I have never rode a train and want to try Amtrak. How is rail travel different than air travel?
I don’t know anything about rail travel and need help. I have flown in airplanes but decided for personal reasons that a train would be a better option for me. My trip will be roughly 15 hours and I will leave at 11 PM, should I pay extra for a sleeper berth? Am I able to visit the observation at the top of the car or do I need to pay extra. Are the baggage restrictions the same as the TSA guidelines for airplanes? What kind of carry-on items are you allowed on a train? How is the security checkpoint for a train different from the airport? From my understanding the security checkpoints don’t have the virtual strip-search machines or enhanced pat downs yet, is this true? What are the differences between traveling by train and air? When they serve meals, is there a meal car that you go to or do the attendants come to your seat? What is meant when they say a station doesn’t offer baggage service? Sorry for all the questions but I am a complete novice and have never thought of riding a train but now it sounds like an interesting way to travel.
October 19th, 2011 at 6:36 am
There are not the same restrictions on what you can take as on planes, you are not limited in the amount of liquids, you can take a lighter or even a few and the rules for sharp items are also much less strict.
The last I have heard there are no personal scanners nor pat down checks before you enter the train, nor are they planned to be started. Even the checks on your luggage are much lighter than those on airports, often even your luggage is not checked at all. And you are allowed much more luggage than on flights.
Whether you ned to book a sleeper depends on how well you can sleep sitting up. I do not sleep at all that way and if I can afford it, I will always pay for a sleeper berth, but I found that on Amtrak you need to book early and the price is a lot higher than for sitting up. But it often also include your meals.
Most or all Amtrak long distance trains have a restaurant car, you go there for dinner. If you do not have a sleeper, you pay for your food there and buy snacks you can bring back to your seat. you can also bring your own food and eat it in your seat.
When I used the train in the USA the observation car was available for free for all passengers of the train, I am not sure whether that has changed. But I have never heard about it being only accessible for a surcharge or at pay on the spot. Train travel is about getting you there, not about getting all your money off you.
If a station does not have baggage service you need to carry your own bags and suitcases on the train with you and need to store them near where you sit.
If you can tell us which stations you travel between, or if you do not want to give that much information, at least on which train lines and which major cities are in the same region, you will likely get answers from people who know that part of the Amtrak services.
Train travel is an interesting way to travel and I find the biggest difference that you can walk around, change, sit in a different seat part of the time when you go for your breakfast or lunch in the restaurant car and that there is much less of a ‘business only’ atmosphere in many of the long distance trains.
I have traveled by train in many different countries, including the USA/Amtrak, but that was a while ago.
Report this comment
October 19th, 2011 at 7:36 am
carry your bags no guns sit back and relax enjoy what you can
I have traveled by train in many different countries, including the USA/Amtrak, but that was a while ago.
Report this comment
October 19th, 2011 at 8:36 am
Train travel is much more relaxed and spacious, but also slower. You can pay for a sleeper berth if you want, or just sleep on your seat (they recline pretty far). I think the observation at the top is free. There are no baggage restrictions, and you are allowed any carry-on items except weapons and drugs. There aren’t any security checkpoints, but sometimes they do random screening, especially at busy stations like New York. You go to the meal car for meals, unless you are in first class in which case they come to you. If the station doesn’t offer baggage service, it means you can’t check in bags if you are traveling to/from that station.
I have traveled by train in many different countries, including the USA/Amtrak, but that was a while ago.
Report this comment