Amtrak’s long-haul trains are really sightseeing excursions/land cruises for people who like to ride the rails. To the extent my claim is accurate, Amtrak could improve the travel experience and lower fares by “Skeenatizing” a few of those trains.
What is “Skeenatizing”? VIA Rail Canada runs the Skeena between Jasper and Prince Rupert on what is, so far as I know, the first (and still the only) long-haul mainline train in North America that has adopted an overnight-stop schedule. Rather than force riders to miss any of the terrific scenery through the Canadian Rockies and coastal mountains, VIA Rail halts the train overnight at Prince George, where travelers get off, sleep in a motel and get on again the next morning to continue their journey.
There are major advantages:
– Travelers wouldn’t have to forgo any of the en route scenery they now miss during overnight travel. Also, breaking a trip, having a shower and sleeping in a real bed every night is far more comfortable than sitting up all night in a Coach seat.
– Customers who now ride First Class would enjoy reduced fares, since they’d no longer have to pay Amtrak’s stiff prices for overnight sleeping accommodations.
Quite a few Amtrak routes could be Skeenatized. Currently, for example, the Coast Starlight runs between Los Angeles and Oakland during the day, then overnight to Klamath Falls, Ore., where a new day begins for the final segment to Seattle. (The reverse trip breaks at about the same places.) A Skeenatized version would start out the same way but stop overnight in Oakland. There, travelers could get a good night’s sleep in a hotel–and possibly head over the bridge for dinner and entertainment in San Francisco. Their train would leave Oakland the next morning, allowing them to enjoy outstanding views of the Sacramento River Canyon and Mt. Shasta that they now pass by during the midnight hours. After a second overnight in Klamath Falls, the train would resume its present schedule–a day later, to be sure; but on the train, who’s worried about making a fast schedule?
Other possibilities in the West include the California Zephyr between Denver and Oakland, which now passes through some interesting desert scenery between Provo and Reno by night; and the Southwest Chief between Chicago and Los Angeles, whose travelers don’t get to see the mountain and desert scenery between Flagstaff and Los Angeles by daylight.
Candidates on the eastern half include the Lakeshore Limited between Chicago and New York, where an overnight in Cleveland could split the trip into two easy daytime segments; and the City of New Orleans, whose Chicago-New Orleans travelers could rest overnight–and maybe catch some blues–in Memphis.
I know the idea works. The private Rocky Mountaineers from Vancouver to Jasper or Banff/Calgary already operate that way, with an overnight at Kamloops.
Of course, Amtrak shouldn’t Skeenatize all of its trains. A few travelers undoubtedly prefer the full land-cruise experience, complete with dinner in the diner, evening in the club car, sightseeing by moonlight and sleeping in a berth. But I suspect many of Amtrak’s long-haul travelers would welcome a Skeenatized schedule.
How about it, Amtrak–give it a try?
