Passenger Trains > Do spring breakers use Amtrak in any numbers?

Spring break has pretty much come and gone this year which is a good thing for many communities. Do spring breakers use Amtrak to get to and from their destinations in any numbers or is Amtrak just too old school for the younger crowd?

Thanks

DFWJIM Wrote:
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> Spring break has pretty much come and gone this
> year which is a good thing for many communities.
> Do spring breakers use Amtrak to get to and from
> their destinations in any numbers or is Amtrak
> just too old school for the younger crowd?
>
> Thanks

Define what you mean.

In places where there is good service, trains are full of college kids going home for the break......it's definitely NOT seen as "old school".   But if you mean SPRING BREAK!, then Amtrak doesn't serve many of those destination.  The only potential is Florida, and Amtrak service to Florida is not really set up for mass transportation (short trains, lack of affordable sleeping accommodations, etc).

In Indiana, the Hoosier State gets good patronage then, sometimes over 100 passengers.  The connections in Chicago are good, one can ride the subway to O'Hare or Midway very inexpensively after a short walk from Union Station

Yes, big time on the Michigan and Illinois state trains.

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chs7-321 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DFWJIM Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Spring break has pretty much come and gone this
> > year which is a good thing for many
> communities.
> > Do spring breakers use Amtrak to get to and
> from
> > their destinations in any numbers or is Amtrak
> > just too old school for the younger crowd?
> >
> > Thanks
>
> Define what you mean.
>
> In places where there is good service, trains are
> full of college kids going home for the
> break......it's definitely NOT seen as "old
> school".   But if you mean SPRING BREAK!, then
> Amtrak doesn't serve many of those destination. 
> The only potential is Florida, and Amtrak service
> to Florida is not really set up for mass
> transportation (short trains, lack of affordable
> sleeping accommodations, etc).

I should have been more specific...actually I met Amtrak trains that serve beach destinations like San Diego, South Texas (thru San Antonio and Houston) and Florida.

City of New Orleans gets swamped by the mass exodus from all three Illinois universities; Carbondale, Mattoon and Champaign.

Fortunately they are not all at the same time.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Panama City FL would be accessible from the eastern leg of the Sunset Limited, when it returns from its suspension. 

With $89 to $159 fares from New England and the MidAtlantic states for a three hour flight to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, West Palm, Fort Myers etc I can't imagine kids would waste four days of a week long trip taking the train.

Well, spring break is not done with.  My daughter doesn't have hers until next week.  In any case, we will not be taking the train this year, but our family did last spring break for a trip to Charleston/Myrtle Beach, SC.      We have taken several trips by train over spring break, but are hampered by not only limited route structure, but we are crippled by a train that only operates 3 days a week.    We do the best we can.

As with anything regarding the general public, they will ride the train if it fits their schedule and budget - which it does in some instances, but in others, is not an option at all. 

Some years ago I took a trip to the west coast. Left the week before spring break and the long distance trains had many empty seats. On the return east out of Los Angeles at the beginning of spring break the SW Chief was sold out as far as Albuquerque with many families aboard.

A small group of us rode to Fort Lauderdale back in 1985, if that counts!  :-)

Way back then there were probably about 50 students from various universities sprinkled through the coaches.  We all made it to the lounge pretty quickly and the party kept going until they closed it up.  And...the cafe did not run out of anything!

I accidentally got a train home from Richmond, VA to Williamsburg a couple of Sundays ago at the end of William & Mary's spring break, and what I expected to be an empty train was full of returning students!

Posted from Android

I can't answer for spring break, but Jan '14 I took the Crescent to NC, and there was nearly an entire coach taken up by UVA students returning from Christmas break, the train was noticeably emptier south of Charlottesville even in other cars.

In Flagstaff oh yeah, the Spring Breakers use 3 and 4 since most of them are from California, I bet even the ones in Kansas and New Mexico too!

Come ride Surfliners 768 or 785 at the beginning or end (respectively) of UCSB's various breaks, or 774/777 at the beginning/end of Cal Poly's breaks and you will see the train is absolutely utilized.

When I was working 777/774, on 777 the Saturday at the end of a large break (Not even Sunday) we'd carry 200+ people INTO San Luis Obispo (Generally only about 30 to 40 people would ride to the end of the line), with most of them being Cal Poly students.  This would be after we'd probably see large drops of 75-100 extra college students at each Goleta and Santa Barbara for UCSB.  The reverse was also true of 774 on Sunday before a major break, with 100 or more extra people getting on at each SLO, Goleta, and Santa Barbara, mostly college students.  When you figure each of the Surfliners making those stops would be similarly slammed, and even more so on other days, you can see there were (are) a lot of college students moving by train.

I'm sure the trains get plenty of use by students making shorter-distance trips during college break periods.

When I was in college and didn't have a car, I used to ride the grey dog to the PABT in New York, then walked or rode the subway down to Penn Station to board Amtrak to eastern Connecticut. I also took the bus to spend one Spring Break skiing in Vermont. But nobody I knew messed with the train for Spring Break in Florida, because that would have wasted way too much time. Students who went down there traveled in threes and fours in cars. ROAD TRIP!

San Diego is a popular party destination pretty much year round.  Lots of bachelor/bachelorette parties head to the Gaslamp, not to mention the summertime Del Mar folks.  Not so much for the Spring Breakers.

Do spring breakers use Amtrak in any numbers?

Hopefully not.

Why would Amtrak need drunk and obnoxious passengers who feel they're entitled to special treatment?

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
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> Do spring breakers use Amtrak in any numbers?
>
> Hopefully not.
>
> Why would Amtrak need drunk and obnoxious
> passengers who feel they're entitled to special
> treatment?

Okay, you just described the Del Mar crowd. What about the Spring Breakers?

The Surf liner is pretty crowded with college students just about every weekend.  I once boarded at Santa Barbara on a Friday afternoon.  I think I was the only passenger not wearing a hood with college initials on it.  I did have my laptop, though, so I almost fit in.