This could be the glorious future of travel in the US
By Tim Richards
“We all did justice to the good things, and as we washed them down with bumpers of sparkling Krug whilst we sped along at the rate of thirty miles an hour, agreed it was the fastest living we had ever experienced. Then to bed in luxurious couches, where we slept the sleep of the just.”
In June 1869, the New York Times correspondent “WS” was living it high on the rails as he rode westward from Nebraska to California on the first trans-American railway. However, long-distance rail travel across America is not always so pleasing over 150 years later.
The Empire Builder traverses both the coastal Cascade Mountains and Rocky Mountains.
On one hand, the administration of President Biden (nicknamed “Amtrak Joe”) has poured $US66 billion of new funding into the national rail carrier as part of a mammoth infrastructure spend.
On the other hand, it needs it. American railway infrastructure has long been crumbling, sometimes literally. On my late 2022 rail trek across the US, the Pacific Surfliner train between Los Angeles and San Diego was partly replaced by a bus due to fears about eroded shoreline. And along the Gulf of Mexico coast, Amtrak has only recently resolved a legal struggle with freight companies, who own most of America’s track, in order to revive a passenger link cancelled when Hurricane Katrina struck back in 2005.
What does all this mean for the Australian traveller? With luck, US railways’ glorious past will become a glorious future as increased spending allows for improvements and extensions to the network. In any case, the rail operator’s routes take in – as they always have – a marvellous array of scenery across the nation. Here are some tips to make the most of your trip on a long-distance Amtrak train.
Book early
Enjoy the scenery in the Empire Builder.
As with airlines, Amtrak operates dynamic pricing on its long-distance fares. A sleeper fare on a lengthy two-night journey such as the Empire Builder (from Seattle to Chicago) will start at something like $US600 ($925), but can soar upward to as much as $US1900 ($2920). Best to do advance planning, and book at amtrak.com as soon as you’re ready.
Be aware of the rail company’s cancellation policies, which are poorly displayed when booking online. For the sit-up coach class, the cheapest sale fares are only 50 per cent refundable. Business and first class seats (the latter only available on East Coast Acela trains) are highly flexible – Amtrak will refund these fares in full when cancelled before departure. Sleeper fares are more complex, with full refunds of these fares only available up to 121 days before travel.
Leave plenty of time for transfers between services. Amtrak’s long-distance trains are notorious for running late, often held up by lengthy freight trains.
Which room?
Amtrak has a dizzying array of sleeper accommodation: Roomettes, Bedrooms, Bedroom Suites, Family Rooms, and Accessible Bedrooms for disabled passengers. The Roomette is the cheapest option, a tiny room with two facing armchairs which convert to a bed at night – with another bed being levered down from above. The rooms ascend in size and facilities up to the Family Room, whose seating converts to four sleeper berths.
Superliner Roomette during the daytime.
What room you choose will partly be down to budget and partly to personal needs, but note: the Roomette is even smaller than most people expect.
One more thing: sleeper rooms generally only have one power point. So bring a multi-point charger or use the extra points in the observation car.
Business or coach?
If you’re on a budget or travelling on a shorter route, one of the sit-up classes could work.
Business class is not available on every train, which is a pity as it’s roomy and good value. However, the additional benefits of business class can be a bit random. For example, riding business will score you free coffee on the Pacific Surfliner (San Diego to LA), but not on the Acela trains on the East Coast. And if you want to get into the lounge at LA’s Union Station, you’ll have to buy a $US25 pass if you’re booked in Business on the Pacific Surfliner. None of this makes a lot of sense, so check the details on the Amtrak website or ask at the station.
Travelling business class is roomy and good value.
Which brings us to coach class. On my recent US rail trek I bought a coach ticket for the eight-hour daylight run between Minneapolis and Chicago, and was pleasantly surprised. Coach seats have plenty of legroom, are reasonably wide, and have good views from the upper levels of Amtrak’s two-level Superliner trains (used mostly in the west and Midwest, as opposed to the single-level Viewliner trains in the east).
If you’re happy with travelling in Coach you might consider a USA Rail Pass, only available in that class. For $US499 you can enjoy 10 segments (unbroken rides) of travel over 30 days.
Make time to admire the stations
It’s remarkable how many beautiful historic railway stations are served by Amtrak trains. Chicago’s Union Station, at the centre of the network, is a temple to rail travel, with breathtaking halls framed by classical pillars and arches. Seattle’s King Street Station resembles an opera house with its chandeliers and mosaic floors. Penn Station in New York City has recently acquired a marvellous new entrance, the Moynihan Train Hall, built within a grand former post office building. My favourite of the USA’s great train terminals, however, is Union Station in Los Angeles. This glorious mish-mash of mission revival and art deco styles opened in 1939, and is known as “The last of the great train stations”. It’s a delight catching a train there.
The classic – Union Station, Los Angeles.Credit: iStock
Go long, go scenic
Amtrak’s longest routes are often its most scenic. The best is that of the California Zephyr which runs from Chicago to San Francisco. I caught this train in October 2022 for the first time and was impressed. The scenery really kicks in on the second day from Chicago, after departing Denver. First there’s the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, then hours of spectacular rugged landscape reminiscent of Hollywood Westerns as the train hugs the Colorado River. Then, the next morning, the Zephyr navigates the lofty Sierra Nevada range before reaching the Pacific.
Rolling through the Rockies.
Other routes with great views include the Coast Starlight which takes in ocean and mountains; the Empire Builder which also crosses the Rockies and later hugs the Mississippi; and the Adirondack which takes in the picturesque Hudson Valley and Lake Champlain before crossing the Canadian border and depositing passengers at ever-chic Montreal.
Get social on the rails
Amtrak’s sleeper trains are good places for meeting people. At dinner times, sleeper passengers are generally placed randomly by staff on arrival in the dining car, so you’ll meet new passengers at every meal. In addition to this, the observation car (open to all passenger classes) is by its nature sociable, with lines of padded swivel seats facing the scenery. At one end are booth-style tables, where people might read, play cards or chat.
On rail trips across the US I’ve met all manner of people – young, old, retired, working, locals and foreigners. In the Chicago Amtrak lounge I sat next to an Amish family whose train had been delayed, and had a great conversation about our respective rail experiences.
Enjoy the food
On my most recent visit I found Amtrak’s menu surprisingly good, a cut above the dishes served aboard its trains when I first visited the US years ago. Dinners, for example, comprise three courses with an included alcoholic beverage, so on one leg I enjoyed a Mexican souffle with grilled corn; Atlantic salmon with a lemon caper white wine sauce; and blueberry cobbler cheesecake. I never did get to try the much-praised lemon cake however – it had run out on every train I caught.
Dining on the Empire Builder.
Note that the traditional service described above is that of meals made to order; on several routes in the east, Amtrak operates a less formal, pre-prepared style of dining (akin to airline food) which it calls “Flexible Dining”.
Expect random service levels
To every yin there is a yang, and for every charming Amtrak staff member there’s a bossy grump. That’s a little unfair, as the majority of staff I encountered were helpful and friendly. But they can get testy when things start going wrong.
On my California Zephyr trip, the transcendent scenery was offset by the fact that a water pipe in the dining car had burst and we sleeper passengers thus had no onboard-cooked meals all the way to San Francisco. Instead we mostly ate food sourced from local businesses along the line at very odd times – a lunch of sandwiches at 3pm, disappointing fried chicken for dinner at 5pm, and sandwiches for lunch again the next day at 11am. Not the crew’s fault, but if you mildly complained then one of the staff would relay just how hard it was for them.
Also, the person staffing the cafe situated beneath the observation car can disappear for long intervals, usually just when you’ve decided to buy something to eat.
Are you supposed to tip aboard an Amtrak train, whether the ride goes well or not? Americans often do. But as Amtrak employees are paid normal wages rather than the sub-standard pay of the average American waiter, it’s really up to you.
The writer travelled courtesy of Brand USA.
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