount of information to allow me confidence in ending up in the right place so I had to hang up. When I called back the different woman who took my call was very nice, but interestingly, in booking the reservation no money changed hands. So I'm wondering why the first woman couldn't have waited a few more minutes to make sure I'd gotten the information I needed since it's not like I was preventing an actual monetary transaction from taking place.
It turns out that if you board at unstaffed stations, which I did, you pay on the train. It also turned out that the reservation was completely unnecessary since I had no proof of it and the conductors had no way to tap into the reservation system. So I think next time I take Amtrak I will save myself a phonecall (or two.)
But on the good side, the conductor was nice and, glory of glory, THERE IS FREE WIRELESS ACCESS ON THE TRAIN!!! I'm zipping along (ok, not really zipping, the train's moving fairly slow) the Sacramento Delta as I type and post this. Wireless access makes up for a multitude of sins, but still, I fear for the nation's rail infrastructure. Amtrak shouldn't be losing money, and it should be a functional rail network. To make it truly comprehensive and functional will take a lot of work, but I think it will be well worth it for the nation's interests if we undertake it.
In the meantime I think there are a couple of quick fixes that might help. A comprehensive, usable reservation system, for one. And a reduction in the amount of surely reservation agents employed.
Edited for clarity and style 1/18/04.
9/16/04: I turned off comments for this particular post because it seems to be a popular one for comment spammers. I'm going to see if that makes my life easier, not having to delete so many so often. If you really want to comment about Amtrak, drop me a line.
Comments (1)
First off, what the heck are you doing in California?? You should be suffering the cold of winter just like the rest of us Jerseyans.
Second, the problem that you have with Amtrak in the US is competition from the auto industry. In Europe and Japan, where cars are more or less a luxury due to poor(er) urban planning and lack of space, it's more of a hassle trying to get a car from where you are to where you want to go, if you don't own a car. Since gas prices aren't cheap, it probably makes economic sense to take the train.
In the US, on the other hand, the train might be convenient in certain parts of the country, but gas is fairly cheap, and there are far less places that are public transportation accessible, and so the automobile is less a luxury in this country and more a necessity (unless you live in New York, Boston, DC, Chicago, or the Bay Area) if you want to see people that live 10 miles away. Unless you're going cross country, it makes sense to drive the 10-12 hours (depending on where you want to go) if you have the car already. Either that, or fly - there used to be an air shuttle from Logan to Newark that was pricewise competitive with Amtrak from South Station to NY Penn (after which I then took the PATH to Hoboken, and then... god, that was a mess).
Remember high school? You drove there. No bus. No subway. And god forbid walking. I don't think Japan or any country in Europe has their teenagers driving to school.
In short, the country's too darn big. I love public transportation too, but for interstate travel, you're just not in the right country to do it in.
Posted by Koichi | January 5, 2004 6:16 PM
Posted on January 5, 2004 18:16