Perhaps it was inevitable. Airlines haven’t issued timetables for years so it was a matter of time before Amtrak followed suit because there was money to be saved.
Last week Amtrak said it would no longer print its system timetable. It will continue to create a system timetable as a PDF file that you can download from the rail passenger carrier’s website.
It also will continue to print route-specific folders that will be available at some stations and aboard trains.
You could summarize the reason for ending printing of the national timetable in two words: changing times.
But what, exactly, changed?
In a statement Amtrak said it was its patrons. “Surveys have revealed that few customers want or use the printed System Timetable and expressed a preference to access information on-line,” Amtrak said in a statement.
It also said that “schedules, policies, and programs are ever-changing, and it’s impossible to keep the printed document up-to-date.”
The latter assertion is blowing smoke. Routes rarely change and the vast majority of schedule changes are temporary adjustments made when a host railroad is undergoing major track work.
Amtrak also cited being “environmentally friendly,” which has become a catch-all excuse used by every company in America when it is trying to cut and/or shift the costs of printing to its customers.
Saving itself some money is, I suspect, a primary reason for ending the printed system timetable. Amtrak of late has seen its patronage drop and has been looking for ways to cut expenses.
Ending the printing of the system timetable will save some money, although it probably won’t be a substantial amount.
But it will be one more thing that Amtrak can put on a list when it goes before Congress to show that it has been fiscally responsible.
If the surveys – the results of which we will likely never see – really do reveal that few passengers want or use the national timetable, it is not difficult to understand why.
Aside from the trend toward using smart phones as a primary way of accessing the Internet, the system timetable is bulky and inconvenient to use on the go.
It won’t easily fit in a pocket and the typical traveler probably doesn’t care about schedules for any route other than the one he or she is traveling.
Much of the time if you wanted a system timetable you had to ask for it because they seldom were placed in a rack for distribution.
The system timetable hasn’t always been as large or even as attractive as it has been in recent years.
Although Amtrak timetables have always had a color cover, the interiors were often bare bones offerings of page after page of schedules printed on newsprint paper.
Today’s Amtrak system timetable features color printing and photographs along with numerous display advertisements.
I had always presumed that the revenue from those advertisements paid for the expense of printing the timetable. If so, they didn’t pay for it enough, apparently.
I’ve always been a fan of timetables and I have a near complete collection of Amtrak system timetables dating to the first one issued on May 1, 1971.
I enjoy leafing through the timetable as a way of vicariously traveling by train to countless places in America.
I could still do that, but it won’t be as convenient. I would have to collect all of the route folders and that won’t be easy to do.
In my experience, Amtrak tends to distribute route folders by region, so the Cleveland Amtrak station is not likely to have folders for routes on the West Coast.
Ending the printed system timetable might draw a few letters or emails of protest, but that isn’t likely to have any effect. In the end, Amtrak is probably correct that few passengers care or use the system timetable.
And so another railroad tradition falls by the wayside and I’m going to miss it.
In a service advisory Amtrak said trains 301 and 303 will operate normally from Chicago to Springfield, but passengers will ride a bus between Springfield and St. Louis.
Amtrak in the Heartland 
Another Railroad Tradition Bites the Dust
April 25, 2016Perhaps it was inevitable. Airlines haven’t issued timetables for years so it was a matter of time before Amtrak followed suit because there was money to be saved.
Last week Amtrak said it would no longer print its system timetable. It will continue to create a system timetable as a PDF file that you can download from the rail passenger carrier’s website.
It also will continue to print route-specific folders that will be available at some stations and aboard trains.
You could summarize the reason for ending printing of the national timetable in two words: changing times.
But what, exactly, changed?
In a statement Amtrak said it was its patrons. “Surveys have revealed that few customers want or use the printed System Timetable and expressed a preference to access information on-line,” Amtrak said in a statement.
It also said that “schedules, policies, and programs are ever-changing, and it’s impossible to keep the printed document up-to-date.”
The latter assertion is blowing smoke. Routes rarely change and the vast majority of schedule changes are temporary adjustments made when a host railroad is undergoing major track work.
Amtrak also cited being “environmentally friendly,” which has become a catch-all excuse used by every company in America when it is trying to cut and/or shift the costs of printing to its customers.
Saving itself some money is, I suspect, a primary reason for ending the printed system timetable. Amtrak of late has seen its patronage drop and has been looking for ways to cut expenses.
Ending the printing of the system timetable will save some money, although it probably won’t be a substantial amount.
But it will be one more thing that Amtrak can put on a list when it goes before Congress to show that it has been fiscally responsible.
If the surveys – the results of which we will likely never see – really do reveal that few passengers want or use the national timetable, it is not difficult to understand why.
Aside from the trend toward using smart phones as a primary way of accessing the Internet, the system timetable is bulky and inconvenient to use on the go.
It won’t easily fit in a pocket and the typical traveler probably doesn’t care about schedules for any route other than the one he or she is traveling.
Much of the time if you wanted a system timetable you had to ask for it because they seldom were placed in a rack for distribution.
The system timetable hasn’t always been as large or even as attractive as it has been in recent years.
Although Amtrak timetables have always had a color cover, the interiors were often bare bones offerings of page after page of schedules printed on newsprint paper.
Today’s Amtrak system timetable features color printing and photographs along with numerous display advertisements.
I had always presumed that the revenue from those advertisements paid for the expense of printing the timetable. If so, they didn’t pay for it enough, apparently.
I’ve always been a fan of timetables and I have a near complete collection of Amtrak system timetables dating to the first one issued on May 1, 1971.
I enjoy leafing through the timetable as a way of vicariously traveling by train to countless places in America.
I could still do that, but it won’t be as convenient. I would have to collect all of the route folders and that won’t be easy to do.
In my experience, Amtrak tends to distribute route folders by region, so the Cleveland Amtrak station is not likely to have folders for routes on the West Coast.
Ending the printed system timetable might draw a few letters or emails of protest, but that isn’t likely to have any effect. In the end, Amtrak is probably correct that few passengers care or use the system timetable.
And so another railroad tradition falls by the wayside and I’m going to miss it.
Tags:Amtrak, Amtrak system timetable, Amtrak timetables, on transportation, Posts about Amtrak, Posts on transportation
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