I recently took a Venture care from St. Louis to Chicago. The older Amfleet cars were plenty comfortable, but the new Venture cars have seats that are as hard as a rock and the back is at a very uncomfortable angle. The seats have marginally more room than a coach class seat on a major airline, but due to the construction and materials, they aren't nearly as comfortable. Factoring in costs and inevitable delays, I can't see myself taking Amtrak on this route again.

Boy those prices are great. I hope they can sustain that. I worked for Union Pacific railroad for 40 years and we never gave Amtrak preferential treatment.

@toib.7143

Жыл бұрын

@Tim Bacchus: How wonderful, I rarely see anyone mentioning Union Pacific anymore. My father and my grandfather both worked for Union Pacific out of St. Louis, my dad got transferred to Omaha when I was six, but we traveled back to St Louis as often as we could. Our house was just over two blocks from Union Station which is on 10th St. We lived on 12th st. I used to wake up every single morning and watch the Silver Lining leave the station headed to St. Louis, and every evening the Silver Lining from St. Louis heading into Union Station. Often in the summer I would walk over to the station despite my mom always warning me to never do that. I'd go down to the trains and walk alongside them, I loved trains that much. To this day I still feel very intensely about trains so much so that often I'll disappear from my family and just ride Amtrak Coast to Coast, no real destination, just riding. The really strange thing though is my career path didn't involve trains, I'm retired USAF. My younger sister who never cared for trains retired From Union Pacific Headquarters Downtown Omaha. just one year ago. We often have a chuckle about the irony

@JDLEd

9 ай бұрын

I believe it's UP line, but recently I was on the MO River Runner from STL to KC and it seemed like Amtrak was getting priority (the Lincoln Service had been quite late to STL).

@MsSkipperkim

2 ай бұрын

My Dad worked for Santa Fe and we traveled free on Santa Fe. But I'm 65 and at the time I was 10. So there were benefits back in the day.

@MsSkipperkim

2 ай бұрын

​@@JDLEdI'll be riding that same line in August for hubby's bday in August. He used to go to STL as a kid. We'll be in business class. I think I like the old business seats better having seen both.

@timbacchus

2 ай бұрын

@@MsSkipperkim Yes there was my Mom and I would travel via Amtrak from Tucson to Little Rock Ark. a couple of weeks ahead of Dad's vacation and he would come and all was free. It made so many wonderful memories.

I just road in the new rail cars from Kalamazoo MI to Dearborn MI on March 23rd 2023. I was very impressed with the modern updates. I liked the electronic billboard with travel updates. I enjoyed the seating and definitely the ability to use 120 or USB charging. My WI-FI service was very reliable. The restroom was clean and spacious. The above seating luggage rack was challenging for some passengers. The height of the units were unreachable for some. The seat coat hook and grab handles are a nice touch. Overall, I like what Amtrak has done with the new passenger cars👍🏾👍🏾

Two little additions: While a fare from O'Hare is $5, so is a day pass, so I always recommend that for anyone taking it. Additionally, the combined Lincoln service and Missouri River runner is to make those traveling west of st louis to have an easier time into illinois and vice versa. Ends up being more efficient overall and we'll probably see it continue as Amtrak ConnectsUS routes pop up

I rode these cars too, to and from St. Louis, with one of my buddies from the Illinois Railway Museum. They're nicer than I expected. The Amfleets seem cozier, but the Venture cars aren't too bad. I'll have a video of my Lincoln Service adventure coming out soon. By the way, it's been a while since we've last talked, hope you're doing well! We need to meet up one of these days.

I love Amtrak especially after it’s 50th anniversary Amtrak is definitely upgrading their Amfleet

@larryellisreed280

11 ай бұрын

Meanwhile, is Amtrak watching these videos on a regular basis, and taking note of the criticisms so noted?

@tonytins

9 ай бұрын

I grew up with their Amfleets on the Northeast Corridor. While I'm going to miss them, I do look forward to the Venture Cars.

Ime amazed at how a country like yours is so behind with your rail system. You are going to get so many problems with this infrastructure in the future. Its a good job that the freight industry doesn’t own the rail system in Europe or we would all come to a grinding halt. Hope it gets better for you all soon.

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

Totally agreed. We need to adopt what Europe has where the rail networks are so vast and dominated by passenger operators. At least here, there has to be some sort of penalty for freight railroads or legislation that puts passenger rail at a priority.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

Rail simply wasn't a priority for the US as we focused every infrastructure dollar on expanding the highway network. And despite its faults, the US highway network is an incredible piece of infrastructure. But there is a growing consensus that rail transportation is in fact better at some things than the incredibly subsidized auto and air travel system we have now. There's already a ton of rail modernization going on in the US and it seems to only be accelerating. Expect the US to get a whole lot better at passenger rail in the not too distant future. It's already happening, but not nearly as fast as we'd like at the moment.

@RoyalKingOfTheRails

Жыл бұрын

Travel by rail is not nearly as popular as by Airplane in the US. There are a bunch of reasons why. It takes a lot less time to fly, Amtrak doesn’t also stop at everything single location where airports are. The other thing is some Amtrak services require you to connect to another train as well. For example I live in the state of Michigan in the United States, all of our Amtrak trains only go to Chicago. So in order to travel somewhere else by train outside of Michigan, I have to go to Chicago first and transfer. It can be very time consuming especially if you’re final destination is east of Michigan as it can take over 20 hours in a lot of situations. There are lots of improvements that could be done, but these are reasons why rail service isn’t so busy

@marko_ys

Жыл бұрын

@@RoyalKingOfTheRails I still think transcontinental flights make sense, however, for flights like HOU-DAL / IAH-DFW, it really just makes more sense to run rail lines. You’re going to save far more time through a good rail system instead of flying between 2 airports 40 minutes from the CBD.

@RoyalKingOfTheRails

Жыл бұрын

@@marko_ys Oh yeah that definitely makes sense but sometimes if you’re going somewhere not far. You can’t exactly get on a train and go directly there. For example I live in Michigan if I want to take a train to Florida I have to go to Chicago first, get on another train to go east, then get on another train once again to go south to Florida. Total trip time would be over 40 hours. Unfortunately it’s very limited as to where you can go by rail. I wish it was like flying where it’s easy to get on a train and go anywhere you want.

Nice, thorough report on this train ride - thanks for pointing out the illegal delay of Amtrak by the freight lines and that nothing is really done to correct the problem.

Amtrak is looking to reroute the Chicago- St Louis Trains from Joliet to Chicago over the Ex Rock Island Line, due to freight congestion.

I must say, out of all the freight companies in the US, Union Pacific does a pretty good job at maintaining and upgrading their tracks. I know a good amount of the lines have concrete ties and the Metra UP-West line has a few interlockings with moveable point switches. A rarity in the Midwest due to the necessity of switch heaters because of the cold harsh winters.

Recent subscriber here! Ran across some of your QR trip reports and binged those along with some of your other ones, and absolutely loving the content my man. Can't wait to see what's coming in the future.

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! Hope I can continue to deliver great content, glad you enjoyed the QR ones as those were lots of fun to make!

@carlsmith5545

Жыл бұрын

What will be speed?

Thank You!

A clone of the Austrian Railjet coach, right down to the seats. There, they've run as semi permanently coupled sets of seven cars and a Taurus locomotive, since 2008.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

Yep, that's the general idea of this Amtrak equipment upgrade. Amtrak intercity services are basically upgrading to Railjet levels. The Siemens Charger is the North American version of the Siemens Vectron that Railjet services use all over Europe. The Siemens Venture cars are the Americanized version of the Siemens Viaggio Comfort II cars. VIA Rail is upgrading to the exact same trains and Brightline has been using them for a while now. Given that Railjet is a bit of a gold standard for express intercity rail, I can say that I'm pretty excited about Amtrak upgrading to world class intercity standards. The fact that almost all the North American intercity rail, including VIA and Brightline, is upgrading to this higher standard is actually pretty great. Now we just need to convince Mexico to upgrade too and we'll have all of North America operate intercity rail at the same high standard.

I have travelled Amtrak nearly every year of my life. We just rode from Battle Creek, MI to CHI and got to enjoy the new Siemens coaches. While I didn't care for the lack of reclining on the seats or how narrow the are (think airline size!), overall the headrest is nice! I will say that it was the quietest, smoothest train ride I have ever taken please note this is a route that reaches 110MPH!

That's a great shot leaving Chicago at dusk with setting sun hitting the tall buildings. 😁

Very fine Train 👍 Love also the old cars from Pullman,are very fine quality from USA 👌💯

Let's go finally!!!W

I literally saw a venture class train passing thru Carquinez straight this morning.

We rode these new cars from St. Louis to Chicago during the the Labor Day weekend. Luckily, we didn't have any delays and we enjoyed the trip. We did have an issue with the seats reclining; we couldn't figure it out and gave up after trying for a while. We love riding the train!!

@sethamtrak

7 ай бұрын

The seats do not recline. The bottom slides forward an inch or two. That's all.

These new coach class Ventures are nice, but I did think the seat were more akin to Spirit Airline seats and a downgrade from the 90's stock. Unfortunately, during one of my two trips with this car attached, the new Venture car had lost its A/C on a 90+ degree day and it was having issues with water in the bathroom. Everything else is nice on them, by miles.

For most of fiscal yr 21 Bloomington was only served by 2 Lincoln Service round trips so expect it to regain its title once the 22’ data is released.

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

Totally forgot about that fact. That’s a good point, with the schedule fully reinstated I guess BNL should regain its second place title.

The seats are tall because, there will inevitably be a crash, you are not wearing a seat belt, your body gets more damage the farther it flies, the liability to the carrier increases with the damage to your body. That was easy. Maybe, we should add seatbelts to trains travelling high speeds.

US is greatly improving its railways. Love from India.

The "trick" that the freight railroads are using in order to delay passenger trains without penalty is that they use extremely long trains that simply don't fit into their own sidings. Yes, that is stupid and needs to be outlawed. It's a completely idiotic loophole, but they are semi-legally delaying passenger trains.

@trainglen22

Жыл бұрын

Happens in Canada too. Canadian National has way too long freight trains

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

@@trainglen22 Yep, it's also spreading to Mexico and further down the continent. It's like a disease. The superlong trains make them more money so they keep tacking on more and more cars with little regard for safety or future growth prospects.

@CityLifeinAmerica

Жыл бұрын

Not only does it inconvenience passenger trains but it blocks roadways as they stop traffic for 30-45 mins at a time sometimes! These ridiculously long trains have pissed everyone off.

I hope that I get a chance to ride the new cars on Amtrak’s wolverine service in june

The single biggest issue supressing rail's wider acceptance and growth in the US is the lack of accessable and reliable public transportation in all but a few US cities. Even though I live near the center of my town I can't get to the nearest train station without driving my own car or Uber. And the nearest city to me also has no establisned public transportation, so Uber or cab or rental car is my option. The point I'm making is unless a person can travel from destination to destination conveniently there's no way they give up a personal car, which in reality is the fastest way to go directly from A to B. It's not JUST a train issue.

@margaretking2969

3 ай бұрын

Let's not state the problem in a way that makes it ridiculously difficult to solve. Even if everyone needs a car, if there is a safe place to leave it near the station many will ride the train. Or have more like the Auto Train, where people bring their car along.

At the end of the day the venture coaches are a downgrade because the seats are smaller, they shouldnt waste so much space on the aisle being so wide and the bathroom is too big and inefficient on space. there should be 2 smaller restrooms instead, so a line doesn't start to form.

The seats look narrow and hard.

Next time try Metra service from O'Hare Transfer to Union Station on the North Central service. Take the tram to remote parking to get the the Metra station. Train frequency is spotty at best (no weekend service). But, if it works out, it's a much nicer ride than the CTA. Most people (including airport employees) don't even know that Metra has a station at the airport.

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

I have two videos on the NCS on my channel. That would’ve been my first choice had Metra offered weekend service on the NCS.

Still using the superliner cars and GE Genesis engines on sunset limited

A year later and Amtrak still doesn't have the LCD screens working yet. What is the holdup?

I have not found the seats in the new coaches to be all that confortable. I have never been able to get them to recline.

The future, is uncomfortable. Despite their age, those Amfleet and Superliner seats are the perfect place to park yourself for hours on end. The fact that cushiony American seats were not part of the Americanization of these coaches is a huge mistake on Amtrak's part.

@ASAviation

4 ай бұрын

Totally agreed.

My guess is that they'll be running at "high speed" on that route just after the California high speed rail line is complete.

How does seat comfort and size compare with the older ones?

Never experienced another train-style

Wondering if you know when Amtrak Illini and Saluki lines will have the Venture cars? I live in Urbana and can't wait for the new cars to be in service from Champaign to Chicago.

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

I’m waiting for that day as well, unfortunately Amtrak hasn’t announced a day yet!

That's a weird looking plane.

I always transfer to Metra at Montrose/Mayfair 😂

How was sleeping on the new seats? I noticed they removed the leg support. Does the seat tilt enough to support the legs?

Great video! Personally, I want to see congress amend the law to make freight railroads financially liable for delays. Paid directly to the impacted passengers.

Is Brightline facing the same problems with Siemens venture cars and diesels?

All that aisle space causes the seats to be narrow. If you have someone next to you, you will be crushed. There is little leg room. These seats are also hard and don't recline more than a couple of inches. The only saving grace on these trains are the WiFi and the modern bathrooms. Not a comfortable ride at all.

I should try amtrak

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

I agree, give it a try someday.

CN is the only class 1 freight railroad that follows the law and gives priority to Amtrak

Have all of the lincoln service trains had their coach cars upgraded to the Siemens Venture cars? Or just select trains?

New correction i that in 2022, Bloomington carried about 178,000

Hope they can put the seats used in amfleets into the new cars....The new ones sit like stone.

@eddieafterburner

Жыл бұрын

They’ll soften up as more people sit and fart in them.

I heard from an Amtrak engineer that the seats are hard and don't recline.

Actually, 30 minutes is on time, according to FRA/ STB standards

110 MPH service has now been fully inaugurated

are those seats as uncofortable as they look?

Can you make more bloomington videos if you have time?

@ASAviation

2 ай бұрын

I have some coming within the coming weeks!

How was the ride quality of the new Siemens Venture cars? Are the blinding bright lights on all night?

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

It was a smooth ride, however the tracks themselves are rough sometimes. Sadly yes, it seems that the lights were on the whole time.

@samtrak1204

Жыл бұрын

@@ASAviation After spending billions to upgrade CHI - STL corridor for higher speeds, the tracks are still rough and the trains are still slow as molasses so I have to fly to Europe to get my high speed fix.

America #1 goes to the lowest bidder. Brightline got the same train sets, then why were Amtraks? Looking at you Chicago. Thanks for the video.

The Passenger Information System is by Televic. It is not exactly the most reliable. It could only be worse if it was ISC.

Thanks to Money 💰 being spent on Aviation and Highway 🛣️ funding did our lovely passenger rail die from private railroads . The previous Railroads had more frequent service to many major cities and local communities. So please don't blame Amtrak for lack of rail service, the coaches on Amtrak are far Superior then Airline travel.

No reclining seats on these new coaches is a crime, as is their fixed position where you travel looking backwards, if you happen to be in the "wrong half" of the car... This is the rule in Europe, but I think Amtrak should not downgrade the level of comfort it already offered in older coaches....

I cannot for the life of me figure out this stupid "minimum axle count" B.S.. Amtrak never used to be required to run excessive consists just so signals will work. Hell, back in the 90s, used to run 2 or 3 Amfleets to Springfield (on the train, "The Loop"). Or to Carbondale at 90mph!!

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

That’s what confuses me. I’ve seen photos of the trains running with 3-4 cars back in the day. I guess when CN took over the line from Illinois Central, they imposed that limit.

Like huge air gaps in all welds produced by OEM fabricators

Is it me or these seats look super narrow compared to the old ones? I hope not. Seat comfort should be the number one priority for any carrier, but lately they seem to drop it to the bottom of the pile compared to all the other "benefits' of new.

@ASAviation

Жыл бұрын

They are kind of narrow, but comfort wise not bad.

Nice cars. Seats are too hard for long rides.

normal european train✌️🇩🇪

It is so stupid that slow, heavy freight trains are given clearance while fast passenger trains are made to wait. The passenger train is going to travel much faster than the freight train and take very little space in comparison. Why not let it go ahead? It isn't going to obstruct the schedule of a freight train.

it's new and it already looks dated. We in Europe are so far ahead wow.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

Lol, this is literally the exact same Siemens rolling stock used on premium intercity services like Railjet. Amtrak is literally upgrading its regular service to premium EU intercity standards. You have no idea what you're talking about, bud.

@ammarmangala9814

Жыл бұрын

@@TohaBgood2 Railjet isn't premium, maybe compared to American standards, it really is premium. Railjet isn't high speed either. You dont even know what you're talking about. I work for SNCF so I think I know European rolling stock better then you do?😂

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

@@ammarmangala9814 Lol, bud, what universe are you from? Google Railjet right now. The first two hits are: "Railjet is the name of the premium high-speed trains used by the Austrian Railways (ÖBB)." OBB is targeting the Railjet at the premium segment and the trains reach 143 mph (230 kph). So yes, Railjet is in fact both premium and HSR according to the international standard. SNCF needs to learn how to run their "GSR" service at higher average speeds than the regional trains before you are even allowed to speak. Your company is a mess.

@ammarmangala9814

Жыл бұрын

@@TohaBgood2 Amtrak will never reach the standards and innovation of SNCF let alone the basic standards of train travel in general. You cant even electrify your tracks. Boohoo, the US upgraded it's rolling stock after 50 years with an already dated interior with USB-A ports 😂 Meanwhile we are integrating USB-C, AI and augmented reality in our trains, We are not on the same level, and our infrastructure isn't falling apart. The US and its citizens will always be peasants. Like i've said, Railjet is considered high speed in the US, but in Europe when we talk about High speed we talk about the Siemens Giruno, TGV, Velaro... those are highspeed trains that have an operating speed above 300 km/h and they don't run on "high speed" tracks like the ICE does. your education is a mess. get an education before you're allowed to speak.

@TohaBgood2

Жыл бұрын

@@ammarmangala9814 Lol, 143 mph is literally HSR by the EU legal standard. And that's what the worldwide HSR standard is base on. Railjet mostly travels on upgraded track. Anything above 125mph (200kph) is considered HSR by EU law. Yes, literally by legislation. And SNCF, while being a complete dumpster fire of a rail carrier, also does not build trains. It just operates them. And guess what, Amtrak is getting the TGM-m/Avelia Horizon trains _before_ SNCF gets theirs 😁😁😁 They're already testing them operationally. You know, you could read about this stuff before commenting. It would at least save you the embarrassment 😁😁😁

THE FUTURE? Chinese will wonder why Americans still using this antique train.

Who will ride with 1,000 derailments a year ?

@truedarklander

Жыл бұрын

Most of those derailments are by freight Class Is, not Amtrak. Amtrak's oversight is much stronger than the freight RRs.

@dfwrider3830

Жыл бұрын

@@truedarklander correct, the standards we hold these cars to are higher than what freight is maintained at.

@gabrieljacobson4750

Жыл бұрын

also most derailments are very small ones within rail yards, so not dangerous most of the time. passenger rail derailments in use are incredibly rare

@truedarklander

Жыл бұрын

@@gabrieljacobson4750 but to be fair, the US has a LOT of derailments per train kilometers of train travel compared to other countries

@eddieafterburner

Жыл бұрын

Presumably those other than the 40,000+ per year who are being killed on the road.

The color scheme with dumb looking polka dots is the world's worst. The interior is dark, ugly and already appears dated. Fire the designer. Trains need to be more frequent and go at a faster average speed of 80 mph for more people to conveniently ride. Rather than think HSR is the solution for intercity travel, a better approach is to cost effectively upgrade the trackage to compete with cars.

@truedarklander

Жыл бұрын

But HSR *IS* the solution for higher density corridors. Average speed can only be brought up by better accelerating trains (electric power for example), less tight curve and higher top speeds. Yes, of course you also need higher frequencies, but thinking HSR is not a "realistic" solution (it might not be on certain services, but for interstate trips connecting several big cities and high demand stations, it's the *correct* solution) Not like Illinois is a small poor state that can't afford to do some infrastructure investment on its own. It has a hugher population and GDP than Portugal, which is building three HSLs at this moment.

@davidjackson7281

Жыл бұрын

@@truedarklander Things are so much different in America than the rest of the world. Where do you actually think in America HSR would make sense?

@truedarklander

Жыл бұрын

@@davidjackson7281 Chicago to St. Louis is a primary candidate in the mid west, plenty of southern interstate corridors would make sense, there are also plenty corridors in Texas or new corridors in the North East where it would make sense.

@davidjackson7281

Жыл бұрын

@@truedarklander Those have some merit. I am a big fan of Brightline's fast speed trains. I like debating the pros and cons of HSR. The distances and population densities need to be in a sweet spot for HSR to work I believe. Brightline fast speed in 2hr30mn - 3hr from Houston to Dallas would be the way to go. Way cheaper than HSR and faster than autos. LA-LV would be a better candidate for HSR. Those two routes have large growng populations. Chcago to St.L or Detrot or Milwaukee are cities that are not growng and are actually losing some population, as is a lot of the NEC. Future trends such as remote work must also be considered for viability. America is different than the world for so many reasons.

@truedarklander

Жыл бұрын

@@davidjackson7281 Brightline isn't high speed rail. It's standard intercity-speed trains that aren't actually even operating at that speed yet, until they open the Orlando line where itu will bet able to operate at those higher speeds, which would still be less than Portuguese conventional Inter-city trains or the central-European Railjets (using these comparisons because these are also loco-hauled services, unlike say RENFE's conventional services which use EMUs and DMUs