Amtrak 371 April 8th Time Change

[Saturnalia]

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Satellite ... 1623585039

Amtrak #371 will be departing GRR for CHI 1 HOUR EARLIER on 4-8-12 due to trackwork on the Norfolk Southern.

[firemedic54]

Are the fares to Chicago still pretty cheap?

[Saturnalia]

Are the fares to Chicago still pretty cheap?

For a round trip on 371/370 on April 30th* for one person is going to set you back $62.

*Amtrak uses a tiered pricing system, so the closer to the date you go, the more you're gonna pay. It is not day-by-day necessarily, but might cost twice as much the night before, or be sold out. 371 today was sold out. All 5 cars. Comes out to about 350 people arriving at Chicago Union Station.

[firemedic54]

Not too shabby....have friends in Chi-town...have to give that some thought...

[Saturnalia]

Not too shabby....have friends in Chi-town...have to give that some thought...

It is cost-competitive with driving, and you get on, sit down, and you don't have to do a thing until you get to CUS. If you need to stretch, you've got 300-ft of train at least to walk. Food on-demand in the cafe. Seats are bigger than any car (and airliners certainly). Not bad at all.

[MagnumForce]

If you are alone and going to the city center it is cost competitive with driving. Go with your wife or plan on going to someplace not served by the train and it is not at all cost competitive.

[Jetlink]

Fares from Battle Creek to Chicago Union Station range between 17-57 Dollars one way. 7 Dollars less if you depart from Kalamazoo. Fares are in a 5 tiered bucket system and vary based on load factor.

[J T]

If you are alone and going to the city center it is cost competitive with driving. Go with your wife or plan on going to someplace not served by the train and it is not at all cost competitive.

Of if you're going with your wife or girlfriend and going to the city center, it is cost competitive with driving. Did that with an ex of mine for the day back in the summer of 2000 and had a great time.

[MagnumForce]

Granted MI corridor service may be a lot different than the Capitol or Lake Shore

[tadman]

Keep in mind parking is ~$30/day or more downtown, not sure if you've got that factored into the math. It's also per day, so if you're going for 3-4 days, it's going to change the economics of the with/without travelling companion situation.

Food for thought.

I find the South Shore and Amtrak Michigan trains a great way to reach SW Michigan from the city. They're not without fail, but neither is driving. When you drive out for a long weekend, you're guaranteed a slow miserable crawl from my neighborhood (I get on the Kennedy at Armitage) and about 35th street or more. That's in both directions.

[railohio]

If you expense miles on your car, Amtrak is generally cheaper. For me to drive to Chicago it's $118, plus tolls and Chicago parking. If I drive to the Milwaukee station and take a Hiawatha, it's $22 plus $48 for Amtrak and only $6/day parking.

[J T]

Keep in mind parking is ~$30/day or more downtown, not sure if you've got that factored into the math. It's also per day, so if you're going for 3-4 days, it's going to change the economics of the with/without travelling companion situation.

I've never paid more than $10 to park in Chicago for the day. You just have to know where to park. Find a cheap meter, bring a pocket full of quarters and you're good to go. But it usually requires a little walking, but I don't mind that at all if that's what it takes to save some money on parking. I can almost always find a metered parking spot around Lakeshore Park near the Hancock building.

A round trip for me is a little more than a tank of gas, which comes to about $40 right now. I'd rather drive just for the flexibility of it, but if Amtrak ran an evening train to Chicago and a morning return to offset 371/370, I'd be more willing to take the train.

[Standard Railfan]

Driving to Chicago is about as much fun as oral surgery.

[tadman]

I live there, and I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, my four-legged roommate makes it hard for me to take the train when I go away for the weekend.

[PerRock]

A round trip for me is a little more than a tank of gas, which comes to about $40 right now. I'd rather drive just for the flexibility of it, but if Amtrak ran an evening train to Chicago and a morning return to offset 371/370, I'd be more willing to take the train.

Something like #355, which arrives in Chicago at 22:57? and then #350 which departs CHI at 7:20?

peter

[railohio]

Something like #355, which arrives in Chicago at 22:57? and then #350 which departs CHI at 7:20?

Which don't operate to Grand Rapids.

[PAT.C]

PARKING METER RATES IN CHICAGO...

http://www.chicagometers.com/cost--hours.aspx

I'VE PLAYED SLOT MACHINES THAT COST LESS THAN SOME CHICAGO METERS.

[GT1970]

371 is running four supperliners this week due to spring break and led by loco 115. A few months back it had loco # 500, which when I went to rail pics dot net, it was listed as a test unit for bio diesel. My last trip to Chicago then to Seattle was great the whole way out and back. On 370 sat in front of a woman who thought we were going to derail coming out of Chicago heading to GR. Later on some guy was chatting her up cause she left her husband in the Army cause he was cheating on her. She wanted to get a good paying job, so she was looking at waitressing, she said she used to work at Parkway Tropics. She was totally lost when we left Holland, I couldn't take it any longer and told her that was Chicago Drive we were following, then she seemed to calm down.

[Typhoon]

Driving to Chicago is about as much fun as oral surgery.

Funny, I feel the same way about taking Amtrak or the South Shore...

[Typhoon]

PARKING METER RATES IN CHICAGO...

http://www.chicagometers.com/cost--hours.aspx

I'VE PLAYED SLOT MACHINES THAT COST LESS THAN SOME CHICAGO METERS.

If you are dumb enough to park all day at a meter in the loop, you deserve to get ripped off...