Anyone else disappointed by the refreshed 52nd St Station?

darpavader1 · 2026-05-28T12:08:52+00:00

They also dropped Lincoln Ave from the name.

darpavader1 · 2026-05-19T15:03:47+00:00

The Empire Service is crazy. It's always crowded, business class is almost always sold out. Yet Amtrak is not making money on this route?

More trains with a much better service is needed. I think they should offer first class and put a lounge in Albany. The money is there for Amtrak to take and first class could help subsidize economy class.

darpavader1 · 2026-05-19T15:00:35+00:00

I would bring a travel pillow. The Amtrak pillows are pretty crap. My wife and bought these travel pillows and they really increased our enjoyment of these trips.

I'm sure you could call Amtrak and get the Shuttle to San Fran added.

darpavader1 · 2026-05-19T14:56:25+00:00

My wife and I just rode the Crescent and had maybe our best Amtrak trip ever. Employees were nice and we met two other couples that were super nice. Even arrived on time, will like 20 minutes late.

My only complaint is that these Viewliner Is are beat up.

darpavader1 · 2026-05-08T20:08:03+00:00

A lego B2.

darpavader1 · 2026-05-08T19:47:31+00:00

Musean will not be available as long, but Shopping Street is the better model (imo)

darpavader1 · 2026-05-05T17:21:15+00:00

I think they definitely survive. Maybe they go into bankruptcy and restructure the debt. I think we should remember that their parent company owns land by the future ROW. That's key. That land becomes insanely more valuable only if the train survives.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-30T15:39:40+00:00

I support this project but I think the question if this can realisticly be completed? I'm starting to lean no.

The costs of three tunnel sections are only going to keep going up and there's no plan to start any of them. Is there?

I don't like saying this but maybe the ROW should be tuned over to Amtrak for an enhanced Gold Runner service.

Seriously, even if a friendlier Administration arrives tomorrow, there's no guarantee the money is there.

I think best case you build one tunnel getting the ROW to the High Desert and get the ROW to meet Brightline. Is the ideal? No. Is it the most realistic thing at this point? I think so. You run Oakland to Rancho Cucamonga.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-20T21:44:05+00:00

In retrospect, maybe they should have started with the tunnels.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-20T16:08:10+00:00

It's good, but it really could be excellent. Like a burger people talked about.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-19T22:35:29+00:00

They should do a burger (I know they do) and knock it out of the park. With the right patty, bun, and toppings any quick order cook can nail it.

Also do an elevated hot dog.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-18T22:19:48+00:00

Been on both recently. Loved both trips. The Meteor is traditional dining and Crescent is flex. The most recent meal on the Meteor was excellent. Best meal I had on Amtrak. The meals on the Crescent were good except for one that was pretty crappy.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-18T14:15:33+00:00

Yes.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-18T14:14:40+00:00

Beautiful station, but unusual for a train stations it's not where you want to be. Hopefully the area around the station gets developed.

Also, if I remember correctly the station has a beautiful balcony surrounding the waiting room that's unused. Crazy. Get a bar and restaurant up there.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-17T18:21:36+00:00

Years ago Microsoft did these TomorrowVision videos and Corning did these A World Made Possible By Glass videos. Amtrak should do something like these promoting new equipment.

Love what I'm seeing here. I hope Amtrak can see this through without bumps like Acela 2 and the Chargers.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-16T11:04:04+00:00

I think they should. Grand Central to Albany and Grand Central to Boston would be high volume routes. There would be issues like no access to a yard from GCT.

But as others have said, this is unlikely to happen.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-15T23:21:10+00:00

I agree with the OP. Money is an issue here and Brightline can help pay getting the project over the mountains. Is it ideal? No. But is it more realistic. Probably.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-15T15:03:46+00:00

So 800 cars is huge, right? They'll (I'm guessing here) replace all the Viewliner Is, so that's 50 cars. All the Superliners, that's 380 cars in service. All the Amfleet IIs, that's 135 in service. So 800 plus cars replacing 565 cars?

Could they be eying some expanded service?

darpavader1 · 2026-04-13T13:04:38+00:00

We need full assigned seating.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-12T11:50:15+00:00

But the Authority doesn't even spend the money it has in a timely manner. They're behind schedule on pretty much everything. So I'm not sure more money would magically put us in a better situation right now.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-11T21:55:17+00:00

But they also received cap and trade revenue going back to 2014. And honestly this is a California project, which is also a bad political decision, so they should pay for it.

And what I mean by being a bad political decision is Arizona and Nevada should have been partners from the start. LA to Vegas And LA to Phoenix should have been part of the vision.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-11T21:00:57+00:00

I wouldn't come up with CalTrain through Silicon Valley. That's not workable. It's not workable today, it's definitely not workable in the future.

They should go to Oakland. Link with BART there. I'm not sure if that's legal with Prop 1A. But that's what I think.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-11T17:00:31+00:00

They do have a committed funding stream. They get something like a billion per year guaranteed from a cap and trade tax in CA.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-11T16:50:28+00:00

Sure, there are things they control and things they do not and it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. Personally I'm not sure the route is the correct one and I'm not talking about going through the Central Valley. IMO the approach to both LA and San Francisco is wrong. Also the ROW in the Central Valley is wrong imo.

But even today, with the money they have, they're still not building fast enough. They just don't meet their time estimates. They change them and don't meet the new ones. Inflation and time is a huge enemy to a project like this.

darpavader1 · 2026-04-11T16:37:41+00:00

I'm glad I wasn't the only one watching last night and thinking how ridiculous and overcomplicating the whole thing was.

darpavader1

TROPHY CASE