Amtrak from a Japanese perspective (...of Americans lol)

[@kydeanderic]

that was a lot of real talk lol. Subscribe! goo.gl/mkAwyy Social media & contribution links: kydeanderic.com

[@briannicholls2893]

With regard to food cars on Japanese trains, when I lived in Tokyo from 1978-85 the shinkansen always had a full restaurant car with sit-down dining. Most other long distance express trains had buffet cars. That started to change a few years after that when the whole "ekiben" thing took off, and people took to buying boxed lunches and bringing them onto the train. The Shinkansen dropped to cart service (even that now scrapped,) and the buffet cars disappeared. However, as you would know, there's now a plethora of gourmet restaurant style tourist trains in Japan.

[@etherdog]

My aunt took me from Chicago to LA on the double decker Super Chief back when I was 7 and the fun of that trip made me a rail fan for life. It was clean, fast, and on time. Thanks for the comparison!

[@kydeanderic]

It's frustrating because of how much potential the US could have from an amazing train network. Oh well.

[@Yuki-y]

食べ物、トイレ、その他の話…1番楽しかったのは、2人がずっと小さな声で話していた事lol まるで日本人w👍👍👍

[@WeirdExplorer]

The seat paper system has its flaws. A passenger stole mine once when he got on, walked back a few rows and put it behind his seat. When the conductor asked for my ticket again, thankfully other passengers were able to vouch for me that he took it. 🤦‍♂

[@kydeanderic]

lol sounds very america

[@TubaBuddha]

Thanks!

[@eatabagel]

They have assigned seats on Amtrak but you have to pay for business class tickets. The business class car is also a quiet car so no speakers allowed, lol. You also get more legroom which is astounding because coach has a lot of legroom already.

[@kydeanderic]

Hah, we don't expect assigned seatings on "local" transport, but for something like this it seems sorta nuts lol. -E

[@GloomyLullaby]

Sounds like any other day with "deutsche bahn" 😂 if you ever visit gemrany please do another funny video to roast the trainsystem or just avoid it at all. Lots of love from germnay !

[@littleshrine7922]

A long time ago, I used Amtrak from LA to Seattle, then to Chicago, New York, Denver, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco. It took me about two weeks. It wasn't a sleeper seat but a normal one. However, it was quite comfortable and saved me a lot of hotel bills.

[@mistakes4all]

Took the train from Kansas City to Chicago and it took over 3 hours extra because we had to keep stopping for freight trains. They use the same tracks and are considered more important, more profitable, It was a nightmare day of bad wifi and delays. Way better experiences in China, Taiwan, and Japan.

[@AtsushiAmemiya]

I have just taken the same ride yesterday to go to Washington DC. I concur the rattling.

[@kydeanderic]

get your fillings checked asap.

[@jan__q]

I havent had a decent train experience outside of Japan - and you saying that its a mess within the first 60 seconds just adds to the list :-D

[@briannicholls2893]

We've had good experiences in Norway - the Oslo to Bergen line is great, Switzerland, and Spain on the high speed lines, but Japan remains the best

[@yvonneherrerasyvonneh1914]

You two are so funny!

[@lillberrysweet5420]

Hey guys! On your trip to Virginia, you will riding right by my home!!! So excited to know that you are in my sphere!!! Safe journey! ❤

[@lancebowenjr5805]

We take this train (NE regional) all the time. The only seats that are assigned are business class. Coach class doesn't have any assigned seats and you get on and find a seat anywhere. There is a quiet car which is also coach and like it sounds they ask for you to not have conversations so that it will be quiet. There is only ever 1 BC car per trip. Alot of good this info is now. :) Normally it takes 30minutes to switch out the engines. We'll sometimes go into Union Station which is normally cool. They'll maybe shorten that if they are running behind.

[@Falloutrip]

I've ridden that northeast corridor many times (from virginia all the way up to Albany and back), and that's honestly pretty typical even with the unfortunate delay. The scary thing is the NE corridor is Amtrak's "best" line due to passenger volume. Maybe it's Stockholm syndrome, but I've just become accustomed to the oddities like delays and no assigned seating. If I need to be somewhere reasonably quick, a flight is the way, but Amtrak is very hassle free for what it is - buy the ticket, get on train and go. No TSA or busy airports. Also, you can BYOB!

[@romanfrancisco]

Pricewise how is it compared to the Shinkansen?

[@nolisarmiento1719]

I think you can't compare it because it's not considered a high speed train

[@Mit0ch0dria]

What a mess and terrible experience! So sorry you had to go through all that. Welcome back US..lol No staff and non-existing / inaudible announcements! Amtrak delays and disorganization is their normal. That hasn't changed in years. Your experience is not an anomaly unfortunately.

[@Pinkkermit17]

Awww the dad ❤❤, are you tired and hungry !!

[@LC-le9ew]

aww I loved the end ❤

[@RichardbBrunner]

I took the Vermonter from Philly to Montpellier for a few years. It was an 9hr ride if everything went perfectly, the train was packed until NYC when about 1/2 got off, all but a handful of folks got off in Springfield Ma, and the train was pretty much empty the rest of the way. Except for the bathrooms which were heavily used it was a pleasant way to travel. 🐈

[@malice41414]

Wow! What a mess. Thanks for the insightful video. 😅

[@laurieleonard8209]

Lol❤ and sigh and rage and yeah. l ride the Oakland to Sacramento train sometimes and usually everything goes smoothly But l did get trapped in a train bathroom once not fun 🤪 lm glad the bathroom door lock worked for you Kyde❤

[@OldMan_PJ]

I rode the Amtrak California Zephyr many times over a decade between Emeryville, CA and Chicago, IL. It's a 3-day trip through some of the best scenery the US has to offer. It was almost always 2-4 hours late except one time it was 4 hours early. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, engine failure, hit an elk, shitter full, rail bridge fire, criminal kicked off in the middle of nowhere, and so on. The worst was when the train was 12 hours out of Chicago and had to go back to swap conductors due to union hour rules hitting their limit during a delay. Despite all that I loved every trip, roomy seats, great views, and nice people. Much better than flying. The biggest downside specific to that line is no Wi-Fi.

[@kydeanderic]

Haha def high on "adventure" that's without question.

[@gigteevee6118]

And this from the country that got to the moon! Shockingly unorganised.

[@Mwoods2272]

You know the moon landing was fake, right? It was a soundstage, all made up.

[@saraanson8917]

When my parents and my sister and her family went to Disney World for the first time, they took Amtrak from NY (Rochester) to Florida. It was winter, and there was a snow storm in NY, but that wasn't a problem. What was a problem was when the engine died about 3 hours into the journey, and it took many more hours sitting on an unheated train to get a new engine. Then they were told to get on the wrong train in NYC, ended up having to stay overnight in DC, and missed an entire day at Disney (which Disney at the time refunded, thankfully). My poor dad loves trains, but my sister swore she'd never use Amtrak again. I don't know the full story, but Amtrak is subsidized by the government, which some people say keeps them from improving - they are guaranteed money. I think if it wasn't subsidized, Amtrak would fail. We don't have the culture of train travel, unfortunately, and Amtrak is bare bones :(

[@kydeanderic]

oof what a mess

[@TTEREVE]

the west coast train line or the one from ny to Seattle is nice

[@janetzky9558]

AWWW that poor puppers 😢 Doggo looked a little scared

[@3DPrintingAquarium]

Thanks for the video. And I thought the Deutsche Bahn is terrible😀

[@3DJapan]

I'm not sure, was that the Acela bullet train or just regular Amtrak? I took the Acela between Philly and DC about 20 years ago and it was pretty nice.

[@kydeanderic]

I assume it was just a normal train. the idea that anything they have could be on "bullet train" level is amusing to me, haha. -E

[@pinoi78]

I would NEVER ride trains here in America. But in Japan I’m taking them everywhere I go.

[@salty6pence672]

Excited to see you back in the States again. Amtrak Blows, The only way its bearable is to get a private room.

[@annewilson8783]

We need foreign input to train schedule functioning. And we need to repair tracks.

[@darren9445]

You can reserve seating here in the UK but most people don't. Many times I've had to stand in the hallway on an hour long journey. Our train system is pretty shite and expensive.

[@Mwoods2272]

I have seen people standing for 2 hours on the non reserved train from Kyoto to Tokyo.

[@travelswithblindcane]

I've never taken an American train, which is kinda weird since I can't see. Lots of Greyhounds though! Idk, comparing Amtrak to Denmark's train system is just sorta comical. We're nowhere near Japan in terms of comfort and efficiency, but so much better than this xD Although we also have the Train Suicides more often than it seems like America does, which is sad af. Glad the bathroom and sandwich were good, at least! And an hour for all that isn't terrible. Thanks for sharing!

[@marcod1600]

And dont forget the train track in the USA is built cargo trains!

[@kerrylennox7359]

Ok..I'm an Australian and I was in Manhattan, maybe 15 years ago.. we stayed at hotel Pennsylvania ( it's no longer there) opposite Penn Station. I have no recollection of there being any significant issues with the rail system. We bought our tickets, looked at the maps, followed the coloured lines to our platform, got on our train, followed the coloured coded legends on the maps, as to what platform to get off for connecting trains yadda yadda.. maybe it has changed since then? 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@kydeanderic]

Is it possible you were riding the Subway system verses this video which is about the Amtrak system? Because there are absolutely zero colored lines or maps to get you to your platform, the Amtrak staff doesn't even seem to know what platform trains will depart from in some other cases we came across during other Amtrak trips we took while stateside. The NYC Subway has it's problems...but it's not the mess that this Amtrak trip was lol. -E

[@kerrylennox7359]

@kydeanderic Oh ok...my bad 😬

[@kydeanderic]

haha no worries!

[@ntsuka4568]

Is this the train from the world's most developed country that will send humans to the moon?

[@powerheather]

For one of the Amtrak routes I've taken the past few years, the train has to stop and switch engines from electric to diesel. That's another bizarre thing that only happens in America

[@kydeanderic]

im sure somewhere in the states the passengers have to get out and push the train up a hill or something lol

[@coolduder1001]

Hey I had to deal with them like a week ago

[@skuzzbunny]

I would so LOVE to travel by train in the USA, but practically always, flying is SO much faster and still much cheaper... or busses are cheaper still.....(

[@kydeanderic]

yea, depending on the distances train should be door-to-door faster and cheaper. I'd argue train travel should be subsidized the way bus travel is (they use publicly built and maintained roadways) but that probably would anger a lot of people lol.

[@ryo6146]

わお！ 中央線や高崎線の話が出てくるとは驚いた！ JR東日本の電車に乗る事が多いんだろうね。 あと、彼らは日本では電車を使うのに、アメリカの電車は初めて乗るって事も驚いた。 でも、人身事故や列車の不具合での遅延などは駅にあるモニターで確認できるし、乗る路線が遅れている場合は車掌や駅員がどういう理由で遅れているのか案内しますよね。 アメリカの駅のプラットホームには、電光掲示板の行先案内とか、遅延が何分などの表示が無いのかな・・・

[@tonybaker55]

One of the most sophisticated countries in the world and yet they cannot run a train service, with faux leather seats. It certainly did look pretty bumpy; even your food was moving! I have not seen a diesel passenger train since I was a kid. If you go too far, you'll end up with a steam train... How do people in wheelchairs get on a train that is way above the platform? Why are the platforms not level with the train access?

[@jefflewis4]

Most of the Train stations in US don't have raised platforms, places like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia are the exceptions not the norm. For wheelchairs Amtrak provides a mechanical lift that will raise the wheelchair to train's height. It something that the passenger arranges when they check in at the station.

[@tonybaker55]

@@jefflewis4 Not the sort of independence that disabled people expect then these days.

[@mrjon1985]

Back to Old Virginny, well, you're long gone by now lol. I grew up just up the road in Prince William county.

[@gonkiciyamyam7222]

アムトラックなかなか良いじゃないですか。エリックさんはどうしても日本と比べてフラストレーションがたまってるみたいですが。国によって事情が違うからそこまで違和感ありませんでした。日本はある意味お客さんに過保護なくらいですね。時刻に関してはカナダやメキシコなど国際列車もあるアメリカでは日本のようには簡単にはいかない気がします。素敵な動画ありがとうございます。

[@misterc5783]

You used to pay to receive a service. Now you just pay.

[@KelculesIII]

The trains in the UK are an absolute shocker! Cardiff to Aberdeen is around £290, you sit next to some random alcoholics, crisp packets flying about, and the obligatory punch up between some Karen and another Chav. For context. You can get a cheap flight to Rome for around £80. I've been on the shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto. It's definitely a totally different train experience, for sure.

[@kydeanderic]

having done train travel in the UK as well can confirm it's not as good as Japan but it's leagues above what's going on in the colonies lol

[@KelculesIII]

@kydeanderic You have my condolences for enduring UK trains! 😀 Yea. I've seen your UK vids. Was a few years ago now eh! I'd defo show you guys some sights around here. I don't know how much of it would be broadcastable, though 🤔😅

[@lukesampson3294]

Why do people like you always denigrate your own country so much? I spent 3 weeks in your country in the summer ,traveling from London to Penzance on the train and had a good experience. Also the aggressive contempt for working class people that if directed at other groups in your society would potentially lead to a criminal complaint! Is it meant to signify a sophisticated world view? On the contrary; it just seems rather mean and dishonest to this foreigner. Of all the British people I have interacted with this year you are the worst.

[@ltlwatcher]

❤

[@pssurvivor]

american trains are so fascinating. so grey, so industrial, looks like it'd be efficient but apparently isnt?

[@karenclark8374]

There’s no seats in Penn to avoid homeless people camping out there. It’s called “hostile architecture”. It’s the new architecture around the city.

[@jonathansakura]

I live in Tokyo But am originally from Florida last year I rode the Brightline bullet train from Orlando to Miami Honestly it's nicer and newer and bigger than the shinkansen

[@kydeanderic]

nice!

[@gwimyeon]

And not a vending machine in sight

[@brvl20121]

thanks Kyde and Eric great video, and that's why i don't use public transport

[@marcod1600]

Cool a usa train.

[@Leei]

What a chaotic shitshow. Compared to Japan, some parts of the U.S. feel like they belong to a developing country.

[@ropro9817]

lol, Murica

[@sunsun-om9re]

🥪🥪🥪

[@mitsuyamaeda-railfan]

日米同盟があるのだから、アムトラックにJRのノウハウを吸収させれば良いのでは…。加えて、日本の鉄道産業をアメリカに移植すれば、いくらでもアメリカの鉄道産業を復活させられるのでは…。

[@chrisjohnson-hb6dz]

The last time I took the Amtrak it smelled like armpit, haha . . . so I guess it could be worse . . . I really don't want to get down with too much criticism though.

[@therabbitnews9362]

I'm from Southeast Asia. Things are different. I've been working in mass transit for more than two decades. Things don't work the way it is in Asia. You will be frustrated very much if you want the transit to fit you. That's very true. And Eric, there are two kinds of trains. The common ones (all) that we have have the wheels run on top of the rails. The other ones have wheels run above the rail heads. You find them mostly on high speed trains.

[@dragonzord6615]

What a mess haha

[@seyley2901]

Just to clarify. The rest of the world KNOWS that Amtrak is a joke.

[@mtwhatley3253]

I was at a fast food restaurant many years ago. A department of corrections van pulled up and a group of people exited wearing the uniforms of said fast food restaurant. Needless to say I’ve stopped eating fast food for a long time. Typical American customer service is non existent. Perhaps the people working for scamtrak are cons? 😂

[@Deez-j7k]

💤

[@rlund651]

The train system is totally broken and has been for years. It is a mess. America is so big most people fly or rent a car. It takes to long in America to go by train.

[@TubaBuddha]

Thanks!