Beginning May 24, Amtrak will resume daily service on its main long-haul routes. Renewing the daily trips returns Amtrak closer to its traditional pre-COVID pattern, as well as its traditional problems. Amtrak says demand has remained high, with resumption made possible by the COVID-19 stimulus package. Full resumption will roll out between May 24 and June 7:
* May 24: California Zephyr, Chicago-San Francisco; Coast Starlight, Los Angeles-Seattle; Empire Builder, Chicago-Seattle/Portland; and Texas Eagle, Chicago-San Antonio.
* May 31: Capitol Limited, Chicago-Washington; City of New Orleans, Chicago-New Orleans; Lake Shore Limited, Chicago-Boston/New York; and Southwest Chief, Chicago-Los Angeles.
* June 7: Crescent, New Orleans-New York; Palmetto, New York-Savannah); Silver Meteor, Miami-New York; and Silver Star, New York-Miami/Tampa).
As pre-COVID, the Cardinal, Chicago-Washington, and Sunset Limited, Los Angeles-New Orleans, will remain at three times weekly, and the Auto Train will remain on its daily schedule. Not targeted for schedule changes yet are the Pennsylvanian, several services to/from Canada, and the many short-haul regional routes. The newly expanded service includes four of Amtrak’s most scenic — and popular — trips: California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, Lake Shore Limited, and Southwest Chief.
In addition to the expanded schedules, Amtrak will start adding new Viewliner II sleeping cars, the first new sleepers it has acquired in more than two decades. It will also start introducing new high-performance ALC-42 diesel locomotives.
Overall, this is good news for anyone interested in long-haul train travel in the U.S. Unfortunately, however, returning to the pre-COVID schedule will not solve Amtrak’s ongoing problem with long-haul service. For years, Amtrak has been targeting losses on its long-haul system by squeezing the costs, especially on the sleeper services, and squeezing costs meant squeezing the service. That squeeze is most notable in the food service. Although Amtrak trains carry fully equipped dining cars, all they provide now is microwaved or delivered boxed meals.
Nobody asked for my suggestion, but here it is, anyway: The best way to ease losses is not to cut costs; it’s to provide great service and raise fares enough to cover the additional costs. My take is simple: I’ve read hundreds of traveler reports on the Amtrak sleeping-car experience, and it’s clear that the vast majority of them ride long-haul Amtrak sleepers for the unique experience: not because it’s cheaper or faster than flying or driving, but because it’s more fun. Amtrak should realize that basic fact and react accordingly.
Amtrak management doesn’t have to look very far to see how to do it right. VIA Rail Canada’s premier train, the Canadian, runs four-night trips between Toronto and Vancouver. Throughout the trip, VIA Rail’s diners dish up outstanding cooked-to-order fare for its sleeper passengers: Alberta beef steaks, Lake Superior Whitefish, pancakes with real Canadian maple syrup, and other local and seasonal specialties. All of the train’s personal services are on a par with the food. In the peak summer season, it attracts enough travelers to fill 20-plus-car trains, and riders are obviously willing to pay the stiff seasonal fares of around $US3,800 one-way for a couple.
Amtrak’s equipment isn’t quite capable of matching VIA Rail’s levels of comfort, but Amtrak could easily come close to replicating the 1948-era Super Chief and 20th Century Limited experience at acceptable fares. Currently, Amtrak charges around $1,700 per couple for a bedroom from the West Coast to New York — about half the Canadian fare — allowing room to raise the price enough to cover superior service.
Fans of rail travel are hoping that “Amtrak Joe” and his transportation point person, “Mayor Pete,” will find a way to improve the overall Amtrak system. Fundamental changes won’t be easy, especially given that, unlike the situation in Asia and Europe, typical U.S. long-haul mainline routes are single-track and owned by freight railroads that wish passenger trains would go away. And outside-the-box solutions are tough in a system designed by politics rather than technical and economic realities. But, as far as anyone knows, the folks in Washington are at least looking for solutions. Let’s hope they find some.
(Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at eperkins@mind.net. Also, check out Ed’s new rail travel website at www.rail-guru.com.)
(c)2021 Ed Perkins. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
