Train Travel?

We're thinking of taking a 3hr trip by train & possibly many more if it goes well. I just read on Amtrak's website there are no seatbelts on the trains so I guess that means car seats are out?? How is that safe??

The research is actually very mixed on whether train seat belts would be helpful or might even be harmful, so NTSB doesn't have a stance on it. (There's actually been some recent coverage on the issue by the NY Times and others in the wake of the recent Amtrak crash.) It's definitely not a clear-cut issue (and also not just a money-driven one, which is good).

We've taken trains a number of times with our preschooler (since he was a baby), though, and have always had great experiences with no concerns. We do usually take a car seat for the other end and although Amtrak will check these for free, we've always been able to take it on ourselves and fit it in the luggage storage compartment. Ditto for strollers. (On a crowded train they may ask you to check them, though.) I do think that the checked baggage service on Amtrak is considerably gentler on items than airline checked baggage, though, and would not hesitate to check a car seat or stroller if needed.

Have fun--it is a great way to travel with young kids!

That's right - trains don't have seat belts. We take trains all the time - commuter rail into the city, subways and Amtrak. We've also done lots of trains in Europe. I think the general rule regarding trains is that there are far fewer variables for the train to derail/crash etc and therefor it's a far safer mode of transportation overall.

Wow. Okay. This is kind of crazy to me considering the push for CRS to be used in planes!

Anyway we will need car seats for the arrival side so I guess they will have to get checked if that's what it comes down to. :shrug-shoulders:

Trains are more akin to buses than planes. Amtrak doesn't count your car seats against your carry on allowance.

Crash potential and dynamics (and turbulence) are very different between an airplane and a train. I was recently on a train that did an emergency stop (so braking as hard as possible). I noticed the strangely hard deceleration, and the notable jerk back at full stop, but didn't even clue in that it wasn't a regular-but-surprisingly-hard stop until I realized we were not at a station: we had just run over a man who had intentionally laid down on the tracks. :-/

Seatbelts might help in the unlikely event of a derailment with rollover, but for the most part the mass of the train is very much on the occupants' side.

Oh, and during that e-stop we were in the dining car- no food or drinks spilled.

Qarin said:

Crash potential and dynamics (and turbulence) are very different between an airplane and a train. I was recently on a train that did an emergency stop (so braking as hard as possible). I noticed the strangely hard deceleration, and the notable jerk back at full stop, but didn't even clue in that it wasn't a regular-but-surprisingly-hard stop until I realized we were not at a station: we had just run over a man who had intentionally laid down on the tracks. :-/

Seatbelts might help in the unlikely event of a derailment with rollover, but for the most part the mass of the train is very much on the occupants' side.

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I wonder how common that is since I had a similar experience on a commuter rail when pregnant with DD1. Just awful.

Sadly, it is quite common.

Qarin said:

Seatbelts might help in the unlikely event of a derailment with rollover, but for the most part the mass of the train is very much on the occupants' side.

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For what it's worth, it is actually these (extremely rare!) catastrophic accidents where NTSB fears that seat belts would do more harm than good, because they would make it difficult or impossible to get restrained injured passengers out of the train. (It's different than in an automobile, where you typically have access to a door or window immediately adjacent to the person.) So between the two situations, it seems there is some merit to the idea that adding seat belts is not a step in the safety direction.

Here's one of the recent pieces on it:
http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/05/why-it-wont-do-any-good-to-add-seatbelts-on-trains/393542/

It is probably the mode of transportation in which I feel the most safe, even without the belts.

This is very interesting, thanks to all who replied.

And yes, SuzaBanana, I hear from my coworkers who commute via train that suicide & suicide attempts happen quite often!

I'd love to see LATCH added to train seats, only because I've traveled on some overnight trains in coach with infants/toddlers and it would make the logistics a lot easier. But trains are super safe and I feel 1000x safer taking my kids on a train compared to driving, car seats and all.

I've also been in a train when it's had to make an emergency stop, due to a car stalled on the tracks ahead. It had to stop HARD in order to not hit the car. The force was comparable to having a light you're about to go through turn yellow and you have plenty of time to stop safely but it's a highway so you still feel it a bit when you stop.

All the Amtrak trains I've been on have self-storage areas which is what I would recommend using for your car seats. On a Superliner, it will be on the lower level, so you don't need to lug your car seat up the stairs. On smaller, single-level commuter trains it will be near the entrances/exits. If you have a choice of car seats to bring, try to select the most compact ones you can. I have traveled with infant-only RFOs, a Radian, and a Coccoro. I'd prefer not to travel Amtrak with, say, a Britax Frontier or Pinnacle, if I could help it. You may have to re-arrange the luggage that's already on the rack in order to fit the car seat. Be respectful and careful of other peoples' luggage but try not to worry about it too much. There's no way to avoid touching peoples' things. By the same token, keep an eye on your stuff. If a major station stop is coming up, go down and make sure your things are as efficiently stowed as possible to minimize the chance that someone will want to move it to make room for their things; other people may have moved your stuff out of the way to get to theirs since last time you checked it.

I'd advise against checking the stuff with your luggage unless you have a car seat you can actually fit in a hard-sided suitcase or something. The risks of it being lost, stolen, or mis-directed are higher than I'd like to see. If you want tips for how to get everything to the train, we can help with ideas.

Brigala said:

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=215301

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Awesome thread, I didn't see it in my search. Thanks for the link! :dance:

When I bought a Boulevard on the train (strapped to my suitcase with a Traveling Toddler strap) they actually opened up a room for overflow carry-on so that my car seat wouldn't get jostled by other people's luggage. (And lifted it on and off for me!)