A crucial question asked by many smokers who are looking to travel by train in the near future, is if AmTrak has a smoking car or if it is allowed to smoke on a AmTrak train.
Short answer: AmTrak does not have a smoking car and it is not allowed to smoke in the train or around the train. Things have changed.

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AmTrak has implemented the policy of banning cigarette smoking on their trains in 1993, according to AmTrak smoking policy “All Amtrak trains, Thruway buses and stations are entirely non-smoking. No one may smoke anything in any area on trains, on Thruway services, in stations or in any other location where smoking is prohibited. This includes: Electronic smoking devices, such as electronic cigarettes.”

What can you do if you are a smoker and you travel by train?

Some useful tips would be to use nicotine patches, mention to the car attendant that you are a smoker, he might be able to give you some information about the upcoming stops which permit smoking.

The train conductors know how long each stop will be, so knowing that in advance can give you the peace of mind that the train won’t leave while you are out smoking, in some instances they will announce if smoking is permitted on the upcoming stop.

While you are

stepping outside for smoking,

the non-smokers step outside for the “fresh air” and they don’t want to inhale smoke. A great thing you can do is to move far enough from the door, but also being in the sight of a car attendant or conductor so you can be aware of the re-boarding time. If you want to be super courteous about this, you can also take in consideration the wind direction and smoke accordingly.

In essence, AmTrak doesn’t allow smoking on their trains nor their facilities or close to them, you will have to keep your eyes open, ask conductors/ car attendants that are used with the route and play by it.