Passenger Trains > Pere Marquette Sold Out on 7/27

I noticed train 371, the Pere Marquette, is sold out on 7/27 all the way from Grand Rapids to Chicago.

Any guesses what's going on this day? Of course, it is the 1 day I actually need to use that train.

Only 2 coaches plus the cafe/business class car.  Kind of sad for peak Summer.
They obviously know ahead of time, and they can't add an extra car?
It has something to do with the states though and the subsidy(extra car charges).
Don't forget about the bus connection to Kalamazoo as an alternative. 
A 1 hour bus ride isn't tooooo bad.

Recently tried to take a sold out train (156) from Lynchburg to Philly on Sunday.  It was sold out days in advance but waited an hour before departure and found an available seat.  Boarded the train and it was half empty from Lynchburg to DC but filled at DC.  Wonder why Amtrak stopped selling tickets out of Lynchburg because of business north of DC when there are alternative trains from there?  Seemed odd to me and seemed like some loss of revenue.

Palapalooza or some such named nonsense.  A now four day bread and circuses to
attract urban and suburban youth to Chicago for a drunken music orgy. Local hospitals are
already setting up to treat the expected drug overdoses and alchohol poisoning.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/07/20/hospital-ers-prepare-for-over-drinking-at-lollapalooza/

Consider yourself lucky to not be in downtown Chicago starting Thursday.

Metra is adding trains to handle the crush
https://www.metrarail.com/about-metra/newsroom/metra-adds-trains-capacity-lollapalooza

Practicing their usual financial mismanagement, instead of reaping a revenue windfall from high ridership
Metra is giving the store away by selling a $20 dollar pass good for all 4 days.  A busy conductor on
a rush hour train is reprimanded (or more) for missing a fare but management can give the store away
for 4 days.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/metra-undercover-team-fare-collections/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/16 05:55 by Englewood.

One word reply-computors. In the old pre Amtrak days, an agent would have figured out a way around the soldout portion of the trip.

Kalamazoo is over an hour from St. Joeseph. If I want to drive for an hour, the South Shore in Michigan Ciyu is a better option.

Amtrak opened 2 seats at midnight so I snagged one
Will be very curious to see how full the train is. And of course I will be on a day with no dome car.

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