WASHINGTON — Taking the train as an alternative to a cancelled flight is only rarely mentioned in news reports on the flight reductions ordered by the Federal Airport Administration starting today (Nov. 7, 2025). The lack of Amtrak awareness is not surprising, given the spindly nature of its national network compared to air travel and the company’s reduction in local and national promotion of its services over the last decade.
But as travelers face the 4% reduction in flights that began today at 40 airports because of the government shutdown — a figure to increase to 10% by Nov. 14 — those who do look to the ticketing section of Amtrak’s website are likely to find high last-minute fares but few sold-out trains.
A Trains.com spot check of Amtrak service through this weekend finds that anyone can generally find a train between cities where flights are being curtailed. Like airlines and intercity bus carriers, the company employs yield management computer programs to raise prices as the last remaining seats are sold or lower fares if patronage lags on any given departure.
The going Northeast Regional coach price between New York and either Boston or Washington, D.C., as of this afternoon was $300 for a standard adult fare. Sunday prices ranged between $150 and $250, though there were two New York-Washington Saturday trains lowered to $78. A $45 fare was quoted for Sunday overnight No. 66, which takes seven hours to get from Washington to New York thanks to a lengthy stop in Philadelphia.
Elsewhere in the east, the recently introduced $99 price cap for Empire Service trains between New York and Albany-Rensselaer was reached a number of times today and Sunday [see “Amtrak, Metro North to provide …,” Trains.com. Oct. 20, 2025]. Those days also include a handful of sellouts, but this is not a big air travel market. New York-Syracuse is, though, and Amtrak blocked New York-Albany Lake Shore Limited sales Friday before the few remaining upstate New York seats sold out.
Entering the weekend, there were few sellouts on long-distance routes, but some eye-popping fares:
— The Silver Meteor was sold out between Philadelphia and Savannah, Ga., Friday, but a coach seat went for $366 Sunday. The alternatives: $198 on the daytime Palmetto and $297 on a Northeast Regional-Floridian connection.
— Washington-Atlanta Crescent coach seats were sold out southbound Friday and $209 in both directions Sunday.
— Texas Eagle Chicago-Dallas pricing ranged from $177 to $314; the cheapest roomette was $505.
— Chicago-Denver coach seats ranged from $177 to $304 on the California Zephyr, though with only two coaches, Friday’s westbound train was sold out between Chicago and Princeton, Ill. If you could get to Princeton on the Carl Sandberg earlier in the day, the coach price to Denver was $300.
The Borealis was sold out from the Twin Cities and Chicago on Friday and Sunday, though not on the Milwaukee-Chicago segment. Interestingly, seats were made available today on a five-hour-late eastbound Empire Builder, with intermediate station times adjusted at Amtrak.com to reflect the train’s tardiness. The delay departing Seattle had been caused by a “mechanical assessment” to its westbound counterpart west of Leavenworth, Wash., on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says it is possible that flight reductions could be increased to 20% if the shutdown continues much longer.Thus far, the disruptions are occurring during what has become a pre-Thanksgiving lull for the airlines, intercity buses, and Amtrak. As demand ramps up toward the holiday, there will likely be more inquiries to comparative travel sites that list all transportation alternatives, such as Rome2Rio, Wanderu, and Omio. Flight contractions could provide a great opportunity for Amtrak to expand customers’ knowledge of the cities it serves, as long as there is sufficient capacity and high fares don’t scare travelers away.
