Amtrak is offering a “Roomette for Two for the Price of One,” which allows one person in a group of two to travel for free in an Amtrak sleeping car.
The far is available only at Amtrak.com between June 20 and June 26 and valid for travel between Aug. 20 and Feb. 15.
The fares are available on every Amtrak train offering sleeping car service.
There is a blackout date on Nov. 25 and other terms and conditions apply.
The parking garage serving Amtrak’s Albany-Rensselaer station will temporarily close between July 6 and July 9 due to the annual cleaning and maintenance.
In a service advisory, Amtrak said all vehicles must be removed from the first and second level of the parking garage before noon on Friday, July 6.
Those vehicles not moved will be towed at the vehicle owner’s expense.
Passengers are encouraged to use surface lots A, B and C for parking. Those with disabilities should call 518-433-0049 for parking arrangements during this period.
The garage will reopen at 8 a.m. on Monday, July 9.
Amtrak’s Coast Starlight is expected to resume service soon over its entire length after Union Pacific reopened a tunnel that had been blocked by a cave-in in Oregon on the railroad’s Cascade Subdivision.
Service had been suspended for nearly a month although Amtrak for a time was taking passenger by bus around the closed section of track.
The tunnel collapsed on May 29 while maintenance work, which affected 40 to 50 feet of track.
UP said it will take several days for traffic flow in the area to return to normal.
The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority and Amtrak have introduced discounted fares through the Discover Maine Rail Pass.
The pass is valid for 10 one-way trips on the Amtrak Downeaster between any Maine station within a seven-day period for an introductory price of $19 per person.
In a news release, Amtrak said the pass is designed to encourage car-free travel within the state and highlight the popular Maine destinations served by the Downeaster.
Although the pass is being promoted to tourists at hotels, B&Bs and campgrounds along the Downeaster route, it is available through all of Amtrak’s distribution channels including online, mobile app, station ticketing kiosks and call center.
The NNEPRA manages the service and provides funding to support it.
Construction in the vicinity of the Amtrak station in Yuma, Arizona, has resulted in limited availability of parking there through July 9.
The work is being done by the city. In a station advisory, Amtrak said the station parking lot is closed and construction is blocking access to the traditional dirt parking area next to the platform access tunnel.
Passengers are advised to detour one block south on Maiden Lane then park on the paved public parking lot across from the Veterans Memorial Park, next to the Amtrak platform tunnel, and walk across the Gila Street construction zone to the tunnel.
Yuma is served by Amtrak’s New Orleans-Los Angeles Sunset Limited.
Amtrak has stopped providing bus service to Coast Starlight passengers seeking to travel around the site of a collapsed Union Pacific tunnel in Oregon.
It means that the Coast Starlight for now is operating only Los Angeles and Sacramento, California.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the passenger carrier found it unsustainable to bus people overnight between Sacramento and Eugene.
The tunnel collapsed on May 29 near Oakridge on the Cascade Subdivison. This is a former Southern Pacific route.
The tunnel collapse affected 40 to 50 feet of track and was triggered by maintenance work being done on the tunnel. No one was injured.
UP has said that earliest that service will be restored in the affected area is June 23.
In the meantime, Amtrak said no alternate transportation is being provided to missed stops at Chico, Redding, Dunsmuir, Klamath Falls, Chemult, Eugene, Albany, Salem, Vancouver, Portland, Kelso, Centralia, Olympia-Lacey, Tacoma and Seattle.
Passengers traveling to points between Eugene and Seattle are being directe to Amtrak Cascade Service trains and their connecting Amtrak Thruway buses.
During the service disruption, Nos. 11 and 14 will not have sleeping or dining car service.
A study by the University of Southern Mississippi has concluded that restoring rail passenger service to the Gulf Gulf region would provide a a major economic boost to communities in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.
Researchers said that in Mississippi the restored rail service could bring in new tourists who would spend $24 million to $485 million each year in the state.
Rail operations in Mississippi could provide another $6 million in annual revenue.
In Alabama new tourists could bring in $11.9 million to $220 million each year.
Amtrak suspended service east of New Orleans in August 2055 after the route used by the Sunset Limited sustained major damage to its infrastructure from Hurricane Katrina.
Amtrak will have a display train on hand during the annual Galesburg (Illinois) Railroad days event being held June 21-24.
The train, along with a BNSF locomotive will be located at 211 S. Seminary St. and be available for viewing between 9 a.m and 4 p.m.
Amtrak has opened a lactation suite at Chicago’s Union Station. The facility is a 5-foot by 9-foot, self-contained, mobile pod that allows a woman to enter and shut the door.
The interior includes benches, a fold-down table and an electrical outlet for plugging in a breast pump.
It is large enough for one person if moms with babies have other kids they need to watch.
“These new lactation suites demonstrate Amtrak’s ongoing commitment to better accommodate the needs of our customers and their families while traveling with us,” said Amtrak Vice President of Stations, Facilities, Properties and Accessibilities David Handera in a statement. “It is important for Amtrak to provide mothers with a secure, clean, dignified and private space.”
Military Times has named Amtrak one of the county’s top 100 employers for veterans.
In a news release, Amtrak said the annual ranking highlight a corporate culture and policies that best leverage the traits and skills embodied by veterans and servicemen and women to enable them to be successful in civilian roles.
The publication invited companies to complete a 100-question survey and checked the accuracy of the results.
Amtrak said about one in five of its employees is a veteran or active members of the U.S. Armed Forces, National Guard and Reserves.
The rail passenger carrier also offers an Amtrak for Veterans employee affinity group that supports current and former military members through fellowship, mentoring and community outreach.
