Amtrak Downeaster Discussion Thread

[gokeefe]

On a different note with regards to manned ticket counters ... The Portland station ticket agents have been known to do a relatively brisk business handling complex reservations for train tickets on routes throughout the Amtrak system.

[swist]

Yeah if you're carrying a smartphone for some ridiculous cost plus some ridiculous monthly fee.

[east point]

Wat is this addiction to apps? Just call Julie if you don't have a phone with apps.

[mtuandrew]

The Amtrak app can provide up to the minute train status information along with www.amtrakdowneaster.com and (if absolutely necessary) 1-800-USA-RAIL.

Wat is this addiction to apps? Just call Julie if you don't have a phone with apps.

But what if I’d like to know without having my phone out, or with a dead battery, or in an area with poor reception? Amtrak should provide the information as a public notice, not just as a push notification.

[gokeefe]

They do in all stations but BON, WOB and HHL. That was the "big step forward" with the passenger information displays now installed at Downeaster stations.

This is fundamentally a problem with the MBTA not Amtrak. They run a joint arrivals and departures board at South Station just fine. Same should go for North Station (and probably Woburn and Haverhill too).

This is probably an ADA issue more than anything else ... That would be where "convenience" turns in to "mandate".

[shadyjay]

They do in all stations but BON, WOB and HHL. That was the "big step forward" with the passenger information displays now installed at Downeaster stations.

This is fundamentally a problem with the MBTA not Amtrak. They run a joint arrivals and departures board at South Station just fine. Same should go for North Station (and probably Woburn and Haverhill too).

Last time I checked, North Station had the same style train board as South Station, just a little smaller, and had the "AMTRAK ARRIVALS" in the lower 1/3. In fact, at the two terminals in Boston, Amtrak is well represented by the MBTA, as no commuter rail arrivals are listed!

[gokeefe]

I should clarify that by "joint" I meant an arrivals and departurees board that updates real time from both services.

[swist]

I don't go to South Station a lot, but at North Station, while they do list Amtrak arrivals, they are always "on time" regardless of whether they are or aren't.

[MEC407]

Right. The ones that NNEPRA installed in ME and NH show actual realtime train statuses for the Downeaster. The ones owned/operated by the T don't seem to display actual Downeaster train statuses but instead seem to display whatever is in the Amtrak schedule (which is not helpful). I don't know why that is. Probably something silly like their system being unable to "talk" to our system or vice versa, and no funds and/or no interest in making them compatible.

[MEC407]

By the way, I forgot to mention this in my mini trip report a few pages back: my jaunt to Freeport was my first time riding the Downeaster since the cars were renewed with new seats (or are they just new seat covers and cushions?). Gotta say the new leather (or faux leather?) surfaces are nice and they seem MUCH more sanitary. Fabric seat covers, unsurprisingly, get pretty nasty after a while, and they trap all kinds of odors. The cars still smelled like Amtrak but less... stanky? The seat cushions also seemed a bit firmer and more supportive, which might just be because they're newer, but regardless, this writer — who suffers from constant back pain — found them to be a pleasant and worthwhile upgrade over the previous seats and/or seat coverings.

[johnpbarlow]

WRT DE arrivals at North Station showing as being "on time" on the train board, when I was there Thursday evening 12/12/19, inbound train 686 with scheduled arrival at 4:50PM was shown as being OT on the train status board until its actual 5:05pm arrival following the 5pm OT departure of outbound DE 685 from track 5 on account that would be the only track available at that point in the evening rush. I wonder if this delayed OT arrival happens pretty much every weekday evening?

[gokeefe]

Probably not. A chronic delay like that would be addressed in scheduling.

[charlesriverbranch]

WRT DE arrivals at North Station showing as being "on time" on the train board, when I was there Thursday evening 12/12/19, inbound train 686 with scheduled arrival at 4:50PM was shown as being OT on the train status board until its actual 5:05pm arrival following the 5pm OT departure of outbound DE 685 from track 5 on account that would be the only track available at that point in the evening rush. I wonder if this delayed OT arrival happens pretty much every weekday evening?

I was on #686 yesterday. We stopped north of the Charles River Bridge and waited for the northbound Downeaster to slide by before crossing the bridge and entering North Station. I think we were somewhat late arriving; it was several minutes after 5, and I wanted to catch the 5:26 to Needham out of South Station, so I didn't stick around (and by a fortuitous series of coincidences, I caught it!).

The only time I've ever seen more than one Downeaster train set at North Station was several months ago; the two sets were on the same track, coupled together. Evidently one of them had had a problem of some sort.

[Trinnau]

You should have just taken the Orange Line across to Back Bay to catch the Needham train. Gives you 5 more minutes to make the more direct connection.

The only time two DEs are scheduled to be in North Station is from 4:50pm to 5:00pm. What you probably saw the other day was an equipment move, which is made roughly once a week. Extra equipment normally comes into Boston on 686 with an extra crew, who then takes it over to the Amtrak yard at Southampton St. When they return they either run straight home as an equipment extra or tack onto 689.

With no Amtrak agents at North Station, I wonder if Keolis updates the Amtrak arrivals at all, and if they do based off what information.

[Hux]

The Amtrak app can provide up to the minute train status information along with www.amtrakdowneaster.com and (if absolutely necessary) 1-800-USA-RAIL.

I stopped by Dover on Monday to check on the work there (crews working but nothing visible. Would have thought they would have taken care of the raggedy ass roof first) while having lunch. I Googled "Downeaster schedule" on my phone and was surprised to see a result at the top of the page showing "2 min" and sure enough not long after horns were heard on the westbound approach. No app needed.