Amtrak delay repay?

[williamn]

Is there any form of delay compensation on Amtrak? I had a Google but all I found was ‘maybe, it depends’.

Written while awaiting a train at 3.30 in the morning that is getting progressively later…

 

[FormerBritInMe]

Is there any form of delay compensation on Amtrak? I had a Google but all I found was ‘maybe, it depends’.

Written while awaiting a train at 3.30 in the morning that is getting progressively later…

Not for just a delay. However if you have booked multiple trains with guaranteed connections i.e. all booked on the same reservations, Amtrak will compensate you if for example you booked a sleeper on a connecting train and due to your initial train being late you miss the connection and had to stay over for the next days train (they will provide hotel and meal vouchers in this case), and the next days trains had no available sleepers and you had to ride coach, they would compensate you for the difference. In some cases you might get compensated for other downgrades e.g. no dining car available and you were in first class (sleeper). You would likely have to contact Customer Relations, they probably wouldn't volunteer this.

Because most Amtrak trains outside of the Northeast Corridor operate on freight railroad trackage they are at the mercy of the Freight RR dispatching which can vary, some RRs are better than others about giving passenger trains priority. Plus there are the usual breakdowns, level crossing incidents, trespasser strikes (since we don't fence off most of our rights of way unlike the UK) and so on. One takes Amtrak with the expectation that one will probably be late, especially long distance trains.

 

[williamn]

Not for just a delay. However if you have booked multiple trains with guaranteed connections i.e. all booked on the same reservations, Amtrak will compensate you if for example you booked a sleeper on a connecting train and due to your initial train being late you miss the connection and had to stay over for the next days train (they will provide hotel and meal vouchers in this case), and the next days trains had no available sleepers and you had to ride coach, they would compensate you for the difference. In some cases you might get compensated for other downgrades e.g. no dining car available and you were in first class (sleeper). You would likely have to contact Customer Relations, they probably wouldn't volunteer this.

Because most Amtrak trains outside of the Northeast Corridor operate on freight railroad trackage they are at the mercy of the Freight RR dispatching which can vary, some RRs are better than others about giving passenger trains priority. Plus there are the usual breakdowns, level crossing incidents, trespasser strikes (since we don't fence off most of our rights of way unlike the UK) and so on. One takes Amtrak with the expectation that one will probably be late, especially long distance trains.

Got it, thanks! I did feel it was quite unlikely to be offered. And I realise my delays were quite minor (a mere 90 mins), just magnified by them being at ungodly hours of the morning!

 

[Zerothebrake!]

I was given a $35 travel voucher when The Floridian was caped at Savannah due to the wild fires in April earlier this year.

Everyone had to get off at 4am and wait three hours for The Silver Meteor ( which left crush loaded) to Jacksonville for buses forward.

I changed my plans and went back to Chicago via NYC for which a $400 ticket was happily provided FOC - this was ironical, as I couldn't book sny travel to or from New York using my 30 Day Rail pass.

The voucher was used (along with my last sector on the Pass) for a day trip from Los Angeles to San Diego.