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November 21, 2007

Update: Travel seems smooth by train or plane

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
Holiday travelers, and their luggage, fill the Amtrak station in Providence today.

Did you expect to hear this today?

“Right now, operationally, we’re pretty much on or close to on schedule and things are running smoothly.”

That’s the word from Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole on the morning of the day before Thanksgiving, traditionally the busiest travel day of the year.

And the vice president of communications at T. F. Green Airport used the word “seamless” to describe the experience today in Warwick.

Even though Amtrak expects a 70 percent increase in travelers over a typical Wednesday, additional trains in the Northeast have helped ease congestion and keep trains running close to schedule.

Most trains are booked, so anyone who hasn’t already bought a ticket today is probably out of luck, but Cole suggests people with last-minute travel plans to check the Web site, Amtrak.com, in case somebody with a ticket has canceled.

Travelers should bring their photo identification, and tag their bags with their names and addresses, Cole said. The carry-on limit is two per person.

People going to busy train stations should plan on getting there about 45 minutes early if they have to pick up their tickets at the train station.

“The lines can get a little long,” he said.

Green Airport has between 9,000 and 9,500 available seats, spokeswoman Patti Goldstein said. On a typical day, about 80 percent of those seats are booked. Today, she said, about 85 percent of the seats are filled, that's a difference of a few hundred people.

At midday, Green's Web site was reporting that almost all flights were on time, both arriving and departing from the airport.

-- projo.ciom staff writers Brandie M. Jefferson and Jack Perry

Extra employees are working in all areas of the airport, including security and ticketing, Goldstein said, and the extra hands are helping.

“It’s been quite seamless with people traveling through the terminals," Goldstein said of the airport, "they’ve been prepared.”

But the airport isn’t out of the woods yet. Snow, rain and fog have slowed things down in the Midwest and, although we won’t see much precipitation today, those delays add up and could slow things down for people traveling later this evening.

And then there’s the end of the weekend. People seem to leave town whenever they can, Goldstein said, but most people return home on Sunday.

Keeping up with that crowd will be quite a task for airport workers.

Reporter's query: Projo.com and The Journal are seeking tales from travelers as they return home from the holiday weekend.

Are you driving home from out of state Sunday? We'd like to hear about your trip.

If you’d like to share your story, e-mail us with your itinerary, the times you’ll be traveling on Sunday, and your cell phone number. Our address is: pjnews@projo.com.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson at 12:43 PM | Permalink

November 21, 2007

Update: Travel seems smooth by train or plane

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