Lake Shore Limited - Chicago to Boston. With a roomette and a tremendous sleeping car attendant named Starr, we had a wonderful experience. I wouldn't reserve the Roomette again and would go for the Bedroom for the room because of the distance. read more

Smooth and comfortable ride to St. Louis. Hands down superior to driving. Much better coffee than expected in the cafe. Conductor who's got jokes for everyone, anytime. Wifi is out, though and they only have the resources to get their electrical contractors out "some time this week" to fix it. Yikes! read more

Not the friendliest customer service. Prices okay. Look for deals on their website.

I will never again ride Amtrak. My trip two and from NYC to Chicago have been delayed. NYC-Chicago by 6 hours, and Chicago-NYC by 2 (still going though) If your going further than 7 hours, take the slight splurge on the flight tickets. The time saved will surely be worth it. read more

Oh so many mixed feelings! I have taken amtrak and it was awesome and I have taken amtrak and had high blood pressure. Its a hit or miss. Pros: definetly the green way to go, boarding is super easy, and the tickets are cheap. Cons: Its always super cold (bring a jacket) and sometimes the employees are nuts. read more

They have come a long way in the last few years, let's hope they start some high speed services in the Midwest.

Amtrak is a total joke. First & last time ever taking this train anywhere. We were 3 hours late getting into New York City on the Lakeshore Limited then over 3 hours late coming back home. If you'll notice, they give passengers many many excuses for their poor service but it is just a cover up for their poor service. The excuse we got on the way home was that there was a broken down sister train that we had to spend 30 minutes backing up to pick up & tow to Chicago. In addition, I am totally scarred from the disgusting bathrooms! I'd rather go outdoors then walk through puddles of pee & smelling urine for 10 hours. If you're considering Amtrak, seriously think again. Don't make the same mistake I did after reading reviews and tell yourself "oh it's just one persons bad experience. It's probably not the norm." It is the norm. You will regret taking an Amtrak anywhere!!!!! read more

Some people don't have the patience to drive long periods of time. I am one of those people. My hometown is about 5 and a half hours away in Michigan, and Amtrak is ideal for those last minute trips. I just grab my seat, get something from their snack car, plug in my laptop, and I am good to go. read more

Why get to Milwaukee any other way...from Chicago....90 minutes or a little less...$18 (with my Senior discount!!)....cheaper than the gas not to mention wear / tear / parking etc.....clean train, smooth ride, on time departure and arrival....no snacks on the weekend, but I figure I can make it 90 minutes with a hot dog!! Best way to get there from downtown Chicago AND it goes 7 or so times a day....very impressed. read more

Never again. NEVER. AGAIN. Bad enough that the Texas Eagle from St. Louis to Chicago takes 6 hours (vs 4 hours driving) - and that's when it's on time. This train typically has 10 stops between but we were re-routed so it would be a non-stop. Sure! This train stopped no fewer than 20 times and just sat there. Motionless for 10-15 minutes each time. Subsequently we were 3 hours late, forcing passengers to miss connecting trains, appointments, Cubs playoff opener and concerts for which they paid big $$ for tickets. Worst transportation "service" I've experienced in my life. Oh, and the onboard cafe was closed during lunch. Do yourself a favor and never step foot on an Amtrak train - unless you want to spend endless hours sitting in a rail car going nowhere. read more

This is my first Amtrak ride, but I used public transportation and trains in Atlanta for many years. I rode Milwaukee to Chicago on 9/5 at 1 PM, and 9/7 from on the return trip, at 10:20 AM. The train was on time, quiet, and smooth. The seats are spacious. At the times I went, there were many open seats. There are about 4 stops. They are all very quick. The train seems to cruise pretty fast but still is smooth, something I wouldn't expect on those tracks (which share with freight trains). There are some nice sections of scenery on the way through some wetlands with nice flowers and vegetation. I am very happy I did not have to contend with the construction down south near Illinois. I'm glad I didn't have to pay for parking in Chicago, too. As far as cost, it was $44 total, and when compared to mileage at 50c per mile (180 miles round trip) plus parking ($40 for 3 days) for a total of $130 for the car, it saved a lot of money. read more

Finally I found the business to post my amazing photos of the California Zephyr train travel from San Francisco to Chicago, lasting for 53h40m, cross through California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois. My favorite part is Colorado because it passed through a couple of national parks, especially a certain part only train can pass through, no roads for cars. As for each state, California has the unique bay scenery. Nevada impressed me by its dessert and sunset at dessert. Utah passed almost at night but the green river is beautiful under sunshine. In Colorado, the train went alway along with the Colorado river and there are red canyon with green trees on it at both sides of the train. Nebraska, slept through. Iowa, vast plain planting crops reminded me of my hometown. Illinois, getting closer and closer to city. This is my crazy train travel, tiered but totally worth it! Besides, I met with many interesting persons on the train, and we had nice talks. A retired man loving old fashioned cars, a new married couple who gave their pillow to me when they got off, an engineer whose hobby is driving his private plane, my adjacent seat grandma who is very nice and patient and taught me my English words and slangs. I would like to say I learned more during this two-week trip than I stayed at my routine life during the last four months. read more

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If you live on the west coast, it seems that the ride on Amtrak itself is the point of the adventure. It takes longer to get anywhere and it costs more than flying. My 14 y/o son and I rode one-way from Reno, NV to Chicago in a sleeper car with bathroom over Thanksgiving. What did we get: 46 hours of time alone together, no Wi-Fi and spotty cell service at best, a new appreciation for what the terrain of America really looks like, over 300 pics of America and us riding what was the first way to get out west in less than a months-long trip, great service from caring and professional cabin attendants, dining car attendants, and conductors. It was a great geography lesson and focused family time of the sort nearly impossible today. He beat me 3-0 in our games of cribbage. If you're just trying to get somewhere: fly. If you're looking for an adventure and you have the time, money, and inclination to slow it down, take the train. We'll always remember our train trip across America. read more

k, it was better than driving but did i really want to sit with a bunch of raging teenagers that annoyed the crap out of me? not really. i was really naive when i thought that riding the train out of state meant that i would get my little private room thing. think harry potter and that darjeeling limited movie. forgive me if i've never traveled out of state via train but that was what i pictured in my mind. but since it did take the stress out of driving and dealing with memorial day traffic i would take amtrak again if the price is right. just don't crash on me, okay? read more

Amtrak combines the worst of all travel options: You get the 'never-on-time' trait of the CTA busses, you get the 'loud-cell-phone-talker' of the Metra, the disgusting dirty and grimy rail cars of the El, the expense of an airfare, and the 'un-helpfullness' of the staff that is only their own. Of my two trips by Amtrak this week, both were ~40 minutes late without explanation, both offered unorganized board procedures, and both featured absolutely no information while en-route to give passengers a clue as to what stop was approaching. We were left to guess exactly how far behind-schedule the train was running and make our best estimate as to what stop we were actually at. I'm only giving two whole stars because I did eventually reach my destination in one piece. Never again. read more

5 stars to Amtrak. We love traveling by train. Food is included when u go 1st class, only ate 1 out of 3 meals since the dining staff on the cardinal were very bad. Our car Stewart Derek was efficient, pleasant and just fun to have. Big tip for him, he will definitely advance in the company. read more

Amtrak is the worst. Their customer service could use a cleaning. Not to mention the Amtrak buses from Milwaukee, WI to Marquette, MI, where there was a man smoking on the bus, and the man who decided to sit next to me was chugging cans of beer. I am very disappointed in the way Debra in Refunds (I think in Philadelphia) treated me today. I wish the phone conversation was been recorded. She was rude to me by dismissing all of my concerns as "not my problem" and said that I was stupid!!! Considering my last few interactions with Amtrak, I will front the extra $300 for a plane ticket. read more

My mom, sisters and I are taking a trip from Chicago to Pittsburgh on the Capitol Limited Train #30 and everything has been fantastic so far, great customer service, food and accommodations in the rooms.... EXCEPT that they don't have wifi! We will be on this train for 12 hours and it's very frustrating to not have access to wifi and not enough outlets. So I'm saying this as a good comment that this train definitely needs to consider putting wifi on it to make everyone happy! Otherwise everything is wonderful and it's been a great experience! read more

This was the first time traveling cross-country by train, and I knew going into it that it'd be a 43hr journey so it wouldn't be perfect. But it could've gone better. We boarded Saturday afternoon in Chicago, going to LA. By Saturday night there was no hand soap left in any bathroom. Once we saw our attendant an hour later he replaced it, but it would've been nice if they checked in on us. There was someone that stopped in every few hours, I'm not sure if that's normal, since I think I was accidentally seated in the disabled persons train. I was the youngest and healthiest person in my car by several decades. Odd. By Sunday morning the attendant at the cafe/snack car had run out of most of the food and was announcing over the PA there wasn't much of anything left. The dining car was so backed up even our waiter was complaining it was too busy. Apparently it was so slammed they offered to serve coach passengers a special dinner in their seats just to prevent them from getting up and attending the dining car. Several times they said over the PA to talk to your car attendant about questions, making dinner reservations, etc. but we weren't told how to contact them. There were some buttons above our seats but they were not labeled, not sure if that was a "call" button. We didn't even realize until Sunday morning our seats in couch had foot rests that reclined out. It would've been nice if the attendants told us that before the first night. We had a whole carload of uncomfortable passengers. After about 12 hours we slowly got further behind schedule. We ended up sitting at the in Albuquerque stop for 1.5 hours for an electrical problem. We were supposed to arrive in LA by 8:10AM Monday, but by 8 we were still in Barstow. We had a "fatal engine flaw" and sat in between the Barstow and Victorville stations for another 1.5 hours. Apparently we lost our primarily locomotive engine so we had to limp into Victorville, where we left that car behind. Then it was disconcerting that they announced they were cutting off all electrician power just to muster enough strength to go up a mountain with only one engine. It ended up being a 49.5 hour train ride. Also, there was a woman in our car with what she claimed was a service animal. But the dog barked every time the door opened and roamed free at night. Several people went to the conductor to complain. He did come back to our apartment, looked at the dog (it barked at him) and just left. We even heard the woman on the phone at point saying she was staying at a homeless shelter. Not sure how she even got on the train. She kept asking passengers and crew-members where she could smoke on the train. And once she got up to use the bathroom and came back smelling like smoke. read more

I use Amtrak quite a bit. It's okay for the most part. They are not as punctual as they need to be. It's super cold on the trains and the food that they sell on the train is very expensive(I always pack my own). Whenever I have had to talk to the representatives, they have been helpful and pleasant. I guess they aiiight though(in my Randy Jackson voice). read more

My son loves it and so do I. Every now and again we forgo driving and take the train to see some of our fam downstate. It"s always on time, it's relatively cheap and it's a very smooth ride. We can just chill in our seats, move about at will and/or go back to the dining car to play some cards or other games. A-Ok. read more

I want so badly to love taking the train. In theory it should be a quick and relaxing way to get from A to B. 3 out of the 5 times i have taken it there has been a 3+ hour delay. Most recently it took what should be a 4.5 hour trip to Detroit and turned it into a 9 hour debacle. First we got stuck in the middle of nowhere with no power for about 2 hours. Its the middle of July so the car was getting unbearably hot. Then during all of this, they have the audacity to still charge you for a bottle of water. Your making us sit in an 85 degree car for 2 hours and your going to keep charging for water? Shame. Then we learn the food cart had to be detached because it was the cause of the issue. So our food options at that point were chips and really warm drinks Then we stop for about another hour in Ann Arbor for what seemed to be no reason at all. Finally we start moving again but because of some signal malfunction we could only go about 25 mph. THEN because they were running so late they had to cancel 2 of the scheduled stops they had. Those poor people had to get off at Detroit, get on a shuttle, and be driven to their actual destination. One person said they had asked if there would be any kind of refund and the answer was no. Get it together Amtrak. read more

This place is confusing and the staff is so rude. I have never spoken to one kind or helpful employee here. They all have attitudes and talk to people like they are idiots. If I could avoid this station, I would. read more

Every single time I have taken Amtrak it has been delayed at least an hour. It would be a nice ride if they were ever on time. Too unpredictable for the money you pay. read more

I've been riding amtrak monthly for the last two years between chicago and michigan and it's safe to say i'm just about over it. There hasn't been a single trip in my 20+ rides that hasn't been delayed. My delays have ranged from 30 mins all the way up to 3 hours (the ride is only 5 hours between destinations). My tip: only ride if you've got an entire day to waste on travel and don't schedule anything within 2 hours of estimated arrival because this company cannot figure it out. Currently sitting on a train and am going to be an hour and a half delayed getting in, had to cancel dinner reservations because of it. Every time I board this train the outrageous prices of air fare become more and more appealing read more

Took the Lake Shore Limited from Chicago IL to Worcester Mass and from Worcester Mass to Chicago IL in a 2 day period. Although the ride was nice, the seats were not as comfortable as posted plus not having WiFi available wasn't a good thing especially for a 21 hour ride or at least have it available at the stop locations when changing out cars or engines, for the price I paid I think extra amenities should be available read more

I will just post the letter I wrote to Amtrak on their website, they said they would respond within 24 hours and its been about 3 weeks now and i've gotten nothing but evasive e-mails not even acknowledging my e-mail. This is pretty much in a nutshell how HORRIBLE the Amtrak is. To Whom It May Concern: I traveled from Grand Rapids MI to McCook NE on the 3rd to the 4th of February. It was the WORST travel experience I have EVER had. The employees were rude, not helpful at all. I was traveling with my mother who suffers from brain aneurysms, I had about 6 bags of luggage, and when we transferred in Chicago, your employees 1) were rude to my mother, acting as if she was taking too long to get off the train (she can barely walk by herself),2) were NO help whatsoever with my luggage, there was an employee standing at the train door not doing anything, but watching me struggle to get my mom off the train and get my luggage off. Then I put one suitcase on the luggage carrier, and the guy just took off. So I had to load my luggage on to another one, and I was going to get my mother on it, and the driver just tried to take off again!!! Before I had even gotten my mother on. So I finally got my luggage in order, with the help of the customer service desk, the only helpful person my entire trip. Then when we're getting onto the train in Chicago (California zephyr) I had to get my mom on one of the luggage carriers for a ride to the train, and one of your employees didn't want me to ride with her! He said I could walk to the train with my luggage cart, and kept insisting I do so, I tried to tell him, She gets confused and I may need to hold her arm so she doesn't get dizzy and fall off. Finally I convince him I do need to be on it with her, and when he takes off very rude and condescending he says "aren't you going to hold on to her". As if I was lying about her head injury. Also TWO times I pushed the call for help button and the first train no one at all responded, I had to go find someone (which was no easy task), and the second time about 6 hours later someone came and asked if I had hit the button, by then I had already figured out on my own what I needed. Finally, while we were getting off in McCook the employee was literally tapping his foot, and gesturing in a "hurry up" motion for my mom to get off the train, she was clearly not all with us at this point, and NO way could she step down without help and he was too busy rushing her to help her. So I had to ask him if he could be anymore rude, she is head injured, and needs help down, at which he instantly changed his attitude to 'try' and be helpful. We got her off the train, then I got back on to grab the last of my luggage to find one of the bags were missing, and the employee was rushing me so I couldn't even look for the bag without feeling like I was holding everyone up. I ride Greyhound a lot, and have NEVER had anything bad to say about them. I chose to ride the train because my mom wanted to and she hasn't rode in years and thought it would be fun. This was not the case at all, your employees should be ashamed of how they treat their customers and I will NEVER ride Amtrak again. It was easily the worst travel experience I have ever had. Thank You, Mary T----- It disgusted me that this how they treat their customers, especially disabled customers. I recommend that NO ONE ride Amtrak unless you like to feel like less than trash for long periods of time. read more

I rode the train from Chicago to Oklahoma City and am amazed that people aren't aware of how terrible it is compared to flying from Oklahoma to Chicago. By the time you figure out the delays in finding your platform associated with riding the train, the super cramped spaces on the train and then the fact that overall it's a lot slower to travel by train as opposed to flying and on such a long trip it only makes sense to me to fly every time. The trains have seats that are much smaller and more uncomfortable than normal airline seats. Then you throw in very little leg room and it's a no brainer for me and lots of others. Another huge minus is the fact that even though the ratio of restrooms to customers on a train is more than on a plane that should translate into cleaner restrooms. Definitely not the case here, the restrooms are hardly ever cleaned, while on the plane, they clean the restrooms every time the plane lands. But with less clean restrooms it certainly is much worse than airlines toilets. When traveling by Amtrak forget about taking along your favorite electronic device and it's charging cord since every row of 5 seats has 1 electrical socket to run your devices so you can't save your batteries for in the stations where electrical sockets are harder to come by. Like all businesses they will gouge you when possible so remember to bring your own food on the train which is allowable. Number one you'll save a lot compared to their outrageous prices and number 2 it sure beats the terrible selection of terrible items in their snack car. On longer train trips they still have filthy dining cars with terrible meals, but you will still pay a price for that inconvenience. Overall Amtrak is a terrible way to travel at a much more expensive rate than flying and if you can't spare the extra travel time, it makes going on train even worse. They have a tendency to be late all the time, but even figuring in the positives of train travel, flying beats the heck out of it! read more

The reason why (ONE STAR) is that I faced many problems in their trip. First, they made me change my seat to business then they had to make me go back to the couch class again. Second, I bought two different type of food ( THEY WERE OUT OF DATE ) I came back again to return it and get my money. ( After many SORRIES from the employees I came back to buy something else ( IT WAS EXPIRED AGAIN ). They were really bad A MEAN the captain was RUDE VERY RUDE... I will not travel again with them. They made my trip the worst after I paid a lot of money visiting NYC and Niagara Falls. Please pay for something better ( FOOD as bad as 1 star hotel & timing wasn't on time & Ruddiness from the captain .... ) read more

I am all for the Hiawatha service, with a seat in the quiet car. With service like this, why do people still own cars?

The waiting to be called in Grand Hall thing is pretty dumb, but the staffers were knowledgeable and the space is beautiful.

I took amtrak to springfield and back twice the service is excellent and everyone is so nice. Incredible!!!!!!!

The train...a majestic machine bringing nostalgia and romance to travel. Sometimes an Amtrak trip can go really right, but more often than not...it goes really wrong. The challenge w/train vs. other modes of transportation is Amtrak does not seem to care about customer service...AT ALL. 1) Union Station - A major travel hub feels like armpit of America. Restrooms are not the best ( who sold them the hand dryer that leaves PUDDLE OF WATER ON THE FLOOR), eating area is disgusting and full of undesirables. It's complete chaos. AND WHERE IS THE ORGANIZATION AND SECURITY...it's not 1982 anymore 2) Amtrak Train - I love the airplane. No cell phones. No tom-foolery and I dare you to try. I wish Amtrak would TRY to be a little more professional. It's free, just takes effort. a) RESTROOMS - DIS. GUS. TING. Plan for dehydration. There's all this "staff" on the train and everyone is too good to make sure this happens. Also better design of the restroom would help. b) STAFF/CONDUCTORS - They take your ticket...that's about it. PLEASE enforce some rules. PLEASE make announcements car by car. PLEASE go car by car and make sure passengers understand what the rules of the train ARE...then actually ENFORCE THEM. It's sometimes like a bunch of ill behaved cattle wandering around w/no direction. I've yet to see them limit alcohol consumption on the train and this leads to trouble. c) FELLOW PASSENGERS - Sad to say but many adults nowadays have no home training. They will talk on their cell phone for 5 hours at the top of their lungs, they will watch youtube or netflix with no headphones...one guy was working on his music career from his cell phone w/ZERO headphones in play. Want a quiet car? Tough...Amtrak does not offer on most of its popular routes on the weekend. When do most working Americans travel??? The weekend. d) "FIRST (BUSINESS) CLASS - SAVE your money! I had a guy on there who was on his cell phone nice and loud talking to his no job having girlfriend for 4.5 hours. Amtrak? Can't do anything about it. I dropped some nice money to get AWAY from that and suffered worse than I would have in coach. Get it together Amtrak... Potential Passengers with any class or dignity...fly or take the bus. read more

Union station/ Amtrak in Chicago is the worst train station ever. First off, the signage makes no sense. The south concourse is pointed south but all south concourse trains line up in the south concourse lounge which is pointed East. Why are they separate from one other? The south concourse is just an empty place. Once you finally realize you need to be in the south lounge, there no signage there either. Everyone is asking everyone where they are going to make sure they are in the right line. A woman, that works for Amtrak, finally says the train is going to the Lincoln center. So I assume this is not my train because I am going to St.louis and the prompter says that is track 12 and Lincoln center is lining up for track 24. So I ask the woman working where to lineup for Stl because there are no other lines and She tells me to line up for the train going to Lincoln center and she then walks away. I follow after her saying I'm going to St.louis and the prompter says screen 12. She rudely, tells me it stops there too. First off St. Louis is the last stop the train makes so this is what she should of been telling people. There should been some sort of message stating exactly what stops the train makes along the way to It's last stop, st.louis. I luckily made it on the train being one of the last people to board with 5 minutes to spare. This story stresses the importance of signage and how it effects the overall experience. read more

Amtrak is amazing PERIOD. I took a two week vacation riding the California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, and Empire Builder. The service was consistent on all lines. Every employee was helpful, fun, and easy to talk to. I was excited to see the news that renovations are starting on the trains this Fall. They can only get better! I'm telling everyone I know that Amtrak is the way to see the country. It exceeded my expectations. read more

Pathetic...do not get excited about the "wifi". Yes there is wifi and its also fast but you can't do a single damn thing on it...no youtube no netflix nothing. I mean come on people are traveling for hours and watching movies is their best option to kill time and who watches dvd anymore? Bad experience....even with the train stopped for 45 mins. Bad bad bad. read more

Born and raised an NYC girl, I never thought I'd experience a worse transit system than the MTA. Boy was I wrong thanks to the Amtrak experience. My train ride from Chicago to East Lansing was expected to last 5 hours, but with the hour and a half holdup...it took 6.5 hours. We were in a standstill for that hour and a half while the power was going on and off supposedly because of "bad weather conditions"...seriously?! I'm not exaggerating when I say there were 3 tiny rain droplets in my window. After the whole ordeal, I'd pick MTA over this mess any day! read more

Amtrak - "Bad weather conditions." -Amtrak. Am I missing something here? - Trains Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

TERRIBLE SERVICE. RUDE and UNCARING to passengers with medical/disabilities. I travelled on Amtrak from Cincinnati, Oh. to California. This is the WORST station. I was traveling with my young daughter with disabilities/wheelchair. We were told we would have help on and off trains. We were left in the cold at this station to completely fend for ourselves with all our baggage (which was never checked even though they advertised it could be). On the way back from Cali, the Southwest Chief blew it's engine. Delayed us several hours (no electric). Not to mention trapped in railcar w drug addict and senile man.. and we missed connection... We couldn't ride bus like everyone else who was headed to Ohio, due to my daughter's medical pump. The conductor told me they would help in Chicago. In Chicago I was treated very rudely by a woman named "Shaqay" at the service desk (spelling of name?) . She made myself and one other woman cry and I've never cried from rude strangers. She simply did not care and NO customer service skills. I watched her rudely treat every person. The manager was more compassionate, though, gave no options. Finally, found a different train to Ohio that would work for us. But if had not found that, basically would have been stranded if couldn't ride bus. Bottom line: if you aren't ok with switching to bus, don't ride Amtrak. If you are disabled, don't expect compassion, assistance, or help. They don't care! read more

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Wish I could give Amtrak no stars. Just the worst most unreliable mode of transportation you could take. No respect for scheduled. Delays are poorly managed and communicated. Terrible customer service. No humans to talk to, just automated systems that can't help. Never again! Never again will I rely on Amtrak. What an awful disappointment. read more

I taken the Amtrak to Southern Illinois on the Saluki and Illini routes many times in the last three years. The Southbound trips are usually better as they are less crowded and typically only about an hour late, but I want to warn anyone who wants to take the Northbound trains 390 and 392 back up to Chicago. The train is ALWAYS late, and typically overcrowded with exactly the type of crowd that you would feel uncomfortable sharing an elevator with, let alone a train for over four hours plus whatever ridiculous delay time you end up with. As a bonus, they conveniently "disclaim and liability for inconvenience" so if your train is late, you are SOL for any kind of refund or credit. If you can avoid taking the Amtrak, I STRONGLY advise any other mode of transportation. read more