I arrived at Dallas Union Station to find it locked with a note posted on the window that the powers that be in DART Transit and Amtrak decided to lock the station and only permit ticketed Amtrak passengers in (completely stupid and C’mon this is Texas not Chicago). Pounded on the door and a security guard let me in. Everyone was wearing masks inside. Only 6-7 passengers boarding out of a normal 15-20.
The mask policy as clarified on the train is this. Wear of a mask when traveling on the train in cars. Wear of mask optional while seated in Coach, while in an enclosed sleeping car compartment. No need to wear mask while eating in Dining Car or other designated eating area. Wear of mask in the stations and platforms while boarding train.
The sleeping car was about 40% full. Only one sleeping car that was also used by crew so hard to tell with the 40% figure as it was overall compartments occupied. Dining Car is down to a staff of one. He runs downstairs and microwaves whatever meal you request and brings them to your table OR you can have the sleeping car attendent bring it to your compartment. The food was questionably edible. Red Wine braised beef was fair but not good. The Chicken Fetticini was terrible. The breakfest egg and sausage muffin was OK. Rolls were ok but in some circumstances looked like someone sat on them in two cases. Don’t expect good food in the Dining Car anymore while they have this microwave crap. I complained to the sleeping car attendent and amazingly she said the microwave food was only temporary until the pandemic was behind us. Not sure if that was true or not.
All Amtrak crew members were wearing masks onboard but I saw some take them off at rest breaks while on the platform. The dining car att
Interesting and informative report on your Texas Eagle trip.
To what extent did the crew emphasize and/or enforce social distancing in the coaches, lounge car, passing between cars, or along the passage way in the sleeper?
Here is another question. Did you see any enhanced cleaning of the train while enroute, i.e. wipping down your room, lounge car, dinning car, etc.?
My responses are kind of slow as there is still something wrong with my account and ability to respond immediately but here are the answers:
I never have seen the restrooms so clean and tidy, they were spotless. Obviously with not a lot of passengers on board it was easy to keep them that way.
Dining car wipe downs of tables was spotty. Not sure what the issue was here but just one dining car attendent with an apprentice and basically he was just sitting at a table reading most of the time. Noticed though he did not wipe down the tables immediately after every use with sanitizer which is what the restaurants do now for dine in. However as far as service and customer service he was excellent, repeatedly asking if he could get me anything else.
Not enough people on the train to see how they enforced social distancing but they repeatedly went over the rules on the intercom (at least three times during the trip). Sleeping car attendent wore her mask all the time except at rest breaks on platform when nobody was around she took it off (saw from my window). Conductor wore mask and gloves at all times. Lead Service attendent never wore a mask but then I only saw her twice and again train was mostly empty, however she was in violation of Amtraks own rules…in my opinion it was OK and a judgement call on her part.
As far as enhanced cleaning, outside of train after it arrived in Dallas was freshly washed…no dirt I could see which…not
BTW, follow up on transit overall. Gaps everywhere now in what used to be fairly good door to door transit system. It is now a patchwork in places with gaps.
Examples:
SuperShuttle changed their service areas and no longer will take people to Dallas Union Station or to Love Field from some zip codes. Unfortunately I was hit by this as well and again had to hire a car service to Dallas (Blacklane…run via Berlin, Germany). If your used to using SuperShuttle or a like Shuttle to the airport you need to check if they still handle the routing.
Airline non-stop flights constricted. If you can find one it will be on a very tiny regional jet. Flight frequencies to secondary cities cut back from Dallas. Don’t believe American Airlines promise they restrict the sale of middle seats. It is still pack them in like cattle if you can.
Bus service several routes suspended or cancelled or very restricted service. In some cases this includes Amtrak thruway bus connections. Chicago to Milwaukee bus service is OK still via Wisconsin Coach Lines and Lamers. I won’t travel by bus until there is a vaccine available…same with air. Thankfully my employer (health insurance provider) agrees.
Did Enterprise local rental for 5 weeks and saved $700 over airport rental prices. VW Atlas SUV, really nice car. Wunderbar. Except for the stupid European shut off the motor when you stop at a traffic light feature…have not found the off switch for that yet. Enterprise will not let you up to the counter, they did rentals outside using a tablet…so you did not need a mask. That was really nice experience. They have closed a number of Enterprise suburban rental locations as well due to pandemic to consolidate for less folks renting…
BTW, Congress with latest budgest proposal just confirmed the Microwave meals are on their way out and they too say they are unacceptable and stated they will form a committe to find a better cook on board alternative that is affordable…this should be interesting.
I will be on the Eagle again at the end of June with an update.
It would be really cool if Congress gave the funds for Amtrak to experiment with their “experiential” Long Distance train concept. Dying of curiousity on seeing that expanded out more to see what they had in mind.
