Midnight Train to Georgia: An Appraisal of Amtrak in the Time of Covid

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I finally got around to taking my first long-distance train trip in America. It was eye opening. I’m writing this down for two reasons: first, I want to keep it for my own memories, when it all starts to fade; and second, I’m hoping people will learn from my experiences. There’s plenty of ups and downs regarding train travel, and as someone who has done long distances in Europe and Canada, I thought I was pretty well versed in what to expect from Amtrak. Not only has Covid changed things, however, but the American context cannot be overstated. The USA is a big country that somehow only has a single company in charge of all passenger rail travel. Now that I’ve done the whole American train thing, I think I’ve got enough perspective to make recommendations for how to go places, depending on time and money involved. Not to mention comfort.

Lots of people have told me how much they want to do a big train trip across America. They have visions of vast landscapes and painted vistas as their eyes go all starry and idealistic. These people clearly don’t have much experience with rail travel. At least not in the USA.

In Canada and Western Europe, when you travel long distances, you typically get a comfy seat, lots of leg room, a small table to work on, and seats facing each other at various intervals. This is not the case in the US. On my four trips over the past week, I never saw a table (except in the café car), and none of the seats were facing the opposite direction or apart from any other seats (except in the very last row of each car—apparently these are there for medical necessity). All of the coach class cars had a row of four seats divided in two by the aisle down the middle. And each seat had a tray table attached to the seat ahead, just like on airplanes. These are not bad things, only different. Personally, I hate having a seat that doesn’t face in the direction of travel, so it was nice walking into each car and knowing that I didn’t have to seek out a forward-facing seat.

I took the Crescent Line train from Georgia to Washington, DC, and then back from NYC to Georgia. I also took the Northeast Regional train from DC to Boston, and then from Boston to NYC. Parts of each trip were about what I expected, but then when the unexpected parts came up, I actually felt like I had made a terrible choice with this mode of transportation. I’ll wait until the end to give my final verdict on train travel, though. Can you already tell what it’s going to be?

I think I’ll treat the rest of this post like a list of pros and cons. Then my readers can decide whether or not they think it’s worth their time to trek across America by rail.

LET'S START WITH THE PROS:

First, if you have a ticket, you’re guaranteed a seat reservation. Some people might think, so what? But if you’ve ever been on a train with no room left to sit, you understand. Amtrak doesn’t oversell tickets, like airlines, either, so if you buy a ticket, you don’t have to worry about that kind of thing. The ticket does NOT include a specific seat, however.

Second, the seats are wide, and they recline (to a certain extent). And you don’t have to worry about infringing on the personal space of the person seated behind you, since the leg room is ample on long-distance trains. It was still fine on the local trains, but the smaller leg room was certainly noticeable.

Third, I never thought I was in danger of criminal activity, either to myself or to my luggage. There’s loads of space in the bin above your seat for a carry-on sized piece of luggage, and I’d wager more space than on a typical airplane. And with all the legroom, you can keep a bookbag, purse, or laptop bag under your feet without much hassle.

Fourth, the toilets are efficient and clean (at least until the next morning, after a little usage). I can’t ever remember having to wait in line to use one, either.

Fifth, the conductors are good at reminding people of their upcoming stops, making sure they have ample time to collect all their belongings and getting ready to exit in a timely manner. They also do a good job of allocating seating, giving preference of window seats to those of us who would be on the train for a longer period. I had a window seat every time.

Sixth, the power outlets are easy to use, charging my phone at the normal speed of an outlet back home. And with two outlets per pair of seats, there’s no fighting over them.

Seventh, the trains are mostly on time. Until my final stop, in fact, I don’t think any of the trains were more than 5 minutes behind schedule. This morning, however, we were almost an hour late to my stop. Good thing I didn’t have anywhere I needed to be today.

Eighth, the train stations in the big cities are generally nicely done. Union Station in DC and Penn Station in NYC were architectural masterpieces, spacious, and had plenty of room to sit. As clean as one can make a public space in the US. Decent restrooms, too. And the gates for the trains were well marked, with copious announcements and attendants to help people get where they needed to go.

Ninth, in terms of trip duration, it's comparable to going by car. At times, my GPS said we were moving over 100 mph, but these were few and far between. Not like there are speed limit signs posted, but you go through enough small towns and around enough curves in the track to make such high speeds dangerous. If I had driven my car to Boston, it would’ve taken me 16 hours of driving without making any stops. My trip from Boston back to Georgia yesterday/this morning lasted just under 24 hours. Pretty much the same, given the needed sleep time and pit stops on such a long trip. Frankly, it’s one of the main reasons I chose to take the train.

Tenth, the price is about what I expected to pay for a plane ticket (plus transportation to the airport), or for gas on a road trip (plus hotel room on the way there and back). Of course, that’s the base fare for a train ticket—no sleeper, just a chair to recline in. But the novelty of the train ride clinched the deal for me: if it’s all the same price, but I get to do something new and potentially fun, then I’m going to go with the new and fun option.

Eleventh, I got to explore a couple of places I wouldn’t have otherwise had time (or perhaps even the inclination to stop) for. I had a layover of almost 8 hours in DC, and since I didn’t have to worry about parking, and the train station is also a hub on the DC Metro lines, I had easy access to any of the touristy things I wanted to visit and ample time to see them. NYC wasn’t as glamorous, but I did get to see Madison Square Garden and taste some authentic NY pizza across the street. Seriously, it’s called NY Pizza Suprema, and I think my taste buds actually orgasmed when they experienced the first taste of that first slice. I was unprepared.

This all sounds pretty good, right? Shall we move along?

NOW ON TO THE CONS:

First, Amtrak just needs to go ahead and stop lying about all their measures to maintain social distancing. There are none. As with my first flight in the time of Covid back in December, I was appalled at the closeness of quarters. Someone was seated next to me on EVERY ONE OF MY TRAINS. As the conductors were wont to tell us nearly every time where a large number of passengers disembarked at a particular stop, we couldn't just put our bags on the empty seats because they were all sold out. And as with airplanes, the only visible signs of a pandemic are face masks. As signs and conductors continually reminded us, they are required at all times. Unless, of course, you're actively eating or drinking. Because an airborne virus won't be so rude as to leave your body while you're eating or drinking, right? Side note: You people complaining about having to wear a mask to go shopping or even on an airplane can kiss my tuchus—try wearing one for 14 hours, during which time you’re also attempting to get some sleep.

Second, since we’re talking about sleep, let’s also admit that you’re not going to get any rest, unless perhaps you’re willing to pay twice the price and get a sleeper car. You get what you pay for, I suppose. But even the people on my first train—total strangers until Fate placed them next to each other on an overnight train to DC—were lamenting to one another about how it was all about the money here: in terms of social distancing and sleeping abilities. I’ve done sleeper cars in Europe, and it was completely affordable. In what world is an overnight sleeping car worth $400, compared to $125 for a reclining seat? Perhaps some of my readers are made of money. I am not. (But I will admit looking into upgrading the rest of my rides after that first awful night and thinking it might be worth the price. Is that how they do this? Desperation sales?)

Third, you have no control of the lights or sounds or people talking around you. Now I’ll be the first to admit that you have to expect that some of these things will be beyond your control. You’re on a train, after all. Other people are inhabiting the same space as you. And I do travel with ear plugs and a sleeping mask, so don’t at me about not being prepared. In spite of having those things, people get on the train at 3:30 AM and decide to continue having a conversation behind you even though they see you trying to sleep. And the conductors choose when the main overhead lights get turned off, no matter how much you ask them. And don’t get me started about the overly boisterous conductor who continued to shout through the loudspeakers until after 1:30 AM when we were approaching the next stop and reminding people several times that we were getting closer and they needed to collect their things.

Fourth, internet connectivity is a joke. Yes, the train broadcasts its own Wi-Fi signal, but it’s hit and miss. And when you’re at a train station, forget about it. Apparently the station’s Wi-Fi and the train’s Wi-Fi interact and just don’t like to play at all, which means you lose any Wi-Fi you had going. Also, it’s not really fast, and lots of people are trying to use it, so you can’t do much to begin with. But what about your phone’s network connection, you may be asking? Well, if you’d like to know where to find all those dead zones on the maps in those phone commercials on TV, Amtrak can help you with that. They are experts at finding the dead zones, for long stretches at a time. First world problems, right? Well, this IS the first world, yo.

Fifth, those stations outside of major urban areas are so incredibly sketchy. Take my stop, for instance: Gainesville, GA. At 40 miles from my home, it was the closest place Amtrak stopped. But it’s in the middle of an absolutely undesirable part of town—not that it looks infested with crime, but it looks like nobody wants to be there at all. A big industrial area is all you can see on the railroad side of the station. On the other side? Absolutely nothing is there. They’ve got 5 parking spots for anyone, so you’d better hope they’re not all taken if you’re planning on leaving your car there. And did I mention that this is an unmanned station? No employees are there, like ever. A sign on the door says as much—the lobby is open from 6-9 AM and from 7-10 PM. Why such weird hours? I can explain the morning hours: there’s only one morning train, heading to Atlanta, scheduled around 7:30. But as my train proved this morning, it’s late sometimes (arrived at 8:20). For the evening hours, I have no effing idea. The only other train that serves this station leaves at 12:24 AM. Why would people need the station from 7-10 PM? Let's make that a fifth reason, part two: on these long-distance trains, you’ve got really only one (maybe two) departures per day, so you have to make your schedule fit theirs. The price of doing business.

Sixth, all those sights people expect to see out the train windows are not so enthralling. Most of the time, I saw kudzu. Lots and lots of kudzu. Along with railroad tracks next to our train. Rarely did we get any views worth mentioning. Sometimes you got a good cityscape, like Charlotte, or DC or Philly or NYC, but the smaller towns keep their train stations in secluded areas (see above about Gainesville, GA), so you don’t really get much of the “slice of life” that you might expect. The best views were in northern Virginia and then along the Connecticut coast, especially getting to see the sunrise over Long Island Sound. Other than that, there’s really not a lot to see, and certainly not worth getting exciting over. Perhaps it’s different out West.

Seventh, you’re at the mercy of the train and the train stations for the services they provide. I’m speaking here primarily of food. I never went to the café car, since I saw what people were bringing back to their seats (sodas, candy bars, crackers, pre-packaged sandwiches) and wasn’t impressed. And I know it’s not entirely fair, but the train stations are also a little problematic. Despite claiming to have storage for luggage, DC’s Union Station, in fact, does NOT have any. Or if they do, it’s been closed for some time. This meant that I got to take all my luggage around with me as I saw the sights. Including all those steps up and down Arlington National Cemetery in 90+ degree heat. The first ranger outside the cemetery told me that I wasn’t the first person she’d seen carrying their luggage with them, so I know it wasn’t just a “me” problem on that day. Aside from that snafu, however, Union Station does have plenty of food options and souvenir shops, so if you really felt like it, you could stay there and have a restful wait. At the other end of the spectrum, Penn Station in NYC had next to nothing. I was flabbergasted. They have all the signs pointing to the Food Court, but when you get there, all you see are cardboard cutouts, floor to ceiling, projecting what the Food Court will look like when it opens, supposedly in Fall 2021. (So if you’re reading this after the Food Court opens, comment and let me know if it’s everything you dreamed it would be.) The only food options in the recently renovated Moynihan Train Hall (which looks gorgeous, honestly) are Starbucks, a bakery, and a coffee shop. No actual meals, unless you plan to die of carbohydrate suffocation. I suppose it was impetus enough for me to leave the station and find some amazing pizza at NY Pizza Suprema.

Eighth, I guess I should close with my biggest problem of all: you’re not going to get any restful sleep on a train. That is, if you can get any sleep at all. I spent a total of three nights on a train in the past week, and I’ll just say that it almost spoiled my entire trip. (Full disclosure: I also have a neck problem, but I brought a neck pillow with me; without it, I can’t even begin to know how much worse my experiences, both trying to sleep and then trying to get my neck to move in the next few days, would’ve turned out). The seats "recline" maybe a total of 25-30 degrees, so it's just enough to know you're not upright anymore, but not enough to actually feel even remotely horizontal. Unless you want to pay 3 times as much for the ticket, as mentioned above. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep in total on the first night, with maybe a 20-minute stretch being the most I could sleep at a time. I also had a guy next to me the entire night, and I’m a side sleeper, so this was quite impractical. The second night was “better” with probably closer to 4 hours, but an early arrival the next morning precluded taking any sleep aids. I was also fortunate that my seat mate left the train around 1 AM, allowing me to “stretch out” as much as I could. On my final night of the trip, my seat mate moved to the seat behind us after those occupants disembarked around 11 PM, so I ended up with the pair of seats to myself. I probably managed another 4 hours strung together.

FINAL TALLY:

Numerically, it’s no contest, with 11 Pros and only 8 Cons. But messing with my sleep and severely limiting my food options are kinda big deals to me. I brought all the stuff I thought I’d need to combat those issues: ear plugs, sleep mask, neck pillow, ibuprofen PM, and even a heating pad for sleeping on; and sandwiches, crackers, and drinks so I wouldn’t have to worry about food scarcity (or quality). I was able to overcome the food issues for the most part, but there’s no getting around the awful quality of the sleep you (might, if you’re fortunate) get in an overnight train. If I had to take a trip in the daytime, even up to 6 or 8 hours, and the price was comparable to flying and/or driving, I’d do another Amtrak trip in a heartbeat. But if it involves overnight travel, forget it; give me an airplane, even with a face mask. This means I’m done with traveling northward from Georgia on Amtrak, since the only option (and there’s only ONE!) leaves at midnight. Maybe heading west—since the Crescent Line travels between New York and New Orleans via DC and Atlanta—will be the only way you could convince me to get back on an Amtrak train. But even then, it’ll have to wait until the pandemic is over.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Amtrak
Nice summary Will. You've given us the down and dirty, not the romantic notion. Other countries sure do the rails better than we do.

[Will Abney]

It's so true!
I was hoping for better, and I know that it CAN be better. Maybe someday, I'll be able to give them a glowing review in response to the one I just wrote!