Autotrain schedules - not on time!!!!

[treloarf]

We've scheduled the autotrain for March & my MIL asked when we will get to her house which is 3 hours away. I was checking Amtrak's schedule for the Autotrain for the past 2 weeks - WOW
anywhere from 1/2 hour to 5 hours late!!!!

If anyone has any experience w/the autotrain - is this the norm?

 

[apagano]

This is the norm not only for the Auto Train, but for the entire Amtrak system except for the Northeast Corridor. The reason for this is that Amtrak does not own the tracks. The tracks are owned by freight railroads. Passenger trains have to share the tracks with freight trains, which as you know can be very slow. If your Amtrak train gets stuck behind a slow freight, it can set you way behind.

WARNING, political rant ahead: Personally I think this situation is inexcusable, but that's government for you. They run a crummy system and then refuse to properly fund it because it's crummy.

 

[DisneyPoly]

Our experience has been 1/2 early to 7 hrs. late on our last trip. They offered us a $50.00 "try us again" discount to return since we were delayed 7 hrs. I asked if it was per ticket, and the response was, "No for vehicle only." I do like the AutoTrain, but two weeks ago we drove down and liked having more control over our time.

Good luck!

 

[Gillian]

This is funny because I just asked my mom if she wanted to take the train with me & my 2 year old instead of driving. She said no way! She remembers getting in 6 hours late when we took the train when I was 2.

The heat didn't work...until they hit the warm states. And then the AC didn't work. And the movie projector broke. And they ran out of food at the end of the trip. I can't imagine all that with a 2 year old!

So we're driving!

 

[Credit Man]

We rode the Autotrain the past two years in Aug. We were on time both ways in 2001. In 2002 we were 2 1/2 hours late going down. And although we left two hours late on the way north, we made that time up and arrived on time in Va. At the time we traveled south the told us that due to the heat they were worried that the tracks may expand and they were cutting there speed down.

 

[ginniemouse]

We've used it three times and have always been on time or early. In fact last fall we were so early into Sanford, that we had to wait for station personnel to arrive in order to start unloading the cars. It's true that the freight trains have priority and CSX, which owns these rails, is quite ready to make the auto train wait. In reality this is one of the trains that is usually pretty close to being on schedule so think the last few times you've checked is not the norm. Please let us know how you make out.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Originally posted by ginniemouse
We've used it three times and have always been on time or early. In fact last fall we were so early into Sanford, that we had to wait for station personnel to arrive in order to start unloading the cars. It's true that the freight trains have priority and CSX, which owns these rails, is quite ready to make the auto train wait. In reality this is one of the trains that is usually pretty close to being on schedule so think the last few times you've checked is not the norm. Please let us know how you make out.

Legally speaking, the AutoTrain is technically supposed to have priority... however... 99% of the time, this isn't the case, and the owner (CSX in this case) takes priority.

I remember when I took the AutoTrain, we arrived at like 9:15... I was in my car by 10:00am. Wasn't too bad.

 

[NALA 24]

We've taken the Autotrain only once. It was 4 hours late leaving Virginia. The crew did not want to serve the dinner on the train. Apparently when the train has been delayed in the past, they bused the passengers to a restaurant. We were not early enough to get reservations for the first meal seating, so we ended up eating at 11 pm with two very small and hungry children. Amazingly, the train arrived in FL almost on time. The return trip was on time and very enjoyable.

 

[singitalto]

We also took the Autotrain last Sept. Before our trip, I checked the arrival time of the train daily. They seemed to be always late, just like you found. But the train both down and back were not later than 1 hour. I don't remember exactly, but I do remember being pleasantly surprised since I though we might really be hours late and we weren't.

Have a great time on your trip!!!

 

[DVC Chris]

We've taken the AutoTrain three times over the past three years. On 50% of the trips we have arrived at least 45 minutes early. The other times we were 1-2 hours late. Once because of a mechanical failure overnight that set us back 2 hours. I've heard that the day (night) of the week that you take the train affects the on-time performance becuase of the volume of freight traffic. We usually go south on Friday night and back North on Sat night nad most of the time it's smooth sailing!

We see the extra time on the train as part of the vacation. We know that in taking the train delays can happen, just like traffic on I-95 (or other roads).