Amtrak and weather
 

Does weather (snow, sleet, etc) impact Amtrak trains as much as airplanes? Should I expect delays?

A few years ago in July, we were delayed a few hours in Albany/Runsaleer (sp?)when tornado-like winds knocked trees onto the track. In fact, the train that had left just before we were scheduled to depart returned to the station with a tree plastered to the front of its engine. We had to wait for the storm to pass and the tracks to be checked and cleared. We arrived in Boston 5 hours late.<BR>Don't know about winter weather, except there would be obvious problems if anything obstructed the tracks.

The trains are affected by weather much less than airlines. Trains will go on in snowstorms that would close airports, though they might be delayed a bit they are rarely cancelled outright. And I've never heard of one being rerouted to a totally other city as airplanes often must be! Trees falling across the tracks are pretty rare.

Allow for delays. I ran a seach on Amtrak and weather delays on a search engine and found lots of articles. Yes, trains can be affected by freezing weather. Also, they share the tracks with freight trains that have priority. Amtrak can always be delayed.

I've also found that there can be some slowdowns, or in some cases (as in Lisa's) the track gets closed completely.<BR><BR>One big concern is that the trains often fill up with people who'd otherwise never take the train. If you're not boarding at the origination point of the route, you might find &quot;standing room only&quot; on the train.

It's true that the coach sections of Amtrak trains can get overfilled during bad weather or holiday periods. But business class has reserved seating (quantity of tickets sold, not specific seats) and some entire trains are reserved -- you can check the listings on the Amtrak site to find out the details for each train.

What Jen writes about business class has been true each time I've ridden BC. However, I've had tickets for &quot;reserved&quot; trains that were packed full when I boarded (Croton NY) and I mean really packed. The only good thing I can say is they did not collect my ticket, so I guess it's hard to complain about &quot;free&quot;. So don't put too much emphasis on &quot;reserved&quot; status! (Lisa: it's RENSSELAER - I lived there for a short time and STILL have to double check the spelling of that old Dutch dorp)

Yikes, thanks for the update, r-travels. Makes that extra $20 for business class all the more worthwhile!

And do not forget about delays due to derailments.

Right, Choo-choo. And unlike airplanes, in the event of a water landing, the seat cushion is NOT bouyant! &lt;g&gt;<BR><BR>Yes - if it's really bad weather, I'd think serious about Business Class. Keep in mind tho that I'm writing about trains within NY state, but the policy could be similar throughout the Amtrak system.

Now, Charlie, you know that derailments are very rare. And at least if the train breaks down, most everybody will survive, unlike with airplanes!