Major expansion to 12 East Coast routes includes Northeast Regional, Keystone Service and Empire Service
WASHINGTON - Responding to strong passenger interest, Amtrak is launching today a major expansion of its free AmtrakConnectSM Wi-Fi service to 12 East Coast routes. As a result, trains that carry nearly 60 percent of all Amtrak passengers now have Wi-Fi connections.
This phase of Wi-Fi expansion includes Northeast Regional trains, the most popular Amtrak service, which operates daily between Virginia and Boston, and the heavily traveled Empire Service (New York - Albany - Buffalo) and Keystone Service (New York - Philadelphia - Harrisburg, Pa.)
Other routes now with Wi-Fi include: Carolinian (New York - Raleigh/Cary, N.C.), Downeaster (Boston - Portland), Ethan Allen Express (New York - Rutland, Vt.), the New Haven - Springfield Shuttle and Vermonter (Washington - St. Albans, Vt.)
Wi-Fi also is installed on four other routes as part of this expansion, but only in select cars marked with hotspot window stickers because these trains are made up of different types of equipment: Adirondack (New York - Montreal), Maple Leaf (New York - Toronto), Palmetto (New York - Savannah, Ga.), and Pennsylvanian (New York - Philadelphia - Pittsburgh.)
AmtrakConnect Wi-Fi service is already available on high-speed Acela Express trains in the Northeast Corridor and on the Amtrak Cascades service in the Pacific Northwest.
"The expansion of Wi-Fi further enhances the travel experience for passengers, giving them more options for entertainment or to do work while en route," says Vice President for Marketing and Product Development Emmett Fremaux. "We are committed to continuing to improve and expand this service as resources and technology allow."
While Wi-Fi service has long been a priority for Amtrak, the biggest obstacle to providing Internet connectivity on trains is the limited bandwidth on many routes, currently provided through third-party cellular data networks located along the tracks. Amtrak is exploring ways to expand that coverage through talks with cellular companies. Importantly, the AmtrakConnect technology is designed in a way that enables it to take advantage of technology improvements such as faster 4G speeds, as they become available along the routes.
"We're taking maximum advantage of the existing infrastructure to offer Wi-Fi service to our passengers," says Lenetta McCampbell, senior director of on board systems. "And we're poised to improve upon those offerings rapidly as the networks we tap into advance."
The next expansion of Wi-Fi will be on state-supported Amtrak services in California by the end of 2011, including on Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner, and San Joaquin trains. When that occurs, 75 percent of all Amtrak passengers will have access to on-board Wi-Fi.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Even if I am somewhat astounded, I can't help but note how important 24/7 access to the internet appears to be to some, as with so many infrequent and first time Amtrak travelers the inquiry "is wi-fi available?" made. I have seen consternation on-board; I can't forget how aboard Auto Train this past February, I was sitting at a table in the Lounge for the pre-departure wine tasting and this Mother and teen age daughter sit down on the opposite side. The girl was "at the wailing wall' when she learned that the wi-fi was only good at Lorton and not en-route; she hustles off to their room. The Mother tells me "thank goodness you said something; she has school assignments to prepare and she must have on-line in order to get them done".
To me it sounds as if they were "expecting' that wi-fi would be available.
Personally, I could care less; to be "a day or two" without being on-line is "no biggie'. Most any hotel at which I have occasion to stay during the 22 or so nights a year I'm out of town (whoops, the B&B near School @ $169/ni where I stayed for 50th Reunion during June did not have it) has a Business Center or Lobby computer; sometimes you have to pay, sometimes not. But I should be prepared to accept that those younger than my age 70+ demographic, it "is a biggie' and is just as expected on-board as is working HVAC and toilet facilities.
Needless to say, the only computer I own is this Dell desktop from which I now write; so I have to ask in all sincerity, is this "need" for wi-fi as prevalent through any societal demographic or is it mostly within a young, computer savvy demographic that frequent discussion boards such as here?
I of course note that Amtrak is spending "heap big wampum" to add wi-fi to its fleet. It almost seems to me that Amtrak was slow to "wake up and smell the other guy's coffee brewing' and that if they don't get their own kettle on the fire, they will lose many a potential rider.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I admit that I am "one of those" who likes to be connected wherever I go (but I am NOT a cell phone blabber!). I've gotten so used to it that if I ever end up somewhere without internet access, I feel like I'm missing out on something. I always have my iPhone 4S with me and Verizon service is very good--haven't found a dead spot yet (unlike with AT&T where I encountered dead spots all the time). I just got a new toy last week--an iPad 2 WiFi + Verizon 3G--so I am connected everywhere I go, even if there is no WiFi available. I think most people like to be connected these days, so I'm glad to see that Amtrak is moving forward with these plans. If I can sit on an airplane at 38,000 feet going 500 MPH and have super fast WiFi (with GoGo), then Amtrak should be able to accomplish same on the ground.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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I am a member of the same demographic as GBN (age 70+) and am retired, mostly, but still writing, and for that work absolutely *need* wireless connections -- and also because I cannot hear on a cell phone.
I used to carry a cell phone so I could text with people I needed to reach as well as a laptop for Wi-Fi communications and writing, but now I have a Verizon-equipped iPad 2 (with a Bluetooth keyboard) to do both tasks.
One of the reasons I chose Verizon was to be able to communicate at all times while traveling. I use Wi-Fi if it's available, but the Verizon cell capability if it's not. It's not perfect -- there *are* dead Verizon spots all around the country, Smitty, although thankfully not many, and not for long.
Inasmuch as the LD trains will be the last to get wi-fi, that cell capability keeps me connected to the world.
Connectedness cuts across all demographics. The world has changed.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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I realize that there are some things (don't they call them "apps") that you can access with a "Smart Phone' (I just have a Jitterbug equivalent which I haven't used for anything since July), but that you cannot through the web, but what can you access with Wi-Fi that you cannot with a hard wired desktop computer and an XP OS?
I did have a 'disturbing' incident recently when a long standing friend's (and a former client) Mother died. He has my land and cell phone numbers. When he attempted to phone me on my cell to share this sad event (she was 64), he said all he got was "not available at this time" (or whatever Verizonspeak is now operative). He then sends me an e-mail saying "Gil, I have something to share that I would rather do by phone than e-mail...'. I of course instantly phone him by land line to his cell... 'what's up (proper comiseration)...your phone is disconnected...how can that be...well that's my cell that I haven't used since July and turn on only when I go in the car because something beeps at me when it doesn't get a Bluetooth'.
In short, this educated (MBA) fellow ONLY thinks in terms of a cell phone... how common is that nowadays?
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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More common than you might think, Gil. I have expressly stated to my friends and family that I prefer to be contacted on my home land line; my cell phone is the prepaid variety and I get no "free" minutes; every minute I am on the phone costs me 10 cents. (I normally stretch $100 worth of minutes out over 9-12 months, which shows you how much time I spend "chatting".) Invariably, however, when I (reluctantly) share my cell number with anyone, that immediately becomes their preferred number to contact me...even though when I am at home my cell phone is usually on the charger and I can't hear it very well from the other rooms. I have land line phones (three of the old-fashioned wired handset variety, one of which is a genuine Western Electric rotary dial which will probably outlive me) in every room, yet still my mother (f'ex) will invariably try to contact me on my cell phone first and express dismay if I do not answer it right away.
-------------------- --------Eric H. Bowen
Stop by my website: Streamliner Schedules - Historic timetables of the great trains of the past! Posts: 413 | From: Houston, Texas | Registered: Mar 2006
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We've just recently dropped our landline in favor of separate cell phone numbers we also have...... it was one of several cost-cutting moves in a period where my wife and I are not 'doing as well' as we were just a couple or three years ago.
We are still adjusting - What I'm liking so far.....besides the little bump in savings...... is that I'm for the moment spending less time engaged on the telephone away from work. I'm not a chat kind of person. Admittedly, I would have rather kept the landline and let my cell phone go BUT having me out in the world without my own phone was not acceptable to my wife.
I do like email a great deal and have even used a netbook to access the internet on Amtrak's Cascade trains. Still, that's a novelty and not a neccessity for me. I don't want to be sucked into the computer while riding down the Front Range....... time enough to check in from the hotel when I arrive.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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