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Thoughts on My Summer Travel

This summer I traveled over 20,000 miles on Amtrak, throughout the northeast, midwest and California. I met lots of wonderful travelers and had many long chats about the future of Amtrak and what changes travelers would like to see. I also heard many positive comments about the current state of Amtrak travel, and even met a few of The Train Traveler's readers. Herewith are some thoughts on what I saw and heard this summer.

The Ideas

I am always amazed at how many people give serious thought to issues involving Amtrak and who come up with interesting and unique ideas for the improvement of service and amenities. I have begun to pass along all suggestions to Amtrak and perhaps some will be implemented in the future. This summer I heard three suggestions that I am particularly fond of and present them here for your discussion, feedback or criticism.

First: Clear out one sleeper (maybe the one that usually holds the sodas and ice) and install a treadmill or stationary bike, for use by sleeping car passengers. There would still be room for the refreshments in the compartment. One of the most frequent criticisms I heard from sleeping car passengers was their inability to do any sort of exercise onboard.

Second: Sell paperback books onboard. No need to display the books, just display a list with a small review for each and the books could be stored in one of the cafe car storage areas. This would be particularly popular when a train is running very late, and travelers finish the book they brought with them. California's Coast Starlight has developed some sort of partnership with Barnes and Noble and will be offering books onboard. Other lines should think about following suit.

Third: Put Amtrak under control of the Department of the Interior and begin to place more focus on the onboard programs that are currently so popular in the western states. For example, on some southwestern trains there is a Native American narrator and on the California Zephyr there is a narrator from the California railroad museum who talks about the history of the Sierra and other interesting topics. The commuter aspects of Amtrak, such as the Northeast Corridor and California's Capitol, are already popular. Now is the time to begin to address and more seriously market the tourist aspects of Amtrak.

If you have any feedback on the above ideas, I would love to hear it.

The Food

During this summer's travels, I heard many compliments about the food now being served on Amtrak. It is clearly freshly cooked and the use of local recipes and local produce and meats is very popular with riders. The full size bottles of wine also seemed very popular.

My Perfect Moment

During an August ride I started a conversation with two gentlemen from Pennsylvania. One was a former pilot who now traveled almost exclusively by train. His friend was a retired schoolteacher. We began discussing travel, particularly rail travel, and one of these folks said, "I found this great site that you should check out before you plan another trip." Yes, I felt great when that site turned out to be www.thetraintraveler.com. That's the reason I started this site - to provide ideas, information and assistance to travelers who choose the rails over the asphalt or the sky.