Amtrak Task Force: You Spoke, We Listened!

In our role leading the Amtrak Bike Task Force, one of our priorities at the League of American Bicyclists is to enable more people to be able to experience the country by train and bike. In our kickoff webinar about Bringing Bikes on Amtrak and through our on-going survey, we have heard your many thoughtful suggestions for making it easier to plan and take a bike-train trip and the task force is organizing its work based in part on what we learned from you. 

One thing we heard loud and clear was that the Amtrak website was difficult to navigate when making reservations to take your bike on board. Upon learning this feedback, the team at Amtrak took action. 

A new information page on the Amtrak website seeks to more clearly explain and expand on the various policies related to bringing bikes on board Amtrak trains and includes a frequently asked questions section. Check it out here »  

You can now easily find information on how to take your bike on board and which train routes are able to accommodate your choice of bike travel, including restrictions and fees. It is always advised to leave an additional 30 minutes before boarding time when traveling with your bike. 

We are so grateful to the Amtrak team for their diligence in making the website easier to use for bicyclists. We also acknowledge there is still much work to be done to increase bicyclists’ access to Amtrak. We all would like to see more spaces on train cars for bikes, and more routes and stations that accommodate bikes, but capital improvements take time and resources. The Amtrak Bike Task Force recognizes and is advocating for these larger, significant changes, knowing that our work now will make a difference in the future. We will also continue to advocate for changes, like the website, that can make an immediate difference.

We hope this updated website will make it easier for bicyclists to travel with their bikes— because the best way to make the changes we seek is to show Amtrak there is a demand for these services. So check out the website, and plan your next bike trip on Amtrak!