I went from Lancaster to Philadelphia for a conference on a Wednesday night, having to return home the same night to work a night shift. My idea was to avoid driving so as to avoid the stress and be able to sleep during the trip.
*Train was late arriving in Philadelphia because we "got stuck behind a Septa local train." If I wanted to take a Septa local train I would have done that. I paid to take a train that does not stop at every stop.
*Train was late leaving Philadelphia because of "traffic."
*The train was rescheduled to leave at 8:35pm and around 8:25 an automated announcement came over the PA system in 30th street station boarding area suddenly saying that it was the final boarding call for my train. Startled, I headed for the track where the train was supposed to board, not realizing that there was a line to board the train and that people were queuing up on the other side of the room from me. One of the Amtrak staff yelled at me from across the waiting hall, yelling "you're not boarding yet!" I was not sure she was even talking to me because she was so far away and the public address system kept saying that it was the final boarding call but I stopped briefly and looked over my shoulder. She never made eye contact with me and yelled again across the room "you're not boarding yet!" and then looked in another direction as if she was speaking to someone else. Remaining confused and not wanting to miss my train, I continued to head for the stairs. As I was going down the stairs, I heard her again, this time angrily (or that was my impression) and at the top of her lungs from across the room "Sir, there is a line and you have to get in the back!" All the while the PA system continued to announce the last call for boarding my train, but upon seeing the line on the other side of the room, I decided it was safe to join. Walking over to me and explaining to me that the PA system was incorrect would have been much more effective than yelling at the top of her lungs in my general direction from across a huge room. This was a pretty infuriating experience.
*As we left Philadelphia late, I asked the conductor what time we could be expected to arrive in Lancaster and he just said "well we left 20 minutes late." He never gave me an answer to my question. I wanted to set an alarm for myself because I planned to sleep on the return trip, but I never was able to get the information I needed - I was unable to sleep anyway (see below).
*While returning to Lancaster, I was in the quiet car and trying to sleep so that I could be awake for work that night. The intercom was ridiculously loud, waking me up each time a new stop was announced, making sleep impossible.
*My trip to Philadelphia was for a meeting from 6pm to 8pm, leaving at 3:45pm and returning at 9:45pm on the same day. I parked at Lancaster and the shortest duration of parking I could pay for was 24 hours, so I paid the 24 hour rate to park for 6 hours.
While I did manage to get where I was going and back safely, I really had a pretty terrible trip. I chose to take the train to avoid the hassle of driving, not realizing that I was trading driving for a new set of hassles. Not really the customer service people expect when traveling. read more
