Passenger Trains > Downeaster schedule on Amtrak website is completely out of date

The timetable / schedule for the Downeaster on the Amtrak Website is completely out of date.  It is the November 2018 schedule.  There is a new schedule with different departures times, showing the summer stop at Old Orchard Beach, and also the stops at Woburn on the Saturday / Sunday schedules.   Wonder how long it will take to post the proper one !

Oh yes, Amtrak is so pro-Corridor, but I guess they figure Millenials don't ride Downeaster. 

Amtrak doesn’t think Millennials want or can read timetables.

The PDF timetables are clearly viewed as a maintenance-heavy nuisance by the current management team. Just like the airline ones that have mostly disappeared.

Seems to be a pattern. A few months back one of our eagle-eyed correspondents (GenePoon) noted that Amtrak fumbled the online update of the revised NEC/Virginia schedules, which included the second daily frequency to Norfolk.

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4746638,4747430#msg-4747430

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

   I have noticed that the PDF timetables for the California Zephyr, and Lincoln Service trains are dated  7-20-17, and 9-13-17 !

njfrn Wrote:
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> Amtrak doesn’t think Millennials want or can
> read timetables.
>
> The PDF timetables are clearly viewed as a
> maintenance-heavy nuisance by the current
> management team. Just like the airline ones that
> have mostly disappeared.

Amtrak management regards everything as a bother. Schedules don't change much. They can keep up with them. Airlines are mostly end-point transportation. Trains are not. Greyhound doesn't print timetables either that are discoverable by the general public, and the service is failing. 

And so, fellow railfanners, how long will many of us stay in our seats, quietly grumbling to each other, while the bored, lazy, out-of-tune Amtrak symphony orchestra squacks, screeches and quits playing the same music, with the director falling asleep at the podium...hmmmmm?

And NARP snoozes...again.

Just in the pub in Boston South after a pleasant day riding 681 for 686 even though 681 was 90 odd minutes late arriving in Brunswick.
Nice that it was TnT Genesis as well with no silly cabbage involved. Also i can now say I’ve been to Maine.
Now down to 5 States.

Englishman in America

Posted from iPhone

GenePoon Wrote:
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> And NARP snoozes...again.

But last week's Hotline has space for La Crosse, Wisconsin's' passing of a resolution for a 2nd frequency. Isn't that wonderful ? Not snoozing, but distractions away from their normal Amtrak cheer-leading tasks. 

It's nice that they can stay so "focused."

 

---

".......out-of-tune Amtrak symphony orchestra squacks, screeches and quits playing the same music, with the director falling asleep at the podium"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Which is an insult to every orchestra, small, medium, large, beginners, intermediate and professional on the planet.

Remember the tried and true Timetable staff was put out to pasture.

But who knows how much Amtrak charges the "Corridor" operators to produce the timetables. That's my question..please not guesses.
This may be a factor, who knows.

That works well in unison with station clocks that display the incorrect time.  I encountered that at the Bakersfield train station a couple months ago and managed to miss a train.  The general consensus among fellow Trainorders participants was that Amtrak should escape accountability and that it was all MY fault because I wasn't wearing a watch, paying closer attention, or relying on my smart phone. 

So, if anyone here misses a Downeaster due to an obsolete timetable, it's not Amtrak's fault.  It's YOUR fault for not making a few phone calls or doing whatever else is necessary to figure out when the train leaves.   



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/19 20:01 by CA_Sou_MA_Agent.

joemvcnj Wrote:

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> Greyhound doesn't
> print timetables either that are discoverable by
> the general public, and the service is failing. 

Whateve your peceptions about Greyhound's shortcomings, most, if not all, will not be corrected if Greyhound opted to resume printing schedules and making them generally accessible to the public.

For anyone who wants to see them, schedules with all stops for individual trip runs being contemplated by prospective travelers can be accessed on line.

RuleG Wrote:
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> For anyone who wants to see them, schedules with all stops for individual trip runs being contemplated by prospective travelers can be accessed on line.

Ahhhh, but are they kept up-to-date?  An online schedule that is so obsolete that it causes you to miss a bus or a train is a slap in the face.  It would almost be better NOT to have access to such a deceptive piece of information.  

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
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> So, if anyone here misses a Downeaster due to an
> obsolete timetable, it's not Amtrak's fault. 
> It's YOUR fault for not making a few phone calls
> or doing whatever else is necessary to figure out
> when the train leaves.

Yeah, it's all about personal responsibility. I guess Amtrak managers aren't people, so they don't have to be responsible. :-)

I've been accused of being an anti-technology paranoid. I'll aceept that insult, although even the mass media is beginning to agree with my opinion, so I might get the last laugh.

Downeaster Schedule Changes and Added StopsEffective May 20, 2019Downeaster trains listed below will see schedule changes on weekends beginning May 20, including adding a seasonal stop at Old Orchard Beach.Northbound

• Train 691 will operate 35 minutes earlier
• Train 693 will now provide service to Brunswick and will operate 50 minutes earlier from Portland to Boston
• Train 695 will operate 5 minutes later
• Train 697 will operate 10 minutes later

Southbound

• Trains 690 and 692 will operate 30 minutes earlier
• Train 694 will operate 60 minutes later
• Train 696 will now provide service to Brunswick and will operate 35 minutes later from Boston to Portland
• Train 698 will operate 5 minutes earlier

Beginning June 24, Downeaster trains will add stops at Woburn. PSN 0519-14

It looks like we have a solution.  Download a copy of the obsolete timetable that's on the Amtrak website and then also carry around a printed copy of the updated service advisory that Ed (Mundo) has reproduced for us.  With BOTH documents, we should get a pretty good idea of when the train is supposed to leave!    :)  

RuleG Wrote:

> Whateve your peceptions about Greyhound's
> shortcomings, most, if not all, will not be
> corrected if Greyhound opted to resume printing
> schedules and making them generally accessible to
> the public.
>
> For anyone who wants to see them, schedules with
> all stops for individual trip runs being
> contemplated by prospective travelers can be
> accessed on line.

That only tells you about your trip between your end points. It does not give you the complete picture when planning the trip. If travelling between Buffalo or Rochester and NYC, I want to see the entire picture at a glance: routing via Scranton or Albany, transfers required, time of day and length of meal stops, number of stops along the way. 

Not everyone has on-line access. Rural America is poorly covered, not everyone gets WiFi, not everyone has expensive Data plans, not everyone can afford or has the technical expertise at working a Smartphone or a computer. 

All the above are inhibitors to travel. Greyhound in the US abolished printing schedules in the late 1980's. They have been in a graveyard spiral ever since. Greyhound Canada only got rid of them 10-15 years ago, then went into a total and quick death west of Sudbury, Ontario. Central and western Canada is very rural compared to the US. Figuring out all those locals in Alberta with trailers got very difficult.