Jen W.

I have used Amtrak services for years on a variety of routes. I have only used Amtrak services in the Atlanta area once, taking a train from NYC to Atlanta on a sleeper car and will base this review on that experience, vs. including all my other experiences. First, the station in Atlanta is quite small and older. The staircase from the ground level track to the street level station is long and steep. There's an elevator somewhere. Look for that. You'll want it. Especially if you have large, heavy and/or a lot of bags, small kids or mobility issues. There is very limited parking for picking up arrivals and the lot is a dead end with very little space to turn around. Mostly I saw people stopping street side, on a street with no street side parking, to load up bags and people. So not the best scenario but you do what you have to do. The sleeper car we traveled in was quite old and not in very good repair. Lots of rattling and a couple of broken/repaired parts. But it is private and quiet as in, no other passenger's music or kid noise, just your own. The ride in these older cars is not smooth and as we slept on the train, in a room designed for this purpose, it wasn't a restful night at all. Plus, they do not provide a blanket. A top and bottom sheet and a pillow for each bunk are in the room. It gets cold in there. You'll want to bring a blanket if you are traveling in a sleeper car. Water and soft drinks are free for sleeper car guests. Check with your room steward or the Café staff for information on this benefit. I know Amtrak is trying to make changes by expanding it's services, adding new routes and upgrading some of the rail segments to high speed, but they also need to look into updating their sleeper trains. If we are paying top dollar for rail service (which we are), we should be getting top dollar rail service. And don't get me started on these microwave meals they serve sleeper guests since pandemic. They still show 'fine dining' photos on their website. Don't believe those. On the NYC to Atlanta train, meals were delivered to the room. There is no dining car on this train. I appreciate the long haul trains have a café car available for all guests. Besides the available microwaved hotdogs and hamburgers, they offer two premade sandwiches and salad options. They also have a lot of snack items for sale like candy and chips. The staff have always been very kind, friendly and helpful. Only bank/credit cards are accepted on board btw. Beverages offered include soda, water, coffee, milk, wine, beer and cocktails. I see a lot of room for continued improvement and feel more people would use rail service in the U.S. if the prices, facilities and services were better. Rail travel is an excellent way to get around especially if you don't drive, don't have a car or don't like to fly. Check out the Amtrak website (which is another place for improvement) for route details and prices. Buying tickets in advance may get you a lower rate on some routes vs. same day purchases. Long haul routes must be pre-booked. I use their phone app when traveling. I can follow the route and find out which stations are long stops and which are quick. That way I know when I can get out of the train to stretch my legs along the platform. It also lets you know if you are behind schedule, which happens often. Definitely leave a long layover time between connecting trains (Especially in Chicago!). Some of the long haul trains have very comfortable general seating options that recline. I recommend you bring your own food if going a long way, a blanket and sanitizing wipes for the bathroom. I'm not sure how often staff are able to clean the restrooms and there are a lot of people using them. Most trains have space for back packs and smaller bags overhead and some cars have an area for larger bags near the door.

Crystal B.

Underwhelmed. I would've thought this Amtrak station in the hot and popping ATL would've been much bigger and offered so much more. I'm shocked that the New Orleans train station has this one beat in every way. For starters, their "first class" area is just that, an area. Not an enclosed private room or banquet hall with food, beverages and comfy seats like NYC and NOLA. The agents are not welcoming or friendly at all. I mean you really only have one job...do it with a smile. The place is pretty antiquated but clean and I honestly don't mind the dated feel. Takes me back to those old western movies. While I enjoy train rides, I normally get a room. However, $72 vs. $300 for 12 hours was a no brainer for me. With that, I opted to take a long and relaxing ride home in coach. Let's see how it goes lol.

Ray I.

Oh come on....long term parking is at a motel up the road; 10-15 minute walk. That might sum this up. How can Amtrak, in a city of 6 million people, have this as their station? On a beautiful, great weather day, our train was over an hour late - and at a station that seats about 40 people quite uncomfortably - that hurts a bit. We literally wandered down Peachtree to find a place to snag a drink and relax. The broken vending machine at the station won't cut it.

Lilly C.

Last Week I was watching Globe Trekker on PBS and saw their series called Tough Trains. The first in the series was called The American Transcontinental. The host basically takes the train from the Atlantic to the Pacific through 4 time zones, 12 states all the while logging in 3,000+miles on the choo choo express. (You can find more information on the show here http://www.pilotguides.com/tv-shows/tough-trains/tough-trains-the-american-transcontinental-railroad/ ) Since taking the train across the country was on my bucket list I figured I come and check the place out. The station itself is exceptionally well preserved and maintained for a building built in the 1910's. The place is clean, well managed, the employees were super friendly and professional. When I was there the station was empty except for myself and a couple of employees. There are about 10 short term parking spots and no long term parking spots. You can park in some of the nearby parking lots for a small fee. Amtrak's website has the information and even lets you reserve a spot. Click on here: https://www.amtrak.com/stations/atl I was able to find out how to take the trip from Atlanta to San Francisco. It turns out it will be about 84 hours (not counting transfers) I would need to take the train on up to Washington DC. From there I head on to Chicago which will take me to Emryville, Ca which then will take me to Fisherman's Warf in San Francisco. The cost for a basic ticket is about $350.00 and about $1200 if I want to get a private room. 84 hours huh? might have to think about that for a bit. But for now I think I'll look at taking the train on up to DC which is about 13 hours. Hope I don't go insane being on there for that long.... 1218th review 2/20/2018 138th for 2018

Barrett O.

We're somewhere north of Hotlanta on our way to Gastonia, NC tonight (my old stomping grounds) and DC in the morning and we're nestled in our beds & our choo choo ride has been delightful thus far. Boarded at Union Passenger station in Nawlins at 7am after 30 minutes in the Magnoloa room lounge with water, coffee and comfy seats. We boarded early at 6:25am &got settled in our little room before departing promptly at 7. The room is very small with 2 seats facing one another that folds down into a bed and a larger bunk above that slides down onto place. There's a toilet that doubles as a seat & fold up sink that has hot & cold water as well as ice water. Much like smaller boats they utilize every square inch of square. There's a thermostat for the AC, lots of light controls an intercom for the Porter, (our giliy Carl will be with us to DC, nice guy), a couple electrical outlets and big windows for the scenery. You can pull the curtains on the door and outer windows and it's private & pretty dark dark even facing the sun. If you want a shower there is a dedicated shower room with lots of fluffy towels and toiletries, it's pretty nice & located in the sleeper cars. The meals are included with all sleeper tickets so we were off to breakfast. We has 3 egg omelettes with cheese & veggies, I had sausage, wife had bacon, potatoes & croissant. I was extra hungry after the French foo foo dinner so I added pancakes & all topped off with OJ & Dunkin coffee, nice. Our guy Gary will be with us to DC as well & he's extra sharp & very nice) For lunch we both had house salads & cheeseburgers with Kettle chips & pickle finished off with a strawberry topped cheesecake & a special pecan topped chocolate & caramel cake. Dinner was extra special because I had the flat iron steak with large lump crabcake while my sweetheart had the grilled salmon and we both had baked potatoes and mushroom green beans. We finished this off with strawberry cheesecake & fresh coffee. Yes this is a lot of food, especially for us since we normally only have two meals a day, but the food is very good and it's very pleasant in the dining car. After dinner we went back to our room to read and watch the night lights. Carl showed up at 9:45pm to offer to setup our beds, freshen the linens and prepare our little space for the night. We headed for the lounge which has snacks and a full bar. Yuengling for my honey & ginger ale for me. I just started this review when Carl showed up to give us the thumbs up signaling our room was ready. So it's nice & dark, the wonderful swaying of the speeding train and the low rumble of the wheels rolling along the tracks. It's otherwise very quiet and quite peaceful so I will end this review for now. I've set my alarm so I can get a shower and lots of coffee before breakfast. (there's a coffee pot with ice & bottled water just outside our door, nice!) Bottom line: Choo choo rides are awesome, whi needs the hassle, stress & strain of 20+ hours of driving? Good night peeps!!

Andrea T.

I'm almost ashamed to say I was wrong about trains. Growing up I watched movies that made me think only bad things happened on/near trains. Throw Momma from the Train. Murder on the Orient Express. Fried Green Tomatoes. While You Were Sleeping. After seeing characters lose their lives, limbs and memories I made a mental note to avoid long-distance travel by train. But recently my guy convinced me to ride Amtrak from Atlanta to New Orleans. We took the Crescent and it shocked me how much I enjoyed the experience. Here are the reasons I appreciate train travel now: ---CONVENIENCE: No need to remove my shoes and stand on linoleum tramped by thousands of strange feet. No striking superhero poses inside full body scanners. No TSA pat downs/cavity searches. No purging liquids I wanted to keep. We made it to the train station about twenty minutes before departure, presented our tickets, hopped aboard, picked out our seats and stowed our carry-on bags. ---COMFORT: The reclining seats were spacious and had adjustable leg rests. Compared to airplane seats, we had leg room for days. There were only a few other people in our car so it was quiet enough for a nap. We walked to the lounge car when we needed to stretch our legs. Walking through the train felt a bit like surfing but the ride felt smoother while we were seated. ---CONNECTIVITY: We had electrical outlets next to the window seat and the free wifi signal was strong. They restrict riders from streaming YouTube and Netflix to keep the bandwidth available for other passengers. I surfed the internet without a problem even when we got out in the boonies. ---REAL FOOD: Forget packets of peanuts and pretzels...the train had a full-blown restaurant on board. Breakfast wasn't much to write home about but lunch was surprisingly enjoyable. My guy ate a burger and I had the chef's special: sliced turkey breast with mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. We could have made dinner reservations too but instead nibbled on snacks we brought with us on the train. ---LEAF PEEPING: The panoramic windows made for great views, especially this time of year. I got to sit back and admire streaks of gold, amber and burnt orange as we sped through the landscape. I could have seen the leaves traveling by car but I would have been too focused on the road to appreciate them. Of course, there were a few aspects of train travel I didn't care for: ---RESTROOMS: They were clean to the eye but the aroma behind closed doors left much to be desired. I'll leave it at that. ---TRAVEL TIME: A flight there would have taken an hour and a half; by highway, six and a half hours. The train ride took an astounding eleven hours--really 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM due to a delay in New Orleans. We spent the entire day on the train. Still, we felt completely rested when we arrived instead of being road-weary. Our ride was so enjoyable that I can enthusiastically recommend Amtrak based on this first experience.

Gloria S.

I decided to take the train from Atlanta to Houston for the experience. The day of my departure I received a text message that the train is delayed by about 3 hours. Which I don't mind since the initial departure time was 8:30AM requiring me to get up earlier than I'd like to be up on a Sunday morning. I take the taxi from Midtown Atlanta to the Amtrack Peachtree station for about $10 (I had the taxi driver make a Starbucks stop). The Peachtree facilities had bathroom facilities, indoor and outdoor waiting areas and a vending machine. Access to the train for boarding is via elevator or a long staircase. There seemed to be only one Amtrack personnel manning this train station on a Sunday. There were a few people trying to get information but the personnel manning the booth was running around trying to get people who need help to the train platform early. I arrived at about 10:30 AM.... By 11:21 our train roles in! Boarding took about 25-35 minutes and we were on our way. If this is the first time your taking a train ride. The Crescent had LOTS OF LEG ROOM in coach! Power outlets available, leg rest and a table similar to a plane is available. The cons of riding the train is reliability. If you have time to spare you will be fine, otherwise, expect to encounter some delays.

Priscilla E.

This was my first time riding with Amtrak and I can say that I was a bit nervous I didn't know what to expect but to be honest riding with Amtrak is so much better than riding with greyhound or anything that I have ever done besides flying this is totally worth your money and I would encourage anybody to give Amtrak a try I promise you will be using them any day. I always cringe every time I have to take the greyhound so knowing that there is another option out there makes traveling even better. So I currently live in Florida but I took the Amtrak out of Atlanta all the way to DC and to Virginia and to be honest the DC Amtrak was absolutely amazing it had a mall in there restaurants and also people selling stuff but the Amtrak in Atlanta was scary only because the traffic is freaking terrible. It was raining but that still didn't stop people from speeding and going really fast but all in all I would recommend Amtrak to anybody who is just trying to travel without flying.