Hartford — Attraction in Hartford

I frequent this station often for both bus and train travel to NYC & NJ, and my recent trip on 12/30/19 from Hartford, CT to NJ via Amtrak left me disappointed and extremely angry.

On the day of travel, I politely asked the Amtrak representative at the station which track I had to go to in order to catch my train. She, looking annoyed, pointed me to the elevator to Track 1. Since I had some time before my train, I decided to sit and wait. As the time got closer to my train’s arrival, I tried to open my Amtrak app to view my ticket. The app wasn’t opening, and I repeatedly got an error, so I decided to approach the Amtrak representative to get a hard copy of the ticket printed.

That same representative, a Jamaican woman, asked me what number my train was. I told her I didn’t know since I couldn’t open the app and asked her if she could look up my train using my I.D. She rolled her eyes and asked for my I.D. She then asked the time my train was scheduled to arrive along with my final destination. I supplied her this information.

She again asked for the train number. I politely repeated that I didn’t know since I couldn’t view my ticket. She finally found my train and printed my tickets for me. She handed them to me but not before rudely scolding me for not knowing the train number.

I was about to comment on her extremely rude behavior but she ended up getting a phone call, and I walked off as my train’s arrival time was approaching.

In the age of technology, which is helpful, we need to ensure we also better train those who are in client-facing roles. It is NOT ok for any customer service representative to be rude and condescending to their customers. A customer should never feel apprehensive about asking a question... and a representative should never feel it’s above them to answer it.

The representative then announced that folks should head to the platform as our train was approaching. Well, we’d have been better off sitting in the waiting area because the train was 30 minutes late, and without protection from the weather on the platform, we were exposed to rain, wind, and extremely cold temperatures. I happen to have a disability and at the bare minimum, would have much rather preferred to sit in a warm, covered area rather than be stuck on a barren platform, trying to shield myself from the cold air.

My advice to Amtrak: Please provide yourself staff with better training on how to speak with & engage customers. Your tickets aren’t exactly cheap, and if I wanted attitude in addition to my train ticket, I’d ask...

Amtrak train from New Haven to Newark Airport. We arrived at the station to take the 6:10 A.M. to Newark Airport. The Red Caps do not start work until 6:10 A.M. The Lyft's driver was familiar with the Amtrak Station and informed us that we would have to take an elevator to the track level. He was nice enough to assist us getting to the track level. The security guard on duty was kind enough to assist with the luggage and take us down to the track level.

The train was a few minutes late arriving at the station. We boarded the train and was seated by the attendant for the car. There was Wi Fi available with easy connection and good speed. The train was delayed at the last station in New York City. There are two stops in New Jersey to the Newark Airport. The train only stops a couple of minutes at the airport stop. The passengers must be ready to exit when the train arrives at the station. One Passenger placed one bag on the platform and was attempting to return for the second bag. The doors closed before the passenger was able to pickup the rest of her luggage.

After exiting the train there is a short walk to the elevator. The airport level entrance requires the scanning of the ticket to enter the airport. If you are lucky you might find a luggage cart at the entrance to the airport. There is a short walk to the train that stops at the different terminal in...

Kind of a sad place. I mistakenly went up an old staircase to the wrong side of the platform to wait for my train and was a little shocked by the state of disrepair. I then entered through the main station building which is nice and spacious but completely empty. There is no more train access inside, because if you went up the stairs to the train platform it leads you to that abandoned platform. Everything is crammed into the smaller bus station area on the lower level which is fine but leaves much to be desired. They admire the past with many historical pictures showing how the station used to be. It's a little sad staring at the crumbling bits of the station as you wait for the train coming in on the single track that is left in service. They used to have 4 tracks running through from the pictures on the walls and I hope to see them at least restore a second track in the future. No experience waiting for buses at the station but there were lots of passengers and frequent announcements for peter pan and...