Apple Maps Now Supports Amtrak's Full System in U.S. and Canada

[MacRumors]

Apple has recently updated Apple Maps to include Amtrak's full system of train routes across the United States and in select Canadian cities.

Building upon support for northeast routes, Apple Maps now supports Amtrak routes in the Midwest, Northwest, South, and West regions of the U.S., and in the Canadian cities of Montréal and Vancouver. Amtrak routing is available mainly in areas where transit directions have been implemented.

Midwest:

o Blue Water operating between Chicago, Illinois and Port Huron, Michigan
o Wolverine operating between Chicago, Illinois and Pontiac, Michigan
o Cardinal operating between Chicago, Illinois and New York, New York
o Southwest Chief operating between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California
o Texas Eagle operating between Chicago, Illinois and San Antonio, Texas
o City of New Orleans operating between Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana
o Empire Builder operating between Chicago, Illinois and Portland/Seattle
o Illinois Service operating between Chicago, Illinois and Carbondale, Illinois
o Pere Marquette operating between Grand Rapids, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois
o Capitol Limited operating between Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Illinois
o Hoosier State operating between Indianapolis, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois
o Hiawatha operating between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois
o Missouri River Runner operating between St. Louis and Kansas City in Missouri

California:

o Capitol Corridor operating between Auburn, California and San Jose, California
o Coast Starlight operating between Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California
o Pacific Surfliner operating between San Luis Obispo and San Diego in California
o San Joaquins operating between San Francisco area and Bakersfield area in California
o Sunset Limited operating between New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California

South:

o Auto Train operating between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford, Florida
o Carolinian operating between New York, New York and Charlotte, North Carolina
o Crescent operating between New York, New York and New Orleans, Louisiana
o Silver Service/Palmetto operating between New York, New York and Tampa/Miami

Northwest:

o Amtrak Cascades operating between Vancouver, B.C. and Eugene, Oregon

West:

o Heartland Flyer operating between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Fort Worth, Texas

Additional northeastern routes such as Adirondack, operating between Montréal, Québec and New York, New York, and Downeaster, operating between Brunswick, Maine and Boston, Massachusetts, are also now supported.

Update: As mentioned by some readers, the California Zephyr route, operating between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California, has not yet been added.

(Thanks, Alec!)

Article Link: Apple Maps Now Supports Amtrak's Full System in U.S. and Canada

 

[tmiw]

I looked into the Coast Starlight at one point and it was pretty expensive for a one-way trip, let alone round trip. It's definitely something I want to do at some point though.

 

[garirry]

Does Apple Maps show non-US railways like VIA rail (in Canada)? I think it would be pretty useful if they offered support for those too.

 

[DingeZ]

Strangely, I see all of them except the California Zephyr.

 

[pdaholic]

I just tried Apple maps for the first time in a while. It listed my destination (cvs pharmacy) on the wrong side of the street. I went past my destination and restarted the driving directions, and shortly thereafter the app crashed and I was back on the home screen. Truly pathetic.

 

[heeloliver]

I just tried Apple maps for the first time in a while. It listed my destination (cvs pharmacy) on the wrong side of the street. I went past my destination and restarted the driving directions, and shortly thereafter the app crashed and I was back on the home screen. Truly pathetic.

Alright guys, wrap it up. Let's never use Apple maps again.

 

[MrNikeFresh808]

I just tried Apple maps for the first time in a while. It listed my destination (cvs pharmacy) on the wrong side of the street. I went past my destination and restarted the driving directions, and shortly thereafter the app crashed and I was back on the home screen. Truly pathetic.

At least yours was across the street, mines put me about 5 blocks away.

 

[iMacDragon]

I just tried Apple maps for the first time in a while. It listed my destination (cvs pharmacy) on the wrong side of the street. I went past my destination and restarted the driving directions, and shortly thereafter the app crashed and I was back on the home screen. Truly pathetic.

Did you at least report the wrong location? They do fix things if reported.

 

[coolfactor]

Does Apple Maps show non-US railways like VIA rail (in Canada)? I think it would be pretty useful if they offered support for those too.

I think it takes time to integrate each transit provider's data. Likely, they all use slightly different systems, and the data gets normalized somehow for cross interoperability. And somehow Apple must subscribe to that data to incorporate it into Maps. They would definitely want to vet the info to make sure that it's accurate before sending it out to their users.

I just opened up Apple Maps (on macOS) and it immediately showed the new Amtrak transit routes out of Vancouver. Pretty neat. I had no idea train tracks went in so many bizarre directions, but I guess the Earth is a pretty big place and there's lots of terrain to navigate around.

 

[BobVB]

Did you at least report the wrong location? They do fix things if reported.

True, I have submitted many corrections and missing locations and they have accepted them all.

 

[SBlue1]

Did you at least report the wrong location? They do fix things if reported.

Yeah right, after two years! This is how long it took to correct my misspelled street name. I wonder why it takes so long. How many people are working at the maps team? Two??

 

[doelcm82]

Yeah right, after two years! This is how long it took to correct my misspelled street name. I wonder why it takes so long. How many people are working at the maps team? Two??

Not enough to drive around and personally check each street name and POI.

 

[BobVB]

Yeah right, after two years! This is how long it took to correct my misspelled street name. I wonder why it takes so long. How many people are working at the maps team? Two??

Two years ago is talking about a very different product. The new reporting system built into the apps has a turn around of from one to two weeks in my experience.

 

[djcerla]

Alright guys, wrap it up. Let's never use Apple maps again.

using them all the time here in Italy, no complaints of sort, especially since launching via Siri is a godsend when you're driving.

And the interface is great in iOS 10.

 

[Glassed Silver]

Did you at least report the wrong location? They do fix things if reported.

Very fast at that by the way, faster than Google Maps do in my experience.

Just recently they fixed a reported location within what must have been 2 or 3 days max.

I can blame Apple for a lot, with the Maps service as well, but the reports team is pretty great I have to admit!
Give them their fair shot!

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[godrifle]

Did you at least report the wrong location? They do fix things if reported.

They don't fix things, in my experience. I've reported four times the mis-naming of the park one block from my house, but they never change it. My reports span about a year, so it's not like I'm being impatient. My experience with similar corrections with Google is that Google is much more responsive. YMMV.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Does Apple Maps show non-US railways like VIA rail (in Canada)? I think it would be pretty useful if they offered support for those too.

I'm still waiting on transit directions here in Phoenix.

 

[Creek0512]

I'm still waiting on transit directions here in Phoenix.

You can tell that Apple is currently working on adding Phoenix, because if you turn on Transit Mode in Phoenix you can already see the pink station outlines.

You can also see the pink station outlines appearing in Houston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans.

 

[MarcKerr]

Strangely, I see all of them except the California Zephyr.

This seams to be a systemic problem with Apple. Lots of rural areas are being neglected and show data that's just wrong. Apple Maps shows my rural home address with the wrong zip code and town. It's not as if the data doesn't exist someplace. It just appears that Apple quality control is only focused on urban areas.

 

[pdaholic]

They don't fix things, in my experience. I've reported four times the mis-naming of the park one block from my house, but they never change it. My reports span about a year, so it's not like I'm being impatient. My experience with similar corrections with Google is that Google is much more responsive. YMMV.

I agree that google is more responsive. We had a major change in the roadways getting into my hometown, and Apple maps didn't change for at least 11 months after it was completed. I sent numerous reports to Apple, and often recommended they look at google's map for reference as it was correct. Maps is just another half-baked product by Apple, along with Siri and watchOS.

 

[SBlue1]

Two years ago is talking about a very different product. The new reporting system built into the apps has a turn around of from one to two weeks in my experience.

I reported it first two years ago, or was it actually three when Apple Maps first came out? Anyway, they just recently updated that info, after almost a dozen reports. Apple Maps was really a big mess when in started in Germany, and when I remember checking some place in England for vacation the maps were in black and white and blurry like it was from a World War II reconnaissance aircraft.

 

[pdaholic]

Did you at least report the wrong location? They do fix things if reported.

Honestly, there have been so many errors with Apple maps that I just don't use it anymore. A few weeks ago I used it to go to a restaurant whose exact address was sent to me in a text. Apple maps put me in an "approximate" location (never seen that before) which was on the other side of the block. Plugging the same address into google maps got me to the exact destination. I also noticed that using Apple maps to get me there took me through a circuitous route, while using google maps to take me home led to a much more straightforward path. In the end, I've stopped reporting errors on Apple maps because I just use google maps as it is more reliable. And I should mention I don't live in the "back country" where mapping may get less attention; I live in Silicon Valley, less than 2 miles from the "space ship" Apple is building.

 

[CarlJ]

... launching via Siri is a godsend when you're driving.

And the interface is great in iOS 10.

This ^^^. I was a little set back by the maps in iOS 10 - the display wasn't as pretty as it had been in iOS 9 - then I tried glancing at it while I was driving, and found that the larger text was awesome. I think some of the same logic might apply to the Music app. In any case, I like Apple Maps a lot.

I use Google Maps occasionally to check if there's traffic if I'm going somewhere that closes soon - it has an unfortunate habit of blocking the directions/map with a big dialog box saying, "oh! oh! the place you're going closes within the next hour! are you sure you want to go?" - uh, WTF? YES, I know it closes soon, that's why I want to find the quickest route - why are you bothering me with this stupid dialog box?

 

[SpinThis!]

I just tried Apple maps for the first time in a while. It listed my destination (cvs pharmacy) on the wrong side of the street.

So in other words you couldn't figure out how to turn around and had to use the map again? I'm pretty directionally challenged but that's hardly a major inconvenience unless you're going down a divided highway. Someone probably had a number off so it ended up one the wrong side of the street.

Reminds of that episode of the office where Michael drives the car off the bridge because the GPS "told him so"...

That said, I've had some similar experiences with Apple Maps. I think it's an update issue. Whatever Apple is paying Tom Tom for data is not enough apparently. To be fair, Google had some of the same issues when it first got started...

 

[pdaholic]

So in other words you couldn't figure out how to turn around and had to use the map again? I'm pretty directionally challenged but that's hardly a major inconvenience unless you're going down a divided highway. Someone probably had a number off so it ended up one the wrong side of the street.

Reminds of that episode of the office where Michael drives the car off the bridge because the GPS "told him so"...

That said, I've had some similar experiences with Apple Maps. I think it's an update issue. Whatever Apple is paying Tom Tom for data is not enough apparently...

Does every response on this forum have to be asinine and sarcastic? I restarted the gps to see if it was my mistake or if Apple maps actually did have the pharmacy incorrectly listed. It had been a while since I used Apple maps, and it looked different since I upgraded to ios10. I thought maybe I just read it incorrectly. Instead, when I restarted it, the maps app crashed. It just reaffirmed my preference for google maps. So painful to try and have a conversation on this website...