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Reply to Amtrak Question ???

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Paulie from Knoxville TN on 9/28/2006 7:40:29 AM:

I have purchased my Amtrak ticket and paid the extra 10 bucks for my bike. How is Amtrak about overbooking? Is there a chance I'll show up and they say "sorry all bike racks are taken"? I've been jerked around by the airlines so much over the last few years I don't know what to expect.

Thanks, Paulie

Austin from Longmont, CO on 9/28/2006 10:15:16 PM:

You should be fine, last time I rode it, they had us put one of the bikes in the overhead bin, and I put mine on a shelf in the back of the car. Here's a picture of the setup
http://www.pbase.com/rkymthiker/image/60571040/original

Paulie from Knoxville TN on 9/29/2006 7:40:02 AM:

Thanks Austin, I was under the impression that there are bike racks on the train but the overhead works for me. See ya'll on the Katy !

Paulie

Nails on 10/1/2006 1:29:25 PM:

I'm not sure why Austin has his bike in the overhead bin. The standard practice for the Amtrak Ann Rutledge/Mule is that they remove a row of sheets on each of two cars. They'll sell a maximum of 4 bike tickets per train. If you've got a bike ticket, there's a place reserved for your bike.

Jim from Carter Lake, IA on 10/3/2006 11:36:03 PM:

3 of us plan to ride from Clinton to St. Charles and then ride the train back to Sedalia. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to get to Kirkwood? It looks like very congested roads.

Ray (webmaster) on 10/4/2006 4:42:10 PM:

Jim - Here's a web page with several suggestions on Getting from Kirkwood Amtrak Station to the Katy Trail (you can just reverse the direction, of course).

Damon from Kansas City, MO on 10/5/2006 4:19:14 PM:

To Nails: The reason I have my bike up in the overhead bin is because that is where the conductor told me to put it. The removal of a row of "sheets" was not an option for us. I think you must be getting special treatment since it's probably tough for you to lift an electrically assisted bike in the overhead bins.

TRinJboro from Jonesboro, AR on 10/6/2006 8:28:29 AM:

It's been a year and a half since I rode the Amtrack from Hermann to Sedelia. However, I simply stood at the entrance to the car, the conductor took hold of the front of my bike, told me to lift the rear and we carried it in the front of the car in which I was riding. It looked like a space where they had removed a row of seats. Very simple. There was only about 15 riders on the entire train, so they could have removed seats from an entire car if need be. Hopefully, their ridership has improved since then.

Brian from Wichita, KS on 10/6/2006 1:17:11 PM:

I'll be riding a portion of the trail the week of 10/16 (first time!) and have a train ticket with bicycle add-on from Jeff City to Sedalia, so I'll see what the current practice is, I guess. I'll let y'all know how that goes.

Paulie from Knoxville TN on 10/6/2006 10:43:20 PM:

I just got back from my 3 day Katy trip. Amtrak was GREAT. They were nice as could be and even helped me with my bike. I can't beleive more people don't use this service.

Paulie

Nails on 10/8/2006 9:40:48 PM:

The only special treatment I got was that they let me sneak my tandem on (which is against "policy"). When I referred to the removal of a row of seats (of course I didn't mean sheets), I don't mean they took them out as I boarded. Rather, this row is always missing for the bike tickets they allot. Don't know where the electrically assisted bike comment is coming from.

Jim Pearson from Lincoln, Nebraska on 10/10/2006 12:03:45 PM:

My wife and I just completed the katy trail last week, we had AmTrak tickets way in advance and had paid the $10.00 extra for each of our bikes. I was told they will not overbook the bikes so if you have tickets for your bikes you should be okay. We got on at the Kirkwood stations and went to Sedalia. The conductor at Kirkwood was very helpful, they had removed some cushions from some seats and there were a total of five bikes on the train, he even helps us get them up the steps and helped unload at Sedalia. We sat right across from our bikes.

Kathy Ware from Nashville, TN on 10/17/2006 9:00:27 PM:

My children and I rode the first week of October and had no problem whatsoever - we paid the extra $10 also. I can't imagine there being and overbooked situation ever - we were the only three people in the entire third car of the train tht day. You'll be fine.

Brian from Wichita, KS on 10/23/2006 2:13:48 PM:

I had no problem getting my bike on board at the Jefferson City station. The station volunteer helped me get it up the steps & the conductor helped get it back down upon arrival at Sedalia. On board, at the conductor's direction, I just tucked the bike into an area behind the seats in the empty adjacent car. I had the bicycle ticket - which at $10 cost me 10 cents more than the AAA rate for myself! Still, I consider the whole thing to be quite a bargain. The only issue was that none of the station volunteers had much of a clue about the process for bikes, so I had to wait around for the conductor's instructions. I guess I should be happy there were volunteers at all, since many of the stations are completely unmanned. The whole train trip was enjoyable, though, with the exception of the nearly 2-hour-late departure! The train car was clean, roomy, and rode very quietly & smoothly.

janet from lawrence kansas on 10/31/2006 2:18:26 PM:

I rode from Hermann to Sedalia on a Sat. morning (10/28/06). This meant that I first took the connecting bus to Jeff City because of track repairs. I was the only biker (solo, 65 yr old woman). The bus driver put my bike by itself,in a compartment under the bus and unloaded it for me. At Jeff City I loaded my pack and then my bike on the train myself. The "extra room" at the end of the coach car was already filled with luggage, so the conductor told me to put the bike in what I assume was a first class car that had no passengers. None of the luggage areas had racks to hang a bike, and the space for luggage is not long enough to fit a bike, so the front wheel stuck out in the aisle.

J&K from Drexel MO on 11/3/2006 8:00:18 PM:

Does anyone know if Amtrak will haul a short wheelbase recumbent?

Nails, on 11/11/2006 1:14:40 PM:

I know someone that got a long wheelbase recumbent on Amtrak. Like my tandem, they gave him a bit of grief, but let him on anyway.

Jules from Lake Saint Louis on 9/14/2008 3:34:32 PM:

I and a friend are riding the Katy from Clinton to St. Charles on 9/26-29, taking Amtrak to Sedalia and getting a shuttle to Clinton. The Amtrak reservationist told me I'd need to remove my front tire and pedals in order to stow the bike on the train rack. Anyone else had to do this?

Dick Gabriel from Marietta, GA on 9/15/2008 7:56:05 AM:

I can give you "up to the minute" info on this. My wife and I are riding the Katy this week (in Boonville today). You can only reserve 4 bikes spots on the trains at the Amtrak website. Because we could not get bike resv., we had to change plans, so I rode train #313 yesterday. I asked the conductor if they permitted exceptions (there were 3 bikes on the train I rode==thus the reason we could not get spots for our two! His comment, "I'm a biker too, and we try to accomodate folks and allow extra bikes whenever we can, if the train is not too full". On my train there were three coach cars, with no one in the third car, except the conductor and one other railroad peronnel. The other cars were less than 1/4 full. So bottom line, I don't think you would have a problem in boarding with your bike without a resv. Email me if you want any other info.

Anonymous on 9/15/2008 3:40:18 PM:

With Amtrak you are "probably" OK with a ticket for your bike... But they have been known to not have the reservations in the system or whatever excuse more than they should.. I would always double check them as close as possible to your boarding time.

Tripp from St Louis on 9/16/2008 8:09:21 PM:

My boss and his wife took their bikes on the train a few years ago. They had made bike reservations but nonetheless were told they had to disassemble their bikes and place them on the overhead racks. I think it depends on the conductor as to how you're treated. There is absolutely no reason why someone who has made a bike reservation should be placing the bike in an overhead rack.

Curtis from Flagstaff, AZ on 7/29/2011 2:29:37 AM:

does anyone have any info on bike accommodations on trains headed from out of state? My girlfriend and I will be headed from Flagstaff, AZ to Warrensburg. I am not sure if the "Southwest Chief" (name of the train) allows bikes and the woman who answered the phones this evening at amtrak could not give me a clear answer. I was told "I think like you have to like take off your handlebars and chain or something and like put it in a box ya'know?" I will call again tomorrow or stop by the station to get a concrete answer.

Cunninghamair from St louis on 7/29/2011 7:33:56 AM:

(Be aware you've resurrected an old thread.). I found Amtrak's website most accurate. Our station was unattended, but conductor's were very aware of bicycle policy and didnt blink. If you can book a ticket with "bicycle" option, then its allowed.

Billy from Mokane on 7/30/2011 7:55:14 AM:

You cannot check out your ticket or reservations enough on Amtrak when traveling with a bike. Make sure you have a confirmed ticket for you and each bike.

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