I recently took Amtrak to Dallas for a long weekend. It was SXSW and Spring Break and the train was packed which did not matter much to me as I had booked a roomette for privacy and comfort. The ride up to Dallas from Austin was exceptionally smooth, never had a journey on that route so smooth.  After boarding, the first class attendant informed me that the diner was still serving breakfast so I made a mad dash to the diner car for a lite breakfast snack, Three Cheese Omelet, Swiss, Cheddar,and Pepper Jack with Peewee Potatoes and Pork Sausage, delicious and surprisingly filling.  I opted to have lunch in my roomette, Asian BBQ Glazed Salmon, roasted salmon with an Asian BBQ sauce served with broccoli, lemongrass scented rice, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, peppers, and scallions. I was a bit disappointed with the Asian BBQ sauce, it tasted more like Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. I was expecting a Teriyaki inspired sauce. All in all it was a very enjoyable and therapeutic. journey to Dallas. And if one has the time, I highly recommend booking a roomette which is less expensive than flying first class and you get two meals that one can enjoy in the diner car or the privacy of your roomette. On a flight, you'll be lucky to get a cup of water on such a short flight. read more

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It's like a train in a 3rd world country. No bathrooms or water on our sleeper car.have to go 1 or 2 cars down.been like this for at least 12 hours read more

Amtrak - Austin Downtown Station I recently dropped off a friend at the Amtrak station for their trip to Dallas and was surprised by how popular it was! Despite the Thanksgiving weekend rush, the drop-off process was easy, and the line of people waiting to board moved smoothly. The station itself is simple--just a place to get on the train--so it would be nice if there were nearby establishments for coffee or snacks. That said, the ride from Austin to Dallas was apparently smooth, and the station's accessibility makes it a convenient option. I'm now inspired to check out their trips out of Austin! read more

Amtrak - Busy pre Thanksgiving at downtown Amtrak station - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

I've taken Amtrak to and from Dallas a number of times and then one way to Chicago in a Sleeping Car and I'll tell you what, absolutely worth it! While it's not the cheapest way to travel by any means, it's certainly fun and I would do it over and over again before I take a bus. If you plan well, you'll get the trains with the sky views where you can walk up to from your seats and lounge out. Our Sleeping Car was in an older train but we didn't mind because it was a bucket list item and we were just excited to be there. You can have your meals in your room or in the dining car - we got our dinner and breakfast in the dining car for the experience and to socialize then we got our pre-departure snack in the room. Our room had a personal restroom/shower, there was a small sink inside the room itself, a sofa that could seat 3 during the day and also served as a futton that was set up by staff in the evening as one of the beds, an extra seat in the corner and a hidden bunker bed that was also set up in the evening as a second bed. At breakfast, there's a buffet of cold juices, milk, cereal and loads of snack AND you also get to order whatever you want from the menu. At lunch/dinner and snack time, you only get what you order. Now, to be honest, this is no 5 star dinning and it's all frozen meals heated up. Though they don't look the best, they tasted quite decent. I've always had a good experience with staff on the ATX-DFW route and the sleeping car experience was no different. I think everyone should try a short trip at least once, preferably in a newer train with the sky view lounge, and then a Sleeping Car overnight Amtrak ride at least once as well. read more

Amtrak - Day time view of sleeping car (there's an extra seat by the window, beside the sink, facing the pillow on the far end) - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

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The train ride was great. The only issue I had was when the credit card system went down, the older blonde lady that took over for the first woman was very rude. She got mad at the people that had placed their food order ahead of time. We asked her what did we need to do to pay or what other method of payment could we do and she got very rude and slammed shut the shutter door. Later she announced that they didn't know when they would be up and running again. The other lady had given some of us our drinks already when we placed our order ahead of time. We hadn't paid and she was mad that the other lady couldn't collect the money and so we hadn't paid. Once they announced that the machine was up and running she gave us our food and then the machine goes down again. By this time she's really mad. I ate went back to my seat. Once they announced the machine was working I went back up and told the new lady that I hadn't been charged yet for my food and drink. She looked surprised and said omg that is so awesome thank you very much for coming back to pay. Myself and a few others came back and paid for our food and drinks. Other than that the train ride was definitely easier and stress free! I'll definitely be taking more train rides for sure! read more

Got here early at 11 am. Staff friendly area quiet except for the trains. Good train watching area. With Whole Food less than a block away. Some improvements I would make are re doing the sidewalk upgrade to handicap status. Plus, put a cross gate and sidewalk so people can cross the tracks safe and don't have do a pedestrian under the bridge. read more

The last time I rode the Amtrak was in 2013. The experience was everything I remember, minus the COVID garbage. Except for the mask requirement, the trip was smooth as usual. The staff member at the food and beverage kiosk was very friendly and attentive to my needs. The only new aspect of the trip was the check-in procedure. The San Marcos station office was closed. Once the train arrived, an employee simply looked up my information via a handheld device. This wasn't an issue other than I would have preferred to check my luggage instead of bringing it on board. Having it checked in further secures my belongings from strangers pilfering through them unimpeded. Arriving in Fort Worth was smooth sailing as I quickly boarded the bus for the apartment. If traveling and not pressed to have a vehicle available, Amtrak is the way to go. read more

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Our family recently traveled on Amtrak Sleeper train on Texas Eagle route. Trains are mostly on time at boarding, however, our arrival to destination was one hour late. Seats are big enough; and no need to pass security lines and best of all, you can pack whatever you can carry. Most people stay in their own roomette which equipped with pullout bed at bottom and bunk bed on top. Internet is intermittent throughout our journey while the train does not have built-in internet unlike trains in other countries. During pandemic, the infamous steak dinner was no longer option. They offer flexible dining which are microwaveable entrees. We have option of either dining in our roomette or dine in dining room. For our trip of four people, we have tried all entrees including Vegan options. Food is tasty as good as microwave frozen food could be but the service makes better experience. I must say sleeping in moving train bunk bed is an interesting experience and suggest you should try at least once. In my opinion, traveling via sleeper train is doable for two days trip the most. read more

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Your website truly sucks major hose! Wasn't able to get any information and just got bucked back to the same flipping place!!! Really needs to be more user friendly - very disappointing and difficult as a tool for booking and giving y'all my money! For shame... read more

Room for improvement but for $499 to travel the country on the rail pass I have to say it's quite a deal

Great customer service, really appreciate the cold A/C Trains delays would be fun if maybe there was a rotating bar in the shaded part of the parking lot, just a suggestion read more

My trip from Austin to Dallas was great. Although I would advise people to be aware of those around you at the Austin station and never ever leave you belongings unattended read more

First ride on Amtrak with our destination being Fort Worth for a weekend anniversary trip. Didn't know what to expect about any aspect of the ride; but now I am a bit more versed and highlight what we could have done better. The train ride is roughly four hours. We got our tickets, checked in the luggage, and boarded the train. We take off and I think, well I'm not driving lets go the snack bar and get a beer! Domestic cans were $5; Foreign beers like the Corona I got was $6. $18 later I could have bought a case of beer the grocery store. Then I noticed a couple sitting behind us pop open a beer that wasn't in the snack bar. BYOB? GENIUS! I visited with them and found they had left San Antonio two stops before us and would be on the rail for 50+ hours heading back to Virginia. They brought a case of beer in a soft sided cooler, a gallon size bag of candy, cookies, granola bars, and sandwich stuff. Ol' Rooster will be prepared next time. The experience was cool, the train's A/C worked wonderfully to and from Fort Worth. The staff was friendly except for two female associates at the Fort Worth station on our return visit. The called boarding for our trip so the wife and I went out and boarded the train. I realized then the staffers were late and I had to dash back down and hand over our tickets. I apologized to the employees and explained we had boarded since they were absent. The two were not amused and made me wait all the way thru the line, then snarked at me "now you can get in line". Grow up woman, it wasn't my fault you weren't where you were supposed to be. A three star experience thanks to the strong black woman attitude. read more

Amtrak - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

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For my first train ride, it started better than it ended. The Austin train station staff and facilities were great overall. The wife and I decided to go to Dallas for Labor Day weekend. I had a car accident and can't drive due to a broken right tibia, talus, and ankle. We got onto the train and were able to find seating, which was comfortable, but we learned to line up earlier next time. As a newbie, I would advise asking others who have ridden Amtrak for advice on how things worked for them. It will help when you need to speak with staff or find the dining cart. The Amtrak train has limited food options, so you may want to bring food. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and ginger ale, and my wife had a hamburger and ginger ale. Luckily, we got our food about an hour before we arrived because the wife experienced some stomach issues with the burger. When we arrived in Dallas, the exiting process was easy, and the station was huge. The train station was decent but had a broken men's restroom. We ultimately had to find alternative transportation to get home. Our train departure was delayed several times, and we noticed we would not get home until 10:30 p.m. After 2 hours of delays, Amtrak provided an option to get a refund or wait for the train to leave. We found alternative transportation, which was a nightmare. I would recommend Amtrak overall and will likely try it again. read more

You'd never know this little station with few amenities serves the capital city of Texas, along with UT and SXSW. No wifi? There was no wifi on the train, either. Access to this station from 4th or 5th Street is unsafe. You can easily see the sign for the station, but no directions on how to cross the tracks to get there. Station personnel seemed to take for granted that we'd understand the train would be two hours late, I could understand if there were weather or equipment issues, but apparently there aren't enough tracks to accommodate freight trains and Amtrak trains, which we were told always let the former pass first. This results in constant accumulated delays. Austin's an energetic, fun, historical city. It's a shame this station hasn't kept pace. Very disappointed. read more

This train station gets it low rating because of the amount of homeless and lack of security in the area. The outside of the station has them camped everywhere and they even are allowed to approach the station and gather outside. While you can quickly walk out of the area I would park any vehicle here especially overnight. And I would never be around this station late at night. If the harassment from the homeless could be fixed the station wouldn't be that bad. read more

Nice little station, small but friendly. I spent about an hour here waiting for Enterprise car rental to pick me up. I was glad I brought my knitting with me since it wasn't anything else to do. It was neither too chilling up nor too warm so I was glad I was physically comfortable. Not much else to say about it except that it is conveniently located in Central Austin and has adequate parking. read more

Amtrak - Interior. - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

7 1/2 hours late to Austin. Numerous delays and stops once boarded and it was 4 hours late to start. Unreliable transportation and unfortunate that they do not have the management to run a profitable business. read more

Before you all go vote for the green deal or AOC you better go take a train. We are in no way ready to rely on our trains full time. Trains were all dirty, mold all over in the air. Always delayed. Inept staff. The three stars is because there are awesome staff and I love to save the environment... but I dream of the day they offer a real first class environment in a train. We have a long way to go! Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez... you have loads of work to do before you eliminate planes and farting cows! Get to work. read more

Amtrak - Can't remember where this was but it's pretty - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Train travelers are a dying breed in America. So go do it while you still can. I mean, say you want to go see the Marfa lights in West Texas? There is no airport within reasonable distance. You could drive your own car out there, but think of the possibility of becoming catatonic behind the wheel, or getting stranded in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. Take the Amtrak Texas Eagle to San Antonio (don't stay on it or you'll end up in Illinois), then the Sunset Limited westward to Alpine, from where you can take a special bus to several locations in West Texas. About $60 each way, but if you can finagle it, name your price as low as you desire. (Things don't seem very standardized with Amtrak.) You can sleep, walk around, and even play your guitar while on the train. You can't do that while driving. If you're the adventurous type, go Amtrak. p.s. The only pro to driving is that it's about twice as fast. And don't go walking the neighborhood around the San Antonio train station - you will likely get mugged or beaten up. read more

Amtrak - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

I didn't get off at this station, but I know it's right next to Whole foods and has a view of Town Lake. How can it not be great?! read more

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Train was not the cleanest. Bring your own disinfectant wipes. The advertisements say that the dining car and chef have been returned to Amtrak. This is not true for the Southwest Lines, Texas Eagle. They still have TV dinners. Dining car was disgusting. Every table was dirty. The attendant was just sitting down taking her break. There was not even anything that I could clean it myself. The sleeping car attendant told me that he would not bring our meal he told us to eat in the dining car. We got ours to go and used my stash of Lysol wipes to wipe down the room. Definitely has not returned to pre-Covid. Seems disgruntled employees. This was the train going south, Ft Worth to San Antonio. The trip home was better. Room was clean. Dining car still dirty and TV dinners still. If you are looking to travel without having to drive, this is still a great option. Just don't expect the amenities and great service. Bring your own Disinfectant wipes. read more

Worst travel experience ever! We booked a Roomette round trip from Austin, TX to Chicago, IL....a 29 hour trip each way. The cost was a little over $1100.00. When we boarded in Austin we were told that the bathrooms in the sleeper cars did not work. The car attendant said they "hoped" they would be fixed in Dallas (4 hours later.) They did get fixed and we thought all was well. About 9pm that night the sleeper car was getting pretty cold. By the morning, we were freezing. Turns out the heat went out and they didn't know how to fix it! When we arrived in Chicago, another Amtrak employee told the conductor how to fix the issue...for us, it was a bit late as we froze all night long! The return trip went from bad to worse. Our train was canceled due to weather. Ok...I get that! When we called to re-book, we were put in coach (for 29 hours) although we had paid for a Roomette! Amtrak was not at all concerned and basically said "Oh well...call customer service to complain." We were given a number which turned out to be Amtrak's lost and found department!! We showed up at Amtrak's station in Chicago to find the train was further delayed. Not weather this time...several things were wrong with our train. They fixed the issues 2 1/2 hours later. Again, Amtrak seemed like they couldn't be bothered with our concerns. We called customer service about a refund and they said that although we had paid $550 for the return trip in a Roomette they could only compensate us for $125.00!! Apparently that was policy! Amtrak by far was the worst travel experience I have had. DO NOT book with them unless you have no other options. We talked with a few other passengers who had similar experiences. You pay for something (Roomette) and they put you in coach and do not refund you! Amtrak scams its customers! drive if you can but do not take Amtrak! You will regret it! read more

Tough location to find. I had to get an Uber when I arrived and he couldn't figure out how to get there at first. You have to go over to the ymca and take the access road up the hill. Parking is also limited and the facility is not in great shape. Probably the worst depot I saw on my recent trip. Good news - you shouldn't be there long. Either passing through or getting on/off. A delay for boarding would suck but just follow your Amtrak app and you should be fine. read more

Not for nothing, I was looking for an affordable mode of transportation to Chicago. I found a great deal with amtrak. I've taking it before. The service was decent nothing special but nothing to complain. What frustrating is time spent. Not I had on paper a 25 hour trip that turned into a 31 hour trip. Normally I wouldn't be upset but it seem like the conductor had no sense of urgency what so ever. Going to Chicago we also had delays. But the conductor seemed to have a bit more pep in him. Reducing cigarettes breaks. And making up time when he could. Rest assure ill bite the bullet and by the plan ticket next time. read more

I would have giving Amtrak 5 stars, because I loved taken the train. I took coach to Washington DC. This was the very start of a 6 mth long business trip where I'm traveling the country spending a week or two in various cities. I was in Maryland for over a week & took the train to Austin. I did the roomette on part of the way back and I highly recommend. It was a 2 day trip and my only complaint is that it was really, really cold (bring a blanket) on the train and the bathrooms are tiny-tiny. I loved the experience & the staff on the train & was thinking I'm going to do the entire 6 mth trip on Amtrak-until they lost my suitcase. This was not my first lost luggage experience so I didn't get upset. It happens. The trip was from DC to Chicago to Austin, my suitcase made it to Chicago but the baggage handler in DC didn't do put in the paperwork to make sure my suitcase was transferred in Chicago. I get to Austin & tell the baggage handler that my suitcase is not here. He was nice. He tracked my bag down. It was in Chicago. He said Amtrak would FedEx my suitcase to me. He gave me a warning-it was late Thursday, they would send it out on Friday so I wouldn't get it until Monday. Not ideal but not the end of the world. I carried an extra outfit on me and I can shop for another business outfit to wear to work on Monday. I called the "customer service" line on Friday to make sure my suitcase was on its way & yep, they confirmed it was & I'll get it on Monday. Monday around 8pm with no delivered suitcase from FedEx, I call Amtrak again. This time I am told that Amtrak has no clue what I'm talking about. They can see I called in on Friday about my lost suitcase but that's it. At this point I'm told the Amtrak policy- customer service will open a file for the lost baggage department to call me & there wasn't a file. Customer service dropped the ball. I would have to call in on Tuesday when lost baggage opens at 8am because they're gone for the day.. At this point I'm totally confused because I was told by two separate Amtrak employees I was getting my suitcase FedEx. They didn't know anything about that. Tuesday I call into lost baggage and they were apologetic. They would hop on it and said lost & found in Chicago would be calling me to make arrangements. That was confusing. Why am I making arrangements to get my bag? What does the lost baggage department do? I would like to point out-it's now been 4 days, I'm on a business trip wearing the same outfit I wore on Monday. Classy. Lost and found Chicago calls me and they were awful. She began the conversation by asking me why didn't I call her directly on Friday. Why would I do that? The baggage handler & customer service told me it was taken care of. I just presumed if you call "customer service" & you talk to an employee of the company & both say it's taken care of, well, it's taken care of. The lost & found agent proceeds to school me on Amtrak policy. Austin & customer service did not have permission to promise me that the bag would be sent FedEx because the Fedex charges comes out of her budget. The bag will be put on the next train going to Austin and I would need to pick it up at the station. I told her that wasn't an option. I'm on a work trip, I don't have a car & it would have to take an ride share & cost me about $60 round trip & hour of my time and I'm not the one that lost the suitcase. Can't you FedEx it to me where I'm staying in Austin like I was told would happen 4 days ago? She told me she would need permission & asked- can you get that permission? She hung up on me. Great. I call lost baggage again. Again, they are apologetic & said they would call Chicago lost & found & call me back. Also I should not worry because they'll handle it. Chicago lost & found calls me back (same person that hung up on me) & asks what do I want to do about this lost suitcase. Again, I was confused. I told her I called Amtrak lost baggage & they would handle it and they didn't call you? Nope, they did not. Lost & Found says she'll put my bag on the next train & the Austin train station they'll taxi my bag to me on Wednseday. Wednesday comes & goes- no bag. I wake up early Thursday & call customer service & say it's been a week. Where is my bag? For whatever reason the Amtrak Austin station received the bag but didn't bother to taxi it to me & am I going to be around? I take the morning off (I ended up working till 9pm to make up for the time) so I can wait for the cab with my bag. I call customer service & ask to talk to a manager because yeah, I would like some kind of compensation for having to spend hours on hold (not being dramatic, each call was at least 30 minutes on hold) & buying clothes. A manager called me back & was very apologetic & would call me back to let me know how Amtrak would compensate me for all of this & she never called me back. I will never take Amtrak again because they lie. Do yourself a favor and rent a car. read more

I had a great time on the train. My wife and I wanted to try something different for our trip to San Antonio so we decided to try Amtrak. I reserved on the sleeper car a roomette. It was a nice private area with two seats and a bed. Very comfortable and comes with meals and cabin service. The train ride was picturesque and enjoyable and the relaxing "me/us time" was outstanding. I would not take the train if I wasn't able to secure a private sleeping quarter for the trip. The Austin station is a bit old and run down (disgusting in the bathrooms). It is a shame that Amtrak isn't doing better as the train is a nice way to travel. However, they need to have an expediting boarding process for first class passengers. I would do this again. Next time I think I will try leaving out or Taylor Texas instead of Downtown Austin. If the stations were nicer and boarding process was faster or just better I'd give Amtrak 5 stars. read more

This review is for the artistry of this location. Came with some local women during the early hours of a weekend to capture images. they turned out amazing and the young man was extremely helpful. Our day was made by this capture inside the station. Thanks again y'all. This was perfect. read more

Amtrak - Local org Sistas of Austin on their annual photoshoot. - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

This review is only of my experience from the San Antonio, TX station to the Austin station. We left the San Antonio station 10mins behind schedule which somehow turned into us rolling into Austin at 9:30am, 30mins after our scheduled arrival time. The train ride is supposed to be 2hrs and we left San Antonio just after 7pm. I had been on the train for almost 20hrs at this point and the last meal I had on the train was at 6pm the previous day, so needless to say I was hungry and ready for the included breakfast. So we went to go and see if the dining car was open, when we were barked at by Lucius, the "Lead Dining Car Server" that it wasn't open yet, but he didn't give us a timeframe as to when the dining car would open, just that there would be an announcement. There was an announcement that the Cafe car was open, but that is a different car and the food it serves is not part of the included meal plan. When 7:45 am rolled around and they still hadn't opened the dining car, we peeked into the dining car to see Lucius and the other waitress sitting down eating. I understand that employees have to eat, but for us with a short window to have our included breakfast (which has now dwindled down to almost an hour) before our final destination of Austin and the fact that 45mins since we LEFT the station had already passed, I was just at a loss for words that they chose that particular moment to sit down for their meals? Finally, just before 8am, Lucius, who now had a full blown crowd on his hands, opens the dining car, but when we head to a table, he's like "You don't seat yourselves!"...seriously? We were literally the first people in the car, so it honestly should not have mattered where we sat. So he barks at us which table to sit at (on the previous legs of my 23.5hr train ride from Tucson to Austin that required dining room car seating, the server allowed us to choose where to sit and then would fill the table accordingly) and starts directing some other people to sit with us, when the two lovely ladies we met in the Lounge car say they'd like to sit with us and I inform Lucius (because he made a remark "You don't sit yourself at a restaurant do you?") that he may take it upon himself to dictate where we sit to make himself feel more important, but he was not going to dictate who we sat with. We were the first table sat, but sat there for quite awhile before the waitress ever came up to us as Lucius decided he wasn't going to wait our table and proceeded to wait several other ones around us. Finally, our waitress shows up w/a look on her face and attitude like we were bothering her. I believe her name was Polly, but could not be sure as her name tag was hard to read. We fill out of meal forms for our sleeper car and sit there as she goes and passes them out to everyone else as well. Then she comes back and takes our drink and food orders. I am not joking when I say we waiting almost 10mins for our coffees and several other tables had theirs from Lucius before we did. Our waitress was literally nowhere to be seen before she finally showed up with a tray of drinks and turns to the table across from us to give them their drinks (they ordered well after us) before turning around, again with attitude, to give us our drinks. Almost 15mins later, we were still waiting for food when we see our waitress sitting down at a table at the end of the dining car...eating again!?! Our food finally comes out and we start to chow down because at this point we had just pulled into the San Marcos station and were told that there is only about 20-30mins before Austin. I could not believe the level of service (or lack thereof) by both servers and their attitudes were honestly appalling, especially Lucius. When we had told him why we were upset about having to wait almost an hr for the dining car to open, he said "I'm in the dining car, I don't go by the train's schedule"...are you kidding me?! Needless to say, I don't think I will ever be taking Amtrak from San Antonio to Austin again because if those two are staples on that route, I will save my money and avoid the arrogance and rudeness that seem to be acceptable on this route. read more

There once was a time when Amtrak was actually more expensive than the prison train, I mean Greyhound. However, that times seems to have passed as Amtrak is now considerably cheaper than Greyhound. I recently took the Amtrak from Benson, AZ out to Austin for SXSW and was very pleased with the overall trip. PROS: *You can get up and walk around *They have pretty nice restrooms (unlike Greyhound) *The food is actually pretty decent *The people are less crazy than those on Greyhound *Much less likely to be stabbed, decapitated and eaten (like on Greyhound) CONS: *Food is damn expensive *Nobody told me we had a NINE hour layover in San Antonio, only 70 miles from my destination! *Smokers might hate life, not as many stops as Greyhound and the ones they have are pretty short Overall, it was a good trip, pretty long, 30 hours, but much better than Greyhound and cheaper than flying. Amtrak is a solid choice for the budget conscious traveller and for those with extra time who are really looking to see more of America. Also a great choice for families and the handicapped as the trains and facilities are much easier to use than Greyhound, and much safer. read more

One word: there is only one train system from San Antonio to Austin where I frequently go. Therefore it is likely that I can't compare it to others. I love riding the train for it's comfort, security, and my ears don't pop from cabin pressure riding airplanes or diving in a submarine. read more

Amtrak - What!? What the heck is this? - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

i took the Amtrak 2.5 days in a regular car to New York City. Yes, I did. Ask me anything you want to know. While I expected some random mid train lover boy or something exciting to happen, it was really an exercise in extreme patience. I read alot, ate alot of crappy food, watched a lot of windows. When I got off the train I felt like I was still moving for days. If you are good on long car trips and not a plane flyer like me-- I highly recommend Amtrak. One problem, delays will always get you. Some of the stations are nasty ( but some are lovely.) Layovers, layovers. Yes, I am the Amtrak expert, feel free to ask away... read more

My daughter and I take the train to see family in Ft. Worth. It takes about an hour longer than driving, but it is sooo worth it. To my daughter it is a big adventure, to me it means I can read a book, take a nap, watch a movie, and even have lunch and/or drink a beer instead of driving! If you are not on a strict time table, this is a great way to travel. Also, it is cheaper than what you would spend on gas. read more

I like this Amtrak station. There's one station agent who is super nice. The bathroom is clean. There's a TV, which is a lifesaver because delays are not uncommon and this TV will be your last connection to the fast-paced 21st Century world until your train arrives at your destination. Also, it's walking distance to Whole Foods, which means you can stock up on healthy food for the train ride. Unless, that is, you're into the culinary sweatlodge experience of eating frozen pizza or cup o noodles from the snack car for two days because you're not spendy enough to eat a real meal on the dining car. If you have your train ticket already, you can show that and an ID and they will hold your luggage in the office so you can poke around until just before the train's scheduled arrival time. If you're traveling on the Texas Eagle, beware that there is an all-night layover in San Antonio, two stops after (or before if traveling eastward) Austin. If you don't want to sleep on a train that's just sitting around, then find another way to San Antonio and board the train in the morning. These layovers are annoying, but they're supposed to absorb any delays so the train can start on time the next day. read more

I took Amtrak from Austin, TX to Marshall, Tx this week. It was $42.00 each way and took about ten hours going and longer back. I am not an Amtrak neophyte. In California, I used to make the roughly 2 hour Amtrak trip from the Bay area to Sacramento back and forth about 3 times a week. Those trains are fully equipped with tables, electrical receptacles and even wi-fi. These trains aren't like that. These are considerably older and dirtier. Although some cars had electrical receptacles, they herded anyone from or to Austin into the nastiest oldest cars in the train - and you can't move seats. How maddening is it that they stick you in a shitty dirty car and then you go up one and there is a nice shiny car half empty with electrical receptacles at each seat and they won't let you move? So much for bringing my pda, cellphone and laptop ready for a day of work. I didn't even bother charging anything up before I left, thinking that all Amtraks let you plug in. Relaxing? Well, sort of. The seats are pretty comfortable, they recline, and there is a lot of legroom. I think it's pretty typical to get both seats to yourself. The view is pretty interesting. You go through a lot of little towns that look identically mired in 1943 and through neighborhoods whose poor is uniformly relegated to the blocks bordering the train tracks. Barred windows, postage stamp sized yards, garbage and the occasional aged above-ground pool tells you when you go through a community. Other than that, you see trees and slowly rolling landscape. This was a little forced relaxation for me. Read. Look out the window. Sleep. Eat junk food. (Repeat). There is a dining car that takes reservations for lunch and dinner. There is also a lounge car where you can buy wine and beer and microwaveable snacks and sandwiches. You should probably skip the dining car, unless you crave some company. You see humanity on a cross-country Amtrak. There are 1000 stories in the heart of the Texas and you get to overhear more than a few. Lots of talk about looking for work at the end of the line; the kind of work where people dig holes, move heavy things and operate machinery. Not much carefree traveling on my train. You could probably write a pretty good book from the stories heard on an Amtrak train. It sure beat driving, too. read more

Pros: Most comfortable ride I've had in the 21st century. First (memorable) Amtrak ride, and wow damn it felt like being lulled to sleep like a baby panda. Cons: Extremely inefficient passenger train schedule. I think Amtrak & UP (Union Pacific) share the rail line so the listed times are more like guidelines than realistic schedules. At first it wasn't too bad (+1-2hr wait) but the lack of good times kept rolling well into the evening (+2-3hr) and then some. The capstone of disappointment was that it took longer to travel from Austin to San Antonio by train than it does driving (SanAnt.-Austin traffic is infamously bad during rush hr.) Nitty-Gritty: If you're not in a rush and looking for a comfortable way to travel it may be worth a trip (heard longer trips are better). The staff was informative, helpful, and likely had nothing to do with the late arrival, but overall it was 2.5 star experience as I didn't get to SA until 12-1am (originally scheduled for ~8pm arrival). read more

Short version: no assigned seats in coach, i. e. you might be sitting apart or not sitting in coach at all. Diner staff is rude. This was my first time on a train in the US. We went from Austin, TX to Dallas just to get out of town and also check out the train to see if we would want to take a longer train ride across the country later. Unfortunately my vote would be against it after taking this pilot trip. We bright coach seats and when we boarded the train, there were no seats available in the coach car that were together and a lot of people were taking up two seats and looked down when we were walking by, so we ended up sitting in the observation lounge for the duration of the ride (about 6 hours). The good thing about that was that the observation lounge is actually pretty nice. Lots of windows and light and you can perch your feet on the railing for more comfort. The observation lounge is the reason this trip got 2 stars and not one. The one star goes to the diner. When we entered it, i felt like to was transported into a different country. We were immediately informed that there were NO SEATING in the dining room and we told them that we wanted to eat, they said that they are closed (yet there was not sign or announcement about that). Anyway, we waited until noon when the diner reopened and went to eat. Now there they tried to assign us some seats! We told them that we wanted to sit at a table where we would face forward (I get motion sickness when I sit backwards) and they insisted on sitting us with another couple facing backwards while the whole diner was empty! When I asked them why they were doing that and why can't we sit by ourselves they said that they ANTICIPATE the diner being full, so they are jamming people up in anticipation of it being full. We just left and got a snack at the cafe downstairs. Wish we brought our own food! Anyway, all in all, I wish the service was better. The ride itself was nice. read more

Amtrak - Train Stations Near Me - Austin, Texas

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This is a review of the Austin Amtrak Station (AUS), not Amtrak itself. I love trains, and my first trip was very pleasant. But the Austin station is nothing to write home about. The staff were all helpful, but it's a tiny little place with one track going by it. Not even much room to sit. The good news is that, as my home station, it's incredibly quick to get in and out of. read more

If you see the YMCA you are in the right place. The Amtrak station is behind the YMCA so keep going straight. At night you can't see the sign. I hope that Amtrak's facilities personnel would find some time to add some lighting to the signage so that people don't think they are lost. read more

Terrible experience riding from Austin Texas to Seattle Washington. Master required to the point they harass you in your sleep if it falls off every 5 minutes or so and that's a given if you can even get any kind of rest on their train because half the times they don't even dim the lights to the blue. Customer service on the train is quite ridiculous we only had one friendly attendant the whole rise her name is Ginji. Dining car was never cleaned by staff it seemed that they were understaffed you would think they would have people to just clean given the corona outbreak. Bathrooms about 80% of the time war is fabulous as a porta potty on a construction site. No decent food is offered for the quote unquote peasant class just a bunch of overpriced junk food. If you try to make a schedule don't rely on the train because you will be late. We were so behind schedule me and my girlfriend could not enjoy our anniversary trip to Washington because they would not let us off the train long enough to see anything. The staff gets so tired of you bitching they start ignoring you instead of solving the problem. When corporate was contacted we were told that a case was started and to call back when the ride was over only to find out nothing was documented. I paid well over $700 for this trip and all they could do was credit me a measly $100 credit to only ride their trains which I couldn't fathom riding along distance again. Also half the time staff didn't know what was going on and contradicted each other on what we could and could not do at each stop. I feel the social experiment was a high-dollar voluntary imprisonment. And I'm not riding this review to try to get any kind of credit at this point or money back I just want to see a change and that this be recognized that such a big company treats its customers like they are nothing even though they are the ones that actually make sure they have a paycheck at the end of the day. So they need to think about that before they take it out on there passengers/customers. read more

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