Bikes on Amtrak
#26
Senior Member
The bigger issue I've seen with the hook area on these California cars is that some passengers will treat it as storage for their big roll on bags and other bulky goods. This would be a major annoyance if I rolled my bike onto a train that I reserved a bike hook for and had to deal with a bunch of luggage blocking my spot.
#27
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^^This^^. Its the Pacific Surfliner trains. IF you buy your ticket on line you designate at that time you'll have a bicycle, and that reserves a spot for your bike. You need to take any bags/panniers off before you store it, too. The train car with the bicycle storage can be either the first or last car on the train, look for the blue bicycle graphic sticker on the side of the train (its kinda tough to see if the train is whizzing into the stop at a good speed); If you're boarding at the first stop in San Diego you could go early and find the bicycle car easily enough. . As for handling your bags on the train, I'd suggest going to IKEA and buying one of their cheap big shopping bags they sell, put your bags in that and strap it with a bungee for easy carrying, and do this BEFORE the train arrives - dispose of the bag in SLO. All this info is accurate for pre-pandemic times; last time I rode the SLO-OC route was in 2016.
I've been on other Amtrak trains where you did have to remove all your luggage from the bicycle and then hand your bike over to the baggage handler in the baggage car and then get on the train yourself with your luggage. But that is not how the 4am SD to SLO Pacific Surfliner works, at least not 10 months ago.
It was almost identical to the process used for the Coaster Train in San Diego County if you have used that service.
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#28
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I took the 4am Amtrak out of San Diego to San Louis Obisbo in late April 2022 for the Eroica California in Cambria. I just wheeled my loaded touring bike onto a car as directed and leaned it against the wall. Then I sat down on one of the half dozen seats in that section. That's all that happened. Eight hours later I was deposited in SLO. You do have to switch trains in Union Station.
I've been on other Amtrak trains where you did have to remove all your luggage from the bicycle and then hand your bike over to the baggage handler in the baggage car and then get on the train yourself with your luggage. But that is not how the 4am SD to SLO Pacific Surfliner works, at least not 10 months ago.
It was almost identical to the process used for the Coaster Train in San Diego County if you have used that service.
I've been on other Amtrak trains where you did have to remove all your luggage from the bicycle and then hand your bike over to the baggage handler in the baggage car and then get on the train yourself with your luggage. But that is not how the 4am SD to SLO Pacific Surfliner works, at least not 10 months ago.
It was almost identical to the process used for the Coaster Train in San Diego County if you have used that service.
#29
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Thanks for that update, I'll check out the scheduling later in the summer as I may go do a SLO to OC ride this fall and they do change things a bit depending on the season. Fun trip, one of my favorites. One thing I don't remember is the transfer at Union Station; I just stayed on the same train the whole way up there, Anaheim to SLO.
And you are right, it is a fun trip. Very scenic, even in the city in its own weird way, but certainly the stretch north of Santa Barbara.
#30
I have not had any issue taking a rigid mountain bikepacking rig w/2.5" tires on Amtrak (cascades and empire builder routes) using trainside checking. This may be because there were only a couple of bikes in the luggage car. I think as long as your bike does not "look" weird and/or the luggage car is not full of other bikes, you will be OK.
#31
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I want to do some light tours this summer. I'm in San Diego, want to take the train up north a bit and ride south. The problem is Amtrak (according to their website https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard) my bike is too big.
My tires are bigger than 2" and my bike is bigger in every dimension then the spec'd limits (I'm 6'5").
Is Amtrak strict about this? Can I slip the guy $20 to get him to take by bike? Do I gotta get a smaller bike?
My tires are bigger than 2" and my bike is bigger in every dimension then the spec'd limits (I'm 6'5").
Is Amtrak strict about this? Can I slip the guy $20 to get him to take by bike? Do I gotta get a smaller bike?
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#32
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My experience from 2021/Capitol Limited in Cumberland: some people had bikes with very wide tires which did not fit the hooks, and they just stood in the baggage car next to the rack. I could not mount my bike because those other bikes blocked the rack and I had to leave it standing inside the baggage car. I think the conductors did not object because it is a very popular route (GAP/C&O) and because this train uses the baggage car instead of the hooks within the passenger cars.
#33
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plus you can always deflate the tires and then sweat it out on the platform ;-) got to give to receive hahha
#34
Miles to Go
Because you roll you own bike on, and park it in a rack with generous space and with both wheels on the train car floor and it is not hanged by the conductor in a train-car on a hook, you should have no problem with oversized tires on the Pacific Surfliner. If you go further North and need to use the Coast Starlight, then tire/bike size considerations might be an issue. SLO is your destination stop, and is also the end of the line for the Surfliner.
I have done this stretch several times, including taking the train to SLO from SD as you intend. I left SLO and headed a bit North to Morro Bay, then reversed course . Morro Bay SP has hiker/biker campsite for $10. It's a good trip, but getting through LA is a challenge.
I have done this stretch several times, including taking the train to SLO from SD as you intend. I left SLO and headed a bit North to Morro Bay, then reversed course . Morro Bay SP has hiker/biker campsite for $10. It's a good trip, but getting through LA is a challenge.
Last edited by timdow; 02-08-23 at 07:59 AM.
#35
Senior Member
Where I have checked it out as an option instead of flying, Flying won out. For the locations and distances where I have wanted to use it flying was cheaper and faster in the cases where I had to choose between the two. Most of the time I was choosing a way to get across the country, so it was multiple days on amtrak vs multiple hours on a plane.
Anyway I just rechecked what it would be to do one of the trips I needed to do in the past. On amtrak Baltimore to San Diego looks like it would take a bit over 3 days. Prices are listsed as "Coach from $528", "Business from $336", and "Rooms from $1747". I imagine 3 days on a train in the reclining seat would be pretty uncomfortable (On mylast several hour amtrak ride I found it to be almost as bad as sitting in an airport lobby seat that long). The room price seems pretty high. I am a bit of a cheapskate when travelling alone and might spend that much for total expenses for an entire coast to coast tour. A vacation with the wife the cost wouldn't be so bad especially since if I understand correctly the room price is shared between the two passengers and not applied to each ticket.
I don't understand that Business Class price. It must be an error or it is the cost just to upgrade fom coach. I am guessing the latter
What I really like about Amtrak is that a week before you travel, your ticket will still be affordable. So, if doing a longer bike tour, you don't have to get your ticket months in advance like you would on an airline.
These days I am inclined to drive my own car to even distant places if it is possible, but that doesn't work for a coast to coast trip.
Flying has become more and more of a hassle as have car rentals in many cases. Rental prices went crazy after covid and probably are still pretty high (I am a bit out of the loop not having rented for a while, but the last time my wife travelled the price was pretty crazy and they didn't have the promised car. People were stacked up at all the rental desks waiting for cars that they had reserved. She finally gave up and called a relative who picked her up at the airport. She did without a car for the trip.
My biggest complaint is that there are not enough Amtrak routes, my options are quite limited on Amtrak in the middle of the country.
These days I might consider some driving/amtrak hybrid. For example. I could see driving to Portland, riding the pacific coast, and taking Amtrak back to my car in Portland. I haven't thought that out in detail and I'd only do it if the trip involved other stuff during the drive out and back. That said, I have enjoyed the coast to coast drives I have done.
Last edited by staehpj1; 02-08-23 at 08:51 AM.
#36
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IF a cycletourist wanted to make frequent/extensive/regular use of America's AmTrak, here's the golden ticket: get a folding bike.
AmTrak allows an extremely generous 34" x 15" x 48" (860 x 380 x 1120 mm) for folders. On/off at any station as carry-on luggage. Only you handle the bike.
Don't like small wheels? Hey - nobody said you had to have small wheels. Get a Montague, Tern or Changebike big wheel folder.
Caveat: technically, couplers or rinko don't count as a folding bike on AmTrak.
Caveat: Just two carryons and the folded bike is one. You'll have to temporarily pack every/anything else into a big duffle, a la post no. 18.
Bonus: AmTrak serves 516 destinations. (Airlines with scheduled service go to 503.) If your tour doesn't start or needs to end somewhere other than an Amtrak station, go multimodal: grab that folder and hop on a bus. Intercity buses (Greyhound, Trailways, Jefferson, Megabus, Flixbus, Tornado and many smaller, regional carriers) serve ~5000 destinations in the USA.
AmTrak station in Sanderson, Texas. on AmTrak's Sunset Limited and Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier:
AmTrak allows an extremely generous 34" x 15" x 48" (860 x 380 x 1120 mm) for folders. On/off at any station as carry-on luggage. Only you handle the bike.
Don't like small wheels? Hey - nobody said you had to have small wheels. Get a Montague, Tern or Changebike big wheel folder.
Caveat: technically, couplers or rinko don't count as a folding bike on AmTrak.
Caveat: Just two carryons and the folded bike is one. You'll have to temporarily pack every/anything else into a big duffle, a la post no. 18.
Bonus: AmTrak serves 516 destinations. (Airlines with scheduled service go to 503.) If your tour doesn't start or needs to end somewhere other than an Amtrak station, go multimodal: grab that folder and hop on a bus. Intercity buses (Greyhound, Trailways, Jefferson, Megabus, Flixbus, Tornado and many smaller, regional carriers) serve ~5000 destinations in the USA.
AmTrak station in Sanderson, Texas. on AmTrak's Sunset Limited and Adventure Cycling's Southern Tier:
Last edited by tcs; 02-08-23 at 08:11 PM.
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#37
Hooked on Touring
Although much of the conversation has been about the Surfliners in southern Calif.,
other posts show how widely the bike policies vary across the Amtrak system.
And it can change from one month to the next - from one train to tne next.
For people unfamiliar with takeing bikes on Amtrak it can be mind-boggling.
For people who have used Amtrak for 40+ years it can be mind-boggling.
When it works it can be a pleasant and easy way to start/end a tour.
But when it doesn't it can unravel pretty fast.
I used Amtrak with my bike more than two dozen times.
I'd say it works well about 80% of the time.
But, I've had a bike as baggage left at the wrong station - two days to retrieve,
I've had bikes not accepted on trains that are supposed to carry bikes.
And - of course - the famous Amtrak late trains - 6, 8, 12 hours late.
Shorter trips with multiple daily trains have fewer issues.
other posts show how widely the bike policies vary across the Amtrak system.
And it can change from one month to the next - from one train to tne next.
For people unfamiliar with takeing bikes on Amtrak it can be mind-boggling.
For people who have used Amtrak for 40+ years it can be mind-boggling.
When it works it can be a pleasant and easy way to start/end a tour.
But when it doesn't it can unravel pretty fast.
I used Amtrak with my bike more than two dozen times.
I'd say it works well about 80% of the time.
But, I've had a bike as baggage left at the wrong station - two days to retrieve,
I've had bikes not accepted on trains that are supposed to carry bikes.
And - of course - the famous Amtrak late trains - 6, 8, 12 hours late.
Shorter trips with multiple daily trains have fewer issues.
#38
bicycle tourist
I selected BAL to SAN one-way departing April 26th and got something similar - with two slightly different choices:
(1) The first choice where there is a difference between coach and business - if you click to compare the actual routing chosen - then the first two segments are the same. BAL to CHI and CHI to LAX. There is no business class on those trains and both segments are coach tickets. The difference in price comes only in the last segment from LAX to SAN where a business is listed and coach. I have a suspicion an anomaly perhaps related to track closures is at play here.
(2) The second choice where there is a coach choice and no business, appears to have gotten around the anomaly a different way. It now uses a five segment route in coach to go BAL to CHI but then to take the train from Chicago to Sacramento. A bus from Sacramento to Stockton. A train from Stockton to Bakersfield. A bus from Bakersfield to San Diego.
The second choice is a good example of how sometimes you need to pay attention to specific routing choices since occasionally it will give you seemingly random choices with bus fares in the middle.
If I am willing to shop around just a bit more and also depart from Washington DC to get to LAX, I can get $197 for a two train ride to LAX
Added with a $36 fare from LAX to San Diego.
But in general that ~$260 range is about what I expect for a one-way train ride across the US - and then add in $20 for each long haul segment with a bicycle.
#39
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Where I have checked it out as an option instead of flying, Flying won out. For the locations and distances where I have wanted to use it flying was cheaper and faster in the cases where I had to choose between the two. Most of the time I was choosing a way to get across the country, so it was multiple days on amtrak vs multiple hours on a plane.
#40
Senior Member
Maybe I should have shopped a bit for different dates and/or departure cities, but the price I posted seemed pretty typical to what I had gotten in the past.
#41
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My longest Amtrak trips were from Wisconsin to Portland OR, from San Francisco (actually a suburb across the bay) to Chicago, and Washington DC to Wisconsin. They were long enough, have no interest in doing coast to coast.
While I have had delays on Amtrak, quite frankly I have had much worse times on airlines with a bike.
The photo below was taken at about 3am in Minneapolis airport where Delta stranded me. I still had to pay for the place in Iceland where I was supposed to be asleep at that time. Usually this area between all the major concourses would have several hundred travelers rushing between gates to change flights, but it was totally deserted.
On a different trip, it took three different ticketing agents (below) to figure out my flights to get home from Halifax NS. Expedia had juggled my flights so bad that my itinerary was that I was supposed to fly from Montreal to Chicago, and then minutes after I get off the plane in Chicago I was supposed to board a flight in Halifax to fly to Montreal. Air Canada had changed one of my flights but Expedia then got everything messed up. Apparently Expedia buys tickets in bulk and if you have a flight change, that does not work so well when Expedia bought tickets in bulk, they might not give you a ticket that makes any sense. I got home a day late.
The third time I flew with a bike on a plane, I felt like I won the lottery. No flight delays, luggage arrived when I did. I flew Southwest so my bike in an S&S case flew for free.
I am wearing the S&S Backpack on my back in the photo below, it is hard to see with the black bag and dark background.
I have had more Amtrak bike trips than airline trips, some had delays of hours, not days. Only three of my bike trips involved air travel. And have had several trips that involved a very long drive too, as a friend of mine that I have biked with likes to drive and does not like to fly. So, White Rim in Canyonlands meant driving from Wisconsin to Moab. And Florida Keys trip meant driving to Marco Island from Wisconsin. And a few other shorter driving trips too.
For those of you that usually get off the plane on the day you were supposed to for a bike trip, congratulations.
While I have had delays on Amtrak, quite frankly I have had much worse times on airlines with a bike.
The photo below was taken at about 3am in Minneapolis airport where Delta stranded me. I still had to pay for the place in Iceland where I was supposed to be asleep at that time. Usually this area between all the major concourses would have several hundred travelers rushing between gates to change flights, but it was totally deserted.
On a different trip, it took three different ticketing agents (below) to figure out my flights to get home from Halifax NS. Expedia had juggled my flights so bad that my itinerary was that I was supposed to fly from Montreal to Chicago, and then minutes after I get off the plane in Chicago I was supposed to board a flight in Halifax to fly to Montreal. Air Canada had changed one of my flights but Expedia then got everything messed up. Apparently Expedia buys tickets in bulk and if you have a flight change, that does not work so well when Expedia bought tickets in bulk, they might not give you a ticket that makes any sense. I got home a day late.
The third time I flew with a bike on a plane, I felt like I won the lottery. No flight delays, luggage arrived when I did. I flew Southwest so my bike in an S&S case flew for free.
I am wearing the S&S Backpack on my back in the photo below, it is hard to see with the black bag and dark background.
I have had more Amtrak bike trips than airline trips, some had delays of hours, not days. Only three of my bike trips involved air travel. And have had several trips that involved a very long drive too, as a friend of mine that I have biked with likes to drive and does not like to fly. So, White Rim in Canyonlands meant driving from Wisconsin to Moab. And Florida Keys trip meant driving to Marco Island from Wisconsin. And a few other shorter driving trips too.
For those of you that usually get off the plane on the day you were supposed to for a bike trip, congratulations.
#42
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#43
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IF a cycletourist wanted to make frequent/extensive/regular use of America's AmTrak, here's the golden ticket: get a folding bike.
...
AmTrak allows an extremely generous 34" x 15" x 48" (860 x 380 x 1120 mm) for folders. On/off at any station as carry-on luggage. Only you handle the bike.
...
Caveat: technically, couplers or rinko don't count as a folding bike on AmTrak.
Caveat: Just two carryons and the folded bike is one. You'll have to temporarily pack every/anything else into a big duffle, a la post no. 18.
...
...
AmTrak allows an extremely generous 34" x 15" x 48" (860 x 380 x 1120 mm) for folders. On/off at any station as carry-on luggage. Only you handle the bike.
...
Caveat: technically, couplers or rinko don't count as a folding bike on AmTrak.
Caveat: Just two carryons and the folded bike is one. You'll have to temporarily pack every/anything else into a big duffle, a la post no. 18.
...
https://www.amtrak.com/bring-your-bicycle-onboard
I would carry a print of this too, although at nine years old, it is pretty dated.
https://bikeportland.org/2013/12/18/...arry-ons-98779
And the Amtrak carry on luggage size policy is quite generous, at 28 x 22 x 14 inches and 50 pounds, the largest carryon for Amtrak is bigger than an airline would allow for checked luggage. I have a 115 liter backpack made by Sealline that is more of a drybag with shoulder straps than a backpack. Packed it is 30 inches long, if I left out a few liters and packed that two inches shorter than it is capable of, that would work. I actually bought that backpack to use for checked luggage on airlines. It is air tight, I put something in the folding part of the top to allow air in and out when I fly with it.
You also can carry on two personal items besides your carry on bag and folding bike. The Amtrak personal item size criteria matches my Ortlieb Frontrollers and at 25 pounds each, that is more weight than I could ever pack into a Frontloader.
https://www.amtrak.com/carry-on-baggage
I have considered doing a tour with my folding bike on Amtrak, but have not done so yet. I started planning a trip (I got to the details of measuring my Frontloaders and other luggage for my one carry on), but the logistics of scheduling three different trains, and motels for layovers for one way, it got complicated enough that I quite thinking about that trip.
My folder at about 32 X 32 X 10 inches (smaller if I pull out the fork and crank arms) easily fits the Amtrak folding bike size criteria. Shown below without racks.
I might still do a trip with that some day.
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#44
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I wear my helmet onto the plane when I fly with my bike, I do not want baggage handlers to have a chance to crack it. I stow it in the overhead. One airline employee smiled when he looked at me and said that planes are getting safer these days. I smiled and explained that it was just to avoid baggage handlers, my carry on bag was too full to stow it.
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#45
bicycle tourist
- Last weekend I cycled from Austin to San Antonio (~75 miles). For my return Amtrak coach fare was $7.50 but I opted for a ~$100 rental car because it was just a lot more convenient.
- Looking at a several day cycle ride to DFW area. A rental car might be slightly more convenient but the train ride isn't much longer and ~$35 plus bike. Flying would take just as much time as a rental car and more expensive and less convenient.
- A train trip to El Paso with a bike ride back - made sense as I did it a few years ago. I was able to spend the time and can sleep fine in an Amtrak seat - which I find much more comfortable than increasingly closely spaced/narrow airline seats. It also happens to be more convenient to do the "last mile" cycling to the Amtrak station than the Austin airport which doesn't have good bicycle access - and it would take 3 buses from my residence to get to the airport.
- Across country, I would probably fly - though I do have an Amtrak ticket currently to go two overnights from Austin to Washington DC via Chicago.
- When in Portland, I found the Cascades train particularly convenient on trips in the Eugene to Vancouver corridor.
I'm happy train travel is part of the portfolio of choices. Seats are comfortable enough and I get a book and read or watch the scenery. Airline flights are much less comfortable both because of seats and slightly more hassle on the airport check-in side (I have paid more than 3x as much to airlines for my Trek 520 than I originally paid for the bike new - some of that is overseas fees where there isn't a choice). They are faster though. A one-way rental car also sometimes is a good mix to add.
As far as delays go. Flights have a higher percentage of "close to time" arrivals which I assume is within two hours. I've had my delays though, e.g. most recently a connection in LAX returning from overseas in August that was scheduled for 4pm, postponed to 8pm, boarded, returned to the gate for mechanical issue before being cancelled. Instead of going direct from LAX to Austin, took a flight via Chicago and arrived ~15 hours after original time.
On Amtrak, perhaps 1/4 or so of my trips come outside that time window. For example, trip from Austin to Tucson delayed by 6 hours waiting for some event on the tracks, trip from Minot to Chicago delayed by 5 hours, accumulated delays before I boarded, trip down the West Coast delayed by 9 hours after the train ran into a huge log that had rolled downhill and onto the tracks in middle of the night. The other 3/4 of trips within my time window (and shorter trips like on Pacific Cascades with higher on-time ratio).
As far as delays
#46
Hooked on Touring
The Amtrak scheduling app is notoriously iffy.
And, for no apparent reason, Amtrak stopped posting timetables.
The 10:59 departure is on the Cardinal which only runs three times per week via West Virginia.
The Capitol Limited is the direct train - daily, overnight - with excellent bicycle handling.
And takes 6 hours longer. Both should give you ample time to connect to the Southwest Chief.
Of course, Amtrak trains are known to be more than 6 hours late, so be prepared.
#47
bicycle tourist
It is frustrating they no longer have PDF timetables on the web page. I typically look at either:
- Dixieland - which has maps like this one where you can hover over or pick trains - Amtrak Status Maps - West
- Railrat - where you can see how current trains are doing - https://railrat.net/routes/PacificSurfliner/ If there is an active train and the planned arrival/departure times match your future trip, you can at least get an idea of when major stops are planned.
Update: Apparently Dixieland also has schedules now - https://dixielandsoftware.net/Amtrak/...esSummary.html
- Dixieland - which has maps like this one where you can hover over or pick trains - Amtrak Status Maps - West
- Railrat - where you can see how current trains are doing - https://railrat.net/routes/PacificSurfliner/ If there is an active train and the planned arrival/departure times match your future trip, you can at least get an idea of when major stops are planned.
Update: Apparently Dixieland also has schedules now - https://dixielandsoftware.net/Amtrak/...esSummary.html
Last edited by mev; 02-08-23 at 01:58 PM.
#48
Senior Member
If you're riding coach, you'll have to pay for food. If you don't want to be beholden to the ok-at-best selection of the cafe car nor spend money on a meal in the dining car, it's best to pack a bunch of food.
#49
Senior Member
Although much of the conversation has been about the Surfliners in southern Calif.,
other posts show how widely the bike policies vary across the Amtrak system.
And it can change from one month to the next - from one train to tne next.
For people unfamiliar with takeing bikes on Amtrak it can be mind-boggling.
For people who have used Amtrak for 40+ years it can be mind-boggling.
When it works it can be a pleasant and easy way to start/end a tour.
But when it doesn't it can unravel pretty fast.
I used Amtrak with my bike more than two dozen times.
I'd say it works well about 80% of the time.
But, I've had a bike as baggage left at the wrong station - two days to retrieve,
I've had bikes not accepted on trains that are supposed to carry bikes.
And - of course - the famous Amtrak late trains - 6, 8, 12 hours late.
Shorter trips with multiple daily trains have fewer issues.
other posts show how widely the bike policies vary across the Amtrak system.
And it can change from one month to the next - from one train to tne next.
For people unfamiliar with takeing bikes on Amtrak it can be mind-boggling.
For people who have used Amtrak for 40+ years it can be mind-boggling.
When it works it can be a pleasant and easy way to start/end a tour.
But when it doesn't it can unravel pretty fast.
I used Amtrak with my bike more than two dozen times.
I'd say it works well about 80% of the time.
But, I've had a bike as baggage left at the wrong station - two days to retrieve,
I've had bikes not accepted on trains that are supposed to carry bikes.
And - of course - the famous Amtrak late trains - 6, 8, 12 hours late.
Shorter trips with multiple daily trains have fewer issues.
Is there room for improvement? Yes. The biggest irony is that the Northeast Corridor, where the most Amtrak service is concentrated, is still not great for bikes. Looking at the website only a few of the NE Corridor runs accommodate full size bikes.
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#50
Senior Member
IF a cycletourist wanted to make frequent/extensive/regular use of America's Amtrak, here's the golden ticket: get a folding bike. Amtrak allows an extremely generous 34" x 15" x 48" (860 x 380 x 1120 mm) for folders. On/off at any station as carry-on luggage. Only you handle the bike.
Here's our Bromptons in the baggage rack on the Pacific Surfliner. Mine had to be laid sideways because I have the longer seatpost--a regular size one would fit upright on the rack.